Page Plans ..........

put up the new template in time for me to make a birthday card which needs posting today! DH's step niece is 18 on Wednesday so this had to be done sharpish (cos I forgot) Anyway, this is the sketchand this is my take on it.

I don't know why the image has blurred because I scanned it! Anyhow, paper is Making Memories from years ago, paper frill is Doodlebug, the large numbers were cut by hand from glitter card and the sentiment was generated on the computer.

It is also a dear friend's birthday on Wednesday (but she's not 18 any more ;)) I love pink and yellow together, it shouts out Summer (probably the only one we'll have!) Image, paper and sentiment are all from Pink Petticoat and the flowers are Papermania and Prima. I found the pink and yellow brad in my tub but I'm not sure where it came from. I've added a couple of diamantes and a bit of Stickles glitter to her clothes.

I'm waiting for a couple of orders to come so I can begin my next wedding order so I thought I would do some scrapping. My brother will be 40 in October and I want to make him an album. Late last year I sat and scanned 240 photos brought up from my parents. They weren't all of Scott but I realised that I didn't have many photos of me as a child either so scanned as many as I could. The problem now is that it looks as though I didn't close the dvd when I finished adding them and have lost the bl**dy lot. I am well hacked off at the thought of having to start them all again! :( so later in the week, I will whizz over to mum and dad's and get some of the photos and start again. I managed to get the ones I wanted into one box so with a bit of luck they won't have touched them. All together, there were 5 large plastic storage boxes full!

I am now off to wash the kitchen floor as I still have my head up my bum :))

Back soon. xx

One more

The couple of the Liverpool FC seating plan fame got married today and DH is djing at their wedding. I've just had a text message from them saying 'thank you, everyone loves the seating plan and table names!' I really love messages like that and was very pleased that I got to meet them last Thursday. The whole order was conducted by phone and email but I was up at the hotel on business on Thursday (and lunch ;)) and they called to see the wedding coordinator. They are a really lovely couple. Here is the card I made them today

I love this Elzybells stamp. The image was stamped in black onto white linen card using black Versafine ink. I coloured the image with Prismacolours and Sansador but just stuck to the red and white theme of the wedding rather than colour the hair etc. The card was finished with a Prima flower and red brad and a piece of red satin ribbon.

And there we have it, the last one before bed :)

I'm being taken out for lunch again tomorrow, that's the third time in three weeks..........I could get used to this.

Take care and thanks for looking.

Here's some I made earlier!

More of last week's creations :)

My sister did the Race For Life last Sunday. It's the first time I've ever known her do something like this so I am immensely proud of her. As I had to send her my sponsorship money, I decided to make her a card and a little pressie!

Another one of my quick and simple cards using a new Cuttlebug embossing folder. This time I used an embossing strip and they are lovely. I bought two sets and may have to go back for the other ;) All I added was a few diamantes and a bit of organza ribbon! The greeting was done on the computer.

I used a mix of pink beads to make the phone charm including some pink Swarovski crystals and finished it off with a Breast Cancer awareness charm.

I also made a card for a lovely friend's equally lovely son who is 21 today. Happy Birthday Simon!Simon is an ardent Doncaster Rovers fan so I decided to make him a cd clock! Note the matching card and box in the second picture...............I've mounted the Viking on the wrong way round, the stripes should be horizontal not vertical! *silly me*

My cousin is 50 on Monday so this is her card. I also managed to fit it in with a challenge on a blog that I came across the other day whilst mooching around the net. The blog is called 2 Sketches For You This is this week's sketch

and here is the card I made

The numbers were cut on the Robo out of a lovely gold glitter card and mounted onto a cream mat then one cut from gold mirri card (which don't show properly as I had to scan the card instead of photographing it) The floral ribbon down the side is from Ribbon Oasis the flowers are Prima and the sentiment was done on the laptop again.

