I Love.....Chocolate!

Hello there,

Happy Saturday...I hope you are keeping well and have had a good week.

Can you believe that its the end of January already?? It looks like 2015 might fly by as quickly as 2014 did! With Valentines Day just around the corner the ladies at Sweet Stampin have decided to get you in the mood with a "love" challenge theme this week!

Now I don't know about you...but I LOVE chocolate....in my humble opinion you can't beat a square or two to cheer you up! With this in mind I decided to feature chocolate on my love themed card....

I've gone for a CAS look, printing my digi stamp directly onto my card blank. The cute chocolate box  image is from Free Dearie Dolls Digi Stamps - when I saw it I knew it would be perfect for this challenge. 

I have coloured my image with my Promarkers, and added a printed sentiment and some faux stitching around the edge.

For more inspiration pop by the Sweet Stampin challenge blog and take a peek at the gorgeous DT cards that have been created this week. While you're there you can find out about our fab sponsor this week....

If you are looking for some more sweet treats, why not pop by my afternoon tea blog and take a peek at the scrummy photos...

Tea With Me and Friends

Thanks for popping by today,

Wedgie xxx

Not a card in sight!

Hello there!

A really quick mid-week post from me today....Allsorts have a fab challenge that I couldn't resist joining this week.

Their challenge is "anything but a card"....last time they had this challenge I entered some cupcakes...this time I decided to make something a little bit different.....

 

These little beauties are salted dark chocolate spheres! I made them for Joe's Mum's Birthday as she loves salted chocolate. They are made using a fab mould from Baked By Me - Iris stocks lots of fab moulds! The spheres are hollow and I have added some glitter for a little sparkle!

 

I'm pleased to report that Joe's Mum was really pleased with them!

 

Pop by the Allsorts Challenge blog to see what other things the DT have made this week!

 

Thanks for popping by today and I look forward to seeing you again soon!

 

Wedgie xxx

A sweet post...

Woo hoo! Its Friday evening!

I am rather excited as I am going to see Stomp at the Ambassadors Theatre in London tomorrow afternoon. I've seen them perfom on TV, but never live and I can't wait! I'm glad this snow is staring to clear....I've been so cold I thought I was turning into a snowman!!

Anyway, I decided to brighten everyone's day with a sweet post. I got inspiration for today's card from The Pink Elephant who have a fab chocolate covered strawberries photo as inspiration for this week's challenge.

With this in mind I went for one of my favourite colour combos....a little bit of red and brown.....

 

I've stamped my image and coloured it with my Promarkers. I created my background by using a selection of red and brown papers, adding some faux white stitching and a cute mini bow.

 

I'd like to enter this card in the following challenges:

 

Top Tip Tuesday - layers

Passion for Promarkers - favourite colour combo

Papertake Weekly - tie up your loose ends (use a bow!)

The Pink Elephant - photo inspiration

I Love Promarkers - anything goes

 

Pop by all these fab blogs to see the gorgeous DT cards that have been created this week!

 

Now this wouldn't be a sweet post without some cakes would it?? My lovely mum bought me some new baking equiptment last night when I visited....I am now the proud owner of the cutest little loose bottomed cake tins and a cake decorating turn table! I'm so easily pleased! I decided the best way to thank mum was with some freshly made cakes...and I was feeling a little nostalgic so I went with butterfly cakes (mum used to make us these when we were little!). These little beauties are mocha flavoured cake with coffee icing and chocolate sprinkles on the top!

 

 Thanks for popping by today and thank you for all the lovely comments that people leave me...especially about my baking...I wish I could send you all a cake or two!

Wedgie xxx

Brrrr.....sending some warm wishes!

Hello there! How are you today?

Oh my goodness...isn't it cold out there?? My little flat has awful heating...the bedroom is the worse where I have one small (very expensive) electric wall heater that is directly below a single glazed window!! I swear all the heat goes straight out of the window!! But don't worry...I've got my huge winter duvet out, my fluffy socks and my cosy PJs!!

I decided to make a card with some warm vibes tonight...what do you think.....

 

I've used lovely autumn colours for this card....browns and a soft orange, along with an image of a mug of something yummy and warm! My image has been coloured with my trusty Promarkers and is attached to the kraft card using 3D sticky pads. I'm really pleased with the layout of this card....I didn't really plan it, it was a happy accident!

 

I hope I've created a real sweet Birthday treat here!

 

I'd like to enter this card in the following challenges:

 

Cupcake Craft Challenge - get krafty

Make it Monday

The Pink Elephant - favourite colouring meduim (my Promarkers!)

