Bits and Bobs and a very Happy Christmas!

Hi friends
Back as promised with a couple of things to share relative to the season (that are not cards), and something  non Christmas too.
 In-between my card making, baking and cake decorating I have been doing some other 'bits'.

First off at the beginning of the month I went to Samuel Taylor's and did a 'make and take' paper pine cone. I was thrilled with the result and so made some for friends and family to hang on their trees.

Next up the favours for the Christmas table this year (I made 6 altogether) these are from 'Whichcraft'. I covered them in my chosen papers (old Craftwork Cards......see I knew it would come in) to match my colour scheme (blue and silver), and have added a few after dinner mints........so if you are peeking at this and coming to dinner then you know what to expect......and if you are not, what you are missing out on!...... fairly quick and effective to do!

Something not so festive now, some sugar carnations a friend asked me to do for a cake she was making for her sons wedding. It is a while since I made some of these so I really enjoyed doing it.

Lastly I leave you with a picture I took in the craft store at Bents Garden Centre in Greater Manchester. It is a pillar! and I thought it was so novel.Those cotton reels were enormous!

Right that's it...well there is one more bit but that will have to wait till after Christmas or I may spoil it if the recipient has time to read my blog!..........so......

Hope you are all ready for Christmas now and able to find some relaxing time over the holidays. Thank you so much for your company along the way this year, I feel I have made some wonderful friends both near and far.

That just leaves me to wish each and everyone of my blogging buddies and those who visit me but do not make it known....a very

Thank you for stopping by....see you later
Hugs
Carole xx

Card and cake!!

Card and cake.....the name of my blog, so I thought you would all be wondering what happened to the cake side of things....so read on......

Warning----- long post so tea and cake may be required.

Hi everyone and a very warm welcome to my new follower, I hope you like what you see here and if you do please leave me a comment so that I might visit you too.

Another week has flown by, the weather here has been a bit mixed and today wet and very very windy. The star has blown off the top of the outside Christmas tree....second time now,  so job for hubby in the morning! I wouldn't mind but it is tied to a metal stake up the top branch but still it has broken free.

Are you all ready?.....sorry are you tired of being asked that? I am ready..........for Christmas that is, until I find another something that I might just sneak in before THE BIG DAY!..........yes it's one day and we have prepared for weeks and stressed about everything that there is to stress about, and no doubt still will be doing until Boxing Day when we will all have collapsed in a jelly heap on the sofa in front of the telly and ........dare I say it..... be planning our next crafting challenge for the New Year.

Right time is at a premium for everyone so I will press on. This is my last Christmas Card for 2014, and as it is hubby's then it is probably one of the most important ones.

It is a 7x7 inch card that I covered with some paper from my stash, it's dark green with gold embossing on it. Next was the white embossed layer using the Vintage Holly folder from Crafters Companion.....I love this folder. I used a linen texture card and I dipped the edges of the card in Versamark and heat embossed with Wow pale gold powder.

The holly is a stamp from my stash that I have had a long time and it has not seen much use but I thought it mirrored the embossing folder so well. I stamped it on the same background paper several times again using Versamark and then embossed in the pale gold ......cut it out and a bit of decoupage.The berries are part of the stamp and were given the glitter glue treatment though you cannot see it on the photo...sorry..bad light.
The sentiment is computer generated on the linen card again, edged with gold in the same way as the background and the tiny holly leaves and berries are a memory box die............they are so small and the berries are even a die...so so tiny!!

Hubby is pleased with it and I guess I am too!

I feel quite sad that I have so much stuff for Christmas that I have not used yet and ideas going round in my head still, but next year I intend to start in February and play Christmas!..........if only so I can justify being tempted next season with even more!

Are you still here?.........and awake?..oh good......on to the cake then..........

Penguins building a snowman! Not much to say about this really...it was pretty quick to do......which is what I needed. I fancied some penguins this year so I set to and made a chubby little family....not perfect by any means but they make me smile when I look at them.
Here is a close up

 They wouldn't win any competitions but hey what the heck!
 The snow that is glistening is magic sparkles!
I expect it will remain uncut on Christmas day as everyone will be too full so it could be 'Weight Watchers' for hubby and I next year!

So there you have it, the cake bit of my blog and the first one since the wedding cake. Icing, marzipan, and other ingredients..........it is a fruit cake, are expensive now so it means that doing a cake just for practice is a no no really.Not quite so with a card............and this reminds me of some LOTV penguin stamps I have that are still un-inked.....maybe next year!

I hope you haven't been bored silly and if you have stayed with me this far....thank you so much, I enjoy your company and appreciate that your time is precious, and that if you choose to spend a little of it with me, it makes my day. Thank you for all your lovely comments that you leave me, you truly are a wonderful bunch.

Hopefully I will be back at the beginning of next week with some more bits that I have also been busy with. Have a wonderful weekend, be it shopping, baking, crafting or whatever makes you happy.
Take care my friends.
Love and hugs
Carole xx

Challenges entered:-
Papertake Weekly................Last Christmas Card.

'Potting Shed'

Good morning friends.
Hope you are well and the sun is shining where you are.It is much brighter here today and the wind has dropped thank goodness.........the Christmas wreath on the front door has spent more time inside than on the door as it bangs like fury in the wind!

My card today is the one that I made for hubby's birthday last week...........I still have his Christmas card to do mind! As he likes gardening I decided to use Craftwork Cards 'Potting Shed' collection.

I joined two 8x8 inch cards together for this and used the papers and the toppers from the set and cut out items from the papers for embellishments.The plant pots (hobbyart I think) on the front of the card were stamped on some of the paper from the pad and cut out.I decoupaged all the wellingtons though you can't see it on the photo and added glossy accents to the candi on the front of the card and the tools inside.

and the back

So there it is!

