This Thursday, it's all about - Challenge

I haven't made anything now for over a week and its driven me mad. I've had a very poorly little girl to look after and I was poorly myself in the week with dreadful tonsillitis but we are now fit and well and I can get back to it.

I found these Hero Arts clear stamps in my drawer buried so I decided to blow the dust off them and use them. I remembered that This Thursday's challenge was all about using beads so these particular stamps are perfect for that. I even went the whole hog and completely covered the cherries in beads. I think it all looks good enough to eat !!

I used .......

Pink card from The Papermillshop.

Stripey paper downloaded from Kaboodle Doodles

Hero Arts cupcake stamps

Ribbon from Poppicrafts

Beads from stash and jewels from Papermania.

At last ! Some proper blogging help !

Would you like to create your own blog but you are unsure how to go about it ?

Do you already have a blog but you would like to know how to add a different header, change the skin, add a widget, add a blinkie or anything else for that matter ?

Do you have a "silly" question about blogging you have been dying to ask but never found anyone to help you ?

Well, I have the answer !

The wonderful Martine from the Crafts Beautiful Forum has set up a blog answering all those questions you have been burning to ask. Martine is a self taught blogger but she definately knows her onions. She has set up a really helpful blog called Girls can blog too All you have to do is leave Martine your question and she will try and answer it for you.

This is what we have been waiting for boys and girls ! Get asking those questions now !

Kaboodle Doodles

I have downloaded these scrummy papers from Kaboodle Doodles and made these two cards from them. The download is called "Stitched Up" and comes with lots of added extras like flowers and hearts etc. They are lovely, bright, cheerful and Summery.

For the first card I made the flowers myself and added some Stickles to them. The brads are Papermania brads. The ribbon was absolutely perfect for this card. I bought it from my local market a couple of weeks ago. The sentiment is a Studio G clear stamp.

For the second card I used some Penny Black Stickeroos which I have had for ages and never used. The flowers and sentiment came with the download of papers. I added some glamour dust to them and the letters on the sentiment (although you can't see it on this picture) and I used some gems just received in a magazine.

Blog Candy up for grabs and new craft shop opening

Fellow Crafts Beautiful member, Cambiel is offering blog candy on her blog to celebrate 1,000 hits - fantastic ! Not only that, but she has opened up her new craft shop online too ! The name of her craft shop is Pollycrafts. Please nip over and have a look at her blog and shop, they are both well worth looking at.

Good luck Cambiel in your future venture.

Waste Not. Want Not !

While tidying away after my cardmaking, I had some paper left over so rather than just throw it away or tuck it into a drawer with other scraps (like I usually do !) I decided to make a mini card from all the bits a pieces left over to go with a RAK that I am sending to a new member of the Crafts Beautiful forum. Again (and again, please don't tell my OH !), this is a stamp I haven't used before !

The stamp I used is "Tilda picking flowers"

The stamps are Studio G stamp

The dragonfly brads are from Lakeland.

A Friend's Birthday and the Penny Black Saturday Challenge

I finally got around to doing some more cardmaking yesterday and boy, it felt good !

I made this card for a friend's birthday with a Penny Black stamp I haven't used before (don't tell the other half !). The stamp is called "Good Friends" and it was lovely to paint.

After making my card I had a look at the Penny Black Saturday Challenge which is into its second week. The theme of this week's challenge is "Friendship".

"I think its fair to say we have all made some wonderful friends through blogging so
this week we would like you to create something you would give to a friend".

Funny enough, I thought as I was going to send this card to a friend and the Penny Black stamp was also called "Good Friends" I entered it for the challenge.

I used to make this card :

Papers from Daisie Company called "Faded Charm"

Penny Black stamp called "Good Friends" painted with Derwent Inktense watercolour pencils.

Sentiment made from my nestabilities and stamped with a Studio G clear stamp

Flowers from Poppicrafts

Pearl brads from Papermania.

I've been tagged - by 3 people !!

I've been tagged by 3 different people today, Ultramum, Lauren (Lollies) and Copse all of the CB Forum. Well, here are my answers you are all dying to find out !!!!!

10 years ago

Well, we moved into this house we are now in 11 years ago this month and it was in a right state. I guess I was probably in my scruffs and up to my eyes in dust, plaster and paint !

5 things in today's to do list

Wash up (yuk !)
Ironing (yuk !)
Make sure the girls are happy and look after them
Make some cards (yippee !)
Cook the tea

Snacks I enjoy

Kid's jelly sweets (especially Maynards Sports Mix !), crisps, chocolate, anything thats bad for me really !

10 things I would do if I was a millionnaire

Move house preferably by the sea in the middle of nowhere with a huge craft room and of course have all the craft goodies I need !
Go on holiday
Give our girls their own private tutor or send them to a really good school
Buy my OH the cars he really wants
Take our girls to Disneyland
Help out my friends and some charities
I would then save the rest for our old age and our girls for their future

Places I have lived

Leicester
Southwick, Nr. Trowbridge in Wiltshire
Frome in Somerset
Trowbridge

Who I am going to tag

When I can find someone who hasn't been tagged, I will tag them so keep still everyone I'm comin' for ya !!!!!

