An awesome way to end the year!

Just when you thought I'd posted for the last time in 2010 here I am again! I got some wonderful news this morning from the lovely Sharon who I've "met" this year through the SSW blog. Sharon has passed on this fab award to me and I'm dead chuffed:

I can't tell you how much awards like this mean to me, however silly it may seem. I love crafting and enjoy what I do, but to have a peer (an uber talented one!) pass on an award is the cherry on top of the cake! Sharon's cards are just gorgeous and I love stopping by her blog each week to see what she's been up to. Thank you Sharon for sharing this with me....a great way to finish my crafting year!

Now the rules in accepting this blog award are to tell 8 things about me that you probably don't know and then pass along the award to 8 other bloggers that I think are fantastic! That'll be tough because there are so many out there!

1. My nickname "Wedgie" came from my brother-in-law Jim...he's been calling me it for years!
2. My real name is Rachel, but I answer to either name!
3. I've been making cards now for 6 or 7 years now, but I never thought I was creative when I was younger!
4. Although pink and purple are my favourite colours now I was a real tom boy when I was younger!
5. I'm a finger nail nibbler...I can't help it!!
6. My sister is called Lorna and I'm so pleased that she is dabbling in the crafting world...although papercrafting isn't her thing!
7. I love coffee...you can't beat a good cup of coffee.I also drink a lot of green tea!
8. I love hosting tea parties with Lorna, we invite our friends Becca, Sheree & Anika over and feed them cake!

Now for the difficult bit....here are the 8 fab bloggers I'm passing this lovely award onto:

Faye

Donna

Tracy

Becky

Arlana

Deanne

Brenda

Catherine

 

The rules for receiving this award are:

• Thank and link back to the person who sent this to you.
• Share 8 things about yourself
• Pass this award on to 8 bloggers
• Contact those bloggers and tell them you sent them this award.

Thank you again Sharon for this fab award, you really made me smile!

 

Wedgie xxx

Happy New Year!

Hello there, hope you're well today and looking forward to the new year! I'd like to thank all my followers and visiters for stopping by my blog in 2010, your support and kind comments are brilliant and really appreciated by me.

As its New Year's Eve I thought a celebration card would be perfect for my last card of 2010 and I've found three new challenge blogs (all with celebration as a theme this week) that I'm going to be following next year!

The inspiration for the shape of this card is from the Simon Says Stamp Challenge blog where the DT member Domi has provided a brilliant champagne bottle template. I used an oblong card blank that I shaped myself before adding the green patterened backing paper and the gold top. I love this cute little mouse image and thought it was perfect on a party card! I've coloured him using pencils and added a little glimmer with my new cosmic shimmer kit. I'd also like to enter this in the Sweet Stampin Challenge and the Stamp Fairy Challenge. 

Pop by all these blogs to see the super DT creations!

I hope you all have a wonderful evening whatever you're up to!

Happy New Year and best wishes for 2011!

Wedgie xxx

An unusual Day....

...hello there! Thanks for popping by! Today I had absolutely nothing planned....so I decided to dedicate the day to crafting and baking....then something went a little bit wrong! I started tidying my room at my parent's house...and I couldn't stop! I spent the entire day cleaning, sorting things out and hoovering!! I do have a lovely tidy crafting space now though! I know it looks chaotic, but believe me its a lot better than it was...I can actually see everything now and find things when I want them! Looking at this photo there is one very odd thing that I can see....why on earth do I have what looks like a doiley table cloth on the table?!?

Anyway, the whole room looks a lot better now so I have finally spent some time crafting! It was Wednesday yesterday so that means I have a new sketch to play with from Arlana at Sweet Sketch Wednesday.....here is my interpretation of the sketch...

I hope Arlana approves of how I've used her sketch, pop over to the SSW blog and you'll see this is a tiny bit different! I've gone for a bright colour scheme...I hate winter time because everything is so dark and dull, so I wanted to make a colourful, vibrant card!

I've created a thank you card again because I've found more challenges with a thank you theme! This card is also for the challenge at Cute Card Thursday and Phindy's Place (thank you Anne for the recommendation!).

Don't forget to pop by all the blogs mentioned to see the wonderful DT creations!

Thanks for popping by today, do leave me a comment to let me know you've visited me! And don't forget to pop back tomorrow when I'll have one more card for 2010!

Wedgie xxx

Thank you!

Morning All, I hope you've all had a wonderful Christmas. Mine was lovely...in fact this is the first time that I've stopped to do any crafting since before Christmas!!

