Leonie…

 

 

 

Good morning lovely crafty friends, I hope this finds you all well?

I’m trimmed up and ready for the big day, Keith and I are going into Leeds this afternoon for a bit of last minute shopping but I’ve done most of it online so it’s just an excuse really to go and have a look at the Christmas lights in town. The Salvation Army band usually play at this time of year which makes for a lovely festive atmosphere. We’ll have a wander up to the German Market and get something to eat and maybe go to the cinema so it will be a nice change

 

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Oh, before my cards…  don’t forget the lovely new images from Lili of the Valley are out today!

 

I’m on a new Design Team for Leonie, it’s not really official yet as there haven’t been any new products but these are some cards I did using her dies and stamps that were out earlier this year….

 

 

These are small cards, 12cm square and I’m liking this size recently. You can get all the products from Crafters Companion or Hochanda and there are some great offers on the ranges at the moment.

 

Have a fabulous weekend everyone

 

 

 

 

 

Update and some new mice!

Good morning lovely crafters, hope you are all well

 

Another blog break for me, it wasn’t planned, just seemed to happen!

 

It’s nearly Christmas, can you actually believe it? I’m going to put my tree up today, they seem to get earlier and earlier every year and there were quite a few lights around here in November which is wayyy to soon for me! I had good intentions this year of making all my cards and haven’t done any – that didn’t quite go to plan, in fact I haven’t made any cards at all for a while

 

I’ve been trying some mixed media which I’m loving, it’s so different from the cards and stamping I do but is right up my street. I’ve done some workshops with the gorgeous Marta Lapkowska and Azoline and learnt so much …

 

 

Because I haven’t been making many cards I really enjoyed having a play with these cute mice from Lili of the Valley which are due to be released on the 16th. They will be in rubber and digi along with some sentiment sets, I like using digital images because you can edit them as I did with the text here which I put on the tags…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aren’t they adorable!

 

There will be loads of sneaky peeks over the next week so you can see the new images. There are some new trios too which are always popular and I think you’ll love them all!

 

 

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Right I’m going to dig my decorations out, have a fabulous Saturday whatever you are up to

 

 

 

 

 

New cuties...

 

Evening all, I've been having another blog break so I'll fill you in tomorrow on what I've been up to

 

Lili of the Valley have a release on the 16th so I'll be back tomorrow with a peek at some of the cute new images

 

Here's a little taster...

 

 

 

 

 

...can you wait? don't forget to stop by tomorrow to see what I've been making with these adorable mice!

 

Anne xx

Recycling, and pie…

 

 

Hello all, what you up to on this Sunday morning?

My Brother is away for the weekend and rang last night to say “come on over for the day, there’s a great pub nearby that specialises in homemade pies and they’re amazing”. Instantly I’m thinking omg no, I’ve already had a bad week and I’ve got to get weighed tomorrow I can’t eat pie! Keith’s saying we can’t not go because I don’t want to have pie. He can’t understand why I can’t just not have any… not have any! can you imagine when they’re all sat tucking in, it’s just never going to happen is it. So we’re going, and despite good intentions this morning there’s no doubt I’ll be having pie later, and then just because I’ve had pie that of course means it’s a cheat day, so I’ll have a few drinks and some sweeties on the way home…

…and that’s why I’ll never be thin

…and I’ll regret it tomorrow when I have to confess my sins at Slimming World!

 

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Time for another ‘Use Any Image’ challenge at the Ribbon Girl and as always there are 3 lovely prizes up for grabs;

 

 

A bit of an unusual card for me this time, I bought a lovely Santoro heart embossing folder (which you can see I used) and these cute images were printed on the packaging…

 

 

Aren’t they sweet, I couldn’t bear to waste them so also made a little matching tag and the red dotty paper was also from the packaging (is that taking frugal to a whole new level?)

The border die is Magnolia DooHickey and I used some gorgeousness from the Ribbon Girl; cheesecloth, white seam binding, tulle, red button twine, 5mm red crystals, apple charm, dragonfly charm

You can see all the details for the challenge on the Ribbon Girl blog and of course lots of inspiration from the team

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That’s it from me, enjoy the rest of your weekend crafters

 

 

Little Folk…

 

 

Good afternoon crafty friends, thanks for stopping by…

I’ve had a hectic couple of weeks, my lovely friend Gretha came over from Holland for a visit with 2 of her friends. I know Karin already as she used to come with Gretha when we had the LOTV open days, it was also great to meet Angelique

 

 

I’ve got Jess home for a few weeks as she’s had an operation on her arm, she’s got us running round after her! She has a puppy now, I put a picture on Facebook when she got him but I don’t think I’ve mentioned him yet here on my blog. He’s been to visit before and he’s absolutely adorable but it’s chaotic with him here full time… Manny is not thrilled!

