Yummy Scrummy Create...........

Poorly Boy Still Not Better...

2011-07-21T16:11:00.000+01:00

Spike Sleeping Off His Operation

Well it may be very hard to believe but Spike is still not fit and well! Up until four weeks ago we were still battling to find out what was wrong with him, constant infections, on antibiotics for nearly four months, then our vet decided to send away a swab, to a specialist lab and voila we found out what was wrong! Spike has been suffering from E-coli, yes we were what you might call gob-smacked. He was taken into the vets for a second time and put under anesthesia (although they did try twice to do the procedure under sedative but he kept fighting it) the Ecoli had found its way into the anal glands but would not clear up and kept making him very poorly (his back legs kept going and he was crying with pain), Spike was not happy when we went to pick him up, in fact he wouldn't even look at me and took two days to forgive me!!! He'd had so much anesthetic with the two sedatives and anesthetic that it took him over twenty four hours to come round from it properly, Mark and I were up every hour giving him water via a syringe because he wouldn't drink or eat. He was very very sore for about a week, then Mark took him back to the vets a week later... Claire our vet was still not sure we had got it all so he has to go back again tomorrow (a month after the procedure), although he is showing signs of still having the infection.

We have already been warned that Spike may have to have the procedure again and if it doesn't work he may need his glands taking out, but there are huge risks with that, it could make him incontinent, which for a dog like spike would be horrific... (he doesn't even like his paws getting dirty, so we are more than a little worried about that) Anyway we have to wait again now to see what happens, luckily most of the cost has been picked up by the insurance company, which is lucky because it has cost £2500.00 already. Unfortunately my joints became quite painful three weeks ago, so i have been off work (unpaid) which couldn't come at a worst time...

Well I just thought I'd keep you all up to date, and thank you very much for your kind comments.... they really are so very much appreciated....I'm dying to be back crafting... I've got some stash to give away and I'm getting a new craft room soon three times the size of the one i have now.... Ashley is leaving home soon...boohoo.... which is tugging at my heart strings...an empty nest, but, a little positive a new workroom (Ash will have my old work room as a stop over room from now on, hopefully he'll want to use it once a week then i won't feel so bad) he is moving about fourty miles away to Leicestershire to live with his girlfriend, however we don't drive, but, his friends are here so i'm sure he'll be back often and you know boys, when they get together!!!

Well bye for now and i will let you all know how Spike gets on and hopefully i'll be back soon...fingers crossed....

Poorly Boy....

2011-03-06T22:09:00.000Z

I promise I'm not just being lazy.... We have a very poorly pudding (Spike for those who don't know our nick name for him) The vet thinks he was poisoned and sadly he has been having fits, but we don't know if the toxins have caused them. Just so that you know I've not fallen off the face of the earth, I'm just looking after a poorly boy.... He looks like a butcher has been at his fur, his leg was shaved then the vet shaved his neck twice so it looks like he has a shaving rash.... He's up one minuet then down and feeling sorry for himself the next.... awwww poor baby...I'll hopefully be back this week he hasn't had a fit since Thursday, keep your fingers/paws crossed for him....

Thank you so much for all of your sweet comments, they really do mean so much...

Boy Oh Boy...

2011-02-23T22:29:00.000Z

Well I just do not seem to be able to get started these past two weeks, now the weather has got really damp

and is playing havoc with my joints... Anyone with RA will know what I’m talking about.... When it is damp and grey and the air feels damp it seems to have an effect on how painful my joints are and how long it takes me to get going....a bit rubbish really, hayho there is always somebody worse off than me, that is for sure.... Enough about my woes.... I have also been a very bad bad blogger of late, I feel rotten Gemma over at Gem’s Little Creations gave me a lovely award two nearly two weeks ago and I have been so busy with life in general I Missed it, Gemma please do not think I don’t appreciate the award, I’m actually just rubbish at managing my time and body at the
moment...LOL Which brings me swiftly onto Netty, I got a gorgeous card from her to say thank you and forgot to show you all so I’ll post that on my next post but for now... Netty you are a treasure and I’m really very happy you loved the candy I sent to you....Note to self ( must be a better blogger....and post things on time..!!!) onto a much nicer things... Friday Sketchers Challenge.... Another brilliant sketch this one by the mega talented Beatrix and they do have some really good ones... I got the stamps I used for this one from my hubby sometime at the end of last year; they are the amazing Hanglar Stanglar... I’ve just been lucky enough to have kit twenty six and twenty seven purchased for me...yippee I cannot wait to get my hands on them... kit twenty six has been out for a while but twenty seven is new and looks absolutely fantastic...any way onto the little Hanglar boy in my card... I used prisma pencils for a change, I’ve been watching how other crafters who are brilliant at using prisma’s (Ila and Moni) show light and shade,to try and get a better grasp at showing it in my own creations... I think I have a way to go...LOL, still I do love how absolutely cute these stamps are... it is hard not to create a cute card with them... I used Oliver Basic Grey DP with the obligatory stitching... (I cannot remember the last time I created a card without any stitching at all...) The ribbon is binding tape, a must fashion accessory for all cards at the moment... I’ve taken delivery

of two hundred yards of an off white rayon binding tape recently, so I’ll be giving some away shortly...

This will make you laugh... typical crafter... the little train going up the side of the card is an old Quickutz set, I got it new when it first came out, years ago and this I am ashamed to say is the first time it has been out of its packet... I wonder how many crafters there are like me that have been crafting for years and have stash that has remained in its packaging for years and years...

well at least I have used it now... only another few hundred packets of unopened stash to go...☺ (only joking...) god I am rambling yet again.... one of these days I’ll get a post done without rambling at all...!NOT... Finally I finished the front of the card using a sentiment from an old Technique Tuesday stamp set I’ve had for yonks... (Yes I have used it before...hehehe) It’s not so much a sentiment as a decorative accent, I didn’t want to make this card for any one occasion... I’ve decorated the inside of my card and the front of the box using the same Oliver papers... I love the fact that these papers are both bold and muted in colour... so cool... see you again this week hopefully....My new Magnolia kit arrived today so I’m hopefully going to play with it tomorrow morning...yayyyy...It is just yummy.....
Before I do finally leave you in peace, thank you so much to all of the very special people who leave such amazing comments on my blog, you have no idea how much it means to have such mega talented crafters say that they like my creations..

Ingredients: Black CS (Stash) Basic Grey Oliver DP – Hanglar Stanglar & Technique Tuesday Stamps – Binding Tape (Wild Orchid) – Quickutz Train Dies

Beary Happy Birthday....

2011-02-17T16:44:00.000Z

I just do not know what happened with me this last ten days, every time I tried to get into my work room something cropped up.... Life I am afraid took over and I have been AWOL for a few days... tut tut tut...

I have to try and make time for myself which is sometimes hard with the way things are here...

Anyway on to my card, I saw the Friday Sketchers Challenge and thought I'd give it a go, Bev has created a beautiful sketch... and here is the card that I created using the sketch.. The image is Teddy bo I have had some brilliant advice from the mega talented Rach, Thank you so much Rach, it really came in handy... and I do appreciate it..Bea is coloured using Tim Holtz distressing inks...

I used some old Bo Bunny papers called A Gift Of Love... along with the obligatory stitching LOL. Now I got the pink slightly the wrong shade when colouring Bea so i used some Suze Weinberg glue and added some Glamour Dust, which is mega sparkly, I'm not sure it shows that well in the photographs but it does help slightly with the colour match or miss match should I say....As most people who read my blog know, I have a little thing for dying and creating stuff from scratch or nothing in some cases...Generally I like to make a mess and get dirty...LOL I ordered some Hug Snug Seam Binding a while back and decided to use it on this card. First I had to dye the binding using Ranger alcohol inks. I love the crinkled effect and

I'm not sure if I am right in saying this, but, I have checked out other seam binding and none seems to crinkle like this one which could be because it is Rayon, If any body else has any thoughts on this I'd love to know......I kept this one really simple, the inside of the card is decorated as is the box, I'll be listing it in my etsy shop later so you can see more of it there.

Well I will have to dash or I won't get this added to the list in time.... ooooopppps....

Ingredients:

Black CS - Bo Bunny DP - Nesties - Teddy Bo Image - Hug Snug Seam Binding - Sentiment Home Printed - Glamour Dust - Tim Holtz Distressing Inks - Pins From Stash..

Sugar Love....

2011-02-07T09:30:00.017Z

Just a quickie from me tonight, this weekend flew by and I just did not seem to get anything done. Besides the fact that I am still nursing this damn (sorry for cursing) infection from the extraction I had over a week ago, it is time for me to go back to work today after twelve days off... Awwww poor me... LOL Enough of that or I will start rambling again... Anyway I have been back for a week or two now and thought it was about time I at least had a go at a challenge... here is my first. Over at the Sugar Bowl there is a sketch from Marie Therese you can see it to your left, how pretty is that sketch.. I love those wings... they remind me of angel wings so I thought I would use an old Angel Stamp from Sugar Nellie..I have basically just layered and stitched then on each side of the image there are tulle knots that have had stickles glitter glue applied to them... Handy Hint Star Dust Stickles is a really fine glitter and beautiful applied this way, just dabs here and there...I'm not sure if you can see it in the photograph but it is all sparkly...I have also added some lovely small roses that are from Wild Orchid Crafts along with some pearl strips again from there.. I have topped them off with a pearl pin. The image has just been lightly painted using Distressing Inks. I've added Glossy Accents to the hearts and the word LOVE. Well that is all from me today, I told you it was a quickie... I am going to go do some blog hopping after work this evening, I've not managed to do any all weekend...boohoo...Thank you so much for all of your wonderful comments since my return to the world of crafty blogging, they really do mean soooo much... and I will be working my way around all of your beautiful blogs tonight.

Ingredients

CS Stampin Up - DP Papermania - Ranger/Tim Holtz Distressing Inks & Glossy Accents - Flowers & Pearls Wild Orchid Crafts - Stickles & Tulle From Stash.

Claudia's Spectacular Candy...

2011-02-07T08:58:00.000Z

Claudia over at Pretty Pressings has some spectacular candy on offer... Wow... All you have to do is follow the rules she has set and you'll be entered into her draw...

Well what are you waiting for!!!

Box Clever! To Glue Or Not To Glue It's Up To You!

2011-02-04T21:30:00.002Z

There are lots of pictures in this tutorial, click on each photograph, I have written instructions on each of them. I hope you find this useful...

I am writing this post after having my tummy warmed by what I call a nursery dinner.... sound strange, well we usually have some kind of meat or fish with pasta, or potatoes and lots of veg... but today I had boiled potatoes, garden peas and cod fish fingers.... with ready for it, tomatoes sauce... when I was a girl I had it at my nannan's on a Friday with home grown beetroot....we had to do with some beetroot pickle that we made last summer today but never the less, it was soooooo yummy...I know it does not sound it but, I am sat back very contented.... pathetic maybe but I am happy right now...hehehe....I think for most people comfort food is chocolate, but it gives me really violent headaches so I just try to steer clear, but give me beans on toast or boiled eggs and soldiers or fish fingers and I am in seventh heaven.... not all the time just when I am feeling like I need something to

cheer me up and it did.....on to the craft which is after all what my blog is

supposed to be about...LOL

I have been making cards for a very long time, about nine years all in all, I only came to stamping about three years ago, but, with breaks for health reasons I guess you could say that it has been less than that for stamping... About two years ago I started to create mainly six by six inch cards or just under more like five and a half by five and a half. When I use boxes to give them anyway... Which brings me to my point, I used to buy my boxes, they are expensive, and about a year ago a friend asked me to make six boxed cards. Now I do not charge friends for my cards so I thought ooohhhh errrr Mrs! that is going to be expensive six boxes were going to cost nearly a tenner... That is when i decided to use the design, alter it a little and make my own. Now I would not show

this and say it is my design, as it is not...I just altered an exsisting design... However I hope it comes in handy for those who use it.

I have taken some photographs of me making one of these boxes so that others can hopefully save money at a time when everybody is trying to watch the pennies...
Rach over at Papercrafts by Rach has blogged that she too was going to post a tutorial for a box, now please do not think I have just gone ahead and put my tutorial on here without getting in touch with her...I really do admire what Rach has done in three years, her work is amazing. The first thing I did when I realised that she too would be posting one, was get in touch and ask her if she would prefer I did not post mine... Rach very kindly told me to post my box after we both realised that ours where
pretty much the same kind of box. Rach also gave me a tip that I will pass to you, if you add tape to the flaps it gives the box more strength...
.
I have added instructions to all of
the photographs and over time perfected creating them, it can be off putting when they don’t fit together properly because the card stock is too thick, I thought I would share my way of making boxes and also the pit falls and tips I have come across by making them...
I generally use two twelve by twelve sheets, it is a good thing if you come across cheap neutral card stock, however if you do not, then check out Craft Creations, you can buy good quality A3 card stock relatively cheaply if you buy in bulk, then again why not do what I do,
and, share with a friend, we have the magazine which gives us an extra ten percent off and it works out cheaper for us that way... they also do great double sided tapes...and you get money off postage when you subscribe to the magazine which incidentally is cheap at £12 for the year.....Ideally you want a 250gsm card stock, and if you are going to buy bulk do not buy coloured it is much easier to add colour with papers and flowers than to take it away (what am I saying you cannot take it away...duh)
I hope that I have not confussed you too much, and that you like this box tutorial. If you do use it, please link back to me, so that I can come and look at your beautiful creations...

Tools Used: Score Pal - Two

Sheets Black Card Stock -

Scissors - Carl Hand Trimmer With Perforating Blade - Tape

Parcel Paper Challenge.... Can You Create Using Parcel Paper?

2011-02-02T21:30:00.204Z

I promised a little show and tell for my parcel paper backing. As you will have seen from my previous posts, on parcel paper in all its finery (hahaha!) I mentioned I would show you how I created some backing paper. I have then used the paper on a card that I created using my first sketch.... Yes I did say one of my sketches! I have a friend at work and her partner works for Serif, she very kindly gave me Digital Scrapbook Artist 2, I have had it for some time and I have played with it but, I had not worked out until now how I could use it with my blog. I then discovered the world of creating my own sketches. So I am going to make them as and when I need them.... How cool is that! Well I think it is anyway... waffling again...You are very welcome to use them and if you have time link them back to my blog I would appreciate that very much...Ok here goes I have added wording to each of the photographs to show just what I did with this paper, I have then added some other photographs of other things I have created for the card and box. Mark thought it was cool, then again he would say that.... bless him... The long and short of it is I created backing paper to use on a card and box.... If you double click of each of the photographs you will get a larger screen to view it and read the hints and tips.

The backing paper I created for my card is kind of rough and ready, and I do think the card turned out ok, I am happy with it...and I have always loved the rough and ready look.... I love it when a card does not cost that much to create, apart from the time and that is alright as it is all about the enjoyment in being creative, that is after all when we have the most fun...I enjoyed using a PapertreyInk set that I have had for ages but have not used, I felt it lended its self perfectly to this way of creating backing paper, I am not sure if that is what the designer of this set had in mind but, it worked here... Just a quick tip with clear polymer rubber stamps, use an eraser on your stamps before use when they are new... Use a stiffish brush to get rid of any excess eraser left behind. You will get a much crisper image when you use them.

I also used another freebie, some corrugated card that came out of a set of bistro bowls, it is really worth while saving this stuff, you just never know when it will come in handy. I think that corrugate card gives great depth to cards, imagine it with floral papers, I have used it this way in one of my future posts and the contrast between the vintage floral look and the free corrugated card complement each other really well. You will see! Anyway I warn

you now there

are a lot of photographs in this post but I wanted to make sure I covered it well. See what you think! There is a post for a glue less box (just like the one in my photograph) to put your beautifully designed cards into later this week; I hope that will come in handy for you.

If anyone decides to have a go and create using parcel paper, I would love to see what you've done, please leave a message and I will pop over to your blog and check out your amazing designs...

Ingredients

Parcel Paper, Corrugated Card, Binding Tape, Papertreyink Stamp Set, Stampin Up Ink Pad Old Olive, Lettuce Ranger Ink, Tonic Butterfly Punch, Unity Sentiment, Shrinkles, Stickles Star Dust.

I am having quite a few problems placing pictures on my posts, I am assuming that something has changed since I last used Blogger. If anybody has any tips on how to place photographs would you please please let me know..... It is sometimes taking me two hours just to place the photographs...

Parcel Paper Love....

2011-02-01T08:30:00.002Z

Ok I really did not think that having a tooth extracted would cause me so much trouble, but it did! my god the pain..... Yes I do mean that, anybody that knows me knows that I live with chronic pain and have done so for nearly nine years. However I would put tooth ache on a par with childbirth in the pain stakes (yes you may laugh), this coming from a woman who was in slow labour for seven days and full labour for nearly twenty seven hours.... Having my tooth out made me feel like such a baby, Mark kept putting his arms around me to reassure me that it was ok but it did not feel ok.... anyway I am on antibiotics yet again and hopefully with the tooth extracted and the anti biotics I will not with luck have any more trouble with my teeth for a long time to come, I HATE GOING TO THE DENTIST!

