Happy Christmas Everyone

Happy Christmas everyone. I hope you have all got what you wanted for christmas.

I apologise for being very naughty with my blogging for the last few months, I have had a tough couple of months but I am hoping to get my mojo back and get cracking on lots of card making in the new year and look forward to entering lots more challenges.

Happy Christmas once again and a very happy new year to you all, thanks for looking x

Happy Halloween

Happy halloween to all you bloggers that celebrate, we don't tend to celebrate it much here in the UK although my 12 year old daughter Freya wanted to carve a pumpkin and put tea lights in it and put it just outside our front door but she has outgrown wanting to dress up and go tricking and treating.

We have had a fantastic day today, the weather has been so warm and sunny that we took a stroll on Bournemouth beach this afternoon, can't believe its the 1st November tomorrow as the weather has been so wonderful.

I hope everyone else is having a great weekend, thanks for looking x

My finished Pram

My finished pram, I am quite pleased with how it turned out, I have made a handful before but never with the pram bag and parasol. I think they finish it off really nicely though. My step mum Brenda told me the baby might arrive earlier than thought as she is breech so Sally might have to have a C-section. I had two breech babies so know how she feels. I hope Brenda will be pleased with it. I just need to make a handmade box for it now.

I have just seen that One stop craft challenge http://onestopcraftchallenge.blogspot.com/ theme this week is celebrations so I thought I should enter my creation into their challenge.

Thanks for looking x

No card today - I've been catching up on all your blogs

No card from me again today, I have been catching up with all your blogs, leaving comments etc. I am currently working on another one of my baby prams that my Step mum Brenda has commissioned me to make for her new Granddaughter due to arrive approx 5th November and will hopefully post a photo of it when I have done the finishing touches. I hope everyone is having a good week and those with children are not being to stressed out with having their kids at home this week as its half term, mine have been happy being on their game consoles and laptops today so it meant I could crack on with the pram. Thanks for looking x

A free cute digi over at Victoria Case Stamps

I hope everyone is ok, I can't believe how dark it has got, I hate it when the clocks go back and its dark when you get up and dark not long after the kids have got back from school. I am trying to get motivated to get on with some christmas cards and also a couple of card orders so will need to get my skates on with them.

Anyway for anyone that doesn't know there is a lovely cute digi freebie up for grabs over at Victoria Case http://victoriacasestamps.blogspot.com/2009/10/free-digi.html head over if you want to grab her.

Thanks for looking x

Waterslide card instructions - Can anyone help ?

I saw some waterslide cards shown on create and craft this morning although they weren't demo, they looked quite similar to waterfall cards, I'd like to have a go at one of these but don't want to pay Create and Crafts horrendous p & p charges, can anyone provide me with a link to a tutorial on how to make them. I have looked on google, yahoo, you tube, scs any ideas?

Thanks Julie x

Passion for promarkers meets Whiff of joy

I hope everyone had a great weekend, I can't believe the kids are breaking up again for half term at the end of this week, it seems like they have only just gone back after the summer hols.

I decided to sit down and make a card today which I am going to enter into 2 challenges, Passion for Promarkers http://promarkerchallenge.blogspot.com/ and Whiff of joy http://wojmondaychallenge.blogspot.com/. I have followed the sketch on the Passion for promarkers challenge, this week you were able to use any colours. I used sandstone and caramel on Henry the mouse, a stamp from Whiff of Joy http://www.whiffofjoy.com/ and used pale pink for his nose and pale pink and antique pink on the cake, the candle was coloured using tulip yellow and pumpkin. The backing papers are both from a Forever Friends 6 x 6 paper pad called For You. I have gone around the 2 piece with gold peel offs.

The flowers are Primas with brown and pink brads in the centre of them, The sentiment is a claear stamp that I have die cut with my nestie circle die and backed that onto a piece of pink card which I die cut with my scalloped circle nestie die. Thanks for looking x

Nicks Birthday Card

I needed to make a birthday card for my Brother-in-law Nick this weekend and I have been dying to have a go at the easel cards I have seen so many people have made recently and I came up with this by following Crafters Companions challenge http://itsacrafterscompanion.blogspot.com/ sketch (I hope this card will count as the standing up bit was done following the sketch which I thought was a great layout) I turned it upside down so I could put the fish on the left hand side .

Popcorn the bear and the fish are from the Fishing popcorn set which I coloured in with Promarkers. The backing paper is a download I purchased from Scrapbooking Mad. The ribbon is from my craft stash. I have cut out a scalloped square with my nesties to put Popcorn onto. I have added diamond glaze to the little fish so that they look wet. I have added some black thread to the back of the rod and stuck a fish on the other end of the thread. I have embossed the bear and fish from the back so they look a bit more rounded and 3d. I have used a button with a bow using the same ribbon as on the right hand side to keep the card standing up and cut out letters to spell out Nicks name with my Cuttlebug Olivia alphabet.

I am also entering this card into Creative Card Crews challenge http://creativecardcrew.blogspot.com/ where the theme was to use scallops on your card somewhere which I have done on the square.

Thanks for looking x

My first baby card in ages

I decided to make a baby girl card today, my stepmother Brenda's Son Jason and his Girlfriend are having a little girl in a few weeks time so I thought I should get something made up ready to put in the post when the little bundle of joy arrives.

The card is 14.5cm x 14.5cm I have used 2 backing papers from the Forever Friends 6 x 6 Hugs and Cuddles pad, one with a pink gingham pattern and the other just has buttons on it. I have also added some pink card that I have embossed with a Cuttlebug folder. The image is a Pink Gem Designs rubber stamp which I have coloured with Promarkers. The ribbon is from my craft stash and the buttons are from my local 99p store. I have computer generated the circle sentiment and backed this onto a scalloped circle cut with my nesties. I added gems on the ribbon which are made by Anita's. I have faux stitches around the image.

