Monday 29 September 2008

Taking a break!


I'm taking a little break for this week.. please feel free to leave a comment if you'd wish, I will still be checking my mail and posts.. just having a break so I can come back a bit refreshed with some new cards!

Thursday 25 September 2008

Children in Need Pudsey card.

I think this is a brilliant idea.. is anyone else taking part? I reckon I could probably run up a few of these.. I have plenty of yellow and I never use it!




Quick Cards is doing something BIG and exciting, to help raise money for BBC Children in Need, and we want you to join in!

We’re attempting to break the world record for the biggest handmade card, at the Hobbycrafts show at Birmingham’s NEC on 13-16 November.

We know you love to make cards for charity, so come along and support us by making a card that we can use as part of a giant Pudsey Bear patchwork that will appear on the front of our card.

We’d like you to make us a card that we can use to create a huge Pudsey Bear, in the centre of our BIG card. So get out your craft stash and decorate the front of a standard sized card. You can use whatever materials or techniques you like, but the finished card has to be yellow.

Bring your card along to the Hobbycrafts show in November, or post your creation to the address below.

If you’d like to make a donation to the BBC Children in Need Appeal, then send a cheque made payable to BBC Children in Need Appeal, along with your card, to:

Quick Cards Big Card,
9th Floor,
Tower House,
Fairfax Street
Bristol BS1 3BN.

The 2008 BBC Children in Need telethon show is on Friday 14th November. The theme of this year’s Appeal is ‘Do Something Different,’ and in the weeks leading up to the show we are asking you to take up the challenge and raise money to help thousands of disadvantaged children and young people here in the UK who desperately need our support.

There are lots of fun, silly and unusual ideas for how to raise money in our BBC Children in Need Fundraising Pack available from bbc.co.uk/pudsey. We couldn’t do it without you, so a big Pudsey Bear thanks in advance to everyone!

Finally.. it's here..

Hi folks.

Today's the first day of the Lili of the Valley Challenge blog.. . All the design teams are uploaded to give you a little bit of inspiration.. so why not go over and have a go.

There is a lovely prize to be won, which has been donated by the lovely Laila and Lisa, who own the company. They are so generous.

Here was the card that I have up on the blog. I hope you like it. There are more of the Design Team's cards on there too..


The theme this week is WELCOME. I decided to do a toadstool with a little fairy on it, as a welcome to your new home.. I think it's rather cute!

So, go on over and have a try.. you could win a lovely lovely prize!

Wednesday 24 September 2008

Pretty in Pink..

After a few hours playing, I've finally finished dolling up my blog!

I have changed the background to something a little brighter, and created a new header. As yet, I haven't done any crafting - only digicrafting.. does that count? lol.

You know, there are some fantastic free papers out there, with element sets and everything.. They are mainly for digiscrapping, but you can also print them out and use them on a card. Great cheap idea for when you need that paper fix!

Tuesday 23 September 2008

Thank you's..

I have a couple of ladies I'd like to say Thank you to. As you may/maynot know.. this past few weeks have been a bit hellish, but things are now settling down back into routine.

So, you can understand why firstly, I'm a little late saying a massive thankyou to Jackie, who posted this card onto me last week or so. I've just not managed to photograph it as yet, so thought I'd pop over onto her blog to pinch it to show you. Isn't it nice? I love the colours.

And this next card came from another Jacqui.. my new challenge buddy over on the LOTV blog..

This is so sweet - I love it! Cutesy cards are irresistable! ...I'm looking forward to working with you too Jac..

A few cards from last weekend.

I thought I would just upload a few of my demo samples from last weekend - especially as a reminder for all the ladies who came down to see me.


Take care.. xx

Monday 22 September 2008

Tagged old me!

I've been tagged a couple of times over the last couple of days.. which is really nice that people want to tag me..

This first one is from the lovely Steph, a fellow designer on the LOTV blog.. the next one was my fellow Docrafter, Dawn, who is also very luvverly!! Thanks hunny..

As they were both the same tag, I thought I would do them both together instead of trying to think of two sets of answers.. lol..
Here are the rules of the tag.

