Thank You!

I'd like to begin by thanking you all for your visits and good wishes for my shoulder!

Glad to say I had the cortisone jab yesterday and my shoulder is already so much better.

I'm limiting the time I spend on the laptop for the next week as I don't want to push it and although I can now enjoy doing a bit of card making again I won't be doing any die cutting for a little while.

I made this card just before Christmas with SU products at a new "coffee and card" class I've recently found in the area.

I'd like to take this opportunity to wish all my dear followers and blog buddies and visitors a Very Happy and Healthy New Year.

I look forward to following you and seeing all your super makes in 2017 and joining in with some challenges again very soon.

Happy Crafting Everyone!  Barbxx

Happy Christmas Everybody!

Just a very quick post with a wonky photo ....


Wishing you all a Very Happy and Peaceful Christmas.

I'd like to give special thanks to all my blog buddies who have been so supportive throughout the year.

Unfortunately my shoulder is causing a problem at the moment.  I'm hoping to get a cortisone injection soon but in the meantime it's so uncomfortable using the mouse I'll be absent again for a while.  I really apologise to those I've not visited recently.

Hubby will be on turkey basting duty this year!

I hope you enjoy the Festive Season and I'll be back as soon as I can.

Barb xx

Snippets Ahoy!

Hello Everybody and thank you for all your lovely comments when I took my blog break.

I've been away longer than I'd planned but as often happens once I got through one thing something else cropped up.

Anyway - I was determined to join in with the last Pixies Snippets  Playground (260 & 261) of the year.

I decided to download photos of cards from my camera today only to discover I had deleted all but two by mistake.   All cards have been sent out so I have no record so today I'm blogging a card made several weeks ago.

It's made with a Sizzix nautical set, Sizzix Bright Bubbles die, some rainbow card and a number of snippets of card.

So sorry that I've not been visiting too often but hope to catch up over the next few days.

Taking a Blog Break!

Hello and thank you for your visit.

I have decided to take a blog break until the beginning of December.

I've got so much going on this month  that I'm  finding it difficult to find time for blogging.

On Friday I'm going on a craft retreat with friends at Oyster Crafts then a couple of days after getting home I have friends coming to stay for several days to help me celebrate a special birthday.

In addition I have a friend in hospital,  dental and optician appointments booked and two "new home" cards to make.

I'll be popping in to see what you're all up to while I'm absent and will leave comments when I can.

I hope you'll visit again when I'm back and if any of you are also going to Oyster next weekend please do leave a comment so I can catch up with you there.  Barb xx

Wooden Bunny

Good Afternoon - although it's still morning to me!

I watched the US election last night so didn't get up until midday.

The background was from a recent workshop I did using Pixie powders.

 As  I didn't like the garish butterfly that was on the card  I threw it away when I got home and retrieved the green background.

The bunny was diecut  with a piece of balsa wood which previously held a macaroni cheese ready meal.

When I cut him out his ears turned up because of the shape of the box so I had to soak him with water to flatten the ears before stamping him with the old French Script,  Then I shaded round the edge with distress ink.  He's a Sizzix Bigz die.

His eye is Ranger black enamel and the bow was diecut from a piece of paper from my box of snippets.

I'm off to join in at Pixies Snippets Playground - Week 254  and also
Brown Sugar Challenge ~223 Anything Goes 
Avenue 613 Challenge #191 Anything Goes
Penny's Paper Craft Challenge #303

Blue Christmas

I am delighted and very proud to have  been invited to be a guest designer for the Stamping Sensations Challenge which begins today.

I began by scoring at every 1/2 inch diagonally, both ways on a piece of 5" square white card.

I shaded two sides of each scored square then  stamped my image and a few snowflakes with a blue die inkpad.  I used the same colour to add a little colour and shape to the bauble then added some glitter glue.

As I didn't have the right colour of blue card for the matting I coloured white card with the same inkpad and stamped a few  snowflakes in black  around the edge of the background matt.

