Chocolate Marbled Energy Bars

Skipping breakfast and then going shopping is not a good idea.
From the supermarket bookshelf
1001 Cupcakes, Cookies and Tempting Treats called out to me.

But do I really NEED another cookbook?

If I baked one thing a week from this book 

it would take me over 19 years to make everything!!!

That would make me sixty.... well, let's not go into that!!

So I resisted temptation  ( this week ).

Today I turned to Delia
and made her Chocolate Marbled Energy Bars.

I thought they would be great for hubby's lunch box...

if they last that long!!!

Have a greeat weekend everyone.
xxx

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For Better or Nurse.

There seems to be a few summer colds doing the rounds at the moment,

so I thought I'd better get stocked up on some 

'get well' cards.
This is the adorable Nurse Doraline from Motivet.

The image is coloured with Copics and parts of it are 3D'd.

A bit of sparkle always makes me feel better,
so I have glittered around all the paper edges.
I also added a little Glossy Accents to Doraline's shoes.

I have followed the sketch over at Papertake Weekly,

just rotated it and changed the size a little, to accommodate my larger stamp.

Hope that you can still make it out as Dawny's sketch though.
I am also entering this for Charisma Cardz Challenge,
where the theme is 'something with a tail'

and Creative Inspirations, where the theme is 'animals'

Stamp - Motivet, Doraline as Nurse.

Sentiment Stamp - Personal Impressions.

Design Paper - My Mind's Eye 'Pretty Please'.

Crystal Stickles

Martha Stewart lace border punch

Card Candy from Craftwork Cards.

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Totally Papercrafts #27 Going To The Movies

 Morning everyone,

it's time for another challenge over at Totally Papercrafts
and this week's theme is

Going to the Movies

I am a huge movie fan,
but I did struggle with this challenge.

So get your thinking caps on ladies -

we are all looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

This week our sponsor is the wonderful

Simon Says.

Check out the blog for the prize and to see
last week's winners.

Here's my card for the film Moulin Rouge.

I used an Anya stamp, coloured with Copics then

 ruffled up a piece of sparkly ribbon and
pushed it through a slit that I made around her skirt
with a craft knife.
I made the 'curtain' and the sentiment on my computer.
For the 'bodice' effect, I used eyelets,
threaded with black ribbon and then added a little heart charm.

Stamp - The Greeting Farm - Miss Anya Dressy.
Design Paper - Papermania Capsule Collection Mono
Heart charm from the Hobby House

Adhesive pearls and ribbon from my stash.

----------------------------------------------------

Three hedgies are better than one!

Crikey... how hard is it to photograph pastel cards?

I have been all over the house and garden with this.

I used a cute Penny Black hedgie, coloured with Copics and

3D'd his little song book and hands

(they're not  really hands are they... feet??  paws??).

The wings are coloured with diamond glitter glue.

I punched the snowflake from the DP
and covered it with Diamond Dust.

I am entering this card for a few challenges...

Penny Black - Christmas in July
Cupcake Craft - Pastel Christmas

and a late entry for Aud Sentiments - Your own Christmas Sentiment

Hedgie and Sentiment Stamps - Penny Black Christmas Critters
Lace border punch - Martha Stewart
Design Paper - DCWV Nana's Nursery, Baby Boy
Snowflake - Xcut punch and Diamond Dust
Clear Dew Drops - Crafty Emma's Store

Ribbon from my stash.

Like snowflakes... no two angels are alike.

I just LOVE these papers - they smell like newly laid carpet..
not that I sit here sniffing them, of course...

well, maybe a little!!!

:-)

This cute little angel is from Pollycraft,
it's the digi image I chose after joining in Paula's freebie fun.
I coloured her with copics
( it's really pale blue, but the pic makes it look grey!)
and some stickles glitter.

The glitter seems to have slid down her wings a bit..

it must be because I stood the card up before it was dry.

The background trees are also Pollycraft, 3D'd,
coloured with copics and  Flower Soft, for the snow.

I am entering this for the Simon Says Stamp Challenge,
so I followed Martine's great sketch,
and also for Papertake Weekly, where the theme is 

Cutie Patootie.

