Getting Straightened Out at Last!

Well, I have now got a new laptop and with a bit of chivvying, I got my recovered files from the other laptop. My digital stamps and my photos are saved so its a relief all round. Mind you it's an expense I could have done without what with the weddings. I need to get an outfit for New York as well, pdq.

While I have been without technology I have made a few cards; ostensibly for challenges which have now finished I expect but I can still let you have a look.

Penny Black Challenge on Docrafts



I just managed to post this by the skin of my teeth; we were asked to use orange and brown as the featured colours for this challenge.


This card uses my PomPom stamp and we were asked to be as girly as possible; I think I tried my best. I love the pink daises as an alternative to roses; I got them at 'The Works'.

More tomorrow maybe. I will also try to get round all my favourite blogs and leave comments. It was something I really missed. I didn't miss the weekly treat with Mum at Fir Tree Farm and John had a rather gorgeous pud in store. Pancakes, filled with stewed apple and rhubarb, drizzled with warm honey and served with a scoop of ginger ice cream. Just a lovely treat ( I only had a baked spud & salad!) and even with the beginnings of a cold,  it tasted delish! I had to pick up my dead laptop and the disc of files and then I went to Caroles Crafts for my Creative Cardmaking mag. I only realised after I had left that it wasn't the monthly mag that I had bought (it was due out today!) but a 'special' edition. Looks like I will have to go back........ never mind, eh, lol.

Anyway, I'm off to find something to eat, I've been so busy setting up the computer I didn't realise the time and there was no Mr H to remind me! Cheerio for now,



Just an update!

Goodness but it has felt strange not being in a position to do my blog. Mr H has an ancient laptop which he unearthed for me and which crashed after 20 mins because I apparently uploaded a virus onto an unprotected computer. Well I don't know how it happened but as usual I am to blame - just call me Johnah! I did have some good news because I won some candy and Teresa very kindly let me know and got me the email address. It cheered me up! Still no word from the computer doc about my files and am I nervous- you bet! Thank you so much for your lovely supportive comments - all but that first one, how on earth does that get onto my blog? My eyes are swimming in and out of focus so I am going to have to stop this, take car and cheerio for now, Hazel xx

Disaster has struck!

Oh the humanity - bear with me,I am making a drama out of crisis here! My trusty laptop has googled its last and has gone to techno heaven. The graphics chip has burnt out;right in the middle of me blogging yesterday. However they can recover my files for £40! I simply cannot bear the thought of losing all my digi stamps so made Mr H stump up - I was overcome with the mimsies & flutterings, lol.so I have delegated him upstairs to surf the net and find me another laptop pdq! I am using his iPad touch to do this - it has a tiny keypad and a tiny screen and I am truly pants with it!a
As a result I cannot post my cards so there will be nothing to see here that's interesting so I might not be blogging for a bit as my eyes are fully crossed now! Hope to be back very soon, cheerio for now, Hazeyj, xxx

Catching up with Carding.

I have waved goodbye to Sian and Dan, with a bit of a tear, okay! Now the house is quiet  and I have been doing a bit of crafting to catch up with commitments. I have missed it! I also want to say thanks to every one who has left me comments - I really appreciate you taking the time to do so!


Creativity Club Challenge #5

The cute fairy sitting on her big pile of books and reading fairy stories is a digi stamp freebie from Elizabeth Dulemba. The backing paper is also a free download called Hummingbirds. Promarkers were used to colour up and I made the sentiment on the computer. I matted the image and the sentiment onto Kraft paper just to lift it from the background and the sentiment is on foam pads. The dome stickers are from The Works and the gems are from my stash.

This card is for Debbie's Challenge and she gave us a sketch to follow and asked us to have a mythical theme.

Lisa's Decoupage Digi Challenge

The second card is for my favourite digi challenge on Docrafts and Lisa is the host this time. She asked us to decoupage our digi so this lamb, a free digi from Grandma's Pearl, was printed off 4 times and coloured with Promarkers. The first layer is the rectangle with the lamb and basket and the second layer is the lamb and basket without the rectangle. The third layer is just the lamb and the fourth is just the lambs head. It's much more obvious IRL and I think Lisa's idea was terrific. I made a 15cm square card from thick white card from Rymans which is too shiny to stamp on and matted on a smaller square of raspberry coloured card and then Summer Driggs Sweet Springtime paper, Wildflowers. The Easter sentiment is a free digi stamp from Renate. The paper string and the flowers are from The Works.

We (four of us) bought a total of five suitcases for going to New York, at a local garden centre which, as luck would have it, also contains a concession of The Works where I picked up some nice embellishments. While I like roses I like a change and the daisy-type and the white flowers were only £1 per pack of 12. The paper string was 99p for a pack containing nine different colours. I also picked up two packs of card charms - 6 in each pack, for £1 each and some dome stickers for 59p. They also sold 20 A4 sheets of card or paper for 59p but there was not much choice; I got 10 pieces of Kraft paper, 5 sheets of raspberry card, 4 sheets of green card and one piece of cream, embossed paper.  Not bad going.

