Happy Christmas!

Just got 5 minutes to wish everyone a very Happy Christmas.  And I've got one last Christmas card to show you before the big day!

I used one of my new Magnolia Christmas stamps and a 6"x6" piece of Magnolia DP.  I coloured Tilda with Copics and added Glamour Dust to her clothes and the snow heart.  The ribbons are from my stash (apologies for the wonky bow) and the gorgeous border die is a Memory Box one from Oyster Stamps.  The sentiment is a Pebbles rub on and the little flower is from Wild Orchid Crafts.

I'm entering this in the following challenges:

Papertake Weekly - Last Christmas Card of the Year
Magnolia Stamp Lovers - Winter
Just Magnolia - White plus One (hope it's not too pink!!)

I had hoped to get some crafting time today but these things never go according to plan, do they?  I'll be back as soon as I can as there are a few challenges of the holiday that I like the look of!

Thank you for coming to visit my blog and for your lovely comments - they mean so much to me. Have a wonderful time of the Christmas break - hope Santa is good to you!

Hugs

Tracey xx

Snowed in!!

Yes, we're snowed in! The postman made it down the hill - just!  I think he just shut his eyes and slid most of the way. The main roads aren't too bad, apparently but little country lanes like ours are no-go areas.  My postie was going to have to try to make it all the way to the end of our road (about 3 miles) as there's no way he can get back up the hill!

Never mind, the Boy Wonder and I are well prepared - we made bread and biscuits yesterday and there is plenty in the freezer, so we're not going to starve.  The downside is that I can't get to Marianne's as planned.  They have hardly any snow - she's about 5 miles away - so friends who live nearer to her have been able to go over, fortunately. 

Anyway, time for a card.  I used another of my Christmas 2011 Magnolia stamps - they are oh so lovely to colour!

I went for purple Copics on this one to match the lovely Magnolia DP.  I put a strip of punched Bazzill along the top and everything has had a doing with the Timmy thingy and some Frayed Burlap DI.  I finished it all off with a sprinkling of Glamour Dust, some lovely ribbon from the Ribbon Girl and roses from Wild Orchid Crafts.

I didn't do too much to the inside - just a Nestie circle, Bazzill rub on and another bow with the same gorgeous ribbon.  I thought I would enter this in the Papertake Weekly challenge, "I'm Dreaming of a (Favourite Colour) Christmas"!  And purple is my colour of the day!

If you get the chance in between Christmas shopping, cooking and wrapping, do have a look at our last challenge of 2011 over at Sweet Stampin'.  We're looking for Glitter, Sparkle and Bling - it doesn't have to be Christmassy, as long as it's stamped.  Team Fi have made some gorgeous cards for you to see and our wonderful Guest Designer, the lovely Donna, has done us proud.  If you haven't already seen it, her blog is well worth a look!

Have a fabby weekend!

Hugs,

Tracey xx



A Traditional Tilda

Counting the days to the holidays now!  The Boy Wonder has a rotten cold but needs to be at school tomorrow for a maths test unfortunately.  He's had a French test and a science test already this week.  Why do kids have to do tests at the end of term when they're all so tired?  It doesn't make any sense to me at all!

Once we'd got to grips with Gregor's algebra homework we were able to snuggle up in front of the fire and to be honest I don't know how we both stayed awake! There's a lovely burning log smell in the house now - one of the advantages of living in the middle of the countryside is that we get the best logs for the fire.  I've got lots all piled up outside - a log fire and a gin and tonic and that's me sorted for Christmas!!

Anyway, I'm rattling on when I should be showing you a card. I've made this for one of my goddaughter; I'm so proud of her - she's just back from climbing to the top of Kilimanjaro! 

I used Magnolia papers and Tilda stamps, coloured with Copics.  The sentiment is a K&Co rub on and the flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts - they've been covered with Twinklets to make them look a bit frosty.

And finally a close up of Tilda

 I've managed to finish a couple more cards this week so I'll do my best to upload them over the next couple of days.  I still haven't written a single card, although I did get my sister's card and presents off to New Zealand in time.  Most of the shopping is done - just a couple of stocking fillers for some of Gregor's pals and that will be the presents taken care of. 

The plan this weekend is to go over to see my lovely Marianne on Saturday.  She's doing much better now after a rotten couple of months in and out of hospital.  She's finished her chemo and just has to go for her Herceptin every 3 weeks for the next few months.  It's such a relief to see her looking so much brighter although she never complains - the most she's said is "I'm fed up with this now"!  This is the girl who, when her second baby decided to make an appearance earlier than expected, asked her hubby to call the midwife because it was "a bit sore"!

I thought I'd enter this card in the CES Challenge - A Traditional Christmas. 

See you soon!

Hugs,

Tracey x

Probably the quickest post in the world..!

Why am I always so last minute with entries for challenges?  This is a real quickie as I would like to enter this card in the TOMIC challenge, which is a Christmas Shaker project and which closes in a few minutes!

Papers are Basic Grey, stamps are Magnolia coloured with C and W coloured Copics.  Lots of glittery bits and bobs inside the shaker part.

Got less than 5 minute to enter - see you soon!

Hugs

Tracey xx

Things with Wings

Well we survived a very windy week here in Scotland.  To be honest I think we got off quite lightly compared to some areas further north.  It's still really cold and it keeps snowing, thawing and snowing again so the roads are a bit tricky, but it could be so much worse.

