Good enough to eat!!

My card today is for Truly Scrumptious and the challenge is "good enough to eat".
The girls on their design team all done a fab job with cupcake images but I wanted to do something different. I remembered having a pad of papers that had cookies as it's pattern and another had some animal shaped biscuits and I thought perfect! But after more than half an hour of looking for those papers my 5 year old Daughter informed me that she used them all ages ago grrrrr!!
So I was ready to give up and go with cupcakes when my Son Liam said you could use my Strawberry paper. Just perfect to go with a DSO image I have, so I went looking through his wee stash and also found some paper with recipes on it. Not sure if they go together very well but I gave it as go anyway lol.

Well what do you think, good enough to eat? I love this little squirrel, and I am quite happy with how my colouring of the strawberrie's turned out. Not as tasy looking as the designed paper though. Doesn't it just make you want to eat some nice juicy strawberries lol.

Recipe:
papers: Strawberry and Recipe papers by Karen Foster, cream striped textured card from Artymiss, linen cardstock.
Image: Digital Image from Digital Stamp Oasis
Colouring: Copics
Embelishments: Prima flowers, punched swirls, plastic flower, brad and chipboard sentiment from my stash.
Tools: Cuttlebug, swiss dots folder, All Night Media swirl punch

That it from me for a while. Hope I haven't made you feel too hungry lol.

Lora

Digital Tuesday DT Card

Good morning ladies, hope you are all having a good day so far.
Today is my first time as designer for the Digital Tuesday Challenge .
Amy has set the challenge this week which is "April Showers Bring May Flowers"
Use something on your cards that has something to do with rain or flowers.
Dustin Pike is sponsoring us this week and is giving the winner 3 of his digital images of your choice. You can check out Dustin's amazing work at his blog. I personally love his work and have a few images from his Etsy shop as well as the fab freebies he has gave away on his blog.
For my card I have used one of the Digital Stamp Oasis images which was just perfect for this challenge.
Isn't this squirrel just the cutest? You can purchase her and many other cute images like this at Digital Stamp Oasis.
Hope you can come over and join in the fun this week, and remember to check out all the other girls cards too. They have all done a great job.

Recipe:
Image: digital image from Digal Stamp Oasis
papers: Cosmo Cricket
Colouring: Copics
Embelishments: Prima flowers, Kanban pearls, charm and tiny flower embelishments from stash.

Thanks for stopping by today. Hope to see a lot of you over at the challenge blog this week :)

Hugs Lora x

Monkey Buisness

Another challenge card from me today this time for Charisma Cards sketch. I have been wanting to use this image by Dustin Pike for a while because I just love this cheeky monkey. He is perfect for a male card so that's just what I done. As you all know making cards for a boy/man can be a nightmare but Dustn's images make it so easy to whip up a card in no time. I haven't made this for anyone in particular but I think I will keep it for when one of my kids needs a boy birthday card for one of their friends.

I know the sentiment looks a bit wonky but I think I will change it later. The backing border and the mat I put the image on are all from the same piece of double sided paper but I can't remember who makes it because I cut the strip off and didn't take a note again! I think it's Creative Expressions but I could be wrong lol. The sketch had a pretty pattern in the corner but I used a corner punch so it didn't look to feminine. The image is coloured with copics, buttons are ones Barry bought me last week, no idea where he got them and the twine was in with a pack of ribbon that I got in a embelishment pack about a year ago. Knew it would come in handy sometime!
I have left this one quite simple and had to try really hard to not put on any flowers, spacers or charms but I just had to add some kind of embelishment so used the buttons. On the sketch it is 2 circles so it fits in with the sketch probably better than my flowers would have.

Remember that the Digital Tuesday Challenge is today, YAY. You can see my card above this post. Can't wait to see what everyone makes for the challenge. Dustin is our sponsor for this week, how cool is that. I want so many of his images. I think I will have to start saving, but you could win 3 of them if you join in with this weeks challenge! How much more encouragement do you need?

Hugs Lora x

Hugs Lora xx

Another challenge

This is my 3rd challenge card today. Wow I am doing well!
I followed the sketch by the fantastic Bev over at Stamp With Fun and I added some gems which means I can also enter it for this weeks challenge at Cute Daisy May and I used some gems on my card which means I can also enter it for this weeks challenge which is gems. Bev is guest designer on both challenges this week, what a busy girl you have been this week Bev!
I have stuck to the sketch as it was except used a circle for my image instead of an oval. (got to get some oval nesties next lol)
I have used this image quite a few times since I bought this stamp but I love Sugar Nellie and only have 3 of their stamps so far so I have to use them over and over untill I get more. (that was a huge hint to Barry to buy me some just incase he reads this !!) I bought Porridge the pig at the same time I bought this one and I still haven't inked it up because every card I make I don't think the image goes very well. I think I might have to make it my mission to use poor Porridge on a card in the next few days. I thought I would have another go at sanding the edges of my papers but I kind of took it a bit far and ripped the paper in a few places, so carefully placed flowers and swirls are there to hide that lol. As you can see I am still having some trouble with dangling charms because I don't have jump rings!! This time I used some embroidery thread to see if it would sit better but there's not much improvement lol. A trip to the bead shop is the order of the day me thinks.
Right thats it for me till tomorrow, when I will be showing you my first card as designer for Digital Tuesday Challenge!

