What Easter Egg?

Looks like Mousie ate the egg! He must be sleepy after eating all that chocolate.

I thought Poppy would like this card. I never used to make or send Easter cards but now that I've got grandchildren it's any excuse to make a card and send a wee present to them!

I used :-

Image :- House Mouse.

Sentiment :- Penny Black coloured with Wisteria Wonder pen from SU.

Embossed panel :- SU - Honeycomb.

Corners :- Whimsy.

Rhinestones :- Hobby House.

Ribbon from stash and Sakura clear glitter gel pen.

I'm entering the following challenges :-

Oldie but a Goodie. :- Easter.
Creative Inspirations :- Spring Colours.
Stampin' for the Weekend :- Child's Play.

Hope everyone's ok during this unpleasant cold spell. I keep hoping that the weather's going to improve and get a bit warmer. To think we've got through most of the winter not too bad and now in March when you think it should be getting better it's worse!! Our neighbour has lots of sheep and this is just the time for him and a lot of others to start lambing if they haven't already. Poor wee lambs. I'm really glad we stopped farming a few years ago. Poor hubby still has to work outside all day every day but at least he's not farming with all the weather related problems farmers have had this past year.

Thanks for looking and I'll catch up later today after work. Thanks as always for all your lovely comments.

Kat xx

Hat Trick!

Well when I say Hat Trick I mean I've posted three times in three days! Long time since I managed that!

I couldn't resist trying to use one of the great sketches at Retro Sketches. I chose to use sketch no.9.

I made - whisper it - a Christmas card. And yes I do know it's only February. But it's not the first one I've made this year!

Looks like I've managed to take a squint photo!

I used :-
Snowflakes :- Martha Stewart punches.
Sentiment :- Hero Arts.
Bakers' Twine :- Ribbon Girl.
Pearls :- Hobby House.
Snowman embossing folder and Glamour Dust.

Other challenges :-
In the Pink :- Bling and Pink.
Winter Wonderland :- Snowflakes falling all around.

I'm quite pleased with this card! Surprise!! I hope you can see the embossing. It's a lovely folder and the embossing is always lovely and crisp. And I love this sketch. You could add more to it but I like it plain.  I think it's a layout that would be suitable for most occasions. I can see it with flower or butterflies. Perhaps even with more embellishments.

Well this is my day for working all day. It's also my evening for the Guild. Luckily we're never that late so I should be able to see what everyone's been up to in the evening. It's also my husband's birthday so he's getting one of my car cards made using that really useful car set from Papermania. Yesterday was my son-in-law's birthday and he got a car card too. He got a Ferrari card. (same set of stamps) He sells Audis but there aren't any on that set lol!

Thanks for looking and if you have time I love to hear what you think. I really appreciate every comment I get. I know how busy everyone is so it's nice when someone takes the trouble to comment.

Catch you all later.

Kat xx

Simply Poppies.

Hi everyone. Well I'm feeling quite pleased today as I managed to achieve a couple of things yesterday lol! At my crop I picked up the stitches round a v-neck slipover and finished the neck and then picked up stitches round one armhole and knitted a couple of rows. I've had this ready to finish for weeks now but the two things I hate doing are picking up stitches to do a neck and sewing up knitting so I've kept finding other things to do! I need the slipover in 2 weeks so I'd best get it finished. It's for a WRI show and I'm bad for being at the last minute so if I get it finished soon I'll be doing well!

Then in the evening after visiting my favourite blogs and catching up on what challenges are around I made a quick card. This is a similar idea to yesterday's DT card and was very quick to make. Regular readers may notice that this is one of my favourite images.

I used :-

Image :- Penny Black Poppies cut out with Nesties.

Colouring :- Promarkers.

Sentiment :- Hero Arts.

Pearls from stash.

Challenges :-

Freshly Made Sketches :- Sketch.
Cute Card Thursday :- Simplify.
Crafty Cardmakers :- Blooming Images.

This afternoon I'm going to attempt to make a cushion, also for the show. This is one of 6 items for our co-operative table. I have no idea what possessed me to offer to make a cushion. I've never made a cushion in my life! I bought a pattern and I've cut it out. I had to go and buy some tartan to put round the edge so that's my excuse for not having any more done! I have a few other things to get done so I might show them on here when they're finished.................if they're fit to be seen that is!

