Thursday 26 February 2015

Monochrome mix-up

So here is the other card that I started yesterday. What was taking so long was the cutting out for the paper-piecing of the poinsettia!!

Firstly I took a pearlescent card to make a base, and die-cut the shape. Next a piece of patterned paper was added diagonally across the card. In retrospect I should have used a paper with a slightly subtler pattern! The poinsettia was stamped over this panel and heat embossed with Heat It Up in Black Sparkle. The image was stamped onto the same paper as the base panel, and also onto a black polka dot paper, which was heat embossed with stardust embossing powder. Layers were cut out from these papers and added to the base stamped image, leaving some areas bare for a more 3D effect. To finish a matching ribbon was added down the side, with a tag, bow and sentiment to finish.

This was inspired by the following challenges:
Cure for the Monday Blues #44 Inspiration Picture
MIM Tags
crafting by designs Thinking of you
CRAFT Sympathy
suzy bee's #68 Monochrome
Glitternsparkle 125 Black and White
Top 3 Badge
addicted to stamps #98 Embossing
crafty ribbons #113 Black and white

creative moments Paper Piecing
scrapbook stamp society #60 Shaped cards
vs sweet ideas #31 Red, White or Pink (obviously this is white).

Hugz Tinz

Wednesday 25 February 2015

Peace with Kitty

Welcome back again. It has been a little wet round here just recently, which is not great for my walk to work from where I park :(. However, it does mean that Spring is on the way and the temperatures are going to start rising - I think lol.

I was going to create two cards tonight, but I ran out of time - so here is the Christmas card that I did manage to get completed.

I used a patterned paper that came with one of the ATC's from the exchange group that I am in. This was die-cut with a marianne creatables floral die and then a die-cut kitty topper added on top of this. Then a bauble was die-cut using a die that came free with a magazine on kraft card, and a teardrop cut topper added over this. I also added a spritz of a glitter paint/ink (not sure what it actually is as the label is non-existent) that I found, but I do not think it shows very well. Finally a washi-tape edge was added to the fold of the card. I know it doesn't sound like much has been done, but it takes a while to get everything together that I need to use, and then the time just seems to have run away!!

Anyway - I hope you like my alternative card, which is being entered for the following challenges:
abc challenge D for Die-cuts
polkadoodle All Things Kraft (bauble)
jinglebelles Here we come a washi-ing
abc christmas D for Die-cuts
craftyhazelnut Feature a Creature
Winners - please take this to share on your blog
completely Christmas No red or Green
winter wonderland Krafty Creations
quirky crafts Our Best Friend


Thank you for taking the time to look.

Hugz Tinz

Monday 23 February 2015

Floral Kitty

Well I decided to go all floral this time, after planting some of my onion seeds in little pots and seeing the first shoots from my overwintered sets :).

I finished my third cross stitch design of the year:
I thought this little kitty could join in with the following challenges:
craftyourpassion Anything Goes
simon says monday Anything Goes
quirky crafts #4 Our Best Friend
card mania #65 Add some red

And made another ATC collection - Floral Spike:
This collection is supposed to be a little bit abstract - although I think a larger leaf for the first one may have worked better. Anyway these are to be entered for the following challenges (details for each ATC follows):
simply create too #79 Anything Goes
sweet stampin Spring Flowers
alsorts Colour Purple
CRAFT 199 Clean and Simple

A sizzix stamp was used with purple Colour Works ink on White cardstock, and then cut out with the complimentary die. A two-tone base card was used and green ric-rac used for the flower stalk. A eaf sequin and the die-cut abstract flower finished off the card.

For this ATC the two tone card was again used, but with a bamboo stalk and open vase made using peel-off stickers. The flower was a topper that I received from the ATC exchange group I am a member of.


This time a plain purple base card was used, with a purple ribbon as the stem. The stamp was applied directly to the base card, again using the purple ink, and two purple leaves were added to the bottom to finish.


Thank you for taking the time to look at my creations - all feedback is appreciated.