Over at Sweet Stampin' we have a lovely new challenge for you - "Things with Wings".  Our sponsor this week is Pollycraft and the DT were given some lovely images to use. Do hop on over to take a look at Team Abi's designs.

I used Powder Blue Bazzill and Echo Park DP, which I punched with a Martha Stewart PATP.  The stars were cut with an old Sizzix Originals die and the clouds are Magnolia Doohickeys.  I can't remember where I got the pale blue bobble trim but it's been in my stash for a while.

Sorry about the awful photo but I know I'm not the only one who is struggling to get decent pictures.  The Stickles look dark grey in this picture but irl they're silver and sparkly! More of my Tesco ribbon has been used - there isn't too much left now, but I'm amazed how far it has gone!

I'm scheduling this post as I'm on a course tomorrow morning (yuk!) but at least with Christmas round the corner I haven't had to bring home too much in the way of work. 

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

Hugs

Tracey xx

Here comes the snow!

Yes, it's here - as I look out of my kitchen window I can see the snow on the hills. It's been trying to snow here on and off all day but because it's been so wet it isn't sticking.  The problem will be tomorrow morning if it gets any colder - I hope they send the gritter out tonight!

Snow is also the new challenge theme over at Sweet Stampin'. We don't mind whether it's a snowman, snowflakes, snow drift... anything as long as it's snowy (and stamped)!

No snow on my card today, though.  Instead I opted for one of my older, but favourite, Christmas Tildas.  I love this one because she's so lovely to colour and she looks good in soft colours.

I cut out the stamped image with a Nestie and coloured her with Copics (Es and Ws). I used Magnolia papers and added a Cheery Lynn doiley die cut which, like all of the edges, I distressed and coloured with some Frayed Burlap DI.

I added some Diamond stickles to Tilda's ribbons, dress and tinsel for a bit of sparkle.  The lace is from Wild Orchid Crafts and the seam binding is from the Ribbon Girl.  I used a Basic Grey Capella brad in the centre of the bow.

The sentiment panel is cut out with a Nellies die and I added Kaisercraft rub on. The pearls are from my stash and the flowers, which have been sprayed with Glimmer Mist, are from Wild Orchid Crafts.

I thought I would enter this card in the following challenges:

TOMIC - Vintage and Lace
Just Magnolia - Anything Goes with Sparkle 

Have a lovely week!

Hugs

Tracey xx

Red and White

Just a quick post to show you a card I made for the Red and White challenge at Magnolia Stamp Lovers.

I used one of the Tildas from this year's Christmas collection and coloured her with Copics.  I used Glamour Dust to add some sparkle to her dress and the chain of hearts.

The DP is also by Magnolia and I've splodged some Picket Fence paint around the edges. I cut a white border from Bazzill using my favourite Doohickey die and added some red ribbon from my stash (this is years old, Making Memories, I think).  The flowers have been spritzed with Glimmer Mist and are, of course, from Wild Orchid Crafts.

The inside has been very simply decorated to match the front. 

Just one last bit of internet shopping to do now and that's all my pressies organised. Wish I could say the same about my Christmas cards! I'm afraid my colleagues at school will be getting John Lewis rather than handmade!

Hugs

Tracey xx 

Sweet Stampin' - Punches and Dies

The title might sound like the synopsis of a Rocky film, but it's actually the theme of our new challenge over at Sweet Stampin'!

We had a great week looking at all the lovely entries in our mega birthday prize giveaway so don't forget to hop over to Sweet Stampin' tomorrow to see if you are one of the lucky winners.

We are sponsored this week by Pollycraft and the DT (Team Abi) were each given an image to use. I had this handsome chap:

I coloured the image with Copics and cut him out with a square Nestie. The shaped mats are cut using Go Kreate dies and the grass is a Magnolia Doohickey. 

I used digi papers from NitWits this time as I wanted something a bit more modern to go with the image.  I added some buttons from my stash and threaded some Basic Grey fibres through them.

The sentiment is from a Craftwork Cards pack that I've had for ages and the ribbon was off a box of chocolates!

Hoping that the weather improves and that we don't get the terrible gales that are forecast.  They often mean no power and that really is miserable, especially at the weekend!

Hugs

Tracey x

Just Magnolia Ribbons Challenge

Thought I'd post this while I'm waiting for the spaghetti to come to the boil!  Plus it will keep me from eating all the parmesan while I wait for dinner to be ready!! Not long in from work but I've got meetings after school every night this week so I was determined to get this posted tonight!

I finished this card over the weekend and thought it would be nice to enter it in Just Magnolia's latest challenge, which is Ribbons.  Just my sort of thing!

This is one of my new Tilda's and I love her.  I think I might just have mentioned once or twice how much I like this latest collection.  Anyway, she's been coloured with Copics and sprinkled with Glamour Dust. I cut her out with a Nestie and then put some Antique Linen DI around the edge.  I used the same ink around the DP too.  The paper is Magnolia and is very, very pretty I think.

I used a Doohickey lace die along a piece of pale grey Bazzill and edged it with more Antique Linen ink. I added a K & Co rub on sentiment and some gorgeous ribbon from the Ribbon Girl.  Flowers and stems are from Wild Orchid Crafts and I'm really pleased with these.  I didn't have quite the right white (I'm a bit fussy, I know) so I sprayed ivory roses with Silver Glimmer Mist.  They had a really good soaking but I really like the effect - it's not a solid silver but more of a soft, slightly sparkly grey.

Still struggling with the lack of light for my photos but I think I'm going to invest in a light tent.  Thank you everyone for your suggestions!

