... and now for something completely different

Good evening gorgeous bloggy folks, how are you all this lovely Monday evening???? I have just got back from the gym (don't faint) and am feeling gooooooooood, lol. I am loving Body Blast at the moment - has anyone else tried it?? It just leaves you feeling so bouncy haha.

Something else different for me is this card. Tracy (from Dies to Die For) asked me if I would like a little play with some of the new Pepper & Friends stuff so me being me said yes! Well, I was wondering what to expect but OMG they are so cute! Dead easy die cut decoiupage, honestly you just pop it out and stick it together and hey presto, job done in no time! There are a wide range of papers too which are so pretty and would do loads of different occasions - you must pop over for a peep!


I have matted and layered this sweet little guy on the ever so popular Martha Stewart Around the Page punches and I think it is the perfect way to show him off!

Remember Tracy still has her massive Winter Sale on as well as her fabulous Special Offers!!

See you all soon, off to have a colour of some scrummy images xxx

Birthday Balloons

Happy Sunday everyone, I hope you are all having a nice weekend. Mine has been so busy with nights out and a surprise 90th birthday party yesterday for hubby's grandma. It was a great party and she was up dancing along to all the track - just amazing!

I have had great fun playing with some goodies that the lovely Tracy from Dies To Die For sent me ... aren't I lucky!!


This pretty girl is Balloon Emma by CC Designs and she is so quick and easy to colour. No real shading is needed at all which is just fab if you need a card in a hurry. Remember that Tracy also stocks Copic Ciao Markers so why don't you pop over and get a few to try. The gorgeous papers are both by Bo Bunny and they are called Love Bandit 'Love you dearly' and also Persuasion 'Blooms' .



It only seems fair that the boys should have a balloon too and so here is the boy version :o)
Papers are once again by Bo Bunny and they are It's my party time and It's my party day

Tracy has also got the new Pepper and friends in stock now so I will be back tomorrow with some samples to share with you.

Have a great afternoon! xxx

Thankyou Lili of the Valley!!

Hello and here we are with our first challenge of the New Year on Lili of the Valley. We are lucky enough to have the gorgeous Ria as our Guest Designer for the next 4 challenges so make sure you pop over and say hi - her blog is just full of gorgeous creations!


Our theme this week is THANKYOU and you have 2 weeks to make your card, I do hope you can join in the fun. I have a very big reason to say thankyou to LOTV .... I got all the brand new images to play with a couple of days ago ..... details at the end of my post.




This little cutie is called Teddy with Flower, he is so sweet and could be used for so many occassions don't you think. I have also followed this weeks sketch over on Create4fun .Lots more flowers too, I am loving so many of the blooms from Wild Orchid Crafts at the moment and also these pretty little pearl sprays are from there too.



Ok, so do you want to here about the brand new stamps from LOTV .....?????


Well above is the sneakiest of peeks of one of the new images. They will be released sometime later in January - I will let you know the exact date when it has been finalised. Be sure to keep an eye on the website and also the blog for details and sneak peeks. I will be posting this card to my blog at the weekend so be sure to pop back and drool over this sweet stamp. Keep checking the DTs blogs too as I am sure they will all be using these fab images ..... there are babies, weddings, bunnies, kiddies and so much more you will love xxx

Pink Gem Designs GDT Card with a few challenges thrown in!

Morning to you all, isn't it chilly now we have entered December brrrrrrrrrrrr. Just waiting for the first falls of snow of the year and then we will know winter has properly arrived. In the meantime though what better way to stay warm than snuggled up in your craft room - perfect!


I have made this card using the ever so sweet Teddy & Mistletoe available from Pink Gem Designs . Janet has a fab sale on at the moment - a wonderful 10% off all winter/christmas images and sentiments!!!



I have coloured teddy with my copics and added fun flock to the fur and some little pearls for the berries. Not forgetting stickles for a little extra sparkle!


My card fits with a few challenges too ...

Kaboodle Doodles - Snowflakes
Pollycraft - Christmas
Stamp with Fun - Christmas
A Spoonfull of Sugar - Non-traditional Christmas Colours
Creative Card Crew - Christmas
Charisma Cardz - Christmas
Crazy4challenges - Punch Happy (MS punch available from DTDF
Sketch Saturday - Sketch #79
The Pink Elephant - Favourite colouring medium - Copics
Sketchy Colours - Purple/lilac

Lili of the Valley - A Sketch

Good morning and what a windy day it is here in North Yorkshire. Definately a day to be indoors! I am about to start decorating my bedrooom so I will still be playing with paper and glue but on a larger scale, lol. We have a lovely sketch for you all to follow on Lili of teh Valley this week so pop over and have a look. I would like to welcome to new members to the Design Team - Caz and Nicola (aka my mum). They both produce gorgeous cards and I can't wait to see their fabulous creations every week.



