Let it snow (but only on your project!)

HI

It's time for the new Rhedd and Rosie's Challenge "Let it Snow"  another great idea.  I decided to set myself a challenge.  I CANNOT measure ANYTHING properly so I thought I'd stretch myself and make a drawer to hold a DVD (the original Ladykillers) and have an easle card on the top.  I was so pleased with the result :)  I hope you like it too.  The stamp is a Lili of the Valley.

If you would like to know how to do this, please leave me a message and I'll detail it out for you :)

Have a go at the challenge there is a fantastic prize!

Love

Melissa xx

Stash Dash at Rhedd and Rosie!

Hi!

The latest challenge is to go through your old stash and see what you can make! I had some paper I've been looking at for ages and then I found a skull and crossbones charm, so I combined them with a Lily of the Valley stamp and made this :)

So have a dig around and see what you can find.  The challenge is at http://rheddandrosies.blogspot.co.uk/

Love

Melissa xx

Anything Goes at Lavinia Stamps!

This months challenge at Lavinia Stamps is a nice and easy one in some respects, but then there are so many stamps to choose from and so many things you can do with them that "anything goes" can become quite a challenge!!

This month I've created the following

 The one below is on a very sparkly yellow background, unfortunately my photography skills aren't up to capturing that!!

I look forward to seeing all your entries, come on it is a simple one! give it a go at http://laviniastamps.com/blog/

Love

Melissa xx

Christmas Is Comming with Rhedd and Rosie

Hi All

the new challenge from Rhedd and Rosie is "Christmas is coming" click on http://rheddandrosies.blogspot.co.uk/ to enter, a nice easy one as we are all making Christmas cards I'm sure, there is a great prize for the winner too.  We were sponsored by Craft Shapes Torbay and they sent us some great wooden shapes to play with!  This is what I did with mine :)

This time there are a few rules, but they are very easy to follow!

Requirements for this challenge.......
Your entry must have 2 or more items from the list below,either as embellishments or the main feature/centre piece (a small token piece in the corner of the card will not count)

Please choose from this list...Christmas Tree. Baubles. Christmas Stocking, Angel, Reindeer, Gift. Star.

I used flowersoft on the cuff of the boot for extra dimension and a few die cuts.

This box was so sparkly that I thought it looked best on a plain background.  The two smaller ones were other ideas :)

Birds and Blooms - the new Rhedd and Rosie's Challenge

Hi Everyone

Rhedd and Rosie have a fantastic new challenge "Birds and Blooms" Here I coloured the stamp with distress markers first as this give a water colour effect, Then I added this delightful bird.

Anyway - there is a fantastic prize to be won, so pop on over to http://rheddandrosies.blogspot.co.uk/ and give it a go :)


Love

Melissa

Lavinia Stamps November Challenge £40 of vouchers to be won!!

Bright Hot Colours is the new theme at the Lavinia Stamps Challenge this month.

This was a real challenge for me as I tend to go for more muted tones - I made a tag and a card.  My son's girlfriend pinched the tag which was nice :)






 In the second one I've used the new zentangle range of stamps, which are my new favourites :) I have used a load of metallic colours in her hair but didn't manage to pick them up to much in the photo.

Love Melissa xx

Anything goes!! & a fed up poodle!

Hi!

Rhedd and Rosie have a challenge that we all love - Anything goes http://rheddandrosies.blogspot.co.uk/

This is my offering, not the best I've ever done, but this time round I had a crafty block, just too many choices! These are all Indigo Blu stamps, my photographic skills are not brilliant, and some of the highlighting on the flowers and wording does not show up all that well - but it is there :)

My friend makes costumes for the local Am Dram group and let me loose on their lace stash, so I had to use a bit of it - mind you some of it is just too scrummy to use :)

As always looking forward to seeing your entries - come on show us what you've made this week!

Poor little Tilly Lou was spade this week, never have you seen such a forlorn looking poodle, she gave me a bit of a worry by taking her time waking up from the anaesthetic but she is well on the way to her old self.  We also got some lumps on her tummy removed as they were worrying her.  I do think the others were laughing at her a bit - here is Betty trying to work out what's going on.

