July

Morning all (or afternoon).

Well July is upon us and I am feeling a bit odd because I am 40 at the end of the month.  Being 40 doesn't bother me too much other than the fact that there is lots I want to do and my health prevents me from doing it.  Every year for the last couple I've said 'this is going to be the year I make it happen' but then things happen and the next year rolls around.  I really have got ambitions that I would love to come to fruition by the time I'm 41 but I just won't say anything too loudly in case the fates are listening - they are liable to throw another obstacle in front of me if they get wind of my plans LOL.

Anyway, enough of my whinging and back to more important things, such as crafting.

 

It is the first of the month so there is a new challenge up at Ladybug Crafts , which this month is:

 

Special Birthdays

I haven't made anything specific as I have been busy with some design team work, but thought I would share a couple of older projects featuring some of the Crafter's Companion embossing folders, create a card dies and quilling flower dies.

There is so much you can do to make so many different looks.

 

I just love this large milk carton style box and I don't know if it's the sunshine, but I am loving bright colours right now, especially orange :)

 

 

This is a more subtly coloured piece with a cupcake theme going on - I still love my Crafter's Companion embossing boards which is where I got the large cupcake in the centre from.  Really easy to emboss and then cut out - so may dies around now, but I still love a bit of cutting out.

 

This is one of the A6 Create a Card dies, Shining Star.  So simple and quick to do - fab if you've forgotten a birthday and you need something quick.

 

This is another Create a Card A6 die - Butterflies this time, but layered on some pretty paper and the leaf vein textures folder provides the backing.  The bow is a die too from Crafter's Companion but from their first Christmas range - still useful :)

 

 

I hope you like these cards and that you will pop over to the challenge blog and join in :)

 

xxx



Last little peek

 

Hello again - back so soon :)

I just wanted to share my last sample for the Scruffy Little Kitten range launching today (Monday) by Crafter's Companion on Create and Craft :)

This little girl is Hallie and she's such a sweetie!

 

 

I have coloured her with Spectrum Noir blendable pencils (colours below).

The papers are from the CD and I added some Core'dinations card and some Petaloo mulberry flowers from my stash.

I love her and I hope you do too :)

 

Pencils used;

Skin - 085, 088, 091, 004, 009

Hair - 014, 016, 085, 088

Dress, bow and shoes - 030, 036, 041, 011, 044, 057

Butterflies - 011, 044, 057, 030, 036, 041, 065, 066, 068, 103

Shadow - 113

 

xxx



Ladybug challenge - do it with dies :)

Good morning (or afternoon, or evening :) )

I'm back with my card for the Ladybug Crafts challenge for June.

 

This month the theme is to use your dies.  I love my dies and I am lucky enough to be on the Crafter's Companion Die'sire design team so I thought I'd share a card I made using their Spring dies.

 

 

 

 

This uses the beautiful window die, the pennant bunting and the wildflower trio.  I used the dry stone wall embossing folder on kraft card for the background.  I just love teal, brown and cream as a colour combination and I was pretty happy with this card :)

 

 

Don't forget to pop along and join in the challenge

xxx



Another Sneaky peek :)

Hi all :)

Well I am back with another sneak peek from the new Crafter's Companion Scruffy Little Kitten range that is launching tomorrow on Create and Craft .

 

I love this little lady;

 

 

I have coloured her with Spectrum Noir markers and blendable pencils.

The papers are from the new CD.

This is a list of the pens/pencils used;

 

Skin - TN2, TN3, FS4, CR3, 088, 085, 004, 009

Hair - EB1, EB5, EB8, GB10, 088, 098, 100

Bath - IG2, IG3, HB1, 079, 081, 114, 116, 118

 

xxx



Scruffy Little Kitten launch

Hi all - well today is the first sneaky peek of the new Scruffy Little Kitten designs by Crafter's Companion that will launch on Create and Craft on Monday :)

This is my first sample as a part of the Spectrum Noir TV sample team.

This card uses the stamp - All Things Grow with Love

I have coloured him in with Spectrum Noir alcohol markers.

 

 

I have used sepia tones (pen colours listed below) and so used kraft and brown card to layer up a card and added some hessian and string too to make a card suitable for a boy.

