PICTURE HEAVY CHRISTMAS INSPIRATION

Hi Everyone

Happy Thursday!!

Another dull and wet day here .. .. but not one I could spend in the craft room .. .. Mum and I had missions to complete today .. .. but thankfully we managed them all without getting wet.  Yay!!!

My projects for today all used supplies from two magazines I was fortunate to be asked to work on recently .. .. and both are now out on the supermarket shelves.

My very favourite make from this first bumper kit actually made its way onto the front of the magazine and the packing and every time Mum and I stroll out of Asda I see it on display as we walk out .. .. I still find it unbelievable that my work is good enough to be featured.

and these were my next two favourites.  Another from the stamping commission and the second from the decoupage commission

The next magazine features that fabby snowman character and my first card is part of a shaped card feature.  The snow-globe template is part of the magazine and I used it in lots of different ways.

these are more of my favourites

these last two cards use a sweet Christmas tree stamp and die that is part of the pack (there is also a cute little snowflake die which you can see on the snow-globe).

So lots of Christmas inspiration to show you .. .. .. but nothing I have made today.  I am busy with wedding stationery samples at the moment ready for sharing with "happy couples" at the weekend.

Have a lovely evening everyone - I hope you have had a good day.

LET'S BE MERRY

Hi Everyone

Happy Wednesday!

A really nippy and blustery autumn day here and one where rain keeps getting added into the mix as well .. .. a good day for being snuggled in the craft room!

Here I am with another Christmas card today as promised.  

So here we go:

This used:

Background Image:  WOW! Clear Stamp:  "Vintage Wallpaper"
Sentiment:  Penny Black Clear Stamp Set:  "30-316 - Season's Gifts"
Sizzix Stamps and Dies:  "659376 - Holiday Joy"
Memento Ink Pads:  Toffee Crunch, Rich Cocoa, Pistachio and London Fog
Personal Impressions:  White and Silver Super Sparkle Embossing Powder
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
Ribbon
White Gel Pen
My Trusty Sewing Machine
Un-branded Dashed wavy line die from Ebay

As always a lot of what I use on my cards has been in my possession for years .. .. so apologies if some of the supplies I used are no longer available.

So that is my share for today .. .. back to work now that my rather late lunch break is over.

Many thanks for your lovely comments yesterday .. .. hoping to have another Christmas make to share tomorrow.

TEENY TINY CHRISTMAS

Hi Everyone

Happy Tuesday .. .. I hope you are all well?

I don't know about you but I am not very impressed with these dark evenings!  Nothing looks right once natural daylight disappears does it?

Today I decided it was time to drag myself away from the weddings .. .. kicking and screaming .. .. and head to the general craft desk and my Christmas supplies.  

No-where near enough Christmas makes done .. .. .. I think I have been enjoying myself far too much with the weddings and magazines!!

Super popular at the moment are invitations that involve the soft gold glitter card and matching gems that I have used on my teeny tiny 3.5" square creations below.  

Working with this card means that my world (and face) has been super glittery for weeks and weeks  LOL!! .. .. .. .. and is going to continue to be glittery for some time to come!! In fact for some years to come because I have couples who aren't getting married until 2020 who want me to work with this card on their stationery! 

and whilst at it I made four

These used:

Sentiment: Penny Black "30-140" Clear Sentiment Set "Christmas Cheer"

Backing Paper:  Christmas Paper Pad from The Works

First Edition:  Nesting Doily Dies

Gold Embossing Powder

Small snowflakes .. .. the leftovers from using the Memory Box Snowflake Heart Die

Ribbon 

Those lovely pale gold gems 

My Trusting Sewing Machine

So that is me for today .. .. making a little headway on Christmas and now I am going to chip away at my accounts.  Sadly I even enjoy doing those!!  LOL!!

