Merry Christmas Everyone

Merry Christmas!!
Just want to wish all my followers and crafty friends a very Merry Christmas, hope Santa is good to you all.

Those of you who are my friends on Facebook will already know that we were very close to cancelling the big day here. But the culprit apologised and after a heartfelt plea from her big sister, daddy relented and it's all on again.


I'm going to leave you with a pic of my christmas card design for this year in the 3 colourways..

I used 3 of the Tim Holtz limited edition distress inks, Gathered Twigs from the autumn set and Iced Spruce and Festive Berries from the winter set to ink up the Spellbinders poinsettias, cream seam binding from Angel Crafts and base card from The Papeterie. The greeting is Hero Arts stamped with Tuxedo black Memento ink.


Have a great day everyone, and see you on the other side...

Flexmarker winner

Good afternoon, how is everyone? all set for the fat man in red?
well we had a minor setback today - Tesco delivered our order and Graham reckons the turkey crown isn't going to be big enough, they didn't send the selection boxes, luxury xmas pud, box of fudge for my mum or box of choc orange segments for my dad, or the roast tatties - and they didn't substitute them either. So poor Graham has already been at Asda and the Co-op, then back out to Sainsbury's as the previous 2 didn't have roast tatties either. And according to the text he just sent me, he is sitting at Aberdeen Tyres waiting to get the spare tyre changed over - we had a flat a few days ago.
So while he was busy with all of that, I've been wrapping the last of the presents.

So, enough of my waffling - I'll get on with announcing the winner of the 6 flexmarkers that I used in the video. And the lucky winner was number 46 .... Christine L - congratulations! just email me your home address and I'll get them posted off to you as soon as I can manage.
Thank you to everyone who entered and for all the lovely comments about my video.
If the candy is not claimed by noon on the 27th I will draw another winner.

Flexmarkers - basic skin and hair tutorial

This is a sticky post - please scroll down for more recent posts


As promised, I'm back with a quick video tutorial showing how I use flexmarkers. For those of you who are used to working with promarkers, I find that you have to be much lighter with your handling of the flexmarkers and hopefully you can see that on the video. I've kept it brief, I know there's nothing more boring than a video that goes on and on, so I have not been too fussy or fernickity.



Because I really appreciate all of you watching and reading my tutorials, and for all the fabulous feedback and suggestions I get I'd like to share a wee something..
Courtesy of the very generous folks at Letraset I have a set of the flexmarkers that I used in the video. I will send the winner one each of: Rose Peach, Sunkissed Pink, Blush, Nutmeg, Light Fawn and Buttercup flexmarkers

So all you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is

1. copy the pic above and post to your sidebar with a link to this post
2. enter your details in the Inlinkz below

This candy will close at 12 noon GMT on Friday 23rd December.

Sugar Nellie FB Group

Where has the time gone? December has just disappeared in a blur this year and there's been a distinct lack of blogging on here, so I thought I'd share some things before the big day.


Are you a member of the Sugar Nellie Facebook group? If not then, what are you playing at?... you're missing out on loads of sneaky peeks, RAKs and sharing some Sugar. This month there was a xmas card RAK running and I wanted to show you the card I made for Rachel...

 Image is from the HomeGrown range at Sugar Nellie, coloured with promarkers and flexmarkers
gathered twigs distress ink to "age" the stamped cardstock. Tim Holtz kraft core core'dinations card, sizzix EF, spellbinders poinsettia dies, glamour dust, bling

 some close-ups of the glamour dusted details

I'd like to enter him into:


Cards und More - monochrome
Papertake Weekly - last christmas, card of the year
Passion for Promarkers - celebrations

Sassy Candy Giveaway - week 3 winner

Just a quick wee post to announce the winner of my Sassy Candy Giveaway week 3. Keep your eyes peeled as Graham is busy processing my latest video tutorial... I've been asked by several people to do a tutorial on how to use letraset Flexmarkers, so I've finally had 10 minutes free to do it. I've kept it simple and tried to concentrate more on showing how to use the brush nib. And as a wee extra, seeing as it's nearly christmas, I have some more goodies to give away.


