Happy Christmas Everyone!!!

Love and Hugs

Santa's on his way.....

Hi all... Sorry I've been such a bad blogger this last week... I came down with tonsilitis and wasn't feeling good at all... but I'm on the mend now..... just need lots of rest.

I'm back as promised with a Santa card that I made for my mum. I've used some very cute
pre-coloured images.

 Images: pre-coloured LOTV pre-coloured Art Pad 32 - Ho Ho Ho! images. 

Papers: LOTV Papers: Nitwits

Dies: Spellbinders Snowflakes?

Dies: Spellbinder Wavy Border thingies?

Sentiment Die... Ooh can't remember and I'm too tired lazy to get up and look! Lol. It was from Dies to Die For.

Hope you are all well and ready for Christmas? My daughter returns home tomorrow to spend Christmas with Mum and I... looking forward to chilling and watching tv... some yummy food! :-))

Sending Huge Hugs to those of you who are unwell or not feeling good.

Take care

 Love and Hugs

Polar Express

Hi all... sorry I haven't posted for ages. We've been having a major clearout at home and a few repairs done. We're hoping to have a new fitted kitchen in the New Year... can't wait as the one we have at the moment is from another era... errr... maybe even biblical times?!! Lol

 Anyway, I've finally managed to photograph some of my Christmas Cards and upload them.... here's one I made using my gorgeous new Stampendous Train Postcard Stamp! I couldn't get a decent photo of this card... tried it with flash, lamp and nothing seemed to help? it looks much nicer in real life!

Image: Stampendous Train Postcard Stamp

Papers: Craftwork Cards - Magic of Christmas

Sentiment: Hobbycraft

Border: Tonic Studio Punch - Vine

Mark Richards - White Glitter Domes

Wooden Snowflakes

I really enjoyed colouring this image... all done with Copics even the Postcard bit... just wish that the sparkle on the snow showed up in the photograph!

I hope you are all doing ok and nearly ready for Christmas? I've finished all my shopping apart from food which we are having delivered next week... most of the presents are wrapped... just a couple of last minute ones to do.

Huge hugs to those who are unwell or going through difficult time at the moment... I really hope things improve for you soon.

I will be back soon with another Christmas card... and think Santa himself might put in appearance! ;-) 

Just realised I haven't got Christmas Countdown on my blog? Will have to try and find one...

Love and hugs

Sunnier Climes.....

Hi... thought I'd share the Birthday Card that I made for my Mum. It was her 85th Birthday last Sunday. She likes to look at nice scenery in the dull winter and so I chose this lovely pre-coloured image from LOTV.  She also loves a bit of sparkle hence the glittery flower. 

Image: LOTV - Pre-coloured Art Pad 40 Summer Escapes

Papers: Freebie with 'Making Cards' Magazine

Flower: Prima

Sorry I've not been the best of bloggers lately.... life is getting in the way again.... seems to be one thing after another at the moment with things going wrong in the house.

At least my Christmas shopping is sorted and the presents are all wrapped. I got a few bargains in the Black Friday Sales online... my mum wanted a bigger tv as it was difficult to see anything on her 19 inch one. So I found a 24 inch one for her at fab price. Really pleased with it and it means I can watch Strictly with her on Saturday... and I will be able to actually see the dancers! :-))

Thank you for all your lovely comments... I really do appreciate them! 

Hope you all have a good weekend!

Big Hugs

MAWTT - Give Thanks

 Hello all...  it's the turn of Team B this week over at

Moving Along With the Times

and this fortnight my lovely crafting buddy Claire is hosting a challenge of

  Give Thanks  

We would like your creation to be about Thanksgiving/Thank You.

I thought I'd have a play with my new Ranunculus Stamp... I don't get much time to colour nowadays and I really miss it... so I coloured this one evening after everyone had gone to bed, and really enjoyed doing it! :-)

Image: Stampendous Rubber Stamp - Ranunculus
Sentiment: Paula Pascual Personal Impressions Stamp Set
Bow: Papermania Docrafts - Colour Capsule - Parkstone Pink

I stamped the Thank You sentiment above the image and to finish just added ribbon/bow and sparkles.

