Charisma Cards # 25 - Rubbernecker Week.......

Hiya peeps!

I have to call my card the 'Katy card', because nearly everything on it was sent to me in a RAK by my friend Katy........ and to top it off my dd says I've made it in Katy's style too! I wasn't trying to copy Katy, I promise, lol! Obviously just inspired by the she does it and trying to move away from my over fussy style a bit too!

The gorgeous image is by CC Designs and is one of the new Swiss Pixies (thanks Katy I love it!). The scrummy paper is by October Afternoon available at The Craft Emporium and the black zigzag strips are Bazzill Just The Edge.

I'm entering my card into this week's Charisma Challenge where anything goes. You can enter up to four times and have the chance to win some fab prizes!

A huge thank you to everyone who gave me advice as to why my blog wasn't working properly - it's sorted now that the playlist has been removed.

I also wanted to thank everyone who left comments about my migraines........ I'm still not completely right and I don't think the heat helps, but I have another appointment at the docs tomorrow so I'll let you know when I have more news. You really are a caring bunch and it means alot ;o)

I'm dashing out now, taking ds to cricket practice so I'll catch you all in a bit!

TTFN and TFL xxx

HELP!!!

Does anyone know why my blog has suddenly gone really slow and keeps freezing? One or two people have emailed me to say they are struggling to leave me comments. It's acting really funny and I'm wondering if anyone else is experiencing the same. I seem to be able to visit everyone else just fine so I'm very confused ;o(

Thanks for reading this and if you can help I'll be so grateful! xxx

UPDATE: I have removed my playlist and now everything is much improved...... thank you everyone fore your advice and help ;o) xx

The Pink Elephant # 21 - Favourite Colour Combo....

Good morning folks!

How are you - very well I hope? What a beautiful day we have in store today in the UK and I hope also for the rest of the world............ lol, okay I think maybe that's a bit too much to ask to sort the weather out for every country in the land!!!

I think this is the first time ever I've entered The Pink Elephant Challenge - I love it when I can enter something I haven't had chance to enter before. This week's brilliant theme is to use your fave colour combo. Hmmmmmmm, quite tricky as I have so many that I love working with, but in the end I plumped for blue, green and pink, always a winner for me! I got to play with my new Basic Grey papers too, YUM! These are from the Lemondae range and are so summery. I got to play with another of the gorgeous download Pixies from Charmed Cards and Crafts and this one is Waterlily. If you want to see more of them you can find them HERE. The circle is also part of the download package and the sets are amazing value and give you so many options........ yes it's official, I love 'em!!!!

I used my new Woodware leaf punch for the corners and coloured the image with Copics. The wings were created with vellum and I embossed them with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder.

Hope you have a wonderful day today, catch you later ;o)

TTFN and TFL xxxx

Dottie's World Sunday Challenge - Sunshine

Good afternoon peeps!

Hope you're having a fabby Sunday and this week's challenge over at Dottie's World could not be more aptly themed......... 'SUNSHINE'. We're certainly having plenty of that just now aren't we!!!

Here is the brief in more detail.........

"Summer is finally upon us so I want you to use some sunshine in your card/creation, it could be an actual sunshine image, a card shaped like a sunshine or even the use of the word sun/sunshine somewhere on your creation. Don't forget to put your Charmed download in there somewhere too!"

I thought I'd put an oriental slant on my card this week and so used Madison in China - she's so beautiful! I also used my new Basic Grey Blush papers which tie in nicely with the theme. I have so many pads of Basic Grey now but for some reason I had missed this one and boy is it gorgeous! I must just give a big shout to Lyn at The Craft Emporium here - she has an amazing range of Basic Grey and her service is second to none! I ordered the two latest pads, June Bug and Lemonade, on Friday morning and they arrived at 8.30am the next day....... very impressive!

I hope you'll get the chance to play along with Dottie's World this week - hop over now for a peek at the gorgeous DT cards. The girls have done such a brilliant job again and have also been uploading sample cards made with the new Pixie Collection this week....... not to be missed!

Enjoy your sunbathing then everyone and have a lovely week ahead........ 30 degrees forcast here in the UK by Wednesday...... PHEW!!!

TTFN and TFL xxx

Colour Create # 20 and a couple of awards........

Hiya folks!

I'm really sorry I haven't been around for a few days - unfortunately I've had a bad migraine (I'm a regular sufferer) and also a trapped nerve in my neck/shoulder...... in fact the two may have been connected! Anyway I have done very little blog hopping and must apologise for not keeping up with everyone's creations. I am working on it, lol!

