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A very warm welcome to my teeny, tiny part of the huge world of blogging. This is where I share my passion for making hand made greeting cards. So - why "Always with a Heart"? Well this is for two reasons. Firstly, it is because every card I produce carries a heart on it somewhere. This can be big and bold or small and almost hidden - the fun sometimes is just trying to find it! Secondly it is because I put my heart into everything I produce. I hope that any visitors enjoy seeing what I post. If you drop by then please leave me a comment so that I know you called. It would be nice to know that you have found my heart in what I do.

Friday 31 January 2014

BE YOURSELF

Hi Everyone

Happy Friday .. .. ahead of a happy weekend!

No more pre-loved Penny Black stamps to share so today we will go with this little make:




This used:

Image Hero Arts "CL338" Be Yourself
Sentiment:  Hobby Art "GR1833" Happy Birthday
Backing paper:  Docrafts Forever Friends "Kraft Notes"
Distress Ink:  Bundled Sage and Tumbled Glass
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
My Trust Sewing Machine

I am super excited tonight.  

Mr Heart has been away on a course all week so I have been "home alone" since Sunday afternoon.  He should be arriving home any time now!!  Woo hoo!!  We have never been apart for so long!  We have been dreading it for weeks but it has now come and gone so we will be super happy to be together again.  (I know .. .. we are mega soppy).

I had a huge list of things that I wanted to do whilst he was away .. .. and I haven't done half of them .. .. even though I have worked very hard!  As always my expectations of myself were far too high!  LOL!!

Anyway .. .. off to do a bit of tidying up.  I can't say I have done much housework whilst he has been away .. .. just shows who makes all the mess!!!

Have a lovely evening and a great weekend.

Love

Thursday 30 January 2014

BEE COSTUME

Hi Everyone

Happy Thursday!

A very cold, wet and dull one here .. .. but only outside!!  Inside has been warm, dry and exciting as usual!

In fact outside we have even had the odd snow flurry.  Nothing that lasted very long .. .. but snow all the same.

So here we are with the last of the six stamps I bought from Clair.

Now you may have seen this stamp on my blog before and thought it was already in my collection .. .. but no .. .. the ones you have seen before were courtesy of my lovely DIL who lives in London.  But because I love colouring it and glittering the wings so much I decided to get one of my own at a bargain price.

So last but not least .. ..




This used:

Image:  Penny Black "2243K" Bee Costume"
Sentiment:  Pink Petticoat
Backing Papers:  Pink Petticoat
Martha Stewart Edge Punch:  Daisy
X-Cut Punch:  Corner Rounder
ProMarkers
Glamour Dust
Diamond Stickles
Ribbon

and that is it.

I think there must be a spelling mistake on my Rubber Stamp as the label that is attached is calling it "Bee Coustume".  I wonder if that makes it a collector's item?  I will have to check my DIL's out next time I see her and look what that says.   LOL!!

So now to put a few of you out of your misery .. .. here is where last night's heart was hidden .. on this little worried rabbit's plant pot.


A little bit of a naughty one .. .. but they can't all be easy or it wouldn't be fun would it?   LOL!!

Have a lovely evening and stay safe and warm.

Love

Wednesday 29 January 2014

BUNNY FRIENDS

Hi Everyone

Happy Wednesday!!!  We are again on the downhill slope to the weekend!!  

Tonight is the penultimate share of my "pre-loved" Penny Black stamps .. .. stamp number 5 of 6  .. .. don't worry only one more to go and then I promise to show you something else.  But I can't put a new stamp away without using it can I?  That would be rude.

So here we go with today's share:




This used:

Image:  Penny Black "1927K" Bunny Friends
Sentiment:  Computer Generated using font "BenjaminBecker-Extra Light" (what a mouthfull!!)
Backing Papers:  Docrafts "Forever Friends Kraft Notes"
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
Distress Ink Pad:  Tumbled Glass
ProMarkers

and that is it.

No complicated layout .. .. all the fun was in the colouring!

Must fly.  Loads to do before the weekend!!!  But thankfully I have a nice stack of makes all ready to show you .. .. so even though the wedding world might be super duper busy I still have a few things lined up to share with you.  Just a shame I can't catch up with all the blogs I want to visit :-(

Anyway .. .. have a lovely evening whatever you are doing.

Love

Tuesday 28 January 2014

JUST FOR FUN

Hi Everyone

Happy Tuesday!

I hope you are having a good day.

No wedding work for me today .. .. other than handing another order over to a very excited bride.  After this I have been trying really hard to catch up with some of the general orders on my "do list".. .. .. and yet again the day has flown by far too quickly.

I can remember when I was at school a 40 minute lesson seeming to last a lifetime .. .. so how come hours now can disappear in the blink of an eye?!?!?

