Easter Critters...

Hello Everybody!!

Thank you so much for the fantastic comments on my first card since returning to blogging... they really spur me on to get crafting and every single one is so appreciated so thanks for that!! 

Now onto today's cards again using the felt stickers from Sainsburys. I just love these cute little Easter Critters and they are such fun to play about with on craft projects. I made a card for my son and then with some leftover scraps I made a notelet which I will be using as a thank you card. The papers are again from the Grace Taylor 'Let's Play' paper stack.

I would like to enter these cards into the following challenges...

Cute Card Thursday - Easter

Pile It On - Easter/Spring

That Craft Place - Easter/Spring

Challenge Up Your Life - Easter

Di's Digi Designs - Spring is Here

My Time to Craft - Easter Animals

Love and Hugs

Becky xx

Cheery Easter Card

Last night I made this Easter card with the intention of making it cheery and cute for my one year old Goddaughter. I have used a felt sticker, greetings and egg stickers from craft packs sold in Sainsburys this year. They are only £1 a pack and are bursting with stickers... I thought they were a great deal! The papers I have used are from a Grace Taylor stack called 'Lets Play' available from The Range (I love this paper stack!) and finally I have added a border punched using a Fiskas border punch and added some gems and doodling around the edges. Chloe's name is stamped using Hero Arts alphabet letters.

Thanks so much for looking, I would like to enter this card into the following challenges

Papertake Weekly - A Cut Above

Cute Card Thursday - Spring Fever

Creative Card Crew - Easter Critters

Bunny Zoe's - Spring Colours

Use Your Stuff - Stickers

Love and Hugs

Becky xx

Returning to Blogging!!

Hello Everyone!!

After a long break from Blogging (and crafting) I have decided to get back into card challenges. I will probably be very rusty but it will be fun starting over again I'm sure!!

As I haven't posted for well over a year I thought I would update you on what I've been up to. Well firstly this little precious girl was born. My best friend's little girl Chloe became my Goddaughter and she is adorable!! This is us on her Christening day.

And here is me and my not-so-little-anymore man. Dylan is now 9 and I am so proud of what a lovely boy he continues to be. He has a brilliant sense of humour and we spend so much time laughing!! 

Last year was tough as I lost 3 family members. The first being my brother, then my uncle and finally my partner's Grandad. When these things happen you start to re-evaluate your life and what's really important. I began to research simple living and decluttering and gave away so many of my belongings. I can't tell you how less stressed I feel as a consequence... it really is liberating!!

I would say that I now have about 20% of the craft stash I used to have. A lot I donated to my partner's mums' WI group, some went to charity and a lot I sold. So here I am deciding that this craft stash which I have kept (which I couldn't bear to part with) now needs to get used!! 

I look forward to creating again and I hope you'll come to visit me and see what I've been creating.

Love and hugs

Becky xx

A Life Catch-Up in Pictures... Our Year So Far...

January - Building little snowmen

February - An obsession starts with YouTube and all things make up and skin care!!

March - Dylan has 2 dress-up days at school... He was Mike TV from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for Roald Dahl day...

...And sported this fetching outfit for Comic Relief's 'wear something funny' day!

April - We attended a birthday party where wild animals were the main attraction... I'm glad the skunk wasn't in my house!!

 May - Was my 34th Birthday...

...And my sister ran the Race for Life in memory of our dad who died of bowel cancer when we were little... proud sister moment :-)

 June - Was a sad month as Dylan was taken into hospital with acute tonsillitis :-( ...

...But also a very happy month as my best friend revealed she was expecting for the first time :-)

July - I started re-organising our house... Dylan loved his room :-)

August - We went to the seaside for a little holiday and had a great time as a family :-)

September - Dylan went back to school starting in Yr 3... although he would have preferred to stay at home with his beloved laptop!!

And now we are gearing towards our favourite time of year Autumn... and with the nights drawing in it'll soon be time for the big man to arrive... EXCITED!!

Becky xx

Oh Hello There!!

Hello there!!!

Wow it's been 2 whole years since I've posted on this blog!! I was looking through my blog the other night and thought why not come back to the world of blogging?? I'm sure I'll do a proper catch up post soon but for now here's a few things I've been enjoying...

Cardmaking (of course!!) ...it is my 1st crafting love!! x

 And thanks to my wonderful friend Arline (who introduced me to 'smashing') it's reignited my passion for scrapbooking... and you can't have a big pile of stuff on the floor without having a cat sat on it can you?? :-)

And I've done a 'little' bit of stash buying... this was a trip to Hobbycraft in the new year (again with Arline)... but to be honest I haven't bought ANYTHING this year... you could say I'm working through my stash at last!!

