>>> On Display: Banana Frog! <<<

Here's a quick LO in a 4x6' size that I created for Banana Frog blog based on this colour inspiration:

Here's my take on it:

Made use of It's All About Hearts stamp set. LO created using Scarlet Lime Oct kit.

Blog giveaway:

I've this "I Heart You" stamp set to giveaway. Here's some samples of what I've done using this particular set.

Here's a canvas I did of my youngest. Cut out the hearts to form a heart shape.

And who says you can use the hearts as leaves of a Xmas tree?

Leave your comments here for a chance to win. TTFN!

>>> Unity Friends With Flair! <<<

Woo Hoo! It's Friday and the weekend is here again. My eldest goes off to camp tonite but I'm gonna be busy this weekend with the boys' extra curricular activities. Anyway, managed to find time to create something this week.

The first is a LO using Nov scrapbooking kit. Absolutely luv this set.

LO created using Scarlet Lime Nov kit. Incidentally this was also done for another challenge on this site.

One of my colleagues is going off for maternity leave today and a few of us are giving her a leaving pressie. I offered to create a card for her. I made use of the 'It's About You, Baby' stamp set for this:

Patterned paper by Cosmo Cricket. Inside reads 'Relax'.

A couple of moms in my boys' school have expressed interest in crafting and asked me to do a class. So I did. This week, I did a card class and I managed to purchase 'Jolly Little Winter' set when Unity had a sale and included that in the class. Here are some samples that I've made:

Excuse the tint in the photos.... weather's been crap here and I can't take it outside and light's in the house is terrible.

Thanks for dropping by and have a good weekend! TTFN!

>>> Got Ippity? <<<

OK, so after much consideration, I decided to bite the bullet and go for it! I'll be selling Ippity stamps. I was initially worried about time constraint but decided to give it a try and see how it goes. As an avid fan of Unity stamps, Ippity is the sister of Unity and the stamp images simply rock! How to resist them?

Here are the stamp images for Ippity:

Because Of You

Kissmas & Mistletoe

Simply Home

Devoted

Just Wanted To Say

Straight From The Heart

Alphabetically Adorable

Life's Little Moments

I've set up a new blog for this venture so check it out if you're interested! TTFN!

>>> Butterfly Craft: Challenge 23 <<<

Been a while since I attempted LO challenges so when I saw this particular challenge over at Butterfly Crafts, I couldn't resist doing it. Challenge 23 asks to think about the things that make me happy. Well, there's a lot but what I cherish most is the time spent with my boys. I'm always looking forward to the holidays so that I can spend time with them.

LO created using Scarlet Lime Oct main kit with a bit of Webster Pages thrown in and of course, Unity's Nov scrapbooking stamp kit.

Have to say, this is one of my fav LOs created so far. TTFN!

>>>What A Treat! <<<

Had to make a quick dash to the Rag Market in B'ham town centre for this:

Lotsa gorgeous trimmings!

There's a guy who sells them and he's only at the Rag Market every Tuesday. Not surprisingly, his stall is always crowded and extremely popular. I was supposed to get some for a class I'm teaching tomorrow but of course, who can resist all the lovely trimmings so ended up getting a few different metres for myself! TTFN!

>>> 365 Cards! <<<

Finally caught up with this week's challenges. Perhaps the cold and dismal weather here helped as I had no intention of going out at all! So spent the day crafting in my room while the kids went out shopping with their dad. So without further ado, here's this week challenges, with the majority of them in a Xmas theme! Had to take these photos at nite so apologies if the images aren't perfect.

Day 266: Colour Me This

The challlenge is to colour in an image not using markers especially of the alcoholic ones. So I turned to my watercolour pencils instead.

Played with this newly acquired image by Unity (which will be replicated in quite a few cards). And couldn't resist using my new Martha Stewart crown border punch! Luv the effect!

Day 265: Simply Put

This challenge asked for 1 piece of patterned paper, 1 embellishment and 1 sentiment! Here's mine:

The sentiment reads 'Season's Greetings' which is quite faint in the photo.

Day 264: Keep It To Yourself

The challenge is to to design a congratulatory card that uses decorations on the outside of the card to help convey the message on the inside of the card. The only non-Xmassy card but had to do this for a friend who is expecting a boy soon:

Inside reads 'Congrats'

Stamped images by Unity.

Day 263: Ad Inspired

Create a card based on this Ad:

Here's mine:

Dusted off my sewing machine and added a stitched border. Stamped image by Unity (again!)

Day 262: Colour Scheme

This is the colour scheme:

Here's my card based on it:

Took me a while to sort out the colour scheme but luv the overall effect!

