Favourite stamp brand

Hello everyone, thanks so much for stopping by even though I'm hanging my head in shame at the way I've neglected your blogs this past month

I haven't put my holiday pics onto my laptop yet, I took so many and the thought of sorting them out keeps putting me off doing it!

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I just had a lovely weekend away doing a workshop with Tracy Easson. If you haven't heard of her she is the artist behind the Wonky Tonk stamps that Paula at Which Craft! sells.

Tracy has a new range now on her own Etsy store and they are just adorable. I'll take some pics of my makes and post about them shortly

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This fortnight's challenge at AYLI is to use your favourite stamp brand and why?

I LOVE so many brands and have a huge stamp stash but I didn't have to think about this one really because it has to be Lili of the Valley...

This is one of the Spring images, Happy Birthday bear...  I put him on a tag and printed out a few extra flowers to decorate. Really simple card but I think it's pretty so I hope you like it

The dotty border die is Tonic

Just in case you aren't aware, LOTV have moved to digital products only now and you can get them in their Etsy store. The original website will redirect you there

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Don't forget to enter the AYLI challenge...  the prize this time is a guest spot on the DT so it would be fab to have one of you join us!

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Have a lovely week everyone, got my fingers crossed for an improvement in this awful weather!

Still here...

Hello everyone... I can't believe it's been so long since my last post so thank you for still stopping by!

I've been jetting off to Italy (Lake Garda) and had a lovely time, what a beautiful place. I haven't sorted my pictures out yet so I'll share some in my next post

Then when we got back Jess had an operation on her arm. If you've been here a while you may remember that she was kicked by a horse a couple of years ago and broke her elbow. To cut a long story short it was to correct some nerve problems resulting from that injury. Anyway she couldn't drive and was bored, she came to stay for a bit so I was taxi and entertainment! It was lovely to have her home but (and please don't judge me) I was glad to see the back of her!! She's fine and having physio now so hopefully back to work next week

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The latest AYLI challenge is 'His or Hers' - which is your favourite?

I would usually always say 'Hers' because I love making girlie cards and everything pink and flowery. But I thought I'd have a change and because we are sponsored by Polkadoodles I used the fab Horace and Boo digi kit to make a boys card...

I really enjoy using these kits, I love that you add in all the little extra elements - hope you like it! 

The paw print embossing folder is Marianne

There's still time to enter the challenge and as I said the prize for this one is sponsored by Polkadoodles

I'm entering this into these challenges too; Digi Choosday Blog, Polkadoodles Blog, Gem of a Challenge, We Love 2 Create challenge

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I'm finally getting back into my routine so I'll be round to catch up on all your blogs this week. Thanks to my lovely new visitors too who came from the AYLI 6th anniversary hop!

Have a great week everyone

Favourite animal...

Good evening crafty friends, I'm sneaking in a quick post before the Easter holidays are upon us otherwise I'll forget and it will be another week! 

Thank you so much for your comments on my last post, I'm very grateful that you are still stopping by when it's been weeks since I caught up with your blogs, I promise to be round shortly to see what you've all been making

I've been watching Game of Thrones again from the beginning, I was so excited for the new season which started this week. None of my friends or family watch it but I think it's got to be one of the best things that has ever been on tv, for me anyway

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The latest challenge at AYLI is your favourite animal and why, I love all animals and I think dogs would probably have to be number 1 but closely followed by cute woodland furries. I used this sweet image from Lili of the Valley called Party Parade which has 3 of them...

This one was made for the recent Spring swap which we held on the we love Lili of the Valley facebook group. Another adorable image from the Spring release...

 The dies are Doohickey (scalloped frame) Waffle Flower (loopy frame) and Memory Box (clouds). The sentiments are LOTV and images coloured with Copics.

You can enter and find all all the details for the challenge on the AYLI page here

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Thanks so much for taking the time to  pop by and have a wonderful Easter weekend everyone

I'm back...

