Hands To Hold......

Good morning everyone...... hope you are enjoying your weekend and the sun is shining brightly!

This week's theme at Cute Card Thursday is 'Weddings'.... I have to admit I don't make a great number of wedding cards but I thought I'd give it a go...... and it made a nice change too! I now have a number of vintage CD roms which I bought from Lunagirl on Ebay, so I am using these images more and more on my cards..... in this case I framed my image by cutting an oval shape in the design paper..... sorry I can't give more info on the papers I used but they are leftovers from old 12x12 sheets.

The sentiments are Kay&Co stickers and I added some vintage lace, satin leaf ribbon and a DooHickey leaf die and heart swirl die..... and of course you'll recognise the cream roses by now, lol..... yes, more of my fave torn roses for which I've done a tutorial here.

If you fancy having a go at the roses and want to use the Co'redinations cardstock I was recommending then I found a great supplier here...... and the p&p is free within the UK!!!


I'm also entering the following challenges:

Paperplay - Recipe : 3 embellishments (flowers, hearts and butterfly), 2 papers, 1 lace

Craft Us Crazy - Anything Goes

Allsorts - You've Been Framed

Aud Sentiments - Anything Goes

City Crafter - Scrap Happy

Crafty Cardmakers - Flutterbies

Creative Card Crew - Handmade Flowers

Desert Island - 7.Stickers, 9.Vintage, 10.Fabric

Fussy and Fancy - 3 or More Fave Embellishments (I chose hand-torn roses, satin leaf ribbon, lace and Doo Hickey dies)

Papertake Weekly - BINGO : Blooms, Free, Lace

Truly Scrumptious - Lace It Up


Well thank you so much for stopping by and enjoy the week ahead ;o)

TTFN and TFL, hugs Tara xxx

True Friendship........

Afternoon folks and happy Friday...... how can the weekend nearly be upon us again?!!

I would like to say a huge thank you for the response to my torn rose tutorial and I really hope lots of people will give it a try now ;o)

Following on from yesterday's post I decided to put the dark grey roses to good use and this card is the result! I've made it for my ex-boss who is also a close friend and I felt she might appreciate something a little bit traditional.


I created one of my paper layers by stamping on various Tim Holtz images and a sentiment too, so I hope this allows me to enter my creation into this week's Paperplay Challenge. The outer paper is Kay&Co and the leaves are Marianne and Martha Stewart. This card is soooooooo simple by my usual standards and I was itching to add more, but everyone at home was telling me it was fine so I did as I was told, lol!


I'm entering the following challenges:

Cute Card Thursday - CAS

Cupcake Craft - Sew Mad

Charisma - Distressing

Flutterby Wednesdays - Open

ASFOS - Happy Birthday

Craft Your Days Away - Birthday Celebrations

One Stop - Sentimental

Corrosive - Earth Tones

Tuesday Throwdown - Birthday


Thank you so much for stopping by today ;o)

TTFN and TFL, hugs Tara xxx

Torn Rose Tutorial.......

Morning peeps..... it's certainly been very wet and windy in my part of the world but I'm feeling quite cozy indoors! I know I'm probably odd but I love it when the rain sets in!!! My son isn't quite so happy though as he had a cricket match called off last night because of the weather!!

Anyway, after receiving a couple of emails about my torn roses I thought I'd post a little tutorial..... this is a first for me so please be gentle, lol! Plus I thought I'd enter Tip Top Tuesday for a second time this week so that I can show this as my tip ;o)

Step One: Firstly I start with a piece of 6x6 paper or card...... Co'redinations card looks fantastic with this torn technique so that's what I tend to go for, but anything goes really.


Step Two: I cut the card into four smaller squares...... this gives a nice size for the roses.


Step Three: Then I start to tear in a circular motion to get a round shape from which to start my spiral.


Step Four: As I finish tearing the circle I leave a slight lip from which to begin tearing the spiral shape.


Step Five: I start to tear in a circular motion to create a spiral shape.


Step Six: I continue tearing and try to keep the width as even as possible, but if it isn't perfect it only adds to the handtorn effect really!


Step Seven: I start to fold over the outer edge of the spiral.


Step Eight: I continue to fold it, following the shape of the spiral as I go.


Step Nine: I glue the folded up shape to its base with a hot glue gun.


