Wednesday, August 31, 2011

ABC Christmas ‘R’ for ,,,,,,, Challenge :-)


Hi all :-) I hope all is well with everyone and looking forward to Christmas ,,,he he he :-)

I have a nice box of X mas cards this year ,,,, no last min rush out to the Gozo SPCA to buy charity cards like last year !!! :-) I will of course give them a nice donation tho !! :-) Please pop over to the site to have a look and maybe make a donation for the new premises they are about to start building ,,, every little helps xx Also if you buy from Amazon, Play. com etc if you go through the link on their website they earn a small amount on every purchase :-)

This week it is Carissa’s turn to choose the theme on the ABC Christmas Challenge and she chose ,,,

R’ for Recycling and Ribbons or Rhinestones

you must have something recycled on your Christmas creation and either ribbon’s, rhinestones ,,, or if you’re feeling extravagant ,,, BOTH !! :-)

We are sponsored by Digital Delights so a fab choice of 3 digi stamps on offer :-)

For my card I used this very cute Milton In Hat image from the Wild Rose Studio, Dulcie has just released an adorable new range of products , click here to see them !





I followed the fab sketch on the Fussy and Fancy Challenge :-) I coloured the image with Copics and inked the edges with Stormy Sky distress ink. The papers are from a new Basic Grey Nordic Holiday pack and I stamped a WRS sentiment directly onto the paper. I added some ribbon from The Ribbon Girl and used a Martha Stewart snowflake punch and a Woodware one too. The rhinestones are recycled from a shop bought card I received last year :-)





The DT have made some gorgeous creations so please hop on over to the challenge blog to see them Smile

Challenges :

Fussy and Fancy ,,,, Sketch

Crafts 4 Eternity ,,,, Christmas



Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Congratulations Sean ! :-)

Hi all :-) I hope you are all fit and well, for those of you on the other side of the pond, I hope the storms didn’t affect you too badly xx

Another Tuesday has whizzed around and it’s time for a fab Dawny’s Sketch on the Papertake Weekly Challenge ! :-)

We are sponsored by the lovely Heidi at Simon Says Stamp so a fab $20 voucher on offer for one lucky entrant :-)





As some of you may know my DS, Sean, has just finished at University, here they have the Graduation Ceremony in October ( weird I know ) so I made this card for him :-) I just LOVE this Changito Grad image ,, very cute and hardly any colouring !! :-) I coloured with Copics , E 30, 31, 33 , C 9,6,3 and E 40, 4. I cut the image with a Spellbinders wonky rectangle and inked the edges with Vintage Photo distress ink. The papers are from an Authentique Glowing pack and I matted onto black SU card. I used a Die-namics Stacking Stars die, and used a lovely Mortar board charm that I have been saving for this card, it was in a prize I won a while ago on the Peggy Loves Vintage blog, thanks Peggy xx I added some Robins Nest Dew Drops, American Tag twine and a Tim Holtz Word Stick to finish :-)





Thanks for looking :-) Our GD’s and the DT have all made gorgeous cards using this fabby sketch so hop on over to the PTW to see them :-)






Challenges :

Cards For Men ,,,,, ‘G’ For ,,,,,, I chose Graduate !

The Crazy Challenge ,,, ‘New’ …… New Life !

Here Come the Boys ,,,, Brown/Orange

Challenge Up your Life ,,, For a Man

Paper Cutz ,,,, Wish Upon a Star

Creative Card Crew ,,,,,, Anything Goes

Creative Craft ,,,, Just Charming



Monday, August 29, 2011

No Cookin Recipe Card HM Challenge

Hi all :-) I hope you are all OK and for those of you near the east coast of the US, I hope you are all safe and not too badly affected by the terrible storm. xx Our very own America and her family have had to uproot and head inland to a safe area, along with thousands of others ! Our thoughts are with you all and hope you are able to return home soon xx

This week it is Mary’s turn to choose the theme on the HM&F Monday Challenge and she chose

RECIPE CARDS ,,so any cards/creations that include a recipe ! so much scope here to get creative !! :-)

