BLOG CANDY

Good evening everyone out there in blogland....

Just a quick note to let you all know that Blog Candy Nos 3 is very quickly approaching... infact it will indeed be on display as of midnight tonight....

Only another 3 hours to wait and then you can see what's up for grabs this time...

If you're going to be in your bed by that time, that's okay you can always check in another day...

Hugs

Lorraine xxx

Update on Gayle's sister.....

Good evening everyone.... hope you are all doing well & have had a lovely day ...

I have spoken to Gayle tonight, who may I add is nothing less than exhausted at this moment in time & under strict instructions, is now lying on the sofa in her pj's with a little refreshment to try & help her relax.... poor lass has hardly had a wink of sleep over the last week & had none at all last night...

As of this afternoon her sister's condition has not gotten any better, she is in a very poor state of health... Gayle is actually distraught.... she is being kept in hospital obviously but will not be seen by a specialist before Monday as this is the weekend...

I would ask that you all keep the family in your thoughts over the rest of the weekend... If there is any change tomorrow I will update you again, barring that I will let you know more on Monday once the specialist has spoken to them...

Gayle has asked me to pass on her thanks & gratitude for all the well wishes she has received and they are helping her enormously at this very trying time.

Thank you all...

Lorraine xxx

Sugar Bowl Challenge

Here we go with our next challenge over at The Sugar Bowl.... managed by the lovely Gayle & just a quick update on her sister today... she had a very bad night last night with no sleep & was also sick... I am hoping that a lot of this was due to the circumstances overwhelming her and that she will feel better as the day goes on... Poor Gayle has had no sleep either which is understandable... she is visiting her sister in hospital this afternoon & I will check in on her again later & will hopefully be able to give you better news this evening...

The newest challenge at The Sugar Bowl is "Love & Romance"... well this time I decided to veer away from the normal a bit... we need the red & gold which I have incorporated but I decided then to sway a little & go a bit more basic & not so girly... brought in some blue & green...

Final result is a love card, minus the romance but with a bit more funky to it....

Bazzill cardstock

Papers & alphas are from Funky Hand

Coloured using Sakura water colour paints

Brads from my stash....

Happy crafting

Lorraine xxx

Say a little prayer please

Hi everyone just a brief message for you all this evening relating to the wonderful Gayle who so very kindly manages The Sugar Bowl as well as her own blog...

You may know that her sister had a stroke last week & was released from hospital... well unfortunately I have just received word from Gayle that her sister has now had a second stroke and is back in hospital.. She had a CT scan carried out about an hour ago so we are all keeping our fingers crossed at the moment...

Obviously Gayle may not be able to post anything for a while depending upon her sister's state of health so I will post regular updates here on her behalf...

Please take just a minute or two out of your day to say a little prayer that her sister recovers fully & quickly...

Thank you all

Lorraine xxx

Tag You're It Challenge

Good morning again folks and boy do I hope the weather is nicer in your part of the country than what it is here, though going by the forecast I'm not entirely convinced that will be the case... At the moment it is still dry although we have had some light rain but boy is that wind blowing cold... sure feels like a Russian wind so pity help us over the weekend... pretty good reason to stay indoors & craft though....

Well the challenge this week over at Tag You're It is to create a tag using the colour Purple... this weeks challenge has also been sponsored by Michele of Purple Onion Designs & she has very kindly donated a prize for this weeks winner....

For this I used some Bazzill cardstock... Paper is from the Kate Knight Aquamarine collection, rub ons are from scrapworks, flowers are cut from a card pack I bought at the SECC last year but have no idea who makes it (sorry) and ribbon, brads & gems from my stash...

Well I'm going to get jazzed up now as I'm off out for lunch with a friend to have a good old catch up... not seen her since August... we have both been recovering from surgery though so we have a good excuse...

Will be back later with more....

Happy crafting

Lorraine xxx

2nd Blog Candy Winner

Yes the time has finally arrived for the winner of my 2nd blog candy give away to be announced.

Before I go any further though may I take the time to tell you that CANDY NOS 3 will be arriving in the next few days so don't stray too far else you may miss out....

Due to the large amount of entries on the candy comp I have used Random Integer to select the winner which turned out to be:

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:215
Timestamp: 2009-01-29 17:27:12 UTC

So the winner is:

ALICE

Congratulations Alice & if you can email me please with your postal details I will get your candy in the post to you asap..

Thank you to all who entered and you never know, next time it could be you...

Happy crafting
Lorraine xxx

2sketches bonus card

The lovely Rae has given us a fantastic bonus sketch this week over at 2sketches4you...

Perfect I thought the minute I saw it, for a R.S.V.P card I had to make for a Silver Wedding...

Quick, sweet & simple... some matting & layering, voila done..... although I couldn't use my flash as it's pearlised card & it's a little dull here today so apologies for the picture..

