Yipee!! Lady luck is with me!!

Hi all

Well, I must be having a lucky week with a few bits of good news hehe!

Crafts and Me are launching their own range of stamps and Teresa ran a little sneak peek competition to guess the artist of the new stamps. I got the answer right (on my third guess mind you hmmm). The artist is none other than Molly Harrison, you should check out some of the work on her site, it is amazing and here is one of the images being made into a rubber stamp! Stunningly beautiful, or what?



Lucky old me will be the 1st person besides the D.T's to own one of these lovely stamps in the world and I am sooo excited, I can't wait for it to arrive!

I won last weeks challenge over at The Pixie Cottage and won 2 stamps from their gorgeous range (can't decide which 2 yet though LOL)

Also I came top 3 for last weeks flower challenge over on Practical Stampers with my round easel card!!!

Oh my I am still jigging and jumping about - how uncool but totally me LOL!!

Pinwheels and lollies

Hi all

Well I am having trouble sleeping this week as I am still in pain and I would rather be up than tossing and turning in bed!!

Safiyyah turned 7 on Saturday and we spent most of the day up at the stables as there was a horse show on (dressage, jumping, in hand etc) and well, it was a gorgeous sunny day.

I wanted some practical table centre decorations so came up with these 2 boxes to store the lollies in. Safiyyah loved them so much she made me replenish it so she could take them into school yesterday.





The pinwheels were made using up those double sided free papers which come in craft magazines, however I never use them as they are (in my opinion) not good quality enough for on cards. They are PERFECT though for making pinwheels LOL! As I never had any wooden sticks in I had to raid the kitchen cupboards and came up with straws LOL, they were perfect actually and this fits in with the monthly challenge over at Practical Scrappers which is "Behind closed cupboards" and these straws were right at the back LOL!!!

A quick picture of her on Peggy waiting to go into the arena


The Shabby Tearoom - Popsicles and Pinwheels

Sweet Pea wind!!!

Hi all

No this post is not announcing I have wind (which I don't - HONEST haha). Sweet Pea Stampers challenge this week is a theme, you must incorporate Earth, Wind or Fire into your card. I chose wind ;-) This week my blogging buddy Doreen is GDT (grins and waves madly!!!)



I used the Ching Chou Kuik's Dandelion Fly stamp, love this stamp as it is so lovely to colour in using Promarkers.

Papers are some more of the Kate Knight freebies and some from my stash which were from a swap so not sure what they are! Flower from stash.

I have followed the sketch over at Cupcake Challenge which I really enjoyed using.
Simon Says Challenge - Friends

Things with Wings - Incy Wincy

This week over on Incy Wincy is "Things with Wings", that can be fairies, birds, butterflies, bee's and anything else you can think of!!

We have an amazing sponsor this week, Paper Jewels, go check out their store there are some AMAZING stamps there from Sweet Pea to Spesch Stamps!!!

Look what the winner will get --->

The birdhouse shape was a freebie template which I found at mebearcreations and was incredibly easy to use!

This week we got to work with some of the amazing designs from Aspire to Thrive store. I used this gorgeous bird by Mary Helen Sims, her digis are on sale over at Aspire to Thrive and there are loads of gorgeous bird, flower and animal images.

I coloured the bird using chalks and then blinged up the wings with glamour dust. For the "roof" I used my Martha Stewart doilly border punch. Flowers are prima and punched.





I am entering into the following challenges:
Lexi's Creations - 3D
Delightful Sketches - It's all about summer (birds nesting)
Corrosive Challenge - Flowers
Sew many challenges - Anything goes
S2G challenge - Something new (Bird house template)
Practical Scrappers - Border Punches & Decorative Edge Scissors
Pile it On - Do something interesting with your paper

Cowgirls Sunday Challenge inspiration

Hi all

This week over on Cowgirls Stampen' Sunday challenge is a FABBY photo inspiration which our boss DT Diane shared with us. She has been making some gorgeous patchwork quilts. Anyway to cut a long story short she came across a blog Loft Creations which has some beautiful quilts and fabric fantasy land.... I want her to come and dress my house LOL! The owner of Loft Creations kindly gave us permission to use a photo of a quilt as inspiration for this weeks challenge.



