TLT - GD Caz's Challenge - Colour Wheel

My oh my...it's TLT already! These weeks are flying in...can't believe we're on our 5th challenge :-D

Today is our Guest Designer Caz's challenge but it's also Caz's last week with us. We've really enjoyed having Caz with us and she has put up with us amazingly well lol. Her work has been flabulous and we are delighted she agreed to be our November GD. Thank you Caz and we wish you all the best with your crafting  :-D

Ok, on to the challenge..the Colour Wheel. The idea is to pick your favourite colour/the one you go to the most and then look at the colour opposite...that's the colour you have to work with. If it's your second favourite colour you're lucky...if it's your worst too bad lol. Now I can tell you there were a lot of moans and groans from the team ... I'm not sure many of us got a colour we like...me included.

My favourite colour is purple so I had to work with yellow...blech!!! I could feel panic rise but I had a look through my pp and found a small piece of Imaginesce that I loved...and yes it was predominately yellow!!! This is what I came up with....

I enjoyed making the calendar and notepad tin so much for the crop I wanted to use another tin. I hummed and hawed over what I wanted to put in the tin...one minute it was chocolates (the flattest I could find lol) the next it was jewellery. I finally decided on a set of note cards.

I managed to make a set of 4 notecards which fit comfortably but I'm sure I could get away with 6

I wanted to use an image that hasn't seen ink in a while and finally decided on Day Off Ruby. You can just about see the pale yellow glitter on her wings.

I coloured her robe but wasn't too happy with it then remembered I had some yellow flock. It's hard to see but it's a flabulous texture :0D

 I'm going to get more stick from Tams and probably reported for GBH for all the bruises she gets from falling over after seeing my cards and projects covered in flowers as I'm not a great lover of them BUT I can make an exception for these made with my Die-namics die from MFT. I LOVE them :-D

Ta dah! This is what the inside looks like...

I 'd like to enter this into the following challenges:

For Fun Challenges - Anything Goes

Inktegrit Design Team Challenge - Anything Goes

Paper Cutz Challenge Blog - Anything Goes

Papertake Weekly Challenge - Cut it Out

Woodware USA Clear Stamp Challenge - Anything Goes

So....what do you thunk? I'm really happy with the way it turned out :-D

You just gotta check out the rest of the DT's efforts...one word...magnifilicious!!!

Sadly it's the last week of Pami, the winner of the Guest Designer spot in Challenge 3. Her enthusiasm for the past two weeks has been infectious and she has slotted in to the mad house with ease. Make sure you check out her amazing work and leave her some Ladybug Love to show your appreciation.

The winners are posted on the Challenge Blog...could it be you? Well...don't hang around...check it out!!!! Congratulations to all the winners.

If you want to take advantage of saving 15% off purchases in the LCI store you've only until 11:55 pm tonight...just put in the code CB2010 and the discount will be applied on checkout :-D

Finally December brings a new special offer. Do you want to know what it is? Nah...I'm not telling...just kidding lol. For the month of December if you buy one stamp at full price you get a 2nd half price (cheaper stamp is 1/2 price)!!! If you buy two stamps at full price you get 2 half price and so on and so on. How's that for you? It's all set up at the store so from 9am December 1 until 11:55pm December 31 you can take advantage of this great offer.

That's it folks...hope you enjoy looking at the DT's challenges. Don't forget to leave some Ladybug Love...we love to know what you think of our efforts.

Thanks for stopping by..have a great TLT.

Catch ya later x

Crop pictures

I spoke too early on Friday night when I was doing my scheduled post for Saturday. I said we hadn't any snow but it probably wasn't far away. In fact by the time I'd clicked 'post' and got the dogs outside the snow started! It wasn't too bad while we were out but once we got in it was like a snow storm. I really wasn't sure if the crop was going to go ahead so when I woke up at 7 and looked outside I knew there would be some traffic probems. I text everyone and in the end we all made it. Elaine even managed to stop and pick up the apple and cinnamon scones while I went in the other direction to pick up Suzy Q. That's true crafters for you lol.

Alison, our official photographer, snapped away and these are the results in no particular order ...

