Cat Fabric Card

Time for a fabric card I think. These Loralie images are much smaller than the others I have been using, so I was able to do something different. I treated the fabric in the usual way (instructions under labels:fabric cards) then cut her out and mounted onto a large scallop circle. I cut away 1/3 of the front of the card and added some tiny alphabet stickers by making memories. If you love the Loralie fabrics and don't know where to get them, there is a button on my sidebar which will take you to the site and you can search for your nearest stockist.

I was sent this blog award from Kaye. Thanks Kaye ...

I am supposed to pass it on to friends with blogs, but I am breaking with tradition and passing it on to some of my lovely online pals who so faithfully visit this blog and send me nice emails

Joan from Port St Lucie

Carolyn Wilkerson

StampinSher

Bev N from Tiverton

Carol from HP

Even though all of you haven't got blogs, this circle of friends award is for you x

This next one was sent to me by Sue Ramsay, who is a teamie from polkadoodles and I am passing this on to all my followers who have blogs - pass it on to others x

and now for the winner of the blog hop candy, the name out of the hat was



Freetimegone



Congratulations!
you win the Papermania black and Ivory papers, a Heidi Swapp stamp set and a Heidi Swapp paper piercer

email me with your address and your parcel will be on it's way to you

Two Cards Made with Free Papers

Here are two cards made with the free papers from this month's Papercraft Inspirations magazine, on sale here in the UK on the 3rd August, one month later in the USA. I downloaded the papers from the website, I like doing this because you can print the papers out onto substantial weight cardstock, have a browse around, there are some beautiful designs up for grabs there, I particularly love the safari papers

I freehand cut a very random flower, then some circles which I scrunched up and snipped.....
I printed the sentiment circle out three times, cut out the white inner circle and stuck it on with pop dots to the red scallop, then cut out the ladybird and popped that up too, ladybird is covered with glossy accents

Love this bee paper, all papers and sentiment downloaded as before. The stem of the flower is a border that I pleated before attaching to the card. I cut a scallop circle with a Go-Kreate scallop die and inked the edges with a brown cats eye chalk ink. The border was done with Martha Stewart embossed zigzag punch


The bee is a Go-create die, isn't he cute? I gave him some rosy cheeks with chalk



the sentiment was one of many on the download, I did 'what's the' on the computer. All the papers will be in the magazine, or pop over to the website and take a look

BBTB Blog Hop, and a Cutting Cafe Freebie....Funky Hand freebie too..

Lots of free stuff for you to collect today....

We are having our monthly blog hop over on Bitten by the Bug today, follow the links, leave your name at all the design teams blogs to be in with a chance of winning some goodies at every blog you visit. First the card, I had to make this in a real hurry, I have been partying in London this weekend and was very short of time. That's fine though, it shows how easy it is to whip up a card in next to no time with the Cricut. The cut this week is the couple from Going Places, I cut them out at 1 1/2", 2" and 2 1/2" and used them to make the background. The large couple were cut at 4 1/2" on shadow, and then onto pale blue and pink papers. The hearts were cut from the george cartridge.

The sentiment on the inside reads

Happy anniversary to a couple who stand out from the crowd

So back to the blog hop, if you started at the BBTB site, you arrived here from Donna's fabulous blog, leave your name here and hop over to Carole to see what lovely stuff she has to show you. Be patient if there is a bit of a hiccup in the post times, we all live in different parts of the world and it is tricky to get it just right.

I will draw a winner on thursday at noon (ish), so that means that if you leave your name before 7am EST if you are in the US or anywhere else in the world, your name will go in the draw. Here's what's up for grabs here, a pack of Papermania papers - 50 sheets of 8 x 8 papers in black and ivory (only on sale in the UK as far as I know), a set of Heidi Swapp acrylic thank you stamps called clear corners (lovely flowing script on this set), and a Heidi Swapp petite paper piercer - don't forget there are goodies on all the design team blogs for you. Good luck......
Now hop right on over to the Cutting Cafe
Regina has a set of sentiment stamps there for you that she is giving away FREE to anyone who wants them until the end of August. The set is called Trust in the Lord, and Regina has a lovely story to tell about why she wants to make a gift of this set to you

Don't forget to take a look at the new funky handchallenge blog, Get Funky, it will be a monthly challenge and our first is on the 1st August. Anice has put a freebie of some gorgeous papers for you to download in readiness for the challenge

I'm happy to see all my followers are back on my blog after being missing for days.....where have you all been? I reckon you have had a wild party somewhere without telling me.. This blogger thing is certainly capricious, that's why I call it Mr Bloggy - Mrs Bloggy would be a lot more sensible, she would be multi tasking, gathering up missing followers whilst hoovering the floor in blog castle and making tea for the baby bloggies.....

