poppicrafts

Skinny Ribbon winner

2009-05-08T21:55:00.006+01:00

A huge Thank you to those of you that joined in Aprils competition. Here are what they came up with. They are all beautiful and very original. I have just popped over to Ellis blog. You must visit her, she makes the most gorgeous jewellery.

ELLI'S BROOCH

CARLYS CARD

MACPURPS CARD

SAMMIES CARD

Thank you ladies for taking the time to enter. It took me ages to choose but I have decided the winner is Carly, as her card is very elegant and feminine. So congrats to you, if you could contact me, then I can get your voucher off to you.

Later this month I will unfortunately have the final Poppicrafts competition, due to lack of response.

Also, as most of you have probably noticed, I am not crafting anymore or blogging. I have been thinking about it for a while now and as Poppicrafts grows I have less to time to play and have decided that business comes first right now. Also, in the last 12 months I have noticed a huge change in blogging and it just isnt for me anymore. Maybe one day it will change back to some sort of normality, but for now I am going to have a break from it. So, I just wanted to say a huge thanks to everyone who has ever stopped by and had a read, or left a comment, it means a lot.

I shall of course put the next competition on my blog, but that will be the final post from me.

Thanks for looking,

Mich x

April competition - Skinny ribbon

2009-04-07T22:12:00.001+01:00

Aprils competition is to use thin ribbon (7mm wide or less) as the focal point on your card, or other project.

Up for grabs is £20 in Poppicrafts vouchers for you to spend on whatever you like. Please email good quality photos of your entry to sales@poppicrafts.co.uk or leave a comment and link to your blog, so we can pop over and see what you have come up with.

Thin ribbons in my opinion are very under-rated, they can be used for so much, not just finishing touches. Heres what some of the Design Team have created, arent they just fabulous!!!

Sarah

Sara:

Debs:

Me:

Please remember that the ribbon has to be used as the main focal point of your project.

The closing date for all entries is April 30th 2009

Thanks for looking,

Mich xx

March Competition Winners and entries

2009-04-02T18:45:00.001+01:00

Thank you to everyone who entered the March competition and also giving a little something to charity in the process. I am extremely grateful to you all. I truly enjoyed seeing your fantastic creations. However, I could not decide on a winner, so handed the task over to my 3 year old little girl - Poppi. She decided that her favorite was:

ELLI

Elli made this beautiful ring and bracelet by covering the flowers with diamond glaze, to make them harder, glossy and water resistant. She then fixed them to some double frill elasticated velvet to make the band. How cool....

Congratulations Elli, your £35 voucher is in your account.

I then decided that I would also give a prize for runner-up. I just had to choose this beautiful card by Pam. I do like a card with a bit of depth and this card certainly has that. I think the colour match is just perfect. So there is a £10 voucher in your account too. Congratulations Pam.

And here are all the other fantastic entries. Thank you ladies - they are stunning!

Narelle

Cathy

Dawn

Terrie

Sara

Thanks for looking and next week I will posting Aprils competition, I hope you will be able to join in.

Mich

Poppicrafts Competition - Fun with flowers

2009-03-07T19:36:00.004Z

This months competition is focusing on flowers and what we can do with them.

The winning prize will be a £35 Poppicrafts voucher to spend on whatever you like.

£35, here at Poppicrafts goes a long way, so what would you choose? Maybe 500 blooms, or well in excess of 100 yards of ribbons, or over 1400 buttons. Well, whatever you choose it will certainly stock up on some serious stash.

So, what can you do with papers flowers?

I had a little play and this is what I came up with. I hope it whets your appetite.

Dry Embossing:

Run them through your embossing folder, for a textured effect.

Mount them on Chipboard

Our 4 pack chipboard flowers are the exact same shape and size of our large blooms to go, making it so easy to just glue them straight on top - no sanding or filing the edges!!! For a more interesting effect, why not stamp them too.

Stamp them up

Get your rubber stamps out and have a play...

I used Autumn leaves imaginisce stamps with black stazon ink.

Stamp and colour

I stamped them up and just coloured in, using a white gel pen and sakura gelly roll pen

Ink the edges

I used Tim Holtz distress inks

Draw round the edges.

I used sakura gelly roll pens

And here are a few cards....

Add sentiments or lettering to the centres.

Use Liquid Pearls.

Doodle on them

Bling em' up...

I covered mine with glossy accents and then went mad with the glamour dust

And here are Saras fantastic more unconventional ideas:

Cut them down and make some cute little wings.

Cut them into a Christmas tree:

Make a little skirt:

Or umbrella:

Right, so how do you enter???

All details on how to enter are here, in the "competitions" category on the poppicrafts website. The competition is open to all european countries.

Thanks for looking and if you join in, good luck.

What a Fun day!

2009-02-02T19:39:00.007Z

It seems like only yesterday I was posting about building snowmen and here we are again.

Well Rileys prayers were answered last night - Loads of Snow!!!

Now apparently (so Riley tells me) if you say 2 prayers at night, one to god and the other to jesus, then it should come true, because if god is too busy answering more important requests, then Jesus will answer your prayers for you.

So this is what we got today, 5 inches of soft white fluffiness. I decided not to take the children to school, as the lanes are a nightmare. So it was a day of fun instead.

It was great!!! So of course we had to build a snowman. First the dinkies asked for a castle, with water around and turrets. Then Poppi insisted on having a princess in it, Riley wanted a King, so they argued while I started building.

Eventually they decided that they would join in and actually a snowman could be quite cool, if we gave him windmill arms.

After about 15 minutes Riley decided it would be far more fun to try and attack me. Having the camera on zoom, I could see he was trying to spy exactly where I was.

I am not very patient when it comes to taking photos, but I was quite pleased that I actually caught this shot with the snowball in mid flight.

As for Poppi, well she is very impressed with her new friend (also called Poppi) and waved goodnight to him from her bedroom tonight.

Who knows what tomorrow will bring, but its likely they will be off school again - hooray!!!

Did you enjoy the snow today?

Awards and a couple more gifts!!

2009-01-19T18:44:00.018Z

Well, still no camera!! AAAGHH, how frustrating. I have lots of lush Poppicrafts creative designer work and new stock to photograph, but cannot get any of it done right now.
Anyway, over the last week or so two fantastic girlies have given me awards. I feel very honoured, because I don't get much time to blog anymore, so I very much appreciate that they haven't forgotten me - thank you ladies!

They are Susie who I have known for about 3 years now. She is very,very sweet and and has helped Poppicrafts no end, by recommending the shop to her friends. For that I am always grateful. However, I didn't know that she had a blog and if you want to pop over and see some of her gorgeous creations and wow! she just has the most organised craft room. Check it out here !!
And Tracie, who is one of my creative designers, who certainly works her magic with Poppicrafts products and is a special person and great friend.

Now, I am meant to pass it on to 5 other people, a couple of which I know wont put it on their blogs, but that is cool, its not compulsory. I just want them to know that they have encouraged me one way or another. They are:
My mum who has always encouraged me to be myself and believe in my dreams, throughout my whole life.

Sarah who doesn't even know it, but encouraged me to start a blog.

Dawny - Yes, you know why you have encouraged me of late...

Melissa - whose blog I have never left a comment on, but every time I read it, it encourages me to try and make something really beautiful and enjoy something about every day.

Andrea - whose blog encourages me to one day attempt something hybrid.

Well as I still camera -less!!! I thought i would show you a couple of brag books that I made as little Christmas prezzies.
One of my LITTLE BUDDY-

And one of my LITTLE FAIRY -

Well that's it for tonight then. TFL,

Mich

Please help ME!!

2009-01-16T14:10:00.002Z

Does anyone know anything about cameras????
I love my camera and try and nurture it, but it is not being very nice to me.
Every time I switch it on "write protect" is on the display I cant take any photos. I checked the card and the lock slider is off, so it cant be that. So I have just purchsed a new card and guess what - Flippin "write protect" is still on the display. AAAGHHH!!! I would really appreciate any help with this, as it is getting REALLY frustrating now. I have looked in the manual and as always when I go to the troubleshooting section, there is nothing about the problem that I have. I am no professional when it comes to cameras and im sure that it is easily rectified, if only someone could please tell me how, PLEEEASE....
Therefore surprise,surprise I have nothing have to show today..anyway hope you all have a great weekend.

A few gifts

2009-01-13T21:21:00.015Z

Here is a maya road calendar that I made for my mum for christmas. I used my favourite BG papers throughout - Sugared. And used the solid colours on the reverse and stamped them with Autumn leaves bracket journalling stamp, so she can put birthdays etc on the back. I was quite pleased with how it turned out, but I did find the sanding around the edges a little tedious and was covered in dust after, but generally it was quite fun to do. Please excuse the poor, hurried photos, once again I didnt take them until christmas eve.

I also made this mini garden journal for her to scribble notes etc... it has envelopes in for her seeds, a calendar for what to do when, and lots of little journalling stamps for notes and bits. I used mainly Kath Kidston stuff, from a pack of cards and envelopes that I got recently.

Well thats it for tonight. I hope you are having a good evening.

Mich

What a week

2009-01-09T20:29:00.018Z

Well where did the week go?? There I was on Sunday evening, wishing the Christmas holidays werent over, as the 3 of us had so much fun just playing with games and toys. It was lovely to have quality time, shut off from work and just relax. So, by the time I went to bed I was all prepared to get back to work. Woke up Monday and there was a blanket of snow on the ground. We couldnt even get off the drive, so we had another day of playing - hooray!!! So I didnt get any work done after all.
Tuesday I very slowly and cautiously took Poppi to the doctors as she has an eye infection.
On Wednesday I had to take Riley to speech therapy, only to find I was completely in the wrong place, so had to drive across town to get the right place. What a wally! Well thats what Riley called me anyway.
Thursday I spent the day in bed with horrible head pains and went back to bed as soon as the children were asleep. A couple of friends have had the same thing, so its obviously some sort of virus. Well the snow is still here and the roads near us have been really icy. Its been blimmin awful.
Then this morning the temperature on the car was reading -7. All this week I have been starting the car 10 minutes before we leave, to help get shot of the ice. This morning I got the scraper out and nothing happened!!!! I thought the scraper was broken - no!! My neighbour gave me some de-icer to help - no!!! it just froze on the windscreen. 20 minutes later I was actually getting somewhere, so I scraped a bit off and then just sat in the car and waited, before my fingers dropped off. We have to drive about 3 miles along country lanes and down steep hills before we get to a main road, so by the time we get to school I feel like have been driving for ages. I must look like one of those typical women drivers, nose on the windscreen and finger dents in the steering wheel where I am gripping it so tight (dont know why, its not like it helps!!!) I am hoping it will clear up by next week.
Heres a few pages from a scrapbook I made for mum as one of her Christmas prezzies. As some of you know, mum loves her garden and every year I make her one. This year I decided to make it as simple as possible, to leave lots of room for photos,journalling,doodles etc... She does like to doodle. In previous years it has been more of a glorified photo album, but I thought it would be nicer to see the finished article with scribbles and notes etc...
It feels a little odd showing the LO's with no photos or writing in, its like showing you a piece of patterned paper and telling you its a birthday card, because obviously the focal point is missing. I have quite a few gifts to show, but I shall leave those for another day. There are more than enough pictures here and I dont want to bore you to tears. Please excuse the poor light photos, they were of course taken on Christmas eve, when I was tearing around wrapping the presents.

Thanks for looking and have a great weekend.

Our Christmas!

2009-01-04T21:45:00.010Z

Oh what a fantastic Christmas! I hope you enjoyed yours, as much we did. Happy New Year to you all. I hope that 2009 brings you everything you wish for..
Well, the little ones certainly bring magic to the festive season dont they. A couple of days before Christmas we went to Hamleys and Hyde parks Winter Wonderland. The children loved it, they didnt complain about the walking or the cold and they truly had an amazing time. their little faces lit up as we walked in and they had the time of there life. Oh I can remember the excitement as a child and to watch them having that feeling themselves is so special. A huge thank you to my mum and dad for taking us, you are two very special people. This is my mum and dad and of course the little babes, just outside Hamleys -

This is Carnaby street, where Poppi wasnt quite sure if those huge snowmen where going to fall on her or not. And this is them watching the little train going round and round on the top floor. The were fascinated by it -

And this is Christmas morning, with that typical "what shall we open next?" look.