Love to Create - autumn colours

 

Pop by all these blogs to see the gorgeous DT cards that have been created this week!

 

Talking of sweet Birthday treats...its one of my friend's Birthdays today....a fireworks baby no less!! I decided to make her some cute little chocolate teddy bears using one of my moulds. I do enjoy chocolate making, I find it a very satisfying thing to do...plus you end up with some very tasty treats! What do you think.....

 

As you can see...these bears are a little bit special...they are coated in a really pretty cold lustre dust!

 

Happy Birthday Becca!

 

Thanks for popping by today,

its lovely to see you!

 

Wedgie xxx

A week to go....

...Hello there...Happy Wednesday! So this time next week it'll be Halloween...and then before we know it, it'll be Christmas time! Wow this year has flown by!

This time of year also means its almost my bosses Birthday.... I am very lucky, as my boss is wonderful and so I always try and make her a fab present for her Birthday. This year I am appealing to her sweet tooth with iced butterfly biscuits and fab chocolate spoons that I've made using chocolate moulds and then iced with Viv's name and random squiggles! The mould is fantastic and so easy to use...anyone with some chocolate can make their own chocolate spoons!

 The mould comes from the brilliant "Baked by Me"....a website run by the lovely Iris, they sell all sorts from delicious cookie mixes to a brilliant range of chocolate moulds, and lots of lovely china. The prices are really reasonably and the customer service is awesome too!

 

Here are the pretty butterfly biscuits...

 

Right, enough sweet stuff...time for a card challenge!

 

I've gone for another spooky card today...this time using a fab free image from "The Enchanting Art of Heather Valentin"

 

 

I love this image...I'm not sure if its the cute hat, the cat (which I think I've somehow made a bit evil looking!!) or the huge pumpkin....but I love it! Thank you Heather!

 

I've gone with typical Halloween colours - black, purple, green and orange. Using a combination of plain backing papers and ribbon. My image has been coloured using my Promarkers and I created the purr-fect sentiment on my laptop!

 

I'd like to enter this card in the following challenges:

 

Passion for Promarkers - Pets

Top Tip Tuesday - Halloween

Tuesday Throwdown - Halloween

Papertake Weekly - Fright Night - Boo!

 

Pop by all these fab blogs to see the gorgeous DT cards that have been created this week!

 

Thanks for popping by today,

Wedgie xxx

I'm back!

Hello folks.....well after a couple of days of successfully scheduled posts I am back! Thank you for everyones lovely comments that they've left me recently....its so nice to hear from everyone.

I've spent the weekend with Joe at the 2nd Round of the British Drifting Championships...he didn't qualify this time, but we had a good weekend. I got to go out in the car this time, which was good fun! Here is the proof....do you like my helmet??

Ha, ha!!

This is a photo of Joe drifting the track, his car is the white and black one......

As you can see the track was quite dusty and there was a lot of wind, not to mention the tyre rubber flying through the air!! I'm happy to report that I'm back, I'm clean and I've been crafting!! Inspired by the photo challenge at Chocolate, Coffee and Cards I decided to make a bright, cheerful card today, this is the photo...

Isn't that a fab cake?? I love the colours and decided they would make a fab card!

I've used a mixture of brightly coloured plain and patterned papers to match this cute LOTV image. I've added some faux white stitches and some cute little butterflies. I'd like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge - anything goes

Tuesday Throwdown - friendship (those two look like they're having a good gossip!!)Pink Elephant - Vibrant colours

Crazy 4 Challenges - butterflies

Chocolate, Coffee & Cards - photo inspiration (I took the colours)

Send a Smile 4 Kids - bright colours

Pop by all the blogs mentioned to see the gorgeous DT cards that have been created!

Thanks for stopping by today,

Wedgie xxx

Sweet Sketch Wednesday's 100th Sketch!!

Hello there - hope you're keeping well!

Well, you give a girl all this time off and does she do any crafting?? No!! I'm really not sure what I did with the last two weeks, but I know I thoroughly enjoyed myself!

So, It's Wednesday...but its not any old Wednesday...today Sweet Sketch Wednesday share with us their 100th sketch! Arlana has created yet another stonker and the fab SSW DT have made the most gorgeous cards as inspiration for us. I'm so glad I stumbled over the SSW blog - they are the most supportive group of ladies and I love seeing their wonderful creations each week. To celebrate their 100th sketch they are having a fab blog hop....pop over to their blog to join in with the fun!

Here is my version of Arlana's sketch.....

I enjoyed using this sketch and opted for pink, purple and a hint of aqua blue for a fresh looking card. The SSW ladies will know I'm not a fan of bows...I never seem to have the right one for my card, so once again I made my own one out of paper!

