LOTV blog hop..

 

 

 

 

Morning all…  I’ve been taking a little crafty break from my blog and DT’s but I couldn’t resist joining in with the Lili of the Valley hop today to show you the new stamps and papers…  they are so gorgeous!!

There are 10 new stamps and 3 papers pads, you can get them in the shop on Saturday at our Christmas open day and they will go on sale on the website on Monday (24th)

We have a full set of stamps and the new paper pads to give away on the hop and there is also chance to win them if you place an order on the website* (finishes tonight and order value must be over £10 to go in the draw*)

 

 

 

Here’s a list of the blogs that are taking part, just hope from one to another and leave a comment on each as we don’t know where the prizes are hidden;

 

Ideas To Inspire

Andrea

Anne (you’re here)

Becky

Dawny

Dena

Fleur

Gretha

Jen

Lou

Mary J

Mindy

 

I used this cute image called Secretly Yours, I stamped and coloured it then cut it in 2 and used the characters separately so she’s peeping round the corner…

 

 

The little birds sat on the fence are from the Geisha Companion Set, the greeting is from Set 10 and papers from the pretty Country Meadow pad

Hope you like it, don’t forget to leave me a comment before you ‘hop’ along to Becky. The prize winners will be drawn from the comments left on 2 lucky blogs and announced on the Ideas to Inspire blog on Friday evening – GOOD LUCK!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m Back!

 

Afternoon lovely blogging buddies, it’s been ages since my last post and I’m sorry for not visiting any of your blogs for what seems like an age…

We had a fantastic holiday, Egypt is lovely and I’d certainly go back but the highlight for me was spending time as a family. I miss our time with the kids, it’s seems like ages since we were all together for any length of time in fact it’s even rare that we eat a meal together these days so a full week was great…   and there was no falling out which is always a bonus! I was having a bit of a panic because I thought I’d lost my camera but I found it yesterday so I’ll sort out a few piccies to share soon

 

We finally got my Mother in Law’s flat cleared but Jess has decided to move house now so she wanted to keep some of the furniture and household bits. It’s sensible because she can’t afford to buy everything new (the house she is in at the moment is furnished) but everything is of course now in our house and it’s driving me MAD, I can’t move for stuff it’s like Steptoe’s Yard!  I can’t believe how many costs are incurred just to rent a place, deposit, bond, rent up front, admin costs, £500 to fill the oil tank for the heating because there is no gas in the area…  she’s very excited though so it’s gonna be the bank of Mum and Dad to the rescue again me thinks!!

 

I finally found time to make a card, first time I’ve been in the attic for weeks. There’s a ‘Lovely Lili’ challenge at the Ribbon Girl this week and it’s to USE LACE…

 

 

I used a topper from the Magical Fairies art pad and the sentiment is from Simply Sophisticated

I took the colours from the image and found some perfect papers to match in a pad by Basic Grey, not colours I’d have put together usually but I like them

All the scrummy embellishments can be found at the Ribbon Girl…

Laila lace

Tulle

Stardust stickles

Flatback gems

Gardenia

Cherry Blossom

 

 

You can see all the details for the challenge and some fab inspiration from the DT on the Ribbon Girl blog

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I’m having a little break from the Papertake Weekly DT until I get myself caught up but do still pop over, this week’s challenge is ‘Things With Wings’

 

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Have a fab Thursday all, thanks for popping by and your comments are very much appreciated… I’ll try and check out all your blogs very soon x

 

 

 

Pastel…

 

 

 

 

Hello all, I’m feeling better at last hooray and have finally seen the back of my awful cold. Great to see you all at the Lili of the Valley open day yesterday, I love to have a chat with my crafty blogging buddies!

