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

Little things......

Hi Best Blogging Buddies..

Hope you're all having a lovely day watching the river pageant and celebrating!  GRRRR I've been stuck on the settee with my foot propped up on cushions - I have cellulitis and my right foot resembles something like a red balloon... complete with water blisters on top - yuck!!  But I'm on with the anti-biotics now... so hopefully it should feel slightly better tomorrow.... hope so as we're supposed to be going to a Jubilee Proms night!

So.....  as I needed to do SOMETHING crafty today in the short time I could be upright, I shot up (well limped and hopped actually) to my craft room, and dug out a freebie stamp from Pink Petticoat that I got with a mag last year.  I saw some similar cards on Mandy's blog - A Little Space of My Own - so thought I'd try my take on them - thanks for the idea Mandy.  They're very self explanatory.....  stamped, coloured, glittered, then punched with a tool, and cord or yarn put through and knot tied!  Very simple, but effective I think!

What did you think of the pageant?  Wasn't she a trooper standing all that time???  AND WOW to that choir who sang for her in that downpour!  British eccentricity at it's best!  I can image even with the rain, it would be a magical experience for all that took part. 

And talking of rain, my daughter Emma is currently in North Cornwall.....  she's driving the van which is providing the support for a group of cyclists from York who set off this morning from Land's End - and they are cycling to John O'Groats in a week!!!  She has told me it's bucketing it down, but it's still not stopping them....  at least she's driving the van - on her own, but dry!  They're raising money for some wonderful charities - Yorkshire Air Ambulance being one, and also to raise money for treatment for a little boy with Neuroblastoma (not sure I've spelled that right).  I hope they do really well - and even think Emma's task is hard - driving that far!!!  If anyone would fancy donating just a little, their page is: https://www.justgiving.com/teams/LEJOGTeam2012.  I'm sure they'd be very grateful.  Their Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/#!/LEJOGTeam2012

And lastly...  our hols!!  I've not been able to get much on my blog about them up to now.....  suffice to say we had a wonderful time until the last couple of days when it rained...  I love the South of France with all it's opulence.... and there is something magic about Antibes...   Think I should have one of those gin palaces that are moored in the marina there...  can you imagine having craft sessions on one of those?????  YES!!

Thought I'd show you just a few pics... the top is in Mougins with my daughter, the second is me waiting for my crepe in Antibes... (we did FOOD a lot!! hehe), and the bottom one is just after I'd parked and was about to get on our little boat....  (in my dreams!!)  You can tell, it was a bit breezy that day, made parking the boat SOOOOO difficult!

Sorry for being picture heavy.......  I'm going to save the kitchen till my next post.....  and believe it or not, it's NEARLY finished!  April 16th it was ripped out, so it can't come soon enough!

Big hugs and have a lovely couple of bank holiday days!

Christine x

Anything Goes - Challenge 68 - Anniversaries

Hi Best Blogging Buddies..

Have you missed me?

Well I'm back from my lovely hols (more about them in another post..).... just in time to get my card made for the Anything Goes Challenge - and the theme this time is Anniversaries. 

I've loved this image for ages, and been waiting for just the right occasion - and decided that this is just that occasion.  It's by Mo Manning, and is called Young Love.  Ahhhhhhhhhhh...... And as I've put on the sentiment, they do just look 'so happy together!'  I tend to think this is what my lovely OH and I will look like in a few years time (well maybe not so many years....)  Hope the bluebirds dance around us too when we take time out to have a cuddle on a bench!

The colouring with both copics and promarkers (and even prismacolour pencils for the grass) took me a long time - I'm out of practice what with the kitchen drama and then our hols - so by the time I decided on the right colours, then did the shading... I was well into a couple of hours!  And then the 'matching the paper to the colours on the image' problem....  one I always have!!  But I've used Kissing Booth (apt - yes?) from ......................   I distressed the edges of the image using Distress Ink in Old Photo, then mounted it all on toning Bazzil cardstock. 

I added a few buttons, a bit of rustic thread, and a little heart charm that I had in my stash, a computer generated sentiment (using One Starry Night font and a Mamas and Papas song thats going round in my head)...  and hey presto (nearly 3 hours later!!), it was done! 

I was very impressed when I checked through the entries we'd had for the Black and One Other Colour Challenge......even though I didn't get to comment on any because we were away...  Why don't you pop over to the Challenge Blog to see if you were a winner??  And while you're there, you can look at my lovely DT creations - they are all so fabulous - and I'm sure will give you lots of inspiration!

I'm looking forward to seeing your Anniversary entries - remember, you can use the Jubilee theme as it is the Queen's Anniversary of being on the throne too!!

Take care all and Happy Crafting..
Big Hugs
Christine x

Ahhhhhh.....

And r e l a x..... If I could figure how to upload a pic of the blue sky and sunshine... I would... But for now I'll just say bonjour...and thank you for all your support during my hellish week last week... You're all wonderful friends that i'm glad I know! Big hugs Christine x

Found these I did a while back.

