Tweet Birthday

Hey there everyone. I just don't know where the time is going at the moment. I must be getting old! I keep thinking I will blog a card but it never quite happens. I have another card to share with you this week though, and plans to make more.

This week over at the Corrosive Challenge Blog as part of the DT we were asked to make up something in the following three colours...

Aren't these colours great?!

Now, I don't know about you but I'm loving the name of that red!!! :o)

So, how has your Sunday been? I've been working this morning and then sorting out bits and bobs. I'm about to sit down with a lovely glass of wine after a long day, followed by a candlelit bath later with a good book (says she hopefully!) I have recently started to read the Twilight series of books. I wanted to know what all the hype was about. They are great! If you haven't read them and like that whole vampire thing then these are the books for you. I know they're meant to be for teens, but there's no harm in pretending to be younger every now and then, is there?!!

So for my card I stamped out a bird and coloured it in using Copics. I've still got a lot to learn about Copic colouring in. People seem to do it in so many different ways, some do it scruffy and others with a lot more blending. I really like the scruffy look on other people's cards but it SO doesn't work for me. I just want to tidy it all up!! So I'm going to have to work on it a bit more I think, but check me out I stamped a card!!! I know it's a rare occasion so expect a full round of applause when I actually make the effort lol.

I cut out two squares of card, one in 'Pumpkin Pie' lookalike and the other in 'Ruby Red' lookalike! I don't have SU! colours. Then I cut out another square in Basic Grey DP. On each of the three squares I rounded the top right corners. I matted these as shown in the picture.

I cut out a rectangle around the stamped bird in white using my Nesties, and a scallop in 'Bermuda Blue' lookalike. I then attached some black polka dot ribbon before pop dotting my Nestie'd bird. To finish the bird off I added the little square sentiment block that I'd got free from a magazine about two years ago. I stamped the 'Happy Birthday' sentiment onto 'Bermuda Blue' card and rounded the corner, attaching it to the card with a brad and pop dots. Finally I punched out a SU! tab which I attached a couple of buttons to.

Hope you like it! I'd love to hear your feedback.

Don't forget to join in on the challenge this week, there is a prize to be won.

Enjoy the rest of your evening. I will add the recipe at a later date. My bath is calling me :o)

Going back in time

These pictures are the inspiration for this week's challenge over at the Corrosive Challenge Blog #22!

They really stumped me!I tried all sorts of things and eventually came up with this. I HATE it!!!
I just couldn't get my head around this challenge at all so decided to go with the rock theme. I think my mojo has left town!

Using a piece of my daughter's scrapbook paper - Thanks 'Tink' ;o) - with the rock chick on it I rounded off the corners and pop dotted it. I punched out a border in pink which I stuck underneath. I then matched up the colours of the rainbow with some chipboard letters to spell out 'You Rock' and added a couple of gems. At the bottom, above each of the holes I put alternate orange and pink legless brads, and a couple at the top to give a bit of balance. I love those brads, they add dimension with very little effort! Finally I added the sentiment using some little clips that I have had for years and never used, and a couple on the right hand side to add interest. Don't you just love it when you get around to using something that you've had for years. You feel like your halo is glistening, don't you?!!!

Dies: None! (Oh wow, that's a first for me lol!!)
Paper: Pinched from my daughter's scrapbook set. Sorry, no idea who makes it, pink Bazzill cardstock
Accessories: Swarowski Gems, Li'l Davis Designs Vintage Wood Alphabet, Legless Brads in 'Totally Tropical' and tag from Craftwork Cards, Martha Stewart hole punch

Hopefully next week the challenge will be a bit easier. I am sure you guys can come up with some fab creations for this one though, so get that mojo going and join in on this week's challenge, I'd love to see what you all make!

Enjoy the rest of your day. I'm hoping to get a bit of crafting done this week, and have some cards to show you. Now that Natasha is off school we can get creative together. Tomorrow is supposed to be pouring rain so what better excuse to stay in for a bit of crafting?!!

Butterfly Kisses

Hi there everyone

Firstly, I should say sorry for being a bad blogger this week. I have been busy setting up a new business and just haven't had a minute to make cards :o( I really miss it when I can't get creative, it's my little bit of fun! By the way what do you all think of this font?? I thought I'd try something a bit different for a change.

Today's challenge over at the Corrosive Challenge Blog is a sketch. Now as you all know I do like my sketches, and I really enjoyed this one!


