at last...

Good morning everyone at long last I can post again...I don't know if it was blogger or my connection but I could hardly get online yesterday and when I finally did about 7.30pm blogger wouldn't let me download anything...I have a sneaky suspicion that it may have had something with the work being done to the electricity connections as there are still thousands of homes with energy here still and our light kept flickering...but never mind what it was I'm back online now...amazing how much you get used to doing something isn't it...I spent most of yesterday double checking things because I was sure I had forgotten something...er....yes a post lol...Phil had to go into work yesterday and my Dad popped down for a cuppa...Dad hardly ever just pops in but we sat chatting about everything and anything...I had forgotten how easy conversations used to be before his hearing went and now its back its amazing...I'm loving it so much and he seems to want to be out and about and to speak to as many people as he can...he loves how he can now hold a real conversation with someone and has spoke to everyone he has seen since Friday...it has made so much difference to his life...in fact so much difference to us all...thank you all so so much for your wonderful comments about my Dad, he is so special and I'm so pleased I manage to show that to you all...right now onto my card for today which should have been yesterdays really but better late than never...how amazingly stunning is the dress and mask on this stunning Make it Crafty digi...she is called Christine Soprano and is wonderful to colour...I really enjoyed sitting down and colouring her with my distress inks...I teamed her up with some beautiful springlike papers from the Prima 6x6 - Tea Thyme paper pad I bought from Bunny Zoe's Crafts but it was ages ago and its out of stock atm...I finished with some more of these addictive butterflies from the Prima Butterflies - Divine pack which is also from Bunny Zoe's Crafts...I don't seem to be able to stop using them as they go with loads of papers and there are lots of colours in each pack...of course the gems add a little bit of sparkle don't they and you cant beat a bit of bling can you...I made the sketch up as I went along but am entering it for the Simon Says Stamp Challenge, Sweet Stampin' Challenge and the Challenge 4 Everybody Challenge too...I'm cooking dinner for everyone tonight...way to go my little girl...so will be making a cottage pie and cheesecake one of our families favourite meals, I hope my lovely Dad wont find it too loud as all the chatter can get a bit over zealous lol...whatever your up to today have a fantastic one and wherever you are I hope it doesn't snow for you

Mina xxx

distress ink colours used

skin - antique linen, frayed burlap, tattered rose, spun sugar

hair - antique linen, frayed burlap

eyes - crushed olive

dress & mask- tattered rose, crushed olive

shading - pumice stone

spring fresh...

Good morning everyone, how are you all...are you all well and happy I hope so...my lovely Dad is back from his travels again and he looks so well, its brilliant to have him back and we will be heading out to the supermarket today to stock up his cupboards...btw I have the freshest breath in Britain today lol, I was cleaning the kitchen cupboards so the new people wouldn't have too yesterday and was using a flash cleaner with added fabreze and getting on fine...a bit too fast though as I sprayed it the wrong way round and gave my face a good dosing lol...duh how thick am I, oh well it freshened my breath anyway lol...am I nuts doing this much cleaning for leaving a house or are you all the same, I couldn't bear the thought of it being dirty for the next owners and would hate it myself...please tell me Im not crazy lol...oh I forgot yesterday to say where we were going on holiday didn't I, I just grabbed the first bargain flight I could see and booked it so we are heading to Majorca and ooohhhhh I do love a bargain don't you lol....right now onto my card for today, isn't this beautiful Annabelle digi from Make It Crafty gorgeous, I coloured her with distress inks and used some stunning papers from the My Mind's Eye - A Happy Heart 6x6 Pad, I love the lush colour combo in this pad and its from Bunny Zoe's Crafts...I finished with a huge Prima metal flower, some pearls (yes these are the ones from under the sofa lol) and a ceramic sentiment...the fab sketch is from Tuesday morning sketches challenge and I'm also entering it for the Allsorts Challenge and Craft Your Days Away Challenge too...right I'm off to get the war paint on for the battle of the trolleys at the supermarket but a put the world to rights coffee and some cake will help I'm sure...whatever your up to today I hope its a brilliant one
Mina xxx

distress ink colours used
skin - antique linen, frayed burlap, tattered rose
hair - frayed burlap
outfit - antique linen, victorian velvet, pumice stone

magical...

