Something to Inspire you over the Weekend

Hello Everyone


Well, I have been very busy this week.  After my friend left to go back to England I came home and reflected on the weekend.  What a joy it had been, and I'm so grateful for my friend's help around the house and walking to dogs for me.  At the moment I am not able to stand for very long or to walk very far so she really was a massive help.  She had brought me some crafty goodies including embossing folders, dies, paper, stickers, scrap pages (board ones)...something I have never done before but will attempt in the very near future.  All sorts of wonderful crafting goodies.


Then my car had to go into the garage for it's annual MOT.........which I am delighted to say it passed with flying colours.  And today I had to go and get my photograph taken as the one on my driver's licence will expire in June.  I never realised I was so modern as to be likened to a computer.............I have to be updated.


My first card is one I made using a downloadable image from a well known site.  I will put the details up for you to check them out.


Shabby Chic Wedding Day

This card is an 8 x 8" square card and the image was 8 x 8" too, which made things very easy for me.


I printed the image out onto photographic paper and stuck it to the card using double sided sticky tape.  I then decoupaged the flowers, the sentiment and the black and white photo of a couple in the centre.


Once I had done that, I used 3D clear gloss finish on parts of the frame of the photo, the handle of the flower posie and parts of the sentiment.


I then glued 3 shabby chic roses on netting under the sentiment, which are on the left side of the card.  On the right side I stuck cream lace with pink velvet ribbon down the centre and oat the top I glued two very pale pink buttons which I had threaded with thin white satin ribbon.


I really love this card as it is so delicate.


So where did I get everything from?


8 x 8 card:  rapid supplies
Image including sentiment:      CraftsUprint.com  (cup268760_692)
Shabby Chic roses:  Crafts U Love
Ribbons and lace:  Papetiere (Aberdeen)
Buttons:  My own stash
Photographic paper:  Kodak ultra premium photographic paper direct from Kodak.
3D clear gloss:  local craft shop (no longer in existence)


I hope you like it.




My next card is inspired by the Scripture given for a challenge by Karen Letchworth in Word Art Wednesday challenge.  The sponsor this week is Fred She Said, and you all know how I love her stuff, so I thought for the first time in my life I would enter a blog challenge.  Here it is then:

This is a Christian blog challenge so the scripture is a part of the design.  Because the sponsor is Fred She Said I have used her backing paper and floral image and made it all very girlie.

I am now going to post sections of the card for you to see, because I have embossed the pink and white striped card, which does not show very well in the main image.

So here is the top part, which is very 3D with the beautiful pink glittered rose in the centre.

Here is the scripture, and I wanted it to be shiny, shiny, shiny so I put glitter glue just about everywhere around the edge.  I also decorated it with a die word, which says faith.


I am sorry about the colour of the photo's as It is dark now and I couldn't wait until tomorrow.  However the top picture is true to colour.

So it ended up like this:

So how was it made?  etc etc etc

The card is A5 in size (8 and 1/4" tall by 5 and 1/4" wide)

First of all I covered the front of the white card with silver mirricard.  I then printed off the pink and white striped design onto thin white card and used an embossing folder by Spellbinder to emboss the design onto it.  I then stuck that onto the sliver mirricard leaving a border around each edge.  I decided to add a pale pink and white checked ribbon just on the edge of the striped card, which I adhered to the card using double sided tape.  I printed the floral image and scripture onto white card.  I then die cut the image and the border using a die in my grand calibur (Marianne design die).  I took the border and then put it though the grand calibur a second time to emboss it.

The scripture is cut using a book shaped die  (spellbinders).  I also die cut the word 'faith' and the silver cross.  I glued a beautiful pink glittered rose which sits on netting in the centre of the floral wreath image. and stuck the cross next to it.  I glued the 'faith' word onto the glitter glue around the edge of the scripture.

So there you have it.

A5 card:  Papetiere (Aberdeen)

Silver mirricard:  Craft Creations

White card for printing and embossing:  Craft Creations

Ribbon and glitter glue:  my own stash

Floral image and striped card design:  Fred She Said

Die for image incuding the border: Marriane design die (Crafts U Love)

Die for scripture, word and cross:  Spellbinders (iconuk.co.uk)

Embossing folder: M-Bossabilities reversible folder (regal) (gift from friend.

