Simon Says Challenge - It's So Distressing !!

I am entering my card in the Fun 2 Stamp Challenge which is to use one or more Tim Holtz stamps !

Good morning ! What a wet and wild one we have today and sooooo cold !

Here is this week's challenge on Simon Says Challenge ......

"Thank you to eveyone who entered the last Easter Challenge :-) We had lots of fabulous entries and I will be back soon with a winner of the spree :-)

We also have the Simon Says Stamp Childrens Challenge on a different post at the moment too,, so let your kids loose in your craft room ;-) Lots of entries are coming in for that too so thank you to all the children :-)


This week the theme is ,,

IT'S SO DISTRESSING

The Design team have all used Tim Holtz products on their creations. You don't have to but we would like to see you use them if you have them :-)

Heidi will be giving away a $25 shopping spree to the Simon Says Stamp Store and she will pay for the shipping too :-) There are lots of new products in store too ,,, so many in fact it is difficult to keep up with them ! Every day gorgeous new stuff is arriving :-)"


I made my card as simple as I could as I didn't have much opportunity to play and get all grungy although I could have gone for cute but I really wanted to use this Tim Holtz stamp.

The background has been created with distress inks which I have rubbed onto the card. I used broken china, tattered rose, peeled paint, shabby shutters and some vintage photo. The patterns at the top have been created using a piece of torn up Post-It Note and I inked the edges. I then sprayed it all with pearl glimmer mist.

The image is a Tim Holtz stamp called "Flutter". I stamped the stamp with Versamark ink and then heat embossed it with brushed corduroy distress embossing powder.

The butterflies are punched with a Martha Stewart punch and I added some pearls and inked the edges.

The sentiment is from a gorgeous set I bought at the NEC at the weekend and its by TPC Studio and is called "Playful Expression". I bought them from here. (Whoops, forgot to add this one to the list Lols !!!).

All the other products can be purchased in the Simon Says Stamp Store They have an enormous selection of Tim Holtz products and I would even go as far to say that they stock every single Tim Holtz product available ! Check it out !!!

Now, I do apologise for not sticking to my promise and posting the photos from my NEC trip at the weekend. Izzy was really sick again on Sunday and on Monday, Mr Blogger decided he didn't want to show any photos so I had to abandon the idea ! Yesterday just went by in a puff of pink smoke !!


Anyway, this is the moment you have all been waiting for .......

She will never, ever forgive me this one but it is worth the telling off I shall get ! hehehehe !!!



From left to right

Tara (giving her bestest Bernard Manning look !!), Georgia (Tara's daughter), Kim Costello



Same piccie but Tara is smiling now ! Is that a better one for you my darlin ?!!!



Kim Costello and Clare Wilkinson



Chris Dark and Heather (Rica)




Me and Clare Wilkinson





Tara and Me !

I didn't take any photos of what I bought. I spent far too much money and was too embarrassed to show you all ! I also had to unpack my bags and put it all away before any little fingers got hold of it all too. Well, that's my excuse anyway :o) !!

It was a truly fantastic, girly day and I met and chatted to a lot more people than I have photos for. I would like to wave to Emma Lockley, Marlene, Dawny P, Kath, Dawn (All Pink Girl), Paula from Pollycraft, Bev (who was so busy with the Hobby House bless her). I am sorry if I have forgotten anyone.

We hope you can join in with our challenge this week. Please take a look at my teamies cards, they are amazing and not all grungy either ! Just goes to show you can distress without being all grungy !!

Don't forget my blog candy. If you click on the picture on my sidebar it will take you straight to the post.

Thank you for your visit and for any comments you may leave.

Simon Says Challenge - CHILDREN'S CHALLENGE

Good morning ! Well, what enormous fun we had yesterday at the NEC ! I spent far too much money on all these fantastic goodies which I just couldn't resist but had the bestest time with my bestest friends in the whole wide World !! I shall be posting some piccies later for you all to see !

We are holding a very special challenge on Simon Says Challenge for the next fortnight. We are having a children's challenge in which they can make anything at all, whatever they like !

