GUEST DESIGNER POST - DIGISTAMP BOUTIQUE

Hi Everyone

Happy Thursday!

I hope your week is going well .. .. have you seen any of the snow? 

So here we go with my first Guest Designer post for the DigiStamp Boutique Blog. Quite a scary experience for me as it has been many years since I have been able to post to a blog that is not my own!!  LOL!!  

I decided to have a play with one of the new clear stamp sets called "Just for You".  The image and sentiment come together as a set.

This used:  DigiStamp Boutique Clear Stamp Set:  "Just for You"
Backing Papers:  First Edition Papers:  "Bella Rose"
Spellbinders Nestabilities "Classic and Scalloped Ovals"
X-Cut Corner Rounding Punch
Silver Embossing Powder
ProMarkers
Liquid Pearls for the centre of the blue flowers
My Trusty Sewing Machine
Pearls and Ribbon from my crafty stash box

The vase image is also available as part of a download here .. .. but my image was stamped and coloured with ProMarkers.  I then stamped it a second time and cut out the central flowers, coloured those and added them to the main image with skinny dimension pads.

Then because I had the luxury of a sentiment stamp alongside the image I was able to heat emboss that.  

So there we go .. .. that is me for today.

TEENY TINY TUESDAY

Hi Everyone

I hope you have had a happy Tuesday!

I was hoping to be here a little earlier than last night .. .. but it is looking like there has been no improvement.  Still .. .. better late than never!

So I had better speed it up and show you my teeny, tiny 3.5" square make for this week.  All of my thank you cards seem to end up girly flowery things so I have attempted to make one that is more suitable for a male to receive:

This used:

Image:  Hero Arts Clear Stamp Set "Be Yourself"

Sentiments:  Wow! Clear Stamp Set "Gratitude"

Memento Ink Pads:  Bahama Blue and Pistachio

My Trusty Sewing Machine

X-Cut Palm Punch: Heart

Ribbon from my crafty stash box

This was my first proper play with the duster brushes that Santa kindly left under my Christmas tree.  I think I am going to enjoy using them!

Anyway, I won't hang about .. but before I go I would just like to thank everyone who left me such lovely comments on my post of yesterday.  You are all so very kind.

FABBY NEWS DAY

Hi Everyone

Happy Monday!

I hope you all had a lovely weekend.

I was well pleased with mine as I finally managed to catch up with all of my wedding sample request and sent pictures of those to potential new "happy couples".

So this week I am hoping to get lots of general card orders completed and some new samples together for taking to the wedding fayre at Eastwood Hall this weekend .. .. and then .. .. .. more wedding work for my current "happy couples".  

I didn't bother to unpack and put everything away from the last wedding fayre with there only being two weeks between them .. .. .. so this means the House of Hearts is very cluttered with boxes, display crates, easels and table plans everywhere.  It looks like we have only just moved in!  LOL!!  Though these boxes are much more exciting than house moving boxes!!

Today I was hoping to be here much earlier than this .. .. but it has been one of those days where I seem to be jumping from job to job and suddenly the day has disappeared.  Nothing to do with Mr Heart being around all day of course LOL!!!

I also have some exciting news to share .. .. I am starting a three month spell as a Guest Design Team member for the lovely Sally-Ann at Digistamp Boutique.  I already know the other fabby ladies on the DT so it feels really lovely and cozy right from the start.  

So in celebration I have made this little creation here:

This used:

Image and Sentiment:  DigiStamp Boutique "Love Bunnies"
Backing Papers:  Craft Sensations "Scrapbook Paperstack - Chalkboard Love"
Dashed Circle and Square Dies:  Ebay Specials
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
X-Cut Flower Punch (so old it is no longer available)
ProMarkers
Glamour Dust
Ribbon from my crafty stash box

and that is it!

I don't know if you have noticed but DigiStamp Boutique have introduced clear stamps back into their range .. .. .. and they stamp beautifully!  I have been having a little play!!  LOL!!