Sassycrafts Magnolia Challenge Entry

Emma from Sassycrafts is running a Magnolia Challenge....

"It's your chance to win a Magnolia stamp from our stock!! Yes, thats right - the winner gets to choose the Magnolia stamp they want (stamp must be in stock).All you have to do is create a craft project of your choice, there are no rules except for it must contain at least one magnolia stamp and the stamp must be the focal point!! The rest is up to you.The competition/challenge will run for 2 weeks ending at midnight (GMT time) on 5th July 2008. If there are under 5 entries the deadline will be extended until a minimum of 5 enties have been received. Crafters from across the globe are welcome to enter. Please leave a link to your card in the comment box, alternatively if you don't have anywhere to link form please email your cards to emma@sassycrafts.co.uk. Cards must be created for this challenge and new work only!Good luck and thank you if you take part. x"

The link for this challenge is http://sassy-crafts.blogspot.com/2008/06/magnolia-stamp-for-grabs.html

This is my entry !

For this card I used :

Papermania Retro Floral paper pack.

Summery Tilda painted with Cosmic Shimmer watercolour paint.

Studio G stamps for the butterfly and snail.

My new nestabilities with Studio G sentiment stamp for the centre.

Buttons from Poppicrafts.

Lots of Stickles and Glamour Dust for the flowers and butterflies.

Crafts Beautiful June Card Swap

I received this wonderful card (and a fantastic RAK of some papers) from Heather1981 for the CB June Card Swap. I love the Ladybug stamps and this card is just lovely. Thank's Heather !

I also received another RAK which was totally out of the blue (as they are supposed to be) from Fishnet of the CB forum. It is a lovely envelope filled with pot pourri with a picture of lovely teddies on the front which smells absolutely devine. It comes with a stand so you can place it anywhere. I've placed it in my lounge and its making the whole of downstairs smell so nice. Thank's Fishnet !

Sassycrafts - Dovecraft Challenge

Emma from Sassycrafts is running a Dovecraft Challenge :

"Your challenge is to make a craft project (it can be a card, LO or anything else you fancy) using at least 3 Dovecraft products. Now this will be real easy as they make papers, brads, eyelets, stamps and many many more.Your project can be for any occasion but please list the Dovecraft products you have used and leave a link for us to view your craft project in the comment box. Minimum of 5 entrants in order for the challenge to take place. If there are less than 5 by the deadline, it will be extended.This challenge will run for 2 weeks and the winner will be announced on the blog so don't forget to check to see who's won!As with everything, it's more fun if there's something to win!!"

The link to this Challenge is http://sassy-crafts.blogspot.com/search/label/Dovecraft

This is my entry.

The three Dovecraft products I used are :-

The backing paper is from Kate Knight Amethyst - Floral Prints

The purple paper I used as a mat for the flower stamp and the sentiment are a different piece of paper from the Kate Knight Amethyst - Floral Prints paper pack.

The sentiment is a Dovecraft Stamp - DCRS96

The flower stamp is a Penny Black Stamp called Portraits which I coloured with a purple and deep pink Whisper pens and then spritzed with water to give a watercoloured look. I did this three times and then decoupaged the flowers to give depth to the card. I used Fruit Punch Stickles to give a little sparkle to the centre of the flowers. I edged the card with a Whisper lilac archival ink pad.

The brads are Papermania Brads with Star Dust Stickles on them to give them a sparke.

The ribbon is from a local shop.

Bind It All Notebook

I had another go at using my Bind It All again. It's my friend's birthday and so I decided to give her a different present. She is just like me and loves books and pens. I also bought her a nice pen to go with it.

I used some more papers I downloaded from the Daisie Company called "Sprightly Spring".

The flowers are from Poppicrafts.

The brads are Papermania.

I used my Cuttlekids "Fairy" alphabet for her name and of course, it was Colorbox fluid chalked !

More Love !

Charmed Cards have been running a competition and the theme for that has been "Love". For a change from using the usual colours to symbolise love, I decided to have a change and use different colours. I found this Sugar Nellie image which someone gave me and thought it was perfect. Love doesn't have to be with a person, it can be our pets and you can also love your best friend which pets usually are.

I can't imagine for one moment that I will win the competition as the other entries are stunning but it was a challenge to make something that little bit different.

While making the card I wanted some brown buttons for the centre of the flowers. I remembered that I had upstairs, deep in a cupboard, a very old Quality Street tin which my Grandma (who died about 15 years ago) gave me which is full to the brim with buttons (you used to do that in those days, keep all the buttons off of clothes !). I found two brown buttons that fitted perfectly in the centres which came from a cardigan belonging to my Grandad who died about 20 years ago. Love is also in those buttons.

Crafts Beautiful - June Bookmark Swap

This is the first time I have taken part in the bookmark swap on the Crafts Beautiful Forum. The theme was "Love" and so I made this heart.

The pink paper I used is some dotty glitter handmade paper from Lakeland which I stamped with Versacolor Raspberry ink on hearts from Studio G.

