MUM'S GONE OUT! Come on you lot!!!

Just thought you may like to see some more pictures of our little family :) They almost gave me heart failure last night, when they all decided to come out of the nest and have a wander around!
I was worried because their mum had decided to go off into a neighbour's garden at the time, so she wasn't around to look out for them!! There are five of them altogether, the largest being about the size of a tennis ball!! I guess that one was at the front of the queue at milk time! :)
Aren't they just so adorable? You will be happy to know(as i was!!) that they all made it safely back to the nest, and were all snuggled up safe and warm when Andy checked on them this morning!
They should be with us for another four weeks or so, before they leave the nest permanently, but we are hoping to mark them before they go, then we will know if they return at a later date!!
I am not so good at taking photo's (!) but i hope you enjoy the story so far! :) :)

Hoggy Hugs!
Carol x

TAGGED!

Actually, it was last week, but only just getting round to it! Sorry Heather!
10 Years ago
I must have been working part time,as i chose jobs that fitted around school hours, when my kids were younger, but i can't remember if i was at De Montfort University or at Graham Lloyd! (your memory for this type of thing lapses as you get older !!) However, i do remember receiving a phone call from the school to say that my youngest(9 at the time) had hurt her leg! Some slabs had fallen onto her at playtime and could i go and pick her up! To cut a long story short, the slabs had broken her right leg in two places and she was in plaster from her toes to her groin for six weeks!!! The outcome of all of this was that we ended up suing them, and she was awarded a sum of money, which was held by the courts until she was eighteen. The only good thing was, because of the build up of interest, the sum had doubled in the nine years that it was held. So....earlier this year, she had a cheque for well over £6,000 pounds. It was a very horrid time for all of us, especially Rhianna, but things like this are set to try us!!!!
5 Things to do today
Well, as we are well into the evening,and most of the things i had to do are done! I guess it's Upload more pictures of our little Hedgehog family! Cook some supper for Andy & Chloe when they get home (about 9pm!!!!) Hopefully, find time to craft! Iron blouse for work tomorrow, and have a bath!!
Snacks i enjoy!
Well.... almost any type of fruit, i do love cheese unfortunately for my midriff!! so almost anything with cheese, but it has to be the kind that almost' bites' the roof of your mouth....you know the good mature ones... yum :) Also, the big flat field mushrooms, with a tiny bit of garlic butter mmmmmm!
Things i would do if i were a Millionaire!
Give up work!!!!! All the usual, give some to the kids, invest some to live on (cause i've already given up working!! Buy and stock with fabby stuff, my very own craft shop! But, as i've managed all these years without having loads of money, i would give the rest to Children and Animal charities, it would save all the hassle that large amounts of money seem to cause!!!! Money, of course is essential, but having it does not make you a better person.....unless you do something to benefit those that are worse off than yourself!!!!!
Places i've lived
I'm a country bumpkin at heart :) I was born in a Bedfordshire village called 'Haynes', where i lived with my parents until i got married to Andy at age 22, when we moved to Bedford! So only two different locations, but three different houses! Only moved once, so far! and the next time we move, i hope it is somewhere sunny & warm with loads of land , so that we can have loads of animals :)
I should at this point Tag five others, but, as this one is 'doing the rounds' i will leave it up to you if you want to try it!

KAZAN'S SKETCH 3

After the shock of being one of the Fab 5 last week, over at '2 Sketches 4 You' i've been pondering over Kazan's current sketch, trying to decide how to interpret it!!
As you can see, i decided on a design for a Baby Girl, which may also have a little to do with learning earlier this week that a friend of mine is having a baby girl in August! She has two boys already, so how lovely for her to be having a girl :)

Lots of different elements here, and no stamping again! I think i'm learning how to make a card that doesn't involve stamping an image, and i have lots of bits and bobs that i have collected over the last couple of years in preparation for my Scrapbooks, which hopefully i will do more of in the near future!!

