gorgeous blog candy!

See here for the chance to win this gorgeous Hanglar+Stanglar stamp. it is so cute!! and very hard to get hold of. Katharina is being very generous giving people us a chance to win this!

my ally pally stash

I had such a great time at ally pally. It was a huge effort for me as my ME is not doing good and i knew i would suffer from it, but meeting up with friends, meeting others for the first time and of course craft shopping, it cant get better really! I got there by trains and tubes at about 11am and left just b4 3 as i had started to feel ill and faint in that heat(as they had to shut the roof bcoz of the rain and hail). In that time i got some good stash shopping done and a good lot of chatting too. I wish i had had more money as there was so much i wanted but i had to be very good this time round. I will be saving for sept so i can have a better spend up next time!

I also bought some 12 x 12 clear boxes for my papers as they were a bargain as 3 for £10. These pics are useless so i may take some better, closer up ones for u to see the stuff properly!lol

Di Hickman's sketch challenge

This card is for the sketch challenge over at Di Hickman's site.
I first thought it was too simple and that i wouldnt be able to make a decent card with it, but once i chose the gorgeous paper (from creative imaginations) it just seemed to come together. I used a few primas and flowers to be the focus of the card and even used one of my sugar coated brads to hold them together. I find it hard using these as they are so pretty i don't want to give them away! lol
I then added a small bow with some lovely shimmery organza ribbon and a tiny sentiment at the top.
It came out far better than i imagined and i'm really pleased with it.

Ismaki sketch challenge

This card was made based on a sketch over at Ismaki . I loved the sketch and had seen some lovely examples of the card so wanted to have a go myself. It really inspired me and after i'd stamped nellie and drawn a circle round her i got the idea to stamp little elzybells flowers around the edge to give a lovely border to her. I stamped them all and then cut around them to create the circle, then added some shimmer with some sakura pens. Again the lovely paper is from K+Co. I added some stitched ribbon to add the stitching effect on the layout. I finished by adding some primas and a get well sentiment.

I'm so pleased with this card and again am loving doing sketch challenges today!

Taylored expressions sketch

I made this card for a sketch challenge over at taylored expressions . It's called a cupcake challenge but it saus u don't have to use a cupcake! which is handy as i dont have one. But i love that the layput is so different from my normal style so it took me out of my boring comfort zone.
I've used one of my favourite bella stamps and some gorgeous paper from a K+Co pad called sickly sweet. I love the colours and matched them with some lovely yellow bazzill card.
The base card is a shimmery pink which held it all together and the stitched ribbon matched the pink as well.
I've loved the cards i've made today and am pleased there are inspiration and sketch blogs to help change your style a bit! which is what i was needing.

more postpals cards

I wanted to try and improve on yesterday's creations so i had a go at trying to add things i dont often do.
This is the first(or second?) time i've used this sweet little lily of the valley stamp and thought it would be perfect for a little girl called erin on postpals thats only 5 and likes pink. there is lots of glitter and shimmer on it especially for a little princess.



This next little one was a stamped image from a friend of mine on the forum. i automatically go for pink normally so i went with blue but still for a girl. i layered the bits differently to how i normaly would, as i'm such a straight and even type of crafter. I then used my silent setter to put some eyelets in (thanks for the inspiration maddie!) and added some swirls from a doodlebug love set in brilliance dew drops.













This is my fave of the day. I love this swirl cuttlebug die and i love lilac so it all seem to come together well. i added some eyelets again to the image matting and stamped hello with stampendous(i think) alphabet set.I haven't got the energy to run upstairs to check! I love these prima blooms and attached them with some big brads. All of these cards will be for children who are going through horrible illnesses and deserve to be treated to a card or gift. For anyone that hasn't heard of postpals please click on the link and see how much these kiddies are going through and how badly they need volunteers to bring a smile to their faces! thank you x

few more creations

I'm not really overly happy with any of these to be honest, but 5 cards in day seemed worthy of doing a blog entry.they all seem too plain and just same old same old.
This first one is for someone on postpals. The sitting tilda is so cute but i dont think the LO is quite right on the card.







This second card is again for a postpals member and is the first time of using my mermaid tilda. I used glittery sakura pens for the scales and they look better IRL. The card behind her is glittery too. i need to learn to take better pics of my cards.













