Birthdays ...

Hi,

It was my friends birthday last week and I'm going to see her tomorrow so I started to make her a cake and I managed to burn the motor out on my electric mixer, there was smoke coming out of it!  Never mind it's done a good job - I've had it about 10 years and it was only a basic on that cost about £5!!

 So I've had to mix by hand which has made my arm sore and swap from chocolate frosting to chocolate ganache - big shame!!

Anyway here's the card I made for her birthday:

I'm quite pleased with the way this came out.  The digi is from Digi Stamp Boutique, and the papers are from one of the new stacks I've bought. These are First Edition - Sweet Owl, so so cute.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Lollipop Crafts - Flowers in Bloom
Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes
Lexis Creations - Happy Birthday
Reasonable Ribbon - Flowers and Ribbon
Freshly Brewed - Pop It
Digi Stamp Boutique - Customer Images
Bunny Zoe - Girls, Girls, Girls
Everybody Art Challenge - Sketch


Thanks for looking!

Julie xx

Birthday Girl

Hi,

I've had a busy weekend, yesterday we had our first WI cake stall, we did great and could have easily sold twice as much!

Today we've been to a birthday party for my friend's two year old, which was in a children's gym.  My two had a great time and have had a nice early night tonight!!!

Here's the card I made for Dot - the birthday girl.

I got a new pad of paper on my outing to The Range this week and I've used it here for Dot's card.  It's by Grace Taylor, and is called Playtime (and it was only £9.99 for 100 sheets!).  It's perfect for children's cards!

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Craft Your Passion - Use Die Cuts and Punches
Our Creative Corner - Butterflies
Paper Sundaes - Let's Get Cute
My Grafico - Fun and Games
Ladybug Crafts Challenge - Shapes
Di's Digital Designs - Let's meet your animal friends
Sassy Cheryl's - Butterflies

Thanks for looking! Hope you have a great week!

Julie xx

Birthday Boy!

Evening!

Hope you're all good - I love Wednesday's as it's the end of my working week - WOOP WOOP!   I'm especially excited about a trip to The Range this week as I've been led to believe that they have a good craft section!!

Here's a card I made at the weekend for my friend's super-cute little boy Jake - he is one!

This bugaboo image is so cute - I'm going to use this for my little boy's birthday at the beginning of May!

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Everybody Art Challenge - Card for a Man
The Stamping Boutique - Anything Goes
Saturday Challenge - A Mans Card
Our Creative Corner - Boys and Their Toys
Sketch and Stash - Sketch (New Digi and Seam Binding / Old Papers)

Thanks for looking!  Enjoy the rest of your week!

Julie x

Christening Card

Hello!

I've got a nice evening of catching up blogging planned!

Today we've been to a lovely Christening for one of our friends little girl.  She is almost two and so looked so cute wandering around in her beautiful dress.

Here's the card I made for her:

Hopefully it's appropriate for a christening!

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Catch the Bug - Photo Inspiration - I loved all the yellow
Sketch Saturday - Sketch
Paper Sundaes - Anything Goes
Sundays With Chrissy - Favourite Colour Combo
Bunny Zoe - Ribbon or Twine

Thanks for looking!

Julie xx

Here comes the Easter Bunny

Morning Everyone!

Hasn't the weather been amazing this week?  I think I may have even got the tiniest hint of a tan!

Firstly I'd just like to say hello to my new followers: Joanne, Bunny, Sarah, Helen and Berit - thanks for stopping by my blog!

Today I want to share with you all my second design team project for the amazing Craft Your Days Away.

Our theme for this fortnight is Easter and we are sponsored this time by The Stamp Fairy who is giving $10 voucher to our lucky winner!

We don't normally give Easter cards in our family, for us Easter is generally all about the chocolate and getting together as a family - so instead I've made an Easter Basket for my lovely children. How cute are those little fluffy chicks! 

Although I suspect that I may need to help my children eat those eggs so they don't go off  / make a mess / make their teeth fall out / some other rubbish excuse to eat my children's chocolate.

I love my bee ribbon, so when I saw this honeycomb paper I knew I had to use them both!  To make the basket I found a tutorial here.  It's really simple to make.