Beautiful, isn't it?

Anyway, that's this weeks challenge and here is what it inspired me to create:



The image of course is one of CJ's teacup fairies which I have coloured in Promarkers, teapot was paperpieced. The papers are the gorgeous Papermania Blueberry Hill.

I am entering into the following challenges:

Delightful sketches - It's all about summer
Paper Cutz challenge - Use circles, stars or squares
Sew Many Challenges - Anything goes
Crafty Catz - Lets go digital

Round easel card

Hi all

This was one of those really simple cards to make, the thing that took the time was cutting round the stamped flowers and sewing on those blooming buttons!

This is the first time for me entering a challenge over on The Play Date Cafe there is an amazing photo inspiration and the challenge is to follow the colours in the image:



How gorgeous is that photo? I just love it!!



I used my petite scallop nesties, papers are Basic Grey Lemonade, K & Co Bailey and core'dinations. The "spikey" flower stamp was a freebie with Craft Stamper magazine and the sketch flower is by Autumn Leaves. Buttons and ribbon from my stash.

I am entering this into the following challenges:

365 Cards Day 116 - Cut 3 ways (nesties, blade, scissors, punch - I know thats 4 LOL)
Crazy Challenge - All things spotty
Practical Scrappers - Flowers
ABC - xtra dimension
The Craft Garden - 6 flowers

Here to Blog hop?

Hi there

If you are looking for the Cowgirls Sunday Stampen' Blog Hop click right here

Altered box

Hi all

This is my first altered item and I am quite pleased with how it turned out, I think I need to buy some more stash though for future projects such as modge podge etc, any excuse to spend LOL!

This is how the box started off it's little life, I bought it last year from Range but it has sat in a dark cupboard gathering dust since then!





I painted the box with metallic acrylic paint and then sponged the edges with distress and brilliance inks. The papers are Basic Grey - Sugared. I coloured the sweet Tilda image and the flowers she is sitting on using Promarkers then liberally sprinkled the roses with Glamour Dust. The lace and Broderie Anglais (originally from my daughters dress) are from my stash which I bought at a local fabric mill. Flowers are a mixture of Prima and the rest are from my stash (think they were from the bridal section of Hobbycraft).





Here it is filled with little goodies for my Princess - a girl can never have too many hair accessories when they are turning 7 on Sunday!



I am entering this into the following challenges:

Just Magnolia - In the Garden 9I would love a cottage rose garden like this)
Shabby Tearoom - Cottage comfort
Pollycraft Challenge - NO CARDS - use glitter and lace (thanks girls this pushed me to finally dust off the box haha)
Bunny Zoe's - Nice and Girly!
Moving Along with the Times - Anything but a Card and a really fun blog hop!!!
Cute Crad Thursday - Reuse, renew, recycle
Lexi's Creations - Something old
Totally Gorjuss - Sugar and Spice
Cooking it up with Katie - Use a die ccut and add some sparkle!

Belles n Whistles meets Wimbledon Strawberries!

Well today is the first day of Wimbledon, not managed to watch any of it yet though! In the UK it is traditional to have strawberries and cream whilst at Wimbledon (for an extortionate amount of money I may add), however as I am allergic to them the nearest I will get to strawberries is on my card LOL and fortunately for me the challenge over at Cupcake this week is Strawberries and Cream!

The challenge this week over at Belles n Whistles is a colour combo of pink, white and brown.



For this card I followed the sketch over at Friday Sketchers as it was perfect for using this gorgeous DCWV Sweet Stack backing paper. I coloured the "Tea Time" stamped image (which I bought from Crafts and Me) in using promarkers. The large flower is Prima which you can get from Creative Craft World from the lovely Lou and the smaller flower and ribbon from my stash.

