Embellished Somethings

I had a make a card for a Christening yesterday. Well I think you could say this is well and truly embellished and as this is the theme this week from Stamp Something at least I have something to show you as I haven't produced anything this week that's not for DT work. We go away on Saturday so I need to be in front. Plus I have the MOST stinky cold type bug I've had for a long time so I have no energy. Think I have what Ben had last week. Feeling very sorry for myself and my poor red nose anyway!

I got the central image for this card from Google Images and loads of matting and layering later with the addition of flowers and ribbon from the local florist finished it off! Thanks for looking. I know am a very bad blogging friend just now but I honestly don't have the time or energy. I am here in spirit - honest!

Let them Eat Cake!

No I haven't fallen off the planet - I've been baking! This lunchtime(yes THIS LUNCHTIME!) DH's parents let me know that they could come for their tea tonight. Usually this wouldn't bother me except that it is MIL's birthday and I asked them 2 weeks ago! Sooooo - this gave me four hours to make Moroccan Lamb Casserole (MIL's favourite) and her cake! I have been planning to make this cake for weeks after getting the book Sweet and Simple Party Cakes by May Clee-Cadman. This is the first time I have ever made a "proper" iced cake and I was paid the greatest compliment when everyone thought it was shop bought!


Anyway I am absolutely tired out now but we had a lovely meal. Here are my two boys (or "the twins" as I call them). DH is extremely tired after having spent 2 days travelling home and he is in desperate need of a haircut but I still think he is the most gorgeous man alive (and as long as I do that's all that matters!). Off to beddy-bies now to sleep for a week!

Cute Card Thursday #28 - Food

Yummy theme this week from Cute Card Thursday - Food! There are some yummy ribbons to give away too!

I have coloured Tilda blowing hearts (minus the hearts!) with Promarkers and lots of Sakura Stardust pens. The shrink plastic cupcake and strawberry were coloured with Stardust pens before shrinking. The spotty paper was a magazine freebie and I got the flowers and ribbon from My Paper World when I won a draw. On the inside the cupcakes were coloured with Promarkers and finished off with some prisma glitter.

All this talk of food has made me hungry so I'm off for my breakfast. My husband comes home today so we are in carnival mood here. He's been away 5 weeks and 2 days, or as Ben said "Far toooooooooooooo long"!

Tilda & Friends ATC Challenges - Pink, Blue & Green

Ben is back to nursery today and seems to be fine but we had a couple of difficult days as he is just not used to being ill and he didn't like it one bit! I now have so much to do I don't know where to start! Perhaps with this week's challenge from Tilda & Friends ATC Challenges which is nice and easy - a colour scheme "Pink, Blue & Green" and we have Sakura Souffle pens in these colours and stamped images of new Magnolia Stamps to give away. Don't forget that you are not restricted to using just Magnolia stamps now but can use any of our round-faced friends you may happen to have!

This is Maggie with Flowers by Sugar Nellie (except I have cut off her flowers!) and coloured her with Promarkers and Sakura pens. I have used paper from K&Co Blue Awning tag pad and run some card through the Cuttlebug for the background. Some shaggy wool fibres and square gems finish it off.

Better get some housework done!

My son is ill so I don't know when I'll be about. He has been on the couch most of the day with a temperature and I can't remember when he last stayed still for more than 5 minutes!

Hopefully be back soon ....... DH is home on Thursday so that is at least one good thing to look forward to this week :)

Distracted ...

I have a million and one things I should be doing but I just couldn't put that leaf stamp down! I ended up buying this gold and brown dish with the large candle in the local town yesterday so I could make a candle with the stamp and some copper and brown Brilliance.

I have also been waylaid with my first every venture into jam making - well the brambles (blackberries) are in such abundance it was a shame not to pick some! Ben, my mum and I got two huge ice cream tubs yesterday afternoon and they weighed 4lb exactly and to my shock made NINE jars of bramble jam. Not jelly - we like the seeds :)

I am feeling extremely housewifey and am polishing my halo as I speak but this hasn't helped with the pile of crafting chores I have to do before we go way in 2 weeks ..... oh well, there's always tomorrow!

Rainbow Lady Challenge #30 - Autumn

What a great theme this week from Cythia aka Rainbow Lady's Challenge Blog. I absolutely love these colours and I never need much of an excuse to delve into the brown side of the colour spectrum!

This is my first attempt at metal embossing (without using the Cuttlebug anyway!). I have started off nice and easy as you can see but I am please with the result. The leaf stamp by Creative Stamping and I have used Stazon onto the copper sheet. I have stamped the brown background card with the same stamp using Versamark to leave a watermark effect and over-stamped some homemade Luna Lights paper with the same stamp again in Adirondack Ginger ink and then added a few other little stamps in black and white. The beads are mounted onto copper wire and I have matted the whole lot onto a piece of copper mirror board. Thanks for looking.

Cute Card Thursday #27 - Cats and Dogs

Gosh how late am I today? My internet has been off all day for reasons only known to itself and has only just come back. Arrgghhh! Anyhow we are up to Challenge 27 on Cute Card Thursday - where has the time gone?! The theme this week is Cats and Dogs and the Design Team has come up with some absolute beauties - plus there another fabby prize to give away to pop on over and check it out!

This lovely High Hopes image was sent to me by Suzanne and I have coloured it with Promarkers and Sakura pens. Background papers is Basic Grey, flowers are Prima, sentiment is from a Studio G set and other bits from the local florist. Thanks for looking.