Annette with tea, Chris, Sheena' back, part of Julie, Lynn's side and Elaine's profile!

Chris, Julie & newbie Suzy Q (look how tidy everything is!)

Lynn doing her thang with crystals

LOL...she did it!!!

Me taking a picture of Alison

Elaine moi and Sheena

There's always one! We were making the rolled flowers and Julie (on left) held the unrolled pieces to look like Madonna (if you know what I mean) but was too shy for a picture. Ummm...not me lol. Not the most flattering picture...hair definitely shoulda been washed lol.

The group concentrating hard

Annette sucking a soor plum?

Me actually getting work done!

Lynn, Elaine & Sheena

It was great fun as usual. I think Suzy Q coped incredibly well and had severe face ache after only 5 minutes in Lynn's company (she is hilarious!) Speaking of Lynn...Happy Birthday girlfriend!!!!! Everyone seemed to like the project...especially Lynn :-D The next crop won't be until at least February as I've got quite a heavy workload until then. I'll share it all with you in the coming weeks :-D

I do have a bit of exciting news that I can share with you right now though.... I am sponsoring the Sweet Stampin Challenge Blog December 4th!! The lovely Carrie got in touch with me a while back asking if I'd like to sponsor one of the challenges and I said of course! Make sure you you check out their blogs. There's some amazingly talented ladies with flabulous cards.

You've only till tomorrow midnight to take advantage of the 15% discount at Ladybug Crafts Ink store so don't be disappointed. Insert the code CB2010 and the discount will show at the checkout.

We've had some stunnalicious entries for this weeks challenge. Make sure you check in tomorrow to see if you're a winner of a stamp of your choice or top 3.

I think that's it for now. Don't forget it's TLT tomorrow and I can promise you some gorgeous cards for inspiration :-D

Thanks for stopping by...be careful in the snow!

Catch ya later xx

It's Crop Time!

Thank goodness for scheduled posting lol!

This is what we're making at the crop today. Didn't want the girls to see what they're doing so waited till today to show you :-D

I saw this on Andrea Walford's blog and fell in love with it. I don't even know how I came across Andrea but so glad I did.

I ordered the pad and calendars from Andrea back in September and the tins from a company in Canada not long after. Thinking I was saving on postage I had them shipped to my sister Shelly and she sent them to me. After all that I think the tins worked out at £10 each and the notepads and calendars about about the same lol!!! But what does £ matter when it's something you really love right?

I hope the girls will like this and enjoy making it. I could kick myself because I only ordered 10 of the notepads and calendars and when I tried to order more she was sold out and not getting any more in. I can't find them anywhere else as she's designed the calendar to fit the tin. Maybe that's something I can do some day :-D.

Ok..I gotta go. Hope you have a great weekend...be careful in that snow! For some reason it hasn't hit us here in Glasgow but I'm sure it's just around the corner.

Catch ya later x

A Post...finally!!

Wednesday and Thursday passed by in a blur...not sure really what happened to them but obviously I was far too busy to blog! I don't like missing a day if I can help it but sometimes it can't be helped. Yesterday is a bit more clear than the day before. Ruby had her appointment with the surgeon. I had it in my head her appointment was at 11am so we set off at 10. I really wanted to stop at Stirling services to get a Costa coffee flat white but didn't want to be late so carried on. We arrived just before 11 and made ourselves known only to be told 'Ruby's appointment isn't until 11:30'! (it didn't even cross my mind to look at my calendar!) I know it was only 30 minutes but all I thought about was that coffee lol. Of course those were the first words out of my mouth and without hesitating the lovely receptionist offered to make me one! How nice was that! I probably should have declined but as I was the only one waiting and the phones were quiet I accepted...milk and half a sugar please :-D

Luke was really pleased with Ruby and didn't seem overly concerned when I told him my worries ie her spasms and occasionally dragging her back leg when in the harness. The good news is we have to use the harness for only another 10 days and we can go for 2 x 10 minutes walks a day!!! Woo hoo...I can tell you we're both extremely happy with that last bit of news :-D Our first walk yesterday afternoon was more like she was taking ME for a walk lol. She was tearing up the street like a maddie and I had to run to keep up with her. She was none too pleased when her 10 minutes were up!

