FOR THE LOVE OF POPPIES

Hi Everyone

Happy Friday .. .. another weekend is nearly upon us and it looks like it might be a chilly one.  In fact I have even had to break out the "long sleeves" again this week!

A busy day here with quite a bit of it spent with my lovely Mum as today is her birthday.  She is now a whole 89 years young and this is the card I made for her which reflects the poppy flowers on her tea cup and lap tray .. ..

This used:

Image:   Penny Black "4065K" Bountiful
Sentiment:  Lili of the Valley "Sentiment Tags"
Backing Papers:  Frou Frou Craft "Red Poppies"
ProMarkers
Ribbon and metallic cord
My Trusty Sewing Machine

and that is it.

Many thanks for your lovely comments on my previous post .. .. I was asked how I made the jar look full of water.  To do this I stamped the jar twice and die cut them both.  Next I stuck stamped and coloured die cut flowers on top of the first jar, then trimmed an aperture into the centre of the second.  This was then glued on top of the first and then glossy accents was used to fill the aperture.  All you needed then was a barrow load of patience to leave it alone and not keep poking it to see if it was dried through.  Once it was it could be added to the card front.

So that is me for today.

Happy weekend everyone!  I am hoping for a super productive one!

MEET MY LOVELY MUM

Hi Everyone

Happy Sunday and Happy Mother's Day.  I hope all you lovely Mum's out there are having a fabby day and are being spoilt.  .

It has been a week of lots of work and lots of celebrating here as I needed to have a birthday and a wedding anniversary .. .. and now Mother's Day all in the space of less than a week.

The London Kids came last weekend and we did lots of celebrating with them too.  Not looking forward to stepping on the scales tomorrow!!  But hey .. .. life is for enjoying isn't it!!!

We have been off to my lovely Mum this morning before my brother came to collect her and this was the card I made for her .. .. super early this morning!!  Well it felt early with having to put the clocks forward.

Mum certainly didn't have any problem finding a heart that's for sure.

As I have been harping on about my Mum for over a year now I thought it might be nice for you to finally meet her (I did ask her this morning if she would mind .. .. and she was fine with it).

This is a picture I took of her at the start of this year.  Doesn't she look fabulous for 88!  She has never been a sun worshiper and I think that is why her skin is so lovely and pretty much "wrinkle free".  I never spend a lot of time in the sunshine either so I am hoping I might follow in her footsteps.

Certainly this time last year she didn't look anything like this .. .. she was one very poorly lady.  But thankfully she is made of strong stuff and we managed to "rear her" and are lucky to be able to spend more happy days with her making special memories.  Happy Mother's Day Mum xx  So happy it isn't this time last year!

Anyway, my card for Mum was made using lots of snippets that were piled up from having a wedding invitation cutting session.  All the flowers and leaves .. .. and even the jar, cut perfectly from some of the narrow strips.  I probably have enough piled up to make a few hundred of these cards LOL!!

So as there has been a culling of "a few" snippets I am running over to Pixie's Snippets Playground to see if the sun is shining and anyone is up for a go on the see-saw.

Hoping for a much less stressful week this week as last week was very hectic .. .. and hopefully a more active blog too  .. .. especially as I have a forfeit to pay for not posting a Christmas card last week!!!

Anyway that is me for today .. .. but before I go can you remember the "happy couple" who had to cancel their wedding just before Christmas because the groom was taken into hospital .. .. well they finally got married yesterday!  Yay!!  .. .. .. and the weather was just perfect for them.  I can't wait to see some photographs.

PRETTY FLOWER VASE

Hi Everyone

Happy Thursday .. .. and happy March too! 

We have had even more snow all day today .. .. and such strong winds!  The poor little birds in the garden were struggling to get to and from the bird feeder!!

I need to get cracking on some Mother's Day cards and this is my first one for this year: 

This used:

Image and Sentiment:  DigiStamp Boutique "Pretty Flower Vase"

Backing Papers:  First Edition Paper "Paper Flowers"

Nestabilities: Circle and Scalloped Circle

ProMarkers

Corner Rounding Punch

Glamour Dust

Glossy Accents

Acrylic Stones

Pearls 

Ribbon

My Trusty Sewing Machine

Our schools were all closed here today .. .. so the local kids all had an unexpected day off.  I wonder if they will get another one tomorrow?  I bet lots of little folk are hoping they will.

Stay safe and warm everyone.

