My peace is shattered!

That's it, the end of peace for me! My 2 girls are back and the first thing they done when they came in the door was fight with each other! I have to admit it though, I really missed them for the 2 nights they were gone. We took them out on their bikes up to the park and let them play for a while. We bought them both bikes last Christmas but they have only been on them twice as they were a bit too big but now they fit fine. Chiara was so cute, she couldn't cycle most of the way up to the park because it's all uphill. Not that there is any big hills but it's not flat. But on the way back she was delighted because she could do it all on her own, her little legs were going ten to the dozen lol, and she's shouting look Mummy and Daddy I can cycle and use my brake as she forgets to steer and I have to go running after her before she crashes into a parked car lol.
All the kids fell asleep not long after we got home so I sat down to make this card for Cutie Sunday. It's a great sketch this week and you know how I love sketches lol.
I love this Sugar Nellie image I got from Lorraine, she is just the sweetest and such a joy to colour.
I have use some more papers from my Papermania Sweet Nothings 6x6 pack which I got for £1!! I couldn't believe it, 50 sheets for a quid, you can't grumble at that now can you?
I was going to sew real stitches but I couldn't find any needles!! I have loads of them but could I find them? No because I moved them from where they are normally kept and can't remember where I have put them! So I had to just draw them instead and I didn't make a very good job of it either. I didn't look at the opposite sides when I was drawing them so they are not even in the same places, ah well you win some you lose some as they say.
My large flower is from the Prima bigger bag and all the rest are Prima Sweet n Sassy Cinderella which are all available at Aries Crafts as is the charm I have used. They have a huge selection of flowers and a good price too, also remember they do free postage too, what more do you want lol.
Spacers, brad and gems are all from my stash and the sentiment was done on the computer.

Thanks for looking
Hugs Lora x

Just Magnolia and Sketch Saturday

Good morning ladies (and men if any are reading this), hope you are all having a fab weekend.
I have been so busy cardmaking since my 2 babies have been away for the weekend and I am lovin it, but I do miss my girls so much, it's way too quite without their fighting and screaming at each other lol.
I missed last weeks Just Magnolia with everything that was happening so I wanted to join in this week. This is one of my favourite challenges as is Sketch Saturday (who doesn't love a good sketch?) so I decided to combine the two.
I have turned the sketch on it's side to fit my little Tilda better. Ok I admit it, I turned the sketch because I stuck my image on the wrong way lol. I think she fits better this way though :)
The theme this week for Just Magnolia is animals and insects so I used this sweet Tilda and also a Magnolia butterfly from the Spring set that the lovely Bev stamped for me (thanks hun your the best x).
I reached for my Bo Bunny papers again but these are ones I haven't used before although some of them do look very similar. I'm not sure about the green paper but I bought it because for 1 it co-ordinates with the others I have and 2 it has a lovely pattern in the bottom corner which I didn't use lol.
The green spotty flower is a Prima and the pink fabric flower is one I got from Donna (Donna's Doodles) when I won her blog candy. Well I didn't win her candy, someone else did but she also picked 2 or 3 others to receive some images and a few other bits and I was one of them :)
I found the sweet label thingie in my stash and thought it would go well with the sketch. I wish I could remember where I got it because I would like some more.
Everything else is from my stash.

I think I might go see what other challenges I can join in with before the girls get home.
Remeber if you haven't joined in with the Digital Tuesday Challenge this week, you still have time, it's a wedding theme this week and you can use any digi image you like . Also if you want to join in with this weeks Squigglefly challenge, you better get your skates on because the new challenge is tomorrow. This week is a colour challenge of Bordering Blue, Pretty In Pink and Chocolate Chip or if you are like me and don't have Stampin Up stuff, you can use colours that are close to those, like I did :)

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and thank you for stopping by today.

Hugs Lora xx

A Christmas card in May!!

That's right you did read it correctly lol. I was looking at the Just Christmas and Birthday Cards blog and they have a sketch this week, so I just had to join in. I could of made a birthday card but I wanted to use my new craft stamp from Janlynn . This one is called Angel banner and is another one from their new range. I left the banner blank because I'm not sure what I want to put on it yet but you could write whatever you wanted on it or just leave it blank like I have done here.
The papers I have used are Fancy pants and it's a double sided sheet so no trying to find papers to co-ordinate, just the wa y I like it, nice and easy lol. I did use some Bo Bunny paper to mat all my layers on though.
The sentiment is just one I done on the computer and ribbon is from my stash. No embelishments on this one!!! I was going to add a few but I managed to stop myself and leave it as it is. I don't think it needs anything else though, do you?

