Very Late - Naughty Piggy xxxx

Ohh it all went wrong yesterday!!!

And to top it all, I sat down after my dinner for 5 minutes before getting on the old puter to get this posted, and the next thing I knew, it was gone 10.30pm and Richard had just come in from work and was waking me up!! I cannot tell you how tired I was. So apols to Sharon and the rest of the team that this is on here late xxxx

And it's my last Willow Sketchie as well - sniff sniff!!

But we got here eventually, so if you could pretend that it's still Thursday, that would be fab xxx

So over at Willow Sketchie, this week it's the turn of the very lovely Heidi to do the honours,and a fab sketch it is too!! And we also want to introduce the cutest li'l download, Dear Santa.

This is my take on the sketch.

I'm afraid that I did not do a very good job with the old editing again!!

Included in the download is an image for you to colour and one that's already done for you, so the best of both worlds. I chose to colour mine with my beloved Pro Markers and Glamour Dust, and I also used some gems to give the snowflakes a bit of bling as well :)

The papers are a mixture of Willow Designs (pink spotty) and PP (the new Stripes collection), and I used my MS zig zag punch - I thought I'd give the doily punch a day off!!!

And there ya have it :)

As I said, this will be my last Willow Sketchie Challenge, as there is a new project I am trying to get sorted which I will hopefully reveal very VERY soon.

But I would like to thank Sharon and the girls for having me on the team and I'll keep following it and will join in as often as I can.

I hope you are all having a fab day. The heaven's have opened here and it we have some serious rain!!! The sky is as grey as I've ever seen it and I've even had to put the lights on in the house. Awful weather really.

Emma and Kyla are going back to Spain at the weekend for a week and I do wish I was going with them - even though I am a right old moaning Minnie when it is too hot lol :( Of course I will miss them loads, but it's only for a week.

We booked our tickets to take Miss Kyla to see The Wizard Of Oz at the Liverpool 'Phil' today so that will be a nice surprise for her birthday in January. She still loves it but we no longer have to sit through 10 showings every day!!!

I hope you are all having a fab day and I will be back tomorrow, cos I have the honour of being a GD for another fabulous challenge.

Wanna sneakie peekie ????

See ya tomorrow xxxxx

Bella Bella xx

I love that name - it was my Gran's name.

Can you think of anything nicer than being called 'beautiful' every day of your life girls. My gran was beautiful - she really was.

And this little fairly poppet is as well - coloured as always with my usual dynamic duo.

Bella is the latest download from Willow Designs and you can see her here.

She is our featured 'guest' this week over at the Willow Sketchie challenge and this week our sketch has been lovingly done for you by Deanne who is one of our new team members. I think she's done a fabulous job, and you can check it all out over at the challenge :).

And before I get on to me card, I have to say a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to fairy Sharon. I hope you got loads of prezzies chick and didn't work too hard. Oh and I hope you had an extra big piece of toast with ooodles of yummy marmalade on for yer breakkie:)

So this is my take on Deanne's sketch.

The papers are all Nitwits Happy-Go-Lucky collection - I'm having a run on them at the mo. It always helps when they are pink and pale green - so very delish!!! The MSBP is there again - just by way of a change, cos I am nothing if not predictable lol xx

I've been at the charms again. I used little pink pearls and pale green and clear Svarowski crystals and made a three stranded dangler lol xxx The blooms are Simon Says Stamp and that gorge crystal brad is Poppicrafts

And that's it.

I remembered to check for errant bits of tape cos I could not believe I'd done that yesterday!!

I am on a flyer again tonight cos Emma is cooking steak fajitas and my name is on a couple of them babies for sure. With oodles of soured cream and grated cheese on the top as well. How yummy!! Is it any wonder that I am a heifer? But at least my cholesterol is normal - God knows how though :(

I hope you all enjoy your din dins, what ever scrumminess you are having.

