Sneak peak - Humphrey!!!

Hiya Everyone,

I've hope you've all managed to get your hands on some of the new SWALK and Humphrey stamp sets that were launch by Crafters Companion yesterday. This sample is the last of my Humphrey ones to show you. Isn't she is little cutie? I coloured her in with my spectrum noir pens and added a little glossy accents to the chocolates. The papers are from a SWALK papers cd. I added a small chocolate charm to the ribbon which finished the card off nicely.

I've got a cardmaking workshop tomorrow 10-12 with craftwork cards stuff and after that I have a rather dull weekend of decorating which I am not looking forward to. We only have lots of bits and bobs to finish now and clear out all the decorating stuff and tools. I hope you all have a better weekend than I will.

Thanks for looking!!!

Paula. x

It's almost time!!! Another sneaky peek!!!

Hiya Everyone,

It's that that time again to share with you another sneak peek from the new Crafters Companion launch - this time it's a SWALK stamp called "Daydream believer". The gorgeous stamp has been coloured in with my fabby new spectrum noir pens and the papers are printed off the SWALK CD disc 2. I thought I'd go with a lilac and green colour combo as it's not one I've used in ages.

There are 6 new Humphrey and 6 new SWALK stamps and they are sure to be a sell-out!!!

To get your hands on them check out the Crafters Companion website later today and they will be on Create and Craft TV over the weekend. The stamp sets are £3.99 each but on the website they will be on a 3 for £10 offer (unsure if this offer will be on Create and Craft TV too)

I will enter this into the following challenges:-

Little Claires - Things with wings
Totally gorjuss - Punch or die cut
Lollipop crafts - Anything goes
Forever friends - Pastel colours (must include an animal - butterflies)
Hooked on crafts - Cute and cuddly
Make it monday - Anything goes
Paper playtime - Summer
Pink elephant - Fun in the sun
Simon say stamp and show - Anything goes
Stamp with fun - Friends
Anything goes challenges - Flowers
Craft room - Summer holidays
Karens doodles netherlands - Anything goes
Tip top tuesday - Make it girlie
City crafter - Photo inspiration
Amber's cards and stuff - Patterned papers
Divas by design - Summer is here
Flutterby Wednesday - Must include a butterfly, angel or fairy
Little darlings - Girly
Papercraft star - Anything goes
Stampavie and more - Summer
4 crafty chicks - Bling
Aud sentiments - Enjoy your day /make someone smile
CCEE stampers - Summer or winter
Digi doodles shop - Anything goes
Little miss muffett - Summer
Paperplay - In the garden

Thanks for looking!!!

Paula. x

Another little Humphrey - Sneak peeks!!!

Hiya everyone,

Sorry my post is a little late. I usually post it after midnight before I get in bed so it's already on for the moring but I was in bed a 9pm last night as I had a terrible migrane. I think it must be the heat as I certainly wasn't sat in the sun. I was putting doors back on and curtain up at the old house. There are lots of little jobs left now to do although it will be weekend till we tackle them again.

Anyhoo, this little cutie is another of the Humphrey stamps that are launching tomorrow - wow, this week's really flying! I coloured the image with my gorgeous spctrum noir pens and I printed the papers off the humphrey cd. I think this one is called "hugs for you" and it is so cute!!! I really think that these will be a sell out like they were last time.

At this moment in time, Tayla has a room full of toys on the floor but she playing with my flip flops. Children eh? Lol

I will enter this into the following challenges:-

Poodle parlour - Red, white and blue
2 sisters - Anything goes
Charisma cards - Four legged friends
Forever friends - Pastel colours (must include an animal)
Make it monday - Anything goes
Celebrate the occaision - Blue and white
Creative card crew - Animal antics
Stamping boutique - Cool colours

Thanks for looking!!!

Paula. x

More sneaky peeks - SWALK!!!

Hiya everyone,

I hope you are all well. I've been busy doing some last minute decorating at the old house but we have almost finished so there's lots of little jobs left I'll be so glad when it's done - I've really had enough of decorating now. It's been really hard work splitting our time between the two houses. On a more cheery note; Tayla has her second tooth coming and I don't think it'll be too long before she's walking even though she has only just started crawling. She's a little handful!!! Lol

I just wanted to share with you another sneaky peek from the upcoming launch of the new Crafters Companion Humphrey and SWALK stamps on Friday 29th July. This is obviously a SWALK stamp and is called "The present" and it's soooo cute! I have coloured the image in with my fabby new Spectrum Noir pens that are available here. The papers are from the SWALK papers CD rom (Disc 2).

There is a Crafters Companion blog hop that is happening right now where you can win a full set of the 6 Humphrey and 6 SWALK stamp sets and a chunk of neenah card. Please see my previous post for all the info you need to enter. The winner will be announced on friday morning.

Be sure to check back tomorrow as I'll be posting another little Humphrey sample. If you want to check out more samples then check out the other DT members blogs as they are also showcasing SWALK and Humphrey samples in the lead up to the launch.

