Merry Christmas

Hi everyone.

Sorry it's been a while....I've been working so hard, I've hardly had a minute to think.  I'm going to make a conscious effort to be a better crafter/blogger in the new year.  I've let things take me away from what I really love doing, and I miss all you guys, so I'm coming back.

Anyway before I do I want to end this year on a high, and wish you all a very Merry Christmas.  I am eagerly awaiting the birth of my fourth grandchild.  He's already ten days late, but it looks like it could be within the next 24 hours now, so I'm really excited.  I'm crossing my fingers for my lovely son and daughter-in-law, and praying that everything goes well for them.

I'll post some pics when the baby finally arrives, then I'll be starting some projects in the new year.  No doubt some of them will contain baby photos. 

The photo is from part of my Christmas tree this year.  It's only a small tree (3ft), but I love the decorations which were all new this year.

Take care

Hi there.

For the past year I've been attending a local dance class specialising in UK Smooth, and run by Mr Dave Plummer.  It's a most enjoyble pastime, and good excercise as well as great fun.

So when I had a recent house party, I invited along some of my dancing buddies, along with Mr P the choreographer.  Here's a little video of us at my house.  It's a bit close and you can't see a full length shot, but you can see how much fun we're having.

Enjoy.....

Thanks for watching

Truly Scrumptious Challenge 44

Hello everyone.

It's been a while since I posted a card, so apologies for that...I've been busy with non-crafty stuff, and then I was ill, so no crafting for a while.

BUT...

Now I'm back with a fantastic challenge from Truly Scrumptious.  We have a fab sketch with the optional challenge of including petals, pins or pearls.   So with this in mind, I've used pearls and petals, but alas no pins.

The photo's not that good as I took my shots after dark, but at least you can get the idea.

My gorgeous little image is by CC Designs, and I just love it.   This card is only 4" x 4" so it's quite small, but perfectly formed...I hope you'll agree.   All the papers, cardstock and inks are from Stampin' Up!, and the image is coloured with Copic's. 

If you want to have a go at our challenge, then pop on over to the Truly Scrumptious challenge blog where you find all the details. 

Final Note On Stampin' Up!

I do love Stampin' Up! products, but for now I had decided to step down from my demoship.  I have other things going on which means I don't have enough time to do everything I want to.  I may go back in the future, and I will still keep using SU products as I do believe in them.  Thank you to all those that supported me during the last year.

Mmmmmm.....never been good with excercise or diets. Hate that I've piled on the pounds tho.

Walking the dogs, standing up all day at work rather than sitting, and dancing has helped to shed a few lumps and bumps.

Forgot I have one of those 'sit up' rocker thingys, you know, it's supposed to make sit ups easier!!! We found it when we cleared the shed out, cold and shivering, unused, and unloved, covered in spiders webs aaaahhhhh. I'm making friends with it now, in the hope of being a nifty fifty. Wish me luck. xx

Truly Scrumptious Challenge 41

Hello everyone, and welcome to my blog.

If you've been here before, thanks for coming to see me again, and if this is your first time, have a good look around, I hope you enjoy what you see.

Now on to this weeks challenge with Truly Scrumptious.  We have another great sketch, with the option of using blue and green.  So that means another card from me very much in the same style as the previous one. 

Another great image from Kenny K.  I'm just loving these images.  They're so versatile and very different to any others out there.  I coloured the image using my Copic markers, and I used stamps from Stampin' Up!, Magnolia and The Stamp Man.

The glitter is from Stampin' Up! and the flowers from Prima.  I added a couple of flower gem centres, and a diamante gem on the necklace.  

Why not pop over to Truly Scrumptious to see what the rest of the design team have done.   Then perhaps you'd like to join in with us, you could win our fantastic prize.

Take care, and thanks for visiting me today.

Sketch Saturday week 119

Hi everyone

Well it's my day off today, so I thought I'd have a little 'me time' and spend a couple of hours crafting.  It's so long since I've really joined in with any challenges so I thought I'd go on a little search for one to keep me busy today. 

So I decided to join in with the Sketch Saturday one.  It's a fabulous sketch, and as it's my daughters 17th birthday this Wednesday I thought I'd better make a card for her.

So here it is:

I've used one of the images from Kenny K.  This one's called Mad Skillz and I love it.  I think it's perfect for teenagers, and since my daughter Sophie loves to sing, then I'm sure she'll love it too.  I downloaded and coloured it in last night, and went a little off course with the eye shadow...oops.

I love these Tiny Tags stamps from Stampin' Up! too, along with the punch, they're great bunched together like this.  I saw this idea on  Sarah's Card Oasis blog .  Thanks for this fabulous idea Sarah.

