Little Jumpers and Tilda!!

Hello again everyone...... hope you are all well and apologies for my absence for such a long while........ just been so busy, busy busy!! .........but then we all are...... its the time of year and so much going on at home at the moment.... running around like a headless chicken!!!  There is still so much to do and only 2 weeks left to Christmas !! eeeek!!  Just about managed to finish all my Christmas cards and I will try and post them sometime this week...... and these little jumpers.... well, I am addicted to knitting them.... they knit up really quick and they are so cute, especially with their little matching beanie hats!!   If you saw my earlier post (from ages ago!) you will know I am knitting these little jumpers for HIV babies in Africa and I have been overhwelmed by the response I have had with regards to people requesting the pattern and wishing to knit for this very worthy cause ... and it uses up all those oddments of wool you may have lying around!  I have the pattern for anyone who would like a copy, just let me know and I will email it to you.

This is one of the cards I did manage to make this week.... I fell in love with this little lady as soon as I saw her, she is so sweet. She is coloured with Promarkers with lots of Star Dust glitter. The papers are also Magnolia,  "Sweet Christmas Dreams - Holly Christmas Song" - honestly I was soooo reluctant to cut into this beautiful paper!

The gorgeous glittery ribbon and the lovely twinkly button are from The Ribbon Girl 

Sentiment is Lili of the Valley

Snowflake is Marianne

I will try not to leave it so long before my next post ....I have a couple of projects I have been working on to show you so watch this space!!

Thanks for looking and bye for now!

Hugs

Twinkling Star

Good evening everyone, hope you are all well, just realised how long its been since my last post, I am a naughty blogger!!  The days just whizz by so fast, they are gone in the blink of an eye ....... at least the weather has been a bit more decent the latter part of the week but alas its not to last.... apparently its going to get colder and wetter next week....... !!

My card for today and its an easel card.... I really struggle to take photos of easel cards..... do you??  I  seem to take hundreds of photos and none of them seem right somehow.... there must be a better way ...... if anyone has any tips I would love to know.

The image is of course Lili of the Valley 'Twinkling Star'

 coloured with Promarkers with lots of Star Dust and Silver Stickles.

Delish paper is a digi download from Nitwits - Joyful Hearts

Sentiments are Lili of the Valley

Snowflake and Star are Marianne Dies

Label is Spellbinders Shapeabilities Fancy Tags

I am entering this card for this weeks challenge # 116 at Lili of the Valley where the theme is 'Warm and Cozy' - I think she looks as warm as toast in her little boots, gloves and furry coat, don't you!!

Hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend, thank you so much for dropping by, I really appreciate it!

Hugs

XXX

Let it Snow - LOTV Challenge #115

Hello again everyone.........hope  you are all well and managing to avoid the dreaded cold virus I had over the last few days ......... feeling much better than I was but whenever I have a cold it goes straight to my sinuses... so painful, usually it only clears up with a course of antibiotics..... I want to try and do without them if I possibly can this time... we shall see....and so far OH is clear of it!!  Well its blowing a gale here today, we have had wind, rain and sunshine and its freezing!  This time last week we were basking in lovely warm sunshine, bizzare british weather!

Onto my card today ....... thought I would try something different using the Martha Stewart Doily punch .... I quite like the effect.

  Image is Lili of the Valley Milly Winter Window coloured with Promarkers.... with lots of glitter added.

Paper is from my bits box from last Christmas so dont know the make ... sorry.... it could be Bo Bunny... but not sure!

Snowflake is Marianne and the brad is a pink moonstone from Wild Orchid Crafts.

The ticket sentiment is part of a Christmas set from Whimsy Stamps

I am entering this card for the the new challenge at Lili of the Valley this week which is Let it Snow.

Today is my birthday...... not telling you how old I am today..... but put it this way...... I now dread the birthdays..... time is whizzing by far too fast!!  I am being thoroughly spoilt though and the family are meeting us for tea at a local hostelry..... so looking forward to that.

