Autumn Abundance

Another fabulous day here with Anna and the abundance is the food as well as the beautiful Autumn scenery.  So we started the day with fresh fruit and then crafting.  Then we popped out to lunch to The Wheatsheaf at Oaksey, another great find by Anna.  We started with the sharing platter, devils on horseback, ducks egg scotch egg, olives and home-made bread - yum.  Then we both had the beef roast dinner and everything that was served was perfect.  As we were full we left having dessert until we got back, but I'm sure it would have been delicious.

Here's what I made after we got back.  I was inspired by the front cover of a recent Papercrafts magazine and a card by Maile Belles and decided to have a play but went all pink.  The pinkness was inspired by the challenge at:

Stamp Something - Stamp something pink
Chicken Soup - recipe #18 - the patchwork effect is what inspired me.

Supplies used:

Card - Papertrey Ink

Ink - versamark

Embossing powder - clear

Stamps - fancy flourishes, round and round

This card was inspired by the challenge at:

Penny Black Saturday Challenge - zig zags - those butterflies are definitely zig zagging

Supplies used:

Card - Papertrey Ink

Ink - versamark

Embossing powder - clear

Stamps - Penny Black -  Butterflies and Happy Birthday

You know what I'm like when I like something, so here's a third card using the same technique.  I'm popping this one into the challenge at:

Card Patterns - sketch #88

The wording under the Sending You says "a hug with a fold in the middle"

Supplies used:

Card - Papertrey Ink

Ink - versamark

Embossing powder - clear

Stamps - Penny Black -  Rose, Papertrey Ink - Big & Bold Wishes

One last card for today, to wish you a Happy Halloween, inspired by the challenge at:
Totally Gorjuss - Spooky

Hope your day has been Spooktacular!

xxx

Adventures at Anna's

I'm spending the weekend with one of my favourite friends and doing what I love best, eating, drinking, gluing and sticking.  I arrived last night and have been having a blast ever since.  This morning I made a card for breast cancer,  I challenged myself to use no patterned paper, I'm not sure why I thought that would be fun, but hey!  The card was also inspired by challenges at:

CRAFT challenge - monochrome

PaperCutz - Breast cancer awareness

  

Supplies used:

Card - Papertrey ink

Die cuts - Slice Think Pink and basic elelments

Embossing folder - cuttlebug

Ribbon - Papertey ink

Then we popped out for a bit, lunch at Ruskin Mill, which is always yummy and wholesome.  Today it was broccoli and cheese pancakes.

After some retail therapy and a quick visit to see Nick, Anna's boyfriend we made it home just in time to set up our downstairs crafting space before we settled in for a night of Strictly Come Dancing, X-factor and Pierce Morgan.  I think this a my perfect craft space with an obligatory glass of Prosecco!

  

Our challenge tonight was to make cards for the Hucklow Christmas fayre.  As well as being a  great place for our scrapbooking weekends they also do some great work up there - Send a Child to Hucklow, so we thought we'd like to support them.  We found some very (and I mean very) old Create & Craft kits and just put them together.  It's quite satisfying to make over 80 cards between the of us.  Here's one set:

Right I'm off to bed now to get that extra hours sleep!
xxx

Papertrey October Blog Hop Challenge

Now I'm back at home and back at work I thought I'd make a card tonight for the Papertrey Ink Blog Hop.  I always mean to but the manage to miss it, so hopefully I'm in time this month!  The card is based on one of Dawn McVey's that I cased for a recent challenge.  I love the structure of it so much I've made it in several guises over the last week.  The challenge was to make a non-Christmas holiday card, so I played safe and went with Happy Holidays and a snowflake image.

Supplies used - all PTI:

Stamps - sign language and polka dot basics II

Card - ocean tides, black, white

Ribbon - ocean tides

Ink - ocean tides and true black

So I'm off to finish some magazine work, that needs to go in the post tomorrow, so I must dash.

xxx

Splendid Spa

We spent the day in the spa today, with a mud treatment and then sauna, aromatherapy cave, ice cane, Hannam sauna and plenty of relaxing.  We then had our manicures.   I'd had a mini pedicure yesterday, so I had my fingernails painted to match my toes.  I remembered the name as it was magical merlot!

The only thing needed to finish off our weekend was a cream tea and look how fabulous it was.

They do little vignettes around the hotel and the girls who did them were really good and stayed in character wherever they were.

There are peacocks in the grounds.

So we then had to wave goodbye to Thorseby Hall.  We've had a wonderful weekend and think we'll plan another trip back there at some point.
xxx

A day of adventures

I'm loving it at the Hall.  Any day that starts with almost anything you want for breakfast, cooked for you and no washing up is going to bring a smile to my face.  We then decided to walk off some of the excesses and got a map from reception and went on a treasure hunt.  It was great as we  got to see things we might not have noticed or seen if we'd have just gone for a wander.

The Woods

How cute are these cottages on the estate?

The estate church, very charming.

The Hall from the grounds.

For dinner we were lucky enough to eat in the Blue Room.  It's beautiful and so was the food. 

