Happy mail.....

...and sad cards!!
Hellooooo well I am impressed with myself as it seems I am managing to blog regularly again, hooray!!!

I will start with my happy mail. Because I live 5 min away from work I like to come home in my lunch hour check my emails or sometime make a card if I am in a rush for one. Today I got in to a lovely parcel that has been delivered. Now you probably are familiar with this creative and lovely lady here. Ann makes the most gorgeous hand crocheted apples I have ever seen and I fell in love with. So I went ahead and bought one Ann even made me a baby apple on a key ring which I've decided I will use as a handbag/tote charm. Look at those little beauties
I just love them, and the packaging was delightful. You just cannot beat handmade and I am delighted with them. I think I will use the big one in my craft room, maybe as a pin cushion for my vintage pins to have them on display.

The key ring had a lovely charm attached to it

Is soo bootiful isn't it? Thank you so much Ann I love them.
The last two weeks were a bit of a sad time as I have found out of five deaths, close friends and close family members have been affected ( my BIL father died last Sunday) so I had a load of cards to make. Here's some of them
I like to keep sympathy cards plain. Bashful Blue card stock, Live Your Dream stamp set was embossed in white then some brilliant blue was rubbed over the embossed image, the background was stamped in Versamark then Brilliant Blue chalks have been brushed over to highlight the pattern.
Second one is made with the Bloomin With Beauty


Plain white card stock a metal edged tag, those are really cool they have a smooth paper centre perfect for stamping on, the image was coloured with the markers decoupaged and popped out on dimensionals.
I am leaving for London tomorrow morning for a full weekend with my sweet Luca, my sis and BIL. YAY!! I cannot wait!!
See you all soon. Monica xx

Do something amazing !!!!

PLEASE GIVE BLOOD!!!
Hello, today straight after work I went for my regular blood donation, I do this every 4 months and I would plead with you to consider it, the need for blood has never been greater. Is really not painful at all and the donation it takes less than 15 minutes.
CLASS NEWSFLASH!!!!!!!!!!!!
We are getting near to our second round of Stamp With Us Online Summer Edition!! Launch date is 1st of August and over the following two weeks every day something new will be added to the site. That could be one of 10 PDF classes for you to download and complete in your own time, a technique video to watch, we even have live online chats and live beat the clock challenges!! We did have a lot of fun last time and we are working hard behind the scenes to make this second round even better. The price is a bargain £15.00. To join us click on the buy it now button on the top right hand corner of this screen.
How about some local classes? The next one is taking place on Saturday 8Th of August at 10 am. Location:
Wesley Place Community Centre, Snaith (behind the Methodist Church)
Cowick Road, Snaith, Goole, DN14 9JF
The projects?

This gorgeous designer bag with a super duper fanciful closure, plus 16 decorated little 3x3 thank you notelets. Very little stamping will take place in this class, you will be working with a mix of gorgeous hot summery colours from the Petal Party simply scrapping kit, your kit will contain everything needed to complete this class plus loads more left overs for you to enjoy later. Cost: The cost of this class including refreshments and home baked yummies is £15.00, however if you have attended 3 of my last classes in a row, you can take this class for a super cool £10.00. Don't live near me but you would still like to make those cute projects? £15.00 will get you this class complete with step by step instructions, delivered to your door postage free. To reserve your place please email me.
I am leaving you with a few quick cards I have made for two members of my team. They both had big SU promotions lately. Thank you for all your hard work Bekka and Sally I hope you will enjoy your new goodies.

I have used the challenge combo from this weeks challenge at SWUS, So Saffron, Real red, old Olive, Brocade Blue. sentiment Happiness Always. Thank you for visiting see you soon, hugs Monica xxxx

A lazy Sunday afternoon....

... I am having!! Hello are you chilling too? the weather is not that good in Yorkshire today, we had some showers earlier but it stopped now and I am lounging about. I love lazy Sunday's is not that often that we get them so is really nice, been shopping this morning (didn't make it yesterday as we ended up visiting) we had a lovely lunch overlooking the Hull Estuary then back home and now I've decided to blog.
Is Sunday and it means that a new challenge has been posted over at SWUS. I struggled with this one a bit but I suppose that s why is called a challenge. This was the inspiration photo, lovely beach scene, oh how I wish I was there. I really had a hard time deciding what set to use how to arrange my colours so in the end I choose a pretty basic layout and pulled out the yummy Tart and Tangy. I have made some strawberry jam recently and a few jars will go to my SIL when we visit next. I thought it would be a good idea to make a matching card. I have made the glass bowl from a piece of vellum that I have embossed using the bubble CB folder, then I simply filled it with yummy strawbs.