Pollycraft Digi images - Cherry Kisses Angel & Trees Background,
coloured with Copics, Diamon Stickles and Polar White Flower Soft.
DP - GCDStudios - Ella Blue

Ribbon from my stash.
Silver Pearls from Crafty Emma's Store
Pop on over and check out Emma's store -  she has 15% off everything
until 9am Monday 26th July and is also starting a loyalty scheme
for her customers.

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Totally Papercrafts #26 Feeling Fruity

TGI Friday....  :-)
and time for a new Totally PaperCraft's Challenge.

Thanks to everyone who joined in with last week's recipe..
please check the blog to see if you were a winner.

This week's theme has been chosen by Emma,

with Lols hosting the challenge.
The theme is

FEELIN' FRUITY

Our generous sponsor this week is Mandi
who is a Stampin Up Demonstrator.

Please visit our fabulous DT ladies to get some inspiration,
and if you'd like to leave a comment we all love hearing from you.

For my 'fruity' project I decided on a picnic caddy..

full of yummy treats, for my girls.

I know they're in their 20's but

you're never too old for sweeties!!  

:-)

For the picnic caddy I followed the brilliant, step-by-step tutorial,
by Katie of Clearly iStamp

I just changed the handle, because I don't have a large punch.

I used an oval nestie instead.. 

and then used the oval nestie with a slightly larger scalloped one,
to cut a little frame from the DP.

Here's a pic of what the caddy will look like 

10 mins after the girls get their hands on it..

lol***

Design Paper and strawberry motif -  My Mind's Eye Summer 

(free in a magazine)

I made the text on my computer.

Sweeties -  Sainsburys   lol***

Flash Your Freebie Part 2

Have you been 'flashing your freebies' ???

If you entered the first part of the fun over at

Tales from Pollycraft
you should have this cute tortoise image.

The next part of the challenge is to create something with this image
and to think...   GREEN.

Then leave your work, on the blog, with Inlinkz,
and you will be able to choose ANY Pollycraft digi image,

for FREE!!

How cool is that?

I paper pieced the Tortoise shells
and added a little stickles glitter to his body
and the design paper. 

Digi Stamp - Pollycraft Freebie,  Tortoise Hugs coloured with Copics.

Design Paper - My Mind's Eye, Bloom & Grow

Sentiment and Card Candy - Craftwork Cards
Border Punch - Martha Stewart

Butterfly Punch - XCut

Bloom and adhesive pearls from my stash.

B is for Balloon

Afternoon everyone...

it's my Wedding Anniversary today,
25 years!!!

So I am having a chill out, crafting, blogging day

:-)

I have discovered the new post editor,
and  thought I would be brave and have a play with it.
I like the way that you can choose your image size easily.

This week's House Mouse & Friends challenge is

the letter 'B',

so, for my entry,  I chose this cute stamp with balloons,
coloured with Copics and the little mouse about to pop the balloon
is 3D'd.

I just love the expression on his face!

The paper is My Mind's Eye

(a freebie in Cardmaking and Papercraft's magazine)
and it's so gorgeous I didn't want to cover it up too much.

Do you like my bow?

It took me forever to tie that...

top of my 'to buy' list is a bow easy!

Stamp - House Mouse Pop-Ular Fun
Design Paper - My Mind's Eye - Summer
Sentiment - Craftwork Cards.

Ribbon and adhesive pearls from my stash.

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New challenge blog and candy

After the closure of Magical Crafts,
some of the DT have got together and
will be opening a new challenge blog
Craft Your Days Away,
on Saturday August 7th.
It's a multi-craft challenge, so I'm sure there will
be lots of fab ideas to take inspiration from.

Spread the word and you could be one of 3 lucky winners
of some super blog candy.

Good luck with the blog ladies..
looking forward to the first challenge.
xxx

Is it really summer?

Due to the vagaries of the great British summer,
I had to have ALL the lights on in my kitchen this morning!
So, I thought I would drag the camera outdoors...
and try and find some natural light.
I'm pretty pleased with the result,
the colours actually look like they do in 'real life'.
Maybe I will be an outdoors girl from now on!!

