CHEESECAKE WISH

Hi Everyone

I hope everyone is OK. 

Its a bit dull and cold here today and we had quite a frost this morning.  Hubby's car was all frosted over first thing!!!

I thought I would share a bit earlier today as I have quite a bit planned for the rest of the day.  

So here is today's share using the very first ever Penny Black stamp I bought .. .. I think he is my all time favourite. 

I wonder if that is because he was the first?    If my house was burning down and I was only allowed to grab one stamp out of my whole collection it would be this one.  Oh dear .. that was a depressing thought .. .. we will leave that one there!!!  Too painful to think about!!!

Anyway, here it is

This used:

Image:  Penny Black "1652J" Cheesecake Wish

Sentiment:  Funky Hand "Craft The Year Away CD" - Hobo Font
Backing Papers:  Aimee Asher

Woodware Punches:  Flowers

Martha Stewart Punch:  Frond

Josy Rose:  Nail Heads

Glimmer Mist sprayed on the flower

ProMarkers

Glamour Dust

Ribbon and Brad from the Stash Box

You might remember that last week I mentioned that I might need to ice a cake for a friend .. .. .. well the dreaded day came and I did it this morning.  Luckily the cake was already iced and all I needed to do was to ice a football emblem onto a cake and the words "Happy Birthday Doug 70" in a circle around the emblem and then two circles to encase it all .. .. .. .. all in black icing!!!

Well all I can say is .. .. a blind man would be glad to see it and no way was I putting a photograph onto my blog .. .. I am sticking to the cardmaking LOL!!!

At least my friend was pleased and hopefully Doug will be too. 

My lappy still hasn't come back from the computer hospital yet .. .. and it has been two weeks now!!!  I am beginning to think that it is poorlier than they first thought (as though needing a new hard drive wasn't bad enough).

Enjoy the rest of today.

Catch you again tomorrow.

Love

GET FUNKY!

Hi there everyone

I hope you had a wonderful Valentine evening.

The House of Hearts was a romantic place to be .. .. but I can still smell the cooking from last night .. .. it was lovely at the time but not so attractive this morning!!  So all the windows and the back door is open and hopefully the fresh air will soon do its business.

Today it is my turn to launch the new challenge over at Get Funky!

My post is all done and scheduled and should be appearing anytime now .. .. if all has gone to plan!!!

Here is the creation I used to launch the month

This used:

All Patterned Papers:  Funky Hand CD "Craft the Year Away"
Sentiment:  Funky Hand "Our Betty" Stamps set "Love N That"
Martha Stewart Punch:  Embossed Zig Zag
Sizzix Dies:  "656640" Tattered Florals and "655217" Swirl
Brad, Ribbon and Gems from the Stash Box

Actually not all of the papers are from the CD.  The strip of hearts has actually been cut from the freebie paper that Anice has designed especially for the the challenge this month.

Tee hee .. .. .. as you might have guessed I am making the most of all the love that is around at the moment and asking that you "show us your heart".

I hope that you get chance to play along with us and Get Funky!  All the rules and the link to the free paper can be found on the challenge blog here.

Have a lovely day everyone.  As my post is nice and early today that should mean I can have a good old blog catch up tonight .. .. mega behind with my hopping!!!!

Love

HUBBY'S VALENTINE

Hi Everyone

Happy Valentine's Day .. .. whatever you are doing!!!

A mega quick share tonight as romance abounds in the House of Hearts .. .. ..  romantic dinner for two on the cards!!  (Hope I can stay awake as we were awake at 6 o'clock so we could exchange cards before hubby went off to work LOL!!)

Here is the valentine card I made for my hubby .. .. my very first black base card.

This used:

Backing Papers:  Hot Off the Press
Hearts and Love sentiment:  Elusive Images
Sentiment:  Computer Generated
Sizzix:  Heart Die
Cuttlebug Embossing Folder:  Music Notes
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
Gold embossing powder
White Gel Pen
Ribbon from the Stash Box

So that is my share for today  .. .. I am back early in the morning as it is my turn to kick off the Get Funky! Challenge.  Can you believe it will be the Funky 15th again so soon .. .. .. but first a romantic 14th!!

Catch you tomorrow.

