MONDAY'S MALE

Hi Everyone

Happy Monday!

I hope you all had a really lovely weekend.

Ours was super busy because as some of you will know, Mr Heart and I were doing a "last minute" wedding fayre.  Many thanks to everyone for the good luck comments and emails.  You are all very kind!  I will tell you more about the fayre later.

For now here is my share for today:

This used:

Image:  Penny Black "4130K" You Make Me Bob!

Sentiment:  Lili of the Valley Clear Stamps "Sentiment Tags"

Backing Paper:  Craft Sensations "Every Day Kraft Collection"

Josy Rose:  Nail Heads

ProMarkers

My Trusty Sewing Machine

Twine from my crafty stash box

and that is it!

So, back to the wedding fayre.  It was a little further away than my usual fayres so we decided to make a weekend of it and stay at the venue the night before.  What a lovely little get away it turned out to be.

The wedding fayre was far bigger than I ever imagined!  Definitely the biggest one I have ever done, or even visited (apart from the NEC wedding fayre) and the attendance was amazing.  The organiser's had 238 brides register with them as they entered!

I can't imagine how many of them we spoke to but both mine and Mr Hearts throats were sore from all the talking we were doing to the visitors to our stand.  Normally Mr Heart is a little shy and he stands back a little .. .. but this time he had no choice.  It was manic from start to finish and I definitely couldn't have coped without him!  He did brilliantly especially when you take into account that it was only his third fayre.  Clearly when I have thought he was standing back he was actually listening and learning my patter.

Lots of interest in the stand and people already requesting samples and appointments.

So today I have wished I had the magic skills of Mary Poppins and could simply click my fingers and things would whizz back into their rightful places .. .. but sadly the magic wouldn't work .. .. no matter how many times I clicked them .. ..  I just had to knuckle down and crack on with it in attempt to get everywhere tidy again after making lots of mess in the run up to the fayre.

Not really sure why I bothered putting most of it away again though because we need it all again for a fayre in a couple of weeks which has been booked for ages.  This one is only local though so no overnight escapes this time .. .. shame !!

So that is me for today.

Catch you again soon and enjoy your evening.

IT'S ALL GO IN THE HOUSE OF HEARTS

Hi Everyone

Happy Wednesday!

Sorry for not being on my blog (or yours) for a few days.

It is all systems go on the wedding front at the moment .. .. with no time to make anything to post on my blog unfortunately .. .. and to add to the fun I have accepted a last minute stand at a wedding fayre at the weekend and am hoping to make a few new samples to take with me.

So no play time for me and no blog socialising . . but hopefully soon I will have something to share.

Mountains of cutting, die-cutting, ribbons and printing don't make for very good blog posts .. .. but do create lots of fun for me .. .. .. and very happy and excited brides (which is the very best bit)!!  

Take care everyone  -  hopefully catch you soon.

SUNDAY SNIPPETS

Hi Everyone

Happy Sunday!

I hope you have all had a lovely weekend.  I was pleased that the snow decided to melt as quickly as it fell.

Our weekend has been very enjoyable .. .. and has sped by in the blink of an eye .. .. as they always do .. .. but I am all ready for a new week to begin tomorrow.  Yay!!  

I wonder if I am the only person who actually loves Monday mornings and the thought of a new working week starting?  I spend part of every weekend organising and scheduling all that needs to be fitted in during the next few days.  Next week certainly needs to be super productive with lots of lovely wedding work to get my teeth into!

But with there being a big shortage of cards in my little world at the moment I need to pull quite a few of those in too.

I have no new baby cards at all so decided I would gather some snippets together and make one of those .. .. and here it is:

As always on a Sunday I am super lazy and do not list my ingredients but if there is anything you would like to know then please just ask away and I will do my best to help.

There shouldn't be any problem in finding a heart today .. .. ... there are lots to go at today that's for sure!  LOL!!

I started my card by following Sketch Number Twenty Five from my little sketch library which you can find on the tab at the start of my blog

but I did stray from it a little with regards the embellishments.

So that is me for today.  Enjoy the rest of today.

Catch you again soon.

THOSE I MUST MAKE ALL YEAR !

Hi Everyone

Happy Thursday!

I hope you have all had a good day .. .. .. has anyone seen any snow?

Nothing here - let's hope it stays that way!

I am going to make no apologies for posting tonight's card.  I am determined that this year is going to be nothing like last year and my Christmas box is going to be filling up nice and early!  

The card I am showing tonight is one I made in various forms and colours many, many times a few weeks ago for sending to family and friends  The base for this one was cut but not finished .. .. so it seemed a good starting point. 

Not a full sized card .. .. a little 4" square one .. .. but as my teeny tiny Christmas cards were super popular with my customers last year I have decided that nothing is ruled out.  Any shape or size is good.  Just get that box full .. .. asap!!!  LOL!!!

So here we go:

This used:

Memory Box Die:  Pine Border Outline

X-Cut Die: Merry and Bright

Backing Paper:  The Lovely Studio "Ditsy Dots" (formerly Pink Petticoat) for the background and snippets for filling in the trees.

