A beginning and an end ......

Hi everyone.  My mojo must be returning these days, as I have found some inspiration from somewhere.

Firstly my friend became a Grandma .... Her daughter gave birth to a gorgeous baby girl ......
And then another friend has buried her Dad.  Two very different aspects of life, but a certainty for us all.

I made two baby cards.  One for the proud parents, and one for the proud Grandparents. Very similar so that Mother and Daughter could not argue about who had the nicest card.  Anyway congrats to both sets of proud parents.

The papers for these are by First Edition.  The gorgeous shapes have been cut using Nesties and the "Baby" sentiment was cut on the Cricut.  The die cuts are of course Forever Friends.  I have finished off with ribbon, lace and card candi from stash.

Sadly a friend had to bury her Dad recently and this was the simple card I made.  The agapanthus was stamped using Versamark and then heat embossed.  Simply then matted onto black and white card from stock, before adding a black ribbon bow at the bottom.

Crafty hugs for now.

Feeling Romantic ............

Over on the Cutie Pie Challenge Blog this fortnight we are being sponsored by the fantastic Pink Gems.  The challenge this time is borders and frames.   I chose the gorgeous Pointsettia Heart for my image.  It is just so pretty, why wait and only use it at Christmas.

I coloured it in using my promarkers and dovecraft chalks, cut complimenting hearts using my Spellbinder Nesties and layered these up.  The border was created using a Martha Stewart Punch.  The papers are from my stash.  I love the very subtle colours and shades and felt this was quite a romantic card ..............

Crafty hugs for now ..

Diamonds are a girl's best friend .............

Morning to all my fellow crunchies out there.

I hope your day has started brilliantly and that the sun is shining wherever you are ..........

Today's card is for the Cutie Pie Challenge Blog Design Team.  Our theme this time is Glitter and Bling.  What girl doesn't love a little bit of sparkle, whether on her person or in her work.  So go on pop on over and join in and let your inner child out and play with that glitter.  Go on you know you want to.

I had great fun doing my card this time, the Tim Holtz stickles came out - it gave me an excuse to go out and buy that fantastic yellow - soooo pretty.    I chose to use a Humphrey image for this card.  It reminds me of my best pal.  The two of us sat drinking coffee, having a chat and putting the world to rights.

The gorgeous papers were freebies from Pink Paislee, the ribbon and flowers from Papermania, the fantastic birdcage from my stash and the senitment is from the Papermania Tulip Range.  I cut the image using a Spellbinders Nestie. 

I hope you enjoy looking at this one as much as I enjoyed making it.

Crafty hugs for now

A little bit of red white 'n' blue

Don't you just love how the whole country is getting excited about the Jubilee ..........  whether you're a royalist or just looking forward to the extra holiday ........... the whole country is getting swept along and there is red, white and blue everywhere ...........  so why shouldn't it be on my cards.

Over on the Anything Goes Challenge Blog today the theme is Anniversary and Jubilee - so I thought I would combine the two and use lots of my fav Timmy things to make it that bit extra special.

 Complete

 inside

without the tags

large tag

 small tag

I used the fab Papermania Portebello papers range and combined these with Distress inks - Barn Door and Faded Jeans.  The silhouttes were cut on the Cricut, as were the tag shapes and the sentiment inside.  The bunting was cut using Spellbinder Nestabilities.  The stamps used are of course good old Timmy from his Stampers Annonymous range.  The bows, buttons and ribbons are also by Papermania

I hope you like this one. 

Crafty Hugs

Time is flying over at the Anything Goes Challenge Blog

Morning to all my fellow "Crunchies".  I hope that you have had a fantastic weekend and that you caught up on all my exciting new yesterday.

Don't forget to become a fellow Cutie and hop on over to my Challenge Blog and join in.  We always have great sponsors and fab prizes.

As many of your now I belong to another fantastic design team - who inspire all you guys on the Anything Goes Blog.  This fortnight our challenge is "Tick Tock goes the Clock"  anything time related or steam punk.

Well how can a girl resist a bit of Tim Holtz in her life, and he fits so well with this theme.  It was my baby brother's birthday last month so this is the card I came up with for him....

