At last..... something to show!

Hi Girls

Well at last I had some time today to get making!  I seem to have been chasing my tail all week - which is good in a way, as I like to get out and be meeting people instead of stuck in.....  but it stops me doing my crafting!

Anyway.... it was too windy today to get any gardening done and I'm also full of cold, so I got upstairs and here's the result.  Well this, and a load of other stuff that I finished off, or tidied up.

This is a stamp called Sheep For Ewe from Wild Rose Studio which just appealed to me at the Harrogate show.  I have a bit of a thing for sheep....and this one is just so cute! 

The DP is Marianne Design Eline's paper bloc  from Quixotic Paperie, the cardstock is Bazzill Bling.... and the image is coloured with Copics.  I used my hydrangea MS punch for the flowers, which just HAD to have a bit of bling in them.....  then put some cream seam binding and a bow to finish it off.  And of course, when I photographed and edited it.... I used the photoshop bling button!!  It makes anything look fab!

Anyway, hope you like...... sorry I've not been posting much lately, but it actually now takes me a full hour each day to comment on my lovely blogland buddies' cards!  So if you'd all stop turning out so many.... I'd have an hour more in my day!! hehe

Hugs to all
Christine xx

OK, OK........ this is what i bought.......

 
Hi Girls
No card today, but I thought I better own up to what I bought on Saturday..... which was quite good for me really - I do tend to spend more normally.....(!)  But why am I attracted to bling and bring home loads?  Must mean something in my psych-ey.....  Also sheep have crept in too.......  hmmmmmmm... If anyone sees a sheep with diamond earrings, you'll let me know?

And then...... we went up to the Lakes to see my darling OH's daughter and her hubbie, and their little son Leo.....

Isn't he just SOOOOOOO cute?  Who could resist those eyes....

THEN we wandered back home yesterday, with a couple of stops...  one at Kirby Lonsdale where Barry took these fab photos of the bridge.....

And THEN - we had a lovely lunch at Grassington and a wander up and down the high street talking to some of the people on the TV programme Love Thy Neighbour...... which is FAB - if you get a chance to watch it - do!

And THEN - being so close to Embsay..... well,,,,,,,,, could a girl resist? Soooooooo  this is what I bought then!

Am I a naughty girl or what?  I BET you're expecting to see a card soon....... aren't you???????

Hugs ......
Christine xx

Twas a SHOW down.......

Hi all

Just a very quick post to say that a few of us bloggers met up today at the Harrogate Papercraft show, and I really enjoyed meeting up with those I knew, and some I hadn't met till today!  Blogland is a lovely community with some special people and all those that I have met have been very kind and will hopefully become good friends.

And..............  I spent far too much too!!

I'm probably not going to be around for a little while as my darling OH has a few days off, so we're heading up to the Lakes on Monday for a couple of days...... so apologies in advance if I don't get around to commenting.

Hugs
Christine x
PS........ I think I should issue a dare......  that we all update our profile photos to what we actually look like NOW!!

A card for spring...... in my very un-favourite colour!

Well girls..... as most of you know me quite well now, you will know my favourite colour is pink.... followed by lilac, pastel green, pastel blue...... etc etc.  NOT YELLOW!  But......  I figured that as I was entering a 'spring coloured' challenge....  the most spring of colours is lemon/yellow!   Sooooooo, without further ado - I got out my punch and punched - and this is the result.  Very simple - no real recipe, only the use of a daisy embossing folder from Cutting Too, an xcut punch.....  some white centres from my hole punch - then lots of glitter put on the white centres.  Wellllllll, if I had to do lemon... least I could have some glitter!  And then after I'd photographed it, I kinda got carried away with the photoshop bling button........  i LOVE that button!  I would bling anything I could get my hands on if I could!

