Tuesday 29 December 2015

Papertake Winner...


Hello all, hope you've had a lovely Christmas. I've completely lost track of the days and as much as I enjoy the festivities I'm looking forward to getting back to normal now, I've eaten and drunk far too much as usual so wont be looking forward to getting on the scales next week!
 
Just a quick post tonight with my Papertake winner from the final challenge - drawn from my comments the winner is you Kanda. Well done, please email me your address to anne40@gmail.com
 
Have a fantastic New Year everyone, it's Joe's birthday on the 31st so we've always celebrated his birthday rather than New Year's Eve but he's 19 this time so will no doubt be out with his friends which will be a change for us - oooh the options, we'll probably end up staying in with a take away!! 
 
 
Anne xx

Tuesday 22 December 2015

Papertake Weekly - last ever challenge

 
Hello lovelies…

I can’t believe it’s over a month since I last did a post and that it’s Christmas in a few days, how did that happen?
 
What's going on with livewriter? I've tried to do this on 2 computers and it won't let me sign in. I'm just doing it as a new post  on blogger but it's not very user friendly

I’ve probably got lots to tell you but my main news is that I’m now a lady of leisure, whooo hoo! I was very sad to leave Lili of the Valley and the lovely team there but I decided after much umming and ahhing that at 50 and having worked full time since I left college at 18 that it was time for a break. We’ll see what the New Year brings but at the moment I’m planning to spend ridiculous amounts of time on my hobbies and catching up with friends and family. I’ve never not had a job so it might take some getting used to…  I’ll probably just waste the first month cuddling Manny and watching rubbish on the TV lol

You may have seen on Paper Take Weekly that this week is our last ever challenge which is very sad. It was THE first challenge blog and Dawny has done an amazing job to keep it so successful amongst probably 1000’s of others now
If you fancy joining in, the final challenge is to choose one of your favourite PTW challenges, any, since the very beginning  (so pretty much anything you want to make will fit in somewhere!) We are sponsored by Simon Says Stamp and the girls on the team are also adding a little prize each of their own. I have a Marianne die as my prize so if you are entering the challenge leave me a comment on here letting me know and I’ll draw a winner on the 29th when the challenge closes
 


I chose Pretty Pastels as my favourite theme, I love using pastel colours on my cards and this is the card I've made for Jess’s 21st…
 


I cut the big numbers using my Cricut and the cute image is ‘saddle up’ from LOTV. The papers are from their Pastel Dreams and Up, Up & Away pads which are no longer available (sorry!)
It’s 8x8 which is bigger than I usually make but I was pleased with how it turned out – you can’t really see on the pic but there are quite a few layers and foam pads. I don’t often use sequins either but really liked them and will use them again
 
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Hope you like it, check out what the rest of the team have done on the Papertake blog and all the details are on there too
I’d just like to say a quick thanks to my lovely friend Dawny for all the work she’s put into Papertake Weekly, it takes a lot of commitment to run a challenge and I know she’s been up against it the last few months. We’re all sorry to see it finish and I’m sure the crafters will be too but it's better to go out while you’re still on top I think! 

Don’t forget to leave me a comment to be in the prize draw!


I'll have no excuse to not catch up with all your blogs in the New Year but until then have a wonderful Christmas everybody


 

Monday 16 November 2015

Any Image Challenge…

 

 

Hello everyone, thanks for stopping by. I made a card this week for the Ribbon Girl challenge that is completely different for me. I needed an 80th Birthday card for a special lady and the style I usually make just didn’t cut it -  I took some inspiration from the fabulous Kathy because her cards are exquisite

It's a USE ANY IMAGE anything goes challenge and I was so carried away using all the gorgeous Ribbon Girl goodies that I just realised I didn’t actually use an image …ooops, sorry Mary and Andrea! 