Then it was over to Mum and Dads, where, can you believe Santa also delivered these, as they have been really good in 2008... (apparently)

And of course no Christmas would be the same without some additions to the Scalextric. Oh yes! Hamilton vs. Reikenen no less. Come on lads, its only a game. Mind you in true formula one style, dad was the Ferrari, therefore he was allowed to cheat! (not that I dislike Ferrari or anything, sorry but I am my fathers daughter!!)))

As for Poppi, she was all played out and decided that it was far much more fun to get my brother to hold her upside down. She literally must have done this 20 times, not long after lunch I hasten to add.

Anyway, these are just few of the millions of pics that I took and I am determined to do some scrapping this year. There are so many moments that I cherish and I would love to look back through albums with lots of journalling and little quotes from the children. I would hate to forget what they said when. So this is definately my new years resolution. Whats yours?

We had an absolute ball over the last couple of weeks, but now its back to reality, Poppicrafts is open for business and the school runs start again in the morning. Urgh! Pack lunches and school uniforms, Grr!! So im off to bed now. I will post a couple of christmas gifts that I made over the next couple of days, now I am able to show them.

Night,

Mich

Biting off more than I can chew!!

2008-12-19T09:59:00.010Z

When Riley asked if we could make treat bags for his classmates I thought it would be a blessing in disguise, as writing is not his thing and the thought of him writing 15 cards, was a bit of a nightmare to be honest, as I knew he would get bored of it after the first one. So 15 little bags couldnt be that hard, could it?

Then I realised that now he is in a shared class of 2 years, I couldnt really leave out the reception class year group, of which there are 12 and it would also be nice to make some for the 3 teachers too. So, that took me up to 30. But then I couldnt really do it for one and not the other, so it was only right to make them for the children and teachers at Poppis pre-school - 24 in all. So all told it suddenly went from 15 bags to 54 (GULP!) Riley chose the PP donkey, and Poppi the Robin, So I printed the images, frames and wording and just coloured them in places and we all added the treats. For the teachers I decided on some of those big quality street, which obviously meant it would work out cheaper to buy a box of each. (well thats my excuse anyway) "the purple one" "the triangle" and some "caramel swirls" Well after bagging them and sorting through the triangles, which if you are fan, you will know half of them are never wrapped in the foil properly (come on Mr Quality Street man, sort your machines out!!) I had quite a few left over and Boy! did I feel sick. So after putting them all in boxes and waddling off to bed after one " purple one too many" I felt like a great big heffalump to the point that I thought I was never going to eat chocolate again.

As my mum knows I can certainly eat chocolate for England, but I feel that I over did it slightly (well, quite a lot actually) but hey! it is Christmas and people are always saying "live each day as though its your last." I even got up the next morning and saw a few left over in the boxes and couldnt stomach the thought of eating them. But that feeling has gone now (I knew it would) so Im off to dunk one in my latte. Have a lovely day,

Mich

Bits and Bobs

2008-12-17T19:50:00.016Z

Talk about Deja vu!!! Im sure I said last year that I would start my christmas cards earlier this year, oh well, I will try again next year. So I made all of these in a bit of hurry (can you tell?) not very pleased with them, as always have good intentions of spending more time and care putting them together, but there we go. I still have a few christmas present projects to finish too, but I like to think I work better under pressure, although I feel that I am pushing it a bit. Had quite a busy few days what with Christmas plays for both Poppi and Riley, a secret trip to toys r us, which was so much fun. I get all excited when I get the toys for the little ones, imagining their faces on Christmas morning. Spent over an hour waiting in the doctors today with Poppi, she has an infection and hasnt been herself for the past few days, so hopefully she will be on the mend by tomorrow and back on track for the big day. I cannot wait for Friday when they finish school. I love getting them home and spending the next few days getting them all excited, wrapping prezzies etc... Dentist, for me tomorrow, cant wait - I do love a bit of route canal treatment (not!!)

This is the card that I made for Dawnys big 50th. I have just been over to her blog and boy did she receive a fantastic array of cards and she deserves them all, as she is such a special, lovely lady I feel priviliged to know her. (even if she is an old bird,lol...)

Well thats it for now. Must dash and get to making the prezzies.

The Snowman

2008-11-24T19:17:00.008Z

We had lots of fun yesterday. Poppi decided that she wanted to build a snowman even though there wasnt much snow. So in typical "boy stylie" Riley thought it would highly amusing to throw snowballs at mine and Poppis head and shove as much snow down our backs as possible. Having an older brother myself it took me back to my childhood of being covered top to toe in snow and never being quick or strong enough to get him back. But hey, that is brotherly love and I wouldnt change those memories for the world. Anyway, back to the snowman. My little girl scraped and swept up as much snow as she could and started to pile it up. Every time she piled more on she was rubbing her little freezing fingers on her trousers to try and warm up. She did not complain, but I could see that she was finding it unbearable. I was then ordered to get the carrot and twigs. She was so pleased with what she produced and kept looking at him all day and waved goodnight to him from her bedroom last night. It certainly made me stop and think about how lucky I am to have two little ones who are so easily pleased. In a world that consists of too much importance on possessions, in the eyes of our children none of those things matter. When they get hours of joy from a bit of snow, it makes me smile and warm inside.

Every year me and my mum watch "The snowman" dvd. It is one of our little christmas traditions. When that great big snowman takes the little boy by the hand and starts running just before the "walking in the air" music starts I get butterflies and it feels real. Ok, so it would have to be rather strong snowman to take me on a magical journey across the skies, but I am right there with him. For these few moments of excitement, I thank my mum, who has always encouraged me from a small child to believe in the spirit and magic of christmas and that will never disappear, as it is always in my heart.

And this was our snowman this afternoon. I thought there was going to be tears. Sad, we were, but my little girl who always looks on the bright side, said "it ok mummy,we build a bigger one when the snow comes again" - how refreshing....

Plain and Simple

2008-11-18T20:29:00.007Z

Just a few cards to show. Mum wanted 30 plain and simple ones for christmas, so I hope I done ok. They were all meant to be in traditional colours, but somehow I managed to make a pinkish one. I was playing with the blooms and inking them, to see what they looked like and it just so happened to match some BG paper, so I snuck it in the pile.....

Anyway, thats it for tonight, hope you are all having a great evening.

Matchbox Advent Calendar

2008-11-12T18:57:00.006Z

Front

Back

Top

After hours of searching the net for a Karen Foster countdown calendar and having no success I decided I would have to improvise. I thought of using small matchboxes, which would have been ok if I wanted to load them with tic tacs. I studied those large household matchboxes (Yes! the lady in the shop did think I was off my trolley) and they were ideal because they are nice and deep. But 24 of them stacked up would be a bit bulky. So I decided that 12 of them would be ideal because if I accessed them from both sides, that would make 24 as they have those little dividers halfway in the little drawers. So I stacked them up and glued the cases all together. Then to make it nice and sturdy I cut 2mm chipboard covered it in paper and glued it to the sides, top and bottom.

Then I printed the numbers onto matching patterned papers, cut them down to size and added them to the drawer fronts and inked the edges.Next I added eyelets to the drawer fronts to thread the ribbon through, so the drawers could be pulled open. Decorated them with brads, flowers etc... and added lots of little treats.

You may think this is for Poppi and Riley, but its for my mum and dad (who says Christmas is just for children, eh?). Mum opens it on odd days and dad on even. I hope they enjoy their little surprises!!!

I really enjoyed making this, at first I thought it might be a complete disaster, but I am really pleased with how it turned out, mainly because, adding the chipboard has made it really strong and sturdy. I hope that it will remain in the family for a few years at least, so I can see it looking all old and tatty.

So Ms Foster, if you are reading this (highly unlikely) thank you for the inspiration and making me think outside the box. Not only that, my idea comes with a lifetime supply of matches, 2880 to be precise - which reminds me, anyone got any suggestions what I can do with them all??? lol.

Thanks for looking, have a great evening.

Supplies are: yummy Fancy pants - Happy holidays papers

Brads,eyelets,flowers - Poppicrafts

How Fantabulous????

2008-11-10T22:17:00.012Z

Just look what Dawny and Debs have been doing... Honestly their work really is beautiful. I am loving Dawnys garland - it is so original and something I would never think to make.(Hey Dawny - Is it still to early????))) Thanks girls for your work, I am very proud to have you on the team - It is all inspirational. If you fancy taking a look in greater detail it is here

Well its inspired me - Im off to get my poinsettias out.

Have a great evening,

Mich

On a roll-a-coaster!!!

2008-11-04T21:48:00.002Z

Like the title? Very pleased with myself for coming up with this one - On a roll, because Ive blogged 3 posts in 2 days - woohoo!!! and coaster, because I made a few for the christmas dinner table. still have a few more to do, but thought I would blog the ones ive done allready. I used the 4" chipboard hydrangeas and 4" hydrangea blooms in Moss green and wine from poppicrafts as they are exactly the same shape and size, so I didnt need to trim theem down or anything (coz Im lazy like that!!), just glued them straight on. Then stamped them with autumn leaves flourishes, inked the edges, added glitter to some and then wacked on a bit of glossy accents so that they are at least wipeable. The moss green ones look a bit pale in the picture - dont know what thats all about...

Hope everyone is having a great evening.

TFL Mich x

Blooming Marvellous!!!!

2008-11-03T13:24:00.015Z

Sara and Tracie - Poppicrafts creative designers have made some absolutely gorgeous cards - showing us some fabulous flower creations. Sara, very cleverly has made hearts, Christmas Trees, Umbrellas,Bees and little skirts out of her blooms - they are truly amazing. Tracie Jane has used the layering technique to her blooms to add fabulous depth to her cards.

Here are some sneak peaks, if you would like to see their creations in all their glory, please pop over to the poppicrafts gallery - Im sure you will agree they are all gorgeous. Thank you both for your inspiring work.

Blimey! I wondered why I felt a little peculiar, Ive only gone and posted 2 (yes 2) posts in the space of 24 hours - very impressed with myself.... I may even really push the boat out and post some of my own work tomorrow...lol

Have a great day,

Mich

Competition winner!! Halloween and Pink Petticoat

2008-11-02T22:53:00.008Z

Good evening!

Firstly, thank you to everyone for your poppicrafts competition entries. I have genuinely had a tough task choosing a winner. I noticed that a few of you cheeky ladies added an extra colour - naughty,naughty,lol... silver seemed to be the favourite.

Anyway, eventually I chose a winner, her card is right up my street - bold,bright and juicy!! She is the very talented Enfys and you can drool over her card here.

Moving onto spookier stuff, we have had a great half term, walks in the woods,pub lunch, bowling, Riley even wanted to go to Tescos, which I was really impressed with, until he said "Ive got my pocket money, once Ive picked a toy, we can go home" and then on Friday we met Hannah (aka hans crafty creations) and we had a great time. Hannah organised balloons,party games, halloween lunch and spooky goody bags. William (hannahs son) was so sweet and patient with Riley. He was showing him how to play bowling on the Wii and showed him over and over again until he grasped it.Thank you Hannah it was fab to meet you, you are very kind and made us feel so welcome.

Then yesterday, we went to my mums for a halloween tea. Poppi and Riley loved it, they had a halloween chocolate treasure hunt in the pitch black, with just a torch each and Apple bobbing, which was hilarious - every time Riley went under the water he shook himself like a dog, splashing water everywhere and the bowl was a bit deep for Poppi, so every time she dunked her under she was near enough doing a headstand trying to reach the apples, anyway we had a really fab evening - thanks mum for decorating the house and making so much fun for the little ones (and me)

And finally, well its just so simple, yet genius isnt it???

