Finally ...... it's finished!

Happy Tuesday!

Did you all have a good Bank Holiday Weekend?  I do hope so seeing as how it's the last one before Christmas.
I spent most of mine in the old craft room catching up with stuff!  Well, there was no point in trying to go anywhere with the Manx Grand Prix roaring it's way around the island.

At least the weather's been good all weekend, so race week got off to a great start. It's raining today though, but I don't think it's a race day so no problems there.  Does this mean summer is over? (sigh!) 

As I said I've been busy trying to catch up with stuff.  I realised that it was my day to post on the Craftwork Cards DT Blog today and I had nothing prepared (oops!)  Yesterday was spent making a cute little mini book with the Time Flies Collection
Here's a little sneaky peek ........ if you'd like to see more you'll have to pop over to the Craftwork Cards Blog

Over the weekend I also got around to finishing a birthday card for that very special little man that visits over here regularly .......... Alex.  He's three in a little over 3 weeks ...... boy has that time flown!!
What do you think?

It's actually a Melanie Heaton design, done on one her Cricut Workshops I went on earlier this year - back in March in fact!   As soon as I saw what we were making I knew exactly who mine was for.  It's perfect for him.  It's taken me a while to get around to finishing though - good job I took pictures at the workshop otherwise I would have never remembered where all the pieces went!
The whole card front has been done using the Cricut machine along with the Nate's ABC cartridge. And in true Mel form there's lots of layers and lots of dotting and dashing. It was a very busy workshop, she doesn't half make you work.

This little guy moves around - he's on a wobbler, so cute! 

I've changed mine a little from Mel's original design, it's slightly smaller to begin with,  which meant that everything couldn't go on the outside, but ....... I put it on the inside instead ....

I do like to decorate the inside of my cards as you know.

All the lettering has been done using the Cuttlebug Alphabet dies - Olivia, and the balloons are cut using the new Penny Black die - uplifting

Now I just have to find, or make an envelope big enough.  I think I may just wrap it instead!!

It's the big countdown this week for our eldest - Chris.  He finishes his job on Friday, ready to go back to Uni in Sheffield the weekend after (sigh!).
 

Next week is going to be chaos getting all his stuff ready.  I'll be washing and ironing for England, and no doubt there'll be a shopping trip sometime during the week, that's going to cost a small fortune.  Not to mention the Leaving Do at the weekend, that's going to get messy!   Oh well, it's his final year, hopefully it'll all be worth it at the end.

Thanks for popping by today.  You'll be seeing me again later in the week, I've still got my Timmie Tag to do.

Enjoy the rest of your day.

Cheerio for now

Linda

xx

Doesn't Time fly ........

Happy Friday everyone,

Welcome to my new followers this week.  Thank you for taking the time to share in my crafty journey,  it's nice to have you along.

It's a little bit chilly on the Isle of Man today, and it's SNOWING!!!  Nothing like what parts of the UK are getting but the white stuff is definitely falling.  I don't think we're getting enough here in Douglas to cause any major problems (famous last words!) but, up on the mountain road is a different story .........

These are pictures taken this morning from the IOM Webcams up there ...........Brrrrrr!!!
We're off across to the UK tomorrow morning (hopefully!) I'd better wrap up warm I think.

The reason for our little trip across is Lauren's birthday.  She was 21 yesterday, and we're having a little family get together on Saturday.
Where has that time gone, I ask myself.  My baby's all grown up ......... and she now has a baby of her own. How old does that make me feel ........!!?!!

As it's a special birthday I had to make a special card ......

....... it's even got a box!  Here's what's inside ......

I hope she likes it ........ it's a 'more is more' sort of card.  I got a bit carried away I think.  There's a lot of my favourite products on there, Fran-tage, Mega Flakes, the Indigo Blu Vintage Flourish stamp  ......

I've used my Cricut machine for the numbers (Storybook cartridge), and a Tim Holtz Alterations die for the clock ....

..... which has been painted and crackled to give an aged look. 
Of course there had to be a key on there somewhere too, and I had to put lots of flowers, a handmade paper rose, ribbon, lace, beads, glitter for a bit of sparkle, you name it, it's on there ........

The inside has been decorated too, just to finish it all off ....

