HERE COMES SUMMER AT MOVING ALONG WITH THE TIMES!

Hi lovely blogging friends!  It's great to be back home after a few days away for my birthday.  Had a brilliant time - the architecture, the galleries, the shops, the hot weather, the food - all of it fabulous, so why is it so good to be back home?!!

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So peeps, onto this week's challenge at MAWTT - "HERE COMES SUMMER", chosen by the lovely Lisa. The winner's prize is 4 digis of your own choice from our talented sponsor, Beth at Squidgi Digi.

This is Beth's fab. Beach Huts image.

Recipe:-
Base card - white Bazzill (I know - it doesn't look white does it)!
I printed the Beach Huts twice, cut out and decoupaged the roof section to create dimension.
Image lightly coloured with Copics
White ric-rac, coloured with Copics
Cuttlebug heart cut from Nitwit paper, edges inked with Broken China DI
Sentiment - Hero arts
Shell and twine from stash
I would like to enter the following Challenge - Take Time For You - Summer, Sun, Beach and Sea.
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As always, a huge thank you to all you talented crafters out there who entered last week's Challenge - hope to see you again this week!

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~ And finally, 3 of the 200  photos taken in Venice ~

Love to all ~ have a happy day

CLEAN AND SIMPLE AT MOVING ALONG WITH THE TIMES!

A very good morning to you all - if Mr Blogger is behaving himself today you will be reading this, if not - well, you won't!! This post was scheduled for 10.00am today, by which time I shall probably be eating ice cream, and singing "O Sole Mio"  (not both at the same time though - I never sing with my mouth full) - can you guess where I am peeps??!!!

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This week at MAWTT the challenge theme is "Clean and Simple",  chosen by the lovely Hazel
(A card with clean lines, minimal elements, areas of white space, and few or no embellishments).

My DT card Recipe:-
Ink - Kaleidacolour Creole Spice, applied with a brayer onto a rectangle of white card. 4 holes punched down one edge.
The images were stamped with black Staz-on onto a Stampbord rectangle after brayering with Creole Spice. Some of the coloured ink was removed with a scratch pen to let the white surface show through. The stamps are by Leigh Hannan, available from Impression Obsession.
Stampbord edges inked with Gold Krylon, then layered onto black card and mounted.
Sentiment from Hero Arts.

There is a fabulous £10 gift voucher for this week's winner, from our lovely Sponsor - Crafty Emma.

 See you all soon ~

ANNIVERSARY CANDY WINNERS!

Good morning lovely Bloggers - I hope you are all having a happy weekend.

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I am just popping by to announce the winners of my Two Year Anniversary Blog Candy.  The entries were printed out, folded up and put into a bowl, and Hubby's Hairy Hand picked out two of them. 

 And the winners are:-

First out of the bowl was

 SHIRLEY - Nannieflash

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Second out of the bowl was

 PAMI- Pami's Crafty Creations

Congratulations Shirley and Pami - Please e-mail me your address ladies, so I can  send your £10 Joanna Sheen vouchers. (My e-mail is on my Profile page).
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Thank you to all my lovely followers and visitors for your kind comments and fabulous inspiration over the last two years.
Love to all ~

INSPIRED BY A SONG AT THE MAWTT CHALLENGE!

 Hello lovely bloggers - hope you're having a happy week, and some sunshine wherever you are in the world.
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I'm sure you  will love this week's INSPIRED BY A SONG challenge at MAWTT - chosen by the lovely Laurie.
I didn't have to think for more than a nano-second to decide on the fabulous Robbie Williams song "Angels" (I love it),  and I used the beautiful "Sending Peace" image by the super-talented Mo Manning (which I also love)!
This photo doesn't look very "sharp" - it's better when enlarged - honest!

The Angel has been softly coloured with Copics, and the background was created with
Sky Blue Versacolor ink, dabbed on with a cottonwool ball.
SU Dazzling diamonds glitter on the wings.
Sentiment created on the computer, and a spray of pearls to finish.
The die cut for the Easel card is Nesties Labels 1.
I would like to neter my card into the following challenge:-
Freshly Brewed - Put a Little Song in your Heart!
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The prize at MAWTT this week is a fabulous Kanban Music Kit .

  Thanks to everyone for the fabulous entries last week -  look forward to seeing more of your beautiful creations. 

ANYTHING BUT A CARD AT MOVING ALONG WITH THE TIMES!

Wow lovely bloggers - that's another week gone by,  and time for a new Challenge at MAWTT, - this week we would like to see "Anything But a Card", which is the lovely Pami's choice

Our fabulous Sponsor this week is

Every Crafts A Pound
 Full details can be found over at MAWTT.
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My DT project is a mini concertina folder, for recording those all-important, special occasion dates you just don't want to forget.

