Snow, snow and more snow

Hi everyone,

It's still snowing here and it's now over the top of my boots when I take madam for her walk. This was Maisie in the snow earlier in the year. It's even deeper now, nearly up to her tummy. The garden pots in the photo have now disappeared under snow!! Maisie just loves the snow and is at her happiest when catching snowballs or chasing after them. You then have to spend an hour de-icing her paws and legs as you can see from the photo they end up covered in her own personal snowballs. We've never seen such snow here for years. It's been fun seeing places we know on the news because Northumberland has the been worst hit.

Unfortunately the snow has stopped me from driving down to Peterborough for a show with Cupcakecrafting CDs tomorrow but better safe than sorry.

Keep warm.

Hugs,

Lynda

Rock Chicks Rule!!!

Morning all,

I'm busy prepping for a show on Create & Craft on Tuesday 23rd November at 10.00am. Rock Chicks and tractors are the theme of the day. Can't get into the character for Rock chicks (too old) but I can drive a tractor. We used to live on a farm when I was in my teens.

It's lovely demoing different products because I now get to use all of my crafting stash and gadgets such as my Cricut expression (love it).

My next piece of news is that I have been asked to demonstrate for Cupcakecrating on Create & Craft. The business has a new owner and they have asked me to demonstrate their new CDs. It's very exciting. I've seen the new designs which are beautiful so as soon as I'm done "rocking" I'll let you see some creations.

Have a good day.

Hugs,

Lynda

Rather busy

Morning,

I was asked late yesterday afternoon to do a show on Create & Craft this Saturday at 9.00am so it's busy , busy here today & tomorrow prepping for the show.

It's a good job Colin has a few days off as he is needed to entertain Madam, aka Maisie. They have just come back from the beach having had an eventful outing. Maisie lost 2 toys including her frisbee which is now bobbing about in the North Sea just off the coast at Blyth ( Maisie does not do water). They met our next door neighbours on the beach. Maisie loves Irene. They then encountered a huge gathering of Labradoodles and were invited to join them!!. Strange my walks are always uneventful!!

Card is a sample I made for the Smiley Elephants CD ROM.

Hugs,

Lynda

Morning,

It's a bit on the dull side here today.Whilst I decide whether to take Maisie down to the beach for a walk I thought I would show you another card I have made from the Enchanted CD ROM.

Hugs,

Lynda

The secret is out

I've had to keep this under wraps until the CD ROM was premiered. I was asked several weeks ago to make samples from C&C's Pick of the Week Enchanted CD ROM but now that the secret is out I can show you some cards I made. I was given a sneeky peek at 2 of the fairy designs. The images are stunning. I'll post some more cards later.

Hugs,

Lynda

I am an Iris folder!!!

Where have I been I hear you asking. I've been busy prepping for TV shows and making lots of samples so apologies for my lack of blogging LOL.

I've been asked to do a TV show (Thursday 9.00am 30th September on Create & Craft) demonstrating an Iris folding kit. I've never done Iris folding before but was willing to give it a go so here is my very first attempt at it!! Not bad methinks. I have to say I'm now a convert. The kit features Burlesque ladies and as usual I've done something different with them so I hope you will watch and enjoy.

Hugs,

Lynda

A card for my niece's birthday

Doesn't time fly. It doesn't seem 5 minutes since Samantha was a little girl and she's now nearly 21. It's her 21st birthday on August 31st so a special card is called for. I love Tumble Ted so I got my Cricut machine out and cut out the leaves for the card. I love my Cricut Expression and used the Walk in my Garden cartridge for the leaves and Zooballo cartridge for the branches. It was a really fun card to make. I hope she likes it!!

Maisie and I had a lovely walk on Blyth beach today. The tide was right out and there were quite a few people in the sea. We're tough up North you know.

Hugs,

Lynda

Happy birthday Maisie

Where do the years go?

Today is Maisie's 3rd birthday. I can't believe she is 3 already. Maisie is Old English Sheepdog number 7 in the family, having owned OES's for nearly 38 years. What a softee she is and very much a "Daddy's girl" as you can see from the photo. Maisie likes nothing better than sitting on Colin's knee when he gets home from work.

Poor Colin he dare not sit down when he arrives home. He has to dash upstairs to change out of his suit before he can have a sit down.

We just love her to bits and hope that we can celebrate many more birthdays with her

Happy birthday Maisie xxxxx

I was given this stamp!!

