A Little Stamper & An Ice Skater - Simon Says Stamp & Totally Tila DT Cards

Hello lovely peeps,

 My poor little blog has sat neglected for the past week & it's so good to be back here :)

My cold has developed into a chest infection which often happens especially for asthmatics & it has aggravated my asthma so I've had lots of blasts on the nebuliser, steroids & antibiotics & touch wood apart from the usual shakes & feeling wobbly caused by the nebuliser & steroids I am starting to feel sooooooo much better, I just need to cure the severe withdrawal symptoms from missing my craft room lol.

My post today is going to be a bit longer than usual as I've missed posting a DT card, & I really need to catch up with DT comments so thought a double post would be quicker.

Today is new challenge day at

SIMON SAYS STAMP

& this week is that old favourite

ANYTHING GOES

My lovely teamies & I are showcasing some gorgeous My Minds Eye products this week which is a favourite  of mine :)

Ingredients -

Image - Magnolia, Stamping Tilda

Medium - Copics

Papers - My Minds Eye,  Market Street

Pearls - Melissa Frances, Lace - Simplicity line trim, Twine - Hemptique, Pin - homemade, Sparkle - diamond stickles

Tools - MS eyelet lace PATP & Frond leaf, Magnolia Doo Hickey heart swirls, leaf, & Tilda doily, Memory Box pinwheel posy, Spellbinders fancy tag, labels 18 & classic large ovals

The Copic colours I've used are -

skin - E11, E00, E000,R20, R30, hair - E47, E44, E42, dress - R02, R01, R00, paper - C00, C1, stamp - BV01, BV00, BV000, E35, E33, E30

As always our lovely Heidi is sponsoring our challenge with a whopping $50 in store spending spree in the SIMON SAYS STAMP SUPERSTORE.

Don't forget to check out the STORE BLOG for giveaways, inspiration & yummy goodies galore

I'm entering my card in the following challenges -

Just Magnolia - romantic doily,  Top Tip Tuesday - stitching, Love To Create - stitching, The Crazy Challenge - anything goes, Cupcake Inspirations - photo inspiration, Magnolia Stamp Lovers - punches, Sentimental Sundays - lace & pearls, Inspire Me Fridays - anything goes link-up party, Allsorts - anything goes, Cutie Pie - flower power, Partytime Tuesdays - anything goes

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Next up I have my very late

TOTALLY TILDA 

DT card & the challenge this fortnight is

PUNCHES & DIES

Please make sure you use both :)

Ingredients -

Image - Magnolia, Winter skating Tilda, Medium - Copics, Papers - Magnolia & Raspberry Road, Sentiments - Cats Life Press & LOTV postmarks, Flowers - Magnolia, Wild Orchid & stash, Tools - MS Aspen PATP, Tim Holtz snow flurries, Magnolia Doo Hickey snowflake, nesties, sparkle - diamond stickles

Copic colours - 

skin - E13, E00, E000, R30, R20 hair - E25, E31, E50, trousers - W6, W4, W2, skates, scarf, hat & gloves - R85, R83, R81 / C3, C01, C00

I'm entering this card in the following challenges -

Ladybug Crafts Inc - pink & girly, Make It Monday - anything goes, That Craft Place - anything goes, Crafty Hazelnuts - ribbon &/or charm, The Drunken Stampers - texture, Stampin' For The Weekend - bingo (top row, ribbon, glitter & flowers), 2 Sisters - anything goes, 

That's me done peeps, the postie has brought me my new Copic storage & gorgeous new Magnolia stamps & OMG I cannot wait to get inking after I've caught up with my DT commenting, or maybe I will just ink them up and just have a quick look at them first as obviously I need to check they aren't faulty lol.

