Hello

Hi all

Sorry to have been on the missing list, but I have been very hectic with interviews and have been spending far too much time doing a schedule of works for a huuuuge renovation we are having on the house Not a room will escape the builders works so the schedule was, to say the least, very long.  However Dean did find time to whisk me off to the New Forest for a lovely weekend of walking & long lazy lunches bliss!

If you are ever in Fritham do try out this tiny little pub its serves the most amazing lunches but the menu doesn't include sandwiches or chips!! Thankfully  there are some fab walks about to walk off all the excesses afterwards.

Walking in the northern reaches of the forest

Some of the resident ponies near our hotel in Brockenhurst

Back with some cards later in the week

Ciao

Love is in the air

Hi Everyone

Todays card is another of the fabulous quilt cards inspired by the multi talented Jane Gill.

I thought I would enter it for the challenge on Stamptacular Sunday which is another seasonally apt theme of Love.The images have all been stamped in Momento and coloured with Copics.

A close up of a the front .

And another angle.......

Recipe: Stamps: Hero Clear stamps - Love many Ways, Magnolia sentiment. Papers: Papermania.

Thanks for looking
Hugs

Spots and dots, Buttons and bows

Hi all

Still cold and trying to snow at every opportunity, but at least the ground is too wet for it to stick! I got fed up of all the dull weather and treated myself to some flowers so now the house is full of tulips, daffodils and Hyacinths. Spring is here according to my house!!
Tonights card is another multi challenge for:

Truely Scrumptious - Sketch
Cute Card Thursday - Spots and Dots
Lily of the Valley - Valentines
Secret Crafter - Monochrome and white

This card uses another of my recently acquired new stamps from LOTV and is aptly called Rosie Posy. I have coloured her with Copics and added some stickles for good measure. The button is another one from my grandmothers button box. Apologies for the washed out photo, my camera doesn't seem to like night time photography! or is that a bad crafter blames her tools.............

Recipe: Stamps: LOTV - Rosie Posy, Sentiment from Magnolia. Papers: My Minds Eye - Be loved Beautiful Branches double sided paper. Flower, Ribbon and cord from stash

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Marlene's Sketch

Hi Everyone
Today I was down at Crafts U Love with the uber talented Kim Piggott where we made a tag card - well I nearly made one as there is so much involved in one of her cards it is impossible for a slow coach like me to finish in two hours!

So todays challenge card had to be a simple one! I used the sketch over on the Sugar Bowl by the lovely Marlene. The layout instantly had me reaching for their lovely cherub stamp and I coloured it with distresssed inks, divided it into four and then put crackle accents over top. Its the first time I have tried this and I am quite pleased with the result as the distressed inks didn't carry as much as I expected but has given a bit of an aged effect. The added requirement was to use lace and I used this fabulous cotton lace from Crafts U Love.

A close up of the crackle accents

Recipe: Stamps: Cherub from Funky Kits, Sentiment Great Flourish from Hero Arts. Papers: Basic Grey Bittersweet - Almond toffee. Flowers from Wild Orchid crafts.

Thanks for looking
Hugs

Be Loved

Hi Everyone

Back again with my challenge card for the day! But first I have to say a big OMG to the weather! What is going on I have roses buding in the front garden all waiting for spring yet it has been snowing all afternoon! Luckily its not been settling or we would have been in trouble as I am off to see the very talented Kim Piggott tomorrow and I would have been upset to have missed that!

So back to my card which was for the following:

A Spoonful of Sugar - Sketch
Simon Says Stamp - Photo Inspiration of a red roses in a garden
Whiff of Joy - Love
Stampin for the Weekend - Valentine
I used the very cute Melinda from Whiff of joy which I paper pieced and coloured with Antique Linen distressed inks. I used some more of the 'Be Loved' papers from My Minds Eye which are such a great colour combo and make such a nice change to use from the seasonal pinks and reds. The shapes were all die cut using my nesties and edged with Vintage Photo Distressed inks.

Recipe: Stamps: Whiff of joy Melinda blowing kisses, Stamping Up Circle of friends. Papers: My Minds Eye Be Loved  - Fond flowers, Affectionate flowers, Smitten Stripes. Nesties Scalloped, plain rectangles and hearts. Pearls and ribbon from stash finished off with Diamond Stickles!

Thanks for looking
Hugs

Mr & Mrs

Hi Everyone

I thought I would post a 'just for fun' card here this morning prior to doing my challlenge , but then realised I could enter this at Stamptacular Sunday. For this week’s challenge you need to create a card or project that shows someone special in your life just how much you love them. If you do it without using any hearts you are entered twice in the draw. I have loads of weddings coming up this year and each every one of these couples are special to me! I had also not inked this simply irresistable new LOTV stamp that I received over a week ago and I just love it- Gasp! not sure how I managed to resist a whole week before inking this beauty! LOL. Don't they just look so grown up!

I made another easel card as I think these always look special and it allowed me to showcase these fabulous new 'Delish' papers that I found on The Scrapbook Company.  The very lovely Debs was ever so helpful and my order arrived promptly the next day. Watch out for some cute menu cards and bling brads that managed to find their way into my basket as well - oops!!

