Getting Behind.... Why are there not 8 days in a week?

I have been super duper busy, there are so many birthdays this month, plus Stampin Up! Training in High Wycombe and I had to make 70 swaps..... the new Stampin Up Catalogue is also out on 1st October so have been busy deciding what to buy and also making some examples using the new sets I do have. I have also just finished a Wedding Album for my sons Godmother who is getting married on Saturday, so it is all coming together very slowly.

So here are a few cards I have made recently, this one was for my Church Order.... I used Stampin Up Soft Suede, Bella Bleu Papers, Melon Mambo Ribbon and the background writing is the Stampin Up En Francais Background Stamp, so glad they are not retiring this one.

The next one was for a birthday, the image is from Whiff of Joy Stamps, the paper is I think, Cosmo Cricket, the cardstock is Stampin Up Real Red and the Ribbon is from Papertrey Ink, a real mixture on this one. The image is coloured in using copic markers.

This next card was for Father's Day, have I already shown this.... not sure, but incase I haven't here it is. Stamp Set is Papertrey Ink, as are the Cloud die cuts, the background stamp is also from Papertrey Ink, the Cardstock is Stampin Up Real Red and the Ribbon is also Stampin Up Real Red Striped Grosgrain which IS retiring at the end of this month. If you would like to see the current Stampin Up retiring list, some items are more than 50% off.... just drop me an email at LindaLloyd@gmx.net.

This card was also for my Church Order, the Patterned Paper is the Sweet Pea Paper Stack, the Ribbon is the Old Olive Satin Ribbon, and the butterfly is a Martha Stewart Punch.

And here is the inside....... made to match the front.

Hope you enjoyed looking at these cards, keep checking back as I hope to post more soon.... take care everyone xx

Holiday, new craft room etc.....

Ha ha, excuses, excuses on why I haven't updated my blog. but really we have been on holiday, and then we had some personal problems when we got back, resulting in my daughter moving out, which meant that I got my own craft room. Wasn't sure about it at first, but now I have moved everything I am really pleased about it, and daughter looked at it this morning and said how good it looks, so dont feel so bad now.

Am off to a Papertrey Ink day on Sunday with some wonderful people from In Love With Stamping forum, some I have met before and some I haven't so really looking forward to meeting them all and spending the day making some wonderful Papertrey Ink Designs. Plus we are all taking our stamp sets so will get to share stamp sets to our hearts content.... How cool!! A BIG THANKS to Val for organising it and being so generous as to let us meet up in her house even if it is 2.5 hours away from where I live.... early morning Sunday then!!

Since swapping my craft room I am unable to get online with my desktop computer until some cable turns up to rewire it up to the router, I know I could have wireless, but cabled speed is about 100 times faster than wireless and I am just impatient with my computer speed.... ha ha So what I am getting at is that I have only one project to share with you today. I cannot show you what I have made for our PTI day as it is a surprise for everyone going so can share next week.

Last week was my nephews birthday and here is the card I made for him....

The Greetings Farm Stamp coloured in with Copics, and the paper is from the Scrapbook Kit I get from America each month. The sentiment is a PTI one, ribbon is Stampin Up, so quite a selection here.

Have a great evening all, will try and get some more cards made and posted in the next couple of days...

I have been AWOL.....

Not really sure why I have been AWOL, just seemed the longer I left it the harder it was to come back and post... strange eh!! But I have some very exciting news, well exciting for me, not really exciting for you out in cyber space. 2 Fridays ago DH was on Absolute Radio (formerly Virgin Radio) and won a competition for us both to go to South Africa and see a Quarter Final World Cup Football Match, well I for one do like football so this is a brilliant prize and we have 3 nights accommodation too, we fly in overnight and out overnight which means we near enough have 3 full days there too, so there is a theme park, a wildlife park, lots of restaurants and the football match one evening with hospitality included... woohoo... also flights and transfers are included to, so should be awesome. Am a bit worried as it is South Africa, and may yet stay locked in my hotel room but we shall see!!!! Not sure how I can not look like a tourist with an England Football Shirt on... so England Football Team, hear this, you will win all of your matches so that the one we are in South Africa for will be you playing some other team and you must win that one too... would hate to be on the side of losers.