I do hope you will be able to join in with the challenge at Stamping Sensations.  Do pop over and look at the lovely cards made by the Design Team members.

Dancing Butterflies

Thank you for your visit.

I was interested to read in the comments on my previous post that many of you have done cross stitch and in the past used it for card making.

 I used to do that as well as joining in with several Round Robins.  I wonder if any of us have met before in our stitching days.

This card was made with a lovely cling stamp that I won as part of a prize recently.

I coloured a large sheet of watercolour paper by smooshing with three colours of distress ink.  After cutting out the piece I wanted to use I added some stencilling  in a few areas then stamped with black ink.  I used a piece of the paper that was bright pink to stamp and cut out another butterfly.

Finally I  added a little blue with a sparkle pen and some glitter glue to the butterfly and stuck on with the wings slightly raised. .  The sentiment is by Inkadinkado.

O would like to enter my card into the following challenges:
A Bit More Time to Craft #31
Craft Your Passion #336
CAS Watercolour challenge - November

Christmas ATC

Hello and I hope you're enjoying your day.  It's been a lovely sunny one here - a nice change from yesterday.

I don't do a lot of cross stitching any more and I don't make many ATCs  these days.

This is one of a set I made for a swap last year although I haven't shown it before.

I coloured my card with distress ink then stamped randomly with an old wood mounted rubber stamp then lifted some colour off.

I added some sparkle with a glitter pen and used a white gel pen for the white dots.

I finished with the sentiment and a star gem on the tree.

I'm entering it  at The Allsorts Challenge #387 - Lets make a start on Christmas

Penny Slider

I hope you're enjoying your weekend and  if you're in the UK I hope you enjoyed an extra hour in bed!

I went to a card class with friends on Friday where one of the cards we made was a Christmas penny slider.

As I had not made one for a long time I decided to make another this morning.

The car is a Lawn Fawn stamp and die. the hill was cut from a die that was  a prize from one of  Darnell's NBUS challenges  and everything else is made from snippets.  The trees were part of a diecut that had been on my windowsill for months and the little flowers were punched from the torn paper I used for masking the sky.

So - I'm popping over to join in at Pixies Snippets Playground - Week 253 to join in and also
The Alphabet Challenge blog R for Recipe as I'm using dies, flowers and a sentiment
Cardz 4 Guyz #143 - Kinetic 

An Oldie for Friday

Good Evening

A late post from me today as I've been out with friends.

As it's Friday I'm linking up with Erika of Snappy Crafts where she invites us to join her every Friday with an old craft project.

Sorry about the wonky photo but this is a very old one made with a Woodware  stamp and a Hero Arts sentiment.

I don't know what the paper is.  The little butterflies were punched from paper.

I hope you'll have a good weekend and are well stocked up with goodies in case you have early Trick or Treaters calling.

Rainy Day!

Well actually it's a lovely sunny day here today.  I hope you're having a good one too.

Just a quick post as hubby is taking me out for lunch shortly so no cooking to do tonight .....

I made this card a while ago using up bits and pieces and old punches.

The image and sentiment are both from from  Hobby Art set of stamps, the flower from my stash and everything else is scraps.

I water coloured the image and added a little glossy accents to the flower.

I'm entering the Challenge over at Moving Along With the Times - #32 Cute Animals

Rudolph Day - October

Good Evening!

I'm trying to get some Christmas cards done as I really am behind this year.

This card was pretty quick to make so I made several while I was at it using a Tim Holtz mixed media background die and a die from his Holiday Greens die set.

With a piece of red card for matting and some ribbon, all that I needed to finish was a peel off sentiment and a few gems for some sparkle.

I would like to join in with the Rudolph Day Challenge - October at Mo's  Scraps of Life by Scrappy Mo blog.

I'm also joining in at The Christmas Card Challenge #46

Harebells and Butterfly

Hello and thank you for visiting me today.

I wanted to make my card to enter into Mrs. A's Butterfly Challenge #65  -      H is for Hoops/and or Harebells and everything came together quite quickly.

