PTW Sketch, Man’s Best Friend …

 

 

 

Hi everyone, can’t believe it’s a full week since I posted on here – where on earth does the time go?

I had a lovely weekend, I went to the Harrogate flower show with my Mum. I do love gardening but any spare time I get is usually spent crafting so the garden does get neglected a bit. I don’t think the awful Summer helped last year so hopefully if we get a bit more sun this year I’ll be out there doing some planting and pottering about

Keith cuts the grass and the hedges but he does that out of necessity, he doesn’t have any interest in it at all. Some of the show gardens on display were beautiful and it’s got me fired up a bit to get it all sorted out!

 

One thing I did spend a lot of time looking at were Bonsai trees, something I’ve never really taken notice of before. Some of them are amazing, what a lovely hobby (although not too good if you like to see quick results as some of them were 200 years old!) I bought a small one that is 7 years old so I’m going to see if I can manage not to kill it!

 

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The challenge over at Papertake Weekly this week is a sketch, I like using these, they’re great for when you’re struggling with a layout…

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s my card, I’ve done a sneaky peek for the new Lili of the Valley Vintage Boys that are out this weekend…

 

 

 

 

 

 

This image is called Man’s Best Friend, what a cutie patootie! This is definitely one of my favourites from this release and will be so useful for the mens and boys that I need to make cards for

 

I printed the sentiments on the computer onto my patterned paper which is My Minds Eye and then cut them out and backed with black card

I embossed the red core’dinations card and also the clouds which were cut with a Memory Box die

The buttons, ribbon and button twine were from my stash but I think you’ll be able to get them from The Ribbon Girl

I coloured him in with Copics

You can’t really see on this picture but all the layers are stuck on with foam pads to give a bit of dimension

 

Hope you like it, thank you so much for the lovely comments on my last card    …I always enjoy reading them

It’s been a while since I’ve given away some candy so I’ll do a random draw from the comments that I get left on this card just to say thanks to my visitors

 

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Thanks for stopping by

 

 

 

Weather with you …and a sneaky peek

 

 

Good morning all, thanks for stopping by and thanks for the lovely comments you’ve been leaving for me  ..I love to read them and appreciate any feedback

I was up bright and early this morning! I always set off to bed with good intentions of an early night but seem to end up faffing about (usually stroking a few papers or tidying my ribbons etc etc…) and before I know it’s midnight

I’ve been making an effort to go to bed a bit earlier and I feel a lot better for it!

 

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The challenge at Papertake Weekly this week is…

 

Weather With You

 

This is an interesting one, you need to feature some weather on your card; could be raining, snowing or a lovely sunny day!

 

Make sure you go and have a look at the fab examples the design team have made if you need a few ideas, as soon as I saw this new stamp from Lili of the Valley I knew what I was going to do

This is a sneaky peek of the new boys that are out at the beginning of May …this image is called Playing Golf and I’ve made a little scene, I think it’s a lovely sunny day!

 

 

 

 

 

I cut papers to make the grassy layers and used the Memory Box village die along the top (love this die!)

The clouds are a Memory Box die stuck on with pinflair for a bit of dimension

I coloured the little golfer with Copics and then cut him out and tucked his feet under one of the paper layers. I think he would have been quite nice decoupaged but I’d taken so long to colour it that I couldn’t be bothered to do another layer, the new art pads will be great for that as you get 3 of each image

 

Golf is a really popular sport, I’m sure a few of you are golf widows lol and I think this stamp will be really useful!

 

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Have a lovely day everybody

 

 

 

Ribbon Girl colour challenge …

 

 

Good morning everybody and thanks for stopping by

I hope you’re enjoying the weekend so far, the sun is still shining here so fingers crossed it will stay around for a bit longer

We had a ride to the Coast yesterday as my Brother is staying there for a few days. We took the dogs for a walk and then actually managed to BBQ although it was getting a bit chilly by the time we were ready to eat! Still a bit early in the year for eating outside I think.

