What an honour ..... I am delighted

OMG .... I am in total shock this morning. I have been asked to join the fabulous team over at Inspirational . I am lost for words and feel so honoured that I have been asked to join such a wonderful team.

I can't wait to start sharing all the wonderful creations that I find in blogland. I am so excited ..... and surprised!! Too early for a celebration drink????

See post below for this weeks card for ICS

Inspirational Card Sketches #10

Good morning to you all. I hope you are all having a good week so far. A little sad in my house this morning because my mum and dad are going home today. My mum and I have had a great time craft shopping all week and have truly shopped til we dropped!! I am off work today so that we can drive them to the airport at lunch time ... it will be stange with them gone!

Anyway, I will look forward to seeing what mum makes with all her new stash ... she might even be able to take part in this weeks Inspirational Card Sketches .

Now I really like this card but you should have seen me having a diva moment (or 2) whilst making it. For some bizarre reason my ink decided to be all smudgy, especially whilst colouring her arms. I think I threw 2 or 3 in the bin before I settled with this one.

I have used all lovely new stash for this card - my WOJ stamps (x3), K & Co papers, nesties and new fab flower!! All from The Hobby House (link in sidebar) on Saturday - Jill, you almost emptied my purse. I had already bought loads of stuff from Jill and went to tell Bev where we were sat for lunch and ended spending £76 on top of earlier. Then went back and got more .... talk about a fab stand with such brilliant merchandise :o)

Here is a closer peep at Melinda .... I just love glamour dust, how did I live without it! This is also my first attempt at masking so be kind, lol. Also my first time colouring her and will probably never make her top green again because I have just lost all the foliage in her top!

Even been good and decorated the inside - slowly getting better at using my papers .... just as well cos it makes all the difference to the finish of my cards!

Please make sure you check out the DT cards - they are such a talented bunch and I just love their cards!!

Harrogate ... new stash and new friends / Singalong ..... Sunday!

Good morning, what a fantastic weekend it has been. I had my very first experience of the show at Harrogate and boy oh boy did I have fun. I managed to get some great shopping done (although I actually brought quite a bit of money home)!! Me and my mum were up at the crack of Dawn and arroved at Harrogate at around 8.15am. We were booked on the Copic workshop and I was really looking forward to it. Bev met up with us for the class and sadly we were not very impressed with it at all. The best bit of it was the chocolate muffin but Bev and I have decided to go on a full day course to see what these babies can really do.


Here are my goodies that I bought. I am so glad I had saved up, my stash diet was worth it cos it meant I could get what I wanted yesterday.

Lots of lovely new dies, papers, swirl punch, flowers and spacers (think Jill from The Hobby House got most of my money, lol) to play with ..... so happy with these :o) Also bought some of the fab Diamond Dust for my snowflakes (when I get round to making xmas cards).

Here is my slight over indulgence in one or two ribbons, lol ... hmmm might have a problem hahaha. I also got 3 WOJ stamps and some really handy ticket sentiment stamps. Some really cute little silk roses too.

The best part of the day was meeting up with some of my wonderful blogging buddies - woohoo real live people with voices .... so bizarre to hear accents but so lovely!

Nicola , Dawny P , me, Kath , Kirsten and Emma

Me, my mum and Bev aka chatterbox hahahaha

Joanne and Emma

I also bumped into a few other buddies too but didn't get any piccies :o(

I have to say that meeting my blogging buddis was the best part of the day. Shopping is great, don't get me wrong, but I can doi that any time - it was so nice to finally meet everyone and spend a little time with them. I can't wait for the next one!!!!!

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SINGALONG SUNDAY

Top marks go to Mrs Wonka who spotted my deliberate mistake from yesterdays post!!!! I didn't post my usual song so I thought I better get one posted today. Now, this is a little bit rude so please don't play it if you might blush or be offended. I love Lily Allen and this song is fab!! Have a wonderful Sunday .... I am off to play with my new goodies!

Penny Black saturday Challenge #42

Good morning and what a fabulous day ... why...? ..... because I am in Harrogate spending lots of dosh on lovely new stash. So I am going to have a ball with all the fab goodies on display and plan to meet up with a few of my gorgeous blogging buddies including Emma, Dawny P, Diane, Bev and my lovely DT buddies Kath and Nat. God bless Dawny, she has persuaded her better half to come up earlier so I can see her tomorrow (she was supposed to be going on Sunday ... love ya babe). Now I know I have probably forgotten someone but it is almost 1am and I should be in bed!!! Hope my schedule post works :o)
Back to the challenge .... this week it is all about ...

SPRING!



