Sj's - Little Musings

Friday Freebie - Ditgital stamp - "Colour me in Owl"

2012-01-27T22:03:00.001Z

Well.. technically it is still Friday (just) = heh!

I have a new freebie for you this week - it is a "colour me in owl"

I hope you like her / he?

I have designed this for all those who love the theraputic act of colouring!

And this one is for those who don't...

Let me know what you think!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Lino printing and messing about with the wool stuff!

2012-01-25T18:40:00.001Z

I know, blogger fail, sorry. Hello if you are still reading my blog!

I have made a decision, that this year, I will be brave and "try crafts"

I call myself a crafter, but really there are only a couple of things I actually do, I want to rectify that.. a bit anyway. (I'm not talking about basket weaving - not that there is anything wrong with basket weaving.. digs self out of hole) SO - to start with, I have been learning to crochet!

CROCHET!!

I am officially the girl who said she would NEVER pick up a ball of wool and think "I must make with this!!" BUT - my friend Rach has been making some beautiful ripple blankets, and granny stripe blankets which has prompted me to retract my previous sweeping statements and actually convince my friend Nathalie to teach me. One night armed with Haribo, wine and her patience (of a saint) she showed me how to do a chain, and then turn, and single crochet...

I was hoping that I would walk away from my lesson with something like this:

instead... obviously I walked away with something resembling this:

BUT I also walked away with the determination to master my found skill... I say skill very loosely by the way- as it took A MILLION attempts till I learned how to turn my work .. but I have happily started to find my rhythm with it - and I am working on my first proper project as we speak... a very simple blanket for a very small person, a gnome perhaps, or for Finlay's favourite bear.... who knows. Here is a quick instagram photo of it as it stood last night.... Soz for lighting - it was like 11pm. aka dark.

It is not just crochet I am doing though, I have rekindled my love of printing - and I wandered to my local curiosity art store and asked non-expectantly if they had lino cutting supplies - and to my glee he said yes. Admittedly the lino appears to be from 1981 and cracks like you would not believe - but - that said, I still managed to carve a couple of designs out of the three pieces I bought. I happen to know that they have easy carve stuff in there too now, so I will be trotting off there at some point to stock up, as I have had lots of fun with these. (Also - lots of nearly cutting my fingers off, and some properly painful injuries, but they were worth it .. kinda..)

Here are three of my little attempts....

After I took this picture, I also took a chunk out the top of my ring fingers.. sob. Oh how we suffer for our 'art' - pretty though - birds in a birch tree! <3

and you know me, I couldn't "not" do a jar!

a herringbone style one for creating backgrounds.

And then I got a bit ambitious...

which provoked me to actually utter a profanity. Or twelve.

and then simplify a huge amount till I was left with this:

which I know is much less grand.. but.. if you will, imagine it with gold ink on a black or purple textured card with some added bling - and you have yourself a little fancy!

So what have you been doing that is new?

Do you fancy trying a new craft this year?

New print - Valentines day

2012-01-17T09:35:00.002Z

Hello!

I have another new print for the shop! A new customisable print, perfect for valentines day, or just to show someone you love them.

You can see them in

FOLKSY

or ETSY

The print will be fully customised to your specifications, hair styles, clothing preference. You can add song lyrics, quotes, a love heart bubble, cloud, bird, moon, whatever you would like (if I can draw it!)

Below is a sample with song lyrics from "Can't take my eyes off you", the couples first dance *swoon* very romantic, what a lovely valentines gift.

New for the shop - letter press style print

2012-01-14T22:37:00.000Z

A new letter press style print - comes mounted in a white 10x10 mount

(fancy red wall paper not included lol)

100% customised to your personal chosen:

Colours

Dates

Names

Words

Places

etc etc - the list is limitless!

How better to show the one you love just how much you know them?

If you want to get on the valentines day printing list - you can purchase via

ETSY or FOLKSY

xxxxx

December pages part 1 - Quirky Kits

2012-01-09T13:53:00.001Z

Hello all!

I was so excited to be asked to design for Quirky kits again, as I LOVE the kits truly.

Firstly - I used Snow Stories to design some pages:

I loved how the kit was so universal and could be used for anything...

I am not a massive Christmas scrapper - so I was delighted when the kit arrived and it wasn't snowman themed!! Here are some of my pages I have made using the kit.

I will be back this week with more pages from the December kits!

xxxxxxx

Freebie Digital stamps - banners

2012-01-07T22:10:00.001Z

Freebie!

It's a day late - I will get myself in check for next week (I hope!)

This week, I needed a banner for a project - so drew a few to choose from, and thought that perhaps you might like to have your own banners too :)

There are two ways you can do this...

One - right click on the picture below.. and save, print and cut etc

Or - you can

click HERE and download the full set of individual files, digi stamp version for your own colouring and PNG files for digi scrapping should you so feel the inclination

Enjoy!

Fiskars roller stamps - new for 2012

2012-01-04T22:39:00.001Z

I am really excited, because a while back I was asked to design the latest range of Fiskars roller stamp sheets. They have been in the pipe line for a long time, but are now available!

as soon as I get my grubby fingers on them I will post some photos of how they print.

See that paisley design one? That took me TWO DAYS to get right lol! I am most proud of that one!

New Year Round Up!

2012-01-02T21:52:00.002Z

It's that time again. A new year, and new year blog post!

Last year - (and I had to look back at this!!!) I said I wasn't going to set myself a list of goals to fail at! (a little pessimistic much?) and I gotta admit - as I sit here tonight, I am properly disappointed at myself! ha!

So - instead of reflecting upon that.. cos, I can't... I instead will reflect upon some of the years events that made me smile, cry, ponder and celebrate!

This list, is in no way, in order. Just saying. I have no favourites :)

Things I made water in my eyes over:

Selling stress - our selling flat saga spread itself over 2 long years of woe = but finally this year, we handed over the keys to a couple and ran for our lives to rent a house where Finlay could roam free.

Apart from that - I am sitting here racking my brain for other sad stuffs - and I can't think of anything other than the normal weeping at sad movies, and some private inner woe that really doesn't need to be discussed lol!.... wow..... really!? Is that it?! Quick - touch wood that means 2012 isn't my year of sadness!

2011 Achievements

-January -

My first line of stamps with Personal Impressions went to QVC!

I started doing monthly giveaways on UKS of printable freebies.

-February -

My first project article was published in PaperCraft Inspirations

My second line of stamps were released:

I made my first scrapbook video

-March-

I created my first line of Angel stamps

I taught for Fiskars at the NEC

I made my most favourite quilt of all time - properly - and it is almost perfect! (almost - as I don't do anything to the degree of perfection, who wants to spend their life trying to be perfect!?)

(this is it mid - stage)

-April-

My second release of Angel stamps arrived!

I was so so so proud of these!

April was fairly quiet - I had some awesome guest designers for Little Musings... and my stamps were on QVC again <3

-May-

I demonstrated for Letraset for the first time, in a hobbycraft (eep)

-June-

I learnt basic origami!

we SOLD AND MOVED!

I turned 30. Gah

Finlay beat a terrible strain of chicken pox that started to attack his organs!

I made the Scraprat Design Team

And the Little Bit of Whimsy Design Team

I guested at Pencil lines,

and perfected my shortbread recipe!

-July-

I did my first craft fair in years

I did well - but don't think ill do another any time soon!

Finlay learnt how to ride a bike

Me and Ben celebrated our wedding anniversary.

-August-

A lemur kissed me!

I made a cute cushion from scraps

-September-

I released my Christmas digital angels

I had two epic articles in magazines which made me so proud I don't even mind having a little boast!

and

I started TAKE ONE

Which - I will be continuing in the New year folks!

Now - this one is not my personal achievement, but my TWIN brother got married!

I practised Victory Rolls

I made their wedding biscuits!

I taught at Cardinal Colours retreat

I started designing prints fuelled by the love of typography

I cut my own fringe lol!

-October-
I learnt how to needle felt.

I started selling Personalised names likes prints:

I fell in love with a photo

-November-
I released one of my post popular downloads:

Finlay turned FOUR!

I spent a lovely day at Craftaholic Supplies! I wish I lived nearer!

We went for a lovely weekend away (though missed Laura) :(

-December-
Tumbleflump moved in:

My little boy was a shepherd!

and there is a shed load of freebies on the blog should you care to look back over December too!

Word of the year:

Nuture 2009

Renew 2010

Evolve 2011
So - my word for 2012 is.... *drumroll*
Evaluate
e·val·u·ate

tr.v. e·val·u·at·ed, e·val·u·at·ing, e·val·u·ates

1. To ascertain or fix the value or worth of.

2. To examine and judge carefully; appraise. See Synonyms at estimate.

3. Mathematics To calculate the numerical value of; express numerically.

I need to evaluate a lot of things in my life - some of the main ones are:

Working out where to worry less. I seem to spend a lot of my time worrying about things I cannot change, sometimes I loose sleep over other people! I am not saying I want to worry about them less, but what I do want to do, is work out why I worry so much!!
I also worry a crazy crazy amount what people think of me - why do we do that so much!?
I want to evaluate my time better - working out where to spend time, on what projects etc and to make sure that I don't become so "last minute" as I did in 2011

I guess Judgement would be a good word to go hand in hand with Evaluate - but we can't have two!

There are some really personal things I need to evaluate in 2012 - not blog appropriate but we all have our personal things right?

Goals for 2012
I have a few things I would like to "aim" for in the forthcoming months.
One is to craft more - considering I call myself a crafter - I didn't do anywhere near the amount of personal projects I thought I would last year.

The other is to develop Little Musings (the shop) more. Through sales I have identified which areas to focus on and will do so in 2012... I feel so fortunate to have such wonderful customers!

I want to spend more time with friends this year, more time on adventures with Finlay and Ben and more time with family.

I want to say get healthy and loose weight - but I seem to jinx myself when I do that.. so I will merely mutter it under my breath.

I want to paint more! I want a sketch book full of drawings, I want to journal and keep a diary so I never miss a deadline!

I want to wear more dresses and heels and dance! <-------- even though I have no one to dance with!

I want to live in the present - and forget day dreams that leave me sad in reality.... if that makes sense.

I want to love simply without holding resent.

So what is left? How many more words can I fit into a blog post without you falling asleep!?
None - I shall leave you with some tunes instead, and wish of great things for you for 2012!

Some of my favourite songs I listened to a million times this year were:

not here yet.............

2011-12-24T20:33:00.000Z

Freebie printable Thank you paper

2011-12-24T10:58:00.002Z

I haven't blogged for a fortnight!

I guess December has been a lot more manic than I thought it would be - I mean, its Christmas eve! How'd that happen!?

so much to catch up on - I had so many blog posts planned for the month and I have done nothing...

well .... not nothing - cripes!!!

BUT I do have a freebie to make up for my lack of musings this month!

I have knocked up some printable thank you paper - just right click, save and print :)

So here you are!

Enjoy

xxxxxxxxxxxx

Some cute owls :)

Who doesn't love a festive owl? (aside from field mice)

and lastly - a little set of printable toppers - bling, glitter or layer up for a quick card.

