An Award ... or 4

Sorry for my recent absence but a combination of ill health and work / family commitments has kept me away from 'Blogland' and many of my normal online haunts.
I hope to be back in full swing soon and hope you haven't all given up on me totally.
What a lovely surprise to see that while I was away, I have been nominated for this fabulous award not just once or twice ... but 4 times!!

The Rules-
1. The winner can put the logo on her blog.
2. Link the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate al least 7 other blogs.
4. Put links of those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on the blogs you've nominated.

Thank you very much Lauren, Jennifer, Tullavilla and Wendi for nominating me despite me being AWOL for so long.

After scanning my favourite haunts I see that most of them already have this award ... so I'm obviously visiting the right places * wink *

Therefore, I will pass this fabby award to all the visitors who pop by even when I'm not in. Your continued interest and kind comments about my work really make my day.

Now all I need to do is go and create something new for you all to look at and hopefully make your visit worthwhile.

"This Thursday Its ..." ~ Guest Designer

Guess what??

I've been invited to be a Guest Designer for "This Thursday Challenge Blog" in August ... isn't that amazingly exciting?
Well for me it is LOL!

Thank you Tracey and the This Thursday Challenge team ... I'm truly honoured that you asked me and will display your banner with pride.

Tilda & Co. Challenge 25 ~ Dotty

Over at Tilda & Co. Challenge Blog this week the theme is 'Dotty' and there is another fabulous prize on offer.
I found some pretty HOTP dottylicious paper and matted it onto pink card.
The side panel was pleated first to add some interest and then both panels were cut with scalloped scissors before mounting onto a pink blank card.

I used the cute 'Tingla' stamp and coloured it with Sakura pens. Pink glitter added dotty detail and glossy accents added shine to the wings.

A wide pink satin ribbon was also dottilly decorated with pink glitter and an adhesive greeting was added to pink card before cutting out with my trusty scalloped scissors.

More Blog Candy!

One of my CB friends is celebrating 1000 hits over at Cambiel's L'il Craft Diary and is offering Blog Candy ... so to be in with a chance of some early Xmas stash, just pop over and leave a comment for her and add a link on your blog.

**Blog Candy Winner**

Whoops ... almost an hour later than promised but here's the name of the lucky winner.
All names were popped into a shoebox and the first name pulled out was ......

Sharon.

Please e~mail me with your address details and I shall get this lovely desk frame kit by
K.& Co. off to you ASAP.

Hope you enjoy your prize.

This Thursday Challenge #1 ~ Fresh

There's a new challenge blog called
"This Thursday It's ... "
which opened it's doors last Thursday and as I hate to miss out on new things I had to have a go.



The 1st challenge theme is 'FRESH' and here is my take on the brief they set which is basically ... anything goes !!

I made an accordian ATC wallet using a selection of yellow, white and blue card and Provo Craft papers all tied together with yellow ribbon.

I also got to play with my scalloped circle punches too and that lovely Magenta silhouette stamp which I like ... a lot !


Hope you like it.

Gold Embossing on Black

I treated myself to a large wood mounted stamp a few weeks ago but haven't used it ... until today.

It is a large floral silhouette type design and the only markings on it are ©Magenta.

Gold and black together always look quite dramatic and perfectly suit this stamp, so I decided to have a play with my heat gun and gold embossing powder on some black card.

I quite like how it turned out but need to improve my technique for embossing the edges.

Blog Candy ~ 2000 Hits !!

Just realised my visitor tally is heading towards the 2000 mark. Yowza!
So ....following blog tradition I will be offering some crafty blog candy to celebrate.
Just leave a comment here to say you have visited and your name will be entered into the draw to win some crafty stash. Don't forget to tell your friends too!
Non UK visitors are also welcome and I will cover all postage costs.
Closing date will be midnight on Saturday 21st June UK time.
May I just say a huge 'Thank You' to everyone who has taken time to visit my little corner since I tentatively started blogging in March 2008.
Your encouragement and support is very much appreciated.

**Update**
At the close of this draw, my visitor total is sitting at 2247 ... how amazing is that?
Thank you so much everyone ... it's lovely to know so many people have popped by and taken an interest.

Blog Candy Now Closed.
Winner will be announced before 2pm Sunday 22nd June.

Tagged Thrice!

I've been tagged thrice this week by Ultamum, Enjay and Cambiel ... so here goes with some more useless and totally uninteresting information about little ol' me ...

