Happy New Year

Hi and Happy New Year,

To all my lovely followers and new blogging friends, I hope that you have a very happy and healthy 2011. Thank you so much for all your support, 2010 was a delightful year. Here's to 2011 being just as wonderful, best wishes to you all :0) xxx

French Essence an inspiration.

Yesterday I visited one of my favourite blogs, French Essence. Vicky Archer is the Australian authoress of this beautiful blog and her book French Essence is available along with My French life
I've been visiting Vicky's blog for a while and I find inspiration and beautiful images, my visits are always rewarding. The photograph yesterday was Vicky's living room, I was amazed at the beauty of this room.

 

If you have a few spare minutes drop in........................ Vicky was interviewed by The Skirted Roundtable
a very interesting conversation about her journey to her life in France.

I wish you all a very HAPPY CHRISTMAS and a very HAPPY NEW YEAR

An Award, Yay, :0)

Hello blogging buddies, hope that you're well and enjoying the run up to the festive period? I've been just a bit busy lately and haven't had a lot of time, like a lot of you I'm sure:0)

I received an award and have only just got around to posting about it. From the lovely Deborah over at Deborah's Gems

This comes with a list of conditions but time is so short I really can't do them, so apologies to Deborah who was kind enough to send it to me, I hope I still qualify:0)
I hope that life's not quite as busy for you but my best guess is that it's just as frantic as it is here. I'm ashamed to say I've not even written my GB cards yet, ah! well best get on. 
Have fun  and best wishes to you all :0) xx

Sad News

Graphicus is closing it's doors, I'm so sad for Glenda and all the team. They have been an inspiration over the years. I wish them all the best and hope that they can return to the crafting world soon.

Happy Today, Oh Yeah:0)

Okay, it's a happy day today, hope that you are having one too, 

I made a card..................

I had lots of inky fun making this, it has so many different techniques I've gone back to my roots. I think it was probably 3 or 4years ago when Tim Holtz was over here at the Craft Barn I was so lucky, he had a workshop and demoed for about and hour. I was very impressed by his style and have loved grunge ever since, I'm pretty messy too so it's lots of fun and I can let my hair down:0)








The  postman delivered today, he looked so cold, I felt really sorry for him:{ 
It was my order of some recycled cards, love the colour and texture, good thing too there are 50 of them in the pack.

Tim Holtz, tissue tape, hobgoblin

Grunge board Numbers. The back ground is the ATC sized Christmas Carols  stamp and Seasonal salvage stickers





Hubby said to me after I'd finished
 '"Why aren't all our Christmas cards like that?"
he hadn't noticed that I'd spent the majority of the afternoon up to my elbows in ink and embossing powder and grumbling at the wet tissue tape when it wouldn't stick:0)

Sad today, everybody say ahh!

Hi , hello it's a sad MC that greets you from coffee headquarters today, my son moved out, ahh, feeling sad. He is getting on with his life it's a great move for him but I'm sad, I know silly old fool aren't I  :0)

I have 2 cards to share today, first for my Sister's birthday, she still hasn't got it I'm afraid I will get it off to her tomorrow when the post office opens. We haven't had any post since Tuesday last week.

 

The little fairy is from the Pure innocence range at Simon says Stamp and the tree was a freebie from A Day for Daisies

I used a punch around the page MS punch and coloured with copics.

 My next card is my son's Happy new home card, tried not to be too girly on this one. Tim Holtz tissue tape and inked with alcohol inks and his Houses Die. Marianne die for the stars.

Hope the deep snow has gone from your vicinity and that it doesn't get as cold as they are predicting. Have a wonderful week everyone, I'm off for another sulk. TTFN :0)

Ice Ice Baby, Oh yeah!!

Just a few chilly pics to give a little idea what life's like in this neck of the woods, cool huh? I'm sure you have something similar where you are, can you show me? I'd love to see your pictures:0)

 This I took at 6am today, my poor hedge is collapsing, there is a pond around there somewhere, with fish in.

At 3pm I found these outside the window, pretty I thought.

Oh!  It's darn cold tonight. 

