Hand-mailed

Hi folks

I've got such a small window of opportunity at the moment to make a card so I'm not getting much done at all but I've managed to do a bit of a challenge combo with this one. I think this Penny Black image is beautiful. Another birthday present (I bet you already guessed!) and I've been dying to use it for ages. I made the snowflakes myself with my cuttlebug - a bit fiddly but good fun. I can enter it for the following challenges:

Stamp Something: Cute and Fuzzy
Simon Says Stamp: All That Sparkes
Daring Cardmakers: Punches (this is my first time with this challenge)

My recipe:
Image: Penny Black - Hand Mailed
Coloured with Promarkers
DP: I'm sorry, I don't know what this is, it was a scrap and the name had gone
Cardstock: Coredinations
Tools:
Deckles edged scissors
Cuttlebug
Snowflake dies
Fiskars snowflake punch
Ribbon and brads from stash
Silver Stickles
Glammour Dust

We're off to Suzanne's today for Hallowe'en. The kids will be all dressed up so we'll have great fun waiting for all the little ghosties and ghouls to knock at the door. Then it will be Strictly and the X Factor. Erin and I are having a disagreement about Ricky Whittles. I think he loves himself to bits - if he was chocolate he would eat himself but she loves him. I suppose that's the difference between being 52 and 24. Come on Tuffers!!!

Whatever you do, have a good time.

Lynne.x

He Loves Ewe

Hi everyone

Hope you are all well. This is a lovely little guy, isn't he? Yet another birthday present from the kids. That's the beauty of having your birthday in the autumn, you can get away with thinking about Christmas and ask everyone for all these yummy stamps for presents.

The Hi Hopes Challenge this week is to keep red and green to a minimum and use non-traditional colours on a Christmas card. I've got a bit of green in here but not in a traditional sense so I'm sure it will be ok. I liked the sketch from the Sugar Bowl so much last week I've used it again. I can see I'm going to use it a lot. I think it looks quite different with a new image and papers.

My card recipe:

Image: Hi Hopes - He Loves Ewe
Sentiments: Just Right Sentiments
Coloured with Faber Castelle Water Colour Pencils
Papers - Signature Christmas by My Minds Eye
Cardstock: Coredinations
Platinum Stickles
Snowflakes: made from white card and acetate and covered with gamour dust and Cosmic Shimmer glitter jewels
Brads from the Hobby House
Tools: Cuttlebug; Nestabilities Snowflakes; plain and scalloped circles; plain and scalloped ovals.
Lace from stash

I really like this image. I hope you like the card as much as I enjoyed making it.

Lynne.x

Mistletoe

Good evening everyone

What about this little pair then? I think they are just gorgeous. They are another birthday present to me with some of my birthday money. I couldn't resist them!

I've been trying for about a fortnight to make a card. I've had a lot of extra stuff on recently and I haven't seemed to have time for anything much so I was quite pleased when I got this one finished and ready to post. It's my entry for the Sugar Bowl this week which is a lovely sketch by Tiets. You have to make a Christmas card or if you don't celebrate Christmas you can make a winter card. Since Christmas is definitely my most favourite time of year, my entry is a Christmas card.

This is my card recipe:

Image: Sugar Nellie - Mistletoe
Sentiment: Just Right Sentiments
Coloured with Distress Inks
Papers: Basic Grey Wassail
Mirri Card: Tesco
Poinsettias: The Hobby House
Ribbon: Craft at Home
Red and Frosted Lace Stickles - I stickled the little dots on the sentiment. It looks a bit like smudges but it is stickles - honest!

That's it. Hope you like it.

Lynne.x

Baubles

Hi folks

Well, it's a gey dour day here in Edinburgh and it's supposed to rain all weekend so what better way to brighten it up than with a bit of crafting. I got this stamp with some of the money my mum gave me for my birthday. I think she's a lovely wee thing - I love all her wee baubles!

I can enter her for the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp - Green and red. My favourite Christmas colours; I've got a bit of gold in here as well but I think that will be ok.
Creative Card Crew - All that sparkles.
A Spoonful of Sugar - Christmas
One Stop Crafts - Die Cuts

My card recipe:

Image: Baubles by Sugar Nellie
Sentiment: Just Right Sentiments
Coloured with Promarkers
DPs: Paper Adventures Holiday Joy Multi Stripes and Red Swirls from an old QVC pack
Cardstock: Coredinations
Flowers: Hero Arts and punched - coloured with Promarkers
Brads: Papermania and from stash
Spacers: Eggstravaganza
Ribbon and gold cord: from stash
Tools: Cuttlebug
Swiss dots embossing folder
Spellbinders Labels
Nestabilities plain and scalloped circles
Fiskars snowflake punch
Stickles: Red, green and gold
Diamond glaze - I've put it on the baubles to make them look glassy. Hope you can see it.
Cosmic Shimmer Mist: Rich Gold - sprayed on flowers