 

 

So, not much has been happening in the crafting department as you can imagine! These cards were from a Quick Cards commission earlier in the year and I’ve already shown a couple so here are the rest of the set…

 

 

The papers were a bit brighter that I would usually choose but I enjoyed using them with the Little Folk stamps and I was pleased with how these cards turned out

Hope you like them, as always thank you so much for taking the time to comment

Enjoy the rest of your weekend everyone

 

Get Well Soon…

 

 

Hello everyone, a Sunday night post is unusual for me as I’m usually lazing in front of the TV in my onesie for a couple of hours

…which I actually am, by the way haha!

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I wanted to show you this card that I made as it’s a bit different from my usual style…

I get lots of inspiration from Pinterest and the blogs although I don’t usually copy or CASE cards. But, I saw the lovely Debbie Simpson make one of these on a Hobby House show on Create & Craft and I needed a get well card - I thought it would be perfect…

 

   

   

 

Sorry for all the pictures, it’s quite hard to show how it opens. I even had the same die tucked away in my stash that Debbie used for the outer frame(!)

I embossed the sentiments in silver and then added some to the edge of the frame and the flowers & twigs so it all matched

Here’s the recipe;

NitWits ‘Romance & Roses’ papers 

Tonic ‘Sew Pretty’ die

Spellbinders ‘Grand Decorative Circles One’

Stampers Anonymous ‘Simple Sayings’

Craft & You ‘Willow Twig’

Marianne flower dies

 

Hope you like it, I seem to spend most of my time doing DT cards or magazine work so it was really nice to spend a couple of hours just playing

Have a good week lovely crafty friends

 

 

Any image challenge…

 

 

Evening all, I hope everyone is well

Just catching up on a bit of TV tonight. I’ve waited a year for Poldark to come back but I have to say I’m really enjoying Victoria; if I was only able to watch one of them I think it would have to be the latter

The nights seem to be drawing in so quickly now and you can always tell it’s Autumn when the new programme schedules start. I’ve been watching Game of Thrones again too, I’m still ploughing my way through the books (it’s a long job) but I’m seeing things in the show now that I missed first time around – I’ve tried to get Keith into it because I know he’d enjoy it but he’s not interested. I don’t really watch a lot of TV but there have been a few things on recently that I’ve enjoyed, I caught up with Cold Feet which I liked first time round and you can’t beat a good drama!

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Time for the new 'Use any Image' challenge at the Ribbon Girl which runs until Saturday October 1st

As always there are 3 lovely prizes up for grabs…

First prize:  £10 voucher for LOTV

Second prize:  £10 voucher for The Ribbon Girl

Third prize:  from Marianne Designs

 

I used one of the discontinued LOTV art pad images for my card and some gorgeous Lemon Craft papers which Mary now stocks…

 

 

The sentiment is from a useful Hero Arts set I have called ‘many everyday messages’ and the dies are Sue Wilson’s pierced squares, Spellbinders lacey oval and Spellbinders classic oval

Of course I used some gorgeousness from the Ribbon Girl website; Lemon Craft tiny miracles paper, Kate white vintage style lace,  white tulle, stardust stickles, small ivory pearl flatback hearts

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

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Enjoy the rest of your week crafters, thanks for stopping by

 

 

 

 

New challenge…

 

Good morning all, OMG another month has whizzed by and the Summer is nearly gone. I was tidying in the garden at the weekend, can you believe these pansies have been in this pot for a year! I planted them last September for Winter and they were rubbish, never really grew at all. When I was getting things ready for the Summer bedding they were just starting to flower so I left them and they have been full of flowers for 5 months – just starting to die off now. I know some of you are keen gardeners, can you plant the seeds from them for next year, will they grow?