Rocky hasn't been himself lately. Because I have to keep Ruby from jumping around with him he goes to doggy daycare during the week. I think he's a bit depressed and is quite mopey. Normally he's flying around like the Tazmanian Devil so I'm feeling a bit sad for him. I'm going to pick him up a bit early today and take him to CB on the way home. Hopefully that will cheer him up a bit :-D

I do have a card to share with you today. It's not the kind I like to make...in fact I don't think any of us like to make but it had to be done. A mutual friend of Suzy Q and I lost her husband a few weeks ago and I had been avoiding making her a card....not because I didn't want to but I never feel I do a sympathy card justice. Then there's the thought of what sentiment to put on it...'with sympathy' just doesn't feel enough.

When I saw Michele's post I new I couldn't put it off any longer so this is what I came up with...

My sister Tracey gave me this SU! set Happy Harmony a couple of years ago because I LOVE this 'flower'. I call it a puff ball...I know it's a dandelion weed really. When I was younger I used to love picking them and blowing the 'puff' and watching them floating in the air. Of course the neighbors weren't too happy when they ended up with more weeds in their yard  than usual!

I probably made more work for myself but I stamped  the image on kraft cs using SU! markers then typed the sentiment on the computer and ran the stamped image through the printer. I was kind of guessing the position and was surprised when I got it right first time...don't you love it when that happens :-D I sewed and distressed the cs and added the twine and button though not quite sure about the button.

I added a bit of yellowy glitter the middle of the puffs and that was the card finished. I really like the sentiment. I saw it on a PTI set but didn't have it so had to make do with the computer. I think the sentiment lends it to so many different  occassions and I will be using it very soon in another card which I'll share with you later.

I've an exciting day tomorrow. It's crop day!!! It will be the last one until February so I have made an extra special make and take for the girls. I'm sooooo excited about it and I know the girls will love it (at least I hope they do!). Suzy Q is making her debut...not sure if she knows what she's letting herself in for as we can get quite loud but it's all fun and I know she'll enjoy herself.

We've had some flabulous entries for this weeks challenge but we'd like MORE lol. You've got 9am Monday to get your entries in. Another reminder that the discount code CB 2010 expires on Tuesday. If you want to take advantage of a 15% discount you can do that here!

 That's it for me today. I've a lot to catch up on and get everything ready to put in the car for tomorrow. Wouldn't it be awful if I forgot the M & T!!!!  Hope you have a great weekend whatever you do :-D

Catch ya later x

It's TLT - Michele's Challenge - Sketch

Hello and happy Tuesday...TLT to be exact! Yes it's that time again :-D Thank you to everyone who has entered our challenge from last week. You have all done an amazing job and it was so hard to pick the winner and the top 3. Make sure you check out if it's you on the Challenge Blog.

The winner of last weeks challenge was Pami. Her prize was a stamp of her choice and a 2 week Guest Designer post and today is her first week. Make sure you head over to her blog and see her beautiful cards and projects. I can promise you won't be disappointed!

This week it's our lovely Michele's turn and she chose the sketch below (not sure why it's blurry?).

I really enjoyed doing this sketch as the last couple sent me into a right tizzy! Once I chose Dancing Nikki for my image I was off lol.

I LOVE colouring in Dancing Nikki (this would be a fantastic image for a prom card!)...her dress is gorgeous and floaty. I chose to use Swarovski crystals for the borders. You can't really tell the colour but they're Khaki and of course look so much better IRL :-D

 I decided to hold back on the glitter (yes this is me holding back lol)...I was so tempted to glitter up her whole dress but just sparkled the top and a little bit at the bottom.

I {heart} this flower! I saw one on Meahni's blog a few weeks back and my heart skipped a beat...I knew I had to make them too. It's a Die-namics die from MFT and so much fun to make. The first couple are a bit fiddly but once you get the hang of it they're easy. You can just about see the sparkle I sprayed on it.

