Allsorts Challenge 427

It is saturday again and that can only mean the start of the new challenge over at Allsorts.  This week my lovely teamie Mervi is the host and she has chosen

Colours of Your Flag

Check out what my lovely teamies have to share with you here along with all the challenge details.
I was born and bred in Bradford and lived there for 55 years before moving up to Scotland last december - so should l do red, white and blue or opt for blue and white the colours of the Scottish flag.  As most of my teamies are England l went for 2nd option. Here it is although l don't think the white shows up too well - it is quite pretty IRL.

Stamp Funky Flowers by Aspects of Design

Sentiment LOTV embossed with midnight sapphire

White embossing powder

distress ink

Stickles, ribbon, gem

We have been generously sponsored by DigiStamp Boutique.

Now back to the midge saga l told you about last week....off l tottled to Boots and bought repellant, bite cream and anti histamines then l ordered a head net to wear in the garden.....had a lovely evening on wednesday, 4 hours gardening and not a single bite but l looked a bit of a sight covered up head to toe ....the blighters are not getting me again.

Hope you all have a good week whatever you are up too. Hopefully we might see the sun again after days of rain.
Hope to see you over on the challenge x Susan x

Allsorts Challenge 426

It is Saturday again and that can only mean the start of the new challenge over at Allsorts.  This week my lovely teamie Brenda is the host and she has chosen

Photo Inspiration

Check out what my lovely teamies have to share with you here along with all the challenge details

Stamp Penny Black Flower Lanterns 40-547

Stampin Up Stamp Write pens

Ribbon 

Machine Stitching around edge

This is a new stamp l bought recently and l love it, you never get the same image twice. I have used the same colour pens on both cards, as it is such a large stamp nothing else is needed so l just stitched around the edge and added a ribbon at the bottom.
We have been generously sponsored by Swedish House Crafts and they have some gorgeous products on their site so check them out.


We have had a couple of evenings in the garden this week creating a flower bed with some gorgeous plants l have bought over the last few weeks ....the midges have been a nightmare and l have the bites to prove it so off to chemist in morning from repellant and anti histamine's. You would all have laughed if you had seen me jacket zipped up to the chin, big hat and glasses to keep of buggers off my eyes. Hope to share a pic or two nexr week

Hope to see you over on the challenge x Susan x

Allsorts Challenge 425

Saturday is here again and so is the start of the new challenge at Allsorts.  This week my lovely Teamie Helene is the host and she has chosen

FANCY FOLDS

My teamies have some great inspirational pieces to share with you over on the challenge blog which you can find here

I must admit l was a bit stumped with this one and had to give it some thought. The card below is similar to one l made a few years back at a craft group l used to go to so technically not all my design.

Piglet - Stampin Up punches - Owl & Bird

Card Stampin Up

Flower punches woodware

gems, distress ink

We have two prizes this week from Crafty Ribbons

We have been blessed with gorgeous weather here most of the week so l will share a few pics of my garden with you....

Me with my fluffy boy Toby on back lawn, this area was a massive hole approx 20x25 ft and 6ft deep when we moved in - the previous owners had it dug out 20 yr ago to build a sunken garden and never got round to it - so we had it filled at a ridiculous cost and then seeded it when settled

Me again in my woodland area, there are quite a few foxgloves here and l have added hosta's and plan to put helebores, forget me nots and spring bulbs in. When we moved in you could not see any ground here so we cut back lower branches to open it up

 

The Larch archway looking down towards conservatory, we also cut lower branches here to tidy it up and make it easier to get mower/strimmer through

The View over the hedge- hubby cut this down over 6ft as it was very high. We are south facing here so get lots of sunshine but also the prevailing winds.

Toby on walkabout - Isaac's goal net

My veg garden with childrens sunflowers growing well

Hope you have enjoyed your little tour around part of my back garden, l might share a bit more next week

Hope to see you over on the challenge and have a good week whatever you are up too. x Susan x.

