Normal Service will resume - eventually !!!

Hi everyone !

I just wanted to pop on and leave you a message that I have not disappeared off the face of the Earth, I am alive and well but up a ladder and covered in paint !

We started decorating our hall, landing and stairs a couple of weeks ago when my hubby was on holiday from work and it was going really well until he hurt his knee and now I am having to do it all by myself as he has been told it needs rest. He has also been signed off from work now because its been so bad. He is sitting watching CBeebies with Fizzy while I'm doing the decorating !!

I am having a break from my DT cards until I can get the decorating sorted because if I leave the decorating and he goes back to work, because of the shifts he works it will be a further 8 weeks until I/we can pick up a paint brush again.

I'm getting there slowly but surely but because we chose such awful colours in the beginning, it is taking a lot of painting, 2 coats of the entire hall, landing and stairs and ours isn't small either !

I hope to be back very soon :o)

Hugs,

Colour Create Challenge # 21

Good morning ! I am hoping that this post will automatically appear this morning as I am out and so won't be able to press the button !

We are off out to Ski's sports day at school day and its the first one I have seen her take part in. It's an all day affair with teas and coffees by the PTA and a BBQ for lunch so I am really looking forward to it.

We were discussing over tea last night the sorts of things they will be doing i.e. egg and spoon race, three legged race, sack race etc. etc. etc. but I have been told that that is now allowed any longer ! What ? Not allowed ? Apparently these games are competitive and dangerous for our poor darlings to partake in !!!! Good grief, it never did us any harm BUT wait for the best bit ........ they have FOAM javelins and FOAM shot put - FOAM !!!! One puff of wind and it will be cast in the opposite direction ! This all have to be seen to be believed and I shall be there to see it this year !!!!

Rant over. Time to tell you what I am really here for COLOUR CREATE !!!

This week our fabby colour combo has been chosen by our very own talented Juliet !

So the colours for you this week are : Pistachio Green, Aqua and Powder pink or green, blue and pink !!!!! hehehe

The pink DP is BasicGrey (I'm not sure which pad as it was loose but at a guess I would say, Sugared !).

The paisley pattered DP is K&Co "Sparkly Sweet"

The green card is Whitewash Core'dinations which I have run through my Cuttlebug and sanded.

The image is a digi download from Lily-Boos Boutique and is called "Here Come the Girls". She has been coloured with ProMarkers and the edges of the image inked with peeled paint and broken china distress inks.

The ribbons were from Poppycraft and the buttons are from my stash.

The flowers are the same flowers I used yesterday and came from Judy. The white flowers are again Hero Arts Art Flowers and the button brads were a pressie from my friend Tara G and are Making Memories button brads.

The leaves were punched with a Leone Em punch.

The rest of my fellow DT buddies have made amazing cards for you to see again this week so please hop over to the blog and go and have a look.

We are looking forward to seeing your fabby creations too !

Foam javelins and shot put - whatever next ! See, I'm still rambling ! ............ Does this mean I don't have to sharpen my elbows for the parents race ?

Edit : Mr Blogger was very naughty and didn't publish my post at 9am like I asked him to so I have to press the button myself this afternoon ! It's not the first time it has happened and I don't know if it is me doing something wrong or Blogger. Does anyone know ?

I also meant to say that I am entering this card in the Friday Sketchers Challenge this week as I used their fabulous sketch this week !

Yes, sports day was very good, thoroughly enjoyable but unfortunately they didn't use the foam javelins or shot put this year !!!!

End of Blog Hop and Simon Says Challenge - Happy Mail !

Awww what a shame, we reached the end of the Simon Says Stamp Blog Hop :o( Such a shame because I really enjoyed myself.


Thank you all so much for visiting me and leaving me so many lovely comments. They really are all appreciated. I will tell you all about this week's Simon Says Challenge (which is a very special one) and then I will announce the winner of my blog candy - whooo hoooo !!


"This week our challenge for you is to make a card or project for a sick child. We all know how GREAT it feels to get happy mail for no reason, so imagine how a child who is ill would feel to get happy mail....I can just imagine the BIG GRIN on their little faces!! It will bring such happiness to them, so we thought we would support Post Pals and Make a Child Smile and get some cards to those children who could use a "hug"!!!


