Happy birthday, Nic!

Hiya!

Today is my lovely sister's birthday (Happy birthday, Nic!!!!) so here is the card I made for her:

It's been ages since I coloured a Tilda and I really enjoyed it :-) The sentiment is one of my new ones from LOTV. The papers are some new loose ones I bought from a lovely day out with a pal in the pouring rain last week. You remember all the thunder and lightning and flash flooding??? I was out shopping in it! The lovely man in the shop gave me a zip-lock plastic bag so my papers didn't get wet - bless him!

Right, I'm not feeling very well this afternoon (nothing serious - just a bit bleurgh...) so I'll leave it there....

Love 'n' hugs,

Help, please....!

What a palaver!

I've never had any trouble uploading photos before but today blogger won't let me upload one specific photo... It says I've run out of free space and would I like to buy some more.... but then it let's me upload other photos no problem at all! Am I eventually going to run out of space completely? What are my options then - will I have to pay monthly to be able to update my blog??? Help! Anyone else had this problem? Was I naive and stupid expecting to be able to run my blog for free? :-( Not a happy bunny!

Anyway, to cheer myself up I'd like to wish my good pal, Lynn, a happy birthday today! This is the card I made for her (it's been ages since I coloured a Tilda!)

Now I know you can't read the sentiment very well - it says "To a Wonderful Friend" and I was going to show you a close-up so you could see it properly but that's the photo blogger won't let me upload :-( It's quite happy, however, to let me show you a close up of Tilda!?!

I paid particular attention to her hair on this one - making use of my fine nibs for my promarkers. I'm quite pleased with myself - the best job I've done yet. I've still got quite a way to go before my colouring is anything like those of you I admire in blogland... but I'm taking baby steps!

Challenges:

Totally Tilda - Princess Tilda in a pink dress

Totally Gorjuss - Pink and Green

Creative Inspirations - CASE it - I took the pink and green colour scheme

Right, I need to go and do some horrible housework before swimming lessons later!

Love 'n' hugs,

Dream Valley Challenge 24 - Animals

Hiya!

Firstly I want to thank you all for all your lovely comments and suggestions on my dodgy CAS card :-) Many of you would like me to extend the branch so it's not floating so when I get a chance I'm going to have a go and then show you the results :-) Wish me luck!

Anyway I'm back with another challenge from Dream Valley! This week we would love to see some ANIMALS!!!

And we have a fab SURPRISE parcel waiting for the lucky winner.....

Now I was planning on using some gorgeous little jungle animal digis I've got and be extra organised making George's birthday card, but alas.... my printer had other ideas!  Luckily, in my box of images I found this gorgeous little Fairytale Tilda with a cute little froggy sent to me by the lovely Mandy - thank you :-)

Just lately everything's been a bit pink (there are more pink cards I haven't posted on here yet!) and although this is still pink, I wanted to use slightly more subtle shades.....

And just because my lovely new daylight lamp picks out the sparkle so nicely in photos.....

I've used my xcut leafy lace border die snipped at intervals along it to be able to curve it around the oval to make a border for my image.  And then I had a go at making a rose using my new rolled flower die that I had for Christmas.... Not bad but I think I need a few more practices before I get it just right. (I have since made another in material and that has worked out much better - look out for it on a future card!)

I used:

Image - Fairytale tilda

Promarkers

Stickles

Papers - Papermania V&A Hanoverian Collection

Xcut leafy lace border punch

Rolled rose die

Crealies leaf die

Ribbon and pearls from stash

Challenges:

Ladybug Crafts Ink - Bows

Moving along with the Times - Things with wings

Paperplay Challenges - Ribbon every which way

Pollycraft - Bingo (Ribbon, sparkle, flowers)

Totally Tilda - Tilda with a non-domesticated animal

Now don't forget to pop over to Dream Valley to see the beautiful creations made by the rest of the DT! Back again soon!

Love 'n' hugs,

Tilda at Christmas

Hiya!

As promised here is another of my Christmas cards.... Just a quick simple one cos we're all a bit short of time at this time of the year, aren't we?

A close up of the image...

I used:

Image - Magnolia

Promarkers

Gold gel pen

Papers - Papermania Mistletoe kisses

Gold mirri card

Card candi

Sentiment - Daisy and Dandelion die cut

String snaffled from a clothing tag!

Challenges:

Stampin' for the Weekend - Christmas

Moving Along with the Times - Last minute Christmas

Crafty ribbons - Traditional colours for Christmas

CES challenges - Traditional Christmas

I'm off to my pal's tomorrow for a fab crafty day but I'm hoping to catch up with all your lovely blogs soon!

Love 'n' hugs,

Dream Valley Challenge 20 - Stitching

Hiya!

It's time for another challenge over at Dream Valley and this time we'd like to see your stitching! Hand stitching, machine stitching or faux stitching - it all counts!