You Make Me So Happy........

On polkadoodles this week the team followed a sketch and were asked to use papers from the new CD, candydoodles. I chose this design with the trees, which I think is really fresh and funky. I cut an aperture in the front of the card with my coluzzle, and lined the back with the paper..

popped a little dog inside with an inkadinkadoo sentiment which reads 'you make me so happy I could wag my tail'
stitched around the outside - well, it's faux stitching again, zigzag stitch done with no thread in the machine, and the dots joined with a brown pen, the good thing about doing faux stitches on a card like this, is that you can make the exposed inside of the card look stitched too....

cut some little trees out to pop around the aperture, and added some martha stewart green twill ribbon, with an extra tie of brown gingham

This little dog is so darn cute.......

You have until Sunday to take part in last week's challenge, and to celebrate our two month blog challenge birthday, Nikky is giving away some CD's as prizes, so hurry and get a card made to be in with a chance, all the details are on the blog

White on White for House Mouse Challenge

The challenge on the House Mouse challenge site this week is to use white on white, well, you are allowed to colour your images. I found this quite hard to do, but ended up with this, lots of cuttlebugging to add some texture. I cut the label shapes using my favourite go-kreate label dies

The stamp was coloured with copic markers, and I added glossy accents to the strawberries
a ribbon and a bit of bling on the flowers and I met the challenge

Everyone in blogland seems to have lost their followers, me included. If you have gone walkabout, come back here at once, I'm lonely........

No more drips from the drip, in fact I wish it would start leaking again so that we can trace where it's coming from. I am still sobbing at having to throw away my lovely Basic Grey Lime Rickey paper, why couldn't it have leaked into my box of old scraps........

Shopping Card

The inspiration for this card came from those MFT stamps where the ladies never have their heads showing. The base card is 6" square, and I cut the expectant mummy from the New Arrival cartridge with my Cricut machine at 8", then, feeling like Henry VIII chopped off her head......... then cut off her pregnant tummy

the bags were cut from New Arrival as well, the pink and white ones are the diaper bag - I ran the black and white bags through the cuttlebug, using the tiny dots folder
gave her a bit of bling, and I was done. It's always nice when an idea in your head works out just as you imagined it!


I have had a bit of a disaster here, water has been dripping from the ceiling of my crafty cupboard right onto my supplies below. The plumber has been out, shaken his head gravely and been unable to trace the leak. So now I have boxes of stuff out of the cupboard, floorboards up in the bathroom above, and black sacks full of soggy papers. I might just go back to bed and pull the duvet over my head......................

Happy Retirement Anne

My BFF Anne retires today from her teaching job, and this is her card. I had to use a Tilda stamp by Magnolia as she loves the 'little girls with no faces'

The retirement circle and the sentiment are both from the Cutting Cafe and were printed out on my computer

The children (6-7 year olds) at school had all painted her a picture and written a letter to her on the back. Some of the comments had me crying with laughter

"You are the best teacher in the universe, sorry you are leaving, have a nice time in bed"

"I am sorry you are retiring, you don't look that old"

"We will all miss you. Well, the girls will"

Of course, I am delighted she is retiring, lots more time to do stuff together, like shopping, and shopping and...did I mention shopping

HAPPY RETIREMENT ANNE XX

Sorry - I Forgot: for Cute Daisy May

A sketch is the challenge on Cute Daisy May this week. I love this little girl image and she just had to be made into a belated birthday card. I did the sentiment circle on the computer

stuck a circle of the pattern paper in the middle

and punched some circles of pattern paper to make a flower



If you love sketches, and love a challenge, pop over there and have a go. You can use any image you like for the challenge.



