Ribbon Girl giveaway …

 

 

Good evening everyone, well my first week off didn’t quite go to plan. I had it all planned out  …no work, no husband, no kids …I was going to craft all week!

On Monday I decided to have a sort out in my attic …and I’m still doing it! I’ve taken 7 bags of stuff to the charity shop, mostly clothes that I’ve kept for years in the hope that I might someday fit in them again   …think it’s time to give up on that!!

I’m surprised the ceilings didn’t come through the amount of rubbish I had up there, I hate throwing anything away but it’s all gone now and it’s forgotten about already   …and, I have loads of space to fill with more lovely crafty stash!!

 

So, no new cards to show you, and I won’t get chance to make anything now until after the holidays so I thought I’d share this instead;

 

 

 

 

 

Make sure you head over to The Ribbon Girl blog because they are having some fantastic giveaways over the holidays

This is tomorrows scrummy PomPom prize and the winner for this will be drawn on December 25th

There is a different one each day up to the 29th December which is Andrea’s birthday  …and I tell you there are some really delicious bundles that you will want to win!

 

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I do have good intentions but realistically might not get on here again now before Christmas so can I just say a quick thank you to everyone who has supported my blog and left me encouraging comments over the year

 

 

I’d like to wish a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year to all my lovely blog friends xx

 

 

 

Something new …

 

 

Hi everybody, we finished work yesterday and I’ve got 3 weeks off now  …lovely jubbly!

It will give me chance to get a few things done before Christmas and hopefully some crafting. I want to have a good sort out in my attic, it’s getting smaller every week with all the stash I have up there!

My Husband only has 3 days off over the holidays …I didn’t dare tell him but I was actually quite pleased, it will be lovely to have some time to myself as it’s quite a rare luxury for me

 

The challenge over at Lili’s Little Fairies this week is SOMETHING NEW

It’s the last challenge of the year so you have until January 3rd to enter.

My ‘something new’ is the holly punch. I do have quite a few punches but they are a bit neglected as I usually tend to favour my dies

 

 

 

 

I’ve used the adorable All In A Row stamp, the papers are Papermania Henbury Lane (which I love) and the circle is a Sizzix die

 

Hope you like it, thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your weekend

 

 

A gift box …

 

 

Hi everyone, hope you had a good weekend. We had friends round on Saturday evening and ended up all watching the X Factor final much to my husbands disgust – he hates any reality tv shows

Thank goodness Christopher Maloney didn’t win, he certainly didn’t have the X Factor for me and I saw this amusing picture on Facebook the other day

 

 

 

Enough X Factor, I have this little box to show you today that I made using some gorgeous goodies from The Ribbon Girl

 

 

 

 

 

Jess bought a watch for herself and I used the box that it came in. It’s a bit of a joke in our house  …nobody dare throw anything away in case Mum needs it for her crafting!!

I covered it with paper from the Lili of the Valley promises pad and then trimmed around the sides with flat scalloped lace and lilac mermaid sparkle ribbon

On the top I made a double bow out of the same flat lace and then a flower arrangement with a gorgeous lilac trellis rose and some cosmos daisies

The rosebuds and stem pearls are from my stash

I wasn’t sure how I was going to add a sentiment but these little tags from Lili of the Valley were just perfect!

I finished it off with some pearls stuck in each corner.

 

 

Hope you like it, have a lovely day

 

 

A new challenge, and a big thank you ….

 

Hi everyone, it’s absolutely freezing here this morning. It said on the news last night that it was going to be –8, Manny got out of bed for his wee and as soon as I opened the door his ears went down and he ran back inside. He looked at me as if to say “are you joking, you want me to go outside in that temperature?” He’s back in bed snuggled up now he likes to be warm and snug, if it’s cold or wet I can’t get him out of the the door!