Step Ten: I tease out the spiral shape so that it looks like a rose...... then all that's left to do is add a pearl centre or a stamen..... whatever you like really.


Here are a couple of my recent cards where I've used these torn roses...... hope you'll have a go and let me know if you do so I can check out your creation ;o)




Thanks for stopping by!

TTFN and TFL, hugs Tara xxx

Magnifique........

Good afternoon everyone..... hope you are having a good day!

I'm back with another Tilda card...... this is one of the older ones which I really love..... she's so graceful and dainty! I've added lots of white paint to distress the layers and made my own torn roses which seem to be a bit of a habit now, lol! The leaves are Marianne Creatable and DooHickey and my sentiment comes from a Kay&Co design paper.



I'm entering the following challenges:

Papertake Weekly - Grow Your Own

Oldie But A Goodie - The Great Outdoors

Tip Top Tuesday - Straight Edges

EAC - Summer

Craft Your Passion - Favourite Season (Summer)

Sentimental Sundays - Flowers

Dream Valley - Distressing

Totally Tilda - Pearls, Swirls, Ribbon and Lace....... hoping my torn roses count as the swirls ;o)

Simply Magnolia - Sketch...... I turned the layout quarter clockwise and moved the flowers...... hope that's okay ;o)

Addicted To Stamps - Anything Goes

Sketchy Colours - Pink, White and Gold...... there is some gold clitter on the crown ;o)


Well that's me..... catch you soon ;o)

TTFN and TFL, hugs Tara xxx

A Summer Day.......

Good afternoon folks....... it's almost the weekend, YAY!!! I'm slightly wondering where the week has gone though!!! I'm so loving being off with my kiddos just now and I'm definitely one of those people who enjoys every minute of being with them in the school hols!!! I am still working the odd day but in the main we're having oodles of family time ;o)

Well it's been a while since I made a Magnolia card and I had a ball with this one! I took up the challenge on the Magnolia-licious Highlites blog to use only papers and it was a lot of fun! I really enjoy picking out elements of a design paper and cutting them out to create nice embellies..... I suppose it looks like decoupage but without all the layers, lol! If you think this challenge might be a bit tricky then check out the DT creations and you'll be raring to go..... such imagination and talent! I also had a snoop around for a nice sketch to follow and came up with one at the latest Oldie But A Goodie Challenge..... I hope I'm forgiven for making a few tweaks as I did move the sentiment and the corner a bit but hopefully the basis of the design is still intact!! Again there are some stunning DT creations to help you on your way!


So for my card I used Kay&Co papers and cut out some of the roses which are shiny and glittery.... but you may have to zoom a bit to pick up the sparkle! Every edge has been distressed with acrylic paints and Distress Ink, as well as being roughed up with scissor blades of course. I added some DooHickey leaves, a Pink Cat Studio round sentiment and a couple of punched Martha Stewart borders..... so I really stuck to the paper theme completely.



I'm entering these challenges as well:

Just Magnolia - Anything Goes (+ glitter option)

Raise The Bar - Anything Goes

CES - Feeling The Blues

Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes

Crafts & Me - Anything Goes

Creative Card Crew - Best Foot Forward

Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes

Stampavie and More - Summer

Craft Us Crazy - Anything Goes in August

Charisma - BINGO (Flowers, Pearls, Glitter)

MDUC - BINGO (Flowers, Sparkles, Paint)



Well I hope you enjoy your weekend and thanks so much for stopping by ;o)

TTFN and TFL, hugs Tara xxx

Giggle and Play........

Good morning folks.... hope you've had a lovely weekend and have lots of energy to face the coming week? The weather's been fantastic in the UK and I've been watching hubby and son cricketing and golfing. Can you believe it's now August? WOWZERS!!! It'll be Christmas before we know it!!!

When I saw the latest challenge over at One Stop I just knew I had to join in..... after all it's 'vintage' and that's right up my street at the mo...... been having a little break from stamped images but there might be a Magnolia card to show very soon!

I just love the pretty Kay&Co paper on this one and that sweet, innocent image too! I got to work with some gold dabber paint around all the edges and added in a gold dimensional butterfly. The trusted Tim Holtz tickets were used as sentiments and I rolled my own roses using some Co'redinations cardstock. I also used some of my fave leaf ribbon around the flowers.


