Sneak Peek and PTW Sketch Challenge …

 

 

 

 

 

Good morning everyone, thank you for stopping by and I can’t believe it’s a week again since my last post!

I always have such good intentions, I have lots of cards to show you and then another week has whizzed by before I even know what happened

We’ve had a glorious weekend here in Leeds, doesn’t it cheer you up when the sun is shining?

 

 

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As promised I’ve drawn a name from the comments I had left last week and the winner is…

 

 

Anne-Marie

 

 

Well done Anne-Marie, email me anne40@gmail.com with your address and I’ll send you a little prize

Thanks for all your comments, I do like to know what you think and especially today because this card is something very different for me…

 

 

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The challenge this week over at PaperTake Weekly is a sketch…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As always there are prizes up for grabs and loads of fab inspiration from the DT

 

 

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I’ve used one of the new Lili of the Valley stamps which are out soon, it’s a fantastic selection of backgrounds, tags and sentiments

This style of stamp is are very popular at the moment and the DT are busy playing with them so watch out for lots of sneak peeks over the next couple of weeks

 

 

 

 

 

The main stamp is one of the new Background Bits. There are 4 on a sheet and they match the larger Vintage Backgrounds which have 2 on a sheet. This one is on a set called ‘Old Romance’

 

 

 

 

 

 

The tags are brilliant, these are going to be so useful and there are 3 sets…  Madame, Monsieur and Le Jardin

These 2 are from the Le Jardin set

 

 

 

 

 

 

I stamped in black ink and then embossed it with clear powder and coloured in the design with distress inks

You can see on the main picture that I also used the stamps randomly on the background paper in the top and bottom right corners to add a bit of interest

 

Here’s a list of everything I used;

 

K & Co papers

Memory box lattice die

Prima paper flowers

Button twine and lace from The Ribbon Girl

Distress stickles

Tim Holtz Ideaology brads

 

 

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Hope you like it, I’d very much like to hear what you think either way (I know it’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea)

 

That’s it from me, I have a few things to share so I promise to post a bit more regularly this coming week!

 

Have a good day

 

 

 

If the paper fits …

 

 

 

Hey everyone, thanks for stopping by

 

The theme this week for the Papertake Weekly challenge is …

 

If The Paper Fits

 

So all we want you to do a bit of paper piecing somewhere on your card or project - it's as simple as that!

This weeks prize is a fab voucher to spend in the gorgeous Ribbon Girl online shop

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was thrilled when I saw this weeks theme, I love paper piecing  …and I got chance to play with my new favourite stash

These amazing new Prima Paper Dolls by Julie Nutting are fabulous …

 

 

 

 

 

 

I paper pieced her hair, shoes and ruffle with some red card and then her dress, cardigan and headband with some of the gorgeous papers I used on the tag which are from Raspberry Road (Memories of Mom)

 

 

 

 

 

The lace border die is Magnolia Doohickey cut out of Coredinations and then sanded back. I used the same card to print out the sentiments

The flowers are cut with my Crealies die, I use this a lot and I put a brad in the centre of each (American Crafts)

I sneaked a bit of tulle and white ric rac on there too from The Ribbon Girl

 

 

 

 

 

I took this close up to show you the backing paper which I made by overstamping the lovely Raspberry Road paper with a Stampers Anonymous honeycomb (or maybe it’s chicken wire??) and also one of the brand new background stamps from Lili of the Valley. This release is a bit of a departure from the usual Lili of the Valley style and I think you’ll really like them. Watch out for sneak peeks from the Design Team over the next couple of weeks

 

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Hope you like it, I enjoyed making something a bit different!

 

 

I think I’ll do another little random prize draw from all the comments that are left just to say thanks for stopping by so make sure you let me know what you think

 

 

Have a lovely evening

 

 

 

Peekaboo!

 

 

 

Morning all, hope you're having a nice weekend so far. The weather has been just awful here, …cold, wet and miserable although it does look a bit brighter this morning.

Thanks for all you lovely comments about errant teens, it’s nice to know I’m not the only one living with Kevin the Teenager!