And April saw my sister's birthday and a little bit of gift wrapping madness lol! She did comment that they were too pretty to open :-)

Toodle pip until next time.. Happy crafting :-) 

Becky xx

Back to School...

It was Dylan's first day back at school today so I made him a good luck card. I didn't have an image to use so I quickly drew a little boy and he liked it so I was pleased :0) The papers were from Making cards magazine so it really was an inexpensive card to make!

Here are some photos which I took of him this morning... he was very brave although he did tell me that he shed a few tears before lunch as he missed me bless!

Eventhough he's now in Year 1 he's still my baby!


And this was what he thought of me taking all the photos!

We had lots of cuddles before he went school!

Love my little man!

Thanks for looking xx

A Cute Card and Legoland!!

Hi Everyone!!

Happy Sunday... I hope you're having a nice lie in... I was awoken at 6.30 this morning... the joys of parenthood eh??

So anyway I have a card to share today which I made for my best friend's sister's birthday. I decided to use this image as it matched the papers from Making Cards Magazine perfectly (I love these papers designed by Nancy Watt). And also because I purchased the stamp from the NEC last November and had yet to use it... naughty girl lol!!

So here it is... I'm really pleased with how it turned out...

And here is a close up of the little girl coloured first with ProMarkers then highlighted with pencils and the background was blended with pastels with a white pastel used for highlights...

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges...

Penny Black Saturday - Shabby Chic

My Time to Craft - G if for... 'Girl'

And now onto Dylan news... on Thursday our lovely friends Arline and Steve treated us to a day trip to the Legoland Discovery centre in Manchester and we had such a great time!! We went through all the Lego displays and Dylan helped Professor Brick-a-brack to mend his factory! There was a ride to help to save the Princess from the Trolls and then a soft play area. We then spent a good hour making cars to race... Dylan must have had about 50 goes but was unable to win... lets just say there was a boy who was winning ever race and wasn't giving anyone else a go... it was a little annoying but hey ho lol!!

So here are some of my fave photos taken of Dylan in the gift shop with these amazing figures... this was my fave... such a cute policeman!

And this cool car... I bet it took some time to build!!


And all the boys were very impressed with this one!!

We had 2 professional photos took of us all... once Mr Becky has scanned them in I'll post them on here... we met Buzz Lightyear don't you know ha ha!!

Anyway, thanks for looking and well done if you got to the bottom of the page without falling asleep lol!!

Love Becky xx

Love is in the Air!

Hi Everyone!

I was contacted by a lovely lady called Linda yesterday who asked if she could show the card I made yesterday on her blog 'Uniquely Yours' which features all kinds of pretty handmade goods she has found on Folksy... so today I was a little bit chuffed :-)

I think I am becoming a little bit addicted to Folksy and already have a list of things I'd like for Christmas lol... favourites so far include a crochet giraffe... and a pair of knitted baby sandals (don't have a baby to put them on yet but hoping one of my friends reproduces soon so I can buy them he he!!)

But before I go... can I wish my bestest friends Arline and Steve a happy First wedding Anniversary... this is the card I made for them using a Penny Black image and an organza flower which I made myself :-) Their wedding was purple and silver themed so I used this as the inspiration on the card...

Here is the flower close up made with organza ribbon and pearls... pretty if I do say so myself he he!!

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges if I may...

The Ribbon Girl - Use Ribbon

Penny Black - Touchy Feely

Love Becky xx

A Penny Black Challenge Card...

Hi Everyone!

I have had a crafty afternoon today and made a card which covers 5 challenges. I have made the card using lots of yummy embellishments from my Folksie Shop... so here it is!!

I have used a Penny Black stamp which I got from The Glitter Pot sale and lovely Me to You paper which I got for my birthday. The image is coloured with ProMarkers.

I have used all embellishments from my shop, the lace has been gathered using a simple running stitch, I then wrapped around the Baker's cotton and hung the heart charm from it. Finally I added 2 ribbon roses and some string pearls (which I will be adding to the shop soon).

Thanks for looking at my card it is for the following challenges...

Penny Black - Touchy Feely
Sir Stampalot - Whatever you Fancy
Fuss and Fancy - Use a Lot
Truly Scrumtious - Lace it Up
Papertake Weekly - Grow Your Own

Love Becky xx

Folksy Shop

Hi Everyone!

Just to let you know that I've listed lots of lovely embellishments for cards and crafts on Folksy. Please have a look if you have time :0)

Folksy works like Ebay (you pay by Paypal) but it's also like a little craft shop meaning you can add items to your basket before you checkout. My shop is set up so no matter how many items you add you only pay £1 postage (UK).

If you'd like to have a look you can do so here http://folksy.com/shops/picknmixcrafts

Have a great day!

Becky xx

A Cute Little Christmas Card...

