A Bit of A Mixture.....

Have been a busy bee today and I dont mean scrapping either.... unfortunately. I need a really good day tomorrow, so far there is nothing to interrupt, and I'm hoping to get 2 birthday cards made, 4 thank you cards and 30 swaps for a Training Day in Peterborough on Sunday, and seeing as I am out Friday night, all day Saturday and Sunday is the day, I really need to get a move on.

Today's card is a bit of a mixture, I seem to have used lots of companies stash....

I used Stampin' Up! Basic Black, Very Vanilla and Crumb Cake Cardstock along with some Striped Grosgrain Ribbon. The punches are from Martha Stewart and the sentiment is from Verve Stamps along with the butterfly image. The pearls I had in my stash... I must admit out of all the cards I made this was my least favourite but when I asked my boys which one they liked the best this was it.... so glad someone liked it... ha ha

See you all tomorrow xx

Its Here.... the waiting is over.....

I thought I would start off my previews with my favourite stamp set from the new catalogue. If you have a new catalogue you will notice that a lot of the stamp sets come in the normal wooden block mounted or the new clear mount which mount on to blocks. I would just like to mention that the name is misleading, they are not clear but are the red rubber mounted onto grey rubber but you can see the picture through the acrylic block so it is much easier to stamp in the right place without the use of the Stampamajig. You can also add more than one stamp at a time to create images.... The acrylic blocks are also gorgeous (can an acrylic block be gorgeous?) they have grooves around in which your fingers fit nicely and they come in loads of different sizes so that there will always be one to fit your stamp...

This first card I made because I just had to use the stamp set. I had also just grasped brayering, and although you cannot see the gradiation in the reds very much in this photograph, it does go from dark red which is the new Cherry Cobbler, to a light red which is a new "in colour" Poppy Parade. The newsprint background is the new Patterned Paper, called Newsprint. I also stamped the image from the Artistic Etching Stamp Set onto the red and black embossed it, I then stamped some of the other images onto the Newsprint PP in Cherry Cobbler Ink and Basic Black.... More images were used for the Amour and were punched out using the Oval Punch and Oval Scallop Punch. I then finished it off with Black and Very Vanilla Grosgrain Striped Ribbon which now comes in more colours than before....

This tag I made for Stampin Up Training in High Wycombe, I again used the Artistic Etching stamp set, Newsprint Patterned Paper and Cherry Cobbler, Baja Breeze, Very Vanilla and Basic Black Cardstock. I finished it off with Very Vanilla Grosgrain Ribbon. I had to make 70 of these for swaps...... wish I hadn't of embossed the Eiffel Tower image as my whole desk was covered in black embossing powder by the time I had finished.... lol

So there you have it, the first previews from the new catalogue. I will be back tomorrow with some more, hope to see you all then. xx

Still Tidying Out....

So still sorting and tidying here so do not have time for the colour challenge, I really do need to make a card tomorrow so desperately trying to finish up here so I can get on with it.

Your card for today is made using the Stampin' Up! Sweet Pea Paper Stack and the gorgeous lush Pumpkin Pie and Very Vanilla Grosgrain Stripey Ribbon.... the Cardstock is Chocolate Chip and Whisper white, plus the leaves are punched out using Barely Banana Cardstock with the Martha Stewart Punch. The sentiment is computer generated....

And as usual I have decorated the inside using more Stampin' Up! Sweet Pea Paper Stack papers, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White and Barely Banana Cardstock and the beautiful Martha Stewart Edging Punch... off to finish tidying now (hopefully...)

Take care and have a great day all xx

Tutorial at Last.....

So finally I got my Why Not Make It Wednesday Tutorial edited and uploaded.... have had parents evenings, meetings etc this week and so have been really busy with family... hope you think the wait is worth it. I decided to show you how easy it is to make Embellishments out of Drink Cans, I did get DH to cut the top and bottom off for me as I am a liability when it comes to cans and sharp edges.... I also played around with the images on the video afterwards to get colours I liked more, but I was very conscious of how boring it would be watching me mess around on screen. I also think I got a better angle, although at one point you do see one of my cats walk along underneath my arms, luckily when it walked across my desk the camera did not pick it up.... ha ha...