Pink ribbon rose: Crafts U Love

I really wanted to make it simple, yet girle and have a good Christian feel to it. Hopefully I have done that.

The Weekend

Well, the weekend is over and what a weekend it was.  With my hubby away, I had a crafty friend come and stay with me and then best bit was that until a week ro so before, I didn't know she had taken up crafting.  We have been friends since the 1980"s and at that time we were too busy working to even give crafting a thought.  My friend Christine retired in January, which has resulted in her having time to come and visit.  I've been back here in Scotland for the past 10 years and we have only seen each other for a few hours since then, when I have been on holiday near to where she lives, or she has been visiting near to where I live.  


Christine brought some lovely cutting dies with here, that I didn't have, and I have dies that she didn't have so we had a whole day of die cutting using the cuttlebug and grand calibur.  Doesn't time fly when you are having fun.


We did take time out to go to church on Sunday, which was also great, as I met up with folks there I hadn't seen in a while.  


Here is my friend Christine..........

I returned Christine to the airport yesterday, and my hubby returned from India last night, so all is back to the mundane and normal.


I haven't made anything to show anyone today, so I will have to go and rectify that.  


Love and hugs to all who visit.


Annie xx

I have a visitor

My friend from Devon is here today and we are going to overdose on crafting!!!

Vintage Style Card

Hello everyone


Well, I have been out celebrating my son's and daughter-in-laws Wedding Anniversary today.  They have been married 17 years today.  It was lovely going out for a carvery with them, their two sons and my hubby to  a local hotel and the food was gorgeous.


Anyhow, before I talk about the vintage style card, I will show you the card I made for my son Robert and his wife Sue:

I made this very simple card using my nestabilities die cuts for the hearts, and marianne dies for the man and woman.  It was really very simple, and I used peel-offs for the wording. and glued a lovely cream and black rose next to the words.  So there you have it!


However, here is the one I wanted to show you, which I made this week:

This is an A5 landscape card in size.  The base card is a creamy white leather effect card.  On to this I stuck pale green flowery paper and to the left of the paper and the image I glued cream open weave very wide lace and on top of that I glued black lace and on top of that I glued and glittered cream and black rose.  I then stuck the image on using double sided sticky foam fixers.  Above the image I glued some brown card which has newsprint on it.  On the bottom I layered some card which had gold cogs on it and then put some gold and white striped paper on top of that.  Then I layered some white sticky ribbon with gold edges and on top of that I put some white satin and organza ribbon.  Finally over that I glued some string.  At the bottom left hand side I placed the sentiment, which says congratulations and on the right hand side I glued a vintage button through which I had threaded and knotted string.


So where did I get everything from?


Well, I'll tell you since you're asking!!!!!!


Base card:  Papetiere 
Green flowery paper: Funky Daze CD
Cream and black lace: Papetiere 
Rose: Crafts U Love
Image: Kanban, Papetiere 
Cog card: Kanban, Papetiere 
Gold and white striped paper: Fred She Said
Sticky ribbon and string;  my own stash
Sentiment and button: My own stash
White satin and organza ribbon: Papetiere


So, most of the items I bought at my last shopping trip to Aberdeen at the Papetiere.  It's a fabulous shop, and the girls there are so helpful and friendly, which makes it a good day out.


I hope you like the card.


Very much like the card with the steamship, I will now show you another vintage style card I made using another Kanban image:

Once again I have used steam punk style items on this card.  I used a gold/beige metallic base card onto which I layered deep red textured paper.  Over that I put card with cogs and wheels on, all in beiges and gold.  Across, just under the centre of the card I put a strip of cream card with gold cogs on it and then layered some black ribbon with a red metallic fringe.  Over that I put the image of the man using double sided sticky foam fixers. I used orange gemstones to highlight the buttons on the man's jacket.  I love the cream and black rose so it just had to be used on this card to soften it up a little bit.  I used holograhpic cog peel-offs at random on the card and stuck a line of clear gemstones on the left hand side.  The sentiment jusst plain black with silver writing that says 'with love'.


Base card: Papetiere
Red paper: My own stash
Image: Kanban, Papetiere
Rose: Crafts U Love
Cog cards: Kanban, Papetiere
Gemstones, ribbon and sentiment:  My own stash.