See ya soon and hugs to all xxx

Willow Sketchie & Spooky Pic xxx

And in that order lol xx

So, first things first -

This little poppet is Grace.

She is the star of this week's Willow Sketchie Challenge. You can see more of her here - she's sooo sweet!!!

So it was my turn to do the sketch this week and here it is -

The girlies have done some fabulous work with it so nip over and have a butchers :). And we have some new DT girls as well, so a big welcome to them xxxx

Hope you can join us as well - you can use any Willow products that you have :))xx

And this is my take on the sketch.

I did kind of like working with this one - sometimes they do just grab me, and this is one I will use again I'm sure. I coloured Grace with PMs but I also paper pieced her dress with some fabulous PP Little Fleurs stripey paper - I LOVE this collection.

The ribbon was from the US and the flowers, well they were part of my wonderful prize from Simon Says Stamp - they're gorgeous. And that beautiful jewel brad was from the very wonderful Poppicrafts. The double stranded charm was one of my creations - I added the second strand cos I wanted to use the butterfly to match the image.

The other paper I used is also PP and this is from the new Elegant Swirls collection. It's so pretty I think. And yes, that is a MSBP!! Oh yes, I have one again, so happy days lol xx There is more re the doily punch saga, but I am saving it for a later date :)

Et voila. Hope you likee xx

Now for the spooky pic.

On Tueday, the weather had been a bit weird here all day. About 9.30pm Richard was checking everywhere was locked etc and he shouted me to come out.

This is what we saw over the fields

Maybe I've been reading too much Stephen King, but it was really eerie.

You probably cannot see that well from this picture but the fog and mist was rising up really high off the fields. This was taken from upstairs but from ground level, it was quite a sight (and as I had my pjs on, so was I lol xx)

We live in a bit of a dip so it does get misty at times but I've never seen it like this.

Within half an hour of this picture being taken, you could not see the front of our garden. And then it just cleared - it was like it just vanished. It was verry strange.

Well have a fab day and I hope the weather is being nice to you. It was glorious here yesterday but it isn't quite as hot today. Thank God, cos it makes me wilt a bit.

And then I have to drink Pimms or G&T in order to revive lol xxx I think it's the mint in the Pimms and the lemon in the G&T that does it lol xxx It is such a ruddy hardship, I can tell you!!

Hugs xxxx

Winnie Willow xx

She's busy baking - and get a load of her fab eye shadow. Delia doesn't look like that when she's in the kitchen for sure :))x

As well as getting her as a download, she is now available as a stamp over at Willow Designs. And I thought I'd use her for this week's Willow Sketchie Challenge which is based on a fab sketch by Zoe
.

So here's my take on her sketch.

Winnie was coloured, as always, with my beloved PMs. The papers are a mixture of Tinker & Co and Mad About Cards and the ribbon was sent to me by my friend in the US of A xxx

I got the bees I think from when I did that craft sale, and also the vellum stickers which I used for the sentiment - they are just stuck onto squares of card.

Them there bees are so sweet. Oh and can you see the MSBP peeping out.

Not a lot of dimension here, but I'm still quite pleased with it.

Now if you fancy joining us on our creative journey over at Willow Sketchie, pop over and have a look cos Sharon is looking for another designer to join our fab team.

Well it's a short but sweet one tonight. I intended to get this posted ages ago but I worked till quite late, and then we had visitors and they have only just gone.

I will be back tomorrow with some more cardage and some very sad news peeps. Get your tissues ready cos it's gonna be a tear jerker (sniff sniff).

Till then, have a fab night xxxxx

Sweet Willow (and a teeny bit of a rant xxx)

Here's Willow, and she's practising her ballet moves.

She is the star of this week's Willow Sketchie Challenge and you can see her and her brother Woody here.

This week it is the turn of Katy to design the sketch and I have to say that I just loved this one. Don't forget to pop over and see what's what :)xx

It's all a bit predictable chicks!!

