TONIGHT MATTHEW I AM .. .. .. IN SHABBY CHIC MODE

Hi Everyone

I am still in wedding stationery mode and the collection I have been working on today is going to be for our "shabby chic" range  .. .. .. and I am loving it!!!

I can't stop creating!! 

But I have to .. .. I still have one more collection to do ahead of Sunday.  (Though I might just sneak one more little Shabby Chic creation in before I clear away the lovely goodies I have been using for this range.  Perhaps a quirky little place name.).

Anyway, the remaining collection for working on tomorrow is "mulled wine"!!!  So no doubt tomorrow will be a little peep at one of those ... ... mmmm .. .. .. I love mulled wine!!  Hic!!!

So a quick share of one of the makes of the day:

Don't forget .. .. there isn't a heart to be found on all of my wedding stationery .. .. and definitely not on this invitation.  Sorry if I am spoiling your fun!!   LOL!!

I hope you have all had a good day.

It has been super hot here again .. .. .. with more of the same forecast for the weekend.

Hubby's redundancy was finalised today and he finished with his old firm this morning.  He doesn't have to work his notice period.  It must be such a horrible feeling for him.

But not to let the grass grow under his feet he went straight from his old firm for an interview with an agency.  He sent them his CV yesterday and when he went for his interview with them this morning they had already passed his details on to someone and a company want to interview him next week!!!   It will be a temporary post .. .. but sometimes temporary ones can turn permanent .. .. so we have everything crossed that his interview goes well!!

We have a little "good luck" thing in our family  .. .. ..  it started when we were kids and my brother was taking his eleven plus exam.  He was really, really worked up and worried about it and my Mum said to him "You will be OK , just put your pants on inside out".

Of course being the obedient little chappie he was .. and happy to grab at anything that might improve his chances .. .. ..  he put them on inside out.  Well surprise, surprise he passed and it was all put down to wearing his underpants inside out.

So this has stuck .. .. and as a family we often wear them inside out for things such as driving tests, interviews, exams LOL!!  It is quite normal to get a text saying "can you put your pants on inside out please" .. .. and of course we all do!!  The more pairs of pants that are inside out the better of course.!!!  (Yes, I think we are mad .. .. but we don't care).

So next week there will be a few pairs of pants worn inside out!!!  (Feel free to join in .. .. I will let you know what day .. .. it will make a change from playing with snippets!!).

I'll catch you again tomorrow and will again apologise for my lack of commenting.  Only two more days to go and then I can made amends.  At this rate if will take me a day to do it!!

I have a huge list of people to catch up with!!!  Eeeekkk!!!  Sorry folk!!!

Love

A SNEAK PREVIEW

Hi Everyone

I hope you have all had a good day.  It has been another day full of bright sunshine  .. ..  it seemed really weird for it to be so warm and bright all day and then suddenly dark around 7.30pm!!

It felt like it should be an evening for sitting out .. .. .. not that we have managed that even once this year!!! Shame :-(

No time for playing with my general cardmaking goodies today as it is full steam ahead in wedding mode .. so I thought I would share one of the "new designs" that will be going to the fayre on Sunday.

Don't spend too long looking for the heart today as you won't find it. 

Sadly wedding stationery doesn't always get a heart that is visible .. .. the heart has to be the love and enjoyment I put into the creation process.

I'll catch you again tomorrow .. .. no doubt with another sneak preview!!

Take care everyone.

Love

CAROLING TRIO

Hi Everyone

I hope the sun has shone for you today .. .. .. it has been beautiful here .. .. like a gorgeous summer day!!

So what do I make .. ..

A Christmas card LOL!!!

All day I have been making wedding stationery apart from this one little share:

This used:

Image:  Penny Black "1862K" Caroling Trio
Sentiment:  Great Impressions "B154" From All of Us
Backing Paper:  Funky Hand Download "Funky Little Christmas" (my fav Christmas download from Anice .. .. and use it loads and loads and loads!!)
Cuttlebug Die:  Snowflake
Chalk
Ribbon:  Dovecraft
Diamond Stickles
Gems, Button and String from the Stash Box

So that is me for today.

Sorry it is short and sweet but I still have lots to do ahead of the weekend .. .. hence my reason for lack of visiting and comments.  I promise I will catch up eventually!!!

Take care everyone.

I hope you have another day of sunshine tomorrow.