 

Before today’s card I’d just like to say thank you so much for all your lovely comments, I love to read them  x

 

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It’s time for another challenge over at Lili’s Little Fairies this week and the theme is use 3 punches or dies

Make sure you have a look at what the other Fairies have made, there are some gorgeous cards to give you a few ideas

 

 

 

 

I actually made this card a while ago and never used it – I just wasn’t completely happy with it but as I had used lots of dies I thought I would see what everyone thinks of it as it was perfect for this weeks theme

 

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The card and backing layers are cut with a Spellbinders grand labels one

The borders are a Spellbinders triple scallop edgeabilities die

The flourish is the Magnolia Doo Hickey heart swirl

…and the image is cut and layered with Spellbinders classic circles

 

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I used the Moonlight Wishes stamp, it’s so cute! I cut out the little sock before I added the circle so that it was sitting outside

The papers are Papermania Henbury Lane and I also used seam binding and gems from The Ribbon Girl

 

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Thanks for looking, hope you all have a lovely day

 

 

 

 

I made the cover!!

 

Good evening all, I have some news to share!

I made a card for the Lili of the Valley page featured in the little Christmas supplement booklet with this months Simply Cards and Papercrafts   ….when it came I was thrilled to see that my little card had made it on to the front cover!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I used the My Big Snowball stamp and the Frosty Christmas paper pad to make a little scene, I’ve done a few of these this year and I like the effects you can get using papers and dies. I always cut out the image and use Pinflair or foam pads to give it a bit of dimension

This Marianne tree die is my favourite, I have a few trees and always seem to go back to this one - I love the shape of it 

The sentiment is from the Christmas Grungy Messages  which again I have used a lot, they are so useful

 

Hope you like it!

 

 

Ribbon Girl Christmas challenge …

Good morning crafters, how are you all this Sunday morning?

I’ve had a busy weekend as it was my Husbands birthday. We went out for lunch on Friday and then to the German Christmas market, it’s always the first time I feel a bit Christmassy when I visit there!

Yesterday we went to the seaside, to Whitby. I like to go out of season when it’s a bit quieter but although it was a nice day it was freezing cold so our long walk along the beach was actually a very short walk along the beach

Keith doesn’t eat cake so I made him a lovely steak pie (his favourite) and after we left yesterday morning my Son cut out some pastry letters and wrote Happy Birthday Dad on the pie so he was quite pleased when it came out of the oven, It’s not often that we all sit down to eat together nowadays but both kids stayed in and we had a lovely family meal for the first time in ages

 

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Enough rambling and onto today's card …

It’s time for the Christmas challenge over at The Ribbon Girl and the theme is;

HO HO HO!

We want to see lots of lovely Christmas cards and there is a fab prize up for grabs as always; a £20 Gift Voucher to spend on The Ribbon Girl website PLUS a stamp of the winners choice from Lili of the Valley

 

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I’ve made a card and a tag, I haven’t used a stamp which was quite a challenge for me but I wanted to try and showcase the fab Ribbon Girl products. I made the tag as an afterthought and actually liked that better than the card!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s what I used from the Ribbon Girl;

Liquid Pearls

Button Twine natural and red (this is so handy)

Cream Jute Mesh Ribbon

Silver Jingle Bells

 

They do also have Rusty Jingle Bells which would have been perfect for this project in hindsight

 

I’ve used my favourite Marianne tree die and the Krafty Christmas papers from Lili of the Valley, I inked all the edges with Walnut Stain distress ink

The little paper tags are from the Christmas Sentiment Tags sheet and the little red bells were from my stash

The actual tag base is just one I got from a pair of jeans that my Daughter bought, I’ve had it a while and knew it would come in handy lol

 

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That’s it from me, make sure you have a look at all the gorgeous inspiration from the other Ribbon Girls to give you a few ideas for the challenge

 

As always thank you for all the lovely comments and enjoy the rest of your weekend

 

 

 

Pretty Pastels …

 

 

 

Good morning everyone, another week nearly over  …I’m such a bad blogger but I just don’t know where the time goes!

