Not quite PTI.

I have always yearned for the Friendship Jar stamps from Papertrey Ink, but they are not available over here and the shipping costs from USA are so high. Still, every time I saw a card made with these stamps the yearning started again. For anyone who's wondering what the hell I'm on about, the set has an empty jar and an assortment of things to put in it. One day I had one of those "Hmmmm" moments and Googled "jar" in Images/line drawings and there it was. I didn't share it straight away as I don't know if there's a copyright on it. It was part of a newsletter and doesn't seem to be available to buy on the website. If anyone disagrees with me sharing it please say so and I'll delete the link. Meanwhile, i got it from Scrapping Turtle newsletter HERE.

I coloured it (badly)  with promarkers. I added the strawberries before printing. These are from Fimolas Arts HERE.   For more jar ideas checkout the gallery at SCS .   I don't know what I'm going to make with it but at least I can stop yearning.

EDIT. Just checked the link for the strawberries and it appears to have expired. There should be plenty more on Google Images though.

Glamour.

Still not really in the mood for this card making lark but my craft room is slowly getting tidier. I hope I kick in again soon as I need to get on with all the Christmas stuff I've started. I haven't had much time this week though as I went with Speedy to Liverpool hospital for his tests on Monday and Tuesday.  Two nuclear heart scans, one after exercising on Monday and one resting on Tuesday. Both appointments took 4 hours !!      15 minutes to do the actual test and the rest was spent hanging around waiting for the Chemical injections to take effect. On both days it didn't work first time so had to be redone. Still, that's over with now.

Here's a card I made a few weeks ago using an image and caption from TLC Creations.

It was one of those days when I didn't make a note of the page addy. I've just realised the paper matches the box in my last post  so I will give these both to the same person with some chocs in the box.

It was my wedding anniversary on wednesday so we went out for a big scoff to our local, The Mill Hotel. One of the lads who works behind the bar had paid for a bottle of champagne for us. He's such a nice lad. As another bonus the kitchen staff knew we were there so we had larger than average portions. I had a trio of fish, salmon, cod and sea bass and it was no way supposed to be that big. I was really stuffed at the end of the night.
So guess what?  Target weight 9st 2lb.  Today.............9st 4lb.  Worth every ounce though.

Vintage gift box.

While I'm not in the mood for making cards as such, I thought I'd start decorating my pile of blank boxes. Most of these boxes are a result of mis-measuring and getting sizes wrong for the stuff that I want to put in them. Others are from when I've forgotten to cut the card for the lids bigger ( always 3mm to get a good fit ) than the bottom and having loads of half boxes waiting for other halves to be made.

This one is about 6" square. The pic makes the lid far too big but it isn't in real life. The paper I've used is from a big K & Company stack.

The image and sentiment are both from TLC Creations. If you look up TLC in my labels in my side bar there is a link in one of the posts to both images.

Here's a close up. The flowers were made with punches using a You Tube tutorial. There's loads of different ones available.

Challenges.Craft your days away. Make your own flowers.
                 Di's digi designs. Anything goes.
                 Secret crafter. Inspired by a song ( Lady in red ).
                 Critter sketch. Anything but a card.
                 Anything goes challenge. Vintage.
                 Charisma cards. Inspired by a song ( Lady in red ).

Speedy's hospital check up was fine. He's waiting for the go ahead for a kidney transplant ( hopefully mine or his sister's will match ) but as they messed up his heart medication there has been a delay while they get that sorted. He's got to have a nuclear scan ( not as scary as it sounds ) tomorrow and another on Tuesday but the doc is more than confident that there will be a good result and we will be able to get things moving again. He has kidney damage, caused by a virus rather than kidney disease so he doesn't actually feel ill. In fact he says he's never felt better.

Birthday gift.

Hello there. Has anyone seen my mojo? I seem to be having a little  "I hate card making and blogging" phase at the moment. But that's ok because I know it won't last long and in the meantime i can blitz the flat. I have got a couple of unblogged cards to keep me going and here's one of them.