Josy Rose:  Nail Head Heart

My Trusty Sewing Machine

.. .. and that is it.  Card number one for the Christmas stock box!  Yay!!

So that is me for today.

Enjoy your evening and fingers crossed for a snow free night!

TEENY, TINY TUESDAY

Hi Everyone

Happy Tuesday!

I can't believe that January is into double figures already!!

Today is my teeny tiny card day, and I decided to have a go at a little technique that had been on my list a while .. .. what better way to try something new than on something super small like my 3.5" square cards.

This used:

Leane Creatif Design Embossing Folder:  Background Butterflies

Sentiment:  Crafter's Companion "Greetings - Occasions"

Penny Black Die:   51-198 Flourish & Butterflies

Spellbinders Nestabilities:  Classic Circle and Scalloped Circle

Pebble Inc:  Pearlescent Chalks

Hair Spray

Wink of Stella Pen:  Clear

My Trusty Sewing Machine

Ribbon, button and pearl

We R Memory Keepers Envelope Punch Board

So the technique I was trying was to colour the embossed background.  I did this with the chalks .. .. which is good because if you smudge you can remove the chalk with an eraser and start again.  

Once everything was coloured I then sprayed it with cheap hair spray to hold the chalk in place and then coloured on top with the Wink of Stella pen.

.. .. and that is me for today .. .. even later than yesterday!

MONDAY'S MALE

Hi Everyone

Happy Monday!

I hope you have had a good day.  I am actually quite pleased with what I have managed to achieve .. .. and you won't hear me say that very often LOL!!

But it does mean I am a bit late to the party today .. .. so I will just crack on with my Monday male card.

This used:

Image:  Woodware Clear Magic "FRS016" Time After Time

Sentiment:  Computer Generated using font "Aracne Condensed Regular"

Backing Papers:  We R Memory Keepers "Love Notes"

Josy Rose:  Nail Heads

My Trusty Sewing Machine

Ribbon from my crafty stash box

and that is it.

I'll hopefully catch you again tomorrow with a teeny, tiny creation.

SUNDAY SNIPPETS

Hi Everyone

Happy Sunday!

I hope you have had a good day.  The weather has been very dull and miserable here .. .. .. but perfect for crafting!

Sunday is the day I try to use up some of my snippets and visit Di at Pixie's Snippets Playground to share what I made with them .. .. and this is my offering for this week:

As always on a Sunday I am lazy and do not list my ingredient but if there is anything anyone would like to know then please just ask.

So that is me for today .. .. short and sweet.

CASCADING BUTTERFLIES

Hi Everyone

I hope you have been having a lovely weekend.

Wedding duties have spread over into today and one of my lovely brides came and signed her invitation proofs off .. .. so I now have a mountain of card to get cutting, printing and assembling .. .. and we all know what that means .. .. yep .. .. even more snippets!!

I did fancy a little bit of a play once everything was signed off though and came up with this little creation:

This used

Backing Papers:  We R Memory Keepers "Love Notes"

Spellbinders Die:  Cascading Butterflies

Distress Inks:  Spun Sugar, Worn Lipstick and Dusty Concord

Pearls and Metallic cord from my crafty stash box

Not many supplies at all.

The distressed butterflies have actually been cut using leftover pieces of pre-glittered paper that have been used to make some wedding stationery samples .. .. unfortunately my distress ink pads now have flecks of glitter on them!!!  Eeeekkk!!

I have decided to start doing more cards without a sentiment on them .. .. that way a card can be used for a variety of reasons .. .. rather than just what is written on the front .. .. and I would include a little note inside this card telling the recipient to lift the wings of the butterfly.  I would hate to think they were just lying flat on the card LOL!!.

Anyway, I'll catch you again soon.

WHERE IS THE TIME GOING ?

Hi Everyone

Happy Friday!

This week seems to have flown by rather quickly!  

I hope this isn't a sign of things to come for 2017.  I would like 2017 to be full of weeks that last as long as they did when I was about 10 .. .. a week at school seemed to last a lifetime (but to be fair things weren't as exciting then as they are now). 

It is weddings all the way for me today, so just a quick post to show you some of the work I did for Issue 161 of Quick Cards Made Easy which has now hit the shops.

My first commission was to showcase the "masking" technique and this is one of the cards from the collection:

and I also worked on a "stacked die cutting" commission

I don't normally talk about the free cover gifts .. .. I don't know why because they are always super useful .. .. and this month it is a whole set of images and sentiments for creating scenes with, along with downloadable digi papers.

This is a card I created with the set

So that is me for today

Off to make some brides happy now!

WHITE CARD WEDNESDAY .. . PART TWO

Hi Everyone

HappyThursday!

Well that alarm clock went off super early this morning .. .. and the first job on my crafty list was to finish the card I started last night which was created using just white card .. . apart from that bit of silver backing and the blue label I hand cut for the sentiment.

