A Hoot!!

Hoot!! Hoot!!

I love this Woodware Owl stamp and had fun making it.

Coloured him with Copics and added some googly eyes.

I 3D the Owl's beak and the branch. 

The papers came with a Magazine and cut with my 

fave Go Kreate die.

I went to the Sincerely Yours Craft Show

 in Thetford, Norfolk on Sunday with a friend. 

There were a few more stalls there

than at the Christmas event.

It's a small show but great for the essentials,

like card, ribbons, tapes and glue.

But!!!!

I had to buy 2 new huge stamps that I fell in love with.

I will post them probably at the weekend.

I bought one stamp last year in this range and as I 

couldn't decide which one this time, I bought 2 more!! 

More details when I post one!!

Thanks for popping into my little corner and you 

know I just love reading your lovely messages.

Big hugs,

Carol

xxxx

A Tweet Shoe.

Thank you for all your lovely messages on my last post.

I still have the problem! I did have a text from the surgery, 

to ring them and book an appointment with my usual GP. 

I did, straight away but couldn't see him until the 

10th February. That was 3 weeks from when I called them!!

So, this is another old stamp I bought at Ally Pally Craft Show.

It is a House of Zandra stamp. She is now trading under a 

different name.

I found it in a box of my partly painted stash!!

So I decided it was about time I finished it!!

So I got out my Copics pens and Nuvo Drops and finished it!!

I have quite a few more images in 'draft', 

so I will try to post a few more over the next few weeks.

Thank you for visiting my little blog and your

 messages are so lovely to read.

I am a naughty blogger and would like to welcome

 Christine and Julie as new followers to my little blog!!

A big thank you to Kelly in Florida too!!

Telling me her daughter had this same nose problem

and it eventually went away.

That made me feel a bit better.

Big hugs,

Carol

xxxx

We wish you a Merry Christmas!!

This is a quick post.

I would like to thank

all my lovely blogging friends from around the world,

for taking time in their busy lives,

to visit my blog and to leave me treasured messages.

I wish you all a wonderful Christmas and a 

prosperous, healthy, peaceful  2019.

I know this picture is not Christmas related,

it is a 'Home' sign, where lots of us will be for the holiday.

It sold on it's first outing!!

All the flowers are hand made, which I really love doing.

So more rewarding than sticking my bought ones on!

Thank you so much.

Big hugs to you all,

Carol

xxxxx

Absent From Blogging!!

Sorry that I have been absent from blogging

and will catch up over the next few days.

We have just had a week in Yorkshire, exploring the Moors

and the Dales. We were based in Thirsk, which is a lovely market town.

It was made famous, from the television program,

All Creatures Great and Small, many years ago.

We loved this program and they have now made a reality 

series, with real life Vets and follows them around 

to real life animal problems.

At the opening of the program, they have the 2 Vets standing

on the Moors, with an amazing scene behind them.

Seeing this, we decided that we just had to got to Yorkshire.

We actually found the view, which we couldn't believe

how we did on our first day on the Moors!!

This is it!! 

The pictures are a bit hazy because it was a very hot day

and it was heat haze.

We drove up a hill that was 25% steep to get here!!

In the next picture you can see the road in the middle, 

which is the one we came up from!

This card was a stamp that came with a magazine.

I really loved colouring this one with Copics pens.

I struggle with cards for men but this was nice and easy. 

Thanks for visiting my little blog corner

and hope you will come back soon.

I have displayed the new Privacy Policy, thanks to

Marianne for your help. 

I hope that you

will still leave messages. I know I will!!

Big hugs,

Carol

xxxx

WW Challenge Christmas in the Snow

It's another Winter Wonderland challenge
starting today and ends on Thursday 24th May at 5pm.

Our host is Geesje
and she chose the theme 

Christmas In The Snow

We had a couple of Digis from our Sponsor 
and I chose to use Winter Friends.

Our generous sponsor for this challenge is

LeAnn's World 101

The winner will receive 2 free Digis from our Sponsor
You can visit Le Ann's Etsy shop here 

LeAnn's drawings are stunning and you will
find it difficult to choose, as they are so fab.

Please remember that all entries must be Christmas cards only.

Pop over to the Winter Wonderland blog
to see all the gorgeous entries from
my amazing Icicles Teamies.

They will certainly inspire you with their designs.

Big hugs,
Carol
xxxx

Tribute Challenge at Winter Wonderland

Hi Everyone and welcome to a very special challenge at

Winter Wonderland.

All the members of our Design Team are joining together,

as a tribute to a lovely lady, that sadly is no longer with us.

Eileen was the last lady, that up until this time last year,

was running the Winter Wonderland Challenge blog.

