Another day over...

Boy oh boy did my day turn out to be different to what I had originally planned.

Now last week I didn't manage to get very much sleep... same thing over & over again for 1 week every month... now you know what to blame for that... so I couldn't believe it when I had such an amazing sleep last night... and felt so much better for it today.

Up I got, done a few things, including some blogging of course and then off for my little trip to see the physio... oh boy was it good.. a lovely massage I had today for the full of my session & I also got a new exercise which is very easy to do but will help with my movement range.

I was then going to pop over to visit my buddy Gayle but I forgot that her Dad visits on a Tuesday so that put end to that idea... off home I trotted & made some lunch for myself. Then the phone started to ring, Mum calling from sunny Vegas, Rob etc etc... about an hour and a half down the line I finally got off my butt to do some housework & ended up having a mad session.. not easy to get the work done when mum is around as she will not accept that my operation was almost 6 months ago & still thinks I should sit on my bum all day...

Two loads of washing done.. ready for Sandra to iron tomorrow... kitchen units & floors scrubbed.. wc washed down & floor scrubbed, hall scrubbed, dining room...well we never use it for eating in so in there is my bunny "Buddy", guinea pig Gruesilog and 2 mini chinese hamsters Ping & Pong... so all of their cages were cleaned then the full room was scrubbed...

Next on the agenda was dinner... then off to see to all the outdoor bunnies.

9pm and duties completed so sat & watched some tv with hubby whilst the mad Buddy had a run around our feet... he is such a baby constantly jumping up for hugs & kisses from his daddy...

Rob has popped off to bed now & once I finish this post I think I'll be having an early night too that way I will have plenty of energy tomorrow again... for my crafting of course... well that's not entirely true as my craft room is a mess again so will have to spend an hour or two getting it all organised so it looks all pretty.

Only have one card ready at the moment so will schedule this to post at 8am tomorrow.

Hope you've all had a fab day like me.

Hugs

Lorraine xxx

What a Scrubber

Good morning everyone & hope you are fine & dandy today, ready to have a whole lot more crafting fun...

To start off with today I thought I'd choose this little beauty (even though I called her a scrubber)... just couldn't resist seeing as she has her little scrubbing board inside the bucket.

This is another Cute Daisy May image which I have coloured this time using something that I so adore... my Koi water colours

Why do I adore these so... it's simple... they come in a compact travel box, complete with water brush... this means I can relax on the sofa, watch some tv & paint away to my hearts content... in addition to this, the colours are so intense that it allows such a massive colour availability from watering the colour right down for a simple colour wash, building up your colour & then you have your colour mixes... I'd be so lost without my set.

To complete the card I mounted the image onto a scalloped square which was mounted with 3d foam pads onto paper and then onto white card... all of the layers have been highlighted using a gold calligraphy pen.

Image : Cute Daisy May

Koi Water Colours & Gold Calligraphy Pen : Sakura

Scalloped background & card candy : Craftwork Cards

Well I hope you like my bright little scrubber & I will be back later with yet another creation. There really is a bit of a production line going on here this week so you never know I might even try & squeeze a wee challenge or two in... if the mood takes me that is.

Happy crafting

Lorraine xxx

Mr Postie Again

Oh now, would you just look at this ever so cute card I have received in the post from the gorgeous Karen who sent it so say thanks for her blog candy....

I just thought this was so adorable with all those bunnies on it... obviously I did seeing as I am such a bunny freak....

This was another card I received so out of the blue & it sure did put a very large smile on my face... Don't you just love those unexpected cards. At the moment it is on display in my living room, but it will be another for me to add to my scrapbook when I get it done.

Back around noon with the first of today's creations.

Hugs
Lorraine xxx

Funky Fun

Here is another little Cute Daisy May image... this time water coloured using none other than Sakura Moonlight pens...

Immediately I decided that she had to be a funky chick because of the vibrancy of the moonlight pens... some jazzy papers, card candy, letter tiles & doodling... voila one complete card.

I'm having so much fun with these cute little images & there is quite a range to choose from & combined with my colour options using my Sakura pens... well... I'd be here all night telling you what colour combos etc to use...

I've already got some more colouring done but still have the cards to make up, although I will have to do this tonight as hubby is stealing the camera from me tomorrow.

Never fear though, I will hold something in reserve for posting... heaven forbid that I don't get a new card on... I've felt so deprived already over the weekend.

Happy crafting

Lorraine xxx

Booted Up...

Hello again my lovely blogging buddies... here is card number 2 of the day... again with a Cute Daisy May image... this time she has been water coloured using Sakura Permapaque Hobbymarkers.

This time she has been matted & layered slightly & mounted on 3d foam.. scroll is from Sizzix die cut. A little doodling, some flowers cut from papers & again some yummy card candy from Craftwork Cards.

Back again later with another little creation.... see although it's been a mad weekend around here I have still be able to squeeze a few cards in... just never got the time to upload them.

Hugs

Lorraine xxx

Daisy May is Sparkling...

Sorry I've been such a bad blogger over the weekend but it's been a bit nuts around here as my mum is jetting off to glitzy Las Vegas this morning.... that meant she had to come up & do all my housework, strip beds etc before she left... I can't get it through to her that my operation was 5 months ago & I am now capable of doing things for myself... I think I just have one of those mothers who constantly needs to feel needed.... Alas, at this moment in time she is now sitting somewhere in Gatwick Airport waiting to board her flight... that means I will hopefully have more time to myself this week, although I do in a manner of speaking have to watch her old man... need to call him every day & make sure he takes his medication then I have to bring him up here to watch some tv with me.... drag.... still trying to figure out how this duty always falls upon my shoulders as he has a daughter of his own who lives about 1 mile away from me so it's every bit as easy for her to take care of him......................................

Sorry about that.... and now that my moaning is complete for this morning... here is the first Cute Daisy May card coloured with Sakura pens...