Make up for being lame FREEBIE digital free bundle

2011-12-10T15:46:00.001Z

Hi - I said I would be back today - and I am - not much chat - but a lot of freebie freebos for you to download. First up is a little village - I was going to do this as paid download - but hey ho, tis the season to be jolly! Fa la la la la la la la la.

So here they are made up......

Here is the blank one you can print onto pretty papers to decorate yourselves......

And here are the pre - filled ones - have fun!

Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd if that weren't enough - grab an owl or two whilst you can........

And that, for now, is that.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

Shepherd watched the elf by night.....

2011-12-09T16:49:00.001Z

Allo allo! I fancied blogging today. Rare.

So - when did your heart melt the most this year?

Mine was at this point....

here..

My little boy - a shepherd in the nativity concert (on a play mat no less)

Bless his face. He was cute all the way through - till he threw his head scarf in his key workers face - but that is another story....

So - as promised (even if only to myself) Here are my scrap layouts from the weekend away - I must admit - I am finding less and less time to scrap these days - I find myself doing orders, meeting the demands of a four year old with ever growing boredom and intelligence to satisfy - and general life on the run up to Christmas. - Here is an example of this - I started this blog post at 4pm and its now 7:10pm!

Anyway - layouts.......

this next one is one of my favourite layouts of all time.

Also - the simplest of layouts of all time surely?

eeep - I love the sentiment stamp as title... the simple journal lines - stickers and kraft - oh and of course, the subject matter - my little self portrait fan using Incredibooth.

oh - ok, so the next one has an odd title - but simply explained - It is Finlay in some fancy new threads for my brothers wedding, and for some reason, it totally reminds me of a picture of Michael Buble!

please ignore my "from the ghetto" journalling - I am painfully aware I am from Bexhill and not the streets.

Another odd titled one........

yes... I did use a whole sheet of journal tab stickers on that......

ahem, moving on.

*the lyrics from this are Ed Sheeran Lego House (aka the nicest song in the world... for the moment)
--------------- anyway moving on!---------------
Remember the free download from Papercraft Inspirations I designed for advent boxes?

Well - here they are in their hung glory - chocful of delight and pretty on the eyes too..

And yes - there are three advents in this home - advent advent everywhere!

In other news....

Tumbleflump Hollie-Tinker decided that the new fancy bobble trim on his hat meant he could step up the cheeky antics at night - Finlay woke up today to find him perched mid-act of doodling on our photos....

what a little flipperty gibbit he is!

and that is it for today!

tomorrow I have a digi freebie for you all.

xxxxxxxxx

2011-12-08T23:32:00.001Z

Can someone please slip another 12 hours into the day for me??
I'm losing December rapidly!!
In fact I'm in bed typing this just about to doze off....
Just wanted to blog these elf pics as I've been getting lovely emails from people asking how he is doing!
Xxxxxx
Well - he's turned the milk green

Left a recipe and demanded we make elf cookies...

And also eaten the last one and drawn on photos!!!

Cheeky elf indeed. Finlay loves him heh heh!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

catching up

2011-12-06T15:43:00.001Z

Its been crazy!

I know all our time is precious in December - but omgoodness round here it has been manic, a week filled with tonsillitis, school plays, order packing, and to top it off - my home Internet is down.

Brilliant.

Anyway - I wanted to pop these pics on my blog as It has been painfully abandoned of recent days!

Had a fab weekend away with the girls again - *love them all*

I actually scrapbooked! And once I have photos I will upload them - along with the promised pictures of Finlay's party (Where does the time go!?)

Someone else has been occupying my mind recently - he knows who he is.....

Mr Tumbleflump Hollie-Tinker of course! *Who else? ;-) *

he has been causing lots of mischief - Finlay ADORES him....

And - believes in him 100% - I have forgotten what that feels like, to believe in something so innocently without questions or judgements. I sometimes watch him in jealous wonder at all the magic you can almost see dancing around his head. He wakes up in glorious anticipation about what he will find every morning, what antics his elf has been up to - and he truly believes it... I hope he doesn't have any reason to lose wonder in his life for a long time. It seems to have struck a huge personal chord within me, and I have been very reflective over it - perhaps not the most festive thing I could write here today ha, but it's true. I love him, and his precious innocence - I wish I could protect him forever. I am sure most parents who read this know what that feels like...

I won't lie to you - I am having a crazy amount of fun setting up his antics too..

my favourite so far, is this school:

Elf school - it was such fun to create!

His face was beyond priceless when he saw it - lol - look at the pics of him..

Things I promise to blog - catch up on before the week is out:

Finlay's first Nativity
The missing Friday download
The crafty cottage layouts
Festive ideas with the musing tags!

Also - Just to keep you updated on the print shop - all orders are in production - some of you will have received order previews today!

xxxxxxxxxxx

He arrived

2011-12-01T08:57:00.001Z

Meet "Tumbleflump Hollie-Tinker, our resident house elf for December.

Finlay is very excited to have made his acquaintance this morning.
I wonder what mischief he will get up too :)

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Friday Freebie - on a thursday

2011-11-24T17:35:00.001Z

I am busy - VERRRRRRRRRRRRRY busy.

so - I will make this brief :)

I hope you like it - a freebie for you :)

Mwuah!

xxxxxxxxxxx

Limited order spots available for personalised prints

2011-11-20T09:28:00.001Z

Thereare 34 days till Christmas - 34 days to find an epic present!

I have a long order list going on here at Little Musings so if you were debating ordering one please do so soon, as I will only be accepting orders with Christmas delivery slots for a limited time.

There are a few designs to choose from:

1 : Family nicknames

2: Family Likes OR Values

3 : Special dates and places - personalised couples or friend print

4: Personalised names prints - with or without age.

Christmas Tag Printables AND digi FREEBIE - be warned - seriously cool.

2011-11-19T15:25:00.001Z

Well - aren't I just all higgildy piggidly this week with my normal schedule...

I have been a bit headless chicken of late - but things are starting to even out now so normal blogging will resume from now. Apart from this one... which should have gone live yesterday.

Anyway!

This weeks download is different in may ways - but it matches each of those ways with being AWESOME.

Tis' a printable kit for tags!

10 word art Christmas lyric files - which perfectly fit onto luggage label style swing tags.

(there is also a template if you wanted to print on normal card and make your own tags)

Each file comes in red or green to choose from, or you could print with black ink only (grey scale) for black print. I love them. I don't even mind admitting that, because I do truly love them.

The letter press style speaks to my art-lovin-heart and I worked really hard on getting these perfect for you. Each word art (Just like my custom prints) is done by hand to make sure they look and fit the tags just right.

Which means, you get to have the coolest gifts under the tree this year to give out!

*Disclaimer - I hold no responsibility if people like your tags better than the gift inside lol!*

If you, like me, have a crush on gift wrap and tags, you won't be disappointed by this kit.

Here is a preview of the 10 lyric files:

eeeeep! how "pinterest-cute" are these!?

The files are JPG's - so you will be able to print straight away even with the simplest of software.

You can purchase the whole cute lot for £1.50 HERE

Sample anyone?

Here we have printed on a kraft tag and tied to a kraft-wrapped gift with doily detail.

(see... cute!)

this one, again on kraft and doodled round...

If you are singing festive tunes right now, buy the kit lol! It is a sign!

heheh!

-------------------------

SO - who wants a FREEBIE to kick start your creativity?

Here is a free one to right click and save, then read the instructions below and get to work you festive folk!

sample of how it looks when printed.

It is up to you if your recipient has been naughty or nice!

____________________________________________

And - printing onto the tags is easy!

The files have been designed at 6x4 ratio to print. So - all you need to do is:

Get a piece of 6x4 card or paper (paper is best)
Mark a dot on one end of the paper (You will see why in a minute)
Set your printer to the 6X4 print setting and print your chosen tag file from the kit (or freebo!)
once it has printed - you can assume that the dot you have drawn marks which way the tag will go up (eg: The dot end is the end the string goes on)
Remove the string from a tag
position the plain tag OVER where the text is on the sheet you printed.
Using light tack masking tape or repositionable herma, adhere the tag to the paper
place in the printed the same way you did before - and re-print.
peel the tag off = re-add the string and sit back and marvel at how glorious this tag is!!!!

Where on earth have I been?

2011-11-18T08:45:00.001Z

I haven't blogged for a week!

Ok - today is going to be BLOG DAY.

I have a download for today - but need to finalise the samples for you - so for now, let me explain part of the reason for my absence.... My baby turned FOUR!!

On Sunday he had a dinoparty = I need to blog that in a separate post otherwise this post will be too picture heavy. He had an awesome day though, and I was left feeling very much the luckiest friend in the world (more on that later)

Onto his actual birthday day....

His best friends have scooters - and he was really keen for one, so we purchased a Mini Micro scooter which he LOVES.

Can you spot the meerkat above?

We took him out for lunch in his favourite park and let him scoot about on his new wheels.

I love the infrared effect in these pics..

I love Hisptamatic photos for making you feel like you are in the 1970's....

He makes my heart melt.

*melty melt*

He loves to find me flowers and identify leaves. Bless my little botanist.

Right! I am off to finish the download and then blog again later!

Friday Freebie x 2 - Christmas elf / elves digital stamp freebie

2011-11-11T22:08:00.001Z

Hey hey - it is still Friday for two more hours...

I am busy at Little Musings HQ doing names prints and orgaising Finlay's birthday party.

BUT I did manage to find time to do a couple of freebie digi stamps for you all.

Right click, save and enjoy!

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

For sale:

2011-11-10T07:42:00.001Z

I have for sale, a:

Portaflash Studio Lighting Kit:

Including:

2 flash heads

1 slave flash head

3 stands

White and gold reversable reflector (foldable)

Silver flash umbrella

Soft box for flash head

Backdrop stand

black backdrop cloth

fawn colour backdrop cloth

Sync lead

Hot shoe for camera adapting (for sync lead)

I would like £100 and the cost of a courier (about £10 I would estimate via Parcel2Go.com)

Pictures coming later - but if you are interested - email me!

sarahjanedowsett(at)gmail(dot)com

Sold pending payment

Take One #4

2011-11-08T15:22:00.000Z

Hello all!

It is that time again - "Take One"

And the new video is here.

I hope you enjoy.. it's not a very long one this week:

I hope you like it!

Did you join in with take one over the last 14 days?

EmmaC , Mandy , Sanna , Julie , Charmayne and Karen did!

Check out their blog posts to find out what they did!

leave a link here if you join in this fortnight!

Craftaholics supplies and Shop Update

2011-11-07T11:52:00.001Z

Hey! I don't feel like I've been blogging much lately! *must change that*

So a quick post till I get myself back on track!

Saturday was spent with Neil in his awesome shop Craftaholic Supplies doing some demonstrating with Letraset pens and inks. I had a great day, and ended up wishing I lived nearer so I could pop in every day and sit at the shop table with a pasty and some paper to play with.

I have rarely met a group of people so lovely all at once - the shop is light, bright and full of gorgeous crafty supplies, I managed to get some camo print decopatch paper for my dinosaur (which I realise now I haven't told you about yet - ahah! New post no1 coming up!!) alongside some other goodies.

