Passion for Promarkers - Check it out...

...Hello, dear Blogger friends!  Well, it's already the middle of November (where did last month go?!) and time for a new challenge over at Passion for Promarkers!  This week, it's my turn to play host and I chose the theme 'Check it out!', so I would like to see some gingham (yee-haw!), checks, plaids or tartans (och aye the noo!) on your projects....easy!!  This week, we are sponsored by the fabulous Digi Stamp Boutique, who are offering one lucky winner the chance to win a £10.00 voucher for their store and with so many amazing digistamps to choose from, I'm sure it will easily be spent! 

 Don’t forget you must use your Letraset products (i.e. promarkers, flex markers, aqua markers, tria markers, metallic markers or neon markers) and of course follow the theme.

...For my card, I had permission from the ever so talented Katina Killey, to case one of her cards!  I saw this fabulous card for her granddaughter Molly and fell in love with the CAS style!  I have to say, I love Katina's cards for her fabulous clean and simple layouts, great paper piecing and brilliant colouring, and I always find some sort of inspiration when I visit her blog!  Thanks so much, Katina!  So, here it is...

 

...I decided to go with a pink and green colour combo and used a green gingham paper from Nitwits Cherry Blossoms papers matted onto pink cardstock...

 ...I added a few embellishments to my design with pink gingham ribbon and bow, metal flower charm, pearls and a hint of glitter on the roses...

 ...The gorgeous image is Whimsy stamp's Wee Florist (I just adore this digi!) and she was coloured using my Pro and Flexmarkers, as usual!  Here's the list of colours I used :

Skin - Satin, Blush, Dusky, Sunkissed Pink & Coral

Hair - Linen, Champagne, Sandstone, Nutmeg

Top - Muted Pink, Tea Rose, Watermelon, Meadow, Leaf & Bright Green

Trousers - Pastel Beige, Soft Khaki, Khaki

Shoes - Antique White, Tan, Shale, Umber

Bucket - Cool Grey 1, 3 & 4

Roses - Pear, Olive Green, Cerise, Vermillion, Burgundy

 ...I cut out my image, leaving a small white border and attached using foam pads for a touch of dimension...

 ...I added an insert inside and decorated it to match with the gingham paper, sentiment and bucket of roses image!  Et voila!

Hope you like my little CAS card and that you can join in with my theme this week - I look forward to visiting you all and seeing your wonderful creations!  And don't forget to hop on over to the Passion for Promarkers blog to see what wonderful inspiration my talented teamies have come up with!  Thanks for dropping by!  

Hugs,

Lisa x

Progress...well, sort of!...

Good morning,  my dear Blogger friends!  As you may have gathered from the blog title,  things are beginning to move forward...in places! I have managed to decorate and carpet the boys' bedrooms,  so they are completely OFF LIMITS to the workmen! We have, however, got the plasterers back again to tidy up the walls, so just as I feel we're moving forward,  we take another step back!  I now have a bathroom suite fitted, though the bath has been put back in the wrong way!  I sort of have a kitchen (without appliances - the fridge and freezer are still in the front room and the washing machine is in the living room!) The tiler came at the end of last week and tiled the kitchen, but they might have to come back off again! I will be so glad when this is all over, though I'm not sure if it'll be finished by Christmas!
Anyway,  I will leave you with the positive pictures of my achievement and try not to think about the rest!...

Thanks for dropping by to see me and I just hope that the pace of progress begins to speed up,  before I go completely stir crazy! Take care and have a great week!  Hugs,

Lisa x

Passion for Promarkers - Geeks...

Good morning, dear Blogger friends!  Today sees the start of another new challenge over at Passion for Promarkers and this week, the lovely Lou has set us the theme of 'Geeks' (images wearing glasses)!  This week, we are sponsored ny the fabulous Letraset, who are offering one lucky winner a 6 pack of Flexmarkers!

 Don’t forget you must use your Letraset products (i.e. promarkers, flex markers, aqua markers, tria markers, metallic markers or neon markers) and of course follow the theme.