Bashful Blue, Brocade Blue, Real Red and Old Olive, plus a tiny bit of So Saffron . Some of the strawberries were stamped straight onto the whisper white layer and others were decoupaged and popped onto dimensionals. Here s a close up


Check out the SWUS blog, the DT have some wonderful samples on show and don't forget that by entering a card or a project you will be in with a chance to win a free pass at our next round of online classes!!!

So my lovely shopping spree, well not a lot was bought. The sales are on and I HATE sales, I mean I love the prices being slashed but I hate millions of people (felt like there was) pushing and showing their way past you like you're invisible. I did managed a few bits and I just know you would like a peep, only because I love to have a nosey at other peoples wares. So here s what I got from top left
A pair of Monsoon skinny jeans, I love the little zip detail at the bottom, although I will wear those with my long boots a lot so useless really. A pair of red hot leather shoes from Schuh, love those and I know I will wear them tons. Then top right a few boring cardigans in this season's hot shades, I live in plain vest tops with a little cardi over, so those brightly coloured ones will stop me from looking too boring (they are from Wallis, Miss Selfridges and River Island). The hot pink top on the top is a sleeveless going out top (say that one fast a couple of times LOL), I love the bright colour and the colour loves my skin which was surprising as I never wore anything that colour around my face.

Bottom right photo is a lovely necklace from Monsoon, those that know me will spot the consistency here, I love wearing chunky jewellery, check those colours out, they will go with nearly everything in my wardrobe, FAB I say.

And lastly some yummy Summer scent. Is by Anna Sui and is called Flight of Fancy, a lovely light, exotic fruity smell perfect for Summer day wear. I had a bottle of it when it was released in 2007 so I thought why the hell not, I loved it then and I love it now. Also the bottle and packaging is soo very pretty, I shall have it out on display on my bedside table. So my lovelies this is my haul, not a lot but the best bit is that the whole lot cost me only £120. Happy days !!

Speak soon, Monica xxx

And the WINNER is...................

number 7!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello everyone YIPEEEEEEEEEE is Friday, I am soo happy as I am looking forward to a bit of spare time. Gosh guys I am so sorry I feel really guilty as I think I have made my candy a bit too hard. Only 8 people correctly identified the colours in my picture, they were as follow

PIXIE PINK

OLD OLIVE

PUMPKIN PIE

SO SAFFRON

and the tricky one was ROSE RED in the felt flowers. I have used the random generator to pick a number between 1 and 8 and it picked number 7!! Here s a screen shot I have capturedAnd the lucky winner is Teri

****Teri said...
Wow! Congratulations Monica! I've got to say tho ..... couldn't happen to a nicer lady :o)Colours for the candy ..... do I list them here??? Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Rose Red, Pixie Pink and So Saffron?Thanks for the chance to win your gorgeous goodies!Teri xxx***

Teri CONGRATULATIONS my darling, please email me with your address and I will send those goodies your way. Thank you all so much for entering and I promise to make it easier next time.
Tonight we had a live chat over at SWUS and I have choose a technique for the ladies involved to have a go at. Is the Faux Stained Window technique, very pretty it gives your cards a soft and feminine effect. And here s the card I have made showcasing this technique

Bashful Blue and So Saffron, I have used the markers to colour my white embossed image on the vellum layer, and it donned on me that I use this set an awful lot, I think I must like it a bit too much. LOL
Here s a close up to give you a better idea
Bloomin With Beauty stamp set and Circle of Friendship stamps, striped grosgrain ribbon.
Right I will be back soon with a few more projects, till then big hugs and I hope you will have a great weekend, I am going shopping in Leeds as it was pay day yesterday woohooooooo. Monica xxx

CANDY TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This post will stop at the top of my blog until the draw is finished, so please scroll down for new posts.
Hiya are you well? I am all packed and ready to leave very soon, so very excited but not looking forward to the M25, hopefully it shouldn't be too bad but that is wishful thinking I know as M25 is ALWAYS bad!!!