As I've said, I hope she likes it. 

Well, that's another busy week nearly over.  I've just to do my weekly post over on the Creative Studios DT Blog then I can close the old Craft Room until Sunday. 
Here's a sneaky peek of this weeks project ........

a little something for the guys again .... maybe.


Have a lovely weekend.  Stay cosy and warm.

Cheerio for now

Linda

x

All done at last!

Happy weekend everybody!!

Phew!!  What a busy week that was.  I did it though, everything on last week's 'To Do' list was done, well that is apart from the ironing!
All my Christmas cards are done and posted, apart from one.  Most of the presents are bought, wrapped and are sat under the tree. (I'm already having to fight Lauren off them though).  And I've made a start on the big food shop.  We're doing the family Christmas Day next Tuesday, as the kids won't be around on the 25th.  So first job next week is pick up a turkey.

Weekend though is for relaxing - well, as relaxed as it can be with this young gentleman running around .......

Yes he's back on the island, and it looks as though he's already made himself at home.  I don't usually allow standing on the kitchen table but he was singing 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' at the time and he sounded so cute.  I'm looking forward to spending as much time as I can with him this week.
We're off to a Christmas party with him tomorrow (Sunday), and the big guy with the red suit and the white beard is going to be there, but more about that later.

I'm so glad that Mr Mojo finally decided to make an appearance. I was beginning to think that I'd have to go to that well known shop on the high street and buy some  cards. (oh no!)  At least the family Christmas cards turned out ok.  The design was the same, but each of them was slightly different.

 And this is Alex's Christmas card ........

.......... All done with the help of the Cricut machine.

and a touch of Fran-tage of course.

I used the Printers Block Clear stamps from Craftwork Cards to do his name ......

Well I've just one more card to make and then that's it for this year.  I'll keep you posted on how that goes.

Time for hot crumpets and coffee now I think.  Alex says it's time that Grandad got out of bed, and I agree.

Have a lovely weekend, and I'll see you all again soon.

Cheerio for now

Linda

x 

Look Who's 2

Evening folks,
I didn't want another day to go by without a post so that's why I'm here so late. 
Now where was I ...... the weekend seems a bit of a blur, it went by so fast. 
I did manage to do some baking on Sunday, and lets just say, there's not a lot of it left!  There's still some of the cakes, but the scones were lucky to see the day out - well they were only small.  And we had to try them while they were still warm, with raspberry jam and clotted cream - Yum! Yum!  (will be making more of those!!)

a little bit of Afternoon Tea

It's been a funny couple of days here on the island.  Autumn is most certainly on the way, there's a definite chill outside.  We even had hail this afternoon - inbetween glorious blue skies and sunshine.   That's the Isle of Man for you - changeable!

Luckily I haven't had to go too far, I've been busy in the old craft room.   Alex's birthday cards needed making and I wanted to do something a bit special.
Here's the results ..........

He's 2 on Friday.   He really likes Thomas the Tank Engine at the moment so I decided to go for a train, and make a little mini book style card, with some photos in there.
The chipboard bases are from Craftwork Cards, you can find them on their website here .  They come in a pack of 6 and are such a great size - I used the large version.
The papers are from The Paper Company, with a few other bits and bobs added on there as well. 
There's lots of inking around the edges, dotting and dashing on everything too.  I had so much fun with this.

I used 3 of the trains, and decorated both sides of  them, and everything's held together with a couple of  decorated bookrings.

The cute giraffe on the front cover and the parrots were stamped using a Creative Expressions unmounted stamp set, and all the lettering was done using the Cricut - a mixture of Wild Card (for the Happy Birthday) and Kate's ABC cartridges.

The little owl on the final page was made using the Stampin Up! Owl builder punch.  I love this little guy and he had to make an appearance at some point.  The photo on the page was taken on our recent visit to the Bird and Owl Sanctuary, the look on Alex's face is priceless, I couldn't not use it.

The whole thing took a while to complete, but it's been worth every minute.  I just wish I could be there to see the look on his face when he opens it.

I also made him a card from his Uncle Christopher ........

...... isn't he sooo cute!
When I saw this in one of this month's craft magazines, I just had to give it a go.
This little guy is from the October edition of Papercraft Inspirations.  He's been created, along with some other little friends, by one of the team on the magazine - Angela Poole  .....

