I love my Postman xxx

Good morning,
How is everyone today.  I noticed that I have a couple of new followers so I'd like to welcome them to my Blog.  Thanks for taking the time to read my ramblings, hope you enjoy them. Also thanks to everyone for their lovely comments on yesterday's post.  It's always a pleasure reading what you guys think. 

No sunshine this morning here in Douglas (that should please Deborah - lol).  But the Postman did brighten my day by pushing a small parcel through the letterbox.  Ooh what goodies could it be today ??.......   It was from Simon Says Stamp,  my prize for being an April winner over at Tim Holtz 12 Tags - yeah! well done Me! (check out his blog here  Tim's Tags ).  I was sent a $25 voucher to spend on what I wanted and this is what I decided on - eventually! 

There was so much to choose from, should I go for scrapbooking papers, gorgeous Prima embellies, rubber stamps, the list goes on (and on).   In the end I decided I had to add to my ever growing Tim stash.  I've been looking for the Bird Branch die for a while but everywhere has been out of stock over in the UK, and the stamps are the new 'Words for Thought' which were launched at CHA earlier this year. Thank you again to Tim and Mario, I still haven't got over being a winner.  And thanks to everyone at Simon Says, great website, easy to order and speedy delivery.  Definitely one place I would shop again.

Off to do a few household chores before settling down in my craft room this afternoon.  Well, I have to try out my new stash don't I!

Thanks for popping by

Linda

x

It's good to be back!

Hi everyone,
What another glorious day it is here in the Isle of Man.  We still have lovely blue skies however there are a few fluffy white clouds about today.  Hope it's still sunny where you are.
It's so nice to be getting back into the routine of things.  Finally, everything is settling down now after the move, and I'm getting back to normal.
After doing Tim's Tag at the weekend it's got me in the mood to start doing some Blog challenges again.  I've really missed doing these -  3 weeks I've been gone. Have you missed me?!  Well, I'm back!

First up is  ........

 It's Week 69 over at Less is More, and it's a 'Recipe' LIM  This is the challenge ......

We have a very simple recipe this week and that is simply to make a card which is

NOT A SQUARE

nor a rectangle for that matter.

What we're really trying to say is that we want a shaped card.

Here's my entry and it's definitely not a square.  It is however a little 'more' that I normally do for this challenge, I hope it's ok.    

I must say I tried a few different shapes but I wasn't happy with any of them.  Things just weren't going according to plan this morning.  Then I remembered that I'd seen a card in the Gallery on the Craftwork Cards Website  take a look here  I spotted it some time ago and loved the design, so here's my version.

definitely not a square

I cut the card blank using the largest of my circle Nestabilities.  Take a piece of folded cardstock, not too thick or you won't get a clean cut.  Lay the nestie with one edge just over the fold, so that it won't cut this bit, and put through your die-cutting machine as normal.   You can do this with most of the Nestie shapes and you'll end up with a lovely shaped card blank.  Even better if you have the Grand Nesties and the Grand Calibur machine (I don't unfortunately), because then you can do large shaped cards.  For this one though I like the smaller size, at the tallest point it's just over 41/2  inches - cute or what! It makes a change for me too, as I don't usually do small cards.  It does fit nicely into a 5x5 envelope, so no problem posting it.

I cut a large scalloped circle in deep pink Bazzill cardstock and mat another white cirlce on top, this hopefully gives me enough white space.  I attached this to the front of my card and it hides the straight bit on the fold.  I trimmed a little off the bottom to give a straight edge so that the card would stand up. 

The sentiment is from a well used Penny Black clear set, and I did a little bit of faux stitching around the edge, and some white dots on the scallops.

