A World of Imagination

Inspired by Stamping February Release Day.....

2012-02-11T10:00:00.006Z

Yay, today is the release day for February's Inspired by Stamping, look at these gorgeous flowers you can now buy from the store.

Using the Fancy Labels 18, I have made a box of 5 cards to give as a gift to a non-crafter, it's always good to have birthday cards on stand-by.

I cut four squares using different pattern papers and stitched the squares to the white base card using running and zigzag stitch. I used one of the larger frames and stamped the sentiment from the Big Wishes set. The box is made using a box making board, the front of the box matches the cards, I edged the side of the box in the striped paper and used a scalloped border punch along the bottom edge.

Supplies
Stamps- Fancy Labels 18, Big Wishes, Birthday Wishes
Paper- My Minds Eye
Other- SU seam binding, Prima Alphas, SU scalloped border punch, Spellbinder Label 18 die

This is a really quick and easy card,I had some plain white tags that I bought from a stationary store and they are just the right size for this stamp from the Fancy Tags set, I stamped five to create a border and wrote HAPPY on them using alphabet stickers, I then inked just the Birthday from Big Wishes and punched out using the SU oval punch.

Supplies
Stamps- Fancy Tags , Big Wishes
Paper- SU Everyday Enchantment
Other- Making Memories mini alphas, pearls, Martha Stewart Lacy Scalloped border punch, pearls,plain white tags.

The Big Wishes set are large sentiments so was ideal to use as my title for this LO, my girls are stood next to James Bond's Aston Martin. I stamped th"Wish Big" onto kraft card and diecut out using a fancy Cuttlebug banner. The doily is cut out from a 12x12 sheet of Pink Paislee Butterfly Garden.

Supplies
Stamps- Big Wishes
Papers- Pink Paislee Butterfly Garden, Bo Bunny Gabrielle
Embellishments- Prima birdcage, flowers and Say it in Pearls

Here's what you've all been waiting for, the full reveal of these fabulous stamp sets:

Small Fancy Labels 3

Friends

Fancy Labels 3

SmallFancy Labels 18

Cupcake Wishes

Sweet Aviary

Fancy Labels 18

Fancy Tags

Big Wishes

Don't forget to check out the other DT's creations and leave a comment on Joanna's blog for the chance of winning a $40 gift certificate to spend in the store.

I hope you've enjoyed the last three days of new releases, have a great weekend, everyone.

Happy Crafting

xxxxDebxxxx

Inspired by Stamping February Sneak Peeks Day 2...

2012-02-10T10:00:00.004Z

Hello, welcome back to Day 2 of this month's sneak peeks from Inspired by Stamping. My first creation today is a card using Melissa Frances 5th Avenue.

I took two of the same papers, fussy cutting the border and flowers and using foam pads to give it dimension. I stamped one of the frames from Fancy Labels 18 in SU So Saffron and added the "Thinking of You" setiment from the Small Fancy Labels 18.

Supplies
Stamps- Fancy Labels 18, Small Fancy Labels 18
Paper- Melissa Frances 5th Avenue 6x6 paper pad
Embellishments- Prima butterfly, Prima bling

My next projects is a LO using the Fancy Tags set, I stamped a variety of tags and using the SU Colour Spritzer Tool, splattered and distressed the tags. I love this stamp set, it is so versertile.

Supplies
Stamps- Fancy Tags
Papers- Pink Paislee Daily Junque
Inks- SU Pool Party,Calypso Coral,Lucky Limeade, Wisteria Wonder,I sland Indigo
Alphabets- Cosmo Cricket, October Afternoon
Border Punch- EK Success

I bought these shaped Craftwork Cards month's ago and haven't got around to using them so decided now was the time. I used the Big Wishes and Fancy Labels 18 for this card with a Cheery Lyn die.

Suppplies
Stamps- Big Wishes, Fancy Labels 18
Papers- Crate Paper Random
Other- Cheery Lyn French Pastry die, SU twine, IBS flowers

Take a look at the other DT creations and don't forget to leave a comment on Joanna's blog for the chance of winning a $40 gift certificate to spend at the Inspired by Stamping shop.

See you tomorrow for Release Day.

Happy Stamping

xxxxDebxxxx

Inspired By Stamping February Sneak Peeks Day 1...

2012-02-09T10:00:00.033Z

Hello my lovely friends, today is the start of February's sneak peeks and Joanna has been very busy over at Inspired by Stamping with 9 new stamp sets and brand new to the store are 11 different flowers at a great price.
I've got three sets to show you but be sure to check out the D.T. blogs to see the other sets, also if you head over to Joanna's blog and leave a comment you could have the chance of winning a $40 gift certificate for the Inspired by Stamping shop.
The first set I've used is called Big Wishes and has 4 great sentiments.

I die cut a cupcake,using pattern paper and yummy pink glitter card, for the candle I rolled a scrap of paper tightly around a cocktail stick and added the flame which is part of the cupcake die set. I stamped the " Make a Wish" sentiment onto white card, snipping a V shape either end to make it look like a banner.
Supplies
Stamps-Big Wishes
Papers-MME Love Me
Dies- Marrianne Designs
Flower- Inspired by Stamping
The next set is Fancy Labels 18 and is designed to perfectly co-ordinate with Spellbinders Labels 18.

I made this little pillow box which would be perfect to give a small Valentine gift in, I used one of the smaller frame stamps and added the hugs & kisses stamp from Touched by an Angel set.
Supplies
Stamps- Fancy Labels 18, Touched by an Angel
Paper-MME Love Me 6x6 paper pad
Die- Sizzix Pillow Box, Spellbinder Frames 18
Other- Inspired by Stamping rose, seam binding, SU tag punch
I've got one more to show you which is the Fancy Tags.

I stamped one of the tags onto kraft card and stamped a sentiment from Birthday Wishes, the paper is Crate Paper Random, isn't the floral paper pretty ? I took some distressed graph paper from Mellisa Frances Vintage Attic Treasures punched a border using the Martha Stewart Lacy Scalloped Border punch. The butterfly is punched out using the SU butterfly punch with SU twine wrapped around.
Take a look at what the other D.T. have created.

Come back tomorrow for more sneak peeks !!!!

Happy Stamping

xxxxDebxxxx

Jingle Belles....A Banner Holiday...

2012-02-08T11:16:00.002Z

The girls over at Jingle Belles are asking us to make a Christmas card using their header as the inspiration. It's the last day today so had to quickly get this post in, nothing like leaving it until the last minute.

You can take any of the elements from this pretty header, I've gone with the colours but I had to add a jingle bell in there too.

The music paper is from MF 6x6 5th Avenue paper pad,the candy cane paper is Basic Grey that I had left over from the last Christmas card, the cute house and banner is from October Afternoon Very Merry sticker sheet. I'd like to live in a house like that one.
Have a great day, I'll be back tomorrow with some sneak peeks for the new stamps from Inspired by Stamping.

xxxxDebxxxx

Tuesdays Tallies...7/02/12.....

2012-02-07T00:30:00.003Z

Hello friends, how are you all doing, it was a cold, snowy weekend in the U.K., perfect for staying indoors in front of the fire, watching films and crocheting, which is what I did !!!!!
I've done a row a day on my ripple blanket but over the weekend I have been making little squares for my Springtime blanket. I made 72 altogether, I've also started a little cardi for a newborn which I'll show you when it's finished.
Check out everbody elses One-a-Days over at Gingerbread Girl.

Here's my choice of hot drink while it's so cold, you can't beat Heinz Tomato Soup.

Thanks for looking.
xxxxDebxxxx

Scrapbookers Anonymous February Challenge......

2012-02-01T13:00:00.007Z

February is the month of love so this month's challenge at Scrapbookers Anonymous is to use at least 3 hearts and some stitching. I decided to alter a photo frame for Jodie, there is a story behind these frames. On Friday myself and my friend Diane ( who is also Jodie's boyfriends Mom) won the raffle at the Panto. We won a set of 3 oak effect frames and some bubble bath. I insisted Di had them and she said I should have them, in the end I left them in her car without her knowing. The next night when I went to bed, I found them under my pillow, she did say she would have the last laugh, lol, I got really excited thinking Mick had bought me a surprise present.

This is how the frame looked originally.

My inspiration came from this week's colour challenge over at CR84FN, isn't the inspiration board stunning and I love the quote.

The frame now:

I painted the frame with Paper Artsy Fresco Finish white paint, love this product, and when dry got some sandpaper and gently rubbed to reveal some of the wood, adding a MF swirl and Prima flower. I punched some hearts from The Girls Paperie paper range and also used the heart border punch which are both Martha Stewart punches. I love this photo of Jodie & Dan and thought it was perfect for this revamped frame.
Join in the fun here, use up some of your old stash ready for the new CHA releases and the chance to win a fab prize, all you need to do is use at least 3 hearts and some stitching on your project.

Happy Crafting
xxxx Debxxxx

January Photo's.........

2012-01-31T18:00:00.000Z

I haven't taken many photo's this month but I did go out with Kerry one cold, crisp Sunday morning to capture the frost, we wrapped up took a flask of soup and headed to Bodenham Arboretum.

xxxxDebxxxx

A Sketch by Linda.....

2012-01-26T13:27:00.003Z

This week the lovely Linda is the hostess with the mostest over at City Crafter Challenge Blog and has given us this fun sketch to work with. I just love working with sketches and this one is so pretty, I really enjoyed making this card.

This card is going to a friend from card class who hasn't been very well, Get Well Soon, Pat. I used Prima Sweet Fairy paper range and cut out a doily using Cheery Lyn French Pastry die, the window is a die from Poppystamps and I made a pair of pretty curtains for it using paper and triming with some lace. The greeting is from Inspired by Stamping.

I didn't get around to tidying my craft room, once I got in there I just wanted to play so I'll have to try and do it next week. Paige and I are off to Birmingham tomorrow for a bit of retail therapy and a spot of lunch, I love the hustle and bustle of the city centre, I've got a voucher for Selfridges so I will enjoy browsing around this fabulous department store, they have a Cath Kidston shop in there so there is a chance I will come home with something pretty and flowery, on the evening we are going to see my friends daughter in Cinderella, I just love pantomine's.

xxxxDebxxxx

Tuesday's Tallies......

2012-01-24T16:20:00.011Z

It's time again for Tuesday's Tallies, doesn't time fly,I'm still getting on with my ripple blanket and pleased with my progress, this week I have done 20 rows.

Last week Candace asked what colours I was using so here are all the details.

Debbie Bliss Cashmerino D.K.

004 Red                     028 Duck Egg
008 Pale Blue              030 Gold
011 Green                   033 Teal
017 Lilac                     039 Baby Yellow
023 Peach                   040 Leaf Green
024 Cloudy Blue          041 Duck Egg Blue
025 Olive Green          045 Mauve

I'm not sure if I'll get any sort of crafting done this week , I really need to give my craft room a good sort out and tidy up so if I'm not about much you know why, it's going to take me days :-(

xxxxDebxxxx

Blog Candy at Inspired by Stamping....

2012-01-23T09:03:00.003Z

Hi Everyone, would you like the chance to win one of Joanna's stamp sets,over the coming weeks Joanna will be busy designing some new Inspired by Stamping stamps and would like to to know what sort of stamps you would like to see. So if you pop over to her blog and leave a comment with your suggestion, you could win a stamp set of your choice from the shop.

Happy Crafting
xxxxDebxxxx

Jingle Belles 2012 - Card 2........

2012-01-22T10:25:00.002Z

First of all I would like to say thank you to the guys at Jingle Belles for picking my card as one of their faves last week, I was thrilled. The second prompt from the girls at Jingle Belles is a sketch especially designed by the lovely Kirsty

Here's my take:

I used Basic Grey Blitzen papers and covered the front of the card in Dasher, then cut a strip of Candy Cane punching the edge with the Martha Stewart Zig Zag punch. The sentiment is from Inspired by Stamping Christmas Greetings which I stamped onto white card and die cut out using Nestabilities Labels 1, finishing off with a rosette die cut with the Tim Holtz Mini Paper Rosette. Well that's my second Christmas card finished !!!!!
I hope everybody had a good weekend, I had great fun at the bingo on Friday night, unfortunately I didn't win anything.