Many thanks to everyone who still pops into my blog to see what I am up to and those who send emails.  You are far better blog buddies than I am at the moment.  I'm so sorry .. .. currently time just doesn't seem to be my friend :-(  Perhaps Santa will deliver me a super-sized box of it this year!?!?!?  Wouldn't that be nice?

.. .. .. .. and for those who have been asking after my lovely Mum.  She had a little relapse a couple of weeks ago but we seem back on track again now.  So much so that over two days we have done nearly all of her Christmas shopping!!  I hope we get round to mine once Mum's is complete LOL!!!

I am going to be trying hard to post up Christmas makes all through November so I will hopefully be here again tomorrow.

INKY SKIES

Hi Everyone

Happy Thursday!

I hope you are all well .. .. and are perhaps seeing a little sunshine today!

I am still submerged in the world of weddings and have lots of lovely samples to make for couples I have met over the last few weeks .. .. but thought you might like to see some of the magazine creations I have been making.

Today I am sharing some cards I made for the current edition of Papercraft Inspirations

My brief for this commission was to create interesting skies using distress inks.

I really enjoyed and lost myself in this commission as I don't very often get chance to sit and play with my distress inks nowadays. 

The magazine comes with some scrummy stamps and a great snow globe embossing folder .. .. really hoping I get chance to play with these soon too!  After all that panic Christmas crafting  is soon going to be upon us!!  LOL!!

So that is me for today .. .. just time to unpack and put away at least one of the boxes of wedding supplies I took to a wedding fayre nearly two weeks ago!! .. .. and then off for a little adventure with Mum and her wheelchair!  We can't waste this little glimpse of sunshine!

Enjoy your day everyone

BOO HOO TIME

Hi Everyone

Big apologies for my rather long absence from blogland .. .. and continued apologies because I am not likely to be back in a hurry!

The weddings are manic and those alongside my magazine commissions have been keeping me ultra busy whilst still helping Mum (who is continuing to do well but does still need some TLC on a regular basis .. .. like we all do!!).

Quite a few weddings have come and gone over the last few weeks and I have had the pleasure of meeting lots of new couples too.

Mr Heart and I did a wedding fayre a month ago and I am still getting enquiries following on from that as well as taking orders on the day .. .. .. but we also have another one booked for next Sunday .. .. and my brain is buzzing with new ideas I want to put into action to take with us.  

We did escape for a few days last week to re-charge our batteries so fingers crossed this week time is going to go ultra slow and my re-charged energy levels will make it a super productive one. All so very exciting!  

But sadly my blog is suffering and I haven't been making anything I can share .. .. sorry!!

Thank you to everyone who has emailed to make sure all is well though.  I promise it is.

But now it is time for some sad news .. .. after today Sally-Ann's Digistamp Boutique images are no longer going to be available anywhere .. .. .. boo hoo hoo!  I am gutted.

I love, love, love Sally-Ann's work so much and I am going to miss using and seeing new images and sentiments pop up very very much!

I have done a lovely top up of Sally-Ann's gorgeous images from the LOTV website and was hoping to have shared some of the new ones here before everything folds .. .. but sadly that wasn't to be .. .. time just hasn't allowed it.

So instead I will share one of my favourite cards which I made when I was super happy to be on Sally-Ann's DT

This uses one of the gorgeous mermaid images .. .. and describes Sally-Ann perfectly

MER - MAZING

Thank you Sally-Ann for having shared your talent with everyone for so long and for being such a lovely caring and kind person.  If only the world could be filled with more people like you.

So .. .. if anyone else needs to "top up" before midnight then click quickly over to here lots of  special offers.

Take care all my lovely blog buddies .. .. I hope all is well with you.

CAN YOU HELP PLEASE ?

Hi Everyone

Happy Wednesday

I hope this post finds you well and enjoying your week.  If not then I am sorry .. .. but there is another one just around the corner which will hopefully be better for you!

So I will start first by extending my love and thanks to everyone who has been in touch to check that all is OK here .. .. .. due to my lack of activity in blogland.  My blog has never ever been so neglected and quiet .. .. I'm so sorry .. .. I am missing it lots but am struggling to fit everything I want to do into my waking hours!

