A short absence

Hi all,
just a really quick post to say that I may be absent from my blog for a couple of weeks.
I was on holiday when I got the news that my daughter has developed a blood clot in her lung after a flight home from her own holiday. It was really scary and the hospital said had she left it another 24 hours and not gone there it could have been very nasty indeed. She really was very lucky that her boyfriend insisted she go as she was in so much pain.
It means that I am now going to be helping her out as much as possible as shes not allowed to move around too much-crafting is going to be way down my list at the moment so I do hope you will bear with me and I will be back just as soon as I can.
Thank you all for your support and I hope to see you all soon.
Andree x

Crafty Boots-guest DT spot

Hello all,
well, two posts in one day, that never happens does it!
The reason for my second post is to let you know about the new challenge beginning today at Crafty Boots.
I was really excited to receive a lovely message from Dionne asking me if I would like to join the DT as guest for this challenge and I was thrilled to accept.
The theme for the challenge is 'Use a stamp' it can be a physical or digital stamp but I thought as lately I mostly turn to digis I would go dig out some of my physical stamps. This clear stamp came free with my magazine and is one of my favourites as it's so versatile.
I coloured the image with Promarkers and layered it with some papers from Nitwit. The frames are cut with a Nellie Snellen stitched die and the banner and button are die cut too. The little butterfly is punched with a Woodware punch. The sentiment is another freebie.

I'd like to enter this into the following challenges (but as I'm away at the moment I will link up at a later date):

The Butterfly challenge #59-P for punch
The Paper Shelter -anything goes
Through the Purple Haze #105 -monochrome
Create & Inspire #50-anything goes
Fussy & Fancy #169-a walk in the garden

I'd like to say a huge Thank You to the lovely Crafty Boots DT for allowing me to join them this time round, it's been huge fun.
 Don't forget to dig out your favourite stamp and pop on over to join in the challenge.
Thank you so much for stopping by today and for any comments you may with to leave.
Until next time.
Aloha
Andree x

A Bit More Time to Craft new challenge

Hello all
I hope you are all well. This is a scheduled post as I am currently attending a family wedding in Santorini so fingers crossed the post works ok!
I just wanted to let you all know that a new challenge is beginning today over at A Bit More Time to Craft and it's a very special one too. The challenge blog has now being running for a whole year and I'm so glad to be part of this lovely group of ladies, huge thanks to Lozzy for having me on the team. As it's our birthday Lozzy has decided to make it a special celebration.
For this challenge there is going to be a huge 12 (yes, 12!!!) winners who will all get to choose some of Lozzy's beautiful papers as a prize. These really are so gorgeous and print out beautifully too. The theme of our challenges is always Anything Goes so nice and easy to come play along.
For my card I chose Lozzy's Blue Lagoon papers which I thought were just perfect to match with this image I found online as a free colouring page. I coloured the image with Promarkers and die cut the image with some Nellie Snellen dies, adding a Marianne die cut leafy flourish too. Some blue gems finished off and the sentiment is from Netty's cards.

I wanted to make this for my sister in law's birthday,  as she will be away with us I thought this was very apt for a beach birthday!
Id like to enter this into the following challenges: (I will link up later)

The Paper Shelter -anything goes
As you like it - favourite papers (Lozzy's Blue Lagoon, my favourite all time colour and so pretty)
Little Miss Muffet #143 - anything goes
Create & Inspire #50 -anything goes

Well that's all from me, don't forget to pop by the challenge and come join in with our birthday celebrations.
Thank you for stopping by today and for any comments you may wish to leave.
Bye for now
Andree x

....and finally, a post!