Time to eat, then University Challenge (sorry, I'm an addict!!) and then school work.

Have a lovely evening

Tracey xx

Sweet Stampin's Birthday Bonanza!

Good morning!  I'm having a Blogger nightmare at the moment as none of my posts will ... post! Scheduled posts are the worst so I'm having to go in and post them manually.  And this morning my extra special Sweet Stampin' post didn't post ... when I opened it up everything was all jumbled up and each time I moved the pictures and text to where they should be I got error messages and the thing refused to save!  So I'm starting again and hopefully will be able to tell you all about the fabulous things happening over at Sweet Stampin'!

It's a special day over at Sweet Stampin' Towers as it's our 2nd birthday!  And we're celebrating in style. We're still having our Spotlight winner as normal, but instead of just one, we're having loads of randomly drawn prize winners!  And check out the prizes on offer:

Crafty Sentiments -

one lucky winner will receive a £10 voucher to spend in their store.

My Creative Classroom -

My Creative Classroom. One lucky winner will receive a free seat to a class of their choice.
Prairie Fairy



one lucky winner will receive a $10 gift certificate to spend in their store.

Saturated Canary -

one lucky winner will receive 2 digis from their store.

The Craft Room -
one lucky winner will receive a £10 gift voucher to spend in their store.

Tiddly Inks -
one lucky winner will receive a $10 gift certificate to spend in their store.

 

 

Because of my Blogger problems I'm going to do this post in 2 halves, as so far no error messages!

 

See you in a minute!

 

Tracey xx

 

Sweet Stampin' - Gingham

Happy Saturday everyone!  This is a scheduled post as I'm on a course today but I wanted to let you know about the new challenge which starts this morning over at Sweet Stampin'.

This week we'd like to see gingham on your creations, please.  I think most of us like gingham and even if you don't have any gingham DP in your stash, there are plenty available to download - Pink Petticoat has a great colour collection.

Anyway, here's my card.  I tried something new and I'm not entirely sure how successful I've been.  I've had a go at colouring on Kraft with my much neglected Prisma pencils.  I enjoyed doing the hair and stocking, but struggled with the skin. I just couldn't get the colour quite right, so if you have any advice, please let me know!

The image is one of my (many) new Magnolia Christmas stamps.  I know I've gone overboard with these, but I think it's my all-time favourite Maggie collection.  The holly is also a Magnolia stamp which has been coloured with pencils and cut out. I put some Glossy Accents on the berries to make them shine!   I gave the Tilda image a good dose of Glamour Dust on the fur trim of her stocking and used a MS PATP punch around the entire Kraft square. 

The sentiment is another Maggie  which I stamped onto Kraft card and cut out with a circle punch.  I distressed this a bit with some Walnut Stain ink.  The lovely paper is from the SEI paper pad; I wish there was more paper like this in it, as some of the designs I know I will never use, but so far I haven't managed to find a 12"x12" version of this paper.  The cotton lace is my last piece of this and I wish I could remember where I got it!

So, a fairly simple card but although I'm not completely happy with my colouring I do like the colour scheme.  In fact, I've bought Christmas decorations in this style although they won't be going up until the week we finish school.  But that will be here before we know it ...

Have a lovely weekend, everyone.

Hugs

Tracey xx

A Christmas Maggie

Time to show off another of my new Magnolia stamps.  I thought I'd shown quite a bit of restraint initially as I limited myself to just buying a couple of the new collection.  Then I cracked and bought a couple more.  And then today I had an email to say that some of the new stamps are on offer at the Glitter Pot.  Well, I had to go and have a look, didn't I (it would be rude not to) ... and a couple more just fell into my shopping cart.  So it must have been meant to be.

Anyway, I had fun making this. 

I coloured Tilda with Copics as usual and did her hearts, string, ribbons and trim on her dress with Glamour Dust. I put a bit of Antique Linen around the edge of the Nestie die cut and popped the lot on top of a Cheery Lynn Doily die cut (these are fab and cut beautifully). Before I stuck the doily etc to the card I stamped the Magnolia holly swirl in brown ink, then went over this with a clear glue pen before adding some more Glamour Dust.

I put a row of heavy cotton lace across a piece of MME Christmas paper and before fixing the image/doily combo to the page with some sticky fixers I lined up my stamped holly swirl.

The gardenia is from Wild Orchid crafts and this is sitting on a Sizzix holly leaf die cut.  I sprayed the dark red gardenia with some gold Glimmer Mist and coloured some white WOC pearls with a dark red Copic pen to look like holly berries. I put a gold double ended stamen from WOC under the flower to finish it off and add a bit more bling.

And last of all, a little peak inside.  It's quite plain, just contrasting MME paper and more lace plus a K&Co rub on greeting on the jotting spot.

I struggled a bit with the lack of light when taking the photos - don't know about you but it's been dark here all day.  Does anyone use one of those light tent thingys? Are they any good?

I'm entering my card into the following challenges:

Just Magnolia - Anything Goes plus optional lace and pearls
Magnolia Stamp Lovers - Christmas

Hugs

Tracey

More Black!!!

What was I saying about challenges and black earlier?  Well, there's one that actually suits my new Tilda stamp and it's over at Magnolia Stamp Lovers!  Fortunately for me the challenge is to use black and no other colour is specified, although I was a bit worried that there wasn't enough black on my card.  Having seen the fabulous DT cards though, I was reassured that black and white/grey would be OK.

