How full is your petrol tank?

I am not sure if I have mentioned that the wider team I belong to is Julie's Jems (Julie Kettlewells team) the reason I mention this is Julie posted a video seminar  from Stampin' Up! Convention in America on our closed Jems page the other day. It was a young lady called Jenna Glover who was asking Do you live an energy efficient life? you can find it here https://goo.gl/30Mbbo I am not sure if its where I find myself in life at the moment but I found it really thought provoking and have been mulling it over all week! One of the things I would like to make more time for is creating just because! Every time I sit down to create lately its for something, it is never just because I fancy making this or that. Having said that here is a very simple card I did make just because I couldn't wait to crack open a new set called Boys will Be Boys (a boys set again sorry!)

I used the back ground stamp from You've Got This as it was on my desk and because it reminds me of static electricity! I stamped the robot and then coloured it in with a blender pen before cutting it out and adding it to my background. I think I am going to make a few of these with different vibrant colours ready for upcoming birthdays. I have yet to use the other stamps in the set but I will share them when I do. Right I am going to bid you goodnight and spend some time filling up my tank! In the meantime if you would like to purchase any of the stamp sets I have used you can visit my shop here http://goo.gl/dzdVV4. Thank you for your visit. Nic 

No Bones About It birthday card

Gosh the weather has been monsoon like here in Yorkshire! Not what we need for the second week of the school holidays. A friend told me it is due to stop on Thursday - fingers, toes and anything else I can is crossed for some sun! Anyway here is a bright and cheery card using the No Bones About It stamp set.

I used the Owl Builder Punch to make the balloon.I seem to have chopped off the bottom of this card in this photo, but I used the paw print stamp in this set to add a playful addition to this card.

I really do love this sentiment! and once again couldn't resist adding a bit of decoration to the bottom.It is bedtime here for little ones so I will bid you goodnight and go and read a chapter of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, thank you for visiting.
                                                                      Nic

You've Got This! Box Frame Card For A Special Friend.

Yesterday was my very good friend Sam's birthday and it called for an extra, extra special card. There are two times a year when I feel I want to go the extra mile with my creations and those are when I am making a card for Sam - why? She makes the most amazing cards she spends hours on them and they are always stunning with lots of attention to detail. She informed me she had spent 35 hours on my birthday card this year - I will share that another day. I wanted to create something very special for her as I really appreciate the cards she creates for me, there is nothing like receiving a handmade card that you know was made especially for you. So this is what I came up with.

A full frontal view

The right hand panel in more detail.

and the left hand panel. 

and finally a picture of the way I assembled the back. This card was inspired by a beautiful card by the very talented Diana Gibbs - you can find it here http://goo.gl/CfBSEl who used You've Got This! stamp set to create her card. To make the frames I followed a tutorial from a very special lady's blog, she never fails to inspire me - Amanda Bates of The Craft Spa blog and you can find her tutorial here http://goo.gl/VsiGCQ and finally I have had this tutorial pinned for a while now but this shows how to add the joints details on the back http://goo.gl/BzAExD. I am pleased to announce Sam loved her card so I can relax now until Christmas! If you make one of these cards please do send me a link so I can see your creations.

 Until next time, take care. Nic

Gosh it has been a month to the day since I last posted, life took over I am afraid however I have been working on some creations to share so I will go ahead and do that now.

I really fancied this stamp set - No Bones About It - when the new catty came out but it didn't

make my final cut, boy did I regret that once I started to see everyone's creations with it. As you know I have a son so I suspect this set will get a lot of use when School starts again, Luke has already requested one for a very special friend. Here is a peak at the inside....

I really need to practice taking more photos. I love the sentiments that come with this set. I am also slightly smitten with the colour combo of Lost Lagoon and Mint Macaron. I love how bringing out some new in colours allows us to use colours we have overlooked for ages or never used. Thanks for visiting and hopefully I will be back much sooner this time round. Nic