THE LIGHT BRIGADE

Hi Everyone

I hope your weekend has got off to a good start.

We won't mention last night's football result :-(

Today I have spent a bit of time with my lovely "snowflake bride" and then I continued with my Christmas makes and put one of my Ebay Penny Black wins from last weekend to work .. ..

This used:

Image:  Penny Black"3916K" The Light Brigade
Sentiment:  Pink Petticoat  - sadly closing its doors soon :-(
Backing Papers:  DCWV "The Christmas Multi Stack"
Snowflake Die:  A freebie from Quick Cards Magazine last Christmas (given three layers of clear embossing powder and the edges sprinkled with Glamour Dust whilst still warm
ProMarkers
My Trust Sewing Machine
Glossy Accents
Large Pearl from my crafty stash box

and that is it!  The first outing for my new stamp.

Has anyone managed a trip to the NEC?  I was hoping to go this time as I haven't been for at least two years now, but sadly yet again there just wasn't enough time in my little world to escape :-(

Perhaps next time?!?!?!?  We shall see.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend everyone.

Love

SKETCH NUMBER TWENTY MAKES AN APPEARANCE

Hi Everyone

Happy Friday .. .. ahead of what I hope will be a happy weekend for you.

I have reached sketch number twenty in my little sketch collection (there is a tab at the top of my blog if you want to see the others .. .. feel free to use any you like the look of).

This new sketch has been ready for a while .. .. I just haven't had chance to make anything using it .. .. but today was the day and here is my creation:

This used:

Image:  Penny Black "4339K" Flourish Holly
Sentiment:  Penny Black "Sentimental" Clear Sentiment Set
Backing Papers:  First Edition Papers "Silent Night"
Spellbinders:  Nestabilities Squares
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
Gold Embossing Powder
Magenta Stickles
My Trusty Sewing Machine
Cord from my crafty stash box

and here it is:

Sketch Number Twenty

Time to head of quickly now and have a quick clear up in the craft pod before the football starts.

Local derby match tonight where you are pleased to not be at the actual game but able to watch safely from your settee .. ..  .. .. Derby County -v- Nottingham Forest!!  COME ON DERBY!!
Catch you again soon.

Have a good evening.

Love

THAT POSTCARD STAMP IS OUT AGAIN !

Hi Everyone

Happy Thursday!

I hope it has been a good day for you .. .. still very dull, miserable and wet here and not a very good evening for those wanting to let their fireworks off  .. .. .. not that it is stopping people somewhere near .. .. lots of bright colours in the sky and bangs galore!!!

But never mind, even if it is miserable weather outside it is still happy and sparkly in the old craft pod.  Glitter EVERYWHERE!!! LOL!!

So another Christmas share tonight which uses that fabulous postcard stamp.  I love this stamp, very, very much and used it to make this:

This used:

Image:  Stampendous "Snowy Postcard"

Sentiment:  Lili of the Valley "Christmas Tags"

Backing Papers:  First Edition Papers "Vintage Noel"

Lots and Lots of Glamour Dust

ProMarkers

Ribbon, Pearls and Cord from My Crafty Stash Box

and there we go .. .. another one finished.

There is a new sketch for tomorrow .. .. just need to make something using it now!!

Catch you soon.

Love

FROM OUR HOUSE TO YOURS

Hi Everyone

I hope you are all well.

Haven't these last few days been dull and miserable weather wise?

I have been spending my time getting all my admin work up to date .. .. .. and am pleased to say I am "nearly" there.  Always something needing to be done in the old House of Hearts!!

But as always November makes an appearance and then panic sets in about all the Christmas cards I haven't yet made!! Eeeekkk!!!

So I decided to give myself a day off the admin work and start on a few festive makes.  This was my favourite of the day:

This used:

Backing Papers:  First Edition Papers "The Promise"
Sentiment:  Pink Petticoat (soon to close it's doors .. .. boo hoo!!)
Stampin' Up! Stamp Set "Gorgeous Grunge" for the snowy window background
Stampin' Up! Thinlits die set "Hearth and Home"
Tattered Lace Die:  Christmas Florals Pine
Memory Box Die:  Modern Landscape
Martha Stewart Punch:  Traditional Scallop
Distress Inks:  Faded Jeans and Broken China
Hero Arts White Pigment Ink Pad:  Unicorn
Glamour Dust
Diamond Stickles
Josy Rose:  Nail Head
Gems and Cord from My Crafty Stash Box

.. ..  gosh what a list!!!

I was lucky enough to win a few ebay bids at the weekend.  I have a feeling people are clearing out their crafty stash ahead of Christmas .. .. so a few new Penny Black images to be tickling with ProMarkers soon!

I am really, really pleased with one of them .. .. .. which will make an appearance on Tuesday next week as part of a teeny, tiny creation.  It must have been made especially for me!!  LOL!!

So off I go now and I am hoping to share another festive make tomorrow.