The next card is another part of another commission

The white card was embossed using the Floral Fantasy Cuttlebug folder (can you tell I'm a fan? LOL) The large numbers and letter were cut on the Robo again using MADFONT -I love it at the moment - the ribbon is Papermania, the flowers are Bazzill and Prima and the sentiment was printed on the pc. I really love black and white! I have another card to do and that order is finished. :)

My next card was made for a very dear friend who was 60 on Thursday. It was also the first anniversary of the flooding in Toll Bar (just outside Doncaster) and john and his wife Anne live there. That was nothing to do with the card, I just thought I would throw it in for good measure LOL.

John and Anne used to drive a VW Camper van (albeit a long time ago) and named it the Wally Wagon. DH and I went out a couple of weeks ago and there was a classic car exhibition on so we took some photos. I enlarged this one in Photoshop and used it as a template for the front of the card which, as well as paper piecing it, I actually cut round it to shape the car front. I couldn't photograph it again as my camera was up at the hotel. The windows, lights, bumper etc are all cut from silver mirri card and it looks much better in real life! The card also fits a challenge which I found on Funky Fairy's blog I came across the blog this morning via one of their newsletters. There are some lovely freebies on the site as well as pretty papers and alphas to buy as downloads. Take a look, you might just have to buy :)

This week also saw my last week as Guest Designer on Di Hickman's blog Thanks doe having me Di, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The papers are by K & Co, the large number was cut by hand from one of the papers by the English Paper Company, the cupcake is a Sizzlit die, the ribbon is from my stash (as I can't remember where it came from and the greeting was computer generated.

Well folks, that's it for now. I hope you like what you see. If you do, please leave me a comment or if you don't, you can leave me a comment too ;)

So here it is...............

...........Merry Christmas ev'ry body's having fun! (I'll spare you all the rest of the song, my singing is dire LOL)

Today's DCM challenge is to make a Christmas card!! Jo here this week with a seasonal dare - just not this season :) I would love this week for you all to make a Christmas card... (yes I know it is only June tee hee) With a nice Christmassy scene just to get us all in the festive spirit and to pave the way for all the cards that we have yet to make....

So here is my very simple Christmas card. It was made by simply embossing a piece of gold card with one of my new Cuttlebug embossing folders, this was then mounted onto dark green card and then onto a cream base card. I punched a hole at either side of the base of the tree and tied it with red organza ribbon.....simple!

Yesterday DH and I were invited to the Christmas party launch at one of the local hotels. We had a beautiful three course meal (which knocked me out for the rest of the day as I don't usually eat lunch) complete with Christmas crackers and silly hats!! Anyway, the Operations Manager asked about the possibility of me making her Christmas cards to send to her clients. I was telling her about this folder and decided to make her a sample. I couldn't believe it when I saw the Dare over at DCM...........thanks Jo!!

The same hotel are holding a masked ball this evening booked by the Chamber of Commerce and have a fab marquee up for the occasion. I was asked if I could make them some signs for the champagne bar, toilets etc incorporating the masks!! I've never done anything like this before so it was a bit of a struggle and I didn't get to bed until 2.45 on Thursday morning but this is what I came up with.

I'm not overly happy with them but they went down well with both the hotel and the Chamber which I suppose is what counts. My Craft Robo certainly came into it's own on Wednesday as I used it to cut all the lettering.

Well folks, that's it for tonight, I'm off for an early night. DH is working and I am shattered. I have plenty more to show but will leave it until tomorrow. I'm not doing any work or h*******k this weekend, I am going to play :)

Take care and tfl.

Exploding box

..........ordered for a wedding. What a brief!! The bride's dress is amber and the couple are into guinea pigs, rabbits and cars and the bride isn't having a bouquet, she is carrying feathers and beads.

I pushed this one around my table for a few days and finally decided that I really needed to do it today. I started it about lunch time and finished about half an hour ago and boy has it given me a headache :) I managed the rabbits, feathers and beads, oh and a brass car charm the rest had me in a quandry. Anyway, this is what I came up with

The stripey paper is My Minds Eye and I just love it, will definitely need more ;) Other assorted bits and bobs are from my hoard!