This 3rd one is for someone on postpals and again is the first time i've used the horse. Thank u maddie for the stamped images. He is so cute, but i dont think i'll use the reddy brown on him again as i had trouble matching paper colours. I want to get the fencing stamp as well to make it look like the horse is in a paddock, with tilda infront of it.













This card is for someone on my forum that has not been well and i think deserves a bit of cheering up.













This again is for someone that going through a rough time on my forum and needs some support.











I'm loving crafting lately but today seem to have lost my mojo a bit. Some days i love my cards and others like today they just dont seem good enough. I would love to be able to make cards like some i see on blogs, esp the tilda blog. some of those are amazing! i know we all have our own styles but i wish i could vary mine a bit. maybe thats a small challenge to myself.

day of scrapping

Whilst watching the FA cup final and the grand national today i fancied doing some scrapping. On the forum i go on we've got some scrapbook page layouts on there for some inspiration(taken from an inspiration blog i think), so it gave me something to work with. It's the first time i've done a LO from a sketch and i did find it easier to follow what was there.

I had these lovely photos of my sis and niece and thought they fit well into the sketch. There is meant to be a 3rd photo on the biggest circle, but i hadn't got anymore printed from that day(yet) so the space is there to add one if i want to.

I used some pretty pink flowery paper as a background and some good old bazzill. The gorgeous blue spotty paper is from sandilion and i'll be stocking up with more of it!

I chose pink and blue from colours in the photo and added some light green as that brought it all together with the title, which is from K+Co.

For the circles i cut round some of the flowers of the background paper and added some chipboard flowers i got free with scrapbook inspirations and some primas. One of the centres of the chipboard flowers didnt match with the colours so i drew round the centre flower onto some other chipboard and covered it with some of the blue paper to tie it all in. A few brads, including a gorgeous sugar coated brad from doolebug added detail to the flowers, and i finished adding some heart+flower rub ons from doodlebug.

i really enjoyed making it and will be ordering lots of photos now to do more for Emily's scrapbook.

DCM challenge

i thought i'd have a go at the mini challenge over at daring cardmakers, which is pretty pastels. i love pastel colours on cards, esp using bazzill light green, yellow and pink, so i made this easily. I love these sugar nellie stamps and can't stop using them since i got them.

The butterfly paper is from a lush paper pad by K+Co called sparkly sweet. i can't remember who the pink flower paper is by.

postpals cards

Postpals is a great charity set up by some friends of mine who also suffer with ME(but far worse than me). It is a scheme where very sick and poorly children sign up to their site and people can then send them cards, letters, gifts and anything to put a much needed smile on their face while they are suffering so much. having been ill for 6 years myself now, and being bedbound at times, i know how lovely it is to get some post that cheers you up and makes u feel like someone out there is thinking about u. So I decided to create a section on a cardmaking forum i belong to, so that the members can make cards for the featured pals on the site each month, who need a bit of extra love and support. I have made 4 so far but will continue to make cards every month for as many of the kids as i can. For anyone that doesn't know of the site and would like to see it the link is :www.postpals.co.uk




i really do adore these tilda stamps and can't wait to be able to afford more! I expect i'll get one or 2 at ally pally in 10 days time!!

PIF from maddie.

Thank u to Maddie for the lovely PIF u sent me! That ric rac is gorgeous!!!
It is now my time to Pay It Forward. I don't know what goodies i will give away yet, but the first 3 people to reply to this post will get sent a few bits. You will then PIF and give away some stuff to 3 other people on ur blog.
ready, steady, go!

These are today's creations. After i got my goodies today i wanted to have a play, and as i had 3 birthday cards to make, i thought i could use some of my new bits. the dress card is for my cousin who has recently opened a wedding sop. i H2O'd the top and stickled the dress to give it lots of sparkle. i embossed some card with my new cuttlebug dots die and used a birthday stamp for the sentiment.

This next card is for my nans birthday. its my new PB stamp which is so cute! I watercoloured it as usual and used a pearlescent card and some gorgeous scrapbooking paper that i had left over. (cant remember who its by but i could find out if anyone does want to know) I again used by bug to emboss the dots again and used a wavey birthday stamp along the top.