Recipe:-
All cardstock from Stampin' Up.
Distress Inks - Vintage Photo and Brushed Corduroy.
Front cover: - computer generated wording on small Nestie "Labels 4".
Flourish stamp - Stampin' Up
CB Corner die,  cut from Gold Japanese Washi paper.
Ribbon - had it for ages!
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Inside: -  Floral paper - Anna Griffin, over-stamped with Crafty Secrets "French Mail" set, and Text stamp from Crafty Individuals. The folds and outer edges of the pockets are machine-stitched.
Twelve large Nestie "Labels 4" diecuts (3 in each pocket), with Tim Holtz months of the year Tissue Tape on each one.
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Thanks to all the lovely crafters who entered last week's challenge - there were some amazing projects once again. Look forward to this week's entries - and don't forget peeps - NO CARDS!!
I would like to enter the following Challenges -
Dream Valley - Stamp Something.
Craft your Passion -Anything Goes


Love to all ~

MONOCHROME AT LESS IS MORE!

 Good morning lovely bloggers, hope you are having sunshine in your part of the world. 

This is week 18 for the challenges at Less is More

and the theme is  MONOCHROME.   Mandi and Chrissie, the LIM Divas,  have very kindly given a description of exactly what Monochrome is,  alongside their inspirational DT cards.

I have used one of my oldest, and most-loved stamps - Gracious Lady from Hero Arts. 

The image is stamped with Staz-on Azure, and  the shading has been added with Derwent watercolour pencils, used dry.

The sentiment is from Penny Black. An Eazi Scoreboard was used to add a couple of embossed lines.

Whisper White card from Stampin' Up.

Have a happy day ...

NO DESIGNER PAPERS AT MAWTT THIS WEEK!!!

 Hi peeps - hope you are all having a happy week.
After 5 days, my Followers have returned, no thanks to "Blogger Help". I downloaded Firefox and the followers returned immediately, so if anyone else is having problems, it may be worth trying.
I am also a very happy bunny to learn that I won the prize at last month's Magical Worlds challenge at Sir Stampalot with my MAWTT DT Mermaid card HERE
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Anyway, enough of my rambling - this week at the MAWTT Challenge it's the lovely Shell's turn to host, and she doesn't want to see any of those gorgeous Designer papers on your project (yikes)!!  So c'mon - I know you can do it!!

Our lovely Sponsor this week is Didge, (Shells' Daughter) whose images are available from Stitchy Bear Stamps . The prize is 3 of Didge's cute images, which were designed exclusively for  MAWTT - pop over there for all the details.
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  I have used a beautiful Poinsettia image, also from Didge,  and made my first Christmas card of 2011 - yayyy!!

Recipe:-
The textured Very Vanilla card is from Stampin' Up.
The Poinsettias have been re-sized, cut out and layered, then coloured with Copics.  The swirl stamp is from Crafty Individuals, and the digi sentiment is from Raindrop Echo Designs, available from Whimsy Stamps. 
Edges inked with black Staz-on to create a slightly "worn and shabby" look. Glamour Dust added to the flower centres.
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Thank you for all the wonderful entries last week, and don't forget - no designer papers!!
Love to all ~

WE'RE ALL GOING ON A SUMMER HOLIDAY, AT MAWTT!!

Update - whoo-hoo! My card was voted into the top 5 at Stamp Something - thank you ladies!  
And it was also featured on Tiddly Ink Fabby Friday - whoo-hoo again!!
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Hi peeps,  it's Thursday so let's Move Along With The Times!   We have a fabulous challenge for you at MAWTT this week, chosen by the Lovely Lisa - HOLIDAYS! 

My DT card Recipe:-

Base card - Crumb Cake - Stampin' Up

Papers - Stella Rose - My Mind's Eye

Ribbon - Gisela Graham

The fabulous "Bathing Beauty" image is from Tiddly Inks

and has been coloured with Copics.

The little starfish are from the Tiddly Inks "Queen of the Castle" digi set.

http://tiddlyinks.com/catalog.htm

The postcard was made by photocopying the top part of a mini postcard, (it had some printed wording on the bottom, which I didn't want)!, onto a piece of lined Stella Rose paper, I distressed the edges and added the hand-written wording.

To finish - a punched flower attached to Bathing Beauty's hat.  Distressing and stitching around all edges.

The "water" was roughly torn and the 3 starfish were coloured with DI.

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I would like to enter the challenge at:-

Stamp Something- Beachy.

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So, get out those caravans, flip-flops, sunglasses, aeroplanes, bikinis, or whatever, and join in the holiday fun!  Hope to see you soon!

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Our sponsor this week is Robyn's Fetish and the prize is 3 digi images from their on-line store.
http://robynsfetish.com/shop/

Love to all ~

BUTTERFLIES AT LESS IS MORE.......!