Recipe
papers: The Paper Company
Stamp: Sugar Nellie Picking Apples
Colouring: Copics
Tools: small classic scalloped circles nestabilities, swirl punch by All Night Media
Embelishments: Prima flowers, charm, flower gems and lace all from my stash.
Sentiment: Computer generated


Hugs Lora x

Sketch and stah callenge card

I got to play for a little while the kids were at school and made this card for the Sketch and Stash challenge I have used these papers recently on a card I showed on my blog but I had to buy more because they are gorgeous.

First of all, l I know the charm is not straight but I had to scan this one and the thing wouldn't stay in place! Didn't help that I have run out of jump rings and chain to dangle my charms on, so I used some fancy yarn from Craft essentials which it says on the pack is great for dangling charms or tags. Hmmm maybe not so great when it's in the hands of a feather brain like me then because I couldn't get it to sit right.
This card is smaller than I normally do and it's not square, shock horror lol, but I needed to make a card to post today and didn't have any square envelopes made up and didn't have time to make one so I used some pre folded cards I had with envelopes to match. I know the shame, not making my own lol.
All the papers I have used are from K&Co's Wild Raspberry collection, which I love because they are not only gorgeous but some are glittered and textured too. What more could a girl ask for? Except all K&Co's papers maybe lol.
As you all know for the Sketch and Stash challenge you have to follow the sketch (obviously) and also say what your new or neglected stash is, so mines are the K&Co papers as although I have had these before these ones are new sheets and also the pearls are from a new Kanban pack too. I have decorated the inside of this card but I didn't take a pic to show incase the person I made it for see's it on here then she will know it's for her.

Recipe:
Papers: K&Co Wild Raspberry collection
Image: Whiff Of Joy
Colouring: Copics
Embelishments: Flower handmade with scraps of same paper, pearls from Kanban, Spacer from Aberdeen Bead Shop, Craft Essentials fancy yarn and charm from haberdashery.

I'm off to do some blog hopping now to see what wonderful creations you have all been making.

Hugs Lora

Managed to get another card done.

Well I know I said I had a few cards to make but I only managed to get 1 made because my 2 girls have done nothing but fight and scream at each other the whole day!! They are driving me crazy tonight! Anyone want a 5 or 4 year old girl? Take one get one free lol. Only joking I love them both to bits but I could be done with a break sometimes. Unfortunately both Barry and my parents don't live anywhere near us in fact mine are 55 miles away and Barry's are 20 miles away and don't drive so it's really hard to find a babysitter as we wouldn't leave them with anyone else.
Anyway enough of my moaning, you came to see the card.

I made this one for sketch saturday which was another great sketch. All the papers are from Basic Grey's Mellow collection. Not the kind of colours I would normally go for but I quite liked these papers when I saw them in the shop, so thought I would try them out and I kinda like this card because it's different to what I would normally do. The Forever Friends image was one from the images I won on Donnas blog a while ago and I coloured with my usual copics. I did do something different thought this time. I tried doing a shadow around my image which I have never done before and I think I will do that more often. I mounted it onto some scalloped circles that I cut with the classic small scalloped circle nesties. The flowers were in the blog candy I won over at Tindaloos blog a few weeks ago and I added spacer kind of things to them but I can't remember where I bought them. Organza ribbon and the lace are both from my local haberdashery which I think I keep in buisness with the amount of ribbon I buy from her lol.
I don't have a border punch but I wanted the scalloped borders like on the sketch so I dug out my old Glitter Girls embossing board and embossed 2 borders and cut them out.
The sentiment is just cut from some card and I wrote the sentiment on then punched holes in either side to thread the lace through.

Thanks for stopping by and I would like to just say thank you to everyone who has left me lovely comments the last few days :) I love reading them and I appreciate you taking the time to leave me comments.

Huggies Lora

Just Magnolia challenge card

I finally got round to making a card today for the Just Magnolia challenge.
Last week was a fab sketch and I used green and pink as my colours and guess what, it's a colour challenge this week and the colours are green and pink. So I had to go looking through all my papers for something green and pink or else I would of had to use the same papers I used last week!
I finally found a K&Co mat stack and some scraps of K&Co glittered paper I used on some cards a while ago.

I coloured the gorgeous image which I got from Bev with my usual copics. All the papers as I said are K&Co, flowers I cut by hand from scraps and added some spacers from Holburn Crafts and Kanban pearls. Lace is from a local haberdashery.
I am planning on making a few cards for friends today as RAK's so I might join in with some challenges at the same time. But before that I am off bloghopping to see what all you lot have been up too as I haven't had much time to visit blogs this week.
Oh before I go I know that a lot of you ladies have the Retro Flowers Punches. Could someone tell me where I can buy some or any other nice flower punches that I could layer up? I am tired of handcutting flowers as I always cut them wonky lol.
Right I'm off. Don't forget to check back over the next few days for a surprise giveaway. I have decided that although I said I would choose one of my followers, I am going to pick a winner from my followers list who has also left me a comment/comments last week and this week (not on my blog candy post) up to when I choose a winner. I think this is fair to my followers that do visit my blog as I know people sign up to be a follower when there is a giveaway but don't visit again after that. So this way I can be sure that the prize goes to someone who does actually read my blog.
I know that a lot of people have joined as followers when I had my candy running and I just want to make it clear that it doesn't matter how long you have been a follower for, as long as you leave me a comment and come back now and again to visit me :) I am so happy that I have met a lot of new bloggy friends since my candy and I hope that a lot of you will continue to come back and see me.