 

I made the flower with layers punched from the retro flower punch, then I inked and glittered the edges of the petals. It is quite bulky, so I'm going to make a box to put the card into.

Please leave a comment if you wish and thanks for taking the time to visit me today.  Happy crafting.

Truly Scrumptious Challenge 40

Hi everyone

It's another happy Wednesday and time for another challenge from Truly Scrumptious.  Along with our sketch you have the opportunity to include a know somewhere in your design.

I've gone with a pink and green theme today and made a card possibly for someone who has done well with a driving test.

I'm loving this l'il Beetle.  What an iconic car.  I'm also loving lime green at the moment.  My laptop is lime green, and I'd love a lime green car, so as I can't afford one I thought I'd make this card instead. 

Here you can see the windscreen and headlights are glossed over with Glossy Accents.   The colouring is done with Copic markers and the large flowers are from Prima, with small roses from in the centre.

Why not have a look at what the rest of the design team have created for the challenge, and if you have a go yourself you could win a fabulous prize.

Thanks for taking the time to visit me today, and happy crafting.

Hi all and I hope you have enjoyed the weekend.

I've been to Sir Stampalot today, to see my friend Chris who was demonstrating with some Christmas goodies. She had on show the most wonderful advent calender creation. I'll be making one very soon, so watch this space. I also managed to catch up with a few other friends too including Crafty Lou, Fleur, Bridgette, Louise and Amanda (get that blog going girl), (apologies if I've missed anyone out).  It was so great to see you again girls.

Now my reason for posting today is to show another one of my photo sessions, albeit a very short one.  I captured a beautiful dragonfly that landed in my garden today.   I Sprinted inside to get my camera, and this is what I got.

I just love these close-up photos.  Aren't they fabulous creatures....a little ugly sometimes, but beautiful and wonderous in other ways.

I've had a great day today, so thank you to everyone who has made it special, and thanks to you for taking the time to visit me.

Take care.

Wall Hanging Book

Hi there. 

Hope you're all ok and enjoying some crafty time.  I've certainly been busy this week.  You may have seen the photo's I posted of my daughter Sophie & her best friend Becca a few days ago.  Well I loved the photos so much, I decided I needed to do something with them other than view them on my laptop.  So I decided to put together a little collection.

I didn't know whether to make a book or some sort of wall hanging.  So I decided to make a hanging that would fold down into quite a small kind of book, each page only measures 4 1/2" x 3 1/2".   I wanted to incorporate some stamping, and here's where I used that Perfect Pearls mica power I mentioned in the last post.  You can just see it shining gold very sparingly.  But it just catches the light and adds something extra.

I linked the pages together with jewellery jump rings so it folds down quite easily.  I'm very pleased with the result.

The cardstock is from Stampin' Up!.  The stamps are by Stampin' Up! Hero Arts and Stampendous.  The flowers are by Prima.  Thank you for looking.

Visage

Hi all

Hope you're all enjoying the weekend. It's lovely and sunny here in Peterborough at the moment, which is a joy.  I've got a little gardening on my agenda for later, but now I have a card to show you. 

The stamp was a free one from the September issue of Craft Stamper and comes from The Stamp Man.  I love it, it's so sophisticated.  I've been doing another project using these colours, as well as Perfect Pearls mica powder in gold, so as I already had them out I thought I'd might as well use them.  I think they work a treat.

This photo shows the beauty of the gold mica much better.  I highlighted the eyes with an opaque white gel pen to add a little life to them.  I used a little sheer organza ribbon wrapped around the image to add a little mystery.  I am pleased with the result.  Have you made any cards with free stamps?  Thanks for looking.

Photoshoot

Hiya

I just thought I'd share a few photo's of my daughter Sophie and her best friend Becca. I took these last weekend at our city park. The girls wanted a photoshoot that they could look back on and share memories of their friendship in years to come.  Here's just a few of the 500+ shots I took.

There was rather a lot, but I hope you'll forgive me.  I still love my Canon camera.  It's one of the best investments ever....memories to treasure forever,  Thanks for looking.

Truly Scrumptious Challenge 39

Hi everyone, I hope you are well.

We have another fab sketch challenge for you over at Truly Scrumptious this week. There is the option for use buttons, brads or bows if you wish.

So without further ado, here is my design team card:

This card is obviously for a man called John, who is going to be 60.  It's actually a comission.  I'm not too good at mens cards, I always struggle to find something appropriate, but I hope this is ok.  The photo's are not too good this time, I think the lower light levels don't help now the days are getting shorter. 