(you are supposed to) …use an image, it can be any of your choosing and we hope to see all types of projects including cards, boxes, gift boxes, candles etc

This challenge will run for 2 weeks ending at 9pm on Saturday 29th November. All the details are on the Ribbon Girl blog as well as some gorgeous cards from the team – and, there will be 3 winners chosen at random from the entries

 

November

 

There’s quite a long list of supplies, here’s what I used from the Ribbon Girl; 25mm cream cotton lace, tulle, stickles, pink and ivory button twine, 3mm and 5mm flat back pearls, rhinestone self adhesive butterflies and dragonflies, teardrop ivory pearlised pins, ivory 10mm and 20mm open roses, tiny pale pink rosebuds

…and here’s everything else; LOTV/Raspberry Road Always & Forever papers, Noor border die, Spellbinders rose creations die, Spellbinders oval and scalloped oval dies, Memory Box foliage die

There are a few things I would do differently next time but all in all I’m pretty pleased with it and will definitely make another. Kathy uses lots of pearl flourishes so that’s something I need to get as they are a lovely finishing touch

I’m curious to know what you think so leave a comment if you have a minute, I love to read them

Enjoy your week crafters

 

 

Thursday 5 November 2015

Jack Russell…

 

 

Hello everyone, Jess has been home this week so we’ve been Christmas shopping today. I’ve already got quite a few things online so that’s me just about done. I hate going to town when it’s busy so always try to start early and ordering things to be delivered is my idea of perfect shopping! I love it when the postman comes with parcels even if they’re not for me (although there are usually a few crafty bits sneaked in amongst the gifts!!)

I always loved bonfire night but I’m glad we didn’t have anything planned tonight because it’s pouring down with rain here so I’ve watched the local fireworks out of the window. Manny is so funny, he’s very timid and runs a mile if someone coughs near him yet he is completely oblivious to all the bangs and flashes going off – they don’t bother him at all!

 

Onto the new challenge at Papertake Weekly and as it’s the first one of the month we have our usual…

Anything Goes

…our optional extra is to make a gift for Christmas but remember this is only an option. I would usually have jumped at the chance to do a Christmas gift because I got a new cracker die but I couldn’t resist this week making a card with one of the new Lili of the Valley ‘Little Critter’ stamps. You are going to love this new release, Little Folk and Little Critters are great value for money with 2 images and some sentiments on the stamp for just £4.50 – and they are SO cute! They are launched on the website next week and a limited number can be bought at the NEC if you are going this week

This adorable image on my card is Jack Russell…

 

Nov 03 - Anything Goes

 

I used Butterfly Kisses papers which are my favourite green and pink colour combination

It’s a Creative Expressions embossing folder and there are a few dies… Marianne (fence) Lawn Fawn (sentiment) Spellbinders (circle & scalloped circle) and Memory Box (clouds & butterflies)

The lovely gems are Papermania

 

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Hope you like it, you can see all the details for the challenge and some inspiration from the team on the Papertake blog and there’s a Lili of the Valley voucher up for grabs for the lucky winner this week

 

Enjoy the rest of your week crafters, thanks for stopping by

 

 

Sunday 25 October 2015

All About The Base…

 

 

Evening crafters, Sunday again and it doesn’t seem like 2 minutes since I was sat here doing last weeks post…

…the clocks went back in the UK this weekend so it was dark just after 5 tonight and I don’t feel like doing much else other than getting snuggled up on the sofa in front of Strictly. Wasn’t Jay’s pulp fiction jive AMAZING by the way? as you can see from my blog name learning to jive has been top of my bucket list for many years and I live in the hope that one day I’ll persuade Keith to go along with me to a class. My favourite to date was Jill Halfpenny and her partner Darren Bennett a good few years ago although Darcey Bussell did a very elegant version (she would wouldn’t she!) with Ian Waite, I just love watching them

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Onto this weeks challenge at Papertake Weekly and it’s…

All About The Base

…so this week we want to see different shaped base cards – anything at all that you want, apart from a square

There’s a lovely Ribbon Girl voucher up for grabs for the lucky winner and as always some inspiration from the team to get you started

ten-pound-gift-voucher

You can enter and also find all the details for the challenge on the Papertake Weekly blog

 

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I used a Craftwork Cards base for this (I think it’s called ‘elegant’) and I used Lili of the Valley Always & Forever papers and the Wedding Couple image which is available either as a stamp or in the True Love Art Pad

 

Oct 20 - All about the base

 

We’re going to a wedding next weekend so this is for the happy couple, I made a lovely box to match and the sentiment is done on the computer

The bow die is Doohickey and the heart string is Penny Black – I also added some of favourite tulle from the Ribbon Girl which adds a lovely bit of texture

Hope you like it, thanks as always for your comments and enjoy your Sunday evening everyone

 

 

Sunday 18 October 2015

Two by Two…

 

 

Hello lovely crafters, are you having a nice weekend? I hope so, they just go too quickly don’t they!