I am forever printing off the Pink petticoat colour sampler, then losing it. When I tidy the craft room I find about 10 of them. AAGH!!! So when I saw the colour pallete on the website, I just had to print it off. I mean, how often do we scratch around trying to find papers that match/co-ordinate with our embellishments. This is just so easy - hold it up to my vast stash of ribbon and blooms and find the perfect match - fan - blimmin - tastic!! That is what I love about PP, you can just print what you want. So often in the past I have bought paper stacks because I like some of the papers and you end up with colours and patterns that you will never use and they sit in your stash for ages.

Thank you Liz for this genius little download, its hanging up in my crafty place.

Thanks for looking,

Hope you all had a great weekend,

Mich

POPPICRAFTS COMPETITION - "NO IMAGES"

2008-10-26T18:53:00.000Z

Now my craft room is done and im back on track,the Poppicrafts competitions have returned.

Up for grabs this month from the Poppicrafts shop are all 6 blooms to go "the collection"- little stackable jars, each containing 50 2" flowers and blooms to go - Christmas poinsettias - all worth over £22.00

Looking around on blogs etc... I notice that images are everywhere, so I thought I would try and get you to think outside the box. I guess the clue is in the title, thats right -

"NO IMAGES ALLOWED" (oh, I can hear the groans from here) I have a feeling there wont be many entrants for this one.!!!! Sentiments are allowed, but no images. Also, it has to consist of any combination of my favourite colours only - Black, pink, green and white. So for example, it could be just black and white, or just pinks, or maybe even all four colours.

Just send me a link to the card on your blog, or email a picture of your card to me and i'l pop by.

The winner will be judged on originality as opposed to being pulled from a hat

Closing date for entries is 31st October and the winner will be announced on the 2nd November.

Good luck, thanks for looking and have fun.

Mich

WELCOME TO BLOGLAND!!!!!

2008-10-19T19:09:00.002+01:00

The everso fantastico Poppicrafts creative designer Sara, has just started blogging - woohoo!!! Its so exciting, as we are in for a treat, her work is very inspirational and I, for one will enjoy popping over and seeing her great creations. If you fancy welcoming her, you can find her here:
Very Lively cards - Welcome to Blogland Sara!!!! x
Also, just to let you know there will be a new kit released tonight at poppicrafts and also a couple of mini kits throughout this week. Lots of you have been asking about the 1" blooms and they should hopefully be back in stock at the end of the week.
I spent last night putting myself under a bit of pressure and trying to produce lots of Christmas cards for an order I have. But in typical "ME" stylie, the quicker I was trying to work, the worse they were turning out. I thought that as I had a couple of hours to spare I might be able to produce some good work - what a joke!!!! I must blog them later - they are truly diabolical.
TFL x

15% OFF ALL POPPICRAFTS STOCK - Only until to tomorrow though!!!

2008-10-16T20:25:00.002+01:00

Good evening,
Gosh! Is it me or is it a tad chilly today???
Anyway, just to let you know there is 15% off all Poppicrafts stock until midnight tomorrow - so why not bag a bargain and stock up on your stash, or if your feeling really kind, why not do some christmas shopping for your crafty buddies???. Well, thats it, nothing to show Im afraid. Not enough hours in the day at the mo!
Have a good evening and wrap up - BRRRRR!!!!
Mich
xxx

Poppicrafts Design Team

2008-10-07T19:59:00.002+01:00

Well, just how hard was it to decide????? All of your work is just fantastic, I wish I couldve chosen all of you. Thank you all so much for wanting to join the team.
Anyway, here is the Poppicrafts design team:
Hannah
Dawny
Tracie Jane
Sarah
Debs
and Sara
I am so pleased that you all said Yes and absolutely thrilled that you are on the team. Thanks girls I am sooooo excited to see your creations.
Congratulations!!!!
Mich
xx

Design Team Update

2008-10-06T13:16:00.002+01:00

Nothing to show today. I was unwell last week so am a bit behind on my work. I just wanted to say thank you for the huge response for the design team call. I shall be popping by all of your blogs this week to look at your beautiful work and will announce the team shortly.
Thanks to everyone for asking about Poppis speech therapy. She had her appointment which we have been waiting for since March and she was really good, sitting there for an hour looking at pictures and saying what she saw. It was just so funny, there was a picture of a frog and the speech therapist asked her what it was, she answered correctly. Then she asked "what has the frog got on his head Poppi?" Mouthing the word "crown" to see whether Poppi could say it ok.
"His pants?" said Poppi. Well I nearly wet myself. Admitingly, it wasnt a very good drawing of a crown, but it certainly didnt look like pants!!!!! Anyway, the upshot is, that she actually does not need speech therapy after all. Which is a bit odd. I guess that she has improved since March, so it is all good!!!!
Just to let you know there will be a competition next week to win some Poppicrafts goodies, so watch this space.
TFL
Mich
x

Stockings!

2008-09-29T19:06:00.004+01:00

I am determined to use up my paper stash, that has been boxed up for the last few months. If I am totally honest I do get a tad lazy and find it far easier to just print some off rather than go rummaging through boxes looking for something. Naughty I know, but I will try harder before the edges start to fade, like the paper we used to have at school, it would be in the store room for so many years the green paper would turn yellow at the edges. Its funny the things you remember from school - like why were the walls in the sick room painted the colour of sick????Maybe I should have remembered more about the learning, eh...

Poppi is at first speech therapy tomorrow, I hope it goes ok. Apparently most of her words will come as she gets older and are normal, but it is words such as "gog" (dog) that she should have been saying at 2 1/2 that arent so good. Her vocabulary is fantastic for her age (well it would be, she is female after all) its just the pronunciation. Anyway, we will see how it goes.

It is a sad day today, my mums dog had to be put to sleep this morning, after suffering a stroke. Mum, I just want you to know that my thoughts are with you today after losing your little friend, I know what she meant to you.

Card labels are: Papers - American crafts, brads, ribbons and photo hanger - Poppicrafts.

Thanks for popping by,

Poppicrafts design team call!!

2008-09-27T22:48:00.002+01:00

I am in the process of putting together a design team at Poppicrafts of which there are a couple of places available. If you think this may be of interest to you, please leave a comment with a link to your blog so I can pop over and have a peek, alternatively, you can of course mail me some photos of your work at sales@poppicrafts.co.uk The closing date will be 5th October and the design team members will be announced on the 10th October. Hope you are all having a great weekend.

HOORAY!!!!

2008-09-19T20:28:00.005+01:00

After months of blood,sweat and tears the extension is complete and I have my new craft room finished. I have to say it was harder than I thought it would be, but thanks to my fantabaroonie parents we got there in the end. Huge thank you to my dad for running the whole thing and a big hug to my mum for helping out and telling me it would all be worth it in the end, when I was knocking down walls,eating dust, constantly hoovering it up and having a 5 minute breakdown on a daily basis. I couldnt have done it without you. x

Anyway, onto the craft room. I sat down last night all pleased with myself and thought I would put a card together. Oh! Where did I put everything????? I decided before the room was complete that I would be super duper tidy and keep it that way - start how you mean to go on, so I put all my stash in their new homes. Well, I tell you it took me forever to make what should be a 5 minute card. So, I have now changed my mind and I shall do what we all do (dont we?) and start with a big desk and then have foam pads, card cutters, scissors, glue etc... all around me and just have a little tiny workspace, at least I will know where everything is. I didnt realise until last night, that actually I am best at organised chaos. It is great to be in blogland again and just have a relaxing evening making cards.

Thanks to everyone who emailed me over the last couple of months, I appreciate that you took the time to see how I was getting on - hugs to you!!!

I made this little pot of flowers to put in my new bedroom, it reminds me when I wake up in the morning, that I love my job and as my mum would say, these are definately my kind of flowers, as they dont need watering. Also, Poppi comes in, in the mornings and either takes them out and rearranges them or brings her dolls in and uses them as umbrellas for them.
Supplies are: brads,ribbon,flowers and photo hanger - poppicrafts. paper - american crafts. Rub-ons - doodlebug.

Thanks for popping by.

Poppicrafts 15% Bank holiday special

2008-08-22T19:28:00.004+01:00

Just a quickie to say theres 15% off everything at POPPICRAFTS this bank holiday. Sale ends midnight monday. Take a look at our new pick n mix spotty and plain 2" and 3" blooms - they are a bit yummy!!!! We also have multi pack blooms, if you are looking to add to your stash, please stop by and have a peek!!!

Have a great weekend.

Mich

Another sale!!!

2008-07-08T23:19:00.002+01:00

Hi all!!!
Yes I am still here.
Just to let you know Poppicrafts is having another sale! With 15% off all products. The sale will end on sunday 13th July.
Poppicrafts will then close from 14th - 21st July for stock relocation and full stock report. So please grab some bargains, so I dont have too much stock to count, LOL!!!!!
And then I might just start getting back to crafting - YIPPPEEEE!!!!!
Hope you are all well,
Thanks for popping by,
Mich
xxxx

15% OFF SUMMER SALE

2008-06-21T15:55:00.003+01:00

JUST A QUICK POST TO LET YOU KNOW THAT THIS WEEKEND IS SUMMER SALE AT POPPICRAFTS WITH 15% OFF EVERY ITEM IN THE SHOP. WE ALSO HAVE SOME NEW STOCK JUST IN, WHICH IS ALSO INCLUDED IN THE SALE, SUCH AS CROCHET FLOWERS, HALLOWEEN RIBBON AND 10 YARD PATTERNED GROSGRAIN RIBBON PACKS AT JUST £1.69. THIS SALE ENDS MIDNIGHT SUNDAY 22ND JUNE. THANKS FOR STOPPING BY.

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND

New stock!

2008-06-03T21:20:00.008+01:00

Just a quickie to let you know about some new stock that has arrived this week at Poppicrafts

New pick "n" mix hydrangeas in 2", 3" and 4", in 10 different colours so you can buy exactly what you want and layer them how you like.

With Chipboard hydrangeas in exactly the same shape and sizes so you can build them up.

2", 3" and 4" Buttercups in the pick n mix range (10 different colours), so again small quantities can be bought to suit your project.

100 blooms in 20 different colours and 4 different shapes ranging from 2" - 2 1/2"

And some whopping 6" chipboard daisies. Ive put some aside for myself (it would be rude not to, wouldnt it) to make some coasters with. Hurry up builders, I want to craft again!!!!!

Thanks for looking and a big thank you to all my customers for keeping me busy. I hope you like the new products. For all of you who have been asking I will have some new ribbon kits in next week.

I am still here!!!

2008-05-24T22:11:00.005+01:00

HUGE HUGE THANK YOU to my crafting buddy Tracie Jane, for my fantabulous award - You are very sweet and kind. If you havent stopped by her blog, you must. She makes stunning cards and I love popping over to see what she does with Poppicrafts products. It is very rewarding to see what people create with my products as every one of them is unique and makes me smile.

Just to let you all know that I am still here and well, and thank you for your kind comments and stopping by. As some of you already know, I have packed most of crafting stash away (big sad face) while our building work is being carried out, so I wont be blogging for a while. Hopefully when the new craft room is done I will back at my desk beavering away!!! I am focusing on the shop at the moment and have just received my new delivery of grosgrain ribbon. Cant wait to get my hands on it and play. (hurry up builders!!!) Next week I will have more blooms in stock, crochet flowers, MORE ribbon and mountains of brads - Yippee!!! So there will be lots of new kits over the next few weeks. I do stop by as many blogs as I can. What with half term next week and my little soldier will be having his 5th birthday, I will be rather busy. 5? I can hardly believe it, he is growing up before my very eyes, telling me on daily basis that he his nearly a grown up,but he still has his childlike moments that make me smile for days. My mum was talking to him the other day about bees:

"There arent many bees left in the world now Riley and they are very important as they give us lots of food"

"How do we know that nanna?"

"Because the bee doctors have looked into it and there are far less than there used to be"

He paused for a moment.

"Nanna, are the bee doctors people or bees?"

How cute is he??? Me and mum had visions of these little bees buzzing around with suits on and briefcases under their wings...