Why is life always feast or famine? All or nothing? This weekend has been a whirl of parties and eating. It's been a very soggy weekend too, it is such a shame that we can never depend on the weather here in the UK, even in the summertime. We were paddling across sodden grass, dashing from the car in torrential rain, jumping out of our skins at the sound of thunder, shivering in our light summer clothes ........... still, us Brits are a hardy bunch, we keep a stiff upper lip and politely offer each other shelter under our brollies

Mr Blogger is still playing up. If you visit a blog and an error message flashes up, hit your back button, sometimes you have to do it twice before the awkward little beggar decides you can stay there

Blue and White for Colour Create

On the Colour Create challenge blog this week, they asked for blue and white, with an optional extra of 'vintage' thrown in. I don't really 'do' vintage very well, and don't have any arty vintagey stamps, then I remembered this beauty - well the fifties is vintage isn't it? Stamp is by Stamps Happen Inc. Oops, another slightly crooked photo, still, you get the gist......

I cut away the front half of the card and attached the image panel to that. The border on the left was cut in white, then in black with the Martha Stewart scalloped cornice punch. I machined around the inside fold of the card.
The pattern papers are Heidi Grace and the flowers are from Poppicrafts, and swiped with a blue ink pad. I used a mixture of copics and chalks for colouring the image, and sponged around the outside of the panel in blue ink

Hope all of you have a great weekend

Polkadoodles Challenge 9 and Fairy for DCM

On Daring Cardmakers this week, the dare is Fairies, so it was a chance for me to use this gorgeous little Cute Daisy May image

I debossed the side edge of the card, which is a posh way of saying that I put the cuttlebug folder in back-to-front and didn't realise until it was too late. Then I added gems to the border
Isn't she sweet? Coloured very delicately with copic markers. The pink ribbon is a twill by Martha Stewart


On to Polkadoodles challenge for this week..............

This week the team were asked to use the free download over on Polkadoodles - Tropical Birdies. Here is mine, coloured with copic markers and a lot of doodling going on
I got the sentiment in an image swap back in the USA, haven't a clue who makes it

If you fancy having a go this week, the first three winners will win themselves a Sugar Birdies CD, and if you are a first time polkadoodler you may be in line for a special prize too. The challenge is to use the topical birdies download, so get yourselves over there, pick up the goodies and start crafting...........
The design team calls are still on at Polkadoodles and Lily-Boo as well

New CD from Polkadoodles

Nikky, the designer from Polkadoodles is previewing a new CD (Candy Doodles) of downloadable papers and images on Create and Craft TV next week. This is a card made quickly from the CD. The strawberries are already coloured, I added some glitter to the pips, then covered the whole lot in glossy accents so that they really do look good enough to eat. I cut away the corner around the large strawberry as well.

My eye test showed that I need new glasses, as I thought, but the chap who did it was lovely and after I explained my phobia about being rushed, took all the time in the world, with me being allowed to change my mind about stuff without feeling pressure. He had a sweet, slightly flirtatious attitude, which is always a bonus at my age!

Dustin Pike Card and Polkadoodles Design Team Call

Here's another design team call for you, Nikky on Polkadoodles is looking for someone to join the existing team - all detail below

Here's another Dustin Pike image, I have been asked to make some children's cards and thought this image would fit the bill

The sentiment is a stamp by Hero Arts, papers are unknown from a huge pile that lurks anonymously in my little crafty cupboard. The 'brads' are card candy from Craftwork cards

We have had some very soggy days in the UK this week, but today the sun is shining, the birds are tweeting, the roses are beautiful and there are big black clouds looming on the horizon, so we better embrace today whilst the sun continues to shine
I am going for my eye test this afternoon, a procedure that always leaves me a bit disorientated. They are so QUICK. 'which is better, the left or the right?' they say, whipping lenses in and out at lightening speed. I need time to think about this, in fact I should probably go and read a few chapters of War and Peace so that I can make up my mind. 'Is the red light brighter, or the green?' they ask, pressing me for an immediate answer. Well now, I think the red one might be a bit brighter, but there again, I am not sure, the green one looks pretty bright as well..........
By now there is definitely an air of impatience creeping into the room, and ever anxious to please I give them the answers I think they want to hear. Which last time resulted in £££ being spent on a pair of specs that I can't really read with.

