Tilda is Feeling Fruity!

It is an absolute age since I've had the chance to enter the TOTALLY TILDA challenge but who could resist a challenge like Fruity!

As non of my Tildas are those bearing fruit, I had to resort to fruit design paper and this one from Papermania's Little Cake Shop fitted the bill perfectly - it makes me think of those balmy summer days on the fields, with more strawberries in my tummy than in the basket.

I've tied this in with the fruit theme by using Jam Tilda (ooh, nice, thick and lumpy strawberry jam.....yum!) and I've painted Tilda with distress inks.  Sentiment is LOTV done with Memento red ink, Martha Stewart doily lace border punch (makes me think of strawberry cream teas), EK Success retro flower punch, Martha Stewart branch punch and pearl gems from stash coloured with Canary ProMarker.

Today's earlier post:  An Anya Thank You

Thanks for visiting, hope to see you soon.

Hugs, Sxx

An Anya Thank You

It's not often that I am tempted to buy stamps on ebay, but when this little Anya came up and knowing where she came from, I just had to get the bid in for her - it's one I've often admired when others have used her so now I am proud to say that this one is all mine! 

I think the Less Is More challenge is beginning to take hold ...... how CAS is this?!  Anya is coloured with ProMarkers and I've cut her legs out to sit over the border of starry Dovecraft paper.  The sentiment is from a tiny little Hero Arts set.  Ooh and the sparkling flower gem on her hat ribbon is Hero Arts too.

Simple, but very sweet.

Hugs, Sxx

Square Yesterday, Circles Today!

It's stopped raining!  It has actually, finally, stopped raining - now that is a pleasant surprise....was beginning to think that weekends were doomed to be wet until August at least.

Hope you are having a great day, whatever you are up to.  It's going to be a chill-out one for both me and the Toadster as after this past week I think we've earned it.  And of course, how can a girl chill out without some crafting?

LILI OF THE VALLEY are challenging us to use at least one circle on our creations this week, and I just love circles so this was one I couldn't resist. 

A very simple little card from me - I made it with Toad's nephew in mind, and I really don't think a 25 year old engineering student would want lots of frills and fluff, so the embellies have been kept to a minimum.   This LOTV pup with the BBQ sausages is from an A5 sheet of stamps that must have been a limited edition as I can't find it on the website now (sorry), I've painted him with distress inks, quite lightly this time.  The spotty paper is from stash, the corners are a Marianne Creatibles die and the raindrop gems are from stash too.  The sentiment is also LOTV, and the white picket fence to finish is Martha Stewart.

Thanks so much for taking time out to come and visit me, I hope to be able to pop over and see you soon.

Hugs, Sxx

Square Eyes!

Hi everyone!  Hope you are all ok.  There's been a momentous event in the Squirrel household - I got my tail trimmed and refluffed this morning after seven weeks - I had a serious dose of dandelion hair after all that time.  Feels much better now, especially now that the colour has been restored!  Mind you, I hope I don't get another week at work like I've had this week, otherwise I'll be getting the colour done again next weekend.

Ooh yes, and another momentous event (I really hope the neighbours weren't watching this one) - on the Raving Rabbids TV Party Wii game there are some dance challenges.....I love these as I can do them without messing my knee up as most of it is arm and upper body movements.....and I am addicted to ABC and Soul Bossa Nova....anyway, I broke our record score for Le Freak!  Disco Inferno Squirrel!

Oh do shut up woman and get on with the cards......right, LESS IS MORE are really challenging us this week with a Three Square challenge.  Chrissie and Mandi are wicked little pixies but that's the whole idea of a challenge right?  I had one idea in the hairdressers, which was this .....

Can't you just tell from the little snippets of hair in the photo where I have been, oops!   Now, this didn't work out as well as I had hoped.  The Hero Arts flower and sentiment were fine but somehow the yellow against the pink ended up looking a bit yuck when it was all put together.  So, feeling a bit miffed  and after a reviving latte I had another go.......