I hope you can pop over to our main site at MAWTT and see the rest of the Team's Thankful creations, and hope you can join us for this week's challenge! :-)

 Thank You for all your lovely comments, I really do appreciate them!

Love and hugs

Edited: Sorry.... some of you were asking about the stamp... I forgot to list my ingredients... so have added the info and some links.

Marie Antionette - Masquerade

Hi all... hope you are doing ok today...

I've been having a sort through my folders and finding quite a few creations that I haven't posted to my blog ... Don't think I have shown this one yet? it's a card that I made long while back.... 

I put lots of sparkles in her hair so it looked like hair glitter but it doesn't show up very well in the photo. 

Image: Crafts and Me - 'Marie Masquerade' by Jasmine Becket-Griffith

Paper: Prima: Bohemian Bamboo

Flowers: Prima
Butterflies: Prima Flutter Bits
Clock and Words: from Prima - 'Pixie Glen' Pad
Colouring Medium: Copics

It's gone very cold here in the UK...  believe they've had snow on the hills in Lancashire already. Where I live in Manchester has been sunny most of the day but very cold... forecast says we will have snow during the night.. so think it's gonna get even colder! We had a little robin visit few days ago and he was feasting on our holly berries... so it's really starting to feel quite Christmassy now. I've got my advent calendars at the ready... can't believe it will soon be December!! 

Thank you for all your lovely comments... I really do appreciate you taking the time out to visit! 

Hope you all have a lovely weekend

Love and Hugs

Ponies

Here's a Birthday Card that I made for a friend who loves horses and cats.... image and papers are from 'Making Cards' magazines. I've added a Bo Bunny Flower and the border is a Tonic Studio Punch - Vine. I think the sentiment was freebie with magazine? and I've printed it onto the paper...

Quite a simple card but I've let the beautiful image and papers do the talking... I love the colours on this card... I'm trying to be more adventurous with my colour combos... think it will be my New Year's Resolution! 

Weather here is horrible... never comes light at the moment... but perfect weather for staying in warm and cosy and crafting! ;-)

Hope you all have a good week!

Big Hugs

Warm Winter Wishes

Hello... I hope you are all doing ok today?... huge hugs to those who are unwell or going through a difficult time. 

Here's another Christmas Card that I managed to squeeze in using a pre-coloured image from LOTV... doing a little bit each day seems to be the key to getting my Christmas Cards done this year.

This card looks nicer in real life... I couldn't get the light right for the photo and so the card looks a bit glum? ... I've been waiting patiently each day for brighter weather... but think it might be a while! maybe next March! Lol... so have given up and resorted to flash! but then had to tone it down a bit.

Image: LOTV Coloured Art Pad - 'Tis the Season 

Sentiment: think it was a freebie with magazine?

Papers: Maja - It's Christmas Time

 Die: Memory Box Open Stitched Rectangle

Die: Creative Expressions - Festive Collection - Classic Poinsettia

Stamp: Creative Expressions - Stamps to Die For - Elegant Poinsettias

Pearls: Mark Richards - 'White Glitter Domes'

Glitter: Star Dust Stickles

Heat Embossing: Wow - Metallic Gold Sparkle

I've used my new Sue Wilson Stamp and Die set for the Poinsettias. Thought I would use some nice sparkly gold powder for the heat embossing... love watching the gold bubble up against the chocolate card! :-)

Thanks for all your lovely comments on my Leaves/Trees Card... and don't forget you have until the 11th November to enter at MAWTT.

Are you looking forward to Downton? I am, but also I'm not, if you know what I mean! as it's the last one! :-(  what will I do without it. But at least we have the Christmas Day Special to look forward to! ;-)

Hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Big hugs

MAWTT - Leaves and/or Trees

 Hello... Good Morning! I'm very pleased to be back once again with Team B at

Moving Along With the Times

and I am hosting a challenge of

  Leaves and/or Trees  

We would like your creation to have leaf/leaves or tree/s somewhere on your creation.... could be on your image, design paper or a die cut... as long as we can see it somewhere on your project.