Hello friends and followers, I hope you are all well and if you're in the UK I hope you are managing to keep cool in this heat. I must say, Im not good with it myself and have been so grateful that our school has already broken up. I really think I would have struggled big time working through this.
I'm easing myself gently into the holiday routine-there's been lots of 'oh, I'll do that tomorrow!'
I've finally managed to get around to showing the card I made for my son's recent 21st birthday-he's a huge Marvel fan so we secretly arranged for the party to have 'Superheroes' as the theme and we bought loads of decorations and everyone turned up in a Superhero T shirt of some description.
I decided to use The Hulk for his card as Adam's also into his gym and weight lifting so I thought he was quite apt.
I found this image online and wanted to layer him with a comic page background which I also found online. I decided it would be fun to make him look like he was busting through the page so cut and folded back the paper. The sentiments are computer generated.

I spent ages making this timeline for his party too, cutting out individual banners, die cutting each picture -one for every year,and adding some punched stars . We strung it up along the conservatory and it was a real hit. I couldn't bear to take it down though and it managed to stay up for well over a week after!

I'd like to think I can now slowly start to get back to normal crafting activity but the old mojo is playing up again, maybe it's the heat??
I am trying to get around and comment on all your makes but I hope you'll bear with me-I do check in each day to see what you've all been making.
Thank you so much for stopping by today.
Until next time then.
Aloha
Andree x

A Bit More Time to Craft-new challenge

Good afternoon to all my blogging friends and visitors I hope you are all well.
Just to let you all know that a new challenge has begun today over at A Bit More Time to Craft. As always our challenges are Anything Goes and run fortnightly. We'd love to see you come along and join in and there's a chance for you to win some sets of Lozzy's gorgeous papers too.
Lozzy now has a shop selling all of her wonderful sets which are such good value for money-why not take a peek here, I bet you can't just stop at one!!
For my card I used a lovely paper from Lozzy's Checkout set as I thought the shade went so well with the little tortoise I'd  coloured up with my Promarkers, which was a freebie from Birds Cards. I die cut a little banner using a die set I recently bought on ebay and the circle die was  also a recent purchase too and the heart die was a freebie from a magazine.
Some paper flowers and gems finished off.

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

Crafty Girls Creations #22 -anything goes
Craft your Passion #318 -anything goes
Southern Girls -anything goes
Crafty Gals Corner #78-anything goes
Inspiration Destination #92 -anything goes

Well don't forget to pop on over and see the gorgeous cards that the lovely design team have been busy making and why not join in with us this time too.
Have a wonderful weekend and thank you for visiting today.
Andree x

Craft Time......what's that????

Hello all,
wow, I can't believe it's so long since I did a post, I hope you have all been keeping well. Firstly I MUST give you all a huge apology for not visiting and commenting on your makes for quite a while. Life has got a bit crazy in the last couple of weeks-end of term looming at work means I come home utterly drained and exhausted each day -most nights I'm eating my dinner then climbing into bed! Then my daughter decided to bring her wedding forward by a whole year, meaning it's now this time next year so it's been nothing but wedding plans, research, planning invites etc and then as it that's not enough it's my sons 21st in two weeks and we are planning a big party at home (for which I really don't feel ready). My craft time has been non existent!
Anyway, I'm trying to do this post before someone or other decides they really need me!
I made this card a little while back for my box at work using a lovely image by Flat Friends which I coloured with Promarkers. The papers and pretty pearl brad are both from Poundland and the sentiment is from Netty's Cards. The corners are punched with an X cut corner punch.

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

Crafty Friends -song (I'm getting married in the morning)
Crafting with Friends #23-anything goes
The Stamping Boutique -wedding
Craft Rocket #18 -weddings & things
Cute Card Thursday #431-wedding

I am hoping that things will calm down over the next few weeks and I can get back into my normal craft routine, I promise to visit and comment more frequently very soon so hope you will bear with me until then.
Take care and until next time
Aloha
Andree x

Dad's birthday

Hello all
Just a quick post today to share a card I made at the weekend for my Dad's birthday. I was really stumped for him and couldn't think what to do for him this year and then I came upon this image that I won in a challenge (but my AOL email is playing up big time at the moment so I can't confirm where it's from!!) The image reminded me of Dad when he's snoozing in the garden!
I coloured him with my Promarkers and layered him with papers from a pack I got recently at the Pound shop-I bought all three pads which are such good quality.
I die cut the Dad wording with an Xcut die, added a computer generated sentiment and a couple of card candi and that's it-CAS -I hope he likes it.