Right folks I have chores to do, the washer is humming and the dryer will be too shortly. I do miss hanging out the washing........I know... how sad am I but I do like the fresh smell when you bring it in.
The dusters and the hoover are calling.............as is the craft room........so a quick clean and then some crafting!

Thank you for stopping by and thank you if you leave a comment and make my day.

I hope you all have a great weekend...............nothing special doing here....wrapping the last of the presents I hope and then all that is left is the food side of things.......until I add more to my list!

Take care

Hugs Carole xx

Challenges entered :-
Alphabet Challenge..................... V for variety.....3 different design papers
Moving along with the Times.......December birthday
Seize the Birthday.........................Anything goes
That's Crafty.................................Anything goes

Imagination!

Hello blogging friends!
 I'm a bit behind this week................so much to do and so little time to do it all in, but then if I had finished all that I had planned then I would only find even more to do!

So how is the weekend going?.fast you say?............ well yes so is mine, but what I really meant is, are you doing anything special or nice? I hope so.

Hubby is on a long weekend to use up his annual leave so we are putting up decorations, wrapping parcels and trying to hopefully feel organised by the end of it all.I think a long week would be better judging by the length of the list!

On to my card which is for my mum and Step Dad.I can't take any credit here for the design.At the NEC I bought some Sparkle medium, acetate and stencils from Imagination Crafts and I have only just got around to playing with it. This is what I did, and even though I watched it demoed it was all a bit trial and error.............practice makes perfect.....perhaps by Easter!

Apologies for the pictures.The sun was shining (a rarity I know these days) and the acetate over the front of the card reflected so much light I had to seek out the best place for the pics..........on the bed in the spare room....very professional I know.but you don't mind do you?

I am sure you have seen this type of card before but in case you haven't here is a summary of what I did.

I used the fir tree stencil and diamond paste on to the printed background (also imagination crafts), but it didn't show up as much as I liked so I let it dry, replaced the stencil and used silver.....much better. I then did the same on a piece of acetate slightly bigger than my base.
The printed base was mounted on to a card base...I had to cut this myself as bought card bases are smaller than the printed sheet and I didn't want to sacrifice any of the design.The acetate is attached(glued) on the left side and a punched border glued over this. On the right I attached the border and then the free end of the acetate just tucks under the border. This way it goes flat for posting.........but bows out to display the card. Greeting inside on an insert.
Quite fiddly till I got the acetate to the right size and it is only just about 1/4 inch bigger than than the card base in the end.

Well I would love to stay and chat with you all but we are heading off to lunch with my Step-Dad's family today so I had best go and get myself glammed up a bit!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and thanks for stopping by in your busy schedules. I will catch up with you all when hubby is back at work!!

Take care, keep warm and well.
Love
Carole xx

When is a header die not a header die?

Hello friends. Hope you are all well. It is very dark, grey, damp and utterly miserable here in West Yorkshire so I trust it is better wherever you are and I would like to wish all my American friends a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Thank you all those who sent me good wishes for my birthday.I had a good day, in fact a good weekend. Hubby took the day off on Monday so we could go out for the day so it has thrown me out all week as I am a day behind now in my head!..........it's Thursday...but I keep thinking it's Wednesday...probably psychologically I need that extra day!..........in fact make it a week.....time seems to be the only commodity not available to buy and certainly once used it is not able to be replaced.

Enough waffle and on to my card which for a change is a Christmas card. I still haven't made the majority of my cards but this one had to be sent abroad. it was a fairly quick one to make...the first went in the bin though so perhaps not as quick as I would have liked.

Sorry for the poor photo but the daylight here is non existent. It sparkles a plenty though in the flesh!

This is a case of when is a header die not a header die?....when Carole just cuts it straight out of the card!
This is a Tonic header die but I just used the one half of it .the greetings are LOTV and embossed with a Stampendous Gold Sparkle.I backed the die cut in the card with some very sparkly gold glitter paper, and lined the card to cover it up on the inside.

So 4 weeks till the big day and oh so much I want to do. Are you the same? I go in the craft room and have so many plans in my head...never know where to start...... so come out again having achieved nothing! I also am thinking about the Christmas food...icing the cake, baking etc......and then there are the decorations to put up.......but not till hubbys birthday has been and gone next week!..........yes you guessed right  his card is still to make............. I am exhausted typing it!!...........Perhaps it is the downfall of being a perfectionist, we want it right!

Ok ...I will let you get on and I will too, so till next time...thank you for stopping by at this busy time of year and reading my waffle!
Thank you if you leave a comment it makes my day, but above all take care, keep safe, warm and well and I will be back next week and visit you all in the meantime.
Have a good weekend.
Hugs
Carole xx

Challenges entered :-  to be confirmed if I have the time!! :)
Fantastic Tuesday #63....Anything goes with a twist...add a tree.

Happy Anniversary

Hello my friends...how are we? Good I hope. Well another week has passed by in my blogland , all too quickly I have to say...but then you know that don't you?...cos it feels the same to you....

I had a nice weekend visiting my friend in Blackpool...no wine spilled this time round I am glad to say.(see an earlier post of you are new to my blog) On Saturday we went to Manchester to the Christmas Markets and had a lovely time mooching the stalls, there was lots of food and drink on offer and some lovely gift ideas too.
Hubby took this picture of all these Santa's...very reasonably priced when you compare to the Garden Centres. They look a bit like a choir singing!

The one thing that I can't get over was one stall selling bite size macaroons to have with a coffee...you know the sort of thing (sorry no picture).about 1 1/2 inches across......well they were charging £1.YES! £1 per macaroon...but if you bought five you got one free!...wasn't that nice. Daylight robbery....well in my book anyway... I chuntered the rest of the market over that one but the food stuffs did seem quite highly priced.

