Thank you all

When I posted my 'apology' message yesterday I never for one minute expected to get so many wonderful messages of encouragement!
It never ceases to amaze me how many caring and supportive friends I've made since starting to blog and I'd like to thank all of you.

I have also received the Encouraged award from Ann and Gail, thank you so much both of you. Please take a moment to pop over and take a look at their wonderful blogs.
I'd like to pass this award on to all the people who visit my blog, I really appreciate your taking the time to leave such lovely comments and I especially appreciate your friendship.

Apologies!

I'm so sorry that I've been such a bad blogger lately, I've also been a very bad crafter as I haven't been doing any!
No real reasons, except that I have been a bit 'down in the dumps' which means I don't get any motivation or ideas. I get like this every now and again, especially at this gloomy time of year, but I'm sure I'll be back to normal soon and then you'll be sick of my postings and cards LOL!
I've also missed visiting my favourite blogs, and I'll be putting that right very soon as I'm sure you'll have all been busily making gorgeous things and it will take me hours to catch up with everything.
I will be posting next week as it will be my second DT challenge over at Sketch and Stash, I hope I can come up with an idea before then!

My First DT card

I hope you will all be able to take part in the Sketch and Stash Challenge which starts today. You have two weeks to come up with a creation based on Becky's wonderful sketch, so not too much of a rush for you.

This is my first DT card and to say that I was nervous about making it is definitely an understatement! I think this was about my third attempt at something for the occasion, and although I still wasn't that happy with it, I had to make do as that naughty little Mojo still hasn't made an appearance following the Christmas festivities!

Card Details:
* Image and borders - Card Creations 'Strictly Card Dancers'
* Swirly stamp for cardstock - part of a Dawn Bibby QVC kit
* Backing paper - Hot off the Press
* Embellishments - K & Co
The embellishments haven't scanned very well and IRL they are the same colour green as the borders and the female dancer's dress.

Don't forget you can use any medium you like for this challenge, it can be CDs, downloads, whatever you like. It doesn't have to be stamping, it just has to be fun!

An award and wishes for a Happy New Year!

Firstly, let me start with an apology for being such a bad blogger lately!
I'm afraid that pesky little mojo has gone walkabouts again, but I'm going to be sending out a search party for him tonight as I need to get started on some new bits and bobs tomorrow.

I popped on to make this posting and found that Holly had presented me with the Brilliante blog award! Thank you so much Holly, I'm very honoured.
I hadn't seen Holly's blog before so popped over to take a look only to find that it's absolutely amazing, so please go and take a look. She also appears to be responsible for some gorgeous digital download images at Squigglefly

I just wanted to leave a message for all my blogging friends to wish them all a very happy and creative new year.
I'm so sorry that I haven't been to visit your blogs for a few days, but I promise to try to do better and visit you all again very soon, once things get back to normal.

I'll leave you now with a reminder about the new challenge blog that is starting on 5th January at Sketch and Stash this will be run by Becky with Lisa and I joining her as the DT, so please do try and join in with us.
Just think, it will give you all a wonderful opportunity to use all the new goodies that you received for Christmas! I look forward to seeing you all there.

SEASONS GREETINGS

I'd like to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a very peaceful and creative New Year.
I'd also like to thank you for visiting my blog and for all the wonderful comments you've left. I would never have believed that I could make so many wonderful new friends in just a few months.
You have all made my blogging experience a very happy one and I look forward to renewing my friendship with you all in the New Year.

Christmas card 'book'

Well, I've had a few more attempts at photographing the little card book for my eldest son and DIL. Still not very good I'm afraid but it's the best I've come up with yet and as I'm running out of time now it'll have to do. I obviously need to practice a whole lot more!
My DIL likes the little 'cuties', not sure about my son though, but I don't expect he'll take a lot of notice anyway.

Card Details:
* Images by Magnolia and Hanglar & Stanglar
* Backing papers from DCWV
* Cardstock and embellishments from my stash

I'd like to say a huge 'Thank You' to Wendy and Beryl for passing the 'Fabulous Blog' award on to me, I'm very honoured.

Vintage Lady Calender

Hi everyone, I've been a bit naughty about posting lately I'm afraid, but I'm back today with a little desktop calender that I've made for a friend of mine. This is for the lady that owns the vintage shop and stocks my Art Deco cards, so I hope she's going to like it.
I got the idea for the calenders from Edna, another friend of mine. She is always making gorgeous little bits and bobs and inspires me no end, so if you haven't visited her before, please do, as all her work is just fabulous.
To be totally honest, this isn't quite finished yet as I need to punch the holes in the bottom and thread some ribbon through, but I thought if I didn't post this now another day would go by without a post being put on my blog.