The flowers were cut from scraps of paper I found in my bit box, using 2 different sizes of the EK Success Retro Flower punch.  I love these punches, it's such a pretty, simple flower shape that you can layer up if you want to, or just use the one as I have done.  And the punches will cut through card too - bonus!!  I cut double the amount of flowers and stuck 2 together to make them a little stronger so that I could curl the edges over.  I added a piece of card candi to the centres then attached them to the card with a dot of silicone glue.  You can see I placed some of them over the edge to change the shape of the card a little.  The little leaves are cut with a Martha Stewart punch.

I enjoyed this challenge once everything came together.  I should do more shaped cards I think, they make a nice change. 

Thank you for popping by.  I hope to be back again before the weeks out.  I have something that I'm itching to start on.  Here's a sneak peek .........

It's something I found when we were looking around the garden centre at the weekend, it just needs altering a little???  I'll keep you posted.

Bye for now

Linda

x

Tim's Tag done and the TT Races start

Hello from a beautiful sunny Isle of Man,
I'm guessing the weather is just as nice where you are, I hope it is anyway.  We're certainly having a lovely bank holiday weekend, and the 2012 TT races have got off to a good start.
Practice week started last night and now that we've moved, we're not far from the start line. We can hear the noise of the bikes when we're in the garden.  Christopher and I had a walk down there last night to take a look at what was going on.

Now I'm not really into motorbikes but the TT is massive over here.  Last year, we'd only been on the island a matter of a few days when it all started.  Stephen was lucky enough to win 2 VIP tickets for Senior Race day in a raffle at work.  We had a great day with food and drinks thrown in.  We got seats up on the Grandstand right over the pit area, access to the tower where all the press etc., go.  Start line access at the beginning of the races which was fun, and we could even go around the paddock area where all the bikes were being prepped.  Unfortunately he didn't win any this year but as we're so close to the startline now we may just wander down there.

I've had some well deserved me time today and I've finally managed to do my version of Tim's Tag for May. 12 Tags 0f 2012   Well, I couldn't not find time to do this months seeing as I was one of the lucky winners in April.  I still can't quite believe that.  I've had so many fantastic comments from all over.  Thank you all so much for taking the time to visit my blog, I really do appreciate it.  I've had over 900 views on that particular post which is just incredible!!

Here's this months offering, I took the picture outside because it was such a nice day, but I think I've lost some of the colours, see what you think. I hope you like it ...........

Tim's 12 Tags - May

As usual I didn't have all the products that Tim used but I got there in the end.  I really enjoyed doing this one and I think it's become my current favourite.
I started off following Tim, except that I stamped in a grey ink.  I also decided to stamp the dress form again in a different colour, I went for Rose Red ink from Stampin Up! I cut off the bottom bit and added some pretty green tulle with fabric roses to make a skirt, and I tied a little tulle around the waist for a belt.  I attached this over the top of the stamped dress form with a dot of silicone glue to add dimension.  I love this colour combination, reminds me of summer (goes with the weather we're having), and I managed to find some bits of seam binding that matched.  I knotted them together with a piece of the same in cream.
I hadn't got any mini coathangers but I did find in my trinket box, a sewing machine charm which I added to the side with an Idea-ology clip.

My paper roses are not exactly like the ones on Tim's tag, I don't have the melt pot.  I did try using a home-made foil tray and some UTEE but I wasn't happy with the results so I had a re-think.  In the back of a drawer I found a bottle of liquid embossing ink that I'd had forever and decided to give that a try.  I poured some onto my craft sheet and dipped the flowers into the ink, then used clear embossing powder over the top and heated.  The results were ok, not as shiny as using UTEE but I quite liked the effect.

I cut the bobbin in grunge board, from the Sewing Room Alterations die, inked it with Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink and wound some thread around it.  Used it to form the vase for the roses, added a couple of pins and a little piece of knotted seam binding to finish it all off.

It's a lot more girly than Tim's tag, (again!) but I think it's very ME.

Thanks for popping by.  I'm off now to enjoy the last of the afternoon sunshine, before cooking dinner.  Tidying the mess in my craft room can wait until tomorrow.

