SKETCH NUMBER SIXTEEN

Hi Everyone

I hope you are all having a good week.

As I am sure you will have guessed from my absence in blogland, my little world is super busy at the moment .. .. but as always, super exciting!

I have a lovely "happy couple" who are getting married on Saturday and there are still lots and lots of ribbons to be tied for that .. .. samples to be made for new "happy couples" .. .. and a wedding fayre on Sunday that I need to prepare for!!!  

Therefore, if anyone goes to the supermarket today and sees a huge bumper box of "extra time" (preferably on offer with 50% extra free) then could you grab me a couple of boxes please.  I would be very, very grateful LOL!!

So, as I can't create and post here at the moment I thought I would take this week to introduce lots of new sketches into my library so that when I "can" sit at the "general crafting station" again I can hit the ground running .. .. click on my sketch library tab and off I go.  Wish I had though of this years ago .. .. it would have saved me sooooo much time.  But hey, better late than never!

So here we go:

SKETCH NUMBER SIXTEEN

Have fun if you decide to have a play with it.

Catch you again soon with the next addition.

Have a good day .. .. I hope the sunshine makes an appearance for you.

Love

TEENY, TINY TUESDAY

Hi Everyone

I hope you had a happy Tuesday!

Another fast and busy day that has come and gone in the blink of an eye :-(

Many thanks for all the lovely comments and personal emails I received following my new website news yesterday .. .. .. you are all very kind and I appreciate them all very much..

As promised there is an actual card to share today (I hope nobody fainted there!).  Another teeny tiny 3.5" square creation that was inspired by a thank you card I received yesterday .. .. .. that too had a speech bubble on the front with the words "Just to Say" .. . and this is my take on it:

This used:

Sentiment:  Digistamp Boutique "Essential Sentiments Set"

Backing Papers:  American Crafts, Amy Tangerine, Plus One

Penny Black Die Set:  "A Pocket Full"

Distress Ink:  Peacock Fethers

Woodware Daisy Punch

My Trusty Sewing Machine

We R Memory Keepers:  Envelope Punch Board

and Sketch Number Two from my little sketch library (this little chappie certainly gets a lot of use LOL!!)

Short and sweet today!

Hope your day has been a good one.

Love

AT LAST !

Hi Everyone

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

No pictures from me today . . . just lots of happy news.

Saturday brought a lovely new bride to my doorstep who will be getting married a couple of days after Christmas .. .. my first snowflake themed table plan and venue stationery order!  How lovely .. .. Christmas excitement and wedding excitement all at the same time.   Ooooo I hope I don't burst LOL!!

Then Sunday I worked the majority of the day with my youngest Son sorting out the final touches to my new website .. .. .. and we finished very late last night with the scary scrapping of the old website .. .. .. .. and bringing the new one to life.  Gosh my Son has the patience of a Saint!  I am not the most technology blessed person in the world, and I desperately wanted to understand everything we were doing, and kept asking him question after question.  I bet he slept well last night because I feel certain I must have worn him out!

The new website is only in its infancy but I am so chuffed with it .. .. and as quite a few people had enquired as to how it was coming along I thought you might fancy a peep at some of what has been keeping me away from blogland.  You will find it here

At last a website that I can change and add pictures to myself .. .. woo hoo!  It has taken me ages to reach this stage because I have only been able to chip away at it very gradually alongside everything else.  There are lots of hidden pages that will be making an appearance as things progress, new samples and designs, and loads more photographs to take and add .. .. .. but I am really excited about what has been achieved so far.

I'm a bit excited .. .. .. can you tell?  LOL!!! 

Hoping to be here tomorrow with a teeny, tiny Tuesday make but the next job (which I should have done before now) is to get that camera battery on charge again!!

Catch you soon - I hope the day is being kind to you.

Love

I WISH I HADN'T LOOKED!

Hi Everyone

A big day today in the House of Hearts .. .. mountains of work to get through today so I thought I would post nice and early before I get stuck in. 

The new issue of Quick Cards Made Easy is out this week (Issue 144) and I was over the moon to be asked to work on a couple of commissions.