Ok, so I'll shut up and get on with announcing the winner eh?
well random.org chose number 12 which is... Marianne's Craftroom - congrats Marianne, just email me your address and I'll get your prize off to you.


All 3 prizes will be posted by Monday so you should all get them by xmas.

Sassy Candy Giveaway - week 3

This candy is now closed :)
Hi there and I'm back with the last of my 3 Simply Sassy stamps from Sugar Nellie to give away

So to be in with a chance of winning this gorgeous, brand new stamp from Sugar Nellie's last ever Simply Sassy release all you have to do is...
copy the purple pic above and post it with a link to this post on your sidebar
after you've done that, leave your details on the linky below

The stamp I'm giving away this week is "Domestic Goddess" from Sugar Nellie - available from funkykits.co.uk (currently out of stock)
This candy will close at 12noon GMT on Friday 16th December

The winner for week 2 - for the Tease Me stamp is number 24 Paula Ponton (PEP), please email me before noon on Sunday with your address so I can post her out.

Sassy Candy Giveaway - week 2

This candy is now closed

Hi there and I'm back with another beautiful Simply Sassy stamp from Sugar Nellie to give away

So to be in with a chance of winning this gorgeous, brand new stamp from Sugar Nellie's last ever Simply Sassy release all you have to do is...
copy the purple pic above and post it with a link to this post on your sidebar
after you've done that, leave your details on the linky below

The stamp I'm giving away this week is "Tease Me" from Sugar Nellie - available from funkykits.co.uk (currently out of stock)

This candy will close at 12noon GMT on Friday 9th December


The winner for week one - for the Cinders stamp is number 8 Shellshearer, please email me before noon on Sunday with your address so I can post her out.

The Last Sassy Spotlight of 2011

I've been keeping a wee secret from you all!
I was absolutely thrilled to bits when Maria from the Simply Sassy blog emailed me to ask if I would like to be a part of the last Sassy Spotlight of the year. Maria has selected a handful of ladies that have been spotlighted on the Simply Sassy blog to take part so I'm very privileged, and of course I jumped at the chance.
Regular readers here know that my first and favourite love when it comes to stamping is a wee Scottish company called Sugar Nellie who introduced us to some wonderful designers. Of course I fell in love with the Simply Sassy range from the minute they were launched last year.


Anyway, I'm waffling here. I asked Maria if there was any particular stamp she would like me to use and her reply was "Since you're asking it would be fantastic if you use one of the boys as I really love your boys cards" . Well I did kind of groan a little, cos I think we all groan just a little when we're asked to make cards for men and boys. But I pulled up my big girl knickers (following in my crafty chum Kath's footsteps there) and got on with it. And I have to say I really enjoyed making this card, it took a wee bit longer to make but I quite like it.

 Image: Number One Fan from Sugar Nellie - coloured with promarkers and flexmarkers
Papers are MME Kraft Fun Day, Happy Days. Tim Holtz filmstrip ribbon, memo pin, tissue tape, sprocket gears and rosette die used to cut Papermania kraft cardstock, cream trim from stash

Now you must go over and see all the other Spotlighters over on the Simply Sassy blog, there's loads of inspiration and I'm so lucky to be in such great company.


I would like to enter him into:

It's starting to look a lot like....

I had a bit of a brainstorm this afternoon and decided it would be a good idea to put up the xmas tree.The only problem was I have to have a major clean up, to the point of dragging out all the furniture, scrubbing the floor and rearranging things. I even unplugged everything and made an attempt at reorganising all the plugs and cables. 
So by the time I'd done all that I was cream-crackered, and I would've just forgotten about putting up the tree. But oh no, I had already opened my cakehole and mentioned xmas decorations to the kids, so there was no putting my feet up and waiting for another day.
So while the kids were eating their tea I got all the xmas decoration boxes and the tree out and then was subjected to the girls "helping" me - argh!!
anyway, it's up now and I think it's quite pretty. Graham and I both absolutely hate the tangled-to-hell-xmas-tree-light scenario so we bought a pre-lit tree a few years back so it makes life a little easier.

