Ladybug Crafts Ink

TLT - Julie's Challenge - Loves Me Loves Me Not

2012-01-31T09:00:00.011Z

Boy oh boy have I got a lot to share with you today so grab a coffee and just hope I don't forget anything!

First I have to tell you about the bribery I've been subjected to, not by one but THREE GD's! It happens ALMOST every time...you get GD's in and they don't want to leave so if they're not begging or pleading to stay they start bribing and offering all sorts...papers, ribbons, Nesties, Cricuts even holidays to tropical destinations but there's NO WAY I'd succumb to to those shenanigans, no way Jose. I don't know why they don't just say 'hey Queen Whiplash' (it's not what you think!) is there any chance of a permanent spot on the DT? And I would say, you bet! Seemple lol. So what I'm getting at is the Ladybugs and I have promoted Diane, Sally AND Catherine to permanent Ladybugs and let me tell you...they've certainly earned their wings! Welcome to the madhouse girlies :-D

Next is we have added a 2nd prize to the pot for the challenges which will start with the February 14th challenge. So along with the overall challenge winner and 3 Top 3's there will now be a prize for an entry using an LCI image! Cool huh?

We had some fabulicious entries this past fortnight...thank you to everyone that took the time to enter. If you head over to the Challenge Blog you can see if you're one of the winners.

Ok...I think we can get started with today's challenge which has been chosen by my Lovely Ladybug Julie and she has chosen Loves Me Loves Me Not. I kinda went a different avenue...I went for 'Loves Me' and the love for a friend.

The friend I made my card for was my best friend in high school Sandra and she passed away a year ago tomorrow aged only 46. I can't believe it's been a year already :-( I was devastated when I heard as I had only talked to her a few weeks before and although she was in hospital at the time we spoke I expected to see her when I went home in the May. We were inseparable for years and when I moved to Scotland we saw each other when I went home and if we didn't manage for one reason or the other we always picked up where we left off the next time we met. I was tidying up a box the other day and came across a letter and card Sandra made for me a few years ago. It took a while before I was able to read it but when I did it was just like she was there in the room with me. Boy do I miss her.

There's only one image I could use and I used to to make a card for Sandra when I heard she had passed...BFF Phoebe & Olivia. Here's what I came up with...

For some reason whenever I look at this image it reminds me of the two of us although we were a bit older than these two when we met.

I saw on the MFT blog a couple of weeks ago one of the DT had used burlap to make rolled flowers...fabulicious! Of course I was on the case straight away but couldn't find any...it's probably called something else here (hessian comes to mind?) but I've put an order in to DLS and she's been to Fabricland and is sending some over :-D In the meantime, when I was in Craft World last week I had a brainwave and after a little search I found some 100% cotton embroidery stuff. Stuff??? I've had a total brain freeze and can't for the life think of what to call it lol. What do you think? I LOVE it and need to buy more because it's almost finished!

The sentiment speaks for itself

I've finally got into the tucking hearts behind the image (Catherine is the Queen of Hearts!)...these are Cheerylynn (you get a set of two) and are totally gorgeous

So that's my card....I hope you like it.

Believe it or not I have more news and I thunk you're gonna love it...we have a new release along with a bloghop and you only have to wait a fortnight to see it!!! I'm so excited I can't stand it lol. A few or all of the Ladybugs may or may not show a sneak peek over the next two weeks just to tease you a little or possibly work you up into a frenzy of anticipation lol.

OMG...did I mention I was excited? I love these new images and I hope you will too...I cannot wait for you to see them. In the mean time here you go....

Well??? Isn't it stunnalicious lol!!! Can you guess what it is? Well you only have a fortnight to wait but I've got a few more sneak peeks to tease you with until then so try and be patient :-D

Last but not least you've only a few hours to take advantage of the 1/2 price sale which ends at midnight. A few stamps have sold out but hopefully you're favourites are still there :-D

Ok...that's it. Make sure you check out the other Ladybugs blogs and leave them some love...their makes are fabarooni! Lisa finally got her Cricut sorted and she's been creating up a storm :-D

Thanks for stopping by

Catch ya later x

Last 2 Days!!!

2012-01-30T08:25:00.000Z

Just a reminder that you've only got 2 days left (ends midnight tomorrow) to take advantage of the 1/2 price sale!!

I'll be back later with a card :-D

Wii anyone?

2012-01-28T15:24:00.001Z

Well howdy Peeps....how's your weekend been so far? Mine's been pretty good...finally got my Wii set up during the week and tackled it for the first time yesterday. I hoola'd, jogged, stepped and boxed and today I Zumba'd my butt off lol. That's probably not true but I had great fun getting all tangled up and at the end was pretty breathless though as I told Ladybug Laurie that was probably due to the exertion of untangling myself lol. I am pleased that when I went through the set up my 'Wii age' is 43... woo hoo...lost 5 years just like that!!

Some wedding news....I've got my outfit!!!! You might remember this picture below....

well it AINT'T that lol. Nicole was the only one that seemed to think I looked amazing in it but I'm happy to say I have something a lot classier and classic and it really suits me:-D Of course I can't show it to you just yet but you'll see the pictures soon enough ;-D

Nic, Ben, his mom and I are heading to Ireland next month to do the food tasting, check the flowers, hairdresser, makeup and a million other things. Moira hasn't seen the venue yet and I'm sure she's pretty excited about it. I'm very aware that being the MOB, I'm involved in everything and the MOG isn't as much but I want to include Moira as much as possible. In saying that I'll look forward to taking a back seat when the boys get married!!!

Steven is still in Milan though I don't know for how much longer. In short he's far too tall (lol...that make anyone else giggle?) and broad for a lot of the clothes. He does have 2 jobs in showrooms for Galiano and Replay trying on clothes for retailers. Unfortunately it's not very busy at times so he sits in his 'cupboard' for hours on end waiting with someone that doesn't speak any english. There has to be designers out there that need tall models so if you're reading this Steven would be perfect for you! Ah...the life of a model...not as exciting as some might think.

Ok..I DO have a card to share with you that I made recently which I'm loving a lot...I guess having Magnum on the front will do it for me every time....

I wonder how long Magnum is going to stay stuck in that catflap lol. I used my Copics to colour the image, my MME pp again, an embossing folder, my new MFT die, pearls and stitching and that's about it.

Tee hee...maybe a diet is on the cards after all

I'd love to enter the following challenges:

ATC's & Cards with Attitude - Anything Goes

Lily Pad Cards - Patterend Paper

Pattie's Creations Challenge - EmbossingStamping for the Weekend - Embossing

Stampin with the Dragon - Anything Goes

You've only got till midnight on Tuesday if you want to take advantage of the LCI 1/2 price January sale. Just think of it...£26 worth of stamps in your basket and only pay £13...what a bargain!!

I'm going to crack on with the wedding invitations now...just an hour or so then get on to my dad's birthday card. Need to get it posted by Monday and with a bit of luck he'll get it by the 5th! A new series of CSI NY starts tonight so the ironing board will come out and another nasty job will be done :-D

Catch ya later x

Hey...

2012-01-25T15:59:00.001Z

{hanging head} I never managed to post yesterday...the first Tuesday (from memory which isn't always reliable) since starting TLT 18 months ago I've missed. I know we've gone fortnightly but I still want to post on a Tuesday. I had the afternoon from hell yesterday...EXTREMELY frustrating. To make myself feel better I broke the MOB (mother of the bride) diet and had a tiny piece of chocolate. It wasn't my mostest favourite chocolate so didn't have the desired effect which made the break worse {sigh}

Oh well, today is another day and apart from getting my hair caught in the car door which was slammed shut by the wind (potential decapitation!) it hasn't been too bad :-D The best part of today has been my Wii finally being set up so I can get started on my MOB body beautiful lol. These things always fascinate me...that fact that someone is clever enough to think of these things then make them work is just mind boggling. I'll let you know how I get on :-D

I'm just on quickly (honest) to show you the card I made for my cyber friend who lost her MIL recently. This is my most favouritest SU! stamp set and perfect for a sympathy card. I think it's the hardest card to make (next to men's) but when you have a set like this, it makes it more bearable. The pictures aren't great but here it is...

I printed this Penny Black sentiment on my computer then stamp the wishes

A lot of wedding stuff has been going on...a lot of boxes being ticked but I said this was a quick post so I'll update you next time :-D

Thanks for stopping by

Catch ya later x

Happy Monday

2012-01-23T12:16:00.002Z

So? How was your weekend? Did you get up to anything nice? Me? I got to craft!!! Woo hoo...I was so happy cutting, chopping, colouring and glittering up my new i..... {hand slapped to mouth}!!! Phew...you ALMOST made me say it but luckily I caught myself in time lol. There's no tell what the boss would do to me if I let the cat out of the bag so soon ;-D

I noticed that I lost a follower yesterday :-( I hope it wasn't anything I said or did but maybe he/she just needed a break and will come back again :-)

I've got another Magnum card to show you...I told you I was busy the other weekend. I've not done a lot of surfing of late but I did manage to have a quick look at MFT's blog and they've got so many great ideas not to mention DIES!! If I won the lottery I think I would buy ALL of them...they really are fabulicious! I used my new mini ticket die which I bought after seeing it used previously on their blog. I thought it was a cute way to use it...this is what I came up with....

I'm still using stamps that haven't seen daylight in a while and Tiptoeing Lily was another one begging to be inked. I used my favourite paper pad of the moment....well, it's my favourite so much I can neither remember what it's called or find it so I'll get back to you on that one. Hang on!!! Found it (do you get moments like that??) ok...it's MME Stella Rose, Hattie. I did a bit of colouring with my Copics, cut out the images and mounted them on circles I cut and embossed with my Nesties and Cuttlebug folder. A bit of stitching here and there and finally I stamped the sentiment onto one of the mini tickets adding a rolled flower and some pearls I coloured with my Copics to match. Done!

Isn't that just the cutest thing

Normally I make cards as I need them but that gets me into trouble as you know I always end up being late. I've now got a box for completed cards ready to send...I do get there in the end!

I'd love to enter the following challenges:

Make It Monday - Anything Goes

Sew Many Cards - Circles

If you like Tiptoeing Lily you can still get her for 1/2 price in the January Sale along will all the other cling stamps :-D

My tummy's rumbling so I'm off to get some lunch. Hope you have a good week and thanks for stopping by :-D

Catch ya later x

Saturday again...

2012-01-21T15:08:00.003Z

Well how did we get to the weekend so fast? I've had a week full of everything...cooking, walking the dogs, cleaning, walking the dogs, washing, walking the dogs, ironing, walking the dogs. Then there was the LCI business bit which I can't tell you about .... just yet lol. But it's been VERY time consuming and I KNOW you will be happy happy happy because it's all for YOU! No crafting but last weekend I managed a few cards one of which I'm showing you today.

First I've got a little project I made for all the Ladybugs for their Christmas...well it was supposed to be for Christmas but only managed to get them made and mailed the other week! I couldn't show it to you as I was waiting for MPto receive hers as she's across the pond and I didn't want her thinking she'd been missed out.

You've seen this on my blog before but I think it's a great present because a) it's hand crafted with love b) it lasts a long long time...a whole year in fact! Here it is...

It's a calendar and notebook tin. As I was already late sending them it needed to be quick so no colouring. There's a commercial over here listing things and the price of them and I thought it would be perfect for the lid of the tin...I just adapted it to the crafting world. I found the Basic Grey pp in a drawer and after blowing off the dust cut it up and put it together with some SU! Tempting Turquoise cs, a strip of TT run through the Cuttlebug with an embossing folder, rounding the corners and sewing the pieces together. I had the perfect colour of felt in Carribean Blue to match TT to make the fabulicious Loopy Bloom.

The last time I made the tin I couldn't find a suitable sized pen so cut a pencil to fit but this time I managed to find these pens that are a perfect fit. The original idea for these tins came from here. Andrea has some fantastic project kits she puts together and sells.

I loved Julie's 'New Stash' Challenge card which you can see here and I wanted to have a try. I also wanted to use LCI images I haven't used in a while and Scaredy Cat Magnum caught my eye.

I'm quite pleased with the way it turned out. Especially the doodling! I love seeing doodling on cards but I'm always afraid of making a hash of it and ruining a couple of hours of work but I was determined I was going to have a go. I took a deep breath and proceeded to dot and dash my way around the card and breathed a huge sigh of relief (I think I was starting to go blue!) when I was done without any mishaps...go Kerry go Kerry lol!!!