Sadly I am still having some problems with my laptop, not of the virus kind, but I thought that I had transferred all of the important stuff onto my separate hard drive, however it turned out I had missed a load of stuff including my watermark, which it turns out has gone past its seven day down load on Whimsy Stamps. I am still waiting for them to let me know if I can download the watermark again or if I have to pay and order again... bummer...

I thought that for speed today I would just show you another card I created with parcel paper, I have a really cool show and tell for later in the week, I created some backing paper and it turned out pretty good, you will have to come back to see later in the week... I really want to catch up on some blog surfing today so just a quickie and I would say a pretty simple one too....

Again all I did was attach some parcel paper to some card stock (remember to iron the parcel paper it makes it more manageable), then I stitched a simple running stitch around the outside of the panel. I used Tim Holtz Walnut Ink to distress the outside edge of the panel. Then stamped the Magnolia Swirl image in Ruby Red Stampin Up Ink and attached some chipboard hearts using brads and linen string, they have been coloured a similar red colour using oil pastels, I attached them so that they looked like they were hanging from the swirl branches... I finished the hearts with black crystals and added wording on the hearts using a letraset ink pen just to keep the cost down and show what you can do with very little. A big red bow using Stampin Up red satin ribbon finished the front panel. The whole panel was attached to a black panel then to a Kraft card blank, (I think I have a thing for Kraft card blanks!) Inside I stamped simple Magnolia Swirls in Ruby Red SU Ink and attached one more heart. The back has a similar panel with another Magnolia Swirl and my hand made by panel. I created an envelope using Parcel paper and stamped the same Magnolia Swirl just to co-ordinate with the card... Voila another simple card using Parcel Paper.... I think I’m hooked on parcel paper......I really hope you like my parcel paper creations they just go to show what you can do with parcel paper...

Ingredients

Parcel Paper – Black & Kraft Card Stock – Chip Board Hearts – Oil Pastel – Stampin Up Red Ribbon, Ruby Red Ink, Red Brads – Tim Holtz Walnut Ink, Rock Candy Stickles – Magnolia Swirl Stamp – Black Crystals – Janome Sewing Machine...

Wooooo hoooooo!

2011-01-27T23:20:00.000Z

Back To Internet Heaven....Yesssss....

Well it did indeed turn out that i had a virus on my laptop, hence the virtual Internet blackout in our house over the last three days. My brother-in-law Michael just finished transferring all of the important stuff off my laptop and taking it back to factory settings, then reloading the security software. Thank god I have a brother-in-law who knows his way around computers, because I certainly do not!!!!

Tomorrow I will be back to normal, visiting blogs and posting... WooooHooo! but, for now...as I had a tooth removed today and I am still feeling the effects of it! boohoo (I am a cry baby!!!).....

Night Night Sleep Tight, Don't Let The Bed Bugs Bite....

Candy Winner......Help Needed....

2011-01-25T10:20:00.001Z

Thank you to all of the girls that entered my candy giveaway, there is a winner.

Before tell you who, maybe somebody could help, I am late posting because my laptop crashed and it is still down, It would seem that every time I have been onto any Polish or Russian blogs in the last few days I have had multiple pages coming up, by that I mean lots and lots of pages just keep opening...and I have to quickly close down my laptop. I have been trying to get to everyone who entered to say thank you, for those I didn't get to yet, I promise to tomorrow when I can use DOH's computer for longer... but every time I went onto a Russian or it seems Polish blog this happened, anyway this evening it crashed my system completely and I had to restore to last back up losing lots of really precious photographs and It still is not security save, my Malware is not working.. Has anybody else experienced this?

I am a little worried....

Anyway enough of that.... to the winner of my candy....

Netty said...

Great candy, I've put the link onto my sidebar. Annette xx

Congratulations Annette, please let me have your e-mail address so that I can contact you...

If the candy is not claimed within 48 hours, I will redraw.....

Thank you so much to everyone for their kind words, I really do appreciate them so very much.... I had planned on e-mailing a few friends this evening, I am sorry, when I can have Mark's computer tomorrow, I'll e-mail then...I will also visit anyone I missed on the list... I had just gone onto Lydia's blog earlier when the blog I'd been on prior to hers crashed my laptop, sorry Lydia I will pop by tomorrow, Mark is sulking he wants his toy back...LOL ....If anyone has any ideas on this please let me know.....

No More Entries For Candy..... Sorry Guys.....

2011-01-24T21:30:00.002Z

Well no more candy entries, I'll announce the winner before 9.30pm tomorrow...

Thank you so much for all of your kind words, I can not tell you how much they really do mean, it is so good being back.... I'll post a new card tomorrow, tonight i have lots of e-mails to write to some special blogging friends...

Back To Blogging Candy...

2011-01-24T21:30:00.000Z

This Post Will Remain At The Top Until The 24th January 2011 Scroll Down For New Posts

Well only two days late… Sorry guys… this week has been one of those weeks… Christmas and New Year over and you breath a huge sigh of relief… then wham a cluster of birthdays, insurance renewals, bills that need sorting, and a son that decides he is going on his first 18 to 30’s holiday in Ibiza, at the age of twenty three, frightening the hell out of me… (yes he still lives at home with Mum and Dad doing everything for him. Well I am sure it will all work its self out one way or another.

Ok here goes, this is my coming back to blogging candy.

One Magnolia Stamp

One Hanglar Stanglar Stamp Ready Mounted With Sentiment

One Pack of V & A Textured Papers 6 x 6 Inches

One Pack of Marianne Creatable Dies

One Bouquet of Cherry Blossom Paper Flowers

One Mini Bird House (Wooden)

One Wooden Word Create

One Stampin Up Chocolate Chip Classic Ink Pad

One Memento Tuxedo Black Ink Pad

Two Meters of Cotton Lace

One Bottle of Glimmer Mist (Tattered Leather)

One Bottle of Tim Holtz Distress Stickles (Peeled Paint)

One Jar of Bits (Brads, Gems, Crystals, Beads Etc)

I’ll be adding another photograph with a few more bits and pieces next week.

The Rules

1. Post my candy in a prominent position on your blog in the side bar with a link back to my blog. This is to give as many bloggers a chance of winning as possible...

2. Leave a comment on this post only. for a chance of winning the candy... (you can still leave a comment on my other posts but I'll only be putting the names from this post into the hat...)

3.If you are a blogger who trawls for candy please do not enter, I will be checking the winners blog, if the rules have not been followed then I will chose the next number.

4. If you do not have a blog you can still enter...please leave your e-mail address I will enter you into the hat (Random Number Generator).....

5. Finally the candy is open world wide

6. I will close the candy on Monday 24th January 2011 at 9.30pmGMT and announce the winner on Tuesday 25th January before 9.30pm GMT

I will keep this post at the top of my blog until 9.30pm GMT on 24th January 2011

Good luck every one and thank you so much for the well wishes I have already received. Big Kiss For Buddy...hehehe

Last Chance To Enter Candy Give Away....

2011-01-23T15:33:00.001Z

Last Chance To Enter Candy Give Away

Extra's To Go With My Candy Give Away

Well I Promised some extra little bits for my candy, as well as the candy at the top of my blog, I have added the pins that I created in the tutorial (to show them a little better I have put them in my pin cushion, but I am afraid you can not have that ), I have also put some doilies which are now and have been for some time in vogue with card makers, I remember making a card with a doily nearly two years ago and still they are very popular...here there are three different types, two sizes of heart doily, and two round one lot of which are black skull and crossbones are great for girly pirate and Halloween cards.

Sadly as a supporter of the Stamp Out Campaign I can not offer images that I have stamped myself, I had planned on giving a little book full of images, however I had not realised it was strictly prohibited by most stamp companies, an excuse on my part perhaps is that I have been away for such a long time, I had not realised that image theft had become such a problem, any way I decided I could still give the book and it could be used as a journal or address book, so I have added that also however you will not see that until it arrives.....I just thought that something should be a surprise. I have also added some more flowers; there are curly roses and purple heather, some stamens which again are seen on so many cards at the moment. I have added some extra pearly stems, some vintage lace, finally some Tim Holtz Washers and some clear gems...

Sending My Love On Valentines Day....

2011-01-22T22:00:00.003Z

I created this card a couple of weeks ago and as I am still trying to get over this infection i contracted a week ago, I thought it would be a good idea to show you cards I had started and completed before my return to the world of blogging....

I love to make cards that are simple as much as I love to make the highly decorated ones.... Hubby thought that this one was lovely so I thought I would show it to you. I have a bit of a thing for the Kraft colour (plain parcel wrapping paper, Kraft card stock etc). I wanted to create a card using the parcel wrap and basically make it look like an envelope on the front of the card. Well here is what I came up with, very basic Kraft colour with the beautiful red ink from Stampin Up.

I took a six by six card blank created from kraft card stock, and added a background of black card for rigidity, I then took another piece of card stock and placed a bigger piece of kraft wrapping paper on top of the piece of card and wrapped it around the edges ( I have found that ironing the wrapping paper makes it easier to manage). I inked the edges of the piece with Tim Holtz Walnut Distressing Ink, and then stitched around the edge of the piece using walnut brown cotton, I then used a Basic Grey rubber stamp set called Flourish Edges and stamped along the bottom of the piece using Ruby Red Stampin Up Ink. This piece was attached to the black piece of card on the card blank. I took another piece of triangular shaped card and again covered it with kraft wrapping paper and repeated the steps except this time I used a sentiment by Stampin Up (Valentine Please Be Mine) it was then attached to the front of the card so that it looked like the flap of an envelope. I took a sealing wax candle and dripped it onto the point of the false flap and stamped into it using Love Kisses 4 You a Seven Gypsies Wax Seal I have. On the fold of the card I have strung some Stampin Up Linen Thread and added two charms. I then used the same Basic Grey Flourish Edge and Ruby Red Stampin Up ink to create a simple boarder around the inside of the card.

As you can see it is a simple card by my standards but i actually enjoyed making this card, I didn't think about placement as the back of an envelope looks pretty much the same on all of them, I just love the simplicity.

Ingredients
Kraft Parcel Paper, Black CS, Kraft CS, Ruby Red Stampin Up Ink, Basic Grey Flourish Edge Stamps, Stampin Up Stamp, Seven Gypsies Wax & Wax Seal Stamp, Stampin Up Linen Thread, Charms.

Longing For Summer...

2011-01-20T19:48:00.005Z

It is soooo cold here (for me anyway), I know that it will not be as cold as parts of the US or where my friends Cath and Ila live in Canada, but for me it is cold here.... Before Christmas it got colder than it had been for a very long time, we recorded minus twelve in our back garden. How I long for the spring and summer months, even though my favourite time of year is Autumn (I love the colours) I used to love going for long walks and running through piles of leaves that had been whipped up into piles by the gusting autumn winds, of course that was before I got ill. I still dream of doing that and you never know may be one day, but right now I am dreaming of the lighter days of spring and summer... I am rambling as usual... Back to spring and summer, I wanted to make a bright card and so before Christmas when the days and nights were sooo cold I created this easel card, using the beautiful orange, yellow turquoise and green tones from the We R Memory Keepers Madame Royale stack.... I like easel cards as for me, they seem easier to fill, any body that knows me is aware of the fact that I like to decorate every surface, it just does not seem right to leave a blank page and I find it easier to cover an easel card, I do not know why as there are actually just as many surfaces to cover if not more... weird I know.... I figured easel cards were probably the best thing to get me back into card making as you can do so much with them, even change shape by using a different plate on the fold.

My darling husband carried on buying me lots of stash when I took my crafting break, I kind of felt guilty but now I am glad he did, he knew better than me that I would eventually go back to my crafty addiction, he ordered all of the Magnolia kits and this background from the Fairytale Pirates & Princess collection that I just love, he got it from Sir StampAlot, I stamped it on to water colour card I use Windsor & Newton Cotman using Versa fine Onyx Black Ink ( I was lucky enough to get a refill for it last week from Sir StampAlot, the first time I have seen them in at least two years) RAMBLING AGAIN !!!! Anyway I coloured the image using Tim Holtz Distress Inks, then I painted the grass and stalk again in the peeled paint and cut it out so that I could give the picture some more depth... I added the ink painted snail (how much do I love the snail and frog from this set, they are just soooooo darn cute)....I added Time Holtz Rock Candy Stickles to the dandelion (or fairies as we called them as children, we would blow and make a wish...) head and the seeds that were floating in the wind. I had these lovely frames from eBay, from ages ago, that long I don’t even remember when, but I thought they would work perfectly on this card, and as it turned out it was perfect because I used the frame to attach the enamelled greeting tag and the SU Pumpkin Pie ribbon bow, the butterfly looks like he has just landed there for a rest… (Well in my mind anyway...LOL)

I have used some flowers that dear Claudia kindly managed to get for me a couple of years ago, along with stamens and pins from Wild Orchid Crafts. The rest as you can see are of things I love about card making, distressing, stitching and lots of it…. Any body that knows me also knows I have a little habit of not being able to make anything without just a little stitching…

Well I hope you like my longing for summer card; I will list the ingredients below…

Ingredients

SU CS Pumpkin Pie – WRMK Madame Royale DP – Water Colour CS Windsor & Newton Cotman – Versafine Onyx Black Ink Pad - Magnolia Rubber Stamps – Tim Holtz Distressing Inks – Flourish Frame eBay – SU Pumpkin Pie Ribbon – Enamelled Tag K & Co – Pearl Pins, Stamens Wild Orchid Crafts – Flowers, Crystal Swirls, and Pearly Twigs From Stash.

Pearly Pins.. For My Candy Queen...

2011-01-18T19:30:00.002Z

Pearly Pins For A Candy Queen

Well it is a jolly good job I had set up a few posts ready for this week. An awful lot of the girls at work have been coming in with colds and coughs. I am lucky I had my flu jab in September last year, but, Friday came and I started to feel really rough. By Saturday I was aching, cold and clammy even though I felt red hot. Well it is Sunday evening now and I am still feeling rough, I think I may have a watered down dose of what the girls at work have had, sadly it has affected my joints, and, after a fantastic year last year, managing to take very little sick time from work. I am starting 2011 by taking my first day of sick leave today. I am very annoyed with myself; I should have taken better care though how I do not know. Anyway I am resting, and I do mean resting, I am doing virtually nothing. I am desperate to be well for my darling husband’s birthday on Wednesday. I have planned to take him for a meal with his sister and her husband, so rest rest rest…I suppose I struck lucky over the Christmas period, my sister was so ill on Christmas day and for most of the Christmas period.

Well below you will find the tutorial I have created to show how I make the pins for my cards, I’ve been making them for nearly two years, I know a lot of crafters now make their own pins as they look so much better.

I was asked a lot before my crafting break, how to make the pins I add to my cards.

I thought it would be a good idea to show you and create a few for the winner of my candy. Here goes!

You’ll Need A Little Equipment

• Preferable a beading mat,( But not essential, this is a fluffy mat will stop your beads, pins, and crimping beads from rolling off the table/counter and scattering all over the floor.)

• A pair of crimping pliers

• Assorted wire working pliers (depending on your project) including a pair with wire cutting capability

• Assorted beads

• Assorted bead caps

• Assorted Pins, either decorative or just plain

• Assorted jump rings

• Assorted bead spacers

Click On The Pictures For The Instructions

Wishing You All A Happy & Healthy 2011......

2011-01-11T23:24:00.000Z

Happy New Year

Firstly I’d like to wish everyone a very happy and healthy 2011….

Well it has been a very long time since i last posted, around my 40th birthday, eighteen months ago… A lot happened in the eighteen months I have been AWOL.. much of which I can’t go into on my blog. Never the less I’m hoping to be back this year and to give myself a much easier goal, by promising myself to post once a week rather than trying to kill myself posting…

As many of you know I have two chronic conditions that will never leave me and much of the time I am battling with my health. However in the last year I have returned to work and now I have that under control, I feel I really want to get back in touch with my creative side.

I have been very naughty and lost contact with my crafty friends, you know who you are and for that I am truly sorry, life unfortunately took over and the last eighteen months have been hard health wise and also within my personal and working life.

Gosh I have missed this so much, I hope that you will all celebrate my return with me, I’m planning on a lovely candy, I know that with the economies of the world being as they are we are all saving pennies, but this I feel is a very special thing for me to do, to be honest I never thought I’d return to craft blogging, so for me this really is very special.

My DOH carried on buying me lots of crafting goodies so I have much catching up to do. I am going to be using some of the old stamps and we’ve recently purchased a toner printer so I can download some of the newer images for now.

So I guess you all want to know what my returning candy is! Well tune in tomorrow and I’ll post it, you won’t be disappointed.

The Winner Is.....................Drum Roll....

2009-05-11T23:09:00.002+01:00

Awwwww.... Guys i'm so sorry, I'd forget my head if it weren't screwed on at the moment....

The Winner via Random Number Generator is....

