My Wonderful Followers - Thankyou :)

Monday 30 May 2011

Rest in Peace Grandad

It is with great sorrow that I must announce that Paul's Grandad passed away this morning.

Ernest Hicks 10th August, 1920 - 30th May, 2011

We had a phone call from the hospital at 8.15am this morning to say that he was nearing the end and we made a mad dash to try and get there but unfortunately we didn't make it in time. I don't speed when I am driving and always wondered what circumstances would make me do so. Well this morning I was doing 60 MPH in a 40 zone in a desperate attempt to get Paul there in time and seemed to hit every bloody red light on the way. I was grateful that it is a bank holiday today in the UK so the roads were quiet, but also that Paul wasn't trapped at work and would not have been able to get to the hospital to say goodbye to him.

He has been in hospital for the last couple of weeks with a water infection and had cancer in his prostate which was spreading. Unfortunately to further complicate things he then developed pneumonia which wouldn't shift. They started giving him Morphine on Wednesday as he was in so much pain and we saw him fall asleep and he had so much relief, that will be our lasting memory of him that in the end he was out of pain.

They told us he passed peacefully without pain this morning and to be honest it was lovely to see him without the constant struggle to breathe and be at peace. The photo above was taken on his 88th birthday which was 6 months before he started to become ill the 1st time he was hospitalised so this marks the end of over 2 years of ill health where a tremendously active man who was the sole carer to his wheelchair bound disabled son could not even give himself a glass of water. It has unfortunately been a rapid decline since Easter and he himself didn't want to carry on anymore, dreading waking up the following morning.

We are all obviously sad he has gone, but happy for him that he is no longer suffering.

I was lucky to have shared 22 years of my life with this man and I am sad I will no longer be able to visit him and make him a cup of our favourite Yorkshire Tea but it was heartbreaking to see him in so much pain and I'm glad that he is in a happier place now.

Night night and God bless Grandad xxx


Happileigh Scrappin' Challenge #24




There is a new challenge over at Happileigh Scrappin' Challenges this week which has been set by Leigh.
She would like to see you incorporate lots of embellishments in your creations.

I combined 2 digis in my card, the main image is Mushroom House and I have added Terry Toad underneath. which are available to purchase at the Happileigh Scrappin' Store.


I used the Midnight Madness sketch for the layout choosing to go for a hybrid version of the 2 sketches. The base paper is by Papermania, I just love all the pretty colours together. The image has been coloured with Promarkers and I have created extra layers to decoupage the top of the mushroom and the butterfly and they are mounted on 3D foam. I have added a lace border to the image and mounted on 3D foam. The ribbons are self adhesive one from Papermania, the flowers are Flora Doodles and the buttons with waxed cord is from my stash.

Please pop on over to see the lovely creations my Happi Sisters have added. There are lots of lovely cards to feast your eyes upon with oodles of embellishments.

Remember, for our challenges you don't need to use a Happileigh Scrappin' image but if you do your entry counts twice and with freebies available here it is easy to use one of Leigh's fabulous digis.

At the Happileigh Scrappin' Store for the month of June Leigh is giving away a fab freebie with every order.

We would love to see lots of entries in this challenge. Leigh gives away her lovely digis to the top 3 so it is well worth entering and me and the DT love to see your creations, so come on over to

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges (in Alphabetical order) :-

Sunday 29 May 2011

OSAAT #64 - Picnic Collab

Over at OSAAT we have a new challenge for you today in tandem with the new store collaboration. We are looking for you to create a project with the theme of either 4th July or a Picnic.

For this Challenge Lilli of the Valley are offering the lucky winner

a £10 voucher for their store.

If you don't already subscribe to the Stitchy Bear Newsletter I would suggest that you sign up as there are some fabulous images given away as freebies and you will always be kept up to date with the latest image news.

In the spotlight this week is the one and only Marjo who is the most amazingly organised DT Leader

While you are there don't forget that for the Month of June we have a new store collab with the theme of 4th July and Picnics which is free with a $10 purchase.

For my card this week I have used a fabulous digi from the collab called Picnic Trees by Hope Jacare. I have also combined it with another digi from the store by Floppy Latte Designs called Rose Fantasy.

The trees are beautiful, I adore hearts and this was so lovely to colour with my Promarkers. I have added lots of glitter to the hearts with Stickles glitter glue and then sprinkled with Glamour Dust whilst it was still wet. The fairy digi was flipped and rotated to suit the gap between the trees and I added glamour dust to the wings. I think both images really complement one another well and it is great to be able to manipulate the digis to make your own design.

The backing paper is from the Woodland Friends pad from Papermania. The image has been mounted on brown card and raised up on 3D foam. I have added string and a crocheted flower which were part of a prize I got from a challenge win :) I have added a opened up flower bead cap and a gem brad from American Crafts.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges (in Alphabetical order) :-




Saturday 28 May 2011

AIF 082 Pretty in PInk



We have a new challenge for you today at AI Factory and this week we have a Girly Girl Theme. We would like to see you make something Pretty in Pink :)

For My card I have used the Girl Dressed Up as a Princess clipart which is only $1. Hop on over to the store here to purchase this cute little cute Princess and take a peek at the other designs too in our revamped store.



Now for the details of my card. I have used a sketch from Pear Tree Designs for the layout. I printed out extra layers of the image so I create depth on the Princess and her dress with 3D foam. The body is on a separate layer , then the top layer of the dress and the crown are on another. I have added a bit of glitter to the crown and some heart shaped bling over the hearts on the dress. The paper is from an issue of Creative Cardmaking magazine and I have trimmed the corner with a Fiskars punch as per the sketch.

