Mini Bird House!

Firstly, I would like to thanks everyone who popped by to say hello when I was demo-ing last weekend, I had a really fabulous time of it!  If you came you might have seen this little bird house by ~TANDO-CREATIVE~ on my stand.  Its sooo cute as it only measures 3inches high :-D

I covered the main parts with paper (BG Indian Summer) and painted the inside bright yellow as you can see when it all slots together! The roof has been attacked with Viva Croco in Blackberry then dabbed with the new Cosmic Shimmer drawing inks (my new best friends haha). I then went round all the edges with a gold krylon pen. A few beads & some wire for the hanger finished it off!

The little house comes in pieces but its seemples to put together.  For a list of stockists please visit ~here~.  Thank you for taking a look today, please pop by again soon as we have something new nearly every day!!! HUGS xxx

ADVENT CALENDAR

Hi there my lovely blogging friends!  Today I am showing you an Advent Calendar that I decorated for the monthly challenge over at VANILLA SUGAR.....sweetly handmade!  This blog was started way back in January with a view to giving us all ideas for gifts!  Do pop over for a look at the lovely work that the Design Team have done this year! 

I bought this as a blank in the January sales...I do like to think ahead hahahaha!!!!!

These aren't drawers as I first thought but boxes....you can cram more in those haha!  I have covered all the fronts using a mix of papers from the Basic Grey Jovial Collection.  The 'knobs' are just office paper fasteners & I have put felt circles underneath.  The numbers come in a pack especially for Advent calendars & are from TANDO CREATIVE, you can find stockists ~HERE~.  The surround has been painted using a red matchpot form a DIY store!!!

The largest drawer has a pointsetta from my stash & a lovely brad from K&Co.  Oh & I just had to add a bit of glittery stickles....it is for Christmas after all!!!

If you happen to be up around Lingfield in Surrey on Saturday, Di from Tando will be demonstrating her fab chippie all day!!!  I will be popping in so maybe I will see you there!!! 

Thank you for popping by....HUGS XXX

ANYONE FOR A PINT ?????

Hi there.....just what is it with our weather today???  Looking out of my craftroom window today I have seen rain, sunshine & SLEET!!!!!  But then it is November I suppose.  oooo not long till Christmas folks haha

As promised I am showing you what I think is a first in the chippie world........PUB HAND PUMPS...or to you & me...good old BEER PUMPS haha.  These were in my little DT parcel from TANDO CREATIVE & I knew just what I was going to do with them!!!  Jeremy's best pal loves making homebrew.  I don't like beer but thisis good...er...actually I only had half a pint & I couldn't stand up...such a lightweight hahahaha!!!!  Its his birthday soon so these were a must for his card.

For the background I used BG Lyme Rickey papers.  The chippie has been painted, glossed & embossed.  The 'centres' have been covered in paper & I made another set of 'inners' from card for the wording.  Those are his initials on there!  Oh of course...it had to say Happy Beerthday didn't it? haha

Thank you so so much for taking a look HUGS & KEEP WARM! XXX

Rosie-Dee's Challenge #39

I am embarrassed to admit that I have been neglecting Rosie & Dee's challenges lately as I have been up to my eyes in other stuff but as soon as I saw the theme I had a lightbulb moment hahahaha.....

"This week we're continuing our colour combo month along the lines of Turquoise and chocolate. Yummy colour combo if ever I heard of one!"

I have had these 2 gorgeous chippie birds perched on my desk for days now and I had already thought to make some sort of picture with them. The colours are fairly soft so I hope that they qualify. Perhaps as pale torquoise & milk chocolate?????

The papers are BG marrakesh and the lovely birds are by Buzz & Bloom. I couldn't resist giving them both some bling hahahaha.

Rosie-Dee's Challenges are also looking for a DT. So if you are interested take a look -here- to see what you have to do!!