Rubber stamp flourish is by Wendie Rhodes

Ribbon & gems from stash

Happy crafting

Lorraine xxx

2sketches4you

This weeks fab sketch over at 2sketches4you is designed by the lovely Laura....

After being tagged the other day it got me looking through all my pics again & I thought that I would use the sketch to make this card for my MIL... Here she stands proud & happy with her two boys... on the left is my OH Rob (eldest) and on her right is Donny (the baby of the family).

This picture was taken in Colorado Springs on Donny's wedding day (April 8th 2006) and I thought that as we are so far apart, my MIL would like this momento of the day... MIL is in Tustin, California and we of course are in the UK... Donny still remains in Colorado Springs where he has lived for many many years now...

Papers are Antique Cream by Papermania

Tags, ribbons & gem are from my stash...

Happy crafting

Lorraine xxx

Arty Girlz Challenge

Well a little change for us all this week over at Arty Girlz as the challenge has been set to create and ATC.... now you can add this to a card if you want but still you've got to make one...

So some nice bright papers to get us in a happy mood, cut out some butterflies from another sheet, twirled some wire for antenna & mounted the butterflies for depth... to finish it all off a couple of flower sequins... simple...

If you're like me and don't normally make ATC's why not join in the fun for a little something different...

Happy crafting

Lorraine xxx

Papertake Weekly

What a fab sketch we have by Dawny this week over at Papertake Weekly.

I decided to use the sketch for a "Sorry You're Poorly" card I had to make and I'm so happy I did as I think it turned out rather well (just like I hope the recipient will)...

Background is DCWV "Spring" cardstock

Papers & brad are Basic Grey "Sugared" collection

Image is Sugar Nellie "Macbeth"

Flowers from stash & sentiment computer generated

Image coloured using brush markers

Well off now to do some shopping & a little bit of housework then back to the old pump & grind of tidying another bit of my craft room... hope you all have a fab day...

Happy crafting

Lorraine xxx

Check this out

Emma has an idea for a new blog but would like you to read it first and give her your feedback...

Basically she thinks she has come up with a money saving idea for all us crafters out here in blogland..

Please visit & see what you think...

Hugs

Lorraine xxx

Sweet Music

www.myspace.com/breeopera

My wonderfully talented step daughter Brianna who is currently studying her BMsc at Glasgow University has just downloaded some new music onto her site & would so love if you popped over to have a listen & leave her a comment telling her what you think... does she have what it takes to make it.... would you buy her music.... she would really love to know...

Thank you to everyone who takes the time to listen... she is only 19 and we are so in awe at her voice every time we listen.. she knows the rules... if I shed a tear when I hear her sing she's done well.... how embarassed does she get with me at times... but I do love her dearly and wish her all the very best for her future career.. I've already booked my front seat tickets for her 1st concert...

She actually surprised me last year by recording an all time favourite of mine "Summertime" and she didn't tell me what she was up to... simply let me play & list... That's my Bree for you...

Hugs

Lorraine xxx

Tag You're It Challenge

The challenge this week over at Tag You're It is "Numbers"....

Well I'm getting quite into this quick & easy make stuff... tag is from my scrap box as is the tartan paper but I do remember that originally came from Telfords Direct... shimmer fabric is from Cardology and all other elements of tag, chipboard & rub on's are Heidi Grace....

Perfect for Valentines or Christmas me thinks....

If you've never before joined in there's no time like the present & if you have then I will & pop over to see your creation....

Happy crafting

Lorraine xxx

Penny Black Challenge

Yet another fab challenge this week over at Penny Black which is "Frame It"...

Well what can I say... stamped my image, coloured it in... chalked a frame, stuck it in place, then added some flowers & pearls... now that's what I call a quick & easy card.... Love it....

If you've not already joined in the fun this week please pop over now... we're all waiting on you.

Happy crafting

Lorraine xxx

Award Time Again

This is an award I've been presented by the lovely Cynthia...

I now have to award it to 5 other people who helped me get into the world of blogging so here goes...

Kath

Bev

Gayle

Lainy

Dawn

To all you lovely ladies... thank you so much for all your help in the past & without your encouragement, enthusiasm & help, I would never had made it on my own....

Hugs to you all

Lorraine xxx

Well folks I've been tagged by the following lovely ladies... Angel, Sue, Hazel & Bev thank you to all of you...

Now for this I had to pick the 6th picture from the 6th folder in my pics... here it is..

This is little old me hanging out of a hired Hummer in Colorado Springs a few years back... this was my first visit there & it was stunning... the reason for our visit was for my BIL's wedding... the fab Donny who I do love to pieces...

I always wanted a shot in a Hummer so as a belated wedding present from my hubby (we were married in '05) he hired a Hummer for me (BIL married in '06)... may I add that on the day of my BIL wedding my hubby decided to have a few wee drinks which resulted in me having to drive back to the hotel...

