Ruby's 11th birthday

hello there,

Today is my grand daughter Ruby's 11th birthday. She's going up to high school in September, where does the time go?
She is now well over a year cancer free and doing extremely well apart from some health issues due to the after effects of treatment but nothing too serious.
 We also had some amazing news ealier in the month.  Ruby got very good results in her SAT's and the highest result recorded at the school for spelling and grammar. Not bad for a kid that missed roughly 3 years of schooling due to ill health and hospital stays.
To say we are very proud is an understatement, this child never ceases to amaze us. She truly is a super hero.

I knew I wanted a pretty, vibrant card for her but not too over the top as she isn't really a girlie girl. So I've tried to keep the flowers to a minimum, quite difficult for me sometimes lol.

Papers are by The Shabby Princess.
 Flowers fromWild Orchid crafts.
Doily die by Marianne designs.
Sentiment is PC generated.


thanks for popping in x

We love colour

Hello there,

It's our grand daughter Aminata's ( Ami)  6th birthday today. She's a very bright and vibrant little girl who loves colour, the brighter the better. She is a diva but she's gorgeous and bubbly and full of confidence and we love her to bits.

Ofcourse her card had to be just as colourful and sparkly.

The papers are from The Shabby Princess.
I used glitter card from various places to cut out the stars (Sizzix) and the letters ( forgotten which brand ).
Happy Birthday stamp is by Anita's, mounted onto some purple mirri card.

We took the card and her presents last evening and she was very impressed that the card had her name on.

Thank you for visiting  X

Pixies crafty snippets # 129

Hi there,
I`m here today with a card I made for the fund raising box but with Pixies crafty snippets in mind too as I`ve raided the bit box especially.

The DP is by Shabby Princess, the floral one on the base card is actually two pieces joined in the middle.The panel is taken right to the edge so as not to see the join and is adhered to a snippet of grey/blue card that I first punched with a MS punch.
The frame is cut from a snippet of white card, left over when using an A4 sheet to make a 15x15 square card. I`ve used two Nestie Labels 4 dies.
The sentiment is computer generated and the flowers are from my stash but the leaves are from a small scrap of paper printed with Swiss Dots from Pink Petticoat.
Although I always go to my snippet box before resorting to using a new sheet of card or paper, my pile doesn`t seem to be going down much. I have a sneaky feeling that the snippet fairies have been dumping other peoples papers in my box ;-)

Thanks for popping in...Lynne xxx

cr84fn..Lavender and Peach

Good Afternoon All!

Autumn has definitely arrived here today. Cold and wet and miserable. A great day to be in the craft room.

I`m a bit late for this fortnights challenge at cr84fn but the colour sample is fabulous and I simply couldn`t resist.

I couldn`t decide whether I was in CaS mood or fussy mood so I made two cards.

 This one uses a stamp from Flourishes, Flowers and Friends, stamped in Memento Tuxedo black and coloured with Spectrum Noir pens and Promarkers.
I`ve cut the image out with a nestie circle and matted it onto some lavender card using a scalloped circle die. It gives just a hint of colour behind the circle.
The sentiment is PC generated, cut out the same way.
The DP is by Shappy Princess, Girly without the Pink.

This one is much more CaS.
DP by Shabby Princess again, printed onto card and mounted with foam pads.
The flower is handmade with Peach tissue paper and a lavender brad.
I`ve added some lavender spotty ribbon.
The sentiment is Flourishes Tag Lines, stamped in Versafine Onyx black.

Thanks for popping in...Lynne xxx

Jules Crafty Snippets wk 35

Good Evening All!

I hope you`ve all had a fabulous weekend. The weather here yesterday was glorious. We had sunshine...yes...sunshine and the temperature was in the mid 70`s. I really thought summer had returned.It spoilt itself again today though, cloud and the odd shower,definitely autumnal again. Which brings me nicely onto my first card for Jules Crafty Snippets.
Yes, I`ve been raiding the bit box again and this is what I`ve come up with...

