ARE YOU AFTER TIM HOLTZ DISTRESS OXIDE INK PADS?

Hi Everyone

No card to show you .. .. my weddings are super busy today!!

But I did want to give you a quick "heads up" that Joanna Sheen has the full set of 12 Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink Pads on offer at the moment 

here 

and as I write this there are still some available but I know they are very sought after and not likely to last long.  (My birthday pennies have headed in this direction .. woo hoo!!!  Can't wait for them to arrive).

If they are already out of stock by the time you hit the link then simply register to be informed when they are back in stock . . . which is what I did.  I know that more are on the way!!

Good luck if you head that way in an attempt to part with your crafty pennies .. .. sorry not everyone has had a birthday to boost the funds up a little though.  

WEDDING ANNIVERSARY WEDNESDAY

Hi Everyone

Happy Wednesday!

Get me .. .. two posts on consecutive days!! Wow!!

I know today is supposed to be a day when I share creations made using "just white card" .. .. but today is special so I am breaking my own rules!  What a rebel! 

Today is Wedding Anniversary day here in the House of Hearts!  

Mr Heart and I have been married for a whole 42 years!  Not sure where all of those years have gone .. .. all I know is that each and every one of them have been happy years which I am truly grateful for. I think it is only when we look at our six foot something Sons that we realise how time is passing.

I was a whole 19 and three days old when we got married .. .. .. and now you can do the maths and work out exactly how very very ancient I am!  But I don't feel it.  I am still the giggly, excited and full of life and dreams person I was then .. .. but probably just more annoying and impatient now.  Mainly because there is so much I still want to achieve and time seems to be disappearing in the blink of an eye.

The only thing I was impatient for all those years ago was babies .. .. I couldn't wait to be a Mum.  

But anyway, enough of memory lane, here is my card for Mr Heart .. .. made far too late last night!  I mean .. ..  I have only known all year that it was going to be needed!  LOL!!

This used:

Image:  Lili of the Valley "Hearts and Flowers"

Sentiment:  Computer Generated using front "Sweetheart" and Lili of the Valley "Sentiment Tags" (though mine are the stamp version)

Backing Papers:  We R Memory Keepers "Love Notes"

ProMarkers

Crystal Glamour Dust

My Trusty Sewing Machine

Ribbon from my crafty stash box

So that is me for today ... with a soppy post and card to share.

Lots more printing and tying of ribbons for other "happy couples" for me today, ahead of clearing the dining room table and getting it set up with candles and flowers ready for our romantic dinner for two this evening.

Enjoy your day and evening .. .. whatever you may be doing.

TEENY, TINY TUESDAY

Hi Everyone

Happy Tuesday!

I hope your week has got off to a good start .. .. and that all you Mummies out there had a great Mother's Day on Sunday.  Mine was extra special because it was also my birthday .. . so double celebrations.  Shame I had to loose an hour of sleep though by altering the clocks!!  

So many lovely cards and presents from family and friends .. .. and a Windows 10 laptop made its way into The House of Hearts courtesy of Mr Heart.  Not that I dare even switch it on yet.  I wonder if I should get a Windows 10 for dummies book to talk me through it all? or do I qualify for Windows 10 for seniors I wonder?!!  LOL!

So far I have avoided Windows 10 like the plague and declined all the offers of free upgrades etc on my current laptop for fear of it messing up all my wedding templates etc and it not supporting all the programmes I use .. .. but my old laptop is starting to show signs of not being very happy .. .. so I guess it is time to take a leap into the unknown and slowly master Windows 10 whilst I still have the old laptop to fall back on. Oh how I hate change!

Lots for me to do on all fronts this week .. .. wedding work, magazine work and general card orders so a real mixed bag for me. Let's hope it is a long, slow week, so I can get lots done ....

But as it is Tuesday I decided to try and pull in a quick teeny, tiny card to share with you whilst my printer is on overdrive with wedding invitations .. .. and here it is . .. my little 3.5" square creation:

This used:

Image:  Penny Black "3347H" Duckling
Backing Paper:  Tinker & Co Digital "Oopsy Daisy"

Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
ProMarkers
White Gel Pen
We R Memory Keepers Envelope Punch Board

and that is me for today .. .. just a super simple make .. .. but hopefully one that somebody somewhere will be happy to receive..

.

WHITE CARD WEDNESDAY

Hi Everyone

Happy Wednesday .. .. another lovely day with some beautiful sunshine!  

It is surprising how the start of spring lifts your spirits and gets you excited about the thought of summer.  (But we won't mention how grubby the windows suddenly look though LOL!!).