Now I've never driven in a foreign country before.... there was me in 4" heels (which I detest) and my lovely frock, left hand drive, 5 lane highways, work crews who had huge concrete boulders on part of said highways... what a nightmare... but hey I done it..... look out US I may well be driving again in the future... this time in flat shoes of course...

Now I can only look forward to visiting again as the country there is nothing less than stunning....

Oh who to tag now.... I decided that I would tag some overseas visitors, seeing as my pic was taken in the US...

Gracie

Susie

Sally

Cheryl

Silvia

Julie

Well that's my tagging done so next up is an award....

Happy crafting

Lorraine xxx

Daring Cardmakers Challenge

Challenge this week over at Daring Cardmakers is "Give it some heart"... yes you guessed it, the thought comes from the fact that Valentines Day is fast approaching... thank goodness they came up with the idea as at least now I've made hubby's card for him...

Pretty papers are by Funky Hand, large red heart was hand drawn on hand made paper from Cardology, stamp was free in a magazine and the ribbons & gems were from my stash... coloured using Koi water colours & a little glossy accent on his nose & heart...

Off now to see what the other challenges are, before getting organised for hubby to return from work, then we're off out to do some shopping.... catch up with you all later today...

Happy crafting

Lorraine xxx

P.s Have you entered my BLOG CANDY yet?

2 for the price of 1....

Well I've managed to combine 2 into 1 again... which is great fun... always means you come up with something even different again....

This time it's for the Papertake Weekly & Arty Girlz challenges....

Papertake Weekly challenged us to make a card incorporating 3 different shapes... here I have square card, triangular corners, rectangle mount & hey you could even count the flower as a 4th shape...

Arty Girlz challenge was to use something transparent in your design so for this I mounted a peel off onto an acrylic plate and coloured using Sakura Glaze...

A little gems & ribbon & some faux stitching using a Sakura Gold Shadow pen... voila complete...

Happy crafting

Lorraine xxx

P.s still another 6 days to go my BLOG CANDY

Rainbow Ladys Challenge

Good morning folks from what I can only describe as a lovely fresh sunny Motherwell.... yippee we have some sun out today although it is still really cold bbbrrrrrr..... but I'm happy....

Rainbow Lady's guest designer this week is the lovely Hazel & she decided that we had to come up with a creation using peel offs... yes I know many of us still think of borders & corners but peel offs really have came a long way over the last 2 years & nowadays there are some lovely designs available...

Here I used an acrylic tag to add my peel off to, which I then coloured with some Sakura Silver Shadow pens. Now I coloured this on the reverse of the tag & the marvellous thing about these pens is that you can then polish them with a piece of tissue or cotton wool, which I done to create a bit of a burnished effect in the colour... 2 pieces of satin ribbon finishes it all off...

Voila, one quick & simple tag.

Happy crafting

Lorraine xxx

Award Time Again

Ok here goes..... 3 awards today so I hope you've got a
cuppa to hand and a spare 5 mins to read this... you never know one of them could very well be heading your way....

This first one I received from the delightful Sharon and is the Lemonade award...

Anyway, the Lemonade Award is given by a previous winner to 5 people who have shown a great attitude or gratitude this week. It’s a great way to show these people that you appreciate them.All you have to do is:

1. Put the logo on your blog or post.

2. Nominate at least 5 blogs, which show great Attitude and/or Gratitude! Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.

3. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.

4. Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received your award.I would like to pass this award along to the following people in appreciation of their great attitudes.

Now this is always difficult but to choose ones with attitude well that makes it even worse.. hence I have decided to award this to all of my followers.... yes guys you rock my world!!!!!!! Thank you....

Next up is the Encouraged Award passed to me by the delightful Angel... SHE IS A NEWBIE so if you guys could pop over to her blog & say hi then that would be wonderful... I know she would really appreciate hearing from you.... This one I have passed on before, but today I would like to pass it specifically to Gayle as she needs some encouragement to maintain her faith in friends at the moment...

Finally but by no means least I have been given this gorgeous award by not 1 but 2 lovelies... firstly our super wonderful Holly whom we all adore and also by the very warm & friendly Val. Both of whom I am glad to know...

This award I have decided to pass onto everyone who comes to visit & read my award as being a crafter, you are all Kreativ and without your wonderful creations which you all upload.. there would be no crafty blogs & my life would be very dull & boring... thank you all for your great inspiration & a lot of the time your humour as well....

Happy crafting & don't forget to lift your awards...

Lorraine xxx

Sugar Bowl Challenge

Apologies for the card being a bit squinty but I was trying to avoid the flash haze....

The challenge this week over at The Sugar Bowl is to use 3 different papers & 3 different embellishments.... I chose to use flowers, brads & a charm... I also decided that I would use 3 images just for something a little different to what I would normally do... Images are water coloured using Sakura Metallic Pens.... so there is a lovely sparkle from them...

Well I hope you like my card & I'm off now to do some blog hopping... if you've not already entered my BLOG CANDY then please feel free to do so before you leave...

Hugs

Lorraine xxx

SECC News....