I have had a nice peaceful day today and managed to get all my design team work done for next week, which means I can join in with some more challenges :)
I also have some news...... I made the Fred She Said design team!!! woohoo!!
I am some excited to be working with Tracey. Her digital images are beautiful and she is a real lovely person too. How lucky am I !

I'm off to see what I have missed on all your blogs then might see what else I can make before the girls come back tomorrow.
thanks for stopping by today. Please do leave me a comment to let me know you have visited, even if it's just to say hi, them I will know you have been and can come visit you. Besides that, I really love to read all the lovely comments you guys leave me :)

Big Huggies
Lora xx

A card just for fun

I have been out the whole day today so haven't had a chance to do any crafting but I did make a card last night. It's not for any challenge or DT work, just for fun :)

I wanted to use my new Bo Bunny papers but couldn't find any flowers or embelishments in my stash to go with them so I have had them sitting for a week or so just waiting to be used. Then Ian from Aries Crafts sent me some gorgeous big Prima flowers and I thought perfect.
I got the image from Carly when we did an image swap and I think she is soo cute, don't you?
Both the flowers I have used are Prima the huge one is from the Carribean collection and is called Antigua, they are really pretty and feel different than normal Prima's, they have a really nice feeling to them that I just can't describe and come in the most beautiful assortment of colours. The smaller flower is from the "bigger bag" and they are both available at Aries Crafts.
If you have never visited their website, you really have to pay them a visit. They have a huge range of Prima's as well as loads of other stuff and they do free delivery on every order!!
The charm I used is also from their store. You can maybe see the writing on it if you click on the photo but it says celebrate life. I know it just looks plain silver here but it is green in the middle and goes perfect with my flower and paper :) This one is from the Dancing Queen pack.
Everything else is from my stash.

Now the card is done I can fill you in on my day.
I had to take Liam to the Optician this afternoon to get his eye checked as he had been playing out with his friends and got a stick fired into his eye! They were making their own bow and arrows with sticks and elastic and one of the kids shot it at Liam by mistake! His eye has some scratches on it but no real damage so he has to put drops in to prevent infection and go back for a check up in a weeks time.
We done some shopping since we were in town and I got the kids some new clothes which they were badly needing. Why do kids have to grow so quick?
After that we all headed to Barry's cousins house for a barbeque as it's been a very nice day here for a change. Then Barry, me and Liam headed home leaving the girls there with their Nana and Papa. They taking them home to their house and keeping them for the weekend. We will get them home on Sunday.
That means I can craft as much as I like the whole weekend!! Woohoo!
I love my kids more than anything but it's only once in a blue moon that Barry's parents take them for us and none of my family do, so it's nice to get a break when they do offer to take them.
I will probably be lost without them by tomorrow morning lol.
Liam and Barry are both asleep so I can do whatever I want, so I'm off to make the most of it!

Lora x

Nutshells and my shopping trip

I have decided to enter the DT call for Nutshells. There is a sketch to follow and I also had to use this cute image.
I pretty much followed the sketch to the letter this time. I have used K&Co papers from the Wild Raspberry Collection. I just love these papers and the fact that some of them are glittered or embossed makes me love them even more.
The flowers are all Prima's, gems and tiny flowers from my stash and the sentiment was a £1 Anita's stamp.
Not much else to say about this card really. Lovely papers and image and lots of flowers, what more do I need?

I did go to the paper mill and just as I predicted, I didn't get any bargains and hardly anything I wanted either.
I had a look at their nestabilities and they did have a great selection but the price has went up by £5 since I was there 2 weeks ago! I asked the woman who works there why the big increase and she told me some story about the prices of Cuttlebug stuff going up because of the exchange rate just now. I have absolutely no idea what that has to do with nesties since they are not Cuttlebug but I just kept my mouth shut. This is the woman who is supposed to be so up to date with all the new products lol. Last time I was in she was going on about some demo for the Cry cut, I had no idea what she was talking about until she pointed over to the Cricut machines. At that point I said oh you mean the die cutting machine with the little green cricket on it? She still didn't realise I was taking the p**s lol. And by the way she still calls it a Cry cut!
I did get a border punch though....yay. There was one Fiskars scallop punch in the whole shop, in fact that was the only border punch in the shop! It's not a tiny shop but they sell stuff that nobody wants and stamps that they have had for years because nobody has bought them.
that is why I only go there if I need card stock because it is the only place I know of around here to get boxes of card from. Don't get me wrong, they sometimes have gorgeous papers and on the odd occassion they do have some nice embelishments but they never have any flowers or decent stamps. I think I should try get a job there and then tell them what crafters really want. What do you think?
Anyway apart from the punch, I did get a box of card which was not the kind I normally buy but it will do for now, some ds tape, foam dots and some ribbon and that was it. I did see some nice ribbon slider things at the counter as I was paying but the woman had just spent more than 10 mins figuring out how much my stuff came to because the electric had went out and she didn't have a till so I didn't bother with them, it would of only confused her. She was using a calculator and still got 3 different figures each time she added them up so I ended up telling her the prices of everything while she punched it in on her calculator. You would think I bought tons of stuff, I only spent £26 for goodness sake!

