Happy New Year

I would like to wish all my blog friends a very Happy New Year  and a special wish for a good 2013

I have been playing in my craft room for the last few days tidying up and getting more than 6inches square to work on on my desk!

as you can see I have been cross stitching again both Rich and I have this terrible virus and are confined to the house with chest infections.....so no New Year revelry's for us a quiet evening with a good DVD!
 I wish you all a happy and healthy 2013. 

Isabella's first birthday

how time flies its my great nieces first birthday on the 24th....

thank goodness for my new Polka doodles cd....cherryblossom lane....lots of lovely images and a perfect 1st birthday image.......
Hope all of you are ready for Christmas....

Clare's challenge "anything but a square card"

the last challenge of the year in our little Christmas card club....where we makes cards every two weeks and have loads of crafty fun with our dear friends....if you fancy joining us just give one of us your details...see my side bar for details

sorry if its a bit boring but mine are two easel cards....the first one is in traditional colours

which as soon as I had finished it Richard decided he wanted it for his card this year...the second one I just decided to do in crafters companion centura pearl to see what it would look like

you can see I have been naughty and bought the grand spellbinders decorative circles...the other elements are Marianne designs candles and holly, spellbinder poinsettia,martha stewart branch punch,m bossiblities holiday magic embossing folder,spellbinder christmas tag and a creative expressions sentiment embossed with cosmic shimmer embossing powder and a few bits of bling.
I look forward to going round all your blogs this evening....if I am fit as we will just have flown back from Ireland where we have been celebrating Richards birthday....at the Jameson distillery!

Snowman again....

this was my original card for the Snow man challenge but somehow I forgot where I had put it ! is your craft room like that?

the image is from the wonderful Polka doodles cd here comes Christmas .the background and papers are from Nitwits...just add some snowballs and glitter ....

My Challenge for the Christmas club.....Snowman

I have had this lovely stamp lurking in the back of my draw ...bought with Lizzie at the NEC over 10 years ago and now it gets its day!

stamped and coloured with copics...glitter glue mounted on spellbinders label....spellbinder poinsetta cut in parchment.....spellbinder holly boarder and doohickey christmas trees,cheerylynn holly vine...bling from my stash....do you like the little envelope...it even contains a miniature card ...nitwits papers......difficult to photo on these dull days  
Hope you all enjoyed the challenge and look forward to seeing all your beautiful cards.....

Christmas Poinsetta

the only way I get to have one in my house is on a card as soon as I buy them they curl up and die.....too draughty in my house

red and white certainly seems to be my favourite this year.....
I have stamped and embossed the Justrite christmas holly background stamp, used the justrite christmas miracle ornaments to emboss the bauble and cut out with my spellbinders die.....spellbinders poinsetta with white embossing.....cheerylynndesigns holly flourish and a few bits of bling....hope you like it....

this time a christmas Tree....cross stitch

I bought an american cross stitch design set and am reworking my way through......

I have sewn seed beads round the base and on the tree as ornaments I think next time I will make them red ones.....

christmas candles...cross stitch

you may see a bit of  a theme running through my cross stitch......candles!

A nice modern design from my magazine crossstitcher......a really old magazine I hate to throw them away and go through them looking for designs I fancy ....hope you like it

Baby Girl cards

still making a few more cards for my friend to choose from....

tried using glass paints on acetate.....pleased with it!

and a LOTV image made into an easel card....pink petticoat papers....

A Kraft card for Christmas

Had a visit to LOTV with Lizzie a couple of weeks ago and treated myself to one of their packs of paper......so I just had to use some and stop stroking it

its called Krafty Christmas and its lovely! Martha Stewart smowflakes, LOTV image and grunge christmas sentiments, crinkle ribbon and some dazzlers and glitter....hope you like it

Hazel's Challenge...bright colours

this was a hard one....

another one from the Mullberry Wood Christmas CD.....think it need some pink poinsettas...what do you think...hope all my craft christmas friends are having a lovely weekend and looking forward to seeing your blogs.....

