Happy Birthday Rachel...

Hello there Peeps!!

 

Sorry I have not been around  much, but life just seems to get in the way of things lately.  To be honest I had not been in my craft room much lately, or so I thought.  I was thinking it was about time I emptied my camera and there were more crafty photos on there  than I realised so I thought I would share one of the cards made most recently for my Buddie Rachel.

The green is quite different to what these photos show, and the text is a good match, unlike the photos.  I never quite get how some colours, green, blue and red, don't always photograph that well.  Or is it just that the weather was not good when I too, the photos?  Oh hum!!

 

These Spellbinders border dies were bought nearly a year ago and except for the initial playing when I received them, they have not seen fresh air.  Naughty me!!  I will say though that they are pesky little dies and thank goodness I had waxed paper or else they may have just ended up in the bin!!  Thanks Miss Di for that little gem!!

 

I also used a Tonic die for the flourish and Memory Box dies for the butterflies and Liquid Pearls for the dots.  The paper is Bo Bunny which was a fresh-never-been-used-before sheet.  Well Rachel is a good friend.  The butterfly and white pieces were all Snippets so I am going to sneak down to the Snippets Playground and see what is afoot.  I understand Mrs A is planning to put some of my chickens in the Nativity Play, so I want to see who else is going to be on stage!!

 

See you all for some hot chocolate!!

 

Hettie

 

 

Rudolph Day - April Edition

Hello Peeps

Its the end of April already? Really? How did that happen?

Time I joined in with Mo for this month's Rudolph Day post. Sorry I am a little late, but I was away in Harrogate for a long weekend and unfortunately the WiFi at the hotel we stayed at wasn't up to the job, so I had to leave it til I came home. Great weekend though and Fergus had a great time too!

Right... onto my cards I am sharing ...

 First up is one of my Funkie Junkie Christmas tags, slightly modified so that it doesn't cost me an arm and a leg to post, mounted onto a card which was stamped with my Tim Holtz stamp and embossed with WOW embossing powder. I added some Sue Wilson corner flourishes and stars.

 Number two is another FJ tag mounted onto a Snippet of black and white paper and I used another Snippet to cut a MB and Spellbinders die cut which I inked with Versamark and embossed with sparkly embossing powder.

And finally, this Bo Bunny piece was left over from my Christmas Album and I didn't want to cut it. I mounted it onto another piece left over from my C Album and adhered these onto a square card. I cu another MB border from a Snippet.

The piece of lace was taken off another tag, as was the K&Co sentiment and rosette so they all got adhered on this card. I inked the edges of the card, added some sparkly gems and card finished.

Three more cards for the box!

And seeing as I mentioned Fergus...here is a photo of the boy at Bettys Tea Room in Harrogate on Saturday...

Off to join Mo at the Rudolph Day and also my Playmates at the Snippets Playground.

Thanks for calling by.

Hettie

On the First Day of December......A New Christmas Album for 2014

Hello there!

Happy 1st December to you all.  Can you believe we are here already?  Where did the last 11 months go then?

As my lovely Friends and Followers may remember, for the last few years I have made Christmas Albums into which I post either a photograph or journalling for each day of December.  This year is no exception....

Here are the front covers of my 2014 Christmas Album.  I have used a pattern from Paper Phenomonon which I purchased around 3 years ago with the intention of making up into an album and so this year this is what I used.  The metal corners are Tim Holtz.

The main papers are MME which I had at a bargain price from Hobbycraft some time last year.  There was a pack and a few odd sheets with no price on.  I asked the assistant how much they were and surprisingly she asked me how much I would be willing to pay.  I told her £5 off the cuff and the Supervisor agreed to my offer!  There were around 12 sheets of doublesided, glittered card, a sheet of tags etc and previously I had paid around £1.50 a sheet!  Tee Hee!

Next I had to think about a closure.  Whilst racking my brain and looking around I remembered I had some clasps from Zutter.  I sprayed the leather with a mix of Red Pepper and Plum Ranger Colourwash, inked around it with some Vintage Stain DI and run it through my B/S with a Tonic embossing folder.  Job done!

The ribbon I bought some time ago from a store in my local town.  It is straight and even only every time I open and shut the album it moves.  I didn't want it stuck down until the front is finished, when I know it will not move!

Now for the inside....

This is the centre of the front with six flap pockets which hold tags.  You will notice that they are not overly decorated yet.  This is because I want to embellish as I go along depending on the photographs/journalling that occur.

Left front inside cover.  A flap which when opened there is another set of pockets.

Right side inside front cover.

