Hey!

I don't know about you but I'm so over the weather here in Scotland. If it's not raining it's cloudy and muggy and the forecast doesn't look pretty for the rest of the week either hmph! Having spent the last couple of weeks being a tourist with my friend Sharon has been fun and we haven't let the weather stop us but it would be nice to leave our jackets and umbrellas at home. Crafting has been almost non existent but normal services will be resumed tomorrow when Sharon flies home. We've had a great time getting to know each other as we've only spent a couple of days together since graduating a couple {cough 32} of years ago. It could have all gone pear shape if we didn't end up liking each other lol.

So far we've explored Stirling and Edinburgh Castles, Scone Palace (my favourite), Modern Art Gallery (least favourite), Troon (tied favourite with SC) and Sunday we went to the Art Galleries...and so did 1/2 of Glasgow lol. It's the perfect place to go if the weather is bad and it is HUGE so you don't notice the amount of people. A man was playing the most amazing pipe organ ... the sound was stunning and echoed throughout the building. It's also free so those with lots of kidlets aren't out of pocket!

It was Ryan's girlfriends 19th birthday in June and lucky for me they were on holiday at the time so bought me an extra few days to make her card. This is what I came up with...

I used Winestool Nikki without her pooch and paper pieced her dress using the aptly named Basic Grey paper pad Little Black Dress.

Hope you like it...Kat did :-D

Weather permitting we're heading to Loch Lomond today...I really do hope the rain holds as it's a stunning part of the country.

Hope you're all having a great DRY summer

Catch ya later x

Happy Tuesday! Just a quick post to remind you that the new Christmas Delight blog hop has another 2 weeks to run. If you've missed it and want to join in the fun head on over to the Challenge Blog to start hopping collecting a letter or 13 along the way. Once you have all the letters mix them about until you find the word/s (just a little hint lol) and email me with your answer to lcichallengeblog@aol.com and you could be in with a chance to win all the images or 2 images of your choice!

I've made a card using Christmas Wreath Delight. I had such fun coloring all the baubles....whaddya thunk?

I used a bit of left over Bazzill Bling from Nicole's wedding favours (remind me to show them to you) for the main card and mount of the image. I coloured the image with my Copics adding a computer generated sentiment. I used the new pink and cream check ribbon and tied it in a fabulicious bow!

You can just about see the glossy accents on the baubles...

Yum!

I've been busy being a tourist since my friend Sharon arrived from Vancouver last week. We went to the beach in Troon with the dogs on Friday. It was cold when we left Glasgow but it was beautiful when we arrived at the beach...really warm :-D Here are a few photo's of our day...

Isn't the sky amazing in these!

I say a few because there were a lot more than this. I took these on my phone but Sharon had taken a load on her camera. When I was transferring the pictures from her camera card to my ipad I managed to delete ALL the pictures from her card....hundreds of them!!! Thankfully she had already downloaded all her photos bar her holiday snaps from here but I still feel really bad :-( I have been barred from doing the downloads from now on lol.

Sunday we went to Stirling Castle where I tread the boards Queen Vicky once walked but I'll show you those pictures later this week along with the ones we take today at Edinburgh Castle.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by

Catch ya later x

Modern Art?? Hmph!

My friend Sharon arrived on Tuesday morning from Vancouver and today we went into Glasgow with Nicole and my other house guest Aby...the totally stunnalciious 16 year old daughter of friends of ours. First stop was Yo Sushi for some lunch (my son in law is manager...still find that strange to say lol) then Sharon and I went off for a spot of shopping (amazing sale in Planet) then to the Modern Art Gallery. I hadn't been in there for years and it has undergone a massive refurb. I'm really not into the gallery thing but knew Sharon was so off we went and had a look see. Walking through the corridors confirmed that I'm definitely not a fan of galleries...or this one anyway lol. For instance there was a yellow post it note in a frame and written on it was 'Back in 20 minutes'. So I'm standing there looking at the post it note trying to feel SOMETHING...some kind of revelation ...trying to get the meaning and how it was going to change my life and all I could think of was rushing home and framing all the post it notes I had and selling them to the gallery lol!!! I obviously didn't get it and don't think I ever will.

