A quick hello.

It has been such a long time since I last blogged I'm sure a lot of you thought I had just dropped off the face of the earth, or maybe you're not even bothered! :) Either way I just though I would say a quick hello. There has been a lot of changes in my life since last September when I last blogged and my priorities of late have changed. I've kind of lost my crafting mojo, so whilst I still make the odd occasional project, I have no where near the drive or passion for crafting as I once did. I am thinking this may be a temporary blip and I still have all my craft stash sat waiting for me in my craft room, but I am not going to force myself and I'll just see what happens.

I do feel a tad sad about it really as crafting is something I have loved for many years, but I appreciate that things in life change and this includes your hobbies. I do still look at your blogs from time to time and am hoping that your wonderful projects may again one day inspire me and who knows even kick start my mojo!

For now, take care.

Hugs, Victoria

Its been a while!

 Morning all!

I know, it's been a while since my last post and in fact it was my mum that has instructed me I need to update my blog!! So just for you mum, I have taken heed and updated! 

I have just got back from a 3 week holiday in Thailand which was absolutely amazing. It has been a bit of a shock to the system to come back to all this rain I can tell you! What with me being on holiday and busy with work before that, I have not really done a great deal of crafting for the past 4-6 weeks, so today I've got a few cards to show you that I made for fathers day but never actually got around to sharing with you!

I made 2 of a very similar design, one for my dad and one for my father in law, just changed to colour ways and accessories.

This was the one for my father in law. He supports Leeds United so I used  their colour's...

I just changed the colour's for my Dad's card and added brads to the ends of the banners....

and here they are both together...

Materials

CS: SU Daffodil Delight, Night of Navy Crumb Cake, Island Indigo, Whisper White and Very Vanilla

Stamps: SU Just Perfect Alphabet (Retiring), Pennant Parade, Happiest Birthday Wishes (Retiring), SU Sanded Background stamp (Retired)

Tools: SU Petite Pennants Builder punch, SU Daffodil Delight, Night of Navy, Crumb Cake, Lucky Limeade and Island Indigo ink pads

Misc: Island Indigo Bakers twine, Island Indigo designer printed Brads

 

 

There are a few items used on this card that will be retiring this weekend. Since I last posted the new SU Autumn/Winter Catalogue was launched (Sep 1st 2012). The last chance list from the 2011-2012 catalogue is still active until 30th September so hurry if there is anything you want that is retiring. Excitingly the new 2012-2013 catty goes live from Monday 1st Oct and boy is it jammed packed with lots of fab new products. The new catty is 205 pages long, thats 73 extra pages on the last catalogue. As a demo I have been able to pre-order some of the new items in advance and I can assure you, you will not be disappointed. I know one of my friends and customers Elaine will love the new catty and I will be delivering hers in the next few days.

Well thanks for stopping by today. Hopefully now my holidays are out of the way I will have a bit more time for crafting and more things to show you.

Bye for now.

Hugs, Victoria ~x~

Dad's Birthday!

 Good morning bloggers!

I am a bit under the weather today, full of bugs and feeling sorry for myself. I hate feeling like this, which thankfully doesn't happen too often!

Today I though I would share with you the card I made for my father in laws recent birthday. I always struggle with male cards so I turned to a set I love for males, but which is now unfortunately retired. There's just some stamp sets I will never get rid of though! My choice of colors was inspired by some papers I am loving at the minute!

So here it is....

The simple inside.....

The paper that inspired my colour choice and decorated the chocolate bars perfectly....

 The matching set together.....

Materials

CS: SU Baja Breeze, Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White

Paper: SU Twitterpated

Stamps: SU For My Family,Happiest Birthday Wishes (Hostess set), Seeing Spots (Retired)

Tools: SU Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler, Basic Grey and Baja Breeze ink pads

Misc: Old Olive Striped Grosgrain ribbon (retired)

I loved how this card turned out! I never would have used these colors together if I hadn't been inspired by the gorgeous Twitterpated papers!

Thanks for stopping by. I hope to be feeling better soon so I can get creative. I have some new stash to play with from the upcoming SU seasonal catalogue that goes live on September 1st, so watch this space!

Hugs, Victoria ~x~

Diorama Birthday!

Happy Sunday one and all!

I can't believe it's the closing ceremony of the Olympics tonight, these last 2 weeks have flown by! I have thoroughly enjoyed watching the Olympics, Team GB have done us proud and I feel so proud to be British! 