This card is my favourite i've made in a long time. My niece is very special to me so i had to make a special card. I used some gorgeous scrapbooking paper from pebbles inc and embossed a piece of card with my dots (again!!) My new alphabet bought today is gorgeous and stamps so well. i added happy 8th with some doodlebug rub ons and emily was done with some fantastic velvety,sticky alphabet from a that pound shop place. I got them a long time ago now so they wont have them anymore. wish i bought packs of them! The gorgeous unicorn is a lily of the valley die cut which i edged with some pink H2O. the ribbon is doodlebug and i held the flowers together with a gorgeous sugar coated doodlebug brad.

glitterpot stash.

oh how i adore that shop!! they r so nice in there and the stock is amazing. they won the best craft shop for the south east for the 2nd yr in a row and are having a 10%discount day today and tomo, and as i had vouchers from my birthday to spend in there i thought it would be rude not to go!

so here is the gorgeous lot of stash i bought:

The bottom right pic is all for my gorgeous niece who is 8 in 2 weeks time. she told us she doesnt want toys as she has too many, so she wants craft stuff just like auntie kezza has. so she is getting her own side kick, some dies, stamps, glitter, punches and some papers. Im sure we'll add to this as she wants some watercolour pencils as well as when we make cards together she copies me and colours them with a paintbrush. I love that she is following in my footsteps and i know we'll be having even more lovely crafting sessions together.

the unicorns i bought are for her bday card as she adores them, and i also got a sheet of those for her too.

I was so lucky, as some lovely person that still remains unknown, sent me some vouchers to spend in the glitterpot for my 30th bday that has just past, so i got to treat myself more than normal. I love the new sugar nellie stamps, they r so sweet. i cant wait for them to get their magnolias in.

right im off to play with my new bits!

Mothers day cards

This card is for my lovely mum. I adore her so wanted to make something special. I love this new PB stamp and i thought it would fit a mothers day card as she deserves a rest too!
I watercoloured it as usual and stamped a 2nd flower to add on top with 3D pads for dimension.
The pretty paper is by scrapbook walls. I added "love you" with my gorgeous doodlebug stamps and added "mum" onto the ribbon with some doodlebug rub ons. i mounted on pink bazzill and added a cute,lilac dragonfly brad.






This 2nd card is for my auntie who has basicly been a 2nd mum to us. I used my new PB stamp, embraceable, and watercoloured him and added some sparkle on the hearts with a sakura stardust pen. I embossed the hearts with my cuttlebug and used some doodlebug paper(i think its is!) on the top. I added my sentiment with doodlebug rub ons and the mini hearts along the bottom. those i also added some sakura stardust too.



















The 3rd card is for my best friend who gave me the honour of being godmother to her adorable son. She loves Pink as much as i do thank god so it was easy to choose a colour scheme for this one. Again the stamp is PB. its one of my most used stamps as its so versatile! I watercoloured him as usual and added some gorgeous paper by sandilion. I used a corner punch on the image and double mounted it onto bazzill. I added the sentiment again with doodlebug rub ons(can u tell i love them?) and mounted those onto pink bazzill. I added a couple of pretty blooms and held them together with a small brad.

Back again!

I have been a very bad blogger and have decided i miss doing it and it helps me make cards regularly as well.

Here are some recent cards ive made:

This anniversary card was made for an order. I made the card with some red card and embossed some gold card with a cuttlebug embossing folder. I handcut the hearts in 2 different coloured reds and used rub ons to put the 50 on. i added some detail around the edges with a fineliner and stuck them together at a jaunty angle.

I added a small circle of gold card to the centre of the flower with a small doodlebug clear stamp and added a sentiment with a rub on from Letraset.

The mum&dad are doodlebug rub ons. It looks better in real life as the flash has ruined the pic.

This was for the same order and was from the granchildren so i wanted to use this cute PB stamp. I added a small doodlebug clear stamp heart and embossed the card as before.

The rub on sentiment is the same as above. The nan+grandad is stamped with a small hero arts set.

I added some red organza ribbon and onto that a small gold heart i punched out and used a doodlebug rub on for the 50.

I wish i knew how to work this posting bit. i can never line it up as i want it!! esp. when i add more photos!

some recent cards i've made

Right, now i've shown my ally pally stash i'll show some recent cards i've made.