She is certainly missed and as a DT group, we all agreed that

we would like to get together, to keep the blog running.

So this challenge is with Eileen in mind.

The theme is

Anything Goes

But please remember we are a Christmas card only challenge.

We have  a new Sponsor joining us,

that is Imagine That Digistamp. 

                              

They have very generously given all the DT members,
a set of their fabulous Digi Stamps.

The set I chose is called Poinsettia and you get an amazing

selection of images in this set.

To see all the fabulous Digi sets click on
Imagine That Digistamp

                                          

If you need more inspiration, pop over to the 

Winter Wonderland challenge blog

and see all the amazing cards on there!!

I am looking forward to seeing your Christmas cards.

We will visit you blogs and leave a comment,

if we are able.

Thanks for stopping by and hope you leave me a 

message, so I can return the compliment.

They are always appreciated and lovely to read.

Have a lovely weekend and get making those cards.

Don't forget that The Craft Barn have added

even more products in their half price sale!!!

Don't miss out on the bargains!!!

Big hugs,

Carol

xxxxx

Winter Wonderland Christmas Animal Challenge

This is an early post as I am doing two today.

Our new challenge at Winter Wonderland starts today.

Our host for this fortnight is the amazing Kath.

The theme is Animals and don't forget,

Christmas Cards ONLY to go into the draw.

Our Sponsor for this challenge is

Kitty Bee Designs

and the prize is

1 Non Coloured Digi

I love Penguins, so obviously

I had to use the gorgeous  Hollie Penguin Digi from 

Kitty Bee.

Looking forward to popping over to your blogs, 

to leave a message on your entry.

Join in the fun and

 get those cards made and you could be the winner!!

Big hugs,

Carol 

xxxx

Splat!!!

What a week! And it's only half way through!

 

Friday evening, I broke a filling in a tooth. I was eating a quiche salad!!

 

Monday, the boiler decided not to work, so we only had cold water. Hubby had to get in the loft, to see if he could get it to work. After pressing a few buttons it worked. That was, until after he had his shower on Tuesday morning. No hot water again. So he had to get in loft again, so I could have a hot shower. Really couldn't face a cold one!:) So I phoned our plumber man and he was going to come in the afternoon.

 

At 7.45 that morning, I had a text from my son, telling me that their baby, (1st one), had arrived at 03.30 that morning! Callum, who weighed in at 8lb1oz. Mum, Dad and baby all fine.

 

I phoned the dentist and he is on holiday. Fortunately they fitted me in with another one, at 2.30pm, that afternoon. My granddaughter came at 08.30 that day too, as half term. Had to drop her off at her Nannie's at 2pm, as my daughter didn't finish work until 2.30.

 

Oh!! Nearly forgot! Another baby arrived at 11.30, my eBosser machine!! Only ordered it on Friday morning!

 

Granddaughter had brought her homework for us to do! They are studying Egypt at school and we had to make some jars that went in the tombs. So I spent the morning making a paper mache pot. Yuk!

 

After the boiler repair man had gone at 5.30pm, I was absolutely knackered!!

 

I made this card last week for stock. In fact I had such fun making it, I made 3, using different cars. I hate to think how old this stamp is. Don't even know where I got it. It is a clear stamp.

 

 

For the background, I used Distress Stains I bought at Ally Pally. It was great fun, just thumping them down on the card to get the 'splat' effect.

 

I stamped the big LOTV sentiment, using black Versafine ink. I then threw on some Ivory Frantage on for a bit of texture. The 'wishes' stamp again is an old one.



 

I coloured the car using Copics for a change.

Just for a change, I am not off to bed, as it's only 6.30pm! Husband should be home shortly, so have to think about cooking dinner.

 

Thanks for taking time out of your day to visit my blog. I love getting comments, as they encourage me to keep it going.

 

Hugs,

 

Carol S.xx

Dragonfly Box

Hi everyone in blogger land,

 

I had a great day at Ally Pally, where I took a friend of mine, that had never been before. We just got around all 62 stalls in 6 hours!

 

It was so nice to meet Marianne, a follower of my blog and I, of hers'. We had quite a long chat. I bought loads of goodies, as you do. I also saw quite a few friends up there. One lady used to go to the same infant school and dance classes as me! Another 2 ladies that I used to work with, at the Craft Shop where I was a Tutor.

 

I also kept bumping into a lady that I spoke to at the first stall we were looking at. It got really funny, as every time I turned around she was there with her friend. That lasted right to the end. I gave her a card with my blog address on, so will be interested to see if she visits my blog.