Left flap opened which shows the pockets.  Also you can see some of the other papers I have used such as Stampin Up, Basic Gray and Bazzill.  Some of which are Snippets from previous albums.

And here is the central panel...

Punched around with a Martha Stewart punch.  I do hope we get some snow.  The 2014 is a decoration which I have bought and hope to incorporate, but not sure how yet.

And with the flap lifted, more space on which to journal and add photographs on.  

With the tags...

And here is the reverse of the whole album,..I love how shimmery this paper is.  I have also used some Treasure Gold but will add more as I work on this album.

I have used an absolute plethora of papers both new and Snippets from previous years.  I can see some Bo Bunny paper in there too.  Punches used are EK Success (the smaller brown one is NBUS from US), Martha Stewart, Some of the MME paper is from two years ago and was 6x6 paper.  I do like the mix of sizes of the same papers. Corner chomper by We R Memory Keepers.Tan cardstock from The Art Shop and also the chipboard.  The only new thing I bought for this album are the little owl embellishments and the reindeer ones too, which I have not actually used yet, but no doubt will very soon!

Off to share this with the Playground folk as there are a plethora of Snippets used on this album.  I permanently keep a basket of Christmas Snippets so they are easy to find and ready to use.

I thank you for coming over and look forward to reading your comments.

Hettie

x

Last Rudolph Day of 2014...Tea on Tuesday..

Hello There!

I have a bit of a quandry today...it is Tuesday 25th November.  For those that have visited before you will know that I usually share my Rudolph Day cards with you as well as a Tea on Tuesday, so today is no different and I am going to share both with you.

First of all my drink.  Now I don't drink Coke very often, specially not during the day naked - the drink not me!  Occasionally in the evening with a bit of vodka in maybe but today whilst in a shop I walked past a fridge and fancied a bottle so I reached in and picked one up, as well as paying for it.  It wasn't until I got back to the office that I saw what was on the front of it.  I did smirk as this is pretty appropriate.  So here it is for Tea on Tuesday.

And now for my Rudolph Day cards....

Isn't this Penny Black stamp just the best?  He is beautiful.  This is also his first outing.  I bought him at Absolutely Everything when I was over the pond.  I walked round that shop three times just trying to take everything in and this was the first thing I put in the basket.  Stamped with Ranger Archival ink and stamped onto white card.  I then inked it with Antique Linen DI.  The 25 December was stamped and inked the same with an East of India stamp. The reindeer strips are punched using an EK Success punch.  The Washi tape are from Hobbycraft..  All the words are cut from a Penny Black die twice, adhered together then inked with Festive Berries, as with all the other red embellishments and embossed with WOW embossing powder.

The papers used on all my cards were all to be found on my desk after finishing my C Album.  I say "finished" but it is only the construction that is finished.  

Card 2 - as ordered by Sandra at Stamping for Pleasure...

Here I used some wooden reindeer that I bought from Hobbycraft.  Aren't they deer?  Sorry about the pun!!  I was trying the Coronation Street look with the three flying up the card!!  LOL!!

The star (cut on Sizzix die) was hanging around in my C Basket.   The 25 stamp was cut using my Sizzix die.

I am not sure if you can see the gold shimmer on the cards which is TH Heirloom Gold?  Some of the red backgrounds on the stamp are made with glitter card Snippets by K&Co.  Those papers were expensive but cut beautifully and I tried to get every bit out of them.

Card No. 3...as an extra...

Here I added some TH Tissue tape as well as a die cut from Memory Box which I embossed with WOW Glitter embossing powder.

And Card no 4..just cos I was on a roll...

The background papers include MME, Basic Grey and Bo Bunny.  I thought it would be easier to use the Snippets than put them in the C Basket!

I do love this stamp.

This is Sandra's last Rudolph Day and I would like to say Thank You Sandra for getting this little bit of fun off the ground and ensuring that we have a stash of Christmas cards made before the silly season strikes.  I look forward to continuing next year with Scrappy Mo and I will keep you posted. 

Right...that is enough waffle from me.  Off to join the Rudolph Day, T on Tuesday, Crafty Hazelnut Christmas Challenge and the Snippets Playground with my little makes.  See you around. 

Thanks for calling by.

Hettie

Time for a rummage...

Hello there!

Here we are on a Monday again.  Is it me or are weekends just whizzing past at a fast rate of knots lately?  I hope you all had a good weekend and were able to enjoy the lovely weather we had.  

So onto today's offering. There have been a few birthdays in the office this last month and there were three in one week so I decided that I would challenge myself to make them all using bits and pieces that were either:

(a)    in my Snippets tin

(b)    in my Snippets drawer

(c)    on my desk.

