Doodle Dragon Card and New Year Thoughts

Firstly I just want to wish all of you out there a happy and healthy new year.

Since I started card making nearly a year ago I have made some of the best friends I have ever had.

My biggest find on the net was the website UKScrappers.  Its filled with some of the most wonderful, kind and generous people around.  Through UKS I have joined a circle journal group, joined a points collecting team which I have now taken leadership of and I've just done a stocking swap.

I've found out I'm a stampaholic both in the physical and digital formats.  I've joined the Tiddly Inks Papercraftplanet group and through that have made friends all across the globe.

Of all the craft stash I have gained over the past year I think my favourites are my new set of copic ciao's, my craft robo and my stamps.  My favourite stamp companies are Lili of the Valley, Doodle dragon studios and Tiddly Inks.  Its very rare I go a few days without colouring on of their images.

And that leads me onto my card I'm showing you today.

I made this card today for my husband Mike, for no other reason than I love him.

The image is one from my large collection of doodle dragon images, he's called squirrel 2.

He's coloured with my copic's and the papers are just from my scrap bag.

I hope you like him and he's made you smile.

Lot's of Love n Hugs,

H xx

Ps : if you have a cricut expression you no longer use and you are interested in selling it please drop me a line.

Its been so long since I've blogged....

For those that didn't know, I went to Egypt on the 3rd of this month for a wonderful 11 night holiday.

The hotel we went to in Sharm was The Reef Oasis Blue Bay resort.  Heres a link to the hotel on trip advisor.

Unfortunately our trip also coincided with the shark attacks and so the sea was out of bounds for our whole trip.

Everyone has asked if we saw the shark when we were there.  Well we did.  The day the shark killed the woman swimming, we were in the restaurant that looks across the sea and saw something very large thrashing around just out to sea.  A short time after the military boat went along the beach-front.  We later learned the woman was attacked just 2 hotels up from ours, so we are pretty certain that it was the shark we saw.

I am obsessed with photographing sunsets, and around 75% of our holiday photos are sunsets.  Here are just a few :

As well as having a very relaxing holiday we also meet a great couple who really made a holiday a much more fun time.  Though how we took 40 minutes to walk the 5 minute walk to our room on our last night, or should I say last morning.  We left the lobby at 12.50am (i have photographic proof of the time as we had a few to drink) and arrived at our block at 1.30am.  We spoke to them on skype on Christmas day and we are planning to meet up around my birthday.

Today has been a good crafting goodies day.  This morning Mike took me to the range to check out their sale.  I got a pad of s25 a5 christmas vellum in gold and in silver £1 each, an xcut reindeer silhouette punch for £2.95, an embossing stencil saying silent night for £1.99 and a pack of brads for £1.

I also got 2 packs of glittered gold snowflake tree decorations at half price from wilkinsons which will look great on cards.

I also got my stocking from the stocking swap I was a member of UKScrappers.  There were lots of gifts but I think my favourite was either the stickles or the the charms.

Hopefully I will be able to get back to crafting after a little new years party.

I'm currently getting bits n pieces together to do a blog candy that will run for 2 weeks with the winner being drawn on my birthday on the 1st February.  I hope you all join in.

Lili of the Valley Challenge 77 – a sketch by Dena

My entry for the latest challenge over on the Lili of the Valley challenge blog. is not a card this time, its a note card holder that I have made for my husbands Grandma's for Christmas.

Here is the sketch:

And here are the note card holders I made:

Sorry the photos not too great, it was taken in a rush.

I bought one of those notecard thingies that come in a plastic holder, and split the notecards into 4, with 2 lots for each holder.  

I have used the sketch for the cover of my holders and have used a jewelled brad instead of a sentiment.

The fairy is coloured using my copics.  The holder is secured together with a piece of pink voile ribbon.

If you have been wondering why I havn't been blogging much, its because I have been enjoying the sun in Egypt.  The holiday was amazing and I had blog posting scheduled while I was away, and have so very busy since coming home 8 days ago that this is my first chance to blog anything.

If I'm unable to post again before Christmas, can I take this opportunity to wish you all a very merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year,

H xx   

The clipart fairy

The other whilst shopping on bury market I bought a cd rom from the craft stall.

