Christmas Angels

Hello there everyone, hope you are all well and enjoyed a good weekend, they go far too quickly though don't they??  On Saturday I took my youngest daughter Katie to Ormskirk, which is about an hour's drive away, to take a Maths exam as part of her (GTP) Graduate Teacher Programme training, she was very nervous as she struggles with her maths plus she only had 4 days notice for taking the exam!........ and if she doesnt pass she will lose her place on the teacher training course which seems totally unfair to us.  She has been a TA in a Resource base for special needs children at the local school but has always wanted to teach so when the opportunity came along she applied and was successful, she was delighted as you can imagine.  She left the Resource base at the end of July and started her teacher training when the new term started in September, she was only in the job a week when the GTP dropped the bombshell that she needed the maths, despite the fact she had the required qualifications at interview........!!!  She gets just the one chance and if she fails thats it, she is off the course!! ... she is worried sick she will fail and lose her job and she has up to 4 weeks before she gets her results..... seems so unfair that the GTP can move the goalposts to suit.... anyway... rant over .... we can only wait and hope she gets the 50% pass she needs... so fingers and toes crossed! Will let you know when she gets her results!!

Onto my card for today and its another christmas card.... I am really into the chrissy cards at the moment, dont know how long it will last though.... so while the mojo is there I will make the most of it!  This is of course one of the new LOTV Christmas releases and I think its one of my favourite ones ..... just love the angels little faces!  Coloured with Promarkers and Flexmarkers with lots of Star Dust Stickles on the wings.

Paper is Dovecraft Christmas Fancy

The poinsettia is from Wild Orchid Crafts..... I followed a brilliant tutorial by Bev Rochester here that shows how to cover these lovely little flowers with Twinklets.

Leaves are a Martha Stewart punch

Dies are Spellbinders and Marianne.

The cute sentiment I thought was perfect for this image, I did this on the PC ... I saw this on a card on Bev's lovely blog and really liked it.

Thanks for your visit to my blog today, enjoy the rest of your day!!

Hugs

XXXX

Milly and her cat

Good morning everyone, hope you are all well and weren't too badly affected by the storms we have had for the past few days....... its been very blowy here but not much rain fortunately .... you watch now I said that it will pickle down for the rest of the week!

Well onto my card for today and yay its another Chrissy card... not a fan of the festive season myself but I do love making Christmas cards!  Isn't she just sooo cute .....sat waiting for Santa to fly by!  I have coloured her with Prismas and Copics with sprinklings of Glamour Dust.  Image is of course Lili of the Valley.....Papers are Dovecraft Christmas Fancy.... ribbon is from Wild Orchid.......... snowflake is a Marianne Die....... punch is Martha Stewart.

Enjoy the rest of your day and thanks for dropping by, I have more to show you so call in again soon!

Hugs

xxx

Sunday Sketch and Stamp #65

Happy Sunday everyone, its a lovely day here in Cheshire..... been sat in the garden, could feel myself starting to burn so thought I better come inside...... and as promised here is my DT card for todays Sunday Sketch and Stamp Challenge #65 which is a fab sketch by Uma. First time ever I have used bunting on a card!!  I am also entering this card into the Lili of the Valley Challenge 106 this week which is 'Fun and Games' so it fits perfectly.

The papers are Masculine by Dovecraft 

Image -  Lili of the Valley No 7 Bear coloured with Prismas

Sentiment -  Lili of the Valley

Well thats it from me for today, I will be back tomorrow with another creation!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Hugs,

Easel Drawer Card

 Hello there everyone, hope you are all well this fab sunny weekend, hope wherever you live you have had some sunshine.  Sorry about the lack of posts this week, had a couple of family problems, its been a bit difficult to concentrate and my mojo went AWOL.  Things are a little better but still not resolved but I won't bore you any longer...... onto my card today and its yet another easel drawer card, really loving this style at the moment!   For this card I used 300gsm watercolour card....... its a bit sturdier than normal card  and I quite like the effect of it.  I have used a Martha Stewart punch around the page..... sorry, forgot the name of it! ........ The edges have been distressed with Frayed Burlap DI........  The papers are Nitwits Thimbles n Threads..... Image is Lili of the Valley coloured using Distress Inks................. Flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts as is the small metal corner which has been painted and embossed to give it a shabby vintage look............ sentiment is Lili of the Valley and tag is Spellbinders.... little leaves are Marianne.