Thanks for stopping by

love n hugs Mandy xx

Vintage For A Lady - Paper Play DT Card

Hello lovely peeps,

Firstly I want to say a massive thank you for all your lovely comments about yesterdays post, I haven't managed to get round & visit you all to thank you but I will do my best to :)

Today is new challenge day at

PAPER PLAY 

& this weeks challenge is

FOR A MOTHER / FEMALE RELATIVE

The card I have to share today I made a few weeks ago as I had a last minute order to make a birthday card for Jodie's friends Nan & I kept it in reserve with this challenge in mind which is a good job I did as this flipping cold is driving me nuts & I'm not achieving much at the moment as for me coughs & sneezes cause repeated shoulder dislocations. So many of you have said you have been suffering with it for weeks now & it's a cross between a cold & the flu so you have my full sympathy. There's always a bright side, sales of Olbas Oil, Kleenex & Lemsip must have soared so we are keeping people in jobs lol.

Ingredients -

Image - free on the Internet (sorry I can't remember which site)

Papers - Pion

Flowers - Kort & Godt, Prima & stash

Pearls - Melissa Frances & stash

Sentiment - Magnolia

Twine - Hemptique

Lace - eBay

 Tools - MS PATP, Magnolia Doo Hickey heart swirls & swirl, Cheery Lynne butterflies, Memory Box rolled flower die, sewing machine

I have stamped a small Magnolia accessory stamp around the paper edges in Vintage Photo distressed ink & distressed all the paper edges in the same ink. The small Cameo is a button that I carefully cut the back off, the pin is homemade & the sparkle is crystal glamour dust & I added a few clear gems here and there for a little bit of bling.

There are loads of embellies on this one, shame I didn't have more time to take some better piccys but it was such a rush I almost didn't get it photographed at all.

I'm entering my card in the following challenges -

Little Darlings - pearls, The Paper Shelter - add a sentiment, Penny's Paper Crafty - anything goes, Ruby's Rainbow - Vintage,  Deep Ocean - pink & brown, Digital Tuesday - make it sparkle, Make It Monday - anything goes, Make My Monday- Victorian romance, 2 Sisters - stitching, Allsorts - free & easy February, Crafty Emma's - spots & dots, Totally Gorjuss - lace

Have a good day & thanks for stopping by

Simon Says Stamp DT Card - Sweetheart Brigitta & Reflecting

Good morning peeps,

Yesterday I sat in my craft room & not achieving much I started daydreaming & looking around me at all the hundreds of rubber stamps, pads of paper, reams of ribbon, mountain of flowers etc & thinking how much my life has changed!

Three & a half years ago I never even knew a rubber stamp existed apart from the one's the cashiers in the bank or Post Office would use to stamp "paid"on bills. 

My weakness used to be shoes & handbags, now it's pretty papers & little bits of etched rubber. 

I loved buying things for our home to make it look nice, now I still love buying nice things for our home but often with the intention of taking them apart & using on my cards. 

I used to think I didn't have time for a hobby, & now I'd be lost without it.

I loved having a garden full of flowers, now I'm not content with a garden full I also "need" baskets, boxes & drawers full of pretty paper flowers, and why? 

I'm sometimes in hubby's bad books because he's tripped over a storage folder of papers, or I've "borrowed" something from his toolbox, or when he's horrified that I spend £5 on in his words " one felt tip pen", or I stay up very late to finish DT comments then wake him up trying to sneak into bed, or when my laughter gives me away as he's telling me something important or serious & he realises I'm reading someone's blog instead of  fully listening to him, or when he gets caught with Len (the postie) complaining he needs a big fat Christmas tip for delivering all my parcels, or I spend too long wandering around the craft shop, or because he can't hear the TV over the racket Ali & I make oohing & aahing at over pretty papers or sweet stamps, or when he shakes his head wanting to know why I need more in his words "crap" when I have so much already. 

As I reminded him yesterday, "it's all your fault lovely man as it was YOU who spent weeks trying to convince me I would enjoy making cards after buying me a card making magazine which I didn't want",  so the silly man only has himself to blame lol.

Today is new challenge day at

SIMON SAYS STAMP

& this week our challenge is 

USE 3 DIFFERENT DESIGNER PAPERS

My lovely teamies & I are showcasing CC Designs or The Greeting Farm products this week & I'm so pleased we are as once again I have dug into my stash of poor neglected stamps & remembered why I needed to buy lots of these little cuties.

