Wednesday 21 November 2012

Season's Tweetings

I am feeling happy today. Look what I found, my wee girl and robin stamp with the cutest sentiment. I had misplaced these, it must be a couple of years ago. it was my favourite and I was devastated and so where some of my customers, they loved it too. I came across it when I rummaging about in one of my boxes with card scraps, how it got there I'll never know. I will be much more careful with it now it has been found.


Isn't she gorgeous :) I've stamped it on a piece of card that I ran through the Northern Flurry embossing folder and just coloured it in with my markers. Simples!

Blogging tonight whilst catching up with my Sky+. Some of these drama series are too good to miss.

...... 'til next time ...... xx

Tuesday 20 November 2012

CAS(E) this Sketch Challenge #6

Good morning crafty folk, another wet, dull and totally miserable day here in Co Armagh, Northern Ireland. Shouldn't complain, the predictions for the next month are heavy snow and temperatures plummeting to -20! Yikes, that will not be fun. It is only a prediction and Mr Weatherman may have gotten it wrong as they sometimes (?!) do, ha.

I'm blogging early today, much to do, first stop is the gym. I was at the doctors yesterday and he was impressed with my improvement but has still given me another 4 weeks off work, and I have to keep doing what I'm doing :) happy with that.

Today i thought i'd play along with the sketch challenge over at CAS(E) this sketch . They do a fab job with the sketches there and I love looking at all the submissions. Here is the sketch


cts6.jpg

And here is my take on it


I've used cherry cobbler, kraft and lucky limeade. The ornament is from the ornament keepsake set and i've embossed it using the cherry scented powder, delicious lol. The leaves are Little leaves sizzlits, More merry messages (again) for the sentiment and some bakers twine and some be of good cheer paper for interest. Can you spot the bling?

I made another similar card but I think I prefer the one above.


Well that's me off to the gym, and if it puts me in a good enough mood I may even venture to the shop. We have a humungous new Asda store opened in town yesterday, am dying to see what they have to offer but I really can't be bothered with crowds so it may have died down a little, well, hopefully.

Have a good day folks ......'til next time xx




Saturday 17 November 2012

Festive Medallion

Good afternoon crafty folks, no challenge from me today. Predictably another Christmas card though.

I think I actually love this card so much I may just send it to myself!


Don't you just love the medallion stamp, it has so many uses. This is stamped in cherry cobbler and i've embossed it using the divine cherry scented powder. I wish we had smell o vision so you get the effect! I've created a wee bow using a vintage brad and some tulle ribbon. The whole thing has been sprayed with champagne shimmer mist and a little extra bling with a rhinestone, can you spot it? :)

My poor stampin' scrub has worked extremely hard this week and it had got to the point where it wasn't really doing what I needed it to do. So, i took out the pads and scrubbed them in warm soapy water, they've come up good as new. Wasn't sure if this was something I should be doing but I'm glad I tried, it worked a treat.

Now I'm off to watch the cycling, world cup in Glasgow, do not disturb sign is up :)

Have a good weekend ...... 'til next time ...... xx

Friday 16 November 2012

CASology Thanks

Everything this week has gone at the speed of light, I've almost missed it. Having said that I have managed to blog every day.

Today I'm playing along with the CASology cue word challenge. 


Thanks is the word and my aim again today is super speed. So here is my card, made in less than 5 minutes, but no less effective. :)


This uses the SU hostess set Tagtastic stamped in the gorgeous melon mambo, layered on black and kraft, and some rhinestones for a wee lil bit of sparkle.

There are already some fabulous cards submitted for this challenge so it's def worth a look for some inspiration.

The weekend starts here folks ...... 'til next time ...... xx


Thursday 15 November 2012

Clean & Simple FTL216

Today I thought i'd join in the fun with the wee sketch challenge over at Clean & Simple Stamping Pop on over there to see some beautiful cards. This is the sketch


No surprise for guessing that i've created another Christmas card :)


Everything in this card, except for the sentiment, is from old stash that i'm trying to use up. I do love the nesties square with the scallops although I don't use it very often. Reason being that it doesn't cut out cleanly. There is always one side that I have to fight with no matter how many times i run it through. Having said that, this is the largest of the dies and i've never tried any of the other (slaps wrist) maybe they're ok.

