Twin bird Wedding Anniversary card.

Commissioned Anniversary card.

Papers Basic Grey 'Eva'

Scroll stamp by HOTP

Bird template kindly donated by Jane

Everything else is from my long forgotten stash!

Hugs,

Emma.x

(And if I've not got round to your blog yet...please feel free to kick me!)

My purple phase.....

Ok I'm only kidding but the challenge this week at Craftymuse is to create something using the colour purple...not one of my favourite colours (she says ducking as Mrs T throws something at her!) but Sammi let me use 'Princess Amber' who is new to the collection so I'm not complaining! Sammi has also been madly designing away and some male figures have now joined the collection so you might want to wander over and have a look....

I would also like to say a huge welcome to Becky, Ruth and Sarah who have joined the Craftymuse team! Not only are they fantastic designers....but they are also great friends so our little team is now one big happy family. Really happy to be working along side them and their design work is now showing on the blog :o)

Not going to be around for a few days as I have a 'you know what' to make for 'you know who' and its nearly Belles birthday and I have so much to make....HINT HINT TINA!!
I'll catch up with you very soon and big hugs to you all.
Em.x

One for the boys....(yikes!)

The challenge to my horror over at the BG challenge blog...is to create something for the boys. I absolutely detest making cards for men....so much so that I have been known to actually BUY cards for male friends and relatives...just don't tell my hubby ;o)
Anyway I'm not overly happy with this card but wanted to take part. Papers are BG 'Phoebe' and I've used distressing inks to colour the image in.
I'd like to say a big thanks to Zuzu as well for inviting me to join her forum. I feel very honoured as I have worshipped this womans work for a long time and can quite happily spend an hour or two wandering round her blog.

Oh I have a favour to ask...if you happen to have any spare hours in the day right now could you throw them my way!?!
Hugs
Em.x

**EDITED**A puzzled Christmas.....

** I've just heard from Julie that this has been nominated to be shown on the Inspirational blog. So a huge thank you to whoever it was who nominated it...you have really made my day!**



Hello. I've made this puzzle decoration for the Basic Grey challenge which is 'Christmas' this week and for the One stop craft challenge which is 'wings'.

I used acrylic paint dabbers in Espresso and Cranberry, Alcohol inks in Raisin, Oregano and gold mixatives, Distress ink in aged mahogany. Papers are Basic Grey 'Infuse' and the star chips are from my Basic Grey 'Sultry' pack. Images were free downloads from Crafty computer papers and the wings were stamps from my stash. Beads from a necklace Belle has yet again destroyed...!

Hope you're having a great weekend.
Hugs
Em.x

~Twinkle toes~

Hello again. Its my nieces birthday in a few days and so I decided to go pink and glittery for this one. The image is 'Angelique' by the fabulous Sammi and she is a real cutie. Papers are BG 'Euphoria' and I used my Martha Stewart 'doily' punch for the scalloped edge. I used Sakura pens with water to colour her in.


Many thanks to everyone who left comments on my last post and for the one or two e-mails I received...lol! They were all much appreciated and I will be popping by to thank you all personally. Have just made some more scrummy bread so off to find the peanut butter...catch up with you all soon.
Hugs,
Em.x

BG stitching challenge...

Morning. The challenge this week over on the Basic Grey challenge blog is to create something using stitching...either real or hand drawn.
The papers and embellishments are from the 'Sultry' range. Please pop over and have a look at the other DT's work as they are so talented!
Hugs,
Em.x

Get your boobs out! **EDITED**

**Edited to say...this template is actually a bottom wearing pants which has just been adapted to become a bra....Tina has e-mailed me as I sent her the template and said 'trust you to make an arse into a lovely card!'....how rude!! LOL!**

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month so Sammi has chosen 'pink' as our SBS 15 challenge this month. I decided to go with a pink bra card and have used Basic Grey 'Eva' papers. If anyone would like the template for this please just e-mail me.
As most of you know I recently lost a lovely friend to this terrible disease and even now I find myself picking up the phone to chat to her. Its been harder than I could possibly have imagined....so go on girls...just for me...
squish ya boobs!
Hugs Em.x

BG colour combo and a natter....

This week's Basic Grey Challenge is all about colour combinations...

• Green & Red/Maroon
• Brown & Cream
• Blue & Gold/Yellow/Orange

I loved this challenge and used papers from 'Offbeat' and the design was from Craftytemplates. The other DTs are gorgeous so please pop over and have a look.

