A Bit of Casing & A LOT of Pics :)

 

Hi possums and hope you are all OK today, and more importantly that you are all safe after these rotten storms that some of us have had. The weather is so unpredictable and destructive at times and these storms have caused chaos, especially around Devon & Cornwall.

Please take care won't you xxx

So today I have another card from t'telly  to share - in fact I have 3 but only 2 of them are mine.
Well if I am being totally fair, none of them are mine really!!!
Well 2 of them are but not in the strictest sense at any rate.

Sorry, I hope that makes sense and now I'll stop me waffling lol!!!

So what happened was this.
A couple of weeks ago I went into the shop at LOTV HQ in Leeds and I saw .....

 

... this totally gorgeous card.

I cannot tell you how beautiful this is - a real work of art -  and this has been done bv our very own Kathy.  Her work is out of this world and she has that little touch (which I think is a real gift) that makes her work so very special. Nobody quite does sentiments like her - I am totally in awe, and if you ever come to the shop and se her work in person, then you will see exactly what I mean.

Kathy has used Country Lady papers and SET 33 - Christmas Grungy Messages for this card btw - you can read her post here.

Now I looooong to make cards like this but it isn't my natural style and, well, I aint very good at it, cry cry. But I thought I'd have a go to see what it would look like using different papers so I'm sharing these with you today.

So here's my first attempt, and you will see that it is more or less a straight copy, and even then I don't quite get it to look like Kathy can :(

 

This first one is using the oh so beautimous Antebellum 8x8 papers.

Now get me peeps, I distressed those edges with me scissors like somebody possessed - I even inked them lol!!! The papers well and truly stood up to my abuse and as you can see, they look pretty fab.

As I did yesterday, I made some little dimensional flowers using a 6 petalled flower punch, and did a bit of general tarting up using added some scrunched up raffia,  some Ivory Jute Mesh Ribbon and  some Summer Rose Seam Binding, all from The Ribbon Girl.

I also added some punched and die cut leaves and bling.

An inspirational quote from Set 64 - Quotables - Life's Journey - it's wonderful :)

 

Ooops I just noticed one of me blingy bits has fallen off - I must sort that out pdq!!!

 

So onto the other card - same layout etc ....

 

.. and this time I used Woodland Wishes papers.

 

Same raffia, same flowers but this time I made the bow using some ivory lace.

 

The sentiment is from SET 33 - Christmas Grungy Messages and I just added a cuppla heart buttons :)

So that's what I did using Kathy's card as inspiration.
I am quite pleased with how they both turned out, even though it isn't my design, because it's something different for me and of course I got to play with the papers again, which I am loving at the mo.

I think it's quite nice to see the same card made using different bits and bobs,  and the colours etc can totally change the look of your work.

I hope you've enjoyed sharing these today and I'll see you soon as soon with some more cardage etc.
Have a great day, stay safe and warm and huggiest of hugs to all xxx

Three Little Pigs :)

 

Hi there lovely peeps and hope you are all OK today and enjoying your weekend :)

Now two posts in as many days???
I know, not like me at all but I am trying to turn over a new leaf and get back to being a more regular visitor to the land of Blog.

So today I thought I'd share a couple or three of the little carts that I made for Create & Craft (sorry I lied about the pigs lol). Everyone seems to like them and I know that some of you have been busy making these - I am totally thrilled about that, wooohoooo :)))))

If you have made any, please leave me a comment with a link to your blog so that I can come and have a nosey (thank you xx)

So here's the first one .....

 

.. and for this I used papers from a  Country Lady paper pad.

These papers are perfect for these carts because apart from being super pretty, they are just the right weight. Any thicker and they don't fold  and/or sit as well (and I've literally made hundreds of the little blighters over the years).

 

A bit of lace to go around the edge and plain and simple wheels with flowers for the centre. I used a 6 pointed flower punch and just snipped into the centre and stuck 2 petals together so that they had dimension.

And there's a whole lot of inkin' goin' on here - shock horror!!!!

 

Same on the top using a bigger punch with a smaller flower in the middle and a Memory Box Lavish Branch die to add a bit of greenery.
Like you do!!!

And now for something blue :)

 

Sorry for the fuzzies here - what a dreadful pic - but I'm still trying to get to grips with the new camera!!!

