LOTV Challenge 76 - A few of my favourite things

The challenge over on LOTV this week is 'A few of my favourite things' and this card is chock full of my favourite things. Its not very often I manage to make challenges on time so I am really chuffed with this one, it covers the challenge and my friend's birthday, result!!!

My Favourite Things:

Lili of the Valley stamps, love em all, this one is Coffee Break
Digi sentiment is also LOTV.
Papermania Henbury Lane paper.
The colours pink and brown together.
Martha Stewart punch.
Leon Em punch for leaves.
Wild Orchid roses.
Promarkers for colouring.
Tim Holtz Distress ink Spun Sugar around image and sentiment.
Nestabilities.
Stickles Star Dust for bling.

Well I wish this snow would disappear, had enough of it now, mind you I admit I do prefer it to rain but it's so cold!! Still, 3 weeks to Christmas and the shortest day, then we can look forward to Spring!!

Thanks for dropping by my blog, keep warm and well.

Snowy Kiss

Good evening folks, hope you all had a good weekend and a spooky halloween!! We had lots of little skeletons, ghosts and ghoulies visit us this evening, they looked really spooktacular!

I am posting this card later than I intended to, I couldn't get near my laptop as my granddaughter has hogged it all day!! Another card to add to my slowly growing collection of christmas cards. The stamp is Penny Black 'Snowy Kiss' isnt it sweet? Coloured with Promarkers and lots of Star Dust Stickles. I embossed the outer frame with Crafts Too Snowflake folder, the ticket sentiment is a freebie from One Happy Little Crafter

Thanks for dropping by!

Hugs

Barbara x

James the bear with baubles

Mornin all, hope you are all well this wet and miserable morning, its pouring down here in Cheshire but never mind a good excuse to stay in and do some crafting!!

Well onto my card for today and its another of my fave images from Lili of the Valley and this is James with baubles, ain't he cute?? He is coloured with Promarkers with lots of Stickles gold and his baubles have some Glossy Accents added to make them shine! The die cut and the poinsettia are Marianne Createables and the paper I don't have a clue, its a piece left over from last years christmas crafting. The sentiment is Catslife Press, sorry cant remember where I got that one from!

I was hoping for a lie in this morning but no my beauty sleep was disturbed at 7.45am with roadworks right outside the house, diggers, rollers, drills, you name it. The house is vibrating with the noise of it and my poor parrot Honey is wondering that the heck is going on!! I cant listen to this all day so I am off to my friend Anne's house for a coffee, a natter and some cutting and colouring, heaven!!

Thanks for dropping by and enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Hugs

Barbaraxx

LOTV Wedding

Firstly I will apologise for the rubbish quality of the photos in this post, I never seem to be able to get the lighting right when I photograph my work, do you have this problem and does anyone have any tips for making it easier?

I just adore this LOTV wedding stamp, so easy and quick to colour.  I have used Promarkers for this image with lashings of Star Dust Stickles glue.  The edges and the butterfly have all been distressed with Victorian Velvet DI and stickles again.  The flowers are from Wild Orchid and the pearls are from The Hobby House.  The background panels are embossed with Cuttlebug Tapestry and Swiss Dots folders.  The depth of the flowers make this card unsuitable for an envelope so I made a matching box following the same theme as the card which I think serves the purpose and makes a nice keepsake. 

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Con-Grad-Ulations!

This card I made for our youngest daughter Katie to congratulate her on her graduation from Manchester Metro University on Monday at the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester.  She gained a Ba.Hons Education, she has worked so hard for her degree and we are very proud of her.  Its taken her 4 years to reach her goal and its not been easy for her in that time as she was married in August 2008, had a baby girl in January 2010 and she took a year out when her dad had his horrific accident in September 2008.  Katie works with special needs children at a local school, she is extremely dedicated to her children, both at school and at home, she is mum to Sam who is 7 and Evie, 6 months old.  

For the image on the card I used one of Mo Manning's fab images, Grad Girl, coloured with Promarkers.  The black background has been embossed using a Cuttlebug Congratulations folder although you can't see it very well on the photo.

Thanks for looking! 

  

A Sad Card

I didn't expect that I would have to make this card but sadly I have as my dear friend Marie has passed away. This card is for her devastated family and husband Dave. Marie and I have been friends for almost 30 years, my daughter is married to her son so we shared grandchildren as well. Marie & Dave semi-retired and moved to Cornwall a few years ago and were really happy in their little park home. Sadly, Marie suffered a massive stroke a few weeks ago and was really poorly but she seemed to be recovering well from it and was moved to a rehab hospital to learn to use her hands and legs and help her with her speech. She was having physio and there were plans for her to return home with help. Then the devastating news last weekend, Marie had suffered another massive stroke and passed away. Can't believe she has gone and we will never see her again, she was a lovely person and I have so many fond memories of her.

RIP my dear friend xx

PINK BUG!!

Hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day and were totally spoiled like all mums deserve to be. I had a lovely surprise, a new PINK Cuttlebug!! As regular followers of my blog will probably know, I broke my lil bug a few weeks ago and decided I would like a new pink bug when I could eventually afford to replace it. My girls knew how much I wanted one and they clubbed together for my pressy for today, isnt that fab?? Totally unexpected, I am happy with choccys and flowers (which I also had in abundance) on Mother's Day so to receive that big box and wrapped so beautifully was amazing. Thank you to my wonderful family for all the cards, flowers. choccy's, smellies and best of all, my PINK bug!