Well I've had a great day today & it was finished off perfectly when I got an email this evening asking if I was available to demo at the SECC...

Yippee, that's me booked now... I'll be on the Fiskars stand.... so I sure hope that loads of you are going to be there & will pop along to say hi to me & let me meet you all in person, which would really make the weekend perfect...

Dates for the SECC are Thursday 5th - Sunday 8th March.

Happy crafting

Lorraine xxx

A new card maker....

Good morning folks... I just had to share some fab news with you all.... well it's fab to me anyway.

Last night I was texting someone I met whilst in hospital (Pami), having our wee catch up gab as we do... we are going to meet up for lunch etc but right now the poor wee soul is recovering from surgery & trust me she's had a harder time than I've had...

Well before christmas we exchanged addresses so I could make her a card, she said oh I couldn't do that.... I buy all mine from the card factory....

Now bearing in mind that we are talking weeks back, not months, and last night she announced to me that guess what.... she is now making cards..... which is giving her something to do whilst recovering from surgery and hey.... she's loving it & has already started selling them in a childrens shop.... how fab is that.... I'm so happy for her.

Just goes to show how addictive this card making really is... so needless to say, upon hearing that I said ohhhh you should start blogging.... poor lass was jumping on the computer at 11.30pm last night to start browsing through blogs...

All I can say is watch this space as we may soon have a newbie in blogland... if so, I will let you all know so that you can pop over & say hi to her...

Pami, if you're reading this my lovely, well done you.....

Managed to get a lot of my craft room sorted yesterday so I'm about half way there... yippee.... never got any cards made though so I'm off to start now, amongst other things ie, housework, so will be back in a few hours with some challenge cards...

Happy crafting

Lorraine xxx

Surface application....

Good afternoon..... On my previous posting Happy Crafter left a comment saying that she was not aware that Sakura Glaze pens could be used on glass... So I thought I better tell you some of what they can be used on....

They write best on non-porous, clean, smooth, matte surfaces.....

They are waterproof on most surfaces

You can use them on:

• Plastic
• Glass
• Ceramic
• Metal
• Acetate
• Parchment
• Pearlescent
• White card

Hope this helps some of you out there & gets you working more with your Sakura Glaze pens...

Next time you're in your local craft shop ask them if they have any Sakura demonstrations booked or if they are going to be booking one soon....

Happy crafting

Lorraine xxxxx

Sakura Glaze...

Well good morning again my lovely blogging buddies... well it's another wet overcast day here in Motherwell..... We did have some snow late yesterday afternoon that lay for a while before freezing over.... but thankfully in the early hours of this morning along came the rain & washed it all away....

I was a busy bee last night sorting through some craft stuff & organising others so by the time that was done I felt like doing a little something different to making a card... hhhmmmmm the mind wonders what could I do....

Well I had bought a cheap (approx £1.50) glass vase from the local supermarket so I decided to jazz it up a bit. What will I do????

Well I hope you like my transformation..... It is only a basic vase to which I added 3 floral peel offs & then coloured them in with my Sakura Glaze Pens. What a transformation from boring to beautiful... I'm sorry the pic is a bit crap but with no real daylight & having to avoid using the flash this is the best that I could do....

However, what I did think at the end of it all was, what a great little pressie this would make... we all know how hard this credit crunch is hitting & we're all watching our pennies, so what better a gift to give to someone than one you've made yourself... for £1.50 & 20 minutes of your time I think it's a great idea....

Right, me thinks it's time to get the housework done so I can squeeze some card making in this afternoon.... running behind with challenges so have some work to do....

Big hugs & happy crafting.

Lorraine xxx

Rainbow Ladys Challenge

Sorry for the delay getting back to you folks but it's been a day for visitors... lovely to see them of course.... but intrudes on my crafting/blogging time....

Well her is the next one on the list my dear friends and this time it's Rainbow Lady's Challenge for which the theme this week is Fashion.....

The swirl & blue papers are from the Funky Daze CD by Funky Hand, pink handmade papers & dress stamp are from Cardology and the flowers are from my stash...

I rather like this one as it's quite a bright cheery card, perfect to chase those winter blues away.

That's all for the moment folks but don't forget to check out my BLOG CANDY if you haven't already done so....

Till next time, be it tonight or tomorrow... Happy Crafting

Hugs

Lorraine xxx

Good Morning

Just popped in to say a very good morning to you all from a wet & overcast Motherwell.... Yuck.

I sure hope the weather is much better wherever you are in the world today. Please do let me know...

Anyway, a brief message at the moment to say I will be back in an hour or two to upload a new card but in the meantime I must pop off & do a little housework first.... You know what it's like, you start blogging... you can't stop....

So toot toot buddies, make way for the vacuum & see you all very soon....

Big hugs

Lorraine xxx

King's Feast

How often do you get any help in making your cards unless it's from the children in your life???

