Happy Anniversary

Three posts today - not like me I know, but then again today is no ordinary day.

25 years ago today, I married my husband Craig at Kings College Chapel, Aberdeen in glorious sunshine. And so this second post is especially for him to wish him a Happy Anniversary.

- Hope he has a look on, cause I won't say!!!

I've kept the design quite simple, I did at one point have the card covered in flowers, but then decided in the end to go with die-cuts and a ribbon as I thought a male would prefer a less fussy card.

The embossing was done using my early anniversary present of A Big Shot - thanks Craig, just what I wanted, even though I couldn't make up my mind in the shop.  I think my cutlebug has seen better days now and isn't as good at embossing or cutting things in just one run.

My card also ties in nicely with the new challenge over at An Oldie But A Goodie, where Laurie has picked

Inspired by A Song

as the theme.

So my song is Love is All Around by Wet Wet Wet - not only a great song, but it was also at the top of the charts when I was due my first baby, Alan, so it's a song I've loved for ages.

As well as having a wedding image, I also tried to go old, new, borrowed & blue on my card.  My oldie being the embossing folders, my newbie being the image.  Borrowed - with the assistance of the lovely Debs, the die cut heart on a bow and finally little blue hearts on the sentiment!

Finally, cause I know you'll all be dying to see... a photo from 25 years ago. Jx

Sorry it's not that sharp, but that's cause it's a photo of a photo - digital hadn't been invented then!!!

Challenges;
Polka Doodles - Anniversary
Simply Challenged Challenges - Wedding couples
ABC Challenges - Wedding or Anniversary - I went with Anniversary
Sketch n Stash - Sketch 113 - New image from the Paper Nest
Stamping Sensations - Embossing & Texture - Use of 2 embossing folders & dies + gems

Tag - You're It!

Sorry you lot, you'll be sick of Anniversary projects by now! Last one - a little tiddler tag, which is actually really cute!

And here it is on my gift.

The image is coloured with Promarkers then fussy cut and raised onto the tag with silicone glue.  The tag itself is cut using a Spellbinder die and the tag is finished off with a Memory Box Precious Heart die cut (from Debs!)

Challenges;
Digi Darla - Tags
LLF - Anything but a card - So I made a gift tag. Jx

16th May
Thanks Lili's Little Fairies - you placed my tag in the top 3, Jx

Thank You For The Music

Morning everyone, hope you are all well and ready for a new challenge over at an Oldie But A Goodie.  This time it's Laurie who is in the driving seat & I think she's gone with her favourite theme, which is...

Inspired By A Song
Remember also to use something older than 6 months on your card and tell us what it is.

A lovely challenge don't you think, but you wouldn't believe the number of problems this challenge has caused! More of that later but first, the prize...

Paper Nest is a new stamp company to me, (you've maybe heard of them), and they are giving our lucky winner  a $25 spend in their on line shop - What a fantastic prize!!!  Us DT girls were also  lucky enough to get out grubby mitts on these super stamps and so I chose the current freebie - Playing Dress Up available here for my card.  I thought she was lovely!

So for my card I used MME paper, Be Amazed, Kraft, my MS doily punch, and a lovely Die Cut again from Dies To Die for (CC Cutters - Flower Border).  I so wish Tracey wouldn't bung these samples in with orders - cause that now means I want another die!!! (Thanks Tracey, I love it really!) My oldies this time are the buttons - bought from Elzybells, so they must be old as that shop closed ages ago!

As for my song, well it's Abba and Thank You For the Music - yup, it's the girl with golden hair.  Click on the link for a listen - and to see those great costumes those girls used to wear!

So that's my take on the challenge, now see what the rest of the team did here before joining in on the fun.

Challenges;
Stampin For The Weekend - Button it up
Sweet Sketch Wed - Sketch 205 rotated - it is ok to rotate???

Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
Jelly Park - Girly Girl
Divas By Design - Anything Goes
Passion For Promarkers - Birthdays


Finally, the problems this time around.  Well this is one of 3 cards I made for this challenge as there was a bit of a mix up with sponsors and dates!
My initial card used another sponsors image,(I posted it last week), then shock horror I twigged the date and thought best make an anniversary card. (It's my Silver Wedding Anniversary today!)
Then I realised it was the Paper Nest who were our sponsor this time, so obviously I wanted to use one of their images.  Again, a bit of a hic-cup and a delay, so I thought, instead of using my selected wedding image I'd use the current freebie instead!  This I did & I'm glad cause she's lovely but that then leaves the small problem of an anniversary card for today too!  As I write this post I have two options - post the card I originally made or make the Paper Nest one I planned - depending on the time I have over the weekend will determine whether it's a double card post!

Happy 18th Birthday

When I saw this Woodware stamp, I knew it would be a good one to have.  Boy's 18th birthday cards can be a bit troublesome, so I thought this stamp might make life a bit easier.

Simple card today, with the 18th paper pieced using Doodlebug paper.  The card is then finished off with candy and that's it!

Hope you all have a good weekend, it's turned chilly again here so there won't be any gardening.  I should go for a run, but it's just started to rain & my motivation is somewhat lacking... we'll see!

Challenges;
Totally Papercrafts - CAS
Cute Card Thursday - Something Blue
Little Miss Muffet - Pieced Off - Paper piecing
Lexi's Creations - Happy Birthday
There She Goes - Paper Piecing
Here Come The Boys - Paper Piecing
Paper Creator's Crafts - For The Boys
Jx

19th May
One of my favourite male challenges just picked me for their top 5 again, thanks Here Come The Boys! Jx

Troublemaker

Anyone that follows my blog will know I'm a big Olly Murs fan, so when I saw an Inspired by a Song challenge, I thought I'd try and make a card based on one of his songs... but which song?

To help me out, I turned to the lovely Bugaboo - if ever you're stuck, chances are they will have an image that suits as they have images on everything!

So, I went with... Slingshot Sean & Troublemaker! (Feel free to have a listen while you read on!)

The papers this time are Basic Grey - a selection from several packs.  Colouring by Promarker & the sentiment LOTV.

Hope everybody has had a good Bank Holiday.  I spent most of it in the garden having a tidy up.  It was actually quite warm for a bit...till it started to rain! Jx

Challenges;
Crafty Catz - Inspired by a song - Troublemaker by Olly Murs
Sketch Saturday - Sketch 257
Catch The Bug - May Anything Goes
Basic Grey - Mix n Match - papers from, Granola ; Archaic & Little Black Dress
Glitter n Sparkle - Anything Goes
Digi Sketch Challenge - For The Boys
Passion For Promarkers - To Die For - Spellbinder circle & scalloped circle
I Love Promarkers - Put A Button On It

11th May
It's funny how some challenges you enter regularly you never win on, then others you enter and first time you win.  I've been in both categories, and one elusive challenge for me has been Crafty Catz, but that all changed today!  For the first time I have won a challenge there, I'm so pleased.  I know it was a random winner pick too, but who cares, I just wanted to win it!  & the prize - a super £10 voucher at LOTV! Brilliant cause that comes on top of my candy win from Debs - £25 LOTV voucher - so guess what? Lots of LOTV coming soon to a blog near you!  Thanks guys, Jx

One For The Guys

This week over at Moving Along With The Times, Carole has chosen

One For The Guys

as the theme, and we are lucky enough to be sponsored by Jo Channing.  Details of the prize are on the MAWTT blog page.

For my card, I used a Stampelkallan stamp and some Basic Grey Papers, Little Black Dress ( - Not very masculine sounding but they were just the ticket!), kraft and lots of layers!  I'm actually really pleased with how this one turned out, with the paper pieced shirt then the decoupaged tie to finish!

Now check out the rest of the DT's cards before joining us on our current challenge.

Challenges;
Basic Grey - Masculine - Little Black Dress papers
Artistic Inspirations - Lots of Layers
Kaboodle Doodles - Brown or Tan
Crafting For All Seasons - Monochromatic - Brown

Jx

April Showers

Morning everyone and welcome to a new challenge over at An Oldie But A Goodie.  This time it's Claire's turn to set our theme, and she's gone with

April Showers

(& there have been a few of these over the last few days!)

The prize this time has been put together by Francesca our DT co-ordinator, so hop over to the main blog for more details there.

As well as following our theme, please remember to include an item older than 6 months on your card.

