Launch of New Challenge Blog

Tomorrow is the Launch of a brand new Challenge Blog http://cardsformen.blogspot.com/ I just wanted to remind you and sincerely hope that you will take part in the challenges, as a Design Team member myself and with other members of my team we will be displaying our own designs from tomorrow morning.
I know many of you take part in the number of Challenge Blogs so Im sincerely hoping that you will join this one, its certainly going to test your creativity, as its just cards for men, and I also know we struggle to do just that, so Im hoping that we will all be able to take some of the ideas that will be entered and use them for our own cards.
The challenges will be set monthly for now and our team leader Donna Walker of http://www.donnasdenofcrafts.co.uk/ is going to be donating the prizes for these challenges for now, so we are very lucky to have such a generous sponser. Again I sincerely hope that you will be taking part and Im looking forward to visiting your blogs to see what you can create.

Just Magnolia Challenge Card - A Sketch by Martine

Todays card was created for this weeks Just Magnolia Challenge, a sketch by Martine, Ive used one of the new Christmas stamps for my image, which I stamped onto white card and coloured her with my copic pens, after Id finished colouring I used my Sakura clear glitter pen on the furry bits and the snowflakes. After which I punched her out with one of my Nestabilitie Label dies, then drew around the die to create a mount for her to be put on, then I stuck them together with some foam tape. The greeting has been stamped onto a small tag and then punched out with one of the tag Nestabilitie dies, stuck them together with foam and stuck a brad through the hole.

The base card is a 7"x 7" white card, for the first layer Ive just a pale blue card and one of two papers I received in my DT pack from  Donna of http://www.donnasdenofcrafts.co.uk/, both of them have a snowflake design on, the second mount is piece that Ive put the second paper on and stuck it across the centre of the base card, for my third mount Ive used a pearlescent blue paper and the doily lace edge border punch by Martha Stewart, and on top of this I have layered up another piece of dark blue pearlescent card thats been run through my cuttlebug with a snowflake embossing folder, these two were stuck down the centre of my base card.

Ive then stuck my mounted image in the centre with some foam tape and the tag I stuck to the top on the left. Ive also popped two pearl brads in the centres of the second layer as instructed on the sketch, and to finish of Ive used three pointsetta flowers on the bottom right hand side, these reflect the ones on Tilda's pole.

Passing on some really lovely Awards

Just recently I have been given some really lovely awards from Celia of http://celia-thecolorofmydreams.blogspot.com/ Dorothy of http://dorothypatricia.blogspot.com/ Nikki of http://nikkiscards.blogspot.com/ Guendalen of http://oceanofimaginations.blogspot.com/ Sue of http://scoopysstuff.blogspot.com/ and Lyn of http://spyder-spyderscorner.blogspot.com/ Im so sorry its taken me so long to pass these awards on but I do want to thank the girls for them and to tell them that I absolutely adore popping by their blogs to read their latest news and see their beautiful creations.
Some of these awards come with consequences, unfortunately I dont have them to hand so Im going to cheat and just pass them onto all my followers who pop by my blog to help themselves to anyone of them that they may not have already got, as I dont think at the moment it would be fair for me to pick anyone out in particular as youve been so wonderful to me over a very difficult period. Bless you all and THANK YOU again from the bottom of my heart, because of your thoughts and comments its made it a lot easier to get through it. With all my very fondest love and huge hugs Shirleyxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Whiff of Joy Challenge - A Christmas Card

My card today is for the Whiff of Joy Challenge, A Christmas Card, Ive used this lovely pair of snowpeople, and it seems hubby is getting his wifes head on, mind you I suppose it could have been other way around. Ive stamped them out onto white card and coloured them with my copic pens, then used my Nestabilitie circle die to punch them out, then used the Scalloped die for the mount, Ive used a dark blue pearlescent card for this. The greeting is one of the Just-Rite circle stamps and Ive punched it out the same way as my stamped image and mounted this also onto a piece of the same coloured blue card.

Ive used a sketch that I found on one of the blogs and then created my card with a 6"x 6" white base card, and for my first mount Ive used a pale blue card onto which I have layered up one of my DT papers from http://www.donnasdenofcrafts.co.uk/ its a lovely pale blue paper with a snowflake design on it, Ive then used another piece of the same dark blue pearlescent card and run it through my cuttlebug with the snowflake embossing folder, and positioned it to the right hand side of my card, then Ive stuck my mounted image to the left, after which I have wrapped a blue snowflake ribbon across the card and attached it to the back of the first layer, then Ive stuck my greeting at the botton of my card.

To finish of Ive punched out some swirls from some of the same first layer paper and attached them to my card on top of the blue pearlescent card with some glue and popped a few pearls amoungst the swirls.

Cute Card Thursday Challenge - Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

Todays card was originally made for a little lad called Matthew, hes the son of my Design Team Boss Donna Walker of http://cardsformen.blogspot.com/, and it so happens her sons birthday was the same day as mine, so I didnt want to post it before hed had a chance to see it, but felt that as this weeks Cute Card Challenge was for Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails it would be just right for it.