Maybe that's just what i'll do now as I have the dinner all prepped and ready to go, will just need to watch the clock so I don't forget to get the kids from school. :)

'til next time ...... xx


Wednesday 14 November 2012

Washout Wednesday

Goodness me, how miserable it is looking out the window today. It has been raining constantly since I got up. And it's that really fine mizzle that soaks you right through in no time at all. 

I did venture out to go to the gym and then will have the school runs later, then the door will be locked and no-one's getting in or out :) I will admit i do like this time of year, dark nights make me feel all warm n cosy inside.

Today I thought I'd try a card that was shown at the recent convention. A nice wee quirky take on a Christmas tree. Now mine hasn't turned out half as well as some of the one's i've seen but not bad for a first attempt.


I used some old stock of ballet blue card for the background, crumb cake and the tree used the pennant punch and festival of prints DSP. The sentiment is More Merry Messages in choc chip.

I have to say I've found More Merry Messages invaluable in making all my recent cards. I love them all and they can all easily be used either on the card front or on the inside.

Think I need a wee lie down before the school runs start! Have a good day folks.

'til next time ...... xx

Tuesday 13 November 2012

Super speed Tuesday

So far my day has whizzed by without me seeing a lot of it. Chores, shopping, picking up sick children and my Mum & Dad's admin.

We all need quick and easy things to help us along with our daily routine so the cards today are just that.


How simple is that? Festival of prints DSP, Snow festival tags and a sentiment from More Merry Messages :)


same again ..... but different. Aren't these tags wonderful for quick and easy cards, and very effective. Here's another with a little bit more to it.


This time we have Baja Breeze card & DSP, pear pizazz ribbon and a wee element from my hodge podge tin, which incidentally was one of first purchases from SU ...... and i'm still using it .... fab!

Now i'm off for some more super speed. My SIL is consultant for Slimming World so she has given me a recipe for quick and easy curry sauce which is also supposed to help speed up weight loss. Hmmmm, not sure how tasty it will be given that the first 3 ingredients are, a tin of baked beans, a tin of tomatoes and a tin of mushy peas (?)! I am trying to keep an open mind so maybe i'll pop back tomorrow and let you know how it turned out.

Now matter how hectic your day, make someone smile and tell someone you love them :)

'til next time ...... xx



Monday 12 November 2012

It's Monday ..... time to get challenged!

Happy start of the week everyone :) I do hope you are not feeling the Monday blues?

New week and i've taken steps to start as I mean to go on ...... yes ..... i've been to the gym, YIKES! Now this is a very big step for me and marks a milestone in my recovery. The staff in the gym are fab and so understanding about my lack of fitness. They have taken my under their wing and this time next they'll have me like Lara Croft. Well, maybe not lol, but at least i've taken the first step which is always the hardest.

Another challenge I set my self today was CAS(e) This Sketch



I saw this on my friend Karen's blog and felt like joining in the fun. Here is my entry ....


Whisper white card, SU festival of prints DSP, cherry cobbler ink and merry mini punches. I adore these punches, you can use up the tiniest bits of paper, you know how us crafters never like to throw anything away lol. The sentiment is from SU More Merry Messages and of course no card is complete without the bling ;)

My 3rd and final challenge involves collecting the boys from school and getting them to the dentist on time! If you know where I live you will know that with all the roadworks in town at the minute this is the hardest challenge yet! Wish me luck.

'til next time .... xx

Sunday 11 November 2012

Preparing ....

...... so yesterday I thought, it's almost halfway through November and I haven't really started my cards. My MIL always asks for about 20 cards and she likes to have them written so she can post them ready to arrive on peoples doormats on 1st December ...... oh to be so organised!

I didn't really have anything in mind or any specific ideas when I went into the craft room so I started just lifting bits of this and bits of that ..... you can image the mess i've made, come on, we all do it :) It's no fun being a tidy crafter lol.

Anyway this is what i came up with.


Cherry cobbler card and ink, festival of prints paper and some seam binding ribbon. i've used the Four Seasons stamp which perfectly inside the large scallop circle punch. I just sponged the edges a little to make it stand out more. Also added a couple of those glitzy rhinestones.