Good morning everyone, where has the past month gone? I just haven't found time for my blog lately despite good intentions. I keep thinking I'll call it a day but I do love blogging and going round to see what you've all been up to so I am really going to try and keep up to it better

I've had a few trips out, went on a spa day with Jess, an AALL & Create art workshop and a trip to Newcastle to see my lovely friends Mary and Andrea

I've done quite a bit of crafting so I'll share a few cards today. First is the AYLI challenge, still time to enter if you're quick and it's your favourite colouring medium sponsored by the fab Lee Holland digis. This is one of his cute images and although I've tried many different colouring products I always go back to my alcohol markers, I used Copics on this and a die by Little B...

This is a card I made for Jess's boss who had a nasty fall from her horse. I love this Spellbinders tulip frame die. She broke quite a few bones so thinking of you seemed more appropriate than get well soon. This stamp is from a lovely MFT sentiment set which I've used a lot...

I've been having a destash as I said in my last post and found some CDs that I'd bought ages ago. This is from a Thelwell one and I can't believe I haven't ever used it, the images are adorable and perfect for Jess and her horsey friends! …

Hope you like them, thanks so much for stopping by. I will be having a catch up on all your blogs this week and I'm going to try and post more regularly

Enjoy your Wednesday crafty friends

A new home for Digistamp Boutique…

Good evening crafty friends, another week nearly done, how is it possible?

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I’ve never watched so much sport as I have the past few weeks!

I like Wimbledon and the Tour de France but the World Cup had it for me, I loved it! It’s so many years since England had a decent team and it was fab how the Country got behind them. Gareth Southgate seems like such a gentleman and it was all about the football this time instead of the egos and the WAGS. I think inexperience was their downfall in the semi final, they missed a few chances in the first half and in the end Croatia were the better team, they can absolutely come home with their heads held high though and hopefully can just get better with time

I saw this on Facebook, this is so me!!

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I was glued to SKY news watching the rescue of those boys from the cave in Thailand, I’m very claustrophobic so caving would be my worst nightmare, add water into the mix and I have a panic attack just thinking about it. It was a miracle that they got them out and so sad that one of the divers lost his life. How anyone could do cave diving for fun is beyond me, why, just why would you want to dive through miles of tunnels filled with water that you could hardly fit through and there’s no way out, just madness

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I have news, Digistamp Boutique are coming to live at Lili of the Valley! The owner wants to concentrate on her artwork so all the images will now be available to buy from LOTV. It will take a while to get them all on the website but quite a few are ready and there are some adorable new mermaids and hippos too

This is one of the hippos called Tons of Fun… how cute!

I used my favourite Bella Rose papers and Memory Box puffy clouds

I was going to die cut some flowers but only wanted teeny ones so I snipped some from a scrap of the paper and stuck them onto the grass, I like how they match the paper

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Thanks so much for stopping by and I really appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment

Enjoy your Thursday evening everyone whatever you are doing

The weekend, and Mama Makes…

Good evening lovely crafty friends, I hope you all enjoyed the bank holiday

The weather was certainly beautiful, breaking records I think for May! We did some gardening yesterday and then had family round for a bbq,  nothing fancy but just a nice relaxing afternoon

I had a lovely weekend away visiting my friends Mary and Andrea in Newcastle. We went to the Sunderland glass centre and made a paperweight on Sunday and really enjoyed it, I love to do something different. I won’t see my paperweight for a week because it has to be left to ‘cook’ but the process was fascinating (if a tad hot!!) and I’ve got my name down for another go at something different in the future

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Hochanda is featuring Mama Makes products on Leonie’s Let Loose shows tomorrow so be sure to tune in at 11 and 2, there should be some lovely bargains and lots of inspiration from the team for using the stamps

Here are a couple of cards that I made for the show using the Woodland Friends, Hello Spring and Elephant Birthday sets…

The eclipse card is something I’ve seen around a lot recently, Jennifer McGuire did them a while ago and I really like the effect. I used the Lawn Fawn Louies ABC’s alphabet for this from Seven Hills Crafts

