'YOU MAKE MY DAY' AWARD!!! FOR ME!!!!!

Really choked up cos the lovely PINKGEM has given me this award!! It's for blogs that inspire you to make stuff. How cool is that!!?? I feel quite humble, actually, cos I often look at PinkGem's stuff for inspiration - and her stuff is fab - so to get an award from her is quite something!

So I have to pass it on to 3 others whose work has inspired me..... how tricky is this? There are so many talented peeps out there that only choosing three of them is going to be a riot.

In no particular order:


Well, the first one is going to be Zoe's blog - A PERSONAL TOUCH - because I think her workmanship is superb and I love her designs.

(Struggling a bit to find two others that haven't already been given this award!) The second one should be SUEPLAYINGWITHPAPER cos not only does she make fab stuff, she teaches you to make it too!

My third one has to go to Julie - JULIESINKSPOT - because... well just check it out and you'll see why...

BUT I would like to give a special mention to MRS V H, who unfortunately doesn't have a blog - yet! - but whose designs are fab!!

SOMETHING DIFFERENT AGAIN

Spent a while colouring this after re-sizing it. Really like the sparkly effect of the bubbles!

Made this because it's not a colour I use very often and I quite like the effect.

The centre of the flowers is Liquid Pearls (White Pearl) and it's matted onto Pink Petticoat 'pistachio' coloured papers.

Here's a quick Easter card I made for an order. I love using the Snowriter to make sparkly raindrops!

The image is from - who else? - Pink Petticoat. I really like the downloadable sets from there - you don't have to wait for something to turn up in the post and you can resize them, add text, etc, etc.

I've also used my beloved polka dot ribbon from RibbonOasis.

JUST TO SAY THANK EWE...

Corny, I know, but you've got to love this cute little sheep! This was one of another set I made for Lil G's thank you cards.

A BIG THANK YOU!

I'm a firm believer in good manners, so I made a whole load of cards for Lil G to send to everyone who got her a birthday present.

This one is using Henrietta (Does My Bum Look Big in This, from Pink Petticoat) with some more lovely lovely ribbon from Ribbon Oasis and a bit of Cuttlebugging!

I made a whole set in different colours.

BUGS AND STUFF

Had a nasty bug a couple of weeks ago and thought I'd got rid of it, but it's back with avengence. So all I've done for the last couple of days is make cards - I know, shame for me, isn't it!?

People were telling me that they couldn't find anything a bit 'different' for the men in their lives, so I came up with this birthday card.

The little car is from Pink Petticoat, as is the spotty paper. The ribbon, which I love, is from Ribbon Oasis and it's double-sided black/silver! Got to be my new favourite toy, this double-sided stuff!

So that's Easter out of the way for another year!! Cupboards full to bursting with chocolate! AND we had about 3 inches of snow - unbelieveable! Lil G came rushing in very early to tell us that everywhere was white!

I nipped out and laid a trail of little chocolate eggs in the snow, which led her up to the end of the garden behind the bench, where I had hidden the big eggs. She now firmly believes that the Easter Bunny crashed into our holly tree and dropped them all.... bless her. So she and Daddy (and our little westie, Fidgit - who was quite impressed until she realised she was actually cold and wet!) went out and made this lovely snowman.

TODAY IS LIL G'S BIRTHDAY!!

My beautiful baby girl is 5 today!!

So we took her and her bestest friend Amy to Sundown Adventure Land for the day on Saturday. It was forecast lousy weather so we wrapped up warm and headed out.

When we got there, there was hardly anyone else there - probably put off by the weather forecast! - and we didn't have to queue for anything! AND it didn't rain!! So a great time was had by all!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABY GIRL x

I'VE BEEN TAGGED!!

I was tagged by Julie so here goes!

WHAT WERE YOU DOING 10 YEARS AGO?

Working down in Bristol as an IT Trainer. Single and having a lovely time, travelling the world and wishing I could go back to New Zealand!

WHAT WERE YOU DOING 1 YEAR AGO?

Working as an IT Trainer for another company, back in Lincolnshire. Married and Lil G was 4.

NAME YOUR 5 FAVOURITE SNACKS

Chocolate
Fruit
Peanuts
Cheese & Crackers
More chocolate!

NAME 5 THINGS YOU WOULD DO IF YOU WERE A MILLIONAIRE

Move back to New Zealand
Set up my own training company
Buy an Aston Martin
Have a swimming pool (heated!)
Travel - a LOT!

NAME 5 THINGS YOU LIKE DOING

Crafting
Reading
Cooking
Travelling
Watching films

NAME YOUR 5 FAVOURITE TOYS

Lil G
Cuttlebug
My car (I know, but I love it)
Candy Grabber
Laptop/printer

So that's me. Not very exciting!

I can't find any one else to tag, cos you've all been done! But if you haven't, please consider yourself tagged! See you soon xx

HAD A CARD-MAKING DAY TODAY!

The weather was lousy, as predicted. Blew a gale this morning. Had to tie Lil G onto me to walk her to school!!

Had the day to myself, so I set about making some cards - a few for a commission and some just for fun and maybe to sell. I used images from the Pink Petticoat Little Chicks collection, coloured with Whispers pens (which I just could not live without!) and some SnowWriter for the droplets. I'm quite pleased with the effect and I'll try to upload one later.

Also managed to make a set of 3 funny cats cards for a friend, all using black-and-white photographs, matted onto black and white card. Hope she likes them!

Some Favourite Suppliers

We get stuff from lots of places, but one of my favourites is Pink Petticoat - you should check it out. Loads of images, papers and ideas and I use quite a lot of their stuff in my card-making.

To get the basics, like card and glue and stuff, I like MadAboutCards and the Glitter Pot, amongst many others, because of their excellent range and customer service.