Hugz Tinz

Saturday 21 February 2015

Hold Tight Winter Butterfly

Well, we keep getting those peeks into Spring with a day of mild weather here and a splash of sunshine there, so I decided to try and combine the two in a card. I am not sure how well it has worked, and the OH thinks I need to change the sentiment - but here we go anyway - I would love to see what you all think?

I used a patterned base card in cold frosty colours, with a hint of spring with the pink. The image is a free digistamp from Aliciabel, which I coloured in using brown, green and blue promarkers. I added a 3D heart as the little butterflies are clearly besotted with each other. The Winter Fun sentiment is from a CD Rom I got off my mum when she didn't use her computer to craft (no she is not getting it back lol), but I changed the colour from Red to Blue before printing and then layered it onto a white die-cut scalloped circle. Pearls and gems were added for the air trail from the butterflies wings, and then accented with glitter glue. Finally some leaves and flowers were used to finish off the card.

This card was inspired by the following challenges:
Aliciabel #4 Love is in the air
crafting by designs - Anything Goes
2 cute ink #123 Brown, Green and Blue
CCM #132 Love, Love, Love
ooh-la-la #174 Add something Green
deep ocean #97 Love is all around
simply create too Anything Goes
The Stamping Boutique Hearts
open-minded crafting fun #30 Up in the air
Creative Corner Winter Fun
Papertake Weekly BINGO (Die-cut - Free (digital image) - Glitter
Passion for Promarkers 284 Perfect Pearls
MIM Two Favourite Colours (Blue and Green in this case)
Craft your passion 249 Anything Goes

Audio Book Review
Hold Tight by Harlan Coben
This is a crime story that has two seemingly unrelated issues to follow. The first is the murders of two ladies from the area, who are brutally beaten to death and then left in such a way as to throw the investigation completely off course. Unfortunately the commanding officer does not take the initial scene at face value and quickly gets some facts that the killer was relying on taking a while to come to light.
The second issue is that of Mike’s son going missing, leading Mike into a sinister world of violence and drugs. When Mike’s sons friend died he became very withdrawn and refused to talk to his parents, leading them to invade his privacy. This in turn leads to his parents becoming very concerned when an email is received, and several PM’s follow to indicate something is not quite right.

This is a fast paced crime story and balances the two issues very well. The link between the two is hinted at throughout the story, but is not actually revealed until the end. The characters are very strong and work well with each other to keep the story progressing, and the details come to light bit-by-bit, rather than the listener knowing everything from the start, or knowing next to nothing. A very good listen, and one I would consider reading on paper too.


Thank you for looking - off to take the rabbit for his check up after being castrated now :)

Hugz Tinz

Sunday 15 February 2015

Love Wire

Well it has been another lovely day today. I managed to get out onto the allotment before the sun went behind the clouds and it was lovely. I planted my Broad Bean seeds- Dreadnought and Bunyards Exhibition, and also mulched around my Gooseberry bushes (whilst tying to avoid spines in the eyes, back of hands or ears).

I also got an ATC duo completed using wire and beads as an alternative to the traditional styles of ATC. Yes one is larger than the other, but the small one is not quite ATC size either, so they balance each other out lol.

Love Wire:
For both of these cards a green aqua marker from Letraset was used to cover a white business card blank, and then misted with water to get a splashed effect (not brilliantly obvious from this picture though). I then sculpted Love from beading wire and used a stripy burgundy paper. The fine details for each card are below.

These ATC's are for the following challenges:
MIM Challenge Valentines  (unable to link!)
sketchy colours #242 Green, burgundy and pink
Country View #24 Drips and Drops
crafty calendar  Anything Goes
CCM #132 Love, Love, Love
CASology 133 Love
crafting by designs Love is in the air
deep-ocean #97 Love is all around
creative moments #61 Love
Allsorts 298 Not birthday
simplycreatetoo #79 Anything Goes


ATC #1 Took the stripy burgundy paper on a diagonal cut to bisect the base card, which was not coloured to the edges. The wire sentiment was added over this line with a wire spiral to embellish at the bottom.