I had seen the idea of splitting a piece of paper up on a card at a show I recently went to, so when this sketch came up I used it as an opportunity to play and cross another thing off my list. Do you all have a list of things you want to have a go at? My list seems to get longer and longer, but nothing gets done on it lol. Still, I'll have loads of ideas for a rainy day! It's summer holidays here soon so I will no doubt be creating lots of different things with my daughter. (I had just typed 'little girl' then and had to delete it. I realised she is no longer my little girl, she's nearly ten! My goodness, that makes me feel old!) As I'm sure all you Mums out there will agree, she will always be my little girl I'm sure!) She loves crafting so it's great when we have Mummy time together, I love it! She's very creative too, she often comes up with brilliant ideas when I get to that 'stuck place'.

As you can see from my interpretation of the sketch there's a bit of cheating going on when it comes to the embellishments, but I think I should just about get away with it ;o) What d'ya reckon?!!

I started by cutting out a piece of pink card. I cut a piece of patterned DP into 3 strips. Using my Nesties I cut a circle in white and the scallop in elephant Bazzill Bling (my name for it, not theirs!) I then cut out the butterfly, first in pink which I embossed using a Cuttlebug embossing folder, and inked all over with a charcoal inkpad, and then I cut the same butterfly in grey/cream dotty paper. I cut the body/antennae in elephant Bazzill Bling. I quite heavily pop dotted the butterfly because I really wanted it to be 3d so I'm not sure if you can see from the photo but the bottom butterfly is completely stuck down to the white circle, using pop dots. The pink butterfly is then stuck just down the middle with its wings folded up to give it some dimension. On the top right of the card I cut out a vine which I pop dotted to raise it and some flowers which I used as my stars on the sketch. Finally I added the little 'love' topper from DCWV, some more flowers and some bling on the body and flowers to give it a bit of a lift. I am quite pleased how this one turned out, but then I do really love this pad of Amy Butler papers, so I am a bit biased!

Dies: Sizzix 'Vine', 'Butterfly', 'Flower & Stems' & Cuttlebug 'Textile Texture', Circle and Scallop Nesties
Paper: Amy Butler 'Lotus' 12 x 12 pad, dark grey Bazzill Bling cardstock, pink Bazzill cardstock
Accessories: Swarowski Gems, DCWV 'La Crème' chipboard sticker

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday, don't forget to enter the challenge yourself. I love the challenges Janet sets, they really get my creative juices flowing, just what I need! Don't forget to check out what the rest of the DT are making, they have been doing some gorgeous cards each week.

Thanks for popping by ♥

Posh Paws :o)

Hi there. Hope you're all having a fantastic Sunday.

Guess what.. today is Corrosive Challenge day, Challenge #20! This week's theme is dogs. For my card I wanted to use a couple of things that I keep threatening to use :o)... my new paw print brads, a tag cutter that Ian bought me recently, my Martha Stewart punch and black. This is what I came up with;



Using my Basic Grey 'Urban Prairie' papers (my fave ones!) I cut out three random shapes and laid them across each other at angles. I then cut out some black cardstock using my Martha Stewart border punch. I cut out a Sizzix tag and added a pink/white gingham ribbon. I then popped out a Craftworks Card tag with the 'happy birthday' sentiment and added this to the tag. I attached the tag using pop dots.

I then cut out some black brackets and the Cuttlebug dog in black and white onto which I stamped dots using my 'Judith' wooden stamp. I inked all of the card edges prior to sticking them down and then doodled some faux stitching around the edges. I then added a black die cut flower in the corner and two paw print brads. Finally I added the dog using pop dots (I always call them pop dots but they are generically called foam pads so I hope you know what I mean!) I gave my little dog a swarowski crystal gem eye and coloured in his nose with a red gel pen.

Dies: Sizzix Dingbats #2 for the brackets, 'Tags, Happy' & Cuttlebug 'Dog',
Paper: Basic Grey 'Urban Prairie', Bazzill cardstock in black
Accessories: Swarowski Gems, Craftwork Cards sentiment tag and 'Best of British' Die Cut Flower, Mei Flower gingham bow and paw print brads, Martha Stewart Scallop Edger Border Punch, 0.1 Copic pen for doodling

I hope you enjoy the rest of your Sunday. I am hoping to make a few cards next week, I've got a list of orders so I need to get my act together lol. I also want to start entering some challenges again soon. Don't forget to to join in on this week's challenge over at the Corrosive Challenge Blog, I'd love to see your creations ♥

Quick Man Card!

