Cuddles on a branch

Another sample card for my next cardmaking class. This time I used my favourite shaped die, Go Kreate frilly 10 large. The coloured topper is by Wee stamps for The Hobby House. I used a mix of papers, Joy flower dies, Crafts too butterfly dies and a mix of punches.

When I scheduled this Thursday night thunderstorms were forecast for Friday night and Saturday so if that is the case a day indoors I think. Hope you all have a good weekend.

Watering the flowers

When I was asked to make a Summery Birthday card for the latest Crafts Beautiful magazine I decided to use the paper Nest Dolls stamp Avery with Watering Can from Swedish House Crafts. I coloured her with Copics and diecut her using a MFT wonky stitched oval die.  The papers are First Edition It's a girl, sentiment is from LOTV. I used Lady E flower 5 dies, Impression Obsession small leaf cluster dies and a butterfly punch from Hobbycraft.

Much better in real life

Believe me, this card looks so much better in real life. The purple is so rich and the colours very sparkly. It just wouldn't photograph well and I couldn't improve it much in photoshop. Still I know how much nicer it really is.

It's another card for my cardmaking class. I wanted to try using something they could colour with glitter pens. I used a Woodware stamp and Nuvo glitter pens. The embossing folder is an old one from Crafter's Companion I think. I added a bit of interest by using a MFT inside and out corner rounded die and a Xcut corner rounder punch. The butterflies were diecut with Joy dies.  I think they will have fun making this.  I have a selection of glitter and sparkle pens in lots of different colours for them to use along with different coloured card, twine and charms as I like them to express their individuality not just all make the same card.

Sneak peek #3

I hope you are loving these new images from Lili of the Valley as much as I am. I made a round card for a change today. I really enjoyed embellishing this one.  I wish you could see all the sparkle on it

Image - LOTV woodland crib 1

Medium - Copics

Paper - Hobbycraft frozen wishes

Dies - Sue Wilson poinsettias and leaves

I added some pearl dots for snow and coloured the grass, branch and the diecut leaves with Wink of Stella white sparkle pen.

One week on from his op and Graham is doing really well. He is able to do far more than we expected at this stage though he musn't drive, lift, stretch too far etc. A friend is taking us to line dancing today where he will just watch.

Sneak peek #2

This new digi from Lili of the Valley might just be my favourite. You will be able to buy them on 25th July. This one is called hanging stockings with Dad. I coloured it with Copics and decided to make the wallpaper striped. I did colour the floor and mousehole but it doesn' really show on here. The papers are LOTV which you can still get from Nitwits, 'twas the night. I used MFT stitched dome, Memory Box stocking a,d Lawn Fawn sentiment dies. I added the patterns to the stocking die with a white gel pen.

First LOTV sneak peek

Lili of the Valley are launching the first of their new Christmas digis on 25th July. I have the first 9 to use and they are all so cute I didn't know which to use first.  Expect to see lots of sneak peeks from the DT and if you are on Facebook please come and join our group We love Lili of the Valley. It is run by the DT and we are almost at our first 1000 members.

Image - LOTV dancing partners

Medium - Copics, Sakura clear star for the snowflakes

Papers - LOTV snow princess

Dies - Lawn Fawn wavy border, MFT stitched ric rac

Sentiment - LOTV

Other - wooden bow coloured with a Nuvo glitter marker, snowflake crocheted border, doily

Graham is making remarkable progress after his op. He is taking it easy but able to do a few things like wiping up. He can reach the top cupboards but can't bend down so if he drops anything he can't pick it up. At least he can get his own socks on now. Each day sees an improvement. The dressing needs changing today, not looking forward to that as I am rather squeamish.

Glass of champagne

This is one of the samples I have made for my next cardmaking class. I try to do something different each month but have to take into account that most of the people who come aren't cardmakers. We have two and a quarter hours which includes tea/coffee and cake so I need them to be able to make something in a hour so hey can make one before and one after refreshment.  So far some people have come to every class but each time there also new people. I don't want them all to make the same card so take a selection of papers, images and dies. I make a couple of samples to give them ideas. The task this time is to make shaped cards and flower arrangements using two different leaf dies or punches and three different flower dies or punches.