Thank you for taking a look today.....happy crafting, HUGS XXX

J's BIRD-DAY CARD

Hellooooo, I hope you have all had a lovely BH weekend!!! It was Jeremy's birthday, although I think he would rather he wasn't a year older hahahahaha

As he is so into his camera (mmm that sounds wrong hehe) I made him a card with a camera on it. My lovely Bubbly friend Nicky sent me a template to use. I embossed the black background, tho it doesn't show up too much, sorry X

Thanks for taking a look XXXX

BUBBLY RETREAT JOURNAL 09

I am getting pretty excited now about a retreat that I am going on soon. Being a retreat virgin, hehe, I really am not sure what to expect to be honest!!! But I do know that a good giggle and lots of chocolate later I will have had a lot of fun!!! What the girls don't know is that there is to be a surprise guest!!!!!

Anyway, I have made a journal to hold all the info about classes etc and of course my piccies of the weekend. The inside is very much a work in progress so I will show you that later.

All the card & paper is BG Two Scoops, which I thought was lovely & girlie for such a girlie weekend hehe. The finished size is around 8x8 inches.

OOOOPPPSSS!!!! just looked and I can see a couple of creased flowers....can I get away with saying they are meant to be like that???? hahahahaha I didn't think so either!!!!

Thanks for taking a look, hugs XXX

DCM - BIG BLOOMERS!!!

It is the lovely Lythan's turn to set the dare this week:

SUPERSIZE ME!

"I have loads of enormous paper flowers that I have bought and never used. So I want to see some really big embellishments on your cards. Bonus points for outsize blooms!"

Now I have several large bloomers in my drawers hahahahahahaha. I picked out a lovely juicy red one for impact and then ended up covering most of it up with another one cut down with my pinking shears.....how did that happen??? hehe. A big flower like this is always going to cause impact so I went with bright papers too. The papers are BG Bittersweet.

Thank you for taking a look and I hope you find big bloomers in your drawers hehe XXX

KATHY'S WAFFLE SKETCHES #7 AND 8

Sometimes its just lovely to work from a sketch and KATHY'S WAFFLE SKETCHES are really lovely to work from. Go take a look at Kathy's ever growing list, you are bound to find something to suit your needs!

I needed to make a new home card and so I used SKETCH NO 7. I had it all prepared to stick down when I realised that the elephants from the BG Marrakech papers were upside down.....ARGGHHHH!!!! So I turned the sketch around hahahaha. The lovely little chippie house is by Riff Raff Designs and are so so cute with the little hearts cut out!

My second card is for a wedding. I used SKETCH NO 8 for this one and papers from my scrap drawer!!! For the birds I drew around a chipboard bird from my stash and then made up wings to match!

Thank you so much for taking a peep, see you next time XXXX

Basic Grey challenge #28

"This week we have a fabulous sketch for you to follow, which was designed by our fabulous Design Team Member Rica, feel free to rotate, resize and flip the sketch or even all three if you want to :), you can also add any more embellishments etc that you would like to, but remember to use at least one item from basicgrey somewhere on your creation, and most of all have fun :)"

I have to say that I have been itching to get back to these and the chance to have a play with my BG paper pads!!! For this challenge I squished the sketch up a bit so that it would fit onto a square card!

I used paper from a MARRAKECH 6x6 pad and the stamp is from Lost Coast Designs, which I thought went very well with the theme of the paper. I edged the image and the 2 strips and scalloped piece with gold krylon pen, though that deasn't really show in the pic. The rest were edged with a matching green chalk ink.

Thank you so much for taking the time to have a look XXXXX

DCM 13.03.09

This week Kathy set an excellent dare this week....along the lines of cookery hehe

" I'll tell you the ingredients you have to use, then all you have to do is make the card.
Here are your ingredients:

3 different papers

At least one piece of chipboard

At least 1 button

At least 1 piece of ribbonoptional:

1 extra item/element of your choice "

I didn't think that I would get this in on time this week but I made it!!! Big aplogies to Kathy who doesn't like cats but I love this chippie cat hehe

I have just popped back in now to alter this!!! I took one look at that button and decided that it HAD to go....what was I thinking!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So the second card is what it has ended up like hehe

revised version!!!

The paper I have used are BG Eva and the chippie cat is 2Crafty from Bubblyfunk.

