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Friday 31 December 2010

End of special offer

Goooooooooood morning peeps!

Just a quick reminder that today is the last day to take advantage of the Buy One get One Half Price sale as it ends at midnight!



As we leave 2010 and enter 2011 I would like to thank all my blogging friends for taking time out of their busy schedules to visit me and leave comments.

 Also my megamazing Ladybugs...I have THE best girls in the world on my team...Lisa, Tams, Anita, Michele, Gaelle, Hayley, Pinky, Sue and
Mary J.  Thank you girls from the bottom of my heart :-D

I've got a lot coming up in the early part of the New Year which I'll share next week.

So for now I want to wish you all a safe night tonight and a happy healthy New Year!

Catch ya next year xx

Wednesday 29 December 2010

Christmas pictures and reminders!

I haven't stepped foot in my workroom except to look longingly at my stash and walk back out again! Which means I don't have anything crafty to show you yet but thought I'd share some photos from Christmas day with you.


Here's Rocky looking in his Christmas bag. I had his and Ruby's sitting in my workroom the day before and they kept going in and staring up at them on the counter lol. They must have sensed/smelled the 10 tennis balls, chew ring, squeaky toy and chew bone.


Ben went up north to his parents so Nic stayed with us for the weekend. It was great having her back. Here she is talking to Ben while opening the presents he gave her.


Nic received some Nails Inc polishes and was doing her nails. Ruby settled down beside her...


...then offered her paw! I'm sure the polish isn't doggy friendly but Ruby never licked them once. She loved getting her nails done and is very proud of them lol.


It's always the quirky pictures I like best :-D

 

Here's me washing up (pre Christmas dinner clean up...everyone cleaned up after :-D) with my Domestic Goddess gloves that Suzy Q gave me. Nic and Ben gave me the slippers...they are sooooo cozy :-D


King Steven lol


and finally...me!


Now for the reminders. If you want to take advantage of the buy one get one half price stamp offer you've got until midnight on Friday to do so. Why not treat yourself so you can enter the LCI Challenges. We've got some flabulous entries for the Song Title Challenge...some songs I hadn't heard of in years...some real blasts from the past. The challenge closes at 9am on Monday 3rd January and it would be great to see more entries.


Lisa has her blogaversary candy to win and the closing date is January 16th. You can't win if you're not in!

I have a few exciting things to share with you next week ... I am extracited and am fit to burst but you'll have to wait lol.

I hope to find a spare hour tomorrow to play so hopefully I'll have something crafty to share with you.

Thanks for stopping by :-D

Catch ya later x

Sunday 26 December 2010

Favourite 5 Christmas Cards

Good morning! Hope you all had a lovely Christmas yesterday and you didn't eat or drink too much. I defintely ate too much and don't want to look at another piece of turkey or ham till next Christmas but unfortunatley I bought a turkey big enough to feed all of Glagow so it will be more turkey tonight and I'm sure there will be sandwhiches and soups along the way!



I saw on Lisa's blog today that Deb's is asking us to join her in picking our favourite 5 Christmas cards of 2010. I thought it would be fun so here are mine....

 
I know this isn't a card but I really like this Christmas list book I made using Christmas Log Ruby...I think it's the colours :-D


I really {heart} this card of Tracey decorating her reindeer. Again it's the colours I love.


This image always makes me chuckle. I made this for Jeanie (Magnum's her favourite!) when she agreed to be a GD for LCI

I picked this one purely because it took me 6 hours to make lol...and I love this image!


Deb's didn't say it had to be one of our own cards for our Top 5 so I picked this one that BFF made using Nikki and Buttercup Running in the Snow. This picture doesn't do it justice...the colours are so soft and mallowy and the Nitwits pp so pretty.

Why don't you join in over at Deb's with your Top 5 favourite Christmas cards and a chance to win some lovely candy?

Catch ya later x

Saturday 25 December 2010

Have a right Charlie of a Christmas

Merry Christmas Bloggers!





 
xxxx

Friday 24 December 2010

BFF's card...finally!

This is gonna be quick because it's well passed my bedtime but I wanted to post this card. This is BFF's card which was late cuz I was so disorganised but it finally arrived today. This is another one of those cards that looked one way in my head but turned out nothing like it lol.



I think Martini Nikki is my favourite one of my favourite LCI stamps (gotta be careful ...you never know if the other's are reading this!) She can be used for all sorts of occasions and age groups



Lots of glitter is a MUST!


