Krafty Molly

Hi, and welcome!

Seems I don't get here as often as I'd like.......sigh........and I'm really missing you all, (this message will self-destruct, once you've read it....so there'll be no proof that I'm a big softie)......so I'm just hoping that you are all still there.  

I also want to apologise for not having the promised BLOG CANDY up and posted.....but, it will be worth the wait!  

I've been concentrating on making my Design Team cards, trying to get well in front, because I've promised myself some blocks of time to do Christmas crafts for gifts......there just don't seem to be enough hours to get everything done, as I'm sure you'll be aware, hahaaa.......and there's truth in the days getting shorter, this time of year, lol........

Today, I'm showing a little card that I made with a gorgeous Molly Bloom stamp that came with 

this wonderful package.........

I think it can be ordered on-line, but I bought mine at W.H.Smith........and well worth the money it was!......

I started with a dark brown card base and added a piece of dotty kraft paper from the LOTV Christmas range.  

It isn't a Christmas card........I know!....not like me, at all........but the paper isn't overtly Christmas, 

so just go with it, haaaa!  I made a tag from kraft card for Molly to stand on ......ripped a piece of lighter coloured kraft paper, and a piece of pink stripy paper and layered them at the bottom of the tag.

I love these sweet stamps.....they are so full of character!  I own only two distress inks, and neither was the colour I wanted to use, so I scribbled a bit of my Marvey le Plume brown markers onto a plastic lid, added a little water, and painted away......

I just ealized that I didn't get a clear piccie of the sentiment......but it's pretty!

A little bit of pretty pink ribbon, a piece of jute string and a button.....voila!.....a cute embellishment for the top of the tag.......

More kraft card was used for the lacy border, which was cut with a Martha Stewart punch and edged with brown ink......

I used the matching corner punch.....more kraft......and added a tiny dark red punched heart......all done!

Would love to know what you think......be nice!

hugs,

Anne-Marie x

Challenges:

http://divasbydesignchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/  Use texture

http://totallygorjuss.blogspot.co.uk/  Anything goes

http://incywincydesigns.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/winners-plus-anything-goes.html  Anything goes

http://pinkgemchallengeblog.blogspot.no/  For the girls

http://craftyourpassionchallenges.blogspot.co.uk/  Hip to be square

Colours of Autumn

Hello, and welcome!

It's Friday, so that means another chance for you win a prize in our latest challenge at Card Crafter's Circle which just happens to be..........

AUTUMN COLOURS

We have two lovely sponsors for you, this week........MelJen's Designs and Oak Pond Creations!  That means there will be 2 wonderful prizes up for grabs!

One randomly drawn winner will receive their choice of 2 digital images from Oak Pond, and another randomly drawn winner will receive 4 uncoloured digi images from MelJen's.......well worth playing for, if you ask me!

My card was created using a lovely little image from MelJen's.......

Cinnamon Harvest Mug

I've just bought myself a little light box with two lamps, so I'm hoping that, once I get it set up in a suitable place, I'll be able to take much better photos of my cards......this one is diabolical....hahaaa!

Just kept the card very simple......no fancies or fripperies, here, me lovelies.......

A brown card base covered with some textured, orange paper........

The sweet and yummy image was printed, then cut out and coloured with Promarkers.....a small scalloped Nestie, and a larger scalloped and holey thingie......and a pretty ikkle leaf brad pushed into one of the holes.......got a packet of these, donkies years ago, and this is the first time opened....lol.....

I think I got the sentiment in a pack from QVC.....yonks ago!  The sentiment is up on foam, and I added a burlap tab....just 'cos I wanted to.....done 'n' dusted!

Over to you!

hugs,

Anne-Marie x

Challenges:

http://doyoustackup.blogspot.jp/  Warm Colours

http://craftsandmechallenges.blogspot.co.uk/  Use a sentiment

http://ilovepromarkers.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/challenge-137-autumn-colours.html  Autumn colours

http://kaboodledoodles.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/challenge-139-colors-of-autumn.html  Colours of autumn

http://craftycreationschallenges.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/challenge-190-colors-of-fall.html  Colours of Fall

http://simonsaysstampandshow.blogspot.co.uk/  Leaf inspiration

Angels from on high!

Hi, and welcome!

How are you, on this cold and blustery day?  Another looooong bout of torrential rain for we Brits, today, and that wind certainly has teeth...hahaaa!

Have you ever met an angel?  I most certainly have......some of them were strangers, and others came in the guise of my family or friends......but, angels they most certainly were!