I started with pork belly with scallops.

Then I had the fillet steak - delicious.

Rather than dessert I went for the cheese board and it was a great choice, especially teamed with a glass of port!

You'd think that would be enough for one day but no the adventure continued.  Gwyneth and I headed to the entertainment and tonight it was a great group called the Soundations.  So good we got up and danced and even made some new friends on the dance floor.  No names just dancing and laughing!  It must have been a good night as I managed a Charleston and even some contemporary dance - I blame the port and watching Strictly Come Dancing before going to dinner!

Last but not least for today is one of the cards that I eventually got finished.  I'm popping this into the challenge at:

Allsorts - spots and stripes

Totally Gorjuss - sparkle

Supplies used, all PTI:
Stamps - enjoy the ride
Ink - true black
Patterned paper - going green

Well that's enough adventures for one day.
xxx

Off to Thorseby Hall

Today Gwyneth and I are off to Thorseby Hall in Nottinghamshire.  We were due to be on a scrapbooking weekend but as that was cancelled we decided to treat and pamper ourselves instead.  Thorseby Hall is definitely a place for feeling special.  We stayed in an historic room in the older part of the building and it was huge and totally fabulous.  We loved the Nespresso coffee machine that we had in the room.

Here's the Great Hall, it's massive and breath taking.

Thorseby Hall - yes this is really where we were staying.

We ate in the Italian restaurant this evening and the food was delicious and our server was a real sweetie - thanks Chloe.

After dinner we went to watch the entertainment but left after the quiz.  So time for a lite bit of cardmaking before bedtime.  I'd taken supplies with me to make batches of cards and here's my cute little car production line.

Well if my weekend continues the way it's started then I'm going to be one very happy bunny.  I hope you have a great weekend too.

xxx

Last SWALK Sneak Peek

As tomorrow is launch day here's my last sneak peek. and I've got two cards to share with you today.  This one was inspired by challenges at:
Cardvaarks - decorated inside and out
Papertake Weekly - sketch #49
Meljen's Designs - anything goes

Here's the matching inside of my card.

Supplies used:

Patterned papers - SWALK CD volume 2

Stamp - thinking of you

Copics Ciaos:

Faces - E000, E21, RV10

Hair - Y00, Y21, Y31, E31, E33, E35, E37

Dress - YR20, YR16

Overalls - B24, B12, R37, R39

Sign - E43, E47, E49

Background - YG11, BG10

This baby card was inspired by challenges at:

Totally Gorjuss - Pink

Inspirational Card Sketches - sketch #88

Allsorts - bingo - buttons, flowers, stickles

Just inspirational - sketch #17

Supplies used:
Patterned papers and flowers - SWALK CD volume 2
Stamp - special little personCopics Ciaos:
Face - E000, E21, RV10
Hair - Y21, Y31
Basket - E51, E53, E57
Blanket and ribbon - R11, R20, R32, RV000
Stickles - stardust


Yesterday I got asked how I'd made my ribbon ruffle, so I thought I share some step by steps.
First get some ribbon and a needle and thread.  As I couldn't find my threads I actually used some twine!

Sew through the ribbon, don't worry about the spacing too much.

Make sure there's still thread at one end and push the ribbon over the thread to ruffle it up.

I then attached it to the patterned panels as I would normally attach ribbon, with some double sided tape on the back of the panel.  Remember to stick down the thread as well as the ribbon as you don't want your ruffle to undo.  I then covered the ribbon with a scalloped panel to match the panel on my gatefold. 

I hope this makes sense and helps, if you have any other questions then just leave me a comment.

Other big news is that at Crafter's Companion have got the most fabulous card for stamping and colouring with your alcohol pens, such as Copics and Promarkers, it’s called Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, its 216gsm, is ultra ultra smooth, and PERFECT for seamless blending. Even better than that its only £3.99 per pack for 20 sheets – trust me, if you love your promarkers and copics – you need it!  I'm loving it and I know the rest of our design team our too.

xxx

Another SWALK sneak peek

I'm happy to share with you today another couple of SWALK sneak peeks.  I love the fact that these two cards are so different.  That's what I love about stamping, the versatility it gives you.  So first up I've gone totally minimalist, apart from the ribbon which I'm loving the ruched effect.  This card was inspired by challenges at:

Just Us Girls - black, cream and kraft

Tuesday Taggers - nursery rhymes, Little Polly Flinders

Sweet Stampin' Challenges - ribbons

Supplies used:

Stamp - SWALK with sympathy

Ink - black soot distress ink

Cardstock - white, kraft, black

Embossing folder - cuttlebug swiss dots

Ribbon - cream satin

To soften the image I just went over the stamped image with a nearly dry waterbrush.

This next card has a bit more colour in it and I have the gorgeous and immensely talented Glittery KT to thank for the colouring in of the stamped image.  Yet another reason I love going away with friends for the weekend!

