We Survived!!!!

Hi peeps and hope you are all OK today and that you had a great weekend.

We most certainly did – we did our first camping trip…. and we survived!!

Those who know me will be open mouthed at the thought of me even attempting this but I am a total convert now – it’s awesome!!

Before I go on I should explain that there is no card today as I have hurt my hand  - nothing to do with the trip – and it’s a bit sore, so I am resting it for a day or 2 and hope it will settle down. But I thought I’d share this with you.

So back to the trip (which ironically was how I hurt my hand – grrr!!)

My Emma and her partner are seasoned in the art of all things tent-ish  and had planned to go away for a weekend and asked us if we wanted to go, so we said  errrrr yes OK!!! We had no tent or any equipment but we decided to embrace it and we bit the bullet and bought  ……

… this bad boy which was half price in the end of season sale at the camping shop near here and it was surprisingly easy to put up which we like!!!! I know it isn't perfect looking in this pic and we did have to make a few adjustments but we got there in the end.

Kyla took her friend Olivia who is a lovely kid and here they are getting ready for bed.

On Saturday we were having visitors so the girls decided that they would do a ‘show’ for us all and they had sorted out the ‘auditorium’ by 11am.

Bless!!!

And after all that they forgot to do it lol!!!

And here’s our gang – minus Tim and Emma although you can just see Tim in the background getting something out of his tent.

Tim and Emma’s friends,  Hot Dog (don’t ask) and his soon wife to be Michaela  who is Olivia’s mum were there.

Hot Dog’s folks, who are our friends as well, also came over …

… and here they are.

Joyce makes cards as well so she is one of us and I have been trying to persuade her to set up a blog so one day you might be reading her posts as well :)  Come on Joycie, you can do it girl xxx

Also present were Michaela’s Mum and Tim’s folks and I was there of course, doing me David Bailey thing!!!

And a very nice evening we all had as well. Richard was on BBQ duty bless him  and thanks Richie Boy for keeping us all well fed xxx

And we are all going away again soon.

Hot Dog and Michaela are going  to the US  in August to get hitched and Emma and Tim are going as well – we have her Ladyship all to ourselves for one whole week :))))))) Then when they get back, the whole crew are going to Anglesey for a week’s camping (see, I told you I was a convert!!)

Marvellous :)

On Sunday after we had packed up, Tim’s brother and his wife and kids came out to see us and we took the girls horse riding.

   

So here is her Ladyship on Misty, bless her.

Olivia is on Charlie ( and being down with the kids like I am lol, I know that you younger peeps will be sniggering at that but that’s the pony’s name!!!!)  Olivia has been riding for a while now so she is quite good - just like my two were when they were younger, this little soul is pony mad.

Alicia was on April.

And here they are after their hack out - awww.

We followed them on foot and had a lovely walk.

This is a typical Kyla pose – I have lots of pics of her like this and she cannot help herself.

She had us in fits telling us about one of her friends at school who ‘likes the one out of JLS with the wind-ey hair and wants to ‘snug’ him’. We asked her what it meant and she said that ‘snugging’ was like kissing but your mouth went funny!!!!

Yes, quite!!!!

So after a nice Sunday lunch at a nearby pub, we all headed home and did the unpacking and cleaning everything before putting it all away again bit (not the best bit but there ya go – you have to take the rough with the smooth I guess)

So all in all it was a total success.

I realise of course that it helped  that we had quite nice weather but that said,  it did  rain heavily was really windy in the night.  Had it have been like that during the day then it may have been slightly miserable.  And the camp site was beautifully kept and really clean with excellent facilities which also helped cos I don’t think I could go without a shower or washing my hair. The down side was the ‘expletive expletive’ seagulls who decided to go for it in a majorly loud fashion at 4.30am. I am an animal lover and would never hurt anything usually, but  …….

Before I go, what a weekend for bad news. My heart goes out to the Norway and all of it’s people, and I still cannot get my head around the unspeakably evil thing that happened there. And then poor Amy Winehouse. A troubled soul for sure and I hope that she now has the peace that has alluded her for so long. You cannot give somebody that amount of fame and attention without it affecting them in some way. I felt so sorry for her folks – her mother looked destroyed. They for sure would have known that it was likely to happen at some point but it is still awful. And what a tragic waste of such an amazing talent.

So thank you for bearing with me if you got the end here!! It’s a bit like dragging peeps round to your house to see your holiday snaps I know,  but in the absence of a card I thought Id show you some of the pics. You have no idea how long this has taken to type out using one hand.

Have a great day and huggiest of hugs to all xxx

Were You My LOTV Giveaway Winner????

Well if your name is Wendy  then it was you-hooooo!!!