I am able to enter this card into 6 different challenges this week

1/ Sketch Saturday http://sketchsaturday.blogspot.com/ - I followed their sketch

2/ Cupcake Crafting http://cupcakecraftchallenges.blogspot.com/ with their theme Buttons and stitching

3/ Die Cut Dreams http://diecutdreams.blogspot.com/ with their theme Babies

4/ TCP http://dancinginpajamas.blogspot.com/ with their theme Buttons

5/ Creative Inspirations http://cinspirations.blogspot.com/ with their theme Family

6/ Paperplay http://paperplaychallenges.blogspot.com/ with their theme use your favourite embellishment

Thanks for looking, Have a good weekend everyone x

One Card - 2 Challenges

I actually managed to get around to do a card for some challenges this week, the first challenge I am entering is ABC's http://trulyjulie1966.blogspot.com/2009/10/inkegrity-ladybirds-card.html, the theme this week was E for embossing and the second challenge is Stamp with Sarah Kay http://stampwithsarahkay.blogspot.com/ where there was a lovely sketch to follow.

So onto my card, the image is a Pink Gem Designs stamp , he is called Denny Dragon and I think he is really cute. I have coloured him in with Moss and Rose Pink Promarkers. The backing paper is from Dovecraft. The backing cards in pink, dark pink and green have been embossed with Cuttlebug embossing folders. The sentiment is a silver peel off on one of my new Spellbinder fancy tags dies which has been cut and embossed, The flowers are from 2 sizes of X-Cut punches and have been embossed from the back to make them a bit more 3D with a peel off in the centre to finish them off nicely and stuck onto the card with Pinflair.

Thanks for looking x

Inkegrity ladybirds card

Here is a card I made for this months breast awareness month using Inkegrity's free ladybird image http://inktegrity.blogspot.com/. I cut the card out with my nesties , the image has been coloured in with promarkers and then had black stickles and clear stickles over the top. The gems in the scallops around the edge are from Anitas. The pink organza ribbon is from my craft stash. The flowers on it have been made using the small X-cut daisy punch with a small dot of Pastel Raspberry liquid pearls in the centre.

I think most have us have known someone who has been affected by breast cancer, lets hope they find a complete cure for this soon. Thanks for looking x

Last of the four teddy stamps card

This is the card I have made with the last of the four xmas teddy stamps from lili of the valley. Again the papers are from Trimcraft layered on top of gold mirri card . I have coloured the teddy in with Promarkers and glittered the star. The flowers are cut from 2 sizes of x-cut punch and the leaves from my Leone Em punch. The sentiment is a Cuddly Buddly stamp which I have cut out with nesties and layered on to gold mirri card.

I still haven't managed to enter any challenges this week, I really must get back into them but a lot of the themes seem to have been halloween which we don't really celebrate here in the UK and I'm not really bothered about halloween anyway.

I have decided to enter this card into Lili of the valleys's challenge http://liliofthevalleythursdaychallenge.blogspot.com/ which this week is to make a christmas card for a child.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend, thanks for looking x

A graduation card special order

I was asked by a friend of a friend to make her mum a graduation card using the above colours. I hope she is going to like it. The graduate and accessories on the left are cut from a Sizzix die. The flowers are from Hobbycraft which I coloured with my Promarker pens to get as near to the same colour as the second layer of the card. The little bows on the corners and the middle are made from black ribbon with silver dots on it. I have edged all three layers with silver peel offs.

I hope Emma is pleased with it. Thanks for looking x

Another Christmas Card - I'm on a roll now

Well here is another christmas card. I have followed the same sketch layout as the other two cards I have made this week. The backing papers are by Trimcraft, the Teddy is a rubber stamp from Lili of the Valley. These are great stamps and are only £3.50 each so a bargain. I have coloured him in with promarkers. The Mirri paper is from Anita's 20 packet of silver and gold mirri paper. The sentiment is a stamp from Cuddly Buddly. The flowers have been cut from 2 sizes of x-cut punches and the leaves are from my Leone Em punch. I have used a gold peel off around the edges of the backing paper which I think finished the card off neater. I will go and add the gold border to the 1st card I made now I can see how it finishes it off. Thanks for looking x

A spoonful of sugar challenge entry

This weeks challenge over at A Spoonful of sugars challenge blog http://aspoonfullofsugarchallenge.blogspot.com/ is to make a christmas card. I thought I would do another one using my new Lili of the valley bear rubber stamps which I have coloured in with promarkers. The layout is from a sketch I followed on Everybody Art challenge blog http://everybody-art-challenge.blogspot.com/.

The backing paper is from a 6 x 6 papewr pack from Trimcraft. The sentiment is a rubber stamp from Cuddly Buddly. The flowers have been made with 2 size of x-cut punch and the leaves are cut using my Leone Em punch. The mirri paper is from Anitas and is available in a pack of 20 sheets (10 silver and 10 gold) I didn't want to use mirri board as it could have made the card front heavy.

This is the first challenge I have entered in weeks, I must gey back into a routine lol. Thanks for looking x

My first xmas card !!!

I hope everyone had a great world cardmaking day yesterday, I didn't get a chance to make any cards as we went out and in the evening I was catching up on all the blogs that I follow as I haven't logged on that much recently.

Well here is my first card for christmas, I thought I had better make a start as some people have been posting xmas cards a lot recently. I am one of those strange people who does not like christmas so I find it difficult to get the inspiration to get into the christmas card making mood. but I have now made a start and will get around to doing them all before xmas.

