Saturday, January 31, 2009

Whiff Of Joy Valentine Challenge


Well, I found this challenge challenging !!! Not having any valentine themed WOJ stamps except the heart I was a bit stumped but then came up with this idea :-) I didn't want it to be too girly, cos Charlie's a bloke after all, but then the pink crept in !!! anyway I think he looks quite dashing with a pink bow tie :-)The heart was stamped onto shrink plastic,coloured and shrunk :-)
The paper is by paper adventures and is called 'vintage rose ramblings' , the ribbon and heart brads are papermania. The hearts were cut out of core'dinations using my cricut and then cuttlebugged and sanded, the sentiment is WOJ too
Thanks for looking and I appreciate your comments :-)

Friday, January 30, 2009

Funky Fairy's, Charisma and Friday Sketch Challenges




I know I've already entered the Funky Fairy's challenge with my last card upload but when I saw the Charisma challenge which is to use black/white and one other colour I just had to use this free download paper and text from Funky Fairy This stamp was just 'made' for this :-)
I used the Friday Sketch, which is a fab sketch by Carole, again, this sketch was made to go with this stamp, can ya tell I love this stamp :-)
The ribbon is from Meiflower,isn't it gorgeous :-)
Thanks for looking, I REALLY appreciate your comments so please leave me one before you hop away,,,,,
Lorraine x

Cute Card Thursday Funky Fairy's and Sketch Saturday Challenge's



I know its quite late for the saturday sketch but I really liked this sketch and wanted to use it :-) I am also entering this for the CCT challenge which is Valentine. I forgot to take a photo of the inside but I have decorated it with hearts and a valentine message , might upload it later ,,,,
The image is PB squeeze till I squeak, what a fab name for it ha ha :-) As you can see I used my scallop nestie for the image. The words down the side is made using the PB love love love stamp, pink brilliance on vellum. The hearts are cut out on my cricut and embossed with a cuttlebug swiss dots folder, which I then chalked with pearlescent pink, this doesn't show up very much on the photo but is nice n shimmerry in real life ;-0. The dotty ribbon is by papermania.
The pink distressed paper is a download from Funky Fairy's so it also qualifies for that challenge which is Valentine's too :-)The text is from a santa rosa stamp which also has an envelope with hearts coming out of it so I had to cut around it !
Thanks for looking, I appreciate all your comments so please leave me one before you hop somewhere else :-)
Lorraine x

Tilda and Friends ATC Challenge


I made this ATC for the Tilda and Friends ATC challenge which is not to use any designer paper. I decided to make is a Valentine theme, well it is that time of year ,,,The Tilda has a cross pendant usually but I made her a heart shaped one using a punch and shrink plastic and coloured it with artquest interference paint before shrinking. Her handbag is a new papermania duo clear stamp made using shrink plastic too. the background paper was made using pink chalk and a hero arts heart stamp and pink brilliance ink. Oh and I almost forgot, i tied a little pink ribbon in her hair, then layered it all onto blue card. :-)
Thanks for looking, your comments are very much appreciated :-)
If anyone would like to swap just let me know :-)
Lorraine x

Wednesday, January 28, 2009


I've just received this award from iRene, if you haven't visited her blog you should go and take a peek, she makes beautiful cards :-)
I have to tell you some things I'm addicted to and pass this on to a few of you, can't remember how many exactly !! Anyway will get to that later cos am off to Malta now with friends that're here on holiday ;-)
Am not making many cards at d mo' we re making a 'Barcelona' album :-) will show y'all later :-)

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

I've been tagged by Michelle I have to go to 6th folder and choose 6th photo and talk about it and pass this to 6 of you friendly bloggers. Ok will get onto this later, have just spent ages doing the last award thingy and me necks achin !!!! .............