I coloured Miss Willow with PMs and gave her a fair old sprinkling of Glamour Dust. The papers are from the Wild Rose Studio Spring CD.

Now, as it is a Willow Sketchie, there is always a bit of a twist. So this week it is buttons, bows and brads.

The buttons you can see above - they are Poppicrafts faberoonies and I coloured some twine with my PMs and threaded it through.

The brads are Amercian Crafts which I got from Hobbycraft - more about them in a sec (boo hisss!!)

And bows - well it isn't strictly a bow, but a blind man on a galloping hoss would not notice, would he lol xxx This fab ribbon was in my parcel from my lovely pal in the US xxx I will so cry when it is all gone!!!

Of course, I used my new MSBP which you can get from Dies To Die For - I think Tracy is expecting some more some day quite soon. Nab one for yourselves peeps, cos they are FABULOUS!!! I dabbed a bit of bling on the scalloped edges cos I just couldn't help myself!!

And there ya go :)x

Now why the booo hiss for Hobbycraft (or Hobbycrap as my kids call it, and I am inclined to agree with them at this moment in time).

You see, I have been harbouring an urge to make some jewellery for a while now, so I went to get some stuff earlier today. I had a 'recipe' that told me what I needed to make a 'simple' bracelet and some earrings. Now, if you make jewellery already, you will no doubt know what a two hole spacer, a head pin and tiger tails are. Sadly I don't, and even less do I know what these things look like!!!!!

But anyway, we were not to be deterred and we trawled the bead aisles looking for these things. After 30 minutes or so (I am not exaggerating) we gave up and leaving Nicola still searching, I went to ask an assistant. I spoke to a lady who was on the till who told us that she was the only person in the shop who knew about jewellery but she could not come and help us as she was on the till. But she gave me a leaflet with pictures.

So back up I went and we tried again. But still we could not find these sodding items.

Back down I went.

Same girl still on the same till said she would get someone to cover her and come and help us - hurrayyyyyy!!! But she couldn’t get anyone - they were all busy (standing round gabbing about what they were having for their tea or the price of fish or whatever else they were blathering about - ohhh yer nasty moo, Dawny P).

At this point I was ever so slightly losing the will to live and thinking that possibly going to Next and getting the same sort of stuff I wanted to make from there at a fraction of the cost probably would be a better option.

But wait - help was at hand cos just then a Hobbycraft man appeared so we asked him. I kid you not, this poor sod stood there looking at me like I was speaking to him in Swahili - I knew how he felt cos it was all a bit Greek to me as well. Then he went sort of glazed. Then he stood there looking at these things hanging up with the blankest expression I have ever seen, for about 5 minutes.

I could stand it no more.

So, I thought, to hell with it, to hell with it all. I said to him as nicely as I could, even if it was through gritted teeth, that I would leave it. I have never ever seen such relief on someone’s face. We were in there for nearly an hour and what did we get? A Princess sticker book for Kyla - that was it!!! So I'll stick them on me ears and round me wrist then shall I!!!!!

I know how Basil Fawlty feels and probably to the rest of the shoppers in there I must have looked a bit like a mini version of him !!

Now call me old fashioned, but it is a craft shop - well, arts and crafts. Should there not be people in there who know about craft or is that too much to ask? I know I am a moaning old goat but that sort of crap service does my head in. Yes, the teeny tinylittle packets do have descriptions on them but you would need the eyesight of a hawk to be able to read it, and in all fairness, I am a bit like Mr Magoo, even with my contact lenses in (I've told you the Donald Pleasance story before!!!).

And breathe .......

So that was it peeps. I am off to trawl cyber space looking for these things. I feel at this moment in time that I would have more luck finding Lord Lucan, Shergar or the Holy Grail!!!!

But ya never know and I'll let ya know if I find them :)xx

Have a fab night xxxxx

Here's Winnie xxx

Here she is - she's Walter's girlie xxxx

Walter, if you remember, is the cute lil Willow owl boy.

