WHITE CARD WEDNESDAY

Hi Everyone

Happy Wednesday!

I hope your week is going well.

All good and busy this end .. .. and yet another week that is flying by in the blink of an eye!!

Anyway, I am round to Wednesday again which is the day I have allocated to using up the white card offcuts that are mounting up here in the House of Hearts.

I am still not brave enough to have tackled a "white on white" creation .. .. but perhaps one day!!

In fact today's share looks like Wedneday should have been named "wacky and wild Wednesday" because my finished card is super bright .. .. but every piece of card started off white.  I will explain more later but for now here is my card .. ..  OK .. ..sunglasses at the ready!!!!

This used:

Image:  WOW! "De-Vine" Background stamp
Sentiment:  Wow! "Big Words"
Black Embossing Powder
Tim Holtz:   Distress Paint "Twisted Citron
First Edition: Flower Dies
X-Cut Punch:  Small Flower
X-Cut Embossing Folder:  Polka Hearts
My Trust Sewing Machine
Quickie Glue Pen and Glamour Dust
Ribbon and Gems from my crafty stash box

I embossed the centre panel image with black embossing powder and then went over it with the distress paint.  The embossed panel was also mounted onto a piece of white card that had had just the edges painted.

Then all the hints of pink were created with a ProMarker.

The sparkly "smile" was created by stamping the sentiment, drawing over the top with a Quickie Glue pen and sprinkling with Glamour Dust.

.. .. .. and that is it .. .. I hope I didn't hurt your eyes too much!!  I am sure I used to have a dress with a pattern on in those colours back in the 60s!!

OK .. .. time to crack on here.  A mountain of work to get through today!

Have a good day everyone.

Love

TEENY, TINY TUESDAY

Hi Everyone

Happy Tuesday!!

Not such a bright and beautiful day today .. . but never mind, it could be worse!

Here with my little teeny tiny make for this week .. .. which is a whole 3.5" square.

This used:

Image:  Creative Cafe Clear Stamps: CS6143C C Doodle Flowers (I have had these a LONG, time)
Backing Papers and Sentiment Strip:  Kaisercraft:  Treasured Moments
First Edition Die Set:  Nesting Stamp Dies
ProMarkers
Ribbon and Gems from my crash stash box
My Trusting Sewing Machine
We R Memory Keepers Envelope Punch Board

and that is it.

My dashboard problems don't seem to be improving no matter what I do .. .. hopefully things will sort themselves out eventually.

OK .. . off to be hyper productive (I hope) .. .. and I'll catch you again tomorrow.

Have a good day!

Love

MONDAY'S MALE

Hi Everyone

Happy Monday!

I hope everyone had a brilliant weekend .. .. and managed not to get sunburnt!! 

Mr Heart and I went out for a meal on Saturday evening and saw quite a few people "with a glow" about them !!

Today I am here with my Monday's male card .. ..

This used:

Backing papers:  Scrapberry's "Edge of Town"
Sentiment:  Anita's "Happy Birthday" background stamp (very, very, very old)
Tim Holtz Sizzix Die: "656636" Gadget Gears
Scrapberry's Stencil:  "Gear Wheels"
Dreamweaver Metallic Silver Embossing Paste (for use with the stencil"
Pebeo Gilding Wax:  Silver and Copper for adding to the black die cuts
My Trusty Sewing Machine
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
Twine from my crafty stash box

I really enjoyed making this card .. .. it was great to play with the embossing paste and the gilding wax that was opened very early doors this morning!

I can see lots of potential for the wax and am looking forward to playing a little more.  

A very "different" type of card for me .. .. not a cute image in sight!!  LOL!!

Have a great day everyone.

Love

Jules xx

SUNDAY SNIPPETS AND A NEW SKETCH

Hi Everyone

Happy sunny Sunday (or at least I hope it is sunny where you are).  Definitely is here!!

Here today with my snippet make for taking over to Pixie's Snippets Playground where we are encouraged to use up some of those bits of paper/ribbon that we just can't part with, ideally not cutting into any new fresh sheets at all!.

That is definitely true of the piece of ribbon on my card today.  It has been floating around in my craft pod for that long, that I was sick of seeing it.  No matter how many times I put it into my little bag of ribbon offcuts it re-appears on my desk .. .. clearly just super keen to be used!!  LOL!!

So here we go:

and as always I am lazy on a Sunday and do not list my ingredients - but if there is anything you wish to know then you only have to ask.

This card also uses a new sketch which I added to my little library today.  Please feel free to use it, or any of the others in my collection if you want to.  They can all be found on the tab at the top of my blog.

