You'll Be Singing This ...& A Bit Of Pridey Stuff Too :)

 

Hi there peeps and hope you are all OK today :)

We are supposed to be having rain but somebody forgot to tell the weather -it's rather nice here at the mo.

OK so it's time for a bit of Papertake malarkey and this week our theme is

The Sound of Music

(or moojic as Kyla used to call it!!).

You can interpret this how you want and there is an array of lovely cardage from the DT so if you get a sec nip over an check it all out. Plus we have not one but 2 prizes up for grabs this week and you have to be innit to winnit.

So what did I do then?

I went for a few of my favourite things and I've been singing this all flamin' morning - it is soooo stuck in my head.

Practically everything on here is a fave of mine, from the suppliers to the colours and of course all the bits and bobs.

The Lili of The Valley image is called Emma Swing and I coloured her with these Copics -

Skin - E000, E00, E11, E13. R00, R02
Hair - E30, E31, E35, E39, E50
Swing - E30, E31, E33, E35, E39, E50
Flowers - R85, RV0000, RV000
Grass - YG000, YG01, YG03, YG95

The papers are from the Nitwits  Romance & Roses collection - gorgeous.

 

 

A little arrangement chock full of goodies from our Mary & Andrea over at The Ribbon Girl and they are -

White Kort & Godt Chrysanth,   Hip Rose Buds Pink/White Two Tone, Sweetheart Blossom Baby Pink & White Pink, Beaded Stamen White, Mixed Dahlia Raspberry Delight, Kort & Godt Rolled Paper Roses Pink, Starburst Stamen Pink

 

 

This sentiment is from the LOTV A7 Sentiments to Fit Scroll set.
I LOVE that font :)

 

 

There's also a La La Land Heart Banner die and the shape on the card was made using an A4 Frilly Frame 6 piece Rectangles SET 6 which I got from  Once Upon A Stamp at Port Sunlight on Saturday

And hugest of thanks to everybody who came to see us at the LOTV stand at PS.
And a special thanks to Hazel for bringing me some yummy choccies :)

And I must also say thank you to the lovely ladies at Happy Stampers North West for a very enjoyable Copics workshop on Sunday that I did with Wendy from Stamps and Memories.

What a lovely bunch of ladies you are xxx

 

 

Right I better go but before I do (see, there I go in Columbo mode again) I just have to share this.

My sweet little Thea took her first proper steps yesterday and we were there to see it. I was  thrilled I can tell you because of course we were there when Kyla took her first steps and I did think we might miss it with this little soul, but no she obliged. And just a few days short of her first Birthday as well - I cannot believe how quickly this year has gone.

Here she is when we went to baby Niamh's Christening a few weeks ago, reading the Mass sheet.

Bless her little heart, she is such a little sweetie and not a  single tooth in her head yet - don't you just love gummy little grins!! And as I said to her Daddy last night, here is where the fun starts now that she is mobile because she will be into everything!!

Rubbish pics sorry but I took them on my phone and it was a bit dark in the church.

And I can't leave my Kyla out.

While we were at the Christening,  the kids were entertained by a Creepy Crawly man who brought along some snakes, spiders, frogs, giant rats, you name it. My little Kyla is really not  a brave kid but she so wants to be. Anyway he told all the kids to bring the creatures round and show the grown ups as they were brave and the grown ups would be scared of them (how right he was in my case). And of course she was scared as well but she  really tried and she managed to pick up a tortoise so of course we told her how proud of her we were and praised her to the hilt for being such a brave kid.

And then she came over to us with  .....

... this bad boy.
Well of course we (I say we, but it was Emma and I ) could not run away after telling her how brave she was. She doesn't look entirely comfortable here on this pic but believe me, it is nothing compared  to how we were looking. Have you ever tried to smile and look convincing while you are absolutely cacking yourself?  No? Well it ain't easy I can promise you that.  I was so relieved when she too it back to him!!!

You can see where she gets her courage from can't you!!
Stick to the face painting kid ... please!!!!!

Well I really am going now. I'll see you tomoz but until then have a fab day and hugs to all xxx

It's A Girl :)

 

Hi peeps and hope you are all enjoying this lovely sunny day today. Sadly it won't last - apparently it's going to change again.
Anyway, what would we do with all that sunshine anyway? It only distracts us from crafting :)

It's time for a visit to the Papertake Weekly challenge and this week our theme is

Anything Goes

so time to let you creative thing run free.

