The candle burned out long before the legend ever did.....

Happy Wednesday peeps!  Here I am once again with some of my crafty offerings - sadly minus a Papermill DT badge, but hey-ho! Onwards and upwards.......

It's been quite a roller coaster couple of weeks here. Following a steady deterioration of health and  old age, my dear old Mom-in-law sadly passed and last week we said goodbye to her in a beautiful family ceremony that she would have thoroughly approved of and enjoyed.  It was also the day that we met our gorgeous new great-nephew, Jerry, for the first time which sent my maternal hormones racing!  What an absolute darling he is, and I could have snuck him in my handbag and brought him home with me!

This week I have been baking once again.  This time I have been salivating over some of the most delicious iced cookies (although we call them biscuits here!) and have been desperate to try my hand at them.  However, having never done any 'proper' icing before I was a bit tentative.  My friend next door gave me a tutorial on how to make icing bags with parchment paper (I know, pretty basic but I just wasn't getting it!!).  So armed with my newfound skill I spent Friday night knocking them out like I was on piecework!    Saturday morning came and I baked my first batch of biscuits.  Typical me, didn't bother following a recipe so had to guess at the oven temperature and time.  I think I overbaked them by about 10 minutes because the almost black bricks that came out of the oven indicated that I needed to make some adjustments.  So I turned the oven down slightly and baked them for much less time.  This time I only overbaked them by about 3-4 minutes.  But they were OK enough to start icing.  EEEEEK!!  Virgin territory.  I made a batch of royal icing, split it into 4 different bowls and coloured each bowl a different colour and set to work.  Here's what I came up with:

 

I have truly not been this excited about something for such a long time!  I couldn't believe that I'D made these!!!  Of course the boys wanted to tuck in immediately, but I made them wait until they were completely dried and set so that they would taste better (plus I just wanted to keep gazing at them!! LOL!!!)

 

So now I'm chomping at the bit, desperate for a bit more 'Me' time so that I can have another bash at another lot.

 

I've also managed to get a little papercrafting done since I last blogged.  This adorable little caravan is something that I created for a lovely lady that I work with:



and then last night, at the 11th hour, I finally got to put the finishing touches to my card for this week's Midweek Magnolias theme which is Song Birds.  I had a rummage through my stamps to see if anything sprung up and as soon as I saw this stamp, I began singing Candle in the Wind, so I used this sweet Tilda to make this card, and I sang the song over and over while I was colouring her with my pencils!

OK, that's my lot for today.  I'm off to gather inspiration for my next batch of cookies (or biscuits!)  Please pay a visit to Midweek Magnolias where you will see the most amazingly delightful samples that our wonderful DT have created for your inspiration.

I'm showing off my card in the Time for a Magnolia challenge this week too.  They have a Bingo board, and I opted for the bottom line, Flowers, White and a Tag.  Also I am sharing with Marvellous Magnolias as they have a Christmas theme.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week. :o) xx

Autumn Treats

 

 

Oh my goodness, where did summer go?  I seem to recall I was walking around work in a sleeveless top just over a week ago.  This morning I hesitated before putting my scarf on!  Hesitated because I don't want to give in to the freezing cold just yet, but sadly, the temperature was below my chill threshold!

 

I have been really excited all week because I have been planning my submission for the Paper Mill Direct DT call.  After all, who wouldn't want to create for such a massive name in the industry we love?  Blogging about their products would be the easiest thing as I have been a customer of theirs for as long as I have been crafting, and I still have boxes and boxes of their cardstock to get through!

 

The theme they have set is Autumn (naturally!) and I wanted to create something different from a card, so out came my trusty "My Time Made Easy" Trendy Tote template and I created another of these yummy treat baskets.  I created the tote using Paper Mill's own white cardstock and made decorative panels from Graphic 45's French Country papers.  My Tote is filled with a bag of mini chocolate bars and a jar of honey from my friend's very first harvest.  I have been dying to open the honey and taste it, but not until I'd finished my project! LOL!  Here is my tote in it's full glory:

 

I used some pumpkin buttons to embellish the side panels.  The apple is something that I created from plaster of paris a few years ago.  I painted it up and loved it so much that I didn't want to use it until the time was right, and I felt that this project was just the thing I've saved it for:



 

Anyway, I am keeping ears, eyes, fingers and toes crossed on this one, so please wish me luck! 

