Decorations and Labels

Our christmas visiting has already started and I have been busy decorating gifts. I bought a great Sizzix die and made lots of bows and home made tags.

Some I made in different colours...

And in some I used just one colour..

I stamped some kraft tags..

And coloured them in.  

I love decorating gifts and making them look special, I have so many more I have to do!

How are your christmas preparations going?

Tracey x

A Great Trip to the Doctors

And no I am not pregnant! He he :-) I had to pick up a prescription this week and whilst I was waiting, I saw some books sitting all unloved on the window sill. This being one of them.

It's an old hymn book, I can't see when it was published but it's old and a bit tatty but the pages inside are beautiful...

And distressed around the edges, it looks like it has had the Tim Holtz treatment!

I asked the receptionist if it was for sale and for a fair donation it was mine! 

I was looking to use the papers in some sort of mixed media art journalling, I am so excited to be going on this course with Dyan Reaveley from Art from the Heart in less than a month.  I also thought the papers could be used make great christmas decorations.

Trouble is the book has made it this far in tact and I love it as it is, I'm not sure I can bear to tear the pages out of it. What would you do with it?

Have a great bonfire weekend. 

Tracey x

Taking Time Out to Enjoy the Little Things

My little fella has two weeks off this half term and we have spent our first couple of days chilling out and doing the things that we used to do before he was at school.

We have been to the park and fed the swans.

We drank hot chocolate in the cafe in the park. We played on the swings and slides.....

We have admired the trees, flowers, sun and the nature that surrounds us.

We have walked the dog, watched a film in bed and another with a blanket on the sofa.

He has reminded me what it is like to be eight, to be care free, to enjoy the simple pleasures in life and make the most of the day!


I hope you are all having a great week!

Tracey x

A Productive Morning!

Hi all, welcome to my new followers. One problem I have come across is that if I click on a new followers details, it does not come up with their blog so I can't join them. However if they comment I can then click on the comment and find their blog. Am I doing something wrong? Any help would be appreciated!

Hubby was off sick earlier this week so we snuggled down in the lounge with a hot water bottle and a blanket. I bought in a few of my new Prima stamps from QVC and a small table and made a few much needed cards.

I stamped using Versamark ink onto Linen card.

I added a little colour with distress inks.

And added a little bling.

I used different colours.

I love the green and yellow, not my usual colours!

Another stamp from the pack.

 And in a different colour!

Thankfully hubby is now feeling better and back at work, just in time for my youngest to start his two week half term!   I hope you all have a great week!

Tracey x

Weddings and Anniversarys

Hello all, life seems to be keeping me busy at the moment and my friend Jennifer reminded me this morning that I had not blogged for ages, so hello Jennifer, I finally did it! 


Last month saw me making a lot of wedding and anniversary cards, the most special one being from me to my hubby to celebrate 16 years of marriage. We have been together since we were at school!

I used a heart shaped stamp from Papermania and stamped it onto linen card stock in Crimson Versamark ink.

This was layered onto black card with black and red ribbon. The sentiment was printed from my computer in Edwardian Script.

I then added a bit of bling, yes I know its a card for a man but I couldn't help it!

Here is another card I made for my neighbour to give to her brother on his wedding day.

The heart was stamped with silver ink onto linen card.

I layered it onto grey and silver linen cards and used some foam pads to give it some dimension.

A few Papermania gems were added to finish it off! I have actually made three of these cards recently with different colour gems and backing paper, one in purple which looked lovely although I didn't get time take a photo!

Finally an anniversary card that I made for my friend and her husband, although the photo didn't come out to well. This was a digi heart from 2 peas in a bucket which I printed onto linen card and added some dark grey pearls.

Let me know which heart you like the best! I hope you are all having a great week, I am off to catch up with what you have being making.


Tracey x

Birthday's Galore!

Hello all and welcome to my followers new and old! It has been a manic month for birthdays and anniversaries and with the kids only just going back to school I have been busy trying to keep up with my cards! 

Today my youngest son who has just reach the grand age of 8 is having a sleep over with two of his little friends. We had a group of his friends come to see Smurfs 3D at the cinema and then went for a pizza and now the two remaining ones are playing quietly with him upstairs. I hope they don't stay awake to late as I want to be bright and bushy tailed to go to Ally Pally tomorrow for the Stamping and Scrapbook show!

Apart from my son's birthday this week I have also had our gorgeous niece's birthday.

First a quick bit of background not only is Grace gorgeous but she loves monkeys so much that my sis in law has two cuddly toy ones so that she is never without her monkey! I thought it would be a good idea to send her a card from my two little monkeys to their lovely cousin!

I used a digi set called Animal Crackers by Libby Pritchett & Tracey Howard from Sweet Shoppe Designs.  I used a branch of a tree and two cute monkeys and arranged and printed them from Publisher. I then decoupaged their heads, flowers and some leaves and covered them in glossy accents to make them stand out a little. Finally some wiggly eyes were added and a sentiment backed onto some pink paper.

Our card to our niece was made with a stamp I have had for ages and love using it for babies and little ones.

Stamped in pink onto white linen card stock.

Layered onto pink card and silver linen card stock..

I then added a bow, glamour dust to its ears and paws and a few gems onto the card.

I hope she likes it! Anyway I must go and check on the little ones upstairs and get them ready to snuggle down for a dvd, wish me luck!

I hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Tracey x

Cards for Kids

Sometimes I can spend hours thinking of ideas for cards and other times I will see something and the ideas just flow! I saw a Digital Paper set by Lauren Grier from Sweet Shoppe Designs, I can't find it on there now so I think it's retired. It's full of monsters and great backing papers. 

I wanted to make some quick cards for the kids to give to their little friends on their birthdays and made these in a matter of minutes.

I punched the little faces out with my circle punch and stuck them on with some foam pads. 

I added some wiggly eyes that I bought from the Factory Shop and used Glossy Accents on their hats to make them shiny.

Same idea as the previous card but with another wonderful backing paper.

Here I used one of the backing papers and added a 3D sticker that I bought in a set from the Factory Shop.

This one has girly colours suitable for a tom boy!

I really enjoyed playing with these papers and it feels good to have a little stash of cards ready for all the birthdays coming up!

Have a great weekend!

Tracey x