So my main supplies are from Stampin' Up! and as you can see the colours all match.   I used the stamp set On A Pedestal.   The cardstock and ink colours are Old Olive, More Mustard and Not Quite Navy.  Good mens colours I think. 

Why not pop over to Truly scrumptious and take a look at the rest of the design team cards, and see what you could win if you enter our challenge this time.

Take care.

Sending Donkey Smiles.

Hi everyone.  Hope you area all well.

It's been a while since I joined in with a challenge blog just for fun, but I thought it was about time I got myself back in the game.  When I started to look at the current challenges going on, one in particular grabbed my attention, and for a very good reason.

Over at A Spoon Full Of Sugar they've been having a card drive for Michelle after a tragic accident which resulted in the loss of an eye for her.  The challenge actually officially ends today, so I thought I'd just about squeeze this little design in.

The cute little donkey image was produced by two of the Whimsy Stamp articts as a freebie for this very special challenge.  In return for this very generous gesture, they have set up a facility via Paypal whereby you can make a donation to help with the mounting medical costs that Michelle is facing.  This tragedy will obviously change her life dramatically, so please take a look at how you can help.

I used alcohol markers to colour the image, and all the cardstock is from Stampin' Up! as is the background stamped flowers and the '4 You' sentiment stamp. 

If you would like any information about Stampin' Up! or would like to order any products, I will be happy to help.  Just drop me an email at afewstampsmore@btinternet.com

Take care now, and thank you for visiting.

Truly Scrumptious Challenge 37

Hi all, hope you are well.

Are you ready for another Truly Scrumptious challenge?  Well before I show you my card, I'd like to welcome Mandy, Lisette and Debbie to our design team, I hope you join me in welcoming them.  Thanks to everyone else who joined our design team call, I wish you every success in the future. 

Now on to the challenge.  This week we have a sketch from our lovely Dawn.  You have the additional option of using something recycled on your card too.  There is a fabulous prize up for grabs so why not pop along to the Truly Scrumptious Challenge Blog and take a look at the rest of the design teams work for inspiration.

Here's my card:

I downloaded one of the images from the fabulous Kenny K.  These are fab, funky images, really current and young.  I love them, they're great for young people.  I coloured the images with alcohol markers, and used designer papers on a background of Brocade Blue from Stampin' Up!

I used a little Crystal Effects on the ice-cream to make it look even mouth-wateringly delicious, then sprinkled a little Dazzling Diamonds glitter into it.  Yum Yum.

My re-cycled part is the little beaded dangly charm.  This came from an old Avon necklace I bought several years ago.  I always felt it was too short and never wore it.  It's perfect in it's new position.

I'm very pleased with how this card turned out.  If you would like to know more about my design, or would like any information about Stampin' Up! please feel free to contact me.  Many thanks for visiting, and happy crafting.  

Hi all

I do hope you are all enjoying your weekend.  It's been ages since I had a truly crafty weekend, but that's just what I'm doing this time.  As I work full time, have a family, pets, dance, and run classes and Stampin' Up! workshops, I've been finding it very difficult to fit everything in that I'd like to do.  You know, some quality 'me' time.  So I decided this weekend, would be for me. 

My middle son has now left home, so I have a spare room.  Well guess what....it's not spare now.  Yep, I've been turning it into a much needed craft and chill out room for myself.  I've been busy cleaning, painting, looking for storage (Ikea here I come) and surfing all your blogs to pinch the best ideas.  I just have to go out and buy the furniture now.  I'll post some photos when it's all done, so others can pinch my ideas too.

But for now, I've set up home, moved my craft stuff in, and as much spare storage that I have, my small tv/dvd player, ipod and docking station, and I'm as happy as a 'pig in muck'.  It's still in a mess, but at least it free's the dining table up. 

So on to my card.  I was asked to make a card for a colleagues sister.  It'll be her 60th birthday soon.  Now I do like making special cards, but sometimes find it difficult 'fill' a large card.  I turned to the very talented Kath for some inspiration, by visiting her blog.  Well she had an amazing 60th birthday card on there, which gave me the start for my card.  So thank you Kath, you're an amazing crafty inspiration.

 I've used a mixture of flower images, stamped in Stampin' Up! ink.  The colours are More Mustard, Creamy Caramel, and Apricot Appeal.  The cardstock is from Stampin' Up! too.  The text background is En Francais from SU and is embossed with white embossing powder.  The card base is Blush Blossom.  I love this effect just using stamps and no designer paper, something I'm not always comfortable doing.  But thanks to all those who inspire, especially the aforementioned Kath.

Have a good day, and thanks for visiting.