Bugaboo chef

Hello everyone, and happy Halloween :o)

Today's card is evidence of just how useless I am at following even the simplest of recipe challenges... this is supposed to be for the '1 circle, 3 brads' recipe at Catch The Bug, but I've just realised that as my card is round I've actually got 2 circles... oops!  I'm still linking my card up, but please delete me if I don't qualify...

 

Items Used

Large Go Kreate circle dies (for the card base)

Digi stamp - Chef Pierre test - Bugaboo Stamps

Colouring - promarkers & flexmarkers

Papers - Papermania Happy Days

Sentiment - NEW Simply Birthday Greetings male - DigiStamp Boutique

Ribbon - The Ribbon Collection brights - MCH

Brads - old ones from my stash

I'm entering my card for the following challenges

Simon Says Stamp - get in shape

My Mum's Craft Shop - bold & bright

Catch The Bug - 1 circle, 3 brads (sorry, do feel free to delete me lol)

We decided to be boring and not bother with trick or treating this year - it's so cold and it's raining now too! We're all stocked up for any trick or treaters who venture out, but we've only had a few so far... think we're going to have lots of goodies left, what a shame ;o)

Hope you all have a lovely evening!

Passion For Promarkers - fright night!

Hello everyone :o)

Our challenge for this week at Passion For Promarkers is 'fright night' (or Halloween).  We're sponsored by our very own Michele, who is offering one lucky winner 3 of her fab digi paper packs which are available at Whimsy Designs.  

I really didn't want to make another Halloween creation that would just sit there unused, so I cheated and made something a bit more general... My mum will snap this one up, she likes cute witchy stuff!

Don't look too closely at my colouring!  I was trying something a bit different - I wanted a fairly solid black, with white highlights, rather than the grey tones I usually use, so I coloured with black and then added touches of white prisma pencil... not totally successful, but you have to try these things don't you?!

Items Used

Scallop edge card blank - Craftwork Cards

Digi stamp - Halloween Hattie - DigiStamp Boutique

Colouring - promarkers, flexmarkers & prisma pencils

Papers - Echo Park Summer Days - MCH

Sentiment - Dreamy Days Circular Sentiments - LOTV

Rainbow ribbon - Fantastic Ribbons

Memory Box Simple Banner die - MCH

Viva Decor Pearl Pen in Ice White - MCH

MeiFlower Pink Mix pearls - MCH

I'm entering my card for the following challenges

Songbird Challenges - could it be magic?

Crafty Sentiments - seeing stars

Cupcake Craft - witches & pumpkins

Moving Along With The Times - too cute to spook

My Mum's Craft Shop - so spooky

Off for a couple of hours crafting while the boys are happy playing their games (it's the school hols this week), but I'll be around later to catch up with your blogs.  Hope you all have a lovely day :o)

Lindy - DigiStamp Boutique DT

Hello everyone :o)

I'm trying to keep this short, as I should really be getting us all ready to go to my mum's for the evening... I just wanted to quickly blog this one though!

Items Used

Elegant Edge card blank - Craftwork Cards

Digi stamp - Lindy - DigiStamp Boutique

Colouring - promarkers & flexmarkers

Papers - MME Howdy Doody - MCH

Memory Box Macarena Corner Die (cut up) - MCH

Spellbinders Labels 14 & Circle dies

Viva Decor Pearl Pens in Ice White & Light Green (for her necklace) - MCH

I might link up for some challenges later, but I'd better get a move on... Hope you all have a lovely evening :o)

Ooh, before I go - here's Boris curled up in Dex's pirate hat...

It's the cat in the hat...lol!

Stampin' Up owl punch

Hello, hope you're all having a good weekend :o)

I've just sat down to start blogging, and realised I haven't actually taken a photo of the card I was going to show you... and I'm feeling lazy so I can't be bothered to get up and take a photo now lol.... so I'll show you this one instead!