I saw a lovely sketch on Everybody Art Challenge http://everybody-art-challenge.blogspot.com/ a few weeks ago and decided to have a go at following that sketch and here is what I came up with.

The image is a Lili of the valley rubber stamp, I had to buy all four of their xmas bear stamps at Ally Pally last weekend as they are all so cute it is difficult to decide on one or two, I coloured the image in with Promarkers, The mirri paper is by Anitas and is £3.99 for a pack of 20, 10 silver and 10 gold which I bought from The Range. The flowers have been made with 2 sizes of daisy x-cut punches with a peel off in the centre and the leaves are cut using my Leone Em punch.

The sentiment is a stamp by Cuddly Buddly that I bought last year. The backing papers are from a 6 x 6 pack of trimcraft papers that I also bought last year.

Thanks for looking. I hope everyone is having a great weekend x

A birthday card for Michelle

Here is a card I have made for my Hubby's secretary Michelle, I have taken a photo of it lying down but also with it standing up so you can see how it is done. I saw a lady demoing this design on the Craftwork Cards http://www.craftworkcards.co.uk/stand at Ally Pally last weekend.

All I have done is taken a 14.5cm x 14.5 cm card. Taken a panel out of the front and laid the flowers and sentiment in the gap, it looks really effective. I bought the flowers and centres from the Craftwork Cards stand and have cut the name with my Sizzix Wingo Zingo Alphabet strip and just used a sailor glue pen to stick to the card. I made the round circle sentiment on my laptop using word art.

Thanks for looking, I hope you all have a great weekend x

Another project on the go

Here is another project on the go. I have never done one of this style before. I saw Nancy Watt making one on Create and Craft. I haven't taken a picture of the inside yet as I haven't got around to decorating it but when it is finished I will photograph it standing up. Its made of two 4 x 4 inch cards plus another card a bit smaller inside. Thanks for looking x

Couple of projects on the go at the moment

As I haven't posted much over the last few weeks I thought I would just show you a couple of projects I am working on at the moment. This is a flip album/card. I found the free instructions on the internet. I have done the basic work but have not got around to decorating it yet so will hopefully get around to taking some photos when I have done a bit more decorating inside.

Thanks for looking x

I'm back !!

For those of you that may be wondering where I have been for the last few weeks I have been catching up with boring old stuff since the kids have gone back to school and college. Last week my hubby took a week off so we went out a lot in the days and evenings so I have not had much time for crafting although I have managed to squeeze in a few card orders I had received.

My lovely hubby Barry drove me to up Ally Pally on Saturday and he then took himself and my youngest into London to take a look around the museums leaving me to spend the day at the craft show. Spent too much as always!!

I am hoping to get back into a routine now the kids are out all day so that I can make more cards and start getting back into entering some challenges, I must have missed loads.

Thanks for looking x

Hubby asked me to russle up a 40th Anniversary Card today

I haven't been making any cards for a couple of weeks, I'm still trying to get things straight since the kids went back to school and college so was very surprised when hubby asked me to just russle up a card for one of his employees 40th wedding anniversary but preferably something different!! Typical of a man, everything requested at the very last minute !

Anyway here is what a russled up, its a bookatrix card that I have made, I haven't done many these for a while. The butterflies are cut and embossed using the Cuttlebug butterfly combo set, the 40 is cut from Cuttlebug Olivia alphabet and the gold heart is cut from a Sizzix large heart original die. Ribbon and roses are from hobbycraft.

I have made a handmade box and wrapped the card in gold tissue paper before putting in the box and hopefully hubby will deliver it in one piece tomorrow.

I hope everyone is having a good weekend, I haven't logged onto blogger for a while so sorry if I have not left any comments on your cards as I haven't seen them yet but will aim to catch up and have a peek at what you have all be upto recently. Thanks for looking x

Its my daughter Hayleys 18th birthday today !

My lovely daughter Hayley is 18 today, Happy Birthday Hayley! I cannot believe where the last 18 years have gone. My lovely friend Tina who I met through Jewellery classes has made her a beautiful cake which should be a complete surprise and we are taking her to her favourite Indian restaurant tonight where we are decorating the table with helium balloons, confetti etc and hopefully they will surprise her with the cake after we have all eaten. I will take a photo of the cake when she is not around and will add it to this post later, Tina has done a fantastic job of it and best of all there are thorntons chocolates on the top! Thanks for looking x
Amended to add photo of her cake

My Birthday Goodies

Here are the lovely crafting goodies my family bought me for my birthday last week, I can't wait to use them but will have to wait a while longer. My hubby and I used to share a study/craft room that we made in our garage but with all my crafting bits he was ending up with less and less room he he so for the last week we have had a DIY friend in to add extra room so hubby ends up with his own study and I get to keep the study/craft room we currently have as just my craft room, it might help me to find things as I can be a bit more organised. Thanks for looking x

A huge thank you to Sem

I would like to post a very special thank you to my wonderful blogging buddy Sem http://www.semsee.blogspot.com/ who made me these very special and beautiful gifts for my birthday, I felt really choked up when I opened the package. Not only had she taken the time to make this gorgeous trio, she also enclosed a beautiful whiff of joy stamp in the lovely wallet and flowers, gems and charms in the beautiful box she made, in the card are beautiful stamped images too, it must have taken her ages, the photo really does not do these beautiful items justice, I will treasure these forever.

If anyone would like to see how she has made these items she has kindly put tutorials on her blog http://www.semsee.blogspot.com/ whilst there look at the wonderful cards she makes, she gives me so much inspiration, her cards are always stunning.

