My name is Graham

I saw a scrapbook sketch on a Facebook page and it inspired me to make a layout. The photos were taken in America. The top one was in Mount Dora in a lovely cupcake shop and the bottom one in Starbucks. Now over here I find their coffee rather bitter, much preferring Costa or an independent coffee shop. Over there Starbucks are everywhere and the coffee is much nicer. However they do seem to have a problem with Graham's name. It is easier to say mine which they write as Maryann usually. We are often amused by what they put on the cups and this must be the worst interpretation of his name.  

I had an old Starbucks card which I added to my layout. The title wooden sticker is from The Works. The denim washi tape and the scalloped border are from America.

I would like to enter this into the holidays challenge at Creative Inspirations.

Some friends have asked if we would like to go for a walk on the beach late afternoon and then a meal in the cafe/restaurant there. It is a nice quiet beach we are going to at Cartgap.

It's that snowman again

Isn't it funny that I have used this stamp twice since I bought it at Doncaster yet I have other stamps I bought ages ago and haven't used yet. I decided to paper piece his umbrella and coloured the rest with Copices   I coloured the sky with chalks and used a new MFT mini cloud stencil. The papers are LOTV Nitwits 'Twas the Night. I used a stitched square die from The Works and Marianne snowflake dies. The sentiment is one of the new LOTV ones. I added some fun flock mixed with glitter on the snow and used a Viva pearl pen.

I am so glad the weather is a bit cooler as I feel more like colouring again. I have missed it and am really hoping the temperatures don't get so high again. The highest we recorded in our car one day was 36.5 and it was unbearable.  The garden has really benefited from some welcome rain at the weekend and start of this week.

Shhhh unicorn sleeping

As unicorns are so popular I thought I would make a plaque using one of the precoloured Pink Gem digis. I added some clear sparkle to some of the image using a Wink of Stella pen. The paper is from an old LOTV pack and I added some strips of glitter washi tape. I coloured the rainbow hearts using Spectrum Noir glitter brush pens and a Wink of Stella pen. I must say I prefer the Spectrum Noir pens as they have a lot more glitter. I added some flowers from Wild Orchid and a few pearls.

Flying Fox

This is the last of the cards I have made for now using the papers and toppers from the latest Making Cards magazine. I found the sentiment in my stash and layered onto yellow card matches the paper nicely. I diecut some balloons using a Marianne die and added some enamel dots.   The image is a large one so I made a 7x7 card.  I would like to enter this into the anything goes challenge at Simon Says.

In the harbour

I needed to make a card for my friend Lynsey's husband's Birthday and had no idea what I was going to use. I had a look through my printed images and found some lovely scenery toppers which came with Making Cards magazine some time ago.  I know he loves Cornwall and this image reminds me of the pretty harbours there.  I used First Edition Beyond the Shore papers, a Little Clire sentiment stamp coloured with DI Broken China and a couple of dies from a Impression Obsession set.  I would like to enter this into the anything goes challenge at Simon Says.

More travel cards

Two more cards made with the papers and toppers free with the new Making cards magazine.  I cut the image in three for this 7x7 card. I wanted some strong coloured ribbon to match the image and found this lovely seam binding in one of my ribbon boxes which was just perfect.

Challenges

Simon Says anything goes 

Creative Inspirations all tied up (add a bow)

For this one I simply created a patchwork background using the papers. I wanted to add a little something and also didn't want the pink on the image against the pink paper so I added a triangle of blue. It really doesn't need any embellishing.

Off to see my Mum this morning, then a trip into The Range and home I think as everywhere is so busy at the weekends now. We prefer to have days out during the week unless there is a specific event we want to go to.  I know the children are on holiday but it still isn't as busy weekdays.

Penguin squares

I love the cute square digi toppers that Janet designs for Pink Gem and just had to get this new one along with a snowman one. They come with a choice of sentiments too. The paper is last year's Hobbycraft Christmas Whisper. I thought the border set off the image nicely. I used a MFT lamppost die, snowflake bunting die from the Works and a MS snowflake punch along with some flowers from Hobbycraft.  I also added some fun flock to the hats.

