It's a....Dino?

Hi there,

I have created a new baby easel card today. I mad the easel base from an A4 sheet of white card. I then used pink die-cuts to create accessories to decorate the card. I decided to make the bottom into a shaker - a little bit different, and as this part needs to be raised I thought it would work well. I used a little lamb topper for the inside of the shaker element and filled with sequins.

 I finished the card with some gems and butterfly sequins.

The top is simple to bring the focus to the shaker element, but not so plain that it becomes boring when sitting on the mantelpiece - as of course it will take pride of place lol.

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

art impressions #178 Shake, rattle and roll

alphabet challenge Z for Zoo Animals (ok mine is a petting zoo lol)

simply create too #103 Pink or red

C4C325 Spring (lamb)

I also have an update on the height chart - at 62.5 hours now - but I will be stitching less as I have wedding stuff to finish so the height chart is going on the back-burner for a while.

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

Hugz Tinz

The Mouse Popped!

Hi guys,

I have the last batch of invites to share with you today. I managed to find somebody who could make the stamp I wanted for me and so I used it for the remainder of the invites. I got it through this facebook page https://www.facebook.com/stampit.co.uk/  OK it did cost a little more than I wanted to pay, but it is very good quality and arrived extremely quickly.

 And here he is! Such a cutie - stamped in black ink, with a die-cut heart and using the free date and 'you're invited' stamps.

 There were also a couple of different ones, as I had bought another stamp too.

These ones used red and green ink on the floral heart stamp with the die-cut heart layered over the top. The bird was from the same free stamp set.

I would like to enter these last invites for the following challenges:

open-minded crafting fun #2 Valentine

crafty calendar Love is in the air

hanna and friends Favourite stamps (it may be new but it is already one of my favourites!)

digi chooseday 8 Green/nature

CCEE stampers Floral design day

modsquad Animal fun

Here is my fish update at last - 120 hours 45

We have also just had a new suite delivered this morning whilst I was out at work - it is rather large and has necessitated a move-around of the animals. Here it is:

Thank you for looking,
Hugz Tinz

Birdie in the Pink

Hello there,

I was going to share another card AND an update on my fish tank with you all today, however I have not uploaded the picture of my fish tank update as yet. Therefore, it is just a birdie card.

I used a papermania decoupage kit to make the card, using the pink backing paper and selecting the elements that I wished to use. The elements are layered using 3D foam pads.

I would like to enter this card for the following challenges:
CCM #158 For a special woman
polkadoodle Tic-Tac-Toe (Wings - Nature - Sentiment)
simply create too #103 Red or Pink
Vs sweet ideas #42 Loving pink
modsquad Animal Fun
avenue 613 Colour challenge - Black - pink - green


Thank you for looking
Hugz Tinz

Catching Butterflies ATC collection

Hi there peeps,

I have created a new ATC collection this time - with a catching butterflies image and lots of floral additions. Perfect as we approach Spring!

 The floral paper is one I received with an ATC exchange last year, as is the floral ribbon. The border strips and image are from a free CDRom with Quick Cards Made Easy magazine a few years ago. The brads and sequins were from my stash.

I used the same image for both cards, but die cut different parts out of each. They were coloured with gel pens, as I wanted to use something different to the usual alcohol marker. The sketch used for these cards was from atlantic hearts sketch #148

I would also like to enter this ATC collection for the following challenges:

modsquad Animal fun

cute card thursday 414 Florals

digi chooseday Animals/Insects

The Card Concept #49 Floral Radiance (colours and flowers)

Crafty Ribbons #144 LEAP (chasing butterflies involves leaping about)  - ribbon is purple flowers

Thank you for looking

Hugz Tinz

Love is still in the air here!

So, here are the second batch of wedding invitations that I have made.

 These first ones were the all inclusive invites - hence them being unique.

These were the second batch created for the Ceremony itself, using Creative Dies - Champagne Glass and Dragonfly, and X-Cut nesting die scalloped heart. I also used a Die'sire sentiment die that I found in the local Colemans' store. However, this die is so fiddly to glue down and I haven't got the hang of cutting it with an adhesive backing yet lol. Therefore, batch three will use the stamp instead.

I would like to enter these invites into the following challenges:

crafty catz #312 CAS, no dp, no fuss

addicted-to-stamps #120 Die-cuts
crafting by designs Anything Goes
Crafty Calender Love is in the air
card mania #77 Add some red
live and love crafts #44 Love is in the air
open-minded crafting fun #2 Valentine

Here is an update on the fish tank - almost at 120 hours (the estimated finishing time)!

Thank you for looking and I will hopefully post soon with batch #3, an update report on the Height chart and a new ATC collection - not sure in what order though lol.

Hugz Tinz

It's Christmas Time....oh not yet?