I tend to stamp my images early in the week and then I can sit at the table downstairs and colour them whilst half watching half listening to the telly ( yes we`re still with the portable so it doesn`t matter if I`m not watching lol) Then I make up my cards on a weekend.
The snippets of DP are from Shabby Princess and the border is made using a snippet of card and a Spellbinders border die.
The sentiment label is made from the edge I cut off the main card base to make a square card.
The sentiment is from the Flourishes Zinnia`s set as are the flowers. This is a single flower that comes with the set and is coloured with promarkers and Marvy pens.
The leaves are made using a punch and a scrap of green card.

As threatened last week, my next card is a Christmas card.

I`ve used scraps of Pink Petticoat Large Snowflakes and a gorgeous piece from an Artilicious Seasons Greeting CD.
The stamps are by Judikins and were some of the first stamps I ever bought. I`m still in love with these gorgeous Angels and especially the peeking one. Just look at her feet and her halo has slipped lol.
Believe it or not this is my first time masking, how sad is that? Especially now I know how easy peasy it is to do, I`m slightly ashamed to admit that lol.
Anyway, back to my Angels, I`ve coloured them with Promarkers and added some Glamour Dust to their wings.
Their halo`s are glittered in gold.
I`ve cut the image out with a nestie circle and matted that onto a nestie scalloped circle in lilac.
I`ve added some sparkly lilac craft yarn and a sentiment by Creative Expressions cut out with a nestie labels 4 die.
I did make another card but I`m not too happy with it. I feel it is lacking something so might come back with that one another time.
Jules asked me a couple of weeks ago if my snippet pile was going down yet. Well the answer to that is...no, not so as you`d notice lol. In fact I have a sneaky feeling that it`s growing argh!!!
NB, the lace border on the first card is made using Spellbinders Grand Borderbilities Classic Lace Die.

Thanks for popping in...Lynne xxx

Jules Crafty Snippets # 30

Good evening all!

WARNING! Sunglasses Required.

 Well I think summer has paid us another visit. Today has been very warm though a bit muggy but yesterday was glorious up here. Not that I saw much of it but it looked very nice through the loft window lol.
I spent all afternoon making a special card and using snippets so I could share on Jules Crafty Snippets and then realised that the person it was for sometimes looks at my blog so I can`t share it until after the 16th. (yes you know who I mean don`t you Jean? lol)
So I set too to make another and seeing as the weather was so lovely I was inspired to make a very bright summery card. I may have got a bit carried away with the brightness lol.

DP is Shabby Princess snippets matted onto snippets of orange paper.
Sentiment is computer generated, cut out with a nestie oval and matted onto a larger orange oval.
Flowers are punched with a daisy punch also out of snippet papers and finished with bright gem stones.








Hopefully I`ll be back later in the week with a more subdued effort lol.

Thanks for popping in...Lynne xxx

Jules crafty snippets # 24

Hi Again,
Following on from the card I posted this morning I thought I`d use the snippets left over to make a card for Jules crafty snippets.
I`m not sure if anyone else saves their bits of digital papers but, sadly, I do. Maybe that`s why I have such a lot of snippets. Printer ink isn`t cheap and sometimes you just want a quick make so if the bits are big enough to use I save them. Not sure if I`m cheap or just a hoarder lol.

Anyway, I`ve used Shabby Princess digital papers Signature collection. The flowery one is left over from this mornings post and the stripey one is from my box. All matted onto bright blue card.
The image is Hero Arts Elegant Weeds stamped in Memento Bahama Blue.
The sentiment is from Flourishes Orchids Stamp set.
A piece of organza ribbon tied in knot to finish.
I`ve got an idea for another snippet make, if I get the time this week I`ll do it.
Apologies for the photo, it looks a bit wonky but I can assure you the card is straight,lol.

Thanks for popping in...Lynne xxx

CR84FN #32

Good Morning All!

A short post from me today as it`s a work day. I just wanted to share my card for this weeks cr84fn challenge.
where they have given us this fun colour combo.

Gorgeous or what???

here is my take on it,








Unfortunatly my aqua looks a little more blue...