I had a piece of paper on my desk which after adding a little more blue was the colour.   I searched out a set of small flower stamps that I used to use for ATC and there it was - a tiny harebell stamp which I stamped randomly onto the background.

The "hoops" were die cut with the Sizzix Bright Bubbles die that I'd used for the first time yesterday when I had a little practise with it.

The Sentiment stamp is from a Hobby Arts set of sentiments and the butterfly from a sheet of 3D butterflies that have been in my stash for years.

I would also like to enter my card into the Challenge on The Allsorts Challenge blog - Week 386 where this time they are asking for Sparkle and Shine.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to capture either the sparkle or shine very well in this photograph.      

Get Well- Snippets!

Hello and thank you for visiting my blog.

I'd like to give a warm welcome to my latest follower Donna.  I do  hope you will pop over and visit her blog

This is one of several cards I made a while ago when I was using up bits and pieces and old techniques for quick cards,

I stamped with an old background wood mounted stamp with a versamark ink pad then rubbed over with decorating chalks.

The background edge was also coloured with decorating chalks  and trimmed with fancy scissors.  I used chalks for shading the leaves too.  As you can see I really did go back to basics for this one.

The small flowers and heart were from my bits pot and the large flower and lace from my stash.

The sentiment is from a Paula Pascal set  which you'll see on lots of my cards as it's an old favourite.


Almost everything on this card is snippets so I'm taking it to join in at Pixies Snippets Playground -  Week 252

An Oldie for Friday!

Well it's still just about Friday so I'm joining in with Erika on her Snappy Crafts blog.

 I went to a workshop in the village today from 10.00 till 4.00 so that's my reason for being late this week.

Erika invites us to join in each Friday,  just for fun, with an old craft project.


My card was made several years ago.  I can't remember what the stamp is but it's from a set of clear bird stamps in a similar style.

I do remember that the background paper was recycled from the inside of a box of chocolates and how nice the paper smelt at the time - yum!

I embossed it several times with an embossing folder, matching up the dots.  Then just did a little colouring and added a bit of gold gel pen and shading  to the bird feeder.

I hand pierced around the edge of the white matt.

I hope you enjoy your weekend.

I Wish!

Good Morning!  I hope you are enjoying your day.

I Wish I was still able to wear shoes like this!

My card was a very quick make.  I did make a batch in different colours which will go into my charity box to be posted off later.

I used an embossing folder to create the front of the card then coloured with two Distress inks.

I added a little glitter, which doesn't show well in the photo plus a gem on the shoe and punched out the three hearts which I covered with Glossy Accents.

The sentiment is a very old stamp which lives on my desk and I added a heart shaped gem.

I would like to enter my card at Allsorts Challenge blog Week 385 - Pink October

The use of pink for this challenge is to highlight Breast Cancer which causes great distress to so many men and women around the world.

My own mother suffered breast cancer during her life and had a mastectomy within two weeks of being diagnosed.  It was a very worrying time for us all but she went on to live a long and healthy life after treatment.

Feeling Sheepish

Morning Folks!

I hope you are having a good day.

 Well it seems I had a senior moment yesterday in my rush to do a quick post before going out..

Anyway, I posted an old card.  This is the one it should have been.

It is  still using a selection of Inky Doodle  stamps and  a selection of snippets, so at least I got that right!

Happy Crafting!

Get Wool Soon!

Good Morning and I hope you all enjoyed your weekend.

We're back from a long weekend away in Norfolk with my brother in law and his wife.  We really had a great time.

As we've been away I have lots of catching up to do. It's a busy day as I'm off to craft club shortly and have a friend coming this afternoon so will be visiting later.

I made this card some weeks ago when I decided it was time to use older stamps that haven't been out for a while.

This card was made using various Inky Doodle sets of stamps and as you can see lots of snippets too

So I thought this card would be just fine to take along to enter with the girls at Pixies Snippets Playground - Week 251  also entering
Craft Your Passion Challenge  #334 (anything Goes)

Best Golfer!