Love

JULES' CRAFTY SNIPPET CHALLENGE - WEEK 6

Hi Everyone

Right that is it!!

After lots of brain searching and internet checking my personal challenge has a better name .. .. Jules' Crafty Snippet Challenge (you would be surprised how many blogs and challenges there are out there .. .. and all the titles I thought of seemed to clash with something).  I don't want to be accused of stealing someone elses' names or ideas!!

Hopefully this little title is OK for me to use .. .. and from now on all my scrap card/paper and ribbon is going to be classed as a snippet .. .. as in something that has been snipped off something much larger in times gone by that has been sitting waiting to be put to good use.

So, what did I do to fulfill my crafty snippet challenge today?

Well here we go.. ..

This used: 

The compulsory snippets
Images and sentiment:  Woodware Clear Stamps "FRCL004" His Birthday

This one used:

Woodware Punch:  Square
Sizzix Die:  Flower Layers #5
Cuttlebug Embossing Folder:  Swiss Dots
Sentiment Stamp:  Anitas
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
Distress Ink:  Tea Dye (this made the edges of the squares look so much cooler)

A little tip here .. .. when I stamped the sentiment it was one of those scary moments as I stamped it once the square was attached to my card (silly girl!!!).  The stamping didn't work and I had a couple of letters missing .. .. I daren't risk writing the letters with a pen as the colour was unlikely to match .. .. so I wrote with a cocktail stick that I had rolled over my ink pad to collect the colour.  The job was a good one .. .. phew .. .. lucky me!!! 

More paper piecing here and this one used:

The compulsory snippets
Image:  Magenta I-0415
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads

and my last for today .......... using one of my favourite background stamps.

This used: 

Background image:  Inkadinkado 00355-Y
Flower and border:  Stampendous "SSC094" Loved Filled Topper Set
Sentiment:  Docrafts
Martha Stewart Punch:  Frond
Ultra Thick Embossing Powder and Lakeland Stamp for making the impression
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads and Acrylic Stone

Lots of embossing going on with this one.  I put lots of fine layers on the black leaves (they are really shiny but you can't really tell from the photo .. .. and the flower was one of those things that just happened whilst playing.  I stamped the flower on a deep purple snippet originally but decided it looked a bit boring like that so it ended up having a bit of a makeover with some coloured embossing powder that had a bit of mica powder in it.  Not a bad finished look.

So those are my creations.  There won't always be four of them .. .. .. it is just a coincidence that there were four last week and four this.

Right so now it is time to see what others have been doing with their snippets  .. .. a couple of new faces this week!!

First off a longstanding blog buddy "Juls" hit her snippets  .. .. to see her lovely creation you need to click here.  Fantastic makes Juls .. .. and I think those torn strips are just wonderful .. .. they might be making an appearance here soon LOL!!!

Next up is "Cat" who has utilised some waxed background papers that were made a while ago and have been used on a brilliant make.  Such gorgeous colours on this one.  If you would like a little look you need to wander over to here.  Cat is actually my daughter in law (the beautiful bride you saw in the photograph on my blog on Friday - she doesn't really live in a shoe box as her blog suggests - she might be tiny .. .. .. but not "that" tiny!! LOL"").

Then we have the ever eagre "Annmaree" and I am loving her bright and beautiful make  .. .. ..  and all those beautiful hearts!!  Thanks Annmaree .. it is gorgeous.  To have a peep at this lovely make you need to go here.

Lastly for this week we have "Lynne".  A really gorgeous creation in such beautiful colours.  I love the layout and the detail on this one very much.  (Plus Lynne keeps trying to tempt me with those gorgeous Waltzing Mouse stamps  .. .. I did sneek a quick look but only got as far as the first screen as I just know I would want so many things .. .. I am working on the assumption at the moment that if I don't see it I can't want it LOL!!).  To see Lynne's lovely creation (and the link to the tempting stamp blog) just click here

Thank you ladies.  Lots of inspiration being shared.

I am quite proud of myself as my snippet drawers are definitely reducing .. .. I even remember to dip into them first when crafting during the week too.

A few folk are querying the "rules" etc of taking part!!!

