Sunday Sketch & Stamp Birthday Blog Hop!!!

Morning! I hope you've all remembered that the clocks went back an hour last night - I never like losing an hour but at least the night's will be a bit lighter now and that means that summer's coming!!!
There's a new challenge today over at Sunday Sketch and Stamp and because we've reached the huge milestone of 200 sketches, we decided to have a bit of a celebration with a blog hop, some special guests and lots of prizes.
We've made cards using any of the past sketches and I used Sketch # 195:

and here's the card I made with it:

The sketch is there - under all those embellies! I've used a Magnolia image (watercoloured with DIs) and papers, a Whimsy sentiment stamp, the lace, charm, envelope and corner are all from Live and Love Crafts, the flowers are Wild Orchid Crafts and I've used two Magnolia Doohickey dies, and an Impression Obssession die as well as the usual Spellbinders, plus gems, etc from my stash. Hope you like it!

Now for those of you taking part in the hop, you should've arrived here from the wonderful Pops, (if you didn't, you need to go back to the challenge blog and start at the beginning). Make sure you leave me a comment in case there's a prize hidden here and now you need to carry on hopping over to:

LOUISE

Enjoy the rest of the hop and the rest of your weekend. Bye for now.................xx

Fun at the Beach!

Morning! It's time for a reminder of Janine's sketch over at the Friday Sketch Challenge - here's my card:

 

I must admit to being really pleased with the way this one turned out, not only did I have the perfect papers (and matching flower) - Prima by the way - for this super cute image from Pollycraft, which I've coloured with Promarkers and Speccies. I also got to use some of the shells that I collected on the beach earlier on in the year when we went away to the Isle of Sheppey!! I've also added a sentiment from Whimsy Stamps and some webby stuff (don't know the correct name for it!) from Bunny Zoe's. It was one of those cards that just came together! I hope you like it too - and don't forget to join in with the challenge, there's still a week left.

I'm also going to enter my card into the Pinspirational Challenge (photo inspiration), Digi Haven's sea life challenge, and Daring Cardmakers 'Life's a Beach'!

Bye for now..........Mxx

Blue.......again?

Morning! There's a new challenge starting today over at Sunday Sketch and Stamp and this week, I decided to make it a 'Pick a Sketch' week, which means you can use any sketch from our past challenges that you want! I used Sketch #158, which I'd designed but then hadn't got around to working with - here's my card:

I've used the cutest Sylvia Zet Wee Stamps digital image, coloured with Promarkers/Spectrum Noirs. The papers are Maja Design's Vintage Spring Basics - love, love, love these papers!! The sentiment stamp is Whimsy, the smaller blue flowers are Kort and Godt and the rest of the flowers are Wild Orchid Crafts. I've also added lace and pearls from my stash and a bark heart, which I painted with crackle paint, from Live and Love Crafts. And yes, my card's blue again - I can see a bit of a theme developing here!!
I'm also going to enter my card into the Alphabet Challenge - L is for Lace, Card Makin' Mamas - Monochromatic Challenge, Inspire Me Fridays - Anything Goes, Dutch Dare Card Challenge - Floral Frenzy, Crafting for all Seasons - Challenge #56 Bingo (Flowers, Digi Image, Pearls), Deep Ocean Challenge - #56 Blue and I think that's it!
I hope you like my card, thanks for visiting and any comment you might leave - and don't forget to join in over at Sunday Sketch and Stamp!  TTFN................xxx

Tilda with Peanut - Friday Sketch Challenge reminder!

Hi Everyone. Did you all have a fun Halloween? We really don't celebrate it here like those of you in the US, but it does seem to be growing in popularity. And for those of you whose children have been off school this week, I hope you've been able to keep the kids entertained!! I was very lucky because my mum took Sam down to the coast to see her sister from Saturday to Tuesday, which gave us all a bit of a break - and gave me the chance to get some sorting out of my crafty stash and of course, some crafting done!!
Anyway, back to the reason for my post!! You might have noticed from the post title that today is the day for the reminder post to appear over at the Friday Sketch Challenge, which means you've got another week to join in. It also means I've got some very exciting news to share......I'm on the DT over there! And so, here's my first DT card:

Ingredients:

Image - Magnolia Tilda with Peanut watercoloured with Distress Inks.

Papers - Magnolia 'Turning Leaves' collection.

Sentiment - Whimsy stamps.

Metal Corner - Wild Orchid Crafts painted with Picket Fence Crackle Paint.

Dies - MFT Die-namics 'Upsy Daisy', 'Prima Donna Petals', Whimsy Stamps 'Postage Stamp' die and Memory Box 'Dragonfly'.

Other - Orange card from DCWV, Bazzill Basics Kraft card, Gems from stash and Imaginisce Distressing Tool to distress all the edges of the orange card.

So - what do you think of my Distress Ink watercoloring? I've been practicing - alot! So, I really hope you can see an improvement?!? I love this image of Tilda with her little rat - something you might not know about me is that I used to keep rats. At one point, we had 7 of them - mostly named after Buffy characters LOL!
I'm also going to enter my card into the first challenge over at the Marvellous Magnolia Challenge blog (Anything Goes) and into Midweek Magnolia Challenge #35 - Anything Goes.
Right, I think that's it from me. I really hope you like my card. Thanks for popping by...........hugs xxxx

Autumn Colours

Evening! Sorry I've not been around for a bit, I've been a sickly child! I won't go into it too much, but it involved an infection and some IV antibiotics.
Here's a card I made to join in with the sketch challenge over at Sketch and Stash Challenge:

Ingredients:

Image - Magnolia Tilda coloured with Spectrum Noirs.

