Hello

Good morning all. We've had a lovely weekend in Somerset and are now in North Wales and heading for the Lakes later today.

The lads are in Kazakhstan and making good progress. Last night was spent in Fawlty Towers but they were     still enjoying themselves. They're convoying with another Scottish team at the moment so they have some company.

Hope everyone is well.

Carol x

Update

Just a quick update on the boys trip to Mongolia for those of you who are interested. They're in Russia at the moment and hope to cross into Kazakhstan today if all goes well at the border. It took them 3 hours to get over the border into Russia but Gary says that was mainly due to them keep filling the forms in wrong! They had to spend a tenner fixing their exhaust earlier in the week but so far no major problems with the car.

You can follow their progress here if you'd like to see a map:

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&mid=1343149338

Weather fabulous here on the IOW but the internet connection is crap!

Carol x

Crafting for all Seasons #32 Splash Me

Time for a new challenge at CFAS and this time the theme is Splash Me, so anything with water will do. We're being sponsored by The Stamping Boutique and The Digi Garden. 

I've opted to do a digi layout for this challenge. Using Craft Artist, a Daisy kit called Dunes and a photo of my younger son on his first trip to a warm beach.

Do pop over to the challenge blog to see the rest of the girls inspiration, you won't be disappointed.

Challenges entered:

Stamp Man - anything goes/summer colours

Can You Digi it - at the beach

Creative Craft Challenges - summertime

Carol x

Whoopsi Daisy - Christmas in July

It's time for another challenge at  Whoopsi Daisy  and this week it's team A's turn to share their inspiration with you. The theme this week is Christmas in July.

I've used an image from sheet #260 coloured with promarkers and die cut with an oval nestie. I've used glamour dust on the fur. Papers are from Hot off the Press and were a magazine freebie. Leaf die is from Marianne Design. Card is finished with ribbons and a sentiment from my stash.

Do pop over to the challenge blog to see the inspiration from the rest of the team and remember if you use a Whoopsi Daisy image you could win 2 image sheets, 1 sheet will be awarded to a winner using any other image.

Challenges entered:

Lollipop Crafts - Christmas in July

Paper Take Weekly - girly

Quirky Crafts - Christmas in July

Poodles Parlour - use a digi image

Paper Play - Christmas in July

Delightful Challenges - Christmas in July

CHNC - monochrome

Carol x

Crafting when we Can #23 Monochrome

It's time for a new challenge at CWWC and this time we'd like to see your monochrome creations.  We're being sponsored by Fresh Brewed Design.

I've used a Fresh Brewed image which I think was a freebie. I've coloured with promarkers then cut the image out and mounted with silicon gel. Backing paper is a Tatty Ted one; doily was from a Sheenie Angel envelope; surf board and sandals are chipboard magazine freebies; sentiment, gems ribbon and button are from my stash. Card is finished with some stickles.

Do pop over to the challenge blog to see the creations of my team mates.

Challenges entered:

Cards and Scrap - things with wings

Crazy Amigos - free theme

Digi Makeover - dimension

Daisy Doodles - here comes the sun

Love to Create - 3 of something (gems)

Digi Doodle Shops Best - anything goes

Carol x

Crafty Ann's #70 Easel Card/Project

It's time for another challenge at Crafty Ann's  and this time we'd like to see all your easel cards and projects. Unfortunately I ran out of time before my holiday to make anything for this challenge so I've nothing to show you! Do pop over to the challenge blog to see the inspiration from Ann and the girls, I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

The boys have winged their way across Europe and are now in the Ukraine. They thought they had a problem with the car on Wednesday so decided to head to Budapest to find a garage - all they found was manic chaos so they left after visiting McDonalds! Yesterday they had the car checked over and all is okay so they decided to head straight for the Ukraine instead of going through Romania and Moldova as they have  visas for Russia for Tuesday and didn't want to be late. I think a weekend in Odessa is on the cards. They're buddied up with another team at the moment and seem to be enjoying the experience. Gary phoned on Wednesday evening - they'd found a lodge for the night for £30 to sleep 5 of them so they'd spent the evening doing their washing! They only hit good weather on Wednesday as all our rain has been headed the same direction as them!

We're headed for the Isle of Wight today and it's looking like fabulous weather for the entire week. This week hasn't been too bad we have had three lovely days against two complete washouts! 

Hope everyone is well.

Carol x

Aud Sentiments #59 Tag it

Our next challenge over at Aud Sentiments is Tag it, we'd like to see your sentiment on a tag please.  We're being sponsored by Tickled Pink. The DT were given images to work with.

I've used Winter Lil Lolita Evie  and made a tag. The base tag has been distressed with Faded Blue Jeans DI. Second layer has been embossed with a snowflake Cuttlebug folder. Image has been coloured with promarkers and die cut with a nestie oval. Sentiment has been mounted onto a scalloped nestie and a Ironwork motif both from Spellbinders. Tag is finished with a peel off sentiment, ribbons, punched snowflake and bobbly trim from my stash.