I cut out the aperature with my nesties and cut out another smaller circle with red cs for an edge then stitched around the circle (holding my breath again!) I stamped, coloured and cut out Magnum and Lily and mounted Magnum on a piece of embossed cs on the inside and stuck Lily to the outside using a foam pad

It looks like Lily is flashing Magnum but I can assure you she's not lololol

I got out my Whimsey Ticket stamps and die set...it's a bit tricky lining them up but I just love how these tickets add something a bit different to a card

I'd love to enter the following challenges:

Crafty Purple Frog - Anything Goes

Digi Doodle Shop - Blues and Brown

Shelly's Images - Anything Goes

Alphabet Challenge - Y You can choose (Anything Goes)

Chocolate, Coffee & Cards - Glitter (Magnum's stool)

Crafty Ann's Challenge - What's New Pussycat (ticket die and stamp set)

Stampin with the Dragon - Anything Goes

CES Challenge - Anything But A Card

Little Claire's Designs - Anything But A Card
The Spotted Chick - That's Krafty

You can find Scaredy Cat Magnum here in the January 1/2 price sale along with all LCI cling stamps.

Ok...I've a deadline for Monday and I haven't even started. Want to know what it is? Sorry...{tapping nose} you're just going to have to wait lol!

Have a great Saturday :-D

Catch ya later x

TLT - Sue's Challenge - Bows!

2012-01-17T09:00:00.002Z

Well howdy fellow Bloggers! Hope you've had a great two weeks since our Anything Goes - New Stash challenge. You were obviously deprived of crafting over the holidays because there were a gazillion entries lol. To see if you were the overall challenge winner or one of the Top 3 head on over to the Challenge Blog.

At this point I'd like to apologise to any of you that didn't receive a comment from one of the Ladybugs. You may or may not be aware that there have been issues with Blogger and it has been frustrating to say the least trying to get onto some of your blogs. Please be assured we did all we could to leave a comment and we're hoping MR Blogger sorts himself out soon!

Now onto this fortnight's challenge. It comes from the lovely Sue who has chosen Bows! To most people this will involve ribbon but I'm sure there's plenty of creative crafters that might come up with something a bit different! I'm NOT one of those people lol.

This card was made for a lovely friend of mine...we've never met but we clicked through the miracle of cyber space. Sadly she lost someone very special to her on her birthday but I couldn't not make her a card. This is what I came up with...

You like? I LOVE lol. It's not often I say that about one of my cards...like yes...love no. I wanted to use pp that hadn't seen the light of day in a while and I came across this fabulicious Bo Bunny pp. Because the colours were not exactly bright I knew I could bring in colour with the ribbon and Copics. I chose the Magnum & Lily digi Cupcake Surprise because it always makes me smile seeing Lily get one over on Magnum and hoped it would do the same for my friend.

Is that a bow or is that a bow lol???!!! I pulled out the big guns and used my favourite SU! ribbon

Notice anything new on my photos? Isn't my new watermark megamazing! Ladybug Laurie went all out and made us all one...thanks Laurie ... oh to be so talented AND clever lol.

The Ladybugs have got some fabulicious inspiration for you so make sure you check them out and fingers crossed leave some Ladybug Love.

On a side note Steven is pounding the pavement in Milan. He's been to dozens of castings but it seems his height (6' 6 1/4") is proving to be a stumbling block. He says all the models are skinny and weird looking!! We had a bit of excitement last week when he was told that Armani had optioned him which is a huge priviledge. He waited with over 300 other models for almost two hours to walk by Mr Armani himself (wearing a tracksuit and trainers!) Unfortunately they decided he was too tall and broad. Here's a picture he sent ... this was only about 1/5 of the models who went to the casting.

There must be designers that need tall models and he's determined to stick out the month or so his agency want him there for. He saw a Hamburg agency yesterday who said he'd be perfect for the German market so we'll wait and see. It's very quiet here without him and I am starting to really miss him :-(

Nicole and I have a busy day today...we're going for her first dress fitting, to look at veils and see the bridesmaids dresses that have finally arrived! I think I've found my outfit but there might be a tiny glitch ... they don't have my size. Fingers crossed they'll track it down and I'll be able to tick another box! It's the first thing I've seen that I LOVE and is totally ME! I've designed the invitations and the supplies arrived last week. Yesterday I spent a couple of hours cutting and cutting and cutting some more lol. I figure if I get a bit done every day it won't seem like a chore.

Thanks for stopping by

Catch ya later x

**I did try the blogging comment solution below and so far it works! Spread the news and add it in a post on your blog. The sooner everyone knows the sooner we can get back to normal commenting. It's YOUR blog you have to change the settings on**

Blogger Commenting Solution???

2012-01-16T21:56:00.000Z

I saw this comment on Diane's blog from Susan with a possible cure for our blogging blues!!!

The easy fix is:

Settings

Comments

Comment Placement - You have to untick the radio button next to Embedded Comments and select 'Pop Up' instead.

This will fix it and will allow people to see your blog properly and leave comments. Hope this helps anyone having the same problems. However, this will only fix the issue on your own blog, you can't change what you see on others blogs obviously, and this could affect quite a few blogs.

Try this Diane it's from Chrissy's blog, hopefully it will work xx

I've changed the settings on my blog so if anyone has been having issues trying to leave a comment, hopefully this will solve it!

Happy Birthday Beth!

2012-01-16T10:00:00.002Z

It's my lovely Ladybug Lisa's daughter Beth's 18th birthday today (phew that was a mouthful lol)! Beth isn't a girly girl or into cutesy but the first image that came to my mind was Upside Down Robyn. I'm sure you're thinking....but UDR is cutesy. Well doh, of course it is!!! I was concentrating so hard on not doing girly I missed that one lol and on hindsight wish I had of used Hightops which is more Beth but then there's always her 21st ;-D

I'm hoping the card arrives today...I'm sure you're shocked since you'll be aware my track record ain't too good when it comes to getting birthday cards to their recipients on time lol. I've been known to be {cough} a couple of months late but you KNOW my motto is better late than never lol.

Anywho, this is what I came up with....

Yeah...it's cutesy {sigh}....

I hope Beth can look past the cuteness lol

You'll have noticed that I've been MIA these past few weeks...not through choice but I've got a few things up my sleeve that I'm working on and it's incredibly time consuming but I'm so excited!! I did manage to take a bit of time at the weekend to craft and it felt GOOD!!! You'll see the fruits of my efforts throughout the week :-D

Although I've been busy I have tried to catch up on my commenting but to say it's been a nightmare is the understatement of the year! Has anyone else had problems lately? Clicking on the comment box or even the blog and a white screen comes up? Some of the Ladybugs have been having problems too but none of us have been able to come up with a solution. If anyone has experienced this as well and has some advice I would be forever greatful :-D

Just a reminder that you still have a couple of weeks to take advantage of the January 1/2 price sale. Everyone loves a bargain and there's plenty for you to choose from :-D

I have an ironing that would bring a tear to a Chinese Laundry so I'm gonna love you and leave you. Thanks for taking the time to visit today...tomorrow is TLT so make sure you come back...you won't want to miss it!!

Catch ya later x

Busy week

2012-01-07T16:10:00.000Z

The chances of 2012 being a bit slower than 2011 are slim to nil! This first week has raced by and all my NY's resolutions have fallen at the first fence lol. It did start off promising though...I got my card made for TLT...it posted on time and I sat down to comment. I was partway through when all heck broke loose and fast forward to today and I'm no further forward!

My sale discount didn't activate so had to wait till the offices opened. My sale flyer wouldn't send so spent 4 hours on Tuesday sorting that out. I took the dogs to CB and was slapped by sleet and whipped by the wind. We were invited to friends for an afternoon get together with the neighbors...I was 2 hours late!!! I came hope tipsy (I had one Jack Daniel's with cranberry juice and lemonade and I swear they poured the whole bottle of JD in!)...I don't drink much ... in fact that was my first drink since October when we were at our niece's 21st... and have never cooked when enebriated but I must say I enjoyed prancing round the kitchen lol. At least I didn't knock myself out or give myself 3rd degree burns (that was #2 incident of Baking Is Dangerous - It's official!!) so maybe the key is to have a drink or 3 BEFORE cooking a meal lol.

As Steven was going to Milan on Friday, Wednesday night he presented me with a load of washing he NEEDED to take with him! Well that put paid to any crafting I was wanting to do. I have mixed feelings about him going...on the one hand he's my baby (21 next month!) but is quite self sufficient so I wasn't worried about him looking after himself. The fact we didn't have much information on where he was going/staying/working etc was the bothersome bit. Then on the other hand I was thinking...that's one less person to cook for, clean up after, wash/dry/iron clothes for AND I might just have some food in the fridge for a change!!! I finally heard from him last night. He managed to get to the agency who then took him to the apartment he was to live in. I asked him what his apartment was like and if he was living by himself or sharing. He messaged back saying he was sharing a bedroom with 3 others and 2 boys were sleeping in the kitchen! Oh my...the life of a model lol. He sent me a picture of his bed...

I really do hope that all 6' 6 1/4" of him fits on that bed lol. Knowing he was living with other guys gave me peace of mind and he says they're all really nice. He might have a casting for Calvin Klein tomorrow so fingers crossed he'll get the job. The agency asked if he had any restrictions on the length of time he could stay and when they heard there wasn't they said 'good....you might be here longer than a month then!' so who knows how long he'll be away.

I haven't managed a card but I do have something to show you. We all have our storage problems when it comes to Copics...especially as they're always introducing new colours so we're always having to add or alter what we're using. When I was demoing for Craft World in September, another demonstrator had fabulicous storage for her Copics but unfortunately the company that used to supply them are having problems getting them in. I decided I would get one by hell or by high water and guess what? I did!!! It's not the one Caz has but one I had made. It's a bit big and heavy but I love it and it's exactly what I wanted...except for the size lol. Have a look....

{squeal} isn't it magnifilcious!!!!! I have it sitting on one of the windowsills in my workroom (I have a bay window) and on hindsight I think 12 cubby holes would have been suffice but I can always put other pens in the other holes. As you can see I LOVE my E's!!! All I'll say to Copic is....bring it on...make as many colours as you want cuz I have the space to put them lol.

Nicole has turned into Bridezilla and is chomping at the bit for the wedding invitations. She wanted them to go out at the end of this month (the wedding is May 26th) but I said no way so we have sort of compromised (I'm actually humouring her but don't tell her please!!) that they'll go out mid February...still far to early as far as I'm concerned... but when she starts asking for them I'll kind of just keep saying they're 'almost' finished ;-D

I've some projects I want to get finished this weekend and mailed on Monday so I'm gonna say Ciao (isn't my Italian amazing heehee)

Hope you're having a good weekend.

Catch ya later x

TLT is back - Use Your New Stash!

2012-01-03T09:00:00.022Z

Helloooooooo! It's great to be back to Totally Ladybug Tuesday...I hope you all had fabulicous Christmas and New Year celebrations. I don't think I really sat down and enjoyed the holiday. I didn't watch any tv to speak of and I'm almost positive I was in the kitchen cooking 98% of the time! I cooked most of NYE only to take a break to drive Steven and his girlfriend into town for the celebrations (taxi's were on double time...mom's taxi...usual rates hmph!). Managed to wish hubby HNY at the bells then went back to the kitchen lol.

We're having a small change to the challenges....we're going fortnightly!! It gives all of us a bit more time as life just seems to get in the way of crafting these days lol.

Thank you to everyone who joined in our Bingo Challenge over the holidays....we loved looking at them all. Make sure you pop over the the Challenge Blog to see if you're the winner or one of the Top 3.

We are easing you in gently for our first challenge of 2012 which is Anything Goes Using Your New Stash. Santa did bring you all the craft goodies on your wish list didn't he?? Whether Santa brought it or a friend or you bought it for yourself as a treat we want to see you use it on your card/project/scrapbook page. We still have our fabulicous Guest Designers, Diane, Sally and Catherine so we have a lot of inspiration for you :-D

It was my friend Karen's 50th birthday in October (you know what's coming next right?) and I'm afraid I forgot and then every time I attempted to make her card life got in the way! I'm seeing her tomorrow so I was determined I wasn't showing up without her card so today's challenge was the perfect opportunity to make it!

Looking through my stamps and digi's I hummed and hawwed and finally chose the only stamp for the job...Buttercup .. In the Doghouse lololololol (I hope I'm not!). This is what I came up with...

Some of the Ladybugs held a Secret Santa and I decided to use my gift of these gorgeous Dovecraft papers as my New Stash. My SS also cut out lots of dies of buttons, mini envelopes, buckles and butterflies in coordinating colours...it must have taken SS forever lol. I know I didn't get them for Christmas but they are new to my stash and that is my Whimsy Ticket die and stamp set and also my Dienamics Mix & Match Banner set which I got for my you-know-what! Oh yeah...also my Cheery Lynn Fanciful Flourish die lol. I borrowed a LO from a you-know-what card I received from one of my Lovely Ladybugs (thanks Laurie) to help kickstart my mojo

I hope that's not me in there lol! I used my grass die instead of colouring in the grass with my Copics.

This gorgeous butterfly was from my SS. I added pale amethyst Swarovski crystals to the body and wings for a bit of bling. I've been looking at butterfly punches for a while and can't make up my mind as they're all gorgeous. This one is particularly pretty...not to frou frou IYKWIM.

