Happy Easter ......

Happy Easter weekend ........

And a special hello from our little Easter bunny .......

Yes we have wild bunnies in the garden ....... two big ones,

and two little baby ones ...... that I think live under the garden shed!

I just hope the gardener didn't scare them off when he came to cut the lawn the other day!

I hope you're enjoying your Easter weekend.  We're having a nice family Sunday lunch tomorrow .... would you believe it's the first one since we moved into the new house.  We popped into town this morning and did the shopping, stocked up on the wine and ooops! somehow these two found their way home with me too .....

The brand new Fynoderee Spring edition ....... looking forward to trying this one, the Winter one was lovely.  And another new one  ..... the Spring edition of the Rock Rose.  It's going to be a good weekend!
No chocolate for me though ..... my Easter egg was a shiny new laptop ......

No calories!

Anyway ..... before I go and put on my domestic goddess tiara (I'm going to bake a chocolate cake for tomorrow)  here's a little something crafty for you ......

It's been a busy week in the craft room, getting ready for April's blog challenges that all get underway next week.  I did find time to play though, in between all the tidying up. 
I came across this pretty die cut piece and thought it was too nice to put away in the bit box.  Instead I turned it into a really pretty birthday card that was so quick and easy to make.

I've been playing around with a set of the Tim Holtz Mixed Media dies .... I think it's set #5 but don't hold me to that!
I made two cards for Darnell's Twofer Challenge with one of the dies, which you can see here if you missed them.  And speaking of the Twofer challenge, I got a nice surprise this morning when I found out that my cards are one of this month's Winners!  Thanks Darnell, I'm so proud to be part of such a fabulous showcase.

This leftover piece was one I decided not to use for the challenge but isn't it pretty ..... I love all the detail.

I simply die cut it from a piece of white cardstock and then laid it over the top of a piece of card I found in my bit box, coloured using Brushos.

A simple sentiment and a few sparkly sequins .... done!

There's also a matching stencil which I used on the inside .....

Wilted Violet and Worn Lipstick Distress Oxides matched the colours on the front perfectly

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy the rest of the Easter weekend.
Time to get that cake in the oven I think.

Cheerio until next time ......

Uniko Design Team Blog Hop and GIVEAWAY ...... Fun Flowers Stamps and Stencil

Happy Saturday .......

Let's get the weekend started with a little bit of Blog Hopping fun over on the Uniko Blog 
We're having a Design Team Blog Hop and a Giveaway, all centred around the gorgeous Fun Flowers clear stamp set and the pretty co-ordinating Fun Flowers stencil.

It's always nice to revisit products from a previous release that go so well with brand new items ...... it makes your stash work even better when things mix and match don't you think!

If you've already started hopping then you'll have arrived here from Julie's blog ..... I hope you're enjoying all the inspiration.
I've got a card for you here using both the stamps ..... a cute little floral set which is perfect in anyone's craft stash, and the matching stencil .....

The stencil background was a leftover piece from a previous project.
I'd used the stencil in the normal way ..... Distress inks through the design .... to create a pretty background (you can see the card here if you fancy a look).  Once I'd finished there was quite a lot of ink left on the stencil itself so, instead of just wiping it clean (I don't like to waste ink!) I spritzed it with water and then used it to print onto a piece of white cardstock.  This is the result ..... a pretty watercoloured look (I actually got two prints off it but the other one is a little paler)

I cut the piece to size to fit on the front of my card and then used a stitched edge die to trim the bottom away

Using a couple of the flowers from the stamp set I stamped and heat embossed them in white and then coloured them using the same shades of Distress Ink and a waterbrush

These were then fussy cut and layered before attaching them onto the card front.  You can see I also added in a few leaves too.

A cute little sentiment stamped on the bottom ..... from the Uniko All Occasion Sentiments #6 set
and a little something on the inside too

The words are from the brand new Birthday Sentiments set, along with some of the smaller images from Fun Flowers

To add a little more detail, and a touch of texture to the front I finished off by adding a few dots of Nuvo Jewel Accents to the stencil design

Next up is the lovely Lindsey ..... hop over and see even more inspiration using these fun products.
And don't forget to comment along the way for a chance to win the Giveaway ....... a £15 eGift Certificate to spend in the Uniko store.
You have until Midnight (GMT) on Saturday 7th April to complete the hop and leave your comments.

Happy hopping!

Bev

Carol

Deborah

Izzy

Jane

Julie

Linda (that's me!)
Lindsey

Rahmat

Sarah G

Sarah P

Wiebke

Thanks for popping by ..... have a lovely weekend whatever you're up to.

I'm off to get a new laptop ...... I hope. 

Cheerio until next time .....

Beautiful Blossoms .......

Happy Friday ........

And relax .........
What a busy week ...... never mind, three weeks today and I'll be sunning myself on the beautiful Amalfi coast, hopefully ........ not that I'm counting!

It has been a busy few days in the old craft room but, I've also found time to play along with some of my favourite Blog Challenges this week ....... well it can't be all work and no play, there's no fun in that!! 

