BLOOMING HEART

Hi Everyone

I hope you are all safe and well.

We had some snow overnight .. .. which didn't look too bad from out of the bedroom window first thing .. .. but boy it did cause chaos!

Sadly lots of accidents around and about which eventually caused the town centre to be gridlocked .. .. clearly it was far worse than it looked!

Then six or seven hours later all the snow had gone!  Thank goodness for that!

Just time for a quick valentine share:

This used:

Image:  Hero Arts "K5298" Blooming Heart
Sentiment:  Magnolia "I Love You"
Backing Papers:  DCWV "The Gilded Paper Stack"
My Trusty Sewing Machine
White Embossing Powder
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
Gems, Buttons and Twine from My Crafty Stash Box

and that is it.  But before I go I would like to give a little shout out for my lovely, generous, blog buddy Eve .. . who is giving away a fabulous Stampin' Up stamp set here.  

You only have to look at Eve's gorgeous creation to know that this stamp set will would work well for so many different occasions.  Just off to throw my hat into the ring!

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

Catch you again soon.

Love

TEENY, TINY TUESDAY

Hi Everyone

Happy Tuesday!

Another one of those days that has disappeared in the blink of an eye .. .. but I stole a little of the time to create another of my 3.5 x 3.5 inch creations.

This used:

Image:  Hero Arts "S5316" Silhouette Grass (just a tiny part of probably the largest stamp in my collection LOL!!)
Sentiment:   Pink Petticoat "Tiny Everyday Sentiments"
Distress Ink Pads:  Bundled Sage, Peeled Paint, Broken China and Peacock Feathers
Go Kreate Dies:  Concentrics - Scalloped Squares
Spellbinder Nestabilities:   Classic Square
X-Cut Punches:   Flower and Tiny Butterfly
Clear Embossing Powder
My Trusty Sewing Machine
Sequins, VERY tiny pearls and button from my Crafty Stash Box
We R Memory Keepers Envelope Punch Board

Gosh .. .. what a lot for such a small card!!

I hope you have noticed how good I have been .. .. there is already an insert added!  My new year resolution has nearly lasted a whole month!  Yay!!!  

Enjoy your evening everyone.

I am going to settle myself down for a mammoth colouring session at the dining room table tonight  .. .. .. yes, I "have" taken over the dining room again!!!  LOL!!!

Love

CELEBRATE

Hi Everyone

Happy Saturday!

I hope your weekend is going well.

A good chunk of today seems to have been spent at the opticians . ..  three of us needing to have our eyes tested and two of us needing new glasses.  Far too much choice but great fun trying on ones that you wouldn't buy in a month of Sundays.  LOL!!

Time for a little play in the craft pod though and I came up with this:

This used:

Image:  Stampin' Up! "Medallion"
Sentiment:  Paper Smooches Wise Die "FBD120" Birthday Words
Backing Papers:  DCWV The Gilded Paper Stack
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
Gold Embossing Powder
My Trusty Sewing Machine
Ribbon from My Crafty Stash Box

and that is it!

I hope you all have a good day tomorrow .. .. aren't weekends just lovely jubbly!!!

Love

SQUEAKY CLEAN

Hi Everyone

Happy Wednesday.

I hope your week is going well.

My head is temporarily above water on the wedding front .. .. yay!!  

The kitchen is again a kitchen and the dining room is back to being a dining room .. .. but for how long we will have to wait and see.  Not long I'm sure.

This means I have squeezed myself back into my tiny craft pod .. .. which of course needed a good tidy up before I could do anything productive.  It isn't completely tidy even now but it is better than it was.

Whenever I gain any new crafty stash I never put it away until I have used it .. .. so today's share uses a pre-loved stamp I gained off Ebay well before Christmas .. .. and it has sat around waiting to be tickled with some ink.  Now used, it will be able to go into the much loved Penny Black drawer.  But no-doubt it will be out again very soon LOL!!

