ONLY JOKING

I recently made a card using Melinda Blowing Kisses using my red papers so thought I would show the second card I made with her and the blue/brown colour scheme. The Stamp is from Whiff of Joy and coloured with Promarkers with a bit of doodling as is the norm for me lately and some Glamour Dust added to her wings. Papers are.........wait for it! My Minds Eye AND a little bit of K & Co!!, distressed and stitched. Sentiment is from Stampin Up, ribbon is from Hobbycraft and the pin I made myself - sorry it's a bit wonky but had a bit of a hard time trying to get it through the knot!! Corners of the card are rounded with an SU punch. Off to do some housework now as I've got Vanessa and her boys visiting tomorrow.

The challenge over on Stamp Something this week is "Summer in Winter" and as soon as I saw this, a lightbulb went on in my head - believe me, that doesn't happen very often!! I knew I had the perfect stamp for this one! The stamp is from High Hopes and I've coloured Santa with Promarkers and added some Glamour Dust to his hat and some of the usual doodling to frame it. Papers are My Minds Eye and have distressed the edges and then came the disaster - my sewing machine packed up, so had to resort to adding faux stitching with my Marvy pen. Sentiment is from Cuddly Buddly and mounted onto Bazzill c.s. cut using SU scallop punch. Brads are from Poppicrafts. Well, there we have it - my first Christmas card completed for 2009!! Off to take a look at the other DT Members' creations now.

It's my friend, Jose's birthday today - hope you have a lovely day Jose....I won't ask how old lol!! Here's my card I made for her. I've made the base card from red Bazzill c.s. The image is called Picking Apples and it's another one I've had for a while but never used...tut tut!! She's been coloured in the usual way and framed with doodling. Do you recognise the paper hee! hee! with more distressing and sewing. Sentiment is from SU and rounded the edges with an SU punch. Flowers and button are from my stash. I've added a piece of Creative Smooth c.s. to the inside of the card - the sentiment is Elzybells and the flower stamp is Studio G, then joined it together with more doodling . Off to tackle some college work....oh, I'm so fed up with spreadsheets!!

Can you tell I'm in my "distress the edges and sew" phase LOL!!!! Trying hard to start filling up my card basket again as it's nearly empty and I hate not having a card handy when I need one. At the beginning of January, I stamped out alot of images which I hadn't used before and this is one of them. It's Melinda Blowing Kisses from Whiff of Joy and I've coloured her with Promarkers and the usual doodling to frame her. Is there any point naming the papers lol! (My Minds Eye) and c.s. is Bazzill. Sentiment is Cuddly Buddly and buttons are Doodlebug. Corners are rounded with an SU punch and finally, added a little Glamour Dust to her wings and the hearts. Things are alot better today so thank you to everyone who asked but I'm a tough old bird and seem to be able to cope with anything that life throws at me!!

Now it's the turn of the teal and chocolate colour scheme again!! As I mentioned before, I've made a few cards recently with these papers so I'm alternating them for postings so it's not too monotonous!! The image is called Pen Pal and is coloured with Promarkers (what else!!) with more doodling around the edges to frame it. Papers are.......yes, you've guessed it, My Minds Eye and brown c.s. is Bazzill. Sentiment is from Whiff of Joy and have distressed the edges with more dodgy stitching!! Buttons are from my stash. Having yet more personal problems at the moment....will they ever stop! so sorry the posting is so short.

We had some more sad news in Weymouth....I don't know if you were aware but there used to be three crafting outlets in our small town - Craft Central, a lovely little craft shop at a place called Brewers Quay and a craft shop in our main post office in town. Well the shop at Brewers Quay closed down a little while ago and a few weeks back Craft Central closed as well (apparently, it's gone into liquidation). Now our Post Office is in the hands of an Administrator......can you believe it! The good thing to come from this is they had a closing down sale - everything half price! Because I've been so good and haven't bought anything in a VERY long while and have managed to sell alot of my stamps I don't use, treated myself to my favourite papers and card....My Minds Eye and Bazzill, so be warned, you will be seeing alot of this paper and just to prove my point, here's one I made earlier lol!!! I'm back using my sewing machine again, however, please don't loo...