For this one I have used Sakura Stardust to water colour the image so because of all the sparkle, I kept decoration to a minimum... a few felt flowers from my stash & some card candy.

Although you can't really see it in the picture I used a clear stardust pen on the background paper too just to highlight the flowers & leaves, so this card have major sparkle in real life...

Image : Cute Daisy May

Colour : Sakura Stardust

Card Candy : Craftwork Cards

Well that's my first post of the day & have a few more to come... have a few cards to take pictures of & another few more to make...

Hope you've all had a fabulous weekend, but it's time to get the heads back down & into the good old crafting again.

See you all soon

Lorraine xxx

My Surprise

Well as you will know from yesterday's posting I had a surprise email asking if I would do some work using Sakura pens... which I agreed to...

What was the surprise....

Linnie actually asked me if I would like to work with her Cute Daisy May images using my Sakura kit... how could I possibly say no to that one...

Firstly it gives me another great excuse to play with my beloved pens & also the chance to combine them with downloadable images... considering we are in the middle of a credit crunch right now I think that more people will be using downloads this year as they are so much cheaper to purchase.

Anyhow, I'm off now to have a little colouring in session & will hopefully have something for you by the end of the day.

Hope you're all having a fab weekend.

Hugs

Lorraine xxx

Surprise

Oh boy... now I can't share the exact information with you right now... top secret you know until all the details have been ironed out...

When I awoke this morning & checked my emails, I had received one that can only be described as a complete surprise...

I have responded now & hopefully by the end of the day I will know a little more & perhaps even be on the way to bringing you something new...

All I can tell you is that I have been asked to use them in conjunction with Sakura....

I'm pretty excited about this as I think it will be a perfect combination & so can't wait to get started...

Will keep you up to date as events unfold..

Have a happy crafty weekend.

Lorraine xxx

Sparkle & Shine

Good morning folks & hope you are all geared up ready for a weekend full of crafting... I hope to fit in as much as possible around all the usual weekend chores like food shopping etc..

This is another little card I made yesterday... I stamped the leaves in the background with Tim Holtz distress inks then used a water brush to pull the colour in & once dry I highlighted part of them using a Clear Sakura Stardust pen..

Next I used Staz On to stamp a floral image onto another piece of card which I then water coloured with more Sakura Stardust.. I really do love the shine that they produce even when watered down...

Finally I edged both the card & mount with a gold Sakura Calligraphy pen and the mount was attached using foam pads.

I do love these gorgeous stamps which are from Inkadinkado...

Now let's all hope there is lots more crafting in store today.

Hugs

Lorraine xxx

Flowers all around

Well finally today I've gotten the chance to upload a little creation for you... I've had rather a few cards to make today for things I had forgotten ie 1 birthday & 1 anniversary but on top of that I also had to make a sympathy card... now I was running late with the post on them so didn't manage to gets pics... sorry.... in addition to that I've had a couple of visitors... hence, when I got the place to myself I just wanted something simple to do...

Here I have used K&Co papers, onto which I added the outline from some double sided peel offs and then covered them in ultra fine glitter... then some ribbon & 2 large blooms centred with a small glittered flower... complete...

Seeing as I was just playing for myself, I think that's why I used the biggest blooms I could find, combined with the glitter on my peel offs... sure did make me smile on what has been a very windy day....

I do have another card ready but I'll schedule that for tomorrow morning just incase I don't make anything else tonight..

Hope you've all had a fab day...

Hugs

Lorraine xxx

Morning All

Well I certainly hope you have better weather than I do today... the winds are howling outside & goodness only knows what the rest of the day will bring...

I've just done a little blog hopping... trying to do bits & bobs here & there so that I can catch up with everyone... (need a full day I think)... so off now to have a quick rush around with the vacuum & duster etc... mum is coming to visit at some point although not sure when and apart from that I'm planning on having a crafty day...

Not sure yet what I'm going to play with so you will just all have to wait & see... Sorry!

Have a fabby day & back with you all soon.

Hugs

Lorraine xxx

A non craft day of sorts

Well what a day it turned out to be for little old me... firstly the weather has been bitter cold sharp winds combined with rain & hail.... YUCK....

Alas, I set out today with the intention of getting my step daughter a binding machine to use for her University course work.... easy I thought... so off I popped to my local craft store... where I just happened to meet up with some bloggy buddies Allison and Sue which was lovely... I also ended up staying & having a coffee with them whilst they were in their craft group... please note that although there was lots of laughter around the table, everyone managed to produce a finished card at the end of it all...

Allison....... true to my word, I am blogging about it..... thank you for my lovely Aloe Vera tissue..

Now back to my story... after all this fun & shopping too of course (for myself)... they were out of stock on binders... SUCKS..... off I toddled to another craft shop (hubby nipping in ear on mobile phone)... pee water.... they too were out of stock.....

Now by this time I'm getting peeved off so ended up going to Next & splashing the cash on new clothes for her... poor soul.... at least I know what she's getting for Christmas now....

Upon my return home my friend & neighbour called to ask if I had 1 large free range egg to enable her to make dinner... off I popped round to hers.... then would you believe it... when I went to make our dinner... I was out of olive oil... so hubby was shipped back round to my friends to get some oil from her..

Finally I managed to get dinner ready & just as we sat down to eat in came my step daughter & boyfriend... who at this moment in time are sat in the living room watching tv...

Sorry I've not managed to post a creation today but will be back with something new tomorrow... in the meantime I'm now off to feed my bunnies & get them all locked up for the night...

Hope you've had a wonderful day & see you all tomorrow again.

Happy crafting

Lorraine xxx

Craft Business Awards 2009....

Just a quick note to let you know that the results are out for the "Craft Business Awards 2009" and the full results can now be viewed online here.

As a Sakura demonstrator, I am proud to say that they won the "Best Art Material" section, which shows that these pens really are amazing.

Why not pop over now & have a look at the results for yourself...

