What we brought home from the seaside....!

Hello friends

Yesterday we took a trip to the seaside...Margate.

Most people would bring back a stick of rock but we didn't.... 

We went to 'view' some kittens, silly notion really - 

how was we going to walk away without one! 

Especially as these are rescue kittens being wonderfully 

looked after by Cats in Crisis - Alex is the lady who takes in kittens and is

always looking for homes so if you happen to be on the lookout for kittens, 

definitely get in touch.

For Elliott's 18th birthday I said he could have a kitten and he had the 

very difficult task of selecting one...

The decision was so difficult we came away with two! 

Yes two!!

Brother and Sister Bengal cross - absolutely gorgeous.

Let me introduce you to Lily and Pixel.

(Can you tell which one I had a little influence in naming!?) 

I am thrilled to report that Bella loves them!

She has been wonderful, so gentle and backing away when we tell her to.

Bella is also receiving double fuss as we don't want her to be jealous.

We realised we didn't have any cat toys indoors so I quickly made a few

pom poms with the Pom Pom Maker! 

So these two gorgeous bundles of fluff are going to consume a bit of time 

so apologies no crafty blog post today but lots in the pipeline.

Also announcing the winner of June's Charity Kit this week

and thank you for all the comments yesterday.

Take care friends, I'm off to buy all things kitten today!

'Wooden' Envelope and a Giveaway!

Hello friends

Yes another givewaway today!

I recently discovered a company called All Colour Envelopes,

please take a look at their huge range of colours and finishes including metallic,

pearlescent, pastel and more - they are wonderful. 

Definitely check out my personal favourite, their design range...

there is pebbles

Mown Grass

Natural English Oak

Yew, Sandstone, Sahara Sand, Cow(!) and more!

All Colour Envelopes has kindly sent me a supply of Natural English Oak envelopes

and I chose to make a gift bag.  

This is a tutorial I featured some time ago but revisiting today.

Take an envelope and seal it closed.

Trim a small strip from the narrow end of the envelope. 

 It will then look like this.

 Score in approximately 1 inch on the sealed three sides.

Fold and make sure the creases are nice and sharp. 

You then insert your hand and open out the envelope, push the side seams in.

When shaping the base you are left with triangular points. 

Fold these over and glue them flat.  

Your gift bag will then stand up. 

You can score and fold over the top and keep closed with a peg. 

I chose to tie twine with a stamped Back to Basics Tag. 

 And added Blooms One with Sprigs.

It really does look like wood!
These are a good size too - you could fill it with some nice treats.

I've got quite a large supply of Natural English Oak envelopes so I thought I would host

another giveaway.  Same as usual please, please leave a comment and winners will 

be picked out next week.  

If you do comment don't forget to regularly come back and 

check the blog to see if you've won!

Remember to pop along to All Colour Envelopes website and have a browse.
The quality of these envelopes is superb.

Have a lovely Sunday - definitely kitten viewing today!

Take care friends.

All The Things I Love...

Hello friends
Revisiting a favourite today.
This card contains all the things I love - Butterflies, Bitty Blossoms and a Tag!

The actual dies used are A2 Matting Basics A, Timeless Rectangles,
Framed Tags One, Bitty Blossoms and Les Papillion Two.
The paper used is Bo Bunny - Country Charm, I like the contrast of the cream with the
blue and kraft card.

 The next Knit and Natter will be taking place on Saturday 26 July.

There has been a slight change to the event, all the details are on the website here.

The new Celebra'tions™ range of dies, folders etc are selling quickly - there is more arriving -
I will also be stocking all the ink pads...yes Spellbinders® ink pads!
These are a unique hybrid ink, blending dye and pigment inks into one ink pad.
Providing the best of both worlds, they can be used in all types of surfaces
such as paper, fabric, wood and acrylic.
Just heat set on non-paper materials to become permanent.

 

There will also be die and stamps sets....loving these Sweet Treat tags!

And gorgeous stamps that match 3D embossing folders.

Very exciting gorgeous stuff.

I will keep you posted here on my blog and on Facebook as and when new items arrive.

 

A shout out for two winners of the Leather Effect Papermill card who are yet to get in touch,

Ginny C and Bejay Roles.

Please email hope-chances@live.co.uk to claim your prize.

 

So what are you all up to this weekend?

I think I may be looking at kittens....!! (It's okay, I've told Bella).

I will share this story with you soon.

 

Take care friends.

 

Friday Die Day

Hello friends

Today I am featuring Row Houses.

This is one die template featuring 5 houses, it measures 4¾ x 1½“

and this is how it looks cut/embossed.

So this is nothing like a tag!

I've used one of the little battery tea lights - you can pick these up in 99p Stores/Poundland.

I've wrapped around a piece of cardstock and glued at the seam.

I've then adhered the row of houses and tied some twine - speedy!

A collection of these in different colours would look good as table decorations,

perhaps tip the edges with white to represent snow at Christmas?

Another idea - using up those scraps again...

Back each house with different card/paper.  Best to adhere this with Fine Tip Dispenser.

Works well with tissue paper too.

Obviously you can use the houses individually too.

This die is in stock and can be found here.

Wishing you all a great weekend, I'm hoping for lots of sunshine on Sunday please -

my day off!

 

Take care friends.



Winners, Celebra'tions, Size Matters and More!

Hello friends

It's a newsy day!
Grab a cuppa...

Firstly announcing the winners of the leather effect card,

6 names have been picked out and you will all receive some buff and white 

leather effect card and a couple of colours too.