Cross stitching candles

I loved this design and made a card for Mum and Dad some years ago...and my dear old Mum had kept all the cards I had done for her....bless

I do love cross stitch but no one told me it was addictive !

Baby Girl card

my friend Chrissy has asked me to make her some baby cards for her friends....its difficult to know what to do when you dont know the person so I am going to make a few and post them so she can choose

Thank you Elizabeth for the loan of your Fizzy moon stamp/....which I have coloured with Copics...the backing paper is Pink pettycoat and a Martha Stewart punch...the embossed stamp is PSX stamp ohh...they were so lovely, I have every catalogue from 1997....I just love looking through them!

Winter collection Paint box Poppets

decided to buy the cd and have a go with printing on water colour paper....love it!

hated all the cutting out at the time but definitely worth it....spellbinderd bitty blossoms for the flowers and LOTV grunge Christmas stamps for the tag...glitter and distress inks......

A Vintage card......

I saw Sue Wilson doing a card like this and thought I have that stamp....

stamped and cut the  poinsettia with spellbinder dies and heartfelt christmas holly stamp, glittered with Frantage Vintage mahogany tinsel embossing powder....embossed the cream background with Couture creations wild poinsettia embossing folder and walnut stain distress ink....cut a holly boarder and corners with spellbinder dies distressed with walnut stain....stamped and embossed silhouette stamp .katy Sue design...and added a bow cos I made a mess in that corner of the PVA glue dots!

Zoe's challenge Sugar and spice

when I think of sugar and spice I  remember making Christmas puddings with Mum and being able to lick the spoon ......did you put silver threepenny bits in yours ?

I used backing paper and images from Dawn Bibby's Happy Christmas set ...LOTV receipe stamps   glitter and bling from my stash.....
Looking forward to going round your blogs to see your lovely cards....

A Mulberry Wood Christmas card

oh I do love this CD the backing papers are stunning and the characters so cute.......

Going to the river today to mingle my Mum and Dads ashes and they are going swimming together on their wedding anniversary....I wondered why she wanted to be cremated in her swim suit it was so she  was ready for her swim with Dad....soppy or what.....oh I do miss her!

getting on with some Christmas cards...

Having a great time playing in my room with all my new goodies

this is an old creative expressions stamp I found in my draw...used the snow flakes to make an embossed background...embossed the tree and glittered it up...used a justrite Christmas miracle ornament..stamped and embossed and glittered for the tag...white crushed organza ribbon.....and was pleased with the result
Hope you are all well in this cold and dank ...heating just gone on!

Lizzie's challenge ...music

I thought I would do something different and did a little cross stitching...this cheerful cheeky robin cheered me up!

and he is singing!
Hope you are all having a good weekend I will be at Lincoln showground for the sincerely yours fair spending more money!.Look forward to seeing your blogs on Sunday night.

SYLVIE'S RED AND WHITE CHALLENGE

what a lovely challenge to help me back.......

thank you all for your kind e mails and comments you have all helped me through for the last month bless you all
This was a lovely challenge thank you Sylvie and I do hope you are feeling better along with Clare....
My card is inspired by Sue Wilson......background embossed with tied together embossing folder....got the extending right this time! and pearls in crossovers,I stamped the  silhouette stamp in wow glitter embossing powder and found heating from the back was definatly the way to go it acually sparkles all my other attemps have gone dull.......the poinsetta are spellbinder dies.
Hope you are all enjoying this glorious weather.....anyone going to Kettering?

trying something new

doing  bit of crochet havnt done any in so many years......but looking through all my mothers wonderful handywork has inspired me......miss her so much.

I won

Debs challenge 4 small cards or gift tags

Time for us girls in the Christmas card club (see my side bar for the players) to rise to the challenge, its fun and friendship in our little club making Christmas cards through out the year.....and if you want to join in just contact Clare and she will give you all the info
This challenge I have gone for a mixture of mini cards (the round ones) and tags (the square ones ) as I had a freebie of fizzy moon decoupage and thought they would be perfect.

looking forward to seeing all your creations lovely lady's...hope you are all having a peaceful weekend..

