Love You ♥

Good morning

It's still a bit chilly here today but at least it's dry and sunny!  No work for me until Friday now so going to be busy this week buying the last few presents, wrapping, food shopping and watching Christmas films with  Chloe and Jamie. 

Today I am sharing my last Christmas card for the year which is for Chris ... I bought a cute Fizzy Moon stamp especially for Chris' card but at the last minute changed my mind and decided to use 'Love You' from the SWALK Winter Cheer collection which is available at Crafter's Companion.

* Card Recipe *

Image ~ Swalk 'Love You'

Papers ~ Echo Park 'Winter Park' and ? red piece as it's from my scrap box

Sentiment ~ LOTV

Snowflakes ~ Woodware punch

Brads & Ric Rac ribbon ~ Stash

* Challenges *

Totally Gorjuss ~ For Someone Special

Hooked on Crafts ~ Christmas

Dream Valley ~ Christmas

Paper Cutz ~ Hearts Come Home for Christmas

Crafting for all Seasons ~ Christmas

Divas by Design ~ Merry Christmas

Papertake Weekly ~ Last Christmas Card of the Year

I doubt I will have time to make any cards before Christmas but will be joining the lovely Debby on Christmas Eve with 'My Favourite Five Christmas Cards of 2011' 

Now going to make myself a cuppa and then do some more wrapping!

Winter Fun!

Hi Everyone

Brrr it's a bit chilly this morning!!!

It's time for a new Pink Gem Challenge and our host is Rebekah with a super sketch.  Just to let you know the lovely Janet is giving the design team a break over the Christmas period so this will be the last challenge of 2011 and will run for a month.

I have made this card for my son ... hope he likes it!

* Card Recipe *

Image ~ Andy on Sledge

Papers ~ Echo Park 'Winter Park'

Sentiment ~ Crafty Sentiments

Snowflakes ~ Woodware punch

Pearls ~ Stash

* Challenges *

Winter Wonderland ~ Let It Snow

SFTW ~ Christmas

Crafty Catz ~ Anything Goes

Totally Gorjuss ~ Let It Snow

Card Makin Mamas ~ Christmas

Now going to do a little bit of housework and then i'm meeting up with Lynsey and Marianne for lunch :-)

Hope you have a great weekend!

Believe in the Magic!

Hi Everyone

Hope you are all well.  It's so windy here today ... we have had a couple of powercuts but luckily it came back on after a few minutes.  I have been busy the last few days so no time for crafting.  I went Christmas shopping with Chris on Monday and we managed to get most of the presents but still got a few to get!  I have had a crafty day today and managed to make Chloe and Jamie's cards so just need to make one for Chris and then the cards will be finished.  Still got loads to do though ... cards to write, presents to wrap, decorations to put up, food to buy!  I feel worn out just thinking about it lol!

* Card Recipe *

Image ~ LOTV Twinkling Star

Papers ~ Sharon's Past Times CD

Sentiment ~ Crafty Sentiments

Metal Corner ~ Ebay

Pearls ~ Stash

* Challenges *

Sketch Saturday ~ Sketch

Papertake ~ Anything Goes

Bunny Zoe's ~ Anything Christmas with Pearls

Crafty Hazelnut's ~ Mainly Monochromatic Christmas

Joanna Sheen ~ Christmas Wishes

ABC Christmas ~ Anything Christmas

Crafty Calendar ~ Cold & Frosty

That's all from me!  Lasagne is cooked and it smells delish ... hope it tastes as good as it smells!

I ♥ Mince Pies

Good afternoon

We had a great day at the Top Gear Live show yesterday but are all feeling tired today because we didn't get home until late.  I didn't feel like doing any housework this morning so while the roast chicken was cooking I decided to make a card using this cute image and papers from the new SWALK Winter Cheer Collection. 

* Card Recipe *

Image ~ SWALK Mince Pies

Papers ~ Winter Cheer CD

Sentiment ~ Cat's Life Press

Pearls/Poinsettia ~ Stash

Holly ~ X-Cut punch

* Challenges *

Sweet Stampin' ~ Gingham

Totally Gorjuss ~ Christmas Traditions

Samuel Taylor's ~ Christmas

That's all from me!  I'm now going to make some custard to go with the sticky treacle pudding :-)  X-Factor and I'm a Celeb tonight ... that's me sorted for the evening!

Hope you're all having a lovely Sunday :-)

A Gem of a Challenge #34 ... Sketch with a Twist

Good morning

It's time for a new challenge at A Gem of a Challenge and our host is the lovely Christine with a sketch but there is a twist because you also need to include stitching and a sentiment.  The stitching can be real or faux.

Now i'm useless with a sewing machine and my hand drawn stitching is ... well the less said about that the better lol! so I cheated and used a patchwork paper with printed stitching.