One of my makes today involves stamp 4 of 6 from Clair .. .. and it isn't a hedgie!!!  Shock horror!!




This used:

Image:  Penny Black "3972K" Frolic
Sentiment:  Pink Petticoat
Backing Papers:  First Edition "J'Adore"
Joy Craft Dies:  Curved Edged Flowers
Woodware Punch:  Not sure what it is called.  Nothing on the stamp or the packaging :-(
ProMarkers
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
Glamour Dust
My Trusty Sewing Machine
Metallic Cord, Eyelet and Brad from my Stash Box

and that is my share for today.

Nice and early posting from the House of Hearts  .. .. so time to disappear back to the craft pod to do a bit more. I love it that every day here is always so very different.

Enjoy your evening.

Love

Monday 27 January 2014

SKETCH AND STASH CHALLENGE 131

Hi Everyone

I hope your week has got off to a good start.

Fairly pleased with how mine has started with quite a bit done today and even chance to play along with the current Sketch and Stash Challenge.

I have had my eye on the sketch since it went live last week and finally today I had chance to use it .. .. along with another of my pre-loved (but new to me) Penny Black stamp from the lovely Clair.

So here is my make:




This used:

Image:  Penny Black "1447H" A Gift For You
Sentiment:  Pink Petticoat stamped with a blank tag from Lili of the Valley Christmas Tag set
Backing Papers:  Nitwits "Petal Fresh"
Nestabilities:  Standard Circle and Scalloped Circle Large
Sizzix Die:  "654995" Stars #2
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
ProMarkers
Ribbon
My Trust Sewing Machine

and if you fancy playing along with the challenge here is the sketch.  Isn't it a fabby one!!!  I twisted it round.



So that was stamp 3 of 6 I bought .. .. and the end of the scrummy hedgies I gained!  Mmmm... I wonder what my other three might be LOL!!

Catch you again tomorrow with the next. 

I can't put them away until I have used them .. .. and as I need the space I need to get them stamped up smartish!

Love

Sunday 26 January 2014

SUNDAY SNIPPETS

Hi Everyone

I hope you have had a good Sunday and managed to find a bit of crafty time.

It has been a very busy day here with lots going on .. .. so my snippet makes today for taking over to Pixie's Snippet Playground are super lazy ones! Everything was lying around in various places around my craft pod just waiting to be put to use.  Even my image was sitting in the "coloured and waiting to be used" box.!!!

So here we go:







As always on a Sunday I am lazy and do not list my ingredients (not that there were that many today) LOL!!.

Enjoy what is left of your evening.

Hopefully catch you tomorrow.

Love

Saturday 25 January 2014

RUDOLPH DAY - JANUARY

Hi Everyone

I hope you are all having a lovely weekend.

I said "bye-bye" to one of my happy couples this week.  The bride came and collected  a post box I had decorated for them .. .. and they got married today!!  The weather will have been nice as they actually got married but I don't think it will have been nice enough for them to have photographs taken outside :-(  We had thunder storms, hail and heavy rain!!!   Shame they didn't get married a couple of hours earlier, but I am sure they will be happy anyway.

So one happy couple crossed off my list .. .. but they were quickly replaced by the lovely couple I met last weekend.  They loved the samples I made for them during the week and have today placed an order.  So "one off" and "one on" the do list!!

Now as you know I am trying to get some Christmas cards made nice and early this year so "another" of my New Year Resolutions was to "always" take part in the lovely Sandra's Rudolph Day Challenge.

So once I had committed myself I was a tad shocked to see that the rules had changed and now Sandra is asking for TWO Christmas makes!!!  Shock horror!!!  One was going to be bad enough .. .. especially at the height of wedding fever .. .. so if I can keep my resolution AND do two Christmas makes it will be a miracle .. .. but I will try and am off to a good start for January at least.

So here we go:





and then a dinky little easel card that I find really difficult to photograph





To keep things simple in listing the ingredients I used the same on both and the image is another of the pre-loved stamps I bought from Clair (which means I have now shared 2 of my 6):

Image:  Penny Black "2238K" Jingle All The Way!
Sentiments:  Papermania Urban Stamps "Christmas in the Country Tags"
Backing Papers:  Dovecraft "Back to Basics"
Nestabilities:  Classic Circle and Scalloped Circle
X-Cut Palm Punch:  Small Snowflake
ProMarkers
Glamour Dust
Diamond Stickles
Gems
Black fineliner pen

and that is it!

New Year Resolution number 3 fulfilled for January (no I am not telling you all of them no matter how many times you ask LOL!!).

I'll catch you again tomorrow with my snippets .. .. and yet another Christmas card!  Three in one January weekend .. .. never heard of!!

Enjoy the rest of your evening and weekend.