 

Also today I want to show off my Midway Reminder for the current Midweek Magnolias theme which is (coincidentally!) also Autumn Colours.

 

 

Again I created this using my French Country papers and a gorgeous template created by wonderfully talented Inger, who kindly offered this free template on her amazing blog, and granted me permission to use it.  I hope I did it justice!  My fabulous teamies at Midweek Magnolias have also been creating amazing samples and I hope you can find time to visit them all to see for yourself if you haven't already done so.

 

Well that's my all for today.  It would be wonderful if I had some good news to report next time I blog.

 

Thanks for stopping by, and have a fabulous week! xxx

Once Upon A Time........

 

Oh I can't believe the summer is almost over.  Any day now I will be clearing my lawn of the Gazebo and furniture, ready to pack away as we wait for the shedding of leaves and changing colours of the season.  I hate dark nights, but I am really looking forward to cosying up to the fire and cooking hot meals again.  I have been living on salads for weeks and weeks now and I'm looking forward to tucking into roast potatoes again!

 

I have done an awful lot of baking this summer and have loved every minute of it - so have my boys!  Yesterday I made a great discovery in a charity shop in town.  I went in on a whim knowing full well that I wouldn't come out empty handed!  And as luck would have it, I found this gorgeous glass plate stand which I picked up for an unbelievable bargain of £2.95:



(PS my windows are not really that grubby, but the angle of the pic has accentuated the cobwebs OUTSIDE my house!  And the moment I spotted them, I quickly whizzed out and cleared them!  Honest! LOL!)

It was a little shabby when I brought it home - it had a brownish/yellowish tinge all over it, but lots of hot soapy water and a good sponge, it scrubbed up a treat and I love it!  But you can't have a cake stand with no cake, so I went and baked this vanilla sponge with amaretto cream to adorn it:

Today is going to be spent getting uniforms and school bags ready for the start of the new academic year.  The holiday seems to have just flown by, but it's been great fun.  We took the tent down to Devon for a week and were rewarded with gorgeous weather, and I have discovered Totnes!

 

I can't believe in all the years we've been going to Devon that we've never visited Totnes!  I loved the place.  It's very 'new-age'y with lots of gorgeous shops, but we went on the Sunday when they had the most amazing market which stretched the entire length of the street! 

 

Summer has gone by so fast and I have had very little time with my precious stash.  I have one or two half finished projects which are very much 'work-in-progress' and hundreds of ideas that I want to try out.

 

One project that I have managed to complete is my card for this week's Midweek Magnolias theme which is Once Upon A Time.  Here it is:





 

 

I used some of my favourite Websters Pages bg paper mixed with scraps from my Graphic 45 Ladies Diary papers.  Tilda was coloured with pencils and everything is finished off with a touch of my homemade frontage.  The butterflies and embossed card are Tim Holtz/Sizzix and the big die cut that Tilda is standing on is Marianne's (my favourite die of all time!).

 

Please go and visit the blog as it will lead you to the many wonderful projects that my fab teamies have created.  There is a wealth of talent and inspiration just waiting for you over there and you go with the promise that you will not be disappointed.

 

Thank you for stopping by and have a great week!

Prima Dolls

OK, anyone who knows me knows that I am always the last to discover stuff in the craft world.  However, I can say with my hand on my heart that I actually discovered Prima Dolls quite some time ago, but in truth I really didn't like them at all.  However, I saw them in my local(ish!) shop, Pink Tulip and I thought "My God, they're HUGE!" and I changed my mind about them, so I got a couple.  However, they've been sitting gathering dust waiting for me to find inspiration, and at last I've got them out and made something - with this one at least.

