Wedding Fun...

Hi,

Hope you all had a good weekend.

Hubby and I had a great time in Chicago at Dana and Jim's wedding - Dana is JT's little sister and we were kindly invited to join in the celebrations.

It was great to see JT in the flesh..skype is not the same :(

The main photo is of JT and I - I love it, we look so happy. Here are few more photos from the day.

Dana & Jim's first dance

Olly, JT, Sally and Mike

Hubby & Me

Such a fun weekend, meeting lots of lovely people..need to go back and do Chicago again.

Obviously this post would not be complete without a bit of craft..here are the pics of the card and gift envelope for Dana & Jim and JT's Matron of Honor card, that Dana commissioned. All the items match Dana's theme of Cherry Blossoms.

Dana & Jim's Wedding Card

Matching gift envelope

JT's Matron of Honor card, using the same paper but in pink

Fun times..oh and I managed to squeeze in a Michael's trip...massive haul of sale items for JT and I.

Cx

Belated...Happy Father's Day Daddy..

Hi,

For some reason I forgot to put this post up....DOH!

So I decided I would do it belatedly :)

Today's main photo is the card I made for my Daddy ages ago..

I won the stamp last year and this is the first time I have been able to use it.

I made all the ties blue as my Dad is a huge Tottenham fan and when I was home in March, I noticed he has a vast collection of blue Tottenham ties :)

It has been a difficult year for us as a family, but the high points have helped us through, My Dad's Sunday League team did the triple for the first time ever (x2 cups and the league) amazing!!

In my 2 posts a year about my Dad I normally talk at length about him and his qualities. This year I'm just going to keep it simple..Love you Daddy, miss you and can't wait to see you in August.

Better late than never eh?

Cx

Runway Inspired...

Hi,

Happy Friday.

This the first time I have entered the Runway Inspired Challenge...I have wanted to enter for sometime, but never seem to be able to fit it in :(

This week, I was determined, as the inspiration photo is so great.

RIC #62

I decided I wanted to use my Technique Tuesday 'Fly Away With Me' stamp set, it seemed perfect for this challenge and the fact that I was really inspired by all the cards that utilised the feather element of the dress. Especially this one by Mayuri.

I used navy Canford card as the background and stamped my feathers in white and heat embossed them. I cut one feather out and mounted it using foam tape. I stamped the sentiment onto vellum (smudged it a bit!) and punched it out using a scallop punch. A little bling dotted around to finish it off.

I love it and I might make a few more so there is a set!

Hope you all have a good weekend, Hubby and I are heading to Chicago for a wedding this weekend.

Cx

Special Edition Moving Along With The Times..Happy 5th Birthday MAWTT - BLOG HOP!!

Hi!

Welcome to a very special 5th birthday edition of Moving Along With The Times. 

Our theme this week is Buttons, Bunting and Birthdays

My caRd today was made using 'Chicago' by Rick St dennis, one of our sponsors this week - so much fun to colour in and I chose the paper, because it fits the theme so well. I coloured the stamp using Promarkers and Stickles glitterglue. The sentiment was created using my fave eksuccess punch.

As it's a birthday edition we have PRIZES and a BLOG HOP.....So what is the blog hop all about? 

To be eligible for the pRizes you must visit all the blogs and collect a letter from each. Then email Hazel at didosdesigns@yahoo.com with the word you have made with Blog Hop Word in the Subject Line.  You must send the word to us to be in with a chance of winning!!!! 

I am offering you, this bumper stack of goodies...

...and the best bit about it is I will choose 2 winneRs - yay!! Leave me a comment and I'll choose 2 of you and announce the winner of my prizes here next week. The MAWTT prizes will be announced over at MAWTT.

Here are links to all the DT blogs.

Hazel (Didos)
Sue
Pami
Hazel L
Carole
Judith
Wendy
Janice
Debs
Karina
Laurie
Tammy
Susan
Claire (You are here)
Jessie

Sarah

Hope you have fun playing and don't forget to look for that letteR...

Cx

WOYWW #264...Mega craft around the corner...

Hi,

Well I am back where I belong on a Weds - joining the WOYWW posse. Our wonderful leader Julia has been unwell and had a week off, but is back now and her spirit is strong, which is good for her and us :)

If you don't know what WOYWW is - then where have you been?! It is that fave time of the week for us global crafters where join Julia over at her blog Stamping Ground and we nose at each others desks.

Today my desk is blah! SSS July card kit to the left along with a card for a friend, some ATC's to put away and a new stencil. Partly it is this way because I went out drinking and dinnering with Hubby and partly because I came home to find these beauties on my door step -

12x12 Paper Trays

12x12 Stackable paper trays that fit expedit..gotta love Pinterest. So instead of tidying my desk and playing, I put the trays in place and sorted all my 12x12 papers..love it! Say good bye to ruined paper.