Looking through my digistamps, I discovered that I don't have any images wearing glasses, so decided to create my own!  I began by opening Saturated Canary's Hugs and Kisses in my graphics program and pasted the lineart sunglasses (that I found here) on top, resizing them to fit her face.  I printed off, coloured with my Promarkers and fussy cut her out, cutting away the box of hearts, heart frill and cutting out her hands, as shown by the red line in the image below :

...I then made a little book in PS and attached it to her front, then glued her hands into position over the top, so that it looks like she is holding it!

Here's the Pro/Flexmarker colours I used for all you Letraset fans :

Skin : Almond, Blush, Sunkissed Pink

Hair : Sandstone, Caramenl, Cocoa, Walnut, Umber

Glasses: Red, Berry Red

Skirt : Glacier, Dolphin, Denim, Cadet Blues

Tights : Red, Berry, Crimson, Burgundy

Boots : Soft Aqua, Duck Egg, Surf Blue, Muted Pink, Tea Rose, Watermelon, Antique Pink

Book : Berry, Crimson, Burgundy

The cherry paper I used is from Nitwits Cherry Blossom paper set and the others I made myself.  I love this aqua and red combo and added some red satin ribbon loops and a couple of the Memory Box Precious Heart die cuts that were coloured red then glittered with Xmas Red Stickles...

I cut the sentiment using a SB circle die and layered onto SB Eyelet Circle in aqua (all my mats were white cardstock with the edges coloured in coordinating Promarker colours) and created a little arrow shape.  I finished the inside with an insert printed with the words 'Many Happy Returns' and a small pile of books in the bottom right corner.

Don't foget to hop on over to the Passion for Promarkers blog see what my lovely Teamies have created for your inspiration and I hope you can join in with our challenge this week!  Thanks for dropping by, crafty hugs,

Lisa x

Day 7...

Good evening,  dear Blogger friends! I thought I'd write a quick post whilst the broadband is back on! So, today saw the start of rewire - what a messy job!?! We had been warned from the start that this would be the worst part of the job,  but the dust gets everywhere! They'll be back again tomorrow to hopefully finish off, then it'll be plastering and that should then be the worst bit over! We went to Homebase over the weekend to buy ceiling, kitchen and hall paint...I know, ever the optimist! It isn't starting to look any better yet, but I'll post pics when there's obvious progress!
Hope the storm in the South hasn't caused too much damage and that you're all safe and sound - we managed to miss the worst of it, just getting the rain and blustery winds. Take care and thanks for dropping by!
Hugs, Lisa x

Day 5...not much to report!

**  Don't forget there's still time to enter our challenge over at Passion for Promarkers, scroll down to see my DT card  **
After the initial speed of works, stripping out the bathroom and kitchen and knocking walls down, we once again came to a standstill on rewire day due to the fact that the contractors couldn't get any electricians! So we are now minus a little more yet not much further on! The sparkies are hopefully coming on Monday and the plan is that they'll get everything done in a day?! We'll see!
We had a bit of a hiccup with the kitchen plan but I have to say, it was swiftly sorted by the contract manager - despite the delay, the contractors have all been great and do a decent job - I just hope it continues!  I still hope that if the new schedule stays on track, I can be painting ceilings by the weekend!?! Cross fingers!
I can see past the dust and debris and see how lovely it will be when it's done, which is what is keeping me positive! As I walk around, I see my beautiful Laura Ashley wallpaper at the top of my stairs, matching fabric on the shoe bench, ottoman and kitchen pelmets, the soft grey walls, oak finish cupboards, dark worktops and purple splashes of colour in the kitchen...not the reality that is uneven, bare plaster walls, sticky plastic on the floors and dust on every surface!  This has been threatened for the last 3 years, so I've had plenty of time to plan! I still don't know how we're supposed to live in it, but it's just a good job MIL lives up the road, so the boys are sleeping there and she's feeding us all too! I will be glad once the worst is over and things start to get better!
Just thought I would update you on the progress,  or lack of it at the moment anyway!  Thanks for dropping by, take care and if you're in the UK,  I hope that the forecast storm heading our way doesn't cause too much trouble!
Big crafty hugs, Lisa x

Day 1...