This week's challenge on Stamp Something is "Recipes" so, because I had a little gift to give to a friend and needed a card to go with it, I came up with this. Now you're probably thinking "what's that got to do with a recipe?", however, added a little something inside the card...... I got the idea for the recipe from a card I saw on Deb's blog over Christmas - she is such a talented lady and produces fabulous cards.....well worth a visit. Also, I've seen so many beautiful cards where the girls are now decorating the insides, so I thought I would combine the two. The image is Whiff of Joy, Willow with Cocoa, or coffee in this case!! I've coloured her with Promarkers and then just doodled around the edges. Papers are My Minds Eye and brown c.s. is Bazzill. Distressed the edges of the paper and then stitched them onto the card. Sentiment is MFT as are the coffee beans on the inside of the card. Flowers are all from my stash and for the centre...

The theme for this week's challenge on Stamp Something is "Birthday Wishes", so a nice easy one for us all! Used another of my High Hopes dragons for this one. The image is called Warm Wishes and has been coloured with Promarkers, added some Glamour Dust on the cake and doodled around the edges. Papers are Basic Grey and sentiment is from a Studio G set. Finally, added a couple of brads from my stash. Well worth popping over and taking a look at the wonderful work by my fellow DT members and the candy on offer.

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.

I really can't believe that these are the first bookmarks I've made. It's always been on my "to do" list but never got round to it, however, Sam received a special book for Christmas from my Sister which has a story for every day of the year in it and he decided that he needed a bookmark for it. So that meant I had to make two so Lewis wouldn't be left out! Stamps: Magnolia Colouring: Promarkers Papers: Scraps of My Minds Eye and K & Co Extras: Jumbo Eyelets SU, Ribbon Hobbycraft, SU Punch The boys were really pleased with them but have one more to make now as a friend popped in to see me when I was in the middle of making them and said "Ooh, I want one!" The boys are back to school on Tuesday, so am hoping to be able to catch up on my blogging then. Have a good evening!

Happy New Year everyone! Hope you all had a good holiday but isn't it great to get back to normal! I do love this time of year as it gives me the opportunity to have a good clear out and OMG, have I been having a whale of a time......chucking this, chucking that.......as they say "out with the old, in with the new"! It's also nice to get some crafting time in as well and the challenge on Stamp Something this week is "New Somethings". I've chosen to make a New Year card for a friend of mine in Canada and have kept to one of my New Year's Resolutions by using this High Hopes stamp which hadn't seen ink......just love the expression on Baby New Year's face! Stamps: High Hopes, Papertrey Ink Colouring: Promarkers Papers: Bo Bunny, My Minds Eye, K & Co Extras: Sewing Machine, Woodware Punch, SU Jumbo Eyelets, Hobbycraft Ribbon A quiet afternoon today - Lewis is out playing with friends and I'm just about to have a go on Spirograph with Sam...

Feeling a bit better today so planning on cleaning up the house later in readiness for the big day. Here's a birthday card I managed to make whilst battling through the Christmas cards recently - it made such a nice change! Stamps: Sarah Kay Colouring: Promarkers Papers: My Minds Eye Extras: Stash It's very simple again because of the time constraints, however, this stamp is beautiful to colour and don't always think it needs alot added to it. Hope you have a good day.

It's just coming up to quarter past four in the afternoon and I have just literally got back to the house and managed to sit down for five minutes! Was up all night with toothache and managed to get in with the Emergency Dentist at the hospital this morning who told me my abscess is back and has given me some anti-biotics to try and calm it down. Since then, have been dropping off Christmas presents here, there and everywhere but did manage to fit in a visit to Santa - the boys were so excited and I can't quite believe that Lewis, who is eleven, still believes in him! Think he is having doubts though as he's asking alot of questions about him and when Santa asked him what he wanted for Christmas, he reeled off a list of the presents which are hidden in my wardrobe - very suspicious!!!! You'll be relieved to hear that I have no Christmas cards to show today! Instead, thought I would show you the gift bags I made a friend and the boys' Teachers. I only had the brown o...

