Sketchy Free For All…

 

 

Evening everybody, what you up to? I haven’t found much time for crafting this last week, can’t believe April is just around the corner I think I lost a couple of months somewhere!

Jess came home last weekend, it was lovely to see her but she cost me a fortune as usual because I ended up buying her some furniture at Ikea for her room. She has a lovely room in a shared house with some girls she works with but has no storage and all her clothes were on the floor when we went. Keith won’t go, he hates Ikea with a passion so I ended up black and blue trying to hoist the boxes into the car on my own. Those little flat packed boxes are bloomin heavy! She went off home with them all loaded up in her car so building them without having her Dad around will be fun! The boxes will probably be still sat there next time we visit lol

 

Time for a Sketch challenge at Papertake Weekly and there is a new Sketch, it’s number 88

 

 

You can use this one, or because it’s a Sketchy free for all you can use any Papertake Weekly sketch you fancy. All you have to do is add the number of the sketch you’ve chosen on your entry so that we know it’s one of ours

 

I went with the new Sketch and I used the Me And My Pony stamp from Lili of the Valley which I coloured with Distress Inks

 

 

 

It’s quite a simple card, I used Baskets And Bunnies papers and the sentiment is one of the Girlie Banners. It’s the first time I’ve used these stamps and when I’d cut the curly bits off it was just what I was looking for

A bit of lace down each side of the middle layer and it’s done – hope you like it

 

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Enjoy the rest of your evening everyone, I think It’s going to be a quick bath and then bed time for me

 

 

 

Giveaway…

 

 

 

Evening everyone, hope you all had a great weekend

I had hoped to get to the NEC but Jess came home so in the end I decided against it. I can’t let myself buy any more stash and going round there is just asking for trouble… I’m very weak!!

 

There’s a fabulous giveaway over at the Ribbon Girl blog this week, one lucky randomly drawn person will win;

 

 

A metre each of 'Lisa' and 'Laila' fine cotton lace; a packet of Prima Fairy Rhymes flowers; a metre of lilac concertina pleat ribbon, a packet of Melissa Frances pink vellum envelopes and tags and a packet of 5 Maya Road crystal trinket pins all available from stock at The Ribbon Girl online store

Full details and the linky to enter are on the Ribbon Girl blog

 

 

 

 

If you didn’t see my post about this lace on the Ideas to Inspire blog yesterday, the Lisa and Laila lace have been named after the girls from Lili of the Valley as it’s their 10th birthday this year, what a really lovely gesture. There are some celebrations planned for Saturday May 10th so keep an eye out on the blog and website for more details

 

See you soon for the new Papertake Weekly challenge

 

 

 

 

LOTV blog hop…

 

 

 

Morning crafters, hope you’re all well and looking forward to the weekend…  they certainly do come around quickly don’t they?

Not long to wait now to get your hands on the new Lili of the Valley cutie Annabel…  today we’re holding a design team blog hop to give you some inspiration for using the 7 latest stamps which will be available to buy on the website from midday (UK time) on Monday 24^th March

 

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You know what to do…  simply ‘hop’ from one blog to another following the links and leave a comment on each post, there will be lots of ideas along the way

As always we have some hidden prizes, we don’t know where they are so do be sure to visit and comment on every blog

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

We have 2 full sets of the new stamps to give away, 2 lucky winners will each win the set of 7 Annabel stamps

 

You should have arrived here from the ideas to Inspire blog, if you get lost along the way just go back there to pick up the links

The full DT are joining in, and remember that you will need to visit them all and leave a comment on each one to have the best chance of winning;

Anne (you’re here)

Becky

Dawny

Dena

Elise

Fleur

Gretha

Jen

Kathy

Lou

Mary J

Mindy

 

I used this lil’ sweetie called ‘Music To My Ears’ on my card today

The papers are from the fab Heartfelt pad and the greeting from Handwritten Phrases

 

 

 

I got the little guitar charm from Mei Flower at the Harrogate show last weekend and the gorgeous lace down the sides is from the Ribbon Girl

 

Hope you like it, you need to be heading over to Becky's blog next and make sure you leave me a comment before you go in case one of the prizes is hidden here!

…and just before you go, a reminder to check the Ideas to Inspire blog on Monday morning to find out if you were a winner!!

 

Good luck!

 

Green…

 

 

 

Evening all, the bloomin weather has changed again, just when you get used to it being nice it’s back to freezing. It’s been lovely this last week being able to get the washing hung out and seeing the Spring bulbs starting to peek through. I can’t wait for the garden to be full of colour again.