 

Today I had a Craft Fair to do. I was there just before 9am and it finished at 3.30pm. I'm absolutely knackered!! I was short of stock before I went and now I have loads more to make before Friday, when I have another Fair to do! Not complaining really but I have put in an order for 28 hour days, just for this week!Lol!

 

This is a box I have made to sell at a market. I fell in love with this paper pad, by Jodie Lee Designs, called Fairy Belle Collection. It is the main piece on the right.

 

The other papers are from my stash, including the tag, which I think was free with a magazine.

 

I have to admit, that I have an addiction for papers. One day I will take a photo of my boxes of papers. I have 19 boxes of 12"x 12" size, 17 boxes of A4 size, 8 boxes of A5 size and various folders A4 size! All of them are full to bursting!

 

I admit I also bought 3 more paper pads at Ally Pally. I will have to buy another box now!

The bow on this box, is from my stash, when I had a fabric addiction! I used to make all my clothes and my children's clothes. Even my sons' shirts and my daughter's winter coats. In fact, when I was made redundant for the first time ( 7 times in 5 years!) I went back to making bridesmaids dresses and flower displays. Had to put food on the table somehow. I did sell loads of fabric and haberdashery items when I moved.

The birdcage is a Memory Box die. I went looking in my Vellum drawer (forgot to put that in my list!) for a piece to make a butterfly with. I found a scrap, that I had already stamped this Kay Carley dragonfly on twice. Perfect! I coloured it from the back with a Copics pen, cut them out and stuck the bodies together.

I added flight dots with Stickles Star Dust and Stickles Cinnamon on his body.

 

 

Well I have made a list of things I have to make this week. How much of it I will get done, who knows!

 

Thank you for stopping and leaving me your treasured messages.

 

Hugs,

 

Carol S.xx

 



 

 



Dancing Queen

Hi Everyone, I would like to welcome on board my new follower. I really would like to get to 50 followers soon please. Pretty please!!

 

I can't believe that 10 days have gone already this year! Christmas seems as if it was weeks ago now.

 

Are all of you in the UK, as fed up as I am, with continuous strong winds and rain?! It's so boring having the lights on most of the day. Whinge, whinge!!

 

This card is made, using a stamp from the last release of girly stamps, from Lili of the Valley. She is called 'Dancing Queen'. I used a mixture of Copics pens and Distress Inks to colour with.



 

 

I stamped the image onto Water Colour 350gsm card. I like to use this weight, as you can wet the area you want get a good blend in, before you add the ink. It then blends itself. Just like using proper water colour paints.

 

The sentiments were a mixture of makes. The HHHooray was from a set of Crafter's Companion Bebunni, Birthday Bunny. The 'it's your birthday', was I think, an old Little Claire stamp.

 

 

I added a little Star Dust Stickles here and there. I think it still qualifies as a CAS card, do you agree? It is so hard not to put on embellies. My itchy fingers hover over my drawers of flowers!

 

I have found some challenges to enter this card into. My New Year resolution remember!

 

                            Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes

                            Hobby House Challenge - Ribbons

                            Creative Craft Challenges - Anything goes

                            Addicted to Stamps -Make Your Mark - Using Marker pens

 

Wow, I have never entered so many in one posting!!

 

Thank you for taking time out to stop by my blog and I hoe you have liked what you see. If you decide to join as a follower, I will return the favour on your blog.

 

Big hugs,

 

Carol S.xx

 



My Sandown Rose Bargain

Hi All,

 

Just a quick post as I am playing with my new Lili of the Valley stamps! As I worked hard today, I feel I deserve a bit of playtime.

 

This is a card I call a stock card. As I make cards to sell for my charity, I have to make some simple cards to suit all ages and different tastes. 

 

I bought this stamp at the Sandown Park Craft Fair. It's made by The Stamp Barn and made in Canada. I had been wanting a big rose stamp, as they are so useful for all occasions. And what a bargain!! It was reduced from £10 to £2!! I would have been mad not to buy it.

 

It stamped beautifully and I coloured it with Spectrum Noir pens. I added a little drop of Glossy Accents to a petal as a rain drop.

 

The Dies I used to cut out the card and the mats are from Go Create, I bought from The Craft Barn at Lingfield, Surrey.

 



 

Sorry it is a short post tonight but my Distress Inks and my new stamps are calling me!

 

Thanks for stopping by and for your lovely comments. Also thank you to my 2 new followers taking the time to join my blog.

 

Hugs,

Carol S.xx

 

 

Clean and Simple!

Morning all,

 

Just a quick post this beautiful sunny Sunday morning! It is so great to see the sun, it really lifts the spirit.

 

We are off to look after out Grandson this morning. Our Granddaughter is finally having her birthday party today, a week late because of the snow. She is going to a place called 'Laser Hub'. Obviously something to do with lasers but that is all I know and it's not suitable for a 2 year old!

