Because I am a girl...........

Hello!

If you have found your way to me from Shimelle's latest blog entry, then you will already know all about the amazing campaign she is helping. If not - then please pop by here and read all about this beautiful charity Plan-Uk are running called
Because I am a girl
"They are passionate about helping children in the world’s poorest countries get on their feet, get educated and break the cycle of oppression. Last year they worked with over 27 million children in poverty"(quote from Shimelle)
Shimelle is running an amazing opportunity on her blog at the moment to donate to charity and get something in return, for 24 hours she is donating ALL proceeds from sign ups to her class.
So - you sign up for one of her awesome online classes, you not only get access to a fab class, but you also help children who can't afford to help themselves... I think that is a pretty sweet way to help the world don't you?
I made a layout called
"There is no such thing as JUST A GIRL.. we are all so much more than that"

So - Fancy taking a class with Shimelle? Or - gift to one of your girlfriends? (how nice would that be!! - if you do that - make sure you email Shimelle the email address you would like the class invite sent to) What about getting an early seat for Journal Your Christmas or Preparing for Septembers "Learn something new" or polishing your blogging skills up with the awesome "Blogging for scrapbookers" class, or even getting your camera out and taking a few steps towards taking awesome pictures for your scrapbook pages with the "Love your pictures love your pages" class...
And if you still need to think about it.....

It's my turn for another UKS freebie

There have been 5 Mondays in May.

Which means today I have a second freebie for you over at UKS.

It is a set of flags for the tops of greetings cards.

You could use them on cards, or on Layouts - wrap round a cocktail stick for the top of cupcakes! Or as Mary Anne suggested over at UKS you could turn the plain ones on their side and make mini banner- bunting *cute*

Here is the file preview.. You can download in a printable HERE

Friday Freebie - Digital Stamp - Mr Popperfeffle

Fancy a Friday Freebie?

Well meet Mr Popperfeffle...

(try saying that with a mouthful of skittles)

He is your friendly neighbourhood gnome :

And yours for free by clicking the images below him, and saving to your pc :)

Friday Musing - Once upon a time

Ok - I won't lie - I woke up this morning (Thurs) and realised that not only had I not drawn up this weeks digi stamp kit, I had no idea what I would draw either!

I remember someone on mentioning to me that they wanted a knight and princess kit, so I decided to make one called "Once upon a time" which has a cute unicorn, princess and brave knight. *I have left a big enough space on his shield for you to add a name or age for birthday cards* so anyway - it is finished, and here for you to look at with your beautiful eyes...

And should you want to purchase the kit for £1.50 then you are fabulous

and you will need to pop by the shop

HERE

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trying to find time to craft

I am surrounded by boxes and should be packing a LOT more than I have been... the move is 23 days away... and counting (every second)

the trouble is.. whilst I pack, I am sorting, and whilst I am sorting I am finding cute stuff to scrap with, which makes me want to scrap...

So I did. Don't tell Ben.....

It was one of the pictures from Laura's wedding day photo booth.

You heard, a photobooth. I know! Epic.

So you see, it doesn't take a genius to work out that I now have around 30 photo strips, and around 50 enlargements to scrap! I love them all... but this one is one of my favourite single shots - and it was the first time we had gone in the booth and it was the first shot of that session...

I wish I had a photobooth in my house.

Talking of sewing machines (oh.. we weren't.. oh well we are now)

I have wanted to try free machine embroidery for EONS so today I had a quick go.. when Ben comes home and finds out I have unpacked the sewing machine to do so he won't be pleased - in fact I think I will pack it back up before he gets home in like... 10 minutes *panic*

Now - before you say "Cripes SJ that is really rubbish" please note I had no idea what I was doing, or a pattern, or an outline - it was just a practice run..

and once I can work out what is wrong with my machine (no matter how much I adjust the tension it still pulls through like that) I will have another go... because, it is rather addictive don'tcha know :)

4 paramedics and a bump....

You know when your energetic three year old runs into a door frame and nearly breaks his nose causing a giant lump to appear, his nose to bleed and an ambulance to be called....

Well we had one of those days on Sunday.

It was 8am - Finlay had already been up since half past-too-early and for some reason was on a bit of a high, it might have been the chocolate spread... but I digress, and he was all over the place, bouncing on our bed, sofa etc etc - and was also watching something on TV that had obviously captured his attention and he wanted to tell us something about it - because he started to run out the lounge and he obviously wasn't looking where he was going as the next thing we hear is a scream that was loud enough to penetrate your heart.

Ben was first to his side - and he looked at him and nodded to me that he was ok... only literally 10 seconds later it was very clear that he was certainly not ok at all.

An egg sized lump appeared on the center of his head, followed by some angry coloured lines which we later realised match the lines of the door frame :(

And then his nose started to bleed - so we called an ambulance, as he started to heave and say he wanted to be sick.