These are "my" rules:

No cutting into any "whole" piece of paper or card
No images unless they don't need colouring or can be paper pieced (I only put this one in because I would just spend time colouring instead of using up my snippets).

No cutting ribbon off a reel

Although these are my rules they don't have to be yours.  It would just be nice if we could rid our workspaces of some of the clutter and snippets that seem to hang around. 

If you want to share a creation or have some tips on using up the snippets then leave a comment on this post to let me know and I can link to you next week and share your creations/tips.

Have a lovely rest of Sunday and a great week.

Valentines Day tomorrow .. .. I hope you have all made your cards!!!!

Love

PENNY BLACK SATURDAY CHALLENGE

Hi Everyone

I hope you have had a really good Saturday.

The weather was deceptively bright and beautiful this morning so when hubby said he needed to nip out I asked if he would mind dropping me off so I could raid the ribbon counter at our local market.

Off we wandered and hubby decided he fancied a walk around the market too (I knew he wanted to visit the old fashioned cheese counter though - not my ribbon stall).  It didn't take long before we realised it wasn't as warm as it actually looked .. .. we could have done with some form of coat really.  Anyone would think we were going for a stroll in summer!!!  Still it made us hurry up.

So after all that I will now share a card that doesn't feature any of the lovely ribbon I bought today LOL!!!

It is for the Penny Black Saturday Challenge where the theme this week is "pretty in pink".

This used:
Image:  Penny Black "1738K" Uplifting Occasion!

Backing Papers:  All from Funky Hand CD "Craft the Year Away"

Woodware Punches:  Daisy

Martha Stewart Punch:  Frond

X-Cut Punch:  Butterfly

Brads and black pearls from the Stash Box

I don't know about "pretty in pink"  the image looks like "kitty in pink" LOL!!  He looks well comfortable doesn't he?

Well rather a late one for me.  Hubby has been to football to watch his team lose again :-(  so I have been crafting away in my little craft pod not realising how time was passing.  Sorry folks.

Anyways, that is me for today.  Just a little reminder that the Penny Black at Allsorts Challenge  (Say It With Flowers) is still going strong if you fancy a play over there.

Back tomorrow with my personal battle against the scrap.

Have a lovely evening everyone.

Love

FRIDAY SKETCHERS

Hi Everyone

Friday is here .. .. woo hoo!!!

As I am into my sketches at the moment I thought I would use the one provided by Friday Sketchers today for one of my creations.

This is what I made:

This used:

Image:  Penny Black "2070K" Frequent Flyer

Sentiment:  Pink Petticoat

Backing Papers:  Papermania "Hampstead" A Warm Welcome

Martha Stewart Punch:  Doily Lace
Nestabilities:  Circles Large
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads

X-Cut Punch:  Flower
ProMarkers
Crystal Stickles

Buttons and Raffia from the Stash Box

This is the sketch for following if you fancy playing along:

Another lovely sketch for my sketch file. 

Next it is time for me to make amends and say thank you to the lovely people who have very kindly thought of me and bestowed awards on me.  Thank you ladies.

I will deal with them in the order I received them.  Of course they all come with conditions!!!  The first for all of them I have dealt with as I have said thank you .. .. but then I have to reveal some facts about myself oeerrr!!!!  Well here we go ...

The first one .. .. and I feel very guilty about this one .. .. is from my lovely blog buddy Lesley.  I have been sitting on this one for quite a while I'm afraid.  Sorry Lesley!!

Now I need to reveal 3 facts about myself

1.  I married my lovely hubby when I was 19 years and 3 days old!!

2.  My dentist told me not to get married because I was too young (but I didn't listen).

3.  I passed my driving test first time .. .. even though after doing my "mock test" the night before my instructor said "you do realise you aren't going to pass tomorrow don't you?".  I wonder if this was his way of stopping peoples nerves as it meant you didn't have anything to live up to?

Next I have to share a photograph I love.

It was taken at the wedding of my eldest son and shows my "big boy" .. .. my lovely daughter in law .. .. and my lovely Mother in Law who unfortunately is no longer with us (but is still in our hearts and memories). 

My next award has come from the talented Sally.  Thanks Sal.  Thankfully I haven't had this one hanging around for quite so long so don't feel so guilty about this one.

