PINK again....... phew... I was having withdrawal symptoms....!!

Hi Girls

I'm well and truly back in my comfort zone this time...  I did warn that there may be pink overload this week, as I was suffering whilst trying to show (to a certain blogger whose name I won't mention - but she has some fabulous 'creativity'),  that not every card I make has to have some pink!!  Anyway.. here are my DT cards for In The Pink..

Those that know me well, will know that this is an unusual card for me too...  I'm not often known to use Tildas - this is one of only two I own...  but I must admit I did enjoy colouring and sparkle-ising her...

Card Recipe:

• Image - Summer Flower Tilda
• Colouring Medium - Copics
• DP - Pink Petticoat digi paper
• Dies - Go Kreate Large Frames Frill #6 and La La Land Crafts Filigree Corner
• Small butterfly punch by Woodware
• Ribbon, Gems and Glitter from stash

My second DT card for In The Pink this time has no image...  but has a lovely flower I really enjoyed making!

Card Recipe:

• MFT Die-namics Die - Mini Hybrid Heirloom Rose
• MFT Die-namics Die - Leaf Filled Flourish
• Embossing Folder - Cuttlebug Wicker Weave 5" x 7"
• Ruffled Ribbon and pearls from stash
• Stampin Up Word Window - Oval
• Martha Stewart Border Punch
• DP from Pink Petticoat
• Sentiment - Rubon by Pebbles Inc
• Glitter from stash

I loved making this rose...  so much so I had to make another, and another... and then some different flowers... I think you JUST MAY be seeing them appear on cards in the near future!  I used Glamour Dust and some larger glitter flakes to give the impression of dew drops on the roses - which don't show too well but look fab IRL!

You think I got carried away??

I'd love to see you over at In The Pink if you have a love of pinkness.. there is a new Guest Designer this time to meet also..and  The Ribbon Girl  is the very kind sponsor this time, so why don't you pop there and take a look!

Big hugs and Happy Crafting

Christine x

Spring Shades.... and yes, it is me, using yellow!!!

Hi Bestest Blogging Buddies

Yes.... that's right!  Me..... using yellow..... can you believe it??  This week's challenge at Totally Gorjuss called for Spring Shades...  sooooooo, avoiding my usual favourite colour (and we all know what that is......), I opted to use the colours of the daffodils in my garden (at least the ones that keep on trying to flower but keep getting met with nasty frost...)

But I've got to say, this really goes against the grain for me.....  and even for my lovely OH, who muttered 'hmmmm'... when I showed this to him.... yes, he's a pink lover too..

Anyway...  She's here, she's springlike... and then, when I uploaded,  I noticed that most of my teamies have gone for pink!! GRRRRR!  

I got the idea for this design from my lovely blogging pal Mary J who did a card using this type of layout last week.. I think I'll be using it again Mary.. thank you for the inspiration!

Recipe:

• Image - Butterfly Lucy from All That Scraps
• Paper - Pink Petticoat
• Colouring - Copics
• Sentiment - MFT Doodle Garden Springtime Wishes
• Die - Square Stitched Mats - Lil Inkers
• Ribbon and glitter from stash

Our generous sponsor this time is Crafters' Companion.... so why don't you pop over to the Totally Gorjuss challenge blog and check out my fab teamies' (PINK grrr!) creations...  then see what you can come up with in Spring Shades...   For now, I'm putting my yellow pens and ribbon away... to only see light of day again when I'm doing flower centres!

Hope you all have a lovely weekend..
Hugs and Happy Crafting
Christine x
PS... Mary.... look, still no pink...  think there maybe overload next week!!

Getting tired of me yet??

Hi all

Yes... me again...  I seem to be on a roll, so am blogging like mad.... hope you don't get fed up!

Today's card is one I made for my lovely friend Christine (Nanaseaside)...  whose birthday it was this week... and she was a poorly person too when I rang her... I think I should have sent a get well card tucked inside this!  Hope you're feeling better now Christine..

