Sneak Peek................

Did you all have a good weekend,I know the U.K. and the U.S have had a holiday weekend so whatever you did I hope it was a good one. I didn't do much but actually enjoyed doing nothing,the weather was awful yesterday and rained most of the day so I got a card ready for a class at Bromsgrove crop on Saturday and watched Doris Day in Pillow Talk,I then went to Sunrise Crafts on the evening for Banu's card class. While I was there I bought some Want2Scrap Nestabling Hearts,they are so pretty to frame all your Nestabilitie diecuts,can't wait to use them.

 Here's a sneak peek of this month's card, if anybody wants to take the class if they are coming to the crop or just wants to buy a kit ,please email me at TinkHickman@blueyonder.co.uk. I've used Stampin Up Sweet Stitches papers and Sew Lovely stamp set,I will show the full card on Sunday.

Have a good day

xxxxDebxxxx

Happy Birthday Kirsty.........

Today is Kirsty Vittetoe's birthday and I would like to shout out a big 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY' to this lovely lady. We have never met but I think of her as a friend,she is such a big hearted,talented, kind person and I'm sure one day we will met as Las Vegas is on my places to visit !!!!
Ros asked if I would like to join in with posting a birthday card for Kirsty and of course I said 'yes'. This card is on it's way to you,Kirsty.

If you go over to City Crafter Challenge Blog you will be able to check out her other birthday cards that her friends have made.

Have a great day Kirsty !!!!

xxxxDebxxxx

My First Finished Crochet Projects......

It's so cold today here in the U.K. I think the April showers have come late and waited for May !!!! The only thing to do is to stay in and do some crafting. I've been practising my crochet skills the last couple of evenings and like I said in this post I've started a blanket but struggle with a pattern,well I've cracked it !!!
Here was my first attempt at a pattern, it's the apple cosies from Mollie Makes,I'm getting my money's worth from this magazine.

photo courtesy of Mollie Makes

Here's mine,they are probably quite pointless but so cute,I gave this one to my 8 year old neice and she was thrilled with it, it went straight in her school lunch box.

I then attempted these baby Mary Janes from  Crochet in No Time by Melody Griffiths, it's a great book and have just started a baby hat from it.
I told you all that I was going to Shrewsbury last Saturday,well I had a great day with my family,Jodie came with us so it was nice that I had both my girls with me which doesn't happen very often. Shewsbury is a beautiful old town and has the usual High Street stores but also beautiful independant shops and great bars and restaurants. My first stop was Paperchase where I love to browse at all the funky stationery, I purchased some Airmail wrapping paper which will be great for backgrounds. My Hubby and girls indulged me and was quite happy to go wherever I wanted,we stopped off at a traditional english tearoom which was very quaint.

We then stopped for lunch at The Lion & Pheasant, look how they served the chips in a miniature frying pan,love it !!!!

We traipsed through every charity shop in the town looking for dress patterns and sheet music, would you believe the very last shop we looked in had this little stash,I had the three patterns for £1,bargain,think how many flowers I'll be able to make,the ladies in the shop looked at me gone out when they realised I wasn't going to make a dress but to use them to make flowers,lol.

Don't forget you've still got time to enter this month's challenge over at Scrapbookers Anonymous.

Enjoy your day.
xxxxDebxxxx

Another CAS card.......

Hello everyone,hope you all had a good weekend. I haven't done much crafting the last few days, I think one of the reasons is I don't want to sit in my craft room on my own when the rest of the family are downstairs.
I missed the deadline for last week's CR84FN so this week I'm making sure I don't so as soon as my sister picked my baby neice up this afternoon I headed upstairs to do this week's colour challenge.
Here are this week's colours:

My inspiration came from this article in the new magazine Mollie Makes where they stitched strips of fabric to card and made bunting, instead of fabric I used patterned paper. I cut out strips of paper and used a Martha Stewart border punch along the edges,adhering it to some card. I used a Nestabilitie heart die to cut out the layered strips of paper and then using kraft card I cut out a scalloped heart to give the striped heart a pretty edge. The last couple of cards I've made have been CAS which isn't normally my style but it just seems to be how they're turning out at the moment. I don't suppose it hurts though to do something different now and again.

I am really loving this magazine,I've read it so many times now and getting tons of inspiration. I've even managed to follow my first crochet pattern and made the cute apple cosies,which I will show you all tomorrow.

Thanks for popping in,will be back soon.
xxxxDebxxxx

New House Card......

My neighbours moved house yesterday so I made them a New Home card using this week's colours over at CR84FN. Red.yellow and neutral,what a gorgeous summery palette.

I stamped the SU Neighbourhood roller stamp onto paper from my scrap box and cut around the outline,the cloud stamp is from SU Good Neighbours. That's it one very simple,quick card. I've missed the deadline for this challenge but still wanted to share.
I hope to go to Shrewsbury tomorrow if the weather is ok,it's a lovely old town with lots of great shops.I want to go thrifting,I really need some old dressmakers patterns,books etc. to start the She Art course. I'm just looking through the video's now and can't wait to get started.