I'd like to enter this into the following challenges:

Pollycraft - Chocklit
Sassy Cheryl's - Easter Parade
The Pixie Cottage - Cuddly Critters
Lexis Creations - Easter
Creative Craft Challenges - Anything But a Card
One Stop Craft Challenge - Easter
Allsorts - Photo Inspiration
Simply Create - Eggs or Bunnies

Anyway - thanks for looking - why not join us at Craft Your Days Away this fortnight for our Easter challenge - we'd love to see you there!

Julie xx

Hi Tweetie

Morning! 

It's my second and final week as a guest designer at For Fun Challenges.  Thanks for letting me be part of your team!


This weeks challenge is Buttons and we are sponsored by Clear Dollar Stamps and the amazing prize is a $15 gift code for digital images!

They have very generously let us choose a beautiful image to work with.  I chose Love Tweet Love and so here's my card:

How sweet is this image?  Although you'll have to forgive my "rustic" sewing as my new sewing machine has made it's début on this card.  I think I need a bit a lot more practice!  


The papers are a magazine freebie and the buttons are some I've had in my stash for a while now!  I've also used my favourite Stickles on the flowers and a couple of dabs of glossy accents on the beaks and heart.

Anyway it's time for me to go and have nose round to see what everyone has created.  It would be lovely if you joined us too!
 
Also I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Lollipop Crafts - Anything Goes
Freshly Brewed - Spring Fever
Paper Sundaes - Spring Blossoms
Stamping For the Weekend - Anything Goes
St Luke's Charity Card Challenge - Spring into Spring


Thanks for looking! 


Julie xx


(edited to add challenge entries!)

For Fun Guest Design - Western Theme

Morning!

Hope you're all having a good week so far!

The lovely people over at For Fun Challenges have let me guest design for them this week and next week!  Thanks!!!

This weeks challenge is Western and here's my card:

This cute little guy is from Bugaboo, the sentiment was done on my computer and I've distressed some Core-dinations card.  I was um-ing and ah-ing about what to embellish it with - I never seem to have anything good for guy type cards as the usual pearls and gems don't really work!  However I was thrilled when found these star shaped brads that I bought ages ago in a sale and had forgotten about.

I can't wait to see what other people have made - I love having a good old nose round other peoples blogs, and it would be great if you joined us this week too!

Thanks for looking!

Julie xx

Mothers Day

Hi,

It's been ages since I last posted a card - our whole house has had the lurgy over the last week or so, I'm much better but still only have half a voice!

Here's my latest card - its for my lovely Mother-in-Law for Mother's Day.

I love this little person dressed up as a Bee, it's a Birdie Brown image, if you don't have any of these images you really should pop over and check them out! I also love my new Bee ribbon it's so cute.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Cupcake Craft - Going Dotty
Papertake Weekly - One of the Girls  / Mum
One Stop Craft Challenge - Mother's Day + Ribbon
Lexis Creations - Mothers Day
Ladybug Challenge - Anything Goes
Card Mad Fairy - Mums the Word

Thanks for looking!  I'll probably be back later on to share with you all the card my little girl made this morning for her Grandma!

Julie xx

100th post!

Hi,

This is my 100th post!! You poor poor people having to put up with my ramblings for the last 100 posts! Thanks for sticking around and for all your help and comments - it means a lot.

Here's a birthday card I made earlier today:

How cute is this little girl on the swing. I had a go at paper piecing again for her top and hair band, it's such a great technique.

Sassy Cheryl - No Embossing
Everybody Art Challenge - Sketch
Allsorts - It's Your Choice
Our Creative Corner - Over the Edge (the flower and the shoes peeking over the the edge of the circle die)
My Grafico - Flowers
Ladybug Challenge - Spring is in the Air
Craft Your Days Away - Paper Piecing
Stamping for The Weekend - Bingo (Flowers, Die Cuts, Polka Dots - on her dress!)

Thanks for looking!

Julie

New Baby Girl

Evening!!

Is anyone else cold??  I'm frozen!