 

I saw this on Pinterest… thought it might amuse you…

 

 

We’re packed and ready to go to Egypt tomorrow so this is a quick post to just share my Ribbon Girl colour challenge cards. The theme this month is ‘Pastels’ so a nice easy one

 

 

 

 

I love using pretty pastel colours, these 2 lovely images are in the new Lili of the Valley Christmas Cuties art pad

I made some more little cards, 4 x 4, they are very cute and so quick to make as you haven’t got much space to fill

 

 

 

 

 

The papers are from the Pastel Dreams pad (my new favourite!) and sentiments from Christmas Wishes

I stamped around the edges of the images for a bit of interest with a dotty stamp from the Grunge Swirls set and then went over it with some stickles

 

All the lovely ribbons and embellishments are of course from the Ribbon Girl;

Silver jingle bells

Dew drops (top tip…  stick them on with Glossy Accents)

Glitter organza

Silver metallic twine (first time I’ve used this, I LOVE it…   so useful)

 

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Enjoy the rest of your weekend everyone, I’ll be sunning myself shortly (hopefully!) as it’s forecast 38 degrees for the next few days in Hurghada, a good book and a cocktail and that’s me happy! Lovely jubbly!!

 

I’ll see you in a couple of weeks, take care all x

 

 

Lili of the Valley hop…

 

 

 

 

Morning everyone, 2 posts in 2 days…  that’s pretty good going for me at the moment haha!! Thank you all so much for your lovely comments and support over the last few weeks, you crafters really are a lovely bunch!

I’m still full of cold but couldn’t resist joining in with the Lili of the Valley blog hop today

We have sneaky peeks of their newest stamps, they go on sale on the website on Monday but you will be able to get them at the open day on Saturday if you are coming along

You know what to do, just ‘hop’ from one blog to another following the links and leave a comment on each card,there are 2 sets of the new stamps hidden along the way too so make sure you leave a comment on each stop

Here's a list of all the blogs taking part;

 

 

Ideas To Inspire

Andrea

Anne

Becky

Dawny

Elise

Fleur

Gretha

Jen

Lou

Mary J

Mindy

 

 

I fell asleep last night when I got in from work and woke up at 9pm so it was a bit of a rush to get my card done, it’s a bit simpler than I had planned! I used the cute Annabel Tennis image…

 

 

 

The papers are from the pretty Pastel Dreams and Up, Up & Away pads (love the cloud design)

There’s lots of glitter on the clouds and the border but it hasn’t picked it up very well on the picture, I love a bit of glitter!

 

Next stop is Becky and don’t forget to check the Ideas to Inspire blog on Friday evening to see who the lucky prize winners were

 

Have a good day bloggers x

 

 

Lovely Lili…

 

 

Morning all, it seems ages since my last post, I’ve had a bit of a hectic few weeks

I was relieved when my Mother in Law’s funeral was over, I think you feel better afterwards but then we had the flat to clear which was quite a job. They moved there from a house about 10 years ago so did downsize quite a bit then but there was a lot of stuff and I spent half my time looking through old pictures reminiscing (and laughing quite a lot actually at some of the ones of my hubby when he was young!!)

Then I’ve had this awful cold and sore throat that seems to have been going around, we’re going away next week so it is well timed, I think we’re all ready for a rest!

 

 

 

The Ribbon Girl challenge had a break over the summer so this is my first card for a while for them, it’s Lovely Lili week and the theme is a nice one…

ADD FLOWERS

 

I used one of the cute images from the Here Comes Annabel art pad, these toppers are so useful when you don’t have time to colour and I made a circle easel card…

 

 

 

 

I used some of my favourite Lili of the Valley papers from the pretty Pastel Dreams pad and a sentiment from Set 9

The doily dies are Nellie Snellen and of course some gorgeous goodies from the Ribbon Girl shop; Kort and Godt rolled paper roses, silver glitter mesh ribbon, tulle, stickles, flatback pearls

 

Hope you like it, you can see more details about the challenge on the Ribbon Girl blog and as always there is some fab inspiration from the design team

There aren’t enough hours in a day at the moment so I’m having a break from the Papertake team until after my holidays, don’t forget to check out the challenge over there every Tuesday as Dawny always has a fab theme and some lovely prizes

 

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Hope you’re all well, thanks for stopping by and for all your kind comments

 

 

 

Sketchy Free For All…

 

 

 

 

Hello everybody, thanks for stopping by and I hope you all had a nice weekend…

Joe went to his first festival and he had a great time. I picked him up yesterday, he was covered in mud and oh my he smelled so bad, I just put all his clothes in the bin!! I love live music and used to go see a lot when I was younger but I couldn’t stand camping in those conditions, I like my home comforts now lol

 

