We all scream for ice cream

I have finally got round to creating an Ice Cream ATC card for the Live & Love Crafts challenge. I used a fleur di lis backing paper and an ice cream image that I obtained from Google. I layered the image over the backing paper and added a text box sentiment. The image was coloured with promarkers and the top edges rounded to finish.

This challenge is being entered into the following challenges also:

CCC #88 For a Teen

aud sentiments 132 Cute

simply create too #86 Keep it simple

C4C288 Vacation

cute card thursday Too Cute!

I am off to the Great British Craft Festival tomorrow with my mother :). Let's see what I bring home lol.

Audio Book Review

The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory

I have read one of Philippa’s books before and found it very entertaining, and this one kept up the standard. This book is about Catherine of Aragon, Henry the eighths first of his seven wives. It starts with her life as a young girl in Spain with her campaigning parents, and then progresses to her move to England and marriage to Arthur, Prince of Wales. She eventually falls in love with her young husband and they start planning for England, before he is suddenly taken before his time. Katerina makes a deathbed promise and then finds she has to wait six long, detrimental years before she manages to marry King Harry (Henry 8^th). The book continues through to her court hearing.

I am not sure how much is fact and what is fiction, but the story is very captivating and interesting and there is enough fact in there to keep it stimulating. These books are always full of scandal and intrigue and old fashioned politics and it is fun to imagine how things were back in the 1500’s. A very good book to listen to.

Thank you for looking

Hugz Tinz

Height Chart Update

Hi guys,

As promised I have an update on the height chart  for you all. I do not have any challenge entries this time though unfortunately as I am quite busy this week, and then taking my mum to the craft show on Sunday (which involves a long drive Saturday and then again Sunday evening :( ), but should be fun nevertheless.

So here is my Trex at about 5.5 hours (I think although it may be 6.5 hours - my book is downstairs!).

Big Hugz
Tinz

Snow much Joy

The weather has turned cold again brrrrrrr. But that is ok as I was making a Christmas card today. I did clear a little more of the allotment pond this morning though - managed to catch a colourless mole on the side of my face and had blood everywhere!!! Not pleasant when you are busy de-cluttering lol. Here is the pond now:

And now for my Christmas card. I wanted to use some of my peel-offs but still enter various Christmas challenges, so here is what I came up with:

The snowman is a peel-off, and he was a little so-and-so to get off the backing sheet!!! He originally said Merry Christmas in his tummy, so I cut this out and added a 'Joy' star instead. The image was coloured using promarkers, including a metallic to add some glitz, and then cut using the X-cut large frames die.This was mounted onto gold mirri card, and then onto a purple card blank. To finish purple diamantes adorn the top corners and a brown pearl was used for the obvious eye.

This was created with the following challenges in mind:

Card Mania - Pearls and swirls (the swirls are on the joy sticker)

abc-challenge J for Jewels

Jingle Belles Let it snow

alphabet challenge G for Glitz and Glam

abc-christmas J for Joy

TPE300 Anything Goes
CRAFT 312 Christmas - no green or red
Creative Corner Anything Goes
completely christmas #64 Include a candle
crafty hazelnuts 230 Die-cut or punch

I also started designing my next tattoo last night. It is going to be a phoenix for my ankle (I already have a butterfly on my right ankle), but I haven't decided how I want the wings yet. I also think the tail may need to be a little longer (or body a little shorter lol).

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. I will post an update on my height chart on Wednesday for those who are following the progress.
Hugz Tinz

Butterfly Time

This time I decided to do a more subtle card, on the sunshine theme. I used a pale orange base card and die-cut a circle aperture. Then I cut the vellum butterfly from the HOTP booklet and cut the edges of the wings to allow them to sit over the front of the aperture, whilst the image was secured to the back. A moon and a sun peel-off were used to decorate the corners. A stripe of butterfly washi tape, and one of butterfly ribbon finishes the card.

And I think I may have a smudge on my camera lens! lol. Anyway this card was created with inspiration from:

ooh-la-la #180 Use a pre-coloured image

crafty ribbons #119 Animals

MMM Thing with wings

simply less is moore 224 Sunshine (a more abstract entry).

Sunny Bee under the Olive Tree

Well the weather has certainly warmed up again. It has been really cold in the mornings this week, but hopefully we are now on the move to Summer properly! The rain really brought the grass up down on the allotment - I ran out of battery before I had got even half-way round the plot!