I don't normally use cd roms but loved the Christmas examples they had on show so thought I'd give it a try.

Well I love this cd and can't help but keep making more and more cards from it.

This is the cd I bought, Book a easel cd.

If you go to this page  you can see lots of examples of the cards you can make from the cd.

Some are ready to print and others are interactive so you can add names, photos or other clipart images.

I think this is my favourite card so far

I forgot to take a photo of my completed card so this one is off her website.

Also if like you love digi stamps then check her out here, they are also the cheapest I have seen.

Antway, hope you are all on the way to being ready for Christmas, I'm not 

H xx

More copic classes

One of my friends over on Paper Craft Planet told me about a great website that has free copic tutorials as well as classes that you pay for.

Her blog address is http://scrapbitz.blogspot.com/ and her copic classes can be found at http://scrapbitzcopics.ning.com/

Apparently her class are brilliant and you learn loads so once I have gone through her video's I may give her classes a try.  If I do I'll let you know how I get on.

I will hopefully have some cards to share with you all soon but at the moment Christmas shopping is taking up all my time,

H xx

Copic Classes over on Simplyscrappingcrafts.ning

Today I don't have any cards to show so I thought I'd tell you about some free copic classes I found out about off a friend form the states.

If you click here you will be taken to a page that has all the details.  The class has already started but you may still be able to join in and catch up.

I'm hoping to be able to concentrate more on learning all about my copic ciao's after Christmas.

Short and sweet today, as life keeps getting in the way of crafting!!

H xx

C.C designs first birthday card

When I was asked to do a little girls first birthday card I knew straight away the image I was going to use.

Sorry for the poor picture, I had to use my iphone.

The image is called Lil' bug emma.  I had to put a nose and smiley mouth on her as my MIL doesn't like them with no mouths.

I have coloured her with my copics and have added glamour dust to make her wings sparkle.

The fancy bow was made with my amazing bow easy.  If like me you are rubbish at bows then get yourself one of these.  The wording was done on my craft robo in Sakura stardust pens and the card is finished off with my usual card candy.

H xx

Doodle Dragon Studio New Baby cards

If you read my blog at all last week you would have read about the amazing sale on over at Doodle Dragon Studio's.

Well when I was asked to do 2 cards for the birth of 2 different baby boys, I couldn't believe how few digi baby images there are around.  Luckily there was one in the bundle dustin had in the sale so I coloured the images in the same but wanted the cards to look different.

Here are the cards :

I love colouring Dustin's images in, they are just a joy to do.

I used the following copic's : G00,Y17,B05,B60,B32,C1,G02 and YR20.

Both the images are doodled around with my blue sakura stardust pen.

Thanks for dropping by,

H xx

Lili of the Valley Get Well Card

My bset friend Mandy's mum is in hospital at the moment, so I made this card for her.

The image is Get Well Bunny and this is the first time I've coloured him.

I used my new copic ciao's to colour him.  The PP is by dove craft I think.  The embossing folder used is my all time favourite, D'vine swirls by cuttlebug and the punch is the MS double loops punch.

Thanks for stopping by,

H xx

Candy cane mice

I have two favourite blogs, Its all fiddle fart and A day in the life of a craft fairy.

Both have excellent gift idea's at the moment, so well worth popping over to see whats going on.

The other day Helen over on fiddle fart showed some amazing candy cane mice.

Well I just had to have a go, and here are 2 of my little critters.

Hope you like them.  The candy canes are from Aldi, think they are 89p for 12, and the googly eyes are from wilkinsons, 99p for for over 2 pairs in 2 sizes,

Keep warm if you are out in the snow,

H xx

Blog Candy in memory of Amanda Mary

This blog candy is done in the memory of my good friend and UKScrappers team mate Amanda Mary.

I have only just found out about it, so sorry it only gives you a few hours to enter.

There is a huge amount up for grabs, for full details please click here.

