Oodles of Blooms & A FABULOUS Gorgeous Giveaway :)

 

Hi there sweet peeps and hope you are all OK today.

It's that time of the week when we nip over and check out what's happening at Papertake Weekly and this week we are

Hot Hot Hot

Now you can have this as a colour challenge if you want to  ie use warm colours such as red, orange, yellow, hot pink etc or you may have a different interpretation!!

There's a £10 voucher up for grabs from our very own Mary & Andrea over at

The Ribbon Girl

so do nip and check it out of you get a sec :)
We also have another GDT call out so if you'd like to join  us for 3 months, check it all out over at the challenge.

So .....

... this is what I did.

I used one of the new Set 64 - Quotables - Life's Journey and just added a bucketful of beautiful bloomage. And if you've come here from the challenge blog, your eyes aren't deceiving you because I changed the fuzzy bit on the edit here.

I liked it better in white!!

I have to tell you as well that IRL there isn't a grey blob on the card - for some reason it has just appeared when I was editing.
All very weird if you ask me!!!

 

The butterfly was made from LOTV Set 66 - Grunge Elements - I chopped off it's bits and replaced them with some hot pink wire - poor old butterfly :) I must be in chopping off mode today cos I have just had all my hair chopped off as well. I went from medium length to rather short in under an hour. I LOVE it and it's much cooler!!

The blooms are from The Ribbon Girl and include -

Mixed Dahlia Raspberry Delight

Floribunda Roses Raspberry Ripple

Rolled Paper Roses Ruby Red Kort & Godt

Carnation Deep Pink

Beaded Berries Pink/Pale PinkStarburst Stamen Pink

I also added a few pink pearls on wire that were in my stash and  a few leaves made from a  Martha Stewart FROND LEAF Craft Punch.

 

 

I ran a Copic over some 75cm Ivory Jute  -it works so well and you can coordinate it to match your card.

And I .....

 

.... made a fish tail from some 25mm Shocking Pink No 72 Berisford Satin

 

So that's the old card done me darlins and now for my monthly gorgeous giveaway which is as always sponsored by the sweeties that are Mary & Andrea.

  And check out  what’s up for grabs peeps ....

... so if you want to get your mitts on this, then all you have to do is leave your name with old Inlinz andI'll announce the winner next  Tuesday.

Can I also say thank you before I go to those lovely peeps who have come over to the Bloglovin thing as well. Thank you for staying with me chicksies  - I so appreciate it and I will have some followers candy very shortly for you.

Right I'm off to do some work.

Have the best day and I'll see you tomorrow for a transatlantic jaunt across the water.

Huggiest of hugs to all xxx

I Want One Of These :)

 

Hi peeps and hope you are all OK today xxx.

It's that time of the week when we catch up with our friends in the US of A over at the Simon Says Stamp challenge and this week our theme is

Travel

This week the DT are showcasing Basic Grey products.
You don't have to use them of course, but if you have them we would love to see them  :-)

And as always, our lovely Heidi is giving away a fabulous …

… for one lucky winner to spend …

… right here :)

THANK YOU Heidi & Simon Says Stamp xxx

So what did I do then?

 

Well, for what seems like aaaaaaaaaaages now, I got out the old Copics and gave this sweet little Penny Black  ABOUT TOWN Mimi stamp a splash of colour.

And the paper I used is BasicGrey WHAT'S UP 6 x 6 Cardstock Paper Pack.

I've sort of gone back to my clean and simple roots with this one  It's the way I used to make them years ago before I got tempted by all the lovely blooms and embellies etc.

Funnily enough, I was a bit richer then.
Do you think there's a correlation here peeps lol!!!

It does seem a while since I did any colouring so I really enjoyed this and these are the pens I used -

Skin - E000, E00, E11, E21, R00, R02
Hair - E31, E35, E39, E85
The rest - E31, E35, E39, E85, G000, G00, G21, Y15, Y38, YR04, YR07, YR68

And I thought I'd give her a nice hippy type car so I did a bit of paper piecing.

I soooooo want a car  like that :)

 

The stars were cut using a set of  Wplus9 CLEAR CUT STACKERS: STARS Designer Dies.
I found the button at the bottom of my button stash and added a bit of twine, like you do!!!

 

 

So that's my card and thanks for stopping by today.