Papers are from Basic Grey and K&Co, and i am loving the lace paper from KI Memories! Chip Chatter 'Gellies' from Pressed Petals, paper flowers are Making Memories from the noteworthy range, and some paper frills from Doodlebug. The button style brads are HOTP.
The felt flowers, fibres and ribbon are from my stash, and the little wooden lamb was found on a trip to France about five years ago!!

Thanks for taking the time to visit today, see you soon :0)

Carol x

STAMP SOMETHING Challenge...

A simple Christmas card for my entry to the current challenge over at Stamp Something. This week is a sketch, and i love to work from a good sketch! :) and this one was excellent!!
Basic Grey papers are used throughout, from the 6 x 6 pad 'Figgy Pudding'. The gorgeous word flourish is from the set by Rhonna Farrer for Autumn Leaves, which i've simply stamped with Tim Holtz Distress ink 'Broken China'. I tried for something a little different with the ribbon and eyelets, and i quite like the look it gives! Flower from local florist!! Curly trim, i think is HOTP, and red card and button from stash :)Thanks for popping in today, and i'll see you very soon :)

BLOG CANDY ALERT!!!

Just a real quickie to say that Jacqueline has some amazing candy on offer!!! Her blog is very inspiring too!

FRIDAY SKETCHERS ... Week 7

I have had a lovely day today just playing around with my stamps and papers :) It doesn't really seem like a Sunday, as normally i have a houseful of family every week, but today they are all out doing other things, so i made the most of my day by getting crafty!!
Friday Sketchers have done it again this week with another great sketch provided by Mumur, representing France.
My design today uses the versatile 'Agapanthus Cluster' from Stampendous. I have kept it very simple and stamped using Tim Holtz Distress ink 'Brushed Corduroy' The papers are Basic Grey from the 'Archaic' 6 x 6 pad, along with a page 'torn' from my Making Memories 'noteworthy' spiral journaling book. I love this book, i may have to get another :)
I have left this card without a sentiment, as i could not decide on one....any ideas?

Off to do some ironing now grrrr!! Thanks for popping in...see you soon :)

OMG!!!!

Sitting here with a big smile on my face :0) I've just found out that i'm in the Fab5 this week over at 2 sketches4 you! Thank You girls, you've made my day!!! Yay!!!
Big Congrats to Joke who was the winner of the fabulous goodies!

Fab5 Cards of the Week

Carol

Jen

Lizette

Cecelia
Sandie

CUTE CARD THURSDAY Challenge 15

Super easy challenge this week over at CCT, and a super prize on offer too!!

Make a Birthday Card

it's as simple as that!

And it was!! my card today was very quick and easy to make, although.....i'm still trying to get to grips with my new Fiskars 'Threading Water' punch!! I am finding it quite hard to line it up properly, don't look too closely ;) !! I'm sure with practice, i will get the hang of it, and i do love the look it gives, so i will persevere!
Amanda mouse here again, this time blowing out her candle :) i am so loving these House Mouse images at the moment...can you tell? Fabulous backing paper from the Funky Hand download 'Shabby Saturday' i just love the colours & designs of these papers! Way to go Anice!!
House to myself today :) no visitors, so i am having a crafty day! Hope you are having a great day too! See you later ;-)

other products used:- Bazzill cardstock, Basic Grey fibres,WeR Memory Keepers crop-a-dile and eyelets, watercolour paper coloured with Adirondack & Distress inks, Koi waterbrush.

UNCLAIMED BLOG CANDY!!!!!

It has been a week now since i displayed the winner of my blog candy, and unfortunately they have not claimed it, so.......... the first person to leave a comment at this post will be the one that gets it!!

2 SKETCHES 4 YOU

At last!!! I've finally managed to design a card using the fab sketch from Laura
I think most of you have found 2 Sketches 4 You already, judging by the amount of gorgeous entries they have received so far!!! and this is only week three! There is a yummy kit from Bety for the winner this week.....ooooh, i would so love to win it!

My design today is very simple, and most unusually for me it has absolutely no stamping! Instead i have used some elements from a fabulous kit i won a while ago from Scrummy Stash Cafe. By all means pop over and have a look, they have some gorgeous stuff, but sadly i think this kit has sold out!