 

I made this card for the new Lili of the Valley facebook challenge which for September is ‘ANIMALS’. I was short of time so used a discontinued art pad image of James with Daisy but I like the finished card so I think I might make an effort to stamp it and colour him to match which will look better

There are prizes up for grabs but you must remember to use a Lili of the Valley image on your work. The challenge runs until the 15th September and details are on the Facebook page HERE

 

The floral die behind the image is Tattered Lace, not a brand I like usually but I loved this set and it’s the first time I’ve used it. Sun die is Lil’ Inkers, stitched clouds Memory Box and the papers are Country Lady/Gent from NitWits

All the lovely embellishments are from the Ribbon Girl; pale gold dew drops, bee charm, natural hemp twine, ivory Kort & Godt rolled rose, cream 20mm open rose,  40mm white mulberry daisy, Donna cream fine cotton lace

 

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Have a lovely Tuesday all, thanks for stopping by

 

 

 

 

 

 

A change of direction…

 

 

Good evening all, thanks for popping by

I think I have a problem, I can’t stop buying crafty stash

As soon as I order there is something new that I like more and I must have that, I need it, and so it goes on…

sometimes, and I hope this is not just me, I see a product and have to have it, don’t even look at the price…

 

 

…I saw these stamps by Gabrielle Pollaco and had to buy them all. I know that I will be able to produce stunning pieces of work just like hers with them (!) and they are the next thing that I will be playing with

…unless I see something else before I get round to using them!!

I think I’m a bit done with cute for now, I’m trying some new things and I adore the Brusho powders. If you haven’t tried them they are little pots of magic, just sprinkle a few grains onto your paper and spritz with water to produce the most amazing effects like this background. This is just one colour, isn’t is a gorgeous effect with such little effort…

 

 

This is very different for me but I enjoyed making it. I cut out 4 of the house/tree die (Memory Box) from card and glued them together so it was thick like chipboard, you can’t see on the picture. The snowflakes are Lil’ Inkers and the embossing folder is Snowflake Mosaic from Creative Expressions

Hope you like it, and I’d love to know what you think as it is such a change from my usual style

Have a fabulous weekend crafters, I’m working my way round your blogs and really enjoying having a catch up, you are a clever lot!

 

 

 

 

Anything Goes Challenge…

 

 

 

Hello crafters, I didn’t plan it but I’ve had a little break – life just got in the way for a few weeks!

I love being at home, I am never bored for a minute, but (and I never thought I’d say this) I have missed working. So, I got a job, just one day a week at the moment but after 8 months being at home it’s thrown my routine a bit and I’m all at sixes and sevens

I was trying to make my Ribbon Girl card a few weeks ago and 3 attempts went in the bin so I decided it was time for a break from crafting too. I’ve been doing some sewing, gardening and trying some mixed media which I’ve really enjoyed (although not quite ready to share yet though!!)

Which reminds me, the Ribbon Girl is celebrating their 6th Birthday this week so they have a fabulous 15% off everything in the store until midnight on Friday 12th August - don’t miss it!

 

 

 

There’s a nice easy ‘anything goes’ challenge on the LOTV facebook page at the moment with some fabulous prizes up for grabs and I made a card using the cute ‘Happy Cats’ stamp

It’s only 11 x 8 so a teeny card -  I think it would be nice as a set with a matching box, in fact I might give that go with their other smaller dog and cat images! 

 

 

The sun and grass dies are Lil’ Inkers, the paw prints and clouds are Memory Box

I’m mad with myself because the smallest cloud is missing, it’s one of my most used sets and it must have gone in the bin with the paper scraps because I can’t find it anywhere, damn it!

These papers are Up, Up and Away from NitWits, I love this colour combination

 

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So, now I’ve got a huge task catching up with all your blogs! I’ll be round over the next few days seeing what you’ve been making

Thanks for stopping by, enjoy the rest of your evening

 

Summer in the Garden…

 

 

Hello crafty friends, hope you are all well?

Summer hasn’t quite arrived yet has it but it’s been a bit better here this week and I’ve managed to get my garden tidied up and all my bedding plants in. My Mum did a few for me when we were in Chester, she likes gardening so there weren’t too many left and it looks lovely when all the flowers come out.  We treated ourselves to some nice chairs when we had that nice spell about 6 weeks ago and they’ve been in the garage ever since, hope I didn’t jinx the weather!!

