Blooming Lovely Lili

Good morning  peeps and a very happy Sunday to everybody.

It’s time for another fabulous Lovely Lili challenge over at The Ribbon Girl blog and our theme is

Add Flowers

A blooming lovely challenge methinks : )

We have 2 fab prizes as well.
There’s a

and a

so hugest of thanks to The Ribbon Girl & Lili of The Valley 

If you get a sec, nip over and check out the blog – there’s some pretty darn tootin’ fab cardage to be seen : )

So …

... this is what I did – it’s a little bit different in that I didn't use any image.
But the papers are Lili of The Valley and they are the Country Meadow design – lovely and clean and fresh aren't they.

I used some beautimous goodies from The Ribbon Girl shop and they are -

38mm Parrot Green Faux Silk ribbon,

 25mm 'Amber' White Flat Polyester Fan Pattern Lace,

7mm Pale Lime No 6 Satin Ribbon,

40mm White Mulberry Daisy,

Bubble Gum Pink Small Plain Button)

Here’s a couple more close up pics ….

I got me a Tim Holtz Word Play die a while back and this is it’s first airing.
It won’t be the last I’m sure because I LOVE it.

I did the glitter pad thing again – it’s so addictive!!!

 

 

And that's the old card done.

It’s a bit of a sad day for me today because it’s 11 years today since my beloved Mum died. I cannot believe it’s been 11 years – I wonder sometimes how I have managed without her, I really do. But of course we do manage because life does and must go on.  And life is all about balance I think. In amongst the sadness, there’s been some wonderful things that have happened in my life in those last 11 years, things that I would have loved to have shared with her. First and foremost my beautiful grandchildren whom she would have adored as much as I do. And the crafty stuff as well – she would have loved it all. 

But sadly it wasn't to be.

We are off to Emma’s for lunch shortly (yayy, no cooking for me today)  and I will raise a little toast not only to my Mum but to all the mums out there as well. We do a great job if I do say so myself lol!!

Enjoy your Sunday whatever you are up to and huggiest of hugs to all xxx

Making A Pig’s Ear Out Of A Silk Purse lol

Morning sweet peeps and I’ve been a bit AWOL of late but hope everybody is OK today : )

It’s time to head on over to see what’s happening with the Papertake Weekly girlies and talking of girlies we have a lovely theme for you this week, cos it’s all about

Lace & Pearls

We are sponsored by our Mary & Andrea from The Ribbon Girl and there’s a fab voucher up for grabs which you can spend on ever fabbier things if you win.

Now, me being me, I thought I’d try something different, but sometimes I really wish I wouldn’t.
I tried to do a card like our Kathy at LOTV does – I just love her work, it’s soooo gorgeous.  And I admire al these lovely, pretty shabby chic cards that I see and I long to make something like that.

But I can’t.

But still I had a go and ……..

.. this is what I did.

It’s more shabby than chic I’m afraid but I am a warts and all crafter so on here it must go.

The beautimous papers are from Lili of The Valley and they are the Timeless Victorian designs.

The sentiment is also from Lili of The Valley and this is one of the  Sentiments to Fit Scroll sentiment that I just LOVE.

 

The paper is made using Sir Tim’s Tattered Florals die set.
I do like making these flowers and I got me a jumbo Tattered Florals set as well but haven't used that one yet. I will do one of these days though : )

All the bits and bobs that I used are from The Ribbon Girl.

The bow is made from Sky Mauve Lilac Seam Binding and the buttons are 20g Bag - Mixed Lilac Purple Theme

 

This beautiful lace is 75mm 'Dawn' Antique White Lace.
Yes, that’s right, Mary named it after me. She names her lace etc after her DT and I was chuffed as mint balls when she told me about this one.

That's the lace bit and there are pearls of course ……

… which you can see better here. 

I added a strip of 20mm Ivory Lace and Pearl Trim just above the buttons. 
I also added a  14mm Acrylic Gem which I’d coloured to the centre of the flower.

Finally I added some flat backed gems and made a swirly pattern out of them.

So that’ me and my shabby chick card for today.
I realised that I’ve got cardage which I haven't blogged so I’ll be back soon as soon with that plus a special card on Thursday which I’m dying to tell you about … but I won’t until then lol.