"Happy Easter Holidays to all of our children !! Time to PLAY !! :-)

Welcome to our first challenge dedicated to everyone between the ages on 2 and 16 ,,,, we thought 1 year olds may be a bit too young !! :-) We would like to encourage all you Mum's to let your children loose in your craft rooms ha ha :-)

The challenge is open for 2 weeks and will close at 10am GMT ( 9 am CET ) on Sunday 11th April


ANYTHING YOU LIKE

The theme is open so you can make whatever you like, cards, masks, bonnets, notebooks, anything you like, it does not even have to be Easter themed :-)

Heidi the owner of Simon Says Stamp will be giving a winner drawn at random, a $25 shopping spree to her store so you can choose whatever you like :-)"


Here is Mollie's (Ski - Mollie's nickname !!) card


Mollie is 8 and absolutely loves crafting. Just look at her colouring ! I think I had competition here !!!



Here are my two babies !! Mollie on the left and Izzy (Fizzy - her nickname) aged very nearly 3 !! Aren't they just gorgeous for being such monkeys ?!

We have a fabulous Design Team for this challenge, children of all different ages and their creations are stunning ! You must go and see them and leave them a comment - they are such a talented bunch.

We look forward to seeing your children's creations too and they can make as many as they like.

Thank you for your visit and for any comments you leave. I know Mollie will be absolutely thrilled to read what you have to say about her card and it will really make her day. She is so excited to be taking part in this challenge.

I'll be back later with the photos of the NEC !!

Have a great Sunday,

Simon Says Challenge - Easter or Spring and some glimmer

I'm so late I'm skidding in sideways for this week's challenge and just made it by the skin of my teeth (well, perhaps 20 minutes late !).

We have been a poorly household since last Thursday with a terrible sickness bug. Ski started it off, passed it onto me, then my DH and now poor little Fizzy started with it at 5.30am this morning. Poor little darlin looks dreadful.

This week's challenge over at Simon Says Challenge is Easter or Spring with some glimmer.

As it says on the blog.....

"That's right...GLIMMER!!! Anything shimmery, shiny, sparkly!!!! What a GREAT challenge this week...so fun!!!! And of course, Easter is RIGHT around the corner & if you are like me, you have a few Easter cards to get mailed!!! If you don't celebrate Easter, or just want to make a Spring card, that is OK too!! Here is a really great video with Heidi Swapp on using the Glimmer Mists...really informative & inspirational!!!!"

The prize this week is a $25 p&p free shopping spree in the Simon Says Stamp Store

We also have our Designer in the Spotlight, Gunn back with us for another week and her card is just gorgeous. The rest of the DT have made stunning creations for this week's challenge (as always) so please hop over and have a look.

The DP's are BoBunny Love Bandit and Double Dots.

The image is by CC Designs and has been coloured with ProMarkers. You can buy all the new (and old !) CC Design stamps in the Simon Says Stamp Store !

The flowers have been punched with a retro flower punch. The flower centres are from my darlin teamie Dena - thank's hunni !! I sprayed the flowers with pearl glimmer mist and then added some stickles

The ribbon is a strip of material I bought from my local haberdashery and I cut a length and then frayed the edges.

I found a tutorial for this milk carton on Speedy's blog She has simplified the one that is on Splitcoasters and it is very simple.

The DP's are again BoBunny Love Bandit.

The flowers are a Quickutz die "Flower Doo-Dads" I believe ! These have had the glimmer mist treatment and stickles and I added some pearl hearts to the centres.

The clip on the top was from Tesco and I did the same with the material at the top as on my card.

We look forward to seeing your Easter/Spring creations.

Thank you for your visit and for any comments you leave. As always, they mean so much.

Don't forget to enter my blog candy. If you click on the photo in my sidebar, it will take you directly to the post.

Can't wait til Saturday now, I'm amazed how quickly it has come round. I'm so excited to be meeting up with my blogging buddies again - how am I ever going to sleep ? hehehehe !!!

Take care,

BasicGrey Blog Candy # 15

THIS BLOG CANDY IS NOW CLOSED !