We had a wee trip up to Perth last week to what used to be one of the craft shops we visited regularly. I say "used to be" because we won't be going back. I bought a punch there some time ago which cost quite a lot of money and I didn't think it worked very well. When I phoned about it, she advised me to stand on it! When we were there on Saturday, a woman had bought a MS punch which was obviously broken and she was trying to return it - trying being the appropriate word. The woman who owns the shop had a go at it and when it wouldn't cut properly she had a pokey tool and some scissors at the punch and paper and then proceeded to tell the customer it was fine! Isn't the punch supposed to cut the paper itself? Is it only me who thinks punches are seriously over-priced in the first place, without buying ones that don't work? Not only that, when the customer had gone, she proceeded to whisper to her colleague about her, in front of us. Needless to say, we won't be going back - not even for a sheet of paper. I'll take my custom somewhere where they know how to treat people who are spending good money.

That's my rant for the week. No Strictly tonight - what a disappointment. I wish they'd make their blooming minds up but there's a new series of CSI so that will do nicely. Have a good weekend.

Lynne.x

Sarah Kay - Noel Charity

Hi everyone

I feel like it's such a long time since I posted a card. We've been back a few days from our break in Scarborough but it's taken me a while to get organised and I've been busy entering the Passion for Promarkers Blog Hop. Great fun! We had a lovely time in Scarborough, we were so lucky with the weather again. We visited York, which we love. They have the most fantastic museums there. Of course, the kids had to go to Flamingoland. Some of those rides would give you nightmares, wouldn't they? You would have to be off your head to even think about going on them. Erin, Kim and Jack went on everything - several times. Suzanne and I had to walk away! Says it all about my family really, doesn't it?

This stamp is one of my presents from the kids for my birthday. It's one of the new Sarah Kay designs. I think she's lovely.

Card Recipe:

Image: Sarah Kay - Noel Charity
Coloured with Faber Castelle water colour pencils
DPs: Rayher (no name)
Cardstock: Coredinations
Snowflakes: Kay and Company
Hatpin, beads, ribbon, star brads and charm from stash
Stickles: silver, red and gold
Leone Em branch punch
Medium retro flower punch
Tools: Cuttlebug and snowflakes embossing folder

I can enter this card for several challenges:

Allsorts: snowflakes this week - lots of snowflakes on this one. The paper, card, image and embellies are all "snowflaked"
Sketch and Stash - I used the sketch and all the stuff is new except the snowflakes and star brads which I bought last year
Papertake Weekly: fake. I've got fake snowflakes and I made my own flowers so I hope this qualifies as fake
Charisma Challenges: flowers - my favourite embellies
Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge: One for the girls. This is definitely a girl's card. I don't think I'd get away with giving this to a boy.

Hope you like it. Thanks for dropping by.

Lynne.x

Holiday Cheer!

Hi everyone

I'm getting into some serious Christmas card making here, now. I've realised I've only got 6 or 7 cards in my box and I wanted to have about a dozen by now so I've done away with making cards for other occasions and I'm concentraing on Christmas cards.

This is my first post for several days. One of our young rabbits had to be put to sleep and I just haven't felt much like making a card. It's funny how it affects you, isn't it? I know it's only a rabbit but I fed it every day and talked to it every time I went into the garden and now it's just not there. Seems to me that everywhere I look there are rabbits, and I don't know where that stupid saying "I'm not a happy bunny" came from but if I've heard it once I'm sick of hearing it.

Anyway, enough of me being a miserable old bat. Here's the card.

I really like these snowflakes but they never look as nice on the photo as they do in real life. They are much more sparkly than they look here.

Here's my recipe:

Image: I think this is an Elzybells image but I don't know the name
Coloured with Distress Inks
Designer Papers: Imaginisce - Snowy Jo. Love this paper
Cardstock: Coredinations
Snowflakes: Kay and Company
Stickles: Diamond Black, Frosted Lace, Christmas Red
Cream Flower Soft on her hood and cuffs
Ribbon: Anitas
Sentiment: Hero Arts

I can enter this card for 2 challenges:
Crafty Cardmakers which is a sketch. I moved things around a bit - hope this is ok
Stamp Something which is your favourite stamp. I can't chose a favourite. There are so many beautiful stamps how could I choose but this is certainly one of them.

I hope you like the card. I'm a bit disappointed with it but I think that's just the way I'm feeling. It's my birthday on Thursday - another year older but I'll probably get some lovely cards and nice presents so that will make me feel better and then we're off to Scarborough on Friday for a few days so see you all next week.

Thanks for dropping by.

Lynne.x

Bev's blog candy

Bev has a lovely Sarah Kay stamp she is giving away. Click the link to go to her blog.