 

We have a lovely challenge over at Lili’s Little Fairies this week  …it’s PRETTY PASTELS so we want to see lots of your yummy girlie cards. The fairies have made some amazing cards this week to give you a bit of inspiration

 

 

 

 

To make the card I used backing papers from the Lili of the Valley Promises pad and distressed and inked all the edges. Some of the layers are stuck with foam pads to give a bit of dimension

The dies are Spellbinders and Nellies (this circle is one of my favourite dies ever and we have it in stock in our shop now)

I added the sentiment, some flowers, lace and a few gem stones – an easy card!

I can’t take the credit for the gorgeous colouring – it was done by the very talented Dena using distress inks

 

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I love to read all your comments so do let me know that you stopped by, if you have any questions you can use the little chat box at the side and I’ll get straight back to you

 

Have a lovely day

 

 

Some gift tags …

 

 

Hi everybody, thanks for joining in with the Lili of the Valley blog hop yesterday and thanks also for all your lovely comments.

Don’t forget it’s the last open day of the year tomorrow and if you are near enough to visit we’d love to see you.

We are holding a ‘virtual’ Christmas party on Facebook which is is a bit of an experiment for us.Some of our overseas design team are joining in for demos and chat and there will be prizes. Lucy will be at our shop in Leeds holding the event live so do join in the fun if you can’t get to Leeds 

 

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I have made these little tags using the new Everyday Grunge Sentiments. The Christmas version of these were incredibly popular and I think everyone will love these just as much, they are so versatile and cover almost every occasion I can think of

 

 

 

 

 

 

I used the papers from the Bonnets & Bowties pad, ribbons from The Ribbon Girl and the die is Magnolia DooHickey.

The actual tags are cut out with DooHickey dies also and the middles of the flowers were done with liquid pearls

 

Hope you like them, don’t forget to check back on the Lili of the Valley website tonight to see if you were one of our blog hop prize winners!

 

 

 

 

Lili of the Valley DT blog hop

 

Good morning crafters, thanks for stopping by!

Today we’re holding a Lili of the Valley sneaky peek blog hop to celebrate the launch of the gorgeous new stamps! There are 18 of the cutest baby and animal designs (unmounted rubber) and also 2 new A5 sheets of clear stamps (a companion set and also an everyday version of the hugely popular Grungy Christmas Messages)

The stamps will be available to buy on the Lili of the Valley website from midday on Sunday the 25th November (UK time) and you will also be able to get them at the Lili of the Valley Christmas party at their showroom in Leeds on Saturday (24th) if you are able to make it

The amazing Design Team are all taking part, you just need to ‘hop’ from one blog to another following the links and leave a comment on each card

We’ve used all the stamps between us so hopefully we can give you lots of ideas and inspiration

We don’t know where the prizes are so make sure you visit every blog. We will let you know tomorrow evening which were the ‘lucky’ blogs and 2 winners will be drawn at random from all the comments that were left
There will be 2 prize winners, each winning the 2 sets of clear stamps and 6 rubber stamps of their choice from the new designs (each prize value £52.00)

Here's a list of all the blogs taking part  ...and remember you will need to visit them all to have the best chance of winning;

 

Ideas to Inspire 
Anne (you’re here)
Bev 
Claudia Rosa 
Dawny 
Dena 
Elise 
Fleur 
Gretha 
Katarina 
Mindy 
Moni 
Pops

 

 

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I have 2 cards to show you today, the first one is ‘Woof You’

This cute ‘lil doggie comes with his own sentiment but I used one of the new everyday grunge messages

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 2nd stamp I have to show you is Starry Teddy…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Again I’ve used one of the FABULOUS everyday grungy messages – you are going to LOVE these!

 

Hope you like them, make sure you looks at all the girls’ blogs as they have some amazing cards to share with you today   …and don’t forget to leave everyone a quick comment and you could be one of our lucky prize winners!

 

Have a lovely day!