Well, here we are again with another fantastic BasicGrey Blog Candy courtesty of Simon Says Stamp ! Just look at these amazing goodies you could win !

So, what do you have to do to win my candy ?

Some of you will be used to it by now but for those first timers, here goes :

Well, there are no strict rules and the comments I make below are not compulsory to enter this draw but it would be nice if :

You could give your support to Simon Says Stamp, BasicGrey Challenges and myself by becoming a follower if you are not already. Add my blog candy to your sidebar and please feel free to "take away" my blinkie !

Join in with us at BasicGrey Challenges and also Simon Says Stamp's challenge blog, Simon Says Challenge ! You can combine challenges with both of these challenge blogs which is great news !

This blog candy will be open to everyone Worldwide (including all DT members of both challenge blogs) until Saturday 3rd April when I shall draw a winner with a random number generator and post a new fabby blog candy for you to enter.

To make it much quicker for me to choose a winner, I am going to start using Mr Linky but there is a catch !!! Every fortnight I shall ask you a question and I would like you to answer that question after your name. It will be a one word answer so not difficult.

For example, you would type your answer as Jo Nevill (button, ribbon and tatty string !)

This fortnight's question is : What is your favourite embellishment ?

I think mine has to be ribbon, a button and some tatty string. I find it very difficult to make a card without reaching for any of them embellies recently !!

Anyone not leaving the answer to my question in Mr Linky will have their name deleted to stop spammers and also people only entering for the sake of it (if you know what I mean and I don't wish to be rude in anyway).

I would like to give a huge thank you to both Heidi and Steph of Simon Says Stamp for giving me this fantastic candy again for you to win.

Winner - BasicGrey Blog Candy # 14

Thank you to all those of you who entered my blog candy. There can only be one winner and that lucky person is........



GWENDOLYN



Many congratulations. Could you please email me so I can arrange for your goodies to be sent to you.

BasicGrey Challenges

Hello and welcome to another BasicGrey Challenge !

This fortnight we have a challenge to get you all fruity, TUTTI FRUTTI in fact ! Lets see some inspiration from fruit on your creations, this can be Papers, images, embellies or even colours, anything you can think of, so have fun and we cant wait to see your tasty creations !

The prize this fortnight is a $25 P&P free shopping spree in the Simon Says Stamp Store !

The DP's are BasicGrey "Nook and Pantry".

The image is by CC Designs "Apple Emma" and she has been coloured with ProMarkers and Copics.

The ribbon is from my local market.

The sentiment is an October Afternoon transfer.

I am also entering this card in the Simon Says Stamp Challenge over at Papercraft Planet. Our lovely Chris has designed a fabby sketch and there is a great prize on offer too. Just feast your eyes on these goodies !

We hope you can come and play along with us !

Thank you for your visit and for any comments you may leave, they always mean so much.

Have a great weekend and with all this wet and windy weather, looks like some crafting might get done !

Please hop over and see my gorgeous teamies creations - they are such an inspiration.

Love 'n' hugs,

Simon Says Challenge - Happy St. Patrick's Day/A Splash of Green

Top 'o' the mornin to ya and happy St. Patrick's Day ! Lovely warm(ish) and half sunny morning here today and it makes you good to feel alive (I obviously woke up on the right side of the bed this morning then !!!).

At Simon Says Challenge we are celebrating St. Patrick's Day so we would like to see your St. Patrick's Day creations or failing that anything with green in it or even on it !!

SHOW US YA GREENS !!!

The DT are showcasing Basic Grey products this week. Simon Says Stamp has a huge range of Basic Grey products and has the new lines of Kioshi and Green at Heart in store together with all the embellies you could possibly think of to co-ordinate with these gorgeous lines. I have just put in my order and had terrible difficulty deciding which to have. I think I chose one of everything in the end !!!

We have a Designer in the Spotlight this week. Please welcome Gunn !

The prize is a $25 shopping spree in the Simon Says Stamp store so you too can get your hands on all those Basic Grey goodies or even all the other scrummy new items which have just landed at the warehouse !