Its one of the Mo Mannings Digi stamps, Ive printed it out onto white card and coloured it with my copic pens after which I have cut it out and mounted it onto a piece of blue card, before doing so Ive distressed it around the edge with a blue inkpad. The greeting is one that I created with my Just-Rite stamps, as its a bit like the old letra sets you can make up any words you like as the letters all come separately. I also distressed the edges before mounting it onto a piece of blue card, Ive also used my Sakura clear glitter pen on his name.

The base card is a 8"x 8" white card with a first layer of blue card, and one of  four papers from Nitwit downloads, the first one has an all over sentiment pattern, the second and third layers have balloons on them, and Ive used the EK Success candle border punch on these, and the forth layer is yet another piece of blue card and the second of the sentiment papers was stuck to this before being placed across the centre of the other two layers.

Ive then stuck my mounted image to the left and my greeting to the bottom on the right with some foam tape, to finish of Ive use used some embellishments made from foam that I found in Tesco's childrens department, they are mainly American type cars and vans but I dont think children worry to much about that.

I just wanted to thank everyone for giving me a wonderful birthday yesterday, there was so many lovely things said and given it really did make me feel loved and after loosing my mum like that, I have been feeling very lost it helped to make my day extra special, thank you so much girls you really dont know how much it meant to me, bless you all with love and huge hugs Shirleyxxxxxxxxxx

Wow what lovely friends I have

Ive been one really lucky lady today, Ive received some really gorgeous and beautiful cards and presents from my lovely crafty and blogging friends, Linda sent me the beautiful card on the left handside with the gorgoeus fairy present, Gisela sent me the beautiful card in the front with all those lovely goodies underneath,  the two gorgeous cards in the centre were from my lovely friends Mandy and Christine, the beautiful book card at the top was from my special friend Liz and the gorgeous poppy card was from my friend Karen, I would like to think that each and every one of these lovely ladies are my really special friends, so I would like to thank you all for giving me one fantastic Birthday. Also I want to thank those lovely girls who also left me lovely birthday wishes on my blog yesterday, THANK YOU to.
My hubby also spoilt me today and took me out to dinner, which was lovely and it did save me having to cook today and that was one of the best presents ever. So thank you everyone for giving me a special day Ive really enjoyed it, it certainly helped to make it one of the most special birthdays ever. Bless you all and THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart, with love and huge hugs Shirleyxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Well Im back but not quite ready to Post a Card

Its been a really hectic and difficult last few days, we have travelled about 550 miles since Saturday driving upto Hickstead in Sussex to stay at a motel, then visiting Chatham in Kent to see the grandchildren and their mums and then to Brighton on Monday for my mums funeral, then driving back home again to Gloucester yesterday.
As you can imagine my emotions have been up and down and Im still struggling to come to terms with the fact that I wont ever be able to talk to my mum again, the service was lovely and she would have been whole heartly proud to see so many of her family and friends attending. My brother gave a talk about his feelings about what mum meant to him, and some of it I could relate but some I could not, but then we all see our parents in different lights. All I can say is that she suffered greatly in the last few years of her life and the one thing that helps me cope is knowing the fact that she is no longer in pain and is now back again with my father, but I am going to miss her especially our chats together discussing the family and asking for advice, thats what Im going to miss the most.
Anyway Ive got some very big thank yous to give, firstly to Avril, Mandy and Donna for the lovely cards they sent me, thank you so much girls, also for the lovely comments youve all been leaving me, youve all made me feel loved and warm, they have helped me cope THANK YOU.
Im hoping to be able to start card crafting today but please forgive me if I dont get around to posting anything for a couple of days, as its my birthday tomorrow my hubby has offered to take me out, so lets hope the weather is kind as its been so awful for everyone just lately.
Lastly I must remind you of the launch of the new Challenge Blog http://cardsformen.blogspot.com/ on Tuesday 1st December, Donna will be posting our DT cards very soon, I do so hope that you will be taking part in the monthly challenges, they will certainly test your skills as its all to do with MEN for a change.
With love and huge hugs to you all, Shirleyxxxxxxxxxxxx

One Card again for Two Challenges

Due to being away from tomorrow till next Wednesday Im posting another Challenge card today, this one is for the Stampin for the Weekend challenge which was a sketch, and the Just Magnolia challenge which was masking.

I stamped my Tilda image onto white card and masked her before stamping the parcels behind her, then coloured her with my copic pens after which I punched her out with my oval Nestabilitie die, I rather choped of one of her feet a bit, sorry about that, I then used a Scalloped diecut for the mount, this I did in red card. The sentiment is one of the new Christmas greetings from Just Magnolia and this was stamped and cut out and mounted it also onto red card.

The base card is a 8"x 8" white card and for my first layer Ive used a piece of red card, and one of two beautiful designed Christmas papers sent to me in a DTs Goodie Bundle by Donna of http://www.donnasdenofcrafts.co.uk/ for my own use and also with my position on her new DT for http://cardsformen.blogspot.com/, the day is drawing close for the launch, keep watching this space I will be giving your more information towards the end of next week.

