Where has the time gone????????

Suddenly my life seems to be in fast forward to Christmas mode. Haven't posted for ages and haven't got much crafting done either :(. Going to post a couple of items I made a few weeks ago but haven't got round to posting. The colourful version of the tractor I made for my five year old tractor mad nephew and the other sample notebooks I made for my craft enrichment group. Have just taken delivery of a box of decopatch animals for Amber's birthday party - snook in an elephant for me and a brontosaurus for Matthew. The black and white cat I posted in the Summer had a lot of comments and if you are interested pop over to the website, Angela is so helpful. (http://www.farmhousechicken.co.uk

I am entering the blue notebook for the Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes Challenge.

Lynda xxxxxxx

40th birthday!!!!!!!!!11

A birthday card for one of my best friends Lara. She is 40 next week and is having an 80s disco tomorrow night - can't wait to dance the night away to some fab music. She is a brilliant friend - we met at Uni, she was my bridesmaid and is Amber's godmother. She is always there to celebrate the good times and to support me through the bad. She is like the sister i never had. Looking forward to tomorrow night, but not Saturday morning!!!!!!!!!!!! We don't seem to be able to recover like we did when we were 18.

Lynda

New Nephew

My new nephew finally arrived at 5.31pm yestereday, two weeks late and weighing in at 9lb 1.5oz, he's a real cutie, congratulations to Elly and Kirk. So I had to go back to the drawing board as my psychic powers obviously failed me as I made a baby girl card a couple of weeks ago!!!!!!!!!!!

So i made this using the LOTV image - which I adore, some patchwork pals papers and buttons from my stash. The scalloped circles were cut using nesties.

Entering this for three challenges Paper Sundaes Challenge - Something from your stash, The One Stop Craft Challenge Blog - Congratulations and Craft Your Days Away challenge - Babies. The last two challenges could not have been better timed!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for dropping by.
Lynda xxx

Soo much crafting!

Done loads of little projects this week - will post them over the course of this week - too many for one go. My new neice/nephew has still to arrive, Elly is 8 days overdue now! But we still had cause for celebration as my brother in law got engaged - last weekend. So here is the card I made for him and his new fiancee. Entering this for Ally's Sunday Challenge and The Craft Den Anything Goes Challenge Blog 'Cute'.

I've also had two family birthdays, and have been making samples for my new crafting enrichment class which starts tomorrow - we took delivery of our decopatch tree last week - sooo exciting.

I made two of the projects, with the Allsorts challenge in mind. One is a card for a cousin and the other a notebook - a sample for my crafting group. I bought the tractor stamp after seeing it on Fleurs blog - my nephew is tractor mad - it's his birthday on Tuesday i'll post his more colourful version later. The dress is from a set of Kanban clear stamps i got recently from QVC.

Done so much crafting - had to unearth my laptop from beneath the debris so I could blog - but my desk is now back in some kind of order.

Lynda xxxxx

New Baby

Well my new niece or nephew is due on Saturday - so i felt inspired to try out my new LOTV stamp from Set 3 occasions. I used my nesties for the first time and coloured the image with promarkers. I'm really pleased with the result - I think this could be the best card i've ever made - i just love this image. The card was based on the Cupcake Craft Challenge Sketch.

If it's a boy i'll just have to have another go - but i've got a feeling it could be a baby girl - we've had 4 boys born on the trot in our family so it's about time, and Amber is desperate for a girl to even things up.

Thanks for stopping by - your comments are always appreciated.

Autumn

Autumn colours - not my usual choice - and i'm not sure about the end results - but i just couldn't get going some how. Maybe being back at school has zapped my creative juices. Got to get back on track because i'm doing some craft with the sixth form as part of their enrichment program. We're doing a large decopatch tree sculpture (like the one at St Johns) so that is exciting and is a project the whole sixth form will contribute to and then it will be displayed in the new sixth form building. They are also going to do some other paper craft projects - the items will be sold as part of our charity fund raising. Pictures to follow soon - we start on Monday. (My other enrichment lessons are Health Ed - sex, drugs etc - so basically for the next twelve months I will be doing Sexy Crafting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
These cards are going to be entered for the following challenges:

Allsorts Week 69 - Colours of Autumn (The conkers)

The One Stop Craft Challenge Blog - Fashion through the years (The ladies)

Tooth Fairy

How exciting, the tooth fairy is paying her first visit to my 6 year old son tonight, he is very pleased with his new gap. I'm sure he will enjoy showing everyone at school tomorrow. I think they are both looking forward to the new term, and their thoughts are already turning to Christmas!!!!