(more hair snippings, sorry - also had Vince Lumpy Legs sat on my shoulders while I was taking the pic)  Much happier with this one - the cat on the cushion is a Hero Arts kitty and painted with distress inks, and the two smaller kitties are from a Stampendous set.  The sentiment is also Hero Arts.  This is the one I shall enter into the challenge.

Right, going to get cracking on the prep for dinner so that I can sit down to watch the England v France game later on.  See you soon.

Hugs, Sxx

In The Squirrel Spotlight

Hi all, just realised that I have not done a "Squirrel Spotlight" for ages so, to correct this desperate situation, I would like to introduce you to a blog that has provided me with oodles of inspiration and filled me with awe and wonder many times over.

OK, I say "introduce", but I reckon that most of you already know this lady - but there may be some who haven't had the pleasure of her delightful blog and amazing talent yet.

So, who am I talking about?  It is the wonderful Claudia Rosa at Pretty Pressings of course!

Thank you Claudia for bringing us constant delights!

Hugs, Squirrel xx

Metamorphosis

Whoo-hoo!  We have heat and hot water again!  The gas man came on Tuesday morning and had a little tinker and thankfully it was only a small (£87.50) problem of replacing the pilot light injector.  He was gone within the hour and we are nicely toastie once more.  Scary how quickly we get spoiled by things like instant heat - as a child I remember having to get dressed under the bed clothes because the room was so cold and the only source of warmth was an open fire in the kitchen.  Going soft in my old age, lol!

This was meant to be my entry for this week's Just Magnolia challenge, but it got morphed along the way, partly thanks to Himself jamming up the printer so I couldn't create the right sentiment, and partly because I got distracted by pretty papers ..... so it ended up as a birthday card!

Sorry that posts and comments are a bit short and sweet this week - that pesky nerve in my neck has jammed again and after nearly a full week of keyboarding at work, I can only manage short bursts on blogland.

Hugs, Squirrel xx

PBSC For The Men

So, how has your day been then?  Have had a pretty frantic time at work as we are very short staffed at the moment (and no change in sight) and I've still been trying to get the boiler man out with his first aid kit.

Anyhoo, a card for this week's PENNY BLACK SATURDAY CHALLENGE who are making men's cards this time, the wicked pixies!

Penny Black stamp, Joanna Sheen red and black ginghams, Dovecraft black and white papers, ProMarker edged matting card, Card Candy.

Hugs, Squirrel xx

A Bit Sassy

Anyone got a spare hot water bottle please?  Afternoon all - hope you are warmer than we are, our boiler has gone on strike, and it is chuffty cold here in the east today.  Isn't is strange how mechanical things choose the most inconvenient times to stop working - Saturday evening we noticed the radiators weren't getting warm, and of course, by then, the man who services our boiler had gone home for the weekend and his mobile is for emergencies only.  Well, some might consider no heat as an emergency but I was thinking that would be more along the lines of a gas leak or an explosion!  So, we spent the evening cuddled up under blankets.  And I guess we will be doing the same thing tonight too.  To be fair, I'm not really that cold, except for my hands, my toes and my nose.  Brrrrrr.

Anyhoo, to today's card - this is for a very sweet young lady who is leaving my favourite coffee shop to work as a full time restaurant waitress. 

I've used Sugar Nellie's Luv A Latte stamp and distress ink painted it.  Papers are Dovecraft Tea Shop collection.  I've chalk inked the edges of two of the papers to define them a bit more and now I wish I'd done the blue one too.  Retro flower punch and Card Candy for the pink bloom, with Martha Stewart branch punch for the leaves.  LOTV sentiment from their circular sentiments set.

Now, I'll be honest with you here.....as I know I am among friends.....when I first saw this Sassy image I absolutely hated it....but then I saw what the super talented Nic had done with her over at Coops Cluttered Corner in her Coffee & Cream creation and I started to think that maybe I could get used to her......she was an absolute joy to colour and I think I could grow to love her.....Himself on the other hand has outright told me he thinks she's freaky!  Men!

That's me for today, I think I am suffering from blogger's droop so I'll try and catch up tomorrow.

