A Right Royal Party!

Oooh we've had such a lovely day today.  The sun shone, we'd a free day off work, and a beautiful wedding to watch this morning!  Of course the bride was absolutely stunning and Prince William and Harry looked very handsome in their uniforms.  Best of luck to the two of them, I definately would not fancy living my life in the spotlight!  
Its a Bank Holiday on Monday too, so its another long weekend (I could work a 2 day week rightly! ... as long as there was 5 days wages LOL!)

• Crafty Cardmakers #44 - red white and blue
• Top Tip Tuesday #31 - squares.  My top tip this week is if you use the little sticky dimensional squares, cut them in half .... you can get them into little spaces you wouldn't normally be able to reach and they go further too!
• Fab'n Funky #70 - red white and blue
• Simon Says Stamp ... anything goes
• Layout / bunting inspiration from Papercraft Star #43
• Crafts 4 Eternity R17 - anything goes

April showers

ETA: I won the Allsorts challenge with this card

April Showers bring May flowers .... but we've had a very dry April so I've been out watering my garden just in case!

This is another Pure Innocence stamp, I think her little umbrella is perfect for an April Showers theme ... coloured with copic markers and her wellies, coat and umbrella covered with clear gloss.    Used a silver peel off and coloured it with the darker blue copic, pearls also coloured to match.  Paper from Basic Grey 'Cupcake'.  Martha Stewart fence border punch and Marianne Design swirl die.

• Basic Grey #42 - Easter / Spring
• Allsorts #100 - April Showers
• Lets ink it up #13 - stitching
• Paper Sundaes #66 - from the Sundae toppings I chose yellow, die cuts and pearls
• Sketch from Card Patterns #112
• A Gem of a Challenge #19 - pearls and swirls

What does £36 get you....?

  

Card first ... Jo very kindly stamped this little PI girl for me a while back ... coloured her with copics and had another go at colouring black hair.  I had a little robin watching me do some gardening earlier, so I coloured my little birdie in his honour!  Added flowersoft for the grass.  I've had this lacey ribbon in my stash for years and never seem to use it, but its sooo pretty I think I'll be using it again.  Pink stickles as wee accents and I just touched her eyes with black enamel accents for a bit of definition.

• Sketch is a free choice from Sketch n Stash #60  - I chose No.20 and flipped it.
• Cupcake Craft #139 - add some 'fluff'
• The Crafty Pad #118 - circles
• Make it Colourful #15 - colour black hair

Right, so what does £36 get you? ...... 4 plants and a pack of seeds! We had half a notion of going to the seaside today, but it was a bit overcast and chilly this morning .. so we went to the garden centre instead!  (I think you hit a certain age  when the garden centre is a treat and not a chore!!)  So when we got home the sun came out and its been a glorious afternoon!  Got most of my purchases planted up, grass cut and fertilized, some lettuce and cosmos seeds planted, seedlings transferred and pot plants re-potted.   Phew!!!  I need a long soak in a hot bath now!

Here's a wee close up of the new Dahlia we bought, isn't it sooooo pretty!

Gorjuss in Purple

   

Apologies for the blogger overload this weather, but I'm off work and my card stash is very low!  (Another one to follow tooo!)  This one is a super simple one ... the (Sugar Nellie) Gorjuss girl is from a pre-coloured decoupage pack, just pop it out and pop it up!  My plain BP is more purply than it looks here, it always photos as a more bluey shade for some reason.

• Sketch from The Sugar Bowl #58
• CRAFT #99 - flowers
• Really Reasonable Ribbon #22 - lilacs, plums and violets
• Wee Memories #53 - girly card

EEEEEK, a flying mouse!

ETA: this card was featured at Little Red Wagon AND I also won the High Hopes goodies too!

I quite often make a card and think Hmmmmm ....  but this one I love! 
Its really a very simple sketch, but my fancy DP jazzes it up a bit AND I managed to use my Ticket stamp that I find so difficult use!   Oh, and I was lucky enough to win some new releases over at Your Next Stamp ... its been a great crafty day! 

