Pearls and Swirls and Pastels.......

Our challenge over at Polkadoodles this week, was Pearls, Swirls and Pastels, set by Danielle. I loved doing this one..........

I cut a base card using the doily card from Wildcard on the Cricut at 5", then stitched a pink circle onto that. The swirl is an Autumn Leaves acrylic stamp and the image was printed from the Magical Winter CD. Pretty sweet I think


So many of you have asked for the Toad in the Hole recipe - I just make it without a recipe so you will have to look up cooking temperatures etc, I will try to give it in USA measures


Ingredients:
8 pork sausages (about 1lb)
4ozs of white flour
1 egg
8 ozs of milk with a dash of water added
Salt


Method


Put the sausage, cut into chunks, into a shallow casserole dish and bake for around 15 minutes at 350
Turn the heat up to 450 for 10 minutes - if there is no fat in the dish, add a little, there is usually enough from the sausage. The fat needs to be really hot
Add the egg, salt and a splash of the milk to the flour and start whisking, add the rest of the liquid a little at a time and keep whisking so you don't have any lumps
Pour the batter over the sausages (there should be fat from the sausage in the dish, make sure it is sizzling hot)
Bake until the batter is raised and puffy and golden brown and yummy


Oh my - I am morphing into Martha Stewart. Look out for my instructions on knitting a poncho tomorrow! 

Never Forget

At 11 AM on 11/11/2011 let us all bow our heads for a moment to honour those who made it possible for us to live in freedom. Because of them, I have the freedom to laugh with friends without fear, write whatever I want to say without fear, read whatever I want without fear of persecution, worship without fear, and know that my grandchildren will be brought up in a free country. I salute them, and wear my poppy with pride

Sunflowers in November

Here's one that will go into my 'useful cards' box. The stamp is by Great Impressions, and has three sunflowers on it, so I stamped it multiple times then punched them out into squares, and mounted them onto green scallop squares. I stuck them on at all sorts of angles to add interest, and on three of the flower squares, I used a foam pad to add another flower. I rather liked the result, it cheered me up on a very grey day

When we get back after a spell in the USA, one of the first things I have to make is Toad in the Hole. WHAAAAT? I can hear the shrieks from across the Atlantic. 'OMG, I'd heard they ate kidneys over there, but Toads?'

Rest easy, it's an old British dish made with the great British banger (sausage), and is just sausages cooked in a Yorkshire pudding batter. Yummy.

The ridiculous thing is that I never eat sausages apart from this great sausage frenzy that overcomes me as soon as I set foot in the UK. Looks a bit burnt? That means there's loads of crispy batter to scrape off around the sides..................double yummy

  

One stamp - Two ways

This is an old stamp by Inky Antics (still available though). I paper pieced the main girls dress in both cards - polka dots for one, gingham for the other. 

For this first card, the scallops were cut using a die-namics die from MFT.

I layered a blue button on top of a bigger red one for an embellishment

the sentiment is from Craftwork Cards

Here they are again, similar layout, but a very different look

I thought the image would make a nice card for a sister to send - remind them of when they were little girls maybe. The images were coloured with Promarkers - tip, when you are colouring more than one person, use slightly different skin tones, it looks more natural. For these two little girls, I used blush and soft peach for the dark haired little girl, and ivory and blush for the other one

I have finally finished unpacking all my craft stuff, so can get on with some projects. Mind you, it takes me a while to get used to being at a different desk - I sit there thinking 'now where does the glossy accents live in this house?'

An English Country Wedding

As promised, photos of Jessica and Graham's wedding, which took place in the Lake district on Saturday. It was a stunning day, everything was just perfect. Here is the happy couple, don't they look wonderful?

With Madeleine, Jessica's sister who was a

bridesmaid - they wore a lovely shade of

French Navy....................

Here is my friend Anne, the mother of the bride, who looked stunning in Brown and Ivory and a fab hat......

and me in my hat........and with my friends

Graham is a Scot - so lots of young men in kilts!

Orchids hanging from organza ribbons....

and a very elegant cake.....

Part of the dining room.....

there were 2 small bridesmaids too.....