Love


Melissa x

Shades of Autumn for Rhedd and Rosie

Hi

Rhedd and Rosie have a new challenge running - Shades of Autumn I decided to use a stamp from a set I got ages ago - there is a lovely vintage feel to it, and as she is raking up the leaves I thought it very appropriate!  I did a bit of resist technique to create the acorn background and added a couple of die cut leaves.  The sentiment gave me a hard time - I'm not too happy with this one but it was the best I had :)

Apart from a few doggie dramas all is well here.  Poor old Mable has had yet more teeth removed (and so have I!!) I think she only has 2 left now!!  My little rescue poodle is so funny, I don't believe the vet when she said she had perfect vision in one eye, she walked slap bang into Christopher the other day, and he is hard to miss!

I hope you are all ok and I look forward to seeing your entries in the new challenge!

Love

Melissa

Lavinia goes Autumnal with their new challenge!

Hi!

This month at the LAVINIA STAMPS CHALLENGE BLOG  they have gone all autumnal :) these stamps are so easy to picture build and i've used one of a new image of an acorn house, I put glossy accents on its roof to give a bit of shine :)

Looking forward to see you entries! Don't forget there is a Lavinia Stamps £40 gift voucher for the winner!

Love

Melissa xx

Sew Fun!

Hi All

I was inspired by a similar project at Ali Pali and thought it would be nice for my friend for Christmas as she is a fantastic seamstress!  It was really good fun finding and creating all the bits!. I got my crackle glaze out for the edge and used some Indigo Blu stamps.  A good rootle through my Nan's old button box also revealed some gems!

Love

Melissa xx

Rhedd and Rosie's Challenge "something for the boys"

Hi!!

I think it is safe to say most of us don't like doing Men's cards - no sparkle, no bows no pretty's but we all have to make them :)  Especially me with most of my family and friends seeming to be male!

The new challenge from Rhedd ad Rosie http://rheddandrosies.blogspot.co.uk/ is going to challenge you all to think MEN you should take a look at some of the others DT work it is stunning.

Anyway - this is my contribution, the good old garden shed, I love the detail of this stamp and it looks such a fun place to explore too! the bow has been replaced by a twine knot so I got some pretty bit on it ;-) I am also finding the fence die quite useful on these sorts of images too.

This was an alternative - less crafty but quite amusing! "retirement, twice as much wife, half as much pay!"

90 years young

Hi All

Winter is here and we are just off to watch Chris play in his first school rugby match brrrr.


Chris's girlfriend Kathi commented on a similar card I made saying it reminded it of her Grandmother so when it came to celebrating her 90th birthday I was flattered that she asked me to make her a special card.



Love

Melissa xx

Rhedd and Rosie go Steampunk style in their latest challenge

Hi all

The new challenge from Rhedd and Rosie is Steampunkie Rick St Dennis  gave us some great digi images to work with.  Normally I steer clear of Digi Crafting so it was quite a challenge to make myself go back there as this is how I started a lifetime ago and before I discovered stamps and inks :)

Anyway this is what I did, thoroughly enjoyed all the colouring :)

So join in the challenge with your Steampunkie and win some great prizes

Love

Melissa xx

Lavinia Stamps new challenge! Add a Flower

Hi all

Lovely Lavinia Stamps time again!! this month's challenge is to "add a flower" now how simple is that!

This is my offering.  I just love the soft aqua of the glitter paper.  And the little flowers stamp I've used as a boarder is really useful too.

Lots of love

Melissa xx

Rhedd & Rosie Challenge: Something for the Ladies!

Hi,

Well I thought that with this challenge, the obvious thing to do was something frilly and pretty, but the other team members do this so much better than me so I needed to think "outside the box" as it were.  What do us ladies think about - and then it came to me!

So, why not have a go at entering :) http://rheddandrosies.blogspot.co.uk/ it is a great challenge with many interpretations and I'd love to see what you would do.

Tilly the rescue update:

We went to the Edenbridge and Oxted show at the weekend and got Tilly Lilly Lou a rain coat, a fleece onsey for the winter as she has no hair and a doggy sling bag to carry her in when it all gets too much.  She did really well, walked for ages - in the mud too, which she hates!

We've also had some good news from the vet that her Cushings seems to have stabalised at the new lower dose.