Thanks for popping in today, and i'm off now to 'cross my fingers' ;-) see you soon.

other supplies:- Making Memories paper flower(black spotty) Dovecraft jewel brad and a Donna Downey rub-on, Bazzill cardstock. Everything else from the kit!

REAL LIVE PENNY BLACK!!!!

How adorably cute is this little darling???? I feel so completely blessed that one of our little night time visitors decided to give birth in our Tortoise house(see post Sat 31st May) For those of you that have been following my little story, the Mother of these babies is 'Little Hoppy', aptly named as she has a very deformed right front leg....and she still managed to produce these gorgeous babies. Still not certain, but we think there are five..........i'll keep you posted!!!

FRIDAY SKETCHERS Week #6

Just dashing in at the final hour again with my design for the fabulous sketch #6, over at Friday Sketchers! There are so many great sketch and challenge blogs now, but i would really be kidding myself if i thought i could manage all of them!!, so i try and do as many as time will allow, but sometimes that means literally getting in by the skin of my teeth!!!! :)
I have been lucky in the past, and my number has come up on the random generator thingy!, but that is not the reason i like to take part, i just enjoy participating and looking at everyone's gorgeous creations :)

Another of my sweet new House Mouse stamps for this one today called 'Amanda Shines', and i have allowed her to do just that by keeping the rest of the card very simple. Basic Grey papers from 6 x 6 pad Sugared, ribbon i think is Blonde moments and i have used a Prima flower and a HOTP brad and rub-on. I stamped the image onto watercolour paper and then used my Nestabilities to cut the scallop circle. I coloured in using a Koi waterbrush and Distress and Adirondack ink.
Thanks for visiting today, see you soon! :)

CUTE CARD THURSDAY!

If you see a strange creature going round in circles, don't worry, it's only me chasing my tail!!!! Ha, one of these days i will get around to actually making a card for the challenges on the correct day :)
I do love taking part in the challenges that are set on various sites, and the current challenge over at Cute Card Thursday is no exception. The requirement is to use three types of embellishment on your card. I think i went a bit over the top with mine!! but i like the result :)

The House Mouse image by Stampabilities is called 'Mouse Bounce', and it so reminds me of children on a bouncy castle! I love it.


Materials used : DP Basic Grey & HOTP
Brads : BG
Flower : Bazzill
Pin : Fancy Pants
Rub-On : Creative Imaginations - ribbon from stash.
Coloured image with : Distress & Adirondack inks
Kuretake waterbrush

MORE HEDGEHOG PICTURES.......

It's still really hard to tell which end is which!! The first picture is from Sat 7th, when we really quickly took a look in the morning and they were all busy suckling :) Cannot tell yet exactly how many there are, but we think 5 or 6!Obviously we have been observing as much as we can, and we noticed over the last few days that she has been leaving the house in the daylight to top up on food(we are getting through so much cat food, you wouldn't believe it!!!) She usually comes out between six and seven in the evening, so yesterday whilst she was out we took this picture, and even without her there we are still not certain how many there are!!!

I just want to cuddle them, but of course i can't do that!! They are so adorable, i think there will be some tears when they leave, but i feel very privileged to have seen this so up close and personal :) Reminds me a bit of the time when we had two fledgling blackbirds in our bathroom for two weeks.....but that's a whole other story!!!!

Click on photo's to get larger view!

PAPERTAKE WEEKLY & STAMP SOMETHING Monochromatic

This was the card i made for my husband for Father's Day, which i've designed in such a way that it fits in with two of the current challenges as well!
The challenge over at Papertake Weekly is a sketch, with an option to use chipboard, and over at Stamp Something it's a colour challenge, to create a project using a monochromatic colour scheme.
However, i do feel a bit of a cheat with the SS challenge as the only thing on the card that's stamped are the letters to create the word 'love', although i have managed to keep to the monochromatic part!!! The other sentiment was printed onto cream card from the PC.

The paper and the chipboard are Basic Grey, and i've used my newest gadget, a Fiskars 'Threading Water' punch for the scallops. Ribbon from stash!

