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

 

 

Paper Nest Dolls…

 

 

Good afternoon lovely crafty friends, Friday again can you believe it? these weeks certainly do pass quickly

Rolo came into our house like a whirlwind and left a trail of devastation. He is such a cute little thing but blimey is it hard work, he is into everything! Manny has always been so good and eager to please even as a puppy so I’m never quite prepared when the little terror comes to stay. I could fair see Manny today thinking “thank goodness he’s gone!” He was at my Mum’s for most of the week as I told you but he’s getting old now and one day racing round was enough for him

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I have something new to share today (new to me anyway) These adorable images are Paper Nest Dolls stamps and they are exclusively available in the UK from My Mum’s Craft Shop

I used Rainy Day Emma for this first card, very sweet image and I found it easy to colour which is a bonus at the moment with my bad neck…

 

 

The sentiment is one of the stamps from the Altenew Label Love set which I’ve been using a lot recently, in fact it never leaves my desk

I used some glossy accents on the puddle and for the rain although you can’t really see it well on the picture – I love that frog!

These pretty papers are from a Tonic pad and I used my favourite memory Box clouds put through a dotty embossing folder for a bit of texture

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This second one is Hugs & Kisses Emma…

 

…and this image goes perfectly with the Crate Paper ‘Heart Day’ papers. The sentiment is from the pad too

I just noticed that I forgot to colour the string on her bunting – oops!

Take a look at the other designs in the range, and don’t forget if you are in the UK you can’t get them anywhere else at the moment

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I’ll be round having a blog catch up over the next couple of days and see what you’ve all been up to

Have a fantastic weekend everyone

 

 

 

 

My art, and new LOTV

 

 

Good morning lovely crafty friends. Did you all have a nice weekend? the weather has been beautiful here but it’s a bit cloudy today. Jess has gone off to Portugal so we have Rolo here for a week. Manny was running about with him too much and started limping so I’ve sent him to my Mums for a few days pampering, he’s getting old (aren’t we all!!) and can’t keep up with a puppy even though he tries his best and doesn’t know when to call it a day

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As promised here are my makes from the Art Workshops last weekend. I really enjoyed this, it was so different from anything I’ve done and I love that there aren’t really any rules. Everyone followed the same instructions yet each piece was completely different. Some did their own take on it but because it was a first for me I followed quite closely with what Kassa did, she’s amazing…

This is the example in progress, the light is good here so you can see the texture

  

Onto my effort, you start the rainbow of colour with pink, orange and yellow and then build it up adding in different colours. I was a bit scared when it came to adding the black but there are so many layers of paint and wax that it all blends in

 

Even the embellishment has so many little elements and layers

My finished heart, I went a bit overboard with the gold but I love it!

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This is my other make and this is deceiving too as to how many stages and layers there are, I love the bright colours. We did it on the first day and I never thought to take any pictures of it in progress – I wish I had now

 

Who knew an embroidery hoop could be used like this!

 

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Onto my card today and this is a new image from LOTV, this is the popular Jasmine and this time she’s shopping. I think this image would be great for a teen…

 

Clouds again sorry, I just love them and this time I cut the sentiment into one of them. I was going to add a sun too but it was looking a bit cluttered

The flower border die is a DooHickeys and I used Dress Shoppe papers from NitWit Collections

There are 2 new Jasmine images and some girls through the decades which are going to be on Simply Print sheets and they are a bit different.

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Phew, that was a long post! Thanks for staying with me and thank you so much for taking the time to leave me a comment and let me know what you think, I love reading them

Right, time for some puppy training, he’s a little monkey and he’s clever… but he likes his own way a bit too much!

 

 

Have a lovely day everyone

 

Floral Tapestry…

 

 

 

Good afternoon crafty friends, I hope you are having a nice week

A quick post from me today just to share some cards that I made with one of Leonie’s stamps for the One Day Special which is one Hochanda today…

 

 

…this is the Floral Tapestry background and I love it!