Can I just ask anybody out there if they have had any issues with their Grand Calibre machine? Mine has started to ooze oil and grease and it's gone all over the plates and over my work. I now have to sandwich anything I want to cut in between 2 pieces of thin paper to protect it or it just gets covered. I know my machine gets loads of use - probably well above average - but I'm surprised that this has started to happen and don't know why. Anybody got any clues or know of somebody I can contact re this please. I use it so much that I cannot manage without it really. Thanks me darlins xxx  

Right I'm off.  Have the best day and see you soon as soon.

Huggiest of hugs to all xxx

 

We're Back To Normal :)

 

Hi there sweet peeps and hope you are all OK today.

It's a bit damp and overcast this morning but we can't moan seeing as we have had a run of over a week of sunshine here, woohoooo!!
Maybe it will come back?

Who knows!!!

Firstly, thank you so much to everyone who visited yesterday for the hop.

If you haven't entered, you have until 6pm tonight (UK time) and the winner will be announced later over at the Ideas To Inspire blog.  And thank you for all of your sweet comments, plus one rather strange one  - quelle dommage, you can't please 'em all lol!! It WAS something very different and I think it's good to take yourself out of your comfort zone occasionally. You may not get it right every time but it's good to try :)

So back in the aforementioned comfort zone today cos it's time to head on over to Papertake Weekly where we have a bit of a male thing going on. This week, our theme is

Hello Boys

and we just want to see your Father's day / male cards - simples :)
We have lots of lovely DT cardage plus 2 fab prizes and sponsors so if you get a sec, nip on over and check it all out.

So ....

 

.. this is what I did.

It's actually the card we did at the June  Lili of The Valley workshop and here's what I used to make it -

From LOTV -

Image – Vegetable Patch from Art Pad 1 – Vintage Boys

Sentiment – Sent With Love x from Sentiments To Fit Scroll set

Papers – Country Gent 8x8 paper pad

Dies -

Memory Box Grasslands Border Die (negative used)

Joy! Craft Dies - Clouds 3

Magnolia Lovely Fence Die

Apart from the Magnolia die, the others are available from the LOTV shop.

 

 

 

I decided that I liked the negative of the die cut better as it was a bit chunkier and looked more like a hedge.
I love it when you can use both parts of the die cut :)

I bevelled the fence using some foam pads - it may be a bugger to post but I like the way it looks and you could always box up the card.
It would make it more special then :)

 

 

LOVING these little clouds - they are soooo sweet and quite trendy at the mo.

 

 

These sentiments are for life and not just for the scroll set!!!

 

I made the little brown dots from card punched out with a tiny hole punch.

 

So that's the old card done and if you want to enter the blog hop from yesterday (and if you haven't please do have a go cos there is a whopper of a prize up for grabs), then you can check it all out here sweet peeps.

Right I'm off - I have a busy busy day ahead of me and I need to get a wriggle on or it will be lunch time before I know it and half the day will have gone!!

Enjoy your day and huggiest of hugs to all xxx

Oooh La La, We're Having A Blog Hop :)

 

Good morning everyone and thanks for stopping by!

Today we are holding a Lili of the Valley design team blog hop to celebrate the launch of their gorgeous Pretty Vintage stamps

There are 26 new clear stamp sets and it’s a fabulous mix of backgrounds, sentiments, quotes, tags and more...

They keep up perfectly with the current trend for all things vintage and grungy whilst still retaining a bit of the feminine charm that you’ve come to expect from Lili of the Valley!

The stamps will be available to buy on the website from midnight (12am) on Wednesday 12^th June (UK time)

***

The LOTV design team are all joining in and you may have noticed a new name on the list.
We’re all thrilled to welcome our new teamie   ...it’s the very fabulous Mary J!

***

You just need to ‘hop’ from one blog to another following the links and leave a comment on each card. We know that these stamps are a little bit different so hopefully we can give you lots of ideas and inspiration along the way for using the new images.

There is an amazing prize up for grabs on this hop, we don’t know where it is hidden so do make sure you that you visit and comment on every blog

The prize is a full set of the Pretty Vintage stamps...

... that’s 26 A5 sheets, one each of all the new designs, and it’s worth a massive £325

We will let you know tomorrow evening which was the ‘lucky’ blog and a winner will be drawn at random from all the comments that were left on that blog :)

Here's a list of all the blogs taking part, and remember that you will need to visit them all and leave a comment on each one to have the best chance of winning, because we don’t know where the prize is hidden.

