Holly Baby!

Well.. here she is.. loads of photographs later ... although it does prove a problem to try and catch her when she's still.. lol..

This set fits perfectly with the new challenge over on Katy's forum,Sunday, 28 October 2007

Wet and wild!
Sorry no update yesterday, i'm in the middle of changing over computers!
Anyhoo here's this weeks photo challenge! Today we want to see Water!

She sorta discovered a little clean bit of water down in the local woods whilst out for a walk (.. obviously those of you who know Springers, know a walk means running around like a headless chicken only to come back when you need to.. lol) In this water was a large stick (well.. tree stump!) and she decided she needed to go for a paddle to fetch it.. only problem is., we have a springer who only likes to dip her big toe in a tiny bit of water (!!!)

This was when she was getting a bit more brave, and had a bit more of a paddle to pull the stick a little closer... until she eventually got it out.. see below haha..

Soooooooooooo... the question is... what do you do with a stick when you've got it?? well..

................ you run around like a mad dog (with the stick that was a bit shortened by mummy) and hit everyones legs with it.. and when mummy points the camera at you, you run even faster.

then when Teena manages to get the stick of you.. you do what Springers do... you jump up and down to try to get it back.. hehe..

Then... when you're all worn out., you lay down on the field looking all sweet and innocent (wondering what you can get up to next - - but at least it gives mummy a chance to take a more or less in focus photograph!!) lol.

Some Bex's Challenges.. trying to catch up!

Hi folks.

I have had a non productive few days, mainly due to not feeling too well... so thought Iwould take a visit onto Bex's forum to try to catch up with some challenges.
OCTOBER - CHALLENGE 3 OLD & NEW

for this challenge we want you to do 2 things - yes 2 things we are asking for 2 fantastic items one with old paper - you know the stuff you hate and really do not want to use and one with new paper

The top one... Wedding Day... is one I have made out of new paper. It is a Dovecraft paper pack, weddings.. luscious papers in there! The bottom one, the halloween one, I made with papers I won a while ago for having cards printed in Beautiful Cards magazine. I didn't really know what to do with the papers until now.. quite seasonal I thought.

BIG CHALLENGE 12 - Land and Sea

This challenge is all about getting down to earth. I would like you to make something but in the colours of the land or sea or both.

For this card I used the new Papermania Designer Card pack, and a See D set I had. I just thought the greeting was great.. lol.. could just be my sense of humour of course. lol.

BIG CHALLENGE 3 - Blooming Christmas

This is rather special challenge.... The challenge is.. Flowers are generally associated with spring and summer but they can also be so christmassy too. So for this next challenge lets see all your blooming gorgeous christmas cards...all flowers welcome

For this one I used a Craft Tonic card in pink and cut it at a wonky angle. I then cut a piece of candy striped paper and inked around the edges with some Distress Ink. I used chalk ink in lilac to stamp a docrafts bauble background onto the paper, added some flowers courtesy of Dunelm Mill, a piece of ribbon and a greeting printed in the same lilac ink.

FRIDAY NIGHT CHALLENGE 12th OCTOBER - Alternative Xmas

It's time for another Friday night (well, afternoon) challenge with a Christmas theme! We like to keep you busy........... This time, we'd like you to make 5 Christmas cards using patterned paper - but NOT Christmas-themed paper

This is a Craft Tonic DL card, Hampton Art simple snowflake stamp. I am unsure what make the big Santa stamp is, multi tonal lilac pigment ink, small piece of ribbon and a cherub charm.

This was made from Die Cuts with a View paper, a hand folded christmas tree and some glitter glue. ... block prints pad I think.

This one I used Papermania DL cards, the Docrafts Christmas snowflake stamp and enchanted gold embossing powders (parts of which were deliberately overheated to create a water marked effect), the papers were Papermania Pastel prints pad. I used gold and silver glitter glue and some sticky ribbon to add decoration and sparkle!

This one I was trying a new technique.. creating a file folder in the centre of the card.. and I must say, it worked quite well. If anyone wants the instructions, just email me. In the file section in the middle, I have cut an aperture using the shape cutter and hung a Papermania decoration in the centre. The front was just plain background papers and a new Docrafts Christmas stamp, embossed with Sea Foam White embossing powders.