Just a quick one I made using my under-used Stampin' Up owl builder punch, for my brother-in-law's 'Names Day' a couple of weeks ago.  According to hubby, in Poland 'Names Days' are celebrated in a bigger way than birthdays... in fact, my mother-in-law said I should make one up so they could celebrate for me too lol.

Items Used

Scalloped card blank - Craftwork Cards

Owl Builder punch - Stampin' Up

Papers - First Edition Boho Chic - MCH

Memory Box Party Lanterns die - MCH

Spellbinders circle dies

Pearls from my stash

Off for a little commenting catch up... Hope you all have a lovely evening :o)

A Gem of a Challenge - polka dots/ spots

Hello and happy Saturday to you!

Over at A Gem of a Challenge we have a fab new theme for the next fortnight - polka dots/ spots.  There are lots of spots on my card... unfortunately I seem to have hidden most of them under my layers... oops!

I think this sweet snow couple might be my favourite ever stamp from Pink Gem Designs... they get used every year, I just have to remember who I've sent them to before!  I'll be safe with this one though, because it's for an order.

Items Used

Scalloped card blank - Craftwork Cards

Stamp - Snow Love - Pink Gem Designs

Colouring - promarkers & flexmarkers

Papers - Krafty Christmas - LOTV

Tag - Christmas Sentiment Tags - LOTV

'Brother...' sentiment - computer generated using chocolate box font

Memory Box Corner Bow die - MCH
MeiFlower Coffee Mix pearls - MCH

Viva Decor Pearl Pens in Ice White & Light Green - MCH

Glamour Dust in Crystal

I'm entering my card for the following challenges

I Love Promarkers - Christmas is coming

Stampin' for the Weekend - anything goes

ABC Christmas - U for up to you

Well I'm hoping to have a huge catch up with all your blogs today, if the internet connection decides to play nicely.  We've got some sort of intermittent fault on the line, so there's an engineer coming out on Thursday to have a look.  Hopefully they'll be able to sort it out, as it's been going on for a couple of weeks now and it's getting a wee bit irritating!

Hope you all have a lovely day :o)

Sugar Nellie blog hop - Sparkle & Shine!

Sugar Nellie are releasing 3 gorgeous new Christmas digi stamps today and we're having a little hop to celebrate :o)

You should have arrived here from the fabulous Jane's blog... if not, please pop over to the Sugar Nellie blog so you don't miss anyone's lovely creations - as always there'll be prizes along the way so do leave comments as you hop!

For my card I've used the super sweet Letter to Santa... he really is so lovely to colour :o)  Not especially happy with my card though, I think I was having an off day...

Items Used

Digi Stamp - Sugar Nellie Letter to Santa - Funky Kits (from 9am)

Colouring - promarkers, flexmarkers & prisma pencils

Papers - MME Winter Wonderland - MCH

Sentiment - Crafty Impressions Bauble set - Funky Kits

Memory Box Frostyville Wreath die (out of stock) - MCH

Dec 25th button - MME Winter Wonderland buttons - MCH

Viva Decor Pearl Pen in Ice White - MCH

Glamour Dust in Crystal

Pearls from my stash

**Edited - just remembered I meant to link this up for the challenge at Sunday Sketch & Stamp**

Your next stop is the super talented Mina with her gorgeous creation to show you!

Hope you enjoy the hop, and have a lovely day :o)

Blossom - Sugar Nellie DT

Here you go Sarah... I spent most of the day faffing and fiddling with this one.  It just wouldn't let me add any of the lovely embellishments I tried - told you I have those days too, didn't I?!

I had a play with one of my Leanne Ellis stamps - they were one of my first loves when I started stamping and colouring, and I still love them now :o)

Items Used

Stamp - Sugar Nellie Blossom (by Leanne Ellis) - Funky Kits

Colouring - promarkers, flexmarkers & prisma pencils

Papers - Echo Park Summer Days - MCH

Sentiment tag stamp - LOTV

Spellbinders oval & scalloped oval dies

Memory Box Cherry Blossom die - MCH

Memory Box Floral Vine die - MCH

MeiFlower Pink Mix pearls - MCH

Viva Decor Pearl pen in Ice White - MCH

Keeping this very short tonight, as I've still got lots to do... Hope you all have a lovely evening :o)

A little gift wallet...