My card is for two challenges Allsorts challenge ' New beginnings' and Squiggle Stamps 'Anthing goes', being a teacher it could only have one theme. The image is 'Oscar with Frame' from squiggle stamps, watercoloured with Stampin up watercolour crayons, the shamrocks were cut with a sizzix die from my calendar collection. The rest is from my newly unearthed stash.

New Term

Well the Summer holidays are over - how do I know - the sun has come out!!!!!! Back at school, but at least this year I feel that I have made good use of the last six weeks, we have lovely new holiday memories, have enjoyed time with family and friends and have got the house a lot more organised. So I can enjoy the next few months ( my favourite time of the year ) crafting in my new room. So todays creation is using a wooden stamp i bought a couple years ago but have never successfully used before. I've coloured the image with promarkers and am quite pleased with the finished effect. The border was created with a Martha Stewart punch and the words were cut using a sizzix die. The vintage paper is by Anna Griffin, I love her papers, but always feel guilty when I chop them up.


Entered for Anything Goes Challenge Blog 'Say it With Flowers' ,Bunny Zoe Crafts 'Vintage', Crazy 4 Challenges 'Lattice'

Craft room

I haven't done much crafting recently because we've been having a massive sort out in the house. The main aim was to decorate Matthew's bedroom and install new furniture, then turn the spare bedroom into a craftroom and the study into Paul's music room. We are nearly at the end now, craft room is almost sorted, just a few more boxes to sort through!!!! Last job is to get some nice men to move my baby grand into the old dining room, then the hard work will be done. So now to my card - how fantastic to have all my stash in one place and sorted out. This is for my brother Stephen, birthdays are very precious times to let people know you care. Sadly my eldest brother died suddenly nearly three years ago - how i wish i'd told him more often how special he was.

Entering the card for two challenges

Alsorts Challenge Week 67 - Park Inspirations

Papertake Weekly Challenge - Just the One

So busy

Really excited, our cat was chosen as the winner for the Sarah Hurley Challenge. Amber is going to be so pleased when she gets back from staying at Nana's. Haven't had any crafting time because i've been sorting out the childrens bedrooms. Wardrobes arrrive today so the end is in site. Once i've completed their rooms then i can start phase two which is turning the box room into a craft room :) then there will be no stopping me.

Here's a card though that was produced very quickly for my brother's wedding anniversary, just had to try out my new punches. It's very simple but has an elegance which i like.

Lynda xxxx

New arrivals

Seems like ages since I last posted - the end of term was hectic - and then we went away to Wales on holiday straight away. We had a lovely time, even if the weather was variable. I anticipated this so I took this cat as a project for myself and Amber to complete. This is Decopatch, I bought the cat, special paper and glue at the school Summer fair. We spent an afternoon in our caravan in Wales completing our masterpiece. I thinks we're both pleased with the result. I'm tempted to have a Decopatch party for my 40th birthday, and then everyone can stick papers on one of the very large sculptures that they do. I quite fancy the elephant - its about about 2 feet high and three feet wide - could be fun with a few glasses of something sparkling.

My sister in law is expecting a baby next month, so i decided to make her a nappy cake. It's my first attempt but i'm pretty pleased with the end result. I used 64 nappies to produce the cake and then added a whole variety of toys and tolietries. The nappies themselves inly cost £5 so you could make this a very inexpensive, but impressive looking gift. I actually spent around £50 in total but think she will love it, in the past i've made gift hampers or filled changing bags but this is my favourite by far. There are lots of videos and hints and tips on you tube, it's very straight forward if you fancy having a go.

Nearly forgot - the other new arrivals are around 50 Giant African Land Snails - Ben and Shelley have been very busy!!!!!!!

Lynda xxxx

Entering the Nappy Cake for The Craft Den Anything Goes Challenge Blog 'Folds' - Hope it qualifies - i folded a lot of nappies, baby socks, muslins etc. Frosted Designs - Celebrate Life Challenge Flutterby Wednesday Challenge - you can see the head of the butterfly peaking from the first tier of the cake & C.R.A.F.T Challenge - Mini beasts - there are quite a few minibeasts in the toys etc in the tucked into the layers.

I'm entering both the nappy cake and the cat for Craft Your Days Away ' Favourite Things' obviously we all love cakes and i have two pet cats.

Our cat is entered for the Sarah Hurley Challenge Blog - Animals and Craft Catz Weekly Challenge - Animals (how appr0priate)

Album card

One if my science colleagues is leaving our school at the end of term. So I was asked to produce a card for her. I used the Sizzix Album Cover & Page Die to produce the album and then decorated with a variety of relevant items from my stash. This is my first attempt at a project like this and i'm really pleased with the result. The letters were cut using the Go Slim Sizzix alphabet dies. You might have guessed that i'm loving my bigshot express. The papers are from Kim & Co. Photos are in reverse order not sure why - the sentiment makes more sense if you scroll up the pages.