Poppi has been unwell this week, but of course being female, she has been very brave and soldiered on. She wanted to go to pre-school and play with her friends, but she was just so sleepy and floppy. I cannot bear it when they are unwell, but I have to say the amount of snuggles we had was just lovely. I really cherish moments like that as they dont last for long do they? Riley is already of that age where he will hold my hand but would much rather hold Poppis, when we come out of school. I have no doubt that I will wake up one morning and holding my hand or kissing me goodbye at school will be embarrassing for him. So all these little moments are very precious.

Anyway, thanks for popping by and I'l be back "making" soon, cant wait!!

What a fab surprise!!!

2008-05-09T10:38:00.003+01:00

I won some gorgeous blog today, from Kath who was holding a competition with reference to the nightmares that we face, trying to read those silly word verifications when leaving a comment on blogs. What a lovely surprise it was to open the post this morning! I have to say the flowers, images eyelets and brads are lovely and I shall enjoy playing with them later, but the card is just so beautiful! Being a cardmaker I really appreciate the time and care involved to make such a wonderful card, Thank you Kath, my card is on the mantelpiece for all to see, it is a beautiful creation and you have really made my day!!! Mich xx

couple of quick makes

2008-05-07T13:29:00.005+01:00

Life has been a bit hectic of late. Riley and Poppi were a bit under the weather last week and we are having a bit of building work done, so I seem to be spending my life hoovering and having that awful dust taste. You hoover up, turn round it seems to have settled again. Oh well, it'l be worth it in the end - cant wait!!

Found the time (and dont pass out in shock) to actually make 2 cards. My card box is empty, so I desperately need to make a few. It is my friends birthday this week, so just had to use the pink petticoat turtle images, for his card. The second one was a joint effort between me and my step daughter, who came to stay at the weekend. She is 11 and was very proud of efforts. I think she enjoyed it, she did make one of her own, but we forgot to take a photo.
Hope you are all enjoying the glorious weather. Mich x

Supplies are: Pink petticoat images and papers. Ribbon, photo hangers, Buttons, blooms and velvet - Poppicrafts. Hand doodling, faux stitching.

Thank you Sharon!!!!!

2008-04-29T18:44:00.003+01:00

The fantabulous Sharon has given me "you make my day award" I feel very very humbled, as over the last few weeks I have been a very neglectful blogger. What with school holidays and work, I have not had much play time. So THANK YOU Sharon, you are very kind and you most certainly make my day, as when I pop over and see the cards that you have made from your purchases (or competition win - yes I did spot the chocolate heart ribbon you used!) they all cheer me up no end!!! It is lovely to see all my customers creations.

I would like to pass this award on to anyone who pops over, as recently there has not been much to see, so you all make my day, for being so kind and patient, waiting to see if ive posted.

Mich

OMG! How exciting...

2008-04-22T19:50:00.003+01:00

...for me anyway!!! Had a flick through Papercraft Inspirations and found this. Poppicrafts in P. I magazine, how amazing is that??? And its all down to Sharon de Meza for using Poppicrafts products on her fantastic commission work. Loving the cat card - sooo cute!!! So if you pop by Sharon, i'd like to say a HUGE thank you. To say you have made my day, is an understatement.

Mich

FLORAL RIBBON TUTORIAL

2008-04-19T15:44:00.013+01:00

A while back a couple of people asked me to do a tutorial for the ribbon flower card that I made. This is my first tutorial so here goes:

1. Cut 8 lengths of ribbon at 8cm. I chose 10mm mini floral satin.

2. Add sticky dots to the bottom end of the ribbon. You could also use a tape runner or double sided tape.

3. Loop the top end of the ribbon round to sit on top of the sticky dots on the bottom end of the ribbon

4. do this to all 8 pieces of ribbon.

5. Punch a 5cm circle from plain cardstock. Alternatively, you could hand cut a circle, as it will be hidden underneath the flower anyway. Cover the circle with glue dots or DST, ready to adhere the ribbon.

6. Arrange the looped ribbons around the edge. I found it best to lay them down lightly first. Then when you are happy with it, push them down to adhere properly. ( sorry about the blurry pic)

7. This is what the reverse side will look like. You can then opt to add more ribbons to this side in the same way if you wanted it to be layered.

8. I chose to add a 2" chipboard flower, 2" spotty bloom and 1" pink bloom to the top and a 3" chipboard flower to the bottom.

9. I made a hole straight through the middle and held it all together using a green jewel brad.

I hope this was of use to some of you and look forward to seeing your interpretations. Supplies are: Ribbon, blooms, chipboard, brad and photo hanger - poppicrafts. Papers - Pink petticoat.
TFL and have a great weekend.
Mich
x

New shop, now open!

2008-04-14T22:28:00.002+01:00

Just to let you know that the new look Poppicrafts shop opened today! If you want to have a look at the new design its here I hope you like it - I do!! Hopefully I'l be back on track now, to get some cards made.(oh no! maybe not, another ribbon delivery tomorrow) Ive just been so busy sorting out the new website, ordering new stock and oh yeah, entertaining the little dinkies who tell me every 5 minutes that they are "bored". Mind you I can remember saying the very same thing to my mum at that age. Rileys friend has a birthday party tomorrow and Poppi is invited too, so im sure that wont be as boring. We ordered some bits and bobs that arrived today. It was funny, Poppi spent most of the day in her new swimming costume and shoes and then got all upset because she couldnt wear them in the bath (the shoes, that is, not the swimming costume???) and Riley loved his new school trousers that much that he wanted to wear them too. How odd.... Its clearly the little things that amuse them. Buy them a toy and they play with it for 2 minutes. Buy them a school uniform and pair of shoes and they are content for a day. And over the last week, Riley has swept the floors, made the beds (well sort of) done the hoovering, made tea.... The list goes on. He is a good lad and when he does things like that without me asking, it makes me realise how thoughtful he is at such a young age. Poppi just sits there and tells him what to do next. Good for her, thats what I say. Make the most of it, put your feet up while you can....

TFL

Mich

Bloomin' Dotty

2008-04-10T21:53:00.003+01:00

After hours at the drawing board, sorting colours, shapes and spots, Poppicrafts new dotty blooms have arrived. I have designed them, so that each pack contains 15 of each size 1", 2" and 3", which I thought would be ideal for layering. There are 3 different pack types available, if you fancy peek they are here You never know I may even get a chance to play with them myself...

I hope you like them. x

NEW PRODUCTS!!

2008-04-08T20:37:00.006+01:00

Just a quickie to let you know that the new ribbon embellishment kit is now in stock and also, some mini ribbon packs, in a variety of colours.

You can see them here

I would just like to also say a HUGE thank you to all my customers who take the time to send me emails and thank me for their goodies. It is very kind of you all and I really appreciate the complimentary feedback.

Next week I will be getting new spotty bloom packs and more ribbons, so watch this space for some more updates. TFL and have great evening!

COMPETITION WINNER

2008-04-07T09:25:00.002+01:00

Firstly, thank you to everyone for all your entries in this months competition. Trying to choose a winner has been really difficult, as ALL of the cards are brilliant. In the end I had I make a decision and my favorite was based on the originality of use of the ribbon. Im sure you will agree that this card is very original and uses my favorite colours, pink, black and white. I personally have never seen a skirt made from ribbon before and it turns the card into something a bit different and is very pretty and elegant. So the winner is, Sharon. You can see her winning card here:

http://shari-anne-happycrafter.blogspot.com/2008/04/poppicraft-challenge.html

So, congratulations to Sharon, if you could email me your address I'l get your ribbon off to you. Thanks again to everyone, you most certainly made it difficult for me to decide.

Hope you all have a lovely day! x

HAPPY 60TH DAD!!!!

2008-04-04T12:21:00.004+01:00

My dad is 60 today! So I just wanted to post a huge HAPPY BIRTHDAY to him. He is the best dad in the world, and in the words of Riley "We love him all the way round the world and back again" So, thanks dad for always being there for us all. Enjoy your special day. We are all going out for a meal tomorrow evening to celebrate. Our friends are coming over to babysit. It will be the first evening Ive been out without the children for about 4 years, so I hope they are good for the babysitters?????

Hope you all have a great weekend.

TFL

Ribbons and brads - poppicrafts, Papers and image Pink Petticoat. Faux stitching and a bit of inking.

New Ribbon Kit and competition.

2008-04-01T18:22:00.007+01:00

Just to remind you, there are only a few days left to enter the Poppicrafts competition. The rules are to make a card or altered item using ribbon. The winner wil be chosen based on originality for use of the ribbon. The winner will receive 50 yards of mixed ribbons (1 yard of each of the 50 designs, as shown above). Unfortunately, only one person has entered so far - which doesnt really make it a competition does it?? I hope a few of you will have a go!

Also, the new "Sunshine" ribbon kit has been released today. It is the usual kit price of £5.99 if any of you fancy a look. It is a bit different to the usual pink based kits, so I hope you like it.

And last but certainly not least, this was my little girl on Friday, when she came home from pre-school. Usually, as soon as we get in I start getting tea, while Riley and Poppi play together, when I called them both only Riley came into the kitchen. She never ever falls asleep anywhere, except in bed, obviously. She had obviously found her dummy, tigger and towel. We call Poppi and Riley the towlettes in our house, as neither of them will go to bed without there little squares of towels and Poppi has to have "the silky bit" (thats the label by the way) by her face. She must have just been so, so tired - bless her!

And this was Riley after a birthday party at the weekend - and yes there were tears when we had to wash it off, as he would no longer be "the real spiderman".

TFL have a good evening.

I actually made a card!!!!!

2008-03-28T22:55:00.002Z

Had a little play with my ribbon today, just a quick card really, to get me back into the swing of things, as I havent made a card for ages.... I love the frilly edge velvet, that I used - it gives a really nice texture to the card. Anyway, I hope you like it and lets hope I can find the time to make some more soon.

supplies are: Ribbon, brads, buttons and blooms - Poppicrafts, Papers - Pink Petticoat

Oh and dont forget, theres just one week left to get your competition entries in, for a chance to win 50 yards of lush ribbon. There are 50 different types (velvet, grosgrain and satin) a yard of each.

Hope you all have a great weekend and thanks for popping over. x

Ribbon Kits and Snowy Easter

2008-03-25T20:31:00.008Z

These are the new limited edition ribbon kits and collections on the poppicrafts website, if you fancy a peek.

I hope everyone had a great easter. We went over to my mums for an easter egg hunt. It makes me realise how competitive Riley is. Every time he found another egg, he had to check that he had more than Poppi, he is sooo funny!! As for Poppi, well, she wouldve been thrilled to bits with just one egg. She is so content with the smallest of things, she really is an absolute joy. Then yesterday we went to our local indoor play centre, its huge, with slides, climbing frames etc... Fearless Poppi decided to go down the slide and halfway down lost her balance. The result was, nearly putting her teeth through her lip. She has a big cut on the inside and this morning it was all bruised and swollen. My poor little baby girl, I cannot bare it for her. Why cant we just have these cuts and bruises ourselves for them. She is so brave, she did scream when it happened, after I mopped her up and put an icepack on it, she held my hand and took me up to the slide again. This time sitting on my lap though.

Anyway, here are some pics of the snow on sunday from our house and boy, was it bitterly cold!!! Snow at easter? The british weather certainly never ceases to amaze me.

TFL xx

Monthly Competition

2008-03-22T23:02:00.005Z

The poppicrafts shop, is now selling ribbon by the yard. I have set it up so that you can shop by type, colour or width - I hope this makes it easier for you when seeking out a specific type.

Anyway, to celebrate the launch I am giving away 50 yards of yummy ribbons. Included are velvet, patterned and plain grosgrain, and patterned and plain satin.

So obviously, the challenge has to be this:

To make a card or altered item, using ribbon (as much as you like) The winner will not be pulled from a hat, but judged purely on originality for use of the ribbon. So ladies, get your thinking caps on and show me what you can do. Heres one that I made I while back ( i think I may have even blogged it before) but who knows, it may inspire you.....

Closing date will be April 6th, with the winner being announced on the 7th. Good luck and have fun.

Quick poll!

