Sunday Stampers - Words

Oooh, I discovered a new challenge site yesterday - Sunday Stampers - but I was too late to join in last week's theme - I really wanted to as it was Faces and I have a fab stamp that I wanted to use.........somewhere!!! If I could have found where I'd put it, I would have had plenty of time. However, I checked out the blog this morning and the theme for this week is "Words" (and Yes, I have been singing the bloody Bee Gee's song all morning Hels, Thank You very much!!! LOL!!).

So, I got a couple of my favourite stamps together (if anyone can tell me who makes the 'Laugh' stamp, I'd be much obliged - I haven't got a clue???!!!) and I made this mini album which I will fill up over the next few days with a photo or two - probably of my boys!

Thanks for popping in, and to everyone who's been very kind with their feedback, I am sincerely grateful! Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Make a Moo or Two - Girls

I did actually make a moo for last week's Make a Moo or Two challenge, which was "Vintage", but I felt so under the weather that I never even got round to photographing it till this morning, so I'll show it with this week's theme which is Girls.

I've got to show you this as well though - my boys bought me a pop-up light tent for Mothers' Day this year (probably the best bit of kit I own!) and I set it up then went back to the table to chop up a couple of pieces of card to support my Moo's while I photographed them, and when I turned round to stick them in the tent, this is the sight I was greeted with

Awwww......What a model eh? ROFL!!!

Thanks for popping in - oh, and if you've got a spare slide mailer handy, why not use it on a handmade tag and show it off for this week's Tag, You're It! challenge ;o) xx

Tag, You're It!!! Challenge #4

Groooaaannn.... I've got a stinking awful cold and I feel like the lowest of the low this week. Don't you hate it when you can't taste anything, and your skin feels so sore that the slightest touch is excruciating! Well that's where I'm at - along with the horrid nose and hacking cough - Oh woe is me.... :o(

However, another fabulous week over on the Tag, You're It! challenge blog this week, though it appears that so many of us were loathe to put our stamps away for a brief moment. They came out again this week though while I was making the current theme's tag - to incorporate a slide mailer. I chose to use a Sizzix one but I really did struggle with this. I tried several different techniques - covered them with papers, glued and covered them in beadazzles, and eventually I painted one and while I was painting it I remembered a gorgeous mini book I saw a couple of years ago that had been made with a slide mailer - unfortunately I can't remember where I saw it, or indeed who made it, but if you recognise your style in this, please take credit for it with my blessing!

So here is my offering for the Tag, You're It! challenge this week - just go for it!!!

Tag, You're It!!! Challenge #3

Soooo spooky! Sam set the theme for this week's challenge over on Tag, You're It, that being "No Stamps Allowed". Throughout this whole process, she and I have made our own sample tags and not shown them to each other till they were completed and when we showed our tag for this week's theme, my jaw dropped! We had both used exactly the same portion of Basic Grey's Periphery paper for our main image - this was mine:



So, I decided to go back and make another one, and I came up with this one which (whether she remembers or not I don't know?) was inspired by the very first Christmas Card I received from Sam in December 2006:
Thanks so much for popping in, and to everyone who's been very kind and generous with their feedback, I want to say I am hugely appreciative. Thank You!

A Crop, Ismaki & DCM.... Phew!

After what seemed an abnormally long week, it being the first back after a luurverly long Easter break, I treated myself on Thursday and had a wonderful evening at my very first crop organised by Liberty of Bellaboo. What a brilliant night we had - I've been to 'a' scrapbooking workshop in the past but never a crop, so I took everything including the kitchen sink along with me - Next time I will be better organised!!! LOL!! :o) Liberty has some absolutely gorgeous kits, as well as a plethora of scrapbooking supplies, and Oh boy, I wish I had money because I was so tempted to spend waaaay too much that night. However, TA's don't earn phenomenal sums so restrained I had to be. I did buy a lovely Schooldays kit though because (I do hope she's not reading this) my Teacher is getting married in August and I decided to put together a little album for her as a pre-wedding gift and this kit seemed the perfect choice. Liberty did have another kit - the new Wedding kit - OMG, it would make you cry! It is absolutely to die for - and there are other optional extras that you would just HAVE to have to go with it. Oh, and I promised I would give Liberty's wonderful hubby John a mention too - what a generous bloke, with both his time and coffee making skills!! He helped Lib to set it all up, organised the raffle, managed the 'shop' and had a more than impressive knowledge of the products!! On top of all that he kept the tea and coffee flowing! Big Thumbs Up John!!! :o) The next organised crop is taking place at 12pm on Saturday 3rd May - this being National Scrapbooking Day - and is held at Fairfield Village Hall in Bromsgrove. You don't know what you're missing if you don't come along!


