I'm home!

Morning all!

I got back from my Honeymoon in Mauritius last friday afternoon. It has taken me a good few days to recover from the travelling and I have not yet regained my craft mojo. But I though I would say hello and share with you a few pictures of the resort I stayed at!

This was the view from our apartment...


The view from reception over the infinity pools...


The main swiming pool...

View down the beach from my sun lounger...


and the other direction....

and last but not least an arty farty photo of my hubby I took whilst laid out on my sunlounger...


It was my first day back at work yesterday and I am wishing I was back in Mauritius. Roll on the weekend!!

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope to be back soon with something crafty to show you, thats assuming I can find my mojo!

Hugs, Victoria ~x~

Happy Fathers Day Dad!!

Morning all and Happy Fathers Day to everyone here in the UK!

I am working this weekend so unfortunately cannot spend the day with my dad as he lives 30 miles away. I did however, manage to get over on thursday night to see him and drop off his present and card. So what better day to share this card with you.

Again, I used some of my new stash on this card. I am so impatient, I dn't know about you but I just need to use as much new stash as I can, as soon as I can after it arrives!!

I left the inside void of a sentiment inside and just decorated it simply as I wanted more space to add a personalised message myself.

I also made a quick and simple matching gift tag for my dads gift....

With a little sentiment on the other side and just enough room to write who it's from...

Materials

CS: SU Choc Chip, Cherry Cobbler, NIght of Navy and Naturals Ivory

Papers: Retired designer paper sponged with cherry cobbler ink

Stamps: SU Occasional Greetings, Solid Stripes, Afterthoughts, French Foliage

Tools: SU Square lattice embossing folder, SU Scallop Border Punch, Sponges for distressing

Misc: SU Markers, Choc Chip Grosgrain ribon (retired)

It wasn't until after I'd finished the card that I realised it had a very American feel to it, what with the colours and the striped background. I used a stamp from French Foliage to create the subtly ink splodged background. I just love this ink splot design stamp fom the french foliage set. If I'm honest, I only bought the set for this stamp and the french script stamp and at only £13.95 for the clear set of 6 stamps it is such a bargain I just couldn't resist.

Well I hope you all have a great day with your families. I only have 3 more sleeps until I go on my belated honeymoon (we got married in March) on wednesday. I am sooooooo excited I can't wait. So if you don't see me around blogland for a few weeks, please forgive me as I'll be on a beach in the Indian Ocean, sipping cocktails with my gorgeous husband!!

Bye for now.

Hugs, Vitcoria ~x~

Fathers Day!

Hello All!

This weekend it's Fathers Day here in the UK so today I have a fathers day card to show you. We had a male themed card class the other week at Julie's so I made a card for my Father in Law. Now like some of you I really struggle with male cards, they are definately not my forte. So here's what I created.

...and of course the inside, simple and to the point!

Materials

CS: SU Baja Breeze, Early Espresso, Whisper White

Papers: Pattern Designer series papers - Regals

Stamps: SU Cheers to You, Something to Celebrate, Basic Phrases

Tools: SU Square lattice embossing folder, SU Tag Punches, Decorative Label Punch

Misc: SU Markers

The challenge over at Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge is a 'Male Card' so I'm entering this there!

Thanks for stopping by today. Short but sweet post. I'm not feeling too good so think I'm going to have an early night.

Hugs, Victoria ~x~

LIM 19 - One Layer in the frame!

It's sunday, so that means one thing, the new challenge over at LIM came out yesterday! I don't know what I did before this challenge came out! I, like most of you other Limette's am addicted!!

I was working all day yesterday but for most of my shift my mind was wondering to the challenge and thoughts of my design. I had sneaked a peak at the challenge theme before I went to work. Maybe next time I should wait until I get home though as I didn't get a whole lot of work done!!

So this week it's one layer week again with the added challenge of 'in the frame', where chrissie and Mandi would like to see a frame of some sort or something in a frame.