2008-03-19T10:17:00.002Z

Morning all! Well you do like your ribbons dont you? I was up till 0130 last night packing up all your goodies.Thank you to everyone who made a purchase- I hope you like them!!! If I could just ask you to spend 10 seconds to carry out the quick poll on the right, then hopefully I will be able to get some more new ribbon stock, as per your preferences. I have a new ribbon supplier, so if any of you would like to see a new type of ribbon, please leave me a comment and I will do my best to stock it for you. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a lovely day!!!

NEW RIBBON!

2008-03-18T11:07:00.006Z

A few of you have been asking if I am going to sell ribbon by the yard soon. Just to let you know, yes I am, and all being well it will be up and running just after easter. In the meantime I have added two new limited edition grosgrain ribbon collections "GOING DOTTY" AND "SOLIDS" to the poppicrafts website if you fancy a peek- hope you like them. Also,as I will be selling ribbon in small quantities, the £10 minimum order amount has now been lifted.

Oh yeah, at the end of this week its competition time again, with a big prize up for grabs. (can you guess what it might be?)So watch this space....

Thanks for looking, have a great day. x

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUM!!!!

2008-03-16T00:40:00.000Z

Well its past midnight, so that makes it my mums birthday - Happy Birthday Mum - Youre the best!!!!!!!!! Have a lovely day! I made these two cards for her, its safe to show them, because she will be in bed now and by the time she hits blogland in the morning she wouldve opened them. I used these stamps, as I know that she loves them and the one from me, is how I see her in few years time, wanderind round her garden with pot plants (dont know about the bunchies though!!) The other one is from my dad and it reminds me of them both when I look at photos of when they were younger. My dad had thick brown hair and my mum was all little and thin, and still is.

For the first one, I had a go at a frame card - turned out ok for a first attempt, added some blooms, inked hearts, and a bit of doodling. Popped a message on the back, to cover up the messy bits.

The second one is just a standard card, with some new ribbon from my shop and some yummy crochet flowers, that should be coming into stock soon. I love texture on cards. I am not a paper stroker, as I know many of you are, I much prefer ribbon, velvet and other materials that are soft to touch.

Poppi had a great time at Pre-school this week - she is very proud of her school uniform and wants to wear it every day now. I picked her up on Friday and she burst into tears. There I was thinking "what have they done to her, why is she so upset?" and the first thing she says to me is "Please my not go home mummy" Children eh? Still I am really happy that she is enjoying spending time with children of her own age. On my way to pick her up I had to pass Rileys school and I knew that the whole school were doing a sponsored run, around the sports field for Sport relief, as I turned the corner in the car, I thought "I bet wont be able to see him" He is only tiny and amongst 100 children, would be difficult to spot. To my joy, he was running right alongside the fence. He didnt see me and Im glad he didnt, because the sheer determination in his little rosie face, to keep up with the older children was overwhelming. It bought tears to my eyes and a lump in my throat. I shall remember that brief moment forever. I am so very proud of them both. When I eventually picked Riley up he was really pleased to tell me that he had managed 8 laps, but apparently he did fall over on lap 6, because his legs stopped working. "Well done" I said, as I looked down at his feet. "In fact really well done" I thought, considering he had his plimsolls on the wrong feet. aaawww!!! What a trooper...

TFL have a great weekend

Buttons, buttons everywhere....

2008-03-08T20:25:00.004Z

Sorry I havent blogged for a bit, but Im in the middle of sorting out just some of the new poppicrafts stock. Lots of yummy buttons, ribbons and ribbon kits and of course brads, brads and more brads. You know me, I do like a brad or two....

So as a result I havent got any cards to show im afraid.

On thursday Poppi went to Pre-school for a taster day, she will be going a couple of days a week, as of next week. As I left she gave me a kiss and said "see you later mummy" as though it was nothing, but to me it is - I had a lump in my throat, for my little baby has grown up. On the other hand I am so pleased that She absolutely loved it. Me and mum went along to collect her and we were peeking through the window - they had a music lesson, so they were all dancing and Poppi was copying all the other children with her little nervous face but also with the hugest smile from ear to ear. She is the youngest in the group and looked all ikkle, but as soon as we got home, she asked when she would be going back. Where does the time go? It feels like yesterday she was born and already she is telling me she is ready for big school. She is really excited for next week and keeps telling Riley that she is "growed up too." Im glad that I decided to take her, as she really does need to be mixing with children of her own age, but a little piece of me is sad.

Hope your having a great weekend. Who knows I may have some cards to show next week.

TFL x

A few more Daisies!!

2008-03-04T19:35:00.004Z

Made these yesterday for a little order of get well cards. My stamping is still a little smudgey (is that a word?) but I enjoyed playing. I will keep practising.

Daisy Stamps, brads and blooms - Poppicrafts, Ribbon - Poppicrafts and Ribbon Oasis, Papers - Pink Petticoat and Papermill shop.

Thank you to the wonderful Terrie B for my fantastic "you make my day" award, you are so very kind and always make my day too, I really appreciate that you always make the time to leave me such lovely comments. - big hugs to you!!!!

Unfortunately I just dont have as much time as I would like to blog hop right now, but I do zoom around as much as possible and i dont always have enough time to leave as many comments as I would like to - sorry!!!. So I would just like to thank everyone for leaving such fantabulous comments on my blog, they really are very much appreciated.

TFL xx

Mothers day card

2008-03-03T20:07:00.006Z

Made this for my mum. It started life as a card, but somehow turned into a little book. I really enjoyed making it for her. She loves simple cards - so I think I achieved that! I hope that everyone had a lovely mothers day. Riley made me a beautiful card and a little painted clay pot at school for me - I was thrilled and he was just so pleased with his efforts. I will of course cherish it forever!!! He offered to do the washing up yesterday too, but the cutest thing of all was Poppi and Riley bringing me breakfast in bed, singing "Happy Birthday" how sweet is that, still in their own way they knew it was a special day for me, even if they did get a bit confused!!! I love them to bits!!!!!

Anyway, back to the card. I thought I would have a go at stamping the acetate cover and backing papers. Hope you like it.

Supplies are: Blooms and brads - Poppicrafts. Ribbon - Poppicrafts and Ribbon Oasis. Flourish stamps - Autumn Leaves

TFL

Februarys Competition Winner

2008-02-29T20:14:00.002Z

And the winner is..... Dawny P - eventually! I asked Riley to pick out of the hat, but before he did, we had to go through all the names using Jolly phonics. I dont remember having actions for every letter when I was at school, but still, it seems to work, so surely thats a good thing!! Every Friday we stop at the shop after school for a choccie bar and I told him today that once he had the photo taken he could have his chocolate - Ive never seen him pose for a photo so quick....

So congratulations to Dawny. If you could contact me when you have a mo, I can get your candy off to you.
TFL x

MEET NUTMEG AND DAISY!!!

2008-02-29T09:45:00.005Z

Meet Nutmeg and Daisy, two little cuties, who get up to all sorts - they are the new clear stamps at Poppicrafts. Theres currently 10 stamps in series one, these are just 2 of them, that I just had to have a little play with. They include golfing, DIY, Fishing and Driving Nutmeg and Daisy with Balloons, Flowers, Cake and A big Heart. They are already limited stock, so if you fancy popping over and having a look - heres the link : http://shop.poppicrafts.com/epages/es106381.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/es106381_shop/Categories/Stamps/%22Daisy%20and%20Nutmeg%22

Hope you like them. Series 2 will be launched in March.

Thanks for looking

A FEW MORE FOR THE ORDER

2008-02-23T18:43:00.009Z

Here are a few more of the cards I made for the order. Ive been playing really, you know how it is, you get stuck in a rut, making the same sort of cards, so since the new year Ive been playing with stamps (who'd have thought it - me stamping!) I got so carried away I even stamped some of the blooms!!!!! Ive been using different colours etc... to try and, not change my style but experiment more I guess... Mind you as you will notice, some of them came out in exactly the same style I usually use - I done it without even realising it. How odd!!!! I am going through that phase at the moment, where I do a bit of blog hopping, get totally inspired, go to my desk and on the way, someone has removed my brain - I go completely blank. Maybe my mind is elsewhere at the moment, after all you cant just sit down and make yourself be creative, can you?? It has to come naturally. I am completely convinced that the more you concentrate on making something, the worse it turns out.

Anyway, I enjoyed playing with the big cakes and Hettie (or as my delightful daughter calls her "big butt") from Pink Petticoat. I never tire of using the images, as they are very versatile and of course always at hand to play with. So although a few got pushed to one side - I'l finish those later, Experimenting more with chalks, inks and different pens was fun - and thats why we do all this creative stuff after all - to enjoy it!! Thanks for looking, hope you are all having a good weekend. I'l post the rest tomorrow.

Supplies are:

Papers - pink petticoat, DCWV. Brads, Eyelets, shopping charms and blooms - Poppicrafts. Ribbon - Poppicrafts, Ribbon Oasis.

Oh yes and dont forget the Poppicrafts competition closes next week, so get your entries in soon.

Card Order

2008-02-22T10:35:00.009Z

Sorry I havent blogged for a bit, but weve been out and about as Riley has been off school, so I have been making the most of these precious times. Allthough I must say I had forgotten, how much he needs to be entertained. We went over to my friends on Monday, had lunch, went to the park, they both played for hours with my friends children. No sooner had we pulled off the drive to come home and "What are we doing now then mummy? Im bored" Honestly I do envy their energy levels.

Anyway, I have made time in the evenings to plough through a current order of 20 cards. Supplies are: Pink Petticoat, Basic grey and DCWV papers. Brads and eyelets - Poppicrafts. Ribbon - Ribbon Oasis. Thanks to everyone who has added the Poppicrafts banner to their blog roll. I appreciate the time that you have taken to paste it over. Will be back later to post some more of this batch. Hope you all have a great weekend! x

Anyone fancy a blog banner?

2008-02-17T22:09:00.003Z

Just for a bit of fun, if anyone fancies adding the poppicrafts banner to their blog, please copy and paste this html text to your blog roll.

<a href="http://www.poppicrafts.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh61/michellestephenson/poppicrafts2.gif"
border="0" /></a>

I just want to say a huge thank you to Liz for working her magic - you are a real star!!!!
Hope everyone had a great weekend! TFL xxx

FEBRUARYS COMPETITION

2008-02-15T19:53:00.003Z

Yes, its POPPICRAFTS competition time again!!!!

Up for grabs this month is 200 brads. They are: 35 Crystal, 25 flower, 20 zigzag, 10 "girly", 10 Ladybug, 10 handbag, 15 Ricrac, 10 plasters, 10 doctors bags, 25 ribbon loopy and 30 big button.

This months competition is 3-2-1

that is:

3 blooms/flowers

2 Brads

1 piece of ribbon

Any theme, any colour I dont mind. But you must stick to the recipe, no more, no less, just the amount above. Of course you can add any other embellishments, it can be a card, scrap layout or any altered item.

Have fun and as always, dont forget to post your link, so we can all have a peek. closing date is:28th Feb, the winner will be announced 29th Feb.

Cant wait to see your creations x

What a fantastic Surprise

2008-02-15T18:47:00.002Z

A HUGE thank you to Terrie B for my award and your very sweet comments. Im guessing I cant send it back to you then. Hmmm! I think I will pass this on to my mum, because she is inspiring and her photos of her garden are absolutely stunning, she has lots a patience (she must have, she put up with me for years!!!) when taking pics and spends long hours working in her garden, making sure it is just so for all those little creatures that live there.

Also, to dawny P as she has a new blog and its nice to click over and see how shes doing. She always stops by and leaves me some lovely comments. So thank you to you both. http://www.mywildlifesanctuary.blogspot.com/

http://pinkpiggywiggy.blogspot.com/

A QUICK APOLOGY

2008-02-13T18:31:00.002Z

Yes the inevitable happened today. Some moron decided to post a comment today on my blog, with a link to some porn. Fortunately, Riley wasnt sitting with me, when I checked it out. Anyway I just wanted to apologise in case anyone else looked at the link and was as offended and me. I didnt really want to change my blog to comment approval, but I have and suggest that maybe you do to. Why these people do this I dont know, but there we go, whats done is done!

