Here I go again...

After running round this morning to get the essential bits from the shop I decided to sit and have a cuppa and restyle my blog again. This is the new look... I hope you like it!

I must admit, I love the colours.. what do you think? The header is not quite as I wanted it, but I reckon it's okay.

I even had a chance to sort out Nikki's blog for her.. we tried to change the background again and it all went wrong.. lol.. but we sorted it.. and it's looking lovely.. go and take a look..

Now, I'm just about to take the pupsters out before our new arrival gets here late afternoon.

Bye for now!

We're getting a house guest...

This is Star..


He is supposed to be arriving tomorrow evening sometime with his Aunty Sally.


Star is coming into rescue and is a bit stuck for a home for a few days.. so I was asked if I minded helping out.. well.. I have what feels like a house full of springers, so I'm sure a lickle Cocker Spaniel would fit in well... lol.

He sounds like he's a good boy... five and a half years old, lived with dogs, and a bit loud when out walking.. but I'm sure that can be sorted..


I'm sure you'll agree, he looks amazing.. he's a blue roan cocker.. so look out for more photos coming soon. He should only be here for a few days...

All finished....

............. for now...

I'm quite enjoying making these blog headers and things... I did the background earlier, and the header..and have now decided it could be quite nice in blue tones.... lol.. But I quite like this one for now..

Do you like Nikki's header?? I did that one yesterday, and I'm in the process of making her a new background now.. she's as bad as me!

Anyone want a new header? Just ask!

yesterday....

What a day... very enjoyful if not stressful! Firstly, thank you to all the lovely ladies and staff there.. I had a great day.

I had been waiting in all week to get my Trimcraft stuff for the demo this week.. it didn't arrive.. So, when I went over to the Range in Hull yesterday for my demo, I had to pick products off the shelf and quickly make up some samples.

This was a bit annoying as I wasn't able to spend so much time on them before the folks started to arrive.. but at least at the end of the day I had a nice collection - which I had to leave.. aargh! Now to make them all over again..

Anyway, this is some of what I managed to produce.. sorry about the quality of the pics, they were off my mobile. This wasn't all my cards.. just some of the ones I really liked.

the one on the left was from the All Dressed Up stack.. lovely!!! The one on the right was made with the new Dovecraft papers.. Pets.. which is really really nice..has to be my favourite one.

The ones below are from the other new packs, which are really nice too...

Winner of the Blog Candy...

Hi everyone..
Sorry for this being a bit delayed, but I have had a busy week.. and thought I would leave it to today to get a few more people interested..

Anyway, I have just checked back through my post here and listed all people who have entered, what date and time they entered and gave them the following numbers.

Jackie - 1
Lythan - 2
Seedlings mum - 3
Jules - 4
Nikki -5
Anice - 6
Craftling - 7
Sandy - 8
Anon/Swedie - 9
Kathy H - 10
Caro - 11
Arty party - 12

To make it fair, I have used the Random Integar Generator to choose the winners.. and here they are..

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:
7
10
Timestamp: 2008-04-25 08:34:25 UTC

Congratulations Girls... I will get your prizes posted out on Mon/Tues.. If you can please leave a comment with your addie, I won't print it.. but I can get your prizes out to you..

Thanks all for entering.. there will be another one soon!

My challenge..

Another entry has come in for the Prize Challenge and also my Blog Candy.. so come on girls.. look forward to seeing your prize entries..

WHAT A BOOOOOOTIFUL DAY!!!! I'm featured!

Wow... what an absolutely wonderful morning! The inspirational blog has featured my card! I can't quite believe it!!! Thank you so much girls.. you've really made my day!!!

Still smiling!
Have a good day!

My first real attempt with Prisma's

Actually.. I'm really really pleased with how this has turned out... help and hints came courtesy of the lovely Ila.. scores out of ten please!

And this is little Charley a little closer up....I made this card into a buckle card - helped by the Eazi Score board from Phyllis.

The image was stamped with Staz-On and coloured up with Prisma pencils... These are fab fab fab... MUCH better than the watercolour pencils! Why didn't I get them sooner!!!