So I let my thoughts run away with me thinking of various ideas and designs. My new Stampin Up stash arrived on thursday, so I knew I definately wanted to use some of that. I decided I wanted to make some little notelet sized thankyou cards (after all, you always need thank you cards right?). After a little playing around, this is what I came up with!



I loved this simple design so much, I repeated it with a different sentiment, from my new 'Thank You Kindly' set.


I loved the spotty 'frame' I'd created as the background but wanted to use my new 'Four Frames' stamp set, which obviously is perfect for this weeks challenge. Et Voila....

... this is what I came up with. I had to use a lot of masking and post it's to create this. I decided I liked it but thought it needed a bit more defininition around the edge's of the background. So I made another and came up with this...
By this point I had got a bit carried away and wanted to use another of my new sentiments from 'Thank You Kindly'. So I made this one....

Again lot's of masking and post its!! I decided on yet another version of this but again with softer edges and with the help of some more post it's low and behold I created a frame in a frame!

Materials

CS: SU Naturals Ivory

Stamps: SU Dot Dot Dot, Just Believe, Thank You Kindly,
Four Frames, Oval All (thank you sentiment)

Tools: SU Stamp-a-ma-jig, Decorative Label punch, sponges for distressing

Misc: SU Stampin Write Markers

Now, I wouldn't have been able to make any of these notelets without two key items. My trusty stamp-a-ma-jig and Stampin Markers. By using both of these items you can create so many different looks from the same stamps. I want to say huge thank you to Vicky, a fellow SU demo, as she has been a real inspiration for me for getting more than one look from your stamps and thinking outside of the box.

Well thanks for sticking with me through today's mammoth post and I look forward to seeing what all you other Limette's have come up for this week challenge!

Hugs, Victoria ~x~

Monochrome Take 2!

Morning all!

I am loving the LIM challenge this week, so much so I decided to make another card, this time one with more white space as there was very limited white space on my last cards.

One of my work colleagues lost her mother recently so I made her a card to let her know I was thinking about her. Not the easiest of cards to make, but I used my new 'Thanks for Caring' set from the SU mini catalogue which I think is just beautiful.

A change of location for my photography for today's card. I used the dark tile backdrop in my kitchen to show off the card better!



and the decorated inside.... this stamp set has a lovely sentiment perfect for use on the inside of the card.

Materials

CS: SU Baja Breeze, Whisper White

Stamps: SU Thanks for caring

Tools: Butterfly wings embosslit, Circle Nestabilities, Sponges for distressing,
SU Stamp-a-ma-jig, Scallop Trim Border Punch, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder

Misc: Adhesive Pearls, Blender pen, SU Baja Breeze ink

I used lots of lovely products from the Stampin Up mini catalogue for this card. I am just loving the embossing folders and these adorable Butterflies from the emboslits die.

If you would like to enquire about any of the products I ahve used then just drop me an e-mail.

Thanks for stopping by today, must dash and get myself off to work now!

Hugs, Victoria ~x~

Monochrome!

Hello all!

Today I have a much needed Day off, so I have been and done a little shopping and then got crafty and made my card for this weeks LIM challenge where the theme is 'Monochrome'.

Now when I think of monochrome I usually think of black and white. So I had a bit of a think about the design and colours and came up with this... Monochrome in green

...and of course the inside!

Well I liked the result so much and it was created so quickly and easily I decided to make another, this time in Oranges/Rust colours...

and again the matching decorated inside...

Materials

CS: SU Wild Wasabi, Really Rust (Retired) Whisper White

Stamps: Pocket Silhouettes, Cheer and Wishes, Thanks for Caring

Tools: SU Stampamajig, Sponge Daubers

Misc: Stampin Markers in always Artichoke, Wild Wasabi, Pear Pizzaz, Pumpkin Pie, Tangerine Tango, More Mustard and Peach Parfait.

I think I'm going to make a few more of these cards with different sentiments and in different colourways. They would make the perfect gift if you did them as little notelets in a set. Now there's an idea!!