This used:

Image:  Penny Black "1647K" Squeaky Clean

Sentiment:  Lili of the Valley "Happy Circular Sentiments"

Backing Papers:  First Edition "Desert Blooms"

Spellbinders Nestabilities "Eyelet Circles"

Woodware Punches:  Daisy Flowers

My Trusty Sewing Machine

Ribbon and Brad from My Crafty Stash Box

and that is it.

So with weddings temporarily under control whilst "happy couples" finalise their designs, sign off their proofs or decide on their colours I am working my way through my general "do list" .. .. and of course you know what is round the corner!  Valentine's Day .. .. best pull my finger out and get some cards made for that and to the salon smartish.  I bet Hallmark cards had theirs all designed, made and packaged by Autumn LOL!!!

Have a good day everyone .. .. hope the weather is OK with you.  We had a sprinkling of snow last night but nothing of it to see this morning.

Catch you soon

Love

TEENY TINY TUESDAY

Hi Everyone

I hope you are all well and the new year is being kind to you so far.  Can't believe that nearly half of January has gone already!!!

There was a mammoth printing job first on the list for today so whilst that was churning away I made a quick 3.5" x 3.5" Teeny Tiny Tuesday card .. ..

This used:

Image:  Penny Black "3823H" Delights
Sentiment:  Pink Petticoat "Tiny Everyday Sentiments"
Backing Papers:  Basic Grey "Paper Cottage"
Spellbinders Nestabilities Dies:  Classic Circle and Scalloped Circle
My Trusty Sewing Machine
Button and Twine from My Crafty Stash Box
We R  Memory Keeps Envelope Board

and that is it!

A very tiny card .. .. and a very tiny blog post!!

Time to go and turn all that printing into invitations now .. .. the challenge I have set myself for the week is to finish the invitation stage of two weddings so  I had better get cracking!

Catch you again soon.

Love

QUICK CATCH UP WITH THE WORLD

Hi Everyone

I hope your new year has got off to a good start.

Mine has started off in the usual manic fashion .. .. a new year suddenly makes couples realise "they are getting married THIS year" and everything suddenly steps up another gear!  Plus there are the romantic couples who got engaged over Christmas and are eager to get things organised.

Lots of invitations have flown off the production line .. .. with lots more piled up ready for completing, and with so many other projects on the crafty list it means I have yet again taken over the whole house with creativity .. .. .with the exception of the relaxing haven which is known as "the bathroom".  I very rarely subject this room to my crafty shenanigans  .. .. although I have been known to have the occasional cleaned item drying on the back of the handbasin or windowsill LOL!!! 

All I can say is thank goodness Tim Holtz Distress Spray Stains clean up off the kitchen work surface!!  You wouldn't believe the area I covered in paper and heat resistant work mats .. .. and yet I still managed to get "Picked Raspberry" distress stain all over the worktop!  Oooopps!!

So no new makes that I can share yet  .. ..  which means my new year resolution of putting an insert into each card as I finish it, and packaging it up, has been super simple to keep so far.  Tee hee!

But the new Quick Cards Made Easy magazine (Issue 135) is now available so I can at least share my favourite makes from this issue.  One of my commissions was "tiled cards" and my favourites came from there this month:

Two different techniques to achieve a tiled look but both very enjoyble to create and certainly a style I will be repeating.  It has gone way up high up on my "when I get around to playing again" list! (Whenever that might be).

OK .. .. so time to go and make a mess of the kitchen again now.  One whole bare and clean worktop sitting waiting for me to make my impact.  No Distress Stains today though. LOL!!

Enjoy your day everyone.  

My apologies for not getting any blog visiting in at the moment .. .. I am a rubbish blog buddy :-( .. .. but at least I can posting something today.  

Love

MY FAVOURITE FIVE OF 2014

Hi Everyone

Don't get excited!!!

Just because I have appeared two days on the trot doesn't mean a new year resolution of posting to my blog every day .. .. I only go for resolutions that I have some hope of keeping!!  LOL!!

But I did want to play along with Debby's annual request for us to show our favourite five creations of 2014 .. .. so here we go

Number 1

This was the favourite of my "teeny, tiny, Tuesday cards" .. .. though I could have picked all five just from those.  I love making them .. .. and the finished tiny cuteness!!