Right well today is the Wedding Anniversary of my friend so here is the card I made for her and her hubby (well it wouldn't be for the boyfriend would it! ) .JOKE!!!

I recently bought (treated) myself to some tonic header dies and this is the celebration one. I backed the cut-out with pink glitter card to make it stand out. The sentiment is Inkylicious and the die it is on is Spellbinders.
One tip I give myself for next time is to make the card a little wider if I can...one is limited by the width of your die-cutting machine......in an effort to make the shoulders either side of the cut out bit a little stronger. I suppose when I think about it...brain in gear time....then you can only cut A4 either portrait or landscape as your largest card and then folded in half...get that.?......come on keep up!!
If anyone has any other ideas or experience of these dies then I would love to hear them.

So back to the weekend. Did you do anything nice?.or anything nice planned for this weekend perhaps. A trip to LOTV on Saturday for tea and cake.......oh and shopping almost forgot!!.......yes I know I have spent a lot lately but birthday next week is my excuse...whats yours?
Anyway say hi if you are going too...........and otherwise have a great weekend.
Take care my lovely friends, please leave me a comment...I love them...they remind me what lovely friends I have out there in blogland. Thanks for stopping by.

Till next time..........£1 for a macaroon !!!!!! Ridiculous!

Crafting hugs
Love Carole xxx

50 and lost?

Good evening my lovely blogging friends....well it's night really, nearly bedtime so if you are reading this late then I hope I don't send you to sleep!

Well another week has gone past down the time tunnel , the highlight of which for me was the NEC last Friday for the Hobbycrafts and Crafts for Christmas shows. It was an early departure 6.30 am and I hate mornings! Good job hubby was driving........yes I took my best critic with me....why? I hear you ask..............to carry the stuff of course!....anyway before you interrupted me (how rude) I was saying he drove, and a good job because I had trouble keeping my eyes open! It was a foul journey weather wise.......lots of rain and spray.......and do you know that every lorry in Britain was on the M1 that morning!............ but we arrived safely.

It was a good show .........I nearly wrote you a poem about it,but I didn't..... so you can breathe that sigh of relief now. There was so much to see in every craft possible, and plenty to make you part with the pennies or pounds. I was very restrained but I did have to buy something didn't I...otherwise why did I go, and why take hubby if he had nothing to carry! I have to say our packed lunch probably weighed more than what I bought which was a couple of dies......can't resist them, (and I found one that had been on my wish list for ages), some wow embossing powders.and ....oh gosh can't remember (age kicking in here maybe) it's a while since I unpacked the bag. I did buy a beaded angel to make for the tree for Christmas...no not necessarily this Christmas! and some other small bits Oh! and a £10 goody bag from C & C (now that was heavy)......full of card and paper, a couple of punches and a spellbinder freebie(embossing folder) and a load of Craft Studio papercrafting discs....not bad value.
A good day but it took me all weekend to recover...I slept well!

Anyway enough rambling and get to your card I hear you cry. Ok ....sorry!

I had to make a card recently for a friend who wanted a card for a lady of 50 that liked ski-ing....(I did that at the NEC...spent the kids inheritance :)  )  and bike riding, and whenever she went in to Leeds to the theatre she got lost on the city loop, so some specifics there. This is what I came up with in the end.

Google maps to the rescue and the rest speaks for itself. I left the ski-ing out. It is a card of stamps, dies and hand cutting (the sign).It was not the most enjoyable project I have to say, it didn't do it for me but hopefully it went down well at the other end, my friend seemed happy with it......and if she wasn't she didn't say so, just probably went out and bought another one!

Well it's gone 11.0 pm now and I can hear you all snoring after all those ramblings so I'd best go and let you get on with your night/day.

Thank you for stopping by, please do so again and I promise not to bore you.If you would like to leave me a comment I would love to read them........they make it all worth while.

Stay safe and well.

TTFN (ta ta for now......in case you didn't know)

Crafting hugs
Love Carole xx

Just to say

Hello blogging buddies!
 Well here we are and another week gone! Into November and tonight is Bonfire Night...........how I used to love going to Roundhay park to see the fireworks.......now I still love fireworks but my days of standing in a field in the cold and possible damp have gone............misery I hear you say? Well OK then are you going to a bonfire?...or like me will you watch from the window in the warm? Anyway for those who are going out to celebrate have a good time but be careful...no accidents please.

When I went to the GNPE a few weeks ago I bought some stamps from a company new to me called Honey Doo crafts. They are stunning stamps and here is my card made with the rose.

                                                                                                                                                                     It also looks stunning in black but I wanted to see what it looked like in red....unfortunately the red I bought turned out to be more burgundy so shall keep my eyes peeled for a brighter one. I used versafine inks for the detail. The photo is a bit darker than the real thing...possibly due to the bad light these days ....bad workmen always blame their tools and all that!
I let the image speak for itself and just mounted it on white and scored down the sides for a touch of detail, sorry that is hard to see on the photo (here I go again) .

Well I had better get to the craft room and crack on. I have lots of ideas floating around in my head but the oomph is lacking today. Perhaps I could do with a Scottish power van or equivalent this week to bring me some energy? ...groan!
OK stop the groaning I'm going!

I wish you all a wonderful week (whats left) and a fabulous weekend.I am off to Hobbycrafts at the NEC on Friday so hope that oomph has come back or I will be done for the day walking from the car park! NO! I don't need anything but I am sure I will see something that I will want and have to buy when I am there.  Lets face it, going all that way and paying to go in, it's silly not to buy something isn't it?...and not just a program!
I usually do the Cake Show as well, but I am passing on that one this year. The entrance fees to these things is getting extortionate....or am I just tight?!!