I also ate cake, drank champagne and coloured in all day *BLISS*

Thank you to all who came to say hi! It was lovely to meet you all!
And seriously - as a footnote - if you need cheering up - go in and see Neil in his shop, it is in Hythe in Kent - and I kid you not, he smiles all day and you can't help but feel brightened by his lovely nature!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I now interrupt this blog post for a quick and fun
Shop Update

Because I literally love designing these prints - I have added two more designs to my store on Etsy and Folksy:

_______________________________________-

Option 1: Special places and dates print.

Very romantic and a perfect gift for your loved one this year.

Have a print with your names on, places and dates that have special meaning to you both

Example:

And second up is a really quirky idea, to have a print made of your..

Family Nicknames.

Dare you bare your secrets to the world (or your living room) by revealing all your pet names and nicknames for one another?

Yes? (then you are awesome and I like you already)

Here is an example of my family print:

"Chickenlips" I hear you say? (I didn't say you have to say why did I?) heheh!

Oh - and as for Bumface.. I hold no responsibility for that one *ahem, cough cough*

You think those are bad? You should hear the ones I couldn't include lol!

NEW size "Likes" print!

2011-11-02T19:50:00.002Z

I am doing a quick blog to let you know that there is a NEW print size in the shop.

A3 framed = the complete Christmas package :)

The original prints are A4 when in their cosy gorgeous mounts... so the above is twice the size... pefect to create a central focal point of unique art in your home.
But if that is just too big - then why not purchase a gorgeous A4 size.

You can find out more details in the Folksy shop

HERE

Freebie free freeeebo digital stamp : Willow

2011-10-29T22:17:00.000+01:00

Free digi stamp illustration "Willow"

I haven't coloured her in for you this week - as I thought I would leave that to you :)

If you want to link me to her coloured so I can include a sample here -please pop me an email :)

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

October half term.......

2011-10-29T09:33:00.002+01:00

What have you been up to this half term holiday?

We have... in no particular order:

Played in the park wrapped up in warm...

and cosy animal hats..

gathered pupmkins (6 to be exact)

adopted an elf... who arrived mid week and caused much excitment for the child within me..

needle felting a dinosuar....

plenty of face painting...

Yup... that's me as a tiger and Fin as a... um... red thing. (dinosaur mask perhaps?)

And finally making spiced caramel apple cupcakes with delicious frosting... *bloat*

And not photographed:

pyjamma time
movie watching
cake eating
paper sticking
spatula licking
guinea pig cuddling
disney singing
and pumpkin carving

2011-10-26T08:20:00.004+01:00

Apart from the fact that the prize is art and not chicken....

ok.

Anyway whoo - here are the winners!

=======================

A: Ger76

B: Julie

C: Shelia

D: Denise

E: Tagati

F: Lynda

======================
The videos are very of Finlay choosing the winners, so please don't expect much professionalism lol!
Also - they go a bit crazy around the end of D, and E and F are all combined lol.

A:B:C:D: E & F:

Take one #3

2011-10-25T18:00:00.000+01:00

It is Tuesday Take One Day! I have made a new video for my entry this week which you can watch here:

So - who joined in and let me know?

Julie made a gorgeous page inspired by her art journal HERE

And AliT made a fabulous page inspired by one of her previous layouts HERE

There are some lovely entries over at UKS too.

If you want to join in, and blog it - please link back - I will add your entry to the next video blog.

The great art giveaway

2011-10-23T17:49:00.003+01:00

Well.. I call it "the great art giveaway" but I hasten to add that I don't by any stretch of the imagination call my paintings great, but "The mediocre art giveaway" didn't have the same ring to it!

(I've totally put myself down there haven't I?)

Anyway - as my regular readers know, I have moved house this year - and our decor and my storage has seriously changed, in the fact that we have no storage!

These paintings have been in a pile outside my bedroom door since we moved, and I have decided that they are doing nothing good sitting there - and perhaps someone else (maybe you?) would want one?

So - how this will work is - if you want one - leave a comment with which painting you want (you can choose more than one) and I will put all the names for each one in a hat and Finlay will choose a random comment for each painting. All I will ask, is that you can cover the cost of the postage of the painting you "win"

OK... so here goes!!!!

*nervous*

I think I will cry if no-one comments lol!

____________________________

Large sitting angel - Size: 24" x 24"

CLOSE UP:

__________________________________________________

Three canvas painting Body and two wings - each canvas is size 12" x 12" (so 36" in length without gap!)

close up:

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Angel with golden blonde hair - size 12" x 9"

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Angel with pale hair - Size: 12" x 9"

____________________________________

Red Elemental - Size 8" x 24"

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Blue Elemental - Size: 8" x 24

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So if you want any - leave a comment with the letter of the painting / paintings you like,

with a contact email.

I will do the draw for the paintings on Wednesday so don't be shy if you want one.

Ok... be warned... I am going to mention christmas in this post...

2011-10-21T20:55:00.002+01:00

Finlay will be turning four in a few weeks.

Gone are the days when I had a toddler, I now have a small man with a GIANT sense of humour.

I am a happy mummy, but also since the birth of Laura's baby I am also broody. *cluck cluck* our "nest" is too small for a second though, probably for the best!

Ok - so that said, I felt it time to start a new Christmas tradition, and considering his sense of humour, I know he will LOVE this a huge amount.

Ever heard of "The Elf on the shelf" ?

I hadn't till the delightful world of Pinterest enlightened me, and I managed to get so worked up with the possibilities that I am now the proud owner (when it arrives) of a house elf.

Ok - so what is the elf on the shelf?

It is a story that is all based around a magic elf, who watches the children of the house in the day time and reports back to Santa at night with their good or bad behaviour. *already I love - but it gets better*

When the elf returns, he performs some sort of mischief before the day begins...

like doodling over a family photo...

or replacing all the photographs with his own photo...

but mainly - he "positions" himself somewhere in the house for the children to find in the morning.

I love it.

A L O T

And - It will make a sweet addition to JYC this year - a mini book in it's own right maybe!

Little Musings = Art Journal stamps. Friday Musing

2011-10-20T22:01:00.002+01:00

This week I have tried something a little different -
I've made a kit with art journals, altered art and smashbooks in mind.

The kit features "Laney" in two colourways, hearts, wings, a journal block, typewriter and wings.

Laney has strong lines in her hair to include journal writing (as does the journal block rectangle)

As always - she comes in outline form and coloured versions.

If you like her - you can purchase her from the shop :) HERE

xxxx

I printed her on watercolour paper and used Aqua markers to colour her in.

As you can see, her hair provides some cute space for your journal writing.

LOVING these name prints

2011-10-19T22:22:00.004+01:00

I am seriously loving making these name prints - and have loved being allowed a little peek into people's worlds, their likes and values etc.

I have had a few emails about the likes prints - and would like to answer a few questions in case you too have wondered about them:

_________________________________-

Q: Do I need to give you my age?

A: No :) I do LOVE the age on the prints as it "dates" them in your life etc but 2011 can be added instead, or even omitted totally making room for a few more "likes" etc.

If you can imagine it, I will do my best to design you it.

Q: Can I choose any colours?

A: Yes!! You can give me a colour spectrum choice, or simply say "pinks and purples" etc and I will send you sample colours before we finalise the finished print.

Q: Do you ship outside the UK?

A: You betcha! - email if you want a quote

Q: How can I purchase if I don't have a folksy account?
A: Folksy is free to join, and it means you can support cool artists in their endeavour to sell their beautifully handcrafted items - but if that still doesn't float your boat - I have installed a BuyItNow button at the end of this post (just cos' I loves ya!!)

Q:What is the meaning of life?

A: Macaroons, warm socks in winter, pumpkin soup and the smell of shake'n'vac of course!

(oh - and owning a little musings name print - naturally!!!)

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winner winner!

2011-10-19T20:51:00.003+01:00

Finlay chose the number 8 to win the pretty paper party pass to Shimelle's latest class.

And that means YOU Lythan :)

Email me sarahjanedowsett(at)gmail(dot)com

Sorry if you didn't win! But you can still sign up and join in!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

FREEBIE digital stamp = digi brain in jar for halloween

2011-10-18T21:57:00.003+01:00

I know I missed the musing last week - soz about that :( life etc

Anyway - to try and make amends I am offering a mid week Halloween freebie!

Brain in a jar. Obviously. lol!

all you need to do - is right click, save, print, colour and do whatever your beautifully twisted mind allows you to do.

It is not the first time in my life I have drawn a brain in a jar.

This will be the third. Weirdly.

hah!

Special party post

2011-10-18T15:26:00.003+01:00

There are online classes for everything these days, and Shimelle has been teaching online scrapbooking classes for years - but she's decided it's time to kick it up a bit and go from online class to a four-week online party, and you're invited. Pretty Paper Party is the party to attend if you have a collection of paper stacked up for a rainy day, if you have more scraps of paper than you know what to do with (but you know you don't want to throw them away!) and if you've ever put a piece of paper back in your stash because it was just too special for the photos at hand. Through printable prompts and tutorial videos, Shimelle and dozens of special party guests will share beautiful and innovative techniques you can achieve with the paper you have already collected.

---------------------------------------------

What's more - I have been asked to guest for her - and that means I have a guest pass to win a place on the class! It has already started - but all the best people turn up fashionably late to parties right!?

Here is a sneak one of my projects:

Wanna win? leave me a comment on this post and I will draw the winner this time tomorrow:

3pm GMT.

"If you had to wear a paper dress to a party - what paper would you choose?!"

Mine would be Cosmocricket Early Bird - I love that pattern!

My finger is sore.

2011-10-16T22:57:00.000+01:00

I will explain why in a moment.

Before I do - look at this picture from my brothers wedding....

I LOVE smooshed face from lots of kissing!

MWUAH!

My hair looks really matted in this.. I swear to you it was shiny and soft, even if it could do with a trim..

That over with *swoon* it is my favourite time of year...

PUMPKIN PATCH TIME!

There is an awesome farm shop near us, which every year has the hugest display of pumpkins ever (well... not ever,.. but a large one by UK standards) And every year I sit my son in the middle of them and snap away. I need to go back with my camera, as I had forgotten to pack it when we passed the other day, and even though I love my iphone for it's crisp images, I longed for my canon. Oh well - back to the pumpkin patch we go *yiippeeee*

we bought two mini ones, and one large white one...

and Ben is trying to convince me to carve this... *geez* he is LEGO obsessed.

I found out the other day that folks in the US call lego - Legos (plural), as in "Today I played with my legos"

heheh. I actually love it - and does in fact make odd grammatical sense.

what doesn't make sense however, is Finlay's body clock.

He just loves 5:something am. So cruel on a Sunday - unless you live on a farm and need to get up to feed the livestock. But we don't live on a farm.

So what else do you do at 5am odd?

Well - today I played Cheese or Font and then when that got old, somewhere around Kaufman and Castlemango, I decided I wanted to turn one of my digi angel stamps into a needle felt angel...

Which - is why my finger and thumb are so sore... as 6am needle felting will do that to you it seems.

Anywhoo - she still needs eyes... but those fundamentals aside meet my fourth ever needle felt project.

I would show you number three... but it is shamefully poor. Maybe another day.

I hope your weekend has been pumpkintastic.

Family Values and Family Likes

2011-10-15T16:32:00.001+01:00

New in over at the Little Musings Folksy shop are "Family Likes" and "Family Values" prints.

These make perfect gifts, all of which are designed from scratch (not word clouded!!)