I've created a thank you card today which is for several challenges. I really got spoilt over Christmas and had such a lovely time that I thought a thank you card would be a very appropriate card to post today!

I've kept it very simple with this card as you can see! These cute little cats are a new stamp that I've treated myself to...I thought they looked too sweet to be left in the shop! I can also see that they will be perfect for all sorts of cards!

This card is for the following challenges:

Papertake Weekly - Thank you

Crafts & Me - Anything goes

Creative Crafts - Anything goes

As you can see there are a couple of new challenge blogs there that I haven't entered before...I found them while blog hopping earlier and decided to give them a go! Pop over to all the blogs to see some fab DT projects!

Finally, I've got a photo of the huge tree that we've got at Joe's flat (which has now been called Beefy!). Not sure why I couldn't upload it before...but here it is! This photo is better than the previous one because it also has a selection of my favourite people in it! This is Jim, Joe, Becca (and her new Uggs), Anika and Lorna....Sheree and Graham are missing because they had to go home early!!

Right, I better get going....I'm going into London with my sister for afternoon tea....this is part of her Christmas pressie and I'm really looking forward to it!

Thanks for stopping by today, see you soon.

Wedgie xxx

Merry Christmas!

Hello everyone...no card from me today, just a little message to wish everyone a wonderful Christmas wherever you are in the world!

I'll be back in a couple of days with a new card....I can't stop crafting for long!

Wedgie xxx

Christmas is nearly here!

Hello there...another late night post from me! I've had a busy evening, finishing my Christmas shopping and meeting up with friends. I hope you're all ready for Christmas now and have lovely plans for the next couple of days. This year I'm spending Christmas with Joe and his family, this is a new experience for me, but I'm looking forward to it.

I'm not sure when I'll get to post over Christmas so decided to squeeze in a quick card too! The card I have for you today is for Sweet Sketch Wednesday where clever Arlana has created another fab sketch for us to play with....take a look at all the SWS DT blogs to see their take on this cute sketch.

I'd like to thank you to all the lovely SWS ladies who visit my blog each week and leave me such lovely comments. I always enjoy visiting your blogs to see what you've been up to.

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

If I'm honest, I don't really like this card...but hey I made it so I decided to share it! I thought it might make a cute New Year's card or maybe a Birthday card.

I'm also entering this for the anything goes challenge over at the Papertake Weekly Challenge Blog.

Thank you for stopping by today, I hope you have a wonderful Christmas where ever you are in the world!

Wedgie xxx

Thank you!

Hello there!

I've been busy this evening making thank you cards as someone has requested several in anticipation of Father Christmas visiting! It's nice to hear that someone wants to send thank you cards after Christmas. I love sending thank you cards.... call me old fashioned, but I think there is nothing better than getting a lovely card through the post with a nice message...better than all the bills and mailshots I seem to get!

I also made another thank you card for several different challenges.....

This little cutie is one of my favourite digi images...he's so cute with that little smile and rosy cheeks! This card is perfect for the following challenges:

Allsorts Challenge - Free and easy...anything goes

Cupcake craft challenge - thank you

Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge - in the farmyard

Pop by all the blogs mentioned above to see the gorgeous DT cards and projects.

Anyone who stopped by my blog recently will know it was my mum's 60th Birthday yesterday, I've already showed you her liquorice allsorts inspired Birthday card.....and here are some Birthday cupcakes that I also made for her....

They don't look that fab in this photo, and they are very well travelled cupcakes, but mum really liked them! I've taken basic vanilla and coffee cupcakes and wrapped them in royal icing to make them look like giant liquorice allsorts! Once I was happy with the base layer I stuck the black icing onto the cakes using some sugar syrup.

For mum's Birthday treat we took her up to Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park and looked at all the lovely stalls. We then had a fab meal in the Kensignton Hotel, followed by a wonderful carol concert in the Royal Albert Hall.

Right, I can't believe there are only a couple of days until Christmas....I'm still not organised and so better go and do some wrapping!

Thanks for stopping by today,

Wedgie xxx

Sweet Birthday Wishes!

Hello there! Hope you're well today!

I can't believe that there is only a week until Christmas! Where has this year gone? That also means that it's nearly my mum's Birthday...and this year its a big one! I'm pretty confident that my mum doesn't read my blog and so I'm going to share her Birthday card with you....

Mum loves licorice allsorts...well to be honest she loves any kind of licorice! So I decided to make her a Birthday card inspired by her favourite sweets! I've used pinks, yellows, browns, blacks and white for the colours....I suppose I should of added a splash of blue too! I've used plain coloured papers from my stash, some ribbon and lace and some shiny sticky gems. I made the little allsorts from paper and added a glitterly 60 too, all of which I attached with sticky 3D pads to make them stand out.

