GET WELL SOON

Hi Everyone

Happy Wednesday!

I am loving having cards ready to share with you .. .. I promise to try hard and do this more often as I am loving being back in blogland. I have really missed everyone. Thank you for all the lovely comments and emails I have received - they truly are appreciated.

During my weekend crafting stint for the salon I tried to make cards that covered lots of occassions .. .. hence today's "get well" card.

This used:

Image:  Bugaboo Stamps "Mouse - Big Flower"
Sentiment:  Computer Generated using font "Cambridgeside"
Backing Paper:  Pink Petticoat
ProMarkers
My Trusty Sewing Machine
Glamour Dust

I think this cute little chappie might cheer someone up who is feeling under the weather.

Enjoy your day everyone.

Love

I MUST BE IMPROVING

Hi Everyone

Happy Tuesday!

No teeny tiny make today but a normal sized one that uses a stamp that hasn't appeared on my blog before .. .. even though it has been in my collection for quite some time.

I have tried to use this stamp so many times it is unbelievable, and never been happy with the finished look .. .. even though I have tried over and over again.

So unhappy with the stamp, and my pathetic attempts of using it successfully, it was relegated to the back of the Penny Black drawer - but over the weekend I decided it was time to "give it another go". 

AT LAST!!!  Something I am happy with .. .. my colouring must be improving and the stamp can now come to the front of the drawer for more use LOL!!  Yippee!!

This used:

Image:  Penny Black "1656K" Stitch in Time

Sentiment:  Pink Petticoat (no longer available - sorry)

Backing Papers:  Docrafts "Kraft Notes"

Martha Stewart Edge Punch:  Daisy

ProMarkers

My Trusty Sewing Machine

Ribbon from my crafty stash box

There is another Penny Black stamp in my collection that I struggle with too.  Perhaps it is time to give that one a go too and see if I have improved enough to be happy with that yet.

Enjoy your day everyone. 

I am loving having cards lined up ready for posting .. .. .. really must try and do this more often.

Love

HAPPY MONDAY

Hi Everyone

Happy Monday!

I hope everyone had a good weekend.

I really enjoyed mine, just playing with bits and pieces in the old craft pod .. .. .. I managed to get a few cards made for the salon .. .. and a few blogs visited amongst everything else that was cracking off (still loads more of you lovely visitors to catch up with but I will get there eventually I promise).

The old wedding list work got added to over the course of the weekend too, so even more to keep me out of mischief!

But I am quite chuffed to have a few cards under my belt to share with you over the course of this week and this first creation uses a stamp which was purchased very early in my crafty stamping life (not sure it is still available .. .. but I hope it is because it is so versatile .. .. even though it doesn't look it.

So here we go:

This used:

Image:  Stampendous "N130" Dream Block Trio

Sentiment:  Computer Generated using font "Georgia"

Backing Papers:  Pink Petticoat French Country "Tea Rose Classic Design Pack" 

Stampin' Up Punch:  Word Window 

Spellbinders:  Classic Heart

Cuttlebug Embossing Folder "Swiss Dots"

My Trusty Sewing Machine

Distress Ink:  Worn Lipstick

Ribbon, lace and flower from my crafty stash box

Have a lovely day today.   The weather looks like it might be kind .. .. at the moment.

Love

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY

Hi Everyone

Happy Saturday and Happy 4th of July to all my American blog pals!

A super rare day here in the House of Hearts .. .. lots on the crafty do list but nothing is mega urgent so I am going to spend the day making "whatever takes my fancy" for putting into my lovely Sister's salon. The racks there are looking VERY SPARSE so I am hoping to get a few creations together for her .. .. which in turn means I will at long last have a few cards to share with you over the next few days.

I felt a good start would be to see what the sketch was for this week over at Sketch Saturday and to use up some of my pesky snippets and run like the wind to Pixie's Snippets Playground before the gates close at 11.00am !!  Eeekkk!!

Best get on with it .. ..

This used:

Image:  Bugaboo Stamps - Mouse Candle (half price sale on over there at the mo!!)