Don’t forget you MUST use a House Mouse, Happy Hopper or Gruffie image to join in :-)

We have 3 fabulous sponsors this week


House Mouse Designs who are giving a $25 voucher to their store


KnK Designs will be offering one entrant 3Digi stamp sets

AND

Pizzaz Aplenty will be giving away a surprise parcel of embellishments worth $10 ! :-)





I have had this recipe box for over a year just waiting to be decorated ,, about time I got it done eh ! :-) For the outside I used the ever so versatile House Mouse Amanda Writes stamp, this image can be used for EVERYTHING ! I used a Lawn Fawn Alphabet set to write ‘recipe’s’ The papers are Kaiser Crafts Nan’s Favourites. All the edges were inked with Vintage Photo distress ink and I added a gingham ribbon from The Ribbon Girl and a fab charm that was a RAK from our lovely America .




For the inside I used various stamps to make sections and I have ordered these recipe cards to use :-) I can’t wait for the postie to arrive !!

Cakes section using Recipe for Friendship + LOTV Recipe sentiment card

( I used these recipe sentiments on all of them)




Soups section using Give Peas a Chance





Fish section using Kissy Face ( thanks Scoopy x)





Poultry section using Feathered Friends ( again, thanks Scoopy)





Now the next section was to be Meat ,, but after the trauma of the poor fish and birds my heart just couldn’t bear it so it has to be Salads Open-mouthed smile ( thanks Heather xx )





Thanks for looking :-) our fabulous GD’s and the DT have made some amazing creations for your inspiration so hop on over to the HM&F Monday Challenge blog to see them :-)

Challenges :

Getting Cricky ,,,, Winged things ( Poultry section)

Just some Lines ,,,Anything But a Card

One Stop Craft ,,, Anything But Square

Dutch Dare ,,,,, Anything But a Card

Moving Along with the Times ,,,, Birdy’s ,,, ( Poultry section)

Creative Belli ,,,, Gingham ( + I have had the ribbon ages and not used any )

Creative Craft ,,,,, Anything But a Card

Paper and Such ,,,, Farm Animals ,,,( Salad section)



Sunday, August 28, 2011

Happy 18th Birthday Amy ! :-)


Good Morning all :-) I hope you are all well and for those of you affected by the terrible hurricane Irene I hope you all stay safe xxx

Today is Amy’s 18th Birthday !! Where did the time go ?? Flew by in the blink of an eye !!

Today she will be having a pool party, to which me and her Dad aren’t invited !! Though I will be keeping a discreet eye on them, will sneak up onto the roof and peep over lol :-)




We are an animal loving family and Amy is especially fond of cats ( we have 7 so far !! ) and she likes quirky distressed cards rather than cute, so I bought this fab Crafty Secrets Party Cats Clear stamp set especially to make her card, there are loads of fab designs and sentiments on this ,, fantastic value ! I coloured the images with copics and inked the edges with vintage photo distress ink, adding star dust stickles around the edges and frosted lace on their ruffles. The papers are from a Basic Grey Out of Print pack, all the edges were inked and distressed and layered onto SU Close to Cocoa cardstock. I also bought the Tim Holtz weathered clock die ( Debby’s fault !! Smile) I added some bias tape and made a triple bow and popped an American Crafts Elegant Pearl Brad in the middle. The paper edges were all glittered with Platinum stickles and I added a few Hero Arts Blush Dots to finish.

Amy said this is the BEST card I ever made for her !!! :-)




I must admit I don’t usually bother to decorate the inside but maybe I should do it more often !



For the inside I used more stamps from the set and the papers from the same BG pack. The sentiment is Hero Arts and the no 18 is from a Lawn fawn alphabet set.