There has been such a lot of sport on the TV I haven’t seen much of my hubby, he likes the Grand Prix and I won’t see him at all once the Olympics start but I’m not complaining, more craft time for me! I don’t watch a lot of sport but I like Wimbledon and usually catch the football if England are playing, what a waste of time! Our premiership players are obscenely overpaid and think they are better than they are. It’s such a shame for the fans who spent their hard earned money going to France to support them. Hopefully Wales will fly the flag for us and win tonight

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There’s a new challenge on the LOTV FB PAGE and the theme is...  Summer in the Garden
You need to use a Lili of the Valley image of course but have a go because there are some great prizes on offer for 3 winners picked at random. You can enter and find all the details on the Challenge Event Page

 

Summer in the Garden always meant that the kids wanted to camp out when they were younger so I used this image for my card…

 

 

It’s a discontinued Art Pad image (sorry, I’m using them up) and the sentiment is from a Hero Arts set

The papers are Carta Bella and I’ve had the embossing folder ages and never used it, I don’t know why because it’s a lovely one – it’s Couture Creations ‘Ooh La la’

I cut the sun, clouds and grass from scraps of the papers (just so I can tell myself there really is a reason to save all those tiny bits!) and I finished it with a couple of little beads 

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Hope you like it, enjoy the rest of your week everyone and I’ll be catching up on the blogs tonight while I have one eye on the football!

 

Baby Tags…

 

 

Evening all, how was your weekend? We had a few days away in Chester and it was a nice break. It’s a lovely city, lots to see and very historic

I had a couple of places on the Coast planned for today, I’d love to see the statues on Crosby beach, but the weather was so bad we just did a bit of shopping and headed back home after lunch

We just took my Mum out for tea as she’s been looking after Manny (and Joe, but I didn’t tell him that!) so I don’t seem to have stopped eating for the last 4 days – I’m stuffed and dread facing the scales next Monday, I’m going to need to starve between now and then!

 

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I made a couple of tags using the gorgeous Tiny Miracles papers from Lemon Craft which are available from the Ribbon Girl…

 

 

Sorry but the coloured images are discontinued I was just using them up, I printed the sentiments on the computer

All the lovely embellishments also come from the Ribbon Girl… tulle, stickles, flatback pearls, white seam binding, pink and ivory pearl flatback hearts, pink 23mm organza, ivory button twine, Charlotte Elizabeth vintage style lace, Leah scallop flat lace, ivory jute mesh ribbon

 

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Hope you like them, I’m going to catch up on the final Game of Thrones episode now, I can’t wait. We were away last night so I missed it (although I would have watched it on my ipad if I’d known the football was going to be such a joke!)

Enjoy the rest of your week everyone, thanks for stopping by

 

 

 

June Ribbon Girl challenge…

 

 

Good morning crafters, hope you are having a nice weekend

Time for a new 'Any Image' challenge at the Ribbon Girl

It’s a nice easy one, there isn’t a theme - just create a new project that has an image on it and blog about it… simple! There are 3 lovely prizes for our randomly drawn winners and the challenge will end on Saturday 2nd July at 9pm UK time

 

First prize:  £10 voucher for LOTV

Second prize:  £10 voucher for The Ribbon Girl

Third prize:  from Marianne Designs

There is some gorgeous inspiration as always from the team on the Ribbon Girl blog… and we have the lovely Kat Waskett joining us as our Guest Designer too so make sure you have a peek

 

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I used some more of the scrummy new papers that Mary has in stock, these are by a Company called Lemon Craft and they are divine. I used the 6x6 pad but some of the sheets are available in 12x12 too…

 

 

The pad is called Tiny Miracles, the images are from the papers too – they are really lovely and it was hard to cut them!

The doily frame is a new product too, Mary has a few different designs of these Scrapiniec chipboard laser cut shapes and you are going to love them

Here’s a list of the items I used, everything is of course from the Ribbon Girl shop; Lemon Craft 'Tiny Miracles' 6x6 paper pad, Scrapiniec chipboard lace doily round, cheesecloth, flatback pearls, stickles stardust glitter glue, white and pink cherry blossom flowers, two tone pink hip rosebud flowers, cream 20mm open roses, 16mm hot pink saddlestitch ribbon, clear crystal hearts, white pearl and crystal sprays, 45mm 'Eleanor' White Embroidered Tulle Lace

 

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Hope you like it, you can enter and find all the details for the challenge on the Ribbon Girl blog

Enjoy your Sunday everyone