He was really easy to do, you get all the templates in the magazine, along with the instructions.  
All the cardstock I've used is Bazzill Basics and the rest are pieces of scrapbooking papers from my bit box.

I do like my craft magazines.  It's a habit I picked up while working in a craft store, and can't seem to kick it.  There's the one I read EVERY month (Craft Stamper), the rest I pick up occasionally.  I used to read them all when I was working.  Well, they were there and I needed to know what the rest of the craft world was up to, plus you can always pick up some handy tips and techniques. 
And, when you'd been doing samples week in, week out for catalogues, shows, TV, classes etc., etc., you sometimes needed all the help you could get.  In fact, even now, on the occasions when Mr Mojo has taken himself off, and gone AWOL, I have been known to flick through my old magazines for inspiration and ideas.

Speaking of magazines, that's me done for the night.  I just need to parcel up these cards then I'm off to bed. I've got a copy of the Seasonal Stampin Up! Catalogue to go through.  It's full of brand new products and as I'm booked on an SU workshop on Saturday, I have to look through and see if there's anything I need to order.
Also,  I've got an early start tomorrow, I have to be at the Post Office first thing (hope it's not raining). Then I think the rest of the day will be spent catching up with Blog Challenges again.  I've got a Twinchie to do, this months Penny Black Saturday Challenge entry, and, I still haven't done my Timmie Tag - well we are only half way through the month, there's loads of time yet!

Thanks for popping by.  See you all again soon

Night, night!

Linda

x

Another job done!

Hello again,
I'm back!  I've had a lovely morning. I managed to get all my jobs done - even the washing (whoo hoo!)  Had a lovely coffee in town, and a chat with my friend Catherine, even hit the shops for a while.

My afternoon has been spent working on the birthday gift for my daughter's friend, and it's all finished.  Everything came together nicely I'm pleased to say.

The plain canvas soon had a bit of colour ..... 

........ I inked the backgroud using Distress Inks (Stormy Sky and Bundled Sage) and templates just cut freehand from printer paper.

Next, was to put the whole picture together .....

.......  as you've probably already guessed, it's a family tree.
The tree was cut using my Cricut and the Serenade Cartridge, and the word 'family' came off  Home Accents.  The little bird is done with a punch, the Bird Builder from Stampin' Up! and the little picket fence int he background is a Martha Stewart punch.
All the frames were cut with Nestabilites and layered up ready for the photos to go on.  I'm going have to leave that bit up to Lauren when she gets this, because I've still no printer (Boo Hoo!).  I've made it easy for her though, I've cut her a template so she can get them all the right size. It's all finished off with some SU Striped Grosgrain Ribbon to hang it with. 
I'm really pleased with the result, I just hope that Sam likes it.  The next thing is to get it over to the UK in one piece - we've only got hand luggage!!

Thanks for stopping by.  Enjoy the rest of Wednesday and I'll see you again tomorrow.

Bye for now

Linda

x

Penny Black Saturday Challenge

Happy Thursday! (It was still Wednesday when I started this)
Hopefully this will post ok.  I'm having a little trouble with Blogger at the moment -  gremlins in the system I think.  I can't view my post list, or my comments list.  I can't check out my Blog reading list, all I keep getting are these flippin' error codes when I sign in, and I can't find out what to do with them to put things right - aarrgh!!!  I can do without this right now!!!
I know you guys are reading Wednesday's post because I'm getting emails to tell me you've all left comments. Thank you,  however I can't log in to moderate them so I can't publish anything.  Please keep reading and I promise I will get things sorted asap.

Tonights (or rather this mornings) post is my entry for the Penny Black Saturday Challenge PBSC
It's a colour challenge this week and the theme is .......
 
                          Red, White & Blue!
 
Seeing as it's Father's Day on Sunday and I haven't had chance to make any cards yet I thought I'd do two jobs at once.
Here's the result ........