So here it is finished:

This used:

Butterfly Image:  Funstamps "FQ14" Butterfly

Background Image::  Docrafts Papermania:  "DCE 907113" Meadow Stamp Set

Sentiment:  Computer Generated using Font "Budoken"

Brushos:  Prussian Blue, Grey and Leaf Green

X-Cut Embossing Folder:  Small Polka Hearts

White Embossing Powder

Ribbon andGems from my Crafty Stash Box

Memento Ink Pad:  London Fog

My Trusty Sewing Machine

Quite pleased with how it turned out considering it is only my second Brusho outing.

I started by heat embossing the butterfly in white onto white card, then added water before sprinkling the Brusho powder on to it.  If you aren't impatient (like me) you would then leave your work to dry .. .. but I dried mine using a dry rag and then a hairdryer rather than the heat gun (because I didn't want the embossing powder to melt any more).

For the background I added Brushos to a paint pallet, mixed them with water and painted them on to white card.  Once dry, I stamped over the paint using the London Fog ink pad and Meadows stamp set, ripping the top and bottom edges.

It does amuse me how some colours come out of the pot one colour and then change to another colour completely once they are wet .. .. .. and I think that the Prussian blue is possibly going to be my favourite of all the colours.  Love it!

OK, so that is me.  I am trying to fit far too much into my day .. .. .. as usual .. .. .. and I need to cram lots more in before Mr Heart gets back from work!

Have a good evening.

WHITE CARD WEDNESDAY

Hi Everyone

Happy Wednesday!

Today is supposed to be White Card Wednesday .. .. which is when I make use of the pile of white card that grows each day .. .. and grows even faster during the Spring/Summer wedding fever.

But the House of Hearts has had two days away, ahead of Mr Heart returning to work tomorrow and unfortunately, although I started my card as we got home this evening, I haven't finished it .. .. and we will blame that on a little visit to the local Chinese takeway!!!

So this is as far as I have got (I just had to play with my Brushos again .. .. I have been thinking about them nearly all the time whilst I have been parted from them LOL!!)

But I will show you the finished card in my next post.  

Life will return to "normal" in the morning .. .. .. and I just know we aren't going to feel too happy about that 6.00am alarm .. .. .. but needs must because I definitely have to hit the ground running to make up for enjoying the Christmas break far too much.  

So for now I will love and leave you and catch you again tomorrow with the finished version.

TEENY, TINY TUESDAY

Hi Everyone

Happy Tuesday!

I hope you have all had a good day.

Tuesday is the day my teeny, tiny 3.5" creations make an appearance (on a good week) and today this is what I have to share:

This used:

Backing Papers:  Kaisercraft "Key to my Heart

X-Cut Corner Rounding Punch

X-Cut Small Polka Heart Embossing Folder

Spellbinder Nestabilities:  Classic Circles and Scalloped Circles

Joy Craft Die:  Curved Edged Flowers

Button

Twine Flower made with my Crazy Daisy Flower Loom

We R Memory Keepers Envelope Punch Board

and that is it.  

No sentiment on this little creations, and the insert will be left blank so that it can be used for a variety of occasions.  A great little addition to the stock box!

Enjoy your evening.

Catch you again soon.

MONDAY'S MALE

Hi Everyone

Happy Monday .. .. is everyone else having to check what day it is?  I have completely lost track!

Trying to get back into my themes again now that Christmas has come and gone and Monday sports male cards.  Here is today's offering:

This used

Image, Sentiment and Papers are all from a Craftwork Cards Collection:  "The Potting Shed" (just love the colours in this collection so much).

Spellbinder Nestabilities:  Classic Circles

My Trusty Sewing Machine

Josy Rose:  Nail Heads

Woodware Punch

Twine

and that is it.

Today Mr Heart and I removed all traces of Christmas from our home .. .. boo hoo .. .. we really weren't ready for Christmas to be over yet, for some reason it has felt extra special this year.

Catch you again soon.

SUNDAY SNIPPETS AND A NEW SKETCH

Hi Everyone

Happy Sunday and happy 2017

I hope any celebratory sore heads are now starting to ease a little LOL!!

How are your new year resolution lists going?  Are they far too huge and completely unattainable just like mine?  Every year I make so many that I know I will fail on at least half of them .. .. but even if I only succeed on a few it will make me a better person than I was last year.  That can only be a good thing .. .. so I always try. 

Definitely no rash resolutions regarding my blog that's for sure.  All I promise there is to do my best for I know once all the Christmas/New Year celebrations are well and truly over my world is going to be manic once again as the 2017 Spring weddings will be kicking in .. .. alongside everything else.

But two crafty resolutions that have stuck from previous years are to continue the never ending battle to use up my mountain of snippets (offcuts) and to always put an insert into every card as I finish it and package it up.  So resolutions can become habits eventually!

So talking of snippets here are a few that I used up today

But one thing that hasn't changed is me being lazy on a Sunday and not listing my ingredients.  As always though if there is anything you would like to know then please just ask away.

My card is being entered into Pixie's Snippets Playground Challenge where we are encouraged to use up any snippets of anything .. .. be this wool, fabric, card, paper etc.

I have also added a new sketch to my little sketch library (the tab is at the top of my blog).  I used it for my card today .. .. and you are free to use it too, along with any others that are in my collection.

Wishing everyone a happy, and super crafty 2017