Happy Bird-day Chris .........

Happy Thursday .......

Is it really only Thursday ...... it's been a lonnnnng week!!  But, we're almost there ..... the weekend that is!!
I think our weekend officially starts this evening ...... hubby's got the day off tomorrow, and it's Chris's birthday today.  No doubt there will be much celebrating going on later ..... I do know he's off out this evening.  I think I'll sit this one out and leave it to the boys ...... we can do our family celebrations tomorrow evening.

I have made him a birthday card though ........

Cute or what!

I made it with this month's Twofer Card Challenge in mind ........ another one that I'm sneaking in just before the deadline. 

Two different designs for

two different occasions,

using the same stamp, die or stencil

An ostrich is a bird ...... right?

This little guy has simply been stamped onto a piece of white card using a Black Versafine ink ..... just look at that face!
Not sure if you can see it but, I've just added a tiny bit of blue ink to his eyes .....

The sentiment is from a Penny Black set and I've stamped it in two halves ..... using stencil tape to cover the bits that I didn't need.  The first half on the front ......

and the second on the inside .....

I added a few splatters of gold and black ink to finish off.

Now for the Twofer ......
Using the same stamp .... which by the way is from Katzelkraft, if you were wondering ..... I decided on a Valentine's design.  Well, it'll be here before we know it!

This time, the cute little ostrich has been stamped repeatedly around the edges of a piece of white card

I stamped in the gaps using a sentiment from Tim Holtz's Crazy Talk and some sweet little hearts from MFT's Valentine Wishes 
The hearts have been given a brush of sparkle ....

And I added a nice glittery one, along with my stamped greeting

OK, OK ..... I confess ...... the glittery heart was to hide a smudge that somehow appeared when I'd nearly finished the card ..... ooops!  You would never know would you!

So, that's it ...... my Twofer. 
Birthday and Valentines

Thanks for popping by .... enjoy your day.
It's time to tidy the craft room today ..... it could take a while.  Think I'll have a coffee first!

Cheerio until next time .....

 

Let it Snow .........

Happy Wednesday evening ........

I told you I'd be back!
It's been a busy day.   We haven't had any more snow thank goodness .... not sure what the forecast is for tonight though.  It's still flippin cold!

I'm playing along with another blog challenge ...... CAS again, only this time I've gone all festive for the CAS Christmas Card Challenge

Inspired by the flurry of snow we had last night,  and this month's challenge theme, snowflakes came to mind straight away ......

Using various shades of blue ink I stamped my snowflakes onto a piece of white card

The large snowflake in the centre has been stamped and heat embossed in silver ......

along with the sentiment .....

To finish off I added a sprinkling of my favourite Chunky White Embossing Powder .......  a must have on nearly all my Christmas cards

Have you made a start on your Christmas cards yet?

Thanks for popping by ..... again!  Enjoy your evening.
It's going to be a nice quiet one here I think, curled up in front of the TV.  We've got a busy weekend coming up, starting with more birthday celebrations tomorrow ........

It was Lauren's last week, she was 27 last Thursday, and tomorrow it's Chris's turn.  He'll be 29!!
No doubt there will be a few drinks and then of course on Friday we have Burns Night ..... it's going to be one of those weekends!

Happy Birthday Chris!

Cheerio until next time .........

CAS Mix Up Challenge ......

Happy Wednesday ......

Brrrr ....... its a chilly one today.  The sun is shining at the moment, but we did have a litle dusting of snow overnight. No need to batten down the hatches just yet though ..... it's all melting where we are!

I'm playing catch up this week, with some of my favourite Blog Challenges.  Time is running out though, so I'd better get on with it. 
First up is ........ the CAS Mix Up Challenge ......  always fun.

As you can see, January's theme is ...... Bokeh
That fabulous photographic technique that is surprisingly easy to create, using a whole variety of products from your craft stash.  Check out the CAS Mix Up Blog for links to some fab videos to follow if you've never tried this technique before.

I suppose I've cheated a little on this one ..... I've used a Designer paper (not something I use very often!) that already had a beautiful Bokeh design on it ......

 

The paper is from Stamping Up! I think, and it's so pretty. 
I simply covered the bottom section of a 7x5 inch cardblank with a piece of the paper .......

I then die cut a fancy edge across a piece of white card and attached it over the top

The sentiment is from Inkylicious ..... stamped in Gold metallic ink

And I finished off with a few sequins ......

