Bugaboo Christmas in July - Days 1 - 4

This week, Bugaboo are holding their 4th annual Christmas in July event and as I'm a huge fan, I used this week long challenge to boost my Christmas card stocks and get me back on track with Christmas production.  Rather than post my cards daily, I decided to do a couple of  posts containing all 7 cards.

Challenges pertaining to each card are listed beneath.

Day 1 - Saturday Santa Challenge
Made using Chimney Santa - Available here.

Challenges;
Catch The Bug - Day 1 - CiJ - Santa
Glitter n Sparkle - Anything Goes
Quirky Crafts - Christmas in July, with dies or punches - LaLaLand filigree die
CHCE - Anything
Passion for Promarkers - Christmas in July

Day 2 - Stella Says Sketch 

Challenges;

Catch The Bug - Day 2 - CiJ - SSS

Robyn's Fetish - Christmas in July
Storyteller - Christmas in July
Holly Jolly - Christmas Critters

Day 3 - Colour Challenge Lime/Pink/Purple

Challenges;

Catch The Bug - Day 3 - CiJ
The Glory of Christmas - Anything Goes Christmas

Completely Christmas - Anything Goes

Christmas Stampin All Year Long - Recipe, 1 Image, 2 Embellishments (Candy & Pearls) 1 Sentiment

CHCC - Glam Glitter & Bling - Glossy Accents & Glamour Dust

Day 4 - Recipe Challenge Kraft/Emboss/Snowflake (Embossing with frantage.)

Challenges;

Catch The Bug - Day 4 - CiJ
Crafting at the Weekend - Anything Goes
Sweet Stampin - Christmas in July
Artistic Inspirations - Anything Goes
ABC Christmas - N for Number - 25
Christmas @ Sweet Stampin - Kraft @ Christmas

My Day 4 Card won First Prize at Catch The Bug!!!

Due to the number of challenges I've entered I thought it best to split my Bugaboo Christmas in July entry into 2 posts, Jx

Sandy Hugs & Salty Kisses

Just a quick post today with a quick CAS card.  I saw this image over at From The Heart Stamps whilst looking for religious images and low and behold it followed me through checkout!

Now it's a super sunny day here today, the washing's on and I'm heading through to visit my parents, so this is to be short & sweet!  Have a lovely day yourselves, Jx

Challenges;
Charisma Cardz - Anything Goes
Crafty Little Fairies - Summer Fun - at the beach
Crafting With Dragonflies - CAS
Fab n Funky - Summer
Deep Ocean Challenge - Add a sentiment
CAS on Sunday - one layer
Come & Get It - Cool things for summer - the beach
Passion for Promarkers - Oh I do like to be beside the seaside.

School Is Out

I'm way ahead of myself here, but I know last Summer I found it a real bonus to have worked ahead over the holiday period, so there wasn't as much pressure on to get DT work out.

So today's card is for the current challenge at an Oldie But A Goodie.  Anne-Marie  has chosen...

School's Out 

(Remember to use an item older than 6months on your project and to tell us what it it.)

as our theme.

In my case the oldie was the image - as infact was the colouring - think it was one I prepared last year but never turned into a card.

The paper is a 12x12 sheet - MME Lime Twist and my colouring by Promarker.

Challenges;
613 Avenue Create - anything goes
Catch the Bug - anything goes
Cutie Pies - Use a cute digi
Brown Sugar - anything goes
Fairy tale - from a child
Digi Galore - Anything Goes

It's a good job I did have this prepared in advance as we ended up in Aberdeen last night staying over for a little break. Watched a DVD, Philomena, with Judi Dench and Steve Coogan, best film I've seen in ages so I recommend it to you all. A great story, funny, sad, moving and true. Jx

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!

Am I showing my age again - hands up if you remember this Cyndi Lauper hit from the 80's? They really don't make video's like that any more do they...thank goodness!

Anyway, back to today and the new challenge over at Moving Along With the Times - set by me, it's...

"Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!"  

And here is my fun card using a great Stamping Bella image and some pretty Bo Bunny papers.  Flowers are WOC - ages since I've used any and the doily is pinched from Stella next door!

Now to add a bit of fun to the proceedings, I'm offering the winner a £10 gift voucher from LOTV.

This was to be my blog hop prize last week but due to technical difficulties it never made it to my post. 

For more inspiration, please head back to the main MAWTT page where you can see the rest of the DT's great cards.

Now, flipping back to last week and my blog hop winner... well it's comment 34

Who just so happens to be my old Do-craft buddy who I still chat to regularly ... Sam/Whisper!!!! Yeah, couldn't think of a better home, hmm if she used Promarkers!  So come on Sam, now's your chance as you'll be getting a super starter pack with loads of great shades!