I've had a lovely day today shopping in York with my daughter Emma - who needs a dress for a spring wedding.  Believe it or not, we could find nothing suitable in the whole of York.  What has fashion come to when the dresses are all for stick insects?  She is a size 12/14 lovely tall girl, and we couldn't find anything!  Soooo we may have to end up at the Trafford centre soon...  Anyway, we treated ourselves to some lovely fudge from the Fudge Kitchen to console ourselves, then walked in the sunshine along the river back to the car.  Simple things......

OK.... I'm off to eat the roast dinner my OH has prepared (lucky woman that I am), Emma is in the kitchen chattering to him - so I guess I ought to go put the knives and forks on the table and look willing!! hehe

Bye for now girls, hope you had a lovely weekend..
Hugs
Christine x
Challenges for my card: Ladybug Crafts Spring Colours, Sarah Hurley Challenge - Flowers, also The Pink Elephant - Springtime

So different for me... a male card!

Well girls...... it had to come - me actually making a card for a male!  Spurred on by Lisa at Mess2Magic  who mentioned some male challenges, and knowing I'd shown her these images a couple of weeks back, I didn't feel I had any excuse!

Soooooo let me introduce Murray.... (or at least his backside!) He's from a fabulous Murray and Ethel stamp sheet that I've had for ages, and even have had the images coloured for ages too.  I used my prismacolour pencils (in my early stages of learning how to use them as you can probably tell)..... then used glossy accents on his glasses and the paper.  I decoupaged him from the original layer, and also decoupaged in another layer his rather snazzy pants - so the 'crack' appears sooooooo real!  The sentiment is on the stamp sheet, but I did it on the PC using a fab font called Pea Noodle Parlor (free from Kevin and Amanda Font Site).  Some lovely fonts there to download, and i particularly loved this one.  I used Bazzill dotty cardstock with a scrap of a blue stripey one that I don't know the name of.  A MS punch went across the middle of the card, and then some little glossy beads (well, ok, some men like beads....) in the corner!

My OH is at work today, so I've kept myself occupied by washing the car, going to homebase for him, watching Corrie from last night that I dozed off during........(!)  then getting into my craft room.  I've started a couple of mornings a week helping out at our local AGE UK shop - and am really enjoying getting to know the place and the regulars.  Amazing some of the stuff that comes in to the shop - and it all sells really fast!  No nasty stuff tho........ thank goodness!  Of course, I'm just WAITING for a Chanel handbag to turn up....

Right......  I better press 'publish' before I rattle on and on....

Hope you like my change of direction - do let me know!
Hugs
Christine xx
Ohhhhhhh challenges for my card are:
Moving Along with the times - Card/Project for a Male
CES - Men Only
Ooh La La Creations - It's a Man Thing

An easy one...... sooooo needed!

Hi Girls

Well,,,,,, I so much needed to do something easy..... I'm getting totally bogged down with doing fancy images and colouring - that I thought today, I would just put together something simple and straight out of my head.  Do any of you get that feeling every now and again?  And I've got to say, it did me good!

So what do you think?  There's not really much of a recipe to the card.... i used a nestability label (or is it impressibility?), an xcut punch for my flowers, a bit of ribbon from my stash, a MS border punch, and some dotty paper and bazzill cardstock for the back.  Some gems finished the flowers off, and I handwrote the sentiment......  that's the bit I'm unsure of...  is it good enough do ya think? 

The sun is shining here today, so the pruning shears are calling me to go and prune some shrubs....... It feels like spring!  Yes!!!!!!!!!! 

Hope you're all having a good day, and thanks for taking the time to look and comment.

Hugs
Christine xx
PS....... I've entered this for the Less Is More Challenge - Pastels and also (at a push from Netty) in the Pastels challenge at Incy Wincy Designs and also the Cupcakes Craft Challenge - Pink Polka Dots (think it fits that one well!! hehe)

A massive big thank you.......