Make sure you visit the other Ladybugs blogs to see their interpretation of the sketch...they're all flabulous!! Sue has got something extra special :-D

You've got exactly one week left to take advantage of the 15% discount using the code CB2010 in the Ladybug Crafts Ink online store. They would make a great stocking stuffer and don't forget there's free postage WORLD WIDE for orders over £20!!

That's it for today. I hope you enjoy the Lovely Ladybugs cards and will leave some Ladybug Love :-D

Thanks for stopping by...have a great TLT!

Catch ya later x

Nothing crafty but look at this...

The days are passing in a blur...it's Saturday again...5 weeks till you know what and I haven't done a thing for it! I don't even want to think about it for now but it's hard when IT'S everywhere and has been since July! Boy do I sound Bah Humbug lol!!!

I haven't got anything crafty to show you today as such. I have a sample but I've got to keep it under wraps for now but all will be revealed soon!

Instead I've got some goodies to show you that Postman Steve brought me this morning. I was so excited when the doorbell rang as it could only mean one thing...whatever PS had for me wouldn't fit through my mail slot which could only mean one thing...my SU! goodies had arrived!!!!

Take a look at this gorgeousness...

Ok...I need a bit of oxygen now lol...how delicious does this look! I ALMOST forgot what I had ordered... New designer pp, Cherry Cobbler cs and ink pad. Stamps, a punch AND new RIBBON!!!

This is the lush new ribbon...stitched poly in Blushing Bride and Pear Pizazz. The two smaller rolls you can barely see are the new colours of  1/8" taffeta in very vanilla and one of my favourite SU! colours....Old Olive!!! The other colours in the stitched poly are gorgeous and they're next on my list :-D

I saw a technique on a blog last night that I'm itching to try so I'm going to do that just now before I head out with a delivery. Have a lot to cram in before Strictly and X Factor. If (W)Vagner doesn't go tonight I'm not going to be a happy camper...he does my head in as does Louis' smugness.  Matt or Rebecca to win woot woot!!!! Though I do have a marmite situation with Cher.

Anywho thanks for stopping by today. Hope you have a great weekend :-D

Catch ya later x

More Jack's and birthday piccies...

Another flabulous challenge week. I know I say it every week but my girl's (not sure where the ' should go if at all to make it plural...anal I know!) done good! Congratulations to the winners...especially to Pami who will be joining us as Guest Designer for two weeks. If you haven't already, check out her blog...she's been making these gorgeous little boxes for Christmas presents and I think anyone on the receiving end of one of these little beauties will be over the moon!

I received a parcel in the mail on Friday from Gaynor and Ann with some more samples. I just love everything they do and they've used one of my favourite pp's. They are so soft and subtly coloured and just so scrumpdillyicious. Take a look....

Embossing the image is just brilliant...I did do one card like this but must remember to do it more often. It adds a bit more interest to the card :-D

Somehow I managed to delete most of the pictures I took from Nicole's birthday dinner on Monday night so this is what I was left with...

It was an M & S cake...it was so yummy and we had no problem finishing it off...the last piece vanished yesterday but not before Suzy Q and I had a piece when she popped in for a coffee :-D

Ruby's getting her stitches out later today...I hope it's not too painful for her. I'm a bit worried as she seems to be favouring her back leg a bit...it sometimes gives way when I've got her in the harness. I hope she hasn't done any damage but climbing the stairs and darting across the room when I'm not looking! I'll see what my local vet says and although Ruby has an appointment next week with the surgeon I won't hesitate to take her earlier if my vet is concerned.

Anywho, that's it for today. I hope you've had a good week so far...TGIF tomorrow!!

Catch ya later x

TLT - Sue's Challenge - Christmas Sparkle

Boy oh boy...these weeks are flying by and I can't believe it's another TLT Challenge. It seems just like yesterday that it was Anita's ribbon challenge!