Well that's all for today. I'm off now to have a hop round blogland and see what you've all been up to.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs, Victoria ~x~

Cute Card Thursday!

Evening all!

Phew it's been a scorcher today (well by UK standards anyway)! I was glad to get home, take off my uniform and hop in the shower I can tell you!

Well today I have a card to show you that I'm going to enter over at Cute Card Thursday, where the theme this week is Embellish it! I have used some adhesive pearls on my main image, so this is my embellishment!!


and of course the decorated inside.... I know how some of you like to see what I've done to my interior as much as what's on the outside!!

Materials

CS: SU Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry

Paper: Designer paper from the bright paper stack (Melon Mambo)

Stamps: SU Itty Bitty Buds (Retired), Elzybells sentiment

Tools: SU Stamp-a-ma-jig, Scallop Trim Border Punch, sponges for distressing

Misc: SU Old Olive, Melon Mambo and Rich Razzleberry Ink, Adhesive Pearls

Love these colours together, not too girly but still feminine.

I've been having a hippity hop around blogland and there's some fab creations out there that have really inspired me, so a big thanks to you all! I am off to my friend Jules Big Shot class tomorrow and I can't wait to meet up with my crafty buddies. Seems ages since we've got together (in reality its only probably a few weeks!).

After a hard week at work I have a lovely 3 days off work now & I can't wait til monday when I have the whole day to myself to craft up a storm!

Have a great weekend everyone & enjoy the sunshine!

Hugs, Victoria ~x~

Just for You - Pick a square!

Happy Bank Holiday to you all!

What rubbish weather. Woke up to drizzle this morning. So much for wanting to put my washing out! Typical Bank Holiday weather really, don't know why I'm surprised!

This week over at the LIM challenge, Chrissy and Mandi want us to pick a square.


So, I have to say I chose the easy option and went for the centre square. A real quick CAS card, literally took me 10 minutes to make.

an arty farty angle to show you the dimension of the flower...


and of course to finish it off I decorated the inside...

Materials

CS: SU Very Vanilla, Rose Red

Paper: Springtime Vintage Designer paper from the SU mini catalogue

Stamps: SU Vintage Vogue, Oval All

Tools: SU Stamp-a-ma-jig, XL Fancy Flower and Scallop Trim Border Punches

Misc: SU Crumb Cake and Rose red Ink, Adhesive Pearls

I suppose you could say I also chose the bottom right square to decorate the inside! :-)

I hope you're all enjoying your extended BH weekend. I'm just pottering about today, in fact I'm still in my dressing gown (Gasp!!).

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs, Victoria ~x~

Elegant Thank You's!

Evening all!

Thank Goodness it's the weekend after the week I've had. It's an extended bank holiday weekend here for those of us in the UK, so I have now got 3 days off! Plenty of timeto get crafty and take a wander around blogland!

Before I show you today's card, I just want to say a huge thank you for all the comments I received on my last post. A whopping 59 comments. I have NEVER in my whole 3 years of blogging ever has that many comments on one of my posts and I am just absolutely thrilled at all your comments, so thanks again!

Today I thought I would share some thank you cards I made to give to my friends and guests who came to my wedding in March! I got the Elegant Thank You stamp as part of my starter kit, as I knew I wanted to use this beautifull stamp to create a simple design for my Thank You cards. I made about 40 in total, 10 each in 4 different colour ways. The cards were approximately 10cm square, a perfect size to showcase this stamp!

Firstly here it is in Pear Pizzaz...

.... and then Baja Breeze....

..followed by Rich Razzleberry....


..and to finish Not Quite Navy...

Here they all are together....

Materials

CS: SU Very Vanilla, Pear Pizzaz, Rich Razzleberry, NOt Quite Navy & Crumb Cake

Stamps: SU Elegant Thank You from the a la Carte range

Tools: SU Square lattice embossing folder

Misc: SU Crumb Cake and Rich Razzleberry Ink

So which colour is your favourite?? I'll be intrigued to find out! Mine is the Rich Razzleberry, simply because these are also the colours I used for my wedding invitations, so they match! I also like how striking the Thank You stamp looks against the Vanilla background when stamped in Razzleberry too!

