Blooming meadow... and bloomin' blogger!

Hmm... I now seem to be having the same problem a lot of you are having, with blogger not letting me upload photos - it was fine until today!  It let me do it in html so I've managed, but I wonder what's going on?!

This is one I made because I was getting desperate to get in the craft room!  I've not had much time this week, with hubby off we've been out every day, so I've hardly done any crafting or blogging.  So this was a midnight job last night!

The stamp is Hero Arts 'blooming meadow' - I stamped this piece a few months ago, so I'm not sure what inks I used, but I'll have dabbed on a few different inks and then sprayed the stamp with water before stamping.  The papers are Prima Fairy Belle with some ancient lace I found stuffed in a drawer and some sheer spotty ribbon from my stash.  I added some pearls, a Memory Box Floral Vine and the sentiment tag is a LOTV stamp.

We're off to Yorkshire Wildlife Park today, with my mum and her hubby... it's a bit wet and miserable, but we've booked our tickets so we're going!  So if I don't manage to catch up with you before we go, I'll be around this evening instead.  Hope you have a lovely day :o)

In The Meadow - The Stamp Basket DT

Hello everyone :o)  Today I have my DT card for The Stamp Basket blog to show you, and it's my last card as a member of the DT as I decided it was time for me to move on...

Items available from The Stamp Basket

Craftwork Cards straight edge card blank

Wild Rose Studio - In The Meadow stamp

Wild Rose Studio - Annabelle's Meadow papers

Prima Essential Petals - Meadowlark

Whimsy Corner Dies Set

White flat lace - 2 1/4"

The Hobby House - 8mm pearl brads & Clear Rhinestones

I've coloured the very pretty Wild Rose Studio image with promarkers and flexmarkers, the sentiment is Stampin' Up, and the pink pearls and spotty ribbon are from my stash.  Everything else is linked above!

I'm entering my card for the following challenges:

• Cupcake Craft - flowers (must be on the image)
• Everybody Art - summer

Have you all enjoyed the bank holiday?  It's been very wet and a bit chilly here, but we still had fun - we took the boys to see Brave at the cinema - I love a good kids film lol.  Hubby's off work this week, and we had all sorts of days out planned, but as it's supposed to be raining most days, we might have to find some indoor alternatives!  Ooh, and I noticed today that I now have 900 followers  - how amazing is that?! I'll have to think of a little something to celebrate that, so I may be back later... Hope you have a lovely evening :o)

Sweet Stampin' - out of the frame

Good morning and a happy Saturday to you all :o)  Time for a new challenge at Sweet Stampin', and this week our theme is 'out of the frame', and we're sponsored by Sew Sweet who are offering 1 winner a £10 voucher, and Joanna Sheen is our monthly sponsor with another £10 voucher to be won.

I've used one of the very cute LOTV bear stamps - this one is called 'Fun Birthday', and I've coloured it with promarkers and flexmarkers.  The fab bright papers are from the Echo Park Summer Days pad, with Stampin' Up 'soft suede' cardstock.  I've used a Memory Box party lanterns die, some ribbon, pearls from my stash, and a LOTV sentiment.

I'm entering my card for the following challenges:

• Lili's Little Fairies - spots or stripes
• Songbird Challenges - over the rainbow

Hope you've got something fun planned for today... it's pouring with rain here so we won't be going anywhere.  I'm trying to motivate myself for a big craft room tidying session, so maybe by this evening I'll have more than a 6" square space to work on... wish me luck :o)

Bella with Presents - The Stamp Basket DT

I have my DT card for The Stamp Basket blog to show you today, and it's also my card for a lovely friend who's celebrating a special birthday... she banned me from putting her age on the card though lol!  I decided to make a book card, as I wanted a little space for a pressie...

Sorry, there are quite a few photos!