Penny Black have so many great stamps with a Spring flavour and I just adore this little beauty. The lovely paper was a freebie download and I love it - it fits the image so well.




Sorry it is such a quick post but I must sleep now :o) Make sure you check out the super gorgeous cards by my fabby DT buddies . Catch up with you all tonight when I get home
Byeeeee x

Stamp Something .... A sketch

Good morning, Friday again andI am so pleased it is here at last. Ihave this afternoon off work today which is great because mum and dad are here so it will be nice to be at home with them.
We have a great sketch by our very own Emily and it is brilliant!! We were also sent some gorgeous images to play with from our sponsors this week, Layers of Color so be sure to check out their fab shop.

I had great fun using this sketch and it is one of those you just know you will use again and again. The fab papers are Pink Petticoat which I adore - they always mix so well and take so much of the hard work out of planning your card. I hope you are all suitably amazed that I have not used a single flower!!!

How long are those legs....... life does not seem fair that a bird gets such great legs, lol. Please check out the other cards by the Design Team , you know they are such a talented bunch and I love their creations so much!

Sorry I haven't been managing to visit you all this week - there has been a crisis surrounding my hubby and it has been a terrible couple of days. Hopefully everything will get sorted and I will be back and bloghopping properly again in a few days :o)

Have a lovely Friday ....... 1 more sleep to Harrogate!!!

Lili of the Valley + GD call

Happy Thursday everyone, hope your week is going well so far. Time for another great challenge on Lili of the Valley and also some news. We are very sad to be saying goodbye to Nikki - she has been a fab memnber of the DT but has lots of committments that keep her so busy. Good luck hun and hopefully you will be able to join us sometimes :o)
Nowthen, here is some good news .... we are looking for a guest designer to join us for 8 weeks!!! So get entering and you never know .... it could be you. This challenge will stay open for 2 weeks so you have lots of time to get your creations in :o)

The theme this week is ......

EASTER!

I have used another gorgeous High Hopes stamp called Bunny Blooms . It is huge and just the sweetest thing. I love tulips, in fact I love all spring flowers ... they are just so pretty.

The gorgeous paper was a freebie from a brand new magazine called Creative Cardmaking which I picked up from the Paper Mill Shop - what a fab mag, loved it!

Looking forward to visiting all your gorgeous creations - remember you have 2 weeks to enter for a chance of becoming GD for 8 whole weeks .... good luck!

Stamp: High Hopes 'Bunny Blooms' from Dies To Die For

Papers: Freebie from Creative Cardmaking magazine

Flowers: Joanna Sheen

Sentiment: Computer generated

ABC ... G is for ....

Good morning ..... I am feeling on top of the world today for several reasons!! My mum and dad arrive today at last ... totally love this weeks challenge ... have some great news for those who are wanting the must have Martha Stewart Punches!! Wow, told you it is a fab day!
Thanks to all of you who entered last weeks flower challenge on ABC , there were so many of you ... fabulous to see!!!! Just a little reminder though that we would like to see new pieces of work if you are entering our challenges ... cheers :o)

So onto the fun stuff .... oh how I loved this weeks theme .... here it is ....

G IS FOR GLITTER!!!!!!!

If ever a challenge was right up my street this is it!!! I have actually had to hold back because I wanted to glitter everything. As it is I have added glamour dust to the edge of the image, used my sakura stardust pen to my image (not showing up ... boo), used a DCWV glitter paper pack and even managed glitter brads!!! Think I have got this challenge in the bag, lol

Here is a close up of the fabulous Miss Anya image available from Dies To Die For (DTDF). There has just been a huge delivery of Martha Stewart Border Punches too so pop over and get one before they all sell out. Tracy is updating the site so if you can't see what you want just drop her an email and she will get back to you asap!!

Looking forward to seeing your sparkly creations ... have fun!!

Stamp: The Greeting Farm 'Miss Anya' available from DTDF

Papers: DCWV Blossoms & Butterflies

Flowers: Poppicrafts

Punch: Martha Stewart Doily Punch available from DTDF

Brads: Papermania

Extras: Glamour dust

Sentiment: Computer generated

Inspirational Card Sketches #9

Good morning, looks like it is getting a bit colder again ... typical now that my mum and dad are visiting from Spain!! They will be arriving at mine tomorrow now (slight change of plan) and I can't wait!

I hope you are all ready to play along with another of Dawn's fantastic sketches . Our sponsors this week are Savvy n Sassy . It was lovely that so many of you entered last week and I loved visiting your blogs :o)

Here is my effort this week. I have used this cute High Hopes stamp that I got in my DT parcel from Tracy from Dies To Die For . I just love this cute piggy and he is perfect for those difficult male cards!

