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

Oh My Life I'm Late ........

... cos my puter has been playing silly beggars - grrrr!

Anyway, it's time for another Willow Sketchie Challenge - where does the time go - and this week it's FABULOUS peeps.

So this is the gorge sketch by the very lovely Heidi.

And our twist this week?

Over to Fairy Sharon who says .....

Instead of using a download or stamps for your image..I want you to use a picture, it can be of a family member, pet, food, baby..flower..or if your not sure of that try cutting an image from a magazine.

There is oodles of scope for this so just let your creative spirit run free :))x

So I decided to challenge myself even more and dust off the Bind It All that has been sat on my shelf for ages and has never been used. And I made a little album for Emma to keep her holiday piccies in. I would love to use this as a scrapbook page cos I love this layout, so thank you Heidi xxxx

And here it is.
The papers are Wild Rose Studio - very delish xxx

And of course, there is my favourite little poppet on the front, bless her.


Now I told you yesterday that I got something from Tracey at Dies To Die For that was utterly fabulous. And you probably guessed that it was another Martha Stewart border punch to add to my collection.

I am just loving this punch. It scallops and embosses and you get the prettiest edge with it. If I wasn't late getting this on here, I would probably rattle on about it for ages, so be thankful I'm late peeps, .... be very thankful.

But it is gorge and all I will say is that it was love at first sight!!


The blooms were a RAK and the buttons are Poppicrafts. That beautiful ribbon was in the other parcel that came from the US and I cannot tell you how lovely it is. I keep looking for ways to use it cos it is so nice.

So that's my take on our challenge.
Pop over and see what the other girlies have done and why not have a go yourself :)xx


Hopefully see you tomorrow if this ruddy computer behaves itself!!


Huggiest of hugs 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

Heyyyy Walter ..... xxx

Look who flew in ....

It's Walter Willow lol xxx

He is part of the new Willow download which you can see here and he is also the star of this week's Willow Sketchie Challenge.

I think you'll agree that he is a sweetie xxx

The paper is also part of the download and it is really nice and co-ordinates with lil Walter perfectly. I was a lazy mare again and I opted to use a pre-coloured Walt so this card is a bad boy PM free zone!!!

The black card candy is from Craftwork Cards btw.

I am a complete sucker for anything owl-ie cos as you know, we breed birds of prey here, although we don't have any owls YET (note to Richard - pleeeeze can I have a little owl just for me??? I keep asking ya and you keep saying 'we'll see' lol xx)

Anyhoos pop over and check out the rest of the girls gorgeous work and also see the fab sketch which Fairy Sharon did for us this week. I loves it xxxx

Our twist for this challenge is to use Glossy Accents somewhere, so I decided to make a 'pebble' for my sentiment. Now I have to say that I got a few air bubbles in it but making them yourself is easy peasy and a whole load cheaper than buying them dome thingies (can't think what they're called lol xxx)

A punched circle, a peel off (shock horror!!) and a blob of the GA and Bob's yer uncle!!!

I cut round the paper and did some doodling. That's twice I've done this now - cut round the paper that is, not doodle, cos I do that all the time.

I am Mrs Groundhog Day, I know :(((o

I punched the flowers out and then ran them through my ribbler (hold that thought, you with the mucky mind out there lol xxx). There's also a splash of Glossy Acccents on the flowers on the image and a little gem just for sparkly purposes.

Well that's me for now. I may pop back later if I get chance but if not, have the fabbiest of Thursdays peeps.

xxx

Say Hello To Petunia xxx

Here she is.

She's the sweetest kitty in her pink and blue frock, and she is part of the new Willow Download which you can see here. You get a set of pre-coloured and uncoloured images, plus some gorgeous kitty papers. Check it out peeps xxx

And she was the download we got to play with for this week's Willow Sketchie challenge which is based on this fabulous sketch by Sally Ann. I love it xxx

Of course there is a twist, cos that's what we do, and the twist this week is to do a bit of embossing on your card. The girls' cards are truly gorgeous this week - I've never seen such an array of pretty colours.

This is my card ...

I used a pre-coloured image - lazy trout lol xxx - and just kept the same colours so it couldn't have been easier. The card blank is one from Craftwork Cards and the spotty dotty pink paper is Willow - I 'heart' this paper so much.

I embossed round the image, which you can't see very well on these pics, but trust me lovelies, I did. The MSBP border is not one of mine, it was sent to me by my wonderful, soon to be non virtual friend Kath, and she punched a row of ribbon slots for me. I don't know which punch she used but I think it might have been a Fiskars punch, but I'm sure she will fill us in. Thank you dear friend - not long to go now xxx

I wasn't completely lazy cos I punched and embossed the blue flowers using my Cuttlebug and Swiss Dots folder. I got the idea from the lovely and very talented Mich at Poppicrafts - check out their competition here and also get some fab ideas on different ways to use flowers while you're there.

The ribbon is one I bought years ago and I don't know where I got it but I got a mahoosive roll and I've used it loads and still there is some left!! The sentiment is one I got as a freebie from a card mag. I get loads of mags and keep the freebies but hardly use them, but I thought this one went well.

Lots of dimension cos I don't like 'flat' and lots of doodling cos I can't leave well alone lol xxx

That beautiful bloom was given to me as a RAK - I'm fairly sure it is Poppicrafts, as is that lovely big grosgrain covered brad.

You can hopefully see the embossed flowers better here.

So I hope this has inspired you to have a go at this sketch girlies cos it is mighty fine me thinksxxx

I could very well be back later but I'm on a runner now. I'm off to Marks & Sparks cos this week there is a really fab offer on - feed 4 for Mother's day (a dinner, a side order, a pud and and a bottle of vino for £15 - it would be so rude not to!!) We are out for our lunch but I am so gonna squeeze a load of this in the freezer.
It is going to be a bit strange cos Emma and Kyla the kid don't get back until very late on Sunday night so this is the first Mother's Day ever that I won't spend with Em since she was born.

See ya later if I dont bankrupt us lol 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