Such a simple design, but I was really pleased with the results! I just LOVE this square lattice embossing folder, can't get enough of it!

Well thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a lovely BH weekend!

Hugs, Victoria ~x~

Less is More Butterflies!!

Good morning all!

The sun is shining and it's the weekend, what more could you ask for! Well, a new LIM challenge for one, and this week Chrissie and mandi have come up with butterflies! This is so perfect for me as I am having a bit of a butterfly obsession at the minute, which my husband has definately noticed as they feature on most of my cards at the minute! So I couldn't wait. I just had to dive straight into my stash and get creating right away (before breakfast or any of the household chores!!).

So without further ado, here is my entry/entries for this weeks butterfly challenge.

a change of sentiment and I have another...

the inside is decorated simply and identically for both..
Here they are both together side by side....


I had to make two of these as I loved the first one so much I had to replicate it, with just a simple change of sentiment. I love these summery colours together, makes me feel as though I'm in a meadow, laid in the grass looking up at the butterflies flitting around! Ah bliss!

Materials

CS: SU Wild Wasabi, Whisper White, Melon Mambo

Stamps: Pocket Silhouettes, Cheer and Wishes, Sincere Salutations

Tools: SU Stampamajig, Sponge Daubers, Beautiful Wings Embosslits Die

Misc: Stampin Markers

Well I hope you like my card for this weeks LIM challenge. I can see me recreating this design, maybe with a change in colour and sentiment again, as they were so quick and simple to design.

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you all enjoy the rest of your weekend whatever you're up to!

Hugs, Victoria ~x~

Nursey Suite - not just for babies!

Morning all!

Today I am having a reaxing day as it is my day off. I've just finished my book, now I'm doing a bit of blogging with a cuppa and then I'm going to spend a few lazy hours crafting! Perfect day!!

So today I have a card to show you that I made for my best friend recently for her birthday. I used the Nursery Suite Speciality papers which I just love, along with my favourite ever sentiment stamp! I just love these papers and their versatility, and I wanted to show how they can be used for occasions other than babies.

and of course the decorated inside...

Materials

CS: SU Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Baja Breeze, Pretty in Pink

Papers: Nursery Suite Speciality

Stamps: Afterthoughts, Occasional Greetings

Tools: SU Stampamajig, Sponge Daubers, Scallop Trim Border punch, Perfect
Polka Dots embossing folder

Misc: Stampin Markers, Ribbon from stash, Adhesive pearls

I also recently made a male birthday card using the same Nursery Suite papers, which you can see here if you missed it!

Well thanks for stopping by today. I'm off to have a look around blogland to see what you've all been up to before I head off into my craft room!

Hugs, Victoria ~x~

Good Luck Strength & Hope Take 2!!!

Evening all!

As with you all, I'm not sure what's happening with blogger but my last post has dissapeared never to return again. So, pain though it may, be I've decided to upload it again. Thanks to those of you who had already stopped by and taken the time to comment.

Today's card was made for a friend using the wonderful Strength and Hope set. Not only is it a beautiful and amazing value set (Just £12.95 for the clear set), but it has been created with such a worthwhile cause in mind. For every set sold, Stampin Up has said they will donate £1 to Breast Cancer Research, and if you purchase this set from me, I will also donate £1 to Cancer Research UK.


Of course the decorated inside....

Materials

CS: SU Crumb Cake, Baja Breeze, Very Vanilla

Stamps: Hope and Strength, Sincere Salutations

Tools: SU Scallop Trim Border punch, Square Lattice
Embossing Folder & Sponge Daubers

Misc: SU adhesive pearls

The beauty of this set is that the images can used as focal images or to create backgrounds. You can see another card I have made using this set here.

There are a few challenges out there whose themes this week are met by today's card.

Cute Card Thursday - Distressing
Creative Inspirations - Decorate the inside of your card

Well thanks for stopping by. I'm off to enjoy a nice cuppa whilst watching eastenders! Hvae a great weekend everyone!