OCTOBER CHALLENGE 5 ...... a CHRISTMAS template...maybe

and another... you KNOW what to do twist it flip it shrink it

I'm having a few problems uploading the template.. but here's what I made with it..

The card is a metallic card, the stamp is Hampton Arts snowman (isn't he cute!!), the papers were Papermania christmas papers.

Well... that's about it for now.. back in a while to catch up on my next challenge pictures..

oooh playtime!

for those of you that know me, you will know there's nothing I like better than to create my own background sheets on photoshop... so just browsing the net this morning, I came across this site..

http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/british_galleries/designa/textile/textile.html.

you can click on the left hand side to create your own textiles.. then print it out and use it as a background sheet! How wonderful! Go on... go play.. you'll enjoy it!!!!

something new, something blue..

Yeye... I got a bind it all.. and I just can't wait to get going with it.. I have made a few small books.. but I've just visited Bex's forum and there's this lovely christmas stocking on there.. it looks lovely.. so here it is.

I'm going to give this a whizz tomorrow.. this evening I'm relaxing after working all day on a set of parchment cards for a mag commission.. soooo this evening.. cuppa coffee and eastenders.. lol.Well .. anything to make me laugh.. lol

Here's my new bind it all.
I have had the pleasure of meeting the Mr Bind it All himself.. he is a really lovely guy who came over from the US to meet a group of us the other week, to talk about the machine and to give us all some little hints and tips.. since I bought it home, it's been one thing after another and I haven't had time to play with it.. but this week I have finished all my commissions to date, and I have a weekend off to play... lol.. Well.. tata for now.. I'll be back tomorrow when I get around to uploading some new cards and projects. Have a good evening all.

Some other bits and pieces

This card was another challenge on Bex's forum.

Paisley Crazy

Ok, Bex and the girls have kindly allowed me to set a challenge this month - thank you girls. So, basically the challenge is to use something Paisley on your card, whether is a patterned paper, a die cut, ribbon, Paisley embossing, whatever you want.

I used the DCWV Christmas Stack and some dye inks - although I'm not too sure that that piece turned out too well.... it looks a bit red! lol.. Oh well.. we live and learn!

Bex's Forum Button it challenge

At last! I managed to find time to do a challenge on Bex's forum! Yey!

This is the one I have been working on. The Button it! Challenge!

....and for THIS FRIDAY we are continuing the Christmas preparations and as usual are asking you to make 5 cards for the challenge. Simple one this week - all cards must include BUTTONS. Any buttons, whether normal or novelty. Complete the challenge before Midnight Tuesday and you will get 3 points.

This is what I came up with..

Some new projects.

Hi folks.

I have been quite busy over the last few days, so I'm sorry for being a bad blogger! Here are a few bits I've been doing..

These first three cards were for a special order I got the other day.

I used the new Papermania vellums on this card, along with one of the See D sets.

This is the next one using a See D set of rubber stamps and adhesive gems

This one... See D stamps again, and I stamped the background on the card with dye inks. the shadows around the edge were made with the same dye inks and a make up sponge
This last one was created with See D stamps, brush markers and a little bit of decoupage..

I hope you like them.

Two new Docrafts Projects.

I thought I would share these because I am rather proud of them.. I haven't gotten around to photographing the cards that I made yesterday, but here are the two new projects that have just been uploaded onto the Docrafts gallery. There are instructions on there too, as well as hundreds of other projects to have a peruse through.. lots of inspiration there, but don't go just yet.. please take a look at my work... feel free to leave me a comment..

This is the first one

and this is the second..

Oh tiring day!

I have just done a 245 mile round trip to Southport, and I'm shattered.. but I did make some really nice cards, so will be uploading them hopefullly tomorrow..

there is also a photo challenge over on Katy and Emma's blog that I want to join in tomorrow too.. fur and feather.. I wonder what that one will be of?? Mmmm.. puppy or pussy!??

Anyway, will zoom off for now.. have fun, and happy crafting!