My card is for this week's Colour Create challenge, where the combination is Pistachio Green, Aqua and Powder Pink and the optional extra is buttons. Can't you just tell I nearly forgot about the extra bits........ my buttons made an appearance at the very last minute, lol! I think these colours work beautifully together and will use them again for sure!

As you can see, I've used one of the new Pixie Chick downloads on this card...... well two in fact........ the Pixie and the swing. If you've not already done so, I would urge you to buy these fantastic downloads here as you get soooooooo much for your money!! There are two sets and each one contains oodles of Pixies, backgrounds and sentiments. I'm totally besotted by these lovelies - if you would like to see more examples hop to Dottie's World and check out what everyone has been up to!

I've been given two awards by Janny and Vicky - huge hugs to you both and thank you for thinking of me ;o)















I'd like to pass the awards to everyone who visits my blog to leave a comment - you really brighten my day!

I'm off out in the garden now to plant up the last of my Begonias - then hopefully it'll be a spot of lunch in the sun before it disappears....... it's going to rain tomorrow you know!

TTFN and TFL xxx

Dottie's World Sunday Challenge - It's Christmas!!!!!

Good morning my lovely friends!

Yes we have a Christmas Challenge over at Dottie's this week - hey but after the weather we've been greeted with this week I actually felt quite at home making this card. It's funny really - you spend all of November and December frantically trying to get all of your Christmas cards done in time - then by the time you reach the New Year you breathe a huge sigh of relief at being able to move on to something different..... well I do anyway! So sitting here in June creating something with a wintery theme was actually very refreshing after having such a long break from anything seasonal.

I knew I was going to use the gorgeous Madison in the Mountains for this week's card as she looks so snug in her Winter clothes. She's the kind of gal I would love to be....... you know, looks good in absolutely anything. Me? I put on a woolly hat in the Winter and look like I've been sent out in it for a bet, lol!

I used Basic Grey Granola papers, debossed the cream panel with a Cuttlebug Snowflake folder and then dirtied it with Distress Ink. I used Woodware Chippies to create the idea of snowdrifts and then punched out varying sized snowflakes. There are a couple of Prima flowers added and Madison is coloured with Copics. The final touch was to glitter her boot fur with Stickles.

Hope you like the card and I would love it if you could hop over to check out the challenge....... the girlies have all done such a great job at creating something special and there are lots of cards featuring Dottie which are sure to make you smile...... they did me!!
Not long now until the Pixie download release you know....... I'm so excited I could crush a grape, lol! Bet you haven't heard that one in a long time have you? Oh I know - I'm so eighties!!!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend then ;o) We were supposed to be going to Wales today but there's been a change of plan - it's a long story so I'll save it for another day, but let's just say it involves my hubster blowing up one of his most expensive work tools last night and then a stray cat coming into our house and urinating it's scent in our lounge and bedroom ;o( Rapid trip to a pet store is the order of the day today for something to get rid of the most rancid smell you can ever begin to imagine! It's a good job I have a good sense of humour or else I might just scream, lol!

Toodles for now then and thanks so much for stopping by ;o)

xxxxx

Sketch Saturday # 55

Morning everyone!

I'm here with another quick post due to be at work. Got to get this Sketch Saturday card posted quickly or I'll miss the deadline...... can't believe the weekend will be upon us again tomorrow!!! I thought it was a brilliant sketch this week - nice and simple, that suits me, lol! I'm so lovin my High Hopes stamps so I inked up another little cutie - this one will be perfect for my Father in Law this Sunday as he loves gardening. He took early retirement in his 50's and ever since he has worked part-time as a gardener which suits him just fine.

I coloured my image with Polys and I think the paper is from a PaperMania set. The corner leaves are a Quickutz die and that's about it really.

Must dash off now..... I've got some naughty students to chase up who are missing their lessons in favour of a long weekend, lol!

Catch you later then - have a great day ;o)

TTFN and TFL xxxx

Happy Birthday Penny Black!!!

Evening peeps!

I'm making this a fast post tonight as I have some emailing to catch up on and also need to finish writing up tomorrow's Colour Create post.

I'm sure everyone in blogland has seen that Penny Black Challenge are celebrating their first birthday this week and have an amazing set of prizes on offer plus secret candy from everyone on the design team! As the theme is celebration I thought I'd make a card for my friend Sarah's birthday next week. She'll laugh when she sees the card because I borrowed the stamp from her a while back and have now made something with one of the images. In fact it'll probably remind her to start knocking down my door to get the said stamp back, as it's still sitting here in the drawer........ ooooops!

