A Good Sort out

Well I know you are going to think I am crazy but Friday I spent the day sorting my box of flower embellishments into colours and then bagging them into little plastic bags- as every time I wanted a flower out of the box they fell all over the place and its driving me bonkers. So now I have sorted them the next thing on my list today is my ribbon box I think I may be pulling my hair out by the end of that little job! As I said earlier in the week my brother has been this weekend and he has taken my mum back to Sussex with him-so three weeks of not running here there and every where. He is 50 next weekend and is off on a Mediterranean Cruise, so we had him a birthday cake made in our football team colours as a surprise, which was made by a lady at o little local cup cake shop. Her cakes are yummy and also purchased a couple of her cupcakes and have put pics on to let you all have a look at them. I am looking forward to being able to do my own thing for a few weeks- so tomorrow I am off to the local craft shop to stock up. I was going to do that today but  felt bit dizzy and had splitting headache so wasn't really in good mood for shopping, even if it was for me. So will be back later in the week with some cards. Have a great day whatever you are doing and happy crafting. Love and hugs Arlinex

Another Crafty Wednesday!

Afternoon all. Well so far so good I decided at the start of the year to make Wednesday my craft day and so far I have stuck to it, although don't know if I will be still keeping up with it when I go back to work in the next couple of weeks, but if I am not to shattered I will. I hope everyone has had a good week and lovely weekend and my word another one is nearly upon us. My brother is coming this weekend from Sussex as it is his 50th next weekend and he is supposed to be taking my mum and dad down to look after their pets, as his family have booked a cruise for him. However I cannot see that happening now-  as my mum has severe arthritis in her knee, so much so that she now cannot walk on it and we have been back  and forward to GP in the past seven days, only for him to tell her the same thing that there is nothing other than pain killers to take for it but she doesn't seem to be taking this in. So although I have found the last few weeks with her very stressful and was really looking forward to having a break by her going to my brothers I do not think that will happen now, oh well onwards and upwards as these things are sent to try us. Its a good job I have my crafting otherwise I would go insane!

Well after my rant its back to this weeks challenges and my first card this week is for two challenges Sketch Saturday so I have used their sketch and Secret Crafter Challenge and their theme this week was food and drink. So my image is a cute Humphrey one of two little elephants enjoying a ice cream sundae together. I have used a turquoise as my main colour them and made it into a Thank You card for a change.

This next card is for Cupcake Challenge and that was All you need is Love. So I found this image from Hanglar Stanglar of this young lady with my fave flower, a Carnation. I have again used blue as my theme but a different shade from my last card. Kept it quite simple with a bow, sentiment and some bling, hope you like it?

My next card is for I Love Promarkers Challenge and their theme this week was pinks and purples, two of my fave colours to use on a card. This is also for Allsorts Challenge which was needles and pins. So once again I have used a Hanglar Stanglar image of a little girl with her knitting basket, complete with knitting needles, wool and scissors. Added a sentiment, some lace and a few flowers. The colours I  used were: blush, dusty pink, blossom, antique pink, cerise, pink carnation, baby pink, lilac, amethyst, bluebell, orchid, sandstone and caramel.

Finally my last card for now is my fave this week and it is for Lollipop Challenge and that was Wings on it. So here I have used yet another cute Hanglar Stanglar image and I have used black red and white for my theme on this card. Added some flowers, a sentiment and some pearls. I hope you like it.

Well that is all for now folks as I have run out of double sided tape, Pinflair Glue and Flowersoft glue this week so can't do anymore crafting until I have popped to craft shop tomorrow to stock up. I have never been so low on materials! So its bye for now and thanks for dropping by. Hugs and kisses Arlinex

Got My Mo-Jo Back!

Well today I have been busy doing some crafting for some challenges and thought I would share them with you, think my mo jo  has come back today. Its been a horrible cold wet day here today so ideal for staying in the warm and crafting.So here is my first card and its for Lollipop Challenge which I found hard as it was no embellishments, and we all like to add something don't we-to our lovely creations. I also want to enter it into  Promarkers Challenge which was anything goes. The images I have used were from a set of stamps I received for Christmas from DD and they are supposed to be Darcy and Miss Bennet, and as I am a great Pride and Prejudice fan, these were very appropriate for me.The colours I have used were blush, moss green, pear green,cool aqua,powder blue,denim blue and ice grey 1&2.

My next card is for Lili of the Valley and that was to use lavender and lace. So here is a lovely image of two friends having coffee. I have added some lovely purple lace which I also got in a bag of lace that DD picked up at her local haberdashery shop, added some small roses and a sentiment.

This card is for Winter Wonderland Challenge and that was to make an easel card this week. So I have used one of my new Little Claire stamps that I bought before Christmas and hadn't had chance to use them. So I have used pinks and blues on this card. Once again I have revived some old stuff , these flowers are from one of the first bottles  I bought a few years back.

And now for my final card and probably most challenging for this week and that was for House Mouse Monday Challenge and it was to use black and white. So I used lots of different greys, a bit of black and a little blush for their skin. I have used the thimble stamp to make my backing paper, added some black buttons, a black sentiment and a little black and white bow.

Well that's all for the moment I hope you all have a lovely weekend whatever you are up to and where ever you are. Although if the weather forecast is correct I should think most of us will be stopping in with the heating on and just chilling. Thanks for dropping by and leaving your lovely comments hugs and kisses Arlinex

Mo Jo Has Taken A Day Off Today Me Thinks!!