I've made a card but cannot post it here because it's for my Sis and should be on it's way to the lovely warm country down under. My trip to the Post Office to post it was a waste of time, closed for the day as was the bank. I managed to get a newspaper though, those chaps seem to get through no matter what, a very good example.

I hope to make a few Christmas cards later.

Wrap up warm and stay cosy:0) xx

It's a Thank you thing!!

Hi , my post today is an overdue Thank You to lovely Karen at Sugar Nellie, I won the latest release stamp from Simply Sassy, I give you my heart.

 and this is my card using the pretty stamp, I think she's gorgeous and it was lots of fun using her on my card. Hope you like it too, The background is stamped with Artemio stamps  and the sentiment from Happy Daze, Catslife Press, lots of circular greetings, great to personalize. I paper pieced her dress and legging with doodlebug paper.

I used a blue heart from some confetti and put some Tim Holtz crackle paint on it and was really pleased how it turned out, it's cracked in a star , how about that!

Of course now the crackle glaze has come off, WARNING HERE............. here don't use it on foil stars:0)











This award came from the lovely Spyder, Thank you so much, it is a very welcome gift. I would like to offer this award to all of my lovely followers. You all deserve it, display it with pride on your blog and Many Thanks go to you for your support, it's the wonderful comments that spur me on to try and improve.
Keep warm everyone. Bye for now:0)

OLW 30 Inspiring minds

Hello chilly people, hope it's not too cold where you are:0)

 Today I've been inspired by the OLW challenge hosted by Jennifer Styles
 Jennifer has challenged us to be inspired by the artist Walter Erhard, some of his work is here.

Very interesting stuff, I had a go and was really taken by this card and totally copied it

Right I thought "I like that", so I made this

and then these

Great fun and I've now got a few more Christmas cards made, Yay! for me and many thanks to Jennifer for her wonderful idea:0)

Wrap up warm people and have a lovely day wherever you are:0) xx

WOYWW 77 and I've lost count how many for me!

 Good morning and Happy Woyww 77,

 Sun is shining in the sky, Sun is shining in the sky
There ain't a cloud in sight
It's stopped raining everybody's in a play
And don't you know
It's a beautiful new day hey,hey

Runnin' down the avenue
See how the sun shines brightly in the city
On the streets where once was pity
Mister blue sky is living here today hey, hey!

Yes, yes it's a very old song  I know but you have to make allowances for the old folk(me). Up with the lark this morning to rush over and look after my lovely sick Grand daughter but wasn't needed so I'm gonna bug you Woyww ers instead. Desk not too bad was up late again, can't seem to get an early night doesn't matter how hard I 'intend'  :0)
This is 'tother end of desk, Tidy, yeah impressed Huh? I can do it sometimes especially when other half shares that bit. Right I'm off to have a snoop, have a lovely day people TTFN :0)
OOh oh oh, I forgot to say, If you would like some idea what all this desk hopping is about pop over to Julia's and all will be revealed HERE

Friends Birthday.............................

Hello crafty people, I'm back again, got lots of cards to be making this month.

This is for a wonderful friend who I don't get to see often enough but always when we meet it's like we've just met last week except there's so much to catch up on. She doesn't read my blog so I think I'm, safe putting it here.



I used some velvet paper and embossed it with a Tim Holtz Texture Fade, retro circles I was quite happy how that turned out, it didn't spoil the velvet nature of the paper but added texture.
The image is from A Day for Daisies
 The sentiment from Happy Daze, Catslife press, Sentiment seals
And the little circle sentiment from Lily of the Valley the new Calendar set
 I used Copics to colour and some Diamond Glaze for the apples.
Gosh that's an awful lot of links! I need to go and make some more(cards, not links) so TTFN, have fun:0)

Poinsettia Christmas and a promise not to mention how long to go.

Happy Friday everyone, here comes the weekend, hope things are good with you.