Onto my card. I recently made a card for a very dear friend of mine (well actually she's my mum's, but mine by default!), whose birthday it is tomorrow. It's a very special birthday, although I won't give away her secret!

Now I've seen a few Diorama cards around recently and really wanted to give it a go, so I looked on the internet for some measurements et voila, one Diorama card!

An arty farty top angle shot to show you the 3D effect...

The card laid on it's back...

  and from the side angle.....

Materials

CS: SU Poppy Parade, Very Vanilla, Old Olive

Paper: Everyday Enchantment  (Retired)

Stamps: SU You are loved (spring mini, but hopefully returning to the new catty for 2012-2013), Petite Pairs

Tools: SU Bird punch (for leaves), SU Itty Bitty punches, Labels Collection Framelits Dies, Choc Chip and Crumb Cake ink pads, Old Olive and Poppy Parade markers and sponge for distressing

Misc: Adhesive Pearls

I really enjoyed making this card, it's always nice to do something a bit different, and it was a lot easier to make than I had anticipated. Think I might do a few of these diorama cards for those special christmas cards!! I hope the recipient likes it!!

Well, I'd best dash. I'm off out with hubby today to go and find him a new car! Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Hugs, Victoria ~x~

Wow.... Twins!!

Evening all! I hope you've all had a lovely weekend.

Mines been quite lazy really. Spent most of Saturday sleeping, after I did a night shift on Friday night (an extra shift, I normally work days!) and then I've been watching the Olympics! Aren't team GB doing well, they had such a great day yesterday, 6 Golds in one day!

Today I have a super cute card to share with you. One of my friends at work has just found out she's pregnant and at her 12 week scan, they told her she was expecting identical twins!! The atmosphere at work on Friday was so joyful, everyone is just soooo excited for her.

I got up extra early on Friday morning to make this card for her and her partner. As soon as I heard she was expecting twins I knew exactly which stamp set I wanted to use.

 

A close up of the cute babies

and a simple inside.... note how there's multiples of two on this card! 

Materials

CS: SU Crumb Cake, Whisper White

Paper: SU Crumb Cake DSP

Stamps: Non SU from my stamp collection

Tools: SU Extra Large Oval punch, Stampin Markers and blender pen

 
Misc: Adhesive Pearls, Whisper White Organza ribbon

Well I have to say my card was very well received. I think it was the first twin card she got!

I've got a fair few birthdays over the coming weeks, so have been busy making cards. I'll be sharing them with you over the next few posts.

Thanks for stopping by today. Please leave me a comment as I love to see, who's took the time to visit my humble little blog!

Hugs, Victoria ~x~

A birthday card for a wonderful friend!

 Good morning all!

Well its Friday (thank goodness) and only a few hours left to work before the weekend begins!

Today I have a card I made this week for one of my very good friends. Now, I used a retired stamp for this card admittedly, but it's one of my all time favorite sentiments and I will never part with it. I combined it with the delicious SU Everyday Enchantment papers that are back by popular demand for the month of July only, I just love these papers!

So without further ado here it is....

 A close up of the flower embellishment and gorgeous brad (available free this month if you spend £45 or more)...

 The simple inside.....

 and a matching envelope I made using the gorgeous papers...

A  framelit label tag was added to the patterned front so you can write the name of the recipient more clearly

Materials

CS: SU Calypso Coral, Pool Party, Lucky Limeade and Whisper White

Paper: Everyday Enchantment  (Available for the month of July only!!)

Stamps: SU Posy Punch (Hostess set), Happiest Birthday Wishes (Hostess set),  Occasional Greetings (Retired)

Tools: SU Fancy Flower punch, Labels Collection Framelits Dies, In colour 2011-2013 markers, and sponge for distressing

 

Misc: Everyday Enchantment brad (free when you spend £45 or more in July)

 

 

 

Well I hope you like today's card, I'm glad to say my friend did.

Thanks for stopping by today and have a great weekend, whatever you're up to.

Hugs, Victoria ~x~

 

 

Cheers to you!

 Evening all!

I enjoyed the lay out of my last card so much that I decided to use it again, but this time for a male birthday card. It was one of our male friends birthday yesterday and a group of us went out for a delicious curry on saturday night to celebrate. As with most men, he likes his beer, so that's the theme I went with for his card, and here it is....

 not forgetting the decorated inside....