Well before I go off on another rant about her I will leave it there lol. I'm off now to see what you have all been up to.

Hugs Lora xx

Combined challenge card

Good morning everyone, hope you are havign a great start to the day :)
I am off to the paper mill soon to get some card stock as I have about 3 sheets left!! and maybe a few other bits and bobs. I will let you know what I got when I get back.
I knew I wouldn't get much crafting time today because I have so much other stuff to do so I made a card last night for 2 challenges. I used the sketch from Sketch and Stash (my new stash is my Papermania papers) and for the Whiff Of Joy Challenge this week the colours are brown and blue. I love this colour combo but I couldn't for the life of me find any papers in my stash that had both brown and blue on it so I looked for a brown and a blue but couldn't find a brown paper, they all had other colours in them so I resorted to my digi's instead. I downloaded some last week after losing most of my digi stuff but I forgot to write where I downloaded it from.. duh.

When I looked at the brown paper on my computer, I was wandering why it was called script paper because it just looked plain to me but after I printed it out I could see the tiny writing all over it and it is actually quite prettty in real life.
The image is another one I got from Lorraine, isn't she beautiful? I love colouring this one.
I really must get a scallop punch!! Every time I want scallops, I have to cut them by hand and they always end up squint, but this time I used an old embossing board to emboss some scallops then cut it out. This made it a lot easier but it would sure be so much easier with a punch!
I got my nesties out to do the scalloped mat. Haven't used these for a while. I love them but most of the cards I have done lately have been square or rectangle images. I think I will get some square ones or maybe the labels..... hmmm will have to convince Barry that I really need them lol.

Recipe:
Image WOJ from Lorraine, thanks again hun xx
Papers: Brown script paper download, blue paper from Papermania sweet nothings pad
colouring: Copics
Embelishments: small prima flowers from Aries Crafts, large flowers, spacers, pearls and lace from my stash
Tools: Cuttlebug, small classic scalloped circles nesties, Glittergirls embossing board and embossing tool.

Right I'm off stash shopping. Hope I find some bargains :) There's probably more chance of me paying over the odds for what I want actually but if I need it then I have to get it don't I?
See you all later.

Hugs Lora xx

Sugar Bowl challenge

I had some time this evening to make a card for The Sugar Bowl and it is a great sketch from Kathy with the option of using pearls (you have to add the pearls if you want to be entered to win the prize).
I have tried something a bit differnet to my usual style and I maybe got a bit carried away with the ink but I had loads of fun anyway. Let me know what you think!



I'm sorry about the picture, it looks really blurry but no matter what I did it just went all weird on me so in the end I just gave up and posted it as it is.
I used my Basic Grey Porcelain papers again. Sorry but I love em. I will get sick of them soon, well maybe I will lol. They are just so pretty I can't help myself. Anyway I have inked the edges of well everything really!!
I have obviously used a Sugar Nellie image image and coloured her with copics.
The sentiment is an Anna Griffin stamp, I inked the card with som eplain brown ink then stamped the sentiment on top with a darker distress ink. the lace was white but it got the works with the ink too, as did the little roses. Told you I went a bit mad with the ink lol.
The little decorative corner I made with a peel off. I stuck the peel off on some card then inked over it and cut it out, then peeled the sticker off to reveal the negative off the peel off. I quite like the effect it gives. I never use peel offs butI have stacks of them from when I used to use them ages ago, so they came in handy.

Recipe:
Image: Sugar Nellie
Designer Papers: basic Grey Porcelain pad.
Sentiment: Anna Griffin
Embelishments: Kanban pearls, Prima flowers from Aries Crafts, Lace and roses from stash

Hope you are all having a fab day/night depending on where you are in the world :)

Hugs Lora x