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:

6 68 20 39 80
46 102 38 39 3
80 54 43 52 3
67 20 61 78 22
81 33 100 66 52
56 11 68 29 92
10 5 27 48 17
78 106 58 38 74
92 26 77 98 4
28 79 69 4 15
58 9 29 73 95
71 18 9 13 106
24 76 55 73 48
20 63 72 87 101
27 71 53 6 68
14 56 29 45 43
1 87 90 37 83
74 83 90 86 42
42 74 54 23 74
91 2 79 4 43
20 23 57 68 28
23

Who is scotspanda said...
Hi Tina I hope you are having a really fantastic birthday!! You don't look a day over 30 dear!I have posted your blog candy to my side bar (as it stays at the top so lots more ppl will see it) Hope you get plenty of crafting pressies and huge chocolate cake lollotsaloveAmanda xxx

Well done Amanda.... and thank you so much to all the girls who entered... i'd have loved to give you all candy... but sadly i couldn't.... I'll be back tomorrow to give you all a look at my Gorjuss Birthday presents from my hubby.... yes.. Gorjuss... but a very special Gorjuss..... you won't believe what he got me....

Night Night Sleep Tight...

40 Today.... Happy Birthday To Me & Candy For You.....

2009-05-01T03:12:00.007+01:00

40 Today... Happy Birthday To Me With Candy For You...I have to start by saying i am so sorry to my blogging buddies... i didn't mean to worry you... I'm catching up on mail... a lot has been happening here most of it not so good but i am absolutely determined today will be a good day... Guys thank you so much for your lovely comments and messages.. i can't tell you how much they warm my heart..... and for my friends.. you know who you are..hehehe i promise i will mail over the weekend to explain.... i already started yesterday...

Well i know i said i would post my candy last week but as i said things took over and i decided today would be a perfect day for a new start and to give you a chance of winning some yummy candy as a thank you for, being so wonderful for visiting my blog and leaving your lovely lovely comments and messages...I have candy for one person only, i wish i could win the lottery so that i could give you all candy but sadly i don't think that will happen.... All you have to do is post it in a prominent position on your blog so that every one can have a chance of winning.... I'll be adding a few other bits and pieces later in the week so leave a comment and I'll add you into the hat... I'll add the rules at the bottom of this post... I hope you all have a wonderful Friday and a lovely weekend and i promise this time I'll be back at the weekend with a post... I hope you like what i have for you.... thank you so much for visiting my blog and being so wonderful with your messages and comments.. you are all angels...

Here are the rules...

1.Post my candy in a prominent position on your blog to give as many bloggers a chance of winning as possible..

2.Leave a comment on this post only.. for a chance of winning the candy..(you can still leave a comment on my other posts but I'll only be putting the names from this post into the hat..)

3.If you are a blogger who trawls for candy please do not enter

4.If you don't have a blog you can still enter...please leave your e-mail address I'll enter you into the hat.....

5.Finally the candy is open world wide... yes i know the postage is going to be crippling.. but as my darling hubby says you're only 40 once...hehehehe... thank the lord....

6.I'll announce the winner on Sunday 10th May in the evening, the candy will close at Noon on that day...

Have a great day guys... I Will....hehehe

Sneaky Peek..... 40th Birthday Candy....

2009-04-08T14:31:00.000+01:00

My second sneaky peek of my birthday candy that will be on offer in the last week of April are these two products.... A brand New Set Of Stampin Up Pastels... and These sort after Miss Anya Stamps... YOU LIKE????If you want to be in with a chance of winning these you'll have to come back in the last week of April to join in my 40th Birthday fun... I'll be back soon to show the yummy DP side of my MEGA 40th Birthday Candy ....

Bye For Now...

Sneaky Peek....... 40th Birthday Candy.....

2009-04-02T11:50:00.001+01:00

Well here it is the first sneaky peek of my birthday candy....Yes it is a mini battery powered sewing machine.. as you know I'm sewing mad i thought it would be a great idea to offer a mini machine.... It isn't the Janome Mini but it does stitch using the straight stitch, I've got one of these and i do use it when i don't want to get my Janome out.... and it does work really well..... You can of course use an adaptor with this machine and run it from the mains but as I'm going to offer the candy world wide I've decided to keep it as just a battery operated sewing machine... so here it is....i haven't taken it completely from it's packaging.. that's a bit of a sore point.... the box is slightly damaged now.... i couldn't get the darn thing out.... OMG was i cursing....well the air was blue....put it that way....as you can see there is a little foot pedal and there are some extra spools.... If you come back at the weekend you'll see my next sneaky peek....and what i will say is it's by Stampin Up...so there you go....

Have a great day... and if you have a friend who is feeling low, give them a ring....it may well be what lifts them today....

Such A Bad Day Made So Much Better By Dear Blog Buddies...

2009-04-01T22:51:00.012+01:00

This is a really long post you might want to grab a coffee if you are willing to put up with me for that long....

You know yesterday morning started so beautifully... it was my day off work so i got up late well late for me... 8.00am.... i know...sad...

I thought I'm going to have a coffee some porridge and I'm going to sit and watch EastEnders.. the house was quiet and the boys were sleeping at the side of me on the sofa and i was quite content... any way about an hour later i still hadn't moved but it was my day off after all... and i thought i know I'll jump on my laptop and go blurffing.... i just don't seem to get any time to do it lately...I'd just got onto my first site right at the top of my list A Little Bit Of Me... when the phone rang...

It was Mark.. i thought something was funny, he sounded funny and he just doesn't ring me when he's at work, he knows I'm panicky.... so if he's going to ring he always tells me... He was ringing with bad news.. Our friend Phil (Mark has worked with him for over twenty years and we've become good friends over the years...) had found his wife Denise dead that morning... i have to tell you we are so saddened there were lots of tears and i could hear how choked Mark was for Phil.... after speaking for a while he said "I'd better get back to work"... we said our "I Love You's" and i sat there dumb founded for a while..... Five minutes after putting the phone down i got a call from a close friend at work, she was feeling really down.. (she's been off work with stress) now i know a lot of people think that with stress you should just pull yourself together.. but it is never that easy and stress can really affect your health in a bad way... well i spent the next hour or so helping to make her feel a little better and believe me she is feeling so stressed and low for such a good reason and she really doesn't deserve to feel that way......no sooner had i put down the telephone, i got a text from a dear friend, i sit across from at work Liz... we've become firm friends over the last few years and ring each other even though we see each other every other day at work... the lord only know where we find so much to talk about although our love for our Furkids is what binds us i think.... Jessie is her four and a half year old Persian pussy cat... with such a huge character, he would play fetch and made Liz so happy... On Monday evening Liz and her hubby had to take Jessie to the vets he couldn't go to the toilet... they helped him go and decided to operate.. but sadly he died shortly after the operation yesterday morning....Do you know i just didn't know what to say to her... it made me cry hearing her sob and i knew exactly how much she was hurting inside... she loved Jessie as much as we love the boys..we've both said in the past we've give our right arms for them.. literally.... I just couldn't believe what was happening to my friends yesterday morning.... it was an awful two hours with three terrible telephone calls...

Then a knock at the door and i thought OMG what now... I'm a bit like that sometimes.... three pieces of mail where handed to me and to the ladies who sent it.... Thank You So Very Much From The Bottom Of My Heart.... You three made a very bad day a little better and put a smile on my face when i thought i would cry inside all day... It made me realise we are there for friends in good times and bad.....

Ila my dear friend... would have laughed her head off if she'd seen the boys trying to grab at the bag of biscuits she'd decorated for them... yes you can only see two biscuits they were like impatient children and wouldn't leave me alone, when Pika saw them and Giz who has a nose like no other.... as you know he doesn't have any eyes so his sense of smell is amazing...i was really laughing at them..... There was this beautifully detailed Easter card along with lots of goodies for me...thank you so very much Ila..it was all just absolutely stunning and i do love that little doggy on the boys gift.......

Then i opened a package from dear dear Claudia.... I couldn't believe i was holding this card... i know that last year when Gizmo was very ill dear Claudia made it for him... but a magazine wanted to feature it so it had to be sent off... Claudia i would have understood if you had wanted to keep this one my friend but as you sent it to us, it will go into a box frame in my new craft room when it's ready and take pride of place on my card wall.. yes I'm having a card wall.... i already have 18 box frames with cards in ready to hang... how sad am i......Claudia also sent me the gorgeous MS punches she so kindly ordered for me.. thank you soooooooooooooooooooo much you are a complete angel.. i don't know how i can repay you...and also some embellies and two sheets of rubber stamps.....i haven't shown a picture as i was in a rush but you are going to see some cards very soon made using them...i was so happy because this week i was going to buy one of the sets... how cool is that.....
Finally but by no means least.... Lovely Joey sent me this gorgeous gorgeous Thank You card.... Joey i just love these colours and you coloured her so beautifully......

Ladies you will never know what receiving these did for me on a day when i thought every thing would go wrong.... thankfully nothing more happened yesterday but i think that my friends had enough bad news yesterday to last them forever.... i just wish i could have done more.... i always feel so useless in these situations....

Speaking of useless... i really do think i am this has taken me so long (told you just a natural born worrier).... Dear dear Viv sent me this card a few weeks ago when i was feeling poorly and not good with a really nasty virus... she really cheered me up with this beautifully colourful card and the ton of images that it contained.. thank you so much.... i am so glad I've got to know you...now i just need to start meeting some of you.....maybe one day at the shows.....

Well it's getting really late.... one last thing before i go.... As some of you will know it is going to be my big big birthday on May 1st.... i am the dreaded 40....... i really don't feel 40........... my head is still saying 25....lol.. anyway i spoke to my darling hubby... and he agrees it should be a very special candy for one person so every week I'll be showing a new part of the candy I'm going to give away....... tomorrow I'll show the first item... and there are some quite nice things there..just to wet your appetite it's up to £75 worth now and I'm not finished.......so keep checking back for the sneaky peeks.....then the week before my birthday i will open the candy and announce the winner the day before my big day... I'll be in no fit state one the 1st of May.... Lunch with the girls then a meal with the family.... and i do plan on drinking although how much i don't know.... I'm not used to drinking much in fact I've only started having the odd glass recently when out with friends....

You know one last thing before i go.... did everybody get their spring kit from Magnolia? I thought I'd had an e-mail saying they were coming two weeks ago but mine still didn't arrive.... I'd really appreciate it if someone could let me know if I'm just going mad or not......

Well Night Night Sleep Tight..........

Gorjuss Girls.... I Am Sorry.....

2009-03-29T22:34:00.012+01:00

Ohhhh guys... i am so sorry... you know i feel awful....I'm not poorly this time... although I've just this last week started taking a new drug called Gabapentin which is making my husband make rather funny comments....... well actually Mark thinks I'm hilarious...they're making me fuzzy headed and i said they make me feel dopey... Mark says "that's no different to what i normally am" very funny darling... Anyway.. life is just really hectic at the moment and i keep desperately trying to find time to blog but real life just keeps getting in the way at the moment.. plus I'm back at work... which although i love my job.. there are problems there at the moment and there is lots to do with Ashley going off to Gloucester Uni at the end of the summer...You know in a way although I've always said it would take me getting an awful lot worse before i give up work.. at the moment i think i would.... then again wouldn't we all...if we could afford to...maybe when i win that lottery.... seriously I really do want to thank all of the friends who have been mailing and leaving messages.. thank you so much guys you'll never know how much it means to me... well enough of me being completely soppy.. and no I'm not dopey at the moment..LOL....

I thought I'd show you the folder i created for Lydia the winner of my candy a few weeks ago... I've added notes to the photographs on this one so you can see how i created this little paper bag folder.....I took a flat bottomed paper bag to create this folder... you could do this without the aid of a sewing machine, all you need to do is fold the flat bottomed paper bag in half and on or just before the fold place a piece of double sided sticky tape to the inside of the bag to seal it.. this will create the pocket and enable you to create one without the use of a sewing machine.. you could also hand stitch using a running stitch down the center of the folder...either of these these three methods will work... i used the sewing machine option.. obviously... I then created all of the panels for this folder... and as usual went a little crazy with my Janome Mini Sewing Machine... i did an awful lot of stitching on this one... but you don't need to.. I coloured my image using Copic and Pro Markers.. and paper pieced the dress using the same MME DP I've used for the panels on the folder... The first panel to be stitched to the paper bag was the front panel.. i attached a piece of ribbon approx ten inches, half way down my panel before stitching it to the box bottom end of the folded bag.. you can see the opposite side in the first picture above.. the stitching i used to attach the panel actually created my pocket again you can see this in the first picture.. i neglected to tell you i didn't add the lace flowers until I'd attached all of the panels to this folder.. it would have made it far too difficult to use the sewing machine... i then went ahead and attached all of the other completed panels to the paper bag folder, they were all stitched prior to attaching and when attaching the back panel i again took a ten inch piece of the same ribbon and attached it half way down the back panel to create my closure. You can see on the picture above where the ribbon is attached on the back panel.. I finally attached the lace flowers to the front of the folder... They were created by taking a twelve inch piece of lace ribbon and stitching down the straight edge using a large running stitch.. the stitches were very loose.. so that i could pull on the cotton to create the folds needed to make the lace flower.. i then used a few tacking stitches to attach both ends to each other... then i took a prima flower and a bead end cap (the bead end cap was used the wrong way around to create an extra dimension to the flowers) i pushed a brad through the lace flower I'd created and through both the prima flower and the bead end cap to complete the flower... then attached a piece of the same ribbon I'd used for the closure to the bottom of the completed flower to act as a leaf.. i created two of these and attached them to the front of my folder to finish it off... (i know three's and odd numbers are best but three would have been too much on this folder..) You can see a better view of the lace flowers to left here... i added one of my little home made pins and two crystal pins to finish the folder... Well i hope you like my little paper bag folder... it's the same way I've created paper bag albums in the past.. only i stitched lots of folded bags together with the opening being used for extra large tags that have photographs attached to them.. I'll show one i created three years ago in the near future.. pity I've not created one recently.. another thing for my long list of To Do's..

I hope you all have a wonderful week... even if like me you have work.... boohoo.... and once again thank you so much for all of your lovely mail and comments.. i can't tell you how much they mean to me....

Night Night Sleep Tight...

Ingredients... Block Bottomed Paper Bag ~ Bazzill CS ~ MME CS ~ Gorjuss Girl Stamp (Sugar Nellie) ~ Copic And Pro Markers ~ Ribbon, Lace, Brads, Bead End Caps From Stash ~ Nestabilities ~ SU Top Note Die ~ Hand Crafted Pin & Crystal Pins From Stash ~ Old Faithful Janome Mini Sewing Machine..

Anya Stamps At Dies To Die For....

2009-03-24T16:32:00.003Z

Just a quickie ladies.. Tracy over at Dies To Die For has just taken delivery of the restocks for the older Anya stamps and the new ones too... Get over there and keep checking her site before they run out...sadly they don't last long at all..... Tracy is buried beneath boxes and boxes of new stash to check her site regularly as things are added over the next few days...I'll add a link in my side bar to make it easy for you to visit

Yummy Scrummy Gift Packaging.. & Winners..

2009-03-23T07:46:00.012Z

Hi guys i am sorry i just don't know where the time is going at the moment... i am i have to say sleeping an awful lot but the rest of the time, I'm just run off my feet so to speak.... you know what i mean.. i know i can hear you saying life is busy for all of us.. i just don't cope real well with it when it gets too hectic.. hence the sleeping a lot...

I am sorry i haven't been visiting of late too.. I'm going to try desperately hard to find time this week. I just have two more mails to catch up on.. and if you've had one of my mails you'll know they're like a book.. as i always say to Ila.. grab a coffee it's a book..hehehe... and i need to sort out my PIF for this week too.. it's a nice little die-cut easel so come take a look later this week....

On to my little quickie today...There is a lovely lady called Val who works within the same offices as me for the Courts Service here in Nottingham.. she's always been incredibly supportive and is always telling me to keep going even when others are encouraging me to retire.. she also brings me little crafty gems every now and again you'll see more over the next couple of weeks.. It was her birthday a little while ago and i knew exactly what to get for her.. she's an avid Gardener so i got a Clematis and some Viola bedding plants... it turned out Val had an Obelisk that was just crying out for a climber so i definitely did the right thing..
I also wanted to show you that gifts don't have to be expensive to be beautiful and that with a little hand crafted packaging, it can mean more than something that cost £50...I created these little containers using just a basic box shape later this week I'll try to create a tutorial to show how i did it... I used SU Old Olive and Pumpkin Pie CS for the box shapes and Certainly Celery for the Scallops and So Many Scallops Stamp set...along with an Old Olive Craft Ink pad. I used Nestabilities to create the circles and scalloped circles and just a little ribbon and twine from my stash..Every body commented on them saying it looked like I'd gone to an expensive flower shop... i was chuffed that so many made positive comments at work, now I'm going to create packaging for all the gifts i buy... it shows you've thought that little bit more about it all.... and Stampin Up is just perfect for creating gift packaging as well as cards and scrapbooks.. On to more happy news.. thank you so much to the girls who wanted to create one of the little trinket boxes there weren't many of you but that's ok.. Mark picked out two from the list and here they are.. Ladies let me have your details and I'll get the boxes and little bits and pieces into the post this week..

