Just Stopping By To Say ….

 

Hi peeps – just wanted to stop by to wish you all a very Merry Christmas. I hope that Santa brought you loads of nice things and that you are enjoying today.

Huggiest of hugs to all xxx

When Is A Tree Not A Tree????

 

Hi there sweet peeps and hope you are OK today xxx

it’s that time of the week when we head across the water and catch up with our friends over at the Simon Says Stamp Challenge and this week our theme is …

Merry Christmas

wooohooo, it’s nearly here!!!

This week we are showcasing the very wonderful SIMON SAYS STAMP EXCLUSIVES .  If you have them we would love to see them but it's not compulsory to use them if you want to join in :-)

As always, our lovely Heidi is giving away a fabulous …

… for one lucky winner to spend …

…right here (lucky girlie!!)

So ….

… this is what I did.

The title of the post today is when is a tree not a tree and the answer is when it’s a star!!!
It could even be a snowflake as well :)

I used this die here ….

.. which is a Simon Says Stamp MOD TREE Craft DIE and I just cut 6 out, chopped off a bit of the trunks, glued them together in pairs and arranged them to make a star (or snowflake) shape.

 

 

The centre is made from part of a Simon Says Stamp BELLA BLOOM Craft DIE.
I have to say that this is such a quick and easy card to make and put together and is perfect for posting because it is quite flat :)

 

 

 

It does have somebody’s name on it but I can’t say who!!!

Now if you want a treat, nip over and check out the challenge because the cardage is amazing. I mean,.it is always fab but I think today that the girls really have done justice to these wonderful dies and there are loads of ideas there for you to feat yer peepers on!!!

So that’s me done for today but I thought I’d leave you with another bit of Chrimbly hittage and this is another one of those that gets played whist I am doing the sprouts etc on 25th. And yes it is another one that will get me dancing around the kitchen!!

I am not really uncool, it’s just at Christmas when it all seems to go out of the window. The rest of the year I am well and truly down with the kids!!!!

Right enjoy the super talented Mike Oldfield and I’ll see you soon as soon.

Hugs to all xxx

At The Inks Again!!!!

Hi there sweet peeps and hope that you are all OK. It wont be long until the big day will it but I am still not organised – ohh dear!!!
Never mind – it will be alright on the night as they say.

So time to head on over to Papertake Weekly and catch up with the girlies and this week we have a rather nice theme for you called

Pick Of The Year

and all you need to do is choose your fave challenge form this last year and do another card.

Simples!!

We are sponsored today by our very own Mary & Andrea at The Ribbon Girl 

and there is a ….

 

… up for grabs :)

So …

.. this is what I did -  I went for Get Krafty from 21st Feb :)

The sweet image is Jingle Tilda which I got from Simon Says Stamp and I coloured her with Distress Inks. Sorry peeps but I think I threw away my list of the colours. I’ll have another look and will re-edit if I find it!!

The papers are from the FQB - Glad Tidings Collection from the fabulous Nitwits – I soooo love this collection.

Lots of goodies here from The Ribbon Girl -

 13mm Rusty Bells, Medium Red Berries,  25mm Red No 15 Small Check ribbon and natural button twine

So that's me old card done for today.

I’m in a mad dash so scuse the shortie because I have to catch the post office but before I go, how do you fancy winning this …..

‘

.. thought so – it’s pure gorge!!

Nip over to here and check it all out :)

See ya tomorrow and huggiest of hugs to all xxx

These Are A Few Of My Favourite Things :)

 

Morning peeps and it’s anther cold one here today, brrrr is is freezing again, literally!!!

So it’s that time of the week when we head across the water and catch up with our friends over at the Simon Says Stamp Challenge and this week our theme is …

What’s Your Favourite?

and all we want you to do is use your fave tools, stamp or products.

As always, our lovely Heidi is giving away a fabulous …

… for one lucky winner to spend …

…right here (lucky girlie!!)

So ….

  

.. this is what I did.

So I used some of my fave products here.

Of course, I do love love LOVE the old Magnolia stuff and the image is Tilda with Snow Heart  from the  Sweet Christmas Dreams 2011 collection.

I coloured it with the following Distress Inks -

Skin – Tattered Rose, Tea Dye
Hair – Scattered Straw, Frayed Burlap, Walnut Stain, Antique Linen
The rest – Barn Door, Fired Brick, Tumbled Glass, Broken China

Note to Dawny – you need to leave the image TO DRY before you add the glitter. It also needs to dry so that it WON’T SMUDGE!!!!!