A mix of crafting goodies from Marion (no blog)

A brand new pack of 100 sheets of Bazzill premium cardstock donated by Karen over at "Karens World" who is a brand new Stampin up demonstrator you can find her here

All these exciting goodies from June over atDezinaworld 

as well as $10.00 worth of printable images from Junes shop (the winner will get them via email and just need to print )  she has a smashing selection of collage sheets for mixed media, decoupage, altered art, scrapbooking, jewellery and more for sale please go over and have a look x you wont be disappointed x

Look at what lovely Lorraine over at Lorraines creationshas donated: See end of post for full list x

And 50 sheets of 8x8 design papers by Amanda over atCrafty Creations by AJ

And 2 sheets of personalised printed labels donated by me (Leigh)

   

 6 new sheets of Forever Friends Christmas Decoupage in the original packets by Maureen over at "Maureens den" here 

And these sheets of Christmas embellisment papers from Tina over at Tinas haven here

Hugs

H xx

Doodle Dragon Christmas Cards

If you popped by on Wednesday, you would have seen three circles with Dustin's cute wreaths on them.

Well today I have made them into three Christmas cards for my relatives in Perth, Western Australia.

I used the sketch from this weeks challenge over on the Lili Of The Valley blog.

The images are coloured with promarkers, sorry I don't know the makes of the papers.

I used my gorgeous Martha Stewart snowflake punch and one of my new Lili of the Valley sentiment circle stamps.  The bows are made using my bow-easy.

Hope you all have a fun and creative weekend,

H xx

Whats on your workdesk? Wednesday 77

Just a quick post today.  Here's what's on my desk tonight.

These images are some of collection of Dustin Pikes digi stamps.

Dont forget the sale starts over on doodle dragon studio tomorrow.

You can check out Dustin Pike's blog here and his digi shop here.
Have a great thanksgiving all those in America,
Hugs
H xx

Doodle Dragon Studio - Thanksgiving Blow-out Sale

If you use digi stamps, normal stamp or just love colouring then you really need to head over to Doodle Dragon Studio on Thursday to get the best deal ever.

On Thursday Dustin has 904 digi stamps up for sale for just $30 which is about £19.

On Sunday he was asking for guinea pigs to test that all the downloading areas are set up properly.

I jumped at the chance to get my digi's early and now have the dilemma of choosing which ones to print and colour first.

Along with some of the best digi stamps around there are also a selection of coloured images to help out when you need something in a hurry.

Click here to see all the images you get for just $30 and I'm sure you'll agree with me in saying this is the best deal going.

Dustin also has a great blog and offers freebies nearly every week.

You can find his blog here.

Hugs

H xx

Sketch Saturday - Week 130

Here is my final sketch challenge entry. Its from Sketch Saturday.

The sketch :

And here is the card:

This digi stamp is from Karens doodles.

Its called I didn't do it.

The dog (Max) is coloured with my copic ciao's E33,35,37 and the rest of the image is coloured with my promarkers.

The punch used is my Martha Stewart Double Loops punch and patterned paper is from Creative Imaginations and is called Doggie Bone.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out Mike's birthday cards.

Today I found out I had won some stamps from A Crafty Kind of Truffle.

She as another set up for grabs now.

This has spured me onto offering some blog candy next week.

I enter lots of competitions and one of my recent wins was some fiskars scissors.

I have lots of pairs of scissors so one day next week I will be offering 2 pairs as blog candy.

It will be open to uk residents only as money is tight so can't afford to send abroard, sorry.

Keep checking back next week for your chance to win.

H xx

Cute Card Thursday - Challenge 139 A sketch by Susan

Cute Card Thursday have a sketch for you to use this week.

This card is for Mike off his Grandma.

If I was more organised I'd be able to tell you where this really cute digi stamp came from, but turns out I am very un-organised.

The image is coloured in with a mixture of copic ciao's and promarkers.  The patterned paper is from Bo Bunny and is called persuasion dot.

I have them dotted around the image and the turquoise papers with my sakura blue star dust pen.

I think this is my favourite card I have done for Mike.

Lord Have Mercy Tuesday Sketch Challenge #100

Turns out I'm a bit late with this sketch as it starts on a tuesday and ends on a sunday, so its already closed but never mind, here it is anyway.

The sketch is from Lord have Mercy's blog.

And here is the card I made for Mike's sister to give to him.

Mike's team is Rochdale AFC so I could only use blues on this card.