But fear not .. .. all is good.  I have had quite a lot of medical appointments to attend with Mum over the last few weeks and we have been awaiting results .. .. and they have all come back good!!  Yay!!!  Well done Mum!!  

So now we can hopefully settle into our routine again.  We will still be having our wheelchair walks and I will still be going round to take her out shopping and basically help her where I can .. .. but that is fine and is no more than she deserves.  She is someone who never ask for anything from anyone .. .. .. which makes it even more of a pleasure to help her.

But the month has also seen two of my "happy couples" get married which has involved me doing the "last minute" venue stationery alongside some magazine commissions and general orders .. .. never a dull moment in my life!

As well as touching base and explaining my absence I am also here to try and help a lovely lady called Karen who contacted me over the weekend.

Karen is on the look out for a stamp set from Hero Arts which is now discontinued and she had found it used on my blog and wondered if I still owned it and would be interested in selling it.

I do still own it, but sadly for Karen still use it and would like to keep it in my collection .. .. .. but is there anyone out there that has the set and would be willing to part with it?

If so please let me know and I will pass your details onto Karen.  She is sitting with her fingers crossed in the hope that someone can help.

This is the stamp set in use on my blog "years ago":

and this is what the full set looks like in its packaging

So that is my "good deed for the day" .. .. off to do a bit more prep work for a wedding fayre I have coming up and then off to meet up with Mum.

Have a good day everyone.

SMILE

Hi Everyone

Happy Thursday!

I hope your week has been going well.

.

Just dropping in to share another card I made at the weekend during my "craft fest".

This features a pre-loved Penny Black stamp I gained from Ebay .. .. and you know what it is like when you get a new image or stamp .. .. you just have to tickle it with your pens don't you!!

So here is the finished result .. .. 

This used:

Image:  Penny Black "1745K" Like it or Not !!!!

Sentiment:  MFT "All Occasion Sentiments"

Backing Papers:  Mix of papers from my snippet mountain

ProMarkers

Josy Rose:  Nail Heads

My Trusty Sewing Machine

and that is me for today.

I am just going to whizz and enter my creation into the Penny Black Saturday Challenge where the theme is always "anything goes".  This month there was an optional extra theme of "baby" but unfortunately I didn't get that far .. .. sorry ladies!

Anyway, back to my crafty list .. .. lots I need to cross off it today!

Enjoy your day and thank you to everyone who continues to call by and leave me messages/send emails.  They are all very much appreciated.  I am trying hard to catch up with everyone but it is taking a bit of doing.

MERLIN

Hi Everyone

Happy Saturday!

So sorry for my absence from blogland once again .. .. .. lots of wedding work has been happening here in the House of Hearts and there have been new "happy couples" to meet up with and make samples for .. .. all alongside more medical appointments with Mum.

My Brother and Sister take over sorting Mum at the weekends and today as I have no wedding couples visiting I have moved lots of crafty goodies downstairs to sit and play at the dining room table.

My printer, pens, box of stamped images, sewing machine and a mini mountain of snippets are there for playing with ALL WEEKEND .. .. all my ironing and washing is up to date so no reason not to just sit and play!!  Lucky me!!

This was my first make of the day:

This used:

Image: DigiStamp Boutique at LOTV "Merlin Valentine"
Sentiment:  Computer Generated using fonts "Back Black" and "Youngsook"
Backing Papers from my snippet mountain
Nestabilities:  Classic Circle and Scalloped Circle
ProMarkers
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
My Trusty Sewing Machine
Ribbon
Crystal Glamour Dust

As you will know due to other pressures I have chosen to step down from the DigiStamp Boutique DT (boo hoo!!) .. .. but that isn't going to stop me playing with their scrummy images and showing you how I have used them.  I just love colouring them sooo much and find it very relaxing and therapeutic!!

