2013...So Far.

Huh well it's been a very funny year so far, and we're only just into February!

January felt like a roller coaster ride.

Phil's Mum came home poorly after spending 3 weeks over Christmas and New Year in South Africa. She'd gashed open the back of her leg and ended up in hospital with a DVT and cellulitis.

Phil was poorly with the Winter bug that everyone seems to have fallen prey to...except me, I did keep well clear of him!

A friend of ours - Dave - passed away very suddenly and we attended the funeral this week.

On Friday night I went out with 3 friends for a meal, we all used to work together in the Pharmacy, and we meet up every 5 or 6 weeks and go for dinner. We'd only got as far as the starters when one of my friends had a severe allergic reaction to an ingredient and so we spent the rest of the evening in the Accident and Emergency department!

But there has also been some good news :)

The lovely and extremely talented Mariska emailed me and asked if I would like to be a guest designer for Wee Stamps for the month of February. I love Sylvia's designs and I was thrilled and amazed to be asked and of course I jumped at the chance! If you've not seen it already then you can read the post on Sylvia Zet's blog HERE...but I'd better warn you first. I've spent almost 3 years hiding behind a photo of a cute, fluffy kitty, until now!

Sylvia's images are gorgeous and I've had great fun colouring them, I can't wait to show you!

I also had the most amazing fantastic news off two of my bestest buddies in America, Amanda and Patty

but this is way off in the future, too way off girls!

I do have the bestest friends ♥

Thanks for looking.

Love

Butterflies...

A little later than planned but I've been a busy little bunny this weekend...and I've been productive in the card making department this time!! I know..that's a shocker eh - don't all faint at once!

I can't show any of them yet, but February should be a bumper month :)

The boy has picked a name from the hat and...

Anja26 January 2013 10:49

Congrats on getting all that stuff done, dear Elaine! As the name of my blog already reveals, I love butterflies, too ;o) – thank you so much for the chance to win!
And I really like your CAS card – I hope I will create some cards in this style in 2013, too.
Hugs, Anja

Anja if you can please EMAIL ME with your full postal address then I can get these popped in the mail to you :)

Thanks for looking

Love

Flutterby Butterfly.

Hi everyone :)

I've been very productive so far this year...just not in the creative department.

December 31st is the company year end at work and it's usually March before I've got all the paperwork ready to take to the accountants, but not this year! All done and dusted...I think I deserve a Gold star, a pay rise and a month off work - with pay -  for being so dedicated.

I've also been productive at home and had a Spring clean in some of the cupboards...it's amazing the stuff I find when I'm not looking for it. Like some dies I'd bought and forgotten all about, now that was a nice surprise. I went to put them away in the box where I should have put them in the first place, where all the other dies live, and I've come to realise that I must love butterflies...really love butterflies judging by the number of dies/punches/stamps I own. 

I even have some of the same stamps twice!! 

Two sets of clear stamps from Prickley Pear with the matching die.

If you fancy playing with them then just say so in a comment after this post and I'll get the boy to pick a name out of the hat on Sunday.

I also have a large collection of stamps and dies that are more suitable for the CAS style of card.

But CAS is a style I just can't get the hang of at all!

There's either too much on the card or not enough but never just the right balance.

I will persevere until I either master it or go mad in the process.

I'm taking bets it will be the latter :)

Thanks for looking.

Love

Sugar Bowl Challenge ~ 99

....And I'm back in action, at last.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Better late than never huh?

We've had a lovely Christmas and New Year, every day was filled with family and friends, of course it was so nice to see everyone but I had no free days to spend in my craft room or on blogger.

And so today I am back with a card for the new challenge on the Sugar Bowl.

Ahhhh but I love the image My Friend Kitty...I love my cat and my cat loves me ♥

As always, she's coloured with DI re-inkers and markers.
The papers are MME Lavender, I've had this pad for ages but only just got around to using it, which is spooky as quite a few of the other Sweeties have used the same paper for their cards too!
Great minds think alike and all that.