Love Lynda xxxx

Entered for Flutterby Wednesdays Challenge - 3 layers, fairy, butterfly or angel

Bunny Zoe's Crafts - Summer Days

Simon Says Stamp - Let's get fruity ( i have included an apple for the teacher!!)

Crafty Catz Weekly Challenge - anything but a card

The Stamp Man Challenge Blog- Anything Goes

KL Stampin and Scrappin Blog - Ribbon

Engagement card

An engagement card for a friend's daughter. She's a very pink girl so I designed this with her in mind. The stamps used are Whispers by wwww.docrafts.co.uk. The main image and border are from Kanban. It has an acetate overlay which gives it an expensive feel and changes the whole look of the card - and gave a glare to the photo! Entered for CupCake Craft Challenge - Acetate
C.R.A.F.T. Challenge -Cakes/Icecream (there is a wedding cake on it - I hope that is enough to qualify.)

Lynda x

Number 2

Another notepad - this time for a bunny mad colleague. The stamps are from Dawn Bibbys Woodland Rabbits - stamped on the background witha versamark ink pad and above the setniment in Marvy Heritage Sea Foam. The borders are from Kanban papers.

Lynda xx

PS Just ordered some dies from the clearance section of the sizzix website (http://www.sizzix.co.uk/) - they've got some real bargains.

My first notepad

Inspired by Crafty Lou after her fantastic demos at Sir Stampalot last week I've made my first notepad. Used the digi sentiment again as this is a gift for a friend so it is perfect. I used K & Co papers and the butterfly is a 3D sticker from my stash.

I popped in Sainsburys after a lovely stroll around Bourne woods ( it was lovely and cool under the shade of the trees) they had basics memo blocks with 900 white sheets for 99p. I used about a fifth of a block. The swirls and leaves are from Dawn Bibby clear stamps - Woodland Marvy Heritage Inkpad Lavender Fields. I used a Heart cut using a Fiskars Shape Boss so that my design would fit with the Allsorts Challenge this week which is July Love.

Lynda xxx

Also entered for Flutterby Wednesday Challenge

Here she is again

Here she is again. Not sure why her wings look lime green in the photo - they are definitel a more muted tone. Tilda is watercoloured with ink from Marvy heritage ink pads. The flowers are a combination of die cut flowers and punched flowers held together with brads. The sentiment was a free digi image but I can't remember where i got it. Got to stop crafting, the house is beginning to take on an abandoned look!! Lynda xxxx



Entered for Bunny Zoe's Crafts - Summer Days

My first Tilda

Sooooo excited - this is my first Tilda and I love her. She had to have her picture taken on the bathroom window sill because it's dark and my other half has insisted on putting energy saving bulbs everywhere. Colours are ok, but still not quite true. I'm sure you all recognise her as Magnolia Fairtale - Elf Tilda, she was coloured with Promarkers and is sitting on some K & Co papers. I think she might be the first of many :).

Happy times.

Lynda xx

Entered for Flutterby Wednesday - Fairy, Butterfly or Angel.

New toys

My Big Shot Express arrived today so I had to have a play. Used sizzix embossing folders from the Dots and Flowers set and Birthday Set#2. The flowers were made using the Cuttlebug
Quilled Daisy Set. The design is based on the sketch from Paper Take Weekly Challenge 44. It is entered for this challenge and the Creative Craft Challenges -Summer Lovin.
Just one thought though - how do you post these cards with raised flower embellishments cos they stand quite proud?

It's very late - so more tomorrow. xxxx

Summer Madness

What can I say - I kept finding this sheet of bright yellow flowers in my stash and never knew what to do with it. I was looking for something for a couple of Summer theme challenges and it just came to hand. The result is a bit mad, and wasn't exactly planned but if you were having a dismal day this would brighten it and probably raise a smile. The stamp is Squiggle Stamps ' Breezy Day, i've stamped over the background with a sentiment and flower from the Woodware craft collection 'Circular Greetings' in Marvy Heritage Ink 'Old gold'. The large sentiments were rub ons that I placed over the top.

It isn't elegant or sophisticated but it's definitely a bit of Summer Madness.

Smiles - Lynda

xxxxxxxxx

Entered for - Sir Stampalot 'Happy Summer'

Creative Craft Challenge 'Summer Lovin'

Paper Sundaes Challenge Blog 'White plus one'

Wild Orchid Challenge

Candy on offer from Wild Orchid Challenge. To enter just become a follower and add a link from your blog.

