Sugar Nellie ~ Jingle Bells and Tinkle Bells.

It's almost here..the day I've been counting down to...

The Sugar Nellie DT and the Sweeties request your company at the Hippity Hop.

Venue: Starts at the Sugar Nellie Blog
Date: Thursday 1st and Friday 2nd September.
Time: 9.00am precisely.
Dress Code: Well...you can do the hop in your jeans and t-shirt from the comfort of your own home. Or wearing your pj's sitting in bed whilst drinking coffee, or wearing your office suit whilst pretending to work or even your birthday suit, you can even do the hop wearing your evening gown and tiara whilst entertaining Royalty in your back garden :)
Just turn up as you are!

See you tomorrow
Love Elaine xxx

Hubby's Non-Birthday Birthday Candy ~ Winner

Just some bits 'n' bobs of news to share with you today.
Firstly, thank you everyone for all the lovely comments left on my last card. I so love all these images, and yes I have seen them all nah nah nah nah nah!
There are 12 new stamps in the Jingle Bells and Tinkle Bells range and all will be up for sale this Thursday at Funky Kits but there are still 2 more days of sneak peaks to go yet, so don't forget to visit the Sugar Nellie blog.

Next...hubby had a lovely birthday, thank you for all your birthday wishes for him, and Hal got his exam results. Some very good and some he could have done better at!
Maths A, Chemistry A, Physics A, Biology A.
English Language B, English Lit C.
Media - two exam results C & D
Religious Studies E
ICT and Art are BTEC's so not graded as a,b,c etc and Hal got a Pass result in them both.
All in all I was very pleased with the results and his hard work, though I guess he won't be joining the Clergy any time soon!

Lastly, thank you to everyone that entered hubby's birthday candy. Mr Random got jiggy and picked a number....

Congratulations Susan Moffatt, please email me with your full postal address and I'll get your goodies in the mail.
Thanks for looking.
Love Elaine xxx

Sugar Nellie Sneak Peak ~ Jingle Bells and Tinkle Bells.

Today we are on Day 5 of the Sugar Nellie Sneak Week, to showcase these fabulous new images from the Jingle Bells and Tinkle Bells range.
You will be able to buy these gorgeous stamps on Thursday 1st September from Funky Kits. Not too long to wait now until you can buy all these little darlings, and start stalking the postie!

Isn't this just the cutest little Christmas Fairy you ever did see??
This little Sweetie is called Knitted With Love and was coloured with DI's for her face and the rest of her with Stampin' Up refills which a very dear friend of mine in America sent me a huge bundle of..thank you very much hun xx
The papers are Fancy Pants Hot Chocolate - I just LOVE these colours so much - and there's a good sprinkling of Glamour Dust on here too.

All the Sneak Peeks are on the Sugar Nellie blog and there are still 2 more days of Sneaks to go!!

Thanks for looking.
Love Elaine xxx

Hubby's Non-Birthday Birthday Candy?

This post will stay at the top. Please scroll down for any newer posts, thank you.


As promised, I'm back with a little blog candy in honour of my lovely hubby's birthday on Thursday. The hardest thing was deciding what to put in the candy.
My first thought was a set of the new Sassy stamps, but I have no idea when the next set is due out..Karen, it's been a while since the last release and I'm getting a little twitchy!
Next thought..Jingle Bells and Tinkle Bells..these images are divine and I can't wait to get my inky mitts on them all myself, but they aren't due out just yet.
I've given myself a headache trying to think of something to offer as candy, so hubby's non-birthday birthday candy is Christmas themed. Does that make sense? No? Well my thinking was that on his birthday (August 25th) it will be exactly 4 months until Christmas and I know there are lots of crafters who are making a start on their festive cards.

This candy is a bit of a mix, a couple of my favourite things from last Christmas mixed with some new goodies released recently for this years celebrations.
Sorry about the quality of the photo, Mr Sun had gone to bed.

So the candy consists of:

Sugar Nellie Stamps:

Simply Sassy Secret Santa

Simply Sassy Christmas Kisses

Snow Buddies

Furry Friends

My Mind's Eye- Lost & Found Christmas 6x6 pad.

Authentique - Wonder 6x6 pad.

LOTV 

Christmas Dance

Toboggan for Two

Ski Jump.

From last year:

Whimsy Stamps - Holiday Ticket Sentiments plus the Ticket Die.