Love

HERE AT LAST

Hi Everyone

My oh my . .. I thought I was never getting here!!

Roll on Sunday when it is too late to do any more in preparation for the Wedding Fayre .. .. by Sunday all I will have to do is arrange all my goodies and stand with my lovely Sis chatting with lots of happy couples!!

Still so much I want to do  .. . but hey!! The week is young.  It is only Tuesday night .. .. eeekkk!!!  LOL!!!

Tonight's share is my DT card for the Get Funky! Challenge .. .. if you fancy joining in then the theme this month is "Birthday Fun".

You can see my post and the rules for the challenge over on the Get Funky Challenge Blog .. .. plus there is the monthly freebie there too!!!

Here is my make.  The backing paper is actually a digi image that I have repeated and stretched lots, and lots and lots.

This used: 

Funky Hand:  Papercraft Factory CD "Happy, Happy Birthday"
Woodware Punches:  Daisy (various sizes)
Leone Em Pty Punch:  Ash Branch
Glamour Dust
Cord from the Stash Box

You will be pleased to know that I found my exam certificates .. .. all neatly stored away in a display binder never expecting to see the light of day again!!

The job I applied for has disappeared off the hospital website even though the closing date wasn't until the 3rd October .. .. they did say this could happen if they had sufficient applicants .. .. so clearly lots of other folk were also keeping their eye out for the elusive administration jobs there.

Lots to crack on with so I will disappear and catch you again tomorrow.

Love

HAPPY HANDY HIPPO POST - WEEK 4

Hi Everyone

Well can you believe it?

Week four in my Happy Handy Hippo posts.  Doesn't time fly when you are having fun!

This week I have made a card which is a little different to the usual style I show .. .. just to prove that firstly, I can do things other than cute LOL!! and secondly that Handy Hippo sell a really wide range of gorgeous supplies .. ..  whatever style you are into.

Everytime I visit I see something new .. .. as well as super bargains!!!

So, here is my make for this week

Again if you click on the magic button below you can see all the lovely goodies I used for this creation. They have been automatically added to a shopping basket and you can remove anything you do not need (or add anything else you can't resist).

As there were no questions about my project last week I thought I would share today how I used a Cuttlebug Embossing folder to make the embossed background on today's project.

Firstly, I rubbed a memento "cocoa" teardrop inkpad all over the inside of my embossing folder.  Just on the one side .. .. the side that has the word "Cuttlebug" written on it.

I then closed up my folder with my choice of card sandwiched inside.

Run it through the Cuttlebug (or whatever die cutting or embossing machine you use) with the Spacer A plate in place and your cuttlebug folder inbetween two B plates.

Once through your machine and opened up your card will look like this .. .. super scrummy!!!

The last step .. .. wash your embossing folder!!!  You need to be nice and love your crafty stash .. .. then it will do nice things for you in return.

I hope you all enjoyed today's project .. .. as well as my little tutorial .

Have a great week and I will see you next Monday with a Christmas Happy Handy Hippo project.  Even my hubby went "ahhhh" when he saw it!!

Love



(and all the lovely friendly people at Handy Hippo)

JULES' SUNDAY SNIPPET CHALLENGE - WEEK 38

Hi Everyone

I am really sorry but with everything up in the air at this end I have only had time to do two snippet makes today.. .. .. bad girl!!

That is never going to reduce the mountain is it?  In fact I have made the snippet mountain higher rather than smaller as I have been working on some wedding stationery samples for the fayre next Sunday.

But I have a few more important things to sort than a snippet mountain at the moment.  Where are my exam certificates from 1976 ?!?!?!?!?  I might need to show them someone?

So here are my snippet offerings: 

With next week being the Wedding Fayre I am going to have to close the snippet playground gates early again this week!!!  Oh my word .. .. how is a person supposed to know if they are coming or going around this place?  LOL!!

Mind you I was pleased that one of my snippet makes was a Christmas card as I have been able to take part in Rudolph Day .. .. as instigated by the lovely Sandra.  The 25th of every month should be a day you make a Christmas card.  Though I am beginning to think I should make a Christmas card "every day" from now until Christmas!!  Eeeekk!!! 

Anyway round to this week's register of snippet playmates.

First to the playground was Irene.  Just look at this gorgeous snippet make .. .. and the stunning flower.  I just love this!!  Thank you for the inspiration Irene.

