HAPPY ANNIVERSARY LONDON KIDS

Hi Everyone

Today is a very special day in our family .. .. .. it is the Wedding Anniversary of our eldest son and his wife .. .. .. otherwise known as "the London Kids".

This is the card I made for them:

This used:

Image:  Penny Black "3338J" Long Kiss
Sentiment:  Computer Generated
Backing Papers:  A gorgeous 12 x 12 pad called "Rose Gold" by Artstudio  (The Range)
Rose Gold Metallic Card
ProMarkers

Ribbon
Corner Rounding Punch
My Trusty Sewing Machine

Sadly the rose gold doesn't photograph too well .. .. but I tried my best.

Must admit I am loving having my Penny Black stamps and ProMarkers back in action.  I have missed them. 

Hope you have had a good day London Kids .. .. .. Loves ya very, very, very much!!!!

CRAFT WITH YOUR KRAFT

Hi Everyone

I hope your week is going well - my time has been spent with Mum these last few days .. .. .. but today my brother has been with Mum so I have had a whole day at home to catch up on the dreaded housework .. .. with the reward at the end being .. .. spending whatever time was left in my little craft haven.  Surprising how quickly you can fly through the housework when there is such a lovely treat at the end!

The ladies over at Little Red Wagon have set quite a simple challenge this week .. .. .."to use kraft cardstock" so no excuse for me not playing along as I love kraft card very, very much.  

Pre Covid when I used to do tons of weddings every other couple wanted kraft based stationery .. .. so I have loads of kraft snippets to delve into and have created this (which used "just one" of the bits I have available LOL!!)  .. .. .. 

This used:

Kraft Card Snippet
Patterned Snippets:  All that Glistens - First Edition Paper  (Very Old)

Sentiment:  Printed Ribbon
Spellbinders Heart Die
My Trusty Sewing Machine
Random snowflake

Don't ask me where that tiny little snowflake came from, it was lurking in my snowflake box as was the tiny little silver glitter card dot that is in the middle of it .. .. .. might have to investigate my snowflake dies because it is super cute.

To keep the finished card thin enough to go through that super narrow slot on the post office measuring gauge I actually cut a strip out of the heart and stitched it either side of the ribbon.

Off to link up now and then hopefully have little blog hopping session.

Catch you again soon.

PENNY BLACK SATURDAY CHALLENGE - GUEST DESIGNER

Hi Everyone

Happy weekend!

Today is my last inspiration card for the current Penny Black Saturday Challenge where I have had the honour of being the Guest Designer for August.  

The theme is "Embossing" or "anything goes" .. .. .. but whichever option you choose does need to use a prominent Penny Black product.

This is what I have created:

This used:

Main Image:  "Whispers" Penny Black "3377K"

Background Image:  "Winsome" Penny Black "3811J" 

Sentiment:  "Loads of Love" Penny Black Clear Stamp Set "30-146"
Die for Main Image:  "A Pocket Full" Die Set Penny Black "51-053"

Tumbled Glass Distress Ink Pad (for distressing the main image panel)
Peeled Paint Distress Ink Pad (for stamping the "Whispers" stamp)

Cuttlebug Embossing Folder "Swiss Dots" for the embossed corners and also for debossing the paper-pieced sections of the main image (after having gently rubbed a black ink pad onto the raised side first)
White Embossing Powder for embossing the Winsome stamp to the background

Small Corner Rounding Punch

ProMarkers for adding extra colour to the stamped image.

Hot Fix Nail Heads
Flat Backed Gem
My Trusty Sewing Machine 

So that just leaves me to say a huge "Thank you" to the ladies on the Penny Black Saturday Team .. .. ..  I have enjoyed my time with you very very much.  

CHRISTMAS KICKSTART CHALLENGE

Hi Everyone

Not quite so bright and beautiful here today weatherwise .. .. .. but the air is much fresher and there is a chance of some rain .. .. which isn't a bad thing really as the gardens and the reservoirs really do need it.

