HAVE FUN!

Hi Everyone

Happy Friday!

A busy old day in the House of Hearts .. .. or should I say away from the House of Hearts.

We (this being hubby, our youngest Son and myself) have been out and about.  First stop being my favourite card and paper warehouse for a stock up on card for wedding samples.  I managed to pick up a few new colours and textures too so hopefully there will be some "very different and possibly rustic" looking invitations at my next wedding fayre.

Second stop was IKEA.  Our youngest wanted some storage units (which we just managed to squeeze into the car once part of the back seat was flattened) and I wanted another couple of picture frames for putting sample table plans into .. .. again for the next wedding fayre in October.

But oh the torture of walking around IKEA.  It isn't somewhere we go to very often, in fact this was only my third visit ever .. .. .. but I fell in love with so many things.  I kitted my craft pod out at least 40 times in my head .. .. but for now I will have to make do with the wardrobe that has had its doors removed, my second hand desk and chair and the old set of drawers that used to hold kids clothes many years ago!!  

Good things come to those who wait .. .. so if I wait even longer then who knows what might come my way eventually LOL!!

Anyway, here is today's share:

This used:

Image:  Teddy Bo "Gone Fishing"
Sentiment:  Digistamp Boutique "Birthday Sentiment and Tickets"
Backing Papers:  Aimee Asher "Playful Fish Backgrounds"
Martha Stewart Punch:  Embossed Zig Zag
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
Nestabilities:  Classic Circles and Scalloped Circles
ProMarkers and Chalk
Cord and Charm from the Stash Box

Well Mr Blogger has behaved himself this evening.  I have even been able to add the pictures to last night's post too.  Thank you very much Mr Blogger!!  Sorry I moaned about you last night!

Have a great rest of the evening everyone and a lovely weekend.  I wonder if the sunshine is going to make an appearance?

Love

KEEP CALM

Hi Everyone

I hope your Thursday has been good.

Just a quick and easy card from me tonight.

I nearly called my post "one for the men folk" but then thought better of it as I know some ladies enjoy a drink of beer too (not me though .. .. I hate the stuff unless it is drowned in lemonade .. .. sacrilege I hear the beer lovers saying).

I always upload my photographs as the last thing I do on my posts .. .. but tonight I only have the patience to upload one .. .. and this has taken ages!!!  I will add the others if things improve .. .. but in the meantime I think I should make a card that says "Stay Calm . .. . .. Mr Blogger will deal with your up-load request "eventually"!!

This one photographs has taken about 20 minutes to post here.

Anyway here we go with today's share:

This used:

Image:  Pink Gem Designs  "Keep Calm Men Set"

Sentiment:  Computer Generated using font Rockwell Extra Bold

Backing Paper:  Pink Petticoat "Pinstripes"  (mine is the white download printed onto cream card)

Nestabilities:  Classic Circle and Eyelet Circles

Josy Rose:  Nail Heads

Gold cord from the Stash Box

and that is it!!!

No colouring today :-(

Catch you again soon

Love

MY TYPE OF FRIEND

Hi Everyone

I hope your day has been good.

Mine has gone well and I have managed quite a few creations today  .. .. which always makes for a good day in my book!!

Whenever I have a few days away from crafting my fingers always itch to create something .. .. but to also use my sewing machine .. .. so today I combined the two.

My creation is also destined for the Snippet Playground Challenge No. 35 .. .. which I missed last week :-(   .. ..  and it got mentioned in dispatches ..  whoops!!!!

I can't play truant for a second week or I will be getting a letter sent to my Mum!!  LOL!!!

So here is my mid week snippet make

and because it isn't Sunday I am not allowed to be lazy .. .. so here is what I used:

Image:  Pink Petticoat "Quirky Qwerty"
Backing Papers:  Snippets from Pink Petticoat "Perfect Papers" (half price if you are looking for a lovely bargain)
Sentiment:  Computer Generated using font "Misproject" (the sentiment in the typewriter comes with the PP download).
Nestabilities:  Scalloped Circles and Classic Circles Large
My Trusty Sewing Machine
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads  
Ribbon from the odds and ends drawer

Lots of folk have asked me about the nail heads and said they can't find them on the website.  You can see them if you click here.  I used to stick them down using strong glue and a cocktail stick .. .. but once I started  using them lots decided life was too short and I treated myself to the hot fix wand.