Please email me chick with your deets and I’ll pass them on to the fairies at LOTV and your stamp will be on it’s way to you.

Hugest thanks to all who entered the candy and have a great day.

Hugs to all xxx

Heyyyy, Good Lookin :)

Morning chicks and a very happy Friday to all.

The weekend is nearly here and the weather promises to be quite nice so fingers crossed that it is for reasons I’ll share with you next week!!!!

Before we do the card today it’s time to announce who won my Wild Orchid Crafts candy, and it is ……………..

…. yooohoo it’s Lou :)

Yes Lou Mac come on down cos you have won chick so if you can ping me a quick email with your deets,  I’ll send it to Paul and Siri so that they can get your prize off to you.  And hugest of thanks to Wild Orchid Crafts for sponsoring me and to  everyone who took part xxx

So on with today and over at the Just Magnolia and hAnglar & sTanglar challenge  our theme this week is

What’s Cookin’

and is hosted by the sweetness that is our Dena

We are sponsored today by All That Scraps

and there is a C.C. Designs stamp set up for grabs :)

So I gave Tilda a day off and did the hAnglar thing today. I used this sweet set which I got from hAnglar & stAnglar  and coloured it with the following Copics -

E000, E00, R11, R21 (skin), E33, E42, E50 (hair), C00, C1, C3, C5, E000, E00, E33, E35, E37, E42, E50, E53, R85, RV0000, RV00, YG0000, YG01, YG03 –

Wharra lorra pens lol!!!

The paper is Echo Park Summer Days and is from Dies To Die For  

I didn’t mask the image, instead I stamped and coloured them then cut them out and layered them up as I wanted to add dimension – you can see it a bit better here.

A nice bit of  cream seam binding  which is available from The Ribbon Girl,  and an old button from my stash which just happened to match the self adhesive pearls which you can get from Wild Orchid Crafts

     

So that’s me done for the week.

Enjoy your weekend and I’ll see you next week and I’ll tell all about my weekend - I may even have some pics to share ;)

Huggiest of hugs to all xxx

No Pink, No Swirls, Just Cutie Patootie Fun :)

Morning peeps and how is everybody today?

All good I hope :)

Firstly just to let you know that the

Lili Of The Valley candy is here until 24th July and Wild Orchid Crafts candy is here until 22nd July )xxx

Over at the Lili Of The Valley Thursday challenge there’s

Fun and Games

a plenty, and there more sneak peeks of the new release which is due out on 25th – not long to go now girlies :))))))oooo

There are 2 giveaways this week, firstly this nice little addition to anybody's stash which is of course from Wild Orchid Crafts ….

.. and of course there is a fab voucher ….

… to spend in the Lili Of The Valley shop.

So this is what I did and I’ll grant you that these are about as far away from my usual colours as you can get really cos I don’t really do brown as a rule. But I think I really like them.

I  used  one of the new releases and it’ called Toboggan For Two. I also used quite a few Copics here as I sort of got a bit carried away, and they are -

E000, E00, R11, R20 (skin), E50  (hair), BG0000, BG15, C00, C1, C3, C5, C7, E37, E42, E47, E53, R85, RV0000, RV00 (clothes etc)

Ooops, I just realized that  lied a bit with the post title cos there is teeny spot of pink – doh!!

The papers are  from Tracy at Dies To Die For and they are from the new 12 x 12  My Minds Eye Hip Hooray packs.

A nice little paper deccie or 3 made using  flower punches, a swipe of ink pad, some glitter and finished off with a bit of bling.

If I get a chance I‘ll do a tutorial for these. I have a feeling I have done one before  but for the life of me I cannot find it (it’s probably with all the Copics lists that I’ve lost lol!!)

A yummy bow made with 16mm sheer ruffle edge ribbon in aqua and you can get this from The Ribbon Girl :)

And some yummy self adhesive rhinestones from Wild Orchid Crafts

                            

So that’s the Thursday cardage done and I’ll be back in the morning with the winner of my Wild Orchid Crafts candy – click on the link at the top or here if you want to be entered into the draw.  Enjoy your day and see you then.

Thanks for stopping by and hugs to all xxx

Read All About It!!!!!

Morning chicksies and hope you are all ok :)

We’re half way through the week and time to nip over the water and catch up with those nice peeps at the Simon Says Stamp Challenge – and what a great response last week …. 1121 lovelies joined us, which is fantastic :)

So onto this week and our theme is

Use Newspaper

And considering all the skulduggery  surrounding the press at the mo, this is a very good use for them  (I can think of another but I am far too polite to go into that!!!!). You can use the real thing or newspaper print designer paper, a stamped image with newspapers featured on it or something found inside a newspaper. The DT have lots of inspiration so check it all out if you get a sec peeps xxx

And look what’s up for grabs …..

and you can spend it ….