This is one of 4 of the mix and match banner dies

{sigh} Loopy Flower

Whimsey Ticket die and stamp...still buttering (get it...buttering...Buttercup lmao) Karen up :-D

I went a bit overboard with the inside too lol...do you think she'll forgive me?? I hope Karen likes her card...I've decided I'm going to start her card now for this year ... I might just get it done in time lol.

I'd love to enter the following challenges:

Bearly-Mine - Anything Goes

Craft-room Challenge - Anything Goes

Party Time Tuesdays - Something New

Top Tip Tuesday - Anything GoesMake It Monday - Anything Goes

Make It Monday with Kraft Journal - Anything Goes

Stamps R Us - What you got for Christmas or Anything Goes

Now if you haven't heard LCI have a massive 1/2 price cling stamp sale going on for the month of January. There is a slight hiccup in that the discount isn't working! I know I know..only I could have a sale like that lol. I was talked through the set up from the web people so I'm not accepting all the blame especially as this is the 3rd time it's happened. I'm hoping the offices will be open today or tomorrow to help me get it working and for those that have placed orders, thank you for your patience. I haven't left the country with your money lol. I will get your refunds sorted over the next couple of days.

Ok, I think I've taken up enough of your time. There is plenty of inspiration from the rest of the Ladybugs so make sure you check them our. Oh...and how about leaving some Ladybug Love?

Thanks for stopping by

Catch ya later xx

***EDIT The discount in the store is now working yayyyy!!!***

Welcome 2012!!

2012-01-01T00:05:00.003Z

****There is a slight hiccup at the checkout on the website...it's not taking off the discount. I am trying to fix it but I think it's got the new year glich!! Don't worry if you've placed an order, I will refund the discounted amount asap. I might have to wait until Tuesday/Wednesday for when the website people are back at work to get the discount working. Either that or manually change the prices hmph! Happy New Year lol****

Sale?? What Sale???

2011-12-31T08:00:00.001Z

OMG friends...LCI is having a sale and it's a BIGGIE!!! Starting early doors Sunday January 1st 2012 (2012 people!!!) and for the whole month of January (yup...I know...I'm off my heed {that's Scottish for head in case you didn't know heehee}) ALL cling stamps will be 1/2 price!!!!!!!! So you know that wish list you've got? Wish no more because at 1/2 price it's like getting 2 for the price of 1!!! How's that for logic lol. The discount should all magic itself at the checkout but from past experience there have been a few blips so if there are do not fear, I will be on the case and get it sorted :-D

To my utter disgust I haven't had much time to craft over the holidays but I do have a card I made for my friend Pat who hadn't been well and I haven't posted. Of course I used Cat Flu Magnum and this is what I came up with...

I really like the colours in this but boy does my colouring suck lol. It wasn't until I was editing the pictures that I saw how often I'd gone outside the lines! Must try harder lol.

Of course I had to glitter up Magnum's ice pack and I don't know if you can tell but I used glittered flock on the kleenex box

Hee hee...good ol' Lily strikes again!

You can see the glittered flock a bit better in this picture

I hope this cheered Pat up :-D

It is New Years Eve and I've got a gajillion things to do so I'm offski. I hope you have the best night tonight when the bell's are ringing. Keep safe and I'll see you next year!

Catch ya later xx

BFF's birthday card...finally!!!

2011-12-30T12:16:00.001Z

Oh my...I'm late...for a very important date but hey...what do you expect when your birthday is so close to Christmas!!! Hee hee...just as well BFF is understanding and most probably too busy with wedding stationery to worry too much. It's always fun to receive a card AFTER as it's like an extended birthday...right?? Hope you're backing me up here lol.

I finished BFF's card the other day and got it in the yesterday so fingers crossed it will arrived today I'm really happy with the way it turned out. I've used a few more dies I received for my birthday and a new MME 6 x 6 paper pad Paris & Co. The colours are very muted which I don't usually go for but for some reason I was drawn to them. You can make up your mind and let me know what you think...

I've used Original Nikki...I think she's my favourite Nikki but shhhh...don't tell the others! and coloured her in with my Copics and paper pieced her dress adding a bit of shading. I did a bit of surfing the other day ... first time in ages ... and came across the layout on the MFT blog.

This Whimsy Stamps ticket die and stamp were part of my birthday. I'd been lusting after it for ages but it was out of stock forever. I was so happy when I found it :-D

Another birthday die...this one is Die-namics large rolled rose. Believe me when I say it's large ... took me by surprise when I first saw it lol. I was rushing so it's not as perfect as I would have liked...you can even see a glob of glue gun glue I didn't remove before I took the pictures ...I hope I removed it before I mailed it lol. The centre of the flower is a SU! brad that I found at the back of my drawer.

You can see how big it is...look how far it sticks out!

I'd like to enter the following challenges:

4 Crafty Chicks - Something New (Dies)
Art Impressions - #45 Punches and Dies
Aud's Sentiments Challenge - Anything Goes
Charisma Cards - Anything GoesDutch Dare CardChallenge - Favourite Things (image)
My Mum's Craft Shop - Anything Goes
Scrapbook Sisters - #66 Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes

I'd like to say hi and wecome to my most recent follower Vickysunshine...doesn't her name just make you feel happy :-D

Anywho that's it from me for today. I've got a house that looks like a bomb site and desperately needs attention. I've also got some new toys that desperately need my attention! Think I'll make myself a coffee and mull it over...yeah right...I know which one I'm gonna do lol!!!

Have a great weekend...big news coming up!!!

Catch ya later xx

Christmas Aftermath...

2011-12-27T17:01:00.000Z

I've managed to come out of my food coma to say hello lol. Why is it that we feel we have to eat so much over the holiday season??? I hope you all had a fabulicious Christmas and you're gearing up for New Year frollics. I'm not a lover of celebrating NY...just reminds me another year has passed, I'm going to be another year older (my birfday is in 348 days just in case you might want to note it down in your new calendar tee hee..Oh and puleeeeeze don't forget MP's birfday in 198 days...she's a bit shy about sharing these

things ;-D) and more hours of lost sleep!

Was Santa good to you? I was VERY spoiled! My kids bought me a Wii Fit including a personal trainer DVD and Zumba DVD. Do you think they're trying to tell me something hmph??? Well I guess the race is on for the Wedding Of The Year in May...I DO NOT want to be a frumpy MOB so have already started the MOB diet and once someone hooks up my Wii I will be running/jumping/~~swearing~~sweating all over the place lol.

I haven't crafted much for over a week. We had friends over for dinner last night and it was John's 60th birthday at the end of November. Yeah...you guessed it, I was late! But I think I made up for it because he loved his card...I think! To be fair to me I did colour the image way back in November ... it was just everything else that was late ;-D

John's a keen golfer so what other image could I use but Magnum & Lily's Fore! As usual Lily gets one up on Magnum and steals his ball out of the hole...so much for his hole in one lol. Anywho...here it is...

I was lucky enough to receive Dies to Die For vouchers for my b'day...I hummed and hawed over what to get...there's just too much to choose from. In the end I added this oval tab die to my basket.

Now the next few pictures are for MP. I don't think she was too happy with the last modelling picture I posted of Steven ... I think she said something about too many clothes???!!!!

I've got to skeddadle now...my hubby is giving me the night off from cooking cuz I've done so well the last few nights lol.

Catch ya later x

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T00:05:00.001Z

Merry Christmas to all my blogging friends. Thank you for your visits, comments and friendship over the past year. I wish you all a wonderful Christmas.

A quick post...well sort of!

2011-12-21T11:46:00.000Z

I've made, written and mailed my last Christmas card!!! Yes some are going to be late (read that as VERY lol) but it's the thought that counts right? Although I have enjoyed making Christmas cards these past few months I am so looking forward to packing away my Christmas stamps, dies, papers and punches and concentrate on cards that have no connection to winter!

On that note I have a card to share that I made ages ago and haven't posted. You might have seen this image once or 10 times recently but I do so love it lol. Magnum & Lily's Cupcake Surprise makes me smile every time I see it....this is what I came up with...

My Lovely Ladybug Tams gifted me some card blanks which I've used for this easel card. I can't remember where the pp is from but I love it because it's so bright and cheery. I didn't add too many embellishments as I thought the pp was busy enough.

I coloured Cupcake Surprise with my Copics, paper pieced the cupcake liner, added some spots to Magnum's party hat with my gel pen, GD to Lily's party hat and candle flames and GA to the cupcake icing

I still have one card to make asap but finding the time is difficult. I think I've got my shopping done and I'm going to tackle some more baking today (turtles!!). Hopefully it will be uneventful ie I won't knock myself out lol!!!

A little news on Steven. His modelling agency asked him to meet an agency from Italy who was looking for male models. As Steven's so tall (6'6" 1/4!!!) he didn't think he had a chance but went along anyway. Well apparently they liked him and want him to go to Milan for a month!!! He's not guaranteed work but will go to castings and I think it might be Milan fashion week at some point during his stay and that would be a fab job under his belt. Hubby couldn't understand why can't do it here and Steven explained he could be modelling for Gucci, Prada, Armani etc...surely that must be more exciting than Marks & Spencers and Slaters lol. I'm very excited for him but also a bit nervous about him being away on his own for a month. He's very capable and will never starve but you know what mom's are like with their kids...whatever age they are!

He's done some photoshoots over the last few days for his portfolio and here's one of the pictures..

He's got a few more clothes on that the previous ones I posted! I think he looks quite smart but maybe not as hunky as the others lol.

Ok...I've got to get on with my baking. Only 4 more shopping days till Christmas...hope you're organised!!!

Catch ya later x

Baking is dangerous...it's official!!

2011-12-19T14:18:00.002Z

Hello everyone...sorry for my lack of posts but it's a busy busy time as you all know and this blogging malarky isn't quick....especially if you're like me and talk a load of rubbish lol.

I've been making Christmas cards till they're coming out of my ears and thought I'd finished but found I'm about 20 short. I was so tempted to buy some (shock horror!!!) but couldn't bring myself to do the dirty deed so last night came up with a quick ... and yes I mean quick...10 minutes max....card so will make them once I've finished here.

I was making the card in between baking. Normally I've been baking up a storm by now (and eating most of it hmph) but just haven't had the chance. I started with one of our favourites...Rocky Road. OMG...it's so calorific but yummalicious!!! I had all the ingredients sorted, melted the chocolate, combined everything and poured into pans waiting to cool then started on my shortbread. As I was measuring the flour I realised I'd forgotten the butter in the Rocky Road. I quickly got my big soup pot out of the cupboad above my oven, turned away to grab something then turned back to get the butter out of the fridge and at full speed whacked my face on the open cupboard door!!! Talk about seeing stars and almost knocking yourself out lol. I gingerly felt my face for blood and my nose for breakage but apart from a graze on my forehead and a tender nose I escaped relatively unscathed....but let that be a lesson...close cupboard doors!!! I do hope my kids appreciate my life and death efforts lol.

Once I've made the shortbread (gluten free as well for Ben's mom) I'll make Kris Kringle cookies and everyone's favourite....TURTLES!!! Thank goodness I only bake at Christmas!

I thought I'd share the 4 Christmas cards I've made...

This one took the longest because of the colouring so I only made 18! I used card blanks (don't shout at me Tams!) and Basic Grey pp I've had for years. I finally used my pretty Frosty Border die and added Siam Swarovski crystals to the center of the snowflakes.

IRL this card is gorgeous...the white is so stark against the Card Candi. This was super easy...again I used a card blank, ran some white cs through the Cuttlebug in an embossing folder, stuck the candi to the pre-cut tree with gluedots, computer generated the sentiment, layered everything up and stuck it together. I made 40 of these :-D

I borrowed the idea for this one from BFF. I stamped an Inkadinkadoo snowman in Night of Navy ink onto white cs and cut out with Nesties along with a couple of mounts. Night of Navy cs was run through the CB with the snowflake embossing folder, stamped and punched out the sentiment, added a Swarovski crystal to the hat and sentiment and finally I spritzed the shimmery whatchamacallit from SU! over the finished card only for the ink to run and the snowman end up a blobby mess hmph! I had to re-think and instead of spritzing AFTER I stamped the image I spritzed BEFORE, let it dry then stamped and it turned out perfect...so there's a top tip if you're using a water based ink :-D I made 22 of these :-D

Finally my 10 minute card! I placed the SU! Poinsettia embossing folder across the middle of a card blank and ran it through the Cuttlebug along with a shimmery red piece of cs for the band across the middle. I punched 2 x 5 petal flowers (SU!) in the same red cs, curved the petals under, stuck them together with GA and added Swarovski pearls to the centre with GA. I remembered I had some gorgeous PTI Christmas sentiments so stamp one on white cs and cut out and embossed with a Nestie. I wrapped white SU! ribbon around the embossed red then stuck everything together and there you have it...a card in 10 minutes or less! I wish I had of thought of this one FIRST lol. I'll make about 20 of these :-D

I am a little bit perturbed (dontcha just love it when a word pops into your head that you NEVER use lol) cuz my birfday present hasn't been claimed and I only JUST realised! The same thing happened with my blogaversary prezzie so I'm thinking you don't like prezzies??? I don't know ANYONE who doesn't like prezzies so what I've done is consult with Mr Random Org again and he's chosen:

#10 WENDY

Please, please PLEASE contact me to claim my birfday present otherwise I'm gonna just hafta keep it for myself!!