On Saturday I popped over to Hobbycraft to see if they had anything new in, I bought a couple of crochet pattern books. The Patons book is very basic but has some gorgeous projects and I love making baby clothes so when I saw this Sirdar book I had to have it, my niece will be getting some new cardigans in the near future.

Thanks for stopping by.
xxxxDebxxxx

Sending You Sunshine................

2012-01-20T12:24:00.001Z

Hello there, how is everybody, good I hope.It seems ages since I've played along with my favourite colour challenge CR84FN so this year I'm going to make sure I'm a regular over there. This week's colours are one of my favourite combo's, light pink, yellow and neutral. Isn't the inspiration board pretty ?

I used Crate Paper Emma's Shoppe and Prima Sparkling Spring papers, the stamps are Inspired by Stamping 'The Sky's the Limit' set. I stamped 'Sending You Sunshine' onto a sticker from Echo Park's Springtime, I'm really missing the sunshine of Spain so thought I'd use that stamp, I also added the border from the same sticker sheet.

I've had some new friends join me over the last few weeks so hi to you all and welcome.I'd like to thank everyone for taking the time to look at my blog and all the lovely comments you leave,I really appreciate it, have a great weekend !!!!! I'm going to the bingo tonight with my girlfriends, always good fun and let's hope I come away a little richer too then I can go back to Spain for more sun,lol.

Back Soon
xxxxDebxxxx

Tuesday's Tallies....

2012-01-17T11:42:00.002Z

I've finaly had time this week to carry on with my ripple blanket. I've managed to get 12 colours done which adds up to 24 rows.I really do love working on this blanket ,I love the wool (Debbie Bliss Cashmerino), the colours and the pattern. It is very cold in the U.K. at the moment with below zero temperatures but my blanket is keeping me warm as I work on it, it's got the snuggle factor.

Take a look over at Gingerbread Girl and see how everyone is getting on with their WIP's, you may even fancy joining in.
I would like to say a big thank you to Kashi who gave me the Liebster award, Kashi won my first giveaway and we have been friends ever since. Kashi paid me such lovely compliments, I was truly touched and honoured, thank you Kashi. I'm suppose to pass it on to 5 people but the people I would pass it onto have already received one but I would like to pass it onto my friend Gina who loves stamping as much as I do, take a look here at her wonderful cards. She has a stamp collection that would make anyone jealous !!!!

Happy Crafting
xxxxDebxxxx

F is for Fancy Pants......

2012-01-15T13:00:00.001Z

It's time for Scrapbookers Anonymous A-Z Challenge,this month is the letter F and I've gone with My Family paper range by Fancy Pants.

I've used this week's sketch from Sketchy Thursdays which sadly is their last one but they've gone out on a high with this fabulous sketch.

I hope you'll join us this month and use up some of your old stash and don't forget this month's main challenge,using masks,painting and misting, you could win some Fancy Pants goodies and a couple of surprises.

Happy Crafting
xxxxDebxxxx

Inspired by Stamping Release Day !!!!!!!!!

2012-01-14T10:00:00.006Z

Yay, the weekend is here and today is the Inspired by Stamping Release Day, this month Joanna has designed some fabulous new Valentine stamps. I've been using the Touched by an Angel set, I've loved creating with them and you could use these for other occasions too.

Touched by an Angel

Here are the other four sets, aren't they gorgeous.....

Sweet Valentine's

Hearts

Be My Valentine

Be Mine

Today's card ,you could use as a wedding anniversary card for your loved one, I also used the IBS Beautiful Ovals stamp set which fits perfectly with the Spellbinders Oval Nestabilities, I punched the edges with a Martha Stewart border punch and added some of Debbie's shabby vintage seam binding that I bought from her over a year ago and I'm still getting through it, I love it and she does some wonderful colours.

Check out what the other DT have created using some of the other sets.

Supply List

Stamps- Touched by an Angel `, Beautiful Ovals

Papers- Crate Papers 'Emma's Shoppe'

Punch- Martha Stewart

Embellies- vintage seam binding, decorative pins

Thanks for joining in the fun over the last three days, I hope you love theses stamp sets as much as I do. I've put my order in already for the Sweet Valentine's, I think the sentiments are beautiful. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

xxxxDebxxxx

Inspired by Stamping Sneak Peeks Day 2.........

2012-01-13T10:00:00.001Z

Hello there, I hope you enjoyed yesterday's Inspired by Stamping sneak peeks, it's Day 2 and today I have a Valentine card to share with you.

I cut a heart window from MF music paper using a Spellbinder die, then with some co-ordinating paper I made a scalloped heart edge again using Spellbinders. I attached some MF dotty paper and lace behind the window and stitched around the front of the card then stamping 'Happy Valentine's Day' onto the dotty paper Lastly, I stamped one of the angels and cut him out, attaching with foam pads.
It's now time for a little blog hop and check out what the other DT have created.

Susie Moore

Supplies
Stamps- Touched by an Angel by Inspired by Stamping
Papers- Melissa Frances 5th Avenue
Embellies- pearls

See you tomorrow for Release Day !!!!!!

Happy Crafting
xxxxDebxxxx

Inspired by Stamping Sneak Peeks Day 1..........

2012-01-12T10:00:00.004Z

It's Valentine's Day in a months time and this month's Inspired by Stamping new releases are especially for the occassion, there are five gorgeous sets to chose from. I'm using 'Touched by an Angel' set which I absoloutely adore, I love anything with angels so these are right up my street. This set has four different cherubs and a good mixture of sentiments, I know you will fall in love with this set, just as I have.

For my first project using these stamps I made a bottle tag and because it's for Valentine's Day I made it for a bottle of Champagne. I used a door hanger as the template and covered some cream card using The Girls Paperie red spotty paper, distressing the edges with TH Antique Linen ink. I creased across the top of the tag and tied a big bow using some cream tulle and added a button to the centre.
Using some My Minds Eye Adore paper, I cut out a doily using the Cheery Lyn French Tea Party die, stamping 'Angels Leave Footprints on your Heart' in the centre. I added a MF glitter heart, a Prima flower and a stamped angel.
Check out what the other Inspired by Stamping DT have created and the stamp set they have used, don't forget there are four sets released this month.

Amber Goble

Supplies

Stamps- Inspired by Stamping

Paper- The Girls Paperie, My Minds Eye

Embellishments- Prima, Melissa Frances,tulle, button and pearls

I hope you'll join me tomorrow for Day 2 of sneak peeks.

Happy Crafting

xxxxDebxxxx

One-a Day.....Tuesday's Tallies.........

2012-01-10T14:05:00.003Z

Well, it's been a while since I've joined in with Gingerbread Girl's One-a-Day but with Christmas and my holiday I haven't had time to pick up my hook. Last week though I finally got to get some done, my friend Rae bought me "200 Crochet Blocks" by Jan Eaton and so I started making one square a day from it for Stocki's Beautiful Blogger Blanket 2012, click here for more details. One of the requirements is to use 100% cotton so I used Rowan handknit cotton, I just love the colours that they do.

Waterlily

Alternate Bobbles

Interlocking Stripes

The 4th square is one I've made up myself using a variety of different stitches, this is a bit biggger than the other 3 ,measuring 18x18cm . If you fancy joining in you still have time, Jill needs them in by the 31st January.

Hopefully I'll have more time to do my ripple blanket now, I would like to finish it by the Spring but not sure whether that will be achievable the way I'm going !!!!

Thanks for looking, back soon

xxxxDebxxxx

New Years Eve 2011.......

2012-01-07T15:23:00.030Z

I wanted to share my New Years Eve photo's with you, I had the best New Year ever. We stopped at the Flamingo Oasis in Benidorm and they made everyone's night so very special. We came down to reception and was given a glass of punch and some canape's, before we went down to dinner we had a couple of glasses of Fizz, my favourite tipple.
The dinner was just amazing, there were large plates of prawns, fish, lobster, delicious melt in the mouth beef and so much more, ooohhh and the desserts were fabulous too.
When we left the restaurant we were given a party bag and a glass of 12 grapes, it's a Spanish tradition to eat one grape at every dong before midnight. We celebrated the Spanish New Year first then at 1am local time we had a British New Year. The entertainment was fab with 4 different singing acts, Paige, Laura and I were dancing all night, I couldn't walk straight in the morning.

and then my camera battery ran out, what a fun night though. Sorry the last few posts have been so photo heavy but these are such amazing memories for me and will go in my printed blog book at the end of the year so I can look back at these lovely times.

Have a great weekend, my friends.
xxxxDebxxxx

My First Christmas Card of 2012.........

2012-01-05T11:17:00.008Z

I have made my first Christmas card for Christmas 2012 thanks to the girls from Jingle Belles, hopefully I can keep up with it this year as the prompts are every two weeks.
The first promt is:

"NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT(S)"

so you need to make a card that incorporates gift wrap or some presents, I went with the presents, I saw a card in the Magnolia magazine that I fell in love with but I did my own take on it.

I started off by making an easel card which is very simple, take a standard square card and fold the front of the card in half, you could just leave it at that but I used one half of another square card and attached it to the folded half.

I covered the front and bottom of the card in October Afternoon papers and made the tree by cutting a piece of card into a triange to the size I wanted , then with some BG papers I cut 3cm wide strips and punched along the 12" lengh with a Martha Stewert border punch, layer the strips of paper onto the triangle, trimming the ends off along the straight edge. I decorated the tree with pearls and a glittery star.
Next came the presents, I used chipboard squares and covered them with paper and ribbon, for the deeper parcels,I stacked 5 or 6 chipboard squares together. I finished off with a sentiment from Inspired by Stamping 'Christmas Greetings'. I really enjoyed making this card and look forward to more prompts throughout the year.

Supplies

Papers- October Afternoon, Basic Grey
Stamps- Inspired by Stamping 'Christmas Greetings'
Other- Martha Stewart Scalloped Lace Punch, SU Ribbon, pearls, Spellbinder Label die

I'm really feeling the cold since I got back from Spain, it is so windy here in the Midlands, I'm looking through the window and the trees look like they are going to snap in half. I think it's time for a cup of coffee to warm me up and maybe a bit of crochet in front of the fire.

Hugs
xxxxDebxxxx

Hola...........

2012-01-04T18:55:00.067Z

Hello Friends, I hope you all had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year. Yesterday, I got back from a fabulous week in Benidorm, so will start catching up with everyone's blog in the next few days.
I had such an amazing time with my wonderful family and friends, the weather was perfect and the evenings were fun filled, starting with the first night where I was dragged up on to the stage to dance to 'Singing in the Rain' with Dan, one of the entertainers, he was originally from Bridgenorth which is very close to where I live. We did the whole routine from the film, I even sat under an umbrella with rain falling then next thing I knew I had a whole bucket of water thrown over me,lol. Luckily there was no photo evidence !!!!!!!!!
The weather was fabulous and spent every day on the beach, here are a few photo's.

Penelope's Bar our favourite bar for sangria & cocktails whilst watching the sun go down.

Old Town

The Beaches

Amazing Views from our Hotel Balcony.

Diane & Linda hired a tandem mobility scooter for a couple of days, if anyone has seen the T.V. series Benidorm you will know why this is so funny.

I'll be back soon with my New Years Eve photo's.
xxxxDebxxxxx

Scrapbookers Anonymous January Challenge.........

2012-01-01T13:00:00.005Z

Happy New Year !!!!! Today is the first challenge of 2012 over at Scrapbookers Anonymous and we are asking you to use paint, inks,mists and masking. I decided to do a She Art canvas, my friend's daughter was 21 last month, she is an art student and I thought she'd like this, the sentiment says 'Create from the Heart', her Mom said she loved it and is now up on her bedroom wall at Uni.

