Valentine Tilda

Today I got to ink up some more of my new magnolia stamps. I have had the doilie hearts forever, they were originally intended for a scrapbook layout and have been just sat collecting dust. These were just the right size for a card and I couldn't resist making a couple of valentine cards with my new valentine Tilda. I have left space at the bottom of each card to add a sentiment, for some reason I do not have a Happy Valentine stamp! I will have to visit Michael's or Hobby Lobby to get one very soon! Sorry about the photo the light isn't very good today, for some reason and poor Tilda looks a little anemic!!!

I stamped the Tilda's on watercolour paper using permanent ink and I then I coloured them in, using Tim Holtz distress inks, the papers are both Wild asparagus, added some ribbon, blossoms and brads.

Thanks for looking and for all the comments I have received recently, they really make my day:-)

Magnolia, House Mouse (TECC52VC), RAK Image

I have quite a bit to show you all today!! 3 cards in one day, talk about on a roll LOL.

The first one is using one of my new magnolia stamps I received yesterday, this was such fun to colour. In a rush to get a card made with it I kept it really simple, but I still think it looks lovely, I think all the magnolia cards that I have seen online are, you really can't go wrong with these images!!! I stamped the image on watercolour paper and I coloured the image using Tim Holtz distress inks and used my sewing machine again, DP used is wild asparagus and I also used a scrap of pink paper that I embossed using the Swiss dots folder, added a prima flower and brad and lastly some bling for a little sparkle.

Next up is a card for Taylor's cup cake challenge (you can read all about it in a previous post) This sketch was by Vicki. A really easy sketch to make a card with and I completely messed up and ended up having to do a bit of a bodge job on it, can you tell? I hope not!!! The image is a stamp by House Mouse. The dot paper and the paper that is punched with the Martha Stewart doily punch is Wild asparagus. The rest of it is ribbons and I added some bling as something was missing in that space and I didn't know what to add, a girl can never have enough sparkle so that is what i opted for!!! The sentiment is a $1 studio G stamp, which I think fits the house mouse stamp perfectly!

This card is made using a wrak image (Bronc Buster) that I received from a lovely lady called Pauline (aka Meisu4) on SCS, I really love this image and would love to get hold of this stamp set some time! All I did was ink the edges of the image, layered it onto Burgundy card stock that I cut using the cricut and accent essentials cart and then added a strip of paper and adhered the wanted sentiment (also from the Bronc Buster set) with pop dots to raise it slightly.

Thanks for looking and I would also like to say thank you for all the lovely comments I have received lately, they are much appreciated.

Shopping

I don't know about you but one of the fun things about crating is shopping for new supplies!!!! I admit I am a bit of a shopaholic but I am able to behave myself most of the time!!LOL

I decided on the way home from college just to have a quick trip to Michaels to see if they had anything new in! I ended up buying quite a few of their new dollar stamps!!!!

Anyway, I have seen so many fantastic cards with the magnolia stamps for such a long time now that I could resist no longer!!! I ended up ordering some online only 6 days ago from a uk company The Glitterpot and they arrived!!!!, I am amazed at how fast they arrived, this is my second time ordering from this store and I can honestly say their customer service is excellent. So if you need magnolias I recommend buying them from here.

I can't wait to ink these up and make a card with them, they are so cute, can you tell I am excited!!!!LOL Have a great day and thanks for dropping by.

Cupcake challenge

Another one for Taylors cupcake anniversary challenge! The sketch for this one was by Donna Baker you can see the sketch on her blog here. Thanks for looking.

Taylors Sketch Challenge

I just discovered a new blog called Taylored Expressions that have some fab challenges and inspiration to make beautiful cards. Anyway Taylor is celebrating a year of cupcake challenges!!! As part of her celebration she asked her cupcake crew to design sketches. If you participate in them all and upload them to Splitcoast by Thursday Jan 29 by 8pm PST you will have the chance to win a $75 gift certificate to her store!!!!!!! The cupcake sketches are fab and if time allows I plan on participating in all of them!!!! My first card is made using Taylors sketch. I love this sketch and I can see myself using it quite a bit. I coloured this cute House Mouse image, using my Tim Holtz distress inks and then cut it out with my scalloped circle nestabilities (the sketch has the oval nestabilities, and as I have only just bought my first set of nestabilities yesterday the circle scallop is all I have, so had to make do). I then cut another 2 layers in burgundy and pink. I stitched the DP to the burgundy and then added a ribbon that I stamped "Happy Birthday" onto with a Michaels dollar stamp. I used the Martha Stewart doily punch along the bottom, added Prima blossoms and brads.

Thanks for Looking.

Penny Black

I must be on a roll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Another card, that is 3 in 3 days!!!!