Whimsy Stamps - Winter Letter Seals 

Everything is brand new, stamps are unmounted except for the Whimsy ones which come pre-mounted.

Rules of entry:

Candy is my way of saying thank you to my followers and those who kindly leave a comment. Even though I struggle to find time to leave the comments I should, there are still plenty of lovely bloggers who still visit me and leave me some love. So with that in mind, candy is open to my current followers only, and is open worldwide though I am not liable for any duties/customs charges that some countries impose.

Candy will stay open until Monday 29th August 2011 at 6pm BST.

Just click on the blue froggy to enter :)

Love Elaine xxx

Sugar Bowl Challenge ~ 66

I'm back with a card for the new Sugar Bowl challenge, but first I would like to say a big welcome to my new Sweetie Sisters  Fiona and Cathy, it's fabulous to have these two talented girlies join our happy little team of Sugar lovers!

So, the sketch for this challenge has been provided by the sweetest Sweetie Marlene with the optional theme of 'For the Girls'.
I just feel I should warn you first..this is not the sort of card you will be expecting to see off me...

I love this image Honey Pip, I love the papers - First Edition Up,Up Away and I love the sketch...so you must know what I don't love!
I always watercolour my images and although I am reasonably happy with the majority of my efforts, it does take me a ridiculous amount of time, 4 or 5 hours to colour one image, hence the reason why I don't make many cards. So in an attempt to speed things up I bought some alcohol markers to try. This image was coloured with Copics and some polychromo pencils and I hate it! I hate the Copics for a start. The brush end is too fat and squidgy and I really struggled to control it. In fairness to Copics, this was my first (and last) attempt with them. I solemnly do swear never to use them again!

The prize for one lucky winner is a choice of any 4 Sugar Nellie stamps, but if there are 100+ entries then the prize will increase to any 6 Sugar Nellie stamps. 
For all the details on how to enter please visit the Sugar Bowl blog, where you will also find lots of lovely and far better coloured cards for inspiration from the other sweeties.

Today's the day!! The sneak peaks have started over on the Sugar Nellie blog so head on over there and see for yourself why I'm so excited about this new release of rubbery loveliness!
Thanks for looking.
Love Elaine xxx

Did You Know....

....it's just THREE more days until the sneaky peaks start!

I'll be back later with hubbys candy..just need to finish a few things first.
Love Elaine xxx

Jingle Bells and Tinkle Bells

Just a quickie before I crawl into bed.
We've had visitors this weekend so my laptop hasn't seen much action. Jon, Sam and Poppy came to stay on Saturday and we've had a really lovely time with them..and especially with little Miss Poppy.
Don't they grow so quickly! She's walking and talking now and she remains the most pleasant and contented child I've ever met. I know I always say it, but she is such a happy, giggly baby and very squishable.


I'm sure you all know by now that there are soon to be released a whole host of rubbery loveliness from Sugar Nellie. And our Sugar Ma'am Gayle has organised a special week of sneaky peaks....

...starting on Thursday.
Same day my boy gets his exam results and same day as hubbys birthday, so I'd better get his birthday candy posted here soon! I'll try and get it posted here tomorrow.
Love Elaine xxx

Giveaway Winner.

Just a quickity quick post today as it's getting late and I still have some chores to get through. It was a tiny giveaway so I asked my boy to look at all the comments and pick a name, any name, just pick it and quickly and he picked .....

Crafty Kitten - Dawn

Please EMAIL ME with your full postal address and I will pop them in the mail asap.

Next week see's my hubbly's birthday and Hal gets his exam results on the same day..it will either be a very good day or a very bad day! Fingers crossed it's the former! So I will be back soon with a little candy for hubbly's birthday.

Please forgive me my total lack of blogging, just busy at work and other boring stuff, same old broken record but still true.

Love Elaine xxx

Cherry Pip Giveaway

Where did my weekend go to? I think the Fairy Time-thief pinched the days right from under my nose!

Hi ho hi ho it's back to work I go..and I do not sing that in a happy little people voice on a Monday morning. No siree! I sing it more in a funeral march style of singing...sad and bone weary.
But I am counting down the weeks until my next holiday..I LIVE for the holidays and I have my fingers crossed I can wangle a week off sometime next month.