Kerry's Challenge use a sketch

well it is the sketch but flipped as I couldn't get my tag in....hope you approve

its an 8x8 card and all the images and papers are from the adorable new cd from Polka Doodles...."here comes Christmas"  with added glitter, glossy accents on Santa's boots and nose...I really enjoyed doing this  helping me to get through some very difficult days....hope you are all having a wonderful weekend, thanks Kerry for a great sketch and all my lovely friends for their support..
I am entering this in the Polka Doodles Challenge week 32 Celebration  as I think Christmas is a wonderful celibration!

DAWNS CHALLENGE ANGEL

Time for this fortnights challenge in our Christmas Card Club   (see my side bar for us girls playing) set by Dawn....add an Angel....

I have used musical angels from last years LOTV release......coloured with my new Tim Holts pens....part of my new stash from Doncaster....labels 1 spellbinder,star spellbinder, sentiment LOTV and nitwits papers.... a bit of ribbon from my stash and lots and lots of stickles sparkle....maybe I went a bit overboard with the glitter! I love these challenges it makes me use all the stamps I have bought and never inked up!...just seen the new LOTV release and having to sit on my hands but I bet I give in at Donnington Park....anyone going I am going on the saturday if anyone fancies a coffee.....looking forward to seeing your wonderful creations on Sunday   have a good weekend girls.....
I am entering this in Hazels challenge add a bit of ribbon

another mulberry wood card

you can tell I really love this cd....

not such a good photo sorry its a fold back card...I always have trouble snapping these....
had a wonderful time at Doncaster last Sunday and really must play with some of my goodies....hope you are loving this sunshine at last....happy weekend.

Mulberry Wood

I am absolutely in love with this CD and the art work!

its the right side of cute and the print quality is really good....so I have been having fun...Mum is not so well  struggling today...bless

Sue's challenge "humourous"

well it is time for our fortnightly Christmas card challenge where we make cards for fun and friendship with a small group of ladies(see my side bar for their names)who want to get ahead and have our cards made through out the year if you fancy joining us just let anyone of us know...love to see you .
This challenge was set by Sue and it had to be humorous....well it made me smile whilst I was crafting it!!!!
Hope all you are having a good weekend ours is dry so far and Mum is doing well after her Radiotherapy on Wednesday...fingers crossed.

 I just love these Housemouse designs.....paper is from the housemouse inserts CD and the christmas trees are Marianne design dies. Looking forward to seeing all your cards Sunday night

just playing

I needed a bit of relax time and had seen Ali Reeve on C&C doing a water stamping technique so I thought I would give it a try.....5 different kinds of paper and card later sucess   or I think so

so this was my first successful attempt....so I had another go

hope you like them....

Chris's challenge...Blue Santa

its time for our Christmas card challenge and Chris has set us the challenge of a Blue Santa...(please go to my side bar for the list of the ladies who play and if you fancy joining us contact Clare or Keryn)...so here is my card

I used Nitwits papers glitters and glossy accents and made the pearls from the cosmic shimmer pearl PVA, I had great fun decoupaging the santa...
On a sad note my dear old Mum has been diagnosed with an inoperable cancer but we are keeping life as normal as possible and going to enjoy our time together.....

A Happy card

this is my version of a card I saw Sue Wilson Demo.....

I used coordinations and the M bossibility Elegant folder...sanded it back....cut
 6 flowers from the spellbinders Floral tags set and inked one set through the die.....
same with the tag and there it is....
A special card for a special friend in america for her birthday in July.

Anne's challenge clean and simple

Its time for our fortnightly challenge at the Christmas card club (see my side bar for the girls who play) and Anne has set the challenge   Clean and simple....I bought this stamp last year and didn't use it and thought it would be good for this challenge....Clarity stamps wordy trees......

embossed with gold powder, the background is just embossed using the Tim Holtz  alterations embossing folder and a bit of matting and layering on gold mirri.....

