Muddy Boots

Hello all, another late post then!  I feel I should be getting an award for never being on time, maybe in the form of a nice little tasteful pin that I could wear with pride, lol.  There's quite a lot of pics in this post so sorry to bore you, grab a cuppa and indulge me just this once. 

On the 15th of March it was my birthday, it was one of the things I was going to tell you about in a previous post, and believe it or not I couldn't remember a thing when I sat down to do it, the post that is! Just goes to show that 'oldtimers' is really setting in now.  No hope for me I feel, it's well and truly here to stay.  Anyway I got mainly money, which I had asked for.  I'm saving for a new graphics tablet and pen and I want a Wancom Intuos4 (soz that's prob not how you spell it). I'm not quite there yet, still need another 90 squid but hopefully soon I'll be digi drawing again.  Colin got me a couple of Lazy Jacks sweatshirts from Guernsey, he'd seen them a while ago and decided that was what he was getting me.  I love them, they are really warm, cozy and comfy.  In fact he bought 2 more for me the last time he was out there too, so now I have 4.  And I got loads of Gower Cottage Brownies big thanks to my cousin Carol and her husband Mark, Kate and Paul.  I've been getting them a box at a time and I still have a box in the brownie bank to come at some point soon.  I'm sorry to say my thighs may never recover from the chocolate overload, but heyho I'll worry about that next month.

And now onto papercrafting.  This is my DT card for this weeks Polkadoodle challenge.  Ruth set the challenge for this week and we had to make a card for her birthday.  I used the Cupcake Treat range from the Paper Boutique Vol 1 CD.  The rest of the team made some fab projects, so pop over and and have a look if you haven't already done so.

And here are cards I've made with the new Garden Delights download bundle that Kate and myself have been working on. They are available from A Card 4 U and offer really good value for money. I only printed out the craft sheets once and I made all these cards.  You could make more with this kit as I've put a couple of elements on the same cards for some.  We decided to go for a nice pretty classic look with this set.  So all you classic image lovers should be happy.  Our next set is more contempory but quite cute.  Hopefully that one won't be too long now.

Yesterday was Easter Sunday and we took Sammy for a lovely walk round Pagham Harbour.  However it was very windy and very soggy and muddy, just look at the state of my bloody boots! They're going to take me ages to get clean.  And the state of my tousers, well I thought I'd had wieghts added to the bottom of them.  We had to disrobe at the front door when we came in.  Sammy loved it though, he's not one of these dog's that doesn't like get his feet wet, he plows straight through all the mud and puddles.  In fact I'm thinking of making an upside down coat to keep his undercarriage clean and dry.  There's still a few teething probs with it to sort out though, As you can imagine being a little boy he does need some access!

That's it for now folks. Keep warm and well xxx

Ooopsie

Ooo err, I'm a tad late with this one, but here is my DT post for Polka Doodles, We had another sketch to follow and it it bad to be black and white with one other colour.  One other colour, mmm, what to use?  Well the obvious to me was to grab anything purple/lilac that was near to hand (well you can't resist your fave colour now can you?).  But, I resisted.  It was hard to stay away from what is so inviting and comforting, lol.  I went for green!  Now I don't use green very often (or yellow come to that), but I thought a nice lime green would really zing with the black and white, and it does in real life although it looks a tad flat in the pics.  My eyes kept wondering to some lilac cardstock that was on the table, but I managed to stay strong and stick with the dreaded green.  I think I deserve a cream cake now, lol 

Sorry it's just a quickie, I've got loads of cutting out to do, and my bed is singing a lullaby in an attempt to get me up there.  I don't think it will be long before I'm climbing the stairs, well as long as I don't fall asleep in the chair again that is.  It really is quite disconcerting waking up with a pair of scissors stuck in your hand, just think of the damage you could do if you rubbed your face!  Yep you're right, probably best not too, lol.

Take care all and happy crafting.

Blue and brown crazy

I had so much to say, and now I've finally got round to doing the post I can't remember a damn thing.  Must be an age thing I think.  That or maybe I should stop taking the pills, lmao.

I've changed layouts as the lovely Dyan suggested, but I'm still having probs.  Really doesn't help when you haven't got a clue what you're doing, lol.  And now there is no spell check, OMG what the hell am I gonna do now, my spelling is soooooo bad, but you'll all have to just have a chuckle and forgive me.  I can live with it if you can too.