I have just received these 2 awards from Sally She has a lovely blog, if you haven't seen it already you should check it out :-) She's recovering from surgery on her wrist at the mo !! :-(
I have to pass these on to 5 people. I think I've passed the lemonade one to everyone so I'll just pass the 'hugs' one on.
I will pass this one to Anesha, I think she needs hugs cos she's having alot of pain in her wrist and shoulder, poor girl, I feel especially sorry for her because she is GD for the Tilda and Friends Challenge and she should have really enjoyed her time there and not been suffering :-(
I would like to pass this to Hazel too, she's a resigned midwife like me and is missing baby cuddles ha ha !
I'd also like to pass this to Cathy, she has a fantastic blog and has just been made DT for the Sketch and Stash Challenge :-)
I would also like to give this to Michele, she lives in Japan, a long way from home, so she needs 'hugs' :-)
and last but not least Sue I just love her blog and the comments she leaves, she's a very talented and funny girl, always makes me smile :-)
Have a nice day y'all :-)

Monday, January 26, 2009




I have just received these awards from Val, she has a fab blog so if you haven't been you should go and see the fabulous cards she makes ,,, lovely,,, She was given the awards by Holly, Holly is only 4 years old and is very talented , if you haven't seen her blog you should go there too :-) It will make you smile am sure :-)
I have to say 5 things about myself and pass it on to 5 others, well, my answers re pretty boring compared to Holly's !! :-)
1, I have just been chosen as GD for the Sketch and Stash Challenge :-)
2, My favourite colour is blue
3, My dream is to go to a craft fair, preferrably with a blog buddy :-) wouldn't that be fab :-)
4, I would love to live in Tuscany , beautiful scenery, vineyards, pasta ,,,,, yummy
5, i always wanted to be a princess when I grew up ha ha

Now to pass it on to 5 people, well i think most of you have got them already so i will leave them open to all my bloggin friends, please put them on your blog , you all deserve these awards :-)
Love
Lorraine x

Inspirational Sketches



Hi I made this card to enter the Inspirational Sketches DT call
I only just found this blog and the call ends today so I hope I am still in time to enter ,,,,,,
I used one of my favourite Penny Black stamps, 'Garden Buggy' as the main image. The DP is Basic Grey and the wording is a vellum overlay over blue paper, I think we're all looking forward to summer eh !! :-) The flowers are hero arts which I chalked with blue and added sugared brads to the centres. I used my crop-a-dile to add the 2 eyelets to fix the vellum
Thanks for looking, I really appreciate your comments so please leave me one :-)
Lorraine

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Friday Sketchers and Penny Black Saturday challenge



evenin all :-)
I made this for the Friday Sketchers and the Penny Black Saturday challenges. The Friday Sketch was to use this sketch by Beatrix, lovely sketch eh !! The Penny Black challenge was to 'frame it'. This is another stamp I've had for ages and never used !!! The papers are a download from Funky Fairys I saw a card on someone's blog, I can't remember who's, sorry :-( it had a downloaded sentiment from this site, their papers are fabby.
Thanks for looking, I really appreciate your comments :-)
Lorraine

Gypsy :-)

Gypsy's found a comfy spot in my card scraps box :-)

Award from Sue :-)


Hi I just received this award from Sue,Thanks Sue, much appreciated ;-). I received the same award from Hazel and Rica too ( scroll down to see). I have to apologize for not passing it on yet, or the 'encouraged' award I received from Sue but i have had a busy week with one thing and another and my friends arrived from UK yesterday so have been busy chin waggin ,,,,,,
i would like to pass this award to Anesha, and hope she's feeling better soon and to Sue and to Danni and and to Poppet and also to Maria
I woulds like to thank them all for leaving me such lovely comments on my blog
Lorraine x

Friday, January 23, 2009

Magnolia v Stampovie challenge



The challenge this week on the Magnolia v Stampovie is 'bows'
Anesha sent me the Sarah Kay image, thanks Anesha :-) I didn't notice the cute kitten until I had started to colour the image, isn't it cute, I coloured her like my kitten 'Gypsy' :-)
I was going to attempt the fabulous bow like the one Bev made but I chickened out !!, maybe next time ,,,,,,.
Anyway, I like how this card looks, hope you like it too ,,, :-)
Please leave a comment, I really do appreciate them, they make my day !! :-)