We are being sponsored by the fabby One Stop Card Crafts who are kindly offering our winner a £10.00 voucher for their store :-)

This card is for my niece, Madison, who is 7 today! Happy birthday, Madison :-)

I followed a fab sketch from Stampin' for the Weekend but made it into an easle card - I thought it looked quite treasure-chest-y which is perfect for a pirate Tilda :-)

You can see my hand-stitching a bit better on this picture.... It took aaages but I think it was worth the effort :-)

A close up of the image....

I used:

Image - Magnolia

Promarkers

Papers - Papermania, Henbury Lane

Nesties

Lace, ribbon and pearls from stash

Computer generated sentiment

Good old needle and thread!

Challenges:

Creative Inspirations - All stitched up

Stampin' for the Weekend - Fab sketch

Please pop over to the challenge blog to see some fab inspiration from the other Dream Valley girls. Can't wait to see the entries we get :-)

Back again soon!

Love 'n' hugs,

Tilda's Getting Married!

Hiya,

Back again.... Honestly, no posts for ages and then two come along at once! I'm like the number 11 bus (fellow Brummies will know what I mean!)

My sister asked me to make a card for a friend of hers who is getting married so I just had to use this sweet image (possibly sent to me by Mandy??? Most of my Tilda's are from Mandy :-) Thankyou!)

I followed the fab sketch that Donna produced for Sunday Sketch & Stamp (again! I love this sketch and will definitely use it again!)

I used my leafy lace border punch to make a frame for the image and then added on of my fave sentiments from Sentiments 4 You. I made a little boo boo and the sentiment was slightly too large for my nestie so I accidentally chopped off a little bit of the "W" - a few strategically placed butterflies and nobody's any the wiser.... Unless I tell you all, of course :-)

A close up of the image....

I also used:

Promarkers

Glitter glue

Papers - Wild rose studio

Ribbon from Woolworths(!)

Pearls from stash

Challenges:

Sunday Sketch & Stamp - Fab sketch

Crafty Ribbons - Anything goes

Totally Tilda - Wedding

Creative Inspirations - Anything goes

Wags 'n' whiskers - lace (leafy lace border punch)

Oh, and before I go I just want to tell you all how thrilled I was to get a Top 3 at Ladybug Crafts Ink with this card!!!! I love to win the random prizes of course - everybody does. But to be actually chosen I was so chuffed I could have burst! Thankyou so much :-)

Right, I'm off to cook dinner! Back again tomorrow with my DT card for Dream Valley....

Love 'n' hugs,

For my Mom.....

Hiya!

I'm up at silly o'clock again cos I can't sleep and it seems to be the perfect time to get my cards posted on my blog :-) Today is my Mom's birthday!!!! Happy birthday, Mom!!!!!

I used a fab sketch from Sketch Saturday but I didn't really think it through cos I couldn't post it on here till Sunday so I missed the deadline - duh! Oh well.....

I really enjoyed doing my distressed DT card for Dream Valley the other week so I wanted to have another go:

I've used (finally!) a beautiful Tilda my good pal Clare got me for my birthday - I stamped the image as soon as I got her but I've only just had the occasion (and time!) to be able to colour her in..... Thankyou, Clare, she's gorgeous!!!! I've added oodles of sparkle to her flowers and the lace on her dress but I'm disappointed with how it looks here - it looks fab on my camera :-(

I went around the edge with strips punched with the flower doily border punch from xcut. The papers are all papermania's summer bloom and the sentiment is one of papermania's relations clear stamps.  I've cut a cute little hummingbird from one of the papers and added it to the corner.....

Other things I've used:

Promarkers

Lace and ribbon from stash

Kraft cardstock

Challenges:

Moving along with the times - Birdy's

Charisma Cardz - Glitter it!

CRAFT - Colour fiesta

Sarah Hurley - Bling and sparkle

Totally Gorjuss - As you like it

CES challenges - Brown, pink and aqua

Finally I'd also like to show you a couple of the cupcakes I bought for my Mom when I went to see her a couple of days ago..... I hope you can see them properly - I had to take the piccies through the window on the box cos I'd have never got them packaged again looking so nice and the battery in my camera was dying! They were made by the incredibly talented Emma of Mai-Belles Cupcakes...... Please take at look at her gorgeous piccies on facebook to find out why I just have got to have these for my wedding day..... The giant cupcakes are amazing! The wedding towers are spectacular! And, I have to say, they taste every bit as good as they look :-) Thankyou, Emma!

Right..... I'll link these up and then I'm back off to bed to see if I can sleep now :-)

Love 'n' hugs,

Birthday wishes.....

Hiya!

It's not very often I do a card "just because" these days but this is one of those times :-) Yeah! I got to play with all the pretty, girly stuff I've got in my collection.....

