ILWS Challenge 4

And the last challenge was a sketch challenge, I just love sketch challenges as I dont have to think so hard as to what to make..... lol

I did turn the image around.....

And again I used all my new Stampin Up Stash..... Greenhouse Gala Patterned Paper, isn't it lush? Certainly Celery Grosgrain Ribbon, Perfect Punches and Ornate Flowers Stamp Set, Baja Breeze and Chocolate Chip Ink and Choc Chip Cardstock..... why not join in the challenges on ILWS and post your project into the gallery for inspiration for others.... click on the link in my left hand side bar.

Well halfway through another week, am really putting my nose to the grindstone this week, it is my grandsons first birthday this weekend, and after making his invitations last week I need to make him a card.... cannot wait for his party. And tonight me and DH are off to Church again as we are running an Alpha Course and we are running the small groups there, its such a lovely evening as we all have a meal together first (yeah I know anything to get out of cooking... ha ha) and then we have a talk and discussion... better get busy then, cya all tomorrow xx

Ally Pally Stash and a Few Cards.....

So here is my stash that I got at Ally Pally, some nestabilities, loads of punches, loads of Stamps including Whiff of Joy and Lili of the Valley, 11 packs of bling, Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher, 6 x 6 Patterned Paper Pad, brads, pins and loads more.... today I am going to start working on my craft area and will be sorting all my stuff out and getting rid of what I no longer use to make room for all my new purchases... I will show you my PTI purchases tomorrow...

Below is a card I made, the sentiment is computer generated, the Patterned Paper is from the Sweet Pea Paper Stack, Cardstock is Old Olive and Barely Banana, with little leaves punched out using Rose Red Cardstock. The ribbon is the new lush Old Olive Satin Ribbon, how gorgeous is this.....

The shapes were cut out using nestabilities and the flowers are from my stash.....

For this card I used the All of A Flutter Patterned Paper, Certainly Celery, Pretty in Pink and Chocolate Chip Cardstock. The ribbon is the new lush Stampin' Up! Real Red Satin Ribbon and the flowers are from my stash. The shapes were cut out using nestabilities and the sentiment was computer generated. The leaves and butterfly punch are Martha Stewart.... hope they give you some inspiration, I will be back tomorrow with a Colour Challenge and a photo of my stash that I got from Papertrey Ink....

Have a great day, take care xx

This Month's Card Class.....

Okay, well I have lots to do this week and no time to do it as my Grandson has an appointment at the Royal London Hospital tomorrow and I am looking after my 22 month old Grandson, just not really feeling in a crafty mood at the moment anyway..... pah!!!! Think I am still recovering from having 17 people here Easter Sunday for roast dinner and definitely an overload of chocolate too, so diet starts again today!!! lol

So the above photo was my Card Workshop I did this month, I always find it really hard to judge how long it will take to make a card and I guess we had a bit too much to make this month, but everyone managed to stamp their images and make at least 2 of their cards and I showed them how to make the flowers on their notebooks...

How gorgeous are these colours. This month I decided I would not make everything matching, but use the same stamp set Greenhouse Garden for all of them but use different colourways so that they could see how different each card looked. For the notebook cover I used Perfect Plum Patterned Paper, Perfect Plum and Pale Plum Cardstock and Mellow Moss for the little leaves and the Taffetta Ribbon is also Mellow Moss....

This card is a flowerpot card and the flowers pull up and are attached to some card that you can write your message on. For this card I used Real Red and Whisper White Cardstock, there is also some Old Olive for the leaves and for the inside bit which you cannot see. The ribbon is Night of Navy and the inks are So Saffron, Real Red and Night of Navy.... the insides of the flowers are Chocolate Chip. I also used Jackpot Patterned Paper.

This card uses Pretty In Pink, Almost Amethyst and Certainly Celery Cardstock. The Patterned Paper is Tea Party and the Grosgrain Ribbon is Certainly Celery too....

This time I used Chocolate Chip, Sage Shadow and Whisper White Cardstock. The Patterned Paper is To The Nines, this was probably the easiest card of them all to make. All stash used to make all these cards comes from Stampin' Up! If you would like to order anything, please contact me on LindaLloyd@gmx.net or if you would like a new Stampin' Up! mini catalogue, please contact me at the above email addy and I will get one out to you ASAP.

If you like Magnolia, Sugar Nellie or KatzelKraft stamps you will find some second hand ones for sale here and postage is free too.... bonus!!