1. Link your tagger and list the rules on your blog
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs
4. Let them know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog

Seven facts about myself.....
1. I don't really like Strawberry flavoured things! Black Cherry or Hazelnut is much more yummy!

2. I met Paul when I was 18.. he was my first 'proper' boyfriend - still in love after being married for 21 years!

3. I love spending my time bloghopping and crafting.. housework is such an evil!

4. I count myself very lucky that crafting has found me my buddie, Nikki. We feel the same things, we laugh at the same things, it's like we were seperated at birth!

5. I was born at home in Hollingwood, Chesterfield. I came to Doncaster when I married in 1987.

6. I've only ever been on an airplane once.. we flew to Australia!

7. I'm quite a curious person - partly why I love bloghopping I guess.. so this is the perfect time to tag some people and wait for their reply!

The people I'd like to tag are.

Jackie, Nikki, Annette, Jane, Juanita, Wendy M, Hannah



A Monday morning question..

Do YOU like my blog?

I have been thinking over the last week or so that I should perhaps change my background for my blog.. I was thinking something Hallowe'eny. Trying to keep up with the seasons.. lol..

But, I really love the green and black. AND I really like my header. What do you think? Would you keep changing it, or keep it the same?

Sunday 21 September 2008

Winner of the Blog Candy

Hi everyone.. Well.. sorry it's a bit late, I've been out with the pupsters for a walk..

Anyway, I have added the link to the blog candy here, and I have just put the numbers in the Random Number Generator...

The entrants are listed on the blog post in the order they arrived.. but here they are..

Mad About Craft -3
Hazel -1
Hazel -1+ 3
Bunny B -2
Inge -2
Annette Lee- 1
Purple Nikki - 2 +3
Joy Bear - 1
Margaret49uk - 1
Mel -1
Happy Crafter -1

Now... I have just spent a while adding up the amount of entries everyone has, (from the 'destructions' I put on my blog post lol) .. but I also decided to let my hubby have a laugh at all the comments and we've allocated an extra 3 points to Hazel and Nikki for their comments.. they so made him laugh!!!

We've also decided to have a rummage through my shed and put two other packets together for Hazel and Nikki for the laugh.. so.. could you please send me your addresses.. Many thanks.

I put all 22 points into the random number generator and here is the result...

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:13
Timestamp: 2008-09-21 20:16:38 UTC


So... ANNETTE LEE... PLEASE CAN YOU SEND ME YOUR ADDRESS.

Saturday 20 September 2008

ooooooooohhh I'm soooo tired!!

I'll update my blog sometime over this weekend, but not tonight because I am sooo tired. I just wanted to say that I have really enjoyed my day today down in Birmingham, Great Barr.. I was demoing and had a really lovely, fun set of customers all day.. Thank you all!

I know that some of you may be visiting, so I'll get all the cards uploaded and some step by steps too..

Speak soon everyone.. xxx

Thursday 18 September 2008

Christmas is a-coming...

... it's definately getting closer! I don't know if I've done the right thing or not by putting the counter on my blog.. it's quite scary actually knowing how long is left! I must admit.. I absolutely love Christmas and everything about it!

So.. I decided today, after everything that's gone on this week, or past few months really, that life is most definately too short to concentrate on work all the time - so I have today had a little bit of 'me' time. It's been lovely getting to have a rummage in all me drawers and seeing what lies underneath the first 5 inches.. an awful lot of stuff I forgot I had!!!

So - what did I manage to produce in my couple of hours in the studio? Well.. here they are!






The first one is a Sassy little Snowman.. all the products on this card are Lili of the Valley. I layered up the snowman, then added a little bit of glitter glue to give him some sparkle.



This is a classic little Christmas Tree.. and a pretty one at that. Again, it's all Lili of the Valley products.. and I decided to layer up the tree with a pyrimage effect.
This is a close up..

I just made each layer slightly smaller than the one before.. finished off with a green edge. Perfect! I think it's quite snazzy.. what do you think?? Again, the card was finished off with a little bit of sparkle - just for Christmas you understand!