There's nothing quite like a bit of Beach Bliss and kraft card (Craftwork Cards is like no other - awesome stuff, the best I've used,  and you can see it here ).

 

Same idea with the flower and I made a little fringed middle bit using very expensive fringing scissors which I bought donkeys years ago and have never used, so a very good buy then (NOT!!).

Is it just me?????

 

I made the wheels using some good old Nesties and finished them off with the same punched flower but left flat and a bit of bling

And for the last one, time to get a bit festive .....

 

... and fuzzy again (so sorry!!)

This one was made using the beautimous Woodland Wishes papers (I sooo love this pad).

 

And is just added some Ivory Jute Mesh Ribbon, some red berries and a gorgeous Floribunda  Raspberry Ripple Rose, all from The Ribbon Girl. Plus a punched holly leaf and some Magnolia die cut leaves (soz I cannot remember what they are called and I'm too bone idle to get up off of my ass and go downstairs to look!!!).

So that's some of the carts I've made and please do let me know if you've made any cos I would love to see them, pleeeeze :)

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, I'll see ya soon and huggiest of hugs to all xxx

Take 1 Art Pad & 1 Piece of Paper ...................

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

Hugest of thanks to everyone who tuned in on Thursday to watch us on Create & Craft (I get through the nerves by imagining that it's just my crafty friends out there so it's nice to know that lots of you did come over for a nosey xxx). And how fab was it that Tracy & Bobby's  email was read out - I could barely contain myself and quite forgot where I was for a minute lol!!

I was also thrilled that they used our Mary's beautimous little house at the top the show :)

It was also fab to work with the sweetness that is Leonie - she is a genuine crafter like us and was so excited to be doing the show. She stopped with me for a bit after and was having a good look at the samples and she was really impressed - it was amazing :)

I was really excited to do this show because the stamp sets are quite simply brilliant, and I had a great time having a fiddle with them which will explain my disappearance from the land of Blog for a while!! The other reason for a lack of posting was that I was getting sick of my stooopid camera leaving big black blobs over everything (ya know I'm a bit of a fussy beggar with me pics !!). Well I finally got around to getting a new camera so hopefully the quality of the photies will be greatly improved.

So I thought that over the next few weeks or so, I would share with you some of the cards I took with me to sunny Peterborough and hope you likee :)

The first one is a super quick and easy peasy card which I made using the LOTV Art Pads - this one is from Party & Cakes .....

 

... and I was really pleased with how it turned out (well it's pink innit!!).

I didn't even mat it, I just stuck it onto the card base - I didn't even give it a trim!!! The only thing I added was a bit of glitter (now there's a shock) and some liquid pearls which I seem to be dabbing over everything of late.  I tied some pink button twine around it before sticking it down and also a small pink polka dot button, both from The Ribbon Girl, and then popped a little tag made from a LOTV Set 24 Sentiment Tags set.

The paper is from a Perfect Pair paper pad which goes beautifully with the image. I tell you me darlins the whole thing could not have taken me more than 15 minutes at the very most from start to finish - probably less!!

Here's a couple more pics .......

 

 

 

... and there we are all done.

I think this is one of them designs you keep for when you need a quick card but you want it to still look special.

Right I will be back soon with some more cardage from the show but I better get back to finishing the prep for next week's all day workshop. There may still be a few spaces left on the all dayer in November (you can see the deets here) but please don't shoot me if I'm wrong - I should have checked really before typing that bit lol!! It's also out Open Day, the last one of the year and it's our Christmas Party. There's demos and mince pies and you can meet the DT girls who come over, and there's mince pies, and there is always a fantastic atmosphere. And did I mention that there's mince pies as well? Oh yes, old greedy guts here wouldn't miss out would she!!

Right, have a great Saturday and see you soon as soon and sending huggiest of hugs to all xxx

In The Pink With Lovely Lili :)

Morning sweet peeps and a very happy Sunday to all xx

It's all verry exiting cos over at the Ribbon Girl Blog, there is a brand new challenge and this one is right up my straße cos it combines 2 of my faves ever - The Ribbon Girl and Lili of The Valley.