Hugs, Squirrel xx

Less is More - Spring Theme

Apparently Spring is on the way ...... you've got to be kidding!  It's freezing here today - it's been pouring with rain since last evening and hasn't let up once - it's more like November, brrrrrrrrrr.

Anyhoo, the wonderful new challenge that is LESS IS MORE are, for their week three challenge, asking for Spring themed cards ..... just what we need to lift the spirits and get us looking forward to all those wonderful sunny days and bright blooms of crocus and daffodils.

I had one of those Archimedes moments..... although thankfully I wasn't naked and screaming Eureka as I leapt from the bath.  I wasn't even in the bath ..... I was having a sneaky nap in the armchair with Vince.

The first card I made I was pleased with, but I didn't think it was CAS enough .....

I bought these Alphabet stamps from Create & Craft ages ago and have only used them once or twice.  I really think I should get them out more often.  K & Co Daffodil papers, and an EK Success butterfuly punch.  The hard part was arranging the letters.

Not altogether happy with that, I made a second one, which I think is much more fitting for the LIM philosophy.....

Still with thr K&Co papers but with the addition of Hero Arts little letters. 

Hugs, Squirrel xx

My Favourite Colours - LOTV

Hello all, and a Happy Friday to you - and a Happy Birthday to my darlin' dad, he's 77 today and still going strong thankfully!

The theme of the challenge over at LILI OF THE VALLEY this week is My Favourite Colours.  This one took some thinking about as my favourites change all the time, depending on my mood, but my faves this week are a purple and green combination.

Sorry for the iffy picture, I made the card last night when it was too dark to photograph and only had time to take a quick pic on my phone this morning.

I've used the beautiful Rosie with her flowers from LOTV, and she is painted with distress inks.  Loving these new papers from Dovecraft Back To Basics II, the gingham is Joanna Sheen.  Flowers done with EK Success retro flower punches, Martha Stewart branch punch for the leaves, an X-Cut 6mm hole punch for the larger dots, my Japanese screw punch for the tiny dots and Card Candy for the large flower centre.  Quick Woodware peel-off greeting and all done.

Sorry that I've not been around much this week, it's been a nightmare at work and I've been too shattered in the evening to even think about blogging, but I'll catch up with you all soon.

Hugs, Squirrel xx

Happy Love Day

Yeah, I know it's Valentine's day, but it would be a bit weird sending Valentine wishes to some people, so I shall simply wish you all a Happy Love Day.

Pleased to say that today has gone much better than yesterday (yay)!  First of all, my beloved gave me THREE Valentine cards, how soppy is that?  Two from him and one from Vince.  My present wasn't quite so romantic but it was something I was perfectly happy with - Tetris Party for the Wii!

Secondly, we got the car started ok this morning, with the help of jump leads, and set off out to give it a decent run to recharge the battery.  We went to Colchester as Himself wanted to go to the homebrew shop.  I was a bit nervous leaving there but the car started ok, phew.  Called in at the garden centre on the way back to get my dad's birthday present and then toodled into the craft shop there for a browse - yep, a £46 browse!  How is that possible?  I only bought some glue (cough cough).  Final call of the day was the pet store for His Vinciness as he needed cat litter and treat biscuits (woe betide being out of treats) and then home.

I've been thinking all day about the LESS IS MORE challenge which this week is a One Layer Card challenge featuring flowers or trees.  Now, I don't know about you, but I have several flower stamps but somehow none of them seemed quite right for what was going on in my head ...... which could account for the new stamp that leapt into my basket in the craft shop!  Now, I've done it again, I've scampered upstairs without checking to see what it is but I think it is Flower Girl by Helz Cuppleditch - it's the set with the cute cat on it anyway.

Simple simple simple - embossed lines using my trusty Martha Stewart scoring board (God bless that woman), direct stamping onto card with the image, watercolour pencil painting and a sentiment from the Kanban TLC set.

And my other card isn't anything romantic or slushy today, but it is a bit ahhhhh, well, I think it is anyway.

