Exciting news!!

Hi everyone we are back from celebrating Charlie's birthday and what a day he had:) He said it was the best birthday ever and his presents were fantastic! Peppa Pig and double decker buses are his passions and his dreams were realised along with a wonderful family lunch in a country pub followed by afternoon tea at home with more family members. This is the card I made for him:

Lara made a fabulous chocolate cake with Peppa Pig in a muddy puddle!

I am now able to tell you my exciting news that I have had to keep under wraps for 2 weeks! Can you guess? Lara is expecting our 2nd grand child on August 28th!!!!! Charlie told us 2 weeks ago but 

Lara wanted to tell my sister Karen face to face and that was yesterday:) Coincidently that is also my son Dominic's birthday. Lara is keeping very well and Charlie is looking forward to a brother although we don't know the sex!

Back to craft and this weeks challenge over at Less is More:

this week we have chosen wonderful  the Spring colours of 

YELLOW and GREEN

We would like you try to keep to just these two colours, but the use of neutral shades may be included if necessary.

I was quite pleased with my card although the colours don't seem true. It is a really nice yellow IRL!

The topper is an Imagination Crafts decoupage stamp that I cut around a few areas of the leaves and on the other side used a ball tool to add some texture and shadow. I embossed the green base and cut around one of the stems so that I could insert the topper. The sentiment is a SeeDee one.

Tonight is one of my Rock Choir friends 40th birthday and I was asked to make a card from all of us as well as the one I had made from me:

I used Craft Artist and some die cuts to create this card:

and this is a box card that I made using Craftwork Cards papers and a feather die and stamp

Off to Rock Choir soon and I'd just like to welcome Asha who is a new follower to my blog, thank you:)

Another Christmas card

Hello everyone, well not quite as wonderful weather wise as yesterday but still fairly good today. I was in London for a musical workshop yesterday with the amazing Kerry Ellis, what a voice!  A lovely down to earth lady who seemed genuinely pleased to be working with us. We sang " Somebody to love" for her and then she sang with us and threatened to bring Brian May with her next time! We also learned Defying Gravity from Wicked as she took that show to Broadway and she sang again with us.
Anyway back to this weeks CASE-ing Christmas card which I thought I'd better do quickly as I missed the deadline last week and we are off to Portsmouth tomorrow for a few days for Charlie's birthday celebrations.
This weeks card is by DT Mynn:

                                

I decided to go with the baubles, come and see:

I embossed my card with a Cuts Too EF then I embossed a Xmas paper and cut out the baubles and mounted them on to the matching ones on the card. I used a quickie glue pen and gold glitter for the chains and to highlight the embossing. The sentiment is an SU one embossed with gold detail EP.

Last week friends of ours moved house and have gone to live by the sea and this is the card I made for them:

I thought it was appropriate!

It was also my friends daughters birthday and she teaches English and loves books so this is what I came up with:

Well that's all for now folks!! I'll be back on Thursday to tell you all about Charlie's birthday celebrations :)

CASE-ing Christmas

Evening all, we've just got back from a delicious Thai meal with friends and I needed to post my card for this weeks CASE-ing Christmas challenge as it's very near the deadline!!
The card to case this week is DaenY's and it's lovely:



I decided to go with the washi tape and the central figure, come and see:

I don't possess any washi tape but used some vellum and stamped with a freebie stamp from ages ago and made my own. It's easy to make with tissue and double sided tape on the back but I didn't have any. The little girl is also from the same set and I added some glitter and the sentiment is another freebie from Bo Bunny.

Today is my god daughter's middle daughters 5th birthday and I know she loves horses so I created a digital card for her.

I used a digi kit from G&T and incorporated a picture of one of her aunt's horses and added Maddie behind. 

I've been busy with more birthday cards for next week, one of which is Charlie's. We are going down on Monday for his birthday and staying till Wednesday so I'll be posting later in the week with his card and a couple for a friend's 40th!

Time for bed I think, night,night :)

Forgot about the time difference and I've missed the challenge!!! Still I've got another Christmas card:)

Seasonal cards!

Afternoon all, we are just back from a few unexpected days in Portsmouth to look after Charlie and last night I went with Lara to see Hairspray at the Kings Theatre, which was brilliant. It was as professional as the West End show with Michael Ball!!
Anyway back to my cards which I had quickly made on Sunday before we left. The first is this week's Christmas card for CASE-ing Christmas and the card to case is DT Cohenna's:

                                        
                               I decided to go with the stocking as my theme, come and see:

The stamps were part of a freebie set from Creative Stamping magazine and I just love this fireplace:)

I stamped and cut out the stockings to create a popped up bunting and thought the sentiment looked at home on the centre of the fireplace. I used my Chameleon pens to colour it all in and added sme silver stickles to the top of 2 of the stockings. I've also been chosen as Santa's helper again for my last card:)

My 2nd card is for this week's Less is More challenge which is WINGS.