Love this typewriter image very much.  Typewriting and sewing lessons used to be my favourite subjects at school but I never got to use a typewriter that was this pretty!!!

OK .. .. off to get organised for tomorrow.  I have a new "happy couple" visiting

Catch you soon

Love

WELL .. .. WHERE HAVE I BEEN?

Gosh everyone

What a very busy few weeks I have had.  But I think my feet are now back on the ground again. Certainly my "do list" looks a bit healthier that's for sure!!

Lots of weddings have been needed for collection these last few weeks .. .. as well as "new happy couples" to meet and make samples for.

One happy couple I have been working for is the Son and now Daughter in Law of a lovely lady I used to work for many years ago.

Who would have thought the lady that interviewed me so long ago would end up being such a special friend. We were both sad at our time together coming to an end this morning :-(

It was the wedding this past weekend and it was lovely to be invited to be part of the special day and Friday saw us whizzing along the motorway (well whizzing as fast as Bank Holiday traffic will let you) with a table plan wrapped in bubble wrap nestled on the back seat.   It is the first time I have ever had a wedding photograph taken on a beach!!

We had a great time with our friends and stayed for a few days and caught up on some much needed "chat time", "chill time", "laughter" and sleep!!  

Here is a quick snap of the place names I made .. .. this one of course wasn't mine LOL!!

So today we are home again and it is time to get all those bags unpacked .. .. .. and I am already on wash load number two!!

Hopefully now things have settled down a little I won't be such a stranger here.

I hope everyone is well and that you all had a good Bank Holiday break.

Catch you tomorrow when my itchy fingers will have had chance to play in the craft pod!!!

Love

SORRY FOLKS :-(

Hi Everyone

Very sorry but there is nothing that I can share with you from the House of Hearts at the moment!!

I have had lots of enquiries and visits from new "happy couples" and am trying to get samples together for them alongside completing the wedding orders I already have.  

Busy, busy, busy do list that's for sure!!  

Not sure when I will be posting again .. .. but I'll be back as and when I can.  

In the meantime .. .. have fun!!!

Love

JUST ABOUT TIME TO BREATHE

Hi Everyone

I hope your Tuesday has been good.

Mine has flown by with wedding work .. .. and for a moment I thought I wasn't going to get anything made to share with you .. .. but I managed it in the end .. .. just!!

Only a quick and simple make .. .. but I did warn you that this might be the theme of the week LOL!!!

So here we go:

This used:

Image:  Pink Petticoat "Simply Delightful"
Sentiment:  Computer Generated using font "2Peas Squish"
Backing Papers:  Papermania "Chatsworth Vintage Collection"  love these papers but some are now in short supply :-(
Martha Stewart Punch:  Lace Heart
My Trust Sewing Machine
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
Ribbon, Charm and Gems from the Stash Box

and that is me for tonight.  I bet black chandeliers take a lot of keeping clean!!!

Not sure I will make it here tomorrow  .. .. but we shall see.  Miracles do sometimes happen LOL!!

Have a good rest of the evening.

Love

KEEP CALM

Hi Everyone

I hope you have had a good Monday so far .. .. and aren't missing the Olympics too much.

It seemed quite sad to see them end last night don't you think?

I enjoyed the opening ceremony more than last night's (not that it stopped us staying up until all hours last night though as it was still good).  I thought Jessie Jay was fantastic.    She was the star performer of the night for me.  That is what you call a voice !!!

Just a quick share from me today .. .. in fact it might be a week of quick makes as I have a mountain of stuff to battle through.

Lisa at Wishcraft Cards Blog has posted a couple of cards recently using some brilliant digi images and I wombled over to the store (as you do) to find they were on offer .. .. so as always here I am sharing another offer.  You will find the images here.  

Lisa's versions are much more involved and layered than mine .. .. hope you get chance to take a look .. .. but this is my version:

This used:

Image/Sentiment:  Pink Gem Designs "Keep Calm and Drink Wine" (the pre-coloured version from the download)
Backing Paper:  Pink Petticoat (Black pinstripes printed onto Kraft card)
My Trusty Sewing Machine
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
Ribbon, cord and charm from the stash box

You might struggle to replicate the backing paper I have produced though.  You need to use a printer that has just about ran out of black ink .. .. hence the patchy bits at the top of the card .. .. but I liked the look so still used what I had printed.

