Flowers Galore - Midway reminder

Before I show you my card I just want to tell you how proud I am to be Canadian. Have you been watching the Olympics? They have been awesome. Did you see the men's final hockey on Sunday...Canada v Sweden? We won 3-0 yippee!!!! I was asked quite a few times who I was rooting for, United Kingdom or Canada. Although I've lived in Scotland longer than I did in Canada (30 years to 21 years) I always root for my home team if both are participating in the same event (men's curling). BUT if Canada aren't and the UK are then I'm whooping and hollering for the UK. It's ok to have TWO home teams right lol??

Enough of the waffling, here's my card...

Man oh  man I love these new images...they are fabtastic to colour and Retro Vase is no exception. I coloured the image with my Copics and somehow I managed to get a shine on the vase! I created the sentiment on my computer...I love mixing fonts.

I cannot remember for the life of me where I got these wooden buttons. They come in a clear box in two sizes and although I haven't tried, I'm sure you can easily colour them with Copics (other markers are available lol)  to match your coloured image. 

A peek at the inside. 

I haven't had any time to craft (I had this and another card made for a magazine) but hope to find an hour or two this week. I'm really struggling to fit things in now I've started looking after Coen as he needs my undivided attention and his naps range from 30 minutes to two hours!! I've changed Sadie from a Thursday night to Monday night though I was out with her Monday last week for most of the day switching back to evenings this week. Then Rocky had his post op check up at the Vet School (did I tell you he had to have an op on his cruciate last month???) on Thursday for a good part of the day and I bopped to Beyonce at night. I've calls and texts to return...my friends are going to think I'm ignoring them lol. It's early days but I'm sure I'll get into a routine in another week or two. I'm not complaining....just telling it like it is lol.

 I'm without a car at the moment so Coen and I took the train into town. I love getting the train...it only takes me a minute to walk to the station...my house is just past the shelter on the left.

What a little dude!!!

That's all my news...hope you haven't been bored lol

Thanks for stopping by...have a great week.

Catch ya later xx

Flowers Galore - Floral Delight 3 New Release!!

Yee haw!!!! The new release is here and the DT and I are so excited. We've all been busy creating and hope you like our makes.

There are 12 images though one is poorly but will be joining the rest asap. Floral Delight 3 is a fabulicous addition to the Floral Delight Family which means there's an image for everyone for any occasion.

There isn't a competition...as such...but if you leave a comment on the Challenge Blog telling us which is your favourite image you could win 4 of the new images...that's ON TOP of the other challenge prizes!!!!

I've used Apple Tree...

This image makes me happy hence the sentiment. My grandpa had an apple tree in in his back yard and we used to go over to his house and pick the apples. They were rosy red, crunchy and oh so sweet. This image reminds me of those happy days munching on the apples from his tree :-D

I tried a new colouring technique...colouring OUTSIDE the lines!!! No really...I did it on purpose lol. 

Hope you like...make sure you check out the rest of the collection and don't forget to leave a comment on the Challenge Blog to win 4 images from Floral Delight 3!

Here is my new favourite picture of my favourite little guy. Coen will be NINE months on Saturday....can you say holy cow???!!!! Nic went back to work last Wednesday and we had Coen Thursday through to Friday night and this week we have him Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. It's going to be a combination of 3 days and one night Wednesday to Saturday. No overnight this week as Nic and I are going to Beyonce and Daddy is in charge ;-D

Hope you have a GREAT week.

Catch ya later x

New Challenge - For the One I Love

Finally a new challenge yayyyyy!!!! That was an epic challenge...the point of it was to take a bit of time off and recoup but as you know the best laid plans never work. 

Thank you to everyone who posted their AMAZING CAS cards over the last 6 weeks or so...There was a real mix and it was nice to see the latter ones that weren't Christmas!! Make sure you check the Challenge blog to see if you were one of the winners.