I didn't notice until I put this pic up on Facebook that Willow was sitting eating a tangerine lol


Right, better get back to it...

Sassy Candy Giveaway

This candy is now closed.


As promised, I'm back with some more candy to give away. Over the next 3 weeks I'll be giving away some Sassy candy.

So to be in with a chance of winning this gorgeous, brand new stamp from Sugar Nellie's last ever Simply Sassy release all you have to do is...
copy the purple pic above and post it with a link to this post on your sidebar
after you've done that, leave your details on the linky below

The stamp I'm giving away this week is "Cinders" from Sugar Nellie - available from funkykits.co.uk
This candy will close at 12noon GMT on Friday 2nd December

Seeing Spots

I'm scheduling this post, so hopefully Mr Blogger will play the game and publish this on Thursday morning. I'm up to my eyes again, Willow is having a few teeth removed under general anaesthetic this morning so I need to make sure she eats or drinks nothing before we go. 


So I have nothing crafty to share with you, but I remembered that I still haven't shown you our DIY spotty tops that the girls and I threw together the night before Children in Need day....

 Faith with her promarker coloured dots...and we also drew a wee Pudsey on the back

 Willow decided to have Pudsey as the main feature on her top - with hundreds of tiny promarker coloured dots.

 They also made Pudsey and Blush masks to take to school too.

And if you're at a loose end today, why not pop over to the blog of King Tim Holtz, today is the start of his 12 tags of christmas.

Busy Busy

Gosh, this time of year just flashes past doesn't it? Tomorrow's the 1st of December and before we know it the big day will be upon us.
But I've made a pretty good start to the xmas shopping, in fact I have the bulk of it done and dusted - xmas cards, however are another story.
Don't have anything that I can share with you at the moment, and I'll be busy over the next couple of days with a Uni assignment so I thought I'd show you some pics I've taken lately.
Now I don't pretend to be any David Bailey, I'm a point and shoot kinda girl. The one good thing about this time of year is the stunningly beautiful sunrises, and being right on the NE coast, it's such a treat to see the sun rise over the sea...

Oh, it's also St Andrew's day today - so I've come over all patriotic and changed my FB profile pic to this...

In case you don't know, this is Scotland's other flag - most of you will already be familiar with the saltire (the blue one with the diagonal white cross) The Lion Rampant is the Royal Standard of Scotland.

So what's everyone else up to today? Have you entered my candy?

Sunday Roundup

Hiya,
back for another Sunday Roundup - 
remember to have a nosey at Kim and Lou's blogs for their Sunday Roundups too.


Well, that's the last weekend of November nearly over, and another week has passed in a blur. 
The weather seems to be featuring quite a bit at the moment - now I know there are folks further North of here that are getting it a whole lot worse so I'm not moaning, but I had to laugh when I got up this morning to be greeted with this...

apparently our Koi have decided to take up trampolining during the night! Although I don't know how I'm going to manage to pull that out of there on my own!

So what's happening in craft and blog land this week?....well I'm giving away some Simply Sassy stamps over the next few weeks - you'll find this week's giveaway here. And keep your eyes peeled as I have 2 more stamps to give away soon.

Here are a few more candies that you might be interested in...

Marianne is giving away some candy here.

Another bloggy friend of mine, Cathy, is giving away some Sugar Nellie candy too here.

I was lucky enough to meet the very famous and talented Andy Skinner and Lindsay Mason last night at The Papeterie. And I practically got them all to myself as all the other customers had gone home and they were just waiting for their taxi.
Unfortunately I couldn't make any of the workshops today with either of them as Graham is offshore and nobody else is brave enough to look after my kids :)


Are you looking for christmas present ideas for the crafter in your life? or are you trying to think of what you would like from other people this xmas. Well, Letraset have released the 4 12-packs of Flexmarkers so all 72 colours are now available, there are also some cracking Metallic packs - all 6 metallic markers are now available in a pack and these are really lovely - silver and gold that have always been available, but now you can also get red-gold, green, blue and violet - let me tell you they are gorgeous - these are water based. There is also a couple of combi packs available - contemporary christmas contains 5 pretty contemporary coloured promarkers plus a silver metallic marker OR traditional christmas contains 5 traditional coloured promarkers plus a gold metallic marker. 
And there's even more.... check out all these fab gift packs.