Today's featured guest designer is POPPET. Poppet is incredibly talented and an amazing woman! She is very familiar with Post Pals as 2 of her 3 children are members. On her blog, there is a video made by BBC, called Samara's story - it is very moving. If you have a minute, please watch it, but make sure you have a tissue handy!!!!"


Poppet has also told us on the blog what it means to receive happy mail and she has also very kindly made a card for this week's challenge.


This is the card I made for this week's challenge :

I have seen quite a few of these trifold cards around and really wanted to have a go at making one. I found a tutorial on this amazing blog

The DP's are some gorgeous SU papers given to me by my lovely, lovely friend Martine (thank's darlin) and they are called "Washington Apple". Martine has just become an SU demonstrator and she is offering some great incentives for buying your SU goodies through her - take a look at her blog to find out.

The image is a Penny Black image which I was given in a swap many moons ago and I thought it was ideal for this card. It has been coloured with ProMarkers.

The flowers I won in my lovely friend, Judy's blog candy a while back. They are gorgeous and I must ask her who makes them as I am using them a lot recently. The white flowers are Hero Arts Art flowers.

The buttons and charms are from my stash.

The little ticket is a Hero Arts clear stamp.

The dew drops are from Simon Says Stamp and the "Smile" and "Friends Forever" sentiments are from a Simon Says Stamp Executive stamp set called "Simply the Best Sentiments".

We hope that you can join us this week in our special challenge. The DT's cards are absolutely gorgeous, please hop over and go and have a look and leave them one of your lovely comments !


Now for the moment you have all been waiting for..........

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers: 121 - Semsee

Timestamp: 2009-06-24 08:49:16 UTC

Many congratulations Semsee ! Please email me with your details and I'll ask Heidi to post to you your sentiments set and surprise package !!!

Another coincidence - Semsee lives about 40 miles away from me !!! This is all getting too spooky for words !!

Have a great day, enjoy the sunshine and I will be back tomorrow for Colour Create !

Keep on Hopping !!!

We are on day three of the Simon Says Stamp Blog Hop and you are still hopping away madly !!! It has been an absolute blast and we have all really enjoyed ourselves. Thank you all so much again for taking part and good luck - it will be so exciting to see who the lucky winner is of not only my own blog candy but the $100 blog candy Heidi is offering !!! I could spend that in a flash !!

If you have not yet played along, there is still plenty of time. The hop does not finish until tomorrow. For all the instructions, please keep scrolling down as there is a special post which explains everything.

As promised, here is the full sized version of my sneak peek from yesterday :





The base card is Bazzill kraft card which is absolutely gorgeous - I can see me using a lot of this. It is lovely for stamped images and gives that "vintage" look.


The postcard is a Penny Black stamp called "Keepsake" which is available to buy in the Simon Says Stamp Store. I stamped this with brushed corduroy distress ink. I have inked it with distress ink (various browns) and painted the stems and stamps with distress inks too.


The flowers are Hero Arts Art Flowers which can also be found i the Simon Says Stamp Store. I have added some tattered rose distress ink to the petals and added a pearl to the centres.


The "Friend" stamp is a Hero Arts Stamp which has also been stamped in brushed corduroy distress ink.


The corner stamp is unknown I am afraid. I stamped this with aged mahogany distress ink.


The edge has been punched with a Martha Stewart punch.


The lace, button and jute are from my stash. The button was very pale wood so I sanded it and rubbed some walnut stain distress ink over it to darken it. What would we do without distress inks ?


I also decorated the inside of the card and added some leaves which were punched with a Leone Em punch.



Don't forget my blog candy ! Here is what is on offer and what you have to do to be in with a chance of winning it :


"Now for my blog candy ! My blog candy is a fantastic set of Exclusive Simon Says Stamp stamps called "Card Sentiments" (piccie below) and also Heidi will be putting in with your stamps an extra special surprise ! Even I don't know what it will be !!!To be in with a chance of winning my blog candy, please become a follower, if you're not already ;o) and please leave a comment on this post and on every other blog hop blog !! :-) You will then be in with a chance of winning this set of Exclusive Simon Says Stamp set called "Card Sentiments". I will draw the winner at the end of the blog hop by random number generator".