We do have an optional extra to use 2 stamps but it's only there as an option and you don't have to use it if you don't want to :)

We are sponsored by the one and only Lili of the Valley so if you get a sec, nip over for a mooch :)

So this is what I did and I thought I'd do something a bit different from the usual 6x6 again so I did a round card and a stand.
But the quality of the pics today are pretty darn tootin ropey me darlins, sorry. I'm OK with the square ones but if I deviate I give meself a headache when it comes to the photies.

Never mind!!

Seeing as I've done a few boys cards recently, I thought I'd dig out one of me fave LOTV girlie images and this is of course Dandelion Clock. And I coloured here with these Copics -

Skin -  E000, E00, E13, E21 R00, R02
Hair - E31, E35, E50
The rest - BG0000, BG01, BG12, R85, RV0000, RV000, RV01, YG59

The papers I used today are from a brand new collection from Nitwits and it's called Romance & Roses and Mary Fran is now offering the new stuff as a bundle so you get the add on papers, solids, lil bits etc and you save 20%.

I love using the solids because you know that everything is going to match.

Some lovelies from 2 lovelies ie Mary & Andrea over at The Ribbon Girl and this is what I used -

 White Kort & Godt Chrysanth, Beaded Berries Pink/Pale Pink, Sparkle Rose Pink/White, Hip Rose Buds Pink/White Two Tone, Sweetheart Blossom Baby Pink & White Pink, Mixed Dahlia Marshmallow Mix, White Beaded Sprig

 

 Royal Peacock Seam Binding and a Pale Pink Small Polka Dot Spotty Button.

And a sentiment punched from  Sketch Pad Set - 8-General Sentiments pad to finish off with.

So there we are for today and I'll be back tomorrow with some more cardage.
Enjoy the rest of your evening and huggiest of hugs to all xxx

Happy Magnolia Easter :)

 

Good morning sweet peeps and a very Happy Easter to everyone.
I hope that you are having a nice break and that the weather is being kind to you.

It's time for the monthly  Ribbon Girl Magnolia Only Challenge and this month our theme is

Add Flowers

And that's it :)
A nice easy peasy one for you to join in with.

We have 2 sponsors and prizes for you - 

Our regular sponsors, Magnolia of Sweden will be sending our randomly chosen winner a stamp direct from Magnolia headquarters ....

 

... and Ribbon Girl are giving a £10 voucher towards a spending spree in the Ribbon Girl online store.

And ...

.. this is what I did.
It's actually a card for my sweet Kyla because she had a wonderful school report from parents evening last week and is doing so well. I firmly believe that kids respond better to the carrot than the stick and I just wanted to give her a little card to let her know that we are proud of her and we recognise her hard work and all the effort she is putting in.

Anyway, enough of the proud Granny stuff and back to the card Dawny P!!!!!

I used one of my new Tildas from the latest kit.
It's quite different this time but the images are still as sweet as ever. But what I do have to say if I'm being honest is that if the rubber gets any thinner we will be able to see right through it. Has anybody else noticed that this time or have I just been unlucky?

The papers are from the new Nitwits Good Hare Day collection - perfect for all the little princesses out there.

    

I coloured Tilda with these Copics -

Skin - E000, E00, E11, E13 R00, R02
Hair - E41, E42, E43, E50
The rest - R85, RV000, RV00, RV01, RV23

and as usual there is a fair bit of sparkly stuff scattered about the place - Kyla loves anything glittery (cannot think where she gets that from really lol!!).

Stuff I used here is all from The Ribbon Girl -

White sweetheart blossoms,  white beaded twirl, pink tulip seam binding and sugar and spice pearl flatbacks.

Plus .....

40mm white daisy flower, pale pink lily flowers, white asters and white hip rosebuds.

I also used a Martha Stewart Frond Leaf Punch and my new  Tim Holtz Sizzix DISTRESSED DOILY On the Edge Die - both from Simon Says Stamp

The sentiment is from  Lili of The Valley's Set 18 - Greetings Postmarks set

 

So that's the old card done.

We are all going to Emma's later on for lunch so no cooking for me today - woohooooo. Then we are bringing the kids back to give Em a rest because we didn't have them while Thea was unwell (they only want Mummy when they are like that) plus she has been looking after one of Tim's nephew who is cute but a little handful so she is quite frankly knackered. She will feel better after a good night's sleep I'm sure.