Patchwork Pals

This is Bonnie a Patchwork Pal from Kanban. I've used her to produce a scene for the Allsorts Challenge . She arrived in the post today along with her pals Billy, Bradley and Dollie. She is sitting on Dollie's swing, but I'm sure she won't mind. What a bumper day for crafting, 3 parcels of goodies from the postman, my first trip to Sir Stampalot, two excellent demos and one or two treats from the shop!!!! Feeling inspired I had to try out a couple of my purchases and use the inspiration from this afternoons demos. I used stamps from three acrylic sets - Patchwork Pals Bonnie Party Time and Dollie Swing Time, and Woodware Craft Collection Circular Greetings. Bonnie was in her vest and pants so i stamped her party dress, shoes and bow onto Patchwork Pals paper, she comes with a whole wardrobe of outfits to stamp and a few accesories. She is coloured with Promarkers, the background is coloured with an aqua painter from Stampin Up and ink from Marvy Heritage ink pads. I squash the pads on my acrylic block then lift off the colour.

Entered for

Allsorts Challenge - Create a Scene

Rosie D's Challenge - Summer Birthdays

Thanks for popping in Lynda xxx

Gent's Waistcoat

Just a quickie - cos it's just tooooooo hot. I know we shouldn't complain about the nice weather, but sometimes, well, it's just too much!

This is an entry for three challenges I love promarkers - Challenge 21 - Stripes, Cup CakeCraft Challenge - 97 Sketch and One Stop Craft Challenge 87 - Distressing. The stamp i've used is another old one (it might still be available) it's Funstamps 'Gent's Waistcoat'. Chosen because of the stripes theme and coloured with promarkeres, I'm still learning the technique, but there are lots of useful tutorials on You tube. All the other stuff is from my stash. Not sure why i chose to do the front in blue and everything else in brown tones. I'm not very good at choosing a basic palette and sticking to it. The strap at the side I'm particularly pleased with, it's just a trimming that's been coloured and then distressed, which has given it a leathery look to go with the belt idea.

Thanks for stopping by. All comments and suggestions gladly received.

Lynda xxx

Wishing Well

This is the first time I've used a digi image - but I found this one available for free download on Beccy's Place and fell in love with it. It was also a good excuse to play with my new promarkers - colouring in is so therapeutic - and if it's good enough for Ozzy it's good enough for me (Did I mention I've got OZZFEST tickets!!!!!) I'm quite pleased with the end result - next time I'll probably reduce it in size and jazz it up a little. She also has some lovely digi images of carousel horses - watch out for them spinning around here soon. The sentiment is from a brilliant set from Stampin Up - called Curvy Verses, the font is very small but you always get a clear crisp image.

LOVE LYNDA XXXXX

Entered for
Creative Craft Challenges - Stamp something
One Stop Craft Challenge - Pink and Brown
Crafty Catz Weekly Challenge - Lets go digital

Embossing

A 21st birthday card for my husband's cousin. The Allsorts challenge this week is to use Embossing, so I dusted off my light box and got out a couple of brass stencils and my chalks. The stamps for the backgrounds are by Dawn Bibby - from her Woodland Deer and Woodland Rabbits clear stamps set. The main image is a wooden stamp that came as part of a collection from QVC a few years ago, it was coloured using promarkers - which i wish i had bought sooner . Added a small key from my stash - she is 21 after all.

Challenges entered

Allsorts - Embossing

Donna's Den of Crafts - Sketch

Paper Sundaes Challenge - A birthday card

The Crafty Pad - Embossing

Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge - Monochromatic and wings

Took ages doing this, made a huge mess as usual, (big sigh), my creation passed the mantle piece test (my own Quality control check) but still doesn't quite work in the photo, which is disappointing. But i had fun - and didn't eat any chocolate, so that's a bonus.

Lynda xx

Black, Lime and Lilac

This card was designed using the theme for C.R.A.F.T Challenge Black,Lime and Lilac and the Paper Take Weekly Challenge Sketch. The stamp is from a set by Carol Wilson for Personal Impressions. The image is coloured using Promarkers Lilac, Lavender, Aubergine and Lime Zest.

This entered for the following challenges

Paper Take Weekly Challenge - Sketch 43
C.R.A.F.T Challenge - Black, Lime, Lilac
Crafty Creations Challenge 73 - We want to see you shine
The Character Cafe - Friday Challenge 23

Childhood Memories

I bought myself some promarkers so had to try them out with some of my favourite stamps. These are from a set I've had for a number of years, I remember getting paper dolls as a little girl and I had to have them. Don't know if this set of foam backed stamps is still available but it is called Paper Pals with Georgia from Mary Engelbreit, All Night Media.

Entered for:

Crazy 4 challenges - Paper Flowers
Paper Sundaes Challenge Blog - Pretty as a Princess
Alys Sunday Sketch - Flower Power
Totally Gorjuss -Sugar and Spice
Creative Craft Challenges- Stampinup