Anyway, I coloured the image with Copics (so quick and easy on this one) and used some citrus papers from Kay & Co. The flowers are Prima and the brads and ribbon are from my stash. As is always the case when I finish a card I felt I needed to add some more to it, so I pulled out a stamp from a 7 Gypsies set I have and stamped the red flowers around the outside........ hmmmmm, less is more definitely went out of the window again on this one, hee hee! BTW, did you know that definitely is supposed to be one of the words most frequently spelt incorrectly in the English language? Hope I got it right!!!!

See you tomorrow then when I'll be back with my Colour Create card.

TTFN and TFL xxx

High Hopes meets Stamp With Fun......

Morning peeps!

I hope I am safe to post this card now, as I sent it to a friend with a few goodies yesterday to cheer her up!

I'm so pleased that I can finally join in with the High Hopes Challenges, having received my delivery of stamps from the latest collection this weekend. I believe this one is called 'Sweet Dreams' and it's my fave by far........ talk about chillaxing, lol! The theme this week at HH is circles and I've also entered this card in to the Stamp With Fun Challenge where the brief is polka dots.

I sat making my card on Sunday night whilst the hubster was watching cricket. I coloured the image with my Polys and I must admit it did take me an age to get things just how I wanted because I'm a bit slow when it comes to blending. Every now and then he would huff a bit and then he said 'blimey I can't believe how long you're spending colouring in one tiny picture..... are you sure it's really worth it?' I didn't rise to the bait and just smiled....... they just don't have a clue, do they, lol!

I used papers from the Basic Grey Porcelain range and the flowers are a mix of Primas and Flora Doodles. The leaves have been die cut using a QuicKutz die and I've added some sticky lace strips made by Around The Block. The ticket sentiment was sent to me with some birthday goodies a while back by the lovely Martine.

Well I had fun with this one and I hope you like it too!

Toodles for now - thanks so much for stopping by for a peek and, if you've left me a comment, then you're a gem!

TTFN and TFL xxxx

Dottie's World Sunday Challenge - Father's Day

YIPPEEEEEEE! I actually managed to do something other than a card, lol! Why is it when we're given a brief we automatically set about making a card - well I do anyway! But this week's Dottie's World Challenge got me thinking....... I'd bought a nice bottle of Merlot for my Pa and wanted to do something different than the customary bottle bag, then I remembered that I'd seen a tutorial for a kipper tie a while back and decided to have a go.

Well what great fun! It was actually easy and the result was quite pleasing! Don't you just love George too?! He really makes me laugh - what a poser!! If you fancy using him on one of your Father's Day projects you've got loads of time to get your downloads from here. And if you want to have a go at making a tie like this, you can find the instructions here. The ring which attaches the tie to the bottle is just two circular Nestie die cuts which have been attached and scored to create flexibility.

Here's a slightly closer view of how it all works.......

































I hope you can hop over to the challenge blog now for some Father's Day inspiration - the girls have all done such a fab job and there's something for every Dad, young and old!

Have a lovely day in the sun if you can ;o)

TTFN and TFL xxxx

One Stop Craft Challenge # 33 - Add Some Sparkle.....

Hiya peeps!

This is just a quick post from me as I'm in and out today, shopping and running errands as you do!

I've made this card for the One Stop Craft Challenge, where the brief this week is to use sparkle on your card. Okay mine is a bit subtle - there is Stickles on the flower centre, top left corner of my card and also some on the little bee's wing Tilda is holding. There are two heart shaped gems which are sparkly too, so I suppose I can count them?

This was one of those cards where I wanted to add more, but my dd said I would spoil it so I'm doing as I'm told once again!! I wanted a flower for the top left corner and had a go at drawing and layering one myself...... ahem, I think I'll leave it to the experts in future, lol!

My papers are Basic Grey Urban Prairie and I've used some of the new die cuts I bought recently from The Craft Emporium - great service and a lovely range of papers! That's about all I need to tell you on this one I think!

Right I'm off then, dashing as I said!

Hope you all have a wonderful afternoon in the sunshine (hoping you have some today).

Toodles for now, Tara xxxx

Cute Card Thursday # 64 - Quotations.........