The papers are Trimcraft and the flowers are Dunelm specials!

Cards? That makes a change!

Well it does really.. doesn't it?! Some of what I've been doing I can't show just yet, but I guess I can these ones... I hope you like them..

I have smooshed the cuttlebug template for this one, it is slightly pinky/purply but it hasn't shown up too well.. The border is Papermania blue stencil and the little girl is a Sugar Nellie which someone sent onto me. I coloured her with watercolours.

For this one, I have used the Box Board and Eazi Score. The papers and ribbon are papermania and the flower and flourishes came courtesy of Tandastamps. I punched some orange flowers to match the ribbon and applied some little gems.

This one is a fancy pyramid.. background stamped with Distress inks and Dovecraft stamp. The papers are papermania and the flowers, again courtesy of Tanda Stamps, just layered up with a papermania brad.

Challenge card update..

I've recieved an entry from nikki.. so take a look here..
Thank you Nikki.. I just love this little bear..

For ALL my blogging friends...

I have stumbled across the most brilliantest of brilliant blogs by a lady called Ila.. she is wonderful, very helpful and informative and so lovely.. anyway.. I was stalking her blog earlier this morning and found this... so thought I would share as it sums me up really well!

What's Big, Brown and full of goodies?

My kit!! Just arrived from Docrafts this morning for the upcoming demo's.. Wow.. there's lots of stuff in it.. but can't share just yet.. you'll all have to wait until the beginning of May.. or until I've at least made some samples.. haha..

I was busy last night too.. made two cards of a small collection I need to make for my 'international' project.. Need to get on and make a few more today.. I'll get them uploaded soon..

I may be a while.... I've got lots of new papers and stuff to sit and stroke for a few days... believe me they are Lush!

What I was up to last night....

No... all you corrupt people...!!!

What I mean is... this....

Meet Jess.
I got a call last night from Sally, who asked if I could help her out and pick up a Springer who was coming into rescue... so of course, I obliged.. and this is what kept me company in the back of the car for a couple of hours or so...

She is absolutely adorable, and hopefully, fingers crossed, has a home already planned. If not.. she's coming back here until she finds one..which I am very sure won't be long..

As soon as I met Jess, she was bounding around and peeing.. (those who know springers know what I mean!) and was utterly adorable.. six months old and full of fluffy, mushy, wushiness!! I lost my heart straight away with the cuddle monster (sssh.. don't tell Holly and Scooby.. lol) but I know now she is being looked after by Sally and the family for the time being..

Martina, my youngest, thought it was cruel to give a dog to rescue, and couldn't understand why anyone would.. but as I told her, it's one of those things that happen in life for all sorts of reasons.. and if it wasn't for Rescue, we wouldn't have had a little (!!) dreamboat like Scooby living with us. And Nikki wouldn't have hers with her..

Nikki too knows about having rescue springers... and believe me.. they really are worth it!

Wishing you lots of luck my little darling!

Prize challenge entries so far...

I'm taking it that everyone is working really hard on this, which is why I only have the two entries so far??


This first entry is from Pat, who doesn't have a blog, but emailed it to me..

And here is one from Jackie, which I have pinched from her blog here

This one is from Andrea

This one is from Nikki

this is a close up of the little bear..cute or what?

Here is a handbag card made by Karen..

So come on everyone.. don't be shy.. there is a prize to be won, kindly donated by Phyllis at Diamond Card Craft.

Ooooops... I did it again...

In the immortal words of Ms Spears... I did it again!!!

I have tried to put a more fancy background on my blog..deleted off all my links, because I forgot to save the original template.. lol... so, I have a long afternoon ahead of me trying to put them all back on again!!!!!!!

Wish me luck.. it may take a while!

Danny's Got Talent!

WAY TO GO DANNY!!!!!




Did you see Britain's got Talent?