The "Roolz" are as follows:

Each player answers the questions about themselves.
At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog.
Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.


Ten years ago:
I was a Stay At Home Mum of 2, married to a hardworking husband and felt very lucky with my life. Blimey ... some things never really change!! Only difference now is I have a wee part time job.

Five things in today's 'to do list':
Didn't get around to making a list today.

Snacks I enjoy:
Anything savoury ... usually with lots of onions.

Things I would do if I was a millionaire:
Ooooh crikey ... make sure the family was looked after and would have to invest some for the future (always supposing I will be around to enjoy it). Dunno what else ... have never had loads of money so haven't really thought about it.

Places I have lived:
Stoke on Trent
Stafford
Fife

Now I'm supposed to tag 5 friends ... I always find this bit difficult but hopefully my choices have not already been tagged.

Ann
Tiggertastic
Copse

and a couple of newer blogger friends ...

Liz
Jennifer

Ooh~La~La Creations Challenge ~ Romance

This week at Ooh~La~La Creations the challenge is "Romance" ... so here's my entry.

The base card is a deckle~edged cream card which was coloured randomly with Dovecraft chalk.
Then I added some dark purple heavy weight paper, slightly smaller than the base card, which was torn around the edges.
Pretty Papermania Vellum and K. & Co. double sided paper were used to create a frame to which heart brads and lilac flowers were adhered.

Scalloped scissors were used to create a pretty edge which was then inked with a purple mini dauber for emphasisi.

The quotation is self adhesive from a book of vellum quotes and the 'Be Mine' message is a rub on.

If you want to join in then hurry hurry hurry ... there'll be a new challenge starting on Sunday.

Condolences

Sadly I have had to make 2 Sympathy cards this week ... never an easy thing to do.

Decided to make them both the same and keep to simple black and white.

Tore away the front edge and used black ink around the deckle edge. Popped a silver chain border peel off on the back section.

My thoughts are with the families at this difficult time.

More Blog Candy!

Stamping Caz is offering some lovely stamped images to 10 lucky winners ... so if you fancy some blog candy pop over and say 'Hi'

ArtyGirlz Challenge ~ Hint of Pink

After receiving slapped legs from my CB friend Sequin when I half joked about buying a shop bought card for my mum's 70th birthday, (shame on me!), I decided to get out some of my precious Papermania silk screened, double~sided paper and actually USE it.

Normally I reserve this paper for stroking and admiring before carefully putting it back in my stash ... silly I know but believe me, it's a common thing among crafters.
I was very brave and used it to make a card for my precious mum ... 'cos she's worth it!
This particular design is Pink Floral Metallic and has the most gorgeous golden sheen when it catches the light, but my photos didn't manage to pick that up very well.

Brads, ribbons, sticky black gems and vellum were all used for decoration.

Just so happens that ArtyGirlz have a 'Hint of Pink' Challenge this week with a fabulous prize on offer, so I think this qualifies.
Click on the link above to find it.

Tilda & Co. Challenge 24

I decided to open one of my new Magnolia stamps and have a play this afternoon.
I thought ... what better way to try it out than to enter this week's Tilda & Co. challenge ... Hmmmmmmmmmm.
I'm not so sure it was a good idea as this week the theme is 'Serendipity'.
Check out the Tilda & Co. website for an explanation and examples.

In my crafty naivety, I thought it would be easy peasy so dug out my scrap paper box and proceeded to tear and rip with glee.
I glued all the bits'n'pieces randomly onto orange card with relish, then set it aside to dry. Then, I stamped and gold embossed willy nilly all over the mosaic mess, in an effort to produce a workable base to chop into small pieces and use in a creative way.

Do you know what???

It turned out to be much harder than I imagined to actually create something I was remotely happy with ...
However, I didn't give up and did eventually come up with a result which I shall enter and see what happens ... and maybe I need to have a little more practice at this technique.

The Magnolia stamp was paper pieced with bits left over from the mosaic too but I reckon next time I will play safe and just use watercolour pens as originally intended.

RAK ... Random Act of Kindness

Some super surprises dropped through my letterbox this morning in the form of RAKs from my friends at Crafts Beautiful forum.

The first was all the way from down under ... sent by Lollies at Cards and Other Crafty Stuff. She is one of our youngest members and an absolute sweetheart.
Please pop over to her blog and say 'Hi' and check out her creations ... they are amazing for one so young.