Our first challenge of 2014 (that  number still scares me!), For The One I Love has been chosen by our lovely Tams....just in time for Valentine's Day or not. It doesn't have to be Valentine's...it could be a birthday, anniversary, wedding day or just because.

I decided to use First Kiss from the Love & Marriage collection

When I knew Ryan was coming home I ordered a few dies from PTI and MFT as their postage is so expensive to the UK. The heart border is one of the dies I bought...I think it's from PTI. Using repositionable tape I stuck the pp to the white cs, taped the die to the cs then ran it through my eBosser. That way I was sure to get the same cut from both the pp and cs as the pp is glued to the main card bland and the image and cut off at the bottom is raised with foam pads. After I cut out the heart border I printed the image and coloured it with my Copics and paper pieced her dress to match the border. 

I had a bit of bother with his shirt...I went over the lines slightly and it took ages for me to move the colour back into the shirt. You can still see a bit if you look close but it's better than it was!!

I cut two more borders for the inside of the card...one for the top and bottom

Here you can see how the image is raised from the border. I added a little tag from SU! and some twine. 

Ok are you ready for a short video? I took this of Coen on Sunday night....

Yayyyyy lol!!!! He still can't roll over but he CAN pull himself up ;-D Although you can't see his face he was thrilled with himself and so we were.

Ryan's passport finally arrived on Saturday and I took him to the airport at stupid o'clock this morning. It's really sad to see him go but he was going stir crazy here and the football season in the States starts back on the 15th so he's going back just in time. He'll also get stuck into to his acting classes so he won't have time to miss us. You never know...you might see him on the big screen one day lol. To cheer myself up I'll probably eat chocolate and drink coffee all day lol.

I hope you'll join our challenge this fortnight and don't forget about our new release on the 18th!!!

Catch ya later x

CAS but is it?

I hope this qualifies for CAS as I never managed to make a card for today. It's one of 5 I made for a magazine last year. I hope the coast is clear for me to post it :-O

I've used 18 from Through The Ages collection. I paper pieced the cupcake liner and added Fluffy Stuff to the frosting fluffing it up with my heat gun. I added Glossy Accents to the candle and flame then glitter to the flame. I glued a tiny 2mm Swarovski crystal to the center of the flower on the 8.

I cut out an aperture from the Bo Bunny pp and taped it over the image. My trusty glue gun helped out adhering the ribbon trip around the aperture and a die cut flower with Lasting Impression brad completed the card!

I printed a small 18 on a piece of white cardstock to bring the outside in :-D

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

Craft Your Passion  - Spots & Stripes

My Crafty Spot - Polka Dots

Make It Monday - Anything Goes

The Paper Nest Dolls - Anything Goes

Challenges 4 Everybody - Anything Goes

It's going to be a quiet week...Nicole, Ben and Coen have gone on a mini break driving to London to visit friends. They only left yesterday but knowing I can't drop in to see Coen is awful :-( I guess I should use this week to catch up on things. I did manage to make AND mail my dad's birthday card today...his birthday is the 5th so it might even be early yay me lol!!!!

Anywho it's time to make dinner. Hope you're having a good week.

Catch ya later x

New release, birthday candy and a card

Happy Sunday! It's a tad bit wet here in Scotland...the rain was hitting me from all angles this morning when I was walking the dogs :-(

I've got some exciting news for you...we have a new release!!! Please grab the banner for your blogs,  spread the news and we look forward to seeing you on the 18th!

I still haven't heard from my birthday candy winner Gail Townsend. If anyone knows her can you give her a nudge...the deadline to claim the candy is January 31st otherwise I'll randomly choose another name.

As I said in my previous post I didn't get to craft much over the holidays except for 2 cards. I didn't have a lot of time so they had to be quick. I saw a card on Pinterest {LOVE} which was perfect so I cased it and added the text. There's no LCI image involved as I didn't have time to colour.

I love using dies ... they are brilliant for quick cards...this one probably took about 15 minutes!

Using the negative allows your pretty papers to show through. 