Well the challenge this week over at Daring Cardmakers was to get someone else to make your card under your instruction... hmmmm who could help me with this I wonder as there is only my dear old hubby & me in the house....

Over at Stamp Something we were given the task of making a birthday card....

And then as I rushed to grab my Penny Black stamps on Friday all ready to go on Saturday (my new ones I bought in the sales of course) I waited in anticipation...... yippee we have to work with dots..... well that's easy... grabbing my Funky Hand CD....

Now I've never tried this before & seeing as I had managed to talk poor Rob into helping me for my Daring Cardmakers, I thought I'd take advantage & see if I could get him to make a card for all 3 challenges rolled into 1.... Yipe... never done it myself, let alone instruct someone else to do it... so that was actually a challenge for me..

Now we did have a fight over who was colouring in the image as he wanted to but gave up when he finally got a thump with my tin that contains all my Sakura pens.... Hands off my lad no-one touches these....

He often helps me with layouts as he is looking at them from a different angle but this is his first ever attempt at actually making a card & I think he done very good... he did infact listen carefully & follow all of my instructions... shame he's not like that the rest of the time...

Anyway, I hope you like his finished card & I for one am very very proud of him...

Hard at work

Moans & groans.....

Making sure it's in place

The Finished Card

Now his Mom who lives in California is not a blogger but does have a look around mine as it helps her keep up with my going-ons so to Mom Cheryl "I hope you like what Rob created"... didn't he do well & I know you'll be very surprised that I managed to convince him to help... after all you gave birth to him & know all too well what he is like... Love ya honey.

To everyone else in blogland... hope you're having a great weekend & looking forward to more new challenges tomorrow...

Don't forget to check out my BLOG CANDY

Happy crafting

Lorraine xxx

Tag You're It Challenge

Yet another fabulous challenge this week over at "Tag You're It" where the theme is "Sugar Candy Kisses"...

Now I was out & about today doing some errands including a stop at Morrisons to pick up a few bits & bobs, including my Simply Cards & Papercraft... packed with no less than 3 times the normal amount of free papers... now normally I never use these papers but boy were they just perfect today...

With the except of my base card & ribbon, all the images were free from my magazine... all I had to do was cut them out & decide where to place them...

Like so many others I'm having great difficulty getting any good photos this weather but some of the letters & the lips are actually raised for a 3D effect. Sorry you can't see it as it looks so much better in real life...

Well I hope you like my almost free to make tag & if you leave me a comment I can pop over & have a nosey at yours too...

Before you go don't forget to enter my 2nd BLOG CANDY giveaway

Happy crafting

Lorraine xxx

Dawny P's Craft Sale

Quick update for you all this afternoon... Dawny P is helping a young girl hold a craft sale this weekend so please pop over to her blog for more details...

Thank you

Lorraine xxx

Good Morning

Good morning yet again my lovely peeps and I sure hope your weather is better than mine, although going by the daily forecast I very much doubt it...This morning I have some drizzle... light grey skies & some wind... thankfully not too much and if it stayed this way rather than getting any worse I would be grateful. This is what I awoke to this morning 3 gorgeous awards, presented to me by Annie now what better way to start the day...

In return for receiving these gorgeous awards I have to tell you 5 things I am addicted to so here goes:

1. Caffeine (kick starts my morning whilst the computer is booting up)

2. Blogging

3. Card Making

4. Animals

5. Life (realised just how precious it was during my illness)

Next thing I have to do is pass them on to 5 others.... well this is always a hard thing to do, but today I have decided to pass them on to 5 people who are a bit more "Newbies".

1. Elaine

2. Debra

3. Karen

4. Jackie (currently recovering from surgery)

5. Liv

Please do pop over & visit these girls... we all know what it's like when we first started & you think that no-one ever wants to visit you or look at your work....

Well happy crafting in the meantime my best bloggy buddies & I'll be back later with some more creations....

Lorraine xxx

BLOG CANDY Nos 2

Well here it is folks.... my Nos 2 blog candy giveaway....

Includes Messy Rabbit Flower Pot & the 2nd set is Flower Pot accessories, rubber stamps from Joanna Sheen, the brown paper looking things are acrylic plates, 3 rectangles, 3 squares with punched corner hole & 3 small rectangles which are ideal for sentiments, 5 book rings, 5 Sakura Stardust Pens & some lovely bright flowers....

To enter here's what to do....

1. Put a link on your blog over to my candy

2. Leave a comment in this box ( if I can't find you then you can't win)

This time I am leaving the candy up for grabs until 12 noon on Thursday 29th January... so there is plenty of time for you to pass the word around & to enter yourself.

Good luck to everyone and remember, "You have to be in it, to win it"

Hugs

Lorraine xxx

Mr Postie Arrived

Yippee Mr Postie arrived this afternoon with my lovely goodies that I managed to grab during my supermarket sweep the other night at The Glitter Pot.... can't wait to delve into it so if I go AWOL you know what I'm doing...

