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Now isn't that a lovely stamp? More details on my SU Blog

Monsters... Fairies.... Bogeye... And more...

I was working hard a few weeks ago to make up some samples for Lili of the Valley and their new product launch on Create and Craft. If you click on the link above, then you will be taken to their website, where you will find oooooooooodles of lovely stuff for a massive 50% off!! What a sale!

If you are fortunate enough to have caught the show already (more showing dates are on their website) then you may well have seen my cards. There were lots of wonderful ideas on the show too, but here are a few of the ones that I made. I hope you like them.

This was my little bag. I made it from an envelope and a strip of cardstock. The papers are all included with your designs in the collection and they correspond with the images brilliantly. The greetings are included too, so really, all you need is your imagination.

Oh my lordy.. I absolutely love pigs, and these two little ladies are no exception. Well, I say they're ladies, but they could well be used for male cards too. I pleated a strip of paper and attached it to the card and finished with buttons.

Now isn't this monkey cute? This is what I absolutely love about the LOTV products, the cuteness. When they first started trading, I remember seeing them up in Harrogate (I think it was) and just needed the fairies, which I think were one of their first sets. My love of their products has never changed as they are so generic and not limited to childrens cards either! I love cute!! Always have.. .always will!

Oh boy this card was so much fun to make.. I know the pictures aren't brilliant but they were on my phone. (too lazy to get my camera out! lol)

This little panda is adorable.. just look at his lickle-ickle eyes.. and his hair-do!
The papers are all included again, so with all the sets that are available you will get a great collection of backing papers to add to your stash, and they are all inter-mingelable (is that a word?? but I'm sure you know what I mean!)

Now finally, how can I end this post without my little cuties? We were out walking yesterday - a long long walk as I was in a majorly bad mood! - and we came across the Barley Field. Well, not so much came across it, because it's always there.. lol.. but we haven't had a venture in there for a few days, and I can't believe how much it's grown!

It was sooo funny to watch Holly bouncing in typical springer style and thoroughly enjoying herself.

Here's a quick pic.. spot the springers!!

Holly is in the background (can you see her?) and our Chunka Munka, Scooby is here at the front.

Feeling very very sad..

Oh isn't life a shit at times? And I mean that in the strongest sense of the word!!

Yesterday I heard from my friend Nikki, with the shocking news that her beloved hubby David had just passed away. I absolutely cannot believe it!!

I usually ring Nikki every Monday, just a habit we got into, and we chat hither and dither about anything and nothing, and generally have a yarn to put the world to rights.. but because it was a Bank Holiday, family at home, we missed our call this week. So yesterday, I had an appointment in the morning, walked the dogs in the afternoon, and picked up the phone to ring for our natter and there was a message which had been left.

Well, you could have knocked me down with a feather when I listened to it. It came as a complete shock and the first thing I could do was to ring her. I feel like I need to be there with her, but Scotland is such a long way away, and I know she has family and friends around her, so that makes it a bit better. But still.. I have met David and he was a gentle, wonderful person.

I know David was Nikki's love of her life, and the reason she got up in the morning,he was also their son's best friend.. so I can only imagine what she is feeling right now. She has 1001 things running through her head at the moment and all I want to do is throw my arms around her and tell her it's all going to be okay.. but I can't, and that's hurting!

So, Nikki, if you're reading this, remember we all love you and we're thinking of you and Kris at this very very sad time, and if you need anything at all, just ring me.

I don't quite know what else to say really, I just hope she finds a way to try and move forward eventually.

Is it morning already??

I'm sure there's someone up there taking the hours away, you know!

We've had a lovely weekend here in Doncaster. The weather has been fantastic (even though I'm not a sun worshipper!) and we've managed to get lots of things done in the garden. There's only one bad thing I've found this weekend - FLIES!!! I HATE flies with a vengeance, and I'm sure they're all congregating in my house!!!!

It was just starting to look like a bit of a wilderness out there, and I'm sure when the furballs went out they thought they may never return.... it probably explains why they're insistent on cuddles before they venture out, and why Scooby doesn't like to go in the garden by himself! Mmmm.

Anyway, the grass is now cut down, some of the weeds have been pulled and the patio has been tidied.. and best of all? I managed to clear some clutter from my craft studio! Yep.. I can officially get back into it now - there's room for my chair!