Bridal jewellery

This is another peep at what I've been up to over the last week. The tiara and first necklace were made for a bride who gets married on 6th July and the second necklace was for her chief bridesmaid.
I used 4mm and 6mm Swarovski crystals and assorted Swarovski pearls.


4mm Swarovski crystals and assorted Swarovski pearls were used for the necklace, bracelet and earrings. It doesn't quite show it properly but the necklace and bracelet are both 4 strand.
This necklace set were made with the same components as the one above but only using two strands.
Last but not least for this time is

...a necklace, bracelet and earrings made for another bride to be and again I used Swarovski pearls and crystals.

My to do list today consists of: clean house!!! make an exploding box (ordered), make six cards and a clock (ordered) so I may be back later with something else to show, or I may not LOL

Thanks for looking and leaving the lovely comments. they are really appreciated.

Yum yum.........

...........candy found from blog hopping :)

I also came across Emma's blog in a roundabout way (but can't remember how) and she is giving away some lovely candy. I will definitely be going back!

Hop on over to the Spiral Whisper blog and name the new rubber stamp characters...........they are very cute :)
http://spiralwhisper.blogspot.com/2008/06/naming-competition.html

I've been tagged....

The "rules" of the game: Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

Ten years ago:
As well as running my own business I was doing a 'Helping in Schools' course which led to me being a Teaching Assistant for 7 years.
Five things on today's to-do list :
Make a 'teacher card (done-see below)
Take my Mum to her first ever craft show (and she spent £100 !),
take parents to Brodsworth Hall (a beautiful Victorian house in Yorkshire) for lunch,
make an exploding box (I've cut the layers and the lid so far!
Update blog (so far so good :))
Snacks I enjoy: Grapes and Chocolate, but I'm not really a snacky person
Things I would do if I was a billionaire:
Look after my family, friends and buy Cornwall (my passion)
Five places I have lived:
Kirkintilloch, Scotland, Cyprus, France, Belgium, Germany

If you haven't already done this one, consider yourself tagged!
Thanks for looking.

DCM Friday plus

I can't believe where the last week has gone. I have missed so many challenges but need to make half a dozen cards ordered so should be able to fit some in this week. I have worked 19 hour days for the last two weeks. I just can't believe how much wedding work I've had in this week. It has been great and I've loved every minute of it but boy am I tired!! LOL

I realised at eight o'clock this morning that I hadn't even had a look at the DCM challenge this week (let alone done one :)) so as I had a teacher card to make I whizzed over and had a look. It was Tracie's turn this week and here is her brief "I want you to make a QUICK CARD! a card that takes you no more than hmm say 30 minutes max to do - start to finish. No set ingredients and pick your own theme, but be quick and be crafty! (and dont forget to tell us how long it took too).

I really must try to do 'unwonky' scans!! papers, card and vellum are from my scrap box - K & Co, Pink Petticoat and Papermania and everything else is from my stash and not sure where else. The die cuts are Cuttlebug. The sentiment was done on the pc and the card took me 15 minutes.

I can't believe that I am on week three of my stint as guest designer on Di Hickman's blog Here is Di's templateand this is the card I made

This card was made for DH's uncle for his birthday this week. Papers are K & Co and Under the Boardwalk by Daisy Bucket, stamp is from Clevercut and everything else is from my stash.

So what else have I been up to? Well, here are a couple of things I've done :)

Am off now to check out Sue's blog as I've been tagged :)

I dared!

Last minute as usual! I'm sure it's not just me who makes cards on the morning they are needed :) My kids like to give DH a father's day card each - I say 'kids' as they are 14 and 19!- even though he isn't their dad so I set to to make two cards last night and.....................blank, zilch, brain dead. LOL I've been working approximately 19 hours a day since last Sunday and I think I was a bit tired :) However, I came down at 7 this morning and (although they are not brilliant) made two cards. The first one loosely fits Kathy's DCM dare this week (I hope :))

