Pins and Needles !!!

This week's dare is set by the most marvellous Jane....

Now, on to this weeks dare (can you believe its Friday once again ?!:) Well, its my turn (Jane) to set the dare this week. Its very simple really (prickly maybe but..:) I want you to design a card to any theme- but I want you to include pins or needles of some sort. Sewing needles, safety pins, dressmakers pins- any type of pin goes !:)



Ordinary notepaper, black card, Papermania stars, doodling, inking, provocraft (I think) really old stickers and the all important pin.

Josh was Star of the day yesterday at school and bizarrely to celebrate they get additional homework related to 'Sam' the big cuddly monkey - we get the honour of his presence and Josh then has to recreate something to do with his time spent with us - Star of the day equals no homework by my way of thinking.....

So we cunningly hired the help of the rather imaginatively titled magmypic.com and made this...



:)

The Flowers That Bloom In The Spring, Tra La La.

Our midweek Little Extra is titled ‘The Flowers That Bloom In The Spring’ and we would like you to create a card with flowers.

Simple? Aww but hold on…….there’s a little twist because we don’t want to make it too easy for you. We want your cards to have flowers on but we don’t want to see any Prima’s or shop brought blooms. The idea of this dare is for you create your flowers yourself, so let’s see what you can come up with.


Might need sunglasses for this one - tis a leetle bit bright...



Scenic Route and Crafts House papers, vintage buttons, faux and hand stitching, Bazzill card and brads, doodling and inking.

TFL :)

Happy Birthday...

I made a hybrid card for him using PS and fonts similar to those used in Gears or War...



:)

It's all in the game

This week the girls have let me (Sue) loose on my maiden dare so I hope I’ve come up with something you can all play along with.
It’s all in the Game

Tiddlywinks, playing cards, dominoes, jig saw pieces…….the list goes on and I’m sure that most of us have a drawer somewhere that has the odd one or two of these lying around in.
Well now’s your chance to use them because I dare you to make a card using some of those pieces.
Oh and no, you don’t need to throw a double six to start playing.

and I made this....


and have just uploaded it to the DCM blog and realised that I have used the same letter stickers as Lythan - I think I must have subconsciously registered them as I did see Lythans's most marvellous card before I made mine...

I also used... Doodlebug frills, cardstock, flower, paper & chipboard heart, QVC letter stickers, American Crafts rub on, Queen and Co and MM brads, sequins, stitched butterfly - template is from Stitching Cards , Prima and fabric flowers, doodling and inking. The puzzle piece is from an old jigsaw, covered with paper, sanded around the edges, inked + embossed (lots) :)

Happy Easter!

I hope everyone is enjoying a happy Easter break :)

A cyberman has visited...

and he made this card...

and Jared made this one...


The Easter bunny was very clever and made egg toppers using Kate Hadfield's marvellous Easter Treats collection...


and 100% inspired after reading Kirsty's Jaffa Cake making, I dug out an old recipe and we all made some homemade Jaffa Cakes...

The boys did the icing and actually did a far better job than I would have done!


Recipe for homemade Jaffa cakes.
Ingredients
3 eggs
3 oz sugar
4 oz self-raising flour
Marmalade - I think you can sieve it but we used Golden Shredless for ease :)
4 oz plain chocolate
2 oz milk chocolate - You are probably meant to use the posh stuff with lots of cocoa solids etc but the cheapo ones work just fine :)
rind of 1/4 orange, finely grated
1 Tbsp oil (not Olive) cos that would be yucky in these.
1.5 Tbsp water

Method
1. Whisk the eggs and the sugar until they are super extra thick and creamy -use an electric whisk as it takes ages.
2. Fold in the flour.
3. Spoon the mix into cake tins - make sure the tins are well greased.
4. Bake for around 10 mins at gas mark 6 - I think this is about 200°C.
5. Cool the cakes/biscuits - they are not really either...
6. Put the chocolate, orange rind, oil and water into a bowl over a pan of hot water and stir until all is melted, remove from heat.
7. Spread marmalade on the bottom of each cake.
8. The chocolate should be cooling nicely, once the chocolate starts to thicken spoon it over the cakes.
9. Leave to set - not in the fridge
10. Eat and enjoy the yumminess.

Jaffa Cakes. Done. - the mix makes around 24.

Easter Greetings

This week's little extra is an Easter themed number...



Kate Hadfield doodled chick and clouds
Scenic Route papers
Printed Sentiment
Paper pieced fence
Inking and Doodling.

Don't forget to check out the other Easter cards on the Daring cardmakers blog, they are very fab :)

TFL :)

I absolutely do not ever want to open my eyes...

Tagged...

1. WHAT WERE YOU DOING 10 YEARS AGO?
'I was working as a waitress in a cocktail bar' - no not really but tis the first answer that came in to my head and is a cool song imo :) Actually I was a manager for the supermarket that Jamie Oliver gets paid to advertise....

2.WHAT WERE YOU DOING 1 YEAR AGO?
Pretty much the same, except that Jared was home all day, crafting in any spare moment :)

3. NAME YOUR 5 FAVOURITE SNACKS?
Bacon Frazzles
Brazil nuts
Toffee Icecream
Not a huge fan of chocolate but Reese's Pieces are lush!
Sushi - is that a snack?