I've been playing with some Tim Holtz rock candy crackle glaze, this is definitely my new favourite. I used it on card first and liked it but then used it on copy paper and thought I'd messed up because as I watched, the paper curled furiously in front of my eyes. After it had dried and with a little gentle coaxing I got it to lay a little flatter and hey presto my poinsettias emerged I was really pleased with the way they turned out.
Marianne Creatables die for flowers.A little spun sugar distress ink on some of the bracts and Tim Holtz tissue tape and a stamp from Banana Frog for the Noel, it's the Retro Baubles set, on sale ATM and is mica powder on Versamark ink.
 The little silver balls I bought years ago at the NEC so they are pretty old.
Have a great weekend TTFN :0)

Christmas, I love it :0)

Hi there, just 39days to go,  love the warm fuzzy feeling that Christmas conjures up, this little fairy is hanging on in the holly just waiting too.

I was pretty fed up when I added stickles to her wings because it made the ink bleed, my ribbon isn't perfect either but I felt 'that's life' not perfect, just like me!

Image from A Day for Daisies,

Sentiment ticket, Tim Holtz

Ribbon Stampin Up that I got from Jenny at 'Don't get mad get crafty!'

Cuttlebug embossing folders for background 'Textile and Snowflakes'

Hope you have a great day, lots of warm fuzzy feelings from over here to you :0)

Shoot for the moon!

Hi there, I hope all's well in your world today, what dreadful weather here in the UK, rain and wind a perfect day to cosy up in the warm and craft away to your hearts content:0)
Yep, shoot for the moon, that's what it says and why not, we all need to aim high! But of course this is just a little greeting card..........

Which came about due to Sarah Anderson's excellent help, she introduced me to A Day for Daisies an amazing artist and fantastic images, wow I was knocked out. So thank you Sarah :0)
I'm now the possessor of  some of these beautiful images.

So there may be a few more to come from this brilliant artists work.
Tim Holtz, Tattered Florals for the flowers
Happy crafting everyone. Bye for now:0)
p.s, sorry can't remember where I got the sentiment from but it's in Brilliance ink , pearlescent orchid and on translucent shrink plastic:0)

Busy busy, go go go!!

Hi Hello, it's another lovely day, I hope yours is too.

I've made some cards, I had a request for some everyday cards, birthday cards. You don't always want the big production cards that we get excited about. So I got out my Penny blacks and had some fun..................







 Then I got out a lovely new stamp from
Polkadoodles,   I love this image..........and I had some more fun.


Then after all that I made a Christmas card and............................yeah! you guessed it................... I had some more fun, I love making cards, they may not be beautiful or life changing but I really like doing it, one happy bunny:0)

 For this one I used my new dies from, Marianne's Creatables the poinsettia , so much dimension in the embossing. Okay I'm off now, have a good week everyone:0) xx


p.s I'm still not Debbie but you can call me MC if you find mustavcoffee a bit of a challenge, I do!!

Hooray, I've done it!

Hello, good morning, hope all's well with you,

Today I've made a Christmas card..............

 ....................and I managed to get my watermark on the card. There was one step that I'd forgotten, linking the pictures but now I've got it right,  so you can see my new watermark. It's only taken a few months (well maybe a little longer) but I got there in the end:0)

Today's card uses Art Journey stamps and I would like to enter it into their challenge, 'use tape'. I have used Tim Holtz tissue tape.

I also used my new Martha Stewart  snowflake punch, I love the shape of this one it's more like a splodge than a snowflake. 

Papermania vellum on top of the sentiment, mmm a bit of an experiment. The sentiment overpowered the picture of the little girl and I'm hoping the vellum has subdued it a little.

Okay, lots to do today and the sun's shining, it's beautiful, have a great day everyone:0)xx

A lovely surprise

 Hi , hello, how are you? Good I hope :0)

 Look what landed on my doorstep today................................

 A beautiful card from my blogging buddy over in Canada, Emily. It's such a  delight, beautifully coloured and just so welcome, Thank you ever so much Emily, you too are very sweet. If you click on her name you will wing your way over to her inspirational blog and I'm sure she will make you feel very welcome. TTFN:0) xx

The man's point of view?

Hello and a happy day to you,

Yesterday's card was for a female sort of person and today's version is for a male sort of person..................

I find chap's cards so tricky, my hubby thinks I try too hard and that some of my feminine cards are suitable for men, how weird is that? Perhaps he has a point  but when you set out specifically to make a male card you want it to work, correct?

Ah well, maybe I just don't have the knack, He he he, at least it's fun doing it. 