The perfect space for a little package of rubber stamps :o)

Items available from The Stamp Basket

Wild Rose Studio - Bella with Presents stamp

Prima - Meadowlark papers

Prima - Essential petals 'Meadowlark'

Seam binding - chalk white (dyed with lavender memento ink)

Berisfords super sheer white ribbon

Lilac button

The Hobby House - pearls and 8mm pearl brad

I've coloured lovely Bella with promarkers and flexmarkers, adding my little Viva pearl dots around her, and some grass using Prisma pencils.  The sentiments - inside and out - are LOTV, and I stamped a flourish, by Eco Green, on the tag in 'lulu lavender' memento ink.

I'm entering my card for the following challenges:

• Flutterby Wednesdays - friendship (there are butterflies on the image, hope that's ok!)
• Simon Says Stamp & Show - anything goes
• Forever Friends - anything goes
• Creative Stamp Friends - special card shape
• Pile It On - cuddly critters (are elephants cuddly?!)
• Corrosive Challenges - cute as a button
• Divas by Design - anything goes

Rush, rush, rush again!  Few more things to do, and then I should get some time to sit and catch up with some of your blogs... Hope you've had a lovely day :o)

Passion For Promarkers - mono with a splash!

Oh how I've been panicking about this week's Passion For Promarkers challenge!  The theme is a 'monochrome image with unusual hair colour', and I got in such a flap about it, and then quite enjoyed it once I'd forced myself to sit and have a go!  I'm not entirely sure I got it 'right' though... We're sponsored by Joanna Sheen, who is offering one lucky winner a £10 voucher prize.

To settle my nerves a bit, I used one of my all time favourite Sugar Nellie stamps - this is Flower Girl, and it looks like she's now out of stock at Funky Kits.  Here's a link to the other Gorjuss Girls though!  I coloured her with promarkers and flexmarkers, and added a teeny pearl to the flower on her dress.

The papers are from the lovely Papermania 'Happy Days' pad, sentiment is LOTV.  The flower is my favourite Memory Box cherry blossom die, with a black pearl centre, the floral vine is also Memory Box.  I added a little pearl heart and some blossom sequins along the bottom of the card, with little red pearls from my stash.

I'm entering my card for the following challenges:

• The Crazy Challenge - anything goes
• Craft Your Days Away - anything goes (final challenge)
• Stamptacular Sunday - let's hear it for the girls

Running a bit behind today, so I'd better rush off and get something done!  Hope you all have a lovely day :o)

Oops...

...I forgot to post this - sorry Sweet Stampin' teamies!  It wasn't my team's week for posting, but the theme is 'weddings & anniversaries', and I had to make an anniversary card anyway.  So I joined in, and then forgot all about it!  This week's sponsor is Whimsy Stamps, with 5 digi stamps of the winner's choice, and our monthly sponsor is Joanna Sheen who is offering a £10 voucher prize.

Now I must admit, I'm not very happy with this card - it isn't quite how it looked in my head!  It was another of the cards that my Auntie asked me for, and she was happy with it, so I suppose that's ok!  I've cut the hearts from pearlised card, using a sizzix primitive hearts die, embossed the hearts with the divine swirls folder, and added some little red pearls.  The corner is a MFT dienamics die, and the sentiment is Stampin' Up.

We've not stopped today!  Visited my uncle, as it was his birthday today, then went shopping for school uniform... Dex tried on his little jade green polo shirt and looked soooo sweet and proud - I managed not to blub though!  Then we've spent the afternoon at my mum's, and I had to squeeze in a couple of hours in the craft room when we got back.  Hoping for a quieter day tomorrow!  Hope you've all had a lovely weekend :o)

A Gem of a Challenge - teddies or animals

Hello :o)  Sorry I've been a bit quiet over the last couple of days - it's a bit tricky fitting everything in during the school hols.  Last summer the holidays were a nightmare - the boys did nothing but squabble and I couldn't wait to get them back to school and nursery!  I'm really enjoying my time with them this summer though, they're getting on well and we're having lots of fun... I'll miss them in September when the hols are over - and Dex will be starting full time school too, eek!