Morning,

It's not a very nice day today here in Northumberland, overcast and fine rain. Where is the summer we were promised?

I thought you might like to see a card I made from a stamp I was given to demo with. It's the image of a man asleep on a couch with a couple of bottles on the floor with the text "Take it easy"!!!! I was not impressed and really had to put my creative brain into gear. This is what I came up with. I used an 8"x 8" card base and covered it with a backing paper and border from Are these for the guys CD ROM by Chris. I then made a text box by cropping an insert and added my own text.

Maisie and I are off to the beach now probably followed by a bag of chips.

Hugs,

Lynda

As promised.......

As promised here's the photo of Bev the Blade together wth her hero Nigel and the signed chest. Bev was like a big kid in a sweet shop on the day. It was lovely to see how much she enjoyed herself and I hope it's the start of many visits together to retail shows. Mind you I need to save up for the next one. I've just been given Tabby Kat Designs entire stamp range to play with so watch this space.

Maisie and I went to the beach this morning. It was cold, wet and windy. More like mid winter than summer. She's still damp now bless her.

Hugs,

Lynda

Hi Everyone,

Well what a day Bev the Blade and I had on Saturday. We went to the Summer Crafting show at Doncaster. It was Bev's first visit to a retail show and I have to say she was like a kid in a sweet shop. As we parked the car she saw people wheeling trollies and suitcases and when I told her that's what people brought to the show to put their goodies in she was gobsmacked. Once we got in the show she was speechless!! I had to hold her back and explain the rules of shopping at shows.

1. You walk round the outside stands
2 You walk down the aisles
3. You don't buy when you are first looking as you may find it cheaper on another stand
4. You have a cuppa
5. Then you spend, spend, spend

And boy did we spend. The highlight of Bev's day was meeting Steph and Nigel, especially Nigel. I can't believe I stood in the queue with Bev for over an hour to meet her hero. We made some lovely new friends as we waited. Then the moment came and it was worth the wait just to see Bev's face. What a brazen hussy she is. She got Nigel to sign her boob!!!!!! It made both their days I can tell you. Bev then proceeded to show everyone she met. It was a really lovely day and so good to catch up with friends such as Paul Church. Bev and I can't wait for next year!! I'll post a picture when Bev calms down and emails me her photos.

The card uses a tiny floral stamp I was given to demo with. I've used some of my Brenda Pinnick 12 x 12 papers and a lovely floral punch from Crafty Devils.

Have a good day.

Lynda XX

Apologies! I'm such a naughty girl for not keeping up with my blog. I don't know where the time goes. I've had a couple of trips to Peterborough for Create & Craft and had 2 lovely days demoing at Pondskipper Crafts. I got to play with my alcohol inks and distress ink pads. I'm hooked. You have to give them a go. Tomorrow Bev the Blade and I are off to the craft show at Doncaster. Bev is sooo excited 'cos she is going to meet Nigel from Create & Craft. He's excited about meeting her too as I always give her a mention for her beautiful card samples.

This card was my very first attempt at distress work. I've had some of the bits and pieces I used on it for ages. The text is a page I've torn from a book. Don't worry I had read it !

Off to walk Maisie. We're keeping clear of Blyth beach at the moment as it's covered in dead jelly fish. Horrible!! Mind you the other day when we were down there I sat on one of the outlet pipes for a rest and the sun was shining and the beach was twinkling as it reflected off the jellyfish. You would have thought it was covered in little diamonds if you had not known better.

Happy crafting

Hugs,

Lynda

Hi folks,

It's been a busy day today. I did some ironing. I know IRONING but it's piling up again and Colin needs shirts for work. It's Father's Day so I can't expect him to do it can I. I've just received my Seraphina Papercraft CD ROM Set and have to say it's a lovely set of designs. I had a play with it this afternoon and made this card. I've also got a Hougie Board as a present from my good friend Sharon Duncan (name dropping LOL) which is great for measuring different size cards. You may have to have one girls.

http://www.sharonduncan.co.uk/hougie-board---a-must-for-crafters-everywhere-9895-p.asp

hugs,

Lynda

Morning,

It's a bit dull here today. The sun was shining at 6.00am but has now disappeared again. I'm very busy working on samples for the next Hinny Bop CD show on Tuesday 15th June at noon so have not had time to "blog" lately. I was really nervous on my last show as it's been a while since I was last on Create & Craft but I soon settled back into it thanks to Martyn, the presenter. We had a good laugh as well as working.