I now have to reveal another 3 facts about myself.

1.  I am a middle kid .. .. having an older brother and a younger sister.

2.  As a child we lived in a house that overlooked a field full of cows.  We used to feed the cows any stale bread and once we saw one of them give birth to a calf.  I also used to stir the cowpats up with a stick!!  (I was a lovely child).

3.  I used to be frightened of needles .. .. but this disappeared once my children arrived on the scene and now I can give blood without even thinking about it.

OK then .. ..

I am now round to my third and last one:

This award came from a lovely fellow blogger Tina.   I have only recently got to know Tina through her winning my Penny Black at Allsorts blog hop prize last month. 

Shock horror .. .. for this one I have to give you another 8 facts.   Gosh I shall have no secrets left soon.....

I will try to keep them short

1.  Ice cubes in our house are heart shaped LOL!!

2.  I have a box into which I have put every handmade card I have ever received .. .. I love looking through them!!

3.  I have two babies .. .. both boys.  One lives in London and the other about 4 miles away.

4.  I can (or could) write shorthand at 120 words per minute.

5.  I delete emails that come through onto my computer advertising craft stash without opening them. 

6.  I limit my internet time otherwise time just disappears.  So if I haven't managed to see everything I want to see then that is tough.  Time is precious. 

7.  I never read story books (unless it is to a child).

8.  I love my blog!!  But not as much as I love my hubby and my babies.

Phew .. .. there we go. 

If you get chance to pop along to the blogs of the ladies who very kindly gave me these awards then I promise you will be well pleased you did.  They are all fantastic crafters and make the most awesome creations.

As always though I never pass these awards on.   I am very naughty.   I just can't choose people  -  everyone's blog is amazing and there is inspiration to be found everywhere.

So if you would like to take one or all of them please do. 

So next it is my bath time and then my special Friday dinner will be ready as prepared by my lovely hubby. 

Have a good evening everyone.

Love

WHO IS THIS CUTE CHAPPIE?

Hi Everyone

Hope you have had a good day .. .. mine has flown by far too quickly .. .. .. a bit like this whole week really.

First things first.  How did the cake icing go last night???  Well my friend was short of one vital ingredient .. .. black food colouring .. .. so we weren't able to do the decorating.  Not sure if I will be needed or not now - we will have to wait and see.

So what did we do instead.  Well, we talked and talked and talked and we drank coffee and opened the box of Thornton's chocolates that Santa delivered  LOL!!!  What a lovely evening!!!  (The men were at a little re-union thingy so we could chat away to our hearts content without having to let them get a word in edgeways).

Now round to my share of the day ...

This used:

Image, papers and sentiment .. .. all from Funky Hand "Craft The Year Away" CD

Sizzix Die:  Stars #2

Josy Rose:  Nail Heads

Cuttlebug Embossing Folder:  Stars

Cord from the Stash Box

This must be the quickest card I have ever made and because I felt so guilty at it being quick I gave his head an extra layer LOL!!

Everything was done off Anice's new CD - Craft The Year Away.  You just re-size everything to what you want ... write what words you want, print what you want.. .. .. and I just love this little chappie so much.   It is a little hard to explain how it all works if you didn't manage to catch Anice on Create and Craft .. .. .. but there is a little demo here that might help.

He is fantastic for male cards.  I love this striped paper too .. .. it reminds me of some PJ's I had as a child!!

So that is me for today.

I will catch you again tomorrow and hopefully will manage a bit of blog hopping later too.  Food to finish preparing first though!!

Have a good evening and thanks for calling by.

Love

I LIKE IT .. .. BUT WILL ANYONE ELSE?

Hi Everyone

I am a bit earlier tonight  .. .. .. we have visitors coming and need to be bathed, fed and watered by 7.30pm!!

So important things first .. .. up-date my blog LOL!!!

This is the card I have chosen to share today.  I really enjoyed making it but am not sure if it will be to everyone's taste.

This used:

Images:  My Paper World "Grasses and Embellishments"
Sentiment:  Computer Generated
Backing Papers:  Memory Stor
Fiskars Punch:  Threading Water
Sizzix Die:  Tattered Florals
Cuttlebug Folder:  Script
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
Distress Inks
Embossing Powder .. .. various colours blended together
Ribbon, Cord, Feathers and Button from the Stash Box

So that is my share for today.