Jacilynn said...
Your box is just darling. So beautiful and elegant. I'd love to give this a try. My daughter loves treasure boxes and I think I'd decorate one up for her to keep her treasures in. Have a great day!
March 20, 2009 10:53 PM

Karen said...
I get the feedblitz email from your blog and dived straight over from seeing what you have done: It is a beautiful box and I would love to have a go. I'm trying to stretch myself to other things than just cards and this would be a wonderful project for me at the moment.So glad you are on the mend and that Gizmo is still giving you the run around!
March 16, 2009 8:39 AM

Ladies thank you so much for playing along.. i hope you'll come back later this week and see if you'd like to play along with the Pass it Forward i have to offer..

Before i forget my dear friend Ila has some yummy candy on offer i hope that you'll go take a look and play along..

Have a great Monday ladies and gentlemen.....

A Trinket For A Dear Friend......Would You Like To Make One Read This Post!!!!!

2009-03-15T22:42:00.017Z

Well it really does feel like it's been an age not two weeks.. Thank you so much for all of the lovely get well wishes I've been receiving.. i can't tell you how much it warms my heart.. it really does make me feel so much better.. As some of you know i have two diseases that cause problems from time to time, this time it was our chemist who scared the life out of us.... He thought my immune system was failing because of the symptoms i had and the meds i take.. well it turned out to be a simple case of sinusitis (sorry if I've spelt that wrong..) and a virus in my throat which caused me to loose my voice and my darling hubby thought that was hilarious.. thank you darling..Gosh it really does feel like ages...

I'm not going to be posting any new creations for a couple of weeks but thought i could share some of the things I've created recently with you... i have some catching up to do with e-mails and blurfing..so if i show you things i already did i can take my time and not over do it...at least then Mark doesn't moan at me...hehehe..I have a couple of little give aways this week.. one PIF and one that will open with this post. It starts by me telling you about this little trinket box i created for my dear dear friend Moni.. who i am very happy to say loved it... I've had these little box frames for about four years.. yes i know... crazy but as a crafter you'll know that you get stash and sometimes it takes a while to use it.... Well these little boxes are more like little box frames and i have eight well seven now and i thought that after I've shown this one, I'd give two or three sets away so read on and you can find out how to get one..I stared with a box frame, if you push ever so slightly on the glass it will come out (only do this if you want to fix it back in) and laid four pieces of clunny lace around the top of the box.. the actual frame edge.. and a paper doily inside the box.. i then mixed some gesso with Ranger Ink i used Lettuce and painted over the whole box including over the lace and doily.. i think i actually did this three times just to make sure the lace was covered enough.. I then reattached the glass into the frame using some silicone glue, i thought it was safest to use this but you can use what you feel appropriate.. Then i started to decorate it...I used an SU Certainly Celery Ink Pad and my favourite flourish set by Basic Grey Flourish Edges to stamp all over the outside of the box... then lots of lovely hydrangea flowers that were layered with some tulle and of course the obligatory spacers and brads...some tea roses and a couple of strategically placed crystal pins.. I then took some little alphabet embellishments I've had for six years...i know..I'm terrible for putting things away and not wanting to use them... and spelt out my friends name on the top of the box..My trinket box was filled with goodies for Moni..which included lots of pins and some yummy SU Hodge Podge... Well that's it.. one trinket box.. Would you like to have a go.....? you don't have to do what i did.. you can cover it with yummy papers in fact that's my next project with one.. i would love to give two or three of these away.. depending on how may requests i get that is.hehehe.. I'm going to include one of the box frames which incidentally looks like this when you get it... and I'll pop a few little bits in just in case you want to try to recreate what i did... I'll pop in white hydrangeas that you can ink or dye.. white tea roses, a couple of crystal pins and some tulle, spacers and brads.. how does that sound..?

Well here's what you need to do.. leave a message under this post stating you'd like to try and create a trinket box..simple.. all i ask in return is that you do just that... don't ask for one and then not use it.. it wouldn't be fair to others who really wanted to give it a go.. I'll pick two or three from the list next Sunday 22nd March.. I'll post worldwide so you are all welcome to leave a comment... and if you like pass it on by leaving a link on your blog.. although it's not necessary.. I don't think I've forgotten anything but if i have will someone remind me please... my brain is a little slow from not creating for a while..LOL....

One last thing before i go... it's been a while and i thought you might like to see Gizmo and know how he's doing now... as you know he lost both eyes last year.. well he's doing ok but we don't know yet if he's now going deaf but he's definitely taking every thing in his stride.. He falls asleep in the funniest positions... just look at this... then he wakes up and wonders where he is.. bless his little cotton socks...and before you say "how do you know he's asleep" he's snores like an old man..hehehe... he just snores away while i click away on the laptop...he's a wonderfully amazingly resilient little chap and being blind has not made him any the less mischievous... he's still a little rascal only now he has Mum and Dad wrapped round his little paws....as does Pika too....

Well that's all folks..

Night Night Sleep Tight.. Don't Let The Bed Bugs Bite...

Candy Winner....

2009-03-01T22:39:00.005Z

You Guys Really All Just Rock.. I really do mean that..

Awww Guys thank you so much for your warm get well wishes.... i don't know how but the antibiotics still haven't kicked in and I'm still quite poorly although it seems worse at night now..very strange.. I'm afraid this will have to be quick, i have to be up early for bloods in the morning..... so the winner of my blogoversary candy is ....

♥ Lydia ♥ said...
Many congrats on your 10,000 hits and 1st blogoversary!! I have added you to my sidebar...and am about to 'stalk' you! :0) Your work is fabulous! ♥

Congratulations Lydia..Please get in touch with me and let me have your details and the details of which images you'd like... i do have the new Gorjuss Girls.. i will get the parcel out by the end of this week to you.. congratulations again....I am sorry there couldn't be more winners..it would be nice to be able to send candy to you all.. maybe if i win the lottery one day.... but there will be a PIF as soon as I'm over this stinker..i won one with my lovely friend Heidi. so i'm going to pass it forward..hehehe... she knows why i'm laughing... i am such a doobie..so please keep watching for it...

Thank you so much once again for all of your lovely visits i can't tell you how much i appreciate it.. and for your get well wishes... i will literally be wished well at this rate.. Not a bad thing at all..hehehe...

I'll be back tomorrow or Tuesday with a creation that I'd already written a post for. sorry I'm just not up to doing much at the moment... but i have a few things to show you in the mean time....

Candy Now Closed....

2009-02-28T21:40:00.002Z

Hi Guys thank you so much for all of you who joined my candy and even more to all of my lovely blogging friends who comment and come by to visit. I can't tell you how much i appreciate it...

Sorry my candy wasn't ended until this evening.. i had a little health scare yesterday.. we don't think there is any thing to panic about but won't know for sure until Monday evening.... so if I'm not answering mail or getting in touch it's because of that..

I'll announce a winner tomorrow afternoon for the candy.. so please check back then.. i have to visit the final few to say thank you before Mark chooses a winner at random..

Thank you so much guys for your well wishes.. it sometimes feels as though you do this so often... I'm sorry I'm ill again... i need my brain transplanting into an eighteen year old body preferably an athlete..hehehe... bye bye for now...

Purrrrrfect Scruffy.....

2009-02-26T20:53:00.014Z

My apologies if this reads wrong.. I've added to it...it was scheduled for tonight anyway... Well I'm still poorly.... only now I've nearly lost my voice...my throat is so sore i can't hardly talk.. my darling hubby Mark keeps laughing at me and then saying awwwwww.... and mwah...he won't kiss me because he says he doesn't want my lurgy....so I'm getting childish kisses on the forehead for the foreseeable future..aww can't blame him really...I'm really sorry I've not been by for a few days... I'm still feeling pretty rough...thankfully I'd already created this post last Saturday.. scheduling is a godsend.. On to my little card for today.. i say little, but i wish i could show you just how big Scruffy is... imagine the size of the largest SU stamp and half again..you can see I've trimmed him and this is a six by six card.. he's huge.. and i love him.... i don't know why but I've made six cards including this one and this is the first I've shown...There is a fantastic sketch over at Friday Sketchers by the lovely and very talented Jacqueline.. i hope that you will all take the time to go and see the creations of the design team they are all amazing artists..and offer inspiration in bucket loads..For this card I took a piece of SU Bashful Blue CS and scored it using my Scorepal then trimmed it down to a six by six inch card.. i distressed all the edges and took some more CS in Real Red by SU and created the six triangular panels distressed them and laid a piece of Making Memories 5th Avenue DP that had been distressed over the top of each triangle and then stitched each panel using my Janome Mini Sewing Machine.. For the front of the card i then used two of the panels and attached them to the card on top of which i then attached a distressed rectangular panel of Su Real Red CS that had another piece of the same MM 5th Avenue DP distressed and stitched to it... finally attaching my gorgeous Scruffy image to the front.. Scruffy was coloured using my Zig Brushables.. (I'm a bit embarrassed I've had these nearly six months.. Mark got me the whole set way back in the summer when i was ill and this is only the first or second time I've used them.....naughty..) I don't know if you can see but Scruffy has slippers on.. these come as one slipper and you stamp it twice.. cute ayy... To finish the front i attached these beautiful flowers my dear friend Claudia sent to me last summer they are so yummy and i think I've probably said this a million times.. she always sends me the most yummy embellishments...Please take a look at Claudia's Blog she has an amazing new Tutorial on colouring with Copic Markers.. On the back of the flowers i attached two pieces of velvet powder blue ribbon BG if i remember correctly, to act as foliage..and finished the flowers off by using an Around The Block Pussy Cat Brad in the center of each of them.. i then attached a sentiment that was first attached to a distressed piece of SU Real Red CS.. The inside is pretty much made up following the sketch apart from the panels for writing on..i used some fish brads by Around The Block to attached some yummy ribbon to a paper clip then attached all of it to one of the rectangular panels.. The back is made up of two pieces of SU Real Red CS and one piece of MM 5th Avenue CS stitched together then the same ribbon, brad and paper clip embellishment attached to the panel before attaching it to the card.. there you go all done... i added a picture to show the panels on the front of the card as my image panel turned out huge because of Scruffy..hehehe...

I also created this little bag, as i was giving this card to my friend last Monday for her birthday.. Liz loved them both and even more the bottle of DKNY Red Delicious inside the little gift bag...hehehe..

I really am sorry I've not been around visiting.. I'm sleeping a lot when I'm not coughing...yuck.. Hopefully tomorrow is a new day and some of this nasty yucky coughy thing will be gone.. it's had it if it isn't, I'm off to the doctors tomorrow night...Antibiotics will knock it on the head...

Night Night Sleep Tight.. Don't Let The Bed Bugs Bite.....LOL

Ingredients: SU Real Red & Bashful Blue CS, So Many Scallops Stamps ~ Making Memories 5th Avenue DP ~ Scruffy & Slippers From Stamp Addicts ~ Ribbons & Brads From Stash ~ Beautiful Flowers From Lovely Claudia ~ Zig Brushables.

WOJ Spring Fling Friends.....

2009-02-24T22:59:00.012Z

Sorry guys I'm not blog hopping tonight...i had a little sleep this afternoon and now I'm feeling rotten again... sore throat... yuck and my nose is all stuffy... why can't i be normal and not get ill so often???? for those of you that don't know.. I'm immune suppressed because of the Methotrexate dose I've been taking weekly for the last seven years to help control the Rheumatoid Arthritis i have... this drug unfortunately suppresses my immune system so i get ill really easy and pick up lots of bugs.. but it also slows down the damage the disease is doing to my joints so a necessary evil... this time i only just got over a really nasty cold virus... and now it looks like I'm getting another...yuck yuck yuck... anyway enough of that...

Here is my very first Yayyyyyyyyyyy Guest Designer Creation for Ribbon Mad... i am so happy i got a spot as a guest designer so if any body else wants me...hehehehehehe.....I hope you will all pop on over to Ribbon Mad, and take a look at the gorgeous March Kit Emma the lovely owner has put together this month... you might even want to subscribe to the kit yourself you never know..go on take a look..I used my wonderful WOJ Spring Kit that came two days ago.. I took a piece of chip board.. i think these were Maya Road 12x12 boards originally but i cut them down for another project and was left with these long strips 4 inches by 12 inches.. I covered this one with Scenic Route Lynden Springview Drive Striped DP.. then stitched together a plain piece of Turquoise CS and a strip from Lynden Scrap Strip that were distressed first, these were then place into the middle of the plaque.. i cut a plate using my SU Top Note Die coloured it with SU ink just so that it wasn't white, then stamped around the outer edge with a little flower stamp from my stash.. i then stamped the new Tree Stump from the WOJ Spring Collection and coloured it using SU Inks.. I then cut around the perforated edge to reduce it down a little and distressed the edges this was attached to the two pieces i had previously placed in the middle of the plaque.. I then attached a piece of what i now know is Clunny Lace to each side of the center section. I cut two more strips of turquoise CS and stitched two more strips of Scenic Route Lynden Scrap Strip to it, i then punched the edge with a MS punch and backed it again with a lime green CS, these sections were attached to the ends of the plaque, one each side of the center piece.. I then took some flowers from my stash, I'm not sure how long I've had these little yellow beauties, but they're nice and thick, i took some Cherry Blossom flowers which incidentally are just so yummy.... they're from eBay..i cut the stems leaving about an inch of the stem to poke through the center of the yellow flowers then took some green and white spotted ribbon from the New March Kit I'd received from Ribbon Mad and cut about two inches, folded it in half created a whole to poke the stem through so that it looked like leaves.. i did this eight times, four were attached to each side of the center piece using crafters silicone glue, i also added a single cherry blossom to the gathering of flowers each side just to balance it out.. i was always told to bunch things in odd numbers.. looks better.. i do it every where, even at home on the tables.. I measured three inches in from both sides of the plaque and punched two holes using my big bite at the top of the plaque then threaded two lamp work beads onto some silver.. yes silver.. it was the only wire i had thick enough, it came from my jewelery making stash.., the wire was threaded through the holes and wound back around its self to form a hanger then decorated by tying ribbons again from the March Ribbon Mad Kit about one third of the way up the wire on both sides..

I then attached these gorgeous WOJ images.. i coloured them using my original copics, I'm really enjoying these now... although a little worried i wont' want to use anything else ever again.. finally this piece was finished off by adding three cute buttons also a part of the beautiful Ribbon Mad March Kit that have been threaded with ribbon from the same kit.. and three pins from my every growing stash of treasure... i added a simple wire word with a butterfly charm attached Friends... i think that says it all.. they look like friends.....

Well that's me for tonight guys.. I'm off to bed.... feeling really rough now... hopefully a good nights sleep and I'll feel lots better in the morning.. i know i said i would today but i just didn't feel like doing much tonight.. so I'll check in on all you lovely guys joining my candy tomorrow after work... I'm sorry guys the only reason i posted this was because most of it was already done.... thank the lord for Scheduling...

Ingredients: Maya Road Chipboard ~ Scenic Route DP Lyden ~ Generic CS ~ Ribbon & Buttons Ribbon Mad March Kit ~ Stamps WOJ Spring Kit ~ Copics ~ SU Inks ~ SU Top Note Die ~ Charm, Lampwork Beads, Sterling Silver Wire, Pins, Yellow Flowers & Wire Word From Stash ~ Cherry Blossom Flowers & Clunny Lace From Ebay

Sweet Birthday Wishes...

2009-02-22T23:57:00.016Z

Before i start, don't forget to join in my candy, the link is at the top of the page.. you only have until 28th February to join in.....Well today has been mega hectic, i don't know where i got the time to post, good job the card was already complete... I'm going to try and be really quick with this one...I've got work in the morning... awwwwwww

The challenge over at The Sugar Bowl this week is ONE to use one sheet of DP... crumbs... i usually use at least two... but it forced me to get the doilies and the flourish stamp out so not all bad.. there is an amazing prize for one winner.. £50 yes £50 worth of stamps.. did you do yours yet..?

I started with a piece of SU Chocolate Chip CS scored and cut down to a 6x6 inch card blank, i stamped again using the BG Flourish Edges Set around the outside of the card on all four sides, i don't have the SU Choc Chip Ink Pad yet so just used a brown Versafine..I then stitched my distressed DP to the card, Laundry Line by MME..ohhh this is just so yummy, it's glittered don't know if the camera picked that up.. I sprayed a doily with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist.. Latte, then cut it in half and attached it to the left side of the card, i laid MME Laundry Line Lace Ribbon down the side of the doily and stitched it to the card using my Janome Mini Sewing Machine, I then cut a separate piece of SU Chocolate Chip CS and punched along one edge using a MS Punch, and laid another smaller piece of DP over the top and again stitched them together then placed it onto the card about an inch from the doily, next i used my Nestabilities to cut a labels shape from SU Chocolate Chip CS and another from plain water colour card, i sprayed the water colour card with Tattered Angels GM Latte and then stamped over the top using the same BG Flourish set in brown Versafine Ink, I then stitched around the outside of the smaller label and attached it to the card.. The image is of course SN and absolutely gorgeous, i coloured using my original Copics and Pro Markers, it was then glazed using Anita's glaze, when dry i attached it to another small piece of distressed Chocolate Chip CS, then punched a small whole to attach the charm, which reads Made For An Angel...... I then took a few hydrangeas and some distressed lace coloured with the Latte GM and layered them using SEI brads and some Tibetan spacers from eBay, i finished the flowers by painting around the outside of the smaller hydrangea with Shimmerz paint, Candle Light, if you don't have any of these yet, get some now, my wonderfully talented creative friend Claudia will be demonstrating this over the coming weeks..