Happy Friday Everyone.

Another quick post from me today as I have a mountain of ironing to tackle.

This is one of four cards I made at Loobi Crafts on Wednesday using Woodware shoe  stamp sets.

I particularly liked the papers we stamped the shoes on but forgot to ask what it was.

There is some paper piecing and colouring on the shoes and the laces were coloured with a Sakura white gell pen

We made two male and two female cards.



It goes without saying I had to buy all the stamp sets we used and I'll  show the other cards soon.

I'm looking forward to a weekend with my hubby's brother and his lovely wife.  I hope you enjoy your weekend too.

Boo!

Evening All,

I went to our village craft club this evening.

Wendy had two projects for us tonight.  One was a jam jar which we decorated with a tea light inside and this was the other.

It's the first Halloween card I have ever made and was great fun.

We tore strips of white card, inked the bottom of each one and stuck them onto a piece of black card, leaving a space for the googly eyes.

The spiders web, spider and pumpkin are all table confetti.

Not a very good photo, I know, but it was taken a short time ago underneath the lights on the kitchen cupboards.



It's been a busy day - no it hasn't, I lie.   I've been crafting for most of it.  Wendy and I went to a workshop today.  I'll show you the cards we made  when I've taken some photos.

So the plan now is a mug of hot chocolate, a bit of tele then off to bed.

Cyan Butterfly

Good Evening and thank you for dropping by.

I 've not had much time for playing this week.  It's been a very busy one.

However I've not managed to join in with Mrs A recently so made this today for The Butterfly Challenge #64 C is for Checkered/and or Cyan.

Well I just went for Cyan this time using ribbon and small pieces of paper from my stash.

The piece of background embossing folder was in my bits box and the sentiment is from a Hobby Art set of sentiments.

The butterfly is a Sweet Dixie die which I bought at the craft show recently.  The die is just the fancy top piece so I drew round the die and cut the butterfly base from another part of the paper then punched out the little flowers and heart.

You wouldn't believe the trouble I had with placement of the sentiment but I hope it works where it ended up!

Tomorrow I'm off to a workshop with a friend at Loobi Crafts.  We're using Woodware stamps to make cards with different types of shoes.   In the evening it's the craft club in the chapel and so I'll be playing catch up again with visits.  Happy Crafting everyone.

Strawberry and Snippets

Good morning everybody,

First I'd like to introduce my latest follower to you.  Many of you will know Gerrina.  She does make some beautiful cards so do drop in for a visit.

My card today was made last week using a couple of card templates.

I made a similar card at a crafty day out a few of weeks ago.  It really was just cutting around both templates and embossing half of the strawberry to make a very quick card.

I used odd bits and pieces for decoration so am taking this card over to join in at Pixies Snippets Playground Week - 250 and also the
 Craft Rocket Challenge #25 which this time is Ribbon/and or Lace

I'm really busy making a special parchment card at the moment which I must finish today so I apologise that I've not managed to visit anybody over the past couple of days.  I promise I'll be round to see what you've been making as soon as I can.

An Oldie for Friday

A very quick post from me tonight

As it's Friday again I'm late joining in with Erika at Snappy Crafts where we are invited to share an "oldie" craft project just for fun.

Mine is another tapestry that I did back in the l980's.  I can remember making this and it only seems like yesterday!

It is hanging on the wall in my sitting room.

Wishing you all a very happy weekend.

Smiles on Friday

Happy Friday Smilers!

Another week gone so I'm linking up with Annie on her Stitch in Time blog where she invites us every Friday to share things that have made us smile during the week.

I think I probably smiled a lot this week.  It's been very busy but mainly with good things.

I visited my friend Jacky a couple of days ago.  She's recovering from a replacement knee operation and I'm sure she'll soon be feeling like a new woman when all the pain has gone.

On Sunday I went to the craft show at Stoneleigh with my friend Wendy where we both spent more than we probably should have.  Here is what I came home with plus a lot of double sided tape and other essentials .