My old friend Pauline, who lives a five minute walk away from me, must really be celebrating! Her son, Danny, who is genuinely a really lovely and pleasant lad, was on the program the other day... just to think I can remember him when he was just a little dot! If you missed it, see them here and here (just keep watching the video!) Danny is the one with the dark hair.. And no... I'm not telling you where they live... well, unless you ask me really nicely!!! lol... but all I will say, is he has a Black VW!



Keep up the good work Dan... see you in round 2!

Coffee anyone?

Just a quick update this morning.... no photos I'm afraid, as I forgot to take photos of what I'd been doing this week.. a birthday card for my OLDER sister - she's getting on now you know.. (haha)Happy Birthday Sis!

I've also been making samples for an 'international' project, I can't tell you anything about that yet, but hopefully by the end of May so watch this space!! (yes, P, you know what I mean!)

Apart from these exciting projects, we've been putting in fitted wardrobes. We now have a fantastic, massive wardrobe in our bedroom which looks fantastic! We've also put a double one into Carley's room which will look brilliant when it's finished. This took all weekend to do, without time for cuppas... so in dire need of coffee.. !

What else? Nothing else really.. just don't forget to join in my PRIZE CHALLENGE and my BLOG CANDY further down the page... please send in your entries - who can resist something for nothing?!

If you like your blog candy, Anice has a bit of blog candy on hers too! Check it out!

Fun time!

As I have recieved some Blog Candy from the lovely Tracy, I thought I would offer a little bit of my stash to two people who leave a comment on my blog.. so I'd better start rummaging... haha. Winners will be chosen at random, and will be announced on Tuesday.

Also.. if you fancy winning a little prize, plus get a discount on some fantastic products, why not join in our Challenge Competition? See here..it's free to join, you just need inspiration!

That's it for now... Early morning means extra coffee!

Red and Yellow, and Pink and Green.....

And every colour in between!!!!

This is what I recieved yesterday... my 72 pack of Prisma pencils and blimey are they lush! I have only sharpened one pencil and tried it, but it colours great and blends beautifully... oh Phyllis - you are a bad influence on me!

And for those who were curious...this is what my bezzy friend Nikki sent me...

Yes... it is poo! But only in the 'loosest' sense of the word! haha. They are Sticky Poos and they are great stress relievers.. you can throw them at a door and watch them roll down, or just give 'em a squish.. As Nikki would confirm, they are fab!! Our sense of humour definately!!

I still need to photograph the other bits I got, a lovely charm from Jackie, and also some blog candy from Tracy. So hopefully they will be uploaded soon.

Blimey... some interesting - or not - facts...

Flippin 'eck.... I've just been doing my accounts for Mr Taxman, and thought I would share a few things I realised whilst sat faffing!!!

Since the 1st April 2007, whilst I have been enjoying myself doing my demonstrations, I have clocked up the following...

• I have spent 230 hours working at the demonstrations
• I have spent almost 73 hours driving
• I have accumulated around £1735.60 in fuel costs - how much greenhouse gas is that???

This equates to roughly

• a two weeks holiday with the time I have spent out of the house..
• just over 7 return flights to Australia, with a little trip to the York McArthur Glen (haha)
• nearly 10 days working 24 hours a day!

Shocked is not the word!!! How time flies when you're having fun!!!

Interesting? Maybe not... but the stash Mr Postman bought me this morning is... will be back later to photograph!

Baskets of Fun!

Thanks to my lovely friend Phyllis who sent me instructions of how to do this, I have made a little basket.. It is sooooo cute and actually, quite easy to make... here it is.

I have used a stamped cuddly buddly image, coloured with Whispers pens with a watercolour effect. The basket is pearlescent pink with a darker pink pattern Mariette paper. I hope you like it!

Secondly.. just a couple of photos of my faithful friends, which Carley took this morning.

Cute eh?

Don't forget to enter....

here's my first challenge of many.. please join in... ?!

Happy Talk....

I don't know why... but I have visions of Captain Sensible tonight!!! La-le-la-de-dum-dum...