Enjoy the rest of your day and hopefully catch up again very soon!

Hugs,

XXX

Three Little Angels Easel Card

Hello my lovely friends... hope you all had a good weekend, did you do anything exciting......they go far too quick though don't they?  At least the weather wasn't too bad.... and we are said to be in for a heatwave this week......... have you noticed we have had some lovely Indian Summers the last few years? 

Well onto my card today and its the adorable three little angels image from Lili of the Valley... coloured with Promarkers and Prisma pencils, I think this stamp is my fave of this years Christmas releases. 

The shape cut with Go Create XL Frames Frilly #3

The paper - Kaisercraft December 25th

 Star and snowflakes - Marianne Dies

Sentiment - Lili of the Valley

Anyways this is a very quick post as I am off to watch Downton Abbey .... so catch up again soon and thank you so much for your visit.

Hugs

xxx

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

LOTV Challenge #112 Red, Green and White

Good afternoon everyone, how are we all on the gorgeous September day..... the sun is shining and I actually managed to get a bit of gardening done this morning .... sweeping all those leaves away after the high winds we have had recently.

A quickie post today as I have loads to do and so little time to do it .... my card for today is for the LOTV Challenge #112 which is Red, Green and White.... perfect traditional Christmas colours!!

This cute little miss is coloured with Promarkers with lots of stickles and liquid pearls.

Paper is Pepper Christmas

Sentiment - Whimsy Stamps

Fab Holly Punch - X-Cut

Right ho I am off to get some more work done and outa the way, then I can do some crafting without feeling guilty!!

Enjoy the rest of your day whatever you are up to.

Hugs

XXX

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

Baubles on Kraft Card

Hello everyone..... hope you are all well and not been affected too badly by the forecasted 'tropical storm Katia' ........ so far we are okay, in fact today has been beautiful sunshine and quite warm..... a bit blowy but nothing too drastic... maybe the quiet before the storm??

Just realised how long its been since my last post ... been so busy..... still trying to sort stuff in drawers and cupboards .......... made a few trips to the charity shop and the rubbish dump this week and managed to sell a few bits on Ebay too so quite a productive week.... love selling stuff on Ebay but hate the packaging  and posting ... the lady at the post office positvely groans when she sees me with my arms full of little packets!! 

Surprisingly though I managed to make a few Christmas cards this week and this is one of them and the inspiration for this one came from the very talented Bev Rochester..... I tell you Bev's cards are soooo gorgeous and inspirational and she has some fab tutorials...........she makes them so easy to follow too. The video tutorials are on the Ideas to Inspire blog by Lili of the Valley.  This one shows how to colour on Kraft card and how to do highlighting on the baubles with a white prisma pencil.... so very easy but effective.... if you have never seen Bev's work do pop across to her blog...... I can guarantee you won't be disappointed!!

Image is Lili of the Valley

Coloured with Promarkers and white Prisma pencil

Fiskars Holly border punch

Ribbon and red dots from stash.

Thats it from me for today, thanks for dropping by and enjoy the

rest of your evening

XXX

        

A card and a clear out!!

Hello again everyone...........hope you are all well.... I know its been a while since I last posted but had a really busy but very productive one..... not craftwise but sorting out wise!  We will possibly have to move house within the next few months.... its a long story but basically because of the injuries hubby suffered in the accident almost 3 years ago now he is struggling with the stairs and the shower, so we have to move into a bungalow.  We have lived here in this house for 42 years so you can imagine the stuff we have accumulated over those years!!  I have been putting it off for as long as I can..... but it needs to be done and once I got going I was like a woman possessed!!  Had to be really ruthless though, bags of stuff to take to the charity shop and the tip!  Its amazing what you keep and find, cards made by the girls when they were little, can't bring myself to throw them away so put them all in a little memory box.... they will have to go with us, wherever we go!  One place I am really dreading going into is the attic, OMG!! ...... I have no idea whats up there and what I will do with it!!  I dont like going up there, I have a terrible fear of spiders and I imagine them lurking in dark corners waiting to jump out at me............ ewwww..... I would have a heart attack I can tell you!  We had a nest of squirrels up there a few years ago and we had to get the pest control in to get rid of them, there was a nest of babies, I felt really bad that they had to be destroyed but we had no choice.

