MY FIRST DT CARD FOR MAWTT - A BIT OF RECYCLING!

Hi peeps - gorgeous weather again - hope it is where you are too. Had a fabulous day out yesterday with my 8-year old Granddaughter - we did the "ladies who lunch" bit, and lots of shopping for all things pink and sparkly (sadly, not for me)!! Then onto the climbing frames, metal tunnelly-slidey contraptions, and all things impossible for Grandmas to swing from (but the ice cream was fab.)!

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So - back to the plot! I'm so excited to be sharing my first DT card today, for Moving Along With The Times,  and as April 22nd is Earth Day, the challenge this week is to use something Recycled on your project.

Do pop along to see what gorgeous creations the DT have come up with, and join in the fun!

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Our lovely sponsor this week is Lady Bug Crafts Ink, and the prize is one stamp of the winner's choice.

My recycled bits and pieces are:-  Kraft wrapping paper from some packaging, a remnant of gingham from something I made several years ago, and two pieces torn from a VERY old dictionary which I have had since my school days (told you it was VERY old)!! If you enlarge the photo, you will just about see the wording.
Here's the dictionary - I would never destroy a book, but this is beyond redemption - it is genuinely "distressed"!!

The beautiful image is "What's Cookin''" from Mo Manning.

Other items used - Copics, MS border punch, circular sentiment from Papermania (a freebie), layered onto a Kraft and gingham flower made with the smallest die from Tim Holtz Tattered Florals. Some machine stitching and paper pricking to finish, and a Tiny sentiment from a KandCo stamp set in the top corner.

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I would like to enter the following Challenges:-

Try it on Tuesday - Upcycling

Top Tip Tuesday - Open Challenge

Crafts and Me - Pink and Sweet.

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Have a wonderful Easter ~ 

LESS IS MORE, SOME GOOD NEWS, AND HAS ANYONE SEEN MY FOLLOWERS?

OK Mr Blogger -  what have you done with my Lovely Followers - I miss them and want them back NOW!!

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Update - HERE COME THE GIRLS! My Followers are back home after a 2-day holiday - I'm so happy to see them! 

Hope everyone is having a great week - I am popping by to share a couple of things with you, firstly a card for

Chrissie and Mandi's

Less is More Challenge which this week is to make a

ONE LAYER CARD with the SENTIMENT AS THE MAIN FOCUS. Mmmmm - not as easy as I first thought!!!

After seeing Chrissie's fab. tutorial on Nestie embossing, I so wanted to try it out.  Of course, my design is nowhere near as intricate as Chrissie's but I did eventually manage to achieve the embossed outline, using a Nestie Labels #4. 

The Sentiment stamp is from PSX.  I  punched out a tiny heart in the bottom corner, and added pink organza ribbon to finish.

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If you haven't yet seen the LIM challenge site, do pop over and join in the fun - I'm sure you will love it.

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Finally, I have some great news to share.

I have been offered a DT spot at Moving Along With The Times, and will be working alongside the mega-talented Team as from next week, and I'm over the moon!

Please pop over, join in the fun, and leave some lurve!

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TREASURED MEMORIES AT SENTIMENTAL SUNDAYS .....

Update - 30th April - my card won a Top 3 place in the Sir Stampalot April Challenge - whoo-hoo!

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Hi lovely bloggers - I do hope you are all enjoying some sunshine, wherever you are - the last couple of days have been beautiful in West Yorkshire, and don't those little sunbeams make you feel glad to be alive!

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So, down to business - grab a cuppa, it's a loooong one today!!  

Time to share my DT card for this week's challenge at Sentimental Sundays - "Treasured Memories" (plus a sentiment).
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I'm sure we all have lots of treasured memories of one kind or another, and I knew I wanted to use a "family" theme, (maybe the children, or grandchildren), but I decided to go further back in time, with two vintage photos which I have always treasured - one of my Mum, one of my Dad, taken in the early 1920's, before they were married. I only have a few photos of them in their youth, as cameras and photos were quite a luxury in those days. 
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I think I may pop this into a suitable picture frame so I can actually look at the photos - seems a shame to keep them hidden away doesn't it.
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My card recipe:-
Black SU cardstock - spritzed with Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls Mist.
Backing paper - Urban Junque from Rhonna Farrer. Edges distressed with scissors and inked with Distress Inks - Antique Linen/Brushed Corduroy.
Sentiment - Personal Impressions.
Apertures - Nestabilities, Labels 4.
Organza Ribbon and flower from stash.
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So - get your thinking caps on peeps, and let us see more of your fabulous creations! There are prizes to be won, and our two mega-talented sponsors this week are:-

Melissa Jenkins of Mel Jen's Designs and

 Ann Vento of Raindrop Echo Designs. Her sentiments can be found Here

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I would like to enter my card into the following challenges:-

Sir Stampalot - "Ladies and Fashion"
Creative Inspirations - Punches or Dies.