Cute Card Thursday Challenge



I made this for the Cute Card Thursday challenge which is to create a scene, I used a penny black stamp as the main image and my fave hero arts fantasy tree and scroll tree and a hero arts owl too, the 'riverbank grass is a bamboo stamp from judikins ' I also used a download thingy from Funky Fairies papercrafts
Thanks for looking, I appreciate your comments
Lorraine

Thursday, January 22, 2009



I just received this from Sue :-) If you haven't visited her blog yet you really should, she makes beautiful cards !! gorgeous
I have to list 5 things that I'm addicted to and pass it on to 5 people, well, I'll get onto that tomorrow :-)
Ok, it's now Sunday, sorry for not getting onto this before but have been a bit busy ,,,,,,
5 things I'm addicted to ,,,hmmm Ok
well , cardmaking definately, buying crafty stuff, coffee, can't think of anything else boring eh !!! ooh blog hopping and roast beef and yorkshire puddin ;-)
Ok now to pass it on to 5 people.
Well there are so many of you that i would like to pass it on to, especially the ones that follow my blog and leave me such lovely ' encouraging' comments that i give this award to you all. please just copy this award and post it on your blog with my good wishes x x

OOhh, I have just received this award from both Hazel and Rica, you have to go and see their blogs, they make the lovliest cards :-)
I really needed this today, it's cheered me up a bit after what's been a truly miserable day.I wasn't going to say this on my blog but a colleage / friend who I've worked very closely with for the last 18 years died very suddenly on Saturday and it was her funeral today. She was only 46 yrs old and has two young sons, 17 and 15 year old. Am sure you can imagine how upsetting it was.
Cherish your life and live it to the full !!
I thank Rica and Hazel for giving me this award I'll think about this overnight and forward this award to my lovely blogger friends :-)
I just feel totally exhausted and headachy after what's been a truly horrid day,so I'll say goodnight n go for a good cry,,,,,,, :-(

Purely Stamping Blog Candy Sketch Challenge


Linda has reached 10.000 hits on her blog and to celebrate she's giving away some fab stamps, but there's a twist, to enter the draw you have to make a card to her sketch :-)
I made this for the purely stamping blog candy challenge, You can see the blog candy on my sidebar.
I used penny black roses as the main image and a hero arts butterfly in the circle. The text is by papermania, I rarely use stickers but this one just looked perfect for this card I thought.
I appreciate your comments so please leave me one :-)
Lorraine

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Tilda and friends ATC challenge



I made this ATC for the tilda and friends ATC challenge. I think this Tila is my fave, she was the 1st one I bought and I still think she's lovely, she reminds me of my daughter Amy, she looked just like this when she was about 5/7 yrs old :-) Anyway, the challenge is to use 3 flowers 2 ribbons and 1 button. Not easy on such a small bit of card !! The flowers I made using a daisy punch and shrink plastic, I really like the way the flowers re a bit wonky, looks more 'real' !!( thats my excuse n I'm stickin to it !! ha ha ), Tilda is sitting on a ribbon and she has a lovely shear ribbon scarf. The button had me scratching my head ( will check for nits later ! ) but then I had an idea to make it into a handbag !!!
I like it, hope you like it too :-)
I appreciate your comments so please leave one before you leave :-)
Thanks for looking
Lorraine

Monday, January 19, 2009

Sketch and Stash Challenge


Hi, I made this card for the sketch and stash challenge which is to use something new/ neglected on your card and use this sketch too. Well, the stamp is very neglected, I've had it for ages, it's practically antique and rarely used !! The sugar coated brads and pearl gems are new,(these don't show up on the photo very much, click on the photo for larger view to see more clearly) I bought them last week from Binky Crafts
I also used black/pink cordinations and my fave swirly cuttlebug folder. I put a miniscule text on, to fit the challenge :-) but really think it would be better leaving that out altogether !! I finished the card with a big black bow :-)
Thanks for looking, I appreciate your coments so please leave me one :-)

Sunday, January 18, 2009

5 challenges in 1 !!!