Before I give you a little WOYWW card, I just wanted to say thank you for all the wonderful ATC's..I have been under the weather and working longish hours, so haven't had time to thank everyone yet..I will do that later on today.

Here's the card :)

I recently came across Day for Daisies and their stamps are gorgeous..I am learning to blend, so her hair is a thing of magic to me!! The sentiment was heat embossed and the stamp was a freebie from a magazine..everything is NBUS (Darnell are you proud?)

I am super excited about this weekend and going to Chicago for JT's sisters wedding and about the weekend of July 4th where I will be spending 2 whole uninterrupted days at my desk - BLISS!!

Cx

I'm a Hipsterpotamus....

Hi,

Today's card is one of a batch that I made recently using some NBUS...

The Hipsterpotamus stamp set is awesome, by Avery Elle -

If you have a digital cutting machine, then you can go to their site and download the cut file like I did - very clever.

I made 6 of these cards for various men/boys in my life..such an easy make for an audience I normally find difficult.

I coloured the Hipster using Promarkers, printed the sentiment and die cut it using an SSS scalloped rectangle. The paper was part of my May SSS card kit. Add a bit of glitter glue to his hat and he's ready to go!

What I want to know is where do I put the bow tie?!!

I hope the boys like him.

Cx

Friends Forever...

Hi,

Hope you had a nice weekend.

My post is very late today, as I normally post from the bus, so all my posts are pre-written and ready to go..but this morning there was no image in my post - DOH!

Anyway, I am starting the week, with a double challenge card :)

Simon Says Stamp - You Gotta Have Friends and I Love Promarkers  - Use a Doily

Over at SSS, they are using Art Impressions stamps..perfect! I recently bought myself Picture Perfect by AI, I love their stamps..wish they were not quite so pricey...

The sentiment is by Hero Arts and I kind of botched the heat embossing of it, but I like the patchy result! The doily is by Papermania, paper and heart are by MME and from my June SSS card kit. I had fun colouring in the ladies, I got to use some Promarkers that are underused.

Promarkers used -
Camera - Ice Grey 3
Hair - Cool Grey 1, Buttercup, Pastel Yellow, Cinnamon and Spice
Skin - Oatmeal and Tan
Lips - Peach, Dusky Rose and Poppy
Bangle & Earrings - Heatwave, Fresh Meadow and Poppy
Tops - Denim Blue, Heatwave, Fresh Meadow, Apple Cider and Red Sweater
Trousers - Denim Blue, Apple Cider and Black
Shoes - Heatwave, Azure, Fresh Meadow and Poppy

I'm putting this card in the stack with some others that I am making for my Ma.

Cx

Inspired by colour..

Hi,

When I saw the Color Throwdown #297 colours and image this week, I instantly thought of a wedding card I need to make..

I love the end result of my card, it's so bright and cheery, very summer wedding.

I used a lot of Simon Says Stamp items here - the cake, flower, sentiment stamps. The cake and rectangle scallop dies are also by them.

I used circle dies for the layers underneath the cake. The blue and yellow card are by Canford, the chevron paper is by Recollections. The pretty yellow heart ribbon is by American Crafts and all the bling is by Papermania. The flowers on the cake were coloured using Promarkers.

I really like the sentiment - not a traditional wedding sentiment. I heat embossed it using Smoke ink by SimonSaysStamp and grey embossing powder by Stampendous.

Really happy that the challenge inspired this pretty wedding card.

Cx

New baby...

Hi!

Happy Friday.

First I want to say a HUGE thank you to my blog buddy Carole, for her gorgeous and thoughtful parcel..amazing! I love it all, can't wait to use the stamps. Here's a photo..she made the notebook at top right, below that is Carole's first ever ATC (how special am I!!), next to that is a folding pocket card and the flower bunny was inside..I need to take a better pic, as the heat embossing is AMAZING!! Below that is a little chipboard bird, which is now hanging on my pinboard with the rest of my birdies.

Gift from Carole

I wanted to get ahead of the game and make a New Baby card for an imminent arrival...but I am not sure what flavour it is, so I decided to play it safe, but kept my theme of 'seaside' from yesterday :)

I am super happy with this card, it came together so easily. I love circle and scallop punches, they clean up everything so well.

This is also one of the first times that I am super chuffed with my heat embossed sentiment, I stamped it in grey ink and then used grey embossing powder over it and it's given it a shimmery feel - here is a close-up..