And all for £8. Why so cheap? - Simple, I really wanted to offer something under £10 for people to order as Christmas or everyday gifts without having to spend a fortune!

The mounted print fits perfectly into an A4 frame:

Here is mounted Family Likes print:

And here is a framed example with Family Values:

and another:

Needle felting!

2011-10-14T21:08:00.004+01:00

I have discovered a new hobby...

Needle felting!

It all started when I was looking at a needle felt owl on Etsy which was about 2" high and £40!

I thought "cripes!" I think I am going to learn that technique... not because I want to make £40 selling felted owls.. but more because I don't want to spend £40 on one!!!

So anywhoo... I spent less than £5 on ebay and bought a little set of Wool roving and a couple of needles.

When it arrived, I spent a few minutes working out how to use the needles and within 30 mins had made a 1" king fisher heheh!

*disclaimer* - I am well aware of my amateur talent - but be kind, it was my first go!!!

(He kinda looks like one of the angry birds doesn't he?)

It really was easy! If anyone has fancied giving it a go.. do! It is a properly cheap hobby!

This is my second ever project....

He stands about 3" tall, and is currently hanging from my bedpost before he gets hung on my Christmas tree!

Oh how I love him heheheh!!

*If you have come here today for the Friday musing - I have had a crazy day, and I will be posting it tomorrow instead! xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Take one #2 - Second installment of my take one challenge videos

2011-10-11T08:25:00.001+01:00

Hey all!

It is "Take one Tuesday" - And I have episode 2 of my video installments for you today

*eeep*

Here is the link to the UKS chat thread

And here is my page that I will be taking inspiration from this fortnight:

Using 'over sized' embellishments compared to the actual photo.

I love this because I already know it means there will be white space on my new page woo!

Ok - now it's your turn! What page will you choose from your albums to inspire yourself with?

Don't forget to link back either here or on the thread.

I am going to do a post later on showing you the work that people have linked me to over the fortnight, so if you have done the challenge and blogged it - please link me so I can include you.

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Personalised "Like" prints

2011-10-09T13:38:00.001+01:00

How many days till Christmas?

I've no idea, but I thought I would do a nice spot of promotion of a new product I am selling via Folksy:

Personalised Name and Like prints

So cool for Christmas, or if you are like me, buying just because you love typography prints, and what could be better than one featuring all your children's likes?

ps: you are never to old either!!!
Here is mine :)

Plus, they are only £8 mounted!

:-)

Take One challenge reminder.

2011-10-08T08:10:00.003+01:00

Just a quick reminder - if you wanted to take part in TAKE ONE

You have till Monday

Because on Tuesday there will be a new video :-)

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mwuah!

Things that go bump in the night

2011-10-07T00:30:00.000+01:00

BOO!

It is Friday! Officially little musing release day :)

In time for Halloween and of course, for birthdays all year round, meet

the "Things that go bump in the night" crew.

If you would like to add this digi set to your collection for £1.50 - pop by HERE

And thanks to not having broadband access for two and a bit days, I actually made a sample!

Albiet a very simple and somewhat odd one.. but hey - monsters are odd!

And here are two that I coloured with Promarkers and Flex markers. Seriously - I could colour eyes all day!

If you fancy purchasing "Things that go bump in the night" pop by HERE

The leaves are turning golden... and Camera School with Shimelle

2011-10-06T20:43:00.000+01:00

Which means one thing....

Yearly autumn leaf pictures! (HERE is some from 2008!!!)

So we headed to our usual haunt, Alexandra Park in Hastings.

I love this park - it is so beautiful with every season, autumn being my favourite of course.

Now - today I also had a alternative mission going on in my head....

Shimelle has been doing a fantastic series on her blog called Camera School

Which, I have printed off (this girl should write a book!!!) and read through over and over.

Not only does it all make perfect sense, it makes it perfectly easy to make the 'scary' switch to manual.

I have had my canon 500D for well over a year now... and always it has sat on AV, which is fine essentially, nice pictures etc - but I always longed for someone to "make it easy" for my "mother of a 3 year old brain" to understand how to make manual work for me, without having to panic too much about settings.

Shimelle's camera school posts made everything click into place, and I can honestly say my camera will be set to manual from now on! (I feel almost guilty for not doing it sooner, after all, I have a DSLR, and was pretty much using it on a point and shoot mode!) So anyway - back to the photos :)

I read the posts and practiced round the house, taking photos in different rooms, in different light/shade areas till I worked out which way the dial needed to go to make my pictures the right exposure, there was no pressure, no-one looking over my shoulder, just me, my camera and some practice time.

I went to bed excited last night, knowing Ben had a day off, and that if the weather was nice we would go outside and get some pictures. It was a perfect autumn day, crisp cool weather perfect for photographing the changing season in our favourite park.

Here are the results. All on manual. *insert smug excited cheesy grin*

And - I handed Ben the camera for a bit too, explaining the whole "Dial to the Left for lighter and right for darker" rule - and he managed to get a few lovely photos of me and Fin.
The last thing I will say about Shimelle's Camera school, is that, I adore the way she made me feel about my camera, no longer do I fear it, but I am excited by it, and I also don't strive for perfect photos that would win awards, for me it is now all about liking what I see on the screen, and letting go of what others may say, after all, these are my memories, and no one elses :)

*so happy*

xxxxxx

2011-10-05T20:56:00.001+01:00

Gah - would you believe it, my Internet is down *again* sky are being all "ooooo we don't know why it's down and it's all BT's fault!!" blah blah blah! Poop.
So in order to deal I'm blogging from my iPhone (which has used so much 3G recently it needs charging twice a day!) here is s quick iPhone photo gallery round up...
1: birds. Cute woodsie birds :-)

2: meeting Marion :-)

3: PUMPKINS!! It's official peeps, pumpkin fever is hitting hard!

4: me, with constant restless legs the other evening...

5: Autumn dresses! Whoop

6: I have no explanation for this...

7: waiting in the car for Mcdonalds...

8: new awesome skittles

9: Finlay taking my 'portrait'

10: random nails

11: same day, random nails 2

12: designing Finlay's Birthday invites.

So... Fingers crossed my net comes back on tomorrow... Or I'll be forced to do housework!!

-Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

The Make and Create shop & Little Musings

2011-10-02T09:15:00.002+01:00

Little Musings and The Make and Create shop have colaborated to bring you:

"Old Type"

A gorgeous embellishment kit for October - packed with hand made embellishments and unique items only available from this kit.

And the best bit? It is only £6!

Grab one whilst they are available!

Angel stamp samples

2011-09-30T21:40:00.001+01:00

Hey there! If you have found me from Shimelle's blog giveaway!

*shakes your virtual hand* "nice to meet you"

And if not, then pop over there and leave a comment as I am sponsoring her Friday giveaway :)

I wanted to quickly show you some of the angels from today's release coloured in with

Aqua Markers from Letraset

You can purchase any of these angel stamps for a weeny £1.50 from the store

Thanks for popping by!

Friday Musing - Second Digital Angel release and Friday Freebie

2011-09-30T00:01:00.000+01:00

Morning all!

Happy Friday to you all.

This week in the Musings digi stamp store we have the second release of Christmas Angels.

They can be found HERE

First up we have Beau...

Beau comes sitting neatly on a gift (which would make a cute Birthday card stamp too)

and just begs to be coloured! Perhaps she is waiting for Santa?

My hubby suggested that it would make a lovely gift tag for a special present. *sigh - beautiful!*

(she also comes with a coloured and outline cute bow stamp)

Then we have Beth. (Short for Bethlehem - did you get that lol?)

She is a more traditional Angel and would look really lovely in delicate colours.

(she also comes with a coloured and outline star stamp)

and last but by no means least - we have Candie - keeper of the baubles and treats. She is a lovely big stamp, and would look awesome as an easel card!http://www.letraset.com/

I coloured in some using Lestraset Aqua Markers.

Which I now love - like - properly in deep love.

I will be doing a tutorial on these on Tuesday - but will upload some photos later today.

Pardon? Freebie you say?

Oh yeah!

Here you go!

Ollie the gift giving owl.


I was going to host the image for download, but it is being funny, so the images are below... Just right click, save and print = then colour away! xxxx

Enjoy!

Magazine love

2011-09-29T10:47:00.000+01:00

I've got two articles in magazines this Christmas.

They are both out already :) Which means you can get a good start on your festive crafts!

The first out was Simply Cards & Papercraft.

pssssssst... see the front cover? That's one of my cards!

*front cover dance*

This was a SEVEN page spread on the Clear Angel Stamps

Thanks to this article - I only have a few stamps left! If you have purchased them and made some cards with them, I would love to see what you have made. You can post your cards for us all to see over at the

Little Musings Facebook Page

Next is the latest edition of Papercraft Inspirations.

Oh how I loved making this advent project!

Advent cartons. 25 of them :) (the 25th is a bumper Christmas day one!)

If you buy the magazine - you will notice there is a FREE template download kit for this from the papercraft Inspirations website. There are lots of hints and tips in the article too for alternate uses.

I still get a huge kick out of seeing my work in magazines, It's totally made my month!

xxxxxxxxx

Take one part 1 - my new layout

2011-09-28T15:15:00.001+01:00

Well, I did my page for the TAKE ONE challenge :)

I focused on the idea that the photo was to go off the edge of the page, as that is what I loved about the page I chose to take the inspiration from.

So, I set about finding a photo that could be chopped without worry - and I have wanted to scrap the story of my fringe for a few days now, so it all went hand in hand nicely.

Am I happy with the result?

Yes.

I can honestly say I am! So - for me, the challenge really worked!

There is a new challenge chat thread on UKSCRAPPERS which I would love you to swing by and post your pages in (please!xxxx)

****ps: A few people have emailed me, and I really want to clarify, you don't need to take the same element as me, it's what you love about your own work that should inspired you - so find one of your favourite pages and study it for a while, pondering what it is you love about it - identify it, and take that one element to the craft table where you can make a new layout including your chosen technique.

Supplies used on the page:
Red Bazzill cardstock, Little Musings journal card, My Minds Eye "Pro Con" journal card, Sassafrass paper flowers, sassafrass stitched flowers, JBS alphas, Prima page pebbles (red polkadot) Hybrid rose, and the cute clay buttons are from My Little Bit Of Whimsy

Take one #1

2011-09-27T12:11:00.000+01:00

Today I am starting a new feature on the blog called

"Take One"

I have been very brave - and made a video blog to explain it all.

It will become a regular feature on my blog - and I invite you to join me!

*** there is now a UKS thread for you to post in if you would like to join me ***

I would love you to play along!

I will post my page over the next couple of days - If you do the challenge too, send me a link to your blog and I will show your before and after in a gallery post.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Angel Digital stamps = Part 1

2011-09-23T00:16:00.001+01:00

It is Friday! And that means it is release day - not just one stamp though this week - I have part one of the angel release! Four Christmas angels for your downloadable crafty happiness.

I love them. I really do love drawing them, I hope you like them *eeeeep!*

They are all available in the store.. NOW

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Here are some STUNNING samples by my DT..
Emma Bryan came up with some amazing projects - I will be sharing a couple today and more over the next week. Look at the stitching on this card below... how delicate is that!?