Enjoy your day whatever you are doing and I'll see you back here next week.

Huggiest of hugs to all xxx

Sneakie Peekie Papertake Weekly :)

 

Hi there sweet peeps and hope that you are all OK today :)x

It's that time of the week when we nip over for a catch up with the Papertake Weekly gang and as it's the last one of the month (and can you believe we are 1/4 of the way through the year already!!) then it's time for a sketchie free for all.

As always there's a new sketch and this month ....

... it's this chappie here!!

There's lots going on this week including the introduction of our three new FAB teamies so if you get a sec, go and have a nosey :)

So what did I do with the sketch then?

Well I flipped it and reversed the text (fiddling away as per usual !!) and came up with ...

 

.. this :)

Following on from the recent sneakie peek I did of one of the new brand new Lili of The Valley release which will be available from 6th April, I have another one for you today.

If you remember, in the last post I did a card using one of the Jack, Patch and Puss images and here's another one for you.

This one is called

From All of Us

and this time we get to meet Jack the sweet lil bunny as well.

I went with the same colour theme as before as I wanted them to work as a set and here's the Copics I used to colour the image -

Puss - E35, E39, Y15, Y17, Y38, YR04, YR07, YR16, YR20, YR68
Patch - E31, E33, E35, E39, E49, E50.
Jack - E41, E42, E43, E50

As before the papers are from the gorgeous Nitwits Hello Sunshine collection.

 

I still love these - they are from Set 24 Sentiment Tags and I did the krafty thing with them.

I've been using  Craftwork Cards A4 Kraft sheets and they are fab. They're a nice weight and colour, excellent quality and they don't break the bank either 

Ohh we LIKE that :)

 

Once again I did the 2 bow thingie and used  15mm small check brown gingham, 15mm orange delight no 42 satin and a medium black polka dot button, all from The Ribbon Girl.

 

So there we are all done for today.

I'm on a bit of a flyer cos I still have a list as long as me arm to get through, booo hisss!! I only I could conjure up a few more hours!! I was held up majorly today when I came back from a meeting because there had been a nasty accident on one of the roads and we were literally at a stand still for aaaaaaaaaaages.  I just hope that nobody was seriously hurt.

Right I'll be back tomorrow for my weekly trip across the water to the jolly old US of A so I'll see you then.

Have a great evening and huggiest of hugs to all xxx

Sneakie Peeking Back To My Old Style!!

Morning sweet peeps and hope you are all OK today xxx

I've got a sneaky peekie for you today of one of the brand new Lili of The Valley release which will be available from 6th April and there really is something for everyone on this release :) There's cute, there's flowers and there's even a bit of ooh la la!!Keep an eye on the DT blogs between now and then and you will be able to see the new stuff and choose your faves.

The image I used is called

It Takes Two

and it's part of the Jack, Patch and Puss images.
I think it's adorable - it caught my eye as soon as I saw the images and I just itched it colour it.

And now I have lol!!!

I used Copics and these are the colours -

Puss - E35, E39, Y15, Y17, Y38, YR04, YR07, YR16, YR20, YR68
Patch - E31, E33, E35, E39, E49, E50.
Cake - E35, E50, Y15, Y17

You'll get to meet Jack soon as I will be doing another sneak peek which features him :)

The papers are from the gorgeous Nitwits Hello Sunshine collection.

 

Why have one bow when you can have two!!!!

I used 15mm small check brown gingham, 15mm orange delight no 42 satin and a medium black polka dot button, all from The Ribbon Girl 

 

 

Good old Safmat again :)
I'd be lost without that stuff!!!

 

I am really pleased with how this turned out.
It's very much my old style before I got addicted to the embellies and all the edge inking malarky.

Will I go back there?

Who knows.
I think you just have to go with what you are feeling at the time, and some images will guide you the right way I think.

Before I dash off,  just a quickie to say that I am doing some more workshops over at LOTV on 6th April. We have Beginner's Stamping in the morning where we will cover stamping basics such as which inks to use, how to get a good crisp image etc etc so if you are new / newish to all this stamping stuff, or even if you are just looking to improve then is is the workshop for you. And then in the afternoon,we will have another colouring sesh.  Why not make a day of it and do both :) You'll have time to nip upstairs for a scone or some cake in between. And if you are coming over, you can get your mitts on the new stuff as well. Deets are on the website here.