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

Creative Inspirations #253-spring into summer
The Paper Girls #105- the great outdoors
Melonheadz -masculine
Love to Scrap #79-it's a boy thing
Crafty Boots -masculine
Ooh la la creations #206-boys
Tuesday Throwdown #279-mans world
Try it on Tuesday-all about him
Craftin Desert Divas-masculine

Well thank you so much for visiting me today and for any comments you may wish to leave which I really love reading.
Not far to the weekend!!
Aloha
Andree x

A Bit More Time to Craft -new challenge starts

Hello crafty friends and followers.
This post is to let you know that a new challenge begins today over at A Bit More Time to Craft where our challenges are always Anything Goes and begin on the 1st and 15th of every month.
For the winner there's a chance to choose some gorgeous papers designed by Lozzy, they really are beautiful sets. I decided to use this lovely image from Cre8tive Hands called Rabbit with Cake and thought he'd go so well with Lozzy's papers called Funky Ows.

I printed out the papers and die cut a square from the corner of the plain piece using a Nellie Snellen stitched square die. I then did the same for the image which was coloured with Promarkers and layered them at the bottom so that the patterned paper showed through. I die cut the sentiment which is from Netty's Cards and added two die cut balloons. The little heart was punched out and then embossed with a dotty embossing folder.
I'd like to enter my card into the following challenges:
(this is a scheduled post so I will link up later)

Lemon Shortbread -anything goes
Cuttlebug Mania-embossing
Passion for Promarkers #348-furry friends
Sweet stamps -anything goes
Craft your Passion #314-anything goes
Crafty Cardmakers #165-monochrome
Ooh-la-la creations #205-animals with four legs
Pile it On #109-tic tac toe (balloon, emboss, dots)

Well that's all from me for today, why not pop on over to the challenge and take a look at the gorgeous inspiration cards made by the lovely ladies on the DT. We'd also love it if you wanted to join in with the challenge with us too.
Until next time, thanks so much for stopping by and for any comments you may wish to leave.
Andree x

Flower barrow

Hello today to all my crafty friends.
I just popped on to share another recent card.  A while  back I decided that I use digis far too often and decided to dig out some physical stamps and use them a bit more. I must say I did enjoy inking them up but the down side is they don't always stamp out perfectly do they??
This one is from a freebie set given away by Quick Cards a while back and I admit I never used them before popping them into my box never to be seen again (until now!!)
I needed to make a few cards for my box at work and wanted to make some with more general images as the cute girly ones aren't always so popular with people-this one fitted the bill perfectly!
I coloured the image with Promarkers and used some nitwit papers. I used my trusty cuttlebug to cut the image with a Nellie Snellen circle die and used the same for the sentiment which is another from Netty's Cards. I punched some slits to thread paper through with a punch I bought in Hobbycraft and added a paper flower and a little die cut butterfly. A little purple gem and some purple liquid pearls in the flower centres finished off:

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

I Love Promarkers #309-anything goes
Create & Inspire #46-anything goes
Inspiration Destination #86-anything goes
Crafty Gals #72-may flowers
Fussy and Fancy #164-dies and punches
Crafty Friends #32-summer time
Crafty Catz #325-anything goes
Cuttlebug Mania -may flowers

Well thank you so much for stopping by today and for any comments you may wish to leave. Enjoy the rest of the weekend and until next time.
Aloha
Andree x

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends-anything goes

Hello all, this post is to let you know that a new challenge has begun today over at the Lil Patch of Crafty Friends and our theme as always is Anything Goes.
My lovely DT colleagues have been really busy making some gorgeous inspiration cards for you to see and I know they'd love it if you come to visit and see their fab work and also play along with our challenge too.
Our sponsors deserve our thanks too for providing us with some of their gorgeous images to work with and for this challenge we have to thank:

Sami Stamps

Prize ~ $12 Gift Certificate

Bugaboo Stamps

Prize ~ 7 Images

For my card I got to work with this lovely image from Bugaboo Stamps called Heel Accessories which you can buy here-I think this is such a fab image which will suit ladies of any age and will work with both CAS and more fussy designs too.

