Well...... this isn't pink.....

Hi Girls

Well, just to prove I can..... I thought I'd make a card that isn't pink!!  But... it does have glitter on it!!

Thank you ALL for the wonderful response we've had over at IN THE PINK....  We had 100 people join us in the first 24 hours..... and now we're up to 138!!  Can you believe it??? So many closet pink lovers out there.  I can't wait for the challenge to launch on Aug 9.... and to see all the different ways of using pink!

Even with the fantastic blog to keep me busy, I've been feeling a little down lately, what with all that's been going on with the kitchen problems, and now my eyesight is causing me some difficulty..  can't seem to focus properly (and no it's not the wine!!)... so today I needed to do a card I FELT like doing....  and this is the result!!  I saw Coops use this image recently using green, and fell in love with her straight away (the image that is, not Coops!!) LOL!  She's called Braid in My Hair and is from A Day for Daisies.

I coloured her with a mix of Copics and Promarkers.....  shaded with dots and white gel pen, then distressed the edge of the image with a Distress Ink - dusty concord.  Oooh I used a Nestie to cut her oval first!  Then the fabulous papers are digital downloads would you believe....  ooooh that colour is so lush.... it must come next to pink as my favourite.  They are from Design House Digital and are by Angela Hinksman - called True Romantics.  

I distressed the edges of the papers, then used my Icicles to give that glittery edge.  The birds also have glitter on their wings, but it's not showing up.  And as I'm always getting told (by a certain blogger) that I don't use flowers often enough, I decided to get some used.... with pearls too!

So there you go..

I hope you're all enjoying the Olympics on TV.....  it seems we have little else to watch!!  I know I should get involved more - especially as Emma is volunteering at the rowing - but I'm afraid I'm not a sports fan, and luckily enough, neither is my OH!  Ah well, we're going to dig through what we've recorded and see what we can come up with...

Take care all, and remember, the countdown to PINK DAY has begun!!  only 11 more days to go..
Big hugs
Christine x

Calling all lovers of PINK everywhere... FANTASTIC NEWS

Hi Best Blogging Buddies.....

Well today is the DAY!!!!  It's time for the announcement that you've all been waiting for......... (well you have.... haven't you????)  Drum Roll please.................

Click Here to go straight to IN THE PINK

I am thrilled to announce that on August 9 (two weeks today), there will be a new Challenge Blog launched.....  and it happens to be for cards or other creations using my very, very favourite colour........  now you all know what this is????  PINK of course!! The new blog is called IN THE PINK - and it will be a wonderful way for all lovers of this luscious colour to share their creations and their love - and come on, we girlies all love a bit of pink...... don't we?

I came up with the idea a little while back and have been beavering away behind the scenes trying to get the artwork together - I'm lacking a few brain cells now...  As I knew I couldn't host this challenge on my own, I asked a very like minded lady to be my co-hostess....  and with a little gentle persuasion on my part, she made my year and accepted!!!!  So my partner for this fab new adventure is the lovely and uber talented Sylvia, from Poppy's Papercraft Patch - someone whose cards I have loved and admired since I first started blogging.

Now......  how to get involved????  If you pop over to IN THE PINK (here).......  we'd love you to firstly become a follower (so you'll know when it's all systems go.....), and then grab our banner which is in the first post (or here above)- and then, pleeeeassssee (as a big favour to us)  show the banner in a post on your blog - which will help us spread the PINK word!  Please link the banner caption to the In the Pink blog.. so people can find their way to us........ we will have a special welcome for them!  There is also a button for your sidebar.....  if you could also link this back to the In The Pink blog, that'd be wonderful and we'll love you forever!

Pretty Patricia (AKA Sylvia) and me (Posh Priscilla (!!)) are very much looking forward to welcoming you in this new venture.......  we will have three winners per fortnightly challenge - each winning a PERFECT PINKIE badge, and we hope to have Guest Designers chosen from the winners each month, but our main aim is to spread the PINK word!! 

Now...  very quickly......  onto my card!!  Today I've used a rubber stamp called Stella's Cupcake from Stamping Bella (hmmm it just happened to drop through my door this morning....  my goodness, I wonder how??  She is a dream to colour.......  as is the yummy cupcake she is grasping onto!  I used Wild Rose Studio Butterfly Garden papers (free with a mag recently), some bazzill, and a scalloped square nestie for the image surround.  I also doodled freehand the fine black line frame around the image...  scarey or what???  I also used some glossy accents for her wonderful lips, and for her cherry and crown.

Colours used (pink of course), are RV17, R85, and RV000 - then for her hair I used E50, E51 and E43.