Off to the bath next!!

I hope I get time for some blog hopping later .. .. but if not then I apologise in advance and will catch you tomorrow.

There is a slight chance I might be on cake icing duty this evening.  A 70th birthday cake needs finishing off and my friend has injured her wrist and needs to wear a splint .. .. if the splint is still on tonight then my pinny goes on!!!

Oh dear!!!  Hope I can do her design justice!!!  (Lisa where are you?  I need you!!! LOL!!!).

Have a good evening everyone.

Love

AN OLDIE BUT A GOODIE

Hi Everyone

What a beautiful day .. .. gorgeous sunshine .. .. and dare I say I washed, dried and ironed today!!!  What a domestic goddess!!  Tee hee!!!

Only one card I can share today as the rest are orders .. .. but I feel it is a nice share anyway.

I am going to enter it into the Oldie But A Goodie challenge.  Quite a difficult one for me .. .. they want you to add a heart to your creation.  I struggled but managed it eventually LOL!!

Here is my make:

This used:

Image:  Penny Black "2073J" Baby Hammock

Sentiment:  Whispers Words by Docraft

Backing Papers:  Pink Petticoat

Josy Rose:  Nail Heads

Nestabilities: Standard Circles Large, Classic Scalloped Circles Large

ProMarkers

Glamour Dust

Ribbon and Buttons from the Stash Box

I love making baby cards though this sentiment always makes me laugh when I use it .. .. "Congratulations on your New Baby" .. .. ... have you ever known anyone to have an "old" baby?   

Mmmmmm ...  well perhaps the Mother in the film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button .. .. now that is one film I have actually managed to stay awake through so it must have been good.

I have been the lucky recipient of a couple of awards too.  Thank you ladies.  I will get them posted soon .. .. when I can think of some more interesting facts about me .. ... I am beginning to think you know all there is to know about me (that is ignoring the bits I am far to embarrassed to share with anyone LOL!!).

Have a great evening everyone.

Love

MOJO MONDAY

Hi Everyone

I hope you have all had a good Monday .. .. always tough starting a new week isn't it!!  Especially if you had a good weekend.

It has been very windy here.  I did try my washing outside but got fed up with needing to keep rescuing it .. .. LOL!!!

I fancied the look of the Mojo Monday sketch this week so decided to play along. 

Here is my creation:

This used:

Image:  Penny Black "3377K" Whispers
Sentiment:  Anitas
Backing Paper:  Aimee Asher
Josy Rose:  Acrylic Stones

Nestabilities: Standard Circles Large, Classic Scalloped Circles Large
ProMarkers
Ribbon from the Stash Box

Here is the sketch

This is definitely one that is going to go into my sketch file.  Lovely to use .. .. thank you ladies!!

Have a good evening everyone.

Catch you again tomorrow.

Love

SUNDAY SCRAP - WEEK 5

Hi Everyone

Hope you are having a happy scrappy Sunday!!!

Mine is a very happy one because my Son has come round for the day to be fed and watered.  We told him not to visit whilst we were unwell in case we passed our germs on.  We wouldn't like to think we had made anyone else feel as rubbish as we have the last few weeks.

So today I am being a good wife and mother and doing a roast beef and yorkshire pud dinner.  It feels like a celebration day .. .. .. but then I suppose every day should be celebrated.

Although I am being super good around the kitchen I have still had my scrap stocks out again in an attempt to reduce them a little further.  I must be getting somewhere as some of my little drawers do actually close now!!  Woo hoo!!!

Quite a few of you are playing along and are either offering creations for us all to look at or are finding tututorials or ideas for us to use.  Thank you for that.

Lots of you are also wanting to play along .. .. but feel you can't because you do not have time to craft on a Sunday.

Don't worry about that!!!  Sunday is "my" scrap day but it doesn't have to be yours.  I just find that by being strict with myself and allocating an actual day I stick to my rules better.  The rest of the week I am making creations for orders or stock for craft fayres etc .. so consider Monday to Friday my "working week" .. .. but the weekends are my "make what I fancy days" (unless I am behind with my orders of course LOL!!!).