She'll really appreciate the visit and would love to hear your comments.

The envelope was filled to bursting with loads of lovely papers, stick ons, buttons and .... well just look what she sent!

The second envelope contained the most beautiful tag made for me by Susie at White Ribbon Cards and, coincidently, I had been admiring this tag on her blog just the other day.

She is one very talented lady and if you get a chance then pop over to see some of the other stunning projects she has made.

Thank You both very much for your kindness.

Father's Day

Managed to sneak a photo of hubby's wee car to make his card for Sunday when he went out to collect Niall's birthday cake.
Hope he likes it ... and the new Registration Number LOL. If you click the picture you'll be able to read it.
Usual apologies for the reflection on the mirri card.

Sassycrafts Challenge

I was blog browsing last night ... following links ... as you do ... and came across a challenge on Sassycrafts Blog that sounded fun.

The challenge is to make a project using any 3 Dovecraft products.
So I had a go and made this card.

I used paper from the Dovecraft Fantasy collection (which I love) ... the Dovecraft Footprints Border Punch ... the Dovecraft Baby Block Stamp on the ribbon ... and Dovecraft Decorative Chalks (Bright) in green and blue to colour the front panel edges.
Added a few sparkly gems for a little bling and silver mirri card for matting .... and voila!
Will pop over now and post the link.
Wish me luck LOL!

Agony! Creativity!! Panic!!!

The Agony
Yesterday I woke up to an outbreak of my horrid skin condition Hidradenitis Suppurativa. Don't worry I won't be showing photos but if you decide to google for information, then be warned ... it isn't for the squeamish!
When it's bad like this I can hardly walk and definitely can't drive so no work for me. I'm still in agony so am popping painkillers and hoping that regular salt baths will have an effect soon.

The Creativity
As I was unable to go to work, I thought I'd make a start on a couple of challenges.
The Ribbon Challenge at Ooh~La~La Creations of course and this month's challenge at the MSN card group is to make a Spinner Card.

I need some Father's Day cards for Sunday and also need an 18th Birthday card for my son for Saturday ...

so I managed to combine Spinners with Ribbons and made one Father's Day card and an 18th Birthday card so not bad really considering I had to do them standing up. Sorry about the reflection in the gold mirri card. One day I'll manage to get a decent picture.

The Panic
My 12 year old daughter was representing her school at an Inter school Track and Field Event today in Dunfermline, just as she did last week and the week before. This is an out of school activity for which we have to give written permission before she can participate. They were due to return at approximately 4pm so I expected her home about 4.15pm as she has the last 2 Wednesdays ... but she didn't arrive.
By 5pm I was getting anxious and called the school to make enquiries about when they had returned but got no reply. I tried calling her friends but no one else had been involved in the sports event, so they hadn't seen her all day.
Hubby repeatedly went down to school and back over the next hour hoping to get some information but the only staff member he saw couldn't help and I continued to phone the school hoping someone would answer ... no joy.

By 6pm I was frantic ... she was 2 hours overdue and we only live a 10 minute walk from school. We didn't know what else to do so hubby called the police. They took details and tried unsuccessfully to contact the keyholder at the school to see if they could get any information.
At 6.30pm hubby once again went out to see if he could find her and went back down to the school. You can imagine his relief when he saw the coach pulling into the car park. Panic over and she is safe ... thank goodness ... but I am furious that no one from school made any attempt to inform parents that the children were going to be late back and rest assured there will be a strong letter of complaint landing on the Rector's desk very soon.
The police were also very surprised that the school had been so inconsiderate and hadn't even posted a notice on the entrance to let people know what was happening, but were pleased that she was home safe and sound ... AND they didn't make us feel like paranoid parents who were wasting their time, but treated our concerns seriously.

RIBBONS!!

If you have a passion for ribbons and you like a challenge, then head on over to the Ooh~La~La Creations Challenge Blog as they have just started a new weekly challenge and this week there are some lovely ribbons on offer as a prize.

Here's my entry ...

Friday Already??

Where has this week gone ?? Did someone steal it ???

Seems like it ... and the weekend is going to be busy too so if I blink I'll miss that too!
Had really slow internet today, so decided to have a little play and make a birthday card.