… right here :)

So this is what I did.

I coloured  Cherry Cozy Tilda with Copics but I cannot find the list sorry but when I do I’ll update here.

The papers I used are from the Basic Grey12 x 12 Basic White Paper Pack and shock horror I inked the edges!!!!

I also used a Martha Stewart PATP punch to give it some colourful zing :)

And woohooo I just HAD to use it again and this time I used the leaf as well – yes the old Magnolia leaf and swirl die is back!!!!

I made the flowers using the Spellbinders Rose Creations die set.

     

So that’s me for today  - another quickie as I am up to me bits again, just for a change, so I’ll see you tomoz.

Have a fab day and huggiest of hugs to all xxx

Join The Party - It’s Cute & There’s Candy :)

Morning peeps and we are bright and early today cos this is a bit of a combi post.

It’s my helping of Papertake Weekly – ness which this week is all about

Getting Cute

but it’s also a bit of a celebration because 

Wild Orchid Crafts and Lili Of The Valley have teamed up to host a

'Christmas In July Party'.

The party started yesterday and will run for one week.

There’s sneak peeks of the new Lili Of The Valley Christmas release and the new Christmas Goodies from Wild Orchid Crafts. And no party would be complete without a little goodie bag so there’s candy all the way as well – woohoooo :)))))!!!

These creations will be featured on the
Wild Orchid Crafts Blog, LOTV Ideas To Inspire Blog
and also daily on the featured Designers Blogs so be sure to check it all out.

So here is my card.

This gorgeous image is one of the new LOTV releases and is called Build A Snowman. I coloured it with the following Copics -

E000, E00, E21, R11, R20 (skin), E33, E42, E50 (hair), B0000, B000, C00, C1, C3, C5, R17, R27, R59, YG0000, YG01, YG03, YG67 (clothes etc)

And if you fancy getting your mitts on this brand new stamp, all you have to do is leave your name with good old Linky-poo at the end of the post and I’ll draw the winner on 24th July. Don’t forget that I’ve also got some Wild Orchid Crafts Candy up for grabs  as well and you can check it out here.

And talking of Wild Orchid Crafts, here’s a couple of deet pics for ya me lovelies ……

  

I used Christmas Holly berries,  Poinsettias,  Holly Leaves,  Hellibores, 25mm Hybrid Tea Roses, silver miniature ringing bells and finally I finished it all off with some Red Organza Ribbon

     

The paper I used are Bo Bunny Peacock Lane – Bleu which is available from Dies To Die For and I also used Martha Stewart PATP punch which you can get from the Simon Says Stamp store :)

So there you go peeps.

I’ll be back tomoz but before then don't forget to leave your name with Mr Linky if you want to go into the draw for the stamp. Enjoy your day and huggiest of hugs to all xxx

Aqua-tastic )

Hi peeps and a very happy Sunday to all xxx

I hope that you are enjoying your weekend. even if it is a rather damp and dreary one (or is that just not so sunny Chester???)

It's the third Sunday of the month and time to check out this month’s  Colour Challenge over at The Ribbon Girl Blog and what a corker it is …..

… Shades of Aqua

I love aqua and white together as it always look so clean and fresh.

And we have 2 fab prizes for you as well ….

… a gorgeous Aqua Mini Kit, plus ….

… a £10 voucher from the lovely Lisa & Laila at Lili Of The Valley

So this is my card and I used Hello Little Butterfly.  Unfortunately I cannot find my list of Copics peeps – I may have accidently chucked it whilst clearing away the card stuff so that I could sort out the jewellery bits and bobs. I’ll update if I come across it in the next few days :)

The papers are from the Bumbleberry Cottage collection by Nitwits and I think they worked really well for this challenge.

I used the following items which are all available from The Ribbon Girl -

Lace, organza spot ribbon, bakers twine, polka dot buttons

And all of it beautimous :)

It’s back again and this time there are 2 of them but one has been chopped up and re-arranged a bit.

And I made a white flower using the Spellbinders Rose Creations dies

     

So there we are all done.

Isn't this rain miserable :(  My poor Richard is playing in a veterans county tennis final in this horrible rain which he was thrilled about – not!!  He was hoping it might be cancelled but he got the call this morning to say it wasn’t. So I am staying in the warm and dry and hoping to get some crafting done and also pack away all the bling etc from yesterday’s class, which was lovely. What a nice bunch of ladies they were and we did have a laugh.

I’m off now to sort out all the odds and sods and then tonight it’s the final of The Apprentice (don’t you just love Lord Sugar of Sugar!!!) and I’ll see you in the week.

Hugs to all xxx