Do pop over to the challenge blog to see my team mates take on this challenge, you won't be disappointed.

Challenges entered:

Digital Tuesday - all tied up

LEJ - anything goes

Paper Pretties - embossing

Simon says Stamp and Show - anything goes

Creative Inspiration Paints - Christmas in July

Our Craft Lounge - tag it

Stamping for the Weekend - tags

Carol x

Christmas Crafting (with sketches) #33

 It's time for our next challenge over at CCWS and we hope you're playing along with us this year and stocking up on those Christmas cards and projects. It's the Snow Angels turn this week and Miranda has designed the sketch this time. We are being sponsored by HeinDesign.

Stamp is from Penny Black and is my favourite Christmas stamp. I've coloured with promarkers and added stickles to the fur. Papers and sentiment are from Hot off the Press and were a magazine freebie. Die is from Spellbinders. Finished with pearls, more stickles and a poinsettia from my stash.

You will have to pop over to the challenge blog to see the sketch for yourself, remember to check out the inspiration of the other DT members whilst you're there. 

Challenges entered:

Christmas Cards all Year Round - Christmas flowers/holly

Forever Friends - Christmas in July

The Crazy Challenge - Christmas in July

Lollipop Crafts - Christmas in July

Ladybug Crafts Ink - Christmas in July

Creatalicious Challenges - Christmas in July

Totally Gorjuss - Christmas

Totally Papercrafts - lots of layers

Paper Play - music

Carol x

It's raining, it's pouring!

The old man's not snoring yet but I'm sure he soon will be!

We've seen the lads off from a very wet Goodwood Motor Circuit, I think the nerves had abated somewhat and they couldn't wait to get going!

This is Gary and the car shortly before they left.....it actually stopped raining for 5 minutes!

Think we're going down the road for a pub meal tonight followed by a quiet evening in..

Carol x

Just checking in!

We arrived safely in Chichester at teatime today after an overnight stay at Wakefield last night. Our cottage is very comfortable and we're all settled for the week. 

The lads travelled down overnight last night and finally found a field to camp in about 8am this morning - so they'd been on the road for about 12 hours. That and nerves are taking the toll on them a little though. They joined us here at teatime, had a shower, change of clothes and a hot meal before heading off to join the other teams for the night - I hope they manage some sleep tonight! I'm busy washing the dirty clothes as we speak ready to give them back tomorrow. So tomorrow we've to do some last minute shopping for them before meeting them at Goodwood to see them off! Oh heck......are they nearly there yet!!

Hope to catch up with some commenting over the next few days :)

Carol x

Crafting for all Seasons #31 Icecream/Popsicle

Time for a new challenge at CFAS and this time the theme is Icecream or Popsicles,we're  looking forward to seeing all your makes. We're being sponsored by Bugaboo, Jani's Kreativewelt Digital Stamps and Kenny K. I've used images from Bugaboo and Jani on my card.

The main image is Knobbly Knee Icecream Scoop from Bugaboo and I've coloured with promarkers and used a bit of stickles. The other images are all from Jani's Kreativewelt and I've paper pieced them all digitally using papers from Crafty Ann's before arranging them, printing and fussy cutting. These have been mounted with silicon gel. Paper is from my stash. All the ribbons, beads and lace webbing are from Crafty Ribbons. Sentiment is computer generated.

Do pop over to the challenge blog to see the rest of the girls inspiration, you won't be disappointed.

Challenges entered:

Crafty Mess - ribbons and lace

Fresh Brewed - summertime theme

Catch the Bug - anything goes

The Crafty Pad - at the seaside

Incy Wincy - summertime

Crafty Boots - bingo (yellow, stripes, ribbon)

Love to Create - photo inspired

Simon says Stamp and Show - layered

Crazy Amigo - hats

Carol x

Good Morning

Feeling a lot happier this morning.......had one heck of a day yesterday trying to find car insurance for the lads trip to Mongolia. I made a point of telling Gary's insurance company in February when we put the car on the road what it was to be used for and was told that was fine......yesterday I was told Gary wouldn't be covered under the policy to do the trip!! Grrrr.......anyway many phone calls and much internet searching later we finally got two of them covered to drive...at a price, but it's worth it for the piece of mind.

So no time for crafting yesterday.......think the door is going to be shut for the holidays now while I get the house sorted, laundry and packing done and the numerous other things that still need doing before we go!

I'm sharing a card today that I made for a recent Joanna Sheen competition which I haven't shown yet.

The competition was for a spring card using an image from the Jayne Netley Mayhew 2 CD set. Backing paper was from Daisy and Friends CD (I think), PATP from Martha Stewart, corner dies from Spellbinders. Ribbon, lace, button, stick pins, mirri card and pearls from my stash.