* Card Recipe *

Image ~ Postbox Ellie

Papers ~ Bearly Mine Designs (patchwork) and Papermania 'At Christmas Time'

Sentiment ~ Sentiments 4 You

Flowers/Leaves ~ Prima/Petaloo 

Bird embellishment ~ Local craft shop

Pearls/Brad ~ Stash

* Challenges *

Crafty Calendar ~ November Wardrobe

Anything Goes ~ Stitching (Real or Faux)

Papertake ~ Christmas

Ooh La La ~ Stitching (Real or Faux)

Top Tip Tuesday ~ Anything Christmas

Cute Card Thursday ~ Red for Remembrance

Well that's all from me as this is a scheduled post and by the time it publishes we will be heading up the motorway to the NEC for the Top Gear Live show.  We are all Top Gear fans and went to the show last year and absolutely loved it!  We booked tickets for this year's show a few weeks ago but haven't told Chloe and Jamie so it's going to be a surprise.  We've told them I am going to watch a craft demonstration and they are dropping me off ... to say they are not impressed is an understatement lol!  Can't wait to see their faces when we tell them.

Hope you all have a great weekend :-)

Sparkly & Bright ... Shine a Light!

Hi Everyone

Hope you are all well.  I can't believe it's been over a week since my last blog post.  I haven't been feeling too great the last couple of weeks (cold, sore throat etc) but I have also been catching up with a few jobs that have been on my 'To Do' list for some time.  I do, however, have a card to share with you today which I have made with a few challenges in mind.  I coloured this sweet LOTV image a couple of weeks ago so it was only a matter of choosing my papers etc and putting it together.

Whilst looking through my papers I came across a 6 x 6 pack of Webster's Pages.  Now I bought these last year but couldn't bring myself to cut into them so they have sat in a drawer ever since ... does this sound familiar with any of you lol!  Anyway I decided to use one of the sheets on today's card!

* Card Recipe *

Image ~ LOTV 'Shine a Light'

Papers ~ Webster's Pages 'Waiting for Santa' and Memory Box 'Yuletide'

Sentiment ~ LOTV

Ribbon/Gems ~ Stash

* Challenges *

Sketch & Stash ~ Vicky's Sketch

LOTV ~ Bright & Sparkly

Christmas Stampin' ~ Favourite Sketch

Simon Says Stamp ~ Photo Inspiration

Winter Wonderland ~ Sparkle

Crafty Ribbons ~ Bingo Board ... Glitter, Flowers (on paper) & Gems

Now off to tidy up ... can't believe how much mess I have made from making one card lol!

CC Monthly Challenge ~ Let it Snow!

Hi Everyone

It's the 1st of the month so that means a new challenge has been set at Crafter's Companion Monthly Challenge.  Nice and easy ths month ... Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!  I am sure over the next month most of you will make a snowy card which fits this theme :-)  As always the lovely Sara has kindly donated a £30 voucher for the Crafter's Companion website.

* Card Recipe *

Image ~ SWALK 'Kisses from Heaven'

Papers ~ The Snowman CD-ROM

Sentiment ~ LOTV

Snowflakes ~ Woodware punch

Pearls ~ Stash

* Challenges *

Sweet Stampin' ~ Anything Goes

Craft Your Passion ~ Bingo

(Punch, Sentiment, Bling)

Papertake ~ Anything Goes + Bling (optional)
By The Cute and Girly ~ Christmas Girls


I woke up with a really bad sore throat so i'm not feeling too great today :-(  Now going to heat myself up some soup for lunch.

A Gem of a Challenge #33 ... Cold & Frosty

Good morning

It's time for a new Pink Gem Challenge and our lovely boss Janet is hosting again with the theme of Cold & Frosty.  The prize for one lucky winner is 6 digi stamps from Pink Gem Designs.

I decided to use this sweet Snowflake Chloe image ... I bet she is feeling a little chilly holding that frosty snowflake!  I have added lots of Star Dust Stickles and Crystal Glamour Dust to make it extra sparkly! 

* Card Recipe *

Image ~ Snowflake Chloe

Papers ~  Beatrix Potter 'A Winter's Tale' CD

Sentiment ~ LOTV

Doily ~ Craft show

Pearls & Button ~ Stash

Snowflake/Snowflake border ~ MS punches

* Challenges *

Totally Papercrafts ~ Glitter It!

Simon Says Stamp ~ Anything Goes

Charisma Cardz ~ Anything Goes

Crafty Purple Frog ~ Sparkle

Crimbo Crackers ~ Anything Goes

Hanna & Friends ~ Glitter

Now off to take Jamie to football so will link up the challenges when I  get back. 

Don't forget to check to see if you were one of my candy winners ... see post below.