Lots of you loved him (well, you couldn't not!!) and you wanted him to have a wifee or girlfriend, so Sharon waved her wand and weaved her magic, and here she is.

And she is called Winnie :))

She's the new Willow download and you can see more of her here.

We have used her for this weeks Willow Sketchie Challenge and this week it's my turn to do the honours, so this is my sketch ......

Of course, we have to have our little twist just to make it really interesting!!

So this week the twist is ....

Flippin Fab.

You have the option to either flip or twist one or more of the elements of the sketch or, in honour of Winnie, add something pink or girlie. You can do either one or both!! So it's easy peasy if you want it to be, or you could challenge yourself a little more if you are up for it!!

And here is my card.

I chose to turn mine sideways and instead of the text, I used a Poppicrafts flower or 2 - both pink and girlie I thought!!

The papers are Wild Rose Studio's Spring CD and one of Marieka's Black & White collection papers. I've had that downlaod for ages now and I've lost the link to Marieka but will try and find it.

I added a couple of bees to keep Winnie company and also some pearls cos they are girlie as well. I have had the bees for ages so I don't know where they came from originally, but they are quite sweet, and you could easily make some yourself with a bit of wire, some vellum and card.

Here's the flowers.
The ribbon is from my stash and the card candy is from Craftwork Cards.

Here's the funny angle bit lol xxx

I have to confess that this was nearly a disaster today, cos I got up this morning thinking it was Wednesday and panicked when I realised it wasn't. So this card has to be the quickest one I ever made!!!
Dopey mare lol xxxx


Well I hope that you all had a great Easter and enjoyed the gorge weather we had. Sadly it's gone for the time being and yesterday we had heavy thunder storms. Kyla was quiet intrigued by them. Nursery is off this week so Nikkie has been looking after her whilst Em has been at work.


She made the mistake of bringing the Wizard of Oz DVD for her to watch and Kyla is just completely smitten. She now has to have her hair like Dorothy (God help us!!) and we have been up and down the ruddy yellow brick road so many times now that I know my way with my eyes shut now. I am also on first name terms with the Wizard lol xxxx


We also know all the songs and keep singing them, which isn't so good. Come to think of it, maybe that explains the thunder storms!! Anyway, the crunch came when Nik got up in the night to spend a penny and realised that she was singing one of the songs practically in her sleep. I keep whistling them and Richard is going up the wall with it all lol xx


So we have banned it for a while. We are now watching Mary Poppins, so no doubt we will all be feeding the birds 2d a bag and flying kites in a supercallerfragilistic (etc) sort of way soon!!


Cor blimey Mary Poppins!!


On that note, I'm off for a spoonful of sugar!!!!

But before I go, I have to say that Marco looked very fetching last night - a sort of cross between Lawrence of Arabia and a Ninja turtle which nobody else could possibly pull of.


But he did, and damned attractive is all I will say!!!


Laters and hugs lovely peeps xxxx

Meeses and Mothers Day xxxx

Happy Mother's Day to all the lovely Mums

(including my own wonderful Mum, even though she is no longer physically here but is always in my heart xxxx).

Have a great day and I hope you are all getting spoiled rotten xxxx

This isn't a Mother's Day card though, it's my card for this week's Penny Black Saturday Challenge which this week is to include some doodling on your card.

Well, say no more girls cos I just loves me doodling lol xxx I also combined it with the sketch from this week's Friday Sketchers, so it's a 2 in 1 :)) x

The papers are PP and Willow and the sentiment is Penny Black - part of the set I bought from the NEC. I gave my MS doily punch a day off for good behaviour and used the zig zag embossing one for a change. The yummy ribbon is from a past Raspberry Ribbons kit, the flowers are Poppicrafts and I got the the centre blingy bit from a wholesale warehouse near here.

