Wow - an award!! :)

Wow, Nicky AKA Stiggys Cards has very kindly given me this award! Firstly i would like to say thank you so much to her for the gesture, i truly am flattered!! :) It was a lovely suprise so thank you!!

OK, The rules for this award are:
You have to give this award to five people and link to their blogs, they in turn most pass on to 5 people and link back to the person they received the award from, and You must also list 5 things you are addicted to

My Five Blogs (In no Particular Order) are:
1. Life and Crafts of Dilly Dally Dingle - What can i say, i love reading her blog and her cards are simply gorgeous!
2. Juliet's paper Place -Such beautiful cards and someone i aspire to
3. English Autumn - A place where i can always find inspiration!
4. Crafty Makes - Her cards are simply stunning!
5. Crafts by Louly - I think this lady is just so talented! I love her downloads and her designs and can always find inspiration here!

Ok, now for 5 things i am addicted to (am i really limited to 5?? he he he!!)

1. Chocolate
2. Shopping (especially Shoes!)
3. Horse Riding
4. Salsa Dancing
5. Card Making

Well, thats it for now...thanks again Nicky for the card!!

Jo
x

Dotties World "Tutorial Taster - Sunday Challenge"

Wow talk about putting a card up at the 11th hour!!! I was really excited by the challenge over on Dotties world last Sunday! Firstly because i love learning new things and techniques and secondly as i wanted to make a really special card for my best friends birthday which is the beginning of Feb!!

This weeks challenge has been to follow any tutorial on charmed cards and craft site and the operative word for me this week really was challenge !!!
Firstly i strggled getting all the elements together, then little bits started going wrong, then i was sent to Geneva for work which involved a 20 hoour day and left me too tired to do anything duing the week!! all in all i thought i would never get it done but today i finally managed...yey!!
I am really pleased with the result and hope she likes it!!

Any where here we go:

Everywhere I look these days I find fantastic tutorials
which suggests that everyone must love them. For this crafty challenge I want
you to make something (it doesn't have to be a card) following a Charmed Cards
and Crafts tutorial or class and include a Charmed download. There are
absolutely loads to choose from so pop over for a peek, you won't be
disappointed. When you put your creation on your blog please link up to your
chosen tutorial and then we can all have a look. The Online classes are here

The tutorial i chose to follow can be found here and the image is from the "Girls about Town" set: http://www.charmedcardsandcrafts.co.uk/acatalog/louise_brigden_card_tutorial.htm

To Cuttlebug or not to cuttlebug...that is the question

I am in the midst of battle with myself and have been for months!!

The root of all this battling and yes-ing an no-ing is the Cuttlebug - do i splash out on one or not?? ( i am saving up for a deposit on a flat so money has to be wisely spent!!)

I bought a tag-a-long about a year a go and to be honest i have used it a grand total of about 5 times!!!! :(

I love the embossing effects of the cuttlebug though - do you see my problem??grrrrr....

IF i bought a cuttlebug then i would donate the tag-a-long to my mum and it would mean i would also have a die cutter when i go home to visit!

If anyone is reading this and can add any weight to the for or against argument i would love to have any advice!

Also, i have two sizzlits alphabets - IF i bought a cuttlebug does anyone know if i can use the alphabets in it??

Thank you a huge bundle for your thoughts :)


**Edit: I found it on sale for £49.99 with free delivery at Craft at Home and i then found a cheque in my purse for £75.00 that i was given for christmas and had forgotten about!! A sign me things!! And sooooo...i bought it...woo hoo!! Is it here yet? is it here yet? is it here yet? he he he!!**

Jo x

Dotties World "Pure and Simple - Sunday Challenge"

I have been looking forward to this weeks Dotties World Challenge as i have been saving the "Scruff in a Tub" image especially!!!

This weeks Challenge is:

This week I want your creations to be PURE & SIMPLE! No patterned papers, just clean, fresh and simple. I don't want any fuss on our creations this week. You can include any Charmed
download, the choice is yours! I set this challenge to the team weeks ago
but when it came down to actually creating, I thought, my goodness, what have I done!

