Ombre at Simon Says Stamp

I blended some distress inks - Festive Berries, Mustard Seed, Peeled Paint, Evergreen Bough and Wild Honey - through a stencil.  I wanted colours to suit an Autumn birthday.  I decided I didn't want the stencil pattern to be straight so I tilted the stencil a bit before taping it down.

The cute hedgehog is from a Penny Black set 'Paint the Town', coloured with Copics and Inktense Watercolour Pencils.  The sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp 'Happy and Smile' and the sequins are also from Simon Says Stamp.

We are enjoying fabulous Autumn sunshine all this week. Hope it's sunny where you are!

I'd like to enter this card into:

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Ombre

Ger x

Trio of Colours at Simon Says Stamp

Sorry about the dark-ish photo.  I used some Cosmic Shimmer gold spray, and filled a spray bottle with water and added some Brusho paint powder to make a red spray.  Some Tumbled Glass distress ink was then added through a Tim Holtz stencil.  The sentiments are Simon Says Stamp and Hero Arts.

I'd like to enter this into:

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Trio of Colours

Ger x

Personal Planners

Warning: Long post, lots of pictures, and no cards!  If you haven't been infected by Planner Mania yet it might be best to run away. Quite fast. Come back tomorrow when I'll be back to cardmaking :)

Having choked on my morning cuppa at the price of Erin Condren planners, but loving the vertical layout, I discovered Personal Planners.  So many choices! You can choose your front and back cover design (a collage of personal photos, for example), the colour of the elastic strap, the layout, lots of things, but best of all - which month you want your planner to start! You don't have to wait till January.

The customer service from this company is outstanding.  An absolute pleasure to deal with.

There are different sizes of planner from €23.90 to €28.90 (A5, the one I chose)  INCLUDING SHIPPING. Compare that to Erin Condren if you've a strong stomach.

I was told two weeks delivery time and my planner arrived well within that time frame.

I ordered in August, so chose September as the start month and they added a week or so of August so I could start using it as soon as it arrived.

The quality is lovely.  The plastic cover (front and back) is strong and durable and the actual cover is a decent heavyweight glossy card.

I just love the vertical layout, so much easier for me to see what's going on this week, but you can have the more conventional horizontal layout too.

There are tons of choices here - the design at the top of the page (I chose to match the covers), the layout, you can have times running down the page, weather, ruled or not, the colour of the lines, so much choice!

Oh and at this point you can choose the colour of your ruler, I chose clear.  Some people are annoyed the ruler doesn't run the whole length of the page and stick out the top to mark your place.  Doesn't bother me, I just place it so it sticks out the top.  You can 'unzip' it and place it back anywhere.

more choices - what you want at the bottom of the pages.  On the left side I chose To Do lists but there are lots of options.  

On the right I have This Week's Dinners (if I don't plan this dinner becomes a nightly craziness)

I bought some bits to pimp my planner.  Tesco have some cheap n cheerful stuff and the Stickie flag tags repositionable tabs are fantastic for adding pages to your planner - this video explains this much better than I can .  I found mine's in a local office supplies shop

You can also add pages and photographs using the method Roxy shows in this video at 4:00 mins in

Still here?  Then you might as well hear about Pilot Frixion erasable pens.  I bought a set of 3 in Easons reduced to €6.99.  Love these pens, they are so easy to erase.  And they have a clip which means I can store it tidily in the coils of the planner:

Another thing that's included with the planner is a plastic pocket which you can also unzip and place wherever you like in your planner.  Holds whatever bits you want:

there's a load of pages at the back of the planner, you can have maps and I forget what other options, I chose some blank, some squared (pic above) and some ruled.

I forgot to mention the inside cover page which you can also personalise with your name, an inspirational quote, your contact details if the planner is lost, etc.

Oh almost forgot, you can have dates personalised, e.g., all your family and friends birthdays printed into the planner.

While we're on the subject of planners, I'm thinking about getting these gorgeous stamps from Waltzingmouse Stamps

Do you use a planner and enjoy pimping it?  Let me know, I want to visit your blog for a peek!

Ger x

No Squares or Rectangles at Craft for the Craic

It's time for the September challenge at Craft for the Craic and this month we want to see what you've crafted but No Squares or Rectangles, and remember we like to see ANY craft - not just cards or papercrafting so let's see what you've made/baked/crocheted/painted/beaded/knitted - anything crafty.

I die cut two circles, scoring a line on the back piece of card so that the card could 'hinge' open.  I then cut another circle from some brown card.  I cut some 'icing' from some white card and added Wink of Stella glitter pen although it just looks grey in the picture in real life there's a lovely shimmer.

I die cut the holly with a poinsettia die and added 3 red gems for berries, finishing off with some Tim Holtz die cut words coloured red with Festive Berries Distress Ink.

Looking forward to seeing your craftiness this month at Craft for the Craic.

I'd like to enter this into:

Simon Says Stamp Make It Colourful

Ger x

Mid-Month Inspiration at Craft for the Craic

It's time for some mid-month inspiration at Craft for the Craic, and this month we're using a photo as the theme:

I folded some Neenah Desert Storm to make a tent-fold card and added a light purple frame cut with Spellbinders rectangles.  The sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp Happy and Smile stamps set.

I recently ordered some Brusho powder watercolours after watching Jennifer McGuire using them (that Jennifer one has a lot to answer for!) and they are great fun.  I sprinkled some Brusho turquoise and purple on cardstock then sprayed with water.  When the piece was dry, I die cut the butterfly and leaves, and added some sequins.

Check out the rest of the mid month inspiration and Craft for the Craic

I'd like to enter this into:

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Homegrown Summer

Ger x

Mid-Month Inspiration at Craft for the Craic

Summer is the theme at Craft for the Craic, and I made a Birthday card.

I used Simon Says Stamp die Clustered Leaves to cut the leaves from Masking Paper which was stuck to the card, before inking with Hero Arts Bubble Gum. Very satisfying pulling the masking paper off to reveal the result!  Simon Says Stamp set Happy and Smile was used to stamp Happy, and I used the Birthday word from yet another Simon Says Stamp die.  I coloured it with a blue ink pad and then couldn't resist going over it with a Wink of Stella pen.  Some docrafts punched butterflies with more Wink of Stella and sequins, then mounted onto pink card.

Have a look at the rest of the design team's fabulous inspiration Craft for the Craic

I'd like to enter this into:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Sparkle and Shine

Ger x

Summer at Craft for the Craic

It's a Summer theme at Craft for the Craic, and I'm sorry I'm a day late with my post.

I have used Simon Says Stamp Falling Stars stencil with embossing paste which I coloured blue with some distress ink, SSS stamps and Smile die.

Looking forward to seeing your Summer themed creations over at Craft for the Craic

Ger x