Thank you so much again Sem, I cannot describe how much your thoughtful and stunning gifts touched me. Good luck in your DT entry! Huge hugs Julie x

My blog candy winner is

I am very sorry for the delay in posting my blog candy winner.

I would like to thank everyone that entered and to those that have become new followers and thank you also to my existing followers, your comments mean so much to me.

Without further ado, the name my 12 year old daughter Freya chose was Teri http://teriscraftspot.blogspot.com/. Congrats Teri, please email me your addy so I can send the goodies out to you on Tuesday.

I hope everyone is having a fantastic bank holiday weekend, thanks for looking Julie x

Birthday Blog Candy up for grabs please scroll down for newer posts

Tis post will remain at the top of my blog until 27th August so please scroll down for newer posts.

In celebration of my birthday and my wedding anniversary in 30 days (27th August) I am offering some blog candy, I would also like to try and get 5000 hits by then which would be utterly amazing . I am also sure there are lots of blogs I have not stumbled across yet as I have only be blogging since April so it will give me an opportunity to take a look at all your fantastic and inspirational blogs. I will add another photo as soon as I can as I am still waiting for some bits to arrive.

All you need to do to enter is leave me a comment on this post, it is not a requirement to become a follower to enter but anyone that is already a follower or who becomes a follower will get a second chance and if you add a link to my candy on your blog you will get a third chance.

Closing date and time is 27th August Midnight BST

I will get one of my children to draw a winner on 28th August and will post the winners details the same day.

Thanks for looking x

Character Cafe Blog hop

Just to let everyone know that the Character cafe http://www.sweeteez.webs.com/designteam.htm are having a blog hop, with a free image to collect along the way and a chance to win images for leaving comments. There is also a code to collect which entitles you to 30% off orders upto 25th August so what are you waiting for head over here http://www.sweeteez.webs.com/designteam.htm Have a great weekend everyone x

Truly Scrumptious Challenge

I recently lost my mojo and haven't been making any cards but over the last coupkle of days I have been making up some 3D Projects, the other day I did the picnic baskets which I have already posted. This time I have made the beautiful Pretty petty pocket basket and the Get a handle on it box.

These are both made from the Papertrey http://www.papertreyink.com/ templates I bought over the last few days. The card is from Stampin Up, I bought this card about a year ago at a party and then forgot about it so have been making the 3D projects with the two colours. The templates are really easy to use and go together very nicely. I am really pleased with the results.

I am entering these projects into this weeks Truly Scrumptious challenge http://trulyscrumptiouschallenges.blogspot.com/2009/08/challenge-14.html which was to make anything other than a card. Thanks for looking x

Another post from me today - Picnic Baskets

I bought the Papertrey http://www.papertreyink.com/ timeless template picnic basket some time ago but had never got round to using it until the weekend. I was really pleased at how easy it all went together so much so I ordered some more templates from them as I am in a making 3D object mood at the moment. Its great that they are downloads so you receive them immediately particularly good for last minute gift ideas . I think I need to add something to them but not sure if to go for a stamped image or a large flower. I thought I'd come back to them after I have done another one of their templates.

Thanks for looking x

Henrys Birthday Card

Here is the card I have made for the son of some friends we met when we were on honeymoon in the Maldives. I have used a free template found here http://timelesstreasuretrunk.com/freetemplates/freetemplates.html and used my nesties to make the circles for the wheels, I have cut out his name and age with my Cuttlebug Olivia alphabet and used Sizzix dies to make the driver. Henry is train and tractor mad but his parents asked me to make a tractor card from them so I had to do a train, I hope he likes it. Thanks for looking x

My second post of the day

On 7th August I was very lucky to have received an award from my lovely blogging friend Sem http://semsee.blogspot.com/2009/08/kreativ-blogger-award-from-juls.html Thank you sooooo much Sem!

I have only just got around to posting it now as to accept the award I had to think of 7 interesting things about me that was really really hard lol, hence its taken me a week!!!

So to offically accept the award I have to do the following .

1.Thank the person who nominated you for this award
2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog
3. Link the person who nominated you for this award
4. Name seven things about yourself that people might find interesting
5. Nominate seven Kreative Bloggers
6. Post links to the seven blogs you nominate
7. Leave comments on all seven blogs letting them know you nominated them

Okay, so 7 interesting things about me that you might find interesting....hmmm...

1. I had two breech babies, (unusual I am told), all three were malpositioned

2. I organised 2 petitions both of 4,000 signatures against an Orange mobile phone mast being erected so close to our residential area - they never went ahead with it

3. I went to Meerufenfushi in the Maldives for my honeymoon - only 3 months before the tsunami so I am glad we saw it before the devastation -I would love to go back one day

4. Hank Marvin (From The Shadows) sent me a letter to congratulate me on my second wedding all the way from Australia

5. I invited the Queen to my birthday party (when I was much much younger of course - how embarrassing is that) and I received a reply from Balmoral (I still have it somewhere!!!)

6. I have met the following well known people Sir John Mills, Cyril Smith, Ian Ogilvy,

Bruce Welch, Gloria Hunniford, John Redwood, Frederick Forsyth, Michael Dobbs,

Gary Rhodes, Lloyd Grossman, Anthony Worrall Thompson,. Brian Turner,

Mary Berry, Paul and Jeanne Rankin, the chefs have also signed all my recipe books with personal messages in them for me too :-) can't think of any more at the moment

7. I have eaten dinner in The Churchill Room in the Houses of Parliament on 4 occasions. Margaret Thatcher was the guest of honour at one of the dinners and I had a conversation with her (My hubby put the world to rights with her for ages !!!)