Have a great afternoon, take care.. xx

Tackle it Tuesday - Colour Challenge #4

Hi everyone, well today is the day that I make the draw for Colour Challenge #3. Thank you for the entries that I have had, it is great to see everyone's interpretations of the colours... I have used Random.Org to select a number and the winner is.....

Vanessa

Thank you very much everyone for taking part. I little something will be winging its way to you as soon as you let me know your address.

Now onto the next Colour Challenge which is #4. These are the colours I have chosen this fortnight.....

Now I know they look quite random, but I have made a card using these colours and I think it looks very good....

I have used the Kaleidescope Patterned Paper which has the Apricot Appeal Colour in it, I then covered a Chipboard Flower in more patterned paper from this set. The card blank is made using Certainly Celery Cardstock and the paper is backed with Pixie Pink and Tempting Turquoise.... the Thanks So Much sentiment is from the Trendy Trees stamp set and fits perfectly in the Word Window Punchout... I stamped the card blank with the little flower from the Level 1 Hostess Set Darling Dots with Versamark Ink so that it didn't give it too much colour.... all these items are from Stampin' Up! You didn't think I could manage not making a card from Stampin' Up! stash 2 days in a row did you.... lol

And here is the inside, again I used all the same stash as I did for the front, except I used a Martha Stewart Butterfly Punch......

Have a good day folk and I will be back tomorrow with another little freebie for the first comment left here.... have a great evening all xx

Hmmmm, how do people think of good headings....

Have been busy making cards for my monthly card order and wanted to finish them by this weekend which I have done... woohoo, now next week I will concentrate on my next 2 card classes that I am doing which is going to be Men Cards and the 2nd one will be Cupcakes, I think... haven't definately made up my mind yet.

This card was made using Apricot Appeal, Pixie Pink and Certainly Celery Cardstock, the Patterned Paper is Kaleidescope, all from Stampin' Up!, a clear button and Certainly Celery Ribbon, I also used the Photo Corner Punch, the scallops were made using circles and sticking them under the curve. The Sentiment is from Verve Stamps.

And here is the inside, I used Pixie Pink, Apricot Appeal and Whisper White Cardstock, the Scallop Border Punch and the Five Petal Flower Punch.... Hope it gives you some inspiration...

Next week look out for something special on my blog every day, I am not going to tell you what yet... and I have a great tutorial for you for Why Not Make It Wednesday, so dont forget to check back then.

I would love to see some of your entries for my Colour Challenge #3 too.... dont forget to enter this fortnight.

Can You Guess....

Who we went to see on Saturday....? Yes it was Madness, excellent concert and yet again we were at the barrier at the front. Unfortunately on our way to the concert we had a car accident with another car. The weather was awful, very wet, raining and we were down a very bendy country lane. DH braked to take a bend (we were doing less than half the speed limit of 60) and as he turned the wheel to take the left hand bend the car just kept going sideway and there was a car coming in the opposite direction and we hit him side onto side. Luckily no one was hurt and the guy was very calm and not at all angry, he said he had debated using that lane as he thought it was dangerous in the wet.... yep, he was right. Luckily after details were exchanged we were able to go on our way, our car was not too badly damaged, but his was much worse....

Anyway, after that we managed to arrive at the concert safely, and despite some real idiot guys who were so drunk behind us and threatening to kill everyone who didn't get out of their way (unfortunately 2 girls who we had been chatting to and who had been standing behind us had to move because these guys were just too violent). I have rub marks on my back bruised ribs and back because of them, but hey... no way was I giving my space on the barrier up... lol


Anyway, onto my makes.... I made 70 of these cute Father Christmas cards for my boys to give to their school friends, I cased it from a very talented ladies website (unfortunately I do not remember her blog at the moment, will add it later) and she cased it from someone on SCS... how cute are they? Not so cute after making 70 of them I can tell you.

Recipe: Cardstock:- Stampin' Up! Real Red, Close to Cocoa, Basic Black and Whisper White. tools: Cuttlebug folder, Crinkler, Stampin' Up punches.

The next card was made using Papertrey Ink paper... I glittered the snowflakes to give them a bit of sparkle.

Recipe: Patterned Paper: Papertrey Ink. Cardstock:- Papermill Shop, Stampin' Up! Certainly Celery and Real Red. Tools: Stampin' Up! Tag Punches, Nestabilities Snowflakes. Ribbon:- Stampin' Up! Real Red, Stampin' Up! Silver Cord.

Hope you like them, will be back with a couple more tomorrow... just wondering how to photograph them as they are acetate cards and photographs just do not do them justice.

Have a great evening all xx

A Really Good Day.....

