HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE

Hi Everyone

Happy New Year's Eve  .. ..  ahead of what I hope is going to be a very happy year for you all.

I know lots of people who have had a really rubbish 2016 .. .. I particularly wish them a much kinder year ahead.

After making a clear pathway to my desk this morning I have had my first play with my Brushos this afternoon and I love them!!

This is what I came up with:

This used:

Image:  Indigo Blue "SFL" Stylised Flowers

Sentiment:  A very ancient Pink Petticoat Download that is no longer available (sorry)

Brushos:  Vermillion, Orange and Lemon

Josy Rose:  Nail Heads

My Trusty Sewing Machine

Star Dust Stickles

and that is it.

Not bad for a first play.

Can't hang about tonight . . . . we are off to see the new year in with my lovely Sis .. .. and I have volunteered myself the driver for the evening .. .. so no sore head for me tomorrow!

Best make sure Mr Heart has got my elder flower cordial in the drinks bag!!

Have a good evening everyone .. .. many thanks for all the good wishes and emails.  I'll catch you soon.  Mwah!!!!

SANTA WAS VERY KIND

Hi Everyone

I hope you have all had a really lovely Christmas and have managed to make some special memories to think back on in times to come.

We had a great time in the House of Hearts .. .. but sadly the best of the fun has gone because our kids have now returned to their respective homes .. .. however Mr Heart and I are enjoying spending some special time together ahead of returning to work later next week.

I should really be making a start on that big crafty work list .. .. but I have to admit to having been rather lazy these last few days .. .. but I am looking on it as "training" .. .. because one of my new year resolutions is to try and play as hard as I work!!  But having said that it is all too easy to make rash promises to yourself in these lovely calm days that follow Christmas.  I can but try!

But having said that it is also hard to craft when the craft pod is still full of all the stuff that I just crammed in there ahead of all the visitors arriving.  It is a bit of an assault course to even get anywhere near my desk.  There is certainly some serious clearing up and organisation to be done in there!!  But all in good time!

I have been busy planning new designs and seeking out new suppliers for my wedding work and finding the location of an event's management company who I may be doing some work with next year.  No good being asked to attend a consultation if you don't know how to get to them!!!

I do have to admit to my fingers being very itchy though .. . especially where one of my Christmas pressies are concerned ..  because the kids arranged for Santa to bring me these little beauties:

I have them all ready for using .. .. though I do want to put little colour swatches on the top of each pot. The only slight problem I have is that now the pins are in place the lid doesn't close properly.  I know they will fit nicely into something like an old ice-cream carton .. .. but I much prefer to keep crafty goodies in their original packaging where possible.  Is that just me?

Looking forward to my first play and creation .. .. let's hope it is something worth looking at!!  LOL!!

Catch you again soon ahead of a sparkly, brand new year starting.  

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE

Hi Everyone

Happy Christmas eve ahead of what I hope will be a very happy Christmas for everyone.

Today is my favourite day of Christmas and already the London Kids have arrived!!!  In fact they arrived super early, let themselves in, switched off the burglar alarm, made themselves a drink and sat waiting for us to wake up. All that noise and we never heard a thing!!  They even sent a text message to say they were an hour away and we never heard that either LOL!!!  We are either going deaf or are shattered before we even start!

Not much crafting has been going on here over the last week because Mr Heart as been on holiday from work all week.  A few batches of Christmas cards for our use and lots of Christmas preparations but that is all.  My fingers are already well itchy to get creating again!

I did sit and paint up some pine cones yesterday with white Gesso and sprinkled them with Glamour Dust for hanging on the tree.  I have just added the ribbon and hanger to the first one:

and as you can see I am making use of my wooden wedding venue samples over Christmas too.  That pine cone will move to the Christmas tree once I have added the ribbon to all of the others, otherwise I think I will have a bit of a disaster on my hands when the candles get lit later!

So it is back to the kitchen for me now to create some more lovely cooking smells, but not before I wish everyone a super happy Christmas.

I wish all the best to all my blog buddies, to my customers "old" and "new" who love to visit my blog to see what I am up to, and also to anyone else who just happens to stumble across me on their trip around blogland!

Have fun!

YAPPY BIRTHDAY

Hi Everyone

Happy Wednesday!

Some of you may remember that I made some "yappy Christmas" cards earlier this year, but today I am going for a "yappy Birthday" one instead.  

This one is for our Uncle's birthday tomorrow and was made and scheduled at the crack of dawn this morning ready for delivering tomorrow.  

