Ally Pally ...

... or to give it it's full name, Alexandra Palace.  It's where the Big Stamp & Scrapbook Show is held and it's one of my favourite shows.  It's held in such a lovely building and there's lots of great things to buy too.  Although I only get to have a quick run round the other stalls at the end of the day.  The other best bit about Ally Pally is I always get to see friends.  This time I got to meet Lousette and Jackie for the first time and catch up with my great buddies, Mel, Gladys, Soo, Nets and SarahK.  Lots of hugs and smiles - thanks girls xxx

Off to London

I'm down in London for the weekend.  OK so it's for work but I know we'll have a great weekend too.  It started off well with lovely staff on the train.  I was meeting 2 of the girls in London but as they were delayed I took myself to Loch Fyne for my dinner.  It was fabulous and I had the pre-theatre menu - great value.  The people at the next table were lovely and I had a great chat with them.  It's so nice when that happens when you're eating alone.

Luckily the girls made it to the theatre just in time and I spent the next hour or so completely mesmorised.  We've been to see the Lion King and it's so inventive it blows your mind, plus music that you'll be singing for days.

Getting ready for crop

Our next Altrincham crop isn't until Saturday 17th April but I thought I'd get on top of things and prepare our classes for the day.

First up are a couple of layouts using this months class kit.  I loved playing with paper it adds a great dimension to any page.

I then made a set of cards with some of the off cuts.

For the afternoon project I've used some chipboard alphabet disks to make a really cute little happiness mini book.  So I used the in side letters on my first layout and the outer disks for this project - great value for money. 

I loved making these tiny little pages.  Rather than paint the chipboard I've used some Silver Spray and Sparkle.  It's a really quick and easy way to add a little bit of gliiter to any project.

Boys, Diamonds and Pretty Things

No Steve hasn't gone mad and lavished me with gifts!  Instead I've been making some cards for a couple of challenges!!  Is taking part in challegne blogs an addicition - if so I think I'm hooked!

First up is this weeks challenge for A Spoonful of Sugar, with the challenge of one for the boys.  Boys cards scare me!  So I've gone for bold colours and geometric shapes:

Secondly it's Daring Cardmakers with the challenge of diamonds.  I decided to use these great gems to add that bit of bling.  Lots of bits from a scrap-a-gogo kit plus some American Crafts stamps.  I love the chunky ribbon on this card. Bold but still elegant.

Last but definitely not least are some cards that I made for Allsorts challenge blog.  They're based on some over at PTI.  The stamps are PTI as are is the cardstock.  I loved making my own patterned paper.  Thanks for the challenge.

Another outing

What else would you do on Bank Holiday Monday other than go for a walk in the rain!  As we'd already planned to go for a walk, despite the weather we headed to Betws-y-Coed.  To be honest it wasn't that bad as we were in the trees for some of our adventure, and it was an adventure as we didn't quite go the way were supposed to!  The river was fast flowing and the waterfalls were fabulous to see.

We all got back in one piece and had to seek nourishment.  OK that's just an excuse for going for a snack at Tu Hwnt Ir Bont Tearooms.  I haven't been there for 15 years but it was as good as I remembered.  Some of the best scones I've ever tasted.

Easter Surprise

I love Easter surpises and here's one that I put together.  I used PTI Tags for Spring stamps - the little bunny is fabulous for easter.  I stamped the outer ring in lots of different colours and then the little bunny in chocolate brown.  As you can see, I'm not a tidy crafter!

I then used a circle punch to cut them out.

I then used my nestabilities to cut out the shapes from different colour polka dot papers.  from there it was an assembly job.  I stuck the shaped pieces directly onto the box and then used Collall glue (odourless 3D gel - it's great stuff) to attach the bunny panels.

The little tag at the top was made the same way

So what was in this lovely box ...

... just a little bit of chocolate!!  Hopefully that'll stop Stevie from pinching my chocolate for a week or two :)
I'm entering this project into Charisma Cardz Challenges, this week it was Animal Magic.  Not quite a rabbit out of a hat but there is a bunny!

Homework done?

So have I finished my homework (magazine work)?  Kind of!!  OK I've finished one lot, including the write up.  The second lot I've done the projects and just need to do the write up and work out which one will be the step-by-step. The third lot - does it count if it's planned in my head!  I've still got some time before the deadline, so I treated myself to a little creative time for me and made this little card for a wonderful friend of mine.

The stamps are Papertry Ink and the papers we're from a Scrap-a-gogo kit.

I'm entering this into the first ever challenge at Meljen's designs, with the theme of anything goes.  I'm yet to try digital stamping but it's definitely on my to try list and the stamps over there look fabulous.