A Simple Thank You :)

Hi there possums and hope you are all OK today.
What a nice Spring-like day it is here in Chester 0 it makes a nice change!!)

So it's Tuesday which means that it's time to nip and check out what's happening over at the Papertake Weekly challenge and this week our theme is

New Year, New Stash

and all we want you to do is use something new that maybe you got for Christmas.
Or if you're like me and the fat boy in the red suit didn't bring you any new crafty stuff (cry cry!!), then just use something from your stash that you haven't used before.

Which is exactly .....

 

... what I did.

The sentiment is of course from one of the fabulous statement sets from Lili of The Valley - this is Set 44 - Statements - Just to Say. Now it's time for a bit of a fess up here. This isn't exactly how I planned this card to turn out but my sewing machine was playing all kinds of silly beggars and to be honest, and not to put too fine a point on it, I think it's knackered!!

So onto plan B!!

The papers are from a Country Lady 8x8 paper pad. I LOVE these papers with kraft card - you may have noticed  :)

 

The bow is made from 25mm Black/Cream Rustic Gingham Berisford No 10 ribbon and I coloured one of  those beautimous 14mm Acrylic Gems Aurora with a good old R59 Copic so that it matched.

Both of course from The Ribbon Girl.

 

 

I use a mixture of rolled and punched flowers and leaves with some Cream Kort & Godt Chrysanths (I popped a gem in the centre), and a White Beaded Stamen.

 

 

Here's another view.

It isn't my finest arrangement.
In fact, it's a bit of a dog's dinner, but never mind!!!

 

 

So there we have the old card for today.

Kyla had a fab day on Saturday.
They went to the pictures where they ate loads of sweets and sugar,  then they added to the sugar rush with lunch including ice cream and fizzy pop (help yourself and they sure did)  at Frankie & Bennys!!!! I guess it's the eight year old equivalent of getting a tad on the tiddly side and going for a kebab or a curry!!  Anyway they had a blast and Kyla was so excited when they brought her cake and everybody in F&Bs sang Happy Birthday to her. Emma, bless her, had them all back to her house where they played twister and watched a One Direction DVD. Then they all had tea before they went home. She (Emma)has more patience, not to mention stamina, then us!! We lasted until about 3.30pm then we came home for some peace and quiet (what a pair of BOFs we are hahaaaa!!)..

Right I'd best be orf and get me work sorted.
Enjoy your day and I'll see you very soon.

Huggiest of hugs to all xxx

A Utterly Mahoosive Indulgence

 

Morning sweet peeps and hope you are all OK today xx

This is one of those totally indulgent posts where I go all 'proud Grandma' on you so I hope you'll forgive me!!

It was Kyla's birthday yesterday - she is now 8 and I just cannot believe where the time has gone.  I have a special bond with this kid for several reasons really. Some of you will know all of this already but, I never ever thought I would be a Grandma. My eldest is sadly not able to have children and my youngest always told me she didn't ever want any.

Famous last words!!!

So when Emma told us that she was pregnant, well I was almost lost for words (almost but not quite!!). Then when she told us that her due date was 10th January, I was sooo thrilled that she was due to be born on what would have been my Mum's 73rd birthday.  But babies being what they are,  they arrive when they're good and ready so although we hoped, we didn't really expect it would happen. It was also a sad time for my eldest because a few weeks earlier, she had had another miscarriage and this was to be her last pregnancy. Life can be so cruel at times.

Emma went into labour late evening on 8th January so we kind of expected it would happen on 9th, but midnight came and went, and at 03.10am our precious little bundle finally arrived. I was there at her birth and it is one of best moments of my life, as well as being one of the scariest and I feel hugely privileged that I saw her take her first breaths. And I have always felt that she was sent to us - a gift really. There were lots of 'if onlys' especially concerning my mum and I still do feel deeply sad that she never got to share in the joy that Kyla has brought us. But you can't change these things so you just have to accept that sometimes things don't work out the way you would like them to.

Kyla has been nothing but a constant source of joy to me from the moment she took that first breath and has turned out to be a really sweet, caring, thoughtful and well mannered child (and Emma is a fantastic mum as well and her Aunty Nik is amazing with her).  She has her moments of course and is quite spirited at times but I think this will stand her in good stead when she is older. She makes friends very easily and there is a little group of 6 of them who call themselves the BFFs (bless em!!), and you never know - the may all stay friends forever. Emma has a group of friends that she had since school, and these include her best friend and her partner, so it does happen.

Kyla and Emma lived with us until she was just turned 4 and the day they left was very emotional for me.  On the one hand I was so happy to see Emma settled but I missed them so much - still do - and it was very strange not waking up hearing her singing (every morning she did this) and snuggling up after her night time bath for a last cuddle before bedtime. But she stays over lots and it's always nice when she is in residence again.

So you probably guessed that I just love this kid to bits. It's quite weird being a Grandma because grandchildren are like your own - you feel the same love for them as you would if you gave birth to them - and yet they are not your own. Not in the truest sense. You get the odd flash back as well when they do something that reminds you so much of their mum (this is especially true with little Thea) . But the good thing is that when they act up etc, you just hand them back!!! So it's the best of both worlds really.