Anyway thanks for looking and I love to read your comments. Means I'm not talking to myself if you tell me what you think lol! It also means I can visit you and see your lovely work.

Enjoy what's left of your weekend.

Kat xx

Totally Gorjuss 172 - Happy.

Good morning everyone, I hope you're all having a good weekend. I'm off to a crop this afternoon after work so I'm hoping to do some blog visiting this evening. 

Time for our latest challenge at Totally Gorjuss where our theme is "Happy." This week we have two sponsors, Ribbon Girl and Saturated Canary so you have two chances to win!

As you can see I'm still making simplish cards. Not quite so CAS this week but still no DP and not a lot of embellishments.

I used :-
Image :- LOTV.
Sentiment :- Hero Arts.
Colouring :- Promarkers and Sakura clear glitter gel pen.
Ribbon :- Ribbon Girl.
Pearls from stash.

Challenges :-
Created with Love :- Things that Fly.
Creative Card Crew :- Birthday.
Lili's Little Fairies :- Butterflies.
Seize the Birthday :- Sketch plus feminine.
Ribbon Girl :- Turqoise/aqua.
Pink Gem :- Add a Bow.

I'm scheduling this post so I hope Mr Blogger is kind to me! My internet connection has been horrendous this evening (Friday) so I'll quit while I'm ahead now and just press publish before it goes off again.

Thanks for looking and I'm looking forward to hearing what you think about my card. It really makes me happy when I get a kind comment or two.

Have a lovely weekend. Catch you later,

Kat xx

Totally Gorjuss 171 - For Your Men.

Hi everyone, another quick week and more changeable weather. Wednesday in particular was a nasty day with lots of wind and sleet and finally rain. Some places not far from us had lots of snow and there were some nasty accidents on slippy roads. But on the bright side you can really see the days getting longer now. I'm out at about the same time every morning so I can really see the difference when I take the dogs out. 

But enough waffle it's time for another challenge at Totally Gorjuss. This week our challenge is "For Your Men." Handy for me as I need to male cards this month. I already made one for my son-in-law and this one is for my husband.

Very CAS. In fact I'm a bit worried it might be too CAS! What do you think? I did think about adding something to it but I resisted the temptation.

I used :-
Image :- Papermania.
Sentiment and banner :- Itty Bitty Banners and Bitty Banner Framelits from Stampin' Up!
DP :- LOTV.

I can't think of any challenges for this card but if I find any I'll come back and add them.

Challenge :-
Crafting When we Can :- For a Boy.

I thought I'd show you what else I made for the WRI for Wednesday!

This is my shortbread, meringues and undecorated cupcakes.

Unfortunately there weren't many of us at the WRI as it was such a dreadful night with wind and rain. but we managed to eat a lot of my friend's sandwiches and my baking. I also left some at my work and put some in the freezer. Not the shortbread or biscuits as they keep and meringues are handy to have in a tin for an easy dessert. I have to do this again in May as it's my friend's turn for the teas. She doesn't bake much  but I love baking. Not good for the waistline though!

Thanks for looking and if you leave me a comment I'll pop over and visit you too. I love to read what people think, just lets me see I'm not talking to myself lol!

Have a lovely weekend everyone.

Kat xx

I've been busy!!!!

No kidding I'm glad to sit down now! I should probably do my ironing now but I need a rest! I've been baking this afternoon. It's my turn for the teas at the WRI on Wednesday so I thought I'd  bake some things today that will keep ok till Wednesday. Well providing no-one eats them! I don't want to have to bake on Tuesday morning before work or in the evening after work. On the bright side I don't need to make sandwiches as my friend is doing them. That's because she doesn't really bake and she wants me to do the baking when it's her turn!

This is what I've made so far. I didn't actually plan to make so much but I always get carried away as I love baking!

At the back is my famous carrot cake. I love this cake as it's made in my combination microwave and it always works. It just needs to be iced with a mixture of cream cheese and icing sugar. On the same cooling tray is Anzac biscuits. We were given the recipe to use at our show in March so I thought I'd see how the recipe turned out. Front left is gypsy creams which I'll sandwich with butter icing on Wednesday. I need 4 for a competition. I'm not sure if I need them this month but we can always eat them! The loaf is a Mary Berry Dark Fruit loaf which I've never made before so I hope it's ok. Lastly my famous Rocky Road traybake. Should have Baileys in it but I usually just use what's in the cupboard, unlikely to be Baileys, and this time it's Tia Maria.

