NAME THOSE STAMPS - CHRISTMAS QUIZ

Hi Everyone

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!
I wish everyone a healthy, good and happy 2013

Sorry folks .. .. I am a little late in up-dating the
prize box today.  I have been too busy amusing myself
with turkey and stuffing !!!  LOL!!!

All organised now with two six foot tables laid end to end
with twelve place settings ready for
the celebrating to start.


So the time has come for the final prize box up-date
for the

"Name Those Stamps" Christmas Quiz

Day Twelve  .. .. finishes the box with
"things to tie" .. .. as in ribbons and string

So here is the final prize box

Day Eleven .. .. Washi and Fabric Tape
Day Ten .. .. Fizzy Moon stamp and a surprise package
Day Nine .. .. Buttons and Bows
Day Eight .. .. Crochet Flowers and  sequins
Day Seven .. .. Wooden Embellishments
Day Six .. .. Pearls and Butterflies
Day Five .. .. Ribbons with Hearts 
Day Four .. .. A £15.00  Pink Petticoat  gift voucher donated by the lovely Liz (thanks Liz xx)

Day Three .. .. Things that look metallic

Day Two .. .. Lace and Spider Web Netting

Day One .. .. Flowers and Leaves

-- ooOoo --

As my little banner below says the quiz will run across the whole 12 days of Christmas

 .  .  . . starting (Christmas Day) 

and ending on the 5th January at 12.00 midnight GMT
 (with the winners being announced on the 6th January).

There will be two winners who will both get identical prizes.  

One prize will go to the first person who correctly tells me the name and number of each of the 12 Penny Black images shown below, 

and the second prize will be done on a lucky draw basis from all the remaining correct entrants. 

Small sections of all the 12 images are below.

Anyone is welcome to play along .. .. 

whether you are a follower of my blog or not and wherever you live

 .. .. .. .. and if you enter and guess correctly and

also post my little banner and a link to this quiz post on your blog, 

then your name will be entered twice into the draw

 (which in itself will be unique and would only be done in the House of Hearts LOL!!!).

I should have also added that it is fine to enter by email 

.. .. you will find my address on my profile.

I have quite a few people who don't have their own blog but 

leave me lovely comments on my posts .. .. it would be nice to know they are

in with a chance of winning a prize too!!!

PICTURE ONE

PICTURE TWO

PICTURE THREE

PICTURE FOUR

PICTURE FIVE

PICTURE SIX

PICTURE SEVEN

PICTURE EIGHT

PICTURE NINE

PICTURE TEN

PICTURE ELEVEN

PICTURE TWELVE

Hopefully there are enough images there to keep you amused for a little while

.. .. and all of the stamps they have been taken from have been used on my blog at some stage.

Just leave me a comment listing:

The Picture Number

The Image Reference Number

The Image Name

for each of the twelve cropped images above 

and also let me know if you have added the banner to your blog 
so I can enter your name into the draw twice .. .. woo hoo!!

Note to entrants 30/12/12 onwards

Because so many people are taking so much time and effort in playing along with my little quiz can I please ask everyone to take care when entering and make sure that you provide all three pieces of information.  

1.  The picture number, 

2.  the stamp image reference number and 

3.  the image name.

I am getting a number of entries where only two out of the three pieces of information have been given, and therefore I am unable to include these entries into the draw .... which is a shame when people are spending hours taking part (and tearing their hair out in the process). 

I have emailed those people requesting the complete information be provided if they wish their entry to be considered for the draw.

If you haven't heard from me then your entry was complete.

Good luck everyone.  I hope you have fun and in case you are struggling with any of the images there is a lovely Penny Black link here .. .. but don't blame me if you fall in love with lots of the gorgeous stamps whilst looking. 

So the quiz finishes tonight at midnight GMT .. ..  ready for the draw tomorrow.

Have a happy day everyone!!

Thanks to everyone who is playing along and for your lovely messages
.. .. I am pleased you are all having fun .. .. and I apologise to those who
are going through a bit of torture treatment with it.  Sorry :-(

Love

MY FIVE FAVOURITE CHRISTMAS CARDS

Hi Everyone

Happy Christmas Eve!!