Anyway getting back to my card, Ive used a lovely red and gold greeting paper for my first layer, then cut two small squares in red card to put in two opposite corners, on these I have used my second paper, this one is red one with snowmen and Christmas trees, afterwards I have wrapped two pieces of ribbon across the centre of my card on the diagonal from top left hand corner to the bottom right hand one.

Ive then positioned my mounted image to the right hand side in the middle and my greeting to the left at the bottom. I then decided to create two flowers from some of left over papers punched them out and moulded them with my ball tool after which I have put two pearl brads through the centres with spacers, and from the bottom one Ive hung a Christmas tree charm. Before attaching them to my card Ive punched out some fern leaves and arranged them in a circle in some silicone glue before popping my flowers on top. I also decided to pop a couple of punched out snowflakes on the other side and some pearls in the centres and three pearls at the top along the edge of the top square.

One Card for Two Challenges

Todays card is to cover two challenges, Cute Card Thursday which this week is Teens, and Mo Mannings Digital Challenge which must contain 3 papers, 2 ribbons and one punched edge. For this Challenge I have used one of Mo Digi Stamps and this one is of a young lad playing on his Nintendo just as all our grandsons seem to be doing these days. Ive coloured him with my copic pens and cut him out with my rotatrim and mounted him onto a piece of dark blue pearlescent card. The greeting was created on my computer and then printed and mounted in the same was as the mounted image.

My base card is a 8"x 8" white card, with a first layer of the same dark blue card and one of three birthday papers from the Nitwit Downloads Collection called Candles and Cake,  the second and third layers have both of their edges punched with my EK Success candle border punch and then stuck across the centre of my base layer. I then stuck two different Rik Rak ribbons across the bottom and top of this layer and attached them to the back after which I stuck the whole thing to my base card.

On top of this I have positioned my mounted image and attached it to the card with some foam tape, and did the same with the greeting putting it in the bottom right hand corner. To finish of I have stuck some appropriate buttons I found amoungst my crafty stash.

Donna's Blogcandy and the Launch of a New Challenge Blog

As a lot of you maybe aware I have been asked to join a new Challenge blog as a Design Team Member, and as a run up to the big day the 1st December, Donna is running some blogcandy, if you click on the link http://cardsformen.blogspot.com/ it will take your there and you will be able to read all about the new Challenge Blog and take part in hopefully winning some blogcandy as well, it runs till the 26th November, and its to celebrate her sons birthday and her 1000 hits, and guess what its my birthday as well.

Im so excited at the prospect of joining Donna's DT and as its all new to me, it will be a steep learning curve, so lets hope I dont have to many falls on the way, I do so hope you will take part when the Challenge starts, I will give you more details next week closer to the launch date. With love and hugs Shirleyxxxxxxxx

A Christmas Card for a very Dear Friend

Todays card is another Christmas Card, this one is for a special friend of mine, carnt say as it wouldnt be a surprise when they received it. Its one of the Whiff of Joy stamps and she is so elegant with her lamp, Ive stamped her out onto white card then coloured it with my copic pens, after which I have punched her out with one of my Nestabilitie dies and created a mount for her from a piece of dark blue card. The sentiment is the Hero Art one which I have stamped then punched out with a smaller size of the same die and mounted this also onto a piece of the same blue card.

The base card is a 8"x 8" white card, with the first layer of dark blue card, with one of four patterned papers from the Nitwit Downloads, these are all Christmas ones, and the first one is a greetings one, and on top of this I have created a second smaller mount which is behind the image, not to easy to see as its been covered, but on top of this is a third mount with a blue patterned paper, and a further two mounts with the fourth paper stuck either side of the last mount. Over these I have positioned my stamped mounted image and my greeting to the bottom right hand side.

To finish of Ive used some of the left over paper to create two flowers with my ball tool and through the centres I have put two pearl brads and spacers, I also hung a snowflake charm from the bottom one. Before positioning them on my card Ive punched out some fern leaves and stuck them in a circle with some silicone glue then put my flowers on top.

A Christmas Card for my Mother in Law

Its not easy to create a card for your mother in law and especially if she suffers with dementia, so I wanted to make one that she could touch and feel the texture of it. Ive actually used on of the Joanna Sheen Cds, Victorian Christman for this one, and printed out a topper sheet first. I also printed out all three backing papers as well, to use to layer up the card.

The card is a 6"x 6" white card, and Ive used gold mirri board for my mounting medium with this card, and used my first patterned paper onto this base layer, the second layer is a 1" smaller  and was created in the same way and again it was layered up onto the gold card. Around the middle I have put a wide gold and red ribbon which I have attached to the back of the base layer.

For my main topper I have again layered this onto gold card, and then created a slightly smaller mount to fit this onto, and then Ive stuck it to the centre of my card with some foam tape. The sentiment was printed from my computer and then also mounted onto gold mirri card, and positioned to the right hand side at the bottom, and to finish of I have used three small pointsetta flowers and one large one in the top and bottom left hand corners. The final thing I did was put some yellow stickles in the centres of the flowers on the topper, and some clear on the white pearly bits in the arrangement.