I've been approached by a company in the States to test and review a product they have designed to help us crafters. Can't say any more about it but can't wait for it to arrive...but you will all laugh when I show it as its something very close to my heart!

Also my lovely friend Pam (who is so talented and generous) has got together with some of her friends and has designed a fantastic new blog called The Vintage Veranda.
This is what they have to say....'We invite you to join our vintage community where we share our love for vintage-style creations - anything from cards to altered art. The Vintage Veranda is an online resource and community for anyone who creates in the vintage style or who wants to learn how to create their own vintage style. We welcome both the seasoned artists and those just exploring vintage.' So please pop over and have a look!

And lastly, as some of you know my blogging has become slightly chaotic lately. Well life is pretty chaotic at the moment....(not blaming Belle...honestly!). I am still here but until Belle starts at playgroup in January I'll only be blogging as and when time allows. I do appreciate everyone that takes the time to visit and I promise that when January hits this blog will start functioning properly!

I hope everyone is having a lovely weekend and enjoying the biscuits Belle baked for you yesterday!
Hugs,
Em.x

Scalloping and smiling!..

Hello. I hope everyones having a lovely weekend. I have the pleasure of being Guest Designer for the Basic Grey challenge blog this month and this weeks challenge is to create something using scallops.
This hanging picture frame is using the new 'Eva' papers which are now my firm favourites.
And this circular picture frame is using 'Gypsy' papers.
I hope everyone enjoys this challenge as much as I did.
Out with the girls tonight for a meal and tomorrow has been booked for blog hopping...all day...so see you then for a catch up!
Hugs,
Em.x

Shock, horror!

I've actually made something!
This is for the Basic Grey challenge which this week is all about 'distressed'. Papers are 'Infuse' and I've just distressed away!
I'm meeting all the other Mum's this afternoon for a walk round the park and then cake and coffee. Its the first time I will have been out of bed and out the house so really looking forward to it.
This evening I'm sitting down with a decent bottle of Shiraz and am going to spend the time doing something I have really missed....looking at what you have all been up to! LOL!
Big hugs,
Em.x

BG+Buttons=HEAVEN!!

My oh so talented pal Chris is one of the DT for the new Basic Grey challenge blog so I had to join in with the fun as 1) I adore BG and 2) she may shout at me! LOL!
The first challenge is to make a card using buttons...so here is my effort using acetate. My one button is vintage, papers are BG 'sultry' and there is memory wire behind the flower. I've really enjoyed making this so many thanks to Martine for coming up with such a brilliant challenge blog!
Hugs,
Emma,x

Busy bee's and PB!

Hi all. Hope everyone had a great weekend. This is my first offering to the PB Saturday challenge which this week is 'ribbons'. Really enjoyed taking part and I don't think it will be my last time. Papers are BG, flowers are Poppicraft and the image was from Debs...thanks babe.

Well my dining room has been a hive of activity today and we have been very busy bee's...Belle included! Tina and I started on our big push for making Christmas cards for the Troops and had a right giggle doing it....red glitter in August seems so wrong! Many thanks to everyone who has agreed to help and I think we will be saying that a lot leading up to October when all the cards need to be in.

I'd also like to thank all the girls over at our 'twaddle and blab' blog for the hugs and kicks today...you lot are so vicious! LOL!
Catch up with you soon,
Crafty hugs,
Em.x

Golden oldies....

Hello. The challenge over at DCM this week is to make a card using some of your old stash.
The only problem was that I have so much 'old stash' that I still struggled to decided what to use!
So this is made using some old BG papers that were forgotten about...a stamp that I've not used for ages (from Crafty Individuals I think) which I embossed and an old button.

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend...and I promise to stop playing with my blog...I just wanted to confuse you all! LOL!

My wild child!

This is one of my favourite photos of Belle. We were by the lighthouse in Gibraltar and she was just running around everywhere. The shot is out of focus but for me it just captured her spirit so well.

This was taken last weekend when we walked along the coast and found this gorgeous forest. It led through to a beach and we ate our picnic there. On the way home Belle filled her Daddy's rucksack with pine cones...even though she insisted on calling them pinny stones! She was so tired that Dad had to carry her all the way back on his shoulders!

Went to the Chinese Circus yesterday and it was amazing. The only thing I will mention is the contortionist...its so not right that someone can sit on their own head!! Aewwwwwwww!