We met up with Di who hosts The Snippets Playground challenge and Mrs. A who hosts The Butterfly Challenge.  It was wonderful to meet them both in person.   We certainly had a good natter and I'm sure I smiled a lot too!

I hope you'll all enjoy a happy weekend.

So quick and easy.

Hello Everyone and just a quick post from me today as it's one of those "chasing your tail" kind of weeks.

I made three similar DL cards last week using the same Paper Artsy stamp set although I varied the design a little and all the sentiments were different.

I stamped with black archival ink onto some kraft paper then added a bit of detail with a white gell pen.

The large flower was from the same set and was stamped onto patterned paper, fussy cut and after inking the edges I stuck it over the stem of flowers.

The centre of the flower is punched from the card, where I put the sentiment and I used a little button from my stash.

I matted onto  a strip of black card and cut the bottom with fancy scissors.

I would like to enter my card into Miss Di's Snippets Playground - Week 249  and also Brown Sugar Challenge #218 where the theme is Anything goes

A Wonderful Day!

Evening Everybody!  I hope you've enjoyed your Day.

I certainly have.  I went to the craft show at Stoneleigh with my friend.  I won't show you what I bought although as always it was far to much.

But we had a great time and this is what Wendy and I made for our two Make and Takes.  The reveal card is a lovely gold which turned out bronze looking in the photo and the script on the tag, as hubby pointed out straight away, is stamped upside down!  I know it's a rubbish photo but it was taken in a hurry and I'm really sooooo tired.

However - the highlight of the day was meeting up with Miss Di and Mrs A.  What a lovely long chat we had with them.  I really enjoyed it but silly me I completely forgot to have a photo taken with them as I'd planned to do.

Thank you so much for dropping by again.

Friday Oldie on Saturday!

Good Morning,

I hope you're enjoying the weekend.

Just a quick post today to join in late with Erika on her Snappy Crafts blog where she invites us to share an old craft project for fun.

Well this is an oldie that I made with a peel off several years ago.

I stuck it to some white card, did a bit of water colouring and matting.

Everything was stuck onto a 5" square card which had been cut out using my then new Tonic matting dies.

My die collection has grown quite a bit since then ..... I think you'll know what I mean.

I hope you enjoy your weekend.

Smiles on Friday

Happy Friday!

I hope you have had a good week.  I've  certainly had a busy one.

I've been out crafting with friends,  out for lunch twice a visit from the hairdresser  who really is a friend after 10 years and hubby,s cousin came for a visit.

On Wednesday  I  was both surprised and delighted to find that  I  had won  some Tim Holtz stencils on Rachel,s blog.

I've  been having a play and this is my first card using them, together with one of Tim's Crazy Birds.  I know my new stencils are going to get lots of use.

I,m going to the craft show at Stoneleigh on Sunday with a friend.We,ve arranged to meet up there with two blog buddies I've never met before so  I'm  feeling quite excited.

I,m linking up with Annie on her Stitches in Time blog  where we share what made us smile during the week.

Deco Ladies

Good afternoon and I hope you're enjoying a sunny day too.

I'm posting two cards that I made this morning using the same technique as my previous post.

The stamp is one borrowed from a friend.  Isn't she beautiful.  It's an old rubber stamp but I'm afraid I don't know what it is.

The papers are freebies from Magazines.  The blue paper, although really bright looks fine underneath the vellum.

I'm off to do a bit more crafting now until teatime.

Spotlight Vellum!

Good Evening and thank you for your visit.

My card today was made using a technique which I saw on Karen's blog here  .  I think it would work really well with a bouquet of flowers in place of the lady.

The whole image was stamped onto a piece of vellum and the outside of the frame coloured on the back.  Next time I think I will heat emboss the image.

I stamped the image a second time onto a scrap of white card and fussy cut only the lady.  After using a quickie glue pen on a few places on the front of the image I  stuck her onto the back of the vellum, being careful to match it with the image on the front.

The piece of  background paper is quite a strong yellow colour which is diffused by the vellum on top.  It came in a pad as a freebie with a magazine a long time ago.