This lovely little Hugging Tilda is actually a Christmas stamp as she has holly and berries in her bunches, amazing what a few gems can hide!  And would you look at that, not a distress ink in sight!  I've used Copics this time, and a Caran D'Ache Supracolor pencil for a bit of extra depth.  Papers are, from front to back, a freebie from Making Cards, Laura Ashley and Papermania.  Central border is my new Martha Stewart punch and I love it lots, lol!  The daft sentiment is 100% Squirrel.

Well, it has been sooooooooo lovely having extra time away from work but I've got to go back tomorrow (sob, please don't make me, I'll be good, promise I will) so I'll see you again in a few days.

Hugs, Sxx

Quit While You're Ahead......

OK, so where did today start to go wobbly?  Not sure, but I should have learned by now to stop while I'm ahead!

First off - we've been playing Epic Mickey on the Wii for ages and loving it.  Well, when I say "we've" been playing, I mean that I get the controls and Himself watches and gives helpful suggestions ....... we went back to it on a level where we had got stuck and, after a couple of getting squished moments, I found the exit and we're off into the next level.  This one is a toughie, lots of baddies to deal with, and lots of leaps of faith - as in, it's a huge gap, he's only a little mouse, can he make it - I know it is only a game - so why do I close my eyes when I make Mickey jump?  Anyway, we got stuck ..... again!

So I toddled off to make a card.  I chose a High Hopes stamp that has been sitting there, un-inked, for quite a while.  I enjoyed painting it, but then that's when it all fell apart.   I started with a 6X6 card, but because of the shape and size of the image it looked a bit odd.....but I still carried on.  Then, when it was put together, it looked rubbish - and Himself agreed.  In a hissifit now, I pulled it all apart, and tried again with a 5X7 card, but this time I managed to cut the jungle print paper too short.....thank goodness for wet glue, so slid that up a bit and thought about a peel off for the side....somewhere I had a vineleaf one.....rummage rummage ferret furtle....blast, no, that's red......rummage rummage....ah-ha, black one, that's it ......nope, still looks rubbish, ***s, out with another High Hopes stamp, quick colour with ProMarkers and slap it on the front....but it looks slapped on.....aaargh!  Not got time for all this messing about.....need to get dinner on .......

Oven on, veggies out of freezer (good old Aunt Bessie) and chicken out of fridge ..... it's still frozen!  B****ks!  Right, thinking cap on - have chicken tomorrow, but what for dinner today.....bacon sandwich, that'll do for now.....tonight?  Well, nothing for it, leftover Chinese!!  Things are getting desperate now - I think I'll make Himself drive into town later.....just to be on the safe side. 

And that's another thing - my car has a flat battery - or something.  We jump started it Friday afternoon, went to it yesterday morning and it was as flat as the flattest flat thing again.  Grrrrrrr.

Right, I'm off downstairs to see  little bit of the Ireland v France game ...... perhaps I should cheer for the side I DON'T want to win, that might sort things out.......

Hugs, Squirrel xx

Earlier post today:  Sunglasses Alert

Sunglasses Alert ...... you'll need them!

Well, would you look at that, Sunday already, where does the time go.

It's been ages since I had a play over at the SKETCH SATURDAY CHALLENGE so I thought I'd have a little go this week. 

Now, get those sunglasses out ......

Warned you!  Not sure what came over me with this one but, hey, it's bright!  That beautiful bunny is a High Hopes stamp, and he is painted with distress inks.  The gorgeous gingham papers are all Joanna Sheen and the sentiment is LOTV.  Little flowers punched with small EK Success retro flower punch, and the dots are simply done with an office hole punch.

As it is the second Sunday of the month, we have evening Mass and it's the Latin one, so best I go and have a quick brush up on what's happening before cooking Sunday lunch.

Thanks for popping over - will try and catch up with you all over the next day or two.

Hugs, Squirrel xx

Born To Shop!

Hi all, hope you are ok on this interesting Saturday afternoon - so much for having all day to craft, have been dragged into town by Himself today, for a few errands, and before you know it, it's nearly 2.00! 