Today is the lovely Sue's turn and she chose Christmas Sparkle. Well, that's a no brainer for me as I LOVE sparkle! You might be surprised at the image I chose but there's a reason for it. Friends of ours are going to Australia and New Zealand over Christmas and New Year...in fact they're leaving on the 8th of December and as you know while we'll be shivering in the cold here in the UK they will be warm and toasty having barby's on the beach! I wonder if you can cook a turkey on a bbq lol. As they're leaving so early Sal's decided not to send any Christmas cards and hopes people will do the same with them. Me being me I wanted to send one and when I knew what Sue's challenge was set about figuring out what I could do for their card. This is what I came up with....

 Magnum & Lily on Holiday!!! LOL...see I told you you'd be surprised :-D I think it's pretty cool though didn't quite match up to what I had in my head. You're probably wondering where the sparkle is but if you click on the picture you'll see the sand is made of glitter and actual Australian sand that Nicole brought back from her travels. Also the snowflakes are punched from glitter card, the drinks and umbrellas are glittered as are the coconuts on the palm tree and the sails of the boats. I decided there still wasn't enough sparkles so drew lines of glue down the stripes of the paper and sprinkled with glitter and added some Swarovski crystals to the centre of the snowflakes. What I really wanted to do was glitter up Lily's deck chair but thought she might look even more lost on it than she already is lol.

These two look cooler than cool!

Here you can see the glittered lines on the pp and the snowflakes with their crystals.

To see the rest of the Lovely Ladybug DT cards head on over to the CHALLENGE BLOG where you can see their gorgeous creations and see who won the prize of a LCI stamp, badge and a 2 week guest spot!

Thank you to all of you who entered...I'm glad I didn't have to pick the winners!

Have a great day...thanks for stopping by :-D

Catch ya later x

PS This is my 2nd post today so make sure you scroll down to see the first

Birthday Girl!

Happy birthday to my gorgeous Nicole!

I can't believe she's 26 today...she was only 3 weeks old when we moved to Scotland. She's working today but I'm going to take the train into Glasgow and meet her on her lunch break. Ben is the assistant manager (soon to be manager next month!) at Yo Sushi in Fraser's and has invited us there. I'm not a great lover of sushi but I'm sure I'll find something I like lol!

This is her card using Make A Wish Nikki...

There's a post to follow...wonder what it could be lol. Good luck to everyone who entered last weeks challenge...there's some beauties there!

Catch ya later x

Monday Treat!

If I hadn't made a card for a couple of months I think I'd need some jumper cables to get my creative juices flowing again but I don't think Jeanie's 2 months sabbatical has affected her mojo one bit! Maybe it's her new craft studio that has helped? Take a look at this beauty...

This has to be one of my favourite stamps...I just love Tracey decorating the reindeer. As usual Jeanie's colouring is amazing and OMG look at that bow!!! I think she should enter it in the challenge lololololol. Thank you Jeanie for another megamazing card!

Thank you for all your good wishes for Jean. We had a nice visit and Carol managed to make it after her work. Jean liked her card, cupcakes and balloons but was a bit put out I had included a balloon with 70 on it lol. The best bit was I had arranged for my dad and Uncle Jimmy (Jean and my dad's other brother) to call my mobile while I was visiting. Jean hadn't spoken to Uncle Jimmy since before she was hospitalized and she's especially close to him. It was wonderful watching her face when she realised it was him and they had a great chat. She was quite emotional when she said goodbye but hopefully it will spur her on even more to get better. Next came my mom and dad's call and all in all I think I left her pretty happy :-D My dad said to me after the call he couldn't believe the difference and I think he's still in shock.

The winners of the ribbon challenge will be announced tomorrow as well as bringing a new one. Thank you so much to everyone for entering...you've all done an amazing job.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Catch ya later x

Who would have thought it?

I'm going to visit Jean this afternoon. She'll have been in hospital about 14 weeks now and I can't believe it's the same person I visit now from all those weeks ago.

The day my dad left to go home to Vancouver we were told by a doctor there was nothing more they could do for her. Once she had stabilized they would send her down to High Dependency and there she would stay until the end. She was on a 'do not resucitate' order as they didn't think it would be fair on her only for that to be lifted weeks later then reinstated the next day. We (her friend Carol and I) have had 3 calls to say she'd taken a turn for the worse and we rushed to the hospital only to see her rally. She's had a burst bowel, 2 heart attacks, a stroke and umpteen infections. She's had us in fits of giggles with hallucinations from the drugs...she told me the flats outside her window were sh**e because they'd collapsed 3 times in one day!