Recipe: Stamp from High Hopes - coloured with copics, clear gloss added to balloon and black enamel accents to his nose. DP from Dovecraft.  Whimsey ticket die, dienamics cloud die, stampin up corner punch, bakers twine.  Blue and red gems from stash.

• High Hopes #107 - bunnies, bears and balloons
• Bunny Zoe's crafts challenge #11 - one for the boys
• Little Red Wagon #77 - clouds
• Sketch from CPS #215
• The Corrosive Challenge #113 - animals
• The Crafty Pad #118 - circles (mines in my DP)

And just for fun, here's a wee pic of my wee dog with her own wee dog ... I think it has the longest lasting squeaker ever, usually it only takes Ruby an hour or two to kill them!

Nee naw, neee naw

  

Just a quickie post ... its Movie Night in ours tonight ... the beers are chillin in the fridge and The Hurt Locker is ready to pop in the DVD player.

(Do you remember when fire engines actually went nee naw nee naw? instead of the impossible noise they make now LOL!!!!)  
This is another wee Bugaboo freebie from a few weeks ago.  I've used my Star die from Sissix that I bought ages ago in their sale and is much neglected!  I always find it really hard to use, but I think it looks OK here along the bottom border.

Recipe: The usual blob of glue!  Promarkers.  Red bakers twine.  Black gems.  Sissix border star die.  Tim Holtz embossing folder.  Unknown sentiment stamp.  Hand stitching.

• Sketch from Sketch n Stash #59
• Simon Says Stamp .... Emboss it
• Daring Cardmakers - Speaking Professionally (make a card with a profession on it)
• Your Next Stamp #40 - Texture it

Easter Froggy

Hee hee, isn't this such a fab silly little frog, perfect for my froggy-loving SIL! - she was a freebie from Bugaboo ... link on my sidebar <-- 
Coloured with promarkers. Glitter and gloss added to eggs and enamel accents added to eyes and scalloped border.  Tim Holtz embossing folder.  Central panel and frog both popped up on dimensionals.
Hope you're enjoying the fab sunny weather ... I'm off to do battle with the weeds now!

BTW, does anyone know what happened to Liz at 'Lace Ribbons Buttons and Bows' ... I used to check in on her all the time but her blog is now only for invited readers - has she stopped crafting?

• Simon Says Stamp challenge .... Emboss It
• Craft your Days away #18 - Easter
• Crazy 4 Challenges C4C84 - Easter
• Sweet Stampin - Easter
• Charisma Cardz #16 - a creation to make you laugh/smile
• Creative Inspirations #108 - animals / pets
• I love promarkers #62 - anything goes
• Paper Sundaes #65 - Texture
• The Crafty Pad #117 - Easter

Japanese Tilda

I thought it was about time I got this cute Tilda inked up as she's been sitting in my stash for a while now.  I wasn't entirely sure how to colour her little parasol, so I'm not sure if it looks OK or not!  I had my wonky eyes in too when I stuck down the little squre in the bottom LH corner, oops!  Central butterfly panel popped up on dimensionals.  Added silver peel off lines round the dp and a peel off sentiment. Coloured with copics.

• Sketch from Midnight Madness #100
• Top Tip Tuesday #30 - open challenge.  My Top Tip this week: I usually keep my unmounted stamps in their original packaging and keep with it a stamped version of the same image (just stamp it onto plain c/s and cut out tight to the line) - that way you'll always know where it is when you want to mask your image. 
• A Spoonfull of Sugar #148 - Lets Celebrate

Dream Valley Challenge #05

This week's challenge at Dream Valley is an easypeasylemonsqueezy one ... Easter! 
And the sponsor of this week's prize is Stitchy Bear, so I was lucky enough to get a wee play with this super cute bunny .... get your Bunny Flop HERE   Check out the fab cards from the DT and then play along over at Dream Valley and you never know your luck!  (challenge runs for 2 weeks)

Other Challenges ....

