My first Penny Black Card....

Well after my almighty cock up I made when I tried to enter the Penny Black challenge without actually adding a Penny Black image to my card...I thought I had better have a go at doing it properly...only I cocked up again...The challenge was to make a card with spots on which I have achieved but about two weeks late !

I'm sure I will get it right one day !!..Here is my card...

I haven't put a message on it yet..I'm beginning to think there is no room...

The paper is from Basic Grey - Colour me silly

The Stamp - Penny Black -Hedgehog in a Hammock

Hand cut flourish, Bloom, Button Centre, Swarovski Crystals, and my new Heart Pins

Here is a close up...

 

Papertake Weekly Challenge Sketch 7...

I have had a go at this fantastic sketch below using papers which I have to be honest I have completely fallen in love with..Crate Paper - Katlin Collection...here is the sketch

..which can be found here

http://papertakeweekly.blogspot.com/2009/01/dawnys-sketch-7.html

and here is my interpretation of the sketch..

As I have said I used the Crate paper Katlin range, Ribbon, Prima Flowers, Flat Back Pearls and Swarovski crystals. The image was one of a pile sent to me by Jakki and coloured in using my Prisma's.

Thanks for looking and please feel free to leave me a comment...It does make my day X

Happy Birthday Mum....

Well my parents were kind enough to be born two days apart just after Christmas ( Thanks Olds !) so it's been a card making frenzy in my house....Here is the card I made for her.... I would also like to enter her for the Saturday Sketch Challenge number 35 which can be found here

http://sketchsaturday.blogspot.com/2009/01/sketch-35-24th-january-sponsored-by.html

and here is my attemp at it....

and a close up ...

Here is the recipe..

Stamp : Sunshine Fairy by Stamps Happen

Papers : Crate Paper - Katlin Collection

Embellishments : Lace, Pearls, Buttons and Ribbon oh and stickles on the wings

Prisma's to colour in...

Happy Birthday Dad...65 Years Young....

I want to say Happy Birthday to my Daddy today as he is 65, and to show you the card I made for him... I would also like to enter this for the Magnolia Vs Stampavie Challenge at http://magnoliameetsstampavie.blogspot.com/2009/01/week-10-show-us-your-bows.html

This is quite a simple card on my scale of things...I stuck the handmade spotty paper to cardstock and cut out the numbers. I matted theRed with Gold Mirri card and then plain green card which I stamped the edges in gold with flourishes.  Edwin is coloured in with Prismas with stickles on his wings and I tied a bow and stick a couple of gold headed pearl pins through.

Here is close up of Edwin...

Friday Sketchers Challenge 35....

Lime Green and Orange are two of my favourite colours along with Cerise Pink, Purple and Turquoise...one day I'm gonna make a card with all those colours on it..come to think of it - maybe I already have !!!

Today card is for the Friday Sketchers Challenge 35..here is the sketch...

and here is the link 

http://fridaysketchersblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/friday-sketchers-35-mumur-of-france.html

and  my attempt at it....

I think I got a bit carried away with the whole Lime and Orange thing, her is the recipe

Stamp : Sugar Nellie Daisy

Papers : Doodlebug ..old stock..sorry I have used the bits that tell me what they are.

Embellishments : Ribbon, Prima Flowers, Swarovski Crystals, Hand Stitching, Doodlebug Double Takes for the letters

Metal Hardware : Can't remember , havent a clue !!

Here is a close up of her, she is adorable...

You cant see it too clearly but I have decoupaged Daisy with foam pads..

Whiff of Joy Card....

Here is a card I made for one of my scrapping buddies as her father in law sadly passed away just before Christmas ( you know who you are..Bug Hugs to you both XXX )..I will get back to you with all the details...I need to have a rummage !

Whiff of Joy Spring Stamp Club....

If you take a little look at this link here here it will take you to a place where you could win one of the brand new Spring Stamp Clubs from the fabulous company - Whiff of Joy

Another hAnglar & stAnglar Image

Well I have now used two of my images...ooooooh I must make them last !!

Here is a card I made for my parent to give to a friend, obviously on the birth of her twins, her and her hubby now have four children under 5 years old !



And here is a close up of him, I tried to make the card as neutral as possible as with them being one of each variety I didn't want to sway towards one or the other..The papers are from the K & Co Scrap Pad to Go in the Baby Girl Selection.