While I was demoing on Saturday, hubby was supposed to be taking the boys to a naming ceremony for his friend's little boy.  I'd seen this little gift wallet on the very lovely Vicky's blog, and couldn't wait to have a go, so thought I'd make one for hubby to put a gift card in... it can be used to put money in too, and is so easy I'm sure I'll be making more.  Thanks for the fab tutorial Vicky!

As I said, hubby was supposed to be going, but he actually got 5 minutes away from the venue and Dex's little voice piped up in the back... 'I need to get out!' and then he was very sick... everywhere... So they all went home again!  I'm quite glad I was demoing ;o)

with the tag/ pocket inside the wallet

with the tag/ pocket pulled out

Items Used

White linen cardstock - Papermill Direct

Pre-coloured die cut image - LOTV

Digi papers (printed onto linen card) - Pink Petticoat

Tab punch - Stampin' Up

Ribbon & baker's twine - Fantastic Ribbons

Sentiment stamp - LOTV

I'm entering my wallet for the 'anything goes' challenge at Lili's Little Fairies.

Running a bit late (last minute trip to Asda for dressing up stuff for Dex... blimmin' schools lol!) so I'll keep this fairly short.  Hope you enjoy the rest of your evening :o)

Sweet Elin's Star - My Crafty Heart DT

Hello :o)  Hope you're all well on this rotten rainy day!

I've used a gorgeous little Nellie Snellen fairy for today's My Crafty Heart DT card - made for a little girl who loves fairies and pink, which is the best kind of card really isn't it?

Items Used

Scalloped card blank - Craftwork Cards

Stamp - Nellie Snellen Sweet Elin's Star - MCH

Colouring - promarkers & flexmarkers

Papers - First Edition Summer Breeze - MCH

Memory Box Corner Bow die - MCH

Flower - Prima Miss Godivas Blush - MCH

Sentiment tag stamps - LOTV

Number '3' stamp - Paper Smooches alphabet

Ribbon - The Ribbon Collection Brights - MCH

Lace - The Enchanted Collection (out of stock) - MCH

Viva Decor Pearl Pen in Ice White (back in stock!) - MCH

Glamour Dust in Crystal

Pink Button - Papermania

I'm entering my card for the following challenges

Flutter By Wednesdays - any winged creature

I Love Promarkers - anything goes

Crafty Ribbons - children's birthday

The Squirrel & The Fox - use a ribbon

In The Pink - buttons & bows

Sweet Sketch Wednesday - fab sketch

Off to do a bit of catching up with your blogs (assuming the internet connection behaves itself, we're having a few problems at the mo!)... Hope you all have a lovely evening :o)

Sweet Stampin' - Halloween

I'm a bit late posting this - I did a promarker demo today, so I've been busy busy busy preparing for it... hopefully normal blogging activities can now resume!

Our new challenge at Sweet Stampin' is 'Halloween'... Now I must admit I don't really 'do' Halloween, and I wouldn't really choose to make anything for it, but I know lots of you do, so hopefully this will be an easy one!  This very simple little card will probably get popped in one of the boys' lunch boxes... hmm, that means I have to make another one doesn't it?!  We're sponsored by Letraset who have a fab pack of pens for our lucky winner, and Joanna Sheen is our monthly sponsor with a £10 voucher prize.