Best of both worlds for me because I do love how you can re-size digital images to whatever size you need .. .. but I also love being able to grab a few stamps and work away from my printers .. .. especially a sentiment stamp or an image which I can paper-piece or mask-off easily.  So I am looking forward to seeing what other stamps Sally-Ann will be releasing.

Anyway, that is me for today.

See you tomorrow with my teeny tiny make .. .. hopefully a lot earlier in the day than this post ended up!

MONDAY'S MALE

Hi Everyone

Happy Monday!

I hope you had a lovely weekend and your week has got off to a good start.

Life has been rather busy here and quite a lot of my time since the new year started has been spent getting organised for a wedding fayre which Mr Heart and I did yesterday.  Gosh it was a busy one and we met some really lovely "happy couples".  I hope I get to work with some of them. Some have been in touch already .. .. so fingers crossed!

I am going to be on wedding invitation sample duties for the next couple of weeks ahead of another fayre we have coming up, but I also need to get some general cards together too, so I decided to ink up a stamp that is brand new to me .. .. I gained it through eBay before Christmas .. ..  and here we go with its first outing. 

This used:

Image:  Penny Black "3202K" Portraiture!

Sentiment:  Woodware Clear Magic Singles "FRS282" Special Bird

Backing Papers:  First Edition Papers "Blank Canvas"

Josy Rose:  Nail Heads

ProMarkers

and sketch number thirty from my little sketch library (turned 90 degrees to give a different look)

Before I started I did nip over to the Penny Black Saturday Challenge to see what the theme is for this month .. .. and as it was "anything goes" .. .. it is super easy to enter.

So that is me for today and hopefully I will be back again tomorrow with a Teeny Tiny make.

MAKE A WISH

Hi Everyone

Happy Wednesday!

I hope you are all well and recovering from all those celebrations.

We arrived back home Monday afternoon after spending Christmas/New Year with the London Kids and our youngest Son.  All the family together .. .. yay!!!

So now it is time to start getting my head around all that needs to be done now I am home again.

I don't know about you but I do love the feeling of calm once things start to settle down again.  It makes me feel like I have lots of time on my hands .. .. which of course is never true!  This then leads to me making plans and promises in my head as to what I want to achieve in the coming year.  

Anyway, what better way to start my blog posting for 2018 than using one of the new sketches I added to my library over the Christmas break.  

So here we go:

This used:

Image:  Penny Black "4082H" To Cake Moment
Sentiment:  Pink Petticoat (sorry no longer available)
Backing Papers:  Papermania "Exquisite" Paper Collection (very old)
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
ProMarkers
My Trusty Sewing Machine 
Iridescent Cord
Sketch Number "Thirty Seven" from my little sketch library

So here we are three days into the sparkly new year and already I have broken one of my new year resolutions.  I vowed to be in bed before midnight throughout the week .. .. so what time did I fall into bed last night .. .. 1.30am .. .. and it wasn't even as if I had fallen asleep on the settee!!

But I have worked on another of my resolutions which is to use up some of the half used paper stacks I have.  Today's card used a bit of one such paper pad and others have started disappearing by being used to make small envelopes for my teeny, tiny cards.

Oh well .. .. one broken and one worked on so that makes things even LOL!!!

Catch you again soon.

HAPPY 2018

Hi Everyone

I hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas.

Did Santa bring you any crafty goodies?

He very kindly left a pack of duster brushes under my tree and I am looking forward to having a play with those at the earliest opportunity.

No crafty makes to post from me but I have been playing with my sketches in the background today whilst folks have been watching a film (sitting through a film isn't something I am very good at .. .. mainly because I end up nodding off and waking myself up snoring and embarrassing myself LOL!!) so instead of that I have added another four sketches to my little sketch library which you will find here or on the tab at the top of my blog.  Please feel free to use any of them if they tickle your fancy!