Hope you like them, don’t forget to tune in tomorrow… and enjoy the rest of your Tuesday

Pet sympathy…

Good evening crafty friends, thanks so much for all your lovely comments on my last post. I know it’s time consuming and I appreciate you taking the time to stop by

I’ve resolved to visit and leave a couple of comments each day because if you get behind it’s such a huge job trying to catch up on all your favourite blogs

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Just a quick post today, my Brother sadly lost their dog coincidentally a day after I’d ordered some lovely pet related Whimsy stamps from Dies to Die for

I made a couple which I’ll share another time, and then did this one from an idea I‘d seen on Pinterest

This is a Stampin’ Up set called Bella and Friends and I loved the idea of the little doggy floating up to heaven tied to the balloon…

Sentiment - Whimsy ‘fill my heart’

Rainbow – Stampin’ Up ‘sunshine and rainbows’

Clouds – Memory Box ‘puffy clouds’

Sorry it’s such a rubbish picture, the light is so bad at the moment and it’s nearly all white

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Hope you like it, enjoy the rest of your week everyone

Lots of news…

Hello crafty friends, I have a lot to tell you tonight so I hope you’ll stick with me…

 

First the weather, I can’t not mention the ‘Beast from the East’ seeing as it brought the Country to a standstill. Joe went on a short break to Amsterdam with his friends and got stranded for 3 days. They were flown to Germany to get a UK flight and then they were all cancelled so it was a fiasco and a bit worrying (and very expensive!!)

It was proper deep powdery snow like we used to have when I was a kid, we had a few lovely walks and Manny loved it...

 

Also… Jess got engaged, her boyfriend proposed when they went to Rome so all very romantic. There won’t be any wedding plans for a while as they are saving up for a house but I think when they do tie the knot it will be pretty low key, she’s like her Mum and won’t want any fuss!

Doesn’t seem like 2 minutes since I was planning my own wedding and it’s our silver anniversary next week, I might share some piccies to mark the occasion if I can dig them out!

 

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I’m on a new Design Team for a fabulous stamp company called Mama Makes. Loti makes the stamps herself and there are some lovely sets at a great price.There are some new stamps just launched and they are the cutest foxes and rabbits with an assortment of sentiments by a fantastic new artist called Tracey Hey…

 

 

I used the new fox for this card, it’s called Woodland Friends. The images are also resized and available as small planner stamps. Planners is not something I’ve done but the girls on the team produce some amazing spreads so I think I could really get into it (I just need 48 hours in a day!)

 

 

To celebrate the Mama Makes 1st birthday there is a fantastic crafty workshop day. Full details are here if you’re in the Peterborough area

 

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New stamps and news from Lili of the Valley too; at the end of March the images will only be available as digi stamps and simply prints. Rubber stamps are not viable for the Company at the moment and it will be reassessed in 6 months. Some customers have been disappointed but if you haven’t tried digi’s do them give them a go, you’ll be converted!

 

There are 12 new ones and this lovely is called Freckles. I thought colouring that skirt would take forever so I did a bit of paper piecing for her clothes and shoes and I think it looks quite pretty…

 

 

 

I added the little flowers and dragonfly, they are Woodware stamps and the papers on both cards are from the First Edition ‘Bella Rose’ pad

 

All 12 new images are available as digis and coloured simply print sheets, the 4 fairies are adorable and there are some lovely older more modern girls too

There are some launch offers so if you’re wanting any, now is a great time to get them

 

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Are you still here? thanks so much for stopping by I really do appreciate it

 

I have a tutorial on the Mama Makes blog for this card so I’d be so grateful if my lovely visitors could take a minute to pop over there too, and do remember to say that I sent you!

 

 

 

 

Its my birthday tomorrow so I’m having a girlie day with Jess and we’re going to see The Greatest Showman, I’m looking forward to it as I don’t seem to spend enough time with her lately

Have a great week everyone

Just a note…

Good evening lovelies. Hope you are all well and have something nice planned for the weekend

Two posts in one week from me, that’s a got to be a first but I’ve been making a few cards using the new bears from Lili of the Valley so I’d thought I’d share these because they are on sale NOW!