Backing Papers:  Stampin' Up "Patio Party"

Sentiment:  Computer generated using font "Chauncy"

Josy Rose:  Nail Heads

ProMarkers

My Trusty Sewing Machine

and here is the sketch I used in case you fancy playing along (I turned it on it's side)

OK - best dash and get linked up .. .. deadlines are a looming!!!

Have a fabby weekend everyone.

Love

TEENY, TINY TUESDAY .. .. AGAIN !

Hi Everyone

Happy Tuesday!  

Hands up anyone who has been trying to make the most of the gorgeous weather and done far too much washing these last couple of days and now has a HUGE pile of ironing!   Hope it cools down a little so I feel brave enough to face it soon LOL!!

Also a little time to create one of my teeny tiny 3.5" square cards amongst everything else that has been cracking off today.  I can't believe how popular these are .. .. and with having a blank insert they get sent for lots of different reasons.  Some people even use them to put on gifts they are giving away.

This is my share for this Tuesday:

This used:

Sentiment:  Docrafts Me to You "With Love"

Backing papers:  Pink Petticoat (lots and lots of different leftovers).

Nestabilities:  Classic Circle and Scalloped Circle

My Trusty Sewing Machine

Button and Ribbon from My Crafty Stash Box
and of course the We R Memory Keepers envelope board.

The technique used is a Starburst or Sunburst Card and was one of the commissions I did for the recently released issue of  Quick Cards Made Easy magazine.

The London Kids came home for the weekend and my Son challenged me to use the technique on one of my tiny cards .. .. so there we go.  Challenge complete.

I have used the technique on quite a few cards recently and really enjoy it.

This was my favourite Starburst card from the magazine 

and I also worked on a new cascade card base commission .. .. and this was my favourite from this set:

Plus I was also asked to work with the free gift of stamps and quilling papers and this was my favourite there:

There are flower stamps alongside the gift if you don't like the idea of using the quilling papers.

So that is me for today.  Photograph overload!!

Time to go and get some more washing in off the line :-(  

I really need to be strong and keep the washing machine door well and truly closed tomorrow .. .. but I know I won't!!  LOL!!

Love

TEENY TINY TUESDAY

Hi Everyone

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

Mine has been spent trying to empty out the boxes that contain the leftovers from all the weddings I have been doing this year .. .. all ready for filling again with fresh materials for new couples.  It has certainly been a very busy year and I can't believe it has taken me so long to get them emptied!!

My poor little blog and general craft stash doesn't seem to have had much of a look in at all :-( 

So as things are feeling a little calmer in the old "House of Hearts" .. .. .. well for a couple of days anyway .. .. I thought I would get one of those huge 3.5 x 3.5 inch "teeny, tiny" makes made and shared!  I love making these.

This used:

Image:  Hero Arts "CG222 Music Background"

Sentiment:  Woodware Clear Stamps "JGS902 Heart Sing Ditty" (stamped onto shrink plastic and heated up)

Distress Ink Pads:  Twisted Citron and Weathered Wood

Woodware Punches:  Daisies
Nestabilities:  Classic Heart

My Trusty Sewing Machine

Ribbon, Button and Brad from My Crafty Stash Box

We R Memory Keepers Envelope Board

and that is me for today.

Hopefully it won't be so long until I am here again!!!!

Enjoy your evening.

Love

WEDNESDAY SO SOON

Hi Everyone

Yet another week gone in the blink of an eye!!  

Quite a big week here,  which amongst other things has seen a couple of table plans disappearing out of the front door.  One of them definitely kept me VERY quiet .. .. and needed my full concentration! 

The huge concentration jobbie consisted of one top table and 27 guest tables with on average 10 guests per table!  Yikes!!!  What a lot of washing up!!  LOL!!! 

The wedding and post wedding party doesn't take place until the end of this week but you never know, perhaps at a later stage the happy couple will let me share my mammoth make with you!  They were certainly very happy and excited as they left the House of Hearts.