Okey dokey...I must get on. It was BFF's birthday yesterday and I need to make her card eek!!! Lucky she's VERY understanding and TBH she can't get mad cuz I just received my b'day card from her on Saturday hee hee.

I hope you have a great week. Hopefully it won't be too stressful with Christmas only SIX days away!!

Catch ya later x

PS...Michelle from Make It Monday has chosen Sadie's birthday card as her favourite from last week's Linky Party!!! Woo hoo, thanks Michelle :-D

TLT - Sue's Challenge - BINGO!

2011-12-13T09:00:00.003Z

Welcome to the last challenge of 2011. The Ladybugs have worked really hard this year and I thought I'd put the whip away and give them a bit of extra time to get ready for Christmas :-D Are you organised? I'm not and I don't think I ever will be lol! The challenge will be running until 12 pm January 2nd 2012 and restarting 9am January 3rd of the same year (rofl..that made me laugh!) so you have plenty of time to enter :-D I'd like to thank all of you for your support throughout our first year and look forward to another year of fun together!

Thank you to everyone who entered last weeks challenge. I have had a crazy week and haven't managed to comment yet but I will...promise! Please check the Challenge Blog to see if you're the winner or a Top 3 from last week

The fabulicous Sue has the honors of choosing the final challenge which is Bingo! For those of you who've never played along with a bingo challenge (like myself) it's easy peasy...choose a line horizontal, vertical, corner to corner and for the very brave (or those who have their tree up, cards made and posted, gifts bought and wrapped and the turkey on order!) a full house! I know two Ladybugs are uber organised have gone for the full house...megamazing!!!

Below is the grid for you to choose from...

I've gone for the top horizontal line...felt, ribbon and embossing. It's Sadie's 81st birthday today and when I was going through my stamps I came across Beach Babe. I know it's not exactly beach weather (it's blowing a gale right now) but it reminded me of a little holiday I went on with Sadie a couple of years ago. I was her companion on a mini cruise and we docked in Italy (for the life of me I can't remember the name of the village and it was my favourite) and spent a couple of hours on the beach. Sadie had gone shopping before we left for the cruise and one of her purchases was a tankini!!! I told her if she wore it to the beach I was staying on the boat lol. Well you can guess she wore it and I didn't stay on the boat. Here's a picture of Sadie in her tankini....

She thought she looked great and who was I to disagree lol. Anywho here is my card...can you see the likeness? (totally coincidental!)...

I think I'm going to call this lady Sadie from now on lol. I stamped her out in Momento Ink and coloured her with my Copics. After cutting Sadie out I EMBOSSED a white piece of cs and stitched it to a yellow mount then stuck Sadie to it with foam pads. I punched two ends of yellow cs with border punches, stitched a piece of pp to it and added RIBBON to the top and bottom. I stuck Sadie to the pp with foam pads, added glitter to her hat and beach bag, spots to her towel and swimsuit with my gel pen and finally added a FELT Loopy Flower. I added the sentiment that comes with the stamp set but because Sadie is registered blind (she has peripheral vision in one eye and is totally blind in the other) I made the sentiment larger on the computer so she'd be able to see it. I know she'll get a real kick out of it when she sees it lol.

You're probably thinking...'that ain't ribbon but it came on a roll and it says 'Ribbon Trim' so that's good enough for me lol

I hope Sadie will like her card and it reminds her of the great time we had on holiday together :-D

I'd like to enter the following challenges:

Basic Grey - Anything Goes

Catered Crop - Birthday

Corrosive Challenge - Anything BUT Christmas

Scrappy Frogs - Stitching

Make it Monday - Anything Goes

There's still time to grab the SOTM for 1/2 price for those last minute Christmas cards or a stocking stuffer for a crafty friend/daughter/sister/mother. OR you can be mega-organised and start on next years cards lolololol.

I had a fabulicious birthday on Friday and I want to thank everyone who left a comment, emailed, texted me birthday wishes. Suzy Q and Lynn took me out for coffee and cake (carrot!) in the morning and hubby, the kids and their respective girlfriends/fiance and I went for dinner. The one thing I do stipulate on my birthday is that I don't cook!!! It was brilliant being all together...not an easy task when they all want to do their own thing. It gave me an insight into what's to come with family get togethers and the icing on the cake will be grandkidlets...no pressure lol! I was spoiled rotten with flowers, wellies, creams, lotions and potions. Copics, gift certificates, coffee, a beautiful bracelet, ribbon, ebellishments and the most gorgeous handcrafted cards. See...I told you I was spoiled!

I did promise I would choose the winner of my birthday present to you so drum roll please.....

Congratulations Jane!! Contact me at ladybugcraftsink@aol.com with your address and I'll get your present off to you asap. If you don't claim your present by Monday December 19th Mr Generator will pick another name.

I think that's it from me. I hope you have a fabulicous week...check out the Ladybugs gorgeous makes for inspiration and don't be shy...leave them some Ladybug Love!

Thanks for stopping by

Catch ya later x

Happy Birfday to me To YOU!!

2011-12-12T18:00:00.000Z

To celebrate my birfday on Friday I thought I would give one of you a present! All you have to do to receive the present is leave a comment on this post (which will be staying at the top) and on Monday December 12th I'll get Mr Random Org to pick a recipient...simple as that :-D

Now a present really should be a surprise so I'm not going to show you what it is but just to give you a teaser, this is what you'll receive in the mail....

It's small but perfectly formed and I'll mail the present anywhere in the world...within reason lol

So come on...help me celebrate!!

Catch ya later x

**Scroll down for most recent post**

Did you know.....

2011-12-09T01:00:00.005Z

IT'S MY BIRFDAY????!!! Happy birfday to me lol. December 9th, 1963 little ole me was born.... I can't believe I'm 38 already! What?? What do you mean I forgot to carry the 10?? 48??? I'm 48??? How the heck did that happen lol?? Ok...I guess I'm 48 but not until 13:55 UK time (I was born 5:55am BC time...and before you say it, no that's not BEFORE CHRIST hmph!) so I still have a few more hours.

I thought since it was my birfday and I was giving a present to one of my lovely blogging friends (don't forget to leave a comment on the above post for a chance to win), I might as well make myself a card too lol. I was loving the LO of yesterdays card so I just kinda did the same again but different IYKWIM! Here it is...let me know what you think....

I just HAD to use Cupcake Surprise Magnum & Lily digi since I was making it for everyone else lol. Making my own birfday card ensured I would get a Loopy Flower on it....isn't it just lurverly {sigh}.

Boy that Fluffy Stuff just takes over sometimes lol

I'd like to congratulate my Lovely Ladybug Pam who after numerous tears, tantrums and attempts ...FINALLY managed to snafoo her very own Loopy Flower Die yaaaayyyy!!!!

Just in case you didn't know lol

So there you have it...my birfday card to myself :-D

Believe it or not it's not just MY birfday today...it's also my lovely friend Val's birfday...AND her not-so-identical-twin-but-born-on the-same-day-same-year and the love of my life when I was growing up...Donny Osmond's birfday...happy happy birfday!!!

Apart from Val's and Donny's and my birfday it's another special day. It was 27 years ago at 8:30am that mine and Nicole's (she was 3 weeks old) plane landed at Prestwick airport starting a new life here in Scotland (hubby arrived 2 weeks before). I never thought we'd be here for so long. I imagined it would be 3 or 4 years then we'd move back to Canada. Just think...if we had I might not have started cardmaking, started a business or had my own blog...and you wouldn't have had to hear about my birfday for the last week or so lol. I guess everything does happen for a reason :-D

Ok...enough of that sentimental stuff...I'll fill you in on how my day goes over the weekend. Don't forget if you'd like a birfday present from me leave a comment on the post above (2nd reminder!) :-D

Hope you all have the most fabulicious day!

Catch ya later x

One more sleep!

2011-12-08T15:55:00.001Z

Well blow me timber...what a lot of wind we're having today! Apparently there has been 130mph winds recorded up north in Fort William and for the second time my poor BBQ has been blown across the patio!

I had a great day yesterday. I met up with my friend Jean who I haven't seen for a good couple of months. I got the 9:03 train into town and we met in Darcy's in Princess Square for some brunch. Jean's train came in later than mine so while I was waiting I asked for a coffee and look how it arrived....

Isn't that milk bottle just the cutest

Jean arrived and we ordered...scrambled eggs, smoked salmon and toast for me and scrambled eggs and toast for Jean and a pot of tea. Look how it arrived...

A little mini tea cosy lol...and wait for it....

Brunch!! I can tell you right now it was absolutely yummalicious!

We had a good catch up then I had an appointment at the hairdressers which I'd been desperately needing...last professional cut and colour? September!!!! I was trying a new girl which is always quite nerve wracking but Sara was brilliant...told me what she thought would suit me, colour etc and 3 hours later and 4 inches shorter (my hair that is lololol) I walked away with a new 'do'. It kinda got blown about today so not so springy (I'm still talking about my hair) but it still looks pretty good....just got to get used to it being so much shorter!

Jean's hubster has had his 4th hip replacements..no he doesn't have 4 hips ...but unfortunately had to get his replacements replaced. I made him a card and this is what I came up with...

I decided to go for the less is more approach after Tuesdays everything but the kitchen sink card lol. I was having a bit of a mojo blip so took a wander over to Jeanie's blog for a bit of inspiration...she does less is more brilliantly! It was just what I needed and kick started me into action. I printed Cat Flu Magnum and coloured him in with my Copics. I embossed a strip of cs, mounted it and sewed it to the main panel of pp and cs mount. Sewed the image to a mount then raised it with sticky fixers, added a button and sentiment and voila! Done in less than 2 hours which is some kind of record for me these days lol.

Do you like? I hope it cheers Jim up a bit :-D

I'd like to enter the following challenge:

Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes

So now you can imagine I'm beyond excitement as tomorrow is THE big day...my Birfday!! Did I tell you lol??? One more sleep! I'm loving the comments on my Birfday Present post...especially Susan's birfday poem. If you haven't seen it here it is....

Kerry you are my Blogging Queen
Some of your creations are the best I’ve ever seen

All of your glitter and all of your bling

….cheers up my day like no other thing.

Now it’s your birthday – I’m here to send my wishes

Lots of love, hugs and kisses

I hope that you have a ‘fabulicious’ day -

I’ll be off now as that’s what I’d come to say Xx

Isn't that just megalicious! I might just have to have an extra present ready just in case lol

Ok I gotta go...I've got millions of things to do before tomorrow cuz I don't fink I'll get much crafting done!!

Thanks so much for your comments so far...keep them coming :-D

Thanks for your visit

Catch ya later xx

OMG...it's my birfday tomorrow!!!

TLT - Lisa's Challenge - Snowflakes & Sparkle - GD Debut - SOTM

2011-12-06T09:00:00.004Z

Hello from snowy Glasgow!! Did you see my pictures yesterday...OMWord...what fun Ruby Rocky and I had in it!

Before I get on with today's challenge I'd like to thank everyone who entered Pam's WOW challenge last week...all I'll say is WOW and glad I didn't have to choose the winner's lol. Make sure you check the Challenge Blog to see if you were one of them :-D

As you know we ran a little Guest Designer competition and today is the debut of the 3 winner's, Sally, Diane and Catherine. Make sure you give them a big Ladybug welcome and lots of Ladybug Love :-D

This week's challenge has been chosen by my Megamazing Right , Left, Centre, Top and Bottom hand Lisa lol. She's opted for sparkle and snowflakes....perfect for this time of year. We all had to use December's SOTM Tom & His Reindeer

I love this stamp..it's one of those you look at and go ??? and then you stamp and colour it and go 'now I get it' lol. I had good fun putting my card together though not without it's challenges and boo boo's! Here it is..let me know what you think...

The picture is not doing my felt ric rac justice!! IRL it tones in with the other reds on the card...what's that all about??? I'm kinda thinking I should have used gold cs for the snowflakes but hey ho, I'll remember for next time. I stamped Tom & His Reindeer in Momento ink and coloured it in with my Copics. I decided to emboss the image but unfortunately got the folder back to front and debossed instead!! I don't think it has the same effect but too late now hmph! I used my PTI ric rac die and cut out a couple of borders and sewed them to the pp and stuck it down to the main card. The snowflakes are cut from a Nestie die that hasn't been used since this time last year...it's not as fine and detailed as some of the dies out there now but I kinda like the chunky snowflakes.