Here's my card.....

The DP's are Basic Grey "Boxer".

The image is Charlie the Chimney Sweep by Whiff of Joy and you can find him HERE in the Simon Says Stamp store. I coloured him with ProMarkers and added distress ink to the edges. The "good luck" sentiment came with Charlie.

The ribbon is from my local market.

The shamrock I made myself from some green Bazzill, a heart punch and I drew the stem !

The gems are from my stash.

We look forward to visiting you to see what you come up with.

Thank you so much for your visit and for any comments you may leave, they always mean so much.

Don't forget my blog candy. Just click on the photo in my side bar and it will take you directly to the post. Don't forget to leave your answer after your name ! I am still having the answers given in the comments section and unfortunately, they won't count - sorry !

Can I also tell you about a new challenge over at Papercraft Planet in the Simon Says Stamp Group ? You can find the new challenge just here. It would be lovely if you could join us and you can win a prize too !!!

Last but not least I would like to wish my wonderful, bestest blogging buddy TARA a very happy 40th Birthday ! Hope you have a fantastic day my darlin and can't wait to see you in a couple of weeks at the NEC !!! Tara also has birthday blog candy which will finish shortly.

Have a great day !

Hey Chick !

Well, here we go, the start of another week. I hope you all had a fantastic weekend and for those of you who celebrated Mother's Day, I hope you were spoilt rotten and had a relaxing day.

What a gorgeous morning we have here today, so bright and cheery just like the card I have to show you today !

I followed Bev's sketch over at Create4Fun

The DP's are Cosmo Cricket Early Bird.

The image is another Heather Ellis digi stamp which you can find here. She had been coloured with ProMarkers. Isn't this image cute ?

The ribbon and buttons are from my stash.

The flowers are gorgeous Prima flowers which are from Simon Says Stamp. They have thousands of Prima products over there - take a look !

Right, must get these kids off to school !!!

Have a fantastic day and thank you for your visit and for any comments you may leave.

Don't forget to enter my blog candy ! Just click on the photo in my sidebar and it will take you directly to the post.

Enjoy the sunshine ! Love 'n' hugs,

In love again !!!

Sorry Hubs but you have some competition !!!!! You are up against some yummy, scrummy images I have just fallen in love with !

I had an email from an online store yesterday advertising the new CC Design stamps. How can a girl wait a full 24 hours to receive such beauties ? I rushed over to All That Scraps and bought the digi images so I could play straight away. My girls were rushed into bed and I made a start..... !

Now can you see why I'm so smitten ?!!

The DP's are Papermania "Rose Garden".

The image is a digi image by CC Designs although you can buy the stamps if you can wait that long - which I can't !!! The digi images can be bought from All That Scraps This little darling is called Spring Birgitta and she has been coloured with ProMarkers.

The lace is from my local market.

The large butterfly is a Papermania punch and the smaller butterfly is a Martha Stewart punch. I have added some stickles, pearls and gems.

Thank you so much for your lovely comments yesterday and thank you to those who left me a link to the Pure Innocence digi stamps from Heather Ellis. I did know about her Etsy site and have now bought some of her fantastic images too so look out for those in the coming days ! I really wanted this little girl on the swing and could only purchase it from MFT. If you want any of the Pure Innocence digi stamps you can find them HERE

I've had another look around challenge blog land and I can enter these challenges :

Charisma Cardz - Beautiful Butterflies

Cupcake Craft - Flower Power

Crafty Calendar - Flower Power

Secret Crafter - Anything Goes

Crafty Angels - Butterflies

Totally Papercrafts - Things with Wings

Thank you for your visit, it was lovely to see you again. Have a fantastic sunny Saturday !

Start Each Day with Whee !!!!

What a fabby sentiment hey ? I just love it !

I discovered these gorgeous, simple stamps over at My Favorite Things Stamps. They are called "Pure Innocense" and I just fell in love with them !



The DP's are My Mind's Eye "Mary, Mary" - these are just soooo yummy and pretty ! I need to get my hands on the rest of the collection as Jack and Jill looks fantastic too.