And I have been dying to make a Tim Holtz type rose for ages and thought it would be ideal for using on the card I made using a tin embellishment... I did make a much grungier one using grungepaper, but it didn't really fit with the card, so it is sitting on my desk at the moment with all the children trying to nab it for various projects.... maybe I will need to show them how to make their own.

I did bling up the rose and the butterfly with Stickles Star Dust, you can just about see it on the rose but not on the butterfly, it really does sparkle in real life...

For the Card I used Basic Grey Wisteria papers and Elegant Eggplant, Sage Shadow, Almost Amethyst and Very Vanilla Stampin' Up! Cardstock, along with Very Vanilla Grosgrain Ribbon, also from Stampin' Up!. I have all the Stampin' Up! colours of cardstock and find that normally they will match with all the papers I have whether they are Stampin' Up! or not, so really pleased about that as it is good quality cardstock. Anyway, guess you are here coz you want to see the video, so here it is...

Hope you enjoyed it.... have a great weekend... xx

Why Not Make It Wednesday - Lion Chocolate Bar Cover

So today on Why Not Make It Wednesday I am going to show you how to make a lion out of Stampin' Up! punches and how to cover a bar of chocolate so you can give these away to customers, friends etc.... It is so easy to make you could maybe use this idea to make more to amuse the children whilst off school next week during Half Term...

He does look a bit of a friendly lion with his tongue hanging out, better hope he doesn't eat the chocolate.... so check out the video tutorial below to see how it is made.... I know that the angle of the video camera is not too good, will try it in a different position next week....

Hope you have enjoyed it..... see you tomorrow xxx

Blog Challenge Winner and a New Colour Challenge

Well I cannot believe it is 2 weeks since I set the last colour challenge, where does the time go.... I have also decided not to pick my favourite card, I didn't realise that this would be impossible as all the entries were so good, so have decided to let Random.Org pick the winner.... and here is the winner, I didn't include my entry in the picking so just entered numbers 2-5 and the winner is......... ta dah!!!!

Here are your random numbers:4
Timestamp: 2010-02-02 11:14:54 UTC

and that is Carol....

Woohoo, well done Carol.

There will be a little something winging its way to you as soon as you send me your address.... to LindaLloyd@gmx.net.

And on to this fortnight's Challenge....

Whilst blog hopping one day I came across a card using these colours but in typical Linda fashion I jotted down the colours but not the blog address so cannot show you the card... but I have made one on time this week to show you and here it is....


All stash is Stampin' Up!, the Stamp Set is Autumn Days and I must admit this is the first time I have inked it up despite having it since before Christmas. The Patterned Paper is the More Mustard from the Hostess Level 1 Set of Patterned Paper, and the Perfect Plum Patterned Paper Pack. The flowers were made using the Scallop Circle Punch and Boho Blossoms Punch and oooops must admit sneaking in a Martha Stewart leaves punch too.... the Ribbon is Very Vanilla Grosgrain but I inked that with Really Rust as well as the edges of all the cardstock I used.

And do you think the pheasant is inked wonderfully.... well I am going to do a video tutorial to show you how this was done which will be up on my blog either Wednesday or Thursday, so keep checking back to see how this works....

And the above photo is the inside of my card, have taken to decorating the insides again this week..... lol

I look forward to seeing your entries during the next fortnight and again there will be a little something on its way to the winner.... unfortunately I can only ship the prize to UK and Europe but would still love to see International entries...

Have a great day all xx

Storage

I thought I would show you how I store some of my Stampin' Up! Stash just incase anyone is rearranging their Craft Room and needs a bit of inspiration.... my Stampin' Up! Ribbon fits nicely on this hanger, I just bent the hanger bit around so it sits on the edge of my wardrobe. The poles unhook at one end and you can just slide the ribbon on (unfortunately not every ribbon in the UK catalogue fits on, the new striped ribbons dont but the 3 colours from the mini do)....
I bought the hanger in Poundstretcher and it cost about £4.

Next is my A4 Cardstock Storage. I keep this in 2 RUB, each box fits in 2 colour families with room to spare (and I mean full packs of each cardstock too), plus one fits in the Very Vanilla and Whisper White and the other has the mixed packs of Sahara Sand, Basic Grey etc.... After use I put the lids back on and store one on top of the other.