Have a fabulous week ~ thanks for popping by!

 

A TOUCH OF RED AT LESS IS MORE

Hi peeps, hope you are well and happy and enjoying beautiful Spring weather (although it's actually raining here today)! 

Another short post and another CAS card for Chrissi and Mandi's very addictive (in a good way!) Less Is More Challenge.  It's week 9, and A Touch of Red is required.  
I still get that "oooh something's missing" feeling when I am left with so much empty space though!!

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Recipe: - 

Cinnabar stamp - Stampington (I really must buy some new stamps - it's so tempting to keep using the old favourites). 

Bliss stamp - SU

Distress Ink - Fired Brick

Versafine Ink - Onyx Black
Teeny red gem on the headdress flower.
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I would also like to enter my card into the following challenge:-
Gingersnap Creations - "Geishas"
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Have a happy week everyone ~

LESS IS MORE - A SKETCH!

Hi peeps - just a quick post tonight (did someone say Hoorah)?!!

This week at Less is More,  Chrissie and Mandi have given us the challenge of working with a sketch on a DL size card, so if you haven't heard of this fabulous challenge blog, do pop over and see what it's all about.

 My card recipe:-

Base card - SU Very Vanilla cardstock.

For the flower - SU "Love Letter" double sided paper, two circle punches, a water spritzer and an old fabric covered button, (plus lots of squeezing and teasing).

Paper from the same SU range for the dotty strip, edged with black ink.

Sentiment from Penny Black.

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges:

Lady Bug Crafts - Handmade Flowers.

Tuesday Throwdown - Florals.

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Have a great week ~ 

CUTE AND CUDDLY SENTIMENTAL SUNDAYS - I LOVE YOU THIS MUCH !!

Well lovely Bloggers, it's that time of year again - one hour less to sleep in this morning, but on the plus side, have you seen all the fabulous Cherry Blossom trees in flower - don't you just love them?

So - onto this week's Challenge at Sentimental Sundays which is an easy-peasy theme of CUTE AND CUDDLY (with a sentiment of course). More prizes to be won this week, and more freebie sentiments.

For my DT card I have used this oh-so-cuddly image from Meljens Designs coloured with Copics

Cardstock - Very Vanilla from SU.

Papers - MME Stella and Rose "Mabel".

Antique Linen DI around edges.

Machine stitching (wonky variety).

Ribbon from stash.

CB die cut hearts.

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Look forward to seeing more of your

beautiful creations at Sentimental Sundays.

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I would like to enter my card into the following challenges:-

Totally Papercrafts - Cuddly and Cute.

Southern Girls - Add an Animal.

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Have a happy week ~ love to all.

SOMETHING SIMPLE AND A BIT "OFF THE EDGE"!

Hi peeps, just a quick post today - hope you're all having a great week, with more sunshine than we are having in foggy West Yorkshire at the moment.

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I'm sure you will all have seen the Less Is More Challenge Blog, run by Chrissie and Mandi, but if not, do pop over for details and fab. inspiration. The current challenge theme is "Off The Edge". and I used two images from a very old Habico stamp set - Chinese Flowers 2, plus a sentiment from a set by K and Co. The flower petals were painted with Spun Sugar Distress Ink re-inker.

 Must say - it's nice to de-clutter for a change! 

SENTIMENTAL SUNDAYS GOES GREEN!

Hi lovely Bloggers - hope you are having a relaxing weekend, and some sunshine in your part of the world.

S0 - another Sunday, another Challenge, and at  Sentimental Sundays this week we would like you to Go Green - either use the colour green, or recycle something (or both)! As always, there are prizes to be won, and freebie sentiments too. Pop over to SS for all the details and some fab. ideas from the DT.

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The challenge immediately brought to mind images of green fields and wild flowers, which is quite a happy coincidence as I bought this Hero Arts "Blooming Meadow" stamp recently (plus a few other things!), when I spent the voucher I won from
The Stamp Man (Thanks so much Jill and the DT).
Recipe:-
White card from Stampin Up.
The beautiful digi sentiment is from Ann Vento at Raindrop Echo Designs, printed directly onto the card.
The flower panel was created by stamping the image twice onto a separate peice of white card, using Versamark Ink, then heat embossing with White powder, which creates a "resist" when inks are applied over the image.