Can't wait to see your name as a follower of our new blog.......  and thank you all for helping us promote this wonderful challenge!

Pink hugs to all

Christine x

Let's not be square!!

Hi Best Blogging Buddies..

It's that time again..  two whole weeks have gone by (in a blur for me as there's been so much going on....)... and it's time for another challenge at Anything Goes!  We had some fabulous entries for the lavender challenge.... have you checked to see if you were a winner???  


This time, the theme is 'Let's not be Square'.  This is a big one for me, as I tend to stick like glue to my squares....  but I'd seen that hexagons are creeping in lately on the cardmaking scene.....  so decided to try my luck!!  And try my luck it WAS!  There are no hexagon dies available yet (at least none I can find..), so I had to dig out my compass.....  and dig out my brain cells, and give it a go!!  And the result is quite good if I do say so myself!!  At least all the sides measure the same.... which is kind of the point.  

The image I chose to use is a Whimsie Doodles Image called Leah's Secret.... she is ssssooooo cute!!  I coloured her with copics and promarkers.  I cut the card blank with my craft knife, then used kraft card as the base... then the pink dotty (sorry it was a scrap so no name), then a bit of white run through the Swiss Dots embossing folder.  I distressed the edges of both of these.  The hearts (like my recent card) are a Memory Box Die called Heart Chain.  The sentiment is a Hero Arts Alphabet that I've had in for years......  about time it was used... then of course we have the glitter and Stickles!!  Well, I couldn't miss it out could I?  And yes.... I've used loads of PINK!!

Now, check out my lovely teamies' creations if you need inspiration.... and we look forward to seeing your fabulous entries!

Hopefully when this post appears, I'll be on the Isle of Wight...  we've popped down to say hello to my OH's new grandson (so nearly my grandson but not quite!! hehe), He was born last week after keeping his Mummy waiting nearly a week and a half before he deigned to make his entrance!  They live in Bournemouth, and we will also see his other two grandchildren too.... so lots of hugs and cuddles!  Then, while we are going to be on the coast, we couldn't resist going over to see our friends on the Island for a quick visit.  But if all goes well, we'll be back by tonight (Tues)!  Can you tell how much faith I have in scheduled posts?? hehe

Happy crafting to you all.......
Big Hugs
Christine x

Only some news today..

Hi Girls

Sorry I have no card today, but I just wanted to say hello....  and share some news.

Firstly, I'm very proud of my eldest daughter Emma who found out at the weekend that she's going to be one of the officials at the Olympics!  She's to be an anti-doping chaperone with the rowing events (voluntary role).  It means she has to approach randomly picked athletes and explain that they have been picked to have a blood and urine test, then she has to accompany them to the podium if they've won, then to press conferences or whatever, basically so they can't get to anything that may negate any possible drug that they may have taken.  Here she is looking very proud in her uniform and pass which gets her into all areas!

Secondly..... my youngest daughter Clare made some gorgeous cakes for us to eat at the weekend too....   She's had a fabulous promotion at work and I'm very proud of her too..... and especially for these yummy cakes!

Now.....  I was a bit (well OK, a lot) sad this morning because it was time for Clare to go back to Bermuda after her 10 days hol here.  We'd had a lovely time, and  I won't see her till next year now and she'd just gone........ sob......  AND THEN........  I felt water dripping in the kitchen..... from the ceiling.......  and then it started to pour through all the brand new light sockets.......  and all the brand new plasterboard and paintwork.  Turns out that the pipes leading to the shower in our main bathroom had become disconnected - a joint had come un-joined - and the contents of the cold water tank were rapidly coming through our new kitchen ceiling (after soaking everything in my airing cupboard) and into all the cupboards and oven etc etc....   Luckily Barry was in, and we tried to hold buckets up to catch some, but the floor by this time was flooded.  I was tearful this morning anyway, so imagine me, bucket in hand at eye level, crying my heart out and wailing all over the place.  That is not normally me - I am good at dealing with a crisis normally.......  I normally would just get upset afterward.  But this is the straw that broke the back as they say.......  I WANNA MOVE HOUSE!  But on the positive side, we weren't out of the house, so could stem the flow (ok after it had done a lot of damage), .....  and I wasn't in on my own, in which case I don't know what I'd have done.  So there truly is a plus side to most things.  Now I just have to fight the insurance company......... Wish me luck!

Big hugs
Christine x

Lavender and Lace...

Hi Best Blogging Buddies....

It's Tuesday, it's two weeks, and it's time again for another fab challenge from Anything Goes!!!  We had wonderful entries for our dotty challenge...... well done to the winners...... and now this time our theme is 'Lavender and Lace'.