I covered the canvas in old book pages and dressmaking patterns, when dry I did some random stamping and created the She Girl then it was onto the fun, messy bit with paints, mists and stencil paste. I used the stencil paste with the brick and dotty masks to give some dimension and added some rub-ons over her dress. The stamped flowers were coloured in using Faber Castell paint pens.
Check out what the other designers have come up with over at Scrapbookers Anonymous and this month's great prize for one lucky person.
I'm in Spain at the moment, celebrating the New Year and here's wishing you all a very Happy, Healthy New Year. Back soon !!!!!!

Happy Crafting
xxxxDebxxxx

December Photo's......

2011-12-31T13:07:00.002Z

A snapshot of my December.............

Have a great New Years Eve.
xxxxDebxxxx

Some Handmade Presents............

2011-12-28T13:27:00.002Z

Hello Friends, I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, I know I did, it's my favourite time of year. This year I pledged to send some handmade presents, I made 5 altogether, the scarf and teddy bear which you've seen. Here's the others:

I made some personalised bunting using Cath Kidston fabric for my friends little girl and a gift box to put it in.

I also made two of these mug cosies to cover plain white mugs and filled them with packets of hot chocolate and marshmallows for Libby and Rach. I didn't follow a pattern, I just made it up as I went along by using double crochet and bobble stitch. I hope they all liked their handmade gifts as much as I enjoyed creating them.

Have a great day.
xxxxDebxxxx

Merry Christmas................

2011-12-24T12:40:00.003Z

I would like to wish all my wonderful friends and family a very Happy Christmas.

xxxxDebxxxx

A Victorian Christmas..........

2011-12-21T14:44:00.001Z

I hope you are all sorted for Christmas, all my cards are sent, the presents wrapped, I don't need to do food shopping as we are eating out this year with Mom, Dad and my brother, then it's all round to Mom & Dad's. I love Christmas afternoon when all the family get together and exchange gifts. My Mom & Dad dress up as Mr & Mrs Claus, Dad comes in carrying a big sack of presents for us all, Mom making him say Ho,Ho,Ho,the kids love it, well so do us big kids !!!!!
We did go to Blist Hill on Sunday and had a fabulous family day,the rain held off, here are ~~a few~~ lots of photo's, (sorry)!!

Thanks for looking, sorry it was a bit photo heavy, I couldn't decide which ones to share.

xxxxDebxxxx

My Last Christmas Card.....

2011-12-20T09:49:00.003Z

Well, less than a week left to Christmas and this is my last Christmas card I made this year, I always make some cards in bulk and made 50 of these last Sunday.

I had a little production line going, I stamped 50 baubles from SU Contempo Christmas stamp set onto white card, punched them out with the SU Ornament punch adhering to the card with foam pads. Next I stamped the sentiment onto the card base, then I went downstairs to watch Christmas films while I made 50 bows and stuck them on the bauble with a gluedot, nice and easy.

Thanks for looking.
xxxxDebxxxx

A Christmas Treat Card.........

2011-12-18T07:17:00.002Z

I hope you're all having a good weekend, hopefully today we are going to Blist Hill Museum for a traditional Victorian Christmas, with all my family, weather permiting, then it's Athletico FC Christmas party with karaoke, so that will be fun, btw I can't sing !!!!
My sister always asks me to make Christmas cards for her three girls, so this year I decided to do some with a sweet treat.

I used the star pattern hotair balloon from Inspired by Stamping 'The Sky's the Limit stamp set to carry some Skittles their way. I stamped the balloon onto a patterned label shape, punched out a 1 3/4" circle and added a SU Treat Cup. I then stamped the balloon again onto some patterned paper, cutting out just the balloon and using foam pads to attach. I thought it was quite a fun card for kids, I just hope they don't take the card apart to eat the sweets before Christmas.

Supplies

Paper- My Minds Eye
Stamps- Inpired by Stamping
Other- Spellbinder Label, SU Circle Punch, SU Treat Cups

Have a good day !!!!
xxxxDebxxxx

The Last Tag of Christmas.........

2011-12-16T12:32:00.008Z

Hello, I'm back with my last tag I've made for the 12 Tags of Christmas, I've only made it to 10, these last two weeks before Christmas are just so hectic, I had to get my Christmas cards finished and I still have gifts to make . First of all though I'd like to thank the guys from City Crafter Challenge Blog for choosing my Christmas Tin as last week's winner, I was thrilled when I found out. Stella was the sponsor and I've won a fabulous stamp set, my favourite craft item !!!!
Here's my final tag, I'm not sure what I will do with them, they may go on next year's Christmas cards.

I'm going to embarrass Paige now but the other night her boyfriend Dan came around our house to see her and a couple of hours later I was called up to have a look at her bedroom, keeping in mind they are 17 and 16 and not 7 years old, they had made paper chains and Christmas Decorations from copier paper. I thought is was hilarious !!!!

Paige made the snowflakes, Dan couldn't get the hang of the them, they kept turning out rectangular, so they were thrown out but he was very proud of his candy cane, he even made it double sided, it was very well thought out,lol. Paige also used my Tim Holtz Winter Wonderland die to cut some snowmen out, she even coloured in his nose and hat, I didn't even know she'd still got felt pens. Very inventive, don't you think, I still keep chuckling now, they were so proud of what they did,lol.

Have a great weekend !!!!
xxxxDebxxxxx

E is for Echo Park.........

2011-12-15T13:00:00.001Z

It's time for December's A-Z Challenge over at Scrapbookers Anonymous and this month is the letter E, for this monthly challenge, I always use the letter of a paper manufacturer and I could only think of Echo Park for this one so that's what I used.

The photo of Paige and I isn't very good quality, it was dark and there was raindrops on the lens but I still really liked it and it's a memory I wanted to scrap. We were sat outside a pub overlooking the sea in Cornwall and all off a sudden from nowhere the heavens opened but rather than go inside we just sat with our brolly and finished our drink, like a true Brit,lol.
I used sketch #186 from Creative Scrappers for inspiration.

I painted the background with some blue acrylic paint and sprayed with TA Riptide, for more definition I outlined the stickers and alpha's with a black journaling pen. Everything on this LO is from Echo Park, I hope you can find time to join in the fun this month for the chance of winning some Studio Calico papers and embellishments also don't forget the main challenge of creating something with a tag and glitter. It hasn't got to be a LO, it could be card, altered art, anything as long as you follow the few basic rules, just have fun and use up some of your older stash.

Supplies
Papers: EP 'Life is Good'
Stickers: EP 'Springtime'
Alpha's: EP 'Little Girl'
Other: TA Glimmermist, Paper Artsy paint,

Happy Crafting
xxxxDebxxxxx

A Christmas Window........

2011-12-13T07:30:00.003Z

Hello my friends, I really need to get cracking with my Christmas cards, this week . I created this card with my gorgeous window die and stamping a glittery snowflake background using Inspired by Stamping 'Winter Wonderland' set.I've had to make the photo quite dark so you can see snowflake.

I arranged the stamps onto a large block, stamped the snowflakes using Versamark ink and applied SU Heat & Stick, heated with a heat tool, added glitter and heated again, leaving gorgeous glittery snowflakes.

I cut out the window in grunge paper, painted it in white acrylic paint and added touches of Rock Candy Stickles, adding SU Dazzling Diamonds glitter whilst still wet. When dry I added a vintage image behind the window and added some foliage from the TH Festive Greenery die, the berries are made with some small red seed beads

I stamped one of the sentiments from Inspired by Stamping 'Christmas Greetings' onto a label cut from a Cuttlebug cut and emboss folder and inked the edges, finishing off with seam binding, pins and a sparkler.
.
Supplies

Stamps- Inspired by Stamping Winter Wonderland, Christmas Greetings
Dies- Cuttlebug Fanciful Labels, TH Christmas Greenery, Poppy Stamps Small Madison Window
Other- small red beads, SU Dazzling Diamonds, SU Heat & Stick, Rock Candy Stickles, SU Baja Breeze Seam Binding, Websters Sparklers, decorative pins.

Thank for looking and have a good day.

xxxxDebxxxx

Home for the Holidays.........

2011-12-11T07:47:00.003Z

This week over at City Crafter Challenge Blog the theme is 'Home for the Holidays' where you are required to create an holiday home decor project or a project that includes a home. Lately, I've seen lots of creations on wooden cotton reels so wanted to create something similar.I've had three little wooden houses and cotton reels for months and have never got around to using them so when I saw this week's challenge, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with them.

The base started out as a mint tin which I covered in gesso, I love that I can open the lid and keep special little trinkets inside. When dry I covered the top with red dotty paper, edging the tin with TH Tissue Tape and lace, then covered with chunky glitter.
I decorated the houses with vintage images, adding a MF frame, a rusty bell, buttons and a mini tag. I stamped the 'Christmas' from SU Pines & Poinsettieas, cut around the banner, attaching to the front of the tin.The cotton reel is covered using vintage music sheets, then I added a tulle bow.
Are you doing anything festive today ? Whatever you're up to, have a great Sunday !!!!!

Thanks for taking the time to look and to everybody who leaves me such lovely comments, I really appreciate it
xxxxDebxxxx

Insired by Stamping Release Day Party......

2011-12-10T10:00:00.074Z

Let the party begin !!!!!!!!!! Today is the Release Day Party over at Inspired by Stamping, and Joanna is offering free shipping until Sunday with the online code BALLOONS and that applys worldwide !!!! Also don't forget to leave a comment on Joanna's blog for a chance of winning one of the 'The Sky's the Limit' stamp set.

I did say they were gorgeous, didn't I !!!!!!! I love the mix of patterns on the balloons, the perfect sentiments and the cute dotty cloud, they are joy to stamp with leaving a beautiful, crisp image every time.

I cut strips of patterned paper from Cosmo Cricket Circa 1934, distressing the edges with TH Walnut Stain Distress Ink, then stitched around the edge. I cut out a corrugated card label using Spellbinders Nestibilities Label 17, inked the edges and stamped the 'Happy Birthday' . The balloon is stamped onto some patterned paper, cut out and attached to the label using foam pads.
Check out what the other DT have created.

Amber Goble

Debbie Marcinkiewicz
Gini William Cagle
Irit Shalom
Jennie Garcia
Joanna Munster
Kendra Sand
Kassi Hulet
Kim Score
Susie Moore

Supply List

Stamps- The Skys the Limit

Paper- Cosmo Cricket 'Circa 1934' Mini Deck

Other- Black Versafine, TH Walnut Stain, Spellbinder Label 17, corrugated card.

Well, that's a wrap, our first Inspired by Stamping DT Blog Hop !!!!! Thanks for taking the time to look, enjoy the rest of your weekend.

xxxxDebxxxx

Sneak Peeks...........Day 2.....

2011-12-09T10:00:00.075Z

It's Day 2 of the Inspired by Stamping DT blog hop, I hope you had fun yesterday looking through the DT blogs. I was really inspired looking at all the gorgeous projects, such talented ladies !!!! Don't forget to head over to Joanna's blog and leave a comment for the chance of winning one of these fab stamp sets.

Day 2, I decided to use the stamps to create a LO, I think this stamp set is the most versertile set I've ever used, they can be used for any project and any occasion. I stamped the balloons onto some patterned cardstock and used foam pads to give some dimension, isn't the dotty cloud stamp so cute? ???? I even used 'The Sky is the Limit' sentiment as my title, stamping onto a Making Memories journal paper.
Check out how the DT have used the stamps, enjoy !!!!

Supplies

Stamps-' The Sky's the Limit ' from Inspired by Stamping

Paper- KI Memories, Basic Grey, October Afternoon, American Crafts

Punches- SU Note Paper, EK Sucess,

Other- Doily, MM Spiral Journal Pad, Doodlebug Design jewels, lace, Girls Paperie words.

Thanks for visiting, have a great weekend and don't forget to come back tomorrow for the Release Day !!!!!