Anyway, back to my post..... have had a few birthdays, giveaways, thank yous, Christenings, Good Lucks lately so will be posting some cards over the next week for all of these. Today's post is about my Daughter in Law's birthday last Thursday. I made a cute little bag to put her present in.


A Kraft Lunch Bag decorated with Real Red Cardstock and Snow White Ink from Papertrey Ink, the butterfly image and die is also from Papertrey Ink as is the Happy Birthday. The Flower is made with Hawaiian Shores Felt and Real Red and Whisper White Cardstock using a die from Papertrey Ink too.... bling from my stash.

I bought this stamp at the Ally Pally, not sure who made it but I coloured it in using Copics... Patterned Paper is Basic Grey, sentiment was from Papertrey Ink....

And I decorated the inside too, using some of my new Raspberry Fizz felt from Papertrey Ink and cutting a really cute flower from it using a die from Papertrey Ink... again paper is Basic Grey and the Punched Edge is an EK Success punch which I also got at Ally Pally.....

Thanks for looking, check back tomorrow for another card. xx

A Male Card....

Well after a truly awful day yesterday and a day of running around after other people today, I did finally manage to make a birthday card for my Son in Law..... my daughter has been warned not to go on my blog until after her birthday next Monday..... lol

Not good at making male cards at the best of times and definitely not when under stress, but I was quite pleased how this one came out, the colours look much better in real life. I used the Groom Speciality Patterned Paper and the Jackpot Patterned Paper from Stampin' Up! The cardstock is Basic Black, Real Red and So Saffron and the Stamp Set is Cheers to You and is awesome for making mens cards..... they always love a pint of beer.... lol The ribbon is More Mustard and the images were coloured in using my Copic Markers.

This is the inside of the card, all nicely matching and with the added benefit of a Martha Stewart Punch.

Have a great evening all, hopefully will be back tomorrow after my card class some time... take care all xx

Cute Hamster - Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge

It is my daughter's birthday next week , it is also my Son In Law's birthday and their anniversary, so 13th Son In Law's Birthday, 14th, their anniversary and 15th Daughter's birthday..... and then my sisters on 24th, so will be pretty busy this week making cards and I also have 2 card classes this week too.... anyway, I thought I would make my daughter's card using the Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge.

I used a digital image from Mo's Digital Pencil, isn't it just the cutest little hamster? I coloured with my copic markers as I have missed using them lately....

I used Stampin' Up! Kaleidescope Patterned Paper, strangely I didn't like these very much when I first saw them, but now I am loving them and could use them all the time, which I often do... ha ha. I also used Taken With Teal and Apricot Appeal, the little Sentiment is from a Saleabration Set which is no longer available and punched out using the Word Window Punch....

I also decorated the inside which I often do, using Taken With Teal Cardstock and Pixie Pink.... the papers are the same, the flowers are from my stash... Hope you like it...

Just an update on the girls bedroom, I have been sticking notes on their door each day with a small job to do each day, so far I have all their dirty washing and am finishing the last lot today, they have clean bedding, there is no dirty crockery and the floor is clear.... today one is clearing off her desk and the other will be sorting out 3 of the blue boxes.... so onwards and upwards, we do get some protesting, but they still seem to do it, so all going well so far...

Have a great evening all, take care xx

A Copic Coloured Birthday Card .....

The winner of todays giveaway is Amanda Boldy... well done Amanda for being first person to comment on my blog.

Please check back regularly for more freebies...

I always seem to be making cards for something, not just for the pleasure of making cards, so today I thought I would do what I wanted to do, which was colour in using my Copic Markers as I haven't used them in such a long time... I bought this image from Mo's Digital Pencil as my daughter asked me to make a card for a 1st Birthday...

I used papers from my stash, and the border is the new Punch Around The Page Border from Martha Stewart, I didn't realise when I first got it that the cardstock had to be a certain size, but I guess it makes sense, so noted down all the sizes I could make and it worked out brilliantly, so will definately be using this some more from now onwards.

The Cardstock is Brilliant Blue and Whisper White from Stampin' Up! (you didn't think I could make a whole card without using some Stampin' Up! did you?) and I also used a sentiment from the no longer available Saleabration Set Happy Moments and punched it out using the Word Window Punch. the 1 is from a set of Thickers I have had like forever, and the "st" are from a set I bought a couple of weeks ago.... are they Papermania?