So a huge welcome to The Lovely Lili Challenge

To kick  things off, out first theme is

Anything Goes

and all you have to do  is make a card or project that include a LOTV image or sentiment stamp or a pre-coloured Artpad image

For our randomly chosen lucky winner we have:

A LOTV stamp of your choice

and a £10 voucher towards a spending spree at The Ribbon Girl

Marvellous :)

So what did I do then?

Well .....

.. this bad boy here (or rather this bad girl!!!!).

(btw, if you came over from the challenge then you will see that I have redone the pic because the light was not at all good when I tried to do this yesterday - these are much better).

I decided to use one of  the LOTV Art Pads and this one is Babies (sooo adorable).

The papers are from an Always & Forever 8x8 paper pad and I added a bit of 'Martha Stewart' for good measure.

I also added some fabulous Ribbon Girl goodies which you can see .....

... here.

pink/fuschia saddlestitch ribbon

Kort and Godt white chrysanths and pink rolled roses

pretty pink blossom flowers

white beaded stamens

sugar and spice pearls

Beautimous :)

Inking edges and adding faux stitching - like ya do!!

So that's the old card done.

But before I go, I must just say a mahoosive thank you to the lovely ladies who came over to the Lili of The Valley shop yesterday for our Christmas workshop. We had a fabulous day and they didn't want to go home. Neither did I really and I could have stayed there all night crafting!!

We had a fab time and it was a pleasure spending the day with you me darlins xxx

See, they are all in one piece - I was very gentle with them lol!!

The last Christmas workshop is fully booked but we do have a few places left on the Open Day workshop on 30th November (the deets are here) so if you want to nab yourself a place I'd love to see you there :)

Right I better get off and get on!!!

I am in the middle of the prep for the next C&C outing and I am in the crafty zone at the mo - woohoooo thank you Mr Mojo!!

Take care and I'll see you soon as soon.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and lots of love and huggiest of hugs to all xxx

Don't Faint!!!!!

Howdy there possums and hope you are all ok xx

The prodigal pig returns and shock horror, I have actually made something. Well this isn't strictly true cos I have been making lots of stuff but nothing that I could really blog.

So what has dragged me back to the land of the crafty then?

Well it's that time of the week when we nip over and check out what's happening over at Papertake Weekly and this week we have our very popular

Anything Goes

challenge.  And as always there's an optional extra if you want a bit of a challenge and this week our option is to make a Halloween treat holder. But of course you don't have to if you don't want to.

Our fab DT have made some lovely stuff  as always, so if you get a sec, nip over for a mooch. We're sponsored by Lili of The Valley and there's a yummy voucher up for grabs  - thanks girlies :)xx

So what did I do then?

Well I didn't do the Halloween thing - instead I went for Christmas and I made ....

... a wreath made out of paper stars.

Now I have to say that IRL it look much better than it does on here. I also have to say that I saw something similar ages ago on a blog but I have looked and looked and can I find it? I will keep looking and I will give the rightly deserved credit when I find it.

ETA the tutorial is here

The stars are very easy to make - you just fold them and glue them onto a chipboard ring which I covered with blue stars first. They are a bit fiddly to stick down, I won't lie. But I found it even trickier to get a decent pic because I  had to hang it on my lounge wall against a backdrop that is a greyish white, and I HATE backgrounds that don't look clean in me photos :(   It was quite high up and I had to stand on tip toes to take it as well.

Excuses excuses, but I hope you can see what its all about.

The papers are from an 8x8 Frosty Christmas paper pad from Lili of The Valley of course- I love these papers, I really do.

Here's ......

 

... a close up of the stars.

You basically score each point all the way across the star and then just fold then like you can see on here. If I get a sec (hahaaa!!) I will do a tutorial because they do look fabulous (just not in my pics lol!!)

The gorgeous bow was made from 25mm white plain sheer ribbon which of course I got from The Ribbon Girl and the lovely sparklers are rhinestone sparklers from The Hobby House (aren't they just blingtastic!!)

So that's me all done for today and it's nice to back I have to say. I will try me best not to leave it too log before I post again and I'll see you soon as soon, if not sooner.

Extra huggiest of hugs to all xxxx

Can Anybody Help Please?

Morning sweet peeps and hope you are all ok today and what a glorious weekend it was :)

A while ago now, I was demoing at Lili of The Valley  and there was a lovely lady who came along and she was telling me about an organisation that you could send your unwanted craft items to where they would be used by crafters who gave up their free time to make cards that were sold for charity. I thought this was such a good idea and the lady emailed me with the details but can I find her email?

