Afternoon everyone,

I am being treated to another day of crafting today,
as my daughter is cooking us a lovely meal.
Of course, I had to go out and buy all the ingredients this morning,
and I think every pot and pan we own is in use,

but it smells wonderful.

Here is my entry for this week's
Sketch and Stash Challenge.

It's another great sketch, which leaves you free to add
embellishments and sentiments wherever you wish.

The neglected stash that I used is Forever Friends - Just for Him, papers.
These papers are really cute, but I never really knew what to do with them.
For this card I decoupaged the design.
I like the way that the hat creates a shadow,
as if the sun is on the teddy's face.
Also, I ran out of thread when I was sewing parts of the card,
but I liked the effect, so I kept on going.. lol*

Cute, cute, cute!

Here's my 3rd and last card of the day.
I have to pack up my craft things now,
as the family are screaming to be fed..

lol*

This is my entry for the great sketch over at Sketch Saturday.
There are some wonderful goodies up for grabs this week,
donated by Clare of Thread-bare.

How adorable are these design papers?

They are Die Cuts With a View - Nana's Nursery.

The challenge for me was sticking to the sketch, but not covering up
the gorgeous paper too much.
You can't really tell from the photo, but
the paper is glittered, which makes it even cuter.

The stamp is from the Penny Black - Critter Party set,
coloured with whispers pens.

Gone Fishing

Another card for today, and this time I combined 2 challenges -
'Purple and Green' over at Charisma Cardz and
'Fun' at Lili of the Valley.
They both have some amazing design team work,
so, if you're looking for inspiration, go and check them out.

I used a new set of clear stamps from Papermania,
designed by Clare Curd.
These are great for guys cards as they include fishing,
golfing, a handy man, plus sentiments and little extras.

The design Paper was Cardmakers, Earth's Palette and
I printed out the saying, that I found on the net.

xxxx

Hide and Seek

Hello everyone,
hope you are all enjoying the Easter Weekend.
I am having fun in my craft room.
Here's my first card of the day and it's for the
Daring Cardmakers Challenge.
The theme is hide and seek,
so you need to include a hidden message or element on your project.
This is my first time over at this blog and
it looks like a really friendly, fun place to be,
with lots of wonderful ideas from the design team.

My hidden message is in the form of a little card,
in the middle of the main card.
You just pull the ribbon and it opens.

I just love the adorable way that Tilda's legs just dangle in mid air.

Card Recipe:
Paper - Papermania, Raspberry Champagne
Stamps - Magnolia, Sweetheart Tilda, coloured with whispers pens
Corners - Sizzix Die, covered with stickles glitter
Ribbon, blooms, brads and stick on pearls from my stash.
The sentiment I made on the computer.

xxx

Dare to be Square...

that's the theme of this week's challenge at

Funky Fairys.

Hop on over there and check out the fabulous
design team work, and of course you can see the range of gorgeous,
Funky Fairy downloads at
Funky Fairys Papercrafts.

My entry is this cute little box, with lid.

I used the basic box template, kindly provided by Mel
and replaced a square in the lid with clear plastic,
stitched in place,
so you could see inside the box.
To complement the 'squares' theme I used this lovely

polka dot paper from Funky Fairys 'cherish' collection.

I was going to fill my box with little chocolate eggs,
but then I found a couple of small candles in the cupboard
that fit perfectly inside.

I stamped them with the cute hedgehog stamp,
from the Penny Black - Bubbly set.
I also discovered that putting a sheet of coloured paper through
my cross shredder, gives me a really cute filler,
for inside the box.

Then I wrapped it all up with ribbon and added a little tag.

xxx

Box in a Bag

Here's my entry for this week's Cupcake Craft Challenge.

The theme is 'Folds'.

I made these Box Bags as easter treats for my nieces,
and they are filled with little, milk chocolate eggs.
I wish I had kept some of the little eggs out, to put in the photo,
but it's probably best they are all packaged and tied up with ribbon,
or there would have been no eggs left to put inside!!!

A big thankyou to Stampin' with Di
for her excellent tutorial with step-by-step instructions.
I didn't have the tabs for the top of the bag, so instead I used
a round, scalloped die and folded it in half.

I used the lovely 'cherish' papers from Funky Fairys
with blooms and ribbon from my stash.

xxx

Magnolia v Stampavie

Today, I thought I would go over and play with the big girls at
Magnolia v Stampavie.

Their design work and challenge entries are so gorgeous,

I have had to pluck up the courage to enter.

It's a really lovely sketch this week though,
so I couldn't resist.

I have used the Magnolia stamp - Flower Power Tilda,
with my absolute favourite papers,

K & Co - Classic.
The sentiment is from Craftwork cards,
with blooms from Poppicrafts.

I still don't have a swirl die ( I am soo deprived.. lol*)
so I drew one on some paper and cut it out.

Must dash now, my girls are both home from Uni,

and insist on being fed!!

If you pass by, please leave me a comment.

xxx

Birthday Celebrations

Happy Birthday Maria

xxx

My daughter was 20 yesterday -20 ??
Where does the time go?
I can no longer say I have 2 teenagers.
We had a lovely weekend, with loads of fun
ending in a big meal yesterday. Here's a piccie of the Birthday cake that my other daughter made.
How cute is it?
The biggest cupcake ever.. lol*
If you fancy giving it a go the tin is from Lakeland

I made a lovely roast leg of lamb with all the trimmings,
but the star of the show was the dessert table.
Home-made Blueberry cheesecake, banoffee pie and of course,
the chocolate fountain.
I don't think I will need to eat again for the rest of the week.

Colour Create Challenge

It's my first time over at the Colour Create Challenge blog,

and I love the way they get inspiration for the challenge,
from the things around us.

This week the theme is

Lilac and Blue,
inspired by a beautiful, japanese, fighting fish.

As an extra option you can use ribbons and swirls on your project.

Check out the lovely work of the design team.

Here's my lilac and blue card.
I managed to add the ribbon, but not the swirls.
I sooo want one of those swirls dies, for my bigshot.
They do look good on cards and I'm sure I would use it a lot.

That's what I am trying to convince my hubby anyway!!

The stamp is from the Penny Black Bubbly set,
coloured with whispers pens.
The design paper is Forever Friends, Just For Him,
with ribbon and blooms from my stash.

xxx

Congratulations Helen

Keep off the streets everyone!

My 40something SIL (ha! she's going to kill me for that)
has just passed her motorbike test - first time.
Well done Helen.

I made this card for her with this week's fab sketch at
Sketch and Stash Challenge

Check out their gorgeous DT work.

I found the image on my clipart CD
and the new stash that I used, was the design papers,
a recent purchase from Funky Fairys.
These are from their 'Cherish' range -
the most gorgeous colour-co-ordinated,
downloadable, papers.

xxx

New Challenge Blog

I finally have 5 minutes to myself today,
to upload this card before The Apprentice starts, on TV.

This is the first challenge for a great new blog called

Simon Says

and the theme is

"yellow and green"

I have used one of my Magnolia stamps again -
they are just so cute, I can't stop playing with them.

This one is Tilda with Cowberry Muffin.

I had no idea what a cowberry is,
but apparently it's a relative of the cranberry!
The paper I have used is Papermania - Sweet Nothings,
with ribbon, bloom and flower button all from Poppicrafts.

Right, Sir Alan has just given out this week's task,
so I am off to see how they can mess it up this week.

xxx