Hi everyone

I had set this post to go earlier this week, but mustn't have done it right! Have you all had a good day? My 'Sis' and her man are over, so I've not made any cards this weekend. (Yes, she is still talking to me after my comment on the royal card!)

Today's card is a quick male card. As you all know by now male cards aren't my forte. I always find mine look a bit naff somehow.

For this card I used my Basic Grey mat pad, cutting out two rectangles in different papers, then two squares, one larger than the other so that I could put '40' in it. I wrapped some dotty brown ribbon around the larger rectangle. As Heidi Van Laar puts it I 'fussy' cut the banner, once in cream and again larger in brown, which I then added the letters to. I love the way she says that because I hate cutting out small areas, so it always makes me giggle. Decoupage is one kind of card I would hate making, so hats off to all of you that have the patience for that! You should check out her blog, she does some amazing cards, I love them!

Dies: Sizzix 'Wango' Alphabet Set, 'Easy Peasy' Alphabet Set
Paper: Basic Grey 'Archaic' (I think!)
Accessories: Brown and white polka dot ribbon from stash

Soldiering on I will continue in my quest to make a great male card! I look to you all for inspiration :o)

Royal 30!

Hey there everyone. I know two posts in two days, amazing for me huh?!

I have a card that I'd like to share with you tonight. I've been meaning to put this on for AGES. I made it for my Swedish friend's 30th birthday. She loves crowns and black and white so it was perfect for her. She's fab, like a sister to me. I wanted to keep it quite simple but classy (a bit like her lol) Only joking Sis!! Hope she liked it :o) I'm going to be in SO much trouble if she reads this entry! ;o)

I cut out a piece of black/silver DP and using my *new* Martha Stewart hole punch I punched a strip of black bazzill which I stuck at the bottom of the card. I wrapped a piece of white ribbon around the top of the DP before matting it onto a piece of silver card. I then cut out a crown in silver, adding swarowski gems. I finished it all of with a '30th' sticker.

Dies: Crown - Cuttlebug 'Paper Dolls' Cartridge
Paper: DCWV 'All Dressed Up', Bazzill cardstock in black, silver cardstock
Accessories: Swarowski Gems, 30th sticker and ribbon from stash, Martha Stewart punch

Have a great evening!

Ps.. What do you think of the bright pink background? That's the colour of one of my new studio's walls. I don't usually 'do' pink but I LOVE it!

Summer Fun

Hi everyone. How has your week been? It's been absolutely baking hot here this week. Now, for most people that would be fab, but for me I prefer all of the other seasons. I don't do muggy heat very well!

Today is Corrosive Challenge day over at the Corrosive Challenge Blog! Janet has come up with yet another great challenge for you all, the prize this week is a stamp from PMS.

I can't believe it's Sunday already. Where has this week gone? I'm sure the weeks are going by quicker and quicker, or is it just that I'm getting older and noticing?! Don't answer that one please!

The challenge for today was to create something with the theme of summer fun. I went to a craft show yesterday and picked up a few new bits and pieces, one of which was this paper with lots of summer messages on, perfect for the job in hand :o)

For this card I cut out a rectangle of my summer paper, then I added a strip of yellow and aqua glitter at the bottom of the card on an angle. To this I added the word 'Relax' and then using a little tag from Craftwork Cards I added the 'It's Your Birthday' sentiment. I added a couple of legless brads either side of the 'Relax' and another on the tag to add some interest. I then cut out a palm tree in green and brown, to which I added little coconuts. I doodled around the edges of the leaves.

I then set to work on my Hula girl. I used some K & Co 'Sola' stripey paper for her skirt and little legless brads for her bikini top, I thought she needed a bit of a boost, she was looking a bit flat-chested lol. Using my Nesties (yes, I have now FINALLY used them!) I cut out an oval for my Hula girl but it needed a little something extra so I added a bit more doodling.

To finish I added a few Prima flowers to follow on the Caribbean type theme.

Dies: Sizzix - Tree, Palm, Sizzix - Girl, Hula, Sizzix 'Easy Peasy' Alphabet Set
Paper: 'A Shore Thing - Cool Pool Chatter' by Imaginisce, glitter card, yellow Bazzill, K & Co 'Sola' paper from mat pad
Accessories: Tag from Craftwork Cards, Prima Flowers 'Essential 4 Dude' and 'Totally Tropical' legless brads by Craftwork Cards

Doesn't that Hula Girl just make you wish you were on a tropical island somewhere?! Well, as long as they have air conditioning for me, that is!