Anyhows, onto my card for tonight and its my 2nd Christmas card for this year I amd really behind with them, I usually try to get started them in July but with one thing an another just not had the time. The image, music and sentiment are Lili of the Valley, image coloured with Promarkers. The star border is a Marianne die which I have had for a while but could never manage to actually get the card out from the die once it had been through the bug. I tried everything, every time I ended up ripping the card into pieces, then I tried rubbing the die over with a tea light candle, then burnished with a soft cloth, viola!! success, it works, peels out no problem, so if you are having the same problem give the candle tip a try. 

Poinsettia is Wild Orchid Crafts and paper not sure, will have a look and repost when I find it!

I am off the the Creative Crafts and Stitch show at Eventcity tomorrow, lots of dosh will be spent I am sure but I am so excited, will be back tomorrow to show you my spoils!!

Thanks for your visit and enjoy the rest of your evening and if you are going to the show during the next 3 days, enjoy!! oh and if you see me there, say hello!

Hugs,

Happy Christmas All!!

No card from me today, I am all Christmassed out!!

Merry Christmas and a Happy and Peaceful New Year to everyone!!

xxx

Tealight Card

Good afternoon everyone, hope you are all well this freezing cold day!! I have been so cold today, just cannot get warm and its supposed to be getting colder by the end of the week, brrrrrr!!

Well onto today's card and its a tealight card, Ive been itching to make one of these for ages, I followed a brilliant tutorial by Stampartic. It was great fun and easy to make, I love cards that are different from the usual trend. If I make another one of these I will add a piece of acetate to the little window but it looks okay without it.

The little pocket on the left side of the card holds a little tag, not sure the make of the paper, had it ages, the circular sentiment is Catslife Press and the image is Lili of the Valley Candle Girl , coloured with Distress Inks. The edges of the card and flower are distressed with Frayed Burlap.

Thanks for dropping by, hope to see you again soon and keep warm!!

House Mouse Opening Presents

I think these little mice are soo cute don't you? The stamp is from a set called 'Opening Presents' from Joanna Sheen. Coloured with Promarkers with lots of Stickles Star Dust. The paper I have no idea, its a piece Iv'e had for ages. The snowflake embossing folder is by Crafts Too and the snowflake is a Marianne die cut. The sentiment is also part of the stamp set.

Hope you are all well and not too cold!

Thanks for dropping by

Barbara x

James in Pink

Hi everyone, thanks for dropping by this bitter cold, wet and miserable day. We live not far away from Buxton and believe it or not the road between Macclesfield and Buxton was closed today because of SNOW!! Brrrrr, doesnt bear thinking about! Still a good excuse to stay in and craft and this is a card made today. The image is Lili of the Valley 'James' - he is coloured with Promarkers and lashings of Stickles Silver. The flowers are Marianne small poinsettia with leaves cut with Leon Em Ash branch punch. The sentiment is from Cuddly Buddly and the gorgeous backing paper is a download from Nitwits Collection Mooey Christmas.

Right off to watch Corrie, it's a tear jerker tonight so better get the tissues handy!!

Thanks for looking, stay warm!

Barbara xx

Christmas Tilda

Well here I am again with another Christmas card, can't believe how well I am doing with them, I'm making the most of this inspirational period I seem to be experiencing at the moment, don't know how long it will last!! Another grey and miserable day in Cheshire today, although it was beautiful sunshine this morning and now its raining. Ah well, thats British weather for you!