This is actually 2 blooms which I cut into, stuck together and then faffed about with. I got the idea from my friend Donalda - she has made a beautiful paper flower which I just loved so I thought I'd use the same technique. You can see the original tutorial here at Ann's blog. She has some gorgeous ideas so check it out xxx

This is actually 2 seperate sentiments but I stamped them together and then added a bit of bling from my bling stash :))

Hope you likee xx

There's not much waffle again today cos Richard and I are working on a project in our garden and we want to do a bit more before we go out for dinner (well it's tea really cos the table is booked for 5.30pm as it was the only time we could get in!!).

I have to just say that I felt really sad this morning to hear about poor Jade Goody, bless her heart. What a brave and courageous young woman she was and also a fantastic mother, considering the awful start she had in life. Her outlook on life was fabulous and her love for her kids just shone out of her. It was so moving and poignant that she died today of all days and my heart goes out to those 2 little boys.

I cannot wait for my little treasure to get home tonight - early hours of the morning but I will be up and waiting for them xxxx I just want to kiss that sweet little face and give her the biggest hug ever cos I haven't half missed her. Soppy old Grandma lol xxxx

Huggiest of hugs xxxxx

Fairies And Willow Sketchies xxx

I can't believe how quickly the last 2 weeks have gone!!!!

Tis my age no doubt!!!

But it is time for another Willow Sketchie Challenge, and this week our sketch has been designed by the fabulous Katy. Now being WSC, there has to be a twist, cos that's what we do xx

And this week, out twist is that we want to see dotties and stripes on your card.

So this is my card.

We have all used the new Willow download called A Walk In The Park - you can see it here. I have to say that it is one of my fave downloads cos there are loads of fab things on it and it comes ready coloured or in black and white and just waiting to meet up with the PMs - or whatever colouring doodahs float yer boat.

But the PMs float mine, as you know lol xxx

I used some Willow and PP papers and did a bit of paper piecing ....

... here on the trees

and I also gave lil cutie fairy girlie a nice spotty pink dress.

The other girls have really come up trumps I think, and their cards are really fab - pop over and have a lookie lol xxxx

So I have super dooper fantastic news, good-ish news and a little bit bad news. In reverse order ....

The bad-ish news?

I was intending to return on Tuesday night, but Emma had a bump in her car - no injuries, thankfully (she was shaken but not stirred !!). Someone pulled out of a side road onto a main road in front of her. The other lady was very upset but the main thing is that only the cars were hurt, and even then, only a little bit. But it gives you a bit of a fright when it happens.

The good-ish news?

I survived the dentist.
I was a quivering shambling wreck but nevertheless I went. My dentist is just the gentlest, she really is, so she did the de-coking for me and then gave me some mouthwash to bring home - a different one from the one I usually use. I tell you, it has a real numbing effect so next time I go to see driller killer aka as the hygienist, I am so going to use it. I wont feel a thing - it's marvellous!!

And the super dooper fantastic news???

Ahhhhh well, I will be back later to share, but in the meantime, I'll give you a clue. It has something to do with wild roses ........

See ya later chicksies xxxxx

Roses On Paper xxx

I am so into masking at the mo xxx

I put these 3 Magnolia stamps together as an experiment - just mucking about - but I sort of liked it so I thought I'd use it for the Roses On Paper Challenge, which is love and friendship

Actually, there are 4 stamps here cos the sentiment is Magnolia as well - who can't count?????

Before I do the credits etc, tell me, which of these pics do you think looks best? I can't make up my mind......


This one is quite bright and possibly a little garish

This one is less garish but looks a bit washed out maybe.

Ohh I don't know - can't quite decide. I would really appreciate your opinions xxxxx

Anyhoos, the papers are a mixture of PP and Willow, the blue ribbon is a past Raspberry Ribbons kit, and the pretty pink bloom is Poppicrafts with a punched dot :)). Also, the Pro Markers / Glamour Dust duo had a bit of a say in it as well!!


My usual MSBP is having a bit of a diva strop today and I am hoping it is nothing serious cos I will be truly devastated if that goes on the blink!! So I used it's mate so it could have a day off. Fingers crossed it is feeling better in the morning.