Debossed hmph!

Looks like the snowman had chicken pox hmph!

Despite the debossing and chicken pox I really do like it lol.

I'd like to enter the following challenges please:

Bling It On - Christmas

Scrapbook Sisters - Anything Goes

Totally Papercrafts - Let It Snow

Fab n Funky - Anything Goes

One Stop Craft - Let It Snow

I'm looking forward to seeing your Snowflake and Sparkle entries...the sparklier the better!! Make sure you check out the other Ladybug's makes...you won't be disappointed :-D

Thanks for stopping by.

Catch ya later x

***It's been brought to my attention that I forgot to mention my birfday!! Thanks Laurie...glad someone's remembered heehee. Make sure you check back tomorrow cuz to celebrate my birfday (3 sleeps!!!) I may have a present to give to one of my blogging friends :-D .. yup that's you lol!!!***

It's official....

2011-12-05T13:52:00.001Z

...winter has arrived!! Take a look...

The first picture is from my bedroom window early this morning and the rest when I took the pups to Cathkin Braes late afternoon. They love the snow and it's so comical to watch them chase a snowball only for it to explode when it lands lol. After we got home I cleared the driveway..why I don't know as it looks like it's going to snow again. Also had to dig Nicole's car out...she popped in for dinner last night and to watch the X Factor...fell asleep as she always does...Ben arrived on the train and when they tried to leave their car couldn't get up the hill so they had to stay the night. We dug, salted and I pushed her on her way :-D

Here's a wedding card I made a few weeks ago. You might be shocked because it isn't WOW lol and I'll admit that I found it difficult to use coloured cs and pp but I got there in the end. See what you think...

Can I please enter the following challenges:

Craft Your Passions - Anything Goes + Glitter
Karen's Doodles Challenge - 3 embellishments (ribbon, crystals & glitter {hope glitter counts!}), 2 papers, 1 image

Make It Monday - Anything Goes
OLLCB - Lots of Sparkle
Paper Creations Ink - Bling it Up!
The Ribbon Reel - Anything Goes
Victorine Stamps - Ribbon

I was super busy over the weekend ... rolled up my sleeves and got stuck into my Christmas cards. I thought I chose pretty easy images to colour which they are ...when you're colouring one!! I finished cutting out most of the first 18 cards, coloured the images and now I just have to put them together and add all the sparkle.

Today is the last day to get November's SOTM (I know it's December but the SOTM starts the first Tuesday of the month ;-D ) as tomorrow is a brand spankin' new one and our Guest Designers are making their LCI debut!!!!!!

Ok..must get going...I've a few cards to make for tomorrow and the clock's a ticking!

Thanks for stopping by...enjoy the snow if it comes your way.

Catch ya later x

Happy Birthday Mom!

2011-12-01T01:00:00.004Z

It's my mom's birthday today...she's 73 but don't tell her I told you!! This was taken on her 70th when I went home and surprised her...we had a great week :-D TBH she doesn't look any different three years later and I just hope I look half as good when I'm 50 let alone 70!!

Confession time...I only mailed her card and prezzie yesterday {blush} but I KNOW when she opens her prezzie she'll forgive me lol. I won't tell you what it is because she reads my blog occasionally...I don't mind her seeing her card though since she won't get it until next week.

I decided to ink a stamp I hadn't used in a while and Tulip Ruby was the winner. Let me know what you think....

I coloured Ruby in with my Copics ... she was sitting on grass but I didn't like it so ended up cutting her out! I found a card that Mary J sent me and I loved the LO so I cased some of it and tweaked the rest. I cut cs and pp scalloped circles with my Grand Nesties and JT, trimmed them to the edge of the card and stitched them together. I cut a square of cs and a slightly smaller square of pp and stitched the edges. I embossed a white circle, stitched it to a kraft cs fancy circle then mounted Ruby with sticky fixers. I stuck everything together THEN with my NEW mini glue gun fixed a fabulicious Loopy Flower to the bottom left and OMG... I used my new Flourish die!!! I sent a picture of the card to Suzy Q to see what she thought...got a text back asking what that THING was in the top right corner hmph! It is my first flourish and I guess it kinda looks like I was desperate to use one the way it's sitting but TBH I WAS lololol.

What do you really think of that THING?? Are the pearls too much?

Bestill my heart...I adore this colour...

I'd love to enter my card in the following challenges...

Crafts and Me Challenge - Pearls and Swirls

Divas by Design - Anything Goes

Fab n' Funky Challenges - Anything Goes

The Paper Shelter - Anything Goes

Simon Says Stamp Challenge - Anything Goes

If you're reading this Judy I'm sorry your card and prezzie are late but I promise it'll be worth the wait lol. Love you mom xx

Catch ya later xx

TLT - Pam's Challenge - WOW

2011-11-29T09:00:00.003Z

Happy TLT!!! Another week another challenge and another day closer to my birfday. I think I confused a few people in my post on Friday. The wording made it look like my birfday was at the weekend but it wasn't lol. But I want to thank those of you who did emailed and left comments to wish me a happy birfday anyway...I really appreciated it and will read them again on the 9th lol.

Before I carry on with today's TLT I'd like to thank everyone who entered Laurie's Winter Blues challenge...magnifilicous cards/projects!!! Along with the normal entries we had a great number with GD's beside their names!!!! I want to thank you all for entering...it was so hard to choose and very close and a few late entries kept the Ladybugs busy this morning lol. If you want to see if you are the Challenge winner, a Top 3 winner or {drum roll} December Guest Designer head over toot sweet to the Challenge Blog!!! If you don't see your name please don't be disheartened, we loved all of you but could only choose 3. With your permission though we would love to keep you on file for any future GD spots :-D Congratulations to the new GD's...I'm really looking forward to working with you :-D

Ok, on to today's challenge. Gorgeous Pam could not have picked a better challenge for me...I LOVE WOW (white on white) cards so really for me it's more of a treat than a challenge lol. I made a card for the challenge ages ago but decided I wanted to make another...see how I spoil you lol.

This is the first card...

This card was for my friend's son's wedding...I was only 2 months late lol. Nadia has 4 grownup kids and she's had 4 weddings, 2 grandchildren and one on the way in 4 years!!!

I've used The Cake from the latest Love & Marriage release and coloured it with my Copics. I also used one of my favourite embossing folders and Martha Stewart punches and of course a ~~little bit~~ lot of stitching ;-D Of course I had to use my SU Tiny Tags sentiments and punch too.

I love the border

My second card is my favourite of the two...I've used the SOTM on a Nestie die that I've had for AGES but NEVER have used {blush}. I just love how it turned out...

Ta da! If I have time I'm going to try and make these for my Christmas cards cuz I just love it :-D Apart from the SOTM (coloured with my Copics) I've used some embossed Lasting Impressions cs and stitched it to a piece of Bazzil. The flowers....I bought these flowers in Michael's about 5 years ago when I was home for a visit and have been sitting on a shelf ever since!! They come in a cute little clear pail from the bridal section and they are just so fabuliciously shimmery. The great thing about them is you can colour them with your Copics or Promarkers to match what you're creating. I added a Swarovski flat back pearl to the centre

I love this image because there's very little colouring involved

Aren't they stunnalicious! The picture has a pink tinge but they are definitely white (I've got a pail of cream too!!!)

Poor Nikki has hat head lol

I'd love to enter the following challenges:

Addicted To Stamps - Christmas

Spectacular Sunday - Anything Christmas

Totally Gorjuss - Sparkle

Whoopsi Daisy Challenge - WOW

Stamps R Us Challenge - Emboss

Totally Papercrafts - Christmas

Sweet Stampin' Challenge - Punches/Dies

Simply Create Too - Christmas

There you have it...you have one more week to purchase the SOTM (although Friday is December, SOTM is the first Tuesday of every month) for 1/2 price

Hope you have a great Tuesday...thanks for stopping by

Catch ya later x

Holy Pom Pom Batman!

2011-11-27T15:08:00.001Z

Oh my...have I got something fabulicious to show you today and it's not necessarily my card but what's ON it! I ordered some new toys from Dies to Die for...you can guess what's coming right? They arrived yesterday and I couldn't wait to play...4 dies and a paper pad {swoon} It's Steven's girlfriend's mom's (still with me?) birthday today and last night asked me to make her a card...desperate to use my new die how could I refuse lol. This is what I came up with...

Do you love it??? I can't tell you how much I do :-D I used Make A Wish Nikki and coloured her in which my Copics. The Basic Grey Little Black Dress pp is not what I would normally buy but I was drawn to it so popped it in my basket. Then I saw the die and googled it as I didn't know what it would look like. OMGoodness...how stunnalicious is that Loopy Bloom from MFT???? I tried to colour my pearls with my black Copic but they weren't for drying so I used black nailheads instead.

I used Glamour Dust on Nikki's top (sparklicious!!!!) and my Wink Of Stella clear glitter pen on her eyelids, lips and nails for just a hint of sparkle

OMGoodness....totally loopalicious!!!!

Of course I Mary J'd the inside. Steven loved it...especially the loopy flower...so hopefully it will give him extra brownie points lol. I love the paper and I'm sure you'll be seeing a lot more of it over the next couple of weeks.

I would love to enter the following challenges please:

Birthday Sundaes - Birthday
I Did It Creations - Eat Drink & Be Merry

Kenny K Krafty Girlz - Stitching - Real or Faux
Totally Gorjuss - Sparkle
Joyful Stamper - Anything

Now this next picture is going to BLOW YOUR SOCKS OFF!!!

I made loopy flowers in every colour of felt in my store!!!! I was in loopy heaven making them lol. They are so easy to make...the fiddliest part was taking the backing off the tape.

That's it from me...I've got to rush to the grocery store for some dinner. Don't forget you've only till 12 noon tomorrow to enter our challenge for a chance to be a Guest Designer for 3 challenges in December. Just put GD after your name :-D

Thanks for stopping by

Catch ya later x

It's the weekend!

2011-11-25T01:00:00.002Z

It's Friday...it's the weekend....yaaayyyyy! Here we are again...another weekend....another day closer to .... my birfday woo hoo. Oops...did I say my birfday??? Didn't mean for that to slip out lol. It's ok cuz I'm still on the right side of 40 {wink}!!!! At least I'm not as bad as MP as she was banging on about her birfday for MONTHS before and WEEKS after!

There have been lot of birfday's this month...Suzy Q, hubster, Mil, Sil, Nic and most recently (although it was last week) was my friend Pauline. Our lives are so busy so I only got to see her Tuesday night to give her her card. Here it is....

I hope you're not bored with Magnum & Lily Cupcake Surprise cuz I'm not! As always I used my Copics to colour the image and gave Magnum's party hat the obligatory spots with my gel pen, GA'd his nose, glittered the flames, Lily's hat and the cupcake liner and no cupcake is complete without Fluffy Stuff then finally cutting the image out. My Grand Nesties got put to work again and note this time I didn't cut another front to hide the flat hinge. I guess it doesn't look too bad. I used an embossing folder that has been in a drawer for ages and I'm asking myself why because I'm lovin' it! And what do you think of the border??? That's a Borderability getting it's first outing in over a year...pretty sweet huh. You know I'm gonna sew but somehow I managed to forget to sew the smaller circle hmph. Make sure you take a good look at those flowers cuz they are fabulicious! I love making these rolled flowers with felt...they are so soft. I think they were Pauline's favourite part of the card ... she kept stroking them lol.

You can just SEE how soft there are {sigh}

Fluffalicious baby!!

I would love to enter the following challenges:

Fab n' Funky - Happy Birthday

More Than Favors - Birthday

Papercraft Star - Anything Goes

Stampavie and More - Anything But Square

Digi Doodles Shop's Best - Animals

Pals Paper Arts - Pearls

A couple of reminders before I head ...

SOTM!!! You've got less than a week to get your very own

Nikki & Buttercup Building a Snowman for 1/2 price.

Guest Designers!!! The Ladybugs would love 3 GD's for December and I've had a little lookey on the Challenge Blog and am thrilled to see we've a few entries with GD beside their names but I know there are more of you out there. Don't be worried, nervous or afraid...we Ladybugs don't bite...we are super duper friendly if not a little crazy and I know you will have lots of fun...just ask the other bugs! If you think you can cope with a ~~lot of~~ little bit of crazy just put GD beside your name when you upload your entry. Go on...you know you want to!

Have a great weekend friends

Catch ya later x

TLT - Laurie's Challenge - Winter Blues

2011-11-22T09:00:00.012Z

Happy Tuesday everyone...boy didn't that come around quick lol!! The days and weeks are flying by faster than I'd like. All I keep hearing on the radio is 'Christmas is only ** days away' and there's no way I am ready hmph!