Thanks for looking , I appreciate your comments so please leave me one Smile

Challenges

Basic Grey ,,,, Anything Goes

Aud Sentiments ,,,,, Anything Goes

Charisma Cardz ,,,, Glitter it

Craft Us Crazy ,,, Anything Goes

Crafty Creations ,,, Your Inner Animal ,,, a crafty cat of course ! :-)

A Spoonful of Sugar ,,,,, Birthday

Everybody Art ,,,, Brown/Blue ( there is a little blue on there ,,, ) :-)

Craft Your Passion ,,, Snarky, Sarcastic and funny Sentiments, I think the ‘Every life should have 9 cats is pretty funny ) :-)

Crafty Pad,,, Distressing and tearing ( does the tearing of the paper with a distresser count ? )


Friday, August 26, 2011

Back To School with the Totally Papercrafts and Stamp Something Challenges ,,,,

Hi all :-) My family have all gone home now and the house is very quiet without them. Amy is preparing to leave to go to live in Malta and start her course at University and there will be just me and Ray rattling around the house ,,, along with a lovely Jessie dog and 7 cats. !! :-/ ,,,,,,

Anyway ,,,I will be popping around to see you all more often now I have some time on my hands :-)

We have some sad news this week, unfortunately Carol has stepped down from the TPC to move on to pastures new ,,we all wish you the very best of luck Carol and we will continue to stalk your blog xx :-)

This week I have combined challenges as the Stamp Something and Totally Papercrafts Challenges have the same theme ,,,

BACK TO SCHOOL

Both Challenges are being sponsored by the lovely Heidi at Simon Says Stamp so a fab $20 voucher on the Stamp Something Challenge and a lovely parcel of goodies on the Totally Papercrafts Challenge :-)

The TPC are also sponsored by Squigglefly so some fabulous digi images on offer there too :-)





I made a notebook this week, it was supposed to be for Amy but my Mum likes it so I gave it to her and will make Amy another one ,,didn’t want a fight on my hands lol :-)

I trimmed some mountboard ( free from a frame shop) to 5X7 inches and covered it with Basic Grey Kraft paper. I followed the fab sketch on the Sketch Saturday Challenge and used some BG Manila paper for the layers, I stamped one piece with a Hero Arts Friend Definition stamp.

I used my new House Mouse Class Clown stamp, this is stamp of the month for August ,, cute eh ! :-) Coloured with Copics and I inked the edges with Vintage Photo distress ink. I also added some glaze o the paperclip and ‘metal’ bit of the pencil. I used a little Tim Holtz Ruler ribbon and added some American tag twine and a Basic Grey button. I used my Bind-It All to put it all together and added some ribbon and more twine to finish. For the inside I used the papers from a shop bought notebook.





Thanks for looking , the DT’s have made some fabulous creations for your inspiration so please hop on over to both challenges to see them Smile

Challenges :

Sketch Saturday ,,,,, Sketch

Basic Grey ,,,, Anything Goes

Colour Create ,,, Red/White/Cream/Kraft

Dutch Dare ,,,, Anything But a Card

Paper Play ,,,,, Back to School

Stamp Insanity Back to School

Creative Craft ,,,,, Anything But a Card

Partytime Tuesdays ,,, Back to School

Crazy Challenge ,,,, Back to School

Creative Stamp Friends ,, School

Incy Wincy ,,,, Anything But a Card

Stamps R Us ,, Anything Goes

Creative Inspirations ,,, Back to School


Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Simon Says ,,,,,, Use Dawny’s Sketch

Hi all :-) This is a long post so get coffee :-)

First of all, thanks for all your entries to our food and drink challenge :-) I hope you all join us this week too !!!


Before moving on to this weeks challenge we need you to cancel all your plans for next week, all leave is cancelled !! ha ha We need you all here to join us on a
HUGE Stamp-tember Blog Hop and Treasure Hunt !!