For my card I chose a lovely LOTV image called Millie Just for You......  coloured her with copics and promarkers, then decoupaged her butterfly.  I sponged around the image while the nestie was still in place (there is a tutorial at the top of my blog that shows the sponging technique..), then I printed out some fabbie papers from Pink Petticoat in just the right lavender colour that I wanted.  The sentiment is also from Pink Petticoat.

I've also added some punched daisies with a few little gems, some glitter in her hair, flower and top......  then some lace from my stash down the side.  Finally I punched a couple of small butterflies, and a Memory Box Heart Chain border for the corner.

Hope you like this little lady... she was a joy to colour.  If you pop on over to the Anything Goes Challenge Blog, you can check if you were one of our winners from the last challenge, and also my fabbie teamies' creations for Lavender and Lace.  You will get some wonderful inspiration!

Don't forget, lots of the crafting goodies I've used are available from Lynne at The Craft Den.

Big Hugs and Happy Crafting...
Christine x

PS.......  I'm still working on my PINK idea......  got you all guessing yet?????

Sorry I've been AWOL...

Hi All

A quick apology as I've not posted for a week or so... I seem to have been so busy and have also been preparing for my daughter and her friend to arrive from Bermuda.....  they arrived on Friday and we had a lovely day yesterday ...... we had a proper English picnic on the banks of the River Wharfe at Burnsall.  The sun shone and believe it or not, we sat and sunbathed!  We took Clare's friend Tami (who is Canadian) on a trip around the Dales showing her some of the fabulous sights of Yorkshire countryside...   then on the way home the rain started, and there was flash floods on the roads.....  a bit hairy driving really!!

So I thought we needed a card to brighten us all up......  which I hope is what I've created!!  But it's sunny today again today (at least it is SO FAR...), so I'll just keep it in the drawer till I need to sent it to someone to brighten their day.

Easy peasy to do.....  the flowers I was about to throw away in my clear out, when this idea hit...  The sentiment is done on the computer, and the dots are with a promarker.  The centres of the flowers are liquid pearls..... and that's it...... no complications necessary...

Hope you like!

Have a happy Sunday.....
Hugs
Christine x
PS......  I've got an idea chugging around in my brain...... I'm getting a bit excited about it, and will share it with you very shortly.......  suffice to say it has a lot to do with PINK!
PPS....  Murray looks promising...... he's just won the first set!...  GO MURRAY GO!

And here's another..... and a couple of kitchen pics

Hi Best Blogging Buddies

I wanted to share a card with you that I made for my daughter's birthday yesterday......  And guess what..... there's not even a hit of pink anywhere near it...   That's because her favourite colour is turquoise!  Sooooo with that in mind, I chose a fab digi image from Digi My World - called Megan......  she certainly was lovely to colour, even if not in pink!  As you can see, I cut her out and 3D'd her (a la Debby), and used the usual Nesties for the rectangle.  The letters I cut from glitter card using a Tim Holtz Alterations Alphabet Die, and the flowers are the mini-rose die that I've used often before.  The paper is from an Echo Park Summer pad... and the glitter, well is just GLITTER!  A card isn't a card without some glitter and a few gems....... right?

Now, for those that have been asking to see.....  this is my new kitchen (picture heavy from here on in)!

It's ever so nearly finished now.... just one or two teething probs (like the over door wouldn't open from Friday until the Neff man came out today and tells me it needs replacing......  and the washing machine trying to fall over backwards and awaiting the fitter to call to right it....) but hey, ho, that seems like par for the course from what people tell me about new kitchens.  It has been a big learning curve......  lessons learned are:

• Never ever get a shiny black worksurface - marks with anything that touches it.... even finger prints and shows every 'wipe' mark too....... needs polishing dry with a cloth after wiping!
• Never ever get a black floor - shows every crumb (or bit of glitter perhaps!) dropped and needs brushing every day
• Never ever get brushed steel appliances unless you want to spend all day every day cleaning fingerprints from them, not to mention splashes on the hob......  I TOLD YOU NOT TO MENTION THEM!
• Never ever trust a kitchen retailer, designer, or fitter
• DON'T lose your temper at any of the above - your kitchen is in their hands......
• Never ever get a new kitchen.....  moving house to a new place with a gorgeous kitchen is far less stressful...
• Have large glasses of wine ready at the end of each day until all stress is washed from your body.... (like as if......) 
• And R-E-L-A-X..........  or try to.........

Sorry if my kitchen saga has been a tad boring.......  believe me, it hasn't been at this end!! hehe

Big hugs

Christine xx

Polka Dots...

Hi Girls

Blimey the weeks are flying.... and here we are again with another challenge from Anything Goes.....  it's  'Polka Dots with a Birthday Theme'.