I'm entering the following challenges:

City Crafter - Vintage Garden

Crafts and Me - Ribbon

Crafty Cardmakers - Flutterbies

EAC - Garden

Paperplay - In the Garden

Tip Top Tuesday - Make It Girlie

Sentimental Sundays - In The Garden

Wee Memories - No Less Than Four Colours (I've used Pink, Green, Gold, Cream)

Anything Goes - Pick Of The Bunch (Flowers)

Desert Island Crafts - Katie's Itinerary 1. Color Your Image (any coloring medium) 2. Stitching 3. Use a quote for a sentiment 4. Something with Wings 5. Make it Pop Up 6. Use 3 different shapes 7. Make it Manly 8. Use felt/fabric (not ribbon) 9. Give it Life (use an image of something alive) 10. Use 3 different colors only (apart from skin/hair) - I used 4, 5 and 9

The Emerald Faerie Garden - Lace



Thanks so much for stopping by today ;o)

TTFN and TFL, hugs Tara xxx

Love & Happiness.......

Good afternoon to you all..... hope you're having a fine weekend!

I'm off out in a few minutes to watch my hubby playing cricket and hopefully score a few fours and sixes along the way.... it's perfect weather to sit on a comfy recliner and relax.

Today's card has a bit of an art deco feel about it I think.... I didn't start off with that in mind but I think the Webster's Pages paper I used draws on that theme.... and the lovely vintage lady certainly looks like she could be a fashionable filmstar from the era too!


I've hand torn and rolled the large roses and the leaves are a Marianne die. I've added some liquid pearl dots here and there and edged the paper with a stitching border stamp. You might also spot the sweet little fabric bird I squeezed in above the main sentiment.

I'm entering the following challenges:

Craft Us Crazy - Anything Goes

Totally Gorjuss - Punch or Die

Sweet Stampin' - Fashion

Fussy and Fancy Friday - Summer

EAC - Dots

CCT - For His Eyes Only

Crafty Catz - No Pink or Blue

Crafts and Me - Add A Flower

Craft Your Passion - Text It

Craft Your Days Away - Summertime

By The Cute and Girly - Things With Wings

Allsorts - Free and Easy


Thanks so much for stopping by and take care ;o)

TTFN and TFL, hugs Tara xxx

Vintage Girl........

Good morning everyone!

Here's another card I've made with a vintage theme and quite summery too with the roses and leaves. I am really enjoying the shabby chic card style at the moment..... a bit of distressing makes me feel good, lol!


I've used Prima papers, Sizzix and Doo Hickey dies and a Martha Stewart punch...... along with a vintage image from Magic Moonlight which you can find HERE.

I'm entering the following challenges:

ASFOS - Pink and Brown (hope it's okay that I added a little green too)

Allsorts - Free and Easy July

Crafts and Me - Summertime

Deep Ocean - Cards

Dream Valley - Summer Theme

Fussy and Fancy Friday - Summer

MAWTT - Favourite Things (Vintage, Die Cuts, Flowers, Feminine, Stitching)

Simon Says - Anything Goes

ABC - 'Y' is for Yesterday

Emerald Fairie - All Things Nice (Girly)

Totally Papercrafts - Girly Girls



Well that's all from me today so have a good one and enjoy any crafting time you get ;o)


TTFN and TFL, hugs Tara xxx

P.S. After receiving lots of emails I've reinstated my comments option..... thanks for all your kind messages ;o)

Live The Life You Love........

Good morning!!!

Wow it's been a very long time!! I have finally moved house now and the whole process has been incredibly stressful and tiring..... well that's what happens when you move without a removal firm, lol!

I haven't really had chance to sort out my crafting stash yet or get creative, but I do have this card I made before the big move took place. I chose a vintage theme with pretty pastel Webster's Pages papers and Papirloftet flowers and leaves.


You may notice that I've removed the 'comment' facility from my page now and this is something I've been considering for a while..... it seems wrong to receive comments on my work from so many lovely people when I never have time these days to return the favour. I am trying to devote as much time as I possibly can to my kids as they are growing up too fast, so sitting at the computer for hours on end just doesn't cut it! Be assured that I do visit many blogs regularly but just don't have time to leave the comments I wish I could..... so please feel free to do the same when you visit me...... just take a peek and move on ;o) And I am always grateful if you take the time to do that ;o) ;o)

Have a lovely day...... TTFN and TFL,

Hugs Tara xxx

The Heart That Loves......