A double layout for Katy's challenge.

here we go... I'm on a roll now. These are two pages that I have done for a challenge over on our lovely Katy and Emma's challenge page.. http://scrapping-frenzy.blogspot.com/. She reminded me of the challenge yesterday whilst we were nattering and catching up on the phone.. so here it is Katy.

The challenge was set as below..

Top 10
Today's challenge comes from Sandie - And the theme is Top 10, as you can see from our Design Team's offerings, there is no limit to the variety of themes you can choose! Please link your pages to this post - This week there's a fab prize up for grabs from Craft Obsessions for our favourite!

So here's my entry!

And just to finish off.. I got my new camera yesterday, Canon Eos 400D.. so having a little play last night, here's a piccie my son took of Holly.

Thats all for now.. I can't tell you what the papers were that I used, i cut them up before I thought to look.. lol.. Oh well!

First part of my Holly Scrapbook

Well, it's been a long time coming, but here it is.. page one of my scrapbook of Holly. Because she was a present for Paul after losing Asti, I decided to do a scrapbook of her growing up. They grow so quickly..

Here's the first page.

The paper is DCWV spring pack, and I used a sheet of wording to give it's title "It's a spring thing".. very appropriate! I layered up the flowers to give a little more dimension and added some Papermania adhesive gems to the centres of the flowers. I doodled around the edge to finish.

Cute Puss!

In fact most of the time she's the she-devil in disguise.. especially if you don't know her... she has mellowed slightly over the last few years..... probably due the fact she is getting on in age - she is now over 10 years old, but still looks young for her age.. Here's Kiara.

Kiara was one of the little kittens that Asti uncovered in a hedge many years ago. She was laying in a carrier bag with her litter buddies, and when we bought them home and had them checked out by the vet, they aged her at around 2 weeks.. the others went onto the RSPCA and we decided to keep this one as she was the only black and white one there. She was really tiny and fitted into the palm of your hand with room to turn! Just look at her now. She's quite contented as you can see..

Our darling Holly!

Oh isn't she growing?

She is such a little darling! She is now 5 months old and a real bundle of fun and mischief! Although I must say, it's a little gentler on my wrists now she has lost all her baby teeth and got her biggies growing! I was going to do my demo's with wrists and hands that were either red or black.. because she's a spaniel and you can't stop 'em mouthing! But now it's only me she mouths, so it isn't too bad and I don't mind really - she knows when enough's enough..

She is also getting very good off her lead. She runs around like a headless chicken, and when you shout 'here' she comes a-running back. She also knows her basic commands and seems to understand what you say. They are a very intelligent breed...........mmm.. that's what they say - although she doesn't seem to comprehend that you can't fly if you're a dog and chasing birds really doesn't work that well!

But that said.. she's adorable and I wouldn't be without her.. I mean.. just look at those eyes! Aren't they soooo appealing?

Not been a very good blogger!

Sorry folks.

I haven't been blogging much over the last month, but I have a bit more free time coming up so hopefully will be back on track! I look at everyones blog and they are great to read, so always run out of time to do my own! Oh well...

I have been quite busy over the last month or so, what with jobs coming out of my ears., I haven't known if I'm coming or going!... I don't know if I mentioned it (**note to self - must read my own blog!) but I have acquired myself a few new jobs.. lol.. I wanted to get more involved with my crafting to make it more worthwhile, so I set about trying to find some new avenues! Well.. my search paid off and I am now still demonstrating for my favourite ol' Docrafts! I have also started to demonstrate for another large craft company as well as taking bookings for private ones on my weekends off. I still work for the magazines, (hint hint - there are some of my projects in papercraft inspirations this month, also in complete cardmaking and the Creativity! magazine. And there are more in the pipeline so all is good there!

I also started working for our local council doing community learning, teaching digital photography and craft, and this is the one where I am running about! We are being inspected mid October so everything needs to be sorted for then! I am also doing my 7303 course, preparing to teach city and guilds.. am I a sucker for punishment??? Then! I am also teaching card making and craft on a Wednesday at our local FE centre. So I am just busy busy busy!

Anyway, will go and catch up on some more posts.. bye for now!