Wednesday 17 September 2008

SOS card and shoebox appeal

I thought I would just try to help out with this appeal too for Emma.

She has been working to gather up loads of cards to send over to our Forces out in the field for Christmas. They recieve them, and can then send them home to loved ones.

I have been doing my bit too, as Area Co-ordinator for the SOS appeal, and like Emma, think they deserve that little bit of something. It's not about the rights and wrongs of the situation out in Afghanistan or Iraq, it's about giving our lads and lassies out there a little bit of something to show they're thought about.

I have been collecting in Get Well Cards, which are sent out to the injured. I've also collected in Happy Birthday cards, general greeting cards for any occasion, and Christmas Cards too. They are all well appreciated.

As some of you know, last year I put together quite alot of parcels for the troops and also the Service Dogs. They were very much appreciated. I will be doing the same this year.

So, if you fancy joining in and filling up a shoebox or two with goodies to send out to our troops, just get in touch..

Spiders?? Not usually as pretty as this!

I've been spending the last hour blurfing around the net.. and I found this on Michelle's blog. Her whole blog is fantastic.. great ideas on there, but I do love this spider card..

I think the colours of it are just so lovely and pretty. Well done Michelle.

He lives in a pineapple... under the sea.....

Spongebob Squarepants!!!

Oh I love this little guy.. and here is a card I found this morning by my friend Jackie... isn't it lovely!


I love the citrussy colours and especially that bit of ribbon!

Ace!

Tuesday 16 September 2008

Oh Crap!

Sorry for using such an awful word.. but this is one way to describe this week!! There are a few things - well, one major thing! - going on this week that has been sat lurking at the back of my mind for a few months.. But today is D-Day so to speak and I'm feeling a bit emotional today. And no... I'm not sharing at the minute.. only my very very very closest friends know about it!

So, as you can understand, when you're feeling a little low, and someone puts your professionalism in doubt, it really hits hard!! Remembering a quote my mate Nikki came out with yesterday, I really could do with becoming an ostrich!!!! Does anyone know if this works??



The worst thing about hearing what people have to say about you, is hearing it third or fourth hand. Surely if anyone has anything to say, then surely it's better to say it out loud to the person it concerns?? I know I do! I'm too honest I guess! If I have anything to say, I would prefer to say it and get it out in the open in 99% of situations -obviously I'm not too daft to think this works in every case! Haha.

But the thing what really gets to me, is when what someone says is just a complete mistruth about a situation, and when you ask them, they then lie to your face about what was said.... and it seems like they just want to do some damage to your career!

My craft work is not just a hobby, it is my career - I'm self employed as a freelance designer and demonstrator and have tried hard to make it a success.. and it hasn't been that easy most of the time. But I have never had any bad feedback regarding anything I have done - until yesterday - and this is quite a few months after I actually did any work for this person! Original feedback was good... now it's not!

Strange?? I think so!

Anyway.. rant over.. back to sticking my head in the sand - you know, you really can't do it and chat because sand gets in your mouth! LOL

Monday 15 September 2008

To top it all...

Take a peek at this...

A little bit of a close up on the new scrumptious ribbons from Papermania.. This one is the White and Pink.. isn't it Fab??

Now that's all I needed to start off my countdown to Christmas.. lol.. Just so you can plan all your christmas card making, and prezzie buying.

Now then.. I can feel another challenge thing coming on there!! Watch this space.. nikki.. where are you?? I think we need to chat!!!!

Tutorial for colouring your stamped images..

Whilst I did my demo on Sunday at the Range on Sunday, I was asked a few times about how I colour my images.

This was one of the images the ladies were referring to.

I have always used a variety of different techniques for colouring, including my new prismacolours, watercolour pencils, paints, H20's, and when doing my Docraft demo's, my Whispers Strokes pens.. and either a blender pen, or waterbrush. See below.




When colouring, I usually scribble a little of the lightest colour onto my glass cutting mat - or a piece of acetate, whichever you have nearest - and then squeeze a little water on with my water brush. The plastic tube on the water brush is your little reservoir, but I just find this alot safer than having a pot of water on my table!