Have a good weekend
xxxxDebxxxx

Mollie Makes.....

Gosh it's midweek already where does the time go,I've been baby and dog sitting again this week so I haven't got a lot done. On Saturday I went to Hobbycraft to pick up some paints and saw a magazine I'd never seen before. The front cover drew me to pick it up,I flicked through and wow I was sold,I don't buy craft magazines very often but this little beauty Mollie Makes is an absolutely must have if you love vintage,handmade,making,thrifting and shabby chic,you also get a gift with each issue. It's not a papercrafting magazine but the photos and articles are so inspiring that I will bring some of the ideas onto cards and scrapbook pages. It hasn't left my side since I bought it,lol,I've subsribed to it now so I don't miss a copy.
Here's the front cover that made me pick it up:

This month's cover gift was a smartphone cover,this is what I did with mine, I changed the front of it by adding a flower and heart rather than the bird. I still used the felt supplied but cut out the flower using Marianne 'English Rose'die. I'm really pleased with how it turned out and looking forward to next month's which is a felt flower kit.

This magazine will also be available next month in U.S., Ausralia and the rest of Europe next month so my international friends won't miss out.

xxxxDebxxxx

Double Page LO......eeeekkkk

I never do double pages so when I saw this week's sketch over at Sketchy Thursdays I thought oh no,might give this one a miss but then I thought to myself it is suppose to be a challenge so get on with it!!!! I'm so glad I did,I got to use a few of Paige's prom photo's all in one go and enjoyed doing something I wouldn't normally do,so thank you Sketchy Thursdays for getting me out of my comfort zone.

I've used The Girls Paperie range again, I have bought other papers to use for the prom photo's and will try to use them next time but I just love these papers !!!!
I'd like to thank Sketchy Thursday for choosing this LO as one of the Sketchy Thursday Faves last week, I was very honoured,thanks guys.

Have a good day.
xxxxDebxxxx

Scarpbookers Anonymous Card Challenge........

Good morning or evening wherever you maybe,I hope you all had a good weekend. Paige has just left for school to take her first GSCE exam (English Language) ,the start of many over the next few weeks, so good luck Paige and get some revising done,lol !!!!!!
Well,we are half way through the month of May already and Scrapbookers Anonymous have posted the cards made by the DT using the leftover papers from our LO's and this month's challenge element which is stamping. This is a brand new challenge for us,so come on cardmakers you don't have to do a LO just get your scrap box out and make a card with a stamped image. You have got until the 31st May to enter your LO,card or both and you could win some of the new Tim Holtz distress papers,if you do both enter them as two seperate entries so you have double the chance of winning.

Here's my card using the leftover paper from my LO.

I've made a step card which I was shown how to make last week by Banu from Sunrise Crafts,the image is Nellie Snellen coloured in using ProMarkers.

The last couple of month's I've been trying to teach myself to crochet using books and tutorials,I really want to make a blanket so I started off doing granny squares but wasn't really happy with them,they looked uneven however much I tried. Over the weekend I was blog hopping and went onto Dottie Angel and saw this blanket.....made by Tif,I just fell in love with it,look at those gorgeous vintage doilies.

Photo Courtesy of Dottie Angel

When I saw there was tutorial that was very easy to follow with photo's ( I'm more a visual learner) I got my wool and needle back out and gave it another go.

I finished my first square yesterday and though it's not perfect I'm really pleased with myself eventually I'd like to have a go at following a pattern and make one of the cute baby hats and bootees that I keep seeing in those gorgeous gift shops,one step at a time though but watch this space.

Thanks for taking the time to look and leave a comment,I really appreciate it.
xxxxDebxxxx

Normal Service Resumed.......

I certainly missed Blogger been down for the last couple of days, I've lost some comments but had read them before they disappeared and one of my posts was missing but that has reappeared now. Anyway this is the LO I was going to post yesterday.
Libby and I had another challenge going on Wednesday night and I choose this week's sketch from Creative Scrappers. I love this sketch site especially this week's,it's so pretty.

I used the new The Girls Paperie papers for this LO, I used a mixture of Jubillee,Kitch and Vintage Whimsy. I bought  them  this week from Craft Island,I've had to give this shop a mention because the service I received was excellent. I purchased it on the Monday and it arrived on the Tuesday all nicely wrapped up in tissue paper and a little gift. They also sell Melissa Frances which I struggle to get in the U.K.. I also used a selection of Prima flowers and swirl.

Enjoy the weekend !
xxxxDebxxxx

CR84FN27.....

I adore this week's colours over at CR84FN,I never think of using grey but when I do I just love it,it looks great with the hot pink. Mona and her team are so talented so thank you for the inspiration each week.

I also used this week's sketch over at Sassy Lil Card Sketches
.

I got the Irish Blessing 'May the wings of the Butterfly' off the internet,the papers are Kand Co and Collage Press.
Don't forget to check out this month's challenge at Scrapbookers Anonymous and get those stamps out to make a patterned paper.

xxxxDebxxxx

National Scrapbooking Day.....Final LO.