The image is one of my many Lili of the Valley stamps called Football Crazy and is coloured in with promarkers.

I used a sizzix embossing folder called snowballs I think on the dark blue card.

The other card, ribbon and card candy are from my stash.

Friday Sketchers Challenge

Friday Sketch #129 sponsored by Sunshine & Giggle Stamps

Well I finally got my bum in gear and finished the other 4 cards for Mikes birthday.

All are entered into 4 different sketch challenges.

This is the sketch for Mikes birthday card off his Mum & Dad.

And here is the card :

The dog is coloured in using my new copic ciao's E33,35,37.

The patterned paper in the background is from creative imaginations and is called paws.

The sentiment is from the new lili of the valley sentiment circle sets.

The other coloured card is from my stash and the card is finished with my favourite, card candy.

Mikes birthday card

I am such a bad blogger.

Life has been getting n the way of my crafting and I'm so missing my challenges.

Hopefully I can back in the swing back of things and get some challenge cards done this coming week.

Next week is Mikes 33rd birthday and so I made him the this doggy card.

I used a template from The House of Zandra.

I cut the dog aka Max, in cream card and them I sponged gingernut chalk ink around the edges.

Talking of Max, this week both Max and Zara have been to the vets for skin problems which resulted in Max having all his hairs shaved from his neck and Zara having the side of her face shaved.  They both had to have 2 injections, take 2 tablets twice daily and medicated baths every two days.

Thanks for stopping by, and I really appreciate all your lovely comments,

Hope that you drop by again,

H xx

Lili of the Valley Challenge 73 and a Blog Hop

Challenge 73 and a Blog Hop

This weeks theme over on the Lili of the Valley challenge blog the theme this week is "Anything Goes", as long as you use a lili of the valley image.  They are also having a blog hop to celebrate the launch of their new stamps which went on sale on Friday.  I must have been one of the first to place my order as I really wanted their new sentiment circles stamps and a few of the new girl images, so my order was placed at about 1am Friday morning.

This morning  I received a lovely parcel from my good friend Marion from Greece.  She sent me some foiled sentiments and some gorgeous charms amongst other things.  

I knew I had to start playing straight away and decided to use them on a wedding card I needed to get done for another good friend who is getting married next Saturday.

The image I have used is called Wedding Couple.  They are coloured with a mix of promarkers and copic ciao's.  The patterned paper is from papermania.  The white glittered card has been punched with my Martha Stewart double loop punch.

The card is finished off with 3 card candy and  Marion's foiled sentiment and charm.

This image is the first one I have coloured with my copic ciao's.  I found them very easy to use and I thought they blend easier than promarkers.

Tomorrow I go on my Introduction to copic ciao's run by Stamps and Memories.

I will hopefully do a full review of my day tomorrow.

Now nip on over to Lili of the Valley and check out their wonderful new stamps,

Hugs

H xx

Blog Candy

Sorry I haven't been on for quite a while, been busy organising my new craft space and making my nw ikea drawers.

I follow quite a few blogs daily and one of my favourites has some blog candy up for grabs.

So pop over to Terri's blog and have a look at all the wonderful goodies shes been making for the brownies christmas fair. 

Hugs

H xx

Doodle Dragon Studio & Sketch Saturday Challenge card

This Monday it will be my big brothers birthday.  I wanted to use a fun image so I chose a doodle dragon image that was a freebie I think a while ago.  

I used this weeks sketch over on Sketch Saturday

Here's the sketch

Also the challenge over on Doodle Dragon Studio challenge blog. is Anything Goes.

The current challenge is to make anything your little heart desires, so long as you use a Doodle Dragon Studios image! ANYTHING GOES!  Grab up your DDS images and make a card, layout, treat container, home decor...anything you can imagine.  

Here's my card :

The image is coloured with my trusty promarkers.  The patterned paper is from a DCWV stack but I can't remember which one.

Thanks for dropping by off to walk the dogs then back for a drink or two with my MIL.