I will enter this into the following challenges:-

Auds sentiments - Sentiment of a least 2 words
Crafty catz - No blue or pink
Fairy tale - Summer/sun/sunshine
Inspire me fridays - Anything goes
Paper cutz - Anything goes
My mums craft shop - Fab n funky
Scrapbook sisters - Happy birthday


Thanks for looking!!!

Paula. x

Crafters Companion Blog Hop and sneaky peaks!!!

Hiya Everyone,

Welcome to the Crafter’s Companion Blog Hop to celebrate the release of the next stamp sets.
If you have landed here from Jacqui's blog then you are hopping in the right direction. If not, then you need to pop over to the Crafter’s Companion News blog to begin.

The DT have had a great time creating with the new ranges from Crafter’s Companion and to celebrate the launch of these stunning new collections on Friday 29th July we have decided to give you a chance to see some Sneak Peeks and also have the chance of winning a fabulous Prize:-

All six new SWALK stamps and all six new Humphrey stamps, plus a pack of Neenah card!

All you need to do to be in with a chance of winning this great prize is visit each blog in order and then go back to the Crafter’s Companion News Views and Inspiration Blog to leave your link on Mr Linky. Along the way you will notice that each Blog will give you a letter - make a note of these as they will make a word which we will ask you for if your number is drawn by Random.Org on the morning of Friday 29th.

My letter is: G

From here, you need to hop to Nicola's blog.

PLEASE DO NOT TELL US WHAT THE WORD IS ON THE CRAFTER’S COMPANION NEWS VIEWS AND INSPIRATION BLOG, WE WILL E-MAIL YOU FOR THE ANSWER IF YOUR MR LINKY NUMBER IS DRAWN.

Well, I promised you a sneaky peek of something new and here it is. This the brand new Humphrey stamp set called special day. I have coloured the image with my lush new spectrum noir pens and the papers are from the Humphrey CD rom. I added glamour dust to the image for a little sparkle and the flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts. Tomorrow I will alternate and show you a sample that I made with the gorgeous new SWALK stamps so be sure to pop back!

I will enter this card into the following challenges:-

Fresh brewed - Animal or animal print
House that stamps built - Glitter
Your next stamp - 2 Patterned papers, 3 embellishments and 1 image
4 crafty chicks - Weddings
Aud sentiments - Anything to make someone smile/enjoy your day
Craft us crazy - Anything goes
Crafty sentiments - Happy ever after
Playdate cafe - One colour only
Shelly's images - Anything goes
Alphabet challenge - "L" is for lemon and lime
Inspire me fridays - Anything goes
Pattie's creations - Glitter or bling
Stamp something - Include embellishment
Stamping for the weekend - Paws for thought (animal with 4 legs)
2 sisters - Anything goes
Our creative corner - All the B's (Bling)
Paper creators crafts - Weddings
Gingerloft - Make it sparkle
Lollipop crafts - Anything goes
Creative stamp friends - Monochromatic
Forever friends - Pastel colours (must include an animal)
Hooked on craft - Cute and cuddly
Make it monday - Anything goes
Simon says stamp and show - Anything goes
Stamping scrapping central - Bling
Creative card crew - Animal antics
Stamping boutique - Cool colours
Tip top tuesday - Make it girlie

Thanks for looking!!!

Paula. x

Spectrum noir markers and a little Humphrey!!!

Hiya Everyone,

As you may or may not know I've recently been sent 12 packs of the spectrum noir marker pens that have just been launched by Crafters Companion. They are amazing and I can't wait to get the other 4 x 24 packs that I desparately need (even though I have a full set of promarkers Lol). Anyway, I've been so busy getting on with some DT samples that I needed to colour with the pens so I though I'd share this little cutie that I predominately coloured with the "pinks". I have used papers from the SWALK papers CD (Disc 2) and a few other bits and pieces from my stash. This was the very first thing I coloured in with the spectrum noir pens so it isn't probably up to my usual (sub) standard colouring but I think it's ok for a first attempt!

I made 3 cards in total to showcase the spectrum noir pens. A "pinks" card, a "browns" card and a step-by-step tutorial that you can view here (This may take a day or so). If you are lucky enough to have treated yourself to some of these pens then you can download a colourchart here print off and colour in.

I have been decorating all day (again), but I am pleased to say that we are almost finished getting our old house in a good position to put it on the market. We have done more decorating in the last 2 months than people usually do in 10 years. I have almost lost the will to live with all the work which isn't easy with an (almost) 8 month old that has just started crawling! We've been really lucky as all the family have really helped us out with both decorating and babysitting which has been a massive help.

I have just started back with my DT work with Crafters Companion and shall shortly be resuming DT work with Joanna Sheen and I am excited to say that I will also be starting DT work for La Pashe soon.

I have some exciting Crafters Companion sneaky peeks to share with you from tomorrow so be sure to check back then!

