Blush!!

Ooh, look what I got from KathyB. I've never had an award before and envied like crazy everyone who has, even more so the lucky popular people who get loads LOL

Thank you Kathy, I'm touched (and grateful for the award too ;))

Not got any work to show today. I have the swing card to finish off and have been plodding through a wedding order today whilst trying to transfer all the files from my old lap top to my new one. Not easy when you have a poorly kitty on your knee and an impatient 14 year old leaning over your shoulder! She is having the old one to replace her old one which is going to my mum and dad (are you still with me??) Anyway, she seems to think that everything should have been off it within 10 minutes of it coming out of the box!! Might make her wait ;) -what a rotten mother I am LOL

DS liked his Simpsons card. Well he said it was "well cool" so I think that's what he meant :))

I will be back tomorrow with something to show, I promise.

ttfn

Two dares (wins!)

Sorry, I just couldn't resist it!
Well what can I say, I just cannot believe it is Friday again already.
So...............my demo. It was absolutely fab and I want to do loads and loads cos I enjoyed it so much. Only one thing wrong though, I made loads of cards but forgot to take my camera to photograph them. Then on the train coming home, I remembered that I've got a camera on my phone, duh!!! I arrived at the store at about 9.25 and signed in and got my "visitor" badge (how important was that then :)) The manager came down and took me to my table to offload my trolley and then..............................he took me round the store to get loads of stash. I was like a kid in a sweet shop I can tell you. I demo'd the Big Shot and heat embossing and answered questions and made loads of cards, as I said before, AND I get paid for it. It is so long since I've just sat and played for no particular reason but to make cards. It was fab!
On Sunday I did my final wedding fayre for this year. I love doing them but they are really tiring. It didn't help me not going to bed till 12.15 am on Sunday morning. I had ripped the inside out of my stationery album, when Jo rang me about the demo, as I had old invitations to take out and new ones to put in. It took me blooming ages.

So now I have done both dares from the DCM this week (ha, get me) so here we go.

Our Little Extra for this week. We're letting Santa's Little Helper have a rest for a couple of weeks, but you can still make a Christmas card for this one if you like. It's ages since we gave you a sketch to play with so that's what we've got for you this time. You can use the sketch any way you like, just as long as we can still see it in there somewhere - so stretch it or shrink it or do whatever else you can to make use of it.

I made this card this afternoon (in true crafter's style) for DS as it is his birthday tomorrow! ;)

I used blue paper is Phoebe by Basic Grey, starry paper is My North Star by Blue Cardigan Designs - I think it is from an old SA Kit, images were downloaded, 19 is a Curlie Girlie die cut (but don't tell him ;)) and the 'today' is a Letraset rub on.

This is today's challenge :- Wrap it in Ribbon for Christmas, here's a little sweetener: Bea is giving a ribbonful prize to one lucky darer this week. All you need to do is make a be-ribboned Christmas Card especially for the DCM (no doubling up of challenges this week....), post a link to say where we can see it, or send it by email to daringcardmakers@hotmail.co.uk for the gallery and you'll be in with a chance of winning. Couldn't be easier, could it?

I decided to use this challenge to make hubby's Christmas card (so all I will have to remember nearer to Christmas is where I put it!) I am really pleased with the way it has turned out

So what have I used? On the front of the card I have used black and white pearl card embossed in the Cuttlebug snowflake embossing folder, torn vellum fastened to the card with assorted eyelets (which were set with my brand spanking new Cropodile) the sizzix snowman was cut in glitter card and the beautiful burgundy spotted ribbon is from the Mulled Wine kit from Ribbon Oasis (it is absolutely scrummy). The inside was made using the rest of the vellum, black pearl card, white hammer card, QK Santa and snowflakes, trees, small snowflakes and snowmen were from my new Cuttlebug dies, sentiment is the new Sizzlit alphabet Wingo Zingo and the page frills are Doodlebug.

I am now going to attempt one of the dares on the JB forum as I need to make another birthday card for DS, this time from DD. I am also trying to transfer files from this laptop to my super duper new one wot I got yesterday :) Will show the effort of my card tomorrow and I the the files can wait till then too.

Take care. xx

Manic Friday!