So what’s been happening here then?

Well, I’m on yet another of me diets – good old Slimming World. 
Having seen myself looking a bit like a dumpy little barrel on C&C, I decided that the blubber has to go. They say that the camera adds 10lbs (or something like that) but I look the same in the mirror here  where there’s  not a  camera  in sight, so I am deluded to think that that ‘s the reason. And hugest of thanks btw to everybody who tuned in. We had a great show and Deano was so funny doing his demo. He is doing that a lot of late – maybe we should get them all to have a go, what do you think?  I’ve done loads with the new kits so I will try and share these makes with you. The more I used those kits, the more I found to do with them – they are awesome.

We are getting a load of ‘housey’ jobs sorted because we are probably going to move house – it’s wayyy too big for us now -  so we’ve been painting, gardening, tidying, binning stuff etc, like you do.  And it’s also been that time of the year when we have our baby chicks to look after. We only lost 2 this year which is good but still very sad. It is inevitable that some will not survive but it upsets me so much and I will never ever get immune to it.

Thea was 2 at the end of May and we had a lovely part for her which she enjoyed.
She got a bit embarrassed when we all sang Happy Birthday but in a pleased sort of way –she is sooo cute. She is doing the potty training thing at the mo and she keeps asking us all if we have pooed!!! It’s fine in the house but we get some funny looks when she says it outside!!

Right, that’s enough waffle from moi. I’ll get off and leave you in peace.

Have a great day, whatever you’re doing, and I’ll see you soon as soon.

Hugs to all xxx

Guess What I Forgot To Do???

 

Morning possums and hope you are all OK today.

And we have yet more glorious weather  :)

Wasn't the tennis just FABULOUS yesterday!!! Talk about glued to the chair, and that last 10 minutes was nail biting. But he did it and it's fair to say that it looks like the whole country was chuffed as chuffed.

He wasn't my favourite tennis player - quite the reverse if  I'm being honest - but I watched the documentary about him last week and I really warmed to him. So well done Andy Murray. I cannot imagine the pressure he must have been under, but he did so well and it looke pretty tough out there with the heat etc. A tennis court must be a very lonely place to be at times like that.

Anyway with all the excitement, I clean forgot to do me post yesterday so hugest of apols to Mary and Andrea.

So lets' head on over today and catch up with this month's  Ribbon Girl July Card Challenge  where this month we want you to

Add A Bow :)

As usual we are sponsored by our lovely friends Lili Of The Valley who will give our lucky winner a stamp of their choice from the LOTV catalogue and of course the Ribbon Girl who will give our winner a £10 voucher towards a spending spree in their online store

2 fab reasons for joining us I think :)

So ...

 

... this is what I did. I used another Tilda With Spitz Pockets from Special Moments Collection 2013  and I coloured her with these Copics -

Skin – E000, E00, E11, E13, R00, R02
Hair – E31, E35, E39, E50
Clothes –  R05, R14, R17, R27, R59, Y08, Y17, Y38,

The papers are Echo Park Sweet Day and I used  the following dies -

Cheery Lynn Francesca Border die
Tim Holtz Tattered Florals and Distressed Doily dies
Spellbinders Labels 22

 

LOVE this orange colour. 

It's 16mm orange and white saddlestitch ribbon, and I topped it with a bow made out of twine from a card of brown earth mix hemp twine and a red small polka dot spotty button.

 

I made the flower out of a Tattered Florals die cut then topped it with a flower out of a Mixed Dahlia Eastern Spice Flower pack, another punched flower and a punched stamen :)

And I mustn't  forget the 5mm red crystal self adhesive gems 

I quite like all the layering!!

 

 

So there we are, all done for today and I'll see you tomorrow with a bit more cardage :)

Enjoy the rest of your day and huggiest of hugs to all xxx

A Touch of Sir Tim :)

Hi sweet peeps and hope you are all OK today :)

It’s time to nip across the pond and join our friends over at the Simon Says Stamp challenge and this week our theme is

Anything Goes

We are showcasing  Tim Holtz products this week.
You don't have to use them of course , but if you have them we would love to see them.

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

… for one lucky winner to spend …

… right here :)

So ….