I am also entering this into the following challenges:

Stamp Something - Summer

Music at Incy Wincy

Hi all

Well once again it's Monday, it happens every week LOL, and that means time for a new challenge over at Incy Wincy, this weeks challenge over is "Music". This weeks we are Sponsored by Aspire to Thrive Children's Charity - prize is donated by Aspire to Thrive store and there is a VERY generous $10 voucher to spend at Aspire to Thrive Children's Charity for the lucky winner!

This week we got to work with some of the amazing designs from Aspire to Thrive store. I used this gorgeous flower by Mary Helen Sims, her digis are on sale over at Aspire to Thrive and there are loads of gorgeous bird, flower and animal images.

This is not my usual style of card but I made it for my Aunty Margaret who was 83 years young yesterday and she really doesn't do cutesy!!





I printed out the flower, coloured it using chalks, painstakingly cut around the edge and then adhered it using 3d foam pads. The edges of the petals have been Ice Stickled! Lace is from my stash and papers are K & Co Bailey and Paper Cellar - Victorian Classic.

Cowgirls Sunday Challenge Blog Hop and challenge!!

I am giving you advanced notice of a mega long post hehe!!

Wowzers, there is never a dull moment being part of the Cowgirls Sunday Stampen' Challenge!!! We wouldn't normally have a challenge this week but as it is Fathers Day in the US and UK we decided to do something special to mark the day... a BLOG HOP!!! We also have an AMAZING sponsor with a fabberooni prize.... oh wow, we were trying to convince CJ to let the DT enter this one but she wasn't for having it.

If you already hopping then you should have arrived here from the super talented Marion if not then the order of the hop is at the bottom of this post.

Check out this beauty which you could win...



The prize has been generously donated by:

What do you need to do to win???

To win the fabulous prize from "Wild Orchid" and one image (of winners choice) from CJ and her Cowgirl Up Image's you must enter in the challenge and you must also hop along the Design Team's Blog's and leave some love on each DT member's blog site's.

We would love for you to become a follower, but that is not required to win.

And there's some candy too!



We know most of you have been super organised and already posted your Fathers Day card so are having an ANYTHING GOES challenge - no excuses you can all join in LOL! If you have one of CJ's smashing images already why not use that, if not treat yourself from the store to one of the new digi's there's something for everyone there - seriously PLUS there is a "SALE" right now at 45% off of your order until Wednesday July 23rd.
!!

The image I have used on my Dads Fathers Day card is one of the new ones and is called "Daddy". Actually this "Daddy" image reminds me of when I was a kid - I am the oldest, then a brother and a younger sister ;-) I coloured the image with promarkers, papers are K & Co, sentiment was designed in Word and ribbon from my stash.





Your next stop along the hop is Valerie (Vampme3) another super talented member of the posse.

Here is your hop order................................

CowGirls Sunday Stampen Challenge

CJ ~ Fabulous Artist and Owner

Queen La Rubba

Andrea

Ang (psychangel)

Beccy (Lil Sis)

Claire

Gina

Jovita (Tia Goofy)

Lorraine

Marion

Sarah ~ You are here

Valerie (Vampme3)

CowGirls Sunday Stampen Challenge Spot

We can't wait to see Yall's challenge entries!

Enjoy the Hop!

Hugs from the Posse!

and Remember...................

Cow Girl Up!

I am entering into the following challenges:
Stampin' for the Weekend - Sketch + Blue and yellow combo
Polkadoodles - Fathers Day/Male theme
One Stop Craft Challenge - One for the boys

Wedding challenge at Creative Craft World

Well the Wedding season is fast approaching us, I have made my first one for this summer but a couple more on commission.

In order to celebrate Wedded bliss (who am I kidding it soon wears off LOL),Creative Craft Worlds challenge this time is "Wedding" themed, to enter you can make anything you want (as long as it fits in with the theme of course) be it a card, layout, stationery etc...