Anyway, that's quite enough waffling from me!...  Our new theme at A Gem of a Challenge is 'teddies or animals' and the prize is 4 Pink Gem Designs digi images of the winner's choice.

I've used the super cute Josh with Puppy, and coloured him with promarkers and flexmarkers.  I made another circle card using my large Go Kreate dies again, makes a nice change from my usual squares!  The papers are from the gorgeous Echo Park Summer Days pad, the sentiment is from the Birthday Numbers stamp set from Pink Gem Designs and I added a Memory Box banner, with some little dots punched from the papers.

I'm entering my card for the following challenges:

• Crafty Catz - animals
• Moving Along With The Times - shape up
• Delightful Challenges - punches & dies
• Papertake Weekly - spots & stripes (possibly cheating a bit with the spots, sorry!)
• Simon Says Stamp - animal antics

Have you seen the new Gems of Inspiration blog?  The DT will be posting regularly with our Pink Gem Designs makes to hopefully inspire you, and there are some fab stamps to be won at the moment - be quick though, because the candy draw closes on Monday!

Hope you're all having a lovely weekend so far :o)

A simple 30th card

I've made a couple of simple cards today, as my Auntie asked me for a few and she doesn't like fussy stuff!  Here's one of them...

I've cut the card base with my large Go Kreate dies - it's about 14.5cm across I think, but circle cards always seem small even when they're not lol!  The papers are First Edition 'boho chic', sentiment is Stampin' Up and the numbers are from the fab Birthday Numbers stamp set from Pink Gem Designs.  The edge of the sentiment strip was trimmed with scalloped scissors and I added a bit of bling from my stash... I coloured the numbers with a Coral promarker, and edged the numbers with a Sakura clear stardust pen, not that you can tell from the photo!

I'm entering my card for the following challenges:

• Allsorts Challenge - going around in circles
• Stamptacular Sunday - shape it up
• Sentimental Sundays - clean & simple + bonus sketch
• Creative Craft - just a sentiment

Bit of a rushed post again... I'm cooking for a change (hubby usually does it!) and I still want to squeeze in some visits to your blogs.  Hope you've all had a lovely day :o)

Lil Sweetpea - Sugar Nellie DT

I've used one of Sugar Nellie's gorgeous fairy stamps today - this is Lil Sweetpea.... It looks like she's out of stock at the moment so I can't link her up, but I'm sure she'll be available from Funky Kits again soon!

She just makes me smile, she's so cute :o)  I've coloured her with promarkers and flexmarkers, adding some little Meiflower blossom sequins with pearls from my stash, for little hair bobbles.  The papers are from the gorgeous Dovecraft 'garden party' pack, sentiment tags are LOTV, the green flower is a resin one from MCH and the swirly bits behind it were cut with the Memory Box macarena corner die, and then chopped up.

I'm entering my card for the following challenges:

• Sketch n Stash - fab sketch
• That Craft Place - things with wings
• Bunny Zoe's - summer
• Cute Card Thursday - tag you're it
• In The Pink - 50 shades of pink (1st challenge)

Morgan's been inspired by the Olympics, and has decided he's going to be a sprinter or a hurdler, and wants to start training... Luckily we're not too far from Don Valley, which I think is where Jessica Ennis trained, so I've said he can give it a go.  He already does karate, but that's not an Olympic sport yet and he wants a medal lol.  You never know eh?!  Right, off to have another mad dash around your blogs, hope you've all had a lovely day :o)

Tilda with Wrapped Heart - The Stamp Basket DT

It's my day to post on The Stamp Basket blog, and I just had the urge to colour my favourite (and most used) Tilda again... so I did!

Items available from The Stamp Basket

Craftwork Cards - straight edge card blank

Magnolia Sweet Crazy Love - Tilda with Wrapped Heart stamp

Prima - Song Bird papers

Prima - Essential Petals 'Belle'

Berisfords Satin Picot Edge ribbon - pale pink (altered slightly with a promarker)

Memory Box - Honeyblossom Sprig die

The Hobby House - 8mm pearl brad

The Hobby House pearls

I've coloured lovely Tilda with promarkers and flexmarkers, adding my little Viva pearl dots around her.  The sentiment tag is LOTV, and everything else is linked above!