Then next was the most fantastic make from Elizabeth.  There is a real treat in store here .. .. just look at the fabulous birdcage.  It actually looks like metal!!!  Great use of snippets Elizabeth.

Brenda B was the next one along with not one but two fabulous snippet makes.  The first one you will find here and the second one here.  Fabulous images and use of snippets on both (I love the knitting chickens!!!).

A very inspirational personalised snippet creation was waved in the air next by Claire .. .. a great keepsake card!!  To think it was made from snippets is such an amazing thought.

My next playmate was Sheena who made a gorgeous little money wallet to give to her Sister.  Sadly because the playground gates closed early last week Sheena missed entering it  .. .. but it was too lovely not to share .. .. so I thought it would be nice if it was linked this week.  I am sure you will agree it is a great way to give someone a gift or a little extra spending money!! 

Mandy also called by the snippet playground twice this week.  Mandy's first creation you will find here and the second one here.  Both are so lovely and use the most gorgeous snippets.  I love the flower on the second one very much!!

The lovely Beryl was the next in line with a beautiful blue creation to share with everyone.  I love the image and all the gorgeous swirls on this.  A great finished look.

Hurrying along next was Mags who not only shared a lovely snippet make but also managed to make my mouth water with talk of cupcakes!!!  Mmmm....!!!   There was a lovely vintage feel to Mags' creation .. .. just gorgeous!!

My next playmate was Catherine who managed to use up a mini mountain of snippets on the two creations she showed around the playground.  The first one you will find here and the second one here.  Both are stunningly gorgeous but the second one is my favourite .. .. simply because of the beautiful image and the "heart tights" the Sassy image is wearing.  Perhaps I need a pair like those LOL!!!

Another Christmas card was on show next as shared by Carol .. .. and what a beauty it was too.  I love the die that Carol has used and the lovely sentiment.  Lovely traditional Christmas colours too!!!

Smile .. .. Sally is next!!  LOL!!!  Just wait until you see this one.  A brilliant way to use up your snippets.  Very inspirational.  Thanks Sally!  The little flowers look so cute and I love the letters.

The next person to arrive was Lynne .. .. holding a Christmas card in each hand .. .. and two great Christmas cards at that.  Brilliant use of snippets and although I love both of them the last one is my favourite .. ..  simply because it uses my favourite Christmas papers from Papermania.

Sarah called by next with her snippet make .. .. and I loved it instantly!!  A Christmas card but with so many lovely elements to it.  I wish I had made this one!!!!  LOL!!!   Love the background papers and the little heart!!!

Along next came Tammy with a beautiful thank you card.  Such a stunning design.  Great image and background papers .. .. and who would have thought that lace and string could go together so perfectly?

Next along was a snippet playmate who hasn't managed to make it to the playground for a few weeks due to computer problems.  But now they are all sorted Carole made up for lost time by bringing along three snippet makes to share.  Each one gorgeous.  I can't pick a favourite .... they are all stunning.  You will find them here, here and here. 

Then last but my no means least was Di .. .. who kindly reminded me that today was Rudolph Day and produced a gorgeous Christmas card.  Just look at that gorgeous backing paper and the background Di has made for her image.  Beautiful!!. 

So what I want to know now is why do everyone else's snippets look far more exciting than your own?!?!?!

It is just like when you go to the supermarket.  Everyone elses' shopping trolley looks nicer than your own and yet we have all had exactly the same things to choose from LOL!! 

Thanks again ladies for all of your super inspiration for using up the snippets.

Don't forget the snippet gates close early again next week .. .. "time off" for you all for good behaviour!!!

I am hoping to have a good old blog catch up later tonight.  It is ages since I have had a good visit session .. .. and I know time is going to be short this next week in preparation for the Wedding Fayre on Sunday!!  Oh it is going to be a lovely, lovey dovey week in the House of Hearts!!

Love

THE SNIPPET PLAYGROUND GATES ARE CLOSING EARLY AGAIN THIS WEEK. 
IF YOU WANT TO PLAY ALONG YOU NEED TO BE HERE
BY MIDNIGHT ON THURSDAY :-)

PENNY BLACK SATURDAY - LAST GDT CARD

Hi Everyone

Well can you believe it .. .. my September stint with Penny Black Saturday is over already?!?!?! 
Where did that month go?

Thank you so much for having me ladies.  It has been such fun!

The theme this week is "monochromatic".

