sugar and spice

First off, apologies if I'm boring you with all the blog posts...I'm on a bit of a roll at the mo and can't stop making, posting, making, posting !!!! I may as well make the most of it :) This weekend saw us celebrate Ricky's uncle's 65th birthday, so off we trotted to Great Dunmow via Ford End, got to say if any of you live at Ford End...WOW what a beautiful village !!! to a gathering in the village hall all for the love of Derek, it was great seeing family again, but the funny thing was, there we were with our boys aged 22 and 19 and then there were all these little nippers whizzing around, there's a whole new generation come along. I managed to capture a couple (they were fast) I was trying out some KW photographic tips, but you know, they just wouldn't stay still !! This little cutie is Jackson, when I asked if I could take his photo he just looked at me as said "NO" LOL!! and this little one is Sophia...she's ALL lady...and I...

Thats the theme for this months Blog over at Fantastic Ribbons ....So when I heard that was our task, I knew exactly what I wanted to show you, you see, I'm a bit of a fanatic for making my own flowers, and these are the quickest, easiest flowers you'll ever make.....So grab yourself some yummy Fantastic Ribbon, I've used the Gingham Col 64, it's THE most gorgeous olive green, in fact I should get my hand smacked as I used it last month as well....You could say I'm addicted to it !!! I started of by punching out 3 card stock circles (1") and apply your favourite fabric glue, mine is Tear Mender, I've never come across anything that works so quickly and uses such a small amount so a little goes a long way :) :) then tie a knot in the end of your ribbon and snip off the sticky out bit... Then place the knot end in the centre of your circle and start twisting the ribbon as you turn and stick it down.. Keep twisting and sticking till you get to the ...

That's all we've got to wait before to wonderful Lyn Gilbert joins us all day and inspires us all on our FREE demo day...just pop along to see Lyn's creative juices flow !!! For all the details on the day, including ALL the offers going on, just click the link "Events" above and read all about it.  Our Summer of Special Offers has kicked of with a real bang...LOTS of you taking us up on our WOW Embossing Powder Offer...well, you know it makes sense :) :) there's one more week of that offer then on Sunday 24th it changes to a new one...we do like to spoil you, you deserve it after all !!  I may just take Nina up on her Scrap 30 challenge...I just need a clear month where I'm not jetting off anywhere...I'm thinking August could be a good one, I'll let you know, then maybe you could scrap along with me, and it would make me post everyday AND use some of the 93 photos I've just ordered from SnapFish Hugs Marion xx

When you can Emboss... Here I've taken a 20" x 7" canvas, randomly put Versamark over it and sprinkled WOW Neutral Ultra Shimmer Embossing Powder on, then heat set. Then painstakingly punch out a gazillion butterflies, or ask a very dear friend to help you :) :), I randomly embossed some of the butterflies as well, then attach to 3 blank cardstock hearts, and attach to the canvas. It's still not finished, as I'm searching for a sentiment to place along the bottom. I'll think of one "one day" !!! Why Emboss instead of glitter....you may well ask...Simple really, once the powder is heat set you're not going to get any irritating bits of glitter falling off. Perfect !!! Hugs Marion xx

What do you think ????? Kirsty Superstar Wiseman has only gone and giving our blog a makeover. I don't know about you, but I for one think it's AMAZEBALLS !!! Take a look at the links at the top, you can whizz in and out for inspo, have a leisurely view of our You Tube Vids in Tutorials. Go straight to our Facebook Page and "Like" us ... of course ;)  See what Blogs we love  See what Events we have in AND out of the shop Be kept up to date with QVC appearances (oooh that sounds so lardy dah !!!) And most importantly go straight (via an iddy biddy link) to our SHOP If you fancy looking all posh like us, why not give Kirsty a nudge, you can catch her HERE It's now waaaaaaayyyyy past my bedtime, so I'm off to dream of other things of inspo to fill these pages. I've made a promise to myself that I will, I must, I'll try and blog more regularly ;) ;) Hugs Marion xxx

Genius..... AND rather lovely also. She's made us our own little watermark, she's also in the process of making our blog look "Non-Bloggy" why don't you check her blog out .... http://limegreenbogiegirl.blogspot.co.uk/ and don't forget her website...it's pure lush.... http://www.kirstywiseman.com/ But her skills don't stop there Oh No !!! the gorgeous photo above was taken by Moi, with the aid and assistance from Ms. Wiseman, so we're having her down to us in September for a one day photo course, spaces are very limited and filling up fast, so get in there, we're also trying to arrange a day of classes with her, so check out her talent and then give us a call to book, we know you'll want to. I hope you all have a gorgeous relaxing weekend.....let the celebrations begin. A quick reminder to say that the shop is open on Saturday and Sunday BUT CLOSED on Monday and Tuesday, then from Wednesday it's all back to normal :) :) Oh lo...

BUT..... I followed all the rules this month...Swoon !!! I've only gone and done a card (it's what time permitted) but I kept to the masculine theme and the Earthtone colours, it wasn't hard as I was using one of my all time favourite colours - Earthtone Olive ... I LOVE this colour, I also thought it went rather nice with the Earthtone Blueberry and Earthtone paprika ...all food associated - I'll put that down to coincidence LOL !! I started off by cutting out a couple of stars, inked up an embossing folder with Versamark, laid the stars inside it and run it through the Cuttlebug, the Versamark transferred to the debossed part of the stars, apply Blueberry and heat set, I did get a little extra on there, but as this is for a man, the "distressed" look works On the fold of the card I inked up one of the Funky Border Stamps and embossed it with Olive, added a scrap piece of card stock in a complimentary colour, then punched a scalloped card stock strip...