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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.

Wednesday 31 January 2018

RUDOLPH DAY CHALLENGE

Hi Everyone

Happy Wednesday!  I hope your week is going well.  

One of my MANY new year resolutions was to make a Christmas card each week .. .. and I suddenly realised yesterday that I haven't made a single one!!  Tut tut!!!

So to get back on track I have made four all the same and am taking them over to the Rudolph Day Challenge.  Only today left to enter for January so I had better get a wriggle on!! 

I did intend to post these yesterday as my Teeny Tiny Tuesday makes .. .. but the day ran away with me as usual .. .. so my Christmas cards are "teeny tiny" ones.  A whole 3.5 inches square.  

So here we go:



The main ingredient for these cards is my ScanNCut machine.  I used this to cut all the different layers (super quick and speedy).

A free Tattered Lace Magical Christmas USB accompanied my machine so I decided to have a go with that (for the first time) and cut the Leaping Reindeer. (There are lots of images on the USB but I am not sure how many of them I will use .. .. lots of them aren't my style at all .. .. .. but we will see when I have had chance to play a little further).

Backing Papers:  Forever Friends "Timeless"
Sentiment Die:  Dovecraft "Christmas Basics"
Embossing Folder:  Crafter's Companion "Christmas Merriment"
Woodware Punch:  Small Tag
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
My Trust Sewing Machine

So that is me for today.

I will catch you again tomorrow with my DigiStamp Boutique creation for this week.


Monday 29 January 2018

MONDAY'S MALE

Hi Everyone

Happy Monday!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

Ours was super busy with the London Kids coming to stay for a couple of nights .. .. which is why I haven't made an appearance for a few days.  I have been too busy with a wedding pick-up on Friday and then trying to find the back bedroom for the kids to sleep in .. .. .. and entertaining.  Happy times!

The good thing (apart from spending special time together) is that the back room is now super tidy and organised .. .. .. I wonder how long it will stay like that?!!!?

So we waved the kids off this morning and now it is back to it .. .. .. and after designing a few wedding invitations for interested couples I had a little session in my craft pod and produced this:




This used:

Image:  Lili of the Valley Digi Image "Playing Golf"
Sentiment:  DigiStamp Boutique "Yay Enjoy Your Day"
Backing Papers:  Memory Box "Minuet"
Sizzix Die:  Grass (very old and probably no longer available)
ProMarkers
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
My Trusty Sewing Machine

and that is me for today.

I'll catch you again soon.


Thursday 25 January 2018

GUEST DESIGNER POST - DIGISTAMP BOUTIQUE

Hi Everyone

Happy Thursday .. .. I hope you are all having a good week (despite the weather!).

Today is my day for posting on the DigiStamp Boutique Blog and this week I have been playing with a brand new digi release called Flower Banner Set

A great set because the image comes with four different sentiments and a blank banner for stamping or writing your own sentiment onto.

It would be great to have a few base cards all coloured up ready to just add a sentiment at a later stage.  Especially useful if you attend craft fayres with your makes .. .. people could choose their base and you could add their choice of sentiment.

For my card I went for a good old fashioned "thank you" card because you can never have too many of those:




This used:

Image and Sentiment:  DigiStamp Boutique Digital Download "Flower Banner Set"
Backing Papers:  First Edition Paper "Blank Canvas"
First Edition:  Butterflies Die Set
ProMarkers
X-Cut:  Heart Punch
Black Fineliner Pen
Glamour Dust
Glossy Accents
Lace and Pearls from my crafty stash box

and that is it!

.. ... .. and in case you didn't know .. .. .. DigiStamp Boutique run a monthly competition.  Simply link up your DigiStamp Boutique creations here to be in with a chance of winning a £10.00 voucher to spend in the boutique.

There is 50% off all the digital stamps at the moment too!  Woo hoo!!

Have a good day!



Tuesday 23 January 2018

TEENY, TINY TUESDAY

Hi Everyone

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

I am pleased to have pulled a "teeny, tiny card" together today .. .. which for anyone new to my blog .. ..  is a whole 3.5 inches square.

I could make these little chappies all day long .. .. such a cute size .. .. whereas give me an 8" square card and I start to freak a little!! LOL!!

Anyway, here is today's creation which I thought I would post whilst enjoying a lovely cuppa:




This used:

Image:  Penny Black "2078H" Birthday Dog
Sentiment: DigiStamp Boutique clear stamp "Wish Big"  - so many images in my collection this gorgeous stamp is going to team up with!  
Backing Papers:  First Edition Paper"Falling Leaves"
First Edition Craft "Bunting Dies"
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
ProMarkers
My Trusty Sewing Machine
Diamond Stickles
Fine Glitter
We R Memory Keepers Envelope Punch Board for making the matching envelope.