LOVE YOU MUM

Hi Everyone

Here bright and early today .. .. but only because I am sharing the last of my Mother's Day cards that I made last week.  This is now the end of my "ready and waiting to be posted" makes.

This used:

Image:  Digistamp Boutique: Sketchy Flowers (this is just one of the flowers from a set of four)
Sentiment:  Digistamp Boutique:  Mother's Day Set
Backing Paper:  Pink Petticoat "Marshmallow"
X-Cut Punch:  Butterfly (stamped with a crackle glaze stamp and distressed)
Glamour Dust (for the flower tips)
Ribbon, cord and charm from my stash box

All layered up and printed out using Serif Page Plus.  A programme that I need to play with much, much  more!!

There were a few questions in my comments and by email yesterday about my snippet make yesterday.

The image is a stamp from Penny Black called "Scented Message" Ref. No. 4239K and it has fast become one of my favourite floral images.  I was tempted to buy it at the NEC last March but showed restraint and put it back onto the shelf .. .. but I couldn't get it out of my head and ended up buying it a few months later LOL!!

The backing papers were from Nitwits "Potting Shed Too"

The last question is hard to answer.  How do I manage to tie two ribbons together at the same time .. .. well no magic answer for that one I'm afraid .. .. just lots and lots of practice I suppose! (Hoping that is the right way to spell practice .. .. I never know if it is an "s" or a "c" .. .. if anyone can teach me that then please do).

So now round to the wedding fayre report.

Thank you for all your good wishes .. .. it was a lovely day.  Beautiful sunshine for most of the day.

There seemed to be fewer visitors than normal and possibly fewer exhibitors .. .. but I was the only one offering wedding stationery .. .. which was good.  Lots of interest and some folk who I know will definitely be getting in touch .. .. and one customer who sent an email before I had even packed away, ordering one of my framed table plans!  

Some of my current "happy couples" came and paid us a visit too and some of them were signing their samples off .. .. which now means I have lots of work to be getting on with.  I love hearing everyone's plans and sharing in their excitement.

As always we got to sit and eat a gorgeous cupcake from one of the ladies who exhibits.  Every time we go we are treated to one.  But then we were also given samples of ice cream and sorbet from a lady who was exhibiting an old fashioned ice-cream cart fixed to a bicycle.  That was all super scrummy too and very popular.

We came away feeling very full !!!  LOL!!!

So off to get some wedding work done now and I will catch you again soon.

Love

THANKS A BUNCH

Hi Everyone

Friday night .. .. woo hoo!!!

Fish and chip night cooked by my lovely hubby along with mushy peas and potato fritters!!!   Mmmmm ....  I look forward to Friday night all week  (no calories involved because there will be no bread and butter LOL!!).

Just a quick post from me tonight with a card I made whilst trying to get a few last minute Mother's Day cards done.  I love this little chappie and thought he would work well to thank a special Mum for all her hard work.

This used:

Image:  Trimcraft Celebrations Fizzy Moon "C/S FM Bunch"
Sentiment:  Elzybells (sadly no longer trading)
Backing Papers:  Pink Petticoat
Nestabilities:  Classic Circle Large and Scalloped Circle Large
ProMarkers
My Trusty Sewing Machine
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
Diamond Stickles

and that is it!!!

I am entering my creation into the Ready Teddy Go Challenge for March .. .. where the theme is "Mum's the Word". 

I hope that you all have a lovely weekend.

Off now for a soak in a lovely hot bubbly bath ahead of my lovely Friday night treat!  I always was a cheap date!!  I cost almost nothing to run you know!!  No wonder I was snapped up and married by the time I was 19!!

See you tomorrow at some stage .. .. .. amongst my wedding fayre preparations.

Love

MARSHMALLOW

Hi Everyone

Well today has been beautiful here weather wise .. .. I have even managed to dry some washing outside and it smells gorgeous!!  (The down side being I have now put clothes into what was an empty ironing basket .. .. boo hoo!!).

I was hoping to have taken part in Sandra's Rudolph Day Challenge this week .. .. but sadly time just hasn't allowed it. Sorry Sandra :-(   

Even this morning I was hopeful I might manage a last minute appearance but like every other day in the House of Hearts I expect far too much of myself.  The day has flown by on Mother's Day makes, orders and wedding work.  We also have another wedding fayre happening on Sunday and I still want to do some new samples for that too.  

So somehow with everything else that is going on Christmas just had to wait .. .. and I consoled myself with the thought that there are still 300 sleeps to go until the special day .. . well that is the number according to the fabby little calculator here.  I don't know about you but I always count things in "sleeps" LOL!!!