Afternoon peeps!

Firstly I must just apologise for my absence from my blog and from blogland in general - I move house in two weeks and so life is just frantic!! This is my second house move in six months and I hope we'll be staying put now for a while as it is very stressful trying to pack up your life!!!

Anyway, here is another vintage card I made recently as I'm loving this style at the minute.


I used Prima papers, a Spellbinders frame die and Woodware punches..... plus some gorgeous antique lace I picked up in my local market.



I'd like to enter the following challenges:

EAC - Distress

Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes

Deep Ocean Challenge - Anything Goes

Stampin' Sisters In Christ - Use Something New (Spellbinders Frame)

Bearly Mine - Anything Goes

ASFOS - Here Comes Summer



Well that's all from me for today - thanks so much for stopping by ;o)

TTFN and TFL, hugs Tara xxx

Vintage Girl.......

Good afternoon!

I'm going through a vintage stage with my cardmaking at the minute I think and so I created this topper using one of the fabulous images provided by Magic Moonlight.


As always I've gone wild with embellies as I hate to leave a space unused, lol! Best not to enter the LIM challenge with this one right? The yummy papers are from Webster's Pages and the sentiment is from Stempleglede's 'Just A Note' set, worth every penny!


Here's a close up of the sweet girl looking very pensive I must say and working beautifully with the words of the sentiment

I'm entering the following challenges:

Papertake Weekly - Pale, Pretty Pastels

Bunny Zoes - Lace

Craft Us Crazy - Fave Embellishment and/or Something New (leaf ribbon is my fave item and mini bows are new)

Fussy & Fancy Friday - Recipe: 3 Papers, 2 Embellies, 1 Ribbon (Embellies are Flowers/Leaves and Metal Corner, Ribbon is Mini Bows)

Desert Island - 3 From Itinery (I chose Ribbon/Lace, Image, Flowers)

Creative Inspirations - Lace and Pearls

Crafty Creations - May Flowers

Crafty Catz - Anything Goes

Crafts 4 Eternity - Recipe (Flowers, Ribbon, Bling)

CES - Embellish It


As always I'm very grateful that you took the time to stop by for a peek today and would like to thank my new followers who have joined this week..... HELLO!!! (waving)!

TTFN and TFL, hugs Tara xxx

Smiles......

Hello again....... happy 'hump' day to you all!

I'm back with another card using one of the Tilda stamps from the Butterflies Collection.... I think this little beauty is everyone's fave, she's so sweet!
I really enjoyed colouring her and I think the muted shades of the gorgeous Kay&Co papers gave me a great head start!


As you can see I grunged the edges quite a lot.... I can't seem to make anything these days without distressing it, lol.... well I guess you just find your niche!


The creation is very 3-D again and I was happy to use my new Crealies leaf die to compliment the pretty flowers. And can you see I used some more cheesecloth (AKA bandage ROFL) behind the beautiful lace panel? I threw in a couple of punched butterflies to finish..... well it is Butterfly Tilda after all!!!


Here are the challenges I'm entering today:

Just Magnolia - Make It Lacey

Cupcake Craft Challenge - In The Garden

Beary Sweet - Nature

Craft Your Passion - Cutie Patoutie

The Shabby Tea Room - Monochromatic

Stamp With Fun - Green and Pink

Cute Card Thursday - It's So Distressing

Paperplay - Anything Goes

Papertake Weekly - Bloom and Grow

Craft Us Crazy - Favourite Embellishment and/or Something New (Leaves and Flowers)

Crafts & Me - Anything Goes (option of Kraft)

Flutterby Wednesdays - Open


Thanks so much for stopping by ;o)

TTFN and TFL, hugs Tara xxx

Go Confidently In The Direction Of Your Dreams.....

Good morning...... hope you are keeping well!!