So, I liked this stamp, and I like it in this colour, so here is offering No.2. Same colours, same stamp, some tulle ribbon and a vintage brad. Didn't turn out too bad eh?


I think I need some practice at tying bows ........ I will admit to some serious bow envy when I look at other peoples work lol. 

That's it for today folks, if you've dropped by leave me a wee note so I know i'm not talking to myself :)

'til next time ...... xx


Friday 12 October 2012

my motto .......

...... quick, clean and simple!

This applies to my post today too, still off work and not enough hours in the day lol so i'm just flying through to show you my latest festive effort. Made with items from the seasonal catalogue I still haven't decided if I will mass produce this particular design or not.


I didn't go for any of the new in colours this year, I have a huge rainbow already so need to make use of these first. This card is night of navy, using the new holiday frame embossing folder (which I have completely fallen in love with!), the ornament keepsake stamp and die cut, a tiny tag cut out in the small jewellery tag and some rhinestones for the obligatory bling ;)

Have a good weekend people, whatever your plans.

'til next time ...... xx

Sunday 9 September 2012

I just wanna dance ......

....... but I can't :( Last night I enjoyed getting dressed up for the first time in weeks. My wee cousin got married and we were off out to the evening do. I love these kind of things, nothing beats meeting up for craic and banter with family and friends. It was a fab wee night and my feet were tapping away, sadly I'm not well enough yet to be doing the usual crazy moves on the dance floor. So, i had to do some serious 'chair dancing', you know what I mean, we all do it lol ....... but my boys were not impressed! Typical teenagers eh.

Today i'd like to share with you some more of my cards trying to use up my old stash. This first one is a colour that i loved ...... taken with teal, simple layout with a stamped piece from the Circle Circus set.


Same idea for this next one using pumpkin pie with pieces of Haiku paper. Added a brad on this one from the free set we got. I do have quite a number of these to use up lol.


And again with old olive and Haiku papers ...... and a brad ...... and a peel off sentiment (still have a huge amount of these!)


Hope you're all enjoying your Sunday whatever you're at, the remainder of mine shall be very very lazy indeed!

'til next time ...... xx



Saturday 8 September 2012

Did someone say ..... CHRISTMAS???

What a hectic week that was! Both boys now back to school and routine well and truly established. The one thing I dislike about this starting back to school lark is that I feel that I need a Mary Poppins purse. Every day there is something else that requires a fee, i've lost count of the cash i've handed over already and there's more to come with music lessons starting next week.

Ah well, has to be done, will just have to make sure I have something left for the new catalogue release on 1st October.

On with some crafting, I did say I was going to try and seriously deplete my stash before a delivery of new products, so here it continues ......


..... a wee Christmas card to get me in the mood, seeing as the nights are already starting to close in! I still have a selection of pre-scored cards that I bought in bulk a few years back so although I am now an SU convert I do need to use these up. This red one works well with the junior varsity DSP (also from many moons ago) and some foil card that I have. Don't you just love that mischievous wee elf from the Kidoodles set. The ribbon is the free lucky limeade from a couple of months ago, i just wrapped it around a couple of times to give it more depth as it is quite narrow. Doesn't look too bad for being so simple :)

Well that's it for today folks, i'm away to see what else I can produce from whatever is lurking in the craftroom.

'til next time ...... xx

Monday 3 September 2012

Out with the old ......

......... and in with the new!

September is one of those months that is filled with all things new. New teachers, new classrooms, new schools, new uniforms, pencils, pens, schoolbags, even new attitudes for some students. All nice and shiny and bright. And now for us craftier folk we have (drum roll please....) our new SU Seasonal Catalogue ..... exciting stuff eh?

I'm sure by now you all have wish lists as long as mine, I really do NEED approx 75% of what's in that catalogue ....... and I do mean NEED lol. But ...... there's always a but ....... i do need to make some room. I know i'm not on my own in saying that I have accumulated a large amount of product that I haven't managed to get through. On further inspection it really is worse than I thought. I have found papers and other bits and pieces that haven't seen the light of day for quite some time.

So, I have started off with this little project ........