Sideways View

Believe it or not, when I took this photo, the sun was shining... hence some shadows on the photograph!  I chose to do an easel card as I felt like doing something a bit different than my usual boring side openings...  

I was pleased with the colouring on this card... as you know, red is notoriously difficult to stop bleeding...  anyways, think I managed it!  I thought this image reminded me of Christine and I at the Harrogate show....  though maybe in our younger days!

Card Recipe:

• Image - Mabel Lucy Atwell 'Little Whispers' - Clear Stamps from Katie Sue Designs - bought from Sammy Taylors at Embsay
• Paper - Jillybean Soup - Old World Cabbage Stew
• Dies - Cheery Lynn Daisy Strip for the flowers, and Spellbinders Stately Circles for the image
• Glitter, Stickles, Lace, Gems and Buttons from Stash

While I'm here.... can I also say a big welcome to my new followers.... my little band grows ever stronger... and I'm so happy that you've chosen to follow my work...  it gives me a nice happy feeling... so thank you!

Big hugs to all and Happy Crafting..

Christine x

Heavy Metal!

Hi Good Friends

I'm back today as it's a new challenge over at Anything Goes....  and this time the theme is 'Heavy Metal'... noooo, not the music...we just had to use metal on our DT cards!

I'm not wonderfully happy with mine as it was done in a bit of a rush... (why am I so disorganised??)..  but it does have metal on it...  so it'll have to do!

I love the image... it's from A Day For Daisies and is called Little Dancer Two - such a delight to colour and if I'd have had more time, I would have decoupaged the skirt.  All of the other items I've used have been sitting around my craft room for yonks...  the sequins and the little metal heart I've had for at least five years, the seam-binding probably the same...  and the metal filigree corner (Hobby House) I've had for a couple of years.... same with the textured bazzil (which I rubbed with my sanding block to distress).  Ooooh I did use a relatively new Nestie - it's called Stately Circles and I got that in early Feb.  Colouring is of course done with a mix of copics and promarkers..  and then there's the glamour dust....  well she's a ballerina... she has to have glamour.... yes??

Don't forget to pop over to the Anything Goes Challenge blog to check out the creations my fab teamies have come up with!

Hope your week is going well so far...  my lovely OH is off for a few days from tomorrow...  so we're hoping for a bit of sunshine so we can do some gardening, oh, and errrr possibly go out for the odd pub lunch or two!

Big hugs to all and Happy Crafting
Christine x
PS - if you're looking Mary.... there's no lipstick or pink cheeks on this one!  Do I at least chalk up one?? x

A bit of sparkle......... (yes it's me, here again!)

Morning all....

Time again for another challenge at Totally Gorjuss  - and yes, I'm still jumping around with excitement at being asked to be a permanent design team member...

This time, the theme is 'Anything Goes + Sparkle...'  Lots of scope there...  so out came the glamour dust and the frantage!!

Card Recipe

• Image - Saturated Canary Fairy Wishes Rubber Stamp
• Coloured with Copics and Promarkers and even the odd Flexmarker
• LOADS of Glamour Dust
• Filigree Corner Die by La La Land Crafts
• Papers from Pion - For Mother
• Seam Binding for bow
• Blue lace type trim - from Harrogate show
• Pearl Button and gems - The Hobby House
• Frantage and Pearl Cosmic Shimmer Glue from stash

Hope you like this little fairy...  I tried a new way of shading around her ... not sure it worked too well - let me know what you think...  I just thought she looked too plain on white!

Do hop on over to Totally Gorjuss for more inspiration from my lovely teamies...  and our very kind sponsor this time is J & C Creations.

My lovely OH is at work today, so I'm now going to decamp to the craft room!

Big hugs - Have a good weekend..

Christine x
PS - Mary... look, no pink!! x

Flying Away.....

Hi Bestest Blogging Buddies..