I tell you now, I wanted to be sick too, there is nothing that prepares you in any of the mummy books for the pain you feel in your heart when your child hurts. Nothing.

Two paramedics turned up who were awesome, and said that it was just a nasty knock to the head, but his observations seemed fine, he was quite clear in his speech (he even told them a joke) and was happy enough just sitting down with me once he had calmed down.

So they arranged for another set of paramedics to come and see him a few hours later and check on him. When they did, they said he would probably get a black eye on the Monday....

and they weren't lying. Look at my little "Black eyed pea" (his new name)

He is UTTERLY amazingly brave - and I am painfully proud of how he hasn't let it affect him.

What a trooper.

As for me. That is a different story... but one that I won't bore you with :)

Now - I am well aware that those pictures above may have left you with a slightly sad face... so here is something to cheer you up... (and me)....

*sigh*

Peonies are my favourite and best.

That tall pink tin jug was £2 at a boot fair on Saturday.

The peonies were in the Tesco Reduced flower bin to £2.08.

I think that is £4.08 of pure pretty and happy that I was certainly willing to spend :)

Clear stamps in the shop

Hiya - me again!

I hope your Friday is going well so far...

I just wanted to tell you two things

1: We exchanged on our flat today!

WOOOOOOOOOOO

which means we will be moving out, by the 16th at the latest!

and

2: I have uploaded some of the clear stamps from the little musings range into the shop!

So if your local craft shop hasn't stocked the Little Musings range (boo hiss) you can now get them from me.

However - some of them are very low stock, so if you want them grab them now

(we are down to one in some of them already!)

TAKE ME TO THE SHOP

Friday Musing Digi stamp - Layered Liam

Hey hey :)

Welcome to the blog this fine Friday morning!

I hope you are well, this weeks Friday Digital stamp set comes to you from the popularity of Layered Lillie - so meet her friend Layered Liam!

(These two would look so cute together!)

Liam matches the concept of Lillie - with his different interchangeable outfits and hairstyles.

You can create a whole heap of designs from

just one kit!

here is a preview of the outlines in the kit - just waiting to be inked up!

You can download Layered Liam for £1.50 from my digi stamp shop

HERE

Emma Bryan has made this gorgeous card for us this week - featuring Liam in his surf shorts, vest and beach shoes. Perfect for a cool dude on his birthday :)

I love the way Emma colours - pretty cool huh!?And Caroline Sears has made this "out of this world" card using the jeans and space t-shirt - I love the cosmic feel to this card. (also - can you believe that this is Carolines 60th card she has made me!?!?)
xxxx I hope you like him!

All just a little'bitta'history.......

I saw this list on Nancy Paper view's blog today - and kinda liked the idea of doing it myself (I am a sucker for questionnaires and lists!!) Basically it's just a list that works backwards in time....

I find it very apt at the moment, because in 27 days I turn 30...

I don't know why I am struggling with this concept so much - it is just a year (well actually I do know why - but that is for a whole other blog post sometime!!!)

One hour ago... sitting on the Sofa eating Lunch watching Finl

ay push his plastic shopping trolley around the lounge showing Diana (Ben's mum) A Flip video of Ben snoring (lol - true story)

Two hours ago... I was sitting at the base of the ladder of the loft, sorting out piles of stuff in prep for the upcoming move... Charity - Ebay - Bin - To gift....

Four hours ago...

.I was still in my PJ's eating Nutella on toast.

Eight hours ago... I was catching up on sleep that Ben deprived me of, from snoring (Love you Ben!)

Twelve hours ago... Trying to sleep/

Twenty four hours ago... I was probably here at the PC desk -whilst Finlay slept

Three days ago... I was at a picnic in the park which was just lovely

One week ago... I was freaking out on the phone all day trying to sort solicitors out

One month ago... I was excited to have sold - nervous as to where we would move to and fighting some up and down emotions...

Six months ago... I was getting ready for Christmas, making paper pretties and generally singing carols

One year ago... I was at the old flat - probably hanging out washing and playing with Lola our cat ( ahhh Lola.. *sads*)

Five years ago... It was just me and Ben and we were finding our footing in life together - making future plans and getting excited about life together

Ten years ago... I was just about to turn 20 - and was in the Catskill Mountains of Upstate New York living on a summer camp and having a crazy time!

Twenty years ago... I was 9... and that's all I have to say about that....

Thirty years ago... I was still in my mum's belly - with my Twin brother -growing nicely and due any day :)

GIMP Software & Musings Tutorial

Some of you who purchased Layered Lillie requested a little guidance as to how to use her - so I put together a 6 min video tutorial on how to use her in the free software called GIMP (unfortunate name but never mind) which can be downloaded from www.gimp.org

The video also works with "Layered Lillie" available from my digital stamp store now.

www.littlemusings.net

I apologise in advance for:

A: My voice - listening back is like listening to cats claws on a chalk board...