.......... using an SAB set, elegant eggplant card and some .... wait for it ..... really rust DSP! I have a few of these old DSP pads so need to get cracking. I've used Pear pizzaz ink and ribbon. I had to improvise with the ink for the sentiment and ended up using my tangerine tango marker. Turned out quite pretty so i made a few more :)

Hope you are all using up what you have to make room for some new goodies!

Til next time ........... xx

Thursday 30 August 2012

Exam success

It's that time of year again when all the young folk see what they have achieved with all the had work they've put in. My niece is one of those young folk this year!

She did fantastically well in her GCSE's, a brilliant set of results so is heading back to college next week to begin her A level courses. We're all so very proud of her so I decided that even in my condition she deserved a special card :) 


It really didn't take much effort to produce this and all the components are easily identified, so that's it, plain and simple.

And now that i've started again, I may not be able to stop, after all, I do have another couple of months off work to recover :)

Til next time ........ xx

Sunday 26 August 2012

Recouperating ....

........ taking things very slow and easy at the minute. I can just about manage to make myself a cup of tea and I have been out and about for a few wee walks which is real progress.

Whilst I have been unable to do much physically I am longing to get back to my supplies to start on making some Christmas cards. I am always much more inspired for this occasion than any other and I find it much easier to come up with ideas.

However, to break the boredom I have been surfing the net in search of all things pretty and I have come across a novel idea ...... something I had never seen before ....... doorstops! In all shapes and sizes, from funky to quirky to retro to vintage and then of course plain and simple. Now, I am in no way a seamstress and I don't possess a sewing machine but I thought some of you guys might just give this a go. This is just a wee picture of the kind of thing I mean....


arn't they just so pretty and cute? Just imagine what they could look like in that delicious stampin' up fabric! I suppose this opens a whole range of products you could make, wee scented sachets etc  ....... ideal gifts for folk for birthdays or Christmas :)

I did find a tutorial on how to make a doorstop, not the shape as in the picture, a pyramid style which looks good too but i'm such you're a clever lot and can adapt to whichever size or shape you want. You can find the tutorial here.

Have fun with this and be sure to leave me a wee comment or a link to your blog if you try it. Would love to see a finished product :)

Til next time ......... xx



Monday 6 August 2012

Olympic fever .......

So who have you been cheering on? For me, as always, it's the cycling that grabs my interest. I just love that Bradley wiggins got his hold medal. This time, I have plenty of opportunity to watch every piece of the action. Have had a wee ongoing health issue and was booked in for keyhole surgery. However, things didn't go as planned and I had to have open surgery, has knocked me completely off my feet which is unusual for me. I am extremely sore and am relying on help for the simplest of tasks. So, no crafting for a while but I do have a lot of time now to stalk everyone else's blogs so I'm relying on you guys out there to keep me entertained lol.

Time for a wee nap .......

....... Till next time xx

Sunday 13 May 2012

Sure just make it up as you go along .....

......... I had a picture in my head when I started of how this card was going to look......... can you  guess what happened ......

...... of course, it changed along the way. Not much I admit but enough lol.

Today, while the hubber was screaming at the tv, i mean watching football, I thought I would christen my new framelits label. I was a wee bit afraid to use these up to now as i wasn't really sure what to do with with. After some guidance from my Stampin' Up Mummy Monica I am now totally in love with these things. I suppose it didn't help that until a short while ago I was using a Cuttlebug for my dies and I did have a wee bit of difficulty in making my sandwiches. However, it was my Happy Birthday a few weeks back and the hubber bought me a BIG SHOT which is soooooooooo much easier to use.

Now, I'm probably a lot slower on the uptake than the rest of you, what I didn't realise until I popped the cut die was that you get a nice wee frame as well. This time I thought I wouldn't use it as a frame but just a base layer and pop the cut die up on dimensionals, you can just see the flash of white under the black, photo's not that great but I think you can see enough to get the idea. I have lots of pink ribbons but none that I wanted to use on this project so what I did was inked up some crochet trim and it's just perfect, well I think it is anyway :) You can't see from the photo but I have also sprayed some shimmer on the stamped image.

Another similar card, without the base layer (cos I had destroyed it just as I realised I could use it!)



Have a good week people ...... til next time ...... xx

Friday 6 April 2012

It's my birthday soon ......

...... and most of my pressies are contained in this box!