I would like to add this to the anything goes challenge at Simon Says.

Flowers for a duck

Whew I will be so glad when this hot weather breaks. It was over 30 here yesterday and should be again today. Thunderstorms are forecast for this evening which is to be expected. We haven't had any rain for something like 50 days. Neither hubby nor I like it this hot, 23 is plenty. It has been so hot at night we have slept with the fan on all night which isn't something I can normally cope with as I hate continuous noises.  In fact we bought another fan, a lovely tower one, so that we have that one in the bedroom and the other one in the lounge.

Yesterday was my usual crafternoon and evening whilst hubby was out on powerboat rescue. I had the tower fan in my craftroom on full speed and somehow I managed to make 6 cards. None of them were stamped and coloured though which does make them quicker to make. Plenty of water to drink and lots of running my wrists under the cold tap.

This is one from the other set of toppers free with this month's Making Cards magazine. The cute paper is also from the mag. I added some lace, silver ribbon and a doily. The sentiment is an old one from Little Claire which I coloured. That was the extent of my colouring yesterday. Hopefully I will get some colouring done soon.

Challenges

As you like it Favourite ribbons or buttons (I do love using buttons but ribbons are my favourite. They really enhance a card and I use them a lot on plaques too. There are so many colours and patterns to choose from.) 

Simon Says anything goes

Snowman falling

I couldn't resist buying this new Woodware stamp at Doncaster and it didn't take long for me to stamp him up and colour him with Copics. The paper is Bo Bunny Altitude. I coloured the sky with chalks and used a MFT cloud stencil.  The dies used are Lawn Fawn forest border and let it snow and MFT layered snowflakes with blue glitter card. I also added some glitter to fun flock for the snow on his hat and umbrella.

Challenges

Simon Says use a die

Italy

These are the first two cards I have made with the free papers and toppers with this month's Making Cards magazine. I really love the art deco style of these ad plan to make some more. I won't bore you with seperate posts of each one though which is why I have posted both these together.  They really don't need much embellishing, keeping to the clean style.  For this one I added an art deco sentiment from an old Docrafts pack and some white flowers from Hobbycraft.

On this one I simply added some enamel dots. I think they create simple but effective cards.

Challenges

Crafteezee Summer

More Christmas animals

When I start using my Card-io stamps I nearly always make at least two cards and this one is very different to the one I blogged last Friday.  I used to stamp direct to the card blank but I am actually preferring this style stamped onto white card then matted onto coloured card.

I used my MFT hill stencil again and first inked a sky and sunset using a dry wet wipe and various small ink pads.  I then keep the stencil in place and ink the trees usually twice so that some are lighter appearing to be further back. I then stamp the sentiment and animals. The bird is from the other new stamp set I bought and the sentiment from the new set.  I used silver glitter acrylic paint again for a little sparkle on the snow.

Let's play golf

Time for a new challenge at A Gem of a Challenge and it is Summertime/Holiday. I went for something a litle different from my usual cute Pink Gem image and chose an older stamp. The papers are First Edition Grand Plans. I used MFT sun and stitched border dies. I added some card candi and a golf tee charm.

We went out with friends for a carvery last night and a catch up after our holiday.  This morning we are hoping to get some gardening done. I hope it isn't going to be too hot this weekend. 

Challenges

Simon Says use a die

Starstruck

I couldn't resist buying a couple more Card-io stamp sets at Doncaster last weekend. These stamps are from the Starstruck set. Although they are designed as a Christmas set coming with a star and a deer I would use some of the animals for other occasions. I used a MFT stencil for my hill, colouring the sky using a dry wet wipe and a blue ink pad. I added some little snow dots and crooses with a white gel pen. I then stamped the animals and sentiment. Now I actually bought the sentiment stamps from someone on Facebook. She had never used them and I was lucky to spot them as I almost bought them at Doncaster and as she was selling them cheaper I couldn't resist.   I added a little silver glitter acrylic pain to the snow.

