Getting girly with Mami Doodles!

Hello everyone, did we all enjoy the Royal Wedding? I grabbed the best seat in the house, on the sofa next to the cat, and have to say that I enjoyed it all big time!
It's Challenge #25 over at Sweet Mami Doodles, and how kind of the lovely Elisa to let me choose the theme of 'Let's get girly'. Originally, I had a completely different card planned... until Elisa sent me this sweet digi, called 'Girly Girl'.

I decided to paper piece her using Basic Grey papers. I think the knack with paper piecing is to go for a patterned paper that is in proportion to the image. That sweet spotty paper worked very well.
I cut an additional arm, plus an additional head and front part of the hair to give a good result. Then I added oodles of girly Stickles and bling! Mami Doodles now has a new store meaning that it couldn't be easier to check out the full range of lovely images available. Why not head on over to the Mami Doodles blog to see the gorgeous DT inspiration and link up with the challenge? A very big thank you to Elisa and the girls for having me on board this month - it's been great fun!
Happy crafting everyone!

And the lucky winner is....

Hi there!

First of all a very BIG thank you to everyone who left a comment on my Blog Candy post - you are so sweet.

The winner was chosen by my version of a random number generator (hubby picked a number). And that winner is Carrie from Carrie on Carrie!!!!

Congratulations Carrie. Please email your address and I can get your goodies in the post. I can't wait to see what you create with that yummy Hero Arts stamp!!!

Thanks again to you all for your good wishes, welcome to some new followers and big, Blogoversary hugs all round!!!

Hoppy Easter and a Blog Candy alert!

Hello everyone, I hope that you are all having a lovely Easter Sunday.

As you can see sweet Warren from Craftworks is playing the Easter Bunny on this card that I made for my Mom and Dad. These images are so cute and they virtually colour themselves! The blue spotty paper and yellow card are both from Stampin' Up!

That sweet ribbon is from my first purchase over at The Ribbon Girl - it certainly won't be the last time I shop there! Check out The Ribbon Girl's fabulous Easter Giveaway here, you'll be glad you did!

I tried to make a cute banner like the one that Kristina Werner made on Friday. Kristina makes everything look sooooo effortless... me, I need to practice!!!

I can't believe how quickly my second Blogoversary has come around - where did the last year go to???

Anyhoo, it's time for a little candy for everyone who follows and visits my blog. Thank you so much for visiting and for leaving such kind and encouraging comments - you rock!

Here's the candy:

Isn't that big Hero Arts stamp a beauty?

All you have to do is leave a comment on this post. If you want to spread the word about the candy that would be great, but it's by no means essential! I'm happy to post abroad and plan to draw a winner on Thursday evening.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend, and don't eat too much chocolate!

Music saves my soul Saturday!

Morning gang, I'm rushing around doing Easter things but wanted to say 'hi'!

I thought I'd share this pretty song that some of you may recognise from a recent Toyota advert.

Drop by at Marcea's blog for more musical fun!

I'll be back with a card and details of my Blogoversary candy tomorrow!

See yah!!!

Sweet Bridget

Here's sweet Bridget in her bath once again... that lady certainly likes to relax!

I won't share all the retirement cards that I'll be making featuring Bridget, but I thought I'd share this one as it's so bright and cheery!

I used this cute sketch from Allsorts Challenge Blog Week #99. As you can see I rotated it slightly!

I really enjoyed playing with those bright colours from the Basic Grey Lime Rickey pad.

This week the SCSC gang are asking for stitching on your card for Challenge #130. I haven't managed to play along at SCSC for a few weeks so it'll be good to link up with the girls once again.

I'm entering this card for the current Samuel Taylor challenge which is 'Distressing', and also the ABC Challenge 'Sugar and Spice' as Bridget has both in equal measure!