Mmmm.. .. I have a few friends who would like this card on their birthday.  What does that tell you about my socialising habits LOL!!!

Have a great evening everyone.

Time to get my printers on overdrive now (but not the one running out of black ink .. .. my happy couples wouldn't be happy for very long if I used that one).

Catch you tomorrow.

Love

SUNDAY SNIPPETS

Hi Everyone

A happy Sunday to you all.

I hope your weekend has been a good one.

Our little blog girl get together yesterday was a brilliant day.  I haven't laughed so much .. .. and for so long .. .. for ages!!  (Though it would be a bit worrying if I felt I needed to laugh at my wedding stationery like that each day).

It was a lovely catch up with everyone.  Some who I have been lucky enough to meet before and some new faces too.  I always think it is nice to be able to put a face to a blog .. .. but even nicer to be able to put a personality to one too.  

I don't have any photographs of the day to share but one of my lovely new followers "Lisa" has a few here.  What a fabby day we had.  Thanks for organising it Sal and for making us all feel so welcome xx

Lots of crafty nattering and we spent time drooling over each others "makes" and also stole a few "cut outs" from each others dies .. .. .. each of us going home with a few samples to play with.  Of course we all know what will happen.  We will each use our samples and then feel we can't possibly manage without the die the sample came from!  

This is what has happened with my snippet card today.

The flourish die on my snippet make is one I brought home yesterday .. .. and I just knew as I cut it out that it would go on my "one day I would like" list!   Sigh!!!

Anyways .. .. thanks for a great day ladies xx

So here is my snippet make for today for entering into Di's Crafty Snippet Challenge.  

As always I am super lazy on a Sunday and don't list any of my ingredients .. .. but ask away if you need to know anything.

Di defo deserves a gold medal of her own this week as her roll call was unbelievable.  The Snippet playground is certainly one happy place to play (and use up those pesky snippets at the same time).

OK .. time to make up for all that gallivanting yesterday and I'll catch you again tomorrow.

Love

HOW EARLY ?!?!?

Hi Everyone

Happy Saturday!!

Well how early am I today?  This must be a world record for me .. .. and it isn't even a scheduled post LOL!!!

I have to admit that I haven't actually made this creation this morning though . .. I made it yesterday in preparation as I knew this morning would just fly away with me.

I am going to have a very rare and exciting day .. .. a day with some lovely blog pals .. .. and I still need to be getting some bits together to take with me so had better not spend too long here waffling!!

My card is also going to be entered into the Ready Teddy Go Challenge for August where "anything goes" .. .. but of course you do need a bear to feature on your creation too.  Thanks Sally for reminding me about the challenge. xx

So here we go:

This used:

Image:  Teddy Bo "Teddy BoBea Tabs"
Sentiment:  Pink Petticoat
Backing Papers:  Pink Petticoat (yes, I am now round to colour 3 of the new 8 .. .. "Cafe Creme")
Martha Stewart Punch:  Lace Heart
My Trusty Sewing Machine
Diamond Stickles
ProMarkers and Chalk
Button, Ribbon and Pearls from the Stash Box

OK .. .. time to make myself respectable.

See you tomorrow with my snippet make!  Have a lovely Saturday everyone.

Love

LOVELY SUNSHINE !!

Oh wow!!!

How lovely to be waking up to sunshine again .. . let's hope it lasts over the weekend so that even more people can enjoy it!

Just a quick share today as I am what they call "up to my neck" .. .. so much to do today it is unbelievable.

So here we go:

This used:

Image:  Penny Black "3212K" Much Gifted
Sentiment:  Hobby Art Stamps "GR1833B" Happy Birthday
Backing Papers:  Nitwits
Martha Stewart Punch:  Embossed Zig Zag
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
Nestablities:  Deckled Rectangles Large
Cord from the Stash Box

OK .. .. must fly.

I need to be hyper-active!!!

Have a good Friday and a brilliant weekend.

Love

FAIRY BEA

Hi Everyone

Wow!!  Early again for me.

This posting with my dinner is certainly working .. .. let's hope it becomes a good habit LOL!!

I decided to move on and have a play with the next of the new colours from the huge Pink Petticoat download that I told you about here.