Materials

CS: SU Island Indigo , Very Vanilla,

Paper: Everyday Enchantment  (STILL LOVING THIS PAPER PACK!!)

Stamps: SU Cheers to you (retired), Up Up and Away (summer mini), SU French Foliage

Tools: SU Square Lattice embossing folder, Labels Collection Framelits Dies, Basic Grey and Crumb Cake ink pads, and sponge for distressing

 

 

I am still enjoying this Lay out, and whilst I will probably use it many times again, I will try not to use it for a third time in a row on my blog!

Thanks for stopping by today.

Hugs, Victoria ~x~

Happy Birthday Sister!

Afternoon all! What a surprise this weekends turned out to be weather wise. I expected it to be grey, wet and miserable, but surprise..... we've had some lovely sunshine especially today. I've gotten all my washing done this morning and finished oiling the decking. Now I spoke to my mum this morning and she admonished me for not updating my blog for a few weeks. Sooooo, just for you mum, I thought I would take time today to post a card I have made for my Sister in laws birthday this week.

For the month of July only Stampin Up has re-released the Everyday Enchantment papers that were available for Saleabration. I absolutely love these papers, so was sooo excited to be able to buy some more! So what else could I use for my SIL's birthday card, but some of these beautiful papers.

 

A close up of the intricate image and fab paper!

.....and of course I decorated the inside.

Materials

CS: SU Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Naturals Ivory

Paper: Everyday Enchantment  (LOVE THIS PAPER PACK!!)

Stamps: SU You are loved (spring mini), Petite Pairs, For my Family

Tools: SU Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, Labels Collection Framelits Dies, Choc Chip and Crumb Cake ink pads, Old Olive and Riding Hood Red markers and sponge for distressing

Misc: Adhesive Pearl

I really enjoyed making this card, and will definitely use this lay out again.

Well, thanks for stopping by today. I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Hugs, Victoria ~x~

Dad's Birthday.

Good Morning all!

The weekend is here and boy was I glad for a lie in this morning!

Today I have the card I made for my dad's birthday to share with you. (Apologies for the layout of the pics, I can't get used to this new blogger, the pictures won't go where I want them to!!)

An arty farty close up of the framed sentiment on the front.....

And of course the inside......

Materials

CS: SU Crumb Cake, Night of Navy and Very Vanilla

 
Stamps: SU Borderlines(Spring Mini - Retired), Happiest Birthday Wishes, For my Family

 

Tools:  SU Embossing Folder Square lattice, Lots of Tags Sizzlet Die  Night of Navy and Cherry Cobbler marker pens

Misc: SU Linen Thread 

 

 

Well thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend, whatever you're up to. I'm off to see my parents and family this afternoon. Hubbies on nights tonight so I'll be stopping over there.

Hugs, Victoria ~x~

Its been far too long!

Good morning all and a happy Diamond Jubilee weekend to you all!


Firstly let me apologise for being AWOL for sooooo long. I've been on holiday and just generally busy doing things other than crafting for the past 6 weeks, so haven't had much time for blogging. I'm hoping that might be about to change and will try my best to make more of an effort with my blog.


I thought I'd show you a card today I made for my Aunts birthday back in February and just haven't got around to sharing with you yet.

and or course the inside...

 

Materials

CS: SU Crumb Cake, Melon Mambo and Whisper White

 

Paper: SU Flirtacious Speciality

Stamps: SU You are Loved (Spring Mini - Retired), Happiest Birthday Wishes

 

Tools:  SU Embossing Folder Manhattan Flowers, Choc Chip and Melon Mambo ink pads

Misc: SU Adhesive Pearls

 

 

Yesterday I went along to my SU Granny Julies Jubilee Craft Afternoon and we had a great afternoon! It was especially nice as I got to catch up with my lovely friend Jill who I have not seen for a few months. I'll try and get some pictures of the projects we made and upload them for you.

Well I hope you all enjoy the rest of your bank holiday weekend, hatever you've got planned. I'm going to a family Jubilee BBQ at my mums tomorrow, so I hope the rain clears up for us by then.

Thanks for stopping by.

See you again soon!

Hugs, Victoria ~x~

Good morning all.

I'm so sorry it's been so long since my last post. Life has just kind of got in the way and I've not had much time for crafting or blogging lately.