Hugs Lora x

The winner is .............

Sorry it's took me so long to post the winner, it took me forever to go through all the comments and write out all the names.
Before I announce the winner, I would just like to say a huge thank you to everyone who joined in and for all the lovely comments and birthday wishes.
I wish I could send every one of you something but unfortunately there can only be one winner.
I wrote down all the names and got Barry to pick one from a bowl and the lucky winner is............................ RICA!!!! Congratulations, Please email me with your address details and I will get your prize posted.
I hate having to say this but if the winner does not contact me by Monday, I will choose another winner.

I will be having a surprise giveaway soon for my followers just as a thank you for coming to visit me and all the lovely comments you leave. So if you are on my followers list, keep checking back throughout the week because it might be you!! If you are not on my followers list yet you could still be in with a chance if you become a follower now :)

Hugs Lora x

I have candy!!

This blog candy is now closed. I will be back later to announce the winner. Good luck everyone!!

This will stay at the top untill the 24th please scroll down for newer posts

I said I would give away some candy when I reached 1000 hits, so here it is. It is also my birthday on Easter Monday 13th and I will be 30, so thought this would be the perfect time to give away some goodies to celebrate that too!!

I am still waiting for Mr Postman to deliver some prima flowers and a few other little bits I ordered so they are not in the pics but if they come on time I will add them too.

I know this lot is not as much as some of the big candies on other people's blogs but I hope you like what I have to offer anyway:)

This lot will go to 1 winner but I have added more pics of it in small lots so you can see what you are getting a bit better.

Right in this lot there is
8x8? small scrapbook
Creative Expressions U-Mount Oriental stamp set
DIY Rabbit rubber stamp set from Joanna Sheen's Messy Rabbits collection
6x6 Dovecraft designer paper pack Wild blossom by Kate Knight 72 sheets
2 spools of 15mm ribbon 4m blue 4m pink
approx 1-2 metres each of cream and white crotchet lace
selection of glittered chipboard embelishments
2 packets of epoxy stickers
loads of brads in blue, purple and gold assorted shapes and sizes
assorted flowers some very large blooms, and small silk flowers with pearls
Edited to add, I have also added these 5 double do dies pictured below


Now for the boring bit. To enter please
1) Put a picture of my first photo (the one with all candy together) on your blog to let other people know and link it back here. If you don't have a blog just spread the word:)
2) become a follower of my blog
3) leave me a comment to let me know you have done the above, then I can come check out your blog and leave you a comment too :)

Closes on Friday the 24th at 8pm and I will draw the winner shortly after.
If the winner does not get in touch with me by Monday 27th, another winner will be chosen so please do check back to see if you have won.
I will post anywhere and anyone can enter even if you don't have a blog but please spread the word for me if you don't have a blog to put a link on.

Lora x

Just magnolia's first challenge

I just managed to get my card done on time for the first Just Magnolia Challenge.
I don't have any Magnolia stamps of my own yet but Bev very kindly offered to stamp me some so I could join in with the challenges until I can get my own stamps :) Thanks hun I love them!!
I have been trying to get this card done since yesterday afternoon but I kept having to put it down because I just didn't know what to do with it. At one point I was ready to give up and chuck it in the bin but I think I got there in the end.
I used my new Bo-Bunny papers which I love and I thought these might help kick start the old mojo but nope it's still on holiday. Hope it comes back soon because I have to make my DT card for the Digital Tuesday challenge and I have no idea where to start!
Anyway I coloured Tilda with Copics, which by the way I found a place in town that has started selling Copics so no more having to wait for them to be delivered YAY.
Used my nesties for the scalloped circle, Flowers are all prima, pearls are Kanban and everything else is from my stash.

Oh while I remember, does anyone know a good place on the net to buy flowers? Primas or another make I don't mind. I ordered a few packs more than 3 weeks ago so I could use some for my blog candy and keep some for myself but I am still waiting for them to arrive so I think I will just cancel my order and buy somewhere else. There is no shops here that sells them and I am down to my last few! Help, what will I do without flowers lol, I don't even have a punch to do them myself, I have to handcut them and to be honest, I can't be bothered most of the time.
So while I'm on that subject I will tell you that when I said I will be adding some flowers to my blog candy when they arrive.....I totally lied lol, sorry.

Well that's it from me for a while, hope you are all having a great day.
Hugs Lora x

Reward offered for missing mojo!!