I would like to enter my card for a couple of challenges -
Sketch Saturday, where I have followed their great sketch
and Cupcake Craft, where the theme is
'Cats & Dogs'.

Congrats to
Faye of Stampin Fluffnstuff
who will be the new owner of Cupcake Crafts
from the beginning of August.

Stamp - High Hopes Heidi & Madison, coloured with Copics.
Design Paper - Basic Grey, Max & Whiskers.
Text - Craftwork Cards
Sizzix corner die, covered with glitter glue.
Buttons from my stash.

-----------------------------------------------

Where to stash your cash!

For some of my family's birthdays only cash will do -
especially for the teenagers!!
I was going to just put the money inside a card,
but at the last minute thought I would make these
quick and easy money wallets.

I made them using my largest, rectangle, scalloped nestie.
One rectangle is scored in half and folded, for the main card,
and the other is lined up with this and cut just below the
main card's centre fold.
Then I stitched around the 3 sides, to form the pocket.

I decorated the front and voila...
a cute little money wallet in super quick time.

I would like to enter these for this week's
Penny Black Challenge,
where the theme is
ANYTHING BUT A CARD.
Check out the awesome projects by the DT.

Owl Stamp - from the Penny Black 'fresh new day' set.
Coloured with Copics.
Design Paper - My Mind's Eye, Bloom & Grow
Text stamp - Personal Impressions, mixed sentiments.
Ribbon and button from my stash.

Gone fishing

Give a man a fish.... feed him for the day.
Teach a man to fish... get rid of him for the weekend!!!
:-)

I just love this 'Great Day to Fish' digital stamp
from Whimsy.
How cute are those two guys together?
I coloured with Copics, 3D'd the characters,
and added some black thread for the fishing line.
The little sign is also Whimsy,
stuck on with foam pads.

I would like to enter my card for this week's
Stamp Something Challenge,
where the theme is
'Something Digital'.
They have some fabulous sponsors this week,
so join in if you can.

Digital Stamps - Whimsy
Design Paper is Basic Grey 'Granola', purchased from Emma's store.
Keep checking in with Emma, as she is getting new stock in, all the time.
The string and button are from my stash.

----------------------------------------

Flash your freebies!!!

There's still time to get those freebies out...
Paula wants you to use one of her Pollycraft freebies
and leave a link, on her blog, to your project.

Then she will send you a 'new freebie' by email -
that you must keep secret, for now!!
Oooohhh... mysterious..

For my card I used Pollycraft's 'Bridget Thanks', coloured with Copics.,
Design Paper is Papermania Capsule Collection, Red Hot.
Flowers were made with 2 sizes of XCut punch
and dabbed with stickles glitter
Lace and pearls from my stash.
-----------------------------------------

Totally Papercrafts #25 Recipe

You sure like your 'swirls and pearls' ladies,
and we had a great response to last week's challenge,
pop on over to the blog to see if you were the lucky winner,
or were voted in the Top 3.

This week at Totally Papercrafts the challenge has been chosen by Carol,
and the theme is a Recipe.
1 IMAGE - 1 RIBBON - 2 PAPERS - 3 EMBELLIES

We are sponsored by Soft Pencil Digital Stamps
and the DT got to play with some of their cute images this week,
so check them out.

Here is my card using the image 'Molly in Spring'

I made a stair step card,
following the great instructions from Beate at Splitcoaststampers.
My image was coloured with Copics, and I paper-pieced her dress.
I kind of stretched the 3 embellies rule a bit :-)
1 -the blooms
2 - the gems in the centre of the blooms
and 3 - the flowers in her ponytails.

Design Paper is Papermania 'Blueberry Hill'
Happy Birthday stamp from Papermania 'Stamping for Him'
----------------------------------------------

Lazy Summer Days

What I love about warm, lazy, summer days
is sitting outside, in the swingchair with a good book.
So, I thought it would be nice to include a summer
bookmark with my pocket card.

