Penny Black Challenge

I just found time to do this week's Penny Black challenge. The textured blue card base is Bazzill, the other papers are from We R Memory Keepers. The sentiment is by MFT, and the 'brads' are card candy by Craftwork Cards

Here is the sketch I followed

I am still experimmenting with the Wall Decor cartridge, here's another one................

I love layering borders, this one is by E K Success, punched in shell, black, and shell again

I have been hampered a bit this week in my cardmaking by the fact that it is just so hot in the garage where all my stuff is, but I have had to get on with it as I have a few deadlines to meet. I come up for air, gasping and in need of a cold shower every ten minutes or so. Makes it rather slow going......
See you tomorrow

Boy Card - Wall Decor

I am having a ball with this cartridge, Wall Decor and More that I got from Scrappy-go-Lucky, not that I have any intention of decorating a wall, but there are some great features on there for cardmaking. One of the things I really like is the border feature, and this is what I used for these trucks, I cut a shadow in black at 2", then cut the trucks in yellow, blue and green and chopped them about.

The wheels are brads that I picked up in Big Lots, I wish I had bought loads of them now, they are so great for adding to this type of cut/stamp.

The papers are from a stack by We R Memory Keepers, the cityscape seemed perfect, the sentiment is cut from another paper in the stack, and the little spanner tag was part of the same stack - called Geo-hectic, the papers are great for man stuff

Don't forget you have until friday to enter your name for the Cri-kit pens, and to solve the anagram to win all those cartridges

It is really hot here now (well, I am in Florida), and the whole of our neighbourhood is awash with the Stars and Stripes flying proudly, getting ready for the 4th July I suppose. One of the things that I admire here is the patriotism of Americans. When we go to a 'do' at the clubhouse, we always finish the evening by joining hands and singing 'God Bless America', I know all the words now. I daresay that England is now fluttering with the flag of St George, because of the world cup, ( for those of you who are less than interested in soccer, the World Cup is currently being played in South Africa), but I can't imagine us all joining hands and singing a patriotic song, more's the pity. Perhaps it's because we don't really have any great rousing songs, our national anthem is like a dirge, we could chant Rule Britannia or belt out a couple of choruses of Jerusalem I suppose.
I always thought that Billy Connolly ( a comedian for those of you who have no idea what I am rambling about) had a very good idea when he suggested that we should adopt the theme music from 'The Archers' (a very long running radio show in the UK) as our national anthem. No words necessary, just rum ti tum ti tum ti tum, rum ti tum ti tum tum...............................................
So even though I have no interest in footy at all, I am still waving my flag
COME ON ENGLAND
all together now
rum ti tum ti tum ti tum...................................................

Scrappy-go-lucky International Blog Hop and DCM

Well here I am flying the flag for the United Kingdom. It is still Friday evening for me as I write this, but over in Perth it is Saturday morning - Good morning Australia.

I was asked to come up with a project that represented my part of the globe. After much thought, I decided to use as my inspiration

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

who has ruled our country faithfully for almost sixty years now

For my card I first made a 6" square base card and cut away the front on the diagonal like this.................




Then I drew a crown out from my brand new Cricut cartridge Wall Decor at 4 1/2" on white cardstock with a black glitter Cri-kit pen, then pressed load paper, and cut
The second layer was cut from DCWV glitter paper.
The metallic lines look like very neat doodling, you don't really get the effect in the photo.
I added a very narrow Martha Stewart border to the left edge, stitching it with black thread first.
I added a liberal sprinkling of 'diamonds' to the crown and the whole thing was stuck with foam pads along the line of the cut












the font on this cartridge is beautiful....................




The next card is representing the area of the UK where I have lived for all of my adult life. I was born in Wales, but have lived in the Birmingham area for years. Birmingham is the second largest city in the UK, a large industrial centre, and the home of the English Royal Ballet Company. So this next card represents that.
Again using the Wall decor cartridge I cut the beautiful ballet dancer at 4"
The border scallops are by EK Success and Martha







adding some red gems to the swirls of her skirt really bought the die cut alive. I used silicone glue to glue her to the paper, as this dries in 'blobs' and doesn't flatten, useful for giving delicate cuts dimension







Of course, if I am representing the United Kingdom, I also have to mention my second home, the USA, where we live for about six months every year, have many friends and feel very much at home

So here is my card for America.

