Sketchie Free For All …

 

 

 

Hey everyone, what are you up to this evening?

I’ve just escaped up to the attic to have a little play with the next lot of LOTV Christmas stamps. The DT made some gorgeous cards using the first release which went on sale last Thursday and they’ve proved to be hugely popular. This next batch are super cute and I’m sat here waiting for inspiration to strike!

 

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Thank you so much for all your comments about Jessica’s sick friend and even offers to help with fundraising, you are all really very kind

I will find out what the situation is with the wheelchair fund and let you know

 

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Onto this week’s challenge at Papertake Weekly and as it’s the last one of the month there is a new sketch

 

 

 

 

 

We’re having another ...

 

Sketchie Free For All

 

…which means that this sketch is just an option and you can use any Papertake Weekly sketch that takes your fancy

It MUST be one of ours and to make life a bit easier we now have a sketches page at the top of the blog with a fair old few to choose from

Just add the number of the sketch you’ve chosen when you post your entry

 

As always you can resize, flip and rotate the elements - as long as you can still see the sketch it will be fine

As it’s the last challenge of the month we are sponsored by those fabulous Simon Says Stamp and the lucky winner will get a $20 voucher to spend in their store

 

I chose to stick with the new Sketch for my card and I’ve used Fairies in Stocking from Lili of the Valley

How adorable are these ‘lil cuties tucked up in their stocking with their pressies…

 

 

 

 

 

Here a list of everything I used;

 

LOTV Christmas Handwritten Phrases

Coredinations card

NitWit holly paper

Krafty Hands square doily

Crochet lace from LOTV

Ribbon and embellishments from the Ribbon Girl

Spellbinders large ovals

Stickles glitter glue

Poly chromos pencils

 

 

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Hope you like it, have a lovely evening everyone

 

 

Die-ing for a punch …

 

 

 

Good evening crafters, a quick post from me  …I’m as full as a butchers dog and want to flop on the sofa!!

A friend of Jess’s from school was diagnosed with cancer of the spine last year. He’s 18 and such a lovely boy that it shook the whole community. He’s deteriorated quite quickly and is now pretty much paralyzed. It is going to cost £20000.00 (yes you read it right, 20) for a computerised upright wheelchair for him so there has been quite a lot of fundraising going on locally. To cut a long story short I won a meal at a local restaurant and we went tonight. It was fabulous, we were treated like VIP’s and as always I ate far too much and am regretting it now!

 

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Onto this weeks challenge over at PAPERTAKE WEEKLY and our theme is

Die-ing For A Punch

It’s a nice easy one, we quite simply want to see dies and/or punches being used on your project

 

Here’s my card and I used both a die and a punch …just to show off!!

 

 

 

The die is Spellbinders floral ovals and the butterfly punch is Martha Stewart

I used one of the new Lili of the Valley paper pads, this is Beach Bliss and I love the colour scheme

The lace and pearls are from The Ribbon Girl and the ribbon is East of India

The stamp is the new Lili of the Valley Handbags and I used one of my favourite Handwritten Phrases

 

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Thanks for stopping by, see you soon

 

…oh, and thanks for all your lovely comments on the blog hop, they’re all much appreciated

Sorry I didn’t have the hidden prize …maybe next time!

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s the Christmas blog hop ….

 

 

 

 

Good morning everyone and thanks for stopping by, you must be wondering what’s happening with my blog – 3 posts in as many days!

Thank you so much for all your lovely comments, I do enjoy reading them

 

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I couldn’t miss today because it’s time for our first Lili of the Valley design team Christmas hop to celebrate the launch of their gorgeous new Christmas stamps

This is the first set in their 2013 Christmas collection and is an adorable mix of 16 cute characters which we think you are going to LOVE!

The stamps will be available to buy on the website from midday on Thursday July 25th (UK time) along with some fabulous new art pads and patterned papers

 

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The LOTV design team are all joining in and you may have noticed that there is another new name on the list...

we’re all thrilled to welcome our new teamie, it’s the amazing Kathy!

 

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I’m sure you know what to do by now lol  ...just ‘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

 

There is a fabulous prize up for grabs on this hop, we don’t know where it is hidden so do make sure you that you visit and comment on every blog

We will let you know tomorrow evening which was the ‘lucky’ blog and a winner will be drawn at random from all the comments that were left on that blog

The prize is a full set of the new Christmas stamps...

that’s 16 rubber stamps, one each of all the new designs!

