I Didn't Run Off With Brad!!!!

 

Hi peeps and after a week where I was MIA, I'm back to almost normal (hahhaaaa!!!).

Between hackers, kids, work etc etc, last week was a bit of a haze. Once again I can only apologise if any of you were bombarded with spam sent from my hotmail account by a very unwelcome guest, and how dare these idiots do this!! I have hopefully put a stop to it now and even though I know it wasn’t my fault and just one of those things, I feel so bad that a lot of  my friends were pestered  in this way.

So time to nip over and see what has been happening with the Papertake Weekly gang. We have a brand new team member and a fab prize as we are sponsored by the lovely Heidi over at Simon Says Stamp

Our regulars will know that as this is the last challenge of the month, it’s sketchie time and this week …

… it's this bad boy here.

And this is what I did with it.

Once again I actually stuck to it but of course you don't have to, as long as you can still see it there in your work.

I was rummaging about for something Tilda-ish to use and I found this stamp but for the life of my I cannot remember what she is called and she wasn't in her original packet as I’d put her in a little poly bag, poor soul!! So if anybody knows her name could you tell me please (thank you xxx)

I did the Copics thing, natch, and I used these colours -

E000, E00, E11, E21, R11, R20 (skin), E41, E42, E50 (hair), E37, E43, E42, E50, RV0000, RV000, RV00, R85 (the rest)

and the papers are from Nitwits – the  Bumbleberry Cottage and Merry Christmouse collections

 

This delish pink gingham ribbon is 25mm Berisfords pink no 57 small check – one of my faves ever, and I added a little pale pink small polka dot button as well. And of course these are both from our Mary & Andrea at The Ribbon Girl 

The cute sentiment is from Pink Petticoat and is from the Tiny Tags download but I think it’s now been discontinued.

 

A little arrangement of Wild Orchid Crafts bloomage here with some  leaves made with a MS Martha Stewart Frond Leaf punch which I got from Simon Says Stamp

 

 

So that’s the card for today peeps.

I am slowly getting back to normal after my hectic weekend away in Oxford at the Copicific Retreat. We had the most fabulous  time, and we all enjoyed 2 whole days of wall to wall crafting (with eating and chatting in between of course lol!!) and no housework or cooking etc. And after my mad week last week, it was just what I needed and  I have to say that they were one of the nicest groups of ladies ever and it was an absolute  pleasure doing the classes with them :)

 

And here we all are :)

Check out Miss Portly Piggy at the front looking every inch the bloater and trying desperately to hold in the stomach and not doing a great job of it lol!!! From L-R the ladies on the back row are June, Beryl, Jenny, Wendy, Jo and Denyse and from L-R at the front are Diane, Moi, Joy Hazel and Yvonne.

I cannot wait for the next one :)

I got home at 8.45 pm on Sunday night and my Emma bless her had fed Richard and there was a yummy roast dinner waiting for me.  Dope here missed the turning for the toll on the M6  and ended up with all the wagons etc on the really busy part of it– it was horrendous.  

So I was very good and unpacked it all and put everything away and ready to start again. I then spent best part of yesterday train to sort out the mess that was my hotmail account. Thankfully it had been blocked as they were aware I had been hacked. A ‘nice’ man from Microsoft was going to sort it out for me ….. for £74 + vat. But I asked one of our IT guys and he did it for me for  free!!!! So I am up and running again and I will get around to reply to all the emails asap.

Right I better go and do some more bits and bobs. Have the fabbiest of days and see you tomoz.

Huggiest of hugs to all xxxx

 

Chasing Butterflies :)

Morning lovely  peeps and sorry about the unimaginative post title today - the old brain has turned to mush it would seem :(

But onwards and upwards as they say and it’s time to get transatlantic and head over to see what’s happening with the girlies at Simon Says Stamp Challenge. I say girlies but this week out GD is male – he is Alberto and is 15 and he does the most amazing work :)

This week our theme is

Use Dies Or Punches

so self explan really :)

As always there is a …..

 

… which you get to spend in the Simon Says Stamp Store

So, what did I do then???

I got a bit bright that’s what lol!!!

I really like zingy colours with lots of white on show – you may have noticed,  heeheee

I decided to do something a little bit different and I wanted it to look like she was chasing the butterflies so I punched a few out and attached them to strips of acetate which I hope you can just about see. Now if I did this again I would make the strips a little thinner perhaps. I also made a boo-boo I think re the number  of butterflies and would possibly add one more on the left hand side ….. but maybe I am just getting picky in me old age :(

Perhaps I should rename the blog Pink Picky – what do ya think lol!!

The base card was made using Spellbinders Grand Nesties and the image is Capture Each Moment Jolinne – it’s an MFT image (all the DT have used MFT products this week) and I coloured her with these Copics -

E000, E00, E21, R11 (skin), E50 (hair), BG0000, BG01, YG000, YG01, YG03 (the rest).

The shading here and there was done with polychromos pencils.

Isn't the paper pretty?

It’s from a My Mind's Eye 6 x 6 Life Of The Party Paper Pad. I also used it to make the butterflies and the rolled rose in the centre of the bloom as well.  The large bloom is from a Prima Craftable Flowers pack and I just coloured it to match with the Copics.

 

Quite right too :)

And you can just about see the good old  Tilda Lace Die and Hero Arts Gems trying to hide away there.

So there we are all done.