Ingredients -

Image - CC Designs Sweetheart Brigitta

Medium - Copics

Papers - Memory Box Minuet

Flowers - Magnolia, Prima & stash

Twine - Hemptique

Tools - CC Designs leafy branch, MS Cherry Blossom PATP, Magnolia doo hickey Tilda doily & swirly butterfly, classic large rectangle nesties & large scalloped rectangle nesties

The Copic colours I've used are -

skin - E000, E00, E13, R30, R20, hair - E37, E35, E33, E30, dress & shoes - B95, B93, B91, wings - C3, C1, C00, tights - C1, C00, G82, G40

As always our lovely Heidi is sponsoring our challenge with a mahoosive $50 in store spending spree.

Don't forget to keep an eye on the STORE BLOG peeps, leave a comment and you could win all sorts of lovely goodies :)

I'm entering my card in the following challenges -

Bunny Zoe's Crafts - celebration, Lollipop Crafts - anything goes, The Crazy Challenge - use a punch or die, 

Seems A Little Sketchy - sketch, Inky Impressions - bright colours, Ladybug Crafts Inc - Spring is in the air, Make It Monday - anything goes, Stamp With Fun - shapes, Paper Sundaes - birthday, Stamptacular - charm me

On this day the 22nd February 17 years ago my sisters & my worlds fell apart as we lost our lovely dad after his battle against cancer. I was only 25 years old then & absolutely devastated beyond words, but I am so proud he was my dad & so grateful that my dad had been with us on the most important days in my life, to give me away on my wedding day & to proudly cuddle his grandchildren.

My dad was of the typical "old school" & when we said "love you dad" he would get all embarrassed & quickly mutter "yep you too", but would buy us birthday cards with the soppiest words ever in & he would write "I mean the words, lots of love Dad" 

He loved a party & was king of the dance floor, he was very protective of "his girls" & he expected men to be men, to be tough & strong. He was the First Aider at work (butchers) & would tell a man with his thumb hanging off to stop being a wimp & stick a plaster on it & get back to work, yet went to pieces when Tracey (baby sis) cut her head open, or Debbie (older sis) gave him his first grandchild, and was an emotional & nervous wreck on my wedding day telling the vicar he needed another minute before we went in the church as he was trying to compose himself :)

Although I would give anything to have had my dad with me for more than 25 years I am so grateful for those 25 years & the memories I share with my sisters.

Some years it hurts too much to acknowledge the anniversary out loud, I get stressed & tearful but can't bring myself to talk about it, but this year I feel able to do what he would want, & raise a glass, & a smile in his memory.

 I will love and miss him always.

My dad & me

I must say sorry to my baby sis, if she hasn't shed a tear already today I know she will when she reads my post, and Tracey, in dad's words "stop that booing" lol.

Apologies for the long post peeps, there's just no shutting me up today lol.

Thanks for stopping by

Followers Candy

Hello lovely peeps, 

As some of you know I haven't been able to blog as much as usual the last few weeks due to the side effects of my new painkillers & I wanted to show my appreciation for all your lovely comments & support especially when I haven't always been able to return your visit, so I've got together a little more candy to share :)

My candy consists of -

1 x Magnolia Doo Hickey star tag

1 x new release Magnolia Tilda with ice skates

2 packs of pearls

1 x bunch of berries

9 x assorted pins

All you need to do to enter my candy is be or become a follower of my blog, pop your details in Mr Linky, if he's gone off for a wander please pop back & enter when he returns, & add a piccy & link back to my candy in your sidebar, but please do not become a follower of my blog just to enter my candy.

I reserve the right to remove entries from candy only blogs.

