ONLY JOKING

Don't know what came over me today - up until last week I haven't participated in challenges for absolutely ages and then I manage to make a card which qualifies for two - not like me at all! Anyway, I'm entering this card in Papertake Weekly Challenge "Buttons, Bows, Blings and Bloom" and also LOTV "favourite stamp" (by the skin of my teeth!) I love all the LOTV stamps but this is my most recent so at the moment it is my favourite! I used Promarkers to colour the image, Magnolia papers, Pink Petticoat sentiment and Navy card, Nestabilities, string and punch from SU and button and webbing from my stash.

I haven't taken part in the PTW challenge for a long while unfortunately, and come to think of it, haven't taken part in ANY challenges for ages!! This week's challenge is a fabby sketch by Dawny P , so, because I was stamping out some of these cute HH images for a blogging buddy, thought I would use one for this card. The image (Gavin the givin' dragon) has been coloured with Promarkers with a bit of doodling around the edges. Sentiment stamp is Penny Black, papers are Basic Grey and c.s. is Bazzill Bling. Finally, added a couple of Doodlebug buttons. Sorry this posting is short 'n' sweet but Sam has a friend round to play and I must get started on their tea soon.

Good morning all! Got a busy day again today so this will be a very quick posting. The challenge on PTW this week is to make a male card. Think I've just got in by the skin of my teeth!! Decided to keep the card very simple and ended up doing two because they were so quick! For this one I used a Bella image I had received in a RAK and coloured him with Brushables, he was then mounted onto Bazzill c.s. and rounded the corners. The base of the card was covered in a blue Bazzill Bling c.s. with some Doodlebug ribbon stuck to the bottom. I rounded the bottom corners of the card, used a circular sentiment from Craftwork Cards which I layered onto red Bazzill c.s. and added a couple of brads from my stash. With this card, I again used a Bella image from a RAK and coloured it with Brushables, then added the Woodware sentiment "Cheers" to the bottom corner and mounted onto Bazzill c.s. I covered half of the base card with blue Bazzill Bling c.s. run through the Cuttlebug with ...

Really on a roll at the moment....it's amazing what the sound of flushing can do to your mojo!! As I explained earlier, Sam is off school today and he's such a good boy that he let's me get on with what I have to do and quite happily plays so managed to complete the PTW challenge this morning and when I had finished it, noticed that it fitted in nicely with the CCT challenge this week. I don't often complete more than one challenge with one card so was very pleased with myself! The PTW challenge this week is another fabulous sketch by Katharina..... ....and the challenge on CCT is to make a card for the girlies, so this is what I came up with..... I've used another of my new Whipper Snapper stamps for this one and this cute little mouse has been coloured with Prismas and Sansodor with some Glamour Dust added to the flowers. Can you guess I'm really lovin' these Blonde Moments Sugar Dumpling papers at the moment (!) and I just love the effect the mirricard ha...

The challenge on PTW this week is All That Glitters and is simply "to use glitter on your projects". For this card, I've used a Magnolia image which was kindly sent to me by Lilian and I've coloured her with Prismas and Sansodor and added Glamour Dust to her wings, the hearts in the basket and the flurry of hearts she is catching. A sentiment from Woodware was added to the side of the image. The card has been layered with paper from the Blonde Moments Sugar Dumpling collection (which I am just lovin' at the moment!), Bazzill c.s. and mirricard to give it an extra bit of "bling"! Finally a glittery flower from Doodlebug was added with a jewel brad from Papermania.

Still busy with buckets of water!!! My Brother is here at the moment trying to sort out a temporary measure but is struggling so it looks like we're going to have to put up with it until the Plumber can fit us in!! When I was catching up on my blogging last night, I visited Andrea's blog and she has made a card which is so apt for me at the moment.....it really did make me giggle, so please take a look and tell me what you think!!! I received some lovely post yesterday from Sue who kindly stamped me some images and look at the gorgeous folder she made to put them in. It's beautiful Sue and thanks so much! I also received two more awards!! This one is from Fran and was awarded to the Tilda and Friends Forum and I've been informed that as I'm a Member, I'm entitled to it!!! The second award is from Zoe...... .....thank you so much girls. Makes no difference to me if I've received the award before, because I always feel touched that people consider me when ...

Sorry I wasn't around yesterday.....had a really hectic day! Had paperwork, banking and a visit to the Dentist for the boys (which went well!!) so didn't have time for postings or any blogging. However, did manage to make a few things last night when the kids were in bed, some of which I can't show until the weekend because they're gifts for a friend. However, managed to complete the Papertake Weekly Challenge....this must be a record for me, don't think I've ever done it so quick before!! This week the spec is..... ".....the challenge is to use scallops or zig-zags (or both if you're really keen lol!) on your project!...." I'm really into red at the moment and decided to keep this one really simple. For the base card, I've layered red Bazzill c.s. and some white c.s. embossed with Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder. I've used one of my favourite Elzybells stamps and coloured it with Brushables and added a sentiment from the Papertrey Ink ...