Hope you are well lovely bloggers.

I have missed the last two challenges at LESS IS MORE, and as I'm starting to get withdrawal symptoms I really HAD to join in this week - Chrissie and Mandi have asked us to use a Butterfly/Butterflies - and here is my little card!

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The card measures 4" square, and the Butterfly (from Elusive Images) is stamped onto white shrink plastic using various shades of Staz-on, then coloured with Sakura JellyRoll glitter pens before shrinking. Now, I'm sure anyone who has tried shrink plastic knows how difficult it is to get a totally flat result, so that's why mine has lumps and bumps - hope you don't mind!!
Edges have been inked with a Krylon Gold pen.  

The background stamp is from SU and the wording was a freebie from Craft Stamper magazine.

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I would like to enter my card into the following Challenge:-
A Spoonfull of Sugar - Things with Wings.

Thanks for popping by - love to all ~

TWO YEARS IN BLOGLAND (and a little bit of candy)!

19th June -  Blog Candy now closed.

Hi Peeps - I can hardly believe it's two years today since I very tentatively entered Blogland, and wow, what fantastic inspiration and friendship I have experienced!!

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So, lovely friends and followers, I would like to celebrate, and say Thank You, by offering Candy for two of my Followers - not a huge basket of goodies I'm afraid, but the first two followers to be drawn from the hat by  Hubby's Hairy Hand will each receive a £10 gift voucher to spend at Joanna Sheen's wonderful on-line store (free p&p too)

 http://www.joannasheen.com/craft-supplies/ 

I didn't make this card by the way - it's a photo of one of the gift vouchers!!

So if you would like the chance to win - here are the "rules"

You must be a follower.

Leave a comment on this Post, before midnight 18th June.

Please spread the word on your sidebar.

Only one entry per person please!

All comments will be printed, cut out and put into the hat, and the TWO winners will be announced on the 19th or 20th June. 

Thanks a million ~ love to all

MOVING ALONG WITH THE TIMES - A SKETCH!

Update - 31st May

Wow - I'm doing star jumps today!!

My card won 1st prize in this month's  Sir Stampalot Challenge Thank you so much DT! 

Anyhoo - onwards and upwards, and onto this week's DT card for another fab. challenge at MAWTT.
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This week the "sketch" challenge has been chosen by the lovely Hazel , and our Sponsor is Stitchy Bear Stamps and they are giving $10 of digi stamps to the winner!

http://stitchybearstamps.com/shop/
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The DT have used digi images available from Stitchy's on-line shop, so do pop over to see their fab. creations!
I chose this beautiful "Mermaid" image from Sylvie's Stamps (available at Stitchy Bears) for my DT card, coloured her with Copics, added a sprinkling of Glamour dust on the bubbles, and pearl gems on each corner. Weathered Wood DI applied around the edges.  The patterned backing paper is from the gorgeous Kaiser Craft "Magic Happens" paper pad which I won in Mina's Candy several weeks ago (thanks Mina)! The design is what I imagine it to look like on the sea-bed, with floaty deep-sea plants, though I've never been diving so what do I know!!!
The 3 rectangles are also cut from the same pad and embossed on the CB.
The tiny sentiment is from a set by Hero Arts (I think)!, circular punch from Woodware, and black circular border is a CB die which is exactly the right size for the punch!
Black cardstock from SU.
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Look forward to seeing more of your amazing creations, and thank you for all your fabulous entries last week.
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I would like to enter this card into the following Challenge -
Sir Stampalot - Magical Worlds.

TWO B's AT THE MAWTT CHALLENGE THIS WEEK !

Hi peeps - isn't it great to be blogging again!

This week's challenge at MAWTT is the lovely Brenda's choice - her initials are BB, so she would like you to use at least two items beginning with the letter B on your project.  Also, if you pop over to Brend'a Blog, she has a fab. surprise for you!

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So, you could maybe use Buttons, Bows, Blue, Burgers, Balls, or even Bees - (no real ones though!) Please tell us which B's you have used on your project - I can't wait to see what you come up with this week.  Do pop over to MAWTT to see the B's which the DT have used!
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Our lovely Sponsor this week is ~

http://www.craftyemmasstore.co.uk/
and the Prize is this gorgeous Bloom and Grow garden-themed stamp set .  We hope you will join in the fun - the entries last week were amazing, as always, and thanks to everyone who took part.  

For my DT project I have made a cute little double-pocket bag for my DIL's birthday.  There is a slip-card in the front pocket, which I will personalise later, and when the bag is given to my DIL  there will be a gift voucher (from a rather nice clothing shop, at DIL's request) in the back pocket. So - a card and gift all in one!!
~ My choice of B's ~
Black, Beads, Bag, Butterflies, Bow.