Take care my friends,this card is for you all......'just to say'..... thank you for stopping by and making my day, hugs to you all for taking the time...... my best blogging buddies ever!
Be safe and well
Love Carole xx

PS I notice the count down to Christmas at the top has disappeared! I don't know what has happened there, so i have removed it altogether...you will have to use your fingers now I am afraid!                                                                                                    

James and Snowman

Good morning my blogging friends and a warm welcome to my new follower Judith, I hope you like what you see.It's a lovely sunny crisp day here in West Yorkshire.I hope it is good wherever you are.

Firstly thank you all for your feedback on my last post. it seems a varied choice of favourite on the cards, but the sparkly green came in for a lot of mentions. I have one of each and may be will do more in even different colour ways...time dependent as there is so much else I want to do.

Ok onto my card this time, well this is a quick card......LOL.....don't be silly ...quick is not in my regime.

 The image was coloured way back when we had temperatures in the 80s and I wanted to craft and be outside at the same time.So I coloured some stamped images from LOTV............time yesterday to make this one into a card..........won't take long says she!

Out came the papers...and more papers...boy I have such a lot , and now some I had forgotten about. I chose some blue ones, and then I found these red and green ones...they match the scarf, so blue ones discarded. Well that was an hour gone!!.and then another hour to assemble said card,and then I thought why did I choose red and green for a snowman!!  Too late!..........so nothing quick about this card really was there.

The LOTV image was coloured with copics for those of you wondering...You weren't? OK well I have told you now.the sentiment is also from LOTV and the poinsettia is Spellbinders ...layered poinsettia sprinkled with Glamour dust...love that stuff and James's hat was too.

I am entering this card in a few challenges.......see end of post. it will probably take me as long to do all that linking stuff as it did to make the card!

OH! the Age UK van is outside.............they must have come for me!!!!!!! eeek.............oh he's turnig round..........phew............ reprieve!.....

Enjoy the rest of your day everyone, keep well and take care. Thanks so much for stopping by and adding your friendship.........so much appreciated, I love it when you leave me a comment. Wouldn't it be great if we could all get together for a crafty session

See you soon
Hugs Carole xx

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

Christmas card challenge #48----------------Anything goes Xmas
Craftycardmakers------------------------------Cut it out, Die cutting /punching....die cut mats for image and sentiment and die cut poinsettia.
Papertake Weekly----Sketch 95--------------moved the sentiment and added the poinsettia for balance.
LOTV--------------------------------------------Anything goes.

A...B...or C ?

Hello there blogging buddies. How are we ? Another week has whizzed past far too quickly and it's Monday again.
Hope you had a good weekend. I went to The Dome in Doncaster for the stamping show organised by Whichcraft...it was very busy, but the names were there, that were missing at Harrogate so I was able to fill the gaps in my wish list and swap paper for goodies! NO not 12 x 12 paper silly...paper money...really! (if only...I have so much 12 x 12 paper)
Anyway I ended up with a small bag of goodies for a lot of paper!

Do you like the reminder at the top of my blog? just thought I would sicken you all with a countdown to Christmas.......I can hear you all groaning..............but alas it will be soon upon us and over as quick as last week was..............so on with Christmas.

Right I need your opinions now please. I have had the idea for this card, in my head for ages and so managed to get it put in to card this weekend..................here it is

A)

The die is  Memory Box...Ringo tile...I thought they could pass as snowflakes. The snowflake dies are Spellbinders.and the sentiment a wooden mounted one from stash! The snowflake and the Ringo tile were dusted with Glamour dust for sparkle (wonder if it would work on me?)

OK then I started playing about and put some red card behind the aperture

B)

and then some greeny blue glitter card (it's more green in reality..photo does not do it justice)

C)

So I now don't know which is the best.......should I stay naked (oh no! not literally silly....not a pretty sight)).....nothing behind  (this gets worse!)...............or do I put something at the back of it?

If you could please leave me a comment and let me know what you think that would be wonderful thank you.

Right, busy week ahead...........Dentist, Hairdresser and Hospital. Guess which one is the best (sorry no prizes)............so not much time for crafting but hopefully some. Done the ironing today...now need to remember not to wash anything and make any more!!

Have a good week everyone, be good to yourselves...and others too. Thank you so much for stopping by .....please come back again soon.
Lets hope the sun shines......oh and don't forget to put your clocks back next weekend....an extra hour crafting whoopeee!!!
Crafting hugs
Carole xx

Challenges entered :-

Christmas card challenge #47
Moving along with the Times.........White only (picked the plain version)
Sweet Stampin Christmas...............Snowflakes.

S.C.U.B.A.

Good morning blogging friends. How are we all today? It's pretty grim here in West Yorkshire...rain and drizzle, cold and damp! Right well if that hasn't made you feel miserable...........

I've been holding back on this creation as it is for my son's birthday..today..HAPPY BIRTHDAY IAIN!...he won't have time to look in his busy schedule!

When on his honeymoon he and Nicole wet diving and when I saw this in a sale at Samuel Taylor's I had to have it as it felt it was so appropriate and a bit of a laugh too.

I think they are Stampendous stamps, and the set consists of the image and a word stamp (seen in next picture) made from the word Scuba. For the card I used the letters and then hand wrote my own words (writing not brilliant).I added glitter to the bubbles but it doesn't show up much on the photo.

As always grown up sons want money (they apparently have everything) so I made a wallet using the original word stamp this time on the outside and another of my own design on the inside.

The 'It's your Birthday' stamp is a wooden one I have had for ages.

I might be from Yorkshire but I am not that tight...I did add more notes before sending!lol

It took me ages to think up the slogans! I hope he is pleased and has had a laugh..I await his feedback!!

Phew that was a bit of a long one.

We had a lovely weekend with my 'bestie' and hubby from Lancashire, we went to York on Saturday and for some culture we took them to The Hepworth in Wakefield on Sunday. Hoe you all had a good one too.

