Ta ta for now....

I've been putting off this decision for a few weeks.... but I think the time has come for me to take a little break from blogging. I've noticed that I seem to be dropping Followers and I'm not posting as often as I feel I should. Work is proving very challenging right now, plus I have my ICS qualification to complete by March 1st and there just aren't enough hours in the day!

Before I take my leave I thought I'd share a few projects that I've managed to slot in amongst all the recent craziness.

This first card uses lots of lovely Stampin' Up! goodies and that beautiful Hero Arts background stamp that I bought recently. I don't often show sympathy cards but thought I'd share this one as it showcases stamps from one of the new level one Hostess sets from the current Stampin' Up! catalogue.

The second card that I'm sharing today is one that I made for my best friend's wonderful daughter Hannah. Don't tell her, but along with her ever so slightly crazy Mother, Hannah is one of my favourite people on the planet!

Myself and my friend always say 'if it's going to happen it will happen to Hannah'. Once again she proved this to be true by having her appendix removed and being in a car accident in the two weeks proceeding her 18th birthday last Thursday. Thankfully she is on the road to recovery and still managed to celebrate her birthday in style.

This adorable new Sugar Nellie stamp by Krista Smith seemed perfect for a sleepy 18 year old who can't understand what all the fuss is about! The sentiments and beautiful paper are both from Kaisercraft.

My final project is the reveal of how I altered that cardboard cat food box you've seen loitering on my workdesk for the last couple of posts. Perfect for my overflow of punches!

I love this Gorjuss/Sugar Nellie stamp called Up, up and away, and the highly appropriate sentiment from Hero Arts. I also used the Memory Lane stamp from Crafty Individuals and my new Hero Arts block - totally gorgeous!!! I've never done anything quite like this before and learnt plenty to take forward to any future projects!

So now I'll say au revoir... I'm sure that I'll pop up from time to time as I know I'll find it very hard to stay away from my blogland buddies.

Thanks for dropping by at my blog, thanks for your wonderful friendship and encouragement and thanks for all the amazing inspiration and fun. You are all totally fabulous and much appreciated.

Ta ta for now... and very happy crafting everyone!

WOYWW - slightly dispelling the tidiness myth!

What a lovely Autumn day - chilly, but bright and sunny. Perfect for tidying the garden and then coming indoors for a little crafting!

So, what is on my workdesk today?

The ingredients for at least three cards... ... plus some yummy new Kaisercraft papers and a bottle of Glossy Accents that I've bought to give to my Mom!

As you can see I have four images stamped and ready to go. I spotted this new Sugar Nellie stamp called Pillow talk by Krista Smith and knew I had to get her. Perfect for teenage birthday cards! I haven't worried about stamping her very carefully as I'll be cutting her out.

I've just received my latest Stampin' Up! goodies from the lovely Michelle so will be playing with my new Hostess set 'Silhouette Sentiments' asap.

Christmas has come a little early as you can also see my new Hero Arts Clouds Design Block and a cute Whipper Snapper block, both from the fabulous Sir Stampalot.

I think these will work great together: love the expressions on those bird's faces!

I thought I'd also share a picture of my cute crafting buddy... Mr Monkey.The shelves are from Ikea and my desk clips onto them, which is a great space saver. As you can see I am a bit of a hoarder and love my nick-knacks and bits of junk!

Hope you all have a happy Wednesday and don't forget to drop by at Julia's blog to catch all the workdesk fun!

Better late than never!

This morning I realised that I had forgotten to post my October Card Chain Challenge cards.

Shame on me!

So without further ado here is the little beauty that I received from the lovely Hilde in Norway.

Don't you just love those flowers and the placement of the gems! This card is simply gorgeous and a great take on Deborah's sketch.
Here's the card that I sent to Barb in Minnesota.
I just couldn't pull together an attractive enough combo of colours that even came close to Deborah's colour palette for October. Instead I went with pinks and blues, and her theme of Guardian Angels.

I found the sentiment by Googling 'angel quotes'. It seemed to fit perfectly with this sweet Sugar Nellie Angel by Diane Duda. The papers are from Stampin' Up! Believe it or not the clear embossing says 'Giggle', unfortunately it hasn't photographed well!

I have so much housework to do that I don't know if I'll manage to make a card today. This is a real shame as I have got lot's of ideas AND a fabulous new stamp that I'm itching to use! Wish someone would invent the self cleaning house!!!!!

Happy crafting everyone!

Happy Halloween!

I had planned to make a Halloween card, but simply ran out of time. Today was spent over at my in-law's house having fun with my adorable niece. We haven't been home very long.

So I thought I'd share a card that I made a few weeks ago for the lovely Deborah Nolan. This was to say a big 'thank you' to her for organising her wonderful Card Chain Challenges.

I was trying out a few different techniques and also decided to go with Halloween colours. Sorry that the picture is so poor, not quite sure what happened there. The super sparkly Platinum Stickles were a gift from my sweet friend Linda.

Hope you all have lot's of spooky fun everyone!

Tilda revealed!

I thought I'd drop back with the 'reveal' for that 'Unwrapped Tilda' image that you caught a glimpse of on Wednesday.

This card ended up smaller than planned as I managed to cut the base card to the wrong size (duh!). I decided to carry on... and actually quite like the result.

I think I prefer the version with the bling, but I'm not 100% sure.

So enjoy the rest of your weekends guys, and happy Halloween for tomorrow!

WOYWW

Happily there is something on my workdesk today as I managed to leave work early and sneak home for a little crafting time! Wooooo hooooo!

Once again you can see that my workspace is fairly tidy. I'm a 'tidy-it-up-afterwards' kind of girl and probably have my Mom to thank for this!

No, your eyes do not deceive you ... that really is an empty cat food box. I'm planning a little altering project and have got the box on my desk in readiness. However, this one needs lot's of thought before I get to work on it. Don't be surprised to see this box still in residence and looking just the same next week. Perhaps I could make a weekly feature of it!

Today it's Tilda time!

I am able to declare that I finally 'get it' about Tilda's: they are beautifully drawn and a real joy to colour. This little cutie is 'Tilda unwrapped'.

My plan is to use her for a birthday card, but she'd also work great on a Christmas card with a festive colour combo.Here she is at a very early stage in colouring. I've just used Ivory and Vanilla Promarkers to start colouring her skin. Love those socks!

I also want to share the finishing touches that I added to the card from my previous post. Does anyone else photograph; post a card and then think 'Mmmmmmmmm, still not quite right' and add a little something extra?

The addition on this occasion was violet Versacolour ink daubed through a scrap of sequin waste.

I'm really pleased with the effect that this technique gives as it improves the balance of the card.

Thanks for dropping by, now it's my turn to go WOYWW visiting!

Happy crafting everyone!