New year celebrations for us this evening and then tomorrow we have to part company again for a short while .. .. and no doubt attempt to shake off some of those extra pounds we will have gained!

Certainly posts to my blog haven't been so prolific this year.  Weddings seem to have taken over my life quite a bit.  But I still love playing with my crafty stash when I get chance and these have been some of my favourite makes of this year.

I wonder what 2018 is going to bring?  

Does anyone else look at those empty pages in a sparkly new diary and wonder what each day could potentially hold?  Hopefully they will all be good days for us all!

There are certainly lots of new year resolutions on my list .. .. but I am not going to share all of those .. .. you wouldn't believe that one person can be so imperfect that they need to make so many anyway!!

Wishing everyone all the very best for 2018.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE

Hi Everyone

Happy Monday .. .. but more importantly .. .. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS

I wish everyone the best Christmas they could possibly have.

I know that for a few of my blog friends it is going to be a difficult time .. .. but I hope you can find comfort in memories of Christmases that brought happier times your way.  I shall be thinking of you.

My next few days are going to be spent with my lovely family so I am not sure when I will be making my next appearance .. .. but until then many thanks to everyone for all your encouragement and kind words this year.  They have meant more than you will ever know.

Have fun!!

NEARLY TIME

Hi Everyone

Happy Friday!

I hope your day is going well and those Christmas plans are coming together.

Mr Heart finished work on Wednesday so we have been able to make an early start on delivering parcels etc.

Perhaps this is going to be the first year we will be able to actually chill and enjoy Christmas Eve ahead of Santa arriving.  I don't know about you but Christmas Eve has always been my most favourite day of the year.

On the bad side my tumble drier has decided to die and a replacement isn't going to be delivered until the first week in January .. .. so at the moment the House of Hearts looks like Mrs Wishy Washy has moved in with washing draped everywhere .. .. because it certainly isn't going to dry outside!!

But never mind.   People managed before they were invented so I am sure we can cope for a few days. 

I am here with a quick share today that uses an image I couldn't wait to colour and decorate .. .. what a lovely thought .. .. loading up your car with Christmas goodies to share with family or friends!

This used:

Image and Sentiment:  DigiStamp Boutique "Loaded up for Christmas"

Backing Papers:  Dovecraft:  12 x 12 Christmas Basics

ProMarkers

My Trusty Sewing Machine

Ribbon and Embellishments from my crafty stash box

and that is me for today.

I am going to link up to the DigiStamp Boutique Customer Competition for December and then I am off to deliver a little bit more Christmas cheer to family and friends before it gets dark!!!

Have a lovely evening everyone.

SAD TIMES

Hi Everyone

I hope you are all having a good week and things aren't too manic for you in the run up to Christmas.

It suddenly dawned on me today that whilst up to my eyes in wedding work I didn't share my favourite cards from the current issue (Issue 173) of Quick Cards Made Easy .. .. and I can't let that pass by without sharing a couple of the cards from a commission called "Paperback Cards".

I really enjoyed this commission and I still have loads of pages left in the second-hand book I bought from the charity shop .. .. which cost a whole 20p !!  In fact I felt so guilty at only wanting one book I bought a few. I must go back sometime and see if there are any books with "coated" pages so that I can do a bit of ink blending on them. Paperback paper doesn't lend itself to that very well.  

I only remembered that I hadn't shared anything from Issue 173 when Issue 174 dropped through my door this morning, ahead of going on sale next week (28th December).  

These are my favourite makes from Issue 174.  This first one features a technique called "Partial Heat Embossing"

and a second commission which featured "Magic Slider Cards".  Not something I had ever made before .. .. but something I found hard to stop making .. .. and I will definitely make some again in the future!  Not easy to photograph but hopefully you get the general ideal here with the closed and open shots:

But rather than the normal excitement I feel when I see the magazine on the door mat, it was tinged with sadness when it arrived today because Issue 174 is going to be the last ever publication of Quick Cards Made Easy.. .. boo hoo!!  I have enjoyed my time with the magazine soooo much and have worked with, and met, some fabulous people.  I have been very lucky.

