Fancy a rest?

Hi all,
Well, it's the weekend (nearly).  We had a lovely half term, even if the weather wasn't too good.  Today, it was really sunny, so we went to a park, which has a great paddling pool as well as all the normal play park things.  The girls loved it and then we had an ice cream to finish off (I was probably more excited about this than they were!)
Over at CRAFT, our theme is father's day or male.  I have used an image called It's your day, by Karen's Doodles and the papers are from my scrap drawer.
See you later.

Live, laugh, love

Hi all,
I hope you had a lovely weekend.  It was a bank holiday here, and it was actually nice weather.  We went to the beach yesterday and the girls loved it.  We went rock pooling and then made loads of sandcastles.  Today, we went to the County Show and the girls went on some of the fair rides and we saw the animals.  Unfortunately, they didn't have any bunnies, which Martha was desperate to see!
Over at Incy Wincy, we have a photo for your inspiration this week.  It's a fabulous photo and I have used the colours and the flowers from it for my bookmark.  The image is from Bugaboo, our sponsor, and the papers are from my scrap box.
See you later.

I'm a rocket man (or dog!)

Hi all,
Well, spring seems to over and we have gone back to winter.  It's been very windy all day.  Martha and I stayed in a lot of the time, except for going shopping for a blue bunny that Martha wanted.  Well, we couldn't find one anywhere, so when we got home, I tried making one.  I have to do the face now.
Over at CRAFT, we have a colour challenge for you.  I have used an image called Rocket Dog, by QKR Stampede, one of our sponsors.
See you later.

My little princesses

Hi all,
This is just a quick one to say a massive thank you to the wonderful Sassy.  She held a little giveaway on her blog to win one of three fantastic tiaras that she made.  My name came out of the hat, and Sue very kindly sent two of the tiaras, so the girls could have one each.
Here are the girls wearing the tiaras.  Daisy loves hers so much, she wore hers to school.

Martha refuses to smile when she is photographed, so this is the least scary one!

Thanks again.

I'm just sitting watching flowers in the rain...

Hi all,
I hope you had a good weekend.  I went to a fabric shop on Sunday to let the girls choose their curtain fabric.  There was a lot of choice, but eventually they settled on some.  I wanted to get some fabric too, but was amazed at how expensive it can be.  I will have to look out for off cuts I think.
Over at Incy Wincy, we are sponsored by Stamp Fairy and our theme is metal mania - so use something metal or have an image which shows something metal in it.  I have had the sunflowers for ages, and I thought it would work well with this image.  I am hoping my spring card will convince the sun to come out.
See you later.

Naughty or nice?

Hi all,
Well, it's nearly the weekend.  Martha and I met some friends today and then I ran my after school drama club, which went well.  Hubby came back from work with fish and chips, which I was really looking forward to!  The weekend will be another busy one, I think, but we should be going to a fabric shop on Sunday, so the girls can choose material for their bedroom curtains and I'm hoping to find some bar
See you later.gains.
Over at CRAFT, our theme is Christmas in May.  I have made a tag, using Santa naughty list snowglobe by Doodle Dragons, one of our sponsors.

Check

Hi all,

I am sat inside listening to the wind howling outside.  It's quite sunny, but very cold at the moment.  The girls are desperate for summer, though and Martha insisted on wearing her sun hat and slightly thinner jacket to nursery today.  I've been busy trying to write application forms for part time teaching jobs.  I know I need to do it as there isn't an awful lot of supply work around, but the thought of being back in the treadmill is a bit daunting.  I'm also thinking about starting up a business in a few months, but the thought of doing this as well as teaching fills me with dread (but I can't just start the business as I don't know if it will be successful).
Anyway, enough of my prattling, and onto my show for today.  Over at Creative Craft, we are sponsored by Crafty Individuals, and our theme is just checking, so we would like to see a check pattern on your creations.  I decided not to make a card and instead made a patchwork bag.  Martha has been nagging me to make her a bag to put her ballet shoes in, so she chose the material (she likes blues and purples) and I made the bag.  It's a simple patchwork design, but it's all I could manage with Martha sat on my knee helping!
See you later.

Animal antics

Hi all,
I hope you had a good weekend.  The weather wasn't too good, but it didn't stop us.  The music festival on Saturday went well and the drama group performed well.  Some of them are quite shy, so it was good to see them in front of an audience and enjoying it.
Over at Incy Wincy, our theme is Animal Antics.  I have used a stamp of Popcorn the Bear, which I don't use much really, as it is quite large and I find it is difficult to stamp cleanly.  The papers are magazine freebies.
See you later.

CRAFT birthday blog hop

Happy Birthday To Us

Happy Birthday To Us

Happy Birthday Dear CRAFT Challenge

Happy Birthday To Us!

Can you believe it? CRAFT Challenge is already 4 years old. Originally started by Tracy from Just Tracy Crafts and with a DT mostly recruited from Trimcraft forum members (Hence the term CRAFT Challenge, which stood for Crafters Residing Are Friendly Trimmies. Or if you wished alternative meaning of Can't Remember A Flipping Thing) on the 4^th of May 2009.

We have now grown to be a large team of Design Team Members from all around the world, supplemented with lots of Guest Designers who join us for a month at a time.