I do, indeed, believe in angels.....whether they walk the earth, or come straight from heaven.....I know that they exist.

This week's challenge at 

TWIST OF FAITH 

is giving us a chance to let our hearts soar by creating a card that includes an angel....plus a scripture or uplifting sentiment (on the front OR the inside).

Our Design Team was given some beautiful images to play with from this week's sponsor

Our randomly drawn winner will get to choose one of the gorgeous images that have been used by our team this week.

 I chose this beautiful Charity Angel  to be the focus of my card...........

I used a white card base and a piece of light tan paper for the background....layered on three panels of K&Co. papers which I hand-stitched and edged with ink............

I love this big X-cut nesting label shape......I embossed the white card with a Cuttlebug Swirls folder, and cut a smaller label from some of the K&Co. paper.........I coloured the beautiful angel with Promarkers and Spectrum Noirs.  I used a Creatables die to cut out the image, but miscalculated the size of the image....oops.....which left a row of holes along the bottom of the dress!  Out came a length of yellow organza ribbon which was threaded through the holes.....sorted!

The gorgeous poinsettia is from a MCS CD from last year.......printed, cut out, inked and shaped........the centre was made with a tiny flower punch (two) and a yellow gem........love it!

I coloured the stars on the beautiful sentiment (freebie) and used a snowflake punch on the side, and also rounded the corners......I then used a scrap of sequin waste underneath for a bit of subdued sparkle......it's a Christmas card, after all....hahaaa........

I rather like this pretty card.

Please pop over to see some truly beautiful angels cards, created by our Design Team .....there's definitely a feeling of Christmas in the air......heehee!

Please remember that this is a CARD challenge blog.........and have fun!

hugs,

Anne-Marie x

Challenges:

http://www.gingerloftchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/  Stitching real or faux

http://robynsfetishchallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/  Sewing real or faux

http://createdwithlovechallenges.blogspot.co.uk/  Christmas

It's a Boy!

Hello, and welcome!

Yes, it's a boy!!  I gave birth to a baby boy........okay......it was 33 years ago....hahaaa!.....but, I bet that got your attention!

Yep, 33 years ago our first son (3rd child) was born in St. Mary's Hospital,  Manchester, weighing in dead on 10 pounds, (he wasn't my heaviest!) and I fell head over heels in love with him.

We named him.....wait for it.........

Mark Kenneth William Francis Michael Laurence Lewis

Yes, indeedy.......and the only one I got to choose was Mark....hahaaaa!

There has to be a story behind these choices, right?  

My Hubster (Ken) was the last male to be born to the Lewis family and he was then 30 years old.  His only sibling had 3 daughters, and no more children were planned for that family.

Ken and I had 2 little girls.....and Ken really wanted a son.  His dad also really wanted a grandson........and I really wanted a third child.  

This was years before it was possible to find out what gender the baby was, so we waited.

In the meantime, I made it clear that if this was a boy, I wanted to name him Mark....I love that name!

The Hubster readily agreed.

Both our girls had middle names, so we wanted a middle name for our third child......and the Hubster wanted  his son to be named for him, so Mark Kenneth it was.

Shortly before Mark was born, Ken's dad died, very suddenly, aged just 60 years old.

We felt impelled to give his name to our future son, so we now had Mark Kenneth William.

I knew that my dad had been secretly disappointed when his only grandson had not been named for him.  My dad was Scottish, and there is a strong tradition of using family names through the generations.

So, we now had Mark Kenneth William Francis.

A year before Mark's birth, Ken and I had been baptised into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

One day, a few weeks before my due date, I read this scripture........

 6 Behold, my sons, I desire that ye should remember to keep the commandments of God; and I would that ye should declare unto the people these words. Behold, I have given unto you the names of our first ^aparents who came out of the land of Jerusalem; and this I have done that when you remember your names ye may remember them; and when ye remember them ye may remember their works; and when ye remember their works ye may know how that it is said, and also written, that they were ^bgood.

 7 Therefore, my sons, I would that ye should do that which is good, that it may be said of you, and also written, even as it has been said and written of them.

It really touched my heart!  We wanted Mark (if this baby was indeed a boy) to bear his forefathers names....they were good and righteous men, and this scripture validated those sentiments.

We were close to the two young missionaries who had introduced us to the Church......Michael and Laurence.....and Ken insisted on adding their names........oh, my poor child!  Hahaaaa......

My beautiful boy has lived up to his glorious names.........he is upright and good, and walks in faith......what more could we ask?

If you are still reading, then, thank you......and here's the card I made to celebrate my boy's birth........