Well today she's in a normal ward and I'm taking her some balloons, cupcakes and a birthday card because it's her 70th birthday on Tuesday...a day we didn't think we'd see. Until she took ill, Jean and I didn't have a relationship. We never got on for one reason or another and we only ever saw each other if my mom and dad were over visiting or she and I were coincidentally in Vancouver at the same time. When she first took ill I was obviously taking my dad to visit her...he thought he was over to say his goodbyes. When dad went home I continued to visit her for his sake and also because I felt sorry for her. She doesn't have a family of her own and she's always been a bit of a loner so has few friends.

But now I'm finding myself looking forward to seeing her and so happy to see her getting better. We have a laugh and we're getting to know each other. She has a long long way to go ... possibly another 6 months in hospital and even then she'll have to move into sheltered housing...but she continues to surprise everyone with her fight for life and Carol and I swear if she was a cat she'd have very few lives left!

When I was thinking of her card I knew I wanted to use one of my Inky Antics stamps. I love these images and I thought this one was perfect for Jean....

I'm really happy with the way this has turned out though the picture doesn't do it justice. IRL the colours are gorgeous.  

I just love this lady though I can't imagine Jean ever wearing an outfit like this lol.

Her hat was just begging to sparkle :-D

I used some of the 'ribbon' I got at Zoe Bunny's recently and cut a flower (yes Tams, Hayley & Lisa another flower lol) using my Nesties and felt. I added a button and a couple of Swarovski crystals to the centre.

I hope Jean likes her card and her birthday bits and pieces.

Thanks for stopping by.

Catch ya later x

Funny old day...

 ... I had yesterday. I spent the whole morning on the computer and phone trying to organise a business trip for next year (more on that later). I'd forgotten to send in some artwork and text that was due that day for a retail magazine so was kindly reminded to do that. I was due to go to lunch with Nicole as I hadn't seen her since she got engaged last Sunday {did I tell you I was going to be a MIL lol} and was waiting for her to pick me up. While I was waiting Ruby decided she didn't want to lay down all day anymore and climbed upstairs to see me which as a BIG no no. It didn't seem like I got much done but on reflection I did accomplish quite a lot. Do you ever get days like that?

Luckily I had a couple of cards I made during the week waiting in the wings to post. Here's the first one....

Don't be fooled by the date ..it's not a typo...I only got asked to make this baby card just recently lol. It was for my friends brother's new baby. She'd asked me to make a card for the first two and for some reason forgot to ask for the third until her SIL asked her for one!

For all that I love the SU! baby stamps and the Penny Black bears I've been using lately I wanted something different. Digi stamps are all the rage so I did a bit of googling and found this one at Sweet'n Sassy Stamps which I love. It comes with the sentiment 'Welcome Precious Baby' underneath the image but I knew I was going to put my own text and printed it without it. I embossed the base card using my Scor-pal. I love doing this and think it makes the card look soft and pillow-like.

 I love this image...think it's super cute :-D

To add a bit of interest I printed the image out twice and cut out the tree leaves and raised them with foam pads. A bit of glitter here and there ... ok...a bit of glitter everywhere and it's done!!

I'm off to the hairdressers after I've taken Rocky to CB. I really miss taking them for nice long walks though with the weather as bad as it's been I guess I haven't missed it that much! I'm only taking Ruby out for the toilet and back in. It's getting harder and harder to steer her in the direction of the house. She looks up the street and you can tell she just wants to make a run for it lol. The surgeon phoned yesterday to see how she was. I thought she might be able to go for a 5 or 10 minute walk soon but she's got to wait 3 weeks!!! I'm just allowed to take her out in her harness for the toilet breaks. If she could speak I can only imagine what she would say!

I hope you have a great Saturday. I'm hoping my SU! goodies arrive while I'm out so I can start on my Christmas cards :-D

Thanks for stopping by.

Catch ya later x