I will enter this card into the following challenges:-

Creative card crew - Animal antics
Deep ocean - Ribbons
Ladybug crafts - Summer birthday
Crafts and me - Add a flower
Guylous inimitability - 1 ribbon or lace, 2 DP's, 3 or more pieces of bling
Inspire me fridays - Anything goes
Papercutz - Anything goes
Pattie's creations - Glitter or bling
Stamp something - Add an embellishment
2 sisters - Anything goes
Card cupids - Birthday card
Lollipop crafts - Anything goes
Crazy challenge - Ribbons
Creative stamp - Monochromatic
Hooked on crafts - Monochromatic
Make it monday - Anything goes
Simon says stamp and show - Anything goes
Stamping scrapping central - Bling
Stamps r us - Happy birthday
Fresh brewed - Animal or animal print
House that stamps built - Glitter
Your next stamp - 2 DP, 3 embellishments and 1 image

Thanks for looking!!!

Paula. x

Spectrum Noir is almost here!!!

Hiya Everyone,

Have a looky at what I've got. After spending all day decorating yesterday at our old house, I finally got chance to play at about 9 o'clock with them. That is quite good self restraint for me considering they arrived at about 2 o'clock although the old house is virtually empty apart so I wouldn't have been able to do much with them anyway!

I got sent every set of 6 pack so I received:- skin tones, essentials, warm greys, cool greys, pinks, reds, yellows, blues, greens, purples, turquoises and browns.

I have to say they are very lush to work with and I love the thinner tip compared to my promarkers. The only thing I will say as an disadvantage is that I now want the additional 4x24 packs that are also available. These are lights, brights, darks and pastels.

I struggled a little compared to my promarkers as I only have 72 colours as apposed to the full set of promarkers but I've already made enquiries to get the additional pens - just don't tell the hubby!!! :D

I think it will take me a while to know what colours to use as I'm so used to my promarkers that I just know which colour is best suited through experience but I will need to learn the same with these.

Apart from my lack of experience of them and the fact that my colouring usually has more flaws than the Empire State Building - they are FAB!!!!

Anybody who has struggled getting good results with markers in the past should look no further as they make blending and colour matching a dream. They are available from 12 o'clock (I think!) on the Crafters Companion website. £6.99 per 6 pack of the same colour or 4 packs for £25. I'm not too sure what price the packs of 24 will be but I will update this post when I know!

Enjoy the rest of your day - My mum's coming round shortly to watch Tayla so I can do some colouring as the pens were delayed in reaching the DT so we're rushing like mad to get samples and stuff ready.

Thanks for looking!!!

Paula. x

Spectrum noir pens - New launch!!!

Hiya everyone,

Winging their way to me as I type is a full set of the fabulous new Spectrum Noir alcohol markers from Crafters Companion that are being launched on friday 22nd July. I was lucky enough to have a sneaky peek at these a few months ago and I have to say they are amazing!!!

It has been decided that as part of the Crafters Companion design team that we should all get sent a set "if we wanted them"....hell yeh - is the sky blue?!? They leave the warehouse today and should be delivered to me tomorrow and I can't wait.

Let me tell you a little about the pens. As you will know the main alcohol pens available are copics and promarkers. The main advantage to the Spectrum Noir pens is that they are 100% designed for crafters - Copics and promarkers were designed for artists and illustrators so they do have disadvantages. The new pens have a fine tip (much finer than the bullet tip of the promarker) and a bigger chisel nib.

The added bonus of the pens is that they are refillable like the copics so you won't have to keep buying new pens!!!

The pens come in 6 packs (RRP £6.99) of one colour so you would get 3 cool shades and 3 warm shades (light, medium and dark). They have been designed in such a way that the blending of the 3 colours will be much more straight forward which is ideal for anybody who found they struggled to get good shading and highlighting. I'm a promarker person normally (just because they were cheaper than copics) but the look and feel of these new pens is second to none.

As far as I know as well as the 6 packs which are the hues of the same colour, there are also add on packs of 24 which are lights, brights, pastels and darks. There will be no duplication as you can get with some of the promarker packs.

The design team will be sharing step-by-step colouring tutorials and more on the Crafters Companion website although they won't be for a couple of days as we haven't even got them yet!

Link to spectrum noir details here (will go live on friday)
Link to the step-by-step tutorials here (will go live next week once they have our tutorials)

Be sure to check these amazing new pens out on Friday - they are a must for any crafter!!!

A little birdie told me there may be a special offer on them for the launch!!!

Thanks for looking!!!

Paula. x

Die cut dreams GDT spot!!!

Hiya everyone,

I was very lucky to have won the challenge at Die Cut Dreams Challenge Blog just over a week ago and I won a guest DT spot for today’s challenge which is “animal antics”.
It didn’t take me long to decide to use one of my house mouse stamps (available from Joanna Sheen) that I have never used as I often don’t get chance to just have a play. I coloured my image with my promarkers and I added a little glossy accents to the nose as I think it makes such a big difference! The papers are from a 6x6 paperstack that came free with a magazine. Inside my card it says "cos it's your birthday!"