 I coloured this adorable Tilda (I'm so in love with this latest collection!) with my Copics and added half a ton of Glamour Dust to her hat and scarf.  I masked the main image and stamped the trees over the top; I stamped an extra tree, cut it out and layered it over parts of the background for a bit of depth.  A good dollop of Stickles on the trees gave them a bit of sparkle.  The sky looked a bit empty so I used some Kaisercraft rub on stars to fill the space.

The silver DP is from the latest SEI pad and over this I layered a square of Pink Petticoat little stars paper.  I then embossed a piece of black Coredinations card with the Cuttlebus Swiss Dots folder, roughed up the edges and added this as another layer.  Then I wrapped a length of M&S black sparkly ribbon around all the DP layers, although to be honest now you can hardly see it. 

I put a large snowflake (I won these as part of a candy a while ago and I'm eeking out my last few!) behind the image and a smaller snowflake on top.  In the opposite corner is a Craftwork Cards message circle.

The picket fence, cut in black, is a Doohickey die cut.  I covered it in Polar White flowersoft and hope it looks like snow!  Actually if I had the time I should have just left the card outside overnight - it's been freezing here all day and this afternoon I had to defrost the car for the first time since last winter.

Now please can I go back to my flowery and girlie comfort zone? 

Have a lovely evening.

Tracey xx

Lovely hAnglar Only Black and ...

As usual I'm running late, but I wanted to do something for the Lovely hAnglar Only challenge as apparently they are taking a creative break after this.  Don't know how long they will be away for, but I do hope they come back!

The theme for the challenge is Black and either purple, green or orange.  Not my favourite combination, any of them, but I had some lovely roses from Wild Orchid Crafts so that dictated my choice of colour.

Apologies in advance for the horrendous picture - I found the black background rather difficult to photograph, I'm afraid. 

I used DP from the Authentique Halloween pad and cut a Magnolia Doohickey doily which sadly you can hardly see!  There is also some black grosgrain ribbon underneath the doily!  The little hAnglar girl was coloured with Copics and cut out with a Nestie before getting a going-over with some Frayed Burlap ink.  The roses and pearls are from Wild Orchid Crafts.

I'm not too happy with the finished result, but there we go.  There's a lot of black about in challenges at the moment, don't you think?  I like black and white but struggle with black and a colour! 

Hope to be back later if I can get my latest card finished in time!

Hugs,

Tracey x

New Challenge at Sweet Stampin'!

There's a new challenge at Sweet Stampin' - something to really get you thinking!  This week we have a photo inspiration challenge and for those of you who maybe feel this isn't your thing, just look at the colours in the inspiration piccie!

Fi is donating the prize this week for the randomly chosen winner.  As she has friends in high places she's giving away a couple of SUGAR NELLIE stamps!  Now that's a prize I wouldn't mind winning myself!

Hugs,

Tracey xx

How many weeks until Christmas?

Well, we've had our extra hour and, just like every year, the weekend flew by regardless. Anyway, I made this card a couple of days ago and it fits the Just Magnolia "Merry Christmas" challenge perfectly! I'm trying to get my Christmas cards done but I've already given in and ordered cards from John Lewis (oh the joys of the internet!) as I just know I'm not going to have time to make all that I need.  

As you can see, I've been shopping (again) and I have to say, the new Magnolia Christmas stamps are possibly the best collection ever - certainly the best in a wee while.  I bought a few stamps and - forgive me, my friends, for I have sinned - I ordered a couple more the other day!  They are just so lovely and a dream to colour.

So this is a new Tilda, coloured with Copics and sprinkled with Glamour Dust.  The papers are Basic Grey and the sentiment is years old - an All My Memories sticker from the days before I knew what a stamp was!  I cut out a Sizzix heart from some chipboard and painted it with Picket Fence paint before dabbing it with Walnut Stain ink.  I quite like the effect and will make a few more like this when I get the chance.  The ribbon is from my stash (Making Memories, I think) and I've noticed that in the photo it looks like it's coming unstuck!  Will need to remedy this before I send it to someone!

I sprayed some Wild Orchid Crafts roses with French Vanilla Chalkboard Glimmer Mist to get a good match with my papers.  I usually put my flowers inside an eggbox to spray them and my hens' eggs go into very posh-looking boxes as a result!

It's going to be another busy week - Gregor is going to be 12 on Wednesday (eek! what happened to my baby!) and we're full-on at school as my Higher class have their first NABS.  I'll do my best to do another post before the weekend but apologies in advance if life gets in the way!

Have a lovely week - I do appreciate you coming to visit me and your lovely comments do wonders for my morale!

Big hugs

Tracey xx

Sweet Stampin' - Anything Goes!

Good morning! Don't know about you, but I am SO glad it's the weekend. The first week back at school has been exhausting and I'm really looking forward to that extra hour on Sunday!

We've got a new challenge starting today over at Sweet Stampin' Towers and it's always a popular one - Anything Goes!  Yes, you can make whatever you like, as long as it's stamped! How easy is that?

Here's my little creation

Now you know that I like my hAnglars and my Maggies, but this little Sugar Nellie cutie has stolen my heart! She's been coloured with really pale copics and I've added lots of Stickles and Glamour Dust, together with some glitter that was free with a magazine.  Sadly the old photographic skills have let me down again as there appears to be some stray glitter on her chin.  I wanted to keep everything very pale and frosty looking so I stuck to palest pink and a little pale grey to lift the white.