I made this one for a colleague who got married on Friday (bet it was more exciting than the England game). I kept it really neutral and simple. The flowers are a mixture of punched and some from my stash, lace, ribbon pearls and Cuttlebug die cut and embossed doves. The sentiment was printed from my PC onto Vellum and then I used some acetate to create a pane over the vellum (you can't see it in the photo). Cuttlebug Stylized Flowers embossing folder made the background, I just love this folder!



I am entering this into the following challenges:
Cuttlebug Challenges - Create a Brides card
Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge - Weddings/Anniversaries
Papertake Weekly - Icecream flavours (very Vanilla)
Charisma Cardz - All about bling
Craftalicious - Monatone
Meljens - Fibres/ribbon/lace
Fun with Shapes - Flowery
One Stitch at a Time - Seeing double (Doves)
Tellens Place - Going to the Chapel!
Caardvarks - Embossing
Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge (FTTC71)! - Embossing
Crafty Ann's Challenge - Embossing
Mark's Finest Papers - Embossing
Alys Sunday Challenge - Flower power
Just Scraps - Flowers, butterflies and birds

Another Easel card

Thank you for all those who have sent me well wishes and healing cyber hugs. I am feeling a bit better today and have now got the right balance of painkillers which are keeping me comfortable.

My daughter Safiyyah will be 7 on the 27th June and is absolutely horse MAD!! She goes riding every week at a local stables and would love nothing more than her own pony - the chances of her getting one are not likely!!! This Mo Manning image of Shire with her horse is just perfect for my daughter as the little girl in the image looks just like her - pony tail and all!

I coloured the image in using Promarkers. Papers are Basic Grey Lemonade and I dry embossed some Core-dinations cardstock. Yellow ribbon and blue lace from stash. Paper flower was made using a punch and the large blue netting flower is Prima - Madrigal Blossom in Nocturne which are available at Creative Craft World.





I am entering the card into the following challenges:
Digital Tuesday - Easel card
Mo's Digital Pencil - Dry embossing
The Pixie Cottage - Sketch
Cooking it up with Katie - Recipe ingredients = Use some Green
Add some Embossing and include a little ribbon!
Bunny Zoe's Crafts - Nice and girly
Mark's Finest Papers - Embossing

A card for pleasure - Mikey Shopping!

Hi all

Firstly thank you all so much for your lovely comments about my son, he is doing much better now and getting back to his naughty cheeky little self haha! Secondly, thank you for the well wishes for my operation today, I don't have to be at the hospital until 1.00 so may just have time for some crafting this morning.

It seems like ages since I made a card for "pleasure" and not just a DT card, it is a pleasure creating for a DT but sometimes it is nice just to do something different!



I have made this card using one of the "Mikey" images from Charmed Cards and Crafts which I recently won at Daring Cardmakers! These images are amazing and perfect for lads cards.

I have coloured "Mikey shopping" using promarkers. Papers are a mixture of Basic Grey Lemonade and Papermania. Distressed with Tim Holtz Antique Linen and Frayed Burlap. The brads are Basic Grey Boxer, cirle sentiment created using Word.

For the layout I used a sketch from ages ago which I saved on my PC 9sorry can't remember where from though) and I "lifted" the idea for tag/tile style letters from a card I saw yonks ago but again can't remember where - it must be a sign of old age.

I am entering into the following challenges:

Dottie's World - Fathers Day/masculine
Basic Grey - Colour combo of Turquoise, brown and cream
Cupcake Craft Challenge - One for the boys
Partytime Tuesday - Birthday
Totally Gorjuss - For the boys!
Sir Stampalot - Punch it (the 3 circles with nesties)

Fathers Day at Incy Wincy

Hi all

Well it's Monday again and time for another challenge over at Incy Wincy Designs! This week was my turn to set the challenge and as Fathers Day is coming up here in the UK on 20th June I picked "one for the guys". Doesn't have to be for Fathers Day, it can just be for any male on any occasion so that should cover everyone haha! The best thing is there are just so many male/Fathers Day challenges around this week you can't go wrong joinin' in!