 

Now I know they don't have faces, but honestly the temptation was too great - I didn't want to go mad and put all the fine detail in, so with my Watercolour Teacher's words ringing in my ears, I put a 'suggestion' of a face in.  She is coloured using pencils and the bg papers are 5th Avenue.  The die cut roses are just vintage clipart images that I printed onto Bazzil and fussy-cut (I love that expression! LOL!).

 

Thanks for stopping by my blog, Have a great week! :o) xx

Fancy Folds and New Lawns

 

My word, the Wednesday's seem to be coming around rather quickly right now.  It was my intention to use some of my holiday time just creating with card and papers, but already a week has passed by and I've only made one thing - this card!  I have however been busying myself around the home and I have singlehandedly ripped up, dug over and am about to turf my entire front garden!  This is one of my rare smug moments and Oh Boy, am I enjoying it, and I feel I completely deserve it!  It was no mean feat let me tell you and I thought my back was going to break at one point, but I have managed to fill 10 - yes 10 garden refuse bags with the old grass, weeds, plants, clay balls and natural debris that was no longer required, making my front garden look beautiful again.  Hubs in the meantime decided to dismantle his man-shed to replace the floor and roof, dumping the entire contents under my gazebo and has turned my back garden upside down!  I've been to neater looking tips than this!

 

It was so depressing!  However, the shed is now repaired and rebuilt, most of the rubbish is sitting in council skips, but I think it will be some time before my lawn is completely over the shock of this gross disruption.  Particularly the part which he scorched with the incinerator while getting rid of the old roof and floor!!!  Boo Hoo!!  He's gone back to work today and I was looking forward to having breakfast in my gazebo again, but I woke up to rain today so it's breakfast with Daybreak for me today!

 



 

So here is my card.  Over at Midweek Magnolias our theme for the next fortnight is Fancy Folds.  This is only the second Z-Card I've ever made but I am really pleased with how it turned out.  My amazing teamies have created some stunning projects which I would urge you to take a look at, if you haven't been there already.

 

I've not been out and about in blogland for a while so I am going to share this card with a couple of other Magnolia challenges to show that I am still alive!  I'm sharing it with Magnolia-licious challenge blog who's theme is Anything Goes and Lovely Hanglar and Sweet Magnolia challenge blog who have a Bingo Board currently running, and I fitted in the bottom line Sparkle, Ribbon and Flowers.

 

Well that's my lot for today.  I have to brace myself for a couple of hours of turfing now so I figure I deserve a cup of tea before I get going.  Thank you for dropping in.  Have a great week! :o) xx

Buttons and Bows

 

 

Well hasn't it been a long time since I was last here?  Just dusting a few cobwebs away whilst I reflect over the last couple of months.  Oh boy, it's been busy!  Having two growing boys takes up a lot of energy and time, but I wouldn't have it any other way.  At last summer is here though and we now have a few glorious weeks to fill with domestic chores and hopefully a few fun days away.  My main objectives this summer is to have a huge craft clearout.  Having done my job for a year now I can safely say that I have too much stash, and too little time to use it so it's a good time to downsize.  My kitchen and utility are in dire need of a makeover, and my garden is desperate for a little TLC!  I am busy filling in the gaps with my pencils, prepping images for future Midweek Magnolia challenges while I have the time.  Here is my offering for the challenge which is currently running until Tuesday.  The theme is Buttons and Bows and this is my card:

 



 

My gorgeous teamies have created some amazing samples for your inspiration also, and it would be fab if you would visit them and send a little love their way.

Whilst I have been typing this, the glue on next week's card has been drying beautifully so I am going to head on back to my next project while the house is quiet and nobody notices that I am not outside with my spade!!

Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by! xxx

Summer at last!

 

Happy Wednesday, and thank goodness it's a hot one!  Long may it last, I hear you cry?

 

Over at Midweek Magnolia's this week we are celebrating Summer, whether that be BBQ's, Seaside Trips or just what summer means to you.  Well, we're fast approaching the end of the academic year and it's time that I started making my cards to give out to friends and children at school, so this week I began that process with this card.