The top edge was roughly torn, then Distress Inks were applied with a Tim Holtz Blending Tool - colours: Peeled Paint, Crushed Olive and Mustard Seed.
The piece was then spritzed with a mixture of water and Green Patina Perfect Pearls (which doesn't show up in the photo)!!
The flowers were wiped over with kitchen tissue to remove excess ink , and the panel was attached to the base card.
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Linen twine (from SU) was added, and a small butterfly which was created with a Wendy Vecchi butterfly stamp (from "Natures Art" set) stamped with Olive Green Staz-on onto white shrink plastic which had firstly been inked with Spiced Marmalade DI.
After shrinking, and curving it whilst warm (nearly burnt my fingers off), I coloured butterfly edges and some of the spots, with Cadmium Orange Copic then added a teeny bit of Glamour Dust.
I would like to enter the following challenges:-
Meljens Designs - Green,
Update 21st March - my card won 1st prize at Meljens Designs - whoo-hoo!
Sir Stampalot - Spring is in the Air,
Lets Ink It Up - Embossing.
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Did I hear someone snoring"?? Well, it was a bit of a loooong Post today - sorry!!
Love to all, and have a happy week ~

GUEST DESIGNER AT PHINDY'S PLACE!

Hi peeps - hope you are all having a great week.

I am so happy to be sharing this card with you today - I won a Guest Design Team spot at Phindy's Place when my entry for the recent Distress challenge was chosen as Card of the Month, and was later chosen as overall winner of the month, with a prize of a Guest Designer spot in March.

So, I chose to use this adorable image, "Little Squirt", from  Phindy's shop - don't you agree, he is just soooo cute!!

The theme of the challenge this week is Oh Baby!, which could be a new arrival, a 1st Birthday, etc., - if you are looking for the perfect baby/small child image, do pop over to Phindy's shop (see link above). Check out the new "Wee Babbies" range too - they're adorable!

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Card recipe:

Image coloured with Copics.

Sky created with a "mask"of roughly torn paper, a piece of Cut'n Dry foam, and Versacolour Sky Blue ink.

The image is die cut with Nesties Labels #1.

Blue cardstock - Stampin Up.

Patterned papers - Nitwit Big Top collection, distressed and machine stitched.

Sentiment - my own (computer generated).

Two buttons and white Ric-Rac to finish!

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I would like to enter my card into the challenge at Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes + the option of Something Old (the blue button is VERY old)!

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Have a fabulous weekend - love to all ~

SENTIMENTAL SUNDAYS - ANYTHING GOES!

Update - 3rd March! This Gracious Lady is the Winner of the Fashion Challenge at MAWTT - thanks ladies, and whoo-hoo!!

Hi there lovely bloggers - hope you are well, and enjoying the weekend.

Thanks to everyone who joined us at the last Sentimental Sundays challenge - this week we have an easy-peasy challenge - "Anything Goes", (plus a sentiment), so lots of scope for everyone.

As usual, there will be prizes for the winners, and some more beautiful freebie sentiments for you to grab.

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As we can make whatever we like, I decided to use some of my favourite things, as follows:-

Gracious Lady stamp from Hero Arts

Cream and black papers from SU (Love Letter)

Tim Holtz Tattered Florals die

Sentiment and "Paris" stamps from the

"French Mail" set by Crafty Secrets.

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The image was stamped onto acetate, and onto cream cardstock behind the acetate, to give the image more depth.

Gilding flakes (copper, gold and silver) were adhered on the reverse of the acetate.

Paper edges distressed with scissors and Antique Linen DI.

Flower edges inked with black, petals spritzed with Tiger Lily Glimmer Mist, and a metal button with twine added to the centre.

Machine stitching and brads to finish.

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I would like to enter my card into the Fashion challenge at MAWTT

and the Stripes challenge at Creative Inspirations

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So peeps, I look forward to seeing your beautiful creations ~ Love to all .......

 

THE FABULOUS TIM HOLTZ........

Hi peeps - hope you are all happy and well.

Just a short(ish) post today, firstly to apologise for not visiting my lovely friends and followers as often as I would have liked, over the past couple of weeks. I will get back to normal in a day or two (please forgive me)! 