Best get on with some chores, and then visit the craft room and see if inspiration strikes.It is so tidy at the moment that I don't want to mess it up...sad isn't it!

 Thank you so much for all your lovely comments that keep me going and really are appreciated...time is precious and I am touched you spend some of yours visiting my blog.
Take care and keep well.

Hugs Carole x

Challenges entered:-

That's crafty challenge...keep it simple

Hearts and Flowers

Hello friends...hope you are having a good Saturday evening..or had if you are reading this later.

I have been to the GNPE at Harrogate today so I am worn out now..and shopped out. It was nice to see a few blogging friends and have a catch up, and of course  there were a few things that I just had to have!

My card today is very simplistic in design. After I made the anniversary card for my son and wife I had some of the pink glitter card left...and so as not to waste it you will have noticed I used the same card on my snowflake card. I also punched out some small hearts...my intention to put them inside their card as confetti...but I had sealed it before I realised that I hadn't put them in (doh...where is the brain). They have sat on my desk ever since...can't throw anything away and I started to play with them ...here is the result. I tried it with and without the pen line round the flowers but preferred with in the end.

Sorry about the photo..taken on flash and not very good.So what thinketh thou? I am not keen on my stems..otherwise I can live with it.

Well folk I must thank you for stopping by...it heartens me that you take the time and sometimes leave me nice words  too. Thank you for all your lovely comments on my last post...it is nice to have support and have such a lovely group of followers.  I see now that as a result of my moan to Bearly Mine they have added a 6th rule ...about claiming your prize....still nothing about them re-drawing it though!
Life is too short to worry about such trivialities, and as my Grandma always said..What you never have, you never miss!

Wishing you all a great rest of your weekend, keep well and take care.
Hugs
Carole xx

PS
I have decided to enter this in Alphabet Challenge ...Q for quadruple......4 of something. There are 4 petals on each flower.

That's Crafty...Keep it Simple

Virginia'sView Challenge # 8.....Clean and Simple

Keep it Simple........3 of something...3 flowers

Bearly NOT Mine

Hi blogging friends. How are we all?

 I am a very disappointed bunny this weekend...let me explain........I entered August's challenge over at Bearly Mine and my number was the one drawn on the random thingy...how lucky was that ...over 300 entries, so what were my chances eh...still I got lucky...OR NOT!.... because of holidays and the broken computer, yesterday was the first chance to check their site and find I was a winner......BUT apparently I am too late to have my winnings ......(.some of the prize was some of their digital paper kits)....so despite their being no mention of a time limit in their rules and explaining my problems...no prize. I wouldn't have minded as much if they had time limited it in the rules and re-drawn it so that someone else could benefit. So that's why I am disappointed this weekend...and more for the fact that my faith in the lovely caring crafting community that is out there... is obviously not applicable to everyone.

Anyway on to brighter things.....Christmas! Well it is looming up far too fast for me to execute those ideas floating around in my head...and to use all that stuff that gets added to year upon year. How about you are you organised? I say I will start early every year but then I cannot get Christmas into my head till about now!!

I added to my die collection...couldn't resist...with Dazzling Snowflake (Memory Box) the other week. It is quite a large negative die so obviously needs something behind it to show it off.

It didn't look quite right without the pink edge to it...which wasn't in my first plan...but hey the best laid plans eh!

So that's it....speaks for itself, so no sentiment needed...I think it needs to be on a bigger card base now I look at it...will see.

Well I hope you are having a good weekend and continue to enjoy what is left of it...they go so quickly but then so do the weeks.

Take care, keep well.

Hugs

Carole xx

I'm back!

Hello blogging friends! I am back from my hols...Lanzarote...nice and warm and sunny, unlike here. I think I forgot to pack the sunshine on my return.

To add to my absence when we got home the computer wouldn't work...so that's been repaired thankfully but while it was away it gave me plenty of  time to catch up on the washing ..and that horrible job the ironing...just a bit left to do now..... and here I am at last. I will get around to seeing all the wonderful creations that I am sure I have missed.........very soon.

OK enough waffle and on to the card that I made for my Son and Daughter in Laws first wedding Anniversary! (yes the couple that moved recently) I can't believe it is a year since I was transporting a wedding cake all the way from West Yorkshire to Ilfracombe in the car boot! Where does that time go?

I have had this idea in my mind for a while so I saved it for their card. I used both the positive and negative of a Memory Box die (sorry I can't remember what they call it). The die cuts the thin strip of the hearts and leaves the negative without the dividing lines formed by the hearts (hope you understand that).I put some glitter card behind the negative and then glued the die cut back in.The sentiment was of course computer generated and then the front panel was mounted on 3D foam for dimension.

I am happy with how this one turned out unlike the last card I posted. Thank you for all your comments and suggestions on that one. I guess really we are sometimes just too critical of our own work but I am sure I am not alone when I say that we get feelings about how a card has turned out...and we have our favourites.

Well it is raining here which doesn't bode well for hubby getting the grass cut tomorrow. Fingers crossed for some sunshine. I have plenty to keep me occupied in the way of catch up.....the last bits of ironing and then ...the cleaning...groan!!.but I might just be tempted to leave it all and head for LOTV for a couple of hours to their Christmas party. I hope I might bump into some blogging friends there to share a coffee and a natter.

Thank you for stopping by once again in your busy schedules...it is so much appreciated as are any lovely comments you may leave me too.

Have a lovely weekend everyone and take care.
Hugs
Carole xx

Ruby Wedding

Hi Friends

Another weekend is fast approaching and today has now got out sunny and quite warm here in West Yorkshire. I hope it is nice wherever you are and that you have something nice planned for the weekend.

My card is for a Ruby Wedding Anniversary, and I have to say that  I am still a little unsure on this one...the jury is out.
My personal critic (hubby) says it's fine...but still something niggles at me...perhaps you friends out there can throw some light on it!