Hugs

Lorraine xxx

Award Time

I feel so honoured tonight as I've just been presented with this award from the lovely Janet... now we all know that I've not been the best with my blog hopping of late although I have started managing to fit it into my schedule again.. thank goodness for that... I've been missing out on so many fab creations... if I haven't managed to get to your blog yet... I promise I will be there over the next few days..

As a way of saying thank you for supporting me by visiting & commenting even when I don't have time to return the friendship... I want to present this award to every person who visits my blog... please take this award & upload to your own blog so that you too may be a "spreader of love"...

Happy crafting

Lorraine xxx

Spring Bonnet

Finally I have managed to complete & upload pictures of the spring bonnet I have made for my friends little 4 year old daughter....

Like most other little sweeties of her age, she likes nothing better than having something new to wear & I thought this would be a lovely little gift for her which she can use when the sun is shining...

Here is the front view of the hat... complete with a bird, butterflies, flowers & leaves..

This is the back of the hat which I kept very plain with only the bow for detail... I do however like how the little birdie can be seen flying over the top....

This gives a slightly better view of things... the little bird is held in the air with a piece of wire and the bird itself is made using the negative part of a clear double sided peel offs which has been covered in glitter, attached to card & then cut around...

Here is a close up of the flowers & leaves which are also clear double sided peel offs (this time using the outlines, instead of the negatives) which have been glittered then water coloured using Sakura Stardust pens...

Another close up of the front of the hat which allows you to see the depth of the flowers & butterflies.

Close up of the butterflies which are simply metallic padded butterflies which I have added detail to using Sakura Identi pens.

Well I hope you've enjoyed looking at my little spring bonnet and now I'm off to see what else my mischevious little hands can get themselves up to... yes I do have to organise dinner for hubby coming in & have the night time feeding of animals etc to deal with... but I'm sure I can manage another creation or two before it's time to go to bed...

Hope you're all having a fun filled day

Hugs

Lorraine xxx

A wee surprise

Look what I received today in the post... a lovely little unexpected card & it sure put a smile on my face... who could resist this gorgeous little chappie...

Who was the sender... none other than Zoe who wrote some beautiful words inside...

Like all of you, I so love receiving all the handmade cards & store them all in my keepsake box... however... I feel like they are all constantly locked away out of sight... so I have now decided that I'm actually going to start a scrapbook where I can store all of my cards & it will be so much nicer for me to share them with my friends then.

Happy crafting..

Lorraine xxxx

New Bonnet....

Evening folks... hope you've all had an excellent day....

Well since my last post... I decided upon what I wanted to do next and that was to work away on my new bonnet for my friends daughter...

I've been having good fun thinking of what to put on it & how I'm going to place them etc...

At the moment... the only thing that has been attached is the poor ribbon.. although... I am in the process of putting bits & bobs together, then once everything is ready to be attached I will put them all on at the same time... that way I know they'll definately be glued where I want them instead of changing my mind at the last minute..

Hopefully I'll be able to let you see it tomorrow if I can get it all completed by then...

That's enough from me just now as I must get back to my wee old bonnet... which seeing as it has been raining here today, has been a delight to work with as it's a beautiful colour...

Hope to see you all again tomorrow.

Happy crafting

Lorraine xxx

Sakura Souffle Pens

I know I said I would be back yesterday with this project but the day didn't quite go to plan so here is my little Sakura Souffle project for you all to share with me now....

Sakura Souffle is yet another amazing pen that can be used on a multitude of surfaces... not just card or paper... it can be used on:

White/coloured card, Parchment, Pearlescent, Shrink Plastic, Metal, Acetate, Glass, Plastic & Terracotta...

For this project I used a miniature terracotta plant pot to which I attached some outline peel offs... like the Sakura Glaze pens... you simply have to colour in & you can easily tell when the ink is dry as you will see the colour change... when applied the colour is darker and turns to a lighter shade during the drying process... this only takes a few minutes...

Once the pot was complete I then stuffed it with some tissue paper & covered the surface with silicone... I then inserted my wire stemmed flowers where I wanted them to be & to finish it all off, I hide the silicone with some flower soft....

What I most like about this is the fact that you do not lose the texture of the pot when you apply the Sakura Souffle... as you can see in the close up above... the ink has moulded itself around the suface texture... but if you didn't want to retain this effect then you could simply add an additional layer of Souffle to even the whole image out.

I also like the fact that the ink itself can work alongside both the textures of the felt & the flower soft... as many a time I have found myself not being able to use certain products as they clash... this was not the case with the Sakura Souffle...

Now that this is complete, I can have a look around & see what I'm going to play with next...

Happy crafting

Lorraine xxx

Time at home....

Oh boy what a day it turned out to be yesterday... I left early afternoon & something that should have taken about 3 hours max... ended up taking until 6.40pm... at which point I then had to rush home, turn lights on, feed animals & then rush back out for a 7pm meeting... needless to say I did manage to make a quick coffee which left along with me in my travel mug...

Finally meeting ended & I managed to return home about 10pm... tired & starving... sad thing was I couldn't be bothered waiting for anything to cook as I was so hungry... hadn't had anything since 2.30pm.... so dinner ended up being 4 slices of toast & pate...

I've had a lazy start to the day but energy levels are starting to rise again.. thankfully, I have a day in the house and am going to stuff the housework & just spend time playing...

Don't know how much I'll achieve but I'll certainly be back in the next few hours with something...

Hope you're all having a good day.

Hugs

Lorraine xxx

Where is Spring....

Gosh, I'm just getting ready to head out the door just now but boy am I having to wrap up well today...

Where has all our beautiful spring weather disappeared to?

Today instead of the mild blue skied days we've had of late... what do we have... flaming gale force winds...

It was so bad during the night that it actually blew over one of my patio chairs... very unusual & they really haven't eased up much today at all... I actually think they are picking up again so goodness only knows what they will be like overnight...