The image is from Meljens and the paper is by Papermania.

I downloaded the ticket sentiment when i had my stupid head on and forgot to copy the webpage addy. If I'm bored enough tonight I'll try and track it down. I know i got it through the free digital stamps website and the date is in my file so we may be in luck.

Edit. I found the ticket sentiment freebies at SG Stamper HERE. There's a whole page of them too.


 Challenges. My  Mums Craft Shop.  Layer it up.
                   Cards for Men.  G is for.......( gift ).

Meanwhile I've got to go to Liverpool later as Speedy has a hospital appointment.

Today's weight 9st 2lb ( target weight).

Variations.

 Another sunny day here in Chester. The first two weeks in September usually are nice though. It's like last chance saloon before the autumn sets in. I don't mind it getting cooler but I can't stand dark mornings. I like to be awake early and the lack of daylight fools me into sleeping for longer. I hate waking up on my day off and realising it's 8 o'clock. I love the summer when i can be awake at 5 o'clock. I'ts hard to believe I used to lie in bed all morning in my teens. What a waste of life.

On to today's card share. I needed a couple of men's cards so I went down the easy road and made 2 similar ones.

The stamp is from a set called "Ethel and Murray" which I got from Create and Craft a few years ago.

The caption is from Gingers House. The patterned paper is from Papermania Henbury Lane and the main paper is an unidentified scrap.

Another TLC caption and again the main backing paper is an unidentified scrap. The striped paper is by Summer Driggs. Both card bases are 6" x6".

Challenges. Allsorts challenge blog.  Green and blue.
                  Challenge up your life, Something for a man.
                  Creative stamp friends.  For a man

Another Anniversary Card.

A quick post today as I need to get ready for work. Another anniversary card, this time for my mum in law to give to her son.

Made with another Meljens digi image. The paper is from Craftwork cards. I got it earlier in the year when they were doing those goodie bags for a fiver. Card base is 6" x6".

Challenges.  Sweet stampin'  Anything but birthdays.
                   Alphabet challenge. P,  pretty pastels

Target weight 9st 2lb.  Today,  still 9st 3lb.

Love is Sweet.

Evening all. I'm a bit late today as I've been out shopping. I still had birthday money ( yes, from July ) which I hadn't spent as I've been waiting for the Autumn stuff to come into the shops.  I got myself a couple of nice knitted tops and some jeans. I got them from Wallis. They are boot cut with just enough elastic in the waist to hoist them over my bum. There's no sticky out bit at the front where the button would be so they make my stomach look quite flat. I got a dark navy pair and another pair the colour of............wait for it..........Caramac, lol. I' ve got quite a few creamy and beige tops and they look good with teal green too.
When I did get home I had to knuckle down and make a couple of cards I'd been putting off. It's my sister in law's Anniversary on Monday so Mum in law asked me to make one for her to give.

This is the one for me and Speedy to send. I don't really have much stuff for making wedding/ anniversary cards but Meljens came to the rescue with this image. The hearts are also Meljens which I resized to fit. I coloured them and added glossy accents before cutting them out.

The paper is from Craftwok Cards and the card base is 6" x6".

Challenges.  Creative Card Crew. Anything goes.
                    Deep Ocean Challenge blog. Hearts.
                    Do you stack up.  Friendly critters.

My name is Diane and I'm an addict..........

.....................to Pinterest!!  Do NOT click on the link unless you've done all the housework. Loads of people already know this site but I was always the slow one, lol. So many nice things to look at and loads of crafty inspiration. Go there if you dare...........

Today's card share is a bit out of my comfort zone as it's a C6. I usually do square ones but I bought loads of these last year as they were in a sale. I tend to struggle a bit with layouts for rectangular cards but I really must use them or they weren't such a bargain.

The image is from Meljens Designs. The bones paper is DCWV from stack 6 and the dotty paper is by Papermania.

I coloured a fabric flower with a promarker and added a circle sentiment from Craftwork Cards. I have at least 120 of these cards left so I'd better get used to them.

