A little birdie told me........

Well, two actually. LOL........



Got some new DPs today (these are Cosmo Pink by Paper Mania) and couldn't wait to use them. Also wanted to give my lovely Duet stamp from Simon Says Stamp another airing. The ribbon is SU and the flowers and brads are from my stash.

Nestability is Labels 1.

Thanks for dropping by. Please leave a comment before you go. They really are appreciated. Viv xx

SU Blog Candy!!

there are two sets of SU rubber stamps up for grabs on Jeanette's Pages.
you have until 7th Feb. to tell her which two sets you like. A winner will then be picked at random. The sets are gorgeous and well worth winning, but Jeanett's blog alone is a great reason for getting on over there.

Good luck!

I've been tagged.....

By Barbara and Suzanne!

I have to go to the 6th file in my pictures and pick the 6th photo.

I was dreading what I'd come up with, but luckily for me it's a picture from my son's wedding in Spain. Phew!!

This is the 6th proof from the photo dvd. Isn't she beautiful?

I've no idea of her name as she's the daughter of one of Sara's (bride) friends in Spain.

A Precious Moment..............stamp!

Mum asked me LAST NIGHT for a card for one of her carers who she has become firm friends with. She always leaves it 'till the last minute. Doh.
Anyway, I did this. I love Precious Moments stamps and this one is a real cutey.
(It was a bargain off E-bay).

Bazzil CS for the lavender and yellow with a purple ribbon and some little blingy things to accentuate the doily lace punched border.
Coloured with Polychromos pencils and OMS (Sansador).
The sentiment is an Inkadinkado stamp, inked with Brilliance Pearlescent Lavender.
It shines a treat, but you can't tell on this picture.

Well, I'm off to mum's to hand it over. Back later hopefully!

Thanks for calling in. Viv xxx

Jenny has some gorgeous candy to share!

Included is this fantastic SU stamp set!

Hurry over as there's not much time left.

(Not only is the blog candy gorgeous, so is her blog).

Viv xx

How lucky am I?

I have been given this gorgeous award by the lovely Els.

How nice it is, to be thought of in this way.

I can't thank her enough for choosing me.

It really does make a difference to my day.

This award originated via Gratefulness.org.

There are no hard and fast rules about passing it on to people. I would really like to pass it to every one of you who has taken the time to leave a comment or two on my posts.

I'm like a big daft kid. I can't wait to see if anyone has come over and looked at my stuff.

It's here for you. Please take it, you deserve it.

Viv xx

Till next time..... Viv xx

Papertake Weekly Challenge offering...

It's been way too long since I took part in the PTW challenge so decided to 'have a bash'.

The theme is three shapes.

Well, there's circles on the DP,

Rectangle for the image and ovals for the metal tags.

I thought this would do very nicely for my son's birthday on 10th Feb.

The stamp is one I bought at the Happy Stampers Fair last year and never showed it ink!

It's by Stamps Happen. I coloured it with Faber Castell Polychromos pencils.

The tags are from a set by PaperMania too. Red grosgrain ribbon from me stash.

Too big to fit on my favoured square card, so had to go for A5 portrait.

The DP is from Paper Mania's men's set.

(A lot of Paper Mania going on today folks)!! LOL

Hope ya like it. Thanks for dropping by. Viv xxx

More a changeling than a mutant

This card started out as a plain and simple blue and brown piece.

For some reason, I decided to put red blobs in the center of the flowers.

(Close as memory from SU).

I quite liked the splash of red, so as you do, looked where I might put a dash more.

Hence the CB corners! Needed a sentiment that wasn't too large, so plumped for 'to someone special'. I have no idea who's make it is, as there's no name on the stamp.

I stamped that in the same red as the blobs. THAT'S when the idea occurred to me!

(Yes, I AM bit slow on the uptake). I rooted in my drawers and found my tiny heart punch. Placed them at strategic points and changed the blobs to hearts...Voila! A Valentine card!

The DP is SU's Patterns Designer Series papers. (I got Bashful Blue and Pumpkin Pie).