Currently Mothering Sunday makes have to be high on my list at the moment (10 sleeps) so here is one of my Mothering Sunday creations:

This used:

Sentiment:  Pink Petticoat "Lovely Mum Sentiments"

Backing Papers:  Pink Petticoat "Marshmallow Paper Pack" (New this week and offer until Sunday)

Josy Rose:  Nail Heads

My Trust Sewing Machine

Diamond Stickles (though you probably can't see it)

Ribbons from my stash box

So there we go with my share for today.  There shouldn't be any problems with the heart tonight .. .. but it would appear that a few of you struggled last night .. .. but I do think I have been being just a tad too kind recently LOL!!!

Anyway, there were lots of hearts would you believe .. .. and here are just a few of them on the top of some of the cupcakes.

Easy when you know where!

Have a lovely evening everyone.

Love

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

Hi Everyone

Another really lovely day here with beautiful sunshine (lovely apart from the fact that the sunshine makes my windows look like they are in need of a bit of a treat!!  LOL!!!).

A quick share tonight for adding to my pile of Mother's Day cards.  Some people are looking for flat ones for posting so this will be one of those .. ..  the little pearls are tiny enough to keep the card away from the dreaded "large letter" price bracket!

This used:

Image Digistamp Boutique "Flower Border"
Sentiment:  Digistamp Boutique "Mother's Day Set" (part of a Mother's Day set that I was persuaded to buy by the lovely Katina's beautiful make here)
Backing Papers:  DCWV "Citrus Stack"
X-Cut Butterfly Punch
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
My Trusty Sewing Machine
ProMarkers
Self Adhesive Pearls

and that is it!

I am going to enter this into the Digistamp Boutique Competition for February.

So that is me for today .. .. a super quick post for a change.

Love

SUNDAY SNIPPETS

Hi Everyone

Happy Sunday to everyone.  It looks like it is going to be a lovely day .. .. the sun is making a very welcome appearance and melting the frost away.

I am up and about bright and early .. .. .. which is quite a surprise considering the time we went to bed last night!!!  Or should I say "this morning"  Our evening with friends just flew by :-(

But for some reason I woke up far too early for my own good and just couldn't switch my brain off .. .. so instead of lying in bed thinking about all the things I want to do (and need to do) I decided I might as well get up and do some of them LOL!!

So here is my snippet share for the day.  I am quite chuffed with how this one turned out.  The sentiment is actually part of a Mother's Day collection from Pink Petticoat but I think it would work for a birthday card too.

As always I am super lazy on a Sunday and don't list my ingredients but if you need to know about anything then just shout and I will try my best to help.

I have been trying to catch up with a few blogs this morning but keep getting error messages and trouble with blogs loading .. .. hopefully this is just a little hiccup and everything will settle down soon . . .. but just in case Mr Blogger is due to fall out with me I thought I had better skip over to the playground to share my creation in Pixie's Crafty Snippet Challenge sooner rather than later.   It is a great place to play if you fancy joining in and everyone is always made to feel so welcome by the lovely Di and all the other playmates!!

I am hoping for a big wedding stationery production day.  Yesterday was spent getting household jobs done (and all the dreaded ironing out of the way) so now I can settle myself at the dining room table and get stuck in.  Yay!!!

Have a lovely day everyone.

Love

MUM'S ARE LIKE BUTTONS

Hi Everyone

I hope the week is treating you well  .. .. sorry I am not getting around to visiting you all .. .. I am still ploughing my way through lots of lovely orders .. .. some of which are now centering around Mother's Day which is only a few weeks away!!

So even though I can't spend much time in blogland I can at least show you some of the things I am making that I "can" share .. .. .. and this is one of them which is using a gorgeous new paper pack that the lovely Liz from Pink Petticoat has just released.  All the papers are lovely scrummy shades of yellow and grey!!  Just stunning.  No stamping or colouring needed for this one!!

so this used:

Sentiment:  Pink Petticoat "Mum's are like buttons"
Backing Papers:  Pink Petticoat "Isabelline" (22 gorgeous papers on offer until Friday at £1.99)
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
My Trusty Sewing Machine
Button, ribbon, cord and charm from My Stash Box

Short and sweet but a quick appearance in-between jobs is better than another "no show" day!

OK time to go and thread diamante buckles onto ribbons!!

Have a good evening everyone.