I covered my card with the DP
and then made a simple pocket.
No scoring and folding..
I just added my DP to the pink card and
then attached it to my main card,
along three sides, with stitching.
This left the opening along the top edge.

I used the Whimsy digital garden fence,
and Tilda, who was stuck on with foam squares,
for that 3D look.
I also paper-pieced Tilda's dress and added some stickles glitter.

For the bookmark I sandwiched together
2 pieces of card, 1 of DP and
a piece of ribbon.
Then stitched around the edge.
The bird motif came with the DP
and I made the text on my comp.

I would like to enter my card for this week's
Pink Elephant Challenge, where the theme is
Pocket Cards.

Whimsy Digital Stamp 'Garden Fence' and Magnolia - Tilda with Flower,
coloured with Copics and stickles glitter.
Design Paper - and bird motif (on bookmark) My Mind's Eye 'Summer Papers' free with Cardmaking and Papercrafts magazine.
Text - made on my comp. Ribbon from my stash.

Have yourself a merry little Christmas!!!

I started this card yesterday..
and I can't stop singing this song..
'have yourself a merry little Christmas'
I am getting some strange looks, I can tell you!!

This was my favourite stamp last year,
so it was great getting it back out.
I didn't have Copics the first time around,
so I will have to get used to the new way of shading it..

I have the cutest little family of Robins in my garden,
so I can just imagine looking out of the window,
onto this scene, in the winter.
I made the window, using a rectangle nestie,
but haven't quite lined it up perfectly,
so I need to practice that.

I would like to enter this card for the following challenges -
Sketch & Stamp - a great sketch by Ger
Papertake - 'In the garden'
Fab 'n' Funky - 'It's Christmas in July'

Robin scene, from the Woodware set - A Winter's Day,
coloured with Copics and stickles glitter.
Text Stamp - from Penny Black, Christmas Critters
Design Paper - GCD Studios, Ella Blue
Lace punch - Fiskars
Adhesive pearls.

-------------------------------------------

Watch the birdie!

Morning everyone...
The rain has arrived here,
just in time for the start
of the Great Yorkshire Show!
The roads near me will be chocka-block,
so I will be staying indoors most of the week.

This is my second Christmas card this year -
I'm building momentum slowly... lol**

I used a smaller card base than usual,
12cm x 12cm,
but made it slightly bigger, by adding the nestie circle at the top.
The stamp is a digital Whimsy,
3D'd and coloured with Copics, stickles glitter
and some glossy accents on the stars.
I sponged the area around the stamp in blue chalk,
but the camera doesn't pick this up very well.

I would like to enter my card for this fortnight's
Magical Crafts Challenge,
where the theme is 'Christmas in July'.
It's my fist time joining in at Magical
and if you haven't come across their blog before,
head on over there
and check out the fabulous DT work.

Stamp - Whimsy Digital - Stars and Stripes Dove.
Design Paper - My Mind's Eye - Signature Christmas
Letter Stamps - MSE Adrienne's
Blooms and leaves XCut Punch
Buttons and adhesive pearls from my stash.

------------------------------------------------------

I CAN DUKAN !!!

I am a happy bunny this morning...
I have lost my first stone on the Dukan Diet.
I have been on the 'attack' stage of the diet for
28 days, so I am pretty pleased with that loss.

This is definitely one of the best 'diets' I have ever followed,
and I have tried most of them at some time or another!!
The great thing about it, is that I don't have to buy
lots of weird ingredients
and I can prepare the same food for everyone.

I have cheated occasionally..
with the odd glass of wine -
but it doesn't seem to have done any harm.
I am even happy for the girls to call me 'saggy bum',
now that none of my jeans or trousers fit me...
and I have warned hubby that he will be
seeing LESS of me in the future..
lol**

-------------------------------------------------------

New Online Craft Store

Roll up.... roll up....
for the opening of Emma's new online craft store.

Pop over there and have a browse.

If you spread the word about the new shop
you could win a £10 voucher.
Emma's blog has all the details.

I would just like to wish Emma all the best with her new venture,
and hope that you will all support her
and fill your baskets!!
xxx

Football Crazy

I have gone with a football theme today,
as this weekend sees the final of the World Cup.
It's been a good tournament, with lots of surprises,
just a shame our lads didn't fulfill their potential.
Can't say I will miss those vuvuzelas though!!!