The beads are from Bijoux Beads which I stitched in a line on the bookmark.

The ribbon is from Poppicrafts and I found a ribbon brad which I coloured with a pink Whispers permanent pen.

I hope the recipient likes it !

Crafts Beautiful June Card Swap

The theme for the Crafts Beautiful June Card Swap was "Female - Floral" and I had to send my card to the very talented Devonbunny - I was very nervous ! As I always seem to be playing around with Magnolia stamps, I decided to play with something a bit different this time and used my new Penny Black stamp which has had an outing but not in public !!

I also decided to send Jules a RAK to thank her for her ongoing kindness and support. I made this little folder and put some Penny Black images in it for her and some chipboard flowers, butterflies and dragonflies in it for her to have a play with. I am looking forward to seeing what she creates.

I'm glad you liked it all Jules ! x

Tilda & Co - Swirls

This was a nice challenge this week and I loved making this card especially since I was using a new stamp and new paper !

This is what I used to make my card :

The papers are downloads from Daisie Company and are Kirsten's Bliss and Ronna Penner's Faded Charm.

The stamp is Tilda with Magnolias - beautiful stamp to work with.

The swirls are Studio G clear stamps.

I also used some glitter glue on the flower and some gems for the swirls.

Who said I couldn't make just one card ! Well, I couldn't resisit it !!

After such a lovely afternoon out, the girls fast asleep in bed and so many more hours of daylight left, I just had to make a card. Poor Relaxing Tilda was dying to be used for the first time so I made a birthday card for my friend.

I used raspberry pink card from The Papermillshop.

Basic Grey Sultry papers.

Relaxing Tilda stamp coloured with Derwent watercolour pencils.

Wiltshire is so beautiful

What a gorgeous day for a change. It's been so lovely, sunny and warm today and definately not a day for sitting in and making cards ! The girls and I decided to have an afternoon out so off we went to "Heaven's Gate" which is on the Longleat Estate. It is absolutely wonderful there, so peaceful (even though there were a lot of people visiting). A woodland walk bringing you to, well, Heaven. I can see why it was named "Heaven's Gate"


These are the photos I took along the way....







And finally, Heaven........

If you look carefully (or click on the photo for an enlargement) you can see Longleat House in the background and the fountains in the garden. The safari park is all around too and sometimes you can see the animals !

Tilda on a Swing

Oh dear, I have been buying again ! Sassycrafts have a discount on Magnolia Stamps too good to miss so I couldn't resist any longer and bought some more to add to my collection ! I made this card last night with Swinging Tilda and the Swing. This is what I used to make it.

The stamps are Swinging Tilda, Magnolia Swing, Magnolia Summer background, Penny Black stamp for the flowers.

The blue paper is from the Canon Creative Park website, the papers on here are FREE to download (fantastic and the papers are lovely especially seeing as they are for free). The address for that site is http://cp.c-ij.com/english/scrapbook/pattern/01.html

I printed the clouds with the Summer background stamp in Versa Colour Smoke Blue and then outlined them with a Sakura white Gellyroll pen. The sun is coloured with a yellow and orange Sakura glaze pen to add "shine".

The green paper is Basic Grey Sugared with the grass from the Summer background stamp in various shades of green in Colorbox Chalk.

Tilda and the swing are coloured with Derwent watercolour pencils and her dress is paper pierced with a sheet from the Papermania Retro Floral pad.

The butterflies have been cut from another piece of paper I downloaded from the Canon website and Star Dust Stickles added to their wings.

Tilda & Co - None Card Week

Now this was a difficult challenge this week for me. I decided in the end I would make a photograph frame with a difference. Here is the result and I hope you like it !

To make this photograph frame I used my Serif DrawPlus program to make the template for the frame. I then cut out the frame on DCWV Posies Glitter Print 12x12 Petite Sunrise Posies card.

The alphabet letters are Basic Grey Mini Monogram Stickers - Two Scoops. I put these onto card and then cut around them.

The beads are from Bijoux Beads in Bath.

The "Angels" are from Heaven.

My last Ladybug Stamp

I have been able this morning to have a play with the last Ladybug stamp I bought a while back together with some handmade papers I bought from Lakeland. The papers are fantastic, very different and very strokeable (I am sure any paper crafter will know what I mean by this !) and it was difficult to choose out of so many.

The dark green backing paper is Basic Grey Sugared (my last piece as well !).

The other patterned papers are the handmade papers from Lakeland.

The brads are Papermania.

The flower and ribbon are from Poppicrafts.

Also featured is my new watermark !

Check out my new snazzy watermark ?

I have always liked the look of those snazzy watermarks on photos so when I saw that Donna from the Crafts Beautiful Forum and Tilda & Co. had set up her own site making blog headers and watermarks, I just had to contact her. Donna provided an excellent, personal service, asked what I would like for my watermark and hey presto, it was done within no time ! Not only does she design the most fantastic headers and watermarks but she also gives you step by step instructions of how to use them too which is a bonus if you know as much about computers as I do !

If you fancy being snazzy along with me, please visit Donna at her site. The address is http://digitaltester.blogspot.com