Image - Elisabeth Bell topper from The Hobby House

Papers - Maja Denim and girls

Dies - Nellie Snellen flowers, Go Kreate frilly 7 large

Punches - Martha Stewart flowers and leaves

Jingle bells

Thanks for all your good wishes for Graham.  The op went well and he had no effects from the anaesthetic at all. He said when they woke him up he just woke as though it was morning. My friend took me to collect him yesterday morning and he is doing well. Rather sore and can't do anything at the moment and not enjoying wearing the compression stockings. So I am rather busy doing everything at home and looking after him. However I managed to get on the laptop yesterday afternoon to schedule a couple of posts and to make a card.  

I have used one of the LOTV art sheets which is no longer available. However this image is available as a digi stamp.  I used some old Dovecaft North Pole papers, Roxstamps cross stitch circle, Joy lamppost, Joanna Sheen postbox and Lawn Fawn forest border dies.  The sentiment is a digi from LOTV and I added some fun flock to his hat.

And the exciting news is that LOTV will be launching the first of their Christmas stamps soon.

Wedding Day

We should have been on holiday in North Wales this week but had to cancel due to Graham having his hernia op today. However it did mean we could attend the wedding of the couple I made this card for using a LOTV stamp coloured with Copics and with lots of sparkle from a Spectrum Noir sparkle pen.  The paper is from an old LOTV pad. I made an 8x8 card which gave me plenty of scope for embellishments.

I used an old Spellbinder floral oval die, Roxstamps heart hangers, wooden hearts coloured with Wink of Stella white sparkle pen, butterflies from Poundland, I think, Dovecraft heart pins, ribbon, lace from stash and flowers from Wild Orchid.

A friend is collecting us to go to the hospital mid morning. Hubby should have his op this afternoon and will be staying in overnight so we are going back to see him this evening hopefully.

Playing with some new goodies

Today is my DT project for the Swedish House Crafts blog.  I have so many new goodies to use that I decided to make a scrabook layout using one of the gorgeous sheets from Laserowe Love Navy Rommance 12 x 12 pack.  I wanted to echo the filigree pattern around the flowers so I used Laserowe Love Coral Navy Romance round lace frame and diecut a circle of me to fit in the middle.

The photos were taken at Bok Tower Gardens on our last visit to Florida in 2017.  I diecut the tower photo into a circle to fit onto the doily.  Again echoing the filigree pattern I used the Antique luxury ornaments - flowers adding roses from Wild Orchid to the centres.  I finished off with a couple more roses and some punched leaves and some white glittery lettering.

Click on the links to take you straight to the products.

Umbrella's up

Well it seems ages since we used an umbrella. The weather has been lovely here, not too hot  most days thank goodness. This little fellow is under the weather though. He is a LOTV simply print and although he isn't currently available as a coloured simply print you can buy the digi to colour. I used various papers, A LOTV sentiment, MFT banner and Gummiapan doodle cloud dies, twine and a charm. I also used a Spectrum Noir clear sparkle pen on the umbrella and raindrops.  Interestingly it reacts with the ink on the image and gives a nice washed look.

Vintage

I received my July DT box from Swedish House Crafts and couldn't wait to start using some of it.  If you click the links on the products you will be taken straight to the products.

Image -Maja Celebretaion - ephemera 12 x 12 sheet
Papers -Maja Denim and girls
Flower die - Lady E Tiny flower dies
Lace - Crafty Ribbons
Butterfly - Poundland
Enamel dots from stash

Off to visit my Mum today and go out for lunch.

Cross Stitching

Well hello, I am back on my blog today with something different. I didn't get a chance to get in the craft room at the weekend but I did make a card yesterday so will share that with you tomorrow. Life is busier than usual as Graham is going for his pre op assessment on Thursday and then has his hernia op next Tuesday at the Spire hospital. That means we are bust getting things done at home as he will need to rest for a few days then start light activities.