Its sunny here today...yah!!! Lets hope it lasts!
Hugs to you all,

Altered card swop....I hope!

Hello. Firstly I'm so sorry for not getting round every one's blogs today...I have missed seeing every one's creations but sorting my lists out took longer than I thought...and I still have my SBS one to do! I'll get it sorted tomorrow and will pop round to have a look at what you have all been up to.
I've made this altered CD for one of the girls on the Docrafts forum. We have been paired up for the July swop so I just hope she likes it!
Papers are BG and the stamp is by Elusive Images.
I hope everyone had a lovely weekend and didn't get sun burnt!
Hugs,

Puddy cat!

Hi. This is the card I have made for the abc-challenge. Its all about animals this week and as a cat fanatic I just had to do another one of Lou's cats that you can download at CCC. The whiskers are wire and the papers are once again Basic Grey...but would you really expect anything else by now!! LOL!
Hugs,

Ist attempt at a CD!

Hello all.
Well just got in from the craft class so thought I'd better get this altered CD on now as the rest of the week is going to be a wee bit busy. The papers are Basic Grey Sultry and the image is Pinkpetticoat. The colours really don't show up too well as they are much brighter especially the ribbons.
Tonight was one of those nights where everyone giggled over nothing! Even though Gill and myself ran the craft club in Gibraltar everything we demonstrated was self taught so its really nice to finally have someone show me different techniques. June who does the demos is an extremely funny lady who has the patience of a saint with us lot!!
Also if you get the chance can you please pop over to Tina's blog and say hello. We met at the class and she has the same sense of humour as me and is a really lovely person. (Tina you can pay me the £5 later!!LOL!)She is also one incredibly brave person who, one day, will change a child's life forever...her blog will make you realise just how fortunate some of us are.
Hope everyone's having a lovely evening.
Hugs,

(I forgot to mention that I have been tagged FOUR times this week..phew...some of you are gonna be real busy once I start handing this out!! LOL! I'll get them done this week and many thanks to the evil four who passed them onto me!!!)

Broken bones and birthdays!

Hello!
Well its been a really bizarre 24 hours! My little boy (yes I know he's nearly 15 and is 6 foot tall!!) broke his collar bone last night whilst playing Bull dog with his mates. Luckily he's doing OK but is feeling very tired and a little bit sheepish!! Bless him though...he's not moaned once today about it and will hopefully be back at school tomorrow.
As you know we were meant to go back to Gibraltar this month for a visit but Belle came down with chicken pox which put a hold on everything! Originally we should have been going in July for a friends 40th...so the tickets were booked today...YIPEE!!
Not sure who in the house is more excited but I have made both children PROMISE that nothing else will happen to either one of them before we go!! LOL!
Well July is a month full of birthdays so I thought I had better get cracking on the old cards. This one is using Basic Grey Sultry papers. The stamp is a PB from an image swop. I've also used this card for the cutecardthursday challenge which was to make a birthday card.
I hope everyones ok and I hope a certain person got her blog fixed!! LOL!
Hugs,

Dusty stamps...and a promise!

The gorgeous Gill is challenging everyone to get out their dusty stamps...and shock, horror...use them! I managed to use three on this and now feel quite guilty about the new ones I have just ordered. I completely stole the idea for this one off the very talented Pam. I make no apologies as I just adore her work! (Thanks Pam!)

Well if I'm going to use dusty stamps then I thought I had better start using up my dusty papers...Basic Grey...obviously!! The flower was made up of a chip board flower that I painted, then a white paper flower and then a design from the Basic Grey pack all topped with a metal flower from Maya Road.

Since I posted my blog candy I have been overwhelmed by the response. Some of the challenges that people have overcome or achieved has made me smile, laugh, cry and think very hard about what other people go through in life.
So this week I am going to visit every single blog that entered to find out more about the people that shared, what sometimes, was a very personal life changing event.
Thank you to everyone that has taken part and for sharing such heart warming stories.
Hugs,

Caged birds....

But only homemade! This card is for my Mum and her hubby as it is their 10th wedding anniversary this week...congratulations Mum!!
The template is from Crafty templates and the paper is Basic Grey. Embossed the cage using my Bug and used Perfect Pearls for the gilded look.
The heart is chipboard which I triple embossed.
(Shame that the photo is so bad as I actually liked this card for a change!! LOL!!)

I have been tagged quite a few times lately so will start tagging back this weekend when I have some more time ;)