I would love to give this award to Sem as well but not sure if you can give it back to whoever gave it to you so the 7 lovely blogging friends I would like to pass this award onto in no particular order are

Clare

Alex

Chrissie

Debby

Donna

Andrea

Avril

Thank you again Sem, means a lot, thanks for looking and have a great weekend everyone x

I've made some lovely little boxes - Hurray

As I said in an earlier post, I've lost my mojo recently, we have a very stressful situation at home at the moment and I have not been in the right frame of mind to make anything, that was until yesterday when I saw Alex's wonderful blog http://eisbaerentraeume.blogspot.com/ She had made herself a template and had made some lovely little boxes from it, I commented on her lovely project and she very kindly sent me the template, thank you so much Alex and also thank you for all your help since. Here is the link to that particular post http://eisbaerentraeume.blogspot.com/2009/08/i-am-still-alive-honest.html I have made the boxes above from her template . I have just used white embossed card and some patterned 12 x 12 scrapbook paper that my daughter was given at work. I added a Prima flower with a brad in the middle and some leaves from my Leone-Em punch. I am really pleased with how they turned out, so much so that I am going to make some other lovely 3D projects I have seen but never got round to making yet and its all thanks to you Alex :-) Thanks for looking x

I am entering these into Simon says stamp challenge this week http://simonsaysstampschallenge.blogspot.com theme is anything but a card

Ross's passing out parade card

I haven't posted many cards recently as I haven't made any or entered any challenges recently as I feel I have lost my mojo a bit. Here is the first card I have made in a while, its for my best friend Ju's 17 year old son Ross who has his passing out parade tomorrow, so she is on her way to Harrogate as I write this. I have kept it pretty simple, the image is a free from the Edupics website which I have printed onto some free background camouflage paper which I found through google. I then cut around the camouflage and stuck the bits onto the plain image I had already printed onto the card base and coloured the other bits in with Promarkers. I hope he likes it. Thanks for looking x

I have won some blog candy and an award !!

I have been very lucky in the last few days, I have been lucky enough to win Nina's blog candy http://theresmagicintheair.blogspot.com/2009/08/small-blog-candy-give-way-goes-to.html, thank you Nina, if you haven't already taken a look at her blog here is the link http://theresmagicintheair.blogspot.com and also an award from my blogging friend Semsee http://semsee.blogspot.com/2009/08/kreativ-blogger-award-from-juls.html which I will post about later as I have to think who to pass the award onto. Sem has a fantastic and very inspirational blog so take a look here http://semsee.blogspot.com she is currently updating her blog and its looking really good. Have a good weekend everyone, thanks for looking x

My entry for Simon Says stamp challenge

Here is a card I made today that a friend ordered for her boss, I followed a sketch for this weeks Simons says stamp challenge http://simonsaysstampschallenge.blogspot.com/ so I will enter their challenge. The image is a digistamp from Modern Sugar Boulevard which I have left uncoloured as we were going for a black grey and white theme. You can't see it really well but there are two different designer black, white and grey papers from paper cellar 6 x 6 pads which do follow the sketch. I have added the sentiment as per the layout sketch but also added a round computer generated sentiment. The flowers are primas with a brad in the middle. Thanks for looking x

I've made another card at last

I'm having a bit of a low time at the moment and have not had the motivation to make any cards but I thought I'd have a go at entering a challenge this week so here is the card I made for the following challenges. Digital Tuesday http://digitaltuesdaychallenge.blogspot.com/ where you have to use a digi stamp, Creative Card crew http://creativecardcrew.blogspot.com/ where the theme was Girls just wanna have fun and Passion for Promarkers http://promarkerchallenge.blogspot.com/ The papers are from a 6 x 6 paper pad from Crafts too, the image is a digistamp from Modern Sugar Boulevard which I have coloured in with this weeks colours for the Promarker challenge, Cool aqua and Pastel pink. I have also used vanilla to colour her hair. I have used 3d foam pads on the back to raise the image fron the card.The flower is an aqua prima flower with a pearl brad in the centre. The pink spotty ribbon is from Hobbycraft and the ribbon tag has been cut with one of spellbinders ribbon tag trio dies. The girls just wanna have fun text has been done on my laptop, which Donna http://granniville.blogspot.com/very kindly told me how to do some time back, thanks again Donna . Thanks for looking x

Victoria Case Challenge

I have made this card this evening following a sketch over at the Victoria Case Challenge blog http://vcstampchallenges.blogspot.com/

The image is a Victoria Case Digi stamp which I have coloured in with Promarkers, there are two different papers on the card both fomr Scrapbooking mad called fishing blue although you cannot see the second pattern so easily, it has fish on that one. I have done the sentiment on my laptop and cut out with nesties and stuck it to the card with 3d foam. Thanks for looking x

Update on blog candy

I have changed the picture on my blog candy post to an actual photo of the bits I have got for now, as I said in my previous post I am still waiting for some bits I have ordered to arrive so I will add them when I get them.

No card from me today but I will be offering some candy soon

I haven't made any cards today and probably won't over the weekend as we are taking 2 of our kids and our nephew to Marwell Zoo tomorrow, I hope the weather will be better than today. I am starting to get some blog candy together which I hope to post in the next week as my birthday is next month and I have now had over 4000 hits since April 1st this year, I would love to get to 5000 hits in time for my birthday which is on 27th August so watch this space, I will be posting the candy soon. Hope everyone has a good weekend. Thanks for looking x

Yippee I won first prize in last weeks Charisma Cardz challenge

I am so pleased to have won the first prize for last weeks Charisma Cardz challenge http://charismacardz.blogspot.com/2009/07/winners-of-challenge-28-getting-little.html. The prize was a lovely Giraffe Whimsy Stamp. I like to think my Grandpa who died in February this year was sending me a bit of luck as Giraffes were his favourite animals and its such a cute stamp, I am so pleased to have won it and can't wait for it to arrive. Thanks for looking x

Victoria Case meets Charisma cards and Our creative corner

Its weather is horrible, its raining here in Dorset so it gave me an excuse to stay in and make a card.