Its Rileys last day at school tomorrow, then hes off for half term - YIPPEEE!!! Mind you, hel'l probably be bored by Tuesday and want to go back, but we will be out about and i will try and keep him as busy as possible, so dont be surprised if I dont blog much next week (he probably wont allow it) Im sure he gets more bossy by the day and of course Poppi just has to follow suit. They are constantly telling me off, but I wouldnt change them for the world. They do make me laugh. Riley was doing that vile boy thing the other day, picking his nose and eating it. When I asked what he was doing "recycling mummy" was the reply - YUK!!!! What a dirty little toad. Mind you he does have his lovely little ways too. After watching the little clip of Kirsty Wisemans daughter. He did ask "can I give her all the money from my money box please?" and he did, we counted it all out and gave it to http://www.kirstywiseman.com/ellie.html so I am very proud of him really.

Thanks for popping by x

Quick makes...

2008-02-13T14:23:00.007Z

Made a few quick cards. Makes me feel like ive acheived something when a make a little batch in an evening. Used more Pink Petticoat papers. I love the new sweet cupcake range and will play with them some more. Also the new Henrietta download, how cute is she???? I will be playing with her later too. Shes really versatile, so that you can make her your own. http://www.pinkpetticoat.co.uk/ you must go check her out if you havent already.TFL, must dash, got to go get my little lad from school.

Playing with flourishes

2008-02-11T18:47:00.000Z

Sorry to everyone who keeps popping over and seeing there hasnt been a posting for while. I have had a few problems with my back and havent really been very inspired to do much at all of late. Anyway enough of that, I have been playing with my new set of stamps. STAMPS? I hear you say. It is true I am not really a stamper and havent stamped for at least 5 years. When, from memory it was only anitas stamps that were readily available. But I have been browsing the net and of course asking my blog buddie, Terrie B and just love the autumn leaves flourishes and swirls. They are more me, so without further ado I gave them a try. All this acrylic stamping is so much easier than guessing where your image may turn out. I have a long way to go before I am a pro, but I enjoyed it anyway - Oh yeah except for running off to the sink every 5 minutes to clean them. Perhaps my next mission in life will be "the self cleaning clear stamp". I also had a play with these new hydrangea blooms that I now have in stock. (A pack of 60 is just £1.65). Who know I may even jump on the Tilda bandwagon next....

So I made these for mum, as her card box is getting a little empty and without a doubt, they are definately her cup of tea.

Thanks for looking, supplies are: Brads, eyelets and blooms - Poppicrafts. Papers - Pink petticoat and basic grey. Ribbon - ribbon oasis.

Oh yeah, nearly forgot - later this week there will be another Poppicrafts competition with more candy to win.

Little Notelets!

2008-01-31T19:12:00.000Z

Made 20 little weenie notelets yesterday. The requirements were "keep it simple, with not much on them" Hmmm, simple eh? I found it really hard to not add oodles of ribbon and colour etc... But I think they turned out ok. To me they look a bit unfinished, as they are not in my usual syle, but its good to be challenged sometimes I guess. Which reminds me, I must start joining in again over at papertake weekly and Daring cardmakers. I havent done so since before Christmas... which is a tad naughty, but ive been really busy doing other stuff. Hope everyones enjoying the fantastic British weather today - YUK!!!!!

Supplies are: Blooms, brads and eyelets - Poppicrafts, Papers - DCWV and Pink petticoat, Ribbon - Ribbon Oasis

You Cheer me up!

2008-01-29T18:38:00.000Z

Received this "You Cheer Me Up Award" today, from the fabulous Terrie. So great big hugs to you..... You are one top chick... and i am passing this award back to you.

I would like to give this award to:

My mum - http://www.mywildlifesanctuary.blogspot.com/ because she is the best lady in the whole world and cheers me up EVERY day.

Marieke - http://www.mariekevermeulen.blogspot.com/ because just looking at her colourful work makes me smile.

Liz - http://www.pinkpetticoat.blogspot.com/ because just popping one of her cds in my machine makes me create lots of cards.

and of course to my little dinkies, Riley and Poppi, because when I feel a bit down in the dumps, just looking at them, makes me realise how fortunate I am. (I will print them a copy of the award and give it to them at Breakfast)

And last, but not least, to everyone who reads my blog, because of all the lovely comments that are left and I very much appreciate the fact that people pop over to look at my work - So thanks to EVERYONE, if you are reading this, you have cheered me up!!

Thanks Marieke for the Jolly Apples!!

2008-01-29T12:59:00.000Z

I really enjoyed playing with Mariekes papers and tags. They are just sooo much fun. Marieke has a wonderful talent for producing such fun and bubbly masterpieces. They certainly color my world and making a card from her papers is sure to brighten anyones day. Thanks Marieke for the free downloads.

http://mariekevermeulen.blogspot.com/2008/01/free-downloads.html

Enjoy your day. x

Supplies are: Mariekes papers, Brads and eyelets - poppicrafts, ribbon - Ribbon Oasis

Miserable Monday!

2008-01-28T10:01:00.000Z

Yuk! Its foggy and damp today. Not very inviting out there. Going to make some Marieke style cards today, to brighten up the day. Shes got some fab free downloads on her blog.If you havent already checked them out- you must pop over and have a play. http://www.mariekevermeulen.blogspot.com/ thanks Marieke, they are bright and cheerful, just what I need today.

Anyway, here is the rest of the scrapbook I made for mum. Some of the pictures came out dreadful, so i've left those ones out. I think there was 20 pages in total, so theres lots for her to fill in. Cant wait to see the finished product. Thanks for looking and have a good day. x

Mums gardening Scrapbook!

2008-01-27T20:21:00.000Z

As most of you know, every year I make a scrapbook for mum, to put her stunning gardening/wildlife photos and journalling in. This year I went for a 12" x 12", as anything smaller just doesnt do her pics justice. Obviously, the pictures above are a little plain, as the focal point is missing.Who knows, maybe when its complete at the end of the year, I'll show it again, in its full glory. Thanks for looking and hope you all had a great weekend. I'l load the rest of the pictures tomorrow, as theres about 13 in total. Dont want to bore you all to tears. x

Rileys Homework!

2008-01-26T20:40:00.000Z

Gosh! What a huge project for a 4 year old. It was to make a miniature garden ( to scale if possible - but we didnt do that bit, too complex for sure!) and a write up on what and why things were in your garden. Fortunately it was classed as "family" homework, otherwise he would have definately struggled. Weve been working on it all week in 5 minutes sessions as any longer he gets bored of it and loses interest. Anyway, here are the pics especially for my mum (who also roamed around her garden for little bits and bobs) and of course the lovely Terrie B who shares my passion for having poster paint under her nails - and that lovely scratchy feel it has - YUK! After we had finished Riley decided he wanted Buzz Lightyear to live in the shed. Mind you in his write up, he done a fab picture of me and him sitting on the bench watching the butterflies. Also, dont know if you can see it clearly on the photo, but he done the cutest drawing of a bee (its on one of the little blue circles)

The last picture is of the children this afternoon. Riley was frantically telling Poppi that they must put headbands, necklaces and bracelets on to protect them from "HIM" as "HE" might try and get them. It just begs the question - Who is HIM? Aaaw! bless them, they brighten my world and make me laugh every day without fail.

AND THE WINNER IS......

2008-01-26T09:03:00.000Z

Thank you to everyone for entering the competition, there were some absolutely fantastic cards and I just COULDNT choose. So I took the wimps way out and asked Riley to pick one from the hat, before school yesterday, as you can see he really is not interested.

I'm really sorry, but I had PC issues yesterday, so couldnt announce the winner. So without further ado......

Congratulations to Jo - if you could contact me, with your address, so I can pop your candy in the post.

There will be another competition next month, with the opportunity to win more Poppicrafts candy. Once again, thank you to everyone for all their fantabulous entries... Jos card is here-
http://jo-onlyjoking.blogspot.com/2008/01/poppicrafts-competition.html

TFL.

A couple of bits and bobs

2008-01-22T21:19:00.000Z

Made a couple of bits and bobs over the last couple of days. The first was a nice little plain and simple book for my mum to keep all her little seed packets in AND she requested it to be plain so she could decorate it herself. Do we have a crafter in the making I ask myself. To be honest its so she can write on the cover and the envelopes. She is fantastic at calligraphy, but not many people seem to do it these days, which is a shame! I simply covered some 2mm chipboard, cut a bit bigger than the envelope size. Punched the holes and used some binding rings. Put a couple of eyelets in the covers and tied with "a mothers love" twill.

I also made 3 cards yesterday and have decided today I shall join most of the other bloggers out there and use up all those papers that we seem to save for no apparent reason. So over the next few weeks, you will probably see some rather dated papers being used up - I apologise now!!!

Supplies are: Brads, Eyelets, Rub-ons and blooms - Poppicrafts, Papers - DCWV and Pink petticoat, Ribbon - Ribbon Oasis

TFL and thanks to everyone who left me info on the round stamps that I am looking for - I am perusing ebay daily to see if I can find them, now I know who they are made by. x

A few cards!!

2008-01-17T19:37:00.000Z

Just want to thank everyone who has entered the valentine competition so far. I have had a great response - so keep them coming ladies!!!!! You never know, it could be YOU!!!!

Made a couple of cards this week and have started on a couple of projects, which reminds me I havent posted the pics of my mums scrapbook for christmas yet. Hmmm, I must do that tomorrow!!

Oh yeah thats what I was going to ask - I hardly ever stamp, but I have seen some circle stamps with birthday sentiments written round the edges and through the middle. I have found the Autumn leaves ones, but their not birthday sentiments, If anyone has a clue what I am talking about, could you please, please tell me who makes them.

Anyway supplies for the cards are: Papers - pink petticoat, Brads and eyelets - Poppicrafts, Ribbon - ribbon oasis.

thanks for popping by...

Where. Oh where has my mojo gone????

2008-01-09T21:40:00.000Z

What a disaster!!! Well not really, it is only a card after all, but I think I have lost my thread somewhere..... Mind you I havent made a card since before Christmas and with a million and one things on my to-do list, I'm not surprised. You know when you get those great days, when you have loads of ideas and make a few good cards and then theres days like today, when you just know your cards not going to turn out how you expect. Well I decided to make a card for grandad, whos 81 next week, I didnt really feel in the mood and thought he likes reading and gardening, so i'l make card with a couple of bookmarks. This is what I came up with and I am not thrilled with it, to say the least, I dont know if I'm the only one who gets this, but I was pushing the pieces around the card blank and getting nowhere, so I just stuck it down.Oh well, nevermind maybe tomorrow i'l feel inspired again and come up with something else. :(

P.S. If anyone finds my mojo... PLEASE GIVE IT BACK!!!!

Just a Quickie!!!!!

2008-01-07T18:44:00.000Z

I just wanted to thank everyone for their kind and lovely comments, since I have been blogging - its inspirational to know that people come and visit and are interested in what you do. I dont always have time to return the comments, but appreciate them all the same. So, thank you. I have one New Year resolution and that is to blog more......

I have been a bit naughty recently, but what with Christmas preparations and cherishing the time that Riley is off school, I just havent had enough hours in the day. Riley went back to school today :( so I am a little sad. We had a lovely couple of weeks playing endlessly with their toys (Ker-plunk is favourite at the moment, which bought back memories of my childhood and my brother always winning at everything - but thats another story) and enjoying special time together. Poppi seemed quite pleased today, as she played with Rileys Christmas presents without being told off by him. I did make sure they were back in the boxes before we collected him from school. Anyway here are a couple of pics of Christmas morning. The first present Poppi opened was her fairy costume, she is so girly and put it on straight away at about 06:30. Riley was a little overwhelmed by it all, mainly because he didnt sleep too well Christmas eve, as he started to panic that santa would know he wasnt asleep and may not visit. Then the cheeky little monkey, as I tucked him in bed Christmas night asked "Will santa come again tonight, I had such a lovely day?" Yeah, sure if i take out a second mortgage I thought. It was a great day with all the family - we went out for lunch which we have never done before, so it was fab, especially for mum, not having to cook and be the hostess. Then we all piled back here and had another prezzie session, it was fantastically chaotic. The little dinkies stayed up until 9pm without any tears - amazing!!!! They had a magical day and thats what its all about. We took down the decorations yesterday, which made Riley a bit upset. He is sooo like me as a child. He snuck one of the snowmen up to his room, not quite wanting christmas to be over. I can remember doing the same sort of thing myself. Anyway must dash - you never know I might even post some pictures of cards sometime soon. TFL xx

Anyone fancy a little competition??