Here is a photo of the stamps :


You can leave your comments on this post to enter the blog candy. I will count them up and will draw a winner at the end of the hop.

If you have chance, please join us tomorrow (Wednesday) on the Simon Says Challenge Blog where we will be holding an extra special challenge and it would be so wonderful if lots of kind hearted crafters could take part in such a special challenge. We look forward to seeing you.


Enjoy your hopping and again, thank you so much for stopping by and for leaving such lovely comments. I appreciate each and every one of them.

Don't stop the hop !!!

Here we are on day two of the Simon Says Stamp Blog Hop. If you have not yet played along, there is still plenty of time. All the instructions for the hop are on my previous post so keep scrolling down !!!

What a fantastic day we had yesterday ! I have never received so many lovely, lovely comments on my blog or visitors for that matter ! Thank you all so much and I hope you enjoyed yourselves (it did sound as though you did from your comments !).

As promised, here is the full sized version of yesterday's sneak peek !

The DP's are BasicGrey Lime Rickey - such funky, fun colours in this pad.

The frogs are an Exclusive Simon Says Stamp set called "Frogs Jumping for Joy"
These little chaps are so fun to work with. They have been coloured with ProMarkers.

The ribbon is from my stash (love these colours together) and the frog in the centre is from Hobbycraft.

Now if you think this card looks familiar and you may have seen it before, you may be right ! I couldn't believe my eyes when I went to upload my photos in the DT's album for the blog hop and saw the card that Debby had just uploaded too - they are virtually identical. How on Earth that happened I will never know ! Perhaps we have some telepathy we are not aware of !!!

Don't forget my blog candy ! Here is what is on offer and what you have to do to be in with a chance of winning it :

"Now for my blog candy ! My blog candy is a fantastic set of Exclusive Simon Says Stamp stamps called "Card Sentiments" (piccie below) and also Heidi will be putting in with your stamps an extra special surprise ! Even I don't know what it will be !!!

To be in with a chance of winning my blog candy, please become a follower, if you're not already ;o) and please leave a comment on this post and on every other blog hop blog !! :-) You will then be in with a chance of winning this set of Exclusive Simon Says Stamp set called "Card Sentiments". I will draw the winner at the end of the blog hop by random number generator".

Here is a photo of the stamps :



You can leave your comments on this post to enter the blog candy. I will count them up and will draw a winner at the end of the hop.

I hope you have fun again today and just to whet your appetite even further, here is another sneak peek of the card I have saved for you for tomorrow !

Have fun hopping and thank you so much for joining us and for leaving me such lovely comments.

Happy Hopping !

Simon Says Stamp Birthday Blog Hop !

Wooo Hooo ! How exciting is this ?!

As you may have gathered by now, today is the day that we are holding the SIMON SAYS STAMP BLOG HOP ! We are celebrating the first Birthday of Simon Says Stamp Blog and the Design Team Members are all participating in a blog hop to inspire you with so many of the stamps that Simon Says Stamp sells. Have you seen how many stamps Simon Says Stamp sells ? Some of us will be showcasing the Exclusive Simon Says Stamp brand of stamps - there are over 45 fabulous sets to choose from !!

Here are the instructions and rules for following our fabulous blog hop and I know they are boring but if you follow them properly, you will be in with a chance of being very well rewarded for your efforts !!

1. The blog hop STARTS at Simon Says Stamp Challenge Blog at 1400 GMT so you need to head back there if you did not start at the beginning so you do not miss anything !

2. At each blog there will be a mystery letter - collect all of the letters, unscramble them and post your answer at the end of the blog hop. Be sure to follow the blog hop all the way to the end, for a chance to win. The blog hop will end at the Simon Says Stamp Blog on Wednesday 24th June.

3. When you get to the Simon Says Stamp Blog, leave a comment that you hopped to all blogs, tell us the mystery phrase and you will be entered to win some fabby blog candy !!

4. You will get 1 entry for becoming a follower of both Simon Says Blogs (if you are already a follower, you automatically get an entry).