  Recipe:-
Very Vanilla textured cardstock - SU.
All Papers - SU Love Letter.
Butterfly stamp - SU.
Black beads from an old necklace.
Rose Petal seam binding - Wild Orchid Crafts.
Black ribbon and eyelets - from my stash.

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The butterflies were stamped with Distress Inks, Spun Sugar and Tattered Rose, then cut out.
The papers were machine stitched onto the front and back of the  bag.
Four holes punched, and eyelets set, with a Provo-Craft Silent Setter.
Close-up of the back of the bag, and the slip-card.

I would like to enter the following Challenges:-
Flutterby Wednesdays -Anything But a Card.
Crafty Creations - Anything Goes.

Love to all ~ have a fabulous weekend!

LESS IS MORE - WHITE ON WHITE.

Hi peeps - hubby is happy today as it's rained on his allotment - yaay! Personally,I prefer the sunshine!

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There is a fab. challenge this week at Mandi and Chrissie's challenge blog  Less Is More - WHITE ON WHITE. These challenges certainly get ya thinkin' don't they!!! By the way - we are officially known as LIMettes when we take part in the LIM challenges - isn't that great!! So - here is my LIMettes white on white card:-

Recipe:-

Nesties Lacy Squares

SU Bird and Branch punch (one of my all-time favourite punches)

CB With Love embossing folder

SU Dazzling Diamonds glitter.

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I am entering the challenge at:-

Wags 'n Whiskers - Use dies or punches.

By the Cute and Girly - Anything Goes.

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Have a Wonderful week ~

HAVE SOME CAKE AT MOVING ALONG WITH THE TIMES!

Hi everyone - I do hope you are all having a happy week.  Yesterday I went to see the exhibition of John Atkinson Grimshaw's wonderful paintings at the Mercer Art Gallery in Harrogate. I love his work, and it was an absolute joy to see it in real life, particularly his painting "Iris", which is amazingly beautiful.  For anyone who is interested in his work, the exhibition is in Harrogate until September, before it moves to London.

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Ok - it's time for another fab. challenge at MAWTT, which this week is  Shell's choice -  "Have Some Cake", so we would like to see some yummy cake on your projects please!
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Our lovely Sponsor this week is Bows and Berries, and the Winner will receive 2 digis of their own choice from the shop.
They are also giving everyone a  25% discount on any of the fabulous digis bought from their shop during the week of the Cake challenge - the Code you need to quote is BB25.  
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Please click on the link above to take you to the shop! 

The DT have used Bows and Berries images this week, so do pop over to MAWTT to take a peek at what they have created! I chose to use the Heart Cake, which I paper-pieced with the Prima Sweet Fairy paper, and cut it out with the Stampin Up Sizzix die "Top Note".

A second die cut was placed underneath, slightly to one side.
Diecut edges inked with Distress Inks.

Other items used :-
Backing paper - Sweet Fairy from Prima
Rose Petal seam binding - Wild Orchid Crafts
Pearl hearts on a stem - from stash
Die cut tag, and heart - CuttleBug
"Sweet" sentiment - Kars "New Baby" set
Base card - SU
Stitching and scissor-distressing around paper edges
SU Dazzling Diamonds glitter on cake hearts
and a  3-d layer at the base of the cake.
Hearts coloured with Copics.

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Thanks so much to everyone who joined in the Anything Goes challenge at MAWTT last week - there were over 400 entries, and some really awesome designs.
So lovely bloggers  - let's see what you can do with CAKE !!

Challenges entered:-
Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes
Pollycraft - Anything Goes
Simon Says - Paper Piecing

THANK YOU or CONGRATULATIONS AT LESS IS MORE !

Hi lovely bloggers - almost at the last minute, here is my card for this week's

challenge at Less Is More, which is a choice of "Thank You", or "Congratulations". 
The photo is not very good at all - I always struggle with white card and pale cream card - (this is Very Vanilla from SU). After taking photos in a tent, outside a tent, swinging from the chandeliers, I decided this one was the best of a very big  bunch!
 

So, back to the plot - I bought this stamp a few years ago to make a special card for my eldest Granddaughter, Grace. Why? because in the centre of the frame was the word "Grace" - see, there is method in my madness (sometimes).  You can see what I mean from the photo of the stamp below.

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I masked the word Grace before inking the stamp with Versafine Vintage Sepia. After stamping the frame, I stamped Thank You in the centre.

Both stamps are by Anna Griffin.

Pale pink chalk has been swirled around the image. An embossed frame was created around the edges of the card, using an Eazi-Score Board.

Light brown pearls added to each corner. 

So peeps, if you would like to take part in Chrissie and Mandi's fabulous Less is More challenge, do pop over and join in the fun. (Warning - it can be addictive).

Love to all ~