Early start for me this morning as I'll be out for most of the day but the day has started well....the boys are in a good mood and no arguing so far!!! The challenge on PTW this week is a sketch from Katharina and I really enjoyed this one. ....and surprisingly enough I've used green! Can you believe it - all the times I've moaned about green but I bought some new Laura Ashley papers and they've really inspired me! Here's the boring bit! Coloured Tilda with Prismas and Sansodor and added glamour dust to her wings, petticoat and bunch of flowers. Cardstock is Bazzill and paper is from Laura Ashley. Ribbon is from Little Silver Hat, sentiment is Woodware and charm brad is from Papermania.

Fourth post of the day...must be a record for me! There was so much that I needed to catch up with on my blog and I still haven't visited all the other blogs yet but I think I'll leave that until later when the boys are in bed and in the meantime, sit down with Sam (Lewis has gone out with a friend, popping in briefly for some chocolate!) and watch him devour his huge stack of Easter Eggs!! The challenge on PTW this week is "Weather With You!". "....anything associated with the weather, whatever your interpretation!. Under the weather, fun in the sun? Wind? Rain?....." For this one, I hooked out a Penny Black stamp I've only ever used once before. I coloured it with Brushables and layered it on Pink Petticoat card. The paper is also Pink Petticoat printed onto lightweight c.s. Added some ribbon from Little Silver Hat and the sentiment was from Craftwork Cards with two sticky gems from Papermania.

Hi All! Sorry I haven't been around lately but I haven't been feeling too good and had a rough couple of days. Starting to improve now and have finally managed to complete a card! This one is a Father's Day card for my Dad and it also incorporates the Tilda & Co and Papertake Weekly challenges. I know I'm too late for Tilda & Co but thought I'd have a go anyway. The theme was male cards. On Papertake this week it was to make a card from Claudia's frame card tutorial. I'd only got as far as stamping out the images before I was ill so the card has been a bit rushed today and is not quite perfect. I have used Bazzill c.s. for the frame card and then used the following Magnolia images: Grandad (or Edwin's Father....not sure of his exact name!), Edwin's dog, part of the Edwin's town, fence, sun and mushrooms......the latter two were kindly stamped by Fran for me. All images were coloured with Prismas and Sansodor and the background piece ...

We're now home with all gradings completed. Lewis passed his grading with credit (whoo hoo!!) and is now the proud owner of a yellow belt......or will be on Wednesday 'cause they're going to present the belts in class so unfortunately, do not have a photo of him to share with you, but I do have this one of Sam...hee! hee! Do you think he was pleased or what?!!!! God knows what happened to his trousers, although we did find out later that he forgot to put any pants on when he got dressed!!! Will get one of Lewis after his class this week, just so he's not left out! Now on to the Papertake Weekly Challenge. I'm VERY late with this one and the challenge this week is: "...This week's challenge is squares! Square cards, square patterns or square on your layouts......" This is my first attempt at a spring card (or boing as I like to call them) and I put it together in between gradings, so it was a bit rushed! I've used the Whipper Snapper stamp "Ea...

It's a beautiful morning here in Sunny Dorset......no rain and the sun is out and.......it's peaceful!! The kids went back to school this morning! Both of them were grumpy and tired and Sam was very tearful. However, I know that when I put them to bed tonight, they will both go out like lights (hopefully!). Now for the card. Managed to photograph it this morning. This one's for the Papertake Weekly Challenge and after receiving my papers from Blonde Moments, thought this set would be ideal for Spring. I also used one of my new stamps from Sugar Nellie which I managed to mount last week when I was having a sort out. I was really out of my comfort zone with these colours....they're not ones I usually choose, however, because I liked the papers so much, took the colours from them. Image is coloured with Brushables and mounted on Bazzill c.s. Flower is also from Bazzill and brad from Poppicrafts. The greeting is a stamp......yes, the one I can never remember!! Can you belie...

I've finally done it without realising it.....I made a card for the Tilda & Co Challenge and realised, when I'd finished it, that it also fitted in with the Papertake Weekly Challenge - a first for me!! Tilda & Co challenge this week was Romance/Buckle: "....you could use a buckle for a ribbon slider, you could make a buckle from scratch as a closer on a card? or perhaps use an old belt buckle....." and the PTW challenge was Bloomin Gorgeous!: "...to use floral embellishments on your projects...." For this card I've used Tilda with her petticoats (as I call her!) and coloured her with Brushables and added glamour dust to her wings, belt and petticoats. She was then mounted onto Bazzill Bling c.s. I layered the actual card with the same c.s. and Karen Foster paper and then used some ribbon and diamante ribbon buckle from Ribbon Oasis, the flowers are from Bazzill and Poppicrafts and the brad is also from Poppicrafts. The sentiment is stamped strai...