Hi my good friends..

Well, in lieu of a card which I've not been able to make due to one thing and another...  I thought I'd share with you these water-colours that I unearthed while trying to put all the stuff back in my craft room.  These were paintings I did when I took a water colour course in 2004.  They've never seen the light of day since then, and were in a massive storage box with lots of other stuff.  It was actually a course with a qualification at the end of it... my lovely OH and me took it and we both passed (but then again - I didn't come across anyone who failed!)  Anyway, I've now put them up on the craft room wall, the bigger one needs a new mount as when I painted it, I had no money and couldn't afford to have a frame made, so had to make do with the cheapest I could find.  The others still have cellophane around them (and you can see where the title was too), as they were up on display for the examiner.  (The sharp eyes can see my reflection in the glass on the bigger one..)

Hmmmm somehow I don't think I'm a budding Picasso......

The saga of the kitchen goes on........  you know we had the wrong tiles delivered at the weekend?  So the tiler couldn't do his bit.....which will now have to wait till after our holiday.  Well today was the turn of the flooring man.  We went to order what we wanted last week.....  brought home all the samples books, and after much deliberation, decided on the blackest there was, as the work surfaces are black.  Today, the carpet fitter came (it's not carpet, it's cushion-floor, but hey..), I shut the kitchen door and left him to it.....  went back in to hand him the regulation cup of tea, and wouldn't you know it, the flooring was grey and NOT what I'd chosen.  I rang the company who wanted me to check the sample against what had been supplied, so off carpet fitter trotted and returned - only for me to be proved right, that the sample was a totally different shade...... definitely BLACK and not GREY.  Soooooo I have another fight on my hands.  I was so close to tears.  In fact, strike that, I WAS in tears.  Could anything else go wrong?  The kitchen fitter is now coming back after our meal tonight, to finish the plinths.....  but they'll all have to come off again when the cushionfloor manufacturer admits he used the wrong bottle of dye.

Now....  on the plus side, complete with thermal vest still, we are off to the South of France this weekend for our much needed holiday....  the downside is that we have to come back to move all the kitchen stuff out of the dining room back into the kitchen, then the rest of my craft stash back into my craft room.  So you probably won't see me around for a bit.....  but I haven't slashed my wrists over the kitchen debacle...... I'll just be sunning myself......  that is, if our accomodation hasn't been double booked or anything.....

Sorry for whining...... but thank you all for being there for me to whine to...
Big hugs to all my blogging buddies.
Christine x

A quick and easy one..

Hi BBB's

Just needed to get a simple card on here today...  still got lots of stress going on with the kitchen, finally got my hob and sink connected last night, but ended up with a leak about 9.30 pm - then again this morning.  We've got a really good plumber who was with us within 3 mins of us calling last night... he only lives around the corner and came on his bike with his grips in hand!!  He also came out again this morning, but as there is so much pipework in one cupboard, it's proving difficult to find the leak.  We have the tiler coming on Monday...  and the flooring Thursday...  and I'm really getting cheesed off...  I'm losing sight of the lovely kitchen it's going to be........  Sorry, having a bit of a pity party this morning.... Barry's at work,  hence needing to make a card!

This was a little stamp I purchased from Stamping Bella....  Balloon Circle.  I got it from across the pond, as it doesn't seem to be in this country yet.  Don't you think it looks effective?  It's coloured with copics and promarkers - then of course, a spinkling of the magic dust!!  It's punched out with a 2" punch and I've just put a 3D sticky pad to raise it.  I handwrote the sentiment which I think looks OK, not 100% happy with it tho... will have to practice!

Whatever you're doing, I do hope you have a lovely bank holiday weekend..
Big Hugs
Christine x

Anything Goes Challenge - Things with Wings!

Hi BBB's

Well it's that time again........ time for another challenge over at Anything Goes...  We had some fabulous entries for the Tick Tock theme... pop over to the blog HERE to see if you were a winner!

Now the theme this time is 'Things with Wings'.....  so of course, in my mind, it has to be a fairy or a butterfly...  but thats just my way of thinking... lots of other things have wings too..

On my card I've used a Nellie Snellen image... Frog on Flower - I'd love to know what she is thinking!.  I've used a square nestie for the image, 3D'd her wings, coloured with promarkers and copics, and sprinkled with Glamour Dust.  Then I've used another nestie - Fleur de Lis Squares - for the filligree.  My flowers are made with a Cheery Lynn Miniature Rose Die, cut out of felt with a pearl gem in the centre.  I don't know the name of the DP - don't even know where it came from....  apart from it was in my stash!  Lots of these craft goodies are available from the lovely Lynne at The Craft Den - HERE.

The sentiment is from Pink Petticoat.....but I had to cut it in half to have it like I wanted.

We really look forward to seeing your entries for this fab challenge.....  and if you need inspiration - you can always check out my lovely teamies' creations on the Challenge Blog....  they've come up with some fantastic ideas which will be sure to give you inspiration!

Big Hugs
Christine x