But I have had a lovely day today.. I went out with Holly and Scooby this morning to visit my friend, Helen, who has Holly's sister and Asti's brother.. (keep it in the family.. and I still miss my Asti.. can't believe it's a year nearly!) and we ended up walking for about two hours or so, through the woods and up to the lake.. and the canal.. and back.. Needless to say that Scooby absolutly loved it being able to pounce into the water at every opportunity.. he's bonkers!

Then, when I got home, I had a lovely lovely surprise from my mate Jackie.. a handbag charm which is fabbie.. will take pictures tomorrow..

And a card from the Post Office to say I had a parcel.... I went up to fetch it, and it was from my bezzy mate Nikki.. I got home and opened it to find two lumps of POO! How fantastic!! I love em!! They are not actual poo.. just our wierd sense of humour... but it's fab Nikki.. I love it!!!!

My DCM cards...

I've had an hour in the craft room this evening.. and this is what I came up with..


The first one is my entry for the DCM Friday Challenge..


Hi everyone :)


Jo here with this week's dare....
I seem to like butterflies at the mo. This week therefore I would like you to put some butterflies on cards. Stitched, felt, shiny, bright, plain, paper pieced, stamped, drawn... you get the idea :) any theme of card but it must have a butterfly somewhere on the card!


So this is my entry...

This is a double pocketed card which holds two tags, I used double sided cardstock from Papermania.. blue tones on one side, and yellow/gold on the other.. lush! The ribbon was from my stash, outline stickers and butterflies are PM again..

This is another challenge card too.. again DCM.. and we had to doodle around some papers.. I think, not sure, that the papers are from a Trimcraft stack, and I've used gold pearl to dot around the design after outlining..

Not too sure if I like this bottom card, but I hope you do..

Enjoy... I'll be back soon... Thanks for looking!

Whooops!

some lush stamps just fell into my shopping basket.... will update when they arrive... they are just soooooooooooo cute.. and they're not Tildas either! Here's a sneak peek!

Sweet li'l things....

Oh isn't Tilda just the cutest??

I had these sent to me a while ago now.. have been colouring them up, these are watercoloured, and using them.. but these are two of the most recent cards as I 'needed' to play with the Cuttlebug folders I purchased last weekend...

What do you think?

And just a couple of the poopies... they are just adorable!

And this little boy just loves his cuddles....

The first competition entry

Hi everyone..



I thought I would just upload this entry for my competition... don't forget to check it out further down.. there's a prize for the best entry, plus other benefits for entering... look forward to seeing everyone's entries..


isn't this just the cutest???? I shall call this one Entry 1. I love it... well done!!!

Blimey!

I was sat browsing blogs this morning... and came across this... Moo moo's! Believe it or not, they are actually smaller than ATC's... are they going to be the next big thing? Must have a read to see what is involved,and may just have a little go at these... all my little bits of paper may get used up again.. yey!

http://makeamooortwo.wordpress.com/

I've been tagged...

Just a quick one from me today... Just checking emails, and found Hazel had tagged me.. I think I've had something similar to this before, but as I have nothing else to blog.. I thought I'd do this.. so Thank you Hazel...



What I was doing 10 years ago: Blimey.. memory failing me here... I was probably a SAH mum looking after a two year old and two older children.. lol. We had also just bought our old dog, Asti, who we lost last May. She was only 6 weeks old when we got her.. apart from this.. haven't got a clue.. lol.



On my to-do list today: h*******k, starting my tax return, walking the doggies, finishing off some circle journals I'm involved with, usual housewifey sorts of stuff.



Snacks I enjoy: I don't really eat snacks.. but if I do fancy it, usually hazelnuts or brazil nuts.



Things I would do if I was a billionaire: Give alot to charity, make sure everyone I care about is financially secure, buy a house out in the country, in the middle of nowhere... bliss!



Three of my bad habits: Blimey! Do I have any?? Oh okay I do... I tend to take things to heart too much, always have grand ideas about things which never materialise, and I have PMT... is this a habit or am I just cranky??



Five places I have lived: I've lived in Chesterfield, where I was born - Staveley and Middlecroft. I spent a short time in Wales with my dad when I was really young - Tenby, errrmmm... Oh.. married life.. Doncaster - Branton, and now Armthorpe.. I think that's five!