Bye for now

Linda

x

Sneak peeks as promised

Good morning and Happy Friday everyone,
And what a gorgeous day it is here in the Isle of Man.  I can definitely get used to this weather.  The birds are singing, the sun is shining and I just have one more sample to make this morning then the rest of the day is mine. I think a good book, a cheeky glass of something chilled, and the afternoon spent in the sun.  Sounds perfect. We're off out for dinner this evening so I don't even have to cook!

More craft stuff arrived yesterday, this is what my lovely postman brought me .......

You know what it's like, stuff you just have to have but you've no idea what you're going to do with it.  I'll think of something I'm sure.  The 12x12 Ledger Pad from Prima I just had to have.  It's gorgeous!!   And I thought I'd give some Washi Tape a try.  You'll see what I come up with no doubt.

As promised yesterday, here are a few sneaky peeks of what I've been up to this week.  I can't show the full pictures as the new stamps haven't been on air yet so here's just a tease.  They are rather lovely though, they're from Stamp Addicts shop online and they'll be on Create and Craft next Thursday.

 

I suppose I need get on and make that final card. It shouldn't take long, I know exactly what I'm going to do.  Makes a change as I'm usually struggling for ideas at this stage, the last one usually takes the longest time to make. 

Thanks for popping by today.  Have a lovely weekend, enjoy the sunshine. 

It's going to be busy on the island for the next two weeks - the TT starts tomorrow.  Lots of motorbikes and guys in leather!  We were there last year, on Senior Race Day, and it was fun, even though I had no idea what was going on.  I'll keep you posted on this years events.

Bye for now

Linda

x

Busy, busy, busy.

Morning everyone,
What a busy week again.  It's not too bad though, everything is going acccording to plan - so far.
I managed to get the house tidy at the weekend and the last of the removal boxes out - yeah!  However, we had to start all over again last night when Christopher arrived home from Uni.  How can he possibly gather so much stuff in 2 years!?  The hall was full of suitcases, boxes, shoes ??  and in true student fashion lots of plastic carrier bags.  First things first though, we had to sort his TV and XBox out, and find a home for his guitars.   At least he didn't come home with a load of dirty washing, he'd already done all that.  Apparently it just needs ironing!!! I'll try showing him where the iron lives, shall I.
It is nice to have him home for a while though.

I'm loving this gorgeous weather.  Trying to make the most if it while it lasts, it may not be around for long.  I think I deserve some time sat in the garden today, or maybe a BBQ this evening would be nice ...... hmm

I thought you might like to see where I spend some of my time.  This is my new craft room.  It's a bit smaller than my last one so it's been a bit of a challenge to get everything in, I managed it though.

ooh ...... is that a sneaky peek of the new stamps I'm using

I'm still moving stuff around and changing my mind where I want things but on the whole it's not bad.  I have a lovely workspace in front of the window giving me loads of natural light and this time of year I can be in there quite late.  And all my die cutting stuff had it's own place behind me. Just need to get some more storage boxes for my dies.

These pictures were taken at the weekend, the room is not as tidy as this today, there's stuff everywhere.  I've spent quite a bit of time in here this week doing Design Team samples for Stamp Addicts.  I can't share just yet, but I will put some sneak peeks on here over the weekend.  I've had quite a few stamps to work with this time and they're all great. I've still got a few more samples to do today before I photograph them and parcel them up.  The show is on C&C on Thursday 31st May, so they all need to go in the post at the weekend.  If you get chance tune in ( Sky Channel 671/Freeview 36/Freesat 813) and have a look, there'll be some fab stuff on the show.

Postman has just been, with a parcel for me. The 'daily craft delivery' as the other half calls it.  Off to open it and see what goodies I've got, and then I must crack on and finish my samples.  Have a lovely day and I'll see you all again later.

Linda

x

Today's the day!

