A Belated Valentine.. For A Friend...

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.....

Treasure Chest....

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....

Love And Kisses....

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...

Shabby Love.......

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..

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

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....