We have always welcomed all kinds of craft, not just paper craft (unless specifically stated so in the challenge at the time) and are happy to have such a large group of faithful followers.

So, how are we going to celebrate this milestone?

Well, how else can we celebrate than to have our yearly Blogaversary Blog Hop?

We all feature one of our sponsors for this blog hop on our blogs and I have the honour of featuring and offering a prize from the following sponsor. You can win this prize by adding your name to Inlinkz at the end of this post. I would love to see your comments as well.

Floppy Latte Designs

Prize: $6 USD gift coupon

How can you get to win any of the prizes provided by our sponsors?

That is easy! Just follow the route on our blog hop (you can also find that in our side banner), Our Blog Hop lasts for the duration of this challenge, which means a closing time of Wednesday 6pm GMT on the 15^th of May 2013.

And here are our little rules for this challenge/blog hop:

• Our challenge this week is Birthday
• Create something with this in mind
• Add your project to our Inlinkz on our Challenge blog to be in with a chance of being one of our Top3 and win a prize from Karen's Doodles
• Follow the route of the Blog Hop
• Add your project to the Inlinkz at each of these stops to be in with a chance of winning the prize advertised on that blog
• Collect the letters on this and the blogs on the blog hop
• Form a sentence with these letters
• Return to our challenge blog and put your winning sentence in our comments under the post.
• We will enable comment moderation for the duration of this challenge/blog hop to ensure there is no cheating, lol.
• And the main rule: HAVE FUN!

What can you win on our challenge blog?

1. The winner of the winning sentence wins My Memories Suite 4, amazing software, for free.

Everyone else can also get this software with a $10 discount. Just follow the links to My Memories.com or My Memories Suite 4 and use ourcode in the discount box on purchasing this software you get a fabulous $10 off this software. That is not to be sneezed at.

In order to get $10 off this great software, copy and paste our code

STMMMS98952

and enter it in the discount slot while purchasing this software. It will take it automatically off the purchase price. It is however only valid for this software and nothing else!

2. Our Top3 this week will win a prize from Karen's Doodles

• Top3, 1 : 3 images of choice
• Top3, 2 : 2 images of choice
• Top3, 3 : 1 image of choice

You should have come here from Lyndsay (from LEJ Designs)'s blog and as you can see your next stop is Rachel (GDT)'s blog. The start and finish of this blog hop are at CRAFT Challenge Blog.

And here is my project for this week, hope you like it. 

 I have used Garden Fantasy by Floppy Latte.  I used my alcohol inks to make a background and then printed the image onto it.  The papers are by Kaisercraft and the butterflies and sentiment were from a kit I bought years ago when I first started card making and have never used.

And now for our Blog Hop route:

CRAFT Challenge Blog

Aunty Sue

Carol

Divya (GDT)

Evie

Hazel (from Rick St Dennis MFA)

Jeanette

Jo

Judy (GDT)

Lyndsay (from LEJ Designs)

Nikki (you are here)

Rachel (GDT)

Rick St Dennis (yes the man himself!)

Saskia

Sharon

Sheryl

Sylvia

Trimgym's Digistamps and Images

Wenche (GDT)

CRAFT Challenge Blog

And here is the letter to be collected on this blog:

Your next stop is Rachel (GDT)'s blog. Enjoy the rest of your hop! Don't forget to add your name to Inlinkz below to be in with a chance of winning the prize on my blog.

Its fleece was white as snow ...

Hi all,
It has been lovely weather wise up here for the past few days, so I had a bit of time out in the garden.  Hopefully this weekend, the girls will help me plant some seeds in pots so that we could have some veggies planted out on time.  The drama club I run had a rehearsal last night for the village music festival as they are signing to some songs that the choir is singing.  It looks wonderful and the children have worked hard to learn all the signs.  The concert is on Saturday, so this was our last rehearsal before the performance.
I am very late with this, but I just realised I hadn't posted it.  Over at Creative craft, our theme is All about animals.  I have used a sweet lamb image by Robyn's Fetish, one of our sponsors.  The papers are by Webster's pages and the die cuts came free with a magazine.
See you tomorrow.

Bring me sunshine

Hi all,
Well, it was a bank holiday today and the weather was lovely for a change, so we met some friends and had a picnic lunch and a play in the sun.  Daisy is having some friends over tomorrow after school, so tomorrow will be spent cleaning and food shopping.  Such fun!
Over at Incy Wincy, we are sponsored by Kenny K and Dr Digi.  Our theme is yellow and grey.  I had a bit of trouble with this, as I couldn't find anything grey in my stash until I came across this paper.  The flowers are cut from a scalloped circle punch.
See you later.

A stitch in time

Hi all,
I can't believe it is Thursday already (and that is nearly over).  Martha has been feeling sorry for herself today as she has an awful cold and has a slight wheeze when breathing, so she lay on the sofa in her pyjamas for most of the day, which really isn't like her, or any 2 year old I know!
Over at CRAFT, our theme is stitching.  I decided to get my machine out and do the real thing (although faux stitching is fine).  It's a bit wobbly, but I do like the effect.  The papers are a mix from the scrap box and the image is by LEJ Designs, one of our sponsors, and is called Time Stealing Pixies, which I'm sure are definitely around this household at the moment.
See you later.