The fab layout comes from Arlana at Sweet Sketch Wednesday....another lovely sketch that I will use again and again. Check out the SSW blog to see all the gorgeous DT cards....you'll also see Arlana's fab Christmas tree!

We've got some surprises for mum on Sunday, I won't write about them here yet just in case she does read my blog! Its going to be a lovely day!

Thanks for stopping by today,

Wedgie xxx

Untraditional Christmas

Hello there, thanks for stopping by today - I hope you're well!

I have a little card to share with you today, be warned though...it's quite bright!

This fun, festive card is very girlie and perfect for the following challenges:

The layout and stamped image are from the Sunday Sketch & Stamp Challenge

The fab colour scheme is from the Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge

The unusual Christmas theme is from the Cupcake Craft Challenge

I also wanted to show you the Christmas tree that Joe and I have at his flat, but the photo is currently refusing to upload onto my laptop....a case of "computer says no!" In a bid to lift my non-existant Christmas spirit Joe decided we needed the biggest tree we could find! It's actually taller than him and considering he is nearly 6 foot 4 its amazing that it fits in the flat!

I'll have to take another photo of the huge Christmas tree tomorrow and upload it later this week!

Just a quick post this evening, but thanks for popping by.

Wedgie xxx

A little Christmas Gift

Hello there, post number two for today!

I just wanted to share with you a little Christmas gift that I've been making. As you might know I really enjoy all kinds of crafts, not just card making. Beading is one of my favourites as you can make so many different gifts with mini beaded shapes. Here are some beaded latte spoons that I've created .....

These are made using small seed beads in a variety of colours and some wire. You literally feed the beads on and wind the wire into your desired shape as you go. In this case you thread enough beads to make the first petal (I think I used about 18 here), once happy with the shape you twist the end around and start on the next petal threading on the same number of beads. Continue until you have five petals and then thread a larger yellow or orange bead for the centre. Once you have your flower cut off any excess wire and make sure the ends are tucked in. You can then use super glue to attach it to your latte spoon or a metal bookmark.

You should end up with a flower like this..... for this particular flower I didn't have any larger beads, so instead I used 5 or 6 yellow seed beads for the centre. This project is for the challenge this week over at Charisma Cardz where they have asked to see Christmas gifts. Take a peek at their blog to see all the gorgeous DT projects.

I had a wonderful evening last night...the final celebration for my sister's Birthday! We all went to see the show La Soiree on London's South Bank. I went with Lorna, Jim, Joe, Mum, Becca, Anika and Becky and we all had a fab time. In fact I laughed so much that my mascara ended up all over my cheeks! If you haven't experienced "Bath Boy" or the other La Soiree acts I highly recommend that you try and see them!

Right, I'm off...I've got some snowflake cards to finish!

Thanks for stopping by today,

Wedgie xxx

I seem to be a bit broken!

Normally I love Christmas....I'm usually annoying Joe at the beginning of Christmas asking when we're putting the tree up. I love everything about Christmas - the cheesy music, the tree, all the goodies you can eat, decorating the house and spending time with friends and family. But this year is different....I'm just not feeling it! This really isn't normal for me!

As usual I've been busy making Christmas cards for other people to send, so I decided to spend this morning making all my cards. I've got Christmas music on, there is a huge Christmas tree next to me and I'm surrounded by cards for my work colleagues, friends and family...but still the Christmas spirit seems to be missing!

I've even decided to mass produce my Christmas card this year...something I don't usually like doing! This was me earlier this morning mid-production.....

I've gone with a snowflake theme for my cards this year. My poor colleagues have listened to me moan about the cold and the snow so much recently that I thought a few snowflakes might be funny! I've hand stamped various snowflake images onto white cards using a lovely blue ink. I've also stamped "Merry Christmas" in the corner. Once dry, I then embellished my snowflakes using sparkly stick on jewels and gems from my stash. I've used silvers and blues to add a little sparkle.

Here is the finished card:

This card is for several challenges this week:

Allsorts Challenge - Last minute Christmas

Paper Cutz Challenge - snowflakes or snowmen

ABC Challenge - J is for jewels and gems

I'm about half way adding the gems and sparkle to these cards, I'm hoping by the time I've finished I might be feeling a bit more festive.

Thanks for stopping by today and thank you for all your lovely comments, I really enjoy reading them.