Good morning everyone, I hope your all well...can someone please switch that big tap in the sky off it seems to be stuck on sprinkler setting, it has been raining here for the last 24 hours and everything is very soggy...ok now enough is enough lol...hands up everyone who thought we would find sunglasses for my Dad...nope you were wrong and over coffee came to the conclusion it would be easier for him to get what he wants in Dublin Airport...well that was my excuse not to go to anymore shops anyway lol...I did get his Euro for him though and a few more bits and pieces, he is so looking forward to the wedding in Sicily and I so wish I was going too, but there isn't the space so I will just have to settle for phone photos of the day and sitting here in the soggy rain...do you all feel sorry for me lol...right now onto my card for today, how stunning is this beautiful Mermaid Lola from Make it Crafty, she is amazing to colour too...I used my usual distress inks and teamed her up with these lush papers from the Prima 6x6" Paper Pad - Fairy Belle pad I bought from Bunny Zoe's Crafts, I love this pad, the soft muted colours and patterns go with so many images...I added a beautifully soft grey organza ribbon and bow, pretty little gems, a crown charm and a stick on sentiment from my stash...I cant remember where the sketch is from (my brain is waterlogged lol) but I'm entering it for the Cute Card Thursday, Simon Says Stamp challenge and the Paper Crafting Journey challenge too...I'm all by myself for the next two days as my lovely Phil is away camping so he can do some marshaling at the races, so two days of crafting, crafting and er maybe just a bit of crafting I think...I'm looking forward to trying out some new things I have wanted too for a while...bliss...whatever your up to today have a fabulous one and I hope its a dry one too
Mina xxx

distress ink colours used
skin - antique linen, frayed burlap, tattered rose
hair - milled lavender
top and tail - milled lavender, victorian velvet

the man in charge fixed it...

Good morning everyone did you all have a fantastic weekend, did any of you get a bit burned, I have never seen so many people that painful shade of scarlet than I did yesterday...it was like some sort of scary red virus had hit town lol...our Daughter had a fantastic birthday yesterday, we arrived in the morning at her house and she was already sunbathing, I can tell you all about her gift now as she has it, we paid for a 4 day trip to Amsterdam for her and her other half, she was so excited bless her, she was like a five year old again...we gave her the gift all wrapped up in a hand made box with a huge pink glittery bow...on the top was a few artificial tulips then below two tour guides of Amsterdam then her tickets, hotel voucher etc each layer wrapped in pink tissue paper, she was like a kid in a sweetie shop opening each layer lol...we all went out to dinner last night, so all in all I want the same type of Birthday next year please if anyone is listening lol...right now apologies for the late posting but Mr internet said no to downloads for a while so I just had to be patient and wait...but it seems to be sorted now even if my wireless still isn't working I can at least use the wired version...my card for today is using this amazing Make it Craftydigi called Siren Melody, stunning isn't she, shes coloured with distress inks and I added some glitter to her beautiful tail...the papers are from Prima again (I seem to be on a Prima trip atmdon't I) this time they are from the Madeline paper pad, all I used to finish was some large pearls to match the papers...the fab sketch is from Sketch Saturday challenge and I'm sure there was a couple of other challenge I was going to enter it for but for the life of me cant remember...oh no the memory is shot this morning lol...I'm having a crafting morning today, I need to catch up with a few things...whatever your up to today have a fabulous internet trouble free day
Mina xxx

distress ink colours used
skin - antique linen, frayed burlap, tattered rose
hair - evergreen bough
tale - everygreen bough, shabby shutters
shell - victorian velvet

a touch of lace and loads of hair...

Good morning everyone I hope your all well and happy...well I finally got the food processor that my darling Phil wanted and I'm expecting some wonderful cooking creations to be made...so Phil will be a happy bunny, hes not the gadget person in the family, but he so loves to cook...I can see I'm going to have to sit on my Dad hes chomping at the bit to be driving again and I'm having to persuade him not too until he has had his check up just to make sure his sight is has improved enough...I had great fun yesterday afternoon colouring this amazing Make it Crafty image, isn't the hair just stunning and brilliant for people like me addicted to colouring...this gorgeous beauty is called Adele, of course I used my usual distress inks to colour her and I'm loving doing blonde hair atm, I love making the shadows darker and its not as hard as it look...honestly lol...I would do a tutorial but I'm absolutely rubbish at them and they take me forever to do...I teamed this gorgeous image up with some more of the amazing Prima 6x6" Paper Pad - Almanac I bought from Bunny Zoe's Crafts, lush lush pad...I finished my card with some stunning deep cotton lace I bought before Christmas and just found a couple of days ago and a couple of punched butterflies...the sketch I just made up as I went along but I'm entering this into the Use Your Stuff Challenge and the Creative card Crew challenge too...O still haven't got around to commenting on your blog yet, I'm so so sorry, bad blogger Mina and a slap on the wrist...I just haven't had the time as my DT work has been keeping me so busy, I think maybe something will have to give as I'm missing my blog hopping so much, well I'm off to my craftroom today to see how far ahead I can get to free up some time for a wee hop around tonight...whatever your up to today, if you see my Dad out in his car send him home please lol
Mina xxx

distress inks used
skin - antique linen, frayed burlap, tattered rose
hair - antique linen, grayed burlap
eyes - shabby shutters

every girl needs a new bucket at some time...