Hope you all have a great weekend :-)

Twinkling Star

Hi Everyone

Hope you are all well and had a good start to the week ... because it's half term I am doing my hours over 2 days instead of 3 this week so didn't have to go in to work today :-) 

As I mentioned yesterday, I had planned to move some of my less used craft stash into a storage cupboard in the garage but I just wasn't in the mood for it this morning so I made a card instead and after lunch we took Jake for a walk so it still isn't done!

* Card Recipe *

Image ~ LOTV Twinking Star

Papers ~ Dovecraft 'Jolly Happy Christmas'

Sentiments ~ Cat's Life Press

Flowers/Leaves ~ Prima

Metal Corner ~ Ebay

Seam Binding/Pearls/Brad ~ Stash

* Challenges *

LOTV ~ Bingo (Gems, Flowers, Ribbon/Lace)

Secret Crafter ~ Wrap Up Warm

Crafts 4 Eternity ~ Metal Embellishments

Colour Create ~ Burgandy, Gold, Green & Cream

ABC Christmas ~ Unused Stash (New Stamp and Metal Corner)

Don't forget you still have time to enter my Birthday Candy :-)

A Gem of a Challenge #32 ... Janet's Sketch

Good morning

Hope you are all well and looking forward to the weekend.  It's a beautiful sunny morning here which is good news for me because Jamie is starting football club today.  He loves football but has been reluctant to join any teams until now so fingers crossed he likes it!  If he does you know where i'm going to be every Saturday morning from now on ... think I need to invest in some extra warm clothing for the upcoming winter months!!

It's time for a new challenge at A Gem of a Challenge and this fortnight our lovely boss Janet is hosting with a sketch!  The prize is 6 digi images of the winner's choice from Pink Gem Designs.

I decided to use Nativity Philip which is a digi and is available as a line art drawing for you to colour or pre-coloured.  I was feeling a bit lazy when I made my card so opted for the pre-coloured one!  The papers are a mixture from my 'bits box'.  Sentiment is from Sentiments 4 You.  Finished off with a couple of punched snowflakes, pearls and die cut corners.

Right now off to get my little 'Beckham' kitted out! 

Hope you have a great weekend and manage to squeeze in some craft time :-) 

Pretty in Pink

Good afternoon

Hope you are all having a relaxing Sunday ... just thought I would share a card I made this morning before I make a start on the ironing! 

I love this adorable image ... she has been coloured with Spectrum Noirs and Star Dust Stickles have been added to her wings and fur trims to make her extra sparkly :-)  I was going to add a few punched snowflakes but decided not to because I didn't want to cover up the gorgeous backing paper.

* Card Recipe *

Image ~ Sugar Nellie 'Crystal Flakes'

Papers ~ Dream Street 'Wonderland Sparkle'

Sentiment ~ Let it Snow Sentiment Set

Gems ~ Stash

* Challenges *

The Sugar Bowl ~ Sketch

Jingle Belles ~ Pink Christmas

Flutterby Wednesday ~ Anything Goes

Bah Humbug ~ Glitter & Glitz

Secret Crafter ~ Anything Goes as long as it sparkles

I will be back in the morning with another sneak peek from the SWALK 'Winter Cheer' collection :-)  I loved making my DT sample cards with this collection .... the stamps are sooo cute and the CD is jam packed with gorgeous papers, inserts and much much more!

That's all from me ... ironing is calling!

Crafter's Companion - Santa's Little Helper

I'm back again with my DT card for the Crafter's Companion Monthly Challenge which is a colour challenge ... Pink & Green :-)  Last month we had a few problems with Mr Linky going AWOL and it didn't seem fair to pick a winner so this month the lovely Sara hs donated 2 x £30 vouchers to spend at Crafter's Companion.

* Card Recipe *

Image ~ Humphrey's Corner 1st Christmas stamp set

Papers ~ Magazine freebie

Sentiment ~ Above stamp set

Flowers ~ Flora Doodles

* Challenges *

Cute Card Thursday ~ Animal Crackers

My Mum's Craft Shop ~ Dress Up

Some Odd Girl ~ Colour inspiration


Hope you have a great weekend!

A Gem of a Challenge #31 ... With Love at Christmas

Good morning

Hope you are all enjoying the gorgeous weather we are having in the UK :-)  Shame we couldn't have had it in the summer ... oh well better late than never!

It's time for a new Pink Gem Challenge and once again the lovely Jenny is our host and has chosen 'With Love at Christmas' (a Christmas card with a heart/hearts included somewhere).

* Card Recipe *

Image ~ Ice Skating Chloe

Papers ~ Penguin Frolics

Sentiment ~ Let it Snow A7 sentiment set

Pearls ~ available here

* Challenges *

Papertake ~ Sketch

Simon Says Stamp ~ Anything Goes

Paper Play ~ White + 1

Penny's ~ Anything Goes

Whimsical Wednesday ~ Anything Goes

I have been busy the last few weeks with DT work so I have decided to have a break from crafting for a few days.  Chris is working today so I am off shopping with Chloe and Jamie this morning.  MIL is coming over later so Chris and I can go out for a meal together this evening :-)  Hoping we might go to the coast tomorrow.