Card Details:
* Coloured cardstock and glitter card from stash
* Backing papers by K & Co and Joanna Sheen lace paper pads
* Scallop mats by Nestabilities
* Printable calender by Printfree

I've been trying to get some pictures of the little 'book card' full of Christmas Cuties that I made for my eldest son and his wife, but it's too thick to scan and I can't get the hang of my new camera at all!
It's so difficult to get the light right as the weather is so gloomy at the moment, and when I do manage it I take loads of snaps and pop them on the PC only to find they are blurry, so I may have to give up on sharing this one with you all.

Award Time

I've been given an award and I'm so thrilled!
Thank you so much Rica I'm very honoured that you awarded this to me as I love visiting your blog. For those of you that haven't discovered it yet, do pop over and take a look at all of Rica's lovely creations.

So now I have to follow the rules, which are:
Link to whoever gave you the award and pass it on and link to 5 others.
You also have to write down 5 things you are addicted to!

1. My family (even when they drive me mad!)
2. My blogging buddies (they help keep me sane!)
3. Crafting (my other reason for staying sane!)
4. Buying crafting goodies (even though it's not as often as I would like!)
5. My lunch of croissant and cappucino (strange I know, but I am quite strange!)

Now for the part I hate, how to nominate only 5 people when I love visiting ALL of the blogs on my lists! All I can say is that I'm only going to mention five people but I'm passing this award on to everyone else that I visit as well.
In alphabetical order:
Becky, Carole, Edna, Rita, Sheena

Sketch and Stash Challenge Blog Candy

Hi everyone, just popping on to let you know that Becky is giving away some fabulous candy to celebrate the launch of the new challenge blog.
"To celebrate the launch of the Sketch and Stash Challenge Blog we are offering some blog candy! One lucky person will win a Willow with Umbrella stamp from Whiff of Joy."
Why not pop over and take a look, do the ususal link thingy and be in with a chance of winning this fabulous stamp!

36 years ago today!

Hi everyone, well today is my 36th wedding anniversary, that makes me feel soooo old!
I really don't know what happened to all those years, when I think that my sons are 32 and 30 now it just seems unbelievable.
I think I need to have another chat with them soon because if they don't hurry up and make me a grandmother, I'll be too old to enjoy it!

I thought I'd also take this opportunity to post another Art Deco card. I've used an image from the decoupage section of the CD for this one. I don't often 'do' decoupage (too fiddly for me really) so I hope you like it.

Card Details:
* Image and border from Art Deco CD by Card Creations Plus
* Cardstock from The Papermill
* Gems from my stash

Some more Art Deco cards

Well, I'm back with some more cards, as promised!
These are from the same CD as the cards yesterday, I'm loving this CD!
To be honest, I did wonder about it as there aren't that many images on it, but because there are so many different things that you can do with the images it makes them look totally different each time. I think it will prove to be very versatile.
As with yesterday's cards, apart from the embellishments everything came from the CD itself.

Card Details:
* Cardstock from The Papermill
* Martha Stwart Lace Doily border punch
* Oval scalloped mat from Nestabilities
* Gems, buttons and flower from my stash

Sketch and Stash Challenge Blog

Hi everyone!
I'll be popping some more Art Deco cards on the blog later, but I just had to pop in quickly to tell you all about some very exciting news I've received today.
I've been asked to be a member of the DT for a new challenge blog that will be starting on Monday 5th January 2009 called Sketch and Stash Challenge Blog.
Now, I know there are a lot of challenge blogs out there, but I'm really hoping that you will all join in with this one and make it a success for Becky, (she's such a sweetie and she deserves it!) Why not pop over and take a look at what it's all going to be about, and I'll post more news as and when I get it.
I'm relying on you all to give me some support, because although I'm excited, I'm also very nervous (understatement of the century!) This may be a dream come true but I never thought it would happen to me and I'm scared!

I've been playing!

Hi everyone, well no challenge card today but I've been playing with my new CD so I'm posting the first cards that I've made with it.
I can't remember how long it's been since I used anything but little 'cuties' on my cards, so it made a nice change to return to my original love of vintage cards. I especially love the Art Deco style so this CD is perfect for me.

Card Details:
* Images from Art Deco CD by Card Creations Plus
* Martha Stewart Lace Doily punch
* Pearls from Joanna Sheen
* Gems and other embellishments from my stash


I hope you like them, there are some gorgeous images on this CD, quite inspiring really so I'm off to do some more!

Stamp Something - Red, Gold and Green

Well I managed to post for two days in a row, that's quite something for me at the moment.

Today's card is for this week's Stamp Something challenge which is:
Well, the holiday season is upon us and we thought a challenge to use traditional Christmas colors would fit right in. So that's it for the week, just create something using the color combination of red, gold, and green.

As with yesterday's card, this was one of the cards I made as stock (just in case I get any other cards from people I haven't sent to!)