I still want to make meringues, shortbread and cupcakes. The cupcakes are for this month's competition but I might as well take some for the teas too. Which reminds me that the other competition is a ladies knitted hat. All I need to do is sew it up and make a pompom.

Well I'm off to do a bit of bloghopping and DT work now. If it sounds as if I'm putting off doing my ironing you'd probably be right.

I don't know what's happened to the signature I used to have. It seems to have disappeared. The HTML code is still there but it never seems to show up on my posts any more. Must be something I said!!

Kat xx

Totally Gorjuss 170 - Love.

Good morning everyone. Is it still cold or is it just me? Still compared to some parts of the country we have been very lucky. I think we've had everything this week......snow, hail, frost, rain, wind and even some sun!!

But that's good for staying indoors and crafting. I wish! Bit of a nuisance having to go out to work.

Anyway enough waffle, here's my card for Totally Gorjuss. This week our theme is "Love," guess it must be something to do with the time of year lol! We are sponsored by the lovely people at Crafters' Companion this week.

As you can see I'm still into CAS cards. It's a bit scary stamping and colouring straight onto the card but I like the effect. What do you think?

I used :-

Image :- LOTV.

Sentiment and heart :- Hero Arts.

Colouring :- Promarkers.

I 3d'd the heart on top of the heart balloon for a bit of dimension.

Aren't they a pair of cuties? I might give this to hubby for Valentine's Day!

Challenges :-

Cards for Men :- All my Love.
Everybody Art :- Hearts.
Simon Says Stamp :- Have a Heart.
Lili's Little Fairies :- A Touch of Romance.
Cute Card Thursday :- Love Struck.
Charisma :- Love.
Ribbon Girls :- Love You or Valentine.
Totally Papercrafts :- Valentine or Love.
Daring Cardmakers :- Love is in the Air.
Crafty Ribbons :- Anything Goes with Ribbon.

I'm sure some of you won't have made your Valentine yet so if not you could look out your love images and join us this week. I'll be popping over later to see what everyone's been up to.

Have a lovely weekend everyone and thanks for looking.

Still not Saturday.

Me again! Can't believe I'm posting again. Two posts in one day, don't know when that last happened! I got some new Stampin' Up! goodies yesterday and I couldn't wait to see what I could do with them.

I haven't actually used much of my new stash yet but my head is full of ideas for CAS cards.

I used :-

Hearts :- Stampin' Up!

Sentiment :- Hero Arts. 

Heart gems from my stash.

Challenges for this card :-

Retro Sketches :- Sketch.

Addicted to CAS :- Hearts.

CAS on Sunday :- Be Mine Valentine.

The Pink Elephant :- Photo inspiration - hearts, red and white.

Created with Love :- Valentines.

Creative Inspirations :- Sent with Love.

Here's another one!

I used :-
Image and sentiment :- Stampin' Up!
Pearls :- Hobby House.

I'm entering the challenge at Less is More :- Kraft and Kreme.

Now that I see it on the screen I'm not sure I like it. This is a lovely set of stamps though!

Now I have a cushion to think about. No idea what possessed me to volunteer to make a cushion for the WRI Group show in March. I must have been daft. I've got material for it now and I suppose it won't go wrong as the suite in my sitting room is cream leather and I've got red cushions and cream cushions already.

I made scones a wee while ago. It's my friend's fault. Yesterday she asked about a recipe for scones. She had seen Paul Hollywood on tv making scones with strong white flour instead of ordinary. She made some and put them in the bin lol! I showed her my Paul Hollywood book and a WRI one so she took a recipe from the WRI one. Needless to say I had to give it a go today. I won't show you a picture of mine but they're well risen and light and they taste ok. Just a wee bit lopsided lol! I'll probably try them again, maybe with sultanas or cherries next time. It's a completely different method of making scones from the one I grew up with.

Thanks for looking, I'd better catch up with my favourite blogs now and do my DT work.

It's not Saturday!!

It's only Thursday and I'm posting! I've been really bad so far this year and hardly posted anything else except my DT cards. I'm hoping to do better from now on!