And if you are making Christmas Cards at the moment... don't forget Holly Leaves will fit this theme! ;-) 

Quite a simple layout and design for this card. I've used my swirly background stamp for the gold heat embossing on the background and on the holly which was made with punch.  I dry embossed a panel for the centre. I went around the edges with a gold sakura pen to add definition. Then finished off with some gold ribbon/pearls and a sentiment from Hobbycraft.

I hope you can pop over to our main site at MAWTT and see the rest of the Team's wonderful leafy/tree creations and hope you can join us for this challenge... 

looking forward to seeing your entries!! We allow three entries per person.
 Don't forget you have two weeks for the challenge 
closing date is 6pm GMT Wednesday 11th November 2015.

Gosh, I can't believe it's getting near the weekend again! it's scary how quickly the weeks are going by!!!

I'm finally getting near the end of all my appointments  I had my Glaucoma Eye Tests yesterday.... and it went really well ... everything was perfectly normal... apparently I just have really thick corneas and they are giving higher than normal pressure readings. Phew, I'm very relieved. I have worried myself sick about these tests and they weren't half as bad as I thought they'd be.

I'm typing this on Wednesday evening and have just seen yet another huge spider run across my room.... it's hiding in the corner... think they come in through the brick vents in these old houses... as they always seem to come in when it's raining...  ooh... hope I can sleep tonight! :-(

Thank you for all your lovely comments!
Will catch up with you all soon!

Love and hugs

Embossed Christmas Baubles/Stars

Hello... I thought I'd show some of the Christmas Cards that I've been making recently. As you will see... I'm really into embossing at the moment. The star and bauble stamps were freebies on a magazine last year and so I bought the Spellbinders Dies to go with them. The cream and silver sentiments are from Hobbycraft. I've used lots of different papers, but most are from Maja Pads.

Thank you for all your lovely comments on my last post btw... it's very encouraging to get such positive feedback on my Folk It painting :-))

Can't believe it's weekend again tomorrow! I'm hoping to do a bit of crafting and I've started watching the Christmas Films... think I might watch Santa Clause this year as not seen it for a long, long time. And looking forward to Strictly and Downton again of course!

Enjoy the weekend!

Love and hugs

Thank You Rose Card

Hello... I hope you are all doing ok today... big hugs to those who are unwell or not feeling good.

Here's a quick Thank You card that I made with the lovely Rosebud Die that I won in Jo's Candy Draw a few weeks back.

I love how you can layer the rose up and think it looks stunning. I've just added some corrugated card for interest and a gem to finish. The gorgeous Thank You sentiment was a Birthday Gift a few years ago from my good friend Lynn :-)  It's wood-mounted and stamps perfectly every time, so I use it lots... it's fab for quick Thank You cards! 

I have to apologise again.... as my commenting is so bad at the moment.  I had another flare up with my chest last weekend, and the good news is that I actually managed to get over it without any antibiotics and steroids... but found that I had to have loads of sleep... but I'm still sleepy... and can happily sleep for 10 to 12 hours!! think maybe I'm turning into a hedgehog and getting ready for hibernation!! I feel like my body needs the sleep though, so I'm accomodating!

While I was awake!! Lol...  I made a few Christmas Cards, and really enjoyed making them. I started off copying some from my Making Cards magazine... it got the ball rolling and I'm feeling inspired again.

Downton again tonight!! and my lovely daughter is home, so we can watch it together.... I'm a happy bunny! :-D

I will catch up with you all soon

Hope you're having a relaxing weekend

Love and Hugs

Hello and Thank You!

 Hello... I hope you are all doing ok today.... I know some of my friends are unwell or going through a difficult time at the moment and so I'd like to send love and huge hugs to them.

Sorry... it's been a while since I last posted. I've had a lot of appointments but I now have a wee break from them until next Thursday! Yay! so I'm trying to find my crafting mojo again ... but I have to say that I'm VERY slow at everything. I'm having a go at some CAS cards at the moment and hoping to get back into the flow... will see how it goes.

