Crafty Little Fairies DT - In The Kitchen

Good morning everyone - it's Thursday, so it must be time for another Crafty Little Fairies Challenge.

This week it's the turn of the Pink Fairies ... so it's my turn to join in, yippee!  ... and even better, I'm hosting this week's challenge, so I do hope you'll pop over to the challenge blog and play along.

Thanks very much to everyone for your gorgeous entries last week, and don't forget to check on the main challenge blog to see if you are a winner or top 3. 

This week our theme is

In The Kitchen

Very apt for me seeing as I have just started a new baking blog  - it's here if you would like to check it out.  :-)

Anyhoo ... back to the challenge. This week we are very pleased to be sponsored by Whiff of Joy

with a stamp of the winner's choice,

and by Delicious Doodles

Don't forget you need to use a stamped image on your creation if you want to be eligible for this week's prize.

The rest of the fairies have cooked up a storm with this challenge so please do go and visit them - here's what I did.

I must admit that I did order this image and sentiment specially to tie in with both this challenge and my current baking obsession .. and I may have another baking image waiting in the wings for a card in the near future!! They are just sooo cute though, I really couldn't resist!!

Stamps: LotV "Busy Baking" and "Recipe Sentiments";

Media: Promarkers and Flexmarkers;

Papers: Papermania "Lucy Cromwell";

Supplies: flowers by Wild Orchid Crafts; berries, doily and lace from my stash;

Tools: Spellbinders "Floral Ovals" die ; La La Lands "Filigree Corner"; Leone Em "Ash Branch" leaf punch.

Challenges:

Crafty Calendar - Let's Celebrate

Papertake Weekly - New Year, New Stash (image & sentiment)
Sparkles #52 - Show Us Your New Stash (as above)
Creative Craft #1 - New
A Gem Of A Challenge #110 - Something New (2nd entry)

Creative Romance - Something New

Whimsy #67 - Something New

Crafty Cardmakers #107 - Bear With Me (2nd entry)

Deep Ocean #69 - Birthday
Simon Says Monday - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Crafty Boots - Anything Goes

Lili of the Valley - Anything Goes (3rd entry)

That's all from me for today - hope you can play along with Crafty Little Fairies this week, and look forward to seeing your creations.

Hugs,

Love Is In The Air!

Good morning everyone. Here's a card I made over the weekend using an adorable LotV image of 2 bears dancing ... how cute is that?? The image really put me in mind of an anniversary card, so that's what I made.

I actually coloured the image a couple of weeks ago, so I then had to decide on papers to match - I was struggling a bit but then remembered some Pink Petticoat digital papers I had so I downloaded a couple of sheets - had a bit of trouble with my printer but managed to get enough to make the one card.

Stamps: LotV "Shall We Dance" and "For You Circular Sentiments";

Media: Promarkers and Flexmarkers;

Papers: Pink Petticoat "Old Fashioned Girl";

Supplies: flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts; heart shaped pearls from The Hobby House; ribbon from my stash; 

Tools: "Classic hearts" nestabilities; Martha Stewart "Valentine lace" edge punch; Memory  Box "Sofia heart" die (a Christmas present from my lovely friend Jennifer - thanks so much !! :-) ); Magnolia "Heart Swirl Branch".

Challenges:

Penny Black & More - Love is in The Air

My Mum's Challenge #13 - Love

Divas By Design - Let's Celebrate

Crafty Catz #213 - Pretty In Pink

A Gem Of A Challenge #110 - Something New (heart dies)

Creative Inspirations #247 - Blooms & Pearls
The Hobby House - Ribbons

Lili of the Valley - Anything Goes (2nd entry)
Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes (2nd entry)
Simon Says Monday - Anything Goes

Thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Winter Blues

Hi everyone - hope you're enjoying your weekend.

Today I would like to show you a very simple card I made using one of the adorable LotV Christmas stamps  that I bought last autumn but never got to use due to my time out ... so today it is getting its first inking. I was also inspired by the fact that there are also still a few Christmas & winter challenges around, plus one or two on the theme of "blues", so I thought I would tie those themes together.