Well I hope the quote on my card makes the grade for this week's Cute Card Thursday Challenge - it's an old Penny Black sentiment I have in my stash and I always think it's a nice way to celebrate someone's birthday. Mind you, I do have another Penny Black sentiment which I like to use sometimes, which is 'It's Your Birthday, You're How Old?' I think that's an appropriate one to put on my Dad's card for his birthday next week actually so I might be fishing it out. I've been thinking about my Dad's card a bit because he probably wouldn't appreciate a cutesy one - hmmmmmm, the first love in his life has always been red buses as he drove one for many years and has studied the history of British transport (I know, yawn, lol!). So please be prepared - I'm thinking of decoupaging a big red bus for his card and might just upload it if I dare. Do you want to take a look?

I really enjoyed making this Hanglar card and using some more scrummy papers from the Porcelain range, they're sooooooo pretty and summery. I took my piccie this morning before I left for work and the sun was streaming onto the shrub outside my front door, so I just let it catch the top of my card a bit....... well you've got to capture the sun wherever you can, lol! I'm having a bit of a run on faux stitching and distressing at the minute and really loving colouring with my Polys too (mustn't neglect the Copics though as they cost too much for that!!!) - am I getting a bit better with me pencils Tab?

Right ho, back to the day job again...... I've been clock watching today which isn't good but we're just about to have an office meeting so that'll pass an hour!

I think I'll make a card for this week's Just Magnolia Challenge tonight, as I love paper piecing and will enjoy playing along ;o)

Catch you later then, you lovely peeps!

TTFN and TFL xxxx

Colour Create # 19 - Blush Pink, Lilac and Mossy Green

Good morning everyone!

Gosh doesn't time fly - here we are with another Colour Create challenge already - picked this time by my dd Georgia. I don't tend to use a gret deal of lilac but I think it goes perfectly with the other colours this week. Come to think of it, there aren't really that many paper ranges with a lot of lilac in them are there?

I really enjoyed the optional extra part of the brief - to use die cuts. I regularly cut out flowers and leaves for my cards so I felt right at home with this. Of course your nesties count as die cuts too so it should be nice and easy for everyone.

Although it's nice to use the latest images, I also love to rummage through my stash and in this case I came up with a Sugar Nellie cutie sent to me ages ago by my friend and teamie Katy!

I really hope you can join us again for the challenge this week - it's really lovely to see your cards. If you hop over now you'll notice that we have a new teamie as well! Dena has agreed to join us and I'm so thrilled as she has such a talent - welcome Dena!

Before I go I must show you two awards I've received this week:

This one was given to me by the lovely Christine and I just want to say a huge thank you for your lovely comment, it means such a lot ;o)










I received this award from my dd Georgia - how fantastic is that to be given an award by someone you love so much....... thanks Geeg, you're a treasure ;o)













Must dash and get some paperwork done now so I'll see you all later!

TTFN and TFL xxx

ABC Challenge - R is for Roses.......

Good morning peeps!

What a horrible morning again, soooooooo rainy and wet!

My son has just gone away on a residential trip with school to Ludlow to study Tudor life and times. Why does it have to throw it down every time something like this takes place? They're all supposed to be outside sketching castles today - what a shame!! Oh and I'm really going to miss him...... shall have to go into his room and talk to him tonight, even though he won't be there, lol! I know what you're thinking - sad git, hee hee!!

I'm entering my card into this week's ABC challenge, where the brief is to use roses as we're on letter 'R'. This card is on its way to my friend Laura who got married abroad very recently and I wanted to make something as a celebration of her special day.

I used some lovely 'Just the Edge' Bazzill strips on my card to create the top and bottom borders and some yummy papers from the Basic Grey Stella Ruby collection. The image is Hanglar and the flowers and roses are from my stash. I really love the sentiments - they're from a Kay & Co sticker set.

I'm off to play now as I have to friends round for a crafting day - Julie has arrived with cartons of fresh soup, special rolls and then blueberry muffins for afters....... YUMMY! (No diet for me today Jo, wink).

Enjoy your day everyone and I'll be back a bit later for a blog hop and catch up ;o)

TTFN and TFL xxx

One Stop Craft Challenge # 32 - Under Pressure

Evening everyone!

Hope you are all well and have had a nice Monday. I had that Monday morning feeling today when I got to work, but we ended up having a great day as we kept having fits of the giggles! Don't ask me why - it was just one of those crazy days. I am 39 going on 13 so it doesn't take much for me to have a laugh!

Anyway, here I am with another card. I actually made this one last week but forgot to post it on here. I had a play with my yummy papers from the new Lawrence Llewellyn Bowen range (LLB) - they're lovely to work with and very dramatic too! The black and white paper around the outside was part of the lovely candy I won from my buddy Judy. Loads of lovely papers to choose from and I love the monotones as they tie in so well with other colours.