I will be back tomorrow to show you my DT card for this weeks Challenge #65 over at Sunday Sketch and Stamp which is a fab sketch by Uma.

Hugs

Rosie with Presents

I intended to post this card last night, but I started fiddling around with my blog background and got myself in a right old pickle!! I decided to have a change so browsed around, as you do, I won't bore you with the details but the upshot was I lost my fonts, colours, everything, it looked a right mess!! Anyway, I just kept pressing buttons and hoping for the best and by some sort of miracle managed to get where I wanted to!! Everything looked fine and dandy except my fonts, there were all sorts of a mixture! I have to give a great big 'thank you' to Marie (Cardmaking Bird) ~ she very kidnly left me a comment and easy instructions and it all worked perfectly, phew!! Blogging buddies really are the best!!

Well onto this card, I love side steppers, it just takes me ages to figure em out! I always do a practice run with scrap paper first, otherwise I waste such a lot of my precious card, does anyone else do this?

The recipient of this card is a friend's daughter who is very girly and I know she will be thrilled with it, especially with her name on it, I think kids always like to see their name on a card, don't you? The image is of course Lili of the Valley ~ Rosie with Presents, she is coloured with Promarkers. Sentiment is also LOTV, the lovely paper is Eline's Huis 'In The Meadow' and the swirls are a Sizzix die. Lots of glitz with Stickles Star Dust.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and thanks for dropping by!

Barbara xx

LOTV Challenge 80 ~ Things with Wings

Hello again everyone, hope you are all well and the sun is shining wherever you are. It was very foggy in Cheshire this morning but then the sun came out to play and it was lovely to see it, hope it stays around!!

Well the LOTV challenge this week is 'Things with Wings' and as I was itching to use my new LOTV stamps it was a perfect opportunity to colour up this beautiful lady. She is coloured with Promarkers, her wings I have covered with Glossy Accents and Glamour Dust. The sentiment is one of the new ones from LOTV too, I was really spoilt for choice with the new releases and I did spend a little more than I intended but no regrets, they are all so fab. I am off to Manchester to the Craft show in February and I just know I will gravitate to the LOTV stand!

The background paper is Basic Grey Kioshi Lily Child, punches are Martha Stewart and there are lashings of Stickles Star Dust but doesn't show up very well on the photo, the day I took this photo the light was very poor (well that's my excuse!).

Well my beloved little dog Lolly has gone to doggie heaven and even though it was a heartbreaking decision I know it was the right one. She was so frail and she really had enough, she was very calm (I wasn't!) and she passed very peacefully. Her 'hubby' Toby is pining for her, he keeps looking for her around the house and garden, I expected him to whine a bit through the night but he never made a sound. I am sure in a few days we will have forgotten all about her but we miss her too, its so strange not having her here. Thank you to everyone for your messages of support, it means a lot.

Thank you so much for your visit today.

LOTV Challenge - Too late!!

Hi folks, can you believe I made this card for this week's LOTV challenge and missed the 6pm deadline!! LOL, I am such a scatterbrain, not the first time this has happened, I have all good intentions, get the card made and them miss the challenge..... oh well, never mind. Its my daughter Donna's birthday today and she makes delicious cupcakes as a business so she was thrilled to bits with this card.


I loved the sketch for this challenge, the papers are Papermania Confetti, the image is of course LOTV, coloured with Promarkers. The corner die is Marianne and the sentiment is also LOTV. You can't really see it very clearly on the photo but the edges have all been stickled with Star Dust. Flowers are from Wild Orchid which have been sprayed with Pearl Glimmermist.


After my nasty bout of flu I developed Sinusitis which I have been trying to clear with OTC medication and steam inhalation but it wasn't making any difference and I was in so much pain and discomfort so I reluctantly made a visit to GP and now have a weeks course of antibiotics. Not keen on taking antibiotics but sometimes can't be avoided.

Well thanks for dropping by, I really appreciate your visit and your comments.

Happy New Year!!