Let's just hope that it's only a wee blip in the weather & that tomorrow we are back to our gorgeous sunshine.

Hope the weather is a little better where you are.

Back later.

Hugs

Lorraine xxx

Sakura on Tin

Here's to another fine Monday morning my lovelies & hoping it proves to be a good week for all.

Now at the moment I'm currently in the process of making up a whole load of Sakura samples and therefore, I'm working my way through & having a good old play with everything in my demo kit, combined with different surfaces.. you see Sakura don't believe in making simply for paper/card application...

Here I have used a min tin bucket which I purchased from Hobbycraft (great bargains if you look for them), then I have simply attached a peel off design direct to the tin.... as the tin is a silvery colour & so too is the peel off, it gives the possibility that this could infact be an embossed bucket... now comes the complicated bit.... colour in the peel off with your Sakura Glaze Pens...

I hasten to add though that as the glaze pens have a succulent flow it is necessary to work on it one section at a time in order to enable the ink to dry... if you try to turn too quickly... your ink will run & puddle..... but as the ink only takes a few minutes to dry, it's not all that time consuming...

Just imagine all the lovely little things you too could create for around the home or as a keepsake gift for friends or family...

Next time I'm at Hobbycraft I will pick up some oasis etc as I plan to add some stemed flowers to create a floral display... will do my best to remember & post a pic when it is 100% complete.

For all those out there that already have a Sakura supply... what are you waiting for... let's get creating...

Remember you can now purchase your Sakura products direct online from the UK distributor at

www.markingworld.co.uk

Hope to be back later with another little creation... this time using Sakura Souffle Pens...

Lots of hugs

Lorraine xxx

Flowers for All

Evening all.... and hope you have had a fabulous Mothers Day filled with lots of love from morning till night.

Here is a little quick card that I made... yet again from my wonderful Craftwork Cards collection.. don't you just love how everything they produce works so well together & makes life so simple when you're in a hurry....

Here I took 2 pink dotty flowers & attached to the base card, attached some card candy for the centres... then chalked & inked an embossed scalloped frame which was then mounted using foam pads... another 2 dotty flowers, this time in brown were mounted again with foam pads & finally card candy was used for the flower centres & opposing corners...

I do so love all these goodies for my quick makes and if you've never bought from them then you really should make an investment... apart from matching products making life simple for us... all of their stuff is made from high quality materials so you are not using paper flimsy frames etc... all are made from good quality cardstock...

I do hope this little card has brightened your day & I apologise for the bad picture but when I used the flash it caused light reflection & shadows so ended up opting to switch the flash off...

Enjoy what is left of your wonderful day & I'll be back with another project tomorrow.. this time using Sakura on tin... right now though I'm off to snuggle on the sofa with hubby & watch a little tv...

Happy crafting

Lorraine xxx

Jade Goody

Well morning to you all folks... and I do apologise for abondoning you yesterday with the exception of the candy winner... however, hubby took me out for lunch, we went shopping etc, I had a few Sakura samples to make up then we were off out to my friends 40th..... it turned out to be quite a late night for me....

Alas, when I turned the computer on this morning I read the news that poor Jade Goody has finally lost her battle with cancer... thankfully it sounds as though she passed away peacefully.

Now last weekend they said she wouldn't make Mothers Day so I have to wonder if this was her one final fight of defiance... as she did infact make it... so sad however that she didn't get to see her boys... but in the long run it may well be better for them... Obviously this will be a day with a difference for them in years to come & I only hope that they are brought up to celebrate the day & not to mourn it.

Having recently attended the doctors, and having a discussion with her in relation to cervical cancer, she did confirm that since Jade Goody had been told she was going to lose her fight for life, the surgery had seen an increase of somewhere in the region of 20% - 25% in younger women being tested... this is something that the medical profession has never been able to achieve on their own.

Another cancer which is even harder to detect is ovarian cancer... stats show that this too ranks within the top five for women.... and there is no regular testing that can be done for this, unlike cervical cancer.

What I would like to ask is that you all ensure you attend for your smear tests every time they are due... this will ensure that if there are any stray cells there they will hopefully be able to treat them before the situation escalates... more often than not this is done by laser surgery & having spoken to people who have gone through it... it is very quick & relatively painfree....

It could save your life.................

Ovarian cancer on the other hand appears as symptoms... some of the following:

Pain in the lower abdomen or side, bloating or full feeling in the abdomen, irregular period, back pain, passing urine more often than usual, constipation, pain during sex....

There is quite a lot of detail available although I never recommend that you self diagnose... at

http://www.cancerhelp.org.uk/default.asp

Simply have a read & if in any doubt make an appointment with your GP as soon as possible...

Now if you read this site... to give you peace of mind... when my tumour was diagnosed last year, I was at Stage 4 ovarian cancer... that was 6 months ago & look at me now... back to normal... I was fortunate enough not to have cancer as will be many others.... just because you have the tumour does not mean the worst....

Don't take the chance..... GET IT CHECKED OUT............

Sorry to start your Sunday off with my preaching on this matter.. but after recent experience this is something that is very close to my heart & I for one always had my smear test done and nothing has ever shown up... do not believe that your smear test will show signs of ovarian cancer... there is no connection at all.........

To anyone reading this who has been affected by these terrible diseases, through friends, family or personal... I salute you for your bravery and please know that I do say a prayer every day for those who are currently suffering.

I will be back later today with some new creations and in the meantime please all have a wonderful time with your family on Mothers Day......

Hugs

Lorraine xxx

Daily Candy Add on WINNER ..................

Well I've actually been doubled in two this morning working out the winner of my candy... why....

Would you believe that yesterday I sat & counted up all the entrants... 891 in total.... and then sat down writing out a long list of numbers & names in advance of drawing the number.... you know, one of those times when you try to be prepared to the best of your ability... just goes to show exactly how my brain was functioning yesterday (or rather, should I say not functioning),

not enough medication in me obviously....