Anyway, here's a snapshot of those last 8 years, including her first journey home form hospital, Sudocrem-gate (we still shudder), her first time out on her new bike, her first day at school and the last pic I  have of her taken at Christmas.

  

            

 

 

 

       

            

Thank you for these last wonderful 8 years sweetheart ( I wonder what the next 8 will bring). And thank you for being the best granddaughter I ever could have asked for, bless your little heart. We love you lots and lots xxx

Later on today, we are going out for lunch. Kyla and the BFFs and a few others are going to the pictures with Emma and we will have Miss Thea,  then we will go and meet up with them all.

I hope that you have a great day, whatever you are doing and thank you for bearing with me - I don't do it too often but sometimes I just can't help meself lol!!

I'll see you soon as soon and huggiets of hugs to all xxx

A Hearty Hop Hop Hop :)

 

Good morning everyone and thanks for stopping by!

Time for another Lili of The Valley design team blog hop and today we’re celebrating our first launch of 2014 - yayyyyy - and if you've come here from our lovely Becky's blog then you are in the right place.

There are 10 adorable new stamps in the set featuring the hugely popular James the Bear and some more of our newest cute characters; Jack, Patch and Puss

The stamps will be available to buy on the website from midday (UK time) on Monday 13^th January and also, the shop in Leeds is open this Saturday 10am -  4pm and you will also be able to buy them there is you are going along. If you've never been, you really are in for a treat because its chock full of stuff that just makes you want to get crafty.

So you know how it works peeps - you just need to ‘hop’ from one blog to another following the links and leave a comment on each card. As well as being in with a shot of winning the fab prize or prizes on offer, you're bound to get oodles of inspiration while you are on your travels.

Now talking of prizes, as always there's some hidden along the way. We don’t know where they are so do be sure to visit and comment on every blog - you have to be in it to win it me darlins :) 

There are 2 full sets of the new stamps to give away so 2 lucky winners will each get all 10 new designs.
That deserves a woohoo for sure.

We will let you know on Monday morning which were the ‘lucky’ blogs and the winners will be drawn at random from all the comments that were left on those blogs

Here's a list of all the blogs taking part, and remember that you will need to visit them all and leave a comment on each one to have the best chance of winning;

Ideas to Inspire
Anne
Becky
Dawny (that'll be me then!!)
Debbie
Dena
Elise
Fleur
Gretha
Jen
Kathy
Kim
Lou
Mary J
Mindy

So what did I do then?

Well I did .....

 

... this. I am so loving this cute bear and this image is James Big Heart.

He's adorable.

 

I coloured him in with these Copics -

E30, E31, E34, E35, E39, E580, R02, R17, R27, R59, YG00, YG03,YG95

I thought for a change I would paper piece the heart and the papers are all from the Country Lady paper pad. These papers have a real fabric feel to them which goes really well with this image I think.

A Magnolia lace die, some heart buttons from my stash and some beautimous Ribbon Girl  25mm Brown/Cream Rustic Gingham Berisford No 25 ribbon.

Lovely :)

So that's what I did and the next stop on the hop is the fabulous Debbie  and if you get lost you can start again at the beginning and pick the links up from there .

Finally, don’t forget to stop by the Ideas to Inspire blog on Monday morning when you can find out who the lucky winners were of the prizes before the stamps go on sale

Enjoy the hop everyone, good luck!

And if we've inspired you, why not have a go at this month's don't forget that there is the ...

... and there's a nice easy theme for January because it's

Anything Goes

Click the pic and it will take you straight there.

Have a fab day and huggiest of hugs to all xxx

Sneaky Peeky James & Giveaway News :)

 

 

Hi there sweet peeps and a very Happy New Year :)

I hope that you all had a fab time over the holidays and also that you are managing to stay safe and warm and dry with this rotten weather we're having. It's all gone a bit Pete recently, and on both sides of the Atlantic too :(

On the plus side, we can stay indoors and get the crafty stuff out, yayyy :)

So this is my first card of the year and it's also a sneaky peek - more in a sec - and over at the Papertake Weekly challenge, we have our usual first of the month

Anything Goes

theme and this week our option is to make something to celebrate something new.

So this is what I did -

The papers are from the Country Gent and Perfect Pair paper pads.

And here's where the 'new' bit comes in for the challenge cos for the image,  I used one of these .....

... from the brand new  Lili of The Valley release which goes on sale on Monday 13th January at midday - so not to long to wait.
This release features that lovable trio Jack, Patch and Puss and there's also our fave bear, James.

I went for super sweet  James Daisy and I coloured him with these Copics -

E29, E30, E31, E33, E35, Y99, YG0000, YG00, YG03, YG95

He is such an easy image to colour I think.

 

I added a few embellies which I got from The Ribbon Girl and they are -

White Kort & Godt Chrysanths (I coloured the centres orange)
Small Peach Beaded Berries
White Beaded Stamens

I also added a couple of punched flowers and some leaves made using a Memory Box Lavish Branch Die.

 

 

The big beautiful bow was made using 38mm Orange/Ivory Striped Grosgrain ribbon which I topped with a 14mm Clear Acrylic Gem (you can colour these to match your project).