I`ve used digital papers from Shabby Princess Signature Collection matted onto green card.
The image is new to me, Orchids from Flourishes. I think you`ll be seeing a lot more of these in the future.
I`ve coloured with a mixture of watercolour pencils and Promarkers.
The sentiment is from the same set cut out with a circle nestie.
I`ve added yellow ribbon but sadly had only a tiny scrap left over so I`ve made a funny sort of bow and used a brad for the middle. Not sure about the bow.
That`s it from me for now, got a pile of ironing to do before I go to work (sigh).

Thanks for popping in...Lynne xxx

Charlottes Birthday Card

Good Morning All!

Another bright, sunny, warm day again. I wonder how long it`ll last, it is only April afterall. Make the most of it while we can I think.

Right after all the fuss I made about my grandaughters card and what to put on it, I decided that the best policy was to throw some ideas at her and hope she would give me some clues. Actually it was more like an interogation lol.
She still has yellow as her fave colour which was great and she has no problems with hair dryers or hair in general which was even better.
I would like to thank all of you that came up with ideas and suggestions and pointed me in the direction of various digi sites ( which have all been bookmarked for future reference) and especially to SANDRA who sent me the digi by e-mail that I finally used. The only problem I have now is not knowing if this is one of Sandra`s own digi`s or, if not, who`se it is so I can`t give credit. Sorry.

Anyway, without further ado here is the card, ( you might need your sun glasses on BTW)

Now I do know the digi is called Holly and I`ve coloured her with Promarkers.
The Stripey DP and the yellow spotty DP are both from Papermania I think but I`ve had them for ages so I`m not 100%.
The orangey stripes is a scrap I had in my box from Shabby Princess.
The flowers are all from Wild Orchid Crafts and I`ve finished them off with gems from my stash.
I wasn`t going to bother with the numbers but changed my mind last minute which accounts for them being silver and not gold which would have been better. They are from Poundland.
The sentment is computer generated and cut out with a nestie labels 4 die as is the image.

That`s it from me for now.Hopefully I`ll be back tomorrow with another card for the new Less is More week.

Thanks for popping in...Lynne xxx

Happy Birthday Marg.

This is my second post today. For my Less is More card please scroll down.

I was asked by a work collegue to make an 80th birthday card for an aunt.. After all the CAS cards I have been making lately I couldn`t wait to get the ribbon and lace out.

I have used the same papers from The Shabby Princess as I did on a previous post mainly because they are gorgeous and were perfect for the ribbon and flowers.

The ribbon is fabulous and sparkly but is a pig to make a decent bow with, I think it took longer to tie that than it took to make the rest of the card. Anyway I`m pleased with the end result. I just hope Auntie Marg is too.

The ribbon is from Boyes.
The flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts and my stash.


Well we had a brief glimpse of spring the other day and my forsythia is bursting into bloom so that must be a good sign. The down side is that it shows the dust in the house. Sooo with that in mind I`ve actually started spring cleaning. Not that I`ve got far... I`ve managed to clean the windows and all the paintwork but then the craftroom called and I had to answer, as you do. I`m sure the muck will still be there tomorrow.

Thanks for popping in...Lynne xxx

Mojo Monday #175

Hello Folks.

Yes I know it`s friday but I`ve been trying to make and post my entry for this weeks Mojo Monday since tuesday, work and life just keep getting in the way.

Here is the sketch we were given,

And here is my entry,
Sorry about the photo, the card I`ve used for the Lace border looks like a browny burgundy on here but IRL it`s quite purple and alot closer in colour to the bow.
I`ve used some of the new Shabby Princess papers that I got on Saturday and used on my previous post.
The border is Spellbinders Grand Classic Lace and the border around my sentiment is a nestie scallop circle.
I made my own pin by using some extra large dressmakers pins and added some irridescent (?) pearls.

Here is a closer look at the pin. Not as good as a bought one I know but not bad for first attempt.
My sentiment is by Papertrey.




I`ve had a really stressful week at work, to the point that I very nearly walked out at one point but I`m sure you don`t want to hear me moaning on.