The gorgeous clock is of course a TH Sizzex die.  The papers are by Kanban and also Graphic 45 and the edges have been distressed with TH distress inks.  I used spellbinder Nestabilities to cut the gorgeous matting and layering shapes.  The fantastic gentleman topper is from Kanban.  (Isn't he just so handsome and dapper!!)

The "Brother" wording was cut on my Cricut.

If you look closely you will see that the whole of the card was stamped with one of the new papermania urban stamps using black ink before I matted and layered all those fab papers.

I decorated the inside using scraps of the same papers used on the front.  The verse is one from an old card.  I stamped the paper with the same papermania urban stamp in a toning colour and then printed the verse.

Dont forget the fantastic Craft Den sells lots of gorgeous timmy products and many more besides.  

I hope you like it.

Hugs

Wow Big News: All change at the Cutie Pies

I have been given a fantastic opportunity this fortnight.  My wonderful DT leader Woo at the Cutie Pies, has decided to step down, and I have been given the amazing honour of becoming DT Leader.

Thank you Woo for everything you do for the girlies over at the Cutie Pie Challenge Blog.  We will miss you, but know that you will be there in the background.

I am soooo excited and very scared.  It's a big challenge and one that I hope I live up to.

So without further ado this is my first challenge as DT lead for the Cutie Pies

Hi to all the Cutie Pies this morning, you know who you are!  

 Big Congratulations to our winners of challenge 15 click here to find out who they are!

This fortnights challenge is CIRCLES.  No straight lines at all cuties.  So what do you think you can come up with.  We have two fantastic sponsors for this challenge!

Our first sponsor is Emma from CRAFTY EMMA'S STORE, she has a fantastic selection of crafting goodies to add to your stash and an excellent clearance corner where there are lots of bargains to be had, so why not pop on over now if you can't wait to see if you're the lucky winner!!!  Our winner will receive a Gift Voucher to spend in Emma's Store (p&p NOT included).

CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE STORE

Our Second Sponsor is the wonderful Tiddly Inks  where you will find lots of fantastic digital images to play with and the gorgeous Wryn & Friends!  Why not pop over now!

Tiddly Inks 

Tiddly Inks turned 2 last week, so a belated Happy Birthday to them.  They have a gorgeous range of digital stamps, with new ones being released every Tuesday.  Also don't forget to try your luck in their blog challenges at Tiddlyinks.blogspot.co.uk

The Cutie Pie DT have a new member, Becky from Shabby Treasures 

joins the team from this challenge and we're so pleased to have her on board!  

Why not pay a visit to her lovely blog and follow and leave her a lovely welcome message! 

Well all that's left for me to say is GOOD LUCKwith your entries, can't wait to see 

what you come up with for this challenge and leave you to take a little inspiration 

from what I think is a wonderful selection of DT Cards!

All the DT are wonderful and have been so supportive so I would really appreciate it if you could pop over to the Cutie Pie Challenge Blog and show them some love by leaving fabbie comments on their blogs.  

Anyway this is my card for this challenge.  Our second sponsor is Tiddly Inks and they turned 2 this week.  I have used the fantastic "I love you most" image on my card. 

I used my nesties to create this gorgeous little easel card, and have used versamark inks to cover the whole of the base of the card before dusting with Cosmic Dust

The image was coloured with promarkers and then cut out and mounted.

The sentiment was stamped from the same digital set and then again dusted with Cosmic Dust

Thanks for all your love and support.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:

Hugs

It's Cutie Pie time again and Tim loves his cupcakes

Hi everyone, today's a great day, the sun is shining and I had a fantastic afternoon with my gorgeous son. We went shopping and finally managed to get him some "Skylander" characters.  Not to mention that at thirteen he already knows exactly how to order his coffee in Costa.  (A man after my own heart - lol)

Today's challenge over at the Cutie Pies has caused all of the DT a real headache.......... I mean .......... how can a girl possibly choose a single ................. yes a single favourite cute stamp.  JUST ONE ......... and only one..............  you have no idea how hard it was, but I am hoping that you soon will.........

Go on pop on over to the Cutie Pie Challenge and join in.   It's been great fun making this card for this challenge.  Anyway here's some detail about the challenge ...