 Thought it best to visit GP today and was prescribed antibiotics - apparently there is a secondary chest infection on top of the original flu bug.  However, there's always a glittery lining to every cloud - I've shed half a stone in weight in the last couple of weeks!!

Anyway - enough of that  - on to the second bit of my Post - the Tim Holtz class last Thursday - whoo-hoo!!

The class was fantastic (of course).  Everyone created a hard backed journal book, full of pockets, tags, fab. Tim Holtz papers, products I had never used before such a Kraft Resist, Tissue Tape, Facets, plastic Alpha Parts, etc etc etc. The 4 hours were crammed with hints and tips and loads of techniques, and I would not have missed it for the world. The pages require some more detail adding, to finish them off, and I may store some inspirational crafting ideas in the Journal, as a book of reference for the future. 

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Tim is the most amazing guy, with a great sense of humour, and totally approachable.  (He even signed my Journal - how cool is that) !!!

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This one may amuse you (or maybe not)!!

I cropped this picture as I was grinning sooooo much (well, who can blame me) -  I looked like a manic Cheshire Cat - very scary indeed!! (Does anyone remember the "WOT" cartoon character)??!!!

Have a wonderful week.  See you all soon. 

SENTIMENTAL SUNDAYS - RED PINK AND WHITE....

  

 Happy Sunday everyone! Thank you for all your good wishes for my recovery from the "bug" - still not totally Ok, but much better than I was.  As long as I am fully recovered for next Thursday, I really don't mind - yep, I'm going to a Tim Holtz class at Art from the Heart - Sir Tim is visiting Yorkshire - Yaaaaay!!  I am soooo excited - no wonder my tummy is doing cart-wheels!!

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So, back to the plot -  at Sentimental Sundays this week the challenge is to use Red, Pink and White.
Along with the colour challenge, a sentiment is required on your project please.
There are fab. prizes to be won, from Meljen's Designs and Raindrop Echo Designs - click the SS link above to find out more!

Thanks to everyone who entered last week - there were lots of fabulous projects.  Hope to see you all again this week!

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My DT card is a "clean and simple" design, which I thought would be ideal for a couple of stamps I bought recently.
Recipe:-

  WHITE cardstock - Stampin Up

 RED  Cherry Cobbler ink, also from SU
PINK ribbon from stash.
Pink crystal gem in the centre of the flourish.
Flourish stamp from a SU set.
Sentiment stamp - from a KandCo set. 

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If you would like to see some really fabulous Clean and Simple designs, pop over to
HERE
Sarita's work is amazing. 
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I would like to enter my card into the following challenges:-
Wednesday Stamper - Expressions of Love,
Incy Wincy - LOVE,  
By The Cute and Girly - RED and any other colour.
Have a happy week ~

GRANDDAUGHTER'S BIRTHDAY CARD - PHINDY'S FLOWER TOP FAIRY!

Wow - an update! This gorgeous Fairy from Phindy's Place won "Card of the Week" in the Embossing Challenge.

Thank you!

Hi lovely friends and bloggers - hope you are having a good week, wherever you are. I have caught some kind of bug, but I was determined to post my card before having an early night. 

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My middle Granddaughter, Jemima,  will be 8 in a couple of weeks - she loves pink, purple and fairies, so this wonderful image from Phindy's Place is just perfect. I am entering this week's Challenge at Phindy's - Embossing (dry or heat).

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I have embossed deep purple Bazzill card, using my

Eazi-Score Board and an embossing tool, to create the diagonal squares design. Pink gems have been added to the cross sections, and Phindy's Flower Top Fairy Rose has been coloured with Copics, cut out with a circle Nestie, leaving the wing-tips overlapping the circle (not as easy as I thought it would be)!!. 

SU Dazzling Diamonds glitter on the wings, and some flower lace around the edge.

I will, of course, personalise the card before giving it to my Granddaughter.

Thank you for popping by - Love to all who visit (hope you don't catch the lurgy)! ~

OSAAT CHALLENGE - DT PROJECT

Yes - two posts in one day again, but things will be back to normal very soon!!

The challenge at OSAAT this week is "Inspiration from a photo":-

and I chose this beautiful "Lady Klimt" image of Claire's (Hope Jacare), which is available to purchase from Stitchy Bear Stamps. 

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I printed the image onto white card and coloured the background with Spiced Marmalade and Mustard Seed Distress Inks, swirled on with a shaving brush (AKA an Ink Duster!) 