Finally can I just say that my Race For Life total has now reached £190 for Cancer Research and that I've added a few more photo's from the race for those interested,  Thanks again to any one who sponsored me. Jx

Challenges;

Card Mania - Circles

ABC Challenge - O for Orange

Papertake - Anything Goes

Allsorts - Summer Girls - think so with dresses like that on!

Fussy & Fancy - Summer time - summer colours & dresses.

I Love Promarkers - Anything Goes

As You Like It - Animals or People - In real life I like both.  In the crafty world I love both, but my clear favourite this week has to be people, cause I'm so pleased with my colouring on this one.  Hope that doesn't sound big headed!

Crafty Little Fairies - Summer Fun - Think these girlies are off to a party!

Our Daily Bread Designs - Birthday

The Grill Father

As soon as I saw this stamp, I knew I needed it - and I knew who for!

The image is by Art Impressions, the papers LOTV and the barnner La La Land.  Colouring as always is done by Promarker.

Challenges;
Papertake - Sketch
Passion for Promarkers - Rags to Riches - honest, I needed new pj's!

Craft Your Passion - Ribbons
The Paper Nest Dolls - Anything Goes
Pile It On - Outdoor Fun
Sentimental Sunday - Summer - The season of BBQ's!
Sweet Stampin - Summer Fun - At a BBQ!
Choc Coffee & Cards - Summer Days
Crafty Catz - Anything Goes

"P" for...

For those of you who have visited my blog earlier today, looking for my MAWTT card apologies! Let's start a fresh with the post as it should have gone out in an ideal world!

Today Moving Along With The Times celebrates it's 5th Birthday, so as well as having a challenge we are also having a blog hop with loads of great prizes up for grabs.

Firstly our challenge theme;

Birthdays Buttons & Bows

And if you make us a card you could win a fabulous prize from one of our great sponsors who are listed on the main blog.  The DT have also tried to use sponsor items where possible, so I am show casing the fabulous Ooh La La Creations and files from their new "Say it With Words" CD.

My card is made using items from the Time Spent With Cats folder - which I just love!

Ribbon, buttons pearls & punches are from my my cluttered desk!

Now for those of you following the blog hop as well, you'll know by now you are collecting letters - my letter is

 P for Promarkers

so can you guess my prize?

Yup its a fantastic set of the new limited edition Summer Pens - 12 Promarkers + Blender.

Now you should have come here from Wendy and after me head over to Debs , if you get lost along the way, head back to our main MAWTT page.  There you'll also find all the rules and what to do with the blog hop word/phrase you have made.

Finally, for those here earlier - the shower room is now done - and looking rather nifty too! Jx

Challenges;
Delightful Challenges - Seize the daisies - Yellow/white/flowers
Southern Girls - Punches & Die Cuts - Punched border, die cut banner
Little Red Wagon - Animal - cats
Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes
Fantastic Tuesday - Anything Goes
Party Time Tuesday - Anything Goes
Bunny Zoe's Crafts - Layers
Cutie Pies - Cute & Girls

Driving Test Success

As I mentioned last week, Colin passed his driving test so below is the card I made for him for the occasion.

Obviously it's a jokey card using another great Bugaboo image, but I thought the No "L" was kinda appropriate and made a change from the usual car cards!

And here's the main man himself just after his test.

Challenges;
Catch The Bug Bingo - diagonal - Squares/ "R"/Players Choice - "L" Plates/Robin/Kraft
That's Crafty Challenge Blog - Birds
Sketch n Stash - Sketch 142 (New image - bought for this card not Christmas! Old DP, bought with driving cards in mind.) - Winner

Baby

Today the challenge at An Oldie but A Goodie has been set by my blog buddy Alison and she's asking for

Baby

(Remember to use an iten older than 6 months on your project and to tell us what it is)

For my card I used a lovely old PB image combined with Craft Creations baby paper.  The card is then completed with a ribbon, doily and button.

The prize this challenge is a fabulous set of stamps Alison has donated, so our lucky winner will be getting these posted through their door at the end of the challenge.

Challenges;
A Gem of a Challenge - For a child/baby
Suzi Bee's Bloomin Challenge - Anything goes
We Do Doobadoo - Ribbon
Card Mania - Baby
PB@Allsorts - favourite stamp

Let Them Eat Cake

Morning everyone and welcome to a new challenge over at Ooh La La Creations Blog Today the challenge theme is

Let Them Eat Cake

and I was given super files from the CD Everyday Occasions - "Have Your Cake"  to play with.  Now after much pondering, I decided to go with this mousey image and decoupage again.  And having tried both silicon glue and 1mm pads on previous cards and I decided I liked the thin pads best. 