My Brother has 2 border collies that can run all day, we don’t often let Manny have a really good run because it’s not good for his legs but he has such a lovely time on the beach that I didn’t have the heart to keep him on his lead while they were having fun. He tries to keep up with them though and bless him, he was hobbling last night because his legs were aching and then I felt really guilty…

 

 

 

You can see how his little legs are all bent and his feet are turning out, I liken it to before I had my hip replacement in that it’s probably more a nagging ache rather than pain, he doesn’t seem like he’s in pain and I would never allow that  …he’s such a happy little dog and not a minute’s bother …unlike my 2 children at the moment!

 

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Onto todays card and it’s time for another colour challenge at The Ribbon Girl Blog

This month we want you to create a project using the colours 'cream or ivory' and as usual there are some fab prizes up for grabs for the lucky winner

 

There’s a lovely inspiration picture for you…

 

 

 

 

 

and here’s my card…

 

 

 

 

 

I used one of my Magnolia stamps and also Magnolia papers. I’ve had these a while and they were a perfect Ivory for the colour challenge

The lovely corner is a Spellbinders die from the botanical swirls and accents set. I inked the edges and then added a few pearls. Again this is a die I’ve had for a while and not used, I’m trying to go through my stash and not stick to the same things every time

The leaves are Noor design dies and the tag is made with an alphabet stamp from Paper Artsy. I distressed the edges of the paper and went round with distress stickles in Antique Linen which was the same colour that I used to ink the papers

 

Here’s the rest of the lovely goodies I used, all available of course from The Ribbon Girl

Kort and Godt rolled paper roses

Seam binding

Hat Pins

Velvet lace ribbon

Flatback pearls

 

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I hope you like it, apologies to Mary and Andrea as I was late getting the card submitted. I was so mad with myself because I had it ready in plenty of time and then went swanning off for the day yesterday and completely forgot about it so it may not appear with the DT inspiration. As always the girls have made some beautiful samples so do make sure you take a look

 

 

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I’m hoping to get some crafting done myself today, I’ve just been ironing for 3 hours so am ready for a bit of me time!

See you soon, enjoy the rest of the weekend

 

 

 

12 tags of 2013, February…

 

 

 

Good morning all and thanks for stopping by, Friday again and the forecast for the weekend is good  …hooray!

 

I’ve been determined to keep up with the Tim Holtz tags this year, I think most of you will probably know about the tags but here’s the link if you don’t http://timholtz.com/category/12-tags-of-2013/

 

 

This is the February tag, there’s a good tutorial for each one and a list of supplies, you can copy it or make your own version…

 

 

 

 

 

I promised myself that I would do them all this year so here, a tad late (!) is my version of this one …

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Again I had to improvise because I didn’t have some of the supplies

The Queen of Hearts was obviously the main image but it’s not a stamp I would ever find a use for so I printed a playing card from the internet and used that instead

I did the background exactly as instructed and interesting to use the tape as a ribbon, I wouldn’t have thought of doing that

I just used an embossing folder with hearts instead of the Ranger one which I didn’t have but I did have the cash keys and the chitchat stickers (these little words are very handy if you’ve not seen them)

 

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I’ve got started on my March one so hopefully I’ll be able to get caught up, it’s just for fun and something a bit different and I’m enjoying trying some new techniques

 

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Have a fab weekend everyone

 

 

 

One Paper Taker …

 

 

Good evening all, well the weather has certainly picked up here this last week – its been lovely!

Doesn’t it cheer you up, it’s been breezy too so I’ve got all my washing dry – I love pegging washing out, is that a bit sad!!

 

We were all set to take Jess to her work experience and she broke a tooth so we had 3 trips to the dentist in 3 days, they were very good and managed to get it fixed so she’s gone now until May when she goes back to college. I miss her but can’t believe that one little person can make so much mess, the house is certainly tidier and the heating bills lower when she’s not here!!