The image is coloured here and there with Copics, and mounted onto black card.

I used Yellow Bazzill cardstock and an Anna Griffin template to make the bag.

Added two lengths of satin ribbon - one green, one black, to secure the opening.

The  bag charm was made with punched circles glued back-to-back to create a "sandwich", with a thread through the centre and a couple of beads at the bottom.

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I would like to enter this project into these challenges -  Cute Daisy May - Any shape but square and Everybody Art - A Bag or A Box.

Thanks for visiting - have a fabulous Sunday.

Wow peeps - you've just got to pop over to

Lovin Ink. There are TWO (yes two) free places up for grabs at the Lovin Ink Retreat at Bolton Abbey, North Yorkshire, 26 - 28 March. Full details of how to enter can be found by clicking the link above - so what are you waiting for?!!!  Good luck (I've got my fingers and toes crossed)!!

See the fab. candy on offer too!!

DT CARD FOR SENTIMENTAL SUNDAYS - "WINTER"

24th January Update!! My little birdie has been chosen as "The Shabby Tea Room Tea Time Terrific Top Three Winner" - whoo-hoo and tweet tweet!! Thank you so much. 

Hi Peeps - hope you are all having a great weekend ~

This is my DT card for the "Winter" challenge at Sentimental Sundays and I hope you like it.

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Thank you to everyone who entered their fabulous projects into the last Challenge - pop over next week to find out if you are a winner!  More prizes are up for grabs this week,  so get your thinking caps on crafters! Winter is something we have all experienced, so I know you will have lots of amazing ideas. (As always, a sentiment is required on your project). 

PLUS - there are freebie sentiments and DT inspiration if you need it!!

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My DT card recipe:-

Easel card created with Nesties Labels 1.

My favourite SU punch - "Two-step Bird" (love it)! I layered two birds to give dimension.

Distress inks to lightly colour the Robin - Antique Linen, Tattered Rose and Spiced Marmalade with a light touch of Antique Linen on the larger Nestie.

A huge amount of Glamour dust (did I go over the top)?

Flowers - EK Success Retro Flower punches.

Swiss Dots CB embossing folder.

Pearl sprays and pearl gems.

Sentiment - my own (computer generated).

I would like to enter the following challenges:

 Sir Stampalot - A Winter's Tale, 

 Crafty Cardmakers - Use Red and a Die Cut.

The Shabby Tearoom - White and Bright.

DT CARD FOR OSAAT - NEW BEGINNINGS!

Hi peeps, here I am again!  Wow - two posts in one day, that's a record for me!!

So - here is my DT card for this week's challenge over at OSAAT. The theme is New Beginnings, which gives you quite a wide range of options - new home, new baby, new job, new love - oooh the list is endless!! Can't wait to see your wonderful projects, and thanks to everyone who took part in the fun last week - your creations were fabulous!

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This week's prize is a £10 voucher from our wonderful sponsor Joanna Sheen to spend in her on-line shop.

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My take on the theme, is the beginning of a new season - Winter into Spring, when the new green shoots and tiny buds start to appear. (I love Spring)!

I have used a beautiful tree image from a digi set by Gingerloft, available to purchase from Stitchy Bear Stamps (please see the link in my sidebar).

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The Winter tree scene is sprinkled here and there with Glamour Dust, and the Spring tree is the same image with Distress inks for a hint of colour, Copics to create some tiny flowers, and a kiss of craft chalk for the sky.

SU card for the layers, and some green Anna Griffin ribbon to finish.

The sentiment is computer-generated.

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Did you know that OSAAT will be ONE YEAR OLD

on Feb. 14th?

Have you picked up your

1st Birthday Bash banner yet? 

If you want to know what this is all about - pop over to

OSAAT  for the details ~  there are prizes to be won.......!!

Wishing you all a splendiferous week!

WOYWW? - A CRAFT-FREE ZONE DUE TO DECORATING!

Don't you just LOVE it when the time comes to re-decorate your crafty space - what a frustrating week it's been!  Crafty stash and storage boxes all over the place, computer out of action a lot of the time, and me as hubby's gofor, and painter of doors and skirting boards etc. - oh what fun!! 

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So, as well as joining in at the lovely Julia's WOYWW, this is also an apology for my lack of blogging/commenting/visting this last few days. (I've missed ya all)!! The good news is, the room is now finished, the carpet fitter is coming today - Yaaay!!! so normal service will be resumed pretty soon!!

~ Love to everyone ~