So, on to this week and for my dare I'd like you to make cards withwheels
....no, not actually made with wheels, you can still use card and paper ;-), so you don't need to go and steal the ones from the car or the kids' bikes and write a message on them!
I'd like you to feature wheels ON your cards, or as part of them. So you could have cars, bikes etc on your card, or maybe you could actually make a card that moves along on some wheels..... or how about a card that has one of those "wheels" inside it (fixed with a brad) and little apertures in the actual card front so that when you move the wheel the message appears in the aperture? (I hope that makes sense)

So, bearing in mind I am brain dead ;) here is my card
Papers are a mixture from my 'bit box' and I know there is K & Co and DCWV in there, but more importantly.................I have used COGS by Little Yellow BICYCLE, the wheels being on the bike and the cogs (sort of). LOL Page frill is Doodlebug and the star is by Cherry Art. Sentiment was generated on the pc.

Back later with the other Father's day card.

TFL xx

and here it is! Stamped image is one of the Sugar Nellies from Funky Kits coloured with Prismas and Sansador. The papers, I think, are K & Co, brads are actually dark blue and are from my stash. I thought it might be suitable for the Stamp Something challenge which is monochrome but then I noticed that I'd coloured the ball in brown. I do have another one on the go though so that one will definitely fit! :)

Happy Fathers Day

I finally managed to incorporate the Page Plans sketch (my only challenge this week :() into a Father's Day card for my dad from my kids. This weeks sketch was by Chris

I used another one of my Penny Black images stamped for me by Jo from Only Joking and coloured it with Prismas and Sansador (I think I'm getting the hang of them now-I just wish they wouldn't break when they are sharpened.) and double mounted him onto pale blue and silver card. The papers, faux ribbon and round stickers are all by Papermania. Sorry about the wonky scan LOL My batteries in the camera were dead so I had to scan them quickly as my parents came over yesterday. I can't rescan them cos they went home with them!

This is my card from DH and myself.

I love this image from The Stamp Boutique as it sums my dad up perfectly! He is quite difficult to make cards for as he doesn't have any hobbies. papers on this one are by the English Paper Company and K & Co. Dad is a Sizzlit die.

I can also reveal my second Di Hickman challenge card as a guest designer. This is the template

I made this one for a friend who got married a couple of weeks ago. The papers are from one of the K & Co wedding mat stacks, die cuts are Sizzix, the bride and groom was cut for me by a friend on her Robo and the card was finished off with white organza ribbon from Ribbon Oasis

That's me off back to work now. I have a couple more commissions to slip in amongst the wedding stationery so will hopefully be able to incorporate a couple of challenges.

Time flies!

I seem to be losing track of the days at the moment and am having to ask all the time what day it is. It might be an age thing (;)) but I think it's down to lack of sleep. I'm getting by on five hours a night at the mo and my body is desperately telling me it needs eight LOL. I haven't done any h****w**k or ironing for a couple of weeks now as time is passing me by. DH and the kids are looking after the house and I'm managing to take an hour or so off to cook and eat my tea and that's about it. Don't get me wrong, it's not a complaint, I have the best job in the world :) Where else can you just take work outside and sit in the sun all day ;) I even sent my mum home yesterday armed with large sheets of card, Big Shot and some dies so she can cut the letters for me for one of my orders. I'm also trying to organise her a surprise birthday bbq for next month which isn't easy when I keep having to hide things so she doesn't find them (invitation componants etc ;)). Which leads me nicely into my 'show and tell'The invitations for mum's birthday party :) The stamp is by Art Impressions and she is called Eunice, which just so happens to be my mum's name (she is so going to choke me when she sees them - I have made her a spare to keep in her keepsake box). I stamped her with black Versafine and paper pieced her using Papermania pink papers.

Next up are a couple of commissions which needed to be done this week. The first is for an ardent Doncaster Rovers supporting son of a very good friend.

Striped paper on the numbers is Pink Petticoat and they were cut by hand. Only after I had stuck it to the card (using foam pads) did I realise that the stripes should be horizontal and not vertical. Sorry Rovers. Football, scarf and Rovers stamps are from One Four Zero and were part of my prize last year from Papercraft Essentials. They were all stamped with a red chalk pad. Letters are Wingo Zingo.

