A Break From Christmas Food

Back to work tomorrow grrrrrrr...never mind only two days this week and then off for another five...brilliant!

I've just about caught up with sleep after the Christmas break - on Boxing Day we went through to Edinburgh to see the musical We Will Rock You - it was fantastic! We stayed over however you never get a great sleep when you are away from home do you? On Sunday we pottered about in Edinburgh. The weather wasn't great so we just went to Harvey Nicks (gorged on their garlic stuffed olives last night), Valvona and Crolla Vincaffe and the likes and then made our way home. So today, I'm ashamed to admit, has been spent in my PJ's just messing around making a couple of thank you cards and some Weight Watchers recipes for the freezer - ah yes the New Year diet will soon be upon us.

The little cards are using Pink Petticoat Pretty Potty's Wheelbarrow Collection which I've printed straight onto the cards and added a little stickles sparkle and some liquid pearls.



Last night I made a very simple but absolutely delicious pasta dish from Antonio Carluccio's Simple Cooking book which I got for Christmas. It served as a welcome break from Christmas type rich food and and only took minutes to make.

Spaghetti, Aglio, Olio e Peperoncino (Spaghetti with Garlic, Oil and Chilli)

Serves Two

Salt
180g spaghetti

Sauce

2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
1 small red chilli, finely chopped
6 tbsp olive oil

Put plenty of water in a saucepan, add salt, bring to the boil and throw in the pasta, then cook for about 5-6 minutes, until nearly done (check packet timings).

Now start the sauce by heating the olive oil gently in a deep frying pan. Add the garlic and chilli and fry for a few seconds, or until the garlic starts to change colour. Take care not to burn the garlic.

The pasta will be ready and al dente in those few minutes. Drain it well and put in the pan with the 'sauce', adding a little salt and perhaps 1-2 tbsp of the pasta cooking water. Stir a couple of times and serve.

Now crack open a bottle and enjoy!

Santa's Been

Well it's all over bar the shouting! All that running around buying gifts, wrapping, card making and now you're on the home straight.

I hope Santa has been good to you with lots of crafting goodies (probably not because I've got them all ha ha!) and you have a fantastic day.

Off now to have a bit of Terry's Chocolate Orange - I know it's only 07.00 - but it's got to be done its Chriiiiiiiiistmas.

Merry Christmas.

Bad Blogger

I can't believe I last posted in November. What has made me into such a bad blogger? Well I thought I'd try my hand at a bit of jewellery making. When it turned out alright I took a few pieces into work. Well that was it - a monster had been created - the last six weeks have been spent stringing beads with no time for card making let alone blogging.

Today however I managed to make a little card for a colleague who is 40 today. It looks very girly and pretty on the outside with no mention of the big-4-0. Inside however it says 'Today is the day for....' and there's a picture of Bridget Jones holding the famous pair of big pants.



The card has most of my favourite things on it - black, pink, polka dots and ribbon. The DP's are from Pink Petticoat and the sentiment is computer generated. I've used the sketch over on 2 Sketches 4 You and it also fits in with the DCM challenge which is polka dots.

Off now to Glasgow to do the dreaded Christmas shopping - hate it, hate it, hate it!

Thanks for looking!

Two For One

Over on the SophistiCat Challenge (I love that name) the theme is pink, brown and flowers. Also over on the Stamp Something Challenge the theme is cute and fuzzy.

So here it is:

Pink - check
Brown - check
Flowers - check
Cute - check
Fuzzy - check



The DP is from Summer Driggs and the image is from Sugar Nellie which has been coloured using Faber-Castell watercolour pencils.

Thanks for looking!

Getting Punchy With It

I'm on the countdown now - back to work tomorrow unless my lottery ticket came up. The weather here is miserable - it's dark, cold and extremely wet - and the bad news is I've got to go out in it.

To cheer myself up I'll try to fit in a few challenges today and the first is Daring Cardmakers where the challenge is to make a card, any type, any theme but it needs to use your latest craft punch purchase.

My card features my Fiskars Threading Water punch and I've used it to make a quick get well card for a work colleague. The DP is a Pink Petticoat scrap.




Thanks for looking!

Has The Fat Man Been Yet?

Hope you are having a great Saturday so far. I'm moving into the realisation that my week off from work is fast coming to an end however it pays for the craft stuff I suppose.

This is my entry for the Penny Black Saturday Challenge - I can't remember the last time I entered this challenge. The theme this week is white on white - that's everything WHITE papers, WHITE embellishments the only colour should be on the image.