Day 261: Card Recipe

The challenge is to follow this recipe:

4x4 Card
Red Background
Snowflakes (pattern, embellishments, any #, and any variety)
1 ribbon
stamped sentiment

Here's mine:

My sentiment is the stamped circle around the snowflake. It reads 'winter wonderland'.

Day 260: Super Sketchy Sunday

Here's the sketch:

And here's my take on it:

Looking at the sketch again, can't think why I had another sheet of paper on the bottom half??? Well, it was late when I did this!

Quite pleased I added more Xmas cards to my collection although I have a sneaky feeling it won't be enough!!! TTFN!

>>> Unity Friends With Flair! <<<

It's Friday again! Another opportunity to showcase Unity stamps! This week saw me receiving a parcel containing a fair amount of Unity stamps which included November scrapbooking kit as well as some a la carte stamps that I bought including 2 new CHA stamps. Lost no time in playing with the scrapbooking set and came up with this LO:

Made this LO for a friend's daughter who turns 10 next week. Patterned papers by Imaginisce Perfectly Posh. Made use of Nov SB kit, Bevy of Butterfly and Oct store kit.

Created a butterfly embellishment from the Bevy of Butterflies stamp set.

Made a card to go along with it as well and as the birthday gal plays the guitar, turned to Oct KOTM and made use of the guitar image:

Guitar's background has been embossed with Cuttlebug's Allegro embossing folder.

Thanks for dropping by. Have a great weekend. TTFN!

>>> On Display! <<<

I finally scrapped! Took out my Scarlet Lime Oct kit and did a LO for a challenge at UKScrappers. I used to follow the challenges but stopped during the summer hols and finally managed to find time to do it this week. Week 46 asked for a 'Thank You' LO.

Had only an hour to do this LO so kept it simple! Photo of moi & dad! Played with my loopy punches and misting spray.

Feels good to scrap again. Now I need time to myself to just indulge! TTFN!

>>> On Display: Banana Frog! <<<

It was my turn to blog on Banana Frog blog and my project focussed on party stuff. I'm always trying to find ways of maximising my stamps and created a birthday badge as well as 'thank you' tags.

Using That Takes The Cake (luv that set), coloured the cupcake, applied glossy accents and added beads to it. Add a bar pin at the back and it becomes a birthday badge.

Rather than a thank you card, I prefer making tags as they are more usable than cards! This will go into the party bags, thanking each guest for coming.

I decided that I would create a boy's badge and I made use of the latest stamp set, Retro Space. With my youngest's birthday in a couple of months, what better than to start early:

The badge

The 'thank you' tag.

No doubt I will extend it to party games later....

*************************************

Alert: Blog Giveaway.

I have this 'I Heart You' stamp set to give away, courtesy of Banana Frog. Simply leave a comment and I'll do a draw at the end of this month. Open to everyone (including internationals). Thanks for dropping by! TTFN!

>>> Saturday! <<<

Today was one heck of a day. SIL and her boys popped over and we headed to the Frankfurt Xmas Fair in the town centre. Typical Brit weather.... started out sunny but then it started to drizzle and became gloomy! Still, can't let the weather beat us.

The Fair was certainly much bigger than last year. There were the same usual stuff and of course, German food too. We didn't stay long but still the boys had fun on this:

Photos didn't come out sharp but hey, it's the memories that count!

Lunch was at our fav Chinese restaurant and we had tim sum again! Yay! The afternoon saw me hosting a crafting party for a friend's daughter. I had a great time and so did the gals. They managed to create 3 items which they proudly showed off to their parents.

Immediately after, had a curry nite which didn't end till midnite! Gosh, I was thoroughly knackered by then! It was off to bed instead of crafting! TTFN!

>>> Unity Friends With Flair! <<<

Welcome to another week of Friends with Flair. Luv Friday, not because it's showcase time but it's the start of the weekend! Yay! Always looking forward to the weekend as there's so much happening each time.

Recently received my Oct store kit and I lost no time in playing with it!

Created a rather simple Xmas card. I feel like I'm running out of time creating them.

Another snowman image from the set. Luv this particular image. Patterned paper by Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses. Can't see from the photo but it's stamped with Brilliance inkpad and appears a little sparkly. (Card also created for a card challenge site).

The pin cushion has to be my all time fav image. Image coloured using Promarkers.

Thanks for dropping by. Do check out what the other Unity fans have done too. I get such fabulous inspiration from them. While you are at the blog, Unity is also having a 30% discount on all stamps (only this weekend) at their site. Have a lovely weekend! TTFN!