I didn't use any design papers this time around - I preferred the white background to show off the  image, and I finished the card off with a retro border and a big die cut flower.  The sentiment comprises of two LOTV tags.

So, above you can see the whole card, and below, a shot of all my lovely decoupaged layers, which after a bit of jigging lined up quite nicely!

Challenges:
A Girl Who Crafts - Anything Goes
The Stamping Boutique - Card for a Child
4 Krafty Girlz - Anything Goes
Papercrafting Journey - Anything Goes
Diva's By Design - 3 or more layers

Also, I'd just like to say a huge thank you to Anne and the rest of the DT for allowing me to guest design with them.  Anyone who follows my blog will know I'm a stamper through & through, But I have to admit, I've loved the change from stamping whilst I've worked with the decoupage images sent to me... so much so, I've ordered the new CD called "Say It With Words" - available here.

And finally - The Aberdeen Race For Life
My race was yesterday, and hopefully by today, Colin will have managed to stick on some photo's to this post.  In total, I managed to raise a fantastic £150 with all the help I got from my fabulous sponsors - huge thank you to everyone who supported me.  My just giving link is still top right on my blog, if you want to read all my great comments - loved them all too and they really spurred me on. Jx

Please Come To Our Party?

Hope you can all join us on Thursday as...

We're having a bit of a party!

Do join us on this Weeks Birthday Challenge and Blog Hop over at Moving Along With The Times - there are loads of great prizes to be won - and you gotta be in it to win it!

Jx

Loads To Tell You...

Sorry folks, I haven't been blogging for a bit, been busy with other stuff, have been trying to do comments each night but that doesn't always happen either now the boys are home.

So what's new???

Well to start with, Colin passed his driving test, first sitting yesterday, with only 2 minors.  He did really well and I'm so pleased for him - now I will be fighting him for access to my car the rest of the summer!  I've still to make his card and will post it along with a photo next week.

In the mean time, here are a couple of photo's taken just before Colin's "Final Fling" - the school prom.

He had loads of friends over ahead of their main event, below are just a couple of the photos I took.

Moving on to Alan now, well he has now managed to get back in at Tesco's for the Summer, so after induction on Monday he should start to pick up shifts there.  In the mean time he's for ever at the gym or out cycling.

And on the subject of exercise, my Race for Life event is on Sunday and I've been back training. Although I'm not as fit for the event as I have been in previous years, I hope to run most if not all of the 5k.

I still have my Just Giving Link at the side of my blog if anyone wants to sponsor me, or if you prefer, you could try the new "Just Text Giving ."

JustTextGiving

Friends and family can make a donation simply by texting your JustTextGiving code, In my case that's LNXO91 and the amount they wish to donate (£1, £2, £3, £4, £5 or £10) to 70070. It’s free to send the text, and the donations will be included on your JustGiving page. For example, if you wish to donate £10 you should text LNXO91 £10 to the phone number 70070.( I've just tried it, it does work but the code is LNX O for Oscar not zero - took me several attempts to work that out!)

So that's what's been going on in my busy little life!  As for next week, I'm in Aberdeen as Alan is getting a new shower fitted.  Hopefully I'll be able to do comments there, but I won't be able to upload new projects - I'll just have to rely on blogger for that and maybe see if Colin can post a race picture for me too.

Have a great week everyone, Jx

Clean & Simple

I can't believe it's mid June already! This year is flying past, Alan is home from Uni and Colin is getting stuck in at his summer job in the ice-cream factory.

Back to today now and it's another challenge over at Moving Along with the Times.  Today our boss, Hazel is looking for

Clean & Simple creations

One of my favourite styles, so I'll be looking forward to seeing what you all come up with.  The DT did a fantastic job and their cards are well worth a look on the main blog.

For my card, I went with LOTV paper and a Bugaboo image called Frame It - Bears Birthday, available here.  I did a double print so I could add dimension, then I doodled round the edge.

Challenges;
Catch The Bug - June - Anything goes
Cardz4Guys - A childs birthday
Fan-tastic Tuesday - Anything Goes
Papertake Weekly - For the Boys
Passion for Promarkers - One for the boys/men
The Crazy Challenge - For the little ones

Father's Day/Masculine

Today's challenge at an Oldie But a Goodie has been set by Helen and she has chosen

Masculine/Father's Day

(Remember also to use an item older than 6 months on your project and to tell us what it is)

As the theme.

In my case, both the LOTV stamp and the Forever Friends papers are 6m+.

Not much news for you today other that my eldest son Alan is now home from Uni for the summer - assuming he can find a job.  Failing that he may have to move back to Aberdeen and look there. In the mean time, it's nice to have him around and to catch up on things.