Very CAS ....... I've used the Bokeh element, rubber stamping and my choice is the sequins.  That's one done!

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy the rest of your day.
I will be back later with another Blog Challenge entry, but first I have to finish the mountain of washing and ironing from the weekend ....... such a glamorous life!  We were only away for two nights, why I'm on my third load of washing, who knows!

We did have a lovely time though.  The wedding venue was perfect ...... this was the view from our bedroom window, the morning after the wedding ..... everywhere white over with a heavy frost

  It was so nice to have the whole family together for such a happy occasion.

Hopefully when I sort through the photos ..... although I didn't take that many ...... I'll have a few more to share with you.

Cheerio until next time .....

It's Monday again ........

Happy Monday morning .....

I hope you've had a good weekend.
Are you ready to start the week with a little crafty project?
Why not pop over to the Uniko blog,  as I've got a Design Team Inspiration post on there today, using the gorgeous Pure Florals - Peony stamps, from the last Uniko release,  to create some pretty Artist Trading Coins

Even though the peonies in this stamp set are quite large, you can still use them on smaller projects.  Pop over and let me know what you think.

It's going to be an other busy week coming up ...... we have more birthday celebrations.  It was Lauren last week ..... my little girl is all grown up!

And Chris's turn this week ..... another night out! 
I have lots of stuff to do in the craft room, and we're celebrating Burn's Night on Friday ..... I'm looking forward to that one.  The owner, and chef, at one of our favourite restaurants is a Scotsman so it should be a good night.  Delicious food, paired with the perfect wines, and no doubt a wee dram, or two.  I wonder if I can get hubby to wear a kilt!?
What are you up to this week?

Time for a quick coffee now I think, before I get started.

Thanks for popping by .... have a great week.

Cheerio until next time ......

Smile ....... it's time to get those stencils out

Yes, it's me again ....... Happy Friday evening

This is a scheduled post, as I'm currently sat at the airport waiting to board a plane.  At least I hope I am ...... unless the weather has taken a real turn for the worse.

I know some places in the UK have had snow.  And whilst I'm typing this (lunchtime Friday) I believe snow is falling here up on the mountains.  The TT course apparently is quite treacherous.
Where I am it's cold, it windy and it's raining ...... lets hope that it doesn't get any worse,  we need to get off the island ....... we have a wedding to go to tomorrow!

It's time now though for a little reminder for the new CAS Stencil Challenge ...... have you played along yet?  Don't worry there's still time to join in.

All you have to do is create a card in the Clean and Simple style, using stencils.  You also need to follow the theme each month, which will be based on either a technique or a particular product.

This month the challenge is hosted by Loll, and we have a nice easy theme for you ....... one of the basic stenciling techniques ...... Sponging

I've used one of the brand new stencil designs from Sweet Poppy Stencils ...... the gorgeous Sunburst

I simply sponged shades of blue and green Distress Inks through the design onto a piece of white card.  The stencil is a nice large design but, you don't always have to use it all,  You can see above that I've gone over the edges of my card, keeping the design to one corner.

I die cut the centre circle and added a die cut stitched frame around the edge.

On the circle cut from the centre I stamped my little monster (Concord & 9th's Monster Love) and coloured him using Distress Ink and a little water .......

If you like the look of the die cut sentiment ...... you'll have to wait a little while longer (sorry!)  I'm teasing you with something that is hopefully coming in March from Sweet Poppy ..... watch this space!

I love it cut in the sparkly glitter card don't you!  I've layered it up a little with plain white ones just to give it a bit of dimension.

Don't just keep your stencils for the front of your cards .... why not add some of the design inside

Check out the CAS Stencil Blog Challenge for more Sponging inspiration from the rest of the DT.  On there you'll also find all the challenge details, rules etc.  There's also some great links on there, to videos showing how to use the sponging technique if you're not familiar with it.

Happy stenciling!

Thanks for popping by ...... enjoy the weekend. And if it's snowing where you are ..... stay warm and cosy.  We're back on the island on Sunday ...... unless we get snowed in whilst we're in the UK!!!

Cheerio until next time .....

Uniko Challenge #51 .......

Good morning ......

We're almost at the weekend ....... have you got that Friday feeling?

Today sees the start of the first Uniko Challenge of 2019.

It's Challenge #51 and we've got a nice easy theme for you ......... it's Anything Goes.   
Too easy for you? ...... then why not use the optional twist too ...... make your project LOVE themed. Time to start thinking of all those Valentine's cards maybe.

