SORRY FOR THE LACK OF POSTING

I seem destined not to get up and rolling with this blog. On Mothers Day I ended up in hospital and had emergency surgery on Monday morning; I am home and recovering now but get too tired to make cards at the moment. Hopefully I will be feeling better in a couple of weeks and ready to start crafting again.
Happy crafting everyone, take care, hugs, Linda xxx

Bevs Blog Candy

Well, I think I am linking correctly to all these blogs, so I will add another one - probably turn out I am doing it all wrong but, got to have a go. This lush candy is here at All the Things I love, but be quick, it ends tomorrow! Hugs, Linda x

STAMP WITH US BLOG CANDY

Stamp With Us launch their new blog here on 1st April and all this yummy Stampin Up stash is on offer (stop drooling Linda!!). Good luck everyone, hugs Linda x

ZOE'S BLOG CANDY

Well if I have got this right I should be telling you that..........It's Zoe's 1st Blogaversary here today and until 27th March she has some scrummy Doodlebug goodies on offer. Well worth a visit, her cards are gorgeous. This is the first time I have linked to any blog candy, so not sure if I have done it right - couldn't for the life of me figure out how to get a pic and title down the side of my blog instead :-) Good luck, hugs, Linda xx

Mothers Day

I wanted to try out colours I don't normally use and combine it with the Sizzix daisy die, which I have had for over a year and never used. It went through the Cuttlebug very easy and I love this turquoise colour. Not sure about the overall finish of the card though, feel there is something missing, think I am going to try some tiny pearls on some of the swirls of the embossed panel. The pearl card is printed directly with Pink Petticoat Sweet Flourishes and Sizzix Daisy is layered onto Cuttlebug D'Vine Swirls; card is edged with Martha Stewart lace doily punch ( I love this!), brads, gems and mum charm from stash

No Posts this last week

My blog is so new and has so few followers I wasn't going to bother with an explanation for my absence because I didnt expect to be missed. However, just in case anyone has looked in my father died a week ago and I just havent been able to settle to anything, cant make a card, don't know what to say in a post - so I have just been blog hopping in quiet moments and enjoying other peoples creations instead.
I will be back and updating my blog again soon, but need to get the funeral over with first. It's strange, I find card making very therapeutic most times, but my mojo seems to fly out of the window if I am very sad or unhappy
Take care and happy crafting
Hugs, Linda x

Motor Neurone Disease

This is not crafting related but something which I am proud to highlight on behalf of Neil Platt and his family; Neil is the brother of one of my work colleagues and is a sufferer of this dreadful disease, which was also responsible for the death of their father a few years ago.

Last year, in order to raise awareness of MND Neil created a blog, Plattitude, he knew that in doing so it was too late to save himself, but by raising awareness and the need for more funding to research MND, he might just be doing something to prevent Oscar, his baby son, from dying of the same illness. Yesterday, after writing his final blog entry, Neil went into the hospice for the last time. This entry on my blog is a tribute to this brave man and his family - my heart goes out to Neil, Louise, Oscar, Matt and all their family

Mothers Day Word Book

Good morning

I made this 'MUM' word book from the downloadable Alphasets by Cuddly Buddly. I added the circular greeting in Word and also used their Teddy Bear birthday images set in pink, to add the graphics directly too the card prior to printing (did this on a Word document), made a decoupage sheet for all the images to add after. The M-U-M letters were printed twice and the initials cut out so that I could layer them up and make them 'pop'. Some/parts of the images were then highlighted with Sakura stardust pens, but this doesn't show up very well on the photos. Finally added flowers, gems and ribbon decorations after fixing the book together with Big Bite and gromlets. All it n eeds now is a box :o)

Make an A3 diamond Folded Card

Requests seems to crop up quite regularly on the forums for the diamond folded cards and amongst a whole host of replies with partial measurements, there is rarely enough to be able to make the card. Therefore, the last time the A3 stubby diamond fold card was demonstrated on C & C, I noted down the measurements and created this instruction sheet. I haven't actually fold the card yet, but intend to do so in the near future and will add the picture to the post when it's done. I hope you find it useful x