Below is my Week11 DT card for Polka Doodles.  We had a sketch to follow and we could only use brown and blue.  Papers are from the Back to Nature and Paper Boutique Vol1 cds.  The rest of the design team made some amazing cards, so why not bob along for a look and inspiration.  And why not have a go at entering the challenge yourself.

 

And here is the project that I was doing with Dopey the dwarf, and yes it's all blue and brown too, what a coincidence.  It didn't turn out too bad after all, and I kept Dopey mostly hidden on the tags as his colours really don't go, but who am I to argue, I got asked to do it, so I did.

This is the box I made for it to go in.

Right I've had enough of blog wrangling now, so I'm quitting while things are in the right place, lol.  I'll try and remember what I forgot for next time.  I wouldn't hold your breath though!!!  Happy crafting everyone, till next time Dee xxx

I forgot to say!

Just a little quickie that I forgot on this mornings post. Look out for something special coming up on the Polka Doodles website soon, and there's some new downloads coming very soon on the A Card 4 U website too, so keep checking them to see the new goodies.

So who stole the time

OK so which one of you stole the time, own up and give some of it back now, jokes over and it's not funny any more. It seems as though my life has been in fast forward for months now. I plan my weeks work and think yes this will be the week I actually get it all done. Ha ha, the jokes deffo on me, the smug look on my face is usually wiped off by the end of Monday when I realise that it's just not going to happen, no matter how much I run round like a demented blue-arsed-fly. Well on the upside, my life is never boring and I'm never quite sure what I'm going to be asked to do next. At the moment I've been working on a project that features Dopey the dwarf. I can't say it's an easy one, and every time I think I'm settled on what I'm going to do, I change my mind. To be honest I'm a tad sick of looking at him now, and I even dreamt of him the other night, so it's deffo time to get it finished before the men in white coats come and cart me away.

I did get my Polka Doodles DT challenge card made for this weeks challenge which is to make a milestone age or anniversary card. I made this ruby wedding anniversary card with papers from the Polka Doodles Love and Cherish CD. This red and black set are so stunning I just had to use them. And It's a bit over the top because I think any couple in this day and age that makes it to 40 years deserves a huge over the top celebration. Why not hop over to the PD blog and see all the other fabby cards made by the DT team, and have a go at the challenge yourself, it's easy to entre, and you never know, you might just win.
I still seem to be having a few issues with blogger so the rest of the piccies I was going to add are going to have to wait again. The emotional stress of trying to add them has me beat again today, LMAO. OK less emotional stress and more like pure emotional anger. Sometimes it's better to quit before you do something stupid, like chucking your Laptop through the window, which wouldn't really be the right thing to do now would it?

I'll leave you with a few pics of my furry babies and try again next time, so keep your fingers crossed.

All love and harmony in this shot!

Oops not for long. Great action shot of Baggins rear end disappearing out of view, lol

Take care all, and don't forget to leave me a message if you have the time, Luv Dee xxx

Erm, yes, well, soz and all that

Well, what can I say, Yes I have been busy, but so is everyone else and they manage to blog all the time. I'm failing, but I am hoping to improve. Honestly. I am trying to organise my work life a little better (wonders will never cease if I manage it, lol). When I had a 'normal' job and did freelance in my spare time I coped much better, but on giving up the daily drudge I seem to be all over the place lurching from one mad panic to the next. Not good so I've made a decision to sort it all out. Tips on a postcard please to the panic master, looney bin towers, back of beyond.

I have some exciting news to tell you. I was asked by that mad woman Nikky to join the Polkadoodles Design Team and I said yes (oh boy what have I let myself in for). Now I just need to get my fat arse in gear and work out what I'm supposed to be doing. I feel I'm going to be plaguing the rest of the team with stupid questions, but you've got to learn these things sometime haven't you. I'm sorry ladies if I drive you to distraction. Seriously I don't even know anything about Mr Linky, let alone using it, I'm a hopeless case I'm afraid, LMAO.

Exciting news No.2 I just can't tell you yet, but it is very exciting and I could be designing more than just downloads soon. If it comes off I'll be a very happy busy little bee.

And I received another blog award from the lovely Kirsticoo http:/onemadmoo.blogspot.com/ , Pop over to Kirsti's blog and have a looksey at her wonderful projects, you won't be disappointed. Thank you so much Kirsti, I'm really touched. It was I'm sorry to say a while ago but I forgot all about it in my last post, really really sorry Kirsti. I know I'm supposed to be doing something, but I haven't discovered what that is, when I know I'll do it!