I've gone for the CAS look, lots of white space just like the challenge graphic. I've included the single red heart and the optional twist too.

I used the latest Wonderful Day stamp set for the flower head ...... stamping it first onto my card using a black ink,  and then again onto a snippet of card and heat embossed this one in gold.

I then fussy cut one of the cute heart shaped petals and coloured it using a ZIG marker.  I also added a touch of shimmer with a Clear Wink of Stella pen.  I then attached it using foam pads to add a bit of dimension.

The stem and leaves are from Uniko's Flower Power #3, stamped and coloured with ZIGS

And the sentiment, from Uniko's Simply Said,  is stamped and heat embossed in gold, to match the red heart

I finished off with a few splatters of red ink onto the background

You can find all the challenge details and guidelines over on the Uniko Blog, along with details of the prizes up for grabs, and of course more fabulous inspiration from the rest of the Design Team.

The challenge is open until midnight (GMT) on Friday 22nd February so there's loads of time to play along.

Happy stamping!

Thanks for popping by ...... have a great day, and enjoy your weekend.
OK ...... time for a coffee now I think, then it's a quick trip into town before I start on the packing ..... we're off to the UK this evening.

Cheerio until next time .....

New designs from Sweet Poppy Stencils .......

Happy Monday .......

This week is going to be a little crazy I think, if this morning is anything to go by!  Talk about multi-tasking ...... good job I'm female!!!

Before I lock myself in the craft room ...... and I'm not coming out until everything's done! ...... I want to share a couple of the new stencil designs with you from Sweet Poppy, launched at the end of last week.  There's something for everyone.

One of my favourites is the new Sunburst ..... this is going to be so useful.  Great for using to create backgrounds, or add detail and layers to your projects. But also fabulous to use on it's own, either in full .... it's a great size, or just part of the design.

Here's the design in full, on a 7x7 finished sized card ..... how fab does that look but it's so easy to create.

I've gone for nice, bright sunshine colours in Distress Inks, simply sponged through the stencil

I added a touch of glitter glue to highlight some of the dots.

A simple sentiment is all it needed to finish off ..... partly die cut (I'm teasing you here with something that's coming in March)

 And partly stamped .......

You don't have to make large cards though .... here's a little 5x5 design using the same stencil .....

I used the Sweet Poppy Stencil Medium in Gold this time and sprinkled gold glitter over the top

I used a die to cut out the centre, and popped my cute little monster behind .....

The new Monster Love stamp set from Concord & 9th just had to come into the craft room ...... it's so cute!!
I stamped one of the monsters onto a scrap of leftover card, added a touch of colour and then die cut him to fit in the centre circle.

I stamped the heart, added my sentiment, and fussy cut, and then attached it using a piece of folded acetate so that it moves around a little

Another of the new designs is this fabulous Carousel ..... just look at the detail

I've used some of the pastel coloured pastes through the design, then sprinkled with crystal glitter over the top ......

This is another large design which is perfect for those 7x7 or bigger, cardblanks.

I used Distress Inks to create the background, in the same pastel shades.  I simply swiped the inks onto a craft sheer, spritzed with water, and then used a paintbrush to splatter the colours onto my card

 A sentiment on the bottom ......

And a little of the design on the inside ......

All the new stencil designs can be found on the Sweet Poppy Website.  Just click on the New Products section.

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

I've got so much to do this week, it's going to be a busy one. 
We've got Chris back at home,  it's Lauren's birthday on Thursday and then we're all off to the UK on Friday for a family wedding at the weekend.   In between the ironing and the packing, all the craft stuff, and my DT commitments, I have to get my hair done, nails done, birthday shopping with Lauren. I need to find a tie for hubby that will match my dress. Speaking of which ...... it fits, thankfully!! I tried it again over the weekend,  and the shoes I got to go with it are perfect.

We haven't been to a good wedding for a long time.  It's hubby's brother that is finally tying the knot.  Him and his girlfriend have only been together for about 25 years so I think it's time don't you!

Oooh!  I almost forgot, we have another little celebration ......... can you believe that my little old blog is 7 years old today!!

Happy Blogiversary to Life in the Craft Lane!!

That's a lot of blogging!!  And I've enjoyed every minute if it.

I'd like to say a BIG Thank You to all my Blog Friends and Followers for visiting, and commenting. I couldn't do it without you ...... mwah!!!

Cheerio until next time .....