The papers I used are from the Scruffy Little Kitten CD.

 

I hope you like my card :)

 

xxx

 

Spectrum Noir pens used for image;

 

Skin - TN1, TN2, TN3, FS2

Hair - EB1, EB4, EB5, TN3, TN5, TN7

Dungarees - BG5, BG7, EB3, EB5, EB7, EB8

T Shirt - TN6, TN7, TN8, TN9

Watering Can - BG5, BG7, EB2, EB5, EB7, EB8

Boots - TN6, TN7, TN8, TN9, Blender

Leaves - GB8, GB9, GB10

Butterflies - TN1, TN2, TN3, TN4

Shadow - GB8, EB1, EB2, EB3, Blender



Blogging and a crisis of confidence (and finally some good news :) )

Hi all :)

 

Well here I am, after yet again failing to blog for weeks on end.

I would really like to blog most days and yet I don't and up until very recently I don't think I could have told you why I don't manage to do something that I am really keen on doing!

 

However, I have given the matter a lot of thought and I have finally come up with the answer which is a crisis of confidence :(

I used to be quite an outgoing person, always out and about, lots of friends, a good job and a fair amount of self-confidence.  Sadly though, since my health deterioration that has all changed.  My husband and I don't get out too much, I have been unable to work for several years, my only friends are those in the computer and I have very little self-confidence and herein lies the problem.

 

A lot of people might say that you don't really need self-confidence to write a blog but I am going to say in my case that that isn't true.

Every time I think about sitting down to write about my latest crafty projects I get a little voice in my mind that says (rather loudly I might add),

 

 'Why on earth would anyone want to read anything you have to say? Why would anyone want to see anything you've made?  Nobody is going to read what you write, or look at photos of your makes so why bother?'

 

Add to that how, when travelling around other blogs on the internet and seeing that there are thousands of readers commenting and it can, at times,  make one feel almost unpopular which, if you're feeling vulnerable anyway can be a real kick in the teeth.

 

So, up to this point, most times I've quietly got upset and then I haven't bothered to write, which in turn has made me more upset at which point I can hear the spiteful voice in my head sniggering in a smug manner about having gotten her own way!  This voice has been with me throughout my life, but lately she is louder than she has ever been and if I'm honest she has become a menace who is very difficult to live with and I have had enough of her.

 

So, what to do?

 

Well, I am going to try to blog more in the hope that this will start to quieten her down a bit because there is something else I have realised.  The reason I want to blog is not so that thousands of people will read what I write (although it is a bonus knowing that there are people there who might enjoy some of the things I have to say or some of the crafty things I make) or comment on my makes, but rather as a sort of catharsis.  I want to blog for me in the hope that it will help me to feel better about myself and about my journey. I also hope that maybe my blog might make someone smile occasionally in the way that others' blogs have made me smile, even when I haven't felt much like smiling.

 

Even writing this has been a start and I have deleted and rewritten things so many times that I'm not sure if it makes any sense at all but I'm going to post anyway just to shut you know who up!!

So although I am not going to promise to blog every day - although that is the eventual aim - I am going to try for much more often than before.

 

Before I go, I did mention some good news in my title and so here it is :)

I have been chosen to be a member on the new Spectrum Noir TV Sample design team.  I love my Spectrum Noir pens and pencils and also the amazing Spectrum Aquas too so I was super amazed when they asked me to be a part of it (I'm still in shock lol).  I can't wait to get started.

So I'll leave you with a picture from the cute BeBunni Floral range coloured with my favourites, the Spectrum Noir professional colouring pencils

 

I hope you like him :)

 

Back soon

 

xxx

 

Hi everyone :) 

well May is here and the year is really flying by (I'll have to start on Christmas stuff soon!!).

 

I am here with news about the new challenge over at Ladybug Crafts challenge blog :)

This month the theme is Your favourite Colour.

 

I have so many favourites and it can change from day to day and depending on what mood I am in :)

But on the day I made this card I was in love with blue and kraft brown!