I really am having one of those weeks. I`ve just tried downloading my card onto the Mojo Monday site and Mr Linky isn`t having any of it. I`m off now to bang my head against the wall!!!
Done it!!!!
Thanks for popping in...Lynne xxx

New Papers

Hello Folks.

Happy tuesday to you all.

Last saturday, while the Alans were listening to City`s away match on the radio, I thought I`d sneak upstairs and do some browsing on the pc. The downside to that is that I always end up spending money but the upside is that I find things that I just have to have.
Since I had plenty of time I thought I`d take a peek at The Shabby Princess shop 
to see what goodies they had on offer. They are a digital scrapbook site but their papers can easily be adapted for cards and I already have loads. I came across a collection called Sprout of all things but the name doesn`t do it justice. The papers are gorgeous and the decorative elements are lovely too so when I finally get around to starting to scrapbook I already have some elements to go at.
Naturally I downloaded that one and another that took my fancy too and here is the card I made using just 2 of the papers. It`s not for any challenges or anything in particular, just to show off with.

Because the papers are so gorgeous I haven`t added any embellishments except a big blousy bow in Ivory and a sentiment.
The sentiment is Flourishes Tag Lines, stamped in black Memento ink and cut out with a nestie labels 4 die. While the card was still in the die, I chalked around the edges with some brown chalk.

Thanks for popping in...Lynne xxx

Grrrr !

Hello crafty friends !

I bet you thought I`d emmigrated or something.

The Christmas rush has started with a vengeance at work so last week I worked a 6 day week. Not something I`d recommend when all you really want to do is get into your craft room and make Christmas cards. At this rate I`m going to have to do the unthinkable and buy shop bought ones, argh! shock ,horror!!!
On top of that the weather has been atrocious. Alan and some of the neighbours have had to dig the cars out of the snow and clear the road but as fast as they are clearing the snow came down heavier. We have had over a 18 inches here and the novelty has worn off now. I`ve had to struggle to work in my wellies, very glamorous I`m sure and now they`re telling us that the snow is over but we have black ice. If it gets too bad I think I might be chucking a sickie.

Anyway I did manage to put together some cards the other night. I have loads to make for friends and neighbours so I thought I`d go with mass produced CAS cards.This is what I`ve come up with so far.

 And here is a close up of the pink one.

Once again, not a very good photograph, sorry about that.

The DP is by Elusive Images Artilicious CD.
I`ve punched along the top with a Fiskars punch.
The image is by Inkadinkado and stamped in Momento Rosebud. The sentiment is by Papermania.
I`ve matted the image onto some hot pink card and placed it using foam pads.
Then I`ve added some small gems to finish.

I`ve done the same with the other two but the green on I`ve used paper from the Shabby Princess.

I hope to be back later with something a bit more special.

Thanks for popping in...Lynne xxx

Mojo Monday # 157

Good Morning All.
And a happy Thursday to you!!!

It`s my youngest daughter, Angie`s birthday on Monday. Now I know that Angie, along with everyone who knows her would describe her as being a NOT girlie girl. So, no pink, flowers or frills for her. This makes life a bit difficult in the card department as the other option is to go slightly masculine. I hope I`ve managed to pull it off.
I decided to follow the  Mojo Monday Sketch 157 

 Here is my card

 I used a DP from Shabby Princess Moody Monday collection matted onto some blue card.
I added some brown ribbon and threaded some star shaped ribbon sliders onto it.
I punched a strip of brown card with a Fiskars punch and scored some lines along it for dimension.
The sentiment is computer generated as I wanted to personalise it with Angies name.
Then I topped it off with a huge gold star that I`ve had for years because she`ll always be my little star.
I`m quite pleased with the result, I hope Angie will be too.

A quick update on Mum. She`s much better now, almost back to normal. She even managed to eat a bacon and egg buttie yesterday so things are looking up. Thank you all so much for your supportive comments and good wishes. They mean the world to me.