Love

Thursday 23 January 2014

PENNY BLACK SATURDAY

Hi Everyone

I hope you have had a good day.

Mine has disappeared .. .. like my week has .. .. in the blink of an eye!!!

My stamps arrived from the lovely Clair yesterday  -  and I love them.

I am not putting them away until I have used them all . . . . I treated myself to six altogether and today uses stamp 1 of 6.  Those who guessed what I would buy knew I would probably have this one LOL!!!  Lots of my stamps have been bought second hand.  It doesn't bother me that they have been pre-loved .. .. it stretches my crafty pennies further.

Anyway, the theme over at Penny Black Saturday this month is "new" .. .. now I know this isn't a brand new stamp .. .. but it is new to me .. .. so I hope it counts for my entry.

Here is my card:




This used:

Image:  Penny Black "1729K" Just Buzzin By!
Sentiment:  Pink Petticoat "Tiny Blooming Sentiments"
Backing Papers:  Pink Petticoat "Isabelline"
Martha Stewart Edge Punch:  Daisy
X-Cut Punch Flowers
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
ProMarkers
Ribbon

and that is me for today.

Catch you soon

Love

Wednesday 22 January 2014

SKETCH SATURDAY WEEK 293

Hi Everyone

I hope you are all having a good week.

Lots to catch up on this end so I didn't have time to share anything yesterday :-(  -  I did try to catch up with some of your lovely blogs late last night .. .. but it isn't easy at the minute.  For some reason I keep getting a picture of a strange computer coming up when I am commenting saying that page(s) are unresponsive and do I want to wait or kill the page!!  

Is it just me or is anyone else having the same problem?

It was certainly making commenting difficult.  Sometimes my comment would stay, other times it took multiple attempts.  It wasn't quite so bad first thing this morning though so perhaps things are a little happier today .. .. but I am determined to catch up.

Anyway, at least I have a card to share and I based it on the lovely sketch from over at the Sketch Saturday Challenge blog this week:




This used:

Image:  Penny Black "3776F" Love Nip
Sentiment:  Computer Generated using fonts "1942 Report" and "2Peas Dragonfly"
Backing Papers:  Nitwits "Always and Forever" FQB Collection
X-Cut Corner rounder punch
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
ProMarkers and Chalk
Cord and flower from my stash box

Have a good day everyone.

I wonder if my pre-loved stamps will arrive from the lovely Clair today.  Lots of you have been trying to guess which ones I added to my collection .. .. and lots of you have been right!!  You know me so very well!!   Is that a good thing or am I just plain predictable I wonder??!!! LOL!!!

Hope you find a bit of crafty time today and if you fancy playing with the sketch .. .. this is what I used.


See you soon.

Love

Monday 20 January 2014

FIRST VALENTINE MAKE FOR 2014

Hi Everyone

I hope you have had a lovely Monday .. .. it was a very cold start here but we did have some lovely sunshine later.

I am here tonight with the first of my valentine makes for this year which uses the scrummy die I bought with some of my Christmas money from my Mum.




This used:

Impression Obsession Die:  Heart of Hearts
Sentiment:  Computer generated using font "Rapunzel"
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
X-Cut corner rounder punch
Metallic Cord an Charm from my Stash Box

and that is it.

A nice simple make.

Catch you again soon.

Love

Sunday 19 January 2014

SUNDAY SNIPPETS

Hi Everyone

Happy Sunday!!

I hope you are all having a good weekend.

It is a very relaxed Sunday here after a hectic week in the old craft pod.

Two big wedding orders completed this week which has cleared lots of space for starting on the next ones on the list!  But a big clear up is needed first!  Isn't it sad when you actually look forward to doing some housework and tidying up!!

I really enjoyed playing with my snippets bright and early today .. .. and am pleased that my new year resolution of making at least one Christmas card each week is working (so far!!).  I will be well chuffed later in the year that's for sure:

So here we go with my makes of the day:







As always on a Sunday I am super lazy and do not list my ingredients .. .. but if you want to know anything then just ask away.

At the risk of getting in trouble with fellow Penny Black addicts I thought I would let you know that my lovely blog buddy Clair is having a crafty clear out and is parting with some of her wood mounted Penny Black stamps (shock horror!!!).  If you click here it will take you to Clair's blog and there is a "shop" tab where everything is listed.  Some of the stamps are already sold (and yes, I am guilty of purchasing "some" but not "all" of the ones that have gone).  

Anyway, I am off now to Pixie's Snippet Playground to link up my snippet makes.  Lots of inspiration there as to what you can do with all those pesky snippets we get left with and cannot bear to throw away!

Time now to get that dinner sorted and then I am looking forward to a good old blog hop this evening .. .. and the starting of another new series of Mr Selfridge!

Have a good week everyone.  I hope the weather is kind to you.

Love