I wanted to keep my card more on the CAS side so all I added was a couple of card candy coloured to match the image which I coloured with Promarkers.  The grey paper is from a Papermania pad and the pink is from my stash. The sentiment was stamped using a freebie set from a magazine.

I'd like to enter my card into the following challenges:
(this is a scheduled post so I will link up later)

Crafting by Designs -pink and girly
Spellbinding Stamps -girly
Chocolate, coffee and cards #109-just girls
Creative Fingers #109-anything goes
Craft your Passion #311-anything goes
Simply Papercraft #28-anything goes
Crafting with Friends #20-anything goes
Jade's sparkling butterflies #19-anything goes


Don't forget to pop on over to see us and join in with our challenge, and until next time,

Dance like no one is watching

Hello all, I hope this finds you all well.
Just a really quick post today -I've not been feeling too well the last couple of days so apologies if I've missed commenting on your lovely work, I really hope to be back to normal soon.
This card was made using a freebie image I had in my files but I saved it wrong and can't remember the name of it-if anyone can help I'd be really grateful?? I coloured her in with Promarkers, adding plenty of glitter to her wings and dress. The sentiment was a freebie too from a magazine and the papers are from a set I got at The Works. I punched some little butterflies and added several pink pearls:

I'd like to enter this into the following challenges:

Pearly Sparkles #4-things with wings and pearls
Crafty Cardmakers # 163-pearls/gems
Our Crafty Corner #9-anything goes
Whoopsi Daisy -fairy dreams
Classic DT #2-anything goes
Create & Inspire#45-anything goes
Allsorts #362-theres magic in the air
Crafty Friends #31-in the garden
Crafty Calendar -things with wings
Hiding in my Craft Room-all that glitters

Well thank you so much for stopping by today and for any comments you may wish to leave. I hope to visit you all soon.
Until next time.
Aloha
Andree x

A Bit More Time to Craft-new challenge -Anything Goes

Hello today I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend -a lovely extended one here in the UK.
This post is to let you all know that a new challenge is beginning today at A Bit More Time to Craft where our challenges are always Anything Goes.
We have the fab Ching-Chou Kuik sponsoring us this time so the lucky winner will get to choose two images and you also have the chance of winning some gorgeous paper sets from Lozzy too.
Speaking of which I can also tell you that Lozzy has opened a shop for her papers and you can now buy them here. There really are some beautiful papers and they're such good value for money too so well worth a visit and a browse.
For my card I got this fab image called Dandelion Dream which you can buy here.
I chose to use a pastel colour mix and coloured her with my Promarkers, adding lots of glitter to her wings. The papers are from Lozzy's beautiful Floral set and I die cut some butterflies with a freebie die from Quick Cards magazine and also a little fence die I found on ebay.  The sentiment is from Netty's cards and some pearls finished it off. Once I made it I decided I would give it to my lovely Mum for her birthday next week as she loves spring colours.

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

Melonheadz -pastel colours
Passion for Promarkers #343-digital
Digi Choosday #17-things with wings
Crafty Gals Corner #69-anything goes
Suzy Bees #128-fairyland
Just us Girls #341-wild card
Spellbinding stamps-fantasy
Fussy and Fancy #162-female birthday
Simply Create Too #108-ladies only

Thank you so much for stopping by today and for any comments you may wish to leave. Don't forget to come pay a visit and join in with our challenge and also take a look at the fab cards made by my team mates too-we'd love to see you there.
Until next time.
Andree x