Another Penny black stamp (can you tell I like them) this is the first time I inked this particular one. Used a cuttlebug folder for one of the layers, the Happy Birthday is a see D's stamp. I then inked the edges, added a prima blossoms and a brad.
TFL

Duckling

Another card using the same Penny Black stamp I used the other day called "Duckling" 3347H. I stamped a few images and thought I would have a go at doing the same colour scheme but a different layout. This stamp is so easy to colour in, as you only have to do the flowers, ducks feet and beak. So makes for a very quick card if you are short on time like I seem to be these days. This time I used a martha stewart punch, cuttlebug swiss dots folder. added ribbon and a prima flower and brad.

TFL

Managed to get some crafting done. This is the first card I have made in 2009!!!!! My new year resolution this year is to make sure that I do not forget to send people cards. Especially bithday cards!!! So I am making a start and plan on making at least 2 a week!

This card is made using a Penny Black stamp (my favourite stamps, I blame my friend Jenny who first introduced me to this addiction). The Thank you image is SU which I received from one of the lovely ladies on the wish rak forum on SCS. I also managed to use my sewing machine which my dh set up for me the other day with a converter and a few different plugs!!!! (it is safe), I cannot remember the last time I used it, but know it was before we moved to the US which is 18 months ago now.

Thanks for looking.

KILLERS

We went to see the Killers in concert at Minneapolis yesterday and got back late this morning. I am so tired, but it was worth it. The concert was absolutely amazing and we had a fantastic time. The boys loved every minute of it and after the disappointment of watching Oasis in concert in December this showed them what a great experience a concert can really be. We took our camera so we could take some pics and low and behold the brand new rechargeable batteries that said already charged on them did not work so we do not have any pics!!!! never mind!!!

We also managed to squeeze a trip in to IKEA and I bought a few things!

I am back at college tomorrow, only 2 days a week this time so I will hopefully have more time to update you all and load up pics.

Fry

Yesterday afternoon another one of my guppies had babies!!!!! I moved her into the breeding next and they just kept on popping out!!!! A couple of hours later and she has had about 30 fry! I am hoping that there are no more fish in my tank that are pregnant!!!!! The 2 week old fry are doing well and so far I have only lost a few, they are growing rapidly and hopefully it won't be long until they are swimming in the tank along with all the other fish. I have set up our spare tank and will put yesterdays born fry in there when it is ready. Luckily we have a friend who also has a tank so he will be getting some too!!!

It is really cold here at the moment and we have had lots of snow. I hope to get some crafting done at some point today so watch this space!

I have managed to get some scrapping done for the first time in a long time!!!!!

Winter Wonderland: For this layout I did not use any patterned paper just cardstock, ribbon, Lollipop Prima flower,primas and a bit of bling, the title is thickers alphas, chipboard snowflakes which I painted with acrylic and then covered with snow glitter.

You Melt my Heart - Used Bo bunny papers and stickers, again chipboard snowflakes which I painted with acrylic and added snow glitter.

Thanks for Looking :)

Managed to take a pic of the guppy fry, if you click on the picture you will be able to see them better!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Babiessssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

Last night I put one of my guppies in a breeding net and this morning I woke up to 20 baby fry!!!! I removed her from the net as I didn't want to risk her eating them only to sit and watch her give birth two 2 more fry!!!! I then put her back in the net and we went out to get another net and some food to feed the fry, on our return we counted about another 15 fry so a total of 35 fry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the question is what am I going to do with all these fish LOL I imagine that they won't all survive so will have to wait and see what happens.

It is officially the end of the holidays in our house, dh goes back to work tomorrow and the boys back to school, but I have 2 weeks off before I start college again!!! so will have a bit more time to keep up with this blog and do some crafting!!! Which reminds me I managed to pick up some of the mini mail boxes from the dollar spot at Target today, they only had the metallic pink. Anyway I thought I would mention it, as I know that these were difficult for me to find last year!!!!!
They also had some magazine files for $1 so I grabbed a few of them in the hope that I can sort my shelf out in the craft room when I eventually tidy it up!!!! wishful thinking I think!!!!

Finally managed to get some crafting done, not the usual scrapping but something different. I think I have lost my mojo for scrapping at the moment. Could be down to the fact that everything is just such a mess in my craft room.

I love the Primitive Country look and have seen lots of different signs in the country stores with some fantastic quotes. So I thought I would have a go at making one. I covered the wood with acrylic paint and stencilled the letters onto it and finally gave it a coat of matt varnish. DH put some hanging things on the back for me. The FRIENDS ARE WELCOME signs now sits above my cooker.

For the stitched pic I used calico that I soaked in tea to age it, then stitched the sentiment, added some hearts with buttons. I then put it in the frame without the glass and added batting to the back of it to give it a bit of a padded look. I am not sure about the brown frame so might paint it black, I haven't decided yet.

These framed stitched pic is for a neighbour that has really made us welcome since moving here to the US. Just hope she likes it!!! I have also made a sign for her which I will post in the next post when I get round to taking a picture of it.

HAPPY NEW YEAR