And bling!


And my favourite flowers with bling!

Before I get going I want to thank you all for your support since I started up this crazy blogging business and especially for the last 4 months when I was forced  encouraged to start up the Design Team and the Challenge blog by Lisa and Tams. Your comments encourage us to push ourselves to do better each week. We've had some flabulous challenges and my Lovely Ladybugs and GD have rocked each one.

I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and hope you have a wonderful festive season.

Catch ya later xx

Tuesday 21 December 2010

TLT - Tam's Challenge - Song Title

Woo hoo everybody!!! It's TLT...Again! How does it come around so fast??? It must be because we're so busy running around getting ready for Christmas that it's here before we know it.

I loved this challenge by the one...the only...the gorgeous Tams. When Lisa asked us to pick our challenges a couple of months ago Tams chose Song Title. I had a quick squiz through my stamps and when my eyes fell on Bathtub Nikki there was only one song for it....but I'm not going to tell you lol. I'll let you have a guess and you can see what it is at the end of the post. Leave a comment and let me know if you got it right :-D There's no prize...just a little fun.

When I started my card the other day I had it in my head to look one way and by the time I finished, it looked nothing like it lol. But I must say I am ever so happy with the way it turned out. I could even have used it in Gaelle's Pearl challenge the other week. Anywho have a look and see what you think....


Ta dah! I wanted to use any colour other than pink as I think that would have been the obvious choice and Anita made a Bathtub Nikki card way back and there's no way mine would have come up to scratch so I went for turquoise and well turquoise lol. I've had this DCWV Linen Closet pad for ages and haven't used it nearly enough. The colours are so rich and luxurious and full of gorjossity :-D I used my EK Success bubble border punch...you can just make it out to the left...perfect for the theme. In my not so great wisdom and after my last success I decided to try and sew around the circle. It seemed to be taking ages when I realised I was using stitch size A...I hadn't changed the stitch size back to C so I had to go around the whole circle and it took FOR-EVAH! I think I must have blinked a couple of times (I try not to when I do the circles...I know I know) cuz I went a bit wonky a couple of times but I thought I'd point it out so you don't think I think it's perfect lol. Whadya thunk of my bow? And the pearls  bubbles ...absolutely bubblicious!



You can't tell but there's GA on the bubbles and the rim of Nikki's shower cap and GD on the cherries, sponge and Buttercup's bow


I wish I was in a bath right now {sigh}

 

And since it's all the craze and Mary J started it, I finished off the inside :-D

Now you probably wish I would just finish yakking about my card and announce who has won my Christmas gift from last weeks blog hop right?  Ok....thanks to the glass bowl and one son's hand the winner is.......


Woo hoo...Congratulations! Email me with your details at ladybugcraftsink@aol.com and I'll get your gorgeous crystals and surprise off to you :-D

You can check out all the winners on the Challenge Blog...who knows, it could be you!

Unfortunately this is our GD Jovita's last week with us as this is our last challenge until January 4 2011. Jovita has gifted us with her beautiful LCI cards this month and we've loved having her. Make sure you continue to visit Jovita's blog and leave her some Ladybug Love :-D

Since this is our last challenge for a couple of weeks, it gives you plenty of time to enter your Song Title card/project.

Oh and don't forget to check out Lisa's Blogaversary candy...there are two candy prizes on offer and she's promised no peel offs (unless I've made that up!)

Right...I'm off to have a look at everyone's Song Title woa (works of art). Hope you like Bathtub Nikki and enjoy listening to a snippet of Don Ho singing Tiny Bubbles.

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

Catch ya later x

Monday 20 December 2010

Sadie's birthday card

It was Sadie's 80th birthday on the 13th. It was touch and go whether we'd be able to celebrate because of the weather but we had a little lunch for her with her sister, niece, Nicole, my MIL and I at a restaurant. I bought helium balloons and sat them on either side of her chair. I also got her the obligatory Birthday Girl badge which she wore with pride! She had a lovely day and was well up for the celebrations!

This is the card I made for Sadie based on this card Jeanie had made.



I used another one of my Inky Antic stamps. I'm glad to say that Sadie loved her card :-D


Isn't she gorgeous lol



I wanted to use the Old Olive ribbon I have like this but it just didn't look right so I opted for the brown. This ribbon is brilliant for tying bows...totally idiot proof  (me not Jeanie lololol).