I had a text from my niece on Tuesday evening to tell me that she was in hospital with a broken hip! She has MS so I don't know if it was anything to do with that. Anyway I made her a quick card yesterday as I can't just nip off and see her. She lives in Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis in the Western Isles and I'm in Aberdeenshire.

I used :-

Image :- LOTV.

Colouring :- Promarkers.

Sentiment :- Hero Arts.

Ribbon and button from stash.

Very simple and quick. Think I should do more cards like this. I think sometimes I get bogged down choosing pretty papers and embellishments and finding a sketch for inspiration!

Now I'm going to play with some new goodies that were delivered last night. I might even be back later with something else.

Thanks for looking and don't be shy about saying what you think. I love to visit people who've left me a comment.

Have a great day everyone. It's lovely and sunny just now but when I was out with the dogs about 7am there was a nasty snow shower. At least it was just snow, yesterday we were out during a very nasty hail shower and even the dogs wanted to go home!

Totally Gorjuss 169 - Anything Goes + Lace.

Good morning everyone, I hope you are all well and looking forward to a nice weekend. Not sure what the weather's going to be like but it's been pretty changeable this week. Sunshine, rain, wind and yesterday we had some sleet and the postie said he had seen hail.

This week at Totally Gorjuss our challenge is "Anything goes plus lace." I think we're spoiling you just now with all these easy challenges lol! So no excuses now come and join us. We're sponsored by J&C Creations so you might want to pop over and take a look at their online store.

I used :-
Image :- LOTV diecut.
DP :- New LOTV/Nitwits papers.
Pearls :- Hobby House.
Lace :- Ribbon Girl.
Sentiment :- Craftwork Cards.
Sakura clear glitter gel pen on her hair ribbon and the edges of the petals on the rose.

That new LOTV/Nitwits paper is gorgeous, I love it. I ordered it at noon on Wednesday when it went on sale and my postie delivered it on Thursday. Brilliant service from LOTV and the much maligned Royal Mail.

Not sure if I like this card though. I love the DP and the lace and the sweet image but I'm not sure if it looks a bit busy. I made it quickly on Friday, photographed it and then went to work. After work we had to take the dogs to the vet for their booster jags - that was a lot of fun - not! So I didn't see it online till after that and then I thought mmm..... not sure if I like this!

I'm entering the following challenges :-
Sketch and Stash :- Sketch, option diecuts.
Simon Says Stamp :- Anything Goes.
Bunny Zoe :- Anything Goes.
Allsorts :- Let's Get Cute.
By the Cute and Girly :- Roses are Red.

I'm going away to my daughter's after work today as we're babysitting on Sunday and then having a day off on Monday. I'm looking forward to the babysitting and the day off.

I'd like to say hello and welcome to my new followers. Nice to see you here. Hopefully I'll have time to catch  up with all my favourite blogs and my DT work this weekend.

Thanks for looking and if you leave me a comment I'll be able to visit you too. Have a lovely weekend everyone.

.

Totally Gorjuss 168 - Flowers.

Good morning everyone. How did it get to be the last Saturday of January already? Is it an age thing or has anyone noticed how time passes very quickly?

I hope you're not having too much snow or rain wherever you are. We have been very, very lucky here in coastal Aberdeenshire but I know that even just a wee bit inland there has been a lot of snow and other parts of the country and England too have been badly affected. But now it's raining again so I suppose we're going to have floods again. Can't win can you?

But on a brighter note since it's Saturday it must be time for another challenge at Totally Gorjuss. Our challenge this week is "flowers." Now what could be easier. Most people like flowers and it's very easy to add flowers, or use flowery paper or use a floral image. So we're expecting a lot of entries this week. We have two sponsors this week - Ribbon Girl and Bugaboo Stamps so you have two chances to win! Bugaboo kindly offered all of the DT a digi image to use for this challenge, hope you like mine.

I used :-
Image :- Bugaboo stamps.
Colouring :- Promarkers.
DP :- LOTV.
Corners :- Whimsy.
Pearls :- Hobby House.
Flower and leaves :- Nellie Snell-en.
White gel pen for stitching.