 

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

 

Ideas to Inspire

Anne (you’re here)

Becky
Dawny

Debbie

Dena
Elise

Fleur

Gretha

Jen

Kathy

Kim

Lou

Mary J

Mindy

Moni

 

 

Here’s my card today and I used ‘Snow Family’

 

 

I love this image and think it will be popular

Here’s what I used;

Tim Holtz papers

Spellbinders labels 18

Noor/Cheery Lynn snowflakes

Bells, cotton lace and twine from The Ribbon Girl

Tim Holtz brads

Music stamp from Background Bits – Notes

Lots of glamour dust glitter in the snowy areas although it hasn’t really shown up on the picture!

 

 

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Your next stop is Becky, and if you get lost or any of the links don’t work you can always start again at the Ideas to Inspire blog and pick up where you left off

 

Don’t forget to stop by the Ideas to Inspire blog tomorrow evening when you can find out who the lucky winner is of that great prize

 

 

Enjoy the hop…    and good luck!

 

 

Make It Monday …

 

 

 

Good morning everyone, hope you all enjoyed your weekend

 

Lili of the Valley are sponsoring the challenge at Make it Monday this week so Gretha and I have joined in

 

The theme is anything goes so nice and easy, I used some of the new backgrounds and quotable stamps…

 

 

 

 

 

 

The papers are Jolees Boutique, I’ve had these a while and not found a use for them, they go nicely with this background

I decided to stick with the French theme and add one of our lovely Mme de Pompadour stamps …and then wasn’t sure once I’d stuck her on!

Other bits I’ve used are Magnolia Doohickey corner die and Tim Holtz ideaolgy brads

 

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Have a good day

 

 

Blue and White …

 

 

 

Hey everyone, I hope you’re having a nice weekend

Thanks so much for all your good luck messages for Jess. We had a lovely couple of days, what a beautiful part of the Country

The racing yard was amazing, 120 horses in 500 acres and everyone was really friendly. She got a bit of a temperamental horse for her first ride and he decided he didn’t want to do as he was told so not a good start for her! She managed to get him under control and they offered her a 2 week trial when she finishes college on August 2nd so she must have done ok. Hopefully that will lead to a placement for her apprenticeship, I’d have liked her to be a little bit closer to home but she’s happy so that’s the main thing

 

Here she is doing what she loves  ….

 

 

 

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Time for another colour challenge at The Ribbon Girl and this month it’s to use the colours blue and white

Here’s a lovely inspiration picture for you…

 

 

 

 

There are two fabulous prizes for our lucky winner from Lili Of The Valley and Ribbon Girl

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As always the Design Team have created some fabulous projects to inspire you so do go and take a look

 

I’ve used a Magnolia stamp on my card, I have quite a few and they’re sadly neglected…

 

 

 

 

The gorgeous papers are from Maja design and the sentiment stamp is one of the fabulous Lili of the Valley statements

Behind Tilda is one of the useful new Journalling Tags embossed in white

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elise always sends us the cards she makes to use in the Lili of the Valley showroom, she’s so thoughtful and puts me a lovely note and a little pressie in the box every time. The pretty white roses were one of her little gifts so thank you Elise  …you’re a very special lady x 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The rest of the gorgeous goodies are all from the Ribbon Girl, these crystal hearts are just beautiful and I think I’ll be using them a lot on my cards

 

Emily lace

Crystal hearts

Hemp twine

Cheesecloth

Kort and Godt rolled paper roses

Heart pins

White beaded sprigs

 

 

 

It’s a bit cooler today so I’m hoping to sneak in a couple of hours crafting later while Keith is nicely occupied watching the golf!

 

Enjoy the rest of your weekend everyone

 

 

Buttons & Bows …and a giveaway!

 

 

 

Evening all, how are you all enjoying the sunshine?  Our overseas friends must wonder why we feel it necessary to mention the weather so often …but it’s so rare we get a lovely sunny spell like this that we really need to shout about it!