I decided not to colour an image.... (so unusual for me..).... but to just use dotty paper and die cuts.  I think you'll agree, what I've done is pretty simple and self-explanatory....  I'll give the recipe below.

We had some lovely entries for our Travel/Around the World theme...  why don't you hop over to the blog here to see if you were a winner, and also to check out my fab teamies creations.....  they're sure to give you inspiration......  but if you're anything like me, you'll certainly have something 'dotty' in your stash just waiting to be put on a card!

Recipe:

Crealies Creative Flowers 05 Die
MFT Die-namics Flourish Die
Stampin Up punch for sentiment
Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Embossing Folder
Sentiment - Pink Petticoat
Brads and Spacers from The Hobby House
Bazzill Cardstock

Hope you're all well...  thanks for visiting and for the lovely comments you leave.

Big Hugs
Christine x

And here's the finished card...

Hi Best Blogging Buddies...

And a big welcome to my new followers that came via my video tutorials  .... thank you for wanting to see my makes. hope you're not disappointed!

Today's card is the product of the videos.... it's the finished card.....  hope you like!! 

The image is from All That Scraps..... she's a cute digi called Butterfly Lucy and is a delight to colour..

Card Recipe:

• Image - Butterfly Lucy - All That Scraps
• Copics
• Spellbinders Nestability Shape
• Daisy paper - download from Sherry K Designs - My Little Girl 20
• Dotty Paper - offcut from stash
• Clouds - Memory Box Little Puffy Cloud  (just bought so had to try it!)
• Grosgrain Ribbon and Bazzill from stash

Now.....  today we saw history in the making....  The Olympic Torch relay passed within a mile or so of our house, so we stood waving our Union Jacks while hundreds of police outriders, then the coaches, then finally, the guy carrying the torch went by!!

ANYWAY.......  he looks very happy, but methinks his outfit was a little tight in parts????? LOL!  We went to see John Bishop last night in Harrogate, and he was telling us that he had to carry the torch in Cheshire... and he said that the outfit may have been designed by Stella McCartney, but it was defo made by Lidl.... as it was the most flamable material he'd ever worn...  hehe .... 150% polyester he reckoned!!  So that is why the flame is carried so high....  they're worried they're gonna catch light!!  We giggled all night with him, he's such a funny guy....  much better than on TV when he talks soooooooooo slowly...  but as an ex-scouser myself, I think he does that so non-scousers understand what he's talking about!!

Right..... my lovely OH has just come home from work... so I'm off to have a cuddle!

Big Hugs and Happy Crafting
Christine x
PS.... MANAGED eventually to get the photo upright!  Seems it doesn't have to be a jpeg, it has to be saved with another file extension... so this is a PNG!  But I DID IT!! HEHE X

More videos..

Hi Best Blogging Buddies..

OK, I've been busy this afternoon!  I thought I'd carry on with the same image and do the skin, the dress, the shadowing etc.... so they're all on YouTube! 

The one at the top of the post is the skin one, the one just above is her dress......  and the last one is the shading around the image.

Now I'm sure you're bored of hearing my droning voice, but after promisng and promising when I got the requests, I've eventually done them!!

I got a bit wet this afternoon at the Gala Day...  but it was still busy.... good old British people, they'll always come out and support village stuff!

Take care all and happy crafting
Hugs
Christine x

Another Video Tutorial.. Dark Blonde Hair Colouring

Hi Girls

After a few requests, I've just done another video tutorial (stress time with this technology!!), this time on colouring dark blonde hair.  Hope you like!

I'm off to a Summer Gala this afternoon to help out at the WI stand - I think I'll be paddling there!! hehe!

Hugs
Christine x

Travel with Anything Goes...

Hi Girls

Well it's that time again.....  time for another challenge at Anything Goes - and this time our theme is Travel. 

I decided to use a stamp that came with my Frantage buy a little while back... so it only seemed right to use the Frangage embossing enamel too.....   This is an unusual stamp for me as it doesn't have to be coloured, but I made up for it by chalking the background and distressing it with some vintage photo DI.   I then stamped the image and used Stampendous Aged Mahogany Embossing Enamel - seems ages since I embossed anything! If you look closely, you will see that the Eiffel Tower is glittering!  Then I used the Shabby Pink Embossing Enamel around the edges.  I coloured the flowers, and put some glass glitter in the centres too.  By this time I was getting into my glittery element as those of you who know me well will atest to!!!