One of the things I love with crafting is that when something doesn't work out there is often a way round it. I stamped the star with white ink and it hardly showed so I stamped over it with Versamark and heat embossed it gold. I still wasn't happy so I used the same shaped star in a Memory Box die with gold glitter card and added it on top. 

Challenges

Simon Says use a die

Watering the flowers

I was commissioned to make a fairy card for Crafts Beautiful and chose one of the latest LOTV images. We have been watering the garden every day as it is so long since we had any rain. Some days have been far too hot for my liking.

So onto my card. She has been coloured with Copics and I added some little pearls. The papers are LOTV digi ones, lace from Crafty Ribbons. The sentiment stamp is LOTV and the flowers were diecut with a Memory Box die. I cut the flowers in white and coloured them with Copics, adding them to the green diecut stems.  The butterfly die is from Joy.

Challenges

Crafteezee Summer 

Stamping Sensations In my garden

Crafty Calendar totally girly 

Dies R Us Birthdays
Simon Says use a die

More new gifts

As my fairy doors are so popular when I spotted these new fairy house money boxes to decorate I thought I would buy 4 to try.

The base was coloured with Rustoleum chalk paints and I then used various makes of sparkle pen and Zig Woodcraft pens. I wish you could see the sparkle on them which really shows up at night under the lights. 

I bought the wooden fairies at Doncaster from Dreamees and coloured the wings with sparkle pens and added them to the roofs. I knew I wanted to have flowers and leaves climbing up the front and remembered I had the leaf ribbon from Crafty Ribbons and I added some of my favourite flowers from Wild Orchid.

Challenges

Crafteezee Summer 

Allsorts flowers all over

Bringing presents

Another of the new LOTV stamps today, coloured with Copics of course.  I do enjoy the challenge of making a cas card sometimes. The banners were made frm paper scraps using the MFT pierced banner dies. The sentiment is one of the new LOTV ones. I threaded a wooden heart button with baker's twine, something that was everywhere a few years ago but a lot of people don't use it so much now. I love it and have lots of different colours, as you do when you discover something.

Challenges

ABC Christmas O is for on (bird on the presents)

As you like it favourite celebration (Christmas is definitely mine. I love making Christmas cards and love everything about Christmas, the tree, decorations, Christmas movies and TV specials and the joy of the whole celebration.)

More fairy doors

I know you may have seen some of these on my blog before but these were some of the latest ones I have made. They always come out differently as it depends what I find to embellish them with. The coral is a new colour and both these sold so more to be made. I found the wooden fairies on Ebay and used a Spectrum Noir clear sparkle pen for the wings. The toadstools are also from Ebay and I used Copic sparkle pens on those. I bought the little signs at a show some time ago and wrote various things on them. The wooden wreaths are from Hobbycraft and flowers from Wild Orchid.

I would like to enter these into the flowers all over challenge at Allsorts.

Crafting Live!

We have been away in Yorkshire since Monday, staying in a cottage just outside Skipton.  We had a lovely time, though neither of us like the heat so it was a bit too hot at times. Thankfully we were staying in a converted barn which was pretty cool. We love Yorkshire, fabulous scenery, love the hills, so unlike Norfolk. I will start catching up on some blog commenting as soon as I can.  Last night we were at a Premier Inn in Doncaster as today I am off to Crafting Live at Doncaster Racecourse. I haven;t been her for a couple of years so am really looking forward to it as it is a big show. The plan is for hubby to come in with me as I got 2 free tickets and we will have a coffee and I will quickly get some of the things on my need list like coloured card.  He is then planning to go to an aircraft museum nearby whilst I browse, chat and see what else I fancy buying.

Hello ladybird

I couldn't resist buying a few digis from Lee Holland's Etsy shop as he has a half price sale on until 15th. I bought a set of 3 hedgehog stamps and this is the first one I have used.  I have used Copics and chalk for the sky.  The papers are Bo Bunny. I diecut the mushroom border from kraft card and coloured with Copics and a white gel pen.  The dies are MFT stitched domes, CC designs mushroom border and Memory Box aboscello tree.  The sentiment is LOTV.