I am entering this card for the
Lili of the Valley Challenge,
so I have used their cute stamp 'Football Crazy',
and followed Dawny's sketch.
The stamp is coloured with Copics,
I paper-pieced the little guy's top
and the football is 3D'd.

Football design paper is Forever Friends.
Blue dashed paper is Daisy & Dandelion 'Picnic Patch'
Ribbon and brads from my stash.
Text is a papermania sticker.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Comment problems.

Is anyone else having trouble with comments.
When I click to publish a comment, I get an error code
and the comment disappears, never to be seen again!!!
It's not the first time this has happened either.

I then tried to publish the comment from my email,
but it tells me the comment has already been moderated!!!

Hopefully it's just some glitch that will sort itself out.

So sorry if you've taken the time to leave me a comment and it hasn't appeared.
For now, any comments that go astray,
I will copy from my email and see if I can post them myself.
xxxx

Totally Papercrafts #24 Swirls and Pearls

Morning everyone.
It was my first time hosting the Totally Papercrafts challenge last week,
and I want to say a huge thankyou to everyone who entered.
We had an amazing amount of entries,
so make sure you check out the blog to see if you were the lucky winner.

This week's host is the lovely Joanne,
and she has chosen the theme of

'SWIRLS AND PEARLS'

Our sponsor for the week is
Squigglefly
and the winner will get to choose 3 of their gorgeous images.

Check out the blog for some inspiration from our lovely DT.

When I saw the Squigglefly image
Shybear - beary-go-round,
I knew that I wanted to make a carousel.
Easier said than done..
There was lots of swearing during the making of this project!!
lol**

Below is a picture of the basic items I started with...
I used the cheese triangles box as the base,
wrapping ribbon round an old felt tip pen for the centre,
and round 3 skewers for the poles.
I stuck my coloured image to the poles with tape.

The roof was much trickier..
I made a cone shape from card and added some smaller cones at the top.
For the edging, I cut a long thin strip of scalloped edged card,
then cut tabs half way into it and stuck it round the inside of the cone.
Finishing it off with some coloured adhesive pearls.

I have to hold my hands up and say
the poles are all stuck to the roof with blue tack!!!

I didn't want shy bear hiding behind all the horses,
so I trimmed him off 2 of them.
They are all coloured with Copics and stickles glitter.

Design Paper is My Mind's Eye - Magnolia
To finish the carousel off, I cut out a little flag,
glued it to a cocktail stick and stuck it in the roof.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Sending Donkey Smiles

There is a special event over at A Spoon Full of Sugar this week.
They are hosting a 'Kickin' it for Michelle' card drive and would like you to create a card dedicated to Michelle and mail it off to her.
Michelle - one of their DT members - had an accident a few weeks ago, which has left her with the loss of her right eye.

Whimsy Stamps have made this fabulous donkey image and sentiments
that you can dowload for free, to use on your card/project.
And, Spoon Full of Sugar have some amazingly generous sponsors, supporting this card drive.

I hope Michelle's postman has to carry cards by the sackful to her,
and that they help to cheer her up and let her know that we are all thinking of her.

Digital Stamps - Whimsy Stamps - Sweet Little Donkey,
coloured with Copics and Stickles glitter.
Design Paper - My Mind's Eye - Pretty Please
Adhesive Pearls

~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.

Cuthbert Bear

Silly me... I decided this morning to cut all my nails nice and short
and now I can't get the backing off my double sided tape.
It's driving me crazy!! lol*

This week the challenge over at Sketch and Stash is to make a
CIRCLE card.
A great excuse to attempt my first circle easel card.
using my largest scalloped nestie.

The new stash I used was the cute Cuthbert with Balloons,
which was a freebie from Pollycraft.
Cuthbert usually holds two sets of balloons,
but I trimmed one set.
He is stuck on with foam pads, for that 3D look,
coloured with Copics and some added glitter.