I really enjoyed making this card as it made a change to just make something for me if that makes sense.

I have recently taken part in another card kit swop which I will share with you in the next few days. If you’re not quite sure what this entails be sure to pop back as it’s should be interesting!

I will enter this into the following challenges:-

Bearly mine challenge - Anything goes
Creative craft - Pretty blossoms
Scrap creations - Use at least 2 DP and 2 embellishments
Ladybird crafts - Summer birthday
Papertake weekly - Use hot colours
Tuesday Throwdown - Summer scene
Use it tuesday - Use hoarded stash - a card with animals
Crafting for all seasons - Furry friends
Crafts and me - Summertime
Little red wagon - Lime, pink and white
Paper pretties monday - Make a splash
Penny's paper-crafty - Happy birthday
Ruby's rainbow - Happy birthday
Simon says stamp - Anything goes
Auds sentiments - Sentiment of at least 2 words
Crafty purple frog - Summer fun
Moving along with the times - Favourite things (house mouse and colour combo)
Southern girls - Birthday
Stamp insanity - Summer colours
Stampin' B's - Bling
Card makin mamas - Summertime
Digis with attitude - Anything goes ***
Floweret stamlar - Vacation
Fuzzy wuzzy - Get punchy (must include an animal)
Inspire me fridays - Anything goes
Totally papercrafts - Girly girl
Wags and whiskers - Birthday
Crafts 4 eternity - 3,2,1 (3 DP, 2 flowers - layered, 1 image)
Fairy fun fridays - On holiday
Fussy and fancy - Summer
Guylous inimitability - 1 ribbon or lace (I used lace border punch), 2 DP, 3 or more piece of bling
Off the wall craftiness - Beach
Designed to delight - Let's go to the beach
Secret crafter - Holidays
Dream valley challenges - Summer
Gingerloft - Make it sparkle
I did it creations - Animals
Lollipop crafts - Anything goes
OSAAT - Flowers
Opus gluei - Beat the heat
Scrappy frogs - Summer flowers
Stamptacular sunday - Animal antics
Creative stamp friends - Summer
DDH - Summer
Lexis creations - At the beach
Make it monday - Anything goes
Paper playtime - Summer
Pollycrafts - Summer fun
Squigglefly - Fingers, toes, paws or claws!

Thanks for looking!!!

Paula. x

1st Crafters Companion Demo day!!!

Hiya everyone,

I had my very first demo day yesterday as part of my role as a acredited demonstrator for Crafters Companion. It was at Craft Central Freeport in Fleetwood. The idea is to have local people do workshops in their local areas to cut down on the expenses (travel, etc) costs for the shops wanting to run them. I was made to feel very welcome by Jacqui and Amanda. I met some lovely people and I had a great day although the weather was terrible.

I was demo-ing the Craftwell Ecraft machine which is fantastic - I seriously want one but I've only just bought a cricut expression which I'm ashamed to say I've barely used as I bought it 2 weeks before I had Tayla. The main bonus with the Ecraft machine is that it doesn't need any sticky mats!!! It also has free downloadable software which allows you to cut truetype fonts, weld words/shapes and loads more like other software programs like SCAL or MTC. You do not have to use it with a computer as it is a stand alone machine with the use of SD cards which have tons of images on.

There is also ecraft central which is an online shop where you can buy specific single images for about $1/$1.49 (65p/£1) which is great if you just say want to buy a cupcake image for invites. A problem with cartridges or cards is that you may only use half the images but being able to buy exactly what you want means you get better value for money. The software program allows you to import other SVG images that you may already have bought for a different machine. They are distributed by Crafters Companion and the machine is available on their website for £299 which includes the fundamentals 1 SD card so you can get cracking straight away! Additional SD cards work out at £39.99 and blades are a lot cheaper than other machines at 10 for £14.99 or 20 for £24.99.

And I repeat again - NO STICKY MATS!!!

Thanks for looking!!!

Paula. x

Craftwork cards - Warren!!!

Hiya everyone,

It's such a wonderful morning; the sun is shining, the birds are singing and my crafty storage is back up!!! It's great to have all my promarkers back up and all my flowers, diamantes and distress inks back in their new homes! That got rid of quite of few of the boxes - I tell you! I have a Crafters Companion demo day on saturday 16th at Craft Central in Fleetwood 10-4 so I need to learn the ecraft machine inside out. The card I needed has just arrived so I'm going to go and have a play when my mum gets here as she can watch Tayla! In the last few days she's been threatening us with crawling and "by jove - I think she's got it!" Lol. We weren't sure whether she would crawl as she kept trying to stand up so I don't think it'll be too long till she's walking - Arghhh! They're enough of a handful to look after when they stay in the same spot! Lol.

Anyway, I thought I'd share a card I made for a Craftwork cards workshop I had a few weeks back using the warren range which you can buy from here. They are doing a fab goody bag at the moment for £10 in the ranges, sweet meadow, warren and sorbet scoop which are really good value although you can get all the bits individually too! They are great ranges as all the bits co-ordinate nicely with each other taking all the guesswork out of it which is great if you're a newbie or you're just not very good at working out what goes well together!