The blog candy is a whopping $100 shopping spree at the Simon Says Stamp Store !

Now for my blog candy ! My blog candy is a fantastic set of Exclusive Simon Says Stamp stamps called "Card Sentiments" (piccie below) and also Heidi will be putting in with your stamps an extra special surprise ! Even I don't know what it will be !!!

To be in with a chance of winning my blog candy, please become a follower, if you're not already ;o) and please leave a comment on this post and on every other blog hop blog !! :-) You will then be in with a chance of winning this set of Exclusive Simon Says Stamp set called "Card Sentiments". I will draw the winner at the end of the blog hop by random number generator.

Here is a photo of the stamps :

I have used one of these stamps on my card below :

The DP is Daisy Bucket "Magical Moments - Debbie's Dragonflies".

The Magnolia image is Tilda with Flowers from the Chasing Butterflies collection which is available to purchase from Simon Says Stamp. Did you know that Simon Says Stamp now stocks a huge range of Magnolia Stamps and they are being added to day by day ?

The mini flowers are Hero Arts Art flowers which are also available to buy from Simon Says Stamp. I have filled the centres with liquid pearls and guess what ? Yes, you can also buy this from SSS !

I have used a piece of Whitewash Cord'inations which I ran through my Cuttlebug with the swiss dot folder and then sanded.

The ribbon, pearls and ribbon are from my stash.

I am also going to enter this card into this week's Sketch Saturday Challenge as I followed their sketch and also, Simon Says Stamp is sponsoring this week's challenge !

The MYSTERY letter for my blog is P

Now head over to Kendra who is waiting for you with her mystery letter !

Thank you for coming to visit. Please come back tomorrow when I will have another card to showcase for our massive blog hop extravaganza !! Here is a sneek peek of tomorrow's card to whet your appetite !!

I hope you have fun at all the other blogs and most of all, GOOD LUCK !!

Simon Says Stamp Blog Hop and Sneek Peek !!!

Well, I promised you more details about the Simon Says Stamp Blog Hop and here they are together with a sneek peek of the first card I am showcasing for this celebratory blog hop.


Simon Says Stamp Blog is celebrating its first birthday and to celebrate we decided it would be a lovely idea to have a blog hop and to offer some amazing prizes for you (I'm keeping you in suspenders for this one !!!) - you won't be disappointed !!


The blog hop starts tomorrow, Sunday 21st June at 2pm GMT and will start at the Simon Says Stamp Blog. The blog hop will run until Wednesday 24th June so there will be plenty of opportunity to join us. Details of what you have to do along the blog hop will be put on the Simon Says Stamp Blog as well as the blogs you will be hopping to tomorrow.


Here is a sneek peek of my card for tomorrow !

I can't wait to see you all and it would be lovely if you could join us in our celebrations.

See you tomorrow !

Colour Create Challenge # 20 - Strawberry, Raspberry, Kiwi, Tangerine and Blackberry

Wow, have we really done 20 of these challenges already ? Where does the time go ?

Thank you all so much for your kind words. I am feeling a lot better now although still very sore and I have to sort through my wardrobe every morning trying to find something comfy that isn't going to rub, ooooh ! I look a right mess, good job I'm not off somewhere exotic on holiday. My DH likens me to a crispy duck - doesn't he just say the sweetest things ?!!!

This week on Colour Create we are getting all fruity - oooh errr missus !!!!

Tara sums it up extremely well (she is so good with words !!) :

"So when I was sitting having a think about a theme and some colours for this week's challenge I realised that the Wimbledon tennis tournament is about to start in the UK. Anyone who sits glued to this like me will know that it conjurs up thoughts of eating strawberries and cream or drinking Pimms and lemonade packed with summer fruits....... or even better both, lol! So that's the inspiration for our challenge - fruits. Choose ANY THREE of the following colours; Strawberry, Raspberry, Kiwi, Tangerine and Blackberry. We'd hate to think that you couldn't play along because you don't have quite the right shades of these colours, so a little bit of artistic licence is just fine.......... I suppose we're talking Red, Pink, Green, Orange and Black really, but don't they sound scrummy when you give them fruity names?!