As it’s the last challenge of the month (already, can you believe it??) it’s a Sketchy Free For All at Papertake Weekly 

I chose to use the new layout but you can choose any of the sketches from the back catalogue (make sure you add the number of the sketch you’ve used on your entry so we know it’s one of ours)

There is a sketches page at the top of the challenge blog to make it easier and there are lots to choose from, this will save you having to go back through the archives to find one that you like

 

Here’s Sketch #93…

 

 

 

…and here’s my card

 

 

 

I used another one of the new Lili of the Valley Christmas stamps, this one is called Sledging Fun

The papers are from the Pressed In Time pad, not really a Christmas collection but I think the colours go really nicely

The sentiment is from the new Christmas Wishes set

Here’s everything else I used; Cheery Lynn snowflake dies, Little B circle die, Doohickey slender firs die, Lil’ Inkers stitched banner die and Tim Holtz ideaology brads

 

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You can see all the info about the challenge on the Papertake blog and as always some lovely inspiration from the Design Team

 

Righty I’m nipping next door now for my Tuesday wine with my friend and another instalment of ‘In The Club’ – have you been watching it? just love Kay Mellor’s writing

 

Have a lovely evening all

 

 

To Die For…

 

 

Hello all, thanks for stopping by. It’s been longer than I intended since my last post, I had a bit of a strange week…

Keith’s Mum died last weekend, she was 93 and went peacefully at home in her sleep just as she always wanted. That was a good thing, but still a huge loss to the family. She’s been saying for 10 years “I won’t be here this time next year” lol and I think we all just thought that she’d go on forever, she’s been poorly on and off this year but her mind was still very sharp. So, there seems to be a million things to do but we’re not really getting anywhere… this can’t be done until that form is signed, and that can’t be done until this is authorised etc etc, I’ve never seen so much bloomin’ red tape!

 

Needless to say I’ve not had much time for crafting but I managed to make a card for the Papertake Weekly challenge. It’s a nice easy one this week…

To Die For

…simply use a die somewhere on your card

 

I used this cute Penguin Pals stamp from the new Lili of the Valley Christmas collection and some papers from one of  favourite pads Simple Joys, the sentiment is from the Christmas Wishes set

 

Here are all the dies I used…

Marianne stitched border

Spellbinder classic circles

Lil’ inkers stitched circles

Lil’ inkers mini bow

…I am loving the Lil’ Inkers dies, a new discovery! and huge thanks to my lovely friend in the USA who helped me to get them

I coloured the image with Copics and its just finished with a few gems and some Stampendous sparkly glitter for the snow

You can see all the details about the challenge and some inspiration from the DT on the Papertake Weekly blog

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Right that’s me done, Jess is visiting for the weekend so because it’s pouring down we’re going to snuggle up on the sofa with Manny and watch a movie (I think she only comes home to see him!!)

Have a lovely weekend all, thanks very much for stopping by

 

 

My weekend, and lots of spots!

 

 

 

Evening crafty friends, I intended to do my post earlier tonight but I laid on the bed to give Manny a little cuddle about 6 and the next thing I knew it was 8pm! I never fall asleep usually but have had so many restless nights during the spell of hot weather I think it’s catching up with me. I feel groggy now though…  and I missed the beginning of the Bake Off!

 

I had a fabulous weekend with 3 of the loveliest crafty ladies anyone could wish to meet. I went with Dawny to visit our friends Mary and Andrea (or otherwise known as the Ribbon Girls!) We did some sightseeing, I have driven past the ‘Angel of the North’ before but close up, wow, it is AMAZING and we went over the Millennium Bridge where on one side you’re in Newcastle and on the other you’re in Gateshead (hope I’ve got that right). We ate, drank, chatted, laughed, crafted and generally had a jolly good time

 

 

 

This is Mary with the wonderful lunch she made us and Dawny eyeing up Andrea’s yummy homemade cake!

 

 

Andrea working with the new art pad images

 

 

The spectacular ‘Angel Of The North’

 

  

Millennium Bridge

 

We went for a wonderful Italian meal

 

Haggis…   he was supervising, with one eye out for any crafty stash that he could steal!!