I've had another one of those days, you know, when it starts off bad (I was ir**ing at 7 this morning, yuk) then gets better and better, then you wonder why you open your mouth before engaging the brain!!! I finished a stationery order yesterday and have another to begin on Monday so I thought I would use today and tomorrow to get ready for the wedding fayre on Sunday (my last this year). I have pulled all the inside out of my wedding album, removed some old designs and am in the process of adding some new ones. I was working away quite happily amid the phone calls from phone companies wanting to save me money (!) when it rang again. This time it was my friend Jo (who I haven't spoken to for ages cos we are both really busy) asking if I wanted to do a demo tomorrow. Ooh yes, says I but I will ring you back. I checked train times with hubby (he works for a railway company) and rang her back. A nice lady then rang me, then the manager of the store rang me, then I rang Jo back...............then I thought, oh bu***r what have I said. LOL The upshot is that I am doing my first ever card making demo at Hobbycraft in Sheffield tomorrow. So I have now made hubby a wedding card as he is working again tonight, I've also made a DCM card and got hubby's tea but still not done anything for tomorrow. I do have my trolley in the middle of my craft room floor though so I suppose it is a start.
If any of you are in the vicinity of Hobbycraft on the Meadowhall Retail Park (near the Arena), please come and say hello.
Here is the very quick (I mean '5 minutes' quick) card for hubby.

Two pearlescent green heart mounted onto a piece of debossed cream card (cos I put the DS tape on the wrong side :)) edged in silver ink and finished off with a piece of white organza ribbon.

The next card is my birthday card for the DCM team challenge, I hope they like it. This is the challenge In honour of all of you who've helped make this blog so successful, and such a friendly place to "play" we've decided to revisit our very first dare for this our first anniversary, but with a twist.
The subject is, as in our original dare "friends", but this time the title is CIRCLE of FRIENDS and we'd like you to incorporate at least one circle into your card. It would make it a very special occasion if for this dare you'd make a card just for the DCM rather than doubling up with other challenges. Please join in and celebrate our first anniversary with us, without all of you - our wonderful extended "Team of Darers" and of course all those who've joined us as Guest Designers over the last year it wouldn't be half as much fun. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DARING CARDMAKERS ALL

The paper and image are both by Pink Petticoat and I have coloured it with the lovely pearly paints from the Works. Ribbon is from Ribbon Oasis and the bow is finished off with a diamante.

Happy Birthday DCM

Special requests!

.........but firstly I just need to tell you about my little bit of good news. Not only have I received emails about another two new wedding fayres for next year but we have been awarded a Diamond Recognition Award by the National Weddings magazine as a recommended supplier! My little diamond will have pride of place on the home page of my web site as soon as hubby has finished fiddling :)
A friend rang me on Sunday to request two special cards and a key ring for tomorrow. The brief for one of the cards was for a girlyish card for a collegue (it's actually to give to the girl who took my job when I left!!) who was moving jobs so this is what I came up with.

Papers are all Making Memories and flowers are Prima finished off with a clear diamante. Pic and greeting are printed on the pc.

The second part of the order was for a card for my friends 'neice in law' (is that a relative term?) who got engaged last week. The only slight problem being that they have just bought a house and can't afford a ring straight away so they got engaged with a jelly ring from a Haribo Starmix!! Here is my card

The slide mount is made from layers of cereal packet glued together to give it depth, then backed with a piece of acetate so that the colour and grease from the 'diamond ring' doesn't soak through the card. The crystal is stuck to the ring and the ring stuck to the card with Diamond Glaze. Papers are K & Co wedding mat stack again.

Thanks to all you lovely people who are leaving comments on my blog. I really do appreciate them.

Take care. xx

Baby baby

Two quick cards from last night, not actually made to a template (sorry Sue) A business acquaintance couple of ours became grandparents last week (6th). DH was speaking to them on Friday evening and they were telling him about the baby. Poor mum was in labour for over 24 hours when the decided to deliver by CSection. When he was born he weighed..............................11 pounds!! Well done Emma (and Dean) We were seeing granddma and granddad at the wedding fayre today so I decided to make them a card each (per couple :)).Paper by K & Co, stamp is Doodlebug, ribbon and charm from stash.

Paper circles punched from K & Co paper pad, blue paper, frill, stamp and brads are all Doodlebug, buttons are Papermania and ribbons are from Ribbon Oasis Sentiment was printed on the pc.