Five jobs I have had: Hairdressing, cleaning, shop worker, photography, and now, My dream job... freelance craft demonstrator - I love it!



Five people I'm tagging Now then.. who could I inflict this onto?? I think I am going to nominate five special people... and I also want to give you all this special Friendship award!





Nikki

Jackie

Julie

Hannah

Jo



Can't wait to see your answers..

My Blog Challenge....

Well... here we are... Finally sorted... my challenge to celebrate nearly 5000 visitors to my blog!

I have decided that this challenge should be a fairly easy one to start... there will be more prize challenges put up soon.

Please make a different shaped card using a cute stamped image.

I have made a sample below, using an octagon shape and a cute little dog stamp,which I have stamped up three times and layered up.

Be imaginative! Let your ideas run wild..

There is a prize to be won.. the prize has been kindly donated by Phyllis at Diamond Card Craft. This would be a set of number templates, but in addition to this, she is also giving a 10% discount to anyone who enters this challenge, who would like to purchase from her site.

The closing date for entries is 30th April. Please leave a link to your challenge card on the comments page... Have fun! And I look forward to seeing all your entries.

If you have a blog, please leave a comment...however.. if you don't, feel free to send me your picture and I'll upload it for you.


To get this going.. here's my card...

Very productive... continues...

Here are some more of my cards... Some of them are samples from my demo's which I told everyone I would share.. others are new ones from last night.. Hope you like them!
(sorry about the dull colour on the one above... the flash was bouncing and it looked awful!)



again, not a very good image of the one above.. it is a card which stands on its own base... but folds down to a flat card to go in standard envie.

this one I suppose I could have added as a DCM card for the folded challenge.. but hey.. It's one of my demo cards from the weekend.. hope you like it!

Here we go...are you sitting comfortably??

I had a really productive few hours yesterday... so decided to have a go at a few challenges over at DCM..something I don't usually do unless I lose my mojo... but these challenges sounded great! This was the first one I did....

Shrink to Fit
I used to be able to make cards with lots of "white space" around the designs, but lately when I've tried to do this my cards just look sooooo naked!
So this week I'd like you to think small - not small cards, but small spaces of embellishment on regular sized cards.
You are allowed to cover no more than a 5x5cms area of your card with paper or embellishment - the rest of the card must be left plain.
How you use those valuable cms is up to you. So you may choose to split up those cms to use around your card, or use them in a block or a line. It might help to cut a few 5x5cm squares then cut those up to work out good ways of using your allotment. Making your whole card a miniscule 5x5cms is NOT an option!! Lets have no cheating (I know what you lot are like.....),but because I'm feeling generous, I'm going to let you add a SIMPLE greeting as extra to your 5x5 allowance! :-)

So this is what I came up with.

I used cream and navy as the base colours.



This is the next challenge...

We've folded.....:)
Hello Everyone ! A huge thank you once again to everyone who has taken part in (and are still planning to take part ) in Kathy's 'Shrink it' dare. What a great dare- I think we all had fun with that one !Now this weeks mid week dare is inspired by Rachel and is called 'Folded' ! This is not folds in the card blank itself, but rather folds ON the card- whether it be some kind of paper folding technique or folded embellishments or even just a folded over message of some type.

Again, this is my attempt at this one..which I thoroughly enjoyed!

The centre brown spotty bit is a folded topper that I show when doing my demo's... they're actually quite easy to fold, but look great!

Hope you like them.. back soon with more!

My Product Review....

well... what can I say... I just LURVE this product! Further down are some projects I made using it, and a photo of what this 'product' was.. the 3L Scrapbook Adhesive EZ Runner.. what a fantastic roll of tape.. (can you tell I loved it? lol) sent to me courtesy of Katy and Becks from Design Objectives.. (Thank you so much girls!) I do confess to having used this product before, a couple of years ago, before moving on to using other *not so nice* glue and tape rollers.. my favourite at the minute is the dots roller by Papermania.. it goes on lovely, but still not quite as lovely as the EZ..