It was Ladybug Tams' birthday at the beginning of June and by the end of June I had her card made and in the post...not bad huh lol!!! Here's what I did...it might look a bit familiar....

I made my sister Tracey's Nifty At Fifty card and Tams' at the same time but just flipped the layouts so they were the same but different iykwim. 

I've kept it relatively short...we're heading off to see Magic Mike now at the cinema. I LOVE going to the movies...especially the Ben and Jerry's .... Fairly Nuts please!!!!

I think Ruby has got grass seeds in her face again as she's got the same symptoms as last year so will be phoning the vet first thing. Will keep you posted.

Catch ya later xx

I need a holiday!

Boy oh boy I really think I've lost the plot. A friend I went to school is coming to stay with me for two weeks. I got it into my head she was coming on Saturday of the weekend just past but when I checked her email I saw she was leaving on Monday and arriving on Tuesday . Great...that gave me an extra few days to tidy the house lol.  Yesterday I cleaned like mad. Vacuuming, cleaning bathrooms etc. I went food shopping and and whilst putting it away found jars and cans dated 2008 and 2010 so I started checking everything in the cupboards. When I was putting the food in the fridge I thought it was looking a bit grubby so hauled everything out and cleaned all the inside. Then I went through all the piles of papers etc I had dotted over the kitchen and polished the counter tops. After dinner while hubby held the ladder and my legs I changed 12 light bulbs in the ceiling (I've done this a gazillion times before on my own but thought I'd just let him so he felt he was being useful lol)! Feeling absolutely pooped I thought I'd check her email again for flight number and flight time only to discover she's leaving TODAY and arriving on TOMORROW!!!!! I've also got the 16 year old daughter of a friend arriving Wednesday for 5 days :-O Wish me luck lol.

This was the first card I made using Christmas Handbag Delight from the new Christmas Delight release. I really love how it turned out....

I've got some news ... I'm starting a new venture at the end of the month. I've signed up to be a Pampered Chef demonstrator yayyyy!! For those of you who've never heard of PC before we do in-home cooking shows using the PC products to make a recipe and the guests get to sample the results! I LOVE gadgets and I LOVE their products...especially the potato masher lol. I'm having my first show August 6 and will be a fundraiser for The Teenage Cancer Trust for Sophie. If anyone is interested let me know ...they are so much fun :-D

That's it from me for today. I better get back to my tidying from yesterday for tomorrow lol.

Catch ya later x

ps Can anyone help...I seem to have a toolbar that appeared from nowhere and it covers most of the top buttons when I'm typing my posts (I can just about get the arrow to touch the buttons) and I can't for the life of me get rid of it. Normally it's a right click and poof it's gone but this one is stubborn. Any suggestions?

Holly & Ivy Take 2 and a Sophie Update

I don't know about you but I had great fun on the blog hop. The Ladybugs really rocked these images...not sure if you noticed how much M Pee liked her image ... she was so excited I thought she was going to faint lol.

I'm back with another card using Holly & Ivy that I made on Monday night which I had planned on posting with my other card but I ran out of steam to photograph and then edit the pictures so here it is....

I printed a larger version of Holly & Ivy and colored it in with my Copics. I embossed snowflakes for a background and used my BRAND NEW light green and cream check ribbon to tie a bow adding a sentiment using a sentiment from Stampin' Up!

I used my Wink of Stella clear pen to add sparkle to the ivy. You can just about see it in the pictures but of course you can't see HOW sparklicious it is :-(

I colored the berries with my Copics but when I was rooting around for glitter I came across some long neglected Glitter Ritz Opaque Micro Fine (I'm talking micro)  glitter in Fire Red I decided it would be a change from GD. A spot of Glossy Accents on each berry and a dusting of GROMFFR glitter and the berries came alive. Not that you can tell from the picture but they are berrylicious lol.

This ribbon is totally gorgeous and ties like a dream. Apart from light green it also comes in brown/cream and pink/cream check which you can find here

I punched a pine leaf border to decorate the inside.

I haven't given you an update on Sophie since I posted her story here. First I'd like to thank everyone who has sent Sophie a card and please be assured she's loved every single one. Sophie's mom Karen has been so touched that you have taken the time to make such beautiful cards for Sophie and both say a big thank you. 