Today was my first Card Workshop.... one wonderful lady turned up and we had an awesome time making some Christmas Cards and a box to match. It was really nice talking to you Denise and hope we meet again sometime soon.

Chris from Stampin' Up! rang me halfway through my class to tell me I had a new downline (I did already know this and a big welcome to my team Caroline), and that because of this I have been promoted in the world of Stampin' Up! to Silver 2, this means I get another pin to match my other 3 and £150 to spend in the catalogue.... woohoo, so after Christmas not only do I get to spend my £150, I also get to earn free Saleabration Stamp Sets, so I think Christmas will be coming slightly late to me this year (or is it very early next year... lol). Have had a quick flick through the catalogue but cannot decide on what I want, so will leave it a while.

Dont forget, if you give you send me your wish list for Christmas this year and point your loved ones, family, friends etc in my direction, not only will you get the stash you wished for for Christmas, you also get freebies too which I will wrap nicely and add to your gifts, plus there will also be a small gift from me for your kind gift givers...


Anyway, I have made some cards, I am desperately trying to get my pile of Christmas Cards finished before the weekend, but failing badly, I have now made around 30, but still have at least another 20 to make and I am intending on doing something with acetate for some of them, but am still throwing some ideas around my head at the minute and not coming up with anything.... but tomorrow is another day. I have decided to list the stash used on my cards in a more orderly fashion.
Recipe: Papers - Papertrey: Cardstock - Stampin' Up! Certainly Celery, Real Red, Whisper White and The PaperMill Shop. Tools - Spellbinders Snowflakes Nesties, Cuttlebug Snowflake folder. Bling - button and gems from stash. Ribbon - Stampin' Up! Certainly Celery and Silver Cord.

This card above is my favourite so far, I cut the letters out using my Cricut Expression and the snowflake too. I punched snowflakes out of the backing glitter card and then stuck it onto the Night of Navy card underneath using Dimensionals so that the holes were more obvious, they really are in real life... lol

Recipe: Cardstock - Stampin' Up! Night of Navy, Glitter Card from stash. Patterned Paper - My Minds Eye. Bling - button from stash. Ribbon - Stampin' Up! Gold Cord.

That's it for now, off to cook tea.... and is this rain ever going to stop?

Take care all xx

Hold On To Your Seats......

I have been really, really busy today and I made a total of 6 cards... yes 6, but unfortunately the light got dark quickly (?) and i couldn't photograph the sixth one, so that will have to wait until tomorrow. So I have completed 9 cards in all for my Church Order, well on target for Sunday, and the lady was thrilled with the ThankYou card I made with the little children on it, so I am happy as she is happy.

The paper on the first one is Bloom and Grow by My Minds Eye, the Cardstock is Stampin' Up! So Saffron (I always seem to use the Stampin' Up! somewhere)... the sentiment is from Our Daily Bread, a US company that makes some awesome stamps, the leaf punch is a Martha Stewart Punch and the bling is from my stash....

Again I used Bloom and Grow Patterned paper, and the ric rac ribbon is also made by My Minds Eye to match the Patterned Paper, again the sentiment is Our Daily Bread and the cardstock is Really Rust form Stampin' Up!. The butterfly is a Spellbinders die and was cut out using Certainly Celery and Really Rust cardstock (yes Stampin' Up! again).

Yep, you've guessed it, more Bloom and Grow Papers, sentiment from Our Daily Bread, the edges were punched using the Stampin' Up! scallop edge punch, the ribbon is Stampin' Up! taffeta ribbon in Pretty in Pink as is the cardstock.... the big brad in the centre of the flower is a My Minds Eye brad made to match the paper, everything else is from my stash.

Do I need to tell you who made the Patterned Paper.... lol, My Minds Eye again, Cardstock is Very Vanilla and Glorious Green (Stampin' Up!, their cardstock really is excellent and just the right thickness for so many projects)... sentiment - Our Daily Bread. The flower was punched out using the Stampin' Up! five petal punch and 1" circle punch, the bling was from my stash.

I thought I would try an easel card, seeing as everyone else seems to have made one and I haven't.... must admit, even though the card looked quite plain to me, it still looked really pretty propped up like an eassel. The Patterned Paper is retired Stampin' Up!, the scallop edge is Stampin' Up! scallop edge punch, sentiment is Our Daily Bread and everything else is from my stash.

Have a great evening all xx

On a Roll Today.....