Here's the 4th and last LO that I got finished at Bromsgrove crop on Saturday, I used sketch #154 from Creative Srappers.

It's another LO for Jodie's 21st birthday album,we had a karaoke at the party and this is her boyfriend,dad and brother singing,they are all great singers. My friend Kerry came up with the title, in the U.K. we use to have a t.v. show called 'Stars in your Eyes' where somebody would be transformed into their favourite singer and sing like them,hence my title.
I misted the kraft card with TA and used Cosmo Cricket Circa 1934 papers, the stars are cut out using Spellbinders Nestabilities.

Have a good day.

xxxxDebxxxx

Cyber Cropping with Libby........

Hello everyone, last night while I was watching Glee,I was chatting to Libby on Facebook and she was about to do some scrapbooking and asked if I wanted to do this week's sketch over at Sketchy Thursdays at the same time,of course I said yes. We don't live locally to each other so this is our way of scrapping together,lol. When we have finished we take a photo of the finished LO and send it by email.

Here's this week's sketch:

The papers are Echo Park Little Girl Collection,I love the colours in this range. I painted the edges with white paint and then misted with TA Chalkboard in Mint Choc Chip,mmmm sounds good enough to eat. I don't know whether you can see the splatters in the top left hand corner but that was done with my new fave stamp from SU French Foliage set. I stamped it with Versa Magic Sea Breeze,the punched edge was made with EK Sucess punch and for the flower rosettes I used the Tim Holtz dies.
Thank you for all your ideas with papers and colours for Paige's prom photo's,you were all a great help,I have some of the paper ranges that were suggested so can get started.
I have my friends from card class coming around tonight for dinner so I'd better get preparing,thanks for looking and taking the time to leave such sweet comments,it's much appreciated. Also thanks to Candace on the heads up with Picnik photo editing,it is so much easier than Picassa.

xxxxDebxxxx

Some Suggestions Please........

I mentioned on a previous post that it was Paige's prom on Friday so here's a few photo's to share with you,I took 162 !!!!! but don't worry I'm not showing all of them,lol. The weather forecast wasn't good with heavy rain and thunderstorms but it held off and turned out to be a beautiful sunny evening,the storm came later and boy what a storm !!!!. She looked absolutely stunning as did all her friends,Paige and I started the evening with a glass of champagne in our garden and some photo's. We then headed to her friend's Nan and Grandad's house where the limo's were picking them up at 6.30,the garden was a beautiful setting for the 14 girls to get together and have some more photo's taken ,it was wonderful to see them all chatting and laughing together and just having a good time,it bought a tear to my eye.
The limo arrived and 14 very exited young ladies headed off to the Blakelands,where they all had a fabulous night which I'm sure they'll never forget. As you can see Paige choose a beautiful light coral dress so I'd appreciate some suggestions on what paper ranges I could use to scrap all the photo's I took,lol.

Thanks for looking and I hope you'll help me choose some papers to use.

xxxxDebxxxx

Happy National Scrapbooking Day........

I've just got back from Bromsgrove crop, what a great day and also a very productive day,I managed to finish 4 LO's which is good going for me. (I normally only finish one). It is National Scrapbooking Day today so to celebrate I put together 3 challenges for anyone one who wanted to take part,for every challenge we did we got a raffle ticket for the chance of winning a small prize. I think everyone who took part managed to finish all three.

Challenge 1 was a sketch by Page Maps:

My LO using the sketch:

I used a variety of papers from my scrap box for this LO,the butterflies are Tim Holtz Movers and Shapers dies and the alpha's are The Girls Paperie.

Challenge 2 was to scrap a photo scrapbook related or a photo of yourself and why you 'love to scrapbook'.

I scrapped a LO of my 3 best scrap buddies,Rach,Kerry and Libby.

Everything on this LO was Prima including the papers which are from the Botanical paper collection.

Challenge 3 was a scraplift of one of Liberty Chance's LO's.

Libby's LO

My scraplifted LO.

The photo is of Jodie presenting the owner of the winning greyhound that won the race we sponsored for her 21st birthday.I used Cosmo Cricket circa 1934 papers and the 'Try Your Luck' is from a pack of Glitz Whatnots. I have sprayed TA but couldn't get it to show up on the photo. Thank you Libby for letting us use your fabulous LO.

Everyone really enjoyed the challenges and we all had a very productive day that they've asked me to set them challenges every month,lol. Libby, Sarah, Helen and myself even had time to do another LO using a sketch which I will share later in the week.I also got to meet Julie Jeavons in person today. Julie has just joined the Scrapbookers Anonymous DT, which I'm part of. When I went on her blog to say hello I saw that she was from the next town to me,I told her about the local crop and she was able to join us this month,they say it's a small world !!!!!!

Don't forget to check out this month's challenge over at Scrapbookers Anonymous, it's all about using your stamps.

Hope you all had a good day, back soon.

xxxxDebxxxx