Close-up heat embossed sentiment

Strangely enough this very simple card used a lot of stash and tools -
Promarker to colour the Whale
Whale stamp is part of a sealife set, it was a $20 challenge gift from JT
Sentiment stamp is by Fiskars and part of a New Baby set
Embossing powder is by
Grey ink by Simon Says Stamp
Grey pearls from AC Moore
Grey corrugated card by DCWV
Grey paper by Canford
Grey spotty paper by American Crafts
Scallop rectangle die by Simon Says Stamp
Circle and scallop punches by Woodware

Have a great weekend..I am excited to be well, but will be taking it easy.

Cx

Moving Along With The Times...I do like to be beside the Seaside..

Hi,

It's Team B's turn over at MAWTT this week and I am your hostess with the mostess!!

I am also offering a prize for the winner...

PRIZE!!!

All kinds of goodies here - shaped card blanks and box templates, Martha Stewart butterflies, a mini chalkboard, some Paperchase tags, 2 packs of embellishments, alpha stickers and some Papermania Motifications (you peel them off and add glitter!)

I chose a theme of -

'I do like to be beside the Seaside' 

I love the sea and being at the beach. I wanted to see what lovely things you could all create using beach huts, shells, ice-creams, deck chairs, crabs, seagulls, anchors, etc

As I love the sea and being beside it so much, I decided to make not one but 2 cards for you to feast your eyes on!

1 - Beach hut is my main card and the stamp is by Stamposaurus, all the papers (beach huts and shells) and the sentiment ribbon are by Pink Petticoat. I coloured the card with Promarkers and added some glitter glue for shimmer.

2 - Mermaid - I love this stamp so much, it was part of a weird set (including Robots?!) that JT bought me for my 40th birthday..I use her a lot. The fish papers are from Pink Petticoat, the waves and the coral were cut with my Silhouette and I punched the sentiment. The mermaid is coloured with gelatos and an aquabrush.

Hope you are inspired..for more fabulous cards, pop over to MAWTT and check out what the rest of the DT have made and join in the Summer Seaside Fun :)

Cx

NBUS Challenge...

Hey!

No WOYWW for me this week, not sure if Julia will be doing it anyways..she has been unwell whilst away..sending her big warm wishes for a speedy recovery.

The wonderful Darnell (who I met via WOYWW) is running this little challenge -

As I have been on a major spending spree...I am going to use some of my shiny new, never before used schtuff, alongside some older NBUS

The theme this time is 'Anything Goes - friendship'

Darnell mentioned that I treat her like a celebrity and just casually mention her in my posts without a link..Darnell the reason for this is simple. Every time I find a new crafter and their blog..Ms Darnell is there already, friends with them, making schtuff with them - it's AMAZING how sociable she is :) I love her for this and for the fact that because of this I have been encouraged to venture further and further into the crafty blog world.

Anyway...back to the challenge!

I made this little card using some serious NBUS...Brand new Pink Petticoat fox digi stamp and sentiment. The bow on the fox was coloured using a shiny new Pine Promarker that my Ma bought me when I was home in March. Papers by Pebbles, that I bought about a year ago....The dies that I used are not new, they are old faithful Xcut nesting dies.

My card is already in the post winging it's way to my foxy friend :)

Cx

Simon Says Stencil It!!

Hi,

So I am being challenge heavy this week.simply because this week they are hard to resist.

SimonSaysStamp Wednesday challenge is - Simon Says Stencil it...I love stencils, so this was a perfect challenge for me.

I have been experimenting with modelling paste and stencils..this is the first card I have 'shown' using the paste and I love it!!

I chose to use my fave Aspen Trees stencil by The Crafter's Workshop I thought it would make a great base for a card for Hubby's Godparents who are quite outdoorsy!

Once the paste was dry, I overlaid the stencil again and inked it up using Walnut Stain Distress Ink. I added a strip of scrap paper from my scrap box that coordinated with my new Pink Petticoat Happy Camper digital stamp. I used a Pink Petticoat paper for the pattern on the camper van and retouched it in using Photoshop Elements - a new trick for me :) I didn't use the sentiment that came with the stamp, instead I retyped it, printed it out, punched it and then added some dots to match the scrap paper.

Here is a photo so you can see the dimension of the paste.

Close-up

Fun to do and super easy, it only takes a few hours to dry and if you are impatient you can heat dry, but be warned the effect is not as good if you heat dry.

Cx

Stripey bear...

Hi,

I really liked the I Love Promarkers theme again this week - #223 Stripes...I won last week, so won't be expecting that again this week :)

I decided to use a random stamp, that is not my usual style - I got it free with a magazine. I really really wanted to colour it!

I used stripey paper by American Crafts and Fancy Pants, the gems are from AC Moore. Promarkers used were - Cinnamon, Tan and Cocoa for the bear, Bright Orange for the flower centres and Gold for the petals.