Thank you for talking a look XXX

ROSIE-DEE'S CHALLENGE 26

The lovely Deanne set the challenge this week:

"With Easter looming ever so much closer, that means only one thing! No not chocolate, but Spring, yes I've started to get that feeling in the air that Spring is near :)
Spring to me is so colorful, so for this week I'd like to see your interpretation of Spring"

I don't know about Spring but its very summery and hot here today!!! When I think of spring I think of my favourite flower....the primrose. Its such a beautiful, hardy little soul and the smell is just heavenly. When I was little I used to pick my Mum a bunch every Mother Day and my daughter now does the same for me...aren't I lucky. Sshhh! I know that its not allowed but she is very careful not to take too many and never from the same plant!

The colour green comes to mind as the hedges and trees start to leaf again. Its a wonderful time of the year down here in Cornwall.

So I have used a beautiful primrose photo that I found thru Google courtesy of a photographer called Barry Turner. I used BG Two Scoops 6x6 pad to mount the picture after I had beaten it up hahahaha!A little bit of stamping to fill the gap was all I needed.

Thank you so much for looking, have a lovely day, whatever you are doing XXX

EASTER EGG HUNT!

My lovely buddy Gez sent me a couple of largish matchbooks and more or less challenged me to make something with one or both !!!! Took me a while to work out but I have managed to come up with something Gez!!! X

I have made an Easter Egg Hunt folder thingymajig!!! I am also using this one as my entry for the Easter Competition over on the FISKARETTES BLOG. There are some great prizes so please enter if you can X

The 'book' is covered in a mix of green & orange BG papers and doodled round in white. I had an egg stamp from last year and used this to create watercoloured images for the front & insides. All the letters are rub-ons, sorry...don't know who by.

It all opens out to show 8 coloured lolly stick with a shrink plastic (er yes....I was brave hehehe) egg on the top. There are clues written on the backs of the sticks. The idea being that the clue on the hidden stick will lead you to the next stick and so on till you find your prize. Which of course just has to be choccy eggs!!! Couldn't resist making a special little bag for these.....oh and I found a good place to store the spare ones too hahahahaha

Thank you so much for taking the time to look and please feel free to leave a comment XXX

DCM - FROGS OR FISH!

"It's Rein here this week with a new dare: I want to see a fish or a frog on your cards."

This one posed a bit of a problem for me as I had used a frog on the last weeks dare! But I started to think about fish and remembered that it was the zodiac month of Pisces!!! So I immediately looked to my favourite modern artist, Susan Seddon Boulet, to provide me with an image to make a card for a dear friend. I stamped swirls onto some BG mottled pale blue card and coloured in with a silver pen, tho I don't think the silver shows up too much...sorry. I added some beads and a silver swirl. I didn't want to detract from the beautiful image.

The image that I used is called Pisces and if you look closely (hope you can) you will see the fish in her hair. Neptune is looking over her shoulder as well. Susan Seddon Boulet's work was amazingly detailed, esp her more spiritual stuff. Please take a look at her work. Sadly she died a few years ago and I can't find her website now but take a look at the images Google chucked up HERE!

Thank you so much for coming to my blog to take a look XXX

VALENTINE CARD!

I wouldn't normally put this on my blog as I am not very successful at these but decided that this one 'would do' hehe. Why is it always soooo difficult to make cards for loved ones????? My man is so so traditional that I thought this year that I would shy away from the usual red/black combo!

I used a plain cream card and rubbed Frayed Burlap Distress Ink round the outside. Then I stamped the large flourish lighly with Faded Jeans Distress Ink. I stuck a strip of BG & red ribbon across the middle and then added the chippie heart. The heart was covered in the Frayed Burlap and then stamped with the Faded Jeans. I rubbed some red ink round the edge to give it definition. I added a little crown brad that I coloured red with a marker pen.

Just hope he like it , but if he doesn't I love him anyway.....ahhhh. Thanks for taking a look XXX

Card for my parents hehe!

My parents have this 'thing' about their campervan!!!!! I would call it an obsession, bless 'em hahahaha Off they go most weekends, its become thier way of life these days. It could be the Lake District, Spain or, it has been known, 3 miles up the road hahahahaha!!!!!

