LAST MINUTE LIL

Hi Everyone

Are you all ready for another weekend .. .. .. and possible new COVID rules .. .. .. or even another lock-down?!?!?

Here we move into Tier 2 tomorrow .. .. not that it is going to make any difference to us.  The only thing that has changed for us since lock-down is that we have been able to form a "bubble" with our youngest son.

The news this evening talks as though we might be back in lock-down again sometime next week ... ... so we will have to wait and see.

In the meantime I am back into Christmas mode with a card for taking over to the launch of the sparkly new Let's Squash it Challenge which is being run by Gail and Jo. 

A very last minute entry unfortunately from me, but they would like us to use a geometric embossing folder and metallic card or metal sheets. This is what I came up with .. .. but it wasn't easy to photograph:

This used:

Embossing Folder:  Dovercraft basics "snowflakes"
Sentiment:  Hobby Art "CS144D "Christmas Frosting"
Spellbinders Borderabilities:  A2 Curved Borders One

Sizzix Tim Holtz AlternationsThinlits Dies:  "661599" Mini Paper Snowflakes

Black and aqua fineliner pens

Clear and White embossing powder
Creative Expressions:  Aqua Dazzlers

and that is me for tonight.

Still time to play along if you are quick

Thanks for calling by.

ANY PETER RABBIT FANS?

Hi Everyone

I hope you are all doing OK.

The magazine shelves are looking very short on craft magazines at the moment .. .. and sadly a lot of them have been finished never to return. All of those editors and their teams furloughed and then unfortunately made redundant .. .. this virus has a lot to answer for!

One magazine that "is" currently on the shelves though is Make Special Cards, Issue 24, which is another in the Peter Rabbit and Friends Series.  One of the bumper packs where you get plain card bases and envelopes, a selection of clear stamps, image and sentiment toppers and lots and lots of design papers.

I was very fortunate to be asked to complete commissions for this issue and these were some of my favourites:

These first two were part of a "flip flop" card commission and the magazine has the templates for the card base and for covering the various shaped segments.

These were my favourites from a stamping commission:

These were cards which used some of the oodles of toppers and sentiment

and last but not least a "spotlight" commission

and that is me for today.

We are currently waiting to see if we are moving up the COVID scale .. .. .. all super scary again everywhere isn't it?

Hopefully catch you again tomorrow.

DUCK-NOEL

Hi Everyone

I hope you have all had a lovely Tuesday .. .. it was a bit rainy here but not too bad.

Here tonight with a card that is even smaller than my usual teeny tiny cards .. .. .. .. .. this one when folded is just a fraction under 3" square! 

But for saying how small it is when folded it was a nightmare to photograph.

This used:

Image:  Penny Black "2985L" Duck-Noel
Backing Paper:  Make & Create "White Christmas"
Spellbinders:   Circle Die

ProMarkers
My Trusty Sewing Machine

So rather than using the stamp as one continuous image I decided to mask off each letter and make a concertina card.

I am taking my little make over to the Penny Black Saturday Challenge where the theme is always "Anything Goes" and an optional theme this month of "Too cute to spook".  But as I don't have a need for a Halloween card I opted for another much needed Christmas card.

Catch you again soon.

MORE CHRISTMAS

Hi Everyone

I hope you have enjoyed your weekend .. .. .. and that extra hour we were treated to.   What did you do with yours?

I'm not sure whether I spent mine having an extra long walk this afternoon with Mr Heart or whether I spent it pulling wallpaper off the walls in the kitchen?

Yes, we have finally got around to starting some decorating .. .. yay!!!  

Whilst cooking our evening meal last night I decided to see how easily I could pull wallpaper off the wall and that was it .. .. .. another job created!!   Mr Heart was very strong at concealing his disappointment at the thought of his least favourite pastime making an appearance .... DIY ... .. .. LOL!!!    He needs to think himself lucky because if he had been married to my Mum he would be decorating every room in the house at least once a year!