Celebrating the 4th July, Independence Day (ironically of course, independence from British rule!), I made this card using Designers Calender. I drew the flag first with my white cri-kit gel pen, then cut, at 4", I realised later that I should have cut the main body of the flag in red and the star in blue, take it as an artistic interpretation. At least it's red white and blue! I was too short of time to make another one.

Happy 4th America, and thank you for making us so welcome

These cards fit nicely into the dare for this week over on Daring Cardmakers, so I am entering this post in for that challenge..........

I am giving away a set of 10 Cri-kit pens of the winners choice, and holder. The winner will be drawn randomly from all those who leave a comment on this post, all my followers will be in automatically, if you comment as well as being a follower, you will have two chances. You have until next friday the 18th June to leave your comment.

The main prize for the blog hop is FOUR of the very latest Cricut cartridges, including Wall Decor that I have used for this post (I love this one)

You need to follow the hop from Scrappy-go-Lucky's site to pick up all the clues, solve the anagram and email the answer to the address on the site

I hope you are enjoying this week of hopping around, as much as the design team are enjoying making the projects to show you

Here is your clue for today

For the final clue, visit Mandy at Scrappy-go-Lucky tomorrow to see what she has done with that gorgeous little fairy she cut out on monday

Good luck

Craftwork Cards Contest

There is a new contest going on over at Craftwork Cards - all you have to do is make a card, using the sketch below, using their products.

I was supposed to use the red, white and blue new papers called Anglomania, but of course, as I am in the US at present, I had to make do with what I had. In fact, I thought I might have to miss joining in with this, but then I found a whole pack of the gorgeous Glitz and Glamour papers to make this card.............................................. Do go and see what the rest of the design team are doing with the new paper collection though, I can't wait to try these when I get back home

I drew a rough spiral on the back of the script paper and cut it out, then inked the edges before rolling it into a flower shape



they were popped on with foam pads. The sentiment is just one of the words from the script paper, cut out, and I added tiny blobs of red liquid pearls

Today's designer for the Scrappy-go-Lucky blog hop is Tereesa. Go and collect your anagram letter and don't forget to leave a comment. Tomorrow is my turn, come and see what I have thought of to represent my country, and of course to try your luck at getting a set of pens.

Well, my truth/lies post yesterday really set you buzzing. I was amused, that so many of you thought I was such an accomplished liar
Out of the LOADS of email messages I got about this, the truth has been hit very neatly on the head by Claire who is one of my email subscribers. She wrote:

Enfys, you crack me up! You definitely sound like you could get into funny situations like the ones you listed, therefore I say they are all true except for number 6. I've tried that soup honey, and nobody can endure waiting to lose 50 pounds eating that "bleurk" slop! I especially think no 5 is true since I have done that myself once..okay, maybe twice. Should I ever be invited to your home, I will never have cake! Thanks for the laughs, Claire

Thank you Claire, this wasn't a contest, but as you arrived at the truth in such a scaringly accurate way, email me with your address and I will send you a little crafty goodie bag

See you all tomorrow for the international blog hop.

Magnolia Get Well and some lies......

Just a little Tilda card today, I haven't used my Magnolia stamps for such a long time, and when I do make a card, I always like the result. They seem to be a bit like marmite, you either love them or hate them.

Scallop brown card - Papermania UK

Sentiment button - Craftwork Cards

Stamp - Magnolia

I was given this blog award yesterday by Glen - thank you Glen.

I am supposed to pass it on to seven people, but as always I can't single out any of you, and you can take this from me, and put it on your blog then pass it on, let me know if you have done it so that I can come and read your fibs.

The idea is that I have to tell you six truths and a lie, or six lies and a truth - you be the judge of which I am telling you

1. I once made 75 cards in one day - wedding invitations. After that marathon effort, the wedding was cancelled at the last minute. Life can be so stressful

2. I once bought an expensive birthday cake for my son's fourth birthday party and put it in the dining room. When I went to get it, it was covered with ants. I separated the layers, scraped all the ants off, and served it to the children. Peering nervously at them as they ate it, I was all geared up to say that any stray brown bits were chocolate, but nobody asked, I THINK I scraped them all off - sometimes life can be kind