...this is what I did.

The papers are from a Bazzill LICORICE 6 x 6 Paper Multi-Pack (they have a lovely texture to them).

I made the flower using a Tim Holtz Sizzix Die TATTERED FLORALS Bigz Flower Alterations die and ....

   

... the fancy edge here was made the flower using a Tim Holtz Sizzix Die BRACKETS On The Edge Alterations die.

You cannot beat black and white :)

So that's the old card done and it's shortie cos I'm on a real flyer today because I have so much work I cannot see my desk :(

Have the fabbiest of days and huggiest of hugs to all xxx

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

Well I Never!!!!!

Hi lovely peeps and hope you are all OK today.

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 speaking of water, well there is quite a lot of it about in our village at the mo– more later!!!

So this week our challenge is ….

Anything Goes

so time to get creative and maybe try something different or maybe just to indulge and use your fave stuff :) 

The design team have created some awesome projects for your inspiration, and this week we are all featuring October Afternoon  products. Of course, you don't have to use them to join in but we would love to see them used if you have them :-)

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

… for one lucky winner to spend …

…right here.

So …..

.. this is what I did.

The papers are from the October Afternoon 8 x 8 HOLIDAY STYLE Paper Pad ….

.. this one here.

They are gorgeous and have a real olde worlde feel to them.

   

The image is of course sweet Tilda and is one of the latest Magnolia release. I coloured her with these Copics -

Skin – E0000, E000, E00, E11, E13, R00, R02

Hair – E31, E3, E34, E34, E39, E50

The rest – E31, E34, E35, G99, E50, R05, R17, R17, R59, Y00, Y11, Y21,  Y28, Y38, YG0000, YG00, YG03, YG23,

My fave holly die in the whole world :)

It’s the Tim Holtz Sizzix HOLLY BRANCH Die – I LOVE this die and use it lots at this time of year (thank you Lord Timmy xx). The berries are punched dots covered in Glossy Accents  and sprinkled with glitter.

Ohh yes, another fave!!

The good old swirl from the  Magnolia leaf and swirl die set. And the border is made from the Memory Box SANIBEL BORDER Craft DIE. I like this border because you can use the positive and negative cuts and they are both equally as fab.

  

So that’s the old card done.

And now for the watery bit as per the beginning of the post!!

Our village is flooded.

It is prone to a bit of flooding because we are on a high water table. But it has rained almost solidly since Sunday afternoon here and as a result, we have ……………

 

… a little mini river where the lane usually is!!! 

What these pics don’t show (cos I didn't have me wellies on and I wasn't risking a soaking by going any further) is that it continues around the bend to the right of the pic for about 150 years.

 

I’m not sure how deep it is but I reckon it’s at least a foot – maybe more at the edges.

I drove home though this last night and there was a cyclist on the pavement just around the corner.  There was nothing I could do and he got soaked from my car. I felt awful and just held my hands up to him and mouthed apologies but I didn't dare stop in case I got stuck. I bet he was cursing me all the way home. 

My poor Nicola came here last night and rang me from the other end of this lot because she was terrified to drive though it as she didn’t know how deep it was or if it would damage her car. She drove though it eventually after watching other cars and just tried to stay calm, bless her. But she went home a different way as she wasn't going through that lot again in the dark!!.

Late last night, the tractors etc were out pumping the water away but these pics were taken this morning so after they did that - it’s horrendous.

Thankfully we can get out because there is another way out of the village near to our house. And there is an old railway bridge between this lot and our house so unless it gets REALLY bad ie 20 feet or so which is  highly unlikely, the water won’t get too near to us.

You could be forgiven for thinking that this is a lake, but it’s actually one of the fields near here – totally under water.

This field is usually full of cows but they have been moved, natch - not enough wellies to go around!!!.

 

So that’s it for today.

I am going to brave the elements later on (what a hero!!) and go and get some stuff to make home made soup. I may even light the fire as well – assuming me nutty slack isn’t waterlogged!!! Not that it’s particularly cold, but it just makes us feel a bit better!!!

Then I’ll draw the curtains and I aint budging for the rest of the night!!

Hope you are all nice and warm and dry and I’ll see you soon as soon.

Huggiest of hugs to all xxx