Hugs

H xx

Tiddly Inks blog candy

This blog candy has a bit of everything:

3 sets of acrylic stamps, stacks of paper, cardboard, bits and pieces of goodies, mirrors and magnets, some cardstock and envelopes, a few finished cards and most important a CD of Tiddly Inks images worth $50....you pick the ones you want up to $50. :) Wahooooo!!!!

Read more: http://tiddlyinks.blogspot.com/2010/10/blog-candy-continued.html#ixzz14FxGBDiK

You will have to be quick to get in on your chance to win,

H XX

Lili of the Valley Challenge Card - Challenge 71

This week we have another of Bevs Brilliant Sketches for you to follow.    Laila and Lisa have kindly donated a £10 voucher to be spent on the Lili of the Valley website as this weeks Prize for one lucky entry to be drawn at random.

To be entered for the prize you must use a Lili of the Valley Stamp  or Diecut Image on your creation,  please leave a link back direct to your card and not just your blog in Mr Linky below, we will still be pleased to see your entries using other stamps but they will not be entered for the prize.   Don’t forget this challenge will close at 6pm Wednesday 3rd November.

I needed to make a birthday card for my brothers birthday off my parents and loved this image so much I just had to use it.

The image is called Lazy Afternoon and you can find it here or as part of the Boy Oh Boy A5 stamp sheet here.  I've coloured him with my promarkers and used one of the sentiments off the A5 sheet aswell.
I don't know the make of this paper but its just perfect for this image.  The border punch is the Martha Stewart Double Loops punch and I've finished it off with 3 blue card candy.
I've recently lost my craft mojo but doing this card by following Bev's sketch has given me the kick start I needed.

Thanks for dropping by,
H xx

Tractor Birthday Card

Last week I was asked to make a birthday card for a 2 year old featuring either a tractor or a digger.

My friend kindly lent me the new Stamposaurus tractor stamp that was just perfect.

The tractor is coloured with promarkers and is mounted on red corrugated card and then on red leather effect card that I embossed with the sizzix big dots embossing folder.

The sentiment is wrote with my craft robo using a sakura red stardust pen.

I just finished the card off with red card candy.

Hopefully the second photo with show the texture off better.

I also found out today I won Suzi's 12 days of halloween fat book, which was up for grabs this last weekend during the tiddly inks blog hop.

You can check out her blog here.

Hugs

 H xx

"Trick or Treating with Tiddly Inks and Simply Betty Stamps."

Time for a blog hop.

My favourite digi stamps Tiddly Inks are having a joint blog hop with Simply Betty Stamps.

To join in the blog hop you need to create your blog post using a trick (a technique) or a treat (a gorgeous card)

Unfortunately I am having big printer problems so could not print any images and I didn't have any spooky images already printed out so my entry is slightly different.

I've used a really cute Tiddly Ink image and have used her as the front cover of a notebook I have made as a "treat" for my very good, but very mad friend, Mandy.

Although Mandy has owned her craft robo for 6 years she hasn't managed to get her head round it and resigned it to the corner of her room where old machines go to do. Awwww.

So I have been helping her get started and thought she could do with a notebook so she can keep track of machine settings, favourite settings etc and here it is :

Hopefully this photo shows off her glittery boots better.

The image I've used is called Everyday Princess and can be found here

She has been coloured with promarkers and sakura stardust pens for extra sparkle. I have added orange and blue gems for her crown and thing she's holding in her hand, sorry can't remember its name.

Don't know what the PP is sorry.  The notebook was made using my wonderful Cinch, which is so easy to use I haven't read the instructions. 

Hope you enjoy the blog hop and find lots of wonderful things as you wander around.

I will be wandering around everyones blogs tomorrow as the time difference means I will be in bed when it all kicks off.
If you have found yourself here from somewhere other than the blog hop, then hop on over to Simply Betty Stamps blog and check out all the lovely blogs

Hugs

H xx

What's on your workdesk wednesday & my latest circle journal entry

Evening everyone.  After having a big argument with my printer I got some photos printed off for this months circle journal entry.  Not as good a quality as I would have liked but at least it printed some photos.

This months circle journal is called Countryside Seasons.  We have to show our local countryside in our favourite season.

My photos are of Crimble, where I walk my dogs, in the winter.