Guess who is still in Copics mode then :(

The papers are Bazzill AVALON 6 x 6 Paper Multi-Pack – even though they are quite summery papers, there are designs in there that you can use now.

I did a bit of bending with a fence cut using  a Magnolia Lovely Fence Die.

Just something a bit different I thought!!!

 

And the old Martha Stewart ARCTIC SNOWFLAKE Craft Punch was put to good use again. This is my fave snowflake punch this year and I have used it lots (you probably noticed!!).  I layered them up this time for a bit more dimension.

Ohh and the border which you can just about see was made using a strip of lace punched with a  Martha Stewart Punch DOILY LACE TRIM Deep Edge Edger punch which I cut in half.

 

 

So that’s the old card done and before I go (I’m at it again lol) I have another Chrimbly vid to share.

Now all I will say about this one is that mentioning no names, when a certain somebody is sorting out the Christmas dinner whilst  the Now That’s What I Call Christmas CD is playing in and after they’ve been sniffing the cork on the sherry bottle,  this person cannot help herself but dance along to this. Well when I say dance, it’s more like bobbing up and down to the dabadaba dum dum dabadaba dum bits, singing at the top of her voice!!!

Unlike a puppy, Jona Lewie is not for life, he is actually just for Christmas (although occasionally you can always find him in the kitchen at parties!!).

And you want to see what happens when Shakin Stevens’  Green Door comes on.

Or maybe you don't actually - it isn’t pretty!!!

Enjoy and see you soon and huggiest of hugs to all xxx

All together now …..  dabadaba dum dum dabadaba dum  :)

 

Not Distressing At All - But Is It The End of The Copics?????)

 

 

   

Hi there peeps and hope you are all OK today.
It’s a chilly one here in Chester – it was minus 2 at 10am. It seems a little warmer now but it’s still ffffrrrrreeeezing!!

So what have we today then.

Well it’s Tuesday that that can only mean one thing - time to nip over to Papertake Weekly and catch up with the gang there.

This week we are very topical and our theme is …

Snow White

… so all you have to do is make a or project that is predominantly white or features snow on your card ie in the image or paper.

We are sponsored today by the sweetness that is our Katharina and

Whiff of Joy

and this week’s up for grabs prize is 

Awww, I love that image and thanks to Katharina and Whiff of Joy xxx

So what did I do then?

Well for a start I didn't use Copics to colour the image in!!!

When I was at the LOTV open day, I sat next to Fleur while we were demo-ing and she showed me how to use distress inks. Well all I can say is that I am hooked – thank you sweet Fleur xxx  The colours are amazing and I promptly went and got me a set!!!

Now as this is my first attempt,  I know that it isn’t perfect and I am still fathoming out the skin tones. I think I need to stop thinking in terms of Copics when I  am colouring in and maybe do things a little bit differently. But I do love using them and it takes me right back to where I started which was with water colours. I’ll try and remember to write the colours down next time as I cannot remember exactly which ones I used here – doh!!!.

The image is Delivering The Presents from Lili of The Valley and have you seen the sale on at the mo? You can see it all here -  there are loads of special offers :)

The papers are gorgeous and they are from the new Nitwits Heart of Christmas collection. I like this collection a lot because it’s quite girly but there are papers in there that you can use for boy cards as well.

The little snowflakes are made using a Martha Stewart ARCTIC SNOWFLAKE Craft Punch and the border was done with a Tim Holtz Sizzix Die SNOW FLURRIES On The Edge Winter Alterations die and both of these are from Simon Says Stamp.

Kath will be so proud of me for getting all Tim Holtzy here :)

The bow was made using 15mm Red No.15 Berisford Satin ribbon from Mary & Andrea over at The Ribbon Girl

So that’s the old card done and I will be back here tomorrow with some more cardage to share :)

But before I go (I’m like Columbo aren't I – just when you think you’ve  got shut of me I’m back with something else lol) I’ll leave you with another bit of festive tune age. This is the tune for the John Lewis ad and it is a fab song. You’ll either love or hate the vid because it isn’t to everybody’s taste but if you aren’t fussed on it, you can always shut your eyes and just listen to this amazing song.

Have the fabbiest of days and stay warm and toasty and huggiest of hugs to all xxx

Snow Is Falling …..

 

Hi there lovely peeps and hope you are all OK today xxx

Well it seems that snow is indeed failing … all over the UK but nothing here so far. However there is a lot of ice on the road and Rich had a near miss this morning. That will teach him for getting up and going to the gym at 8am won't it!!! I didn't realise that he knew there were 2 x  8 o'clocks in one day lol!! Unfortunately further up the road, another driver skidded right past him and crashed into a concrete wall. Nobody was hurt but the driver’s car isn't feeling too clever right now!! But as I always say, cars can be replaced, people can’t!!!