Happy Crafting

xxxxxDebxxxxx

12 Tags of Christmas.........tag #9

2011-12-09T09:19:00.000Z

When I saw Tim Holtz's tag this morning and saw that he'd used the candelabra die which I hadn't got, I started trying other die shapes but wasn't happy with how they looked on the background. When I was going through my dies though, the dress form fromTH The Sewing Room caught my eye and realised I could make the stand into a candle stick, so using grunge paper I cut one out, then drew and cut a candle out of grunge paper, painting the candle stick in gold metalic paint and the candle in white, the flame was coloured with Wild Honey ink.

I stamped SU French Filligree with TH Iced Spruce from the new winter colours and embossed with clear embossing powder, then using a blending tool added Festive Berries ink all over the tag and added more clear embossing powder, then inked Walnut Stain around the edge. I made up the candlestick and added the foliage, lastly adding PEACE.

xxxxDebxxxx

12 Tags of Christmas.........tag #8

2011-12-09T08:27:00.000Z

Hi there, just popping in with yesterday's tag, I didn't get it done until late last night, I was wrapping Christmas presents all day, listening to the Michael Buble Christmas C.D. I love Christmas !!!!!

Take a look at Tim Holtz's tag here, Tim went with a steampunk theme, I took the softer approach,lol. I'll be back later this morning with Day 2 of the Inspired by Stamping DT Blog Hop.

xxxxDebxxxx

Inspired by Stamping Blog Hop...........Day 1

2011-12-08T10:00:00.007Z

Hi there, I hope everyone is having a good week, it is very cold here in the U.K., no snow yet though in the Midlands but I know they've had some further north . Well, I'm very excited as this is the first official Inspired by Stamping DT blog hop and over the next two days, we will be showing you sneak peeks of the gorgeous, versatile balloon stamp set. Saturday will be Reveal Day so I hope you'll join in the fun over the next three days.

As I said before this set is so versatile with 15 stamps including sentiments, a variety of hotair balloons and a gorgeous little cloud. I've created a very feminine card today but for those who struggle, like me, to make men's cards this set is perfect, come back on Saturday for my masculine card.

They balloons are fabulous for paper piecing but I thought I would try stamping on some pretty fabric, it worked, they stamp perfectly onto the fabric using Versafine Archival ink. I adhered the fabric to some cardstock, cut around the balloon leaving an edge so I could fray it a bit. The papers are Prima Sweet Fairy and I used my favourite die by Cherry Lyn to cut out the doily.
Hop on over to the other DT blogs and Joanna will be giving a balloon stamp set away.

Deb Hickman (me)

Supply List

Stamps- The Sky's the Limit by Inspired by Stamping
Papers- Prima Sweet Fairy
Other- Cheery Lyn French Pastry Die, SU seam binding, button

Come back tomorrow for more sneak peeks.

Happy Crafting
xxxxDebxxxx

12 Tags of Christmas......tag #7

2011-12-07T23:00:00.000Z

Hello,just popping in with tag #7,I've had help today from my niece, she loved all my paint,inks and stamps,lol. I don't have any of the glassine paper that Tim Holtz used for the holly leaves so I used newsprint paper but I must get some it looks a great product. I was going to try greaseproof paper but have run out, click here to take a look at Tim's tag

Thanks for looking, back tomorrow with tag #8.
xxxxDebxxxx

12 Tags of Christmas.........tag #6 and a Thank You....

2011-12-06T10:34:00.003Z

Well, we're half way there, 6 more tags to go, I only got 5 tags finished last year so at least I've got more done this year and hopefully will have the whole set.

Today's technique is embossing and painting on metal sheet, for full tutorial head over to Tim Holtz's blog. I used a Cuttlebug Winter Words embossing folder, covering with Jenni Bowlin Soap Powder acrylic paint, when dry gently sand off the parts you want exposed then ink over the whole area with TH Evergreen Bough Distress Ink, cover with clear embossing powder and heat, sealing the paint.I diecut a Cheery Lyn doily die to attach to the top of the tag some ribbon and charms. I think this might be my favourite so far.
Also I would like to say a BIG thank you to Stella, who lives in the Netherlands, she sent me a huge chocolate letter D, one of the Dutch holiday tradititions is to give a chocolate initial on St Nichola's Eve, which was yesterday, it is when St Nicholas finds out if you've been naughty or nice !!!! Children leave their shoes by the window with a note and a carrot for the horses and if they've been good he will leave a little treat in their shoe.It was such a lovely surprise, I must have been good this year as I didn't get a lump of coal, you can read more about Sinterklaas, here. Happy St Nichola's Day to all my Dutch friends.

Thanks for stopping by......
xxxxDebxxxx

12 Tags of Christmas......tag #5 and My Trip to London...

2011-12-05T17:34:00.000Z

Tag #5 and today's technique is using alcohol ink onto acetate and lifting off using a stamp and archival ink, very clever !!!! I inked my acetate tag with Wild Plum Alcohol Ink and used the SU French Filligree background stamp, inked with black archival ink, stamped onto the inked side of the tag, immediately start blotting the black ink off (don't rub), which also takes the alcohol ink off too leaving the pattern.

I made the wreath using TH Festive Greenery die adding some pink pearls and a metal 'happy christmas'. Lisa asked if I was going to use them as tags or for cards, I'm definitely not using for tags, maybe cards but I would like to keep them, I thought of making an album, has anybody got any idea's of what I could do with them. Click here to see Tim Holtz's tag and tutorial.
Now to my trip to London with my girls, for the last few years we have gone to The Clothes Show where we always have a good day but this year I suggested going to London for the day which they both thought was a good idea. On Saturday morning, we caught the 6.15am Wolverhampton-Euston train , I thought there was only one quarter past six in the day,lol and arrived at Euston at 8.00am.

I had a little itinery for the day which they thought was funny and called me Griswald after the Dad in the Vacation films, we caught the Tube to Covent Garden which is my favourite place to go when I'm in London.

First stop was breakfast at Laduree's, we had coffee and pain au chocolat sitting outside watching the world go by with Christmas songs playing, to me this was just perfect.

Laduree's do the most fabulous macaroon's and had to take a box home with me, the displays look so pretty but the miserable staff wouldn't let me take photo's, I did get a couple of sneaky ones though.

Now we had serious shopping to do, I love the atmosphere around Covent Garden with the Living Statues, street performers there was even a man playing a police traffic cone which was hilarious and of course the huge Christmas Tree, Rudulph and decorations.

Back on the Tube to Harrods, it was heaving and couldn't really see much but I did buy my Christmas pudding and look around the Christmas hall.

A quick lunch then it was time for Regent St/Oxford Street, we had a quick in Liberty's and to be honest we wish we'd give Harrods a miss and had a good look around there instead, it's such an elegant store.

Then it was off to Top Shop's flagship store on Oxford Street where Paige was in her element by then we were exhausted and ready to catch the train home. We had a wonderful day but there was so much more I wanted to do so I think a return visit will be in order.

Two tired but very happy girls on the train home.

Thanks for stopping by.

xxxxDebxxxx

12 Tags of Christmas.....tag #4

2011-12-04T16:44:00.002Z

O.K., so this is my second post of the day as I wanted to be up to date with 12 Tags of Christmas and today is tag #4.

I inked the tag with Distress Stains as shown by Tim Holtz's post today, I then stamped the tag with a pine fir stamp in white ink and the Joyeux Noel from Inspired by Stamping. I cut the tree out of grunge paper using TH Pine Tree, painted with white paint then added a thick layer of Rock Candy Crackle Paint when that was dry I dabbed on some Bundled Sage Distress Stain, drying with an heat gun to set the colour into the crackle, I added some Rock Crackle Stickles for a snowy, icy effect. The finishing touch were some buttons, a tulle bow and a snowflake charm.
Now for something completely different, as some of you know, I took up crochet this year and I am really enjoying it, I can sit with my family on these cold winter evenings, watching T.V. but still be doing something creative. I've also found some fab crochet blogs along the way, including this one called Stocki. When I was reading Jill's blog last week she had come up with an idea called Beautiful Blogger Blanket 2012.

The idea is to make a square, any size, any pattern and send it to Jill who will put them together to make a gorgeous, unique blanket and one lucky recipient who takes part will win the blanket. You can make more than one and each square you send will be one entry to the draw so the more you make the better the chance of winning. There are a few simple rules such as the yarn as to be 100% cotton but you can find the full details and why she's decided to do it, here. This is open for everyone and I hope all you crocheters out there will join in the fun if you can but maybe if you've always fancied having a go at crochet this might be the kickstart you need, Stocki has some helpful links to help us along, it can be the simplest square to something more intricate
I hope you've all had a good weekend, our day in London was great fun with lots shopping and plenty laughs but will tell you more tomorrow.

xxxxDebxxxx

12 Tags of Christmas.......tag # 3

2011-12-04T14:38:00.001Z

Here's my third tag from the 12 Tags of Christmas.

I used the same technique as Tim but using SU re-inkers, I didn't have the stamp so made a collage using some stamps I already had. Check out Tim's tag, here.
It's short and sweet but I will be back later with my 4th tag.
xxxxDebxxxx

12 Tags of Christmas......tag #2

2011-12-03T14:47:00.004Z

Day 2 is using Kraft resist card and I was sure I'd got the Christmas stack but when I looked it was the vintage one, so using the music pattern sheet, I stamped some holly with Versamark ink and heat embossed with clear embossing powder giving the same resist effect.

I was going to try and make each tag a little bit different from Tim's but I love the reindeer from TH Reindeer Flight so decided to use the same die. I used some some Prima printed canvas for my reindeer, the wreath and bell around her neck was silver but I painted it with gold paint. I've turned my border the other way around and added pearls rather than brads giving it a more feminine look.

Let me know if you're joining in with '12 Tags of Christmas' this year.
xxxxDebxxxx

12 Tags of Christmas.....tag #1

2011-12-02T17:28:00.002Z

Hello, the weekend is nearly here and I have a fun one planned, as I'm off to London with my girls for some Christmas shopping. First stop will be Covent Garden, then off to Harrods and lastly Oxford Street. I'm so excited !!!!!
Another thing I'm excited about is Tim Holtz's '12 Tags of Christmas 2011', it's now in it's 5th year and it just gets better, this year they have added an inlinkz so you get to see what everyone else has created. I shall be using the same technique that Tim uses for each tag but using what I have in my stash so some may be very similar but others will be totally different.
Here's tag #1

I love this window die by Poppy Stamps, I used grungeboard and painted it white, I added the snow using Rock Candy stickles and while still wet added some SU Dazzling Diamond glitter. I think you will be seeing this window on some of my Christmas cards this year.

Have a good weekend and I'll be back tomorrow with tag #2.
xxxxDebxxxx

Scrapbookers Anonymous December Challenge...............

2011-12-01T13:00:00.001Z

How exciting, only 24 days left until Christmas, our Christmas tree went up last Saturday and this Saturday my girls and I are off to London to do some Christmas shopping, I love this time of year. The challenge this month at Scrapbookers Anonymous is very seasonal, we are asking you to make a holiday themed creation using at least one tag and some glitter.
I started by making the tag.

Firstly, I stamped and heat embossed the small snowflakes stamp from the Inspired by Stamping 'Winter Wonderland' set with white embossing powder and distressed the tag in 3 different colour blues using Tim Holtz Distress inks starting with the lightest first ,I wiped over the tag with a tissue to get rid of any excess ink on the the snowflakes, I covered the edge of the tag with silver glass glitter.
The snowman is diecut from glitter funky foam using the Tim Holtz Winter Wonder die, I distressed the edge with TH Antique Linen,adding a red ribbon scarf, carrot nose and hat.The Noel signpost is made using 'Beautiful Ovals' and 'Christmas Grettings' stamp sets also Inspired by Stamping, I punched the fence out with a Martha Stewart punch and added some more glitter. Lastly adding the seambinding, jingle bell and flower.
I used the tag to make a Christmas card.

I hope you'll join us this month and I look forward to seeing all those glittery tags !!!!! It's the start of Tim Holtz '12 Tags of Christmas ' 2011 today so I'll be making tags for the next couple of weeks !!!!

Happy Crafting !!!!!
xxxxDebxxxx

November Photo's.........