ATC #2 mounted the dripped green card onto the stripy paper. The love sentiment had pink beads added during the sculpting, and this as added diagonally to the card.


My little chick came out too play today, and even flew for the first time properly (only a short distance though). I managed to get a little video of him playing out!


Finally the Audio Book Review
Daisy Miller by Henry James
This is a short novella based around the Victorian era or similar. Daisy Miller is an uneducated, common, but very pretty American girl who catches the eye of an American gentleman who has been living in Geneva. The Miller family has gone to Rome for the weather, as the mother suffers an illness, but Daisy does not act the way the higher society think a young girl should act. She flirts excessively with all the men, and is constantly seen, without an escort, in the presence of a young Italian man. Unfortunately her behaviour gets the better of her.

As a short story this is quite interesting and gives an interesting impression of how naïve and innocent American girls were seen by the Europeans in that era. However, there is little in the way of a plot, rather just a brief overview of a girl’s life from a young man’s perspective.

Thank you for taking the time to look at my blog.

Hugz Tinz

Wednesday 11 February 2015

Cats, mice, birds and stars

I have an audiobook review, a Christmas card and my second stitched finish of 2015 to share with you al tonight, as well as my started attempt at the on facebook.

Christmas Card
This was a quick and simple Christmas card. The mouse topper cam free with a magazine, and I added pearls to the corners. Then to finish the card I added a metallic grey ribbon and a 'Christmas Wishes' sentiment, with snowflakes over the top.

This card fits into the following challenges:
simply less is more 210 pink and grey
completely Christmas #49 Add a snoflake
Winter Wonderland KISS (Keep It Simple and Sweet)
simon says monday Red and Pink
Card Mania #65 Add some red

Cross Stitch - January
This little Robin is playing in the January snows and is a Joan Elliott design.
I wish to enter this little guy for the following challenges:
suzy bee #66 Something with wings
Anything Goes @ Catch the Bug and Craft Calender

Audio Book
The cat who saw stars by Lilian Jackson Braun
This story is about a journalist called Qwill and his two feline companions, Koko and Yum Yum, both Siamese. Qwill decides to take a holiday from work and go to his cabin at the beach, however there are some weird happenings and mysterious deaths and Qwill finds that he is not really having a holiday at all. Koko shows his uncanny ability when he finds the missing hiker and leaves hints as to the other mysterious disappearance that occurs. Meanwhile, Qwill is also busy helping out his acquaintances in the area.

This is a very amusing, light read (or listen). As a lover of cats I could certainly relate to some of the goings on lol. I really enjoyed listening to this book, but was very glad that the person that read the blurb on the back was not the same person who read the story! A good book for the whole family to listen to, especially if they are cat lovers.


Thank you for looking
Hugz Tinz

Tuesday 10 February 2015

Christmas Layers

This last week was very cold and wintry, with snow for several days. However I did manage to get down to the allotment briefly at the weekend to sort out the area around the fruiting bushes, which couch grass had colonised. The rabbit is very pleased with al the fresh 'hay' he now has lol.

I decided to make a Christmas card which celebrates the recent weather, being both snowy and layered up. I used a snwglobe shaped base card and then decoupaged the somebunny image as the main design. The saying is an Anita's stamp using Colour Works multi-colour ink pad. Finally two Christmas tree embellishments finish the card.
This card was inspired by the following challenges:
CRAFT 297 Decoupage
craft your passion Anything Goes
abc christmas C for colourful
fussy and fancy #132 It's all about love (hugging)
jingle belles Shape up
quirky crafts Love is in the air
addicted to stamps #97 Lots of layers (decoupage used 6 layers)
Anything Goes at crafty calender and crafting by designs

Thursday 5 February 2015

Echos across the heart

Tonight I have made two cards. It was going to be just one, but then my male birthday card ended up a little too feminine, so I had to make another.