I can't believe where the time is going at the moment...  the weeks fly by.... I think it's something to do with me reaching a BIG birthday later on this year.... time has decided to speed up to get me there faster...  and the only good things to look forward to are free prescriptions and a free bus pass!!

Anyway...  it's time again for another IN THE PINK challenge...  this time, the theme is 'Let's Fly Away'... so I decided on my first DT card to use a fabulous little image that I've been waiting to colour!  Isn't she so cute??

Card Recipe:

• Image - Signs of Spring by Sassy Cheryl - digi stamp
• Copics and Promarkers to colour
• Stitched Square mat die by Li'l Inkers (yes, again!)
• Glitter from Stash

And  for my second DT card - I wanted to use a new Die-namics die that I bought at Harrogate... it has three different sized butterflies, so was perfect to use for the Fly Away theme!

Card Recipe:

• MFT Dienamics - Butterflies Die - bought from Harrogate Show
• Mini butterfly punches
• Glitter card and dotty paper
• Digi Paper for background -Design House Digital JUKNeipp
• Organza ribbon for bow
• Papertrey Ink Mini Tags and Sentiment
• Pearls from The Hobby House

And on the flying away theme... we managed to book a holiday yesterday...  yes me, who hates to think about going away - wally that I am, I get really anxious about even the thought of it....  I always love holidays AFTER we've got home...  ANYWAY..  we're off to a fabulous Greek island in a few weeks..  I'm sure it'll be lovely to see a bit of sun though...who knows, it may still be snowing here!

And on that note, I'll disappear!

Big hugs and Happy Crafting... don't forget, I'd love you to pop over to IN THE PINK and enter the challenge this time.. it's good to see good blogging friends there..

Christine xx

Something Blue... (well turquoise-y blue actually....)

Morning Girls

Here we are - the week has rushed by again and it's time for the next challenge at Totally Gorjuss - this time the requirement is 'something blue'!  Soooo I had to try to ignore my pink pens....  dig out the blue ones from their hidey hole...  and get colouring!

This time, one of our fabulous sponsors are Bugaboo...  and this is the image I chose to use.. it's called Bunny Hot Air...  and I hope that's what's in his balloon keeping him afloat!  I colouring him with copics and flexmarkers this time, (obviously a little bit of pink had to creep in.... sorry Mary, but a bunny has to have pink ears and nose!)

The paper is from the Echo Park Hello Summer pad, the grass die is from Joy...  and the cloud die is from Memory Box.  I punched some small flowers that look a bit like narcissus to sit in the grass.  The sentiment is done on the PC before the clouds were punched..... then I used glossy accents on the balloon, and sprinkled a whole lotta glitter before it dried!  I also used Stickles in crystal around the clouds..  Well.... if I'm not allowed much pink, I just HAVE to have the glitter....  right???

Our other sponsors this time are Quixotic Paperie....  so why don't you get creating a blue card or project... and let us see it soon!  Take a wander over to the Totally Gorjuss blog to see what my fab teamies have come up with for more inspiration.

I've also been asked to stay on as a permanent Gorjussette.... it didn't take me long to say 'Yes Please!'

Hope you're all having a good Easter weekend.... and that it's not too cold to enjoy.  I went across to Southport yesterday to visit my MIL with my daughter...  and we saw lots of big snow drifts across the top of the Pennines...  lots of people are still suffering I think.  My MIL gets frailer every time we see her... but she enjoyed a nice lunch out in a lovely garden centre (believe it or not the sun shone while we were there so we were really warm through the glass!) and a spot of shopping in shops where we could borrow a wheelchair.

Big hugs, Happy Crafting - and Happy Easter!
Christine x

A little lady called Saylor...

Morning girls (and any men that maybe looking in..)

Today I'm sharing a little 4" x 4" card I made, again, just for fun!  As it's been so cold and nasty outside, I've stayed in more than normal, and have enjoyed time up in my craft room...

