The day did not start off on the right foot  we had an earthquake this morning in Thessaloniki at around 5.30 am,  not a big one but enough to wake us and move our bed around a little. Now anyone who lives in areas where earthquakes are prevalent will tell you that it is not so much the shaking that is scary ( and I’m talking about the buildings here not me ) its the loud noise it makes. Needless to say didn’t get much sleep after that waiting for the after shocks ( there where three ) .  On to happier things !!

Today is my first Design Team piece for Crafty Cardmakers and  I am so excited to part of this wonderfully talented team of ladies and gents ( well gent actually ) nice to have a guy on the team.

Our challenge which has been chosen by the lovely Fiona is  ” No Floral Embellishments ” Fiona has this to say : You can use flower backing paper, flowers in your image but NO floral embellishments of any kind, (  so please read the small print lol! ) my words not Fiona’s 

Our fantastic sponsors are :  One Stop Card Crafts who are offering a ten pounds gift voucher and Digi Doodle Shop who are offering a ten dollar gift voucher which can be redeemed at their stores.

So without further ado here is my DT piece

Take care

A great big hello to you all !

Just popping in quickly as I am in a bit of a mess here ! Having decided to try a few new techniques ( and of course I have chosen the messier ones)  I am surrounding by an array of projects  which are spread out all over the place at varying drying  stages. Rosy and Bailey my two dogletts have been banished from my crafting oasis and are sitting outside my door moaning and scratching to get in. Now they would normally be in here sleeping soundly at my feet but the little so and so’s have been known to eat a couple of my projects in the past, feigning sleep they wait until I leave the room and then pounce ! I am taking no chances this time ” three times bitten four times shy ” I know it should be once bitten but I fell for their cunning plan on three occasions ! Anyway I digress ……..

I discovered a few days ago a fabulous new challenge group called Tag Tuesday who every week will be inspiring us to make a tag,  their theme this week is snow. I urge you to pop over and check it out as it is packed full of very talented ladies ( didn’t see any guys ) and amazing inspirational creations . I have to say I was a little intimidated at first but what the heck, nothing ventured nothing gained so I decided to do a little venturing.

I also discovered ( I’m doing a lot of this lately )  another very interesting group of gals DYSU challenge blog who have Let it Snow as their theme,  they have also very kindly provided us with a gorgeous photo to inspire us .

Sorry for the poor photos just getting dark here in Greece so had to stick the tag in the plant pot near the window to try and throw a little light on it !

The base is grey card which I smeared with Gesso then added a layer of UTEE mixed with a little glitter. I used the same process on the die cut snow flake curtsey of my Silhouette . I was going for an icy look so added only one layer of UTEE this gives a sort of crystal effect not that you can tell from my photo. I embossed the white card  and added glossy accents to the branches and then covered them with glitter . The stuff is everywhere ! No doubt I will have two very blingly dogletts as soon as they gain entry into my crafty den which by the sounds of them will be any minute now as Rosy the porker of the two is throwing all her weight against the door !!

Right am off now to get the Vacuum and remove some of this fairy dust from my surfaces. Will be by later for a nosey at all your fabulousness !

Don’t forget to visit Tag Tuesday and DYSU lots to see and be inspired by

Take care

Marie

HAPPY NEW YEAR !! excuse me for the belated new year wishes but I have just returned from a little sojourn to the hot thermal springs in Poza Northern Greece  ( more of that in another post ) ) but first I am literally bursting to share with you some exiting news ……..I am now officially a Design Team member for Crafty Card Makers,  yippty doo  !! I was so excited when I I found out a few days ago that I did a lap of honour around my living room dogs in tow yapping and squealing ( the dogs not me ) although I did let out a little squeal I must confess. I would just like to thank Lin for giving me this opportunity to be part of this fabulous team and I look forward to working and learning from the other talented members. Our first challenge goes live on the 9th of January so I do hope you will pop over and visit and maybe even take part.