2011-11-30T15:31:00.005Z

Hello Friends, just popping in to show you my November in photo's, they were taken on my Galaxy Ace with Retro Camera.

Cozy Afternoon in Front of The Fire

Shopping & a Latte

Lunch at Zizzi's

Vintage Afternoon Tea with Libby

My Girls Decorating the Christmas Tree

I hope you all had a good November.....

P.S. a few of you mentioned Paige's wallpaper on yesterday's post so thank you. It is a montage of Marilyn Monroe photo's, we got it from B&Q, I just love it.

xxxxDebxxxx

Tuesday's Tallies............

2011-11-29T11:50:00.001Z

First of all I would like to apologise for not posting for a few week's on Gingerbread Girl's, Tuesday's Tallies, things have been so upside down here that I just haven't had time to post. I have been crocheting most days though which has brought me a bit of comfort over one of the most stressful times of my life.
Anyway, first things first I have finished my AF hexagon blanket which I have kept small but is the perfect size for a pushchair blanket for my little niece.

Here's the cheeky little monkey wearing a crocheted wrap cardi I made for her she just wouldn't keep still while I took the photos, I just love this baby girl to bits. You can find the pattern in the book Crochet in No Time by Melody Griffiths.

I've seen so many ripple blankets on differnt blogs and just love them so I have started one of my own using Lucy's pattern, she makes it so easy to follow, I love to pop over to her blog, Attic24, to see what other wonderful projects she's doing.

I decided to use Debbie Bliss cashmerino dk for my blanket, it is so soft and luxurious with some fabulous colours to choose from. I made a conscious decision not to have any pink in this blanket, for some reason I always go for pinks even though it isn't my favourite colour !!!!

I'm doing two rows of each colour and trying to get two rows done every night, I'm loving doing it and will definitely be doing another one in different colours.

As it grows, it is keeping me nice and warm as I crochet it on these cold winter nights, what a bonus.Thanks for taking the time to look, enjoy your day.

xxxxDebxxxx

Postcard Swap................

2011-11-26T12:13:00.000Z

Don't you just love receiving happy mail instead of all those bills and junk mail we usually get, it sure brightens your day. I took part in the postcard swap over at City Crafter Party Blog, where you had to send a handmade postcard and a small Thankgiving/Autumn themed gift. On Tuesday,I received my parcel from my swap partner Alida, her postcard was gorgeous and her gift to me was beautiful, lots of ribbon, flowers,stickers and embellishments, I adore the wooden leaf shapes.

Thanks Alida, you should receive mine very soon. Also I received a lovely parcel from Kashi a couple of weeks ago, which was totally unexpected. She sent me a box of chocolates which were delicious, I wish we could get them in the U.K. and also a beautifully painted handmade card that her friend makes, this was to say thank you for the giveaway that she won from me. How sweet, I really wasn't expecting anything in return.

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas in our house, the girls have just finished putting the Christmas tree up !!!!!

Have a good weekend !!!!
xxxxDebxxxx

Winter Wonderland.......

2011-11-24T15:42:00.001Z

Hello there, firstly I would like to say a big thank you to all my wonderful friends who left me a comment on my last post, you are all so very kind and thougthful. My brother is on the mend and everyday we can see an improvement in his physical injuries, I think the test will be when he has to go out on his own but I'm sure he'll be ok, he is a very strong man with lots of support.
Every year I buy a new Christmas stamp set and this year I have bought two Winter Wonderland and Christmas Greetings from Inspired by Stamping. I love these snowflake stamps, they work perfectly with the Snowflake Nestibilities. Even though I love to take time over some of my Christmas cards with lots of layering, stitching and inking, I also do a batch of quick & easy cards, where I can get a little production line going, as I have to make so many. Here's this years quick card:

I stamped the two different snowfakes onto white card in SU Baja Breeze ink and covered with some glitter film, I used the snowflake Nestibilties to cut them out, layered them with a 3D foam pad and added a rhinestone to the centre. I then stamped the sentiment from the Christmas Greetings set in SU Real Red ink. Joanna is offering FREE SHIPPING on all stamps anywhere in the world,today (24th November) and Friday 25th November, just use discount code IBSFREE, you don't get that anywhere very often !!!!

Happy Thankgiving to all my friends across the pond, have a wonderful day.
xxxxDebxxxx

If Wishes Could Make You Well......

2011-11-17T09:15:00.006Z

Hello my friends, I'm lying in bed writing this post after a very, long and traumatic week. I've had a very blessed life from childhood to now but sometimes something happens to burst your bubble and my bubble burst early Monday morning when I had a phone call from my Mom saying that my brother was in ICU and was very poorly.
On Sunday night he was found unconcious on the pavement, luckily a police car came past and found him when they did. He had been attacked and left for dead, it was touch and go for him and when we arrived at the hospital he was still on a ventilator. We waited in the relatives room for many hours before we could see him and was broken hearted when I did, he was unrecognizable. How could another person do this to someone ?
Whilst I was getting a drink I saw a friend who asked if everything was ok and when I told her what had happened she gave me a little wooden cross that had been blessed and even though she was obviously very poorly herself all she was worried about was me and my family, such a lovely lady.
They took him off the ventilator on Monday afternoon and he was talking to us by the evening, though he doesn't remember anything about the attack, he'd been left with a fractured eyesocket, broken jaw in three places and broken nose as well as injuries to his body.
Since then he has made an amazingly quick recovery, the swelling in his face has gone down and you can see it's my brother again, he will make a full recovery. He's got to see a plastic surgeon on Monday and my Aunty joked they may make him better looking than before, which he found funny. I'd like to think that somebody was watching over him from above, he still has some way to go but the worse is over and now I just hope that they catch and charge the person who did this to him so nobody else has to go through it. We just can't understand why anybody would have done this to him, he isn't violent man just a nice guy who's whole life is centred around his kids. I've had so many people ringing and messaging me, telling me how sorry they are and wishing him well which has been very heart-warming, I've passed them on to my brother who has really appreciated it and hopefully cheered him up a little bit.
Needless to say I'm not in the right frame of mind to craft or blog but will hopefully back soon, I did make my brother a very quick card inbetween hospital visits and some Whoopie Pies, as he has a bit of a sweet tooth, he's going to be the size of an house with all the sweets and chocolates, people have bought him.

My friends who read my blog regularly know this is my online diary too and was something I needed to talk about, thank you all for listening.

Back Soon...........
xxxxDebxxxx

D is for Dream Street and Doodling.....

2011-11-15T13:00:00.001Z

It's time again for another A-Z challenge over at Scrapbookers Anonymous and this month it is the letter D so I've used some Dream Street papers that I have had for years and some doodling.

I used this week's sketch over at Sketchy Thursadays but flipped it.

I hope you'll all join in this month, I'd love to see what projects you come up with using the letter D whether it's papers, a bit of doodling, dogs or anything else you can think of.
Also don't forget our other challenge which is to use at least 7 different ribbons on your project, you have until the end of November to get your entries in for both challenges. There is a great prize up for grabs this month, an iRock tool with two bling wheels, what a fun prize !!!!

Happy Crafting
xxxxDebxxxx

Afternoon Tea.....Vintage Style.....

2011-11-10T16:15:00.001Z

Hi Folks, can you beleive it's Thursday already, where is the time going? Last night I met up with my old friend Jane for dinner, we haven't really seen much of each other for about 6 years but thanks to Facebook we got talking and arranged to go out. It was so good to catch up, we use to have some right old laughs back in the day and was great to talk about all the things we use to get up to and also find out how the kids are getting on now they are teenagers. Thanks Jane for a great night, you haven't changed a bit.
On Tuesday Libby and I went to Any Occasions Cakes in Solihull for a Cupcake Workshop with Vintage Afternoon Tea. We had a great afternoon starting with a pub lunch, where we met Julie from our crop who was also on the workshop, so after an early lunch, we got to the workshop for a 1pm start.
Kathleen started off by telling us about the different icings and how to use the molds to make the decorations then we were given 6 little fairy cakes to decorate ourselves to take home. Here are some of my photo's taken from the day, *warning* photo heavy post.

I enjoyed decorating the cupcakes and loved how they turned out but my favourite part of the day for me was the afternoon tea. I loved all the vintage mismatched teacups, the traditional teapot and tablecloth, using tongs for the sugar cubes and pretty wild flowers in a vase. This is how tea should be served not that I drink tea but I enjoyed my coffee served like this !!!!
One last thing my I'd like to thank the girls from City Crafter Challenge Blog for picking my postcard as this week's winning entry, I was absoloutely thrilled when I saw that I'd won.

Thanks for looking...........
xxxxDebxxxx

A Couple of Sketches from Sketchy Thursdays.....

2011-11-08T21:47:00.006Z

Hello everyone, I hope you're all having a good week, when I went to Bromsgrove Craopaganza on Saturday as well as doing the classes I took two Sketchy Thursday sketches to do and actually managed to get two LO's finished.
Here's the first LO using this week's sketch.

Sketch 11.03

I used some leftover scraps from The Girls Paperie and cut out a doily using Cheery Lyn's French Pastry die, the misting is actually done with the Stampin'Up Colour Spritzer Tool and a brush marker pen, it is so much less messy than a spray and easier to control. I also used the splodge stamp from SU French Foliage stamp set. I can't remember what Jodie and I were laughing at but Mick and Paige were looking at us gone out !!!!

This LO was also using The Girl Paperie, I love the simplicity of this sketch and stuck too the bare minimum. We went to Blist Hill Victorian Christmas one year and Mick was accosted by the Two Ugly Sisters, by the look of the photo he seem's quite happy to be chatted up by those two lovely 'ladies', lol.

Sketch 10.27

I've just got back from a Cupcake Workshop with Afternoon Tea. I went with Libby and Julie, it was a fun afternoon learning how to decorate cupcakes using diferent icings and embellishments we then had afternoon tea with homemade cakes all served on vintage style china, so much fun !!!! I've got lots of photo's to share but here's a little sneak peek.

Thanks for looking...........

xxxxDebxxxx

She Art Postcard.........

2011-11-07T14:07:00.009Z

Hello there, as you know I love to take part in the challenges over at City Crafter Challenge Blog espescially when they include a swap, week #81 is to make a postcard to send to your swap partner along with a small Thanksgiving gift but talk about the 11th hour, I have just managed to finish it with a few hours to spare to enter.
I purchased the She Art Workshop some months ago but didn't get chance to do anything with it so I decided to give one a go but on a postcard rather than a canvas. I used some Girls Paperie papers, adhered them to a postcard and white-washed the whole lot,then the fun part began making my girl then adding random stamping, rub-ons and using some glitter stencil paste through a dotty stencil.

Here's the back using some Tim Holtz and Crafty Individuals stamps.

I've really enjoyed creating this and geting messy with ink, paints and paste and will definitely be doing more mixed media.
Have a good day.......
xxxxDebxxxx

Bromsgrove Cropaganza 2011..............

2011-11-06T12:29:00.002Z

Happy Sunday, Friends !!!! I had the best day ever yesterday, it was Bromsgrove 12 hour Cropaganza and we all had a fabulous time, thanks to Libby who organized it all and made the day such a success, she also made the most amazing Buternut Squash & Parmasen Soup for dinner,mmmm delicious. Libby puts so much time and effort into organizing these wonderful events, so a big,big, thank you, we really appreciate it !!!!
The very talented Ifa Zainon taught us three wonderful classes throughout the day with a kit from Sarah's Cards which was full of American Crafts papers, Thickers and mini alpha's,bling and lots of other little bits, I still have loads leftover to do more LO's and cards, she is such a lovely lady and such a great teacher, thanks Ifa.
Here's my three finished projects :

This frame started out as a blank Tando Creative Multi Frame, Ifa had a selection of paint colours so everybody's looked completely different when finished.I love how she got us to stamp and heat emboss on the painted frame, it's so effective. The bits of paper were scraps leftover from the LO's,I added the little drop pearls when I got home.