Love

CAROLING DUCK!

Hi Everyone

I hope you are all well .. .. .. I don't know about you but I am not keen on these nights getting dark so early.  Nothing in my craft pod looks nice without natural lighting :-(

But anyway, as promised I have added a new sketch to my little library today .. .. and here is a card I made using it:

This used:

Image:  Penny Black "2988H" Caroling Duck
Sentiment:  Pink Petticoat  - Traditional Christmas Sentiments
Backing Papers:  Kaisercraft - Silver Bells
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
Distress Ink:  Spun Sugar
Small holly leaf craft punch with no name on it
ProMarkers
Glamour Dust
My Trusty Sewing Machine
Red Pearls

and here is the new sketch.  I hope you likey, likey!

You can find it, along with the other eighteen, on the sketch tab at the top of my blog.  Feel free to use any of them if you would like to.

So that is me for today.

Enjoy the rest of your evening and I'll catch you again soon.

Love

TEENY, TINY TUESDAY

Hi Everyone

I hope Tuesday has been kind to you.

Here with another of my teeny, tiny 3.5" creations.  My customers love these and I just can't make them quickly enough. 

To begin with I thought they were popular just because they were so cute and because I sell them for less than my normal 5.75" ones .. .. but it turns out that isn't the reason.  My customers like the teeny, tiny ones because as they are so small they get stood at the front of any other cards the recipient might receive and don't get lost in the line up.  I never even thought of that.  Perhaps teeny, tiny Christmas cards need to get added to the mix?!?!?

Anyway, here is today's teeny, tiny creation:

This used:

Image:  Indigo Blu - "IND0159" Dinkie Peony

Sentiment:  Stampin' Up -  Lots of Thanks

Marianne Designs: Decorative Heart Die Set

Onyx Black Versafine Ink Pad

ClearEmbossing Powder

Distress Ink:  Dried Marigold, Spiced Marmalade, Wild Honey and Barn Door

Paint brush and water for adding those white drips in the background

My Trusty Sewing Machine

and have you spotted how good I have been?  The insert is already in there .. .. my New Years Resolution has succeeded more often than it has failed this year so I am part way there!

That is me for today. A new sketch for the library tomorrow so I will hopefully see you with that at some stage.

Enjoy the rest of your evening.

Love

HAPPY MONDAY

Hi Everyone

I hope you are all well.

Wasn't it lovely to have that extra hour?  It seemed to make yesterday a lovely long day.   Long enough for me to trawl through all my Pink Petticoat downloads and make sure I wasn't going to be missing anything when the boutique doors are closed and locked at the end of the month .. .. boo hoo!!!

Today I thought I would share with you some of my favourite cards that I produced for this month's Quick Cards Made Easy magazine which has now hit the shops.

One of my projects was to work with acetate and here are a couple of the creations:

This last one has tissue paper stuck to the back of the embossed acetate to give an opaque look and take the glare away from the little battery operated candle inside .. .. which you can just about make out from the photograph.  Don't look too hard for the heart on this one . . . it was a sequin heart on one of the other oval windows.

Then for one of the other projects I  really enjoyed myself painting this lovely gold embossed image with my water colour crayons.

So that is me for today.

I am hopeful of actually being able to produce a teeny, tiny card for tomorrow!!  Woo hoo!! Wonders will never cease.

Catch you soon.

Love 

SHOCK HORROR !

Hi Everyone

Happy Friday ahead of what I hope will be a happy weekend for everyone!!

Shock horror .. .. get me .. .. posting two days on the run .. .. wow!!  Just like the old days!

I have had a fabby day today.  No deadlines to meet .. .. a day to just make whatever took my fancy .. .. and this was one of the creations of the day:

This used:

Image:  Penny Black "1670K" Sugar Sweet Dreams
Sentiment:  Pink Petticoat (sadly no longer available .. .. as will be the case with everything in the boutique soon :-( .. .. yep, it wasn't a nightmare .. .. I have finally convinced myself it is actually true and I am gutted.
Backing Papers:  Pink Petticoat "Pinstripes" and a page from an old cookery book
X-Cut Corner Rounding Punch and Heart Palm Punch
Stampin' Up!:  Banner Punch
ProMarkers
My Trusty Sewing Machine
and Sketch Number Seven which you can find on my sketch tab

and if anyone is wondering how I managed to get a long banner out of the tiny Stampin' Up punch .. ..  .. well I cut a narrow strip and did this:

.. .. .. and for anyone who is worried about the cookery book I used.  It is a very, very huge old book .. ..  the one I bought when we got married all those years ago to learn how to cook from .. .. and it is falling to pieces through lots of use and old age.  I have been taking out the recipes I want to keep and filing them away but as I am never, EVER going to be making jam I used a page from the "preserves" section for this card.

So that is me for today.

Hopefully catch you again soon.

Love

OH CHRISTMAS TREE

Hi Everyone

I hope you are all having a good week.