Today I have a card to show you using one of Stempleglede's 'Just A Note' stamps as my focal point...... I made it for my Dad and his new wife who are just celebrating their first wedding anniversary together..... and rather than just say 'Happy Anniversary' I thought I'd go with this lovely quote instead. I followed the lovely sketch over at The Sweet Stop and I hope you can still make out the layout..... I'm not very good at sticking to the original design with a sketch but i think I did okay here, lol!I

I made the flower using the Tim Holtz Tattered Floral Sizzix die and added Doo Hickey leaves. Everything has been distressed and stained to give a vintage feel. I think the papers are DCWV and I used one of the sheets to create my butterfly embellishments.


I'm also entering the following challenges:

Let's Ink It Up - Focal Sentiment and 3D Flower

Sentimental Sundays - Handmade Flowers

Addicted To Stamps - Pink and Brown

Double Dutch - Vintage


Thanks so much for stopping by today and take care ;o)

TTFN and TFL, hugs Tara xxx

Loving Wishes And Fairy Kisses......

Good morning everyone..... hope you are enjoying your weekend so far?

I decided to go mini with my image on this card and dug out the sweet little Tinkerbell stamp from Magnolia's Fairytale collection of 2010. When I added in a couple of accessory stamps the scene reminded me of my childhood as I always used to think flowers fairies lived at the bottom of the garden..... I can thank my dear, departed Nan for my vivid imagination, as she always used to encourage me to dream and indulge in make-believe. We even used to save yogurt pots and decorate them, before leaving them under the trees at the bottom of her garden so the fairies didn't get cold or wet at night..... in fact I even remember collecting rose petals to use as blankets for them, lol! Love you Nan, God Bless!


Sorry for getting a bit sentimental there, lol!! Here's a shot I took to show the dimension on the card with all the flowers and leaves. I used Prima flowers and Papirloftet leaves, plus I added in some Creatables die cuts. The papers are from Prima's Botanical collection and I love the soft, subtle designs.


Here's the scene in more detail which I softly coloured with Prisma pencils. The sentiment is part of a Flower Fairies set by Crafter's Companion.


I'm entering the following challenges:


Wee Memories - CRAFTS (Colour, Ribbon, Acrylic, Floral, Twine, Stamps) I used Colour, Floral and Stamps

EAC - Flowers

Cutie Sunday - Butterflies

Stampin' Sisters in Christ - Beautiful (Flowers, Pearls, Bling, Butterflies, Birds, Lace...)

Sentimental Sundays - Anything Goes

Tuesday Throwdown - Die Cuts

Tip Top Tuesday - Flower Frenzy

Dutch Dare - Winged Things

One Stop - Ice Cream (I have chosen Pistachio and Strawberry)


Take care and thanks so much for stopping by...... I hope to have another card very soon but I might be distracted today as my home town Stoke City football club have reached the final of the FA Cup and I shall be glued to the TV...... yes, you read that right, lol! I know I'm a rare breed but I love football!!!!!!!!!!


TTFN and TFL, hugs Tara xxx

Live, C'est Ci Bon!........

Good morning!

A second card this week from me, woohoo! I decided to use the gorgeous new papers by Kay&Co again as I can't get enough of them! And I picked out one of last year's Tilda images for a change; this one's such a sweetie!! Do you like the calico I used?..... right on trend just now! I've seen it cropping up all over the place but haven't been able to find any to buy anywhere..... so I improvised big time..... I bought a roll of bandage for 28p from Tesco and then set about stretching and moulding it to shape, LOL!!! Quite pleased with myself for coming up with that idea and so cheap too as there's loads on the roll!!


I decided that, instead of paper piecing my image, I would paper piece the flowers and leaves which are from a gorgeous Marianne set..... makes a change from normal flowers doesn't it?


These are the challenges I'm entering:

Crafts and Me - Swirls

Simon Says - Paper Piecing

Totally Gorjuss - 1, 2, 3 (1 image, 2 flowers, 3 papers)

Just Magnolia - Buttons, Bows and Bling (one or more)

Oldie But A Goodie - Say It With Flowers

Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes

Stamp With Fun - Lace or Ribbon

Tip Top Tuesday - Open

Try It On Tuesday - Something Old, Something New (Old is Tilda image, New is papers)

7 Kids - Showers or Flowers

ATS Magnolia Challenge - Marvelously Magnolia

Desert Islanders - Distressing, Sparkle, Words


Well I'm off to work now so I'll catch you all later and thanks for stopping by ;o)

TTFN and TFL, hugs Tara xxx