Some cute cupcakes!

I have been tempted to play along with a Mojo Monday challenge for some time. They celebrated 'Mojo turns 100' last week with a fabulous inspirational sketch every day.
I loved all of the sketches but was too busy to hit the craftroom. The Week 101 sketch really 'called' to me and as I am less busy now I decided to go for it and join the fun!

My first effort looked better without the snipped ribbon effect, so I added some gems and just went with it.

This is my second attempt, which is closer to the sketch.

Both cards have similar ingredients - Hero Arts Cupcakes Clear Stamp set, some Cuttlebugging, Stickles for added sparkle and Versacolour inking. I was inspired by Lucy's lovely colouring on kraft paper and decided to give it a go. It gives a very soft, muted effect and looks quite pretty.

...and here is the cutest cupcake of all: my beautiful niece at 3 months old. Is there anything as sweet as a baby taking a nap whilst wearing a fancy hat?

Her Mommy is still poorly, but we're all hoping that she will be able to leave hospital really soon.

I have just had a call from Hannah (my best friend's daughter) to tell me her GCSE exam results. She has done really well, especially in English and History. I am so proud of her!

It's been a while comma Crocodile!

How I wish I had added that comma to my little Croc card - I only realised it was missing after posting it on the Hero Arts Flickr group.

Last Thursday I got a text from my best friend Jacquie telling me that she was 'in the hood' and could drop by. She even had her kids, Hannah and Matthew (who I adore), with her. They were visiting their Grandma, who only lives a few miles from my house. What a shame that I was at work on the other side of the city!
Then Hannah called and I had to tell her that I wasn't home. She told me that was 'just rubbish' and I had to agree: not being able to see them really did feel 'just rubbish'.
On the Hero Arts blog last week Sally's challenge was to make a card for a friend and then 'mail it' to them. I decided to make this little card for Jacquie and the kids. The inside reads 'so let's get together... and make it snappy!'

I am on leave from work next week so plan to drive over to see them and catch up on all the fun and gossip! I will check that they are home first though.

Yesterday afternoon I discovered that I'd won the lovely green t-shirt that Sally was offering as a fun giveaway on her blog week. Woohoo and a Mexican wave!!! Well fancy that: a Hero Arts T-shirt and sweatshirt just 'washed-up' on California’s Doheny Beach on Friday. Thank goodness Sally (shown above) and Nancy were there to find them! So will they mail my shirt or send it in a bottle?

Finally I thought that I would share this cute little picture of Mr C.
Custard really does know that he shouldn't sit on the big blue bean bag, but it is oh so comfy and nobody else was using it at the time!

One little pink pig!

When I saw that the latest Caardvarks Challenge colours were pink, black and white I knew I had to play along!
I adore this little pig stamp from Stampin' Up! Elise created a totally wonderful card using this stamp, so I have had this little fellah on my mind for a while now.


I seem to be making alot of get well cards at the moment, so many of my friends and family seem to be poorly right now.
The pig is coloured with Vesacolour ink (Orchid pink) and the barcode stripes are from Daisy Bucket's Black Tie collection. The lovely swirly vellum is really old and I can't track down the details. The pink card is Swiss dots from Bazzil. The gems are from Papermania.

I will probably re-photograph this when the sun comes out as this isn't a very good picture.

There is a slight hint of Autumn in the air now. The fruit trees are heavy with apples and pears, the soft fruits look delicious and Custard is happy chasing the squirrels that have reappeared in the garden.
Enjoy the weekend!

Traveler's Inspiration challenge #5

Isn't this a wonderfully evocative picture taken by Tina's friend Katie while she was holidaying in Ireland?

I love the steely blue-grey of the river and the pink and green of the flowers.

My parents took many fishing holidays in Ireland before the 'Troubles'. They speak of Ireland with huge affection and have always said that the countryside was beautiful and the people warm and generous.

Here is my card, as you can see I went with the pink and green of the flowers and the white of the houses. The paper is S.E.I Kitty's place - Catnip. I love it, and am currently planning a card that uses the little kitty border that appears on another sheet. The chipboard shape is Maya Road and all the stamps are from Hero Arts. The teeny, tiny bling is from Papermania and I have added more gel pen then you could shake a glue stick at! (Bless you Kristina Werner, what did I do for finishing touches before you opened my eyes to the wonders of faux stitching?)

I have made this little card for my sister-in-law who is currently rather poorly. She had to be admitted to hospital a few days ago, but is back home now and seems to be improving.

I feel the need to give the Custard the Cat Worldwide Fan Club (Hi Elise!) an update on his recent exploits...

Two nights ago he had an encounter with a Kung-Fu mouse!

At first I thought that he was terrorising another frog, but it turned out to be a tiny grey mouse. This gutsy little fellah was repeatedly jumping at Custard. By the time I had run across the lawn Custard had backed off and was just sat looking at the mouse while it hopped up and down. He gave me a look as if to say 'aren't I supposed to be in charge here?' Needless to say the mouse escaped and Custard was left looking very confused and more than a bit embarrassed! I've promised not to tell any of his cat friends that he was outsmarted by a mouse...

A card for Emily

It's sunny today so this will have to be a quick post to share a little card that I made yesterday. This is for our friend's daughter Emily. When I saw this great little Manga girl stamp over at Sugar Nellie I knew that I just had to get it for Emily's birthday card.
I stamped the image and coloured it with Versacolour inks and watercolour pencils, then clear embossed it. The stamped flower background is made using an English Stamp Company image called flower power - it is much more visible in real life. I stamped the list of 'Emily qualities' using clear cling stamps from a Technique Tuesday girl themed set, and the bling is from Papermania.

I have many great 'Emily stories', but probably my favourite is when she came over to my house and was thirsty. I gave her a big glass of juice, but obviously gave her too much. I found her pouring it into one of my vases (full of dried grasses) because she was too shy to say she didn't want to drink it all!

Happy birthday beautiful, funny Emily!

Well, seeing as it's sunny I'm going back outside to enjoy the good weather. You'll be glad to hear that Custard is loving the sunshine and is having a great time chasing frogs!

A card with Custard on it!

I decided that today was going to be a crafting day. However, before I could start I had to do some housework and then take Custard to the vets for his jabs.
There was a small scuffle during which I successfully got Custard into his pet carrier. He doesn't like being in his carrier and started to howl. He continued to howl the whole way to the vets. I tried singing to him, but my 'We're going to the vets' themed remix of 'She'll be coming round the mountain' didn't seem to soothe him.

Thankfully he was very well behaved at the vets. He had his injections and his worming tablet, and then howled all the way back home. Custard has spent the rest of the day in a sulk by his catflap.

I spent the day making this card....

This Allnight Media stamp from their 'Cat's' set looked so like Custard that I couldn't resist substituting him for the little girl in the Sugar Nellie stamp. The papers are s.e.i: Kitty's place/ Cat walk and are really cute. The felt flowers are from Hero Arts and the white rick-rack is Bazzil's Just the edge cardstock.

Poor Custard has spent the last few weeks looking out of the window waiting for it to rain. At least today there has been some sunshine, what a shame sulky boy missed it!