Now this morning, I sat down all ready to complete my list & what did I realise... the entrants were all broken down into daily stats so all I actually had to do was work through them this way... oh so simple yet my silly brain did not realise this yesterday.... my apologies....

Alas I am bright & functioning this morning so have now worked out the winner of the candy and it took me all of about 60 seconds.....

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:885
Timestamp: 2009-03-21 08:56:09 UTC

I did have a good old laugh to myself when this number was drawn as with it being number 885 & there were 891 entries the counting was very simple.... how big a twat do I now feel.... lol.

Having now completed my very difficult mathmatics of 885 of 891... this translates to show the winner as being none other than....

Karen

So very well done to Karen & a huge big thank you to everyone else who joined in the fun.

Hey you never know when the next lot will appear do you... and I must admit... I'm loving doing these candy give aways...

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend filled with lots of crafting...

Karen can you please drop me an email with your address so I can get your goodies in the post to you...

Big hugs to one & all

Lorraine xxx

Update

Well a very good evening to you all folks & may I say thank you very much to all those who have popped over & welcomed Sheonagh to our wonderful land of blog.... much appreciated.

Secondly thank you for all your well wishes & I am now pumping myself full of medication...

Thirdly I do apologise that it is taking me a while to work out the winner of the candy but still composing my list of entrants... have been trying to fit it in amongst other things today so I thank you for your patience & I will provide you with a result as soon as possible.

In the meantime keep up the creative juices & happy crafting.

Hugs

Lorraine xxx

New Blog...

Just a quick note to let you all know that Sheonagh from Telfords Direct has been working hard on her blog since I visited the other day... turns out she was sitting in an old format so couldn't upload slides or anthing... alas she has worked her butt off on this ever since & now has a pretty fab blog started...

Please pop over & give her your support.

http://craftsinthegarden.blogspot.com/

She's still lacking in confidence blog wise but I'm sure once she's had some visitors & lovely comments left for her... won't take long for her to be one of us mad blogging buddies.

Hugs

Lorraine xxx

CANDY CLOSES AT NOON

Good morning to all you lovely peeps out there.... I am hoping that we are going to have another glorious day of sunshine here as it is still very misty at the moment... it was like that yesterday and cleared around 10.30am to give us the most beautiful blue sky... oh... does that mean I can get my washing out on the line again... 2 days in a row... yippee... I do so hate the winter months when everything has to be hung up inside and you never get the fresh air blowing through it...

Thank you to everyone who left me well wishes last night & I will be calling the doctors shortly. It's always a nightmare up there before 10am & I will be happy if they can just arrange for me to collect a prescription & go.. I'm also supposed to be attending a 40th birthday party tomorrow night & at the moment it looks like that is going to be a no no... sucks... you never know though if I can get some good tablets into me that may well change.

As for Brianna who was singing in the Glasgow Music Festival last night (I never made it), we had to text her around 10.30pm as we hadn't heard from her.... the response was a brief text back saying "didn't win, don't want to talk about it now"... poor wee soul... What makes it worse is that we weren't there so have no idea what happened... she has said if she feels like it today then she will call but we never pressure her & allow her to talk about these things in her own time... she takes losing very bad as she always strives to be the best she can & takes it very personal... it is sad to see her so upset but at the same time it's good character building for her as she will have to learn to take the hits if she wants to work in the industry.

Finally, I have decided to leave the daily candy add on open until 12 noon today, just incase someone has missed out on yesterdays... then after this the counting will begin... think I will have to resort to writing all the names down so that counting through them will be easier.

I also started on a wee bonnet last night for my friends daughter, I was going to make it an Easter one but changed my mind as that would mean she could really only use it for a few days.. instead it's going to be a bit more summery so she can wear it anytime. With any luck I might get it finished at some point today & uploaded.

Hope you all have a fab day.

Hugs

Lorraine xxx

Would you believe it ....

Now hell's bell's is all I can say on this subject... as I actually feel like I have been in hell for a large proportion of the day....

To let you understand, I developed a viral infection in my throat about 10 days ago... tried the old Strepsils... no didn't work.... moved on to the Beechams... no didn't work... so next I turned to the Paracetamol....

Well last night I saw every hour on the clock with the exception of 4am... yes I coughed the whole night through... needless to say I was feeling a bit tired today but still had some work to do & had to pop to the supermarket... well.... as I was carrying the shopping in, I had another coughing fit & would you believe it... succeeded in pulling one of my chest muscles... AGONY is about the only word I can use for it...

Now because this has been going on for a week... all the coughing had already started to make me ache around the area where my ovary was removed.. have been holding that during the coughs... now since early afternoon today, I also have to grab my chest... the pain is excruciating & my chest feels so tight it's as though I'm having a heart attack...

Think I better just get my butt up to the doctor tomorrow for some anti biotics rather than trying to rely on over the counter medicine...

Needless to say, I ended up going for a lie down this afternoon to try & aleviate the pain so never managed to get any crafting done today at all.. Boo Hoo...

I'm off to watch some tv now whilst I wait to hear from Brianna on how she got on with her competition tonight... it really sucks that I couldn't be there...

Almost forgot to tell you that last night I couldn't find a parking space so dropped Rob off so he could go in & listen to her and I ended up out in the car for an hour & a half... last night she was awarded joint 3rd... hoping it may be a better result for her tonight... Last year she took 1st place in both her sections but she was singing in the 18's and under... this year she is 19 so having to compete in the top section so she is up against people who have been singing for years... whole different ball game for her but also good experience.

For those of you who left comments for her last night I did pass them on & she has asked that I thank you all for your kind words & support... she very much appreciated it.

Well time for me to say night, night... oh boy I have to count all those names tomorrow for the blog candy... how many hours do you think that's gonna take me!

Hugs

Lorraine xxx

Daily Candy Add on ( FINAL )

Well another fantastic add on for you today.... THE FINAL ONE............................