SU extra wide ribbon. (Scrummy stuff). Some ric-rac from my stash.

The DP was matted onto Bazzil bling. Oh and the swirl thingy is a punch -out from my flourish punch by EK Success.

It's in the bin now, 'coz it's useless. I'm very disappointed with it. It only punches out one in about ten tries. I'd send it back, but as I got it from the US, the p&p would be to expensive.

Grrrr.

(If hubby doesn't read this for a while, I may give it him). Shhhh!

Just messin'

I was playing around with my Cuttlebug Divine Swirls folder and a piece of black card, with a specific idea in mind.

Well as you can see, the idea kind of evolved and turned into something completely different!!

I'm ALWAYS doing this! I visualise a card in my head, and the end result is a total mutant!

Anyone else out there that this happens to? Or is it just me! LOL

Well, here's my 'mutant' card (with no sign of the Divine swirls anywhere)!...........

The DP is part of a gift from the lovely and really talented Michelle. Isn't it gorgeous!
Matted onto black card, (the only remnant from my first idea).
I had to use my brand new Cuttlebug corners too. This one is my favourite.
They all work brilliantly in my Big Shot too!
The sentiment is from a PennyBlack stamp.

Thanks for coming over!

I've been busy...honest!

Finished the wedding invites for a customer on Thursday.

I'm really pleased with the end result.

The CS is a good quality ivory linen from Southfield Stationers.

The ivory colour is very subtle. I don't really like cream, so this was just the ticket. It's much paler than cream and fitted the bill much better than the samples I put on here a couple of months ago.

Here's the main invitation.
The customer chose the font and layout. I had the task of transferring it to card. It took a while to get it all lined up and I wasted tons of card. It was well worth it though. I have kept the templates in Microsoft Publisher for future use.

Here's how it opens...

I used a slit punch from a Making Memories set. I couldn't use my SU punch, as I had to make a slit in the middle of the card. The customer wanted a RSVP card to fit in a pocket in the third fold. THAT took a bit of planning!! It was easy to accomplish though, once I sourced the envelopes to fit in the pocket.

I did the 'gold' by printing with the numbers 192,168,104. (This is the nearest you get to gold)! It worked really well.The evening invites were printed onto a straight A6 card with a 'gold' border all round. The same for the place cards. It was hard work, as anyone who's made a batch of invitations knows. The end result is worth it though! ;0)

Thanks for stopping by. Please let me know what you think. Comments are always appreciated.

Hug Award for Me!

'This award is given to you in appreciation of your lovely and witty comments and for always knowing the right thing to say at the right time....'

I received this honour today from Ikki.

Thank you so much Ikki.

It means a lot to know you thought of me.

RULES!

Nominate 10 people who fit the criteria,

link them on your blog, go tell them.

(I will have a hard time choosing as you ALL fit the bill).

I renaged on the last two awards but will bite the bullet

and nominate:

1. Linda
2. Jennifer
3. Natalie
4. Tina
5. Ila
6. Terrie
7. Suzanne
8. Karen
9. Renee
10. Cindy

(Awww, how do you get them to line up properly)?

I'm hopeless at keeping the typing in order.

Soetimes there are huge spaces between lines, sometimes not, I don't get it.

Oh well, I suppose I may become a tad competent in time...yeah right! LOL

Bonus four!!!!

Remember I told you I was going to Derby for the day?
Well I can't believe it, but I managed to make four cards even though there were seven of us congregated round a dining table in Pauline's kitchen.
Talk about a tight squeeze! We didn't care though. We were having a great time, using each others 'stuff'. There was a bacon butty (sandwich), to start us off. (It's a tradition now).
Made a card or two and went to Hobby Horse for a browse. Can't not visit a craft shop, it wouldn't be polite! Got a bargain or two! All Christmas stuff was half price! Got a set of Papermania clear stamps for £3.95! There are TEN stamps in the set and they are a good size too.
Got a Craftwork Cards paper pack, Plum Pudding for £2.85. There are 36 sheets of 6x6 papers in the pad. Two reels of Christmas grosgrain ribbon for £1 and a punch for £1.
Then I bought some Bazzil CS. I'm really short of chocolaty colours. I only spent £12!
When we got back, we were starving and had ham sandwiches. Copious amounts of tea and coffee supplied all day by Robert, Pauline's star of a Hubby. More playing..ooops! I mean crafting LOL then it was tea -time. Cottage pie! Scrummy!! Followed by a delicious strawberry and yogurt terrine. Wow! We were stuffed!
Pam and I left at about 10.15pm. Shattered but happy.
Here are the fruits of my labours......LOL