Sorry for the rubbish piccies - was dark when I got home so I will try and retake more later today. I have used the really sweet teddy called Christmas Ted Big Star and I love him!




Got last years 'Naughty & Nice' Papermania papers out (you will be seeing these again this week) and I really do love the bold pinks and greens so much! Lots of stickles again everywhere for that christmas sparkle! All the flowers are from my Crafty Feeling kits ... aren't they lovely! Hope you all get to join in - it really is a lovely sketch to work with and remember you do not need to use LOTV products to join in. We are also happy for you to combine with other challenges.
Have a fab day xxxxxxx

Penny Black

Good morning folks, lets have a big cheer for the weekend!!!! I cannot believe it is a week since I was at the NEC - it has gone by so fast. We have a really fab challenge for you this week on Penny Black and we are joined again by the lovely Debby

CHRISTMAS FOR THE GUYS


I have tried to keep my card nice and simple and found that these BG papers are just fab for male cards - nice bold colours and nothing too fussy. I have followed the sketch over on The Pixie Cottage and it is a nice simple one to follow.




Oodles and oodles of stardust stickles on here .... how did I live without this stuff?????? Tracy at Dies to die for has just got hold of a load and it should be up for sale very soon so make sure you keep checking her site!
Have a fab weekend everyone - I am scooting off to Gateshead later for the weekend to watch Ryan compete in 'Brass in Concert' - this is an incredible contest with the best bands in the world all performing an entertainments programme. It is also recorded for sale as a triple DVD so I can't wait for it to come out!! Have a good one folks xxx

GD card for Pink Gem Designs

Good morning lovely blogglies - how are you all today? I have had a tremendous sleep after a hectic day at university yesterday (and battling delayed trains etc) so I am going to enjoy my day off!

Pink Gem Designs are celebrating their 1st birthday this week - congratulations Janet! There are 2 brand new stamps now available just in time for all your christmas creations - 'Snowflake Mimi' and 'Mimi in coat & scarf'' and these can been seen on PGD homepage so go and have a look!!



I have a really sweet image to share with you all today. Janet sent me Winter Kaya to have a play with .... isn't she pretty! I have used the usual copics to colour with and some fab fun flock for the fur trims (love the effect of this stuff). I had to get me some stardust stickles at the NEC after seeing how amazingly sparkly Kim's cards are in real life. They are the most beautiful creations in real life and I am in so much awe of this beautiful woman (love ya sweetie)



I have also managed to pack a few challenges into this little creation too (how much fun, lol) ...

Cupcake Craft Challenge - Snow much fun
Crafty Creations - Snow
Creative Craft Challenge - Christmas fun
Creative Inspirations - New or neglected (my image,spacer, MS punch, stickles and dies are all new)
La-La Land - Get punchy
Charism Cardz - Merry and bright
Cute Card Thursday - Glitter me silly
Allsorts - Bring out your bling
Create 4 fun - Sketch
One Stop Craft Challenge - Cards for kids

Don't forget you can buy lots of dies, MS punches, embellies, papers and oooh just about everything from the lovely Tracy at Dies to die for

Have a great day xxxxx

Lili of the Valley Blog Hop - Win 6 new stamps of your choice!!!!

Good morning everyone and what an exciting day it is for Lili of the Valley . After a very successful launch at the NEC last week the brand new stamps are all now availble to buy online!! But wait .... how would you fancy winning 6 brand new stamps of your choice ...... well read on and find out how you can win.


To celebrate the new stamps going on sale LOTV Challenge Blog are hosting a blog hop!! You should have arrived on my blog from Bev . If you didn't then just pop back to the challenge blog for the start of the hop until you work you way around each DT member, ending back on the challenge blog.



Each DT member will be giving away one of the new stamps to one lucky person who leaves a comment on their post. Every DT member will leave you a letter for you to collect which will spell a word. If you leave a comment on each blog telling us your favourite LOTV stamp and post a link on your blog to the blog hop you will be in the random draw to win 6 stamps of your choice! The blog hop will remain open for 1 week and the winner will be drawn next Wednesday. The winner will be sent an email and if they reply with the correct word they will win the 6 stamps. The individual winners of the DT's single stamps will also be announced next week.



I have used one of the new images for my card - Fairies Thistledown . All the stamps are incredible value at only £3.50each!