  After putting adhesive on the back of the lady I laid the vellum down onto the paper and stuck it in place and trimmed the vellum to fit.  I stitched the top of the vellum to the card with some stitching and finished off by adding a few details on the front image with a gold gel pen.

I'm joining in with my card at Pixies Snippets Workshop Week 248  and also
Craft Your Passion Challenge 331 - Anything goes
Crafting from the Heart #129 - Anything Goes

September - Rudolph Day

Good Morning Everybody.  I hope you're having a good weekend.

Yesterday I went out crafting with friends and it's a quiet day for me today.

Here's my card for the September Rudolph Day Challenge  at Scrappy Mo's Scraps of Life blog.  Every month from 25th to the end of the month  Mo invites us to share a Christmas card.  Mo generously offers a lovely prize to the lucky winner.

As time's getting on I decided to batch make some Christmas cards last week.  Here is one using a Sizzix stamp and matching embossing folder.

I bought the set in their sale a year or two ago and this is the first time it's been used.

Enjoy the rest of your day.

Such a Gent

Hello and Welcome

Today I'm sharing a 'floating' card.  I used pieces of Stampin Up papers onto a 6" square kraft card.

The centre section on the front is cut out and the top and bottom held together with a topper.

I used a Woodware stamp set which included all three sentiments.

I rubbed Distress ink round the edge of the cut paper and the image panel.

It really was a very quick card to make.

I would like to enter my card into the September Challenge of Stamping Sensations - One for the Boys

Just in Time!

Good afternoon and thank you for your visit

This is a card which I made a few weeks ago when I was crafting with a friend.

We used black archival ink to stamp various images onto scraps of paper to make some quick cards.

On this card I used a white gel pen to add a few highlights and just one gem and a piece of lilac coloured ribbon.

I'm very late but would like to join in on Mrs As blog in her Butterfly Challenge #62 - L is for Letters/Lilac.  It's just the lilac this time.

Front Fold Card

Hello and Thank You for visiting ...

I've found  this in draft from several months ago so it's time to post  it now I think.

First I would like to welcome my latest follower Kate . Her blog is called Kate's Adventures where she writes about her life in Spain.  There are often lots of lovely photos and it's always an interesting visit.

We have a small craft group which meets in our village chapel once a month.

The person who had planned to do the last demo was unable to come so  Jacky and I needed to come up with something at short notice.  We decided on front fold cards and got to work sorting out our papers and stamping flowers leaves and decorations for the girls to colour and cut out.

 As samples Jacky made a Christmas card which looked really pretty with patterned paper on just the front panel and folded strip and baubles for the decoration.  It  worked really well and looked lovely.

This is my card made with  paper from my stash and Stampin Up flowers, stamped, coloured with zig markers then shaped.  I added some  stickles to the centres.  All the flowers, leaves and hearts were made from scraps of white card.

The girls made some very pretty cards and we all enjoyed our evening together as we always do.

As I used lot's of Snippets I'm joining in at Pixie's Snippets Playground Week 247 with this one although it was made some weeks ago.

An 'Oldie' Pear

Good Morning on a very wet day here in the east Midlands.

My card today was made quite a few years ago using a red rubber cling stamp which was stamped onto white card and then coloured in with Promarkers.  I stamped again and coloured one pear which was fussy cut, shaped and added with silicone glue for dimension.

I rubbed distress ink around the edge and stamped off a little on the background too.

The sentiment is by Paula Pascal and stamped onto a scrap of card which had been coloured with tea then I diecut with a small Marianne die.

I didn't realise when I made this how ragged the black matt was... oops!

As it's Friday I'm joining in with Erika on her Snappy Crafts blog where she invites us to share any craft  project from way back.  It doesn't have to be a card.   Link up with Erika and she'll visit you too.

I hope you all have a good day and enjoy your weekend, whatever your plans.

Happy Scrapping!

Good Morning and thank you for your visit today.