Okay I lied. There is no reward except maybe a few buttons or some ribbon but my mojo has left the building, totally gone and I really want it back. So if anyone finds it could you please boot it's bum back to me!
I TRIED to make a card for the House Mouse challenge which is Spring but no matter how much I fiddled about with it I just couldn't get it right. So here is my attempt at the challenge this week.

The image is one I got in the blog candy I won a few weeks ago and is coloured with copics. Paper is Imagination Project and flowers are all Prima.
everything else is from my stash.
I hope my Mojo returns soon because that is all I have came up with today!!
On a brighter note, I am taking the kids out tomorrow as it's the last day of their Easter Holidays. Not sure where we are going yet but I'm sure they will have lots of fun :) I am also planning on getting some shopping done tomorrow at some point so I might find something extra to add to my giveaway :) I think I will have to add something because I have reached over 100 comments and visitors and I am near to 2000 visitors which is really didn't expect!
I think thats a reason to celebrate :)
So remember to check back to see what I bought ;D

Hugs Lora x

I have some exciting news!!

I said earlier that I had some news to share but first I would like to show this card I made for the
Cutie Sunday Challenge.

I bought these Bo-Bunny papers a while ago and have been waiting for the right card to use them on but I never thought they went with anything I've made since I bought them so I decided to make it my mission to use some of them today. I also have a few other 12x12's from the same collection so you might be seeing them a lot!
I used one of my Messy Rabbits since it's a cutie challenge and I think these rabbits are just the cutiest. I really want more of these sets and have no idea why I decided to gave away a set of them in my candy because I really want that one too lol. Oh well, I might have to ask the winner of my candy to stamp me a few images of the DIY rabbit when they get it lol. Only Joking!
Well that's about it for the card, I coloured with copics and the flowers are all Prima except the red one on the left of the screen which is one that I got in what was supposed to be lots of bunches of flowers from Ebay but it was all just flower heads so I took all the petals apart. It is velvet and has glitter on the tips, just thought I would add that lol. Spacers are from Ebay and the presents are stamps from the same Messy Rabbit set.

Now for my news!! Some of you might know that there was a design call for the Digital Tuesday Challenge blog? Well......... I applied and got an email yesterday from Ellie asking if I would be on the design team!!!!!YAY How excited am I!
The challenge blog is already up and running so if you haven't already joined in why not check it out and join in the fun. You still have time to enter this weeks challenge which is shabby chic and the winner will get 2 digital images from Ellie's shop Digital Stamp Oasis. If you haven't seen any of these digital images, you just have to check them out they really cute :)

Now I have told someone I feel better lol. I had to email Ellie today to ask if it was okay to tell everyone because I just couldn't keep my mouth shut!
I'm off now to read some of the lovely comments people have left me today. I just love reading my comments, it really does mean a lot to me when you take the time to leave me one :)

Huggies Lora x

WOJ candy

Just a quick post to tell you about the fab WOJ giveaway.
Katharina is giving away 2 sets of the new Whiff Of Joy Summer Stamp kits by Elisabeth Bell!! How cool is that?
Yes you could be the proud new owner of these sought after stamps if you enter her giveaway before the 1st May.
Pre-orders for this new stamp set are open till the 4th May. It includes 6 main character stamps, 5 accessory stamps by Elisabeth Bell and 4 text stamps designed by Katharina herself, click on the banner in my sidebar for more details.

I have some other exciting news to tell but you will have to wait till later for that lol, sorry I know I'm a tease! Actually it may not be so exciting for you but it is for me. Anyway check back later to find out what it is :)

Hugs Lora

A few challenge cards

After thinking my internet was finally sorted, it went off again and has been on and off all day!! I have been on the phone to AOL goodness knows how many times and now I have to wait for a BT engineer to have a look at my line again! At least I am getting on the internet though just now. It keeps going on and off so I'm hoping I will get this post done before it goes off again.
My friend asked me to make 2 cards for her Daughter who will be 4 next week so I thought I would make them and enter some challenges at the same time.
The first is for Sketch and Stash

The sketch this week is a simple one which was perfect for a childs card as I don't like to use lots of embelishment on young childrens cards. Most 4 year olds aren't interested in the card anyway. If my kids are anything to go by, the card gets thrown to the side and they are looking for their presents lol
I have tried to make it fun though by using this cute image by Dustin Pike which is my new stash item for the challenge and adding glossy accents to the bubbles. It doesn't show up that well in the pic but the glossy accents really make it look wet and shiny.
The papers I have used are by Provo Craft and Basic Grey. Metal flower is from Artymiss, button and ribbons from my stash.
I have used copics to colour and white inkssentials pen for highlights, which is another new thing I have used.
My next card is for Truly Scrumptious. The challenge this week is to follow the sketch and the card also has to be for a child.
For this one I pinched some of my Daughter Rhianna's smirk paper and I also used one of her Smirk stamps because I couldn't find a stamp in my own stash to fit in with my design. I have embelished this one a bit more but I think it's still okay for a 4 year old because it's really girly.
The other papers are by CraftsHouse, they have a nice sheen on them. The pink is done in my cuttlebug. The small flowers are all prima and the spacers are from Ebay and the large felt flower is from The Early Learning Centre! I take my kids in there and they think I am great letting them play with all the toys but really I am in there looking for crafty stuff for myself lol.
Ribbon is from my stash and the sentiment is done on the computer then cut out with my new nesties. Yes I finally got a set after months of moaning for some lol.