 

 

Commenter's candy winner …

 

 

 

Good evening ladies, unfortunately my blog didn’t have one of the hidden prizes on the mini hop but you all left me such lovely comments on my last few cards that I’ve drawn my own candy winner

 

My winner, drawn from all the comments left over the last week is …

 

Sue W

 

Well done Sue, e-mail me and I’ll send you some goodies anne@liliofthevalley.co.uk

 

Make sure you keep popping back this week for sneak peeks of the new Lili of the Valley stamps and a full DT blog hop on Thursday with some great prizes

 

 

 

I have news …

Good morning crafters, I hope you’re all having a lovely weekend

Thanks for all the comments you've been leaving for me, make sure you pop back tomorrow so see if you were a prize winner in the blog hop draw

I have some exciting news to share today  …I’m officially a Ribbon Girl …whey hey!!

Mary and Andrea are really lovely, I use so many of their products already and I’m absolutely thrilled to be on the team with a very talented bunch of girls

If you haven’t visited their website (where have you been??) then please do go and have a browse. It’s an Aladdin’s cave of gorgeous ribbons, lace, charms, flowers, beads etc etc - very reasonably priced, and they all come delivered to you beautifully packaged

I’m going to be on the colour challenge team, for November the theme is ‘shades of lilac’ and this is what I made…

I did 3 little mini cards using the new baby companion set from the latest Lili of the Valley stamp release – they’re launched next Saturday at the open day and then for sale on the website from the 25th

   

I used the following goodies from The Ribbon Girl to embellish my cards;

Flatback Gems

Tulle

Sweetheart Blossoms

Mermaid Sparkle Ribbon

Tiny Ric Rac

Stickles Glitter Glue

Liquid Pearls

Irridescent Sparkle Bead String 

The backing/insert papers are from the LOTV Bonnets and Bowties pad and the edge was cut using a Doo Hickey die

Thanks for looking, do make sure you have a wander over to The Ribbon Girl blog here, there’s a new challenge twice a month with some fabulous prizes up for grabs

Enjoy the rest of your weekend

Food glorious food …

 

 

It’s the turn of Team A this week over in the Lili’s Little Fairies challenge, and this week it’s a lovely one …

‘FOOD GLORIOUS FOOD’

 

 

Our sponsors this week are the Denise and Jennie from J & C Creations, they have kindly donated at £10 voucher to be spent on the fantastic website

 

 

 

 

 

This is my card and I’ve used one of the sweet little mice stamps – this one is Sprinkled With Sugar

 

 

 

 

The papers are K & Co and I’ve gone round the edge with distress stickles

The leaf and flower dies are Doo Hickey. The brads on the edges and in the centre of the flowers are Tim Holtz

 

 

Thanks for looking, don’t forget to take part in the blog hop further down the page and you can win one of our mystery prizes!

 

Have a good day

It’s mini blog hop time …

 

 

Good morning everyone, it’s the 15th of the month again which means it’s time for another of our Lili of the Valley designer mini hops

 

Today the stamp that we are going to showcase is Bringing Gifts

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The following DT members are all taking part so make sure you hop along from one blog to another and see what the girls have made using this cute little stamp;

 

Anne (that’s me)

Fleur

Gretha

Lou

 

The aim is to to show you some different ways to use the same image  …and hopefully give you lots of ideas!

 

As always we have some prizes up for grabs, all you need to do to be in the prize draw is to leave a comment. Don’t forget that you’ll need to visit and comment on all the cards to have the best chance of winning as the prizes are hidden along the way and we don’t know where they are!

 

 

This is the card I made with the image…

 

 

I thought I’d try something different so I coloured the image with pencils as I was a bit pushed for time with this one. It’s certainly quicker than using Promarkers or Copics but it just looks a bit washed out to me, I think I need to practice!

The papers are Papermania Henbury Lane and the die is a Cheery Lynn doily

The flowers I used are gardenia, asters, sweetheart blossoms, 10mm open roses, gypsophelia and 5mm rosebuds from Wild Orchid Crafts

The fabulous red berries are from The Ribbon Girl as is the white seam binding

The sentiment is from the Christmas Handwritten Phrases

Finally I added some glamour dust …and then went a bit mad with the liquid pearls!

