Journaling….

Morning Dear Reader, now does the title of the blog strike fear in to you or are you okay with the whole Journaling thing?

I think a lot of the time we over think the whole journaling thing.  Its personal preference really, but i do think its nice that in years to come our great grandchildren will know what our handwriting looks like.  Even if you only write the date and place where the photo was taken, that IS journaling.

A friend of mine had an upsetting incident at a crop day where she was berated by another scrapper, because she choses not to journal on her pages and doesn’t always add a title either.  Now not only do i feel for my friend a public telling off doesn’t help anyone but no one should tell you how you should preserve your memories. 

I am in two camps with my journaling on my traditional pages i rarely journal, i like the photos to do the talking.  But in my mini books and journals i tend to journal a bit more. 

Here are some examples of my journaling.  This is the inside of my Star This and That.  I don’t plan it to any degree i just collect together the photos from that day and any extra bits like tickets, postcards etc.

Then i just start with adding the date on the photos, including the location. And any bits you can remember about the day, such as funny things that were said or something that went wrong.

That is why i like the journals because they are quick to put together i tend to do them either the day after or even the day of the event {depends on if Boots are open ; ) }

My quick tips are the same as when we had to do comprehension at primary school :)

When, Where, Who and What.

very simple but gives you enough details to create a great page.

I hope that helps, or maybe it was just me waffling again.

Until next time

Ttfn

Charlie x

Star This and That Book

Good Morning Dear Reader, i hope that this post finds you well?  I think i am doing pretty well with blogging all month.  So last week i said that i had had two this and that books that had sat unloved until inspiration struck, and once i had done the first one i had to do the other for my girls and all the days out that we have planned this year.

Now like most small people my girls are slightly obsessed with the film Frozen so maybe i was channelling the film a little with my colour scheme. 

 

But of course i didn’t want to cover it with snowflakes so i went with Stars, some of these stars are from the simply stars stamp set, another is from the perfect pennants stamp set, I also punched some stars and inked through with versamark ink. I heat embossed the stars using silver and pewter embossing powder and also in iridescent powder.  I used gorgeous grunge and some of the SU light blues to build the background again over a white craft ink base.

Here are some close up’s

 

I love how the different powders catch the light in different ways.

Until next time

Ttfn

Charlie.x

Pssst….

Good Morning Dear Reader, thank goodness its Friday i am so ready for the weekend, and another Friday means its nearer to Summer and no school runs!!

So on to todays card, i am showing a card today which uses a sentiment that is in the retirement list form Stampin’ Up! Watercolour Wonder.

Pssst…. i just love that! It could be used for so many different occasions in this case to say happy birthday to my younger brother, who would have thought that a floral set would be used on a male birthday card?! I have pared it with the Word Bubbles framelit dies.  How did i get the borders on the speech bubbles surely i didn’t draw them freehand?! Well what i did was once i had cut the shapes instead of pushing them out straight away i drew round the inside of the dies thus creating the perfectly sized border.

Until next time

Ttfn

Charlie x

WOYWW June 25th 2014

Morning Dear Reader, just a quick one from me this morning to partake in the huge worldwide desk snoop that is WOYWW

here’s my desk last night…….nothing has changed this morning

and nothing will all day as we have a new fridge coming…..hence the fridge in my rough and ready craft room …. and then family over for dinner so the room of craft will be empty today. sniff.

My craft room is in the process of being built the walls have been prepped but as we have a party next month we not moving on to the next very messy stage of insulation so that it is tidy and usable for the party.

I hope to get around the other blogs this evening

Until next time

Ttfn

Charlie x

Love and Sympathy {Tutorial}

Happy Monday Dear Reader, I hope that the new week finds you well?  I am looking forward to a day crafting with my lovely friend Sue.

Today i am sharing the tutorial for the sympathy card that i shared yesterday, It is not a picture heavy post as it is quite a simple card.

So to create your background matt for your image use a clear block as your stamp, this is a great way to add a layer of colour without adding an extra layer of cardstock.

I hope you liked the tutorial, i would appreciate any feedback on my tutorials if you would like  to send me feedback then please comment below or email me at craftylittlemoo@hotmail.co.uk

Many thanks

Until next time

Ttfn

Charlie x

Love and Sympathy …..

Hello Dear Reader, i hope you are having a good weekend?

We are having a quiet one this weekend as next month we have something planned for every weekend, with carnivals, birthdays and the Tour du France coming through the town, we are going to be busy busy busy!