I’ve been getting the garden cut back because it’s the last brown bin next week, we’ve been to the tip twice too – I think it would be a good idea to put on an extra collection at this time of year before it finishes for the Winter, I always have so much waste when I’m cutting everything back. The garden looks very dull, I love it when it’s full of flowers! But, I’m thinking more time for crafting now the weather has changed so that’s got to be good!!

There is still time to enter the challenge at Papertake Weekly and this week it’s…

Two By Two

…please use 2 images or 2 papers or 2 different types of embellishments… or you may have your own interpretation!

We have a lovely prize from…

The Hobby House

 

…and as always there is some fabulous inspiration from the girls on the team

You can find all the details on the Papertake blog

 

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I went with 2 Lili of the Valley products for my ‘2’…

…I used a stamp and some of their lovely papers

 

Oct 13 - Two by Two

 

This cute image is Annabel playing tennis and the papers are from the Up Up & Away/Pastel Dreams collection

I coloured Annabel and cut it out, then shaped and stuck her on with some pinflair to give it a bit of dimension. I cut and added the ball separately

The lovely gems and velvet ric rac are from the Ribbon Girl

 

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Enjoy your evening everyone, Keith has just gone to collect his Sunday takeaway but I’m being good and having slimming world curry – not as nice but I’ll be glad tomorrow when I get weighed! 10lbs lost so far and I have the 1 stone award in my sights so I’m feeling quite strong at the moment

Then it’s Downton and Homeland – lovely jubbly!

 

Tuesday 13 October 2015

Happy New Year!

 

 

Hey everyone, thanks for stopping by…

There’s another EVERYTHING GOES WITH AN IMAGE challenge over on the Ribbon Girl blog this week and it’s nice and easy because it’s everyone’s favourite ‘anything goes’ theme!

As usual there are two fabulous prizes, there is is a stamp of the winners choice from our Lili of the Valley and a £10 voucher from The Ribbon Girl towards a shopping spree in their store (the winner is chosen at random)

 

The Design Team have created some lovely projects as always to give you some inspiration, their work and all the details for the challenge can be found on the Ribbon Girl blog 

 

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I used one of the new Lili of the Valley ‘Calendar Fairies’ there is one for each month of the year and if you buy all 12 at the moment you get a fabulous FREE ‘Months & Seasons’ sentiment set

 

October

 

This is January Fairy and I made a Happy New Year Card. The star border die is from Noor and I used some lovely goodies from the Ribbon Girl store;

Celery green ruffle edge sheer ribbon

Silver glitter mesh ribbon

5mm self adhesive crystals

2mm self adhesive crystals

Stickles glitter glue

 

Hope you like it, I’ll be back in a few days with my Papertake Card  - thanks as always for your comments I love to read them x

Have a good week everyone

 

 

Friday 2 October 2015

Looking forward to the weekend…

 

 

Hey everyone, hope you are all well

I’m off work today, I’m leaving for Chester shortly for a lovely crafty weekend with some of my favourite people and I can’t wait! I’m still going to Slimming World, I put a bit back on over my holiday and then lost it so I’m about 8lbs down overall which is ok – steady away!! I’ve just had a pain au chocolate for my breakfast though, don’t think that’s on the eating plan!! I’ve been really good all week because I knew I would completely blow it this weekend so hopefully if I can stay the same weight over the week I’ll be happy. Things have been a bit hectic recently at both work and home, my holiday seems so long ago now and will be nice to just relax and spend some time crafting, eating, drinking, chatting…

OK, onto the new challenge at Papertake Weekly and it’s time for another

Take Your Pick

I love these challenges, there is so much you can do - the last challenge of every month has several themes and you simply take your pick from them - you can use any one or combine them

Here are this month’s  themes  -

Colour -
Autumnal ie reds, browns, golds, oranges etc

Technique - Embossing either heat, dry or simply embossing a die or using an embossing folder

Product – Distress Inks

Sketch - Sketch #105

 

I cheated a bit this week, this is an old card that I made a while ago for the LOTV shop but I don’t think I ever showed it on my blog so it fits perfectly with the Autumn Colours theme…

 