 

I’ve always done my crafting on my own as none of my friends are interested so it was lovely to swap and share ideas and we spent time playing with the new Lili of the Valley Christmas art pads which are out tomorrow

 

 

 

This was the first card I made and it was perfect for this weeks Challenge at Papertake Weekly which is…

Lots of Spots and Dots

 

I used the Father Knows Best papers which I would never have chosen for a Christmas card but they matched this image perfectly

The cute snowman is from the Christmas Eve pad and the images are all of a similar colourway, ideal for Winter birthdays as well as Christmas

 

 

 

 

The sentiment is from the new Christmas Wishes set which is SO useful and hasn’t left my desk since I got it

I used some Berisfords 15mm satin ribbon in ‘sable’ and ‘peaches and cream’ pearl flatbacks - both from the Ribbon Girl, and both a perfect match for these images

I added lots of stickles and the border was cut with a Doohickey die which I have hardly used but is really lovely

Hope you like it, you can see all the details for the challenge on the Papertake blog

 

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Thanks for stopping by, enjoy the rest of your evening everyone

 

 

Anything Goes…

 

 

Evening crafters, a quick hour in the attic for me tonight, I have an exciting weekend ahead so need to pack (I’ll fill you in on my next post!)

As promised I have candy for getting to 400 followers… I asked Joe to pick 2 names from all the lovely comments you left for me and the winners are Debbie and Donna

Well done ladies, send me your address to anne40@gmail.com

Thank you so much for all your kind comments, your continued support means a lot and I appreciate all your feedback

 

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

Anything Goes

This month’s optional extra is to use torn paper but this is only an option and if you don’t want to use it then you don’t have to

All the details are on the papertake blog with some fab inspiration as always from the DT and a LOTV voucher up for grabs

 

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I used one of the new Christmas stamps, I think everyone likes snowmen for their Christmas cards and you can go to town with the glitter (which I did!)

 

 

I went with the torn paper option and made a landscape. The extra little snowman is from the new Christmas Mini Images – Icons set,  this is a fabulous collection of mini stamps which you will find so useful for all your Christmas makes

Here’s everything else I used…

Festive Trimmings papers

Gifts On The Tree stamp

Handwritten Christmas Phrases

Cheery Lynn mini snowflakes die

Flatback gems

 

I embossed the background with a snowflake mask, it looks really effective but doesn’t show up really on the picture

 

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Hope you like it, thanks again for taking the time to let me know what you think…   have a great weekend everyone

 

 

Sketchy Free For All…

 

 

 

Evening everyone, whoo hoo I got to 400 followers!! Welcome to my new visitors and thanks for stopping by

I’ve not been a good blogging buddy this last month but I will try and find time this week to visit and see what you have all been up to. I promised some candy when I hit 400 so make sure you leave me a little comment on today’s card and I’ll draw a winner from them when I do my next post mid-week

The last few weeks have been mad, no sooner is it Monday than we get to Friday again and I’m wondering where another week went. We’ve been busy at work getting ready for the new launch and I’ve had a struggle to get any cards done at home because it’s been so unbearably hot in the attic. We have some adorable new stamps out for Christmas and some papers that you will need in your stash, I’m still giddy over the new pastel pads and now we have Christmas ones too for you to stroke!!

 

 

 

 

We went to the dogs trust in Leeds today, they have a Summer open day every year and I like to go along and support them. There have been a few really bad days weather wise over the past few years but today was lovely and they had a great turn out. I always take Manny to see the girl who looked after him for 2 weeks until he was ready to come to us. She’s got herself married and had two children since we got him and she must see 1000’s of dogs but I think he has a special place in her heart and she is always so pleased to see him. I’ve never seen so many dogs of every size and breed that you could imagine… and I have to say they were all impeccably behaved!

 

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As it’s the last challenge of the month it’s a Sketchy Free For All at Papertake Weekly 

I chose to use the new layout but you can choose any of the sketches from the back catalogue (make sure you add the number of the sketch you’ve used on your entry so we know it’s one of ours)

There is a sketches page at the top of the challenge blog to make it easier and there are lots to choose from
Hopefully this will save you having to go back through the archives to find one that you like

 

Here’s the new Sketch #92…

 

 

and here’s my card…

 

 

 

I made another tiny card (4x4) as I’m liking these at the minute and I used an image from the Here Comes Annabel art pad. This one isn’t available as a rubber stamp it’s just in the pad at the moment – isn’t she cute!