Hi there,

I have a couple of Christmas creations to share with you today. The first is this CAS Christmas card that I made:

 Ok not the cleanest of CAS cards (in my opinion), but certainly very simple. I used off cuts of patterned papers for the back panels, and cut a piece of black/dark grey glitter cardstock for the centre. I then added a Santa topper - he has lost an arm so I placed a scarf over it instead lol. Finally I added the Anita's sentiment.

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

Quirky Crafts #2 Red/Pink, Black and White

abc christmas D-Don;t over do it

Simply create too #103 Pink or red

crafty hazelnuts christmas challenge #269 Cute

Winter Wonderland CAS

CRAFT Christmas

always playing with paper #60 pink, red, grey and white (ok mine is a dark grey)

I also completed these two stitches as part of my stitch one thing each month for Christmas objective. So these are January and February contributions.

They took 13 hours to complete together.

I also have an audio book review for you today.

The Burning Land by Bernard Cornwell

This is a story about Uhtred based in the ninth century. King Alfred is in failing health and the Danes see opportunities to attack Wessex. Unfortunately Uhtred is still under oath to the king and is his secret weapon, as he was raised with the Danes and so has intimate knowledge of their fighting strategies. However, when Uhtred loses his wife he starts to drift and decides to break his oath to the king, who has never repaid his service. When the Danes collect for a final assault on Wessex and Mercia, Uhtred is summoned back to defend the Saxons once again due to an oath given with love to the Kings daughter who is in trouble.

I do love these stories, and this one was even more exciting as it follows on from the recent television series. I have no idea how true to history the story is but it is definitely one to read/listen to!

Thank you for looking

Hugz Tinz

Fish and a cheeky turtle

Hello again,

I have another stitching update for you today - this time my fish tank. It is now at 119 hours (only 1 hour away from the estimated time), and I think it is going to take a while longer yet. Maybe I should stop watching dvd's whilst I am stitching it?

I had alo not gotten around to making a birthday card for my uncle in time to post it for his birthday - so I made this instead:

All I have used for this card is a white card blank, the cheeky turtle stamp set from Woodware, which took ages to get hold of as it was out of stock everywhere when I wanted it lol, and promarkers to colour him in. A quick and simple one layer card.

I think this card fits the themes for the following challenges:

catch the bug Keep it simple

Sweet Stampin CAS

abc-challenge B-B...Belated Birthday

polka doodle Lucky Green

audsentiments 149 Cute

digi chooseday wk7 Animals and Insects

OLL #198 CAS

Thank you for taking the time to look. I will leave you wit a coupld of pics of my babies:

Hugz Tinz

Pixie in the Garden - Embossing challenge DT make

Hello again,

It is time for a new challenge over at Creative Moments, and this time the optional theme is Embossing/ This can be heat embossing or dry embossing, of which I have used both on my card.

I got some new card blanks just before Christmas and have only just re-realised that this pack has lilac card blanks in it! So I used a lilac base. A strip of white card was embossed with papermania small daisies embossing folder and cut along one edge with patterned scissors. The image is from https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Mystitchbackintwine and is Pixie Charlee. I coloured her with pastel colours of promarkers as I wanted a Spring feel to the card. I added PVA glue (using a Stix2 glue pen) to the wings and heat embossed using 'Tropical' embossing powder. I attached a frame tat I had in my stash over the image and placed to the right of the card base before adding pastel pearls around the edge. Finally I added a birthday sentiment.

Of course, once I had done all this the first time, I noticed that te card opened the wrong way up, and had to carefully peal everything off and re-stick it down! ALWAYS double check which way the card opens before committing lol.

I would also like to enter this card into the following challenges:

PFP #333 Luscious Locks

modsquad The great outdoors (pixie in floral arch)

scrapbook stamp society #85 Embossing

SSS #403

Also, as promised, here is an update on my dinos - now at over 55 hours!

Thank you for looking.

Hugz Tinz

OLC Get Well Flower

Hi there,

I got down to my second allotment yesterday and finally managed to get the potatoes up. I actually had more than I expected, what with the exceptionally wet weather!

Anyway,onto what you all actually want to see - the card:

I took a pink card base, and die-cut a flower from the front. I then drew a stem, some leaves and grass using promarker pens, as well as filling in the card back where the flower allows it to be seen. The sentiment was hand-written with promarker also.

Nice and simple!

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

simply less is moore Add a stem

one-layer simplicity Friend

simon says wednesday OLC

crafting by designs anything goes

It is always perfect for the Asymmetric theme over on my facebook group

Thank you for taking the time to look. I will post some cross stitching updates next :)

Hugz Tinz

Marbelled effect and fish

Hi guys,

I have been waiting for the new apple blossom Birdcage Panel die to arrive and so have not been proceeding with making the invites. It turned up today, and is too large. I might be able to use parts of it still, but considering that there are a few invites to make I am not sure I want to have too much fiddly stuff to do - I might have to rethink - but I did buy some glitter pastes and stencils at the craft show, with the idea that I might use them on a batch of invites.