As always please play nice & only enter once to make it fair on everyone :)

This candy will close on 31st March @ 8pm & I will announce the winner soon after

Pretty Tilda - Addicted To Stamps DT Card

Hello lovely peeps,

My trashing mission continues! I've broken the tweezers I use to pick up the crickets & locus to feed to the bearded dragons, the back gate was stiff so I gave it a good shove & it came right off the top hinge, and I also managed to sever the thinner mains charger lead to my laptop by trapping it in the recliner workings for the sofa, & while it was plugged in & switched on too! I guess somebody sensible would have had a look to see why the recliner wasn't closing, not me I just kept kicking it in until it closed, oops, lol. Obviously I had to confess to hubby about the gate & tweezers so I didn't dare confess to my computer lead as well & PC World didn't have a replacement so I ordered another on line & paid a whopping £8.50 to get express delivery, plugged it in yesterday & 2 mins later my computer crashed & then would not even switch on for hours so you can image my panic, & I've written a stroppy email to the seller demanding a refund!

I did confess to hubby when he got home from work last night & got the "what the ****** hell is wrong with you lately woman, you are going to kill yourself at this rate" lecture, but thankfully he stripped down the lead & cut the damaged section out, added a junction box & fingers crossed so far so good :) I'm not even sure I'm safe to open a bar of chocolate at the moment, not that that will stop me lol.

Today is new challenge day at

ADDICTED TO STAMPS

& this fortnight the challenge is

A DOTTY BIRTHDAY

Ingredients -

Image - Magnolia, Tilda with Daisy

Medium - Copics

Papers & Pearls - Melissa Frances

Flowers - Prima, Magnolia, Kort & Godt & punched

Tools - MS Cherry Blossom PATP, Cheery Lynn butterflies, EK Success flower punch, Magnolia Doo Hickey swirl & heart swirls

The Copic colours I've used today are -

skin - E13, E000, E00, R30, R20, hair - E27, E31, E50, dress, bow & socks - C3, C1, C00, shoes - C5, C4, C3, C0, flower - G99, G94, G21 / R81, R000 / Y32, Y26, Y21

I'm entering my card in the following challenges -

Midnight Madness - sketch, 2 Sisters - stitching, Allsorts - free & easy February, Crafty Emma's - spots & dots, Hiding In My Craft Room - glitter

I am off to have a quick hoover around which I should probably avoid due to my destructive ways of late but as I have a spare Henry in the attic I am going to brave it lol.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend & thanks for stopping by

Simon Says Stamp DT, A Question & A Cutie

Hello peeps,

I've had a busy but lovely couple of days :)

Ali & I had a craft day on Monday & true to form we were shouting at each other within about 5 minutes of her arrival, Ali's fault of course lol. The kids love our entertaining craft days, Gareth says he wants to film us & put us on You Tube as we are hilarious, naughy boy lol.

I popped out to the shop earlier and I was just about to pay for my grocery's when my mobile rang so I stepped out of the queue to answer it & it was an unknown number & I couldn't understand the lady's broken English very well so I apologised that I couldn't understand her & hung up thinking she was trying to sell me something. The phone then kept ringing so I hung it up at least 6 times & it rang again as I was leaving the shop and I answered shouting "what do you want"? & this time a man who I could understand shouted back "Please don't hang up, we are calling you from Prudential & just need to let you know we underpaid your bond by £700 & it's now in your bank account"! Oooh lovely but oh dear, note to self, be polite when answering the phone, just in case it's someone being nice lol.

Before I get onto my DT project I have a question to ask!

Has anyone paid for goods by an Instant Bank Transfer (IBAN), if so did your bank charge you? 

I'm asking because I did recently & it cost a whopping £15 for the pleasure of making the payment to a store in The Netherlands as they did not have PayPal, but I understand not all banks have these charges so I am curious & told the lovely lady who owns the store I would ask others if they had also been charged for making an IBAN payment!

Waffle over, now it's down to business :) 

Today is new challenge day at

SIMON SAYS STAMP

& this week our challenge is 

TAG IT

My fabulous teamies & I are showcasing Tim Holtz products this week, so if you have them we'd love to see them & as always it's not compulsory for you to use them to enter our challenge.

