Boo!!!!

I'm a bit behind in my blogging though in my defense I did try earlier today but something was going on in Blogland and wouldn't let me in!!!

Happy Halloween everyone :-) What are you all doing? I wasn't going to do anything...no pumpkin, no candy, Pierce and I were going to go to the movies to avoid the off-key singing, bad jokes and disappointed looks when they saw what I was putting in their bags but there was nothing on I fancied and when I was doing my food shopping all the staff were dressed up and I felt a bit of a meanie so I got enough 'cavity' food for 10 bags...I'm going to put them in a box outside with a sign reading 'Happy Halloween...Take ONE...X Factor in progress...when they're gone they're gone' I did something similar last year and I don't think a single person came and the same the year before. The year before that we had about 25 so you never know what's going to happen.

Nikki is going South this week!!! She's off to the NEC in Birmingham with Craftology so it will be interesting to see how she does there. A friend of Ryan's asked me to make her mom a card for her birthday for today and this is what I came up with -

I love Martini Nikki...she's so classy and sophisticated and easy to colour. I love this paper from My Mind's Eye but it's my very last piece and I don't think I can get it any more :-(

This next card was for my neighbour's little granddaughter who is one today. Angela asked for something with pumpkins which I didn't have but decided to have a look about and found this little one on the All That Scrap's website. She's a digi download which was even better. She's a Swiss Pixie called Pippi and I think she's so cute. I saw this card layout when I was blog hopping the other week. I changed a few things to make it into a birthday card....like the upside down pumpkin for a balloon!! I thought that was quite clever of me lol. I'm really pleased with the way it turned out and Angela was delighted...job done!!

I've been reliably told by my big sis that my banner is gone and it has been for a week...a week!!!! And I haven't even noticed LOL. I even had my friend Elaine confirm it for me which she did so once I post this I'm gonna check it out. I'm hoping the reason behind it is Heather, my blog lady, is fixing things up for me.

Right...gotta get the note out for my little Halloweener's (sounds a bit rude lol) before they start ringing my door-bell. Have a good and safe night.

Catch ya later x

What a busy 6 days I've had! I quite enjoyed the SECC on Thursday. It was quite quiet when I arrived but it wasn't long before it was super busy. It's a very long time since I remember the first day being that busy...it was almost like the good old days lol. There wasn't that many new things about...still a lot of the cheap stuff and 10 for a £1 but I did find a new stand called Snazzy's that I really liked. She didn't have new new stuff if you know what I mean but she was demonstrating Tim Holtz alcohol inks which I knew about but had never used (even though I have some!) or really seen demonstrated. She used the ink pads, stencil brush, mask and Inkadinkado cling stamps and before you could say supercalifragilisticexpialidocious she whipped up a gorgeous front for a card. I stood there for ages watching her and asking all sorts of questions...I'm sure she must have got fed up with me as well as everyone else that wanted to watch and ask questions too!! I ended up buying 4 ink pads and 2 stamp sets (one was the Hero Arts set with the shoes on it). I went back later on as well to have another gander and then when I picked Karen up on Sunday I had another natter with Snazzy (I'm sure that's not her real name lol!!) and found out she'd been at the Corn Exchange in June and will be there again next year. You can guess I'll be paying her a visit there lol!

Here is one card I made using all the toys I bought ... it's nothing like I normally do and a bit out of my comfort zone buy I really liked how easy it was once I got the hang of it. I couldn't get any of the brushes at the craft fair but ended up getting some at Homebase until I can get the Dreamweaver ones. The brushes I got kept losing it's bristles so I can't imagine there will be many left if I made a batch of cards lol.

I don't think it's too bad for a first attempt. You can't really see the glitter but it's really nice and sparkly. I've made 2 more using other images but haven't assembled them into cards yet. When I do I'll post them for you to see.

Karen and I had a great time when she was staying with me. She usually demonstrates for Cardcraft Plus in the March and October shows at the SECC and we always wrangle an extra day or two for her to stay so we can play (thanks Ant, Thomas & Ben!!). I hinted I had a few things up my sleeve in an earlier post, one being Nikki & Friends was going to be featured in the November issue of Simply Cards & Papercraft news section. Welllllllllllllllllll, one of the other things up my sleeve is that Karen has been commissioned by Cardmaking & Papercraft to do a 6 page tutorial for the Quick Cards section to make 12 cards using Nikki & Friends!!!!!!!!! Can you say OMG???!!! OMG....I was so excited when she told me so while I was stenciling my owls she was working on the cards for the magazine and I'm just bursting to show you what she made but I can't. I don't know how I'm going to keep it to myself till the issue comes out in January but can assure you I'll be outside the store at 9 o'clock to get my issue LOL.