For the second year in a row the Simon Says Stamp and Show & the Simon Says Stamp Challenge are joining forces to celebrate the approaching fall and winter holidays. Be sure to come back on August 31st, (MN Ohio Time, 6 pm CET ) to start the hop. It will run through to September 5th. Simon Says Stamp is offering a FANTASTIC GRAND PRIZE , and there will be other opportunities to win some hidden treasure too ! So make a note in your diaries and make sure you are here to join in the FUN !! :-)


This week Dawny P has made us a fabulous sketch to follow, thanks Dawny xx You may rotate/flip the sketch as you like but the original sketch must be 'there' to see :-)




As usual Heidi will be giving one lucky entrant a $50 voucher to her FANTASTIC Simon Says Stamp Superstore !! For fabulous tutorials, inspiration and candy you should keep an eye on the Simon Says Stamp Blog too Heidi and her staff have recently from the CHA and have ordered loads of THE hottest new products. Keep an eye on the All New Just In Pages there are sure to be lots of fab new goodies arriving right now !!



The DT are showcasing Lawn Fawn Stamps this week and if you have them we would like to see them, but you don't HAVE to to join in :-)



For my card I used a few stamps from the Lawn FawnJust My Type’ set, very little colouring with ‘C 00, C o1 and Co3 Copics. I stamped the image twice, coloured and cut one out and then layered with pop dots. I inked the edges with Tumbled Glass Distress ink and added some glossy accents to the dial. The papers are Echo Park from the ‘Walk In the Park’ pack, I thought the swirly design ‘echoed’ the twirly cable !! :-) I added a few dots of Star Dust Stickles to a few of the dots on the spotty paper,, as you know stickles are mandatory on my cards !! LOVE STICKLES !! The curly flex edging was made using a die that I bought at the NEC and I used a Martha Stewart scalloped border punch too. The sentiments and little thumb tack are all from the same Lawn Fawn set and I added a Flattened Chrome cap with a Vintage Typewriter Image and topped with an Epoxy Dot. I do love these Bottle Inc products ,, fab embellies :-)

I finished with a couple of Stamping Bella ‘Coal’ dots, the one I have linked to is 10mm but the ones I used are 5mm, the smaller ones will be back in stock soon. I love these ,, they are slightly glittery and I think are really cool embellies especially for masculine cards ,,, and being a Coal Miner’s daughter I HAD to have them Smile





Thanks for looking , Sarah, our fabulous Designer in the Spotlight and the DT have all made some amazing cards for your inspiration so hop on over to the Simon Says Stamp Challenge to see them Smile

Don't forget that we still have the Children's Challenge running too. That one finishes next Monday so there is still a few days to let your kids loose in your crafty corners :-)

Challenges :


Craft Us Crazy ,,,,, Anything Goes

Crafty Ann’s ,,,,, Scallops and/or fancy borders


Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Die’s to DIE For !!


Hi all :-) I hope you’re all fit and well and ready for another PTW Challenge !

This week the theme is

DIES TO DIE FOR ,,,, so use any die cuts on your creations.

We are sponsored by the lovely Tracy at Dies to Die For so a fab £10 voucher for one lucky entrant !





It is my nephew’s birthday soon and he has a motorbike so I thought this super cute Scoopy’s Chopper image would work !! I cut the image out using a Spellbinders Large Labels die, coloured with Copics and inked the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink., I then added Glossy Accents to the bike frame. I made the wall using a Creative Expressions mask, sprayed with copic inks using an Air Brush and then used distress inks over it to soften the colours. I embossed a panel of grey card using a Distressed Stripes folder and used a little Echo Park paper and a Martha Stewart punch for the central strip. The stars were made using a MFT Die-namics Stacking Stars die and I added a TH Sprocket gear, a few Robins Nest Metallic Dew Drops and a fab charm that was a RAK from the lovely America to finish.

I hope he likes it !!





Thanks for looking :-) Our lovely GD’s and the DT have made some fabulous cards for your inspiration so hop on over to the PTW to see them Smile

Challenges :

Cards For Men ,,,, Anything Goes ( masculine)

Simon Says Stamp and Show ,,,,, Travel

Colour Me Creative Copic,,,,, Winged things ( Woodstock is riding pillion :-)

4 Crafty Chicks ,,,,, Metal

Top Tip Tuesday ,,,, Masculine Card

My Tip ,, before using a mask, paper or shop bought, spray lightly with repositionable adhesive so that the colours won’t bleed underneath. When you remove the mask any little bits of glue are easily removed with an eraser.