Ingredients -

The Tim Holtz products I've used are - Weathered clock, Vintage Shabby papers, Vintage Photo distress ink pad

Image - Magnolia Tilda with lovely lace shoes

Medium - Copics

 Flowers - Prima, Magnolia & stash

Doily - Royal Lace

Tag - Magnolia Doo Hickey scalloped tag

Pearls - Hero Arts

Copic Colours used - skin E000, E00, E13, R30, R20, hair E25, E31, E50, top B99, B95, B93, B91, trousers C4, C3, C2, C00, shoes E02, E01, E00, CI, C00

As always our lovely Heidi is sponsoring our challenge with a whopping $50 spending spree in the

SIMON SAYS STAMP SUPERSTORE

Don't forget to keep an eye on the STORE BLOG for lots of lovely inspiration, new products and lots of lovely give aways :)

I'm entering my bottle tag in the following challenges -

Crafty Sentiments - love, Crafty Boots - Valentine, Kreative Stamp Friends - Valentine

 Before I go I have a couple of piccy's to share which were taken yesterday. Jodie was babysitting our little Ollie (great nephew) & she brought him over to see us & I must say that gorgeous boy broke my heart by dumping me, & on Valentine's Day too sob, sob, lol. Hub's had a day off work so I didn't get a look in, he even fed hub's his soggy Wotsits, mmmmmm nice lol.

He was fascinated by Brad the goldfish & he sounded soooooo cute saying "fisssss" before the tired little man  once again made a bee line for big old softie Uncle Ian for a cuddle aww, & I'm only allowing Ollie to come round when hub's is at work from now on lol

Thanks for stopping by, I think I might just have to do a spot of shopping for some candy now :)

Totally Tilda & Paper Play DT Cards - Hats & Love Letters

Hello peeps,

Oh dear guess who's been having a bad few days! I 'm still coughing and sneezing like mad & have been on a one woman destruction mission lol! 

First my computer mouse conked out, then sat at my desk making a card I started sinking down as the gas cylinder in my swivel chair had died, too many chocolate buttons maybe lol, the new mouse caused my laptop to crash & then my laptop took a tumble when I was drugged up & nodding off to sleep while trying to catch up with some blogging and it has been so very poorly, I could only get it to stay on for a few minutes before shutting itself down. I feared it was terminal but fingers crossed after many hours of talking nicely to it & gently stroking it & trying to run a restore & various scans I have managed to fix it without the need of a trip to PC World, so I'm a happy girlie again :)

Today I have a couple of DT cards to share, one of which is very late due to my poorly laptop.

Today is new challenge day at

TOTALLY TILDA

& this fortnight our challenge is

TILDA WITH A HAT ON

Ingredients -

Image - Magnolia (special Tilda)

Medium - Copics

Papers - Kaiser, Chapter One

Postmarks - LOTV & Bo Bunny Et Cetera

Tools - Memory Box clouds, Cheery Lynn butterflies, Magnolia Doo Hickey heart swirls, picket fence & leaf, MS PATP

Copic colours used -

skin - E000, E00, E13, R30, R20, hair - E25, E31, E50, dress & hat - B993, B91, B41 / E57, E55, 53, boots - E57, E55, E53, E50

I'm entering my card in the following challenges -

Scrappy Frogs - die cuts, Stamptacular - pearls & lace, Allsorts - free & easy February, Craft Your Days Away - get stitchy, Crafty Emma - lots of layers, Bloggers Challenge - in bloom, Fun With Shapes & More - birthday, Inspire Me Fridays - link up party, Craft Us Crazy - anything goes, Ruby's Rainbow - flowers that sparkle

Next up I have a my late

Paper Play DT 

card &our challenge is

LOVE LETTERS

This one is hubby's Valentine card, he loves Paris & braved the very top of the Eiffel Tower unlike wimp here who found the first level was high enough for my liking lol.