Enjoy the rest of your day x

Bling Alert!!! (put your shades on!)

Happy Sunday!

How are you all? Are you having a fab weekend making cards/crafty bits. I hope so!

Today's card is for the Corrosive Challenge Blog. The theme was to make something using a flag or something related to your country. Well, I went for a flag. Now this idea SO didn't work out how I planned. It is bling at its best!!!! I really don't like it, but unfortunately didn't have time to make anything else so had to go with it. I am sure to get no comments on this one lol, not nice ones anyway!!

To make the card I printed out a flag and mounted it onto red glitter card. I then embossed a piece of white card through my embossing folder and added the word 'queen' in red. I then threaded a little crown embellishment through some red ribbon and wrapped this around the embossed section. I mounted this onto a piece of blue card. I then cut out a crown and added some gems. Finally I added the words 'for the day' and a silver arrow for even more bling lol. Oh dear!!

I've been really bad at putting my little recipes up for my cards lately, sorry! Here's the one for this card.

Dies: Sizzix 'Easy Peasy' alphabet, Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, 'Swiss Dots', Sizzix Dingbats #1, Diva w/crown
Paper: Bazzill cardstock, red and silver glitter card from stash
Accessories: Crown, stick on gems from Mei Flower

Well, I'm shooting off now. Don't forget to hop on over to the Corrosive Challenge Blog for this week's challenge, they have weekly prizes and Janet sets some fab challenges too! I would love to see what you guys come up with for this one. I found it really hard this week

Have fun and good luck!

Going Retro

Hi guys

How's your weekend going? It's been really muggy here all day and we finally have a thunderstorm and lightning which should clear the air.

I am not at home today but I had five minutes to do a quick posting of a card I made the other day. I thought I would try and go a bit retro! I needed to make my cousin's other half a card for his 40th birthday but I wanted something a bit more colourful, rather than the browns/greens/blues for men's cards that I normally use.

I also wanted to use some string and this simple card is what I came up with. I cut out two pieces of paper, rounding the right hand edges. I then cut out a star from a piece of DP and mounted it onto a black circle. I tied some string around the top layer and added the white circle which had been matted onto black. I added the '40th' sticker. Having stuck down the bottom rectangle I pop dotted the top one to allow for the string and then added the star.

Don't forget to enter the Corrosive Challenge competition today. The theme is for a folded card this week. I really enjoyed moving away from the traditional square/rectangle card. It was fun. Head on over there now, there's still time to join in!

Enjoy the rest of your Saturday :o)

A bit of yellow to brighten your day!

Hello there :o)

I hope you're all having a good day. This is a very quick posting from me today. My little one went to her friend's party the other day so we picked her up this bag for her friend who is really into High School Musical. For a bit of fun I thought I would make a card to go with the bag. (I couldn't get the image any bigger but I'm sure you get the drift from this!)

I wanted to follow the theme of the bag so used yellow and red. Using a black base card I cut out a yellow rectangle which I stuck onto the black card. I then cut out various shapes in red and stuck them randomly onto the card. I cut out the letters 'H', 'S' & 'M' and the number '8' to match the lettering on the bag. The alphabet set is called 'In My Heart' so each letter has hearts cut out of it. I stuck red card on the back of each letter so that they showed through on the front. Finally to give it a bit of a lift I used my Sakura glitter gel pen on each of the red shapes.

If you are interested in the detail of it just drop me an e-mail and I can let you know the specific products I used.

Because it's based on Disney it's not a card that I would sell but I thought it would be a great quick card if you used different colours and swopped the letters 'HSM' for the person's name or something.

I hope I'm not breaching any copyright by posting this one! Does anyone know how that all works in the blogging world??

Enjoy the rest of your day :o)

Mr & Mrs :o)

Happy Sunday everyone!

Today is Corrosive Challenge day, so hop on over to their blog and join in on the fun. Each week there is a different challenge and the opportunity to win a prize :o) This week it's a vintage scrapbook and some ribbon.

The challenge was to make a folded card. I don't often do folded cards so I had to put my thinking hat on for this one! I thought I would play around with an idea for a 'Mr & Mrs' card.

