Clickerty Cluck.....Clickerty Clack....

Happy thursday morning bloggers, we've got a new challenge starting today over on Cute Card Thursday.  Our theme this week is 'A Stitch in Time' and the prize sponsor is Simon Says Stamp.

I just love this Penny Black stamp 'Spin a Yarn', those knitting chickies are such fun and ever since I bought the stamp, whenever I get together with my crafting/knitting/sewing pals, it comes to mind  ha....ha...... !

The image was coloured using Copics and I gave all the chickies sparkly knitting needles using a Spica Glitter Pen.  The background was created using some self adhesive fabric I had in my stash, the design is a patchwork effect with faux stitching, just perfect for this theme. 

I added some ribbon and drew faux stitching around the image layer, and finished off the design with one of my favourite sentiments, stamped with SU! Cherry Cobbler ink.

That's it for today folks.  Thanks for visiting, hope you liked my project today.



To all my lovely online pals who have been in touch about my Dad's health issues recently, the latest update is that he's now out of hospital once again.  There is a possibility that he may have had a blood clot on his lung but the doctors can't agree on this, they are adjusting his dosage of Warfarin until they are happy with the clotting factor levels.  He's feeling OK and is very pleased to be back home again, so we are all hoping that things will settle down again now.

Heart of the Country

Whooo....Hooooo..... this morning I woke at 6.30am, looked out the window and saw...... sunshine and blue skies !  Started my day really nicely for a change as there's currently no rain pouring down, I hope you have a nice day wherever you are located.

Today I thought I'd share the other SMASH* page with you which I completed yesterday morning.  The pix on this one were taken during our recent trip to the Heart of the Country Shopping Village at Swinfen near Lichfield.

Last time I went there it was quite a different place, with lots of crafting stuff, now it has been renovated turned into a really lovely space, with gentle piped music playing quietly as you wander around the little shops or sit in the gardens.  We walked around looking at all the lovely things for sale - I have to confess to weakening and making a couple of small purchases !  One of them was the cute wall hanging in the pic, which I thought would look nice in my new kitchen. 

As we were walking along, a butterfly landed on a budleia flower close by me and, luckily, I had the camera in my hand and managed to capture a close up shot.

It was nice to browse round the Designer shops and boutiques, just looking, and I could have spent much more time in La Maison Bleue where there were so many gorgeous fabrics, candles and french style bric-a-brac - the menfolk were getting a little restless, so I had to drag myself away.

I found my wall hanging in the Magical Story Living Barn, where there were so many lovely things I could easily have taken home with me !  Apparently the Barn is constantly changing it's contents and decor and is transformed into the Christmas Barn for the festive season, which would
be lovely to see I think - I might have to revisit if I find myself in the area nearer to Christmas. 

We finished off our visit with a yummy lunch in the Barn Restaurant, their sandwiches/baguettes were delish - hot roast pork, stuffing and apple sauce and melted brie and cranberrry (my mouth is watering at the memory !) were consumed with gusto by all of us.

To finish off my page I added a few hearts from a set I had in my stash, the hearts were just perfect for the subject of the page and bring splashes of colour.

Hope you've enjoyed today's page, have a great day and thanks for visiting.

Roman History

 

I hope you are enjoying your Bank Holiday wherever you are and whatever you are doing - the weather down here in Cornwall is pants !!  We started the morning with torrential rain (I'm soooo... glad I'm not one of the poor unfortunate souls who are camping down here in the Southwest this weekend).

So, with it being most unlikely we'd head out somewhere for the day, and whilst the rest of the household slept, I sat down in my crafting space and completed a few pages in my SMASH* Book.  I thought I might as well take advantage of a nice bit of peace and quiet !

For this two page layout I've used some of the pix I took during a recent trip to Wall nr Lichfield in Staffordshire.  There are some very well preserved Roman ruins there, maintained by English Heritage, and we've talked of going over to check them out, but never got around to it.  As we were staying with my Dad for a few days recently following his hospital stay, we were quite close to Wall and it was a great opportunity to get Dad out for a breath of fresh air and a little gentle exercise. 

If you are 'into' Roman history and like to explore the remains of Roman sites, this is well worth a visit and is just beside the famous Roman road - Watling Street.  Unfortunately the Museum was closed when we visited, it opens only on the last saturday each month - according to the notice on the door anyway.   There are apparently 'finds' and artefacts from the excavation of the site on display, so we'll have to time our next visit to coincide with the opening times of the Museum.

On my pages I've used Washi Tape (love this stuff !) journalling cards and a few embellies which I found in my stash - no idea of the manufacturers, but they were just right for my pages and I like the little compass I found amongst them.   I cut out the wording as individual letters using my newly acquired Memory Box alphabet set of dies - I just know I'm going to be using these dies a lot in the future. 

The sun was trying to break through the thick layer of cloud as I sat down to write this, but as I'm just finishing writing it's gone really dark outside.  There's massive black clouds gathering and I think we are in for yet another deluge - oh well, I can always head back to my table of craftiness and do another page or two or some other project to keep myself amused.

Enjoy your day, even if the weather is less than ideal, thanks for taking the time to visit my bloggie today.