I used the same memory Box Queen of Heart die and layered it up on pearlescent card cut with Sue Wilson's Californian collection..basic and decorative.The base card is a textured pearlescent card.The sentiments are from stash...not sure who's make I have had them a while.

There we have it...I would appreciate your feedback as I still look at it now and feel it is not quite right.
Thank you for stopping, I really appreciate the time you take...it is so precious, and if you leave a comment...and a bit of criticism you will make me smile for sure.
Enjoy your weekend
Take care
Hugs
Carole xx

'Welcome Home'

Hello my friends. I hope this finds you well and having a good weekend. How come it is September tomorrow?

Just a small sweet and simple card today...its been a bit of a busy week but I did just have time to make this notelet card for my eldest sons (and partner) return from holiday. We have been plant sitting! so I left this little card with some flowers to welcome them home. I am sure they would rather still be on holiday though.

As I said..sweet and simple. I found this stamp in my stash...think it may be Kanban, and I stamped and coloured it with copics. I had to doctor the saying as it said Welcome to your New Home...so a bit of masking required there. Stamped, coloured and cut out the topiary tree..and there it is. I just wrote my little message inside. Only 4 inch square so truly small and cute.

That's it from me today...short and sweet..lots to do.
Take care my friends.
Crafting hugs
Carole xx

All the 'P's.....petal, pink and purple!

Hello my friends...I hope this finds you all well and tickety boo!...and ready for the long weekend.
You may like to know (or not) that the boiler is done and we are back to hot showers...aaaaah bliss. You don't realise how much you take them for granted till you don't have them.I guess that goes for a lot of things.

Right on to the crafty bit...a birthday card for a good friend.

I used 'Petal'....a LOTV image...she seems so deep in thought....wonder what she is thinking..... and I coloured her with copics and polychromos pencils.The purple papers are from the LOTV pads....Promises .....solids and patterns, the pink textured one from my stash....(yippee I have used from stash) and the sentiments are LOTV Everyday Grungy and the scalloped die cut and flower are Spellbinder dies....Phew! still there?
It is actually a square card with a fancy front edge, but my photo doesn't show the back where I edged it in the plain purple so it shows when the card is closed (hope you followed that).

Ok well that's another week whizzed by and I really need to think about Christmas..maybe next month eh?...January might be good........for 1015 Christmas perhaps........I always say I will start early and then I am at the last minute.I have bought a bit of new Christmas stuff...well it would be rude not to as there is so much fabulous stuff out there.Actually I could do Christmas for the rest of my life with all my stash.

Enough rambling.....have a great Bank Holiday everyone, lets hope the weather is not too bad. Take care and Thank You so much for stopping by, I know how precious time is to everyone so to think you spend some of it with me is very much appreciated, and I love to read your lovely comments.

Hugs
Carole xx

Challenges entered :-

Seize the birthday.....................Anything goes.....birthday
Crafting by designs...................Anything goes
Crafty Cardmakers..................World of fantasy # 121
Fantastic Tuesday.....................Anything goes #49
Bearly Mine..............................Anything goes
Stamplorations..........................Stamps and Die cut............images and base and flower

Hot water? hearts and roses.

Good afternoon blogging friends...well we are again at the end of another week and once again I shall ask where does the time go? As I type this the plumber is here fitting a new boiler so the highlight of my day..a HOT shower tonight..yippee!! (fingers crossed there are no problems now I have said that).

My card this time round is an Anniversary card. I decided I wanted to use a memory box die that I have never used (Queen of Hearts)) and then I sat and looked at it and wondered what to do with it!...and this is what I came up with.....

I took some roses paper from The LOTV pad -Always and Forever and covered the front of my card blank.I the created a vellum wrap fixed at one end at the back of the card and cut my heart in a dusky pink satin card. The solid heart in the middle comes out.I attached the die cut to the front centre of my vellum and then placed the solid heart on the rose backing paper under the vellum to line up with the front.........result a muted pink heart in the middle. I stamped Happy Anniversary on to the vellum, added some tiny pearls and there we have it!

I quite like...what do you think? I would be interested to know.

Well it's pouring with  rain here now, just in time for the weekend! Probably spend some of it tidying up and now the utility room needs painting because the new boiler is slightly different in size to the old one.How does one job manage to make two others?

Thank you for stopping by and leaving me nice comments that make my day, it is as always very much appreciated and nice to know I have such good blogging friends out there. Stay well and enjoy your weekend.
Hugs
Carole xx

Challenges entered :-
Stamplorations - Die cuts and stamps
Fantastic Tuesday - Anything goes
Bearly Mine - Anything goes

With Sympathy

Good Evening friends!...well it's raging a thunderstorm here at the moment and the streets are like rivers and the plants in the garden are taking a real battering.I hope it is better where you are though from the weather forecast it is pretty widespread.

Another week has passed us by and not a lot of crafting I have to say.....it's been hectic...the boiler is broken so no hot water, we have been busy trying to sort a replacement as quickly as possible, but it looks like the end of next week.good job its not winter and we need the heating, though I have to say a tepid shower is not the best, but better than nothing!

On to the crafting...and that's not much happier...a Sympathy card! We all have to send them at some time though. This was quite quick for me...you know how I dither, but I had seen similar designs out there on the internet and blogs so I cannot take all the credit for the design, I adjusted it to my own needs though.Once I know what I want to achieve it seems to come together.

I made abase card from linen textured card and then cut mat to fit the front from the same card. I cut the Lucienne Tile (Memory Box) from one side and then placed black card behind it and mounted it with foam pads on to the base. The Chloe Stem (also Memory Box) was cut from the same black card and stuck on the front. A stamped greeting at the bottom.

So there we have it...I am pleased with the effect and as on other blogs it looks good in different colours for different occasions.