When LOTV had their half price sale last week I bought a couple of the cross stitch charts as I had been thinking about trying them for a while. I haven't done cross stitch for years and when I did I always used one with the pattern printed onto the fabric. I am used to following a chart but not used to starting with a blank piece of material. I made a start last night and am loving it. It took me a while to sort out my threads as I have a lot of colours that I use for other hand sewn items. I matched what I had as near as possible to the colours on the chart,

So watch this space for the finished article. That may be some time 😊

Forever Friends

A very different colour combo from me today using Forever Friends coloured simply print digi from LOTV. Isn't she adorable and I look forward to colouring the digi of her.  The blue paper is from lOTV, yellow border from a pack of MFT hearts. I used MFT sitched inside and out rounded corner and stitched scalloped border dies.  The sentiment is from a new fairy set of digis. I found some very old flowers in my stash, they must be about 10 years old and I teamed them with some wooden leaves from Hobbycraft and patterned card candi from Craftwork cards.  I also used an Xcut rounded corner punch.

I am off to my last craft fair until September. Set up isn't until 9.30 so not too early a start for a change.The fair is at Cromer hospital fete from 11-2. I have never doen this one before so no idea if it will be any good.  Still we shall be at the coast so a chance for a seafront walk afterwards hopefully.

Another new fairy

Today is your last chance to buy anything half price from the LOTV store on Etsy. These new fairies are adorable and as soon as I saw this one I thought what a great Christmas card she would make. I love the versatility of using a non Christmas image for a Christmas card.I coloured the image with Copics and coloured the little bird as a robin. I used Spectrum Noir clear sparkle pen on her wings and used some sparkle pens on the ribbons and a white gel pen on the spots on her dress. The papers are last year's First Edition Merry little Christmas.  The sentiment is from LOTV. I used a Woodware holly punch, Sue Wilson poinsettia die, flowers from Hobbycraft, enamel do and some chunky white embossing powder.

Fairy wishes

As Monday was international fairy day Lili of the Valley launched some new digis and coloured simply prints. I am looking forward to colouring the digis but in the meantime I have used one of the coloured simply prints called Shy. I wouldn't normally use pink and red together but as the image uses those colours I have echoed this in my papers which are MFT hearts and stripes. I used various dies including a cross stitch circle die, Doohickey fence, Cheery Lynn mushrooms, Memory Box cherry blossom, and a MFT scalloped stitched border.  The sentiment is from a new set of digis too.

Let's go paddling

Today is my turn to post on the Swedish House Crafts blog and I chose to use one of the newest Paper Nest Dolls Emma with starfish. She is available at a very special price exclusive to Swedish House Crafts.  I coloured her with Copics and had fun creating a scene for her.

Image - Emma with starfish
Medium - Copics
Dies - MFT sunny skies, under the sea (rocks), Lawn Fawn wavy stitched borders, deckchair, seagull
Papers - LOTV up, up and away, First Edition beyond the shore.

Hubby needs a haircut so we will be heading into the city today for that and no doubt a little retail therapy and lunch. I need to get back this afternoon to finish my prep for tonight's cardmaking class.

Rose arch

 I still have several old LOTV art pads with some lovely coloured images. I teamed this one with some paper from an old LOTV art pad Romance and Roses.  I added some flowers from Wild Orchid, wooden bird and birdcage and lace from my stash.  The fun leaves were cut with Gummiapan dies.

It is a good year for the roses, ours have more flowers on some of them than we have had for years. We need to get out and do some deadheading and tidying in the garden this morning if it isn't raining, then line dancing lesson, then hopefully some crafting time. 

Under the weather

Hello and welcome to the last week of June, how did that happen. I have been so busy that I haven't had much crafting time but I did manage to make a couple of cards at the end of last week. 

Image - LOTV coloured simply print

Papers - from various [pads

Ribbon - from stash

Sentiment - LOTV digi

Dies - MFT scallpoed stitched border, stitched clouds, wonky stitched rectangle, lamppost

Another busy day today. We are off to see a consultant as hubby has a hernia, then meeting friends for coffee, shopping and massages this afternoon, along with a facial for me.