PTW Sept 29 Autumn Colours

 

I used one of the Art Pad images, these are so useful if you want a quick card and this is sunflower image is from Beautiful Blooms

The sentiment is from the Handwritten Phrases, a set I use a lot

The papers are K&Co, I cut the tiny flowers from the design on the paper and used them as embellishments. I had a bit of a phase stitching my cards last year but I haven’t done it for a while, I noticed I have on here and I like the effect. It’s finished with some distress stickles and a nice piece of cotton lace from the Ribbon Girl

You can find all the details for the challenge on the Papertake Blog as well as some fab inspiration from the girls on the team

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Hope you like my card today,thanks as always for stopping by and for your comments

Have a great weekend crafters xx

Saturday 26 September 2015

It will soon be here…

 

 

Hello lovely crafty friends, thanks for stopping by

It’s the weekend again already and my holiday seems so long ago…  I need to spend some time clearing my garden before the weather changes. The bedding plants had a slow start this year but they turned out lovely and I’ll be sad to throw them away. I love it when the garden is full of flowers, always such a shame when the last of them go in the brown bin!

We’re well on with the move at Lili of the Valley, the building we are in is lovely but is really too big for our needs so we’re moving to a smaller office on the same site and also opening a new coffee shop. It’s all still in the pipeline but Lisa and Laila are hoping to hold some craft events in there now we no longer have the shop so watch this space! Make sure you’re signed up for the Lili of the Valley newsletter and keep an eye on the website for more news

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As if we need reminding that the year is disappearing in the blink of an eye our new challenge at Papertake Weekly is…

It Will Soon Be Here

…of course we’re talking about Christmas so your entry this week can be anything festive

I used some of the new Lili of the Valley Trio sets to make 3 little mini cards. I adore these useful stamps and they have been so popular that we just can’t keep up with demand for them. They are back in stock now if you’re waiting, we’re so pleased that you love them as much as we do

 

Sept 22 - Christmas

Sept 22 - Christmas 1

Sept 22 - Christmas 2

Sept 22 - Christmas 3

 

These are 4” square cards and I used Simple Joys papers

Just finish with a sentiment, some gems and a couple of poinsettias and you’re done. I like this Marianne poinsettia die, a lot of them on the market are too big for my taste so I use this a lot. Of course there is tulle and stickles on there too, I don’t think I ever make a card without either and you can get them both (as well as the gems) from the Ribbon Girl

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Full details for the challenge are on the papertake blog, there is a fab prize as always and some inspiration from the team

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Enjoy your weekend everyone

 

Sunday 13 September 2015

Ribbon Girl – Everything Goes with an Image

 

 

 

Hello crafters, hope everyone is ok and thanks for stopping by

We had a lovely break in Zante, it was very hot and since we came back I’ve noticed the change in the weather here – it’s definitely feeling Autumnal which is hard to believe! How did it get to September already? I think I must have missed a few months somewhere. X Factor and Strictly are back which means my Saturday nights are taken care of until Christmas    …much to Keith’s disgust, he hates reality TV ha!

Joe is back from India, he had an amazing experience after getting upset and wanting to come home the first week! I don’t think he was prepared for the poverty and hardship he saw and he really got attached to some of the children at the school they were helping in. They really had nothing and he couldn’t understand how they could be so happy, I think once he realised that he couldn’t compare their lives with his because they didn’t know any other way then he enjoyed it more. I sent him a box of crafty goodies over by courier which they loved, it cost me a bloomin’ fortune and I was so mad with myself because he only took about half his weight allowance. We could have filled his case with things when he went but it never crossed my mind at the time. He said it was all much appreciated, especially the huge chalks which I got from Hobbycraft so they could draw outside – he said they loved doing that, and loom bands too which were all the craze here last Summer!

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It’s time for another ‘Anything Goes with an Image’ challenge at the Ribbon Girl and as usual we have two fabulous prizes, the first is a stamp of the winners choice from Lili of the Valley and there’s also a £10 voucher from The Ribbon Girl

 

You can use any image you like so it’s a nice easy challenge and it doesn’t have to be a card – we love to see cards, boxes, tags, layouts… in fact projects of all kinds!

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I had to make a card for my elderly neighbour so didn’t want a cute image this time and I used a lovely topper from the Lili of the Valley English Charm Art Pad (wish my wisteria looked like that, it’s been in 5 years and never had a flower!!)