And he's bought a new mobile.  But why?  says I, You already have one, says I.  Yeah, but this is touch screen, says Him.  Oh, says I, you mean it's a Gadget.  Sigh.

Anyhoo, enough of our domestic issues, I've been having a little play with this week's LILI OF THE VALLEY CHALLENGE which is another fabulous sketch by the very talented Dawny P.  Thanks hun, this one is going to get used again.

And here is my card:

I think that, even though the new fairy releases are so adorable, these Busy Bear stamps rank amongst my all time favourites and I cannot wait for LOTV to come up with some more of the little loves.  This one is called Born To Shop and she is coloured with distress inks.  The papers are a Pink Petticoat freebie with a magazine, called Vintage Rose, and they are just beautifully coordinated.  The green mat is a sheet of Making Memories. The strip across the middle is my new Martha Stewart double border punch.  Pink flowers, small EK Success punch, leaves are Martha Stewart branch punch (I finally got one) and spots with a hole punch.  Oh, and the sentiment is LOTV too!

So, that's me done for today - I've got to go and ferret around for a menu for the Chinese tonight, and I might treat myself to a sit down with a hot chocolate in front of the rugby for an hour or so. 

Hugs, Sxx

Two Pieces of Excellent News!

No card for you this evening but two pieces of excellent news to share:

1.  First and foremost, I FOUND THE TABLE!  Wheeeeeeeeee, which means, having done that this afternoon, I get ALL DAY TOMORROW to craft, double wheeeeeeeeeee!  And I get my Chinese takeaway!  I'll be totally honest, I am ashamed at the amount of cr*p that had accumulated - me and him are terrible, we put things down on the table for 5 minutes, and it is still there 6 months later (you can tell we don't use it for meals, lol).  AND I've finally got rid of the hideous, ripped and torn (thanks Vince) snowflake patterned vinyl tablecloth - I dread to think how long that has been there, but it served it's purpose, it stopped me getting paint all over the tabletop.  I found two monkeys (Kipling, off my handbags), Mr Potato Head, Vince's grooming brush that he hates, a bar of chocolate, my nice Parker fountain pen, and several tiny packs of embellies and a couple of freebie packs of papers, marvellous! 

2.  Just noticed that my Hits Counter has today reached 50,000 - A HUGE THANK YOU to all my loyal and wonderful followers for sticking with me and visiting as often as you do, even when I'm being a right mardy moo.  There will be a larger than usual candy coming up to celebrate this momentous event and also my second blogoversary.  Keep your eyes peeled for it.

Right, time for dinner now, so I'll see you all tomorrow.

Hugs

Squirrel xx

Should Have Gone To Spec-Savers...

...other high street opticians are available!

I know things are quiet in blogland midweek but I thought I saw tumbleweed roll past yesterday - did you lot all get a better offer or was there something on that I didn't know about or was yesterday's card really that awful?  Felt a bit like Billy-No-Mates last night (sob sob)! 

Now, I know I need my eyes tested but I thought I had got quite good at "reading" rubber stamps.  You know, when you pick up rubber and think "Oh yeah, I can see what that is" without the need to get ink on it.  Yeah, right.

It actually wasn't until I had FINISHED painting this one that Stupid twigged that this was probably a Christmas stamp.  D'oh!

Oh well, never mind - a quick and simple card but I think it works ok:

One of my five Hanglar stamps - he didn't come with a name (he's an ebay orphan) so I shall call him Reginald.  Painted, in non-Christmas colours (!), with distress inks.  Paper is Fine & Dandy and sentiment from a Buzzcraft collection.

Hope to see a few more of you over the weekend - and I've got a long one - weekend that is - finish work at lunchtime on Friday (whoop) and don't go back until Tuesday (wheeee) - only drawback to that is, the dearest one has Spring Cleaning planned.  Well, not actually Spring Cleaning in the traditional sense but apparently I have to try and relocate something that used to be known as the dining room table.  I have a picture in my mind of what it ought to look like ....... will let you know if I ever find it!  There is an incentive on offer, so he tells me, that if I do track it down he will crack open the wallet and treat me to a Chinese takeaway on Saturday night - well who could turn that chance down - wish me luck - safari suit, waders and bamboo machete are on standby.......

