New Blog

Sorry I haven't been here much. I have finally updated and added a blog to my Cards By Carly website. Take a look and see what you think!

Cards by Carly Blog

Lili of the Valley Blog Challenge - "Thank you"

This week I have manage to get myself organised and enter the Lilli of the Valley Challenge. I absolutely love their stamps and have used The Little Things stamp which is adorable, it can be used for anniversary, thank you's or just blank card. I added some Marianne die cuts to the top and a bunch of paper flowers at the top of the stamped image.

For the sentiment I used Whimsy magical mini letter seals and cut out using my nestabilities. The stamped image was coloured and finished off with distress inks around the edge.

Happy Sunday!

Carly
xx

Back to School

We have had a fairly chilled week this week, Isobel has had her first couple of sleepovers which have resulted in late nights and a grumpy look for the last half of the week! I also decided to brave the school shoe shopping which actually managed to be fairly painless, we only tried on 3 pairs of shoes! She was very excited as the pair we decided on were Lelli Kelli's which come with this super duper amazing make up set, those marketing people are very clever aren't they!!

This week I received my Little Darlings stamps which I have already used, I love them! On this card I have used Little Darlings First Bell Stamp which is soooo cute! I coloured her and cut her out using nestabilities.
I used distress ink pads to colour around the edge.

I used a butterfly sentiment "Love & Laughter" which has been coloured with distress inks and a few paper flowers on the edges to finish off the card.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:

I Love ProMarkers - Sketch

Little Darlings Challenge - School Days

Happy Sunday!

Carly
xx

Time Flies!

Happy Sunday evening to you! Time really seems to be flying at the moment, The week goes by so quickly whilst the children are at home and then when I finally think I have 5 minutes to chat I end up doing my chores! Still I have managed to get them all done this evening so I am up to date....finally.
We have been enjoying a couple of days celebrations for John birthday which is tomorrow. We went out for a lovely Indian meal last night which some close friends which was very enjoyable! I was hoping to get some of my new stamps put to good use today but we ended up going to the local pub for our roast and taking Isobel off to her horse riding lesson, which she seems to be really enjoying!
I do have a card to show you though which I hope you like....I decided to use the love bug Magnolias for an anniversary card for my sister in law. I used my nestabilities for the background and so old ribbon I have in my ribbon box, which was probably from my local craft shop, they do fabulous ribbons!

The sentiment is from Whimsy Stamps collection. I added a few gems to finish off the card.

I took a trip to Hobbycraft on Saturday to see if I can find some new paper and they had a sale on a couple of their collections (which was a bad thing), I ended up spending more than I should but it make me happy! :-)

Carly
xx

Random Winner!

I am so excited, I won my first ever challenge, I know it's random but I am so pleased! I hope everyone liked looking at my Christmas theme card, I have managed to make a couple more this week, which I will try and put on here soon.
So....summer is here, although the weather can't decide what it's doing, one minute it hot and stuffy the next I need my jumper! The kids have been off school for 3 whole days.....only 28 more to go! We have done a few things already but I am slightly concerned with the lack of events I have planned this summer, we aren't heading off for a holiday but we have a couple of days in Somerset at the end of the month which seems like a lifetime away at the moment.
Isobel was out today so I did manage to get the creative flow going and made this card. I used my ProMarkers for the colouring, as always and I used my fabulous card from first editions paper pack - Spring Feast. I used Nestabilities for the Gorjus Stamp image to be placed on using 3D foam pads. I added some sparkle for the shoes and cute heart in her hair. I finished off th card with some lovely paper flowers and Whimsy Sentiment Stamp.

I am entering this design in to the following challenges this week:

I love ProMarkers - Anything Goes

Little Darlings - Girly

Carly
xx

Christmas Time!