Woo hoo!!!  My favourite day of Christmas!!

Today I am playing along with my lovely blog buddy Debby and sharing my favourite five Christmas cards from 2012.

Not in any particular order and all chosen for different reasons

This one I chose because I just love the snowflake edge border 
and that cute image and sentiment .. .. well actually I loved everything I used .. .. 
including my sewing machine.

This is a recent make that I was pleased with .. .. just love that cute image (which was a freebie) 
and the Sketch Saturday layout I was able to utilise.

This card started off a new craze for me .. .. over printing my Pink Petticoat papers!!
Expect to see more of this in 2013 as I am now addicted LOL!!

For no other reason than I love it and enjoyed water colouring the image!

This one used my very first Memory Box die .. .. something else I have fallen in love with!!

So there we go .. .. my favourite five Christmas cards from 2012 .. . but I could have added another 25 at least!!!  

It just remains for me to to wish everyone happiness over the Christmas holiday .. .. and if you cannot be with your loved ones then I hope you at least get to speak with them .. .. or can take comfort in memories of happy times when you were together..  

Take care everyone and I will be back tomorrow with the launch of my little Christmas quiz.  Time now to become best buddies with Mr Dyson and Mr Sheen!!

Enjoy Christmas Eve everyone!!

Love

DID I MAKE ANYTHING ?!?!?

Hi Everyone

What awful pictures on the news . .. all these floods causing chaos and mayhem .. .. and more rain forecast.  Oh dear.  How awful for everyone caught in the midst of it all!!   

Then there are the people who won't be able to travel to be with their loved ones.

Christmas plans and homes ruined for so many people.  A day for counting blessings if we aren't affected.

Well .. .. did I get as far as making anything today?

Nah!!!

I finished off putting tags on parcels .. .. did some more work on the Christmas Quiz and drafted a post with all the cropped images embedded in it.  Can't believe I haven't accidentally posted it!!  LOL!!

I have also been putting the prizes together and whilst spreading them out on the spare bed I came across a parcel that we should have delivered to my Auntie and Uncle when we visited yesterday.  It was a present for them from my Mum.  

So I needed to re-visit today .. .. I don't think Santa will be recruiting me as one of his little helpers somehow!!!  But at least I found it today and not next week LOL!!

Woo hoo!!!  Nearly my favourite day of Christmas .. .. Christmas Eve!!

I hope everyone is getting on top of all the preparations.

Catch you tomorrow.

Love

GETTING READY FOR MY CHRISTMAS QUIZ

Hi Everyone

Not long to go now before all the silly shopping and rushing around stops and we finally sit down to relax and simply enjoy the magic of Christmas (unless you are a female of course and then you simply swap the shopping for cooking and washing up LOL!!!).

No crafty makes from me today .. other than a little banner to advertise the little Christmas Quiz I am putting together.

Some of you may remember the fun we had on my blog a while back (here) when we played "name that Penny Black stamp".

Lots of you enjoyed playing along and I am hoping you will fancy having a bit more fun doing the same in my Christmas Quiz.

You do not have to be a  Penny Black Stamp addict like myself to take part as all of the stamps that will be in the quiz will have been used on my blog in the past.

As my little banner says the quiz will run across the whole 12 days of Christmas .. .. starting on the 25th December and ending on the 5th January (with the winners being announced on the 6th January).

There will be two winners who will get identical prizes.  One prize will go to the first person who correctly tells me the name and number of each of the 12 Penny Black images and the second prize will be done on a lucky draw basis from all the correct entrants.  Small sections of all the 12 images will be shown at the start of the quiz.

There will be a picture of the prize as the quiz goes live .. .. but every day this picture will change to show more goodies being added to the prize box, so that by day 12 you will see the full extent of the prize.

Anyone is welcome to play along .. .. whether you are a follower of my blog or not and wherever you live .. .. .. .. and if you enter, and also post my little banner and a link to the quiz on your blog, then your name will be entered twice into the draw (which in itself will be very unique LOL!!!).