I decided to work with black and white .. .. but with my black being very minimalist

This used:

Image:  Penny Black "3377K" Whispers
Sentiment:  Pink Petticoat
Cuttlebug Embossing Folder:  Swiss Dots
Josy Rose:  Acrylic Stone
My Trust Sewing Machine
Pinking Shears
Buttons and thread from the Stash Box

I hope you get chance to play along this week.

Before I go can I just say a big thank you for all the lovely messages you left on our bad news yesterday.  They meant so much.

I'll catch you again tomorrow with my snippet makes.

Love

GOOD NEWS - AND BAD NEWS!!

Hi Everyone

Well the good news of the day is that it is my lovely baby Sister's birthday today .. .. .. happy birthday Joey!!!  Jo is 6 years younger than me and I can remember the day she was born as clear as anything.  She was born at home in the front bedroom and I was the first one to hold her .. .. even before our Mum.

As some of you will know my Sis makes lovely handbags and bridal bags and spends quite a few hours at her sewing machine. 

So I thought that this card would be very appropriate for her

This used:

Image and Papers: Pink Petticoat
Sentiment:  Computer Generated
Buttons:  Funky Hand
Martha Stewart Punch:  Valentine Lace
My Trusty Sewing Machine
Promarkers

She loved it to bits!!

and now to the bad news part!!

My lovely hubby has been told that he is going to be made redundant!!  Panic!!!

We heard it was a possibility on Tuesday and after panicking all week it was confirmed today.

So a whole new world hits the House of Hearts. 

We are not going to sulk or mope about .. .. .. it isn't the end of the world .. .. the end of the world would be if one of us was to have something wrong with us that doctor couldn't put better. 

Life is just taking us on another journey we didn't expect and we just need to hope it isn't too painful a one.

So to play my part in the recovery plan I have today applied for a job on line at our local hospital.  It seemed like fate that I saw it on the day Hubby got the bad news.  There aren't usually many administration jobs going at the hospital but today there was one!!!  Just part-time - 18 hours a week - which will mean if I am successful I can do my wedding work alongside it.  I suppose in the grand scheme of things the chances are I won't even get an interview .. but at least I will have tried. 

The hospital is only about 30 minutes away so I could walk there .. .. well actually it is probably 30 minutes there and 40 minutes back as you have to negotiate a steep hill!!!

Have a good evening and weekend everyone .. ..  I am back tomorrow with my last Penny Black Saturday GDT card.

Love

CHRISTMAS TREE TED

Hi Everyone

Late again with another Christmas card to share after having a day in wedding mode.

I love my wedding work and love my general card work too .. .. but doing the two in one day is really weird.  One being quite minimalist and the other a creation you can go to town on.  The trick being not to make something you can go to town on before you make a new wedding invitation sample .. .. or you end up going a bit "over the top"  LOL!!!

So it was weddings most of the day and a Christmas make this evening.

This used:

Image:  Penny Black "4015K" Christmas Tree Ted
Backing Papers:  Funky Hand Originals CD "Yule Be Funky"
Martha Stewart Punch:  Embossed Zig Zag
Hobbycraft Punches:  Snowflakes Large and Small
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads (mmm... where is it?)
ProMarkers
Glamour Dust
Metallic Cord from the Stash Box

I will give you a break from Christmas cards tomorrow as it will be my lovely Sister's birthday .. .. and I will share the card I have made for her.  Oh I am so lucky to have such a brilliant baby Sis!!

Have a good evening everyone.

Love

IT'S TIME FOR CHRISTMAS

Hi Everyone

It is time to be thinking seriously about Christmas in the House of Hearts .. .. people are asking for them already and lots of my stock went at the Festival!!  Eeekkk!!!

So you might be getting Christmas card overload here for a while .. .. .. not that all of them will go into the box for other people to have .. .. some will be going into my own little reserve so I am not panicing come December!!  This will be one of those!!

This used:

Image:  Funstamps "FM131" Scribble Snowman
Sentiment:  Computer Generated
Backing Papers:  Pink Petticoat
Nestabilites:  Classic Circle and Scalloped Circle
Hobbycraft Punch:  For the larger snowflake .. .. .. no name on the smaller snowflake punch!!
Cuttlebug Embossing Folder:  Snowflakes 2
ProMarkers
Glamour Dust
Crystal Stickles
Metallic Cord and Self Adhesive Pearls from the Stash Box

I took one of my pictures on a sideways view just to try and show you the embossing folder I used.  I have had this quite a while now and it comes out every Christmas .. .. I love the effect of the little snow dots.