I made this card to enter the Charisma Cardz and The Craft Stamper challenges, then it evolved to include the Friday sketch, the Cuttlebug and the Secret Crafter Saturday challenges.
For the Charisma Cardz challenge the theme is 'fantasy' so I used my flower fairy as the main image.
The Craft Stamper challenge is to use the cuttlewax technique as seen in the Feb magazine, there's a lovely article in there by Isabelle Norris. Well, I didn't have any wax paper so I made my own by scribbling a white candle all over a piece of paper and voila !! it worked :-) I used my favourite swirls cuttlebug folder, which qualifies it for the cuttlebug challenge, and then ironed it onto another piece of paper which I sprayed with blue and green glimmer mists then, when it was dry,I smeared a little faded denim distess ink onto areas of it. I love the effect this gives and will definately do this again.
The Secret Crafter Saturday challenge asks for hearts to be used, well I used a heart shaped chipboard heart shape, which I sponged with the faded denim ink and embossed a 'thank you' text onto it using silver versacolor and clear emboss.
The swirly flower which I attached in the corner is a Tim Holts grungeboard die cut which I coloured blue and sprayed with green glimmer mists, then painted the flower part with twinkling H2O's
Thanks for looking, I appreciate your comments, so please leave me one :-)
Lorraine

Tilda and friends ATC challenge


Hi I made this for the Tilda and friends ATC challenge which was to use something sticky, well these Magenta outline stickers have been sitting in a drawer for a couple of years so it's about time they got an airing :-) I also used a magenta paw stamp and some lovely velvety paw print ribbon.
If anyone would like to swap this is available, there are also some on a previous post, scroll down to see those if you're interested
Thanks for looking, your comments are really appreciated :-)
Lorraine

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Papertake Weekly and Whiff of Joy Challenges



Hi, I made this for the papertake weekly challenge, which was to use this sketch and the Whiff of Joy challenge which was to use green and purple.
Do you ever have those days when nothing you do looks right ?? well today was my day !! I think I should've done 2 separate cards,,,,,,,
Anyway moving on,,,,,:-)

Thanks for looking, your comments are appreciated
Lorraine

The remaining 11 months :-)









Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Magnolia V Stampovie Challenge



Hi, I made this Birthdays Book for the Magnolia V Stampovie Challenge
Do you ever have those days when nothing you do 'looks' right, well today I spent ages doing this, changing this n that along the way. In the end I think it looks OK. I have been meaning to make a birthdays book for ages and this challenge spurred me on :-) I used the measurements from the Jan Craft Stamper Mag, there's a fabulous album in there designed by Cath Wilson, which I am going to copy ,,,,,:-)
As you can see I used the Tilda with magnolia's ,,, again, (love this stamp) I also used my fave hero arts stamp the fantasy tree, the small flowers are part of the set my mum bought for me the 'stamps happen' one.
Only 11 months left to do !! I intend to put a shrinked Tilda on every page, will post the rest later ,,,,,might add ribbons to the rings too, not sure about that though ! What do you think ??
Thanks for looking and I REALLY appreciate your comments :-)
Lorraine

Monday, January 12, 2009

3 in 1 Card !


Hi, I made this card to qualify for 3 challenges, I know it's naughty, you can slap my wrist !! :-) I used the Cupcake Craft Challenge sketch, I used 'violet' for the ABC challenge, and for the Cute Card Thursday challenge which was to use something new.
I know on the sketch there isn't a strip across the bottom, but there is a reason for that !! I made a mistake in measuring the mirri card and didn t realise until I had actually stuck the other card onto of it, so then I had to join a bit and to cover the join I put ribbon over it !!!
The Penny Black stamp is new, well actually, to be honest, I have had it a few months but it has never been inked! It's called 'rainin violets',,,,, (actually it's raining daisies!!). I used violet marvy le plume marker pen and also artquest interference violet on the 3D'd umbrella. I used diamond glaze in the ladybird and also on the umbrella handle, with a sprinkling of glitter on there too.

