Die Cutting Madness

Well I made it to the office today, in fact I was there before 9, which means a very early start!  I felt like I was packing forever, as I'm not home until Sunday.  As well as my clothes I had to pack lots of craft bits and pieces, ready for Craftaganza :)

Talking of Craftaganza, Kamala and I sat last night and became die cutting queens.  Prepping for 80 delegates takes some arm power but we're getting there.  Why did I think it was a good idea to use so many die cuts!!

I also have to tell you about my fabulous dinner tonight, pancakes made from rice and lentils filled with potato curry - I love you Kamala.

Here's a couple of little cards I've made.  How great is this for a teenager.  It was inspired by challenges at:

A Spoonful of Sugar - Anything Goes

Fab 'n' Funky - go with the flow

Supplies used:

Stamps - clearly hand stamped

Inks - versamark, distress inks black soot and barn door.

Spray and sparkle - iridescent

This card was inspired by the challenge at:

Papertake Weekly - cut it out

Supplies used:

Stamps - clearly hand stamped

Paper-  SWALK CD2

Punch - Martha Stewart doily lace

Colouring medium - Copic Ciaos

Right I'm off to bed to rest my winding arm as there's more die cutting to be done tomorrow.

Good night.

xxx

A very Manic Monday

The plan for today was finish off my class for Craftaganza , then pack and go up to the office for around lunchtime.  The realisation is that packing for a week, planning a class, normal day job and an emergency trip to Hobbycraft, takes most of the day, so I'm going up to the office in the morning!

Seeing as I'm up in the office for the rest of the week, this may be the last you here from me for a couple of days - I'm sure I heard one of you shout "hurrah"!!

The good news is that the 135 sheets of card that needing printing are done, now it's just all the die cutting that needs prepping but that's a job for tomorrow night and the night after that!

So before I disappear into the ether here's a quick card.  This one was inspired by the challenges at:

2 sketches 4 you - Laura's sketch #66

Quirky crafts - recipe, black, white and one more colour plus punches

Supplies used:

Stamps - clearly hand stamped

Card - watercolour card

Ink - distress ink, soot black and barn door

Right I'd better get to bed as I have an early start.

xxx

Enjoy the ride

As you know if you've popped over to my blog before I love living life to the full and today was no exception.  So I took Miss Jean off to her dance class and as it was in Manchester I hit the shops for an hour or two.  Whilst in Boots I was drawn to their Origins section and a lovely girl called Claire told me all about their products and even did a mini facial on me.  I'll definitely be back to buy a few bits, I left feeling very looked after.

I then managed to pick up a couple of scrapbooking bits and pieces in TK Maxx, I love a bargain :)  Then I went to meet my dancing friends after their class.  They were in the earth cafe.  It's a great find and definitely worth knowing about if ever you're in Manchester.  The staff are so friendly and helpful and the food leaves you feeling all wholesome, as well as being incredibly tasty.

I got to meet some new friends and hopefully I'll get to class soon.  The weekends go so fast though and it was soon time to say goodbye to friends returning to Reading, London and Scotland, but I'll see of you in Toulouse very soon.

So once home it was time to make a couple of cards.  This one was inspired by challenges at:

Crazy 4 challenges - circles

Card Patterns - sketch #91

Supplies used:

Stamps - Clearly hand stamped (3 birds)

Paper - CD SWALK 2

Die cuts - circle and circle lattice - Nestabilities

Colouring medium - Copic Ciao

I can't share the other cards with you just yet as they're for my class at Craftaganza, but I'll share them as soon as I can.

I hope you had even half as much fun as I did this weekend, because if you did, you had a blast!

xxx

Swinging Saturday

What a whirlwind of a weekend.  It's crop today and we've had a lovely day.  Myy sweet mincemeat muffins went down a treat and I'm under orders to make them again next month, not only for the girls but Jude's husband likes my muffins too!!