This sweet image is called ‘Greg - Just a Note’ and is available in rubber, digi, or simply print…

I wanted pale pastel colours because these were for new baby cards, I find it hard to achieve that effect with markers so I used distress inks and made a wash. I should have done the letter a different colour looking at them but overall I got the look I wanted

The ‘sending love and hugs’ is done with a useful Wplus9 stamp/die set from Seven Hills Craft and the baby girl sentiment is a swirly string sentiment from LOTV

I used some Tonic jewel drops on the top card too which is my new favourite product!

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Hope you like them, there are some great launch offers on the new bears so get in early because they are only for a limited time

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Thanks so much for stopping by, I really appreciate you visiting and for taking the time to leave me a comment

Have a great weekend everyone 

New bears!

Hello crafty friends!

It’s been longer than I planned between posts (again!) but the weeks just seem to whizz by

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Keith is getting on nicely after his operation; thanks so much to everyone who asked after him. He got his stitches out last week so is able to get about a bit better now without all the padding. Just needs time to heal now but he’s not very patient and because it’s bone it will be a few more weeks yet!

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I did a lovely workshop at the weekend, journals and mini albums which I thoroughly enjoyed. It was the last one of the year so I need to make sure I put into practise what I learnt

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My nephew and his girlfriend had their baby so I’m a great Aunt (doesn’t that sound old and matronly!) She’s absolutely perfect and will be spoiled by everyone. She’s the first baby in our small family since my youngest nephew who is 20 so we were all very excited  for her arrival and my Mum has been knitting furiously for the last 6 months…

Onto my cards and Lili of the Valley have a new image launch this Friday and they’re going Bear crazy!

There are lots of new stamps including a set of alphabet and number bears and also introducing a sweet new bear called Greg

This one is called Greg Cupcake…

and this is a card with the alphabet bears that I made for a friend…

These alphabets and numbers are going to be so useful

There are lovely samples and plenty of inspiration to be found on the pinterest board where you can see the full collection

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Thanks so much for stopping by, have a lovely evening all

Candy and new LOTV…

Hello crafty friends, despite good intentions it’s been a couple of weeks since my last post. But, I have been busy and spent quite a lot of time crafting

As promised I have some 400 follower candy today…

..a few bits I gathered together for a little giveaway

I bought the pastels hoping they were water soluble after seeing a technique but they’re not, they weren’t expensive but someone might appreciate them. There is a stamp set, a flower die, some flowers and a bundle of ribbon. No sharing required, it’s just for my lovely followers so leave me a comment and I’ll draw a winner at random to get the goodies

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LOTV have a new stamp launch, its the 2nd part of their 2017 Christmas range and there are some adorable images – most are available in rubber, digi and simply print so something for everyone

The challenge for September is a colour one, just make a card or project using this colour palette…

Remember you have to use a Lili of the Valley image, there are great prizes up for grabs as always and you can enter here

Lovely colours aren’t they, can be Christmassy but lots of other options

I chose to do a Christmas card, these 2 cuties are from the Woodland Scenes collection…

I used some MFT papers, love the bright colours. I can’t remember where I got the die but it’s green so I’m thinking it might be Lea’bilities

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That’s it from me, it’s pouring down here today so my plans to do some gardening have been put on hold and I’m spending the afternoon crafting. I faff about so much though and end up doing nothing - time management is not my strong point!

Enjoy the weekend lovelies…

and make sure you leave me a comment to be in the candy draw

Spring card and start of declutter…

 

 

Good afternoon all, glorious day here and forecast to stay sunny over the bank holiday which is great news!

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I haven’t started my declutter yet because it’s too nice to be inside. It might be a long job but as you said you were interested I did take some pictures, it’s a start and once I’ve shown you my clutter I’m committed to doing it!