Another Xmas Card for one of My Daughters

I think you should know I have five daughters between my husband and I, his two and my three, and I stupidly had forgotten that when I was making the family ones, so thats how two of them got left out, luckily this is the last one, and tomorrow I will post my card for my Mother-in-Law, though Ive still got a few to make for friends, I think that maybe the close family ones could now be all done.

Todays card is another of the Home Grown stamps from Sugar Nellie, this is a sweet image of a young lass feeding a fawn, Ive stamped her out onto white card and coloured her with my copic pens. The base card is a 8"x 8" white card, and for the first layer I have used a dark blue pearlescent card, with one of three designs again from the Funky Fairy Downloads, this set are the reverse colours to the blue set I used yesterday, and the basic design of the card is also very similar instead its been done on the diagonal. On the two layers I have used the snowflake border punch again and then positioned them in the left hand corner, I also cut the pink embossed card to fit as well, to finish of I have layed some lace and ribbon across as and stuck to the back before sticking the whole thing to the base card.

I then positioned my stamped image, which I had mounted onto another piece of the dark blue card, onto my card in the centre and my mounted greeting to the right hand side at the bottom, I used foam tape for both to raise it up a bit. The snowflakes are punched out pieces of the left over pink paper, and the white ones are ones that I got free with a magazine.

A Christmas Card for one of My Daughters

Due to my mums death a week ago I have been out the posting scene for a week, so I thought youd like to see a card Ive been making during the time Ive been away. To be honest with you Ive spent most of the week making up my Christmas cards, and guess what Ive still got quite a few to make, some important ones so I suspect you may just get to see them during the next few days, before I have to go of to Sussex for my mums funeral next Monday. Before I leave this subject I want to thank all the girls who have given me so much support over this difficult time bless you, Ive really appreciated it, and to also say that my bladder infection is now on the mend, thank goodness it was extremely painful, best to avoid that one if you can.

Now my card, Ive used one of the Sugar Nellie home grown stamps, Ive stamped her onto white card and then coloured her with my copic pens, then used my Nestabilitie label die to cut her out, afterwards because I had to use the largest die, Ive laid the die onto a piece blue pearlescent card, drawn around the outside edge then cut it out with scissors, this gives you the mount to stick it to. The sentiment is one of the Hero Arts and this has also been mounted onto a piece of blue card.

The base card is a 8"x 8" white card, with a first layer of the same dark blue card onto which I have stuck one of three papers that I printed for this card, these papers are by Funky Fairy Downloads, and were just right for the design I created. The first layer has a greeting all over it, and the second and third layers are reverse blue and white snowflakes, and along the edges Ive used my snowflake border punch. I then put a piece of pale blue pearlescent card through my cuttlebug with the snowflake design and wrapped a blue spotted ribbon around the middle and attached it to the back.

The mounted image was then stuck to the centre of my card with some foam tape and the greeting popped below on the right. To finish of the card Ive created several snowflakes by punching them out, and dipping them into glue before shaking diamond dust all over them, after they dried Ive scattered them around the card.

One Fabulous Award from three Wonderful Girls

 Ive been lucky enough to be awarded this award twice in the last week, but due to my own problems havent been able acknowledge receipt, so please firstly Nikki of http://nikkiscards.blogspot.com/ and Guendalen of http://oceanofimaginations.blogspot.com/ and guess what I also received  another award today from Lyn of  http://spyder-spyderscorner.blogspot.com/please forgive me for not posting them before today. If you dont mind I will look into passing them on another time, as I really dont feel upto it at the moment,

Thank you both again for the honour youve done me, and bless you also for your support in this last difficult week. With love and hugs Shirleyxxxxxxxxxx

Sample No.6 for Sarah - A Squirrel Writing Case

Todays sample is the last of the ones from "Woodland Treasures" Cd that I created for Sarah of http://www.spanglefish.com/peerlessdesigns/ as her program will be transmitted on Sunday at 12noon, on Create and Craft, as you can really see from this photo the images shes created are stunning, I love this little red squirrel, and thought it was ideal for a writing case, mainly because of him collecting his nuts, it seemed appropriate for us to use it for making notes.

Anyway Ive used four sheets of the same backing paper for this and another stronger pattern for the front, and mounted them onto green card, on all three of the sides, inside and out, for the two pockets inside I have cut two piece of card with an angle and mounted them onto more of the same backing paper.

I then printed out the topper that I wanted onto semi gloss photo paper, and mounted this also onto a piece of the same green card, before sticking it to the front I have laid a long enough piece of green organza ribbon to allow your to tie up in a bow, then popped the topper on top. The last thing I have done is stamped the sentiment at the bottom directly onto the card.

Afterwards I printed out some of the backing papers for note paper, but I must admit I took one of the designs into My Craft Studio and scaled it down to a A5 size which fitted better in the pocket than a bigger size would have done, then printed some of the envelopes from the Cd made them up and popped those into the other pocket.