This card was borne our of the desire to try out colouring on Kraft card, and I was surprised at how different it is, and how 'forgiving' Kraft card is!  I could quite easily become an addict!  This is one of my most favourite images to colour and I loved watching her come to life on the Kraft.  I decided to go for a clean and simple look because I wanted to see as much of the Kraft card as possible.  Tilda was coloured with my pencils and the bg sun was shaded with Copics.

 

Please pop over to the blog to see what my amazing teamies have created also, you won't be disappointed, I promise!

 

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great week! :o) xx

A touch of Frantage

 

A very brief post from me today as there is a queue for the computer!  I just wanted to show my DT piece for this week's Midweek Magnolias theme which is Anything Goes, but with the option of adding a Vintage look or Frantage - I went for the Frantage because I'm enjoying a great romance with it at the moment - you could call it a Fr-omance......grooooooaaaan!

 

Anyway, the girls have come up with yet more amazing inspirational samples so please do go check them out.  Here is my offering for this week's theme:

 

I've only ever done one criss-cross card before, but our lovely Teresa makes them a lot and seeing her recent beautiful pieces has inspired me to have another go.  Here's the insert:

 

It's really difficult to see on the photograph but I tried something new this week.  Tilda has been embossed to give her some shape and dimension - you have to trust me when I say this looks more effective in real life.

 

 

I also want to show this off at Magnolia-licious Challenges too as they have a Butterflies theme this week, and this gave me the opportunity to use my newly acquired butterfly edge, a die that I have uuuummed and aaaahhed over for such a long time, then I took the plunge last weekend - expect to see it some more! LOL!

 

Well that's my lot for today.  Thank you so much for stopping by.  If you have time, please pay my lovely teamies a visit too as they have worked their socks off once more!

 

Have a great week and see you soon! :o) xxx

Butterflies

Happy Saturday blogland!  I was meant to post this yesterday but unfortunately life got in the way again making me late again.  I've had an interesting week learning how to colour digitally and I used my newfound skills to colour in this gorgeous butterfly from Teri's Delicious Doodles for my DT offering this week.  Now, simple as it may look, this little fella learned a lot of new, colourful language from me during the creative process.  The theme this week is Anything but a card, and I had this brainwave, as you do when you're sitting outside in glorious sunshine!  This year I have been making a lot of my own garden decorations and I was thinking "wouldn't it be lovely to have a nice suncatcher-style mobile with lots of butterflies on" and that's how this week's project began.  Having mastered the colouring process, I then copied my butterfly and pasted it a number of times, changing the sizes from quite small to huge.  I printed my first batch out onto overheads but unfortunately the colours just bled and looked a mess.  So I ended up taking a printout into work and photocopying them instead.  This time they looked great - so great that I cut a number of them out and stuck them onto my classroom window to brighten up my Spring Display!

I digress - having now successfully printed out my acetate sheets, I set about cutting them out.  I did put glitter glue on a few wings, which instantly fell off the moment it dried!  So then I began threading them onto invisible thread. This wasn't as painless as it might sound either as I ended up with a very sore finger and a lot of blood dripping!  First string of my mobile finished I proudly held it up to the light.......... Uh oh!  I completely misunderstood the rules of mobiles!  My butterflies just pointed straight up to the skies - I didn't take into account the balance.  D'oh.  So I tried again using TWO strings of invisible thread - still no success.  By this time, I had spent so much of my week with my batch of butterflies, one way or another, I threw the towel in and as time was running out I set about thinking of what else I could do with them.  Then I had another brainwave (I've actually had quite a few this week!!) and I dug out this old basket which I rescued from going onto a skip many years ago.  I loved it for it's rustic-ness and every Christmas it gets an airing when I fill it with aroma-soaked pine cones and tartan bows.  But I decided to give it a facelift.

I gave it a coat of white paint, wrapped some pale pink satin ribbon around the handle and decorated it with flowers and the butterflies.  It is now a home for my pretty fat quarters which so far have been sitting in a cardboard box somewhere, and my lovely old rustic basket now has a beautiful shabby-chic  look and I have fallen in love with it all over again!