 

Apologies for the poor quality of my pictures today. As you can see I still am trying to master my new photo programme. They looked much brighter when I did them a few days ago.

 

This is my first go at 'Clean and Simple'. Gosh it's so hard!! I couldn't not put the butterflies on, as there was so much bare space! I know, that's the idea!!!

 

The image is a Whimsy stamp, from a free set that were on the Papercraft Essentials magazine.

 

 

I coloured her with a mixture of Copics and Promarkers. Just added a sprinkle of Stardust Stickles on her wings, flowers and dress.

 

 

I have done another CAS card that is even plainer. Have a go and you will see how hard it is!! Your hand shakes as you reach out for the flowers, leaves and embellishments that you can't put on it!Lol!!

 

 

Thanks for stopping by and leaving your lovely comments.

 

I hope the sun is shining where you are.

 

Hugs,

 

Carol S.xx



 

Toadstool Heaven.

Hi everyone,

I have had another long day today. I was up at 6am this morning and on the road to do a market by 7.30am. It wouldn't have been so bad if I had been able to get to sleep last night! I even went to bed early at 12.15. Why is it that you can never get to sleep when you have to get up early the next day?!

The market was quite good today and I even sold the Fairy Bluebell Wood box. I have to now tell my Grand daughter that it has gone and hope she won't be too upset. I could make her one for Christmas.

A girl who comes to the market every month and always buys something from me, came to see me today to say goodbye, as she is going home to Czechoslovakia tomorrow. She had another girl with her who is taking her place here as a Nanny and she wanted to introduce her to me.  She was so sweet to do that, I gave her one of my bookmarks I had made, to remember her time here. It has been lovely seeing her English language improve over the couple of years she has been here.

For this card I stamped the Polka Doodles images using Versafine Smokey Grey ink pad. There are 6 stamps in the set and you can build up the picture as you wish.

 I coloured the images with a mixture of Copics and Promarkers. On the white spots on the toadstool below, I added Sakura white glaze. When it was dry I added Glossy Accents on the top of the white.

I love the little mice peeping around the sides and the bird nesting on the chimney.

The snails are my favourite in this next picture. They are so cute! Not so in my garden though!! They have been really bad this year, along with the slugs.

I have a very strange week coming up next week. I am going to a friend's husbands' funeral on Thursday. He was only 59 and was ill for such a short time. He had cancer which reached his brain and within a few weeks he left us. He was the nicest guy you could ever meet. He had a wicked sense of humour too. We will certainly miss him. Why is life so unfair?

Then as a complete contrast, the next day my Son is getting married. My Granddaughter is a bridesmaid and her 2 year old brother is a page boy. That is sure to be fun!! He is such a character. I just hope it doesn't rain.

So it will certainly be a week of very mixed of emotions.

Thanks for stopping by and leaving me your lovely messages,

Hugs,

Carol S.xx

Butterflies Galore

Hi everyone,

I haven't posted for a bit, as my craft room has been undergoing a complete refurb. I emptied the room last Thursday, including my computer. I was shocked with the amount of stuff I have!Lol!! Well I pretended to be shocked!! I was able to stroke things I had forgotten I had.

The fitters started at 9am on Friday and they were finished by 2.30pm. The transformation is amazing. However, it took me 3 days to get everything back in the room. I labelled most things but still have a few boxes to do.

This mirror is for a neighbour. She saw my Fairy mirror and asked me to make a butterfly one, for her Grand-daughter's 5th birthday. She can never find anything with her name on, so wanted it on as well.

Her favourite colours are pink and purple. Do you think I filled my brief?!

I used a combination of different techniques. A crackle background with Acrylic paints, PVA and Emulsion Paint. Paint Fusion with the Ivy and the Lavender. Stamped Butterflies coloured with Distress Inks.

The flower is a Nestie paper circle, cut into a spiral, screwed up and rolled around on itself. I squashed it and glued it as I rolled my way to the end and stuck it to a piece of green florist wire.

The letters are chipboard ones from my stash and coloured with Copics. I then inked them with Versamark and embossed them with clear embossing powder. I did this twice to get a smooth finish.

The grasses at the bottom, I painted with Acrylic paint. I found some silk grasses when I cleared my room. I cut some into different lengths and stuck them over the painted ones. This gave a bit of depth to the background.
The Butterflies had a bit of Stickles on their wings and bodies.

Hopefully she will like it.
I must now make some more Christmas cards. I have so many different things to make, I get a bit distracted! Not hard really!!
Thanks for visiting and your lovely comments brighten my days. Always appreciated.
Luv,

Carol S.xx