I've recently been having a play with Brushos again and the results I get really are very mixed!

Anyway I had two small pieces lying in a pile of scaps on my desk and yesterday afternoon  decided to use them up.

I rounded the corners and black embossed the flower stems then using the same Paper Artsy set stamped and layered up the flower heads.

The black pieces were also scraps which I embossed and the sentiment is from an Inky Doodles set.

After sticking all the pieces to the white cards I realised I'd got a smudge of red ink on the bottom of one card.   After just a few expletives and not to be beaten I rounded the corners of the card and added a blush of red around the edge to cover up the smudge.

It's our monthly craft club this evening so I look forward to seeing what we'll be making.

Enjoy the rest of your day.

A Male Snippet!

I came back from a short break on Thursday so yesterday  after getting the washing finished  managed a bit of crafty time in the afternoon.

Some time ago Wendy got us making cards for men at our monthly club using images cut from magazines.

Yesterday I made a few Christmas cards plus this card using snippets of card and paper and an image cut from a magazine.

The border is a scrap of silver miri card embossed in my Cuttlebug, rubbed with a sanding block then rubbed over with a black stazon ink pad.

I'm taking it over to join in with the playmates at Pixies Snippets Playground - Week 246

A Late - Oldie on Friday

I'm a bit late but just managed to sort out an Oldie for Friday.

 I wanted to join in with Erika on her Snappy Crafts blog where she invites us to share a craft item of any sort which was made some time ago.

I have often thought of having a go at a journal page but still never taken the plunge but I did make this card a couple of years ago with journaling in mind ...

I used a piece of card that had been used to wipe up paint from my mat.  I painted the hearts and leaves but only added a little shading to the vase as I liked the mottled effect.

I scribbled round the sentiment with a gold gel pen and doodled quickly round the edge.

I've no idea what the stamp is but it's not been used since.

Smiles this Week

Good Morning Smilers!

 We arrived home yesterday afternoon after a lovely holiday in Dorset spent with friends.  The last of the washing is now blowing away on the line.

Having watched every series of the Monkey World programmes on the television and feeling we almost knew both the animals and keepers I was keen to visit the rescue centre.  So that was the reason for our holiday which was booked a few weeks ago.

Our friends Pat and Allan  drove from Essex and we met up at the lovely B&B we had chosen.

When it was time to come home we all agreed we'd had liked another couple of days.  The weather was great and Dorset is a beautiful part of the country which I'd not visited since childhood.

The photo of the ring tailed lemur was taken at Monkey World and the second photo is me feeding swans at the Swannery on Tuesday.

I didn't worry about my diet and enjoyed some delicious meals, several big glasses of red wine and an ice cream each day.  I've put 4lbs back on but am now back on track and sure that will soon be off

I'm linking up with Annie on her Stitch in Time blog where she invites us to share our Smiles of the Week every Friday.

Have a lovely Weekend Everybody!

Howdy!

Good Evening and thank you for calling in.

I went to a dabble day the weekend before last where we made a card very similar to this one and I have used techniques we did on the day.

The stamps are a Woodware set which includes another shorter boot.  I'm planning on making some girly cards as I think they'd work well for line dancers.

The background is scored and rubbed over with distress inks.  The hat and boots were stamped and  embossed in black onto brown paper which had been screwed up and stuck onto pieces of card.

The birthday sentiment is from a Paula Pascal set.

I'd like to enter my card into the
Crazy Catz Challenge # 335 (anything goes / optional twist - hats)

Rudolph Day Robin

Good Morning and thank you for visiting my blog today.

I haven't joined in with Mo's Rudolph Day Challenge for a while as life just seemed to take over so happy to be joining in today with a card I made recently.

I used the wreath from one little set and all the other dies from another.  I recently lent them to a friend so sorry I'm not sure of the make at the moment.

This was my first card playing with the dies and I wish I'd added a few more holly leaves and berries.  I just wanted to try all the dies out.

 I added a little stickles to the pine cones.  The matt is a go dark gold shimmery paper although it looks brown in the photo.

