The completed cake

Here is the promised picture of the celebration cake with its cardcraft topper. I was very disappointed when I first applied it because it didn't sit flat and I couldn't understand why - I'd turned the cake upside down to give a good level surface for the marzipan to be rolled on, and then the fondant icing was also rolled over the top. So how did I manage to have a point in the middle, on which the topper wobbled like a pea on a drum? More importantly, what could I do about it? Double sided sticky tape didn't seem to be the right answer, and pins round the edge wouldn't be much better.....fortunately when I tried it again a little later all was well and I decided it was the card circle which was out of true because of the uneven thicknesses (three layers in the middle to one on the edge) so I put it inside a large heavy book overnight and I think all will be well.

And now for something completely different.......

My husband and I are members of a folk dance group which meets monthly between September and May. It was founded in May 1930 and our friend Mary was persuaded by her cousin to become a member just a few months later, aged 17. She has continued with the club ever since and insists it is still the Aldershot Folk Dance Club even though it is many years since its meetings were held in Aldershot. This coming Saturday we are having a party to celebrate 80 years of dancing (no, I can't make the figures add up either: I think we just forgot to have it last year!) and I volunteered to make a special cake. Now, I'm not a fantastic cook but I do quite enjoy baking; I make good cakes but there's no way I can ice them to a reasonable standard, so after a brief panic about what I could do for decoration I came up with the idea of using my trusty Cuttlebug and papercraft techniques rather than sugarcraft. And here's the result!

It's a rich fruit cake (made to a wedding cake recipe) which has been quietly maturing for 3 months, fortified with brandy. It has a covering of marzipan (almond paste) and tomorrow I'll ice it so it has a few days to dry and harden, but I've spent much of the past two days playing with ideas for the top. I used the Cuttlebug Fancy Pants alphabet to spell out the club name and the 80 came from the Hippie Chick alphabet. The blue scalloped circle is cut with a Marianne die and overlaying that is the Spellbinder Eyelets pendant in matt silver. The whole is mounted on a 7" diameter silver circle - an inch smaller than the cake - and I'll place the circle loose on top then remove it for cutting. A serendipitous touch was the blue circle having 12 scallops when there are 12 letters in the name.

Originally I had cut the letters in silver but they won't be wasted - I'm going to make cupcakes for those who don't like fruit cake and will use the letters individually on top. I think my daughter has a special cupcake stand so I'll ask to borrow that (provided I don't have to make 100s of cakes to fill it!)

I'll take a photo of the cake when it's finished and add it to this entry but I wanted to show that I haven't been completely idle.....I've also been playing with more punched flowers (pansies this time) but haven't made a card for them yet.

Bah Humbug Challenge #16 (& #15)

Despite the fact that we have been enjoying a heat wave over the Easter weekend - and indeed for the past two weeks - I'm delighted to have made two Christnmas cards today, the first since I finished my stint as guest designer for the Bah! Humbug! weekly challenges at the end of March. While trying to sort my craft room I almost lost the will to live, but now it is so much easier to find the things I need, particularly those that I don't know I need until I see them in front of me!

Nothing very original about my offering for this week's challenge which is 'Santa': the stamp is another from Clarity Stamps illustrating 'Twas the night before Christmas' and I made it the same way as a previous offering. There isn't much of Santa to be seen, but he will be putting in an appearance any moment now....and that ginger cat is going to be one very startled kitty!

Having missed several of the challenges while buried in my Black Hole I thought I'd catch up by working backwards. Last week's challenge #15 was for 'Stockings' (of the Christmas variety, we were ordered ;) ) so while that set was in front of me I stamped the first two and mounted them on this long green card. Very simple, but I think quite effective.

Sweet peas

Here is the first card I have made completely from scratch since sorting out my disaster area craft room. It was such a joy to be able to select a box of green scraps, and a box of white scraps, and my Nesties, and a drawer full of Promarkers...each neatly labelled and each returned to its designated home when I had finished the card, instead of scrabbling through half a dozen drawers that looked like the aftermath of a tornado in a paper factory! How long this idyllic state of affairs will last is another matter.

Several years ago I made a few paper flowers from punches using books by Leonie Em of Australia. Recently a new book on the subject from America appeared in the UK courtesy of Joanna Sheen, and when I saw the sweet peas I just had to buy the appropriate punch and have a go at making them (they take me back to my childhood and a beloved uncle who grew them wherever he went, from Egypt to the Cotswolds). I was pleased with the results for a first attempt though I'm sure I could improve with practice, and the greenfly that landed as soon as I had finished seemed to give them the seal of approval :)

Image and sentiment by JustRite Stampers, coloured with Promarkers and the background chalked in pale pink to tone down the bright white card. Green background is a Spellbinder's Lacey Square . The book Paper Bouquet is by Susan Tierney Cockburn, published by Lark Books in 2008. And although you can't really see it, the dark grey background is a special photographic sheet bought with birthday money from my husband along with a pale dove grey one - I try hard to get a decent close up photo of any card I can't scan and hope that these will make life easier.