I am also loving the warmer weather and was inspired to make this lovely bright card:

I made a gatefold card from Gold Mirri card. A yellow patterned paper by Helz Cuppleditch was cut into a square, slightly larger than the bee image and the image was layered on top. The image is a pre-coloured vellum from HOTP and so vellum tape was required to adhere it without leaving any marks. However I also added two sunshine-like flowers to the top corners to secure the top of the panel. A sunshine peel-off was placed over one of the flowers, and the panel adhered to the left flap of the card. Finally a yellow ribbon was tied around the card to hold it closed.

I would like to enter this card for the following challenges:

Simply Less is Moore 224 Sunshine

glitter n sparkle 137 Use some ribbon

crafty ribbons #119 Animals

creative moments 68 Teentastic (nice and bright and interactive)

Crafty Calender Things With Wings

AUDIO BOOK

The Girl Under the Olive Tree by Leah Fleming

This is a drama based on the Second World War and the occupation of Crete. It is written as memories from the main people involved, as they go back to the island of Crete 60 years later. The story focuses on the life of an English debutante who wishes to make her own way in the world and ends up in Athens as the Germans make their crusade against the Greeks. She finds that she has useful skills that can help the natives and so decides to stay in Athens, against her fathers’ wishes. She has many close calls and meets many people, a few of which are also on the island for the 60^th Anniversary remembrance.

This is a heart-wrenching story of love and loss, and of the cruelties of war. It goes into some detail of the efforts the local people had to put in to try and keep the country independent of the Germans, but also shows the occupation from a German perspective, showing that not all Germans believed in the Nazi cause. A very good, captivating book to listen to, especially if you like drama and suspense.

Thank you for looking

Hugz Tinz

Zipped with love

Only eight more days to enter my zipper challenge over on facebook, which is being sponsored by Dis Digi Stamps. Check out the store:


The challenge closes at midnight on the 28th May, and all types of craft medium is welcomed. All you have to do is use a zip as a focal feature.

Here is my latest inspiration creation for the challenge:

Obviously this is a bracelet, but you can also make necklaces and belts the same way, if you have long enough zips. First you need to establish how long you need your zip to be, and then cut off any excess, as well as all the edging fabric. Use a lighter to singe down both sides of the zip to seal the fibers (be careful, the metal may get hot). This also gives a neat finish to the edges. Take a large edging crimp bead, and place on the opposite end to the zip pull, crimping tightly in place with flat-nosed pliers. If the crimp slips when you pull on it, you need to press harder with the pliers! (Can be a good biceps work-out). Once this is in place add rings to both the crimp and the zip pull. Add the clasp and a charm to the ring on the zip pull, and close the ring to finish. I did try to add a real feather to this one, but it wouldn't sit nicely, so I think it will have to be saved for a necklace project instead!

I am also going to enter this for the following challenges:

Things with wings @ crafty calender, polkadoodle and MMM

crafting by designs - Anything Goes

Simply Create Too #85 Favourite colour combo (i love combining pale purples with any dark colour)

Creative Moments 68 Teentastic

simonsays Monday X, Y, Z - Zipper
papertake weekly With a heart

Thank you for looking
Hugz Tinz

Distressed in the Garden

Hi there,

I have had a day off work today, and it has turned out to be lovely! I went down the allotment for a bit and netted off my Gooseberry bushes before the birds get to them. I was also hoping to plant some pea seeds against my pea netting, and strim the grass, but it is amazing how long it takes to find poles and netting that are the right size in the storage bench! And then having to fight with the nettles to secure the netting once you have found some that fits properly (or as near as possible without buying some new!) lol.