I finished the front of the card by adding some of my pearl loops... can you tell i love these...hehehe, and three pins, one of which is among the hundred i created last week for friends.. The inside has layered and distressed DP and SU Chocolate Chip CS punched using the MS punch again to carry it through the card, all stitched together using the mini SM, i then used the SU Top Note Die and stamped a single BG Flourish to accent the area where a message will be written, i think you can see the glitter better here..the back of the card is similar, with just one flower created the same way as the flowers on the front of the card.. i also stamped the old gold envelope using the same BG Flourish Edge Stamp, and then applied a distressed layered Top Note Die Cut again with the same Flourish.. i did this as this will be my first ever card for sale on blogger.. Yikeeeees.... I have to say a lot of work went into this one, it took hours.. but as i was going to sell it, i wanted to make sure it was a good one... what do you think..? that's my Sweet Sugar Birthday Wish... Before i go, i just wanted to show you an award i got from five wonderful crafy friends.. This Hugs Award came from my dear friend Moni.. Sweetie it has been a total pleasure getting to know you over the last year.. you have become a wonderful friend..and i am so honoured to be your friend...I also got this Friends Award from Moni, Maria and Heike, thank you so much girls, i am so honoured to receive these and all the awards that fly through cyber space my way.. it really does make me smile.. A lovely lady i met through my candy Teri gave me this Kreativ blogger award... and she put me in some pretty good company.. thank you so much sweetie, i really am honoured to receive this from you....finally but by no means least, i got this award from the ever so talented Karen, sweetie you made my day to think of me.... i love to visit, to see your fantastic creations... and also to visit Layla..awwwwww did you go see her yet.. take a hop over now. ... she has the most adorable face.....hehehehe...

Well it's time for me to sleep, it's every early in the morning and i have to get up for work in a few hours... so much for a short quick post..i don't think i can do one of those..hehehehe.... just wanted to leave you with this... i was in the kitchen earlier tonight... just got out of the shower and was in my PJ's and dressing gown... I've been a quite swollen with the RA lately (which isn't a problem just something i live with) but it means i can't get my slippers or shoes on... when i got out of the shower, i put on my lovely soft pink socks but didn't want them getting dusty or dirty on the bottom so put my Croc's on, apart from my Ugg boots the only thing that fits at the moment... all of a sudden i heard.. gosh you do look sexy in those..hehehehe my husband has THE weirdest sense of humor.... i took a picture just so you could see the type of humour he has...hhehehehehe... tomorrow I'll be blog hopping and going through all the entries for my candy i deliberately haven't moderated them as I'm keeping track of who I've thanked so don't go thinking you're not included.. i also have some groveling e-mailing to do... I've been so naughty and busy of late and haven't kept up with my lovely crafty friends... Carole you are at the very top of my list....gosh I'm useless...LOL... finally finally... my apologies if it took you half the night to read this post..hehehehe so much for short...... Night Night Sleep Tight....Don't Let The Bed Bugs Bite..

A Belated Valentine.. For A Friend...

2009-02-19T13:08:00.002Z

A while back my dear friend Carole sent me a gorgeous package of yummy stash which included the papers i used on this creation... so i thought it only fitting she should get the first card i created with them...hehe...I did actually create this one before the tag card, but didn't show it until dear Carole got it this morning... I was sending some yummy bits and pieces anyway so i decided to create a card to go with them..

There is a wonderful sketch by my dear friend Heidi over at Friday Sketchers, thank you sweetie it's wonderful, i decided to use her sketch to create this card... I'd got it into my head that i wanted to ruffle some tulle after seeing something very similar on Hanne's Amazing Blog.. but don't know if it quite worked the way i wanted it to..

I used the lovely Dovecraft papers Carole sent to me.. (see Carole i said i couldn't stop using them..hehehe) I started by taking a Dove Grey piece of CS scored using my Scorepal into an almost 6x6 card.. i used An SU Pink Ink Pad to stamp a flourish decoration around the outside of the card on all four sides..it's from the BG Flourish Edges Set.. I then cut the gorgeous papers Carole sent me into the mat layers, using a deeper grey CS to back them onto.. and used An SU Corner Punch on all of the corners... I stitched around the outside of the main matt. I then cut an oval using my Nestabilities and stamped again using the BG Flourish around the outside, i then matted it onto a Scalloped Oval cut from Pink Bazzill CS and again stitched around the outside, i used grey cotton to do all of the stitching.. I then used a small amount of Pink Tulle to create two sort of puffed up flowers, and attached hearts to it which were cut from Pink Bazzill CS and stamped using the same BG Flourish Stamp, then cut the hearts from a Cuttlebug Hearts Die My Dear Friend Moni sent to me... thank you so much sweetie... it's wonderful.. I used again my Unity Stamp to stamp out the Valentines greeting, and attached another of my favourite pearl loops, i also attached the pearl loops to the tulle puffy flowers and also one of the new pins i created, (I'll be creating a short post for the weekend.. i created 100 of them...most went to friends).. I've done a great job describing this haven't i....NOT...LOL finally on the front i used this cute Tilda coloured with copics to finish off...I used basically the same layout inside the card apart from the hearts which where stitched to the Scalloped Ovals... The back of the card has another of my puffy flowers..LOL with hearts in it... i actually do like the way this one turned out...although I'm not happy about the my description of this card or colouration of the Tilda... i coloured her before I'd learned to use the copics properly...boohoo... I have to get some practice, but i have a mountain of images already coloured so I'm going to have to use them... i colour when I'm not well enough to make cards, so i end up with a ton of images already coloured..OK your asking how do you get the colours right... i punch tiny squares of any DP i have come through the letter box, and staple any sets together, i have a big bag of them, i just go through the bag, Mark brings me what ever colouring materials i need, and i basically sit and colours images for hours... better than sitting vegging out in front of the TV, which isn't a bad thing, but i only really watch crime, and a little reality TV anyway... any how, enough of that.... I also wanted to show you this gorgeous card my dear friend Moni sent to me for Valentines... i think these colours are just so yummy..... and this is one of my favourite images of all time... WOJ are just so dreamy....( My kit still isn't here..boohoo ) she also added some lovely red sweets..she knows i love.... I can't eat chocolate.. it gives me flashing lights..weird i know... thank you so much my dear sweet friend... you are an angel.. Well that's all from me for tonight.. i have to go check on my candy...Have a great day tomorrow... it's Friday....Yayyyyyyyyyy

Ingredients: Stamps Magnolia, Unity, Basic Grey ~ CS Bazzill & From Stash ~ DP Dovecraft From Lovely Carole ~ SU Pink Classic Ink Spot, Punch, Brads ~ Pearl Loops & Hand Crafted Pin From Stash ~ MS Punch ~ Nestabilities & Cuttlebug Heart Dies From Dear Moni ~ Original Copics.....

A Big Hug For A Friend......XOXOXOXO

2009-02-16T20:40:00.016Z

Guys i really do need to apologise, thank you so much to all of my blogging friends who continue to leave comments... i haven't been blog hopping despite promising to, but you keep commenting on my posts... you are all treasures.... Thank you so much... I feel as though I've really neglected everyone, i didn't even post my friends birthday gift until a couple of days ago... I'm sorry guys...I'm gradually getting back to normal...well normal for me.. I'm ditsy at the best of times...how do you think i earned the nick name Tizzy..hehehe

Did you all see my Blog Candy? there is some really yummy Candy on offer i hope you'll have a go, I've added a link at the top of my blog page for you to join in...

I recently heard from a friend, she is feeling very low at the moment and i think needs a little cheering up, I'd just finished packing five parcels, last night (I've been promising to send things and only just got round to posting them today.. i feel awful..) and one was going to her, i thought I'd create a little extra something and was inspired after i paid a visit to the Everybody Art Challenge blog... the challenge there this time is to make a tag, well i wanted to make a card so decided on this instead, a tag card... you think that's ok...?

I used her favourite colour, as i wanted it to go with the first ever time i coloured with copics properly...woooohooo i did it, i think i finally have the hang of it, i can now think about getting some sketch markers... i only have a few originals at the moment... I'm hoping that my brother will be an absolute doll and send me some from Australia after i give him the money for them of course........Jacqueline you were so right, it does take time to use them properly...i thought i was going to go mad trying... but perseverance.... I used some DP by Dovecraft, my dear friend Carole sent to me a while ago... (see Carole i told you I'd use it..) i have to admit it's not a colour i would normally use but as you'll see i can't stop using it now..hehehehe The image is a Sarah Kay image, it's the only i have at the moment but I'll have to get more.. I used an SU Pretty In Pink Ink Spot, and my BG Flourish Edges Stamps to stamp around the outside of my Tag Card which is created using Dove Grey CS which i cut into a normal card, then trimmed the edges using the Ticket Punch from SU just to get the right angles then trimmed them a little further to make the card look like a tag, i then used the SU Slit Punch to create the tab to hold the front of the tag up... I layered the front of the Tag Card with the DP and some Bazzill CS, and distressed most of the edges using my Close To My Heart Distressing Kit.. then stitched the layers together..i followed the same steps inside the Tag Card and finally used my Unity Stamps for the sentiments, Happy Valentines, The Love Postal Mark and the Heart Flower Patch... i have so many of these stamps now but i love them, they go with any image stamps and of course work perfectly on their own... I've just ordered two more...i finished the card off using SU Brads, the Loop Pearls (which i just can't get enough of ), lace, tulle and some Stickles... i hope you like my first Tag Card... Finally i have a little favour to ask, has any body purchased the new Magnolia's, who can ink me a few images using SU Whisper White and Memento Ink, I'll return the favour using the same card stock and ink (but i only have a small pad at the moment and can't stamp large images so the oven is out until i can get my hands on the large pad, unless you want brown, i do have a large brown Memento Ink Pad..) if any body is interested in doing a swap let me know.. i don't need a lot just a two or three of each image.. i am going to buy them, but there has been a lot of other stash I've wanted to get my hands on and I've ordered three pre orders totally nearly £80 that haven't yet arrived... so I'm going to buy mine at Hobby Crafts.. OOOhhhh is any body going? I'd love to meet up... I'm going to the NEC...not sure which day yet.. Night Night Sleep Tight, Don't Let The Bed Bugs Bite...hehehehe

Treasure Chest....

2009-02-13T23:11:00.001Z

Guys i am so sorry, i've finally lost my marbles... i created this for Friday evening but saved it rather than posting it... i think i need a brain transplant...

Finally i can show you the chest or rather jewellery box i altered, well decorated, i think it's supposed to be a huge jewellery chest, i spoke to Liz ( the friend who gave me the chest ) and asked her if it was ok to do this, it was very beautiful to begin with but, i decided to use it for treasure, as i don't really wear much jewelery because of swelling up.... she said she thought that was what I'd use it for and do to it, which was why she got it for me... Wow... what a friend... she is a little gem... she's not even a crafter..

I started by rubbing Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist Latte into the sides and moulding on the chest and allowing it to dry... I used Basic Grey Edges Stamps and Sepia Versa Fine on the sides of the chest, then smudged around the edges with the same ink pad just to soften it..

For the DP i used HOTP Flea Market Fabrics Papers, these are gorgeous, they look very textured which is what i was looking for..i covered just the strip on the lid and down the front of the chest, then added some yummy lace I'd got from Hobby Craft ages ago... I Stamped the (i wouldn't say sentiment) verse which reads Life Isn't About Finding Yourself Life Is About Creating Yourself Don't you just think that is so perfect for crafters, it is a Unity Stamp, i have a huge collection of these.. you'll be seeing a lot of them from now on.... I coloured the card i stamped onto using the same Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist Latte... then added it to the top of the chest and started to decorate around the out side using Hydrangeas, brads and Tibetan spacers..i added tulle that had been coloured using the same glimmer mist and frayed at the edges to give the flowers a little more depth...then i finished the top by adding charms and pins..

I then coloured two of my favourite but unused Magnolias, and added them to the front of the drawer, so that they looked like they were sitting on there.. In the summer last year i found a lovely lady called Michelle who cuts shapes from wooden board and also burns shading into the shapes, the heart shaped lock and key are her designs and i think finished the chest perfectly with a little of the same lace which has been cut and shredded and some more tulle........ I am positive this was meant to be a jewellery chest, but as i don't really wear jewellery because of swelling up, i decided it would make a great treasure chest, so this is now the new hiding place for my little treasure pieces... Yes this one is for me.... i do love creating for others and it's not often i do it for myself so to speak....but this one is definitely staying with me...hehehe

One last creation I'd like to show you today... My dear friend Claudia sent me this adorable Valentines card with some yummy stamps.... isn't it just the cutest image, i love these little puddy cats...Thank you so much my friend you are an angel...there can't be many crafters out there who don't know of Claudia's talent, but just in case you have been living on the moon, i hope that you'll pay Claudia a visit, you'll find inspiration in bucket loads..hehehe

Don't forget to check out my Candy on the link... it's a good one....

Yummy Scrummy Candy....

2009-02-13T23:09:00.004Z

I have some Candy for one lucky person, to say thank you so much for making my first year amazing...... it was recently my 10,000 hits and also I've had my blog for a year... so i figured it was time for some yummy candy.... so here it is....

Fancy Pants 6x6 Chip Board Sheets Paisley ~ Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist ~ Panduro DP Pack ~ Paper Mania Ribbons ~ WOJ Stamp ~ Two Easter Stamps ~ Nestabilities Scalloped Rectangles Long ~Bag Tulle & Wide Lace ~ White & Pink Lace ~ Pins (Created By Me ) Also not shown a few stamped images of your choice..

All you have to do is follow the rules below to be in with a chance of winning...I'll close the candy on 28th February 12 noon... GMT

Here are the rules guys..

1. Link my candy on your blog to give as many crafters a chance at winning as possible...

2. If you are a follower of my blog i'll pop your name into the hat twice...but you don't have to be a follower to enter (I'll be checking in to say hi to every one who enters just to say thank you for joining in..)

3. If you don't have a blog you can still join in just check back to see who wins and e-mail me if it's you..

3. If you are a blogger who just trawls blogs for candy please don't enter, this candy is for crafters who actually create.. and will use this stash...(Sorry to have to put this dampener on my candy but i really do want my candy to go to a crafter..)

That's it guys, it's up to you now..ohhhh forgot, i'm willing to post this any where in the world, so every one can enter..... I'll put all the names into a hat on the 28th February 2009 and Mark will pick a winner..Good Luck.... and thank you so much once again for making my first year and 10,000 hits so special...

Happy 18th Birthday....

2009-02-12T20:39:00.018Z

Wooooow what a couple of weeks I've had...... i am still totally on cloud nine.... but don't know yet if I'm going to be able to travel to Australia later this year...... I've been really swollen for the last four or five weeks with no sign of my leg joints going down, i have to get permission to travel so far to Australia, get a medical and have a letter to say it's safe for me to fly and then still need to find someone who will insure me... so the trip is a way off yet... i just want to jump a flight but...... My little sister (she's three years younger than me...awww) has been all upside down since we got back in touch with Carl, we've all been doing lots of talking, e-mailing catching up and sending photographs.... one of the things Carl said he missed was getting cards from his sisters...so i just sent Carl and Miah a Valentine.. it won't get there in time but it will be the first card he's had from me, in so many years.... I'm still bursting into tears at the drop of a hat, but i expect that will all calm down soon... Anyway I'd like to apologise guys for not e-mailing or getting in touch... i hope you all understand... it's been so surreal....I'll be blog hoping this evening and in the morning.. to see all of your wonderful creations.... I've really missed blogging... did you all get the new Magnolia's....? wow.... and what about the Gorjuss girls OMG i am so getting them all....how cute how cute how cute!!!!!!! and just how Gorjuss are they..hehehe

Guys i know that i said i'd show the chest i altered but i wanted to get this one in first....then I'll post the chest tomorrow night along with some yummy yummy candy....

My friend Elaine at work asked me to make this card for her nephew, and with every thing happening i forgot, so i created it a little too quickly for my liking... i like to take my sweet time... but here goes... I used my wonderful friend Claudia's sketch, she created it for Friday Sketchers so i thought I'd enter as I've not entered a sketch for ages...I used an old Edwin from last year... and the brick wall i have to tell you, Claudia has an amazing tutorial on copic colouring a brick wall on her blog, as you can see it works with inks too, she used copics but i wanted to use my SU Inks so i followed her tutorial with the inks and i think it worked, i just have to follow her tutorial on faces now...LOL I used Little Yellow Bicycle DP Zach's Life Collection, (the majority of which i distressed) i love this DP, it's very boy....if you know what i mean... I used my nestabilities again.. and the SU die Top Note i got last year to create the shapes on this sketch, i had to use a rectangle card as my friend needed a large card and wanted it A4 fold.. I've been at the sewing machine again... i think I've created two or three cards this year and not used it.... I'm now officially a Janome Mini freak.... The numbers are chip board and from my stash.. i used my quickutz...Yaaaayyy the first time in i don't know how long... i cut the game controller from the DP then used pens to colour the buttons, i then used Anita's glaze to make it shine, then the same with the TV to make the screen shine... The Calender stamp is just a cheap little one by Sagem..but i thinks it's really neat..