Just a quickie to say a very big thank you to all of you who have sent thoughts and wishes to me this week, and have walked around with all fingers and toes crossed for the last few days!  I went to the oral consultant this afternoon after my MRI yesterday, and he tells me that 'he can see nothing that concerns him'.  PHEWWWWWWWWWW!!  I still have the same problem in my mouth, but at least as far as he's concerned, nothing nasty is showing. Although the radiologist hasn't read the MRI yet, the consultant showed me the images (probably to reassure), and said the sensation I'm getting is quite common.  I sooooo wish he'd said that earlier.  Everything being marked 'urgent' scared the heck out of me - and I'd gone down a very nasty road to a really horrible place in my head.  I'm sure that'll ease now.  I have to go back in a couple of weeks - just for a check up.

ANYWAY - Just to let you know you're a LOVELY BLOGGING LOT!!  It meant so much to know I had lots of people thinking of me and willing it all to be OK.  Sooooooooo  THANK YOU!!!

MASSIVE big hugs to you all........
Christine x
PS, Maybe I'll be able to get back to making some cards now!

I do............. oh I do, I do, I do, I do........ I do.......!! (In best Abba voice..)

Hi Girls

Just a quickie today.....  This is a card I was playing with all weekend .....(as Lisa will testify).  I think it looks OK now, I was really going for white on white, but then the pink crept in......  well, what can I say?

It's using the LOTV I Do image..... cut out with nesties, the matted onto a card thats run through an embossing folder with hearts...  can't remember the name of it, but it's not a cuttlebug one. (If you want to know, email me and I'll then run upstairs and find out!!) Of course, coloured with my copics and promarkers, then edged using a piece of cut-n'dry sponge dipped in an adirondack light pink.  I've used some gems from Stamping Bella put onto an organza ribbon bow to finish.  Well,,,,,, the glitter finished it actually!! lol

I'm still worried about tomorrow, but I went to the docs yesterday and she gave me betablockers to try to combat the anxiety symptoms, and now I'm sleepy.......... zzzzzzzzzzz......  Maybe I'll doze off in the MRI tube!  I'm glad they're only going to put my head/neck in it, I always imagine I would get stuck if they put the rest of me in!! And then I have a clinic appt on Thursday to find out what the MRI shows......... please keep everything crossed for me......

Anyway........ there you go......
Hugs for now
Christine x
Challenge for this card: LOTV Challenge - Circles

Oh woe is me.......

Hi Girls

Firstly thanks for taking the time to look at my posts... it means a great deal to me at the moment......

I'm feeling pretty down, as I have to wait a week till I get this damn MRI scan done to find out what's causing the problem in my mouth.  The consultant said he wanted an 'urgent' scan - but the first they can do is Wed 2nd March.  He IS trying to rule nasty stuff out....  give him credit, but my nerves have taken a good hold and I'm really having a struggle....  So...... if I'm carted off to the funny farm and you don't see me here for a while, you'll know why!  Thanks to all of you who've sent good wishes.......

NOW.... onto my card!  What do you think?  Too much glitter?  She's an LOTV Image called Rosie with Cake and she's a delight to colour.  I seem to often go for lilacs and pinks.... love their muted shades normally, but this is a bit brighter.  I decided to edge the image with Dusty Concord Distress Ink with a piece of cut'n'dry foam.  The DP is Fairy Flora from Prima, and the base lilac cardstock is from my stash.  I've added a bow made from seam binding from the Ribbon Girl, and a charm from ebay on a silver chain.  Some gems and a button finish it off.  Of course, stickles round the distressed edges and prisma glitter on her images.......  couldn't resist.  My nerves are so bad though that my hand was shaking dreadfully when I took the photo.... even with my OTT light, I had to delete more pics than I kept!

Do let me know what you think.....  it may help to brighten my day.......

Bye for now, and big hugs
Maybe will go watch some QVC with Tim Holtz!
Christine x
PS - Entered in Top Tip Tuesday Challenge - Bling, and the Sarah Hurley Food and Drink Challenge

Fabulous new images from a new website..... and a freebie - check it out!