Hope you are all well and I am looking forward to seeing your creations on Sunday....have a good weekend.

Lorraine's challenge...feature a sentiment

oh this really has had me thinking and looking at all my stamps...not an idea in my head till I watched Barbara Grey on C&C doing a bit of gilding flakes and I thought well you have them and never used them so I was brave and gave it a go!

I struggled a bit with the stamping...I used stazon but it didn't seem very dark any tips ladies? I cut out the centre and rubbed on gold flakes and then cut out the outer boarder and did green flakes....then a few dew drops for the berries....
Hope you are all making the most of the long weekend we are just back from a steam rally, very muddy but great fun!

A WEDDING ANNIVERSARY CARD

this year my brother and sister in law celebrate 44 years together so I thought a nice big card was in order...

I bought the strawberry kisses range last year and haven't used them so out they have come.....the bp are from the crafters companion cd strawberry kisses that goes with the stamps....I did bunting with their names on and a rosette with 44 years of love stamped on to it for the inside but my photo was really naff.....

ZOE'S CHALLENGE INCLUDE AN APERTURE

thank you Zoe this was a real challenge! and I loved it

sorry about the naff photo I was trying to shine the light through the aperture!  I got out my Molly Bloom stamps bought last year and gathering dust...molly with her lamp, behind her is a christmas tree and the aperture is made with the holly wreath with the centre cut out...it was ment to be a shaker card but it ended up as one of those squeezy one...the first time I have made one from scratch, yes I now know how easy they are!

I coloured the images with copics, glittered and glazed...and had great fun, hope your weekends are going well its damp and drizzle here so great for doing a bit of crafting.

CARD FOR ISABELLA

we had a great day and I know Lizzie will be posting photos....I had fun making a card

I made a lovely matching box but of course forgot to take any pics.....

RIBBONS AND LACE CHALLENGE

sorry this is so late for the Christmas Club Challenge ( see my side bar for all the girls who play)....

I have taken inspiration from the LOTV site and used one of the toppers, cut paper lace using a spellbinder die...Holly, papers from pink pettycoat, stars cut from spellbinder die ribbon threaded through and tied in a knot...buttons from my stash...all distressed with tim holtz antique linen.

Mum is doing a bit better and had her stitches out and we are waiting for the bruising and swelling to go down but she seems to be able to see better and can even watch TV again!

CLARE'S CHALLENGE ANYTHING BUT A CARD

This was a great challenge thank you Clare.....made me get out a very lovely old stamp from many years ago...I had great fun with the glas effect gel on the berries!!! I enjoyed doing it so much I had another go

this is using a combination of stamps and inks and trying out the Tim Holtz pine cone die...I ended up on youtube watching the demo...ah a cocktail stick and a glue gun thats the answer...anyway they are getting better the more I make.Mum goes into hospital Monday so fingers crossed. Hope you are all having a great weekend looking forward to seeing all your creations.....

A BIRTHDAY CARD

well my first play with shrink plastic and it wasnt as scary as I thought it would be.....and my new serif craft artist program is helping with the photos I just have to find the punch tools!!!!

the little fairy and the greeting are stamped and shrunk.....really pleased with the result

just need to find the punch tool and the fade edge tools .......

SWEET NOTHINGS

Just having a play with my sweet nothings paper pad.

Mums Birthday

well it was my dear old Mums 94th birthday yesterday....we had her out to lunch at a nice pub down by the river and the sun even shone!....Lizzie and Chris brought along Isabella and Caitlyn  and we had a really lovely time, Mum was so tired when we got her home she barely made her piece of cake and cuppa before falling off to sleep....bless.

I had fun making her card with my new spellbinder blossom dies.......Lizzie is going to e mail me some photos of the occasion as in all our organizing my lovely Richard forgot his camera!......

and here we all are !!!! and here are some of her cards and flowers.....

CHRISTMAS CARD CHALLENGE BLACK AND WHITE

it was my turn to set the challenge this week so I chose my all time favorite combination of colours

I had great fun doing all the embossing.....hope you are having a peaceful easter weekend.