The second card is for mum's birthday. I am well ahead of myself now, thank goodness.

It's a gatefold accordian card IYSWIM. We have Eunice again and again she has been stamped and paper pieced. Numbers are again cut bu hand and this time i used some more left overs. Sentiment is a Papermania rub on, Mum is Wingo Zingo cut from silver mirri card, flowers are from ebay and the pearl brad is also Papermania

I hope you like so far. If you do, please don't just look and run, leave me a comment. It's lovely seeing who my visitors are and where they have come from.

Feeling hot, hot, hot

Wow, aren't we blessed with the weather here in the UK at the moment, it should stay like this until about the middle of December. I worked from seven am yesterday until lunch time then decided that I would go outside and potter tidying the greenhouse etc..............Well, eight hours later, the garden had been weeded to within an inch of it's life and all the bedding plant finally got planted. DH brought me some more home today, not sure if my poor old body can stand a repeat of yesterday just yet! I spent this afternoon sat on the patio making some bridal jewellery for a commission. He he, I have an open air studio.

Here we go with Friday's work

Today or was it yesterday (Monday) is or was, lol, a very special friend's birthday and as I couldn't think what to buy her, I settled on a Teaching Assistant's Survival Kit containing all the usuals eg vodka, chocolate, ear plugs etc and some lovely smellies. To say she was pleased with it is an understatement. Happy Birthday Annette :)

I have a few more bits and bobs to show but I am going to hit the sack and will be back to show them tomorrow at some point. I haven't done any challenges but have made some cards.

Till tomorrow. xx

My first reveal

I am oh so chuffed to be a guest designer on Di Hickman's blog for the month of June and my first card went live on Di's blog last night so I can now show it here.

I thought the sketch lent itself perfectly to a 'bookmark card'. Again I used my fabby Summer pad from Three Bugs, the ribbon is from one of the brilliant kits that Bea & Stu sell on the Ribbon Oasis web site, I've had the verse on my lap top for so long that I can't remember where it came from but the stamp at the top is by Rubbadubbadoo I backed the bookmark onto orange card and laminated it before adding the yellow fibres. The whole think was fastened to the front of the card with a foam pad, I did try using a repositionable tape runner but it kept falling off! I finished it off with a couple of brads from my stash.

Blog Candy

Last minute Lizzie as usual! I meant to do this card the other day when I first saw it on Jo's blog and then promptly forgot all about it. She wanted a pink card but one made specifically for her candy shout. I've just made this one hence the lateness! Anyway, Jo is giving away some fantabulous blog candy (including my very favourite Sugar Dumpling paper :)) to celebrate all the good things in her life at the mo, chiefly her DH coming home from working in Australia...........have you stopped smiling yet Missus?

So, my pink card

The scan doesn't pick up the colours properly so I will photograph it tomorrow in sunlight (hopefully) It is actually lemon and pink. So, the image is Pink Cat Studio (one of my favourite set of stamps) painted with pearly paints, the ribbons are from Ribbon Oasis flowers are Prima and others from ebay and a bit of bling finishes it off nicely.

This is a guest book I've done today too. The bride and groom are having a Liverpool themed wedding and I'm doing table names in the shape of football shirts. The seating plan will also have miniature shirts on bearing the names of some of the players!

Well, that's it for now...........I'm going to post my comment on Jo's blog.

Back soon

Page Plans

I received my gift yesterday for being a winner on the Page Plans blog a couple of weeks ago :)

I just love these little stamp sets and have several of them.................but none of these. I was so pleased when I opened my envelope, thanks very much girls :)

Today is my great nephew's third birthday. He is such a precious little thing but an absolute b****r!! LOL He was critically ill at five months with meningitis and my niece was told that if they had left it another 24 hours before taking him to hospital we would have lost him!! This is Jack

and this is the card I made him

The image was printed onto photo paper and decoupaged and his name is printed using a train font I found on my laptop whilst browsing through the fonts list for something else :)

Thanks for looking.