I can still remember my very first commission like it was yesterday, starting with the magazine in January 2012 and now finishing in January 2018.  A whole six years ... and I have been fortunate to appear in each magazine during that time.

But as my Mum would say "all good things must come to an end  .. ..  the same as all the bad ones" and I will wait to see what the future holds for me now.  I do believe things always happen for a reason and perhaps my wedding world is just going to take over completely!  Who knows?

I know the future starts with two wedding fayres in January so no time for me to rest on my laurels that's for sure.

But before then we have Christmas, and I am so looking forward to some lovely "chill time" with  my family.  I love it when we are all together.

So that is me for today.  I will be back again soon.

WAKEY, WAKEY LITTLE BLOG

Hi Everyone

Warning .. .. super long and picture heavy post alert.

Happy Monday!!

My hugest apologies for my lack of activity in blogland.  I have been absent for nearly a month!!  

I have been the busiest I have ever been over the last six weeks or so, with even a few night shifts being worked .. .. .. but those weeks did see two weddings being finished and collected, along with all of my Christmas orders and magazine commissions being crossed off my list.  I even got the accounts finalised and off to the accountant. 

This now just leaves me with the making of Christmas cards for our own use (because currently the house of hearts has none) along with a few samples which are needed for happy couples who are getting married next year.  

But to add to the excitement Mr Heart has a birthday today and friends and family often ask me to make a card for them to give him.  So I thought I would wake my blog up and share those with you.  I will just say where the images and sentiments came from because the papers are all very random ones.

Image:  Digistamp Boutique "Cheeky Monkey"
Sentiment computer generated

Image:  Lili of the Valley "Candles"
Sentiment:  Computer generated

Image:  Bugaboo Stamps "Mouse Candle"
Sentiment:  Computer generated

Image and Sentiment:  Digistamp Boutique "Cheers to You"
I took my inspiration for this card from the sample on the website .. .. simply adding a little bit more wording to the sentiment.  The beer glasses were arranged to form the border using Craft Artist 2

Image:  Lili of the Valley Simply Print "On the Farm"
Sentiment:  Digistamp Boutique
"Simply Birthday Greetings - Male"

I bet you are thinking that doesn't look a very romantic birthday card .. .. and that is true (for the outside).  It actually represents a bit of a family joke based around a farm based computer game and he knew exactly why I had chosen that fabby image and loved it.

If you click on the DigiStamp Boutique links you will see there is a fabby sale on there at the moment .. .. I think I will be partaking of a few more sentiments and images for my download file before it runs out!!

Also, to finish I would like to thank everyone for all your lovely comments on the Teeny Tiny cards that made an appearance on my last blog post .. .. a few weeks ago! (shame on me - I really don't deserve such loyal blog pals).

I had a few emails and queries about what I had used on them stamp wise and was able to reply by email to most .. .. but for those I haven't been able to contact .. .. .. here we go:

1.  The Robin used for the first two cards is a Penny Black Stamp "2995F" Stocking.

2.  The second set of cards used a stamp I purchased years ago from a local craft store that closed down.  They used to do cardmaking classes and sold off all the "pre-loved" materials.  The stamp was labelled PSX "F-2104" sometimes called Christmas Town and other times Snow Village.  It seems to be just an Ebay stamp now.

3.  I think the two last cards with the little birds on got the most compliments  .. .. .. and a few more of those are definitely going to be made this week for my own use.  These used a Just Rite Clear Stamp Set "CR-05030" Doodled Birds and a Hobby Arts Clear Stamp Set called "CS138D" Nature Trail.

Enjoy your day.  I hope your Christmas plans are coming together nicely.  I will see you again before Christmas .. .. but for now I am off to start on the big clean up and to burn a few calories away before we go out to celebrate later!!