Aaaagghhhh!!! Mad panic!

Hi there, dear Bloggers!  Another week has flown by and unfortunately, I still have nothing to share with you, though I am being a busy bee!  We had our gas connected last Friday and so things are starting to move forward with our planned housing work.  I am now in panic mode, trying to make sure that I have completed all my card orders, DT and workshop cards up to Christmas and packing up as much of our belongings as possible before next week, as the council are finally supposed to be coming to do the works on our house!! (Only 4 months behind schedule!)  On Tuesday, they'll be coming to do structural work on our kitchen, removing the old pantry, then it's stripping out the kitchen and bathroom, rewiring, gas central heating, refitting and decorating, so we're looking at a whole lot of work!  I hope to goodness that all this talk of freak snow in November and it going to be the worst November in a 100 years is all a bit of hype, else we'll be up a certain creek without a paddle!  It has been a long and somewhat frustrating wait to get to this point and unfortunately, my crafting and blogging has taken a hit with all the uncertainty, so I just pray that things go smoothly and I can get back to some sort of normality by Christmas!  I have been visiting you all  to see your wonderful creations and inspiration and I hope to continue to do so as long as we have internet - my DT cards are all scheduled, so there will be something for you to look at and if I can, I'll be posting updates of the ongoing work!  Thank you all so much for coming to visit me today and I hope you have a fantastic weekend (only one more day to go!)
Hugs,
Lisa x

Passion for Promarkers - Snow is Falling...

Hello again, dear Bloggers!  It's time for another new challenge over at Passion for Promarkers this week and our theme has been set by the lovely Eileen, who has chosen 'Snow is Falling...'  Now I know we all have good intentions at the start of the year that we will make a number of Christmas cards every month and that by now we will have most of them done!  However, the reality all too often is that, it is now the beginning of October and we haven't even managed to make half  a dozen!  So, get out your snowflakes, dust off your snowman stamps and join us in Eileen's challenge of creating something Wintry!  It doesn't have to be for Christmas, but could be a Winter birthday card, or just sending good Winter wishes...whatever the occasion, we want to see the white stuff!  We are sponspored this week by the fabulous Lili of the Valley who are offering one lucky winner, picked at random, a £10 voucher for their store...

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 a white on white theme, using a brilliant sketch from Mojo Monday - #250.  I love this sketch for creating white embossed cards as there are so many layers to create texture.  For the embossing, I used Cuttlebug Random Snow & Swiss Dots and a Snowflake Frame folder which I'm not sure of the manufacturer...

...I used Cloud Blue, Dolphin Blue, Sea Mist and Lilac Pro/Flexmarkers for the coloured layers and added some lilac organza ribbon...

 ...I used a very light colour scheme for the church image, using Meadow Green, Glacier Blue, Pastel Beige, Cool Grey 1, Buttercup and Blender.  I highlighted the fallen snow with Frosted Lace Stickles and sprinkled with Glamourdust whilst still wet so that it gave more sparkle.  

The snowflakes are made from Marianne Designs Snowflake dies and some have been layered for added depth.  The silver scalloped circle is also a Marianne die from one of the doily sets...

 ...I embellished with a double organza bow, pearls, dew drops, pearl effect stars and some Stickles Stardust on the snowflakes, then finished inside with an insert printed with snowflake corners and the sentiment 'Season's Greetings'.
I hope you can join in with our challenge this week and don't forget to hop on over to the Passion for Promarkers blog to see what my fabulous teamies have been up to...
Crafty hugs,
Lisa x

 I'd lke to enter my card into the following challenges :

I Love Promarkers

Songs - Winter Wonderland

Southern Girls Challenge

Sing a Song - Winter Wonderland

Crafty Catz

Anything Goes

Moving Along with the Times

Anything Goes

Passion for Promarkers - One for the Boys

Good morning, Bloggers!  It's time for a new challenge over at Passion for Promarkers and this week's theme has been set by the lovely Marie who has chosen 'One for the Boys'.  Having 2 boys myself, I quite enjoy making boys cards, though don't really seem to make enough of them!
This week we are sponsored by the fabulous Clearly Besotted Stamps who are offering 1 stamp set to the lucky winner picked at random...

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 a space theme for my card and kept the design quite clean and simple...

...The base card is a sideways easel (still love this shape card as it allows you to decorate inside and display the card so that you can see both the front and inside of the card at once).  The image is the space digistamp from Boys2Men CD-Rom and I coloured up 4 of the images using my Pro/Flexmarkers and decoupaged for a bit more depth.  Unfortunately, I forgot to write down the colours I used!  Doh!

...There are 2 panels inside the card, one with the sentiment 'Hope your day is out of this world!' and a writing panel with the rocket line image on...