This card i made for my boyfriend, Matthew, after his cat had been run over. I didn't want to send anything too morbid and just tell him i was thinking about him. Inside i wrote that "i'm thinking of ewe".

I made this card for my friend, Kerrie, who has recently had her appendix out. she's been feeling very poorly and fed up,(get well soon kezza xxx) so i thought i'd send a card to cheer her up.

I love this stamp as its great for all sorts of cards but perfect for thinking of u cards.

I embossed the background card and drew inside the debossed bits with a sparkly sakura pen.

My gorgeous little godson was 2 recently and i thought i'd make a humourous card as he has recently started to do this "photo face" when he has photos taken. He likes bob the builder as any other little boys his age do, so i printed out bob on a scooter and replaced bobs face with Luigi's photo face! The lettering is dont with a see d's set and i hand drew the number 2 and embossed it with my cuttlebug. His mum loved it and it really made them laugh.

I've also been getting on with some christmas cards as i have a lot to make and have also just taken part in an image swap on the forum, so i had lots of gorgeous christmas images to use!

Long time no blog!

I can't believe its been so long since i've blogged! Doesn't time fly. I've had some up and down times with my ME so ive gone weeks without making a card and then making quite a few when ive been a bit better.

Before i show u the recent cards i've made i'll show u the yummy stash i bought at my first visit to the wonderful ally pally! It was my first craft show and being surrounded by so much stash was heaven. I am terrible with money anyway, so it was no suprise that i went over the top (influenced by kezza of course ;-) ) and lived off pasta that week until i could afford food again! oooppss.

Lots of gorgeous chipboard swirls and letters for scrapbooking. Ive just got a cuttlebug as a very early 30th bday prezzie (bday not until feb!) from my american family, so i bought a sissix alphabet to use with it. The thing is, i cant get it to work or cut properly so anyone have any tips to help me??

I adore all the new blonde moments stuff, esp these powders! they r so pretty but i still havent got round to using them yet!lol I loved these swirl stencils as well and will be great for scrapbook pages. A few sets of those bargain little studio G stamps!

Of course some cuttlebug embossing folders! and some lovely papers from lily of the valley, to go with the gorgeous fairies and winter animals:

I had the best time and was so pleased that i could meet some of the girls from the cardmaking forum i'm on. Roll on april!!

I think i'll start a new section as it taken me long enough to get this bit done with all the photos in the right place! lol

im still here!

For anyone wondering why i havent been blogging for a while, ive recently been away on holiday and since being back ive been very tired and just havent been in the mood to craft.
I must try and get my creative flow going again, and i will use some of the challenges to try and kick start myself again!
Some good news though is i have been accepted on a city and guilds photography course. It starts soon so ill have to get used to a routine again, after being ill for so long and having no routine whatsoever! Im really excited as i love photography but im also nervous as im hoping my energy levels and memory problems wont let me down, but i suppose all i can do is try and see how i cope.
Anyway, i'm off to catch up with all of your blogs and cards!

Nice matters award!

Thank u cheryl for nominating me for a nice matters award. nice is definately the way i want to be!

I now have to nominate 5 people. Im sorry if u have already been nominated but i suppose at least that means more people think ur nice! lol

I nominate :

Kerrie-Kerrie's little corner

Becky-Becky Stewart

Sally-sally's world

Lily-Lily's little blog home

Amanda-Maddies creations

as u've all been nice to me over the time we've known eachother! xxxx

Elzybells girls birthday card

I had to make a birthday card for a good friend of mine, so i found this sweet friend image stamped for me in an image swap, on a forum i go on.

I used watercolour pencils, and sakura pens to colour them, and mounted them onto bright pink bazzill card.

I adore this new paisley black and white paper from doodlebug, and thought it would look great with small bits coloured in, so i used the same pink sakura pen to outline all the teardrop shapes. It looks much shinier IRL.

The small birthday peeloffs are again anitas. I really do need to buy some more birthday sentiment stamps!

Its been nice making cards again today as ive felt really poorly all weekend. My ME is really playing up and ive felt like a zombie most of the weekend. Im still not feeling great, but its been nice to sit and craft for a few hours. it takes my mind off worrying about feeling so ill again.