Hi Girls
Just a quickie today to tell you about this fab new website - Wee Stamps by Sylvia Zet.  Isn't this little girl absolutely gorgeous?  And if you want her for free.....  you have to grab her by 12 midday today (16th Feb).  Instructions are on her blog how to claim - brilliant idea for getting her website known.  She's a very talented lady by the look of her images - I wish her good luck!

Sorry I've not been around - I've got a little problem at the back of my mouth (just feels like food is stuck there but it's been like this for 4 weeks now) which I went to the docs about last week - she referred me and the hospital rang THE DAY AFTER to arrange an appt yesterday.  Of course, I went into panic mode (as I do.....).  When I went yesterday, the specialist had to try to see it first through my mouth, and then because he couldn't, he had to put a camera through my nose............... eeek!!  He couldn't manage at first so he used a nasty spray and had to try both nostrils (as he told me one was narrow!)  He STILL couldn't see anything, so now I have to go for an MRI, then possibly he'll have to check it out with a general anaesthetic.  So girls.............. i'm officially TERRIFIED.  I keep on trying to tell myself they're being thorough....   Just to make you smile though, you can't imagine how far my head could go backwards and how quickly when he was approaching me with that camera!!!

Hugs
Christine x

New Hat.......... new card...

Hi Girls

Well, it's been a busy Saturday here .... I've managed to wash the car, trim a shrub, change the bed and wash the sheets, AND make a card!  I've still got to make a lasagne before we eat too!

I've got to say, I'm getting into these LOTV images.... I absolutely adore colouring them.  I sit in my own world....  not aware of anything going on around me....  while I get her dress JUST right!  Anyone identify with that? hehe

Onto the materials used:

• Trusty pens (obviously!)
• Bazzill BP
• Basic Grey Indian Summer DP - distresssed edges with scissors
• LOTV New Hat Image
• Nesties for circle and scalloped circle
• Marianne Creatables corner die (coloured through with brown while die attached)
• Marianne creatables swirl
• Lace from stash
• Pearl Gems
• Pearl Bad
• Seam Binding from Ribbon Girl
• Charm from ebay and chain from stash
• Flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts
• MS branch punch
• Sentiment was handwritten - inspired by Pretty Pressings blog

I used a sakura glitter pen for the mirror and glossy accents for the bag..... but otherwise girls........ can you believe it?  NOT a BIT of glitter!!  (Don't think I could have fitted any on there anyway...... )

The inside is decorated with the same Basic Grey paper...
Hope you like - your comments mean a lot to me so please say hello..  and a great big thank you to all that have commented up to now and spurred me on!

Hugs
Christine x

Say it............ with flowers!

Hi Girls

Well, it had to happen...... I've created a card with loads of luscious flowers and lots of other embellies!  I've been wanting to do this for ages and have collected the flowers, but have only just taken the plunge.  And my goodness..... I loved doing this vintage feel - although it took me hours to decide what should go where etc.

I coloured this lovely LOTV image with my trusty pens...... she is 'Hello Cupcake' and is somewhat reminiscent (!) of me with cupcakes...... although I don't introduce myself to them..... I just SCOFF!!

Materials used:

• Bazzil basic cardstock
• DP - Kaisercraft Enlgish Rose Collection - Estelle (bought at Embsay with Lisa-Jane last week)
• Marianne Creatables flower circle die
• Doo Hickey designs scroll die
• Square and scalloped square nesties
• Roses from Wild Orchid Crafts
• Seam binding and fine string from The Ribbon Girl
• Lace from stash
• Charm from Ebay
• Crackle glazed heart made by my fair hand! (from a tutorial by Bev Rochester)
• Pearls from stash
• And............ of course..........  GLITTER!

Now I THINK that was all I used...... I kept having to check back upward to see what was there! lol!  By the way - do you see a theme running through my cards with the exception of the previous one to this?  well, for the less sharp-eyed........ it's glitter!  I just can't resist the stuff!  I think I have an addiction............. it's serious....... h-e-l-p........... (whispered very quietly.....)