Now, I have a great need to build up my stash of ready-made cards so I used a couple of blog challenges to spur me along this week. First up is my offering for the Ismaki challenge - Week 14. I haven't done a sketch challenge for far too long, and I keep feeling guilty because I promised to join in with this AGES ago and haven't had time to do so yet, but true to my word (eventually! tut!) I have made a card using this week's sketch.

Next up is another first for me - I've wanted to join in the Daring Cardmakers challenges for a long time too, but life got in the way and I missed the deadline, but hopefully I've made it in time for this week's Butterfly Flutterby challenge. This card was heavily influenced by some of the gorgeous cards I saw on my blog travels from last week's theme, and I don't mind admitting that I was so taken with Lana's stunning offering that I allowed her style to influence me when I was making this. The butterfly was stamped onto ivory card and painted with H20's then embellished using fusible film:

If you made it this far, I would like to say a big Thank You for popping in, and if you're at a loose end and fancy playing along with a few odd scraps of paper and ribbon, why not have a go at this week's Tag, You're It! challenge - Polka Dots are this weeks theme! ;o)

Tag, You're It!!! Challenge #2

This has been a really exciting week for me since Sam and I started the Tag, You're It blog as it has taken me on a tour of so many gorgeous blogs that I've never come across previously, and I have been "Oooh"ing and "Aaah"ing all through the week at the wonderful works of art that people have been showing us. Penny has already said this on her blog but I have to echo her sentiments. The thing I love about tags is that you get get out all those gorgeous scraps and cut-off's of paper/ribbon/embellies that you've been saving knowing you will use them one day, and that day never comes, does it? Tags don't have to be any particular size or shape even, so just playing around with scraps and even old stamped images you can produce a beautiful hand-made tag in no time and with minimal effort! I don't know about others but whenever I receive a hand-made tag, I can't bear to part with it and I have them hanging around in my craft room and I never tire of admiring them.

Anyway, it's already on the blog but here again is my tag for this week's theme which is Polka Dots. Do pop over there and take a look, and please join in - even if you're not normally a tagger, have a go - you mind find yourself a new addiction!! :o)

Thanks for popping in!

Make a Moo or Two - Swirls and Flourishes

Out on my blog travels today I discovered Make a Moo or Two - yeah, I know, I don't get about much, but Swirls and Flourishes are just my thing so I decided to take part. The challenge says "Make one or more Moos matching the current theme." Well, I kid you not, it took me about as long to make one Moo as it would a whole scrapbook LO!!! I decided to plump for the singular in this instance - I fear the theme would have been long changed if I had to do another! LOL!!

I'm not much of a Moo-er - I have only ever made about 10 in my whole life - so I don't know if there is any Moo etiquette, and chances are I have broken some Moo law by adding dimension to my offering in the form of this key. However, I had so much fun doing it that I'll throw caution to the wind and show it off anyway!! :o) They key was a 'Once upon a time' embellishment by DCWV which I daubed with versamark and coated with platinum UTEE. While it was still hot I added some purple EP and then 'aged' it with a few sprinkles of this fantastic marcasite powder I've had sitting on my shelf for goodness knows how long. The card was made by dabbing alcohol inks on then spritzing with topaz glimmer and the stamp is a Rhonna Farrer one.

Thanks for popping in!

(PS, while you're here, why not check out Tag, you're it! and have a go yourself? Get those blues out and show us your tag! ;)

4 x 4 Friday - Oriental

Blimey, 2 offerings from me in one day!! I was having a blog hop this morning when I spotted that the 4 x 4 Friday challenge this week is Oriental, so I decided to get my never-used Oriental stamps out and give it a whirl. Hope you like - Thanks for popping in, and here's another unashamed plug for our new challenge blog Tag, You're It! Go see, join in, have fun!

Tag, You're It!!! Challenge #1

OMGosh, where has the time gone?? It only seems like yesterday we were breaking up for Easter and now this is it - our last day off :o( We've had a busy ol' time here with lots of days out but I think my kids are ready to go back to school now - I think they're both starting to miss their friends.

Well, the waiting is at last over and Sam and I have been working our little butts off to get this up and running, and the first of our challenges is up and ready for people to take part in Tag, You're it! so please, if you're reading this, pop over there and have a look at what we're doing and hopefully be inspired to join in! It's going to be a lot of fun! Here's my first tag for the theme Shades of Blue. Thanks for stopping by!