Here is my attempt: The sentiment and wording on the backround were done on my laptop and the image is, of course, "Scruff in a Tub"!!

Sketch and Stash Challenge

Clearly i am going to have to keep my crafting to the weekends as, best intentions aside, i am not getting much done during the week!! :(

Mind you this weekend is quite crazy too...but i wanted to at least attempt one card!

Looking thorough someone elses blog i came across another challenge - the "Sketch and Stash Challenge" and i wanted to give it a go. The challenge is:

So onto the challenge, here is Sketch # 1 (See
the Sketch and Stash Blog for image)

You can rotate it, re size the elements and add extra bits and
bobs if you need to!
A nice and easy one for you to start with! We hope you
have fun creating and We can't wait to see your stash too! Please tell us which
item is your new purchase (or newish etc... we won't ask for proof of purchase
lol!!) or maybe use an item which you've never used since you've bought it!

So here is my attempt. I am not hugely happy with the colouring but practice makes perfect i guess. This was my first time using Water Colours so as always any hints and tips on using Water Colours or other methods of colouring are greatly appreciated!!

The new stash used are both the papers and the image! :)

Image: 'Too Tweet' Image Stamps from Pink Petticoat

Papers: Sugar Plum Autumn Blooms downlaod from The Digi Chick

A huge, great big, ginormous thank YOU!

I just wanted to say thank you to you all for firstly, taking the time to stop by and secondly, for all your kind comments, encouragement and advice!!

You folks certainly know how to make a girl stick around...he he he!!

I am not sure if it is so good for my relationship though...i was just about to head out the door on a hot date with my other half when Louise from Dotties world emailed over "Scruff in the Tub" ( i hope i got the name right?) and he is just sooooooo cute!! So i sat there oooohhhing and aaahhhing with ideas running through one half of my brain and excuses for staying at home and playing running thorough the other half , whilst holding mobile in hand saying " yes darling of course i am on my way!!"

Right i am going to have a nosey around all your blogs now ...he he he!!

Thanks again!!

Jo
x

Dotties World "'Ave a Laugh - Sunday Challenge"

Well I am definately on a roll - 2 cards in 2 days!!

Still on the subject of "Dottie and George" i came across the official blog - "Dotties World" yay!!

And so i decided to enter my first challenge ever which is as follows:

"Start the New Year with a Laugh" . I simply want to see "something funny" on your project, what you use and how you make it is up to you. Oh and of course you must use one of the Charmed downloads.

Well glad of any excuse to use the "Girls about town" download again here is what i came up with!

In case you can't see the quote on the card is "I can resist everything except temptation" by Oscar Wilde!

The paper is from "the All Dressed Up matstack" by Die Cuts with a View (DCWV) and i made the sentiment on my computer!

I am struggling with taking photos of my cards so if anyone is actually reading this and has any tips i would be most grateful!!

First Card of the Year...Yay!!

Yesterday i bought the "Lets Craft" Magazine as this time it was about using Water Colours (which i have neve done before!)

Inside was a feature on "Dottie and George" which are image stamps which you can download from Charmed Cards and Crafts so i took a wander over and instantly fell in love with and downloaded the "Girls About Town" images.

This is what i created!:

Happy New Year!

Hello!

Well as always a new year brings lots of resolutions and promises that i am going to do lots of wonderful things and give up all the bad stuff (Yeah right!)

Well, so far so good! One resolution is that i am actually going to start crafting instead of simply admiring all the wonderful papers and gadgets i have collected over the past year!

The thing is i am my own worst critic! In other words i will make a last minute attempt at making a card (as i have left it too late as usual!) then decide i dont like it, that a 2 month old could do better and bin it! The daft thing is that when i have the time i love making cards (well all 4 that i attempted last year...ooops!) so this year is going to be the year that i actually make the time!

Having had a wander around the internet and read some wonderful blogs with some beautiful cards i am already feeling very inspired and excited and can't wait to hopefully meet some new friends and generally get more involved!! :)