I want to thank you so much for being so patient and bringing me so much love, and to let you know that we now have a funeral date for my mum, its to be 23rd November at 2pm in Brighton, so it does mean that we will have to spend a few nights away as its quite a long distance to go in one day, plus which we will use the time to visit our grandchildren and daughters while we are in the area. With love and huge hugs Shirleyxxxxxxx

Sample No.5 for Sarah - Hedgehog Gateleg Card

Todays sample for Sarah is a Hedgehog Gateleg Card, this is another of the beautiful images from her new Woodland Treasures Cd, you will be able to buy if from her website http://www.spanglefish.com/peerlessdesigns/ as Ive said before you will find some really beautiful cds there and they are p&p free.

The main image was mounted onto some mount board and then triple embossed to make it really thick and shinny, it was then mounted onto a piece of gold mirri board. The Sentiment is one of my greetings stamps that I have in my craft stash, this was stamped onto a piece of white card and also mounted on to gold mirri card.

The base card is 8"x 8" white card, but has been folded with the opening in the centre instead of the side, onto these two sides I have mounted firstly two pieces of gold card and one of the gorgeous backing papers that has been cut to fit on the mounts, after which I have placed and stuck half of my mounted topper on one half of the gate fold, and the same with the sentiment.  

Before creating the flowers for the front, I decided to finish of the inside behind the gatefold opening as it was right in your face when you did so, this was done with the same backing paper but I took it into My Craft Studio and put a white rectangle into the centre for the verse, then after that I mounted this onto another piece of the same gold mirri board stamped a verse onto it and then stuck it inside my card.

Then to finish of Ive used some punches that I bought from my lovely German friend Birsel from http://hobbyvita.blogspot.com/ and they are really lovely and easy to use, as its a two step thing you have to have two punches for each layer, one to punch out the shape and the other to shape the punched out shape (hope you understand what Im saying), these are then layered up, as there is two different sizes of punches and a punched out centre. I then punched out some fern leaves and arranged them in a circle with some silicone glue, and popped my flowers on top, but to finish them of I have used some yellow stickles in the centre for a change.

Again I want to thank you for the lovely comments you ladies have been leaving me, Im coping quite well though I have been suffering with a bladder infection which is extremely painful, but it seems now to be under control. But it is my poor brother who got the short end of the stick as hes having to do all the arrangements and so far its not going as easy as we hoped, as my mum died within 24hours after being taken into hospital there had to be a coroners inquest into what happened, so until her body been released we carnt even book a date for the funeral. So please keep praying that it wont take to much longer and we can at last start to grieve and say goodbye to her.

Thank you again for your support, I will start hopefully my blog hopping at the weekend, bless you and keep us in your prayers. With love and hugs Shirleyxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sarahs Sample No.4 - Badger Waterfall Card

Todays card is one of the beautiful Badger images, and I have created a waterfall card, the base card is a 8"x 8" white card, and for the first layer I have used a piece of green card with one of the beautiful papers from the Cd. I then printed another of the designs and with my Martha Steward maple leaf border punch around all four sides then stuck it to the base card, across the centre I have stuck some lace that I found in my stash.

The actual waterfall is a long piece of green card sectioned of into 1/2" segments and then with a slightly bigger width at the bottom allowing you to be able to attach it to the base card. I punched a hole at the bottom for some ribbon to allow you to pull the waterfall through. This was made with several printed toppers, four in all and these were attached to the segments one after another.

I also thought you might like to see the inside of the card, and this has been manipulated in My Craft Studio to give me two bordered pages for the inside, on one side I have stuck one of the smaller images, and on the other side I have stamped a verse.

I nearly forgot, on the front of the card Ive created a flower from some of the left over paper, moulded it with my ball tool fastened them together with a pearl brad and spacer, and then punched out some leaves and arranged them in a circle before sticking my flower on top.

I hope that you like the card, its certainly a beautiful cd to work with and definitely suitable for any mens cards. You will find this beautiful cd and many of her others at her website http://www.spanglefish.com/peerlessdesigns/, she also offers free postage and packing, and some suitable stamps that she created to go with some of the other cds, and also a few that will work with this one Woodland Friends.

Thank you so Much

I want to thank you all so much for the really lovely comments youve been leaving concerning the death of my mum, I have been popping by to read them and they have given me much comfort in this difficult time.
Unfortunately we still do not know when the funeral is as theres been some problems with getting the death certificates sorted out, but hopefully if my brother is able I imagine its probably going to be sometime next week.
So I just want to thank you all for your support and the beautiful comments you left me. I will be posting some of my samples for Sarah Hallam of Peerless Designs today, tomorrow and Friday, as I feel that I owe her that, as she is due to preview her new Cd "Woodland Friends" on Sunday on Create and Craft at 12pm and as she gave me the opportunity to create samples for her, I would like to show them to you first.
I probably wont be taking part in any of the challenges this week because of my mums death, and I dont want to let Sarah down, so I hope you will support her on Sunday. Thank you and Bless You again, with love and huge hugs Shirleyxxxxxxxxxx

A Salute to my Lovely Mum

The last couple of days have been extremely painful  for me, but for my mum its a happy release. Yesterday I rang my mum at her nursing home in Hove, Sussex which I have been doing regularly since she went in two years ago, and when she eventually answered the phone yesterday, she sounded in a great deal of pain, which wasnt unusual but this time it sounded even more so. When I got her to tell me what had happened, it seems that she fallen during the night and it had been difficult to get her back into bed again, as she was in so much pain.