Items Used

12cm square card blank - Craftwork Cards

Digi stamps - Trick or Treat Mummy - Halloween Characters set - DigiStamp Boutique

Spooky Cat - this month's freebie - DigiStamp Boutique

Colouring - promarkers & prisma pencils

Memory Box Party Lanterns die - MCH

MeiFlower black gems - MCH

I'm entering my card for the following challenges

Cards For Men - orange & black

The Cutie Pie Challenge - Halloween

Simon Says Stamp - eerie inspiration

Papertake Weekly - fright night

Sassy Cheryl's - orange & black

Divas By Design - something spooky
Crafty Catz - Halloween

I had a great time demoing, but I'm soooo tired now - looking forward to a takeaway and an alcoholic beverage or two!  Hope you all have a lovely evening :o)

Roller hockey...

Hello everyone :o)  Sorry to have been such a rubbish blogger over the last couple of days.

We had some horrible news on Tuesday - the little kitten who was supposed to be coming to live with us died, in not very nice circumstances, before we even got to meet him.  The boys were so upset, and my heart just wasn't in blogging at all, so I'm afraid I've got a bit behind with commenting on all your lovely blogs.

However, we managed to find someone with a little ginger boy who needed a home... and he's now here, asleep in his little bed, safe and sound :o)  We've called him Boris, he's 8wks old and gorgeous!

So... onto today's card, which is for an order - they wanted something with a 'roller hockey' theme, and I looked and looked, and discovered that roller hockey images just don't exist (someone's going to show me one now...), so I've adapted an ice hockey one from Bugaboo.  It's for a 13yr old, and I'm really hoping this will be ok!

Items Used

Base card - 6" x 8" made from Papermill white hammered card

Digi Stamp - Hockey Nut - Bugaboo Stamps

Colouring - promarkers & flexmarkers

Papers - old ones by Doodlebug

CC Designs Curly-Q border die

MFT dienamics corner die

Gems from my stash

I'm entering my card for the Stella Says Sketch challenge at Catch The Bug.

And here's a little photo of Boris :o)

Hope you all have a lovely evening!

Passion For Promarkers - bee happy

Morning everyone :o)

I'm here with my DT card for Passion For Promarkers, where our new challenge is 'bee happy' (yellow & black)... you can use bees too, but you don't have to.  We're sponsored by Joanna Sheen who is providing our winner with a £10 voucher for her fab online store.

I thought I'd try and make the yellow & black theme work for a Christmas card... not exactly traditional but I think I quite like it!

Items Used

Digi Stamp - NEW Christmas Percy Set - DigiStamp Boutique

Colouring - promarkers, flexmarkers & prisma pencils

Papers - Glitz Design Cashmere Dame - MCH

Memory Box Riviera Corner die (with bottom swirl cut off) - MCH

Cheery Lynn Snowflakes die - MCH

Martha Stewart snowflake punch

Glamour dust in crystal

Card candy & yellow pearls from my stash

I might edit this to link up to some challenges later... Need to shut myself away in the craft room for the day, or I'll end up spending hours blogging and getting nothing else done!  I'll catch up with you all this evening, hope you have a lovely day :o)

I've been playing...

.... and made something a bit different!

Items Used

Papers - Prima Romance Novel - MCH

Sentiment - Inspirational Sentiments - LOTV

Spellbinders Floral Flourishes dies - MCH

Flower - Prima Cabaletta Spring - MCH

Pearls - MeiFlower Pink Mix - MCH

Ribbon from my stash

I'm not sure it's really me, but at least I had fun :o)  I've not got much time this week, as I'm busy preparing for a promarker demo that I'm doing on Saturday, so there'll probably be fairly quick creations on my blog for the next few days.  My demo's at Pennyholme Crafts in Eckington, if anyone local fancies coming along - just give them a ring to book first.

Rushing off for my usual mad dash around your blogs... Hope you all have a lovely evening :o)

Thanksgiving candy winner!

Hello :o)  Hope you've all had a great weekend!

Mine's been very busy, so I'm sorry if I've not managed to pop over to your blog - I'm going to do a bit more catching up now.

I just popped in to announce the winner of the Flourishes stamp set for Thanksgiving.

And the lucky one is....