I'll have to take some photos to show you :)

Proud Mum Update

Christopher got 8 A* and 2A's (which are going for re-mark) at GCSE and YES I AM telling EVERYONE!

Love to you all

Melissa xx

Bird Cage

Hi

I've been playing with my bird cage die here. Initially I cut out another die for it to sit on but didn't like it so I used the negative of it as a mask to distress ink and stamp. I hope you like it!




Love from Melissa xx

Rhedd & Rosie's Challenge - A bit of red

Hi

The latest challenge from the Rhedd and Rosie's team is an easy one - you just have to have some red on it! Simple!

Here is my entry. I love this stamp, I think it has an atmosphere of its own so I didn't want to clutter it up too much.  Why not enter?

Look at the great prize on offer

Love

Melissa xx

Thoughtful flowers

Hi, A friend of ours has a tough day coming up and I thought it would be nice just to say she is not on her own.  It didn't seem right to do anything over the top, so another clean and simple design using a Hero Arts stamp and distress pens.

Hopefully this has struck the right tone!

Lots of love

Melissa

New Favourite Stamp :)

Hi,  I've just been telling my friend Eileen about my new favourite stamp - it is a Hero Arts one and can be used in so many ways.  Here I've just white embossed it, but it also looks great coloured with distress pens and then stamped - gives it a real water colour feel and it is the sort of image that can suit loads of occasions.  This is on my short list of anniversary invites - what do you think?

This is Nick's favourite  - may be as a 6" x 6"

This is my friend Gee's Favourite

and this would look better without the white on it I think

Love
Melissa xx

Lovely Lavinia Competition "anything goes"

Hi everyone

I made a card I was really proud of for this DT make and then gave it away without photographing it! I have made stupid mistake after stupid mistake at the moment! I'm hoping it's a "phase! :)

Anyway I made this, it was done under pressure and too quickly for my liking, the Lavinia stamps lend themselves to a quick card as they all go together so well.  It was a chance for me to play with a couple of new stamps - I nearly have the full set now".  So now it is your go to have a go! - visit Lavina Stamps Challenge blog to enter.

Love

Melissa

Rhedd and Rosie's Challenge "Time"

Hi Guys,

Bleurgh - I went to the doctor about some new research that says some back pain may be caused by an infection.  He had read the same thing too and we're giving it a go, blasting it with anti-biotics, but boy do I feel rubbish - hopefully this will pass soon :)

Rhedd and Rosie had an amazing number of entries to their last challenge - nearly 200.  What I like about it  is that the winners are not chosen at random like a lottery, but are considered carefully  by the team members.  This ensures that the good ones win :).

This months CHALLENGE  is "Time"

Here I've used an embossing folder and a  timepiece background stamp.  I love the sentiment and  thought it needed quite a calm background.

I hope you like it too - you should see what some of  the other DT members have done - they are fantastic! Please think about entering go to http://rheddandrosies.blogspot.co.uk/

Keep your fingers crossed for Monday, my little rescue dog Tilly is going in for a blood test to see if we have her Cushings under control!

Lots of love

Melissa

Finally!

I've been twiddling these bits and pieces around for days, then today, whilst the internet was down for a bit I did it!

I love this lili of the valley image and was determined to use my new doily die.  The icing on the cake was finding the perfect peel off from my stash.

Lot of love xxx

Rhedd & Rosie's Challenge - Anything Goes!!

Hi Guys

It is time for another Rhedd and Rosie's Challenge :0 the theme is nice and simple "anything goes".  You are not tied to any particular manufacturer, but the image used should be stamped rather than digital and you have to link  back to the blog site - so easy peasy! and this time I'M judging (scary)!

I have just got some half price Kenny K stamps from Oyster Stamps, and decided to use one of those - it was going to be for my son's birthday card but then I went and put pink on it and then I looked at the image and thought perhaps this wasn't appropriate for Mum to give to son!

She has wonderfully wicked glossy boots, but I couldn't get them to come out in the photo which was a shame.

 I'f you've read the blog before I mentioned we've just taken on a rescue dog.  She is settling in nicely and beginning to realise that she doesn't have to stay in one place the whole time, she also knows her name now and will try and find you if you call her.  She is such a delight a real character!