I've use a little doggy image from the Christmas Critters set, coloured with Whispers pens and a waterbrush with a little glitter on his hat. The sentiment is computer generated and I've cut a series of layers using my Nestabilites. The whole card has been embossed with snowflakes and I've punched some more snowflakes using a Fiskars punch on which I've stuck some card candy dots.

I think I'll continue with yesterdays Christmas card production line and then psyche myself up for the horror that is John and Edward on the X Factor - you can't really blame them I suppose they should be admired for the way they handle the derision. However they should never have been put there in the first place - shame on you Louis - what were you thinking?

Have a great weekend and thanks for looking!



PS I've just noticed the glaring error on the word circle - never mind I'll sort it later!

Recycle Queen

No time to fix and re-enter the PB Challenge however, I've recycled the card and I think I like this one best - everything happens for reason - this one could be making its way to the production line soon.

Tartan Christmas

Boo-hoo it's the last day of my holiday from work although...it will soon be the weekend...woo-hoo! This is the week when I normally have a big Christmas card making frenzy however I had quite a few cards to make for other people so I've only managed to make one Christmas card for me. I've decided the theme this year will be tartan so without further ado here's a very plain but funky little Christmas card.




The image is from Pink Petticoat and I have paper pieced the image using tartan DP which fits in rather nicely with the challenge over on Colour Create ...to make something with colour on the image only. I love lots of white on a card which excludes me from entering some challenges because the theme would mean a very cluttered card which is so not me.

What's happening here - it's a tartan forest - 15 down and umpteen to go.






Thanks for looking!

Hey Good Lookin' What Ya Got Cookin'?

Still enjoying being off work doing the things I like to do. Today I'm entering the Spoon Full of Sugar Challenge which is to create a Kitchen/Cooking project. It's the first Christmas card I've made for myself this week and it will be sent to a former colleague who, like me, enjoys cooking.



I've cut the apron shape freehand. The DP is a free download from Shabby Princess (and best of all it was from the growing mountain of scraps), which I've stitched around the outside. The buttons, kitchen tools and ribbon are from my stash and the recipients name has been made using the Sizzix Slobbery Kiss die.

In keeping with the cooking theme I thought I'd share with you a little recipe I made this week. I'm not really a baker but this is really delicious with a cuppa... have a go and enjoy.

DATE AND WALNUT LOAF

Ingredients
8oz block dates, cut into small chunks
Pinch baking soda
¼ pt boiling water
3oz unsalted butter
3oz caster sugar
1 egg
8oz self-raising flour
3oz walnuts, roughly chopped

Preparation

Add boiling water to dates with baking soda. Stir and set aside.

Cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg. Stir in flour and nuts and then the dates.

Place in a greased and lined loaf tin (or use a silicon tin they are fantastic) and bake at 180C for 50 minutes.

Wrap in foil and keep for at least a day before cutting. Serve spread thickly with butter.

Thanks for looking!

G is for...Green

Before I move onto the card did you see James May's Toy Stories over on BBC2 last night? The idea is to wean modern kids off of their gadgets and onto traditional type toys. Last night it was all about Airfix models and at first none of the kids were very enthused but slowly slowly catchy monkey...they eventually enjoyed the experience of creating something...there is hope for the future! I'm looking forward to next week when the theme is Plasticine remember that?

Moving onto the ABC Challenge this week the theme is Green. It also qualifies for the Handful of Stamps Challenge which is layering.

My little entry features Pink Petticoat DP in my new favourite colour Sage. The sentiments have been computer generated and with liberal use of my Nestabilities, a little silver lurex ribbon and bow and a little heart shaped bling that's it - clean and simple.



Thanks for looking!

Spots and Stripes - My Favourite!

This week over on Papertake Weekly the theme is spots and stripes... in the words of old Brucie... my favourite. The card also qualifies for the One Stop Craft Challenge which is celebration.

I've note entered PTW or any other challenges in a while as I said in a previous post the weekend weather has been not too bad here recently so we've been making the most of it. Wish I could say the same for today however it's dreich and dark - a perfect day for crafting if not for photographing the result.



The papers are a free download from Shabby Princess and the number, hearts, stars, letter A and sentiment have been cut using my Cricut. The white on black letters have been computer generated. A little bow and some bling and that's it.

Thanks for looking!

Hurrah!