Challenges,  One stop craft challenge. Anything but square.
                    Polka Doodles, Spots and dots.
                    Do you stack up. Masculine

A few more Christmas cards.

Mornin' all. Guess where I went yesterday?

Yep, that's right. I went for a mammogram, lol. It was my first time and one of the girls I work with said she'd rather give birth so I was dreading it. When she calls in for her wages today I'll throttle her. There was nothing to it. A bit of a dull ache but that's all. They do not squash your boobs to within an inch of your life as I was expecting, just a small squash and she kept asking if it was ok to squash a bit more before she went any further. So if anyone's wondering, it's not bad at all and I'll definitely be going for my 3 yearly checks without getting worked up. While I was looking for info on the net I found this beauty.

It made me titter. I bet there'd be no shortage of women applying for that job. Revenge would be so sweet.

Anyway,  on to my cards.

Just simple ones with a Meljens image and some scraps of paper. The sentiment stamp is from a Penny Black clear set.

That's it from me for now. I'll look for some challenges when I get home from work.

Paulette at TLC Creations will be adding a free digi image to her blog every time she gets a new follower until sunday, so what are you waiting for? Get following.

Challenges. Craft us Crazy. Anything goes.
                  Moving along with the times.  Birds.
                  Divas by design. Christmas

Target weight 9st 2lb.  Today's weight, a naughty 9st 3lb.

Live Life Glamorously.

Well,  that's one thing you can't call me. Glamorous. I can't walk in heels for a start. Hats drown me. I'm short, and I slouch. You can't work on your feet for 36 years and not end up slouching ,lol. Still this is what glamorous looks like.

I found the image HERE.  I can't link directly to the blog as i stupidly only saved the image  addy. I will leave it like this for now but will do a bit of searching and try to find the blog  .EDIT, I've found it. It was from Digital 2 for Tuesday. I've edited the link and feel heaps better. We ain't supposed to give links to the image, just links to the blog so I can sleep with a clear conscience tonight.  The caption is from TLC Creations. Papers are by K & Company and the card base is 6"x6".

You can't tell from the photo but I went over the necklace with a clear stardust sakura pen. The flower is made with a sizzlits embossing die which I've had for about 3 years and have hardly used.

Challenges.  Glitter Fairies.  Pink
                    Cardmakin Mamas. pink
                    The Corrosive Challenge.  Girlie.
                    Stamps R Us.  Anything goes.

While I'm here I must show you this photo.

This is what the local council have done to our trees because they think it will attract more tourists. I kept my nose out of it as as it made no difference to my life what they did to the trees.  Then I found out how much it cost.  £25.000 !!!!!   And no, I haven't put too many noughts!  There are so many empty shops in Chester because the rent and rates are too high and this is what's at the top of the council's shopping list. All paid for with our council tax no doubt............

Dance Yourself Dizzy.

Morning everyone. Friday again so that means early start at the paper shop. It's Getting so dark in the mornings now too. I get up at 5.30 because I'm not into rushing around so early in the day. I like to get ready slowly and I have to visit the Daily Mail website every morning. Yes I know I work in a paper shop but I'm turning into my dad who had to read his paper as soon as he got up.
On to to day's card which actually uses a rubber stamp!!

Her name is Dotty and she is made by Art Impressions. I got her from Sir Stampalot a few years ago but I'm sure she's still available. I paper pieced her dress then cut her out as i wanted to put her on a " textured" background. There is so much space around her that she looks a bit lost on plain white.

I put loads of stickles on her dress and used an X Cut botanicals punch for the leaves. The papers are from my scraps but i think they are from a Papermania Christmas pad.
By the way if you have a WHS near you it might be worth popping in as I got a 12x12 scrapbook pad for  £3.50. It's a Brenda Walton and apart from 36 double sided lightweight card pages there are lots of usable die cut letters, numbers and tags etc.