Hugs, Squirrel xx



A Big Thank You

My mate, Ali, got made redundant over 18 months ago now and although not having any luck in finding a paying job, she has been filling her time and getting valuable experience by doing some volunteer work - and she has been helping out at our local RSPCA shop in town.

She'd only been there about a month and then it was her birthday - the crew in the shop were so kind to her and have made her so welcome that she asked me to make a thank you card for her to send them.

Well, as it is the RSPCA and Ali has two beautiful kittycats, what else could I use but LOTV Thomas .....

This is not my best colouring effort with the distress inks, I think my head was elsewhere when I did it - I've just noticed that I have completely missed putting any shadowing in.  Papers are all from Papermania Persimmon collection - gorgeous papers but only one measly sheet of each - how mean is that?!  About time some of these companies realise that we need at least three sheets of each - two to use and one to gaze at!  A couple of Martha Stewart punches on the go for the middle band and Sizzlets photo corners to finish off.  The sentiment is from a Buzzcraft set of FairyDoodles.

Hugs, Squirrel xx

In Case He Hates The Pink

Had a little panic about the Valentine card that I had made for Toad (here) - what if it really is too pink and he hates it but is too sweet to say anything?

So...... I made him another one (he will get both) to be on the safe side:

I really am useless at checking stamp names, but in my head this one is called Love Bunny.  I am certain that it is by Penny Johnson, coz you can just see a tiny "Penny" under his foot!  I've painted him with distress inks and matted him on a sheet of Basic Grey plain red.  The black and white papers are from a gorgeous Dovecraft pack that, oh the shame of it, I had not even opened and I've had them ages.  You might be seeing a few more of these now.  Gold peel off borders from stash, and Martha Stewart heart border punch on a scrap strip of the Basic Grey.  Never throw away those skinny offcuts - you'd be amazed what you can use them for.

I'll let you know next week what his verdict is on both cards!

Hugs, Squirrel xx

Itsy-Bitsy-Teeny-Weeny......

.....but no bikini!  Love that silly song, but I'll be humming it all day now.

A couple of tiddywid cards for you today as my new Tilda's arrived this week (the poor postman must have a complex now with all the curtain twitching I did waiting for these to turn up) and I just had to have a quick play.

Both are very straightforward and there are no frilly bits, but you will see why shortly .....

And this is why they are fuss free....

I absolutely LOVE these little sweeties (and even the Toadster likes them, despite them being Tilda) so I shall be ordered another couple on payday.  I must say an ENORMOUS thank you to my very special and total hunny of a crafting friend, Mandy, who sent me a very generous envelope of things to play with.  Thanks babes, you are wonderful, MWAH!

Hugs, Sxx

Less Is More

Happy Sunday afternoon everyone (see the smile through gritted teeth?), yep, nearly time for another Monday back at work.  How do weekends fly by so darn quickly?  Two days in the office never go that fast!

Anyhoo, there is a fab new challenge that has started this week called LESS IS MORE and their first challenge theme is Pink, Black & White.  It seems a lifetime since I did a card this CAS so I thought I'd have a little go, and here it is .....

Not really that much I can tell you about this - erm, 5x5 white card stock, Cuttlebug embossing strip, potion bottle and sentiment from a Woodware collection, quick colour with a couple of ProMarkers, and good old classic circle Nesties for the matting.  Voila!

Hugs, Squirrel xx

Love Is ...........

Happy Saturday everyone!  Another grey cloud day but at least the strong winds have died down a bit now - it was a bit of a rough night outside, so glad that we had our eucalyptus tree felled last year otherwise I would have been awake waiting for the sound of breaking glass and crumpled greenhouse.  And these high winds play havoc with tail fur - you should have seen me by the time I got home from work last night - dragged through several hedges backwards!