We are sponsored by the lovely Gayle from Teddy Bo & Co, There are so many fantastic Digi Images, a growing collection of Die Cut Dies and lots more, so why not pay a visit to Teddy Bo Towers today!  Well one lucky Winner will bag 

a lovely Digi Prize from Teddy Bo & Co, 

so you need to get making asap!

CLICK HERE TO VISIT
Our Second sponsor is the wonderful Digital Delights and our luck Random Winner will win this prize!  Digital Delights has a huge collection of Digi images for every occassion, why not pop over and have a look through all the catagories and see if there's
something you fall in love with!

CLICK HERE TO VISIT

Anyway for my card I chose to use the fabulous Timmy Tiger with his cupcake for my friend's birthday card.  So here's timmy in all his splendour.....

Tim has of course been coloured with promarkers.  I then layered his onto squares nesties.  The card has been folded back on itself and I have added a home-made stick pin tied with a chiffon ribbon.  The badge was from a scrapbook kit I had for christmas.  The beads for the stick pin were from my stash.  The sentiment is from Kanban and the papers are First Edition.

I must confess that I had to have a cupcake after colouring this one in............ so go on pop on over to either Teddy Bo Towers or to Digital Delights and find yourself a new favourite, or you could recyle an old one.  All the DT are waiting to see what you come up with ........ who knows we may even discover some new fantastic stamp which could become our favourite.

Hugs for now.

My first Blog Award and Anything Goes

Hello my fellow crunchies.

I have some really exciting news.  I am really honoured to have been nominated for the Liebster Blog Award and would like to thank Tina for thinking of me, thanks for all the lovely comments you leave on my blog too.

The Liebster Blog Award is used to show appreciation of smaller blogs (under 200 followers) and to help spread readership and joy.

As part of the tradition the award is to be passed along to five other blogs that have motivated and inspired me.

The name comes from the German meaning Dearest or Beloved, but can also mean Favourite.

To accept this Award you must:

1.  Link back to the person's blog who gave it to you, and thank them.

2.  Post on your blog.

3.  Give to five other Bloggers who you appreciate and value.

4. Leave a comment on the five blogs you choose and let them know.

Now comes the difficult bit ...........  how do you only choose 5 - yes only 5 blogs to pass this award on to.    I have (in the words of Lloyd Grossman) deliberated and gogitated and have come up with the following who have inspired me.  They are in no particular order and I could have chosen many many more.

1.  Tamara at  Posh Cat Crafts 

2.  Lee at Crafty Loops 

3   Hazel at hazelshandmadecrafts.

4   Karen at redrottiecardsandcrafts

5   Wendy at The-craftmonkey

ANYTHING GOES CHALLENGE

Well today's Tuesday and that means it's time for another great challenge over at Anything Goes.  This is the second DT card I have made for this blog, and I just want to say that the team is fab and has made me very welcome.  Thanks guys.

The theme of our challenge this fortnight is Boys to Men.  I can hear you all groaning from here ........ YES it's a dreaded man card...........  why oh why can't they like hearts and flowers and pink and stick pins etc etc etc.  All the things us girlies love .............. sadly they don't but hey don't dispair the fab DT team have come up with some great cards to give you plenty of inspiration.  So why don't you pop on over and join in the fun.

My card has been made for my son's 13th birthday this year.  He's 13 on the 13th.  He's mad on motorbikes and is very into all this union jack stuff about - hence the theme of the card.  I have used a basic card from stock, and the new Papermania Portabello Road papers.  The image is a digi from Prairie Fairy and is coloured with Promarkers.  The sentiment has been layered onto glitter card and is from Kanban.  I distressed the edge of the papers with TH distress inks and used  spellbinder nesties to create my layers.  The fab union jack was a dog tag from Poochie Pets.  

Hugs and happy crafting.

Hi and it's cutie pie challenge time again.

Hi everyone.  It seems like ages since I have posted.  (Well it is a fortnight (lol) and that's eons in a crafters life!!!)

I hope each and everyone of my lovely crunchies are keeping well and that you are getting loads of crafting time in.  Sadly for me the last fortnight was spent moving into my lovely new house.  The kids and I are now settled and I have finally unpacked the craft stuff.  So I can get back to what I really enjoy doing!!