Challenges

Stamping Sensations In my garden 

Dies R Us anything goes (Memory Box die)

Bunny stocking

Sharing another of the samples I made for the LOTV launch shows on Hochanda. The image has been coloured with Copics and fussy cut. The papers are Bo Bunny Altitude. Dies used are Go Kreate frilly squares 10 and MFT pierced banners.  The sentiment is one of the new swirly ones. The flowers are from Wild Orchid and I used a Woodware punch for the leaves.  The wooden heart was coloured with a Spectrum Noir moonstone sparkle pen.  I bought a few of these after reviews on FB that they are better than Wink of Stella pens and I am impressed with them as they are very sparkly.

Frozen!

Well one thing we haven't been lately is frozen. Some days have been lovely, others far too hot for me. I took these photos at Disney Springs in Orlando a couple of years ago and wanted to create a Frozen scrapbook page. We went to the sing a long show at Hollywood Studios which was great fun. The audience sang their hearts out to Let It Go, all except poor hubby who had a sore throat. 

I rarely buy scrapbook sets but I loved this one from My Paper Studios which I bought in America. The ribbon is from Crafty Ribbons, everything else is from the kit, apart from the journalling.

I would like to enter this into the O is for On challenge at ABC Christmas. They are on the ice and Olaf is on top of lots of Olafs.

Hippo Birthday

I love both rubber and digi stamps. One of the big advantages of digis is being able to resize them which I have done here. These are two of the new DSB stamps designed for LOTV and they will be available from LOTV from tomorrow.  As soon as I saw them I knew they would go perfectly together so I reduced them, merged them and added the sentiment which comes with them.

They have been coloured with Copics. I used a MFT stencil and chalk for the sky. The papers are MFT tiny check brights. I used a MFT wonky stitched rectangle, Joy banner and Die-Versions celebrate banner dies.

I would like to enter this into the anything goes challenge at Dies R Us (Die-versions die).

Little Mermaid brings exciting news

I have a new digi to share with you today from Digistamp Boutique. She is one of three new mermaids designed for tomorrow's launch of DSB at Lili of the Valley. I was delighted when I saw that LOTV were taking on DSB. Sally-Ann who owns DSB wants to concentrate on designing and leave the business side to others and the images fit very well with LOTV. I coloured her with Copics and used a Wink of Stella clear brush pen on her tail to add some sparkle. Now here I had a lucky accident as a large blob of sparkle landed on the tail so I quickly swished it over and got a better sparkle than I expected.  The sentiment is part of the set.  I wanted to keep it simple so coloured the bubbles with a Spectrum Noir moonstone sparkle pen and added some sparkly enamel dots I bought in The Works just the other day, a lucky find.  The backing paper is First Edition Beyond The Shore.

I have a day alone today as hubby is out on powerboat rescue all day. Lots of crafting to get done today and a few odd jobs no doubt.  Poldark tonight, hope it isn't as sad as last week's episode.

Barclay with star

Another simple Christmas card from me today. This one is for our challenge at A Gem of a Challenge where I have the pleasure of hosting and I have chosen the theme of teddy bears.  I decided to use the precoloured Barclay with Star and teamed him with some gorgeous paper which needed very little embellishing. It is Kaisercraft silver bells and I hope you can see how shiny the snowflakes are. I added fun flock to his hat and layered some MFT snowflakes cut from silver glitter card. The sentiment comes from the paper pack.

Christmas love

If you watched the second LOTV Hochanda show you will have seen this card on there. I really love the simplicity of this design. Coloured with Copics with a little gold pen on the reindeer's outfit.  I simply diecut one of the new swirly sentiments and added some hearts from Hobbycraft.

Challenges

ABC Christmas O is for On 

Simon Says red and white 

The Paper Shelter celebrate! 