I am going to pop this into the Penny Black Saturday Challenge where the theme is "anything goes" (but it has to use Penny Black products somewhere of course). 

So that is me for today .... tea break over and back to packing way more of the wedding fayre paraphernalia from the weekend.  The London Kids are landing at "daft o'clock" on Saturday and I will need to find a room for them to sleep in!! 

Enjoy your evening.


Sunday 21 January 2018

NOTHING KEEPS THOSE BRIDES AWAY!

Hi Everyone

I hope you have all had a wonderful weekend.

Did you get any snow today?

Mr Heart and I were at a wedding fayre at Eastwood Hall but as it is a few miles from where we live we decided to sleep over last night so as to make the day less stressful.

But as we were setting up early this morning the snow began .. .. 


The picture doesn't really make everywhere look as magical as it was .. .. you can just about make out the snowflakes .. .. probably taking the picture through a glass window didn't help.

We did wonder whether folk would actually turn out in it .. .. .. but we needn't have worried .. .. .. I don't think anything keeps a bride away from a wedding fayre.  It was certainly busy and we met some really lovely couples.

Thankfully the snow had just about melted when it was time to come home.  It might look nice and magical through a hotel window .. .. but I don't think is is so exciting through a car window!

Back home now absolutely shattered and with a sore throat from all that talking and laughing.  I think I had better soothe it a little with a drop of something good!!!  LOL!!

So now all that prepping, packing, exhibiting and unpacking is over with we will wait and see what this week brings.

Enjoy the rest of your evening and I hope the week is going to be a good one for you.


Thursday 18 January 2018

GUEST DESIGNER POST - DIGISTAMP BOUTIQUE

Hi Everyone

Happy Thursday!

I hope your week is going well .. .. have you seen any of the snow? 

So here we go with my first Guest Designer post for the DigiStamp Boutique BlogQuite a scary experience for me as it has been many years since I have been able to post to a blog that is not my own!!  LOL!!  

I decided to have a play with one of the new clear stamp sets called "Just for You".  The image and sentiment come together as a set.




This used:  DigiStamp Boutique Clear Stamp Set:  "Just for You"
Backing Papers:  First Edition Papers:  "Bella Rose"
Spellbinders Nestabilities "Classic and Scalloped Ovals"
X-Cut Corner Rounding Punch
Silver Embossing Powder
ProMarkers
Liquid Pearls for the centre of the blue flowers
My Trusty Sewing Machine
Pearls and Ribbon from my crafty stash box

The vase image is also available as part of a download here .. .. but my image was stamped and coloured with ProMarkers.  I then stamped it a second time and cut out the central flowers, coloured those and added them to the main image with skinny dimension pads.

Then because I had the luxury of a sentiment stamp alongside the image I was able to heat emboss that.  

So there we go .. .. that is me for today.



Tuesday 16 January 2018

TEENY TINY TUESDAY

Hi Everyone

I hope you have had a happy Tuesday!

I was hoping to be here a little earlier than last night .. .. but it is looking like there has been no improvement.  Still .. .. better late than never!

So I had better speed it up and show you my teeny, tiny 3.5" square make for this week.  All of my thank you cards seem to end up girly flowery things so I have attempted to make one that is more suitable for a male to receive:




This used:

Image:  Hero Arts Clear Stamp Set "Be Yourself"
Sentiments:  Wow! Clear Stamp Set "Gratitude"
Memento Ink Pads:  Bahama Blue and Pistachio
My Trusty Sewing Machine
X-Cut Palm Punch: Heart
Ribbon from my crafty stash box

This was my first proper play with the duster brushes that Santa kindly left under my Christmas tree.  I think I am going to enjoy using them!

Anyway, I won't hang about .. but before I go I would just like to thank everyone who left me such lovely comments on my post of yesterday.  You are all so very kind.



Monday 15 January 2018

FABBY NEWS DAY

Hi Everyone

Happy Monday!

I hope you all had a lovely weekend.

I was well pleased with mine as I finally managed to catch up with all of my wedding sample request and sent pictures of those to potential new "happy couples".

So this week I am hoping to get lots of general card orders completed and some new samples together for taking to the wedding fayre at Eastwood Hall this weekend .. .. and then .. .. .. more wedding work for my current "happy couples".  

