Sunday 29 April 2018

Fairy Flutters

Well, I am currently sitting in a very cold holiday cottage down in Corfe (Devon) on a cold and grey spring day! Luckily it stayed dry for the brother-in-laws wedding yesterday, and the bride looked absolutely stunning, but I did not get any photos as I couldn't be bothered carrying my decent camera round with me lol. And typically the shoes I had to wear were very, very strappy, right over my new tattoo - out came the cling film to keep it safe :D

I have a fantasy card to share with you today using an image from IkesArt for their progressive challenge.
I coloured parts of the image with promarkers, but left a lot white for the fantasy feel. I simply layered her on some pearlescent indigo card after fussy cutting, along with a papermania sentiment, and then added the panel to a frame embossed base card.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:
SOS #351 Mythical and magical (the stash was the card and sentiment)
ATSM #289 CAS
MAWTT #70 Fantasy

Here are some more flowers for you to enjoy - at least they are consistant with their blooms at this time of year lol.

The bottom plants are my little Blueberry bushes - just awaiting for their planter to be built.

Thanks for looking,

Hugz Tinz


Thursday 26 April 2018

Masculine @ Aud Sentiments

Hi there,

Sorry I am posting a little late today, I was having issues with the internet!! I think it is all sorted now :) So here I am with my DT creation for our new challenge over at Aud Sentiments. This time we want to see all your masculine creations - and don't forget to include a sentiment in order to be applicable for the prize draw.

We are sponsored by Dr Digi House of Stamps


and I have used  IT Ian.

 
I used a geometric base card from Papermania, but I wanted a pink colour scheme, whilst still being masculine. So in order to get this I coloured the image with watercolour pencils, mixing red and white for his shirt (supposed to give pink, but it didn't quite work). I then die-cut a scalloped circle from striped pink paper (X-cut nesting dies) and some screwdrivers to match the image from a stripey paper with a prominant pink stripe (Marianne Creatables). This way I could add quite a bit of pik, but keep the design masculine. Although the image is obviously an IT engineer, I thought the sentiment was perfect, as it seems that IT Ian has forgotten what he is doing lol.
 
I would like to enter this into the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - Anything Goes
 cute card thursday #527 pretty in pink
Fussy and Fancy #210 Add a die-cut
inkspirational #159 Play (boys do like to play with their computers)
Simply Create Too #137 Use Die-cuts
 
Thanks for looking,
 
Hugz Tinz

Tuesday 24 April 2018

Icy Christmas

Well we have certainly got the April showers today - it just hasn't stopped! However, I think that plants are appreciating it, as are the new stone chips I have put down on my shaded flower bed at the weekend (apparently you are supposed to wash them before dumping them - but surely that is what the rain is for?).
It does really brighten the area up quite a lot! But there are ferns and hellebores planted down here to make the most of the shaded area as it doesn't get more than an hour or two of sunshine even in peak summertime!
OK different angle but you can still see how much lighter it all looks - and you can see the plants much easier too! (I think once next dorrs garden has finished being overhauled and the birds come back they are not going to like it though, as they loved searching for the worms down this area!)

Anyway, onto my peel-off Christmas card that I have made to share with you today:
I used a selection of silver peel-offs, some that had white inside and some with blue, to make a very icy Christmas card. I left the characters white rather than colouring in to enhance the iciness.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:
ABC Christmas - H for hats (on the penguins) and I for Icy (colours and snowflakes)
Winter Wonderland - Cute Christmas Critters
Cute Card Thursday #526 Shades of Pale
 

I had a go at making a spiced courgette side-dish to go with a curry the other day - then realised the curry was going to be non-existant so made the side dish into a main of its own:
It was ever so tasty - the courgettes had really absorbed the flavours of the spices, and the chicken just bulked it out enough. The funny part was you have to heat the cumin and pepper seeds until they start to pop, at which point OH came running into the kitchen thinking I was setting something on fire! Shows the level of trust eh? lol.

Anyway, thank you for popping along to my blog,

Hugz Tinz

Sunday 22 April 2018

Monochrome Flutters

Hello there,

It has been another lovely day here. After going to work this morning me and hubby went out to a local Castle and Court House, which was really lovely. Even better was the little young lamb in the field that came and suckled my fingers! Such a little cutie! I am not sure if it knew which ewe was his mummy as he kept going to any and none would let him suckle (so wondering if the farmer is maybe bottle feeding?), but he was in a field right next to the main farm buildings, so I am sure the farmer is keeping a close eye on him.

Also I had the first butterfly visit to the garden today. A little speckled wood (the first I have seen this year too) that landed in Doris's run, where Doris promptly decided to try eating him rather than let me take a photograph! She is a little madam sometimes lol.

Anyway onto the ATC I have to share with you - sparkle flutters in black and white:
I used a backing paper and self-adhesive glitter flourish that were sent to me with another ATC. The butterfly also came in the same package.

I would like to enter this ATC into the following challenges:
MMM #69 In the garden
MAWTT #69 Spring

I also have a book review for you today!!