So, here goes, I’m kicking off with my stamps…

 

…as you know my craft room is in the attic so I have these great Ikea units which fit perfectly along the sides of the room under the eaves. I am quite organised in that all the stamps are tidy and sorted, but I have so many that I haven’t a clue what I have which is why I need to index them so I can use the forgotten ones (which is probably about 80% of them if I’m honest) and also get rid of some. I’ll just highlight the stamps for now and get to the other stash as I go through it

In the unit along the top from left to right; A5 mixed clear stamps and LOTV sentiments, Stamping Bella, LOTV, Magnolia Tilda, JOFY

In the bottom unit from left to right; the pink and brown boxes contain wooden stamps which I’ll do later, the round box has other Magnolia images and minis, the spotty boxes have misc clear and rubber, then Stampin’ Up which you can’t really see

On the floor; one heart box is Christmas, other heart box is sentiments, black spotty box is small stamps and the pile is some I started sorting for selling/charity

 

This is a drawer full of my favourites that I’ve brought downstairs into my new craft area

Then I also have a box the same size that are more grungy and backgrounds that I sorted for mixed media but they were under a pile of other things so no picture yet!

I just remembered I also have Papertrey and h’Anglar that are in other boxes

oh, and I have 2 more boxes for Leonie and MMCS which I keep separate so they are all together for DT work!

So there you go, my stash of stamps collected over 25 years. Is it really bad that I have so many?

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right, moving quickly on and this is a card I made for a swap group I’m in on Facebook where the theme was Spring…

 

 

I love this LOTV image, it’s called Cartful of Sunshine. It doesn’t really show on the picture but I coloured an extra set of flowers, cut them out and stuck them on with foam pads

Papers are NitWits ‘One Birdie Lane’ and the die/stamp set I used for the sentiment is Wplus9 (sending, hoping, wishing)

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That was a long post for me, thanks for visiting and enjoy the rest of your Tuesday x

 

 

Four Legged Friends and new LOTV

 

 

Good afternoon crafty friends

Sorry for being MIA for a while, I’d actually got myself into a nice regular posting routine this year so far. I stupidly went and got a stool that was too high so after I’d sat at my desk for a few hours I felt like I was back to square one with my neck. Luckily it seemed to correct itself which tells me that the treatment I’m having is working

I’ve been busy too, if you’ve been coming here a while you’ll know that my craft room is in the attic. Since I left work I feel guilty going up there and leaving Manny downstairs because he wants to be with me all the time. I did consider making a craft room in the conservatory but changed my mind about that. So, now Jess has moved out I’ve compromised and put a desk and some units in her room and I’ve moved some of my paper crafting things into there

It’s taken a few weeks and a lot of trial and error, you can guarantee whatever I needed it was left in the attic but I didn’t want to end up bringing everything down. There is still a lot of stuff up there (I’ve got 25 years worth of stash!) but I think I’m winning now, I’m going to use my desk in the attic for messy stuff and painting and I still have a table up there for sewing

Manny is happy with the new arrangement, he just sleeps on the bed behind me while I’m making cards. I’ll take a few pictures sometime but not yet because the attic is like a bombsite, moving things around has inevitably led to a big sort out which is very much a work in progress at the moment!

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I have 2 quite simple cards to share today…

Kitty has the cutest new stamps from My Favourite Things at My Mum’s Craft Shop… 

 

 

The set is called Four Legged Friends and is also available with an optional die set too, they are adorable

I used the Crate Paper ‘Heart Day’ papers which I’ve been using a lot recently, it’s a really useful pad

The die is Die-namics Stitched Interactive Window Trio and the banner is my new favourite because it cuts the outer frame too, I find these so hard to cut straight! Those are also by Die-namics and it’s Fishtail Flag Frames, you get 3 sizes in the pack each cutting an inner and a frame

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My second card is one of the new images from Lili of the Valley which are due to be released on the 20th…

 

I did some paper piecing on this for a change, the image is called Warming Up and the dies are all Sue Wilson

The papers are from the Country Meadow collection at NitWits

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Hope you like them, I’ll try and have a catch up on all your blogs over the weekend. Hopefully this lovely weather we’ve been having will stick around for a few more days

Have a great weekend everyone

 

 

Cartful of Sunshine…

 

 

Hello my lovelies, can you believe another week has flown by, I don’t know where the time goes!