• Simon Says Stamp .... card for a child

• Sketch from I{heart}2stamp (April)
• Catered Crop Recipe FTR10 - I used the following ingredients... mini prints, pastels, bunnies, butterflies, flowers, copic markers, spring
• Craft Your Days Away #18 - Easter
• Totally Papercrafts #62 - Springtime
• Crafty Catz #78 - Furry Friends
• Die Cut Dreams #87 - Easter
• Top Tip Tuesday #29 - Spring has Sprung ..... my top tip this week is to 'iron' your creased ribbon on a boiled kettle!  The steam from the spout will smooth it out lovely!
• The Pink Elephant #97 - Easter
• A Spoonfull of Sugar #147 - All creatures great and small
• Creatalicious #21 - Easter + pink, green, yellow, blue

Happy Mail

 

I managed to use some of my goodies from yesterday's shopping expedition this morning .... I bought some black enamel yesterday (which I'm LOVING!) and used it to highlight the wee dots.  My new stamp set is from Stampendous 'Happy Flowers' and my new DP was a cheapo bargain from Dovecraft.

Paper pieced my flower and popped up the centre on dimensionals.  Versamarked the little flower on the pink panel and hand stitched a few wee stitches at the base. 

• Sketch from Stamp TV STVSKSP21
• Lets ink it up #13 - stitching
• Secret Crafter Saturday challenge #130 - stitching
• Charisma #15 - pink, black and green
• Crafty Creations #114 - paper piecing

Quirky Qwerty

Well I had a lovely time at the craft show today, and managed not to use any of my new goodies on this card! (And I forgot to take a pic before I had them all tidied away Doh!)  There wasn't too many 'bargains' about, though I still managed to give my big purse a bit of a hammering!  Hopefully I'll get a wee play tomorrow and show you some of my new goodies.

I learned to type on one of these many moons ago ... it was always a total nightmare if you made a mistake, (especially if you were making a copy with that horrible carbon paper)  Though I'm convinced that NOT having spell check wasn't actually a bad thing!
 
This wee typewriter is a digi from Pink Petticoat and the paw print DP is a freebie from Scrapbookscrapbook.com  
Typewriter popped up on dimensionals and the little sheet with the sentiment partially popped up too.  Coloured with copics, clear gloss added to the keys and red stickles to the accents on the typewriter and the centre of the flower.  Red gem on sentiment from stash.

• Sketch from Clean&Simple FTL136
• Use it Tuesday #5 - ribbon
• Tuesday Throwdown #44 - sparkle and bling
• Bling it On - use a digi and bling
• Copic Creations #48 - what's your favourite paper to stamp on? .... at the minute I'm lovin the super smooth stamping card from Lili of the Valley

Good News.....!

Well the dreaded day of interviews arrived today .... I don't think I've ever been so nervous or tense in my life and thought I'd made a total hash of them .... but then I was told I'd been successful and got to take my pick (...of course I chose the better paid one!!!)  I burst into tears when I was told the good news .... God knows what I would have been like if it had been bad news!

So THANK GOODNESS all that is over, and thank you to everyone for your good wishes.

And its gonna be a good weekend as I'm for the craft show in Belfast tomorrow .... so if you see me tootling about in a pink coat come over and say hello (I'll be the one laden down with goodies hee hee!) 

Right, I'm off to crack open the beer! .... have a good weekend!

(I'll see you back here on Sunday for the new Dream Valley challenge if not before)

Who's a happy bunny?

       

Well I'm a happy bunny (kinda!)  I got an emergency appt with the dentist and am now minus one tooth and a whole lot'a pain!  Not exactly the best result ever, but hey, I couldn't stick another night of toothache and at least it was one of the back ones that isn't on show! 

Oh I'll probably be MIA for the rest of the week ... I've my interviews on Friday so any positive vibes, etc you can send this way will be most appreciated!!   Soooooooo NOT looking forward to them!

This card is for my wee nephew and I used a High Hopes bunny stamp, coloured with promarkers and loads of stickles added.   I had thought of putting 'happy Easter' on the wee sign but it was too big, and the only other sentiment I had that fitted was 'smile' ... it was only afterwards that I thought I should have put his name there ... Doh!  Oh well, he'll not care, especially as its being accompanied by an Easter Egg!