I used Bazzill basics for the base of the card, then a brown and pink paper with no name on it from my stash...  a bit of French printed paper (again from my stash but again had no name).....  a couple of heart stick pins.....  then lastly... my home made flower!!  To make - I used wide organza ribbon, a glue gun (ouch!), a punched circle of card... and gathered the organza around the circle a couple of times!  Some minutes and a couple of sore fingers later, I had the base of the flower, then I punched another circle of card for the centre, and sprinkled the same glass glitter onto the glued circle to finish it.

Lots of my crafting goodies are available from Lynn at The Craft Den.....  check out her fab online shop!

Well done on all the fabulous entries for our Anniversary theme challenge - why don't you pop over to the main challenge blog here to see if you were a winner?  And while you're there, you can check out my fab teamies' travel creations.... they're all stunning and will give you plenty of inspiration.

I look forward to seeing all your fab creations for this challenge.... sooooooooooo get crafting!!

Big Hugs
Christine x

Gorjuss Rose.....

Hi to my best blogging buddies...

Here I am again....  this time with a card that was a made 'just for my benefit'!  You know what I mean?  When it's not made to send someone, nor for a DT.....  but just because!!  I've had this lovely Gorjuss Girl for a few weeks now, and managed to have her half coloured (face, hair etc)... so this afternoon I decided she needed her dress coloured and then she just had to have be put on a card......  and here it is.  I've put a couple of pics of the card on, one is with my OTT lite, and one without any lighting apart from natural.  Neither photo has totally captured the lovely claret-ey colour perfectly, but their pretty close!

And for those that know my love of pink....  well this is just a very dark shade of pink!! hehe!  And see the glitter on her dress???

Gorjuss Rose was a dream to colour......  I always love doing Gorjuss Girls hair....  you can get such a sheen on it!  The papers I bought at the weekend on a trip that my lovely OH took me on...  to Embsay Crafts in Skipton...  he said he thought I needed cheering up on Saturday....  and for some reason I didn't really want to go!!  But I'm glad I did, we took a picnic and ate it in the car overlooking a beautiful reservoir.... then went for a cream tea to our favourite tea rooms in Grassington..... where I just had to buy something for my new kitchen!!  Yes???  Talking of the kitchen, I promise I'll get photos on here soon....  but it still has to have a couple of little bits of paint finished off first!

Right..  card recipe:

• Image - Gorjuss Rose
• Paper - Kaisercraft Magnolia Grove
• Card - Bazzill and Kraft
• Nestabilities - Large Classic Ovals
• Tim Holtz Tabs and Tags Die
• Handwritten sentiment
• Swiss Dots Cuttlebug Embossing Folder
• Lace (from stash)
• Organza ribbon (from stash) - tied in a triple bow using bowmaker to make it more lush...
• Glamour Dust on her dress
• AtYouSpica Pen (black) for the hearts
• Glossy Accents (again for the hearts)
• Gems

Colours used:

• Hair - C1, C3, C5, C7, C9, 100
• Skin - E51, YR00, E02, E21, RV42
• Dress - R32, R35, R37, R39, R59
• Stockings - W3, W5, W7
• White Gel pen for dots on face

Thanks for all the lovely comments you've been leaving me lately.....  Mr Mojo seems to like them too, as he often appears very unexpectedly when I see people saying nice things!! LOL!  I'll be back tomorrow with my card for Anything Goes... soooooooooo see you then!

Happy Crafting....
Hugs
Christine x

Challenges:  Crafts and Me #87 - Lace
The Ribbon Girl - Use Ribbon or Lace

Oooooooooooh Ruby.......

Hi All

Just a quickie from me tonight as I'm in a rush to get ready..... off out to my Jam and Jerusalem evening... (otherwise known as the WI where there hasn't been any sign of jam OR anyone singing Jerusalem!)

Anyway.. my card for today is one I just fancied making....  I looked through my 'to be used' stash (come on, admit it, we all have one!), and Ruby from The Greeting Farm just jumped into my hand!  How could I ignore her with those gorgeous eyes? 

I used My Minds Eye Lime Twist papers with some added Bazzill - some put through the Swiss Dots Cuttlebug embossing folder.  The flowers are from Cheery Lyn - Miniature Rose die.... some gems and a PC generated sentiment cut by hand finished her off .... ooooh and I forgot, there's a fence in there from Memory Box.....  though can't remember the name of it... and I'm downstairs now, so no time to rush back upstairs to check.

So hope you like!! 

Update on foot:  It now no longer resembles a balloon.... and I continue to take those yucky antibiotics....  I promise, I do.....  though I tend to forget to do it an hour before food or on an empty tummy.... I mean, seriously, when is ANYONE's tummy empty????? LOL!

Big hugs to all and thank you so much for visiting and commenting.... it makes my day.
Christine xx