I'm entering the following challenges :-

Pile it on :- Have a Heart.
Created with Love :-Anything Goes.
Creative Inspirations :- Anything Goes plus Flowers.
Passion for Promarkers :- Favourite colour combo.
Charisma :- Hearts and Flowers.
Fussy and Fancy :- Circles.
Stampin for the Weekend :- Girlie.
Ready Teddy Go :- Something new - new image.

After work today I'm going to my first crop this year. I haven't had time to sort out any card making ideas so I'm going to be knitting. I have a hat to knit for my WRI show and it would be good to have it made in plenty of time. It's to be any pattern and any ply so I've decided to do an Aran and I've dug out an old pattern. Well it must be because the needle sizes are the old sizes and the mm sizes are described as new. And apart from that the price is 12pence. Bargain!!

So I'll catch you up later when I get home.

Have a good weekend whatever you've got planned and stay warm in this cold weather.

Thanks for looking and I'd love to hear what you think of my card.

Totally Gorjuss 167 - K.I.S.S.

Good morning everyone. Hope you're managing to survive all this cold and snow. It's been very cold and windy here. We've been promised snow but I hope we're near enough the North Sea to not get too much. Yesterday we still had some ice left at our house and nearby roads and I could still see snow on the hills too. As I write this on Friday evening we don't have any more snow although we had showers during the day. So fingers crossed. If you do have snow I reckon the best thing to do is stay indoors, keep warm and craft!

This week at Totally Gorjuss our theme is K.I.S.S. Isn't that easy. Well actually maybe not! Sometimes you just want to add more lovely embellishments. But I've been a bit sneaky and made a male card and you all know that men like plain and simple cards. I thought this would be the ideal opportunity to make a birthday card for my son-in-law for next month.

We're sponsored by Crafter's Companion this week with £10 to spend in their online store. So what are you waiting for? Join us this week for your chance to win this great prize.

I used :-
Image :- Papermania.
Sentiment :- Hero Arts.
Pearls :- Hobby House.
Washi Tape.

I'm entering the challenge at Simon Says Stamp :- Use Washi Tape.

My son-in-law sells Audis for a living and he sometimes has exotic cards home. I think he had a Porsche last year and Oliver was so excited waiting to go for a drive in it with Daddy. Oliver loves wheels! Cars, bikes, tractors, trains - you name it.

I never used to make very simple cards but out of the ones I've made so far this year most of them have been fairly CAS. I think I'm liking CAS more and more. Think I may do more CAS cards this year.

Well as usual I'm at work this morning so I'll catch up with you all later. I've been quite good recently at doing my DT commenting and keeping up with my favourite blogs. Unfortunately I haven't been so good at actually making anything. I have been knitting now and again so if I finish my knitting entry for the WRI show (in March) before long I'll be happy since I'm usually at the last minute.

Thanks for looking and I love to hear what you think. Take care everyone and keep warm these cold days.

Does this count as sport?

Hi everyone, I think I've been very lazy since Christmas! All I've done is my DT cards so I thought I'd best try to get some more cards made. I have done some knitting so I haven't done absolutely nothing! I had a bit of a rake among my stamps to see if I had anything resembling sport and I found this lovely LOTV stamp. Maybe it'll be useful for making cards for Oliver and his friends. He started nursery last week and is loving it. The first morning Catriona said he went in without even a backward glance. I think she was hurt!
 But he's been used to going with Poppy when she was there and his older cousin and his best pal go too so no surprise he wasn't crying for Mummy.

I'm always a bit nervous about stamping straight onto my card. Probably I should try doing it more often. And then of course I'm even more nervous about colouring straight onto my card. I'm not very good at colouring at the best of times so I was glad to get it finished!

I used :-

Image :- LOTV.

Sentiment :- Hero Arts.

Colouring :- Promarkers.

I haven't entered the challenge at Less is More for ages so I really wanted to make the effort this week.

Thanks for looking, I'm off to make a coffee before bed now. Catch you all tomorrow, I hope! 

Totally Gorjuss 166 - Spotty.

Good morning everyone. I hope I've scheduled this ok as I couldn't get online on Friday evening till late. So I'll be quick. It's time for a new challenge at Totally Gorjuss. Another easy challenge for January, this time we'd like to see spots somewhere on your card. Edited to add :- Apologies to Nikki from Bunny Zoe's, I was in such a hurry to schedule this post that I forgot to mention that she is sponsoring us this week!