Wedgie xxx

Teacup Cupcakes!

Hello there! Thanks for stopping by today....no cards in this post....just some cupcakes!

I've had a lovely evening...I came home from worked and decided to baked some cakes. I couldn't decide which flavour I wanted to make today so I made three! I made vanilla cupcakes, coffee cupcakes and scrummy raspberry cupcakes using my mum's homemade raspberry jam....

Next I needed to decorate them....I started with some traditional butter icing piped onto the cakes, I then sprinkled liberally with pink sugar glitter.....

I then decided to get creative with some royal icing......

I am soooo pleased with these cakes....they're not perfect, but for a first attempt I am extremly proud of my mini teacup cupcakes! I rolled my royal icing very thin and then wrapped it around the cold cakes, stucking it in place using a little sugar syrup. I then created the handle using a little more royal icing, which I fixed in place with more sugar syrup. I finished the cake off with a swirl of butter icing.

Apparently they are as tasty as they look....mum has already polished off the cupcake at the front of this picture. She was last seen grinning broadly and licking icing from her fingers!

Thanks for stopping by today,

Wedgie xxx

Yule logs and rubbish fashion shows!

I love Wednesdays! It's official! After a hard day's work I get to spend a Wednesday evening with my Brownie pack and my sister's Guide unit....admitedly sometimes they can be little monsters...but evenings like today more than make up for it!

First off we made chocolate yule logs with the Brownies....they made chocolate butter icing and iced swiss rolls, then we made icing decorations to finish of the yule logs! Then the Guides had to make outifts out of rubbish....they had bags, newspapers, wrapping paper, scissors, cellotape and lots of imagination! Once they'd all created an outfit they put on a fashion show for us! It was wonderful - we had Disney carrier bag skirts, high heels made out of the insides of kitchen rolls and tops made out of bin bags!

After all that excitment I then get to come home and make a card for the Sweet Sketch Wednesday challenge - awesome! Arlana's sketch this week is really good and I enjoyed creating this card...

I've turned the sketch upside down, not sure why really...it just happened! This card is for my cousin Sandra who has just got herself a new job and I wanted to say "well done". I've used blue and pink papers from my stash for the background and I made the mini pen pot and pencils from paper scraps. I've embellished with some punched flowers and a tiny bit of glitter!

Right, I'm off for a little blog surfing before bed! Thanks for stopping by today.

Wedgie xxx

Brr! It's cold out there!

Hello everyone, hope you're all keeping well.

Its turned a bit chilly again in little old New Malden! Brr! I'm going to the Krispy Kreme drive through with Anika and Lorna for a catch up and some coffee...after that I think it'll be straight to bed and my lovely warm duvet! Before I head out into the cold I wanted to share a quick card with you...

Sorry, the photo is a bit dodgy again! I need to sort out my camera...I think its not to keen on the cold either!! This little card is inspired by the challenge over at Cupcake Craft Challenge this week where they have asked us to feature a robin on our projects. I looked through my stash and couldn't find anything with a robin on, so I decided to have a go at making one out of paper. My sister thinks it looks like a Robin, I'm not so sure so I'll let you all decide...robin red breast or dodgy looking bird??

Right, I'm off for a lovely mug of coffee...and possibly a doughnut or two!

Thanks for stopping by today and don't forget to stop by the cupcake craft challenge blog too, they've got gorgeous DT cards this week!

Wedgie xxx

Another lovely day!

Hello there, yet another post from me! I'm on a roll this week!

It's my sister's Birthday this week and I kick started the celebrations today by taking her to a lovely hotel in London called One Aldwych. We had a lovely brunch with a glass of bubbly and then watched the film up in their private cinema. The food was yummy and they even made Lorna's pudding even more special....

...that was a rather delicious piece of Brownie! After the film we wander around the Christmas market on the soth bank. What a lovely way to spend a Sunday!

I'm now watching X Factor while doing a little bit of crafting...the perfect end to a perfect Sunday!

This week's challenge over at Allsorts is "light up the night", so they would like to see a candle somewhere on our projects. I've opted for a Birthday card rather than a Christmas card for this one and I'll warn you that it's very pink.....

For this cupcake Birthday card complete with Birthday candle I've used a Creative Cottage digi image, along with a lot of pink paper and ribbon from my stash. I created the sentiment on my computer. The layout for this card comes from the sketch over at Papertake Weekly,  I really enjoyed using this sketch as its nice and clean.

Thanks for stopping by today,

Wedgie xxx

What a lovely day!

Hello everyone!