Sharing a card today for taking over to the Christmas Kickstart Challenge where the theme is 

"Let's Wreath it Up"

and this is what I have created:

This used:

Wreath Die:  Cheap and cheerful from Amazon here
Sentiment:  Computer generated
Backing paper I think was part of a Christmas pad from The Works ages ago 
Ribbon
Corner Rounding Punch
My Trusty Sewing Machine

A fun card to make that didn't involve me actually needing to do any die cutting at all because I had a little storage box full of leftover circles and wreath outlines from identical cards I have made previously .. .. and in a wide variety of colours.  So it was just a case of gluing the outline down and fitting the circles into the gaps. 

Hope your week is going well and no-one has ended up with sunburn.

I promise not to make my next post a Christmas one.  I know for a lot of people it is far too early to be making them, or even thinking about them .. .. .. but I just have to squeeze them in any chance I get.  

TEENY TINY TUESDAY

Hi Everyone

Happy Tuesday! 

Can't believe it if I have got the day right because all day my head has thought it is Wednesday for some reason .. .. .. I have been struggling for over a week to know what day it is.  As soon as I wake up I am racking my brains trying to work it out, and even then I change my mind a couple of times before I finally convince myself I have it right. LOL!!!

Anyway, once up and running, I decided I had better start making some cards for filling those teeny tiny envelopes I made here a little while back .. .. .. and boost my Christmas card collection into the bargain.

I decided to make a card using one of my favourite Stampin' Up! sets to create this Teeny Tiny card, which for anyone new to my blog measures a whole 9cm square:

This used:

Image and Sentiment:  Stampin' Up! "Hearts Come Home"

Heart die:  Poppystamps "Heart String"  (quite old now)

All paper and card from Snippet Mountain (not that it has reduced the pile very much LOL!!)

My Trusty Sewing Machine

Sadly only time to make one but each one counts in trying to avoid that last minute Christmas rush.

I am entering this into the challenge over at "Little Red Wagon" where the theme is "Set a Course For Home".

Short and sweet from me today as I have a lot to cram into my day (once again)!

SUNDAY SNIPPETS

Hi Everyone

Many thanks for your lovely comments on my previous post.  They are all greatly appreciated.

I was up bright and early today with my fingers itching to do some more creating, so before I left to be with Mum I managed to pull this card together for taking over to the Snippets Playground Challenge and now that I am home again I can write up my post and rush over to the playground.

This used:

Image:  Bouquet of Blooms - Julie Hickey "SKU JH1058"
Sentiment:  Spice of Life - Colorado Craft Co. "BB557"
Stamping on Butterfly:  Birthday Background Stamp - Julie Hickey "SKU JH1041"
ProMarkers
Distress Inks for the butterfly
Corner Rounding Punch
Butterfly Die Set "Wings of Elegance" Craft Addition UK
Crystal Glamour Dust for the butterfly wings .. .. but the camera hasn't really picked it up.
Small Diamond Gems
My Trusty Sewing Machine

and these were the snippets I grabbed to play with at the start of the day:

I hope that everyone has had a good weekend and if like me you have stacks of snippets that need using up why not grab them and play along.  The challenge is always a fun and a really friendly place to visit .. .. .. with lots of laughs along the way.

Take care everyone.

BACK TO THE OLD ROUTINE

Hi Everyone

Well, the London Kids have now returned to their own home .. .. .. boo hoo!! 

We had a wonderful few days together.  Lots of eating, drinking, talking, walking, catching up with people they haven't seen in a while .. .. .. laughing and joking and playing silly games on the PlayStation that we haven't played for ages (in fact so long that I had to be taught what buttons I needed to press for what all over again)!!   

Sadly all good things must come to an end  .. .. ..  but I am left with lots of lovely memories of a very special time that I will never forget.  It felt a bit like Christmas but  minus all the stress! 

The London Kids love where we have moved to and my daughter-in-law has chosen an old Tudor looking house around the corner that she wants them to move into .. .. I have to let her know when it comes up for sale LOL!!!

So now it is time to get back into my crafting routine and get cracking on filling that card stock box and catching up with those card orders .. .. alongside looking after Mum of course.  My brother and sister took over whilst our visitors were here - but we did all go to visit Mum so the London Kids could catch up with her.  