Tilda & Friends ATC Challenges - New Beginnings

We have another fabby Guest Desginer this week at Tilda & Friends ATC Challenges, Steph aka Southern Fairy, and Steph has set the challenge this week with the theme of "New Beginnings". Pop on over to the blog to see Steph and the other DT's creations and see what Steph has to say!

This is Tilda with baby Tingla and I've coloured the image with Promarkers and Sakura pens. The background card has been stamped with Magnolia summer swirl in dye ink and I have hand stitched it onto a piece of denim and added a little metal charm. The flowers are a Magnolia stamp done on shrink plastic coloured with Sakura pens. Thanks for looking.

A Spoonful of Sugar #16 - Sketch

I have abandoned all hope of getting caught up with last week's Challenges and am not allowing myself to get stressed over it so I am starting afresh this week with the fabby sketch from A Spoonful of Sugar which has been created by Nikki.

This is one of the wonderful Whiff of Joy stamps designed by Elisabeth Bell. I have coloured her in with Promarkers and Sakura pens, with a chalk background and a couple of add ons. Paper is K&Co Hopscotch Girl, card is Bazzil and SU. The flowers are prima and the sentiment is from Craftwork Cards. I have dyed it with pigment ink and triple embossed with glossy clear EP. I got this great twill from Scrapz - they have the most AMAZING ribbon, lace and bits and a lot of it is on offer - as low at 10p a metre! Hurry, hurry, hurry!

I hope to get some serious computer time in the next couple of days - thanks so much for stopping by! I am trying to get in front with my DT work to leave free time for all the birthday and Christmas cards/presents I have to make in the next 2 weeks before we go on holiday!

Spiral Whisper Challenge #1

It's the first challenge this week from Spiral Whisper and they have a great sketch to use. There are some fabby new stamps just released on their shop site here which are well worth a look! PLUS they are giving away two of their stamps to one lucky entrant of the challenge this week.

This is "Martha Ballerina" - she's a joy to colour in! I have done the colouring with Promarkers and a touch of Sakura. The paper is Designer Digitals, card is Bazill and gems are Swarovski. The ribbon comes from the local florist. Sentiment is Hero Arts and I have dyed the Scrap Fairies flowers using Adirondack ink pads. Thanks for looking.

I apologise for having done NO blogging this week but I am on my way to see y'all tonight :)

Cute Card Thursday #26 - Pretty in Pink!

Nice and easy theme this week from Cute Card Thursday - just make a card with lots of pink. I took the brief very much to heart as you can see - pink overload!

Image is Cuddly Buddly and is coloured with Promarkers and Sakura pens. Paper is Basic Grey, flowers Scrap Fairies and Prima. Everything else from my stash.

There is another lovely stamp to give away this week from Inklebod Stamps and it's definitely worth checking out the beautiful cards from the DT too so pop over to the site for full details.

Tilda & Friends ATC Challenges - Welcome Friends!

A fresh start this week for Tilda & Friends ATC Challenges as we welcome some friends to the fun! "We all love Tilda, but realise that sometimes it can be refreshing to use a different stamp now and then on our ATCs, so from now on please feel free to use other images that feature the cute round faces we have come to love. Suggestions would be the Scandinavian family of Hanglar and Stanglar that are soon to be available to us in the UK at Funky Kits or perhaps the Sugar Nellie Hamish and Maggie or Luca and Nellie. Or you could use one of the Cuddly Buddly people stamps (not the animals or bears though, unless that is the theme one week) or some of the cute people from Sprial Whisper, Precious Moments, or the Country Girls from Alota stamps. We do not want to see any Sarah Kay, Sweet Ebony or similar styles as although we love these images, they are more realistic in design and there are already several blogs featuring them. So please keep to the cute round faces and take your inspiration each week from the design team's creations."

Our resident Magnolia Design Team member Andrea has also donated a FABBY prize of a Cross Stitch Tilda stamp from the BRAND NEW Magnolia Collection and also some yummy ribbon, flowers and a selection of stamped images for one lucky entrant. It's definitely worth joining in the fun!

I have used this gorgeous Cuddly Buddly stamp and coloured her in with Promarkers and Sakura pens. Baking paper is from Basic Grey Lily Kate range and some ribbon, gems and punched flowers add the finishing touches.


I have used my finished ATC to make a door hanger as I want to show you that your ATCs can actually come in very handy to have in stock! Great for if you need a quick card - you have a topper ready made to mount! They make great additions to box lids, calendars, mini books and a whole host of other things too.

A Spoonful of Sugar #15 - Anything BUT a Card

Another different challenge this week from A Spoonful of Sugar - this week you have to make anything BUT a card.

This is "Maud". She's a Creative Expressions stamp and I just LOVE her - attitude or what? I've coloured her in with Polychromos pencils and Sakura Stardust pens, with a little clear Sakura Stardust water-coloured over the top for shimmer. Paper is from a Dovecraft pack and I can't remember where I got the sentiment! Great memory I have at the moment ..... or maybe it's just a sign I have too many stamps. NAH - no such thing!

Penny Black Saturday #12 - Stars & Stripes

The theme this week from Penny Black Saturday is "Stars & Stripes". I got these spiral bound notebooks from Lidl this week. They were 3 for £1.50 - an absolute bargain. Anyway I couldn't wait to be let loose on one of them so here it is!

This is "Bun Bun", whom I have coloured with Promarkers and Sakura pens. Card is SU, paper is Designer Digitals and I have added punched shapes, die cuts and Prima flowers with an assortment of satin ribbon from Joanna Sheen. The lace is from my local haberdashers and I have kept some cream and dyed some by pressing it onto an Adirondack ink pad.

I am pleased with how this cheap notebook altered and think I might do some of these for presents now! Thanks for looking.