OK then .. .. time to go and link up and then see how long it takes for my post to make an appearance on my dashboard .. .. .. the way things are going it could even be tomorrow!!   For some reason it has been taking hours and hours recently!!  I don't know about you but I don't even have many recent posts from other blogs on my dashboard either.  I am going to try leaving my signature off this time to see if that helps.  (Nah!!!  It made no difference at all!! LOL!!)  

Enjoy the rest of your day.  I am off on kitchen duties next :-(

Love

CELEBRATION SATURDAY

Hi Everyone

Happy Saturday and happy weekend!!

My celebration Saturday theme starts today .. .. so here we go with a card that celebrates a wedding anniversary:

This used:

Image:  Penny Black Transparent Stamp Set "30-146" Loads of Love
Sentiment:  Computer Generated using font "Zipty Do"
Backing Papers:  First Edition Papers "Love Story" and We R Memory Keepers "Love Notes"
ProMarkers
My Trusty Sewing Machine
Glossy Accents
Glamour Dust

I am also entering this card into the Penny Black Saturday Challenge for May .. .. where the theme is "masculine".

When I ordered this clear stamp set I was expecting this particular image to be quite small, and suitable for my "teeny tiny Tuesday" cards .. .. but was very pleasantly surprised to see how large this gorgeous image from the set actually is.  I have wooden Penny Black stamps that are much smaller!! This card is 14.5cm square, so as you can tell, that cute image certainly isn't "titchy".

Did you manage to catch Debs yesterday on Create and Craft?  I thought she did a brilliant job .. .. well done Debs!! You are a natural!

OK off to link up now .. .. enjoy the rest of your day.

Love

FEMININE FRIDAY

Hi Everyone

Happy Friday!!!  Nearly the weekend .. .. woo hoo! 

It has been a lovely productive week here in the House of Hearts .. .. invites out of the door, new couples signed up, magazine commissions and shock horror .. .. new cards into my stock boxes too. A few more weeks like this would be amazing.  

I am quite chuffed with what I have achieved (which I don't say very often)  .. .. perhaps some of the new organisation tasks I have been working on are starting to come into their own.  Not that Mr Heart would say that anything looks very organised;  but I know different.  There is still a good way to go before I am super happy but as they say "Rome wasn't built in a day".  Just chipping away at things here and there seems to be making a big difference.

So anyway round to my first Feminine Friday make .. .. 

This used:

Image and Die Set:  MFT Buildable Bouquet (thankfully I saw this helpful post before I went headlong into using these sets.  I had never considered that the stems of the flowers need to curve exactly as the die does!!)

Sentiment:  Pink Petticoat (sorry to keep using them now the boutique is closed .. .. but I love them)

Backing Paper:  All Dressed Up Stamps: Wedding Papers  

ProMarkers

My Trusty Sewing Machine

Pearls from my crafty stah box

So what I have always known has been confirmed.  There just aren't enough days in a week. 

It would seem that my themed days are proving very popular with you lovely blog buddies .. .. and there sadly aren't enough days in one week to fit in all the things in that people would particularly like to see more of here in my little world.  

I have had to miss out a specific Christmas themed day, a technique day, a sketch day, a wedding/anniversary day (all themes I would have loved to have included) .. .. .. but I am hoping to be able to incorporate some, if not all of those, into the days I have already allocated .. .. or into my final choice .. .. which is going to be "Celebration Saturday".  That was suggested by quite a few of you .... .... many thanks for that!

Celebration Saturday will be able to cover a multitude of topics .. .. because we all like to celebrate so many different things!  The list seem endless .. ... a new home, a new job, graduations, Christmas, Friendship, Love, Weddings, Wedding Anniversaries, Mothers Day, Father's Day (eeekkk!  that is on the horizon)!

So that is me for today.  But just one quick (but very big) thing I would like to mention before I go.  I don't know if any of you are familiar with Debbie Simpson (aka Debs) and her lovely blog "Especially For You".  She has been on lots of design teams and is a regular magazine contributor.  

We have worked together on design teams in the past and have stayed in contact over the years and she is such a fabby friend .. .. .. well today is a huge day for her.  She is making her debut appearance on Create and Craft at 6.00pm showcasing products from The Hobby House. My machine has been set on record for days!

I am wishing her all the luck in the world and feel sure she will become a regular face on our TV.  If you fancy having a quick peep at some of the work she has done in preparation for tonight you will find it here.  Fabulous work!  I wonder if she will get chance to demo many of them.

Debs says that "her tummy is a bit wobbly" .. .. I think mine would be doing more than wobbling!!! LOL!!

Have a good day everyone - and get the sun cream on the shopping list, ready for the lovely weekend we are being promised!!!.