I have followed a very nice sketch by Charisma Cardz, the image is a digistamp by Victoria Case http://victoriacasestamps.blogspot.com/ Its called Just Ducky, I think she is simply adorable, sooooo cute!!! I have coloured her in with Promarkers, the colours used are Rose pink and Pumpkin, her hair is vanilla and skin colouring is blush, I normally use Ivory for skin but I can't find that colour amongst all my craft stuff at the moment. The sentiment is a stamp from Cuddly Buddly which I have then cut out with my circle and scalloped circle nesties. The flowers are primas. I have put a white button in the centre of each one, I have used 3 small Papermania orange brads in the top right hand corner. The little daisies on the ribbon have been cut from an X-Cut daisy mini punch which I have added a pink gem in the centre. The ribbon is from American Crafts. The Hot pink colour card is actually pearlescent but this does not show up too well in the photo. I have used my new Martha Stewart Lace Doily punch on both sides of the white card strip at the bottom. The drips and the puddle have been covered with crystal lacquer so they look wet. I would never have thought of putting these three colours together but I have decided they work quite well and I am quite pleased with the result.

I am entering the card into these three challenges

1/ Victoria Case http://vcstampchallenges.blogspot.com/2009/07/challenge-8-we-have-color-challenge.html to use Hot Pink, Orange and White which I have done, I have also used one of their images which is compulsory for their challenges.

2/ Charisma Cardz http://charismacardz.blogspot.com/2009/07/challenge-28-get-little-sketchy.html I followed their beautiful sketch

3/ Our Creative Corner http://ourcreativecorner6.blogspot.com/2009/07/occ-challenge-triple-play.html where you must use at least 3 different types of embellishments from their list, I have used buttons, brads, ribbon and crystal lacquer from their list but I have also used gems and punched flowers too so feel that covers everything.

Thanks for looking x

Doodle Palace version 2 photo meets Delightful Sketches

I have just found at that Doodle Palace http://doodlepalace.blogspot.com/ have a challenge ending soon so I have quickly made a card, the theme was to make a card using the colours of their website being pink, black and green. I have followed a sketch by Delightful Sketches http://delightfulsketches.blogspot.com/ so I am also entering this card into their challenge. The image is a digistamp from Crafts for Eternity http://www.crafts4eternity.co.uk/ called Gotcha, I have removed the tie and coloured it in with Promakers, pastel pink, apple and meadow green. I will try and load another photo tomorrow when its light as I have taken this photo in the dark and it is not showing the colours properly. The base card is pink, the green card has been run through a Cuttlebug swiss dots folder and then stuck onto black card. The image is has been cut out with a square nestie and then stuck onto pink card and then black card and then mounted onto card with 3D foam. The pink spotty ribbon is from Hobbycraft. I have added green gems on 2 of the corners and pink flourishes cut from a sizzix sizzlit die. Thanks for looking x

I hope everyone has had a great weekend

Hi everyone, I hope you have all had a good weekend, I ended up giving the bathroom a thorough spring clean and then tidying up the garden which took forever and that was only the front garden, gardening is not my favourite past time but it was starting to look really weedy etc.

I have only managed to make this one card since last Wednesday so I am going to enter it into 4 challenges. The digi image is by Dustin Pike http://dustinpike.blogspot.com/ and is called Bubble Dragon. I have coloured him in with the requested colours this week at Passion for Promarkers, the colours were Ruby and Gold. I am going to put some glossy accents on the bubbles but I wanted to get the card posted before the challenge deadlines. The two designer papers I have used are from Papermanias 8 x 8 Love paper pad, I have used my corner rounder punch to take off the corners of the paper. I have cut out the image with my oval nesties and layered onto a scalloped oval nestie cut out and then stuck some red pearls on either side of the dragon. The daisies have been cut using 2 sizes of X-Cut daisy punch with a red pearl in the middle. I am entering the card into the following challenges

1/ Passion for Promarkers http://promarkerchallenge.blogspot.com/

2/ Digital Tuesday http://digitaltuesdaychallenge.blogspot.com where the theme was 1,2 3 where you had to use one digital image, 2 designer papers and 3 embellishments the same of different, I have three daisies on my card

3/ Stamps and Smiles http://sasthefreshbatch.blogspot.com as I have followed their sketch this week

4/ Dutch Dare http://dutchdare-cardchallenges.blogspot.com/ where the theme was to use cutting dies and or punches

Thanks for looking x

Altered Candles - Stamping on Candles

These are the two altered candles I have made for the girls christenings this week photographed out of the cellophane wrapping so you can see them better. I followed the instructions here http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/stamping_on_candles/ I used a forever friends christening bear stamp (which I also used on their christening cards so they match) and coloured with H2o's on the tissue paper before melting into the candle and the personalisation I printed from my laptop onto the tissue paper. I hope they like them.

I am going to enter Charisma Cards challenge http://charismacardz.blogspot.com/2009/07/challenge-27-alter-it.html the theme this week was to alter something. Thanks for looking x

Christening cards for Stamps and Smiles challenge

Here are the two christening cards I mentioned yesterday that I have made to go with the candles (that I posted on my blog the other day) for my late best friends nieces. I have followed the sketch over at Stamps and Smiles http://sasthefreshbatch.blogspot.com/ so I am entering them into their challenge.