We had a lovely weekend away, the sun shone and we went to Malton, Whitby and York. I love a day at the coast, Whitby is great because there are so many parts to it, you can explore all day and there’s not so much of the usual  seaside ‘tat’ that I hate

Jess has got an interview at a racing stables down near Cheltenham on Saturday, she has to be there at 6am so we’re going on Friday after her college graduation and staying over. It’s an unexpected trip and I’ve never been to that part of the Country before, we’re staying in nearby Tewkesbury so hopefully we’ll have time to see a few sights while we’re there

Joe had a great time in Tenerife, I packed him some lovely factor 50 and 30 sun cream and sent him off with warnings of certain death if he didn’t apply it every 5 minutes! Off course he didn’t listen to a word and came home with his shoulders a mess all blistered and red   …been there done that and don’t suppose I would have took any notice of my Mum at his age either!!

 

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Onto this weeks new challenge at Papertake Weekly and it’s a lovely one…

Buttons & Bows

So an old favourite, and all you have to do is include buttons or bows or both on your project

 

Our sponsor this week is The Ribbon Girl

….and talking of the lovely Mary and Andrea they have a fab giveaway on their blog that you won’t want to miss;

 

 

To celebrate the gorgeous blue sky we've enjoyed for the past week they are offering a beautiful 'blue' giveaway prize consisting of;

Pack of ten 30mm dusky blue wild roses

Pack of ten 20mm dusky blue  open roses

Pack of ten 10mm dusky blue open roses

Pack of 5 antique blue 2-tone cherry blossom

1 metre of vintage blue fluted edge sheer ribbon

1 metre of pale blue silky crush ribbon

All you have to do is leave a comment and link to The Ribbon Girl store from your own blog

A winner will be picked at random on the evening of Saturday 20th July

 

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I’ve used both buttons and a bow on my card this week, don’t often use buttons but I do love them…

 

 

The stamp is one of the new Lili of the Valley flower designs and this is Sweet Peas

The words are on the Handwritten Phrases set which is one of my favourites

The lovely papers are from the First Edition ‘Spring Drop’ pad

 

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We’re starting with Christmas now at Lili of the Valley so keep an eye on the Ideas to Inspire and all the DT blogs for sneaky peeks, the first release is 16 cute Christmas characters on July 25th along with some new art and patterned paper pads

On August 25th there is another stamp release, this time 20 adorable Christmas animals and more traditional designs

 

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I’m going out with my friend tonight for our Tuesday wine, we’re a day late this week but managed to squeeze it in  …don’t like to miss our weekly get together and putting the world to rights!

Have a lovely evening whatever you’re doing

 

 

 

 

 

Old, New, Borrowed, Blue …

 

 

Hey everyone, thanks for stopping by

 

I hope you’re enjoying the warm weather here in the UK.  I’ve had a few days off work this week, we went to The Great Yorkshire show on Wednesday which is a fabulous day out. Last year it was cancelled because of the rain, the first time in it’s history, but this year made up for it and it was lovely. It makes such a difference to something like that if the weather is good and we really enjoyed it

 

Joe has gone to Tenerife with his friend, we’ve spent quite a lot of money on Jess while she’s been away at college so thought it would be nice to give him a treat too. My Mum is having Manny for the weekend and Keith and I are going away for a couple of days later. We haven’t been able to book a holiday yet with Jess away and Joe doing exams etc so it seems like ages since our last one.Hopefully we’ll be able to fit a couple of weeks in later in the year once things settle down a bit so that will be something to look forward to.

I think our holidays will change once it’s just the 2 of us, the kids are happy with a pool and some sun but we like to travel round a bit and see the sights. I have a very long list of lovely places I would like to visit!

 

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The challenge over at PTW this week is Old, New, Borrowed, Blue  …

You can use any combination of those things, and as always there is a fabulous prize us for grabs and lots of lovely inspiration from the design team

 

I chose to stick with the wedding theme as I had a card to make for a dear friend…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New;

Stamp (Lili of the Valley statement), twine and lace (The Ribbon Girl)

 

Old;

Paper flowers, I’ve had them for years. They’re just cream and a bit boring so I gave then a new lease of life with Frantage

 

Here’s the rest of the supplies;

Spellbinders floral ovals

Magnolia papers

Silver fine detail embossing powder

Maya Road hearts

Tulle, flowers, topstitch thread and crystal hearts from The Ribbon Girl

Aged gold and aged silver frantage

Bo Bunny Brads

Lili of the Valley sentiments tags (the blank one for your own text is on the Christmas set)

 

 

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Hope you like it, thanks so much for all the lovely comments you leave for me, I love to read them

Have a great weekend everyone!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Summer blog hop …

 

 

 

 

 

Good morning everyone!