I hope you enjoy my bit of Christmas fun.

I am certainly enjoying putting the prize together.

Hope everyone's Christmas preparations are going to plan and I'll catch you again tomorrow .. .. you never know I might manage to actually make something!!

Love

JUST WHEN I THOUGHT I HAD FINISHED

Hi Everyone

I hope your day has been good.

Have lots of you finished work today?

My hubby "broke up" today and they had their Christmas celebration at a restaurant early afternoon.

My friend was calling round with a card for us and telephoned this morning to make sure that it was still OK to call round.  (I had promised her a cup of tea and a mincepie).

I am quite lucky in that my friends do realise that although I am at home I am working and trying hard to earn an honest crust.

I could tell she felt guilty for interrupting my day so I told her that she "had" to come because it was the nearest I was going to get to an office party.

Well that was it.  She was duly persuaded and arrived on my doorstep shortly after armed with Christmas crackers (so we could wear party hats), a present for a Secret Santa, Pringles, cheese and tomatoes so we could have a little Christmas buffet alongside our mincepie and tea (I needed to drive later so no alcohol allowed!!!).

It was such a laugh and in the end I wrapped all of our presents whilst we had Michael Buble singing in the background (sadly only a CD .. .. he wasn't actually here in person) and we nattered for England.  A great productive session and a great laugh at the same time.  I feel a new tradition starting.

So what happens?  I wrap all the presents and find that a day label making with everyone the other week didn't produce enough labels .. .. so tonight I have made some more .. .. ..

These were all made from a Nestabilitie Label Die set, all the leftovers from my Pink Petticoat Christmas makes, Cuttlebug embossing folders and snowflakes from my still overflowing snowflake box.  Bit of a rubbish photograph but it gives you an idea of what I have been up to.

I think more will be needed tomorrow!!  That will teach me to suggest buying £1 presents for everyone at the Christmas table.  That will use 12 out of my box!!!  Eeeekkk!!! 

Just one more present to deliver to our Auntie and Uncle tomorrow and we should just about be ready.  Yippee .. .. just for once I think I am going to be ready ahead of time and not be wrapping on Christmas Eve!!!

Catch you tomorrow.

Love

WHAT .. .. NO CHRISTMAS MAKE!!!!!

Hi Everyone

Well I think the time has come to end my Christmas posts and start work on the mountain of general cards I need to make!!  How many do I need !!!  Eeeeeekkkk!!!!

The day has again gone on admin work, the Accountant and Christmas visitors which has made for a rush creation this evening .. .. but it was lovely to be able to get to my sewing machine again.

How weird it felt to suddenly have the pick of all the non-Christmas goodies to play with!!!

So here is my share of the day:

This used:

Sentiment:  Pink Petticoat "Happy Birthday Sentiments"
Backing papers:  Basic Grey "Paper Cottage"
Cherry Lynn Die:  Fanciful Flourish (pruned a bit LOL!!)
Joy Craft Dies:  Stencil 25 (a bit of a strange name .. .. if I find something better I will amend it)
My Trusty Sewing Machine
Ribbon and Brads from my Stash Box

So that is me for today.

Just time to go and watch The Young Apprentice that we have recorded before bed!!   It will all be over and done with now .. .. I hope the dark haired girl won .. .. she has been my favourite.

Catch you tomorrow folks.

Thanks for calling by and for all your lovely comments on Paul's card yesterday.  I know he will have enjoyed reading them

Love

SOCCER NUT AND SPECIAL GUEST DESIGNER

Hi Everyone

Many thanks for all the birthday wishes for Mr Heart yesterday.  He had a great birthday (and doesn't look at day older)!!

We went out for an Indian meal with our youngest Son and had a great evening.

I have spent the whole day on admin work today so will share the cards Mr Heart received from our two Sons.

I made the first one and our eldest Son who lives in London made the second .. ..