And last but not least my 12 x 12 Cardstock and Patterned Paper. I bought this storage unit from ebay, it cost £30 (slightly more with next day delivery) and as the drawers are slightly bigger than 12 x 12 it all fits in rather nicely.... as you can see there are loads of drawers so you dont have to pack each one too tightly and my Stampin' Ink Caddy sits on top as though it were made for it.... Hope you found this useful.

Take care all xx

Happy New Year Everyone

Well I just wanted to wish all my blog readers a very Happy New Year, hope this year is filled with everything you hope for, that you will fullfil your dreams and you will all have good health.

Me and DH held a New Year's Eve Party at our church and everything went really well, no catastrophes, everything went to plan, there was enough food and drink and it even snowed whilst we were taking my son and girlfriend home afterwards and I just love the snow..... so definately a brilliant evening had by all....

Anyway, today I want to finish up with my Christmas things, this time it was a gift for my Mum, pennies were very tight this year and I wanted to make special things for special people. I used to make jewellery a few years back and my mum used to love my earrings so I decided to make her 3 pairs for Christmas.

I decided that I would use 3 different colour metals and stones so they would all be completely different and would match with more of her outfits. The first pair (I did make 2 although there is only 1 in the picture) I made in gold using brown and cream coloured stones.

The second pair were made using silver and more cooler colours of purple and blue, in fact I think these are my mums favourites as she was wearing them when she popped round on Tuesday...

This pair I used antique copper wire and turquoise stones, I wasn't sure if they were a bit longer than my Mum would normally wear, so I offered to shorten them but she said she likes them just the way they are, so I think they were a hit. In fact I like this pair so much I may have to make myself some similar.

And of course I had to make a box to put them in... unfortunately I underestimated the length of the long ones and they hung slightly below the edge of the box, though not to worry, once the box was shut you couldn't see. I used Bordering Blue and Kraft coloured cardstock from Stampin' Up! and Bella Bleu Patterned Paper also from Stampin' Up!

On the outside of the box I used Very Vanilla Grosgrain Ribbon and the Scallop Oval and Oval Punch and the Oval All stamp Set all from Stampin' Up! and Bordering Blue, Kraft and Not Quite Navy Cardstock.

If you would like to purchase any Stampin' Up! items from me, for the next 2 months for every £45 you spend you can order a free limited edition stamp set. With a choice of 4 to choose from there should definately be at least one that you would love to own. Click on the Saleabration Leaflet on the left hand column to find out more details or email me on LindaLloyd@gmx.net.

Have a great evening 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

Another Day, Another Card......

Here we have card number 3... definitely fallen behind as I really wanted to make the 12 by Sunday, but that is looking unlikely now, plus I have had another card request added to the order too, will just have to be a week late, the lady never minds when she gets them, I just like to make it 4 weekly, so no rush really.

Life just keeps on getting in the way... unfortunately last night we had to have our 2 year old cat put to sleep as he had tumours and leukemia... my little boy was devastated and would only go to bed last night with the cats collar on his wrist. Anyway, on to todays card.

Today I haven't decorated the inside, mainly because a lot of these cards are used to write letters in and if I was to decorate, there wouldn't be enough room to write, so some I decorate inside and some I don't... here is today's card...

I used the new Stampin Up Bella Bleu Patterned Paper, Kraft, Brocade Blue and Very Vanilla Cardstock, plus Stampin Up Grosgrain Ribbon in Brocade Blue. The pearls are from my stash and the sentiment is from Our Daily Bread Stamps in US. I never used a challenge today, so no challenge to enter either.

A lot of my Stampin' Up! colleagues have travelled to Germany today for the very first European Conference, unfortunately I was unable to go due to lack of funds, plus not having anyone to look after the 5 children still at home, maybe next year it will be in the UK so there is more chance that I will be able to go.... I hope they all have a really good time and send lots of photos for me to drool over.

Have a great evening everyone, take care xx

A couple of Challenges...

I know, I have managed to post twice 2 days running, I think this is a record for me, but I just wanted to get this card entered for the Stamp With Us Challenge here and the Sketch Saturday Challenge here.