Now today's add on has come to you by courtesy of the lovely Sheonagh who is the owner of Telfords Direct... now I design for Sheonagh and so love getting my hands on her goodies... arent't they just yummy.... her stock room is a wealth of hidden gems & one where you are just never quite sure exactly what you will find...

I did tell you yesterday that when I went to visit her I was prepared to beg, borrow or steal... alas none of that was required... when I put the suggestion to her that she share some of her lovelies with you bloggers, she was more than happy to oblige..

Good excuse for me to have a good old rummage & believe it or not I got so carried away getting stuff for you, that I forgot to get anything for myself... that is without a word of a lie... thankfully however I will be visiting again over the next week or so and I will be prepared....

For today, I decided to try & give you a little taste of what Sheonagh is all about... mad, nutty, whacky... oh yes she is all of these but she also loves to share these traits with you through her products...

What all is included... here goes...

Charms, embellishments, roses, Puddle Lodge "Chocolate" message stickers, skeleton leaves, grapevine hearts, sinamay mesh, papier mache box, leather offcuts, Puddle Lodge Celtic foil seals, very exquisite fluffy feathers, cello bags & paper bags...

I do hope that you find this a wide enough variety to give you an idea of the type of goodies available from Sheonagh, but may I strongly suggest that today again, make yourself a nice old cuppa, pop over to her website & have a good old look around....

www.telfordsdirect.co.uk

To join in with this final lot of candy.. simply leave a comment here and perhaps you could say thank you to Sheonagh also for her generosity.

Hope you all have a super day & not long now till you find out who has won all of these goodies... It could very well end up being you... GOOD LUCK.

Hugs

Lorraine xxx

Sneek preview of tomorrow...

Okay folks... I know this is rather nasty of me to tease you... but tomorrow will see the last addition to my daily candy add on... all good things must come to an end... as the old saying goes.

So I thought I would give you a little bit of what is going to be showing up here for your final add on....

Are you intrigued???? I sure hope so....

Remember to check back tomorrow for the full picture and the candy will upload at 8am (GMT) all being well with Mr Blogger that is.

Have a fantastic night & as for me I'm off to hear my step daughter sing in the Glasgow Music Festival... she is due on stage around 8.15pm so please keep fingers crossed for her... this right enough is only night one... she still has tomorrow night to go...

Big crafty hugs

Lorraine xxx

Birthday & Anniversary

Well as I told you all last night I had 2 last minute cards to make which I had completely forgotten about.... and by the time I completed everything on my list, it was getting late & I was getting tired... however... no rest for the wicked as they say & I had to push on...

Thank heavens I had bought a goody bag from Craftwork Cards at the SECC.... the easy solution I thought as everything in the bag is already colour co-ordinated to make life easy...

Out the came the bag... spread the goodies in front of me & decided upon what to use... the result was 2 very quick make cards...

Anniversary card for my Mum & Eric

Birthday card for my friend Pauline

The use of a little glue & foam pads combined with some inking of edges and the job was done...

Thank you Craftwork Cards...

Hugs

Lorraine xxx

Daily Candy Add on

Ok folks here is a biggy for you this morning.... I know it doesn't look much in the picture but would you believe there is somewhere in the region of £35 worth of goodies in this one picture..

Firstly I would like to thank the wonderful Mr Sakura himself (The Flying Scotsman) for being so generous & actually donating this gift for me to offer to you... yes that's right & I put my hand up to this... it hasn't cost me a single penny....

THANK YOU CRAIG....... perhaps you could leave a comment thanking him also.

Now this part of my candy was unplanned until I loaded a project called "Sakura met my Bunny" for which many people left comments thinking I was offering the pens... which I wasn't... when I mentioned this to Craig he very kindly offered to donate a set of them, along with some fabulous peel offs.

Now don't be turning your noses up at the words Peel offs... I know so many people still think of borders & corners but we have come a long way since then... in addition to that... these peel offs have been designed specifically to work with your Sakura pens.... yippee......

I have attached 2 picture sheets below to give you an idea of the types of designs available... as you can see they are very swirly ( the current trend).

You will see that there are gold/silver on one end of the pic & white on the other... this is where the true magic begins....

The white sheets you see are infact double sided peel offs... covered by a protective layer of course... these peel offs are designed to be used with ultra fine glitter & boy do you get some dazzling results... you would simply cut out the image you require (roughly) then peel back the protective layer... this then allows you to rub (in circular motions) your glitter onto the design. Once you've finished rubbing it in, simply remove & position... there are birds, hobby horses & flowers to name but a few..

Please see the bottom of this post on how to order your Sakura products online in the UK...

Today's daily candy add on

Example of bird designs

Example of Butterfly designs

To enter today simply leave a comment (please do thank Craig for his generosity) as I'm sure he will be looking to see what you all say about our beloved Sakura products.

Finally, I know that many of you love Sakura but may not always live close to a shop where you can easily purchase them... so don't say I never lead you in the right direction... problem solved.

http://www.markingworld.co.uk/

What more can I say... oh yes... make sure you have a cuppa to hand along with your purse...

Hope you all have a fabulous day.

Hugs

Lorraine xxx

Design talk & blog help

Well as you may or may not know (depends if you've read my profile), amongst one of the fruits of my labour... is doing design work for Telfords Direct... golly gosh it's hard being part of the crafting industry... lol....

Now Sheonagh (the owner) is the first to admit she is not into blogging, but with some help & encouragement she has made a start and today I am off out to help her gain a better insight into what we do here in blogland... so hopefully by the end of the day her knowledge on blogging will have increased & we will see & hear a lot more of her.

The truly sad part of all this is that I have to sit amidst her vast array of gorgeous & often unusual goodies she sells on the website... thankfully this is where my designer aspect comes into play... and I'm sure I'll have to beg, borrow & steal some new stash.. for future projects of course... all in the name of Telfords Direct...