2008-01-04T20:12:00.000Z

Hi, I hope everyone had a great Christmas and would like to wish all the best for 2008.

To celebrate the launch of the poppicrafts website http://www.poppicrafts.com/ I will be running monthly competitions.

Januarys competition is very simple:

"Make a valentines Day card using only these 3 colours - BLACK, RED and WHITE."
The prizes from the shop are: a box of 300 paper blooms, 3 boxes of grosgrain fabric brads and a pack of 40 screw brads. Simply post a comment with the link to your card, or email me a picture to michelle@iconism.net Closing date is 24th January and the winner will be decided and posted on here on 25th January.

Good luck everyone and have fun.

OOOPS - Long time, no blog!!!

2007-12-17T09:55:00.000Z

Oh how time flies!!!! Sorry guys, havent blogged for ages. Just been so busy (as we all are at this time of year) Have a few cards to show, but I am such a doughnut - I made a couple of notebooks for Rileys teachers and gave them to them before taken the photos. Also I finished my mums scrapbook, which I couldnt show anyway as I know she frequents my blog,(she knows she is getting it - so its ok to mention) but I forgot to take the pics of that aswell and now ive wrapped it!!!!!!!

Anyway here are a couple of cards for my parents and the teachers and children at school. As I am being a naughty blogger right now its probably best if I wish you all a great big Magical Christmas now and I hope you all have a really FABAROONIE time.

Best wishes,

Mich

xxxx

xxx

New Designs!!

2007-11-22T09:23:00.000Z

My first designs are on Pink Petticoat today. You can of course see them in far more detail here: http://www.pinkpetticoat.co.uk/

Hope you all like them. x

Glitter, Glitter, everywhere!!!

2007-11-20T21:42:00.000Z

Made this today for my cousin, who is in Australia for a couple of years. I started off by using Sakura pens to colour Lilli and also the pattern on the papers and the black stripes and throwing some glamour dust on quickly, but for some reason it kept coming off today. ( I dont know if anyone else has experienced this - but ive got glitter on my cheek somewhere and keep seeing it out of the corner of my eye, but when I look in the mirror its NOT THERE!!! Ive obviously tried to wash it off, but its still there now, its driving me flipping mad. Its mustve been there since about 11am its now 10pm. I bet all the other mums at school could blimmin see it...aaagghhh!!!)

Anyway back to the card, so I decided to seal it with some good old clear 3D glaze and actually its come out ok, with a nice bit of texture to it. Added some beautiful tatty looking ribbon.

Papers and image - Pink Petticoat. Ribbon - Ribbon Oasis.

(Just uploaded pics - very disappointing, you cant see the sparkle on it really, Oh well nevermind, give the pic a click if you want to see it in more detail) TFL

Papertake Weekly Challenge

2007-11-19T20:31:00.000Z

Joined in the fun again, over at Papertake, the challenge was this:

This weeks challenge is Christmas Trees! (sorry, I know that one of the other challenge blogs have done tree's this week but the challenges are set for the design team a week in advance! Sorry folks!) Anyway, if you'd like to take part, we'd love to see your creations!

So, my interpretation was this...
Hand cut tree, sparkly ribbon tree trunk, punched Pink Petticoat sentiment.

Papers - Pink Petticoat. Brads, pins and eyelets - my shop. Ribbons - Ribbon Oasis.

Jumbo Peg!!

2007-11-18T19:13:00.001Z

Had a go at altering a rather huge peg today. I tried to make it, so that I can either up end it and pop a photo in, or hang it up in the kitchen to put all those important things on - like shopping lists and the "whats happening at school" stuff, so I drilled a hole in the back first so I can put it on a hook. Covered it in Pink Petticoat card, inked the edges and added some blooms and brads from my shop. I was quite pleased with the outcome. TFL and hope everyone had a fab weekend!!!!

Lilli for Poppi

2007-11-16T21:12:00.000Z

Well heres the Lilli card for my little fairy. Totally O.T.T with glitter. (not sure if it shows in the image)Poppi will love it, she loves pink and anything that is touchy feely. So I added some velvet and spotty ribbon. Threw loads of Glamour dust over all the images and in the shaker bit. Like I said earlier Poppi will no doubt pull it to pieces, but I know she will play with it for a while. Next up is Rileys card. I'm sure he is secretly part of the DCM team. "I'd like my card to be Red, Gold and Silver please, mummy" Blimey - setting the challenges at 4 years old!!!! Hmmm, Red, Gold and Silver - I'll give it a shot, but the words "bling" and "hideous" spring to mind. But, if thats what he wants, then thats what he shall have.

Bye for now and have a great weekend!! xxx

MORE Christmas Cards!!!

2007-11-16T19:08:00.000Z

Finding it a bit hard at the moment, having soo many Christmas cards to make, its a bit overwhelming. I know I still have lots of time, but I do like to try and get them done well in advance, so that I can sit back a couple of weeks before Christmas and soak up the atmosphere. Ive also still got a couple of scrapbooks to be done aswell (oh Blimey!!!). Anyway, thought I would show the cards that I can. I must go and make my beautiful little girl a Lola or Lilli card, everytime I print the images, she says "pwitty" or when I colour them in glitter pens "pwitty,sparkwee, aaw!!" So i am going to make really bright, sparkly and pretty glittery shaker card for her. I have no doubt that it will be pulled apart in minutes, but if she enjoys it for a few moments, then it is worth making. I'l post it when its done, but you may need your shades.

Supplies for the cards above are: All papers - Pink Petticoat Brads, eyelets and pin - My shop. Ribbon - Ribbon Oasis.

TFL

Papertake Weekly challenge

2007-11-12T18:59:00.000Z

Thought I would join in the fun, over at Papertake Challenge, which was this:

Snowy Days!
Hi everyone, thanks for all the great cards you've made for the challenge last week, they really are lovely!This weeks challenge is Snow! Snowy scenes, snowmen, snowflakes etc etc. Come on everyone! Let it snow!!

So this is my interpretation. First time Ive joined in and really enjoyed it. Havent made a shaker card for ages and as I wanted it to include snow somewhere, thought it would be a good opportunity to make one again. So I used a punch for the scalloped circle and used my Cricut for the others. Bit fiddley getting it into the right position, but I think it worked OK. Filled it up with glamour dust and voila!! Continued the snow scene by using liquid pearls at the bottom sprinkled again with glamour dust. Just so happened to have my favourite Pink Petticoat dotty paper to hand, (which of course is snow at night!) All papers and dinky snowman (who did get a bit too buried in the snow!)Pink Petticoat .

Anyway thanks Steph for a great challenge, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Hope everyone had a great weekend and thanks for looking. x

DCM Challenge

2007-11-09T18:46:00.000Z

Blimey! I haven't blogged all week - what a bad blogger I am. The week has just flown past. I am getting to the time of year, when I start panicking - Will I finish all the cards and scrapbooks by Christmas? Who knows, but I'll have a good go anyway!!

The DCM challenge this week was this:
Getting Corrugated...
Hi all :) This week it is Jo here to set the dare...
I seem to have developed a little bit of a fixation with old cardboard boxes....! My dare this week is to use some corrugated card on your card - it could be corrugated craft card or an old box etc. taken to pieces :) You could make the card blank from it or die cut shapes etc...

So I made this.
Thanks to everyone last week for all the lovely comments. It is so refreshing to check your blog and find that not only have people stopped by to have a look, but they have taken the time to leave such great comments too.

Have a great weekend!!!!!

Christmas has come early!!

2007-11-04T00:34:00.000Z

Yippppeeeee!!!

Well Christmas has come early in this home today!!! The Fantabulous Liz from Pink Petticoat has kindly asked me to become a creative designer. Well, I just had to say YES!!!!! I am absolutely thrilled to bits and feel so very privileged. I am really looking forward to being part of a very talented team and having fun with the lush papers created by Liz. Her designs have everything I want from paper, from bold and bright, to soft and pretty. I cannot seem to make anything without adding a bit of PP. ( as you may have noticed!!!)

Dont have anything to show tonight as I am making a number of scrapbooks, that are Christmas prezzies, so cant show them at the mo!!

Hope you are all having a great weekend...

and CUT!

2007-11-02T20:55:00.000Z

So pleased, received my Cricut this morning-yippeeee!!!, but first took part the DCM challenge, which was this..

and CUT!!!
We've all loved looking at all your beribboned cards for Christmas and how you've cooked up the Little Extra Recipe. As for who's won the luscious ribbon giveaway, we're going to keep you in suspense a little longer!

This week its Tracie setting the dare and it is to make a card and CUT!
Any theme goes, so for those of you needing a break from Christmas crafting this is the perfect opportunity to have a change. All styles are welcome but there MUST be an element of handcutting somewhere. It could be a greeting, a shape, letters printed on your pc and hand cut, anything goes as long as you did it by hand.

Oh well I'll have to play with the Cricut later.......So I hand cut the blooms, letters and scalloped strip.

Papers are Pink Petticoat (as are the templates I used for the blooms and letters)

Ribbon is from Ribbon Oasis

Brads from my shop.

Had parents evening in the week. I am so proud of Riley. His teacher said that he was very bright, really keen to learn and always puts his hand up to answer the questions. He may have to have a bit of speech therapy though, as he is getting a little lazy with his words. All in all, I left feeling really chuffed!!! As you never really know how children behave when they are not with you. He was also V.I.P today, so was very pleased with himself. I am so reassured by the fact that he skips into school each day beaming from ear to ear - long may it continue!!!!!!

DCM

2007-10-30T18:13:00.000Z

Joined in the fun again this week over at DCM.

I have only joined in twice, but im really enjoying being made to leave my comfort zone, it actually makes you stop and think about what you are making. Its sooo challenging.....

If you've already done your "Wrap it in Ribbon for Christmas" card and you're ready for a new challenge how about trying our Little Extra for this week. We're still playing with those wonderful Ribbon Oasis ribbons but this time we've got a Ribbony Recipe for you to play with.
The ingredients you need to use on your cards are:
4 brads/eyelets
3 circles
2 rectangles
and lashings of ribbon!
What sort of card you make is up to you this time - as long as you've got all those ingredients on there the choice is yours.

Supplies are:

Pink Petticoat Papers

Grosgrain brad and mini brads - My shop

Ribbon - my shop and Berisfords

Tagged!!!

2007-10-30T11:24:00.000Z

Ive considered myself tagged by Jo. So here goes, 7 truly fascinating facts, that you never wanted to know about me.
1. I once came second in the world disco dancing championships (as coached by Len Goodman from Scrictly come dancing)

2. I love my mums roast dinners more than any other food.

3. I once did a bungee jump.

4. I still get excited on Christmas eve and cannot sleep.

5. I hate tangled up coat hangers, they make me feel quite aggresive.

6. I was a vegetarian for 23 years.

7. I have an HGV licence.

Well that was interesting wasnt it?????

Anyway, I have been playing with PP papers (just for a change) and made these. I really love the papers, I just can never decide which ones to use. I used sakura and american crafts glitter pens (not that you can really see how sparkly they are in the pic) I have also just ordered a cricut machine i'm sooo excited and made a few purchases at ribon oasis, their ribbons are rather yummy!!!

I was hoping that we would hear this week whether we have got our planning permission or not, but Ive got a feeling it could be a few more weeks yet. We are planning to build 2 more rooms upstairs on top of the current ground floor extension.I hope and pray that we get it, then I can have a crafty room again, rather than a little sectioned off bit in the lounge. We havent been able to decorate or anything since we moved in, because until we know if weve got the permission, we dont know whos going to be having which bedrooms. Mind you im not sure if Riley is going to want to change bedrooms, as he is currently in the largest room, which is the loft conversion, its quite big with his own bathroom. So he feels quite grown up and tells everyone he has his own bathroom (mmm!! not for long sunshine!) so I cant see him wanting to move out of there!!!!