And the garland detail here is just perfection....

When I saw this next one I squealed! She has enlarged the wreath from the "Merry" kit and used "Choir of" angels behind it - HOW CLEVER IS THAT!?

my favourite card from Emma is this next one though... for a million reasons, the kraft, the colours, the paper, the quote to name a couple... I really do love it. <3

Caroline Sears made this gorgeous Wreath card (from the Merry kit)

I love how she has layered it (four times) and glittered the decorations!

By the way - I WILL be getting these angels stamps made up in clear rubber - but only in limited numbers, so if you are interested, please drop me an email at sarahjanedowsett(at)gmail(dot)com - thanks

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Little musings interupts your viewing for an important broadcast....

2011-09-21T12:59:00.001+01:00

The seasonal printables are now in store!

And - for a mere £1.00 :)

Affordable, frame-able decoration for the win!

You can purchase the printables HERE

If you do frame these - link me up with a photo!

xxx

Talking of seasons....

You guessed it, I am mentioning the Christmas word.

I figured that was ok as Tesco now has ALL it's Christmas chocolate for sale. :)

Here is a peek at the first of two releases of Christmas angels.

This time - as requested in great volume, they will be digital.

(I may get some clear sets made up though if enough people request them)

These will be going on sale at the end of the week -for a chance to win your favourite design and a huge bundle from the store, add the following image to your side bar - linked to www.littlemusings.net and leave me a comment here and you will be added to the pot to win!

picture HEAVY weekend post

2011-09-20T10:21:00.001+01:00

*Warning - picture heavy*

Hey!

What a weekend!!

First up my twin brother got hitched!

It was a beautiful day in a beautiful venue with beautiful company.

Just look at them - happiness from every pore.

Hazel had a gorgeous 1950's inspired wedding dress, and the theme was birds and birdcages.

I really did take inspiration from the 50's for this day.. including a go at "vintage hair rolls"

I wasn't 100% sure of them - but I kept them in till the evening.

(only one thing, I forgot to side part my hair first! They ended up a bit too evenly placed... ish)

I purchased a set of London Clay Birds for them as a gift - the guy who hand makes these is really cool, and digs the clay up from London river banks before taking home before creating these birds.

Talking of birds.....

I made some iced biscuits for Hazel to give as her wedding favours.. here they are outlined.

and here they are flood iced and packaged in cellophane with ribbon.

I also made hearts, which were alternated on the tables.

Here they are again, just in case you had forgotten what happy looks like...

me and my hubster.

and I stalked the photographer for a quick sneaky shot of this... grainy because I was literally a million miles away but I couldn't resist getting in on this pretty picture.

It was a truly lovely day, and I wish the best to them both for a life time of happiness.

______________________________________________

This weekend also marked the second Cardinal Colours retreat in Eastbourne.

It was held at the Best Western York House Hotel.

This year I taught three classes on the Saturday:

"Mad about the boy":

A double layout - no flowers allowed :)

"Paper Patchwork"

and my favourite of the day:

which featured spray inks and glazed bazzill - spraying on and wiping off to reveal the glazed pattern beneath it. A really lovely wax resist style technique.

I loved seeing everyones pages unfolding, the differences between them made everyones pages so beautiful unique. I had a lovely day catching up with local scrappers, and meeting some from further afield.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Friday Freebie - Autumn printable

2011-09-09T13:53:00.002+01:00

Hey guys.

I am sorry I am late with the Musing this week - but just to make up for it, it is ANOTHER freebie.

This week we have something for the typeography lovers out there - a printable *7x5* page of autumn words. I have one of these for each season in a frame, and it always feels so lovely when you get to change it over to the forthcoming season. Especially Summer to Autumn. I do LOVE Autumn.

So without further ado, here you are :)
Just click on it - right click and save.

Enjoy

xxx

One of those posts

2011-09-05T16:29:00.001+01:00

where I end up talking about a whole heap of stuff at once.

So firstly if you are around at 6pm in the UK tomorrow, please tune in to QVC where Marion Emberson will be demonstrating, and in her hour will be my stamps!

I am excited about this - as not only is Marion lovely, but I get a real kick of seeing my stamps on tv :)

In other news. The marriage of my awesome twin brother and his fiance is fast approaching.

It has a 1950's theme to it, which pleases me more than any other theme in the world.... apart from Harry Potter... but that's not practical. I am also doing a reading, so wanted to look the part. I decided today to get a Bettie Page fringe cut in.. but all of the hairdressers in our town were either A: booked. B: Closed (!?) and C: Specialists in blue rinses. So I took my trusty fiskars scissors and with the help of tutorials on you tube and a deep breath I cut my own one in. I unearthed some seriously questionable eyebrows (think Bert & Ernie) so after I brow overhaul I was happy! I like it - with the Victory roll hair style I am planning on, I think this will really work. Ps: My dress is a red Rockabilly polkadot dress with black petticoat frilliness.

*happy sigh* (Ignore the split ends)

Which means today my "LSNED" layout can be "Today I learned how to cut a fringe!"

Talking of LSNED (did you see what I did there?)

Here is my front cover.

It is a AC 6X6 album with some new Amy Tangerine fabric paper stuck to the chipboard cover.

*love*

It is coming along nicely - I will do a proper update of this in the week!

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Rubber stamps and LSNED

2011-09-02T21:19:00.000+01:00

It is day 2 of Shimelle's "Learn something new every day"
I have had a pretty odd 24 hours, so I am trying to work out how to tackle my first entry, but here is my front cover.... I am doing it 6x6 in a D ring album, which I hope will look nice at the end. Most of the pics for it (if not all) will be Instagram photos. Laura is doing a really lovely album, and plans to use some instax photos within it!! How cool is that?

I am so excited about LSNED this year, I loved my album last year, and some happy post this week meant that I had the worlds CUTEST stamps to work with.

How adorable is that bunting and buttons set? I love them!

What else has happened yesterday? Oh - Finlay won a coconut!! His throwing was so awful (bless his bad ball throwing skills) that the Coconut shy man gave him one as a gift *melt*

Braking it open was the highlight of his day.....

That is about all for tonight.... see you at the weekend!

xxxx

Friday Freebie! - Penny & Pumpkin

2011-09-02T00:07:00.001+01:00

Hiya!

I thought, after the awesome response to the foldies kit last week, I would offer you a freebie in return for your generous support of the Little Musings.

Meet Penny, a little halloween loving girlie.
She comes in colour and outline (for the marker lovers out there - we all know who we are)

All you have to do, is click on her (she will open larger) and then right click and save.

As always, Little Musings images are intended for personal and non commercial use only - if you have any questions regarding the angel policy, I am more than happy to answer your emails - I promise I don't bite!

xxxxxxx

Happy 2nd of September.

Zombie birds and paper flags.

2011-08-31T23:49:00.000+01:00

It feels like I have had some VERY random crafty urges of late..

I think I blame pinterest. In fact I do blame pinterest.

I log on every day at the moment, just to spend 15 minutes finding beautiful inspiring images of "made" things.. it is like a drug lol!

I found a really cute picture of some fabric birds (a tutorial in fact) which looked easy enough...

*cough*

I can't decide if I love or hate them...

I have a feeling it's their eyes. I need to investigate small black ones, as the white glassy ones make them look like zombie birds. (shudder at the thought!)

Actually, I think I need to take them out of my bedroom before I go to bed, just in case.

these were made with some fabric scraps, so are not really well matched as they were "first attempts"... I will admit to having made a further three in a vain attempt not to make them so sinister.

So far no luck.


And then there was this ( pink tulle wreath) I started it thinking it would go in my house, but the more it came on, the more I realised it really wouldn't. It was obviously meant for a little girlie. It did turn out ok - though it took a long time. Worth it though, looks very pretty in real life. I gave it to my cousin's little girl who loved it yay

So after some mixed reviews of my alternative crafting... I thought I would give myself a scrappy hour to play with paper again. Phew.

I made this for the Fiskarettes blog using border punches and the everywhere window punch.

those cute flags came from the Make and Create August kit.

According to my random daily event list... I have some lego to tread on!

(but not before I put the zombie birds out.... yeeeep!)

PS: LEARN SOMETHING NEW starts tomorrow!!

WOOOOOOOOOO!

It is my favourite class of Shimelle's ever!

Yippeee! Are you playing too?

The Make and Create shop

2011-08-29T22:55:00.002+01:00

I have mentioned it before, but I adore the embellishment kits that Anna makes over at

The Make and Create Shop.

I just love her homemade touches and unique lil' bits that she incorporates in her kits. I ordered the

Celebration kit because the colours are right up my street.. but each month is different, there is something for everyone in her shop :)

What I love most is, having handmade touches to my pages without having to sit and handmake them myself lol! As a mum of a almost-four year old, quick fixes are my scrapping friend :)

Along side that - I used the gorgeous new mini kit embellishments which can be purchased HERE.

Such good value - especially as Anna hand makes them all!

I also used the Fiskars anywhere window punch on this page.. gotta love that punch!!!

I think we should all support handmade!

Especially when you get change out of a tenner for a embellishment kit and add on!

Catching up iPhone styleeee

2011-08-27T09:23:00.001+01:00

I'm in bed... Thinking about how I've not blogged this week (Friday musing not included)
So via blogpress and iPhone pics, here is my week:
There was a cool baked potato *pinterest style*

There was a wedding... <3 awwww.

There was a polka dot dress...

There was iPhone photobooth

And a real photobooth

And glow sticks

And a new car.....

And the introduction of a GIANT bath time rubber duck...

There was a big mess on a rainy day

And then there was rainy fun times at the zoo...

And this morning? Well.....
Zzzzzzz we're all a bit sleepy :-)

Location:From my bed

Friday Musing and Friday Freebie !! Digital stamp = Layer Pops

2011-08-25T22:16:00.000+01:00

Hi!

You read it right - there IS freebie this week!

But before I give it away - I am doing some pimping of the full kit release this week :)

It is called "Layer Pops" and is a kit of printable elements that fold, and "pop" to create 3D embellishments for pages, cards and crafts. They are really easy to use!

The kit has some pre coloured versions (as always!) for you to print and test straight away!

The kit is £1.50 and can be purchased HERE :)

These are what they look like printed, cut and "popped" (simply folded where the tabs are)
I think my favourite one is the mixed flower one (middle picture, right side)

They are lovely to colour too - the outline version lets you colour them either with markers / pencils etc or even digitally before printing :) I do however love me some promarker colouring :)

There are four designs in the kit

AND there is an extra one of hearts here for you now to right click and save - and print, test, fall in love with and come back and buy the full kit :-) *in my dreams anyway!!*

Enjoy!

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Friday musing 50's Glamour - Digital stamp

2011-08-19T00:01:00.000+01:00

Hiya! Happy Friday to you all.

Did you see Little musings feature in Shimelle's sketch of the week?

Cool huh - and hello to anyone who is visiting me from Shimelle's link - nice to meet you!

This week, I am sticking to the retro theme of 50's glamour!

£1.50 in the shop... now!

And as bonus this week, you get a free set of journal cards with every purchase of 50's Glamour.