Right I'm off.

The Crime Prevention bods are coming over so I need to do some work before they get here. Enjoy your day and huggiest of hugs to all xxx

A Hop You Really Won’t Want To Miss :)

      

Good morning sweet peeps and I hope that you are all OK and that you had a nice weekend – why do they go by so quickly???

Today is not only the start of the week but it’s the start of a very special week over at Lili of The Valley because it was 9 years ago  that Lisa and Laila started the company.

So to kick off the birthday celebrations we are having a competition and a fun design team blog hop!

Make sure you visit all the blogs on the list because as usual there will be hidden prizes along the way and the winners will be picked at random from the comments that are left on the cards

But we want you to get involved as well cos we have a …

BIRTHDAY CARD COMPETITION

… and it’s really easy to take part – we’d just like you to make us a card for our birthday – easy peasy :)

The design team have all made a birthday card for the hop so if you are stuck for ideas, check them out and they will hopefully inspire you.

The competition closes at 6pm on Saturday the 2^nd of March

The winning card will be drawn at random ...and because it’s our 9^th birthday the prize is 9 stamps of your choice worth over £40.00!

We will also pick our top 3 from the blog and the Facebook entries and these cards will be featured on the Ideas to Inspire blog

That’s not all  .… the designers of our top 3 cards will be asked to join us for a much sought after guest DT spot so there are 3 really good reasons to enter.

The rules are simple;

1. Make us a birthday card using a Lili of The Valley image and enter it using the linky on the Ideas to Inspire blog,

upload it to our Facebook page or email a picture of your card it over to admin@liliofthevalley.co.uk  ...it doesn’t matter how you enter, all the cards will go into the prize draw.

2. Mention the competition on your own blog and put this image on your sidebar

That’s it ...  and we are so looking forward to seeing all of your lovely cards!

So what did I do then?

This is my card and there’s a bit of shameless casing going on here from our Lou with the number 9 on the candle  - what a FAB idea

The image I used is Cake Glorious Cake and I did the Copics thing with them with these colours -

Skin – E000, E00, E11, E13

Hair – E31, E35, E50

The rest – C00, C2, RV0000, RV000, RV02, RV23, YG0000, YG01, YG03

And the papers are from the Perfect Pair paper pack – they are soooo pretty these papers.

A bit of birthday bloomage :)

 

 

 

The sentiment is from Set 18 – Greetings Postmarks

 

 

I thought the black and white bow went with her stripy tights.
It’s made from 25mm Black No 10 Small Check ribbon from The Ribbon Girl  :)

So that’s my card done  so now on with the hop.

If you haven't been there already, nip on over to the Ideas to Inspire blog and start there then work your way through the list. There are prizes hidden along the way but we don't know where they are so to be in with a shot you need to visit us all and leave us all a comment as you go.

Here’s the blog list with the links -

Ideas to Inspire

Anne

Dawny (moi!!)

Dena

Elise

Fleur

Gretha

Lou

Mindy

Moni

Pops

Enjoy the hop and good luck and huggiest of hugs to all xxx

Back In The Land of the Living !!!!

     

Hi there lovely peeps and hope that you are all OK today :)

We are fully functional again following my mishaps with me camera so it’s all systems go. And I haven’t been idle while I’ve been waiting for some dosho to by me a new ‘un.  Oh no indeedy I haven't :)  Cos I’ve been busy doing amongst other things some prep for the forthcoming Open Day  and workshops over at Lili of The Valley.

The next Open Day is going to be very special because it’s also a celebration - wooohooooo. Here, have a butchers at what I’ve nicked from the LOTV website …..

LOTV'S 9TH BIRTHDAY PARTY AND OPEN DAY!

SATURDAY 2ND MARCH 2013, 10AM - 4PM AT LOTV HQ!
It's our Birthday! Come and celebrate LOTV's 9th Birthday at our next Open Day on Saturday 2nd March.
Can you believe it's 9 years since Laila started Lili of the Valley in 2004?!
We will have special offers across all ranges in store, a goody bag, free demonstrations and workshops too. You will be able to sample a wonderful selection of refreshments, enter our free competition to win a fabulous birthday hamper and be inspired by our Spring displays, so come along and join the party! After the success of our Virtual Christmas Party on Facebook, we will once again be inviting everyone around the world to join us for our cyber birthday party too!