Or rather, the never ending Christmas cards!! Yep, there's more! I'm back earlier than anticipated! Stamps: CC Designs, Penny Black, Whipper Snapper, Stampin Up, Doodlebug Colouring: Promarkers Papers/Cardstock: K & Co, My Minds Eye, Miscellaneous(!), Bazzill Extras: Glamour Dust, SU Scallop Punch, Mirricard Well, that's all the cards now until next year when I hope I will have learned my lesson and not end up making them all in the last week before Christmas......in fact, think I'll have to make a start on Boxing Day!!! Will have a couple more christmassy things to show you tomorrow but (breathes a big sigh of relief!), they're not cards. Going to have a BIG glass of wine now and sulk as Lisa and Brendon didn't win......definitely think that was a fix lol!!!

I bet you thought you got away with seeing more Christmas cards after my posting yesterday for Stamp Something........WRONG!!!! Here's a couple for you to start the day off and I'll have more for you later in the day lol!! Stamps: Penny Black, Stampin Up Colouring: Promarkers Card: Bazzill Extras: Poppicrafts, Bazzill, Papermania, Glamour Dust, Scor-pal Stamps: High Hopes Colouring: Promarkers Papers: Miscellaneous (that means I can't remember!) Extras: Glamour Dust Will be back later!!

As promised, back with the Stamp Something challenge which this week is a sketch by my fellow DT Member Emily . This week the challenge is also sponsored by DRS Designs and so I've used their stamps which Denise and Erin kindly sent me. This was definitely my kind of sketch so thanks so much Emily! The challenge will be open for two weeks so we can have a Christmas break so take a look at the wonderful work my fellow DT Members have created and give it a go because there is a DRS Designs stamp up for grabs. Stamps: DRS Designs Colouring: Promarkers Papers: My Minds Eye Extras: SU Scallop Punch

This will have to be a quick post as I've got my good friend Jose coming to visit today so have tidied up somewhat (!), wrapped her present and written her card! Here's a couple more cards for you........ The image for this one is Penny Black Carolling Duck which I like because it's so quick and easy to colour! Used my Promarkers and some Glamour Dust and edged the image with some doodling. Papers and cards are leftovers and have embossed the c.s. with Cuttlebug snowflakes folder and rounded the corners with an SU punch. Sentiment is Doodlebug and gems are Papermania. This is another one made with the same papers and sentiment. However, this time used my Snowbunnybella (think that's what she's called!). I've had her for ages but never inked her up - story of my life! Added some organza ribbon from my stash and some sticky stars which was part of a RAK. Coloured her with Promarkers, Glamour Dust for the "fluffy" bits and finally more doodling to frame...

A couple more Christmas cards to show you which I made yesterday. Back to the birthday cards today but only the one and my DT work for this week and then will be back to trying to complete the Christmas cards. Got a feeling I'm going to have to end up cheating and post a couple of the shop bought ones but I'll see how I go! This image is Penny Black and was sent to me by my Secret Sister (I think!). Have been using up all my bits and pieces of Christmas paper so apologies again, as I don't know the manufacturer of this one. Image is called Snow Family (I think, again!) and has been coloured with Promarkers and added some Glamour Dust. Sentiment is from SU and layered the papers with mirricard. This is another Penny Black image which I do actually own and I've coloured him with Promarkers and yet more Glamour Dust! Papers are My Minds Eye and sentiment is SU as is the punch used to layer it on. Got to pop into town to do a bit of Christmas shopping and then its back to t...

Actually, I've got two! Yes, have managed to make a start on my Christmas cards. I have already done the ones to send abroad and those have been posted but I'm way behind with the others so here's two I made yesterday while Sam was writing his Christmas cards (bought those!). I'm not going to bother listing the items used as (1) there aren't many and (2) can't remember the make of the paper!! However, stamp is from Cuddly Buddly, coloured with Promarkers and some Glamour Dust added to his hat and c.s. is Bazzill. This one is made using an image from Vanessa (thanks sweetie!), coloured with Promarkers and some Glamour Dust. Sentiment is Doodlebug and the yummy papers are My Minds Eye (really love their designs at the moment). You will probably notice that I tend to doodle around the edges of the image - found it frames the image without the need to layer it, making it quicker to make!! Right, off to see the Birthday Girl now. Will be back tomorrow with a couple ...