Just another piece of idle chit chat...I had a sparrow in the Loft this morning. I have no idea how it got there or how long it had been there but judging by the droppings on the floor it had been a while lol. The hardest part was letting the poor thing out. Every time I went near the window to open it, it dive bombed me. I hadn`t been up long and was still in my dressing gown so I must have looked a pretty sight ducking and diving to avoid being pecked. At one stage I almost put my dressing gown over my head lol. Anyway I managed to open the window and it flew off into the wide blue ( grey) yonder. 
Right, I off to get a bucket of hot soapy water now to clean up the mess my little friend left for me.
Thanks for popping in...Lynne xxx 

Orange Damask

Hello again!

Two posts today, maybe I`m catching up on all the time I missed.

I just had to get this one in quick as I realised the closing day for this challenge is midnight tonight.  
This is the colour swatch we were given at Color throwdown 

As soon as I saw these fabulous colours I knew I had to play along. This is my version,

 I stamped the damask pattern from Heidi Swapp in Versa color Orange onto plain white paper.
The striped paper is a digi download from  Shabby Princess.
I had downloaded a stamin` up colour chart and printed it off so was thrilled when my yellow ribbon was a near perfect match for Dafodil delight ( although it does look darker in the piccy).
I made some more `carnations` in orange in two sizes.
The only bit of green I could manage are the leaves I`m afraid. I stamped and embossed the small leaf set from Papertrey Turning a new leaf set and cut them out. ( very tricky... I really must get a leaf punch).
I added a big bow for a bit of flounce and thats it.

There you are Vicky... carnations and a bow. Be careful what you wish for...lol.

Right , better get this included in the challenge before I run out of time. See you all soon.

Thanks for popping in...Lynne xxx 

The Shabby Tea Room wk#20 one two three!

Good evening to you all!

This week over on the Shabby Tea Room.
we were asked to produce something using   1 ribbon 2 buttons and 3 punches or dies.
Well that had my name written all over it so I just had to join in. Here is my card.

I made an A6 top fold card in white.
The DP are from Shabby Princess Signature Collection.  I love these papers. It`s a good job they are digital because otherwise I would just sit looking at them and not use them they are so scrummy.
My 3 dies are all from Spellbinders. I made the border using the Borderbilities Classic lace and placed it over the join in the papers. I also used the Labels 4 dies in 2 sizes, one for the sentiment and a larger one for a border around it using the same striped paper as on the bottom of the card.
My 2 buttons are really tiny, see thru ones and are placed in the bottom right hand corner. ( at least I think they`re buttons, they have 2 tiny holes in them).
Naturally I had to have a ribbon, whether it was asked for or not, so I`ve used a white satin ribbon and bow.
The sentiment is by Anitas Stamps and is stamped in baby blue Versacolor and embossed in clear EP.

I`m really pleased with this one. It all just fell into place. If only they were all like that lol.

Just a quick note about my new job. I had my induction yesterday. Two and half hours of reading flash cards and answering  questions that I didn`t know the answers to. Silly things like , where are the fire extinguishers situated? Doh, I don`t know, I`ve just walked in the door. And, how much money should be in your float? Pass! Really it was more of training excercise for existing staff but at least I get paid for it. Then I was informed that I couldn`t start today because I hadn`t got the all clear from immigration. IMMIGRATION!
I was born here. Anyone who has ever heard me speak would know I could only ever have come from one place. There is no mistaking the Hull accent, it`s not something you come across by accident and I have never heard anyone manage to imitate it properly yet either. So I`m not a happy bunny today. Never mind, more crafting time me thinks!!!

Thanks for popping in...Lynne xxx

Lace Frame

Hi All! I`m back.

We had a fabulous week. The weather was amazing and I would like to thank you all for your kind wishes regarding the weather because I`m sure it made a difference. We had some lovely trips out to the North Yorkshire Moors and Dalby Forest. Visited some smashing little towns and villages and saw some amazing sights. No photos unfortunetly, we passed a field full of beautiful red poppies that I would have loved to take a piccy of but doing 60 in the car isn`t good for photography. I also didn`t get as much crafting in as I usually do.
I did manage to make one card though that is a tale in itself.
I saw this way of working with borderbilities on  Becca Feeken`s 
fabulous blog. That girl must have a degree in engineering because believe me matching these corners up and getting the pattern right took me, with an enormous amount of help from hubby, a heck of a long time. We worked on it on and off for three days before I was happy and even then when we got back and I rechecked Becca`s it`s not quite right.