Thank you to everyone who entered our Fairies Challenge last week with your fabulicious cards/projects. There was a bit of a hiccup when the challenge closed yesterday (I'm buying Lisa a calculator for Christmas lol) but I don't think it was for long. Thanks Susan for letting me know :-D As always head on over the the Challenge Blog to see if you're one of the winners.

Onto today's frostilicious challenge...Winter Blues chosen by ~~Diane~~ Laurie!! I don't know about you but blue scares me almost as much as red does. I never seem to get the right tones when I do use them but I had no choice for today (guess that's why it's called a challenge lol)

I trawled through my gazillion (give or take a few) sheets of pp and NOTHING was right so I went for cs and an embossing folder letting the image do the talking. This is what I came up with...

I settled on Gotcha! and coloured Jack and Robyn with my Copics glittering Jack's scarf and hat, Robyns, hat and mitts and the trees. I used Fluffy Stuff for the pom poms on their hats and a Swarovski crystal for the button on Robyn's coat. For some strange reason I decided not to use my normal snow glitter for the snow instead using the snow (it's kind of like Flower Soft but coarser) I bought at the SECC where I also got the shaker windows. I immediately regretted it ... I sat staring at it and by the time I came round the glue had dried and I couldn't get it off!! It actually looks quite nice in the close up picture of Jack's feet.

I used my Grand Nesties for the cover of the card and the circle base. I ran the light blue cs through my JT (still loving it BTW!!!) with my new Sizzix embossing folder leaving the top plain then sewed just the light blue so as not to see the stitching at the back of the dark blue cs (learned that from experience lol) After that I just assembled it and cut out some snowflakes with my fabulicious MFT dies, stamped the sentiment and snipped the ends, rolled and curled it, put foam pads in the middle to raise it and used my snot gun to keep the ends down. Finally I added Swarovski crystals to the centre of the snowflakes and on either side of the sentiment.

What do you think? It's growing on me...I don't love it yet but there's still time lol.

I'd like to enter the following challenges please:

Cupcake Craftroom - Sweet Christmas

Crafty Catz - SnowflakesCreative Card Crew - Monochromatic

Creatalacious Challenge - Christmas Sparkle

One Stop Craft Challenge - Blue

Stamping Scrapping Challenge - Christmas

Make It Monday - Anything Goes

Paper Creations Ink - Christmas

I've got a little surprise for you.....on top of next week's Challenge winner's prize of a stamp and the Top 3 there is an added prize...well 3 actually. Are you ready???? Three of the entries will qualify to win a space as Guest Designer for the 3 challenges in December!!!! I hope that excites you as much as it did me when I thought of it lol. If you do wish to be considered for a GD spot just put GD after your name when you post your challenge entry. Easy peasy :-D

An update on the wedding...we have a photographer yayyyy!!! We met with him yesterday and he's lovely and very easy on the eye...it will be VERY easy to smile when he's taking the photos lol. We did see his work which is amazing so we didn't choose him just for his looks hee hee.

One last thing which I keep forgetting to tell you...I won Sentimental Sundays Wedding/Anniversary challenge!!! I was so surprised and chuffed to be

chosen :-D

That's definitely it from me for today. I hope you enjoy the inspiration the team have for you...it's FABULICIOUS!

Catch ya later x

What's up Mr Blogger??

2011-11-19T21:53:00.001Z

I tried to post yesterday but Mr Blogger was having none of it! My pictures wouldn't upload and the whole thing was running slower than molasses in winter hmph!

So now this is going to be a quick post while Mr Blogger is in a good mood lol

I coloured Remote Control at the crop last weekend. I was giving Suzy Q some colouring tips and loved the colour of the chair she chose so I copied {blush}...well they do say copying is a form of flattery...don't they??? Anywho here it is...let me know what you think...

This one was a grower and I can safely say I do love it now :-D I printed the image and coloured it up with my Copics. At first I thought I'd cut it in a square or circle but at the last minute decided to go for it and cut it out all together. I cut and punched and sewed to my hearts content lol. I made the sentiment on the computer

I'd love to enter the following challenges:

SSDS Challenge - Embossing

Bloggers Challenge - For The Boys

Cardmadfairy's - Texture

Forever Night Challenge - No Way Around It (Must have a circle somewhere)

So far so good...better go before my luck runs out. Hope you're having a good weekend. We're off to meet a photographer tomorrow (Sunday) so wish us

luck :-D

Catch ya later x

My Baby is 27!

2011-11-16T08:00:00.006Z

How did that happen? More importantly how can Nicole be 27 when I'm only 35 hee hee??!!!

Happy birthday my gorgeous girl :-D

Well it's true, it's Nic's birthday (not that I'm 35...hard to believe I know lol) and I'm meeting her and Ben for lunch at our favourite deli Eat this afternoon. Normally they would come for dinner but they have Booty Camp and NOTHING but then end of the world would stop her going! I have a M & S cake for her so I know they'll stop by after ;-D

For her card I've used Magnum & Lily Cupcake Surprise...I can't tell you how much I love this image :-D It turned out pretty much how I imagined it...let me know what you think....

I wanted the image to look like it was in a frame and I think it worked. I had a practice run but it still took me a while to get the aperature the right thickness. I used my Grand Nestie Circle to make the base of the card (you can't see it!) and then used my Grand Nestie Scalloped Circle to make the main frame. I did it this way because I didn't want to see the flat hinge of the card IYKWIM. I used another GNC and a regular circle Nestie to make the next two aperatures sewing the larger one to the lilac scallop circle. I coloured the image with my Copics and paper pieced the cupcake base adding the obligatory fluffy stuff, Glossy Accents and Glamour Dust! I then taped it to the white base then stuck the smallest aperature over it. I then raised the top of the card with foam pads so it looked like a frame. I was originally going to make some rolled flowers but didn't think they'd look right so dug around in my drawers and came across some brads I've had for years. I cut off the prongs and stuck them around the frame with GA. I made the sentiment on the computer and I'm not sure if the wording is right...should it say 'For a Fabulicious Daughter on Her Birthday' or 'on Your Birthday'??? I couldn't decide so just guessed lol. If anyone knows please set me straight :-D

Do you like? I love it...and it's not square!!!!

I would love to enter the following challenges:

Paperminutes - Child's Birthday

Tuesday Throwdown - Lots of Circles

Make It Mondays - Anything Goes

Squigglefly - Happy Birthday

Paper Sundaes - Digital Image

Secret Crafter - Spots & Stripes

That's it from me for today...I'll let you know how lunch was and maybe have a picture or two to show you tomorrow.

Before I go just a little reminder about this month's FABULICOUS SOTM...As you know it's 1/2 price....a total bargain :-D

Thanks for stopping by

Catch ya later x

TLT - My Challenge - Fairies

2011-11-15T09:00:00.006Z

Well hello everyone...glad you've made it back to another TLT. So what about the blog hop??? Judging by the comments you guys had a lot of fun lol. I know we had fun reading them and picking the winners...and boy were there a lot of them! Make sure you check the Challenge Blog to see if you've won some Ladybug Candy or the Blog Hop prizes OR the Challenge prizes! I told you there were a lot lol.

The winner of my candy is.... Marianne!!!

Congratulations Marianne...email me with your address and I'll get your prize (and surprise!) off to you asap.

Now for today's challenge of Fairies chose by Moi lol.

When I was at the craft fair at the SECC last month I picked up some Shake It shaker card pouches on a stand that had some gorgeous ornaments ... I'm annoyed I didn't take pictures so I kinda just winged it lol. See what you think...

I chose the gorgeous Ice Skating Ruby to go in my shaker. I stamped her twice on PTI cs and coloured them in with my Copics adding a bit of Glamour Dust to her wings and mountains and snow glitter to her coat and hat. After cutting both images with circle Nesties I strung some invisible thread between the two images. I placed the images in one half of the shaker pouch, added a bit of irredescent snow glitter and tried (and failed) to glue the two pouch halves together with Glossy Accents. I ended up using strips of double sided tape to stick them together which worked a treat :-D I cut out two fancy die cuts with my Nesties then cut a circle out of the middle of these for the pouch to go through. Once that was done I taped the other side of the fancy die cut to the other side, added the bow at the top, the Swarovski crystals around the edges and the sentiment at the bottom.

Not a great picture but I wanted to show you the depth of the pouch.

I'll definitely be hanging this on my tree...might even make another one or two!

The DT have been busy and I can promise you nothing but stunnalicious inspiration! We'd love to see your fairy creations so why not enter our challenge?

Thanks for stopping by today

Catch ya later x

Candy Project

2011-11-11T12:15:00.001Z

Happy ~~Wednesday~~ Friday! I know I promised I would post a project on Wednesday that I made with the candy I am offering for the new release blog hop but it got scarily crazy here . What do you mean, what blog hop??? Where have you beeeeen??? If you haven't seen or heard about the new release blog hop head on over to the Challenge Blog and read what all the fuss is about. Judging by the comments on all the Ladybugs blogs, you've loved the Love & Marriage release :-D

I made and sent this project to a good friend of mine who has been through the mill lately and I'm happy to say she loved it. Can you guess what it is?

I just love these MME papers. I matched the pp up with some Bazzill and Kraft cs. I printed the sentiment on the computer and cut it out with my Nesties. I stitched everything together (yes Marianne...more stitching lol) popped the sentiment up with dimensionals and made the gorgeous flower and leaf with my MFT and MCD dies adding a pearl brad to the centre with Glossy Accents(I cut off the legs of the brad)

Did you guess what it was? Well if you saw my candy you'd might have worked it out....it's a calendar and notepad tin. I lined the inside of both the top and bottom of the tin with stitched Bazzil and stuck the calendar to the top. Before I stuck the notepad down, I made a pen holder out of a small looped piece of ribbon. It took me ages to find a pen that was small and narrow enough to fit the tins so the lide closed properly. All I can say is thank goodness for Google lol.

You might remember I made a similar calendar tin for one of my crops last year. Well I forgot and was going to make it for our crop tomorrow when my distant memory kept tapping away and the light bulb finally came on doh lol.

I've got 10 of the kits below and think they would make fabulicious gifts for Christmas. There's nothing nicer than receiving a hand crafted gift so if anyone is interested in purchasing a kit (papers etc not included) for £12 plus £1 towards

p & p, email me at ladybugcraftsink@aol.com

That's it for me for today.

Hope you have a great weekend :-D

Catch ya later x

TLT - New Release & A Blog Hop - Anything Goes

2011-11-08T09:00:00.012Z

Boy oh boy oh boy oh boy!!! Are you ready to have some fun? The Ladybugs have been super busy getting ready for today's hop and I KNOW you're gonna love the inspiration they have for you. But before I tell you all about it thank you to everyone who entered last weeks Challenge. You'll find the winners at the bottom of the post on the Challenge Blog

Ok, here we go!

The new DIGI release is called Love & Marriage...there are 6 megamazing images to choose from. They'll be on sale immediately for £1.75 each or £9 for the WHOLE SHEBANG...a total bargain!!!

The rules are as follows:

1) We'd like you to display the above badge somewhere on your blog

2) Leave a comment on each blog along the hop telling us what you think

3) Leave a comment on the Challenge Blog telling us which is your favourite image and why

4) Not really a rule but you don't HAVE to do the blog hop to enter the main challenge of Love & Marriage.

The prizes are as follows:

The overall winner of the hop will receive THE WHOLE SHEBANG (6 digi's) and 5 runners up will receive 1 DIGI image of their choice :-D

There's also the normal Challenge prize so that's three (3) chances to win a prize

But that's not all!!! Because it's LCI's Challenge Blog's First Blogaversary some of the Ladybugs have offered candy. One lucky commenter from that Ladybugs blog will win that candy!!! This is the candy I'm offering...

Scor-Buddy, CD tin, Calendar, Notepad and pen (I'll be posting something tomorrow that you can make with these) and if you're good I might just add a little surprise lol.

You should have arrived from the newest and mega talented Ladybug Laurie and if you haven't head back to the start at Challenge Blog

I've used two images....the first is 'Just Married'....

I made this card for a friend's son who got married in the summer...I was extremely late with their card lol. You should know by now I love wedding and baby cards to be WOW...this one is no different.

I printed the image onto PTI cs and coloured it in with my Copics adding glitter to the bouquet, her dress and the shoe trailing at the back of the car. I also added Glossy Accents to the windscreen and tail lights.

I love this image and how the card turned out :-D

This is the second card I made. Since we've got weddings on the brain in our house I thought I'd make an invitation. I haven't really thought much about the invites for Nic and Ben but this might just be a contender. See what you think....

I saw a great tutorial for a criss cross card by Monica Gale on YouTube here. After making the main card I embossed some white cs with one of my all time favourite Cuttlebug embossing folders and stitched it to the front. One side is embossed and the other debossed.

I made the flower with white felt and used a brad to keep the 3 flowers together finally sticking it to the front of the invitation with Glossy Accents.