As you like it favourite celebration (no prizes for knowing mine is Christmas. I love making all cards but Christmas cards are definitely my favourite to make and I make them all year round.)

Welcome to my new followers. Thank you so much for following me. I hope you will come back often and leave me some comments. I always appreciate knowing people have visited.

Chores and gardening this morning then off to the coast for a walk, meal and a 60's concert.

In the garden

I haven't had much time for crafting recently with so many craft fairs and samples to make for the LOTV launch. So I made a quick card which looks like it took much longer than it actually did. Now you are probably thinking I stamped all the different elements on this card but in fact it is a beautiful new digi from Digistamp Boutique. All I did was add the sentiment in the top corner. The set includes the sentiments and images in different colours.  I used a black card blank and simply added some Joy diecut foliage and a Memory Box diecut dragonfly to which I added some sparkle with a clear Wink of Stella pen.

I would like to enter the in my garden challenge at Stamping Sensations and anything goes using a die company we stock at Dies R Us (Memory Box)

Beetlejuice

Last Thursday when I had my usual crafternoon and evening as hubby was out volunteering on rescue at the powerboat club I decided to create a couple of scrapbook layouts. I started the year well but haven't made any for ages. I have almost finished my large theme park scrapbook so I am planning to concentrate on getting that one finished.

This was taken at Universal Studios, Orlando outside the Beetlejuice show. He was posing for photos with some of his dancers and Graham decided to have his photo taken with them. I found the backing paper in my stash. The title letters are American Thickers. I wanted to keep the layout simple so added some chevron washi tape and some stickers from my scrapbook stash. The diamonds were made with a Tim Holtz die and I was going to throw away the waste ones when I thought they looked good around the picture.

Off to meet my Mum for lunch in the city today and Graham has an osteopath appointment. He doesn't have any particular pain at the moment thank goodness, this is for a three month check sonce he went for a back problem.

Present for the robin

Yes, another sample I made for the LOTV TV launch yesterday.  I have scheduled this post si I don't know if any of my cards were shown, I hope so. As well as the gorgeous new images they are also relaunching a few of the older images and this lovely young lady is one of them. I coloured her with Copics and paper pieced her outfit adding some shading with Copics. 

I also used fun flock on her dress and hat. The papers are Bo Bunny. I used a Doohickey fence and Marianne birds dies and some new Impression Obsession birdhouse dies I bought in The Craft Barn sale.  I have various birdhouses but always wanted this set which also has another different shaped die and 50% off was too good an offer to miss.  I distressed the edges ad added some silver acrylic paint to the snow and fence. The sentiment is another of the new ones which were part of the launch.  I will be entering this into the anything goes challenge at Simon Says.

Time to get some chores done this morning and out for coffee with friends this afternoon.

Launch Day

It's launch day for the new LOTV Christmas stamps in both rubber and digi. They will be on Hochanda at 11am and 3pm. They have the exclusive to them for two weeks and then they will be available to buy from LOTV. The rubber stamps may not last too long though.

This little cutie is one of a few new angel images. I went for a distressed look, creating an aperture with a MFT die. She has been coloured with Copics with sparkle on her wings of course. The paper is a new one from Hobbycraft. I added some cheesecloth and lace from Crafty Ribbons.  I punched the stars from Core-dinations and sanded them back.  The sentiments I have been using are all new as well as part of the launch.

I shall miss the shows as I am selling at the hospital shop today but I have the recorder set so I can watch when I get home.

I would like to enter the anything goes challenge at Simon Says.

3rd sneak peek

Are you enjoying the samples the LOTV DT are showing you on their blogs and Facebook? I made a gift bag using this cute teddy bear image.

I coloured the stamp with Copics. The paper is a LOTV digi one, lace from stash, ribbon from Crafty Ribbons. The holly die is a memory Box one which I cut in two.  I am entering the anything goes challenge at Simon Says.

I have my recorder set for the two shows on Hochanda tomorrow at 11am and 3pm as I am out all day selling at the hospital shop which I shall be setting up this morning. Time for a rest from craft fairs for a while then.