More fabulous news over at Get Creative,  this is what our fearless and fabulous leader has to say :


we were so ecstatic with the participation in our October challenges that we are going to start of the year with another month of challenges similar to that of October. Every few days there will be a new theme either for cards or layouts chosen by the design team you will have  up until the 31st of January to upload your entry. The winner will be chosen by the Design Team and the prize will be :
………………………………………..

Now doesn’t that sound like fun !! and I get the month off too !!! Believe you me there are some exciting challenges this month so I do hope you find time to take part.




Last but not least and this has nothing to do with card making its just a shout out from a proud mum. My sixteen year old son and his band Chinese Basement will be making their Television debut tomorrow evening on national Television  on one of Greece’s most popular satirical programs called Radio Arvilla  so for any of my Greek followers who watch the program please tune in if you fancy a little alternative listening .


Well that’s all from me and not a card in sight ! Look forward to catching up with you all now things are back to normal and am so pleased the new year has started on such a great note !


Take care


Marie

Good morning , good evening and good afternoon to you all. I trust you all had a fabulous Christmas and are recovering nicely. Last week for me was bittersweet with my mad dash to London ( for five hours ) for the funeral of my dear friend Robert and then back home to Greece to work around the clock and be cheery in my shop. I have to say that there was so much love in the church for this beautiful man it was more a celebration of his life and we all felt his presence around us.

Anyway like most of you not really had much time for crafting let alone blogging and my commenting has been willy nilly ( craftingclaire will put me right on the spelling `). So when I popped in this evening to see what was going on I saw a few challenges that I could participate in. Hence the title of my post ” Anything Goes ” The craft room ( whom I love by the way ) and Top Tip Tuesday both understanding how we are feeling at the moment have decided to be lenient with us and and given us free reign ! So no excuses for not entering !

I thought I would share some cards for Christmas that I made but didn’t have time to blog. I know I have missed the boat and should have moved on to Easter or at least Valentines but it is a pity not to share these little beauties with you. In other words didn’t  have time to make anything !

Have used Waltzing mouse stamps on both cards DP papers and pearls from my stash and Tim Holtz on the edge dies.

Another one of my creations !! my 20 year old son Alexi who stepped into the breach and took charge of our shop while we went to London he had never worked there before and believe you me it was a very daunting task. We received glowing reports on our return from friends and customers we are so proud of him.

In January I will be celebrating my first year anniversary of crafting and blogging and am close to the 200 follower mark so will be putting together a little blog candy , so do pop by in the new year if you have the chance. I would also like to say a big thank you to all my followers and to all of the wonderful people I have met in the last twelve months you have made my life so much richer and ~I feel truly blessed. Wishing you all a fabulous new year , the best of health and a little love in your lives

Right am of to bed ! four more days of constant work and then with 22 friends we are off for a little trip for new years to an outdoor spa in the mountains.

Oops nearly forget , do pop over to the Craft Room and Top Tip Tuesdays to see what their fabulous design teams have come up with.

From me Tara ( as we scousers say )

As you are reading this I am on my way to London for the funeral of Dolly’s husband Robert unfortunately due to business commitments we can only stay for the service and will be returning to Greece  the same day so my post may be a little early.

Over at Get Creative it is the last challenge of the year and we are asking you to follow the fabulous sketch below.

Now I think you will agree it’s quite an easy one and for those of you who are ahead with your Christmas preparations we would love for you to have a go !

As many of you will know my blogging and creating has been a little lackadaisical of late due to my frequent visits to London due to the ill health of my friend Dolly’s husband . Yesterday he lost his battle and is now sleeping soundly with the angels. So once again I am of to London to say my last goodbye to our dearest and oldest friend ( he was 54 ) A beautiful man who touched our life in so many ways and was brave and dignified and even kept his lovely Irish sense of humour right up until the end,  we will miss you Robert.

