Happy 4th Birthday STAMPlorations ........

Happy Friday folks .......

And a very Happy 4th Birthday to STAMPlorations.

Shery and the STAMPlorations girls have been celebrating all this week with a Birthday Blog Hop and Wish List Linky Party

There's also a brand new release of lots of new STAMPlorations goodies ..... visit the store to see the full range, and why not take advantage of the Birthday Sale.  It's on now and runs until July 7th.   There's 15% off all stamps, stencils and dies and a flat rate $3 worldwide shipping for orders over $49.  Go on ........ treat yourself!

It's the final day of the Blog Hop today and I'm joining in with the fun with a couple of easy to create designs using some of the brand new releases.

I've gone for a white on white look here with a splash of colour ......

Remember the fabulous CUTplorations Birthday word die, well now there's a matching stamp to go with it.  It comes in the new Happy Birthday set ..... a mix of happy birthday in some great fonts.
I've used both the stamp set and the die here ........

I cut the words from white cardstock and then arranged them onto a square piece of card, leaving enough space above one of them to fit in the happy part of my greeting

You can see that I've taken some of the words over the edge and trimmed them down to give a more random look.

I coloured one of the die cuts with a hot pink ink and then stamped the happy over the top to finish the greeting.

Of course you could always stamp the Birthday in a coloured ink and then die cut it ..... the die matches the stamp perfectly.

For my second card I used the cute little CUTplorations Cupcake Builder #1  This is just adorable and so useful ..... who doesn't love cupcakes!

I simply die cut the cupcake from white cardstock and then used my ZIG markers to add colour to the individual layers

I used foam pads to add a touch of dimension when building the cupcake, and added some glitter onto the frosting on the top.

I found these cute little cherry brads in my stash and I couldn't resist adding one to the top.

The words are from the STAMPlorations Kathryn's Big Wishes.  I love how you can bend and shape clear stamps to fit perfectly where you want them

I finished off by adding another die cut .... this time the word celebrate .....

Die cut from white card then added a touch of sparkle with some fine crystal glitter

Feel like joining in the fun ...... and help us celebrate our 4th Birthday ....... well there's still time. And there's some great prizes up for grabs along the way too .... a full list of all the prizes can be found on the STAMPlorations Blog

You've got four ways to win ......

• Simply leave a comment here, on the STAMPlorations Blog or any of the Designers blog posts before 11.55pm Monday July 3rd (that's Pacific time or GMT -7)
• Create your STAMPlorations Wish List and link it up to the Wish List Linky Party here. Instructions on creating a Wish List are also in the post
• Check us out on Facebook ..... Like, Comment and Share the STAMPlorations Birthday post, you can't miss it, it's pinned to the top of the page 
• Go to our Instagram post here.  Leave a comment and then re-post the Wish List Linky Party graphic on  your Instagram

Couldn't be simpler.  What are you waiting for ....... happy hopping!

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy the rest of your day and have a great weekend.

We're hoping for some nice weather then we can try out the new BBQ ..... that's if we ever get in in unpacked and in place.
It's a little on the large side, and heavy too.   Hubby's a little nervous about trying to get it down the steps (I did point this out when he was buying it by the way!!)

Anyhow ......we're currently waiting to hear from a man with a crane to see if we can get it lifted down there.  Fingers crossed!

Cheerio until next time .....

Messing about on the river .......

Happy Thursday ......

Hello everyone ..... I'm back on the island and slowly getting things back to normal.  The old craft room door is well and truly open again and things are moving along nicely.

The Norfolk Broads seem so far away ..... were we really there for a whole week, it all went by so quickly.  Here's a few snaps of our river adventure ...... don't worry I won't bore you with all the photos!!

It was a great family break, just what we all needed ....... especially these two after the busy TT fortnight. It's great that they still want to go on holiday with their mum and dad!

The weather was glorious, although we did have a thunder storm one day ..... it didn't last long though thankfully. And the temperatures cooled down a little towards the end of the week.

The boat was fantastic ....... huge but very nice! It got the seal of approval from the little man straight away

 
It was very spacious, easy to handle, according to the Captain .......

He didn't wear the hat very long though ..... so someone had too!!

But he did let the little man sail it for a while .....

The boat had everything we needed ..... including important things like a wine cooler!!

As you can imagine there was lots of eating and drinking over the course of the week ...... so many nice places to stop

We started out from Wroxham and travelled the Broads to Potter Heigham calling at Horning, went under Ludham Bridge and up to How Hill, Irstead and Stalham.