The only element of mine on this one, is the scroll stamp.

I used it on anything that wasn't nailed down! LOL

This is SO not 'Me', but I love it.

The cupcake image and scroll stamp are mine.

I finished this one when I got home. I added the silver filigree corner and the little square with the flower from the SU Close as a Memory set.

The only item on this that's mine is the corners! LOL

LOOK AT MY WATERMARK!!!!

It was made for me by the enormously talented Jennifer.
Isn't is fabulous! It's exactly as I wanted. You are SO clever my friend.

(I need a bit of practice to get the size right, but I'm almost there).

Thank you so much! :0)

Thanks for dropping by and staying the course.
Hope I've not sent you to sleep! LOL Viv xx

The same only different

I did these two cards yesterday.
I think it was carry over from the OCC challenge of two colours.
Anyway, onwards and upwards as the saying goes.
This one is done on a base of Bazzil bling CS.
(Not the best idea I've had, as, no matter how careful I am,
the crease splits when it's folded).
The paper is SU's Patterns DP in bashful Blue. The Image is one I took from my millions of neglected Hug Bug collections. This one is from 'Love Birds'.
The ribbon is from my stash and the swirls are punched out with my Paper Shapers Swirl punch. (Great punch but a bit moody). Mounted on a Nestie scalloped oval and I distressed the outside of the image with a Color Box 'Queue' Cat's Eyes ink pad, in 'Creamy Brown'.

This one has a base of Bazzil Bling again. (I don't learn do I LOL). The blue matt is SU's Bashful Blue CS. I stamped the message (Penny Black), on white Bazzil Bling CS. Then mounted it on a spare piece of the Blue Bazzil cut with a Nestie Scalloped circle. The corners are cut from my Sizzix Architectural Accents #4 The flowers were two step stamped from the Delight in Life set from SU. Cut out and mounted on foam pads for a bit of dimention.

Pam and I are off to Derby for the day tomorrow. We have a get together every so often. We craft , chatter, eat and generally have pretty fabulous day. We usually take turns in who's house we congregate in and it works out well. We all get a change of scene and have a great day out. I may even make a card or two! Thanks for stopping by, I love to see you. Viv xx

Two awards for me!

I've been honoured to receive TWO awards today from Natalie.
I've also received them from another of my favourite crafters, Michelle!

Thank you Natalie and thank you Michelle! You've both made my day.
I feel really blessed to receive these from such talented crafters.


Here they are and the rules are quite simple.....or so you would think!
'Pass on to seven people'!! Have you seen my blog roll!!!
Everyone on there, is there for a reason. I rate their blog highly....
so these awards go to everyone on my blog roll........
You are not there for nothing! :0)

I'm so blue!!

Only kiddin'! Just HAD to do another Colour challenge card over on OCC.

I reckon I'm cookin' on gas today! LOL

Isn't he CUTE!

He's a Whipper Snapper stamp called 'Birdie Bath'.
(I've shaded the white image with my Tim Holtz thingy
using the 'Broken China' ink pad).
The CS is Bashful Blue by SU, so is the DP.
They are the same colourway, but totally different shades.
The greeting is by Penny Black. I've used the Cat's Eyes chalk inkpad in 'Prussian Blue'.
The flowers are fabric and are from my millions of yards of trimmings
I've acquired over time.I've dabbed a spot of Glossy Accents on the water drops for a bit of shine.