And tomorrow I intend to make a Christmas card or three to catch up on some of the April challenges from the Bah! Humbug! site.

ETA: I have just discovered this card qualifies for entry in the current JustRite Stampers challenge which is using handmade paper flowers with a JRS image.....how serendipitous is that!

Apple blossom time!

The sun shone today, the little crabapple tree in the front garden is full of blossom and I decided it was the perfect opportunity for a change of header picture! It also gives me an excuse for a brief post to say I'll be back with some cards very soon - my craft room is almost sorted at last, and today I've been catching up on stamping all my new stamps in the catalogue so I can put them away properly instead of them being temporarily filed on the floor! 'New' is actually a misnomer, for some of those stamps have been sitting on the floor for well over a year but I have almost caught up now; since I need a birthday card for this coming Friday I must see what I can do tomorrow. Earlier in the month I visited two papercraft shows in three days and came home with new techniques as well as lots of goodies so I ought to try them out while I can still remember. Watch this space.....

An excuse for a post

I don't know where the past two weeks have gone, but they certainly haven't been spent crafting! For one thing, I started to empty my craft room into the dining room next to it, with the bright idea of tidying it. We all know what happens to good intentions, don't we? Life got in the way with a vengeance and ten days later the dining table is still covered, my craft room is only marginally tidier than before (because there's less in it) and I have just had to make a Get well card in a hurry to take to the dance club tonight for members to sign, having heard that someone is in hospital. Where were all the cards I should have put by for just such an occasion? Not even made, it has to be said.

This was actually a small ready made card which I have cannibalised to make it larger - it would have been quicker to start from scratch because everything that could go wrong very nearly did; however, it is done. The die cut words are by Cuttlebug as is the background embossing; I can't remember if they came from the same combo set or two different ones. Stamped words by JustRite Stampers, cut with a Classic Circle Nestie and mounted on a Scalloped Circle. I now have to clear away even more Stuff from the dining table...and I'm off to visit two craft shows in the next three days...I have a feeling I shan't be coming home empty handed from either.

I'm obviously not going to be joining in the Bah Humbug Challenge this week, but on Friday I need to make a card for an 80th birthday which is on Sunday. Ho hum, there's never a dull moment!

Bah! Humbug! Challenge #12

An easy topic from the Bosses of Humbug Hall this week: Christmas Trees! First up is one using a template from WS Designs to make a fold back, gatefold card. It's cut from an A3 sheet cut in half lengthways (enough for two cards), the background panels are covered with a free paper from Making Cards and the two halves of the tree are covered in a contrasting paper. I made the pot by overlapping two pieces of red card, cutting up through one and down through the other at the mid points and interlocking them to keep the card closed. I added a strip of foam tape behind each half of the tree to raise it from the background.

Logically the next one should have been the first card, because before you can decorate your tree you have to go into the forest and cut it down, don't you! Well, that's what these snowmen have done....you can tell it's a Christmas tree because they already have a star on top, and I'm pretty sure they don't intend to cut it up for logs (snowmen don't like sitting in front of a fire).

I started by punching the scallop edge and little trees with the Tonic Border Punch System and as usual I was glad I practised on scrap paper first and got all my mistakes out of the way. I stamped the snowmen then masked them while stamping the trees. A strip of velvet paper on the lower edge, silver peel offs and a few touches of Promarkers completed a simple card which was fun to do. I will add a few touches of glitter later but couldn't wait for it to dry before scanning to send to Humbug Hall, so here it's in its naked state.

My final card is a free standing tree, made from three 6 inch squares of card.The second picture shows two faces, the third is the structure opened out flat to show how the squares are attached to each other. The fold lines are edged with narrow gold peel offs and these become the vertical edges when the tree is stood up. The last photo shows the outer panels folded under to fit into an envelope.The setiment is stamped on the inside. It's held together in its 3D shape solely by the loose outer corner being tucked into a slit cut in the opposite end panel. I have no idea where the design originated: a friend sent me a birthday card in this style three years ago and it's one I have made a few times. It's surprisingly quick and easy yet looks quite impressive.

This is my final week as Guest Designer for the Bah Humbug challenge and I thank Ann and Max very much for the opportunity. I've had great fun making my samples and now look forward to seeing what the new designers come up with. I hope they enjoy their time in the Hot Seat and wish them well.