Sally-Ann's images are now sold via Lili of the Valley but if like me you also love the more watercolour effect / print images that Sally-Ann has been producing then you will find these on her "Etsy site".  These are on my "play list" for the weekend too.

So that is me for now.

We have actually had rain today and the air is much clearer and fresher .. .. which is the good news.  The bad news is that one of my "happy couples" were getting married today and the weather hasn't been very kind at all.  Such a shame because they were having a horse and carriage as part of their celebrations.. ..  taking the bride to the Church and then the newly weds to their reception.

They do live quite a long way away from here though so fingers crossed their weather wasn't quite so wet.

Hopefully catch you again soon with more of my weekend creations.

Hope you have a really good one too, and can find a bit of crafty time for yourself.

THANK YOU

Hi Everyone

Happy Monday!

I hope you all had a lovely weekend. 

Mine was weddings all the way!  A final collection saw my journey with one "happy couple" come to a close.  That always feels quite sad as we do build up such a lovely relationship .. .. this particular couple I have been working with for quite a while now and I can remember their first enquiry as if it was yesterday!  Time really does fly!

Their happy day is very close now .. ..  I am just hoping the sunshine is going to stay around for them.

So once everything had left the house for that wedding, I unpacked my next set of boxes and spent my time progressing the next wedding - working on the dining room table with the patio door and windows open.  I love it when the doors are open and the garden feels like an extension of the house.  A glance to the right lets you see the summer flowers and the birds feeding and drinking.  Simple pleasures!

I am on the final stages of this wedding too .. .. so everything for the Church service and the reception is left to complete and then that will be "bye-bye and happy wedding day" to another lovely couple.

I do love my wedding work and have been deliberating as to whether I dare do the next two wedding fayres I have paid deposits on.  My time is still being shared between home and Mum and to be honest I don't think our routine now will ever change.  Mum is possibly as strong as she is going to get.. .. but that is wonderful .. .. she has fought hard to get back to where we are and I am very proud of her.  Lots of folk would have just given in and sat there moaning.  But she is made of strong stuff and usually manages to surprise me most weeks with something new she has achieved.  I feel we may always be going on our "wheelchair excursions" but that is fine.  It is good exercise for me .. .. and I do need some!!  Just a bit worried about the days that winter will bring .. .. I might have to exchange the wheelchair for a sledge!!  Now there's a thought.  LOL!!  

Anyway, time for today's share .. .. which is a thank you card I am going to ask Sally-Ann if she would kindly add  to the DigiStamp Boutique Facebook Page.

I have decided that with everything else that is happening at the moment continuing on the DT with DigiStamp Boutique is going to be rather difficult for the time being.  There is so much wedding work looming that it isn't fair to remain on a DT if you can't give 100%.  

I don't do Facebook .. .. for some reason I avoid it like the plague .. .. so I can't reply and thank people personally.  That is why I have made a parting thank you card for all the lovely visitors who have called by there and acknowledged my projects that have been posted.

So my last official DT card might have been posted .. .. .. but don't worry.   I will still be creating with Sally-Ann's gorgeous images and sentiments .. .. I love them too much to stop .. .. and she knows she is free to lift them from my blog if there are any she wants to share.  It will just be a case of me creating when I get chance.  I am very fortunate in that the door has been left open for me to return to the DT (thank you xx) .. .. so it doesn't feel quite as sad and painful as it might.  Just a bit sad and painful!

So here we go:

This used:

Image:  Digistamp Boutique "Truffle Heart"
Sentiment:  Digistamp Boutique - one of the sentiment in the "Special Occassions Messages" Set.  I used it (along with a heart) to create a sentiment sheet of backing paper
Backing Papers:  Make and Create - Mix & Match "Sweet Garden Roses"
Sizzix Die "658226" Botanical Flourish (treated to a few layers of clear embossing powder)
Hobby & You:  Flower Punch
Do Crafts Punch:  Flower Doily
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
My Trusty Sewing Machine
Buttons
Crystal Glamour Dust
Worn Lipstick Distress Ink
Ribbon
and an un-branded tag die from E-Bay.