3. My husband has only ever cooked Sunday lunch once in all the years we've been married. The yorkshire puddings rose so spectacularly that every single time I have cooked Sunday lunch for the family since, they sit there reminiscing 'Do you remember Dad's yorkshires'.............. it is sometimes really hard to stop yourself from committing murder

4. When I was a student nurse, I once flushed a patients false teeth down the toilet (a mistake on my part obviously). I jammed a whole roll of toilet paper down the pan, called the maintenance guy to unblock the loo, and handed the retrieved teeth back to the hapless patient (yes, I did sterilize them first)

5. I once drove to the supermarket, finished my shopping, went out to the car park and found that my bright blue little car had been stolen. Only after the manager, security men and various other people had been alerted, and we were waiting for the police to arrive, did I remember that the bright blue little car was in the driveway at home - I had driven my husband's car

6. I once lost 50lbs on a cabbage soup diet. It smelt revolting and I used to make a great vat of the stuff every day. It works though, with a few unfortunate side effects. People had to stay downwind of me if they had any sense

7. I have finished the first five chapters of a book. I finished the first five chapters about three years ago, haven't written a word since, I am too busy rabbiting on here about anty cakes and missing cars

So there you go - truth or lies? I leave you to decide :)

Today it is Tracey's turn to be in the spotlight on the Scrappy-go-Lucky international blog hop. Pop over to see what letter of the anagram she has for you, leave a comment and you are in with a chance to win some Cri-kit pens for your Cricut.

More Stamping and WOYWDW

Here's a couple more Anya stamped cards to show you - I seem to be on a stamping/colouring frenzy this week don't I? Looking back at the blog, I certainly go in cycles, either it's all Cricut, all stamping, or all some new thing that's caught my fancy.

Back to the card. I made the base card from Kraft cardstock (another current passion). The ribbon was slotted through slots made with the Martha ribbon slot punch. Image coloured with copics/promarkers

This one has papers by Heidi Grace. The ric-rac is a tape runner thingy that I have had for ages. Both sentiments are by Craftwork Cards
I am joining in with What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - if you have a blog, do think of joining in with this, it's such a good excuse to go and have a nosey around other peoples crafty spaces
Not exactly on my workdesk, but sitting in a corner of the garage here in Florida, is my new cropper hopper storage unit, destined to sit in my craft space at home in the UK. Now you see what my problem is - how on earth am I going to get it home. Luckily we are allowed two checked cases each, so I think it will just be bundled up in black sacks and lots of tape, and checked into the hold. I have already stuffed a load of 12 x 12 papers down the side of the box, and plan to fill every corner with stuff.

and on my desk is this TRAVEL Bo Bunny word book that I have just completed for a friends birthday (male, that's why I used sludgy colours). I just have the back page to do, and it will be finished, for that page, I have lots of photos of them at home, and plan to do a sort of 'there's no place like home' page
I love doing these books for friends, they take hours, but I find that everyone loves them, and they make a pretty unique gift

and just to prove that I have been working, honest, here's a sneak peek at something I have been working on today

Finally, don't forget to go to Diane's blog (you may know her as Capadia) to pick up your anagram letter for today, and see what she has come up with for the Scrappy-go-lucky international blog hop. Don't forget, the first prize this week is all four of the newest Cricut cartridges..

Anya Card and Thinking of You

Here's a couple of card for you today. The first one is an Anya stamped image coloured with promarkers, I am enjoying using these, I find the fine tip easier to use for fine work than the copic brush tip. The papers are by Heidi Grace, and the punch is by E K Success, just to make a change from Martha. Sentiment button by Craftwork Cards

I have been delving into my supply of pre-stamped images, so this one is a mystery as well, I kept the card fairly plain. The base card is a really pretty dull gold, with a sheen to it.

Here is the link for today's anagram letter for the Scrappy-Go-Lucky international blog hop, pop over to see what Jane has been up to, and collect today's letter

Back to the (very steamy) garage now to work on some more mysterious stuff that I can share with you later in the week

Father's Day and a chance to win BIG............

What on earth do you put on a card for a man who has no particular hobbies/interests? I mean, if they don't golf, or fish, or like football, they can be so difficult to design for. I don't have anybody in mind for this card, it was just a personal challenge to see what I could come up with. This one came about by accident. My thursday craft group had set themselves a challenge to use 'buttons'. I had just bought this plaid paper, and thought it would be perfect for a bright and cheery Father's Day card.