The card is actually pink pearlised card although this is not too clear in the photo. I have added the personalisation on the circles using wordart, it took me ages but I got there in the end lol!!!. The image is a Forever Friends stamp that I have coloured in with H20's although you can't see the pearlised effect very well in the photos, I have used the heart border Martha Stewart punch and her Lace Doily punch. The ribbon is from Hobbycraft. I have cut out the letters of their names out with a Quickutz Alphabet and stuck on with a glue pen. Thanks for looking x

Lady luck is watching over me at the moment

Lady luck is watching over me these last couple of weeks, I have been so lucky and won another challenge, this time from Creative Card Crew's blog http://creativecardcrew.blogspot.com/2009/07/challenge-19-create-scene.html My prize is a lovely bag of ribbons, I can't wait to receive them.

I have been busy making a couple of matching christening cards to go with the candles I made the other day for my late best friends Nieces, unfortunately she died almost 8 years ago so never had a chance to see them, but I keep in contact with her family and her son Ryan who is my Godson and wanted to make them something. I hope to post the photos of them tomorrow.

I am taking my children to see the new Harry Potter film tomorrow, I hope its as good as we are led to believe as they are really looking forward to it. Thanks for looking x

Digtal Tuesday meets Promarkers and Papertake

Here is a card I made today to enter 3 challenges with. I have followed a sketch and coloured my image in with the required Promarker colours, this weeks colours were Cocoa and Cornflower. The image is a digistamp by Instyle Stamps http://www.instylestamps.com/ she is called Mellie and they were giving her away for free for the whole of July so if you haven't got her yet hopover now! The backing papers are from CSSR The big one 12 x 12 paper pad and the A5 pad of papers from Daisy and Dandelion range. The flowers are Primas with brown brads in the middle I have printed the sentiment in brown and cut out with my nestabilities. I am entering this card into Passion for Promarkers challenge http://promarkerchallenge.blogspot.com/ as I have followef the sketch and used correct colours. I am also entering it into Digital Tuesdays http://digitaltuesdaychallenge.blogspot.com/ where the theme was sweet birthdays, you need to make a birthday card with something sweet on it, gosh that lovely chocolate cake that Mellie is holding looks really really yummy and the third challenge is Papertake Weekly http://papertakeweekly.blogspot.com/ where the theme was My Favourite things. I have used my favourite crafting things which are my nestabilties, I love chocolate cake as well !!!

Thanks for looking x

Win $1,000 at TheCuttlebugSpot.com

I have just discovered that The Cuttlebug Spot is having a contest - "The Journey to 1,000"! They are trying to reach 1,000 followers by the end of July and need your help. To enter all you have to do is go to their site, sign up as follower and complete a few easy steps and you could win a $1,000 gift certificate to Custom Crops (www.CustomCrops.com)! GO NOW and check it out atwww.TheCuttlebugSpot.com

Sues 99 things blog candy

Sue http://sueskraftykards.blogspot.com/2009/07/99-thingsand-some-blog-candy.html is offering some yummy blog candy but to be in with a chance of winning it you have to state which of the following of the 99 things have you done. My answers are in the darker colour . I need to live a little obviously !!!

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world/Disneyland Paris
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo

11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Made a Snow Angle
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Stood in the rim of the Grand Canyon
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an erupting volcano in person.

36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkelling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theatre
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Cookies for charity
62. Gone whale watching
63. Been given flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favourite childhood toy
70. Visited Buckinham Palace
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt or blanket (Crocheted a blanket of lace flowers that needed to be pieced together)
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Been to the top of the Empier State Building
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Now hop over to Sues Blog to be in with a chance of winning, ends 17th July. Good luck everyone x

Another post from me today

I've been busy making this card this afternoon, I have followed themes and a sketch for 5 challenges and am going to enter this card into all 5.

I have followed a beautiful sketch from Mojo Monday. The image is a Forever friends which I have coloured in with Prisma Pencils, the backing paper is from CSSR big one 12 x 12 pad, I have used my new hearts border punch on the pink piece of card under the image, there are 2 different pink ribbons on this card, 1 is satin (underneath the sentiment and the organza one above the hearts, I have also used the organza ribbon to make a couple of bows. The sentiment is a stamp from Cuddly Buddly which has a heart in the middle of it, the pink daisies have been cut with my Daisy X-Cut punch and I have put some Papermania buttons in the middle.

The challenges are below.

1/ Forever Friends http://foreverfriendschallengeblog.blogspot.com/ theme, Pink, Brown and Flowers.

2/ The next level http://thenextlevelchallenge.blogspot.com/2009/07/next-level-weekly-challenge-6.html theme, Buttons and Bows

3/ Creative Card Crew http://creativecardcrew.blogspot.com/ theme, ribbons

4/ Mojo Monday http://mojomonday.blogspot.com/ Followed their lovely sketch

5/ A spoonful of sugar http://aspoonfullofsugarchallenge.blogspot.com/ theme, hearts

Thanks for looking x

Cupcake Craft - Black and White

Here is a card I made for a friend who wanted me to make a black and white themed card for her friends 50th, as the theme for Cupcake Crafts challenge http://cupcakecraftchallenges.blogspot.com/ this week is a black and white card I thought I might as well enter it. The imaged are stamps from Woodware and Imnpression Obsession which I have stuck on with 3D Foam pads. The letters have been cut from my Quickutz alphabet. The champagne and glasses are a silver peel offs that I changed to black with a peel off pen. The ribbon is from Hobbycraft. Thanks for looking x

My first attempt at stamping with candles

I thought I would have my first attempt at stamping with candles today as my late best friend's nieces are getting christened next Sunday and I thought it would make a unique gift, one candle seemed to go really well but I had to have a few attempts with the second one. I have a heat gun which is the hair dryer type, I used to have a hobbycraft one but it was far to powerful so I sold that. I have found you normally have more control over the hairdryer style type, maybe thats where I went wrong and you do need the more powerful one to transfer your stamped image on the candle in less time. Anyway these will have to do as I have run out of candles now lol. I hope everyone is having a great weekend, thanks for looking x

High Hopes meets Sunday Sketch & Stamp and I've won another challenge !!!