Anyway the long and short of it is, that they had to take her into hospital last night to discover why shed become so pale, and it seems that in the fall shed caused a vein to burst and shed been bleeding internally. They did manage to stabilise her last night but we were warned that it would only be a matter of hours before it would start again and this time it would be fatal. And this was proved to be right, as at 4.40am this morning she lost her fight and passed away peacefully, and at long last shes pain free.

So if I dont manage to visit your blogs in the next few days please forgive me, I will be back once I feel I can cope with it. Thank you for the lovely comments on my card yesterday, I very much appreciate that. With all my love and huge hugs Shirleyxxxxxx

Just Magnolia Challenge Card - Distressed

Todays card has been created for the Just Magnolia Challenge this week, its all to do with Distressing, Ive actually used one of the new Christmas images that I bought while visiting the NEC this weekend, and guess what for a change Ive used my Distressed Inks for colouring and for distressing the edges of not only my stamped image but also my sentiment. These were cut out with one of my Nestabilitie dies and then drawn around onto some brown glittery card and cut out larger ones for them to be mounted onto, I did distress the edges first with a piece of sandpaper, that might not be quite so easy to see.

The base card is my usual 8"x 8" white card with a first layer of the same brown card and one of three papers that I have used for this card, they are all from Donna's Bearly Mine Extreme Designs Cd, the first layer is a greeny brown paper in a distressed pattern, for the second and third layers, Ive torn the edges to give it a distressed feeling. Across the centre Ive again used the same brown card but popped it with a embossing folder through my cuttlebug, and then wrapped a piece of red/brown gold edged ribbon around it and attached it to the back.

On top of this I have stuck my mounted image and the greeting to the bottom right hand corner, to finish of I have punched out with some of the left over paper, two flowers that have been moulded and then stuck together with a pearl brad and spacer, then Ive punched out some brown leaves from the same colour paper as the mounts and arranged them in a circle in some silicone and popped the flowers on top.

Remembrance Sunday - Lest we Forget

As a lot of  you are already aware my eldest grandson has just finished a duty in Afghanistan, and Im one of the fortunate ones that as hes in the RAF he wasnt actually on the front line, but so many of our lovely youngsters are, and no doubt quite a few of you have had a family member lost in a war zone I felt it was right to remember those today.

Both my father and grandfather, who have now gone were in first and second World Wars, luckily though they did come back and I was able to love and get to know them, a lot of families didnt, so I want to dedicate this card in their memories and to thank them for their bravoury as well as those that are carrying on in the services today. I have quite a few friends whos sons are doing this and I want to say that I am thinking of them today and praying that they also will come back home safe and sound and the end of their duty to be with their respective families.

I wont go into to much detail today as I feel it would spoil the dedication, the card is a 6"x 6" white card with a embossed mount, and black satin ribbon, with a mount of two of the Nestabilitie diecuts in red and white, and a lovely build a poppy stamp design by Papermania.

God Bless you all, with love and huge hugs Shirleyxxxxxxxxxxx

Stampin for the Weekend Challenge - Festive Goodie Box

Oh wow Ive had a fabulous day today, Ive been to the NEC and bought lots of goodies and met some fabulous blogging friends, and even watched Tab and Kim on the Magnolia stand creating their gorgeous images ready for making up their cards. Oh what can I say but it was a brilliant experience to see how patiently Kim paints with her Distressed Inks, and Tab with her pencils, they are an inspiration believe me, I dont know whether I would have the patience to work so intensly as they both do, Im afraid my work is a lot quicker than theirs, but they did give me such lovely comments on my work and that boosted my ego no end, so thank you girls for such a lovely experience. Im just sorry I didnt get to see Bev and Marcea, but by 12.45pm I was exhausted with all the pushing and shoving that was going on, that my hubby and I decided to call it a day and make for home.

Anyway this weeks Stampin for the Weekend Challenge is a Festive Goodie Box, now this is the first time Ive made such a large one so wasnt quite sure how it would turn out, anyway its basically two piece of card 3"x 6"x 1" and 3" in depth, that Ive covered with some papers that I printed from the Nitwit Downloads, the bottom one is snowflakes, for the lid Ive used a slightly larger size 3.50"x 6" x 1" and this is 1.50" in depth, I hope this makes some sense, anyway these were made into a rectagles I then made two large top and bottoms covered them with more paper, the lid is a check pattern which was then attached to the rectangle to created a lid. I should have said that the bottom of the box was covered with a piece of the snowflake design.

My stamped image is one of the new Whiff of Joy Blue Egg stamps, isnt it gorgeous, a lovely little figure in a Christmas stocking, Ive stamped and coloured it with my copic pens, and mounted it onto a piece of red card, this was then attached to the lid of my box to right hand bottom corner, I then arranged a Christmas decoration above it, and inside the box Ive popped some toffee's and some chocolate eclairs, makes you feel hungry doesnt it.