I loved doing this LO, it is so pretty, we covered the blank chipboard ampersand in embossing powder and heat embossed, cut out flowers from one of the12x12 papers and also added Stickles to the doily, I love those Thicker alpha's.

This page was so much fun to do, I have never doodled on a LO before, but Ifa showed us how and I loved it and will be giving it another go. Where my white space is, Ifa filled her's with journaling which I'm not very good at, I never know what to say but I will do some sort of journaling on this page to finish it off.
Thanks once again to Libby and Ifa for a wonderful day !!!! I also got another two LO's finished which I will show you in my next post. Thanks for looking and for all the lovely comments you leave me, I really appreciate each and every one. Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

xxxxDebxxxx

Steel Blue, Grey & Yellow.............

2011-11-04T13:05:00.003Z

What a wonderful colour combo and once again I wouldn't have put them together myself, thank goodness for CR84FN and the inspiration they give.

Yesterday, I received my first stamp set from Inspired by Stamping, I wanted to use them straight away even though I should be getting my things ready for Bromsgrove's Cropaganza tomorrow. I've got to say they are a pleasure to stamp with, giving a lovely crisp image even with using Tim Holtz Distress inks, that don't normally like clear stamps.I also used sketch #42 from Cardabilities.

Yesterday, I went to the Hobbycrafts show at the N.E.C. and had a great day out with Maria and Lyn, my crafting buddies. I was on the look out for a Cheery Lyn doily die which I'd seen Stella using recently, I went for the French Pastry which was just the right size for cards, I cut it out using some yellow Prima paper. I also reached for my Amy Butler Lotus papers, as these were perfect for this colour challenge.

The Inspired by Stamping stamp set was Birthday Wishes which is full of sentiments, frames and pretty icons, perfect for inside and outside your card, the frame stamp was perfect to use with Nestibilities as are all the sentiments.

Supplies
Stamps- Inspired by stamping,
Papers- K&CO Amy Butler, Prima
Dies- Sissix, Nestibilities, Cheery Lyn

As I said earlier, it's Bromsgrove's Cropaganza tomorrow so that's 12 hours of scrapbooking, including three classes with the talented Ifa Zainon. I'm soooo looking forward to it and will show you my projects sometime next week.

Have a great weekend !!!!!
xxxxDebxxxx

Scrapbookers Anonymous November Challenge.....

2011-11-01T13:00:00.004Z

It's the start of a new month which means another new challenge over at Scrapbookers Anonymous and this month it is to use at least 7 different ribbons on your project. I don't know about you but I have a huge collection of ribbons so what a great way to use some of them up.

I used some Prima paper and white washed the whole page to give it a shabby look and also painted the Maya Road kraft envelope which I used as a photo mat. Can you see my 7 ribbons ? There are three vertical strips, two horizontal and then the two rosette flowers which I made using ruched ribbon. I've actually used the Webster's Page fabric riboon along the bottom, which I've been hoarding because it was to pretty to cut,lol.
Theresa and Lea's challenge blog is growing bigger and bigger every month so why not join in the fun this month and use up some of your stash, you can enter LO's, cards, altered art or any other project as long it meets the challenge criteria, to check out this month's prize take a look here.

Happy Crafting !!!!!
xxxxDebxxx

My October......

2011-10-31T18:04:00.003Z

Happy Halloween everyone, I hope you're all having fun, tonight we are going for a meal at the local pub where they will be serving a spooky menu.
Warning this post is photo heavy !!!!!!!!! I know this post has nothing to do with crafting but the reason I'm showing family photo's at the end of each month is because I have my blog printed into a book each year and it's so nice to look back at all the good times. Here's some of my photo's from this month, starting with my friend Kerry's Hat Party, we all had such a good night.

Me & Jul's

Michelle & Colin

Paige & Dan (the posers)

Michelle, Kerry (birthday girl) and Jax

Jon

Heath & Rich

Mick

Birthday Girl

Garb

Spa weekend for Linda's 50th Birthday.....

The Gang

Naughty Di, putting up a saucy photo of Linda.

This was the snow cave with real snow, we put snow on Tina's back just a the photo was taken,lol.

Tina & Chris

Linda making a little speech

Di with her swimwear filling with water,lol..
.

Dinner....

A day in Birmingham with Paige and lunch at Jamie Olivers Italian.....

Cold days in front of the fire with coffee,cake and crochet.

xxxxDebxxxx

56 Days Until Christmas....

2011-10-30T10:59:00.002Z

We all love Christmas in our house and enjoy all the build up to it, which in the U.K. starts in October. I have started my Christmas shopping and have even made some handmade gifts. Yesterday we went to Webbs of Wychbold to look at their Christmas department, they always have wonderful displays but I think this year they have excelled themselves. Here's a few photo's using my retro Barbl camera on my phone.

Winter Wonderland

A Sign For All Those Naughty Children !!!

Baby's First Christmas.

Good Enough to Eat.

Who's That Girl ?

1930's Glamour

Baby it's Cold Outside.

How cool is this body warmer, it's Paigey Polar Bear, she wasn't too impressed when I made her stand in the store with it on so I could take her photo,lol. They also had a t-shirt with two snowmen with button eyes and carrot noses on the front and one was saying to the other " can you smell carrots", I'm still roaring with laughter everytime I think of it.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and I hope I haven't made too many people go "oh no not Christmas, already", hehe.

xxxxDebxxxx

Happy Halloween............

2011-10-28T22:50:00.003+01:00

Can you believe it's nearly the end of October, which means Halloween time, I always make my nieces and nephew a treat bag for when they come Trick or Treating. When I saw this week's challenge over at The Shabby Tea Room, it was to make an Halloween themed project using, purple, orange, black and neutral with twine or rafia, they also included this wonderful inspiration photo.

Here are my Halloween treat bags, all supplies are from Stampin'Up except the brown paper bags.

I can't wait to see what they are going to get dressed up as this year,this was three of my nieces last Halloween.

Have a good weekend.
xxxxDebxxxx

One-A-Day.........Tuesday's Tallies.

2011-10-25T14:52:00.001+01:00

It's been two weeks since my last Tuesday's Tallies post, I didn't get much done and it didn't look any different from the previous week. If I'm honest,I'm not in love with the AF hexagons or maybe it's the colours but I'm struggling to pick it up. I have done 44 though and I will finish it eventually but maybe not one a day.

I have gone back to the Springtime Throw though from the Cute & Easy Crochet book which I started in the summer.

I'm enjoying crocheting this more and the squares are only little so it doesn't take very long to do one, it probably takes just over an hour to make 6 squares and sew in the ends, so this will be my new One-A-Day. I've now got 120 squares just another 300 odd to go. Now I've got a few made, I think I might start crocheting them together so I can see it growing. I'm using mostly Debbie Bliss Cashmerino DK with some King Cole and Wendy Merino, it's going to be so snugly and soft when it's finished.

You can check out everybody else's progress over at Gingerbread Girl's blog, I've noticed a few have started the ripple blanket too, I started mine over the weekend and loving it but will share more of that in a different post.

I'd just like to thank everyone who left me such kind comments on yesterday's post congratulating me on my new DT post, I'm really touched.

Until next time Happy Crafting.......

xxxxDebxxxx

Exciting News...................

2011-10-24T08:23:00.009+01:00

Hello, my friends, I hope you had a good weekend, well I had some good news on Friday night. I've been a big fan of Joanna Munster's blog Inspired by Stamping since the start. She is a very talented lady and at the beginning of this month she opened an online shop selling her own design clear stamps and put out a Design Team Call. I thought I would try my luck and was absolutely gob smacked when I received the email on Friday congratulating me on been part of the new DT., to say I felt very honoured and excited was putting it mildly,lol.
The stamp sets all work together beautifully and the sentiments fit perfectly with Nestabilities, also at the moment it is free standard shipping with all orders over $75 anywhere in the world so why not head over to the shop and take a little look.
Thank you Joanna for this wonderful opportunity and good luck with your new venture, here's a list of all the very talented ladies who also made the DT.

I'll be back soon with some projects to show you until then Happy Crafting

xxxxDebxxxx

Freshly Made Sketches..........

2011-10-21T08:42:00.000+01:00

Hi, there, how's life treating you all, good I hope.Yesterday, I was looking at Mona's post and she'd used a sketch from a challenge blog I'd not heard of before, as I love to use sketches I headed straight over there. It's called Freshly Made Sketches, the idea behind this challenge blog is to use the sketch provided and to create a "clean" card, by clean they want you to avoid distressing, torn edges but still with the detail and embellishments and lots of "white space" and clean edges.
Here's sketch #7.

I like to have a supply of Wedding Anniversary cards and I have just used my last one so I used the sketch for inspiration to make one.

I have quite a collection of fabrics now so decided to make some fabric flowers using a Marrianne die, I'm really pleased with how they've turned out and will certainly be making more.

Supplies
Paper: The Girls Paperie
Punch: Martha Stewart
Stamps: SU, Waltzingmouse
Dies: Spellbinders, Marianne Designs

Have a great weekend.

xxxxDebxxxx

CR84FN40..........red,brown &kraft.

2011-10-18T13:41:00.000+01:00

It's another great colour combo over at CR84FN, red,brown & kraft though I love these colours for any occasion it made me think of Christmas.

Here's my card:

I stamped the background label from the SU Everything Elenor stamp set onto kraft card and distressed,I then stamped the sentiment onto the embossed Sizzix Designer Frame and tore around the edge. The brown striped paper is from The Robin's Nest and the red dotty is some I've had for years which doesn't have a manufacturers name on. I punched the holly leaves out with a Martha Stewart punch and added some little red Prima flowers.Well, that's another Christmas card done, should have a nice little stash by December.
I got home yesterday afternoon after a wonderful couple of days at Lion Quays Hotel & Spa with some great friends, there was 10 of us altogether and we all had a fabulous time, just relaxing, I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants a bit of R&R. My favourite part of the spa was the snow cave in the hydro suite which was amazing, it had real snow so couldn't resist a snowball fight,such fun.

Back Soon
xxxxDebxxxx

C is for............. Crate Paper.

2011-10-15T14:00:00.001+01:00

It's time again for the A-Z Challenge over at Scrapbookers Anonymous, this month's letter is C . I've gone with Crate Paper Lemon Grass that I've had for years. I love these challenges set by Theresa and Lea, I'm using up so much of my older stash.
Why not join us this month, it hasn't got to be a paper range, though I do like to use up some of the hundreds of sheets I've got,it can be anything beginning with C, chipboard, cup cakes, children. you get the gist.

I've used this sketch from Creative Scrappers.

I look forward to seeing your projects, don't forget cards, tags, altered items,etc can be entered too and don't forget our main challenge, DIECUTS.

Happy Crafting.
xxxxDebxxxx

Happy Birthday, Linda......

2011-10-14T14:09:00.000+01:00

It was the lovely Linda's birthday on Wednesday,so here's the card I made for her, which hopefully should be there waiting for her when she gets back from the seaside.

I used a B Line Design stamp and inked it in two different colours, I find this easier to do by using the small ink spots. The papers are MF and Anna Griffin. I hope you had a wonderful day and holiday,Linda.Check out the other cards for Linda over at City Crafter Challenge Blog.
I'm off for a spa weekend at Lion Quays, Oswestry with my girlfriends, I can't wait, it's right on the side of Llangollen Canal.I hope the weather is warm and sunny, like today, I can just see me drinking a glass of wine on the decking overlooking the water.

Have a good weekend.
xxxxDebxxxx

One A Day.....week 6

2011-10-11T11:45:00.005+01:00

Hi everyone, hope you all had a good weekend as you know I fell behind with my One a Day last week but I have caught up over the weekend and now have 40 AF hexagons.

Also I have finished Priscilla Bear from the Cute & Easy Crochet book, this year I plan to give some handmade gifts for Christmas and this will be for my baby niece.

If you pop over to Carole's blog, Gingerbread Girl, you'll be able to check out everybody else's progress with their One a Day projects.

xxxxDebxxxx

Happy Birthday, Kerry.....