The image is "Pure Innocence - Start the Day with Whee !". You have to be quick when this comes into stock as it sells like lightening (I know from experience and a very long wait !!). I have coloured her with ProMarkers.

The ribbon has been recycled from a pair of PJ's I bought a little while back. They were all wrapped up in this ribbon and I was reminded about my stash of PJ ribbon the other day when someone said they had used it on their card !

The button is by BasicGrey.

I have had a hop around challenge blog land and I can enter these challenges :

Cute Card Thursday - Celebration - Happy Birthday CCT !

Stamp With Fun - Spring

A Spoon Full of Sugar - Recycled - my ribbon !

My Time to Craft - Kids Kardz

Sweet Stampin Challenge Blog - Something for a Child

Creative Card Crew - Celebration

Ooh La La Creations - Anything Goes

Stamp, Scrap and Doodle Saturdays - Anything Goes

Lovely to see you again today and thank's for your visit and for any comments you may leave.

Don't forget the lovely sketch challenge we have over at Simon Says Challenge. You also have a couple more days to enter the Simon Says Stamp challenge over at Papercraft Planet. Full details can be found HERE

Don't forget to enter my blog candy too. Just click the picture in my sidebar which will take you to the post.

Have a great day and more importantly, a great weekend. Keep dropping those hints about Sunday and it being a day a complete and utter rest for Mum's ! Unfortunately, I shall be home alone with the girls as hubby is working all day but don't you worry, he will make up for it (**devilish grin**) !!!!

While I'm typing this I am listening to Alison Moyet's Greatest Hits album. Whatever happened to this fantastic lady ? She has such an amazing voice and I'm so glad she's started my Friday morning !

Take care and huge hugs to you all.

Simon Says Challenge

Good morning !

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of you who entered our challenge last week and also answered my plea for more entries ! Yes, we made it over 400 entries so well done to everyone !

This week we have a sketch for you by our lovely Iris

This week the DT are showcasing Magnolia stamps and their cards are just amazing again this week.

The papers are Cosmo Cricket "Gretel" which I found lurking in my stash. They are so gorgeous in real life.

The image is Sparkling Tilda and she has been coloured with ProMarkers. I masked her and then inked the background with antique linen distress ink and then stamped a new Papermania stamp onto the background.

The blue card is Core'dinations which I sanded.

The ribbon is from my stash and I added onto them some words from some Melissa Frances transfers I have. I was amazed at how well these rubbed onto the ribbon and actually stayed on. These are the best transfers I have ever used.

The flowers are Prima and I added some Tim Holtz metal foliage to the centres.

The sentiment is an October Afternoon transfer.

Simon Says Stamp has a huge range of Magnolia products, probably nearly all Magnolia products by now ! and they also stock many of the other items I have used on my card too.

Don't forget that there is a prize of a $25 shopping spree (P&P free too !) for the winner.

I've just returned from the school's "run a mile for Sports Relief" and we had a fabulous time. I stood by the sidelines with the water bottles and shouting lots of words of encouragement at not only the children but the parents that took part too. Off for a coffee and warm my cold feet up !

We hope you can join us again this week in our challenge and we look forward to seeing you !

A PLEA to all my blogging buddies !

Good evening !

I have a plea on behalf of Simon Says Challenge.

Some of you may know that this week we reached over 1,000 followers which is absolutely fantastic ! Not only that but we also reached over 300 entries for our latest challenge which is Mothers Day/Girly.

My plea is that if you have a Mother's Day card or one which is even slightly girly please, please enter it in our challenge ! We are now trying to get over 400 entries and on my last look we had 382 so we are so nearly there ! There are not many hours left so please, please enter our challenge and help us reach our target of over 400 entries !

Thank you sooooo much !!!

See you back here tomorrow with our new challenge !

BasicGrey Challenges

Well, where did that week go to then ? Can you believe it is March already ?!! Still, can't complain. We have had some wonderful days of sunshine this week and I've even been able to take my scarf off !!

