Simon Says Stamp Challenge at Papercraft Plant

Hi everyone !

I hope you are all OK ?

Just popping by to let you know about a new challenge which has started over at Papercraft Planet for Simon Says Stamp. The theme is "BLING" and you have until 30th May to enter. There is a fabby prize on offer too. The link for this challenge is :

http://www.papercraftplanet.com/group/simonsaysstamp

Edit : I have been advised that the previous link did not work. This one now does !

We look forward to you joining us.

Take care,

Simon Says Challenge - Buttons, Bows and Bling

Whoops ! I'm running so late this morning. Seems to be the story of my life at the moment. How I ever managed to find the time to work full time I will never know !!!

The challenge this week over at Simon Says Challenge is BUTTONS, BOWS AND BLING.

There is a fantastic prize of a $25 shopping spree in the Simon Says Stamp store !

The DP's are some old Papermania ones I found on a shelf.

The image is by the Greeting Farm and is from the set "Happy Day". She has been coloured with ProMarkers. Simon Says Stamp sells hundreds of Greeting Farm stamps - go check them out !

The tulle, button and bling are all from my stash.

I hope that you can join in with us this week. The DT's cards and creations are all amazing. Please hop over and have a look. We are featuring The Greeting Farm stamps for you this week.

Thank you for your visit and for any comments you may leave.

Don't forget my blog candy although as I am off for the weekend, I shall be drawing this on Tuesday now so you will have more time to take part.

Have a great day !

Craft Barn Mini Album - Page 6

Good afternoon ! I hope you all had a terrific weekend and enjoyed the sun ? What a fantastic day we had on Saturday - so lovely and warm.

We spent the weekend preparing for our first camping trip. We are all feeling apprehensive but I am sure that when we get there, we will love it (well, fingers crossed anyway !!).

I made my 6th page for my mini album last night and finished it off at 5.30am this morning (told you I was apprehensive !!!).







The DP's are BasicGrey "Nook and Pantry"

The cupcakes and words are Hero Arts stamps.

The sentiment is by Cat's Life Press.

The flowers are Prima Shabby Chic and Artful Collage. The flower centre was given to me by my lovely friend and teamie Dena.

The photos are of the girls when they have been cooking. I can't remember what Mollie was making us in this picture but Izzy had just returned from pre-school with some cakes she had made and she was dying to eat them but silly Mummy insisted on taking her photo several times before she was allowed to eat them !!!

I might just leave the remaining pages until after the weekend and then I can have some new photos to use.

The challenge for the Craft Barn runs until 15th May so you still have time in you want to join in. Details are in my sidebar if you just click on the Craft barn goodie bag !

Thank you for your visit and for any comments you may leave.

Have a lovely Monday !

Craft Barn Mini Album - Page 5

Phew ! Sorry about the disappearing act ! Life has just been so manic here over the last couple of days and it looks like its set to stay for a week or two but its all good stuff so I can't complain.

Izzy started ballet a couple of days ago and she loved it ! I think I was more nervous and fought back the tears sat outside the room waiting for her !!! My baby is growing up ! I hope she carries on enjoying it as selfishly I want a piccie of her all dressed up in a tutu and ballet shoes !

I'm also not sure if we are being as mad as a box of frogs but we decided to buy a tent and camping equipment this week and we have booked our first weekend away for next week - gulp !!! It seems to be the only way we are going to afford a holiday away so we are giving it a bash ! Think of me won't you ?!!!!

Anyway, back to what you have come to see ! My next page for my mini album. I need to get my skates on now and make the other 5 !

The DP's are October Afternoon "Thrift Shop" and I've attached these by sewing them with my sewing machine.

The flourish is a Bazzill chippie which I have covered in crackle paint and inked with vintage photo distress ink.

The flowers and doily are all from my stash and I have sprayed these with pearl glimmer mist.

The sentiment is a Cats Life Press stamp.

I took this photo of the girls only a couple of days ago.

Right, must dash - lots to do !

Thank you for your visit and for any comments you may leave.

Have a great Sunday !

Craft Barn Mini Album - Page 4

Good afternoon ! Good news, good news ! My Spring Kit arrived this morning from Magnolia. Got me jumping for joy all over the house it did !!

As promised, I am back with page 4 of my mini album for the Craft Barn challenge (details over in my sidebar). Just look at these two mucky pups !

The DP's are My Mind's Eye "Signature Christmas".

I have put on a strip of corrugated card and splodged it with white crackle paint. I wanted to give a bit of a messy look to tie in with the photos ! I also stamped some flourishes under this card but it doesn't show too well !

The flowers are from my stash as well as the raffia, button and string.

The label has been cut from a set of nestie labels and the sentiment is by Hero Arts which has been stamped in Elzybells white ink.