Card Details:
* Image sent to me by my friend Becky
* Backing papers - Hot off the Press
* Martha Stewart Lace Doily punch
* Nestability circle
* Sentiment designed on PC
* Coloured with Letraset Pro Marker pens

By the way, the nestie mat and the punched border are gold miri card, not green as they look in the scan.

Cute Card Thursday - Punches

Hi everyone, I can't believe it's Friday already and I haven't posted since Monday!

Last week I was quite relieved that I'd finished all my cards, and as I'd made and sent loads this year I'd had enough really, how lovely to pack all my christmas goodies away for another year then.
So why is it that no matter how many cards you send you always receive a couple from people you hadn't sent to, and why is it that they are always the first ones you receive?
I had to get all my christmas bits and bobs back out again and make some more! I thought while everything was back out again I'd actually make more than I needed, just in case! hopefully that is the last now and I've packed everything away again! Ah well, the best laid plans......

To cheer myself up I thought I'd enter a card challenge, so this one is for the Cute card Thursday challenge, which is: Punches - This week we like you to dust off your punches (not die cuts!) and use them on your cards, you can either punch some borders or corners or use punched out shapes on your cards.
Obviously those of you that know me have guessed this was a great excuse to use my gorgeous Martha Stewart punch yet again (I know.... and I'm sure I will get fed up with using it one day - but not yet!)

Card Details:
* Whiff of Joy 'Willow with lantern' image sent to me by Becky
* Red miri and silver glitter cardstock from my stash
* Sentiment designed on PC
* Martha Stewart Lace Doily punch
* Coloured with Letraset Pro Markers

I'm hoping to be back tomorrow with another challenge card, until then, thank you for visiting and for the lovely comments you leave me.

Double Challenge Card

Hi everyone, my card today actually fits in with two challenges (hopefully!)

Firstly the Dutch Dare challenge which was: "We want you to use some scalloped edges somewhere on your card."
The card also fits this week's Cute Card Thursday challenge of "This week we would like to see some hearts on your card"

Card Details:
* Image by Hanglar & Stanglar
* Backing paper and labels - K & Co
* Pearls from Joanna Sheen
* Punch - Martha Stewart Lace Doily
* Flowers from stash
* Coloured with Letraset Pro Markers
* Sentiment produced on PC

A Spoonful of Sugar Challenge 28 - Thank You card

Hi everyone, my card today is for the Spoonful of Sugar challenge - We would like to see you create a thank you card.
This card ended up being similar in colour to yesterday's one as I liked it so much, and of course, I just had to use my punch again (you may be seeing rather a lot of this for a while!)

Card Details:
* Image kindly sent to me from Becky
* Backing papers by Laura Ashley
* Lace Doily punch by Martha Stewart
* Sentiment stamp by Cuddly Buddly
* Large flower from Poppicrafts
* Cream pearl from Joanna Sheen
* Colured with Letraset Pro Markers

Thank you for stopping by and please leave a comment, I really appreciate it.

My Time to Craft Challenge No. 38 - Becky's Sketch

Hi everyone, my card today is for the My Time to Craft challenge, which is a sketch. I don't usually enter this challenge, but my dear friend Becky has set the challenge this week, so I just had to enter didn't I?
If I'm honest, I find sketch challenges quite difficult, and my card hardly ever ends up looking like it should, but this one was very straightforward and I do like the layout, I may even use it again!

Card Details:
* Penny Black image sent to me by Becky (thank you my friend)
* Backing papers by Laura Ashley and K & Co
* Martha Stewart Lace Doily punch (the new love of my life!)
* Pale pink pearls from Joanna Sheen
* Flower from my stash
* Sentiment done on PC

I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank:
Beryl for giving me the Butterfly award. Beryl's blog is full of fabulous creations, go and take a look if you haven't been before.
Cathy for passing the Proximidade award on to me. Cathy hasn't been blogging for very long but her blog is simply wonderful, why not pay her a visit and see for yourselves?

Playing in the Puddles

Hi everyone, my card today is for my Best Friend. She's going through a horrible time at the moment and I live so far away that I can't give her a big hug, so I'm hoping this card will do it for me.

Card Details:
* Image and sentiment from Ebay
* Backing paper - K & Co
* Ribbon and flowers from Poppicraft
* Red heart gem from stash
* Mats made with Nestabilities
* Coloured with Pro Markers

Thank you for the comments you leave me, they are really appreciated.

Butterfly Award

Hi everyone, no card today as Monday is the day I spend with my Mum, but I have been given this lovely award by Ann and wanted to say a huge "Thank You" to her for passing it on to me.
I always find it so difficult to choose individual blogs for awards as I visit lots every day and I love them all (just look at my sidebar for proof!) so I'm hoping that Ann won't mind if I just pass this on to everyone on my blog lists.
Ann has recently changed the name of her blog as, like me, she wasn't happy with the original name. Whatever name she calls it, she has some fabulous projects, so please pay her a visit if you haven't already.