The greeting was part of the stamp, but cut it out on its own using a SimonSaysStamp scalloped rectangle die.

Pretty happy with this little card, its cute!

Cx

Winning goodies...

Hi,

Happy Friday to you!

So a couple of weeks ago I won the May Sweepstakes on the Papercrafts Mag website.

This is my prize -

Goodies!!

What's in this bumper prize? Chalkboard 12x12 papers by DCWV, a pack of Chalk It Up papers and Gone Typo stickers by Hazel and Ruby, Stampin'Up markers, a white gel pen, a stampers big white pen by Faber Castell, some chalk markers and a modern calligraphy book. AMAZING!!!

Then...on Wednesday, I won the I Love Promarkers challenge and got 2 free digi Stamps from Doctor Digi..

Whoop whoop!

I saw a masking technique in the Modern Calligraphy book, that sparked an idea..

First I cut small rectangles of watercolour paper (thanks Mr & Mrs Nixon), then I masked off a portion of the paper. I stamped 2 different leaf stamps using Versamark and then heat embossed using white powder.

Heat embossed images

Sorry for the photos, I took them at night as I was working :) The brown shiny thing is my craft sheet, if you haven't got one of these get one, you'll see why next..

I then chose to use 2 different techniques for watercolour resist. The first one looks like this -

Watercolour resist technique 1

I dabbed 3 Ranger Distress inks on my sheet (Peeled Paint, Peacock Feathers, Spiced Marmalade), then I spritzed them with some water. Turning my paper so the embossed image faced down, I smooshed (its so a word) the paper into the inky water. You get some drips, but that's fine, its the variation in colour I wanted. I dried them using my heat tool. The best bit is you just take a wet wipe and wipe away all the inky mess off of the sheet!!

The next technique is less messy and you don't need the sheet really, but I like working on it.

Watercolour resist technique 2

For this technique I got out my watercolour palette and spritzed some water on the sheet, dabbed my brush in it and got to work. The colour is more even and you don't get a stripe in the middle of your masked area..

I decided not to clean up the messy masked area on the green ones and used it as a feature.

Here are the other 3 finished cards.

Watercolour resist cards

A fun Wednesday night celebration project. All the papers are by American Crafts and here are the other things I used.

Spiced Marmalade	Peeled Paint	Peacock Feathers	*Versamark WATERMARK Rubber Stamp Emboss Chalk Resist INK PAD
Technique Teusday Hello die	watercolour palette	Heat Gun	AC Stamps
Stampendous Embossing Powder White	Mini Mister	Inkssentials Craft Sheet

InLinkz.com

Have a great weekend everyone..I am planning on catching up with JT via Skype and my Dad so I can wish him a Happy Father's Day.

Cx

KennyK Blog Hop...

Hi,

Once again I am copying my buddy JT..she played along with the KennyK Anything Goes blog hop last week and now it is my turn..

I loved hopping through the DT blogs, such fun creations.

I decided to dig through my box that contains all the things I have coloured in, but haven't used yet. I came across Blonde Bomshell and an idea started to form.

I wanted the card to bit a bit funkier than the image would suggest..

So I used blue papers to co-ordinate with her dress. I stenciled in silver on the dark blue paper to grunge it a bit, the cloud paper is by Maybemej and the blue strip is just a scrap. I inked the edges of the image with a mini distress ink pad in Peacock Feathers blue. I deliberately inked onto the image a bit. I used a long sentiment stamp and stamped it randomly, so it kind of hung off of the edge. For the final touches I added glitterglue to her belt, earring and shoes and then popped some blue gems on.

I'm pretty pleased with my card..I have a recipient in mind..

Cx

Three stars...

Hi,

No WOYWW for me this week - I got in from Yoga at 10.30pm last night and was just too tired to write my post..

I haven't really been doing that many challenges lately..although you wouldn't believe that as I am entering 4 this week.

Since March, I have made myself only do the ones that I simply can't resist.

Retro Sketches is one of my fave challenge blogs and the current sketch #118 sparked an idea.

I am so pleased with my card, it feels really CAS - which I am a big fan of, but can't always manage..

The washi tape was a gift from JT as part of our $20 challenge last Thanksgiving. The hello die is new and by Technique Tuesday, it was part of the bonus shopping spree. I punched the stars from the same paper as the hello, using a EK Success mini punch.

I thought I should share something that made me smile whilst making this card. The white background paper is actually an old notecard. I had personalised stationery when we lived in London and as I am a paper fiend, I realised that the stock I'd chosen was perfect for cardmaking..waste not want not! I have been using them for months now and they are starting to run low..

I think I am going to send this card to my friend Steph, she is due a little note from me and the colours remind me of her.

Cx