Whatever you are doing this weekend...enjoy...tomorrow is forecast to be the best day....if you believe the forecast that is! Sunday could be a craft day.
Take care everyone and thanks for stopping by and thank you too for all the lovely comments you leave me that spur me on and make me very happy!

Hugs
Carole xx

New Home

Hello my friends! Another week gone! Why do they go so fast? Hubby has had 4 days off this week painting outside(doors and sheds, nothing artistic) before the weather breaks and he has gone back to work today...I know Friday!...says its for a rest! so now I keep thinking it's Monday today!

My card is a New Home card that I did for my son and daughter-in-law as they moved a few weeks ago to a different part of London.
Quite plain and I left the front plain just in case they may want to put it in a frame on the wall.......ah well perhaps not.

The white line on the front is just to blot out their address and respect their privacy although I think you might be hard pushed to read it. The card speaks for itself  in it's making, squares and triangle cut with nesties....clean and simple.

It's trying to rain here, a light drizzle...I wish in away it would pour down and give the gardens a good soaking.
Nothing planned this weekend, how about you? I hope that whatever you do the weather doesn't spoil it for you.
Thank you so much for stopping by and take care friends till next time.
Hugs
Carole.xx

I am entering this in Fantastic Tuesday Challenge #46....square card.

Another year!

Good evening cyber friends. Hasn't it been a hot week!...not that I am complaining but it doesn't make me want to go in the craft room and craft. I think each day may be the last of the sunshine so one has to make the most of it!

On to my card and it is the Anniversary card that I did for my husband. I didn't want hearts so decided on a romantic beach scene instead.

The picture was built up with inks and Inkylicious dusting brushes and the waves were added with a white pen, which flooded! and I think I need a bit more practice on those.The grasses and birds were from an Inkylicious set of stamps, and the couple are from another stamp with a tree by Inkylicious (sorry can't remember the names).
I heat embossed the shells (same set) with WOW superfine white on to some pale cream Adorable Scorable card and then attached the image at the side. All matted on to an Adorable Scorable card base...fab card that A S (can't type it again).
Hubby seemed pleased with it and we went out for a lovely meal to celebrate our Anniversary.

Hope you are all well and not too worn out with the heat.Thank you for stopping by and for any lovely comments that let me know I have lovely friends out there.
Have a super weekend,
Crafty hugs
Carole xx

Baby Blues

Good evening friends...actually the best part of the day here now...sunshine. It has been very cloudy and rainy today...still warm though! Hope you have been having nice sunshine where you are.

Ok on with the card and this is one I made for my friends daughter who gave birth last week to a BOY!
I chose one of the images from LOTV and some of their papers...Bonnets and Bowties. these are so pretty ....in fact all LOTV papers and images are lovely!

I coloured the image with my Copics...had three attempts at this...I found it hard! (any tips gratefully received).

All the sentiments are also LOTV and the ribbon and little charm from my stash...yippee I have used up something from my stash!

Well nothing much planned here this weekend except Mum for dinner on Sunday. I need to get an Anniversary card made for hubby...only got till Tuesday..any ideas anyone? I do so find him hard to make for!!.......everything seems so girlie!

Have a lovely weekend whatever you are doing, take care and don't forget the suncream and the brolly!!

Crafty hugs
Carole xx

PS
I am entering this card in the following challenges:-
LOTV ---Take two.----------------.papers and image and sentiments...that's three!
Crafting by designs----Use a sentiment.......see they had to come in useful!

Nice smells and Zig Zags

Hi Friends.
Well I am late tonight, time got away with me as usual, anyway here I am with something to make you smile and a card.

So last weekend we visited a well known Garden Centre in Cheshire with some friends and as I was wandering around I came across these little bottles. I didn't have my glasses on at the time so I put them on and this is what I read......

YES!! Poo Pourri

Well I really have seen it all now and for the privilege it would cost you £10.99 per bottle!

Much prefer my ink sprays myself...how about you? NO not in the toilet silly!! Anyway it certainly brought several expressions to my face.

Right laugh over and on to my card. One for a male so I have gone geometric for this one. I wasn't keen at first but it has definitely grown on me.

 I used Uniko Studios 'Background Builders Chevrons' and stamped with memento inks. I don't seem to get a really crisp image so I added Glamour dust for sparkle and really like that.The Happy Birthday wording is from another Uniko set 'All Occasion Sentiments 2'. All mounted on a red mat and then on the card. Lets hope he likes it!
If anyone knows the best inks to stamp these with please do tell.

Right time for bed!  Doncaster Racecourse Summer Crafting tomorrow, so if you see me and know me say hi! and those of you not going...well you are saving some pennies!

Just want to say Hi to my new follower Jacee. Thank you for joining me and I hope you like what you see.Thanks for stopping be everyone, it is as always so much appreciated.

Have a lovely weekend everyone whatever you are doing, 'spritzing' or whatever...art work of course! Lets hope this sunshine stays with us.

Hugs
Carole xx

I am entering this card in the following challenges:-

Papertake Weekly..................stars and stripes
Seize the Birthday....................stars or stripes
Crafting from the Heart............# 26  Anything goes
Stamplorations..monthly Challenge......................stamps and glitter

Birthday 'Blues'

Hello friends
Well where did June go then? I can't believe we are already into July, the longest day is past....I won't go on and depress us all.

Here is a card I made for my friend...the one we had the wine incident with.She was 21 again this week so I have had to wait to blog this creation.

The stamps are Heartfelt Creations.... all belonging to the Arianna blooms collection that I splurged on the other week, they are gorgeous and such a delight to use. I love how the flower turned out, somehow the stamping on it seems to bring it to life. The background paper is from LOTV Promises solids pad. Pearls from stash.

 I have had a busy week creating but they must wait a little longer........and no time in between to produce anything that not has a reason if you get my drift.