Unicorn Chloe

The new Crafts Beautiful magazine is in shops now and this month I used one of Pink Gem's new digis, Unicorn Chloe. I used the precoloured image as I love the soft colours.  I wanted to add something and had the idea of adding small ribbon bows to her hair and I love how it turned out. The papers are First Edition Beyond the Shore, unicorn ribbon from Crafty Ribbons and I added some enamel dots.

I must mention Mum is coming over today as she reads my blog every morning.  On the odd days I don't post she often comments on the fact my blog had no new post.  So I hope you like today's card Mum, see you later this morning. Looking forward to having a catch up and going out for lunch. x

Meet Harlow

As you may know Pink Gem no longer have a website of their own, selling through Polkadoodles and on Etsy instead and therefore don't have a design team. However Janet asked if some of the old DT would like to continue promoting her new images. When I saw this new girl, Harlow, I thought she was lovely and knew she would be lovely to colour. Her hairstyle is rather like mine and that is where the similarity ends 😊.

I coloured her with Copics and teamed her with some lovely WRS frosted lace paper and some layered MFT snowflakes. I added some fun flock to the fur and that was it. The paper is so pretty I didn't want to add anything else and cover it up.

Normally on a Thursday afternoon I would be crafting whilst hubby is volunteering on powerboat rescue. I will have a little time for crafting but a friend is picking me up later afternoon and we are going to a talk by one of my fave authors, Elly Griffiths, about her new book, a girl called Justice. Although it is aimed mainly at 8-12 year olds we both really enjoyed it. Elly said she hope her adult readers would like it. It is set in 1936 and reminded me of reading Enid Blyton's Mallory Towers as a child. Then we are going for a meal before coming home.

A posy for you

Another day, another friend's Birthday card. It's all go at the moment with making cards for friends.

Image - Lili of the Valley digi Spring rabbit posy

Sentiment - LOTV digi everyday greetings

Papers - Bo Bunny secret garden

Die - Doohickey fence, Memory box clouds

Flowers - Wild Orchid

It seems ages since I did a craft fair but today we are the hospital craft fair.  We normally do well there as I have several regular buyers amongst the staff. As I haven't done one for a while it will be nice to see what stock I have as I keep making cards and gifts and putting them in the boxes.

Picking apples

Firstly thank you for such lovely positive comments on my blog yesterday. I made this card for a friend whose Birthday was yesterday so I can now share it with you. I absolutely love the old Elisabeth Bell stamps which Sugar Nellie used to sell. In fact they were some of the first stamps I ever bought. I bought this one a while ago from somebody on Facebook as I never had her in my collection. They are such a delight to colour and as my friend shares my love of purple I was able to use my fave colour too.

I coloured her with Copics, papers are First Edition Butterfly kisses, lace and cheesecloth from stash, flowers from Wild Orchid.  I used MFT wonky stitched oval and stitched ric rac dies.  The ric rac die is a new one which I have wanted for ages but it was out of stock. I know I am going to be using that one a lot.

10 years of blogging

I have always loved making things and started cardmaking in May 2006 after buying a cardmaking kit and some papers.  In June 2009 a friend persuaded me to start a blog. I had no idea what I was doing at first but I started posting and following blogs and in turn people started following me. As time went on I learnt how to improve the look of my blog and enter challenges. I applied for and was accepted on my first challenge design team in January 2010. 

Social media has changed things and some people no longer use their blogs. Happily many do and it is always lovely to see new people starting a blog. Whilst other social media platforms are fine the thing I love about blogging is the information on the products used and the personal information many people include in their posts. I have often bought items because I read about them on a blog after admiring a card.

So here I am still blogging after 10 years and with 1772 followers. During that time I have been on several design teams for both challenges and craft companies. I have designed for those companies for their stands at craft shows and for their TV shows. I am currently a DT member for Lili of the Valley and Swedish House Crafts and feel very privileged to promote their products.  Whilst Pink Gem no longer have a design team or blog I design for them to showcase their new images. I have also designed for several cardmaking magazines although I have reduced this to mainly one magazine to enable me to concentrate on other things.  I sell at craft fairs and in a local vintage tearooms/gift shop where I also now run cardmaking classes.