Anyhoo, it is February and our minds and hearts turn to lurrrve, or to Valentine's day anyway, and squirrels do it too, especially when they are lucky enough to have the perfect Toad.  OK, so he's not exactly perfect....(what man is?) but he is a hunny and I adore him.  So, Love and Valentine themed challenges abound this weekend .....

PENNY BLACK SATURDAY CHALLENGE - Love Is (and finished the sentiment)

ALLSORTS - Love Love Love

CRAFTY CALENDAR  - Love

CRAZY 4 CHALLENGES - Valentines

ECP CHALLENGES - Love

SECRET CRAFTER - Valentines

CARDS FOR MEN - Love/Valentines
SIMON SAYS STAMP - Love Is In The Air
STAMPING FOR THE WEEKEND - Valentines

So what did I create.....well, it is for the Toad but it turned out a bit pinker than I had intended, but I know he won't mind that much......I hope:

And here is the inside:

I think this was one of the very first Penny Black stamps I bought and I have loved it ever since, so when it appeared on a clear set too but in smaller form I thought I was in heaven.  Can't for the life of me remember the name of it though.  Both are painted with distress inks and both have lost whiskers due to my wobbly craft knife skills (oops).  Papers are from a Papermania set that is cake themed but there's no cakes on these ones so what the heck, live dangerously I say.  Flourishes are done with Sizzix dies and the gold lettering is Anita's peel-offs.  Well, Anita made them, but they are mine now.

I ramble don't I?  It's the wine fumes you know, there is a beef casserole in the oven and I don't know how Toad acquired the bottle of Merlot that is in there but it is strong stuff for a small furry one to cope with.

Catch ya's later.

Hugs, Squirrel xx

Distress Inks Tutorial

Evening all, hope this finds you feeling fine and dandy at the start of the weekend!

Now then, before you all get too excited (that's you particularly RuthAnne), I haven't forgotten that you are waiting for a distress inks tutorial from me.  I am waiting for some sunshine so that you can at least see what I am trying to show you - the winter has dragged on far too long in the UK and the grey skies are overstaying their welcome.  So far, the odd rare day of sunshine has arrived when I've been at work so I have missed out.  Don't think it would have gone down too well if I said I needed to dash home to paint a rabbit, lol!

In the meantime, I have found these fabulous video tutorials by the incredibly talented Dena at Dena's Stamping Corner - if you have not seen Dena's colour work then you are missing out, get right on over to her blog now!  She is one seriously skilled artist.

Here are the links to take you straight to the tutorials:

Part I - Skin Tones

Parts II and II - Clothing and Hair

I promise that once you have seen these and the amazing results that Dena produces, you will be begging me not to bother with mine!

Hopefully see you sometime tomorrow with a card or two.

Hugs, Sxx

A CAS Hedgehog

Well, I suppose he would be clean as he's sitting in a watering can!  A very CAS card from me today:

A Penny Black stamp (yes, I forgot to check the name of it, sigh), part distress ink painted, part paper-pieced.  The yellow and blue gingham papers are Papermania and the gorgeous pink spotty is Wild Rose Studio.  A quick Woodware peel-off and hey-presto, done.

Mind you, I am feeling the urge to go and stick some gems in the corners now .....

Hugs, Sxx

And we have a (candy) winner!

Hellooooo!

Thanks to everyone who took part in my little January candy.....and to those who are new to my blog who took the time to stay and have a nosey round, welcome.

Yeah, I know, cut to the chase woman and tell them who's won.  I cranked up good old Random Number Generator this time (couldn't find the cat, think he's in the back of the wardrobe shaking from the memories of the last candy draw I made him do for me) and .......

..... the winner is.........

TASHA

Millie's Magical Moments

Whooooo!  That's you Tash!

Could I ask you to confirm your details to squirrel1964@hotmail.co.uk please hunny so I can get this little Henry chap on his way to you.

Thanks to everyone who took part, and I just wish you could all have won.  There will be some more candy coming up soon for my 2nd Blogoversary so do keep an eye out for that.

Hugs, Sxx