Ingredients -

Images - Magnolia

Papers - GCD Studio

Medium - Copics

Postmarks - LOTV & Bo Bunny Et Cetera

Tools - MS Cherish PATP, Die-Namics first class friends letters, Cuttlebug heart, nestie postage stamps

Copic colours used -

skin - E000,E00,E11, R20, hair - E37, E35, E31, Top - B99, B95, B91 / C1, C00, Trousers - W6, W2, W0, shoes - C1, C0, C00, Eiffel Tower - C7, C4, C1, C00 / R89, R59, R39

I'm entering my card in the following challenges -

Dream Valley - Valentine, Gingerloft - love is in the air, That Craft Place - love is all around, The Squirrel & The Fox - Valentines Day, 2 Sisters - I heart you, My Sheri Crafts - love is in the air, Totally Gorjuss - lurve, Card Makin' Mamas - Valentine, Crafty Ann's - love is in the air, Crafty Catz - Valentine, Fairy Fun Friday's - lets me call you sweetheart, Fairytale - love, love, love, Hotshot Craft - one for the boys, Patties Creations - Valentine & love, 4 Crafty Chicks - Valentines/love, CRAFT - Valentines, Delightful Challenges - love, Hanna & Friends - be my Valentine, Pixie Dust Studio - use 2 or more images, Crafting For All Seasons - love is in the air, Creative Belli - hearts/Valentine, My Mums Craft Shop - love, The Paper Shelter - Valentine, Penny's Paper-Cratfy - love is in the air, Stampavie & More - love

That's it from me peeps, I'm whizzing off to try and catch up with some DT commenting while my laptop is behaving itself.

Thanks for stopping by

Simon Says Stamp DT - Tilda with wrapped heart

Good morning peeps,

I was so rude to a man on the phone yesterday, I hate the phone lol. We don't answer it very often as it's such an intrusion with surveys & sales calls etc, all my friends & family have a code to ring so that I answer or call my mobile, but I got fed up with it ringing so answered to a horrid con man trying to convince me he was from Microsoft & they had detected serious malware in my computer!!!! What a load of flipping rubbish, hubby was daft enough to follow instructions when they called before until I unplugged the phone & ended the call to stop him, what the con man on the phone does is instructs you to put the malware in your computer yourself & then tries to sell you a product to remove it!!!! Be warned peeps if you get a phone call like this Microsoft do not telephone people & tell them they have detected serious threats in your computer, it is a con so let off some steam & tell the caller where to go lol.

Today is new challenge day at

SIMON SAYS STAMP

& this week our challenge is 

LOVE IS IN THE AIR

My lovely teamies & I are showcasing Prima products this week, I love Prima goodies so was very happy to showcase them :)

Ingredients -

Prima products - papers, Jack & Jill Celebrate,  say it in crystals, & flowers
Images - Tilda with wrapped heart & heart tree, Magnolia
Medium - Copics
Postmarks - Bo Bunny
Twine - Hemptique
Sparkle - diamond stickles
Doily - Royal lace
Tools - MS Vintage floral PATP, Tim Holtz tiny attacher stapler, nestabilities large ovals & labels 18, Magnolia doo hickey heart swirls & swirly butterfly, CC Designs leafy branch & Spellbinder fancy tags

The Copic colours I've used are - skin E000, E00, E13, R30, R20, hair E27, E31, E50, dress R89, R59, R39/ RV02, RV00, RV000, boots E55, E53, E51, E25, socks C1, C00, tree E47, E57, E37, E27/ R89, R39, wrapped heart RV95, RV93, RV91(bow) R85, R83, R81

As always our lovely Heidi is sponsoring our challenge with a whopping $50 in store spending spree in the fabulous SIMON SAYS STAMP SUPERSTORE :)

Go take a look at the store blog peeps as well as the usual give aways, inspiration & new products there are some lovely piccys of CHA. There is a fab video link in store of Tim Holtz demonstrating his new DISTRESS MARKERS, OMG I need these lol. Go check out the markers and the link is beneath it :)

I'll be back to enter some challenges as I have taken so long linking products due to being distracted by lots of lovely goodies falling into my shopping cart, so I'll be back when I've paid and then pre order those distress markers that I need lol

Thanks for stopping by