Who am I kidding.... I was AWOL for long enough and now I'm back so you will just all have to look at the pics as I use my gorgeous new stash....

Happy crafting

Lorraine xxx

A very good morning to you all

Well good morning my lovely possems and it hope it finds us all safe & well... even if we are all lacking a bit of sunshine & flowers...

Oh now, the lack of sunshine & flowers I can perhaps help solve that for you...

Challenge Nos 2 has just been set over at The Sugar Bowl and what a super one it is too...

Sugar Momma has set the target high this time as we have to work around "3". We have to use 3 papers, 3 embellishments & we get extra points if we manage to use 3 stamps...

However, if you pop over & see the wonderful stash of stuff that is up for grabs then you will understand why... anyone would love to win this & you have 2 weeks to enter as the challenge doesn't close until midnight on January 28th....

Rainbow Lady is also back online with her challenges & this week it is based on "Fashion".

So that's my challenges sorted for the day, along with my housework, washing & I have to pop down to the craft group to say "Hi" to everyone as I haven't seen them since before my operation... oh & lets not forget I have to arrange delivery of yesterday's blog candy to Allison.

Later today I will also be choosing some more candy goodies to put up for grabs so will hopefully get that uploaded tonight or tomorrow....

That's all for now folks, happy crafting

Lorraine xxx

Blog Candy Winner

Okay folks are you ready to find out who is the winner of my blog candy giveaway..................

Drum roll please...........................................

Have I kept you waiting long enough???????????

Are you braced to your seat????????????

Am I really starting to annoy you now??????????

Oh me thinks I may very well be so here goes....

The winner is.....................................

Allison's Crafty Moments

I had to be careful on this one as I had 2 entrants with the same name but very fortunately they have different spellings.....

So congratulations Allison & if you email me your address I will arrange for delivery of your new Laura Ashley Album.

Please do watch out for more candy in the next few days so you can join in the fun again...

In the meantime, happy crafting & a huge big thank you to everyone who took the time to enter....

Lorraine xxx

Arty Girlz

The challenge this week over at Arty Girlz is "Button It".....

Well this gave me a great excuse to get out my good old clear stamps... you see I'm not big on baby cards but since I have got these stamps there's no stopping me...

Baby is stamped onto a background then the buttons are stamped onto a frame mounted with foam pads... all coloured in using Sakura Souffle....

Stamps from Cardology

Sakura Souffle

Happy crafting all

Lorraine xxx

A new Award

Well I have the wonderful Sharon to thank for passing this award on to me today... thank you honey it arrived on the perfect day...

I'm supposed to pass it on to 7 others but I have decided to pass it on to 10..... Sorry

These are 10 of the people who gave me so much support over the last 5 months during what was nothing less than traumatic for me.... these girls never failed to check in on me even when I wasn't able to blog I had phone calls & text messages... that's what you call true friends and that my fellow bloggers is what blogging is all about... we may not all get to meet but it doesn't mean that we can't support one another during the bad times.

There are many more of you out there who supported me but I'd have been here all day typing in names so although your name may not appear, please feel free to take this award as a gift from me to you....

Happy crafting

Lorraine xxx

Passed to Kath, Bev, Terrie B, Gayle, Dawn, Chris, Dawn, Chris, Cynthia, Cass

Blog Candy Draw

Just to remind you all that my blog candy closes at 12 noon today & the winner will be announced mid afternoon so make sure you check in to see if you are going to be the lucky recipient of this gorgeous Laura Ashley 12"x12" album.

Good luck to all of you.

Lorraine xxx

What a wonderful day.....

Yippee...... just to let you all know that after my online rant with you all, Dawn sent me words of inspiration "Shopped & checked out"....

Well, that was it I'd had enough & I was going for some retail therapy.... actually it was a bit more like supermarket sweep.... back to The Glitter Pot I went clicking all the buttons as quickly as I could. I didn't manage to have a proper look around as I was terrified I was going to lose it all yet again so I grabbed what I could & ran to the checkout.

Yippee my check out was open for service and through went my shopping.... suddenly remembered then that I actually have to breath in order to stay alive... gasp, gasp, gasp.... well now that the mad shopping spree was done I was exhausted so chilled out with a cup of hot chocolate then off to bed I went....

I have awoken this morning full of glee knowing that I will soon receive a big brown box full of gorgeous goodies... what a way to start the day.

Happy crafting

Lorraine xxx

The Glitter Pot

Well good evening everyone. It's normally our dearly beloved Kath that we rely on for the occassional rant but tonight you're getting one from me....

If anyone has tried to shop at The Glitter Pot today can you please let me know if you actually managed to make it to the check out or not....

Believe it or not I have tried approx 6 times today and whilst I am in the middle of doing my shopping for no known reason my basket has been emptied... now this really sucks.... like everyone else I wanted to treat myself to some post christmas goodies but can I get them no....

Now some are obviously getting orders through as when I go back the stuff I want has now become sold out... yet another thing that sucks.....

