2 for 1 and it's only the 4th! - No! Make that 3!!!

Good morning,

Happy Bank Holiday weekend to you all.  Only 3 weeks to go until I'm sunnying myself (hopefully) on the banks of Lake Como.

I see I have 2 more new followers - Hello and Welcome.  Thanks for taking the time to share in my crafty journey.  Only 3 more then it's Blog candy time!

I've been trying to get myself organised and schedule all my crafty commitments that need to be done before I go on my hols.  Hmmmm ........ how many hours are there in a day? ........ not enough by the look of things.  And, after a lovely catch up chat with Kay (Indigo Blu) last week, my To Do list has just got even longer.  Oh well, the Gelli Plate is going to have to wait a bit longer (sigh!)

Here's a little something I made the other day.  I really should have been tidying the old craft room but instead I found some bits and pieces on my desk, and a Penny Black stamp that's been sat there for a while, and here's what I came up with .......

Another tag!
I love my large tags, and can't you tell I'm hooked on doing the hinged versions at the moment.
This little sweetheart is called  Melle Papillon (Miss Butterfly - I think).
I stamped her onto my tag using Tuxedo Black Memento ink and coloured her with Copic Markers.  I then made a mask for her, covered her over and inked the cloudy sky background using Tumbled Glass Distress ink, and my trusty hand cut cloud.
I added a little bit of foliage around the edges using a Lavinia stamp with Rose Bud Memento, 1st and 2nd generation stamping, and a touch of black, 2nd and 3rd generation to give a more faded colour.

The bottom of the tag was cut away just above the bottom of her dress, and holes punched through both pieces.  I used large jump rings to join them together, but you could use fine ribbon, or twine or even just some wire.

 

I stamped some extra butterflies using a pretty little Hero Arts stamp, onto some scraps of previously inked card.  Cut them out, and attached them to the tag leaving the wings free, so I could bend them up a little to add a bit of dimesion.  A touch of sparkle added to her dress, and a sentiment from a Dylusions stamp set finshes everything off nicely.

As it's the beginning of the month there's a whole new set of Blog challenges out there.  One of which I came across through my good Blog friend Anne.  She's recently joined the Design Team over at Our Creative Corner and I'm so looking forward to seeing her creations.   The Blog Challenge has a brand new look and format, and there's some fabulous inspiration from some of the DT.

The theme for their first challenge is ......

ANYTHING GOES

So I thought I would enter my tag.

I'm also entering this into the Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge .  Their theme is also .........

ANYTHING GOES

Again, I found this challenge through a Blog friend, and fellow Indigo Blu DT member Jo.  She's also part of the DT for Fussy and Fancy - she's one busy lady!

Wow!  2 challenges entered and it's only the 4th of the month! What's going on!?  No rushing at the last minute.  Is this a new me?  No!  It's just lucky that they both had the same theme and it was perfect for my latest make.  Back to normal now.

I've got DT stuff to do next week.  Kay's back on the telly soon - 2 shows on the 19th (I think!) One of them is a Wedding show, and the other is all about Indigo Blu stamping.  Hmmmmm ....... Does that mean new stamp designs ............ I couldn't possibly say!

Speaking of DT stuff, I posted on the Creative Studios DT Blog yesterday.  Sam's got new stamps - yeah!!!   They're sooo cool!

I'll leave you to enjoy the weekend now.  Hope you have a good one.

Thanks for popping by.  Cherrio for now

Linda

xx

PS .......... You can't get rid of me this weekend ......... I'm back with a little extra bit 

Can you believe this ..... 3 challenges!!!  (I'm pleased to say Anne, it fit!!!)

It's the start of this months Penny Black Saturday Challenge, and guess what! ........ their theme is .......

ANYTHING GOES  (whoo hoo!)

My little Miss Butterfly tag is just perfect.  It's ages since I've entered this challenge, so it's nice to be back. 

I don't think I've ever entered a challenge and been the first one up there either - go me!!!  Don't worry, it won't last!

Right, I really am going now. Have a lovely day and I'll see you all next week.  