The first was a set of Christmas Cards using the Bokeh Technique.  I love them all but these were two of my favourites:

Then I can't image why I got this commission (LOL!!) .. ..  but the free cover gift with the magazine this month is a super gorgeous Nordic Heart Christmas die .. .. and surprise, surprise .. .. I love it.

I put it into a circle aperture here;

and doesn't it look fabby heat embossed in silver .. .. ..

As you can guess this lovely die is going to be getting lots of use (not that I have even made a dent in my Christmas card orders yet!!)  Eeekkk!!

I also caught a glimpse of what looks like a super interesting machine on the Quick Cards Facebook page here.  You may need to scroll down a little because it is a super busy site (or there is a link on their side bar) .. .. but look for the video showing the office trying out the First Edition Foiling Machine that has just come out.  It looks amazing.  Bet my happy couples might like that look on their creations!!!

I WISH I HADN'T LOOKED - I can't stop thinking about it now LOL!!!

Have a good day everyone.

Time for me to become hyper-active!!!

Love

TEENY, TINY TUESDAY .. .. .. JUST

Hi Everyone

I hope you are having a good week.

My week so far has been taken up with place names for a couple of weddings .. .. one set which needed menu choices adding to them .. .. and I have to admit it did make me feel rather peckish!  LOL!!

But my fingers were itching to have a little play so what better than a teeny tiny 3.5" square creation.

This is what I came up with:

This used:

Sentiment:  Penny Black Transparent Stamp Set"30-105" Gratitude

Backing Papers:  First Edition Papers:  Botanical Notes

My Trusty Sewing Machine

Buttons

We R Memory Keepers Envelope Board

and Sketch Fourteen from my little collection.

So that is me for today .. ..  my fingers are now happy at having had a play .. .. but I can't say I am happy about how early it seemed to get dark this evening.

Mr Heart took me to pick up a load of mountboard for up and coming table plans and on the drive home it was already getting dark .. .. and it was only 8 o'clock :-(

I'm not ready for summer to end yet!!!

Catch you again soon.

Love

MAKE LEMONADE!

Hi Everyone

Happy weekend .. .. where has the sunshine gone?!?!?  It is looking decidedly wet and dull here.

We have been back home from our London jaunt for a couple of days now (with the London kids coming back and staying with us until tomorrow).  That means we will have spent a whole week together and it has been so lovely.

Blood Brothers was really good .. .. and I can report that Marti Pellow was as gorgeous as ever LOL!! But in his role as the narrator I didn't get to see that stunning smile and those cheeky twinkly eyes until the curtain call right at the end ..  ..  but that's OK .. .. it was well worth the wait.  I wonder how long it will be before I stop singing the songs in my head?

Then on my return home there was a lovely package waiting on my doormat.  The Penny Black stamp I have been looking to add to my collection for quite a while .. .. and my lovely blog buddy Eve spotted it last week on Ebay and gave me the nod (thanks Eve - what a great personal shopper you are xxx).

So here it is in use:

This used:

Image:  Penny Black "1675K" Make Lemonade
Sentiment:  Pink Petticoat (sorry no longer available)
Backing Papers:  Nitwit "Bonnets 'n Bowties" Collection (beware .. .. the massive autumn sale is happening over there so only click the link if you are strong willed)
ProMarkers
My Trusty Sewing Machine
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
Glamour Dust

Ribbon and a  Button from My Crafty Stash Box

and in celebration of  new the Penny Black Stamp I have designed and added a new sketch into the collection.

Sketch Fifteen

So that is me for today.

Enjoy your weekend everyone, whatever you are doing.

Love

NEW SKETCH

Hi Everyone

I hope everyone is well and the world is being kind to you.

Once again I will apologise for my lack of appearance in blogland .. .. but "happy couples" have to come first and they are certainly keeping me super busy.

But there is a treat on the cards for me today and I am switching the computer off (and hopefully my brain) for a "hot date" with none other than the gorgeous Marti Pellow.  The London Kids treated me to a ticket earlier in the year so I have been waiting for today for many, many months (thank you kids .. .. mwah!!!).