So once back from our walk it was time to head to my little craft pod for a play with my snippets and this is what I came up:

This used another of the five images I purchased from Whimsy Dreams Clipart

Image:  WhimsyDreamsClipart:  Ethel 

Sentiment:  Hero Arts ""DC170" Merry Stamp & Cut (but I didn't do any cutting)
Gold Embossing Powder
Glossy Accents

My Trusty Sewing Machine

A stamping platform was used to add the "merry" sentiment, heat embossed four times to add a thick layer of gold lettering.

I am taking my card over to Pixie's Snippets Playground as everything but the card base came from snippet mountain, and I am also nipping over to the October Rudolph Days Challenge.

Nearly another month gone!!  Eeeekkk!!!!  This really has surprisingly been the fastest year ever!!

IT'S CHRISTMAS TIME

Hi Everyone

I hope you are all well and staying safe.

It has been a day pretty much full of rain here!

I have been back in "wedding mode" this week and have today delivered a second set of invitations to a couple who unfortunately had to cancel their last wedding.   They have now arranged a "very small" wedding which will hopefully be able to happen .. .. .. and they will then have a "big" celebration on their first wedding anniversary.  I am keeping my fingers tightly crossed  for them. 

So with the invitations delivered I finished a card that I had started for taking over to Fezziwig's Festive  Frolics Challenge where Hazel has provided a lovely sketch for us to work with this fortnight.

This is my offering:

This used:

Image: LOTV Woodland Robin Star

Sentiment:  LOTV Christmas Topper Set

Backing Papers:  Dovecraft "Christmas Basics" 
Nestabilities Circle Die
ProMarkers
Nail Heads
Glamour Dust

Gems
Snowflakes from the snowflake die box
My Trusting Sewing Machine

and here is the sketch, which I  rotated by 180 degrees for my card.

I seem to be doing quite well with Christmas cards this month .. .. well over my quota of 5.  Good job really because I still need lots more before December arrives!

Enjoy the rest of your evening and weekend .. .. and don't forget to alter those clocks. 

JUST TO SAY

Hi Everyone

I hope your weather was a bit more exciting than mine was today!

The other day when I purchased that lovely Christmas wreath download I got some others alongside .. .. .. using a 30% off voucher that was available if you purchased five images.  

The problem wasn't deciding which five I would like .. .. there were lots of beauties .. .. the hard part was deciding which five I would like the most.

This image was one of my "must haves" simply because I knew I would really enjoy colouring it (even though it is available as a pre-coloured image):

This used:

Image:  WhimsyDreamsClipart:  "Whimsical Flowers"
Sentiment:  LOTV Embossed Labels
Backing Papers:  First Edition Papers "Blank Canvas"
ProMarkers
Ribbon
Spellbinder Circle Dies
Nail Heads
Ribbon
My Trusty Sewing Machine

and that is my share for today.  I am already thinking what other colours I want to use on my next play with this image.  

Take care everyone .. .. .. especially if you are in any of the scary COVID danger zones .. .. .. though to be fair any of us could be without even knowing.  

Stay safe.

CHRISTMAS POST

Hi Everyone

I hope your have had a good day.

My teeny tiny card has today morphed a little into a scrapling card (measuring 6.5 x 13.5cms).  These cards are made with the offcuts I am left with after creating my own card bases .. .. .. and I have rather a stack of them .. .. .. so they need to be used.

This used:

Make & Create Die Set: Post Box and all the elements from The Works
Backing Paper:  Pink Petticoat
Sentiment:  LOTV Christmas Tags
ProMarkers for colouring the birds
Pearls
Ribbon and Cord

Eyelet

My Trusty Sewing Machine

I think that post boxes are going to become our extra special best friend over the next couple of months because I doubt very much that we will be delivering our Christmas wishes in person this year!!  Boo hoo!

THAT SCRUMMY WREATH AGAIN

Hi Everyone

I hope you have had a good weekend.

We have been doing a bit of "sorting out" at this end over the weekend.  Had a breadmaking session (I just love how it makes the house smell all lovely and homely) and I then played again with the wreath image I posted yesterday.