Here's mine. I've kept it quite simple again this week.

I used :-
Pram :- Marianne die.
DP :- Forever Friends.
Sentiment :- LOTV.
Heart border :- Martha Stewart punch.
Pearls :- Hobby House.
Spotty ribbon.

I'll add some challenges later.

Cupcake :- January Blues.
Pink Elephant :- Celebrate.
Papertake Weekly :- Happy New....
Crafty Creations :- Something New.
Cute Card Thursday :- Beat the Blues.
Totally Papercrafts :- Ribbon.
Crafty Ribbons :- New Beginnings.

Catch you all later after work and hope you have a nice weekend whatever you've got planned. I'm just hoping everyone's wrong about the weather. All week people have been telling me it's going to snow on Sunday so fingers crossed it doesn't!

I'd love to hear what you think if you have a minute to leave me a wee comment. But thanks for popping in anyway. I'd like to visit you too and see what you've been doing so don't be shy.

Totally Gorjuss 165 Anything Goes + Ribbon.

Good morning everyone. If you are back at work I hope none of you have been working too hard! Things are a lot better at work now that the Christmas rush is past. Next week pensions and allowances will be back to normal too so all the customers should be back to normal too.

This week at Totally Gorjuss our challenge is "Anything Goes plus Ribbon." We thought you'd like a nice simple challenge after all the busy times leading up to Christmas lol.

So here's my interpretation, hope you like. And yes I do know Christmas is past! But you can never start too soon, can you?

I used :-

Sentiment and DP :- LOTV.

Snowflakes and snowflake border :- Martha Stewart punches.

Pearls and gems :- Hobby House.

Challenges for this card :-

Sketch and Stash :- Sketch.
Papertake Weekly :- Anything Goes.
Crafty Creations :- Anything Goes.
Creative Inspirations :- Celebrations.
Paperplay:- Celebration.
Bunny Zoe :- Celebration.
Crafty Hazelnut :- A christmas card without Santa.
Charisma :- Monochrome.
Crafty Hazelnut's Extra Challenge :- Anything Goes.

So why not join us for our challenge this week. You don't get many challenges easier than this one and we are sponsored by J & C Creations this week. They're having a sale just now so it's worth popping over to check out their bargains.

Enjoy your weekend and I hope I can do some catching up with my favourite blogs, my DT work and anyone who leaves me a comment.

Favourite Cards July - December 2012.

Today I'd like to show you the rest of my favourite cards from 2012. Some months I have 2 cards. Not sure why it is but it seems to be easier to find cards you like from later in the year!

July.

 August.

September.

October.

November.

December.

As you can see I've chosen more fairly simple cards. More LOTV, Hero Arts, Penny Black, House Mouse Gruffies, and lots of lovely die cutting and embossing. And of course colouring with Promarkers.

I'll be back on Saturday with my DT card for Totally Gorjuss, which needless to say I still need to make!

Enjoy the rest  of your free time if you're still on holiday. Luckily this is my day off but I need to work tomorrow afternoon and Saturday morning. Having only worked on Monday this week I must say 3 days at work is this my sort of week!

Some Favourite cards from 2012

Happy New Year Everyone. I also want to say thank you to everyone who has visited me over the last year and left me lovely comments. I love to hear what you think of my efforts and it's really good to visit you all and be inspired by your amazing work.

At last I've got round to blogging some of my favourite cards from last year. I decided on them yesterday but didn't have time to do a post. On the 1st of January we always go out for a meal to our favourite Indian restaurant and yesterday was no exception. We had a lovely meal but needless to say I didn't feel like doing anything afterwards!

January.

February.

March.

April.

May.

June.

So what do you think? Mostly they're quite plain. Quite a lot of empty space and not too many embellishments. I've used 3 LOTV images, 1 Penny Black and 1 (well 4 really) Hero Arts and of course some die cutting and punching.

I'm going to schedule a post with the last 6 months of my favourites. We have to go to my daughters to stay overnight as we have a funeral in Lanarkshire tomorrow morning early. Needless to stay we don't want to leave from here as it takes over 3 hours to get there from here even if the traffic isn't too bad. My husband's cousin died on Christmas Eve so it'll be a sad day. She was only 66 but had suffered ill health for a number of years. She was a lovely caring person and always the first to offer hospitality or help to anyone. But I'm sure like most funerals there will also be lovely memories and laughter.