Today sees the next issue of Quick Cards Made Easy hit the shelves and I thought it would be nice to share a couple of my favourite makes from one of my commissions for this month.

  

These cards came from a set which featured the "bargello" technique.  Just brilliant for using up scraps of paper.

I think the first one was a favourite because it used a "non-square" card blank for a change.  I must try and get out of the "always square" rut I seem to have fallen into .. .. and I just love the colours on the second card very, very much!

So that is me for today.  I hope you are well and have some lovely sunshine in your neck of the woods.  

Have a great day and hopefully I will see you soon.

Love

TEENY TINY CREATION

Hi Everyone

I hope life is being kind to you all .. .. and if not that things improve for you "quickly".

My teeny tiny 3.5 x 3.5 inch creation was supposed to have made an appearance yesterday.  It was made and ready for posting by 8.15am.  I took my pictures and started to write my post .. .. and then the day took hold and I seemed to be jumping from one job to another all day and got no further forward with my blog share.

In fact, it wasn't until I went to close my computer down as Mr Heart and I gave in for the day that I found my half written post!!  So I deleted that and have started again today LOL!!

So here we go:

This used:

Image:  Hampton Arts "KN2436" Watermelon Bud (one of the very first stamps I bought)

Backing papers:  Mixture of leftovers that just seemed to go together

Sentiment:  Lili of the Valley

Spellbinders:  Lacey Squares and Classic Squares

ProMarkers

Glamour Dust

Ribbon and Pearls from My Crafty Stash Box

My Trusty Sewing Machine

We R Memory Keepers Envelope Board

I am going to make a very rare appearance in Pixie's Snippets Playground challenge too as all the papers and card I used were snippets from my every growing collection of "leftovers" .. .. even the trendy pink insert LOL!!

So that is me.  Off to link up in the playground and then get cracking on today!

Have a good day everyone.

Is anyone else having a panic about Christmas yet?  I haven't made a single Christmas card yet this year .. .. and this time last year I had a box three-quarters full already!!  Eeekk!!

Love

WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN MRS HEART ?!?!?

Hi Everyone

I can't believe it has been so long since my last blog post .. .. but having said that so much has been pulled in during those few weeks that I wouldn't have been surprised if it had been longer!

Thank you to everyone who has made contact to make sure all is well here in the House of Hearts. You are all such lovely blog buddies and I feel certain at the moment that I do not deserve to have you calling by my little corner of blogland.

But I am pleased to report that all is fine and dandy here.

Lots of good things have been happening .. .. and one not so good one .. .. but we will come back to that later.

During my mammoth absence Mr Heart and I celebrated our Ruby Wedding Anniversary .. .. and we had a brilliant time.  

Our anniversary night was spent in the honeymoon suit at the fabulous Weston Hall.  What a fabulous place .. .. we would love to go back again .. .. even if is only to sit by the lovely open fires. Everything was perfect and nothing was too much trouble for anyone.  

Although the place was super busy they still managed to make you feel special and as though your custom mattered.  Shame more places in the world aren't run on the same basis!!

So this lovely room was ours .. .. for one night only!!  

We never had a honeymoon when we got married .. .. funds didn't stretch that far .. .. and I can remember us sitting up in bed the morniing after our wedding reading a cooking book to learn how to roast a chicken for our first Sunday dinner together in our first home.  I was a whole three days 19 with so much to learn .. .. and I still haven't learnt it all.   I bet we never do!

We also spent some of the time visiting the London Kids and took our youngest with us so we could all celebrate together .. .. and see their new home too.  It was so lovely.  The kind of house you get a "good vibe" from as you walk in.  I feel sure they are going to be super happy there.

We celebrated in various places and with different people over the course of just about a fortnight! A very super special time for us .. .. and I took no work away with me (except for a bit of colouring which I took to London LOL!!).  I had a complete break.

But of course escaping and enjoying yourself has consequences!!  Especially when you have lots of work you need to get through.

I had to work super hard before we went to get invitations and orders finished .. .. and then even harder when we came back.. .. with a few very late night shifts needed :-(

But I am slowly coming out of the other side. 