It was starting to look like - well, I don't know what! - and I had to fight my way into it whenever I wanted to look for something.. and the overspill? That went in my sitting room in two more drawer cabinets. LOL. I desperately needed to get into the studio and give it a good turf out. I got the middle dumping ground done completely, and a couple of shelves, now all I need to get done are the worksurface and the back storage area.. *sigh*

I'm just hoping that the weather is right for next weekend too, sunny.. hot....we could get the garden finished at this rate!

Back to Normal...

Well... it looks like I've managed to get everything sorted with my blog/Firefox now, so here I am - able to upload some photos without faffing around with photobucket! How good is that?!
So.. here we are.. I tried my hand at a few different challenges this week whilst I had a bit of spare time.

This first card was made for Kathy's challenge - here's the sketch Challenge 10

And here's my take on the sketch..

 

I used Stampin Up products on this card, mainly because I liked the colours. Here's a close up of a few bits... 

As you can see, I curved the flowers and butterflies once I cut them out (and added some 3D gloss)

This was the greeting which came with the stamp set, and because I wanted a more muted colour over the white cardstock, I rubbed green pastels over the top. I accented the flowers and wording with 3D gloss. 

This was the next challenge sketch on my list - Kathy's Sketch 11, followed by my take on this one. All of Kathy's sketches are wonderful to work with!

 

 

As you can see with this card, I've turned it around on it's end and because it was for the lads at Motosave (who have done a sterling job this week with our car - more on that later!), I decided to use male colours, and thought the flowers would be better missed out so I added the wording really where the flowers should have been. Hope you like it!

Here's a close up of the colouring. 

 

I am a bit ashamed to say that I've had this stamp now for absolutely ages, I think it came from Funkykits (?) and I opened the packet to stamp it for the first time this week! 

Now onto my next Challenge.. 

This cute little pink card was for RosieDee's Challenge blog no. 35. It was called Layered Stamping. So, I stamped out my Gorjuss girl and layered her up onto the front of the card. Pretty pinks all around. The papers are the new ones from Papermania. Aren't they lush?

It also fits in with the challenge this week over at ABC challenge - the theme this week is O - for Orderly. Everything had to match, so I made my image central to the card and added two dimensional butterflies in an orderly fashion. lol.

It also fitted in with this sketch (3 challenges with one card - now that's what I call efficient multitasking!) The sketch is from Stamp Something - another great little challenge blog. I did miss off the sentiment, because I usually don't add one until I know what occasion I'm using the card for.

So.. that's my first set all sorted.. You want to see more??

I decided to join in the Pink Elephant blog Challenge too. It's the first time that I've entered it, so I hope it's good enough. I love the card anyway, so I don't mind too much if it's not.

Here's the requirements - Monograms/Letters - Thank you includes letters doesn't it? Or have I got the wrong end of the stick? lol.

And this one too - Stamp Challenges - and this is what they put..

This week we want to see your Clean and Simple Thank You Somethings! We would like for you to browse Lauren's work and find a card to CASE or create your own card inspired by one of Lauren's creations. Please remember to keep it clean and simple though as this week is all about Lauren's style!

So here goes.. the card I cased from Lauren.

And mine -

 

a little close up too - 

I did change the colours, and I made mine from SU cardstock. I added little glitter gems to my design across the card too. I am not generally one for the simple look, but I personally LOVE this card - now that's not something I generally say!

Right.. that's all for now folks..

Have a good day tomorrow whatever it is that you're doing. You never know, I could well be back on here again now I'm on a roll!

Jeeez!

I am verging on insanity now!!! (well, pretty much slightly more than normal!) LOL..

I have just downloaded Firefox (thanks Katy for the comment!) and I'm hoping that this cures the stupid problems I'm having with Blogger.. well, that's before I delete this god-forsaken blog and move it to the more stable Wordpress..


Well, at least it will let me write a post and not boot me off - you never know, I may be back later with some new projects!!

Now then.. anyone got any hints and tips about Firefox?? Saving things as favourites?? lol.

Speak later x

Well.. whaddya know!

Here I was yesterday, playing with some stamps that had never been inked (whoops!) in all the time I'd had them, and I decided to try my prisma's on my Whisper White card from Stampin Up.. The image stamped beautifully mainly because the WW card is so smooth, and it gives a brilliant surface to stamp on.