 

The Harrogate show was busy, in fact I was glad I was behind the stand. I think the smaller hall was really quite a lot smaller and there were so many people there, we never stopped all day. I promised myself I wasn’t going to buy any stash and I was quite good, I couldn’t leave a couple of dies and a few embellishments but I did resist quite a few temptations

I did a quilting class at our local knitting and sewing shop on Sunday, I was a bit worried because it was hand sewing and I haven’t done any for a lot of years but I actually really enjoyed it. I’ll take a picture of what we made and tell you a bit more about it later in the week

 

 

 

We have a new a colour challenge over at the Ribbon Girl this week…

and it’s…

GREEN

 

It’s not a colour I use very often and I struggled to find some nice papers even though I have boxes full

These are ‘Up, Up and Away’ by First Edition. I really like the First Edition papers but always find that there are a few in each collection that I’m not keen on. I used crushed olive distress ink around the edges but it was just a bit too yellowy when I look now, it seemed to match at the time lol although the card does look more green in real life!

 

The image is from the Lili of the Valley new Bunnies art pad and the sentiment is on the Handwritten Phrases set

 

 

 

I used lots of gorgeousness from the Ribbon Girl shop;

Top stitch thread

Doiley

25mm cream cotton lace

Tiny ric rac

Tulle

Flatback pearls

Stickles

Pearl trim

25mm satin ribbon

 

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The challenge closes next Saturday at 9pm, all the details and how to enter are on the Ribbon Girl challenge blog and as always there are great prizes and some amazing inspiration from the DT

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Just before I go thanks to those of you that leave me comments, I do love to read them and will visit all your blogs shortly to see what you’ve been up to

Have a lovely evening all x

 

 

 

It’s bingo week…

 

Evening all, it’s Friday hooray and the weekend again already! It’s going to be an early night for me as I’m up early to be off to the Harrogate show. Come and say hello, the Lili of the Valley stand is F3. This show is the nearest for me as I don’t live far away and I always enjoy it – although I’ve promised myself I am not going to buy any more stash, I just don’t need it and have to use some of what I’ve got first

 

The theme at Papertake Weekly this week is bingo …

 

 

 

Just use elements on your card from any of the lines. It can be up, down, across or diagonally but it must be 3 in a row. The centre square is ‘free’ so you can use anything for that one

I used the diagonal line (lace, free, gems) on my card…

 

 

The stamp is Lili of the Valley Spring Swing, I love this cute image (and perfect for this time of year) and also a circular sentiment from Set 8

The papers are K&Co and my new favourite die from Spellbinders grand decorative ovals

The scrumptious lace and flatback gems are from the Ribbon Girl

 

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I’ll be back on Sunday with the new Ribbon Girl colour challenge, meanwhile have a fabulous weekend all

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bunnies…

 

 

Morning all, thanks for all your lovely Birthday wishes, all my blogging buddies are so kind! A few of you have birthdays too so HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you all, I hope you had a fab time

I had a nice couple of days, the weather has really picked up and it feels like Spring is around the corner at last, I think the forecast for next week is good too

I’m hoping to get up in the attic today, I’ve spent so much time playing with the new Lili of the Valley wedding stamps (they are out tomorrow) this past few weeks that I’ve got behind with my DT cards. I have so many family birthdays in the Spring too and I’ve promised myself that I am going to make all my own cards this year. I hate buying them so I’ve had to get organised but so far so good!

I did intend to do the monthly Tim Holtz tags again this year but time just hasn’t allowed it. I enjoy doing those as it makes you do something a bit different that you wouldn’t normally. I think especially when you’re pushed for time you stick to what you know and it can get a bit samey!

 

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Time for the new Lovely Lili challenge at the Ribbon Girl today and our theme this month is …

Animals

This should be an easy one for you as LOTV have so many cute animal images

I used one of the new art pads – this cutie is in the ‘bunnies’ pad

 

 

 

I used my favourite handwritten phrases set for the greeting and a little element from the grunge swirls set to add a bit of interest around the image

The papers are First Edition ‘Spring Drop’

All the other gorgeousness on the card is from, of course, the Ribbon Girl;

cosmos daisy

aster

white broderie anglaise

mermaid sparkle ribbon

jute mesh ribbon

button twine

stickles

 

 

You can enter and find full details for the challenge on the Ribbon Girl challenge blog as well as some fab inspiration from the design team

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday  …whatever you’re doing x

 

 

Anything Goes …

 

 