As there was only 12 of the images - I made my sample with the easter egg image as nobody else would want to use that image after easter! I coloured it in very quickly using my promarkers then I matted the image onto some pink centura pearl card that I cut using my eyelet circles nestie. I mounted a round circle sentiment onto a shiny silver circle die cut before mounting it onto the small scalloped circle as there was a big gap around the sentiment if I added it straight to the scalloped circle. I normally wouldn't use these as I have scalloped circle nesties but it was what I was given to use in the workshop. I added some punched x-cut flowers using leftover paper and added card candy to the centres. It's quite a basic card but I have to make 3 cards and 10 kits of each of the 3 cards with the stuff that I get given and I make so I need the stuff to go a long way.

Normally, I make 2 6x6 sized cards but I was given some smaller craftwork cards blanks to work with so I decided to make 1 6x6 card and 2 smaller ones. This is also what I'm doing for my next workshop as Barbara wants me to use up the last of the card blanks.

I will enter this into the following challenges:-

Creative craft - Blossoms
Deep ocean - Make a card
Try it on tuesday - Flower power
Divas by design - Die cuts/punches
I love promarkers - Clean and simple
Forever friends - Stripes (3 stripes of paper)
Aud sentiment - Sentiment of 2 words or more
CCEE stampers - Chocolate colours or connection (easter egg)
Fuzzy wuzzy - Get punchy (must include an animal)
Inspire me fridays - Anything goes
I did it creations - Floral
Lollipop crafts - Anything goes
OSAAT - Anything goes
KB cute monday - Something cute
Make it monday - Anything goes
Stamping scrapping central - Simple

Thanks for looking!!!

Paula. x

X-cut nesting dies - Please read!!!

Hiya everyone,

It has come to my attention that a lot of people are unhappy with the new X-cut nesting dies as they only nest with the pack they come with. A crafty friend of mine bought the squares and the scallop squares as they were hoping they could stamp an image out onto a plain square and layer this onto a scalloped square like you would the spellbinders nesties but you can't as both dies are exactly the same size. I think they look an attractive prospect being cheaper than the spellbinders nesties but not if they're not going to do the same job. If it was me, I think I'd save my pennies for the spellbinders. Apparently, they cut well and certain shapes like stars that you would only layer up together anyway would be fine. To be fair it doesn't say that they are interchangable but I think everybody just expected them to work like the spellbinders ones. I just thought I'd give you the heads up and you can make a more informed decision on whether these are right for you or not. I hope this was helpful - one way or another!

Thanks for looking!!!

Paula. x

60th Birthday card

Hiya everyone,

Although I have been very busy recently I knew if I didn't make my mum in law a handmade card she'd never forgive Lol so I put this card together a few days ago when I had a spare half hour. I didn't even get chance to photograph it myself as I still couldn't find my camera although it has since turned up! I had to ask her to take piccies and e-mail them to me.

For the base of my card I layered a square of white pearl card onto shiny gold card and used my inverted corner punch on them before sticking together. I used a bit of sparkly ribbon around this before I attached it to my 8x8 card blank. I then matted and layered a smaller white pearl card square onto more shiny gold card and used my inverted corner punch as before. This I attached to the centre of my card with foam pads. I would have embossed this central panel but my big shot is in the corner of our spare room inside my sizzix tote that is full of boxes and stuff and I probably would have broke my neck trying to get at it so I didn't bother Lol. The "60" is hand cut from gold glitter card as I couldn't be bothered digging out my cricut as that is also still boxed away. I attached this onto the central panel with foam pads and added a few gems to the corners.

I think it looks quite stylish for a relatively quick card.

I will enter this into the following challenges:-

Stampin' sisters in christ - CAS
Craft your passion - Anything goes
House of gilli - Lots of sparkle
Kaboodle doodles - Celebrations
KB cute monday - Anything goes
Make it monday - Anything goes
Pollycraft - Celebrations (optional stars and stripes)
There she goes - Glitter, glitz and bling
UnstampaBelles - Celebration
Deep ocean - Make a card
Party time tuesday - Square card
Creative belli - Hand made embellishments (60)
Penny's paper crafty - Happy birthday
Ruby's rainbow - Happy birthday
Meljens designs - No more than 2 layers (if you class the 2 squares as 2 layers)
Shelly's images - Celebrate
Stamp insanity - Anything goes
Digis with attitude - Anything goes
Inspire me fridays - Anything goes
Wags and whiskers - Birthdays
Ellephantastic - Celebrations
Paper creators crafts - Special occasion

Thanks for looking!!!

Paula. x

Mum in laws 60th birthday

Hiya everyone,

Last night I went to my mum in laws 60th birthday party which was great. She was thrilled with the cuttlebug and the load of embossing folders we bought her. This is a piccy of a very proud nanna. Although it was Sandra's party I think it was Tayla who stole the show in her very pretty white dress. My mum and dad came too and they took Tayla home when she got cranky and left me and Shane at the party. We ended up going to bed at about 4.20 this morning. Luckily, I stopped drinking so I didn't have a bad head this morning - unlike some people Lol!