...I've got a week off work - brilliant! Yesterday was spent shopping, eating out and going to the pictures. We went to see the very fabulous new 3D Pixar movie 'Up' - a tale of 78 year old Carl Fredricksen's adventures in the company of a little Wilderness Explorer named Russell. The film starts very slowly with a retrospective look at the old man's life as if in a silent movie. From a little boy, when he meets the love of his life Ellie, marries her, shares her dreams of travelling to Paradise Falls in South America which due to the pressures of life never materialise, to the point where Ellie dies and Carl finds himself alone. Without giving too much of the story away grumpy Carl then meets over enthusiastic Russell and the two find themselves experiencing amazing adventures and an unlikely friendship. 'Up' is a fantastic film which is funny, sad, uplifting and thought provoking - if you get the chance go see it whatever your age. There's the added bonus of the 3D glasses which will hide your teary eyes.

Today has been all about fitting my new sofa covers purchased yesterday and having a bit of a wash and brush up - I'm feeling very righteous!

Time for a little challenge now and this one is for the Creative Inspirations Challenge which is to create a special card or project with numbers on it.



This is for a little girl called Ava who will soon be two. The gingham paper was free from a magazine and the image is from Pink Petticoat. Ava's name and age have been cut using my Cricut. This is also my first attempt at a step stair card which has turned out not too badly even though I say so myself.

Thanks for looking!

F is for...Flying

Hope you're having a great weekend. I've not been entering challenges in a while as the weekend weather has been good recently so we've been making the most of it. Today I popped over to the ABC Challenge - F is for...Flying, 365 Cards and Flutterby Wednesday and decided to have a go at a hat-trick. I've used the Creative Expressions butterfly stamp again and embossed it in silver, the DP is from Pink Petticoat and the sentiment is from Elegant Wordart. I've added a few gems to the butterfly and that's it. The sentiment is very beautiful 'I love you more today than yesterday but less than tomorrow' which I wanted to be the star attraction for this anniversary card.

Thanks for looking!



PS Apologies for the poor photography.

Cute As A Bug

Over at Cupcake Craft the challenge is to include some bugs on your project...ladybugs, butterflies or dragonflies...basically any kind of bug you can think of.

Mine has a lovely butterfly on it - they're too cute to call bugs aren't they?
The Creative Expressions stamp has been stamped onto Shabby Princess DP and heat embossed in silver. Cuttlebug embossing, a computer generated sentiment and a few gems and that's it.

Thanks for looking!

Monochromatic

This week over at OCC the challenge is to create something monochromatic - a dream for me being a bit of a colour phobic.

So using classic black and white I've printed Pink Petticoat dots onto the cardstock, and created a layered flower using the accessories from the Pink Petticoat Hettie download. With the addition of a computer generated sentiment and a Card Candy dot that's it.

I've had a bit of a card fest today - four cards in one day! I'll share the rest later....off now to do a bit of housework before I settle down tonight for the X Factor....sad but true!

Thanks for looking!

Flutter By

I've found a new (to me) challenge - Flutter By Wednesday and this week in order to participate in the challenge you need to create a card with a butterfly or fairy and flowers.

So I think my little entry just about fits.




The butterfly has been stamped onto a scrap of Pink Petticoat paper in Bluebellwhich I've embossed in silver, the flowers have mostly been cut using Cricut George cartridge, a little bling and a computer generated word circle and that's it.

I'd give you more detail on the butterfly stamp - but I'm too lazy to get up off of my bahoukie to find out the maker. I'll edit the post later. Enjoy the rest of your evening and thanks for looking.

It's Raining Men

This is my entry for this weeks Die Cut Dreams Challenge which is to create something male themed.

If like me you find it difficult to create things for men then this will have been more than a bit of a challenge. What is it with men anyway? Sport, cars, beer... dear God unless you've got some male friends that are interested in... make-up, shoes, handbags we've reached a bit of a stalemate!

Anyway, onto the card. I've used Pink Petticoat papers in Bluebell, a Pink Petticoat image, computer generated sentiment, some stitching around the outside, the numbers are cut using the Cricut George cartridge and some ribbon from my stash. Not exactly testosterone filled but I like it!

Thanks for looking!

Tea For Two

Over at Die Cut Dreams the theme is Tea For Two. This is my late entry and I'll pop back later to have a look at this weeks new challenge.


I've used remnants of Summer Driggs Awareness papers, a Pink Petticoat image coloured with Faber-Castell watercolour pencils, computer generated sentiment, Papermania ribbon and a Card Candy pearl heart.

Thanks for looking!

Bummer!