The papers are Magnolia; the bottom layer is from the new Christmas collection and the top square is from a year or two ago.  I distressed the edges with Lord Timmy's distressing thingy and added Walnut Stain around the edges. A doily from Joanna Sheen, a glittery Doodlebug brad and some Wild Orchid Crafts pink roses (sprayed with Pearl Glimmer Mist) were the only other additions.

Dodgy glitter aside, I'm (unusually for me) rather pleased with this.  Wish I could look that serene!

Oh and a quickie from school this week.  We were asking visiting primary school children about their skills and talents.  "Football!" said most of the boys.  "Fishing" said another.  "Taming wild animals" said a tiny wee girl.  "Taming wild animals? Really?  Do you know how to do that?" we enquired.  And she confidently replied that yes, indeed, she really, really knew how to do that.  "How did you learn to tame wild animals?" I asked.  "I've got a Rotweiler!" was the reply.

Have a lovely Saturday!

Hugs,

Tracey xx

Boo!

Thought I'd do a very quick post to show you my one and only Halloween card this year! We don't do Halloween although when he was younger sometimes the Boy Wonder's friends would come over for an impromptu visit to show us their costumes and see whether we had any sweets!

I've kept the card fairly simple in terms of layout. Unfortunately I must have taken the photo at a funny angle as looking at the picture now it seems as if the MS PATP border is wonky!  I used Apothecary paper and cut a black Cheery Lynn doily die to sit behind the image.  The spiders are from a much older MME collection.  The image I've had for ages and she's a joy to colour.  I used Copics but added a bit of Antique Linen distress ink and a small Stempelglede stamp to try to make "mouldy" marks around the edge of the oval.  I added some black gems to the corners and went a bit mad with the bright orange Basic Grey fibre, but it's such nice stuff to play with!

I'm going to enter this card into the following challenges:-

Stampin' for the Weekend - Spooky!

Paperplay Challenges - Halloween/Witches

See you tomorrow with a new Sweet Stampin' challenge!

Hugs,

Tracey x



I'm Still Here!

This is just a quick post to prove that I haven't disappeared!  The Boy Wonder and I have had such a busy time and I don't know what happened to the last week of our holiday.  I have managed to make some cards, though and thought I'd show you this one which I thought I'd enter in this week's Just Magnolia challenge.

This week Just Magnolia would like to see Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness.  Some of you will know that my lovely friend Marianne is battling breast cancer at the moment; she's had a very tough time lately as she's developed one infection after another and they've had difficulty getting the drugs through her system properly.  Last week she had to have a Hickman line put in - it's just at the base of her throat, bless her, so must be quite uncomfortable.  But if it helps the chemo and Herceptin to go round, it will be worth it.

Anyway, here's my Pink Christmas card

I used Tilda Wants a Hug as I thought it was so appropriate! She's been coloured with Copics and cut out with a Nestie.  I wrapped some Basic Grey fibres around a MS punched square and sat Tilda on top.  The papers are also Basic Grey and I found some Wild Orchid Crafts pale pink wild roses in my ever-growing stash of flowers! The tag is a Magnolia Doohickey - it's such a useful size, this one and I use it quite a lot, in case you hadn't noticed!

Hope to be back again this week with another card.  I got my new Tildas the other day and have been trying to get some coloured.  I think this is one of the best collections for some time - I bought four stamps but could easily have bought four or five more!

Have a lovely week.

Hugs,

Tracey xx

Sweet Stampin' - Masculine!

It's Saturday and that means a new challenge over at Sweet Stampin'!  This week's theme is Masculine.

Now many of you will know that I dread making cards for boys/men.  I like my flowers and ribbons and girlie stuff too much.  Thank goodness, then, for this Mo Manning image.  Not too butch/manly but masculine nonetheless!

I also decided that rather than make a card, I'd make a gift bag for a change.  I'd bought some Papermania bags from the Glitterpot a little while ago and thought they would be a good way to use up the leftovers in some of my 12"x12" paper pads.  The glitter paper is from a Christmas MME pad and the newspaper printed DP is a more recent a very strokeable purchase, also MME.  The ribbons are from my stash.

Finally, I added a miniature image to a gift tag to go with the bag.

As ever, the Sweeties have some gorgeous creations to inspire you, so do hop over to Sweet Stampin' and check them out!

Have a lovely weekend,

Tracey xx

It's definitely Autumn

Today's card seems particularly appropriate; the heavy rain has turned to drizzle, the leaves are coming down and the sky is just grey.  The challenge theme over at Magnolia Stamp Lovers is Fall and although I'm addicted to buying new papers, at this time of year I always go back to Pink Paislee's Queen Bee pad for my autumn colours.

Tilda has been coloured with Copics and cut out with a large Go Kreate oval die.  I stamped the leaves twice - once over the masked Tilda and the log and then on a separate piece of card.  I cut out the extra leaves and used decoupage glue to stick them on for some dimension.  The flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts and the ribbon is from my stash.

I've pre-ordered my stamps from the new Magnolia Christmas collection.  They look so cute - I hope they arrive before I go back to school!

Hugs

Tracey x

Sweet Stampin' - In Stitches

Hop over to Sweet Stampin' this morning to see our new challenge and the lovely DT cards the Team Fi Sweeties have made for you. 

We are so lucky this month to have the wonderful Marilyn Webb guest designing for us and we have some great prizes for our randomly chosen weekly and monthly winners.

So what are you waiting for?!

Hugs

Tracey x

Yay! It's the holidays!