 

Time for a new Papertake Weekly Challenge and this week and the theme is;

 

One Paper Taker

 

All we want you to do this week is stick to just one patterned / design paper only

 

There’s a fab prize up for grabs for the lucky winner   …and this week our lovely sponsors are Mary & Andrea at The Ribbon Girl

 

 

 

 

 

As always the design team have made some lovely cards to give you inspiration so make sure you check them out if you need a few ideas

 

This is a bit different for me, I always used to make this shaped card before I started on the square ones, it’s A5 folded lengthways

 

 

 

 

 

I chose my one and only patterned paper from the Lili of the Valley Candles And Cake pad. I love these papers, it’s a great selection of bright and cheerful colours which are perfect for kids cards, especially boys

I backed it with red card and then cut out the circle with a nestie. This was mounted onto the card base with foam tape, don’t forget to put a square of white behind the circle before you stick it (my card base is black)

I cut the black frame from a scalloped circle nestie and stuck this on next with normal flat tape

Patch is cut out from one of the images in the brilliant new art pads from Lili of the Valley and I stuck him in the opening with some pinflair so he’s 3d and popping out of the frame

 

Hope you like it, I ended up making it about 3 times because I wanted a sentiment on but I just couldn’t get it to look right. I decided to leave it off as there are the words on the paper so I’d love to have your feedback

 

 

Have a lovely evening x

 

 

 

Ribbon Girl giveaway …

 

 

 

Just a quick post tonight to let you know that Mary and Andrea are having another one of their scrummy giveaways…

 

 

 

 

 

 

They’ve got a new collection of flowers in stock - Vintage Anemones, Mixed Dahlias and Floribunda Roses and they have included a packet of the gorgeous Anemone Marshmallow Mix in this giveaway, plus a pack of 5 Wild Orchid Crafts pink 35mm trellis roses, a bunch of 6 pink/white beaded berries and a bunch of 6 pink/white beaded stamens - just think how many cards and scrapbook pages you could decorate!!

If you would like to win this lovely collection of flowers (which they will mail anywhere in the world) all you have to do is visit The Ribbon Girl Blog, leave a comment and mention/link the giveaway on your own blog

A winner will be picked at random on Saturday 20th April

 

 

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I’ll be back tomorrow with my Papertake Weekly card so do stop by if you get chance   …have a lovely evening

 

 

 

Sunny Days and Smiles …

 

 

Good morning lovelies, how are you all today?

 

I’ve had a few days off and I was going to get allsorts done   …I’ve done nothing, and have no clue where the time has gone!

But, I’ve had a nice few days with nothing much to think about and have managed to get a bit of crafting done. I finally got my February Tim Holtz tag finished and the March one is under way, I was determined to keep up with these this year so I am making an effort – just need to take pictures now

 

I was sorting out my laptop and found this card that I made last year and never shared, it’s one of the Lili of the Valley Summer Bears and this one is Sunny Days and Smiles …

 

 

 

 

These stamps are great because they come with a useful free sentiment, great value I think for £4.50

I’ve used Wild Orchid Crafts flowers, the seam binding and heart pin are from The Ribbon Girl

The fence is a Magnolia Doo Hickey die and the butterfly is a Martha Stewart punch

You can’t really see on the picture but the fence is cut from glitter card, not something I use very often but it does look quite effective. It’s not very glittery, just a nice sparkly pale blue

I’ve been doing a bit of stitching on some of my cards too but it’s not really neat enough yet to be a feature!

 

Have a lovely weekend everyone x

 

 

Bingo!

 

 

 

Hi everyone, time for another challenge at Papertake Weekly and this week it’s   …BINGO!

Here’s the grid and you can choose any row, up/down, across or diagonally
The centre square is free so you can use anything you like for that option

 

 

 

 

 

There are lovely cards from the design team to give you some inspiration   …and as always there is a fab prize for the lucky winner

 

 

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Here’s the card I made this week and I used one of the new Lili of the Valley flower stamps, this one is Lilacs …

 

 

 

 

I chose the line with glitter, die cuts and blooms

 

I coloured the image first as I usually do but when I came to look through my papers (I have 100’s maybe even 1000’s of sheets) I had a dilema because I just couldn’t find one that matched. I decided to just use core’dinations and it’s the first time in years that I’ve made a card and not used a patterned backing paper

I ran the green sheet through a dotty embossing folder for a bit of texture and I used one of the fab square doilies that I got from the Krafty Hands boys at the NEC. I would never normally have put green and purple together but I quite like it

I think the ribbon looks a bit heavy on this picture but it’s seam binding from The Ribbon Girl and is very floppy and soft so it works ok

The die cut tag and the little flowers are both Magnolia Doohickey dies and the words are from the very useful Lili of the Valley Sophisticated Sentiments

 

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That’s it from me, Tuesday is wine night (hooray) and tonight we’re going out for an Italian meal so it should be fun!

