More PIF!

Yesterday I recieved more Pif through the letterbox, another one from Jo and one from Tracie . Here is what I got from Jo...

and from Tracie ...

Thanks girls I know have some fab images to use on my cards, can't wait for the weekend!

So, I now have PIF to send out. The first 6 people to leave a reply to this post will recieve goodies from me. By the way I also recieved some fab new stamps from Rubber Romance yesterday that I've included in my PIF!

Be there or be square - Papertake Weekly Challenge

This weeks Papertake Weekly challenge is Squares! Square cards, square patterns or squares on your layout!

So here's mine...

I've used free paper from Raspberry Road "Kimmy Paper" and an image that I recieved in my first PIF from Jo, that I've coloured using twinkling H2O's and sakura stardust pens. The flower centres are coloured sand. Poundland bling, ribbon from stash and a peel off.

Fae's 21 on the 27th of this month and as Scott (the boyfriend) proved he was a typical man and got Fae nothing for Mother's Day from Rylee, quoting the same old saying "Your not my Mum!" Rylee thought he'd better ask me to sort out his Mummy's card (like I'd fortunately done for Mother's Day, along with the photo in one of the posts below in a poundland frame). Jo had sent some fab images in her PIF and as soon as I saw this one I knew it was the one. Thanks Jo!

PIF!

I received my first PIF today from Jo , thanks Jo, I love it! This is what she sent me...

I was so excited when the postman delivered it and I can't wait to play with it. I would've done so today, but I spent most of the morning putting my PIF together and suffering from a hangover - wouldn't have been so bad if it had been me out on the razzle last night, but it was Ellie, who I might add woke up without the headache. I can't sleep until I know she's safely tucked up in bed and she didn't get home until 2.15am! The joys of being a mother ... when does that start?!

Anyway, I'm sure you know the drill. The first 3 people to reply to this post will receive some goodies from me. Good Luck!

Enfys Contest

Enfys has a contest on her blog to celebrate 5,000 hits on her blog. To enter she asks that we make a card in black and white and ONE other accent colour. I made this card using Pink Petticoat papers, Coluzzle, Rubber Romance Lulu Stamp and sentiment stamp and yellow ribbon and bling.

Leann is also giving away some fab blog candy, check out her blog here

I am woman - Daring Cardmakers Challenge

This weeks Daring Cardmakers challenge is ...I am woman - As its coming up to Mothers day in the UK here’s a chance to make a card that celebrates women and girls . So I’d like to see a card with at least one feminine image on it . And that's it for rules really.

I made this card using a design I saw on Dawn's blog. I used paper downloaded from Crafts Beautiful website, a decoupage image from The Lilac Garden and ribbon from Aunty Sarah's. The acetate strip, isn't acetate...its a scrap left over from a laminating sheet (I throw nothing away!). The sentiment is Pink Petticoat.

Look what came today!

That' it I'm well and truly addicted to buying Rubber Romance stamps. Sorry about the naff photo, but I think you get the gist of it. I'm so impressed with the fast delivery from the USA and price that I've ordered some more! I can't wait till Saturday when I'm Rylee free and can play with them.

Wanted to share Rylee's new trick with you that he learnt today.....

Couldn't you just eat him?

Blue & Green Should Never Be Seen - Papertake Weekly Challenge

This weeks brief is to make a card using these two colours together! (blue & green). During my 2 days of freedom I managed to make quiet a few cards and this is one of them which fits the bill perfectly...

For this card I used paper from Crafter Companion Papercrafts cd and my Rubber Romance Peggy stamp. I paper pieced the shopping bags with scrap paper from my stash. I added two strips of paper and stuck Poundland bling to them and finished it off with a Congratulations stamp from my toolbox from Argos.

I'm hoping to use this card when Ellie passes her driving test! Oh what a nice thought, no more chauffeuring. She brought her first car a fortnight ago after saving for the past 18 months, so she's been out and about with her Grandpa, driving herself to work and around the Midlands practicing. I'm not brave enough to sit with her, I value my life lol! So we send her with her Gramps, although I'm not sure he can be trusted, Friday goodness knows how but they ended up on a Motorway! Apparently it wasn't signposted!!!!: Bless them both.

Pretty Pink Cards Blog Candy

Caroline has some gorgeous blog candy for grabs and for a chance to win it she asks that we make a pink card. So here is one I prepared earlier lol!It's the same as the ones below made using Lillette Rubber Romance stamp and paper pieced using Pink Petticoat paper. Poundland bling and a bloom from Aunty Sarah.