Hi everyone,
It's been my turn today over on the Craftwork Cards Blog.  Each day, for the last week or so, they have been showcasing one of the new Design Team members and the projects they submitted.  There have been some fab designs on there over the week.  Check them out here http://craftworkcards.blogspot.com/

Here's what I submitted, I've been dying to put these on my blog but I had to wait until they had been shown on the CWC site ,so now here they are.

The first one is made using the Sweet Meadow Collection.  I love these designs, the colours are so pretty.  I just used the papers on this card and cut out one of the larger flowers to add a bit of dimension.  I used one of the circle sentiments and added a little lace and some co-ordinating buttons. You might just spot some doodling on there too.  I do like to add a bit of faux stitching to my cards.

Next up is my bouquet card

This was done using the Create Flowers pad.  This little die cut pad is fabulous.  It's full of designer papers and matching sheets of die cut flowers.  All you have to do is put them together.  This card is full of dimension as all the flowers are layered.  It starts off as a 7x5 card blank, used tent fold, then the bottom corners are folded up to the middle to form the base of your bouquet.  Then it's up to you to 'pick' your flowers.  There's loads to choose from in the pad and full instructions are there to help you along.

You can just about see how it's all built up.







When the card was done I felt it needed a matching tag.  In my usually style, it had to be oversized.  I used up all the bits of paper that I had left over form the card - I don't like to waste anything.







Last, but not least was a little wall hanging

For this I went for a Parisienne theme.  I used a range of papers that I'd had for a while and couldn't bring myself to cut into them. I'm not sure if these are still available or not.  I couldn't choose which one to go for so I basically used a bit of each, and made a collage for the background.  I love the muted colours in this collection, and it was easy to add a little distress ink around the edges to give that vintage look. The dress form was also inked and covered in paper and I added some vintage seam binding and fabric flowers to the bottom to make the dress - very chic!  Some paper roses, pearls and a bit of tulle just finished it all off perfectly.

The back was also covered in papers from the same range and some black satin ribbon  added that final touch.















Well, there they are.  If you want to see more fabulous CWC products pop over to the website craftworkcards.co.uk  and take a look around.   

That's it for today.  Thanks for popping by.

Linda

x

We've Moved!

Hi everyone,
I'm back, finally. It seems like forever since my last blog post. I've really missed sitting down and 'chatting' with you guys.  I hadn't forgotten about you completely though, I have been checking my blog whenever I got the chance.  Thank you all for your lovely comments, and good wishes for the house move. We're finally in, boxes are disappearing slowly and it's beginning to feel like home.  Now, what's happened since my last post, well .........

Friday, after a busy day packing boxes, Stephen and I flew across to the UK.  He took himself off out to the Casino to meet up with his friends (took Lauren, our daughter with him), and I got together with my craft buddies.

On Saturday I had a lovely day out at the Happy Stampers show at Port Sunlight, over on the Wirral.  It was the first time I'd been to the show, but it most certainly won't be the last. HSNW   What a fab little show it is, it's all to do with rubber stamping and my favourite companies were there, in one place - heaven!  As you can imagine, the old purse didn't have an awful lot left in it by the end of the afternoon.  I was like a kid in a sweet shop I can tell you. You do need to buy tickets in advance, no paying on the door, and they do sell out quickly. 
My fav demonstrator was there Sarah, it's always nice to see her but she was so busy, she was on the Indigo Blu stand and I think they were the busiest of the whole show.  We did manage a chat though - always interesting stuff (I'll fill you in another time about that!)  I actually got to meet Kay from Indigo Blu for the first time too, we've only spoken on the phone before. She really is lovely, she gave me the biggest hug and welcomed me on the Design Team, I was so proud.  She also pointed out that some of my samples were up around the Indigo Blu stand - it's always weird seeing my stuff up on display for everyone to see.  You know what it's like, I always think it's never good enough.  It is nice though, to know that people like what  I do.