Hi everyone, hope you all had a good Christmas, we had a very busy Christmas Day & Boxing Day with family, it's lovely to have everyone all together, even though we all live within close proximity its rare we all gather at any one time. Anyhow, just beginning to get my breath back after the festivities when I was pole axed by flu!! Took to my bed on Thursday and I am still there! Its really knocked me for six, never felt so ill, but I think I am on the better side of it now. Whatever it is thats doing the rounds, its nasty, makes you feel so weak and exhausted, don't know if it was swine flu but I certainly had all the symptoms. I hate being ill and very rarely am so for me to take to my bed for this long is so frustrating, but I had no choice. Hubby has been a very good nurse bless him, I have spent the last 2 years looking after him following his car accident and I always worried about how he would cope if I was taken ill but he has managed brilliantly. I just hope he doesnt catch it from me, eek a man with flu, lol!!!

So New Year passed me by in a blur but I would like to wish everyone a very Happy, Peaceful and HEALTHY New Year and look forward to another year of fabulous creations.

I am very honoured to be invited by Jill (Jilli's Paiges) to be Guest Designer for Sketch Saturday for January and this is my card for week 1. The challenge is a fabulous sketch by Jill and the DT have made some lovely creations with it, so hop on over to Sketch Saturday and join in!

For this card I used the lovely Lil of the Valley Hello Cupcake image, coloured with Promarkers with lots of Star Dust Stickles. The paper is BoBunny Gift of Love. Sentiment is LOTV.

Thanks for looking, stay healthy and warm!

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.

LOTV Pup and Postbox

Isn't this image just soo cute?  I adore Lili of the Valley stamps so I was in seventh heaven when I found the LOTV stand at the Creative Crafts show in Manchester last weekend.  So much choice, I wanted them all!!  The images are so clear when stamped and easy to colour in, I really love em!!

This one has been coloured using Promarkers with lashings of Star Dust Stickles.

  The backing paper is by Dovecraft - A Jolly Happy Christmas, another buy from the show.

I am way behind with my intention to make at least 2 christmas cards a day, commission cards are getting in the way, but they are almost finished now so watch this space for more luscious LOTV images!

Thanks for looking!

LOTV Candle Girl

Another christmas card made - whoopee!  Set a goal to make at least 2 christmas cards a day so when it comes to December I won't be in panic mode as I usally am!

This cute image is Lili if the Valley ( I really love LOTV stamps, can you tell!) and she is called Candle Girl.  She looks so cosy and warm all wrapped up in her lovely red outfit.  I imagined the lovely red coat and hat she is wearing is made from sumptuous red velvet so I added the red velvet ribbon to reflect this. 

She is coloured with Promarkers with lots of Star Dust stickles, the paper is Cosmo Cricket Festivities Mitten Weather, the edges have been coloured using Fired Brick Distress Ink again glittered with Star Dust.  The flowers are Wild Orchid sprayed with Glimmer Mist Pearl with a hint of Star Dust Stickles.

Enjoy the rest of the bank holiday Monday at least the sun is shining here, hope it is wherever you are, thanks for looking!

LOTV Challenge 62 - Circles

Crikey!!  I managed to make 2 challenges within a week, I must be on a roll!!  Or it could be due to the fact I have some scrummy new LOTV stamps and I just had to have a play! 

The challenge at Lili of the Valley this week is a nice simple one, CIRCLES and this is my entry.  This image is sooo cute and ideal for a birth or birthday.  Coloured with Promarkers, paper from stash, flowers from Wild Orchid and pearls from The Hobby House.

Thanks for looking, its much appreciated.

Lili of the valley Challenge 61

There is a fabulous sketch by Bev to follow on this weeks Lili of the Valley Challenge No 61.  This sweet image is of course Lili of the Valley bird house, coloured with Promarkers with lashings of Stickles Star Dust.  This is my first Christmas card for this year, been a bit slow to get going with my chrissy cards, just don't seem able to find any mojo or inspiration, perhaps this one will be the start of it, we can hope!!

The new LOTV Christmas stamps are so adorable, just couldnt resist them so watch this space, there will be a few more very soon.

Hope the weather is reasonable where you are, at the moment in Macclesfield its lashing down, ah well, nothing else for it but crafting!! 

Thanks for looking!

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!