Mo Mannings Challenge - All that Glitters

Todays card is for the Mo Mannings Challenge, All that Glitters, which incorporates three different types of glitters or sparkles. Ive used this cute fairy image, shes blowing bubbles, Ive printed her from my computer and coloured her with my copic pens, then  used my Sakura glitter pens on her, the stars on her skirt, and on her wings, and the bubbles.
I then cut her out with my rotatrim and mounted her up on some glitter rainbow card, the sentiment was created on my computer and then cut out and mounted in the same way. The base card is a 8"x 8" white card with the first layer another piece of the same rainbow glitter card, with two of Donna's Bearly Mine Extreme Designs from Vol.III. The first paper is a pink base one with some yellow stars, this was stuck to the glitter board with some silicone glue, on top of this Ive used another paper with an explosion of flowers, I used my star border punch all around all four sides, then this was stuck to the first layer, and on top of this I have wrapped a piece of glittery ribbon around the middle and attached it to the back of the first layer, the mounted image was then stuck on top of this, and the sentiment was stuck to the bottom right hand side.
I then found some very glittery flowers and stuck them to the top on the left hand side, with some punched out leaves underneath, and for final flourish I have stuck some glittery gems to the right hand top and bottom left hand sides.

A lovely Award from Linda

I received this lovely award from my very special friend Linda http://simpleandsassycreations.blogspot.com/

and I thought it might take me awhile to sort out all the questions and answers that have to be done with this award, luckily it wasnt as difficult as I expected so here you Linda, hope that you approve, and thank you love for thinking of me. Anyway love heres my answers to the questions:- 

1. Where is your cell phone? Hanging up in my craft room

2. Your hair: white/grey
3. Your mother: awesome
4. Your father: sweetheart
5. Your favorite food? Roast
6. Your dream last night? About my family
7. Your favorite drink? water
8. Your dream/goal? healthy
9. What room are you in? craftroom
10. Your hobby? crafting
11. Your fear? snakes
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? crafting
13. Where were you last night? home
14. Something you aren't? unhappy
15. Muffins? yup
16. Wish list item? for my daughters to be healthy and happy
17. Where did you grow up? South East London
18. Last thing you did? Have a cup of coffee
19. What are you wearing? clothes
20. Your TV? off
21. Your pets? none
22. Friends? trustworthy
23. Your life? blessed
24. Your mood? content
25. Missing someone? yes
26. Vehicle? Skoda
27. Something you're not wearing? perfume
28. Your favorite store? Craft Shop
29. Your favorite color? purple
30. When was the last time you laughed? today
31. When was the last time you cried? This morning
32. Your best friend? My hubby
33. One place that I want to go over and over? Shopping for craft things
34. Facebook? yes
35. Favorite place to eat? depends
Now I need to pass this onto 5 people which isnt easy as Ive got some really lovely friends out there so here we go,
Swaantje -  http://swaantjes-welt.blogspot.com/,
Teresa - http://treesawardincrafts.blogspot.com/,
Mandy -  http://sparklybits1.blogspot.com/,
 Jules - http://jules-alwayswithaheart.blogspot.com/,
Lyn - http://spyder-spyderscorner.blogspot.com/,
 Ok girls you know the rules, I hope you will accept this award and enjoy. With love and hugs Shirleyxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Cute Card Thursday Challenge - Primary Colours Red, Yellow and Blue

Todays card has been created for the Cute Card Challenge, this has to be in Primary Colours of Red, Yellow and Blue, and Ive also managed to use one of Janet Roberts gorgeous images from http://www.pinkgemdesigns.com/catalog/manga-c-36.html this one is one of the new Manga Designs, called Christmas with Kaya, shes such a little sweetheart that Ive deceived also to use this card for one of my new granddaughters Christmas Cards.

Ive stamped her onto white card and coloured her with my copic pens, after which Ive cut her out with my rotatrim and inked the edges with some red ink, I also used one of Janets sentiment stamps as well and mounted it in the same way as my main image.

My base card is a 7.50"x 7.50" white card, and for my first layer I have used a dark red card, and one of three designs I picked from the Nitwit Mainly Mouse Collection, the first paper is an all over sentiment greeting design, and on top of this in the top right hand corner I have stuck a smaller square of blue card with a snowflake design on it, and the third layer is a label design piece in yellow with a yellow square pattern on and Ive popped a bright red snowflake ribbon at the back to make it look like a tag.

Ive then stuck my main stamped  image in the centre and my greeting to the right hand side at the bottom, Ive used some foam tape on both these two mounts to raise them slightly of the card. To finish of Ive made three snowflakes and dipped them into some twinklets and popped them in a group at the bottom on the left.

Sample No.3 for Sarah - An Fieldmouse Easel Card

Todays card for Sarah is an Easel card, if youd like to see some more of Sarah Hallam's cd you can find them at http://www.spanglefish.com/peerlessdesigns/newreleases.asp  and you will astounded at how beautiful her work is, she is definitely one very talented lady. Her new show to preview her latest Cd "Woodland Treasures" is on Create and Craft on the 15th November at 12pm I hope that you will be there to watch it as I certainly will be. This will be my last card for now and I will post the other three next week nearer to the launch so that I can remind you of it.