But I still have a lot of stuff that I made months ago and have not got around to sharing... so thought today I would show you this Audrey Hepburn Canvas that I made for my dear friend Ira's Birthday.

Quite a simple design but love the quotes.... I merged photos from the internet and printed them on photo card... then just added the embellishments. 

I was a very lucky bunny... and won some gorgeous candy a couple of weeks back...

so I would like to say a Big Thank You! to Jo... thanks hun! I really love this fab selection of goodies! the rose die is awesome!

Ah well... better go and check my Tesco order now.... before it's too late to add anything... so many little jobs to do.

A Big Thank You to all my Followers... I really do appreciate you taking the time to visit and comment!
Will catch up with you over the weekend!

Love and hugs

Jamaica Rum

Hello... I hope you are all well today and having a nice weekend. Big hugs to those who are unwell or going through difficult times.

I haven't done very much crafting lately... but had an hour to spare last week and felt like getting inky.. so here's what I came up with...  I imagine this sailor is rowing ashore into the sunset... from his ship.. in some exotic place... maybe Jamaica? 

I created the background colour with my ink dusting brushes and distress inks. Then used Stampscape Stamps for the silhouette details. Finished off by colouring the huts and greenery with Copics.

I'm sorry that I'm not a very good blogger at the moment... my life is bit hectic as my chest keeps flaring up... and I'm having more trouble with my teeth. Hoping to get my teeth fixed very soon though :-D   and then I need some tests on my eyes!! Lol... oh the joys of getting old !!

I have hospital appointments every week through September ... so hope you will forgive me if I don't get around to commenting on some days. I can't seem to get motivated to make cards at the moment, so I'm just going with the flow and doing a bit of painting and colouring... might try some cross stitch.... and hopefully my creativity will return when things settle down a bit healthwise.

I'm having a very relaxed Bank Holiday Weekend though... have been enjoying reading my books and magazines... I still have some creations that I made a couple of months back and so I will pop back and show you them... :-)

Take Care and enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Love and Hugs

Graduation Card

Hello all ... I hope you are all doing ok today... sending huge hugs to those of you who are unwell or going through a difficult time. 

I thought I'd share the card that I made for my Daughter's Graduation... I found some photos of the robe and bonnet online and did all the layout on my computer. Found a coat of arms that looked similar, changed it to gold, and added it to the red bits. Somewhere along the line, the red morphed into pink? Oops! think my printer was running out of a colour. But I didn't feel like starting again!!

I made a paper template for the hat and then cut it out of black felt. Pleated the crown and sewed it to the brim. I was trying to 'channel' my ancestor Nathaniel Barton who was a Hatter!! but hopefully not a mad one! :-) Then I found some cord and a tassel... painted them both blue to match.

Quite pleased with how it came out and happy that my daughter thought it was awesome!!

I've not had a lot of time for crafting lately but have been doing some of my Folk It painting when I can fit it in... as it's so relaxing. I'm onto the 2nd kit and so it's learning brush strokes as well as the dotting tool. The comma stroke is not as easy as it looks... so lots of practice needed.

My laptop died last week... but managed to revive it... it made me realise how important it is to keep backing everything up and to do it very often!!!

I'm in TV heaven at the moment... Bake Off AND Who Do You Think You Are!!! did you see those wonderful Black Forest Gateaux's last week... it's my favourite dessert... so I was drooling!! Lol

Thanks for visiting and for all your lovely comments
Take Care

Happy 30th Birthday!!!

Hello... I hope you are doing ok today! 

I thought I'd show the card that I made for my Daughter's 30th Birthday back in May.

She asked for an Art Deco Card.. so I decorated the front with Papermania Art Deco 'Roaring Twenties' Decoupage Set. It's an 8 inch card... so bit bigger than my normal cards... but wanted to fit more on. I'm please to say that my daughter loved the decoupaged images and art deco paper...  and especially the sentiment which is a Wild Rose Studio Speciality Die - Vivianna Corner and you can get a matching set of sentiments to fit called Wild Rose Studio Clear Stamp Set - Vivianna Greetings! I bought them both with my Birthday Vouchers.