 

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Time for the May colour challenge at The Ribbon Girl, and you need to use lavender or lilac on your cards for this one

The design team have outdone themselves with some fabulous colour samples for you so be sure to pop over and have a look even if you’re not joining in

 

There are prizes as always, and this week you’ll have chance to win The Ribbon Girl and Lili of the Valley vouchers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There’s a gorgeous inspiration photo for you, I just love these colours …

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I used one of the pictures from the new Lili of the Valley art pads, they are so great for a quick card. I do love colouring but don’t always have the time

This image is Peekaboo from the Jack, Patch and Puss pad, the image is also available as a stamp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There’s quite a long list of supplies for this card;

 

Spellbinders curved borders one

Magnolia heart tag

Noor design leaves

Core’dinations card

Adirondack snow cap dabber

Tim Holtz chit chat stickers

EK success corner punch

4mm rosebuds

 

and from the fabulous Ribbon Girl…

Kort and Godt rolled paper roses

Beaded sprigs

Heart pins

Seam binding

Tulle

Button twine

Heart charm

Flatback pearls

Jute mesh ribbon

Lace

 

 

 

I printed the greeting on the computer and the little heart tag can be either taken off or tucked behind the image

 

Hope you like it, enjoy the rest of your Sunday x

 

 

 

Ribbon Girl giveaway …and the some of my favourite things!

 

 

Morning everyone, hope you’re all ok

I’ve had a busy weekend, Jess has gone back to Doncaster to start her course again so fingers crossed that her knee has fully healed

She’s going to have to be careful but she was excited and I’ll miss her, she’ll be back home in August which seems such a long time away

 

My son Joe came home with his tongue pierced after we’d told him he couldn’t have it done, he seems to think now he’s 16 he can do what he likes and is giving us more than a few headaches at the moment. He finishes school on Friday and can’t wait to leave, he will be on what they now call ‘stand down’ and just go back in for exams and revision. He doesn’t seem to be doing much work at home, I remember ‘swotting’ for hours when I did my O levels (showing my age there!) but he can’t wait to leave. He’s never liked school so I’m just really hoping once he gets to college doing something he enjoys that he’ll buck his ideas up

 

 

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Before my card I have news of another fabulous Ribbon Girl giveaway

   

Mary and Andrea are introducing a brilliant new product to their already very extensive catalogue, a new range of 100% hemp twine in beautiful colours and in 2 different weights

Hemp is a pure, natural eco-friendly alternative to synthetic products. The winner will get one roll of 20lb hemp cord in dusky pink, one card of 10lb weight cord in vintage colours and a packet of Vintage Pink Anemone flowers which are made from earth-friendly handmade paper produced from recycled cotton

All you have to do is mention this giveaway on your blog and link back to The Ribbon Girl - the lucky winner will be picked at random on Saturday 18th May. We will send the prize anywhere in the world.

 

The new hemp twine products can be found on the Ribbon Girl website here

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The Papertake Weekly challenge this week is a fab one…

 

The Sound Of Music

 

I had to make my card in a bit of a rush but I wish I’d had more time because there are so many possibilities with this, I used one of the new Lili of the Valley art pads. This is pad number 6 Fairies, they are so good when you need a quick card and I thought this little fairy was perfect for…

 

‘girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes’
 

 

 

 
 
 

I used papers from one of my favourite Lili of the Valley pads, Bonnets and Bowties and a Spellbinders floral ovals die
 

The little flowers are Petaloo jewelled florettes and I sneaked on a couple of the new Impression Obsession heart stems that I had already cut, you can just about see them and I think this die is going to be very useful

The scrumptious crumpled seam binding was sent to me by a very lovely lady who has given me tips on scrunching my own, it’s lovely stuff but it’s so boring when it’s flat – I love this effect

 

Sorry there are so many pictures, I couldn’t get a good one showing how it folds, I will put a sentiment on the large area but ran out of time

 

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That’s it from me, have a lovely day folks x
 

 

 

Use 2 stamps …

 

 

 

Morning morning morning! I have my daughter back for a few days, she’s like a whirling dervish leaving a trail of destruction through the house. Who would believe one small person could make so much mess! She goes back to college tomorrow for 3 months so has only a couple of days to get unpacked from her work experience and then all ready to go again so it’s gonna get worse before it gets better! It’s lovely to have her back even if the visit is short and sweet and her knee seems to be ok now which was a bit of a worry for a while

 

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Have a look on the Lili of the Valley Ideas to Inspire blog today, it’s Thursday theme day with lots of card inspiration using Balloons! There’s a prize draw too  …all you have to do is leave your name

 

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Better late than never here’s my Papertake Weekly card for this week, the theme is…

 Anything Goes (with an option to use 2 stamps)

…and we’re sponsored this week by Lili of the Valley

 

I grabbed this chance to do some masking, love this technique and often forget about it..

 

 

The image is Hand Picked from Lili of the Valley and then I’ve put a Magnolia fence in the background

These lovely papers are Limited edition, I like the blue and green together with the brown. The clouds are cut with my Memory Box die, been using this a lot lately, and the stitched scallop border die is doohickey.

I went round all the edges with some white adirondack paint dabber

The fab ribbon is from Crafty Ribbons, the lovely girls over there sent us a delicious bundle of grosgrain to play with so do have a look at their website, they have lots of designs that are exclusive to them and not available any where else

 

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That’s it from me for today, have a lovely day. I notice that I’m getting near 300 followers so I’ll arrange some candy shortly for when I get there!