As for the "not so good news".  Well .. .. someone decided to hack into my wedding website and write gobbledygook all over it!! But as the old saying goes .. .. when life gives you lemons .. .. make lemonade.  The old website has been "sort of sorted" for now whilst I try to find time to get a new one organised.

So although it wasn't a nice thing to have happened I am certainly excited about the planning and designing of a new one and once again my overactive brain is buzzing with ideas about what I want to do and have showing on it and my book of notes is getting fuller and fuller LOL!!

They say things happen for a reason .. .. so this clearly happened to bring the "sort out the website box" that has been sitting on my do list for months nearer to the top of the pile.

Well it would be rude of me to disappear without having a little crafty share with you.

I have one super lovely customer who I used to work for years ago (before I got into this crafting malarkey), who asked me to make a special ruby wedding anniversary card that she could give to Mr Heart and I!  So this is what I made .. .. with the idea being to put it into a frame on the wall .. .. when I find the right frame.  I made one very similar for the Quick Cards Made Easy magazine and loved it so much that I made another (the same but different LOL!)

This used:

Penny Black Clear Sentiment Set:  Gratitude

Clear Embossing Powder

Translucent Embossing Paste

Creative Expressions Mica Mask:  Distressed Dots

Distress Ink Pad:  Barn Door

Woodware Daisy Punch

Gems and Ribbon

An old paperback book

My Trusty Sewing Machine

and that is me.  

Now you know where I have been.

Hopefully it won't be so long before I make my next appearance.

I hope all is well with everyone.

Oooo .. .. and don't forget there is always a heart hidden on my creations somewhere .. .. did you find it this time?  LOL!!

Love

TEENY TINY TUESDAY .. .. SORT OF

Hi Everyone

Stranger alert!!!

I hope you are all well and behaving yourselves!!

I need a quick card today for my own use.  

Normally the first place I go to is the little storage box I keep my teeny, tiny, Tuesday makes in .. .. but today when I got there the little box was bare apart from a few envelopes I have made :-(

That means I have something to post onto my blog today .. .. yay .. .. but today it isn't the normal teeny tiny 3.5" x 3.5" card size .. .. .. it is a whopping 4" x 4" LOL!!!

So here we go:

This used:

Backing Papers:  First Edition "Botanical Notes"
Sentiment:  Computer Generated using font "Sweetheart Script"
Die-namics Dies:  Blueprints 14
Cuttlebug Embossing Folder:  Roses
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
My Trusty Sewing Machine
Twine and Ribbon

and that is it!!

Did I make two tiny cards whilst I was at it so there was a spare for later .. .. nah!!!  Too much other stuff to get on with .. but at least I can run to the postbox with this little make.

Enjoy today.  I hope you have a little of the sunshine we have here.

Love

WHAT CAN I SAY?

Hi Everyone

Well what can I say .. .. other than sorry :-(

Sadly no blog time in my life at all at the moment .. .. .. which is a shame because it is the nearest thing I get to "office gossip" nowadays LOL!!

I just cannot believe we are nearly halfway through March already. 

Lots of work done here over the last few weeks .. .. but still lots more to do.  I think everyone has plans to post their wedding invitations out over Easter .. .. which means a super busy time here in the House of Hearts.  But I shall enjoy Easter knowing lots of happy couples will be excited to be inviting their friends and family to share their special day.

Hardly any room at all in my diary for anymore weddings this year and hardly any more room available for storing the boxes of supplies needed for completing all the work! 

I received a fabby photograph the other day from one of my brides.  She sent a picture of her dining room table all set out for beginning the posting out process of the invitations I had made.  How lovely to be thought of during her excitement.  The invites are out now and they are getting some great feedback which is brilliant news for me.  It was a new design I had come up with and it seems to have gone down really well .. .. .. especially with the "men folk" as they weren't classed as "girly".  Both the bride and I were surprised that the men folk even commented .. .. that is quite unusual.  