As it was her 30th... I was going to buy her one of those Trivia Sets as a keepsake... where they give you information on the month and year that you were born.... but they were quite expensive and they didn't have many facts.. so decided to do my own version.... I decorated the inside of the card with Trivia.... now I have to admit that it was very time consuming... like doing a magazine layout! but it was also lots of fun to do :-) I managed to find a photo of the toy kitchen that she had as a toddler from an old Argos Catalogue from 1985! and couldn't believe some of the facts from that year... you could buy a 4 Bedroom Detached House for £45,000 back then!! Our little terraced house is worth five times that amount now!! Lol

I put lots of photographs of her growing up and of the family on the opposite side of the card... and also wrote a personal verse. She loved it and it's something that she can keep and look back on....  :-))

Glad it's gone a lot cooler here in Manchester... it was lovely to get a good night's sleep last night without noisy fan!!

Only two more days to go... then I get my tooth out... can't wait to get rid of it!!! as it's hurting all the time now.  Hopefully I will feel a bit more relaxed when the pain is gone.

Hope you all have a lovely evening!

Take Care! :-)

Love and Hugs

MAWTT - Baby, Baby... and NEWS

 Hello... I hope you are all doing ok...

I'm very sad today as my good friend and lovely boss Hazel is stepping down from MAWTT.

 But at the same time I totally understand that she wants some well deserved 'me' time. It's not easy running a blog... and would like to say a HUGE thank you to Hazel for all the hard work she has put in over the last 6 years... Hazel has kept the blog running smoothly and so well organised... kept the team together and very happy... making it  the best team that I have worked on. It was my first ever DT Position and I have stayed with them because of the wonderful rapport that the team has.  I'm sure you will join with me in wishing Hazel all the best... and it's not really goodbye as we will still be seeing her in blogland and keeping in touch! :-))

MAWTT is continuing with Wendy taking over as leader... so we wish her all the best.

There will be monthly challenges for the Summer.... so you have until 5th August to enter the current 'Baby, Baby' challenge..... see below...

Please check back with us on the main blog here for any updates and more information.... we will keep you posted of any other changes.

and so now for this week's challenge... a nice easy theme of...

  BABY, BABY  

I thought I'd make a vintage baby card for a boy or girl... and also keep it fairly flat for posting.... the faux buttons are made using Raspberry Road Design elements and printed onto glossy photo card... love how they came out! :-)

Image: Free Pretty Things For You
Papers: Design House Digital
Faux Buttons: Nitwit Collections - Tour of London
Sentiments and Inset Images: Computer Generated from assorted Fonts

Thought I'd show the inside... I used the same paper but added the sentiment and some little baby images before printing out.  Amazing how many lovely baby fonts there are online if you search for them... some have little sentiments or images.... I've listed the ones I've used below....

The Congratulations sentiment was made with Fontdinerdotcom Sparkly Font.
The little baby images were from a Font called MTF Itty Bitty Baby.
The Welcome Little One Sentiment was made with KR Scrappin Babies Font.

I hope you can pop over to our main site at MAWTT and see the rest of the Team's baby creations.
Don't forget... closing date for this challenge is 5th August... so you have plenty of time to get your entries in.

Can't believe that we are in July already! this year seems to be whizzing by way too quickly!
Thanks for all your lovely comments, I really do appreciate them!
Take Care

Love and hugs

Life is a Circle.....

Hello... hope you are all well today... I thought I'd show you a card that I made for a friend's Birthday last month... I used a gorgeous Art by Miran image called Davina. I merged the image on top of some Pink Petticoat Cloud Paper... then coloured her in with Promarkers and Copics. Davina looks like a very trendy girl and so I've given her dip dyed hair. Thought I would use some of my new circle dies... but think I got a bit carried away... Lol... wish I had moved the sentiment down a wee bit but had glued it on too well !!! don't you hate it when that happens.