Stamps: LotV, Crafter's Companion sentiment;

Media: Promarkers;

Paper: Forever Friends "Kraft Notes";

Tools: Joy Craft snowflake dies.

Challenges:

ABC Christmas - A is for Anything Christmas

CRAFT #241 - Christmas

Pile It On #2 - Holidays / Celebrations
Cute Card Thursday #303 - Cold & Frosty

Simon Says Wednesday - Ice Inspiration
Totally Papercrafts #201 - Winter Wonderland

Simon Says Monday - Blues

Winter Wonderland - Monochrome

Fussy & Fancy #105 - Monochrome

Passion For Promarkers # 229 - CAS
Top Tip Tuesday - CAS

Crafty Cardmakers #107 - Bear With Me

Without Words - Spots or Stripes

Totally Gorjuss #218 - Manly
Christmas Card Challenge #7 - Polka Dots
Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes

Creative Craft #26 - Anything Goes

Lili of the Valley - Anything Goes

That's all from me for today - enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Ribbon Girl adorable pink goodies giveaway.

Hi everyone,

Just a quck heads up to let you know that

is givng away this absolutely gorgeous selection of pink flowers, ribbons etc. on  The Ribbon Girl Challenge Blog.

  
  

How wonderful is this??  (Please excuse the pictures thrown all over the page ... I'm having TERRIBLE trouble with Blogger at the moment!!)All you need to do is link o the giveaway form your blog, and leave a comment saying what you would make with these scrumptious goodies if you win them.

 

Hugs,

Starting over

Hi everyone, and welcome to 2014!  Hope it is going to be a happy, healthy and crafty year for you all.

 

I have finally returned to blogland after so long away, so it is time for me to welcome you to the first Crafty Little Fairies Challenge for 2014 ... it is the turn of the Pink Fairies this week, and our theme is

 

Starting Over

 

A pretty apt theme for the season I'm sure you'll agree, and particularly resonant for me!!

 

This week we are sponsored by the lovely Mary at

 

 

The rest of the fairies have sprinkled their fairy dust as always so don't forget to check them out ... this is what I did.

 

 

Stamps: Penny Black image from "Hugs" transparent set;

Media: promarkers and Flexmarkers;

Papers: LotV "Country Lady" and "Country Gent";

Supplies: flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts; ribbon from Hobbycraft; pearls from the Hobby House; lace and charm from my stash; printed sentiment from LotV Art Pad 8;

Tools: Joycraft butterfly die.

 

 

Challenges:

Simon Says Wednesday - Something New
Totally Gorjuss #216 - New
Heck Of A Challenge - New
Sentimental Sundays #187 - Pick of Team's Favourite Challenges

(I picked #140 Celebrating the NEW)

Craft Your Passion #194 - Something New

Oldie But A Goodie - Tartan or Check

(my PB stamp is several years old)
A Gem of a Challenge #109 - Anything Goes

Creative Craft #26 - Anything Goes

Creative Card Crew #52 - Anything Goes

Bearly Mine #117 - Anything Goes

Crafty Creations #253 - Anything Goes

Stampin' For The Weekend - Anything Goes

 

 

Hope you can join us this week and look forward to seeing your creations.

hugs,

Favourite Five of 2013

 

Happy New Year everyone! Here we are in 2014 ... and a whole new year of crafting ahead!!

Before getting onto that, I thought I would play along with the lovely Debby by looking back to my favourite 5 cards of 2013. This time it's not as hard for me as some past years, as having just returned from 3 months off blogging, I haven't posted nearly so many in 2013 as any other year! So here goes ... most recent first ...

I loved the colour scheme and girliness of this one and the touch of frantage ... and I posted it to coincide with my first ever baked cupcakes!! :-)

Loved this cute snow family image, and was pleased with the way the sepia colour scheme worked out.

