BINGO & Thieving Beggars :)

 

Hi sweet peeps and hope you are all OK today :)
What a few days we've had - more later.

Firstly, it’s time to nip across the pond and join our friends over at the Simon Says Stamp challenge and this week our theme is

Choose A Sketch

and these are the sketches you can chose from ...

            

Sketch 1                                                                                     Sketch 2

 

We are showcasing  Art Impressions products this week.
You don't have to use them of course , but if you have them we would love to see them.

As always, our lovely Heidi is giving away a fabulous …

… for one lucky winner to spend …

… right here :)

So ….

  

... here's what I did.
I went with sketch 1 - I played a bit fast and loose with it as Mrs Kath would say!!

Is this not a fab image!!!

She's called Bingo Jean and I coloured her with these Copics -

Skin - E000, E00, E11, E13
Hair - E07, E09, E97
The rest - Black, C00, C04, C7, R05, E50, R27, YR0000, YR00, YR01, YR23

The papers are My Mind's eye Lime Twist and the dies I used are a Magnolia PEONY PETALS Doohickey Cutting Die and a Spellbinders CLASSIC SCALLOP Edgeabilities Die.

I also added a little stamen made with a Nellie Snellen STAMEN Floral Punch.

 

 

 

So that's the old card done.

Well it's been a funny few days here because on Saturday night (or rather 2.30 am Sunday morning) we were woken up by the sound of some low life trying to jemmy off our patio door!! They had tried the back door and got nowhere with it and then decided to try and get the patio door off and get in that way. I really do think they thought the house was unoccupied because although our cars were here, our upstairs and downstairs curtains were not drawn (yes, very stupid of us I know).

And they were not exactly quiet.

I ran to the window just in time to see a shadow disappearing but by the time we got downstairs they had gone. The patio door was starting to hang off so with a bit more work they would have been in. I think the sound of Daisy Golightly here bounding across the floor to the window must have disturbed them (and if I had gotten my hands on them I would have done more than disturb them, I can tell you).  We have recently put a new wooden floor into our bedroom and you can hear anybody moving over it downstairs. Thankfully the dinks were not here because that really would have completely freaked me out.

The police came and they were going to send in tracking dogs but as it was raining, it wouldn't really have been prudent, so basically they got away. But that said,  they actually got away with nothing!! But they've left behind one very nervous piggy now so we have really gone to town on our security systems and have new cameras installed that enable us to monitor what is going on around our property from anywhere in the world. It's expensive but it's a small price to pay for more peace of mind.

I get so angry when I think that these thieving toe rags would rather come and nick from people who have worked hard to get what they have rather than get off their (all too often drug addled) arses and find a job - 'scuse the French!! I have been reading all about it and most burglars say that it doesn't matter if they steal from us because we are insured. They do not take into account the legacy they leave their victims with. The irony of it all is that although we do have a nice house, we don't actually have that much in here because we aren't that materialistic. And if they had gone in my craft room and saw the tip it is in at the mo, then God knows what they'd have thought!!

In a way it has been a blessing because it has forced us to review the situation, and also it could have been much worse. Apart from 2 damaged doors and 2 even more shaken up people, there was no real harm done and we got off very lightly. The police think our house was being watched for a few days and I did tell my my card club ladies on Monday night that I had been a bit uneasy about a car that was parked nearby. I made out that I was taking down their number and they actually reversed back when they saw me doing this. It may have been just a coincidence but I don't suppose we will ever know.

Anyway that's me done for today.
Have the fabbiest of days and see you soon as soon and huggiest of hugs to all xxx

Gorgeous Papers & My Gorgeous Giveaway Winner (Was It You?).

Hi there loveliest of peeps and hope you are all OK xxx

Before we nip over and check out what’s happening over at Papertake Weekly, it’s time to announce who the winner is from last week’s Gorgeous Giveaway, and I am so pleased to tell you that it is ….

…. drum roll please ……

 

…. you, Aunty Sue :)

     I would have been pleased for whoever won but I was especially pleased because Aunty Sue has been our GD over at Papertake and this is her last week. She was sad to go and I was sad to see her go, so I’m sure that this will have cheered her up. Please ping me an email chick and I'll pass on your details to the sweeties that are Mary & Andrea over at The Ribbon Girl and hugest of thanks to them for their kindness xxx

So onto my card for this week’s challenge which is a sketch …

.. this one here.