So there you have it.  Please let me know your thoughts.


Many blessings to all who pop by.


Annie xxx

Hello everyone


I thought I would take a break from card making today and share photographs of other stuff!


We have a new neighbour.....he moved in quietly without any fuss and has become very, very friendly...........


This is Muscovey........the Duck

This exotic creature arrived one evening, not very far from where I live, and he has taken up residence at a nearby watering hole that flows out into the sea.  He comes from Mexico, so he is way off track, but he has been with us now for about 2 months and seems very happy, thank you very much.  The SSPCA are watching that he is okay, and have said if he shows signs of distress they will remove him, but he seems very happy where he is............I wonder if it's because he lives across from the pub?  He is huge, by the way..........I've never seen a duck that size before and in fact I thought he was some type of goose to begin with.


Here is our Jazz doing what comes naturally:

Hogging the fire and panting away, thank you very much.  Try and get him to move and you'll never manage it....he loves his place in front of the fire.


To make sure she is not left out, here is one of Bess, on the beach............

It has been a very busy time lately for me, trying to make enough cards for my online shop and for a craft fair that's happening in Buckie in 5 weeks time.  Hopefully I will get help to set up on the day.........my grandson is also having a table as he makes jewellery, and it's very good too, if I may say so.  Well, I may say so as he is my grandson.  Here he is celebrating his 13th Birthday:

What a cake that was!!!  He has grown a lot taller since then.....all within one year.  Doesn't time fly?  


My husband is going to India for a long weekend later this month, and I wish I was going too, but for health reasons that's not possible at the moment.  Hi is going to New Dehli and then getting onto a train to Jaipur and then coming back again!!  He has always wanted to go on the indian trains and now he has taken the plunge.  I know he is going to enjoy himself and that it will also mean that he will have achieved something he has always wanted to do.  
He  will never have to say his live was average after that trip:

While he is away, I have a friend coming to stay with me whom i have not spent much time with since I have moved back to Scotland, so we have a lot to catch up with.  I am really looking forward to that.  My friend Christine is also a card maker, so I think you know what we will be doing..........oh! yes!  Making a crafty mess!!

A final word for today, and it comes very much from the heart.  I know how difficult it is to hang on to things from the past, but moving forward into the unknown just has to be a better deal, even if it is a little bit scarey;

Many Blessings to you all. xx

Creative Cards

Hello everyone


I have been very busy making cards and thought I would share them with you all today.


It has been an interesting week, with customers from Buckie and the USA!!  How far apart is that then?


Here is a card for someone special:

I am now going to show you different parts of this card:

This lovely card is a download I purchased from CraftsUprint.com  The designer is a lady called Robyn Cockburn.


How did I make it?  


First of all I printed the design of the card onto photographic paper/
I then printed out the insert on white paper and then the envelope too.  Oh yes, it comes with it 's own matching envelope.  I also printed off the embellishments onto photographic paper.


I then cut out all the bits I wanted and cut the apertures in the card and paper.  


I scored down the folds of both card and insert and then stuck them together.  They are designed to fit perfectly back to back, which I found easier that I thought it would be.  I had to trim a little off inside the apertures that overlapped but I would rather do that than not have enough coverage.  I used a glue stick to do the sticking.


I used a very thin silver thread to thread the sentiment, which says, For Someone Special, and then I hung it in one of the apertures.  Beneath that I stuck tow silver looking card flowers and the centres of them were decorated with clear gemstones.  On the other side I glued the butterfly which I also adorned with gemstones for it's body.


So here are the things that I made the card from and where I got them from:


Card design and embellishments:  CraftsUprint.com
Photographic paper:  Kodak Ultra Premium photograph paper direct from Kodak.
Ink: Kodak in
Printer: Kodak ESP C310
Gemstones, thread and two flowers: My stash
Parer (for insert and envelope): Viking Direct
Glue: Disappearing colour glue stick by avery.


So there you have it.  And now on to the next one:

This is a stepper card, which I covered with regency style cream and silver card.  I then put an image of the clock with two cherubs at the feet of the clock onto the front of the card.  This image is actually decoupaged.  Beneath it is the sentiment which says, 'Special Day.'  Along the bottom I have glued cream lace with coffee coloured velvet running along the middle.