Ideas to Inspire 
Anne
  Dawny
Dena
Elise
Fleur
Gretha 
Jen 
Lou 
Mary 
Mindy 
Moni

So what did I do?

      

Well I did something totally and utterly and completely different for me, that's what :)

For a start, I deviated from my usual 6x6 square card base, and I also just kept to black cardstock. And I've been faffing with the editing as well and I added a darker edged misty thingie (I'm sure there's a technical terms for it - maybe vignetting?). I will have to find out but till then sorry peeps, it will have to be darker edged misty thingie!!!

I used one of the Vintage Backgrounds Prints stamps to create the main panel and rather than stamping with ink, I used copper gilding flakes.  I've never used these before and they do give a lovely shine which wouldn't work for all stamps etc but for these I think it's fine.

I think this set stamps is so useful to have in your stash as it works for both male and female cards. In fact, there's quite a bit in this release that works like that - marvellous!!!.

For the rolled flowers I stamped another panel and gilded it in the same way then just cut out 3 circles. As these panels are a fab size, you can easily get 3 or 4 circles from each one. 

This lovely sentiment is from Set 58 Pretty Grungy - Good Times.
Can you guess what I did with it lol!!!

As it had a bit of a French feel to it, I added a feather which I had in my stash for an extra bit of ooooh la la. It just wouldn't behave itself for the pictures and kept wafting all over the place.

Silly feather!!!!

So that's the old card done and now it's back to the hop.

Don’t forget to stop by the Ideas to Inspire blog tomorrow evening when you can find out who the lucky winner is of this fantastic prize

Enjoy the hop…    and good luck!

Huggiest of hugs to all xxx

A Muzzy For Simon :)

Hi peeps and hope you are all OK today xxx.

It's that time of the week when we catch up with our friends in the US of A over at the Simon Says Stamp challenge and this week our theme is

Masculine / Father's Day

This week, the DT are showcasing Tim Holtz products.
You don't have to use them of course, but if you have them we would love to see them  :-)

And as always, our lovely Heidi is giving away a fabulous …

… for one lucky winner to spend …

… right here :)

THANK YOU Heidi & Simon Says Stamp xxx

So what did I do then?

Well I did this cheeky card here.

I kept it very simple (well, it is for a bloke after all lol!!). The die cut in the centre was made using a Tim Holtz Sizzix Die BAROQUE Movers & Shapers Alterations Die.

I like the shape of it and it is a really good size.

And the papers are Echo Park 6 x 6 Paper Pad For The Record 2 - nice :)

A bit of trendy here, courtesy of Memory Box Moustache Set Craft Dies

 

I printed the sentiment onto Safmat. IRL you cannot see it but the camera here has picked up the film.

  

So that's the old card and it's me done for today.

I'll see you soon as soon and I'm off now to a pottery class - I had so much fun last time that I wanted to do it again. I'll show a pic next time of  what I made a few weeks ago :)

Enjoy your evening and huggiest of hugs to all xxx

What's Pink & A Bit Distressed? Clue? Well It Isn't Me!!!!

Hi there peeps and hope you are all enjoying the sunshine today.

Blimey, it's beginning feel a bit like summer here. However, and I don't want to be the party pooper,  I heard that tomorrow we are back to our usual rain / grey / damp etc.

Never mind, it was nice while it lasted.

It's time for our weekly dose of all things  Papertake-ie and this week we have our

Anything Goes

theme, with the optional extra to make a non square base card.

So that's what I did!! 

I went for a round base, or rather a scalloped round base which I made using me Grand Nesties ;)

And it's also another sneakie peekie from the brand new Lili of The Valley  Pretty Vintage release  - this is from set #62 - Friendship Quotes. Judging by the reaction to all the new stuff at the shop at the weekend, you are going to love these as much as we do, I'm sure :)

So no colouring - just a nice easy bit of stamping.

The papers are from a Lili of The Valley  8x8  Perfect Pair paper pad and I did a bit of inking, distressing and glittering.

And to highlight the lovely words, I made a little frame ..... 

 

.. and covered it with Stampendous - Frantage Embossing Enamel - Shabby Pink.

I got this from the Lili of The Valley shop at the weekend and if you want some, just give the shop a ring and they will be able to help you (it isn't on the website). Or if you are near the shop, you can pick some up there (there is a wide range of new stuff in now).

By the way, do you like the pink 'mist' around the card today?
I had to change it because the card got a bit lost in the usual white froth that I generally use.