I have been a very busy bee this month, Isobel finished school yesterday for the summer holidays so we have been doing various activities at school, sports day, cake sale etc. I was asked by the PTA to make the Thank you cards for the teachers wo I have been busy making cards which hedgehogs and moles on the front! which has taken some time. I have also been organising Jack's naming day which is next weekend, which seems to finally be in control!! So I have managed to spend a couple of hours making a few cards one of which is below.
I thought it was about time I started on Christmas, I have left it a bit late this year but hopefully I will be able to catch up! I found one of my old Woodware stamps and came across this cute fairy so I though I would start with this one. the paper is from My Mind's Eye - Lime Twist and the fabulous Ribbon Doilies which I have coloured in red using the distressed ink pad.

I added the sentiment from a collection of Sentiment stamps I have. They are all for different occasions and all fabulous!

I am entering this card into the following challenges:

I Love ProMarkers - Christmas in July!

Little Darlings - Button, Brads or Eyelets

I hope you like it!

Carly

xx

Lili of the Valley - Donaldas Sketch

John has been in Spain so I have had a couple of night to make some cards with out too much distraction! I decided to enter the Lili of the Valley challenge with the card below. I made this using my fabulous Magnolia stamp. I coloured her using my Pro Markers.

The sentiments are from Craftwork Cards and the flowers and charms just finish the bold look off.

I shall be adding a few more cards tomorrow which I hope you will pop by to take a peek at!

Carly
xx

Lili of the Valley Blog Challenge!

This last week has been another busy one.....getting lots of DIY work completed on the house, hopefully so we can start the renting process in August (fingers crossed)! I have been mainly painting doors and my Dad has been doing the rest.....I have tried to fit in a little relaxation time making a couple of cards....

This card is a unisex new baby card, I used my Lili of the Valley - baby blanket stamp which I have coloured using my ProMarkers I used my new Whimsy Stamps - Magical Mini Letter Seals which I am loving at the moment. I used some really cute ribbon at the bottom which I had left over from a project.

I am entering this card into the following challenge:

Lili of the Valley - Celebration

I hope you like it! See you again.

Carly
xx

Relaxing Time!

I have been spending the last couple of days catching up on my household chores, I seem to be slipping further and further behind! My ironing pile was definitely have won a largest pile competition!
I did get a trip out last night with the mum's from school, we organised to go the the theatre and see "Tell Me On A Sunday" starring Claire Sweeney, she was very good and her voice was fabulous although the story was a little depressing!
I have been getting a bit of time in with my new stamps. The stamps in my design today is from SCADC - Spa Time Fairy. I love this stamp, this is the first time I have used it but I think I will have many more designs with this one!

The card I have used is from My Mind's Eye Lime Twist. I used my ProMarkers to colour this stamp and added a Spellbinders die cut which I stamped the image on.

I shall be entering this card design in to the following challenge;

I Love ProMarkers - Include Flowers on Your Card

I shall be back soon with some more designs for you to take a peek at!

Carly

xx

Gardening for a Special Friend

We have been busy this week organising the house, all those things you don't get round to doing and you end up living with them for years....well the Baker household has been tackling those with the hope to move in September! So my house will look fab and someone else with be living with it!

I have mainly been making the tea, lunches and taking the green waste to the recycling centre! So I thought it appropriate to use my gardening tilda To make a "Special Friend" card...

I coloured the image with my ProMarkers, I embossed the green card with a sizzix flower style (the name, I can not remember, will have the check that!) The stamps are Whimsy sentiment stamps and I used the Marianne Design create die "Swirls".

 

I am entering this card into the following challenges; 

Little Darlings - Any Colour Combo

I Love ProMarkers - Anythings Goes

I shall be back soon with more card designs and hopefully some news on my new website.....watch this space!!