This week at BasicGrey Challenges we have a photo inspiration for you and what a gorgeous photo it is too - I just love all the soft colours and textures. Martine certainly does have a good eye when she chooses these photos.




and here is my card :




My lovely teamie from the Simon Says Challenge blog, Dena, made a tutorial for a tent card over at the Just Magnolia blog and I just fell in love with it. It is just so simple and effective, I just had to try and for once, I was glad I had left my card until the last minute - again !!!

The DP's are BasicGrey Wisteria.

The image is "Snuggle" by The Greeting Farm. I just adore this image, I really do think its one of their best. It always reminds me of my girls and I think I will give this card to Fizzy when its her birthday in April. She will be turning 3 ! 3 already, I can't believe it !!

Anyway, this little cutie has been coloured with ProMarkers. She is carrying a pink bunny rather than lemon 'cause I spotted the pink bunny hiding on the shelf in the wardrobe !!

I have also embossed the background with a Cuttlebug daisy embossing folder. If you click on the picture it will make it bigger and you might be able to see. The photo doesn't pick it up very well.

The pale blue flowers are by Magnolia and I bought these at the NEC last year. The roses are from Wild Orchid Crafts. The leaves have been punched with a MS punch and Woodware punch.

The butterflies are a MS punch and all the pearls are from Quixotic Paperie.

The ribbon is a softer, paler yellow in real life and this came from my local market.

The rest of the DT have done an amazing job as always. Please hop over and have a peek to see what they have been up to.

Yet again there is another prize kindly given by Simon Says Stamp for you to win.

We look forward to seeing your interpretation of the photo.

Thank you so much for your visit and for any comments you may leave.

Have a great weekend and happy crafting !

Don't forget to enter my blog candy. Just click on the photo in my sidebar and it will take you straight to the post.

BasicGrey Blog Candy # 14

THIS BLOG CANDY IS NOW CLOSED !

Well, here we are again with another fantastic BasicGrey Blog Candy courtesty of Simon Says Stamp ! Just look at these amazing goodies you could win !

So, what do you have to do to win my candy ?

Some of you will be used to it by now but for those first timers, here goes :

Well, there are no strict rules and the comments I make below are not compulsory to enter this draw but it would be nice if :

You could give your support to Simon Says Stamp, BasicGrey Challenges and myself by becoming a follower if you are not already. Add my blog candy to your sidebar and please feel free to "take away" my blinkie !

Join in with us at BasicGrey Challenges and also Simon Says Stamp's challenge blog, Simon Says Challenge ! You can combine challenges with both of these challenge blogs which is great news !

This blog candy will be open to everyone Worldwide (including all DT members of both challenge blogs) until Saturday 20th March when I shall draw a winner with a random number generator and post a new fabby blog candy for you to enter.

To make it much quicker for me to choose a winner, I am going to start using Mr Linky but there is a catch !!! Every fortnight I shall ask you a question and I would like you to answer that question after your name. It will be a one word answer so not difficult.

For example, you would type your answer as Jo Nevill (Stamps)

This fortnight's question is : What crafting item can you not live without ?

I think mine has to be the thousands of stamps I have collected ! I just love 'em all ! Also I don't think I could live without my Cuttlebug or Big Shot - I use them nearly everytime I make a card for something or other.

Anyone not leaving the answer to my question in Mr Linky will have their name deleted to stop spammers and also people only entering for the sake of it (if you know what I mean and I don't wish to be rude in anyway).

I would like to give a huge thank you to both Heidi and Steph of Simon Says Stamp for giving me this fantastic candy again for you to win.

Winner - BasicGrey Blog Candy # 13

Thank you to all of you who entered my blog candy.



I hate to do it but can I please remind you to answer the question in Mr Linky next to your name. A few people added their name to the list and then answered the question in the comments box. To make it fair on everyone who enters, I really need everyone to enter in the same way and so unfortunately, I had to delete those names from the list. I hope you understand.



Without further ado, the winner is .......





GAIL R Many congratulations. Could you please email me so that I can arrange for your prize to be sent to you.