Wedding Card for BBTB and DT Call

On Bitten by the Bug this week we were asked to use the ring icon from the Mickey and Friends cartridge. I used it, fairly predictably, to make a wedding/engagement card. I cut the ring twice at 4", once in gold cardstock and again in white. I cut the stone shape off the white diecut and glittered it, then stuck it to the gold. I cut away the front half of a square 6 x 6" card and attached panels of paper from the Funky Hand 'I Do' download. The sentiment is also from that download

I threaded the ring with a wide satin ribbon, and added a border punched with Martha Stewart hearts

Design Team Call on Lily-Boo's Boutique

They have a DT call over on Lily-Boo, pop over to see what it's all about
The designs are lovely, very fresh and innovative and the good news is you get to play with them all if you are on the team, so have a go and come and join us.... whilst you are there, pick up a couple of freebie downloads too

This card was done using one of the girl circles, don't you just love her? I printed her out quite big, then cut away the front of the card around her. Coloured in copic markers and I added red liquid pearls for the apples


Such a sunny little card, I like the way this one turned out


So that's it for this morning, have a happy Monday

Cuttlebug Spot Contest

Just look at this for a fabulous prize. I have about as much chance of winning as taking a flight to Mars, getting served quickly in a supermarket or successfully stuffing a bear, but hey, you've got to be in it to win it. So hop on over to the cuttlebug spot, become a follower and link the contest on your blog, just like I have here......

The Cuttlebug Spot

Our next goal is to reach 1,000 followers and what better way to celebrate than to give away a prize worth $1,000! That's right, we're giving away a $1,000 gift certificate to Custom Crops! And if that's not enough, we're going to give away a $50 Custom Crops gift certificate each Friday until we reach our goal!

Dustin Pike Dragon and Cutting Cafe word bubble

A very simple and plain little card for you today, I made it with a boy in mind, so no flowers and bling on this. Regina Easter has come up with another great idea, a download with a series of word bubbles

I used this one to make it look as if the dragon was blowing the words out. Go to the Cutting Cafe to see the download and some DT samples

The image is a Dustin Pike, this weekend he has a sale and is selling all the images he has ever produced for $25 (just under £17) - needless to say I am now £17 poorer but I do like his stuff, especially the dragons, great for boys/men cards, hurry though the sale ends tonight

The image was coloured with copic markers and all the bubbles were given a coat of glossy accents. The three brads are card candy from Craftwork Cards (not brads at all, domed shapes of cardstock that you stick on with silicone glue, I love them as you get huge bags for £1 and in every colour under the sun, which would cost a fortune if they were conventional brads)

Russian Doll for Daring Cardmakers

Those ladies over on Daring Cardmakers certainly know how to set a challenge. This week the dare was to make a card with a Russian theme. Russia? The only thing I know about Russia is Omar Sharif (who isn't Russian at all, he was just pretending), and vodka

Then I remembered the babushkas, I think that is the Russian word for grandmother. Of course I didn't have a babushka stamp so I cut her freehand (took a bit of doing, as I kept getting the sides uneven. Her face is a sissix doll rub-on, and the papers are by K & Co from the Que Sera range
I found some black peel offs for the sentiment, I never use peel offs and didn't know I had these, but I quite like the casual scrawl



So, moving on to other musings about life in general, I am seriously considering making myself a little notice that I can hang around my neck when I am standing in a queue (line). I could make it look pretty, add a few flowers and maybe some gems. What will it say?
WARNING: DO NOT STAND BEHIND THIS WOMAN - DELAYS INEVITABLE
Honestly, it's ridiculous, every queue I join has a problem. The person in front of me has always lost their credit card/run out of money/mislaid their purse at the bottom of some cavernous bag/forgotten that their credit card is out of date/received a very important phone call on their mobile that they have to deal with immediately, regardless of the impatient people behind them
"yes mum, I'm in Sainsbury's, yes, I'm at the checkout, no I forgot the oven cleaner I 'll just run back now, they won't mind. See you in a minute, love you"
LOVE YOU? What sort of fragile relationship has to have constant reassurances of devotion even in a supermarket queue?
Even if, by some miracle, I find a checkout with nobody in front of me and a bored looking person sitting there, as soon as I arrive she is galvanised into action 'won't keep you a minute madam, I just have to change the till roll' or two burly security guards appear, flanking a supermarket employee who then proceed to count all the money in the till with all the accompanying signing of bits of paper .................
So you see, it would be a graceful gesture on my part to make this notice in the interest of the sanity of the general public. I thought maybe black and hot pink with a little bit of bling.......