Penny Black Miniatures

Hi peeps, I just wanted to put these few cards on quickly. I know I've been the world's worst blogger, not visiting you all nearly as much as I should, and I'm not going to make my usual excuse about time running away (even though it is) cause I'm sure you're all in the same boat. One day I might get time to just sit blogging, hmmm, how long till I retire?!!!

I'm making a whole batch of these two miniature cards for my daughter to take to work to give to her friends. They measure 3 1/2" square and are so quick to do (I like that). The stamps are both from a Penny Black Critters set, cute ain't they?

I'm really into my Prisma colour pencils again and have been adding loads to my collection, I've only got another 35 to get to have

the full set. I just love the depth of colour you get with them (oops, sorry if I'm repeating myself, I'm sure I've said that before, but it's so true). The little sentiment stamp is one I had from a HoTP TSV I got

from QVC ages ago. It

was just the right size. The base card has a nice linen texture to it. So there you have them, more clean and simple.

Nearly forgot this one. It's another slight variation of my previous Elzybells cards. Just a different layout. The snowflakes I love. I found some fab Diamond Dust Twinklets on Joanna Sheen's website. They give such a wonderful crunchy, sparkly effect to the punched snowflake, I can really recommend this stuff.

Long Time No Post

Hi folks, it's been such a long time since I last posted. I've been trying to get my Christmas cards finished. I've done quite a few of the same card this year instead of trying to do lots of individual ones.

Here's a few I've done recently:

Ok, I know this isn't a Christmas card, but I thought I'd show it anyway. It was for my sister's birthday.

Clean and simple has become my favourite style and I think this fabulous image by Rubber Romance fits the bill perfectly, a very elegant lady don't you think? The background text is also a RR stamp and I matted the main image onto a nestie scalloped rectangle. The sentiment is from Clare Curd's signature range.

This next one is done with Elzybells stamps. The Eskimo has be

en coloured with Prisma pencils. I added some cotton wool balls to look like snowballs (I decided that I didn't really like them, so took them off and replaced with a snowflake).

Another clean and simple. I bought this tree stamp at the NEC, I really love it, especially with the sparkly glitter on the branches (sorry if this doesn't come across well on the photo).

I used a Marvy LePlume pen for the image and then added some very fine glitter with a Sakura glue pen. I mounted it onto some black card and then onto some lovely textured cardstock. The sentiment is from HoTP which was from a QVC set. This is so quick and easy to do, I love doing this one.

And finally, I've got myself a new toy. I've wanted one of these for ages and really stressed over whether a Cricut or Silhouette was the best one to get. I've seen so many comments about how hard the Silhouette is to use and that it's cutting ability limited. I finally took the plunge and bought a second hand Silhouette from E-bay. I got myself a new blade and cutting mat and it's like brand new.

It set up like a dream and I have to say that I have found it really easy to use. I've cut silver and gold mirror card, Coredinations and SU cardstock with no problems at all. I love this machine

My new baby:

And this is what I've done on it. I got to admit to blatant plagiarism here. I pinched the idea for these from Julie. I have long admired Julie's cards, she is so talented. If you get chance, follow the link to her blog and take a look. You'll be wowed by her creations. I really wanted to have a go at doing something useful on my new machine (up till now I've just been experimenting with what it would cut and how to use it). I cut the letters out in gold using my Silhouette, the font is called College Halo. First, I did them in gold only, but I wasn't keen on this, the card looked a bit bland, so I cut the letters out again to layer up. The gorgeous snowflake was a free download from the Silhouette blog. I did try a bit of ribbon on the bottom but it didn't look right, so again I pinched Julie's layout by adding some pearls (I hope she doesn't mind).

Well, now you know what I've been up to. That's it for now. Hope you're all getting on well with your Christmas cards and I hope to catch up with some blog hopping soon. X