I have had quite a productive scrap day today .. .. must be because I am feel chipper again.

The first thing I wanted to try this week was the "herringbone technique" that Annmaree found on Youtube here.   Annmaree showcased the look last week and I just couldn't wait to try it.

Here is my attempt at the technique:

This used:

The compulsory scrap papers
Sentiment Stamp:  Anitas
Go Kreate Die:  Concentrics :  Frilly Square #3
Shapeabilities:  Nested Flower
Martha Stewart Punch:  Frond
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
Brad and Ribbon from the Stash Box

Next I decided to do my version of the "dotty makes" that you can find here.

Not too sure about this one!!!




This used:


The compulsory scrap papers
Sentiment: Woodware "FRCL 167"
Nestabilities: Scalloped Circles
Martha Stewart Punch: Valentine Lace
Woodware Punches: Flowers and Circles
Josy Rose: Nail Heads
Buttons from the Stash Box

The next two are made by paper piecing.

This one used:

The compulsory scrap paper
Background Stamp:  Elusive "32531" Script Background
Pattern Stamp:  Stampendous "N156"  Argyle Border
Flower (embossed in gold on scrap vellum for the first layer and patterned scrap for the second) :  Anitas
Sizzix:  Dragonfly #3
Distress Inks
Brad and Eyelets from the Stash Box


and finally

This used:

The compulsory scrap papers
Image:  Forever Friends (Docrafts)
Sentiment:  Whispters Words (Docrafts) - only part of the stamp used
Woodware Punch:  Flowers
Nestabilities: Small Deckled Mega Rectangles
Martha Stewart Punch:  Valentine Lace
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
Diamond Stickles
Ribbon from the Stash Box


So after all of that .. .. ..  who else attacked their scrap last week?

Well Lynne has some scraps she would like to use up and joined in by creating a beautiful card to inspire us here.  I just love the little vellum flowers and the curvy background.  This lovely creation  inspired me to get into the scrap vellum stocks too so a double thank you Lynne,  one for the inspiration and one for sharing your lovely project.

Sally has two creations to show .. .. one that she made last Sunday but was not sure whether to share .. .. and another she has created today.  I think both are gorgeous Sally and I am so pleased you decided to share them with us.  Two completely different creations which you are able to see here.

Next is Carole .. .. who is becoming as big a scrap fanatic as I am.  She has created a wonderful card this week that I fell totally in love with.  When you see it you will realise why .. .. .. you will find it here. 

Please take time to look all around the blogs of these three very talented crafters as they all have some awesome creations on show.

No links to new ideas this week .. .. but hopefully there will be some next week along with a better title for my challenge.  Sunday Scrap doesn't really feel right.

At the moment I am fancying "Sunday Snippets" and then all my scrap bits can be renamed "snippets" .. .. which makes them sound a litte more appealing.  LOL!!  But I am still open to more ideas if you have any.

Well enjoy the rest of Sunday and thanks for calling by my little blog.

Time for me to finish off our evening meal.

Catch you all soon.

Love

A SIMPLE THANK YOU

Hi Everyone

Guess what?  At long, long last I got my gold star!!! 

For the first time in over two weeks I have managed to sleep all the way through the night!!  No coughing and spluttering and being awake half of the night.  In fact I didn't wake up until 10.30am!! 

Woo hoo!!  How exciting.  I might be able to be released from Ward 2 now (the spare bedroom LOL!!) and make my way back to the big bed!!!

Anyway .. .. enough of my childish excitement and round to my share of the day.

Just a plain and simple thank you card .. .

This used:

Image:  Penny Black "3817K" Tigress
Sentiment:  Elzybells (with a few extra dots added)
Backing Papers: Docraft VandA Hanoverian
Diamond Stickles
Buttons from the Stash Box

and now I am dashing off out for a meal with friends .. .. life is starting to get back to normal.  Yeah!!

I doubt I am going to get any blog visiting in tonight so will just have to say thank you for calling by and I will see you again tomorrow with my Sunday Scrap makes.   I really do need to think up a better name for this .. .. any suggestions are very gratefully received.

Have a lovely evening everyone.

Love