Well I had the most awful weekend that I have had for ages! I made the baby cards (above) then DD decided to throw up all over her bedroom so I spent the next hour cleaning sick up from bed, walls, carpet, child etc (yuk!!!) As I had the wedding fayre today, I thought I would print out some more brochures. I got half way through printing double sided sheets when the printer decided to give up on me so I abandoned that job and chucked them. To top it all, the wedding fayre today was probably the worst one I have ever done attendance wise. Having scaffolders erecting scaffolding at the front of the hotel with their lorries parked on the pavement outside the front door probably didn't help! And hubby had to go and buy me a new printer (sob) Oh well, one more wedding fayre next Sunday and that is all of them finished for this year. Next one is 3rd Feb. I usually only do two or three a year but seem to have done loads this year. By next weekend, I will have done five in six weeks. Roll on the Sunday after when we can have a lie in :)

Drink and bed I think now.

Take care xx

Wild thing!

Now please don't faint but I have actually done a DCM challenge on the day it was set! It was Kathy's turn today to set the challenge and here is what she had to say
Hellooooo, Kathy here to set you a really Beastly dare this week! The theme is ANIMAL and you can use anything that's animal inspired - not those diddy little ones like bugs, birds and butterflies (though you can include them in your design of course) but what I'd really like to see is bigger, wilder, more fabulous or fantastic creatures So you could maybe use animal die cuts, animal prints on paper or fabric, or maybe animal words or phrases "grrrrr get down tiger"!!!! You could invent your own wild and wonderful beasties, or go back in time for dinosaurs, or into the world of mythology for all sorts of incredible creatures. How about a card in the shape of a tiger, elephant or monkey? Now, there's a challenge for you.... I'd love you to all go really wild over this one and have loads of beastly fun
Now I seem to be lacking greatly in ferocious beasts so had to make do with a dinosaur, albeit a man eating one! and here is my card

I think this may be a loose interpretation of one of Sue's old SWOT templates (see Sue I DO like them LOL). Papers used are K & Co as usual, Dino the man eating dinosaur is a Sizzix die cut which I received ages ago in a RAK, brads are Doodlebug and the dotty ribbon is from Ribbon Oasis

I also made a quick birthday card for hubby to take up to the Hotel tonight as he is dj'ing. They never tell him whether the party is for a male of female birthday so it makes it a little awkward when making a card, but hey ho, that's life LOL.

Today is Mum and Dad's official 50th wedding anniversary and they called this morning for a 'loo and tea' break on their way up to the Lake District for the 'second honeymoon' which we booked for them as their pressie. Actually, it is really their first as they couldn't afford one when they got married! I don't know about a honeymoon, I think they deserve medals for staying married for that long :) I admire them greatly and they are fabulous role models!

I am supposed to be sorting out my album (removing discontinued stationery and adding new ones) as I have another wedding fayre on Sunday. Can you tell that I can't get motivated? I think I might just go and make a cup of coffee. :)

Take care. xx

Time flies!!!

I just can't believe that this week has passed so quickly! I must be getting really old as they say that time passes quicker as you get older. LOL

Down to the promised piccies of mum and dad's 'do'. They had a fabulous time and everything went swimmingly well. Dad got quite emotional when he saw us all coming down the aisle and again at the end of the service when the piper walked in playing (he thought the music "Flower of Scotland" was on cd!!) It was definitely worth all the long hours and sleepless nights to see the sheer enjoyment on their faces.

Sis, Mum, Brother and me! Michael Gordon (the piper), Mum and Dad Me, Michael, Mum, Dad, Sis and Brother

So now onto work! I have been working on another wedding order this week as well as finishing two and sending them out. I also had five cards ordered yesterday and I managed to ................(I hope you're sitting down at this point LOL) complete a challenge over on the Just Bex forum! The challenge was another one of Sue's templates (I just love these, they make my life so much easier)

Here are my efforts (I actually made more than one of these), the first being a Christmas card

Papers are by K & Ko and Blonde Moments and the stamp is by Rubber Stampede and is one of the first stamps I ever bought. The image is simply coloured with water colour pencils.

The next one is a thank you card to the vicar who performed last Saturday's service, from Mum and Dad. Papers are again by K & Co. Tag is from Crafts by Carolyn and the star brad was from my tub.

And the inside

I'm quite pleased with this, it's my first ever pop up card.

Yesterday I was asked for two congrats cards for the same girl who had passed her driving test and here are what I came up with

The next cards were another order which came in yesterday and one of them fits (sort of) Sue's template again.

Papers again by K & Co, can you tell I still love these pads?! Flowers are a mix of Papermania and Prima and the lovely pearl brad is by Papermania. I do like these brads at the mo. The second anniversary card is for the same person.

And that is it for now. Hopefully this week I might just manage a couple more challenges but don't hold your breath! Tomorrow I hope to finish the current order. All the seperate elements are done, I'm just in the process of putting them all together.