I didn't win any prizes for it but was very pleased with how it turned out.

As this was a competition card I'm not entering it into any challenges today.

Carol x

Whoopsi Daisy - make your own embellishments

Good morning all, I hope this rain rains itself out this week before my holidays start! I can't believe I reached 300 followers over the weekend, a big welcome to Sue hope you enjoy your visits here. 

I've got some great news this morning, Linnie has asked me to stay on at Whoopsi Daisy and I'm now a fully fledged Daisy Diva :)

 It's time for another challenge at  Whoopsi Daisy  and this week it's team A's turn to share their inspiration with you. The theme this week is to make your own embellishments,

Using a pre-coloured image from the Daisy and Friends CD, die cut and mounted onto two scalloped mats. Backing paper is from a Melissa Frances pad and I've layered up the pennants to add some dimension. Border punch from Martha Stewart. Doily, ribbons, pearls, buttons, sentiment and flowers from my stash. I've made my own flower using a felt shape, crocheted flower and a button and also made an mulit layered  bow on my mini bowdabra.

Do pop over to the challenge blog to see the inspiration from the rest of the team and remember if you use a Whoopsi Daisy image you could win 2 image sheets, 1 sheet will be awarded to a winner using any other image.

Challenges entered:

The Ribbon Girl - girlie card

Bearly Mine - ribbons and bows

Creative Card Crew - swirls and pearls

A&T Emerald Faeries - birthdays

Southern Girls - pearls

Phindy's Place - initials (CMD - Crocheting, matting and doily)

Our Craft Lounge - die cuts

Simply Create Too - summer/vacation

Secret Crafter - pastel colours

Really Reasonable Ribbon - child's birthday

Carol x

Crafting when we Can #22 Recipe

It's time for a new challenge at CWWC and this time we have a recipe for you. We'd like to see 1 image, 2 ribbons and 3 buttons on your creations.  We're being sponsored by Spesch Designer Stamps who supplied the images for the DT to work with.

My image is called Max and I've coloured him with promarkers before die cutting with an oval nestie. I actually got around to using a fine tip for colouring his hair for the first time, I've only had them for about 8 months! Papers are from We R Memory Keepers and were a magazine freebie. Dies are all from Spellbinders, border punch from Martha Stewart. Ribbons, buttons, twine and sentiment are all from my stash.

Do pop over to the challenge blog to see the creations of my team mates.

Challenges entered:

Kaboodle Doodles - a boys life

Cards for Men - Happy Birthday

Stamps and Fun = Creativity - no girls allowed

Top Tip Tuesday - one for the men

Digital Tuesday - kids

The Stamping Boutique - cards for our men

Carol x

Happy Scrappers #3 Birthday Celebrations

This is my second post today, please scroll down to see my GD project for Bugaboo.

Only one week to go to the Mongol Rally and it's all go here as we gather together everything needed for the six week trip. I'm also busy cleaning and packing as we're off down to Chichester on Thursday to see them off and have a holiday ourselves. I think parental panic is setting in big time now!!

I can't believe we're onto our third challenge at Happy Scrappers but we're into July so it's time for a new theme. I got to choose this time and I'd like to see Birthday Celebrations, so lots of scope there. Remember we're a layout only challenge please.

I've scrapped my younger son's first birthday for this layout. I used My Memories Suite and a kit called Atta Boy.

Do pop over to the challenge blog to see what the other girls have produced, you won't be disappointed.

Challenges entered:

Cupcake Craft - bright as a button
Creative Belli - stars
Paper Play - Happy Birthday

Carol x

Guest Design Spot at Bugaboo

Good morning all. Less than a week until my holibobs :) 

We're very lucky at Crafting for all Seasons to have Bugaboo sponsoring us twice a month and we get the chance to be a Guest Designer for them. Today it's my turn and the challenge is Anything Goes.

I chose this cute image called FanSBbeach to work with.

Image is coloured with promarkers, die cut with a nestie circle and mounted onto a scalloped circle. Papers are from a sadly neglected Tatty Ted pack. Fancy edges are a Spellbinders Edgeability set. Ribbons and fibres are tied using my mini bowdabra. Card is finished with some gems, a sentiment and a starfish button from my stash.

Challenges entered:

Lexi's Creations - at the beach

Oldie but Goodie - summer holidays

Poodles Parlour - cute or cuddly creations

Stamp Man - bling it on

Crafty Bloggers - anything goes

The Ribbon Girl - girlie card

Crafty Sentiments - summer time

Shopping our Stash - triple threat (ribbon, die cuts, rhinestones)

Tuesday Throwdown - summer time

Card Mad Fairy's Digi Days - summertime

Totally Papercrafts - here comes summer

Delicious Doodles - summer holidays

Carol x

Crafty Ann's #69 Paper Piecing

It's time for another challenge at Crafty Ann's and the theme this time is Paper Piecing either digitally or with real paper! Now how difficult could that be! It took me three attempts to come up with this card!