Inside i used the same DP with some craft CS stitched onto Bazzill then two die cut plates for adding sentiments to... i finished by stamping Happy Birthday in four places inside the card...My wonderful friend Ila sent me these small sentiment sets last summer and they come in so handy plus they fit into the SU Hodgepodge Book Plates... thank you again sweetie..The back has just a distressed piece of DP with a circles cut using Nestabilities from craft and Bazzil CS with two Quickutz footballs added..

Ingredients: Little Yellow Bicycle Zachs Life DP ~ Bazzill CS ~ Craft CS ~ Magnolia Stamps ~ Nestabilites ~ Stampin Up Top Note Die ~ Quickutz Dies (TV & Controller) ~ Stampin Up Inks ~ Janome Mini Sewing Machine ~ Stampin Up Jumbo Eyelets ~ Other Stamps (Sentiment From My Dear Friend Ila, Sagem Calender Stamp) ~ Chip Board Number From Stash ~ Letters BG Coloured With Copic Markers..

My friend Heidi challenged me to do the Photo Challenge just before i was absent for a couple of weeks, i know you've all seen it and probably had it so I'm not going to pass it on, however I'm going to join in.. so as not to be a spoil sport. I have to pick my sixth picture from my sixth folder and say what it is.... Boy did i regret that when i opened the sixth folder....so here it is...... I have to tell you this is a rare occurrence... there are not many pictures of me but this one was taken about four years ago while we were on holiday in Spain (Cambrils if i remember rightly) i hate having my picture taken, i am a complete photo phobic...LOL OMG i can't believe i just did that....Do you think i look like my little brother...hehehehe

Well that's all for tonight folks...

Night Night Sleep Tight.. Don't Let The Bed Bugs Bite..

What an amazing week.........

2009-02-03T22:44:00.001Z

This one was taken this morning... bless him he's so tired, he's not got much sleep since we all found each other... (time difference..)

I'm sorry i haven't been around much the last week... I got a rotten cold.... well more like a virus i think...sore throat, aching, running nose the same as every one else at the moment..yucky yuck yuck.... but the absolutely amazing part is.... this (on the left ) is my little brother sister and i when we were kids... Mum and dad split over thirty five years ago and Carl went with dad while Jo and I went with mum.... we lost touch, and this week.(we found each other thank you facebook) look at my grown up baby brother with his darling daughter Miah..... OMG I've been on cloud nine for days now... although he's living thousands of miles away... in Australia... booohoooo..... i spoke to him for the first time in twenty years today and feel as though I've known him my whole life.. he's amazing.. and he's grown in to a beautiful man.... Jo and i are already planning a trip to Oz... Anyway i promise I'll be back tomorrow night.. I altered a little chest my friend Liz gave me for Christmas... I am so sorry I've neglected my friends.. I've been so preoccupied with things as you can see.. Isn't it just wonderful....

Night Night Sleep Tight... Don't Let The Bed Bugs Bite...

Sweet Sugar Caddy.... For A Very Special Lady...

2009-01-28T23:14:00.004Z

Edited To Add ~ Sorry I've not been by this week guys I'm full of cold and feeling really rotten.. promise I'll be by really soon...thank you so much for your lovely comments.. they really do make me smile and i really do need it at the moment... I'll make up for it with some Yummy Candy next week..

I decided not to join in any challenges for todays post, but thought you might like to see a special gift I've created... it is for a special friend, can't say who as then they'll know...Duhhhhh

I am hoping that she will love this Sweet Sugar Caddy i created for her.... it's full of stash, which i also can't show you, but i will when she has it..LOL is there any point to me writing this...hehehe

I did an awful lot of distressing on this, but don't know if i went a little too far... Don't you just love these colours together... they are so yummy... I started with this sweet Sugar Nellie image and coloured it using SU inks... i am so in love with these inks.. they are the best when working with water colour paper.. this is actually the first time I've used this main image...shame on me....(slap the back of my hands..) but I'm quite pleased with how it turned out.. i had to crop it a little, but managed to keep the main part of the image.. I used some old papers from my stash.. they're Prima... as are the hydrangeas... the buttons in the center of the flowers are Making Memories and the ribbons are from my stash...ooooh the wooden scroll is Kaiser i think...I'm almost positive... the pins which i just love are also from some recent stash hubby got me..(DID YOU SEE THE NEW NESTABILITY DESIGNS ~ SORRY I KNOW I'M GOING OFF SUBJECT THEY ARE SO YUMMY) Well that's all for now... I'm not quite sure how this will read as I'm scheduling this incredibly late on Sunday ready for midweek.... sorry if it doesn't make sense..I'm feeling a bit fuzzy...LOL Off to bed for me.. Night Night Sleep Tight (Don't Let The Bed Bugs Bite)

Ingredients: Tin Maya Road ~ Papers Prima ~ Flowers Prima ~ Ribbons & Lace From Stash ~ Wooden Scrolls Kaiser ~ Images Sweet Sugar Nellies ~ Buttons Making Memories ~ Pins & Charms From Stash..

Love And Kisses....

2009-01-25T16:11:00.019Z

Hi every one, i hope you all had a wonderful weekend.... I'd actually scheduled this post for Sunday evening but had to alter it, to share my good news....before i show you my WOJ creation for this weeks challenge, i have two pieces of news to share with you... i am so excited... Ashley our son got into University so in September ours will be a very quiet and tidy house..LOL we are so proud of him, it was something we thought he'd given up on, then he applied recently and got into his first choice, he's still waiting on four other replies from UCAS then he'll make a decision on which one to attend.... WoooooooHooooo we are so happy and proud of him...

My second piece of news Emma over at Ribbon Mad sent out a call yesterday for guest designers.. i decided to apply for my first Design Team (guest in this case) and OMG Emma replied within just a few hours, she loves my work and has asked me to be a guest designer for her team....hehehehehe Thank you so much to a certain person, she knows who she is, she always makes me feel good about my work... and has encouraged me to go for this...OMG i am so happy... Emma just let me know I'll be joining in with the February kit over at Ribbon Mad, you'll have to be really quick if you want one, when they go on sale they sell out incredibly fast... the kits consist of 16 meters of ribbon, (organza, satin, ric rac patterned ribbon etc) and coordinating embellishments all sent to you in an organza gift bag, postage on these kits is free so at £10 they really are a bargain..Kits are on sale during the last week of each month... so make a visit here from Monday to see the new kit...

Now for my very first WOJ challenge design... you know Mark started buying my WOJ stamps way back in the summer when the first lot came out.. and because I've been poorly i didn't get to use them, well now I'm going to make up for it...Don't forget you only have until 26th January 09 to pre-order the new WOJ Spring Kit it is a bargain for a sheet of 10 stamps, why not use the link and give them a try.. you won't regret it....This weeks challenge over at WOJ is a sketch from lovely Katharina.. I love love love her sketches.. I decided on making the center circle on this one an aperture.. what do you think...? did it turn out OK....? I used BG papers from the UP kit and stitched them to a card made from Bazzill CS with a matching SU punched scalloped edge.. i also used matching glazed and painted brads from the Basic Grey UP Kit.......this gorgeous lace is the last i have....awwww.. it's from Hobby Craft..hopefully i can get Ash to fetch me more this week... i changed the sketch around so it is on it's side... i thought it would work better with the aperture.. the gorgeous little charm came from my wonderful friend Moni... thank you sweetie.. the sentiment is from my new Unity Monthly Kit... i love these stamps, I've been having the monthly kit for the last six or seven months.. they are just so delicious...i cut it out using nestabilities then used the largest of the circles to cut the aperture in the card..the little pearly circles were from eBay... i just sent some of these to a friend.. they come on a stalk, i just cut it off to create this sentiment... On to the inside of my card... again i used my new Unity Stamps Kit... there is a swirl in the new kit and it worked perfectly inside this card... I took two pieces of plain BG DP and stitched around the edges, then stamped onto the top and bottom edges using an SU Classic stamp pad Tempting Turquoise from my lovely friend Claudia... thank you so much sweetie, i know loving these colours together I'll use it a lot.....

For the image, i used Melinda Blowing Kisses... isn't she just the sweetest..i coloured her using my original copics and promarkers..(no where near as good as the queen of colour but i was happy with it for me anyway..hehehe) she was cut out using the nestabilities again and i then stitched the lace around the outside of the circle using my old faithful....the back of the card has the same turquoise DP with stamping all of the way around the outside of the panel... sorry the picture was blurred...

Well that is my first WOJ Challenge... i hope you like it....

I've also had some amazing gifts, cards and images and a card from lovely Caz this weekend...

This week i got a very unexpected parcel from my Friend Carole...it had this most gorgeous card, using the Angel Of The Year... she is so sweet...Just look at that colouring and the gorgeous pin.... Carole i love this and the stash you sent me is absolutely yummy..... those papers are so elegant....what a lucky girl i am... watch out for those papers, I'll be creating something this week with them...

MY amazing friend Moni... sent me a very unexpected box..she told me she was sending me some of my favourite images.. but this box arrived and it contained some wonderful images and lots and lots of chocolate..... Moni thank you so much sweetie Mark & Ash have had a whale of a weekend with it....i would show you a picture of the chocolate but they broke into it as soon i it arrived on Saturday, you would think they'd never eaten chocolate before.. Amazing how chocolate sends men mad.....they do love the chocolate Moni sends though...hehehe My darling friend always sends me the most amazing cards.... I've already framed five in box frames, and now i have to buy two more... one for Moni's and one for Carole's Gorgeous. creation.. if you are asking your self why is she framing all of these cards... well my favourite cards are going onto my new Craft Room Wall.... it's going to be very fresh so I'm framing cards and pages, I'll have a small cork space but it will be to pop on going projects onto.... you'll have to wait until May then I'll show you pictures of what my Darling Darling Hubby did for me.....

I also got this adorable card from Caz.... along with some wonderful images.. she picks one of the ladies who commented on her blog each week and sends out images they'd like, well i loved these little critters... thank you so much Caz.. i love them.....

Well that's all for tonight, i have work tomorrow and i want to e-mail friends then go blog hopping tonight so Night Night Sleep Tight... (Don't Let The Bed Bugs Bite...hehehe)

Ingredients: Bazzill CS ~ Basic Grey DP ~ Basic Grey UP Painted Brads & Glazed Brads ~ Stamps By WOJ & Unity Stamps ~ Flowers, Bead, Lace & Pearl Rings From Stash ~ Copic & Pro Markers ~ Charm From My Wonderful Friend Moni ~ SU Slit Punch ~ Old Faithful...

Some Stash For Sale..... Stamps & Dies....

2009-01-24T14:40:00.010Z

Sold

sold

Sold

I've been crafting properly for about seven years now... and I've built up quite a collection.. well you can imagine.... anyway hubby says i now have to try to keep it all contained to one room.... i have a craft room all be it a bit higgledy piggledy.. then a huge work station and a huge bookcase in the Kitchen... well My Wonderful Hubby has told me he is going to kit my room out properly... it may seem silly but he's going to get some kitchen units to do it...but he says I'm gonna have to clear some stuff out cause there is just not enough room to fit two rooms full of stuff into one no mater how much he tries... well i think we could give it a go but I'm keeping on his good side, i want my new craft room, hopefully by my 40th which isn't too far away..yuck... so below you'll find some stash I'm selling... the prices are all on the items and then there is postage and paypal fees which isn't much... i will only charge actual postage..and since i save packaging to re-use there won't be any packaging costs...... so if you are interested give me a shout on tina.bentley1@ntlworld.com keep checking back I'll keep renewing as i sell bits on.. while weeping into a hanky...booohooo... I will add sold to any that sell so that it doesn't confuse anyone..

Sold

I've got a ton of dies, that i really do need to sell off, i just don't use them at all, most haven't even been used more than a dozen times.. the large red sizzix dies will be just £4.50 i think they're a pretty good bargain... I'll do the yellow at £3.50 and the green for £2.50.... keep watching I'll upload some tomorrow for your perusal...hehehe For now here are a few of the stamps I've sorted out so far... See what you think..

Sold

I have quite a few Nellie and Luca stamps that I'm going to post tomorrow too.. I've not used them, I'd rather concentrate of the ones i use all the time..

Sold

Shabby Love.......

2009-01-23T20:33:00.000Z

I am trying desperately to get in front with my posts so that i can schedule a post for the weekend but it is proving harder than i thought this week, i don't know where it went...it is Saturday tomorrow and I'm just not as organised as i wanted to be....

I missed last weeks challenge over at Everybody Art Challenge so i decided I'd use last weeks sketch and this weeks theme.. SHABBY...I got this adorable image from my wonderful friend Moni... they are so cute... obviously very much in love... Prickly Love...hehehe

I used some old K & Co velvet papers I've had in my stash for about three years..i know i know, it's terrible, the longer I've been crafting the worse i get..I also used my beloved BG papers, Bittersweet this time and the brads are the matching BG painted brads... i stitched every single layer onto the card, i wanted to see what it looked like, I'm not sure what do you think? I coloured the image using Prisma Pencils and blended with Sansodor..the scalloped edge has been created using an SU Slit Punch.. and for the embellishments the pin is from my lovely friend Claudia i know I've said it so many times but she always sends me the most amazing embellies... the big brown (what looks like a badge) is a huge button (it was a spare on my cuddle cardigan i use it when i feel fluffy or need comforting..hehe I know you've all got one too..) which i decorated with a rub on...i can't for the life of me remember where i got them.. but they're huge long packs with nice big rub ons all different themes... I distressed just the outer edge of the main card and then the inside to cover the theme of this weeks challenge which as you can see is Shabby.... i need to use my distressing kit more...

As always i used my Janome Mini Sewing Machine... no I'm not going to say it again, lol i think I've said it enough over the last few weeks...hehehe The wool is from my stash...

I got these wonderful awards from lovely Maria this week... thank you so much sweetie, i am honoured you thought of me, i now have three to pass on on Sunday... i want to give them to crafters/artists who don't normally get a lot of credit for their work....lord knows why... we all have different takes on creativity.. I'd like to make them feel good... it's always nice to make some one smile...don't you think..... and you never know, i ended up making some wonderful friends giving awards...

Ladies thank you so much for the offers of stickers and decoupage on the Disney Princess front... I have a couple Cricut Cartridges for all of the princesses, i was just hoping to use a stamped image.... thank you for checking for me anyway... I've looked on- line and can't find one close enough.... they have them in the US but there isn't time to get them here.... looks like it will be die-cuts after all.... I'll make them look pretty still....

Well that's all from me, apart from wishing you all a lovely weekend... I'll be back Sunday evening with my WOJ creation... my first challenge for WOJ and only my second creation... which i am ashamed to say... Mark kept paying for practically the whole WOJ range last year while i wasn't well and I've only created one card and one plaque... i will be remedying that this year... ...and i can show you the lovely yummy gift i got from my friend Carole this week... she surprised me in a very lovely way...

Night Night Sleep Tight.... Don't Let The Bed Bugs Bite...hehehe

Ingredients: Bazzill Bling CS ~ K&Co Velvet Paper ~ BG Bittersweet Papers & Brads ~ Stampin Up Slit Punch ~ Pin From Lovely Claudia ~ Image From My Friend Moni ~ Prisma Pencils Sansodor & Stumps ~ Button Rub on & wool From Stash ~ My Old Faithful Janome Mini Sewing Machine..

Two Cards For The Birthday Boy & Awards For Me...

2009-01-21T23:08:00.024Z

This was meant to be Just a quick post tonight but then i created two cards and i got some yummy awards too..

There is a scrummy sketch over at Friday Sketchers by lovely Murielle... it is a sketch that you can really play with and be creative... i created two cards from it..... My First...

I used two Magnolia stamps, both of the dogs... i love these little chaps, they remind me of my boys... Gizmo & Pika... i coloured the images on both cards using Prisma Colour Pencils and blended using Sansodor and Stumps... i tried to add the colour to match our boys on this one.. as this card was made for hubby....I used an old piece of Crate Paper from an old kit I'd not yet used... the bones have been cut using a Sizzix die from a piece of BG DP and then coloured around the edges with an ink pad from my Close To My Heart Distressing Kit... i love this little box, it has every thing i need for distressing and i got mine really cheap from EBay for just £10...... an absolute bargain...i say i, hubby got it...he's brilliant at spotting bargains or looking up prices to save money, you wouldn't think he'd only been using the computer for three years..(he was a complete technophobe...) now he's the king of finding bargains on-line...LOL

The little dog bone paper clips were from a photo holder a friend at work got me for Christmas, it's a little dog with a crocodile clip attached to add a photograph and then there is a dog bowl full of these clips that came with it...so cute... the charm i added to this card is a Sterling Silver Dog Bowl a little extravagant but this card is for my hubby, he deserves all the extravagance i can give him.... The brown velvet ribbon is from Hobby Craft an absolute bargain at just 99p and there is lots of it.(not extravagant but gorgeous anyway)..This card was again put together by my Janome Mini Sewing Machine... I got mine after speaking to my Friend Carole last year... I told my son about it and he got it for me as a gift... if you don't have one of these or are struggling using a full sized machine, go splash out £50 at Argos on this one... it is fantastic...and so easy to thread and use... I also decorated the inside of this card again, i used the same Crate Paper with the bones just set off the panel... then added another of the bone paper clips.. I did it again i forgot to put the stamp on the back of my card before i took the photograph...... doh.......