4.NAME 5 THINGS YOU WOULD DO IF YOU WERE A MILLIONAIRE?
Move house and hire a cleaner :)
Buy a cow
Pay someone to build me a big craft studio
Donate some
Go on a massively exotic holiday

5.NAME 5 THINGS YOU LIKE DOING?
Crafting
Cooking and baking but deffo better at general cooking
Reading
Swimming
Watching the tele box

6.NAME 5 THINGS YOU WOULD NEVER WEAR AGAIN
Leggings
A ra-ra skirt
Leg warmers (hmmm seeing an 80's connection here lol)
Blue mascara!
luminous socks (had to be non matching....)

7.NAME YOUR 5 FAVOURITE TOYS!
Cuttlebug
PC
Digital Camera
Sky + (quite simply one of the best inventions ever)
and quite loving the Maths training on Josh's DS :)

8. YOUR FAVOURITE QUOTE.
Eat bran it make you poo!

If you haven't done this already - consider your self tagged!

and a few cards, I made these for Simply Cards and Papercraft Magazine, they appeared a couple of months back, it was so exciting to see them in print!

TFL :)

Teen Spirit

I got this fantastic award fromLilibet and Jozza and Judy :) Thank you so much!

I am supposed to pass it on to 10 others, but there are so many blogs out there that inspire so if you have not received this award yet, consider yourself awarded! :)


Josh turned yesterday, he spent most of the day glued to his new beloved Nintendo DS but was particulary excited to have the day off - school has been closed most of the week due to roof being blown off in the winds, we went to Jolly Roger and the obligitory McDonalds for birthemeday tea time treats :)

This weeks dare is set by the fantabulous Rachel :)

"Well I thought we have had plenty of flowers and hearts and girly things so I would like some cards with some teen spirit please."

Weirdly I made a DL card and ....timed it... it took 35 minutes :)

I used Scenic Route paper, printed sentiment, MM and Queen and Co brad, Grungeboard skull - coloured it with a gel pen, added Ranger Perfect Medium and embossing powder then heated it too much so that it crackled, was a tinsy bit worrying when it started smoking lol but looks ok :), 7Gypsies dots stamp and a Woodware punch, inking and doodling.

TFL :)

These are a few of my favourite things!

The mid week dare this week is another one by Mel - these are a few of my favourite things. What you need to do is use one of Mel's favourite things on your card (embroidery cotton/thread, buttons, felt or fabric) and combine it with one of your favourite things.



Doodle chick - Kate Hadfield@the lilypad,Scenic Route papers, Pentel white pen Staedtler black pen, Queen and Co Brads, Paperchase flutterby

I used Mel's favourites - felt, embroidery thread and buttons and added my favoutite - doodling (and inking and digi images :))

TFL :)

Take a Break...

The fabulous Mel's turn to dare this week;

Hello everyone, it's Mel here again! Welcome to our new dare - 'Take a break!'

The dare involves creating a card incorporating a tea bag or coffee satchel - just perfect for days when somebody may need a quiet rest and break. I'm really looking forward to seeing what you all create for the dare.

This week we would love to welcome our new guest designer - Fiona Carter. We hope you enjoy your time with us Fiona :)))



K & Co Wedding papers + tag + ribbon
Prima and Docrafts flowers
MM brad
CI mini brads
recycled cellophane
doodling + inking
A PG Tips Pyramid bag

Monkeh is taken from the PG Tips site - I checked the legal blah blah and it says that bits can be printed as long as you also display their © notice so here goes :)

Copyright © Unilever UK Limited. All rights reserved. All copyright and other intellectual property rights in all text, images, sound, software and other materials on this site are owned by Unilever UK Limited and its affiliated companies or are included with the permission of the relevant owner. References to affiliates or affiliated companies shall include all members of the UnileverGroup.

Under the spotlight!

Really excited - I'm this week's under the spotlight interviewee at Do Crafts here

Getting Cultured!

We all trundled off to Bristol Museum and Art Gallery on Saturday - the boys were particularly excited at the prospect of seeing some dinosaur bones and the trip on the train and bus to get there. Was slightly weird viewing a 4,600 yr old skeleton and a Mummy but the boys were all suitably impressed :) There was more than enough to do for the two that don't have the biggest attention span and a fab day out :)

Busy...


Dinosaur!


Pit stop :)


and yes Rachie, the deer is still there :)


Spotted this fab shop on the way back to the bus...


Filled with a whole plethora of lovliness - photos were taken outside as I was too scared to start snapping inside!




and a bit of street art by Banksy...

Mothering Sunday...

I hope all Mummys had a fantabulous day :) Jared made me a beautiful card with a teapot on it and proudly presented me with a pot - we have no idea what it contains but I am sure that time will tell! W had traditional (in our house) takeaway pizza (mine without cheese as cheese is made by disgustigons*...) Yum :)

*probably not a word but it fits nicely :)





and another Mum card - for J's Mum. All made using the rather lovely Come out and Play kit designed by Kate Hadfield, Catrine and Birgit.



TFL :)