I also decided to try putting up my new greenhouse. It was freecycled to me, and so there are no instructions and we didn't think to take a photograph before dismantling it in the first place! Here is what I have got:

As you can see it is not going well. I decided to come indoors and upload my latest ATC duo - Light Distressed:

 This ATC duo is almost identical, which I do not usually do, but I thought that I would see how different I could make them,using all the same things, and the same layout. So the base card for both of these cards is standard 2.5x3.5 inches, cut from Core'dinations cardstock. Both were distressed using fine sandpaper, but the first used an up/down motion, while the second used a longer side-to-side motion, to give a slightly different distressed effect to the cards. The image was stamped onto pink core'dinations (which was slightly distressed with the sandpaper) and heat-embossed using a coral embossing powder, however the second image was also kissed with a crackle effect stamp before applying to the card, to give a more distressed effect to the image. In both cases this image was layered onto white cardstock, which had been stamped with a crackle-effect stamp, and heat embossed with enamel embossing powder, before being painted with yellow ink. The first ATC has a scalloped circle mounted onto a larger scalloped circle, while for the second one I decided to use a plain circle for the yellow-crackle.

These ATC's are to be entered into:

Vs sweet ideas #34 Emboss it!

The Card Concept #35 'Frilly and Fabulous' - scalloped circle inspired by the frilly edges and the colours from the flowers

Creative Card Crew Embossing

CCM #138 Make your own background

LOC #78 Distress it
Glitter and Sparkle 136 Embossing

Also, here is an update of the height chart:

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

Hugz Tinz

Christmas Bells

I finally had time to make a card tonight, whilst also getting some bind-weed weeding done down on the allotment. So here is my Christmas Bells card:

For this card I used a patterned base of red card with pale polka dots that came free with a Cross Stitch magazine (I think). The digi stamp is from Aliciabel and the words were added on the computer, before the image was printed and coloured using promarkers. Large frame nesting dies were used to cut the image and silver mirri card, and then layered together. A rectangle was cut from the mirri card, and a tree die cut from yellow pearlescent card layered onto it, leaving the star loose. A red and gold Christmas ribbon was wound around the panel before the panel was adhered to the card base. The frame layer was layered over this panel, but slipped behind the star on the tree. Poinsettia leaves were die-cut from the pearlescent paper and red mirri card. These were layered together and layered over the panels to finish.

This card was based upon the following sketch from Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge:

:

papertake weekly and i love promarkers and crafty ribbons and digichooseday Anything Goes

suzy bee #79 Add some flowers (poinsettias)

allsorts 310 More than 2 Die-cuts

completely christmas #62 A touch of silver

Sketchy Colours #248 Red and Yellow

stamping boutique Die-cut or punch

jingle belles Hybrid Holidays

abcchristmas I for I love you

sweet stampin' Christmas candles or bells

aliciabel #7 Add some flowers (poinsettias)

To finish off this blog post I thought I would leave you with my giant leek that I harvested today:

Thanks for looking. Hugz Tinz

Frozen Blooms

After some pretty poor weather this week I finally managed to get out and about today. I did a brief spell on the allotment (not long as the OH's parents are visiting),and we went for a butterfly walk this morning. Due to the wind there were not many butterflies spotted (although a Brimstone was among those that we did see, as well as a Common Blue), but we did see an Adder hiding in the grass!

 We also saw this tiny little micromoth. I know the image is a little blurred but the camera was struggling to focus and ran out of battery power just after this photo was taken! Typical!

Here is my second card for my Facebook Zipper challenge sponsored by Di's Digi Stamps.              https://www.facebook.com/groups/145548232316573/

The image is from Di's Digi Stamps and is coloured using Promarkers. A corner punch was used for the butterflies, and the sentiments are peel-offs. The Zipper element is the bottom flower, which was made by first cutting the top and bottom of the zip off and discarding one side of the zip, and the toggle. Then a running stitch was used along the centre of the fabric strip and pulled taut to make the zip curl in on itself - creating a flower.

This is to be entered for the following challenges:

scrapbook stamp society - #65 spring

addicted-to-stamps #103 Flowers

TPE297 Appreciation/Thank You

i love promarkers #268 Anything Goes
crafting by designs Just One Layer
craftycatz #278 CAS
Deep Ocean #103 Flowers
digichooseday Anything Goes
alphabet challenge F for Friends/Friendship
One Layer Simplicity #16 Blossom

Audio Book Review

Frozen Tracks by Ake Edwardson

This book is based in Gothanberg, Sweden and is a translation as the original would appear to be written in Swedish. DCI Winter (pronounced Vinter) is looking into some seemingly random attacks on students, with a weapon that leaves trauma to the skull, but none of the students dead. He is trying to find the connection between the students to determine the cause of the attacks, in order to narrow the search for the attacker. However, when a boy turns up injured and admits that he has been in a car with a stranger DCI Winter’s role becomes more complicated. His investigation turns up the frightening realisation that more children have been in a car with a stranger. When a boy disappears it becomes a race against time to find the boy, and get DCI Winter out to his own family before Christmas is over.