Can't wait.  Last time I saw him he was narrating Evita .. .. .. but this time it is Blood Brothers.

A new show and storyline for me, but one which I am told I will enjoy.  But to be fair I would watch Marti doing anything.  He could be painting wall and I would just watch  LOL!!

Last time at Evita I was near enough to see his gorgeous sparkly eyes .. .. hopefully the same will be true today!  

For those enjoying my sketches I have also added Sketch Fourteen into the mix .. .. which looks like this:

I hope it is of use for those of you collecting them.  It is lovely seeing creations popping up in blogland using them.

When I get home I am hoping a pre-loved Penny Black stamp will have dropped through my letterbox and all being well I might even get chance to tickle that with a bit of colour and post it here later in the week. 

Enjoy today everyone.

Love

COMING UP FOR AIR

Hi Everyone

Golly gosh what a mad few days!

So much happening order and wedding wise that I haven't had chance to up-date my blog.  Sorry :-(

Lots of work for "Bank Holiday" wedding couples .. .. along with chipping away at September/October weddings .. ..  and new happy couples arriving on the scene too.

But thankfully the imminent deadlines are now finished and I need to get the house back in order. Starting tonight with a humongous pile of ironing.  I shall be pleased when that is out of the way that's for sure.

But for now I thought I would share with you my favourite of the makes I put together for the current issue of  Quick Cards Made Easy .. .. I really enjoyed making these:

I have also added Sketch Thirteen into the library which I am looking forward to playing with tomorrow .. .. .. and it looks like this:

So I won't put it off any longer .. .. ironing board here I come!  Gosh I do have an exciting life LOL!!

Have a lovely evening everyone.

Love

SEATING PLANS

Hi Everyone

Well here I am .. .. as promised with pictures of some of the wedding work I did for a lovely couple who got married earlier this year.

I was so lucky to be sent pictures of the table plans we designed together displayed in all their glory .. .. .. they are something I find very hard to photograph because they are so big, but this photographer did a fantastic job.  I particularly love the first black and white picture with the frame displayed beautifully alongside that fabby old typewriter!

So this is the first table plan which was for the actual wedding day itself:

and this is the second seating plan which was for the wedding celebration party the following day .. .. how lovely to have two days of celebrations.

I wonder if this will be the biggest table plan I will ever do .. .. a top table and 27 guest tables. 

I am so grateful to Maxine and James for allowing me to share their pictures .. thank you so very much xxxx.  They were such a lovely couple to work for and I feel certain they are going to be happy together for ever and a day!

It only feels right to thank the photographer too for their stunning work and I have linked to their website here .. .. Andy Porter Photography

So there we go.  A little glimpse at some of what I get up to when I am not making "teeny, tiny cards" LOL!!

I'll catch you again soon.

Love

TEENY, TINY TUESDAY

Hi Everyone

Happy Tuesday.  I hope you have had a good day.

Teeny tiny Tuesday time again already .. .. .. not that I am complaining.  Today has been a mega productive day in the House of Hearts .. .. .. another 20 or so like today and I would be a very happy bunny!!

Is 20 being greedy?  OK then I will settle for 14 (at a push LOL!!).

So here is my teeny, tiny 3.5 x 3.5" make for this week:

This used:

Backing Papers:  Wild Rose Studios "Peach Blossom"

Sentiment:  Stampin' Up "Banner Banter"

Cuttlebug Embossing Folder "Swiss Dots"

My Trusty Sewing Machine

Twine Flower made with my Crazy Daisy Flower Loom

White Gel Pen for colouring in the Swiss Dots

Button and Pearls from My Crafty Stash Box

We R Memory Keepers:  Envelope Punch Board

and Sketch Number 6 from my little library

and that is me for today!

A special share tomorrow.

I don't know how many of you can remember me talking of a huge table plan I did a few weeks ago .. .. .. .. well my happy couple have returned from their honeymoon and have their official wedding photographs which they very kindly sent me the passwords to, so that I could look at their happy day(s).  There was a great shot of the table plan and they are happy for me to share it here so I will get that posted up tomorrow.