Hope you're all having a good week - I've had a lovely couple of days just pottering and playing.  I LOVE those days!

Hugs and Happy Crafting
Christine x

Award time..

Hi Girls

I have to say a big thank you to Lisa-Jane  at Mess2Magic (who I spent a fab time with at Embsay on Friday), and Laurie over at DesignerDiva for this lovely award which I received a couple of days back.  I've been a tad lazy at getting around to putting this up on my blog - but better late than never!  So here goes:

Now the rules are that I have to give this to 8 more blogs - but to be quite honest - every blog I follow is special to me and gives me inspiration, so I'd be happy for you all to have it - please help yourself!

And I am supposed to tell you 8 things about myself.....  that's the difficult bit, but I'll try...

1. As Lisa-Jane knows - I LOVE pink
2. As Lisa-Jane ALSO knows...... I LOVE glitter
3. I am a true Leo - all GRRRR but like my mane stroked...... a pussy cat really
4. I am from Lancashire, but I love Yorkshire!
5. I would love to do a course in graphic design
6. I have photoshop but haven't mastered it properly yet
7. I would love to visit California and watch the sun set over the Pacific
8. I'm trying to meet as many fellow bloggers as I can - what a lovely community to belong to!

Lisa and I spent a lovely few hours on Friday chatting over a cuppa, then shopping for our stashes!  It was a very windy day to drive over the Pennines, but we both managed (I'm the wuss - not Lisa), and it was really worth it!

I've spent a busy weekend - my brother and his wife visited last minute, so I haven't had a lot of card-making/blogging time.  But..... I did find Annette's blog - Netty's Cards - and she has been kind enough to give me lots of help trying to make circular sentiments..... and I THINK I've mastered it!  I've got to say, Annette has been patience personified when I've bombarded her with emails asking 'how do I..........'  It became an obsession....... I just HAD to know how to do it!

Soooooo tomorrow I may have a card for you!  Here's hoping...
Hugs
Christine x

No glitter!!

Hi Girls

Well.......... no glitter on a card of mine?  Can you believe it????  But I so loved this image which is called Lollipop Ella by Lori Boyd Designs... and of course, she had to be done in beautiful bright colour.  She really cheered me up!

The red card is from my stash......  then I printed out some red on white dotty BP (download from Pink Petticoat)...I think Dotty should be my nickname as I am MAD on dots!  I then cut some nestie shapes and ran the square through an embossing folder too.  I coloured the image with my trusty pens (5 different reds in that dress! lol), and then fussy cut the image and adhered with foam tape.  The sentiment is one of my own cut again with nesties, the lace heart is an Martha Stewart punch, the heart pin is from The Ribbon Girl, the loose hearts are (I think) a small sizzix die... but had it so long I have no idea!  Then finished it all off with an organza ribbon bow!  Think thats all....

I tried and tried to find somewhere to put some glitter...... but sadly failed....  I think she just 'doesn't need' any!

Right....... onto my playing around with circular sentiments!  Yayyyyyyyyyy I'm getting there after spending hours in front of the monitor with eye ache!  I knew this machine would do it if I stuck at it long enough..... and sure enough... I produced this one.... along with a few others.  

It's my OH's day off today, but I don't think we're going anywhere - just getting a few jobs done around the house that are on the 'to do' list!  We have a problematic tap in the bath...... and he has to replace the 'bits'.  Hmmmmmm his DIY prowess isn't the world's best - but I have faith and I'm thinking positive! But if my tomorrow's post looks soggy, you'll know why........ 

Hugs

Christine x

PS.... Entering this card for CES - Bold and Bright, Totally Gorguss - As YOU like it, also Simon Says Stamp - Love is in the Air,  Moving Along with the Times - Red,  I Love Promarkers - Anything Goes, and Wild Orchid Crafts - Love Is..