Well luck must be on my side this week, I have now won last weeks Penny Black Saturday Challenge http://pennybfriendssaturdaychallenge.blogspot.com/2009/07/and-winner-is_11.html I am gobsmacked!!!

Its raining here today so I've stayed in and made another card, this one is to enter 2 challenges High Hopes http://highhopesstamps.blogspot.com/ this is the first time I have entered theirs as I only got one of their stamps at Newbury last Saturday. I am not sure if you have to use their stamps or can use any but I thought if I use this one I have a chance. The image is called Grillin Joseph which I have coloured in with Promarkers. The theme was to use polka dots so I went mad, the brown polka dot paper is from CSSR Big one 12 x 12 pad of papers, the green polka dot paper is from Daisy and Dandelion A5 pad, I have embossed the brown card with my Cuttlebug swiss dots embossing folder so I think I have done enough Polka Dots !!! and I thought the brads might count as dots too as they are round !!

The other challenge I am entering this into is Sunday Sketch and Stamps challenge http://sundaysketchandstamp.blogspot.com as I have followed Barbs fantastic sketch, I liked this layout very much and am sure to use it again. Thanks for looking x

OMG I've won 2 of last Thursdays Challenges

I have just been checking Thursdays challenges and found I have won 2 of them Yippee, I can't believe it. The first one was Stamps and Smiles challenge 22 http://sasthefreshbatch.blogspot.com/2009/07/stamps-and-smiles-sketch-challenge-23.html and the second one was Willow Sketchie challenge http://willowsketchiechallenge.blogspot.com/2009/07/willow-sketchie-challenge-9th-july.html?showComment=1247226354668#c2647500033224900623

I am so pleased, its made my day. Have a good weekend everybody x

Another post from me today

Another post from me today as I have made another card, this one is for 3 challenges. I have followed the beautiful sketch from Stampin for the weekend http://stampinfortheweekend.blogspot.com/ I am also entering this card into Just Magnolias challenge http://justmagnolia.blogspot.com/ where you have to use a Magnolia stamp and also for this week a metal embellishment charm. I have used a little metal dragonfly which I thought was really cute and went well with the rest of the card. I am also entering the challenge at Pollycraft http://pollycraftchallengeblog.blogspot.com/ where you had to add an arrow to your creation. I have added 2 little arrows to the bottom right hand corner, I ran them through the swiss dots cuttlebug embossing folder to give them some texture. The image has been coloured in with Promarkers, the sentiment is a rubber stamp from Cuddly Buddly, I have used my new Martha Stewart heart border punch along the top, this one seems to be working ok. I am still getting poor results with my scalloped one and think I may need to contact the company that I bought it from at the Newbury show. The backing papers are from the Daisy and Dandelion range A5 paper pad and the buttons are from Papermania. Thanks for looking x

Wow I've won some Blog Candy from The Squigglefly Blog Hop

I have just found out that I have been very lucky and won Maria's lovely blog candy http://joyfulstamper.blogspot.com/2009/07/my-give-away-winner.html that she was giving away as part of the Squigglefly blog hop, the three notelets she made look fantastic, I can't wait to receive them and there is a goody bag too, Thank you Maria for picking me as your winner, you've really brightened up my day. Thanks for loooking x

1 Card - 4 Challenges

I have been busy with some card orders today but I have managed to make this card to enter into 4 challenges. I have followed a nice sketch by Dutch Dare, the image is a Penny Black clear stamp which I have coloured in with a Poppy Promarker and Ivory on the cat. The patterned paper is by Basic Grey. I have used a corner punch on each corner of that paper but you can't see it very well in the photo. The flowers are Primas with brads in the middle, the sentiment is a stamp by Cuddly Buddly which I have cut out with my circle nestie and scalloped circle nestie. The blue spotty ribbon is from Hobbycraft.
I am entering this card into the 4 following challenges
1/ Dutch Dare http://dutchdare-cardchallenges.blogspot.com I followed their sketch
2/ Three Clovers Design http://threecloversdesigns.blogspot.com/ Their theme is Red, White and Blue
3/ Penny Black http://pennybfriendssaturdaychallenge.blogspot.com/ Their theme is Red, White and Blue
4/ Our Creative Corner http://ourcreativecorner6.blogspot.com/ Their theme was also Red, White and Blue too
Thanks for looking x

Help!!! I need some help with Martha Stewart Punch

This is my second post today so scroll down for previous posts

I went to the Newbury Show at the Weekend and picked up some Martha Stewart punches as they are so lovely but I am having trouble with one of them so I was wondering if anyone could help me and let me know if its something I am doing wrong or if its a faulty punch.

I don't know if you can see it very well in the photo but when you look at the border where the joins are there is a ridge and the right hand side of the scalloped edge is deeper than on the left is this normal because of the design or could I be doing something wrong.

I notice on this punch that there markers on both sides of the punch as well as in the middle of the guide, these markers are not on either of my two other Martha Stewart punches so I am wondering if I might not be using it correctly.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks x