We get the key's tomorrow ......

Happy Thursday ......

Yes ..... only one more sleep until we get the keys to the new house.  Don't know if I'm looking forward to the move or not!
We've still got lots to pack ..... but the removal men are not here until Feb 6th so there's no rush. We'll start moving the small stuff .... and my craft room this weekend.

I took a day off yesterday from all the packing ....... well it was Christopher's birthday and we had to celebrate (another blip in the dry January!)  And, one of my best friends is leaving the island shortly and moving back across to the UK, so we got together for a quick coffee while we had the chance.  I will miss her when she leaves.

As I said my little boy was 28 yesterday!!! ....... now that makes me feel old!

I did make him a birthday card .......

Silly Birthday Monsters from Your Next Stamp ....... simply stamped, coloured and fussy cut.  There are matching dies to the stamps which I think are about to find their way to my new craft room ..... not that they're hard to fussy cut, I'm just getting lazy!

He's been coloured using ZIG markers and a little touch of metallic glaze pen, and then attached to the card using foam pads.

The background was made using simple splatter stamps, which I think are by Kaisercraft, and one of the sentiments from the Silly Monsters

I also added a few dots of Nuvo Crystal Drops here and there .....

There was a little surprise inside too ........ (apart from the cash!!)

The son definition from Visible Image ......

And a cute little wobbly monster

We did go to the pub last night to see Chris .... had tea there, a celebratory drink (or two ..... my first G&T's of 2018!!)  and then we joined in with the pub quiz.  Considering we scored very little in the music round and the picture round was really hard .... we were victorious!!!!  Our prize .... a £25 drinks voucher to spend in the bar.  That can wait until February!

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy the rest of your day.
It's back to packing boxes today, and emptying bookcases I think ...... oh joy!

Cheerio until next time ....

Time for a twofer ........

Happy Tuesday .......

Well .... the To Do list is done! The craft related one is anyway ..... the one for the house move well, that's just getting longer everyday.  Like the shopping list for all the new craft releases .... but that's another story!

At least now that all my craft projects are done for next month I can concentrate on packing all my craft stash away (eeeek!!).  I even managed a little play time yesterday ..... and, made a birthday card for Chris.  He's 28 tomorrow!!

I've been wanting to play along with Darnell's brand new Blog Challenge .... the Twofer Card Challenge

You have to make two different cards, for two different occasions using the same stamps and/or dies, and follow the challenge theme.   Sounds easy enough .... who am I kidding!!  Sometimes I have trouble making the one card, never mind two!!
Anyhow .... here they are

Using the Clarity feather stamp ...... one for a birthday or a 'just because' card

and one sympathy card ....... not something I always have in my stash and unfortunately I needed one yesterday

Very clean and simple .... the feather was stamped onto black card using Versamark ink, and then I brushed over the top with Perfect Pearl Mica Powder. 

A simple sentiment stamped onto a piece of white card across the bottom ......

and the feather stamped on the inside for the finishing touch

My twofer sees the same feather stamp used to create the background ..... stamped in different colours of ink

I added my sentiment on a strip of white card across the centre

A few splatters of gold and silver ink .....

and the little JOFY birdie to finish off .....

He's been stamped, coloured with ZIG markers and fussy cut, and then attached onto the front with a little piece of folded acetate.  This acts like a spring and the bird actually moves about .... he's so cute!

Again I stamped the feather on the inside ....

The challenge has been running for two weeks and closes tomorrow so I'm a little bit on the last minute .... will try and do better for the next one!

Thanks for popping by .... enjoy the rest of your day.
A quick trip to the post office with a box of DT samples to send on their way then it's full steam ahead with some packing.  Only 3 more sleeps until we get the keys ..... not sure if I'm looking forard to it or not!

Cheerio until next time .....

What happened to the last seven days!!!!

Happy weekend ......

I hope you're having a good one.
I've just realised that I haven't shared last weekend's workshop with you ..... what have I been doing??!!
It's been a whole seven days since our little group got together for another fun day playing with simple backgrounds and large sentiment/phrase stamps.

Here's a quick look at a couple of the things we got up to.
Seeing as it was the first get together of the year I thought a nice simple calendar would be fun. 
Nothing complicated, a standard 7x5 cardblank glued together .... easy.

 
I love the Typografia range of stamps from STAMPlorations ...... and this is one of my favourites

No need to do a lot with it .... simply stamped and embossed in silver, then I stamped the camper again in turquoise and fussy cut it before attaching it with foam pads.
A bit of co-ordinating twine to hang it with and you're done

We used Distress inks to create a Bokeh effect background ......

along with another fabulous sentiment stamp.

Backgrounds don't have to difficult to create ..... try just splattering various colours of ink, or paint onto a piece of white cardstock ......

I used my trusted Distress Inks here and added in a bit of gold and silver ....... do as much or as little as you like ... there are no rules

Add a large sentiment to the centre .....

And I finished off with some pretty colourful balloons ...... and the odd sparkly sequin here and there

I do like these larger words and sentiments at the moment, I think they make it so easy to create beautiful cards .......

February's workshop has been put on hold as we're moving that week so the next one will be in March.
Speaking of the move, it's all go this weekend ..... the boxes are really piling up now.  I'm actually emptying cupboards and drawers in the kitchen and my craft room is beginning to look a little bare.  I've still not finished all my DT stuff yet but a lot of my craft stash has been boxed.

We've also been out today and had a bit of a spend ...... we've ordered two new sofas! 
It's taken about three weeks to make our minds up ..... we've been back twice, sat on it a few times, checked out the internet etc., etc., until we finally took the plunge today.  Well .... the sale was on and we got a good deal so it would have been rude not too.  It's beautiful Italian leather ...... in stock,  and will be ready for delivery when we move into the new place ....... oh and no one is allowed to sit on it!!! 

Thanks for popping by .... enjoy the rest of your weekend.
It's Sunday lunch at ours this week ..... the last one at this house (sigh!), I just hope I've left enough plates in the cupboard

Cheerio until next time ......

STAMPlorations CAS Challenge .......

Happy Thursday ......

The weekend is almost here ..... have you got anything nice planned?  Me ..... I'll be spending most of it packing I think.  Just a few bits and bobs to finish off in the craft room, then it's time to pack it all into boxes ready for the move.

Today, it's time for a quick reminder of this month's STAMPlorations CAS Card challenge ......

The theme, as always, is Anything Goes with the optional colour twist this month of ..... SILVER

I've used the colour twist for my sentiment ...... heat embossed one the stamps from the STAMPlorations  Typografia range
I do love these stamps, there's some fabulous words and phrases suitable for all kinds of projects.  The one I've used here is called Plan A ........

I stamped it onto white card, heat embossed in silver and then die cut around it with a stitched circle die from my stash.

Leaving the die in place I added a touch of colour over the words using Distress Ink.  Leaving the die means that you get this crisp white edges around the design ...... it gives the look of layering without having to use the cardstock.

I used the CUTplorations Upper Case Alphabet Plate Die to cut the letters for the background and attached  them randomly around the edges of a piece of white cardstock.  I love doing this, it gives such a great effect, it looks like embossed card almost

I also added a few to the inside too ......

You can find all the challenge details over on the STAMPlorations Blog along with lots more inspiration from the rest of the DT .... why not pop over and take a look.

Happy stamping!

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

Cheerio until next time ......

Happy Birthday Lauren .........

Happy Wednesday to you ......

It's a special day today ...... it's Lauren's birthday! Is it really 26 years ...... how time flies.

Luckily I managed to find time to make her a birthday card ...... using a stamp I bought especially for the occasion!

The pretty lady is from Penny Black, and she's simply been stamped in black Versafine ink and then watercoloured using Distress Inks .......

I then stamped the daughter definition from Visible Image, across the bottom.  I used Gold Shimmer Delicata ink to stamp with and then added gold embossing powder just over the word daughter to make it stand out a little (not sure this really comes across well in the photo)

A few gold and silver ink splatters onto the background ......

Some sparkly sequins and a sentiment .......

And of course a little something on the inside ......

Same image, second generation stamping and of course those gold and silver splatters .....

Happy Birthday sweetheart ...... I think she'll be more interested with what's inside the card to be honest ..... a little bit of cash to spend on herself!

As this month's CAS Watercolour challenge has a Birthday theme, I thought I'd play along

Loll and the team have some gorgeous inspiration pieces on there and the gallery looks amazing .... why not join in the fun.

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy the rest of your day.
As it's Lauren's birthday we're off out for a nice family lunch ......

We're off to Enzo's ..... Lauren hasn't been before so she's in for a treat.
It's a lovely little Italian restaurant, only 5 minutes walk from where we live.  The food is amazing, and I'm afraid Dry January has been put on hold for 24 hours ...... sigh! (and it was going so well) 

I was planning on having just one glass of wine at lunch time today (well it is Lauren's birthday) but ........ I actually gave in to temptation last night!!  Hubby opened a rather nice bottle of  Chianti and after the busy day I'd had, I couldn't resist.  I only had one glass though, plus a small top up.  It's not a completely dry January now ........ more like a bit damp!

Cheerio until next time ......