The PTW challenge this week is: "....please can we see some hearts (or a heart lol!) on your cards this week? Already done your Valentines cards? How about doing a wedding/anniversary/engagement or birthday card? We don't mind which - as long as there's a heart or two....or three....!!!......" I've used a Rubadubadoo stamp coloured with Marvy pens and some glamour dust added to the large heart. This has been layered with my Nestabilities rectangles and two tiny Papermania sticky hearts added to the image. Paper is from Pink Petticoat and sentiment is Doodlebug (I think!) Ribbon and hearts are from my stash.

Back again, can you believe it, two postings in one day?!! The reason being, I've had the kids off school all week with a bug of some kind and they've gone back today so I'm trying to catch up with my cardmaking. The PTW challenge this week is: "....Yep, you guessed it! It's......Violets are Blue! We'd like to see Blues or Purples this week please!......." I've used the Tilda with a Garland image which has been coloured using watercolours with a little glitter dust added to her petticoat and the centre of the flowers (doesn't show too well because the photo isn't good). Paper is Doodlebug, c.s. is Bazzill and the top piece has been run through the Big Shot with Cuttlebug circle flowers embossing folder. Sentiment is from Pink Petticoat, flower and brad are from Poppicrafts and ribbon is some which I had in my craft box.

The PTW challenge this week is: "....to use red on your card! Any shade or shades of red that you like from bright pillar box to deep burgandy!! Come on everyone, let's paint the town RED!!..." So here's my contribution using a Penny Black stamp coloured with Brushables, Pink Petticoat papers in Poppy, Dovecraft ribbon and a brad from my craftbox. The sentiment is part of a Penny Black stamp as well. The inside of the card has the other part of the sentiment in it which is "It's Your Birthday!". Keeping a close eye on the counter now as I'm one off from 2000 and will be offering some blog candy. Watch this space!!

This week's Papertake Weekly Challenge is: "... to make a Thank You card or notelet.." so here's my contributions. The first one is using a PB stamp coloured with Brushables, Pink Petticoat papers, Dovecraft ribbon and Papermania sticky gems. The sentiment is a free font printed straight to the paper. The second card is a Sugar Nellie stamp, again coloured with Brushables, Pink Petticoat papers, Dovecraft ribbon, Papermania sticky gems, and a Pink Petticoat sentiment. Thanks for looking!

Papertake Weekly Challenge this week is: "....to use 'bling' on your card somewhere!! This could be glitter, gems, or anything else sparkly!!...." This is my contribution. I printed a Pink Petticoat design straight to card. The image is a Groovy Chick stamp coloured with Marvy and a Sakura glaze pen. This was then layered onto Bazzill c.s. and mounted with foam pads. The sentiment is from Pink Petticoat layered the same as the image and I added Papermania sticky jewels to the engagement ring and parts of the card. Finally a fabric heart was attached to the image.

The challenge on Papertake Weekly Challenge is: "....Anything to do with shopping this week, what with the sales around the corner lol!! Handbags, shopping bags, dollar/pound signs etc etc!!....." Had a rummage through my stamps and found this one. I have hardly used it and I know why now - it's so fiddly to colour in!! Anyway, decided to colour it in daylight because my eyes do not seem to focus at night now - old age creeping on!! I used Pink Petticoat papers with some Doodlebug ribbon. The stamp is a Dolly Mamas from Stamps Happen which was coloured with Marvy pens and layered onto Bazzill red c.s. The sentiment is from a See D's collection and was also mounted onto red Bazzill c.s. with two small red brads. Two larger red brads were fixed to the top right-hand side of the card and the image and sentiment mounted with foam pads. It really was nice to have a break from Christmas and make a card!! Had a nice Christmas but as usual ate too much and now all I want to d...

This week's Papertake Weekly Challenge is: "Food for thought! Please use something yummy on your cards! Any food will do! Chocs, sweets, cakes, dinners (?!?)......" Managed to cook up (!) two cards this week. The first is using that cheeky puss Fluffles and I imagine this is how I will look by the end of Christmas Day!! Coloured him with Brushables with a little glitter on the cake, and mounted on Bazzill c.s. and some mirriboard, Fixed him on the card with foam pads. Papers are Pink Petticoat, ribbon is Dovecraft, sentiment is a rubber stamp and brads are some odd ones I had in my craft box. The second card is a Penny Black stamp coloured again with Brushables and a little glitter for the ice-cream. The image is punched out with a Woodware punch and fixed to a layer of pink Bazzill c.s. which has been punched with a scalloped punch. Papermania sticky jewels have been added to the edges. I printed a Pink Petticoat design straight onto card and mounted the image onto this ...