I am so disappointed so much so that I have emailed them to ask if there is infact some kind of a problem as I cannot believe that the same thing can happen so many times...

Oh I just thought, perhaps my shopping cart couldn't take the weight......

Well that's my rant over now but the steam is still coming off of me & I have a feeling that it may still be there tomorrow...

Happy crafting to all those who have managed to buy their goodies, unlike little old me.

Lorraine xxx

Papertake Weekly

What a great sketch we have by Dawny this week over at Papertake Weekly.

The minute I saw the sketch I knew exactly what sentiment I wanted to use and instead of using an image I included my big flower instead... that was the colour scheme decided right away so the next thing was for me to choose the papers... pretty simple really.

The thing I liked best about this sketch was although it has layers to it, what a quick make it provides for those last minute cards we all find ourselves needing... this only took about 10 minutes from start to finish & that includes the cutting...

Well if you ain't already joined in the fun, why not !!!! Only kidding, the sketch only came out yesterday so you still have loads of time to come along and play with all your like minded blogging buddies... hope to see you there...

Happy crafting

Lorraine xxx

2sketches4you

Yet another fab sketch this week over at 2sketches4you this time by the lovely Laura.

I do apologise for the bad lighting & shadows but it's 10.45pm here so I'm having to work by light & they never do look their best this way.

I had to slightly turn the sketch a little here so that my mini book is the part that sticks out when open...

I chose the wording "Made Just For You" as I send most of my challenge cards out to the troops in Iraq & Afghanistan so I thought this would be a really nice sentiment for someone to receive from a member of the armed services.

These guys and gals out there are doing a truly amazing job, be it what they believe in or not, they are following the orders that they signed up to take and for that I take my hat off to them...

Well I hope you like my card & I hope it makes someone happy somewhere when they receive it.

If you've not already joined in the fun this week created by Laura then hurry up & pop over now...

In the meantime, until tomorrow at least, happy crafting to one & all.

Lorraine xxx

Sugar Sugar Challenge

Well over at "The Sugar Bowl" there is not 1 but 2 challenges on the go... the 2nd one is under the "Sugar Sugar" tutorial & this month it focuses on paper beads..

Finally I have gotten around to uploading something using paper beads... normally I make bracelets etc as they are ideal for children as they can't get hurt from them & if they lose them so what no big deal it was only paper afterall....

Alas I decided to use them on a card for a change as a hanging embellishment & I quite like it so quess what you may well be seeing more of in the future....

Gayle & the DT really have got this blog off to a fantastic start & they deserve a huge round of applause....

Don't forget only 2 days left to enter my blog candy .

Well off to see what other challenges are on the agenda for today so in the meantime, happy crafting & I'll be back soon.

Lorraine xxx

Penny Black Challenge

Oh yummy.... the challenge this week over at Penny Black is to create something using the colours "Pink & Brown", now that is a yummy combination.

Here I have used a brown base card with some pink as a frame for the brown paper...

Sorry but I can't remember where I got the brown paper from as it was a free download.

Floral papers which are a yummy sultry shade of pink & brown, bloom sentiment & pink spotted scalloped circle are from Funky Hand. I highlighted the flowers on the swirl paper with some glossy accents & little ted has been mounted with silicone for some added depth.

Water coloured using Sakura Permapaque.

Ribbon are from my stash.

What a quick plain card to make so will probably use this layout again in the future.

Don't forget to check out my blog candy as there are only a few days left for you to enter.

Happy crafting

Lorraine xxx

What a day...

Well I'm not quite sure how the weather has been where you are today but where I am it has been nothing less than awful... wind has been howling & lashing rain... doesn't the good old British weather suck at times...

Well my morning started with a cup of instant coffee as my good old reliable for the past 2 years coffee perculator decided to die a death on me... absolutely shocking as it had cost me a massive £12 in the the sale at Morrisons & trust me I loved it dearly... a minimum of 1 pot of fresh coffee every day & sometimes pushed out to 2 pots... alas, it's time with me was over & that left me with the hassle of finding a new one... yes I know there are so many to choose from but I like one with easy access for the water, that heats quickly & keeps my coffee warm... trust me these are few & far between in reality...

Well dear hubby decided that we should go to the local Tesco in the next town over for a change, so off we went hoods up, gloves on etc etc braving this mad weather only to find that the road we normally take was closed so we had to about turn & go another... Yes you guessed it, two lanes full of traffic literally at a stand still & we were then stuck in the middle of it with no way out and the traffic in the opposite direction was every bit as bad, so no sense turning around... finally after about 30 minutes we made...

Now this is one of those Mega stores so hubby decided to buy me a lovely new cardigan along with yes would you believe it a fabby new coffee perculator... it's all brushed chrome & works super... I flushed it through with water to clean the inside & the water that had been sitting in the pot for over an hour had steam pouring from it when I went to throw it down the drain.. how cool, finally a pot that keeps the coffee warm just like the American ones... fingers crossed it lasts me for quite a few years to come & it was only £30.