I'm no further forward with my Christmas preparations. I've got 28 cards in various stages. I thought I would get them finished but ended up watching the final of the Apprentice and talking to Lisa for over an hour!! I think we spent most of that time going in circles and confusing each other lol. Tree still hs one decoration BUT I did buy the ingredients for my Christmas baking...I just don't know when I'll fit it in!

Anywho, I'm pooped so I'm going to take the dogs out in the snow (we got another 3 inches today) then get to my bed.

The entries on the Challenge Blog are fantastic...you've only got till 9 am Monday to get your entry in and to send your answer in for the blog hop to win a prize.

Thanks for stopping by...I hope this week won't be too stressful for you!

Catch ya later x

Saturday 18 December 2010

Eeek...it's almost Christmas!

I know, I know...I've neglected my blog  lately but in my defence it is a busy time of year and like everyone I have a lot on. Time is steamrolling ahead and Christmas is exactly one week away..how the heck did that happen???

Before I start my rambling I want to wish BFF a very happy birthday! Happy Birthday Karen...hope you have a megamazing day :-D I can't show you her card because I've still got it lol. I tried to get to the PO today but failed miserably so you'll have to wait until she sees it first!

This past week was so jam packed that by Wednesday I'm sure I fell asleep standing up! My MIL arrived Monday morning and I tend to wait until hubby comes home before I disappear into my workroom. I hadn't had a chance to make my bloghop project until after dinner that night and by the time I made it, photographed/edited and posted it on my blog for the following morning it was almost 1am.

The bloghop was Tuesday...and what a bloghop it was! Didn't my girls do well! Judging by all the comments you enjoyed it and we've had some gorgeous entries for the challenge. Don't forget to send in your WOA (works of art lol) as you've only got until 9am Monday. Also each DT asked a question on their blog and the first letter of each answer (if you follow the blog in the correct order) spells out a Christmas word. Email your answer in to lcichallengeblog@aol.com for your chance to win one of their flabulous prizes. There will also be an overall winner who will get to choose a stamp of their choice :-D

MIL bullied me into putting my tree up on Wednesday but I haven't decorated it yet...except for Lisa's beautiful bauble she made for last weeks challenge. I read on Tuesday there was 8 days of snow ahead so MIL and I headed to Costco to get my turkey and ham then went to see Nicole at work before hubby picked MIL up to take her to the airport. By the time dinner was over I could barely string a sentence together (keep comments to yourself thank you lol) so decided it was early to bed for me. I managed to get one of the boys to take the dogs for their last walk and I was in my bed for just after 10...bliss! I'm sure I was asleep before my head hit the pillow and when I woke on Thursday it was the first time in months I didn't wake up tired.

The weather has disrupted mail deliveries all over the country and it took weeks for some of my birthday cards to arrive...even from the UK! I think most of them have arrived and I wanted to share them with you. Some you might have already seen on blogs but I've got them all together on this post. I'll warn you now that ALL the cards look so much nicer IRL. It's a pretty dull day here so even with Photoshop the cards are still a bit dark but you'll get to see them ok.

Here we go...


 BFF


Suzy Q



Suzy Q's hubby...long story lol


Hayley


Lisa


Tams


Agnes


Gaelle


Mary J


Sue


Anita


Pami (I added the dots at the bottom like you told me :-D)

Aren't they flabulous! Thank you everyone who took the time to make and send me a card :-D

It's the final of Strictly tonight and I CANNOT wait! I think I want Matt to win though I love Kara and Pamela too! Not sure what I'm going to do now I'm a Celebrity, X Factor and Strictly are finished. Maybe get some work done lol. I guess we have Dancing on Ice and Britain's Got Talent to look forward to in the new year :-D

Don't forget about the buy one get one 1/2 price stamp sale that ends December 31st. I know the mail is all over the place but you'll still have fun when it comes.


Lisa has some Blogaversary Candy to give away so why don't you go check it out. Apparently she's blaming ME for getting her into blogging...the cheek!!! Anywho, she's got 2 surprise prizes to give away...one for the winner and one for a crafter they nominate. All you have to do is leave a link to your favourite Christmas picture past or present and leave a comment. That's it!

If you've managed to get this far without falling asleep congratulations lol. I hope you have a great and safe weekend.