Image: Art by Miran - Davina

Cloud Background (image): Pink Petticoat Cloud Paper

Papers: Prima - Believe

Dies: Lots of different Circles!! Lol

Flowers: Papermania

Butterfly: Prima

Sentiment: LOTV

I would like to say big thank you to everyone who sent me get well wishes. I am doing ok but still not hundred per cent....  they identified the bacteria in my chest and gave me some really strong antibiotics which cleared it for a while... but can't believe it's flaring up again now... so think I will be referred for more tests. Some good news is that they have brought my dental hospital appointment forward and I'm due to have the dreaded tooth root out on 8th July... so I'm counting the days down..... can't wait to get rid of it as it hurts all the time now.

I've been watching lots of Netflix and Amazon Prime to take my mind off things. I've not done very much crafting as my mojo seems to have disappeared at the moment.. but I do have a few creations that I made earlier to post on my blog... and I'm reading my crafting magazines which will hopefully inspire me :-)) off to catch up with you all now...
Hope you all have a lovely weekend!
Take Care

Love and Hugs

MAWTT - Song Lyrics

Hello.... I hope you are all doing ok today.... it's the turn of Team B over at

Moving Along With the Times

and lovely Lena is hosting and has chosen a wonderful theme for us this week! :-))

'Song Lyrics'

Choose a verse, chorus, or just one line from a song that you love. You could use it as a sentiment or as inspiration for your design etc.

I have chosen one of my favourite songs....

Under the Ivy by Kate Bush

Image: Crafts and Me - Tale of a Rose - Janna Prosvorina

Colouring Mediums: Copics

Papers: Raspberry Road Designs - The Drawing Room

Flowers: Stash

Love the lyrics to this song as it reminds me of The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

'But she was inside the wonderful garden and she could come through the door under the ivy any time and she felt as if she had found a world all her own.'

There is a fab prize this week for our winner!!! 
Lena has kindly donated 15 Unmounted Rubber Stamps!! yes 15!!! 
so hope you will join us for this fun challenge and you could be the lucky winner of these stamps!! :-)

Also hope you can pop over to our main site at MAWTT and see the rest of the Team's lyrical creations!!

Sorry I'm not in Blogland much at the moment... I'm having quite a few health problems and not feeling great. Same old problems with my chest and tooth! But hoping to get rid of the tooth very soon... fingers and toes crossed!
Will be around to see you all as soon as I feel a bit better.
Take Care

Sending love and hugs

Happy 6th Birthday MAWTT!!!!!!!

 Hello... I hope you are all doing ok today... it's the turn of Team B once again at

Moving Along With the Times

Well it was on this day, 6 years ago, that the new MAWTT Blog was announced....
see here for a blast from the past!

To celebrate our Birthday..... we would like to see creations that say....

Happy Birthday!!!

Hope you can join in the celebration with us.... :-)
I've made a very special Birthday Cake... Chocolate and Strawberry!! Mmm..... had lots of fun colouring this fab Bugaboo image! 

Image: Bugaboo - Happy Birthday Topper

Colouring Mediums: Copics

Papers: Raspberry Road Designs - Summer Goodness Papers

Sentiment: Added to image on computer

 Glossy Accents: on Strawberry Jam and Candle Wax

Glitter: Star Dust Stickles on Candle Flame

 You can see the Strawberry Jam a bit better from this angle! Mmm... love Strawberry Jam with real strawberries in! :-))

I hope you can pop over to our main site at MAWTT and see the rest of the Team's Happy Birthday creations!! I hope you can join us for this celebration! Look forward to seeing all your entries! :-)

Well the week got off to a very cold, wet and windy start here in Manchester UK.... a few trees blew down in our area. But all is calm now... I'm scheduling this Wednesday evening and it's lovely and sunny! Really hope it is nice for the weekend too... think we all need some sunshine again to cheer us up! :-))

Thank you for all your lovely comments, I really do appreciate you taking the time out to visit my blog!
Will catch up with you all soon
Take Care

Love and hugs