Credit where it's due!

People are often too quick to complain yet don't give credit where it's due! I took delivery yesterday of 3 thinlits - can't share a couple just yet as they are new... but I'll have some sneak peeks in the next day or so!

I was advised to use Wax Paper to help get the card out of the dies and was bemoaning the fact I wouldn't get it for a couple of days...

Amazon to the rescue - I found some from a seller called A J Every Day... ordered it at 2pm yesterday and it arrived at 9 this morning! (I did opt for express delivery)

Now that is what I call service! So all you crafters out there who can't decide which seller to opt for - there's my recommendation! So well done AJ Every Day - Here's a link to the Store Front...

AJ Every Day

That's all I have to say :-) Back later!

xxx

Pals Paper Arts - Pick of the week...

Just a quicky tonight to say a huge thank you to the design team over at PPA for choosing me as one of their picks of the week for last weeks challenge.

I am so chuffed I can't stop smiling!

I shall be posting some more exciting things this week - I just don't know where the time goes! Trying to juggle promoting my Stampin' Up! business with a full time job and a menagerie is not leaving much time to craft - but I am determined to get some bits done tonight!

In the mean time - I know what voyeurs crafters are and I know some of you are dying to see my craft space so here it is!

My craft room is also our spare room so I got a sofa bed so I can sit on it and so I had more room!

 

My wonderful hubby is a Kitchen/Bedroom/Bathroom fitter and put in these ace units for me that hide a multitude of crafting goodies!

 

 

 

Inside are all my stamps and card stock - I have had to relegate all my retired stock to the loft!

 

 

This is the little desk that houses my patterned papers, ribbon and sewing and embroidery bits - you can see my sewing and embroidery machines on top. The little plastic drawers hold most of my adhesives, embellishments and punches.

 



 

Lastly this is my table... I prefer to sit on the floor and craft so I can surround myself with everything and keep it in reach! 



I hope you enjoyed this little visit into my world and I'll be back soon!

Paula xxx

Pushing my luck!

Well that'll teach me - I have been trying to make the most of the weather before it turns and the sun was shining as I left home with the dogs... we had a fabulous walk until just under a mile and a half from home the wind suddenly picked up and the rain started...

Well I am quite warm blooded - so only had a t-shirt on! The dogs and I were drenched but we had walked just over five and a half miles and once the rotten weather starts all our favourite walks become dreadfully muddy.

Today I'm going to show you a little Tealight card I made. I have discovered the beauty of using clear embossing powder on Very Vanilla cardstock. It really looks classy and luxurious.

I used Blooming with Kindness and Label Love for this project and the co-ordinating Artisan Label punch.

I think the Bermuda Bay looks lovely with the creaminess of the Very Vanilla - and goes well with the candles!

What a lovely gift I'm sure you'll agree!

Have a fab evening, I'm off to make some more of these with co-ordinating boxes for the craft fair.

Back soon!

Paula xxx

I'm dreaming of...

... a white Christmas challenge - from Less is More this week. White on White with a Christmas theme.

I've been working on a few different Christmas designs for a fete at one of the local schools - unusually I'm making batches of cards rather than one off's.

I've been pinching ideas from fellow Pinkies and looking at some other blogs but this one is all mine!

If you want to see what else I have been up to I would ask that you PLEASE visit and Like my Facebook page - www.facebook.com/knallcrafting

I only need 9 more likes to get me to 100! Though I would obviously like many more. (Am I being greedy?)

Here is the card I designed for the challenge.

Obviously all in Whisper White I have used the Petals a Plenty embossing folder, cut a wide band that I embossed with the Designer Frames folder, punched the borders with the Scallop Trim border punch then scored them with the Simply Scored scoreboard.

The decoration/sentiment is from the Best of Christmas set and punched using the co-ordinating Christmas Ornament punch... I used the new Silver Encore ink pad - so I hope that is allowed for the challenge.

I was rather pleased with the result so I did a Very Vanilla with gold one - using the Encore Gold pad and the new gold Foil Sheet and the Dotted Scallop Ribbon border punch... I almost like this more...