Please click on the image to make it larger for saving

I finally got Daisy

I haven't been happy with my style of cardmaking for a while, so have done quite a bit of blog hopping recently and noted the numerous challenge sketches available to take part in. It never ceases to amaze me how many talented crafters there are out there and how they can transform a sketch into a gorgeous work of art. I wouldnt suggest I am anywhere near ready for taking part in a challenge but I have had another dabble today - had a go at the colouring technique using pencils and sansodor on Daisy from Sugar Nellie; made a start using some of the gorgeous papers I have, instead of hording them in a drawer, so out came the K&Co 'Hannah' pad and I used 3 pages from it; one of them I ripped to give the torn edge (never done that before!!! The birthday greeting is my own creation too - computer generated using dry transfer decal paper to make my own rub ons and the finising touch is a Flora Doodles flower. The insert is stamped with a free stamp set which came with Cardmaking & Papercraft magazine - it wasn't intended to have dots on the insert; silly Linda coloured the flowers with Sakura stardust pens and forgot to let it dry before closing the card - my chin hit the floor when I saw the smudges (yes, the insert had already been fixed into the finished card!) , so the smudges were transformed into dots - phew!! I have a long way to go but I really enjoyed making this card

....and finally for tonight

After looking at so many blogs over the last few months, including the challenges, I have realised I don't think 'out of the box' or outside my comfort zone when it comes to cards. I have pads and pads of gorgeous cards and papers and rarely get them out; partly because as the pads come out, inspiration flies right out of the window and also due to the fact I look at them, admire them and put them back thinking I can't possibly cut into such lovely card and paper. As a consequence I now have more than enough to open up my own craft shop so, it's time to use some of it. Putting all these things together - challenge - comfort zone - inspiration and the need to try something different, I had a dabble with this one. Chalked the image of Twinkle with shimmer chalks; added Glamour Dust to her boa and a few gems for the bling factor and a touch of hand doodling round the edges. Matted onto nestie circles and then onto K&Co paper. Even the ribbon finish is different for me - I would have normally gone for a subtle pink but decided to have one that would 'pop' out and finally finished with a craftwork cards greeting flower, also chalked. The insert is a Funky Daze paper.

Although its nice to get complimentary comments; I would appreciate a critique from you clever ladies who seem to rattle them off for challenges in the blink of an eye - how could I have improved it please?

Art Deco

A couple from the Art Deco CD by Card Creations Plus - I just love the image of Ginger.

The predominantly black and white is a commission, with a request for just a hint of green.

Time for Tea

A very quick card with download from Cuddly Buddly. Other ingredients for the cake recipe included Diamond Glaze for the cherry; silver stardust pen to highlight the stripes and ribbon border

My Latest Creations

The Parasol card below was made to say thank you to a special lady. She is someone I have never met and we don't know each other, but she went that extra mile with some crafty advice recently and made my day with her kindness - thank you again Irene, you're a star :o)

Parasol Parade - Kizzy Dizzy Designs

Decoupaged digital images-Kizzy Dizzy designs

Need to actually practice getting a card uploaded now, so why do I feel so nervous? lol
Not sure my creations are good enough to show to the world and that's what I am about to do now - what a strange feeling. Anyway, I have decided to upload my latest creations and one or two of my own personal favourites, so here goes and fingers crossed

Wooo Hooo!!! My First Post

Well here I am, creating my first post at 05.23 am, absolutely shattered, not a single card uploaded to my blog yet and I have been here hours!! Why doesn't anybody tell you how hooked you get on sorting out the backgrounds for your blog, not to mention the headers and how long you try to manipulate an existing one to include your own blog name.......oh and that name! Just trying to think it up resulted in me staring at the screen, with absolutely no inspiration whatsoever, for about 30 minutes!!!! So, it's off to bed, wondering if I will ever appear here again, knowing darn well that no housework will be done tomorrow, because as soon as I can get my hands back on this keyboard......I'll be back! But for now, goodnight everyone x