On a (blogging) break

... whether I like it or not! I've enjoyed my holiday in Northumberland, having my mum here for a short visit (she's taken eldest daughter back to Germany today), I will enjoy going to Germany myself, with the other two, and I might even enjoy decorating eldest daughter's bedroom and putting up her new bed (well, hubby will be doing the latter), but I'd much rather craft and blog than do laundry, iron, pack, declutter eldest daughter's bedroom etc. But it all has to be done, and if I don't post between now and the end of August, you'll know what's happened to me :)
Hope you're all having a wonderful summer, and I'll see you soon!

Bag-a-lope!

Always wanted to try making a bag-a-lope (just for something different to make), and found a tutorial here that was easy to follow. So here is what I made:

Used my other new Sarah Kay stamp, watercoloured it and then inked round the edges of the image panel. Adhered it to the bag, added some primas and bling and a scallop edge topper with some ribbon and another prima. The ribbon actually goes round the back so it holds the bag closed. I think I'll be making more of these, and this one might actually go to youngest daughter's wee friend whose birthday party it is on Saturday.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cards for Kids

Very quick post, got to go and get hubby from the train station in 15 mins. Two cards for the challenge over at Cute Card Thursday to make a card for a child. First, a card for middle daughter who will be turning 7 on Monday - she requested the image and the colour scheme :)

Couldn't resist and had to go buy a couple of Sarah Kay stamps - I had lots of Sarah Kay stuff when I was younger (probably early teens), like notebooks, cushions, pencils etc. - they were very much the thing to have! So all these cute images are taking me on a trip down memory lane :) Used bits and bobs from stash for this card, like Lakeland flowers, ricrac, gingham paper, and stamped sentiment from Studio G.

Next, my inlaws requested a card for their neighbours' little girl who is turning 1!

Used my Little Claire elephants, watercoloured them, printed circular sentiment and punched out, added a few brads and done. Hope they'll like it!

Right, better get going, and then back to decluttering and tidying this tip we call a study/craft room. Got to make space for stuff, because... guess what... I've just signed up as a Stampin' Up! demonstrator! AAAAAaaaaahhhhh! I'm very excited, love their stuff, but I'm a bit nervous, too, never done anything like a workshop before. Sure it'll be fine :) More later, but anybody interested in a workshop (West Lothian/Edinburgh) or in ordering, please get in touch :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Brrrrr.... Freezing!

This is the title of the latest DCM challenge, but it aptly describes the weekend we're having here as well. It's been raining pretty much non-stop since yesterday, and the temperature just now is a chilli 13 degrees :( This is bad even for a Scottish summer!!! Anyway, this made it a little easier to complete the challenge over at DCM, which was to make a card that reminds you of winter and cold.

I have used a strip of BG Figgy Pudding paper, some ribbon from stash (I think the sheer one is from ASDA a couple of Christmasses ago), Sizzix and Cuttlebug snowflakes, Studio G sentiment and stickles. Also embossed the side of the card with my Cuttlebug swiss dots folder. Looks pretty wintery, doesn't it?

I do hope the weather will improve, the kids are starting to go stir-crazy - and we've not even started week two of the holidays! But all our excitement is still to come: first it will be middle daughter's birthday a week tomorrow, then we'll go on our family hols the Saturday after (had planned to go up north, but couldn't get a good last minute deal, so we're off to Northumberland), and then we'll have our requisite summer trip to Germany a wee while later. That should keep everybody entertained and happy! Wonder if I can take some crafty things with me...?

Have a good Sunday, thanks for looking!

Circles and Lavender

Well, it's the school holidays, and I'm taking a little time out each day to craft. So I've joined another couple of challenges!

First up, A Spoonful of Sugar's theme this week is "circles" and here is my card:

I've stamped and watercoloured Maggie, cut her out with a nestability circle and matted on a larger circle. The sentiment is SU and again matted on nestability circles. Cardstock and paper are from a Marcella by K pad I got at Walmart when I was in the States in spring. I also added a few matching buttons to some of the circles and a little ribbon flash to the sentiment. Middle daughter will be giving this card to a friend tomorrow.

Next up, I've joined in with Tilda and Friends ATC challenges again, and their theme is "lavender and lace".

I watercoloured one of my smaller Tildas for this (mainly purple, of course), added a length of lace to the lower section of the lilac base, stamped a flower border up one side and added some purple flowers, brad and bling.

Must run now, was meant to do tidying and have spent all afternoon on the PC... Thanks for stopping by!

Been busy...

... making cards for a change! In fact, 3 out of the 4 below were made yesterday, I'm quite impressed with myself :) So without further ado...

I am actually late with this, as the next challenge is up, but I'll post it anyway - this card is for "Checks Galore" from last Tuesday over at A Spoon Full of Sugar. This theme cried out for Hamish in his kilt, and here he is:

Watercolored Hamish, stamped sentiment (Studio G) and used Dovecraft papers for the background, plus some buttons from stash.

Next up, for Cute Card Thursday's challenge of "No Patterned Paper", here is Nellie:

I kept this very simple, just with a little embossing, a ribbon, some flowers and some bling. I think it's quite effective :)

Then I made a little 4th of July card for friends in the States:

This was inspired by a card I did on Saturday at the Stampin' Up! Experience in Edinburgh. What a great afternoon that was, lots of crafting, chatting - time just flew by! We made a pocket card, a treat bag and a 6x6 scrapbook page, it was great fun, and I picked up quite a few tips.

Anyway, the pocket is held together by only two brads, and the tag comes out. I used Doodlebug paper, some ribbon, Doodlebug sticker, assorted cardstock and little punched stars for the tag.

I also picked up my goodies from the workshop I had at my house a couple of weeks ago, and finally got round to have a play last night:

I tried watercolouring with the inkpads, both on SU cardstock and on watercolour paper, but that kinda went pearshaped (will try again though!), so I picked up my trusty watercolour pencils, and that was much easier :) I tried to keep the rest of the card all SU!, but since I'm still pretty new to the whole stamping lark, and my supplies are still fairly limited, this is another very simple card. Still quite like it though :)

Better get going now, this is the second day of the summer holidays and the girls are just vegging in front of the telly. It's all grey outside, so I don't really blame them, but at nearly 11am, I guess it's time to get them out of their jammies and up and doing something. Not sure they'll agree with me, however...

Have a good day, hopefully a little brighter than here, and thanks for stopping by!