I was so glad to see that I am not the only one who objected to the shenanigans at Dale Farm peeps.  But enough ranting from me for one week I think!!!

Now it isn't often that I make a card and look at it when it’s done and really like it – you see, Miss Picky Knickers again!!! . But that actually  happened yesterday so I’ll leave you with a sneaky peek of it and show you  the the rest in the morning.

I’m off to Hobbycraft now (oh deep joy, not!!) as I am all but out of the lovely white card I use for my card bases. I am so fussy about it as it HAS to be brilliant white and they don't often have it in so I am expecting the worst. But you never know and I will remain cheerfully  optimistic.

But there could be tears if I can’t get any (and then I will go and try and get a life lol!!).

Before I go I must just tell you that we are almost out of spaces for the forthcoming Copicific Retreat on 22nd October. But there are one or two places still available so go on and treat yerselves to a a whole weekend of pure crafty bliss - the programme is awesome and class sizes are deliberately kept small to give the best possible value for money. So you will learn lots about these amazing pens and how to get the best out of the little blighters :).  

You can see all the deets on Wendy's webpage here

Enjoy your day peeps and see you tomoz.

Huggiest of hugs to all xxx

 

Sky Blue Pink & A Possible Lie - Ooops!!

Morning peeps and a very happy Friday one and all xxx

I did possibly lie yesterday about this being bright.

Not deliberately of course but when I looked at it again I thought it wasn't THAT in your face.  A bit plain perhaps and lots of white space which I like (as long as it is really white - I am a Daz girl for sure!!!)

So the colours that are there  are quite zingy but not enough to get the shades out!!

What do ya think?

Anyhoos it’s my card for this week’s Just Magnolia and hAnglar & sTanglar challenge which has been set by the sweetness that is our Pops and our theme is

Butterflies

This week we have 2 fab prizes to give away -

Quixotic Paperie have sponsored us with a £10 voucher to spend in store and the lovely Mary and Andrea over at The Ribbon Girl…

… have given us this fabulous kit to give away...

.. and very gorge it is too :)

So here’s the old card.

Tilda With Hawaii Flower which I got from  Simon Says Stamp was coloured with these Copic bad boys and helped along with some polychromos ….

E00, E21 (skin), E31. E41, E50 (hair), B0000, B000, B00, B05, B12, YG0000, YG01, YG03 (clothes etc).

I have had these papers for literally years (when I did that sale to help that girl out,  those of you who remember).  They are part of a scrap booking kit but I have no clue what they are or where they were  from (but probably QVC) .

But here’s a question for you ….

Who do you think spent ages looking for paper with butterflies on, found it in the very depths of her stash after rooting about for a couple of hours.... then covered it all up so you cannot see a single solitary butterfly on it?

Yes I think you know the answer to that one  (what a pillockess) !!!

The colour of this ribbon is stunning – truly it is.

I got it from the floristry warehouse that I go to and I have about 15cm of it left, cry cry.

Do you remember that saying ie sky blue pink with a finnie haddie border btw? I’m not sure if it is just a local expression but my folks used to say it a lot when we were kids.

I think it’s sky blue any way  but not sure about the pink bit and I wouldn't know what finnie haddie border looked like if it smacked me in the face with a kipper (and ironically I think it might have something to do with kippers lol!!)

The flutterby stickers are from the same kit and I just put them on acetate and then cut them out very badly!!!

And the little self adhesive pearls were the rejected ones that I got from Wild Orchid Crafts – you can see them here.  They are out of stock at the mo but do keep checking the website peeps cos they are just bargainous and you can colour them with your pens etc to match your colour theme. There is literally one or 2 that are either missing or damaged but the rest are perfect!!

    

So there you go for today and indeed for the week.

But before I go I have just got to share this with you.

A while ago now I did my Copics Certification course with Wendy from Stamps and Memories,  and she has asked me to join her and take some classes for the second of her popular Copicific Retreats at this fab hotel in Oxfordshire ….

I lifted this from the website and this is what Wendy says about it ….

Join us for our second COPICific Retreat at the gorgeous Milton Hill House Hotel near Abingdon in the lovely Oxfordshire countryside for a whole weekend of colouring. The classes are being taught by Wendy Kadzidlo - Copic Certifed Regional Instructor (only eight in the whole of Europe) and talented Dawny Phillips who is regularly featured in Cardmaking & Papercrafting magazine and has a very popular blog pinkpiggywiggy.blogspot.com 

(woohoo, that’s me !!)

The retreat starts 9:00am on Saturday 22th October 2011 and closes at 3:30 on Sunday 23th October 2011. During this time you will have the opportunity to attend various classes. Saturday night accommodation and meals throughout your stay are included. Day delegate rate is also available.

Download details of the retreat here.

Customers from our last retreat enjoyed it so much that most of them are returning again - hence spaces are limited. Previous comments included- Joy said " Thank you for all the planning, preparation and excellent execution that went to make last weekend such a success. May I wish you many happy returns!!"

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact Wendy on 01488 658728, or email wendy@stampsandmemories.co.uk

I am so looking forward to it :)

So if you want a whole weekend to yourself with no cooking,  cleaning, washing or ironing and just want to chill out with some lovely crafty peeps, have fun and learn some new stuff all at the same time, check it all out.

Enjoy your weekend and I’ll see you back here next week.

Take care and hugs to all xxx