 

A paper rosette courtesy of Sir Tim (well his die, not him personally!!) which I topped with a pretty Daisy Pale Pink Ribbon Girl daisy.

The Memory Box Lavish Branch die has been put to good use again ....

 

... as has the La La Land Heart Banner die and Spellbinders A2 curved border die.

I'm such a creature of habit.

 

So that's the card for today - hope you likee.

And if you do likee the new stuff and want to win yourself the complete set, check this out -

Between now and 11.59pm (UK time) on June 7th all orders over £15 will go into a draw to win a full set of the new Pretty Vintage stamps

The (very) lucky winner will get one of each of the 26 new A5 stamp sets   …this prize is worth a whopping £325 so make sure you get your orders placed to be in with a chance of winning.

All details can be found here.

And as it's the first Monday of the month, it's time for a brand new ....

LOTV challenge and you can check it all out right here.

I have to say the BIGGEST THANK you to the lovely ladies who came to the workshops at the Lili of The Valley shop on Saturday. We had 2 lovely groups and I hope that you enjoyed it as much as I did.

And Tracy did the afternoon workshop and of course, my little pal Bobby came to collect her with his dad and he brought me ....

.. this lovely pic that he coloured for me.

Bless his little heart - he is such a poppet. I stole a hug from him - not sure he enjoyed it though as he is too old for that kind of carry on.  And especially as he is now Sportsman of the Year for his footie team - yayyyy. He brought his trophy in to show me as well  - he made my day:)

I know I've said it before but every time I go into the shop, I am blown away by all the prettiness. The DT cards look stunning and I get so much inspiration in there. There's loads of new stuff in as well such as gorgeous embossing powders, gilding flakes, Pan Pastels and mica powders. I was spoiled for choice!!

And what a glorious day it was - the drive there in the sunshine was wonderful. I love going over the moors first thing when there isn't much traffic about. Maybe I'm a bit strange (hold that thought!!) but I really think they are beautiful in their barrenness.  My Granddad use to tell me when I was little that they found me up on Denbigh Moor so perhaps that's where it comes from!!

Then we had a barbeque on Sunday.

I got a text from Emma as I was leaving the shop to come home saying that Thea (one year old) had clearly said 'barbeque' and they took this to mean that she wanted one so would I be a good Granny and oblige her? Well I may look like a cabbage but I am not that green cos they lie like fish on a slab!!!! . But we had one anyway (I am such a soft touch) and his Lordship Dickie Mint did the cooking -  and a fine damn tooting  job he did  as well.

Verry delish :)

Right I better get going. Enjoy your day and see you tomorrow.

Huggiest of hugs to all xxx

Share Some Love & A Sneakie Peekie of a Different Kind:)

 

Hi there peeps and I hope that you are all OK today xxx

I just thought I'd share this with you today and ask if anybody would be interested in sharing some love and making a card for this little lady here .....

What a stunningly beautiful girl but this kid has been through the mill.
You can read all about her here and if you have a spare minute and would like to make her a card, I'm sure it would lift her spirits.

It just about kills you when you hear of what some kids go through and I  always feel a bit ashamed of myself for moaning about having a cold or a sore throat.

Thank you peeps xxx

Before I go, I thought I'd share a few pics with you. 
I've been putting the finishing touches to the wedding candle that we are going to be making on Saturday at one of the Lili of The Valley workshops and thought I'd do a little sneakie peekie of what we are going to be doing.

So what can I tell you about the candle then?

Well .....

 

... it's a bit bling.

And ....

 

... it's a bit frou frou.

And .....

... it's a bit lovey dovey hearty.

And it's sweet and very pretty I think ( I LOVE doing these candles).

I'm quite pleased with how it turned out and I will share the proper pic after the workshop. And if you are coming to the workshop at the weekend, I especially hope that you like these and that you are as looking forward to it as I am.

I've just got a little bit more prep to do and then it's time to get it all packed away. I leave that bit until the last  minute because it's sod's law that I will need the very first thing I packed away and which will be at the bottom of the box. So I leave it until Friday night now :)

And if you fancy having a go I THINK there may be a couple of spaces left but best check with Erica.

Right I better get back to it, plus I can smell a baked potato that has my name on it and I am so hungry today, I really am. I must be having one of me growth spurts lol!!!. I can always tell cos the jeans no longer fit me !!!

Enjoy your evening and huggiest of hugs to all xxx