Thanks for looking Winking smile I really appreciate your comments so please leave me one !!! Smile


Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Simon Says ,,,,,, FOOD and DRINK


Hi all :-) Thanks for all your entries to our ‘White’ challenge last week and I hope you’re all ready to join us again this week too :-) Don’t forget that we also have a Children’s Challenge running for this month too so give them your copics and let them join in !! ha ha ,,, OK ,, crayons it is then !!

We are welcoming back our lovely sister Heather today, many of you know that she has been a bit poorly recently and we are so happy that she is well on the road to recovery :-)

Summer is the time for indulgence ,, BBQ’s, Ice Creams , G&T’s, Cool Beers !! so that is our theme this week ,,,

Eat Drink and be Merry !! We want you to have Food and/or drink on your creations ,,, you could make a tag and tie it to a bottle of wine ,,, the possibilities are endless :-)





I made another easel card this week, I used my new Garden Feast stamp ,, sooo cute eh !! I love the little meeces sharing a carrot with their bunny friend ,, aww :-)




I coloured with copics and although this stamp is quite big it was very easy to colour. The papers are Basic Grey from the Life of the Party pack and I used a Martha Stewart Double Loop PATP punch set. I made the flower using some white card and a TH Tattered Florals die,I then sprayed with my Copic Air Brush, I added a Prima flower and a button with a little bit of twine tied through. I used a Magnolia Heart Swirl die , some bias tape and a SU sentiment stamp to finish.




Heidi and her staff have recently from the CHA and have ordered loads of THE hottest new products. Keep an eye on the All New Just In Pages there are sure to be lots of fab new goodies arriving right now !!




As usual Heidi will be giving one lucky entrant a $50 voucher to her FANTASTIC Simon Says Stamp Superstore !! For fabulous tutorials, inspiration and candy you should keep an eye on the Simon Says Stamp Blog too

So if you would like a chance to win this fab spree just join in !! :-)




Thanks for looking ;-) the DT have made some gorgeous cards for your inspiration so hop on over to the Simon Says Stamp Challenge to see them Smile

Challenges :

Basic Grey Challenge ,,,, Sizzling Summer

A Spoonful of Sugar ,,,,Anything Goes

Stamptacular Sunday .,,, Fancy Folds

Colour Me Creative Copic ,,,,, Friendship + colour embellies

Sweet Stampin ,,,,, On the Farm

Fabulous Friday ,,,,, Animals

Craft Us Crazy ,,,,, Anything Goes

Crafty Sentiments ,,,,, Punches and Die Cuts

ABC Christmas ,,, Q for Quotes


Hi all :-) I still have my family with me so I am not getting around to see you all ,, I will pop by asap xx

This week on the ABC Christmas Challenge the theme is

Q is for Quote

You're card must include a quote or be based on a Christmas quote or song.

We have 2 fabulous sponsors this time

Robyn's Fetish who will be giving away a choice of 5 digi stamps or 4 digi stamps + a paper set

and How to WOW paper crafting techniques from Stampin with Brenda

Prize from Brenda is a 3 month subscription to the 'How to WOW paper crafting techniques club'




For my card I followed the fab sketch on the Stamp With Fun Challenge, I used this very cute Paul Penguin image. I coloured him with Copics and cut him out. I embossed some white card with a Cuttlebug snowflake design and popped him on there. The papers are from Martine, unfortunately she has stopped blogging for a while so they aren’t available anymore :-/ I used an EK Success border punch, a Martha Stewart Himalayan snowflake punch and a Hero Arts Felt Snowflake. The sentiment/quote is from LOTV





Thanks for looking :-) The DT have made some gorgeous cards for your inspiration so hop on over to the challenge blog to see them Smile

Challenges :

Stamp With Fun ,,, Sketch

Crazy Challenge ,,, Movie Inspired ,,, March of the Penguins !

Paper Creators Crafts ,,, Red/Blue

Secret Crafter Saturday ,,,,, Christmas is Coming

Stampin for the Weekend ,,, Spots and dots

Do You Stack Up ,,,, Emboss It