I will be back later with my card for the Crafter's Companion Monthly Challenge.

All Wrapped Up!

Good afternoon

Hope you are all having a good week.  Only 3 more sleeps and then I am off to Ally Pally with Marianne and Lynsey :-)  What can be better than craft shopping and meeting up with friends ... oh I can't wait!

I have been busy the last few weeks with DT work but last night I found time to make a non-DT card and came up with this Christmas card using one of my favourite LOTV stamps.

* Card Recipe *

Image ~ All Wrapped Up

Papers ~ ? ... I will add details later

Sentiment ~ Sentiments 4 You

Flowers/Leaves ~ Prima

Gems ~ Stash

Swirl ~ Magnolia die

* Challenges *

LOTV ~ Red, Green & White

Bunny Zoe's ~ Sketch

Winter Wonderland ~ Girly Christmas

My Mum's Craft Shop ~ Boys & Girls

Sweet Stampin' ~ Flowers

CES ~ Embellish me more (use at least 4 different embellies)

Simon Says Stamp ~ Dies to die for

Bah Humbug ~ Flourishes/Swirls

The Crafty Pad ~ Diamonds are a girl's best friend (add bling)

Christmas Stampin' ~ Photo inspiration

That's all from me ... must dash and prepare tea because Chloe has Guides tonight.

Winter Wonderland 'Pretty in Pink'

Good evening

Hope you are all well and having a good weekend.  I have had a busy week at work so not much time for crafting/blogging.  To top it off I had a few technical problems hence the reason why I am so late with with DT cards for Pink Gem & Winter Wonderland challenges.

This week at Winter Wonderland Denise has set the challenge 'Pretty in Pink'.  The sponsor is the fabulous Simon Says Stamp who are very generously offering a $15 gift certificate for one lucky winner.

* Card Recipe *

Image ~ LOTV All Wrapped Up

Papers ~ Docrafts 'Penelope & Percy'

Sentiment ~ Lili of the Valley

* Challenges *

Cupcake Craft ~ Sketch

Crafty Ann's ~ Christmas in June

ABC Christmas ~ M is for Monochrome

Creative Craft World ~ Christmas in June

Charisma ~ White + 1 (Pink)

That's all from me!  Now going to link up the challenges and make a cuppa before heading up to bed ... it's been a busy week and I am so tired!  I will be back in the morning with my DT card for A Gem of a Challenge which is a sketch by me!

Winter Wonderland GDT

Good morning

Last Saturday when I checked my emails I was very intrigued when I saw I had an email from my lovely friend Marianne with the title 'An offer I hope you can't refuse'.  It was a lovely surprise when I opened it because it was an invitation to be the GDT for Marianne's team at Winter Wonderland for the month of June.  Christmas cards are my favs to make and seeing as I have only made one Christmas card so far this year it was too good an offer to refuse :-)

This week's challenge is 'Pearls & Swirls' challenge and is being sponsored by Delicious Doodles.

* Card Recipe *

Image ~ LOTV James Bear 'Wrapped in Tinsel'

Papers ~ Magnolia

Sentiment ~ Cat's Life Press

Flowers ~ Prima

Pearl Brad ~ The Hobby House

Pearls ~ Wild Orchid Crafts

Swirls ~ Marianne Design die cuts

* Challenges *

Sketch & Stash ~ Sketch and my neglected stash is the cute stamp

Southern Girls ~ Start of Winter Christmas

Lili of the Valley ~ Anything Goes

Papertake Weekly ~ Anything Goes

This is a scheduled post because I am at work today.  We have a busy weekend planned ... tonight after work we are going to a BBQ at my mum's and tomorrow we are taking the children to see JLS.  Fingers crossed the weather is nice! 

I will be back tomorrow with my DT card for A Gem of a Challenge.

My First Christmas Card of 2011

Good evening

I am determined to be more organised with my Christmas cards this year so this is my first for 2011!  Just a quick and easy card using a LOTV die cut image.  I am not sure if you can still get these particular images because I bought them in 2009!

Image ~ LOTV die cut

Papers ~ Pepper & Friends Christmas Party

Sentiment ~ Sentiments 4 You

Challenges

LOTV ~ Sketch

Bah! Humbug! ~ Holly and/or Fairies (holly backing paper)

ABC Christmas ~ Anything Christmas

DCD Christmas ~ Punch out your sentiment

Winter Wonderland ~ Lets go dotty

Just a quick post because I really need to tidy up my craft area/dining room and then sort something out for tea.  I am at work tomorrow and Friday so no crafting for me until the weekend :-(