*Scroll down a post for my Passion for Promarkers DT card*

Okay, so it's day 1 of our refurbishment works and we are now minus a pantry in the kitchen and have a bathroom and toilet that's been knocked together!  The dust was pretty horrendous and at one point hung like a fog at the bottom of the stairs, but the space is amazing! Thankfully,  I managed to keep the worst of it from the other rooms and am now packing EVERYTHING in anticipation of the rewire! I thought I would share a couple of pics, though they're not the best as they were taken with my tab...

...So this was my little kitchen before, with the picture taken from the door to the hallway...

...and this is the old pantry, taken from by the back door. And now...

...from here, it doesn't look too different, but when you see the view from the back door...

...no more pantry! Thankfully,  they discovered that there was already a concrete lintel supporting the ceiling,  so no need for props and steel!  The new door to the kitchen will go in between the front room and living room doors and I'm hoping to fit as many units as possible in! I have dust up my nose, in my hair and on every flat surface, but apart from that,  things are going great guns and to finish off,  our gas meter was fitted today too, ready for the central heating next week! Let's just hope that the momentum continues and they stick to the schedule - with any luck, I'll be painting bedroom ceilings by next weekend?!
Don't forget this week's challenge over at Passion for Promarkers - Julie wants you to 'Give us a P'...think patterned papers,  punches,  paper piecing and of course,  Promarkers!
Thanks for dropping by to see me and have a great week!  Hugs, Lisa x

Passion for Promarkers - Give us a P...

Good morning, dear Blogger friends! I hope you are all well and ready for a new challenge over at Passion for Promarkers?!  This week, it is our lovely Julie in the hot seat and for her theme this week, she's gone with 'Give us a P...', so anything on your card or project that begins with a P!  This week we are sponsored by the fabulous Dies to Die For, who are offering one lucky winner a £10.00 voucher for their store...awesome!

  Don’t forget you must use your Letraset products (i.e. promarkers, flex markers, aqua markers, tria markers, metallic markers or neon markers) and of course follow the theme.

I decided to go with 'P is for' Promarkers, patterned papers, paper piecing and pearls, but you could always be a bit more adventurous and go for pumpkins, pirates, poppies, parcels, or even parrots!

...The papers I used are all First Edition Boho Chic - I love the different colour tones in this pad as it always makes me think differently with colour (and stay away from pink!)  I went for a quite simple layout and minimal embellishments, to create a CAS look...

...I used the fabulous Saturated Canary Nevaeh image, coloured with my Promarkers and paper pieced with First Edition Boho Chic dotty paper, here's the colours for all you Letraset-ers!

Skin : Satin, Blush, Dusky, Sunkissed Pink

Hair : Rosewood, Auburn, Firebrick, Saddle Brown, Nutmeg

Dress : Nutmeg, Vanilla, Linen, Red, Crimson, Burgundy

Tights : Sea Mist, Tea Green

Shoes : Nutmeg, Vamilla, Linen, Tan

...I added some little ribbon tabs and hand drew a cloud shape to cut out one of my sentiments and SB circle die for the other, then finished with some pearls and a touch of Glamourdust glitter.  Hope you like my little creation and don't forget to hop on over to the Passion for Promarkers blog to see what my wonderful teamies have been up to - as ever, they have some fabulous inspiration!

Hugs, 

Lisa x

P.S. Today is supposed to be 'D' day for the works to start on our house (only 4 months late!) so I will probably be up to my eyeballs in dust and debris!  I have managed to get all my DT cards, orders and workshop cards organised and I'm hoping that the router will be on for as much as possible, so I can still come and visit you all!  I am DREADING the mess and upheaval, but it will all be worth it in the end and hopefully, with any luck, might even be finished for Christmas! (My Christmas will be spent decorating!)  I will be absent between times, but will try to post you some updates if I'm able to get online - I woud also like to thank you all for still coming to see me despite my posts being thin on the ground at the moment, it really does mean a lot and I hope that come the new year, I can get back into crafting and blogging properly!