Here's a couple of the samples that were on the stand

Twit Twoo

 Sunflower

These are a couple of the samples I sent off to Kay a while ago. There's a little bit of everything here, distress inks, masking, spritzing with water,  water colouring, decoupage and even some shrink plastic.   I will get around to posting the details and the rest of the projects I sent off.   Hopefully, I'll be doing regular blog posts on the Indigo Blu site once everything calms down a little.  Check it out and see what the rest of the DT have been up to. Blog

Most of my new stash came from Indigo Blu, stamps, wooden stuff to alter and I also bought some of the fabulous PanPastels.  Never used these before but I can't wait to try them.  Kay was demonstrating them on the stand and she made it look so easy.  I'll let you know how I get on.

I must admit I was a little concerned how I was going to get my new stash home.  We were flying this time, and the baggage allowance is not great.  I managed it though.  If necessary my clothes would have had to stay behind!
Here's what I got ....

oooh ..... lovely new stash!

I'd left my laptop at home, but I did manage to check email and  blog messages/comments occasionally on my brother's ipad.  There were a couple of messages saying 'congratulations' and that I should check out Tim's Blog (Holtz that is).  Well, the penny didn't drop straight away did it.  I knew his new tag for May had gone on, I'd seen that, but I hadn't read the post completely.  Then is suddenly dawned on me - could I possibly be one of the winners in the April Tag?! Well I couldn't get on the web fast enough.  Sure enough, there was my name in the list of April winners - OMG!  I was amazed, there's always so many fabulous entries for these, from all over the world.  When I do my tag entry, I never think that I could be one of the 12 lucky ones at the end of the month.  But, this time I was. If you haven't seen the tag, you can find it here April's tag. Pleased doesn't begin to describe how I felt.  My brother found it really amusing that I was nearly jumping around the lounge and getting excited over a bit of card and ink.  He really doesn't understand, does he!  I'd actually been highlighted on Tim's blog - whoo hoo!!  You guys will understand, I know.

Sunday we spent the day with Lauren and Alex.  It was a nice day so we went to Blackpool Zoo.  We hadn't been there since the kids were tiny so it had changed a bit.  Alex loved it. There were no dinosaurs  last time I was there .......

Alex must have walked miles, he never stopped all afternoon.  He loves looking at the animals.  He even talked to the penguins - and they answered back!  He was a little tired at the end of the day and decided that he could walk no further.  He'd had a nice day though.

I'm staying here unless you carry me!

We came back to the island on Monday and the hard work began.  Removal men arrived Tuesday morning and we were in the new place Tuesday evening.
It's now the weekend and it's beginning to look reasonably tidy.  My craft room is nearly done - finally unpacked my new stuff yesterday.  I have to get it so I can work because I've just received some new stamps from the girls at Stamp Addicts.  They have a show on C&C at the beginning of June so I need to get samples done in the next week.  I'll post some sneak peeks when they're finished.  The stamps are lovely and I can't wait to get started. 

Well, catch up's done - thank goodness.  I'll be back to normal this next week (whatever that is!)  Blog posts should be a little more frequent, and I'm dying to get back on track with my crafting.  I missed 2 weeks on the Blog challenges, time to get back in the routine.

Christopher is home on Wednesday, looking forward to seeing him.  Stephen's going across to pick him up.  There's no room for me because all his uni stuff is coming back with him.  My next trip to the UK is the end of June.

Thanks for popping by, sorry it's been such a long post. 