Bling it up

Happy Thursday dear visitor, hope it's a good one for you.  Each Thursday there's a new challenge set over on Cute Card Thursday and this week's theme is 'Bling it up'.  Our prize sponsor is Stamp Fairy and I've used the cute 'Molly Beach 2' digi from them for my DT card, isn't she a sweetie?

Bling and sparkle doesn't immediately come to mind for a beachy image, but I added charms on the ends of the bakers' twine wrapped around the 'lilo' on the right and also applied Stickles over it as well as on the piece of mesh under the image layer for additional sparkle.  There's also some Stickles on the flower and Glossy Accents on the beach ball to give it dimension and shine, plus touches on the water to make it look wet. 

I coloured Molly with Copics, don't you love her pretty green swimsuit and headband ?   The tiny hearts were from a sheet of self adhesive embellies I've had in my stash for a while and provide a few splashes of bright colour.  The base background papers were from the Papermania 'Happy Days' double sided 12x12 paper pack.  I'm loving these papers and the yummy icecream/retro colours and designs.  All sheets are double sided and it's hard to choose which side to display !

Hoping our theme this week inspires you to enter a project, thanks for visiting my blog today.

More Quilting?..... only joking !

No actual stitching was done on today's project, I just used yummy digi papers from NitWit Designs to create the faux patchwork quilt design.  The buttons, lace edged heart and fabric flowers are also from the same set of papers and embellishments. 

It's a large 8x8 scalloped base card and I added faux stitching around the edge of the background paper.  I cut out the small squares from different paper designs and attached the buttons on each one using Pinflair glue to give them dimension.  Tying a small piece of twine through the faux button on top of the fabric effect flowers makes it look more like a real button. 

The scalloped border was attached over a scrap of lace I found in my stash, I think mixing real fabric with the fabric effect papers and elements pulls everything together nicely.  I created the sentiment on my computer and added it over a tiny scalloped circle cut from brown cardstock using a nestie. 

Hope you like today's design, thanks for looking.

BTW for all my lovely friends who have enquired how my Dad is doing, the good news is that following his Angiogram he was prescribed more medication and we were able to bring him home from hospital last night.  He had a reasonably good night in his own bed and seems much improved today, I'm happy to say. Thanks everyone for all your good wishes. 

My Favourite Someone

Just got my Day 14 SMASH* page finished for the 30 day challenge I'm working my way through.  Day 14 is ' Favourite Someone' and mine is my Dad. 

I've now completed seven of the thirty days so still have quite a way to go yet !  There's no deadline, I'm just creating a page when inspiration strikes.

Sadly my Dad was admitted to hospital yesterday with another suspected heart attack - I just heard that he had a comfortable night and there are more tests planned for today.  He's likely to be in hospital for at least another three or four days, but his condition is stable for now which is great news.  He's not yet well enough to be chasing his nursie round the ward, but he's feeling quite positive I understand !

Love Ya Dad xxxxx

I Won Gold at the London 2012 Olympics !

Yes, I really did win Gold at the Olympics - thanks to Oyster Stamps who very generously offered to give a prize for each of the gold medals won by Team GB during the games.  Each time our team won a gold medal Oyster Stamps posted on Facebook and one commenter was selected to receive a prize.  I was that lucky commenter for one of the medals, how cool is that ?  A couple of days later this fabulous bicycle die arrived in the mail.

There is a new challenge running from Oyster Stamps for all the lucky MB die winners, we've been asked to make a project using the prize die and this is my entry.

I created the sky using an Impression Obsession Cover-a-Card background stamp and Paris Dusk Memento ink.  The Big Ben diecut was kindly sent to me in a RAK, it's a Marianne's die.  I cut up the front cover of the Docrafts Portobello Road 6x6 paper pack to make the bunting and used a MB die to cut the fencing.  The road and grass verge were made from some scraps of paper in my stash.  After cutting the bike from gold cardstock, I cut two more of the baskets to add on the fencing as flower baskets.  The 'flowers' were created using Flowersoft. 

Hope you like my card and one again I'd like to say a huge THANK YOU to Oyster Stamps for their generosity.

Have a great day



SMASH*ing time again...

I've managed to complete another page for the SMASH* Aholics 30 Day Challenge on Facebook.  This one is Day#22 - Fabric. 

I'm enjoying dabbling in the world of Quilting at the moment and have a nice little stash of pretty fabrics in my sewing box now.  I picked up some amazing fabrics during my visit to the Art and Craft show at Princetown on Dartmoor last friday.  They are now safely stashed in my sewing box until a later date, when I'll be turning them into some type of quilting project. 

I haven't done a lot of sewing for years and my sewing machine got quite a shock when I wanted it to actually work.  Once I'd got it going on some scrap fabrics, it started to behave itself and is working well now, thank goodness.

Here's a close up shot of the tiny quilt which is tucked into the pocket on the lefthand page.  It was my first quilting project and because I wanted to make it so small, I used paper templates to ensure I got nice smooth joins and hand stitched the whole thing.