Well it is a short post tonight - no inane drivvle you'll be pleased to hear, cos I'm having a very rare day where I'm not feeling 100% and I'm not feeling very chatty, so I'm offski.

Hopefully I will be back on form tomorrow and maybe have another card to share.


Have a fab night peeps.


Biggest hugs xxxxxx

A Pic Fest For Cute Card Thursday xx

Ahhh, aren't they sweet xx

It was my last week as GD over at Cute Card Thursday and I would just like to say a huge thank you to the girls for having me xx

'scuse the dreadful lighting here but I could not get it to look right.

IRL the colours are much softer.

The challenge this week is Music & Dance, so musical instruments, song titles etc etc, I chose song titles. The card above is Kiss (by Prince and also the wrinkly old goat that is Tom Jones. Sorry if you are a fan, but I cannot abide him!!)

The Sarah Kay image which is one of my faves was coloured and highlighted with the dynamic duo that are my PMs and Glamour Dust lol xxx The papers are a mixed bunch - PP, Nitwits and Willow. I had some left over from the Frilly Milly card I did recently and thought I'd use them here seeing as I luvs em so much :))x

Ohhh the lighting is horrible here - it makes this look garish, sorry.

I may re-take this cos it is so awful. But I put the pic in so you can see the flower a bit better. Bet you wish I hadn't bothered lol xxx.

I made the flower by drawing lines on a piece of card with 2 PMs - use the chiselled end - and then I punched out the shape usign an EK Success Retro punch. I got the idea from Sharon and you can see it all here.

And there's a bit of funkyity faux stitching as well. Try saying that when you've had a few lol xxx

As it was my last week at CCT, I thought I would do 2 cards - this is the one that is over at the blog. Now I will warn you , you are about to enter the 'cringe' zone.

He's a cutie lil fella.

So this is the second card, and the song?
I Will Always Love You (Whitney and the big guns that are Dolly P).

As you can see, I 'adapted' the title slightly to fit the fabulous stamp which is from Whimsystamps, hence the cringe. I know it is a bit corny, but hey ho lol xxx Considering my unmitigating disaster yesterday, the fact that it meets the challenge is nowt short of a miracle lol xxx

The papers are from PP and from the Boy Oh Boy collection by the awesomely talented Summer Driggs, and the blooms are from my beloved Poppicrafts xx Mich has some beautiful stuff in right now including some of the prettiest spring ribbon and blooms ever. Check it out peeps xxx

Is anybody going to the trade show at the NEC over the weekend btw? I am going on Sunday so if you are going to be there and fancy saying howdy to moi (or the piggish pink one as Leann calls me lol xxx) let me know!!

Laurence Llewellyn Bowen is going to be there, and I do have a bit of a thing for him actually. It's the tousled hair I think. And he is so well dressed. And he is a bit posh which I sort of like :)) I have sort of met him before. Well, when I say I have met him, he was at the NEC the last time I went to the trade show there. I went with a friend of mine who insisted on referring to him as Roddy lol xxx


Anyway, I was too shy to go and say hello. My friend was not too shy and she went to see him and she took a book of mine with her (the book wot he wrote, natch) and he signed it for me - how fabulous. He insisted she went and got me so I could go and say hello but I had ran off, dragging her wheelie trolley behind me as fast as my little legs would take me and I refused to go and meet him.


So when I say I sort of met him, I didn't really meet him, but I did stand within a few feet of him. When I told my eldest, she laughed and said she had sort of met George Clooney. Well when she said she had met him, there was a cardboard cut out of him in the local video shop and she had stood by it.


I don't know where she gets her wit from!!!!


And on that note, I'm off for a reasonably early night. Emma is unwell so I am on 'monitor' duty re Kyla tonight and will need to get up with her in the morning and get her ready for nursery.

Have a fab evening chicks

xxxx