This used

Sizzix Die:  "657687" Puppy Dog 
Sentiment:  Computer Generated using font "Carbon Type"
Backing Papers are from the "off cut" box 
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads

and that is it!

Short and sweet from me today as my crafty list is getting bigger instead of smaller .. .. and time is running out to clear it before Christmas.  Mr Heart breaks up from work on Friday and I never get as much done as I would like when he is around .. .. he is too lovely a distraction!  LOL!!

Though I have warned him there is a list being compiled of things to keep him out of mischief!!

Catch you again soon.

TEENY, TINY TUESDAY

Hi Everyone

Happy Tuesday .. .. another day that has disappeared in the blink of an eye!

It has been a wedding work day here in the House of Hearts today for the lovely Spring brides that feature in my 2017 diary .. .. plus Christmas makes which are still needed.  

But I have also pulled together a little 3.5" square teeny tiny card:

This used:

Sentiment:  Lili of the Valley Download - Block Sentiments

Backing Papers:  Kaisercraft " Key to my Heart"

Spellbinder Dies:  Classic Circles and Scalloped Circles

First Edition Dies:  Nesting Stamp Dies

X-Cut flower punch

Josy Rose:  Nail Heads

My Trusty Sewing Machine

Ribbon

We R Memory Keepers Envelope Punch Board

and that is it!

Have a lovely evening.

HAPPY MONDAY

Hi Everyone

Happy Monday!

I hope you have had a good weekend.

Ours was lovely and has seen us celebrate the on-coming of Christmas with friends, and the emptying of the roof space of all the Christmas decoration packages.  What a mess that has created everywhere .. .. on top of all the crafty mess I had already made!!  I definitely need to make best friends with Mr Dyson and Mr Sheen and Mr Muscle .. .. and smartish.  Strange thing is I am actually looking forward to getting super tidy.  I am ashamed to say that housework and me are definitely strangers nowadays and it is time for us to get re-acquainted. LOL!!

I am really starting to get excited now .. .. especially as the Christmas tree has been assembled and decorated.  But there is still a list of crafty projects that need completing for lovely customers and then I can start on my own Christmas makes.

Never a dull moment here!

But today I thought I would share some of my contributions for Issue 160 of Quick Cards Made Easy Magazine which is available now.

The first commission was a glossy effect technique project and my favourite from this set was a layered shadow box .. ..  not that the glossy effects are showing very well in my photograph

and this second one was for a die pairing commission .. .. where "again" I used that inlaid die technique that I love so much

So these are my shares for today.  Back to work now for me but hopefully I will have something to share for Teeny Tiny Tuesday tomorrow.

Enjoy your day everyone.

GETTING THERE -

Hi Everyone

Happy Wednesday!!

I hope all is good with everyone.

Sorry for my lack of posts .. .. but life has been super busy here .. .. but I do believe I am coming out of the other side now so things should soon calm down.

There were so many things on my urgent crafty do list that I just needed to keep my head down and get on with them.  But now everyone I am currently working for is happy I can enjoy submerging myself in Christmas makes for a few day.

This was my favourite from today's batch:

This used:

Sizzix Thinlits Die Set "660978" - Woodlands

X-Cut Mini Sentiment Die - Merry & Bright

Backing Papers were from my left-over box but if anyone desperately needs to know where they came from I can do a search for you

My Trusty Sewing Machine

Josy Rose Nail Heads

Ribbon

and that is it .. .. another lovely flat card as once again I have used my favourite inlaid die technique. I really enjoy this technique .. .. it must be something to do with all those jig-saw puzzles we did as kids! 

So that is me for today.

I'll catch you again soon.

EXCITING NEWS!

Hi Everyone

Happy Monday!

I hope your day has gone well .. .. mine has been super exciting because I have today received a beautiful badge for adding to my blog .. .. which means I have some amazing and unbelievable news to share.

Those of you who have been following my blog for a while will remember that earlier this year I was very lucky and astonished to receive a British Craft Award as 2016's Favourite Card Designer.

Well look what I am able to share today ... ..

 I am super lucky and surprised to learn that I have been nominated again and this year

under the category of 

Papercraft Designer of the Year

Now I know that everyone says that they do not expect to win .. .. and that has always been true for me .. .. but even more so because just look at the nominee list as posted on the voting website:

Stephanie Weightman

Anne-Marie Catterall

Julie Gibbs  (that's my Sunday name)

Barbara Gray

Joanna Sheen

Sheena Douglass

Sara Davies

Leonie Pujol

Sue Wilson

Tim Holtz

I cannot believe that my name is nestled amongst so many of my crafting idols and I feel super honoured, humbled and happy that my little name actually appears on the same list!!  