It's also the first time I've posted since blogger had its makeover. Not sure I am getting on with it! I hope it'll get a bit easier with practice?

As it is my day off today, I thought I would nip on and share with you the card I made for my hubby for our first anniversary last month.

 

The arty farty shot to show the cut out front.

 

 

The inside sentiment

Materials

CS: SU Pool Party and Whisper White

Paper: SU Everyday Enchantment (Now Unfortunately retired!)

Stamps: SU Easy Events, Cheer and Wishes (Retired) and inside sentiment is non SU from my stash

Tools: SU Owl Builder punch (for the heart), Circle punch, Stampin Markers and blender pens for colouring, sponge for distressing

 

 

Well I hope you liked it? I think my hubby did, although it's probably a bit too fussy for him!

I've got a busy day ahead of me. It's the last day off work I have before we go on holiday on monday, so I have some last minute shopping to do as well as washing and making a card for my hubby as it's his 40th whilst we're away! So it may be some time before you see me back in blogland again.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs, Victoria ~x~

Enchanted Mothers Day!

Good morning all!

Thanks to everyone who sent me well wishes for my first wedding anniversary. We had a lovely few days off together and spent it in the lovely town of Ilkley. Very picturesque and home to the world famous tea rooms'Betty's'!

How was your mothers day yesterday? I hope you all had a lovely day with your family. I had a lovely day spent with my family, including my grandma.

With Mothers day still fresh in our minds I though I would share with you the card and matching gift tag I made for my mum.

A close up of the sentiment and beautiful embossed butterfly...

Of course the decorated inside...

The matching gift tag...

and a shot of the matching set together!

I hope you're still with me after all those pictures!!

Materials

CS: SU Crumb Cake, Poppy Parade, Lucky Limeade, Very Vanilla

Paper: Everyday Enchantment from salebration (LOVE THIS PAPER PACK!!)

Stamps: SU You are loved (spring mini), Just believe, and sentiments are non SU from my stash

Tools: SU Extra Large Oval Punch, SU Beautiful Wings embosslits die, SU Blossoms Party Die, Choc Chip and Crumb Cake ink pads, 2011-2013 In colour markers and sponge for distressing

Misc: Adhesive Pearls, Old Olive Scallop dots ribbon, SU Antique brad, SU Designer Printed brad (2011-2013In Colour), SU Victoria Crochet Trim

I am pleased to report that my Mum loved her card and gift tag (which was of course attached to a bag full of goodies including chocolate and wine!).

I am just so in love with these Everday Enchantment papers and cannot beleive they will no longer be available after the end of this month. I am well prepared though and already have a few packs of these stashed away. If you would like to get your hands on them too before it's to late then get in touch and I would be happy to place an order for you.

What a gorgeously sunny morning it is, a great way to start off the week! I'm going to hang out some washing before I head out to work.

Well thanks for stopping by today. I really appreciate your comments and love to see who's dropped by.

Take care. Hugs, Victoria

LIM - One Layer Script

Evening all!

I hope you've all had a lovely Sunday and been soaking up some of that Spring sun we've had today. Whilst my hubby has been at work today, I've had a few hours to myself to take part in this week LIM challenge. This week the girls want to see a one layer card that incorporates 'Script'.

I have a lovely script stamp thats in the French Foliage set so this was my obvious choice of stamp and is was my result...

This was such a quick make that I though I would do a few more in some different colour ways. Be warned there are a few photos!!

Then I tried a Naturals Ivory Base...

Here they all are together. I think the whites are my favourite. What do you think?

Materials

CS: SU Confetti White and Naturals Ivory

Stamps: SU French Foliage, Just Believe, Thank you kindly

Tools: SU Basic Grey, Crumb Cake, Choc Chip, Melon Mambo, Regal Rose, Wild Wasabi and Rich Razleberry inks

These are 10cmx10cm notelet thank you cards. I think you can never have enough thank you cards. After birthday cards, they are probably my most sent sentiment.

I've also been making my hubbies anniversary card today (I'll show you it later in the week). It's our first anniversary this thursday. I can't believe a year has gone already. This time last year there were 18 of us soaking up the sun in Mexico and sorting the final preparations for our big day!

In celebration of my first anniversary here are a couple of my favourite pictures from our wedding day.

Thanks for stopping by. I can't wait to see what LIM creations you all come up with!

Hugs, Victoria ~x~