[caption id="attachment_247" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="H & S MoonBoy Close Up"][/caption]

hAnglar & stAnglar Images...Yippee

Well I know that those of you who know me probably think I am a bit mad..and I suppose you might just be right, well the following card has been made using a stamped image sent to me by Jakki http://angeljakki.blogspot.com/go and check out her blog..her cards are amazing X ( Thank again Jakki ) and I can't tell you how much I love it... I also have another card which is in the making ...not quite finished...might be on here later...I love these images so much that I am thinking of asking Tony to take me to Norway just so I can stock up on all the stamps I have to have...either that or divorce Tony and marry a Norwegian called Thor !!!



I have used silver wire as her "antenna! " and added swarovski bicone beads on the end...the papers are from my stash and the image has been coloured in using my faithful friends the Prismacolour pencils.... Oh and a bit of stickles on the wings...I have added flat back pearls and a stamped image from the new Hero Arts collection.

[caption id="attachment_234" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Little Bug"][/caption]

Sugar Nellie Challenge 2....Three !

Well here is my attempt at the Sugar Nellie Challenge 2. The challenge involves using three patterned papers and three different embellishments..the details can be found here..  http://sugarbowlblog.blogspot.com/

and here is a close up of her

The Recipe:

Stamp : Elizabeth Bell Stamp from Fumky Kits

Three Patterned Paper : Designs from the Berry Sweet Range by K & Co

Three Embellishments : Flat Back Pearls, Ribbon and Crystals

Cardstock : Bazzil

Blog Candy...

Just a quick post today...I wanted to put a link on here mentioning some rather special blog candy from a very talented lady...please go and have a look.. http://lim-thevoicesinmyheadlimblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/hanglar-and-whipper-snapper-blog-candy.html 

I also wanted to say a big thank you to another very talented lady who's blog can be found at http://angeljakki.blogspot.com/ Jalli sent me some Hanglar & Stanglar Images for which I am very grateful and will post the finished results just as soon as I get a finished article..Thanks again Jakki X

Friday Sketchers Challenge 34

I have attempted the above challenge...go and check out the challenge at http://fridaysketchersblog.blogspot.com/  I also would like to use this for another challege I have seen which needs Pink and Brown to be used on the Penny Black Saturday Challenge at http://pennybfriendssaturdaychallenge.blogspot.com/

My Recipe !

Paper : Papermania Scrumptious

Cardstock : Bazzill Bling in Sugar Daddy

Flowers : Prima

Crystals: Swarovski

Ribbon, Metal Drop Tag and Photo Thingies are all from stash

How proud are we....

Connor has been given the lead role in the year 3 production of My Fair Lady...he will star as Proffesor Higgins and he has a lot to learn in the few short weeks until 10th February when the musical starts.  We have just ordered the DVD and plan to make good viewing of it in the coming weeks. I am ashamed to say I have not seen the film and have no idea who Higgins is !!!  I think a steep learning curve is gonna happen for me in the coming weeks ! 

A Spoon Full of Sugar Challenge Number 33

 

Here is the challenge for this week  - you can find the details of the challenge here...  http://aspoonfullofsugarchallenge.blogspot.com/   and here is what I managed to do with it...



Here is the recipe !

Cardstock : Crate Paper Katlin Collection

Stamp : Magnolia Tilda with a Rose - coloured in Prismacolour Pencils and matted on a pale piece of pink card

Sentiment : Craftwork Cards

Flowers : Cut from one of the sheets of paper

Extras : Pearl headed pins, Brad, Ribbon and Pearls all from stash mountain !!

Here is a close up of her, she is so sweet...

Poole Park Frozen....

[caption id="attachment_194" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="The Fountain"][/caption]

Just a quick post today as I have yet to finish the card I am working on. Today before work I went for a wander in Poole Park and according to my card temp guage it was minus two outside...here are a couple of shots I took at 9.30 this morning...

[caption id="attachment_193" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Frozen Lake in Poole Park"][/caption]

and a bit of an arty shot...

[caption id="attachment_195" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="All Arty..."][/caption]

Tilda with a rose....

Well here is another creation of mine...I have decided like so many other card makers that I will put ingredients with my cards and try and make the whole thing look a bit less heath robinson !! So here goes....



The Papers : Basic Grey " Sugared"

The Stamp : Magnolia - Tilda with Rose

The Extras : Flower from Prima, Stick on pearls, Ribbon from stash,

and here is a close up of her, she is so sweet and the colours have been bleached out by the flash a bit and are much warmer in real life.

Another Sugar Nellie Challenge 1Card...

Well I just couldn't help myself, I thought I would have another bash at the first challenge of the Sugar Nellie Challenge of this year on   http://sugarbowlblog.blogspot.com/ - maybe this means I've got one in hand if I miss a challenge this year)

I have used the same papers as the last card and have used another Leanne Ellis stamp which I have bonded with in the last few weeks.