Hi Everyone! I have a cute little card to share with you today which I have made for the Charisma Cardz Challenge who have a '4 legged friends' challenge and A Passion for ProMarkers who have an 'Animal Crackers' theme...

I have used a Lili of the valley image (from the fab stack which came free with a magazine) coloured with ProMarkers and then topped onto some ribbled patterned paper with a few cardstock embellies to finish. This card is only 4" x 4" I am loving making mini cards just now!

Thanks for looking... I've been busy crafting this week and counted yesterday that I had made 13 cards!!

Love Becky xx

A Trio of Challenge Cards...

Hi Everyone! Thanks so much for your lovely comments on my previous post. I'm aiming to do a blog hop once a week to catch up with everyone xx

So today I have 3 cards to share which I have made for various challenges. My first is for the Penny Black Saturday Challenge which has the theme of 'Starburst'...

This card looks quite simple but it really was a labour of love and I kept coming back to it and adding bits and bobs so that it tied in together...

My next card is for the Sketch Saturday Challenge who have a fab sketch to follow... I took inspiration from DT member Cazza's card and did an unconventional take on it...

Again I have used a Penny Black stamp... this was another labour of love... I guess I'm just rusty at the moment!!

And my final card is for a new challenge blog ran by my very best friend Arline which is called Christmas Crafting and it is a monthly challenge blog dedicated to Christmas!! Arline has some fabulous prizes for the first challenge which is 'A Christmas card with at least 1 flower' and she is also looking for some DT members for the challenge blog so why not take part?? So here is my card using a very cute Pollycraft penguin whose name is Dexter... isn't he adorable??

So that's it for today... thanks for looking and have a great day!!

Love Becky xx

Pollycraft Monday Challenge - Christmas in July!

Hi Everyone!! Yay it's the school holidays which means more time for crafting!! I am aiming to do 6 weeks of challenge cards seeing as I'll be at home a lot of the time. I love the school holidays just relaxing at home with my little man!! Well actually he's still at school until Tuesday but I think I'm in the mood already!!

So this morning I had an email from Pollycraft as they have some fab offer on today... I snapped up the penguins which Paula had on offer and I can't wait to get them printed off!! But as I need Mr Becky's help with that I decided to use an image I had pre-printed for their challenge this week which is Christmas in July! I just love Christmas and I love Maurice and so I really enjoyed making this card!!

I had planned on making a few cards this afternoon but I kind of got carried away with this one and it took a good few hours to complete (I think I must be a bit rusty too!!) So I used a 5" x 5" matt as the main area of the card but popped it onto an A6 card to make the easel as I have loads of A6 cards to use up!! I have made Maurice into a boinger which is great as his googly eyes wiggle about!!

The holly I have made myself using a Papermania template and lots of card candy of course!!

And speaking of Dylan... I made his this to give to his teacher using my new toy the Cricut...

I am loving the Cricut and have been making loads of personalised cards and bits and bobs!!

So that's it from me... hopefully I'll be back soon with some more challenge cards!!

Thanks for reading Becky xx

Hello...

Hello there!! Does anyone read my blog anymore?? If not I'll just talk to myself he he!!

Since I last posted I haven't been doing a lot of crafting, but I just got the new Cricut Expression 2 so I thought I may start sharing what I make on my blog. Here are my first attempts... I did the snowmen first, then the monsters and the cats today, I've done multiples of each as it's quicker this way... they are very time consuming and you definitely wouldn't want to get paid on piece work but they are fun to make non the less...

And I forgot that I needed to get some birthday cards for OH's family (yes I have been buying them!!) so I whipped up these really fast. OH was really taken with these... he liked the simplicity!!

Thanks for looking... I'll try not to leave it 3 months until my next post lol!

xx

Kitty's Candy...

The lovely Kitty is giving away this fabby candy... check it out here!

I have just got out some crafting bits and bobs today, trying to get back into the swing of things!!

xx

Thanks!

I'd just like to say thanks for all your comments last night and this morning, they really helped me realise that I should just make what I want and not try to categorise my 'style' so that's what I'm going to do from now on... I also think I will try to keep in mind whether the card will be useable before I make it too!!

So here are 3 cards which I made last night using Dawn Bibby's toppers from her TSV from a few months back...

When I made these cards I knew I could easily send them or sell them and that made me happy... I think that's the way I need to go now!!

Thanks once again xx

Thinking...

...I feel like I need a new lease of life with my crafting... this is what I've been pondering of late...

• Trying a more 'grown up' style
• Getting away from 'cute'
• No more colouring in

But in the mean time here is a card which contradicts all of those thoughts he he...

My real issue is that I want to make cards that I can send to friends and family, they really don't 'get' cute and prefer the more simple and stylish feel... decisions!!

Thoughts??

xx