Today I used Tim Holtz stamps for the cityscape and a Hobby Art sentiment

Enjoy what's left of your Sunday and have a good week ahead TTFN :0)

Hi all, happy Saturday to you, hope you are having a good day:)

I have been having a play, I came up with a variation on the easel card, a bit pointy but I'm hoping the flowers have softened the design. I quite like the shape and am thinking about more possibilities, folds or pop outs might be good :0)

So what d'you think? Is it too angular?I've gone for a shabby sort of look and was thinking I may come up with a more masculine version next. 


 Does the shape tickle your creative fancy, have you tried this one yourself? I don't think I've seen it done quite like this before but I cannot be certain, there are so many of us out there:0)

I was quite pleased how this side turned out. The papers are Basic Grey, Periphery  it's an old paper and retired now, I think.                                                       

   The text stamps are Stampin up, Sincere Salutations that I bought second hand from eBay.

Tim Holtz Weathered wood Distress ink for stamping the sentiment and edges. On the base of the card it's a Crafty Individuals stamp, 'fill each day with joy', uplifting oh! yes! and I love the fancy font it's in.

Used a Martha Stewart doily lace punch, they are so efficient, I'm seriously impressed and would love more :)
Love to hear from you and have a great weekend!

H'H'Hallowe'en, oohhhaaahhh,! Ha Ha Ha !!

Hello folks,

Hope today's going well with you, we have sunshine, it's a gorgeous start.

I've been playing with my new stamp from Kraftin' Kimmie  that I got from Quixotic Paperie

 Kim Dellow's blog was where I first saw this stamp and I couldn't walk away from it, Kim was no help at all, she was hiding behind the sofa :0)

I've also used the Cuttlebug Haunted house folder, from the Craft Barn.

The background is Tim Holtz texture fades, Cracked, also from the Craft Barn.

I used a rub on gold and silver wax  and this lifted the background detail, then I drew in a spiders web with Pen Touch, silver.

Cutting her out was a bit of a challenge and I just loved colouring in the house with Copics and Sakura, moonlight, clear, you can just make out the stars.

I'm off to see Shirley Valentine in the City, ooh! exciting :0)

Hope that you have a lovely day:0) xxx

WOYWW68 4for me, Hi to you!

Good morning fellow WOYWW'ers and a bright sunny day it is here in coffee headquarters, welcome to my mess, actually I've had a tidy up so am prepared to show a little more of my haven, the view from my window. If you squint you can't even see the car:)

I am working on a stamp from Art Journey and don't know what I'm doing with it! Love this stage because everything is possible, it's like the dreaded 'blank page' , for a long time now I've looked forward to the blank page, I used to be frightened but it doesn't matter if I mess up any more, what a relief :) 
If you look carefully you can just see the little devil peeking out at me, I will revisit but my first foray into working on wood was a 'very interesting' experience, one which I'm not really in a hurry to revisit, I know I'm a woos ( seem to say that every week!)
No major disasters here, no really funny happenings, so I'll sign off and go snooping , lets hope somebody's having a great day with lots of funny goings on, have a lovely day my friends.
Oh! and if you would like to find out all about the madness that is WOWW, please pop over to the lady herself, Julia's blog and all will be revealed.TTFN!

Happy Birthday Emily!!

Hi there, 

This is a card for my blogging buddy Emily over in Canada.  She was one of my first contacts in the world of blogging is an inspiration to me and a really lovely  lady. So Happy Birthday for tomorrow Emily.

Hope you have a wonderful birthday, lots of fun and cake!!!

Basic Grey Challenge Sketch

Hi hello how are you? Well I hope?

I'm a little tired today my grand daughters came to visit this weekend and we were rather busy, they have so much energy, good fun was had by all :0)

Here is my card for the Basic Grey Challenge

 Here are the rules;

Playing along with the BasicGrey Challenges couldn't be more simple, all you need to do is follow the specifications of the set challenge, Use at least one item from BasicGrey and give us a link to your creation :) simple eh! :)

This fortnight was a sketch to follow by Tara G

 


I've gone really traditional this time and it's multi  layered, great for a change, I love a change!!