And …

.. this is what I did with it - yes I played a bit fast and loose with the old sentiment but hey ho!!

The image is one of the new CC Designs images called Flower Birgitta and I coloured her with these Copics -

Skin – E000, E00, E11, E21, R00, R02, R20

Hair – E41, E43, E50, E81

The rest – B0000, B000, B00, B02, B05, G99, YG00, YG03, YG23

Those beautimous papers are from the new Nitwits FQB Petal Fresh collection.  I have to tell you that these are my fave papers at the mo because they are so clean and fresh. I can almost smell the fresh air on them lol.

 

Something else I am loving here too :)

These are Mulberry White Daisies from The Ribbon Girl.

I popped them on top of a couple of petals die cut from a Peony Petals die and then folded a piece of  16mm Aqua Open Weave Ribbon in half,  chopped the ends and stuck it behind.

The oval in the centre was cut from a Spellbinders Lattice Motifs die – I cut it from a piece of Petal Fresh Solids paper so that it matched perfectly.

The white crazy mesh fabric behind is also from The Ribbon Girl.

Other stuff I used was a Magnolia leaf and swirl die – just for a change lol and a border made using a Memory Box pearl lace die.

All the dies are of course available from Simon Says Stamp.

So that’s the card done peeps and I’ll be back tomorrow for my weekly trip across the pond.

But before I go, I have a little moment of self indulgence here cos I had to share this with you of my two little treasures….

… aww, bless their little hearts.

There is nothing like a kiss from big sister is there.

Right on that note I’m off. I’ll see you tomoz - enjoy your evening and huggiest of hugs to all xxx

What? No Image? No Ribbon????????

   

Hi there lovely peepsand hope you are all havinga fabulous weekend.

What a beautiful day it turned out to be. First thing this morning it was pouring down but the sun is now out and it's actually rather pleasant.

I thought I'd share a card with you today that I made whilst having a fiddle-de-dee with some new stuff that I bought yesterday from Purple Butterfly Crafts. Typical of me, I only went into some glue and came out with a new die and some new papers!! Richard was with me at the time otherwise there would've been a lot more things in the old basket, I can tell you!!!!

Anyway, not at all like me I know, but there's no image and no ribbon on this card.

And …..

… here it is.

Please excuse the photographs peeps but the light was so bright in the conservatory today so they look a bit grainy.

The papers are actually by Craftwork Cards and they are from the Secret Garden paper pack. The colours of these papers are so pretty and soft and I could not resist them!!!

Do you like the flower?

This was made using a Spellbinders Bauble Blossom 2 die which you can get from Sir Stampalot,  or Purple Butterfly if you are in the area of course :)

Now I have to tell you that I had a bit of jiggery pokery with this die at first.  I could not get the flower to look right because the petals seemed to group together in clumps.  I  tried  cutting some length  off of the centre strip  before rolling  so that the coil in the middle was smaller  but it didn't work. If I’ve not been doing this right, can somebody tell me please cos you know how dim I can be at times!!!

So what I did was  to cut 2 strips  and then I glued them both together, offsetting the petals and this worked a treat. I then cut one of the petals from the  Peony Petals die and sat the flower on top of it. Finally I added a Craftwork Cards Baker Street candi in the centre.

And I really like how it turned out :)

The brown edges on the Bauble Blossom petals is actually the residue that you sometimes  get when you use a die for the first time. Normally I would brush it off with a paintbrush but I actually liked the way it looked so I left it.

So that's me done for today peeps and I’m now off to do the Sainsbury's run - what fun ( not) !!

Before I go, I must just let you know that a lady very kindly let me know about a group of crafters who were knitting for  the  little African babies and apparently they've been told to put their needles down because  the organisers say that they now have enough jumpers.  I'm looking into this is we haven't been told anything up here. I'm going to carry on knitting in the meantime but will let you know as soon as I hear anything.   I can't believe that they will have enough but of course I don't want anybody to waste their money on wool if that's the case .

Enjoy your day and see you soon and huggiest of hugs to all .