Today I'm playing along with Darnell's  Twofer Card Challenge ....... there's still a day left before the deadline

The idea is to create TWO different card designs, for TWO different occasions using the same stamps and/or dies ....... sounds like fun doesn't it.
I'm also feeling very proud of myself too, as I've used something from Mt. NBUS (Never Before Used Schtuff!!) .... it does happen occasionally!
One of the gorgeous dies from the Tim Holtz Mixed Media #5 set has had its first outing ..... and how pretty does this look

A birthday card and a Thank You note both using the same die ....... one cut from a piece of white card and then simply layered on the top of a piece of black .... very classic

I say it's a birthday card but, it would make a pretty anniversary card don't you think, or even a wedding invitation, just change the colours.  Look at the detail .... so pretty

I've added a few splatters of gold and silver ink to the background

And finished off with a nice sentiment

My Twofer is me using up my first attempt at cutting the die .... it moved a little so the edge wasn't straight.  No worries, I just trimmed it down a little

I then used the same die on some pieces of coloured cardstock from my leftovers stash and then inlaid the coloured pieces into the white

It's a bit like doing a jigsaw puzzle .... very therapeutic.  If you're really careful when removing the die once it's been through the machine, most of the pieces will stay in place so it's easy to see which bit goes where.  If they fall out it takes a little longer to see where they all fit but you get there eventually .... and I now have more leftover pieces to use on other cards which is great!

I stamped on my sentiments ...... a silver ink for the Thank You ......

and then Worn Lipstick Distress Oxide for the other bit ....

I'm not sure which version I like best now.  I do love this die though!

Thanks for popping by .... enjoy your Friday, and have a lovely weekend.
We're off out for dinner tonight so I'd better go and find something nice to wear.

Cheerio until next time .....

A new Blog Challenge for CAS Christmas cards

Happy Thursday folks ......

It's almost the weekend ..... yeah!

March saw the launch of a new Blog Challenge, especially for Christmas Cards.  And, as the brains behind it are two of my lovely blog buddies ...... the talented Loll Thompson and Bonnie Klass, what else could it be for but ......... CAS Christmas Cards,  one of my favourite styles.

The challenge started on the 3rd of the month and runs through to the 24th ...... so I'm a little late joining the party but ..... I made it!

As you can see the theme is Holly ....... surprisingly I don't have a lot of Holly stamps in my collection, not ones I wanted to use anyway!!  In the end I decided on this little guy ..... he's got holly

He's a little Penny Black hedgie from one of their T for Transparent sets and he's been stamped in the centre of a square card and coloured using ZIG markers

A little sentiment underneath (from Happy Little Stampers) stamped in gold ink.

A few dots of white Enamel Accents here and there to give the effect of falling snow .... very CAS

and I've used the holly sprig on the inside too, as a little decorative accent for the sentiment

A bit of masking tape over hedgie before inking up the stamp ...... easy!

Well that's another Christmas card for the box ..... I think that gives me four now!  I think I'll need a few more than that come December.

Thanks for popping by ... enjoy the rest of your day.
In our quest to watch all of the Marvel Super Hero movies ..... from the first one, and in the right order, we watched The Hulk last night ..... glad that one's out of the way that's all I'm saying!! 
It's Iron Man 2 next I believe .... at least there's Robert Downey Jr to look at on that one!

Cheerio until next time ....

CAS Watercolour Challenge .....

Happy Wednesday ......

I can't believe we're in the middle of the week already ...... there's too much to do!!!!
It doesn't help when my laptop is running sooooo slowwww ..... I think it's hibernating!
It took all day Monday before I could actually log in and do anything. I'm not exaggerating there ...... literally all day.
I tried to log on first thing .... nothing.  So I switched it off and re-booted.  Still nothing ....... just the little circle of dots to say it was thinking about doing something.   So ...... after a few choice words I just left it.  Patience is what hubby says I need.   PATIENCE!!!!!  A new flippin' laptop is what I say I need!!
Anyway ...... I went out for the day and forgot about the troublesome laptop.  I had a lovely catch up and lunch with a friend, followed by a bit of retail therapy.  We took advantage of the nice weather and ventured up to the north .... to Ramsey!  My favourite shop is up there so I had a lovely time!
Hubby has since said that I can have a new laptop ..... yeah!  Now I just need to decide which one!
Some research needed over the weekend I think.

I'm playing along with the CAS Watercolour challenge today .... there's a couple of days left before the deadline.  The theme this month is ......

There's not much going on in our garden yet ..... a couple of daffodils here and there, but that's pretty much it at the moment.  Hopefully as Spring goes on things will begin to bloom .... we'll have to wait and see what comes up.

I've been playing with one of my favourite Penny Black stamps .... dancing daisies, along with my Distress Inks ......

I've used my MISTI to stamp the image, repeat stamping to slowly build up the colours, and spritzing with water to blend the inks and get this watercoloured effect .....

I used one colour of ink at a time and spritzed in between stamping. 

The stems were first, starting with Twisted Citron, followed by Peeled paint ......  

The sentiment was stamped with Gathered Twigs Distress Oxide ...... I love these inks for stamping with!

Mustard Seed and Wild Honey are the colours I used for the flowers, with a little bit of Rusty Hinge for the centres

I added in a few splatters of ink to the background, and finished off by brushing around the edges with Antique Linen Distress Oxide ..... possibly not quite as CAS as it should!

The inside fits the bill ........

Same technique but I masked the stamp and used just one of those daisies this time ......

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

We've had the SKY TV engineer here today .... we eventually got around to telling them we'd moved and that we needed our TV sorting.  Not that we've missed SKY that much ... we've been watching Amazon and Netflix.  We've just reached the end of a few series that we've been watching ..... Vampire Diaries, and the spinoff The Originals which was good.   We've just finished something called Colony, and the next series of that isn't out yet so, we needed something new.  

Guess what ..... hubby's chosen the Marvel Superhero films ....... oh joy! We're watching them all apparently .....from the beginning ...... in order.  There's loads of them!  And there's some that we've seen already ..... but we have to watch them in order.  This could take a while.

Cheerio until next time ......