This time I wondered how it would look if I shrunk it down to go on a smaller 4 x 4 inch square card, gave it some backing paper and changed the colour of the ribbon.  I also added a digital sentiment this time instead of a stamped one .. .. .. just to make it even quicker for batch making. 

I got a little carried away and ended up making six in total along with matching envelopes:

I think I liked the aqua ribbon the best .. .. ..

These used:

Image:  Whimsy Dreams Clipart "Christmas Wreath"

Sentiment:  Digistamp Boutique (sadly no longer trading)

Backing Paper:  Pink Petticoat "Pinstripes"
Ribbon

Gems
My Trusty Sewing Machine
We R Memory Keepers Envelope Punch Board

Well, I am going to be well over my quota for Christmas cards for October!  Yay!!

Enjoy your sparkly new week when it arrives .. .. .. well as much as you can during these strange times .. .. .. and stay safe.

I am a bit behind with my blog visiting unfortunately, but I will be making amends this coming week.

PINK CHRISTMAS

Hi Everyone

I hope your weekend has got off to a good start.

I am still battling on with Christmas and today played along with the Christmas Kickstart Challenge which this fortnight is looking for "Pink Christmas" in honour of Breast Cancer Awareness month.

There are some pictures for us to take inspiration from too.

This is what I created:

This used:

Image:  Whimsy Dreams ClipArt "Christmas Wreath"
Sentiment:  Penny Black "30-310" Believe (what makes you think it was still on my desk from yesterday?)
Gems
Ribbon
Hearts and snowflakes from their respective boxes
My Trusty Sewing Machine

I hope you get chance to play along.

Once again Mr Blogger has decided to re-arrange the order of my photographs.  Perhaps he considers his choice of layout to be better than mine.

Catch you again tomorrow folks .. .. enjoy your weekend .. .. as best you can!

PARTRIDGE IN A PEAR TREE

Hi Everyone

Hopefully your Friday has been a good and productive day .. .. .. nearly the weekend again!!!

I am in Christmas mode at the moment and feeling quite cuffed with myself because normally at this time of year I am running round like a headless chicken panicking as to when I will have chance to pull all my Christmas makes in.  

But this year I have been sticking rigidly to my New Year's Resolution of making five Christmas cards each month and it has made a really big difference .. .. .. I actually make this resolution every year .. .. .. but this is the first year I have managed to stick to it (to be fair though it is mainly down to all the wedding work going pear shaped this summer).

Still plenty more Christmas makes to get through though and this is my latest offering! 

This used:

Crafter's Companion Die:  Partridge in a Pear Tree 

Sentiment:  Penny Black Clear Stamp Set "30-310" Believe
Backing Paper:  Pink Petticoat
Stitched Edge Die:  Unbranded from Amazon

and no Trusty Sewing Machine .. .. .. shock horror!!

Catch you again tomorrow!

Enjoy your evening and the weekend when it arrives.  

Next, I need to catch up on what changes Mr Johnson has made today! 

ROCKING THE WREATH

Hi Everyone

I hope your Wednesday has been good.

A mixed bag of weather here but we have managed to dodge the rain .. .. more by luck than anything!

As my remaining wedding work is all messed around at the moment I have been having more time to spend with Mr Heart and also to improve on my blog posting and visiting skills.  

One beautiful blog I have recently stumbled upon, quite by accident belongs to the lovely and very talented Claire who has a blog called String Bows .. .. .. and whilst having a nosey about "as you do" I stumbled upon this lovely card here and I simply had to add the stamp set into my collection as I can see it being useful for so many different occasions.  Lots and lots of different characters, elements and sentiments that you use to create a variety of wreaths.  

This is my first play:

This used:

Image and sentiment:  Tracey Hey "Rocking the Wreath"
Backing Papers:  From the snippet mountain
ProMarkers
Memento Ink Pads
Chalks
Ribbon
My Trusty Sewing Machine

and that is me for today .. .. .. hope you are all well.  Take care of yourselves and stay safe as we see the second virus phase starting to take hold.