Aren't I going to have some fun! :)

'til next time ....... xxx

Sunday 1 April 2012

Easy like Sunday morning ......



......... don't you just love sunny weekends :)


Yesterday I resumed my outdoor cycling training and i had some company for a wee lil change. No.2 son has expressed an interest in cycling so we went and got him a decent road bike, you can't really do many miles on a BMX!! So fully equipped we headed out and on his first road trip managed 11 miles which is fantastic! We averaged about 10mhp so for a 12 yr old and an almost 41 yr old that wasn't too bad. A little bit of work required before we can enter the Tour de France :O


Last night I spent making up little treats for the girls I work with. I do this each Easter and also at Christmas. I had all the components ready to go and just had to assemble them. I had a lovely wee night doing this whilst drooling over the hotness that is Danny from The Script - and now coach on The Voice. I met Danny a few years back when they did a concert in Belfast - I LOVE HIM!! lol


Anyway so here is a wee pic of this years treats ......



........ i still have a lot of designer paper kicking about so i have used up my supply of Cottage Wall papers from a while back to make these wee boxes which each hold a creme egg :) I suppose I should make a card to go with them but I haven't decided yet. I shall have to think about that today .......... but more importantly I have to think of my Stampin' Up order which I need to submit ......... all those yummy things that I can't tell you about just yet but watch this space :)

I can tell you however that in April for each order over £45 before p&P you get a free pack of DSP and you even have a choice between 4 sets ...... how cool is that?

Off to enjoy the rest of this sunny Sunday ....... 'til next time .......... xxx

Sunday 25 March 2012

Eventing .......

...... with Stamping' Up in Northern Ireland.

Yesterday I had the privilege of meeting up with other Stamping' Up demonstrators. We had lots of fun, ideas and craic. It was my first time at something like this and I loved every minute of it.

We had to make our own name badges ........

We made swaps .........

And I got to meet Monica .........

It was a fabulous day and I hope we can do it again in the future.

Sorry the photos aren't in the right place, I'm adding this entry from my iPod do haven't figured out the finer details of how to do that yet.

'til next time ........ xx

Sunday 18 March 2012

Flowers, flowers everywhere ...

...... now what else would you post on mothers day lol.

I hope all the yummy mummy's out there are enjoying their day and are being spoiled rotten.

Now then, such exciting news .... next weekend I'm off to a Stamping' Up training day. A first for northern Ireland I believe. Not sure what to expect but I'm quite sure it will be jam packed with activities and chat. And Monica will be there too, will be so good to meet up after talking for so long.

The flowers in the picture are for my swaps ...... can you guess what I'm going to do with them? No! I'm not telling you lol, you'll just have to come back next week to find out. I also have to make myself a wee name badge so I have a few ideas for that and again you'll have to wait to next week to see what I've managed to come up with.

Hope everyone has a good week ......... til next time xxx

Sunday 4 March 2012

Something special .......

.........for someone special.

Yesterday was my good friend Beverley's birthday. She is one of the "amigos" who i go on the occassional trip with. This is what I made for her :)


Aren't those wee bags so cute, they're popping up everywhare at the minute. Now, i'm not usually into that sort of thing, I normally just stick to cards ........ but ........ in my last Stampin' Up order i prchased the scorer for my Fiskars board ....... it works a treat and makes all these wee projects so much easier :)

The backdrop for the card is the gorgeous enchantment paper and the flower i just had to copy from Mummy Monica's blog. Isn't is delicious, and so simple to make. I can see these appearing frequently in my next projects.

I was out last night celebrating with the birthday girl so now that I have all my chores for the day done i think i might have a wee forty winks ...... sure thats what Sunday afternoons are for ;)

Have a good week everyone ......... 'til next time ....... xx

Sunday 5 February 2012

Hey hey there's a monkey ......

....... even two of them!!

I would like to say thank you to everyone who left comments on my card last week, it's a great buzz to know that someone is actually looking at what you do.

This week the challenge over at Simply Stampin' is "heartfelt". Those of you who know me personally know that I am not at all a lovey dovey, hearts and flowers kinda girl so I have put an element of fun into this weeks card whilst still getting the message across.


Again it's quick, clean and simple.