Papers - Raspberry Road.

Die Cut - Leafy Branch by Memory Box.

Flowers - Wild Orchid Crafts.

Sentiment - Whimsy Stamps.

Other - Twine from WRMK, Leaf charm from Duck Pond Crafts, Brown card - Bazzill Basics, Leaf punch and pearls from stash.

I hope you've all been keeping well, I'll get round to visit you over the next few days. Back tomorrow...........xx

Best Dress

Hello again! Can you believe it's the 1st of July? Where on earth has this year gone? I can't believe that I need to start thinking about making Christmas cards again soon (yes, I know it's still only July but I'm determined to change the habit of a lifetime and make a start on them much earlier this year!!) Anyways, back to the matter in hand! Cos it's the first of the month, it's time for a new challenge over at the Cupcake Craftroom. This month, the team had the most fabulous 'Flourish' papers to work with - you really must check them out because not only are the designs gorgeous but the soft colour tones are right up my alley too!!! And the theme this month is a nice easy one for you all too.....'Lots of Layers'. Here's my card:

Ingredients:

Image - Lili of the Valley coloured with Spectrum Noirs.

Papers - 'Flourish' Cupcake Cards and Crafts.

Sentiment - Whimsy stamps.

Flowers - Woodware (large green one), Wild Orchid Crafts (all the others!)

Punches/Dies - Whimsy mini postage stamp die, Memory Box Madera corner, MS butterfly punch.

Other - Whitewash coredinations cardstock, Making Memories distressing tool, Pearls from stash.

Isn't this little girl just the absolute cutest?!?! I do love this colour combo - I have said it before....the saying goes 'blue and green should never be seen' but I think it looks pretty darned good together! I have scuffed up all the edges using my distressing tool but looking at the pic, I'm not sure you can see it too well (it might if you enlarge it?!)

I'm also going to enter my card into the following challenges:

• Graphicat Sketches - Challenge #11.
• Lili's Little Fairies - 'A little bit distressed'.
• The Ribbon Girls - July 'Girlie Cards'.
• Chocolate, Coffee and Cards - Challenge #16 'Anything Goes'.
• Fairy-tale Challenge blog - Challenge #44 'Soft Colour Tones'.
• Dutch Dare - Challenge #171 Flutterby Butterfly.

Right, I think that's all from me for today - I think two posts in one day is enough, eh!?! I hope you like my card, I love reading any comments you might choose to leave, so thanks in advance! And don't forget to hop over to the Cupcake Craftroom to check out the other gorgeous DT cards and join in with the challenge, you've got a whole month!! Bye for now...............xx

Evening!I think everyone was so busy enjoying the jubilee weekend that no-one put the post up on the
Sunday Sketch and Stamp blog. Thankfully, Gry came along to save the day! Here's my card:

Ingredients:

Image - Sugar Nellie coloured with Spectrum Noirs with glitter on the wings.

Papers - My Mind's Eye.

Doily Die - Cheery Lynn.

Sentiment - Whimsy.

Flowers - Wild Orchid Crafts.

Also used: Paper lace tape and gems from stash.

I must apologise for going missing again - the news from my aunt's PET scan wasn't good, I'm afraid and my family have been going through a really hard time - and a huge thanks to those of you who left me some really touching comments - I can't thank you enough for being so supportive, it means the world. I don't want to go into it too much at the moment because we've come away for a week to try and take our minds off of it, so I'm trying not to upset myself. Anyway, I hope you like my card and I hope you've all had a good weekend. Bye for now..........xx

Stay Strong xx

Good Morning! There's a new challenge starting today over at My Mum's Craft Shop Challenges and this week, we want to see your 'Feeling Blue/Get Well Soon' creations. Here's mine:

Ingredients:

Image - Milk Coffee digital images (coloured with Spectrum Noirs).

Papers - First Edition.

Sentiment - Whimsy.

Other - Martha Stewart flower punch and pearls from The Hobby House (@Ally Pally).

The image is actually called 'Celine Praying' and I've used the 'Stay Strong' sentiment because my family have had quite a bit of bad news over the last couple of weeks - one of my aunt's, who dealt with mouth cancer fairly soon after I had my own battle with cancer, has found some lumps in her neck and following initial tests, has been told that her cancer is back. She's up at the hospital today actually, having a PET scan to find out how far it's spread and then they'll make some decisions about what treatment she can have. And also, one of my uncle's - he hasn't been well for quite a few weeks, he was having problems with his throat and finding it hard to eat. At first, the GP told him it was some sort of infection and gave him some medication which seemed to help a bit but after the problem didn't go away, he went back to the doctors, who sent him to the hospital for tests. They were looking at his throat and also his stomach, so you can imagine our shock when the diagnosis came back - he's got lung cancer. For those of you so inclined, if you could keep them in your prayers, I would really appreciate it. I know that this dreadful disease touches so many people's lives but up until 2006, I hadn't really felt so affected by it and then of course, I found out I had thyroid cancer but it seems like ever since, everyone we hear about that is ill, has it in one form or another. I know that they've made alot of advances in the treatment of cancer but I hope that one day they find a cure. And I must also say that if any of you ever find a lump, be in it your breast or neck or anywhere there didn't used to be one!! Please, please go and get it checked out - you never know, it could save your life!!
And on that note, I'll be off for now. Back soon, take care my lovelies...............xxx