2011-10-07T10:12:00.003+01:00

My friend, Kerry, turned 40 on Wednesday (not sure she'll be to thrilled I've broadcast this to everyone,he,he), even though we live in the same village and our husband's knew each other,our paths had never crossed until just over two years ago. I got chatting to Kerry in a local craft shop and we hit it off straight away, we have so much in common and it's so nice to have someone live so close and have so many of the same interests.
Last time I saw Kerry's Mom she asked if I'd make her a card for Kerry's special birthday, of course I said yes. Kerry calls her Mom her 'Artistic Director' so I wanted it to be perfect, we decided on the colours hot pink and black as that is Kerry's colour theme for her 'Hat Party' tonight.Here's my finished card.

Val was thrilled with the card as was Kerry, *phew*, I always worry when I'm making for someone else that they are going to like it.
I'm off to decide what hat I'm going to wear for tonight, it's going to be a fun night and I will share some photo's with you next week. Have a great weekend, what ever you're up to.

xxxxDebxxxx

One a Day.......week 5

2011-10-04T13:46:00.000+01:00

I'm back again with my One a Day, Tuesday's Tallies, I haven't got much to report for week 5. I haven't been well this week and haven't picked up my hook until today, Carole asked us how long it takes to do one block/row, it only takes 30 minutes to do one of my African Flower hexagons so I will have caught up by next week. Here's my meagre effort.

I thought I'd give you a little peek of another Christmas present I'm making, I've only got her legs to finish so will do a full Ta-Dah shortly.

Don't forget to take a look over at Gingerbread Girl's blog and check out how everybody else is getting on with their One a Day.
I'm off out now to get a fabulous,relaxing facial and then straight to my friend Pinder's house for a get-together with my crafty pals I should get a bit of hooky done.

xxxxDebxxxx

The Winner Is...............

2011-10-03T14:28:00.001+01:00

Thank you to everyone who entered my little give-away, the winner is.......................... Kashi

Congrats, Kashi. If you email me your details, I will it get off to you as soon as possible.

xxxxDebxxxx

The New Stampin'Up Catalogue is Here.....

2011-10-02T22:01:00.000+01:00

and I love it !!!! There are so many gorgeous new products including pretty crocheted lace trims, vintage brads, beautiful designer papers, new Sizzix dies and lots of fabulous stamp sets. There are so many things I want so decisions, decisions what to buy first.
I was able to pre-order a couple of stamps before they went on sale, when I saw 'Forever Young', I knew straight away I needed this one. Here are a couple of cards, there are more to come, this is just one of the stamps in this set, there are also silhouettes and a cuckoo clock which is beautiful and so different.
I chose the colour scheme of Daffodil Delight, Perfect Plum and Wisteria Wonder when I saw this card by the talented Mona, I would never have put these three colours together myself but when I saw Mona's card they work so beautifully together.

For the second card I just stamped half the tree and coloured the leaves and blossoms with the Stampin' Write Markers.

products used from Stampin'Up - card 1

Stamps- Forever Young, Curly Cute

Papers- Flirtatious,

Other- Scallop Trim Border punch, Sizzix Daisies #2, button.

card 2

Stamps- Forever Young, Heard from the Heart,

Papers- Flirtatious

Other- small heart punch, Stampin' Write Markers, linen thread

I hope you all had a good weekend, I was suppose to be at a hen party on Friday night and my crop on Saturday but have been ill so couldn't make either :-( on the up side with no socialising over the weekend I've stuck to my diet,lol, let's hope the scales say so on Thursday evening.

Don't forget you still have until tomorrow to enter my give-away .

Thanks for looking.

xxxxDebxxxx

Scrapbookers Anonymous October Challenge.....

2011-10-01T14:00:00.003+01:00

We've had a busy September over at Scrapbookers Anonymous celebrating our 1st birthday with lots of mini challenges throughout the month. Thank you to everyone who celebrated with us and took part, you've still got time to enter the mini challenges but now October is here, so it's time for a new challenge.
Do you have a neglected die cut machine? If so why not dust it off and join us in this month's challenge which is to use die cuts, if you haven't got a machine you can still join in but use up your shop bought ones. I use my Cuttlebug a lot on cards but not so much on LO's so that was my challenge.

I used Nestabilities to die cut my stars and frames, I painted the frames with white paint and used some corrugated kraft card to cut out my Cuttlebug letters, the border is from a Crate Paper die cut sheet,the patterned paper were all scraps from my scrap box.I hope you'll join us, don't forget you can enter cards too, so dust off your machine and start cutting.

Enjoy the rest of your Saturday and Happy Crafting !!!!
xxxxDebxxxx

My Favourite Things from September.......

2011-09-30T12:24:00.001+01:00

The end of September is here, it doesn't seem 5 minutes since I wrote my August favourites. The highlight of September for me has got to be our holiday in Cornwall.

The girls first surf lesson, outdoor eating overlooking gorgeous views, hot chocolate on the beach, quality family time which sadly doesn't happen often enough.

Also Kerry and I went for a woodland walk at Bodenham Arboretum to take some autumn photo's, the weather was perfect to start off with then the heavens opened and chucked it down. I knew there was a summer house so we went off to look for it to shelter in, I couldn't find it so we sat under a tree until the rain knocked off, ate our lunch and had a flask of coffee.

I really enjoyed eating our little picnic under the tree in the rain and laughed so much when a pear fell off the tree straight onto Kerry's head, it nearly knocked her out,lol.
The rain didn't last for too long and the sun popped out again so we headed back to take some more photo's, when we went back to where we were, the summerhouse was just behind the hedge, I think Kerry called me all the names under the sun, in a nice way, she was laughing too. Here's a collage of some I my photo's

Have a great weekend, let's hope the sunshine here in the U.K. lasts for a while longer. I'll be back tomorrow with my LO for Scrapbookers Anonymous October challenge and don't forget to check out all the mini challenges in celebration of our first birthday, you still have a week left to enter.

xxxxDebxxxx

More Masculine Cards.................

2011-09-29T12:15:00.002+01:00

It's Jodie's boyfriend's birthday tomorrow, 'Happy Birthday Dan', so I've had to make two men's cards, it's getting quite a regular thing lately.The first one is from Jodie and the second one is from us, he likes to play poker so went for the playing card theme using Crate Paper Restoration

Look what his parents have bought him for his birthday, how cute, he's a little Labradoodle, I met little Yogi yesterday and he is such a sweetie,he loves lots of cuddles.

Here's another couple of masculine cards,still with a 'keep it simple' theme.

This was my brother's birthday card which was on Tuesday, we went out for a lovely meal to celebrate,I used some of the new stamps from the Stampin'Up 2011/2012 catalogue for this card

My sister asked me to make this card for her nephew's 18th birthday, I used Crate Paper Restoration 6x6 pad again.

I've been tagged by the lovely June and I have to tell you 10 things about me, so here goes...

1: I have 2 girls, 21 & 16 who are my world and they both have boyfriends named Dan,lol.
2: I got married when I was 20 and have been married for 23 years
3: They say life begins at 40 and it sure has for me. I had my children quite young so now they're more independent, I'm going away weekends and socialising more, though I do miss them been little and enjoyed every minute of their childhood.
4: I want to renew my wedding vows in Las Vegas.
5: My favourite T.V shows are X Factor, Home and Away, Glee and Criminal Minds.
6: I've never been to Scotland and would like to visit sometime next year.
7: My favourite singer is Bruno Mars
8: I like to watch old movies especially Audrey Hepburn and Elvis,you may laugh but he was so cool.
9: I enjoy seafood.
10: I have to read before I go to sleep, I love books and read anything from the classics to a good chick lit. The only books I don't read are the tragic life stories.

I would like to tag Lisa, I love reading her blog Recklinghausen Musings, her LO's are always beautiful and she takes some gorgeous photo's.

Click here to enter my giveaway.

I'll be back tomorrow with a round up of My Favourite Things from September.

xxxxDebxxxx

One a Day......week 4

2011-09-27T13:15:00.000+01:00

I now have 28 African Flower hexagons, I'm sewing them as I go, it doesn't look a lot different from last week, I'm loving how it's coming together though.

I've just finished the Swishy Scarf from the Cute & Easy Crochet book, I used Rooster Almerino DK and this will go to my sister as part of her Christmas present (she doesn't look at my blog so it will be a surprise). It feels lovely and soft to the touch,I hope she'll like it.

Thanks for looking and don't forget to enter my give-away HERE.

xxxxDebxxxx

Blog Candy.........Giveaway...

2011-09-26T13:37:00.010+01:00

I would like to thank everyone who takes the time to read my little blog, I have made some wonderful blog friends along the way and love been part of the blog community.
I wrote my first post on 25th January 2010,who'd have thought 20 months later I'd be writing my 260th today and have over a hundred following me,which I'm thrilled with and really appreciate.
Anyway, I thought it was time I did a Blog Giveaway so to be in with a chance to win the blog candy below all you have to do is leave me a comment telling me what your favourite hobby/ pastime is.
If I could only pick one ,it would be card making even though I do love crochet and taking photo's nearly as much.

Blog Candy

my handmade pin cushion,a piece of pretty fabric,crocheted flowers,

notebook,paper flowers and a sweet metal hanging bird.

BTW, you don't have to become a follower to enter, if you want to spread the word though about the giveaway,please do.You have until next Monday, 9pm GMT+1. I am going to have a go at using a number generator to pick a winner but if I can't work out how to do it, I will go the old fashioned route and write all your names down on a piece of paper and get my baby niece to pick one on Tueday.

xxxxDebxxxx

Bright Pink,Black & Grey...............CR84FN 38.

2011-09-23T16:32:00.001+01:00

The weekend is nearly here,any plans? I started a 10 week photography course on Wednesday with my friend Kerry, so we're going for a woodland walk to practise our camera 'skills', lol. Hopefully in the next few weeks you will see an improvement in my photo's. Watch this space !!!!!
Well, CR84FN have done it again,another gorgeous colour combo. I love to use grey on my cards,so much softer than using all black.

My first project using this fab colour combo is a pin cushion using the new Stampin'Up Timeless Portrait and Flirtatious fabric which co-ordinates with the papers and stamps.I made the fabric flower by ripping a length of fabric,folding in half and making a running stitch along the bottom edge,pulling tight to gather the fabric into a circle and adding a grey button to the centre.

I've used hot pink on the back.

Here's a card to co-ordinate with the pin cushion.

I love this stamp set Forever Young from the new Stampin'Up catalogue, the silhouette and frame are just a small part of this set, I will be showing you more cards in the next few days using the other stamps,the papers and ribbon are also SU.
I hope you all have a good weekend,back soon, I may even have some great woodland photo's,lol.

xxxxDebxxxx

Scrapbookers Anonymous Mini Challenge......Stamping.

2011-09-22T14:00:00.000+01:00

Happy Thursday,I hope your week is going well, this month Scrapbookers Anonymous are celebrating their first anniversary,there have been lots of fun challenges set by some of the DT over the last three weeks and today it is my turn to host a mini challenge. I've decided on stamping as this was how I got into papercrafting many years ago and is still my favourite technique. When I make a card I nearly always have some stamped image on it but I never seem use them on my LO's,so I thought I would challenge you all and myself to do some stamping on your project whether it's a LO,card home decor or a 3D project.
First I stamped and heat embossed a 12x12 piece of white card to make my own background paper,most of my ink pads are dye ink and to use embossing powder you should use a pigment ink so to get around that I inked my stamp first with clear Versamark ink and then a coloured dye ink on top of the Versamark. If you then stamp onto card and immediately cover with clear embossing powder,the powder will cling to the ink,then heat it with your heat tool to set. You will end up with a lovely raised,glossy image.

I wanted some stamped embellishments on my LO so I stamped some bunting/pennants to put along the bottom of the photo,another idea is to stamp some plain paper flowers or stamp and decorate a tag.

I don't know about you but when I cover bare chipboard in paper it takes me forever and then it never looks neat so a really quick way to alter them is to stamp on them.