Well I have made another card, the creativity is flowing today. My 8 year old is going to a birthday party tomorrow so thought I had better make a card, I am trying to be more organised so dont want to make a last minute one at the last minute. It is for a little girl and I thought I would take part in another challenge so would kill two birds with one stone and combine the card and challenge. Well I cheated slightly as I already had the image coloured in, but thought it was quite an appropriate image, it is a Sugar Nellie Stamp and I think they are so cute. I used one of these designs on my daughters card back in August. Anyway, here is what you have been waiting for...

I used Basic Grey Papers and Tempting Turquoise, Certainly Celery and Rose Red Stampin Up Cardstock, along with the SU punches. I also used Stampin Up Old Olive Striped Grosgrain Ribbon and Tempting Turquoise Brad. The Stamp Set I used for the sentiment is again SU Circle of Friendship. I used a strip Cuttlebug Folder for the embossing on the left hand side of the card and sanded it slightly to bring out the white core and make it stand out more, and I lightly inked the edges of the paper in white. The border edge punch is Martha Stewart and flowers and gems are from my stash. And true to form, I have also decorated the inside to match...


Luckily my 8 year old is quite a neat writer so there should be enough room on the white cardstock to write his message. By the way, the Challenge I made this card for is the Papertake Weekly Challenge. I hope my card meets the criteria as I made it on a rectangle card and not a square one, but one of their DT made a cover for a rectangle notepad, so I guess it will be okay.

Have a great weekend everyone xx

Rather Pleased With Myself.....

So after dieting for over 3 months, first on Weightwatchers and then on a low carb diet, I decided to try the Cambridge Diet, the weight was coming off far too slow and was taking forever, so last Friday by Counsellor came to see me and dropped off 21 sachets of powder which was to be my "food" for the next week. Because she only normally works Wednesday and Thursday and was visiting Friday as a favour I had my weigh in today and woohoo, I have lost 4lbs in 5 days, how good is that, so on that basis I think I will be carrying on for at least another week, and in just over a weeks time I can add chocolate bars to my diet too... sounds good to me, I hope I remember how to chew then....

Have placed 3 orders for Stampin' Up! over the last 2 days, 1 yesterday and 2 today, and the mini catalogue seems to be going down a storm.... my 2 10 month Clubs finish in May, and some people have expressed an interest in continuing, so now is the time if you would like to join one of my clubs from June to let me know if you are interested. I may be doing a 6 month club where you spend £25 a month for six months which will take you into the new catalogue period, and also a 10 month club in which you need to spend £15 a month for 10 months. I know all the hostesses were really pleased with all the freebies they got... Check out the tab at the top of the post that says 10 Month Club, the 6 month one runs the same as the 10 month one but with 6 people over 6 months, or e-mail me at LindaLloyd@gmx.net for more information.

And finally, here is my card for today...

I used Certainly Celery, Elegant Eggplant and Lavender Lace Cardstock. The Image is from the New Mini Catalogue (click on the image on the left hand sidebar to view) and the Stamp Set is called Fresh Cuts. This was stamped with Elegant Eggplant Ink. The ribbon is also Elegant Eggplant, I absolutely love this colour. The sentiment is Verve Stamps... the flower is from my stash..

Have a great day everyone, and watch this spot for some blog candy within the next few weeks... just waiting for it to arrive...

Not so nice Monday....

The weather here has been apalling this afternoon, it has winded, it has rained and all at once too and just at the time the children come out of school, funny enough now it is evening, the sun has come out at last. My daughter drove down to Cornwall yesterday and she says the weather is lovely there, infact I saw for myself as she sent me photos, the sky is blue, the sun is shining, but they also have the wind, which was just as well as she was going surfing today.

I had a lovely Mother's Day (well actually I did more work than ever and even cooked my dinner for everyone) and got some lovely presents, 2 CDs that I wanted, the new Tim Hughes, Happy Day and the new Delirious Album which is possibly their last ever. I also got a gorgeous blue toiletry bag full of Dove toiletries, some chocolates and wine, 3 books, 1 of which I asked for and the other 2 were surprises, my 12 year old son bought me a rose and then weeded all the overgrown garden and planted it for me, and my 6 year old made daddy go out and buy me some flowers..... from my son of course... lol I also got some gorgeous flower candles, but they are truly too beautiful to burn, so am going to have to think on that one.... lol because what is the point in having candles if you dont use them...

Today I have been making a bag and card for my Sister's birthday tomorrow, they are totally matching, and I have no idea how she is going to open the bag. It started off as a brown lunch bag, I folded the top over and then put panels on the front and back and joined them at the top, so I am thinking she is going to have to cut it open... lol not my problem. So here they are...