I'm entering my card into this week's One Stop Craft Challenge where the brief is to emboss. My Sizzix die cut flower has been embossed and distressed, so I'm guessing that will count. I love this Gorjuss image and would like to thank my gorgeous friend Jo for sending it to me, cheers hun ;o)

Before I go I must just warn you about something........... Basic Grey are about to release two new collections; Lemonade and June Bug....... and you can see them here, YUM! SORRY!!!!! ;o)

TTFN and TFL xxx

Dottie's World Sunday Challenge - Make it Holey!

Good morning peeps!

Sorry for being so late posting my card for this week's Dottie's World Challenge. Double sorry if you're reading this boss, lol! I woke up with a bad headache this morning and so took some pills and went back to bed for a snooze - it wasn't alcohol inflicted I have to say. You know when you sleep very deeply and then wake up with a muzzy head, well I think that was it but thankfully it's wearing off a bit now ;o)

Onto the card and the challenge....... this week's task was set by the lovely Juliet who asked us to 'make it holey' - quite apt for a Sunday challenge I think...... do you get it? Sorry!!! It was a fun challenge which certainly got the old grey matter working, so thanks for that Juliet (and I hope you feel better really soon hun). Once I'd checked that any shape of hole was allowed, I had a browse through my wonderful Holly and Maddison downloads and when I saw Holly in the USA (one of my faves) the idea for some saloon doors was born. I cut them out by hand so I apologise if they look a bit amature, but overall I am quite pleased with the way the card turned out.


























I hope you get chance to hop over and have a look at the amazing creations my fellow teamies have come up with and even better play along! There are so many ways to create your holes, even cheeseholing which was a new one on me, lol!

I hope you have a wonderful day and get lots of crafting done whilst the weather is so miserable.

Can I just thank everyone who has left me a comment recently - you have been so kind and I really appreciate what you have to say ;o)

Toodles for now, Tara xxx

Just Magnolia meets Cute Card Thursday......

PHEW! Finally I've made a card I actually like. Less said about the last card the better, lol! I really enjoyed working with Rach's sketch for this week's Just Magnolia Challenge and used some of the new papers I've just bought from Charmed Cards and Crafts (great service and a fantastic range of papers)! I'm blaming Juliet for my latest shopping spree, as she spread the word about Charmed having new Kay & Co stash in stock - NAUGHTY! I'm supposed to be on a strict stash diet at the minute due to a serious lack of funds ;o(

I'm also entering my card into this week's Cute Card Thursday Challenge where the brief is to use punches and die cuts. The flowers are punched from a Woodware flower punch and the butterfly is a die cut from Kay & Co.

It's funny really, you wouldn't put grey, cream, blue and green together normally, but they really work. These paper designers so know what they're doing!!!

I'm off to get showered now (early for me at the weekend I know) - we're off to support a local village fete this afternoon. Can you believe the weather?! If only they'd arranged it for last Saturday instead. Oh well, brollies and macs at the ready I guess and in true British spirit we'll brave the storm, hee hee!

Have a great weekend and I'll be back tomorrow with my DT card for Dottie's World.

TTFN and TFL xxx

Cute Card Thursday # 62 - Bit 'o Bling.....

Good afternoon lovely peeps - another glorious one!

Even though I am stuck at work we've got the radio on and the windows wide open, plus there are only a handle of students wondering round and the rest are in exams. I do feel a bit sorry for them actually - who wants to sit a two-hour Law exam in this weather?!

Anyway, I'd best get on with my card as I can't stay on here for long. I've used one of the new Miss Anya stamps which is perfect for paper piecing and decided to go with some bright, zingy colours for this one - must be the weather! I sat trying to come up with a suitable sentiment and in the end this song came to mind - it was either that or 'you can stand under my umbrella', lol! I'm entering the card into this week's Cute Card Thursday Challenge, which is 'a bit of bling'. The bling I've used is the black sparkly gems - they don't show up that well in photo but they are nice and sparkly IRL.

Materials:
Image - The Greetings Farm
Sentiment - Computer Generated
Flower Stamp - Dawn Bibbey
Papers - Basic Grey Lime Rickey
Die - Sizzix Swirl
Colouring - Copics
Embellishments - Chipboard Corner and Black Gems from stash

I've also uploaded a couple of piccies of the Clematis flowers currently blooming in my garden. I was told when I first got into gardening that they can be quite tricky to grow, but all that stroking and talking to them must be paying off! Hope you like them ;o)



























Catch you later then and enjoy yourselves if you're sunbathing today...... don't get too pink!!

TTFN and TFL xxx