Woo hoo.....it's time to celebrate!

Hello there,

I hope you are well and having a good week.

This week it's celebration time over at Sweet Stampin as we are celebrating our 5th Birthday! I have been part of this wonderful DT for several years now and I love every minute of it - such a lovely and talented bunch of crafters!

So, let's get celebrating - we want to see your Happy Birthday cards to help us celebrate! We want to see a reference to birthdays on the front of the card and of course there has to be some stamping on the card (can be a digi stamp). It probably won't surprise you that my card features the odd cake or two.....

I opted for a pink and blue colour combo, featuring my cupcake trio and a lot of cherries! My cupcakes are coloured with my Promarkers and I have added a tiny bit of sparkle with my Stickles. 

For more Birthday card inspiration pop by the Sweet Stampin challenge blog. While you are there you can read all about our lovely sponsors this week....

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

Papertake Weekly - soooo girlie

I also just wanted to tell you about the UK Blog Awards 2015 - you may know that I write a little afternoon tea blog with my sister Lorna, which features reviews and rather a lot of scrummy afternoon tea photos! We entered the UK Blog Awards 2014 and we so pleased to make it to the finals - this year we want to try again...but we need your help!

Tea with Me and Friends at the UK Blog Awards 2014

The public vote is currently open....and we need your vote to get us back to the judged round again! All you need to vote is access to the Internet and an email address....each email address can be used to vote once in each category (any multiple votes are not counted). We have entered in two categories this year, if you would like to vote please click the links below....

Food & Drink

Most Innovative

We'd really appreciate your vote!

Thanks for popping by today,

Wedgie xxx

Lets get cute!

Hello there!

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

Last weekend I went to an afternoon tea masterclass at One Aldwych hotel in London....it was such a good experience! We got to indulge in a lovely breakfast and an afternoon tea, plus we spent several hours in the hotel's kitchens with Head Chef Dominic Teague. Dominic showed us how to make several different afternoon tea treats and we got to pipe and decorate macaroons and eclairs. Read all about our fab morning on our afternoon tea blog.....but I thought I'd share with you some of the treats I piped....

I am so proud of those macaroons!

Anyway, enough afternoon tea chat...I'm here today with the fab new challenge from Sweet Stampin! This week we have a lovely theme for you.....we want to see your CUTE creations!

I decided to explore the Cuddly Buddly website for an image for this challenge. Cuddly Buddly is our monthly sponsor, offering our monthly winner a fab £10 voucher to spend.....and I know you'll spend it really easily!

Here is my card.....

Isn't he wonderful? The image and the sentiment are actually two different images from Cuddly Buddly that I have printed, coloured and stuck together. The sentiment is stuck flat to the card, and the teddy bear is stuck on with 3D sticky pads. Both the sentiment and image are coloured with my Promarkers.

I then decided to go with a blue background.....full of polka dots and three cute buttons!

For more inspiration pop by the Sweet Stampin challenge blog and take a peek at the super cute DT cards that Team Abi have created this week! While you are there you can also read about our fab sponsors....

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

Make it Monday

Thanks for popping by today,

Wedgie xxx

A little motivation for the new year.....

Well hello there!

Happy New Year! I hope you had a fantastic Christmas and you're all set for the new year. I've got the feeling that 2014 is going to be a tea-riffic year!

So, if you've seen my afternoon tea blog recently you'll know that we ate a lot of scrummy afternoon teas last year. Its tough...but someones got to do it! With lots more teas planned for this year I definitely need to up my exercise levels (which won't be hard as those levels are currently set at zero!!).

The festive afternoon tea we enjoyed!

Luckily we have a fab new year challenge to get me motivated over at Sweet Stampin....this week we'd like to see your projects inspired by sports or fitness! What a great theme for me!

I've had this cute little image for some time now, so I decided it was time to put it to good use.....

Hee, hee....I'm really not sure whether you should use the word "sweat" on a Birthday card!

I've coloured my image with my Promarkers and have created my sentiment on my laptop. I've gone with a blue/purple colour combo which I always looks fab together.

For more inspiration pop by the Sweet Stampin challenge blog and see the lovely cards that Team Abi have created this week. While you're there you can read all about our fab sponsors this week:

and

Flat Friends with Craft Bag

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

Make it Monday
The Pink Elephant - anything goes
Passion for Promarkers - include a sentiment
Crafty Sentiments - Birthdays
Cute Card Thursday - banish the blues (include some humour!)