 

September

 

I wasn’t thrilled with this card and when I was halfway through making it and it nearly went in the bin. I love these Hot of the Press ‘Rosemary & Thyme’ papers but thought they were maybe a bit too heavy for the image I’d used. It was too late to make another though as I had to get it delivered so I carried on and once the flowers and sentiment were on it didn’t look as bad. I’m still not 100% sure about it though so I’m interested to know your thoughts.

The sentiment is Lili of the Valley from Set 7 and of course I used lots of gorgeousness from the Ribbon Girl store;

17mm Laila white vintage style lace

Stardust stickles

Tulle

Flatback pearls

 Cherry blossom (lilac/white)

 Sweetheart blossom (white)

Rose leaves

Princess pin (Green)

 Bead string (3mm ivory)

 

Aa always the details for the challenge and some fabulous Inspiration from the team can be found on the Ribbon Girl blog

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I’m hoping it’s going to be a bit brighter today and then I can get my garden cut back. It doesn’t seem like 2 minutes since I was putting my bedding plants in but they’re looking a bit ‘back endish’ now and I don’t think I’ll get much longer out of them. I got some chrysanthemums from QVC for the Autumn but I’m very disappointed with them as they are still quite small, maybe it’s still a bit early for them?

Enjoy your Sunday everyone whatever you’re up to xxx

 

Sunday 23 August 2015

To Die For…

 

 

Hey everyone, what you been up to this weekend? Today has been lovely but about an hour ago it went black and has been pouring down ever since. We’re going to Zante on Wednesday, it’s a bit of a last minute booking as we weren’t planning on going abroad this year after 2 expensive holidays last year… but we decided to sneak off for a bit of sun while Joe is away! Jess skidded her car into a wall last week during a downpour (about 2 days after we paid it off for her 21st birthday) She’s ok but a bit shaken up so we’re just waiting to hear from the insurance if it’s a write off, we’re really hoping they can repair it as she’s only had it about 3 months. It’s been one thing after another with her this year!

Time for another challenge at Papertake Weekly and this week it’s…

To Die For

…all you need to do is to include a die cut somewhere or you could make your base card from a die

We have a lovely prize up for grabs from Mary & Andrea at The Ribbon Girl

 

ten-pound-gift-voucher

 

This was a nice easy week for me, I use dies on all my cards...

 

 

I used Pastel Dreams papers for the backing layer and then cut the little house out of some scraps – I punched a heart in the centre and then stuck it on with foam pads. The sentiment is done on the computer and the clouds are memory Box  (so useful, I use these cloud dies a lot)

I put the line of stamped hearts on and then thought I’d made a mistake but it was too late, maybe it didn’t need them?

Last thing is to go around the edges with some stickles.

You can see what the DT have done this week and find all the details for the challenge on the Papertake Weekly blog

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Let me know what you think, your comments are always welcome and I’m hoping to try and visit all your blogs while I’m away and have some time to myself.

My Slimming World journey is going quite well so far, week 1 was 4lb off and another 4lb week 2 so I was pleased with that. I’m just mad with myself for not starting sooner, I was trying on some holiday clothes today and they are a bit snug for comfort! I’ll have to make do though because I’m not buying any more just for one week when it will be another year before they come out again!

Enjoy your Sunday evening crafters

 

Wednesday 12 August 2015

Spots or Stripes…

 

 

Evening crafty friends, what are you up to tonight?

We’ve just had a Slimming World Chicken Kiev and chips for tea which was really quite nice. I enjoy cooking so adapting recipes to make them syn free is fun for me, there are hundreds on the internet too so at the moment I’m quite keen. Thinking of my shorts being tight for my holiday in 2 weeks is keeping me going. I’ve been here before though…  too little too late that’s me!!