Here is a close up of the image I coloured.... I must admit I did enjoy using my Copics again...

and here is the inside.... again using the same stash as I did for the front....

And I thought I would have a little giveaway.... so a couple of Stampin' Up! images from the Nursery Necessities Stamp Set, some of the paper from my stash, Cardstock in Brilliant Blue and Real Red and Stars cut using the same card stock using the Stampin' Up! Star Punch. There is also some Stampin' Up! Ribbon thrown in for good measure and a few buttons also...... phew.. is that it? I think so. Be the first to leave a comment on this post and I will get this little set in the post to you, unfortunately I can only post to UK, sorry.

Have a great evening all, take care xx

Copic Marker Metal Stands

Please Scroll Down For More Up To Date Posts....

I have 3 of the Copic Marker Metal Stands, they are really expensive to buy and I have hardly used them, never managed to find them in the UK so had to import them from America...

They hold all the copic markers as I have a selection of the Ciao (144 of them), plus another 100 of the Copic Sketch Markers and they all sat nicely in the racks together.... I now need to move them off my desk so have had to find another way of storing them.....

They are very heavy, so would like £50 each which would include postage... if you are interested please contact me on LindaLloyd@gmx.net. I would prefer to sell all 3 together, but will seperate if wanted...

My New Craft Area.....

I decided Friday morning that I really needed more proper storage boxes for my craft area, I cannot work in mess (ha ha) and everything out on shelves everywhere constituted mess, so decided to buy some new shelves and storage boxes to put on them, so hunted on the Ikea website and took my daughter to Ikea, she has never been before and was about as impressed as her step dad is, but we got what we wanted.... (or at least what I wanted and she even built the units for me.....)

So not too much has changed on my main desk except I got rid of the trofast storage I had a put a 9 drawer unit in the middle instead, this leaves me more room to work and my monitor then sits on top of it, the drawers under the desk have been shuffled around a bit and my Cricut Expression still sits on my desk, I am worried that if I put it away I would never use it.... lol

This part is where most of the new storage is.... the shelves are kitchen units and I bought glass shelves for them as I thought they looked less obtrusive than wood ones, I also bought all the storage boxes too and there are even some that are still empty, they are the ones without labels in, yes I have finally got around to labelling stuff too... my flowers are piled sky high in drawers (yes I know why does one person need so many flowers and yet can never find what they want) and I got my mini sewing machine out to sit on the desk too..... the small white shelves that I had on my desk before now sit on top of the new white units.

Now this is the storage inside my mirror Pax Wardrobes, the middle sliding drawer holds all my current SU Stamp Sets and believe me it holds a lot, I do have most of them.... the top drawer holds all the SU punches that we have plus other punches too including my Martha Stewart ones... (I also have 2 other drawers of punches under the desk), the bottom sliding drawer holds my 40+ Cricut Cartridges and the white boxes at the bottom hold old magazines, US and non Current SU stamp sets and odds and ends to alter.... the very top shelf holds my PaperTrey Ink Cardstock and the next shelf down has my PTI ribbon and buttons....

This single wardrobe holds a drawer unit which holds tons of 12 x 12 Patterned Paper by loads of different companies, one of the large blue containers holds all my 6 x 6 and 8 x 8 Paper Pads another holds all my SU wheels and handles, another holds chipboard books and boxes, the drawers hold odds and ends like staples and staplers, spare blades for my Fiskars Trimmer, glue refills, small pom poms, just tons of odds and ends....

This double wardrobe holds my Paperwork for SU, including all my Tax Returns, invoices, the SU magazines we get, all my Tim Holtz stuff including paint dabbers, distress inks, stamp sets, all the staples, embossing powders, crackle paint, twisters, masks and anything else Tim Holtz you can think off.... aahh yes if you look carefully you can also see my Watercolour Pencils and on the bottom shelf is my printer labels and photo paper.... My Bazzill Basic Cardstock is on one of the shelves, one of the brown boxes holds all the Scrapbook Kits I bought and haven't used, the other one holds my Bind It All and all the wires and covers etc.... and also on the top shelf are some Scrapbook Albums that I have completed for myself...