I'm off now to do some bloghopping, speak to ya all soon.
Hugs Lora xx

Whiff of Joy challenge

I have finally managed to get onto the internet so I can post a card!! I haven't had internet or phone since yesterday afternoon because there was something wrong at the sub exchange. My phone was still working but all you could hear was a clicking noise and couldn't hear the person on the other end speaking, but my internet was totally down.
So I have been trying to sneak on other peoples computers for a few mins to check emails etc lol.
I never thought I would miss the internet so much but I didn't know what to do without it! I am so sad lol.
Anyway on to my card. I remembered that the challenge over at WOJ was black and white and 1 other colour so I made my card for that but then just went there just now and read the challenge which is actually black and white and a splash of another accent colour. Think my card still counts though??

I have never used this colour combo before and don't normaly go for bold c0lours but I really like how this turned out.
I didn't have any black and white papers so had to go looking through all my digi papers and this is the first ones I found after looking through loads and I was getting so fed up looking that I didn't even bother to look and see if there were any others that I liked better .
I'm not sure where they are from, I really must take a note when I download stuff!
The red is plain card put through my cuttlebug and the black was some embossed paper that was in my surprise bargain box from Artymiss. Flowers are all Prima and spacers are a selection from ebay, Holburn Crafts and the bead shop (both in Aberdeen).
The image is another one I got from Lorraine and I coloured her with Copics, love the way it has turned out :)

I am hoping to be back with some more cards later today but that's it from me for now. Thanks for stopping by. Please do let me know what you think of this one. I think it's one of my faves because I love this image but would love to know what you all think :)
Hugs
Lora xx

Update on candy and and some awards

I was lucky enough to receive two awards yesterday!
The first one is from Angie



And this one is from Lorraine


They are both lovely ladies and it does mean a lot to me to get these. So thank you very much both of you :)
Now I know that you are supposed to pass these onto other people and so on but I think most of the blogs I visit now have them so I would like anyone who visit's my blog and doesn't have one or both of them to take them as I appreciate every single visitor :)

I don't have a card to show today yet but I wanted to show you what I came across today to add to my blog candy goodies.


Thought I would throw in these double do dies. (they are all new) And if I find anything else before my giveaway ends, I will add that too :)

Right that's it from me for now but I will be back later with a card.
Hugs
Lora x

Charisma Cards DT entry

I have decided last minute that I would enter the Charisma Cardz Design Team Call . I wasn't going to bother as I know that there is loads of entries already and there are a lot of talented ladies applying but now I'm thinking if I don't try then I will never know, so here's my card I made for them.
To apply you have to make a card with the theme of pink, flowers or dreams, but I couldn't decide which one to do, so I went for pink and flowers then when I had finished the front I thought maybe I could get the dream part in there somewhere too so I decorated the inside to incorporate that into my card.
I got this lovely Anya image today from Susie for my birthday (thanks Susie) and I just couldn't wait to use her.

For the inside I used the same papers and a little ric rac. The swirls were stampd onto scrap card then cut out and stuck on, I did the same on the front.
As I said before, I had to have something about dreams, so I had a look in my stash and found this vellum verse then stuck it onto some pink card with vellum dots so you could see the writing clearly. It's quite small writing so not very clear here but it reads:
Dreaming Loudly
If you shout your dreams loud enough,
The Angels fly down from the heavens above,
And smiling, they breathe them into the night,
Then surely enough, up above they take flight.
So watch for your dreams, listen and feel,
Or you might never know when they become real.

I'm not sure who wrote this as it was just in a pack I bought months ago but I think it's quite nice, don't you?

Recipe:
Stamps: Anya image I got from Susie :), swirls from Inkadinkadoo Gem Stone Jewels set
Papers: Basic Grey 2 scoops (not sure about the other one)
Colouring: Copics and distress inks
Embelishments: Prima flowers, pearls by Mark Richards, Spacers from Holburn Crafts, Ric Rac John Lewis, Velum verse Arty Miss

Well thats it for me just now, hope you are all having a great day.
Hugs Lora

House Mouse challenge

I'm back again with another challenge card, this time for the House Mouse &Friends challenge which this week is to use multiple images.
I really struggled with this one! I only have 7 HM stamps one of which is a Christmas one and 3 are really old and were made by Stampa Rosa before House Mouse stamps were all Stampabilities so I don't think they would be any use and they are too big to use more than once anyway. So I was left with 3 to choose from! I decided to go with the ballerina Amandaand then use the little jumpin for joy Monica because she is nice and little to use with a bigger image.
What do you think? I'm really not sure. The jury is out on this one. I love the papers and the images but not sure if I have done them justice. And I handcut the cicle and scallop so they are not the straightest or should I say roundest lol.
Oh well everyone has different tastes I suppose so I'm going to enter it for this weeks challenge anyway. It might grow on me.