Let's face it .. .. I don't stand any chance at all this year.  But that is OK .. .. just being part of this list is more than enough in itself and is certainly something I would never have thought possible in my wildest dreams.

But "you" could be a winner because voting has started over on the British Craft Award website .. .. and if you fancy voting in any of the categories (Sewing, Knitting & Crochet, Quilting, Cross-Stitch and Papercraft) you are in with a chance of winning a fabby gift voucher (provided you are a UK resident).

How amazing is that?!?  It would certainly buy quite a lot of crafty goodies that's for sure .. .. and we can all think of at least 10 things we "need" for our crafty pursuits!!

.. .. .. and if your personal favourites of the craft world are not listed in any of the categories then you get chance to add your own choice in the box entitled "other" .

Voting closes at 11.59pm on the 20th December 2016.  Best of luck if you decide to take part.

So there we go .. .. a special day in my crafty life .. .. and to celebrate I have made myself a sparkly new signature which is hopefully going to stop that error message popping up every time I post! LOL!!!  

SUNDAY SNIPPETS

Hi Everyone

I hope you have all been having a lovely weekend.

Mine has gone far better than I could have imagined .. .. as in lots of Christmas present purchasing completed.

Mr Heart and I went off yesterday to purchase all the presents for our "family Christmas get together" which is when we exchange our gifts to each other .. .. but we are only allowed to spend £1.  We have more fun buying these presents than probably any others .. .. mainly because no-one really expects anything wonderful.  But strangely enough it is possible to buy things you are proud to give for this tiny amount.  

A big stack of wrapping to be done there .. .. as well as some special tag making! 

Then today we continued with some more serious purchases.  Part of which comprised of seeking out goodies to put into the hampers we give to the London Kids and our youngest Son.  I think in our heads the hampers are much bigger than they actually are so whether everything will fit in remains to be seen.

Anyway, very first thing this morning I made a card for taking over to the Pixie's Snippets Playground.

I actually made a very similar card on Friday to give to someone and was so pleased with it that I decided to make another before I packed everything away again.  A great card for using up different bits of paper.

So here we go:

No ingredients from me on a Sunday because I allow myself to be lazy  .. .. ..  but I will warn you that probably only the sentiment is still available to buy.  The other stamps are very old, but still very loved and shout to be used! 

I also wondered if anyone has a printer that used this range of ink cartridges:

My printer that used these stopped working a while ago and I have the above cartridge floating about, brand new and unopened.  If anyone can use it then please let me know and I will send it your way.  It is a shame to just throw it away when it might come in useful for someone.

Enjoy what is left of the weekend and I will catch you again soon.

Love

CHRISTMAS .. .. AGAIN!

Hi Everyone

Happy Thursday!

I hope your day has been good.  

This time next month we will all no-doubt be trying to stuff far too much food into our fridges and cupboards and possibly filling the house with smells of mincepies and baking.. .. .. and will probably have presents that still need wrapping!! 

But for now .. .. life is just a little bit calmer and I have another Christmas card to share.

Now when I catch TV cooking competition programmes the contestants will quite annoyingly often say .. .. "this is me .. .. on a plate".  Well now I am going to say that today's creation is actually me on a card .. .. .. pale but hopefully of interest LOL!!

This used:

Image:  Penny Black "3741K" Filigree Tree

Sentiment:  Penny Black "3267F" Christmas

Spellbinders Nestabilties:  Classic Heart

Distress Ink Pads:  Shaded Lilac, Tumbled Glass and Spun Sugar

X-Cut Corner Rounding Punch

Silver Embossing Powder

My Trusty Sewing Machine

Cord, Charm and Gems from my crafty stash box

I am going to enter my creation into the CAS Mix Up Card Challenge .. .. with not much time to spare!  This month they would like to see masking and stamping along with another option which can be chosen from a very long list!

My mask was created by cutting a heart into a square of paper and inking through it .. .. my stamping was heat embossed and for my optional element I choose sewing.

So there we go .. .. another Christmas card ready!  Off to link up now before I miss the deadline.

No excuse for not finding the heart today!