I think the PP is a dovecraft one, the large snowflakes are punched on my Xcut cut & emboss snowflake punch and the small ones are cut using my Martha Stewart snowflake corner punch.

The lettering was cut on my robo using the snap ITC font.

The journalling was also wrote by my robo and thought it probably doesn't show I used my robo to draw a snowflake using my clear sakura stardust pen.

The photograph doesn't do my layout justice it looks much better in real life.

Now onto my untidy desk.

The grey washbag actually holds my sakura pens.  The box next to my cj layout is my precious self adhesive gems box.  I love gems and sparkle.  The rectangle box infront of my cj is my box of loose gems.

Before you all start thinking I've taken to drinking, what looks like a jack daniels label next to my sloping desk is not actually a bottle of jack daniels its a neoprene glass holder so you're hands don't get cold on the iced drink.  I use for a camera case as we havn't got round to buying a case for it.

Anything else you want to know, just ask.

Have a good evening,

Hugs

H xx

In Memory of Amanda Mary

On the 13th of October this year a very good friend of mine from UKScrappers passed away.

 Lisa aka 3peaches thought it would be nice if people wanted to make a 6x6 page and she will gladly compile and bind them into a book and send it to her husband and sons so they know how much the people that knew her thru ukscrappers thought of her...

Here is my page : 

Amanda was our team leader, of our Crafty Foxes points collecting team on UKScrappers.

She loved Gorjuss girls so I thought I'd keep it simple and combine both the gorjuss girl, a fox and her favourite colour, purple.

I will post it off tomorrow.

Hugs

H xx 

My new craft area - at last

Sorry I've been AWOL these past few days but I've been sorting out my craft area.

I won a great desk on ebay last week for £9.99!!! Its in great condition and really big.  My lovely Dad went and collected it with me in the centre of Manchester with the landrover and cattle trailer.  Not the ideal vehicle for the city centre and then on Saturday we went out with the landrover and trailer and collected my other ebay bargain of an Ikea expedit unit.

All I'm missing now is my drawers which will go next to the unit in the corner.  Hoping to go and get them this weekend, fingers crossed.

I've also been putting some bits and pieces on ebay.  You can find my stuff here.

I also managed to install my craft robo onto my netbook so there will be no more traipsing up and downstairs when I forget that vital something. 

Today was my good friends funeral.  Amanda Mary will be greatly missed but not forgotton.

RIP Amanda.

Off now to find the invite button on UKScrappers to invite some new members to join us.

Hugs

H xx

Whats on your workdesk? Wednesday 69

Well what a mess.......

I don't know what's going on but there's not enough hours in the day.  Tomorrow it is my turn to host our crop and I am on the last minute again.  

On my desk you can see my printed and heat embossed tiddly inks images.  These will be on one of the cards tomorrow.

To the right of the coloured image you can see my new tidy pot that my wonderful Dad carved for me this week.

Talking of my Dad, today he took me into Manchester city centre to collect my bargain desk I won on ebay.  Haven't seen it properly yet as I had to stay with the landrover while the desk was loaded into the cattle trailer.

I've also sold my corner settee and will have enough money to get my ikea expedit 5x5 unit and the alex drawers.  I can't wait to get my craft area set up.

Off to watch tv and cuddle my doggies.

Hugs to everyone and thanks for dropping on by,

H xx

Sketch Saturday - Week 25 Challenge Card using a Tiddly Inks Image

First of all I want to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who has left me such kind comments.  I really do appreciate them.

Today I needed to do a card for my husbands cousin who turns 15 on Friday.

I'm really enjoying using sketches for my cards at the moment so today's card uses the Sketch Saturday sketch.

I already ad the image printed out so I flipped the sketch on its side as this fitted my image better.

My image is School Boy Mo from Tiddly Inks.

As you are probably aware I love Tiddly Inks and just can't get enough of them.  The single book and stack of books are included in the price of the digi so as well as being cute, he's also a bargain.

Mo is coloured with promarkers and the patterned papers used are from the DCWV Rockstar stack.

I printed the books too big so the sentiment had to go on the stopper of the easel card.

I have alot of cards to do this week and not enough time to do them, so hopefully I will have a blog post a day if you fancy dropping by again,

Hugs

H xx