About Me

My photo
Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom
I have been crafting since May 2008, when in desperation to find an unusual birthday card for my Mum, I gave up looking in the shops and decided to have a go at making my own. I soon realised that crafting is addictive and I haven't brought a card since. In 2011 I completed my certificate in papercrafting as a result of the work I did as part of the course I started entering challenges on line and in magazines. I applied for design teams and also started making samples for Ooh La La Creations for their shows on Create and Craft. I have now completed my Diploma in professional crafting and most recently been runner up in the Papercrafter of the Year 2013 a competition run by Papercraft essentials magazine, I don't have a particular style I like to use elements from lots of styles and techniques, although I do love all things vintage. In 2014 I started to move more towards scrapbooking to take care of the huge family archive of photographs that were stored in my attic. I have continued cardmaking and Scrapbooking through 2015 and 2016 but have also become interested in off the page projects. I hope to be able focus on these in the future.

Monday 20 August 2012

OLL Design Team All at Sea

Well hopefully the scheduler has worked and you are getting to read this. I am away for a week partaking in the Annual Beatles Convention in Liverpool, so I have turned back the clock and gone into 1960's mode.

I have to say we had some beautiful entries in the Oriental challenge and the worthy winners can be seen on the Ooh La La Creations Challenge Blog. Well done to you all. This time Anne has set us the challenge of being All at Sea. So without further ado here is my design team creation.


I used elements from two different CD's in the Ooh La La range to create this card and whilst on the surface they do not make natural bedfellows I am really pleased with the way they work together. The papers are from the Kiddiwinks CD. I cut them at an angle to add interest to the background, and added peel off borders to highlight the edges. The Image is from the Femme Fatale CD, I resized the image in My Craft Studio and added the text before printing it off and mounting it at an angle to the card. 

To finish off I added some sea shell embellishments. I had a peel off sheet with several different sea shells on so I peeled them off, put them onto pearlised paper and cut them out before adding them to the card.





Tuesday 14 August 2012

It was 50 years ago today ........

Well that's not quite true it will be 50 years ago on Saturday 18th August that saw the first appearance of The Beatles with the line up that took them to the 'Toppermost of the Poppermost' but I will be too busy getting ready for the 50th Anniversary concert at Hulme Hall on the Wirral the same venue the Beatles played 'All Thise Years Ago' to blog so I am posting this early. I am lucky to count amongst my friends the lads who are carrying on the Beatles Legacy in my Home City as the resident Beatles Tribute Band in The Cavern Club.

Not only are they playing at the Anniversary Concert mentioned above but they have a very busy schedule ahead with various 50th Anniversaries happening next week and then culminating in the Finale Concert for International Beatleweek in the City on August Bank Holiday Monday. This will be the first time this line up have played together on a big theatre stage when they play the Philharmonic Hall, and I couldn't let the occasion pass without a little memento from me.

For the past few weeks I have been attending as many of their performances in The Cavern as I can to get just the right photographs for my project. I have printed off a rain forest of backing paper and used miles of double sided tape but I can unveil the finished result - possibly the most complicated card I have ever made due to the sheer number of elements involved.





The card is based around a poem I had written about the band and why I think they are so great there are a number of in jokes included. I made each panel separately and there are several hidden references to various Beatles songs some more obvious than others. I photographed all the panels individually, before sticking them to the base card.












The card will be delivered to The Philharmonic Hall so they can open it before they go on for the show. The only photos of the real Beatles in the whole card are the ones on the next to last panel, which gives you some idea of just how good look-a-likes these guys are but as the saying goes looks aren't everything, they really do suspend reality during their shows because they play and sound like the real Beatles. If you want to check out the claim you can see them in action in this video recorded at one of their Saturday shows in the Live Music Lounge at the Cavern Club.

I am entering this in the following Challenge
http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.co.uk/ - Anything goes linky party

Monday 6 August 2012

OLL DT Oriental Challenge

Hello, after what seems to have been the longest weekend I have ever had to work but I have fathomed that I only have six working days left now before my summer break. Which I am really looking forward to. 

Once again we had some fabulous creations for the last recipe challenge and the worthy winners can be seen on this mornings blog post right before the latest challenge at Ooh La La Creations Challenge Blog 

Anne has challenged us to produce something with an Oriental theme and for me this meant cherry blossoms here is my card.


The gorgeous image is from the Teentastique CD as are the backing papers and the happy birthday sentiment. I mounted the Cherry blossom paper onto pink pearlised card and then added a strip of pink patterned paper to one edge. The sentiment and the image were mounted on blue peralised card and secured to the base card.

I used a 'Kreasions' die to create the Orchid which was cut from pearlised paper and inked using distress ink whilst they were still in the die. I also used 'Kreasions' dies for the leaves which again were inked whilst still in the die. 



I used a small flower punch to punch out all the Cherry blossoms from a piece of pink paper and then stuck each one individually onto the card, before adding the centres using pearlised paint.



I am entering this card in the following Challenges 
http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.co.uk/ Anything Goes linky party