At the moment is is sitting pretty on my window-sill, but by the end of the weekend, it is going to be the centrepiece on my beautiful painted dresser.  It will look perfect there!

Well that's my lot for now.  Thank you for stopping by and I hope you like what you see.  I'm going to go and try and find a place for the other 16 butterflies that I have cut out now!  If I find a suitable home, I'll be sure to show you where they've adorned!  Have a great week. :o) xx

Late again!

Phew!  At least I made it before Wednesday was over, because I wanted to get DT offering for this week's Midweek Magnolias theme posted on the day the theme was published!  Our theme this week was Die Cuts and/or Punches.  Well I used both!   Our fabulous DT have been hard at it again creating yet more spectacular entries to entice you to play along.  This was my creation:

Once again I used one of my own bg papers topped with some embossed velum which I thought gave a pretty lacy effect.  The flowers are my own again too, made using my 'ancient' punch.  I made them using white cardstock and tinting the edges with distress inks, like so:

I made the bunting by punching out a tiny bird punch and rough-cutting the pennants around it by hand.

The whole thing, including the metal corners, is finished off with a sprinkling of shabby blue frantage!

I'd like to say a huge Thank You for stopping by my blog, and send out a huge plea to you to go and visit my fab teamies at Midweek Magnolias, if you haven't already done so.

Have a great week, see you Friday! :o) xx

Marianne's Design Diva's

Happy Tuesday - I am right, it is Tuesday, isn't it?  I don't know whether I'm coming or going at the moment, it's been so busy.

I have been asked to make a couple of cards for a friend at work so I thought I'd use the theme for this week's Marianne Design Diva's challenge which is 'Make it Girly' and I came up with this for my first card.  I just love any excuse at all to use my Oval frame - it is far and away my most favourite die in my whole collection!  Here is the card in full:

My friend who asked for this card wanted something floral so I chose to use text in the frame instead of an image, and just added the vintage die cut roses with some flowers and ribbon.  Coupled with ivory pearls and stickles glitter, I reackon it was girly enough.

Hope you like!  Thanks for stopping by and have a great week! :o) xx

A-a-a-a-CHOOO!!!

Phew.... Excuse me, I just can't stop sneezing!!  I don't normally 'suffer' with hayfever - OK, I get itchy nose and eyes occasionally, but for some reason, this year I am really, really bad!  It began on Sunny Saturday when I sat outside to do my work for a couple of hours.  My eyes and nose are just like someone's turned a tap on and I'm sneezing like a hundred times a day!!!!  OK, that may be a slight exaggeration, butI've never had hayfever like it before!  It's weird, it's like I've got a really bad cold with none of the aches and pains that go with it, just a permanently red nose!

Anyway, over at Midweek Magnolias this week we have a game of Bingo for you to play.  Our lovely Cathy has created this fab bingo board and you need to choose a line across, down, or diagonally in any direction, or, if you're feeling very adventurous and creative, why not go for a full house!

So, eyes down and off we go.  I opted for the top line and went for Pink, Ribbon and Die Cuts/Punches.  Here is the card I came up with, complete with my home-made Frantage - gosh, I love this effect!  So much so that just about everything in the house is getting the frantage treatment at the moment, including the metal corners on my card.

The flowers I made myself with a punch that I've had for absolutely years - probably ever since I first began crafting at home.  I've never done anything quite so adventurous with it before though, but I love the effect of the flowers so much that I'm punching away like crazy every spare moment I get and making these by the sackload!  The bg paper is also one of my own again -all in all it'a a totally a DIY creation really! LOL!

The Frantage I made with some white and gold UTEE, a splash of pink embossing powder and a little glitter.  But, a little goes a long way so I think I'm going to be Frantage-ing for quite some time yet.  I'm going to be sharing this card with Totally Tilda's challenge this week - I've not participated for a while, but I like their heat embossed theme this week so managed to tie it in with my MWM dt piece.