I mix it together and give the teddy a very light colour wash all over. I then take up a little more of the colour and mixing it with the water again, add another layer to darken it slightly. I just build up the colours this way until the bear looks just as I would like it.

To finish, I add a little bit of red onto my brush and use it to colour his tummy and cheeks. Finish off with a few little white dots to add highlights to the cheeks. (for this you can use a white gel pen, or acrylic paint).


Here is a little closeup of the Teddy showing his cheeks and a little more of the colouring in detail.

I hope this helps. If you need a more indepth step by step, just let me know.. and I'll photograph it all in stages so you can see him come to life.

Monday, Monday..

I've well and truly got that Monday feeling today.. albeit, I've done the housework (sorry for swearing!), sorted the dishwasher, done some laundry.. and finally got out in my studio to get crafting.. BUT.. did I do anything? Well, nothing too exciting.. it was a bit chilly out there if truth be told, so I am now sat in the front room watching X Factor with me laptop!

Here is what I did manage to rustle up..

In fact..this is an afterthought from the weekend. I made this little birdhouse as an advent house for the Xmas Tree.




This is a little slider card that I made for my demo yesterday.. I used the new Forever friends papers, just to show that you can use it with things other than the little Furry Critters.



But... I did manage to sneak one into the card for my demo.. mwhaaaaa.

This little square card was made by embossing lines into the Coredinations card and filing it down on the top. The holly leaves and Ted's are the new Forever friends stickers. The ends of the ribbon were frayed using the new distressing tool.. great idea eh?!
Talk about the odd ball of the group.. lol.. this one was just a quickie play really. Blue pearlescent card and Sarapapers. The outline sticker for the flower was stuck on blue and white paper..
That's it for now... xx

All change....

Everyone seems to be changing their blogs at the minute... is it something in the water?? I do wish sometimes that I could rename mine..something a little simpler, but I don't want to lose all my hard work over this last year.. sigh!

The main one which got me completely bamboozled this morning was Emma's blog (docrafts Emma). Only to find out later, through a bit of blog hopping that she has changed it. Link is on the side.. or just click on the name above..

Friday 12 September 2008

17,000 visitor blog candy..

Righty folks..
I am making up a little pack of bits and pieces ready to offer for some blog candy.. As you know I absolutely love my little furbabies, so....

What I would like you to do is to make me a caption to fit onto this photo of Scooby..



He was sat outside my studio the other day with his lip well and truly curled up.. he looked so funny! So.. what do you think he's thinking??

I will be back later with a selection of products you can win..all photographed and looking lovely!

To enter, please leave a link on your blog, and leave me your comment entry.. so I can come and visit your blogs too and add you to my blog list.. plus, if you want to follow my blog, you can get double entry into the draw. If you fancy doing a Doggy themed card, you can get three entries..

I will close the draw next Sunday 21st September at 7pm. I will draw the winner using a random number generator.

Enjoy and have fun!!

Feeling Fishy....

Question... what do you do when you have nearly 2kg of Fishbites to store??
Answer ... I haven't got a clue! lol..
I have just had my delivery of fishbites for the poopies, and ordering in bulk is fantastic value for money from here. I was buying around three packs a week (300g) from our local pet store, and they worked out at a total of nearly £15!!!! So... I decided to go to the website and order directly. I got 1.5kg for £25..
Well.. I have finally managed to get them sorted into various plastic sealable tubs to keep them fresh.. apart from the ones that dropped onto the floor to three anxious little pupsters!!
They absolutely love these little bites, and as you may know if you read my blog, that I only ever feed my poopies wholesome food. They don't have anything with additives or whatever in.. mainly because Scooby has colitis so he's easily upset!
These bites are 100% fish skin, which is brilliant for improving the condition of the coat and skin, and I am the first to admit that their fur is fantastic! Lovely, shiny and glossy, as you can see.

They are also a fantastic training treat for dogs. For training you can buy tiddlers, which are smaller than the fish squares that I buy for mine. The tiddlers are also just the right size for little dogs.