I hope you have all had a lovely day today, and if you are interested in our Hedgehog family, i will be posting some more pictures tomorrow :)

BLOG CANDY WINNER...

Firstly i will apologise for being late announcing the winner, the last of our visitors only left about 10 minutes ago!!!


The winner is***** KERRYN***** As it is Father's Day today i decided my husband should be the one to pick a number between 1 & 47 and he chose number 18. Thank you everyone for leaving such lovely comments about my work, i really do appreciate hearing from you all.

Congratulations Kerryn, i will need you to e-mail me with your full postal address so i can get the goodies out to you :)

5k BLOG CANDY...

My hit counter has passed the 5,000!! so to celebrate i'm offering you a chance to win this acrylic stamp set by HOTP, as my way of saying Thank You!
To be in with a chance to win just leave a comment on this post! A winner will be drawn on Sunday 15th June at 8pm GMT. GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!!!!!


***This will stay at the top until a winner is drawn, so please scroll down for newer stuff!!***

KAZAN'S SKETCH 2

OMG!! you do not want to know how long it took me to make this little card! Kazan has her sketch number 2 over at '2 sketches 4 you', and rather than use ready made scallops, i decided to try to draw my own!*! I love that the sketches are hand drawn, the sketches alone are works of art! :)Well, as you can see, i did manage to draw the scallops with a Zig Millenium pen onto the pink cardstock! I then cut around them and 'touched up' again with the black pen, until i was happy with the look. I went shopping today, and one of the things i bought was a set of Scenic Route chipboard birds. I want to be able to use them several times over, so i traced around one with my Inkssentials white pen, rather than covering it with paper or card, which is what i've done in the past. This way i can use them over and over :)
The patterned paper is from the 'Sultry 6 x 6 pad and the black card is Bazzill. The sentiment is another recent purchase from Hero Arts, and the brackets are AC Thickers which i have coloured with an ink pad.
Thanks for popping in today, see you very soon :)

FRIDAY SKETCHERS Week # 5

Another great sketch to work with this week over at Friday Sketchers which has been provided for us by Kim from Canada. I love the way that the girls from each country are taking it in turns to give us their sketches, something a bit different :)
I have to say Kim, that i found this one a bit of a challenge, so i decided to keep my design very simple :) My image is called 'Chandelier' from Penny Black which i think is a perfect name for a fuchsia! I have dabbed colour directly from the Adirondack inkpads onto the stamp, starting with the lightest colour and building up. Once i am happy with the coverage, a quick spritz with my water spray bottle before placing down onto the watercolour paper.

The papers are all Basic Grey from the 6 x 6 pad 'Sugared', and i created the scallop with a corner rounder punch with the 'wings' taken out! 7 Gypsies roller stamps were used to create the sentiment which were inked with 'Cranberry'. This is starting to 'grow' on me, although it is rather pale in colour!! I don't really do pastels, i usually go for much brighter colours :0) but i guess it's good to have a change every once in a while!
I hope you find sometime to stamp today.... see you soon :)

"IN THE WILD SOMETHINGS"

The girls over at Stamp Something want us to go a bit wild this week!! Use an image of nature, natural materials or anything to do with wildlife on your project. There are some fab samples from the design team and also some great projects from Laura Kirste Campbell to feast your eyes on! Pop over and take a look :)
This design today uses an image from Clarity Stamp of this wonderful lion's head, which i've stamped with Adirondack 'Espresso' onto watercolour paper. I've then used my waterbrush to drag the colour out across the image. The photo corner was created using square and circle punches and all papers used are Basic Grey from the 'Archaic' 6 x 6 pad. A Kuretake 'screw top' brad and some BG alphabet stickers complete my design.
Thanks for popping in today, see you soon :)

CUTE CARD THURSDAY Challenge 13 'Christmas'

Well, i seem to have been chasing my tail a little bit lately!! and i miss out on some of the great sketches and challenges that i normally like to enter :) But i found a little time yesterday, to make this one!!
You may be forgiven for thinking that June is a tad early for Christmas cards, but i am running an all day workshop on 26th July, so it helps to get started with my samples nice and early!