By the way, do any of you watch that over in the UK? It used to be shown over here when I was very little, many many years ago. They are now running it with celebrity couples. Basically the husbands and wives have to answer questions about each other and the winners get money to give to charity. It always sets off a few giggles in our house because we all play it together. Natasha usually comments on what she thinks and then we both say what we would have answered. Generally we are right, so no arguments so far lol. For those of you that have watched it you may identify with me when I say once you hear the tune you can't stop humming it. This card became quite annoying after a while lol.

Ok, so onto my card. I scored a sheet of 12 x 12 card into 3 sections then cut off the top of the folded card to make the angled top. I then cut out two strips of the background paper and adhered these to either side of the middle. I cut out the word 'Mr & Mrs' and stuck this on the centre panel.

Using my Cricut machine and the Paper Dolls cartridge I cut out 'groom' and 'bride' in silver, white and black as seen. I then pieced them together adding brads for buttons to the groom's suit, a pink hankie for the for his top pocket and sprinkled glitter over the wedding dress. That's it. Quite simple really, but a little time consuming piecing the bits together. I was quite pleased how it turned out. I had been thinking through a slightly different idea where I was going to cut around the clothes by putting them on the folds but it didn't look quite right and I ended up with this.

Hope you like it. Enjoy the rest of your day. It was supposed to be sunny here all day, but it's been a bit overcast, the sun is just starting to come out though, yay! I think we might pop out for a bite to eat now to make the most of it.

I'm hoping to start entering some challenges soon, it's just been a bit busy with one thing or another but I'm getting back on track now finally. I like my weekly inspirational challenges, don't you? ♥

A little bird told me...

Oh my goodness, where has the week gone?! Has it really been nearly a week since I've posted? It's gone 1am here so technically it's actually hitting a week! I'm hyper tonight, I think I've had too much Pepsi Max! I've been making cards this week but I haven't put them on yet so will do them one at a time over the next few days, just to keep you a little interested!!

So have you all had a good week?

I found out this week that I am going to get a free trollbead :o) For those of you that aren't sure what a trollbead is go to http://www.fabletrading.co.uk/. I had put the link in for you, but it's not working properly. Trollbeads are one of my obsessions, that along with cardmaking, vanilla coffee, chocolate .. etc lol. Hmmm, me thinks the least said about that little list the better!

Anyway, at the end of May I entered a competition to design a 'People's Bead'. It wasn't very good. I can't draw to save my life but anyone that entered won a bead! My friend entered too (with a fab design might I add! She *can* draw!) but she thought it had to be in silver. Well me doing it all last minute didn't read that bit so I sent in a design for a glass one lol. It did have a *tiny* bit of silver at the top and bottom but I doubt if that would count! Earlier this week I got an e-mail announcing the winner and saying that everyone gets a bead for entering. Woohoo! I LOVE my trollbeads. I have a birthday coming up in September and I'm hoping to get lots of beautiful little beads then. I'm crossing my fingers and toes for them. If you see anyone I know put in a good word for me, won't you?!!! ;o)

Enough of my nattering, onto a card. Today I thought I would share a quick make card with you. It was fun to do because the little birds are so cute, don't you think?!!!

The paper is by Three Bugs in a Rug and in the range they have die cut shapes to match. This range is called 'Happy Bird-Day', cute :o)

I think if you have the paper in front of you it's pretty self explanatory but basically all I did was stuck a piece of bird paper to the base card which I'd rounded the corners on, popped out the sentiment tag, and stuck it onto the back of the bird paper (it's double sided with polka dots). I rounded off the top corners and pop dotted it to the bird paper. I then added a polka dot strip at the bottom and made a pretend ribbon thingy to thread through the hole on the tag and voila, job done!

Hope you like it. I'll be back soon, promise!

PS. Don't forget to enter the challenge over at Corrosive Challenge Blog. There's a fab prize this week!

Have you been tangoed?!

Hi there

I hope you're all having a great weekend. The weather has been really nice here today so it's been good to get out into the sunshine. We went for a walk by the canal with Lulu and got chatting to a few of our new neighbours along the way. It was lovely. Mind you, Lulu is such a feisty little madam. She is so selective..friendly to some, snappy with others. You never know how she's going to behave. We've been told it's because she is scared since being pinned down by two big dogs so she needs more socialising with people/dogs. That's all very well if they don't mind being yapped/snapped at lol. All tips gratefully received! She's a perfect little puppy other than that. She steals the odd thing, but she hasn't chewed anything up or done anything that you would expect a normal puppy to do, but this is a bit of a problem with her.