Well that was my first card and this was the second one i created using again this gorgeous sketch by Murielle...

This time i used an Alota stamp I've had for such a long time but not used,(Helene has a fabulous sale on at the moment so, why not go get a bargain..) i have to stop getting stamps for a while, i have so many that haven't even been inked yet, i feel awful for not using them as so many have been given to me as gifts.... (i show my family the sites i buy from and add all of the stamps on my wish list to the basket... they go in and buy the ones they want to give me as pressies when it's my Birthday or Christmas... we think it's a great idea cause they always get me something i really want... which makes them happy.and me even happier..LOL better than buying smellies all of the time... although the odd 50ml bottle of 212 is a lovely change....)

Back to the card.. i used SU Old Olive patterned paper from last years catalogue and some Bazzill card stock to create a card blank... i used my nesties on this one... another gift from Mark this Christmas... I also used Old Olive and Chocolate Chip Brads, the silver clips are also SU i think i used lots of SU on this one....the sentiment is an Elzybells sentiment and the lovely ribbon die-cuts are from an old standard die from Accucut, i used to collect dies and had a collection of over 2000 lots have now been sold but i still have quite a collection i can't part with... Again i decorated the inside of my card, just using nestie diecuts and SU Old Olive Brads.. The one thing i used on both of these cards to tie them together was the bling.... i created two circles on each card with Kaiser kraft sticky gems... and again this one was stitched using my old faithful.... and i used the same brown ribbon i used on the doggy card...

Well i think that's it for the cards...... phew..... i bet that's what you are saying...hehehehe

Not finished yet....... i got these awards this week as well... this lovely award was from Viv. today... Thank you so much sweetie you made my day with this one today... i was a little down... (don't know why just one of those days...) you really cheered me up....

Last but by no means least.. i got these two awards from Lovely Heike.... thank you so much my friend.. you are so kind to think of me and i am honoured that both of these lovely ladies thought to give these awards to little old me....

I promise I'll pass them on later this week when I've had time to check out a few blogs....

Well Night Night Sleep Tight, Don't Let The Bed Bugs Bite....

(Ash my son used to say Bite Them Back when i said this at night to him..hehehe)

Ingredients: Stamps By Magnolia, Elzybells, Alota ~ CS By Bazzill ~ DP By Stampin Up, Crate Paper ~ Prisma Colour Pencils, Sansodor, Paper Stumps ~ Nestabilities ~Kaiser Kraft Gems ~ Stampin Up Brads Chocolate Chip & Old Olive ~ Stampin Up Clips ~ Sterling Silver Charm From My Jewellery Making Stash ~ Sizzix Dog Bone & Basket Die ~ Accucut Standard Bow Die ~ Brown Ribbon Hobby Craft ~ Janome Mini Sewing Machine ~ Finally Lots & Lots Of Love..hehehe

Custard In The Sugar Bowl......Hehehehe

2009-01-18T22:56:00.014Z

First I'd like to apologise,weekends are always really bad for me, i take a drug called Methotrexate every Friday before bed, it's to control the Rheumatoid Arthritis, while it does a really good job it also causes chronic nausea, and while my poor hubby Mark spends most of the weekend cleaning i lay there feeling really sick...so sleep most of the time.... i just thought i explain this as most weekends unless i schedule a post there won't be one.. I have to take the MTX on a Friday before bed otherwise I'm not fit to go to work on Monday morning...

I also have a cry for help, I'm creating two cards for a friend at work, I've been making her daughters cards since the day they were born and this year is no different, however, I've had an order or rather a request from one of the girls that they'd like Disney Princess cards, however i don't have any Disney Princess rubber stamps, is there someone out there who would be willing to post me two or three stamped images, I'll return the favour for the person who does this for me, you'll be making a little girl very happy.... I would need them quite soon though, her birthday is at the beginning of February..... so if there is anyone who is willing to help please e-mail me on tina.bentley1@ntlworld.com

Now down to business, The Sugar Bowl has a challenge on this week using three papers and three embellishments...Three being the theme, and there are some fabulous stamps on offer by a wonderful artist Mary Hall, well i hope mine counts, but I'll probably buy them anyway. I created this on Friday but didn't get a chance to create a post before bed time... I'd been dying to use this stamp since the day it arrived, i have to admit, i love the Soft Centers stamps, nine in all, and I've been buggin hubby for the other eight all weekend but he just got me £50 worth of SU so i guess I'll have to wait for a week or two... Custard In The Sugar Bowl how fabulous does that sound..hehehehe Porridge In The Sugar Bowl just has to come next...hehe

I used October Afternoon papers and Bazzill card for my three papers/card i love these colours they really cheer me up, it's so dark and horrid outside so these are nice and bright... The flowers and buttons were from my blogging buddy Claudia, she always sends the most yummy scrummy embellishments, my third embellishment was the ribbon/lace, (the ribbon was from Claudia too..) i stitched them together using my Janome Mini, if you don't have one of these get one, i can't use a sewing machine to save my life, there too fast for me, but this little mini machine works at a much slower pace and is a dream, i don't think I've made a card and not used it since i got it as a pressie from my son...

Well that's all from me for this evening, i can go blog hopping in the morning before i go to work now..it will give me some inspiration for the rest of the week... It's hubby's birthday tomorrow so I'm off out for dinner tomorrow night...yummy can't wait, lobster is such a treat...

Ingredients: October Afternoon CS ~ Bazzill CS ~ Flowers & Buttons From Claudia ~ Stamps ~ Prisma Pencils Sansodor & Stumps ~ October Afternoon Bookplate ~ Ribbon From Claudia ~ Lace Hobby Craft.

Love You This ********** Much....

2009-01-15T11:39:00.018Z

Omg i can't believe how late i am with this one.... this card is for the sketch over at Friday Sketchers....

This week it is lovely Kristine's turn and she's given us a fantastic sketch..and there is some really yummy candy on offer from Scrapp & Lapp if you give it a go, then leave a link to your card and you'll be entered to win this wonderful candy...Even if you don't enter i hope you'll go take a look at the fabulous DT creations, they really are so yummy..

I got this fabulously cute stamp set for Christmas from Mark my ever so thoughtful hubby... he got it from Silly Monkey Crafts but you can also buy it from All That Scraps it is a CC Design set and Mark thought I'd like to make some wonderful Valentines with it.. I now have a few of these sets and I'm determined to use more variety with my stamps this year.... a resolution if you will....

I Started this card by using a base of Bazzill CS Folded into a five by six inch card, i used lovely lovely BG Sugared DP i love Basic Grey i keep saying it but i do... and Sugared is from the lurrrrrvvvvv season last year... I coloured my image using the original copic markers and promarkers, no where near as good as I'd like... i wish i could use them like Rach... have you checked out her wonderful creations.... I then stitched the DP to the card ( did anyone notice my mistake... the base layer is upside down... duhhh Klutz) I did stitch a lot of elements on this card, i wanted to make a more masculine card, my friends at work have been asking me to make them for there hubbies and boyfriends.. The ribbon with the sentiment has been stitched onto the card its self and the leaves are actually hearts punched out of Sugared DP, all of the paper & embellishments are Sugared Basic Grey the hearts and arrow and the brads are of course the matching Sugared ones... The Beautiful pin is from my wonderful friend Claudia, ( i really hope that you will go take a look at her wonderful creations although i don't know a card maker who blogs who hasn't been to visit.. she is such an amazing artist..and a true inspiration..)who incidentally was the one who inspired me to decorate the inside of my cards.. I've kept this one quite simple inside, i always struggle with male cards.... the back still has to have my Scrapmagasinet stamp attached to it so I'll change this photograph when I've don't that...as you can see I've also kept the back very simple.. Well that is my first Valentine of 2009, I've got another for you tomorrow evening.... using a yummy image my great friend Moni sent to me in the summer..

I'll pop all of the ingredients at the bottom of this mega long post..hehehe

I've also received some awards this week.... my first is from a lady I've had the privalege to get to know this last year, she has become a great friend and i am so glad i got to know her...Please go visit this mega talented lady, she is a DT member for Paper Basics and the wonderful challenge site Everybody Art Challenge

Moni gave me this Star Stamper Award.. thank you so much my dear friend... Also Lovely Murielle a fabulous DT member for Friday Sketchers awarded me this one and these other awards as well.... woooooowwww so many wonderful wonderful awards... Murielle thank you so very very much, you are so talented and i am so honoured you thought of me...

Finally darling Karen of 6 Wacky Women awarded me this lovely award (one lovely blog award), Karen i am so very touched that you gave this to me... you are so talented and i am honoured you gave me this to me... thank you so much...

I am supposed to pass these awards to seven other crafters but my list is a little longer, I'd actually like to pass all of these awards to every body who visits my blog.. you are all angels and make me smile every day.. which keeps me smiling & healthy..hehehe and to me you are all Star Stampers, have fabulous blogs, are encouraging and are absolutely wonderful people... but i did pick out these special artists to highlight..

Moni ( My Wonderful Friend Right Back At You...hehehe)

Ila ( An amazing friend, stamper, listener, & always so encouraging)

Nikki ( Nikki has been crafting less than a year and i am in absolute awe.. of her talent)

Claudia (A Friend, Artist (i do mean that) she inspires so many you deserve all of these awards)

Carole (A Friend, Amazing Stamper, The One That keeps Me In Touch..A Wonderful Lady)

Heidi ( All I Can Say Is You & Your Family Are Really Are Sunshine... You Really Do Make Me Smile)

Finally but by no means least..

Rach (The Absolute Queen Of Colour, i know i need not say more)

OMG

How Long Was This Post...

Well Bye Bye For Now..

Ingredients For My Card: Stamps CC Designs ~ DP Basic Grey ~ Brads Basic Grey ~ Copics & Promarkers ~ Janome Mini Sewing Machine ~ Stampin Up Chocolate Chip Ribbon ~ Heart Punch.. Hope i didn't forget any thing..

Happy Birthday Grandpa.......

2009-01-13T21:21:00.010Z

Tina the owner of High Hopes stamps is asking us to send her Grandpa a Birthday Card, she won't see him on his big day, he's going to be 88 years young and it would make him smile if he receives cards from all over, well he's going to get them from all over the world now and that will hopefully make him smile for a month..hehehehe, this one was posted the other day and i do hope that it arrives in time... fingers crossed...

I used Tina's High Hopes Challenge to complete my card, this week it was dry embossing, I decided to use this cute High Hopes Monkey, he really is just Divine.... I used SU inks to colour him and an SU Craft Ink Pad to stipple behind him.... the papers are by October Afternoon one of my favourite companies and the image is held in with American Crafts photo turns.. For the dry embossing i used the Cuttlebug Mosaic Embossing Folder on both the front and back of the card and the stitching was done on my ever faithful Janome Mini... ( you know you can get one of these from Argos for £50 and they are so much easier to use...) i added High Hopes Jungle Leaves images to both the front and inside of the card....and of course had to decorate the inside to, i love to do this now, i just don't feel as though I've finished a card with it... i hope that my card makes Tina's Grandpa smile :-) after all that what card making is all about... Making someone smile :-) Don't forget to keep checking toward the end of this month for my Yummy Candy which includes a pack of Nestabilities...

Ingredients: Stamps High Hopes Scrapmagasinet ~ October Afternoon DP ~ Bazzill CS ~ Cuttlebug Mosaic Folder ~ Janome Mini Sewing Machine ~ SU Inks ~ American Crafts Photo Turns ~ & Lots & Lots Of Love.....

Pink Dream........A Gift For My Pink Loving Friend.....

2009-01-10T22:21:00.000Z

There is a challenge over at Everybody Art Challenge but this time it is not to make a card, it is to make anything but a card...... there is an amazing prize for the winning entry, Lelo Stamps, have you seen them they are scrummy......even if you don't give it a go, take a look at the design team creations they are just wonderful....and will really inspire you to go and create something...

My wonderful friend Moni is one of the design team members this is how i discovered this challenge site, and i decided to give this one a go.... i knew exactly what i wanted to make, it is another gift to make a friend smile..... her son has gone on a skiing holiday this last week and she's been a little poorly...like so many suffering with colds and flu....so i thought i would cheer her up with this pink dream, her favourite colour..

I decided on a plaque, and it is ****PINK**** i know, but i actually like the way this one turned out... I'd got these hangers last year in the summer from Crafty Individuals and still haven't used them till now, i thought they'd be a great way of hanging a plaque, i took a 12" x 4" piece of hard board and i covered it with Basic Grey Sugared pink designer paper, then i used Basic Grey Bittersweet which is just the yummiest designer paper i have seen, a Martha Stewart Punch (another gift from hubby...) to punch down the sides of three sheets of Bittersweet then layered them on top of each other for the center panel.., I'm a Basic Grey freak, i love to buy every single line that comes out and i always have to buy the brads then the Bazzill that matches, Basic Grey is a really good basic to have in your stash...if you're stuck and don't know which brand to use then turn to Basic Grey, SU, or October Afternoon you won't go far wrong.....anyway back to the plaque, i coloured a stamped image of an oven, it's a retired SU oven my darling hubby got me last year and i thought the WOJ Willow With Cookies(she is so cute you can buy her here) would go perfectly with this oven and i think she did...what do you think?, i finished off with the Magnolia tea towel... all of the images i coloured using Prisma Pencils and Sansodor, i then went over parts of the images with H2o's to give them a little sparkle... Then there are the embellies....ooooooh where do i start, the lace which is threaded through the buttons and attached to the hanger is from Hobby Craft, the buttons and Flowers were from my lovely Friend Claudia, she always sends me the most wonderful embellishments, the brads are of course Basic Grey and the tickets which i just love are Tim Holtz and the wax stamp which i only just got is 7 Gypsies....i added a little Frosted lace Stickles to finish off...

Before i go, i wanted to let you know that it was my Blog Anniversary at the beginning of January, and I've just about hit 10,000 hits so this month i have so really yummy Blog Candy to give away and just to wet your appetite Mark ( my darling hubby ) got a pack of Nestabilities (just a single pack) to add to the candy so keep an eye out towards the end of the month....

Ingredients: DP Basic Grey Sugared & Bittersweet ~ Brads Basic Grey Bittersweet ~ Stamps WOJ, SU & Magnolia ~ Prisma Pencils, Sansodor, Stumps ~ Tim Holtz Tickets ~ Flower & Buttons From My Lovely Friend Claudia ~ Wax Stamp 7 Gypsies ~ H2o's ~ Lace & Ribbon From Stash ~ Hangers Crafty Individuals ~ Stickles Frosted Lace....... I think that's it....LOL

A Gift For Buddy..... He's A Very Brave Boy.....

2009-01-07T23:55:00.000Z

The first challenge of 2009 over at the High Hopes Blog is to create a project with torn paper, i haven't tried this challenge yet, even though I've been collecting high hopes for well over a year.... Naughty me....Well this this week, i wanted to give it a go because of one little man who has been a very brave boy, Buddy had surgery to remove a tumor from his leg last week, Buddy is my friend Ila's Furkid, and very much a part of the family just like our boys. At Christmas time i sent him a stocking with some yummy doggy chocolate and he loved it.... When i told my hubby that Buddy had come through his surgery but was very quiet, he remembered how Gizmo was last year. He went out the next day and got him a big bag of Chocolates, so i thought I'd do my little part and make him a bag to put them in.......You can see a picture of Buddy on his mummy's site.... Ila e-mailed me yesterday afternoon with the wonderful news that buddy's tumor was benign, i was so relieved for her, i know she and hubby love buddy so much and she treats him the way we do our boys, these dogs really have become our furkids, as our kids have all grown up...and if you've seen Buddy's picture how could you not fall in love with that face...

...I used my new stamp from High Hopes Seymore's Sick Day, as well as it being available from the High Hopes site, i also know that you can buy it from Bryony's web site Silly Monkey Crafts she has a whole range of High Hopes Stamps and many others...

Well do you think the little man will like his T.R.E.A.T shhhhhhh don't say it in front of him, he knows what they are.....LOL....... Yes i am mad if you were wondering.....!!!Ingredients ~ Bazzill CS ~ BG Archaic DP ~ BG Archaic Brads ~ Nestabilities ~ AMM Jean Words ~ Prisma Pencils ~ Sansodor ~ Stumps ~ Stitching On Janome Mini

You know how i always say i love to send things to make people smile or in Buddy's case WOOF....Well Darling Nikki made me smile yesterday morning, this gorgeous card dropped onto the mat, Nikki it is just stunning and made me smile so very much, thank you sweetie...i love all of the detail you put into it.......... You think i have a thing about detail........ i love cards with lots of detail, they always looks so beautiful....

Heeeeeeeelpppppppppp

2009-01-07T23:54:00.000Z

Does anybody have any idea if there is a problem with blogger, i've been trying to upload my High Hopes/Buddy post all evening, the pictures just won't load... please let me know if anyone knows of a problem, i'm getting so frustrated...

Friends...........Time Well Spent.......