We have actually seen the sun quite a lot this week and had some really nice days so it feels like Spring is around the corner at long last. I hope my neck is better soon because I can’t wait to get in my garden and and start tidying up. I’m still going to the chiropractor and put myself back a bit last week by pegging some washing out, it wasn’t a good idea and my neck didn’t like it at all!

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There's a new challenge on the Lili of the Valley Facebook page and for March the theme is flowers. There are 3 prizes and the winners will be drawn at random

All the details are on the challenge page and entries close on the 15th

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I’m getting ahead and started making cards for Mother’s Day. February and March are busy for me as all our family birthdays are bunched together. With Valentines, Mother’s day and Easter I always seem to end up running out of time and buying cards so I’ve tried to be organised this year!

 

 

This is one of the new images from Lili of the Valley and I think it’s my favourite! It’s called Cartful of Sunshine, this is the Simply Print sheet but it’s also available in rubber and as a digi image

I’m having a bit of a phase using clouds and sunshine dies, I love how they create a little scene. I printed Grandma and then cut it with the cloud die. The tag die is Spellbinders and I used a Tonic pin prick circle around the image. I have these in squares and circles and it’s the first time I’ve used them but I think they will be useful for creating an accent without actually cutting

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Hope you like it…

thanks for stopping by and have a fantastic weekend everyone

 

 

Simply print…

 

 

 

Hello my lovelies, did you have a good week?

I’ve had a bad neck for about 3 weeks, I can’t look up or down so I’ve not been able to do as much crafting or spend any time on the computer. I’ve been going to a chiropractor and he said it all stems from my hip and having bad posture over the years. I have had a sore neck occasionally but never as bad as this or for as long and he did say I’m very lucky not have back pain too which thankfully I haven’t. So, fingers crossed the treatment will work. I went in expecting an hour for my £39, that’s not bad I thought, and it’s for 15 minutes…   ouch! so I don’t want to be going for too long

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Onto my card, if you miss the Lili of the Valley die cut sheets and art pads you will love their new simply print images. Many of your favourite images (with more to come) can now be downloaded and printed at home which is very handy

These are some of the new mouse images -  key, flowers and champagne, sooo cute!

I printed them quite small and added circle frames. I cut along the edges of the tag and the key so it extended out of the die, I like this technique I think it’s effective…

 

 

Hope you like it, it’s quite a CAS card for me but I was pleased with the result

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Sorry I haven’t been visiting your blogs recently, it’s hard for me to use the computer at the moment so I have to limit my time on here

Have a wonderful weekend crafters, I think ours will be a quiet one which is nice sometimes

 

 

Love Launch…

 

 

Hello my lovelies, just a quick post tonight…

I’ll be back at the weekend for a catch up but just wanted to share this card I made using one of the new stamps from LOTV

The launch is on Saturday and is a love theme but I needed a ‘new home’ card and thought this sweet image was perfect…

 

 

This one is called ‘cosy together’. There are 2 wedding images and some cute new animals all available in rubber and as digis. I used a digi for this card because I wanted to add some text to the tag

Oval lacey die – Sue Wilson

Twine, lace and charm – the Ribbon Girl

Papers – My Mind’s Eye

 

I’d gone along the bottom sticking those tiny pearls on which took ages and then realised there wasn’t an even number of holes. I have a bit of OCD and things like that drive me mad but I had to get it in the post so I carried on but it really bothers me if I look at it!!

 

Have a nice evening folks whatever you’re doing, I’m just watching the TV awards and can’t believe that Casualty beat Game of Thrones, Happy Valley and Night Manager…   but I don’t watch Casualty so maybe I need to, because the other 3 shows are fab. Then again, maybe I just need to get out more!!