If you're wondering where the image is....ta da! I didn't want to add any colour but I've added a touch of glitter to the flowers on the cake.

So there you have it...I hope you like the new release. From here hop on over to the ever so talented Julie...I got a sneak peek the other day and it's fabulicious!!

Unfortunately Lisa is not involved with the hop but she has generously gathered some candy to give away so please make sure you stop by her blog and leave a comment.

And finally it's with a heavy heart that I have to tell you that three of the Ladybugs are stepping down from the DT and hanging up their wings. I would like to thank Hayley, Mary J and Amanda for their amazing work, support and friendship over the last year and I wish them nothing but great things for the future.

Catch ya later x

I would like to enter my cards in the following challenges:

One Stop Craft Challenge - 3 Is A Magic Number (3 pearls)

Paper Sundaes - Rectangle

Allsorts Challenge - Anything but Square

One Stitch At A Time - Use a Digi

Bows and Berries Challenge - CAS

DDCC - Anything Goes with a Digi

Sentimental Sundays - Wedding/Anniversary

Dream Valley - Anything Goes

Make It Monday - Anything Goes

Crazy Amigo Challenge - Swirls

Creative Craft Challenges - Minamalistic

Digital Tuesday - Anything Goes (must use digi)

Heartsong Inspirations - Anything Goes

Incy Wincy Designs - Stitching

Squigglefly - No Patterned Paper

There's Magic In The Air - WOW

Happy Birthday SIL!

2011-11-07T10:00:00.059Z

Yup...another family birthday. This time it's hubby's sister who is the BIG FIVE OH today...Happy Birthday Emily :-D

I decided Martini Nikki was the perfect image to use...she reminds me a little bit of Emily. You might have noticed I've used this layout for the last 3 cards but changed each one slightly. I saw this card on Jeanie's blog and loved it instantly so took bits of it so it wasn't identical. You know when you make a card and you just love it and can't stop looking at it? Well this was one of those for me :-D What do you think?

I so {heart} this card...

How sparkilicious is Nikki's blouse...gorgeous!

I love paper piecing. The best thing about it? If you've coloured something and it looks terrible, instead of throwing it out and starting again...paper piece! That's what happened with the pooches pillow...can you say disaster with a capital D lol.

Phew! That's the last of the family birthdays for a couple of weeks. I'm the youngest of the 'adults' in the O'Leary family and I LOVE it lol. I've got just a little over 2 years left before my 1/2 century and I'm going to make sure they don't forget lol.

Right now...big day tomorrow...NEW RELEASE and a BLOG HOP. I do hope you'll join us as we're all so excited. There will be the normal prizes with a few extras thrown in. You really won't want to miss it.

See you in the morning :-D

Catch ya later x

Happy Birthday MIL!

2011-11-06T10:00:00.002Z

Another family birthday...this time it's my MIL's and it's today :-D She doesn't do computer's so will be oblivous to this post lol. I mailed the card on Monday with her prezzie but so far it hasn't arrived :-( Mail to Dublin is a NIGHTMARE...Fingers crossed she'll get it tomorrow.

Anywho, this is what I came up with....

I used Get Up And Go Wrinkley...she and my MIL share an uncanny resemblance lol. I used one of my favourite MME pad's Stella Rose - Mabel.

Now I don't know if you've ever done this but I've paper pieced my paper pieced chair!! First I stamped the chair onto the turquoise paper and cut it out. Then I stamped it on the floral paper and cut out just the flowers to give the chair a lift! Boy I hope MIL appreciates the cutting in those flowers lol. I had a bit of a 'mare sticking them on...I used my GA which wasn't clever (and wouldn't recommend for small pieces) as it kinda squidged out a bit so to hide the fact it was a bit of a mess I GA'd the flowers so it looked like the chair should be shiny in places lol.

I do hope MIL likes it when it eventually arrives :-D

Don't forget about the bloghop and new release on Tuesday...we Ladybugs are super duper excite! Grab the badge and spread the news...the more the merrier.

Have a great Sunday

Catch ya later x

Lily Strikes Again!

2011-11-05T10:00:00.001Z

It's the hubster's birthday today...not sure what we're going to do ... probably just go with the flow and see what the day brings. He not big on his birthday for some reason...it's not like he's OLD or anything lol.

I made his birthday card at the beginning of the week...get me!! I'm usually making it just before midnight the night before so big pat on the back :-D I used the new Magnum & Lily image called Fore! Let me know what you think....

Oh Lily you little rascal lol. Most likely this is Magnum's first and last hole in one lol. This image is so versatile...it can be a birthday, anniversary, father's day...and for a bargain £2! I can see me using this image a lot...I've got it earmarked for someone towards the end of the month ;-D

I'm not great at colouring grass ... the greens keeper would definitely not be impressed lol

Don't roll your eyes...I had to put the glitter somewhere

A little bit of grass on the inside and that's it done :-D

That's me for today...I'm off to continue the celebrations

Thanks for stopping by :-D

Catch ya later x

Happy Birthday Suzy Q - And something new!

2011-11-04T09:00:00.005Z

It's my dog walking mate and fabulicious friend Suzy Q's birthday today...her last in her 3rd decade...makes me feel old hmph!

I've been harbouring a couple of new DIGI'S for a while and thought I'd make a card for her using one of them. Not even the Ladybugs have seen this so I might get into a bit of trouble lol.

Anywho, here is Magnum & Lily - Cupcake Surprise...I totally love this image and hope you do too...

What do you think? Totally unisex me thinks so really you're getting two for one :-D. Lily cracks me up...she is ALWAYS getting the upper hand with Magnum although she really does love him....really! I printed the image onto PTI cs and coloured it in with my Copics. The pp is from my MME 6 x 6 Lime Twist Life Of The Party (how appropriate lol) paper pad which I cut and stitched to Bazzill cs. I used one of my MS punches for the border. I used Fluffy Stuff on the frosting adding some of my snow glitter before I fluffed it with my heat gun. I added some GD to Lily's party hat and candle flames and GA to Magnum's nose along with some dots to his party hat using my gel pen.

Is Magnum surprised or what lol

Lily seems oblivious to Magnum...

This pussy cat is not happy!

I loved making the circle sentiment and added a felt flower and button to the centre.

I've started adding leaves along with my rolled flowers and what a difference they make...I love this one with the cut out bits. I crumpled up the flower die cut before I rolled it ... it kind of gives it a worn distressed look ... and added a tiny button to the centre to finish it off.

And there you have it...Cupcake Surprise. I would love to know what you think of the newest addition to theMagnum & Lily line so please let me know :-D

I would like to enter Susan's card in the following Challenges:

MAWTT - Food & Drink

Papercrafting Journey - Use a digi

Scrapbook Sisters - Anything Goes

The Paper Variety - Humourous

Digital Tuesday - Cute & Cuddly

Paper Weekly Challenge - Anything Goes + Bling if you like (YES!!)

This is a busy time for birthdays....you might just get a peek at another new one tomorrow!

Have a great weekend!

Catch ya later x

PS Did you see Jeanie's card from yesterday? OMG..check it out now...it's fabulicious!!

My brain hurts!

2011-11-02T08:00:00.001Z

Wow....didn't the Ladybugs do well yesterday! I think it's fun to see 10 different takes on one image...everyone's styles are so different.

I had an incredibly early start yesterday dropping the pups off just after 8. Why? I had a date with my friend Gayle at my house. She was going to try and teach this old dog some new tricks. All I can say is she has the patience of a saint ... Saint Gayle lol. I've now got some new albeit shaky skills on my laptop and can now use programs and buttons I never knew existed! There was so much to take in (my brain is totally overloaded!) I knew I couldn't rely on my memory so wrote everything down. We worked from 10 am until almost 3 when Gayle had to pick up her kidlets from school. I had a 15 minute chat with DLS who was just back from a 3 week trip to Maui for a quick catch up then got out my notes to practice my new skills. That 15 minutes was my downfall...I should have kept going as my mind went blank even though I had my written instructions in front of me. After a few false starts and a bout of hyperventilating I soon got back into it and think I could now do it with my eyes shut...ok maybe with one eye shut lol.

I said I had some news so here it is....next Tuesday (November 8th) we're having a Blog Hop celebrating a new Digi release!!!! But it's a VERY special blog hop because it's LCI's 1st Blogaversary!! I know I've been blogging for two years but it's a year since we started with a DT. Along with the normal Blog Hop prizes there might be some prizes that one or two of the Ladybugs will be giving away. All you have to do for now is add the fabulicious badge Lisa designed to your sidebar and await further instructions lol.

I do hope you will join in the fun :-D

Catch ya later x

TLT - Sue's Challenge - Distressing or Non Traditional Christmas Colours - SOTM

2011-11-01T09:00:00.063Z

I really am going to have to work on a shorter title lol.

Wayhay...it's that time of the weeks AGAIN! We loved all the entries for last week's Oh Baby challenge and I'm glad I didn't have to do the choosing. All the winners are on the Challenge Blog...is it you???

Our lovely Sue picked this week's challenge...Distressing or Non Traditional Christmas Colours using November's SOTM Nikki & Buttercup Building a Snowman. I can do non tradional pretty good but distressing?? The only thing that gets distressed is me lol. I THINK it's supposed to be a bit dirty looking but mine is kinda clean...hope that's ok!

I had a dig through my pp and found this lone piece of Basic Gray Wassail Snow Storm. Why I only bought one is a mystery and I usually buy pp in 5's. I teamed it up with some Bazzill and SU! cream cs with the flecks in it (I'm sure Susan will tell me what it's called!) I do have a distressing thingamabob but I couldn't find it so used a large emery board and it did the trick. Once I got all my layers in place I did a bit of stitching...have you noticed I'm stitching around the images these days? I think I'm addicted to it because I can't seem to stop. I even pulled an image off a card I was making yesterday when I realised I hadn't stitched around it! I also used my Martha Stewart border punch at the top of the cream mount.

I stamped N&BBAS with Momento ink and coloured her in with my Copics. I added a tad too much snow glitter to the trees and Glamour Dust to the scarves

I made my sentiment on the computer

I kinda love it lol. The rest of the Ladybugs have got some fabulicious inspiration for you so why not check them out? I promise you won't be disappointed :-D

I would love to enter my card in the following challenges:

Make it Monday - Anything Goes

Meljen's Designs - Christmas

Crimbo Crackers - Anything Goes

Pollycraft - Anything Goes

The Pink Elephant - Distressing

Totally Papercrafts - Glitter It

Make sure you pop back tomorrow because I have some exciting news to share!!

Catch ya later x

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T10:35:00.000Z

I haven't anything new to show you (that's not strictly true ... I've got loads...just can't show you yet!) so thought I'd post the Halloween card Lisa dared me to make last year lol. I bought this stamp from Elzybells when she was having her closing down sale and it was super fun to colour in.

Steven and his friend Marcus went out on Saturday night dressed as Zombie Geeks...

Whatever happened to witches, ghosts and goblins lol??? A friend of Ryan's did their makeup...pretty amazing huh.

And finally today is the last day to purchase October's SOTM for 1/2 price

Hope you have a great week...thanks for stopping by.

Catch ya later x

TGIF

2011-10-28T13:12:00.000+01:00

Yesterday was non stop. I dropped Ryan off at a pickup point, then Rocky and Ruby at Doggy Daycare then picked up my friend Gayle... Mrs Teddy Bo herself ... and headed off to the SECC. We were chatting so much we missed our exit but eventually got our bearings (no pun intended Gayle!) and found our way back :-D

Once upon a time I would leave the craft show layden down with bags and an extremely empty bank account but I was super good yesterday (or maybe I just have everything lol) and only spent about £25 at the show. It was very crowded at some stands and as CW was only 5 minutes from the SECC we headed there afterwards to shop in peace!

I posted on LCI's FB page I was going and anyone who saw me was to grab me and say hi. Well it didn't take long before I was grabbed by my lovely friend Val who I hadn't seen in at least 2 years. It was great to catch up and we've agreed to meet up more often.

These are the goodies I came home with including 2 of the Grand Nesties I wanted....

Bazzill cs, Grand Nesties, Art Institute glue, snow, iridescent glitter chunks, shaker cups and mounts, 3 Copics, Sizzex embossing folders and a mini aperature box card kit from Papermania. I'm going back with Suzy Q tomorrow as she had childcare issues and I might just pick up a punch I was lusting after!

After CW I dropped Gayle off (non stop talking again but car was on on auto lol), picked up Ryan, came home. Nic came over and we talked wedding invitations for a couple of hours. Picked up dogs, went to CB, home, cooked dinner for hubster, picked Sadie up, went to Equi's for dinner and a pokey hat, went to Rosso for a coffee, back to Sadie's to do some odd jobs ie attach phone to wall, change her clocks back, back in the car, call BFF for chat and arrive home at 10:30 in time to walk dogs then get to bed! Thankfully I don't have too many days like that lol.