(six to a sheet ready to print and cut out)

Fiskarettes DT project

2011-08-18T13:52:00.002+01:00

Today I have a crafty post :) I knocked up a quick cushion cover yesterday for my DT project over at the Fiskarettes blog, as Finlay is always always getting food and grime on the covers I have so I plan to change them slowly but surely... so naturally I made a cream one *facepalm* Oh well!

It is Inspired by one from pinterest and is simple calico with hand cut leaves and tree machine stitched on, some might call that applique.. but really for my first attempt it is more of a try and trial. I do however love it, even if some of my zig zag is more zag zag :)

Cute post

2011-08-17T22:01:00.003+01:00

And by post, I mean actual postman delivered post.

And today I had some serious postal cute...

Nicola Kerridge posted a while back about doing a Pay It Forward crafty gift - the idea being, you receive something then you make something for someone else (or three people) in return, and then they have to do the same and the list goes on... and voila! this pretty arrived in the post today!

My apples will remain warm and un-bruised from now on!

Bless.

Ok - so this next one is a bit out of context - but I found these gorgeous mini bird cookie cutters online, and have been playing around with iced biscuits.. these would make cute biscuits for the edges of coffee cups / teacups right?

And this gorgeous laser cut bird arrived from Ebay.. ridiculously cheap! about A5 in size

along with those leaves.

So cool.

But the COOLEST thing, was this.....

Two tins of sticker sheets. They are called "Masking tape" - but they really are normal sticker paper, patterned and cut to fit inside a little A6 tin.

I didn't realise how lovely they were going to be till they arrived!

Each piece is pre-cut into strips so you can just peel a little length off and use! Sweet and awesome.

like so...

eeeeep! I feel like I want to scrap NOW!

Bai!

Monday hybrid freebie - UKSCRAPPERS

2011-08-15T22:05:00.001+01:00

Hey hey!

My previous post harped on about how hybrids, with no coincidence that today was my turn on UKSCRAPPERS to offer up a free hybrid printable set.

This week I made you guys some card toppers (and plain toppers for journaling)

I hope you like them = simply print, cut, stick and embellish the space above the text for a quick but cute greetings card! Whaddya think?

Click on the picture below to go and download for FREE.

Here is a sample card :)

enjoy!

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Let's talk about.... hybrid baby...

2011-08-14T17:09:00.001+01:00

Hybrid printables.

Are you covering your ears, screaming la la la la?

Well stop :) please?

If I may be so bold , I wish to bend your reluctant ear for a minute or two to talk about hybrid printables.

Obviously being a digi stamp designer I am somewhat biased towards printables.

BUT I want to dispel a few myths and common moans.

1: They are not the same quality as bought products:

Well - it depends on how your print them! Set your printer to photo or best quality and select the right paper type (matte or gloss) and you will noticed incredibly different results!

I ALWAYS set my printer to "Best Photo and Matte Paper" = It only uses a fraction more ink and the print quality is gorgeous. And lets face it, if you have purchased a digi stamp, you want it to look good!

2: They are lame

There, I said it, in the past hybrids have had a lame reputation - but there are some cool ones out there!!

My friend Leanne has made a board on Pinterest called "Printables"

And if you are on pinterest then all you gotta do is type printables into the search bar and hey presto, a world of joy and wonder and beauty just waiting to be brought to life.

3: I don't have ink in my printer.

What!? Why not? lol.

You are a creative person - else you wouldn't be here - enable yourself!

Don't worry if you think your ink will dry up if you don't use it regularly, just do a head clean once a fortnight on your printer and your ink will be fine! Failing that - USE IT FOR PRINTABLES lol :) Treat yourself!

4: I forget what I have stored on my pc when I am at my scrap table

Yeah, me too, it's a fact that this will happen UNLESS... and here's a cool idea...you pre-print :)

If you buy a digi stamp kit (Little musing kits always come with pre-coloured versions to save you time and to enable you to use on craft projects if colouring isn't your thing!) then why not print the coloured versions out and store in a little folder or tin etc.

A quick and easy way to do this is, is to pre- cut some textured bazzill or card to 6x4 pieces. If you have A4 card you like, simply cut into four. Do this till you have a little stack and then you will always have card at the ready. (This is what happens if you want to print on a PC) :

1: Open the file, select the image you want

2: Right click and select print

3: Choose the good settings - best photo, matte paper

4: Select paper size A6 or 6X4

5: Choose how many times you want the image to print, in this case, TWICE.

And then print :)

Now you will have a selection of pretty coloured images to scrap with, layer with, embellish up with gems or even journal on. Esp if you have downloaded some cute journal tag hybrids.

Still need convincing!?

Then feast your eyes on this selection of varied and beautiful images on Pinterest which came up when I searched for

HYBRID SCRAPBOOKING

see - the whole crafty world is at it!

PLUS IT SAVES YOU MONEY!

Once you have a printable stored on your computer - you have it forever! Print it over and over, change the colour of it in photoshop, add text, change the size etc etc!

PS: Thank you for all the "thank you" comments for the free hybrid postcards (post below this one) xxxxx

Going postal

2011-08-13T00:01:00.000+01:00

I have been loving the Going Postal blog posts that Julie Kirk has been busily creating for you over at

Notes On Paper

and thought it was high time I took part and offered a freebie.

I designed three postcards all of which are below in this post and ready for you to save to your pc.

Close up.

I have recently (and due to Julie's going postal blog posts) joined a site called www.postcrossing.com and I have been receiving postcards, all addressed to Finlay, which I am collecting in a little polkadot suitcase for when he is a bit older, and a bit more curious about the world.
I have sent 15 postcards so far, and received 10. Some of them art artistic, some are photographic, but all have pretty stamps on and are unique in every way. I love seeing a new card pop through the door.
-------------------------------------------------
To save the postcards, click on them and right click and save to your computer.

Print borderless on blank postcards OR 6x4 card.

And again....

And again...

I recommend popping one in the post to a friend you haven't say "hi" to in a while....

xxxxx

Friday Little Musing - Picturebox

2011-08-12T00:00:00.002+01:00

Hello all!

Welcome to Friday *can I get a whoop whoop!*

Today I have a camera themed kit called Picturebox

It is a kit full of vintage camera coolness.

We have a Diana, a Polaroid (with and without picture) and Olympus Trip and a Rolleicord.

If you like the look of the Picturebox digi stamp set - pop to the SHOP and purchase for a mere £1.50!
I will always love kraft, and what's more, I love Aqua on kraft, *see the Diana printed out below* <3
As sample this week, I printed two postcards, and made two tags and included one on a layout....
I hope you like!
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And here is the layout...... you may recognise it from a sneak peek I did earlier this week!

See the Polaroid poking out? I did this Layout for "My Little Bit Of Whimsy" - using the cloud buttons, but seeing as I was scrapping an actual Polaroid I saw it only fitting to pop a camera musing on there :)
I also designed some note paper with the Polaroid (and a previous free musing image of a telephone) by creating a border and adding the musing to the bottom right before printing and cutting:

10 things

2011-08-10T16:50:00.001+01:00

1: Biscuit recipe perfected, tried and tested :)

2: Guineas now living in my back garden.

3: Train tickets for London bought this month.

4: th time lucky trying to find a dress for my brothers wedding - and I found one! 4th one I tried - and I love it (more on that another day)

5: Easy painter paint pens Finlay bought with pocket money from the Early Learning Center, which are marvelous and a real must for mums of toddlers!!

6: People squeezed in a photo booth

7: Times I just kissed my hubby for literally this very second putting a copy of Mollie Makes in my hand <3

8: Postcards received on Postcrossing.com

9: Postcards sent on Postcrossing :)

10: The amount of times I have painted my nails this month, at least!

When the sun shines....

2011-08-09T13:58:00.000+01:00

Step outside, and blow bubbles.

The photo's aren't perfect, but I love his expressions in them so much, that for once, out of focus or blurred edges are the furthest thing from my mind.

And yes, he needs a hair cut.

PS: Tesco bubble machines = amazing fun!

Little Bit Of Whimsy Sneeker

2011-08-08T17:02:00.001+01:00

Here is a sneak peek of a layout I have made for My Little Bit Of Whimsy

(oh how I love being on her design team - button cuteness galore)

I used a few buttons from her awesome store on this layout - but these gorgeous clouds are one of my all time favs!

I am also having a serious button crush on these:

*click on the photos if you want to see them in the store*

Friday Musing - Splash - Mermaid digital stamp

2011-08-05T00:00:00.001+01:00

Hello all!

Happy Friday to you all. I hope your day is less rainy than yesterday, but if you are all washed out still, why not carry on the wet theme and download the new digital kit - 'Splash' from the digital store now :)

Full of mermaid beauties, which, are really good fun to colour in!

In fact - they look really great printed out on A4 paper as colouring in sheets, a nice way to beat the school holiday rainy day boredom! :)

Here is a cute card from Emma, I love how she has coloured the mermaid tail!

And because I am a bit rubbish at card making, I have coloured some and cut them out (as that is my favourite bit lol!) I do love to colour...

They are a bit glamourous.... they would look cool with glitter on.

Bert and Ernie

2011-08-03T17:47:00.000+01:00

Meet Ernie...

Meet Bert...

Bert and Ernie.

Yup. See what I did there?

We rescued two guinea pigs, as you can see, they are both odd and cute little critters who know reside in a hutch in the garden, making little squeaks and eating me out of carrots and peppers at a rate no-one could have predicted. We got them for Finlay initially... however, he is yet to hold them - and whenever I ask him if he wants to, he says "I would mummy, but I don't like their pokers"

And by that he means claws. Obvs. lol.

Anyway - that's about all I have to say about that :)

xxxxx

Scrap Rat August kit

2011-08-02T09:16:00.002+01:00

Ooo now the great reveal has gone live, I can show you the pages that I have made for Scrap Rat with the every so divine August kit.

It is full of navy, red and green, which makes this mumma very happy. I am a huge fan of boy tones - gorgeous.

Detail view:

So - here are my pages so far: I still have one on the go which I will finish today :)

If you fancy the look of the kit and want more details - then

CLICK HERE

:-)

Friday Musing - I don't Bee-lieve it & Other critters

2011-07-29T00:00:00.000+01:00

Allo allo...

I know, before you say it "where were you last week??!" I am sorry. I was busy preparing for the craft fair... forgive me? Good. Now we have that out the way, welcome! :)

I am back on track with a musing this week... well, I say "back on track" - I drew them today lol... so my gorgeous and patient and lovely DT haven't had a chance to play with them yet - Emma Bryan did suggest the theme though...so without further ado, I introduce...

"I don't bee-lieve it and other critters"

As normal, you can purchase and craft with the digi set instantly by clicking HERE or the picture above

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(thank you to all who support little musings - I adore you all)

I really wanted to show you a printed sample... but ran out of time to do something awesome.. so forgive me for the primitive card I quickly coloured and folded (lol)

Hehehehe - it made me laugh again just to see it.

Finlay loved it, and I when I gave it to him, he gave me a kiss... gotta be worth it right!?

Bless his little bee-loving-heart.

And now I have this rhyme in my head.

"isn't it funny how a bear loves honey, buzz, buzz, I wonder why he does"

Craft fair

2011-07-23T22:03:00.001+01:00

Well...

I did it! I had a stand / booth at a craft fair!

The venue was great, but the advertising of the actual event was lacking, and it was much quieter than everyone exhibiting had hoped. Some people didn't sell anything at all!