Thanks for coming over today. Viv xx

I did another!

I really enjoyed the card I did for the OCC Colour Challenge so much, that I sat down this morning and did this. It was THIS card on Silke's blog, My Life, that inspired me.
It's not two shades of blue, it's two shades of brown, but it's not going in the challenge, so it doesn't matter.

I used a stamp I haven't played with for at least a year.
It's 'Violets' by Hampton Art Stamps. The word 'Violet' is underneath the stems, but I left that off.
I coloured the flowers with Polychromos pencils. Shaded the matt with Prussian Blue Chalk Eyes ink. The flowers are from my stash. The DP is also from my stash. I haven't a clue where I got it from I've had it that long.
Pearls from Crystal stickers (I think). I'm being very vague today, sorry.
I dotted the violets and flowers with Glitter Writers 'Copper'.
Just plain old white CS for the base card.


Thanks for dropping by. I DO appreciate your visit. Viv xx

Blog Candy from Debbie!

I got my blog candy yesterday from Debbie and fantastic it is too!

I've wanted that Sarah Kay stamp for so long!!! The snowflake stamps will come in really handy for THIS years crop of Christmas cards. (Which I intend to start early)! I've also got a lovely mixture of 6x6 papers that I keep fondling.

Thank you Debbie. I know you've been really poorly
but trust you are fit and well again now.

OCC Colour Challenge

Well I saw all the fabulous entries by the DT on OCC for the colour challenge and thought
I'd throw my hat in the ring. It's not a patch on theirs,
but I quite like how it's turned out.

I've used Core-dinations CS. Blueberry and Navy. I stamped the swirl background with an Impression Obsession background stamp, called funnily enough... Swirl Background. LOL. I inked it with a Cat's Eye ink pad, Blue Iris, as it matched the navy CS. Sizzlits die used for the swirl. Dovecraft ribbon, which I thought was a pretty close match for the Blueberry CS. The flowers are on a length I bought from a haberdashers yonks ago. I added a blob of Stickles 'Waterfall' to the centers, for a touch of glitter. The sentiment is a stamp by Hero Arts. I even did some sewing!

Thanks for dropping in. Viv xx

OH BOY!!! H&S Candy!!

Check THIS out!!!!

Lim, of 'The Voices In My Head',
is giving away Hanglar & Stanglar blog candy!
Whoo Hoo!!
I don't have a snowball in Hell's chance of winning,
but I can dream for a while, Can't I? LOL

Grandad we love you!

Tina of High Hopes rubber stamps,

has a grandfather who turns 88 on 21st January.

Her uncle thought it would be a great idea

if he was to get a card from all over to cheer him up,

as he's been quite down since losing his wife, Tina's Grandmother.

I've not been able to blog much, so I only just found out via Ila's blog.

I love making cards, but making them for a purpose is even better!

I hope this gets to him in time and that he likes it.

A New Year and a Wedding.

Happy New Year!

I've finally recovered from my youngest son's wedding last Friday.

The day was perfect in every way.

(Well apart from me looking like a beached whale

and needing the hot-line to slimming World)!

Here are some 'snaps' of the day that we took.

The official pictures will take about 3 weeks.

Took this of BJ just after he'd put his wedding suit on. *gulp*.

Isn't he gorgeous!

My Mum. She was 90 on 12th December!

Here's me, the one in black. Yeuk!
(I thought I was the bee's knees 'till I saw the photos).
This was taken as we were all gathering outside the register Office.

The background isn't brilliant, but then these are just quick snaps.

Claire with her bridesmaid/maid of honour
after stepping out of her white Roller.

Her dress is beautiful, but you can't see it very well on this 'snap'.

My youngest Grandchild Oscar. Awww isn't he just the CUTEST!

Signing the register.

This is BJ & Claire getting their marriage certificate.
(The lady clapping is the Registrar).
You can just see the side of my Hubby's head on the bottom left of the picture.

Wishing them both Health, Wealth and Happiness!!

Thanks for stopping by. Viv xx