Pink again .. .. but this time I used Sweet Bohemia .. .. mmm... wonder which of the remaining six new colours I will be going for next .. .. it would be rude not to have a play with them all don't you think LOL!!

So here is my share for today - with the image being coloured as my hubby was getting ready for work at 7.30am this morning.

This used:

Image:  Teddy Bo & Co "Fairy Bea"
Sentiment:  Pink Petticoat
Backing Papers:  Pink Petticoat
ProMarkers and Chalk
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
Fiskars Punch:  Oval (no special die to back the oval  .. I just stuck the sentiment onto my coloured card and cut around it with my Mum's old pinking shears).
Glamour Dust
Ribbon, Charm and Cord from the Stash Box

It would appear that I have been giving everyone torture treatment with yesterday's heart (or to make matters even worse "hearts" as there are loads and loads of them).  I am starting to feel a bit bad in case they were not that easy for you to see.  Are were they only obvious to me because I knew where the little blighters were hiding?

Well to put you out of your misery here are just "a few of them"   all the way along the ribbon. Sorry folks if you lost any sleep

Won't get away with using that ribbon again will I?  LOL!!

Have a good rest of the day.

Catch you again soon.

Love

GOSSAMER .. .. AGAIN !!!

Hi Everyone

A lovely sunny day today .. .. yay!!!

I did a "lucky dip" in my Penny Black drawer and this is the image that came out .. .. .. the ever faithful "Gossamer" stamp .. .. AGAIN!!  LOL!!

That is the thing I like about my Penny Black drawer .. .. I can just put my hand in without looking .. .. do a rummage about, grab a stamp and never be disappointed with what comes out!!

So here is today's make:

This used:

Image:  Penny Black "3865K" Gossamer
Sentiment:  Pink Petticoat
Backing Papers:  GCD Studios "Soul Food"
Cuttlebug Embossing Folder:  "Swiss Dots"
Distress Ink:  Barn Door
My Trusty Sewing Machine
Nestabilities:  Classic Circle
ProMarker, Ribbon, Eyelets and Beads from the Stash Box

I hope you likey, likey.

Off to the washing line again now (sigh!! that will mean even more ironing!!) and then time to get cracking with another batch of favour boxes!!  No rest for the wicked!!!  LOL!!!

Enjoy the day everyone.

Love

HAPPY B-DAY

Hi Everyone

I hope today finds you well.

Sorry I was AWOL yesterday .. .. .. it was wedding bells from dawn until dusk and by the time I had finished I decided it was just "too late to post" .. .. .. so I had a relax on the sofa with hubby instead  .. .. where we both nodded off and woke up at gone midnight to go to bed  LOL!! 

So today I am a little earlier to make up for being lazy yesterday and here is my make:

This used:

Image:  Penny Black "2243K" Bee Costume
Sentiment:  Pink Petticoat
Backing Papers:  Papermania "The Big One"
Woodware Punches
Leone Em Pty Punch:  Ash Branch
ProMarkers and Chalk
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
Glamour Dust
Diamond Stickles
Ribbon, Brad and Button from the Stash Box

I am also going to enter this creation into Lisa's Waste Not Wednesday Challenge .. .. a fabby challenge to encourage us all to use up our old and neglected stash.  For me the "old and neglected" part is the paper stack from Papermania.  It is just too, too big .. .. if that can be possible!!  So many pages and taking up far too much room in the little craft pod!!   

Quite a few people commented and emailed about the flowers I put on my Snippet make on Sunday. So in answer to your questions here are a couple of pictures showing what I use and how I make them:

Here are the different elements I have used.

All punches are by Woodware.

Daisy Flowers in two sizes 

and the centre is called Blink Blink (this comes in different sizes but mine is a fraction under 1" across)

Rather than just use the punched flowers flat I like to add a bit of dimension by pinching each petal around the thumbnail on my opposite hand.

I do this to how ever many layers I am adding to my flower and then make a hole through the centre to hold everything together with a brad.

I never actually poke the brad through my card base.  I don't like to see the "legs" inside my card and I don't like the look when I try to cover them up .. .. so I open the brad legs up onto the back of my flower and then stick the flower onto my card using a hot glue gun .. .. though any strong glue would suffice.

So that is me for today.

Dinner break over and back to favour boxes for me.

Enjoy the rest of Tuesday everyone.

Love