So does anybody out the in the land of Blog know of an organisation that I can send stuff to please? I have loads here plus some stuff of my aunts as well. It's just sitting there and it could be put to such good use.

I'm hoping to have a card for tomorrow - wonders will never cease lol - so with any luck and if today doesn't chuck something awful at me, I'll see you then.

Have the best day and huggiest of hugs to all xxx

Where'vya Been????

Howdy there sweet peeps and yes the wanderer returns and I hope that everyone is OK xxx

I haven't managed to get a card done this week for Papertake Weekly but the fabulous DT girlies have so nip over and check it all out if you get a sec - it's all gorgeous and sparkly over there,  plus there's a yummy yummy prize from our Mary & Andrea over at The Ribbon Girl :)

And talking about checking stuff out, have you seen that over at the Lili of The Valley shop, we have ......

 

... a lovely sale on?

So if you've had your beadies on something and haven't yet got it, now's the time me darlins cos it ends tomorrow at high noon.

But that's not all .....

 

.. because we have some brand new art pads out as well :)

I happened to see these at last open day and oh my they are beautimous -  I could not choose a fave to be honest. And talking of the open day, biggest hugs and squishes to everyone who came to the workshop - what a lovely crowd you were xxx

And didn't the shop look lovely :)

And just to tease you a little bit, here's what's coming soon .....

.... some fabulous new paper pads - wooohoooo!!!.

I cannot wait to get my trotters on these bad boys :)

Well I realised that it's been soooooooooo flippin long since I blogged - even before I went .....

... here  - such a bad blogger!!

But what an AMAZING day it was.

I did say thank you on FB but I didn't on here (so slap slap naughty piggy) and hugest of thanks to everyone who was so lovely and sent messages and emails etc. It made my first time out very special and I can't wait to do it all over again next month :)

And I have to say that Nigel is as sweet IRL as he seems on screen - a top bloke indeedy, as is lovely Paul who I did the second show with. I tell you, it was a bit scary peeps - oooerrr!! I was very nervous as you could probably tell  - I kept tidying up the counter lol!!! But after a while I calmed meself down a bit and went with the flow. It seems such a long time ago now and yet it was only a couple of weeks ago.

Anyway, we had the workshop stuff to do plus a bereavement in  Richard's family which was very sudden and very sad as it was his niece and she was only 20. It was also 10 years since my beloved Mum died and it did sort of hit me for some reason this year - I cannot quite believe that it's been that long and I miss her just as much now as I did when she died. So I've been a bit of a misery guts really and I didn't want to inflict it on everybody else. So I decided to have a few non crafty days to sort of get my breath back and recharge the mojo and now I feel raring to go again - wooohoo0ooooo :)

But in the absence of any  new cardage, I thought I'd share one of the cards I did for the show with you and it is one I really liked ....

... and it's this one here and please excuse the dark smudge (and crappy pic!!). I really do need a new camera because it keeps doing this and it's getting on my nerves now, grrrr!!!!.

Anyway, I like this card for a few reasons really.

Firstly the colours are so pretty and soft and the papers are from the Promises 8x8 paper pad.

Secondly I actually used up strips that were left from making up other cards so it felt like I'd made it out of nothing really, and it didn't actually take very long at all.

Thirdly it is an over sized card - 8"x8" - and I am so into them at the mo. You can barely see the actual card base cos I've done the fuzzy wuzzy thing around the edges. Here's a tip for you - you can buy these large card blanks of course but if you want to make your own card base and you only have A4, just cut yourself a piece that measures 8"x8" and another one that measures 8"x9" then score the larger piece at 8", fold in to form a hinge and then glue the 8"x8" piece onto the hinge. Simple. You can do this for any size of card base as well.

Fourthly, it has a really lovely sentiment and this is from the LOTV SET 39 - Everyday Grungy Messages sentiment set

And finally, it has some gorge stuff from The Ribbon Girl including 25mm Black No 10 Small Check gingham ribbon and a bloom from a Mixed Dahlia Marshmallow Mix

Right I better go.

Like Arnie, I will be back and sooner rather than later fo sho. So till then, huggiest of hugs to all xxxx