Cupcake Craft Challenges are also celebrating this week - they have some lovely new DT members and a gorgeous new look to their blog - take a peek! Their challenge this week is "Something beginning with C".....so I opted for......chocolate! I love this stamp, it always makes me giggle! Pop over to their blog to see all the gorgeous DT cards. Ohhh, I nearly forgot to tell you...the Cupcakes ladies are having a blog hop as well this week!

Right, I'm off to join in the blog hopping fun!

Thanks for stopping by today.

Wedgie xxx

Time to craft!

Hello there! I hope you're enjoying some lovely sunshine where ever you are in the world!

Well, as you know life's been fairly hectic for me recently, but today is Good Friday in the UK and this means a lovely long weekend for me...plus I've taken some time off next week too! This morning I've washed my car and my mum's car and I've finally made some time for some crafting...woo hoo! Here is this morning's effort, which I'm really pleased with:

The sketch is from this week's challenge over at Sweet Sketch Wednesday....don't forget to pop over there all see all their gorgeous DT cards...we're at sketch 98 this week and the lovely SSW ladies will be celebrating 100 sketches with a fab blog hop...I can't wait!

The colour scheme of pink and chocolate brown is for the "any excuse for chocolate" challege this week at Sweet Stampin Challenge. Isn't that brown and pink polka dot paper fab?? I just love this colour combo, it always makes me smile! I've also added a little faux stitching for the Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge and I've embossed the image for the "emboss it" challenge over at Simon Says Stamp challenge. I've never embossed before....my lovely boyfriend bought me a heat tool for my Birthday so I decided to give it a go! I'm really pleased with how it looks...think I'll be embossing lots more!!

Don't forget to visit all blogs mentioned above...all of them feature gorgeous DT cards - perfect inspirtation!

The other thing I've made time for this week was a little baking! I was given so many wonderful baking and cakes books for my Birthday and I can't wait to try out all the recipes! I started off with some delicious mocha macaroons......these look much better than my last attempt when they looked a little like dog turds! I made a big batch, but after taking them to work and sharing them with my family I only have two left!! I'm assuming that meant they're tasty!!

Thanks for popping by my blog today, I hope to see you again soon!

Wedgie xxx

Chocolate!

I love chocolate...in my opinion you can never have too much of it! I'm not really a fan of white chocolate because it tends to be a bit too creamy for me...but I love milk chocolate and dark chocolate....and most things chocolate flavoured! Saying that I'm not a huge fan of Easter eggs...the chocolate always seems a bit fake!

Anyway, inspired by this thought and the sketch at Sweet Sketch Wednesday this week I created this card....

The sketch is very cute and fun to use....I love those cute little circles! Hey, what can I say...I'm easily pleased! I've used pinks, creams and browns for this card. The stamp is one I've had for a while, but I never really use...not sure why...it always makes me smile! Check out all the DT cards on the SSW blog - they're all so gorgeous!

I've also been practicing my iced roses as I'm teaching the Guides how to make them in a couple of weeks time. They're quite easy to make, but look fab! These ones are quite small and really need to be a bit thiner to make them look more delicate.

Right, I better get going...I'm making biscuits this evening. By popular request I'm making more iced ring biscuits!

Thanks for popping by today,
Wedgie xxx

Some fashionable baking!

Hello everyone - hope you're all well and had a good week.

I haven't posted in the last week because Dad's been back in hospital and its been a bit difficult to make any new cards or enter any challenges or get to my computer! However, the Easter weekend is here and Dad is back at home, so I have plenty of time to catch up!

No cards today I'm afraid, but I wanted to share a little cookery disaster I've had. I've found a very simple to follow recipe for macaroons which I decided to try out....we had some lovely ones at Browns on Mother's Day and my sister loves them. So I decided to give them a try.

I got the ingredients I needed and opted to make chocolate ones. Mum even took me out to buy a new piping bag....however I didn't look at the ends I got with the piping bag....and this is how my macaroons tunred out....

Yep, thats right...they look like a plate of mini turds!!!! Ha, ha, ha!!

I have to say they make look awful, but they were very tasty...even better if you can wait till day two to eat them as they got nice and chewy then! I can't believe how easy they are to make, especially when they cost so much to buy in the shops!

Apparently these are very popular at the moment....more fashionable than cupcakes! I've now bought some food colouring and flavouring...so I'm going to try again and see if I can make some that don't look like turds!

Wish me luck!

Thanks for stopping by...there will be cards next time I promise!
Wedgie Xxx