This design is 5 x 7 and has been created using the fabulous papers from Daisy D's 'Mistletoe Memories' collection. The sweet little angel is a stamp by JudiKins which i have watercoloured with Distress inks, and added a bit of sparkle to her wings with some PSX diamond sparkles(very similar to stickles!) and then raised her on some foam tape :) I used my Basic Grey sanding tools to distress the edge of the card and some Colorbox ink around the letters, and popped on a small sentiment circle to finish!
Thanks for taking the time to visit, Enjoy your day :0)

HEDGEHOG UPDATE !!

Bedford Springwatch reporting on the latest from the 'Hoggy Nursery' :) :)

Now... this picture is not a good one, but, it's the best we could get without disturbing our little family too much!
My husband literally lifted the straw slightly and then stuck his arm in! He has to wear gloves as the scent from his hands could cause the mother to abandon the babies, and obviously that is the last thing we want to happen, so hence the image is not brilliant.
I think i can see three of the hoglets here, so i guess the others are hiding under the straw!! We are hoping to get another photo at the weekend.... i'll keep you posted :)

I've re-sized the photo, so click to get a larger one :)

2 SKETCHES 4 YOU Take Two!!

As mentioned, i am back with the second of my designs using Laura Sketch 1 :)

My little card today uses an image by Hobby Art called 'Boxed Cuddles'. This little guy was one of my first ever stamp purchases, and to be honest, i had forgotten he was there at the bottom of the draw!! I also have his larger friend, and i may well show you a design with him another day :)

Just in case you have not seen yesterday's post, there is a fab new sketch blog called 2 sketches 4 you, and with so much happening over the next few weeks, you really should pop over and pay them a visit !

Back to the bear!!! He is stamped with Archival jet black onto watercolour paper, and then coloured in using Distress ink 'Brushed Corduroy'. I've matted my image onto a piece of black Bazzill cardstock that has been through the Cuttlebug 'swiss dots' folder, and then onto some card which came in my blog candy that i won from 'Stamp Something' a couple of weeks ago :) The sentiment is made from a Hero Arts alphabet set, black ribbon from stash.
Thanks for visiting today, see you soon :)

2 SKETCHES 4 YOU !

A fabulous brand new sketch blog has just opened with a double whammy!! Brought to us by two creative friends Kazan Clark and Laura Davis. They have started us off with two great sketches, and there are going to be lots of exciting things happening over at "2 Sketches 4 You" so make sure you pop in and have a look!
I just know that i'm really going to enjoy making cards following the fantastic sketches provided, and my design today uses Kazan Sketch 1.
I stamped my Stamps Away owl onto two colours of Basic Grey 'Lollipop Shoppe', using Archival jet black ink, and then paper pieced her together. The little branch that she sits on is a HOTP swirl stamp inked with Brilliance 'Moonlight White' to which i've added a couple of MM chipboard buttons and some fine leather twine. The sentiment is from Hero Arts sparkle clear set 'Hello Birdie'.
Black cardstock is Bazzill, and all other papers are Basic Grey 'Lollipop Shoppe'
Back tomorrow with a design using Laura's sketch....see you then :)

FRIDAY SKETCHERS Sketch # 4

I have to apologise for the quality of this photo, i do normally take them in daylight, but it was almost dark by the time i snapped this!! Where does the time go? :)
My design today uses another of my fabulous new House Mouse stamps. I think i will never be tired of looking at such cute creatures :) This is my entry for the current sketch challenge over at Friday Sketchers, and this week it was Heidi's turn!
I have stamped my 'Sunny Side Up' using Timber Brown Stazon onto watercolour paper, and coloured in using a waterbrush and Adirondack ink pads. I've also highlighted the seeds in the sunflower with an Inkssentials white opaque pen. Papers are all Basic Grey, Archaic,Sugared and Sultry 6 x 6 pads, and the sentiment printed from the PC.
Sue, a friend of mine suggested that this image would be good for a retirement card, so, i took her advice :0) Now i just need someone i know, to retire!!! :)

Thanks for popping in today, hopefully i will be back very soon with more to share :)