Ok, I don't think I can stand any more excitement today so I'll finish up here and get dinner started. I still have a few more things to share with you but all in good time!

Catch ya later x

Have you missed me??

Well, have you LOL? I have been sooooo busy lately. My SIL ordered 14 notebooks to give as Christmas presents...how organized is she???? I knew I was going to get even busier so I decided this week was the time to get cracking and start them....take a look:

I really enjoyed making them though there was a lot of work involved. I think the hardest part was picking the images. I wanted them all to be different and I just hope my SIL likes them as well as the recipients!

I think this book is one of my favourites. It was one of the last ones I made....I was desperate to get a bit of sewing on one of the books and this one lucked out! The shoe is from a Hero Art set I bought at the SECC on Thursday. I always like to go on the first day of the show in case everything sells out!! I think there's 3 or 4 shoes and 3 sentiments in the set. This shoe has lots of black dots on them and as soon as I saw it I saw CRYSTALS lol!!! Love it!!! I still have to personalize them all but that shouldn't take too long (she says not very confidently).

And of course Nikki & Friends were at the show on the Craftology stand. I think she's done well...N & F has had the advantage of being on sale at only one stand and that's going to be the case at the NEC in 2 weeks time as well. I still get butterflies when I think of it : )

Don't forget the clocks go back tonight...I'm so glad because I really could use that extra hour in bed. I'm going to brave the gale force winds and lashing rain now to take the dog for their last outing of the day. It's on nights like this I wish I didn't have dogs...shhhhh don't tell Rocky and Ruby I said that lol!!!

On that note I'll say..

Catch ya later x

Simply fantastic

The clue is in the title. Remember I was hinting at last week that I couldn't reveal some things to you until later? Well, later has come and I'm excited to tell you that Nikki is going to be in the 'News' section of Simply Cards & Papercraft on sale November 12th!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ok, I don't expect you to be jumping around like I am LOL but I'm so excited and I can't wait to see it for myself. By then my 'store' should be up and running properly with all the right buttons and gizmo's so it's all looking good. I have one or two more tricks up my sleeve to be revealed at a later date but feel free to try any sort of bribery that involves a cappuccino and an apple and cinnamon scone from Eat to get a heads up sooner!

I made this card last week with a stamp set I have wanted for ages and finally got it when my lovely mom....the Judy... brought it with her when she visited us in July. It's from Gina K and it's called Retro Boutique. There are 18 coordinating images and sentiments so you can mix and match to your hearts content. I've teamed it up with my favourite pp, Basic Grey, stitched around the edges and add some ribbon from PTI. I know I've said this a few times now but I'm really going to have to get one of those tent thingy's for taking pictures because none of the pictures I'm taking do the cards justice. They look so much nicer in real life.

I've got a busy day ahead of me (is there any other kind???). My SIL has ordered 14 personalized notebooks for friends for Christmas and I only started yesterday. I cut out all the chipboard and pp yesterday and managed to make 3 last night though I haven't personalized them yet. I'd like to get them finished by tomorrow so I can tick something else off my never ending list. Thursday is the first day of the SECC and Annette and I are going to arrive as close to opening as possible. Nikki will be there so I'll be checking her out at the Craftology stand.

Hope you have a great day!

Catch ya later x

PS - Nikki went on sale at Precious Memories in Langley BC yesterday!!!!!

And the winner is....

Thanks to all of you who had a guess at who was the best selling Nikki at her launch at Craftology last weekend. The best selling Nikki was Dog Walker Nikki!!!! Only one person guessed right and that is.....

Annette

Congratulations Annette...if you'd like to email me your details and which Nikki you would like I'll get that off to you on Monday.

Now the excitement is over....I can't stand it lol...How about the Mermaid Nikki card I was talking about yesterday. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out though I did need a bit of help with the sentiment. I had all sorts of fishy ones going on but in the end I went with the one suggested by Karen.

I loved colouring her in! Notice there's no pp what-so-ever ; ) I used C'oredinations cs which is a big favourite of mine next to Bazzill. I used LOTS of glitter though you can't really tell by the picture. Also used my smallest Swarovski crystals for her earrings, a bit of ribbon, twine and a button...a bit of everything really!!