See you next week

Linda

x

PS   Well done to my boys in blue!  Chelsea won the Champions League final last night and what a game.  It went to the last kick of the ball. The score was 1-1 after extra time and Didier Drogba scored the last penalty for them them to win 4-3 AMAZING!!  Yes, I'm a football fan too (a very happy one this weekend)

Say it with flowers

Hi everyone,
I wanted to do a Blog post this evening seeing as I haven't been around much for the last few days, and it's taken me ages.  First of all I'm so tired I can't even think straight, so typing this has proved to be a longer process than I thought.  In case any of it doesn't make sense I'll apologise now.
We've also managed to squeeze in another trip to the new house.  I've been packing and unpacking boxes all week and I've had enough now, I just want it all to be over, I'm not sure where home is at the moment.  Stephen, are you listening -  I'm not moving again!!
I do have some cards I can share with you today.  You may have already seen the sneak peeks of these in a previous post,  but as they were on air this afternoon you can now see the full images.
For those who watch Create and Craft some of my cards were on the telly today in the Stamp Addicts show.  I had the beautiful new large floral stamp to work with, and this is what I created.  The first two cards show how you don't always have to colour in a stamped image, you can just leave it black and white, or just colour a section and make that a focal point.

For this one, I stamped the flowers in a black ink, used a pink Distress Ink lightly around the edge and then cut it into pieces.  These were then mat onto black card leaving a small gap in between each one to give a tile effect.  You could even  use UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel) over the top to make them look like real tiles if you wanted.

Again the main image was left black and white.  I stamped the flowers again and coloured just a section of them, then used my Nestabilities to cut it out and layered it with black card.  This was then attached over the top using foam pads to add dimension.  I used Distress Ink around the edges, doodled some faux stitching and added a pretty gingham bow.

For a different look altogether I stamped the same image onto cream cardstock and used a brown ink this time.

I used a waterbrush to drag some of the colour from the edge of the image to paint the flowers, it gives a sort of vintage look I think.  Just for something a bit different I went for one of my oversized gift tags.  Added a bit of lace, some vintage seam binding and a pretty button.  The sentiment is from the Star Flowers stamp set and is attached using on of the Tim Holtz Idea-ology Clips.

And, for the final one the whole image was coloured, and I even did a little bit of decoupage. I used my Distress Inks again for the background, and also to watercolour the main image. I picked out the purple colour as one of the layers and added a rather large co-ordinating bow, but I think it works.  The saying is from the Star Flowers Stamp set again.

I really enjoyed doing these, the stamp was lovely to work with and a really pretty design that can be used so many different ways.
Why not check out The Purple Zone Blog for some more ideas and designs from the girls at Stamp Addicts and the rest of the Design Team.

Well, I think that's it from me tonight.  Going to get an early night, busy day tomorrow.  More packing to do in the morning.  Visit to the new house at lunch time, and then we're on a plane in the evening across to the UK (yipee!).  I'm off to the Happy Stampers Show HSNW  at Port Sunlight on Saturday with my lovely crafty friends over there and I can't wait.  I'll let you know how I get on.  Then on Sunday we're spending the day with our handsome little grandson Alex, and his mummy Lauren.  I hope the weather's nice, finger's crossed.

Hope you have a great weekend, and I'll be back next week posting from my new craft room - hopefully.

Thanks for popping by.  Night, night  ......

Linda

x

Happy Bank Holiday

Hi everyone,
Just a quickie.  No crafty post I'm afraid today - sorry.  Everything is going in boxes (sigh!). 
Started packing up the craft room yesterday.  OMG! why do I have sooo much stuff! (Oh dear, I sound like the other half).  Because I NEED it I suppose.  It's only when you have to pack it all away, that you realise just how much of a stash you have.  I'm finding things I'd forgotten I had, it's great!
I just wanted to say a big Thank You to everyone for your lovely comments about my recent news.  I'm so thrilled and excited about becoming a member on the Design Team's for Craftwork Cards and Indigo Blu you wouldn't believe.  I'm really looking forward to starting my first assignments and creating alongside so many other talented Designers.
Well done to all the other new members too - we're going to make a fab team!
Ah well, gotta dash, empty boxes are calling. 
Enjoy the Bank Holiday
Bye for now

Linda 

x

On the move

Hi everyone,
Quick update ......
Well we made a trip to the new house this morning, with a fully loaded car.  Had a good look around, at least the place isn't too bad, just a bit of dust here and there.  Stopped off for lunch on the way back, at a lovely little coffee shop up by Laxey Wheel.  It's a beautiful day over here and it was really pretty down there by the river, busy too.
After lunch we loaded the car again and made another trip.  Did some shopping on the way back, we needed a new fridge and kettle etc. (boring household stuff). But look what else I managed to find ..........

more ribbons .....