Carly

xx

Naming Day Celebrations

This weekend has been a busy one.....we spent Saturday having a gardening party! This meant inviting my parents over to help sort out our back garden! The beds were looking a little worn, we still have leaves in the beds which has been there since the autumn (I am not a keen gardener!) but even I was feeling it was about time to sort them out! So two trips to the recycling centre later we managed to get rid of all the yucky stuff in the garden and planted some plants, shrubs and put up some trellis and we are almost done! Still a few more things to finish off but a well spent Saturday! Now we just have some maintenance to complete in the house (my husband is fab with computers but useless with DIY, he won't mind me saying!) So I call upon my Dad to save the day! Hopefully the house will have all those things you live with for years sorted soon!
We spent our Sunday celebrating our Niece's first birthday and naming day.....the kids enjoyed the bouncy castle and party food whilst the adults enjoyed the BBQ and drinks! We had a lovely day and Maddie was looking very cute in her beautiful dress and seems t love every minute of the attention is was getting! So back to the normal week now, with chores and school runs but I did manage to order some new stamps and ProMarkers today! I shall show you more when they arrive!

Today I have made a wedding card, as it is the season......I stuck with my Magnolia wedding stamp and coloured it with my ProMarkers, in case you don't already know I loooove this stamp! I used paper from the first edition paper pack - spring feast.

 

I used my Whimsy stamp maintenance again, I can't get away from it, it seems to go with every card I make at the moment! I then added some lace trim, gems and three little flowers at the bottom.

I am hoping to add some videos of my colouring onto the blog soon so hopefully over the next week I will have mastered the videoing and then be able to add them.

Carly

xx

Black, White and One Other Colour Challenge!

Evening, today I have been busy completing my chores! Don't you just hate them but they must be done.....I rewarded myself with making a few cards...I was suppose to make a naming day card but I coloured this stamped image a while ago and decided it would be fab for the I Love ProMarkers challenge.

I love this image from Magnolia "bride and bridesmaid". The sentiment is from Whimsy stamps. The paper is doodlebug, the card is finishes off with some sheer white ribbon, flowers and gems.

Hopfully I shall get around to making the namin day card tomorrow!

Carly
xx

Lazy Summer Days!

I have spent the last couple of days making a photo book for my niece for her time capsule, she will open it when she is 18, she is 1 on Monday! My card making has been sidelined for this but I have been able to make this card for the Little Darlings Challenge. I have made the card using a Little Darlings stamp. I used a lot of my spare card/papers, ribbon and buttons. The sentiment is Whimsy stamps "Cherish the moment". 

I hope you like my design and hopefully I will have more time now to make some more!

Carly
xx

Lili of the Valley Challenge Entry

I have spent some of today organising my stamps and I realised I just don't have enough! Don't tell my  husband! But I do think this stamp is lovely so decided to use this card for my entry to the LOV challenge.

I have used the LOV baby blanket stamp and coloured using my pro markers. I really love the backing paper used here, it is from first edition paper pack - up and away. The scallop edge layer and sentiment are from craftwork cards.  have finished off the card with a flower and button and a little charm which says "made with love" and a few gems around the scallop stamped image.

I hope you like my card, I hope to be back with a few more designs tomorrow!

Carly
xx

Weekend Away!

Evening....I have been a busy bee this weekend, I went to the New Forest with a group of girlie friends for a get away/birthday weekend, we had a fab time, walking along the coast, found a pub or two along the way! and enjoying the sunshine. It is always the weekends that seem to fly by but the weeks seem to go so slowly.

I did mange to get some colouring into my trip though, I just need to make up a few cards now! That is a job for tomorrow!

Carly
xx

ProMarkers Challenge Blog

I have been busy working on my entry for the ProMarkers challenge blog I came across this website this morning and I very excited about taking part in the challenges. The design team look amazing! Here is my entry......

I used a Magnolia stamp "Congratulations Tilda" and coloured it with my Promarkers - canary, saffron, tulip yellow and buttercup for the dress and then aubergine, purple, amethyst, orchid and lilac for the present and hat.

The backing paper is from basic grey "hello luscious" 6x6 paper pack. I added a few flowers and gems to the design. The sentiment is from the whimsy stamp birthday sentiments collection.

Now I need to sort out my stamps and ProMarkers for the weekend. I am off with a bunch of girlies to the New Forest for a surprise birthday weekend. I hope to get some colouring done as well!

Carly
xx

Birthday instead of Wedding!!