Totally Gorjuss 164 - New.

Good morning everyone, I hope you're all well and had a lovely Christmas. We had quite a busy time this year. I had to work till 12.30 on Christmas Eve but I didn't have to work again till Friday afternoon. Next week is the same as in Scotland we get two days holiday and then Thursday is my day off. My son was unlucky as he had to go back to work on the 27th but at least from here it's only half an hour drive to Aberdeen. My younger daughter is back to work today so she went home yesterday afternoon. My elder daughter and her husband are still on holiday but they went home yesterday too as they were going to a ceilidh last night which they were helping to organise. It was great to have everyone here for a few days even if we had an extra two dogs and the weather wasn't great. Poppy and Oliver enjoyed having a "sleepover" here and funnily enough Santa left presents for them too. Next week will be very quiet!

But time now for the challenge at Totally Gorjuss. This week our challenge is "new." How easy is that? It could be new baby, new home or how about new stash. I'm sure many of you have been lucky enough to get new crafting goodies from Santa! We're sponsored by Lili of the Valley this week and I've made a new baby card this week using one of their lovely stamps.

Also used :-
DP :- Craft Creations.
Colouring :- Promarkers and Flexmarkers.
Sentiment :- LOTV.
Flowers :- Nellie Snellen punches.
Nesties, pearls, Spica glitter gel pens.

I've been so busy with Christmas and just generally relaxing that I had to make this card rather quickly so it's quite plain. Hope you likey.

I was going to add some challenges later but my broadband was too slow to let me do anything so I'm doing it now. (Sunday)

The Pink Elephant :- Anything Goes.
Simon Says Stamp :- Anything Goes.
Cute Card Thursday :- Anything Goes.
Charisma Cards :- Anything Goes.
Stampin' for the Weekend :- Anything Goes.
Fussy and Fancy :- Furry Friends.
Lili's Little Fairies :- Something New.

Thanks for looking and for all your lovely comments. I'll catch up later after work. Have a lovely weekend whatever you've got planned.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Hi everyone, just wanted to say Merry Christmas to everyone. Hope you all have a lovely time. I think I've got everything done now!! My son and younger daughter are here and my elder daughter and her husband, 2  kids and 2 dogs are joining us on Boxing Day. Hope Santa comes to us, can't wait to see Poppy and Oliver with their presents.

Totally Gorjuss 163 - Easy Does It.

Good morning everyone, are you all getting excited about Christmas? I can hardly believe it's only three days away. And I work in a post office too! 

This week at Totally Gorjussour challenge is "Easy Does It." Now what could be simpler. We are sponsored by Craftwork Cards this week and I'm sure I don't need to tell you what they sell and what good quality all their products are. Last week I made a someone special card for my granddaughter and this week I've made a card for my husband. I've used a favourite colour combo and some stamps I love.

I used :-

Images and sentiment :- Hero Arts.

Snowflakes :- Martha Stewart punch.

Embossing :- Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder.

Stepper card :- Craftwork Cards.

Hero Arts Winter Moon was stamped in Memento London Fog then Many Branches Tree was stamped on top in Versamark and embossed in silver. The embossed panels were all edged with Memento LadyBug.

Quite simple really but it seemed to take me ages to make it.

I'm entering the following challenges :-

Stamping Sensations :- Tree-mendous.
Simon Says Stamp :- Merry Christmas.
Creative Inspirations :- Anything Goes.
Paperplay :- Out with the old, in with the new. The two Hero Arts stamps are new.

I have a feeling I'm not going to be around much for the next week! I'm working today and of course Monday and so far I have no food preparation done. The cake is made but still to marzipan and ice. I also have to make gluten free sponge so Mhairi can have Tiramisu and I've bought gluten free digestives so she can have my famous Rocky Road traybake too. I need to make meringues, pavlova, mince pies and shorbread. Not to mention organise the main course. I think we're having roast beef on Christmas Day and steak pie on Boxing Day when everyone's here. So who's going to do a bit of hoovering and dusting I wonder. Well I do have a candidate in mind. Someone who has two weeks off whereas I have two days each week. Not fair is it?

Anyway I'll do my best to keep up with my DT work as well as a bit of visiting.