It's VERY red, white and blue, and I think I may have overdone the faux stitching but I haven't got time to start again!
The little guy with the tie is from a Penny Black clear set called 'Bubbly'.  The sentiment's on the same set too.  He was coloured in with Copic pens, cut out and embossed using the Nestabilities Postage Stamp Die and then inked around the edge with the die still in place, with Paris Dusk and Ladybug Memento inks.  This is a great little technique as the white edge gives the impression of another layer being there.
The papers are from one of my favourite ranges -  Bo Bunny Double Dot.  I have 2 boxes for these, one that's for full 12x12 sheets and one that's full of all the cut off bits.  I hate throwing any of these papers away, even the smallest pieces can come in for something.  I had  a good rummage through and managed to find some bits big enough to give me a nice layout, no need to cut into a full sheet.  They're double sided too, dotty on one side, plain on the other, so you can alternate them to get a nice contrast.  I used the plain sides for the bunting and the thin strips - see I really don't throw any of these papers in the bin!
This card is actually going in the post tomorrow, it's being sent across to the UK to my father-in-law.  I hope he likes it.

Well that's it for tonight, I'm off to bed.  Sorry it's a bit of a short post but I'm absolutely shattered, and it is rather late.  Plus everyone else has gone off to bed and left me on my own - awww!
I have another busy craft day planned tomorrow - more Indigo Blu.  I will post some sneak peeks over the weekend.
I'll also have another go at sorting out my Blog problem tomorrow -   Please continue to leave comments as I get them sent in an email before they go on the Blog.

Thanks for popping by.  See you all tomorrow (or should I say later today)

Night Night!

                                              Linda
                                                 x

edit done 20/6  LATE ADDITION
I thought I'd add this in here as it's a Father's Day card.  Stephen had said he wasn't bothered about a card seeing as I was so busy on the run up to Father's Day but I couldn't not make him one could I.  He was out most of the afternoon on Saturday so I took the opportunity and made this for him ....

It was doing using my Cricut - well I needed all the help I could get, I was frazzled by weekend.  I think the saying is off the Wild Card cartridge, and the papers are my favourite BoBunny Double Dot, and an old print design from Magnolia.  I think he appreciated it when Christopher presented him with it.  He wasn't sure how or when I'd had the time to make it though.  xx

Добро пожаловать!

Hello again,
As I've spent all day in my craft room, again, I thought I'd share with you what I've been doing.
It's been lovely in here today, the sun has been shining which means it's been lovely and warm with loads of light coming in through the window and patio doors.  For me, it's the best room in the house (and the most messy!!)
This morning was taken up mostly with the weekly Blog challenge over at Less is More (see previous post for details).  Then, after lunch I needed to settle down and finish a card that I'd been asked to make a week or so ago, by one of my hubby's work colleagues.
It's taken me a while but I finally got it all finished this afternoon, sent a photograph off for approval and waited nervously for the answer...........
He likes it!!  Thank goodness.  It's always a bit of a worry when someone asks me to make them a card.  And this one was no different.  I had to make a special 'Welcome Home' card for his wife.  Not such a big challenge I hear you say, but, the text on this one had to be in Russian!!!  Baard was quite specific about what he wanted which was good, and he did the translation for me, so here's the finished result ......

It's quite a large card.  The maps were printed from the internet then given the 'Linda' touch.  The lettering was done using the Cuttlebug, and the cute little plane was cut with the Cricut (New Arrival cartridge), and mounted with an acetate 'spring' so it moves a little.

I decided to do the message as though it was on a flag.  It says "Welcome home, Alena" I think.



 
The inside was decorated as well, using a sweet little house stamp and some pretty ribbon I bought recently at the GNPE in Harrogate.

I hope Alena likes it as much as I enjoyed making it.

Thanks for popping by.  Twice in one day too!

Linda

x

Playing 'Catch Up'

Hi everyone,

I know I really should have done this last week but I'm not sure where the time went.  I don't seem to have done that much really, but the weekend soon came around. We have started house hunting though - Oh joy!! And we're looking for a new car, or rather Stephen is looking for a new car, I'm keeping well out of that one.
Here goes. I'll warn you now, this could be a long post, so you may want to grab a coffee. 
I'm not sure where to start really, I've got cards to put on here, that I made while ago but couldn't blog them in case they were seen. There's workshops, craft shows, new photos of Alex. I won't bore you with all the details, so here are the edited highlights.