So back to it for me.  This website is taking a lot more sorting than I thought it would. 

I didn't realise quite how thick I was in this department .. .. I am on a big learning curve .. .. and all whilst trying to prepare for the next wedding fayre.  I think I have given myself a good dollop of pressure just because I want everything sorted for the 2nd October .. ..  LOL!!

I'll catch you again tomorrow.

Love

A CARD FOR A FRIEND

Hi Everyone

Well here I am at last with my up-date from the weekend.

We had a fantastic time meeting lots of people .. .. ..  both old friends and now new ones.

My lovely Sis sold lots of her bags and I sold lots of cards.  It was my best year yet!!

The weather was very mixed and finished late Sunday afternoon with the most torrential rainstorm you could imagine.  It was coming down so heavy that when you looked out of the window it looked like fog!!!

But it didn't dampen anyones enthusiasm .. .. in fact it made the place even more jolly as people dived in for cover!!

So a good time was had by all and now we are keeping our fingers crossed that it is run again next year.

Now round to a birthday card I made for a good friend's birthday yesterday.  As you may guess from the image he is Scottish.

This used:

Image:  Teddy Bo

Backing Papers:   Raspberry Road

Sentiment:  Pink Petticoat

Josy Rose:  Nail Heads

ProMarkers

Cord from the Stash Box

So now the Festival is over for another year you would imagine I am sitting back and putting my feet up for a day or two?  .. .. .. .. but no .. .. .. we are now preparing for a wedding fayre we are doing on the 2nd October so it is all systems go again .. .. but in wedding mode now!!

So I may still be "AWOL" on the commenting front for a few days to come .. .. but I am trying I promise.

Catch you again tomorrow.

Love

HAPPY HANDY HIPPO DAY - WEEK 3

Hi Everyone

Woo hoo!!!  My Happy Handy Hippo Day is here again .. .. how quickly these days seem to be coming around .. . and this week I have a gorgeous project to share with you, but first I would again like to thank everyone that visits on a Monday and leaves such lovely comments.

I was emailed a question about my week 2 creation and we will look at that later.

But for now here is my share for this week:

I love this sweet image and those gorgeous little clip on hearts .. .. (I can even see these on my wedding stationery and might have to try them on some place names or favours!!). 

Again if you click on the magic button below you can see all the lovely goodies I used for this creation. They  have been automatically added to a shopping basket and you can remove anything you do not need (or add anything else you can't resist).

So, as I said earlier, I received an email asking how I had done the ribbon embellishment on last week's card .. .. hopefully I have explained clearly enough below .. .. if not then please let me know.

Here is the card I posted so you can have another look at the ribbon.

and here is how I did it:

Firstly I made the background for the ribbon from a piece of Inspire Me card cut with a Martha Stewart Half Daisy punch and I attached a strip of  Wild Rose Studio Polka Dots paper and wrapped around a length of Pink Ribbon Selection Ribbon.

I secured the ribbon on the back with a little sellotape and then put this part of my card to one side.

Next I made a loop out of the ribbon but you need to be sure that the end of your ribbon extends further than the centre point of the loop as below

Pierce a hole through all three layers of the ribbon as shown here

Then push a brad through the hole you have made - making sure you have securely included all three layers of ribbon and cut your ribbon just past the brad tails  .. ..

  Next make a hole through the ribbon, paper and card on your backing strip with your piercing tool

Insert your brad through the hole you have just made and open up the brad legs on the reverse of your card and paper

 

Turn your work over and it should look like this

I then simply added double sided tape to the reverse and attached the decorated strip to the front of my card.

I hope that I have explained this OK .. .. if not then please just shout up!!

Sorry about the photograph overload but this seems to be the easiest way for me to explain (apart from trying to take pictures one handed on some shots .. .. I clearly need to perfect this LOL!!).

Before I leave though I thought I would just let you know about the lovely offers over at Handy Hippo and if you click here you will go to the home page and be able to check them all out .. .. .. including the first annual Super Summer Clearance Sale.

Take care and have a really good week.

Love

(and all the lovely friendly people at Handy Hippo)

p.s.  I will give you the Festival up-date from the weekend tomorrow .. .. thank you for all the good wishes .. .. we had a great weekend.