I made today's card for the Corrosive Challenge Blog sketch this week. As soon as I saw the sketch I had an idea of what I wanted to do. Do you ever find that happens to you? It's quite rare for me. I tend to mull lots of ideas over, decide what it is I'm going to do and then end up with something totally different lol. This one actually looked like my original idea, yay! I really wanted to use some bright colours now that the weather is cheering up, and found this gorgeous orange paper which kicked off the idea.




Using an embossing folder I embossed two orange strips of card. I overlay a rectangular piece of orange flowery paper. I cut out a small and medium black circle. I pop dotted the small black circle on the top left, adding the number 40 which I had cut in orange as the main colour and then the shadow in white. I pop dotted the medium circle to the bottom right of the card and cut out an orange flower which I finished off with a black and white dotty brad. Don't you just LOVE that brad. I think it is FAB!!! I love all things dotty...no comments please lol. (Ian would say that's because I am dotty!) To finish the card I added a silver glitter topper.

Dies: Sizzix 'Lipstick Love Letter' alphabet, Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, 'Bloom Dots', Sizzix Circles # 2

Paper: Bazzill cardstock, Sandylion orange floral paper (sorry the name was cut off the sheet so I'm not sure of the actual name of it)

Accessories: Topper from stash. (I keep saying I'm going to make a load of these myself. They would be ever so easy to do and you could do loads of different fonts/colours/sizes. I must add them to my to do list. If it's written down it might get done...one day!

I really enjoyed using this sketch and I think it's one I will keep returning to. (Thanks for the inspiration Janet!) It's great having a few templates to hand when you can't quite make your mind up what to make, especially when you're in a rush. So, go on, join in this week with the challenge, this week's prize is a Ketto stamp, and some lovely ribbon. It would be great to see what you guys come up with :o) I don't know if you've seen those little Ketto stamps but they are ADORABLE. I've just had a few arrive that I've yet to play with, sooo cute!

Have a great Sunday! x

Glamour Girl

Hi there

I hope you've all had a good week. We had visitors the first part of the week but I managed to squeeze a card in! It was meant to be quite a quick one but actually with fiddling around with the double lettering it took a bit longer than it should have :o) It's probably just because I'm enjoying playing around with my stuff again.

I'm not sure where the week has gone, time seems to fly when you have people staying. It's been nice having visitors though, it breaks up the routine a bit. Even better when they bring chocolate!!! Now that's my kind of visitor!

In making this card I cut out a raspberry pink square and matted it onto black. Before matting I tied on some dotty ribbon and then added a topper that I picked up from a local stationers. These are great little toppers because in the middle present there is an acetate section which they have filled with sequins. I'm sure you could do something like that for yourself but I'm a bit too lazy, it's much easier just peeling off and sticking! I cut out the phrase 'Glam at 40' using my Sizzix Cattycorner alphabet set, once in black and then in white which I stuck to the card. To finish I added a couple of 'humbugs' from Craftwork Cards in each corner.

Oh, by the way, if you haven't entered the challenge over at Corrosive Challenge Blog yet there's still time. You have until midnight tomorrow to enter. Each week they give away a prize, this week's prize is a stamp set by Gina K - a man set with a bbq, golf bag etc. Go on, enter, you never know, you might win ;o)

Dies: Sizzix 'Catty Corner' alphabet
Paper: Bazzill cardstock
Accessories: Topper from local stationer, ribbon from stash, 'Humbug' legless brads from Craftwork Cards


Hope you like it. Have a good weekend :o)

Hello again!

Hi everyone!

I hope you're all well and still creating amazing designs. Things are improving this end. I finally have a phone line, it went on today...woohoo! (that's odd in itself seeing as the telecom engineers aren't supposed to be out until Monday, but oh boy this girl ain't complainin' lol) The next stage is to get broadband on, which should take about 7-10 days. I have decided to do this posting from my local library rather than even attempt using my little 3g stick. Fingers crossed this will work.

My card making stuff is now all unpacked and I can actually see where things are. I haven't seen it for so long it's like shopping all over again, I keep finding lots of little goodies that I'd forgotten about!! I have missed creating SO much but I just haven't been able to get on line and lost my mojo a bit along the way I think. I've just been designing a couple of cards for the Corrosive Challenge Blog, you must check this site out. It's a fairly new blog and they have had some fab cards sent in already. Janet is so lovely and does some great designs too. This will be the first on line design team that I have been on and as you can imagine I'm VERY excited!!! I feel really lucky to be included in the team for this quarter.