I  spent this morning sorting out my craft boxes and came across my die cutters, which I haven't used in a while. I decided to have a go at making a birthday card using an elephant die cut I bought a while ago. A fabulous crafter/artist, Jane Allen made me a topper with this elephant and I loved it so much! I have made my own design which I hopes gives the elephant credit!

I used basic grey "marjolaine" paper pack and first editions paper pack "Up and Away" for the backing paper. The elephant is coloured using distress inks. I used my whimsy stamp birthday sentiments (I love those stamps!!)

I love this card, it was nice to do something I haven't done in a while......hopefully I will get back to my promarker colouring tomorrow!!

Carly
xx

Happy Rainy Sunday!

I have returned fro my trip away to Spain, the weather was a bit like here really, we did have one very hot day, which was spent by the pool with a good book! I have also enjoyed my birthday this week from which I got some lovely new Magnolia stamps which I have already starting using......the card below was made with the Tilda birthday stamp. I decided to make an easel style birthday card with her so she really stands out on the card.

I used my ProMarkers to colour Tilda, I used some fabulous sparkly card from first editions paper pack - Spring Feast. I added my Whimsy stamp birthday sentiment on the top and bottom of the card and added an organza ribbon bow and some flower to give it a bit more sparkle!

Hopefully I will be able to start on my wedding card this evening and pop that up tomorrow for you to take a look! Enjoy the last evening of half term!

Carly
xx

The Long Weekend!

I am looking forward to the next couple of days, John and I are off to Spain with out the children!! I am so excited, I might actually turn these pasty white legs to a decent colour! Before I leave I did have to make one more birthday card which one of my new stamps.
The stamps is from Lili of the Valley, the backing paper is from Marjolaine 6x6 Paper Pad.
I coloured the stamp using my Pro Markers and some stickles for the wings.

I used my Whimsy Stamps birthday sentiments and added some gems down the edge of the crochet ribbon.

I hope you like the cards. I shall be back in a few days. Have a lovely bank holiday weekend.

Carly
xx

Little Darlings Competition!

I got my stamp this morning which I wanted to use for the Little Darlings challenge competition, I stopped tidying the kitchen and started to make my card!
I decided to use a few colours, mainly blue, green and yellow but I also added a splash of red.

The LD stamp is soooo cute, I have added a birthday sentiment from the Whimsy stamp "Birthday letter seals". The lace down the edge is from Love to Stamp.

I hope you like it!

Carly
xx

Happy Tuesday! I have been a busy bee over the last couple of days, trying to get the house and washing!! organised for our trip to Spain. John and I are going for a few days whit out the kids, which will be blissful...although I will miss them but they will be having a fab time with family. I have made a new baby girl card for a friend.....I used the same stamp as the baby boy card a couple of days ago, from Lili of the valley "Baby Blanket". The background paper is from First Edition paper pack - Spring Feast. I used a Nellie Snellen die for the pink and white edging and adding pearls to the end gave it a lovely finish.

Have a happy Wednesday!

Carly
xx

Today has mostly been spent with Isobel and Jack, we have played a lot in the garden today as the weather has been so nice!....I did manage to get some card making time in the afternoon....I made my niece's first birthday card.

I used my magnolia tilda sitting stamp for this card, I coloured using my pro markers. the background paper is from first editions paper pack - spring feast. I use on of my "made with love" charms, which I attached using a button. The sentiment is one of my new whimsy stamps - birthday letter seals.

Hopefully the card will be well received! Now I just have to make something to go into my niece's time capsule, this is a tradition started for my daughter and every child since that comes into the family gets a time capsule made by friends and family, which will be opened on their 18th birthday!

Carly
xx

Blue Baby Boy

Today has been a bit busy.....I have been helping out with Isobel's school recipe book this morning, we donated "Yummy Scrummy Scones" recipe to the book, now all the recipes have to be put in index order....that's my job for the weekend!!!
Hopefully I will get some time in between to use my new stamps which I am hoping will arrive here tomorrow (please Mr Postman!)