Cheerio!!!

xx   

I think it's time for a Twinchie

Hello there,

Happy April!  Month number 4 already.  This year is flying by. 
Only 7 weeks on Friday until we go away on holiday - whoo hoo!!!  (Not that I'm counting)
Yes, we've actually booked some time away.  We're getting off the island during the TT fortnight, and we're flying to Italy.  Lake Como to be exact.  I can not wait!

We've booked a lovely villetta on the banks of Lake Como ........

Look at that view from what will be our balcony ........ (sigh!)
 
We love Italy ........ stunning scenery,  the food is to die for, they produce all our favourite wines, and the Italians - well need I say more. 
We've got 14 nights, just the two of us, to do exactly what we want.  We've hired a car so we'll be doing a bit of sight seeing.  I'll be taking my new birthday present along with me too, so I'll still be able to blog - hopefully!   Hubby's finally making up for briefly forgetting my special day, he's ordered me a Mac Book (who's a lucky girl!).  Well the old laptop keeps having funny moments, so I thought it was time I had a new one.  I'll have to get used to using a Mac though,  tried one at the weekend  and it was very strange - so it could take a while.  Hopefully there's an instruction manual that's easy to follow ...... a Dummies Guide would be good!

Anyway, enough waffling.  Time for my Twinchie ......... (I haven't said that for a while)

It's Challenge #3  over at Show Us Your Twinchie and the theme for the month is

'Flower or Flowers'

For those who don't know, a Twinchie is a little piece of artwork that measures 2inch x 2inch

Here's mine ........

I've used the Penny Black 'T for Transparent' stamp set 'Petal Party'.  I've stamped one of the flowers and a leaf a couple of times onto white cardstock, and coloured them in using Copic markers.

I covered my Twinchie with some BoBunny paper from the new C'est La Vie range - left over bits from my Tim Tag.  And the edges have been sanded a little to give an aged look.

I've layered the flowers and the leaves, and added a large pearl to the centre.  The tiny tag on the side is made using a Nestabilities die (Labels One) to cut around the computer generated word.

I love how this little project has turned out - perfect for Springtime I think (as you can see in the picture, we've got sunshine again on the IOM - has Spring finally arrived? - Lets hope so eh!)  

I don't normally give my Twinchies away but,  I do think this one will make a nice card.  I'm off now to see how it turns out.  Watch this space.

Thanks for popping by today.  Enjoy your evening.  I hope it's as nice where you are as it is here on the island.

Cheerio for now

Linda

x

January Blues

Morning everyone,

I can't believe January is nearly over with, and, my blog is a year old!  Where did that time go?!  Happy Birthday Blog (it was actually a few days ago - but who's counting!) 
This is post number 200 and I've enjoyed sharing every single one of them with you.  I still find it hard to believe that so many of you enjoy reading my little old blog.  I love reading all the comments you leave, and I really enjoy stalking following you guys too. Thank you so much for keeping me company on my crafty journey.

As usual I'm on the last minute with my entry for the current Penny Black Saturday Challenge.
This month's theme is ......

JANUARY BLUES!

Don't worry it's not about being all sad and miserable, it's just they want us to use mainly blue tones on our creations.

As always, rules apply ...... only Penny Black images can be used, large sentiments and Stickeroos included.

Here's mine ......

Tea for two ..... all in blue!

Well, it's definitely blue!  I must say, it's not a colour I tend to use a lot, not for the whole card anyway.  I do like how this turned out though.

The background paper is from Magnolia, and is called 'Something Blue'.  The band across the centre was done using the PB 'clique' stamp (3858E) and Stormy Sky Distress Ink.
The main image is PB 'Tea Cozy' (1680J), stamped and coloured using Copic pens.  It's then been cut out and layered using Nestabilities dies (what did we do before we had these!?)
The tiny little sentiment on the tag is an extra, I thought it went with the stamp.  It's from the Stampin Up! Tea Shoppe set.

To finish everything off I added a couple of  Memory Box die cut flourishes, some paper roses and a pretty organza bow.