I'm also going to add a couple of new blog links to my side panel. These are blogs of ver talented people whose blogs I try to visit regularly.

I almost forgot, I was tagged the other day by Louly. I think this is the same one I did ages ago. Please be patient with me, I can't be bothered to go back and look what I put last time ;) If you haven't done it and would like to be tagged, then please feel free.

Here are the rules :1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.2. Share 7 facts about yourself: some random, some weird.3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).4. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.So, here are my seven facts

1. I love (most) music with the exception of Jazz and most C & W.

2. I always wanted to visit the Falkland Islands!

3. I would like to go up in a helicopter.

4. I always wanted to go down in a submarine (not sure why!)

5. I lived in Germany for 7 years.

6. I was a Teaching Assistant for 7 years.

7. I bit my nails until I was 26.

50 years of wedded bliss.....

......give or take the odd barney!! LOL

My sister, brother and I, along with our kids and a couple of other relations have clubbed together and booked a cottage in the Lake District for mum and dad a week away so we don't have a present to give them. They were adamant that they didn't want any presents at all as they have amassed so much stuff over the years that they have stuff they don't use! As my brother will be making a speech, I decided to make them a booklet containing all the details of the cottage inc T & C, and he can present it to them after dinner tomorrow evening. This is what I came up with

The card has taken me ages as I have had to rake through a humungous box of photos to find the ones I wanted but it paid off as I am really pleased with the outcome. It is a trifold gatefold card.

I just have to sort boxes for them now and I have cracked it!

I must just show you the table markers, I think they are fab. I got them from Chocolate Chatter As I have planned the whole thing for them I more or less had a free rein and they just kept handing over the cash :)

I've been and had my nails done this morning and am having my hair done tomorrow morning. We then have to travel down to the venue which will take about an hour. Once there I have to dress the car as hubby is driving mum and dad to and from the church, then I have to set the cakes (we are having cup cakes with a top cutting cake) on the stand and also dress all the tables with the favours etc. Then I can get myself ready and I have 2 hours to do all this (then stay awake for the rest of the day!) I have worked till about 1.30 every night this week and I am kn*****ed
Ok that's it for now, I will be back on Sunday armed with photos :)

Tick tock!

Yesterday I made lottery envelopes and two clocks and today so far, I've made the boxes for the clocks. The boxes for the clocks.
I love the diversity of my work, it isn't very often that I do the same thing for more than a couple of days. I have also half done a 'brochure' for my mum and dad and will present it as a booklet. I have to have it finished as soon as poss so will show it tomorrow.
Right, now I need to tidy my desk ready to start the next job (the bit I don't like! LOL) and before the lady comes to collect the clocks ;)
Till tomorrow.

At last........

......I have finished everything for my parents' golden wedding celebrations on Saturday except a card and 'honeymoon' voucher, but all the really important stuff is done. I have just taken a few photos of the favours but unfortunately I don't bond naturally with a camera! Hubby takes all my 'decent' piccies.

We only have 3 children coming and as they are all under 5 we decided to do them teddies with chocolate buttons instead of the 'grown up' favours.
The adult favours contain gold coloured 'Smarties' and as well as having the names printed on the front, I have added each menu choice to the reverse. The meal choices were made so long ago I didn't want people arguing over meals and this way makes sure it doesn't happen!

And so to round two-lottery ticket envelopes!

Before I go, I would just like to say another huge thank you to everyone who leaves lovely comment on my blog. I do try to visit as many as possible but don't have a great deal of time at the mo. I have you all bookmarked and will keep visiting and leaving the odd comment. As soon as I have five spare minutes I would like to add some (or all) of you to my buddy list. If you would like to do a link swap, please leave a message and let me know.

Back soon. xx

Wedding fayre update

Thank you for all the "Good Luck" wishes for the wedding fayre yesterday. I have done loads of wedding fayres and they don't bother me any more but I was very nervous about this one in Sheffield! The museum is beautiful, the food is lovely and once I got set up I felt really at home. LOL I sold tiaras, gave out loads of brochures, some of my tiaras were used for the fashion show, I made lots of new contacts and generated a lot of interest so I feel really pleased with the whole day apart from the astronomic parking fees. It cost us £9.30 to get out of the NCP car park, it's a blooming rip off. Any way, moan over! Here are a couple of photos. The first one is my set up and the other two are a couple of the models wearing my tiaras.

So that's it for now. I am busy making favours today so must get on.