Challenges.  City Crafter. Use scraps
                   Crazy Amigo. Black white and red.
                   Divas by Design. Birthdays
                   Rainbow lady's. Song  ( dance yourself dizzy ).
                   Southern Girls. Black white and one colour.

Today's weight, 9st 2lb ( target weight).

40p Christmas Gift.

And a snack to eat while you're making it. Can't be bad. I saw these canisters of bread sticks at Morrisons and as they were on special offer i thought I'd buy a couple.

Not because I wanted the bread sticks though. Oh, no, it was the canister I was after. The bread sticks were just an added bonus. The main attraction was the clear lid. I know the pringles have clear lids but they're three times the price and three times as fattening ( i mean you couldn't just throw them away could you, lol.) So here's today's crafty make.

I wanted my first one to be quite " grown up" so I used THIS  little tree image from Create with TLC.  I got the caption from there too. The papers are K&CO.  I cut a circle of matching paper to cover the top of the lid then used a gallon of Stickles around the lid and the front layers. Makes it look so expensive, lol.

Not bad for 40p. It's about 10" high so will take lots of choccie type things , trial size toiletries or perhaps a rolled up scarf or even a T shirt. The list is endless.  Well what are you waiting for ? Morrisons is open............

Challenges.  My Time o Craft. The Letter G  ( glitter glue )
                   Creative challenges, Anything but a card.
                   Try it on Tuesdays. Anything goes
                   Craft Your Passion. Anything but a card.
                   Make it Monday. Anything goes.

Yummy Cookies.

Another dull day in Chester. There's a big black cloud just sitting there ready to burst. Not moving much, just sitting waiting for enough people to be out without an umbrella. Well, it won't get me as I'm not going anywhere this afternoon. I'm just going to stay in and relax, maybe do a bit of colouring while thinking about chocolate cookies.

I found the image from Arthur's Free Clipart  HERE. It prints out really well considering it's only a colouring page. There are quite a lot of  unusual images on the site. I got the caption from Create with TLC.

Here's a close up of the yummy cookies. Have you ever wanted to eat one of your cards?  The paper is a scrap of Papermania Henbury Lane and the card base is 5" square. I'm off to get myself a biscuit before i do eat the card..................

Challenges,  Crazy 4 Challenges. Monochromatic.
                   Inspire me fridays.  Anything goes.
                   Totally Papercrafts.  Food and drink.
                   Catered Crop.  Recipe FTR18 ( promarkers.). Oops sorry didn't read the info properly. It should have been back to school/ garden theme. Don't know how to delete my entry.
                   Stamps & fun.  Monochrome.
                   Paper Playtime. Anything goes.

Whoops, nearly forgot.

I was sitting here eating my brekkie when i remembered my poor old blog. So it's going to be very quick,lol.

Image from Free Extras. Paper from stash, maybe Papermania. Sentiment done on computer.

Close up of image.

EDIT. Back from work now and found a couple of challenges
            Cute Card Thursday Clean and simple.
            Stampin Royalty. Photo Inspiration.
           


Weight 9st 2lb (target weight). Boring, I'll have to stuff myself tomorow, lol.

Goodbye.............

...............Summer, lol.  What a horrible windy wet day. I was looking through my images for something to make today and this one is perfect.

It's from TLC Creations, but I didn't make a note of the page addy. I usually copy and paste the URL into the "add caption" bit under my pics in picasa but now and again I forget. The caption is on THIS page. I hope it's still available as most designs are now only up for 48 hours before going into the shop.

The papers are by Summer Driggs. We owe such a lot to these generous providers of freebies. I know they have helped me a lot with my paper crafting. Sometimes I just don't want to do something cutesy and these images and papers are such a Godsend. I thought the card looked a bit bare around the edges so the old peel offs came out of hiding.
I'm off now to do a terrible thing...............................HOUSEWORK !!

Challenges,  One Stitch at a Time. Use a digi.
                    I did it Creations, Children.
                    Birthday Sundaes, Birthday.
                    Make it Monday, Anything goes.
                    KB Cute Monday. Digi
                    Shopping our Stash. Dogs/ digi.