Once we have her all sorted out I will let you know.

For any of you fans of my dearly beloved loyal & faithful friend Amanda Bateman.... well you will want to watch this space as she is also part of Sheonagh's design team....

Anyhow, must dash now & crack on with the day... it's too exciting not too...

Hope to be back to visit you later & in the meantime have a super day....

Don't forget to watch for the old daily candy add on...

Hugs

Lorraine xxx

Do you like SAKURA

Sorry I've been AWOL all day... was out shopping & having lunch with mum, then had to go pick up some supplies, had a few calls to make, dinner to organise now doing this quick post before getting all my animals fed & locked up for the night... after that I have to make 2 cards... just realised that it's my Mum & Eric's anniversary tomorrow and also my friend's 40th.... obviously my mind has been on other things of late & I've arrived at the date before I could blink...

However....

The main purpose of this post is to give you a little hint on tomorrow's daily candy add on... whilst collecting supplies today I was speaking with Mr Sakura himself or as us Brits may know him "The Flying Scotsman" and he has infact kindly donated your add on for tomorrow...

Hint done... and signing out now so I have time to get everything done.. if I have time later I may do another posting.. barring that I may just blog hop...

Hope you've all had a great day & remember to check back tomorrow to see what the add on is.

Hugs

Lorraine xxx

Daily Candy Add on

Another day & yes another daily add on to your candy... almost at a close now.... not quite sure how long it is going to take me to sort out the winner right enough... could be a day as there have been so many daily entries... nice to see though & so many lovely comments have been left too... even the ones telling me about glorious sunshine when I myself am surrounded by dark skies & rain.... and what a surprise... we have a blue sky today again.... wish it would just decide to stay.

Now we have a little bit of a mixed bunch for you today (pardon the pun) as we have an assortment of flowers up for grabs... We have some felt ones at the bottom & the other two sets are ones which I import from Thailand for Purple Elephant Crafts... yes I know you will not have heard of it but that is because I was in the process of having the new website constructed when I fell ill last year... I did however manage to fit in one show last year "Pins & Needles". If you've followed me for a long time you will know that the fabulous Kath attended this with me & boy did we have a hoot.... a lot of laughs & a lot of crossed legs as we forgot to pack the Tena Lady.....

Hopefully though I will have the new site up & running over the next month or so & I will let you know when this happens...

Why did I include these instead of Prima or something... quite simply because I want you to try something different... change is always good for the soul I think...

As always, leave a comment & pop back tomorrow for the next add on... thank you for visiting & hope you have a fabby day.

Hugs

Lorraine xxx

Blue Skies again

Good morning all my lovely peeps out there in the wonderful old world of blogland... I have lovely blue skies this morning again & long may it continue...

This is just a wee quickie... & your blog candy add on will appear later this morning.. pre programmed yesterday... wasn't sure just how much time I would have this morning.

I'm off to pick my mum up shortly & we are heading out for a little shopping & some lunch... shame that she has asked to go to The Fort... just happens to be where Hobbycraft is, so I can grab some more of my cute little bunnies...

Gayle if you're reading this... I will check again for your ribbon... because under no circumstances are any of us bloggers out here going to allow you to give up your crafting or blogging... OK....

I am trying to blog hop as much as possible when I have enough time. I am so far behind with your lovely creations but I'm having a ball looking through everything I've missed... if I've not been to visit you recently I will be stopping over some time in the near future...

Hope you all have a crafty day & I'll be back later...

Hugs

Lorraine xxx

Sakura met my Bunny

Now I know that we all treasure our beloved Sakura pens... be they stardust, glaze etc... but who all has a packet of these in their stash... Hmmm I do wonder on that one... These are not so jumped upon as our trusty others & yet they are every bit as wonderful to use...

They are Sakura Permapaque pens... and for my project below I used this set...

Permapaque is a permanent marker with good covering power which can be used on may different surfaces from paper & card to wood, metal & plastic... they are also water resistant & colourfast so perfect for those projects you aim to keep....

This is another little wooden bunny plaque that I bought at Hobbycraft on Saturday & this time I decided to go with my Permapaque pens on wood... I simply coloured the whole thing in, except for the outline edging... then I wanted to give it a bit of an aged look without going OTT... so I used some cotton wool & my Colorbox pads... I gently dabbled the ink around the image and the edges... voila.... another completed project...

I definately think I'm going to have to purchase more of these little wooden beauties.. so cheap to buy & you can make them look however you want... great little door hangers for the kiddies room too...


Oh well night, night... see you all tomorrow again... and thank you for visiting me...

Big hugs

Lorraine xxx

Daily Candy Add on

Well good morning my lovely peeps... from may I add... what is not so nice a day in Motherwell... very dull grey sky which is giving the impression of quite a bit of rain to be seen today.... yuck.

However, I'm off to physio again at lunch time & boy am I looking forward to it.. my poor neck & shoulders are so needing attention after being bent over all of last weekend... hopefully I'll feel a bit straighter by the end of the day...

Now for today's daily add on... I just had to give you some black letter stickers to go along with yesterday's white ones... again by American Crafts... this time in Milan font.... these are a bit more chunky & bold than yesterday's but still as much fun to play with....

To enter... simply leave a comment.... then pop back tomorrow for the next addition... now I have to count them up but I think there may on be a day or two left before this candy closes so make sure you are up to date with your entries...

For the moment being.... Au Revoir..... I am off to jump in the shower now. Will be back later though with another little creation that I have started but still have to complete... should take too much time though.

Have a fabby Monday.

Hugs

Lorraine xxx

Blogger needs support

My buddy Gayle is very down at the moment & I would so appreciate if you could pop over to her blog & just leave a little message to help cheer her up.....

She is threatning to give up crafting & blogging... HELP !!!!!!!!

Thank you
Lorraine xxx

Jade Goody

Well folks I just have to say I have never been a fan of this young lady... think she has always been one of those people you love or loathe... however... that said I know for a fact that I will shed a tear when this poor lass looses her life under such terrible circumstances....