Anyway today's Monday so that means its time for another cute challenge over at The Cutie Pies.  This fortnight's challenge is a combination of pearls and swirls, well what girlie can resist pearls or swirls.  Anyway the fab design team have been hard at work creating some truly inspirational projects for you.

This is my DT card

The gorgeous image is from Wee Stamps who are sponsoring this challenge.  I think it's just too cute.  I have coloured my digi stamp with Promarkers and then used TH Stickles glitter to highlight the edges of the leaves.  The heart shape was cut using Spellbinders Nesties.    I made my stick pin from several old necklaces, which I have dismantled.  The swirls are of course the fab Tim Holtz, whilst the papers are from First Edition.  The sentiment is from Kanban.  

Hope you like it, and I have inspired you to pop on over to the Cutie Pies.

Crafty hugs to you all

My Blue Valentine/Anniversary

Hi everyone, my card today is a blue valentine.  I don't know how many of you have noticed but there are no red hearts included in my cards at this time of year.  This is because a week before christmas I found out my husband of 10 years was having an affair, he left in January and is now living with this horrid woman, who had no scruples in destroying our family.   I still love him dearly and would have him back and completely forgive him.  He says he misses family life, and the kids, and me everyday and that he is eaten up with guilt about what he has done.   He is my everything, so this is the card I have made and sent to him. I have included a picture of the sentiment inside, which I wrote.  As you can see from the sentiment, today is not only valentines day, but it is also our wedding anniversary.

My card is very simple, I distressed the whole of the front and back of the card with TH distress inks, then I used various papers from my stash to create the hearts, which were cut with Spellbinders Nesting dies. The sentiment was typed in word and the picture is a watermark behind.  (This was us on our wedding day!!)

I wish to thank you my lovely followers and friends for your support over the last couple of months, your lovely comments have kept me going at a time when inspiration has been really hard to find.

I am going to enter this into the following challenges:

Bunny Zoes Crafts - Celebrations

Crafty cardmakers = monochrome

Kaboodle Doodles = boys or masculine

Hooked on Crafts = Hearts valentine

Crafting when we can = valentine

The squirrel and the fox - valentine

Hugs 

With love .......

and luck.  Today is the opening night for my 15 year old's school production and she is very very nervous.  I have made her a card to wish her luck.

The front

A close up

The back

Open

From the side

I love these fabulous images from Make it Crafty.  I have coloured here with promarkers in my daughter's favourite colours.  The papers are a selection of Tulip (From Papermania) and Oxford (Kanban)  The two bows are both from Papermania and the sentiment from Kanban.  I have finished the card off with some card candi.  The shapes were cut using Spellbinders Nesties on my trusty Cuttlebug.  Off to get my daughter from school now and to give her this card.  

I am entering this into the following:

Crafty Boots - Valentines

Creative Stamp Friends - Valentine

Lexi's creations - love

Lollipop Crafts - Valentines

My Craft Spot - Valentines

Sketch 'n' Stash - any sketch - No 9

Stamp and Create - Valentines

Stamps R Us - Valentine

Hugs

Eyes Down for Bingo..........

Over on the Anything Goes Blog.

I am soooo excited this is my first DT card for the fabulous Anything Goes Challenge Blog.  As you have probably guessed this fortnight's challenge is a Bingo Board.  You can use any line horizontally or vertically or diagonally through the middle.

I chose the top line and here is my card

The front

The back

inside

a close up

I have papers from stash for this card.  The sentiment is by Kanban has been mounted onto a circle of card cut with Spellbinders Nesties - as is the image.  The ribbon and charms are also from my stash.  All the edges of the paper have been distressed with a TH distressing tool and then inked with TH distressing inks.  I finished the front off with a few bits of card candi.  The fantastic Stampavie image is coloured with promarkers and edged with Dovecraft Chalks.  

I hope you like it.  

I am entering this card into the following challenges:

Bunny Zoes Crafts - Photo inspiration

Make it Monday - Anyting Goes

The Pink Elephant - Pink

Truly Madly Crafty Challenges - Ribbon and Bling

Birthday Sundaes - Birthday

Hugs