Good morning everyone I hope your all well and happy...now I know the post header is a weird one but every girls needs a new mop and bucket at some time don't they and I needed a new one, not exciting but one of life's must haves so of I popped to our local retail park to scout one out...well we have three stores in a row so I tried Argos £23.99 then Sainsburys £14.98 and B&M Bargains an amazing £6.95 with a spare mop head too, now how on earth can there be such a vast difference in price and they were all the same sort of good brand...it made me shake my head which is a sure sign I'm shocked lol, so I text a friend last night to tell her the shocking truth about the price of buckets and mops and she replied with 'its only a bucket and mop, get a grip woman', I came crashing down and realised I was ranting and raving about the price of a mop and bucket how sad am I, I so need to get out more lol...my lovely Dad is home for the weekend and it is lovely to see him again, still no sign of his eye surgery appointment yet though despite many phone calls, oh well fingers crossed t will happen really soon...my card for today you will be pleased to hear has no mop or bucket on it...I used this stunning image from Make it Crafty called Elizabeth J, I coloured her with distress inks and added a little bit of glitz to her shoes and dress...the stunning papers are from Graphic45's Le Romantique Collection and is called Daydreams, lush lush paper, I finished with a stamped sentiment and a Prima metal flower which I added a beautiful crystal butterfly too...the lush sketch is from Crazy 4 Challenge challenge and I'm also entering it for the Flutter By Wednesday challenge...I haven't a clue what I'm up to today I might even do a bit of crafting, I feel in the need of some cutting I think...whatever your up to today stay away from the mops and buckets or you to may suffer from cleaning equipment rage
Mina xxx

colours used
skin - antique linen, frayed burlap, tattered rose
hair, shoes & bodice - walnut stain
dress - evergreen bough from the seasonal winter ink set
shading - pumice stone

Welcome to the Carnival

Good morning everyone and welcome to the hugest biggest blog hop to celebrate a wonderful range of cordinating digi stamps...heres the hop info
Clowns, Fairy floss, sticky fingers, squeals of delight and of course complaints of sore feet near the end of the day... Where are we?
THE CARNIVAL!!
Hopefully you have just hopped on over from DEBBIE but If you just popped on by to say hello and want to join us on the super carnival hop then you’ll want to go to JAK'S to start at the beginning
Zoe from Make it Crafty and Mo from Mo’s Digital Pencil, came together to share the delight and fun of The Carnival. To celebrate - the two fabulously talented teams have come together for a massive blog hop to offer you plenty of inspiration when playing with these images.
Along the way you will find balloons with a letter in them. Write down the letters as you go because at the very end we want you to guess what the saying is!
There will be THREE grand prizes randomly drawn from the correct answers PLUS there will be hidden prizes along the way so make sure you leave some love as you hop along!
Now we know this is a super big hop, but we wanted to make sure you would get LOTS of inspiration! The hop will be open until the 28thApril so you will have plenty of time to come back each day with a cuppa to soak it all up! (Just don’t lose the letters you have been collecting!)...heres my N
We would like to thank our fabulous sponsors, Mo’s Digital Pencil, Make it Crafty, Stamping Bella and Quixotic Paperie for providing the fabulous prizes for this grand carnival hop!
I used the amazing Jojo for my card and teamed her up with Fair Carousel, how perfect do these go together, they are coloured with distress inks, the amazingly coloured paper are from Echo Park and I bought them from Crafters & Co, who now have an online shop, they are a mixture of A Walk in the Park collection Picnic Fun and Tree Tops and Springtime Collection Seasonal Stripe, lush arent they...I finished with some buttons and Thickers...I also covered a coffee cup with the same paper (I used the wrap as a template), thickers and buttons to make a popcorn cup... the fab sketch is from Sketch Saturday...
dont forget to leave a comment for a possible chance at winning some hidden treasure
and then your next stop on the hop is KERTTU...Im off out shopping today so never know what I will buy, have a wonderful day everyone and enjoy the rest of the hop
Mina xxx

p.s. before you hop off I just wanted to tell you about a new charity digi from Mo's Digital Pencil...its only $1 and all the proceeds will be shared between the Make a Wish foundations in the US and UK...click on the image to buy

Twinkle twinkle little spots - CLP challenge 30 + Simon says Stamp challenge-Let it snow

Good morning everyone and Happy Thanksgiving to our American cousins...just excuse me a mo please....wwwwwwoooooohhhhhhhoooooooooo the wallpapering is finished, yes yes yes, and as I put the last strip up my Dads says how about we do the Bathroom next lol...I need to do some serious crafting first though and this time I think we will go to B&Q with an open mind and no colour charts...are you all cold enough, bbbbbbrrrrrrr I don't know it always takes us by surprise you would think in Britain we would be used to it by now, but that old Jack Frost always sneaks up on us doesn't he...my card for today is for the CLP challenge which is the fabulous sketch and the Simon says Stamp challenge of Let it snow, I used this amazing digi from Make it Crafty, isn't it just the cutest little house I would love one in my garden wouldn't you, would you believe its called Slimy House but instead of colouring the slime I shaded it and added glitter to look like snow, I think it works ok do you?, this stunning glittery spotty paper is from Making Memories Mistletoe range and is called Big Red Dot glitter, all I needed to finish was a huge red satin ribbon and the sentiment which is cut from lush ribbon I bought at the NEC...I love this little house and will be using a lot more times I think...supermarket with my Dad today and I will be distracting him from B&Q as best I can, have a great day everyone
Mina xxx