Hi everyone this is the full amount of my craft day today, not feeling too good today and think that is why everything went wrong from the start of this card to the end. First my paper went on cockeyed, then the ribbon wouldn't stick and then I ripped the base card as I was putting it onto my card so had to start all over again. And then when I started the second card I ran out of double sided tape grrr! So needless to say I have only made the one card today and here it is, not too happy with it either. So I would like to enter this for Lili of the Valley Challenge which is your fave stamp and she is so cute with her little teddy. Next Sketch Saturday, then Saturday Challenge which was to use mainly blue on your card and finally for Papertake Weekly Challenge which was to use buttons, bling, bows and blooms.

Thanks for dropping by and leaving your comments. Hugs and kisses Arlinex

Some New Cards from Old Bits and Bobs

So yesterday I was having a bit of a sort out of my craft stash and found one of those litlle decoupage books with tiny pictures in to cut  out and I also found some tiny wee cards, so I had a play around with some of them and made some little Thank You cards for my Christmas and Birthday pressies to send off to people. The papers and card I have used comes from my stash box, you know the one, we crafters all have one and I dont know about anyone else but I always forget about it! But this time it came in very useful for tiny bits of paper etc. So here they are, hope you like them. I made six in total and the theme was a cute little rabbit and I tried to make them bright and cheery. What do you think?

Well tomorrow (being Wednesday) is my day I have set aside this year to get my craft stash out onto dining room table and create some more cards for challenges. Thanks to all who  drop by and leave your lovely comments. Happy crafting! Hugs and kisses Arlinex

First Challenges of 2012!

Well I have had a busy weekend-taking youngest daughter back to Uni in Lincoln I think my poor little car breathed a sigh of relief when we unloaded at her end, to say it was much lighter coming back is a understatement, it glided home up the A1. Although we had to say goodbye for another long stint as at Easter she is off to Salu in Spain with the Uni football team of which she is a team member, and doubt if she will be home over those holidays. Just having got over Christmas and today is my birthday hurrah! agh! Don't know why I am celebrating it will be a very quiet day, past the age of  caring now as my elder son says its only a number, it may be only a number to him but his number is twenty years younger than mine, so he can be flip and say that! Well back to business and I have sat today and made some cards for a few challenges so here's my first card and its for two challenges Papertake Challenge which is to use a die cut on your card and Promarkers Challenge which was to use a cuddly image on your card, so as you can see I have used the cutest bear in the world Winnie the Pooh and to colour him I have used Poppy, Ruby, Gold and Tulip Yellow.

My next card is for Winter Wonderland and that was to feature shopping, shopping bags or a shop, so this is my take on it, the stamp I bought in a set one year at the NEC so have no idea whose make they are, but she looks a bit like nan out doing her Christmas shopping!

Next card is for Saturday Challenge and this was titled Eat Cake, so I have used a Lili of the Valley image of a little girl dressed up with her mums shoes on too, and she is having afternoon tea with cupcakes yum!

This card is my first one for Joanna Sheen Challenge and it is Celebrate something and this  card is a new baby card and I have used this cute baby image and used Promarkers to colour it. This stamp was on one of the first sets I ever received and they were Joanna Sheen's baby images, so cute I have not used them for ages- I have used lemon colours so the card can be used for either sex and added some buttons shaped like hands but kept it quite simple really.

Last but one and this is for Cupcake Challenge and Lollipop Challenge which were New and use any new items received at Christmas. My card is for a New Home and I have made the picture into a lookalike picture frame. The new items I have used are the coloured base card which is from a 6x6 pack I received and the sentiment which was also new at Christmas. Hope you like my take on this theme.

And finally to my last card and my favourite I think so far. This is two challenges House Mouse Challenge which was again New Goodies, Hobby, Baby etc. So I have used a new stamp from House Mouse(which I bought at the NEC) and I have used my new card pack and my new flowers which I received at Christmas,and this is my first attempt at shading the House Mice. I have been reluctant to buy them but as I said in an earlier blog post due to the colouring of them but once I had watched the preview of how to colour them I have become addicted and can't stop stamping them and colouring them! I am also entering this card as a second entry to Joanna Sheen's Challenge for Celebrations, it is a dear friends birthday next week and she has had a rough year also, having to put her son into psychiatric care full time, so I hope this will cheer her up and help her have a as nice a day as she can have.

Well that is all for now- gosh I am worn out! Making all those cards after such a long break and putting them onto my blog. I hope you enjoyed looking and reading my rantings, take care and happy crafting. Love and Hugs Arlinexx

Happy New Year to One and All

Happy New Year to everyone out there in blog land, its been a few weeks since I have updated my blog-well since before Christmas. Hope everyone had a good one and got lots of nice things and lots of crafting goodies. When I was at the NEC in November I purchased a few sets of House Mouse stamps, a bit warily as I wasn't sure how to colour them with my Promarkers, but I have been watching Joanna Sheen on You Tube as to how to do it and so over the last couple of days I have become obsessed with stamping and colouring them and have really enjoyed doing them. I  will put some samples on later in the week, but I am very pleased at how my first attempts have come out. And so to my first card of this year and its a Christmas card for my daughters challenge blog called Christmas Crafting  and this month we are being sponsered by Whimsey Stamps and they have given us five digi stamps free for our winner, so why not join us and give it a try, you never know you may win and as they say You have to be in it to Win it! Our challenge for January was to make an easel card so here is mine hope you like it . I have used a cute  nativity scene from Lili of the Valley toppers and kept gold as my main colour. Well will be back later in the week with some more creations.. Thanks to all of you nice people that stop by. Hugs Arlinex