Started with a black deckle~edged card which was folded in half and then added paper from the DCWV All Dressed Up Paper Stack. The front panel was then scored and folded back before adding the circle tag with the peel off greeting. The chipboard letters were coloured with a blue permanent pen and then glittered in silver. A self adhesive sparkly gem was used for the dot over the 'i' ... just a little bit of bling.

Inside is more of the lovely turquoise swirl paper and the message panel (cut from an envelope), was randomly silver embossed round the edge before adding a small ribbon bow and greeting.







Yesterday I came home from work to find the Magnolia stamps I'd ordered the other day from SassyCrafts had arrived. Can't wait to have a play with them but goodness only knows when that will be. Until then I will just gaze at them and look forward to opening the packets.

Today ... the postman delivered me more delights which made me smile in the form of a RAK from my fellow CB friend Copse aka Karen.
There are some lovely papers and a fab ATC ... and as a super thoughtful bonus, some 1st class stamps.

So even though I haven't been around CB or blogland much this week, I haven't been forgotten which is very reassuring.
I did try to get onto the CB forum to say 'Thank You' but without success so will post here for now.

"Thank You Very Much Karen!"

'Doodles' of Daisy and Cupcakes

'Tiggertastic' ... aka Sarah ... is a fellow member (and extremely generous RAK sender) from CB forum who just happens to be a multi talented crafter too.
Just check out her blog HERE and you'll see what I mean.

She recently did some 'Doodling' ... personally I prefer to call it art, but it's all down to perception isn't it? ... and she invited the CB members to have a play with her images.

Here are a couple of cards I made using 2 of them. Thanks Sarah xxx They were very easy to play with.

Black versamark ink was used on a scroll stamp and then stamped randomly on the textured orange base card.
I then added some white 'doodle swirls' with my gel pen, in an attempt to match with the swirls on the orange background paper, onto which I'd printed Sarah's doodle daisy. I also decided that white was all the colour needed for the 'Daisy Doodle.' This was then matted and layered onto black and yellow cardstock.

The cupcakes were printed onto green floral paper, and then red glitter glue was used to colour the cherries, silver for the icing, (which overran a bit because I hadn't allowed enough drying time ... whoops!), and the yellow sponge was paper pieced from another printed sheet.
A vertical strip was cut from the card face and a semi~circle was cut away using decorative edged scissors.
*Note To Self: I really will need to invest in a circle punch for better results.*
Rub on words from my stash and paper flowers in pink and green were layered, cut in half and glued top and bottom of the front, with a couple of gems for the finishing touch.
The background papers used were courtesy of the free Crafts Beautiful pattern pack downloads.

A Max Make ... or maybe 2 !

I've managed to fit in some crafting this week.
Not as much as I would've liked but let's be honest ... that's never going to happen and it's better than nothing.
If only I was more organised it would be so much easier.

The first offering is a quick and easy baby girl card where I was playing with my new Dovecraft Footprints border punch. and the cute paper was a free download from Crafts Beautiful. The BABY block letters were stamped onto pink card and silver embossed, then cut out and mounted on foam pads.

The second card is an A4 piece of plain white card scored to form a gatefold, with coloured textured paper on the front panels.

The pretty image of pansies and background paper were free downloads that Wendy at Ooh~La~La Creations offered for her recent Spring Challenge.


The chipboard letters were from the Lets Make Cards Words Kit and the embellishments are real dried flowers.

Inside silver mirri card forms the backdrop to which was added background paper, sheer ribbon and another of the pretty dried pansies.

Thanks for popping by to see what I've been up to.

Heart Card

While I was offline I did manage to make something ... but as is usual with me ... what started as one thing grew into something else entirely.

This card started life as a Bookatrix heart card
and

developed into more of an accordian card ...

with the help of some pretty pink heart embossed card.

Hey ho ... I just go where my ideas take me.


The pink and blue felt letters were from the Let's Make Cards kit so I entered into the Crafty Challenge at CB.

RAKs ... and so much more!

Once again, I have been the lucky recipient of some super RAKs from my CB friends since I last posted here.

As you will see the generosity of the members is just overwhelming at times and I feel so lucky to have such wonderful crafty friends.





Thank you so much Sequin, Maggie50 and Tiggertastic for your beautiful gifts of scrummy papers, ATCs, notebooks and fabulous jewellery ... not only for me but for my precious daughter too who loves her chunky T~bar necklace, her super charm and her horsey notebook made especially for her by Tiggertasic.