I'm hoping to catch up tonight and make another page. I was going to make one last night but we had a lovely evening in Bradford on Avon instead ! Mollie had a trip on the canal with the Brownies on a long boat and so we took Izzy on a walk by the river, to the park and a run around the grounds of the Tythe Barn (where they did all the filming for Robin Hood a few years ago). It was a lovely evening with the sun shining - I'm so glad we made the most of it. We went to meet the boat coming in and watched them navigate the locks which was an experience for both girls to watch !

Right, off to pick Mollie up from school.

Thank you for your visit and for any comments you may leave !

Have a great Thursday - looks like its warming up for the weekend - yippeee !

Simon Says Challenge - Things with Wings !

Good morning ! All good news this morning then with British airspace being re-opened. Hopefully I might now receive my Magnolia Spring Kit !!!

The challenge this week over at Simon Says Challenge is Things with Wings ! We want to see anything at all with wings : butterflies, dragonflies, aeroplanes (perhaps not very popular choice at the moment !), birds, fairies, angels - to name but a few.

The Design Team are showcasing CC Designs stamps for this challenge. We would love to see any CC Design stamps you have but its not a requirement for this challenge ! The Simon Says Stamp Store has a huge range of these gorgoeus stamps - too many to choose from !

There is of course a fantastic prize of a $25 spending spree in the Simon Says Stamp Store !

The DP's are My Mind's Eye "Quite Contrary" yet again. I ought to hide them so they aren't the first thing I keep picking up !!

The image is "Rosalie with Roses" by CC Designs and she has been coloured with ProMarkers. The background has been created with a Hero Arts cloud stamp and a Martha Stewart grass punch. The butterflies are also a Martha Stewart punch.

The flowers are from my stash as are the pearls and string.

We look forward to you playing along with us !

Don't forget my blog candy .......

I'll be back tomorrow with another page for my mini album ! I'm just loving doing these and can't wait to start on the next page !

Have a fantastic day ! I have a lovely quiet morning with the girls both being at school, just waiting in for a new sofa which I might get the chance to try out later !

Thank you for your visit and for any comments you may leave.

Hugs to all,

Craft Barn Mini Album - Page 3

Good afternoon ! I hope that I am finding you all well and happy, happy, happy !

As promised, I am back with page 3 of my mini album for the Craft Barn challenge (click on the piccie in my sidebar to take you to the Craft Barn's blog for more info).

I am really struggling to take nice photos and I have no idea why as I've tried everything I can think of an even looked for hints and tips online. Perhaps its my cheap "press and go" camera but whatever it is, I find it very frustrating.

Actually, now the photo is on my blog, it doesn't look too bad I don't think.

Again, I painted round the edges of my card with picket fence distress ink and inked the edges with vintage photo distress ink.

The DP's are Melissa Frances "Rhonda" Scrapbooking Collection. I have distressed the edges with my T!m tool ! and run around the edges with a gold leaf pen. I've also added a flourish to the corners.

The photographs are of Mollie and Izzy when they were only a couple of months old. The top photograph is Mollie. Again I distressed the edges of the card and ran around the edge with a gold leaf pen and also added some gold stickles.

The "Treasure" stamp is from the scrapbooking ones I bought and unfortunately I have no idea who makes them.

I made the tag and stamps the definition on it. This stamp was also in the scrapbooking stamps I bought. The ribbon was in the Melissa Frances scrapbooking collection.

The pearls are from my stash and I made the swirls with the aid of a Bazzill template I bought from Quixotic Paperie.

I only wish you could see it in real life as these papers are so soft and pretty and that gold just lifts it a little and gives it a subtle sparkle. I do hope you like it !

I shall be back tomorrow with my card for Simon Says Challenge and then hope to show you page 4 on Thursday - its yet to be made !

Thank you so much for your visit and for your lovely, kind comments.

Don't forget my blog candy !

Take care and enjoy the sunshine my lovely blogging buddies !

Craft Barn Mini Album - Page 2

Good morning ! Another bright, sunny and warm one, just how we like it.

As promised, I am back with page 2 of my mini album that I am making for the Craft Barn Challenge. If you click on the picture in my sidebar it will take you over to the Craft Barn's blog where it gives details of how you can enter.

Again, I painted around the edges of my card with picket fence crackle paint and inked it with vintage photo distress ink.

The papers are Cosmo Cricket "Happily Ever After" and they are double sides so I was able to have some of the deep orange showing through with distressing.

The heart is a Bazzill chippie which I covered in white card, stamped with a flourish and then covered in crackle glaze.

The little tag on the photo is a snap clip by Melissa Frances that I have had in my stash box forever and never had the heart to use until now !