The tree was cut at 3", and I used my distressed stripes embossing folder to add texture to the pinking shears circle.

The sentiment is by Craftwork Cards

the teensy buttons are by Dress-it-Up from Jo-anns


Now then, how would you Cricut owners like to win all four of the new Cricut releases?

Cindy Loo, Freshly Picked, Wall Decor and more, and Mini Monsters

That's the prize that's up for grabs over on the Scrappy-go-Lucky blog this week. We are having an International blog hop, each day a different member of the design team will be posting a creation inspired by her country, and a clue. Collect the letters from each blog daily, solve the anagram at the end of the week, and enter for the draw to win the cartridges. In addition, each of the design team will be giving away 10 Cri-kit gel pens and holder, to a random winner drawn from the comments left on her blog (the winners will be able to choose which set they want).
So there you have it. I am busy working on my card, which will be shown right at the end of the hop on Saturday, when it will be my turn to give away some pens. So start hopping, I would love it if one of my blog buddies won the grand prize
Good luck

Just a simple little card today, well, it is a day of rest............ I haven't a clue who makes the stamp, it is one that I got in a stamped image swap. The base card is Kraft cardstock, and the pattern papers are from a Martha Stewart stack.

Edited to say that Debe, who was in the Stamp swap, tells me that the stamp is by Dimension Fourth.

Also, if you popped by earlier to leave a comment, and can't see it, oops, I wiped out a whole bunch of comments by mistake today.

The sentiment and the spoons are from a Fiskars set. I stamped the spoons onto kraft cardstock, cut them out, then flooded them with clear glaze

I have done a crazy thing, bought a Cropper Hopper storage cart, that will be perfect for storing my papers - back in England! Quite how I am going to transport the very large box home I don't know - I have a vague idea involving lots of black plastic sacks and heavy duty tape. A bit too large (like three times too large) to stroll on with it as hand luggage that's for sure.
It reminds me of the very first time we came for a holiday to Florida, about 25 years ago. The plane home was filled with excited, suntanned Brits, most of them wearing Mickey and Minnie ears. At the end of the journey, back in London, a very snooty flight attendant held up a pair of plastic, pink flamingo legs (no flamingo, just the legs and feet), and asked 'can the owner of a pair of pink flamingo legs make himself known to the crew'. No lights went on that I could see, and as we filed off the plane, the same flight attendant stood there, with that smile that flight attendants are so brilliant at doing - you know, the gleaming 'thank you for flying with us, but thank heaven you won't be doing it again for another year' smile - holding these ridiculous plastic legs, offering them hopefully to everyone who shuffled past her. They are probably, even now, gathering dust in a forgotten corner of some left-luggage office.

Winner of the Blog Hop is.........................................

Thanks to all of you who joined in with us at BBTB2 for the blog hop this week. I entered 114 (I had a few email requests to be included) into Random.org (couldn't find my camera to take a clever photo that would make me look all professional and competent). I was astounded when the number came up

1

Now anybody who has a head for figures (including my accountant husband) would say quite reasonably that there is nothing astonishing about that. But to me, without a numerical gene in my body, it was quite amazing. I mean, the computer thingy had 114 numbers to choose from, and it came up with number one. I will never understand either randomness or computers

So our number one is

NANNIE FLASH

(Shirley)

Congrats Shirley, I will get your package in the mail to you as soon as you email me with your address

Look out soon for another blog hop (shhhh it's a secret) with some amazing giveaways

On to today's card.

I love this image of the sweet little girls from Lili of the Valley. Coloured with a mixture of Copics and Promarkers. The base card was made from core-dinations whitewash cardstock, the other papers are by Heidi Grace. The sentiment is by Stampin Up, and the embossing folder is a Cuttlebug one.

The chair was quite a big expanse of flat colour. I thought of paper piecing it in a small floral, but decided it would be very fiddly to cut around, so I simply used a slightly deeper marker to draw some stripes on the 'fabric'. I think it worked quite well
This letter, received today, made us laugh. For British readers, here in Florida we have a company that comes to pick up the rubbish twice a week, unlike the system at home where the local council empties the bins

IMPORTANT
CHANGES IN YOUR WEEKLY PICK-UP

Starting in June 2010 your weekly solid waste pick up days are going to remain the same. Please continue to have your items out the night before to ensure you do not miss your pick up

Oh, okay then, good job you wrote to us and told us that.