I'm entering my card for the following challenges:

• Sketch Saturday - another fab sketch
• Crafty Catz - anything goes
• Divas By Design - for a female
• Midweek Magnolias - 2 dies or punches (1 die & a corner rounder punch)
• Fab n Funky - pearls or rhinestones

Rushing off so I can catch up with some of your blogs!  Hope you have a lovely evening :o)

A card and a new blog!

Would you like to win some gorgeous Pink Gem Designs stamps?

Please pop across to the brand new Gems of Inspiration from Pink Gem Designs blog for all the details :o)

The new blog will hopefully give you lots of ideas and inspiration using Pink Gem Designs stamps, digi images and papers.

And if you're not already a follower at A Gem of a Challenge, why not pop over there too and join in with our fab fortnightly challenges with great prizes to be won :o)

And here's my card for today, using one of the fab 'Keep Calm' images from Pink Gem Designs...

I've used the colour version of the Keep Calm and Play Golf digi stamp - you get this version, a black text one and a white text version that you can layer over a digi paper, so it would look exactly like mine, but with any background colour you like.

The papers are from the lovely Happy Days pad from Papermania, with Stampin' Up cardstock and striped ribbon.  The 'Dad' sentiment is from a Wellington Bear stamp set and I added some punched circles to finish it off.  This is not for my dad (he died very young - he was just a few years older than I am now), it's for my Auntie to give to her father-in-law.

I'm not sure what we're doing today... Hubby's taken Dex to his mum's for a few hours, and usually we'd be off to my mum's later, but really we should go and get the boys kitted out with uniforms ready for school... Will have to see what hubby wants to do when he gets back!  Hope you're all enjoying your weekend, whatever you're up to :o)

Sweet Stampin' - things with wings

Our challenge for this week at Sweet Stampin' is 'things with wings', and we're sponsored by Lili of the Valley who are offering one lucky winner a £10 voucher, and our monthly sponsor is Joanna Sheen with a £10 voucher prize.

I've used one of my favourite images from the Valentine Bird Collection from DigiStamp Boutique - it's actually a single bird image, but I repeated it and flipped the second bird, making it slightly smaller than the first one.  It's a solid image, so no colouring involved, but I outlined the hearts with a sakura clear stardust pen for a bit of shimmer.  The frame shape is Stampin' Up, striped paper is Pink Petticoat, mini scalloped border is a MFT dienamics die and the corners are Whimsy.

I'm having a lazy Saturday at home today, as we just don't seem to stop during the week at the moment.  I'm hoping to catch up with lots of your blogs and do a bit of colouring, and watch some Olympics of course! Hope you all have a lovely day :o)

Less is More - blue & green

I've made today's card for this week's Less is More challenge, which is 'blue & green'... Now usually I really like these colours together, but I don't like how my card turned out at all!

I've used a stamp from Stamping Bella's 'funky barcodes' set - I won a voucher for Simon Says Stamp a while ago, and this is one of the things I chose.  It's stamped in Memento 'paris dusk', with the matching sentiment stamped in 'bamboo leaves'.  I added some blue and green gems from my stash, ribbon from a recent spend at Fantastic Ribbons and a punched butterfly.  The numbers were cut with sizzix 'night & day' alphabet dies, and then coated in stickles.

So there's my slightly rubbish card for today!... Hope you've all had a lovely day :o)

Passion For Promarkers - at the beach

It was my turn to choose the theme at Passion For Promarkers this week, and for some reason I went for 'at the beach'... I was probably thinking about fish 'n' chips at the seaside lol!  We're sponsored by Letraset who have a new promarker collection set for our very lucky winner :o)

I've used a fab new image from DigiStamp Boutique - this is Alf Cooling Off and I love him!  I had so much fun colouring him, and then I couldn't resist popping that cloud over his head ;o)  The papers are Papermania 'Happy Days' - lots of gorgeous tiny prints that are perfect for cards.  The sentiment is LOTV, stamped on a cloud cut with a Memory Box die, the little banner thing is from the MFT dienamics 'mini wavy pennants' set, with a little button from my stash.  The fab striped ribbon and matching cardstock are my new favourites from Stampin' Up, in 'soft suede'... it might actually overtake 'crumb cake' as my most favourite cardstock colour I think.

