Thank you so much....

....Lou for the lovely award! It's really made my day. Now I know that I am supposed to pass it on to my 10 favourites...but.... there are so many out there that are favourites of mine for one reason or another....whether it's crafting inspiration, just the feel good factor you get from some of them or the support of the wonderful Internet friends. So....I'm awarding it to everyone of you who visit me on here...because you all make me smile. Thank you

Pleased with myself today...

...why? Well I managed to get up before lunch time today and I've got a card done that fits 4 challenges. Wooohooo!!!!

Cute card Thursday #29....Animal Magic.

Colour Create #5....Blue and Brown...I didn't go for the option of lace and pearls...think you can see why.

2Sketchers4U #21

Spoon full of Sugar #41....Torn edges

The image is Albert..a digi download from Pollycraft.

Here's the card...

..that I made for the Imag-e-nation forum challenge which was springtime. I didn't win but I didn't really expect to. I used a colouring practise piece which didn't turn out too bad...until Theo tried to sit on it!...hence the circle. Jackie was a very worthy winner. I used a daffodil image from Sketching Stamper. Still practising my colouring...but I actually enjoyed doing it....and that's the whole point really I think.

It's been over a week....

....since I last posted. I haven't been at all well. The last month I haven't slept well and it's caught up with me. I've been more tired than usual...not being able to get up until late in the day....and Saturday saw me in bed reasonably early....I didn't surface again for another 24 hours. That was Sunday that I never saw. Perhaps I can get my body clock back to some sort of normality now..whatever that is. I've really struggled to get any cards done but I did manage to do a card for my great-niece... who will be three tomorrow.....and it covers one of the challenges. Not done a challenge for absolutely ages.
The challenge is for the ABC challenge which asks for a child's card..so here it is.

The backing paper is from Summer Driggs and I can't remember where the sentiment round is from. It is from one of the blogs and I'm sure someone will recognise where from. I've coloured the image using my watercolours....and I am getting a bit better at it..still need more practise though.

Made one....

..a card that is. Can't show it yet as it's for a forum challenge. I'm not entirely happy with it though. Theo didn't help by trying to sit on it while it was still wet. It's been a frustrating day. Was supposed to be going shopping with son and DIL....he rang me up as I had overlaid...didn't actually get to sleep until about 5.30 this morning. Got myself ready to go, then youngest came in and told me that he hasn't been paid his JSA...so it wasn't worth me going shopping considering the fares, for only half the shopping I needed. When my son managed to sort it out..it seems that they hadn't paid him because he hadn't signed on last Friday.....but his signing on day is Monday, which he did. Turns out someone has put the wrong data in to the computer so there was no authorisation for a payment to be made. They did make him an emergency part payment, but he has to go in next Monday and then he can have the rest of his entitlement on the Thursday. Meanwhile I have had to borrow money off my other son to take us through to next week....GGGGRRRRR!!!!!!!

On a happier note...there is loads of wonderful blog candy up for grabs. Go check these out!

Lacey .....is celebrating 50,000 hits with scrummy candy!..ends 22nd February

Rach....has SU goodies ..Ms punches and loads of other goodies!...ends 22nd February

Steph...10.000 hits....SU goodies!.....ends 22nd February

Bev....birthday celebration and 150,000 hits...2 lots of candy!!...ends 24th February

Nikki...blogaversary celebration with 5 lots of candy!...ends 24th February

Donna is launching a backing paper CD...and the chance to win it!...ends 28th February

Another week....

..has gone and still not a card made. Haven't lost my mojo...I'm just so tired...I'm not sleeping at all well at the moment. I did manage to get some ATC's done though. I keep getting ideas when I read the challenge blogs...but I can't seem to push myself enough to actually make anything! Hopefully it's just a blip and I will be able to get back into gear very soon. I have 2 birthdays to make cards for in March so I really do need to get a move on if I'm not going to be rushing at the last minute.

On another note....my 2 at home have had a stern lecture from me tonight....regarding the phone bill. It is £20 more than it usually is and I'm not pleased to say the least. They will have to pay for it because I can't afford it. Youngest (19) is to blame I think because he didn't deny anything. The good news though is that because I rang AOL about the high bill, starting with next month's bill I will only be paying half of what I currently pay....and a free wireless router thrown in as well. Not that I know how to use one of those. It's not often I say this...but....Thank you AOL....and especially to the lovely man (Steven/Stephen) on the other end of the phone. He was very patient and didn't speak to much techno. Right..off to see if I can conjure up some energy...I need some 'cos it's shopping day tomorrow.

My head hurts!!!