Thanks for popping by today, 

Wedgie xxx

PS - I have entered my afternoon tea blog in the UK Blog Awards...the public vote is currently open and I'd really appreciate your photo! If you've never seen Tea With Me and Friends you can find it here and if you'd like to vote for me pop by here.

A little bit spotty....and maybe some stripes!

Hello there...me again!! I'm back with my second challenge of today...this time a fresh new challenge from My Time to Craft! If you are looking for the Sweet Stampin challenge please scroll down!

Soooo...what would we like to see on your cards this week?? How about some spots...and some stripes?? Thats right, you can create anything as long as you festure some spots and stripes!!

I decided to go bright and cheerful and bold with this card....

 

My image has been stamped and coloured with my Promarkers and I've added a simple Happy Birthday sentiment.

 

Pop by the My Time to Craft challenge blog to see how many spots and stripes the other fab DT members managed to put on their cards!!

 

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

 

Make it Monday

I Love Promarkers - anything goes

 

So, if you haven't seen my earlier post you might not know my fab news....Joe and I have some fluffy new house mates.....

 

 

I am pleased to introduce Tinker (the black and white one) and Steve (the grey one!)...they are just over two months old and they are ridiculously cute and fluffy!! They are keeping us very busy!

 

Thank you for popping today,

Wedgie xxx

Time for tea?

Good Morning Folks!

I hope you are all well today and having a good week.

Soooo Allsorts have a fab challenge this week that was made just for me!! The challenge theme is "Time for Tea"!

Hmmm....the question here is what image am I going to use?? A cake? A cupcake? A teacup? Yes, I think a teacup with a cheeky sentiment is the way to go here.....

 

I have stamped my image and coloured it with my Promarkers, I have then mounted my teacup on a doiley. I've gone with a pretty paper background and a splash of pink for the border, making for a very girlie card I think. Finally I have added a bit of a cheeky sentiment.

 

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

 

Allsorts Challenge - Time for Tea

Glitter n Sparkle - three of something - three colours...black, white and pink

 

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

 

And before I sign off...I thought I'd leave you with a little photo.....

 

 

Well it wouldn't be tea without a little cake would it??

 

Thanks for popping by today,

Wedgie xxx

Its all about the Doggies!

Evening Folks!

How are you today, happy hump day! I thought I'd share a quick Birthday card with you that I made for my brother-in-law Jim. As you may know Jim and my sister Lorna are the proud owners of two rather lovely Boston Terriers called Barry and Gerty.

 

Inspired by these two fab doggies I made Jim this card for his Birthday....

 

 

I've gone with a masculine brown and blue colour combo, colouring my image with my Promarkers. I've also added a little paw print embellishment from brown paper.

 

I'm really pleased with how this card turned out.

 

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

 

Top Tip Tuesday - Masculine

City Crafter Challenge Blog - All about him

Tuesday Throwdown - You're the man

Papertake Weekly - Hello boys

Crafty Sentiments - Card for a man

Glitter n Sparkle - male card

 

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

 

I thought I'd leave you with one last photo....here is Gerty taking a nap.....

 

 

What a cutie pie!

 

Thanks for popping by today,

its lovely to see you!

Wedgie xxx

Spotlighting!

Hello there! Happy Saturday!

Hope you've had a fab week!

Sooooo...its 10am on Saturday morning....that means one thing...its time for a fab new challenge from My Time to Craft! This week we have a technique challenge for you....and I have to confess that this is a new technique for me, so already in 2013 I have learnt something new!!

The technique is called spotlighting....and it gives a rather fab effect.....

 

Isn't that a fab finish....I think the spotlight really highlights the pretty image.

 

To create this finish yourself you simply need to pick an image and stamp it twice....the main image you leave black and white. The second image you need to punch out a circle which you'd like to highlight and colour that part of the image. You then frame your coloured image circle and stick it onto of your black and white image in the correct place. Ta-dah!

 

I'm not sure whether that explanation makes any sense or not! It does in my head.....but my head can be a very crazy place!!

 

This is a from Kanban, and I have coloured my highlighted part with a selction of pastel coloured Promarkers. I have also added a little bit of sparkle to this part of the image. I then went mad with my pastel papers to create the background, adding the doily and my Happy Birthday sentiment.

 

To see more examples of the spotlighting technique pop by the My Time to Craft challenge blog and see all the gorgeous cards that my fellow teamies have made....then why not give it a try yourself!

 

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

 

The Pink Elephant - Celebrate

Make it Monday

 

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

 

Thanks for popping by today,

Wedgie xxx



Star Struck!

Happy Tuesday Folks, hope you're keeping well.