So Wednesday is the day I try and use up some of my offcuts of white card .. .. and today I took inspiration from the CAS Mix Up Card Challenge where the compulsory elements this month are to include "Stamping and Smooching" on your card and for the "free element" I included some stitching and used a bit of modelling paste through a stencil.

It is the first birthday for the challenge .. .. and it doesn't seem two minutes since Loll and Bonnie announced it starting.  I love to play along when I can because it makes you think a little differently, and there are always lots of links for learning the technique of the month.  Well worth checking out if you haven't yet played along.

Here is my creation for this month:

This used:

Image:  Lavinia Stamps "Zen Butterfly"

Sentiment:  Computer Generated using font "Sweetheart Script"

Colourcraft Brusho Set (Sorry but I can't tell you what my Brusho colours were.  I got a little carried away and ended up with a sprinkling of quite a few before I spritzed them and "smooched" my card through them). 

Tim Holtz Stencil:  "THS023" Woodgrain 

Winsor & Newton:  Modelling Paste

Nestabilities:  Classic Circles and Scalloped Circles 

Die'sire Dies:  Scalloped Tags

ProMarkers

Ribbon and a button from my crafty stash box

Crystal Glamour Dust

Glossy Accents

My Trusty Sewing Machine

.. .. and that is crafty me for today.

Take care and hopefully I will be around tomorrow with another creation.

TEENY TINY TUESDAY

Hi Everyone

Happy Tuesday!

I hope your day went well.

I actually got washing on the line for the first time this year .. .. it will be lovely to have laundry that smells of fresh air again!

As promised here I am with one of my teeny, tiny creations (3.5 x 3.5 inches square for those of you who are new to my blog).

A while ago Lili Of The Valley had a fabulous offer on their digi images so I indulged in readiness for when I would have time to use them .. .. and the great thing about digi images is that you can re-size them.  So I have squeezed this little mouse down to fit on one of my little makes.  He didn't squeak so I don't think it hurt.

This used:

Digital Image:  Lili of the Valley "Three Kind Mice" (a set of three images)

Sentiment:  Computer Generated using font "Dragonflight Pro"

Backing Papers: Wild Rose Studio "Wintry Christmas"

ProMarkers

My Trusty Sewing Machine

We R Memory Keepers Envelope Punch Board

So there we go.  

Take care everyone and have a lovely rest of today.

WAKEY, WAKEY LITTLE BLOG

Hi Everyone

Happy Monday!  

I hope all is well with everyone and life is being kind .. .. if not then I send you tight squeezy hugs and hope that things improve very, very soon.

Life here has been as busy and exciting as ever, with plenty to keep me out of mischief.  I certainly don't need to shake myself back into action .. .. just my blog!!

As well as lots of wedding and magazine work I have also been attempting to re-organise things a little ahead of the annual stock take that will soon be needed.  My accountant tries to throw some brightness on it by saying "you never know, you might find something you forgot you had" . .. . but nah! I know exactly what I have .. .. I just can't always remember what home it was given in the last round of re-organisation LOL!!

It has been all systems go on the wedding front with new couples signing up to be on my "happy couples" list, but as I am now waiting for deliveries, and information from happy couples, I am going to take the opportunity to knuckle down and get a stack of general cards made .. .. so all being well I will have some creations to share with you at long last!

For today though I thought I would share some pictures of work I completed for the current issue of Quick Cards Made Easy Magazine (Issue 163) which is now on the shelves.

I was happy to be asked to work on a couple of commissions .. .. this first one being part of a set showing ways of using die cut borders:

and another entitled "Jewel Effects".  This one used something quite new to me .. .. Nuvo Jewel Drops and these were great fun to try.

So there we go .. .. at last I have woken up my little blog .. .. and tomorrow I will be around with a Teeny Tiny Tuesday creation.

Have a lovely evening everyone.

 

THE WANDERER RETURNS .. .. AGAIN

Hi Everyone

Happy Tuesday!

I hope your week is going well.

Mine feels like it only started today because the weekend saw Mr Heart and I head off to CHSI Stitches trade fayre in Birmingham and have a couple of nights away into the bargain.

At least I am managing to keep the new year's resolution of playing as hard as I work .. .. even if the Christmas card making one is falling by the wayside!!   LOL!!

I got to meet up with some great new suppliers at the exhibition who I am hoping to work with in the near future and was also invited to the champagne reception and presentation of the British Craft Awards for 2017. Such a lovely happy event to be part of .. .. I loved every minute!