 

 

 

Card Mania challenge …

 

 

 

Hi everybody, thanks so much for stopping by

 

I didn’t have a prize blog in the Lili of the Valley hop    …but as promised I’ve drawn a winner from the comments on my Papertake Weekly card last week and the lucky name is…

 

*Rachel* 

 

Email me your address Rachel and I’ll send you some candy

Thanks to Rachel and to everyone who leaves me comments, I love to read them

 

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There’s a new card challenge over at the Ribbon Girl blog this week and it’s a lovely one – use a button!

As always there are prizes up for grabs and some fabulous inspiration from the amazing design team

 

 

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Lili of the Valley are sponsoring the Card Mania challenge today and I’m thrilled to join them as a Guest Designer

The theme for the challenge is Flower Power  …what could be nicer!!

It gave me license to go mad with the blooms and although this is a bit fussier than my usual style I was very pleased with it…

 

 

 

 

 

 

The image is Fairy With Dove, this was coloured in by the fabulous Dena for advertising and it seemed such a shame not to make it into a card

 

The gorgeous papers are from a  K&Co pad, I love these bright colours

The border die and the tag are Manolia Doo Hickey dies, the butterfly is a Martha Stewart punch

I did take another picture to try and show the tulle but it wasn’t very sharp, I put a full layer of tulle over the backing papers, you can just see it and I really like the texture it gives

Most of the other bits are from The Ribbon Girl; bakers twine, flatback pearls, liquid pearls, cosmos daisies, sweetheart blossoms, tulle, seam binding, Jute Mesh Ribbon

 

 

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Hope you like it, enjoy your Monday

 

xxx

 

 

 

 

Inspired by a song …

 

 

 

Morning all, hope you managed to join in with the blog hop yesterday

If you missed it you can still join in as the prize winners won’t be drawn until tonight. You need to leave a comment on all the blogs as only 2 of them have hidden prizes   …those 2 lucky blogs each have a full set of the new Vintage Boys up for grabs so definitely worth having a go!

Thanks ever so much for all the lovely comments, I hope we gave you a few ideas for making those hard boys and mens cards

 

 

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Today Lili of the Valley are sponsoring the Crafty Catz weekly challenge and I’ve joined them as a guest designer

 

The theme is Inspired By A Song

 

It’s a great challenge this week, once you start thinking about it you can put a song to nearly every Lili of the Valley image and we had fun thinking of a few in the office

 

 

Here’s my card and I chose to do Under The Moon Of Love  - Showaddywaddy  (remember that from the school disco lol!!)

 

 

 

 

The image is Under The Moonlight and I’ve used a couple of Sentiment Tags (these are so useful)

The lovely papers are My Minds Eye

The gorgeous rhinestones, sweetheart blossoms and the lace are from the Ribbon Girl 

 

 

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Couldn’t resist just adding this if you want a little trip down memory lane…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have a lovely weekend everyone, the weather forecast for the bank holiday is looking good!

 

 

 

 

Lili of the Valley blog hop …

 

 

 

Morning all, thanks for stopping by!

 

Today we are holding a Lili of the Valley design team blog hop to celebrate the launch of the gorgeous new Vintage Boy stamps

There are 8 of the cutest images and they will be perfect for those hard to make cards for boys and men

 

The stamps will be available to buy on the website from midday on Monday 6^th May (UK time) and you will also be able to get them at the Lili of the Valley shop in Leeds on Saturday (4^th) if you are near enough to visit us. There are still a couple of places on the Recipe Box workshop if you fancy making a day of it!

 

 

The fabulous LOTV design team are all joining in, you just need to ‘hop’ from one blog to another following the links and leave a comment on each card, hopefully we can give you lots of ideas and inspiration along the way for using the new images

 

 

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 full set of 8 new stamps

 

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

 

 

Ideas to Inspire

 

Anne  (you’re here!)

Dawny

Dena

Elise

Fleur

Gretha

Jen

Lou

Mindy

Moni

Pops

 

 

 

Here’s my card for today and I've used In The Country....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve coloured him with Copics and then used Spellbinders labels 18 to make a frame around the image

The papers are Lili of the Valley Country Gent (fab!) and I used some Frantage powder for a bit of texture

The brads and lovely charms are Tim Holtz and all the other bits are from The Ribbon Girl

 

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‘Hop’ on over to Dawny's blog from here and don’t forget to stop by the Ideas to Inspire blog tomorrow evening when you can find out if you were a lucky winner of one of the hidden prizes

 

 

Enjoy the hop… and good luck!