Now onto todays card, the swap that i host on ILWS had the theme of Sympathy this month.

It is a horrible subject but unfortunately we all have to deal with sadness and loss at some point in our lives, so it stands that at some point we will need a sympathy card. I don’t enjoy the reason for needing the card so i make them in advance and have a small selection scurried away, however i actually like making a card that will need to go to someone at the most horrible time in their lives to let them know i am thinking of them.

I tend to make my sympathy cards in muted colours and pare down the ‘fussiness’ so that the thought behind the card is what is the main focus.

I used the Love and Laughter stamp set for this and i will post the tutorial of how to make it tomorrow.

Until next time

ttfn

Charlie x

My Friday Night Plans………

Good Morning Dear Reader; i do hope that you are well? I thought i would share a quick post of my Friday night plans….

Football is on {again!} tonight so my Friday night plans are the same as my Tuesday night plans……cos i’m so glamorous! lol I have borrowed my daughters mini dvd player the last few nights so that i can watch what i like while Mr.C watches the football. {this photo was taken on Tuesday}
What are your plans for tonight, are you watching the football or avoiding it like i am?
Until next time
Ttfn
Charlie.x

Papaya Collage This and That Book

Morning Dear Reader, i hope that this post finds you well?

A few weeks ago me and Mr.C went on a trip to London, a mini break if you will {how grown up!} and we took lots of photos, we couldn’t believe our luck a night away just the two of us for the first time since our honeymoon!  Anyway i needed some thing to put my photos into, so i turned to my this and that book.  Now i have had two this and that books since they come out and i kept looking at them and inspiration didn’t strike but all of a sudden i had a plan for this one!

And here it is

I wanted it to have a romantic feel so i went for grungey – vintage.  I did a lot of work on this cover and i didn’t plan things too strictly i just went with the flow. Starting with the cover, I covered it in white craft ink to give me a good base then i started sponging with various brown inks before getting out the stamps. I layered image over image and some i even heat embossed.

It took time but i really love it, i finished off the spine by tying knots of ribbon around the binding.

I hope you like it now i just have to fill it : )

Until next time

Ttfn

Charlie.x

Blended Bloom {tutorial}

Morning Dear Reader, hope the start of this new week finds you well? Today i am sharing with you a photo tutorial of the card that i shared yesterday.

So here we go…..

This is the card that we are doing today, it uses the new blended blooms stamp from Stampin’ Up! which will be available when the new catalogue launches in July, but you could substitute with any large flower. First i stamped the image in staz on 6 times on Whisper White cardstock.

I like to watercolour but without the mess; the easiest way to do this is to squeeze your inkpad when its closed so that some of the ink goes on to the lid and when you open it this is your pallet.

Watercolour the flowers; but you don’t need to watercolour all of the flowers completely.  On the lowest layer just watercolour all of the furthest out petals, then just colour the next layer in, and so on and so forth.

I hope you liked the tutorial

Until next time

Ttfn

Charlie x

Blended Bloom

Morning Dear Reader, i hope you are having a good weekend? Sunday’s for me mean PJ’s i love my PJ’s and to be comfy and warm.

So as you may know Stampin’ Up! have a new catalogue coming launching next month, and a very dear friend let me play with one of the new stamps that are on the way.

This card also has a sneak peak of another new product, can you guess what it is?

Tomorrow i will be back with a tutorial of how i put this card together

Until next time

Ttfn

Charlie x

Card Candy–Zoo Babies

Happy Friday Dear Reader, are you like me very much in need of the weekend? We have had a hectic few days with my birthday yesterday and lots of the girls bits so i am looking forward to not doing much over the weekend.

Its Friday the 13th today do you go in for all the suppositious stuff that comes along with today? I think that its worrying about it makes mistakes happen and it has nothing to do with the date.

Any way on to today’s project,

 

Recently i took part in a swap for card candy organised on the forum ILWS, card candy are small toppers that focus on one stamp set in my case i chose Zoo Babies.

I also used the gorgeous Hardwood stamp-set as my background.  Zoo Babies is one of my favourite sets and i use it so much it is very versatile for baby cards and children’s cards.

Until next time

Ttfn

Charlie.xx

Baroque Thank You Notecard {Photo Tutorial}

Hello Dear Reader, i am back today with the photo tutorial for the card that i shared yesterday.  This will be picture heavy so grab a cup of something yummy, for me todays its Fortnum’s Darjeeling Bop.  Here we go ….