The theme for today's challenge at the Corrosive Challenge Blog is Father's Day. Now, as you all know I find male cards a little more challenging than others so I had to put my thinking cap on for this one :o) I decided to use one of my favourite little Sizzix characters and dress him up with tools. There's something about those little cutters, it's like being a child again cutting out the clothes and sticking them on, I LOVE it!!

I wanted to use a few different papers so decided to use some of my Basic Grey Archaic range. This is a fab range for boys' cards, one of my favourites in fact. I cut out four random squares, yes they are square although they don't look it on line! I wasn't on the wine when I photographed it honest ;o) I just can't seem to get my cards to look straight no matter how I try. I then cut out my wording in olive green and cream using my alphabet set, 'Catty Corner'. I cut out all of the elements for the dress up boy, again using the Basic Grey papers. I pop dotted the man and added a couple of buttons for his dungarees, and some tools; a saw, screwdriver and set square. I love using those little shaped buttons, they're quite hard to get at the moment here though. I hope you like him, it's been so long since I've made cards I had a great time putting him together :o)

I want to thank the lovely ladies for my awards, I haven't forgotten you, but will add them once I'm back on line fully from home rather than try and do all that while I'm in the library! Thank you so much for thinking of me. It's great to know that people are thinking of me even when I'm not able to blog. I really appreciate it x

Please hang in with me, I will be back soon!

Hi everyone



Well the saga is nearly at an end! We have had numerous people out to look at the problem with the tree and FINALLY an aerial company came out and said they could just put an extended aerial up. We were SO pleased because if push had come to shove we just couldn't have cut down any of the tree. It would be wrong. Apparently according to Sky we now just have to wait for the phone line to be installed and then broadband will follow. Talk about a marathon exercise. It's been a catalogue of errors! How it can take this long to sort out such a simple problem in this day and age I don't know, but anyway there is finally light at the end of the tunnel!


I have been trying to upload some cards, but it's impossible with this 3g stick, it just times out and crashes! It's incredibly frustrating :o(

I seem to have upset one of my followers which I'm really sad about. Hopefully once I'm up and running properly they will join me again. I thought about doing general postings over the past couple of weeks but I'm sure everyone is more interested in cards, and not in what I'm up to on a daily basis lol

I hope you're all doing really well. I'm going to try and start commenting on your fab designs, if my stick can cope with it! I look forward to seeing all of your beautiful creations.

Hope to be back blurfing properly again soon. I really miss you all xx

Yes, I am still alive and my cute blog award!

Hi there everyone!

Firstly, thank you to all of you for your lovely best wishes for our move. I really appreciate you taking the time and trouble to leave your little messages, it's fab! Yes, I am still in the land of the living following our house move! It's been total chaos, but it's all slowly coming together. We are really enjoying the space here, it makes such a difference. Poor Ian hasn't stopped working since we've arrived. He's been painting, putting up shelves, building, moving boxes around etc etc. I have just been directing, I'm getting good at that now ;o) It's starting to feel like home which is lovely. Lulu absolutely LOVES the garden, she tears around it like mad. There's a lot of grass here so I think she thinks we've brought the park with us lol. Natasha's really enjoying herself too, she's been really good as well which is a big bonus.

The worst part of the move is that we still have no telephone line or broadband connection. The drama goes like this... We wanted to set up Sky TV, Broadband and Talk so I booked it well in advance with them, however to cut a VERY long story short we have a tree that interrupts the signal to the satellite dish so the TV can't be set up yet. Now this is the kind of thing that always happens to me. Life is just not simple, but I guess that's what makes it all the more fun.. I think! The 'no signal' thingy equals no broadband or phone!!!! I feel like I've lost a limb lol. I had to go out and buy a 3g card to try and get access to my blog and it just can't quite cope with it. I wanted to pop in and say hi to you all, but I'm only getting a limited service on my blogger account :o(

Emily mailed me earlier to say that she has put an award on her blog for me today. It's sooo cute, I'm really chuffed to have received it. Unfortunately, I'm not able to add it yet though :o( I will add it when I'm back on line though, it's lovely! Thank you Emily, it was ever so sweet of you to think of me :o) You should check out Emily's blog, she makes some lovely cards and comes up with lots of little ideas to make them more unique.