I'm working on a lap quilt now, all the pieces have been sewn together and the backing attached.  Just the actual quilting to do now which may take a while, but I'm finding it really relaxing to sit and sew.   I'll share piccies once it's completed.

I've also been busy making a few cards over the past couple of days and I'll be sharing these with you over the next few days.

Thanks for dropping by to check out today's project.

Tag - you're It !

'Tag You're It' is the theme for this week's Cute Card Thursday challenge and our prize sponsor is Whiff of Joy Stamps.

For my DT card I've used an oldie but one of my favourite stamps from WoJ, I think this is such a pretty image and it's a joy to colour.  I coloured the image with Copics then cut out and attached over a layer created using a set of Spellbinder dies. 

The background was created from strips of double sided paper from the yummy Papermania Happy Days range.  I'm loving the soft colours and retro designs in this range and know I'll be turning to it time and again.  The pocket tag was cut from another sheet of the paper using a Memory Box die.  The ticket tags are all from the 6x6 stamp which is from the Happy Days range, I have actually cut mine up into individual stamps as I find it easier to use that way.  Finally, I added a few touches of Stickles on the flowers in her hair, her ribbon belt and on the little birdie - well a girl can never have too much sparkle after all !

I've tucked a couple of the ticket tags inside the pocket of the large tag with a special message as I made this card for a pal's birthday which is coming up very soon. 

Thanks for checking out my project today, do hop over to the CCT blog to see all the fabulous creations from the rest of the DT.  Have a great day.

Happy Anniversary

A crafting pal and her hubby are celebrating their Wedding Anniversary today and I made this card to send to them as Purple is her very favourite colour !  I know my card has arrived in time and I wish them both a wonderful day.

I used a set of Marianne's dies to create the design, the fronds under the flower were also cut using Marianne's dies, white and purple metallic cardstock are the only materials.  Almost white on white, which is one of my favourite techniques.

That's about it, clean simple and I love the finished result, hope my pals do too.

Thanks for dropping by today, have a great day whatever you have planned.

Just Button It !

I've got another Art Journal page to share with you today, plus a SMASH* Page.

This is the other idea for a page that I'd had in mind for a while, the other one was yesterday's heart page.  I created the background with a sheet of the textured watercolour paper, but this time used Distress Inks applied using Inkyliscious brushes to colour it.  I used the three Summer special edition DI's. 

I made most of the buttons using dies and punches and added a few real buttons and button shaped rivets.

My SMASH* page is another for the 30 day challenge, this one is Day 6 - Food.

I'm also putting together my own version of a smash book, I have lots of lovely double sided 12x12 papers so thought I'd use some rather than just looking at and stroking them !!  This way I won't be actually losing them as I shall still have them !! 

Thanks for dropping by today, hope you enjoyed your visit.  As it's pouring down with rain again today, I guess I'll just have to stay indoors and craft all day, oh dear !

Heart of the Matter

I've got an Art Journal page to share with you today.   It's taken me a while to get this completely finished, I had the idea in my head for some time.

I created the background using Pan Pastels on some textured watercolour paper, punched out mini heart shapes from each of the colours of Stampin Up! cardstock I have and attached them in rows.  I then used my sewing machine to stitch each row, through the centre of the heart shapes.

The wording was created on my computer.

My Journal is filling up slowly as I'm also doing pages in my SMASH* Book.   There's a 30 Day SMASH challenge over on a Facebook group I belong to and I'm working my way through the different topics.  We don't have to do them on a consecutive 30 days or in order, so I'm following my inspiration as I get ideas.

This one is Day 28 - Funny Faces.

I've a couple more pages finishesd, but I won't bore you with any more today, I'll keep them for another day ! 

Cute but CAS

Happy Thursday Peeps !  It's that time of the week again when I have my latest DT project for the Cute Card Thursday Challenge to share with you.  This week our theme is CAS (Clean and Simple) and our prize sponsor is 'Love to Stamp'.

I do love the CAS style, so this week's theme wasn't going to be a problem for me - I thought !  I decided to use some magazine freebie stamps I got recently and still feeling in the 'holiday mood', thought I'd create a beach scene. 

After stamping the beach hut on my background, I added the seagull just about to land on the roof, then stamped the deckchairs and fun standing seaguls on separate card.  I coloured all the images with my Copics then cut out the birds and chairs and added them over the background using Pinflair Glue to give some dimension.  The image layer was matted over a slightly larger piece of SU! card to pick out the blue colours and make the design pop.  I think that I possibly coloured the sky with too subtle colours as it doesn't really show up in the pic, but I wanted to just 'suggest' the sky and sand rather than colour them more boldly.

So far, so good.  I found it soooo.. difficult not to add more embellishments to the design and keep it CAS.  I tried adding a couple of shells but it was just getting far too busy and not CAS at all.  So, I just stamped the sentiment in the bottom right corner and popped on the second fun seagull so it looks as if he's standing on the 'Happy'.  Just a little Glossy Accents on the door hinges and the birds' beaks and feet and I decided my card was finished.

Hope you like it and that you'll be tempted to enter the challenge this week on CCT.  Thanks for dropping by to my Bloggie today.