Today we have another challenge for you over at Celebrate the Occasion...this week we are seeing stars with a "Star Struck" challenge....we'd love to see your cards which feature at least three stars!

I've opted for a girlie, sparkly card for this challenge....

I'm really pleased with how this card has turned out, I love the colour combo and think it works really well with the cupcake and the sparkle. I've added grey backing paper to my card and topped half of it with some pink and white polks dot paper. My image is coloured with my Promarkers and I've added a little sparkle to my cherry on top with my trusty Stickles. My cupcake is fixed to the card using 3D sticky pads. I've made the sentiment on my computer and backed it with some more pink paper before fixing it to the card. Finally I added three dinky pink stars. Soooo sweet!

Pop by the Celebrate the Occasion blog to see all the gorgeous DT cards that have been created this week.

Thanks for popping by today,

Wedgie xxx

No Design Paper Was Harmed in the Making of this Card!!

Hello Folks - Happy Monday!!

Hope you've had a good day. I had a meeting with some IT consultants at work today....I was with them for an hour and a half and I think they might have sucked all the knowledge from my head! It was an intense meeting!!

Now I'm home.....and its craft time!!

Now I'm not happy with this card....it seemed like the more I did the more I disliked it!! So I stopped.....and here is the finished card! I love the colours, but I think I've struggled with the lack of design papers here. I've used pink and cream papers, a lovely piece of cream lace and a cute Polly Craft image (my favourite!!).

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

Cupcake Craft Challenge - a Birthday card with no design paper

Pollycraft Monday Challenge - colour inspiration...pinks, reds, cream & white

Make it Monday - Linky party.....pop by to see all the gorgeous makes!

Now remember yesterday I said I'd been baking.....well I forgot to share a photo with you!! Here they are....pretty swirly vanilla cupcakes....with pink sprinkles and a little pink glitter dust! I think I might eat one with a cup of tea now!!

Thanks for popping by today,

Wedgie xxx

If you're ha-pea and you know it!

Hello there...look I'm posting before 10pm! Woo hoo!

I've had a lovely afternoon crafting while watching the movie Grease on the TV. Joe has come home from the garage early, so we can have a nice evening together too!

The challenge over at Cupcake Craft Challenge this week was a little challenging for me to say the least! The theme is white is white and they want to see projects that are predominantly white....as you all know I love colour...lots of colour! However, I gave it a go and here is my card....

I like the idea of using peas on my cards....just think of the possibilities!

I've used a piece of green card and a piece of white card for the backing and then made a little pea out of more green card. I've added googly eyes and a hand written sentiment. I'd also like to enter this card for the free & easy challenge over at Whoopsi Daisy and the something new challenge over at Paper Sundaes. My something new is the fab black new I used to outline the letters - it's a Japanese pen that I actually bought for Joe but that seems to have made it into the craft kit!! Whoops!

Right, I'm off...I've got dinner to make!

Thanks for stopping by today.
Wedgie xxx

N is for......

....new stash! Evening all...hope you've all had a lovely Wednesday. My day has been interesting, I've experienced so many moans today from work colleagues...I'm glad to be back at home!

Anyway, I've been experiementing with the word art function in Microsoft word and as a result I have several sentiments to use on my cards that look out of the ordinary and give a slightly different dimension to my cards. It was so simple to do, but as you'll see from these cards its very effective.

To achieve this you need to open word and select the word art option. You then write the sentiment that you require, using the arc shape. Make sure you also choose the font that you want to use. The sentiment will then appear as an arc on the page, but if you double click on the arc you open up a new selection of tools which allow you to mulipulate the words even more. I have changed the angles of my arcs, and changed the colours I used. You need to play about with this function a little bit and I did end up with an upside down sentiment more than once, but I think the effort was worth it!

As a result of my playing and printing I now have a lovely new stash of sentiments to add to my cards! This fits in well with a new challenge that I've found over on a lovely blog called ABC Challenge. They run challenges on a fortnightly basis, challenging crafters to create a card or project based on a theme or technique using the letters of the alphabet in turn. This week its "N is for...new stash!"          The DT have come up with some adorable cards for this challenge, take a peek here.

I think I'll enter the Thinking of You card for this challenge, as not only have I used my new sentiment, the lovely blue ribbon and the backing paper are also new (yes, I've been shopping!!).

Anyway, I'm off to Brownies very shortly....we're planting cress seeds this week...then I'm candle making with the Guides - no rest for the wicked!

Thanks for stopping by,

Wedgie xxx