I'm at my sister Lorna's flat today....and we're decorating their second bedroom, turning it from a boring white bedroom to a wonderful pink craft room! I really hope that her hubbie thought it through before agreeing to this!

This is Lorna finishing off some of the edges....we've been working all morning and the room is now a gorgeous candy pink colour!

I'm very jealous of Lorna, having a whole room that she can dedicate to crafting!

Before I headed over to Lorna's I had the chance to make a card for a couple of challenges....Anika if you are reading this is one of the cards that you asked me for...I promise I'll get it to you along with the rudolph one ASAP!

This is a Christmas card for this week's challenge over at Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge:

The red and green colour combo comes from the ABC Christmas challenge where the theme is Y for Yueltide and the cute little penguin is for the Winter Wonderland Challenge where they asked to see penguins or polar bears...or both!

Right, I better get going...we've got a pink craft room to finish off!
Thanks for stopping by today,
Wedgie xxx

Age is just a number!

Hello there...a late night post from me today!

I've had a nice day, my work sorted out my laptop so I could access my emails from home...that meant I didn't have to struggle through the snow/ice to work today! Woo hoo! I very happily worked on my spreadsheets while wrapped in a duvet! A very productive day and I didn't moan about being cold once!

I've got a quick card for you this evening...to be honest I think I should have given it to my boyfriend last week because he seems so concerned about getting older (I'm rolling my eyes as I type this because I'm older than him!!).

Just in case you can't read the sentiment it says: "Happy Birthday! Remember that growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional". Something I think we should all live by!

This card is for three challenges:

Cute card Thursday - Colour challenge - The Blues

PaperPlay Challenges - Colour challenge - monochrome or shades of one colour

Charisma Cardz Challenge - sketch with a twist - use a sentiment and no image

All three blogs have some gorgeous DT cards on show - go take a peek!

This was a nice layout to use and I enjoyed the challenge of using a sentiment with no image. I also enjoyed the challenge of working with one colour - I had to rummage through my paper stash!

Right, I'm off to bed! Thanks for stopping by today.

Wedgie xxx

All pink and purple!

Hello there, thanks for stopping by today. I hope you're keeping well!

I have two cards for you this evening, for three different challenges. The cards also have something else in common as they both feature embellishments from The Creative Cottage shop.

My first card is for this month's challenge over at Sir Stampalot where the theme is "Travel the world", I've gone for an oriental theme using this lovely lady and fab cherry blossom backing paper from the Creative Cottage. I think the pinks and black work very well together. The layout for this card comes from a blog that I've only just discovered called Sunday Sketch and Stamp. They run fortnightly sketch challenges and the only other required element is a stamped image either tradtional or digital - I've opted for digital on this occassion. The sketch is lovely to work with and I think looks fab with the oriental theme.

My second card features my favourite colour purple and is for this fortnight's challenge over at the Creative Cottage where they have called for untradtional Christmas cards. I came across this lovely digi image when browsing their shop earlier - isn't it fab!

Although gold is a common colour at Christmas time it is usually used with reds and greens...I think it looks fab with purple too! I've used purple backing papers, along with a gold tag that I had in my stash. I attached the tree using 3D sticky pads and then finshed the card off with some lovely glitter glue.

Pop over to all three blogs to see some gorgeous DT cards...don't forget the Creative Cottage Shop too!

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you'll leave a comment to let me know you've visited me today!

Wedgie xxx

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

Hello everyone, hope you're keeping safe and well where ever you are in the world! Its still rather cold here in the UK and the road outside my house has turned into an ice rink - its so dangerous! I walked (rather gingerly) to and from work today and will probably do the same tomorrow.

Today is a Wednesday, so this evening I had a Brownie meeting...and tonight we had a PJ party! Three of the older Brownies organised and ran the evening - we all had to dress in our PJs, there were games and milk and cookies! Wednesday also means a new sketch from Sweet Sketch Wednesday..woo hoo! Here is my card based on this week's sketch:

Isn't it a lovely layout? My porportions are slightly out, but you get the idea! Pop over to the SSW blog to see all the gorgeous DT cards.

I'm also entering this card in this month's challenge over at Penny Black at Allsorts where the theme is "beauty is in the eye of the beholder". My interpretation of the theme includes my favourite colour purple and one of my favourite embellishments - buttons! The Penny Black image also contains a favoured item of mine - teacups....I've got quite a nice little collection going now. There is something very elegant about drinking a hot drink from a teacup, it gives me great pleasure!

Thanks for popping by today, stay safe!
Wedgie xxx