Jessica wore orchids in her hair

and just look at the view!

The place names were written on Lakeland Slate

It looks idyllic doesn't it? It was! The attention to detail was fantastic, Anne did a great job. Please leave a comment if you like the photos, I will get Anne to read them

Of course it wouldn't be complete without a story. Mike bought a new suit when we were in Florida. The store put it in a suit bag which we transferred into the suitcase unopened, then into the wardrobe when we got home. The same, well-travelled suit bag was then carted up to the Lake District.

We arrived at the church in all our finery. Mike turned around. 

Oh dear!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Yep, it's the security tag that the store had forgotten to remove when we paid - the sort of tag that squirts ink all over you if you try and remove it. Heaven knows how we walked out of the store in Florida  without setting off all the security alarms. So there was nothing for it but for him to wear it. Never in his life has his rear end got so much attention, never in his life have so many people sidled up to him and whispered in his ear 'excuse me, did you know......' Never in his life has he been the butt of so much good humoured teasing - or have so many young ladies patting his butt - I think he really enjoyed it :)


Back to a crafty post tomorrow, but I hope you enjoyed this peek at my fabulous weekend

Shaped Card for Polkadoodles

Today on Polkadoodles, the challenge is to make a shaped card. I found a pack of thank you cards on sale in Big Lots for a dollar. Well, they were worth a dollar just for the lovely red square envelopes. When I opened the pack, the 'cards' were just a single sheet of white card, with the thank you sentiments printed in a circle around the edge. The center was perfectly plain.

So I cut a red card using the doily cut from Wildcard, and stamped the Polkadoodles neighbourhood house stamp onto white, cut it out with a nestability and backed that with a red nestie circle. I think the result is fun,  what do you think?

We are in the Lake District for the wedding of the year - Kate and Will, eat your hearts out! Lots of photos will be shared next week. Have a lovely weekend

Oooh, I forgot!

First of all, here are the photos of Kiki and Monty taken at Halloween - Monty looks very brassed off to be dressed up as a bumble bee...........

but Kiki loves the artistic spider Mummy painted on her witchy hand.....

I totally forgot in the whirl of packing to show you this week's Polkadoodles challenge card. Our theme was Magical and Mystical, and it was our stashbox stamp week, which means we can use other manufacturer's images, so I chose this adorable little fairy by Lili of the Valley.....

Some random thoughts about travelling, after a very gruelling marathon journey home:
Why do airline staff weigh cases then make you open your case in front of an interested audience and delve around to find shoes to transfer into the other case. After all, they are all going on the same plane, so what difference does it make?
Why do they allow giant carry on bags, then when it gets to your turn to board with your neat little carry on, announce that the lockers are full, and your bag will be put in the hold? 
Why do you then have to spend three hours of your life, that will never come again, watching an empty luggage carousel go round and round, waiting for the kidnapped bag to reappear?
If they weigh luggage, how come they don't weigh giant people as well? How is it that I always end up sitting in half a seat next to one of the giant people?


You might think from the above rant, that the journey was less than perfect. It's nice to be home! 

Just chicken in........

Here's a Penny Black card - I love this one, I was pleased with the slightly daft sentiment.... I used a chicken wire stamp for the background, and a variety of lettering

Here's a sneek peek at little snippets of two of the cards I made for Scrappy-go-Lucky's blog today, all made with the Cricut cartridge Billionaire. I wanted to show that it isn't just a (very attractive) font...hop over to see the cards and let me know what you think

As you read this, we should just be landing back in the UK, so not a lot of time to chat today. Tune in tomorrow for a longer post

Get Well Soon (and some winners)

Time to do the random thingy for this month's ProMarker winners. The lucky names that came up are:

Sandy Bayles

Poots

Judy Caruso

Congrats to you all. Please email me with your mailing details including your home telephone number (the prizes are sent direct from Letraset, and the courier needs a phone number). Also, the set you would like to receive please. We are travelling all day tomorrow, so there may be a slight delay in communication for 48 hours. Bear with me!