Anyway, that's about my lot for today.  I've rambled on for far too long.  Thank you for stopping by here, and I wish you a good week! :o) xx

April Showers

Happy Wednesday once more to all who stop by here.  April is a mental month for me because so many of my close friends and family members have birthdays in April and every year it catches me out and unprepared!!  This year is no exception :o(  I've got a busy time over the next couple of days as I have a few cards to get made.  I've also got an exciting function to prepare for later this year too as hubs and I are celebrating 15 years as Mr & Mrs.  After a lot of chat (from me) and a lot of listening (from him!) we have decided to have a Mad Hatter's Tea Party by way of celebration and I am having the best time making the preparations.  The only thing we can't rely on is obviously the weather, so I'm putting a contingency plan in place too!  Ideally we will have a lawn back by then - just now it is a sad and sorry excuse for a lawn and I am planning on getting out there to repair it over the next few days.  Very little rain coupled with lots of snow and ice have pretty much decimated our lawn and all that is left is dry burnt grass, lots of moss and tons of dandelions and dock leaves trying to break through.

Onto my card this week.  Over at Midweek Magnolias, my fabulous teamies have created a wonderful selection of inspiring samples to get people to join in with our April Showers theme.  Here is my offering:

Once again the bg papers are my own creation, and Tilda is coloured with my Faber Castell pencils. 

I've even been and bought a couple of purple pencils this week - eek!  I am hopeless with purple but I really want to give it a go!  I did use it on the flowers though:

I probably should consider moving away from blues anyway - it's my favourite colour but I tend to use it too much.... 

Well that's my lot for today - I have a couple of calls to make, a couple of cards to make, and a few pressies to wrap!  It feels like Christmas round here!

Have a great week and thanks for stopping by!  :o) xxx

Is it Summer yet??

Brrrr....  Judging by the look of my car, I would say not!  It's so confusing for the wildlife - I've woke up listening to birds singing, but not as excitedly as they normally would.  My daffodils popped their beautiful golden heads out, only to be beaten back down again by snow and I am just desperate to get into my garden and make a start on getting it ready for the summer, but that wind is so cold, even in the sunshine!  Maybe next week?

In the meantime I shall have to content myself with indoor projects.  I have a few ideas of things that I want to get on and do, but first I want to show you the tag that I made for this week's Midweek Magnolia theme which is "How Charming", and we are asking you to use a charm somewhere on your project.  The girls have been busying away like mad to create some amazing inspirational samples which I urge you to go and check out for yourself.  Here is my offering:



The papers I used are WAY off the mark for me - I don't recall ever using mint before, but they work so beautifully.  They were a sample that a friend sent to me many years ago and I've just never got round to using them because they're not my usual taste.  I've always thought they were gorgeous, but a little too 'modern' for me, but I decided that they would be perfect for this tag, and they are so Spring-like and cheery.  Unfortunately, I've covered all the beautiful birds that lie underneath the image - the paper normally looks like this

Beautiful, isn't it?

I'm sharing my project today with themes over at Lovely Hanglar or Sweet Magnolia as they have the theme Butterflies or things that flutter and with Marvellous Magnolia who's theme is Wings(my charm and the invisible birds on my paper!) and with You, Me and Magnolia who have a Spring theme.

And that's my lot for today.  I'm off to meet a friend for coffee soon which I have been looking forward to for the last week!  Hope you're having a good week wherever you are, and thank you for stopping by! :o) xxx

Favourite Stamp

Happy Wednesday to all who pass through here.  This week at Midweek Magnolias we are asking you to use your favourite stamp and tell us why it is your favourite.  I chose this Tilda which I think is actually from a Christmas collection, but I don't care because I think she can be used all year round.  The reason I have chosen this one is because I love the way her dress scallops and bumps making it easy to colour, and I love the bow in her curly hair - it reminds me of my first perm! LOL!!   So I used this image on my project this week which is a Milk Carton which I wanted to make to fill with goodies for my friend who is about to hit the 'big one' in a couple of weeks time.

The papers are once again my own which I made using freebie images from the internet.

Thank you so much for stopping by.  Have a great week, and don't forget to stop by Midweek Magnolias to see the fab creations my wonderful teamies have come up with! :o) xxx