I was so pleased when I realised that my little gems followed the pattern on the sketch, those balloons couldn't have been in a more perfect place!! Pop over and check out the DT's cards - they are such a clever bunch .... have a wonderful day :o)

Stamp: High Hopes 'Pickles Balloon Ride' from Dies to Die For

Medium: Prismacolor pencils + sansador

Papers: Papermania 'For Him' , Dovecraft 'Masculine'

Embellisments: Papermania buttons, Dovecraft adhesive gems

Finally a big thankyou to Shirley for this award, thanks so much hun - it is wonderful :o)

My card also fits with High Hopes challenge this week which is buttons. I was so pleased when Dawn very kindly allowed me to enter my DT card into this challenge ... thanks hun x

Penny Black Saturday Challenge / Singalong Saturday

PENNY BLACK SATURDAY CHALLENGE

Good morning, another glorious day .... I love all this great weather we are having!! Thanks to all of you who joined us last week, I hope you can manage to join us this week for a little dit of .......

DOODLING

Groan, sigh hahahahaha this is the first time I have doodled so you will have to forgive my feeble attempts. You need to check the other DT cards to see how it is supposed to be done, we have a few pro doodlers on the team, lol. Our very own Pauline has kindly offered this weeks prize so please pay her a visit too.




I love this little hedgie with it's cute little face! Flowers are from Poppicrafts and the butterfly charm is one I picked up from Doncaster craft show last year. I will be getting a whole stack of charms from Harrogate next week! Have used my velvet brads and they are so gorgeous - they are from the great brad set by Papermania.

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SINGALONG SATURDAY

I have been changing my mind all week about my fave song but have settled with this one because of a few reasons. I know we are not allowed to mention the "H******" word but my mum and dad are coming to mine on Tuesday and I had better grab the duster and do a little bit of the dreaded word. So turn the volume up loud and get cracking with this fab tune by Take That ..... it really does help :o)

Have a fab weekend ...... x

Stamp Something ...... Spring

Morning folks, it is Friday at last so time for a brand new challenge with us all on Stamp Something . We have a lovely challenge this week inspired by the lovely weather we have been having. We would love to see SPRING themed cards from you all, you can interpret this however you like ... the main thing is to have fun. We have very kindly been sponsored by Roses on Paper so be sure to check out their site and also our blog for the yummy offering for one lucky person who enters.

I have chosen my lovely Messy Rabbit by Joanna Sheen as my image. Bunnies always make me think of Spring(especially if they bring me lots of choccy eggs, lol) and I have coloured him with my Prismas. I have used Canon record card to stamp him on as recommended by Nikki and I have to say the pencils are far more vibrant on it. Will let you know how I get on with it but first impressions are that I like it.

Papers are another Cuddly Buddly download, these are so handy and I love them :o) . Flowers are from Poppicrafts and everything else is from my stash. I have followed this weeks sketch on Sketch Saturday ... isn't it fabulous!

Been good and decorated the inside too - similar to the outside ... I must try to keep doing these cos it is so much nicer than a plain insert.

Rightio, better get ready for work now. Have a great day and remember to visit the rest of the DT for some wonderful ideas!!

I am going out tonight with a group of girls from work to a little Italian in town (restaurant not man, lol) and then for a little drinky or two. It is ages since I had a girls night out and I am really looking forward to it. Might take my camera and share a couple of piccies with you all tomorrow.

Have a great day!

Lili of the Valley / Daisy and Dandelion #2

LILI OF THE VALLEY

Good morning, and I can hardly believe it is my 2nd week already with LOTV. This week we have a wonderful sketch by our very own Donalda .



This is such a great sketch and I loved using it, will definately be a favourite of mine now :o)
Managed a few old favourites here too, love pink and green and this image is one of my all time favourites - she is so adorable!




Here is a closer look at my image and flowers - just love these spacers from Poppicrafts.
I hope you can all find some time to play along, I really enjoyed visiting lots of you last week :o)

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DAISY AND DANDELION

Welcome to the 2nd week with D&D, it was lovely to see so many of you joining in with our first challenge and I hope you all come back again week after week. Our 2nd theme is ....

THANKYOU

I just love all the stamps in the range and it is so hard to just choose one. But in the end I chose cute little Bubbles. I love the gorgeous flower she is holding and decided to stamp it out a few more times and pop them with some 3d foam pads for a bit extra dimension.

The sweet polka dot ribbon is from my stash and I stamped a cuddlybuddly sentiment and used my nesties to cut it out.

Don't forget there is still time to send a card to Tracy for our troops and as a thankyou you will be entered in a draw to win a Martha Stewart punch. Check here for further details!

I hope you all have a fabulous day :o)