A quick update on my weight loss.  I'm very excited to say I have lost my first stone (14 lbs ) to those outside the UK.

It's been a slow journey but this time I mean to keep it off.  At my age I've not got time to play around - except for my crafting that is!   Just 16lbs more to lose and I'll keep you updated.  Sharing with you all helps me to stay on track ....

Happy Crafting Everybody!

Feeling Positive about the Negative!

 Hello and thank you for visiting.

Although I bought this Bunny  die to make  baby cards I've not made one yet but been having fun playing with it anyway.

I made the first card and then decided to make a second with the waste by just mounting the butterfly paper on to black card.  I decided not to faux stitch this time but I did add the cotton wool tail.

Two very quick cards to boost my charity box.

Both papers came free with a magazine ages ago.

Enjoy the rest of your day.

My New Bunny!

Hello and thank you for hopping by for a visit.

This is my new Sizzix BigZ die which arrived yesterday.

I was cardmaking up the garden in my cabin and got a phone call from hubby to say it had just been delivered.

So I popped down to the house and went straight back and made this card.  I cut it out with a scrap of white card and a snippet of paper which came free with a magazine a long time ago.  Then I cut off his tail on the paper to reveal a white tail and stuck them together.

I added the small flower stickers as part of my "using up" project although after sticking on the first decided I didn't like it.  When I tried to remove it  the paper underneath tore so I had to add a few more.  I think I may add a piece of cotton wool to his tail.

I would like to enter my card into Darnell's NBUS (Never Before Used Schtuff) #7 Challenge and
Pixies Snippets Playground - Week 244

Old as the hills!

Morning All!

I really can't remember when this one was made but it was a long long time ago.

The panel is cut from a shop bought card and the stamps are by the stamp man.  I love this set and can't wait for Oriental to become popular again as I have so many oriental stamps hidden away.

I'm running late again so hope I'm not to late to link up with Erika on her Snappy Crafts blog where she invites us to show an oldie on FRIDAY!

Have a lovely Bank Holiday weekend if you are in the UK and just enjoy wherever you are.

Smiles on Friday

 Good Morning Smilers!

It's been a crafty week for me.  On Sunday I went to a workshop with friends then yesterday morning six of us went along to learn to make triple easel cards with Wendy Stenton who lives in the village.

Many of you may remember Wendy from Create and Craft.  She put out boxes of die cuts, embellishments and snippets of pretty papers.

We all made two cards and had a lot of fun using up bits and pieces.  Wendy has another class of six today but we left lots for them to play with too.

Here's a small selection of the cards that we made.


  I said I'd tell you about the hiccup we had at the wedding.  We can laugh at it now although it wasn't funny at the time.  When we unzipped the bags that our clothes were in there were no trousers on hubby's hanger.  After a bit of a panic we ran literally from the hotel room across the road and a huge car park where we managed to get a pair of dark trousers to fit from the local Asda supermarker.  One last check when we got back to the room and there were the suit trousers at the bottom of the bag.  They'd slipped off the hanger.

I had said I'd wear my jeans in solidarity with hubby as it was me who'd done the packing gulp!  Thankfully it didn't come to that but I think he'll have to pack his own next time !!!

I'm linking up with Annie on her Stitch in Time blog for This Week's Smiles  ...Week 184

Have a lovely Weekend Everybody.

Vase and Butterflies

Since my blog break I've been busy catching up with visits.

 Life seems to be rather hectic at the moment and I've had to cut down on time spent posting and entering challenges but I've just managed to get this card finished for Mrs. A's Butterfly Challenge #60
V is for Vase/Vanilla.

During my recent craft sort out I found some card's with cut outs for iris folding and this one just fitted the job.

I didn't have a pattern for the iris folding but think it works quite well.  After finishing the card something seemed to be missing so I punched out a couple of flowers and stuck them onto the vase - job done.

As I used a small amount of my paper strips for the vase and butterflies and scraps of white card for the flower I would also like to join in with the playmates at Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 243