Woohoo! Its the weekend!

Whilst I love having Rylee while Fae is at work, I've found that I don't really have time to craft during the week. By the time he's gone home its time to start cooking dinner, then its washing pots, clearing away, other chores, soaps, shower and bed. Any spare time that I have had has been spent making Fae's 21st birthday invite, party bags and cake boxes (I'll post them once I'm done) No time for paper, glue, bling or ribbon! No time to play with my new Rubber Romance stamps the postman brought on Wednesday :(

But, today is Saturday!!!! I got up early...ish and surrounded myself with stash and played and I'm so happy with what I've achieved. I wanted to use some of my scrap bits of paper up and make some relatively quick cards to fill my card tin back up, thanks to the girls coming cadging cards off me for one friend or another. So, here is what i've done ...

These 2 cards were made using the Lillette Rubber Romance stamp. I had my first try at paper piecing too and I'm hooked, yeah its a bit fiddly, but the results are fab. The papers are from DS George and Raspberry Road . Blooms are from Aunty Sarah's and bling from Poundland.

This one is Angela and again i used the paper piecing technique. I stamped the image onto a scrap piece of holographic card and used that for the scooter. I embellished again with Poundland bling, a metal happy birthday from my stash and paper from Pink Petticoat.



This last one is Peggy and yeah you guessed it...paper pieced. I used paper from goodness knows where originally, been in my stash for that long I can't remember which disc I printed off of. Poundland bling, brads from local craft store and "congratulations and best wishes" stamp from Argos (they came in a big tool box with other bits and bobs)

Natalie's Blog Candy

Natalie has some fab blog candy that she is giving away! All you have to do is make a birthday card using her favourite colour pink.

I used a boob and bum template that I found online and managed to use some of my scrap paper from my stash.

I used Pink Petticoat paper for both of these.

Spring In Your Step - Papertake Weekly Challenge

This weeks challenge - 'Spring in your step!' is to make a card (or other item!) with a spring theme! Easter and Mother's Day both fall early this year and with me daffs out in the garden already it seemed a good theme!

This is my creation for this weeks challenge. I used a template from Crafty Templates for the flowers and vase and used paper and card scraps to make these, so thats a bonus! The corners are the bits of peel offs that normally get thrown away.

Poppicrafts Competition!

Every month Poppicrafts holds a competition...

This months competition is 3-2-1
that is:
3 blooms/flowers
2 Brads
1 piece of ribbon
Any theme, any colour I dont mind. But you must stick to the recipe, no more, no less, just the amount above. Of course you can add any other embellishments, it can be a card, scrap layout or any altered item.

I needed to make an anniversary card so I thought I would use the recipe above as inspiration.

I used pink cardstock, the backing paper is from a 12x12 paper and cardstock pack, it has "love, cherish, romance, forever, always" covering it. I attached 3 blooms from Aunty Sarah's with a burgundy brad and used the other brad to attach my tag. The sentiment is from Pink Petticoat, Sentiment & Tags.

My First Maze Book & PWC "Simply Stripes" & Funky Fairy Challenge 8 "Photographs"

I've been busy all week that's why I've not blogged...I'll show you later why! But in the meantime I needed an idea for Fae's 21st birthday card. I wanted to do something different, something she could keep, something a little special. I visited Charmed Crafts and Cards and found they had step-by-step instructions for a Maze book, which were pretty easy to follow. So, I set about making my first maze book - which fits nicely into the Papertake Weekly Challenge and Funky Fairy's Challenge 8 "Photographs"...

This weeks challenge is 'Simply Stripes' - quite self explanitory really lol! This weeks challenge is to use stripes on your project!

For this weeks challenge I would like you to make a card, scrapbook page or brag book etc etc - around one photo or a small collection of photos (all of a similar theme). There must also be at least one piece of text / saying / phrase included in the project. With "Mother's Day" and "Easter" around the corner, this could be the perfect opportunity to make that aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh card / project ! ! Alternatively use your photo on a "Retirement", "Wedding" or "Birthday" card / project - the possibilities are endless !!!

This is the front cover - I used paper from Pink Petticoat Doodleicious, Fimo numbers from Karacter Krafts, letters from a sheet from my stash.