If you look back through my blog, ( click on dog health on my label cloud above) you will notice that from time to time I do write a bit about doggy care (spoiling!! as my OH calls it!). Last time, I did about food (please use a whole food - no additives, it really doesn't help your dog!) so today.. tada.. I'll do natural treats..
I feed my dogs with James Wellbeloved, or Wainwrights for a change sometimes. Both are free from colours, preservatives etc, and as a treat with their breakfast and dinner (yep.. still two meals!), they have scrambled egg, steak, tuna, sardines etc. They love it, and it breaks up the monotony of having the same thing every day. Just cut the main food down slightly so they are not over indulging!
For treats, they have the fish bites, which are given at bed times, and other times when anyone comes in and they are feeling extra bouncy (well.. they are springers!). I have a little pot next to the door, so if anyone comes in, they can reach for the tub and the pupsters know what's in it.. they stop bouncing and sit for their treat! Good eh?! They have a total of around 3-4 per day.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To cook my own treats, I often use the following recipes..

Liver bites.

Cook up a packet of liver (cheapest is usually from the market), with some water, a garlic clove cut up, and a few sliced carrots. Cook the liver until thoroughly cooked through. Place in an oven, gas mark 5, for around 20 minutes or until dried out and a little crispy. The sauce that is left over you can blend up and use as a gravy on their dinner! The liver is left to cool, then chopped up into little cubes.

Turkey treats

1lb. minced turkey
1 cup oatmeal
1 egg
Parmesan (about ½ cup)
Garlic powder
Mix all ingredients together using hands and pat into a greased loaf pan. Bake at 350°F (180°C) for 30-35 minutes. Cool, then cut into thick strips (these do not hold together when slicing into small squares); freeze unused portions and keep the portions you're using refrigerated. Has the consistency of meatloaf.

Quick as a flash Tuna Bread

1 tin of tuna in oil (if you have brine, drain it and add some oil or water to the mix)
80g plain flour
1 egg
sprinkle of garlic powder
Put the tuna, garlic powder and egg in a bowl, mix with a spoon. Then add the flour gradually until it all binds together (add less or more flour as you need).
Pour onto a microwaveable plate and put in the microwave for 4 minutes, turn onto a wire rack to cool and cut into small training sized cubes.

Peanut butter biscuits

You can also use potato flour instead of plain for this recipe, ideal for dogs with a gluten allergy.

3 tbs of peanut butter - chunky is best
1 cup of flour
1 egg
1/4 - 1/2 cup of water
Put the peanut butter, egg and flour into food processor, turn on and then gradually add water until it comes into a ball, roll out on floured surface and cut out using any cutter, bake at 170oC until golden brown and crispy.

Salmon Cookies
These are made with potato flour for dogs with a gluten intolerance, but can be made with normal plain flour
One large tin of pink salmon,
two eggs,
a sprinkling of dried parsley,
half a packet of ground pumpkin seeds
potato flour - enough to make it doughy
Roll it out, cut 'em out, and bake in medium oven for about half an hour. They are really popular - very hard and crunchy !

Beef and Garlic Balls
Approx 500g of beef mince - you could use lamb, or chicken / turkey too. About a dessertspoon of garlic powder.2 eggs Oatmeal
Mix the mince with the eggs, and the garlic powder. Then take off tiny pieces at a time and make into tiny balls, and roll those in the oatmeal to coat them. Put on baking tray and cook in a low oven about 150c for about half an hour - the oatmeal doesn't really brown, it just changes slightly to a golden colour.You can freeze these too - I guess they'll last in the fridge about 3 - 4 days.

Cheese Oatie's

60g flour

60g medium oatmeal

60g rolled oatmeal

75g grated cheddar

75g parmesan

1 tablespoon oil

Mix all dry ingredients together, mix in oil and enough water to bring mixture together break off into tiny pieces, mould between fingers and bake until golden. It’s best if you line your baking tray with greaseproof paper.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------So there we have it... dog treats in a flash.. no fancy ingrediants, nothing that is going to make your dog ill.. just perfect!

And to finish... a few photos of my little furbabies..

Truly Scrumtious..