This lovely Tilda image has been coloured with Promarkers, the flowers are Marianne small Poinsettia die cuts which have been covered with Glossy Accents and Twinklets Diamond Dust. The snowflake is also a Marianne die and the sentiment is a freebie from http://onehappylittlecrafter.blogspot.com/

The background paper is Dovecraft 'Jolly Happy Christmas'.

Thanks for looking and enjoy the rest of your day.

Hugs
Barbara

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

Toby Tumble

Good afternoon everyone and what a glorious afternoon it here in Cheshire, hope the sun is shining for you wherever you are.

Today's card is a little different from my usual method, it's a digital download from Cuddly Buddly - 'Toby Tumble' - isnt he sweet? The papers are also from Cuddly Buddly and they match perfectly with this fab image. He is coloured with Promarkers with lots of Stardust Stickles and the sentiment is also a Cuddly Buddly download, good value at £1.99 for a sheet of various sentiments.

Thanks for dropping by my blog, hope you like what you see, I really appreciate your visit and your comments.

Hugs
Barbarax

Skater Girl

Hello everyone, thanks for visiting, I hope you are well and not suffering with the various bugs that seem to be doing the rounds at the moment!

This is another easel card, I am really enjoying experimenting with these shapes, not just circular ones either, made a few different ones and I will try and add them to my blog very soon.

This image is one of my faves at the moment, Lili of the Valley Skater girl, the dog is soooo cute, he looks like he is doing his best to keep his mistress on her feet!

Image is coloured with Promarkers, with lots Stickles Star Dust, the 'ice' is Twinklets Diamond Dust, fabulous stuff, really crunchy and chunky. The poinsettia flower is from Wild Orchid Crafts which again has been sparkled with Star Dust. Sentiment is Lili of the Valley and of course the shapes are cut from Nesties.

What a change in the weather eh? Couldnt believe how iced up my car was this morning and of course I couldnt find the de-icer anywhere! I think our Indian Summer is finally over don't you? The clocks go back next weekend, then its Halloween and before we know it Christmas is upon us. Don't know about you but I'm not a winter person, hate being cold and long dark winter days, give me spring and summer light and sun anyday!

Thanks again for your visit, I will try my best to post some more very soon!

Take care

Hugs

Barbara

Baubles and Tinsel James

Hi peeps, I did promise more cards and this is one of them. Another fab Lili of the Valley image, 'James' - he is coloured with Promarkers with lashings of glitter and the baubles have been glossed with Glossy Accents. The sentiment is also Lili of the Valley, the background paper is Dovecraft Jolly Happy Christmas, the strip at the side I have no idea, its just a piece I found in my scraps box. The poinsettia is from Wild Orchid, sprayed with Pearl Shimmer Mist.

Hope you are enjoying the lovely late summer sun, let's hope it lasts, it makes the winter seem shorter, although its been forecast that we may have a winter like last year, lets hope not!! I am prepared though, I have invested in a pair of wellies, something I havent worn since I was a child!!

Thanks for looking and your kind comments, I do appreciate them so much.

Angel Friend

Hi folks, its been a long time since my last post, where does time go I ask myself?? Life just seems to get in the way, theres always something needs doing, like boring housework!! I'd much rather be crafting but I dont have a fairy godmother unfortunately! Never mind, at least I have managed to make a few Christmas cards and this is one of them.

The stamp is a Lili of the Valley angel, she is coloured with Promarkers with lots of Stickles Star Dust. The sentiment I am not sure of as a friend stamped a few for me.

I have quite a few more cards to add to my blog, I will try and add one a day over the next week so check back often. Thanks for dropping by!!

Yay two more Christmas cards!

Christmas Magic

James with Cracker

Yay, two christmas cards to show you today, I am back on track!!  These are 2 of the lovely images I bought at the show in Manchester.  Both coloured with Promarkers and lots of Star Dust Stickles.  The embossed backgrounds are both by Crafts Too.

Thanks for looking and thank you everyone for all your kind comments, I really do appreciate them.