I'm entering my card for the following challenges:

• Moving Along With The Times - summer
• Little Claire - summer/ holiday
• Craft A Scene - anything in the great outdoors
• Truly Madly Crafty - summer fun
• Whimsy Inspirations - summer fun
• Anything Goes - summer days
• Creative Card Crew - on the beach/ under the sea

Another busy day for me... working on some card orders, washing the clothes mountain, and then hubby suggested we do the park and Pizza Hut when he finishes work later - we're not going to turn that down lol, so I'd better get on with everything!  Hope you all have a lovely day :o)

Tilly with Gift - The Stamp Basket DT

Evening all :o)  I'm here with my DT card for The Stamp Basket blog, and I've used one of the super cute Tilly images from Wild Rose Studio again... I love 'em all!

Items available from The Stamp Basket

Craftwork Cards - straight edge card blank

Wild Rose Studio - Tilly with Gift stamp

My Mind's Eye - Howdy Doody papers

Whimsy - corner dies set (currently out of stock)

Memory Box - honeyblossom sprig die (currently out of stock)

The Hobby House pearls

I've coloured the lovely Tilly with promarkers and flexmarkers, adding some Viva pearl dots around her as usual.  The spotty ribbon is from Fantastic Ribbons and I've used card candy for the centre of the bow.  Everything else is available from The Stamp Basket.

I'm entering my card for the following challenges:

• Sketch Saturday - fab sketch
• The Ribbon Girl - bingo (ribbon, pearls, image)
• Great Impressions - a walk on the wild side (include an animal)
• DYSU - polka dots
• Crafty Ribbons - seeing spots & dots

Keeping this brief so I can have a mad dash around some of your blogs - things are busy around here with the school hols!  Have a lovely evening :o)

A Gem of a Challenge - Vicky's sketch

Time for a new challenge over at A Gem of a Challenge, and it's a fab sketch from the lovely Vicky...

I need male cards for some family birthdays that we've got coming up, so I had to stop myself reaching for all the pretty stuff!  I've used one of the fab 'Keep Calm' digis from Pink Gem Designs - this one is available here, and you can see the whole Best of British range here.  You get a coloured version, one with black text and then a white text version, so you can layer it over a digi paper, which is what I've done here.

The papers are from the Honey Bee set from Raspberry Rd, printed onto linen card, with black and red card from Papermill Direct.  The sentiment is Craftwork Cards and the black pearls are from my stash.

We've had a fun but very busy week, so today I'm staying at home... I might not even bother getting dressed lol.  Lots of crafty time and catching up with your blogs!  Hope you all have a lovely day, whatever you've got planned :o)

Sugar Nellie Sneak Week - day 4 & release day!

Hello :o)  It's the last day of the Sugar Nellie Sneak Week and that means it's release day!  The 'Under the Sea' collection is available from Funky Kits from 9am this morning... so that's about now then... Don't rush off just yet though - we've still got the last stamp to show you!

Sooo... If you came here from Anita's blog, you're on the right track.  If not, pop over to the Sugar Nellie blog so you don't miss anyone's fab creations - and the chance to win some candy on the way of course!

This little lovely is Water Lily - gorgeous, isn't she?  I've coloured her with promarkers and flexmarkers, and added some Viva pearl dots around her.  The papers are First Edition 'Isabelle', all lovely and sparkly, with cardstock from Papermill Direct.  The border is a MFT dienamics die, the sentiment pennant stamps and matching dies are Whimsy, with Bazzill thread and pearl brads.