Holly-poppett

Mr Scoobs

Now are they not faces to die for? Boooootiful!!!! xxxx

I've been blurfing...

I've had a bit of a lazy morning today.. so have spent a couple of hours blurfing. I did find an interesting article this morning which I just needed to share with Nikki - very important!! Ring me!!! - and also some Blog Candy on offer by Jak.. here.. Fantastic... and Christmassy!!

I also found this great one here... I absolutely love these stamps!

Given my visitors recently, I may just offer a bit of blog candy of my own again.. watch this space!!!

Thursday 11 September 2008

A couple more cards....

I am slowly getting ready for my demo on Sunday, and have been making a few more cards. I thought I would share these two.All products are Papermania, the ribbon is a bit of some I had laying about. The stamp is the New Papermania stamp, coloured with brush markers and layered.

I just love this card! With the assistance of my mate Nikki, I managed to make this bow fronted card... Quite liking this idea! I mounted a piece of acetate in the frame and added some of the lovely Forever Friends papers to the inside.

There are also a couple of my projects which have now been uploaded onto the Docrafts website.. they are here, and here.

Follow me!

If you would like to know when I have updated my blog, then come along and follow me.. the link is on my sidebar to the right..

Just click on the link and you'll be added. You can even add one to your own blog, so you can have your own group of followers! Good eh?!

Wednesday 10 September 2008

Christmas is coming and so are the Teddies!

And boy are they soooo cute!
I have been sent my lovely kit from Docrafts, for the christmas loop for this year.. Forever friends, beautiful papers, and lots of other bits!

These are a couple of cards I made today for my demo this Sunday at the Range, Doncaster.

I have used the Naughty but nice set of papers, alongside the new Coredinations cardstock.. talk about lovely! You can emboss it and then file it down with a nail file to bring out the whiteness.. The little cutesy snowman was cut on the impress.


And here is Little Ted with his bunch of poinsettia. He's a little sticker so was ready to stick onto a piece of card. I cut the edges with the new corner punch - a great punch, and it's pink! The words are Doodlebug rub ons and the border again is a sticker.

Hope you like them! I should be back with more by the weekend!

Especially for the Newark Ladies.. A Tutorial.

Here you are - the step by step to your folded topper! I was going to do a video, but my video's on my phone are MP4, so don't upload to youtube. So.. sorry but pics it is!

Start off with your paper pattern side up.
Fold this piece of paper into a triangle, open up, fold the other way into a triangle to create a cross in the middle of the paper.

these are the folds shown - and the large cross in the centre to mark where the lines cross.



On all four edges of the paper, bring into the middle to create a gatefold. Use the cross in the centre to fold into.

Bring all four corners into the centre of the marked cross, and crease across.



Bring in the top edge to the centre cross. Push out the corner and fold in the next edge.

Repeat with sides two and three.
When you have finished pulling the sides in and corners out, you create a windmill type of thing!



Put your finger in each of the pointy out bits and flatten out onto the top of your square. Repeat in all four corners.

This is what it looks like when all four corners have been flattened out.
Fold each corner section back onto itself to point to the outside.



The last thing you need to do is to fold the four sections which are pointing to the inside, back on themselves to open up the middle.



Now, if you've folded it correctly, this is what you should end up with!


I hope you enjoyed this tutorial!

I've been inked!

Another thing I forgot to show you before now... lol..



After much deliberation, I decided - or should I say my darling daughter decided!! - that I needed modernising and ought to get a tattoo..


I did want to get a wedding ring, but noone really does it anymore because the ink apparantly 'bleeds' from the outline. So. decided against that and went with this - - - -




It's not exactly as I wanted it to look, but I still think it's pretty neat! It's at the side of my wrist, so not really all that noticeable.. but it didn't hurt, so I decided a few days later to get this one - -

Meet my little Biela! This one is on the inside of my wrist on my left arm. Notice the orange and blue eye?? Just like my furry man was.

Couldn't resist this one.. now, I just need a dobermann called Tasha, german shepherd called Asti, a collection of cats - Micky, Minnie, Bonnie and Titch. Ohhhh the list goes on and on and on.. lol..

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