As always mine has flown by in the blink of an eye .. .. but I am happy to say that Christmas card production has started in the House of Hearts today.  Lots, and lots, and lots needed so I decided I had better get cracking now that the weddings are slowing down a little.

I always love it when all the Christmas goodies come out.  

So here we go .. my share for today:

This used:

Image:  Penny Black "3741K" Filigree Tree

Sentiment:  Lili of the Valley - Christmas Tags

Backing Papers:  Pink Petticoat "French Country Christmas"  sadly Liz is closing the boutique at the end of the month :-(  but it does mean there are some mega bargains to be had.  Need to check what I haven't already invested in.

Wow! Embossing Powder:  Metallic Platinum

Josy Rose:  Nail Heads

My Trusty Sewing Machine

X-Cut corner rounding punch
Ribbon, eyelet and cord from My Crafty Stash Box

and a new sketch added to the library today .. .. 

SKETCH EIGHTEEN

Tee hee .. .. that is the best I could do in the programme for a ribbon bow!  LOL!!

So hopefully now the weddings are quieter I might not be such a stranger in blogland for a while .. .. and I promise not to post Christmas cards every time!

Enjoy your evening.

Love

CATCHING UP WITH THE WORLD

Hi Everyone

Happy weekend!

Gosh it's a lifetime since I was here last .. .. .. but so much has been cracking off  that in some ways it feels more like two minutes than two weeks! 

Most of my time has been spent on wedding work .. .. with the last of my summer brides getting married today.  So it is fingers crossed for a happy sunny day for her.  This lovely couple have been on my books for exactly two years and we have worked on some lovely things together.  I shall miss them .. .. but will no-doubt be seeing them soon with their wedding pictures!!

So now I am round to my braver "winter brides" and am working on my first "snowflake" themed wedding.  I love snowflakes!!  .. .. .. except when they group in their millions on the roads LOL!!

Anyway, I have managed to actually make something in dribs and drabs over last two weeks and it was finally finished yesterday . .. and it fits nicely into the Penny Black Saturday Challenge this month where they want to see "embossing". 

So here we go:

This used:

Image:  Penny Black "3867K" Constellations

Sentiment:  Lili of the Valley "Sentiment Tags"

Backing Papers:  Kaisercraft "Botanica"

Spellbinder Dies:  Classic Circle and Scalloped Circle

Die-namics Dies:  Blueprints 14

X-Cut Punch:  Butterfly (very old and no longer available I don't think)

Stampin Up! Embossing folder:  Stained Glass

Clear Embossing Powder

Distress Inks:  Tumbled Glass, Bundled Sage, Shaded Lilac, Picked Raspberry

Ribbon and Pearls from my crafty stash box

My "not so trusty" sewing machine  .. .. .. the old hand one I bought isn't as reliable as my electric .. .. it seems to miss the odd stitch unless I am going super fast :-(  but it is going to be great as a prop for a wedding range I am working on!!

and to finish .. ..  a sketch I hadn't used yet from my library .. ..

So I think I have used all of the ones I have added to my sketch tab now .. .. so time to design some new ones!  Thank you for all the lovely messages and comments about how much you are enjoying using them .. .. that makes me really happy and is encouraging me to do more.

So things should be settling down a little now that the mad flurry of summer weddings is behind me .. .. .. time to get the Christmas supplies out!

Enjoy your weekend everyone.

I am off to get ready for a bride I have visiting soon.

Love

PENNY BLACK SATURDAY CHALLENGE

Hi Everyone

I hope your week has been going well.  

The weather has been really lovely here and I am hoping it is going to hold out until tomorrow when one of my lovely brides gets married.

She called and collected all her goodies mid week and suddenly I found I had gained half a room!!  I couldn't believe just how much there was until it was all collected together,

Lots of tidying up needed here in the House of Hearts .. .. but no chance to do any.  Still trying to do work for the wedding fayre on Sunday.

But I did have a little colouring session and came up with a creation which fits nicely into the Penny Black Saturday Challenge where the theme is to use three or more different patterned papers.  Only just in time to enter though .. .. the challenge closes in a few hours!!  Phew!

This used:

Image:  Penny Black "1706H" I'm So Cute!!

Sentiments:  Lili of the Valley "Sentiment Tags"and Docrafts "Relations"

Backing Papers:  Nitwits "Dress Shoppe Collection"

Nestabilities:  Classic Squares and Classic Rectangles

ProMarkers

Ribbon from my crafty stash box

and there is a bit of glossy accents on that character's little nose .. .. but you might not see it.

.. .. .. .. and along with my card comes Sketch Seventeen too, which I have also added to the library tab: 

OK .. .. off to link up quickly and then I need to head off for a quick catch up with my Mum, Sis and Nieces .. .. time for a bit of chatty girl time and no doubt laughter until we cry!!  It really is the best medicine!

Catch you all again when I do.

Have a lovely weekend.

Love