Thank You is just not enough ... nor will it ever be.

Decorating For MCC

Many grateful thanks to my CB friend Martine who has kindly created a beautiful new header for My Creative Corner.
Isn't it lovely? ... especially considering I didn't give her many clues as to what I wanted. All she had to work with was I would like swirls and to keep the colours blue and light grey to match the template.

You're a star Martine!

Blog Candy At Deb's

You have just got to check this out ... such a super selection of Blog Candy on offer at L'il Deb's Happy Place as she is celebrating 2000 visitors to her blog.

All you have to do to be in with a chance is post a link back to Deb's blog on your blog and let her know (or if you are a non~blogger, then e~mail your crafty friends with a cc to Deb) and you could be the lucky winner of all the scrummy goodies shown or if you prefer a $40 shopping spree. How cool is that??

You've got to be 'innit to winnit so off you go!

Fairy Birthday Card

Found time this afternoon to make a birthday card with some paper I bought the other week.

The fairy was cut from a sheet of gorgeous paper in the Dovecraft Fantasy range of Designer 12" x 12" papers and then mounted onto silver mirri card. A swirl stamp added some inerest to the wings.
I used the flower portion of the same paper as a background to matt onto a pink card blank. Added a few sparkly gems and a stamped message to finish ... VOILA!

Spring Beauty

I was leaving for work this morning and this was what greeted me as I opened the front door.

The pink azaleas which skirt the front path are in full bloom and what a gorgeous, dazzling display they make. I only wish they lasted longer.

An Award ... or 3

Grateful thanks to Susie at White Ribbon Cards who has kindly decided I deserve these awards. They are much appreciated and will be displayed with pride.

There are several similar awards doing the rounds at the moment, so rather than nominate specific people, (who may already have been awarded), I would like to offer them to anyone who visits my blog and takes the time to leave a comment. You deserve an award just for being here LOL!

Blog Candy

Everyone and their aunty knows how impossible it is to get 'Hanglar' Stamps in the UK. They're rarer than hen's teeth!
SO ......if you want the chance to win a 'Hanglar & Stanglar' stamp and 30 images ... yes NO KIDDING!!! ... then hop over to visit Heidi's Blog ... post a comment and a link on your own blog and then ... like everyone else ... keep everything crossed.

While you're there take a look around because she has some fabulous creations on display.

Ooh~La~La Creations Challenge

For those of you who enjoy challenges and like the opportunity to win prizes, check out the new 'Ooh~La~La' Creations Challenge Blog' for the chance to win a crafty CD.
You may use the free images provided or, if you prefer, make a Spring Card using your own supplies. Go on ... you know you want to!

This is my entry to the challenge created using the free images provided by Wendy at Ooh~La~La Creations.

Ribbons Galore !!

Scrummy yummy ribbons arrived today ... loads 'n' loads of them ! LOOKY !


These narrow decorated ribbons are so pretty and I have 20 metres of each apart from the ducks and the alphabet which were only 14 metres!
My favourites have got to be the duckies and the alphabet.

The yellow gingham ribbon is wired and there are 6 rolls with 2 metres on each one.

The floral fruity fabric ribbon is fray resistant so perfect for cutting out and layering on cards. There's 10 metres of that.
There's also 20 metres of red and lace ribbon which is airing outside as it smells a bit damp but it may just be absorbed from the envelope.

All of that (150 metres of ribbon) only cost £21 including postage and if my sums are correct that works out at 7.14p per metre.
Found them all in the 'clearance' section at Ribbonmoon ... they do gazillions of buttons too if anyone is interested.

The green tassle braiding and black fringing were already in my stash ... bought them as decoration for cushions many moons ago but found them last night when I was digging.

A Max Make ... or maybe 2 !

The CB forum was out of action last night as was the MSN group I belong to, so after struggling with them both for a while I gave up and decided that as no one wanted to be my friend I would just have some playtime instead.

What started as a simple idea 'morphed' into something a bit more the longer I played around ... and eventually I ended up not only with this Accordian Book ... (actually it's more of a folder) ... but an enormous mess which was the result of much digging through my stash for what I wanted. Funny how what you want is always at the bottom of the pile isn't it? LOL!
I will be personalising the front but couldn't show you or that would give the game away who it is for.

It will soon be winging it's way to the 'secret someone' I had originally intended to make a simple card for ...