There's also some Apple Green Tiny Ric Rac and 25mm Orange Delight No 42 Berisford Satin ribbon as well.

Don't you just love these colours on a miserable damp day - they're like a burst of sunshine!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Now did I mention a giveaway?

Yes, I think I did and it's over at the Ribbon Girl challenge blog :)

They have some gorgeous new bronze/brass colour charms in stock and one lucky reader can win the selection shown above. And all you have to do is leave a comment and say which 5 other charms - either silver colour or bronze/brass colour that you would choose from our website to complete your prize,  mention this give away on your blog and link to the store

(Ohh yes indeed I do!!)

The giveaway will close on Saturday 11th January and the winner will be picked at random - you can enter from anywhere in the world

Changing the subject did you see Dancing on Ice on Sunday?
Ooh wasn't Sylvain a grouchy beggar - mon dieu, how unprofessional!! Philip Schofield's comments went down like a lead balloon with him - it is clearly a touchy subject and presumably things were most definitely not right at home  - and he looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights. That was quickly followed by a well hacked off  look and it looked like he was wondering how in the hell he was going to solve a problem like Maria!!

Oh well, if you live by the sword then I guess you die by it as well.

Right I'll stop being an old gossip (oh I say, slap slap) and go and get some work done.

Keep your eyes peeled for some more LOTV DT sneak peeks this week and I'll be back here soon as soon.
Have the best day and huggiest of new year hugs to all xxx

Merry Christmas :)

 

Good day possums and I hope that you are all OK and all ready for tomorrow.
I THINK I am now apart from a bit of last minute wrapping.

This is the last Christmas offering of the year and it's also my card for the last challenge of the year over at Papertake Weekly. Apols that the picture is a bit wonky or it may possibly be the way I hung it up to take the pic (I promise that I hadn't been on the sherry when I took it!!).

Those of you who came on the last workshop will recognise this as it was one of our projects :)

 

So the picture at the top is actually the middle section and I used a Memory Box die ....

...this one here.

I got it from the Lili of the Valley shop but you can get them all over the place.

 

 

For the top section I used an image from  Art Pad 13 - 'Tis the Season and just added some glitter etc.
You can't really tell from this pic but there is a lot of dimension going on!!.

The papers are from a LOTV Simple Joys paper pad and this is what I used ....

 

... for the bottom section.

I made the tree out of strips of paper starting at 1/2" and going up to 3"

Once again, sorry about the awful pics peeps but the colour of the wall where I hung it really beggars up the photos and casts shadows all over the place, grrrr!!!

Before I go, have you seen that there is a challenge for kids over at The Ribbon Girl Blog? I think it's a smashing idea to keep the little darlings from getting bored and it's open until 9pm (UK time) on Saturday 28th December. Check out the link above for the deets.

Right that's it and me and my stonker of a cold are off.
Happy Christmas to all, have a lovely time and I'll be back in a day or so.

Huggiest of hugs to all xxx

No, You're NOT Seeing Things!!!!

Good morning my sweet peeps and I hope that all is well with you today.

I realise that a lot of you will be in complete and utter shock cos I have actually posted a card lol. I will have to fess up though cos I coloured the image for last week's challenge but then work / life etc got in the way and I didn't manage to put it together in time.

So I carried to forward to this week's Papertake Weekly Challenge where our theme is

Last Christmas...... ... Card of the Year

So what did el Piggy do then?

 

I did this fairly simple card and I used Papertake sketch #82.

The image is Snowball Fight and features our fave Jack, Patch & Puss from Lili of The Valley and I coloured it with these Copics -

E30, E31, E33, E34, E35. E39, R054, R17, R27, R59, Y17, YR04, YR17, YR38

and then I added  some glitter - not like me at all I know!! 

 

The sentiment is from the Sentiments to Fit Scroll set and the papers are from Country Gent and Country Lady paper pads

I also punched some snowflakes using a Martha Stewart snowflake punch and covered them with glitter - not that you can see it in the pic here though :(

 

 

It looks like things are quietening down a bit here now I am pleased to say because phew, it's been a bit on the mad side with one thing and another. So I am planning a few crafty days here and there and hopefully I'll get to have a play with my new bits and bobs (and maybe Santa will bring me something nice as well!!). So hopefully I will be on here a bit more often than I have been these last few months which I am looking forward to doing. Plus I'm just about to take delivery of a new tripod for my camera so you never know, there may be a video tutorial or two appearing, if I can work out how to do it!!!

Right I best be off but just before I go, this is just a quick reminder that the closing date for voting in the ...

British Craft Awards

closes at 11.59pm on Friday 20th December and everyone who votes will automatically be entered into a prize draw to win one of three prizes of a year's worth of craft goodies (a prize a month for 12 months).

So if you haven't cast your votes, don't forget to nip over and check it out.

Lili of The Valley are up for a couple of awards as is yours truly here (I still cannot quite believe it) and if you've already voted for us, then hugest of thanks because every vote is greatly appreciated.

Right, have the bestest day and I'll hopefully see you soon if not sooner.

Huggiest of hugs to all xxx