So that's it for today...hope you all have a great weekend. X Factor tonight which means I'll get my ironing done lol. Hopefully John and Edward will be over and out!

Catch ya later x

I delivered this card this morning to a girl who ordered it for her mom a couple of months ago which was pretty brave of her since she hadn't seen any of my cards before!! She loved it and said her mom would too (phew!) I love this image from Stamping Bella and for all that there were really small bits to colour the image 'allows' you to go outside the lines (phew, phew!)

I've finally started some cards to put into my stock which had run quite low. With all the excitement of Nikki and her launch etc I hadn't managed to make any. I'm making some today with Mermaid Nikki...I have been wanting to use her forever as I had a visual in my head of how I wanted the finished card to look. But many of you know that what you have in your head doesn't always transfer onto paper LOL. I'll post it either later today or save it for tomorrow. And remember if you want to win the Blog Candy leave a comment and which Nikki Stamp you think sold the most of last Saturday.

Have a great day...the sun is shining!!

Catch ya later x

Blog Candy Reminder!!!

Hey guys...don't forget to post a comment and your guess of which was the best selling Nikki on Saturday for your chance to win a Nikki of your choice and a little something extra! You snooze you lose!! Check them all out here -

My BFF Karen Watson sent me this card a couple of weeks ago and I can't believe I haven't posted it! So much has been going on lately but here it is ;0 I'm not sure what you call this type of card but I think it's a variation of the Joyfold card -

Coffee Nikki opens to the right then the Hello panel opens to the left and you write your message on the pp...you can just about make out some of Karen's writing. Karen is my 1st (and only lol) official DT member. She will be making sample cards for me to post on my blog along with my own. I think it's always nice to see someone else's take on an image. I couldn't have picked a better person for the job as Karen's work is highly sought after and continually published in Cardmaking & Papercraft, Quick Cards Made Easy, Creative Cardmaking to name but a few. Apart from being a fabulous cardmaker is an amazing friend. Karen will be demonstrating at the SECC for Cardcraft Plus and then staying with me till the Tuesday so we're going to play for 2 days : )

On another note...don't you just hate it when someone takes credit for someone else's work??

Catch ya later x

Woot woot!!

I have had ANOTHER brilliant day...so many great things have happened but I can only tell you a few for now and the other's will have to wait for another week.

My daughter Nicole (Nikki!!) has been travelling for over a year now with her boyfriend Ben. We've talked at least a couple of times a week...sometimes more (!!) since she left... but she's been in Thailand for the last 2 weeks and we haven't had the same communication as it's so expensive to phone from there. Also I don't think they have many internet cafe's on the beaches lol. Anywho...she called today (at great expense!) and we had a very quick and condensed chat. She's very happy at the way Nikki is going and excited at all the things I'm not going to tell you about just now LOL. They are also on their way home and I can't wait to see them. Here is a picture of them:-

I {heart} this picture : )

I gotta scoot...I need to get something in the mail before the 5:30 pickup in the hope it gets there tomorrow...could this be one of the things I can't tell you just now????

Catch ya later x

ps I've just realized I've only told you one of the few things but that will have to do for now lol

pps don't forget to post your BLOG CANDY guesses!!!

Blog Candy

Don't forget about the Blog Candy on offer...all you have to do is guess which Nikki Stamp was the best seller on Saturday at Craftology and you win a Nikki of your choice and I might just throw in a surprise!! Will announce winner on Saturday : )

Catch ya later x

Short and sweet

And that's exactly what this post is going to be!!! I saw this card pop up as part of my screen saver and thought you might like to see it. I made this for Pierce's secretary who had her 1st little girl after 4 boys!!

I love Whippersnapper images and this one is no exception...I think she's called Bella.

So that's it...told you it was going to be short and sweet lol.

Catch ya later x

What a day!

Have you ever had a day that exceded your expections? Well, I had one of those days today! As you will know today was launch day for Nikki & Friends Stamps at Craftology and I arrived bright and early at 9:30 to set up. I wasn't sure what to expect but this is what met me at the door -

And that was only the beginning....look at this!!!

It was amazing to see all my stamps on their pegs for sale with Derwent Coloursoft pencils and Zest It arranged below them. My dream had come true : )

It was a slow start but before you know it I had a little crowd in front of me and it was show time LOL.

And here are all the samples together!