So it’s that time of the week when we head across the water and catch up with our friends over at the Simon Says Stamp Challenge and this week out theme is

Snowflakes

This week we are showcasing Glitter Ritz Products.  If you have them we would love to see them but it's not compulsory to use them if you want to join in :-)

As always, our lovely Heidi is giving away a fabulous …

… for one lucky winner to spend …

…right here (lucky girlie!!)

So ….

  

.. this is what I did.
A bit unusual perhaps but it’s nice to try something different I think.

I’ll put some piccies at the end of the post with links to the products I used and where you can get them over at the Simon Says Stamp store.

 

I layered up the snowflake die with a punched snowflake in the centre.

The glitter was added to the border by sticking on a strip of DST then removing the backing tape. When you add the glitter you get a nice straight line of it. You can do this several times to get a glittery stripy effect and you can use other colours as well.]

Easy peasy :)

 

So that’s  the old card and here’s the stuff I used.
The pics have links that will take you straight to the right place in the store.

Glitter Ritz WESTERN BLUE Opaque Microfine glitter

 

 

October Afternoon 8 x 8 HOLIDAY STYLE Paper Pad

 

 Memory Box BIANCA SNOWFLAKE Craft Die 98193

 

Martha Stewart ARCTIC SNOWFLAKE Craft Punch

 

Spellbinders Edgeabilities Classic Scallop E8-001

So that’s me done for today but before I go, just to say that if you get a sec, do nip over and check out the challenge. There is a real toe tapper of a vid on there which will have you singing your heads off (or maybe that’s just me!!). So I thought I’d leave you with a little vid of my fave ever ever ever Christmas song. I may share a few more before we get to the big day, you never know :)

It’s so poignant this vid because Kirsty is no longer with us. And to be fair, Shane hasn't been with us for years has he, bless him. I know he isn't much to look at and he has the worse dentist on the planet!!! But he writes such beautiful words,  and I can never hear this without getting a lump in my throat.

Even when I’m sober lol!!!

Enjoy and have the fabbiest of days.

Huggiest of hugs to all xxx

A Cute LOTV Candle :)

Morning lovely peeps and hop you are all OK today xxx

It’s that time of the week when we head over to the Papertake Weekly challenge and see what’s happening and this week our theme is

Anything Goes

We are sponsored by the lovely Lisa & Laila over at

Lili Of The Valley

And they have given us a …

.. to spend in the shop :)

As we usually do on Anything Goes weeks, we have an optional extra for those who want to use it and this week it’s to make a gift for Christmas. …

   

… so that is exactly what I did :)

This is the candle that I made at the last  Lili of The Valley Open Day and there is a tutorial over at the website if you want to have a go at making one yourself - they are ever so easy :)

The link to the tutorial is here peeps and there is a nice pic of me licking the back of the tissue paper – ever the lady!!  But it works a treat.  I think this is the first pic of me since I ditched the hair dye so I am as God intended me to be and the L’Oreal stuff will not longer darken my doorstep.

I am still worth it though lol!!

  The image I used here is

Milly Winter Window

Have the sharp eyed amongst you noticed my schoolboy error? Guess who forgot to colour her hair.

Doh!!!

I only just realised -  oh what a flamin’ dope.  Such an amateur lol!!!

However, the image in the tutorial  peeps has been coloured properly!!!

The base was made by gluing together 3 chipboard circles and then gluing another 2 dark green circles on the top and bottom of the chipboard ‘stack’. Then I stuck a Cheery Lynn  doily on the top, after inking the edges of course. I wrapped a length of  Cheery Lynn  Francesca Border around the bottom and then added a bit of ribbon.

This is the side.

The bits and bobs cover up the border and ribbon joins. The holly leaves are punched using a Super Duper  Holly Punch and the little sentiment is from Set 18 – Greetings Postmarks.

I love this set :)

I stamped it onto kraft card, punched it out and then stuck it onto one of ...

…Sir Tim’s Memo Pins which you can get from Janice at Sir Stampalot.

And in a bit closer!!!

Right that’s me done and if you get a sec do nip over for a mooch at the challenge and also the tutorial. If you make one of these do let me know cos I’d love to see what you do :)

Have the fabbiest of days sweet peeps and see you tomorrow.

Huggiest of hugs to all xxx