After only 6 weeks at school we're on holiday for a fortnight.  I know the time is going to go by in a blink as I've got so much to do.  In spite of trying to be organised enough not to have to do any school work over the break the last week has been mad and I've picked up more work than I'd expected.  I'll just have to be very disciplined and make myself set aside a couple of days to get it done.

Anyway, an autumnal hAnglar today.  I made this with the Lovely hAnglar Only challenge in mind - the theme is round and I used a circular Go Kreate die to cut out this sweet image. I coloured her with Copics and splodged around the edges with a Stempelglede grunge stamp and some Antique Linen distress ink.

The image is mounted on a doily I cut with my new Cheery Lynn  die.  I'm smitten - what a joy this was to use, as it cut perfectly first time using the Grand Calibur.  I used the Timmy thingy to scruff up the edges of my DP (the paper with the writing on it is Prima, the other is either MME or Bo Bunny, not sure). The pearls and flowers are from WOC and the ribbon is from my stash.

As well as getting ready for Christmas over the next couple of weeks (!) I am determined to get me some crafting time.  I'm waiting for the new Tildas to be released as I'm quite taken by the sneak peaks I've seen.  Does anyone know if there will be any new hAnglars this Christmas?

See you in the morning with the latest Sweet Stampin' news.

Hugs,

Tracey

Sweet Stampin' Lilac and Lace

No comments about the weather please - I must live in the only place in the UK where it's been cloudy and wet!

Anyway, it's Team Abi's turn over at Sweet Stampin' this week and we're looking for your interpretations of our Lilac and Lace theme.  As usual my lovely teamies have worked their socks off on their scrummy projects.  AND I've got some new teamies, too - you'll meet them over the coming two weeks and I think you'll find there are one or two familiar faces.

I made an easel card to show off this gorgeous paper which is part of the K&Co Watercolour pad. I used my Martha Stewart PATP to get the lacy border.  The Tilda image is one of my faves - I love the ribbon on her dress and it's lovely to colour.  I cut her out with a Go Kreate circle which I then inked with Walnut Stain. 

I had a complete mare getting the lace to stick around the circle but once it was done I put some little lilac roses and rose buds from Wild Orchid Crafts around the edge.  I used lilac and cream flowers from WOC on the card base.  Finally I added a Doohickey tag which I had inked with Walnut Stain.  I love this tag - it cuts beautifully and as it comes in two pieces you get some dimension with it.  Do hop over to Sweet Stampin' and join in if you can.

Before I go can I just say a big "Welcome Back" to the loveliness that is Claire, who has had a wee break from her blog but is now back.  I missed you sweetie!

Hugs,

Tracey xx

With Hearts

Friday, thank goodness! I'm so looking forward to the weekend - to be quite honest, I'm completely cream-crackered.  Still, just a couple of weeks to go and it will be half term, so it's just a question of getting on with things until then.

Anyway, card time.  This one is for the Lovely hAnglar Only challenge - With Hearts. 

I don't often use this little hAnglar girl but I should ink her up more often as she's so sweet.  She's been coloured with Copics and cut out with a round Go Kreate die. I added some Glossy Accents to the heart she is holding and while it was still wet sprinkled it with some Glamour Dust.  It seemed to settle in the middle of the heart, which was a bit annoying, but once it dried I quite liked the effect - almost like a heart within a heart when you see it irl.  

The tag is one of the more recent Doohickeys and I love it! It's cut from two dies so you get some added dimension. And I love the pretty Basic Grey DP from the Capella pad (probably my all-time favourite).  The edges of the tag, image and DP have been inked with Walnut Stain. I used some Doodlebug rub ons and a Prima chipboard heart to decorate the tag and added my usual assortment of WOC flowers as I struggle to make a card without them!
Enjoy your evening!

Tracey xx

Red White and Green Christmas

Just a quickie... I wanted to show you my entry for this week's Lili of the Valley challenge, which is Red, Green and White.  I tend not to use primary colours very often so this was a bit of a stretch for me, but I had bought this lovely stamp from the first LotV Christmas release and thought that red and green would suit her.

She's been coloured with Copics and I've used Frosted Lace Stickles for all the glittery bits.  She's been cut out with a Nestie die, as has the red mat. The papers are years old - they might be Bella Press or Imaginisce, who knows?  They were the only ones I had in the right colours, anyway! I used a Martha Stewart punch on the corners of the white Bazzill border and topped this with some red ribbon from my stash  The flowers, as always, are from Wild Orchid Crafts.

So there you have it, nothing fancy but it's nice to have something to show you mid week. I've been working away on DT cards for Sweet Stampin' and have made cards for two more challenges which I'll try to post before Saturday. 

Hope you're all having a lovely week!

Hugs,

Tracey xx

Sweet Stampin' Challenge - Flowers

It would be fair to say that I like flowers.  A lot.  And I love putting them on my cards.  In fact, I don't often make cards without a bit of a floral arrangement of some kind.  So when it was my turn to choose a theme for this week's challenge at Sweet Stampin', I didn't have to think too hard!  My adorable teamie Wedgie came up with this fabulous sketch for us to follow - I loved using it and will definitely follow this again.

I had a go at a sort-of mono effect just to make a change.  I like these K&Co papers - they're from the Julianne 6x6 pack - and because they go so well together I wanted to stick with browns and creams in my image.  The lovely hAnglar girlie has been coloured with Copics and I distressed the edges and background with some Pumice Stone ink.

The little sentiment is by Lili of the Valley and I used the Doohickey lace die again - it's probably my most used die and it cuts really well every time.  The gems are from  my stash and the flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts.