Then it came to colouring.. I got out my prisma's, OMS, stump.. and thought, no, I'll use baby lotion to see if it does make it blend a bit better than the OMS.. and blimey I was impressed! It was better to blend with that than the OMS.. so I know what I'll be using in future! Anyone want a jar of OMS?? lol.

Oh well, onto the card I eventually made after all my faffing.

The stamp is Elizabeth Bell, can't remember the name (reflections I think), The papers are from My Mind's Eye pack. They are really beautiful - sparkly and lovely!

Here's a close up

Right.. that's me done for now, see you all again soon I'm sure!
Happy crafting until then.

Lili of the Valley Challenge

This week over on the LOTV Challenge blog we have a template challenge. The template was designed by me, and there are some stunning cards to see with it too! I am soooo loving the little doggy card, but you'll have to nip over to see it.. You also stand the chance of winning a little Moggi Stamp.. it's sooooo cute!

Anyway here's the template -



And here's what I did with it..



The papers are My Mind's Eye, and I just love the patterns and colours of it.. I can't remember which online shop I got it at, but will check and add the link for you.



Here's a little close up of the Bunny. I coloured him in with copic markers, then restamped the image and layered up the prezzies. A little doodling around the edges just finishes it off I think..

Aaaand... get this..



After seeing lots of cards on the blogs with a decorated inside - I decided to try my own! It's a bit plain, but hey.. it's a start!

Belated Happy Birthdays..

Because I was having problems uploading my photos.. I couldn't show you my pics of the Birthday Girls..

Holly and Truly have both had their birthdays this month. Holly was 2, and Truly was 3.

Here are the girls enjoying their special days..

Here's Holly.. little Miss Sweetness. Always loveable, cute and lovely.

And here's Truly.. as you can tell, often life is just too much! I know it's not a brilliant photo, but I just love her when she's asleep.. lol.. if you knew her, you would too! She's got ADHD I'm sure!!

Now, of course I can't not include my beautiful boy... Here's Scooby..



This photo is quite comical for us.. now Scooby is quite a cutie-patootie anyway, but between me and you, he just loves his Ted Ted.. He took it to bed with him every night until a few weeks ago, when I reckon Ted Ted must have been snoring too much and he chewed his nose off! As you can see, even when Scoob's was plodding around the house, he had to go and find his teddy to keep him company. Cute! Love him!

Beside the seaside... beside the sea...

Well, not exactly, as I'm not sure whereabouts the Range at Southport is away from the seaside.. lol.. but I was nearby. I could hear seagulls, and smell the sea.. does that count?

Anyway, I'm not back to waffle on.. I'm here to eventually manage to upload some pictures. These have to go into my Photobucket account to be able to get uploaded! How Pathetic! Thanks everyone for the info you left after my post about blogger.. it was helpful!



This card was made using products available in the goody bag. I used the flocked papers (lovely to stroke!) and added buttons and blossoms to finish it off.

This next one was made using the new Papermania Decoupage sets. Now, anyone that knows me, knows I hate decoupage with avengeance! But these ones I managed to get cut out and stuck together prior to my demos, so people didn't get too bored watching.. or before I fell asleep!





For this card, I used the Jesse Edwards stamps. I couldn't demo these up at Southport because, as usual, they didn't have the stock. It's a bit disappointing up there really, because they don't tend to get the new stock in for the demo's, they arrive just after.. but hey..



This card was made using the papers from the Goody Bag. They are the lovely Jesse Edwards. I love these colours, they are vintagey and just my cup of tea! I love the navy in particular. The butterfly punch flew out (pardon the pun.. lol) and completely sold out at Doncaster, and nearly sold out at Southport.



Another thing from the new PM items I am loving, is the Glitteration stickers. They are scrumptious! They have gold, black and white/silver and the lovely thing about it them is the fact that the glitter doesn't come off.. I used them around the borders around the card, finished with coredinations card and dimensions stickers (goody bag items again.)



The chair on this card is cut and decoupaged from one sheet of paper. I finished it off with a couple of buttons and a little ribbon bow.

Right... I'm off to upload some more pics on here, and put some Stampin Up cards up onto my other blog (link at top of page!)

See ya later.. Happy Creating everyone.