Here's another sample card from the special Days Volume 3 CD ROM. I used one of the backgrounds as a frame for the digistamp which is from Cuddly Buddly. I'm really getting into digistamps. I used my Promarkers to colour the stamp. The pansy at the side of the card is a Little Claire stamp, again coloured in using Promarkers.

Hugs,

Lynda

What a lovely morning it is today. I think I'll take Maisie for a walk through our local nature reserve. I can let her off her lead and she can have a good run. I've a busy day ahead today, packing all the card samples for Saturday's show. I've been helped by my good friends Bev the Blade and Sheila. I need to set up my laptop as I always use my own PC at the studios. I am a technophobe and need to feel secure using my own PC and of course my precious graphics programme Ulead Photo Express. I don't leave the house without it!!

Here's one of my demos using a lovely rose design. I bet you don't know that my middle name is Rose. It's after my great nanna Rose and is also my Mum's middle name. It's Mum's birthday on the 8th June and I thought this would make the perfect card for her. What do you think?

Hugs,

Lynda

It seems that my secret is out so here's one of the samples I have made for the show on Saturday. I've been asked by Rose of Hinny Bop CDs to demonstrate for her on Create & Craft. Bless her she is too shy to demo on TV herself so has asked me to do it for her. I've never used vintage images before so I saw it as a challenge and have to say I've enjoyed making the samples. This is my first go with my Promarkers. The girl is a digistamp from Cuddly Buddly and I've also had my Cricut machine out. I hope you will be watching as I'm quite nervous as it's been a while since I was last on TV. I think I have Martyn as my presenter so hopefully there will be a few laughs along the way.

Hugs,

Lynda

Boo

I know - shame on me for not "blogging" There is a reason honestly!! If you watch Create & Craft on Saturday 5th June at 11.00am all will become clear. I've been really busy making samples and hope you will like what you see. My lips are sealed as to what I am demoing. All I can say is it's not what you think!!

Today's card is from the Flowers for all seasons -Wild flowers- Autumn & Winter CD by Chris. This is one of my favourite designs on this CD.

Hugs,
Lynda

In the wars

Hi folks,

Sorry for not posting for a few days. Both Maisie and I have been in the wars over the weekend. I decided to give our garage a long awaited and much needed sort out. It took me all day on Saturday but I was eager to get it done and finished. The weather was lovely so I put everything outside on the patio, tidied, sorted and then put most of it back. It looks great but did I suffer. I woke up on Sunday morning and could not move for the pain in my back so spent all day in my pyjamas either in bed or on the sofa. Colin decided to take Maisie to the beach for a walk. What is it with men? There always has to be a drama involved!! As he was trying to put her lead he stood on the end of Maisie's tail. Don't ask me how but he did, resulting in one bloody & sore tail. Poor Maisie. Her tail is as long as she is tall but you would think Colin would be used to it by now.

My card for today is a teabag fold card using Chris's Little dittzies. I love her teabag squares - you are always able to create a lovely effect.

have a good day.

hugs,

Lynda

Little dittzies again

Hi Everyone,

I was going to show you my first attempt at a card using Promarkers but my pooter is acting up and it won't let me use my scanner, so you all know what Colin will be doing tonight. That's correct sorting it out for me!!

Here's a card I made a while ago using a design from Chris's Little dittzies downloads. I've used a Magnolia dog rubber stamp as my main image and added some punched flowers and leaves.

It's been a lovely day again today, cold but sunny. Maisie and I had a lovely walk on the beach at Blyth and then shared a bag of chips from the fish & chip shop in Seaton Sluice. Best chips around.

Hugs,

Lynda

The other doggie member of the family

Hi Everyone,

I thought you might like to meet the other doggie member of our family namely Beth.

This photo was taken in 2008 shortly after Beth came to live with my parents. She and Maisie are half sisters and there are just 6 months between them. Old English Sheepdogs do a lot of growing when they are puppies!!. Beth is affectionately known as "Bolshi Beth" because she likes to boss Maisie around. It's lovely to see her and Maisie play together. My parents have a huge garden so the dogs can get plenty of exercise chasing each other whilst the humans sit and watch usually with a glass in their hand.