Diane (Keep For Ever Cards)

Sandra Biggs
Jacquie (Jewels Card Craft)
Bejay Roles
Crafty Jo
Ginny C

Congratulations to the winners, just drop me an email with your address please

to: hope-chances@live.co.uk


Now...size matters!

Lesley mentioned on Tuesday that she often finds dies are not the size she expects 

them to be.  I know this happens to lots of us.

What is really handy is that if you look up any die on the Spellbinders® website

it has the measurements - even for multiple die sets and little tiny ones.

For example, Floral Fence - it shows the dimensions at the bottom where I've placed an arrow.

I also try to list the measurements on my website under product details.

It does help to get an idea as to whether they will work on your projects.

Talking of my website...
Celebra'tion dies, stamps, folders and more are starting to arrive.

 

Please click here to see all the new loveliness!

More arriving all the time.

The felting kits on the website are in the sale!
I like to make room for more new goodies.
The robins are really nice especially if we are thinking about Christmas!
(Sorry probably way to early to mention that).
These are wonderful gifts and so easy to do, everything you need is in the box
with full clear to follow instructions.

Loving this dry weather right now, washing gets popped on the line first thing.
Also, down at the shop we have placed a little table and chairs outside.

This followed quite a few requests from husbands who bring along their wives and
said it would be nice to sit and wait in the sunshine...

(I probably should point out that this is just a bit of fun and not at all
detrimental to gentlemen crafters!)

Yes lots and lots of news today - hope you've read this far!
Take care friends - I'm back tomorrow.

A Crafty Space

Hello friends

Today featuring another crafty space(s).....

Carole Zorzo's TWO craft spaces...yes TWO!

Here is what Carole says:

I’ve been crafting for as long as I can remember and over the years have accumulated too much stash etc….and as with all crafters, just keep adding more! 

 I am a very lucky girl because I have two craft spaces! 

My main craft room is one of our spare rooms. It’s smallish and even smaller with all I have crammed in it! I recently re-organised it completely; we moved the furniture around and I am happier than ever working in my space. I am first and foremost  a paper crafter: cards and scrapbooking. However I also enjoy sewing craft items and creating altered art and canvases. 

 My craft room is my paper craft and sewing room. I have hung on to old furniture that we would have gotten rid of over the years, so have a main desk, a desk for my sewing machine, a small desk that still has stuff on it that needs sorting and a ‘die cutting station’ for my GC !!

 My stamps are all being resorted so still look really untidy on the shelves. I have tried keeping them in binders, but it doesn’t work for me, so they are in boxes. I have acquired so many over the years and can’t resist them!

  I said I have two spaces…well several years ago we built a little summerhouse. That is much tidier! I keep my paints and mdf/wood/ canvases for mixed media and altered art. 

At the moment I am undertaking my first attempt at ‘shabby chic-ing’ a very old desk I picked up for next to nothing in an antique shop. That will go into the ‘craft barn” (our name for this little building) when it is finished. 

It’s wonderful in the summer, when I can be out there with our hens, but in the winter I do admit that I bring quite a bit inside! 

I know that I am very lucky to have so much space.

Thank you so much Carole for sharing your photos, I love your Summerhouse

and so nice to see your hens in the photo too!

You can visit Carole's brilliant blog here.

Don't forget if you would still like to share your crafty space, please email

your photos and info to hope-chances@live.co.uk

I will be featuring them all :)

Have a brilliant Wednesday.

Take care friends.

Tuesday Tip/Technique

Hello friends

My blog post for Spellbinders June Jamboree went live recently and

today I thought I would share that project with you - it contains a
handy tip/technique.
It uses Floral Fence but I created a little colourful twist with it....

To create the multi coloured layer look - cut lots of die cuts in different colours and start snipping!

It's a good idea to have one white one as the base colour.

You can then layer over the colours that you think work - e.g. brown for fence,

green for foliage etc. 

The end result is effective and you've used just one die

and scraps of coloured card!

Floral Fence is available to purchase on the website - all the details are here.

Take care friends and I hope the start of your week is going well.

All flowery and Celebra'tions™!

Hello friends

What a fantastic day yesterday! 

A lovely class at The Artistic Stamper in Faversham,

we made beautiful frames featuring Spellbinders® Create A Flower dies.

 Here are a few of the finished frames, I love how the flowers differ,

each one has their own personal touch.

We used Create A Rose, Create A Lily, Create A Gerber Daisy, Create A Sunflower 

and Create A Daisy.

 

In the morning each person thought they had decided on their favourite flower but... 

when we moved on to different ones in the afternoon they were spoilt for choice!

Thank you for joining me ladies, you all made it such a wonderful class

and big thanks to Jennie who laid on a scrumptious lunch that we were able to eat outside.

I will be running this class again in my shop so keep your eyes peeled.

Today marks the launch of the new Spellbinders® Celebra'tions™  dies by Richard Garay!

This is new and exciting - dies, stamps and more...I have a stock arriving within

the next few days and I will place them on the website instantly.

There is a little more news here together with a link to win.

You are in for a real treat :)

Thank you for all the comments yesterday - the leather effect card is superb.

Winners will be announced later this week.

Also thank you for enquiring after the boys - they are doing well,

warm weather does not seem to put them off their food - boys are just eating machines!

It is my day off today, I'm doing the shopping, a trip to the rubbish tip and gardening...

is that a day off I wonder??

Take care friends.