So here is my letter for you all ......

S

Remember to write it down and collect all the other letters from the other DT members.




You will now need to hop on over and visit Christine's blog . Good luck everyone! Don't forget though you can still play along on the current challenge for another week also. xxx

Lili of the Valley challenge - you can now buy the new stamps!

Good morning everyone and woohoo it is a super exciting day for us all at Lili of the Valley .... yes at last - you can get your hands on the brand new stamps. They will be launched today at the NEC in Birmingham so if you are heading there today make sure you pop in and grab your stamps before they sell out! They will then be available to buy online from November 11th.


We have a wonderful challenge for you all this week on the LOTV challenge blog ....

A RECIPE

3 Papers, 2 stamps (1 can be a sentiment) and 1 embellishment

I have used the beautiful fairy tip toes - what a pretty fairy she is. I was very lucky with this card because I usually choose my papers first and then colour my image to match. This time though I was sat colouring with which ever colours I fancied and then thought oh no... do I have anything that matches!! Good old Basic Grey to the rescue - I cannot believe it matches perfectly - that was a lucky escape, lol. My gorgeous new Martha Stewart loop punch arrived this week from Tracy at Dies to Die For and is my new favourite (yes, even more than the doily punch and that is saying something).



My sentiment is by LOTV too and they have some really fab ones - I need to use the much more. I have chosen flowers as my one embellishment - you know I just love my flowers. I have followed a sketch but will pop the details on after work because I am running late as usual ..... have a fab day! xxx
Challenges
Alphabet challenge - C is for circles
My time to craft - Scallops
Flutterby Wednesday - challenge #82
Can't seem to find the sketch I followed but I am sure I will find it eventually - think I need to write things down, lol x

Patriotic Anya and fabulous new products and offers at Dies To Die For

Good morning my lovelies and eek .... what has happened to the weather! How dreadful is all this wind and rain - a perfect day for staying indoors and crafting though, lol. We have a really great challenge for you this week on Anyone for Anya - we would like to see you use the colours of your national flag or colours that are associated with your country. We are sponsored this week by Hobbystempels.nl and they are giving away aMiss Anya set to one lucky person.


Rather than the usual red, white and blue I decided to opt for the colours on St George's flag (although she does have blue eye shadow, lol). I am totally loving these papers by Pink Petticoat and can't stop using them - sorry if you are getting bored with them but I am trying to at least change the colours each day hehehe. I have used flowersoft for the fur trim but to be honest I wish I had used flock instead because I am not really happy with how it turned out, never mind. Almost forgot to mention - I have followed the fab sketch over at Just Christmas & Birthday Cards , isn't it a lovely sketch!

A quick update for you all about what's new at Dies to die For All new releases from The Greeting Farm and Kraftin Kimmie have now been uploaded onto the website.
Check out todays Special Offers as included today are some Martha Stewart punches, some Promarkers, some of The Greeting Farm stamps and some Kraftin Kimmie stamps.
These will be available whilst stocks last or until first thing tomorrow morning.

There is also the long awaited EZ mount back in stock (thank goodness) and Tracy has added Messy Rabbit, Hoot The Owl and Lofty and Co stamps. Go check them out. She will be adding more to these over the next few weeks.

Also check out the newly uploaded Promarker wallets and Petaloo blooms :o)

Have a great Sunday and try to make the best of this weather!xxx

Penny Black Saturday Challenge - White on White

Hiya everyone. oops looks like I am a little late again ... I must stop going out on a Friday night, lol. It is Saturday so time to join us all at Penny Black for a great challenge ....

WHITE ON WHITE

Now deep breaths and don't panic .... this is actually a brilliant theme as I found out. I loved it once I got started and think I may use this for a lot of my christmas cards this year.



The cuttlebug was put into action with a couple of embossing folders - how quick and easy! A nice simple image and a bit of stickles and hey presto ... job done!



I have also added a bit of cosmic shimmer to my flowers, I love this and think I will be getting lots of lovely shades next week at the NEC (eeek only 7 days to go ... woohoo!!!!)


Thought I would leave you with a scary pic of me from last night. Popped into The Living Room (my fave bar) with hubby for a nice drinkie or two and bumped into Julie - a lady that I work with and her partner. Needless to say we ended up having a fair few drinks and a fabulous night out - aren't those the best type of nights :o)
Challenges
Creative Card Crew - Snowflakes
Charisma Cardz - No backing papers
Colour Create - All White
Okidoki, need a nice cuppa now so have a great weekend whatever you do xxx