I used Bonnets and Bowties papers from both the patterned and solid pads and the sentiment is from Set 9

I cut out the ball and stuck it on with a foam pad

The lovely lace is from the Ribbon Girl 

 

It’s quite a simple little card, it’s not often I use buttons and can’t always get them to look right but I do love them!

I have so many shape dies and still nearly always cut squares round my images, I like using Sketches because it makes you do something a bit different

 

You can find all the details for entering and some fab inspiration from the design team over on the Papertake Weekly blog

 

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Thanks for looking, don’t forget to leave a comment if you want to be in my candy draw… and enjoy the rest of your evening

 

 

 

 

Christmas blog hop…

 

 

 

Morning everyone, how are you today?

It’s a while since the Lili of the Valley DT did a blog hop, so today, well overdue, it’s time to showcase the new Christmas products! As always we have loads of ideas for you and a fabulous prize up for grabs!

 

The new stamps and papers go on sale at midnight on Friday (August 1st) There are 22 cute new images, 5 clear stamp sets and 4 festive paper pads…  you’re gonna love them all!

 

The full design team is joining in the fun, you need to ‘hop’ from one blog to another following the links and leave feedback on each card

We don’t know where the prizes are hidden so be sure to visit and comment on each one, the winners will be drawn at random from all the comments that were left on 2 ‘lucky’ blogs

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There is a full set of the new Christmas image stamps up for grabs, we’ve split it into 2 amazing prizes;

1^st prize is the 12 angels, penguins and snowmen

2^nd prize is the 10 vintage children

 

Here’s a list of the blogs that are taking part in the hop, you should have come here from the Lili of the Valley blog…

 

Ideas To Inspire

Anne

Becky

Dawny

Dena

Elise

Fleur

Gretha

Jen

Kathy

Lou

Mary J

Mindy

 

 

I used this adorable stamp called Skating Friends, I coloured the image to match the papers which are from the new Snow Princess pads (I used both patterned and solids)

The sentiment is from the Christmas Wishes set, these stamps will be a must have for all your seasonal greetings

 

 

 

  

 

The dies are DooHickey poinsettia and slender firs

It’s hard to see on the pictures but I went round the edge with a small snowflake stamp in Adirondack ‘Cool Peri’ ink, it’s quite pale but is a perfect match for these papers

Some diamantes and stickles to finish off (I can’t resist!)

 

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Next stop is the lovely Becky, I’m sure she’s made something gorgeous to show you, and if you get lost along the way just go back to the start and pick up the links again

 

Don’t forget to pop back tomorrow evening, I’ll announce the names of the prize winners before the new products go on sale

Good luck!

 

 

PS.  I just noticed that I’m nearly at 400 followers so if you haven’t already please click the blue ‘join this site’ logo on the right and when I get to 400 I’ll give away some candy

 

 

 

 

It’s a Jolly Holiday…

 

 

 

Hey everyone, thanks for stopping by…

my crafting has taken a serious hit this last couple of weeks, I love the sunny weather but it is unbearably hot in the attic so I haven’t been up there at all

I can’t wait to get started with the new LOTV Christmas stamps, I made a card with the new papers which is on the Ideas to Inspire blog tomorrow but that’s all I’ve managed to do in weeks with also going away

 

 

The new theme at Papertake Weekly is…

It’s A Jolly Holiday

so we want to see your interpretation of this, it could be a summer holiday or a Christmas holiday or you may have your own ideas

 

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I chose to make a Christmas card, I’ve been wanting to use this Marianne die for ages, didn’t quite know what to do with it to be honest so I made a small card and used it as an aperture…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s what else I used…

Fizzy Moon papers

Doohickey pine branches die

Marianne small poinsettia die

LOTV Christmas sentiment tags and Winter Wonderland art pad

 

Hope you like it, thanks as always for your comments I love to read them

All the details for the challenge as well as the usual fab inspiration from the DT can be found on the Papertake blog

 

 

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Enjoy the rest of your Sunday everyone, we had a family BBQ yesterday for Jessie’s birthday so today is just a pottering day and I’m not doing much of anything!