So here’s to all those who post their lovely projects and share a little about themselves. Let’s all keep posting, visiting and commenting on blogs to keep blogland alive.

Sweet Christmas Fairy

I have been feeling rather poorly all week as I have had a cold and the dreaded cough again. Thankfully the cough is nowhere as bad this time and shouldn't last for four months like the last one I hope! Good job we didn't have too much planned this week and I managed to get through my cardmaking class with only one bout of coughing. The class went very well and four people signed up for the next one on 26th June even though we will be making similar cards.  I am doing an additional one as the first one filled up so quickly.

I decided to look though my bag of Christmas toppers and found some lovely Hobby House Sugar Nellie images. I have been doing some colouring this week as well but can't share those cards yet.  I added some sparkle with Spectrum noir sparkle clear and white pens.  I used some old papers, Memory Box holly and Sue Wilson poinsettia dies.  The ribbon is from Crafty Ribbons.

Art Deco Anniversary

I made this card for some friends whose Anniversary was yesterday. I wanted to make something a bit different as I usually go for cute images but as they enjoy cruising I chose some old art deco papers and an image I have had for years. They are beautiful images, though our friends don't look quite this elegant on their cruises!  I added some punched leaves and roses from Wild Orchid along with a wooden heart.

Patch and Puss

This is one of the sample cards I made for my cardmaking class I am running tonight. LOTV kindly gave me permission to use some of my old art pad images for the class. I have made a sketch for them to follow and done most of the prep so looking forward to that tonight.

Image - LOTV art pad

Papers - Lilibee head over heels

Die - stitched square from The Works

Sentiment - LOTV teenage girl

punches- Hobbycraft stars, Fiskars tag

Seesaw bunny

I have a lot of LOTV coloured simply prints printed and waiting to be used so thought it was time I made cards with some of them. This one is available on Etsy, link in my sidebar. I used some old LOTV papers, flowers from Wild Orchid, Memory Box butterfly dies, burlap butterfly from Docrafts, MFT stitched cloud dies, Little Claire sentiment stamp and a ribbon bow.

I had a busy day crafting yesterday but many of the cards I am making at the moment I can't share yet as they are for upcoming events.

Potters Resort

Regular viewers will have heard me talk about our trips to Potters over the last two years. Or friends took us there for coffee and we were so impressed with it that we have been 10 times so far, mostly for one night breaks but a couple of times we have been for two night breaks.  You can arrive when you like on the first day and stay any time until 6pm on the second day. We have stayed in one of the bungalows, as they call them, chalets to you and me, a couple of times and they are very nice but we prefer to pay extra for one of the hotel rooms if they are available.  The top left hand pic is of one of the hotel rooms. 

We love the activities, so many to choose from including table tennis, quizzes, pitch and putt, dance lessons and badminton. It is such a lovely location on the clifftops at the coast so when the weather is nice we usually go for a walk down to the beach.  We had a go at air rifle shooting at targets and both won medals which we are wearing in the bottom pic.  The meals are very good and the shows are superb with music and dancing beforehand.

I wanted to capture just a few moments from our stays and this simple background paper from Simple Stories was perfect. There were several phrases at the bottom which I didn't want so covered them a contrasting paper just leaving laugh lots as we always do when we are there.  I added just a few extra words and left it at that.

Hubby is off volunteering all day in Bedford today so an early start and home about 7.30 giving me a day at home, mainly crafting. I have several Birthdays, a Wedding and Anniversary to make cards for as well as more prep for my class next week so plenty to do. Enjoy your Sunday.

James and Daisy

James is one of my favourite images and although I actually used an old art pad for my card you can buy this image as either a digi to colour or a coloured simply print. Link to the LOTV Etsy store is on my sidebar. I teamed him with some old LOTV papers, a LOTV teenage girl sentiment, Memory Box diecut butterflies and used a Doohickey fence die.

I have been busy preparing for my next card class next Wednesday which filled up so quickly I am doing another two weeks later.