Number 2

I chose this one just because I loved it.  

 Number 3

This one was made with some of those pesky snippets and I loved the colours and finished look. Another one of those cards I can't seem to make enough of.  It is always popular with customers.

Number 4

I was pleased the title is to show "creations" and not "cards" as I can share the first creation I made using the Bind-It-All machine I bought from E-bay last year.  

Number 5

Just had to include this one as it uses one of my favourite techniques .. .. paper piecing .. .. and also one of those lovely flowers made with the crazy daisy flower loom.

So those are my five choices for this year.  It is always nice looking back over the last year of makes .. .. I copied a few into my "must make again" file too .. .. so two jobs done at the same time!!  Woo hoo!!

Thank you for asking us to share our makes again Debby.

Back to invitation making for me now .. .. I have been in residence at the dining room table since the family went home at the beginning of the week .. .. lots and lots of wedding makes needed  for January and February!!

Enjoy your evening everyone.

Love

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE

Hi Everyone

Happy 2015.

I hope you had a lovely Christmas break and managed to make some special memories .. .. no matter how small.

Ours was lovely and included celebrating Christmas and Mr Heart's big birthday "yet again".

The family have now sadly returned to their respective homes and a whole sparkly new year is upon us.  I wonder what this one will hold? 

2014 was a good year in lots of ways .. .. certainly in terms of my creative adventures (and Mr Heart's patio antics LOL!) so for me a repeat of last year would be "very nice thank you" .. .. but I know everyone hasn't been as fortunate as I have been this last twelve months, and lots of people have had very difficult problems and situations to deal with.  

I hope 2015 will be kinder to those who had a tough and difficult 2014.  

One of my lovely friends was whisked away at the last minute for a surprise Christmas break .. .. so instead of sending a Christmas card that I knew she wouldn't see until after the event I decided to make her a new year card instead:

 

This used:

Backing Papers:  Pink Petticoat "Strawberry Blooms Paper Pack"

Sizzix Die:  "657837" Word Play Alphabet (letters cut from mountboard and coloured with ProMarkers)

Imagination Craft:   Sparkle Medium "Silver"

Memory Box Stencil "Star Dust"

My Trusty Sewing Machine

Ribbon and button from my Crafty Stash Box

So that is my first creation of 2015!

No rash list of resolutions from me .. .. just one to put an insert into every card I make before I start making another !!!  This will certainly be a good habit to get into.  I do hope I can master it!! Nothing worse than a huge pile of cards that need inserts and packaging up!!

Have a good year everyone.

Love

MERRY CHRISTMAS ONE AND ALL

Hi Everyone

I just wanted to call by to wish everyone the very best Christmas they could possibly have.

Certainly this Christmas is going to be extra difficult for quite a few of my blog buddies but please know I will be thinking of you.

Christmas in the House of Hearts is going to start off gradually when the London Kids and the Local Kid arrive later today. All the tidying up will feel like it was a waste of time as they arrive with all their belongings (and no-doubt presents that will still need wrapping).  But I can't wait, Christmas Eve is my most favourite day of the whole year and I am so excited about us all being together again as a family for a few days.  Every second will be treasured and special.

Each day is going to get busier and busier as we build up to a manic day on Saturday with around 13 of us sitting down for a family meal .. .. and then it will calm down again come Sunday when it will be what I call the "stretch or starve day".  Sunday everyone will have to grab whatever is around to eat as there will be no cooking coming from my direction .. .. I will probably be in a shattered heap in the corner snoring away!!  LOL!

So all the presents and cards are delivered, our presents are all wrapped .. .. it is just the start of the food preparations now and the taking down of Mr Heart's birthday cards so they can be replaced with Christmas cards.

A huge thank you to everyone who has sent me Christmas cards, emails and good wishes for Christmas .. .. and an even bigger thank you to everyone who has continued to visit my blog even though I have struggled big time to return those lovely comments.  I haven't been a very good blog buddy this year much to my dismay . .. but life has certainly been exciting on the crafting and business front and I definitely feel like I have stretched myself and learnt so much.  I hope I continue to improve and grow during 2015.