So here is Card 1...

The strip of spots is from Bo Bunny and came out of the Snippets drawer.  It was left over from some mini books I made last year!  The leaf skeleton was laying around on my desk - no idea why.  The background to the stamped image was from the bottom of my spray box at some point.  The stamped images are Artistic Outpost ones and were either sent to me pre-owning the set or some of my own...not quite sure. They were in the Snippets tin anyhoo.  The string is Maya Road and is always to be found on my desk as it is in constant use.  I suppose it is not actually a "Snippet" as such but everyfink else is!

The card was actually for my male Boss.  If you saw his desk you would understand the "Simplify" message", and his floor, and my spare desk...

So then, can you guess where I am taking this lickle card then?  Yep, that is right, down to the Snippets Playground.  Sooo excited as I get to play hopscotch with Miss on Saturday in LLJ's Playground!!  Yeay!

Thanks for calling in.  So lovely to see you.  Please don't forget to leave me a note so I know you have been.

Have a great week.

Hettie

Rudolph Day - I am Late, I'm Late, For a Very Important Date!

Hello there

I am trying to sneak this post in very quietly without anyone really noticing.  You see I should have put this up on Monday.  The cards were all ready on Sunday.  However, I had to go to Cardiff on Monday for a work seminar and when I got there I was so close to Ikea it seemed rude not to pop in.  Well I didn't buy very much at all, but I did stop and have tea to save me cooking when I got home.  Only to realise once I did get home that I was too late for Rudolph Day.  I am sooooooo sorry Buddy!

These started as I had these two pieces of Bo Bunny paper left over from a layout I did some time ago and I thought if I cut them very carefully I could squeeze three C cards out of it.  Only thing is the pinkiness of them cried out for pink card rather than the bluey and the pink won!

I used my lovely MB Tree Die with another two pieces of Snippets card and managed to squeeze three trees out, stamped with versamark and embossed with sparkly embossing powder.  I picked out the remnants of a card of sparklies and tried to use them all up.

A peice of ribbon, some tags, which I cut out of pieces of white cardstock when it gets too small to do much else with, rather than put them in the box.  

That is three more to the C Box!  And as they are full of Snippets I am taking this down the Snippets Playground, where I know a certain Miss will be happy as they are pink!

Thanks for calling by.

Hettie

Psst.  I am also sharing this with Mrs Hazelnut!!  

Scrapbook Tuesday - T is for.....Mini Album!

Hello There

Let me start by apologising for being "off the radar" a little at the moment.  I have a big quilting project on the go at the moment which needs to be finished by the 29th!!  Unfortunately due to being poorly last month it has put me behind schedule a little!  Don't fret, I will be sharing it once it is finished!

Well today is Tuesday.  Time to share a scrapbooking project with you as well as join in with Elizabeth and Bleubeard with a cuppa, or in my case a glass of squash.

On Saturday my Buddy and I had our monthly Scrapping Day so, true to my aim this year, I finished a project which I am sharing with you today.  Yeay!!!

Here it is....

Today I am drinking some blackberry and apple squash.  It was dinner time when I took the photos, hence they are not very good as I had to use the flash. Apologies for that.

I made this mini album for my Mum in Law for her 80th Birthday.  We were planning to take her to Longleat as her present.  I made her a "ticket", album and we bought her a digital camera.  Unfortunately soon after her birthday her sister died and a few bouts of ill health, so we only got to take her to Longleat last August, on her 83rd birthday.

As far as she knew it was only Hubby, myself and her that were going.  However I had managed to arrange for her niece, her hubby and daughter to meet us at Longleat, which was a lovely surprise for her.

Luckily we were all able to fit into Helen's car rather than ours.  It would have been a tight squeeze!  Poor Mia sat in the rumble seat in the boot!

The weather was glorious and altogether we had a lovely day.  

It took some time to locate the album for me to have back to put the photos in (none of which MIL took!  Anyone want a brand new unused 14 megapixel camera?) and the album has been waiting for me to print photos and put this together.  

Ta dah!  Finished.  I shall let MIL have it back now and another job done and dusted out of my room.   

So then. Why not pop over with a cuppa to Elizabeth's blog and share what you are up to today?  I am also popping over to the Snippets Playground as I most probably used snippets at the time I made the album, though it was before I was blogging.  I certainly used Snippets to mount the photos on before adhering them into the album.

Thanks for calling by and I will visit you if you call by as soon as I can.

Hugs

Hettie