I didn't do too badly - and I had some lovely customers and comments which spurred me on.

I had quite a good pitch, sited next to a grand piano which I ended up using as extra space for some paintings and pendants on a metal tree <3

I had some lovely comments from customers about the angel stamps - everyone seemed really surprised to learn that they were my own artwork, which both confused and pleased me lol!

But my best seller of the day were the menu frames!!

So so so so so so so so chuffed that they were a popular choice!

Would I do another one?

Yeah, totally, but it has to be well advertised!!!

For some of the day, there were just the stall holders in the hall!

*Que a tumble weed and awkward whispers of disdain!*

Still - it was a fun day!!

Hello to anyone who is reading my blog from following my business card links, it was nice to meet you!

xxxx

August Scraprat kit sneaks!

2011-07-19T06:56:00.000+01:00

Oooo - I haven't been part of a kit club design team for ages, after taking a year and a half out to scrap "just for me" I am pleased to be part of a team again - fun :)

Here is a sneak peek of the August kit from Scraprat....

And here...

And here are two sneaks of my projects.

I love being part of a team again :)

If you can't wait for the August kit to come out - why not join in the fun with the July kit:

Scrapology sponsor

2011-07-17T08:12:00.003+01:00

I am the sponsor over at the Scrapology challenge blog this week!

The challenge is "Anything but square!"

The scrapology team all used my little musings digital stamps, and I love what they did!

It is very lovely as the designer of these stamps to see them all used so wonderfully in so many ways.

They are all so creative - so cool. If you wanna take part in the challenge, and win some digi stamps -then why not pop along and submit your own "anything but square card"

xxxxx

Friday Freebie Digital Stamp - "Seahouse"

2011-07-15T00:01:00.003+01:00

Morning blogsville. I have a freebie for you today - I know I have done a Beach hut freebie once last year - BUT that is no longer available, and it is the one that I get the most emails about requesting!

So - I hear by placate all you sea house enthusiasts with a new beach hut freebie!

(It's a bit cuter than the last one me thinks!)

It is cuter because... it is double layered.

You can use it three ways:

1: Colour in the outline yourself

2: Use the "painted" version for artistic cards

3: (my fav) is to layer the outline on top of the painted version to create this:

You could use it in so many ways - add a sentiment, or a number above the door, or make it 3D by decoupaging it... have fun go mad.

You can download the FREEBIE HERE

getting ready

2011-07-11T20:04:00.000+01:00

So - on the 23rd of this month, I have a stall at a craft fair, the first one I have done in years!

I have been busy for months making and designing bits to go with it - I designed some menu planners months and months ago, but only got around to printing and framing them today.

I gotta say, I love how they have turned out!

They are designed using my own illustrations, and printed on high weight matte photo paper (which takes the ink beautifully and crisply) I then framed them.

They are so easy to use, literally use a dry erase marker on them to plan your weekly meals and then wipe clean each week! I can't wait to set them up on my stall :)

konad nail painting plates

2011-07-10T20:00:00.002+01:00

I am getting a bit obsessed with the Konad nail system....
I was bought a set for my birthday and I think my nails have been painted ever since!

I'd never heard of Konad before - but its basically stamping onto your nails!
The designs are etched into a metal plate, which you paint with their special polish, scrap off the excess, and using their rubber stamper you transfer the image to your nail!
It really is easy...
And here are my latest 6 efforts!

Cards, Smash and Dragons

2011-07-09T22:15:00.001+01:00

I have had a really lazy Saturday!

Today I literally have done nothing apart from go out for a walk into town with Fin in the buggy and sit around adoring my order from Phoenix cards!

My awesome buddy Laura is now a Phoenix cards agent - and here is a sneak peek at a couple of my favs from my latest order.....

I have so much more than this - but these are my favs...

I adore the reward chart pad SOOOOO MUCH - and - having a tear of pad of them makes so much beautiful sense that I wonder how I have coped without it before!

I love my to-do list pad too - gorgeous!

It is not a secret that I love sending cards and letters - and my polka dot case full to the brim with cards makes me one happy correspondence fan...

If you wanna get your order in with Laura - why not have a look at her blog here.

* you know you want to *

You can order via her online shop front OR you can email her and request a brochure.

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In other news - look what else I have in my grubby mitts!

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm SMASH pad!

How gorgeous is this pad?! I knew I wanted the red one from the second I saw them...

I love the doodled illustrations in them - I think it is just the most beautiful note book ever created.

I have no idea what I will do in it yet - but I am thinking create a journal of "me" for Finlay to look back on when I am dusty and gone... I would just adore something like that of my own family...

Talking of memories and Finlay...

I captured a "Finlay first" on camera on Thursday

His first bike and his first attempt at a bike ride.

He hasn't mastered it yet - I would imagine it is quite a shock for his legs.

If anyone else is debating buying their kids a new bike at the mo, Argos have them half price! (So do halfords!)

He absolutely adores it. It has a image of a dragon on the side - and he calls it "My brand new dragon bike!"

Bless.

He was so sweet on it.

We met a one legged seagull - it was quite an adventure.

My little baby has long gone.

*nostalgic sigh*

Button Buddies Friday Musing Digital Stamp

2011-07-08T10:17:00.002+01:00

Hello!!

Well - life returns to normal (even if I am a bit late this morning in uploading)

and this week I have a set of patchwork animals for you called Button Buddies...

They would look really cute on new baby cards, or coloured vibrantly for teenagers or subtle colours for a more gentle look...

I have some cool samples for you this week... so stay tuned :)

You can purchase and download the kit for £1.50 from my digi store

HERE

I hope you like the set!

Here are some awesome samples...

Lisa Hines has come up with this pretty card full of frill and charm. She has used the pre-coloured image from the stamp set - and I think it is fabulous.

Emma Bryan used the outline cow image to create this awesome card coloured with markers, I love it!

Then I coloured in some too to show you what they can look like in various different shades..

I created two owl shaped cards, but printing an owl at the base of an A4 sheet - and folding in half at the point of his owly ears, and then cutting out the folded owl shape. When you stand this owl card up, he rocks from side to side too, very cute!

This following cow, I printed onto four different patterned papers and then cut and paper pieced them together to form a fabric effect cow..

And then this one I coloured with promarkers in boy colours.

So there you have it - Button buddies! Available now.

2011-07-05T14:37:00.001+01:00

Hello! I thought I would do a quite post to say that I am planning on cracking open my crafty stash this week and catching up on some projects that I have been meaning to do...including scrapping on a piece of cardboard that my birthday Orla Kiley fruit bowl came in - it has the famous Orla vines on and I love it!

Till then - I will let you have another peek into life in a new house...

I am loving the orange lillies that have bloomed in the garden, and so do the hover flies...

I hung a birdcage that was gifted to me from Ben's mum in a tree, and in it I hung a tin bird, which I thought was cute - but what I found funnier was Finlay... who I caught doing this...

Stand and deliver!!

What a rotter! He is so cheeky!!

mmmmmmmm cake

What else is new? Well, Ben's Gran popped in for "afternoon tea" on Sunday, and her favourite cake is a coffee and walnut.... I have never made one before, but gave it a go, and apparently it was just lovely!

I did a two layer cake (normal) and iced the middle with vanilla icing and the outer with coffee - and chucked in loads and loads of walnuts :)

Check out the cake stand! So lovely.. another birthday treasure...

So - now I am settled - I want to get back into the swing of crafting... as I miss the familiar sound of snipping paper and tearing tape...

Talking of crafting - I did manage to find time to do some colouring in this week... I love promarkers combined with my digi stamps - the finished results make me very happy..

sneak peek at this Friday's musing?

Next time I blog I will have crafty goodness!!!

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Smiles

2011-07-01T19:11:00.001+01:00

I still admit, the past 24 months have been a crazy roller coaster of emotional riding.. but I was worth it so much to find a place we love. Yes, we rent now.. and yes we sold in order to rent - and while most might see that as lunacy, I know that some of you will understand 100% why we made that step off the property ladder in order to find ourselves somewhere to call home. Somewhere that isn't on the market, or without a garden, or mouldy walls, or a constant reminder that we made some bad choices....

Home, somewhere to feel safe - somewhere to grow pretty flowers and pumpkins and lavender...

Somewhere for Finlay to play in a sand pit, or ride his trike or sit with us in the sun...

Somewhere were my heart can rest.

xxxx

I am back!! With a freebie!

2011-06-30T22:34:00.000+01:00

I am back! With a freebie Musing to celebrate.

Meet Starlett and her star catching net.....

You can download Starlett for free

HERE

More digital stamp kits will be added to the store soon!

Lamey Mclame

2011-06-24T22:23:00.001+01:00

I wish I could type how "this last week and day without internet has opened my eyes to the real world again, I've spent moments staring at the wonder of flowers and clouds and hand written a novel...." but in actual fact it's been utter shiz. I think once you are gripped by blogs, facebook, forums and twitter... Going without for 12 days is just poop.
So yeah, that's me in a nutshell right now. Plus I've not been able to upload a musing for two weeks!!!! Anyway, enough of the boo hoo's.... Tomorrow is going to be an epic day (I'm going to see Glee live at the O2!!!!)
*insert giant whoops of happiness!*
In the meantime.... Because i hate posting without photos...Here are some random and unexplained photos from my iPhone ....

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Boredsville

Proper photos... new home 2

2011-06-22T19:45:00.003+01:00

Well… It is officially a week now since we packed up the rental van and moved out of our flat, and so far, life in a house has been fantastic - my legs are getting used to the stairs (lol) and my head is LOVING the back door being open during cooking or on warmer days - I am feeling a lot more at peace.

I think being cooped up with a 3 year old in a flat with no outside space took it’s toll on my mind, as I have been so much happier since moving here. It seems to be a really quiet street too, there are a few funny characters but I guess that is normal :)

I haven’t crafted since being here though! I am itching to do something paper-y or stitch-y….. I have tried baking in my new oven… but it is going to take some getting used too (bye bye fan assisted!) I made a bit of a failed toffee banana cake today for Ben and Fin (Bananas are yuck in my opinion!) but at least I now know that the oven is a little hotter than I first thought, and timings in recipes can be shortened a bit…

This is the gravelled area of the outside space…

And this is Finlay the second we discovered that the neighbourhood cats have been using this gravel as a giant kitty litter tray *RANCID* poor Finlay was scooping up gravel into his bucket and he unearthed a fresh poop!

I started kicking around and found a whole heap more (pun intended) so we have bought some “Get Off!” cat repellent and we also squeezed oranges over the gravel last night as we know that cats hate citrus smells… fingers crossed they find a different location to relieve themselves!

The only downside? No room for our dishwasher *sob*

But at least we have a pretty garden to look out onto when we do the washing up. (I enclose a photo here of Ben doing some… which will only cement my families belief that I don’t actually do any housework lol!)

One thing I have made since being here is this console table...

which holds currently, a jug of pretty blooms and a frame..

Another one of my favourite aspects of this lil' house is this gorgeous fireplace....

which is a functional fire place *joy joy joy*
I can't wait to cosy up in the winter :)
Anyway - this is the last "New home" post I promise...
until next time *Mwuahahahahahah!!!*

Halllloo!!!