Here is a picture to help you out a bit..........

And now for the optional extra...... we're staying with the fruit theme for this one, so we would like you to incorporate fruits somewhere into your design, be it the papers, the image, the embellishments or the sentiment. Please remember that this isn't compulsory though and that you may combine our challenge with any other you feel like entering ;o)"

So, there you go ! Here is my card :

The base card is black Bazzill

The DP's are October Afternoon "Cherry Hill". Tara and I had to have a laugh about this. I had made up my card and just needed to stick the image in place as I was waiting for the distress ink and glossy accents to dry and couldn't believe it when I saw that I had used not only the same colours but also the same DP's as Tara !!

I used a Fiskars border punch on the apple paper.

The image is a House Mouse, Happy Hoppers stamp called "An Apple a Day". I painted the image with distress inks and added glossy accents to the apples.

The ribbon, button and jute are from my stash and the flowers are white prima flowers one of which has been glimmer misted green.

The DT's creations are amazing again this week and we have all chosen different fruits so hop on over and have a look for some good inspiration.

Take care and have a great, fruity Thursday !

Simon Says Challenge !

Good morning ! I am so sorry for being such a bad blogger, all self inflicted unfortunately. Ski had her school fete on Saturday and I got terribly sun burnt so bad in fact I ended up having sun stoke and the most painful neck and arms I have ever experienced in my life. I smothered the girls from head to foot in sun lotion but put it back in the bag when it was my turn, I never gave myself a thought. I will from now on though, I shall remember this for a very long time !

Well this week on Simon Says Challenge we are saying HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Simon Says Stamp ! Yes, Simon Says Stamp is celebrating its first birthday ! So for this challenge we want you to be creative with all things birthday and join us in our celebrations.

We will also be celebrating with a blog hop which will start at the Simon Says Challenge blog and will end at Simon Says Stamp where you will be able to pick up some fantastic prizes along the way ! The blog hop will start on 21st June at 1400 GMT and will end on 24th June. More details to follow later !

Again, Heidi has very generously given a $25 shopping spree to the winner of our birthday challenge.

The base card is black Bazzill

The pattered paper is unfortunately unknown. I bought it when I first started cardmaking from Hobbycraft and this is the first time I have opened the packet !

The white/pink card is Whitewash Core'dinations which I ran through my birthday folder on the Cuttlebug and then sanded. The purple matting card is also Core'dinations.

The image is a Happy Hoppers, House Mouse stamp called "Balloon Journey" which is available to buy from Simon Says Stamp. This little cutie has been coloured with ProMarker and Prismacolor marker pens. The background has been inked with broken china distress ink.

The sentiment is from a fantastic set from Simon Says Stamp called "Simply The Best" sentiments. The little tag attached to the balloons is also from the same set. I thought it added a nice touch ! You can see it better in the photo below.

The blue tule is a pressie from my very lovely friend Martine ! Thank's darlin !

We also have another "Designer in the Spotlight" for you and this week it is the very talented Kendra who has joined us.

We look forward to seeing all your fantastic entries. The DT's creations are amazing again this week and it would be lovely if you could hop over and visit them and leave them a nice comment as the nice comments always mean so much.

See you back here tomorrow for Colour Create but until then, keep slapping on the sun cream !

Hugs to all !

Colour Create Challenge # 19

What a great response we had to last week's tricky challenge. We are so pleased to see it didn't put any of you off !!

This week at Colour Create, we have an easy colour combo for you pink, lilac and mossy green and the optional extra is to use a die cut (although its not compulsory !).

We also have some great news for you ! We have a new member to our team. Dena has joined us on a permanent basis and we have gained another wonderful cardmaker who produces some stunning creations and has supported our challenge almost every week - welcome aboard Dena!

Here is my card :

The patterned papers are from a digi kit from Designs by Krista and would you believe the whole kit is $1 !!!

The dark pink card is Core'dinations.

The image is an image I received a long, long time ago. This little darlin has been coloured with Prismacolor pencils and the background inked with tattered rose and dusty concord distress ink.

The jute is from Nikki Fairburn or Bunny Zoe as you might know her. She has her own Etsy shop and I bought this from her. She has some lovely items in her shop, so different too and she is extremely quick and friendly in her service. She comes highly recommended !