Recipe:

Stamps: House Mouse Jumpin for Joy Monica and Twinkle Toes Amanda
Colouring: Distress inks on Amanda and Copics on Monica
Papers: Basic Grey 2 scoops and Gypsy
Embelishments: Swirls cut from Cricut, handmade flower, chipboard flower, spacer and pearls from my stash.

Thanks for taking the time to look. Hope you are haing a fab day.
Hugs
Lora x

Sugar Bowl card and A big thank you.

Before I get onto my card, I would just like to say thank you to everyone who left lovely comments and emailed me yesterday to wish me a Happy Birthday.
I didn't hear from any of my family or friends yesterday and the only people who gave me a card were Barry and the kids so if it weren't for you lot I would of had the worst birthday ever.
I did get a card and a pressie from Stef though :) (thanks again hun, your the best!!) and a card from Lucy from a yahoo group (still don't know who she is), Lorraine sent me some WOJ images a little while ago and a few of you lovely ladies asked me for my address so you could send a card or images etc. Thanks Susie, Bev and Donna :)
I would of got my copics in time for my birthday but because of the Easter holiday the place I ordered them from were closed till today so I should get them tomorrow :)
I am so glad I have met so much lovely blog buddies in the last few weeks/months, I really do appreciate every one of you visiting and leaving me lovely comments.

Well enough of my babbling, you came to see the card so here it is.

There is a fabby sketch by Tiets over at the Sugar Bowl with lots of layers, so I just had to have a go. I have used My Sugar Nellie Picking Apples stamp and coloured her with copics and I also used distress inks for the pink and brown bits.
I'm not very good with my distress inks yet and I only have 3 colours just now but I do enjoy using them and I think I will get some more colours soon so I can practice some more with them. I also done some stitching by hand round the image and sentiment.
I saw these papers when I was at the Papeterie the other day and couldn't resist buying some, aren't they gorgeous? I also used some plain pink and white card that I embossed with a cuttlebug folder and used chalk on the white one to highlight the embossing.
I really enjoyed making this card. I don't normaly use this much layers because I don't like to cover up pretty papers too much but I think I might of been converted to using more layers now lol.

Recipe
papers: K&Co Wild Raspberry collection, Flowers & Butterflies,Pink Paisley and Flower Swirl.
Stamps: Sugar Nellie picking apples, Joanna Sheen's Messy rabbit sentiment.
Embelishments: flowers handcut from K&Co papers, spacer from local bead shop lace and pearl from my stash. swirl cut from Cricut machine.
Tools used: copics ,distress inks, cuttlebug

Thanks for stopping by today. Please do leave a comment to let me know you have been and so I can come visit you :)

Hugs Lora x

Sketch Saturday card

As always it's another fab sketch over at Sketch Saturday so I just had to play along.
I have used another of the Joanna Sheens Messy Rabbit sets. I just think these rabbits are so cute.

The papers are all Basic Grey Mellow and 2 scoops collection, sentiment is also from the Messy Rabbit set. Lace from my stash and the bits in the corners are little spacers. I put a brad through one and attatched a tiny star and moon charm.
Didn't want to use flowers on this card because I thought I could use it for a male or female but then decided to use the lace, so maybe a bit girly lol.
I have coloured my image with copics and distress ink for the brown bits and stuck him on foam pads for a bit of dimention.
Well thats it for me today. I'm hoping to have a nice relaxing day tomorrow for my birthday but we will see!
Thanks everyone who has entered my candy draw today, I will be coming to visit all your blogs soon.

Hugs Lora x

Charisma Challenge 14

Here's my card for this weeks Charisma Cardz challenge which is a colour combo of green and purple. Before I go any futher i must apologise for the terrible photo's, I just couldn't get a good photo no matter how hard I tried despite it being a nice day here. The sun was streaming in my window but every time I took a pic you couldn't see anything because of the sun so this was the best I could get.
I have used another Whiff Of Joy image from Lorraine (thanks once again hun) and coloured her with copics. You are probably sick of hearing that my brown copics have died on me lol so the only colour apart from bright yellow I could use for her hair was grey colours, it actually looks ok IRL, she looks a bit mucky here but it is just the rubbish pic I took. The papers are the only purple ones I had and I can't remember who makes them but I have used them on a previous post with details.
The flowers are sizzix shapes I got tons of in a mystery pack from Arty Miss and I have put them through my Cuttlebug. everything else is from my stash.
Oh the pearl brads are from Papermania which by the way I will never buy again! I got 2 packets in the same mystery box from Arty Miss and there is about 40 in each packet, out of 40 there were about 10 that were in tact when I opened them. The pearls had fallen off the rest and I had to stick them all back on. I was going to include a pack of these in my blog candy but after opening one packet and having to fix them all, I didn't think the winner of my candy would appreciate a pack of broken brads as their prize lol.


I have been admiring all the cards on peoples blogs with lots of stitching and I thought I would give it a go. My sewing machine that I got from my MIL was about 35 years old and gave me an electric shock when I switched it on so i chucked it in the bin and just sewed it by hand lol. It's a bit wonky but hey I tried!


I also done the inside of this card too.