Allsorts Challenge 424

It is Saturday again and that can only mean the start of the new challenge over at Allsorts.  This week my lovely teamie Brenda is the host and she has chosen

Lavender & Lace

So we would like to see the colour or flower lavender and the lace can be either the lace fabric, lacey paper or a lacey patterned stamp. - Check out what my lovely teamies have to share with you here along with all the challenge details

Stamp Sugar Nellie - Let Them Eat Cake

Coloured with copics

Papers LOTV Timeless Victorian

Ribbon, lace, flowers

Stickles, glamour dust, gems

Doily,  Joy Butterfly die

We have two lovely prizes this week

    

Hope you have all had a good week, we are two weeks into school holidays up here in Scotland and have had a mixed bag of weather this week. I am hoping for a good weekend to get out in the garden, my veg garden is coming on very well we have been eating our potatoes for a couple of weeks, this weekend l am going to pick the first broad beans. The strawberries are first year so not the best crop but the plants are very strong and putting out plenty of runners so we are hoping for bumper crops next year. Norman has cut down a few more large conifers - we have over 200 around our hedges and the height has needed reducing greatly all the way round. As l look out of my craft room window l can see my neighbours Scots Pines - they are magnificent trees, l just hope they never come crashing down in our direction as they are quite shallow rooted trees
I think we need to have a look at getting a ride on mower next year as it takes well over an hour to cut the back garden.
Anyway... happy crafting and hope to see you over on the challenge x Susan x

Allsorts Challenge 423

It is Saturday again and that can only mean the start of the new challenge over at Allsorts.  This week my lovely teamie Ellie is the host and she has chosen

Mythical & Magical

So we would like to see fairies, gnomes, mermaids etc. Check out what my lovely teamies have to share with you here along with all the challenge details.

Stamps by Lavinia & Inkylicious

Inks Adirondak

Stickles, liquid pearls

Silver card

I thought l would go for a bit of stamping this week, it turned out ok with just a few ink colours. The sentiment is just a little set l have which always comes in useful.

We have a couple of prizes this week for 2 lucky winners

What has been going on with the weather this week???? Yesterday morning at  6am the sun was shining beautifully then by 8am more rain, we have had so much rain lately l keep expecting Noah to come sailing past in his Ark, twice this week we had hoped to have a bbq - hopefully it might brighten up this weekend. The grass is so wet it is not good for the children to play on.
Anyway moan over....have a good weekend whatever you are doing x
Hope to see you over on the challenge x Susan x

July Penny Black & More

Hello my lovely crafty friends. The first sunday of the July is here so time for the new challenge over at Penny Black & More @ Allsorts and this month the challenge is

One For The Boys

The Design Team have been hard at work with their Penny Blacks and have some gorgeous inspiration to share with you over on the challenge blog here along with all the details.  You can used any brand of stamp except digi (NO DIGI IMAGES), the focal point of your project must be stamped to be in with a chance of winning one of our fabulous prizes. One lucky winner using a Penny Black stamp will be chosen to be a Guest Designer on a future challenge.

Stamp Penny Black 4060K Hedge-word

Sentiment Penny Black 30-053 Betsy Bluebell set

Coloured with copics

Papers Crafts House - Allsorts

We have been generously sponsored by....

Penny Black

Marianne Designs

Stamp Addicts

Sizzix

I love this stamp as it is just perfect for a quick male card.
Schools have now finished up here for the summer so l am looking forward to some free time while the grandchildren are with parents :)  Hopefully crafting and gardening.
 I have been spending a lot time in the garden - this week l bought a lovely white hydrangea, l spotted a dark foliage elderberry with pink clusters of flowers in a few gardens recently and on a trip to a well known DIY store it caught my eye so l had to buy it. Elderberry Black Beauty. It grows to 12 feet so l just need to find a place where l can appreciate it when it has fully grown.

Thank you for stopping by and for your comments x Susan

Allsorts Challenge 422

It is saturday again and that can only mean the start of the new challenge over at Allsorts.  This week my lovely teamie Kath is the host and she has chosen

Question of Sport

Check out what my lovely teamies have to share with you here along with all the challenge details. Get your thinking caps on and show us your sporty stuff. I must say my first thought was - what on earth am l going to do - but when l looked through my stamps l had quite a few to choose from.

Stamp LOTV

Coloured with copics

Sentiment stamp from SU

We have been generously sponsored by -
DigiStamp Boutique


As well as this lovely paper pad for another lucky winner


What on earth has happened to the weather - we have had rain for 2 days solid and the temperature has struggled to be in double figures. We have even resorted to putting the heating on.
 The schools up here are now on summer break for 6 weeks so l hope it brightens up as the kids spend so much time outdoors around here. The Piper came with bagpipes to my grandchildrens school yesterday and piped the children moving up to High School around the playground to say farewell. Last weekend was European Piping Championships here in Forres with around a 1000 pipers - l had a ticket to go but was not feeling too well - not a place to be with a banging headache. Hopefully next year l will be able to enjoy it as l love to hear the pipes.
Have a warm and cosy weekend whatever you are doing x

Hope to see you over on the challenge x Susan x