I have been using new stash from the New Mini Catalogue which comes out on 1st April, and the new items are truly scrummy... I used So Saffron and Certainly Celery Cardstock, the new Playful Petals Stamp Set plus the Ovals All Stamp Set along with the Oval Scallop Punch and the Oval Punch, these are proving to be really popular, I have sold 3 sets of these already. The Patterned Paper is called Tea Party and the ribbon is Certainly Celery Grosgrain. On the bag I actually used the stamp from Ovals All, but on the card I used the stamp from Ovals All but only coloured in the flower part with my Stampin Up Marker in So Saffron, then using my Stamp a ma jig I stamped Happy Birthday from the Very Versatile Stamp Set and punched it out using the Oval Punch. How versatile are these sets when you can just mix and match.

I have one place left in my Paper and Ribbon Share, this will be sent to you at the beginning of April sometime as some of the paper and ribbon is from the new Mini Catalogue and I cannot order this until 1st April, but I promise you, the items will be ordered on 1st April, so you dont have long to wait now.

Dont forget the fantastic offer on the Starter Kit, just £125, and if you add just the stash up it comes to £217, so one really big bargain here, and all you have to do after signing up as a demonstrator and receiving this kit is to meet a target every quarter (and guess what, the first quarter doesn't count, you dont have to reach your targets until your second quarter, but you do need to sign up this evening, or tomorrow to get the Starter Kit at this price).

Off to Beavers now, sewn on the badge I need to and I will be staying to help, so need to get dinner ready so that they can just put it in the oven and cook it... have a great evening all xx

My Dies Have Turned Up At Last....

Was just talking to DH this morning about a set of dies that I had ordered a while back but hadn't turned up yet as they were out of stock... they were the Spellbinders Labels 1, which were also out of stock in the US... well can you believe they have actually turned up this morning, so will have to get using them later.

Spent two and a half hours on Skype this morning to my inlaws in Australia, they are coming over for a visit in June/July and they have never met in person our little boy Malachi... their Grandson, so should be an exciting time. All the children talk to them on the computer, they bring their toys and show them to them, plus one of my little boys loves to show them his Atlas'. Their Grandmother says he will need to learn all the flags of the world, so will try and teach him them before they come over.... lol what a surprise that would be for them.

I am off to make some cookies with the 2 small boys soon.... hmmmm wonder how they will turn out or whether there will actually be any mixture left to cook... lol, might put some bread on to cook at the same time, what is it about home baked bread that makes it taste so yummy.... and that melted butter mmmm mmm... am thinking that this is not going to be good for my waistline, but as I barely have a waistline then what do I have to worry about....

Anyway, here is the bit you have all come to see, another of my handmade cards, am hoping to step up a bit with the making next week, but I do have around 3 or 4 appointments that I need to attend, so we will have to see how it goes.

So today we have another Criss Cross card, I used Laura Ashley Patterned Paper, Certain Celery Stampin' Up! cardstock and also Old Olive Stampin' Up! Cardstock. The pink is Pretty In Pink Stampin' Up! cardsock and pink taffeta ribbon. Also used, One of A Kind Stamp Set, plus various Stampin' Up! punches.... The sentiment is from Papertrey Inc.

Off to look through my Martha Stewart's Cookies book.... my mouth is watering already.... have a great afternoon all xx

Fun and Fast Notes

First of all I just have to tell you that my little grandson cut his first tooth today.... how exciting is that, note to self, no more putting fingers near his mouth....

Thought I would try something a little different to what I would normally do.... I made some cards and put them in a pretty little box, and I only used 1 Stamp Set really.... well the little flower inside and on the envelopes came from a second set, but that doesn't count really does it??


So I used the Fun and Fast Notes Stamp Set, the little flower out of One Of A Kind, I used Sage Shadow and Always Artichoke Cardstock and Inkpads, the grosgrain ribbon is Always Artichoke and the Patterned Paper is retired but still available and is called Wintergreen. The box is made from the same cardstock and paper and the ribbon is Certainly Celery, the white flower is from the Pretties kit, as is the little pearl in the middle... and voila a nice little present for someone's birthday, or just to show you care and doesn't take forever to make either.


Have been busy packing some Stampin Up Orders today, and added a little something to their parcels, but cannot show you yet, also went shopping in Tesco and whilst there, picked up a few things which I intend to use in my making in the future, so watch this spot for that. Next week is my card order week, and so I will be posting more non SU stuff, not that I dont absolutely love my SU stash, it is just that I have a load of new stamps that I haven't managed to use yet. I also need to make a card for my son's birthday on Saturday, he will be 24, doesn't time fly, I remember when I brought him home from hospital..

Have a good evening all, take care x