I just wanted to share with you all my first commission ... actually, calling it a commission sounds far to exciting. I was showing off the gift box I made the other week to people at work and one of my colleagues asked if I could make a card for her friend who is having a baby girl. So here it is:

The image is a new digi I bought especially for this card from the DigiStamp Boutique.  I also made a quick and simple tag to match it using the same image and pink scalloped circle as on the card with a quick eyelet and a spare piece of ribbon.

I've gone for some simple paper piecing - my new favourite technique!

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Pollycraft Monday - Favourite Things (Paper Piecing - my new favourite!)
Lollipop Crafts - Anything Goes
Passion for Promarkers - New Beginnings
Do You Stack Up - Ribbons
Saturday Challenge - Ribbons
Sketch N Stash - Free Choice Sketch  (Number 75! + New Digi) -


edited to add:  oops I forgot to add the picture of the sketch I used!! My Bad - sorry!

Thanks for looking!

Julie x

Love You!

Afternoon!

Hope your having a good weekend.  Today is the anniversary of my husband and I getting together.  We been together for 12 years now! So I've made him a card,  it was also a chance to use my new circle nesties!

I made the word love out some red wire I had hanging around.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Sew Many Cards -  Circles
Pollycraft Monday - Warm it up
Lollipop Crafts - Wing It
Cupcake Craft - All you need is Love
The Pixie Cottage - Love and Kisses
Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes
Allsorts - One or more hearts
Aud Sentiments - Use the Word Love
Di's Digital Designs - Valentines
Digi Stamp Boutique - Customer Competition

Thanks for looking!

Julie x

Wedding Bells

Evening All!

I made this card about a month ago for a wedding we went to.  I love weddings but I always end up crying as I'm such a big softy! This is another fine example of my rubbish photography, this time made worse by the fact I had only finished making it an hour before, was praying for the glitter glue to dry and rushing to take a picture before putting it in the envelope before heading off to the wedding!

The paper is really lovely, I picked it up randomly at a craft shop but you can't really see the pattern on it in the picture above but hopefully you can make out my lovely shimmery card.  This even worse picture below - does nothing for the card but shows up the pattern on the paper.

So if you use your imagination to put it all together hopefully you can see that it was actually a nice clean and simple card!

The digi image and the sentiment were both from Pink Petticoat.

I'm going to enter this into the following challenges!


Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes
Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes
Catch the Bug - Clean and Simple
Allsorts - Free and Easy
Bee Crafty - Wedding Wishes

Enjoy the rest of your evening, thanks for looking!

Julie x

Cake not Cards

Hi,

I've realised I've not posted for ages, years even.  I'm not sure how that happened - but I seem to have had fate conspiring against me (my camera broke so I couldn't take any pictures of the few cards I have made and given to people) and being busy with life in general. 

I've just finished my maternity leave and have returned to work after a massive 14 months off (lots of holidays to use!) and am finding balancing working (even just the three days a week I do!), managing home stuff with a 2.5 year old and a 1 year old and fitting in time to craft challenging to say the least. But I'll get there - after all one of the amazing things about being a woman is the innate ability to do more than one thing at a time!

Anyway in all the time I've been away my baby boy turned one.  So I thought I'd share a picture of his birthday cake with you all.  If nothing more so you can have a chuckle at my feeble attempts. 

It's a lion - just in case you were wondering!

And for those of you out there who need extra laughs, then I though I'd share with you pictures of the cupcakes I made for my little girl's 2nd birthday way back in September.  I'd like to title this collection "Something went wrong at the Zoo."

I'm starting to get back into making cards - and for some fresh inspiration I bought quite a few digital images from Heather Ellis' website here, some were only 50p each which is a bargain - so I recommend you take a look. Last night I printed out lots and lots of digis to colour in so I can make some cards, and tonight I've coloured four little fairies, which in my book is big progress.  I'll take some photos with my fancy new camera later on this week so you can see all my images.

Somehow, while I've been away I've got two new followers, so thanks very much for that and hello to Angels & Diamonds and Sandra!

Also I was wondering if anyone has seen any good deals on Nestabilities Circles and Scalloped Circles?  If so would you be so very kind as to leave me a comment!! 

Cheers for reading!!