I have a card to share for this week’s challenge at Papertake Weekly and our theme is…

Spots & Stripes

Nice and simple, all you need to do is to include them somewhere on your work

We have a lovely prize up for grabs this week from the Hobby House and as always there is some inspiration from the team

 

 

You can’t really tell from the picture but this is a big card for me, 8 x 8 square. Joe is 18 and a few of his friends are having 18th birthdays so I’ve made a few like this recently…

 

 

August 11th - Spots or Stripes

 

The papers are Lili of the Valley Pastel Dreams and Up, Up & Away

This cute image is Annabel Texting, I used the Here Comes Annabel Art pad but she’s also available as a stamp

It’s quite an easy card, I cut the letters and numbers on my cricut and just layered them on foam pads. The character is shaped round an embossing tool and then stuck with pinflair so she’s almost 3d

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Hope you like it, thanks as always for your comments – I will try and catch up on all your blogs as soon as I can

Enjoy the rest of your Wednesday, I’m just watching Bake Off although nothing on there is very Slimming World friendly!!

 

 

Sunday 9 August 2015

Ribbon Girl Challenge…

 

 

Good morning crafty friends, thanks for stopping by today

Time for the monthly EVERYTHING GOES WITH AN IMAGE challenge at the Ribbon Girl (they have a fabulous challenge every week but this is my team)

It’s a lovely easy challenge because you can use any image and we hope to see all types of projects and not just cards!

As usual we have two fabulous prizes, the first is a stamp of the winners choice from Lili of the Valley and also a £10 voucher from The Ribbon Girl towards a shopping spree in their gorgeous store

The winners are picked at random too so why not have a go – you’ve got to be in it to win it!

As usual the DT have created lovely projects to inspire you, their examples and all the details for the challenge are on the blog - and all the goodies they and I have used can be found in The Ribbon Girl online store

I had some colouring to do for a magazine which has taken me forever so I used a topper for this one, they are so fab when you’re short of time. This cutie is from the Here Comes Annabel Art Pad and the sentiment is from the Handwritten Phrases set

 

August

 

Here’s everything I used; 35mm Amelia vintage style cotton ivory lace, 6mm green sequins, 15mm pink organza, natural hemp twine, charm, stickles

This Amelia lace is just gorgeous and they have a HUGE selection of charms

 

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Have a great Sunday everyone, I’m going to Costco now to buy an actifry! We usually go there for one thing and end up spending £300!!

 

 

Friday 7 August 2015

India and Torn Edges…

 

 

Good morning everyone, hope you are all well? 

I had a busy week, as most of you will know now we closed the Lili of the Valley shop at the weekend. We are moving premises shortly and unfortunately won’t have room for a shop at the moment. We have a lot of work in the next couple of months getting packed up but there are exciting things ahead! There were some fantastic bargains to be had on Saturday which was our last day so if you got some of the half price dies lucky you!!

Joe has gone off to India for 5 weeks. They are staying with his friends Father over there so I know he’s safe and they will be doing some volunteer work at a school. Joe is a lovely boy but like all teenagers these days he’s quite lazy and selfish, not having the latest iphone is the biggest worry he has! I think it will do him good to see that not everyone has the same comfortable life, he’s very friendly and likes meeting people so i think he will enjoy it and I’m hoping that as well as having an amazing adventure he might come home having grown up a bit!

I watched the flight on Sunday on the radar, it’s absolutely fascinating and I was glued to the laptop for most of Sunday watching the journey…

flight 2flight 4 

 

Onto Papertake Weekly and as it’s the first challenge of the month we have our usual

Anything Goes

…this month’s optional extra is to add torn edges

Remember this is only an option to add a bit of variety so if you don’t want to do that you don’t have to

The first challenge of the month is sponsored by Lili of The Valley
and we have a £10 voucher as this weeks prize

 

I used one of the new Lili of the Valley Christmas stamps, this cutie is called Skiddy Skates. The sentiment is from the Christmas Wishes set and papers from the ‘Twas the Night (which is out of stock at the moment but will be back next week)

 

August 4th - Anything Goes Torn Paper

 

You can’t really see on the picture but I did tear the edges of the papers!

The snowflakes were cut with my one of my favourite Cheery Lynn dies and it’s just finished with some gingham ribbon and gems from the Ribbon Girl – this is quite an easy card

Oh, and the oval dies are tonic

Hope you like it. You can see all the details for the challenge and some lovely inspiration from the team over on the Papertake blog

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PS. Debra, when you asked about which yellows I use I wrote them down straight away intending to reply and I just found the post-it stuck to my desk with the list of colours!