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Hope you like it, sorry it's a terrible picture. Don’t forget to leave me a comment to be in with a chance of one of the prizes

I’ll be back later today with this weeks Lili’s Little Fairies challenge so please do pop back if you have the chance

Coffee Break …

 

 

 

Good morning, I hope everyone had a lovely weekend

Thanks as always for your comments, I love to read them and will do another random commenter's candy draw later in the week just as a little thank you

I went and lost my wedding ring over the weekend so was a bit gutted, it’s never been off my finger in 20 years

I wear 5 rings on that finger; 2 wedding rings that were from both my Grandmas, my engagement ring and an eternity ring so out of them all if I had to lose one I suppose that had the least value in monetary or sentimental terms. I hope it’s not a bad omen, I have no idea where I lost it so unlikely that it will turn up now  …but I will keep on looking, you never know!

 

Onto today’s card and this is one I made when we had the new mini masterpiece sheets out a few weeks ago

 

The image is called Coffee Break and I used a colour scheme that would not normally be my first choice. I loved the papers, they matched nicely with the image and I was quite pleased with the result…

 

 

 

Here’s what I used …

 

Core’dinations card

K & Co papers

Tim Holtz brads

Crealies border die

Lace and twine from The Ribbon Girl

Gardenia, asters and rose buds from Wild Orchid Crafts

Sentiment from the Vintage Labels – Just To Say stamp set

 

That’s it from me, I’m going to put some washing out now because it’s given another good day so hopefully it will be nice and dry when I come home.

 

Have a lovely day all

 

 

All things bright and beautiful …

 

 

 

Good morning everyone, firstly thanks for all your comments I do love to read them  …and welcome to my new visitors, thanks for stopping by!

 

It’s the turn of Team B this week over in the Lili’s Little Fairies challenge but I couldn’t resist joining in when I saw the theme

It’s ‘All Things Bright And Beautiful’ …so we want to see lots of bright colours on your cards

 

 

This is a little mini card I made using the smallest design on one of the Mini Masterpiece sheets

 

 

 

 

This image is also available as a stamp called Christmas Bunnies - Stocking – these ‘lil bunnies are sooo cute!

I’ve used backing papers from the Classic Christmas pad, I love these bright reds and greens and they’re perfect for the challenge

The tag is from the Christmas Sentiment Tags and just finished with some ribbon and a couple of pearls   …easy!

 

These size cards are great for the kids to send to their friends, it didn’t take long to make and they can all be different. The small die cuts are also perfect for your Christmas Gift tags, I have a couple of those to show you shortly

 

Make sure you head over to the challenge to see what fabulous cards the other fairies have made and it would be great if you had a go yourselves. There is a great prize every week for the lucky winner who is drawn at random

 

 

Have a lovely day

 

 

James The bear …

 

Good morning crafters, it’s very frosty here this morning and feels really quite wintry. Hopefully it will thaw and turn into a lovely sunny Autumn day and then I can do a bit of clearing in the garden.

I had to be up at 7.30am (yes, on a Sunday, that was a shock!) as we’ve got the decorators in so I’m trying to keep out of the way. I still have a cough, 5 weeks on I’m still not 100% and the dust is making me wheeze quite a lot. An hour in the garden and then the rest of the day crafting  …just what the Dr ordered!

 

This is a card I made using one of the mini masterpiece sheets, they’re so great for a quick card and this one is James In The Snow - beautifully coloured and ready to use. This is also one of my favourite stamps, I do have a little soft spot for our James The Bear!

 

 

 

 

I’ve used the Frosty Christmas backing papers which has been the most popular of our 6 new pads.

The snowflakes are cut with a Marianne die and then sprinkled with some Aged White Frantage. I think I’ve got all the colours they do now and I’ve been using it a lot. The Stamp Man has had 20% off all the Stampendous products if you’re looking for it at a good price

The sentiment is a Christmas Grungy Message  and the little tags are from the Christmas Mini Icon Tags

The white spiders web is available in our showroom but if you can’t get to visit us in Leeds then have a look on The Ribbon Girl as I think Mary will probably stock it

 

That’s it from me, enjoy the rest of your weekend