Love

THURSDAY'S CHILD

Hi Everyone

Happy Thursday!

It is looking like we are in for another lovely day here today.  The sun has got his hat on already (and the washing machine is working its magic)!!

So today starts the next theme for my blog .. .. Thursday's Child where I am going to be posting anything child related. 

This is my (rather bright) creation for today .. .. .. 

This used:

Image:  Bugaboo:  Frame It - Bears Birthday  (whilst linking up I noticed there is a 50% off sale happening until the 8th May!!)
Sentiment:  Kolette Hall:  Party! 
Backing Papers:  Wild Rose Studio:  Polka Dots
ProMarkers
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
Glamour dust used with a glue pen for the frame
Glossy Accents for the bears noses
My Trusty Sewing Machine

and that is it!

I must admit I think that bear at the bottom of the frame looks a bit worried. I wonder if he forgot to order the birthday cake!!  

My themes are nearly all complete now.  Friday is going to be "Feminine Friday" as named by the lovely Eve.  I was planning on calling it Female Friday .. .. but I much prefer Eve's title.  (She is clearly much more sophisticated than whot I is).   LOL!!!

Just Saturday to sort out now and that will be my week complete .. .. and if all goes to plan those themes will result in a nice mix of cards for my stock boxes.

Have a good day everyone.  Must dash .. ..  the crafty "must do" list is VERY long and I need to be extra hyper today!!  Certainly the lovely sunshine will help.

Love

WHITE CARD WEDNESDAY

Hi Everyone

Happy Wednesday!  

So here we go with the very first of my "white card Wednesday" creations .. .. which for me means no coloured card allowed .. .. .. unless I colour it myself of course.

The lovely Barb thought I would be straight in with a "white on white" creation .. .. but I definitely think I will need to build up to that!  I don't know about you, but I find white on white cards very hard to photograph :-(

I think that this might be the most challenging, but possibly the most rewarding, of my themes .. ..  .. but never let it be said I make things easy for myself !

So here we go .. ..

This used:

Sizzix Dies:  "654901" Daisies #2 and "658232" Leaves and Vine
Sentiment:  Hobby Art Clear "CS013D" Floral Greeting
X-Cut Embossing Folder:  Small Polka Dot (love the 6x6 folders as they cover a card front nicely without any joins to hide)
Scrapberry's Stencil:  Petals
Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pads:  Tumbled Glass, Peacock Feathers, Dried Marigold and Peeled Paint
Papermania Dew Drops
My Trusty Sewing Machine
Ribbon from my crafty stash box

So that is my first attempt at culling some of the white card that is in my possession .. .. I have quite a lot left over from the wedding work I do .. .. .. so I am unlikely to run out in a hurry.

Right then.  A much needed craft pod clear up next, then off to quickly dip my head into the laundry basket.  We have clear pale blue skies here today and sunshine, so I might get a bit of washing on the line at some stage today.

As for the Thursday theme .. .. .. .. well I need to get kids creations into the mix somehow, so I am going to go with "Thursday's Child". This can then cover new baby cards, and children's birthdays and Christmas makes (eekkk!!  Sorry to have mentioned that word!!).

Have a good day everyone and I'll catch you again soon.

Love

TEENY, TINY TUESDAY

Hi Everyone

Happy Tuesday .. .. which feels like a Monday (or is that just me!!).

I hope your Bank Holiday weekend was enjoyable.

Mine was lovely and relaxing.

I added a lovely new "happy couple" to my wedding work list .. ..  I know I am going to thoroughly enjoy working for them.  Love their style and wedding plans.

I also took a lot of my work downstairs so I could chip away at it whilst in the company of the lovely Mr Heart .. .. but of course I now need to start bringing it all back upstairs!  I think if I had one of those "dumb waiter" lift things fitted into the dining room/back bedroom chimney breasts that would be a great improvement in my life.  LOL!!

Anyway, teeny tiny Tuesday sees the appearance of one of my 3.5" square creations .. .. and here it is:

 This used:

Backing Paper:  Dovecraft "Serendipity"
Sentiment:  Woodware "BD23 2DE" (no name though)

Butterfly Stamp and Die Set:  Tonic Studios Rococo Dies "Juliet"

My Trusty Sewing Machine

Ribbon and pearls from my crafty stash box

Christmas cracker left overs

We R Memory Keepers Envelope Punch Board

I think some of my "happy couples" would like invitations that looked like this!

The Butterfly Stamp and Die Set was actually one of my crafty Christmas presents from the London Kids.  I just had to borrow my DIL's Cuttlebug to try it out whilst I was there.. .. and found that the butterfly looked beautiful cut from the Christmas cracker waste.. .. .. .. so I came home with half a carrier bag full of Christmas cracker waste.  What am I like ?!!?