The Sweeties have worked their magic with the most wonderful DT cards this week, so do hop over and join in if you can.  The sketch is optional, the flower theme is a requirement!  We've also got a DT call out, so if you're interested in being part of the happiest, friendliest, funniest and occasionally bonkers team of crafters, we'd love to see your designs.

Have a great day!

Hugs,

Tracey x

Missing You...

I've been trying to even up my work-life balance so that the life part actually gets a look-in.  Part of this process obviously has to include more time for internet stash shopping and making cards.  I haven't had too much success so far, but I am trying and have actually managed to make a card mid-week for probably the first time since we went back to school.

This was made for the Lili of the Valley challenge which is "Missing You".  I used their cute image of the boy and the girl on the swing (my brother had a tank top like that!) and coloured it with Copics.  I used Distress ink for the background but just a touch as I wanted it to be very soft. 

The DP is from the K&Co Watercolour pad again. This is fast becoming a rival to my K&Co Madeleine pad, which I absolutely lurve.  In fact the little MS butterfly was punched from a scrap of Madeleine paper.  The image has been mounted onto the silly Doohickey doily and you might just be able to see the LOTV grunge letter stamp poking on the left.

The flowers are, of course, from Wild Orchid Crafts (their peachy colours are a perfect match for the peach tones in the Watercolour pad) and the sentiment was done on the computer and cut out with a circle punch.

And voilà, as they say in French France.

At school I take a small group of kids for European Studies - for a variety of reasons, they're not able to join in a language class at school.  They're a great bunch and could be best described as "lively". Those you who read the Austria/bird post will already be familiar with these little cherubs.  We are basically "travelling" around Europe and they get to choose which countries we visit.  So far they've managed to avoid every country whose native tongue happens to be a language I can speak... hmmm...

Anyway, it would appear that they've worked out that at some point during each country topic I'll bring in food for them to try from that particular corner of the world.  We're in Greece at the mo and last week I brought in olives, houmous, pitta bread etc.  Apart from a regurgitated olive situation, which wasn't too pleasant (A dinnae like it, Miss, it's hingin') this practice appears to have been a success.  However, it seems that the class are now basing their choice of future European destinations solely on what I'm likely to bring in for them to eat.  Now, no offence to anyone from Ireland, but I was quite surprised when this appeared to be the hot favourite as our next port of call.  Apart from soda bread I struggled to think of what culinary delights I could buy locally (don't let me go off on a tangent about our lack of shops) so I asked the class what it was that appealed to them so much.  "Guinness, Miss!"

And on that note, I'm off to put something red and liquid into a glass.

Hugs,

Tracey xx

Yes, it's really me!

No, it's not a figment of your imagination ... it really is me and what's more, I've made a card. Yay!  The first couple of weeks back at school have been even more busy than usual and I seem to have had 101 things to do out of school, too.  Still, at least I'm not bored!  Apologies, tho' for not being able to get round to leaving comments for everyone - must try harder!

Loads to tell you today, so before I show you my card I need to remind you to hop over to Sweet Stampin' for our Teenage Challenge.  Now for all you Kevin and Perry parents I don't mean "how challenging is your teenager?"!  We'd like to see your creations for a teenager. The Team Fi Sweeties have made some real beauties to inspire you, so do come along and play if you can.

Now for the card. I was originally, two weeks ago, trying to make something for the Lovely hAnglar Only challenge, which was Lilac and Cream.  I had some lovely paper left in the K&Co Watercolour pad but I prefered the other side, which was all flowery, glittery and not really lilac and cream.  So I printed off some papers from Pink Petticoat.  Really pretty - or they would have been, if I hadn't run out of ink. Hmmm...

Thank goodness for Tracy at Dies to Die For.  Fresh back from her hols she sent me a little parcel (OK, I admit, I've been shopping again) and in it was a little 6"x6" Magnolia paper in just the right colour.  On it went, topped with two cut outs of the silly Doily Die, some purple ribbon, my little hAnglar girl who'd been hanging around already coloured for nearly a fortnight, flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts and a Lili of the Valley Sentiment.  And that was my card - done. Except for just one thing...

Those of you who enter your little hAnglar cuties in the LhO challenges will know that you need to get them in by 5pm on a Saturday.  I know this.  Unfortunately I didn't remember that I know this until 7pm tonight.

Anyway, all is not lost - I'm going to enter the card into the following challenges:-

Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes
Stamp Something - Anything Goes (their last challenge!)

The Boy Wonder has settled into High School so well - what a relief.  He's been doing Home Eco and loving it so today he made lunch - pepperoni pizza - and it was delicious! It made up for the fact that I got soaked this morning trying to pick damsons before they blew off the tree in the gales! I've got a couple of kilos promised to a colleague who has traded me some fabulous  chanterelle mushrooms.  The rest is going into damson gin.  We don't really eat jam, the Boy Wonder and I, so I thought I'd get some nice bottles from Lakeland and give some gin as Christmas pressies.  Of course I'll need to have regular tastings for quality control and all that!

Hugs

Tracey xx

Sweet Stampin' - Anything but a Birthday

Where did the week go? I haven't made a card since forever (or so it seems) and I've really missed it.  Just work/life taking over, I'm afraid.

Anyway, we have a new challenge over at Sweet Stampin' and it's one you're going to love: Anything but a Birthday.  It could be Christmas, Thank You, Get Well Soon ... whatever you like.  Plus our themes this month are being combined with different sketch each week - the sketch is optional, but I've really enjoyed using them. 