Back under the bridge and off to Thurne and Ludham.  Then down to Acle and Stokesbury before heading all the way back to Wroxham.
It was lovely waking up to places like this every morning ..... so peaceful

Nothing to do but relax and enjoy the scenery ....

With a great way of cooling off .......

And lots of new faces to meet each day ......

It was our first boating holiday, but I think I can safely say it won't be our last!

We finished the week off with a trip up to the north of England to visit family .... well it was my big brother's birthday!

Oh well ...... another holiday over and more great memories made.

Back to reality now ....... and what a week it's been!
Craft wise everything is on track ......  we've got a new month hurtling towards us and that means blog challenges and DT stuff to do but it's OK ....... everything's coming together nicely.
Household stuff on the other hand ..... not so much!!
Our wine was delivered that we ordered at the Good Food Show ...... half of it was the wrong stuff, so that's having to go back.
We've finally had delivery of our new dining table ..... yeah!!!  It looks beautiful BUT ...... it wobbles, like a flipping jelly!!!
Apparently there seems to be a problem with the frame and legs ..... you think!!!  It's been delivered and set up, taken away and supposedly fixed, delivered and set up again and it stills wobbles! Not as much but we're still not happy.   So ...... that's going back.  Good job we didn't get rid of the old one. Hopefully the store can come up with a suitable solution ..... soon!!

On a brighter note hubby's BBQ has just been delivered ..... it's BIG!!!  It's currently sat on a palette outside the front door in a box big enough to live in.  We just need to get it unpacked and in place and hope that the rain stops long enough for us to use it .... happy days!

Thanks for popping by ..... normal service will resume shortly with lots of crafty posts.  Enjoy the rest of your day.  I'm off to tackle the mountain of washing and ironing today .... I'm determined to get it all finished .... wish me luck!

Cheerio until next time ......

Life is Sweet .......

Hello again  ......

It's nearly the weekend  ...... whoo hoo!!!
Just one more day to go before we pick up the boat for our little trip along the Norfolk Broads.  The kids are joining us Saturday morning ....... then it's anchors away!!

Before all that though, I'm playing along with this week's Less is More Challenge ....... yes, in all the chaos and holiday prep earlier in the week I actually found time to have a little fun in the old craft room.  I should really have been tidying up the place but hey! who's going to see it.

It's one of my favourite weeks this week ....... the One Layer card, and the theme is ....

Sweet Things

You either love them or hate them ...... One Layer cards that is!  They may only be one layer but boy can they sometimes take ages to make!
Not so much with this little chap though ..... good thing really as I didn't have time to mess around.
He was stamped, and coloured first time (thanks to the MISTI!!)

And doesn't he look pleased with himself ..... a bit like I did earlier today when I was also eating a rather large, delicious double scoop ice cream ..... yum!!!

He's one of the Penny Black frogs ..... .sorry but I can't check exactly which one as I'm currently sat in my hotel room and if I open up too many websites the internet will start to complain!!  Enough said about that.

He's been coloured using my ZIG Clean Colour Brush pens, and then I've added my sentiment underneath ..... which is from a freebie set of stamps from one of the monthly craft mags (again not sure which one as I've left it a t home!!

To finish off  I added a few tiny dots of Liquid Pearls around the sentiment.

I haven't brought any craft stash away with me ..... apart from one magazine.  I did think about bringing my journal, but couldn't decide on what else to bring along so it's all stayed at home. I do have an empty notebook with me though ... so plenty of space to jot ideas down.

No time for that today though ... we were up and out early, off to the BBC Good Food Show.
We've walked miles!!!
We've munched our way through cheeses, continental meats, dips, and sauces.  Spices, chutneys, and jams, not to mention the gorgeous pastries and the hog roast ..... yum!
We tried the odd tipple here and there ..... well it would have been rude not too, and finished the day with a walk around the Gardener's World bit too!
Like I said .... a busy day, and now we've even more stuff to fit in the back of the car

As well as that little haul .... there's a case of rather nice wine on it's way to the Isle of Man ..... and hubby got an early Father's Day present ...... a lovely new BBQ!

Not what I thought we would end up buying ..... boys and their toys eh!  Let's hope we get the weather to use it.