I was super good this year though and stuck to my new year resolution of making Christmas cards all year .. .. but I could still have done with more in stock as yet again there were not enough for my lovely customers and I ended up doing urgent last minute makes .. .. plus it has also given me an even bigger problem in choosing my five favourites for taking over to Debby's annual "Five Favourite Christmas Cards" show and tell:

So in no particular order, and for the reasons I have given,  here we go with my personal five favourite Christmas makes of 2014:

Number 1

This one uses probably my most used Christmas stamp of 2014.  I have lost count of the number of times I have made this card .. .. or one very similar!!  LOL!!

Number 2

I tried to make quite a few "flatter" Christmas cards this year and I just love the technique of layering a die cut within a die cut.  Definitely one of my favourite techniques at the moment.

Number 3

Just love the "blackboard" look so had to include this little beauty (using a sentiment stamp that also got lots of use).

Number 4

This one joined the ranks as it was a completely different style for me and involved a few new techniques that I hadn't tried before. Not everyone's idea of a card full of Christmas cheer .. .. but I really loved the finish look.

Number 5

and of course no collection would be complete without a little Penny Black hedgie making an appearance.  Love the image, and the notebook die cut and both got a fair bit of use this year.

So there we go.  My five favourites in one post.

Thanks for asking us to share them Debby, I really enjoyed looking back over what I had created during the year.  I feel like making a Christmas card now .. .. .. but the kitchen is calling!!  Time to start those Christmas food preparations and tidy away all the unfinished craft projects that need to go on hold for a little while.

Have a good one everyone!

Love and tight squeezy Christmas hugs

SUNDAY SNIPPETS

Hi Everyone

I hope all your Christmas plans are coming together nicely .. .. mine are heading in the right direction .. .. but very, very slowly.

Still lots to be done .. .. but it is the same every year!  I always try and cram too much in (and I am not just talking mince pies) LOL!!

No time to actually make anything today for sharing as I am working on a few hundred invites that are needed for January .. .. but I can share some labels that I made from my snippets last night ready for putting onto the presents I have spoken of before.  The presents where the contents have to start with the initial of the name of the person receiving the gift(s).  Lots of goodies priced at £5 per person all wrapped into one package and adorned with their own personal label:

We exchanged gifts last night and shared a lovely Chinese meal and also celebrated Mr Heart's birthday which happened in the week.  How many celebrations is he managing?!?!?!  and they will still be continuing into next weekend.  But it was a bit of a BIG birthday so it is allowed LOL!!

When we visit our friends I usually take my shoes off and leave them by the front door and last time we visited I was presented with my own special pair of slippers as they didn't want my feet to get cold on the conservatory floor.  They were going to be put into safe keeping for each time I visit.

I thought that was really lovely.

But just look what had happened to my slippers when I was presented with them last night:

How special are those?  My own special, personalised slippers!  Lovely!! 

It is a special two week long challenge over at Pixies Snippets Playground this time and I am taking my labels across to share them with my playmates.  Lots of lovely prizes on offer as it is a special celebration time for Di.

I was fortunate to have one of my cards from last Sunday showcased by Di and I also received lots of questions as to what the ingredients were.  

I did reply to emails but will list them here too:

The backing papers were from Kaisercraft and are called "North Pole" and the sentiment is one of a set of four from Whimsy Stamps called "Christmas Chalkboards 1".

I actually made this Christmas card as a personal one that I knew would have meaning for our youngest son (the musician) as he has had his music featured on a video advertisement for Deerz who manufacture gorgeous jumpers.  Some in the style of the patterned paper. It is so lovely to see how a company has grown and how they produce their beautiful knitwear (and of course hear Steve's  music alongside).  

OK .. .. so time for our evening meal now.  

Dishing up time!!!

I will catch you again before "the big day" but in the meantime enjoy your week.

Love