The flowers are from my stash, the roses from Hobbycraft and the leaves are from a Sizzix die cut and I have added some liquid pearls to them.

The sentiment is an October Afternoon rub-on.

My fellow DT members have done a spectacular job again this week so please leave them some of your bestest comments !

Thank you for looking ! Have a good day !

Simon Says Challenge !

Wow, what a fantastic response we had to our Tim Holtz challenge - you will be pleased to know we reached our target of 100 entries in fact, we received 118 entries so a big thank you to all those people who succombed to my badgering !!!

This week, I promise, no badgering and sounding like a double glazing salesman ! After all, with this challenge, I don't think I will need to !

This week on Simon Says Challenge we have a colour combination for you and its BROWN and PINK.

The base card is a Papermania scalloped card.

I have no idea what the patterned paper is. I know it has an oriental theme and I bought it a long time ago !

The images are from the new range of Simon Says Stamp Exclusive stamps called Magnificent Asian and Happy Day Asian Flare. I heat embossed the cherry blossom with gold embossing powder. The Asian figure I paper pieced with the backing paper and also a piece of handmade paper which I found in my scraps box.

The little house is a p$%l off !! which was originally black but I coloured it with a Prismacolor gold pen. I wonder how many of us have a stack of peel offs we just had to have when we first started out and are now getting dusty in a corner ? Perhaps that's an idea for a challenge ?

The ribbon is from my stash.

The sentiment is from the stamp set too.

We look forward to seeing your brown and pink creations. Again there are some fantastic examples by the DT and we also have Rach in our Designer Spotlight. Well worth a visit !

Thank you for looking and thank you so much for all your lovely comments which I appreciate so much as they mean so much to me.

I have also decided to enter this card into the Charisma Cardz Challenge this week as their theme is also pink and brown !

Hugs,

A Vintage Feel

Good morning ! I hope you all had a good weekend and it didn't rain too much - such a shame it wasn't as nice as last weekend. Still, it gave me the chance stay indoors and get some crafting done.

After looking through the entries for the Simon Says Challenge this week which are so inspiring and receiving my yummy DT pack from Heidi, I wanted to have a go at "vintage". It is also my Great Aunt's birthday next weekend, she will be 86 this year and can you believe that she has been married to my Great Uncle for 66 years this year ! I wanted to send her something special as I love my Great Aunt to bits !






The base card is some brown Bazzill basics card.

The pattered papers are Melissa Frances Rhonda which I have distressed and inked with old paper distress ink.

The image is gorgeous isn't she ? She is a Stamp 'n' Stor Art Stamp and Posh Limited (so it says on the label !!) She has been stamped with Versafine Onyx Black.

The background is a mixture of distress inks, old paper, tea dye and brushed corduroy.

The border stamp is Kelly Panicci.

The frame is made out of grungeboard, painted with vintage photo crackle paint, rubbed with walnut stain distress and then sprayed with coffee shop and gold glimmer mist in other words "the business" ! My DH cut the frame for me !

The hearts were cut with my nesties. The brown heart had the same treatment as the frame and the cream heart was painted with white metallic acrylic paint mixed with some vintage photo crackle paint to make the paint a cream colour and when it was dry I added some crackle accents to it.

The flowers are a mixture I bought from Hobbycraft and I bunched them together, tied them with a piece of lace and sandwiched them between the hearts !

The other flowers are Hero Arts and roses from Hobbycraft. The leaves are from a Sizzix die, rubbed with some brushed corduroy distress ink and sprayed with gold glimmer mist.

There is still time of course to enter the Simon Says Challenge this week which of course is all about "Tim Holtz". I feel like a double glazing salesman at the moment as I feeling like I'm plugging this challenge to an inch of its life but we really want to get to our target of 100 entries. We are nearly, nearly there at 80 and with your help, I am sure we can get there - pretty please !! Don't forget that there are two fabby prizes on offer and who would want to miss out on the chance of winning a signed piece of artwork by Tim Holtz himself ?!!!