The sentiment is PTI stamped onto a MFT Die-namics Mini tabs quartet.
The flower is cut from PTI felt using MFT Die-namics layered rose (thank you very much Amanda xxx)
The butterfly is an MFT Die-namics Butterfly on the bottom with a Cheery Lynn exotic butterfly layered on top, and the swirl is from Magnolia.
...I am going enter this card into Die-ing For A challenge where the theme is a 'Celebration' card.
The card is to celebrate the 7th birthday of a very sweet little girl.
And Inky Chicks first challenge..Anything goes.
And so where is the sketch I followed??

 The Don Mama Gayle has been Spring cleaning and having a spruce up of the blog, and as from today:

Each challenge will now run for 4 weeks.
The challenge will be "Anything Goes" and not a sketch challenge...you can follow any sketch and create anything you so desire and there is one rule only...to enter and be in with a chance of winning a prize then you must use a Sugar Nellie image, whether that be rubber or digi.
And last, but certainly not least, we will also now be choosing 'Eye Candy' and a badge to proudly display on your own blog should you be chosen.
The full details of 'Eye Candy' will be posted on the Sugar Nellie blog next Thursday (17th January)

As always, there is a prize chosen at random for one lucky winner, their choice of any 4 Sugar Nellie stamps, rising to any 6 stamps if we reach 100+ entries. 

But you know you've got to be in it to win it!

You can find lots of inspiration on the Sugar Bowl blog with all the fabulous cards from the other sweeties.

Thanks for looking.

Love

Christmas Wishes ♥

At long last...

I'm all finished with the buying, wrapping and writing, all that's left to do now is deliver the last few gifts, which I'll get done as soon as I've finished at work tomorrow.

I've made very few Christmas cards this year - 3 to be precise - just because of a lack of time, maybe I should really make a start on them before November huh?

But I made a stack of quick and easy gift tags.

I simply LOVE brown paper (and Kraft) and for me, there's nothing nicer than 'brown paper packages tied up with string', made a little more festive with the addition of some fat, stripey red and white ribbon, and a candy cane.

I made some more boxes too, to put small gifts in, though my red/white/kraft colour scheme went out of the window for these.

Nice and quick to make too...a simply box that's held closed by the belly band.

All that's left to say is A Very Merry Christmas to everyone.

I hope all your wishes come true.

Lots of Love

Maja and Joy Craft - Winner!

I'm sorry I couldn't get on here last evening to pick a winner...I was out with the girlies :)

It was a lovely evening and a very welcome break after a long week at work with lots of extra hours spent trying to catch up after my week off.

So without any further waffle and delay, Mr Random picked a number...

Congratulations Caz

If you can please EMAIL me with your full postal address and I will get your parcel posted.

Big Hugs

Maja and Magnolia Winner ♥

It's been a busy old week to say the least.

We've worked longer hours on our week off work than we do when in work...but it's been a fabulous (if tiring) break.

We have achieved most of what we'd planned with the exception of the boiler. The engineer phoned to say it couldn't be done this week but they would book it in for the week before Christmas...not on your bloody Nellie!

I have enough to do without the disruption of the boiler being replaced so we've delayed it until after Christmas now.

On Wednesday we picked up our passports and headed over the border into Yorkshire to see the lovely Christine and the equally lovely Barry. We had such a fabulous time but the day just vanished! We had lunch  and lots of laughs in a very nice pub and I think we just chatted the day away.

The drive there was longer than usual due to accidents on the motorway, but the drive home was even worse! Next time I shall just pack a suitcase and stay the week ha! 

On Thursday we went to Bury to do some Christmas shopping and met my Mum and Dad for lunch.

We had another lovely day out and got an awful lot of the Christmas shopping done.

I am going to spend the weekend wrapping all the gifts and writing cards in the hope that by the time I go back to work on Monday I will have (almost) conquered  Christmas :)

Unfortunately, most nights it's been anything from 10pm to 11pm before we've been sitting down and so I've not ventured into blogland until tonight...for that I apologise....but I am here with the candy winner.

Mr Random picked the number...

Congratulations Christine...no not the Christine I went to visit but t'other Christine (Nana seaside) 

If you can please EMAIL me with your full postal address and I can get your parcel posted on Monday.

Thank you to everyone that entered.

Ready for another little one?

Same rules as always.

Maja Design 6x6 paper pad, Walking In The Forest.

And a Joy Crafts Filigree Corner die.

Thanks for looking.

Love Elaine xxx