This little lady is called Saylor, and she's a digi stamp from Lori Boyd.  I love pink and green together, and had bought this gorgeous paper from Sammy Taylor's at Embsay last time I was across..  so thought I'd use it to inspire the colours.

Again, I coloured with a mix of Copics and Promarkers...fiddly cut her and 3D'd her onto the shape created with my new nestie oblong stax ...  added a few buttons with twine, and a sentiment by Paper Smooches on my fav Stitched Sentiment Flag Die by Li'l inkers.... I use that a lot lately.. it comes in handy so much.  And there she is.... hope you like.

Everyone ready for Easter?  My lovely other half has to work Good Friday and Easter Monday... (big awwwwwww)...  but he has Saturday and Sunday off which will be nice.

Big hugs to all and Happy Crafting ..

Christine x

Mail it! Anything Goes Challenge #89

Morning Girls

Today's card is my DT card for Anything Goes...  where the theme is 'Mail it!'  Could I have got more simple??  LOL!

I saw a card similar to this on Pinterest a little while back, and knew I had a large envelope punch in the dark recesses of my craft room.  Out it came...  and it was perfect for the job.  I printed the words directly onto the card..  and the little hearts are the waste out of a border die!  Add a bow and it was done.

And in the words of Forest Gump....  'that's all I have to say 'bout thaaaat.... ' (as I can't think of anything else to waffle on about! LOL)

Do pop over to Anything Goes and see what much more interesting cards my teamies have come up with!  Also don't forget, lots of crafting goodies are available from Lynne at the Craft Den.

Big hugs and Happy Crafting
Christine xx

And one for fun...

Hi Bestest Blogging Buddies..

I managed to get a card done today just for the fun of it..... yayyy!!  This little lady has been sitting on my desk for a couple of weeks now waiting to be coloured... until yesterday, when I decided to start.  Even though I was on my own for the day, for some reason I didn't feel like card making, but forced myself to get her face coloured...  then......  as I went up to bed, I popped my head into the craft room, and picked up a purple promarker!  And that was her dress done...  Really,  I was sitting clutching my hottie bottle (well it's cold in bed just lately!) - and just had to do the dress before I hit the bed..  Sometimes, you just gotta!!

So today I just popped the rest together.

Recipe:

• Image - Springtime Wishes - MFT Doodle Garden
• Dies - Oval Nestie and MFT Die-namics Button Border
• Embossing Folder - Cuttlebug
• DP - Pink Petticoat Lots of Dots
• Twine and Glitter from stash..

And OK, I'll admit the flowers are slightly pink....  but I do try to do cards without my fav colour every now and again..  Mary pointed out yesterday that there was a slight hint of pink on the mug of my card yesterday when I'd said there wasn't any!!  Can I help it if my hand wanders over to the pink section of my pen storage???

Hope you like my fun card...  do say hello if you drop by.  I'd also love to welcome my newest followers..  I'm really flattered that you've decided to follow me.

Big hugs and Happy Crafting

Christine x

Something Borrowed...

Hi bestest blogging buddies..

Time again for another weekly challenge at Totally Gorjuss... and this time the theme is 'Something Borrowed'!  So what could be better than library books?  LOL!

I had fun colouring this fabulous Saturated Canary image...  she's such a sexy looking librarian - none of the ladies in our local library look like that, or wear such red lipstick!  I used some new (from Harrogate) pens to colour her face... Graph-it alcohol markers.... I found them GOOD!

Card Recipe:

• Image - Saturated Canary 'What the Librarian Reads'
• Papers - Kaisercraft Magnolia Grove ( so gorgeous to use - it is almost flocked)
• Colouring - Copics and Graph-it Pens
• Kraft card
• Die - Spellbinders A2 Curved Matting Basics A
• Glossy Accents on her specs and pen..
• Gems from stash
• Sentiment - PC generated

Now...  please note girls.... there is no pink or glitter anywhere at all on this card.... see?  I CAN do it!  (OK - I had to glitz her specs a tad with a couple of crystals... seemed a shame not to..)