We had Coen overnight on Friday while Ben was wining and dining Nicole on a date night. He is such a good little boy ... although at 8 months (yup you read right) he has no interest in rolling over he loves being on his feet so I'm guessing he's going to just get up one day and walk and skip rolling over and crawling lol. 

This was Coen Saturday morning...obviously teething!

and with Uncle Ryan. 

Gotta load of things to do today so I'll skedaddle. Don't forget to grab the new release banner for your blogs....I'm so excited!!!

Catch ya later x

CAS Challenge Reminder - Notes & Stuff

Who would have thunk it....2 posts in one week...just like I promised lol!!!!

I knuckled down late yesterday and got crafting and it felt fabulicious! I thought I would struggle since I've been out of the game for so long but this little project came together quite quickly although the colouring is a bit suspect in places but all in all I'm pretty happy with the end result. What do you thunk???

Nope...it's not a card! Nah...I decided to jump into the deep end lol. Nicole, Coen and I were in town the other day and went into Paperchase...do you know it? WELL...it has to be just about the bestest store in the WHOLE world lol. Anywho, I was having a good wander around and came across the section of note books and they got me thunkin' and inspired to make this one. I've used Doodlebug embossed cs that I've had for yonks for the covers. I dusted off my Bind It All and miraculously punched the holes AND bound it without mishap...I even got the spiral thingy the right way first time round :-D The size is 8" x 8".

I had a bit of a nightmare cutting the paper for the inside. For some reason my trimmer wouldn't cut straight. I've got the XCut with the arm that detaches...does anyone out there have this one? Any tips? 

I've used Tulip Watering Can from the Floral Delight Too Collection and coloured it with my Copics.

I cut out the letters with PTI alphabet dies.

I had a fun day yesterday. One of Nicole's friends has a fashion page in The Daily Record newspaper and asked if I would be a' model' for their Contouring feature. I thought it would be fun and it was. Marion, the makeup artist was fab and she taught me how to slim down the parts of my face I don't like (would have loved lessons for the body too lol). She added a few eyelashes on the outside corner of my eyes which I loved. I had them done for the first time for Nicole's wedding and I was devastated when I woke up and found a few on my pillow in the days after lol.

First the photographer took my picture free of makeup...scary...then took a few at each stage of the contouring. At one point I looked like a zombie lol. Once Marion finished the photographer went to work and snapped away. Below are two short videos of me in action ... just to let you know I don't get out of bed for less than £10,000 ROFL!!!!

This is a still from the end of the video

and one I took and pimped. You can just about see my falsies lol

I was able to see some of the pictures the photographer took and I didn't really like them. I think I was expecting to look like Cindy Crawford but looked like...well me with more makeup on than usual lol. I'm not sure when it will be in the paper and not sure I want to see it but I did enjoy getting my makeup done and it's not something I get to do every day.

I can't end a post with my mug so here's one I took of Coen while we were waiting for the train on Monday...

Now this is how to end a post!

Thanks for stopping by

Catch ya later x

Helllloooooooooooo

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and all that stuff! I bet you thought I'd immigrated back to Canada huh lol. I cannot tell you what the last 6 weeks have been like. I feel like I haven't stopped since my birfday. Speaking of which, let me get the winner of my birfday candy out of the way and I'll tell you what's been going on in my life. You might want to grab a coffee or 3 for this one lol.

Thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birfday whether it was on my blog, email, text, Whatsapp, Facebook or phone call :-D The winner of my birfday candy is.......