I made the big flowers by copying the smaller flower in her hair and have put swarovski crystals and seed beeds hanging from the large flower.

Hope you like X

[caption id="attachment_182" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Sugar Nellie Challenge 1 -Version 2"][/caption]

As always here is a close up of the little darling..

[caption id="attachment_183" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Close up"][/caption]

Yippeee...we are going to New Jersey.....

Well my cunning plan finally paid off, I have spent the last few weeks sort of mentioning that I would really like to go for my 40th birthday in May..as previously mentioned in a post.  Well he said he would quite like to go but not until November as he likes to experience the whole Christmas thing..so that's it..we are going on 24th November and we are taking Connor with us ( not sure if NJ is ready for Connor though)

I think we could hear Barrie screaming with excitement from across the pond...an extra bonus is that it's thanksgiving while we are there and also Robby's birthday so a whole bunch of celebrations along with my belated birthday and mine and Tony's 10th wedding anniversary, I think we will probably be partying for the whole week. 

Up until now I haven't sold any of my latest cards or made any as commisions but I think I might do for the forseeable future so I can earn some money for my stash fund....thats if anyone wants them of course !!!

Back to work...Back to school...the diet starts tomorrow

Well we have had a pow wow today and the bad food ends tonight at bedtime.  We have all put on a bit of weight over Christmas so off it has to come.

Tony and I have been chatting some more today about the USA trip and we have come to a compromise.  I would like to go in May after my birthday, but he likes to go in the winter to soak up the New York Atmosphere so we are going to go about 24th November - two days before thanksgiving, and stay with Barrie and Brian in New Jersey for about 7 nights.  During that time we will catch the train into the city a couple of times and by doing it that way, we will save ourselves a fortune in hotel charges..money which could be better spent on Diamonds...or Stash !!

As I dont have any card pictures to show you today...I thought I would add a couple of pictures taken the last time we went to NYC.

[caption id="attachment_175" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Taken on "The top of the Rock" - The Rockerfeller Centre."][/caption]

That is the Empire State building nestling between us.

[caption id="attachment_176" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="The View of "our building" from the roof of our hotel- The Hotel Metro"][/caption]

We got engaged on the 102nd floor of The ESB on 18th December 1997 so every time we go back to NYC we always go there and reminisce. Ahhhh

Sugar Nellie Challenge 1 - Sketch by Tiets

This is the first challenge I have ever entered. As it's a new year I thought I would make another resolution to do ALL of the Sugar Nellie challenges throughout the year...I can but try. I have used one of the new Leanne Ellis stamps which I won in the blog candy draw ( Thanks again you sweeties)

The link to the challenge is here... http://sugarbowlblog.blogspot.com/

I have used My Minds Eye Paper from called "The Laundry Line" and although you probably can't see it, all the sheet have really subtle glitter on them. I ahve used Got prints Prima flowers, flat back pearls, and swarovski crystals, a piece of ribbon from a box of choccies ( I'm all into reycling) and last but by no means least a metal engraved tag which says Much Appreciation.



and here is a close up of her...

America Here I come...I hope

Well those of you who know me will know that one of my very best friends lives in New Jersey in the good old U S of A.  I have been to visit twice already, once on my own as Tony said I could go a couple of years ago and I had the most fabulous time. Both of us went in January 2008 and combined it with our fith trip to New York.  I am desperate to go again and so he said if I save the money to go then I can go.  I am hoping to go shortly after my 40th in May which gives me another incentive to lose the weight....but I also have to save the money for the flight ( I have £60.00 already)  and then I need some serious stash spends !!!!

Here is a piccie of my friend Barrie, her husband Brian and their son Robby..

Happy New Year.....

Well I have decided to go for the Blog your year 365 style, my friend Claire has completed 2008 and her blog is fab so I am waiting for Anna Bowkis to show us what to do this year and until then I will continue to show you my cards, add pictures of my family and basically just be me...

I would like to wish everyone who visits my site regularly or just happens to stumble across it a very happy and prosperous new year and good health for the future. 

My first New Years Resolution......

I am determined to get to my goal weight this year which is under 11 stone. I am 5 foot 8inches tall so that's a good weight for me, but having struggled with my weight my whole life I finally need to do it before I am 40 in May.  Here is a photo of my weight on the scales and a picture of me at my heaviest at 18 stone before I had my gastric band fitted. Lets see if I can do it this year...

[caption id="attachment_154" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="New Years Day 13.13"][/caption]

and here is the really scary one....

The first picture was taken in October 2005 and the second picture in November 2008..