Anyway here is my card .
I`m entering it into this weeks  Our Creative Corner.
which luckily for me is asking for us to cool down with blues and greens.
The gorgeous DP is by Shabby Princess and I love it to bits.
The frame is a Spellbinders Borderbilities.
The sentiment is stamped in Versacolor baby blue and heat embossed.
Because my corners are no where near as neat as Becca`s I`ve punched some flowers out of white paper and added a pale blue flat backed pearl.

Now I have an idea of how to do these frames and where I went wrong, I will have another go but not just yet lol.

Thanks for popping in...Lynne xxx 

Fantasy Butterflies

Happy Thursday All!

 It`s another beautiful sunny day here, I just hope it lasts into next week.

Well I enjoyed making my card for the Clean and Simple Challenge. 

this week so much that I`ve made another one.

I`m also entering this one into the Tuesday Trigger Challenge.

which has this amazing trigger to inspire us.


Another really simple card to make.
The DP is by Shabby Princess.
The butterflies are from Elusive Images and I`ve coloured them with plain old pencil crayons. I stamped one and cut out the circle with a Spellbinders circle die, then stamped the other and cut it out.
I cut another circle in bright blue and raised it with foam pads.
The sentiment is, ofcourse, by Papertrey.

Not sure if I`ll get to post any more this week but I`m taking loads of craft stuff away with me (in case of rain) so should have plenty to show when we get back.

Thanks for popping in...Lynne xxx

Clean and Simple FTL #94

Hello and a happy sunny wednesday all!

 A very easy and quick card for this weeks challenge at Clean and Simple.

This is the sketch we were given

And this is my take on it.

I seem to have gone leaf crazy just lately but they make fabulous male cards and that is something that I always struggle with.

The stamp is by Papertrey, turning a new leaf.
I stamped in fresh green and heat embossed with clear EP to give it some gloss.
The DP is by Shabby Princess signature collection and is scrummy (imho)
The sentment is also by Papertrey and stamped in black Stazon.
The image is cut out with a Spellbinders circle die as is the blue backing circle, then raised slightly with foam pads.

Appologies for the photo. The sun is pouring in through the loft window but if I take it into the shade the piccy looks terrible. And yes, that shadow is muck on the window lol. Flipping birds.
We`re going away for the week on Saturday so I`ve been flying about like a mad thing cleaning, washing and ironing and, yes, I washed the windows on monday. After all the fatballs and seed feeders this is how they treat me Lol.

No doubt I`ll be back with another post before we go but in the meantime, enjoy the sun...

Thanks for popping in...Lynne xxx

Colour throwdown # 95

Happy Sunny Friday All!

It`s another beautiful day here in sunny Hull, got to make the most of it `cos I don`t think it`s going to last. We`ve got a few rainy days forecast but hopefully then summer will start properly :)

It`s been so hot up here in my loft that I have been a bit slow with my creativity this week. I did however manage to make a card for this weeks challenge at  Colour throwdown.

This is the swatch they gave us. Gorgeous bright summery colours. I was a bit unsure about the black though

so I only used a tiny bit. This is my card.

I`ve used my Docrafts Whispers Butterflies again, stamped onto acetate this time and heat embossed.

Here is a close up of one of the butterflies. 
The DP is by ShabbyPrincess and I`ve layered onto some sky blue card.
I`ve added a piece of bright pink ribbon and I`ve made up a flower with a mixture from my stash, then added a green gem brad to finish.
Some sky blue flat backed pearls to fill the corner  and a sentiment from Papertrey stamped in black.


I`m having a day out tomorrow. All the kids and grandkids are going to the local park for a charity family fun day and I`ll be there making sure they don`t get up to mischief ( ha ha).

Thanks for popping in, Lynne xxx