Thank you for stopping by and for the lovely comments that you leave me.
Take care friends and enjoy the weekend...weather not forecast to be good...sorry...depressing you I know. Maybe rain means more crafting ?

Crafting hugs
Carole xx

Challenges entered :-

Papertake Weekly--------------Anything Goes-----option Christmas

Christmas Lights.

Hello blogging friends...How are you? good I hope despite the miserable day we are having...well here in W Yorkshire it is raining and only 14 degrees C!!!! It' hard to think that last week I was basking in temperatures in the mid 30's.  Anyway best not depress myself anymore.

On to a quick card of which I have managed 4 this afternoon...now that has to be a record and yes Mojo arrived back safely thanks.The depressing part on this one is that they are Christmas cards  :(     too early I know.
Anyway here are a couple of them.

I bought some Card-io stamps at Bolton the other week, one pack being small Christmas things,lights, bells,trees etc as I had in mind to do this for a quick card.

I wanted to use some coloured cards that I had, that said Christmas, so dug them out. I stamped the largest of the bulbs in random colours on white card that I had pricked round the edge, and then came the hard bit...joining them together with fine liner! I stamped Merry Christmas from my large Christmas stash and added glamour dust to the lights with a glue pen.

I mounted the white card on 3D foam for a bit of dimension.

I am quite pleased with them but wonder if they would have looked better in all white card.

I see other peoples LIM creations with coloured card and they always look fabulous.

Be sure to tell me what you think,that's how we all learn isn't it?

The string of lights remind me of the lights we had when I was a child and you could get replacement bulbs for them when they went out!.......you don't remember them?.......well you are either too young or telling porkies!

So that's my first Christmas card. I have been busy with some other cards but can't blog them just yet.

Thank you for stopping by and taking time to read my blog and thanks for all your lovely comments that you leave me . I really feel valued when you do that.

Hope you all have a nice weekend whatever you are planning and let's hope this weather improves.I think it will be a catch up weekend here and a visit to Mums on Sunday.

OK that ironing has been ignored for crafting...yeah!!! so off to finish the last bit (before we start on next weeks washing)!!.....it's trousers, shorts and skirts so not a quick tea towel  :(    Hey ho.

Hugs

Carole xx

I'm back but Mojo was delayed!!

Hi friends.
As the title says I am back from a lovely week in Rhodes but my Mojo has been delayed and will be on a later flight....I hope!! hence I have no card to share with you all.
Here is a picture taken from our balcony...just to make you crave that sunshine...wish I was still there it was so lovely, and very hot. It is raining here tonight just for a change but I can cope with it on a night.

Seems blogger is also being awkward and only providing the last feed...so I will eventually get round to peeping at your creations that have been posted while I was away......sorry if it is a while.

I hope this finds you all well and I will be back later in the week hopefully when Mojo arrives! till then I have a huge pile of ironing to keep me busy!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope Blogger rights this problem pronto.
TTFN
Hugs
Carole xx

'Wonderful friend'

Hi blogging buddies....how are we all? well we are well in to June now and I hate to depress you but it will soon be the longest day!...what happened to sitting in the garden on these long summer nights??

My mum turned 94 on Saturday and for those that follow my blog, she loved her card.

I can at last blog a card that I made for a friends birthday that she now has received. It is a 'flowers in a box' card made with the lovely Craftwork Cards papers Cottage Garden.

The flowers were from my stash, some stamped and coloured with inks and the butterflies were die cut from Spellbinders packaging and a lot of glitter and Stickles added for the sparkle.The butterfly die is a  Spellbinders die and I put it through the Calibur about 4 times to get the outline to cut. The centre bits didn't cut, they just embossed as I think the packaging is perhaps a bit tough!, but I was pleased with how they turned out.
I made a box to take my card as I put so much in it I didn't want to crush it in to an envelope.
I really enjoyed making this and I love the way they look when they are done.

OK well  a busy day, busy week in fact so must press on.

Take care everyone and thank you for stopping by in your busy lives, and if you leave me a comment that would make me a very happy lady :)
Enjoy whatever you are doing.
Crafty hugs
Carole xx

'Happy Birthday'

Good evening blogging friends!......a card at last! Thank you for all your kind comments on my helicopter trip.....it feels like I dream't it now.

OK on with the card...... this has taken me all week on and of...more off than on probably, but I started well and then it just didn't please me when I tried to finish it off. It sat on my desk and I kept going back to it and trying different things, and going back to it.....and so...sound familiar to anyone?

Here is the end result.....

and slightly to the side to see the depth

This is for my mum who is to be 94 in a weeks time.......she so loves watching the birds on the feeder so I thought this was quite suited to her.

It is an 8" x 8" (sorry old school) card and I covered it in a sheet of Craftwork Cards 'Cottage Garden' paper pad, then with another sheet the same I cut out all the four corners of flowers off and mounted them up and the same with bird house. I added a little bird cut from the botanical pad....also Craftwork Cards. Plenty of glamour dust was added for sparkle.

The white flowers (glittered of course) and Happy Birthday are both Memory Box dies and a daisy punch and left over card from the Happy birthday die made the flower..... and the final touch ...the bow.

I hope she likes it...she doesn't view my blog so I can keep it a surprise........so ssshhh don't tell her :)

I am quite pleased with it, I am my own worst critic and I somehow could not find a way to put MUM on the front of the card so that it looked right so I shall be sure to tell her how special she is inside!

Right that's it...hope the sun shines tomorrow, I am well fed up with the wet and cold. What does your weekend have in store for you?  Me?...I am off across the M62 to Bolton...so see you there if you too are going.

Thank you for stopping by and sharing with me and a special thank you to all those people that leave me such lovely comments and as a result keep me blogging.......it is so much appreciated.

Take care my friends and enjoy your weekend.

Hugs

Carole xx