Regular visitors to my blog might remember that I was nominated for the "Papercraft Designer of the Year" award.  One that I was no way expecting to win because I was the only "small fry" bod on the list .. .. but how special to have my name alongside so many inspirational crafting geniuses (shown below in the order they appeared on the voting list .. .. otherwise I definitely wouldn't have put my name there)

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

The award was won by Sara Davies who you will all know from Crafter's Companion.  I don't know if you know, but she was made an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list last year for services to the economy .. .. .. I am guessing that means that us crafters are doing a good job at keeping the country afloat with all our crafty spending LOL!!

I also got to catch up with Hayley and Rebecca from Quick Cards Made Easy and Sienna from Cardmaking and Papercraft which was really nice.

So an exciting time has definitely been had and my fingers have been itching to get crafting after seeing all the new "up and coming" crafty goodies that are coming our way!

My head is buzzing with things I want to try .. .. but so far since I have got home it has been admin work all the way .. ...  catching up with emails and with new wedding enquiries, ordering of materials and signing up to some of those lovely new suppliers I met.

I can't believe that March is peeking it's nose round the corner already!!!!

Eeeek!!!

Hopefully one day soon there will be a picture of a card here for me to share .. .. but for now I will have to love and leave you and say a huge thank you to everyone who took the time to cast a vote my way .. .. you are very kind to this very random blogger!!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

Hi Everyone

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Sending lots of love your way!!!

Gosh how busy has it been in the House of Hearts?

It has definitely been all go .. ..especially on the wedding front.  In fact it has been so busy that I decided to take everything downstairs otherwise Mr Heart and I wouldn't have shared much time together at all for about 4 weeks!!  LOL!!

Lots of samples made for prospective new "happy couples" and a lovely big wedding order finished. I am getting to know lots of lovely couples .. .. which is brilliant.  

Judging by the number of brides I have already spoken to this year I really think that 2017 is going to be a bumper year for weddings.  Both of the wedding fayres we did were very, very busy!!

But my little life is slowly getting back to some resemblance of order and control and everything has been taken back up-stairs so that the dining room table is nice and clear .. .. .. in readiness for that romantic dinner for two this evening .. .. .. and my attention has now turned to the lovely magazine commissions I have, and the general card orders that have been mounting up.  There is never a dull moment in my life .. .. and certainly no lack of variety!

Believe it or not I actually do have a share for today .. .. which is my Valentine card for Mr Heart:

This used:

Backing Papers:  Craft Sensations "Chalkboard Love" and First Edition Paper "Love Story"
Sentiment:  Pink Petticoat Ribbon Sentiments and Tag Computer Generated using fonts Aracne & Wreath
X-Cut Heart Die
Die'sire Scalloped Tags Set
Distress Ink:  Worn Lipstick
Ribbon, Cord, Key

and that is me!!

Enjoy your day everyone.

SORRY .. .. .. I LIED !

Hi Everyone

Happy Thursday!

I hope all is well with you all .. .. and if not that it improves smartish!

Well it would seem that I lied on my previous post when I signed off by saying "see you soon" .. .. .. I have been nowhere near my blog .. .. and nowhere near making anything to post onto it!  Sorry!

My last post was telling you about the very busy wedding fayre that Mr Heart and I did nearly two weeks ago .. .. well as a result I have received lots of sample requests and still haven't caught up with them all.  But I am having the time of my life playing with my ribbons and sparkly bling as well as completing a lovely order for vellum wrapped boxed invitations.  They should be making their way to the recipients now as they were collected at the weekend by a very excited couple.

To be honest I do find it hard to switch from one type of crafting to another within the same day .. .. my days are most productive if it is all general work or all wedding work.  Must be something to do with what frame of mind I get into first thing in a morning.

So I have nothing new to share .. .. but can show you the commissions I worked on for the current issue of Quick Cards Made Easy, which has now hit the shelves.

My first card is from a collection called "Ways with Frames" - I love these download papers very, very much and will be using them lots and lots I'm sure!

  

and this card is from a collection using "Watercolour Pencils".  

So at least I have woken my blog up a little and you know I haven't been sitting around twiddling my thumbs.  

I can't believe January has already come and gone .. .. and those Christmas cards haven't been making their way into my Christmas stock box either.  What a rash new year promise that was .. .. .. to make a card every week!!  There are already some i.o.u. chittys (if that is how you spell it) posted into the rather empty box!!  Perhaps every i.o.u. needs to be replaced with two cards instead of one!  LOL!!

Take care everyone and today I will simply say "I'll see you when I do" because who  knows when I will have something to post .. .. we have another wedding fayre on Sunday and I haven't caught up from the last one yet!!  

The one last time was an unscheduled last minute offer for a new venue which turned out to be the best one ever .. .. whereas this Sunday has been booked for at least 6 months.

Enjoy your day . .. I hope your weather is brighter than mine here!  

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.