I promise I WILL be back, and soon hopefully. If we don't get connected I might try a Wi-Fi cafe in town next week just to upload bits and pieces.

I hope you'll hang in there with me, I'm desperate to get back on line and creating again, it's just taking a bit longer than I'd hoped. Still, the house is nearly sorted and my new studio is being built for me as I type! Woohoo! I will finally have some space to make cards instead of at my dining room table. That will just be amazing.

I'm really missing you all, I just can't wait to get back online and start 'blurfing', and I hope to be commenting on your blogs again soon ♥

Hoppy Easter!

Hi there

I hope you're all having a good week so far! I doubt if I will be able to post for a while yet so am hoping that the wonders of technology will have worked and you will be reading this on Wednesday 8th April! I've not done scheduled postings before so fingers and toes crossed it will have worked. I should be moved by now if all's gone to plan, woohoo!

I made two of these cards last week as an order. I had bought the digi download, 'Spring Wishes' from Pink Petticoat and wanted to play around with my Copics. This particular paper was called 'Springtime' and I used 'Bunnies 2'. I am really getting into my colouring in again. I used to use Tombo pens years ago for stamping and found it quite therapeutic, it's so relaxing. For those of you that use Copics and only use them for colouring you should check out Lauren Meader's video, she uses them to colour all sorts of things so that her embellies and ribbons match her cards. I got lots of money saving tips from her the other day.

Anyway, this card was very straightforward to make - just a bit of printing, cutting out, sticking down a few bits and some colouring and voila, one cute bunny card. I hope you like it.

Ooh yes, and a Hoppy Easter to you all :o)

Check out this pic!

For those of you who thought I might be exaggerating just a tiny bit yesterday about the 'brick' mobile phone.... here is the pic! I found it and thought it was worth showing you all!!!



How big is that?!

Have a fab day, hope the pic made you smile :o)

I've packed my craft stuff :o(

Hi there

I had to pack my craft stuff today. I hung on as long as I could but I really needed to let it go today!! It was so hard, I feel lost knowing I can't make anything for a bit now. Does that make me some kind of addict? Oh no, not another addiction, it's bad enough with the chocolate and the coffee :o) Still it's all good, not long now and we will be at the other end unpacking and getting life back to normal. As normal as it ever is for us that is, we always seem to have dramas going on. Are your lives like that? We don't invite it, it just happens lol

So Ian emptied the loft today. Oh my goodness, what a load of toot there was!! I haven't been up there once in seven years, no word of a lie, so I knew there wouldn't be much that I wanted!!! Well all sorts came down, LOADS of papers from when I studied for my degree in HR, like I'd ever need them again! There were about 10 boxes of Christmas decorations, old baby stuff - a carrycot, pushchair, changing mat, baby bath. Natasha is NINE, why on earth have I kept all that stuff for so long!!! There were about 40/50 floppy discs, does anyone actually remember using them?! Then there were a few videos, hmmm. Oh yes, and 4 drawer boxes full of old computer CD's going back to the late 90's. The best thing I came across were the old knitting patterns from the 80's. Wow, they were funky....NOT!! Some of them were hilarious, I wouldn't be seen dead in any of those designs now. I also found a beauty article showing how to do the perfect make up for work, you should have seen the size of the mobile phone, it was like a brick...literally! It's funny looking back on things from the past, things change over the years, but you don't actually realise how much until you take a journey back through time. I've now decided that our loft in the new house will contain hardly anything. Honestly, I think we had more boxes in the loft than in any other room in the house, it's madness :o)

So today I have a little card to share that I made for a friend of mine, the paper kind of talked for itself and was too pretty to do much with so I just worked around that. It's one of my favourite papers from Basic Grey. I normally love working with colour but for some reason I love this one. I'm not sure if you can see in the picture but I stuck on some little swarowski gems that really catch the light. I even managed to take the photo in daylight for a change and my white looks white!! Yay!!


Oh by the way we checked up on our internet connections at the new house last night and apparently there is a problem with the transfer (surprise surprise!) so we might not be able to get broadband on straight away when we get there, that's going to kill me not being able to blog!!! So, if you don't hear from me I promise I WILL be back as soon as I can :o)

Take care and keep up the fab designs. I'm looking forward to looking at all of those beautiful cards/projects when I'm back on line ♥