I stamped and coloured the butterfly tree from Little Claire designs, diecut it out and inked around the edges. The butterflies are SU embossalicious and I pierced the edges in a scallop pattern as if it was a butterfly trail.

We took Charlie to soft play for a couple of hours yesterday, where was that facility when my boys were young?!! What an amazing place:)

I've just noticed the new challenge over at ATSM which is holiday soI am linking up my Christmas card for that challenge.

Less is More week 211-one layer

Evening everyone, well this week the challenge over at Less is More is a one layer one with a LOVE theme:
Come and see what I came up with:

I created a heart mask and inked through with Spun Sugar DI. The flourish is a NBUS that was a bargain ebay buy, a set of flourish stamps from Artemio, inked with  SU Soft Suede. The sentiment is from Hobby Art and I've added 3 pearls. Love this colour combo:)

I'm also entering my card into the new challenge at Addicted to CAS where they have the code word MASK.

Off for a girly lunch with my ex colleagues tomorrow, looking forward to the catch up!

24 carat bling!!

Evening all just a quick post to show you my card for this weeks CASE-ing Christmas challenge.
The card we have to case is this one by DT Donna:

I chose to case the embossed background, large layered topper, ribbon and gems, in fact most of it!!

Come and see:

I went with a landscape card, Anna-Marie gold card, sizzex EF and Sue Wilson stamp.

Hope you've had a good weekend, ours was quiet as we have a busy week coming up:)

Happy 4th Birthday!

Afternoon all, just a quick post to show a card I've made for the 4th birthday celebrations over at Less is More!

Less is More is 4 Years old

Who would have thought that when Mandi and I began a challenge blog for Clean and Simple cards that it would have had such an impact on Blogland.

It was a success from the outset (for which we thank you most sincerely) and seems to have influenced the ethos of several other CAS challenges which have sprung up since then.

Now lots of challenges request that participants comment on their fellow crafters, something that we felt strongly about... everyone loves a friendly comment don't they!

Today we have people from all over the world joining in with our challenges and the standard of entries is simply superb!

We are lucky enough to be joined this week by representatives from lots of the fabulous companies which sponsor us, and there are lots of goodies up for grabs from them this week!

So a huge THANK YOU to them and lots of good reasons for you to join in!

As it is the first Challenge of the month it's a 

Colour Challenge 

and this time they are

PINK AND GREY

It's very grey here today and the light is awful and no matter what I did I couldn't get a decent photo! It didn't help with the colours being so muted but IRL it's pretty:) Come and see:

I used an Imagination stencil with Spun Sugar DI and added some grey highlights with a pen. I cut out the bird on some dotty card and matted onto the same card. The base card is obviously grey!

The sentiment is an old SeeDee on stamped in grey versamark and shadowed with Spun Sugar.

Have to run as I'm due at Aquafit and then Rock Choir!

Carol has just suggested that I add it to Imagination Crafts February challenge which is anything goes!

Crafty catch up!

Hi everyone, well we got back yesterday from a lovely weekend in Portsmouth and the weather was wonderful! There was a craft fair on Sunday and I met up with Chrissie and Anne from Less is More and we had a good catch up and spent a few pennies. I also found out that I was showcased this week on LIM, how exciting!
Anyway back to this week's Christmas card for the CASE-ing Christmas blog and the card to case was by DT Ellen:



Lovely card, I decided to go with the split base and holly, come and see:

The ef is a sizzex one  and the holly die is from Tattered Lace. I cut it 3 times in teal and red and then inserted the berries into the diecut. The sentiment is from SU inked in red Memento. I added a touch of  clear Wink of Stella.

I need to make a card for LIM as it's their 4th birthday, unbelievable, it's definitely my go to challenge every week;)

Silver and black

Hi everyone, well I'm keeping up with my resolve to make a Christmas card each week and helping me do this is the CASE-ing Christmas challenge. I like the freedom it gives me just to take any element from the DT card and create my own, come and see:

This is Mynnette's DT card and from that I chose trees silver and black:

On a white base card I stamped a snowy image from La Blanche and glittered it up with a versamark pen and some WOW embossing glitter. Unfortunately it doesn't show up well and I got fed up taking photos from every which way!!!!