Gail Townsend

Can you email me at ladybugcraftsink@aol.com Gail and I'll mail your prezzie off to you. If you haven't claimed your prezzie by January 31st I'll draw another name. If you know Gail, give her a nudge ;-D

Now that's out of the way I'll give you a quick brief of my birfday. Nic called me the night before to say be ready for 7:45 am....AM!!!!!! As far as I knew Nic, Coen and I were going for lunch and that was awful early for lunch lol. My brain started going into overdrive and I finally figured out what was happening....Steven was flying in from Dubai and we were picking him up at the airport!!!!! Nic arrived and I was so excited I was going to see Steven. Well I was wrong lol. My friend Sally from Chester followed Nic and there were squeals and laughing all round. I was told to pack a bikini and my makeup.....that could only mean one thing...a SPA day!!! A taxi picked us up and took us to The Blytheswood in Glasgow. The spa is absolutely gorgeous and we enjoyed a quick dip in the hot 'tub' before being called for our treatments. We each had a hot stone massage then a facial...bliss! Afterwards we were going to have cocktails then move on somewhere else for lunch but I ended up being surprised with afternoon tea with hubby's family from Ireland and down south.

Nic Sally & I at the Spa

Ready for our treatments

Yummy afternoon tea

MIL, me & SIL

SIL, me & SIL

Party planner Nic & I

Cousins....Ciara, Ellyn & Nic

The day after my birthday and everyone had gone home, Nic surprised me with tickets to see the amazing Lion King in Edinburgh on the Wednesday. This was us sipping French Martini's at the Dome.

I had an amazing 3 days of celebrations. Opening my presents was very emotional. Hubby gave me a card with the month of August in the shape of a coaster on the front. The 6th was circled and he made me guess what it was. The only thing I could think of was my niece back home was getting married. 2013 was a difficult year for us (apart from Coen) so didn't think I'd get to go. When I opened the card a piece of paper fell out...I could feel myself start to cry (again) and handed the paper to Ellyn to read. She started to read....Glasgow to Vancouver...well I started to sob then (such a crybaby lol). I haven't been home in 4 years and didn't know when the next time would be so I think the flood gates just opened. I leave on the 6th of August and return September 4th with a little trip to see Ryan in LA if possible. 

I never really stopped after that....Ryan arrived home from LA on the 14th, I babysat, put up the Christmas decorations, baked but never made a Christmas card! It's the first time I can remember that I never sent cards :-( Steven wasn't able to make it home for Christmas ... or so we thought. On the 19th I was in my craftroom (not making anything unfortunately) and noticed out of the corner of my eye someone running down my drive. Ryan had just left in the car so thought he'd forgotten something but this person was too tall. I went to the hall and Steven burst into the house all smiles. Well I just cried...again...is this what happens when you turn 50...you turn to mush lol???? I'd been a bit sad that he was going to spend Christmas on his own in Dubai so you can imagine how happy I was that we were all going to be together for our first  Christmas together with Coen....

Happy family

Mommy's best boy

 Ben, Steven, Ryan & Nic Christmas morning

Ryan, Sara, Coen, Ben & Nic

Grandma, Grandpa and their little Santa

Coen loves his Uncle Steven

and his Uncle Ryan

Brothers

LOVE!!

I hope you haven't fallen asleep lol. I've so many pictures I can't decide which ones but promise only a few more ;-D

Ryan's friend and acting coach Sara arrived December 27 staying until January 2 ... we had a great time and she's a lovely woman. Steven went back to Dubai on the 30th but not before realising when he booked his return date he accidentally chose January 30th 2014 instead of December 30th and had to buy another ticket :-S 

Nicole and Ben asked Ryan and Ben's sister Faye to be Coen's godparents which meant we had to organize the Christening before Ryan went back to LA on the 13th. The 12th was chosen and everything was going well...perhaps too well lol. Yup...turns out Ryan had to delay his flight back because of a Visa/passport mix up and is now waiting for his renewed Canadian passport to arrive which could take up to 20 days!!!

 Cuddling with Grandpa before the Christening

The Godparents

The end!

LOLOLOL

Thanks for putting up with all the pictures.... I thought it would explain why you haven't seen me for almost 6 weeks. I did manage to make 2 cards in all that time which I'll show you another time....I think you've been put through enough for tonight ;-D

I hope to post a bit more regular from now on though that might change in 3 1/2 weeks when Nic goes back to work and I look after Coen for 3 days and 1 night!!!! 

Thanks for stopping by.

Catch ya later xx