Challenges;
Fussy & Fancy - Outdoors
Jellypark Challenges - All things sporty
Jo's Scrap Shack - 53 - Anything Goes
Stampin For The Weekend - Anything Goes
CRAFT - Fathers Day/ Male
Simon Says Stamp - Fathers Day/ Masculine
Passion for Promarkers - One for the Boys/men

The prize this time around is this lovely background stamp from Helen.

Male/Father's Day

Today I am delighted to announce that I am Guest Designer for Oh La La Creations for the month of June and that today see's the start of a new challenge.  (Thank you so much Anne for asking me onto the team, I'm loving working with your files.)

The theme is

Male/Father's Day

So I think we'll see loads of entries this time around.

For my card, I used files from two different CD collections by OLL.

My first card is made from items off the Boys To Men CD - available here.  The sentiment was computer generated and a few extra die cuts were added.  The image is a gorgeous harbour scene which I love.  The layers on this one were diamond cut and stuck together with tape.  Papers were also from the CD.

Next I worked with the Shaun Jenkins Collection - Garden Shelf and a lovely bright bird box image.  Again decoupaged but this time in rectangles and set up on foam pads.

I made both cards just to play around with the decoupage technique then didn't know which one to use, so I've included both!

Now if like me, you've never crafted from a CD before please give it a try.  Before I started on my cards, I asked around and googled things, and if you're interested, see the post below for tips on working from a CD.

Finally for anyone interested, the super new OLL "Say It With Words" CD launches today on Create & Craft at 3pm.  Think I'll be watching that one and perhaps some of you may wish to tune in too? Jx

Challenges;
Sentimental Sunday - 210 - Anything Goes & Include a sentiment
That Crafty Place - Men
Crafty Bugs - Something for the boys
Crafting at The Weekend - Anything Goes
Digi Galore - Nautical or Blue - first card, harbour/nautical, Second Blue.
City Crafters Challenge - Nautical - Harbour Scene
Creative Card Crew - Nautical - Harbour
Papertake - Anything Goes
Hobby Cutz - 51 - Fathers Day/Masculine

Decoupage Tips

Now I am by no means an expert on working from a CD or doing decoupage, so before making my GD card for Ooh La La, I asked around a bit and looked things up.

Here are just a few of the things I found useful;

When printing images from a CD don't use too thick or absorbant a card to make cutting out easier and to save on ink.

Once your images are printed, cut then out with big scissors trying to cut whole sides in one cut (- you get a straighter edge when not doing lots of  little clips.)

When cutting out layers make sure non of the white surrounding card is visible on the cut image as it spoils the end image on the card.

Layers can be stuck together with a silicone glue or pads. I used Docrafts Stick- It glue and 1mm foam pads
- if you use deeper pads your card ends up very fat - I learned that!

Finally, you don't have to use all the layers printed if you don't want - again cards can end up too fat or too busy!

That's all I can think of  for now, but feel free to add more tips as comments and I'll add them to my post.

Jx

Oh Crap!

Who would have thought there was a poo image out there that we could buy to stick on a card...and who would have thought somebody would actually go and use it!

Well that somebody was me and the image a Bugaboo available here - with a variety of sentiments although I made up my own.

I won't go into details about the reasons behind this card, but I will say it was very well recieved and put a smile on the recipients face!

Papers are LOTV, colouring by Promarker and the bug wings given a blob of glossy accents.

Challenges;
Catch The Bug - June Anything Goes

Pearls in My Hair

Sorry I never got back to the previous post, just never got time on Tues! My Dad underwent an op on Tuesday and got home early evening in a considerable amount of pain.  Glad to report now that after a few nights sleep he is doing really well and is much more comfortable.  Now all we need do is keep him out of the garden for the next two weeks! (He's not one to be an invalid for long!)

Back to my card now and it's another Day for Daisies image that Colin gave me for Christmas.  Again everyone else seemed to use it over a year ago, but that's me just getting round to it now!

She's called Pearls in my Hair - Available here.  Colouring is by Promarker & I added liquid pearls to her hair - as instructed in said title! Papers are the lovely Bo Bunny - Pincushion Collection and the sentiment LOTV.

Challenges;
I Love Promarkers - Use a Digi - ADFD
As You Like It - Favourite Embossing technique - Why? Tried both powders and folders but have to say folders are my preferred option as there are just so many great folders around whice create such super backgrounds and strips.
ADFD - Kraft - 2nd entry - please say if this isn't allowed?
Sketch Saturday - Blast from the past - SS -228

I'm quite bad for doing this!
Once I see my card on the computer screen once I've photographed it I want to make changes! Above I thought the embossed border was just a bit broad and needed to be broken up.  Couldn't cut it to make it thinner.  Couldn't add ribbon as it was all stuck down - so went with buttons!