I'm having a bit of a 'what was I thinking?' moment with the sparkly embellishment - I've gone right off it lol!  It's a wooden shape by Kars, coloured with a promarker, sprayed with 'spray & sparkle, with a big gem in the middle... oh well, never mind - it's well and truly stuck now lol.  Excuse the wonky image of me reflected in the gem too!

Your next stop is the fabulous Vicky with her beautiful card for today.  Hope you've enjoyed our sneak peeks this week, and good luck if you've been joining in with the daily hops - hope you win some sweet candy :o)

I'll probably be rushing around all day again today - it's what all my days seem to be like at the moment, having the boys at home for the summer!  We're off out to meet a friend and her kids, so hopefully my two will be worn out by this afternoon and will let me get some crafting done... you never know eh?!  Hope you all have a lovely day :o)

Waste Not Wednesdays wk28

I'm back again - it's a bit busy around my blog this week lol!  If you came for the Sugar Nellie Sneak Week, you just need to scroll down a bit to the post below.

It's Wednesday, so that means it's time for my little Waste Not Wednesdays challenge again - here to get you using up your neglected and un-used stamps and stash.  And you might remember there was a prize for the last challenge, so we need a winner, and the lucky one is....

No. 39 - Louise

Congrats hun :o)  Please email me with your address and I'll get your new stamps in the post!

Now, as it's the first Wednesday of the month, that means there's a £5 gift voucher up for grabs from the fabulous DigiStamp Boutique.  I've also decided, as it's the looooong school holidays and things are a bit manic around here (and it's probably the same for a lot of you), that I'll leave the challenge open for a full month this time.  I'll add a little prize myself too - a surprise one (as I haven't decided what it'll be yet!), so the challenge will run until the beginning of September, but there'll be two winners to make up for it.

I've used a previously un-inked and very cute little bear from LOTV... She's called Born to Shop, and I've coloured her with promarkers and flexmarkers.  While I was on holiday a lady called Karen left a comment asking what colours I use for bears, but I can't find a way to reply to her, so I'll add it here - Cocoa, Raw Sienna, Mustard, Pastel Yellow and Vanilla... hope that helps if you're reading again!

The papers are from a K&Co pad that I'd forgotten about.  I also used Whimsy corners, vintage style ribbon, added a card candy centre for the bow, green pearls from my stash and some punched hearts, oh and the little scalloped border die is MFT dienamics.

I'm entering my card for the following challenges:

• I Love Promarkers - spots & stripes
• Papertake Weekly - Dawny's fab sketch
• Ready Teddy Go - anything goes (must include a bear)

Sooo... don't forget - the linky will be open for a whole month, and there'll be two random winners... hopefully I'll then get back to weekly challenges!  Just dust something off and get it used, and then link up below.

Hope you all have a lovely evening, I'm off to try and catch up with some of you now :o)

Sugar Nellie Sneak Week - day three

Helloooo everyone!... It's day three of the Sugar Nellie Sneak Week for the lovely 'Under the Sea' collection, and we have another gorgeous stamp to show you today.  But before I show you my card - did you come here from Anita's blog?  If so, you're on the right track, but if not go to the Sugar Nellie blog so you don't miss anyone... remember, there's hidden candy along the way so leave comments as you hop :o)

This is Aqua Marina - isn't she pretty?!  These lovely mermaids are so much fun to colour :o)  Aqua Marina and her friends will be available from Funky Kits on Friday... not long now!

I've coloured her with promarkers and flexmarkers, and added my little Viva pearl dots around her (of course!).  The papers are from Raspberry Rd, but I'm not sure which sets they're from - they were pulled from my huge pile of printed papers.  The scalloped border was cut with a Tim Holtz die, the flower is my favourite Memory Box cherry blossom die again, with a silver spacer and dew drop centre, I added some vintage style ribbon and a LOTV sentiment.

Your next stop is the fabulous Vicky - go and swoon over her gorgeous creation, you'll love it!  We've got a little break from the hop tomorrow, and then we'll all be back on Friday for release day :o)