I've kept it simple and just used one paper the same as on the front and made some flowers from the lace which I saw on one of Bev's cards and thought it looked nice (thanks Bev). I have used a spacer on the bottom flower which you cant see here but it is there, promise and another papermania brad and the top flower I used a random lilac rose bud I found in my stash.

Wow that was a long post for just one card!!
I will be back real soon with my brithday blog candy, just away to take a pic of it then will post it so remember to come back for a chance to win.

Hugs Lora x

3 Chalenges, 1 card

Good morning ladies (and men if there are any out there), I have had a fab few days this week, first it was my baby's 4th Birthday and her little face just lit up when she saw all the pressies she had asked for, nothing can beat that :), then I got a card in the post from Lucy who is in the Just cards Yahoo group, all the way from India! Lucy if you read my blog, I have absolutly no idea who you are lol, but a huge thank you for thinking of me:) and to top it all off, I got a lovely Birthday card from Stef along with some gorgeous papers and......6 copics!! wow was I a happy girlie :D :D
Then I sign in to my blog today and that stupid birthday cake is right in my face telling me that I will be 30 in a few days!! Why did I put it on my blog?? I don't want to be 30!!, I want to stay in my 20's forever lol. What a depressing thought :(
Okay enough of my moaning and on to todays card. This one is for 3 challenges, Cute Daisy May's challenge this week is brown and pink as is Cute Card Thursdays and I used the great sketch at Sketch Saturday.

The papers I have used are EK Success and Magenta. The Whiff Of Joy image I got from Lorainne (coldwaters). I coloured with copics and brown ink from an ink pad because my brown ran out half way through. I only have a few distress inks and not a brown one so I just dipped my copic that had ran dry into an ordinary ink pad and used it like a pen, worked a treat :) I also used the same ink pad on the swirls and the brown flower which were all white. The swirls were from Linnie which she cut with her Cricut. Everything else is from my stash.
I hinted to Barry this morning that I really needed a new brown, red and skin coloured copics and he finally gave in to me and gave me some money to get some for my birthday, so I will order them today and hopefully have them in the next few days :)
I have nearly got my blog candy together. I ordered some stuff the other day for my candy but I'm not sure how long it will take to be delivered because of the Easter holiday weekend. As soon as I have it I will let you all know whats up for grabs:)
Thanks for stopping by and I hope you are all having a great day.

Hugs
Lora xx

Baby Messy Rabbit does Mojo Monday

This week is the first Monday of April and we all know what that means.... contest time at Mojo Monday! This weeks challenge #81 is another fab sketch as always and I really enjoyed this one.

As I mentioned yesterday stitch for charity is looking for anyone who can do some knitting crotchet, quilt or cross stitch to donate. This charity helps premmie babies as well other babies and children all over the world and they are always looking for baby's hats, cardigains, blankets etc but as I don't or can't do any of the above, I am making some cards to send them instead. They also take in donations of cards so they can sell them to buy materials for the other crafts, so if any of you card makers out there could donate a few of those challenge cards you have made that you have no other use for, I'm sure it would be much appreciated, or if you can do any knitting or some of the other crafts, that would be great too :)

You can check them out at the link I gave above and get the address to send to or to find out more.

Right then on to the card.

I used the Baby Bunny set from Joanna Sheens Messy Rabbit range. I coloured everthing with copics. The blue paper is from K&Co, I don't know if you can see but it is embossed with little animals. The other dp is by Melissa Frances for Heart and Home Collectables.

I pretty much follwed the sketch exactly except used the baby bib instead of a scalloped circle :)

This is the first time I have used this set but I think it will be used a lot, this little bunny is sooo cute.

I am not sure what kind of cards Stitch For Charity want but I'm sure the more the merrier :)

Sorry for the long post today but I hope telling people about this wonderfull charity will help spread the word to a few more people. If you would like to help by posting on your blog to let people know that would be great too:)

Thanks for reading today, I am trying to get some candy together because I have passed the 1000 hits mark so check back soon to see what I am offering!

Hugs Lora xx

Charisma Cards Challenge 13 Birthday card

I still had one card to make for Chiara's birthday tomorrow from her Brother and Sister so I used this weeks sketch at Charisma Cards.
I stuck to the sketch layout but changed the ovals for a butterfly and a flower to write the sentiment on.
As you can probably guess, this card had to be yellow or orange lol so I went with yellow this time!

I got the bear die cut in with a load of stuff I bought off Ebay about a year ago. At the time I didn't have chalks so I just coloured it with markers but I think he looks quite cute. He was originaly green but I didn't like the idea of a green teddy bear so I just had to make him brown.

The yellow star paper is from Paper Pizazz and the other is Basic Grey from the Two Scoops collection.

I have no idea where the butterfly came from, it was just in the bottom of a box. The bigger flower was white but I coloured it with a yellow copic.

I printed Sister on to normal white copy paper but made the text box yellow then cut it out in the shape of a flower.

Gems, Ribbon, other flower and brad are all bits I had in my stash that I thought I would never use. How wrong was I !!

Seems really strange not using a stamped image on a card but I know Chiara will love this. It's her favourite colour and lots of it, and teddies are another of her favourite things so I couldn't go wrong really lol.