Have a great day!!!

CAN ANYONE HELP!!!

2007-10-29T18:44:00.000Z

I bought a couple of american crafts "glitter markers" today, they only had 2 in the shop. Does anyone know where I can get these from online. They are gorgeous, even nicer than sakura!!!!

Thanks,

Mich x

Feeling fab!!!

2007-10-29T08:39:00.000Z

Well, Monday morning again and what a way to start the week. Checked my blog and the wonderful Terrie Bailey from the Pink Petticoat design team has looked at MY blog. How amazing is her work. and how privileged do I feel.!!!!I do go along to the PP inspirations website and have a peek regularly and just love all the cards on there, they are so very original and inspirational to say the least.

Anyway Terrie tagged me so here goes.

1. If you could have 100.00 worth of scrapbook paper or assorted embellishments, which would you choose?
Embellishments. Because I have PP papers and at the moment, dont really like working with anything else.

2. If you had to choose between using only stamps or rubons, which would you choose?
Rub ons. I am useless with stamps.

3. If you knew how to do both awesome cards and layouts but could only do one for a whole year...which would you do?
It would have to be cards. I love scrappin, but I do tend to let my pile of photos build up before actually doing a layout. Cards are so much quicker and I feel like I have acheived more if I make a batch of them.

4. Would you rather own a scrapbooking store or have your own scrapping room at home...(can't have both he he he)
It would be a scrapbooking store of course, with a huge table in the middle so I could do demos all day every day

5. And last but not least, what is your CURRENT cardmaking or scrapping style?
I would say - maybe a bit "funky with ribbon attached". I always have to add ribbon to everything at the moment.

TFL
xx

Thank you!!!

2007-10-28T15:35:00.000Z

Just wanted to say a big Thanks to everyone who left such lovely comments about my card for the DCM challenge this week. It is the first time that I have joined in the fun, allthough I have looked at all the fantastic inspirational cards over the months. It has given me a real boost to join in rather than spend hours just looking at all your fab work.

Anyway made this note book for mum. Thought I would quickly try out the bind-it-all. I made some A5 covers from 2mm chipboard and covered them, then decorated the cover, leaving it nice and simple. I triple embossed some chipboard letters (dont know why - i am useless at heat embossing) and added some white rub-on lettering. Inside i just put some plain pages and a few little envelopes, so she can keep her seeds and stuff in them. She has such a superb garden and over the last couple of years I have made her quite a few detailed scrapbooks to keep all her wonderful photos in. I am not a gardener myself, but really appreciate her love for her wildlife garden. The time she spends working out in her "sanctuary" pays off every year when it just blooms into all its glory and it is so peaceful, with rare butterflys and insects fluttering about. Anyway, she can keep her notepad in her shed and jot down bits and bobs as and when. Whenever I make something new, be it a card, scrapbook, paperbag album or tin, she always has the first one. It is quite nice to look back over the years at how my crafting has changed and hopefully improved.

supplies are: chipboard letters - papermill shop. White rub-ons - MM. Big bloom - bargain at Wilkinsons (think the sales assistant thought I was going to put them in a vase, as she turned her nose up at them.) Small blooms and Big brad - my shop.

Hope you all had a good weekend...

Ribbons Galore !!

2007-10-26T15:20:00.000+01:00

Joined in the fantabulous DCM challenge this week.

Did I read "use ribbon" in the challenge - Well, having a ribbon fetish I had to join in - didnt I???

Managed to use 8 pieces of ribbon, a tad OTT I know, but i really enjoyed it. I was going to add some ribbon covered brads, but thought this maybe taking it a bit too far.

Thanks ladies for a great dare...
"So this week we'd love you to join in and make Christmas cards using lots and lots of fabby, yummy ribbon - now that shouldn't be too hard, after all we all love ribbon, don't we?"

Supplies are:

Ribbons - little silver hat and my shop

Papers - Pink petticoat

Handcut prezzies and tags.

Brads - MM

Thanks for taking a look

Mich x

How cute is my little lad!!!

2007-10-24T19:29:00.001+01:00

Today, Riley and I were merrily chatting about Christmas and he was telling me what toys he would like. Of course I went down the "well if your good, who knows what santa may bring" route. Then he said "I know what i'm getting you, BATS" Bats? I reply, racking my brain to think what he maybe thinking or trying to say. (He does get quite cross, if I dont comprehend immediately what he is trying to tell me) "Not bats, Bats mummy, you love them!!"

"Try and describe them, I might understand a little more" I tell him.

"You know BATS, those things that you have lots of, put on your cards and are always buying"

"BRADS?" I question. "Yes, thats it mummy, Bats"

OMG I realise that I am inflicting my obsession onto my four year old son. I dont know whether to be amazed that he pays such interest in my addictions and knows me so well, or do I question the fact that maybe I talk about brads and embellishments all day or something, do I??? I hope not. Either way , he is the cutest little chap in the whole world and he OFFERED to do the vacuuming today, oh yeah.... for £1.00 he..he.. (hes learning young)

I must confess though, I am not really a paper stroker, but I do like a nice stash of ribbons and embellishments and yes maybe it is spiralling out of control... Perhaps I do need help!!!!

Anyway made this today, for an ongoing order I am doing,

Supplies are:

Papers - Pink petticoat

Small brads, Jumbo fabric brads and Stitch and doodle rub ons - my ebay shop

Cheeky clip - MM

Bare Chipboard flowers - papermill shop

Sentiment - Cuttlebug embossing folder

Paper frills - doodlebug

TFL

Mens card and cakes

2007-10-23T12:17:00.000+01:00

Made this today for my mums friend.

Supplies are:

Papers and sentiment - Pink Petticoat

Brads and ribbon - my ebay shop

Me, Riley and Poppi made some yummy butterfly and chocolate cakes today. Mind you, by the time Riley had gobbled all the mixture and toppings from the bowl, he was too full up to try a cake. Had fun anyway, and its nice to make the most of doing stuff together in the half term. Have a fab day - gosh its cold!!!!

The Bind it all has landed!!!

2007-10-22T19:34:00.000+01:00

Got my new bind it all machine today. How exciting!!!! I will try it out, as soon as I have time. Have a few ideas Ive been putting together for some Crimbo pressies. Also, bought a chissel it- think I may need a bit more practice with it, used the ageing/ distressing tool on some paper covered chipboard blooms, but it looked more like something you'd drag out of the bin than aged. he..he.. Made a few cards over the weekend, pictured a couple, but the others have already gone - oops!!!

Supplies are:

Papers - pink petticoat and DCWV

Ribbon - from my ebay shop and berisfords.

Brads, blooms and clips - My ebay shop

Sentiments - Pink petticoat

cuttlebug happy birthday embossing folder.

Bear die cut - Die cut dreams on ebay, hundreds of fab dies cuts to play with take a look: http://stores.ebay.co.uk/DIE-CUT-DREAMS

Thanks for taking a peek!!

Lolas boudoir

2007-10-17T11:53:00.000+01:00

Had a go with the lush lolas boudoir from Pink Petticoat. Came up with these. Had fun trying to get a sparkly look. In the end decided to use sakura stardust, threw on some stampendous transparent stardust embossing powder while it was still wet, bit of heat it up tool and voila!!! Quite pleased with just how sparkly they are, allthough they probably dont look it in the pics.

Its freezing here today, heres a view from my bedroom window, where I frequently gaze from and get lost in deep thought before returning back to the real world!!! Its so very peaceful here, which is the complete opposite to my 31 years in the town. This is Rileys car on the drive, which is an old Riley Elf, I have had it for about 10 years now (which is why Riley is called Riley) It is a bit like a mini, but with a boot. He loves it and its fab for bombing down the country lanes. Whether it will still be around when RIley learns to drive, who knows - only another 13 years to go.

We noticed a little hedgehog last night shuffling around the garden, I havent told Riley yet, as he probably wouldnt have wanted to go to school and would have much rather gone searching around for his new found friend. So, we shall leave him some food tonight and see if he makes an appearance.

thanks for looking and have a good day. x

Altered tin

2007-10-12T18:45:00.000+01:00

What a week. Had a virus all week. You know the type - shivering, aching, hot then cold. Nearly drove me round the bend. Thought I was better on Wednesday then it raised its ugly head again. Anyway, fingers crossed, it looks as though it is going now.

Tuesday morning had our log delivery, to some of you i'm sure this is normal, but we moved to the middle of nowhere a few months ago and the farmer who delivered them, was telling me how theyve been seasoned for 2 years, use this type for kindling and that type dont need chopping.... what??? Oh, its all new to me.

Then this morning I awoke at 0630, as I could hear a rather large vehicle outside bleeping away. So I glanced out and a man was filling our gas tank up??? Charged downstairs (not looking my best) asked my husband if he had ordered it "no". Went and had a chat with the man "oh no, he said, we just fill it up, as and when we can, and then you pay for it" Err... But no one has ordered it. "Oh, right, well you rent it from us, so thats how it works" I was a bit miffed by the whole ordeal, But I rang the supplier and thats how it works apparently as the previous home owner didnt cancel his account. Well on the upside at least we wont run out of warmth this winter. This rural living is fab, but it does take a bit of getting used to. Checking logs, gas, cesspits etc...

Anyway, back to the subject. Made this tin for nans birthday. Not really my cup of tea, but I know she will love it and the colours. And thats what counts.....

Supplies are - chipboard, blooms, ribbon and brads - my shop. pink trim - doodlebug. Paper from stash, cannot remember...

Well, must dash, gotta check the fire is still alight he..he...

Bind it all - question????

2007-10-11T16:15:00.000+01:00

I wonder if anyone can help me please. I am thinking of buying a bind it all machine, but just wondered if anyone has one. If so, Can the wires be cut down to any size or just used at the standard length that they are sold in. I would really appreciate the help and any opinions if they are as good as they say they are? Thanks, Mich x

Finished - Well, one batch anyway!!!!

2007-10-09T18:57:00.000+01:00

Finished mums 30 general Christmas cards today! Mind you, it wasnt at all tedious actually. Really enjoyed then, as they were simple (as requested) and of course I used Pink Petticoat papers and they are just lovely to work with. Pictures havent come out too well, but you get the general idea. Still have about 60 more to do, but at least mums are done. Oh, that is except for her special ones for family of course. I shall start those in the next couple of weeks.

Riley is still enjoying school, which I am absolutely thrilled about. Maybe its me, but why is it, I still dont seem to have time to do anything? Poppi misses Riley a little, but generally she is quite happy to amuse herself with Rileys toys. (not that I tell him that, I make sure they are all put away before we go and collect him, otherwise there will be grief)

Anyway must dash, going to make nan an altered tin for her 80th birthday on Sunday.

Thanks for looking x

Holiday snaps!

2007-10-07T20:16:00.000+01:00

These are some of our pics from our holiday last month. The children had such a fantastic time. Poppi decided she would talk to the waves "get me" she kept saying as the waves came crashing in, she is so very sweet. Riley wanted to paddle out to a rock, but didnt want to get wet (Erm, how does that work then???) He plucked up the courage in the end... He also enjoys hugging trees, as his nanna told him that you get extra strength from them. Poppi insisted on having some cheap and tacky jewellery to play with and I think by the end of the holiday she was a tad fed up with me keep getting the camera out. My excuse is that I need lots of pics to choose from for my scrappin. x

Feeling Better!!

2007-10-07T20:10:00.000+01:00

Had a bit of a virus over the weekend, so ive been taking it easy. Little Poppis got it now. She does look under the weather, poor little bean!!! Lots of TLC required me thinks... That reminds me I must post some pics of our holiday. she does look cute, even if I do say so myself...

Made a few toppers to put on ebay this evening. Have been playing with yet more yummy Pink Petticoat papers... I shall take some pics of those later. Hope everyone had a fab weekend.