Happy Birthday Bev! .......

Welcome to Tuesday ......

It's a special day today.  The lovely Bev from Uniko is celebrating her birthday!!

Happy Birthday to You

Happy Birthday to You

Happy Birthday dear Bev

Happy Birthday to You!!! 

It's not just any old birthday ..... it's a big one!  I don't think she'll mind me telling you ..... it's the big 4 0!!!!
To help her celebrate her special day the Uniko Design Team have gt together and we're having a Surprise Birthday Blog Hop ..... whoo hoo!!

Happy Birthday hun ....... hope it's a good one!

I'm not sure how Bev is feeling about turning 40 (I know I wasn't happy when it was me!!) so I thought I'd keep my design CAS, and make the number a little understated ......

Inlaid into the stamped image ......

Gold shimmer ink to stamp with, coloured using ZIG Markers,  and a few little crystal drops to finish

I know Bev has received this, because I gave it to her at the weekend when I saw her at Port Sunlight.
If you would like to join in and wish Bev a Happy Birthday ..... just design a card and add it to the linky on the Birthday Blog post on the Uniko Blog ...... she'll love it!

Speaking of Port Sunlight we had a great day on Saturday.  The weather was fab, the ferry crossing was perfectly calm (both ways) and the shopping was fun.  I even came back with money in my purse which was a bonus!

It was so nice to see everyone, it's just a shame we don't get more time.

Thanks for popping by .... enjoy the rest of your day.
I'm off to the craft room now.  It's a short week for me this week, so I need to get move on!
Hubby and I are having a few days away ....... we're on the boat again on Thursday and then we're off up to Scotland I think.  Let's hope this nice weather holds.
Speaking of the weather, did I mention that hubby had bought himself a little present?  He's bought himself a telescope.

It's a bit bigger than I imagined ..... my hubby never does anything by half!!!

Anyway, as you can see it's all set up ...... well almost.   Apparently, you have to align it using the stars so that the telescope knows where it is, you can then tell it what you want to look at, and it will move around to view different parts of the sky ...... makes sense, I suppose!  Well ...... since it arrived we haven't had a clear night ..... and the thing's just been sat in the lounge.  That was until Saturday. 

The Isle of Man is known for it's dark skies and where we are there's not much in the way of street lights etc., it's all countryside around us so, on a clear night the sky is full of stars.  When I got home around 10ish the house was deserted.  I eventually found him, on the patio, with the telescope, looking at the moon!  Bless him .... my little stargazer!  

Cheerio until next time .....

Products used:
Stamps: Happiest of Days (Stampin Up!)
Inks: Delicata - Golden Glizt
Other: Number dies (Stampin Up!); ZIG Brush Markers, Crystal Drops (Nuvo)

Happy 3rd Birthday CAS Mix Up .......

Happy Wednesday .......

It's a bit of a cold and blustery one here today.  There's no boats, trees down everywhere .... it's blowing a right old hoolie out there!   There's nothing like starting your day chasing garden chairs in your PJ's!!!
Everything is safe and sound again though and the hatches have been battened.  Let's hope Storm Gareth doesn't hang around too long.

I'm playing along with the CAS Mix Up challenge today and guess what ..... they're celebrating their 3rd Birthday.  Congratulations ladies!

The theme for March is Faux Stained Glass ..... something I've not tried before.
If you haven't tried it either, check out the links on the CAS Mix Up Blog, there's a couple of ways you can do this technique

I chose to use die cuts and Crystal Glaze ..... this was so much fun to do and I love how it's turned out

Faux Stained Glass technique/Rubber stamping/Heat embossing

I started with a scrap of cardstock coloured using Distress Oxides.

I then die cut the butterflies FOUR times ...... three from scraps of white card and once from a piece cut to 7x5 inches, to fit the front of my cardblank.  Behind this I attached the piece of coloured card and then, inlaid one of the die cuts back into place along with two more on top

I filled each of the sections with Clear Crystal Glaze and then set it aside to dry.

For the final layer I inked over each of the butterflies using Versamark ink and then heat embossed with a Platinum embossing powder.
Once the glaze was dry I added the embossed butterflies on the top ....... I love the dimension

A simle sentiment was all it needed to finish off ..... very CAS!

I'm definitely going to give this technique another try.

Thanks for popping by ..... have a great day.
I'm off back to the craft room I think ...... it's nice and cosy in there.

Cheerio until next time .....

Products used:
Stamps: Birthday Sentiments (Happy Little Stampers)
Inks:  Distress Oxides - Picked Raspberry, Spiced Marmalade, Versamark ink
Other: Butterfly Trio Die (Poppy Stamps), Ink Me white cardstock (Hunkydory), Platinum Embossing Powder (WOW!), Nuvo Clear Crystal Glaze

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 ......

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 ....