>>> 365 Cards! <<<

A catch-up on some of the challenges. Another hectic week again. So glad it's the weekend. I tell ya, I appreciate my weekends more and more each time! Anyway, here's a few challenges that I've managed to complete:

Day 257: Picture This

This is the inspiration:

Here's my lip-smacking delight (which reminds me I need to make some cupcakes soon):

Stamped images from Banana Frog's That Takes The Cake. Coloured using Promarkers. Check out the new EK Success border punch I got. Found out it can even punch fairly thick cardstock! Fab!!!

Day 256: Perfect Pair

The challenge is to use ric rac and button on a card. Here's my offering:

Snowman image from Unity Oct store kit. Patterned papers by Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses.

Day 255: Let's Patch Things Up

The challenge is to add a patch to the card. Here's my effort:

The patch appears behind the sentiment. It's a Unity image. Recently purchased this Magnolia image. Can't say I'm a fan but I do collect certain seasonal images. Image coloured using Promarkers (recently bought some new colours).

Thanks for dropping by... TTFN!

>>> Back To Victorian Times! <<<

It was my son's dressing up day today and he had to go in wearing a Victorian outfit. Managed to source one from an online store. Also a coincidence that my youngest has to go in next week as a Victorian lad too so one outfit fits all! Both of them happen to be learning about the Victorian era at the same time.

Well, I brought him to school and it was fun seeing the other kids all dressed up, some looking extremely gracious in their costumes. Even the teachers were dressed up, holding a cane too. I'm sure the kids are gonna have a fab time in school today! TTFN!

>>> On Display: BackPorch Memories <<<

It's reveal day today over at BackPorch Memories. The papers for this month's kit is just so scrumptious! I was given the Solo to play which consisted of Fancy Pants Rough and Tough collection... so appropriate for my boys. Here's they are:

Solo kit: Fancy Pants Rough & Tough collection.

Medley kit: Bella Blvd Plastino, WRMK Twirl & Crate Paper Seasons collections

BPM Nov stamp set

Paula also sells Unity store kit which can only be obtained from stores and not on the Unity website. Not surprising I'm a serial subber to this kit! Also, not surprising that it's sold out on the site!

Well, here's what I've come up with using the Solo kit:

My boys' first time doing 'trick or treat' so I had to document this! The papers somehow fitted the theme. Currently into sprays at the moment so glimmer mist a cobweb image onto the cardstock.


Captured this photo of my boys staring into the boat quay at Lyminton. It was such a lovely image of them both so had to use it. Got a large stencil from Glimmer Mist (at Hobbycraft) and just had to use it for the background. And just for the fun of it, punched a holely border around the edges.

Had this photo lying around and have been meaning to scrap for a while so I thought why not with these papers. True, they were meant for boys but hey, they can be used for gals too! Gave it my girly touch, lots of bling and glitter. Stamped images from Unity Oct store kit. Those swirls are Glimmer Mist stencil (again bought at Hobbycraft, NEC. Knew I had to have them when I spotted them. They are perfect for 12x12 pages).


Check out my flower, created using Tim Holtz' transparent film strip. The centre was done using the pom pom ribbon.

For my project, created some cards:

Luv that pin cushion image! Enough said!

A rather simple card.
I'm running out of time making Xmas card so the simpler it is, the more I can get done!

Background embossed with a new Cuttlebug snow embossing folder (bought at Hobbycraft. Now wishing I had gotten more Xmassy ones). Stamped snowman from Unity's Oct store kit.

This kit is so versatile. Although it has images for use on boy pages, I managed to turn it into a girly page as well, including a Xmassy card! Definitely had fun playing with them. And I still have loads leftover.... TTFN!

>>> 365 Cards <<<

Spent the weekend catching up on some card challenges at 365 cards. Here they are:

Day 252: White Space

Here's the sketch:

Here's my effort:

I embossed the white space. Patterned papers from Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses. Xmas tree is stamped from a newly acquired Unity stamp.

Day 251: Dream Duo

The challenge is to work with 2 colours. I've chosen green and white. Here' s my card:

I only chose these two colours based on the paper (BG Eskimo Kisses). Stamped images frm Unity (Oct store kit).

Day 247: Ad Inspired

This is based on this Ad:

Here's my card:

The wreath reminded me of the traditional Xmas colours and I found the perfect paper from Dovecraft Xmas range. Fireplace is from Unity's Jolly Little Winter set (one of my fav!). Created the wreath from punched our hollies and sprayed with a silvery mist.

Day 246: Super Sketchy Sunday

Here's the sketch:

My take on the sketch:

Changed the placement of embellishment and sentiment to suit my card. Sleigh image from Banana Frog's Retro Christmas. Sentiment from Unity. Patterned paper from Imaginisce's Polar Expressions.

Having fun! Another two more to catch... TTFN!

>>> Remembrance Sunday <<<

It's Remembrance Sunday today, day where we honour the soldiers who so valiantly fought in the wars and died. In fact again we hear of 2 British soldiers dying today in the Afghan war. It's sad when they lose their lives.