Anyway, as I haven't been making anything to share for the past few weeks I thought I would show you my favourite makes from this month's Quick Cards Made Easy magazine:

Probably my favourite utilises the fabby free gift this month .. .. a silhouette stamp set by Sheena Douglass.  I just love it.  There are also some free distress paper backgrounds available to download here that work alongside the stamps beautifully.

So, here is one of the cards I made using the stamps and free download:

 and my second "pick" comes from a commission which featured "partial die cutting".

I loved the colours I worked with for this commission.

So now you know I am still alive and kicking .. .. I am off to get ready for a "happy couple" coming later to sign off their proofs, and then do a bit of lace and ribbon threading onto another set of invites .. .. which if all goes to plan will be done and dusted today.

Another "big tick" on the do list!!  Yay!!

Have a good Thursday everyone.

Missing you all!  :-(

Love

LOVE, HEARTS AND GLITTER IN THE HOUSE OF HEARTS

Hi Everyone

Happy Saturday, and Happy Valentine's Day!

A soppy "extra loved up" day in the House of Hearts today .. .. and here is Mr Heart's card from me (because I am a bit of a cheeky monkey LOL!):

This used:

Image and Sentiment:  Digistamp Boutique "Love You Monkey" 
Backing Paper:  Pink Petticoat "Tiniest Pretty Little Hearts" (I think!!)
Go Kreate Dies:  Large Frames, Scalloped Squares
Glitter Sheets
Loose Glitter
ProMarkers
Chalk
Dimension Pads

and that is it!

Of course that red glitter is now EVERYWHERE!

Romantic dinner for two at home tonight .. .. which means I have to clear all work away so it is "out of sight" .. .. and then get it all out again tomorrow LOL!!

I am entering this into the Digistamp Boutique challenge for February.  Can't believe this is the first challenge I have participated in this year!!  Even my snippets haven't been attacked and taken to the playground yet this year :-(  .. .. .. sorry Miss Di.

Have a lovely day and weekend everyone.

Hopefully catch you again soon.

Love

I PROMISE I HAVEN'T BEEN BEING LAZY

Hi Everyone

Where on earth have I been and where on earth is the time going?

It has been a super, super busy time in the old House of Hearts .. .. I certainly didn't realise that so many days had disappeared since I last made an appearance on my blog.  Tut, tut!!!

Quite often when people are finding it difficult to post they say that "life is getting in the way of crafting".  

Fortunately that isn't the problem I have been experiencing.

If anything I would say the opposite and crafting is taking the place of everything else .. .. to such an extent that Mr Heart ended up taking over all the cooking for the last few weeks.  Super kind of him and very helpful .. .. but let's face it .. .. that was probably the only way he was going to get to eat anything worth eating LOL!!

Loads and loads has been churned out .. .. but sadly nothing I have been able to share.

On top of this my lovely Sis and I exhibited at a wedding fayre yesterday.  The first of the two I attend each year.  I spent the whole day before designing new invitations and really enjoyed myself. Once I got going I didn't want to stop!!!  LOL!!  

At the fayre yet again the new additions turned out to be really popular.  I tried to make a new style that would be nice and quick for me to produce and budget friendly for the "happy couples".  So boxes ticked for both parties!

A brilliant fayre and this morning I am buzzing with excitement .. .. and my "in-box" has been buzzing with enquiries.  One landed before I had even left the fayre!  Thankfully some people are looking for next year and even 2017 which is good news as my wedding diary for this year has very few gaps left in it.

So nothing new made that I can share I'm afraid .. .. but I can show you my favourite makes from the new issue of Quick Cards Made Easy magazine that went on sale the other day:

This first one was part of a "spinning aperture" commission (love the papers very much)

The second one was for a triple stamping commission.  Great technique that I hadn't tried before .. .. but I am now hooked!!

 and lastly .. .. I really enjoyed playing with the free gift from this month's issue .. .. a lovely embossing folder and stamp set

So there I am .. .. just like a bus!!  Nothing for ages and then three come along all at once!

Off now to start a big house clear up and to pack away everything I took to yesterday's fayre.

Have a good day everyone.

Love