I made the long trip to Birmingham to see whats what at the Stitches trade show last week. There wasn't really much that was new or really exciting, and I was quite surprised by the companies that weren't exhibiting that are usually there. There definitely wasn't the buzz that there normally is. Tim Holtz's new goodies caused a stir, but you wouldn't really expect any less would you, gorgeous new colours for inks and die cuts, well I'll deffo be needing them. Don't know how I've managed without them till now, lol. There were a couple of new stamp companies there, one of which Ladybug Crafts ink are definitly worth looking out for. Their sample cards were beautifully made and very inspirational. Wild Rose Studio were there and they also had some cutesome lovelyness to temp all the reatailers. Look out for these in the shops if your thing is cute teddies, animals etc.

And I went to the Make It show at the weekend. What can I say, very disappointing. Why why why do we always lose out to the North. Many companies weren't there because they were at another show. If these companies don't come down south then people won't go to the shows. We have very few shows down here, and it's looking like there won't be any soon. A poor state of affairs. It was nice to see a few of the popular companies had made the effort. Shame a few more couldn't do the same!

I've been fiddlefartarsing about with this for what seems like hours. I'm giving up now, pictures don't want to load, and it won't let me copy and paste, WTF is going on. Cards and more will have to wait till next time, sorry all but my patience has just run out tonight.

Till next time, take care all.

Excitements and letdowns!

Well At last I got Lappy back, Yayyyyyyy.

Except it wasn't lappy, not YAY at all! Now they had told me that the new bits wouldn't fit into the chassis of Lappy so they were putting all the bits into a new chassis. I don't know what I was expecting, but it sure wasn't the super shiny black monstrosity that I eagerly pulled out of the box. I really can't tell you how disappointed I was. I loved Lappy, not just because it was graphite with subtle little twinkles, but because Colin chose it for me. If I had gone out to buy one it would have been one just like Lappy. I never in a million years would have bought a big black shiny monster. I hate it! It's so deep, it doesn't even fit on my lap very well, with the screen up I have to hang onto it for dear life or it tips off my knees. AND the camera doesn't work on it AND it's empty (hours of work to load all my software and files back on). I get the feeling that it's just a reconditioned laptop and that they have lost Lappy, as they wouldn't give me a straight answer when I asked if I could have my old hard drive back. Now considering all the information that's on that hard rive, I really don't want anyone else getting their mitts on it. I'm really trying hard to be grateful, but I just don't seem to be getting there. I think I may get Colin to take me to Cosham on Monday and try and get some answers, and the camera fixed!


Meet Millie the rabbit, and yes Emma I did name her after your Millie, I hope you don't mind? Millie is one of the Charity downloads that can be found on A Card 4 U's website (link to the shop on the right hand side). I've made cards with each of the downloads, using a different technique for each one.

Millie has been paper pieced using the Spring Fling collection by Blond Moments. I cut the papers down to A4 size (painful I know but very necessary). Once that is done, feed them into your printer and print the downloads onto them. Then cut out all the different bits and stick them all together on top of your main image. Very effective and I do like Millie in orange and green, they're just her colours.............. It has just occurred that these are carrot colours, so subconsciously I was obviously concentrating on the carrot when I did this. I must have been hungry, lol.
Cup cakes or fairy cakes, whatever you call them, most of us love them. I kept this one quite simple looking. No changes to the background, just print it straight out. And print the cake out 5 times, colour in with Copics, ProMarkers, pencils or watercolour. Cut out the cakes leaving a section out each time, then decoupage.

I simply turned the black lines of the backing paper to red for this one, then printed the digistamp onto acetate and glittered it. It's a bit time consuming, but shows you really don't have to stick to paper and card to print onto.

These downloads I coloured in using one of my graphics programmes, using the flood fill tool. It's really easy to do and I like the bold flat colours with this image.

And here are some sneaky peeks of a project I've been working on. I used papers and embossing powders from the delicious Sugar Dumpling Range by Blond Moments, and some of their wonderful stamps. They can be found at Art From The Heart, so click on the link on the right hand side and have a browse through all the goodies on offer.

This little softie was made by my Mother-in-law Marilyn. Isn't he cute? He was one of several knitted characters that Marilyn made for the Local RSPCA centre to help raise funds. It's not the best picture in the world, but I had to scan it from a photo that Marilyn gave me which was rather dark and gloomy. Marilyn I really must show you a few easy tricks on the computer and show you the printer settings again. Remind me OK!

That's all for now, till next time.