I started the week with my crafting buddies and we had a ball.  I've not laughed so much in a long time.  It's great when we all get together because we pick up right where we left off, and don't stop until it's time to go home.
Saturday was a workshop at Inspirations in Preston (my old work place), with the lovely Sarah McCrossan http://sarahmccrossan.blogspot.com/  It's always nice to visit my old workmates, and do a little shopping of course. It's even better when there's a 'Sarah' workshop on too.  Here's what we made using the new Hero Arts Cling Stamp 'Large Flower Background'. All four cards are different even though they are made with the same stamp.  My favourite is the shaped card because of the technique we used.  We stamped and embossed the design in white, then painted it using Distress inks mixed with Perfect Pearls to give them a pearlescent finish.  No need to buy special pearlised paints, just smudge your inks onto a craft sheet and then spritz with perfect pearls, mix and apply with a paint brush.  Easy, but very effective. Great workshop as always.

One stamp - four different looks

My favourite from the four

Sunday (Mother's Day).  My Mother's Day treat was to go to the Great Northern Papercraft Extravaganza (GNPE) in Harrogate.  Another fab day with my craft buddies.  What about my kids I hear you say!  Well, Christopher was in Sheffield and we'd arranged to go over and spend the day with him later in the week, as he's busy with Uni work at the moment, and Lauren, who's a Mum now herself was spending the day with Alex, so why shouldn't I spoil myself.  I did get a call from Lauren to wish me 'Happy Mother's Day' and a facebook message from Christopher, so at least they didn't forget.  As I was out all day, Stephen and I had been over to his Mum the night before with cards and flowers.  Here's the card I'd made for her.  I was inspired by an article in the March edition of Papercraft Inspirations by Angela Poole. I went for different colours and a bigger card.  I was pleased with the result, and I think Stephen's mum appreciated it.

I decorated the inside like usual, and added more ribbon.  Well, I knew I didn't need to post this one so I could be a little more extravagant.  I think it looks really pretty.

I enjoyed the GNPE as always.  It's one of my favourite craft shows, and as usual I spent a small fortune.  Well, I don't spend much on the island on craft stuff so while I'm over here I think I deserve a treat or two, or three, or more ........  Here's what I ended up with, it's not a very good picture I'm afraid but you get the idea. There's a bit of everything I think, stamps, papers, inks, dies, bling, storage (cuddly toy!) etc., etc. This is not just from the craft show, it was other craft shopping as well, done during the rest of the week, and some done for me before I got over (Thanks Susan  x)  I got loads of new goodies, now I just have to find time to play with them all - it's a hard life I know.

My new stash!

Monday - another fab day.  The morning was spent at Inspirations again, no workshop this time, it was their regular Monday Craft club.  They do have a calendar with all their events on, check it out.  I would recommend Sarah's classes anytime http://www.cardcraftplus.co.uk/acatalog/Inspirations_Calendar.html  I'd only popped in to say 'Hi' to everyone and ended up doing a bit more shopping (as you do).  Then it was out for lunch with Sally and Deborah, who by the way both spoiled me rotten with cards and gifts. Thank you so much girls, I lover my little luxuries.  
Because I wasn't across for my BIG birthday at the beginning of March I'd had to wait for my birthday card from Sally. OMG! was it worth waiting for.  Sally is an SU demonstrator, and a very talented lady.  My card is gorgeous!  I hope Sally doesn't mind but I've used her pictures from her Blog because they're better than mine. http://stampin-sally.blogspot.com/ I'm still figuring out my new camera by the way.  I can take pictures, just need to get them onto the computer now!   Here's the card and the beautiful necklace that she made for me which, I must say, was all beautifully gift wrapped. Thanks again Sally, I love it  xx

My '21st' Birthday card

Now for the present ...

The necklace

Beautiful pendant

Pearl charm

Crystal charm

  









 Wasn't I a lucky girl! 

While we were over in the UK a special little boy had his first birthday.  Here's the card I made for him, and as we were over there I got do deliver it myself which was nice.

My Cricut machine came in handy for this one, it just took some time putting it all together along with the hand doodling.  It was worth it though.

Well, I think I've gone on long enough, you must be fed up by now.  I'll give you all a break and be back again later with the rest of the week.

Thanks for looking
See you soon

Linda

x