For my card, I used an image from The Paper Shelter called Gothic & Modern .  I know I may be stretching the April Showers theme a bit here, but she's a new stamp & I just so wanted to use her so as she had a brolly I thought she'd be ok!  My oldies here are the buttons and ribbons, and come to think of it, that wreath die must not be older than 6 months.  Papers are MME and colouring by Promarker.

So that's my take on April showers, now it's your turn! For more inspiration head back to the main blog to see the rest of the DT's creations.

Challenges;
Crafty Calender - Sunshine or Showers
Papertake - Weather With You
I Love Promarkers - A Square card with a round feature - the round catolina wreath die and buttons
Digi Haven - Digi & Buttons
Stampin For the Weekend - Die cuts/punches - wreath die
Cutie Pie Challenge - Lots of Layers
Sparkle n Sprinkle - Use a Digi
Sketch n Stash - Challenge sketch 112 - my new Paper Shelter Image and my old papers were used Jx

Happy Ever After

Well I got the grass cut yesterday - the first cut this year.  Got about half way through - then the hail came on!  But as they say in Mastermind, I've started so I'll finish, so finish was what I did.  I have to say the end result, better than it was, but probably not it's best cut!  Anyway, job done and now time for cards!

Today's card sees me back using LOTV stamps - I love them, but of late, they have been sadly neglected, but now that they have resurfaced, expect more in the coming weeks!

My card is a simple anniversary one, with lots of white embossing, quite simple really, but I'm really pleased with the end result.

Challenges;
Sweet Sketch Wednesday - Another lovely sketch shown below No 203
Lili's Little Fairies - Photo inspiration - I went down the wedding route with the pink flowers
Stamping Sensations - Special Occasions, other than birthday
Sweet Stampin - Anything But Birthday
Fab & Funky - Love

Biker Birdie

The other week, I was lucky enough to win a prize at The Paper Shelter - another new digi stamp company to me, so I hopped on over to their site to have a lookie, and boy was I pleased that I did.  they have some really lovely images, but not only that, they have black & white images for you to colour and also pre-coloured ones for when you are in a bit of a rush, or like me you need a bit of guidance on where the light and dark bits should go when you colour!  As well as this they give you a digi paper sheet to co-ordinate with your image - very good value I'd say.

So most of the images I picked for my prize were girly ones, but this cockatoo caught my eye and so I made him up for some of the boy challenges this week.

This image was pre-coloured, I'll have a go at colouring another one over the weekend myself, but for now I thought this fella would do.

Challenges;
Sketch Saturday - No 255 - So pleased I bought those fish tail banner dies as I love them!
The Paper Shelter - For the boys
Card Crafter's Circle - Boys to Men

Birthday Present

Just a quick card today, thought I'd play around with my new bow die from Die-namics, and here's what I made! (and the best bit...I used brown scraps this time! How good am I???)

The cupcake paper is from Dovecraft years ago.

Challenges;
Papertake - One paper taker
Make It Monday - Anything Goes
Cutie Pie Challenge - CAS - Is this CAS?? It's simple but maybe a bit to busy - not sure!
Jx

Rainy days and Mondays

Ok so it's only Sunday, but it is a great song and it seems to link well with today's card. The great Karen Carpenter seen here if any of you want a listen.

So can you guess, it's a rainy day here!  Perfect for crafting and for April Showers inspiration!

So here is my card,

The image is LCI, the papers mostly Craft Creation, and I even dipped into the scrap box again for them!

Challenges;
Sweet Sketch Wednesday 202 - sketch below
LCI - Toddlers, teens & in-betweens
Crafty Calender - Sunshine & Showers
Krafty Hands - April Showers
Word Play Saturday - Weather
Southern Girls - Buttons, badges or Flair - Buttons
Heck of A Challenge - Just add water
Passion For Promarkers - Button It Up

22nd Apr
Just finished watching Corrie and came on here to see I'd won at LCI, & the prize, 4 more lovely cling stamps.  Guess you'll be seeing a lot more of me LCI.  Thanks Kerry, Jx

Spring has Sprung - at last!

Just a quick post today as I've been out all morning - senior school prize giving followed by a swim.  Now I should be doing housework - but I know you lot won't grass me up if I spend 5 mins on here!