...I finished by adding the stars back in with a white gel pen, a few small dark blue diamantes and some Stardust Stickles on the moon, flames and UFO lights!  Hope you like my extra terrestrial creation and don't forget to fly on over to the Passion for Promarkers blog to see what my talented teamies have been up to!  Many thanks for visiting me today!  Hugs,
Lisa x

Update...

Good morning, dear crafty friends!  All I seem to be doing lately is apologising for my lack of posts and unfortunately, I must do it again!  We are still no further on in the refurbishment of our house due to more delays!  It is now getting to be a bit of a millstone and it is the not knowing that causes the most upset - it is now 12 weeks since the work was first supposed to have been started!  After discovering that our gas connection hadn't been ordered (because a survey hadn't been carried out prior to works), I waited the 8 weeks that was estimated for a connection to be scheduled.  I then contacted the council, who told me that they would 'chase things up', a week later and with no reply, I asked our TLO if she knew anything...no joy there either!  I then took it upon myself to get in contact with the utilities provider who told me that they were awaiting the council to accept their quotation!!!!  So I have now sat for over 10 weeks waiting for a gas supply to be connected only to find out that the damn order hadn't even been completed!  It is so frustrating and there's nothing we can physically do about it...we now have to wait a further 4-8 weeks for the gas supply to be connected and then see if works will be carried out before Christmas!  If they would just give me a month to work towards, it would be better than wondering when or even if the work is going ahead - we still have things packed away in friend's garages, hubby's work and our sheds and it's really starting to grind now!  I don't mean to moan, but feel that I should explain my absence to you all...

...Anyway, enough of that!  I am here to share something crafty with you - this is a little card I managed to make between some card orders (I have a friend's wedding coming up and have been doing invitations, order of service, table plans, etc not to mention all the card orders to make for her from friends and relatives in the village!)...

...I used my First Edition paper pads, Love Letters and Dreamcatcher and went for quite a summery pallette.  I love mixing lots of different colours together (though it doesn't always work), especially since using my Promarkers to make my coloured matts, as it means I can have any colour I like!...

...I love this sweet little Wee Kitty and decided to try and give her a bit of a tabby stripe - didn't work out too bad, but needs a bit more practice I think! (No colours written down for this one, sorry!)...

...I added a fresh yellow, organza ribbon and bow and a touch of Glamourdust to highlight the image.  I hope you like my little creation and that it gives you some inspiration in some way!  Thank you so much for dropping by to see me today and persevering with my sporadic blogging...your visits and comments always mean so much!  I'll be back again tomorrow with a new challenge over at Passion for Promarkers, so until then have a great Monday and take care!  Big crafty hugs,
Lisa x

I'd like to enter my card into the following challenges :

Divas by Design

Anything Goes

Crafty Ribbons Challenge

Anything Goes with Ribbon

Creative Craft Challenges 2

Use Ribbon

I Love Promarkers

Anything Goes

Passion for Promarkers - Perfect Pets

Good morning, my lovely Bloggers!  Well, it's Tuesday again, which sees the start of another fabulous Challenge over at Passion for Promarkers!  This week, the lovely Shelly is playing hostess and she would like to see your Perfect Pets (so use a pet animal image).   This week we are sposored by the wonderful Michele R Designs who is offering one lucky winner $10 worth of digi papers from her online store.

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 the theme of our pets, which only consist of a couple of goldfish, called Fish and Chips (what else?!)...

I just love CAS cards at the moment and I thought the style would be perfect for this fun fish colouring page that I found here...

 ...Of course, I coloured the image with my Pro/Flexmarkers and here's the colours for all you Letraset fans :

Orange fish : Honeycomb, Pumpkin, Mandarin, Blue Grey 1, Dove Grey

Yellow Fish : Primrose, Buttercup, Tulip Yellow, Sunflower, Gold

Brown and blue fish : Satin, Tan, Dusky Pink, Tea Green, Aquamarine, Surf Blue

Starfish : Light Fawn, Soft Peach, Rose Peach

Seaweed : Lime, Pear, Olive Greens

Coral : Dusky Pink, Sunkissed Pink, Coral

Water : Glacier Blue

I used my markers to create the coloured matts, choosing colours from the image to compliment, added some Glamourdust to the bubbles and fins and finished with a simple sentiment.  A nice easy one today!  

I hope you can join in with our Challenge this week and don't forget to hop on over to the Passion for Promarkers blog to see what my lovely teamies have been up to...Thanks for dropping by to see me today...Happy crafting!  

Lisa x
I'd like to enter my card into the following challenges :

A Creative Romance

CAS Style

 Simon Says Stamp

Animal Antics

Eclectic Ellapu

Family Pets

September's here!...