I wasn't worried about demonstrating as I have demo'd quite a few times before. What I was worried and nervous about was how Nikki was going to be received. But I can honestly say that people were so kind about her (no I didn't pay them!) and it was great to meet everyone. I met lots of new people (watch this space Andy for Nikki's male 'friend' lol) and some that I have met before. I got a huge surprise when a lovely lady I hadn't seen in years appeared in front of me. I knew Jean when our kids were in nursery (Nicole is 25 next month so that will tell you how long ago lol)... she recognized my name when she received her Craftology news letter. It was great to see you Jean!

Can anyone guess which Nikki was the best seller? How about a little competition? My first Blog Candy .... I've wanted to do this like forever lol...if you want to win a Nikki of your choice, post a comment and which Nikki you think was the best seller. I'll leave it open till this time next week and pick a winner. Remember...you can't win if you're not in!

Before I go I'd like to say a big thank you to the official Ladybug Crafts Ink photographer, Elaine! You did a great job and I promise you don't have to do it every time I demo LOL. Thanks for the tea June and Elaine and to Gaynor and Donald for giving Nikki & Friends their launch. And especially all my friends and family that have helped and put up with me over the last 3/4 months while I made my dream a reality.

Catch ya later x

I'm so excited...

....I think I'm going to be sick! Tomorrow is THE day Nikki launches in Craftology...I can't believe it!! Never in a million years did I think I would have my own range of stamps and that they would be received as well as they have been. I've had so many nice comments about her and I want to thank everyone who has helped me along the way.

I thought I'd show you a couple more samples for tomorrow and if you want to see the rest you'll have to come and see for yourself!

Well, that's all for now...I've still got lots to do before tomorrow and I still have to work out what I'm making for dinner. Hope you all have a good weekend and maybe I'll see some of you at Craftology. I'll be there between 10am and 4pm. Wish me luck!

Catch ya later x

Puppy Love

Thought I'd show you a picture of Rocky and I watching The Pride of Britain Awards tonight...well I was watching them LOL. I sent the piccy to my friend Elaine and she asked if I had been crying!!! I suppose I probably had but you would too if you watched TPOBA...there were some heartbreaking stories on there, especially the two sisters from Carmunock who were burned in a scalding bath.

Here is a sneak peak at one of the samples I've made for Craftology on Saturday. Gaynor wanted samples for the stamps she ordered 10 of and Dogwalker Nikki was one of them. I just love this image so was quite happy to make another one. I wanted to make a card without using pp for a change and decided to try scoring the card with my ScorPal. I had seen this done on Paula Tracy's blog recently and loved the effect it gave...kind of warm and welcoming like a homemade quilt. It was so easy to do and I think I will be using this technique a lot more.

Rocky and Ruby are at DDC tomorrow so I plan to finish the samples and then hopefully start building my stock up. I got a call today asking if I'd like to take a stall at The West End Winter Fayre at OranMor on Sunday December 13th and I'd really like to take part. But to do that I really need to get my head down and start making cards by the hunners!!!

I'm off to walk the dogs before bed. Hope you all had a good day.

Catch ya later x

Men's cards...Blech!!!

How's your Monday so far? I've had a pretty productive day...I finally got to make some cards! It was a nice change from cutting LOL. I'm only going to show you one today .... changed my mind...I'll show them both to you : )

The first 2 pictures are of the card for Pierce's friend John who is 50 tomorrow. I don't think I have to worry that he'll see it on my blog before then LOL. I kinda cheated and used the same paper and layout from the card I made with Dogwalker Nikki though I changed the button for a corduroy brad from SU! (thanks Trace!) and moved the location of it. John was about 15 here...I hope he brings his sense of humour with him when they meet for lunch tomorrow LOL. The card looks a bit warped but it's not...must be the photographer : ) I was experimenting with the size of the pictures when I was uploading them so sorry if it's too in your face.

The next card and notebook are for my niece Ciara who's birthday is on Wednesday. I'll be mailing it tomorrow so I hope it gets there in time. I used 2 of my Nikki's and stamped them in Brilliance Graphite Black. I'm finding this is the best ink to use with the stamps and once it dries either on it's own or with a little help from a heat gun you can use your Copics and Prisma Pencils with no problems. I love the pp...it's from Imaginisce and in my favourite colour combo (one of them anyway) of pink and green with a little blue thrown in to mix it up. Ciara's a bit of a shopaholic so the notepad with come in handy.