Here is mine:

This used:

Image and sentiment:  Bugaboo Stamps "Soccer Nut" (50% off everything there at the moment!!)
Backing Papers:  Some out of the snippet drawers.   I think the birthday paper is Cuddly Buddly
Birthday Sentiment:  Digistamp Boutique "Simple Birthday Greetings - Male"
Sizzix Dies:  "654995" Stars #2  and  "654468" Grass
ProMarkers

and now here is the one designed and made by my guest designer .. .. .. our eldest Son .. .. Paul

For anyone who hasn't seen this style of card before he makes them using wax and an iron (about the size of a travel iron).

The technique is called Encaustic Art and if you fancy watching a You Tube video on how it is done you can find one here.  Lots of other lessons that follow on if you get hooked on watching like I do LOL!!!

Have a brilliant rest of Wednesday everyone.

Don't forget it is the last posting day for those first class cards tomorrow!!!

Catch you soon

Love

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MR HEART !!

Hi Everyone

Yes, today is the day my lovely has a birthday!!

Happy Birthday Mr Heart .. .. and thank you for being the best hubby a gal could ever wish for!!

I made a special card for him in celebration based on a picture I saw on Pinterest which linked to here.

I didn't find any templates etc but simply cut shapes by hand or by using the Nestabilitie dies listed below.

This used:

Backing Papers:  DCWV "All About Boys" Stack
Sentiment:  Digistamp Boutique "Simple Birthday Greetings - Male"
Nestabiltie Dies:  Classic Circles and Labels Two - everything else hand cut
Hot Fix Studs
Distress Inks
White Gel Pen
Metallic Cord

As I was able to use up my snippets for this creation I am going to strum my way along to Di's Crafty Snippet Challenge.

I am well chuffed with this and hubby was too.  When he opened it he said "that's posh".  I think that means it is a hit  LOL!!!

I will just have to hope that Son number two doesn't want it replicating for all his band mates as I have used the last bit of my wood effect paper.   I will have to keep my eye open for some more!

Have a great day everyone. 

Love

CHRISTMAS LOVE

Hi Everyone

Well a lovely productive day in the House of Hearts .. .. dare I say I am nearly finished with Christmas cards!!!  But only "nearly" LOL!!!

A bit of a miserable day weather wise here .. . but it hasn't bothered me other than getting a bit wet going to the old post box .. .. which was full to bursting!!!!

Tonight's share is for a lady I used to work with who sadly lost her husband a few weeks ago.  I didn't want her card to be cute and over the top with Christmas joy as I know it is going to be a very difficult time for her and her daughter .. .. hopefully I have gauged it right with this little make.

This used:

Image:  PSX "F-2104" Christmas Town
Sentiment:  Pink Petticoat "Handwritten Christmas Sentiments"
Backing Papers:  Dovecraft Back to Basics "Vinatage"
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
Glamour Dust (though you probably can't see much of it)
Metallic Cord

So that is me for today and tomorrow is Mr Heart's birthday!

I can't wait to share with you the card I have made for him.  I am really chuffed with it .. .. and it was made with snippets!!!  

I'll catch you tomorrow.

Enjoy what is left of the evening.

Love

SKETCH SATURDAY

Hi Everyone

I hope you have all been having a lovely Sunday.

All nice and relaxed here in the House of Hearts .. .. I hope it is a sign of what is to come!!  I could handle a few days like this that's for sure.

Today I have finished off the card I started yesterday but unfortunately have not had a play with my snippets.  Other things took over .. .. .. but no doubt the snippets will be out another day.

So for now here is the finished entry for Sketch Saturday this week.   I did move the sentiment as it looked "off balance" when I put it where the sketch wanted it (the fault of my choice of image .. not the sketch).  Hopefully this is allowed but if not then I understand.  

This used:

Image:  Pixie Dust Studio "Socket the Reindeer" .. .. a lovely freebie I found here
Sentiment:  Computer generated using font "2 Peas Barefoot Professor"
Backing Papers:  Papermania "Silent Night"
X-Cut Punch:  Corner Rounder
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
Sizzix Die:  Winter Wonder for the snowflake
ProMarkers and Chalk
Ribbons from my Stash Box

and that is it!!

Here is the sketch if you fancy playing along.

Lovely isn't it?

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday.

Love