Hope you like my card, please leave a comment if you do, and even if you don't, you can be brutally honest :-)

2 in 1 challenge


Hi, I made this card to qualify for 2 challenge's, well there are so many lovely ones and I want to enter them all ,,,,,, :-) I used the Friday Sketchers Sketch and I used 2 shades of blue for the Our Creative Corner challenge.
The DP is by HOTP, I also used blue cordinations card , which I love, especially when used with embossing folders and sandpaper :-) The image is by Penny Black,'It's Your Day', the text is also PB. I used artquest paint for the shimmery look, and loads of pearlised gems :-)
Hope you like it, thanks for looking.
I appreciate all your comments so please leave me one :-)
Lorraine

Sunday, January 11, 2009

ACT's available to swap :-)



Hi, If anyone would like to swap just leave a comment saying which one you would like :-)
Thanks
Lorraine

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Penny Black Challenge



Hi, I made this card for the penny black challenge which was to use pink/brown combo. The papers ribbon and eyelets are by papermania, the image is Penny Black sharing spring.It doesn't show on the photo but I 3D'd the rabbits and the butterfly, which I coloured with H2O's.
Thanks for looking, please leave me a comment, thanks I really appreciate them x

Bee Happy Sketch Saturday ;s Here



I just received this fabby ribbon in the post from my mum so I had to use this in the Sketch Saturday Challenge.The pawprint paper is by doodlebug designs, the stamp is Penny Black beehave, the bone word stamp is also PB, the paw stamp is Magenta.
Thanks for looking, I appreciate your comments :-)
Lorraine

Friday, January 9, 2009

Arty Girlz Challenge




Well, this challenge motivated me to get started with making a scrapbook album of our trip to Venice in September. The paper I used to cover it is a hand marbled paper that is made in Venice, the masks I made using shrink plastic and 3D gloss
The hinges are made using grungeboard and the closure is from bind it all, the wording was cut out using my cricut. The inside photo is my husband , Ray opening the door to our B&B, which was a few meters away from the Ponte del Rialto.
Thanks for looking, I appreciate your comments :-)
Lorraine

Charisma Cardz Challenge




Hi, I made this card for the Charisma Cardz Challenge. This is their 1st challenge and I would like to wish them the very best of luck with this new challenge :-)
The theme was 'pink'!!! Although pink is not my fave colour I did enjoy making this :-)
Thanks for looking, I appreciate any comments :-)
Lorraine

Thursday, January 8, 2009

A Gift from Binky Crafts :-)


Hi, I am sooo happy. Nina and Tony , the owners of Binky Crafts, my local craft store, gave me a fabulous surprise gift today. Just before Christmas I helped them out for a day in their shop while they went to Malta Christmas shopping, and they got me a fabby stack of 12x12 storage shelves :-) How fabby is that !!!!! I am going to put them together and put my papers in and take a photo which I'll post tomorrow.
Photo added Friday :-)
A BIG thankyou Nina and Tony x

Tilda and friends ATC challenge



First of all I wish to congratulate Anesha on becoming a guest designer :-)
I just bought this Tilda with magnolias and think she s gorgeous, as they all are !!
Thanks for looking, I appreciate all your comments x
Lorraine

White Wedding


Hi, I made this for the cuttlebug challenge which was to make a 'white' card, Well 'White Wedding' sprung to mind so I just went with it !! I used my new cuttlebug embossing folders, so this also qualifies for Cute Card Thursday, which was to use something new.I tried to keep this as white as possible and only used a little pink and green twinkling H2O's where necessary. As luck would have it the word 'Love' just happened to be in the bottom R corner so I added a little pink glitter to highlight that, and while I had the glitter handy I sprinkled a bit on the little buds on the small strips. I know this doesn t qualify for the Whiff of joy Challenge , but I used their sketch for this cos I liked it :-)
Thanks for looking, PLEASE PLEASE leave me a comment :-) x

Art Creation Friday


Hi I saw a beautiful card for this challenge on Joyful Stamper's blog
and just loved the paper that the challenge asks you to use. Its just gorgeous eh !! Well, I thought the paper looked gothic, so I went with that theme !!! Think I must be in a goth phase !!
The goth stamps are by Stampotique and the 'tree' is Hero Arts, fantasy tree.
Hope you like this card, I appreciate your comments :-)
Lorraine