Now as this is a one layer card and we want to use only half of some of the images we need to make a mask on the card.  The easiest way to do this is with post it notes.  Place the post its along the crease of the notecard.

Finish off with a little bling, i just randomly popped some rhinestones on there was no grand plan just where they looked right.

I hope that you enjoyed that tutorial, it is a very quick card i managed to knock up 8 in about half an hour.

Well until next time

ttfn

Charlie. x

Baroque Thank You Notecard

Good morning Dear Reader, do hope that you are well. A few weeks ago i needed a load of thank you cards, so i used the notecards and envelopes from Stampin’ Up! i like to have these on standby for when i need thank you cards as they’re a nice size and lovely smooth cardstock.

 

This is a one layer card i like doing these multi layered stamping cards they have lots of depth created by the different stamps but none of the bulk of traditional layers so they are perfect for posting.

The colour scheme is Sahara Sand, Baked Brown Sugar, Costal Cabana, and Bermuda Bay. The stamp sets used are gorgeous grunge {one of my favourites!} off the grid, beautifully baroque and lots of thanks for the sentiments.

I hope you like this card i will be back tomorrow with a photo tutorial showing just how to create it.

Until next time

ttfn

Charlie.xx

Burlap and Blooms Wreath

Good Morning Dear Reader; Hope that you are well?

Today i am sharing something a little different with you, its a wreath made with the kit from the Stampin’ Up! seasonal catalogue, but i have made a few tweaks to it.

I wrapped my burlap ribbon around a foam wreath from the craft store, the kit comes with a cardboard one but i wanted a more dimensional wreath than that.  I also stretched the flowers out a bit more by not layering them up quiet so much.  I also used pins to attach the flowers to the wreath, pin heads that would be showing as the centre of a flower i used pearl headed pins.  I also added more pearls to the centres of some of the flowers. It was really enjoyable to do as i could just switch off and glue it together.

Until Next time

Ttfn

Charlie. x

WOYWW June 4th 2014

Hello Dear Reader and WOYWW’ers; it has been a while since i joined in with WOYWW but i love the weekly nose through peoples desks and workspaces so even though i haven’t posted myself for a while i have still been having a nose at everyone else’s :)

So here’s my mess, sorry i mean desk!

Bit of everything going on here today, my youngest started ballet a few weeks ago but the tutu skirt keeps slipping down so I’ve taken it in a bit {4inches!} so that it doesn’t keep ending up around her ankles! You can also see some patchwork that i am doing for my eldest with tildas fabric, but i am having to unpick it as i cant get anymore of the fabric so i am going to change it up a bit and add some other blue toned fabrics into the mix. 

Well i guess i should attempt to tidy up a bit :)

Until next time

ttfn

Charlie x

Stippled Blossom Birthday Card {Photo Tutorial}

Good Morning Dear Reader, today i thought that i would share some thing a little different for me a photo tutorial of the card that i shared yesterday. Now this is a picture heavy post, so grab a cup of your favourite drink and settle in. 


So to start you will need a card base that has been layered with a card stock layer and a layer of DSP.  I used a Baked Brown Sugar card base, a So Saffron layer and Baked Brown Sugar DSP from the in colour paper stack.

Then on Whisper White card stock stamp your flowers and leaves and ‘fussy cut’ them out.
I used So Saffron For the large roses and Crushed Curry for the smaller flowers and Pear Pizzazz for the leaves.  To create the tones i ‘stamped off’ before stamping the first layer.  Stamping off is when you ink the stamp and stamp some of that ink off on a spare bit of paper before stamping on your cards stock.  For the second layer i just stamped straight on to the first layer after inking.  This meant that i didn’t have to worry about matching colours for the details.

Stamp the greeting on a banner piece and roll one end and swallow tail the other.
My strip was 1.5cm and was 4inchs long {i know mixed units but it works for me lol} I stamped the greeting in Baked Brown Sugar.

Adhere the larger leaves to one of the roses.
I used snail adhesive.

Then adhere the greeting banner to the roses and leaves with the top leaves over lapping slightly.

Now we are ready to assemble.
This is how i make all my cards i always get everything ready first then all i have to do i stick them together.


By adhering the first rose flat and the next rose on 3D foam means that you get some dimension on the card.



And that’s the card finished…..all ready to send.
I hope that my tutorial was clear as it was my first i would appreciate any feed back that you have.
Until next time
ttfn
Charlie. x