This is very fast paced, and gives you information from the kidnappers perspective, so you know more than the police all the way through the book. This can be slightly frustrating as the police miss the obvious connections (as they would seem when you already know about them), but also allows you to be inside the kidnappers head. A very interesting way to do the book. The main criticism of the audio book is the lack of inflection a lot of the time, and the fact that it jumps from one person to another, without a break, meaning that it takes a while to figure out what is going on, as you do not realise that the person has changed immediately. This does make some areas difficult to follow. Otherwise, the story is very well written and interesting, keeping you on the edge of your seat.

Hugz Tinz

Dark Luck

With the weather all over the place and the recent gale I haven't really managed to get much done on the allotment. Also after having worked the bank holiday weekend I haven't done as much crafting as usual, so I got an early night last night and decided that today I would make a card and plant some seedlings out! So I now have a row of sweet peas against my 'chain-link' fence. I also thought I would share a picture of my herb plot. The sage really likes the red south-facing wall!

Here is the card I created - which doesn't fit the theme for either of my facebook groups oops lol.

The main image was printed from the Ooh-La-La Say it with words CD-Rom, and matted onto orange Papermania patterned paper with a vibrant pattern. Peel-offs were coloured yellow, then stuck onto some purple glitter patterned Papermania paper. They were then die-cut into individual circles and attached to the base card underneath the image.

I am entering this card for the following challenges:

OLL #179 Nursery Times - colours and fairy

Less is Moore Colour wheel opposites (blue and orange; purple and yellow)

Simon Says Wednesday Let's get sentimental (saying image)

MMM Trees or leaves
crafting by designs Anything Goes

Audiobook Review

Dark Watch by Clive Cussler and Jack Du Brul

This is one of a series of books that make up ‘The Oregon files’, which is based around a group of specially trained individuals that make up ‘The Corporation’, a team that can be used when the government wishes to be uninvolved, but also mercenaries. In this story Cabrillo is hired to look into pirate attacks on Japanese and Chinese ships, but he finds that the problem is much larger than anticipated, incorporating slavery as well as pirate activity.

Although this is one book out of a series I listened to it as a stand-alone and did not get lost anywhere along the story. I would however be interested in listening to the rest of the books at some point. The characters are full of personality and each is very unique. This s a well written and well read story.

Tea Bag Flowers

The sun is shining but the wind is still biting! And my hip is getting really sore again :( However I still managed to get down to the allotment and sow some parsnip seeds. The plan is to sow the rest of them tomorrow as long as it does not start to rain - it is amazingly difficult to sow some seeds in the rain. I have also managed to clear the pond slightly, so now you can actually see the pond from the allotment and watch the wildlife.

However, back to the point of the post - my new ATC collection. My Crafting Techniques group has a new technique for this month. Throughout the month of May I would like to see peoples hand drawn crafts. This is incorporated into the ATC collection - Tea Bag Flowers:

 These use four squares each and a different folding pattern. The monochrome pattern works really well for this technique, really making the flowers pop.

Birds were drawn onto each of the cards.
This collection is also to be entered into the following challenges:

crafting by designs Anything Goes

Country View #28 Simply Scenic (mainly card #1)

2 cute ink #128 Anything Goes

CCC 86 Fancy Folds

AI #158 May Flowers

abc-challenge: I for Inspire Use

C4C283 Include a bird

SOS #199 Opposites Day (I am not usually one for Fancy Folding)

TPE 296 Anything Goes

Thank you for looking, and I look forward to seeing some new faces in my facebook groups.

Hugz Tinz

Monthly Challenge - use a zipper

Hi there,

I am going to start linking my blog and my facebook challenges now. As it is the first of the month this is the first blog post for my Monthly Themes for Crafting group. This months theme is:

ZIPPERS

Here are the examples from myself (information on creation is in the post below) and DT member Karen Singleton.

Tina DT

Karen - DT

We have a sponsor for this challenge from Disdigistamps - the winning entry will receive two free digistamps:

If you wish to join in please pop along to my facebook page.

Hugz Tinz