Many thanks for all the fabulous suggestions for themes on my blog. 

I had a few thoughts of my own too and your suggestions have confirmed that some would be a good idea.

For Wednesday I am going with "white card Wednesday" .. .. this was already top of my own list, but was also suggested by the lovely Lynn.  You wouldn't believe how many white card offcuts I have from my wedding work and no way can I just throw them away!!  So time to get my thinking cap on and reduce their numbers.

I have an idea for Thursday too .. .. unless anything better crops up.

Have a great day everyone, and thanks again for being such great blog buddies!

Love 

MONDAY'S MALE

Hi Everyone

Happy Monday . .. . in fact happy Bank Holiday Monday!

No lie in and being lazy here though.  My brain kicked into action super early so I decided I might as well get up and start on some of the things I want (or should I say NEED) to do today.  But before I get stuck in here is my share for today:

This used:

Image:  Penny Black "2895H" Teed Up
Sentiment:  Cardio Collection "Sentiments - 1" Hello, Best Wishes
Backing Papers:  Pink Petticoat (sorry the boutique is now closed but I still love and use all the designs I bought before that sad day became reality)
Sizzix Sizzlits Decorative Strip Die:  "Grass"
Nestabilities:  Classic Ovals and Scalloped Ovals
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
ProMarkers
Chalks for the image background
My Trusty Sewing Machine
Ribbon from my crafty stash box

I have decided that Monday can be designated for male cards in the future.  I never have enough of those.

So Sunday will be for Snippets

Monday for Male cards

Tuesday for my Teeny, Tiny Makes

and I wonder what Wednesday and the rest of the week will become?  Suggestions welcome.

I find I am much more productive if I know what I need to make.  So if each day has a theme I will be half sorted.  Nothing worse than sitting down and thinking "what shall I make?" -  the choices are too vast.

Enjoy your day today.  I hope you get to have a little bit of crafty time to yourself.

Love

SUNDAY SNIPPETS

Hi Everyone

Happy Sunday and happy May.  I hope you are having a nice relaxing bank holiday weekend.

Trying hard here in the House of Hearts to use up some of the old paper pads that only have a few bits left in them .. .. .. after all how can you warrant having any more if you haven't used the old ones LOL!!

So this creation has helped a little in my quest .. .. though I have to admit to it being one of my favourite pads.  I love the colours.

As always on a Sunday I am lazy and don't list my ingredients (sorry Kath), but if there is anything you need to know you only need to ask.

But not too lazy because this card follows a sketch which I have designed today and added to my little sketch library tab at the top of my blog.  If you fancy using any of the sketches on there anytime then please feel free to do so.

So that is me for today .. .. it just leaves me to head over with my make to Pixie's Snippets Playground .. .. grab my maypole and run before the fun is over.  I hope the rain doesn't send all my crepe paper flowers soggy and droopy LOL!!!

Have a lovely rest of Sunday everyone  . .. .. . catch you again soon.

Love

HAPPY SATURDAY

Hi Everyone

Happy Saturday .. .. and happy Bank Holiday weekend.  I hope that it is a good one for everyone.

A little share today featuring a cute little stamp I gained from Ebay this week.  Can't believe it has taken me so long to realise how many lovely crafty bargains can be had from there!

This used:

Image:  Stampin Bella "Claudia has a Candy" 
Sentiment:  Pink Petticoat (sadly no longer trading)
Backing Papers:  TinkerNcodigital "English Garden"
Die-Namics Die Set:  "Blueprints 14"
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
ProMarkers
Glamour Dust
Diamond Stickles
Ribbon from my crafty stash box

The mention of yesterday's "liberty bodice" sparked off some great conversations .. .. and memories for lots of folk.  I loved reading those .. .. thanks for sharing them.

In the afternoon I went to spend time with my Mum and she asked me what I had been doing and I told her about my blog post and everyone's comments and she really enjoyed hearing them all .. .. and it sparked off lots of memories for her.  She then began telling me about other things she  could remember as a child (but don't worry, I won't go into all of those!).

Mum was connected to the internet earlier this year as she wanted to download more games to play on her tablet and to join Facebook so she could see what her many Grandchildren were up to (not bad at nearly 86 - even I don't do Facebook!!).   So we then ended up searching for all the things she could remember which then sparked off even more memories for her.  I think she really enjoyed reminiscing .. . and I certainly enjoyed listening.

Who would have thought all that would have come out of encountering a rubber button whilst ironing!!  LOL!!

Anyway, time to get ready for today's "happy couple" now .. .. but I will hopefully catch you again tomorrow.

Have a good day!

Love