This week I received a very large Stampin' Up package :) Lots of lovely new papers and stamp sets. I'm off now to see what I can make with those delicious Everyday Enchantment papers. And the fact that they are free with an order over £45 makes them even more appealing.

'til next time ......  xx

Sunday 29 January 2012

My first challenge ......

...... and in keeping ... kind of ..... with mu recent Valentine theme.

My friend Karen always makes such beautiful cards and she enters them into challenges. Visit her blog via the link to see what I mean and also for a wee list of challenges to consider.

So, i decided perhaps I should have a go at this. I had, yesterday, the luxury of an hour to myself so I decided on two challenges to enter. Thought I wouold be cheeky and combine them so I could use the same card.



The Clean and Simple challenge was a sketch and the Simply Stamping was a clour combo: Not quite navy, very vanilla, early espresso and river rock. Not bad for my first attempt I suppose, def a masculine card though.

Now I just have to figure out how to link these back to the challenges, think I shall watch the end of this gripping tennis match first though.

Til next time ........ xx

Thursday 26 January 2012

Made in minutes ........

.......... literally minutes!!


see what I mean ........ take a piece of desingner paper, position it and bling it up a bit ............ nice wee quick and simple card. Love when this happens.

I was fiddling through the mountain of DSP that I have, because as you all know Sale-a-Bration is here! I need to make room for new papers. Ok, i know have lots and don't need any more but it's not a case of needing. I WANT THEM. I have a weak spot for DSP ....... there, i,ve said it. I just love them all and have to have them. Sometimes i just take them out and look at them, and then i don't want to cut them up ....... i wonder do DSP's have feelings? lol. Anyway, I came across the Sweet Pea paper stack from a while back and so this card is made from just a portion of one of the sheets. It's also in blue for a different colourway :)

Have you all decided on your fav SAB set? I haven't yet.

Maybe next time ............ xx

Sunday 22 January 2012

Lots more love ........

......... and more Valentines cards even though i will, of course, only be giving one.


Plain and simple again, just basic black, real red and whisper white. Label and word window punches used to full effect and for the first time I used my spritzer with a marker. Not sure if I like doing that, was hard to get used to the positioning but I suppose that will come with practice. Can you imagine the reaction if someone asked me what I was planning on doing for an evening ......... "oh, I'm just going to practice my spritzing" lol.



When I had my Cuttlebug out last week I found a wee box of embossing folders that came free with it. This is one of them. Cute don't you think? I just rubbed over it with real red chalk and layered it up with two punched labels. Now, since I have taken the picture I have realised that there is also a die cut in the box to cut out the postage stamp effect. I will use that next time for sure.

Hope you guys are all geared up for the Sale-a-bration, great opportunity for some new supplies.

'til next time ........... xx

Thursday 19 January 2012

A wee day off .........

......... and this is what I have been up to.


Very rare I have a day off this early in the year, i normally try to save my holidays for later or for when i have something that needs doing. Today however, is just because ......... i felt like having so 'me' time and believe me, that doesn't happen too often.

I haven't made this card with anyone in particular in mind, i was just futtering about. The colours are pool party, melon membo and whisper white. The stamp is from the Easy Events set ........ aren't cupcakes all the rage at the minute. Maybe i'll just send it to myself!

'til next time ................ xx

Sunday 15 January 2012

Love Is In The Air .........

Hey there,

Happy New Year everyone! I trust the festive season passed without too much drama and was enjoyed by all.

I have been speaking to a few people lately who, like myself, have very little free time at the minute. Each day whizzes by and sometimes I really do have to think what I have accomplished in any given day ...... if anything at all!

So, today I shall document just exactly what I have created ....... drum roll please .......





......... clean, simple and no fuss. I even deliberated over adding those wee hearts but I think they work ok. I'm quite proud of getting this done today, seeing I will have to keep it for a month before giving it to anyone. I am NEVER that organised. The heart is from the Polka Dot Punch set. I used real red ink and just used some clear goss embossing powder on it to give it a wee bit more texture. The circle is one of my cuttlebug shapes and although you can't really tell from the picture, I put it through the square lattice embossing folder. The sentiment is from the Occasional greetings set.

So that's that done ........ what else can I achieve today?

Happy Sunday people :) x