Here comes Summer

Hi :)

This months Rhedd and Rosie's challenge is "Here comes Summer" and for me one of the first signs of summer is dusting off the BBQ, so I decided to use this really sweet stamp from Lili of the Valley, my glossy sausage (no rude remarks!) has not quite photographed that well, so you'll have to imagine it!.

We've had a little bad news with our rescue dog Tilly, she has Cushings disease so will need quite expensive life long care - hey ho, so the question is do I cut back on a few crafty purchases - or condemn a dog Hmmm not a difficult choice is it!!  She is still with the vets and I so want to give her a cuddle, this is an awful wait but it is going to be worth it!

Lots of love to you all


Melissa xx

Using a Punch or Die with Lavinia Stamps and more !

Well what a time I'm having!, Today is my 24th wedding anniversary and Nick bought me the most beautiful opal and diamond necklace!

I spent the weekend with some friends at Champneys Springs and got totally pampered and preened, the Reading football team were there so there was some eye candy too!!

So first here is me showing off in my Champneys robe - just to prove I was there :) I had a lavender aromatherapy wrap and a scalp and shoulder massage, a make up lesson and a thalassotherapy session (no I can't pronounce it either) it was a huge warm pool of mineral water with various jets that massaged you ooooo sooooo nice.  It was a shame about the journey home - we had a 45 min delay!! I think it was everyone coming out of Silverstone.

Such a spoilt lady!

So here I am back in reality, the VAT return to finish :( but  it is also the start of the Lavinia Stamps July challenge hopefully I can inspire you to join in too, far more fun that the VAT.  The Lavinia stamps are so lovely and you can see by looking at the DT examples there is so much you can do with them!

Anyway enough of my waffle (just putting off doing the accounts really!) so here is my offering for this month .  I've put mica powder on her wings to give her a shimmer as she jumps.  I love this stamp she looks so happy and carefree.  Having to use a die is hardly a problem for me I just love them for matting and layering and also that finishing touch - I love looking through the entries so please have a go, and if you do, don't forget to put a live link back to your blog page please!

Newness

Hi, I've had yet more new additions to my ever growing stamp and die collection and also to our doggy family.  We take the terrible twosome to Agility classes every week and there is a delightful lady from the RSPCA there who told a tale of a poor little dog with no home - and guess what muggins here said!!

Firstly here is a picture of my new stamp! this is from Lilly of the Valley and I can't remember the corner dies, the wording is from Cheery Lyn dies.

This is quite apt again, as we are doing yet more decorating - I think that one day we will stop but I can't see when!!

Now My second new thing

I read in a magazine about putting gesso on, then a layer of acrylic and then putting clingfilm over it when wet to get a really cool look.  I had a go on a tiny pine chest that I had knocking around.

I also tried printing onto tissue paper and then using "slap it on" by indigo blue to secure it and blend the tissue into the background.

There are a 1001 mistakes, but I was reasonably pleased for a first attempt and would try it again!

Now here is our last new addition...

A 7 or 8 year old miniature poodle currently called Tootsie (that may change as she doesn't know her name as no one has used it in the last 4 years!!!) she is loosing some hair through stress and is a very quiet docile thing - a little beauty!

Rhedd and Rosie's Challenge "Take Flight"

This is a great title - Sooo many things you can do I didn't know where to start! AND there is a great prize donated by Zoe too!

 I had a go with two sets of Visible image stamps - I just love this butterfly stamp they do! Naughty Eileen  talked me into buying some frantage and I love it - it give a great metallic edge to a page.

Now this one is not so much taking flight as falling, but it uses some great Lavinia Stamps and shows how easy it is to make a flower out of garden string!!

It is a great challenge with a lovely prize - so please pop on over to their BLOG and have a go!  Any card with the theme of flight can enter.

Love

Melissa xx

From disaster comes something right

Well what a ay, absolutely everything I touched at work went wrong so I gave up and made some cards for Chris's friend they both turn 16 on the same day so one card is from Chris and the other from his girlfriend - I hope they are ok!

I used a great Visible Image girl stamp and the other bits are from Indigo Blu.







Love from Melissa xx