But it is time for me to give in for today now and spend a little time with Mr Heart.

Catch you tomorrow.

Love

SKETCH TWO (AGAIN)

Hi Everyone

I hope your weekend was good and Monday has started your week of nicely.

Lots done, and lots more to do, here in the old House of Hearts .. .. but sadly one of today's creations needed to be one of those cards we don't like sending (or even making really).

This used:

Image:  Hero Arts "G5311" Silhouette Spray
Sentiment:  Computer Generated using font "Honey Script"
Backing Papers:  First Edition Papers "New Leaf"
Die-namics Die Set:  Blueprints 14
Gold Embossing Powder
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
My Trusty Sewing Machine
Ribbons from My Crafty Stash Box
and Sketch Number Two from My Little Sketch Library (this one is quickly becoming a favourite and is getting lots of use here.

Sorry I am not getting very much blog visiting in at the moment :-(  Lots of wedding work needed for Bank Holiday brides .. .. but at least I am finding a few things to share with you.

So that is me for today.

I'll catch you again soon.  Enjoy your evening.

Love

BIRTHDAY WISHES

Hi Everyone

Happy weekend!

I thought I would get onto my blog nice and early today before a super busy weekend takes hold here in the House of Hearts to share a card I made using Sketch Eleven from my little library.  I didn't find this sketch too easy to use to be truthful .. .. I think it is because I just struggle big time with things not being square .. .. but I shall persevere with my phobia and try to "alter my brain" if possible. LOL!!

So here we go:

This used:

Sentiment:  Digistamp Boutique "Large Birthday Sentiment Set"
Backing Papers:  First Edition Paper "Paper Flowers"
Nestabilities:  Classic Circle and Scalloped Circle
Martha Stewart Edge Punch:  Traditional Scallop
My Trusty Old Sewing Machine
ProMarkers (for colouring in the machine embroidery)
Distress Ink:  Dusty Concord
Ribbon from My Crafty Stash Box (one of my favourite ribbon colours)

and tah dah .. ..

Sketch Eleven from my little collection

For anyone collecting them, the next sketch has made an appearance in the library today .. .. .. without any quirky angles this time LOL!!

Many thanks for all the lovely comments on my previous post.  For most of you the button heart was your favourite .. .. and it was mine too. 

Enjoy your weekend everyone.  Hope you manage to find a little bit of crafty time all to yourself.

Love

WEDDING CARDS

Hi Everyone

I hope your weather has been as beautiful as it has been here today .. .. glorious sunshine for most of the day!

Many thanks for all your lovely comments and the sewing machine memories you shared in response to my blog post of yesterday.  My Mum's machine was used for sewing bits of chamois leather together to make full sized leathers.  She did this as outwork to bring a few more pennies into the house.  I can still smell the bits of leather now (and have to admit to always sniffing chamois leathers if I see them on sale anywhere).  

I did own a similar sewing machine back in the 70's when we were first married and I can remember spending many a happy hour turning the handle to make .. ..  .. .. wait for it .. .. .. Crimplene dresses!!!  LOL!!  But I foolishly traded it in to get a discount when Mr Heart bought me the "trusty sewing machine" I use now.  

No chance to clean up my new machine yet as I am still catching up from being away, but I am sure it won't be long as my hands are itching for a play with it.

But for now .. .. as promised .. .. here are a few of the wedding cards I made for various folk to give to my Niece who got married on Monday:

This is the one Mr Heart and I sent:

This was made for my youngest Son to give:

Then this was for my lovely Sis to give to her beautiful daughter.

It looked really nice nestled inside a vellum lined box.

I won't list what each one used as I will be here all day, but if there is anything you want to know more about then you know you only have to ask.

There are no prizes for guessing that the wedding was all themed around yellow and buttons!!

No rose petals scattered up the aisle for my Niece .. .. but die cut buttons cut from tissue paper along with the odd heart here and there.  Super cute and all loving cut by her Sister!  I bet she has RSI now!!

So that is me for today.

Time for favour box duties for me now.

Catch you soon.

Love