Thanks for popping by .... enjoy your evening and have a fabulous weekend.
The weather forecast is looking good, so we've decided to skip the Good Food show tomorrow and spend the day in the Cotswolds.  We're off to Bourton  ..... well it would be a shame not to visit, we're only about an hour away.

But now ...... it's time to relax a little and try out one of our purchases ........

Cheers everyone!

Until next time .....

We're on our holidays!!! ........

Happy Thursday ......

I hope you're having a good week.
This is a scheduled post as I'm currently making my way around the BBC Good Food Show at the NEC in Birmingham ..... foodie heaven!
Yes ... hubby and I are across in the UK making a start on our annual family post TT holiday. We loaded the car and took the ferry Wednesday evening ..... and we're now in Birmingham until Saturday when we pick up the kids from the airport, and then we're off to the Norfolk Broads to spend the week on a boat!

But ..... there's still Blog challenges going on .... still DT work to do.
It's time to remind you about this month's STAMPlorations CAS Card Challenge.  Remember this is the last one until October.  We're taking a little break over the summer to recharge our creative batteries .... it also gives Shery time to design lots of new STAMPlorations goodies too!

As always the challenge is ....... Anything Goes, and the optional colour twist for June is ......

Masculine Colours

Here's a little inspiration for you ....... remember you don't have to use the Colour Twist, this is just my take on what I think are Masculine Colours

I've used the STAMPlorations 4x4 stamp set Good Books and Coffee, and my ZIG markers to colour the image

I stamped using a brown ink, and the image has been fussy cut before attaching to the card front, using foam pads to add dimension

A few highlights using a gold gel pen ......... and a little smooshed Distress Ink in the background adds a little more interest

and a sentiment from the same stamp set finishes everything off on the front .....

'it's your birthday' comes from Kathryn's Big Wishes ..... I do like it when stamp sets work so well together.

Full challenge details and information on the prizes up for grabs can be found over on the STAMPlorations CAS Card Challenge Blog, along with more inspiration from the rest of the Design Team.  Why not pop over, take a look and join in the fun.  It's your last chance until October.

Happy stamping!

Thanks for popping by ... enjoy the rest of your day.
I'm no doubt having a great time ..... good food, drink and time to shop .... what's not to like.

Cheerio until next time ......

And we're off ........

Good morning ..... and Happy Wednesday!

Sorry I'm a bit late sharing the workshop from the weekend ...... I've been a little busy so far this week.  We're going on holiday today .... whoo hoo!!

We did have a great workshop though .... lots of fun decorating wooden boxes using acrylic paints, gorgeous shimmer paints  (Finnabair's Art Alchemy Sparks range and the Imagination Crafts Starlights), gilding waxes and lots of embellishments.  It's funny how everyone follows the same techniques, but the end results are always so different .... I love it!

Here's a look at my inspiration pieces I created to get them started ......

You've already seen one of these up close, in a blog post from last week, you can find the details here if you missed it.

This box has actually been altered quite a few times ...... there's quite a few layers of paint on there now.  That's the thing ..... if you don't like how it's turning out, paint over it and start again! Or if you love the box but just don't like the colour anymore, paint over it again  ..... easy!

We used various embellishments to create the detail on the boxes ...... paper flowers, metal and chipboard cogs .....

Metal charms and tiny Art Stones ..... anything to add interest and texture

I even but a pretty drawer handle on the top of one box .......

I love how the crown looks on this particular box ..... I used gilding waxes over the paint to bring out all the detail ......

You can see there's more of those Art Stones on here too ..... some larger ones as well as the tiny version

We used texture paste and stencils to add more interest ..... and there's pieces of cotton lace in there too

Once all the detail and the embellishments were on, then came the paints.  The whole thing was painted over, some used just the chalk finish acrylics, others went for it and used all metallics and shimmer, and some even used a bit of both.   We got a fabulous mix of colours and styles ...... here's a look at the finished boxes ......

Aren't they all gorgeous .... love the pink, very feminine.

The golden honey colour looked so rich ....... and as I said, everyone did the same thing but each one ended up totally different.

I'd love to stay and chat but ...... I still need to pack!
Then it's time to load up the car and start on our journey.  Once we're across in the UK our first stop is Birmingham.  Hubby and I have 3 nights in a hotel .... 2 days at the BBC Good Food Show which is on at the NEC, and then dinner booked on Friday evening at a favourite restaurant.
Happy days!

Thanks for popping by ... enjoy the rest of your day.

Cheerio until next time ......