Here is the initial card:
I used a free stamp from a magazine and my oldest ink pad, which is a cheap black ink pad with no name on it, but it is still pretty good condition considering it must be over 10 years old! I coloured the image with promarkers (after heat setting it to stop the ink from smudging) and blended the colours with the promarker blender pen. Peel-offs were used around the image. To the side I used a gold sheer ribbon and stamped another free stamp onto card and then die-cut out and adding to the bottom of the ribbon.
This is for the following challenges:
OLS13 You Blend!
Quirky Crafts Love is in the air
abc-challenge C is for Cupid
Sweet Stampin' Love
MIM Hearts and Flowers
Stella Says Sketch 302

Art Impressions 152 Have a heart
Live and Love Crafts #32 Hearts
SOS #187 Getting Inky
ilovepromarkers#255 Lots of love

And here is the quick and easy replacement card:

For this card I simply layered two ribbons on top of each other to make the candles. Then a sheer gold ribbon was cut diagonally to make the flames and a 'Happy Birthday' topper finishes the card off.
This card follows the theme at:
Crazy4Challenges C4C271 Male Birthday
crafting by designs Anything Goes
craft your passion 247 Anything Goes
Simon Says Monday H is for - Happy Birthday
open-minded crafting #29 No Red and No Pink
CASology 132 Hot
papertake weekly Anything Goes

I also have an update on my fish tank cross stitch:

This is now at 75 hours.


Audio Book Review
Echoes across the Mersey
This story is based in Liverpool during the first world war. Sarah is one of the working class who falls in love with the bosses son. Luckily for her the son reciprocates her feelings. However, he is having trouble with his father and in the heat of the moment volunteers for the army. When this brings on his fathers’ early death he realises how silly he has been and has to find a way to ensure the family business continues to thrive whilst he is at war. This gives Sarah a great opportunity and the story shares the trials and tribulations from each of the main characters points of view, through to the end of the war, with deaths and births a major aspect of the story.

The way the book is written works very well as you really get to know the characters. It also has a few twists to the story and some areas where you are almost certain you know what is going to happen, even though you wish it wouldn’t. A very good period drama that is well written and read, making it an excellent choice for listening to on long journeys.

Thank you for looking
Hugz Tinz

Sunday 1 February 2015

Daddy's Garden

Hiya everybody,

I have a couple of makes to share with you today. First up is my ATC (a single this time due to minimum time free).
 I took a white base card and created my own background using a new teacup stamp and Mirror Gold embossing powder (heat embossed). I then used a green ink to colour the flower motifs and blended with a baby wipe.
Then a flower and butterfly were die-cut from a pink spotty paper and layered onto the base card to make the 'Butterfly Tea Party' ATC. A quick make for my facebook group theme -
Fitting the themes from the following challenge blogs:
Crafty Calender What's New? (Stamp)
vs sweet ideas #31 Red, White or Pink
fussy and fancy #131 Things with Wings
polkadoodles and allsorts - Flower Power (die-cut and cup centres)
the stamping boutique Make your own background
cute card thursday Stamping Mad

Unfortunately my partner was in an RTA on Sunday evening and so we have spent much of the weekend trying to find alternative modes of transport and new items for when the insurance money comes through. This involved a trip up to my parents and left very little free time this weekend lol. A good trip though, and I got my paints for starting the bathroom make-over :)


So here is my second completion:  Being entered for the Anything Goes challenges at - Glitter n sparkle and Simon Says Wednesday

This was a present for my good friend who lives up by my mum, and it fits perfectly. She seemed to like it, but not sure she has much that it will go with - calls for a shopping spree and maybe another excuse for me to travel the 100+ miles to visit hehehe. This is my first crochet make too!


Audio book review
Daddy’s Girl by Lisa Scottoline
Nat teaches law and has a seminar on justice and the law. After one of these seminars Nat is asked to go to a local prison to teach a lesson for their ‘clinic’ (prisoners who wish to learn). This visit to the prison changes Nat’s life and her perspective on life also. She hears a dying man’s last words, sees a cover-up at the prison, and the questions that she asks put her life at risk. Then she becomes a fugitive and sees the difference between law and justice personally.

I really enjoyed this book, which has twists at every turn. The reader was great at really bringing out the emotions that the story requires and it is always interesting to see what Nat does next and how her life changes. I would definitely recommend this book.