I mentioned in my previous post that I have some reasons to celebrate, and here it is. I have reached another promotion with Stampin'Up this time is Gold for me. I have to say it was down to my amazing team as we had some fab promotions this last few months so this pushed me up a level, so I want to say HUGE thank you to them I feel lucky and I am grateful to each and every one of them they are all STARS. So I thought I would share this with you and celebrate with some candy. Here s what s for grabs


One level 2 hostess stamp set with a matching wheel *Spring Solitude*
A selection of papers and card stock in yummy colours
Some felt blooms, clear buttons, ring circles, ribbon an ink pad and antyhing that I will find in my stash to match those colours. Now what do you need to do to be in with a chance? I thought I would have you get your cattys out. I want you to guess the Stampin'Up colours in this picture, look carefully as to not miss any. PLEASE NOTE THAT I WILL NOT ENABLE THE COMMENTS UNTIL THE DRAW DAY. I don't want any of you to be influenced by any other answers. FUN? I bet it is LOL
The winner will be picked by a random generator next Friday. Good luck
And I have a sweet card to share, I have once again been inspired by some yummy clothes I have bought recently in those colours, I just love them !!l
Stamp set used Live Your Dream and Polka Dot background. I will refrain from posting colours this time. Have fun guessing check back tomorrow as I have a scheduled post with a pretty card to show. See you soon Big Hugs M xxx

Our First Retreat.............

..............WAS GREAT!!!! Wooohoo, we had such a blast I cannot even tell you, I met some wonderful people (HELOOOO LADIES if you're reading this **waves madly**) and didn't want to come home, I could have easily spend a whole week with them. The classes were really well received and I was so relieved, because to tell you the truth I always worry when designing classes, I worry they won't be good enough, challenging enough, teach enough you get my drift, so to have positive feedback was great and of course very reassuring. Natalie and Zoe designed some fabulous classes themselves, in fact I so wish I could have sit down and make them myself, but as it happened we had plenty of running about when we were not teaching so I didn't get a chance. The venue was perfect, the rooms were gorgeous ( you even got a pillow menu to choose from- v. decadent), food was delicious and plentyfull all in all it was PERFECT> We had positive feedback from the delegates and I am pleased to tell you that we are doing it ALL OVER AGAIN. The next one will be in February (Guildford same venue, exact dates to be confirmed in a few days), and we also decided to do one a bit more central for those who expressed an interest but the travelling put them off, we are talking March in Stratford. YAY!!

I have put together a photo collage from the weekend, I have to say there were not many pictures taken on my camera, I have been so busy LOL. The main picture shows the table settings, top left sweet Cate who is pregnant with her first baby and wore a super cute t-shirt that said **Baby under construction**, bottom left a picture of the pillow gifts which consisted of a stamped tile topped with an aromatherapy candle, then various classes, packed kits, Christmas ornaments that were used to decorate the tables for the Christmas party on Saturday night ( I am sure there are photos of me and Nat dressed as father Christmas and Mrs. Christmas, I was the later and those suits were really hot). It was a wonderful weekend and best of all I left having made new friends and left with memories that I will treasure forever and I cannot wait for the next one. I will see you again very soon hugs Monica xxx

Birthday Passionette !!!

I HAVE SCHEDULED THIS POST BEFORE i LEFT FOR MY WEEKEND AND IT DIDN'T WORK, SO APOLOGIES TARA THIS IS SO LATE!!! M xxx

YAY!! Is sweet Tara's birthday today!!!!
You know I'm having fun and games at our first SWUS Retreat but I have scheduled this post before I left . Here is the card I have made for Tara


Her favourite colour is lilac, and I have to say I still struggle with this colour. I can only think to pair it with Green and it took all I had to steer away from that. But I am pleased with how it turned up in the end, even thought it took me ages to decide. Sorry about the bad angle I was trying to get it photographed in my lunch hour on Thursday before I have sent it, so I have rushed and only took a few shots unfortunately none were very good. The colours used here are Lavender Lace and So saffron. The lavender lace layer was stamped with the Baroque Motifs and the edges were sponged with Orchid Opulence. Martha Stewart fancy punch and the flowers are from the stamp set Happiness Always (level 3 hostess). Tara HAPPY BIRTHDAY my love, I hope you like your card and I hope you will have a super day. Hugs M xxx