The top one has a Brusho background and then the image stamped in black ink. I cut out an extra flower then added beads and used it as an embellishment with some of the foliage

The second one is embossed with bright white powder. I did the background with the glitter pens which are a fantastic product if you haven’t tried them

The bottom one is a bit different for me done on kraft card. I embossed it in a distress powder, cut the image piece into 6 then roughed and inked the edges. The ‘fun’ is one of Leonie’s stencil and mask sets, there are lots of different useful words

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There are some bargains to be had, the heart embossing folders are less than £2 each so make sure you tune in at 4 and 7 for the shows on Channel 85

As always there is bags of inspiration and Leonie will be crafting using all the products (she’s so good and very entertaining)

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I’ll be back at the weekend with new Lili of the Valley girls and I’ll also share my makes from the Kassa weekend that I was telling you about last week (which was amazing by the way)

 

Have a lovely day all

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Creative Girls…

 

 

Good morning crafters, hope you are all well and that you’ve had a nice week

I can’t wait for the weekend because I’m going on a workshop with the fabulous Kassa Hayselden. I’m still new to Mixed Media and Kassa does the most amazing things with paint and colour so I’m a bit nervous in case I get in a muddle but I can’t wait to learn the techniques she uses

This is what we’re making on Saturday…

and this is Sunday’s project….

 

how exciting, I’ll be sure to fill you in next week!!

 

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Meanwhile back to cards and I have a couple to share using a new Stamping Bella Creative Girls stamp called Until Olive

 

 

I love these images, they’re just a bit different and perfect for those hard teens who have grown out of cute

This was the first version using one of the included sentiments and a printed greeting …

 

 

Then I changed my mind and added another printed circle to personalise it…

 

 

The scrummy papers are from a Carta Bella pad called Flora and I coloured the image with Copics to match

I finished it with some die cut clouds and hearts

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You can get everything from My Mum’s Craft Shop. There are new arrivals coming in all the time so be sure to have a browse through the latest releases. If anything is out of stock just drop Kitty an email and she’d be happy to add it to the next order for you

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That’s it from me, wish me luck on my Mixed Media adventure!

…and have a lovely 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

 

 

My Birthday, and Stamping Bella…

 

 

 

Good evening everyone, a quick post from me while I’m watching (and enjoying) Broadchurch

It’s my Birthday today so Keith took the day off and we went to the seaside with Manny. It was a beautiful day and we had a lovely walk on the beach then a meal on the way home

 

 

 

 

We usually go to the East Coast but this is Redcar which is North East and a bit further up. It’s about an hour and a half drive for us but I’d love to live nearer the Coast. Manny doesn’t run much now with his poorly legs but he loves going to the beach so we take him a couple of time a year. He races about and burrows in the sand and chases waves. He’ll be limping tomorrow but I’m sure he’d say it was worth it he had such a lovely time

 

Last night we went to the restaurant where Joe works and he treated us to a meal…  and he’d had a special dessert made for me. It was a lovely surprise, he never pays for anything!

 

 

Tomorrow Jess is coming for tea with her boyfriend and my Mum is coming too so all in all I’ve had a great Birthday

 

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My card today is for My Mum’s Craft Shop and I’ve used a stamp from one of my favourite companies Stamping Bella. I adore their ‘Tiny Townies’ and don’t use them nearly enough. They have some new ‘Squidgies’ and ‘Creative Girls’ which are a bit different and they just came into stock - I can’t wait to get them!

This is one of the closeups range called ‘In Love’…

 

 

I made an absolute pigs ear of colouring his hair, I’ve always struggled with hair and the more I tried to correct it the worse it got. I was trying to add strokes with a fine nib but it was so saturated it was just soaking in. Stupidly I did that bit last otherwise I would have redone it all…  just don’t look too closely at that section!

The papers are from a pad called ‘Heart Day’ by Crate Paper which is lovely. The heart border is Memory Box and I printed the sentiment

 

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You can click on the product names to take you to them on the My Mum’s Craft Shop website, there are lots of new arrivals and there is some great stuff. If you want an item that is out of stock just email and Kitty is happy to add it to her next order for you

 

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Thanks so much for all your comments, I love to read them and will return the visit

 

Have a lovely week everyone