If you didn't win, take heart, there will be more Promarkers next month

I used a stamp from Outlines Stamps for this one. The base card is by Craftwork Cards - one of their shaped edge cards, with the front folded back


I sent Halloween cards to the grandchildren, and had a telephone conversation with Max (4) who was very impressed with the card. 'I love the card you made me Ma' he said 'Merry Christmas!' Obviously, at the tender age of four, holidays can get a bit mixed up in your little mind....


Our last day here in the USA for five months - we will not be back before April 2012. As always, my thanks to all you warm hearted and kind Americans who always make our stay here so much fun, and treat us as your own. 

Sugar Nellie Digi Girl

Here's another Sugar Nellie digi image. For the base card I used a Craftwork Cards shaped edge blank, but turned it around so that the shaped edge is on the back of the card, I then cut away a couple of inches from the front so that the shaped edge shows. See the huge scallop border? I punched some 2" circles and cut them in half, then stuck them behind the white strip......

 I just cut a narrow strip of aqua for the inside, and added some card candi

Our trip to the US is almost over - early this year, as we fly back on Monday for a wedding next weekend. So life is again filled with cleaning, packing, sorting out craft stuff, and worrying about the weight of suitcases. The trip back is going to be a challenge - funny how a terrible timetable seems okay when you are booking flights, and something to be dreaded when you are only two days away from making it. So a nine hour gap between flights looms.......

Lucky Me Anniversary Card

My friend Cheryl had this sentiment stamp, and at first I thought 'what on earth would you use that for....' then I thought it would made a really cute anniversary card for a wife to give to her poker-playing husband (there are a lot of those around here!)

I used small playing cards picked up from the dollar store, and a cute little metal playing card charm

the border punch with the card suits is by Ek success. Here is the inside of the card.........

Monty was two in June, and his language development is quite amazing. His parents were amused when he was enjoying a snack, and my son asked 'how are the crisps Monty?'. 'Nice Daddy, how's your beer?'

Paper Bow Card

Click HERE to take you to the Promarker giveaway post

I got the idea and instructions for making this paper bow from Heidi Van Laar, who is one of my favourite card designers - I am sure you have seen her published work a lot in various US magazines. 

I used the large scallop punch by EK Success to punch both the front and back of the card, then added a hatpin by Making Memories, flowers and a vintage button to the bow. The sentiment stamp is one of those anonymous ones with no makers name on it

So I was shopping for jeans for one of my sons, Mike dropped me off in front of the store and went to park the car. I found the jeans, paid, and went looking for him. I found him and a male assistant chortling merrily in one of the aisles. In the car I asked him what the joke was - apparently the assistant saw Mike wandering around looking a bit lost and asked if he could help. 'I seem to have lost my wife' replied my dearly beloved. 'Well Sir, that isn't necessarily a bad thing' replied the wit, who obviously missed his vocation as a stand up comic. Men!!!

Fantasy Fairy

SCROLL DOWN FOR THE PROMARKER GIVEAWAY

I only have a couple of these manga type fairy stamps, but every so often I enjoy getting them out and doing a spot of colouring - I think she is quite beautiful. The pearl trim was picked up as a clearance remnant from Jo-Anns, and I have found the perfect punch to back the Craftwork Cards sentiment circles that I am so fond of - it is by Fiskars and is the 1.5" scallop punch (3 1/8cms)

Promarkers used

Skin coral, sunkissed pink, blush

Hair caramel, tan, ginger, ivory

Clothes and wings lavender, lilac, ice grey 3 

I was out shopping today (there's a novelty!) and in walked the Golden Girls - well, not really, but their combined ages must have totalled at least 220 years. They had dressed for their outing - big hair, big heels, big everything really, with a lot of fake gems and animal prints. Get the picture? I was fascinated, and couldn't stop peeking at them from behind the racks of clothes. I stopped stalking them when they all pounced with squeals of glee on some nighties (do you call them that in the States?) emblazoned with rhinestones and bearing the legend 'Sassy AND Sexy'. I got too-much-information overload, and  left. Good for them though!