So I just had to make them a Christmas card with a campervan on it didn't I?

I used some plain paper from the BG Wassail pack for the background and the stamped campervan. I couldn't resist puting in little pics of them both. The background is stamped with trees, I know thay aren't Christmas trees but I did add some sparkle!!!! I used tapestry stamps top & bottom to make an edging.

This was fun.....hope you like it and thank you for looking XXX

Decorated Sleigh

I bought this sleigh a little while ago from Art from The Heart. I had seen it decorated in a mag and just knew I had to have one too!!!! I painted the edges with red paint and then added the papers....BG Fruitcake - vintage ornaments. Because the paper is really patterened I didn't really need to add any more embelishments except the button and the threaded beads. I use some craft tinsel for this to cheer things up and added a metal tree ornament....good old Santa hehe!

Here is the back but I may change the ornament later...not sure yet!

Over on Bubbly Funk we have done a Secret Advent Swap and where else is there to put all the little parcels???

Thank you so much for taking a look, I loved doing this one X

This week its Vannessa's turn to set the dare and its a good one too:

"Yes, I'm a bit of a cappuccino/latte macchiato girl, so I want to see lots of cards inspired by coffee!! Coffee colours, cup shaped cards, card inspired by a coffee jar label, using coffee beans on your card, coffee shop logos on your cards etc etc....."

I decided to use an image of an old coffee company advert and have a 'heritage' feel to my card. I have loads of these on a cd from 3DJean. The sentiment is from Quote Garden ....again...oh I love that site!!! All mounted and layered onto some BG Archaic papers. Oh and I added some braid and a few gold brads too.

Thank you for taking a look XXX

Rosie-Dee's Challenge 10

This week Rosie asked us to do a layout on the theme of:

OUT AND ABOUT

I found a picture of Jeremy that was taken up on the moors near our home. It was a beautiful day and we walked for miles!

This is only a simple LO and I realised when I took the pic that there is no journalling...ooops!!!

The background paper is by Mellissa Frances. The lovely embossed copper paper is from my stash.....just wish I could get some more! The chippie tree is BG as are the letters. The other lettering is on my Robo and then coloured.

Thanks for taking a look XXX

Rosie-Dee's Challenge 9

TICK TOCK TICK TOCK!!!!

"Something different for this week tiddly peeps.
An altered project you can do just for fun, for you craft room, for a gift, the list is endless...
The challenge this week is to alter a clock! "

What a fun challenge to do girls....brilliantly different!!!

After rooting around in the office cupboard ( when J wasn't looking hehe) I found a discarded wall clock....he won't miss it hahahaha

After working out just how the thing came apart I covered the base with some lovey BG paper called Brigham Oh Baby Boy. I thought the numbers were just perfect for a clock!!

I put a quote in the centre which tickled me but it doesn't show it all in the photo. It reads:

"How long a minute is, depends on which side of the bathroom door you're on" (Zall's Second Rule)

I then made lots of little labels of the different ways I use time to put inside the numbers. ooops...just notice the 11 is wonky...oh well, it is by the dreaded Housework label hahaha. I cut the number on my robo in navy blue.

Thanks for taking the time to have a look...I would love it if you had any feedback XXX

DCM - SPARKLE & BLING!!!!!!

"This week its Jozza's turn for the Dare and as its Fireworks week here in the UK she has gone all sparkly - so the brief was lots of bling!! "

This ws a lot of fun...a brilliant excuse to get that glitter and bling out hehe. As the DCM team were given some cute Dottie images from Charmed Cards & Craft to use I thought I would use an image that I also got from there. This puss is part of a lovely download of animals from there.

I used BG Two Scoops for the background as I thought it looked pretty regal and all the bits are mounted onto silver mirri card. Puss is watercoloured and I touched puss up ( now that sounds bad....sorry) with a clear sakura stardust pen. Of course puss has to have some bling so a chunky gemstone collar was added hehe. Some silver metallic ribbon just finishes the card.

I haven't decided yet whether puss is male or female. But with 4 cats living with me puss has a look of my young Sam when he has been up to mischief hahahahaha

Thank you so much for taking time to look, I really appreciate it XXX