The main sentiment on the large tag is also a PB stamp - ..... special treasures (3629E).

Well, only one more day to go before hubby is home - I have missed him!   I hope these strong winds die down a little before Friday though, otherwise he's going to have a bit of a BuMpY flight.

Off to put the kettle on now.  A nice cup of Earl Grey I think, before I head off to the old craft room.

Thanks for popping by again.  Enjoy the rest of your day.

Cheerio for now

Linda

x

2 Challenges, 1 card

Hello, I'm back again,
Well I'm certainly spending time in the old craft room this week.  Not much else is getting done around the house though.  Ah well, the ironing can wait, there's still clothes in the wardrobe!

I know I said I was going to be making a birthday card for a guy today, well I got a little distracted.  I still have blog challenges to do, and it's not his birthday until Saturday (not that I'm putting it off or anything).
I wasn't in the mood for men's cards this morning, so this is what I've been up to.

It's another first for me today, I'm entering one card into two different Blog Challenges.  This is due to the fact that I haven't got time to do another design.  There's just not enough hours in the day this week, daylight hours that is.  Or, it could be that I'm taking too long with each project.  Anyway, here goes ......

The first challenge is the Penny Black Saturday Challenge  and it's  CASE-IT this week.
This is Kath's gorgeous card that we had to take our inspiration from - it's so pretty.

 

 And here's my version ....

As you can see it's a little bit bigger (8x8), I've used different colours, added a bit more ribbon and lace, and I've played around with the layout ever so slightly. The overall design is more or less the same though.
The stamp that I've used is Penny Black's  'scented message' (4239K)  and the little sentiment stamped onto the ticket is also one of theirs, 'great day' (3419D).  The floral image is so pretty I decided on a feminine pink teamed with pale green.   I know the colours don't come across well in the picture.  It's been such a miserable day over here, I really stuggled to get any decent light at all.  This is the best I could do.  It is a pretty combination though, trust me.
The flowers were coloured with Copic pens, and then the whole image was inked around the edges with Spun Sugar Distress Ink.  I highlighted the stamp on the image with Bundled Sage DI.  The background paper is from the First Edition Paper Pad - Spring Feast.  This has been on my desk for weeks, finally I took the plunge today and used it!
I added a bit more ribbon, some lace and a couple of decorative hat pins, which leads me nicely into the second of the Blog Challenges that this card is going into.

 

This is a brand new monthly challenge over at the Ribbon Girl, which will run on the 1st Sunday of every month. http://www.ribbongirls.blogspot.com  Check out their blog and see some of gorgeous samples that their Design Team have come up with. You may even be tempted to join in.

This months challenge is....... to USE RIBBON OR LACE
Well I've done that I think.  In fact the vintage seam binding, the beautiful cluny lace and the hat pins all came from The Ribbon Girl. 
Most of my cards have ribbon or lace, or both on somewhere.  A nice piece of co-ordinating ribbon or a lovely bow can add that perfect finishing touch to any project.  It is one of my (many) weaknesses, I have meters of the stuff!  But, I can always make room for more.  The Ribbon Girl is a great place to go if you just can't find that right shade of pink... purple ......blue .....

Well, I'd better be off.  I really should make a start on some housework (sigh!).  I also need to go through my stash and get something sorted for tomorrow.  I have to do the (man) birthday card tomorrow, time is running out.  I'll be in my craft room in the morning and I'm not coming out until it's finished - could be a long day!

Ooh, just remembered it's a Bank Holiday over here tomorrow.  It's the last day of the TT - Senior Race Day, with the final race being sponsored by Poker Stars.

                                             
Racing should finish tomorrow evening providing the weather's ok.  Then it's party time down on the prom finishing with a Fireworks Display in Douglas Bay at 11.30pm, bringing the 2012 TT to a close.  If it's a nice night we may just pop down there.  It'll be a little bit busy I expect.

Anyway, thanks for popping by.  It's nice to know you find my little blog entertaining.
I'll be back to share my latest creation with you all soon.
Have a good night.

Linda

x