The boys who are in Beavers & Cubs respectively, had to be in church today. Zac was chosen as the flag bearer of his scout group. It's his first time being involved since joining Beavers earlier this year in Feb.

So at 11am this morning, we observed a 2-min silence.

After the church service, we headed to B'ham town centre to our fav Chinese restaurant to have tim sum. It was such a cold day today that tim sum and hot Chinese tea made a good companion! TTFN!

>>> Saturday! <<<

Spent the good portion of the day at the Hobbycraft in the NEC. Basically it's a craft exhibition. It's been a while since I went and as I managed to obtain a cheap ticket using my Tesco vouchers, I just had to make a visit. I had an enjoyable time. There were a few stalls selling scrapbooking stuff and I managed to grab what I wanted including some surprised finds too. I even had time to visit the Craft for Christmas fair as well and enjoyed the food section a lot! Hubs dropped me off as it was way too expensive to park there.... £8! I rather spend it on stash! Just as well, we only live about 10 min away from the exhibition hall (and the airport... very convenient!)

The day started out lovely, sunny albeit cold but when hubs picked me up, it drizzled. Shame as we wanted to have a firework display. So instead we watched other people did theirs! Think we will keep ours for the New Year! TTFN!

>>> Unity's Friends With Flair Friday! <<<

It's Friends with Flair Friday again. The days are simply whoosing by so quickly. We are well and truly into Autumn now. It has started getting darker earlier (i.e before 5pm.... so depressing) and colder too. Thankfully, we have Christmas to look forward to otherwise it will make this particular season rather gloomy!

Speaking of Christmas card, I've been steadily doing it although not fast enough. Anyway, played with my first free set of Unity stamps (got it by subscribing to the KOTM set way back in Feb). And it's one of favs too.... Jolly Little Winter:

A traditional Xmas colour combo. Took out my holly leave punch to create a wreath just above the fireplace. This was then sprayed using Moon Glow Spritz (a purchase acquired a few years ago). It gave a lovely sheen to it.

Created this LO last week when I received my Oct scrapbooking set from Unity called "UR etc." Have to say, I enjoy their scrapbooking set as the stamps are quite big and very well-suited for SB. Here's one that I've created for a little gal's birthday pressie:

Papers from Imaginisce Perfectly Posh collection ... such lovely papers, all glittery and girly!

Thanks for dropping by... have a great weekend! TTFN!

>>> Guy Fawkes Nite! <<<

It's Guy Fawkes day today. But in typical British weather, it rained and it's wet and miserable! However didn't stop hubs from lighting up a bonfire! He got in early from work (surprise! surprise! He normally doesn't return till 8pm most nites) and was seen taking out his tin and burning all the branches he had somehow acculmulated!

There were a lot of fireworks about too. Fireworks is associated with Guy Fawkes day. So we had a free display of them. Doubt very much we will be going out to any park to see any firework display.... it's far too cold at this time of the year! TTFN!

>>> On Display! <<<

Some creative stuff I've done over the past weeks....

Xmas card using Imaginisce stamp. Saw some new Xmassy ones and couldn't help getting them.

Card created using Banana Frog's latest stamp set Retro Space. They are just too gorgeous for words.

Had to do a wedding card for a relative. Made use of Unity wedding image.

The below stuff was done for Unity's Bachelor Brother challenges.

Challenge 6 requires a colour combo of pink and brown. That monkey is just too adorable. Come from Oct 09 KOTM set.

Another pink and brown card. Created this especially for another gal's birthday and she plays the guitar.

These tags were created for Unity's BBro challenge no. 7 which asks for a colour combo of purple, green, black and orange.

I particularly luv this tag. It has trick on the front....

and treat at the back!
Images from Unity's Oct 09 KOTM set and coloured using a mix of Copics and Promarkers. Background embossed using Cuttlebug folder and lightly sprayed with glimmer mist.

Another tag. Background sprayed using Maya mist. Unity stamped images from Oct store kit (gal) and Aug KOTM (wings). All coloured using either Copics or Promarkers.

TTFN!

>>> 365 Cards: Day 248 <<<

Having difficulty trying to keep up with the card challenges over at 365 Cards. One of my fav card sites but I've got so much going on at the moment. Now that it has calmed down, managed to snatch half an hour to have a play with today's challenge.

Day 248's challenge is 'Imagine This: Feathers'! I take it you have to use feathers on the card! Well, I took the cue from the DT member, Pam, and made use of my feathery fibres to create this card.

Got some new images from Unity and made use of them in this card. I wrap the feathery fibres around the Xmas tree to create a tinsel-like effect.

TTFN!