 The die cuts are from Xcut, cut on matt silver and black card and the sentiment is SU Greetings of the season.
No snow here yet although it has tried but 28 miles up the road there was several inches. Hope you are all safe and warm.

Love is in the air!

Hi everyone just a quick post to show a card I've made that fits in with 4 challenges this week! Come and see:

I took the photo from 2 amgles to show the depth of the heart which is made from paper clay and then a heart stamp, which was a freebie from Craft Stamper, pressed into it. when it had dried I swiped it with versamark and added gold detail ep.

The banner is a matt gold card matted onto cream card and then I placed the heart stamp where I wanted the aperture, drew round it and cut it out. The heart embellishment was stuck down and the sentiment is a WOW one.

I was inspired by a beautiful card on Florence's blog, do check out her fabulous work:)

I am entering my card in the following challenges:

Less is More where the challenge is a sketch

TIME OUT where the theme is Valentine's Say with a twist of optional hearts

The Card Concept the theme is Love and I have chosen CAS

Uniko Studio where the theme is Love and Friendship

Let it snow!

Hi everyone, wow another week over and time forthe latest challenge over at CASE-ing Christmas. The card this week has been created by DT Rocky:

I chose to go with diagonals and snowflakes come and see:

I inked Tumbled Glass DI through a patchwork stencil from Stamps away and using the scrap negative from a snowflake die I spread Imaginations Sparkle Medium through it which gives a fabulous raised effect. The sentiment is an SU one stamped and embossed with fine detail gold ep,  and popped up on foam pads.

I'm enjoying this challenge and now have 3 cards ready for Christmas 2016!!

Friends

Afternoon everyone, well this week's challenge over at Less is More is the theme of FRIENDSHIP.
I decided to go with a digi stamp of children that I've had for ages. It's an illustration by Susan Beatrice Pearse and I used my new Chameleon pens that Karen bought me for my birthday and Christmas, to colour it in!

The base card is embossed using an Imagination stencil and lightly dusted with Spun Sugar DI. I cut out the image with a scalloped die and dusted that with the same ink. The sentiment is an old SeeDee one cut out using a matching smaller die and a pearl added. I'm also linking my card to the latest challenge over at Uniko Studio which is Love and Friendship.

It was a friend's birthday on Tuesday and I don't have a very good photo of her card but thought I'd share it just the same!

No blue involved just buff and chocolate using Sue Wilson dies for card shape and flowers and Tonic for the sentiment.

I've just heard that I have been chosen as one of the winners over at CASE-ing Christmas with last weeks card and am now officially one of Santa's Helpers :)

2 down 50 to go!

Afternoon all from a cold but bright London town! It's time for the 2nd challenge over at CASEing-Christmas and here is the card from DT Judy:

I decided to go with the colours and here is my card:

Tattered Lace Winter wishes die cut from matt gold card and then cut from the centre of the dark green card and the gold sentiment inlaid. It was backed onto red card and the base card is bright green. I stamped a Bo Bunny holly corner in versamark and added berries with a paper pen. 

I'm liking this challenge as it gives a lot of choice, do go and check out the blog for all the inspiration.

Hope you're all having a good weekend :)

One card, 3 challenges!

Hi everyone, well I got around to making a card for this week's challenge over at Less is More and remembered I had to post it on the NBUS challenge on Darnell's blog. Thought I'd better check in case there was a twist and guess what ? Darnell is GD over at CASology and the theme is NBUS!
For any NBUS virgins this means "never before used schtuff".

So here we go with the LIM theme which is:

It's back to 

One Layer Cards 

once more and this time our theme for your cards is 

New Beginnings.

Come and see what I made:

This months Creative Stamping magazine had a large freebie set of stamps called New Beginnings, how coincidential was that? I was going to use the baby stamp but my sister, Karen beat me to it so I settled for this, cute eh? I used NBUS cardstock, NBUS stamps and an old Anna Griffin ef which allows me to enter it in the combi challenge of Darnell and CASology.

Check out both blogs for inspiration. Off to get changed for Aquafit and tonight is our first night back at Rock Choir :)

Ist Xmas card of 2015!

Hi everyone I'm cutting it really fine today as I wanted to join in the challenge over at Less is More and a new challenge that Mynnette is running. I'm going to try and make a Christmas card each week ( yeah, yeah I hear you all say! ) and that's what Mynnette's challenge is all about but first here is the theme over at Less is More:

We have a super
  Colour Challenge
for you this time... with a little personal choice for you too!