Love

ONE FOR MUM

Hi Everyone

Well this is a much more respectable time don't you think?

The living/dining room is no longer like a stationery cupboard and the weekend starts here .. .. and all is good in The House of Hearts.

Mr Heart is going to be cooking the meal tonight and hopefully I can play with a few more bits of card and paper whilst he gets on with it!! 

So today's share is a Mother's Day card .. .. but no good if the Mum suffers from "koumpounophobia" .. .. the fear of buttons (Di loves using long words on her blog .. .. I wonder if she will be impressed with my 15 letter offering? LOL!!!).

Liz at Pink Petticoat has released a lovely set of Mums are like Buttons Sentiments and I just had to "own and use" them.  

This used:

Backing Papers:  Raspberry Road "Cute As A Button"

Sentiment:  Pink Petticoat

Cuttlebug Embossing Folder:  Button Strip

Martha Stewart Punch:  Doily Lace

X-Cut Punch:  Small Flowers

My Trusty Sewing Machine

Glamour Dust

Ribbon and buttons from the Stash Box

So there we are.  A much more civilised hour to be posting.  

I wish everyone a really good weekend and hope the sun shines on you.

Love

MY SECRET IS OUT !!!

Hi Everyone

Another quick one from me today.  No colouring required !!!  LOL!!!

But whilst rushing around this evening I have dropped a huge clanger.  I left that drawer open in our bedroom into which I had stashed all of my ribbons a few weeks ago.

Picture the scene .. ..

Hubby walks in and sees them all .. .. I was right behind him kicking myself for being so forgetful in leaving it open and I could see him just stop in his tracks and stare at the open drawer.

Hubby says "What on earth is all that doing in there?  Those drawers are meant to be for clothes!!"

I laugh and say "Oh no .. .. my secret is out .. .. they have been stashed in there for ages.  Even blogland knows they are in there .. .. we have been wondering how long it would be before you found out".

Hubby then laughs himself and says "Well let's face it.  You never buy any clothes so I can't expect there to be any in there can I!"

So my secret is out .. .. but it looks like I got away with it!!  Phew!!!  LOL!!!

So here is tonight's share:

This used:

Sentiment:  Elzybells (sadly no longer trading)
Stamp used on dress:  "90355-Y" Inkadinkado
Backing Paper:  Aimee Asher
Sizzix Dies:  "657186" Sewing Room and "38-1058" Eyelet Washers #2
My Trust Sewing Machine
X-Cut Punch:  Small flower
Distress Ink:  Tea Dye
Pinking Shears
Ribbon, Pearls and Embroidery Thread and Gem from the Stash Box

The Sewing Room Die is just a little too big for my card fronts so I had to cut the stand and tuck it under the dress form.  That is why it looks a little more "squat" than it should be.

I will catch up with you all sometime.  The House of Hearts is busy in wedding mode and I have a wedding fayre on Sunday that I need to finish preparing for.

So I may be a bit absent for a little while .. .. but will return your visits eventually I promise.

Have a good evening.

Love

HOW MANY YEARS?

Hi Everyone

Well here I am bright and early as promised ahead of my hot date tonight!!!

It is our wedding anniversary today and hubby and I always have a home cooked romantic dinner for two to celebrate.  When the kids were little they used to get sent to bed early so we could have the evening to ourselves .. .. but no need for that anymore .. .. our nest is now empty  :-(

So I am posting early and then computers will be switched off and my attention will belong to hubby and hubby alone!!!  Soppy aren't I?!?!?!?

I have cleared the table ready and now need to start preparing some of the food.  We will cook together (whilst sampling the red wine).  Can't wait!!

Anyway, just to show I haven't just been daydreaming about tonight all day here is one of today's creations

This used:

Image:  Penny Black "3865K" Gossamer

Sentiment:  Pink Petticoat

Backing Papers:  Aimee Asher

Koh-I-Noor pencils blended with Sansodor Solvent

Tiny beads attached with Glossy Accents

Crystal Stickles

Ribbons and flower from the Stash Box

OK .. .. so that is me for today.  Time to go and get the table laid and the candles ready for lighting!!

Catch you again tomorrow .. .. oh and I nearly forgot .. .. how many lovely years are we celebrating being together  .. .. well just the 36 .. .. ..  but it feels more like 12 (which is a bit weird when we have lads that are 31 and 27)  LOL!!

So now you know how ancient I must be .. .. but I am very young at heart!!!!!!!!

Have a lovely evening everyone.

Love