No. 25 - Angela

Congratulations Angela!  Could you email me with your address, and I'll get your prize posted :o)

Enjoy the rest of your evening, I'll hopefully be back tomorrow with a card.

A mini Thanksgiving candy...

Last year I won some lovely sets of Flourishes stamps.  One of them is a set called A Season of Thanks, which I'm unlikely to use as we don't do Thanksgiving here...

So... do you make Thanksgiving cards?  Would you like to win this set?

All you need to do is link your name below... it's open to anyone, whether you follow me or not, and you don't need to advertise it on your blog unless you want to :o)

A Gem of a Challenge - flowers

Time for our new challenge at A Gem of a Challenge - this fortnight our theme is 'flowers' which is really easy... but for some reason I couldn't seem to add any to my card, it just wasn't working for me on this one! Luckily there are flowers on the image and papers, and I've added a little flower button too.

Items Used

Scalloped card blank - Craftwork Cards

Pre-coloured digi stamp - Tweet Bird - Pink Gem Designs

Papers & flower button - Papermania

Corner die - MFT Dienamics

Memory Box Vintage Birdcage die - MCH

Pink twine from my stash

So a very simple one from me today, as I was a bit time challenged!  The pre-coloured images from Pink Gem Designs are so handy when you need to make a card quickly, or when you're just not in the mood for colouring - and you get the line version as well, so you can also choose to colour them yourself.

**Edited - I've just remembered I meant to enter this for the 'pink plus one' challenge at In The Pink (I've used pink & brown/ kraft)**

Oh, and as you'll already know if you're my Facebook friend (feel free to add me by the way!), hubby finally caved in and said we could have the kitten :o)  We should be getting him/ her in the next few days, and I can't wait!

Here's a photo my mum sent me of our new little furry baby...

What a naughty little face eh?!  This one's going to be trouble lol :o)

Hope you all have a lovely evening!

Warm Winter Wishes - Sugar Nellie DT

Hello :o)  It's Friday at last... it feels like it's been such a long week!  And I'm getting a cold just in time for the weekend, how lovely...

Anyway... today is my day to post on the Sugar Nellie blog, and I've used a gorgeous stamp from last year's Christmas release.  This little penguin couple is called Warm Winter Wishes - aren't they sweet?

Items Used

Petal Point card blank - Craftwork Cards

Stamp - Sugar Nellie Warm Winter Wishes - Funky Kits

(also available as a digi stamp here)

Colouring - promarkers, flexmarkers & prisma pencils

Papers - Bo Bunny Blitzen - MCH

Sentiment (in circle) - Crafty Impressions Warm Winter Wishes - Funky Kits

Memory Box Frostyville Wreath die - MCH

Ribbon - Fantastic Ribbons

Gems - MeiFlower Light Blue - MCH

Viva Decor Pearl Pen in Ice White - MCH

Glamour Dust in Crystal

I'm entering my card for the following challenges

Sweet Sketch Wednesday - sketch (more or less followed!)

Penny Black & More - animal magic

Come & Get It - from the list I've used green, glitter, gems, ribbon & circles)

Yesterday my mum rang to tell me about a ginger kitten who needs a home... she sent me a photo too, and he/she (they're not sure) is adorable, and I want!!!  Hubby's not keen on the idea though, so I've not mentioned anything to the boys yet.  Not sure how I'm going to convince him, but I really need to!

Hope you all have a lovely day :o)

Heidi - My Crafty Heart DT

For today's card I've used a very pretty Whimsy stamp, and some gorgeous First Edition 'Isabelle' papers.  These aren't actually Christmas papers, but I think they work really well for girly Christmas cards - lovely colours and a lot of the sheets are sparkly :o)

Oh, and just in case you think I'm going a bit loopy... I do realise I've only got sons lol!  This is one that my friend's ordered...