Only decision now being .. .. which of all the cards I need to make shall I start with .. .. I feel you could name just about any type of card in the world and someone is wanting one.  Except New Year, Easter and Halloween!!  LOL!!

But this is my share for tonight .. .. ..

This used:

Image:   Cute Bunnies in Glasses via Etsy
Sentiment:  Computer Generated
Backing Papers:  From that ever growing Snippet Mountain
Corner Rounding Punch
My Trusty Sewing Machine

I will hopefully catch you again soon.

PENNY BLACK SATURDAY CHALLENGE - GUEST DESIGNER

Hi Everyone

A super exciting post for me today as I have the pleasure of being Guest Designer for August with the Penny Black Saturday Challenge.  Woo hoo!!!

The theme this month is "Embossing" - or as always there is the "anything goes" option  .. .. ..  but whichever you choose your entry needs to use a prominent Penny Black product. 

Here is my creation which features heat embossing and embossing with a scoring tool:

This used:

Image:  "Social Butterfly" clear stamp set - Penny Black "30-116" (stamped onto card and heavy weight vellum and embossed then layered once the vellum layer had been fussy cut)
Sentiment:  "Gratitude" clear stamp set - Penny Black "30-105"
Background Paper:  MFT Bundles of Blossoms Pastels (very old)
Fish tail die set:  M&C Boutique from The Works (again quite old)
VersaMark Embossing Pad
Gold Embossing Powder
Heavy weight vellum
Memento Dew Drop Ink Pad - Sweet Plum
Craftelier Scoring Board (for embossing lines onto a strip of lilac card prior to rubbing over with the embossing pad, adding gold embossing powder and heat setting)
X-Cut Flower Punch
Pearls
My Trusty Sewing Machine

I have always had a "soft spot" for this challenge as it was the very first challenge I entered way back in March 2009 and it was my second ever blog post. A whole sixteen years and the stamp I used then is still being put to good use today.

I love looking back at previous posts .. .. .. even though I cringe at a lot of the things I posted .. .. .. but it does reassure me that I have hopefully improved, and also makes me realise just how old a lot of my stash is.  LOL!!!

Hope you get chance to dig out your Penny Black goodies and play along with the challenge.

In the meantime my day is going to be extra super exciting as The London Kids are coming to stay for a few days.  So very excited as we haven't been able to meet in person for ages .. .. .. only through Facetime.  So it is their first proper look at our new home.

I will catch you again soon .. .. .. if I don't burst with excitement in the meantime.

QUICK AND EASY

Morning Everyone

Just a quick and easy card today that is perfect for when you need a birthday card in a rush (especially good for when it is needed for one of those men folk we struggle with making for sometimes).

Change the papers to pretty and floral and it even works for the ladies too.

This used:

Nitwit Digital Image which is part of the Farmhouse FQB Collection (one of my favourites collections from them) 
Sentiment:  Computer Generated
Corner Rounding Punch
Backing Paper from Snippet Mountain
My Trusty Sewing Machine

Happy crafting if you are lucky enough to have some playtime on your hands.

PENNY BLACK SATURDAY CHALLENGE

Hi Everyone

I hope your week has been a good one and you have managed to find some crafty time.

My days seem to be settling into a nice routine which is giving me chance to do "a bit" more creating than I have been used to in quite a while .. .. although creations often get done one day but can't be photographed until the following day (when hopefully the sun is shining).

It is also good that all of my crafty goodies are now finally available to me .. .. .. I just need to remember where I have chosen to store everything!!!  I know exactly where everything would have been if I was still in my old house, but the same isn't yet true in our new abode.

The most exciting thing is that all of my Penny Black stamps and dies are now unpacked and ready for playing with again .. .. .. they are my favourite stamps and I have missed not having them to hand.  So as they are now patiently sitting waiting to be played with again, I am off to the current Penny Black Saturday Challenge where the theme is "On or In the water" .. .. .. .. or there is the option of "anything goes" provided it features a prominent Penny Black product.