 

This is one of my favourites because of the colour scheme ... the little wooden embellishments seem to fit so perfectly with the blue and cream theme.

 

 

this is the last card I ever made for my mum ... for Mother's Day last year. it would have made my favourite 5 based purely on the design, but the reason I put so much into it was cos mum was so special to me and I knew it might be the last card I would make for her.

 

 

Last but not least, a card which is rather different from my usual style ... rather more shabby chic ... but I think I like it!

  

 

Well that's 5, but I must have a little cheat and include 1 more for sentimental reasons ... the last ever card I amde for my mum and dad together ... whcih was their diamond wedding anniversary card last March. They were so thrilled with it, which makes me all sad and happy a t the same time!

 

 

So that's all from me ... sorry the last three photos are rather small, but naughty Mr Blogger won't let me resize them ... in deed for some reason during my time away from blogging my blogger interface has started to REALLY act up - problems posting and editing photos, and inability to open links to other blogs etc. ... anyone else having trouble??

 

Hugs,

  

Back from the wilderness

Hi everyone,

Well here I am, posting for the first time in almost three months. Life really has got in the way of crafting over the latter half of the year ... first my mum passed away in July, and then my dad was taken ill in October and I had to have a bit off  time of work to be with him as he doesn't live near me.

 

Things have hopefully settled down now, but my mojo had completely disappeared so I decided not to put any pressure on myself with making Christmas cards etc. ... I just wrote off this year for that, sent the few I'd already made and bought the rest!! Meanwhile I have been gradually getting into a new hobby - after many years of never cooking, indeed never entering the kitchen unless under duress, I have rather belatedly discovered the joy of baking! I'm still at an early stage with it, but I'm also starting a baking blog for 2014 both to chart my baking adventures and to raise a bit of money for charity - so I hope you'll have a peek!!

 

Anyhow, I decided with the New Year approaching I would try to kick start a resurgence of my creativity; so today I sat down and made a DT card for later this week ... my first card since the start of October!! Having made that one I thought I may as well make another card to post while I'm still on my Christmas hols, so I pulled out some of the stash I  bought for Christmas cardmaking this year and never got to use! Here's the result ...

 

 Stamps: LotV "James - Santa Stop Here" and "Christmas Grungy Messages";

Media: Promarkers and Flexmarkers, with stickles on teddy's hat;

Papers: Forever Friends "Kraft Notes";

Supplies: sparkly silver ribbon from The Ribbon Girl; gems by Papermania;

Tools: Joycraft Snowflake dies; Martha Stewart "Snow Flurry" PATP edge punch.

 
 

Challenges:

Passion For Promarkers #228 - Mega Christmas Challenge

My Mum's - Christmas / Winter

Southern Girls - Christmas Wishes

Paper Crafting Journey - It's Christmas Time!

Crafty Calendar - Cold & Frosty!

A Creative Romance - Sparkle At Christmas

Live & Love Crafts - Stardust

Papertake Weekly - Pick Of The Year (Last Christmas Card of the Year)

Simon Says Wednesday - Bling It On!

Bearly Mine #117 - Anything Goes

Well that's all from me for today, and probably for this year. I'll be back soon though, and hope to be fully back into the swing of crafting for 2014!

 

Happy New Year!

 

hugs,

Bake-ation and witchy treats

Hi everyone,

Yes I've been mising in action the past few weeks ... I've been having a bit of a difficult time as my dad was taken ill and had to go into hospital, so I had to take emergency leave from work and was away from home, my craft space and the internet!

 

Luckily he seems to have recovered well (touch wood!) but I've been pretty exhausted and on top of my mum passing away in the summer I just haven't felt like cardmaking or blogging at all!

 

However instead of cardmaking I have been keeping up a little with my new hobby of baking ... i guess you could say I've been taking a bake-ation! ... so here are a few pics of my recent efforts :-)

 

Firstly ... I went to a Hallowe'en birthday party two weeks ago ... and made these cute Hallowe'en black forest cupcakes (my first gluten free bake!) ...using a cute cupcake kit (cases, picks and sprinkles) from Hobbycraft.