2009-01-05T22:30:00.000Z

Well my first card of 2009, i took my time didn't i...hehehehe

I created this card for a friend to say thank you, and decided to enter it into the challenge over at The Sugar Bowl...... there is a wonderful sketch from Tiets you really should check out her yummy creations......

The first sketch is a very special one with a very special candy, three sets of Pro markers, i have a few of these and they are wonderful, and blend beautifully, funnily enough i used them in this card...

I've been itching to use these papers all through the Autumn, but was too ill, so finally i can start playing, they are so scrummy....... Lots of layering on this one and i wanted to also use the stamps a friend sent to me for Christmas, i am quite pleased with how it came out....

I stitched each of the layers because i felt it would make the card too heavy if i double layered each piece the way i normally do.... and surprise surprise i decorated the inside and back of the card, it really does finish them off so beautifully, i was inspired to do this after seeing Claudia do it so often.....

Hopefully this card will make the recipient smile.. :-)

Here are the ingredients: Sugar Nellie Stamp ~ SU Stamps Time Well Spent (From Lovely Claudia For Christmas) ~ Eva DP ~ Bazzill CS ~ BG Eva Glazed & Matching Brads ~ Pro-Markers ~ Kaiser Craft Gems ~ Janome Mini For The Mountain Of Stitching....

My 2008 Top Ten .........

2009-01-04T22:30:00.000Z

Kristine was asked to show her top ten creations of 2008 and has passed on the challenge to others and has asked for any body who would like to list their top ten makes of 2008...to leave a message in the comments of her post and she'll take a peek at ours to..... well one small problem i have, the gifts and cards i sent to friends i forgot to take pictures of so i had to take the pictures from their blogs...(they are all very busy ladies and i didn't want to bother them..) Any way here are my top ten makes of 2008

Don't forget to link to Kristines blog if you do this, she'll take a peek at your favourites....

My first and most important, a Christmas Kiss for my darling hubby...... our 24th Christmas together this year and still every year i cherish....

A few of the cards i created for friends in the summer, i loved the colours and my favourite stash SU....
A card idea i got from Claudia, the buckle card....

This card was created in the summer for my friend Heidi i wanted to cheer her up and it did make her smile.....

It was only my second attempt at a scene card, i really do enjoy creating these..

This card i created for my wonderful friend Moni, it was in a hand made box frame card, i really enjoyed this one, it was my first ever scene card and was sent to a very special friend....

This scrapbook page was created for Little Miss Sunshine, she really does make me smile, and always looks so happy, hence Sunshine....

This card i created for a very special ladies, special birthday... it was my third scene card and i got to use the fabulous SU stash..... I have to say this one was by far the most intricate scene card i am ever likely to make... but i loved putting it together and planning it...

This one i created way back at the beginning of the year, i need to make a folder to send my wonderful friend some images but I'd stamped so many, so i came up with this accordian folder... i didn't post it because i forgot to(der), Moni very kindly created a tutorial of my folder, if you'd like to make one click on the photograph....

This card was an anniversary card i created for my friend at work, Liz and Ian celebrated their first wedding anniversary.....i was so pleased with how it came out....

I created this book as a Christmas gift in the summer, i had planned on making gifts for my blogging friends, but the best laid plans went wrong as usual...... This year i plan to start very early to make sure i get them all done in time....

Well this was my top ten, not as I'd planned, the last four months of 2008 didn't go very well to plan at all, but i still enjoyed creating each and every project.....My favourite thing to do in 2009 will be to make as many people smile as possible.... how do you do that???? Send a hand crafted card or item unexpectedly to show them how much you care......and what the smiles, it's the best feeling in the world.....

Here's to our creations in 2009, may they be as pleasing as this years....

Wonderful Creations From Friends......

2009-01-03T23:58:00.014Z

As it has been so long i thought that today i would start off by showing you the wonderful creations i received over the last few months and didn't get to show you...... my first is from my wonderful friend Moni.... OMG i nearly fell off the chair when this one arrived, yes i was shocked to that she sent to me her very first published card... Moni you really are a true friend and i am very honoured that you wanted to send this to me....... as you can see she also spoiled me rotten with the most beautiful and crafty gifts this Christmas time... i wish the detail would show up better, it is just exquisite.... This beautiful card was sent to me by my lovely friend Heidi..... along with a picture of Sunshine and Henrik...hehehehe I so wish that you could smell this card, it smells of Christmas and is wonderful, i wish that the smell would stay forever on this card....... i love it... These beautiful goodies were sent to me by my friend Claudia, the card i received in the summer just as things started to go wrong for us, so i never got a chance to show it, i was so thrilled she created this beautiful card for me, Mark got me box frames for my favourite cards and this is one that has to go into a frame, i just love this scene....... The stamps an SU set I've wanted for ages were a Christmas pressie from Claudia and she also sent me these beautiful ribbons, Green is my favourite colour as it goes with so many other colours.......These cards i also received in the summer when i got ill *****AGAIN******one is from lovely Heidi, a get well wish and another get well wish from Lovely Heike ladies you really did cheer me up sending me lovely cards i can't thank you enough....... thank you for thinking of me and taking the time to make these beautiful cards.....

Finally in the summer my wonderful friend Moni, made all of us feel very special, when she posted me a package, with this card, Moni cards are always so beautifully detailed and this time, my wonderful friend included a Hanglar Stanglar stamp and some yummy chocolates for Mark my hubby..... sadly chocolate gives me a headache so i eat every little and then only before i go to sleep, but my darling hubby is a complete chocoholic, i share a love of Haribo with Moni.....hehehe they're easy to keep picking up while making cards....... and she included a yummy selection for me... i am so happy and honoured i got to know Moni this last year, she really has become a very good friend...

It only remains for me so say how honoured i am to receive such beautiful cards from such talented ladies.... you will never know how much they cheer me up when I'm feeling low.... Some days are very bad with my joints and i promise that i don't mean to ignore e-mails or messages, being in pain every day is hard but i cope most of the time but when other things go wrong in our lives it makes things all the more hard to cope with, so when these little gems arrive, they really do make me feel so much better and i always have a big smile for the rest of the day...... thank you again ladies....you are very very special people......

Wishing Everyone A Healthy & Happy 2009......

2009-01-02T08:22:00.004Z

I Guess now is about the time when every body starts to take down Christmas decorations, Christmas stamps go back into their boxes and drawers, and it is all over for another year....... i always feel a little sad it's over far too quickly, although this year i am very much looking forward to and feeling good that 2009 is going to be a good year for all of us........ and my main wish for all of you is a Happy & Healthy 2009 for you and your families..... I can't really express how wonderful it has been to get to know some wonderful new friends many of whom i hope remain Friends long into the future....

I have been so touched this year by the wonderful messages of support for both Gizmo and myself, i can't thank you all enough, i promise you they really do help when i feel at my lowest...

**************Wishing you all A Very Happy & Healthy New Year & 2009**************

Merry Christmas ~ Glædelig jul ~ Joyeux Noël ~ Frohe Weihnachten ~ God jul

2008-12-27T23:36:00.006Z

I know it's been a long long time, things haven't been good here, Poor Gizmo lost his other eye, he does look very strange now as he doesn't have eyes but he is even more special to us now if that is possible, and I've not been too well either but we are all finally on the mend and getting back to normal, and as well as saying a huge thank you so my blogging buddies for taking the time to e-mail and message me over the last three months, i also wanted to wish every one including buddies and visitors a belated Merry Christmas and a very Happy & Healthy 2009.

I'm making cards again so will be posting in the next few days... for now though I'm enjoying catching up on my favourite blogs...

Guys please forgive me if i translated the Xmas greetings incorrectly...

I'm Still Here I Promise........

2008-08-30T22:14:00.003+01:00

I thought i would leave a quick post today to let you all know, I've not just stopped making cards or posting. I got ill a few weeks ago but i am recovering very well, i thought i would be back blogging by now but, last weekend we discovered a family member was dying, it all happened very suddenly and at the age of just 40 she only had a few days left, My husband's cousin sadly died on Wednesday and as you can imagine it has been a shock....and a lot of disbelief...... I will be back as soon as things settle down....

I am also having laptop problems, my laptop just went blank this morning and i just can't get it working, i am quite anxious about it, as it has photographs on it i just can't replace (there are pictures taken of Gizmo before he became blind), as well as e-mail addresses and home addresses and i was stupid enough not to create a back up disc....i am hoping that Sony will be able to help me recover everything and get it working on Monday but until then, i am only going to be able to reply to any mail that arrives from now until then, i had been very naughty and not looked at my mail for the last two and a half days, i hope you will understand if you e-mailed me and i haven't replied, i am sorry, things have been quite upside down here, as soon as my laptop is fixed i will get back to you, or you can send the mail again.....I'll pick it up on my husbands desktop. I hope all of my blogging friends are well and enjoying the end of summer... I'll be back soon, and i promise I'm not just ignoring my mail.....events have just been a little out of control the last month or so......

Night Night Sleep Tight Sleepy Heads....

I Feel So Honoured To Have Received An Award From Three Wonderfully Talented Ladies....

2008-07-27T22:27:00.006+01:00

Just look at this mega funky award I was given by the incredibly talented Rach and Mumur and my wonderful Friend Moni…. I love it…. It is so me, Wylde Woman…. So hubby says anyway……LOL

I am so honoured to receive this award from all three of these ladies, I have so much admiration for the things they create, and not just cards, I do hope that you will find time to visit their Blogs, you’ll find lots of inspiration….and just take a look at their fabulous creations and all three ladies are part of Design Teams…….I am always so impressed….but most of all I am so honoured to receive this award from three ladies I really do admire…one of whom has become a wonderful friend over the last three months…

I’m going to enjoy giving this award, as the purpose of it is to, Send Love & Acknowledgment to Women Who Brighten Your Day, Teach You New Things & Live Their Lives fully & With Generosity & Joy….. and you can send it to just one or one hundred…..
Here are the rules: 1. You can give it to one or one hundred or any number in between - it's up to you. Make sure you link to their site in your post.2. Link back to this blogsite http://tammyvitale.typepad.com/women_art_life_weaving_it/2008/07/wylde-women-award.html#comments. So Tammy can go visit all these wonderful women.

Well I truly think that all of the women below tick every single box…. And I really do urge you to visit every single one…..

Moni my wonderful talented friend (Right Back At You)
Rach (Right Back At Yer Girl I am still so envious of your colouring..hehehehe)
Mumur (Right Back At You to, I am so very honoured to receive this award from you)
Ila My Wonderfully Supportive Friend

Fran, Nikki, Carole, Heidi, Claudia (My wonderful blogging friends)
Katharina, Kristine, Jacqueline, Marlene, Kimmie,
Sophia, Beatrix, Inge, Maria, Michelle, Betty all of the ladies on my list I aspire to be able to create the most wonderful creations as you always do……..
And finally
To all those ladies who visit my blog and make me so happy………

After my rotten weekend you’ve made me so happy…..

And The Winners Of The Candy Are..............

2008-07-27T22:18:00.002+01:00

Firstly I would like to apologise to all of my friends, I haven’t visited or e-mailed over the last couple of days, It has been lovely and hot here in Nottingham, i like lovely and hot unfortunately my joints don’t like lovely and hot and they’ve swelled up rather badly and I’ve spent most of the weekend unable to do anything at all…… it totally ruined my plans for the weekend, but at last it is starting to cool down, but my joints may take a while to go back down…. So I have to slow down a little this week just to make sure I don’t make my self ill…

I would just like to say thank you to every one who joined my blog candy give away to celebrate 5,000 hits, it’s been really nice visiting your blogs and believe me I have visited….Well down to the numbers you’ve been waiting for……..
I used the Random Sequence Generator….. and ……

Here is your sequence:
1
37
51
44
3
49
48
11
6
12
52
27
32
38
25
35
36
21
46
19
10
40
14
4
5
24
43
54
18
7
42
20
8
50
30
29
15
31
13
34
9
28
17
47
53
33
45
23
22
26
2
41
16
39

Timestamp: 2008-07-27 21:15

Congratulations numbers 1 and 37 Heidi and Heike, what were the odds of that I wonder….. Two H’s…….I thought that was so strange….. but they are the numbers that came out so congratulations ladies, if you let me have your address, Mark will go to the post office tomorrow…I really hope you enjoy the candy….and i have added you to my favourite blogs so i can catch up to see what you create with the candy........Thank you so much to every one who joined in, I really do appreciate it….

......I Hit 5000 Hits Yippee......

2008-07-27T20:57:00.006+01:00

Please

Click Here To Find Out How To Enter Kimmies Candy

Click Here To Enter Ila's Yummy Scrummy Candy

A Spoon Full Of Sugar ..... Sketch Challenge.......Yummy Colours.....

2008-07-24T21:45:00.009+01:00

Just a quick post this evening, I've created this card for a sketch on Nikki and Debbie's Challenge blog A Spoon Full Of Sugar Challenge, This week it's this gorgeous Sketch from guest designer Katharina....Have you seen her new range of stamps, if not why not? they are absolutely yummy and will soon be available to buy....You can see them HERE i hope you will take a look, Katharina is a wonderful designer of not just stamps but also cards and altered items...and you'll find lots of yummy tutorials on her blog....

There is a wonderful prize for this weeks winner kindly donated by Lim , i hope you will take time to visit all six of these ladies blogs...they all make stunning creations...... and offer amazing tutorials. The image i used this week was from my wonderful friend Moni...and the beautiful floral turquoise stamping at the back of my little girl is created using a stamp that my ever supportive friend Ila sent to me a while ago, i just used it today and have fallen in love with the design.....I used Daisy Bucket Papers and and Bazzill CS, i have to draw attention to those scrummy buttons, they are from a pack called La-Di-Dah and they are all totally yummy....the picture i took just doesn't show up the vibrant colours in this card, Katharina i have to get a day light lamp....i used my SU punch yet again, i do love the punches i got from SU but i have to get more..Well that's all for now sweeties, I'm going to need to sleep soon but first a blog hopp is in order......Night Night Sleep Tight........

Ingredients: DP Daisy Bucket ~ CS Bazzill ~ SU Punch ~ Hodge Podge Hardware ~ Nesties ~ Stamps From Ila ~ Cute Buttons - La Di Dah ~ Ribbon From Stash....

Kimmie's Fabulous Candy ~ Go Create

2008-07-22T22:53:00.008+01:00

Kimmie over at Kraftin' Kimmie's Korner is offering the most beautiful candy, just look at those scrummy Magnolia's and for this Kimmie is asking us to create a card or item with the same layout as her beautiful day planner/notebook, i saw this and thought what a wonderful idea, I've recently to my dismay discovered bloggers that have blogs just to enter candy give aways and i am sure that those of us who give candy away do not mean it to go to people like this but for it to go to bloggers who enjoy being creative and will find enjoyment from the items they win...... (sorry i'm ranting......) well Kimmie seems to have solved this problem this time by asking us to create a card or money card as mine is.....so here is my interpretation of Kimmies note book, i used MM Noteworthy DP and Bazzill CS the flowers are also from the MM Noteworthy collection of embellishments and the brad is beautiful Hodge Podge Hardware....the cute image is a stamp by Lizzie Anne....

I hope you like it......Well what are you waiting for, copics or prisma's at the ready and go get creatin'...............

Ingredients: DP Making Memories Noteworthy ~ CS Bazzill ~ Stamp Lizzie Anne ~ Hodge Podge Brad ~ Flowers Making Memories Noteworthy Collection ~ Ribbon From Stash ~ Tools Nesties ~ SU Punch...

Talking of gorgeous Magnolia candy, did you all see the sneaky peek at the new stamps from Magnolia, they're called the School Collection and i am positively drooling......yummy Scrummy i have to have them all, if these previews are anything to go by.......what do you think.......?

OMG I Got A Fabulous Award From Nikki & Moni.......

2008-07-22T00:28:00.005+01:00

I got a message last night to say there was a little something on Nikki's blog for me, she awarded me this fabulous award, OHHHHHHH Nikki , Moni if only it were real with a million pounds on it, imagine the fun we'd have crafting heaven (SHOPPING)....hehehehehe Thank you so much Nikki i am so honoured to receive this award from you... I hope you will all take the time to visit Nikki's blog she is not only a very talented crafter but also a design team member for A Spoon Full Of Sugar and Silly Monkey Crafts. Then this evening my wonderful friend Moni gave me the award to, how lucky am i twice in less than twenty four hours, i am so honoured to receive this award from such a talented lady and friend. Moni is an incredibly talented card maker but also creates the most stunning ATC's she is also a design team member for Paperbasics, i hope you will take the time to visit Moni's blog you will find the most beautifully detailed designs.....and lots and lots of inspiration.......

I now have to pass this award on but there are rules........and here they are............................

The rules of this award,

1. Only 5 people allowed.

2. 4 have to be dedicated followers of your blog

3. one has to be someone new or recently new to your blog and live in another part of the world.

4. you must link back to who ever gave you the award.

quite simply it is a way of saying thank you to those who take time out for wonderful comments to make your day Here are the wonderful ladies I have dedicated this award to.....

And my new visitor is Heidi from Michigan

I do hope that you will take the time to visit all seven of these ladies, they are all incredibly talented and you are sure to find inspiration in bucket loads......