So here is my offering:

This used:

Image:  Bubbles 'n Squeak - Penny Black "1684K"
Sentiment:  Part of Critter Party Clear Stamp Set - Penny Black "30-013"
Backing Papers:  Pink Petticoat (sadly no longer trading)
ProMarkers
Corner Rounding Punch
Ribbon
Hot Fix Nail Heads
Diamond Stickles (for the bubbles)
and of course .. .. My Trusty Sewing Machine

Enjoy your weekend when it arrives - they certainly seem to be coming round very quickly these days!!!

MID WEEK SNIPPETS

Hi Everyone

I hope you are all doing well. 

The weather has certainly changed over the last few days here, but at least we have gained some much needed water and the air is fresher. 

I am happy to report that I have managed a little crafty time with my snippets and came up with this creation for taking over to the Snippets Playground Challenge. 

This used:

Flower Floral Loveheart Die via Etsy   (I have waited for ages to get my hands on this beauty)
Sentiment:  Computer Generated
My Trusty Sewing Machine
Snippets from snippet mountain

these are the snippets I created my card from:

July, August and September are always super busy for me on the Wedding Anniversary front .. .. they must be the three most popular months for "tying the knot".  No doubt planned in the hope of enjoying good weather on "the special day".

Enjoy the rest of your week and I hope you manage to find some crafty time to enjoy too.

THAT CONEFLOWER AGAIN

Hi Everyone

Friday is suddenly here again .. .. .. where are these weeks disappearing to?

I am here today with a little creation I made this morning before heading to Mum.  Not for any challenges, just simply to go in my stock box .. .. .. which is still far too empty!!!

This used

Coneflower Die unbranded from Ebay  (these flower heads are something else I sit and put together on a lap tray and have a collection of .. .. sitting ready and waiting to be used)

Happy Birthday Die unbranded from Amazon  

Heart Punch

My Trusty Sewing Machine

All card and paper has come from snippet mountain

and that is me for today.

Enjoy your weekend when it arrives.

AS YOU LIKE IT CHALLENGE

Hi Everyone

I hope everyone is OK .. .. and that your week is moving along nicely.  

The challenge this fortnight with the ladies over at the As You Like It Challenge is to showcase your favourite kind of "Non- Card Crafting Project" .. .. and say why.

Quite an easy one for me as another thing I love to make .. .. other than actual cards .. .. are small envelopes for my teeny tiny cards.  For anyone new to my blog my teeny tiny cards measure just 9cms square and I love making the envelopes for them as much as the actual cards themselves.  Sad I know!!! LOL!!!

I find both the cards and the envelopes a great way of using up odd bits of either plain paper or design papers and love that I can sit and make them on a lap tray on my knee.  

I particularly love using up design papers that are plain on one side and patterned on the other.  As there are quite often papers in design pads that are just too busy or garish for my taste but at least I get to use them up if I have the pattern inside a little envelope and the plain on the outside.   

The envelopes I have created here are for putting to one side ready for my teeny tiny Christmas makes and I stole the idea from the lovely Hilary Jane (of Fiddling About) after seeing she had done some wonderful embossing on a beautiful card she had made, and on the flap of the envelope too.  I really loved the look of what she had made and did mention in the comment I left that I would like to steal that idea for my Christmas makes this year.  But now I have embossed on my Christmas envelopes, I have a feeling it might migrate to other cards as well  -  perhaps with stamping on the envelope front too LOL!!  Oh dear Hilary, what have you started!! LOL!!

So, round to today's little collection.  

All have the same Pink Petticoat design on the inside with "dashing through the snow" wording.

I embossed just one of the flaps on the first four envelopes but on the last one embossed all the flaps before sticking it all together - I quite like both versions, but the OCD streak in me is struggling with the fact that the snowflakes don't match up with all the flaps embossed .. .. .. as if that really matters.  The envelope will only be ripped open anyway.

These were made using:

Pink Petticoat Digital Design Paper - Sadly no longer trading
WeRMemory Keepers Envelope Punch Board
Dovecraft Snowflake Embossing Folder
Red Line Adhesive Tape

That now just leaves me with the cards to make to put inside.  But as I have offcuts of the envelope paper they will do nicely for my teeny tiny card makes.

After all the sunshine, we have now been declared as being in a drought area, but thankfully for the gardens, today it is raining.  But no doubt it needs to rain for quite a few days to make a difference.