Now…. er hum she says clearing her throat on to happier things. I recently bought some fabulous stamps from the very talented Claire at Waltzingmouse, I had been ogling her wares ( sounds a bit dodgy ! ) for quite some time and well I just had to have some  as you do ! I love her style and was so excited when I got my grubby little mitts on them. I had been wanting to take part in one of her challenges for quite some time and now I can ! Its a sketch challenge and I have to say sketches are a little difficult for me but this one was quite easy so I had a go.

Here is my take on the sketch

The Waltzingmouse stamp I used is from the set Around Christmas time and it has so may fabulous stamps I didn’t know which one to choose for the best. I stamped it with Melon Mambo ink from SU added a little glitter to the berries and when It was dry added tons of Glossy Accents. Do pop over to Waltzingmouse to see what the DT members have come up with to inspire us, I have to say they are a jaw dropping bunch of extremely talented ladies and I am in awe of their creativity.

Another favourite challenge site of mine is the Craft room and their challenge for the next two weeks is to use die cuts and punches . The lovely Nikki has chosen the theme and a great one it is too ! As you can see a lot of die cuts on the above. I have used the Tim Holtz rosette die for the centre I added two together and then edged them with green stickles. Have used my Spellbinders circles for the base of the stamp and the TH on the edge brackets die for the top. My trusty Silhouette provided me with the bottom corners . The photo does not do it justice I have to say in the flesh it looks quite grand ! Do pop over to The Craft room to see what the lovely DT have created for us I am sure you wont be dissapointed.

Right  of to work now I am working seven days a week for the next three weeks,  one of the joys of owning a jewellery shop ! So as you can image not a lot of time left over for anything , so am apologising in advance for my lack of commenting and what not .

Do hope to be back more cheerful and bright in the new year, love to you all and my very best wishes for a happy and healthy Christmas for all who celebrate.

Take care

Marie

Good day to you all ! Well December is well and truly underway and the feeling of panic is almost palpable…..well it is in my house anyway. I am sooooooooooo far behind in my creative endeavors , my muse is missing AGAIN ! I have told her time and time again to give me notice before she leaves  but oh not that little madam she just up and went  ! She says I have been neglecting HER of  late the cheek ! As a true fighter I will battle on int the face of her desertion its about time I took charge around here so………

Over at Get Creative we have lots going on this month firstly I would like to welcome Efi Stameteli  as guest designer this month after winning Nadia Cannizzos layout challenge in October. Efi is an amazingly talented and lovely lady, do pop over and visit her blog there is so much to see and be inspired by

There are currently two challenges running and both with the same theme the 1st  December being for layouts and the 5th  December for cards and the theme is to make a card or layout using ribbon or wrapping paper that you will be using on your gifts .

This year I will be wrapping my presents with Websters pages and each person will be receiving a homemade tag using the same paper,  this little tag ( actually its not so little ) can be used as a tree decoration so come and see what I made .

I would love to share the reverse side of this BUT ………….I Photo has decided that I do not have access to my own photos and has locked me out !!! obviously it is working in cohorts with my muse and they are trying to undermine my determination to go it alone ! My lack of muse I can fight but the loss of all my photos is a low blow looks like the Mac man is in for a visit !

This month at Get Creative we are being sponsored by  Unity Stamps

Please upload your entries by 28th of December to be in the running for a prize. Do pop on over to Get Creative to see what my fabulous team mates have come up with to inspire you . I am off to have a nervous breakdown preferably in the Mac mans office !

See you all later ………. if something else doesn’t thwart me !  ( that’s for you Donna )

Muse less Marie X

They say that creativity is therapy but after my return from my very sad visit to London I am having great difficulty sitting behind my desk and creating. To be honest I am not at all in the mood but I fear that if I don’t do something then I may not for quite some time to come. So today I would like to share a few cards that I made a few weeks ago and are in a similar vain to my previous post where I promised to show you them upon my return.

 ( it seems the first two lines of my post are not visible ( so nice to be back ! ) So what it actually says for those who dont have  X ray eyes is  : They say creativity is therapy but after my return from my very sad visit to London I am finding it extremely difficult sitting behind my desk and creating .