Catch ya later x

Tuesday 14 December 2010

It's TLT - Christmas Blog Hop and Guest Designer Jovita's Challenge - Winter Wonderland!

OMG..I'm so excited... The Christmas Blog Hop!! You should have arrived here from the start at the gorgeous Mary J where you will have picked up your first letter on the hunt to solve the hidden Christmas related word to win a prize. If you haven't head on back to get your letter :-D

Here are a reminder of the rules... First if you haven't already grab the bloghop banner for your blog (though you don't have to have a blog to win)
 As you go along you will see that each DT will ask a question. All you have to do is answer the question and take a note of the first letter of your answer. Once you have all the letters email us at lcichallengeblog@aol.com with the word you have spelt.
Ok, lets get on with the hop!!
This weeks challenge has been chosen by our lovely Guest Designer Jovita and she has chosen Winter Wonderland.

Here's my project...


I saw a coaster gift box tutorial by Taylor VanBruggen on SCS a while back and have been waiting for the right time to try it out.  I changed it up a little bit by using jute instead of ribbon to 'tie' it together. I also covered both sides of the coasters.


You can see how I've tied it together from this angle


I filled the inside with of the gift box with  irridescent straw and filled a candy bag with my favourite Lindt chocolate balls (yummy), tied the bag with jute and sat it on top of the straw.


I inked up Tom and the Reindeer and coloured him with my Copics. Poor Reindeer looks a bit blotchy...I just wasn't getting my blending right :-( I used Swarovski jet crystals for the snowman's buttons, glitter on his hat and scarf and Fluffy Stuff on the trim of the hats and Tom's coat and boots. I didn't have small enough crystals for Toms buttons so I faked them by colouring them black and adding a dab of Glossy Accents.

So what do you think? I hope you like it and it inspires you to try it
yourself :-D

This is my gift to one lucky blog hopper ...


...5 beautiful colours (clear, pale rose, rose, amethyst, aquamarine) of  2mm and 3mm and 3mm emerald and siam Swarovski crystals. The surprise will be in the parcel when it arrives in your post box :-D

And here is my question....What is Graceful Ruby skating on?

Got it? Ok, write down the first letter of your answer and head on over to the lovely Sue to get some more inspiration and the next letter. Good luck!!!

Oh, and once you get back to the Challenge blog make sure you check to see if you're one of the winners from last weeks challenge...it could be you!


Hope you have great fun on the hop :-D

Catch ya later x

Friday 10 December 2010

Still on a high

Goooooooood mooooooorning everyone! How are you all doing? I'm doing great. I had THE bestest birthday yesterday and I want to thank everyone for their wishes. My phone was ringing, pinging and zinging all day lol.
Sadly  :-( Postman Steve never made it because of the weather so I didn't get any of the cards I'm being asked if I got or not. I'm hoping since we had a bit of a thaw yesterday and overnight that I will have an avalanche of cards to open today :-D

My day started with my annual phone call from our friend Peter back home in Vancouver. Apart from  December 9th being my birthday it was also 26 years at 8:30 am that Nicole and I landed on Scottish soil! I'm sure the story is somewhere on my blog so if you have nothing better to do (yeah right!) you can have a seach. Basically Peter worked for BA (ground staff) all those years ago and he was instrumental in getting Nic, myself and 42 pieces of luggage to Scotland in one piece! He's only missed one year and he got into such trouble for it that he's been terrified not to ever since lol.

From them on the phone didn't stop ringing. Nicole called to say she had a surprise for me and wanted to know what time I'd be in town. Now for some idiotic reason I thought maybe Donny was in town and was having lunch with us (and no you are not too young Suzy Q to know who Donny is! I'm sure you were more a David Cassidy groupie lol) ... I did say idiotic! I managed to get the train into town and slushed and slid my way to her work. Upon arriving she told me she'd arranged for me to have a manicure! Can I tell you right now that daughters are flabulous and everyone should have at least one lol. I went off for my manicure and she met up with me later where she bought me my first Gingerbread latte of the season yum! Nic didn't have enough time for lunch so we had a quick look around the shops then went our separate ways. I did a bit of Christmas shopping and I must say I got a little bit more in the festive mood.