As for my email problems.  It turns out it is a problem with Microsoft and they are working on a fix! But in the meantime Mr Heart has come to my rescue (once again) and has downloaded a free email programme for me to use in the meantime.  A lot of the communication involved with caring for Mum, and the various things I have to deal with on her behalf, involve endless emails, and I certainly couldn't manage without them!!  Super scary that we rely almost totally on technology for communicating nowadays.

Hopefully catch you again soon.

Take care everyone.

CHRISTMAS KICKSTART CHALLENGE - 100

Hi Everyone

Well July is now well upon us .. .. .. the weather is super warm .. .. .. so the time has come when I try to start pulling Christmas makes into the equation .. .. .. and with the help of the Christmas Kickstart Challenge there is no excuse for lacking inspiration!

The challenge this time is a super special one as Jo has reached the giddy heights of challenge number 100 - well done Jo!!

The theme this time is "Merry Go Round".  At first I thought that meant a Christmas fairground ride .. .. .. but no .. .. .. it is much easier than that .. .. they want to see spots, dots and circles on our creations.  

I am sure we can all manage that!

So here we

This used:

Image Die:  "Merry Christmas Ball" by Craft Discovery via Ebay (free second class delivery)

Backing Papers:  From The Works post Christmas sale
Gold Mirror Card
Snowflake punch

Crystal Glamour Dust
Hot Fix Nail Heads

My Trusty Sewing Machine

For some reason my emails are out of action at the moment - you don't realise just how much you rely on them until they aren't working.  

Enjoy your weekend when it arrives and keep slapping on that sun cream.

PURPLE AND BLACK .. .. .. FOREVER?

Hi Everyone

I hope all is good with you all and the sun is shining for you.

The As You Like it Challenge for this fortnight is to use your favourite two colour combination on your creation. 

I don't know about you but my colour fads change from week to week .. .. .. but if push came to shove and I was told I could only ever use two colours for the rest of my crafty life it would have to be shades of black and purple (assuming that white would always be allowed).  But don't tell Mr Heart or he would expect me to downsize my coloured card collection LOL!!!

So here is my black and purple creation:

This used:

Backing Papers:  First Edition Paper Pad "Wild Flower"  (another very old pad I am using up)

Sentiment:  Clearly Besotted "Mini Calligraphy"

First Edition Nesting Stamp Dies - FEDIE012 (from way back in the day when First Edition Crafts were flooding all the craft stores we were lucky enough to be able to visit)
Dragonfly Metal Cutting Die - Amazon

Woodware Punches
Ribbon 
Gems
Hot Fix Nail Heads

My Trusty Sewing Machine

In fact I liked the layout so much I turned it into my next Rectangular Sketch (you can find the others on the tab at the top of my blog .. .. .. feel free to use them if any take your fancy)..  

So, I wonder what this week is going to hold.  Let's hope for only good things as last week was another challenging one due to Mum sitting on the edge of her bed and slipping off it .. .. .. and at the grand old age of 94 not being able to get back up again.  Thankfully we have cameras set up in strategic places so we can check all is well with her, and I was able to rush to her and get the paramedics to the rescue.  Without the cameras she would have been there for ages and ages because even though she has a call pendant she could easily have pressed .. .. she didn't.  Sigh!

Thankfully she didn't suffer any injuries "other than to her pride" and a few bruises have since appeared, but it did involve another night on the settee for me as the medics didn't want her to be alone for the next 24 hours just in case of a delayed reaction. 

It has now become a bit of a joke with her though and every night as we facetime to say goodnight to each other I say "and stay on that bed"!!!  

Today I need to take her to the GPs for a blood test and then we will have a little wander into town and have a bite to eat if she fancies that.  It feels good to get her out because on a normal day she just wants to stay at home and refuses to go anywhere, no matter how many times I offer.  The only down side of going out being the dementia side of things means she remembers and wants to go to the shops and places that she remembers being around years and years ago - and she doesn't understand where they have all gone and why I can't take her to them.  She then ends up being more confused than ever!  

My Mum certainly knows how to keep me on my toes bless her.