Ribbons!  I couldn't resist these. I was amazed that Stephen didn't protest more when I suggested calling in the shop.  I could have stayed there all afternoon but thought best not, things to do and all that.
Now we've just time for a quick cup of tea, then it's the football later.  I think this is the most relaxed we've been whilest moving house.
Ah well, best get back.  I suppose I can pack some more boxes before the kick off!

Linda

x

Whoop! Whoop! again

Happy weekend everyone,
Just a quick post from me today, before we get stuck in to moving boxes.  We're off to pick up the keys very shortly, but before we go I want to share a bit of news with you all.
Again, those of you with a keen eye may have noticed another new addition on my side bar.  I'm really thrilled to say I've been chosen to become a member of the Design Team over at Craftwork Cards - whoopee!!  It's a fabulous papercraft company, and I've been using their great products as long as I've been crafting. I love them all. (They're also responsible for organising one of my favourite craft shows - the GNPE over in Harrogate).  Check out their website and see exactly what I mean www.craftworkcards.co.uk
Over the last few weeks I've been working on lots of projects, both to send off to Julie, and those for Indigo Blu, and I couldn't say a word.   I did hint in a couple of posts that I was working on stuff I couldn't show yet, and that "hopefully all would be revealed" and now it has.  I'm so pleased.   I'll post some of the samples that I did, on here, over the next few weeks.  First they'll be showcased here on the Craftwork Cards blog over the next week or so, along with fabulous samples from the other new Design Team members.  
There will be a lot more cards and various projects appearing over the coming months featuring Craftwork Cards, and Indigo Blu.   I can't wait to get started.  It's a real privilege to be able to work with such top quality products and spend my time doing what I love most.  I just hope that I can do them all justice.

Anyway, gotta dash.  Have a fab weekend whatever you're doing.  Mine's going to be busy!
See you soon

Linda

x

Second time today

Hello there,

Back again.  Just a short post this afternnoon as I really must get some serious packing done.  I'm starting in the kitchen today and it's going to be a BIG job. Lots of cupboards to empty, and clean, then there's the oven, but we won't go there just yet!   So I thought I'd have my crafty fix before going in there.
Here's my Less Is More challenge entry.  It's Week 65 and it's Sketches. LIM Blog Challenge  Pop over and see what all the LIMettes have come up with this week.  We had two to choose from ...


          
                                                                    
Nice simple sketches, lots of white space on the finished card. Love it!

What's a sketch?  It's a crafty term used to describe a card/scrapbook layout.  It gives inspiration/ideas on how to build up your design.  There's loads out there to choose from or, take the time and design your own.  Always keep a record of them then you can go back and use them time and time again.
Here's my LIM entry ....

I decided to go for a girly look this week, and used one of my favourite 'Tilda' stamps from Magnolia.  I think she is soooo cute.  She's been coloured using Copic pens and the white freckles added with a gel pen.  The background was done with Tumbled Glass Distress Ink and a hand cut cloud stencil. You can just about see it in the photograph.

I like the way it looks like she's looking through a window at you, just stood 'thinking of you'.  The sentiment and the card she's layered onto are both from SU,  Perfect Plum cardstock, and the stamps are Curly Cute.
Hope you like her, I think she's sweet.

Well,  that's going to have to be it from me for this week.  Unless I can squeeeeeze another crafty session in, you never know.   Anyway I'll say have a lovely weekend everyone and I'll try and keep you posted on events next week.
Thanks for looking.
Bye for now

Linda

x

May already.