 

 

 

I also made my first ever full size cake ... a gluten free red velvet cake :-)

 

 

And here's a couple of pics of the girls enjoying ourselves at the party :-)

 

 

(Did I mention that it was fancy dress?? lol!)

 

 

Yesterday we had a GBBO-style Bake Off in work for Children in Need, so I had a go at a chocolate whole-orange cake with orange cream cheese frosting!

 

 

My effort came second, though alas there were only 3 entries!! However any placing was miraculous as I had a comedy gold mishap with the cake as I was leaving the house in the morning ... I had it stored in an inverted cake tin in the fridge, and as I left the kitchen the cold tin flew out of my hands, broke open and slid down the door and wall in the hallway before coming to rest with the cake partly on the upturned tin, partly on the lid and partly (just a teeny part!!) on the floor!! Orange cream cheese frosting all down the wallpaper, door frame and all over the carpet with a nice garnish of choc shavings and cake crumbs - you've never seen a mess like it!! Miraculously the cake hadn't landed upside down or broken, so somehow I managed to get my leftover icing from the freezer, pop it in the microwave for a minute and then re-ice the parts of the cake where the icing had smeared off!!

 

At the end of all the cleaning up trauma I took the cake in for judging, though I was honest enough to tell my colleagues about the mishap before they risked eating any!! No one was deterred and they all seemed to enjoy it! Thank God no one had a video camera or I would have ended up on "You've Been Framed"!

 

That's all for now ... hope to be back sometime soon with a card.

Hugs,

Abracadabra!

Hi everyone ... hope you are enjoying your weekend. October already ... where is the year going to?? ... And that means that it's nearly time for Hallowe'en!! I don't do much in the way of Hallowe'en cards but as there are so many themed challenges out there I thought I'd just have a go at one ... and here it is!

 

 

My mojo is still very shaky at the moment ... my dad is not at all well, which is a lot of worry on top of everything else that has already happened this year. Still I'm quite pleased with how this one turned out.

 

 

Stamps: LotV "Abracadabra"; Whimsy Friendship Ticket;

Media: Promarkers; imaged edged with TH "dusty concord" distress ink;

Papers: The Robin's Nest (Purple/black glitter), ?? (black);

Supplies: ribbon from my stash;

Tools: Fleur-de-Lys nestabilities; X-Cut star dies; Stephanie Weightman "Tattered lace" alphabet for sentiment; Cuttlebug "Swiss Dots" embossing folder.

 

Challenges:

Sketch & Stash #122 - Sketch 

 

 

Crafty Calendar (October) - Hallowe'en

Bearly Mine #106 - Hallowe'en

My Mum's #10 - Hallowe'en

Crazy 4 Challenges #206 - Hallowe'en

Really Reasonable Ribbon #81 - Hallowe'en + Ribbon

Gem Of A Challenge #100 - Let's Hear It For The Boys

Fussy & Fancy #99 - One For The Boys

Cute Card Thursday #289 - Signs of Distress

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Going Dotty!

Passion for Promarkers #218 - Lots of Legs!

(2 on boy, 2 on teddy :-) )

Creative Craft #20 - Anything Goes

Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes

Penny Black & More (October) - Anything Goes

Crafty Catz #201 - Anything Goes

MAWTT - Anything Goes

Totally Gorjuss #204 - Anything Goes With Stars

Crafty Ribbons #64 - Anything Goes With Ribbon 

That's all for today. Thanks very much for visiting and enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Hugs,

Crafty Little Fairies newsflash!!

For any of you looking to join in with this week's Blue Fairies challenge over at Crafty Little Fairies - this is just to let you know that from yesterday our blog address has changed and is now

 

http://craftylittlefairieschallenge.blogspot.com

 

Look forward to seeing you over there!

 

Hugs,