Promarker Giveaway

Time for another Promarker giveaway for all of my lovely followers, thanks to the generosity of Letraset. They have just brought out some exciting new sets, I have THREE of these to give away. All you have to do is go over to the Letraset blog HERE look at the post there, and come back here to tell me which of the new sets you would choose if the random thingy picks your name. There is another card over there as well, using the same image, and the same set, but a totally different look. EDITED TO SAY THAT THE LINK IS WORKING NOW, SORRY ABOUT THAT


Remember to leave enough detail on your comment for me to be able to identify you should you win - Mary from New York is more identifiable than just Mary! If you subscribe by email, click on the Going Buggy link in your email which will bring you over here, where you can leave your comment.


If you have a blog, Letraset and I would appreciate your leaving a link to the giveaway on there............

 

I will use a random number generator to pick a winner on Sunday 30th October. Any names entered before 12 noon EST (5:00PM GMT) will go into the draw.

While you are over on the Letraset blog, look out for a couple of new products that they have just bought out. One that I am excited about are the new fine tips - these just clip onto your promarker, and it turns into a fine liner pen. Genius! The other product that I am happy to see, are cute little dots in all the Promarker colours, to stick onto the ends of your pens. The lack of this colour identification has been a bit of an issue for some people, but Letraset have listened, and the dots are being introduced at a very low price (£1.65 which is around $2.50) Shipping is free worldwide from their site 

Good luck

Hoppy Birthday for Penny Black

I haven't been very well for the past few days, that explains the lack of posts on here.....but I wanted to take part in the Penny Black challenge this week which is 'On the Move'. I took it quite literally, and this little froggy certainly is on the move. I decided on clean and simple, but I am happy with the result. What do you think?

I put splashes of glossy accents on the raindrops and water, which looks great in real life........ 

One of the things I love about Florida, being a sub tropical climate, are the spectacular sunsets. The other day I went grocery shopping quite late, and when I was driving home, the whole sky was ablaze with the most glorious pink hues, it took my breath away. Of course I didn't have a camera with me, so I ran into the house with the groceries, grabbed my camera and set off again - sadly most of the colour had gone, but I managed to get this photo, which at least reminds me of my mad chase down US19 trying to beat the setting sun!

Carols for Christmas

Our challenge on the Polkadoodles challenge blog this week is Ribbons and Bows. I think this extra wide ribbon will fit the bill. This is a BIG card - 8" x 8". I made it as a sample for Nikky to show on Create and Craft TV in the UK, but forgot to put it in the parcel with the other cards, so here it is. Big cards work best for TV samples - you make a regular sized card, the presenter whips through them at 100 cards a minute, blink and you've missed it.

I used the sweet carol singers from Magical Winter and added some letter stickers to their hymn sheets. They all have a pompom on their hats. The inking was done with dark green chalk ink - hasn't photographed well, it looks dirty brown on this photo   

Talking of singers, look what was clustered outside the door of the room where I craft every Thursday with a group of friends - a regular frogs chorus. Aren't they cute? Each one was only around 1/2" long or less. I almost adopted the big guy........

A Study in Browns.....

I seem to be in a bit of a brown mood today. I made this first one for the Clean and Simple challenge blog, totally unlike my usual style where I have to add that extra flower or gem, but I enjoy a challenge. I used the Stampin Up set French Foliage which I bought just because of those fabulous ink splashes. It's only a tiny stamp in the set, but I love the effect it gives, it would make great raindrops too. I stamped a background, then used a Penny Black stamp for the flowers. I couldn't resist a tiny dab of glue and some glitter to the center of the flowers. The sentiment is an old Stampin Up stamp. Here's the inspiration sketch........ 

and here is my take on the challenge..........well, only one layer (almost) so it's clean and simple for me.....

This next card was made with a bargain pack of Recollections papers picked up on clearance in Michaels. I love that check paper just peeping below the scalloped edge of the card. I used Walnut Stain distress ink to ink all the edges. The big rose was on one of the papers - I fussy cut it out, and because it was very white, stamped it with a script stamp by Hero Arts

Seen on a notice outside a bar here in Florida. Opening hours 7 P.M - 13 P.M
Really? That would be the witching hour then?