Thanks for looking and have a lovely weekend whatever you're doing.

Totally Gorjuss 162 - For Someone Special.

Good morning everyone, just a quick post from me today as I'm away at my daughter's babysitting. Poppy has a swimming lesson first thing so I'm scheduling this.

Our challenge this week at Totally Gorjuss is "For Someone Special."> My someone special is my granddaughter, Poppy. I hope she likes her card! We're sponsored by Heather's Hobbie Haven and Milk and Coffee. I need to add a link for Milk and Coffee later. I've used one of their images as they very kindly gave all the DT one to use. I chose the lovely "Girl Playing with Snow. I hope that's the correct name, probably best check that too!

Hope Poppy likes her card. Here it is.

I used :-

Image :- Milk and Coffee.

Colouring :- Promarkers.

Sentiment :- Crafty Impressions

Corner ;- Whimsy.

Embossing folders :- Cuttlebug, Snowman and Couture Creations

Liquid Pearls, Glamour Dust.

Challenges :-
Papertake Weekly :- Snow White - mainly white or has snow.
Everybody Art :- Anything Goes.
Creative Inspirations :- Contemporary Christmas Colours.
In the Pink :- Pink and Pearly.
Crafty Hazelnut :- Anything Goes for Christmas.

Thanks for looking and if you leave a much appreciated comment I'll pop over and visit you too. Catch you all later. 

Why did I start this........?

I often think that! I used to give my great nieces and nephews and latterly my grandkids too a book token every Christmas. Now most of my nieces and nephews have reached 18 and don't get a Christmas present any more. Only one is under 18 so I decided to make a gift card holder to put his money in. Not a book token any more as I realise he would probably prefer to put the money to something else! So then I thought I might as well make some for Poppy and Oliver too. The next thought was what to decorate the front with after all a 17 year old boy probably doesn't want a snowman or a santa! So here's what I made.

This one is for Lachlan. Hope a snowflake is not too yuk for a teenager. I took the photo last night and I think it looks a bit blurry but I can't get a better photo as I posted it with their Christmas card this morning!

This one's for Poppy and it was definitely blurry so I took another photo.

This is Oliver's gift card and my second attempt at a photo.

I used :-

Flourish :- Corner from Sizzix.

Snowflake :- Papermania.

Images :- House Mouse.

Colouring :- Promarkers.

Happy Christmas and To-, From- both inside - Hero Arts.

Glamour Dust, silver and gold embossing powders and ribbon.

I should have taken a pic of the inside but I'm now a little short of time! I'm going out for a Christmas meal with the Guild tonight and I'm picking up my first passenger at 6pm. Our meal is booked for 7pm as some of our members are elderly. I usually take my neighbour but she's the lady who broke her hip a couple of weeks ago. She's now convalescing locally and seems to be doing well. Someone told me you only get two weeks there. Not sure if it's like a nursing home or a cottage hospital but I'm told it's really nice. Apparently she's determined to come home after that. She's very independent. Her son lives next door but he's a busy farmer. I'm sure she wants to have her family from children to great grandchildren for Christmas! Quite a crowd now. Her son looks after the turkey and the girls do the rest but quite an upheaval. But it's what she likes so they'll probably have to agree!

I went to look for a Christmas stocking for Oliver today. Poppy has always had one but Oliver has just had a gift bag. The ones at the garden centre at Inverurie were only £1.25 and really poor quality so I didn't bother. We would have looked in the town but hubby resented having to pay to park for a few minutes so we ended up coming home. I expect I could make one if I had some felt or material.

I ordered bike helmets for them last night after Catriona told me what website to look at. I sent a text to ask which one to get for Poppy and she replied "Poppy says" and she wants the one I had chosen for her already. So who's a clever Gran then? For some reason she wouldn't stay in her bed last night. Not like her at all. Oliver's had a cold so he's been asking to go to bed about 6pm. I expect they'll get a bit high the nearer we get to Christmas.

Not done much with my day off today but at least I've got my cards posted. Some handed out yesterday and some to hand out tonight. I'll take the rest to work tomorrow and hand them out to the rest of the staff and customers and friends who live in the village.

Not sure if I'll be too late to catch up later so maybe I'll try to do some visiting just now before I get ready to go out.