This week we are being sponsored by Shelley from One Stop Card Craftsts




WOW what a fab prize of:



PLUS 10% during the week of the challenge!!!!

The image I have used the Grandfather Clock image from Aspire To Thrive , don't forget when you purchase from them all the monies (excluding Paypal fees) go to worthwhile children's' charities!

I have distressed the paper and used Tim Holtz frayed burlap and antique linen. Images are a mixture of rubber stamps (Paper Artsy) and digi images.

I am entering the card into the following challenges:
Stampacular Sunday Challenge - A tribute to all Fathers
Magical Crafts fortnightly chalenge - Male/Fathers Day
Cards for Men - Fathers day
Crafts and Me - Friends and family
Tanda Teaser - For the Big Man
C.R.A.F.T. challenge - Fathers day/Mens cards
The Town Scrapper - Masculine/Fathers Day
Paper Cutz challenge - Fathers Day
Simple Doodles - Just 4 you Dad
Allsorts - Lace and/or buttons
Totally Gorjuss - Card for the boys

Cowgirls Sketch Challenge DT card

Woah, the end of another week, thank goodness is all I can say!! What a rollercoaster, when will life slow down and let me catch up with it?

My youngest son who is 8 had surgery this week and the poor little man is still in pain and not able to eat properly yet, the photo of him wearing the latest high fashion hospital ID band LOL! At least he is managing to sleep though as he is dosed up with pain relief. Next week will be my turn to go under the surgeons knife when I have a laparoscopy and endometrial ablation.... the joys of being a woman ha!!



Cowgirls Sunday Stamp'en Challenge

Well today is another sunday and that means that there is a brand new challenge at
Cowgirls Sunday Stamp'en Challenge blog for Challenge #4 there is a FABBY sketch which one of my fellow DT Andrea designed. Loved using this sketch actually and one I will most definitely use again!



The image is another one of the gorgeous fairy images which CJ has expertly designed. Love this one where she is lounging around in a teacup!! There are loads of new images on the Cowgirl Up Digital Stampen' Ranch and loads of male ones perfect for Fathers Day next weekend (well here in the UK it is anyway).



I have coloured the image in using promarkers, flowers are a mixture of punched and mulberry. The sparkle on her wings is glamour dust.

I am entering this into the following challenges:

Cupcake challenges - Dazzle us (blinged up wings)
Just us Girls - Digital
Pile it On - Quirky, why not?
Corrosive Challenge - Die Cuts
Creative Inspirations - Monochrome

Tea cup fairy

Hi all

This is the second post from me today but just wanted to share one of the new and super cute teacup fairy stamps by CJ which you can buy from Cowgirl Up Digital Stampen Ranch, honestly there are new digis being added all the time as CJ doesn't seem to stop creating these amazing images (lucky for us)!!!



I have used DCWV Sweet stack and also Nanas Nursery. The image is coloured in using promarkers. I have followed the sketch over at Totally Gorjuss.

Paper piecing at Incy Wincy

We had a great time in sunny (yes really) Edinburgh last week, it was really great to spend some quality time with my husband, of course we missed the kids but it was lovely to be able to have a proper conversation without hearing "MUM" every 5 minutes!!

I had some great news from challenges I entered last week.... I made top 3 on 2 challenges Crafts and Me and Charisma Cardz YIPPEEE!!!

Another start to the week means another challenge over at Incy Wincy, this weeks challenge over on Incy Wincy Designs is Paper piecing. and is sponsored by Sponsored by Aspire to Thrive Childres Charity - prize is donated by Aspire to Thrive store and there is a VERY generous $10 voucher to spend at Aspire to Thrive Childrens Charity for the lucky winner!

This week we got to work with some of the amazing designs from Aspire to Thrive store. I chose the cute Chealsea and coloured her in with promarkers and then paper pieced her dress, she is a real cutie and could be used for loads of occasions!!!



The papers were free with a magazine and are by MME. I folowed the sketch over at Sketch Saturday which was perfect as I was running out of time and this was such a quick and effective layout!!