Still on the theme of Oh Baby, I made this card for my friend whose daughter had a baby girl last week....

I used my fabby new JT (no problems so far!) and my Grand Scallop Nesties

Marvellous Mushroom felt could be called Krafty Mushroom as it's a perfect match :-D

Thought I'd show you where I 'signed' it on the back.

Since I never got a chance to play yesterday I'm leaving this short (phew says you lol). I hope you have a great weekend.

Remember you only have a few more days left to get the SOTM for 1/2 price!!

Thanks for stopping by...

Catch ya later x

TLT - Tam's Challenge - Oh Baby!

2011-10-25T09:00:00.004+01:00

Welcome to another TLT...yup it's that time again! Did you know there's only 7 days left of October? Scary!!

A big thank you to those of you who entered MP's Circle/Pink/Chocolate challenge last week...you all did a flabulous job! The winners are on the Challenge Blog so make sure you check to see if it's you!

I also want to say a BIG Woo Hoo...our challenge blog has hit 301 followers!!! Thank you EVERYONE that has taken the time to come along and joined in our challenges. With so many Challenge Blogs out there, your taking part with LCI is greatly appreciated :-D

This week is Tams turn to choose the challenge which is Oh Baby! I LOVE making baby cards...especially using the Baby Baby stamps. I received a commission for a baby boy card way back in September...that's how long my card has been waiting to be posted. But wouldn't you know it...I was typing this at 11pm last night lol. Anywho this is what I did....

I hope you're not getting bored with my WOW cards (I've another couple waiting in the wings!) ... I can't seem to get passed them for baby or wedding cards...something pure and innocent about them. I also love making the quilted background with my ScorPal...it lends a coziness to the card IMHO.

I inked up this little guy and coloured him in with my copics adding the dots with my gel pen.

I guess Marvelous Mushroom isn't the first colour you'd think of for a flower but I grab it first time everytime these days.

The inside Mary J'd

I was told that the mom of Harry loved the card so I'm very happy ... job

done :-D

I'd like to enter my card in the following challenges:

CES Challenge Blog - New Beginnings

One Stop Crafts - No DP

Craft Sentiments Designs - No DB

Wee Memories - Free For All

My Time To Craft - Quite White

Make It Monday - Anything Goes

Make It Monday Kraft Outlet - Must include kraft - Anything Goes

The Ladybugs have got some flabulous inspiration so please go by their blogs and leave some love.

Just a reminder that you've only one week to take advantage of this month's SOTM...1/2 price...snooze you lose!

Thanks for stopping by today....have a great day.

Catch ya later x

Chocolate anyone?

2011-10-23T20:11:00.000+01:00

Hope you've had a great weekend...mine's been a bit of a roller coaster!

We had an entry to our tag challenge from Wendy which I absolutely loved. In my comment I asked if there was a turtorial and it wasn't long (next day) before an email from Wendy appeared in my inbox with the link to the tutorial. Thank you Wendy!

Now this isn't anywhere near as good as Wendy's but for a first try I'm quite happy lol. You can let me know what you think....

Do you know what it is? All will be revealed shortly....

After humming and hawing I finally decided on Birthday Robyn to be the star. I coloured her in with my Copics and added some GA and GD to the balloon, her party hat and cake/candle. I paper pieced two of the balloons (stolen from MP!) and added spots to her dress with my Inkssentials white gel pen. Ok...are you ready.....

It's an easel card with a drawer!! Cute huh :-D

Guess what's in the drawer...

I can tell you there aren't many of these chocolate eclairs left lol. A moment on the lips a lifetime on the hips hmph!

See this border? It was a gift from a friend but it's actually not the end result border from the die but the remnants. I decided this would suit the project better and I just added the tiny pearls which I think are pretty lush! I used more of my felt for the gorgeous flowers and carried the pearl theme to their centre.

Yummy :-D

Short and sweet...thanks for stopping by

Catch ya later x

Happy Birthday Julie

2011-10-22T10:00:00.001+01:00

Happy birfday to you

Happy birfday dear Jewleeeeeee

Happy birday to yewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!

Yup...it's another Ladybug's birfday and that's our Julie's...only one left this year..... mine!!!!! I started making her card EARLY and ended up scrapping it at the 11th hour cuz I wasn't happy with it. Made another which I mailed yesterday only to fiddle with the first and now wish I had of sent that one hmph! I'm showing you the second one today cuz I made it with my NEW TOY!!!

First things first...this is what I've been teasing you about....

Ta dah!!! What do you think? Do you know what it is? It's only the Joy Trouvaille die cutting machine! I've got the Cuttlebug and the Big Shot but you can't use any of the larger dies in them so I've been hankering after one of the Big Guns...The Grand Calibur or the Sizzix Big Shot Pro. Only problem is the GC hasn't been getting great reviews and the SBSP is too expensive and too big to store. After seeing Laurie's card on TLT though I knew I had to make a move.

I met up with Lynn and Elaine for a coffee then a quick trip to Craft World. When I was discussing the GC with Donald he mentioned the JT which I'd never heard of. He said Gaynor and Karen loved it and would use it ahead of the GC. Throwing caution to the wind I bought it and the Grand Big Scallop Circle dies.

I know it's not the prettiest of things...in fact it's pot ugly! But it's all about the performance right? When I got it home I googled JT for reviews and it all started off pretty good then went rapidly downhill. I found Ikki's Cuttlebug Cupboard who has been reviewing JT since January and she's had problems with cogs breaking and embossing folders not going through. The cog problem was similar to the GC's and was fixed early on but the main problem since seemed to be certain embossing folders were to thick to go through. It was looking pretty bleak...I hadn't even taken JT out of it's box. I emailed Gaynor and she reassured me that if I wasn't happy I could exchange it so with that in mind I got a couple of embossing folders of different thicknesses and ran them through and guess what? It didn't break! In fact the impression was very impressive. Once I got started there was no stopping me and I broke out the dies and started on Julie's card and this is what I came up with...

It's not square...yay me lol. It took a while to love it but now I do. Ideally I would have had a brown border of some sort beneath the pp but I didn't buy the Grand Circles and the large Nestie circles were too small.

I'm not sure what has impressed me more...the JT or my circle sentiment!!! I've failed miserably in the past trying to make one but when I saw Gaynor's card it inspired me to try again. After almost 2 hours of googling and playing I gave up...failed again. I emailed Gaynor and she pointed me in the direction of this blog. It was the best tutorial I've seen for circle sentiments...so easy and if I can do it anyone can. Thank you Gaynor :-D

I'd love a few more of the Grand dies and I hope to pick up another one or two (but they're silly expensive so probably just one) at the craft show at the SECC next week :-D I've only used the JT for a couple of days and so far so good. The only negatives at the moment are the plates aren't clear and the the suction works great on my kitchen table but not on the work surface in my craft room. But those aren't enough for me to exchange it....yet! I'll let you know how I get on but if any of you have got/had a JT I'd love to know what your experiences are.

Ok...that's it for today...I'm off to play some more with JT (shame it wasn't Justin Timberlake lol) so hopefully I'll have more to show you soon.

Thanks for stopping by...hope you have a great weekend.

Catch ya later x

You get less for murder!

2011-10-20T11:05:00.000+01:00

I hate to disappoint you but this is going to be a quick one today so no need to get the kettle on lol.

I met up with Lynn and Elaine for a quick coffee yesterday with a bonus trip to Craft World where I bought myself a new toy. I'm now desperate to get it out of it's box (although when I got home I googled it and the reviews went from good to pretty awful pretty fast so now hyperventilating hmph) and have a play hence the quick post.

A friend ordered a couple of cards a few weeks back and this was one of them...

The people this card was for are only slightly order than myself but I wanted to use this Wrinkley so I hope they weren't offended lol. As you can see on the outside I put the sentiment '25 years married???' and on the inside I put 'you get less for murder!'

I paper pieced the love seat and coloured them in with my Copics. Think they're gonna have to lay off the fake tan!

That's it from me...I'm expecting a Facetime call from Tams...she wants to see me open my new toy lol.

Have a great Thursday

Catch ya later x

TLT - Michele's Challenge - must use a circle shape on the card OR make a circle card, include pink & chocolate within the card/image/design/paper/layout - SOMEWHERE!

2011-10-18T09:00:00.002+01:00

Phew....did you get the title lol??!! Yes it's TLT and it's the magical Michele's (or as we lovingly call her MP...short for Mary Poppins...long story!) turn. First I want to thank everyone who entered last weeks Tag It! challenge...they were all fabulicious! As always the winners are posted on the Challenge Blog so make sure you check to see if you're one of them :-D

As I was saying it's MP's turn to choose the challenge. I don't know anyone who doesn't like pink and brown together OR who doesn't like circles. Put them together and that's this weeks challenge! As long as you've got some of the criteria on your card/project you can enter...seemple lol.

I wanted to use a stamp I hadn't inked up in a long while and it was a toss up between two but Robyn won and this is what I came up with...

It IS a square card but there's plenty of circles AND brown and pink! I used a Nestie to cut out the flower (circle!) then ran it through my Cuttlebug with an embossing folder keeping the patter to the right. I then stitched it to a piece of brown cs. It looked a bit bare so I decided to stitch around the flower as well! I stamped Robyn in Momento Tuxedo black ink and coloured her in with my Copics. I used another Nestie to cut and emboss the image (circle) and using sticky foam pads stuck her to the inside of the flower. When I was buying the balloons for Ben's birthday I bought the megalicious brown and pink ribbon I used on the card tying it in a bow. I stuck the whole shebang on a pink card, cut out Monty Mushroom felt flowers (circle) using my MFT die and finished it off with a pink spotty button (circle).

I totally regret giving Robyn brown shoes...don't know WHAT I was thinking?? To make it up to her I glittered her socks :-D The glitter on her dress doesn't look much in the picture BUT is sparklicious IRL.

I adore Monty Mushroom felt...I think it has to be my favourite :-D

I bought the ribbon in two widths and will have it on the website shortly. I used my tiny tag punch and sentiment

I cut a piece of brown cs and ran it through the Cuttlebug with an embossing folder and used the flower I cut out of the front of the card for the inside and will put a sentiment on it later.

I'd love to enter my card in the following challenges:

Little Miss Muffet - Girly Girl
Stamptacular Sunday - You Choose
Forever Friends - Use a Sentiment
The Squirrel and The Fox - One For The Girls
Scrapbook Sisters - Anything Goes
Polly Craft - Girls Girls Girls
The Stamp Man - Circle It

I see you noticed my stunnalicious signature on Saturday...I LOVE it!!! My amazing coordinator extraordinaire Lisa made it for me ... now all I need is for it to sparkle a flash lol. I think you may be seeing a few more of Lisa's creations in blogland soon!

That's it from me for today. Just a reminder that you still have time to take advantage of the SOTM and purchase Nikki Running with Buttercup for 1/2 price (£3.25)

The Ladybugs have come up with some amazing inspiration for you so do drop in on them and let them know what you think.

Catch ya later x

Happy Birthday Ben!

2011-10-15T13:19:00.001+01:00

It's my future ~~son in law's~~ ~~son-in-laws~~ ~~son in-law's~~ ~~sons in law~~, it's Ben's 30th birthday today lol! We're all going out for dinner including his parents and one of his sisters to a restaurant in a hotel where we lived for the first 3 months after arriving in Scotland almost 27 years ago. The name has changed as I'm sure all the staff but it will be interesting to go back.

I mentioned Ben was the manager in Yo Sushi and had a lightbulb moment when I was thinking about what to do for his card. I thought I would use Add On Magnum with the can of tuna from the Magnum Add Ons but felt there was something missing so asked Moira (Magnum's brilliant illustrator) to draw a chef's hat for me and this is what I came up with...

Apologies for the pictures...they're not getting any better are they lol. I had to take them quickly and didn't have time to set up my tent (not that those pictures are any good these days either hmph). I saw a card on Mary J's blog yesterday and decided to 'borrow' the idea...she has a great way of cutting out the image and mounting it on a circle/square/whatever and I thought it would be a bit different from my normal boring square/mount/mount/etc. I'm really pleased with the result. I made a background of the fish scales from the Add On set for the border and did a bit of distressing on the edges.

LOL...I love his chef's hat!!! This will be available soon to purchase as a

digital :-D

Don't think I was getting too fancy with the inside...the Magnum you're looking at was supposed to be on the front of the card but I thought it looked to small so put it inside so as not to waste it.

I love making sentiments this way...it kinda looks like a flag. I curl the middle up and the ends down and put a sticky fixer in the middle to keep it raised and use my snot gun to tack the ends down.

Time to fly...I'm on balloon duty. Nicole has booked a couple of booths in a nightclub for after dinner (no I am NOT going!) and she hasn't had a chance to get them decorated.

Hope you have a great weekend. Don't forget to take advantage of purchasing the SOTM for 1/2 price...you'll kick yourself if you don't!!!

Catch ya later x