Thanks for looking today. I don't know if I will get anything made tomorrow but I am hoping to get some time to make some cards for charity. Angie asked on her blog for anyone who knits, crotchets, quilts, does cross stitch or even makes cards to help for charity. I will write more about this when I have more time but please check out Angie's blog for details and a link to see what it's all about.

Hugs Lora xx

Friday sketchers Birthday card

It's my youngest Daughter Chiara's birthday on Tuesday and I have been so busy!! So sorry for the lack of blogging this week.

She has had 3 cakes already and it's not even her birthday yet!

Her nursery teacher had a party for the children on Thursday because she was leaving on Friday and brought in a huge pink sparkly cake along with a huge pavalova and lots of other party food, she really is the best teacher ever! If you read this Mrs Smith you know we all think you are the best and we are missing you loads already :(

Then Barry's Mum and Dad came on Thursday after her nursery and we had another cake because they won't see her on Tuesday. And on Friday I brought in a big chocolate cake to nursery for her to celebrate with her little friends before they went on their Easter Holidays.

I think by Tuesday she will be sick of cake and blowing out candles lol.

Anyway I had still to make her Birthday cards (still have to do some) so I used the sketch over at Friday Sketchers as a starting point.

I HAVE to explain the reasoning behind this card before I show it lol.

Chiara's favourite colours are orange and yellow and everything she gets HAS to be these colours! She is starting to like pink and girly stuff but still asks for everything yellow or orange.

So of course what other colours would her card be? She chose all the papers herself and believe me, I didn't get a say in it.

You might want to put some shades on about now!!

I used my new Messy Rabbit stamps which by the way I am still waiting for the mount to come for so I just stuck it on to my block with some pritt stick, I just couldn't wait any longer to use them!

I paper pieced the bunny's clothes and the sunflower and coloured the rest of her with copics. This is the first time I have tried paper piecing and I think I will be doing it lots, especially because I really need new markers!! What do you think of my efforts? For the sunflower I used double sided thin mulberry paper, It's yellow on one side and brown on the other and you can see all the fibers in the petals. Looks really effective IRL.

The paper are Basic Grey Color Me Silly collection, one is doodle and the other is discover. The paper I used to put my image onto is a Karen Foster design.

I would never normally use these papers even though they are Basic Grey but the kid gets what the kid wants lol.

Flowers are Prima and one I took from an old bunch of flowers then put it through my cuttlebug to give it texture, only because it wouldn't flatten out lol.

Chiara spotted the orange star gems in a box and told me she wanted them on her card so here they are along with a few round gems too.

The bright orange ribbon is from a local shop in town who sells 2 packs of cut ribbon for £1. There is about 2 or 3 meter's of each!

Sentiment is from the same Messy Rabbit set and I used some diamond stickles on the flowers.

Wow that was a long post!! Sorry if I have sent you off to sleep.

Thanks for visiting today and please do leave a comment if you have time as I do read every one you leave and they all mean a lot to me even if you are just saying Hello :)

Hugs Lora

Whiff Of Joy challenge #24

This is the first time I have entered a Whiff of Joy challenge because I don't have any of their stamps but Lorraine (coldwaters) very kindly sent me some images so I could join in :) Thanks hun I really do appreciate it xx


The challenge this week is Let's get dirty! Distressing!!

The thought of ripping my gorgeous designer papers makes me real nervous lol. I never do distressing except maybe on a few handmade flowers but I thought I would be brave and give it a go!


I couldn't bear to rip any of my papers but I did do some distressing. I filed the edges of my papers and inked them with distressing ink but that's as far as I went lol.
I just love this image but I did have problems colouring her with not having much colours of my copics to use. The papers I used are all DCWV and to be honest I have had them for months and keep looking at them thinking I want to use them but they are too pretty to cut up lol. One is beautiful princess from the once upon a time collection and the other is one from Far East collection I think (lost the strip that told me, duh).
The swirl was from Linnie which was white but I inked it with a few different distress inks then stamped with a tiny swirly stamp (which you can't realy see here) and added stickles which I also added to her wings to make them shimmer.
The scalloped oval was cut with fancy scissors as I don't have any nesties or punches/dies to do scalloped circles or ovals but I think it looks okay?
I don't know if I like this card very much but I did enjoy making it after I got past the filing part!
Let me know what you think
Thanks for looking today.

Hugs Lora x

Squigglefly blog hop

Just a quick post to tell you about a blog hop that's going on right now.
Stef and the rest of the design team at Squigglefly, who make some fab digital images are having a blog hop from now untill the 5th April. There is lots of eye candy to see and all the members of the design team will be having some candy giveaways too as well as a giveaway from Squigglefly themselves.
If you have never heard of Squigglefly then you have to get yourselves over to Stef's blog now and see what they are all about. Even if your not interested in digital images, Stef's blog is well worth a visit. I met her a few weeks ago through blogging and she is one of the most kind and genuine girls I have ever met as well as being a talented crafter! :)
So what you waiting for?? Get your bum over there now :)

Hugs Lora x