The sponsor this week at Totally Gorjuss is the fabulous Ribbon Girl......  so why not pop over and join in the fun?

Hope the nasty white stuff isn't too bad where you are this morning... and if it is, that you don't have to travel too far.  Stay in, stay warm... and craft!

Big hugs and happy crafting..

Christine x

Pinkie time again.... (let's face it, it's never NOT pinkie time here..)

Hi all

It's time again for a new challenge at In The Pink...  these fortnights come around soooooooo fast!  This time, the theme is Spring/Easter...  which at first I thought would be quite difficult to do..... but then once I dug around - I came up with some fab digis that were perfect for my DT cards!

My first card uses a digi from From The Heart.... and it was an easy image to colour...  of course, my favourite pink copics were used again and again...  think they're going to be worn out soon!

Card Recipe:

• Image - Easter Egg Tulips - From the Heart
• Copics to colour
• A4 sized Spellbinders M-bossability...  fabulous to use for larger size cards
• Own doodling around image (yikes.!)
• Papertrey Ink Mini Tag die
• Sentiment done on PC
• Glitter and twine from stash
• Bazzill Cardstock from stash

And now onto my second DT card.. (a bit picture heavy this one, but wanted to show all angles!)

Card Recipe:

• Image - Whimsie Doodles Easter Garland
• DP - Echo Park Country Drive Digi Paper
• Copics to colour
• Stampin Up Scalloped Punch
• Craft Concepts Embossing Folder - Daisy Do
• L'il Inkers Stitched Flag die
• Sentiment on PC
• Cosmic Shimmer Pearl Pink PVA glue
• Glitter from stash..

And this time I can't decide on my favourite.....  normally I can.  So which do you prefer???  

It's my lovely OH's birthday tomorrow.... and believe it or not, I went out to buy him a card this morning...  I can never come up with a card for a man that I like...  and I tell him it's more special for me to buy it for him... Anyway, we're off out for a nice lunch in a lovely pub above Ilkley...  hope the sun shines a bit!!

Big hugs to all and Happy Crafting.... oooh and don't forget to pop over to In The Pink..

Christine xxx 

Well....... I didn't buy a lot....

Still no card today girls, but thought I better own up to what was in those bags I showed yesterday...  I decided to enjoy opening it all last night.. (I get secondary pleasure then),  and really, when you look at the photo above...  I didn't get an awful lot... did I???  (Oooh and Christine... please take note of the type of pokey tool we were talking about.. and no more blushing....)

But this is what it looked like spread out!!  Oooops!!!

"My name is Christine and I'm addicted to dies of all kinds...."

I don't feel bad though as I did quite well on Ebay over the weekend....  not selling crafty stuff, but some other stuff that was gathering dust...  so it all balances out in the end!

And now.......  today........  I'm GONNA PLAY!!

Big hugs and Happy Crafting to all..

Christine xx

PS.... Here's another pic of the group of us together on Saturday...  more on this one... though think Avril and Kath had gone walkabout!  This is Mau's pic....  I've borrowed!  x

Harrogate..

Well, this is what I got.... and what I daren't open yet!!  Well, actually, I'm one of these that saves the pleasure till the house is empty - then I get that lovely feeling all over again!  Anyone else do that???

And these were some of the lovely ladies I was with.....  in the front (left) is me (d'oh), Elaine, and T'other Christine... and Avril is standing behind us.  But also there were Lisa, Mau, and Kath plus lots of other lovely ladies that are bloggettes - isn't it good to meet up with such fabulous friends!  I think our table may have been voted the noisiest, with the most cameras...  but what the heck!

Just to say thank you ladies....  you really are all very special to me... and actually the meeting up is more of a reason to go to the show than the actual craft stash buying............  errrrr..........  HONEST!!

Big hugs to all and a photo when I've opened the bags will follow soon..
Christine xx