The image is a Penny Black, colouring by Promarker and the papers from that scrap box in the corner full of off cuts too big to chuck out - you know the one, we all have them!

Challenges;
Here Come The Boys - Great sketch - rotated!
Great Impressions - Pastels or polka dots - I went dotty
Art Impressions - Layer It Up

21st Apr
Delighted to be in the Top 3 at Here Come The Boys!

Magical Cat

Today sees us flipping back to DT Team A over at MAWTT and a new challenge sponsored by Rick St Dennis.

One lucky winner will get 3 digi's from Rick's shop as their prize.  

The challenge this time has been set by Kelly as

Fairies and Fantasy

We were all lucky enough to be given some images to play with to make our cards, (Thanks Rick), one of the images was this cat called, Magical Cat For Miranda available here.  Clearly as soon as I saw it, I knew it would be the one for me, and here's what I made.

The layout is quite simple as the image & papers (Craft Creations) are quite busy.  My fear now is that Femo has magical powers and will cast an evil spell on me - as well as biting me periodically!!!

Now take a look at what the rest of the design team made this time around with the brilliant images from Rick.  Hope you can join us, Jx

Challenges;
Sketch n Stash - Sketch .  This time it's a new stamp company for me and a new image.  Papers, ribbon & candi from stash.
Craft Your Passion - Adorable Animals...CATS!!!
Sparkle n Sprinkle - Use a digi
Cards For Men - Anything goes
Eureka Stamps - For The boys
Gingerloft - For The Guys

Make It Girly

Well its back to normal now, school and uni are back and Craig is working, so it's home alone for me - well not quite if I count the cat!

Today is the beginning of a new challenge over at An Oldie But A Goodie, and this time it's Deb's who has set the theme as,

Make It Girly

The sponsor is one of my favourite  stamp companies, Bugaboo, and it's only because of a last minute sponsor switch that I didn't use one of their images - cause you all know how much I love Bugaboo!

Anyway, they are the great sponsor of this challenge, and the winner will get 7 digi's of choice from their store.

For my card, I used this lovely Flapper Girl Image by Kenny K and combined her with the lovely MME Paris & Co papers.  The die cut is a memory box one called Catalina Wreath and all colouring is by Promarker.

How bad am I? I'm on the DT and I forgot to state my Oldie! I'm breaking the rules if I don't, so best say! Well the Mme papers used are over 6 months kinda, the first pad was bought last year and I loved it so much I got more before Christmas! Also, the ribbon, it's yanks old, cause I can't even remember where or when I got it!

Challenges:
Alota Stamps - Ribbon/Lace & 1 round shape - ribbon & die cut circle
Digi Make Over Challenge - Girly Girly
Kenny K's Krafty Krew - Dies & Punches

Finally, you must stop by the main blog - the DT have excelled themselves this time & there are some lovely works to be viewed there, Jx

Supporting MS

A couple of months back I started selling my cards to raise money for the Multiple Sclerosis Society.  Last night I counted what I raised and I'm pleased to report a grand total of £60, so I'll get a cheque sent off for that amount in the next couple of days.

Today's card was made for a fellow MS fundraiser - a friend of a friend who is running 15k for the charity, and is also celebrating her 40th birthday this month.

As she is a runner, I thought the Saturated Canary charity stamp Boobie Love would be appropriate .(This image is Free if you don't already have her!)   The girl is in joggers and the ribbon coloured orange this time which is the MS charities colour.  Papers this time are Doodle bug.

Oh yeah, & there's another of them there flowers!

Challenges;
Sweet Sketch Wednesday - Sketch 201 - This is becoming a regular challenge for me now - love your sketches guys!

Saturated Canary - Anything Goes
Brown Sugar - Step or Easel Card - Mine's an easel
Card Crafter's Circle - Die Cuts or Dry Embossing - Dry embossing for me
I Love Promarkers - Embossing
Allsorts - Something beginning with the first letter of your name - this was hard cause I don't know of any "J" embellishments so I went for J - jogger in her running kit instead!

PS Alan is back in Aberdeen all settled once more & the house is oh so empty!  Short term this time though, so I just have to keep reminding myself it will soon be June & hopefully he'll be back then assuming he can get a summer job locally.