We're being sponsored this month by Heather Ellis (check out her lovely digis) and this week by Tiffany Doodles.  I made two DT cards but one needs to be photographed again because I just couldn't get a decent pic.  Here's the other:

Papers are Nitwits and the image is by the one and only Mo Manning.  I didn't include a sentiment as I wanted to keep the card uncluttered.  I used the lovely pencil embellishments again (only 1 left now) - they are just gorgeous and I don't know where I'll find any more. 

I'm going to enter this in the (last!!!) Stamp Something digi Challenge - can't believe this challenge blog is closing down!

Hopefully the light will be better tomorrow and I'll be able to post my other DT card.

Have a lovely weekend!

Tracey x

HAnglar Holidays!

A very quick post as I'm rushing to get this card into the Lovely hAnglar Only challenge (Holiday) before it closes, plus the Boy Wonder is waiting for me to take him to his friend's house for tea!

My hAnglars are coloured with Copics as per usual. The DP is Prima in the background, with Bo Bunny paper on top - this has had a doing with a Martha Stewart PATP. No flowers today - it didn't seem right somehow - so I stuck on some shells which have had a touch of Glimmer Mist.

Told you it was a quickie!  Right, better put some face on and get in the car!

Have a lovely weekend,

Tracey xx

Strawberries, Chocolate and Cream!

No, that's not what I had for breakfast (although sounds like a plan to me...)! It's the new challenge over at Sweet Stampin' today!  We'd like you to use these colours and/or images in your lovely creations this week.  Our sponsor for this challenge is Pollycraft who have digis to give away to one randomly chosen winner, so do hop over and take a look.

Housework calls now before I start my unpaid chauffeuring job at "Tracey's Taxi's" and take the Boy Wonder to his various social engagements!

See you later!

Tracey xx

Recycling ... An Eggsperiment

Sorry about the pun - here's a card I've made for the latest TOMIC challenge. We have to incorporate recycling into our design and that's something I don't find particularly easy.  However, as a keeper of chickens I am the recipient of egg boxes donated by almost everyone I know.  This is so kind, but often results in egg boxes taking over my kitchen.  When this challenge was announced on Monday I knew exactly what I was going to recycle although I wasn't immediately sure how.

Now I have egg boxes of various colours and at first I thought the green ones might make grass or even a football pitch, but no, I messed about with that idea and consigned my efforts to the bin.  I decided in the end to go for a plain brown egg box and spray it with Glimmer Mist.  It then occurred to me that I hadn't used many of my new Magnolia stamps from the Winner Takes It All set ... egg boxes ... space ... the moon... craters.  Don't ask me how my brain works to get the surface of the moon from an egg box but that's what I came up with!

I sprayed the egg boxes (I needed two in the end) with Glimmer Mist in both gold and coffee.  The spray actually made the egg boxes much softer and I was  able to tear and squish them into shape quite easily once they had dried.  I only used the part which holds the eggs to get the crater effect. 

I used Copics to colour my little astronaut Tilda and added glossy accents to her space helmet (apologies for the photo - the light's reflecting off the helmet).  The rocket and moon have also been coloured with Copics; the moon has had some Glamour Dust added and I put glossy accents on the window of the rocket. The paper is from my stash. 

I'm not too hopeful of my chances of auditioning for Blue Peter anytime soon, but I'm going to enter this in this week's TOMIC Recycling challenge anyway!

It was the Boy Wonder's first day at High School today and he really enjoyed it! Long may it continue.  I was fortunate to be in the right place at the right time when I saw him looking lost on his way to English this morning.  He thankfully saw me pointing at the classroom door and was able to get to his class on time - just!

I've got first years tomorrow so I need to get back into the swing of shouting "Young Man!" while I learn their names!

Hugs

Tracey xx

Sweet Stampin' - Little Ones

Well, I'm back from York - we got there in the end!  I managed to get a battery for the key thingy and we were on the road by lunchtime on Monday, so we got to York late afternoon.

I'll be on a diet for the next few weeks as we ate out every night.  If anyone is going to York and wants to go out for dinner, let me know - I would happily recommend 3 wonderful restaurants which not only did stunning food but were very child friendly.  And of course, we went to Betty's for tea and cake (Faye, the cakes were amazing!).

And now it's back home to do the washing and ironing and generally get ready for going back to school next week.  But not before I've shown you my card for this week's challenge at Sweet Stampin'. It's Team Abi's turn this week and the loveliness that is Dora has chosen our challenge theme - Babies or Little Ones.  We are sponsored this week by Bugaboo and as you'll see by the creations the Sweeties have made, these digis are just the cutest! 

I'm still in my "round" phase so I cut out my Doodlebug card using my large Go Kreate die.  The dots on the Doodlebug card are very tactile as they are flocked (how terrible does that sound, but I'm sure you know what I mean!).  I added a Doodlebug ribbon and cut the mount for the image from more plain Doodlebug card.  I didn't want to put flowers on the card so found these little foam hearts in my stash.

I coloured the cute digi image with Copics apart from the baby's nappy, which I covered with Blue Doodlebug flock.  Finally I added some pearls around the edge of the circle and put Stickles on the clouds and moon.

Off to do a bit of blog hopping now to catch with what I've missed this week.  Do pop over to Sweet Stampin' and join in if you can - there are Bugaboo digis for one randomly chosen winner! 

Whatever you're doing this weekend, have fun!

Hugs,

Tracey xx