My first post since the first of August and there is nothing to show! I popped over to the new SophistiCat Challenge Blog whose second challenge is to make anything that can hold something...whether it be a voucher, cash, stamped images etc...your way...your colours...that's it!

Yahoo! I made a 30th birthday card last week for someone which was made with denim blue paper and featured a jeans pocket with stitching and studs which will fit in nicely with the challenge. Did I take a picture of it? Oh no that would be too easy!

So welcome to my virtual card blog - it really was the winning entry - honest!

I Tawt I Taw A Puddy Tat

The Penny Black theme this week is SUMMER - remember that? Or did you blink and miss it?

My entry this week is a little puddy cat chasing some butterflies. The summery papers are K&Co and the image has been coloured with the usual Whispers Pens. The addition of a matching grosgrain ribbon and that's it.



Thanks for looking!

Before and After

Before I post for this weeks Penny Black challenge I've had a quick tidy up of last weeks effort. The challenge was a recipe challenge but it was all too much for my plain and simple brain to cope with. So I took off all of the flimflam and this is the result.



Ah that's better! And I've saved on the therapy bills - bonus!

Thanks for looking!

Phew...

...what a challenge that was! As you know I don't like clutter and the challenge this week over on Penny Black Saturday was a recipe challenge: 3 ribbons, 2 flowers and 1 charm.

How on earth can I get all of that on one little card and still have an uncluttered look? Well here it is -




- the DP was a freebie from Cardmaking and Papercraft magazine, the ribbons are from Inspirations and there are two flowers one on top of the other (I hope that counts!). Then there's the charm issue - I don't have any - so I've threaded some beads and attached them to the flower with a brad. The image was coloured using Whispers pens and a water brush, I've paper pieced the balloon and popped the lot on some dimension pads.

It's not too bad is it?

Thanks for looking!

Spots and Stripes

Good Morning. I hope you are looking forward to another fantastic weekend - although they go far too quickly don't they?

This is my card for the Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge whose theme is spots and stripes - two of my favourites! It also fits in with the One Stop Craft Challenge which is Good Sense of Humour. I've used a much neglected Dolly Mamas stamp coloured with Whispers pens, some ribbon and some bling and that's it. This was one of the first stamps I ever bought and it has never managed to make its way onto a finished card. The reason I think is that these stamps scream bold colours and I'm a bit of a pastel girl. Anyway, I hope I've done it justice even though I'm out of my comfort zone.




Thanks for looking!

My Favourite Things

Anyone who regularly visits my blog will guess that my favourite things are all things Pink Petticoat.

I'm not a fussy fancy person and I often don't like cards I've made for challenges because they have too many elements - especially if you have to follow a sketch or it's a recipe challenge. I like clean cut, unfussy and tidy if you know what I mean.

Onto the card for the My Favourite Things challenge for Papertake Weekly. I've used Pink Petticoat DP, cut the large heart using Cricut George cartridge which I've embossed with a Cuttlebug folder. Silver mirror board backing, some stick on gems, silver ribbon and computer generated names of the recipients who were celebrating their silver wedding.




I've had a doo-doo day at work so I'm sitting here with large glass of white (shocking!) and having a blog snoop at all your lovely creations before watching Celebrity Masterchef. Whatever you're doing enjoy the rest of your evening.

Thanks for looking!

Cherry Pie

Happy Independence Day to all our American friends.

Thank God it's a bit cooler today here - the heat this week has been oppressive especially if, like me, you have had to work through it. We're never happy are we?

This is my card for Penny Black, Sketch Saturday, ABC Challenge , Our Creative Corner, 365 Cards and the Cupcake Craft Challenge.



I've used a Penny Black Stamp coloured with Whispers Pens, the DP's are a freebie from Cardmaking and Papercraft magazine, I made the cherry embellishment using clay and a fruit push mould again coloured with Whispers Pens and a little paper dot from Craftwork Cards.

Thanks for looking!

Luv Ya

Good morning everyone I hope you are having a good Saturday. I had hoped to catch a few rays today but it looks like it's not to be.

Anyway, this is my entry from the Papertake Weekly Challenge. The theme this week is digital so I thought I would have a go at a pop-up card. It wasn't as hard as I thought but I think my technique needs some perfecting.

To qualify for the challenge I have used Big Dots for the background and the lovely Ella from Pink Petticoat on the inside - isn't she gorgeous? I also had a little experiment with my Cricut Design Studio for the name and sentiment. Some bling and a flower on her bootie and that's it.



the inside



Thanks for looking!