I used a background stamp to cover my chipboard title,it is so much quicker !!!!!!
I look forward to seeing your stamped projects,if you pop over to Scrapbookers Anonymous you can add your project to the link and check out all the other challenges going on,you still have plenty time.
Everything I've used on this LO is from Stampin'Up including some of the new products which are available from the 1st October.

Happy Crafting
xxxxDebxxxxx

A Masculine Card...............

2011-09-21T18:30:00.001+01:00

It is Paige's boyfriend's birthday today so she asked me to make her a card for him,eekkk!!!! They have been friends for years but they have only just recently started going out so she didn't want anything lovey dovey.
I don't have a lot of male orientated stash so I really do struggle,my theory now though is to keep masculine cards simple so that's what I did.
I saw this cute sketch over at Cardabilities and decided to use that as my starting point.

Here's my finished card:

All the papers are from my scrap box, the stamped sentiment and clip are from Stampin'Up. Nice and simple,just hope he likes it !!!!!

xxxxDebxxxx

One a Day..........Week 3.

2011-09-20T17:05:00.000+01:00

It's now 3 weeks since I started 'One a Day' and I have 22 African Flower hexagons, I'm trying to get as many different colour combo's that I can and when I got to 14 joined them together and have carried on joining each one as I finish.
I can get 12 hexagons from one ball of the cream yarn and I have 6 balls so I should be able to make 72, I might go bigger if I can buy more of the same yarn so watch this space.
Check out everybody else's progress over on Carole's blog, Gingrebread Girl and it's never to late to join in if you fancy starting that big project you've been putting off.

Today,Libby, Rach,Baby Mya and Lisa came round for coffee,it was good to see the girls and have a cuddle off Mya,she has grown so much since the last time I saw her. It was Libby's birthday yesterday so we got to sing 'Happy Birthday' and give her the presents from Rach and I.
We don't get to see Lisa very often as she lives in Germany so it was good to catch up and the conversation mostly revolved around crafting,lol. Lisa is GD over at Counterfit Kit Challenge this month and has convinced me to give next month's challenge a go,I will probably make more cards with my kit than LO's but Lisa said that is fine.
Look at these cupcakes that she bought round to have with our coffee,yummy !!!!!

Thanks for stopping by........
xxxxDebxxxx

Happy Ist Birthday.......

2011-09-16T18:32:00.001+01:00

Today is my baby niece's 1st birthday,this last year has whizzed by,I look after her one day a week and boy had I forgotten how time consuming they are especially now she's walking but she is adorable and so affectionate,she loves a cuddle.

Breakfast at Aunty Deb's

Here are the cards I've made for her birthday....one off her Mummy and Daddy and one from us.

The papers are from MME paper stack and the cute little lamb was Papermania Honey & Hugs which I embossed with white embossing powder.

This card was made using Stampin'Up Crazy for Cupcakes and SU papers. I blatantly scrap lifted this card from the SU catalogue so all credit goes to them but I thought it was so cute I couldn't resist.

Have a great weekend,my friends,whatever you're up too.We're at a Race Afternoon on Sunday,raising funds for Athletico FC,my daughter's boyfriend plays for them,they are always good fun so I look forward to that.

xxxxDebxxxx

B is for..................Bo Bunny

2011-09-15T14:00:00.003+01:00

It's the 15th of the month today which means it's time for the A-Z challenge over at Scrapbookers Anonymous and this month is the letter B. I shall be using papers with the letter corresponding to the manufacturer for these challenges,so I can use up some of my paper stash but it can be anything from embellishments,the title,photo a technique,what ever you fancy as long as you include something with the letter B.
I used Bo Bunny Deliah for this LO,I've had these papers for a year now and have never used them,why do I do that !!!!

I used this sketch #173 from Creative Scrappers.

These photo's were taken walking around Bodenham Arboretum last Autumn,it's so pretty at this time of year with all the leaves turning those rich shades of red,gold and orange and I was thrilled to see the red toadstool's,I'm sure if you look carefully there will be fairies and pixies living under them !!!!

I did lots of tearing and distressing on this page with some zig-zag stitching around the edge,I used 'That Special Touch' leaf mask and sprayed some Suede TA,then layered some Prima flowers and a Tim Holtz 'wander' metal token,the wood effect alpha's are from Sassa Fras.

I hope you get chance to play along and don't forget our challenges aren't just for scrapbookers,it could be cards or altered art as long as your using up all that stash you have,don't forget to check out all the mini challenges this month in honour of our first birthday with lots of prizes up for grabs, I shall be hosting a mini challenge on the 22nd so look out for that.Also our main challenge is still running until the end of the month,we ask you to use some chipboard on your project and you could win a bumper pack of chipboard pieces.

Happy Crafting !!!!!

xxxxDebxxxx

One a Day.....................Tuesday's Tally

2011-09-13T15:13:00.010+01:00

While I was blog-hopping a few weeks ago,I came across Carole's blog, Gingerbread Girl, and she was just about to start a group over at Ravelry called One a Day. The idea is to pick a blanket you'd like to crochet or knit ,made up of smaller shapes and just make 'one a day' until you have the size blanket you want,not such a daunting task and you can carry on with other projects too, perfect !!!!!
I was on holiday last week so couldn't take part in the first Tuesday's Tallie so this is my first official post.

I decided to make an African Flower Hexagon Blanket which I saw on Heidi Bears blog,I bought loads of Sirdar Sublime baby cotton kapok when it was half price so decided to use that rather than buying some new yarn.I don't know how big the blanket will be,I will just keep making hexagons until I run out of yarn. I did one practise one and then started my 'one a day' on the 1st September so I now have 14 hexagons.

I love been part of this group,there are so many wonderful blankets and throws that people have started for One a day, Carole has a Mr. Linky every Tuesday so you can check out everybody else's project's and their progress.Why not join in,if you've been thinking about starting a large crochet or knitting project but are put off by how much time it would take up or an unfinished one that you have got bored with,it's a great way to get it finished.
While I was on holiday,I popped into a wool shop called Buttons and Beads in St. Austell and bought some Manos del Uruguay Lace to make the Summer Evening Shawl from Cute and Easy Crochet book,as soon as I start it I will give you a little peek but here is the wool.

I also bought this wool at a bargain price of £1.50 a ball.

I didn't just buy wool, I couldn't resist these cute shoes from Joules which were reduced from £49.50 down to £15.00, I love a bargain !!!!!

Thanks for looking.............til next time.... Happy Crafting.

xxxxDebxxxx

Easy as 1-2-3................

2011-09-11T16:17:00.001+01:00

I think I've found my mojo !!!!! When I got back from Cornwall I saw this week's challenge over at City Crafter Challenge Blog and had lots of idea's buzzing through my head of what I could do,which for the last few weeks I've struggled to come up with anything. Also I had a parcel waiting for me with some new products from the new SU catalogue 2011/2012 which is available from 1st October,to say I'm excited about the new products is an understatement.I know I say it every year but I think it's the best to date,with lots of scrummy goodies.
So now with my creative juices flowing,back to this week's challenge,my lovely blog friend Linda is hosting this week and has gone with Easy as 1-2-3 so you need to use:

1 ribbon

2 or more words

3 or more butterflies

Here's my card using the new SU Flirtatious papers which includes the laser cut doily:

Supply List: all products are Stampin'Up !

Papers: Flirtatious, Subtles Paper Stack

Stamps: Happiest Birthday Wishes (hostess)

Punches: 1 3/8 circle,Scallop Circle

Card Stock : Melon Mambo,Pretty in Pink

Other: Pretty in Pink taffeta ribbon,Pretty in Pink ink,Beautiful Wings embosslit die.

Check out what the designers have created this week over at CCCB for some great inspiration and this week's Guest Designer is my fellow team member Lynnda from Scrapbookers Anonymous.

Thank for taking the time to look,until next time......hugs.

xxxxDebxxxx

Back From Cornwall......

2011-09-10T21:23:00.005+01:00

Hello to all my lovely blog friends,I've just got back from a week in Cornwall and have unpacked,put a couple loads of washing on then caught up with everyone's blogs. I do miss blog hopping when I'm away but I can't really read them on my phone. We did have a wonderful family holiday though,the weather wasn't good enough to sit on the beach and sunbathe but was nice enough to sit outside to eat,drink and watch the world go by. We visited many pretty Cornish towns,played board games,read and I got some crochet done,we had some good quality family time together which we don't get very often when we're at home. The highlight for my girls though was their first surf lesson,they said it was the hardest thing that they had ever done but thoroughly enjoyed it and want to do it again.

Surfer Chicks

Catching that Wave

Newquay Harbour

St Ives

Perranporth

The cobbled streets of St. Ives

My Favourite Shop

Having drinks over looking Newquay Bay in the evening

Trivial Pursuit Night

I can't leave without saying that I'm thinking about all the innocent people who tragically lost their lives 10 years ago and their families,a sad day for the whole world.God bless you all.......

xxxxDebxxxx

Mollie Blanket Ta-Dah................

2011-09-07T11:06:00.003+01:00

I've scheduled this post as I'm in Cornwall,the girls will be having their first surf lesson and hopefully the sun is shining.
My Mollie blanket is finished,it's not turned out as I planed due to a really silly error,I never checked my lot numbers,how stupid !!!!! I wanted a big blanket and bought 2 x 400g Aran wool,which looked the same until I actually started to sew them together,I accused my girls of spilling coca-cola on my new squares,oops,I did apologise. So with the one ball I made the squares and with the other one,I made a deep edge in double crochet.Also I only bought cheap wool and it wasn't that soft crocheted up so I decided to add a fleece lining.
Even though it's not what I envisaged,I do like it,it's very warm and snuggly and has come to Cornwall with me for the cooler evenings. Jodie has asked if she can take it back to Uni with her,mmmm,I'll have to think about it.They say you learn from your mistakes and I will go back to the Mollie Makes Starburst Flower Crochet Blanket and start another one that looks more like theirs.

Enjoy the rest of your week and I'll be back next week.
xxxxDebxxxx

Inspired to Sew................Pin Cushions.

2011-09-04T12:41:00.004+01:00

Happy Sunday,just popping in as I've been doing a bit of sewing the last few days and not on cards,I'm not a natural sewer and I think my needlework teacher from school would have agreed,needless to say I droppped the subject as soon I could.I also dreaded making costumes for dance shows and school productions when my kids were little but since subscribing to Mollie Makes and seeing all the wonderful sewing projects and beautiful fabrics,I've been itching to try my hand at it again. Over the last few month's, if I see a piece of fabric I like I've been buying a 1/4 metre and now have quite a little collection.
I wanted to do something simple without the need of a pattern or template and so decided on a pin cushion,the first one took me ages to do but I perservered and eventually ended up with one I was happy with.

My starting point was which fabric to use and then it evolved from there,I then found lace,ribbon and buttons from my stash that would go with the fabric.I made the flower by tearing off a metre long piece of fabric so I got a frayed edge,folded it in half and did a running stitch along the bottom edge and pulled the thread to gather it together, nice and easy. The width was about 2" but it depends how big you want your flower.

My favourite is the pink one,I like the shabby chic look ,which one do you prefer ?

I'm in Cornwall this week,there isn't any WiFi where we are (this is a scheduled post) so I will catch up with everybody's blog when I get back,have a good week.

xxxxDebxxxx

CR84FN.......light blue,turquoise & neutral.

2011-09-02T16:47:00.004+01:00

I don't know how Mona keeps coming up with these gorgeous colour combo's and inspiration boards but I'm glad she does as she gives me so much inspiration along with the DT at CR84FN. Here's this week's colour board.

Here's my card:

I used MME papers,the stamps are from The Craft's Meow and the wide ribbon was in my stash. I stamped the image in SU Bashful Blue and die cut it with a Nestie,distressing the edges with SU Crumb Cake and added some pearls around the edge.
I haven't really liked any of the cards that I have made the last few weeks,some I haven't even showed you,but I think I'm back on track now and quite like this one.

Have a great weekeend.

xxxxDebxxxx