Sophie has now had two months of treatment and a recent scan has revealed that the tumors have shrunk (they kind of knew when Sophie was able to button the top of her school shirt for the first time in months) and the cancer activity is negative!!!! This is the best possible news they could have hoped for and she still has 4 months of treatment left but this has given the family a huge boost as you can imagine it's not been easy since her treatment started. 

If you would like to like to send Sophie a card, email me at ladybugcraftsink@aol.com and I'll give you the details of where to send it.

Thanks for stopping by :-D

Catch ya later x

TLT - Christmas In July - New Release AND a Blog Hop!

Woo hoo!!! It's TLT and it's a NEW RELEASE and it's a BLOG HOP!!!! What more can you ask for lol??? It's been a long time since we had a hop so we're all super excited here at LCI Central :-D I thought M Pee (aka Michele) was going to faint with excitement she loves her image so much lol. 

Before I tell you all about it I want to thank everyone who entered our Double Trouble Challenge...all the entries were fabulicious and if you want to see if you were the Overall Challenge Winner, Winner using an LCI image (both £10 shopping vouchers) or a Top 3 winner make sure you check over at the Challenge Blog.


One more thing before I start. If you already haven't noticed we have a brand new Ladybug on board...Susan aka Paper, Card, Ribbon and Flowers. I couldn't resist when I received her email begging (slightly embarrassing I know) to be part of the team...the sizable cheque didn't hurt either lol! So please give Susan a humongous Ladybug welcome...I think she's a little bit nervous and a whole lot excited and we are so happy to have her on our team :-D

Ok I can't wait any longer to tell you about our Christmas in July hop.  The rules are easy peasy...

1. Leave a comment on each of the DT posts as you hop

2. Each DT member will have a letter for you to collect... once you have them all they will spell a word which you then email to lcichallengeblog@aol.com

3. Leave a comment on the Challenge blog letting us know which image you like best

4. Display our badge in your side bar to spread the word.

I'm the last stop on the hop and you should have arrived here from Laurie but if you want to start at the beginning go back to the Challenge Blog. 

The winner will receive all 6 images and there will be 5 runners up prizes of 2 images of your choice each...how's that for an early Christmas prezzie! Of course there will be the usual challenge prizes of Overall winner and LCI image winner so there's plenty for everyone

Are you ready for my card? Here you go...

The range of digi images is called Christmas Delight illustrated by Floral Delights fabulous illustrator Jan White. We had such a blast with these images. The one I'm using today is called Holly & Ivy Delight and have used it twice on my card, flipping it so they're like bookends. I couldn't decide whether to have the vase on the outside or the ivy and swapped them about a dozen times before I settle on the ivy. Now I'm looking at it again I wonder if it should have been the vase lol.

I had one sheet of this pp left over from last year or the year before....or was it the year before?? Not sure when but I remember loving it when I bought it lol. The red stripes are lovely and glittery :-D I sized the images quite small, colored them with my Copics and cut them out with a square Nestie and the flourish with a 

Die-namics die.

I added Siam Swarovski crystals for berries

A peek at the inside

I'd like to enter the following challenges:

Crafty Bloggers Network - Anything Goes

Lollipop Crafts - Christmas in July

Make It Monday - Anything Goes

PanPastel UK Challenge -  Use a Digi

The Paper Players - Christmas in July

The Squirrel and The Fox - Christmas in July

So Now you've seen the new collection twice and I hope you love it as much as I do. It is a bit different but that's what it's all about right? 

As it's the summer and everyone will be busy with their kids and holidays the Christmas in July challenge will be for a month so you have plenty of time to rearrange the 13 letters you've collected and enter our challenge. 

Remember the summer sale is on too where you can purchase ALL cling stamps at 1/2 price!

Thanks for hopping by...

Catch ya later x

Happy Canada Day - Summer Sale

Happy Canada Day to all my fellow Canucks!! 

To celebrate I'm having a 1/2 price summer sale of all cling stamps for the whole summer! That's right from today until August 31st you can fill your basket with Nikki's, Buttercup, Magnum & Lily and the rest and only pay 1/2 price at the checkout :-D

Happy shopping!