I didn't bother to unpack and put everything away from the last wedding fayre with there only being two weeks between them .. .. .. so this means the House of Hearts is very cluttered with boxes, display crates, easels and table plans everywhere.  It looks like we have only just moved in!  LOL!!  Though these boxes are much more exciting than house moving boxes!!

Today I was hoping to be here much earlier than this .. .. but it has been one of those days where I seem to be jumping from job to job and suddenly the day has disappeared.  Nothing to do with Mr Heart being around all day of course LOL!!!

I also have some exciting news to share .. .. I am starting a three month spell as a Guest Design Team member for the lovely Sally-Ann at Digistamp Boutique.  I already know the other fabby ladies on the DT so it feels really lovely and cozy right from the start.  

So in celebration I have made this little creation here:




This used:

Image and Sentiment:  DigiStamp Boutique "Love Bunnies"
Backing Papers:  Craft Sensations "Scrapbook Paperstack - Chalkboard Love"
Dashed Circle and Square Dies:  Ebay Specials
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
X-Cut Flower Punch (so old it is no longer available)
ProMarkers
Glamour Dust
Ribbon from my crafty stash box

and that is it!

I don't know if you have noticed but DigiStamp Boutique have introduced clear stamps back into their range .. .. .. and they stamp beautifully!  I have been having a little play!!  LOL!!

Best of both worlds for me because I do love how you can re-size digital images to whatever size you need .. .. but I also love being able to grab a few stamps and work away from my printers .. .. especially a sentiment stamp or an image which I can paper-piece or mask-off easily.  So I am looking forward to seeing what other stamps Sally-Ann will be releasing.

Anyway, that is me for today.

See you tomorrow with my teeny tiny make .. .. hopefully a lot earlier in the day than this post ended up!


Monday 8 January 2018

MONDAY'S MALE

Hi Everyone

Happy Monday!

I hope you had a lovely weekend and your week has got off to a good start.

Life has been rather busy here and quite a lot of my time since the new year started has been spent getting organised for a wedding fayre which Mr Heart and I did yesterday.  Gosh it was a busy one and we met some really lovely "happy couples".  I hope I get to work with some of them. Some have been in touch already .. .. so fingers crossed!

I am going to be on wedding invitation sample duties for the next couple of weeks ahead of another fayre we have coming up, but I also need to get some general cards together too, so I decided to ink up a stamp that is brand new to me .. .. I gained it through eBay before Christmas .. ..  and here we go with its first outing. 




This used:

Image:  Penny Black "3202K" Portraiture!
Sentiment:  Woodware Clear Magic Singles "FRS282" Special Bird
Backing Papers:  First Edition Papers "Blank Canvas"
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
ProMarkers
and sketch number thirty from my little sketch library (turned 90 degrees to give a different look)


Before I started I did nip over to the Penny Black Saturday Challenge to see what the theme is for this month .. .. and as it was "anything goes" .. .. it is super easy to enter.

So that is me for today and hopefully I will be back again tomorrow with a Teeny Tiny make.


Wednesday 3 January 2018

MAKE A WISH

Hi Everyone

Happy Wednesday!

I hope you are all well and recovering from all those celebrations.

We arrived back home Monday afternoon after spending Christmas/New Year with the London Kids and our youngest Son.  All the family together .. .. yay!!!

So now it is time to start getting my head around all that needs to be done now I am home again.

I don't know about you but I do love the feeling of calm once things start to settle down again.  It makes me feel like I have lots of time on my hands .. .. which of course is never true!  This then leads to me making plans and promises in my head as to what I want to achieve in the coming year.  

Anyway, what better way to start my blog posting for 2018 than using one of the new sketches I added to my library over the Christmas break.  

So here we go:




This used:

Image:  Penny Black "4082H" To Cake Moment
Sentiment:  Pink Petticoat (sorry no longer available)
Backing Papers:  Papermania "Exquisite" Paper Collection (very old)
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
ProMarkers
My Trusty Sewing Machine 
Iridescent Cord
Sketch Number "Thirty Seven" from my little sketch library


So here we are three days into the sparkly new year and already I have broken one of my new year resolutions.  I vowed to be in bed before midnight throughout the week .. .. so what time did I fall into bed last night .. .. 1.30am .. .. and it wasn't even as if I had fallen asleep on the settee!!

But I have worked on another of my resolutions which is to use up some of the half used paper stacks I have.  Today's card used a bit of one such paper pad and others have started disappearing by being used to make small envelopes for my teeny, tiny cards.

Oh well .. .. one broken and one worked on so that makes things even LOL!!!

Catch you again soon.