I know I’ve said it before but if you have a few hours spare, do try and pop along because the shop is just overflowing with inspiration and ideas as well as lots of nice things to buy. And it isn't just stamps and paper because there is a fabulous range of dies, ribbons and blooms as well as pens and inks.

And I’ll be doing some workshops as well. So if you fancy spending a couple of hours with el piggy wiggy getting crafty,  you’ll be very welcome and you can check out the workshop programmes here.

…………………………………………….

So slightly later than usual cos yesterday went by in a pancake sodden haze, it’s time to head on over and check out what’s happening over at Papertake Weekly challenge and this week it’s all about

Hearts & Flowers

We have 2 fab prizes up for grabs so if you get a sec, do nip over and check it all out (you probably already have seeing as I am Latey McLate this week, doh!!).

So ….

… here’s what I did.

I used Close Your Eyes (soooo sweet) and I coloured these 2 little cuties with these Distress Inks -

Skin - Tattered Rose & Vintage Photo
Cheeks - Worn Lipstick & Tea Dye
Hair – Antique Linen & Walnut Stain
Clothes – Peeled Paint, Shabby Shutters, Spun Sugar, Brushed Corduroy, Antique Linen

And the papers are from one of the new LOTV  8x8 paper pads and the pad I’ve used is Perfect Pair – aren’t they pretty :)

 

The sentiment is from LOTV sentiment Set 26 – Simply Sophisticated.
You've probably noticed that I’ve gone a bit bananas with the old edge inking as well.

 

I got these blooms from Purple Butterfly Crafts yonks ago but I thought the colours went nicely with the DI colours.
The leaves were cut using a  Memory Box Lavish Branch die which I got from LOTV

 

 

More Memory Box dies – these are Spring Border and Francesca Border.

The ribbon is  25mm Brown/Cream Rustic Gingham Berisford No 25, and it’s topped with a Pale Lime Green Small Polka Dot Spotty Button and some pink button twine – all from The Ribbon Girl 

 

 

So that’s me done but not for today cos I will be back later with a bit of cardage for this week’s SSS challenge, so I’ll waffle on no more and see you later :)

Huggiest of hugs to all xxx

It’s Hoppity Hop Time :)

    

 

Good morning crafters, thanks for stopping by!

Today we’re holding a Lili of the Valley

sneaky peek blog hop

to celebrate the launch of the gorgeous new Spring stamps!
The first 6 were released last week and the remaining 11 will be available on the 30th January. There are 9 more super cute rubber stamps and also 2 new clear sets (an alphabet and some stitching borders).

You will be able to buy all the stamps on the Lili of the Valley website from midday on Wednesday 30th (UK time) and you will also be able to get them at their showroom in Leeds if you are near enough to visit

The fantastic Design Team are all taking part, you just need to ‘hop’ from one blog to another following the links and leave a comment on each card.  We hope that you will pick up lots of ideas and inspiration along the way.

We don’t know where the prizes are so make sure that you visit them all. We will let you know tomorrow evening which were the ‘lucky’ blogs and 2 winners will be drawn at random from all the comments that were left on those 2 blogs.

Each winner will get the 2 sets of clear stamps and also 6 rubber stamps of their choice from the new designs :) 

So, what did I do then?

…. it’s this card here. I used

Watering The Flowers

and I coloured it with Distress Inks in these colours -

Antique Linen, Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain, Worn Lipstick, Fired Brick, Barn Door, Peeled Paint, Shabby Shutters,

- and then I outlined the image with Glamour Dust.

An arrangement made up of  Ribbon Girl and Wild Orchid Crafts blooms with a punched heart and a little pearly star.

The papers are all from Nitwits – the FQB Perfect Pear Collection – and these are soon going to be available at Lili of The Valley as 8x8 paper packs.

The bows are also from  The Ribbon Girl  - 15mm Shocking Pink No 72 Small Check Gingham – and I topped them with a pale lime green small spotty button and some natural button twine.

 

Ok now back to the hop and here's a list of all the blogs taking part  ...

Ideas To Inspire
Anne
Bev 
Dawny P (me!!)
Dena 
Elise 
Fleur 
Gretha 
Lou 
Mindy 
Moni 
Pops

… and remember you will need to visit them all to have the best chance of winning. Good luck to everybody who enters and we hope that you have enjoyed the sneak peeks and cards today :)

I’ll be back tomorrow so until then, have a fab day and hugs to all xxx