A cream base and various bits 'n' bobs that I found on my scrap mountain....it was a loooong climb to the top.......

 I embossed the caramel coloured card with a Cuttlebug folder.....can't remember the name, but it's the one with the sprockets and gears......I tied some baker's twine around it, after mounting the embossed card onto brown card.........

The funky little sentiment digi was a freebie from Happileigh.....I coloured it with a mix of Promarkers and Spectrum Noir.......

Nearly forgot that I did some faux stitching around the blocks, lol.  I just love that ticket strip......it's from My Mind's Eye, and I punched out the stars on each one......cute!

And here are the punched out stars.....waste not, want not!

Easy-peasy card for a male......done!

Hugs,

Anne-Marie x

Challenges:

http://kaboodledoodles.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/challenge-139-colors-of-autumn.html  Colours of Autumn
http://digihaven.blogspot.co.uk/  Use a free digi (my birthday sentiment)
http://craftybootschallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/hello-and-welcome-to-another.html  Use 3 of something (my stars)
http://cupcakecraftroom.blogspot.co.uk/  Anything goes in Autumn (my Autumn colours)
http://totallygorjuss.blogspot.co.uk/  Punches/Dies
http://abc-challenge.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/y-for-y-chromosome.html  Y Chromosome (Male theme)
http://frosteddesigns.blogspot.co.uk/  Embossing
http://www.emmascardsuk.com/p/emmas-crafty-challenge.html  A Man's Card

A little bit of Vintage

Hello, and welcome!

I'm sorry to have been MIA this week........it's not been a good one, but I'm not going to bore you with the details.......

The challenge at 

Card Crafter's Circle 

this week is to create something with a touch of 

VINTAGE......could be a card, a wallhanging, a gift box....anything that takes your fancy, but it should have a Vintage feel to it.

Our sponsor this week is the wonderful

and Linnie is offering our randomly drawn winner 2 sheets of her lovely images.......that's 8 pretties to play with!

I really do love the look of anything vintage, but don't feel particularly comfortable tryin' to create something.....but here goes.......

I used this pretty little girl with her dolly's pram......and you can see the other images that come on this sheet if you visit the rest of the Design Team ..........

The vintage look seems to be all about muted colours so that's what I've used.....Promarkers and a bit of water colour pencilling ........

I used a little chalk to outline the frame.

A doll's pram was something I never had, as a little girl, but always wanted......I did have a Patsy doll which came with a little terry nappy, a bottle, and a cake of soap that smelled divine!  My brother set the nappy alight and burnt his foot, tryin' to stamp out the fire (served him right!), and my sister fed the bar of soap to our dog.....won't go into what came out of the dog for the next 3 days....hahaaaa!

I used some papers from a lovely freebie pack that came with a magazine.......punched a couple of borders to pretty 'em up.......the layer directly behind the image is a K&Co. journalling strip........

I wish I'd used cream lace, instead of the brown, on this very sweet heart die cut.....it would have shown up better.....sigh....The sentiment is from Craftwork Cards.  I used a little deep pink chalk on the heart (it's cut from kraft)....added a teeny bit of string, and the ikkle flat-backed brown heart.........

The lace is crocheted cotton.....I love the soft cream colour.....and the flowers are Magnolia Doo-Hickeys with a flat-backed pearl in the centre........

I used a piece of the same pretty paper to layer up the inside of the card.

I'm hopin' this passes for Vintage.....heehee!

Hugs,

Anne-Marie x

Challenges:

http://digitaltuesdaychallenge.blogspot.co.uk/  Say it with flowers

http://simonsaysstampschallenge.blogspot.co.uk/  Anything goes

http://clearitoutchallenge.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/challenge-time.html  Use a child's image

http://paperplaychallenges.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/12-week-39-flowers-and-lace.html  Flowers and lace

http://www.platypuscreekdigitals.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/challenge-16-pearls-lace.html  Pearls and Lace

Thinking Of You Challenge at Twist of Faith

Hi, and welcome!

Still haven't had time to change the bloggie thingy, and startled meself  when I logged on....hahaaaa!.....can't get used to this half-done look......maybe tomorrow, eh?

It's been a looooong day......had Yvie-Grace and her mummy visiting, and was also looking after Millie while her mummy tries to catch up with some beautiful quilts that are on her order books.....and then, Bevan and his mummy came home (they've been visiting the other Grandma for a few days). so a two and a half year old (Yvie), a 23 month old (Bevan), and a 22 month old (Millie) had a whale of a time, runnin' this Grandma ragged!