• High Hopes Stamps #106 - one for the boys (have you seen the fab new releases BTW!)
• Sketch from Midnight Madness MMSC98
• Simon Says Stamp ... Easter
• I love promarkers #60 - Easter
• Sarah Hurley #37 - Easter
• Paper Cutz #86 - use a bunny, lamb, chicks, or easter eggs
• Stampin for the Weekend #7 - Easter
• Lets Ink It Up #12 - Easter (no digis)

Easter Lillie

Ohh booo hooo, I think the Toothache Fairy has stolen my mojo ... this wee card took AAGES to make and looks nothing like what was in my head!  Roll on Tuesday for my dental appt is all I can say! 

This cute duckie is one of Stitchy's digis ... get your Easter Lillie HERE.  Though I'd started with my red theme so coloured the flowers as if they were tulips.
Image popped up on dimensionals and coloured with copics (butterflies and flower centres coloured to match too).  Woodware flower punch embossed with swirls and BG embossed with swiss dots folder.  Sentiment from Simon Says Stamp.  Clear gloss added to Duck's beak, feet and little bow.

• The Crafty Pad #116 - Spring is in the air
• Secret Crafter #129 - feathered friends
• Daring Cardmakers - draw or stamp a bird (well there's no chance of me drawing a bird, so I've used a digi instead!)
• Crafty Catz #77 - embossing
• Tuesday Throwdown #43 - Spring
• A Spoon full of sugar #146 - use at least 2 different textures

Retirement card for Alice

Ohhh its been a gorgeous sunny almost summery day today!  Hoping for more of the same tomorrow and I'll get the rest of the garden done and get my spuds planted.
This card is the BIGGEST card I've ever made.  Its for a friend in work who I've worked with for 20 years who decided to take her redundancy (rather than go through the restructuring process ... can't say I blame her!!) so I made it A5 size so there's room for everyone in work to sign it.  I was a bit stuck for papers as I always buy the smaller size DP's (I've only got a little guillotene and can't cut large papers), so this was the only choice of paper I had!  It's been sitting unloved in my stash for a couple of years now, but I think it turned out OK.  She'll love it anyway as she's cat-crazy!

Stamp from Lili of the Valley, kitties coloured with copics, and horseshoe paper pieced.  Marianne Design swirl die.  Martha Stewart butterfly punch and edge punch.  Woodware flower punch.  Gems and buttons from stash.  Cuttlebug swiss dots embossing folder.  Silver peel off letters.

• Stamptacular Sunday #105 - buttons, bling and bloom
• Catered Crop FTR9 - from the recipe I chose polka dot paper, bling, buttons, ribbon, ribbon on buttons, circles, scallops, swirls
• Colour combo inspired by Color Throwdown #136 (though I should have used a lighter shade blue)
• Creative Inspirations #106 - punches and dies
• Papertake Weekly - anything goes
• CRAFT #97 - animals / pets

Dream Valley Challenge #04 ...

Do you like the new look blog?  I thought the glue pic was very appropriate seeing as there's usually a big blob of undried glue on all my pics!  Hee hee!
Our new challenge at Dream Valley is .... Things with Wings, so get stamping or digi-ing!  Make anything you like as long as you fit in with the theme and you could win a fab prize from One Stop Card Crafts!  (challenge runs to 16 Apr)   Check out the gorgeous creations from the rest of the DT when you're uploading your card HERE.

Recipe:
Stamp from High Hopes.  Clear gloss and glitter on wings and icing on cake.  Coloured with copics.  Woodware flower punch with card candy in centre.  Gems from stash.  Paper from Basic Grey.

Other challenges

• Sketch from Simon Says Stamp
•  Craft Your Days Away #17 - spots and stripes
• Alota Rubber Stamps #56 - April Fools Day (make a funny card)
• Copic Creations #47 - use your favourite technique ... mine is using all the little dots round the image to help ground it and give a hint of colour
• Charisma Cardz #13 - bling and sparkles
• Allsorts #97 - blooming blossoms (.... who says men's cards can't have flowers?!!!!)

High Hopes new release ....

High Hopes stamps have a new release coming out on 7th April .... I can't wait!  I love their style of images and I think they make up the biggest part of my stampin stash!!  (Click on the blinkie to go to their blog for more deets)