However, in the meantime I ave had a go at the marbelling effect for some ATC's I need to get sent out:

Initially I tried to dilute the water soluble glass paints in some water, but this gave a very dilute effect, and the paint spread through the water too well, and so did not adhere to the card. The first one (bottom below) gave a couple of blue splodges, and the second, when the paint was more dilute, gave a very faint pink smudge (right). So for the best marbelling effect I placed the paint directly onto the card, and smudged it with a wet cloth instead. This gave a very bright effect (above and top below).

I added ribbons and stamped the fairy image onto white card-stock three times in grey me to you ink. I coloured the fairies in using promarkers according to the background they were going onto. I think my favourite is the fairy with the pink in her wings.

The sketch used for these cards is from Sketchy Colours (#265):

I also think these cards are suitable for the following challenges:

alphabet challenge Y for You Choose

catch the bug Anything Goes

LOC 116 Things with wings

CCEE1605 Winter activity (fairy is playing with holly berries in the snow) I do have a stamp that shows bears building a snowman, but it was a little too large for the ATC! And foraging for holly berries is definitely a winter activity.
Country View Make your own background

Also here is an update on my fish tank - it is supposed to take 120 hours and it is already at 119 hours!

Thank you for looking

Hugz Tinz

Glitter it up for Christmas

Hi there,

Back again as promised. No further invites to show you yet - taking a little break as I am too tired to think about the layout at the moment. However, I did make a Christmas card instead, and here it is:

 I used a vellum scandi sheet and two patterned papers from a Jennifer Ellory Merry Berry free paper pack. The glitter images were made using double sided adhesive peel-offs, stuck onto a patterned paper that I got in an ATC exchange and sprinkled with red glitter. The edge leaves are actually the insides from the robins wings. This was layered onto mirri card before sticking to the card base. Finally a christmas stamp was added for the sentiment.

This card was based on the Sweet Sketch Wednesday sketch 82

LOC 116 Things with wings

ABC Christmas C for Cute Critters

ABC - challenge A for Animals

cardmania 77 Add some red
crafting by designs - Anything Goes

Here is the height chart weekly update - I haven't done much this week due to the invites etc - but it is at just under 56 hours.

And I thought I would leave you with my little birdies to make you smile :D

Love's last stand

Hello all you artistic readers,

Valentines Day will be upon us before long - and you can see it everywhere you go (as well as Easter lol). So when I went to EventCity for the Stitching and Hobbycrafts show, I was not surprised to see lots of hearts and love. My friend has never done die-cutting before and so we did a workshop with Tonic studio staff. Here is the card that I created - which did come straight off a 'how to' sheet, although I just added the black dots rather than mess about with cutting strips of card:

 This is a close-up of the embossed detail.

As this is a step-by-step created card I will not be entering it into any challenges.

However, I was up rather late on Wednesday night making the first batch of my wedding invitations. The fronts were already decided - using a backing image from a cardmaking with your PC free CDRom, and a variety of images. The bunny wedding couple is from Polkadoodles, the cockatoo and lizards were found on a google search from a while back and so I have no record of their origins, and the wedding couple was from SCP magazine a few years back.

Then I decorated the back. I didn't realise how long it takes to cute several shapes, and then stick them to card and add a couple of stamps! The glitter paper was very fiddle to get out, but the mirri card was much easier. I added the date to the front as I have forgotten to add it to the description - like a complete numpty!

There are also two more designs using these die-cut images

 These ones also use a bird stamp that came with the free new year stamps used for the date information.

and I bought some stamps, papers and glitter pastes with stencils from the craft show, so I can try and make some simpler designs too.

I would like to add this first batch of invites to the following challenges:

open-minded crafting fun #1 Something New (champagne glass die with SCP145)

crafty calendar love is in the air

my time to craft #314 Love is all around

simply create too #102 Love or Valentines Day
the card concept #48 Sweet Hearts (Freestyle Collage - and Clean and Layered)

Suzy Bee #116 Love
LOC #116 Things with Wings (bird stamp,dragonfly die)
creative corner Valentines Day/Love
Simon Says Wednesday Have a heart
all sorts 349 CAS
addicted to stamps #119 Anything Goes

I will post an update on my cross stitch for you - hopefully tomorrow, but for now here is an audio book review:

Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson

Major Pettigrew is part of an elite and old-fashioned society, that still see things as being done the traditional way. However, upon the death of his brother Pettigrew becomes close friends with the local village shopkeeper. Not only is she from a lower class than he fits into, but she is also a Pakistani, which is not accepted within his social circle either. This relationship forces the Major to take the 21^st century seriously, with racial discrimination, extremism and general snobbishness being addressed this story is very good fun to listen to. There is a realistically happy ending to the book too!

Thank you for looking

Hugz Tinz