This card has been created from three pieces of equal size card, in this instance its 8"x 8" x 8"size and several of the backing papers and one of the main toppers, I printed out two main ones and mounted them onto so green card one for the front and one for the bottom (Ive left the middle section plain), I have also printed out two more papers the first one has been made into a smaller 6"x 6" square and punched all around the edge with one of my Martha Stewart border punches, I also used the corner one on it to, this was then stuck to the centre of the front and my mounted Fieldmouse image was stuck on top.

For the bottom I have mounted the other piece of paper onto the same coloured card and then cut a smaller piece to attach across the bottom of this sheet for the front to stand up against, on this piece I have stuck a further paper but firstly have punched along both the outer edges, then wrapped a piece of ribbon across the centre and popped two brads through it and then opened them out at the back before sticking it to the card. This acts like the stop for the front piece to stop it falling flat, although its not easy to see you can definitely see the brads, which were created with my Itop brad maker and some of the paper from the cd.

To finish of Ive created two flowers from more of the left over paper, and moulded them with my ball tool and put a brad through the centres with a spacer, and before sticking them to my card, Ive punched out some fern leaves and arranged them in a circle then popped the flowers on top. The Sentiment was a stamp that I had in my stash and this also has been mounted onto a piece of brown card and positioned below the main image to the bottom right.

Sample No.2 for Sarah - Dioarma Card

Firstly I want to thank all those lovely girls that left me comments on my being asked to join a new Challenges DT team, Im really excited at this new adventure, so thank you so much girls, Im sure we will have great fun with Donna and her "Cards for men" Challenges, and I hope that the rest of you will join in and have fun with us, I will give you more details about whats going to happen as and when I get them.
I was so busy yesterday trying to get Sarahs samples finished so that I could get them into the post this morning, in case the Postal Strike escalates, so I must apologise for not going on my normal blog hopping, I will try and get around today if my hubby allows me, as its our swimming day it might not be till later on today.
Anyway did I managed to get all six samples done and will post them on my blog, some of them this week and the rest just before the show on the 15th to remind you when its on.

This second sample is a Dioarma card and is not the simplest to create, it means that you have to print six of the toppers that you want to use to create the scene, and then with a bit of imagination cut away bits of five of them to make it stand out, a bit like a cartoon film, when they create the background for their characters to move around on.
As you can see from the second photo, its necessary to cut two side pieces to make a sort of concentina to fit all the photos to, this has to be done to both sides, Ive then created a outer folder for the card to be put in, and on the front Ive stuck a background paper first, then another of the main toppers mounted it up onto brown card, and popped a ribbon underneath so that I can close the whole card up and make a bow on the side.
I hope you like this one, it was not the easiest to make, but I thought it would be something different, I think it was probably harder to create than the exploding birdhouse.

Wow guess what Ive been asked to join a Design Team for a New Challenge Blog

I know its a bit late for this but I thought youd like to know that Ive been asked to join a Design Team for a new Challenge Blog http://cardsformen.blogspot.com/ its to start operating from the 1st December I do so hope that all my friends and followers will pop across and see who else has been invited to join the team. Wish me luck as its the first time that Ive done this sort of thing and I hope that I will do justice to Donna's Challenge Blog.

Samples for Sarah - Exploding Birdhouse

Today Im going to be posting one of my samples from Sarah Hallam's new cd which is to be previewed on Create and Craft on the 15th November at 12pm, if youd like to pop across to her website you will be able to see more information and catch all her other beautiful cds, she is a wonderful talented lady who creates all the images herself this is her website http://www.spanglefish.com/peerlessdesigns/newreleases.asp.

This is my first sample Ive tried to create an exploding Birdhouse rather than and exploding box. As you can see its made on the same principle as the exploding box but with a apex on two of the outside pieces to allow you to pop the roof on, in one of the end pieces Ive cut two doors and stuck two brads in holes I punched to allowe them to be opened. Ive used three layers inside, the first one, the outside one is a 4"x 4" size squares in a X formation so you have a square in the centre, this is for sticking them one on top of the other, and these have been covered with one of Sarahs papers that you will find on her Cd. The front one was then cut to create a door and behind this I have stuck a piece of Acetate and then printed an owl image to stick to it, to make it look as though a owl is hiding inside.                                                 

 I then left it ready to pop the other layers inside and got on with the second and third layers.         

The inside pieces were create with firstly a 3.50"x 3.50" squares and the third layer is a 3"x 3" squares, each of the panels was mounted with the owl images, I picked several different images to use for this and mounted them all onto square pieces of gold textured board, and stuck them to the panels. In the centre of the exploding box I found one of Sarahs Decoupage images, this one has octagon pieces that Ive cut out and mounted with some sticky pads to raise if of the bottom picture.

The exploding box was then mounted up together in layers and I then popped the roof piece which was created from one piece of card 10"x 5" scored and folded in the centre, and two side pieces were created by scoring 1" in on either side of the long side, two little pieces were clipped out at the apex, and it was stuck in a A shape, then popped on top of the roof.

I hope I have bored you to much with my long explanation, but it wasnt the easiest of things to explain.