My Stamped Santa sack is from  Stamps by Judith

The sentiment is SU and all papers are Basic Grey Jovial Paper pad 6x6ins

that I bought at Craft Obsessions. I also used Basic grey Flurries stamp that I bought last year, no idea where from but I love them and will probably use them  a lot more this Christmas. It's the fine gold embossed design behind Santa's sack:0) The candy canes and baubles have been given a layer of Diamond Glaze, by Judikins.

Hi there! this is Simplicity OLW20

Hello everyone, hope all's well in your neck of the woods?
Playing in my craft space today, I was having loads of fun, well that's not strictly true but I was enjoying myself. We've been challenged by SusanRaihala  at Simplicity again, this is what she said.................

OLW20 Rules

1. A one-layer card is defined as a single piece of cardstock folded in half.

2. Make a card that has three images and one sentiment. You may use three coordinating images, as I (Susan) did here, or repeat one image three times. Just keep it to three images. Remember to keep embellishments to a minimum.

Ah ha!, I thought to myself, that'll be easy, Oh boy! I can be so wrong :0) 
Well most of the day has gone and I've been huffing and puffing and stamping and masking and stamping,  this is the last effort. 
I think it may be that the design had to have 4 elements and that meant it was an even number and I've just struggled to get something I was happy with. I know, what a woos, he! he! he!  there, I've said it again :0) xx

My favourite stamp today is this young lady from Suzi Blu and Unity
The sentiment is from Inkadinkadoo Kid Quotes 
I masked and stamped the skirt with a border stamp from Denami
She has glittery Star Dust stickles on her flowers


I hope you all have a lovely day, I'm off to clear up again :0) xx

Good day to you WOWW 67, no: 3 for Me and Que sera sera!

A groggy hello from me today, hope all is well with you,  a late night last night's taking it's toll, I never learn:0)

Not a lot going on here, I have lost my mojo somewhere and time isn't on my side, I know you've heard it all before, he he he!

To keep it short, feel free to wander off on your travels at this point, just the ramblings of bit of a woos from here on................. 


Monday was Hubby's birthday so being the dutiful wife I am ( I try, honest) I said I would go with him to golf course to have a few shots, I must add here I don't play golf and hubby has only taken it up in the past 18mths so he's not an expert but is getting better all the time, we did 9 holes. Two and a quarter hrs later, the sky had opened on us I was very cold and damp and feeling sort of saint like:) 
Then Monday evening was the only time to get tickets for the workshop with Tim Holtz over at Paper Artsy and LB Crafts. The booking went live at 8pm, yeah and where was I? in the restaurant with family for hubbies birthday celebrations, Oh dear. Yes, you've guessed it, got back just before 10pm and all sold out, boo hoo:-{  Curry was great though!
Last night I stayed up to get on eBay and buy a set of retired Stampin up sentiments, well at 00.15hrs I missed it by a very few dollars, good grief I'm not having a lot of luck,.................. not really:0) I'm a strong believer in fate and what will be will be, or was that Que sera sera,!

 If at this stage you're wondering what the bejeebers I'm going on about hop on over to Julia's  and she will enlighten you

Have a lovely day WOWWers  I'm off to do a bit of spying, TTFN

Simplicity's OLW19, A spot of colour.

Hello again, 
ooh! it's a dull, dark, dank, day here at coffee headquarters, I think it's going to pour down any minute, I hope it's better where you are!
Susan over the pond at Simplicity has thrown down the gauntlet and challenged us again, Yay!! 

Rules for OLW19

1. A one-layer card is defined as a single piece of cardstock folded in half.

2. Make a card that is mostly black and white with just a spot of color. Remember to keep embellishments to a minimum.

I had a lot of fun doing this one, the dragon has been languishing in one of my boxes for a long time, it's so lovely to be able to bring him/her out. The sentiment had to be masked it was 'Have you ever had one of those days?', much too long for my card but it makes me smile:) I have a few of 'those days' myself:)

Dragon stamp by Funstamps  that I found over at Cheddar Stamper.

Sentiment from Stamps by Judith. Just click on the link to be transported over to the store:) 

Wishing you all a lovely day, I'm starved, lunch beckons, Bye:)