This photo was taken before Bevan arrived home........

Millie is the blonde with pigtails, and cousin Yvie-Grace has long, curly plaits down her back......a pair of cheeky chicks, if there ever was one.....five minutes after this, they were bouncing on my bed!

Well, enough of cheeky business.....let's get on with crafty business.

This week's challenge at 

TWIST OF FAITH 

is another cracker.........

THINKING OF YOU

Your creation should have a "Thinking of you" message, or sentiment.....something that will let the recipient know that they are in your thoughts, for whatever reason......we all need some reassurance, sometimes, don't we?

Our sponsor is the fabulous 

and they are offering our randomly chosen winner $15 to spend in the store.....woohoo....generous, or what?

You'll find so many lovely images, and the sentiments fit beautifully with the heart of our challenges, here at Twist Of Faith.

I chose to play with this lovely "Rocking Chair" image.....

I made an easel card base and some K&Co. papers provide the soft colours.......just realised I didn't get a close-up of the flutterby, but you all know what they look like, don't you........

My grandma used to have one of these, but we were never allowed to sit in it, since my cousin Vincent rocked it so hard that it turned over....hahaaa!

I used a mixture of Promarkers and Spectrum Noirs.....jury is still out on the latter.....and I used a little chalk to soften the edges of the Spellbinders label dies.......

The Psalms never fail to comfort and strengthen me, and this particular scripture is one that goes straight to my heart, each and every time I read it.....it's beautiful.

I used the smaller scalloped dies to cut the sentiments and chalked the centres.  The brown trim is from my local haberdashery.....ooooo, I love that word, so I'll say it again.....haberdashery.....LOL....

This pretty bloom is a Magnolia Doo-Hickey die........popped a flat-backed pearl in the centre and placed it on small scalloped square......done!  This card is destined for a friend who is having a hard time, at the moment....I'm hopin' it will make her smile.

I really hope you'll feel inclined to pop over to the challenge blog to see all the scrumptious creations that our talented Design Team came up with, and then make a card to put into the challenge.....$15 of stamps to play with for the winner, don't forget!

Hugs,

Anne-Marie x

Challenges:
http://tuesdaytaggers.blogspot.co.uk/  Lots of layers
http://www.wordartwednesday.blogspot.com.au/  Friends

Little Mister Card

Hello, and welcome!

Yep, it's me......don't ask about the new bloggie look.......I've been fed-up with the old one for ages, and thought it would be easy to change it.......NOT!

I am really not happy with it, but have not had the time to sit and mess around....so, here I am.......in a messy mess.....hummppphh!

Most of the United Kingdom has been battered by very high winds and torrential rain, since last night, and one poor woman has been killed by a falling tree branch.  High winds always scare me......there is never an upside to them, is there?  

At least, I was able to stay at home, today......hate driving in this weather.......and was able to make a couple of cards.....hurray!

I've been toying with the idea of starting a Facebook page to try and sell a few cards........I use a lot of them for family and friends' birthdays, but have an awful  lot just sitting in boxes....might be nice to get a few pennies for 'em...heehee!

Do you remember this card?

I made this for Freya's birthday.......she and her brother, Adam, turned 4 years old last week.

I made a similar one for Adam, again using a cute Dearie Dolls image......

All coloured up with Promarkers and layered onto toning papers and card.....the image was cut with this nifty die from Spellbinders (I think it's called Office Supplies).....nice, eh?.......ric-rac and buttons always look good on a boys cards, me thinks......and the star is easy-peasy to make.......cut out a star shape, then score and fold from each peak and valley......

The postage stamp die cut is from the same Spellbinder's set as the one above, and I used a large number sticker and some card candi to make it pop.......

I stamped the birthday sentiment onto white card and used another die to cut out........done and dusted!

This is a photo of our eldest son, Mark, and his family......the twins are in the front.  Mark and Angela took 8 year old Alexandra, 6 year old Spencer, and Adam and Freya to  Disneyland Paris, earlier this month......not got a clue who the fella in the middle is....hahaaa!

I'm hoping my blog looks a lot prettier, soon, but in the meantime......sorry!!

hugs,

Anne-Marie x

Challenges:

http://divasbydesignchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/  Layers

http://craftycatzweeklychallenge.blogspot.co.uk/  Buttons

http://lovetocreatechallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/challenge-34-anything-goes.html  Anything goes

http://inkyimpressionschallenges.blogspot.co.uk/  For a child

http://totallypapercrafts.blogspot.co.uk/  For a child