BLACK, METALLIC + ONE

DO  keep your designs uncluttered and remember to include that white space!

                                                                Here is my card:

I embossed a piece of lilac card and matted it onto black and silver card and cut it into a banner.

The bauble is a MB one that I cut twice in black and silver to give the shadow effect and the flourish is a Marianne one. The sentiment is an SU one and I added a tiny bit of glitter to the embossing.

Mynnette's new challenge is :

Hello, friends!  Welcome to CASE-ing Christmas!  We are a weekly challenge devoted to the holiday season--year round! ;)  How does this challenge work?  It's easy!  We give you a card to CASE and you CASE it!

If you've never CASEd a card, here's what you need to do:

1. Look at the CASE card photo.
2. Be inspired by some element of the card.  This could be colors, layout, image, etc.
3. Make a card based on that inspiration.

See!  Easy peasy!  We cannot wait to see what you have for us this week and each week this year!  Are you ready for this week's CASE card?!  

Here it is...

This is a card by Pat on the DT

So I think you can see where I was going with my card :)

Have a good weekend and I'd like to welcome Mary who has kindly joined my followers.

Stamping Sensations

Morning everyone and it's an exciting one for me as I was invited to be Guest designer this month on the Stamping Sensations challenge blog as part of the prize that I won back in October!

The challenge this month is to incorporate dies and or punches in your work. This should be very popular as we all seem to use dies to embellish our cards.

Come and see what I came up with:

I used a Tonic verso die with a matching topper called Pansy. The stamp is part of my prize from Imagination crafts and it's a decoupage one called Waterlily which I coloured with PM's and stamped again to create the decoupage. The topper then gets tucked in to the centre of the large diecut and I put blue card behind to enhance the design. I added a few tiny dots of cosmic shimmer glue to the lily and the dragonflies. The sentiment is a very old SeeDee one.

I do hope you'll pop over to Stamping Sensations to check out the fabulous inspiration from the design team and to join in the challenge this month.

I am also entering my card into the January challenge over at Imagination - Crafts  as their theme is Anything Goes and I have used their fabulous stamp!

Boo!

Hi everyone sorry if I scared you, I know it's not 4th January but I decided to make a card for the latest challenge over at Less is More which I haven't participated in for a while. The theme is FAMILY and as I couldn't find anything suitable in my stamps I made a card using Craft Artist.




I have a cute digi kit called Woodland animals and this is what I came up with:

Happy New Year to all my folowers and blogging friends :)

Happy New Year!

Hi everyone, hope you've all had a good Christmas and I'm here to wish you a very Happy, prosperous and crafty New Year !!
We had a lovely time in Portsmouth with Charlie and thoroughly enjoyed seeing him understand all about Christmas this year.
It's been nice to make something other than Christmas cards, although I am going to try and make one a week, that's my resolution for 2015 :) So here are a couple of cards for different occasions that I've made with some new dies:

Couture border die and MB butterfly

Tonic verso frame

Tonic verso and matching sentiment die

As above

Just off to get ready for the evening, we are off to a local hotel for a dinner dance with our usual crew of three other couples, we've been friends for 36 years ;)

Once again, happy new year and I will see you on the 4th when I will be posting my GD card for Stamping Sensations.

MerryChristmas

Hi everyone I hope you are all surviving the stresses and strains of the Christmas preparations and avoiding the awful germs going around!
Jim has managed to pick up a dreadful cough and cold and has spent 3 days in bed, men always seem to take it to the extreme :) I'm ok thank goodness although I did have a poorly day on Sunday but just dosed myself up and away it went!
I thought I'd show you a photo of my friend and I at the BBC doing the news, it was a brillinat tour and I would highly recommend it:



We had a lovely weekend with Charlie and got to visit the Christmas market at Winchester which was very festive.
I have managed to finish all my present wrapping and Christmas cards are all sent! We should have been in Somerset visiting my sister Karen but because Jim isnt well we have had to postpone until the weekend and then we are off to Portsmouth on Wednesday for Christmas. When Charlie heard we were all coming down he said "hooray".
Here are a few of my cards that I have been making:

A box card for Charlie

A Xmas tree for Keir & Lara

I have a few more but they are being given out on Thursday and I don't want the recipients to see them :)

It just leaves me to say Merry Christmas to all my blogging friends and I hope you have a wonderful time and a happy and prosperous New Year!