The Anatomy of a Scandal by Sarah Vaughan
This book is a court drama about a man who has been accused of rape, shortly after his affair has gone public with the press. The man in question is a high-ranking politician who is also very good friends with the PM, and has been since college. The wife does not believe her husband is capable of the crime he is accused of, although she does acknowledge that he has a very high sex-drive and often cheated on her through college. The prosecutor on the other hand believes that he did do it, and she has her own reasons for being so sure.
This story tells the drama through the eyes of several different people, and also at different time-points, so that the reader can slowly grasp each individuals’ personality and the way they see the accused. You do also get a glimpse into the mind of the accused but only a general idea of how he sees his current situation. The main players are the wife and the prosecutor. I felt that the way the story was written was very good and kept providing you with insight at a very good rate – not too quickly and not too slowly either. There are parts where you wonder if that would really happen, but then that is the same when you hear stories on the news too! I don’t want to give too much away, but I will say that I really enjoyed this book and found it was not too in-depth with the actual crime but provided enough detail for you to understand. Very difficult to put down, and the story carries on a little at the end to give you a bit more insight of how things might go after the trial – although it does still leave you hanging slightly.

And finally some more birdie pictures to leave you with :)















Thanks for looking,

Hugz Tinz
 

Saturday 21 April 2018

Double the trouble

Hi guys,

I got my new tattoo done yesterday - it has taken a while to get the money together and design the damn thing, so it is about time it is on my body lol. But boy did some parts hurt - and are still tender now. (I am going to enter this into the notjustcards challenge - I do have the original drawing below).



It is not quite like the design I gave the artist, but leson learnt - if I want a particular layout/design that I want as I design it, go to somebody else lol. But this guy is really good nonetheless, and the pheonix does still look fab!
Now onto my card creation - two cards - one stamp!

I used similar colour base cards for both, but one was a standard square base card and one was an aperture card.

For the square card I stamped the Tom Mouse - Country Companions - image onto parchment paper and also onto blue/purple tie-die paper. I coloured his nose and ears with watercolour pencils and then cut the head and tummy from the parchment and the top from the patterned papers and layered onto white card. I then added a blue frame over the panel and attached to the base at an angle. Finally I added the 'You're the best' sentiment from my stash.

For the apeture card I backed the aperture with acetate and added sequins to make a shaker base. I used the same papers to paper piece Tom Mouse again, but added extra white to the ear to make it a little less red. The wellies were cut from star printed KRAFT card. I fussy cut the image and then added to the side of the apreture, with a birthday cake topper and a sentiment from my stash.

I would like to add these cards into the following challenges:
twofer card challenge #4 Pets (I kept mice as pets for many years)

Animal Friends #61 On the farm (you certainly find mice on the farm, although you may not be farming them lol)
IAAS #31 Paper Piecing
Scrapbook Stamp Society #138 Anything Goes
TIOT - Natures Beauty
CraftyCatz #413 CAS (the framed Tom Mouse card only, as the other one is not really clean)

Thank you so much for popping along to look at my creations,

Hugz Tinz


Wednesday 18 April 2018

Hopping along In Full Bloom @ Creative Moments

Hello again everybody! Yup it is time for a new challenge over at Creative Moments. As always we are an anything goes challenge, but our optional twist this week is to have two or more flowers on your creation. So do hop along and join us :D

Our sponsors for this challenge are

Mari Digis Stamps Who is offering the same 3 images as the team use


My Stitch Back in Twine Who is offering 3 images to the winner


...and I have used My Stitch Back in Twine - Flower Froggy for my card:
I printed the image straight onto white card, after adding the sentiment, and used this to make the card base, to keep the design very CAS. I coloured the image using Promarkers and then simply added a couple of extra flowers in the form of paper flowers and a diamante. Nice and easy, but oh so cute too, and usful for many occasions.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:
MMM #69 In the garden
TIOT - Natures Beauty
AYLI - fav clouring medium, once again it is my promarkers. Perfect for blending, but also for simple bold colour blocks too.
A Snowflakes Promise #50 Anything Goes

I also have some more plants from my garden to share :)






It is so exciting to see everything back in leaf :)

Thanks for looking and I cannot wait to see your bloomin' creations :P

Hugz Tinz


Get Well with I Love Promarkers

Hi guys,

It is time for a new challenge over at I Love Promarkers, with the theme of Get Well/Speedy Recovery and we are sponsored by the lovely IKEsART digis .
The Prize for the lucky winner is 

$15 to spend on digis in the Store

As we are now in Spring I decided to use Geranium Basket for my card.

I coloured the image with the following Promarkers - Pastel Pink and Pink Lobster for the flowers, Caramel and Umber for the basket, Pastel Green, Mint Green and Pear Green for the foliage.

I then used X-cut scalloped circle nesting dies to cut the image, and added to a green/blue doily.

The card base was a 21x14cm piece of Green card scored at 7 and 14cm and then these flaps folded in half diagonally to create a twisted gatefold card. I added peel-off letters for the sentiment and some watercolour effect paper to the flaps before adding the image to the front. This is the card opened.




I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:
notjustcards - Anything Goes
MMM #69 In the garden
TIOT - Natures Beauty
AYLI - Favourite Colouring Medium - Promarkers because I can blend easily with them and am used to using them
MAWTT #69 Springtime

We went to Slimbridge WWT reserve for the first time, and I got some half decent photos of some very impressive waterfowl:









 It is that ever elusive giant rubber duck!



 Yoga swan




Tiny little duck!


We would love to see you joining in with our challenge - just don't forget to use Promarkers/Flexmarkers/Trias or Aquamarkers on your creation.

Hugz Tinz