 

Enjoy your evening

 

 

 

Ribbon Girl card challenge …

 

 

 

Good evening everyone, just a couple of bits of news from me tonight, I’ll be back tomorrow with my card for Papertake Weekly

 

Thanks as always for all your lovely comments, I love reading them. Thank you so much also for all the good wishes you sent for my daughter, her knee is slowly getting better. She’s going to work at a point to point stables in North Yorkshire for some experience until she is fully recovered and able to ride again. She’s been so bored at home and hopefully will be ready to go back to college in May

 

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There’s a new card challenge over at The Ribbon Girl Blog this week and it’s a lovely easy one - just add flowers!

The Design Team enjoyed this challenge and they've made some beautiful cards to inspire you to make sure you go and have a look

 

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The new stamps and art pads are on sale now at Lili of the Valley. We’ve had an amazing response to our new characters Jack, Patch and Puss. There are also the 2 fabulous Mme de Pompadour images and 4 new flower designs too

The pads are replacing the die cut and mini masterpiece sheets. There are the art pads which are pre-coloured images ready to cut out and use and also the sketch pads which are black and white images for you to colour yourselves. There are some new images in them and also some old favourites. You can see the full range on the website here

 

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Make sure you pop back tomorrow   …and enjoy the rest of your evening everyone x

 

 

 

 

 

Papertake Weekly Challenge …

 

 

 

Good evening folks, sorry this is a day later than advertised   …where on earth does the time go?

 

This is my first week on the DT for Papertake Weekly and I’m chuffed to bits to join Dawny and the gang over there

 

As it’s the first challenge of the month it’s the usual Anything Goes theme with the optional extra to use kraft card. Remember the kraft is only an option and if you don’t want to use it then you don’t have to

The first challenge of the month is sponsored by Lili of the Valley with a £10 voucher

 

 

 

 

There is also a GDT call this week so if you want to join us for the rest of April & May please put GDT after your name on the link

 

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Here’s the card I made and I chose to include the kraft option…

 

 

 

 

 

I used one of the new Lili of the Valley stamps which are out this weekend and this one is called It Takes Two   …just LOVE these cute new characters!

Here’s the rest of the supplies (must find out how to do the picture link thing that everyone is doing)

Lili of the Valley Everyday Grungy Messages

My Minds Eye Quite Contrary papers

Bazzill kraft card

Spellbinders  lacey square die

Tim Holtz clip

Button Twine and spider web from The Ribbon Girl

Buttons from stash, got these at the NEC and the larger ones just happened to match the paper perfectly, don’t you just love it when that happens!

 

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That’s it from me, have a mooch over to the Papertake challenge because there are some fab cards from the rest of the talented DT to get you started

 

Thank you so much for all your lovely comments on my cards, I love reading them. I will try and return your visits later this week and see what you have all been up to

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dainty Cake …

 

 

 

Hello everyone, hope you’ve all had a lovely Easter weekend. There is still snow on the ground here but we’ve had a couple of lovely days so hopefully the better weather is just around the corner

I’m sat watching the live egg programme on Channel 4 and I’m glued to it  …how absolutely fascinating it is

 

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This a card I made using the latest Lili of the Valley stamps which go on sale next weekend and this is the fabulous Mme de Pompadour…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s everything I used;

Mme de Pompadour - Dainty Cake

Promarkers

Spun sugar distress ink and grunge corners

Petaloo flowers and leaves

Tulle

Perfect Pair papers

Tim Holtz frilled ribbon

Grosgrain ribbon, heart pins, mini beads and gems from the Ribbon Girl

Liquid Pearls

Tim Holtz tiny attacher

Sentiment tags

 

 

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Enjoy the rest of your evening, I think it will be an early night for me  …it’s back to work tomorrow after a lovely long weekend

If you get chance please stop by tomorrow when I’ll have my first card for Papertake Weekly