Good morning everyone,
Where is this year going?  I can't believe we've had 4 months already.  I'll be making Christmas cards next (oops, have I just used the dreaded 'c' word).

First off I'd like to say welcome to my latest followers.  It's so nice to know that you guys actually read and like to keep up to date with what I put on here. Thank you, it's much appreciated.

This week is just as chaotic as ever but, even though we move in 12 days, (and we're over in the UK for 3 and a bit of those - eeek!), I've managed to fit some craft time in.
Have all you Stampin' Up! fans seen the new Summer Mini Catalogue yet?  I was lucky enough to be invited to a launch night on Tuesday which I just had to attend (time off from packing).  I got to see the new cattie and play with some of the new products. All I can say is I want the lot!! The new stamp sets are gorgeous, the new tools are fab and the new papers, fabric, ribbons etc., are yummee .....  wait till you see them.  I'm lucky, I have 2 SU demonstrators, there's my good friend Sally-Jo over in the UK, check out her Blog stampin-sally-jo for great inspiration and details of products etc.  And,  I've also met Kirstie over here on the island, visit her FB page for more inspiration and ideas Kirstie's Facebook page.  I get a double helping of SU - yeah!  The other half isn't too happy though -  it costs him twice as much!!
I had a lovely evening and everybody there made a card using the new Up, Up and Away stamp set, which is so cute.

We did a bit of everything, stamping, embossing, paper tearing, punching and there was even cake!! What more can you ask for.

I've even managed to get a couple of Blog challenge entries done, with a whole day to spare.   This is the first one.  It's for the Penny Black Saturday Challenge PBSC.
This week's theme is May Day! with Spring themed cards.  As always there's only one rule ......  you must use at least one Penny Black image, large sentiment or stickeroo.
Here's my take on the challenge

Now I don't normally do frogs.  In fact, I don't like real ones, and I mean I DON'T LIKE FROGS!!!
One night, a few years ago a friend of ours came round and when I opened the door he said "there's a frog on the doorstep - no wait, it's in the hall"  There it was, large as life, hopping down my hallway, and it was huge.  Well you can imagine my reaction, Stephen said it was like something out of a Tom and Jerry cartoon.  I set off down the hall and ended up stood on a chair, screaming, in the kitchen.  This poor frog must have wondered what was going on - the kid's certainly did.  Eventually, after everyone had had a good giggle at me, Stephen put it back outside.  I can't help it, frogs just make me shiver. If I see one when we're out I literally can't move until it's gone - silly or what!  Saying that, I do enjoy eating frogs legs in a restaurant - they really do taste like chicken!
Anyway, back to the card.  I used the PB 'Jump for Joy' stamp (3702J) for the main image and coloured him using Copic pens. He was then cut out and embossed using Nestabilities, and inked around the edge with Distress Ink.   The rosette behind was made from 2 strips of Bo Bunny 'Love Bandit' paper, cut at 2 inches x 12, scored and concertina folded, then joined together to form the rosette. I also decided to add another layer to the flower for dimension, and a bit of glitter of course.

I made the easel card from a 6x6 card blank, scored and folded the front in half, and cut a semi-circle from the top half to make the easel part. A bit different from your standard easel card, but I like it. (This was a trick I picked up from the lovely Melanie Heaton)

The papers, again are from the 'Love Bandit' range layered with some 'Blush' Bo Bunny Double Dot paper. I like the green and pink together, very pretty for spring and summer.  I attached and ruched some matching ribbon and added a smaller image to make my stopper to hold up the easel.  The little guy was stamped from the PB 'Toadily' clear set and coloured with Copics again.  The sentiment is from the same set.  I used my Nesties to cut and layer these and then doodled around the edges. 
Even though I don't like frogs, these PB stamps are really cute.  At least these don't hop down my hallway!

Thanks for looking, and thank you to everyone who left me comments last week, I really appreciate you all  popping by.

See you later.

Linda

x