The above photo is of all the wardrobe doors shut, I chose mirror doors to make our bedroom look bigger when it is filled up with my Craft Stuff.... ha ha. Unfortunately children finger prints and dog noses have made them not so clean and shiny....

This is my SU Ribbon Storage, it is hung on the end of the Mirror Wardrobes, my other ribbon is in 9 jars which are in one of the blue boxes in the first wardrobe storage....

and this shelf sits beneath the ribbon with all my dies that I have left on it (I sold 100s last summer at a car boot sale)..... Aaah yes my Quickutz dies are in the Paper Storage drawer inside the mirror wardrobe, they sit nicely in 2 big books filled with special QK binder storage sheets....

This is my SU Patterned Paper Storage, my SU Textured Card, Scrappin Kits and Chipboard, plus I have snuck in some October Afternoon and Basic Grey, and my Scenic Route (RIP)... my SU stamp sets and refills sit on top of it....

I have loads of stamps that I need to sell as you can see I am running out of room, so will be adding them to my Copic Marker Stand Post over the next couple of days, there will be a mixture of Magnolia, Sugar Nellie, SU retired and US sets and various other companies that I cannot remember at the moment.... so keep checking back if you are interested....

Thanks for looking, take care xx

Forgot to Photograph This...

So had to get it back from my daughter for 5 minutes so that I could take a piccy... I made this card for when she had my little Grandson and it was all so quick I gave it to her without photographing it... doh!!! So here it is, couldn't photograph the inside as I had written in it, but it was decorated to match the outside.

I used a Whiff of Joy stamp which I bought especially for this card. The Patterned Paper is Stampin Up, and so is the ribbon with white stitching. The dark colour is Not Quite Navy and the White is Whisper White. The image was coloured in using copics, and my daughter does have blonde hair.

Off to cook dinner, have a great evening all xx

A Birthday Card for my Daughter

It was my daughter's birthday last week and here is the card I made for her. The image is from The Greetings Farm and was coloured in using Copic Markers, the paper is Basic Grey and the punches are Dovecraft, Stampin' Up! and Martha Stewart. The ribbon is also Stampin Up, in Old Olive. Anyway, my daughter loves daisies, so although I thought this card was a bit daisy overload she loved it, so another happy recipient.

My poor little 8 year old is off school today, he was sick last night but has not been since, although he does carry his bucket around with him. He has also had something to eat today and all is well and good. He is complaining of headache, sore throat and the sickness, his brother had the same thing last weekend, but no sickness thank goodness.... I am not a very good sickness person... lol Thank goodness for half term next week when they all have a whole week to recover from all the little things they pick up from school.

I have a favour to ask. Does anyone have or can purchase for me some Hanglar and Stanglar stamps. I absolutely love these stamps but they will not ship to UK, so can I beg, steal or borrow some from someone please. I can do some Greetings Farm stamps as a swap, or I am willing to pay if anyone is selling, or can purchase on my behalf, I will meet all costs. Okay begging over.

Have a great afternoon and evening everyone xx

Have loads of made cards, just need to post them on here....

Well I have a backlog of cards that I have made to put on my blog, but I dont want to spoil you, so will plod along 2 at a time. Keep checking back as I will have some blog candy to give away soon, plus some stamp sets to sell, so watch this space.

I have been making cards today, trying to finish an order I needed to finish and was pleased to finish it at last, haven't managed to photograph them yet, yucky light...

Well it looks like Autumn is finally on its way, it was very windy around here today and decidedly chilly too.... nearly the kind of weather for thick soup and bread or hot and tasty stews, which reminds me, I will need to post a before and after photo of myself, I have been on the Cambridge Diet and lost nearly 5 stone... should be amusing, it will be worth checking back just to see these photos... lol

Anyway, I have 2 cards to show you today...

As I made this a while ago I cannot remember what I used, but it is all Stampin Up, I am sure those of you who use Stampin Up will know what it is... lol

Next is a Gorjuss Girl card from http://www.funkykits.co.uk/...


Again I have no idea what I used, but I remember digging deep into my piles of stash for the paper, the ribbon is Stampin Up, but I think that is all... image is coloured using copic markers..