Hugs,

Lynda

Housework day!!

Hi everyone,

Saturdays are housework day in the Chapman household. Well some Saturdays are!!! I did do some ironing today, honest.

My treat was then play with my Promarkers. Yes folks I have them all. I know I'm spoilt but a girl has to have what a girl wants don't you agree. Just practising for the time being but when I think my efforts are good enough to show you I promise I'll let you see.

Today I thought I would share a card with you which I made last year using papers designed by my bestest friend Chris. As you all know I'm her biggest fan. The design is from her Little dittzies downloads .

http://www.papercraftworld.com/index.php?app=gbu0&ns=catshow&ref=downloads_floral

I added text to the card matt and then put it onto a square card. The stamp is one of my Tilda stamps. I die cut out the flower using a Quickcutz die with a brad in the centre.

Hope you like it.

Hugs,

Lynda

Miserable weather today!

What a miserable day, cold and wet. It's raining so poor Maisie is curled up in her favourite place - her armchair. It's too wet to go out for a walk so she's watching The Dog Whisperer on Sky!! and grumbling at people who dare to walk past the house. I hope it stops raining in time for us to go and vote as Maisie is supposed to be coming with us to the polling station. Kills 2 birds with one stone, vote and walk the dog at the same time.

One more Tumble Ted creation for you. I used an 8"x8" square card covered with one of the backing papers in the kit and cut out a rectangle to the right hand side of the card. I placed some gold mirri card on the inside of the card. I attached the balloon with string to Ted's hand and then placed him in the aperture. The tags were cut out from the Celebrations cricut cartridge. I added a gold ribbon to each and backed the die-cut tags with gold mirri card to make the detail stand out more. I cut out the word "celebrate" and added it to the bottom of the card.

Hugs,

Lynda

Another creation

I thought you might like to see another card made from the Tumble Ted and Tizzie card kit. This time I used an cream oval aperture card. I took a piece of beige card and cut a scalloped border using a Martha Stewart punch. I scored lines down from the border to create the illusion of fence panels. I then took a swirl stamp from Creative Expressions and stamped round the edge and sides of the card using a Tim Holtz Distressed ink pad - pine needles - to create a leaf effect. I coloured the edges using the same ink pad. The tulips were cut from the Walk in my Garden Cricut cartridge sizes 3 inches and 2.5 inches using yellow, red and green card. I used the Tumble Ted decoupage which gives the effect on him peering over the garden fence. when you look at the inside of the card you can see a view of his "rear". The oval piece of card which I removed to create the aperture was inked and stamped and used as an insert.

Using this card kit was a bit of a challenge for me as I usually work with papers printed from CD ROMs where if you make a mistake it's not the end of the world because you can just print another one! With a card kit you have to be very careful not to make "mistakes". I'll learn.

Hugs,

Lynda

My favourite place

Hi everyone,

This is Maisie blogging. I thought I would show my favourite place - my chair. This is where I chill waiting for my Mum to take me out or my Dad to play with me. It's the best seat in the house as it faces the window and I can pretend to be a fierce dog by growling when other dogs dare to walk past our garden. I'm a scaredy cat really. When I have to go to the V E T S I have to sit on my Mum's knee and shake. People laugh at me. Why? Small dogs sit on knees so why can't big dogs?

Big licks from Maisie

Thought you might like to see this

I was recently asked by Pondskipper Crafts to demonstrate at a retail show for them at Shepton Mallet. I made this card from their Tumble Ted and Tizzie Card kit which is also featured on Create & Craft http://www.pondskippercrafts.co.uk/tumble-ted-tizzie-360-degree-pack/prod_1316.html

I had great fun making it using branches cut using my Cricut Expression, leaf stamps from Creative Expressions and punches I have acquired over the years.

Hugs,

Lynda x

My first post

Well here goes. I'm a bit of a technophobe so this is a big step for me, creating a blog without the aid of a safety net. It's been a beautiful day today so Maisie and I went for a long walk round our local nature reserve. It's lovely there and is a safe place to let Maisie off her lead and give her the chance to have a good run round. There are plenty of places for you to have a sit down and from the top of the hill you can see across to the coast on a fine day.
Now all I need to learn is how to post photos of my cards, Maisie and other things which may be of interest to you all. You never know this could become addictive. Have a good evening. Hubby has just come home and I need to make him a cup of tea.