I've used the Duck in Umbrella image as I thought it was very apt at the moment! This has been digitally pieced using various papers from the Cobweb collection and layered up for dimension. The sky and water have been paper pieced using papers from the Mottled Stone collection and the backing papers are also from the same collection. Image and papers are all available from  Crafty Ann's Digi Shop. I've used various sized nestie circles to make the base card and for all the layers. Card is finished with a bow and sentiment from my stash.

Do pop over to the challenge blog to see Ann and the teams creations, you won't be disappointed.

Challenges entered:

Joanna Sheen Forum Double MM challenge - rain or shine an umbrella is fine

Sweet Stampin - scallops

Catch the Bug - summer

Paper Pretties - summer fun

Paper Take Weekly - anything goes

CRAFT - splashy/water

CCEE - three circles

Carol x

Aud Sentiments Challenge #58 Friend

Our next challenge over at Aud Sentiments is to use the word Friend on your creation.  We're being sponsored by Polka Doodles. The DT were given images to work with.

I've coloured the image with promarkers and highlighted with a gelly roll pen and some stickles. Paper is from Kate Knightly and was a magazine freebie. The sentiment is a freebie from Dee at Dees Designs, one of my team mates - thanks Dee :) Card is finished with some gold ribbon and a button.

Do pop over to the challenge blog to see my team mates take on this challenge, you won't be disappointed.

Challenges entered:

Totally Papercrafts - use a digi

Craft Room Challenge - friendship

Squigglefly - summer colour

The Ribbon Girl - girlie card

Queen's Royal Challenge - anything goes

Allsorts - in bloom

LEJ - fabulous flowers

The Paper Shelter - flower power

Willow Sketchie - summer floral

Carol x

Christmas Crafting with sketches #31

 It's time for our next challenge over at CCWS and we hope you're playing along with us this year and stocking up on those Christmas cards and projects. It's the Snow Angels turn this week and Angelique has designed the sketch this time. We are being sponsored by My Favourite Things.

Image is from Robyn's Fetish and I've coloured with promarkers and used some stickles then die cut with a circle nestie mounted onto a scalloped nestie. Papers and sentiment are from a magazine freebie. Card is finished with some pearls from my stash.

You will have to pop over to the challenge blog to see the sketch for yourself, remember to check out the inspiration of the other DT members whilst you're there. 

Challenges entered:

Secret Crafter - Christmas

The Squirrel and the Fox - Christmas in July

OSAAT - use a digi

Crafter's Companion - ho ho ho Christmas

Lollipop Crafts - Christmas in July

Critter Sketch - show us your sparkle

Holly Jolly Christmas Challenge - acrostic Christmas (snowman, snowflake, scarf, carrot, hearts, trees)

Ladybug Crafts Ink TLT - Christmas in July

Cupcake Craft Room - lots of layers

Carol x

Christmas Card Club - Santa in Blue

Good morning! The weather was quite nice yesterday here but it did rain at teatime, luckily I spotted it in time and managed to rush out and bring the washing in! So I didn't get my BBQ but hubby did still make the tea, then he baked some shortbread biscuits, macaroon tarts and jam tarts......not very good for my diet but I had been busy all day. I managed to get the bookcase filled - if I don't see another book or DVD again it will be too soon  - I must have moved about 200 of each from various rooms of the house.
Any way onto cards....
Another fortnight been and gone and it's time for a new challenge for us girlies in the Christmas Card Club. Chris choose the theme this time and she'd wanted to see a Santa in blue.

I delved straight into my bit box for this one as I haven't visited the Snippet playground for a week or two! The image is from Joanna Sheen's Enchanted Christmas CD (or maybe Vintage Christmas!) and was already printed onto acetate. The backing card is from Kanban - a purchase from QVC quite some time ago. The image is mounted onto a white oval nestie and layered onto scalloped ovals in blue stardream and silver mirri card all from the bit box. Card is finished with a sentiment, silver ribbon, die cut snowflakes from my Sheenie friend Jo and some stickles.

If you'd like to see what the other girls have done you'll find a list in my side bar.

Challenges entered:

Pixie Crafty Snippets #27

Sassy Studio Designs - sparkle and snow

Willow Sketchie - sparkle and shine

Crimbo Crackers - anything goes

Winter Wonderland - monochromatic

Chocolate, Coffee and Cards - anything goes (cards)

Jingle Belles - vintage style

Phindy's Place - inpsired by a song/movie (Here comes Santa Claus)

Just us Girls - stars and sparkle

52 Card Throwdown - anything goes (C10)

Carol x