.. .. and that is me for today.

Back to the wedding work for a little while now .. .. 170 hearts to stick down!!  LOL!! and I also need to get in touch with a new bride that I have been recommended to.  Can't wait to learn who the kind person is that recommended me!  See .. .. there are still kind people in the world!

Enjoy the rest of the evening.  It is looking like we might be going to get a few drops of the "wet stuff" .. .. which the garden will be very grateful for.

Hopefully catch you again soon.

HAPPY NEW HOME DIGISTAMP BOUTIQUE

Hi Everyone

My apologies for being absent from my blog for a while .. .. ..  lots of lovely wedding work and a couple of hospital appointments with Mum have been keeping me well busy!

But I am here now to let you know that

DigiStamp Boutique has moved home today!!  

The lovely Sally-Ann is taking up residence with Lili of the Valley and going forward her gorgeous images are going to be sold from there.

To celebrate the launch there are two new gorgeous characters added to the range.  A cute hippo and a beautiful mermaid .. .. and because I couldn’t decide which to play with .. .. I played with both!  LOL!!

This used:  

Image and Sentiment DigiStamp Boutique "Mermazing Mermaid" 

Backing:  Created with Distressed Oxides: Twisted Citron, Faded Jeans and Broken China and splatters of water

Sizzix Thinlits Dies:  Garden Greens
Glitter Card

ProMarkers

Crystal Glamour Dust

Metallic Cord

Charm

Pearls

My Trusty Sewing Machine

Dimension Pads

Peel-Off Circles

I created the background first and then once well dried printed the sentiment directly onto it.

and this is my second card.  Such a cute little character. :

 This used:

Image:  DigiStamp Boutique "Hippo Birthday"
Sentiment:  DigiStamp Boutique "Hippo Huge Wishes"

Backing Papers:  Make and Create "Sweet Garden Roses"

X-Cut Corner Rounding Punch

First Edition Craft "Bunting Die"

ProMarkers

Crystal Glamour Dust

Chalk

My Trusty Sewing Machine

Ribbon

I really enjoyed making these little creations.  One card that I simply coloured and layered up and another where I had fun inking up an ocean background  .. .. and that is me for today.  

It just leaves me to wish a 

"Happy New Home" to  DigiStamp Boutique!

BESTIE

Hi Everyone

Happy Sunday .. .. .. and happy July too!  

That means another month has flown by in the blink of an eye!!!

One of my lovely happy couples came to collect their invitations this morning so that was another line I was able to cross off my crafty do list.  One little line of writing on a list .. .. but hours and hours of work!

So with a nice clear dining room table I decided to bring some supplies downstairs and get some of my general orders crossed off my list .. .. they certainly get crossed off much quicker than the wedding work does   .. ..  but the general cards are just a short reprive .. .. it will be weddings for nearly the whole of July.  

This one is a lovely flat card that is nice and "postal friendly".

this used:

Image:  Digistamp Boutique "Alyssa"

Sentiment:  Digistamp Boutique "Large Girly Word Art" set 

Backing Paper:  Dovecraft "Serendipity"

ProMarkers

Crystal Glamour Dust

X-Cut Palm Punch - Small Daisy

My Trusty Sewing Machine

Pearls and Ribbon from my crafty stash box

Love the large sentiment image (which being a digi image is re-sizeable) .. .. especially liking the watercolour look.  It comes as part of a set of four sentiments in a variety of colours.  

Time now to do a little bit of gardening .. .. which I have been threatening to do all week and have got nowhere near.  In fact I had better hurry up and get it done as it looks like we might be going to have a spot of rain this evening (not that any is forecast).. .. .. but it would mean the plants and the very brown lawns will get a much needed treat!!

So that is me for today.  Catch you again soon.