This months mini class was making little gift bags to fill with chocolates to send to a Christmas Fayre.  Here's the ones I made inspired by challenges at:

Sir Stampalot - Christmas Traditions

Saturday challenge - handmade gifts

Totally Gorjuss - not so tradtional Christmas

Supplies used:

Die - favour box 2 PTI

Ink - aqua mist, dark chocolate and ocean tides

Stamps - polka dot basics, fancy flourishes and just for you

So you probably thought it was a nice relaxing day, well it was but we had some excitement as Miss Jean came to crop before she went dancing, Judy brought her friend Nick along and Judith joined us.  Not only that we had a lovely visit from Sue and baby Chloe.  See what happens when you leave me on my own Gwyneth!!

It's lovely having my dancing friends in town and I met them after crop.  We went for dinner and found a great Italian that I didn't even know existed in Denton which is only a couple of minutes from home.  I had a baked pasta and aubergine dish - delicious.

Mel & Jo

Jacqui & Jean

After that it was a quick change before going dancing.  It was great to meet some of the people who go dancing in Manchester and it reminded me that I should try to go to some more local events.

xxx

Fabulous Friday

After a busy week at work it's great to have somefriends in the area this weekend.  So tonight I picked Miss Jean up from the train station and we've been out for dinner with my alter ego Scottish Jacqui.  We went up to the Red Lion at High Lane and as usual weren't disappointed.  I had breast of lamb with daupinoise potatoes, spiced chick peas and a roasted shallot - fabulous.

.We went up to the Red Lion at High Lane and as usual weren't disappointed. I had breast of lamb with daupinoise potatoes, spiced chick peas and a roasted shallot - fabulous.

 

For dessert, pavlova - yum!



Here's a card that was inspired by challenges at:

Chicken soup - recipe #21 - the pink got me going and the paint inspired the stamp sentiment with a glossy finish

Stamp Something - Thanks

Supplies used:

Stamps - Clearly hand stamped (3 birds)

Embossing powder - wow - sheena douglass

Flowers - pretty petals (3 birds)

Nestabilities

This second card was inspired by the challenge at:

Daring cardmakers - we three - I went for three panels

Supplies used:

Stamps - Clearly hand stamped (3 birds)
Embossing powder - wow - sheena douglass
Colouring medium - Copic Ciaos
What a fabulous start to the weekend.  I hope you have a great weekend too.
xxx

Muffin Tops

No not my muffin top, although it's creeping back!  But real muffins.  Tonight I've been baking and I've made mincemeat muffins.  Thank you so much to my lovely friend Debbie for the recipe and her advice whilst I was out shopping.  Yes she's on speed dial for when I'm making big decisions on sugar in Sainsburys!

I'm hoping the girls at crop on Saturday are going to like these:

I didn't add the frosting as I thought they might go soggy before Saturday, but they still passed my taste test.

Just one card to share with you today.  This one was inspired by the challenge at:

CRAFT - vellum - yes that really is vellum that I've printed on under the stamped flowers.

Suplies used:

Stamps - Clearly Hand stamped

Vellum

CD - SWALK - volume 2

Punch - Martha Stewart

xxx

Delivery Day

The postie has been 3 times today, OK one was only normal post, nothing exciting there, but number 2 was my Scrap-a-gogo greeting kit and number 3 was a delivery of gorgeous Papertrey Ink goodies.  A great start to the day, now all I need is some time to play with my new treasures!

More good news, I won the draw at Meljen Designs last week, so have 3 new digi stamps on their way - thanks girls.

I have a couple of cards to share with you today, this one was inspired by the challenge at:

Cupcake Craft Challenges - House Warming

  

Supplies used:

Clearly Hand Stamped Kit - 3 Birds/Crafter's Companion

Distress ink - broken china and black soot

Embossing folder - cuttlebug textile texture 

Ribbon and buttons - Papertrey Ink

Just one more for today.  This one was inspired by the challenge at:

Tuesday Taggers - Peace, love, joy

Supplies used:

Clearly Hand Stamped Kit - 3 Birds/Crafter's Companion

Distress ink - black soot

Patterned paper and ribbon slider - SWALK CD2

Can someone please sell me a couple of hours a day for the next week or so?

Thanks

xxx