Firstly, thank you so much for all the lovely comments you’ve all left for me  …I love to read them and will try to return your visit soon

 

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Down to business and it’s time for another Lili of the Valley design team blog hop to celebrate the launch of the gorgeous Summer stamps

There are 10 new designs including fairies, flowers and also some that are a little bit different!

The stamps will be available to buy on the website from midday UK time on Monday 8^th July and will be launched in the shop on Saturday 6^th if you are near enough to visit us

 

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The LOTV design team are all joining in and you may have noticed that there are some new names on the list

We’re all thrilled to welcome our new teamies   ...it’s the very fabulous Kim, Becky and Debbie

 

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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

There are some great prizes up for grabs on this hop, we don’t know where they are hidden so do make sure you that you visit and comment on every blog

We will let you know tomorrow evening which were the ‘lucky’ blogs and the winners will be drawn at random from all the comments that were left on those blogs

 

 

1st prize

The full set of 10 new stamps

2^nd prize

4 new perfectly pretty stamps

3^rd prize

3 new flower stamps

4^th prize

3 new fairy stamps

 

Here's a list of all the blogs taking part, and remember that you will need to visit them all and leave a comment on each one to have the best chance of winning as we don’t know where the prizes are hidden;

 

Ideas to Inspire

Anne (that’s me!)

Becky
Dawny

Debbie

Dena
Elise

Fleur

Gretha

Jen

Kim

Lou

Mary J

Mindy

Moni

 

 

Here’s my card and I’ve used the stamp called Summer Church …

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are 4 in this set, we’ve called them Perfectly Pretty! …they are a bit whimsical and very cute

I love those little butterflies and I think you could just ink those and use them on their own

 

 

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Your next stop is  Becky  ...and if you get lost along the way you can start again at the Ideas to Inspire blog

Don’t forget to also stop by the Ideas to Inspire blog tomorrow evening when you can find out who the lucky winners are of those great prizes

 

 

Enjoy the hop  …and good luck!

 

 

 

 

 

Prom time …and a new PTW challenge

 

 

 

Evening everybody, before today's card I thought I’d just share a little pic of Joe ready for his prom at the weekend. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen him in a suit and he looked very smart

I wasn’t blogging when it was Jess’s prom a couple of years ago so I’ve added a couple of pictures of her too. I’ve swapped computers and think the main pictures of hers are on my other one, the second picture is not great but you can see her dress, it was lovely and really suited her

 

 

 

 

 

 

They’ve just grown up so quickly, I’ll put some pictures on from when they were little one day if you’d like to see them. It’s nice to put faces to names I think and we bloggers do like to chat about our families!

 

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Now onto the new Papertake Weekly challenge and as it’s the first one of the month we have our usual

Anything Goes

There is the optional extra to include animals / creatures etc in your card or project   …you could even just use an animal print design paper if you wanted to

Remember this is only an option and if you don’t want to use this theme then you don’t have to, as always there is a fab prize up for grabs and this week our lovely sponsor is Lili of the Valley

 

 

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I’ve used one of the new stamps from Lili of the Valley which go on sale at the weekend (8th on the website) and this one is Flower Fairy

I chose to go with the optional ‘add an animal’ and I’ve used the cute lil’ doggie from Millie - Me And My Dog

I didn’t have a lot of time for colouring so I paper pieced her dress and the flowers to match the background

 

 

 

 

The swirly bits round the edge are from the new Grunge Swirls  (very useful set) and the sentiments is from Handwritten Phrases

Here’s what else I used;

Square doily – Krafty Hands

Papers – K & Co

Clouds – Memory Box

Spellbinders grand labels one

Pearls, seam binding and charm all from The Ribbon Girl

Yellow liquid pearls

 

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Make sure you stop by on Thursday as we’re having a Lili of the Valley design team blog hop. There will be loads of inspiration along the way, some fabulous hidden prizes  …and some exciting news!

 

Have a lovely evening