After our 2 hour shopping trip it was off to the pet shop for the weekly supplies & into Argos as we also had to buy a humidifier... my wee guinea pig has a nasal problem which means he has to receive regular steaming seasons... not the easiest thing to do with a squirmy pig but a friend told me to try a humidifier as she knew someone who used it for her guinea pig & it worked wonders... alas it is running right now so with any luck this will work as well as my coffee pot...

Now that my daily chores are done I thought I would post you all a wee note to tell you about my day & now I'm off to see what challenges I can play on... hope you've all had a fabby day & I'll be back tomorrow again with yet another creation...

Happy crafting

Lorraine xxx

Tag You're It Challenge

Yippee the challenge this week over at "Tag You're It" has been set by my wonderful buddy Kath who I'm sure you all know very well... and she has opted for stripes...

What a fun tag this was to make as I delved into my scrap box for all the bits & pieces that have been left over from other projects. Like so many others I've started the clearing process & am truly amazed at what can be found amidst all the goodies we have collected over the last year, so rule number 1 this year is to keep buying to a minimum until I have used up a lot of what I have... I'm sure my bank account will like that but more to the point so will my craft room.

Well I have a spare half hour now before hubby whisks me off to the shop so think I may just manage to squeeze in a bit of blog hopping which will be the first for a few days & I'm so behind with my visits now. Perhaps I'll be visiting you today or tomorrow so keep an eye out for me.

P.s. Don't forget to check on my blog candy

Happy crafting

Lorraine xxx

Rainbow Ladys Challenge

The challenge set this week over at Rainbow Lady is to make a card with the colours Green & Black... well I do apologise at the colour of my hearts but they are infact a gorgeous mint green...

Hearts were punched using Fiskars squeeze punches, the gold edging was a Pen Touch Calligraphy Pen & the central black hearts have been coated with Accent Glaze just to give them some additional shine... for added depth the hearts have been raised using silicone.

Please pop over & join in the fun at Rainbow Lady's Challenge.

Happy crafting

Lorraine xxx

P.s Don't forget to enter for your chance to win some candy.

2sketches bonus card

Sorry I'm a little late in posting today but I've been busy having my hair cut, shopping for household & animals, let's not forget some new storage boxes that I've also bought as I'm currently reorganising my craft room... rate I'm going at though it will probably take me about a month before I finish... alas I do have challenges to do & cards to make so must get my priorities right...

Well this week for the first time ever I've managed to make a card for this week's bonus sketch by Peet over at 2sketches4you. I've stamped the acrylic tag using staz on & coloured in using Sakura Glaze pens then I backed the tag with a spotted paper... Circular apeture was cut using a Fiskars shape cutter template. This was a super fun card to make so a huge thank you to Peet.

Papers are by Funky Hand Acrylic tag & flower from Joanna Sheen Flower stamp & Sakura Glaze Pen from Marking World.

Happy crafting & I will be back with more tomorrow...

Lorraine xxx

2sketches4you

More fun had to be had today as I had to make sure I didn't miss the 1st challenge of 2009 over at 2 sketches 4 you.... well I did miss rather a lot at the end of last year so have to make up for it now don't I...

I have so missed these ladies as they are so incredibly talented & this week it is the chance of Kazan to show off her skills... what a fab sketch...

Papers are Laura Ashley

Flowers are large dahlia from Joanna Sheen

Pearls from my stash

I hope you like it and please also check out my BLOG CANDY HERE.

Happy crafting

Lorraine xxx

Tag You're It Challenge

Yippee another new challenge in the new year, this time over at Tag You're It .

The challenge that has been set is to make your tag using some of your "New Stash", so I decided to go with my new acrylic tags. This is also a new technique for me as I'm not used to using acrylic & boy did I enjoy it so watch this space for more acrylic creations over the coming months...

Acrylic Tag from Joanna Sheen

Stamp from S for Stamps

Coloured using Sakura Glaze & edged with a gold pen-touch calligraphy pen

Ribbon from stash

Don't forget to check out my blog candy also, just click HERE

Happy crafting

Lorraine xxx

1st candy give away of 2009

A new year, a new start & good health to all.

Well as it's a new year & the last 5 months have been pretty crap for me, I've decided to start this year afresh & full of life... for this reason I have decided to share my happiness with you all by giving away some candy.

Up for grabs is this lovely Laura Ashley glittered scrapbook album... it is 12" x 12" and includes 10 top loading sheet protectors.

To be in with a chance of winning, here's what you need to do:

1. Join up as a follower of my blog

2. Place a link from your blog to my blog www.craftycoo.blogspot.com

3. Leave a comment here

It's as quick & simple as that and all international entries qualify too...

This candy will be up for grabs until 12 noon (GMT) on Wednesday 14th January 2009.

Happy crafting

Lorraine xxx