A little close up showing the little couple whihc I coloured with Distressed inks and H20's and finished off with some liquid pearls. The flowers from Prima and Wild Orchid Crafts were glimmer misted prior to adding. This was inspired by the very lovely Kim Piggott who I met last week.

Recipe: Stamps: Wedding couple - Lily of the Valley, Sentiments - Hero Arts Two Hearts Wedding & Whiff of Joy General sayings. Papers: Delish High Tea Colllection and Coordinations. Nesties circle and scalloped circle, Martha Stewart - Punch Around The Page Punch Set - Scallop 3-Dot & Frond branch. Flowers from Prima and Wild Orchid crafts. Ribbon and brads from Papermania. Pin from stash

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Love Actually

Hi Everyone

I hope everyone has had a great weekend. Mine has just flown by as I was working on Saturday, but I did manage to fit in a bit of me time today and made this card using the fab sketch on Mojo Monday The lovely colour combo of pink and cream over on Creative Inspirations and finally, used the theme of 'Love Actually' over on Papertake Weekly

I used this incredibly cute image from Belles and Whistles which is aptly named Sweet Love and had been sitting on my table just waiting to be inked up! I coloured them with Copics and then chalked the edges of the image in a pearlised pink to give an impression of soft focus, which I really like. As the light is still not good its not easy to see that I have used a heart embossing folder and a MS loop punch to add some additional texture.

Here is the romantic close up!

Recipe: Stamps: Sweet Love from Belles and Whistles, Sentiment from Crafts and Me, Hearts  from Hero Arts. Papers: Imaginisce - Perfectly Posh Fancy Hearts, Bazzill bling birthstone - June. Cuttlebug Embossing Folder - Heart Blocks, Martha Stewart - Punch Around The Page Edge Punch - Loops. Ribbon from stash and lashings of stardust stickles.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Sir Stampalot Challenge

Hi all

I hope you have checked out the Sir Stampalot challenge and blog hop at Floral Fantasies. Brenda has all the details on her blog

The Challenge and blog hop will run for two weeks closing at midnight GMT on 13th February 2010. The challenge theme is:

"MOVING"

The blog hop also has letters on each site which you collect and then re-arrange to make a phrase.

There are some superb prizes on offer. So what are you waiting for?

I'm off to 'hop'
See you tomorrow
Hugs

Hugs Cuddles & Kisses

Hi Everyone

Back again this time with my proper posting!

My card today is another valentine's card, but I have managed to use one of my new LOTV stamps. This one is called bunny in love and although it is not one from the latest release I have been coverting it for a while.

I managed to tweak everything again so I could get this into 4 challenges:

Cupcake challenge - Four legged and furry

Papertake weekly - Sketch

Colour Create - Soft Pink, Soft Blue, White & Silver

Secret Crafter - Hearts

I am just loving this paper from Imaginisce. Its really good for romantic cards and the colours are bright and modern.

Recipe: Stamps: LOTV - Bunny. in Love, Sentiment - do-crafts. Papers: Imaginisce Perfectly Posh Paper - Painted Stripes, Bazzill bling - Sugar daddy. Nesties Scalloped and plain large circles, ribbon from stash & oodles of stardust stickles

Thanks for looking
Hugs

Loving wishes

Hi all

This was supposed to be a scheduled post yesterday , but whoops I pressed the wrong button when I was rushing so following a bit of tweaking you get two for the price of one today!
Well today certainly seems to have turned the corner when it comes to the weather. We have had fabulous blue skies all weekend and until we went outside it could have been mistaken for spring - Brrrr!! On Saturday I was at the Glitter Pot at another sumptuous Jane Gill class where we made some fabulous cards using her new Now and Forever set from Woodware . It was great to see all the usual suspects and catch up as many of us hadn't seen each other for over a month due to all the snow. On Sunday I took advantage of the great light and Dean being out at nets and had a little play with a load of new bits and pieces that have made their way to me over the last few weeks - I blame all the cabin fever from the snow!

So todays card uses the stamps from the Magnolia winter set which arrived a couple of weeks ago.
I also used the quilt card template, which has become a firm favourite following Jane Gills great demo last year. Thanks Jane, I really can't stop using this as it is so adaptable, addictive but mostly very relaxing to sit and fold in front of the TV at night!

I have also managed to cover off three challenges:

A Spoonful of sugar - Freestyle
ABC - Masking
Creative Inspirations - Feminine

The Tilda and the candlestick have been stamped onto the masked piano and coloured with copics. I then stamped and coloured another tilda and mounted her over the edge of the quilt to give her some depth.

On the second quilt I have used the Elegant heart and once again stamped another image, coloured it with copics, embossed the back and mounted it with pinflair glue.

A close up just to show that the stickles are back on my desk!

Recipe: Stamps: Magnolia - Noble Tilda, Elegant Heart, Champagne & Candelabra, Loving wishes, Janes Script. Papers: Bazzill basics, Papermania signature linen. Stardust stickles....

Thanks for looking
Hugs