2011-06-19T07:09:00.001+01:00

I am still here! Still unpacking and making my new home a home :-)

It's been a busy few days, obviously, and I still don't have my internet connected or computer set up, so I'm writing to you today from the comfort of my bed on my phone :-)

I don't know how well blogpress translates with photos, so I apologise in advance if these end up right across the screen!!

I've been to the local rubbish tip so many times this week I'm now embarrassed to ever go again lol

I will be back soon with normal service of musings and life as soon as I can :-)

Have you missed me? Xxxx

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Friday Musing... on Sunday... Natch.

2011-06-12T11:33:00.011+01:00

Hi!!

I didn't think that I would get a musing up this week, and I know I won't next week because it's moving week. However, that said, I have decided to release a digi version of my jar stamps!

I hope you like my impromptu release.

You can purchase the digi set from my store for £1.50

HERE

I used it on a layout for Pencil Lines ...

10 things

2011-06-10T09:07:00.026+01:00

I love Shimelle's new blog post called "10 things" and being a GIANT fan of lists and questions, I couldn't wait to jump on the band wagon and join the rest of the bloggers who have done the same.

So here goes..

1: Pair of polka dot shoe insoles that have turned my shoes into dream shoes

2: Days left of Bens week off work :( Boo

3: Days left till I turn 30. 30. 30 Eeeep

4: Games on the go with Words For Friends on the iphone right now

5:Days till we complete and move home!

6: Scrapbook pages I have made in June so far.

7: Times I have changed my nail polish since discovering Rimmel Matte Top Coat *love*

8: Bin bags of rubbish we took to the tip on Sunday

9: Hours a day I tend to spend in my PJ's whilst being held hostage by chicken pox

10: Ten pounds I still owe my mum for said nail polish....

I love this - and will be back next month with 10 more things :)

Ps: How cool is new blogger?! The stats page is fab!

Well done blogger :)

xxxx

A week off .........

2011-06-09T12:58:00.006+01:00

Ben has taken this week off, to spend with me and Fin so we pack up ready to move next week... so you can imagine our shock when Finlay developed chicken pox blisters on Monday night... normally they are just little blisters.. but come Tuesday and the blister melded together into an angry raised bubbly rash. Yesterday it looked like this...

So we took him to the doctors and he told us that Fin is suffering from an "Atypical strain of chickenpox" which means his organs aren't coping very well with the virus and have reacted this way. But - thankfully, his rash has already started to calm, and is less intense than yesterday, and it certainly isn't spreading *touch wood* so all we need to do, is keep an eye on him and make sure it keeps going down rather than flaring up. Bless him - he is so amazing, you wouldn't know he was poorly, he is still laughing and playing. *love*

Talking of spots - here are my two final layouts for my Jenni Bowlin guest spot
(I still might make a card or two though) the first is this - which features a ridiculously vain photo - what is it about giant sun glasses? As soon as they are on, out comes a pout...

And my second (and probably my fav) is this one...
pink -bold - and uses an entire sheet of journal stickers as the pattern.

Another photo strip from Laura's wedding. If weddings were entered into the Olympics, Laura's would have won gold. Truth.

And now I must go and tend to my ailing son.
Ps: Isn't the smell of Calamine bizarrely beautiful?

Guesting for Jenni Bowlin

2011-06-08T14:18:00.002+01:00

This month I have the utter pleasure of guesting for Jenni Bowlin
Ho, hello if you have popped over from the JBS blog!! Nice to 'meet' you :)
I have made four layouts so far - here are the first two....
"Crafty Cabin" features the cabbage flower stamp - which is a gorgeous stamp - big and bold and it also inks up really well - I used it to create the patterned background.
I used a scissors image from the paper to peek through the deliberate tear at the bottom of the page.. see?

My next page is 8.5x11 and features that gorgeous damask paper - *love* I love that it is brown and cream - so pretty.

I now have a Alphabet crush on the ledger stickers... they are so nice to work with...

DT Double Whammy!!!!!

2011-06-06T21:32:00.005+01:00

Two cool updates :)

It turns out- that last week was a very good week for me - as I found out that I have been selected to be on two design teams!
I am now a DT member for Scrap Rat Kits - an awesome shop run by the lovely Amanda selling kits that have a mix of fab product with some vintage elements too - yay!
Here is June's gorgeous kit - available in store now. Quick, go!*******************************************************

And I also found out that I was chosen to design for
My Little Bit Of Whimsy
which is a gorgeous online store selling polymer awesomess... like this..Uber cute right?
I love her embellishments - there are some gorgeous polymer clay pins too = go see!

Guesting at Pencil Lines.

2011-06-05T20:40:00.003+01:00

Happy Sunday all!
I have a layout to share with you this rainy Sunday (Raining where I am anyway... seaside towns are always so glum looking in the rain don't you think?!)
So, it brightens my day to let you know that I was asked to guest this week over at Pencil lines
I have been sponsoring Pencil lines for 3 months now, and hope to sponsor them again soon as I love seeing my little shop logo on their site :)
Here is my take on Anna's sketch - and if you go to the site, you may find that some of the DT have used Little Musings in their Layouts :)
xxxxxxxxx

A very obvious blog pimp ... and Creativity day 2 & 3

2011-06-04T12:00:00.004+01:00

I am loving 30 days of Creativity... like a lot of you beautiful blog readers, I have noticed that I usually do something creative every day without thinking about it.. even if it is as simple as doing a doodle on the phone pad, or creating a dinosaur sandwich scene for Finlay's lunch. For me, it's not so much about the challenge, it is about recognising the creative side to me that I often take for granted perhaps. Anyway - Day 3 (Friday) took me down the digital route. I love my drawing tablet, I am actually addicted to it, I use it every day, and often I do digi sketches which I just file away to later be archived forever, or deleted if I hate it lol.... and more often these days, I draw jars, as for some reason I find myself gravitating to their mystery and potential...there is probably some deep routed Phsycological reason for this, but for now I am just happy being in love with them...

And now onto a shameless blog pimp!
Hands up who didn't know I was moving?

*Cough.... no one?...
have I mentioned it more than a few times then?*
*Red face*
Anyway - in order to create order... I am selling a couple of lots on Ebay...
some paper and some Cal ico sta mps...
If you wan them, they end in 8 hours lol!
*eeeep!*

Friday (aka Thursday lol) Musing - "Having a 'Nigella' Moment" and 30 days of creativity day 2

2011-06-02T21:29:00.002+01:00

Hey hey hey...

Welcome to the early release of the Little Musing digi stamp set.

This week, I have drawn up a baking set *I love it*

called "Having a 'Nigella' moment"

It features cute donuts, cakes, baking equipment and a fancy schmancy mixer *I want one!*

So if you are making a card for a baking fanatic - this is the set for you!

*These would look so cute in a 'scene' on printed note cards!!*

there are 18 files for £1.50

and you can purchase the set in the store

HERE

***************************************************

On topic - today's efforts for 30 days of creativity has taken me down the baking route.

I have made two types of shortbread today - Chocolate moons and iced.

The chocolate moons are Ben's all time favourite baked thing..

he LOVES them.

Simply make your normal shortbread up, cut a round, cut that in half, add a nice gloop of chocolate spread and place the other half on top. Fork and bake. mmmmmmmmm!

These were iced with royal icing... took ages, and they are not that good (obviously) but were fun to do! xxxxxxxx

30 days of creativity - day 1

2011-06-01T13:58:00.004+01:00

I love walking to a room and finding evidence of Finlay's ever growing imagination.

Today I was tidying up the lounge and I found these two little peeps sitting at a table - when I asked him about it - he told me very clearly that they had driven there for a tea party. He could see I was touched by all the cute and said "mummy, does that make you happy?"

*pang*

Talking of things that make me a bit happy...

Anyone else doing 30 days of creativity?

I know I am moving this month - and I also know I will be without internet for a while, but I am fully taking this challenge on, albeit if one of the days is "Creating a nice sandwich" for lunch, or a "new home" Pinterest board (eeeep) I fully intend to give it my best shot. Plus - I have a feeling June will be a crafty month - I am all inspired

Day #1 - A layout using Safmat by Letraset (which I printed the frames onto and then stuck onto the white cardstock) and using an Instax instant picture from the night before Laura's wedding day.

I love aqua, green and brown together.

So yeah - Day one.. Done!
*edited to say FAIL on the date - It was 03.09.10 not 03.10.10 as the photo shows. I have never been brilliant with dates, numbers, or maths in general.....
So yeah, that is now ammended...

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

2011-05-31T07:08:00.003+01:00

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.....

Sj's - Little Musings

Friday Freebie - Ditgital stamp - "Colour me in Owl"

Lino printing and messing about with the wool stuff!

New print - Valentines day

New for the shop - letter press style print

December pages part 1 - Quirky Kits

Freebie Digital stamps - banners

Fiskars roller stamps - new for 2012

New Year Round Up!

not here yet.............

Freebie printable Thank you paper

Make up for being lame FREEBIE digital free bundle

Shepherd watched the elf by night.....

catching up

He arrived

Friday Freebie - on a thursday

Limited order spots available for personalised prints

Christmas Tag Printables AND digi FREEBIE - be warned - seriously cool.

Where on earth have I been?

Friday Freebie x 2 - Christmas elf / elves digital stamp freebie

For sale:

Take One #4

Craftaholics supplies and Shop Update

NEW size "Likes" print!

Freebie free freeeebo digital stamp : Willow

October half term.......

Take one #3

The great art giveaway

Ok... be warned... I am going to mention *christmas* in this post...

Little Musings = Art Journal stamps. Friday Musing

LOVING these name prints

winner winner!

FREEBIE digital stamp = digi brain in jar for halloween

Special party post

My finger is sore.

Family Values and Family Likes

Needle felting!

Take one #2 - Second installment of my take one challenge videos

Personalised "Like" prints

Take One challenge reminder.

Things that go bump in the night

The leaves are turning golden... and Camera School with Shimelle

The Make and Create shop & Little Musings

Angel stamp samples

Friday Musing - Second Digital Angel release and Friday Freebie

Magazine love

Take one part 1 - my new layout

Take one #1

Angel Digital stamps = Part 1

Little musings interupts your viewing for an important broadcast....

picture HEAVY weekend post

Friday Freebie - Autumn printable

One of those posts

Rubber stamps and LSNED

Friday Freebie! - Penny & Pumpkin

Zombie birds and paper flags.

The Make and Create shop

Catching up iPhone styleeee

Friday Musing and Friday Freebie !! Digital stamp = Layer Pops

Friday musing 50's Glamour - Digital stamp

Fiskarettes DT project

Cute post

Monday hybrid freebie - UKSCRAPPERS

Let's talk about.... hybrid baby...

Going postal

Friday Little Musing - Picturebox

10 things

When the sun shines....

Little Bit Of Whimsy Sneeker

Friday Musing - Splash - Mermaid digital stamp

Bert and Ernie

Scrap Rat August kit

Friday Musing - I don't Bee-lieve it & Other critters

Craft fair

August Scraprat kit sneaks!

Scrapology sponsor

Friday Freebie Digital Stamp - "Seahouse"

getting ready

konad nail painting plates

Cards, Smash and Dragons

Ok... be warned... I am going to mention christmas in this post...