Items Used

Scalloped card blank - Craftwork Cards

Stamp - Whimsy Heidi - MCH

Colouring - promarkers, flexmarkers & prisma pencils

Papers - First Edition Isabelle - MCH

Merry Christmas sentiment - Stampin' Up

Daughter stamp - Crafty Impressions Seasons Greetings set - Funky Kits

Flower - Prima Cabaletta Spring - MCH

Spellbinders Shapeabilities Floral Flourishes die - MCH

Memory Box Frostyville Wreath die - MCH

MeiFlower Beaded Pearl Heart in Cream - MCH

Viva Decor Pearl Pen in Ice White (back in stock soon) - MCH

Glamour Dust in Crystal

Pearls from my stash

I'm entering my card for the following challenges

Whimsy Inspirations - all things sparkly

Divas By Design - anything goes

Creative Inspirations - anything goes

Simon Says Stamp - dies and/ or punches

Songbird Challenge - girls just wanna have fun

Thank you all for your lovely comments and messages about Morgan's 'incident' at school.  The meeting was fine, the 'helper' is actually a student teacher and has been temporarily suspended while the school completes their investigation.  Morgan is fine - just a bit worried about all the fuss he thinks he's caused!  But they called him in after our meeting to reassure him that he did the right thing reporting it... I'm happy with how they're dealing with it anyway.

Hope you all have a lovely evening :o)

The Christmas panic begins...

Yes, I know it's a bit early to be panicking about it, but I thought I was doing quite well with Christmas cards so far this year... Then I got a couple of big-ish orders, counted up what I'd made already and realised I need to get cracking quick!

So here's a simple one using a cute LOTV pre-coloured die cut image, with some gorgeous new Bo Bunny papers.  Apologies in advance for the Christmas zone that my blog's likely to become for a while!

Items Used

Elegant Edge card blank - Craftwork Cards

Pre-coloured image - LOTV

Papers - Bo Bunny Blitzen - MCH

Nestabilities square & scalloped square dies

Memory Box Crystal Snowflake die - MCH

Martha Stewart snowflake punch

MeiFlower Coffee Mix pearls - MCH

Stickles in Stardust - MCH

I'm entering my card for the following challenges

Papertake Weekly - all creatures great & small

Lili's Little Fairies - Christmas card for the boys

Creative Card Crew - birds

Oldie But a Goodie - inspired by a song (Let It Snow)

(the image was bought & not used last Christmas so is older than 6 months)

I've been called into school tomorrow morning, to discuss an incident involving some sort of school 'helper' who hurt Morgan on purpose... it sounds like some silly idea of a joke but he's really hurt Morgan's hand.  The pupil support staff and head teacher seem to be taking it seriously so we'll see what's going to happen tomorrow :o(

Hope you all have a lovely evening!

Lovely Barry...

Last month I won some Stamp Fairy images... nearly all the ones I chose were 'Barry' - he's SO cute!

I had fun colouring a few of my Barry's yesterday, he's lovely to colour - very easy!  And I just noticed I've won some more of them over at Incy Wincy, yay :o)

Items Used

Digi stamp - Barry Soccer 4 - Stamp Fairy

Colouring - promarkers & flexmarkers

Papers - Bo Bunny Welcome Home (again!) - MCH

Memory Box Wrought Iron Fence die - MCH

Memory Box Marshmallow Clouds die - MCH

Sentiment - Simply Sophisticated - LOTV

Striped ribbon - Stampin' Up

MeiFlower Light Blue Gems - MCH

Viva Decor Pearl Pen in Ice White (back in stock soon!) - MCH

I'm entering my card for the following challenges

Sketch Saturday - Donna's fab sketch

Chocolate, Coffee & Cards - brown, teal & lime green

The Ribbon Girl - a boy card

CRAFT Challenge - sport

Incy Wincy - anything goes

**Pop over to MCH if you like your Gorjuss Girls (don't we all?!) - there's 20% off them all here at the moment.  Personal Impressions won't be making them anymore so get them while you can!**

Off for my regular mad dash around some of your blogs!  Hope you have a lovely evening :o)