The Stamp With Us Challenge needed me to use 3 patterned papers, 3 brads, 3 coloured cards and 3 different stamps, which I have managed. The patterned papers are a new Stampin Up Set called Bella Bleu, and I used 3 different papers from this set. The 3 brads are from Stampin Up and are at the bottom of the Flower Image. The 3 coloured cards I used are Brocade Blue, Very Vanilla and Kraft which you can just see poking out from underneath the image. And the 3 different stamps are the sentiment stamp which comes from the Stampin Up Say It With Scallops Set, the little blue stamped circle just underneath the flower is from the Stampin Up Circle Circus Set and the flower image itself is from the Stampin Up Bloomin' With Beauty Set. The border punch is also the new Stampin Up Eyelet Border Punch and I used the 5-Petal Flower Punch for the flower. To finish it off I stuck a Kraft Taffeta bow onto the flower stem and layered the middle of the sentiment with dimensionals. Oooh one last thing, the holes around the edge of the image is made using the Tool Set from Stampin Up, although you can now buy the Template, Mat and Sticky Tool seperately.


And again I decorated the inside to match the outside.... If you click on the images they will be shown larger and will be much clearer.

And just so that you can see the how deep it is and how I have raised the images to give dimension...

The Sketch Saturday challenge looked like this...



Hopefully I have fulfilled this sketch too, the 3 circles I have used as a flower and 2 sets of leaves... hope this counts. Everything else is in order though.

Thanks everyone for the challenges, I have had great fun making this card today.

Take care all xx

A Great Assembly...

Today I went to watch my 8 year old son in his assembly, every term or so they perform an assembly for the parents so they can see what they have been learning that term. This term he has been learning about Henry VIII. He brought an invitation home on Monday with a drawing of Henry VIII on, and it really did look like him, then today his class acted out a "This Is Your Life" of Henry VIII..... and even his beheaded wives were there... lol It was excellent and they all sang along to Greensleeves twice... awesome.


My mum came back from her holiday in Cyprus yesterday, and popped round today, she brings the children crisps and biscuits each week as a treat and today was no exception. She was in Cyprus for 3 weeks, but she didn't enjoy it very much, she did go 20 years ago and she loved it, but she says she wouldn't go back again, it was very expensive, they couldn't afford to eat out, plus the buses stopped running about 6.30pm, so they would also have had to get a cab back to the hotel. Out of the 21 days only 5 were sunny, the rest it either rained, thundered or lightening... what a shame when you spend so much money on a holiday and it doesn't turn out how you hoped...

Have today downloaded (legally) U2s new album and they will be announcing their tour on 9th March so not long to go now.... we last went to see them in Poland in July 2005, what an awesome time we had, and it is amazing how all these Polish people know the words to all their songs, I do wonder if they know what they are singing about, especially when they sang Yahweh!! Must admit their album is a bit slower than normal, their latest single is the most upbeat song, followed closely by Magnificent, but the others are much slower, cant see how they are going to rock stadiums with these.....

Anyway, on to the card I have for you today....

I have used Live Your Dream Stamp Set, the sentiment is computer generated. I used Very Vanilla Ribbon and Cardstock along with Night of Navy Cardstock. The image was stamped with Night of Navy, Old Olive and Pumpkin Pie inks. The border was cut using my Fiskars Border Punch.

Have a great evening all xx

No snow here, but I have been productive...

So the rain in Spain has come to my home town and it is miserable, and the rain is melting the last of the snow, guess that is what happens when you live on the coast.

Today I have been quite productive, I have actually made 4 cards and packed and posted another Stampin' Up! Stampers 10 Club order out to all the girls. But I am only going to show you one card, so that I have some to post when I dont make any.... lol

I got a lot of inspiration for this card from the Stampin' Up! catalogue. The Cardstock I used is Really Rust, Whisper White, Old Olive, and the Patterned Paper is Cosmo Cricket. The Stamp Set I used is Baroque Motifs, with Very Vanilla Taffetta Ribbon and pearls etc from the Pretties Kit. I used the same Cardstock for the inside but used my Martha Stewart Punch for the edges. The circles were cut using various sizes of the Stampin' Up! circle punches.

And that is about it for today, need to go cook a roast for dinner and maybe I will get time to sit and read my book whilst it is cooking. Have a good evening all xx