Buttercup

Morning everyone, a scheduled post today as I'm heading in to Aberdeen with Alan & Colin to take Alan back to Uni for the last term of his first year.  It's been lovely having him home again, but sadly the 3 weeks he was off just flew by and tomorrow he is gone again :(

At least this time I'll have Colin in the car with me on the drive home so I'm sure he'll manage to make me laugh, he usually does!

So, onto my card.  It's another LCI image from the stack I got at Christmas. Papers again are from that LOTV Nitwits pad then I've decorated the card with die cut flowers & clouds.

Challenges;
Cupcake Craft - Cats & Dogs
Creative Card Crew - Cloudy

2 Cute Fish

These lovely little fish are from 2 Cute Ink, the image is called Stingray Kids and I won it back at the beginning of the year.  I've been dying to use it, and when I saw this weeks Sketch Saturday sketch, I just knew what I wanted to do!

The papers are both Craft Creations and the ribbons & dew drops are from my stash.

Challenges;
Sketch Saturday - No 253 - Loved it and will use it again soon.
Craft Your Passion - Water - Sea scene
Digi Make Over - Water - Sea scene
Pause Dream Enjoy - Dew Drops
Stamp With Fun - Birthday

Optical Illusion

Just a quick post tonight with a flower I made earlier on as we have been out all day with my sis and her two girls.  Still freezing here, but hey it's still the holidays so you just got to get on with it, wrap up warm and have fun!

This is another card made using a hand made flower following the tutorial below.

http://www.maketime2craft.com/2013/03/jute-loopy-flower-tutorial.html

As I said last time, I really love these flowers so be prepared to see them in many colours & sizes in the coming weeks!

As for my card, well I made it primarily for the CAS-ual Friday Challenge as they wanted, of all things chevrons & flowers!  So, I've told you about the flower, now the chevron ribbon.  I liked it on the reel in the shop, but have never used it since I bought it cause it kinda makes me dizzy when I look at it as a strip - is that just me or do you guys feel it too?  As for the optical illusion, well don't you think the ribbon gets narrower moving left to right?  I can assure you it doesn't - I even measured it with a ruler, then checked it by laying one end on the other, but it sure looks like it on the card, hence I'm just not sure if I like this card or not?

Anyway it was the only chevron crafty bit I had so on it had to go!

Challenges;
CAS-ual Fri - Chevrons & Flowers
Southern Girls - Make like a zebra - zebra stripes!
Bunny Zoe Crafts - Favourite Colour combo - black & white
Catered Crop - Use twine - black twine flower
Glitter n Sparkle - Buttons
Hobby Cutz - CAS
The Ribbon Girls- Flowers
Annabelle Stamps - Liquorice & White
Addicted to Stamps & More - CAS
Crafting For All Seasons - Floral Delight

13th Apr
Glitter & Sparkle winner - prize Jellypark Digi's - thanks guys, Jx

21st Apr
Placed in the Top 3 at Hobby Cutz challenge for this CAS card - well pleased!

Sunflower Buggies

Well here am I, making a bright and cheery summery card, and what did we get again last night - several inches more snow! Lucky for us, daytime temperatures seem to be shifting it quickly, but when we first woke this morning the garden and plants were under a good 2 inches of snow again!

Back to my card however - and yup, I now have a new tube of silicone glue so it's been in action again!  My card this time features an Meljen's image called Sunflower buggies.  Again the papers are Nitwits by LOTV combined with kraft.  The banner is the lovely die cut from La-la Land and the card is completed with faux stitching & pearls.

Challenges;
Meljen's - Happy Birthday
Card Crafters Circle - Bugs - Bees & Ladybirds
Creative Corner - Girly Birthday
Crafty Calendar - Sunshine & Showers
One Stop Crafts - Birthday
Lady Bugs Craft Inc - Anything Goes
Happy Campers - Flower Power
Fussy & Fancy - Faux - Faux Stitching & Pearls
Sketch Wednesday - Sketch 200 - Followed the lovely sketch below;

12th Apr
Placed in the Top 3 at Card Crafters Circle - Thanks ladies, Jx

Krafty Saturated Canary

Today sees another new challenge over at MAWTT and this time it's me who is the host!  So I have gone with

Kraft

as our theme, cause I just love working with it and think it looks good beside so many backing papers.  Our sponsor for this weeks challenge is Saturated Canary, and the lovely Krista let each of us on the DT pick an image to use on out card - Thanks Krista, very generous.  I chose Belle - available here.