The pages are made from one sheet of 12x12 paper from my
stash. For page 1&2 I used a photo holder thingy (have no idea what there called lol) that came with a craft kit that I got ages ago, pink fabric hearts and flower from a Poundland embellishment kit, pink vellum from local craft shop and eyelets from Poppicrafts. The verse says "It seems like only yesterday that we held you in our arms, promising you that throughout life we would protect you from all harm"

Page 3&4 - I cut a frame from scrap card and covered it with flowers from Aunty Sarah's. I embellished those with Poundland gems. I used a scrap of paper from my stash and layered the vellum over that holding them together and attaching to the page with brads. The verse says "Then as life is designed you grew up very fast. You started to talk, run and play, those days they quickly passed"

Page 5&6 - For these pages I made two pockets by turning the corners down and sticking in place. I used buttons from own stash and flowers left over from my Valentines cards (Cuttlebug Hippy Chic Alphas), again i embellished with poundland gems. I made two tags using a Coluzzle and tied ribbon from own stash to the tops.

Pages 7&8 - 1 fat daisy from Aunty Sarah's, along with other blooms in the centre, held together with a brad. A couple of peel offs embellish the vellum. The verse says "Then came school and away you went learning new things every day. More time for you and your friends, less for us, but it happens that way"

Pages 8&9 - I used the heart Coluzzle to cut out the heart shaped frame from cardstock. Bow and heart shaped gems from own stash. The verse says "Now you are a beautiful young woman, with a caring, loving, compassionate heart. You have a great life ahead of you, we know you couldn't wait to start"

Pages 10&11 - Scraps of paper from Pink Petticoat "O' Christmas Tree", 21 cut from Cuttlebug Hippy Chic Alphas in white glitter card (59p per pack of 10 from Home Bargains), 2 peel off butterflies glittered using Sparkle Colour glitters from Arty Miss. The verse says "All of this happened over 21 years. How quickly all of this went by. You think that things pass super slow, but it's amazing how time really flies"

Pages 12&13 - I wanted something simple on the last pages, so i used a strip of scrap floral vellum and stuck it down either side. As you can see I then just added peel offs to finish. I have no idea who the author of the poem is. I found it whilst trawling the net for something appropriate. I have slightly changed it though. I tried to add photos of Fae that corresponded with the verse.

I will be entering this into the Springtime competition that Kathryn has at Karacter Krafts.

And this is the reason why I've not been blogging this week and why it took me so long to make this card ......

... Lol see sooo busy!

Tara's Blog Candy

Tara is very kindly giving away some beautiful blog candy over at her blog. To have a chance of winning this she asks us "to make a baby card, boy or girl as they are just my favourite ones to make"

So here is mine......

I also love making baby cards and for this one I used papers downloaded from Raspberry Road Designs "Vintage Baby Collection" from the retired kits and the one of the big "Baby Babbles" brad that are also downloadable from the dollar store for the centre which I matted onto silver mirror card and cut round with fancy scissors. I used another printable brad from the same collection and attached it to a paper clip. I then added three poundland gems and some ribbon from my stash.

Bloomin' Gorgeous!

Another week, another challenge at Papertake Weekly!

This weeks challenge 'Blooming Gorgeous!' is to use floral embellishments on your projects! These could be Prima's, silk, wire stemmed, die cut, handcut etc! etc!

Not sure where this foam flower originally came from, Ellie just produced it from her bedroom when she was having a mammoth clean, which doesn't happen often! Anyway, the shoe is made using the coppernob slipper template which I got in the sale from my local craft shop for £1.00! I've since managed to make a few of these cards and use some of my paper

scraps!

If you don't like the foam flower lol here's one using an bloom from Aunty Sarah.

And then just in case shoes aren't your thing theres this card, which was made using paper from Pink Petticoat and Joanna Sheen's Victorian Romance cd. The little girl is a decoupage from here at The Lilac Garden. Audrey creates these decoupage sheets which are free to download. She is a very kind, talented lady. The sentiment is also Pink Petticoat. The flower and brad are from Poppicrafts.

Altered Tin

I was looking for a different way to give money as a birthday gift. I hate just shoving it in the middle of a birthday card. So after looking for inspiration I came up with this...



I brought this tin of sweets from our local Home Bargains shop for 99p. I took the bottom off with a tin opener and took the sweets out, which left the foil intact. I covered the tin and lid with free paper from here, thanks Stephanie, and embellished with ribbon. I placed the money along with some bath petals into the tin and superglued the bottom back on. I ran some ribbon around the base of the tin to hide the join. So, this tin now looks like this ...



I will most definately be using this idea again it was very well recieved, although my sister refused to open it on her birthday fearing something would pop out at her and made her daughter do it for her. She's so trusting of me! lol

My First Handmade Birthday Gift

Obviously with it being Ellie's birthday last Monday, her party Saturday and 3 birthdays on the 3rd February, we were finding things a little tight. For 2 birthdays we generally only buy a token gift. So I decided to trawl the internet for homemade birthday gifts and I found this idea...