B: The blurryness of the screen - thank you Flip camera... grrr

C: When I get a bit nervous and forget how to use the English language correctly...

Awesome.

HORRAY! Friday musing :) *blogger is back*

It is amazing how much we depend on technology isn't it? I bet the guys in the blogger head office have been up for the last 24 hours freaking out about how to fix it! But hurrah! Here it is.. *thank goodness*

So this week's musing is one I have thoroughly adored doing - it is a bumper kit called Layered Lillie and is a digital doll kit with 36 pieces (16 colour and 16 outline) for you to colour in and layer up, either print as separates and decoupage OR make up before printing and color in as a whole.

Available now for the bargain price of £1.50!

THE SHOP

Here is a quick preview of the outlines in the kit so you can see what you get (you also get a colour version of everything you see here)

I love the samples that I have for you this week!

First up is Lisa Hines who has made this Birthday Boutique card!!

Each piece has been laminated and trimmed and is stuck to the card with velcro!!!

How utterly rad is that?

can you imagine how much a little girl would LOVE to receive this card!?

I would love to and I am 29 (just)

Next up is Emma Bryan - she has printed them out and added paper tabs to the outfits, just like traditional paper dolls used to have - so so cute!!!

I would love to see the face of whoever is lucky enough to receive these cute cards!

Here I have printed out one of the dolls and added the butterfly from Winge'd things behind!

I coloured her using promarkers and added some glitter for bling.

I am a bit obsessed with promarkers right now... can you tell?

Your work :)

You guys have been busy!!! - and some of you have emailed me with things you have been making with my musings.... I swear to you that these emails make my day - seeing people work with my drawings makes me want stay up all night with my sketch pad.

I LOVE seeing your projects and cards and hear about what you have been making and doing with them all. I have been collecting your emails - and thought it would be a good time to show you some of the fabulous work that arrives in my inbox..

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First up the very talented Joy Aitman from It's a creative world posted on the facebook group wall with this stunning embroidered teacup from the Royal Tea Part set You can read how she did it HERE.

next we have the awesome Angie Scott (aka Crafty Angel) who's blog you can find here. Who has created with the Giraffe Clear stamp set - I love what she has done, she has coloured them in promarkers and popped them on a cute polka dot grid. It just goes to show how the stamp works for both girl and boy baby cards :) Gorgeous.

next is a gorgeous card made by a very sweet lady I met at Hobby Craft on Saturday, her name is Danielle Budden *hi Danielle!* and she purchased some promarkers after my demo, went home, downloaded a digi set (royal tea party) and made this gorgeous card :) So cute.

I don't know if you blog Danielle - if you do, email me your link and I will add it here :)

Next up are some pictures I received from a lovely lady called Stephanie Wright - who is a teacher, and purchased the Digital Royal Tea set to use in her class room with the children for their pre-royal wedding party preparations. They printed the designs for bunting, and also printed some pages out to colour - so cool and lovely and it makes me smile to see them :)

The next beauty is from Lisa Hines - who is on my CT and she made this amazing easel card with one of the clear angel stamps (flora)

I love everything Lisa does - and this is a prime example as to why :)

Next we have Michelle La Grue - who has also sent me some cards she has made using the Clear ANGEL STAMPS that are available in the shop.

I love what she has made - firstly she created a birthday card for a family friend, gotta love the glitter on her wings and the glossed bunting - gorgeous (and that flower - lovely!!!)

She also made this collection of stunning cards, I love the angels when they are the main feature of the cards I see, and even more when they are raise or the wings are made 3D... look at the gorgeous simplicity and beauty of these...

and the string on the side, such a gorgeous touch, I know I have some raw twine in one of my crammed drawers, I need to find it now!!!

and last but by no means least - are some pretties that the fabulous Anam Stubbington has created for me - Anam guested for me a few weeks back - and you can read all about her

HERE and HERE

first she used Lillian and kept her black and white, but made her bunting rainbow - VERY cute indeed!!

next she made a lovely card, which has a very American feel to it - blue and red wings and bunting are the cute feature here - I love how she has layered the bunting like that :)

And I love the "A little birdie told me" Sentiment on this card - so apt!

This would be a cool card to pop in the post to a friend for a note of congratulations etc :)

EEep - and the last card is soo cute - a baby card using Lillian clear stamp - I love how she has put the word BABY on the bunting - and tied some cotton round - sweet touch! *loves*

Thank you ladies for all your hard work...

if you have been designing with the musings - email me - I would love to feature your work on the blog :)

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