A great night was had by all and Sandra ended up getting loads of nice cards and pressies which she finished opening this morning.

Thanks for looking!!!

Paula. x

New Mo's Charity image for $1!!!

Hiya everyone,

Mo Manning has introduced a wonderful new image called "Bronte's kisses" and is available at Mo's Digital Pencil for the fab price of $1 which is 65p. All proceeds are going to the Pet Orphans of Southern California in memory of our beloved pets, both here and departed ones. It comes with the 3 doggie quotes too!!!

I just thought I'd share this so you can go download it for yourselves!!!

Thanks for looking!!!

Paula. x

Only one more day till launch day!!!

Hiya Everyone,

Only one more sleep till the fab, fab, fab exclusive launch of the new Crafters Companion Popcorn's Pals CD roms and rubber stamps on the Crafters Companion Website. These will NOT be available to buy anywhere else so get yourself down to the website where I have been reliably informed that there will be some fab deals that are just too good to miss!!!

Although I am part of the DT I had to take a break while I moved house so I have no sneaky peeks to show you of my own but if you want to have a looky at what my fellow DT members have been up to check out their blogs below:-

Marcea
Jacqui
Marianne
Ali
Lynsey
Nicola
Carol
Mandy
Jane
Linda

Apologies to anybody I may have missed off my list.

Thanks for looking!!!

Paula. x

Craftwork Cards - Sweet meadow!!!

Hiya everyone,

I have a workshop on the 30th July at the Windmill craft shop so I was given a bunch of Sweet Meadow Craftwork Cards stuff to work with. With this stuff I need to put together 2-3 samples with enough kits for each card for 10 people. Barbara also asked if I got chance to make a sample to pop in the shop to advertise the workshop so I made this out of a lovely embossed paper that couldn't really be split for the workshop. The card blank is a scalloped of the edge card and the 2 flowers I cut from the paper sheet. You can't really tell but both flowers give a lovely 3D effect. A ribbon message, a few diamantes and a bit of card candy was all it took.

It's very clean and simple (not my usual style Lol) but I'm quite resticted to what I can use and I can't make anything too complicated as it's only a 2 hour class. I have already designed the cards for the workshop and almost finished putting the kits together. I'm hoping to start up my DT work shortly so I wanted to get this out of the way!

If any of you are interested in joining me on the workshop give Barbara a ring on 01253 865866 - the last Craftwork Cards workshop I did was an early sell-out so get in quick! Barbara stocks a load of craftwork cards stuff and has a fab on-line shop so go and check it out!!!

I will enter this card into the following challenges:-

Clearly inspired - Punches, die cuts or cut outs
Crafty Anns - Get well/just because/thinking of you
Crafty catz - Colours of summer
Digi's with attitude - Anything goes
Wags and whiskers - Summertime
2 sisters - birthdays
Allsorts - Free and easy (anything goes)
Catch the bug - Anything goes
Craft your passion - Anything goes
Cupcake craft - Single layer card
Hooked on crafts - Flowers
KB cute monday - Anything goes
Make it monday - Anything goes
Ooh la la Creations - Summer flowers
Stamping, scrapping central - K.I.S.S (Keep it simple)
Creative craft challenges - Blossoms
Deep ocean challenge - Make a card
Flourishes - Include the word friend
Papertake weekly - Anything goes (optional buttons)
Party time tuesdays - Square cards
Try it on tuesday - Flowers
Creative belli - Custom made embellishments
Little darlings - Favourite color combo (pink and green)
Penny's paper crafty - Birthday

Thanks for looking!!!

Paula. x

Exciting news!!!

Hiya Everyone,

I have some fab news - I won a guest DT spot over at the Die Cut Dreams challenge blog with my Crafters Companion challenge card. I have quite a lot a commitments so a guest DT spot suits me down to the ground!

Me and Shane have just given Tayla a bath in our little round sink as it's just Tayla-shaped Lol! The piccy was taken with Shanes Iphone so it's a little grainy as the light wasn't great but she just looked so cute - I'm sure you'll agree!

I'm just waiting for her to go to bed and then I'm going to attempt to make my DT card. It'll be nice to use a stamp that I've bought and never used!!! (I have soooo many Lol) The challenge goes live on Monday 18th July if you want to join in the fun!!!

Thanks for looking!!!

Paula :D x

Crafters Companion club members exclusive!!!!

Hiya Everyone,

Popcorn Pals launches on Friday exclusively to Crafter's Companion Club Members if you're not yet a member then pop over to the website and register! You don't want to miss out on the launch offer!!

Although I am part of the DT I had to take a break while I moved house so I have no sneaky peeks to show you of my own but if you want to have a looky at what my fellow DT members have been up to check out their blogs below:-

Marcea
Jacqui
Marianne
Ali
Lynsey
Nicola
Carol
Mandy
Jane
Linda

Apologies to anybody I may have missed off my list.