I grabbed my favourite sandwhich out of Pret a manger....turkey, stuffing, cranberry and crispy onions...on the way to the train...I haven't had one of those in years and it was flab! My first train was cancelled but me and a hundred others caught the next one. We were like sardines but at least we got home. Nic and Ben picked up a takeaway on their way home from work and Pierce got a pavlova for a birthday cake. I had such a sugar rush when I went to bed I couldn't sleep lol.

So that was my birthday...over for another year. But I guess you don't really want to read all that...you want to know who won my Birthday Present giveaway. You guys gave me a giggle with your comments and the cheques are in the post for those who were super kind guessing my age. Wasn't too happy with 49 but then I set myself up didn't I lol. I was born December 9, 1963 so that makes me 47. I was a child bride...married at 19!

So the winner chosen by the random generator ie glass bowl is......


Patty said...

Happy Birthday...like some of the others I will say going by the number of years you have been married you are 47....but I will say...you are not old you are well preserved! LOL! I became a new follower a few weeks ago!


Congratulations Patty!!!! Send me an email with your address and I'll get your prize off to you :-D

I'm hoping to have something to show you later so make sure you check back.

Thanks again...have a great day!

Catch ya later x

Thursday 9 December 2010

Happy Birthday Donny ...oh yeah, and me too!!

Happy birthday to me
Happy birthday to me
Happy birthday to meeeeee
Happy birthday to me!

So you'll have guessed it's my birthday today and of course Donny Osmond's too {swoon} and to celebrate I'm giving away a little birthday present from me to one of you :-D All you have to do to win is add yourself as a follower (if you're not already), leave me a comment and tell me how old I am. Boy, talk about leaving myself wide open ... just be kind ok lol!

Here's the present you can win...


Since it's my birthday it's birthday themed. There's Cupcake Ruby, Birthday Nikki and Birthday Robyn. There's also 4 spools of ribbon, pink, turquoise, clear and purple epoxy dots and a bag of multi coloured buttons.

Doesn't matter where in the world you live you can enter and I'll mail it to you. There's no excuse not to enter cuz you've nothing to lose!!! I'll announce the winner at 9am (or there abouts) tomorrow. Good luck!

Catch ya later x

Tuesday 7 December 2010

TLT - Gaelle's Challenge - Pearls & A New Guest Designer for December

Happy TLT peeps!! Yes, it's that time again...can you believe it? We've got a flab challenge from Gaelle...pearls...and we've got our December Guest Designer Jovita's debut today! Please make her feel welcome when you visit her blog :-D

I killed 3 birds with one stone with my card today lol. First obviously was Gaelle's pearl challenge, second it's my friend Alma's 40th birthday today (I still have the card!) and third I wanted to try Jeanie's sketch from the Card Patterns Weekly Sketch.

I'm not all that about it (it is growing on me) but this is what I came up with...


I think it's the pp that's throwing me and it's not often I feel like that about Bo Bunny! Since it was for a 40th I thought I'd ink Winestool Nikki up. I coloured her with my Copics and if I do say so myself I think she looks pretty sensational lol.


I {heart} glittering up this dress


Oops...just spotted her missing earring! Just as well I haven't given it to Alma yet lol

The Ladybugs have come up with some flabulous inspiration for you so make sure you go to their blogs and check them out. Also check the Challenge Blog to see if you're a winner (you're all winners but you know what I mean lol)! This was a great challenge and I would love to see your entries so dig out those pearls and join in the fun :-D



Next week is the Christmas Blog Hop so you will NOT want to miss that. There are going to be some megalicious prizes that I would love to win lol.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great TLT :-D

Catch ya later x

ps as I type this (Monday at 20:50pm) the boys have finally started moving on the motorway. They have been stuck since 11am. I don't think they'll be home before midnight. Please be careful on the roads.

Edit: The boys finally got home safely at 12:08 this morning (they left the house at 6:30am)  I've never seen bigger smiles than theirs when they were walking down the driveway. They said it was a total nightmare but they kept busy singing and playing games. At one point they didn't move for 6 hours. They were extremely low on gas but finally managed to fill up late last night and make the jouney home. Their friend Luke was driving. He only has a small car (that is meant as a comparison to a lot of the 4 x 4's on the road) and yes they were only travelling at 10 miles an hour at times but the conditions were horrendous (you only have to watch the news to see) and he did amazing to get them all home safe and sound and I'm just so thankful. The weather caught everyone by surprise and I hope this experience will get the proper facilities arranged for the next time so as to avoid the same chaos.