Good afternoon, dear crafty friends!  Where has this year gone to?  I can't quite believe that it is September already - it was Little Man's birthday on Monday and he was 10...so never mind where this year has gone, what happened to the last 10?!  Today saw the boys back to school and the house is rather quiet without them, though it's nice to get back into some sort of routine!  Jase is now in his last year of secondary school, with his GCSEs next year and Josh is now in year 5! (He just misses the school term as his birthday is at the beginning of September, so he is the oldest in his class!)

It was our village Gardening Show on the weekend and it was the first time that I could enter anything as it is usually on the Bank Hoilday weekend when we are away.  I entered a couple of the garden produce classes, 2 of the floral art categories and of course a couple of the crafts, plus my little man entered the children's photography competition.  We did very well, really and the show was said to be one of the best for a long time, with a fantastic number of entries!  In total, I came home with 3 firsts and 2 thirds and Josh got first with his photo, so not bad for a first attempt!
We are still none the wiser as to when our house works are supposed to start (it's getting a bit tedious now!) but I have managed to get a bit of crafty time in this morning to complete a card commission for a wedding.  I don't normally post commission cards, as they are personal to the recipients, but thought I would share this one with you and just remove the names...

...I kept the colours quite soft with a white on cream colour combo, inking the  edges with Antique Linen and Walnut Stain DI.  I used a selection of flowers that I found in my stash (which is really getting low these days!), pink organza ribbon, heart charm, Cheery Lynn butterfly and a pretty MS clay frame.  I highlighted the image with a hint of Promarker colour and added some Glamourdust for a touch of sparkle.  The edge of the card base is made using the Spellbinders Parisian Accents border and corner - just love these dies!
So, that's it from me for today and I hope to be back again soon!  Thanks for dropping by to see me, it really does mean a lot, especially as my blogging is so hit and miss at the minute!  Hope you're enjoying some early Spetember sunshine, take care and crafty hugs,
Lisa x

I'd like to enter my card into the following challeneges :

Papertake Weekly

Anything Goes

ABC Challenge

U- for Unlimited (Anything Goes)

Natalie and Amy 

Embossing

Passion for Promarkers - Recipe

Good morning, dear Bloggers!  I hope all of you here in the UK had a good Bank holiday weekend?...ours was wonderful!  We had a well earned weekend away with family friends in South Wales, the sun shone brightly, we ate out most days, visited fabulous places, saw beautiful scenery and finished off with a bit of off road Segway-ing! So much fun! I didn't think I'd get the hang of it as my balance isn't the best, but soon got to grips with controlling it and thoroughly enjoyed our trek!
It's very nearly the end of August (and the children's Summer holidays), so it'll be back to a more normal routine next week!  These holidays seem to have flown by, though it's always a challenge to keep the children occupied!  Speaking of Challenges, today is Tuesday which means we see the start of a new Challenge over at Passion for Promarkers!  Our lovely Nic (aka Coops) is in the hostess chair this week and she has a fabulous recipe for us to follow - 3 papers, 1 image, 1 sentiment and 3 embellishments.  This week we are sponsored by the wonderful Bugaboo Digi Stamps, who are offering 7 digi images to the lucky winner picked at random!  Wow!

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 Christmassy this week, using one of the fab Paper Shelter images called Snow Angel - isn't she adorable?!  I went for quite traditional colours, which is unusual for me as I normally like the lighter, frosty colours for Christmas...

...The papers I used have been in my stash for literally years - I think they are from a Dovecraft pack and all the coloured layers are white cardstock with the edges coloured with markers.  (I began doing this method because of my crafty stash being packed away in the shed, but it has become second nature now and means I can have any colour card I like to match my image!)  I coloured my image using Pro/Flexmarkers and here's a list of the colours I used :

Skin : Blush, Dusky Pink, Sunkissed Pink

Hair : Linen, Champagne, Sandstone

Hat and Skirt : Red, Crimson, Burgundy

Jacket : Meadow, Leaf, Bright Greens

Scarf : Muted Pink, Tea Rose, Watermelon

Tights : Ivory, Vanilla, Tulip Yellow

Boots and Gloves : Sandstone, Caramel, Cinnamon, Umber

...My 3 embellishments were 3 Marianne Snowflake die cuts, highkighted with Glamourdust and pearls.  I created a sentiment in PS using a couple of different Serif fonts - one of which is a favourite of mine - Holiday Springs...

...I then finished the inside with my usual insert with the black and white line image and the sentiment, 'May your days be Merry and bright...'

I hope you can join in with our fun challenge this week and don't forget to check out the fabulous cards that my wonderful teamies have created, by hopping over to the Passion for Promarkers blog.  Crafty hugs,

Lisa x

I'd like to enter my card into the following challenges:

Challenges 4 Everybody

Anything Goes

Creative Creations

Bingo

(sentiment, image, pearls)

Creative Inspirations

Christmas in August

Fashionista Challenge #19

Christmas Week 2 

ABC Challenges

No flowers