Charlie, my 2 year old, did "help" me a little bit so there are extra flowers in the top left corner to cover a little colouring he added (don't look too close!) - at least it matched the colour scheme!

I had a go at cropping my image to try to get rid of the background I always have but I think the picture looks a bit washed out now - what do you think? Maybe I need to spend a bit of time playing with it....

A close up so you can see all the glitter on her wings.....

I used:

Image - Magnolia

Sentiment - Daisy and Dandelion

Promarkers, glitter glue

Nesties

Punches - Xcut lacey heart border, Xcut butterfly, Woodware large daisy, Xcut small daisy

Sizzix decorative swirl #2

Ribbon and pearls - stash

Brush marker for doodling

Challenges:

Just Magnolia - Happy Birthday

A Gem of a Challenge - Pearls and Swirls

Sketch Saturday - Fab sketch

That's all for now. Hoping to spend a little time in my allotment this afternoon.... Thankyou to those of you who have been kind enough to visit and leave me a little comment. It really makes my day :-) Back soon. Have a fab day!

Love 'n' hugs,

Dream Valley Challenges - My very first DT card!

Hiya!

This is my very first DT card for Dream Valley Challenges - woohoo! How exciting :-)

Our very first challenge is a nice easy one to start us all off gently - Anything goes!

I took it as an opportunity to get out all my favourite things:

Beautiful Tilda, coloured with my lovely promarkers and a nice bit of sparkle :-) The papers are Pink Parfait from Forever Friends. Then of course there's my nesties for the circle. A bit of ribbon from my stash and then some flowers, gems and pearls. 

I cut the sparkley butterfly from some Henbury Lane papers and then added some sparkley swirls in glitter glue.

I really hope you can join us for our first ever challenge! There are fab prizes up for grabs:

1st prize is a £10 voucher to spend at Lili of the Valley

 2nd prize is Fashionista and Dude Simply Sassy set



and 3rd prize is Windswept Simply Sassy


How I wish I could enter!!! :-)

Love 'n' hugs,



Look! No papers!

 Oooooh! Scarey...! :-)

I haven't tried anything like this before so it was all a bit new and scarey :-) I've taken inspiration from a card on the fabulous Debby's blog which includes lots of white and embossing but no papers (absolutely beautiful - you must check it out!). I really wanted to give it a try - not as good as Debby's by a long stretch but I'm not too unhappy with the outcome!

I've coloured our lovely Tilda here with my promarkers and some glitter glue for sparkle. I cut her out using my nesties and used the (almost compulsory!) lacey leaf border punch from xcut the add a border.

The embossing for the background is victorian fleur from papermania and the smaller piece is mini polka dots from papermania. My lovely Mom bought me the pretty blue fluffy stuff that I've criss-crossed behind the image. The flowers are punched using a woodware plum flower punch and then layered up with some smaller flowers in the middle attached with brads. You can just about make out that I've added sparkle to the brads in this piccie:

Hope you like....

Going to go and put the heating on - I'm freeeeezing! Have a fab day!

Love 'n' hugs,

A bit of black and white.....

Hiya! Just a quick post cos I'm taking the littl'un swimming in a bit :-) Another lovely Tilda - another purchase from the NEC :-) Coloured as usual with promarkers and some sparkley glitter. The papers are Papermania Capsule Collection, the embossing is my Victorian Fleur folder, my current favourite Xcut leafy lace border punch, flowers also bought at the NEC, gems and ribbon from my stash. The gems on stalks (what am I supposed to call them???) are a pressie from my crafty buddy and ex-teaching pal, Yvonne (thankyou!).


A close up of the sparkley bits :-)



The challenges I'm entering this into are:
Paperplay Challenges - Back to black
Moving Along with the Times - Flowers and fab sketch
Pollycraft Monday Challenge - Black and white and one other colour
Crafty Cardmakers - Floral
Passion for Promarkers - Let it shine

Hope you like!

Love 'n' hugs,
Mel xx

Pretty in pink....

Ooooh! Two posts in one day..... That doesn't happen very often! :-)

This is the very first time I've managed to ink up my very first Tilda that I bought at the NEC craft show! I was feeling in a pink and girly mood and this is the result!



I coloured her with my promarkers and added some glitter to her tiara and the trim on her dress which you might just be able to see here:



I used my new Xcut leafy lace border punch again - this time I cut it at intervals to be able to make it go around the oval and I'm quite pleased with the results! I've added some flowers and pins that I won from Debs and some ribbon from my stash. The papers are Forever Friends Pink Parfait and Henbury Lane and the sentiment is one of Clare Curd's clear stamps.

Challenges:
Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge - With Love
Whoopsi Daisy - Pretty in Pink
Just Magnolia - Fab sketch

Hope you like it!

Love 'n' hugs,
Mel xx