I did manage to finish my new baby boy card.....The stamp is from Lili of the Valley called "Baby Blanket". I coloured the stamp using my pro markers. I really love the backing paper used here, it is from first edition paper pack - up and away. The scallop edge layer and sentiment are from craftwork cards.  have finished off the card with a flower and button and a liitle charm which says "Made with love" and a few gems around the scallop stamped image.

I hope you like my design.......I am hoping to put them up on the new website soon, there has been a bit of a delay with this due to my sickness but hopefully it will be ready soon!

Carly
xx

Magnolia Stamping

Evening.....I have been busy today (mainly juggling my housework and crafting)....guess which won!

I bought this beautiful Magnolia stamp a while ago but I have only just had the chance to use it! I coloured the image using my promarkers. The sentiments are from craftwork cards. I used a few of my left over papers from other projects and manage to fit them together to make this card.

I have ordered some new stamps from Love to stamp which hoepfully will arrive soon. I can't wait to give them a whirl!

Carly
xx

Lili of the Valley Stamp

I ordered some new stamps a few weeks ago from Lili of the valley, which are really cute. This stamp is called Rosie with presents. I have coloured the image in using my promarkers, as you can probably see I am still learning the techniques but have come on a bit since my first attempt! The background paper I have used is from the V&A Hanoverian Linen paper pack and I added some paper flowers and pearls. The sentiment is from Craftwork cards which I think look really cute.

I am going to try and add a new card image every couple of days......I hope you enjoy looking at them.



Carly
xx

I have returned!

I feel like I have been away for so long - John and I took a trip to Spain to visit friends how have set up a restaurant there. It was a lovely week and the food at the new restaurant is AMAZING....although we are biased as Alan is a good friend of John's but we always knew he was a fantastic chef! I would definitely recommend a visit if you are near Moraira...the restaurant is called Ca Pepe (www.ca-pepe.com).

Well since that trip I have been spending a lot of time lying on the sofa or my comfy bed and We found out that we are expecting our third child (Yes, really!), our plan was to stick at two but I guess life sometimes knows better!! I suffer badly with the morning/night/24 hour sickness so I haven't been doing a thing since the beginning of March.

I am now feeling a bit better and (touch wood) on the way to being my normal self. I am hoping to get started on some new designs for my cards next week as the website is getting a bit of a make over...hopefully I will post next week with some new cards!

General chit chat

Evening.....I have been a busy bee since my last post. I have been colouring in with my copics, trying to work out which colours I need to buy at the make it show in Farnborough at the end of the month.....looking forward to the Stampin Up! craft class as well.
I have made a few new card this week as my stock seems to be going down - I keep using them all!! I am hoping to get them onto the website soon.

My husband has been working on my new project for me.....a new craft business, which I hope will be ready soon so I can launch it - he is a web designer so I keep him busy!!

Scrapbook Galore!!

Evening......I had one of those busy but not very productive days today! I spent most of my time ironing and cleaning (when I say productive I mean creative!) Although I did manage a moment of photo book making when the kids were eating their dinner! Yes, I really do take every moment I can get!! I made a photo book for "Grandma" and "Grandad" for a lady who seems to really like my books so hopefully she will like these. I am waiting for them to dry at the moment so will post a picture up of them tomorrow.
I hope to get them on the website next week!! Fingers crossed I get more time than today!

New Valentine's Cards

Well my Magnolia stamps finally arrived and I have made a couple of Valentine's cards with them. I have just ordered one of the magnolia doohickeys which make the cards look fab. I hope you like the design I have made - simple but I think the are quite sweet!

The Crafty Cow

One of my local crafts shops The Crafty Cow is closing at the end of January, this is such a shame as it is a fabulous little craft shop, which always has what you are looking for. They are doing 25% off until they close so take a look at the website, www.thecraftycow.co.uk or you can visit them if you live close to Farnham. They will still be online after January so all is not lost....

New Photo Books

Happy New Year to you.......Now the festive season is over I have been putting my spare time to good use by making photo books. I make them to order so any name etc can be done, although no more than 8 letters at a time! I hope to put them on the website soon so orders can be taken there.

Hope you like them......