I am off to make more cards for challenges I have entered or wish to enter, so cheerio for now,

Just Magnolia Challenge #95 Mina's sketch.

I have to say that prior to entering challenges I had never realised the importance of sketches and the fun involved in using them. I made the following card for my young friend Lucy and her partner Chris who have just had a baby girl. I know that she was born on 18 Feb but no more as the team at Fir Tree did not know more! Lucy is the assistant chef at Fir Tree and one of the most friendly, caring, obliging  and hard working people I have ever met. Nice just doesn't say it properly! I followed the sketch from the new challenge over at the Just Magnolia site which was devised by the lovely Mina. Needless to say I am entering it for the challenge there.



Baby Tilda



The card was cut out of an A4 piece of white cardstock on which I had traced a scalloped border. I cut a square mat and two circles out of the same sheet of pink cardstock. Out of pale pink Mulberry paper I cut two lengths to act as wide ribbon and tore down one side of one of the strips to give it a softer, feathery look. On the vertical strip I used some pink organza ribbon down the middle and on the horizontal, a strip of vellum which had the New Baby motif already printed on it. I placed baby Tilda, coloured with Promarkers and Frosted Lace Stickles, on foam pads above the  larger circular panel matted with paper that had with her toys on it!

The smaller pink circle at the junction of the two ribbons had a smaller circle added to it, cut from pink heart printed card which was the recycled card from a Papermania embellishment. Two holes were prepunched in this card and I threaded some of the organza ribbon through to simulate a bow. Some flatbacked white pearls, ribbon rosebuds and a dome sticker donated by Bernadette were added to complete. The animal paper and the vellum are from a set of pretty papers that I got some time ago from the Paper Mill but I have not recorded the makers.

I managed to make this card on Saturday morning waiting for my family to arrive but only photographed it today to upload. I'm not sure if it's down to consumption of alcohol yesterday but the image looks slightly out of focus to me!

We are all going out to buy luggage now; our other cases may not survive a long haul trip and Sian and Dan have none! Cheerio for now,

Totally Tilda Fruity Challenge

Just a quick post which I am fitting in between visitors to the birthday girl.

I used a Just Inklined digi stamp of an apple tree to back  Tilda with a barrel of apples.The images are coloured with Promarkers. The papers are Pretty Polly and the sentiment is from a cover freebie set from Docrafts Creativity mag. I did this card as a host for the Docrafts Tilda challenge and would also like to enter it in the Totally Tilda Fruity Challenge.

Off to fill the kettle, again, cheerio for now,

Paper Shelter #2 Red and Paper Romance Challenge #39 Anything Goes

Before I start with the cards I would just like to thank you for the lovely comments you made about Sian and her dress. You might have guessed that I would shed another tear but she looks so beautiful. The date is now certain - 27 May 2011, Ladies Pavillion, Central Park, New York. It is going to be wonderful.

The anti-inflammatories are making my tummy roil and I feel as if I'm going to throw up but the good news is the pain in my knee has reduced. Gungy finger feels great too. I have been crafting steadily as I find this a good distraction from whatever symptom is uppermost.



The Paper Shelter #2



I love this little kitty on her cushion from the Paper Shelter. Her collar is made of German Glass Glitter as is the edge of the circular, computer generated sentiment. The backing paper is Summer Driggs Angel Mother Red Paper on photo paper and it is matted onto red cardstock. The lace, red ribbon, red rose, gems and the brad in the sentiment are from my stash. I tried to run my sentiment of on red cardstock but it was not very crisp so I coloured up one on white card. The characters are much sharper even if the colouring is not even. I have also entered this card into Chrissieanns Animal Card Challenge on Docrafts as well as The Paper Shelter Challenge #2.



Paper Romance Challenge #39



The digital stamp, bees and the sentiment are from the Help for Katie Pack 2 and  called Honey Bear by D2D. They are available to buy at the Help for Katie blogsite for which there is a link in my sidebar. The two orange backing papers are from the Summer Driggs Dreamsicle set. This same card was used to mount the ribbon and the sentiment and to make the faux photo corners. Promarkers were used to colour up the image and the bees; the layout is Clare Curds. The ribbon is from my stash and the gems are from Anita's Gem Wheel. As well as the Paper Romance Challenge #39 I am entering this in the Clare Curd Sketch Challenge on Docrafts.

I'm off to get ready to go out to lunch at Fir Tree with my Mum. I don't feel much like eating but Mum doesn't get out unless one of us takes her and both of us look forward to our treats so I will go easy on my tummy. Cheerio for now,