Happy birthday to Sir Stampalot who are celebrating their 1st birthday with the April Challenge 'Ladies and fashion'. Finally, I'm linking up with a Passion for Promarkers as this week their theme is 'Make your own embellishments'. Hope the flowers and the ticket, which I printed on my PC, fit the bill!

Happy crafting everyone, and enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

Just the ticket!

We are currently enjoying a mini-heatwave here in the UK! Hubby is basking on the patio, so I thought I'd sneak in and finish a card that I started yesterday. This one is an 'Early Retirement' card for a former colleague. I'll be making plenty of retirement/leaving cards over the next few weeks and months, as many of my colleagues are taking voluntary redundancy and leaving the council.

The image is a Kraftin' Kimmie stamp called Bridget. Isn't she fun?

I ordered Bridget and the Treasured Moments Ticket stamps from Bunny-Zoe Crafts.

I printed the sentiment on my PC and used a stamp positioner to line up the ticket image over the top. The papers are all scraps and as a result they have all lost their labels. I think they might be called Black Tie? The white spotty 'paper' is my favourite Hero Arts background stamp.

The lovely sketch for this card is from Sweet Sketch Wednesday and I'm playing along with CES Challenge #31 which is Monochromatic and The current ABC Challenge which is R is for Ribbon!

Have a happy Sunday everyone!

Happy, happy, happy!

Can you all hear me singing and whooping with joy as I skip around my house and garden????

For anyone who has been following my blog for a while (thank you, thank you) you will know that I've been studying for an Institute of Customer Services Award. I have just finished my last piece of work and couldn't be happier!!! If I could turn a cartwheel or walk on my hands I think I would... although it might scare Custard the cat.

OK, I've still got to present my coursework folder to my coach AND undertake the Oral, but I can't believe that I've completed everything else: HURRAY!

Sorry guys, but I just had to share the news. I did tell Custard, but as it didn't seem to involve extra biscuits or a comfier place to sleep he soon lost interest.

Here's a quick card share while I calm down:

This is the card that was at the 'finishing touches' stage on my WOYWW post. Luckily, I managed to save all of the paper from this card after a disastrous incident with the Versafine. I added a replacement coloured image.

Isn't this new Tilda sweet? She's called Tilda with flowerpot and I love her coat and boots!

However, I'm not too sure about how I added the sentiment though... it looks a bit clumsy.

Well folks, that's it for today. I'm off to skip around the house again now...

Happy crafting everyone, and have a great weekend!

WOYWW!

Hi WOYWW-ers,

I've got two pictures of my workdesk to share today.

This was the view this morning. A sad desk full of coursework (and my beloved sheep coaster).

I much prefer the afternoon desk... full of crafty fun!

This is a shot of some canny re-cycling following an unfortunate incident with a black ink pad and my Mami Doodles GDT card. After much weeping and wailing, I rescued what I could and re-used it. There was no way I was wasting that lovely Lime Rickey paper!

Happy Wednesday everyone, I'm heading over to Julia's blog to join in the fun!

Mami Doodles - Guest Designer for April

So who is the guest designer for April at Mami Doodles ???

Well that would be little old me!!!

I was delighted when Elisa from Mami Doodles got in touch a while ago. I am a big fan of her cute digi's and although I am up to my ears in coursework I just couldn't walk away from the chance to get creating with her sweet images.

This week the Mami Doodles challenge is 'Use a punch or a die cut'. As someone who just couldn't get by without her beloved Cuttlebug this one was a gift!

I've used one of my favourite Mami Doodles images: she's called Lil'Mimi at the beach. I just love her little tummy and windswept hair. Such a cutie!

The papers are Lime Rickey from Basic Grey and the gems are from Hero Arts. I wanted the card to shout Summer holiday so went for warm, bright colours.

Why not drop by at Mami Doodles to join in Challenge #23 and take a look at the regular DT girls gorgeous creations. You can find Elisa's shop here, just click on the thumbnails to see her full range.

Happy crafting everyone!