Also the Crafters Companion monthly challenge kicked off this month with the "one for the boys" challenge. One lucky winner will win a £30 gift voucher to spend at the Crafters Companion website!!! Come along and join in the fun!!!

Thanks for looking!!!

Paula. x

Joanna Sheen DT card

Hiya Everyone,

I thought I'd share a Joanna Sheen sample that I made just before I packed up my craft room before the move as Tayla was having a nap. I found her first tooth today! - I hope she doesn't get too grumpy with it.

The stamp was from one of the new favourite flowers stamp sets which are available from here. The image was stamped with rich cocoa memento ink and was coloured in using my promarkers to match the colours of which are from a paper cellar wedding paper stack that I hadn't used in ages. I distessed the papers and used some brushed corduroy distress ink on the egdes. A bit of lace, prima flowers and a few pearls and it was finished. There is a swirl under the sentiment but you can only just see it! The sentiment stamp was one I think was a car boot rubber stamp bargain that I got for about 20p!

I will enter this into the following challenges:-

Anita be stampin - 3 DP, 1 flower and 1 trim (at least)
Anything goes challenge - The letter "D" (distessing)
Barely mine designs - Summer is here
Deep ocean challenge - Flowers
Crafty creations - Thankyou
My mums old shop - Something old and something new (stamp was new, pad was old)
Paper shelter - Anything goes
Crafty purple frog - Swirls and pearls
Digi doodles - Anything goes
Just for fun - Anything goes
Pals paper arts - Your favourite technique (distressing)
Paper crafting journey - Anything goes
Class act insider - Vintage (must use rubber stamp)
Inspire me fridays - Anything goes
Catch the bug - Anything goes

Thanks for looking!!!

Paula. x

Fun in the sun!!!

Hiya Everyone,

Sorry it's not anything crafty but I've been decorating/tidying non-stop for the last 4-6 weeks now and we were going to the old house to do some painting as we were there yesterday stripping the hall, stairs and landing. Anyhoo, we thought sod it and had a BBQ instead as it was such a lovely day! We had our both our parents round and was nice just to chill out for a change. We tried Tayla in her new paddling pool and uv tent and she had a whale of a time. I couldn't resist sharing a piccy of her sat in her new chair. She is just 7 months old although the piccy makes her look bigger but it really is just a small chair Lol!

I'm hoping to start my DT work back up in the next couple of weeks as it feels like ages since I made anything. I'm glad I put a stop to it for a while as we have had so much to do! We're more or less settled now although there are still boxes everywhere but all the family have been really supportive which has been a massive help. I have my first Crafters Companion demo in Craft Central in Fleetwood on saturday 16th July with the ecraft machine so I'm looking forward to getting my hands on that soon to have a play.

I've got a busy week this week. Out for tea on thursday with a friend who I haven't seen since before the house move on thursday, the MIL's 60th birthday party on friday and a wedding on saturday (as well as all the decorating!) I feel exhausted already!!!

Hope you have all had a good weekend - Thanks for looking!!!

Paula. x

Cardmaker of the year competition 2011 - Categories

Hiya Everyone,

I just thought I'd give you all the info on the Cardmaker of the Year competition 2011. For any of you that are new to my blog, I was lucky to have won the competition last year which was amazing!!!

To see my winning cards click here.

Anyway, I received my copy of Cardmaking and Papercraft magazine today so I thought I'd share the categories with you so you can think about which ones you want to enter. If you're anything like me I spent a fortune buying lots of stuff to enter virtually all of them Lol!

Joanna Sheen
Penny Black
Lili of the valley
Beatrix Potter for Crafters Companion
Sizzix
Flower soft
Woodware
My craft studio
Trimcraft
Stampendous
Paper cellar
Kars (Inc cuttlebug and cricut)
Craftime
Sheen Douglass for Crafters Companion
Tonic studios
Starform stickers
Echo park
Stampin up
DMC Creative world (Threads)
Madeira (Threads)

There is a 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize per category with £400 worth of prizes. £200 for 1st, £150 for 2nd and £50 for 3rd. The person who wins the most categories wins the overall title. I can't enter this year as I now feature regularly in Cardmaking and Papercraft magazine but would recommend everybody to enter. If you don't enter you'll never know. All the cards that don't win are sent to charity (if they are sent in a cello bag with an envelope) To enter the competition you have to buy the magazine then you can photocopy the entry form which you need to attach to every entry. You can enter as many categories as you like, as many times as you like!

The magazine is out on the 5th July and is open for anyone, any in the world to enter!!!

Thanks for looking!!!

Paula. x

July Blog candy!!!