I also had to answer a few questions for the review... so here you are.. my list...

1. How often do you use adhesive? Everytime I make a card...which is usually most days..

2. What is the main type of adhesive you use? This varies on the project, but usually double sided tape, dots roller or glue sticks.

3. What do you look for in an adhesive? I like something that goes on with no hassle.. no sticking to everything.. easy to use..and more importantly, something that doesn't make me swear!!!!

4. How easy is the product to remove from the packaging? It was very easy.. it just pulls apart.

5. How does the product appeal to you - does it look good? It looks great..nice and chunky, which I find comfortable to use, I also love the red colour.. it's not so easy to lose that on my desk amongst my work in progress (mess? did you say mess??)

6. How easy is the product to use? VERY easy. It doesn't take any fiddling to get it going.. Comfortable to hold, and goes on really easily.

7. How well does the product perform? I have found no problems with it at all. Very reliable.. the sticky doesn't go all over the place and stick to other bits of the roller like other makes. The other thing I love about it, is that it is permanent, but with a bit of fiddling you can get it apart to replace any misplaced bits of stuff.. I have used it on my scrapbook pages in a previous post, on all the cards I am going to put up shortly, on funky foam, and on sticky gems.. and it sticks them all no problem.

8. Do you like this product? You have to ask?? Can't you tell I loved it? It's brilliant! The thing I like most about it, is the fact that the pieces of tape are cut into tiny strips, which go around corners very well, and it isn't wasteful - when you want to stop and lift off, it does it straight away.. no bits stuck together, or any of the other problems you find with other rollers.

9. Do you consider it good value for money? To be honest, I do.. it does seem quite expensive when you look at it, but there is a whopping 8.5m of tape on there, but the fact that it doesn't get half way through the roller and get stuck up so you can't use it... then yes.. extremely good value for money!

10. Would you consider buying this product in the future? Definately if I can find anywhere that sells it!

11. What would make you more likely to buy this product in the future? I don't really need to be convinced, as I have used it, but I think on first impressions, if someone saw the £4.99 price tag, they may be put off.. but honestly... try it.. you won't be disappointed! Maybe make a 'sample' one for people to try, which is cheaper to buy.. and I'm sure people would buy the full price product. I also think it could be refillable to make it more environmentally friendly.

12. What would make you less likely to buy this product in the future? If they changed the product in any way, then they would spoil it..

So.. there we go... that's my review done.. 20 out of 10 me thinks on this product..

Nearly 5000 visitors.....

Wow.. I can't believe so many people have visited my blog! So ... in recognition of nearly reaching the 5000, I am going to organise a little challenge. I will post details of it later. There will be a PRIZE too... so watch this space...

Blog Road Tester....

Ta-da!!!

Today, I recieved a lovely parcel! I was one of a hundred bloggers who were chosen to road test a craft product for the lovely Becks Fagg!

This is what we were lucky enough to get...

Now.. this is what I have made... still not quite finished testing the product thoroughly.. but tomorrow awaits for the finishing touches.

I treated myself to some Basic Grey Two Scoops.. and stamps, and rub ons... so what better way than to combine it with two of my favourite photos of Holly.

I started with a sheet of cream card, and stamped the background using the heart set of stamps and flourishes,using moss green Whispers ink and tattered rose Distress Ink. I then used a gold Anita's acrylic paint and dib-dabbed some dots around the flourishes to add a bit of detail..

I will finish these tomorrow.. not much more to add.. may just leave these as they are, and make another couple of pages.. we'll see!

Feeling crap - but productive!

I have had to get some work done today, even though I am still not feeling the best. I had a tooth taken out yesterday, and it's causing me a *little* bit of pain :(

But, as I have promised some samples to a shop for a private demo on behalf of Phyllis, I thought I ought to at least get busy!

This is what I came up with... all made with the Eazi Score board, by Diamond Card Craft (apart from the first one, the dress, which is made from the Eazi Box board.. )