Morning crafters, I’m having a couple of days off work this week. It’s my birthday (woohoo) and I’m having a lovely crafty morning then we’re driving up to see Jess for the rest of the day and going out for tea. I wanted to take Manny and go for a nice walk as it’s sunny but Keith’s been moaning because he doesn’t like getting dog hairs in his car, he’s a miserable sod at times! I must admit Manny is shedding at the moment so there seems to be hairs everywhere and I forever have the Hoover out, hopefully once his Winter coat has gone that will be it, he’s not too bad but does always seems worse at this time of year for a couple of weeks. Maybe we’ll do some shopping instead, my hip has been much better but I haven’t really been walking far yet and maybe testing it in the middle of the moors wouldn’t be the best idea!

It’s the big 50 for me next year, 40 didn’t really bother me but I just can’t believe that I’m going to be 50 and it’s quite a scary thought   …I’m definitely turning into my Mum  …which might be a bit worrying for poor Keith!!

 

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Onto this week’s Papertake Weekly challenge and as it’s the first one of the month we have our usual Anything Goes theme

…there is an optional extra to make your own flowers but remember this is only an option and if you don’t want to use this theme then you don’t have to

 

I used one of the art pad images from Lili of the Valley, I’ve been pushed for time the last few weeks and these are great if you don’t really have time to start colouring

 

 

The papers are Fizzy Moon and I’ve had them forever, I’m trying to use up some of my huge stash before I buy anything new (famous last words I know!)

The nice things about making your own flowers is you can match them to your card, I used the Marianne English rose die for my little roses and they were quite fun to do actually

The gorgeous little butterflies were from a friend in Holland but I noticed at the trade show that the range is making it’s way to the UK now so I’m going to try and get some for the LOTV shop because they’re fab

Here’s everything else I used;

Spellbinders grand decorative ovals

Grosgrain ribbon, pearls and tulle from the Ribbon Girl

LOTV handwritten phrases

 

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That’s it from me, do go and have a look at what the girls on the Papertake Team have made, there’s some great inspiration and as always a prize up for grabs for the winner

Have a lovely day all

 

 

Sketchie Free For All…

 

 

Evening all, I’ve had another hectic week so I thought just as I sit down for a quiet hour with Mr Selfridge and a bag of Jelly Tots I’d better write a quick post

Keith’s Mum has been in hospital again  …and checked herself out again! She’s so stubborn but she swears by her family GP and doesn’t think she needs to be in hospital. Whatever medication they give her she stops taking and just goes back on the tablets from the Dr, which obviously aren’t working  …and so we’re back to square one each time

Joe came home on Thursday in agony, he’d fallen off his friends skateboard, and after a night in A&E he’s got a pot on and a fractured wrist. He’s supposed to be starting his new job at Wetherspoons tomorrow so it’s put paid to that, it took him so long to find a job he’s really disappointed

  …happy days, one of these weeks I might have nothing to tell you, life is never boring around here!!

 

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So onto this weeks Papertake Weekly challenge and as it’s the last one of the month we have a little sketchie for you…

 

 

... here it is, sketch #87

If you would prefer to use another sketch, then please feel free to use any Papertake Weekly sketch you fancy because we have another ...

Sketchie Free For All

All you have to do is to use any PTW sketch (it MUST be one of ours please) and just add the number of the sketch you’ve chosen when you post the link back to us. To make life a bit easier, we now have a sketches page at the top of the challenge blog so there are plenty to choose from

As always, please feel free to resize, flip and rotate the elements - as long as you can still see the sketch it’s fine

This week we are thinking of our dear friends and teamies Mary and Andrea who sadly lost their beloved husband and dad last week  …sending lots of love to you both ladies xx

 

Here’s my card, Jess wanted a get well card for her boss who had a riding accident recently, I stuck with the new sketch…

 

 

 

 

 

I used Teddy Bouquet from Lili of the Valley and some of the new papers from the Baskets and Bunnies pad

I coloured the image with distress inks

If I use a sketch I don’t usually change it around but I couldn’t get the strip along the top to look right so I put it down the side instead, I printed it on the computer

I used Spellbinders Grand decorative ovals one, you’ll be seeing these a lot because they’re my new favourites

…oh, and the Crealies flower die which is another of my favourites and has been for quite a while!

Tim Holtz brads, lots of stickles and some lovely lace from the Ribbon Girl are the finishing touches

 

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Hope you like it, thanks so much to those of you that leave me a comment, I love to read them and it’s much appreciated

Right, back to my Jelly Tots, have a good week crafters x