Penny Black Teddy Collection

This is the card that caused the demise of my poor lil cuttlebug!

The image is Penny Black Teddy Collection, coloured with Distress Inks.

The embossing folder is Crafts-Too, Butterflies.

This is going to a friend recovering from surgery, hope she likes it!

Boo-Hoo!!

Can't believe I have done it, but I have broken my Cuttlebug!! I am really cross with myself, I should have known I was pushing it a bit too far, I could feel it resisting but thought it would be okay, its always been such a sturdy little machine, I thought it was invincible!!

I think the problem was I was using a Crafts Too folder for embossing which I figure are slightly thicker than the CB folders, so if you use these folders in your bug, just be careful and use less shim. I forgot to remove some of the shim that I normally use with CB folders.

Well, the side of the bug flew off and it made a horrible grinding noise and bang, the whole thing fell to pieces! I am saddened too because it was a leaving gift from my colleagues at work when I retired 2 years ago. I shall have to save my pennies now for another one, luckily I have a Wizard so I can use that until I can replace my trusty old friend.

Had a little browse this evening and guess what I found, there is actually a PINK bug, now that I HAVE to have!!

RIP my lil friend !!

New Baby Girl Card

This card I made for my daughter Katie and son-in-law Gareth to congratulate them on the birth of their beautiful baby daughter Evie Lily Mae.

The background paper is pebblesinc, I think its called 'My Baby Girl' and of course the circle shapes are cut using Nesties. I took about 100 photos before I found the perfect one!

Circular sentiment is printed on PC using Wordart.

Fleur De Lis

This is my latest Spellbinders purchase, the Fluer De Lis Shapeability die, which I have to admit when I very first used it in my Cuttlebug I could not release the card from the die, but after a few trials and errors its now working a treat. I love the shape and versatility of this die and I have decided that the border to match is a must, so thats me next planned spend!!

What do you think of my handmade poisettia? I was just playing about with a Woodware leaf punch and this is what I ended up with, I am quite pleased with it and I think it works quite well against the white background of the Fluer De Lis shape.

Diamond Wedding

I followed the very talented Eileens tutorial for this beautiful Diamond Wedding card and I am really pleased at how it turned out and how easy and simple it was to make. If you haven't already done so, hop along to Eileens blog and have a look at her lovely creations. While your there take a peek at Ikki's Cuttlebug Cupboard, she has some really good ideas and tips using the bug.

Baby Boy on Moon

A friend of ours has just discovered she is expecting a baby boy after her 20 week scan. I made her this card in readiness for his arrival, this stamp is so quick and simple and I love the sentiment.

Cardstock and ribbon from stash
Stamp - Great Impressions
Border - Fiskars

Kitkat's Birthday Card

This card I made for my daughter for her baby sister Katie (aka Kitkat).

Background paper - K&Co Wedding Collection
Martha Stewart Doily Lace Punch
Nestabilities - Ovals
Flowers & ribbon from stash
Cuttlebug Die Cut - Heart #1
Leone Em Ash Punch for leaves
Sentiment done on PC

Whiff of Joy Women's Collection

The new stamps from Whiff of Joy - 'Womens Delight Wedding & Baby Collection' are so gorgeous and as my daughter is expecting her second baby in January I just had to make her a card with the pregnant Willow stamp. We both love pink (how would you guess!!) and as she is hoping this one is a little girl I thought the pink would be appropriate and might just be lucky for her. Doesnt matter if its a boy though, as long as he/she is healthy.

New Home

Hope everyone is well and enjoyed the Bank Holiday weekend despite the rubbish weather. Still, a good excuse to stay at home and craft!

This is one of a few cards I managed to get done over the weekend, made for my granddaughter Kimberley and her boyfriend Carl who have recently moved into a new flat. Very quick and simple, I cheated and used Penny Black stickeroos, I love these frogs, the expressions on their little faces crack me up!

18th Birthday Card

This card I have made for my granddaughter Jessica's 18th birthday which is today. The image is from Charmed Cards & Crafts - Holly & Madison. I have coloured the image using Prismas and Sansador. I made the flower using my Nesties Scalloped Circles, sentiment done on PC. The hearts inside were made using my Nesties Hearts.

Just Magnolia Challenge #1

The first challenge this week for 'Just Magnolia' is a sketch and this is my entry. This was a lovely sketch and the card just came together so well. The paper I have used is Basic Grey Bittersweet, the flowers I made using my scalloped circle nesties and the leaves are Leone Em Ash punch. Tilda is coloured using Prisma pencils and Sansador and I had to give this little Tilda a mouth, her face looked a little 'blank' to me!

cuttlebug Spot Challenge # 25 - Easter Treat Containers

The challenge this week on Cuttlebug Spot is to make an Easter Treat Container and this is my entry. I made 30 of these little baskets, each contains a Cadbury's cream egg. I made them for the special needs children at the local school, their little faces when they saw them was worth every effort that went into making them. Had to be something quick and simple and this fitted the bill perfectly.

Z Fold Cards

I made a couple of Z Fold cards following a fab video tutorial by Linda Duke. The pink and cream card is for my sister's birthday next week and the cream one I was just playing around with my Cuttlebug folders using Swiss Dots and Paisley. Something different