Right, better get back to making soup and laundry duties, ready for the school week starting again.

Congratulations....

Well, it's time to draw a winner of my Winter Distress Inks giveaway, because I'm just away to post some more candy after I've done this.


But before I do, can I just say TGIF!! I don't think I've stopped moving all week, in fact this month has just been a blur. But I'm really pleased that I've made some big inroads into the mahoosive xmas shopping that I have to do. While I'm on the subject of xmas shopping, why is it that I have to buy, wrap and send everyone's pressies and cards and all the other half has to do is get mine!!
Anyway, have managed to get some presents for some of my close crafty chums, the majority of the kids things and some bits and bobs for family.
Graham's home for xmas this year so we'll be having xmas dinner at our house with my parents coming over - the deal is we cook and feed them, mum makes the sweet and they do the dishes after the meal. Which as far as I'm concerned is a great deal.


So now that I've bored you to tears, I'd better announce the lucky winner - and I'm really pleased to see that Mr Random.org has picked a lassie that regularly visits my blog and leaves such lovely comments, so come one down Lee (craftyloops) email me your home address and I'll get your yummy Distress Inks off in the post - if you're quick I might even get them posted today.
If Lee doesn't email me before Sunday noon, then I'll redraw a winner.

Winter Distress Inks Giveaway

This candy is now closed


As promised, I'm giving away a set of Tim Holtz' Limited Edition Winter 2011 Distress Inks

Let me tell you, these colours are absolute must-haves. My favourite so far is the Evergreen Bough, and here's a reminder of the birthday card I made for Kath using it...

So what do you have to do to get you sticky mitts on a set for free?
well it's easy peasy, just leave a comment telling me what is top of your crafty wish list for xmas and post a pic of the inks with a link to this post on your sidebar.


The giveaway ends on Friday 25th November at noon GMT and I'll draw a winner in the afternoon.

Happy Birthday Tina

Hi folks
I have to apologise again, it's been another busy week, dentist appointments for everyone this week, Willow's had 2 hospital appointments, I've had one too. And of course made a good dent in the xmas shopping so I'm afraid there has been a distinct lack of crafting going on, let alone anything else.
But I did do a late-night crafting session to make a 40th birthday card for my beautiful friend Tina...

Image: The Collector - Gorjuss Stamps from PI coloured with promarkers and flexmarkers
The 4 and 0 are papermania stamps, coloured with promarkers and flexmarkers then covered with glamour dust
MS border and butterfly punches, core'dinations card, stickles
the gingham paper was a gift from Tina.

Remember to enter my distress ink candy - closes at noon Friday, and look out for more candy tomorrow too :)

Sunday Roundup

Thought I'd join in with Kim Dellow's Sunday Roundup - which I read about on the fabulous Lou's blog.
So what have I got to share with you? well if you're quick you can pick up an exclusive stamp... this weekend only Sugar Nellie have a special offer on the last release of the beautiful Simply Sassy stamps. You can buy all 6 for the price of 5 plus you get an exclusive stamp also free. So that is 7 stamps for the price of 5. So pop over here and grab yourself a bargain.**edited - sorry folks the special offer has sold out, but you can still buy the 6 stamps individually here . And if you need a little inspiration - you can pop over to the Simply Sassy blog-hop.


Talking of stamps, Hero Arts are showing off some sneaky peeks of the 2012 stamp catalogue, so just click on the blinkie below for your chance to join in and win some prizes.

I've had the 2012 diary out and have booked in some dates for the first half of the year, with some exciting new classes and demos happening and some exciting other things that I can't tell you about just yet ;) You'll find all the info you need on this page.


Another giveaway that finishes tonight is Kath's super Distress Ink giveaway.

And if you're not the lucky winner of that giveaway, don't despair - I'll be posting a giveaway tomorrow for my followers :)


**Edited to add - I have had a clear out of some of my rubber stamps and a few other bits and bobs, so please have a look at my For Sale page and grab a bargain