As for our winner, they get to choose...

So onto my card.

I used LOTV Nitwit papers - Petal Fresh.  Coloured with Promarkers then added Memory Box die cuts, (Catolina Wreath & Pippi butterfly)

So that's what I did, now take a look at the rest of the DT's cards over on the main blog, before joining us in this challenge.

Challenges;
Sketch n Stash - Lovely Sketch again (New bits for me here, new image,& new paper, old MS doily punch)
Saturated Canary - Pretty Pastels
Sweet Stampin - So Girly
Papertake - Anything goes - with kraft

Happy Holidays

Easter holidays for us this year are home based.  Both boys are heading into exams this next term, so are balancing a bit of study (some days better than others) with visiting relatives and going to the gym.  So this is a quick post before we head out - think I might swim again today as my little legs haven't recovered from the gym from yesterday!

So, my card today, it uses that lovely Stamping Bella image Uptown Girls from my even lovelier friend Laurie! The girls dresses have been paper pieced.

The paper in Nitwits by LOTV - Petal Fresh and the scene is finished off with stars, pearls, Stickles and Glossy Accents.

Challenges;
Sketch Saturday - Sketch 252
Forever Friends - Monthly - Paper Piece
Pan Pastel - Anything Goes
Kraft Journal - Anything Goes + Kraft

Transport

It's a busy week for me this week, I'm hosting the challenges at both of the DT's I'm on - what are the chances of that happening?  It's a bit like waiting for a bus, none coming then two at the same time!  This must have been running through my mind as I picked the theme for the new challenge at An Oldie But A Goodie as,

Transport

Now if you follow my blog, you will know that decoupage is flavour of the month with me, so this card was made using a DoCrafts Wellington kit.  As always with this challenge, you must use an item older than 6 months on your project.  In my case it's the dotty Forever Friends paper called The Good Life.  I've had it since last year.

Anyway, that was my take on the challenge, now it's over to you, but first you should check out the lovely cards made by the rest of the DT on the main blog. and check  out the prize this time around.

Challenges;
Happy Campers - Add dimension
Cutie Pie Challenge - Favourite Film - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Lexi's Creations - Punches/ Dies - Die-Namics Retro Squares Die
The Shabby Tearoom -TSTR 160 - Beautiful Blues
There She Goes - TSG201 -Masculine

CAS Bunny Tag

What a brilliant day today has been - my cold has gone & I've got heaps done, went for a swim before tea & then I made this card for a crafty friend who loves PB and has a Birthday at the end of the week!

For this reason, I had to use a PB, but what I really love about this card is the hand made flower which I made after seeing it on Bonnie's blog - check out the link!

http://www.maketime2craft.com/2013/03/jute-loopy-flower-tutorial.html

Anyway, the sketch, the flower, it all came together so easily so I'm a happy bunny and so I think is the little fella on the card!

So, the stamp is Penny Black Garden Slumber, The tag Papermania - inked with TH Bundled Sage and the die cut - another freebie from Tracey at Dies to Die For - I love it when she gives you samples - goodness known how many times I've bought dies from her on the back of this.  Think I'll be ordering this one too, it's called Cottage Leaf!

Challenges;
Die-ing for a Challenge - Spring
Penny Black Saturday Challenge - March - Spring into Spring - Today at last I think we have!
Sketchy Friday - Brilliant sketch - SFC 13
Love To Create - Use A Tag
Fussy & Fancy - Spring Days
Jx

6th Apr
This is a lovely surprise! Today is my blog buddy Sam's birthday - and this is the card I sent her, and guess what?  Both Sam and I were picked as winners in the March Penny Black Saturday Challenge!  As you can imagine we are both delighted.  Not only that, but we both got fabulous prizes, mine was a £10 spend at J& C Creations.  Lovely prize thanks, Jx

PS Happy Birthday Sam

Magic Card

The tutorial I followed of the design of my card is found here on You Tube