On another note:

Remember this card from the Sugar Bowl challenge 64?
I was very lucky to receive this stamp and the other 4 Sherbet Pips off my Sweetie sister Erika for my birthday, and this lovely pad of papers off my new Sweetie sister Fi.
I do loves these Pips very much and I adore the papers, right up my colour street!
So I bought another pad of them ( First Edition Up, Up Away) and a brand new stamp (Cherry Pip) to give away to a reader. Just leave a comment after this post. I will pick a winner tomorrow night..it's only a little giveaway so no need for the linky thingy and no need to advertise it..just leave a comment :)
Thanks for looking
Love Elaine xxx

Sugar Bowl Challenge ~ 65

Yes! Yes! Yes! The Sweeties are all back from their Summer holidays and ready for a new challenge.
Sadly, my Summer break didn't take me very far, just to work and back home again repeatedly! But I am very happy to be back here today for the new Sugar Bowl challenge.The sketch this time has been set by the lovely Sweetie Maria Therese with the optional theme of the colour BLUE.

This gorgeous Christmas image is called Furry Friends and has been coloured with DI's and Nick Bantock inks, slathered with lots of Glamour Dust. The DP is Echo Park Winter Wonderland (from last year). A couple of flowers, pearls and some swarovski crystals for embellies. Pretty simples as usual.

The prize for one lucky winner is a choice of any 4 Sugar Nellie stamps, but if there are 100+ entries then the prize will increase to any 6 Sugar Nellie stamps. 
For all the details on how to enter please visit the Sugar Bowl blog, where you will also find lots of lovely cards for inspiration from the other sweeties.


Thanks for looking and for any comments you may leave.
Love Elaine xxx

Did Ya Miss Me??

Whaddya mean NO!!

I would love to tell you that the reason for my MIA status is because I've been off travelling to foreign climes, drinking cocktails on the beach at sunset, having romantic meals for 2 by candle light, enjoying massages, facials  and pedicures in between sight seeing trips and I returned relaxed, bronzed and ready to take on the world.
But alas no. I have been to work, work, work and then work.
Darn it..I so need to win the lottery and retire so I can play all day and be a happy bunny :)
Work just eats too much into my crafting/blogging/emailing time!

I have had little crafting time and the only card I've made is for the next Sugar Bowl challenge on Thursday.
So having nothing new to show I thought I'd post this one instead.

Made way back in June, one of our customers at work asked me to make a card as his best friend was getting married. I hate making cards for other people! And of course him doing the asking was a bloke so had no idea as to what he wanted! This LOTV stamp is the one and only wedding image I possess so he had no choice! Coloured with the usual DI's, and papers are Tilda Frosted Bluegreen.

As you can see, I made an easel card which I often make but can't take a decent photo of so rarely bother to show the inside. I never know what price to charge, most men faint if they have to pay more than £1 for a card so I never ask for a fee.

Whilst I'm here...have you read the news at the Sugar Nellie blog?

The newly appointed DT coordinator Gayle is looking for some new faces to join the Sugar Nellie DT.
If you want to be part of the fabulous Sugar Nellie team please email Gayle.


Finally, many many thanks for all your get well wishes for Poppy.
She is doing fine and back to her usual happy, bouncy self, and just needs to go back for a scan in another 3 months to check everything is still fine.

Thanks for looking.
Love Elaine xxx

Miss Poppy's Birthday Candy ~ Winner.

It's been one of those horrible days today. Me and the hubster have mawped about at work generally feeling fretful. We both felt sick and I've been on the verge of tears all day.
All because today was Poppy's operation day. The logical side of my brain knows she's in good hands but the emotional side of my brain can't help but worry.
I am a born worrier and I really shouldn't have had children. I should have stuck to my cats, but then I worry about them too. Could be I'm a bit deranged? I could ask my friends for their opinions but I somehow don't think that would help any!

Anyway, Poppy had her operation this afternoon at about 2pm, and the surgeon said it all went to plan with no problems. Jon phoned at teatime and they'd done another scan and everything is fine, the valve is closed with no leaking and Miss Poppy was feeling well enough to tuck into macaroni cheese and chips.
Phew! I'm just too old for all this stress :)

Next, thank you to everyone that entered Poppy's birthday candy. Mr Random has done his job and picked a number....

Congratulations Paola.....I do believe this candy will be travelling a long way. I may need to dress the Sassy's in some warmer clothes ready for the trip to South Africa, I think it's their winter now?
Please EMAIL ME Paola with your full postal address and I will get your rubber babies in the mail.

Love Elaine xxx