I also tried one in Old Olive and one in Real Red but the white and vanilla are definitely more... Classy?

What do you think? I love to read your comments! You can visit the LIM challenge blog here.

Hope to see you back here soon - I have lots more projects to share!

Paula xxx

Sunny Sunday - World Map v Open Seas and Friendship Preserves v Harvest Blessings!

I don't know about you but I have woken up to gorgeous sunshine this morning. I finally stopped crafting at 3am and discovered lots of other crafters were still on-line. Are we all insomniacs?

I did get lots done and I have 2 cards that will just make it into the challenges for this week by the skin of their teeth!

I have been doing a lot to promote my Stampin' Up! business the last few days and I am amazed at how far and wide you all are. The US, Australia, Malta, Germany, France, the Netherlands... I just couldn't say how many more - I just want to say a huge thank you to you all for following me and I hope you share my posts with your friends - that would be awesome!

The first card today is for the Freshly Made Sketches challenge, as soon as I saw the sketch an idea began to form - it uses one stamp I hadn't opened yet and one I hadn't used for a long while - and I created a masculine card... always useful!

I started by stamping the World Map on Crumb Cake card stock, then dabbed various colour stamp pads on the same stamp and stamped that on Very Vanilla. I cut out a circle with my Circles Framelits and stuck it down. I decided to put it not quite central so I could add the ship from The Open Sea.

Lastly the band is Soft Brown Sugar with Very Vanilla and the sentiment from Blooming with Kindness stamped in Baked Brown Sugar too. Here is the Sketch -

The second card is for the Pals Paper Arts challenge and will hopefully appeal to my American friends - we don't really celebrate Thanksgiving here in the same way, though the churches and schools celebrate Harvest Festival.

The two stamps I used were the 'Hello' from Friendship Preserves, cut out using the co-ordinating framelits and the pumpkins and apples from Harvest Blessings.

The image is coloured using my Stampin' Write markers in Pumpkin Pie, Pear Pizzaz and Baked Brown Sugar.

The textured mat is Baked Brown Sugar cardstock run through the Square Lattice folder which I think has a suitably rustic look. Especially when combined with the strands of Linen Thread.

Another card suitable for either gender.

I'm off to do some household chores now including de-frosting the freezer as 'someone' didn't shut the door properly yesterday (he hates it when I say 'someone' as 'he' knows it's him!).

Enjoy your sunday!

Paula xxx

All White

I love to see white cards, but I also like to add a little splash of colour.

Today's cards were inspired by one I saw on Pinterest (don't go there - I can spend hours just browsing!), the use of the dies to cut a window for the sentiment. The first is a Birthday card and I did a number of different colours afterwards - yet it is so unusual for me to make the same card twice!

The flowers are from the Flower Shop stamp set, punched out with the corresponding punch - buy them together and save 15% and the sentiment is from Simply Sketched. The Die is from Apothecary Accents.

I just added a few pearls and just loved this card on sight!

Then for all you lovely people who are already well on the way to being organised for Christmas, here is a seasonal version.

For this one I used the Northern Flurry embossing folder, the Christmas Ornament punch, some silver glimmer card cut into a snowflake using the Festive Flurry dies. The ribbon is 1/8" Taffeta in Real Red and the sentiment is from Petite Pairs.

I hope you have had a sparkly day and do visit my shop and check out all the fantastic products!

Paula xxx

A sad day!

My guinea pig was the sweetest and friendliest you could ever meet... he would come when you called his name, purr when you stroked him and call to you if he heard your voice or the opening of the back door.

First he lost his voice then a few weeks ago I noticed significant weight loss and he was drinking a lot - we tested him for diabetes but it was negative... on closer inspection we discovered a tumour under his chin.

He was still bright, happy, eating and drinking and loving being out in the garden... but we were putting off the inevitable, he wasn't eating properly, found it uncomfortable to be picked up because he was so thin and had got a bit wobbly on his back legs.

Today he made his final trip to the vet. Bless him! I so loved that pig!!!!!!!!

Of to do a bit more crying - hope you don't mind me sharing - I promise I'll post something crafty soon! xxx