My operation last year related to my ovary... and until my operation was carried out & every bit of what was removed tested... took several months actually... I had that question hanging over me whether or not it was malignant... I hung in there, stayed positive & told myself everything would be okay... in between which I had a few really down days but friends & family kept me going.. many of you bloggers too once I was able to reach the computer... finally the all clear came back to me & I truly couldn't believe how lucky I was & what a close call it had been...

Poor Jade on the other hand was not so lucky.. now this lass is almost 10 years younger than me & has 2 beautiful young boys... how she is managing to stay as brave as she is I will never know... all I can say is that she is extremely couragious in my eyes... I know that many people have knocked her for keeping the cameras rolling as much as she did... but hey... lots of people under these circumstances find it easier to deal with their trauma if they maintain as normal a working life as possible... she is obviously one of them...

I say a little prayer for her each day now... not that she will recover.. obviously this is no longer an option... but that she suffers as little as possible... also that she manages to say to everyone what she wants & that when the time comes.. she will pass peacefully at home with her loved ones around her... remember that when that time comes.. she has so many friends & family who will be heart broken & their lives will be changed forever... also for her 2 little boys who may not even be able to wish their Mum a Happy Mothers Day this year or any following...

Sorry for this sombre morning thought today but sometimes I just have to get things off my chest...

To the bravery of Jade & the light she has shone on this ever so deadly disease... we thank you.

Hugs

Lorraine xxx

May I add & I do apologise for not having said this earlier... that although I am speaking of Jade at the moment... I also extend my thoughts & prayers to all the normal people of the world who are going through the same trauma... be them the patient themselves or the friends & family around them... you are all brave... Jade just happened to be the one in the limelight who has managed to bring this awful disease to the public's attention...

For all of you out there.. stay strong. xxx

Show Time....

Now I have been asked 2 questions recently about shows...

1. Am I attending Harrogate... No... unless that is someone has a demonstrator let them down in which case I could possibly get a call to fill in for them... so keep your fingers crossed....

2. How does someone find out the dates for the next Hobbycraft show at the SECC.... now this is a good question and one that is easily answered... many of the shows, including the SECC & NEC are organised by ICHF.... all you have to do is log onto their website & it will tell you the venues, dates & closer to the time... it will also give you a list of exhibitors...

www.ichf.co.uk

If anyone does have any further questions... please just leave a comment or drop me an email & I will respond to you as soon as I can...

Happy crafting

Lorraine xxx

Sakura "Metallic" Pen uses

Now I know I said earlier today that I was having a lazy Sunday... but boy I didn't mean it to be as lazy as it has turned out to be... we popped out to the supermarket for the weekly shopping.. came home & put it away as you do... DH then decided he was going to the gym for a few hours.. which suited me to perfection as I had just bought SC&P so that meant I could have peace & quiet to read through it... well I didn't quite think that meant 2 hours of reading... oh yes... I sat back on the sofa with my feet up, coffee by my side & whilst reading my mag, at the same time was also watching one of my favourites... Audrey Hepburn in "Sabrina"... well I couldn't believe it when hubby arrived home & it was basically teatime... off I popped to the kitchen to get on with it... then I had to have a wee rest again on the sofa to allow my dinner to settle... next thing I know it's after 7pm & I haven't even posted my new creation... shame on me....

Well yesterday I popped along to my local Hobbycraft with my buddy Gayle (littlebird) for those who know her... and although she only went to get 2 items & I was only looking for 1 thing... we succeeded in spending more than intended... not surprising I know.. it happens every time...

Since I've been recovering from my surgery I have been working a lot with challenges to get the old mojo going again, but now I feel I have to refind myself again... I'm at that stage where I have to break free a bit & start working on my own creations from start to finish, instead of them being based around someone else's ideas... I will still be joining in some challenges, but not as many as before...I have found that I haven't been using all the products I should have been and also have stopped experimenting quite a bit & I want to focus on this again...

Well back to yesterday... we did our shopping and then popped along to Frankie & Benny's for lunch... we were both starving by this time... as we are going through the menu Gayle starts laughing at me & when I asked her what was wrong, she informed me that I was sitting in my seat bopping away to the music that was playing... obviously I was having a very cheery day... well we had our lunch, including quite a few laughs as well as a good old catch up natter... then after dinner when we were paying the bill I opened a bag of sweeties... now my mother always taught me it is kind to share so I offered 3 of the friendly looking staff a sweet... to my surprise they actually looked at me like I was a nutcase.... when I turned back to Gayle she too was telling me how mad I was... but she already knew that anyway so it didn't matter... so alas.... I left alone with my bag of sweets & Gayle... yippee... all the more sweeties for me to have all to myself....

Whilst in Hobbycraft I picked up this sweet little wooden frame as I had a good idea for it using my Sakura pens... I have loads of samples to make... so thought I could combine them with finding my creative touch again... The frame was only about £1 I think so it was a bargain...

Last night whilst watching tv I looked out my good old Metallic Sakura pens as they work fabulous on wood & off I set to work... I very simply coloured in the flowers & leaves with direct from pen technique & on the actual frame work itself I used my Koi water brush along with a gold metallic sakura pen to give it a water colour effect.... I didn't want the colour to be too strong... just a tinted background so that my flowers stood out...

I do apologise as the lighting is quite bad & I've actually had to shine a spot light on the frame so you can see the shimmer it has...

Here is a slightly sidewards profile so you can see the depth of the flowers & leaves on the frame.

I know there is some glue visible where the wooden shapes have been attached... but hey for £1 and a little bit of time... I'm sure that any little girl would be more than happy with this & not give a care in the world about the little bits of glue....

Well I hope you've all had a fab weekend & I'm off now to see what else my little fingers can get busy with...

See you all soon..

Hugs

Lorraine xxx