Why?..because I have been surfing the net looking for the best deal on basic card stock. You know the one.....you need it to actually start to make a card. There are sooo many suppliers out there and some with really good prices ...until you see the p&p. Anyhow..... I have decided to shop local. When I've worked out the basic price,+ p&p + how many cards I can actually get out of 1 sheet, a local supplier (the other side of the city, but the p&p is cheaper than the bus fare) gives me the best deal. Just have to wait until the weekend now before I can order...no pennies 'til then.

I've not done much crafting these last few days...I'm aching all over, can't get warm and I'm so tired. Shopping last Friday really wiped me out. I've only ventured out a couple of times since, as the pavements have been so icy. I got shouted at by a motorist for doing so. Was walking on the road....which was clear of ice....the correct way, facing ongoing traffic...and was told to get off the f****** road! I ask you...what am I supose to do? Stay shut away in the house....or risk falling on the ice and breaking a hip or my back.

I did do one card though for a comp. It was done before I found Jackie's tut on colouring though. It's for Bootiful Stampz. Make a card or atc using only the colours pink, blue, purple and white. I have used a gold rub-on for the sentiment..so that just might disqualify it. The image is a digi-stamp from Sketching Stamper.

I'm loving these digi stamps that are popping up all over the place...they're great if you are on a tight budget (and aren't we all at the moment?) Lots of images at a fraction of the price of stamps. Ok, they do have some disadvantages...but on the other hand there are advantages too..so we win all round!

It's been a week...

..since I last posted, and the main topic of conversation in the UK at the moment is the weather......no surprise there then. What does surprise me, is that the snow we are experiencing at the moment was forecast...but to listen to news reports you'd think it was unheard of phenomenon!

After last week's swimming....I didn't do a lot....boy did I know about it. It's taken most of this week to recover from it. Monday saw the first snow and I did manage to get to my appointment with my GP. Being deep, fresh snow, I wasn't too worried about falling. It's now that I'm wary...ice under compacted snow. My GP did prescribe a calcium and vitamin supplement..so that's 6 lots of medication I now take on a daily basis...although the calcium isn't strictly classed as medication.

It was supposed to be shopping day today, but of course there was no chance. No buses to get there and we couldn't guarantee a taxi home. Hopefully we will see what the weather throws at us in the morning and with any luck we may be able to make it. My cupboards are nearly bare!

I've haven't done any cards this week. I've been busy painting ..or trying to. I'd like to be able to colour in images a lot better than I do at the moment. I've kept trying and just haven't been able to get it right.....but....I think I may have cracked it....thanks to Jackie. I've now realized what I've been doing wrong....not cleaning excess colour off my brush when blending. I've been having another go and my efforts are a lot better,....not as flat, a bit more definition. Still need more practise though. Thank you Jackie!

Now to show you the card that I made for the Imag-e-nation challenge. The card had to have a shape with a flower or flowers on, the sentiment and a ribbon or bow.

The image is a digi -stamp..Daisy Crazy from Sketching Stamper. I wasn't too confident about water colouring so I chalked it instead...and I came joint 4th place!...quite chuffed with that. So here it is.

2 blog candies...

...nearly forgot about these.

Bev... has some gorgeous pink candy..and a WOJ stamp.

Steph ..has pink candy as well!....must be something in the air.


Right..off to bed now...hope to be able to manage some swimming tomorrow...haven't been since before Christmas!

Not done any....

...blog challenges this week. I have done some cards though.....5 to be exact....4 birthday cards and a forum challenge card....so I can't show you that one yet.
The first one was for a customer who wanted a get well card for a lady who likes flowers on cards but she doesn't like fuss or frills. The image is from Pink Petticoat which I coloured with pearlescent chalks..added a narrow ribbon and 3 pearls. The sentiment is a rub-on.

The customer was pleased with it ..so she ordered another card. This time for a man who is a lifelong Sheffield United fan.....so I did it the teams colours. This card was a bit difficult to do....although I'm not a football fan...we are a Sheffield Wednesday household...sacrilege!!! She collected this yesterday and again was pleased ...(think I might have got a regular customer there). I coloured the stamped images using my ink pads with a damp brush. I'm not very good at water colouring ..but I'm quite pleased at the result.


The next card is for my middle grandson. He loves playing football and I thought this image fitted him to a T....scruffy! The image is a digi download, "Alfie" from grab-a-doodle-do. I chose to watercolour this one..but you do get a sheet of ready coloured images as well.

The last one is a card for my eldest's birthday.....which is today. It's a bit of a jokey one....he understands it. The words are the first verse of a Queen song....he's a big fan.

Hopefully I can get back to entering some challenges now...no family cards now until March.

Following on from my medication review that I had at the pharmacist, and the question of whether I should be taking calcium supplements....the surgery rang me up and said that they wanted me to book an appointment to see the GP. So it's booked for Monday at 5 pm. Will have to wait and see now what he has to say.