 

I have used one of the Create-a-card A6 dies from Crafter's Companion.  This omne is Shining Star and I love it - so easy to put together a quick card and you could change this for the boys or for the girls.  This was just using Kraft card and some blue Core'dinations card.  The large star pops out, so I trimmed the edge off and put the smaller star onto some invisible thread to dangle in the aperture.  I added some of the little stars that popped out of the die just around the card.  I added a little twine bow and that was that - it usually takes me ages to make a card as I do tend to faff lol, but this didn't take long at all which is great if you need a card in a hurry.

 

 

 

 

There are some new A6 Create a card dies out in the range which you can see HERE .

 

I had a play with 3 of them and this is what I came up with-

 

Hello

 

With Love

 



 

Thinking of You

 

You can do so much with these dies, just really simple like the Thinking of You card, or add lots of frippery like the With Love card :)

 

Back soon with some fabulous makes using new templates by Crafter's Companion which are launching on the Create and Craft TV channel over the weekend.

 

Don't forget the challenge over on the Ladybug Challenge blog :)

xxx



Texture folders

Hi all!!

I have been a bad blogger :(  Things have been so hectic since Christmas and we haven't had the best start to the year as hubby is poorly and we lost our old dog a few weeks ago which has heartbroken not only us but our young Irish setter too, who is missing his chum so much.

 

Anyway, as a result I have neglected my blogging duties, but I am back now and I thought I would share the pictures of the samples I made for the Crafter's Companion texture folders that were on Create and Craft a couple of weeks ago.

They are really fab folders, so useful for so many projects - they are the sort of folders you never really put away as you can use them so often.

 

So here are some of my samples;

 with the hessian folder -

 

 

leaf vein -

 

Pebbles - 

 

Dry Stone Wall -

 

Such great fun to work with.

If there are any techniques you would like to know more about please let me know and I can do a tutorial :) 

I also used some of the new stamps that were released with the folders - a brilliant combination and great if you like the distress look but don't really like to get too messy!

 

Don't forget that the folders and the stamps are available on the Crafter's Companion website. 

 

I will be back soon with some crafty things I've been making recently

 

xxx



 

 

Hi all - sorry I'm a bit late with the winner of the blog candy - I've been my usual poorly self and sadly we lost our old dog at the weekend so we have been very upset over that too.

 

Anyway, I am here now to do the blog candy here and on the other site.

So the winner for this blog is...

 

 

 

 

13 - Graphix and Design

 

 

congratulations :)

 

Please email me HERE and put

'Blog Candy Winner' in the subject bar so I won't miss it. - don't forget to put your address

so I can send out your prize :)

 

Back soon with some 'Tweedies' card from Crafter's Companion.

 

xxx



Merry Christmas - Blog Candy :)

 

Hi everyone.

Well Christmas is almost here and I am not ready at all lol.

Never mind, as long as the family are together things will be great.

I have been thinking alt about this year, which hasn't been great for me.  I have chronic health problems anyway, which most of you probably know, but I've also had pneumonia this year, followed by shingles and I still haven't really recovered fully.

However, I am grateful that I am at present able to create things which gives me immense pleasure and I know that many of us craft as a sort of therapy, even if just for relaxation after a tough day at work :)

 

So, I am hoping for a better year next year, but I know that January can be a bit flat after all the preparations for Christmas, which seem to start earlier every year, so I thought I would do a blog candy.  In fact I am doing 2, one here and one on the challenge blog HERE , so you can add your name to both if you like :) (It seems that this happens automatically - not sure how I've managed to do that but now you only need to enter one to be entered into both :) )

 

This is what you could win;

 

It's a little something to say thanks for popping by and seeing me, and also a pledge that I will try to blog more next year with lots of the things that I make.

All you need to do to enter is add you name to the linky at the bottom (it would be nice if you choose to follow me but you don't have to if you don't want to :))

It would also be nice if you left a comment just to say hi, but again, not essential.

 

I am going to run it until the 7th of January, so you have a month to enter and don't forget to pop over to the challenge blog and enter there too :)
Hopefully I will be back before the big day, but if not I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and hope that you all get some great pressies (ooh, please comment after the day and let me know what you've received, as I'm very nosy and I'd love to know :) )

Take care

xxx

 





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