This card was inspired the challenge at:

Quirky Crafts - sketch

One stitch at a time - embellish it - i chose gems

Supplies used:

Patterned paper - CD SWALK volume 2

Stamp - SWALK engaged

Copics

Thanks for popping by.  I hope you're loving this new range as much as I am.  It was also great to Sheena on TV this morning with her new range.  When I get 5 minutes I'll be having a play with her gorgeous new stamps.  In the meantime I have just one more quick card for you, with inspiration from:
Stampin' for the weekend - Halloween
Stamp something - Halloween
Chicken soup - recipe #16
Creative Inspirations - Halloween/Fall
Stamp with fun - Halloween
A Spoonful of sugar - Halloween
A Passion for Papertrey - CASE challenge - I cased a card from the lovely Dawn McVey and I'm loving it so much I'm going to make a few in different colours this weekend.

Here's Dawns' card

And here's mine

Supplies used:
Card - PTI orange zest, true black, white
Ink - PTI orange zest and true black
Punch - Stampin' Up

I must remember to buy deicer as it's a little frosty here this morning.  I'm glad I'm not going anywhere and instead will get writing a newsletter.
Have a good day.
xxx

SWALK sneak peek

I love the excitement in the build up to a launch and I love sharing with you sneak peeks of what's coming in the launch.  Today the card I'm sharing with you features the Dad stamp and it just makes me giggle.  The inspiration for the card came from the following challenges:

Just inspirational - stamped image
Card Patterns - sketch 86
Paper Cutz Challenge - anything goes
CPS - sketch #189

Supplies used:
Patterned papers - SWALK CD - volume 2
Stamp - SWALK
Ink - memento black
Copics:
Face - E00, E21, RV10
Hair - Y11, YR31, Y21 and E31, E33, E35, E37
Overalls - B23, B24, B32, B39
Dress - V00, V12, V15
Grass - YG11, G21
Sky - BG10

Please pop back tomorrow to see some sneak peeks from the new SWALK range.  Also don't forget the blog hop we've got going on this week, see my post below or pop over to The Crafter's Companion News, Views and Inspiration Blog.

As for what else is going on in my life, a trip to the supermarket is well overdue (and not happening tonight), so I'm guessing it'll be something out of a packet for dinner tonight!
xxx

Crafter's Companion Blog Hop

Hello and Welcome to the Crafter’s Companion Blog Hop to Celebrate the Release of the second SWALK collection.

If you have landed here from Wendy's Blog then you are hopping in the right direction.  If not then you need to pop over to the Crafter's Companion News, Views and Inspirations Blog to begin.

 As a design team we've had a great time creating with the New SWALK Collection from Crafter’s Companion and to celebrate the Launch of this Stunning new collection on Friday 22^nd October we have decided to give you a chance to see some Sneak Peeks and also have the chance of winning a fabulous Prize:

A £50 GIFT VOUCHER FOR THE CRAFTER’S COMPANION WEBSITE

All you need to do to be in with a chance of winning this great prize is visit each blog in order and leave your link on Mr Linky on the Crafter’s Companion News Views and Inspiration Blog which is your last stop on the HOP.  Along the way you will notice that  each Blog will give you a letter make a note of these as they will make a word which we will ask you for if your number is drawn by Random.Org on Friday 22^nd October .  PLEASE DO NOT TELL US WHAT THE WORD IS ON THE CC NEWS VIEWS AND INSPIRATION BLOG , WE WILL E-MAIL YOU FOR THE ANSWER IF YOUR MR LINKY NUMBER IS DRAWN.

Here's my card:

and a matching inside too.

Here's the bits and pieces I've used:

Backing papers, border and flowers - SWALK CD collection 2, printed on to satin finish paper

SWALK stamp - sister

Nestabilities

Buttons

Copics used:

Faces - E000, E21, RV10

Hair - YR31, Y21, E04, E08

Pink outfit - RV20, RV13, RV21, RV29

Green outfit - YG11, YG23

My Letter is A and Your next port of call is Marianne.

Thanks very much for hopping by and enjoy the rest of the inspiration.

Hucklow

As always we've had a fabulous weekend up at Hucklow.  We get to play with paper and glue all weekend, and in between we get fed with great food, although there was no treacle tart this time, but the chocolate pudding wasn't a bad substitute!

I managed to get a full 20 page scrapbook done, nice simple pages but it was great to get our Florida photos scrapped.

Gwyneth taught a great class on making felt flower brooches.  I also made the note pade holder and matching pencil from Nichole Heady's blog but as we gave them away as presents to the girls who look after us there, I have no photos - doh!  I'll have to make another one now.

I'll pop some piccies up of the scrapbook pages up later this week, if I get 5 minutes, in the meantime here's some of the girls I got to share my weekend with.

Judy, Gwyneth and Me

Lovely Archi and me

Naughty KT pulling faces!

 

And we can't forget the other girls, Anna (see you in 2 weeks :) ), Elaine, Lynda, Shirley and our newest member of our crop, Judith.

I've going to be another busy week as there's lots going on at work (wink, wink), so pop by tomorrow for some exciting news.

It's lovely to be back to my blog, I've missed my little bit of cyberspace.

xxx