It doesn't have to be vintage, grungy or something way out of your comfort zone. It can be cute and cuddly but with the odd torn edge or two, a bit of ink on the edges or a sprinkling of Stickles. Also you DO NOT have to use any Tim Holtz products at all and you can combine it with as many challenges as you like and add multiple entries if you have made that many ! So, the next time you drop that Versafine ink pad all over that card that has just taken you hours, enter it for our challenge !!!

Right, I'm going to be quiet now otherwise they will be enrolling me to work for Everest or Safestyle or something !!!

Thank's for listening and thank you for visiting !

Just Magnolia and Cute Card Thursday

Wow, I have finally managed to get some crafting done and a couple of challenges at that !!

I made my card for Just Magnolia as I've been wanting to join in since it started and then I found out on Tara's blog that it also qualifies for Cute Card Thursday as they would like to see punching and die cutting. I don't usually manage to do one challenge let alone two !!

Rach has designed a fabby sketch on Just Magnolia and I shall be using this one again although next time, I will get my eyes tested first ! I could have sworn the centre was an oval and not a circle. I hope it still qualifies although I think one of the DT used an oval shape ?

The patterned paper is BasicGrey Blush.

The image is a gorgeous Tilda my lovely, lovely friend Tara sent to me. She has been coloured with Prismacolor pencils and a little touch of Cosmic Shimmer paint on the flowers. The background has been inked using broken china and tattered rose distress inks.

The dark red card and bluey/green card are Core'dinations. I used an unknown clear stamp on the red card and heat embossed it with clear embossing powder to give a watermarked look. The green card has been punched with a Fiskars border punch.

The ribbon is from my stash and is gorgeous. It's a brown/copper colour and has a shimmer of blue in it (I think you can just see it in the photo). It actually goes really well with the blue in the paper.

The flowers have been cut with a retro flower punch and daisy punch and I have added some Distress Stickles to the petals and centres.

The sentiment is a Simon Says Stamp Exclusive set called "Simply the Best" and the little heart was left over from the Fiskars border punch I used.

Now I could also enter this card into the Simon Says Challenge this week but I can't as I'm on the DT but you could if you have made one like this ! Why not hop over and see what you have to do and be in with a chance of not only winning a $25 spending spree in the Simon Says Stamp Store but also a SIGNED piece of Tim Holtz artwork !!!

Have a great Saturday and thank you so much for popping by and saying hello !

Win a piece of TIM HOLTZ !

Yes, you read it right, you can win a signed piece of artwork by the Master himself, Mr Tim Holtz and here it is :







So, what do you have to do to get your hands on this beauty ?


All you have to do is enter the Simon Says Challenge which is all about Tim Holtz and his products. The challenge is open to everyone whether you have any Tim Holtz products or not. Just make something 'Inspired by Tim' He has made some awesome video's for you to see and you can see them here


Not only can you get your hands on this wonderful prize but there is another prize on offer this week too ! A $25 spending spree on Tim Holtz products in the Simon Says Stamp Store !


We had such a fantastic response to our last challenge we are sure you can make this one even better as we know how much you love Tim Holtz ! We also have it on good authority that Tim himself is watching the challenge so would you like Tim to see your name in lights (well, on Mr Linky !!!!) ? We have set our target of 100 entries this week. The challenge finishes at 8am (GMT) on Wednesday 10th June so you have one week to get your entry in !


Good luck and we hope to see you !

Colour Create Challenge # 18

Good morning ! and a lovely bright and sunny one too and its a couple of degrees cooler which makes it more bearable.

Yes, its Thursday and its Colour Create time ! Thank you for bearing with us while we moved to a Thursday. To make up for any inconvenience caused, Tara is offering some super blog candy for you all - isn't she kind ?

Before I tell you about the challenge we have for you this week, I have some good news and some bad news.

The good news is that we have a new DT member. Her name is Di and she is an amazingly talented lady and we are very lucky to have her on our team. Welcome Di and I hope you enjoy yourself with us gals on Colour Create.

The bad news is that the super talented and highly inspirational Judy is leaving us :o( I shall be upset to see Judy leave us but understand that family commitments have to come first. Judy is a lovely, lovely lady and her work just blows me away everytime. I wish Judy well and will still keep popping my head around the door to see what she is up to !!!