That's it for tonight folks. I'm going to shut up shop for tonight and get some ironing done so I can work guilt free tomorrow.... I'm going to start the samples for the demo day at Craftology on Saturday.

Catch ya later x

That's what friends are for...

I had two more Fairy Godmother's this week. Annette came over on Thursday to help...we worked on the sentiments...I cut and she did the rest LOL. By the time Annette left we had a small pile of plastic bags that really didn't seem to show the work we put in. We were lucky if we filled half a carrier bag!!! But there were over 200 sentiments so if you look at it that way then we worked our butts off LOL.

My third Fairy Godmother was Elaine...she came armed with our favourite pasta salad from Morrison's and some fab chocolate chip cookies....white and milk chocolate mmmmmm. Annette popped in with Eilidh to pick something up and left us with 2 Maltesery type bar thingy's that were gorgeous. Well come on people....we do need to keep our energy up LOL! After our lunch we set to work...I cut and Elaine did the rest....are you seeing a pattern here??? lol. Like all my Fairy Godmother's Elaine was brilliant and I couldn't have got as much done without them. So a very BIG thank you to Fee, Annette and Elaine for all your help this week.

You've probably noticed I haven't posted any cards recently. I can't remember the last time I made one but that's all going to change this week. I have a 50th man's card to make {screwed up face} for Pierce's friend John. I've taken the easy option and managed to get a picture of him when he was about 14...they mustn't have invented cameras before that LOLOLOL...so I'll do something later today and hopefully post it.

I received an order for Nikki stamps from Craftology on Thursday {jumping} and Gaynor has asked me to demonstrate her on Saturday the 10th. I am really excited and especially so because I'm using my Prisma pencils to colour with. I'm not sure there's many people that use them right now. It's like when the Copic marker's first came out....very slowly and then BAM everyone is using them now! If I can maybe get one or two people interested in them (I am selling Nikki's there not Prisma's LOL) then that would be great. I hope everyone will like Nikki and I hope anyone reading this and who will be in the area will pop in and say hi.

First things first though....shower, dogs to CB, supermarket, deliver Craftology order, tidy, cut, dinner, cut....you get the picture.

Have a great Sunday....you should in Glasgow...the sun is shining!!

Catch ya later x

Reason, Season, Lifetime

Someone sent me this poem quite a few years ago and it's something that has stuck in my mind and has helped me when a friendship has changed and I wasn't able to work out why.

When someone is in your life for a REASON, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed outwardly or inwardly. They have come to assist you through a difficulty, or to provide you with guidance and support, to aid you physically, emotionally, or even spiritually. They may seem like a godsend to you, and they are. They are there for a reason, ou need them to be. Then, without any worong doing on your part or at an inconvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring the rfriendship to an end. Sometimes they die, sometimes they just walk away. Sometimes they act up or out and force you to take a stand. What we must realize is that our need has been met , our desire fulfilled; their work is done. The prayer you sent up has been answered and it is now time to move on.

When people come into your life for a SEASON, it is because your turn has come to share, grow, or learn. They may bring you and experience of peace or make you laugh. They may teach you something you have never done. They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy. Believe it! It is real! but, only for a season. And like Spring turns to Summer and Summer to Fall, the season eventually ends.

LIFETIME, relationships teach you a lifetime of lessons; those thing you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation. Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person/people (anyway); and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas in your life. It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant. Thank you for being part of my life....

I'm not sure who to credit this poem to because when I looked it up there were about 3 or 4 people arguing that it was them so I'll just leave it as it is. Maybe if you're going through a sticky patch with a friend and you read this, it will help even in a small way.

Happy Anniversary to me!!

Once upon a time a young girl and a young guy met in a nightclub. Two weeks later he proposed but she turned him down (come on...two weeks!!!). Three more proposals and six months to the day they met they married on October 3rd 1983!!

I can't believe it's been a year since we celebrated our Silver Wedding Anniversary. This time last year Pierce was planning a holiday for us but wouldn't tell me where we were going. It wasn't until a week or so before we were going he handed me the tickets and brochure. I squealed like a stuck pig when I saw we were going to the Maldives and Dubai on the way back. To say Reethi Rah was like paradise would be the understatement of the year. I don't think anything can top it. See for yourself ....

Not sure why but I love the photo above

And of course I had to have some reading material LOL!

So that's my little trip down memory lane. Hope you enjoyed it...wish I was there right now as it's blowing a gale outside!

Catch ya later x