Design Paper is Forever Friends
(but it's lost it's cover so I'm not sure which one it is)
'Thank You' stamp is Personal Impressions 'Mixed Sentiments'
The little heart is a Sizzix die - 'Hearts,Paisley'
Button, ribbon and card candy from my stash.
xxx

Where did the weekend go??

Is it Sunday night already?
Where did the weekend go?
It wouldn't surprise me if David Cameron has made Saturday one of his 'cuts' !!

Having come across the fabulous, Just Us Girls, last week,
I thought I would join in with their challenge again.
This week it's a great sketch to follow and their sponsor is
JustRite.
If you can include a JustRite stamp on your card,
you will also be entered into a second draw.

I don't have any of their stamps,
but that could change if I win this week...
fingers crossed!!
lol**

I went for another 'guy' card,
'cos I need to build up my stock of them,
and chose this cute Forever Friends stamp,
coloured with Copics.
I also made use of those cute Woodware Tool Brads
that I picked up at my local craft store.
I chose the spanner and saw,
but the packet also includes scissors and a hammer!!

Stamp - Forever Friends, coloured with Copics.
Design Paper - Papermania Hampstead
Text Stamp - from the Papermania 'Stamping for Him' set.
Woodware Tool Brads
String, button and card candy from my stash.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Christmas in July

I am a bit out of practice with Christmas cards,
but seeing as there are only 175 days 'til Christmas Day (eek!!)
it seemed like a good time to start making some.

I managed to dig out my box full of Christmas papers and stamps,
but I definitely need to buy some seasonal embellies.

I came across some mulberry paper (the dark green)
that I haven't used in ages.
If you wet the edges and carefully tear it,
you get a lovely feathered effect.
I 3D'd a couple of mice with foam pads,
coloured them with copics and added some stickles glitter.
I used a green chalk around the image and some yellow,
where the lantern is.
It doesn't show up too well in the photo though.

I finally found a great leaf punch.
My last one - I had to stamp on to get it to cut through anything,
and then it would completely jam!!
This one is from Xcut and it embosses as well.

Challenges I am entering...
Stampin' For The Weekend - Christmas in July and Sandie's Sketch
Fussy and Fancy - Christmas in July
Winter Wonderland - Punch It Out!

Recipe -
Stamp - Penny Black Christmas Critters.
Design Paper - My Mind's Eye - Signature Christmas.
Leaves - XCut Botanical Embossing Punch.
Blooms - Wild Orchid Crafts
Sentiment - Craftwork Cards
Star Charm - The Hobby House
My Stash - adhesive pearls, brad and ribbon.

-------------------------------------------------------

Totally Papercrafts Challenge - One For The Girls

Morning everyone... hope you've all had a lovely week.
I managed to get my girls moved in to their new digs yesterday..
and apart from a fridge that frosts up all the time,
a cooker that doesn't work properly,
a leaky boiler and the narrowest, steepest staircase
I have ever come across,
things look great!!!
lol**

I can see us reaching for this bottle of Archers well before the 8th!

I am the host for this week's Totally PaperCrafts Challenge and
I'd like to say a quick thankyou for all your fantastic entries last week.
Pop on over to the blog to see who was the lucky winner,
and the Top 3.

This week the theme is

'ONE FOR THE GIRLS'

So you can get out all your pretty papers,
gorgeous ribbons and girly embellies.

This week's sponsor is the lovely Jules from Daisy Doodles
and she is offering the winner a digital stamp set.
Not only can you get some inspiration from our awesome DT,
but we have also been joined by some of the Daisy Doodles DT.
Please check out their amazing cards.

I chose to do a little project, designed to make my girls come home and visit!
Who could resisit a girls' night in with alcohol and popcorn??
:-)

For my invitation I used the Daisy Doodles image 'Tropicana'.
Coloured with Copics and some stickles glitter.
I made the 'Girl's Night In' text, on my computer.
I also used the image to make little glass charms,
with a small scalloped nestie.
That's the luxury of digital images -
you can resize them to fit your project.

Design Paper - DCWV, Nana's Nursery, Baby Girl.
Card Candy and ribbon from my stash.