Hiya Everyone,

It's that time again to kick off the month with new blog candy for July. Up for grabs this time is:-

3 x packs of mixed adhesive gems
Pack of paper thread in mixed colours
Pack of paper ribbons in mixed colours
Pack of mini white doilies
Pack of bliss card candy
Pack of papermania A6 card blanks and envelopes
Nice mix of charms

If you want to be in it to win it then all you have to do is become a follower, put a piccy of my candy in your side bar and add your name to Mr Linky below.

My candy is open to anyone, anywhere!

Please excuse the bad picture but I still haven't found my camera in the house move - It could be anywhere Lol!

Thanks for looking!!!

Paula. x

June Blog candy winner!!!

Hiya Everyone,

I am very pleased to announce that the winner of my june blog candy as chosen by random.org is No.62 which is Maggie from Maggie's Crafts.

Well done Maggie!!! - Send me an e-mail with your address and I'll post out the goodies to you shortly. If Maggie doesn't get in touch within 7 days I will re-draw the prize!!!

Be sure to check back later and I will post the July candy - I just need to find my box of candy stuff that I have misplaced in the move. At least I know where the June one is so it's ready to post out unlike last month which took me a few weeks to find Lol!!!

Thanks for looking!!!

Paula. x

July Crafters Companion challenge card!!!

Hiya Everyone,

Did you miss me?!? It's been ages since I last posted but I have been so busy moving and decorating that I haven't been crafting at all. I'm still on a break with all my DT work but am itching to get back into it now.

This challenge card I actually made about 6 weeks ago as I made July and August challenge cards in advance but I put them in a "safe place" and in a blind panic today realising it was the end of the month have been going through box after box trying to find it! After breathing a sign of relief at finding the card, I then realised I had no idea where my digital camera was - Arghhhhh!!!! Anyhoo, I ended up taking the piccies on my hubbys Iphone as I had lost the will to live by this point so the piccies are a bit rubbish.

The theme for July is "One for the boys!" so I decided to use the football crazy popcorn bear stamp set which you can buy here. I have coloured him in with my promarkers to match the fab papers which are from a the freebie Summer Driggs "Freedom ain't free" kit which you can get for yourself here. Check out all her freebie kits while you are there - they are totally fab!!!

Check out the Crafters Companion monthly challenge blog to be in with a chance to win a fab prize!!!

My craft room is decorated and all the stuff is in it but I've had no time to put my storage back up or anything as we only moved on friday and there has been so much to do. I look forward to sharing my newly updated crafty space with you all shortly!

I will draw my June blog candy and post July blog candy tomorrow as it's nearly 1am and I'm soooo sleepy! Don't forget to check back to see if you're my lucky winner!!!

I will enter this into the following challenges:-

Catch the bug - Red, white and blue with ribbon
Craft your days away - Vintage
Designed to delight - Red, white and blue (and/or christmas too)
Our creative corner - Your style
Card cupids - Cards for boys
Birthday sundaes - Stars and stripes birthday
Crafty pad - Bold and bright or soft pastels
Dream valley - Use ribbon
Here comes the boys - Stars and spts birthday
Kenny K krafty girlz - Red, white and blue
Sentimental sunday - Patriotic - use the colours of your nations flag
Stampacular sunday - Stars and stripes
Cards for men - Stars
Creative stamp friends - Dots
Daisy doodles - Stars and stripes
Die cut dreams - Red, white and blue
Forever friends challenge - Animal and birthday
Happichallenge - Stars and stripes
Make it monday - Anything goes
Scrapbookaholic - Red, white and blue
Squigglefly - Red, white and blue
Stamping, scrapping central - Red, white and blue
Woodware USA - Patriotic theme and/or colours
Celebrate the occasion - Red, white and blue
Karen's doodles - Cards for a teenager
Tuesday throwdown - Red, white and blue
Use it tuesday - Red, white and blue
Ambers crafts and stuff - Red, white and blue
Cooking it up with Katie - Colours of your flag
Crafting for all seasons - Red, white and blue
Crafts and me - Birthday
Digistamps 4 Joy - Red, white and blue
Fresh brewed - Birthday/party
Little red wagon - Patriotic
Paper shelter - Anything goes
Penny's paper crafty - Red, white and blue
Art impression stamp challenge - Distressing
Craft us crazy - Red, white and blue
Delightful sketches - Red, white and blue
Digi doodles shop - Anything goes
Just for fun - Anything goes
Pals paper arts - Your favourite technique (distressing)
Paper crafting journey - Anything goes
Pixie dust studio - Red, white and blue with optional stars
Rainbow ladys - Red, white and blue
Rubber cafe - Red, white and blue
Stamp insanity - Stars and stripes
Send a smile for kids - Bears and other animals
Bloggers challenge - Red, white and blue
Card makin mamas - Red, white and blue
Class act insider - Vintage (use rubber stamp)
Fairy knoll - Red, white and blue
Guylou's inimitability - Red, white and blue
Inspire me friday - Anything goes
Off the wall craftiness - Red, white and blue
Stampin for the weekend - My favourite things (distressing)
Cupcake craftroom - Polka dots
Sundays with Crissy - De-stress

Thanks for looking!!!

Paula.x