I’m so sorry for ignoring your questionSad smileThe yellows I use are Copics Y17, 15, 13 and 11 or Promarkers sunflower, tulip, buttercup and ivory. I think the Tilda card you asked about was coloured with Copics

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It’s Friday already and the forecast is good for us here in Yorkshire – have a lovely weekend everyone wherever you are! I’ll be back on Sunday with the Ribbon Girl challenge

 














Thursday 30 July 2015

Holly Angel…

 

 

Hello everyone, I hope you are having a nice week so far

We went to see Jess last night, it was her 21st birthday so we took her out for a lovely meal. It’s a long drive there and back but we couldn’t let her birthday pass without seeing her – I can’t quite believe she’s 21!

She’s just started back at work after her accident, she’s on light duties for a while until she builds up the strength in her arm and she’s hoping to ride again in a couple of weeks. We arrived to a visitor in her flat, she found a tiny injured duckling and took it home with her – it was so cute and fluffy. It looks like a bird attacked it because it’s poor little leg was damaged, they cleaned it up and put a bandage on it. She put him in the sink and he was swimming ok so hopefully he’ll recover. There is a rescue centre in Malton which is not too far so she was going to ring them today and see if they would take him, he’s only very young so wouldn’t survive on his own

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Time for another challenge at Papertake Weekly and it’s Take Your Pick week

The last challenge of every month has several themes and you simply take your pick from them
There’s a sketch, a colour theme, a product theme and a technique theme to choose from

You can use any theme and if you want to or you can combine two or more

The themes for July are  -

Colour

Blue & green  – either or both

Technique

Make or include a tag

Product

Use lace

Sketch

Sketch #103

But don’t forget as always,  if you would prefer to use another sketch, then please feel free to use any Papertake Weekly sketch you fancy

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I chose to go with the new sketch and I used one of the new Lili of the Valley Christmas stamps that are launched tomorrow along with the gorgeous Calendar Fairies

I love these wavy sentiments but I wasn’t happy with this on here so I’m going to change it for one of the Handwritten Phrases which I think will look better. I’ll swap the picture when I’ve done it but just ran out of time

 

July 28 - Sketch 103

 

Apologies for the rubbish picture, my laptop died and I lost my recent albums so this was a quick one with my phone in not very good light! Thankfully because it’s been on the blink for a while I had most of my documents backed up but I still think I lost a lot of stuff, it was a Sony Vaio and they don’t make them any more – I’ve had it years and its been fabulous so I’m sad to see it go

This stamp is called Holly Angel, a really lovely image for your Christmas cards I think – not too cute. To save time I paper pieced her dress, the papers are from the Simple Joys pad and I cut it out with a Spellbinder pierced square die

The lovely little cross stitched edging border is a new die (what another??) from a set by Lawn Fawn, I’m loving the American dies that are finding their way over here and I’ve bought far too many recently. The poinsettias are Marianne and the pine branches are Doo Hickey

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You can find all the details for the challenge on the Papertake Weekly blog well as some lovely inspiration and details of this weeks prize which is sponsored by Simon Says Stamp

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Enjoy your evening crafters, it’s Thursday already and another week is nearly over – they just fly by don’t they!

 

Tuesday 21 July 2015

Build It Up!

 

 

 

Evening all, I have another card to share because it’s time for a new Papertake Weekly challenge

This week it’s a nice one…

BUILD IT UP!

…so, we don’t want to see any flat cards, lots of lovely layers is the way to go!

There’s a fabulous Ribbon Girl voucher for our lucky winner and as always some great inspiration from the girls to get you started

 

ten-pound-gift-voucher

 

 

I sat for ages with these new Landscape Art pads from Lili of the valley, I didn’t have any any ideas at all for using them so I put them to one side for a couple of weeks. The next time I picked them up I made about 6 cards and really liked them all. They’re a bit different, not what I would usually use but I think they’ll be really useful for cards when ‘cute’ just won’t do

 

This one is inverted layers, just cut the images with different sizes of squares and then layer the apertures with foam pads

I did the sentiment on the computer and then tucked it in between the layers

 

July 21st - Build It Up

 

A few die cut clouds and some distress stickles and it’s done. Quite a simple card for me but I was pleased with how it turned out

 

july 2 

   july4

july 3

 

Hope you like it, you can see full details for the challenge on the Papertake Weekly blog

Enjoy your Tuesday evening, I’m just watching the obsessive cleaners in the dirty old Country houses – love it!