Have a great Saturday evening, wrap up warm and chill in front of the tv... cya all tomorrow xx

A Few Cards..... and a really nice lady....

Have been busy this week making some cards and thought you might like to see it.... so much has been going on in my life at the moment and everything had to be put on a shelf until I get through the other side, and hopefully now I am re-emerging....

Sunday afternoon I had a phone call from my DDs boyfriend who she was out with saying his friend (they are 14) had fallen off his bike, couldn't move his leg and there was blood.... having worked on the ambulances could I please come and help him. I told him to call an ambulance and I zipped off in my car to their location. Took one look at the blood, realised it was nothing to do with his leg and all to do with the handlebars of his bike that had pierced his lower torso, there wasn't too much blood, so decided not to move him but try and calm him down. No one could contact his mother so DH went off to his to see if she was there, and meantime I managed to calm him down so much he was talking on his mobile phone to his Dad when the ambulance arrived. His mum turned up shortly afterwards and we planned that I would take his new bike to my house and lock it in my garage, so I gave her my address so she could pick it up when she was ready. Her friend then turned up and took the bike and I took off, leaving Mum, son and ambulance waiting for a back up ambulance... Well Wednesday evening there is a knock at the door, this lady remembered where I had lived and bought me a bottle of wine for looking after her son until she got there.... how kind was that, and it turns out she is a newly trained midwife who has seen my pregnant daughter on a couple of occasions for a check up.... her son started to bleed really badly once they got him on the ambulance, so I was so glad I hadn't moved him, and had to have an operation, but came home Wednesday afternoon....

Anyway, on to the couple of cards....

This is for Mum, it is her birthday on Monday, but she has gone away for a few days as a birthday treat, so had to get it made and finished for yesterday....

Recipe:- Stampin Up Old Olive, Elegant Eggplant and Lavender Lace. The flourish is cut out using my Cricut Expression and the edging is a Martha Stewart Punch. The "Happy Birthday" was made using my new Start Rite font stamps and cut out using the Window Slot Punch from Stampin Up. Old Olive and Whisper White Ribbon used along the edge. The diamond embossed rectangle that the flower is sitting on was made using acetate and a cuttlebug folder.

This card was made for my little boy's friend whose birthday party he went to last week.... I coloured a skateboarder and a fireman and my little boy chose the fireman...

Recipe:- Greetings Farm Fireman Stamp, Stampin Up Stamps, Stampin Up Tempting Turquoise cardstock, Green Galore Cardstock and Elegant Eggplant Cardstock. Real Red and Tempting Turquoise Inkpads... The Greetings Farm image was coloured in using Copic Marker and the star shape was cut out using the Stampin Up Star Punch....

That's all for today, have a good evening everyone xx

Ooops, nearly forgot how to sign in.....

Its been so long since I updated.... life has well and truly got in the way, and then my cat decided to have kittens in the middle of my bedroom and so I cannot get my craft stash out very easily, so decided to take a break.



I have now set up a new Stampers 8 and ladies I will be contacting you very shortly with all the details, I haven't forgotten about you, but have been busy sorting out the orders that have arrived over the last few days, not least the long awaited out of stock items that some of you have been waiting for since April, I guess Stampin' Up! never guessed the scallop punches etc would prove so very popular....



My diet is going well, since starting on the Cambridge Diet nearly 7 weeks ago I have lost nearly 2 stone, so well pleased with the results... I even fit into size 12 jeans, although they are a tinsy bit tight at the moment, but give it 2 weeks and they will be awesome...



Went to Alton Towers last Saturday, went on all the "must go on" rides, the oblivion, nemesis, enterprise and Rita, and in the evening there was a concert there of Christian bands like Superchick, Kutless and Band With No Name... an excellent time was had by all, not least my daughter who had the camera trained on her for a good 30 seconds... so I guess we will be looking out for the concert on GOD TV over the next few weeks.....



Anyway, I have actually made a card today, because it is my daughters birthday tomorrow, so really I had to make one... lol and here it is....

Basic Grey Wisteria Paper, new crinkled scallop edge punch from EK Success, Image is from the Greetings Farm and flowers are from my stash.... image is coloured in using copic markers... I hope that she likes it... hopefully I will be back tomorrow, but I have a card order that needs completing....

Have a good evening all xx