The Fashionable Stamping challenge is one that I have been following for quite some time and consists of some of my favourite and very talented blogging friends,  which is most probably one of the reasons I have not taken part before. As individuals they are amazingly talented artists but when you group them all together well it can be quite daunting for us newcomers ! Their theme is ” I’m dreaming of a white Christmas”  but we are advised that we can use any colour we like phew ! I do prefer the bold ones as you will see by my cards.

The second challenge I am entering with the same cards of course is for Crafty Card Makers and their theme is  ” Embossing ” I do love embossing and it usually features somewhere on most of my creations.

Please excuse the rubbish photo’s I was in a hurry to catch my plane and upon my return I find that they have been sold ! so you will just have to use your wonderfully vivid imaginations!

This one I have used the emboss resit technique on the bauble and then given it a good lick of Studio multi medium gloss . The embossing around the sentiment I actually gave it about four layers and up close it was gorgeous and thick and looked a little bit like old metal ( this is the bit where you use your imaginations ! )

The obligitory Marie close up !

will try my best and pop by and say hello I have missed you all and look forward to seeing what you have all been up to !

Take care

Marie

I am not here !! I am in London and if all is right with blogger you will  be reading this on the 20th of November. If this works it will be a first !  every time I schedule a post it just publishes it straight away and I have to delete it,  so here goes ………..

As it is  ( hopefully ) the 20th of the Month  our new card sketch for Get Creative has gone live. Our  lovely leader and all round good chap Irini designed this fantastic sketch.

Here is my take on it :

Have played around with it a little , a bit of flipping and rotating,  artistic license if you will !

I know you can all read Greek …… but for the one or two of you that cant it basically says that ” Every day is Christmas and there will be 32 days full of creative ideas and inspiration with lessons focusing on handmade items full of the Christmas spirit, so definitely worth winning a place with Cherry Nest.

Well am off now to stay with Dolly and her family in London so please forgive me if I am unable to visit you all during the next week but under the circumstances that most of you know,  my time is spent helping take care of her and her family during this difficult time.

Take care

Marie

Just a short post today as I am getting ready once again to go back to London to visit my friend Dolly and her family. I am in the midst of making Christmas cards and Thank you cards and my desk is heaving under the weight of all things festive. As it is my first Christmas since the craft bug bit me I feel it is only right and proper to be making my own this year !

Anyway the card that I am sharing with you has nothing to do with Christmas . CAS-_ual Fridays is a challenge site that I have been following for awhile and I must say I think the DT are fabulous they always have great Challenges and their pieces are always so inspirational if not a little daunting, which is why I have not plucked up the courage to enter before now !

Their theme this week is to make a clean and simple tag or project incorporating one.  so here goes …..

I used my new Sizzix/Hero Arts die cutting and stamp set for the flowers, cut an aperture with my Spellbinders circles and the frame is made from foam rubber, also sandwiched between the front and back of the tag is a layer of foam to give depth to the window, what a shame you cant see it  ( I mean the depth it gives not the rubber )

In my desperate attempt to show the depth of the window but failing miserably a close up !

The tag can be removed from the card here is a little piccie of the back

Now aren’t you glad I shared that with you !!!  so exciting eh !!!

I feel a little mean as I am only showing one card, my loyal followers will know that I usually share at least three so you all got off lightly this time !!!.

Why not pop over to CAS-ual Froidays to see what the the amazing DT have come up with and there are already so many fabulous entries .

On another note the winners have been announced over at Get Creative for the 13 yes 13 challenges that we had running  last month. My particular theme was embossing dry or wet and there were some amazing entries,  it was so hard to choose . I would like to thank every one who participated as we had a record number of entries  but there can only be one winner and that was the lovely Maria from Made by Maz , congratulations Maria. Would love to give a little shout out to  Rena and Maria who although they didn’t have any embossing tools whatsoever  came up with some very ingenious projects  well done ladies !

Right off to continue my Christmas cards and visit you all

Take care and have a fabulous week.

Marie