Thick and Thin and a bit of fabric......

First another Loralie card, love these golfers. I got the wide ric-rac on sale at Jo-anns, this is the first time I've used it, and now that I have, I wish I had bought more. The black and white check paper is by Making Memories.

The second card today is one I made for a challenge blog last week, where they were asking for a tag or label on the card, I think it might have been Allsorts challenge. Anyway, by the time I had made it, time had run out and it was time for the next challenge.

I made a base card from Kraft cardstock, and used a rather strange woodgrain rub-on that I got from Tuesday morning to make a background. The paw stamp and the image is by Great Impressions, coloured with copic markers. The script is a hero arts stamp that I stamped in coffee versamark ink onto coffee cardstock, and I stamped the same stamp onto some white prima flowers

Some of you suggested that I posted a photo of my new hairdo. Are you crazy? At the moment I am only venturing out after dark, and even then I have a brown paper bag over my head

Okay, you are an inventive lot of peeps, I need a bit of help. We have been invited to a lunchtime birthday party for a friend, in July - when we will be back in England. The dress code is 'The 1940's'. I am stumped and in need of EASY fancy dress ideas. The only thing I have thought of is to wear khaki trousers and shirt (which I don't possess), tie a headscarf around my head (which would solve another pressing problem), and go as a Land Army gal. Now you also have to consider Mike, who is quite, ermm............rotund I think is a nice word. No, he doesn't have a double breasted suit with a waistcoat, so I think Winston Churchill is out of the question. You have my permission to come up with ideas that will make us both look quite ridiculous if that makes you happy..............

Summer in Paris - for Allsorts

On Allsorts weekly challenge this week, they asked for a colour combo of black, white and one other colour

I reached for the red, and thought, no I can't do this after all the black/red/white ones last week, so went for yellow instead

The wine bottle and glass was cut from the Summer in Paris cartridge (from Scrappy-go-lucky) at 4". The bottom layer is actually a very pale lemon, I coloured the cork with E31 Copic marker. The base card measures 6 x 6" and was made from Core-dinations whitewash paper. The border punch is one of those huge ones by Martha. Sentiment is from a clear set by Fiskars

I used glossy accents on the bottle and glass to give a nice shiny finish
What happened about the hair? I went somewhere where a mature woman had made a reasonable job when I was last here. It wasn't until I was in the chair, hair shampooed and dripping wet, that they told me that she was off that day, and that the girl who shampooed me would cut it. I was too polite/British reserved/stupid/ to walk out, let's draw a veil over what happened next...............................................but I can tell you that two eyebrow rings, three nose studs, ten earrings and a ring through the upper lip are not necessarily the emblems of a good hairdresser
Still, let's look on the bright side of life, hair grows about 1/4" a month, by Christmas I should look quite normal again :)
See you tomorrow

Get Funky

The first of the month means a brand new challenge over at Get Funky this month it's Allison's turn to set the challenge and she chose a colour combo

Pink, Cream and Brown

which was fine by me, as it's one of my favourite colour combinations

All the papers were printed from the V. Funky CD, I liked the look of the Plantin Schoolbook scallops on my card yesterday, so I cut three layers for the top and bottom, cream, brown and pink. the flowers and stems were cut using the Gypsy Wandering cartridge, and the sentiment and card candy is by Craftwork Cards

I really like the little die cut holes around the centre of these flowers, I layered them up for dimension
As always, there is a £20 ($30 value) gift certificate for the winner of the monthly challenge, and the top five get a blinkie for their blogs
I realised with a sinking feeling today that my hair needs a cut. I just haven't found the right hairdresser here in Florida, despite all my friends here having great haircuts, I just can't get it right. I once went to one who, when she heard my accent, spent an hour and a half trying to make me look like the Queen. Honestly, she gave me those curl things each side of my forehead. The Queen is in her eighties for heaven's sake. Then there was the one who had me washed, cut and blow dried in fifteen minutes flat - they didn't even let me take my jacket off. I looked like a hedgehog that time. Mike does the husbandly thing always, when I go home distraught with another bad hair cut 'it looks fine darling' . The day of the 15 minute cut even he was heard to say 'it might look better after you've washed it'. So if you hear on the news that there was a hurricane in Florida today, take no notice, it will just be me blowing my top.