The challenge this week on Colour Create is "colours of the rainbow" and the option extra is to make a scene !




Here is the card I made for this week's challenge :

The pattered papers are K&Company.

The image is a Woodware stamp from a fabby set called "Jungle Pals". This snappy fellow has been coloured with Prisma's. The croc has been cut out and mounted onto 3d pads.

The leaves have been punched with two sizes of Woodware Monstera leaf punch and the edges wiped over with some peeled paint distress ink and highlighted with a white gel pen.

The flowers are from my stash.

The sentiment is a Imaginisce Snag 'em Stamp.

I think I managed to incorporate all the colours of the rainbow in my card and just in case you are thinking that purple doesn't appear, that is in the inside of the card that I also decorated !

The sentiment on the inside is from a Melissa Frances clear stamp set.

The rest of the DT have done a terrific job again this week so you must pop over and go and have a look at their fabby scenes !!

Have a great day !

Simon Says Challenge !

I hope you are all enjoying this splendid sunshine ! I am hoping and praying it will last and we have a fantastic Summer this year - fingers crossed.

This week on Simon Says Challenge the DT had enormous fun and I think it will be a challenge we will remember for a long time. We all adore Tim Holtz and his products, every single one of them although we aren't lucky enough to have used them all ! Heidi very generously sent us out a DT package of "Holtz Goodies" for us to try and so we made it into a challenge - how fantastic ! We had a mixture of stamps, distress inks, stickles, crackle paint, grungeboard, tools - the mind boggled !

Unfortunately the postal system took just under a month for my goodies to arrive and it finally arrived yesterday lunchtime and the challenge is today ! I already have some distress inks and other stamps so I had something in mind to make just in case the parcel did go AWOL ! The rest of the DT spent days and days rolling and unrolling their prayer mats and eventually, all their praying paid off - thank's gals !!


Well, here we go, my Holtz tag !!



I cut the tag myself from a piece of chipboard (saved for me by the girls I used to work with from their telephone notepads !) and a piece of white card glued to the front.

I used tattered rose, milled lavender and dusty concord distress inks and the ink applicator tool with foam for the background and edges of the tag.

I tore a sheet of text from an old book from a charity shop and glued that to the tag and applied ink to that too.

The stamp is a Stamper Anonymous stamp COM008 Vogue which I heat embossed with white embossing powder.

The flourish is grungeboard. Oh my goodness, you have to try this stuff, its amazing ! It has a very pungent smell to it like leather and you can do what you like to it, it just won't break apart and you can ink it, paint it, distress it, run it through your die cutting machine with embossing folders, sand it, there are endless possibilities. You can buy it in plain sheets and die cut it yourself or you can buy it with shapes already cut - the hearts and wings are next on my list, and the keys and hinges and, and !!!!

I used some metallic white acrylic paint on my flourish which I found in my paint box and also dabbed some purple metallic acrylic paint on there too. When it was dry I applied some Crackle Accents.

The sentiment "Dream" is a Melissa Frances transfer which are an absolutely "dream" to use ! There is no fear of only part of the transfer being left on the backing paper, these are so easy to rub off, they are fantastic. Heidi has just received the complete range of Melissa Frances transfers in store and I cannot recommend them enough, they are for every occasion and look fantastic. You can even use them on chipboard and glass !

The lace is from my stash and the hairy bits are wool from my local market !!

So the challenge this week is to get creative with Tim Holtz. If you don't have any you can still join in, just make something 'Inspired by Tim' He has made some awesome video's for you to see and you can see them here

The prize this week is $25 to spend on Tim Holtz products in the Simon Says Stamp Store ! The Simon Says Stamp store sells a huge, huge range of Tim Holtz products (19 pages worth !) and you won't be disappointed. Everything the DT has used in their creations, Heidi sells in store.

You must have a look at the rest of the DT's creations, they are amazing and we have all made something different with our goodies.

I would also like to say a huge thank you to all those people who took part in our last challenge which was Animals. I am pleased to say that we reached our target of 100 entries and both Heidi and Lorraine have donated $25 each to the Humane Society for Animals.

Have fun !