Many thanks for the good wishes and queries regarding Mr Heart.  He is finally "nearly" lurgy free and I hope I am not tempting fate by saying "and I think the germs have managed to dodge me".

Catch you soon

Love 

WHITE CARD WEDNESDAY

Hi Everyone

Happy Wednesday .. .. I hope you have had a good day.

Do you realise that this time next month .. .. it will be Christmas Eve tomorrow!!!   Eeeekkk!!!

Now that is scary!

My favourite day of the year almost upon us and I am still frantically making Christmas cards.  I really need to pull my socks up next year!

So with the radio playing Christmas songs in the background I settled down to a few Christmas makes this afternoon and can share a couple of them with you here. 

Now my white card Wednesday theme has been well and truly stretched today as some of my white card offcucts were printed on with a sparkly new sentiment and digi paper download.  Is that cheating?!?!

Quite a few of you will remember how gutted I was that Liz closed Pink Petticoat some time ago .. .. and I have sulked a little ever since .. .. well Liz has clearly missed us as much as we have missed her because she has opened up another boutique called "The Lovely Studio".  Yay!!!!  It is still under construction and new designs (as well as some of the old favourites) are slowly making an appearance .. .. but I am well happy and finally got chance to have a little browse yesterday.  Lots of Christmas downloads, so if like me you are still chasing your tail on the Christmas front then there is plenty to look at.  I definitely need to re-visit!  

Anyway, here we go with my shares for today:

This used

Image:  Penny Black "4342K" Berry Tree

Sentiment:  The Lovely Studio "Mistletoe Kisses"

Backing Paper:  The Lovely Studio "Ditsy Dots"

Memory Box Dies:  Modern Landscape Border and Snowflake Heart

X-Cut Embossing Folder:  Small Polka Hearts

Stickles:  Xmas Red

Glitter Card

White Gel Pen

Ribbon and Gems from my crafty stash box

and my next one features one of my favourite techniques.  Inlaid die cuts .. .. I always think of them as jig-saw puzzles for crafters LOL!! 

This used:

Sentiment:  The Lovely Studio "Mistletoe Kisses"

Backing Paper:  The Lovely Studio "Ditsy Dots"

Snowflake Die by Apple Blossom .. .. but there is no name on the packaging

Diamond Stickles 

A flat card too .. bonus!!

So that is me for today. 

Catch you soon.

Love

TEENY, TINY TUESDAY .. .. JUST

Hi Everyone

I hope you have all had a good Tuesday.

I am here a little later than I hoped to be.. .. but better late than never.

My teeny, tiny card this week (a whole 3.5 inches square for anyone new to my blog) shares a little bit of Christmas past.  That lovely sparkly paper was the outside of the crackers the London Kids were sporting on their table last year!  

So here we go:

This used:

Sentiment and Backing Paper:  Kaisercraft:  Frosted

X-Cut Dies:  Happy Christmas (for the cute little holly leaves)

Xmas Red Stickles

White Gel Pen

Ribbon and Pearls from my crafty stash box

My Trusty Sewing Machine

We R Memory Keepers Envelope Punch Board

and that is it!

Isn't that backing paper gorgeous!  I would love a whole pad full of just that design!!

Catch you again soon folks.

Love

SUNDAY SNIPPETS

Hi Everyone

Happy Sunday!

I hope you have all had a lovely weekend.

Ours has been a bit of a mixed bag .. .. .. Mr Heart has had the lurgy all week and it doesn't seem to be in a rush to disappear .. .. in fact if anything he feels worse today than he has all week.  He hadn't better share it with me!  I certainly don't have time to be ill! I am blaming it all on the flu jab he had a couple of weeks ago!!

But with Mr Heart lying low and coughing for England, I have had chance to have a good crafty clear up after what has been a manic work week. Certainly lots of good things achieved .. .. and lots more lined up .. .. but sadly I have also had to turn work down and that always seems such a shame. But sometimes sense has to prevail.

At least I managed to find time for a play with my snippets .. .. and Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without this little chappie making an appearance.

Yay!!  Another Christmas card made .. .. but I still need lots more!!  So no let up on the Christmas card blog posts just yet!  Sorry folks!

Hopefully a few more will be making an appearance this week .. .. but for now I will skip along to Pixie's Snippets Playground as this used up quite a few bits from the ever increasing snippet pile. I just wish that lovely holly paper I have used would multiply whilst my back is turned .. .. it has nearly all gone now :-(

Enjoy the rest of your weekend everyone.

Love