Hugs, Victoria ~x~

Good Luck with Strength and Hope.

Morning all!

It's thursday already. Where is the week going to???

Today I have another card to show you using the wonderful Strength and Hope set. Not only is it a beautiful vintage inspired set it's creation was inspired by such a worthy cause. For every stamp set sold, Stampin Up will donate £1 to Breast Cancer Research. If you purchase your set from me I will also donate £1 to Cancer Resesarch UK and at only £12.95 for the clear set, I think it is amazing Value. There are 4 striking stamps in the set that can be used not only as a focal point for your card, but also to create backgrounds with, as you can see in my card today.

The simply decorated inside... (which also meets the challenge this week over at Creative Inspirations, which is to decorate the inside of your cards, something I am addicted to doing!)

Materials

CS: SU Crumb Cake, Baja Breeze, Very Vanilla

Stamps: Hope and Strength, Sincere Salutations

Tools: SU Scallop Trim Border punch, Square Lattice
Embossing Folder & Sponge Daubers

Misc: SU adhesive pearls, baja breeze, choc chip, crumb cake ink

I hope you have enjoyed seeing how this amazing stamp set can be used. Here is another of my cards using this set if you haven't already seen it. If you would like to own this beautiful set and also do your bit to help Breast Cancer Research then please get in touch and I would be happy to order it for you.

I would also like to enter this over at Cute Card Thursday, where the theme this week is distressing! Oh how I love to distress the edges of my CS with ink!!

Thanks for stopping by today and for any comments you leave, it's great to know who's been dropping by my lil ol blog!

Hugs, Victoria ~x~

Spots and stripes Birthday.

Good morning all! It's the weekend and boy am I looking forward to a few days off! I've aready been busy this morning getting some dreaded household chores out of the way, washing, cleaning etc before I head off out this afternoon to my friend Jules Owl Class at 2! I haven't been to one of her saturday classes since before christmas, so I'm really looking forward to it!

Onto today's card. I made this a while back for a male friends birthday. The colours turned out a little girlier than I had anticipated, but at the end of the day at least there was no pink involoved! Lol!



Quelle suprise... I've decorated the inside!

Materials

CS: SU Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Baja Breeze, Choc Chip

Papers: Nursery Suite Speciality

Stamps: Afterthoughts, On a Pedestal, Seeing Spots (Retired)

Tools: SU Stampamajig, Sponge Daubers

Misc: Stampin Markers, Crumb Cake ink pad

Not too bad me thinks, considering I break out in a sweat at the thought of making a man's card!

Have you checked out this weeks LIM challenge. The theme this week is 'All White'. Might have to get my thinking cap on for this one! Oh well I like a bit of a challenge!

Well thanks for stopping by! I hope you all have a lovely weekend and manage to fit a spot of crafting in somewhere!

Hugs, Victoria ~x~

LIM Lucky Dip!

Good morning all!

I had a lovely bank holidy weekend spent in the Lakes with my family, the weather was absolutely glorious and I got to feed some baby lambs!

Today I have a card to share with you that I made for the Less Is More challenge. This weeks theme is Lucky Dip, either Thank You or Congratulations.

One of the girls at work has just announced she is having a baby, so I made this card for her.


and of course I had to decorate the inside ....

Materials

CS: SU Whisper White & Crumb Cake

Stamps: Fox & Friends, Cheer and Wishes

Tools: SU Scallop Trim Border, Square lattice and Perfect Polka Dots embossing folders

Misc: SU Adhesive Pearls and retired SU ribbon

I went for the crumb cake theme as she doesn't know what the sex of the baby is and this is a perfect neutral colour. I just adore this fox and friends set. So versatile, it can be used for so many occasions! See the birthday card I have previosly made with this set here.

Well thanks for stopping by, I'd best start to get ready for work. Hope you all enjoy the rest of your week, Mr sunshine is on his way!

Hugs, Victoria ~x~