The Lace has little holes in it so I threaded a bright pink ribbon through. The sentiment is from my stash, I added faux stitching around this and the digi design. I have added pearls in the corner and a flower sequin with a pearl centre. In the bottom corner I have added some punched leaves, a Prima embossed flower and an American Crafts Pearl centred brad.

To enter this week's challenge visit the AI Factory Challenge Blog where you will see the full rules and details. If you play along with us and upload your image you could win this week's image.

You are not required to use an AI Factory image to enter, but there are some great freebies available here in the freebies section of the store. You will need to link up your entry before midnight EST on Wednesday June 1st. If you use an online gallery Such as AiF, PCP or SCS then please tag your entry with the challenge code AIF082 so we can see all your cards in one place. Whilst you are at our challenge site please take a look at the rest of the DT's wonderful creations.

I look forward to seeing your entries in our challenge and Good Luck !

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges (in Alphabetical order) :

Friday 27 May 2011

Flashback Friday 11.0

Over at Flashback Friday we have been challenged to share our 1st wedding card.

This card was made in September 2003 for one of the ladies who worked at our Bristol Head Office. I hadn't been making cards for all that long and there weren't loads of patterned papers around like there are now. I made my own backing paper by printing onto a pearlescent vellum that I had and also printed out the name of the bride and groom to make it more personal. The silver horseshoe shape was a cake decoration and there is a mixture of confetti shapes and peel offs for the rest of the decorations.

It's really weird how so many years have passed and I remember the look of delight Jane had when she opened it. I am glad to say that the happy couple are still married and that's good going these days :)

It has just struck me as well how some challenge blogs are heading back to a more clean and simple style of cardmaking but really that is all we knew in the old days because we didn't have all the stuff we have available to buy nowadays.

Monday 23 May 2011

Happy 40th Birthday Jill

Today is my Sister in Law Jill's 40th Birthday and I wanted to make something very special to celebrate this event. I would not normally do this but it took nearly 4 days to make so I have combined it as my DT card for Happileigh Scrappin' and Crafty Cardmakers Spotlight.

Leigh has set us a challenge at HLSC to make a card with more than one fold and at the CCM Spotlight it is the Challenging Challenge i.e make something that you haven't done before and challenge yourself.

I found a link on YouTube to this video tutorial for a Circle Flip Up Book and it looked ideal. I made the book larger than the sample and used 4 sheets of 12" Kraft cardstock. It looks fairly innocent when you 1st take it out of the envelope but this is what it looks like opened out and you tie the ribbon in a bow to form the the shape.


Jill opened it this morning and said I quote " Wow! What a card !!!" My job is done, that is exactly the effect I was after :)

For the whole project I have used papers from the new Docrafts goodie bag which are from the new Me To You range. I like the soft colours and thought they would work well and in all used 4 sheets of 12" paper. On the front is a digi from Happileigh Scrappin' called Birthday Cake Candles which is available from the Special Occasions part of the store. I have cut the base layer with the candles ad then a second layer with just the cake is decoupaged with 3D foam. I added some stickles glitter glue, stripes to the candles, some Doodlebug double sided stickers with ultra fine glitter on and a sentiment from my stash. The ribbon is sandwiched in between the 2 papers to neaten it and add strength.

Page 1 is decorated with Forever Friends stickers, rub ons from Sizzix and Poundland, Doodlebug stickers, felt textured letters and a Bugaboo digi called Dottie Cupcake which has been coloured with Promarkers.


Page 2 has rub on lettering, stickers from Doodlebug, chipboard numbers from a Brenda Pinnick kit from QVC, a Forever Friends image and sticker sentiment, and a Happy Birthday digi sentiment (can't find who it is, will let you know when I know)

Page 3 is decorated with Doodlebug stickers, Forever Friends bunting & cupcakes and a digi from Pattie's Creations called Hearts Cupcake

Page 4 is decorated with more felted letters, rub ons from Royal & Langnickel, a Forever Friends sticker, Doodle bug heart stickers, a cute digi from Happileigh Scrappin' called Tatters Let's Love Fly available from the Mice section of the store and the Spring Cupcake digi from Designed 2 Delight.

If you fancy having a go at one of these my main piece of advice is to not underestimate how long it will take to decorate all the individual sides of the card. I have to admit, even though I thought I had given myself plenty of time I was a bit close to the wire getting it finished as I gave it to Jill when we went for a meal at Chateau Impney on Saturday night.

I hope I have inspired you to have a go at something different and if you make a multi fold card you can enter it into the challenges at both Happileigh Scrappin' and Crafty Cardmakers Spotlight. Come on over and join the fun

I would like to enter this into the following challenges (in Alphabetical order):-

Forever Friends Gift Tag


For Jill's birthday gifts I used a shop bought gift bag but added a handmade gift tag to make it a bit more special. I must admit it isn't often that I make a tag but I should do really as it is a great way to personalise gifts and also to use scraps up

The pink tag is from the latest Docraft goodie bag but it is very thin so I matted this onto cream card and cut around it. The lettering and sticker are both from the Docrafts Forever Friends range and the yummy ribbon and lace trim is from my stash. I punched a hole in the tag and threaded a thin ribbon through it which has been recycled from a clothing loop.

I would like to enter this into the following challenges (in Alphabetical order):-