The butterfly was punched with a MS punch from the orange DP and some vellum and I added some pearls and stickles.

The flowers are a mixture from my stash with an old button and piece of raffia and tulle added.

This photograph was taken this time last year of the girls. I am changing all the photos to black and white for this project as I somehow think they look better.

I was lucky enough to be able to finish page 3 last night so I should be back tomorrow to show you that one ! To see page 1, please see the post below this one.

Thank you for your visit and for any comments you may leave, they always mean so much.

Don't forget my BasicGrey blog candy. Just click on the photo in my sidebar to take you direct to the post.

Have a fantastic Monday whatever you are up to. I am enjoying the peace and quiet now that school has started again. I wasn't keen on the rushing around this morning but its nice to be at home with Izzy and get back into our usual routine.

Take care,

Craft Barn Mini Album - Page 1

Good afternoon ! I hope you are enjoying this glorious sunshine ? We have been busy this morning. I've been trying to tackle the mountain size ironing pile I have and hubby has been washing the cars and mowing the lawn. We are off to a birthday party this afternoon so that should be nice and loud !!

I saw this challenge over at The Craft Barn a couple of days ago to make a mini album. For the next 10 days a sketch will be posted on the Craft Barn's blog and all you have to do is follow the sketch and make a mini book. It can be of photos or stamped images or whatever takes your fancy. The challenge finishes on 15th May so there is plenty of time to take part

I have always wanted to have a go at scrapbooking especially as we have so many photos of the girls so I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to have a go.

Here is page 1 of my mini book.

I absolutely love the vintage look and as I have two beautiful girls, I thought I would go for a beautiful style but I'm finding it challenging ! I'm also using papers I found in my paper mountain and not buying any new ones for this project so that's also a challenge trying to find the right ones !!

All the pages I am making from the backs of telephone notebooks which a friend gives to me at the place where I used to go to work - recycling !

I have painted the edges with milled lavender crackle paint and slightly inked them with vintage photo distress ink.

The DP's are by Magnolia which I picked up at the NEC last year. I think its actually Christmas paper !

I have added a flourish to the corners with vintage photo distress ink.

The raffia ribbon and lace are from my stash.

The sentiment I cut with my nesties, inked with antique linen distress ink and then stamped a Hero Arts old text stamp over the top. I am unsure who makes the "Natural Beauty" stamp as I bought a load of scrapbooking text stamps from someone for "just in case" and there is no label or packaging !!

The flowers are all from my stash and the centres are from The Hobby House. I picked these up at the NEC.

This photo was taken when Izzy was just 3 months old and I just adore it !

I have another page ready which I hope to show you tomorrow. I am two days behind as the challenge is on day 4 but I hope that I can catch up by 15th May. I would be fantastic to be able to complete it.

Thank you for your visit and for any comments you may leave, I really do appreciate them.

Don't forget my new blog candy. Just click on the photo in my sidebar and it will take you directly to the link.

Enjoy your sunny Sunday !

BasicGrey Blog Candy # 17

THIS BLOG CANDY IS NOW CLOSED

EDIT - The winner of this candy will now be drawn on Tuesday 4th May.

Well, here we are again with another fantastic BasicGrey Blog Candy courtesty of Simon Says Stamp !

Just look at these amazing goodies you could win !

So, what do you have to do to win my candy ?

Some of you will be used to it by now but for those first timers, here goes :

Well, there are no strict rules and the comments I make below are not compulsory to enter this draw but it would be nice if :

You could give your support to Simon Says Stamp, BasicGrey Challenges and myself by becoming a follower if you are not already.

Add my blog candy to your sidebar and please feel free to "take away" my blinkie

Join in with us at BasicGrey Challenges and also Simon Says Stamp's challenge blog, Simon Says Challenge ! You can combine challenges with both of these challenge blogs which is great news !

This blog candy will be open to everyone Worldwide (including all DT members of both challenge blogs) until Saturday 1st May when I shall draw a winner with a random number generator and post a new fabby blog candy for you to enter.

To make it much quicker for me to choose a winner, I am going to start using Mr Linky but there is a catch !!! Every fortnight I shall ask you a question and I would like you to answer that question after your name. It will be a one word answer so not difficult.

For example, you would type your answer as Jo Nevill (peace and quiet)

This fortnight's question is : Music or peace and quiet while crafting ?

After looking after my two horrors all day I like the peace and quiet !!

Anyone not leaving the answer to my question in Mr Linky will have their name deleted to stop spammers and also people only entering for the sake of it (if you know what I mean and I don't wish to be rude in anyway).

I would like to give a huge thank you to both Heidi and Steph of Simon Says Stamp for giving me this fantastic candy again for you to win.