Recipe:
1x sheet Pink Petticoat spotty paper
1x milk carton template downloaded from internet
1x cow clipart image
1x scrap of black card
1x length of black ribbon
1x flower paper clip (Poppicrafts)
1x milk bath recipe found on internet

I am really pleased with how this turned out and because it didn't really cost me anything... I had everything in my store cupboard!

Heart's Desire!

This weeks Papertake Weekly Challenge is ...Please could we see some hearts (or a heart lol!) on your cards this week? Already done your Valentine's cards? How about doing a Wedding / Anniversary / engagement or birthday card! We don't mind which - as long as there's a heart or two...or three.....!!!

Well, I have made quite a few cards with hearts on just lately thanks to my gorgeous grandson Rylee! He asked me to make his Mummy & Daddy a valentines card along with all his grandparents, great grandparents, Auntie Weezy, Great Auntie Cissy and family and friends who live in other parts of the country and don't get to see him on a regular basis.

This card was made using holographic card (59p for 10 sheets from Home Bargains) I cut 2 hearts from gold holographic and pink card using my coluzzle heart template and stuck on a photo of Rylee and decorated with hearts and flowers cut from scrap card using the Hippy Chic Cuttlebug Alpha dies, a button and some gold cord finish it off. The me to you ribbon was off a Christmas gift set. The paper for the insert was once again a freebie paper downloaded from here and is made by Derek, Thanks Derek!

The verse inside reads...

I'm so lucky your my Mummy and Daddy

Your the best two there could be

That's why this valentine is filled

With love to your from

Your special baby boy Rylee xx

This card I made using the Crafty Template, January templates. Again I used Derek's beautiful Love papers. I made this in a similiar way as the first card, but without using the Coluzzle (purchased after I'd made all these...typical!) The verse inside reads...

With all the sunshine things you do,

The smiles you share - the laughter, too -

With all the dreams you make come true

It's great to have Grandparents/Auntie/Family like you!

Foiled!

The Challenge over at Daring Cardmakers this week is....

'Foiled!' -I would like you to utilise some plain old aluminium (aluminum for our friends across the pond!) foil from your kitchen :). You can scrunch it, die cut it, emboss it, ink it, coil it, cover chipboard - or anything else that you choose!

Fae asked me to make Eloise a birthday card for her. So when it comes to making 3 cards for the same person I find it difficult to come up with ideas. After trawling many websites for inspiration, I came across this website (craft telly). In the forums they were chatting about the Arty Farty templates. One member had devised her own template of the celebrations bottle and was offering it to anyone who mailed her, so I did and was sent her template via email (thank you Andrea).

I made the card with the help of the template and used free papers from Raspberry Road Designs, Kaylabugs Collection (thanks Susan). The foil was used to make the cover for the cork (no idea what its called). I embellished with a peel off butterfly which I stuck to vellum, coloured in with Sakura Stardust pens and then covered with another butterfly peel off which I stuck to acetate.

My Space!

Jo at http://jo-onlyjoking.blogspot.com/ is offering blog candy to one lucky person if you show your craft space!

So here is mine, which is located in my dining room. Unfortunately, I don't have a room, Ellie got the spare room when Fae left for her treatment room...I thought it was better for her to have it, especially as she does a lot of bikini line waxes for her friends and the dining room is no place to be having that done! lol!

This is a pine welsh dresser I got from our local Freecycle website, I did cheat with this slightly cos it was my nieces (thanks Carrie xxx) so I probably got it unfairly, but hey! Anyway I got Andy to paint it white so it fitted with my colour scheme. I was looking at Steph's blog and saw that she'd brought some storage jars from Tesco to keep her ribbon etc in, so off I went down to our local Asda store and got the jars on the top shelf, 96p each. I sorted all my ribbons out and put each colour in a separate jar. The jars on the middle shelf where from Home Bargains and cost 99p and I put all my blooms in them. I think I need to sort the bottom shelf out a little! The drawers are full of glue sticks, glitter, gems, tape, leaves, punches and other paraphernalia.

This is the bottom of the welsh dresser which is filled with big punches, paper, card, assorted embellishments, toolbox full of rubber stamps and numerous other things.

This is where I work, messy mare aren't I? lol! I hate having to clear the table every evening so we can eat. But yes that mess is made everyday between 9 and 5.30! Honest the table doesn't always look like this!