On the back step I have stuck an image of three lovely young ladies, obviously having a chat about something.  I can't help wondering what it is they are talking about!  They have a silver border around their circular image. On the  next step in front of the 3 ladies is a die cut frame, which has another smaller embossed die cut in the middle of it and on that there is a beautiful grey gemstone flower.  


From the back there is a lovely organza gold ribbon on to which the end had a beautiful regency style multi coloured oval tag, edged in silver.  In the centre of the tag I have stuck a cream pearlescent die cut circle which I have glittered and then glued a beautiful beige glittered rose onto that.


The idea is that the person giving the card can write their message on the back of the tag.


So where did it all come from:


Plain white stepper card:  Craft Creations
Cream and Silver card and clock image:  Card craft UK (long time ago)
Special Day  sentiment:  Debbi Moore Egyptian CD
Lace with velvet:  Papetiere (Aberdeen)
Ribbon, and gemstone:  My stash
Image of ladies: Google images (royalty free)
Frame Silver card: Craft Creations
Frame die and circle dies: Spellbinders (Crafts U Love)
Beige flower: Kaiser Kraft Paper Blooms (Crafts U Love)
Tag: Joe Brown (YES! I know.)


I hope you liked this card, because it took me ages to make but I loved every minute of it.  Joe Brown tags are great for crafting. 


Many Blessings


Annie xxx

The Cost of Making a Card............

The reason for this page is to inform the reader about how my cards are priced and why.

 I have thought long and hard about why I charge what I do and why it is worth you paying that little bit more for a card made by me.  I could make a card in five minutes, and it would end up looking something like this:

This is a blue card sprayed with a shimmer and a peel-off of a fish added with a peel-off sentiment.  This card cost me 5 minutes in time, and about 30 pence for the peel-offs and a penny for the spray.  The card cost 10 pence.   If I was to charge the minimum uk  rate of pay for making a card, which is about £6.25 per hour then my time would have been 52.8 pence.   If I have to post it to someone that would cost 60 pence (first class).  And finally the cost of my website is £7.00 per month, which works out at 23 pence per day. 

So here is the breakdown:

Time:  5 minutes

Time:        52.8p
Peel-offs: 30p
Spray:      01p
Card:        30p
Website:   23p
Postage:    60p (minimum)


The cost would be £1.96  just for this card. Someone offered me 99p for it!!  For me to make any profit from it I would have to sell it for a minimum of £3.00  giving me a profit of £1.04.  What do I do with my profits?  I order new items to make cards with.

Let me show you another card and it's breakdown of costs:
This one is in my shop selling at £5.50

 So here we have a beautiful Steam Punk designed card.  I have used red card, gold and cream ribbon, orange and red checked textured paper, brown leather effect paper, peel-offs sticky ribbon and a printed image which has been decoupaged.  It took me 35 minutes to make this card.  I have not included the cost of glue or double sided sticky fixers.

I am pricing this out this to show you the ACTUAL cost of making:
Time:           £3.64p
Peel-offs:          45p
Ribbon:               60p
checked paper:    10p
leather paper:     10p
Image:                 80p (to buy and download)
Printing/ink            5p
Photo paper:       60p
Website:               23p
Postage:              60p
The TOTAL cost of making and sending this card to a customer is:   £7.17p
I have made a loss of £1.67  This exercise has not taken into account the cost of an envelope or poly pocket!

My cards are made with the finest of top quality card and embellishments.  I take time to make sure you get the best so that the person receiving your card bought from me will keep it for ever.

This page today is an exercise for me to see where my money and time goes and to share it with those who want to sell cards and don't know how to price them.  My shop cards will be increasing in price very soon because of the cost of buying whether it is me going to a shop to buy items or on-line shopping.   Both costs money.....either car costs or postage costs.

I love making cards, and won't be stopping anytime soon.  If people want to go and buy any card, that's fine with me......if people want beautiful, well thought out, Bespoke cards them I'm your woman for that. 

I hope this is helpful to all you card makers and crafters..........we should not be short changing ourselves just because we like what we do.  We should not be bullied into selling our stuff cheaply for fear that someone else will be cheaper.  Our work has value and I am not prepared to undersell what I make.  Personal cards ordered, and made to requirements will cost just as having clothes made to fit by a tailor would cost.....more than off the shelf!!