Cheers

What a day....we dropped Zac off at his Grandparents and then went to register Blake's birth. The registrar asked how old Zac was and when we said 19 months she asked if we were mental (!)- I imagine I am a little bit!

Anyway, today's card is based around another top sketch from Dawny over at Papertake. If you didn't know, Dawny is also starting up a new challenge blog Anyone for Anya for Greetings Farm stamp challenges. DT call on now! I'm also entering this into the Charmed Cards Copics Blog Candy draw. There's a link and pic in my side bar - Phew!


CC Designs stamp, Doodlebug papers, gems, Copics

Dawny provided another inspiring sketch and I've been itching for Mr Postie to deliver me these stamps and they arrived this morning. I'd already planned my card for this challenge so chuffed with the very speedy delivery I got from Tracy at Dies to Die For.

I stamped the image, shaded and cut her out and popped her on 3D foam to give her some pop. The strips of paper are from Doodlebug and I stuck a few white gems on too.

I just have to give a quick apology to Chrissie, she gave me a couple of awards this week and I haven't had chance to get them on here yet, I will I promise - time is running away with me this week!

Victoria
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In need of matchsticks.....

.......to keep my eyes open! Feeds every couple of hours overnight are starting to take their toll on me. Anyway, not one to give up that easily, I made this for the Colour Create Challenge:



Pink Petticoat image, Copics, Doodlebug papers

The image is from Pink Petticoat and coloured with Copics, mounted on a nestabilities of some sort - I don't know which one without dashing back upstairs to find out! The papers are Doodlebug. The photo is a bit lopsided isn't it? Maybe I'll sort that out tomorrow when we get home - got to go and register the little mans birth.

Victoria
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More monochrome

I had big plans to post a few cards and some awards on today. But you know what they say about the best laid plans.......

So, instead here's a card I made for a fellow blogger and friend. It was Chrissie's Birthday at the weekend and I made this for her:


K&Co stamps, acetate, ribbon, stazon ink, border punch

I took inspiration from a couple of places for this one, my friend Sue had made a card with a dragonfly on in monochrome featuring a scalloped mat made using a fiskars punch. I'd seen this on UKScrappers a while back and never tried my hand at it so gave it a go. Sue has a link to the tutorial on her blog. Also Stamp Something have a challenge to use bugs, butterflies or something with wings so I have.



The stamps are all from K & Co and stamped using black Stazon ink. I stamped the butterfly on to acetate and cut it out then folded it a bot before sticking it down to give it some dimension. The gems were coloured with a black pro marker. As I mentioned, the mat is made using a Fiskars border punch, I followed the link from Sue's blog to the tutorial.

Well I'm being called to the table as dinner's ready - James has made chicken fajitas tonight - yum.

Victoria
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Pink Elephant Sketch Challenge

I saw this sketch challenge and thought I could achieve a really clean and fresh look with it. Joanna Sheen is sponsoring this challenge over at Pink Elephant too.


Image Pink Petticoat, paper Doodlebug, brads, rub ons, Copics

I chose my patterned paper first and matched everything else with it. The brads are papermania I think! The image is from Pink Petticoats Big Fella collection. I liked the finished result so much that I made another one in blue as it's my husbands birthday soon and I always get stuck when it comes to making cards for him.



The boys have gone for their nap again and I have to confess I'm going for one today too. We didn't get much sleep last night at all and we had one of Zacs playmates around this morning so I don't have the energy for anything now!

I've had lots of questions about Blake - he's doing great thanks. A fab feeder, now weighing in at 9lbs 15oz! His big brother is really gentle with him and constantly wants to kiss him and stroke his hair. Here's a little pic of him admiring his Daddy:



Victoria
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All of a flutter

I've made this card based on a fab sketch over at Mojo Monday:

K&Co stamps, Stazon ink, Nestabilities, punches, sentiment

The images are all stamped from two K & Company stamp sets, I've had them a while but really have to be in the mood for stamping. I thought it would make a change to create my own background and to get good use out of these stamps. All stamped with black Stazon ink. The sentiment is from Papermania and came ready mounted, I'd decided to use this before anything else so it also set my monochromatic scheme too.

My boys are being amazing today, we went for a walk to the park and they're both having an afternoon nap at the moment - not sure how I'm going to cope once hubby goes back to work, Still I have him for another week and then my Mum is flying over for a week after that so I don't have to worry just yet!

Victoria

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Vintage Blue

Hmm blue and white along with vintage really isn't my bag but I decided to give it a go anyway as I do enjoy a challenge from Colour Create.


Stamped image, pearls, flowers, gems

This image is one of the ones Sue stamped for me, I don't know who it's by though. Thanks Sue, it came in handy very quickly!

I skimmed over the image with ink pads and added a little shading with copics, cut it out using oval nesties and stuck pearls around the edges. The flowers are Prima, highlighted using Galaxy markers and lush gems popped in the centres. I had to colour the large one using Pro Markers as was very turquoise to start with. The border is I think from a Heidi Grace alphabet pack, I'm not sure as no longer have the box! I went around the edge with a blue Stazon ink pad.

Not my usual thing but glad I gave it a try!

Victoria
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Lovely Stuff

This post is not to show off anything I've made but to say thanks to some fellow blogger friends for some truly lovely stuff indeed.

Yesterday Mr Postie delivered this lot to me from my lovely friend Sue.....



She knows my pennies aren't for crafting at the moment so stamped me these images, punched me some leaves and some fabulous borders in perfect vibrant colours for me.

And then, in preparation for my baby arriving, in memory of my precious son Flynn and to celebrate the arrival of Blake, I received these beautiful cards....

This one is from Keryn, so much detail and perfect image and sentiment (sorry I can't make it any bigger, it goes blurry on me!)



This one is from Chrissie to help me through Flynn's anniversary. I adore the simplicity of this one and the gentle sparkle on the butterfly wings that doesn't show up on my my photo (sorry Chrissie)



This one from Sue to say good luck and hope all goes well. Sue and I used to work together and when I left 'the office' it was in a bit of a hurry some years ago and Sue has never forgiven my team for not getting me a leaving to have a baby card back then and has made me one each time. Love you Sue xx



This one is also from Sue to welcome Blake to the world, isn't it gorgeous? Sue was secretly delighted I had a boy as she doesn't like making pink cards, it's just not her colour! I love the detail in this and the gorgeous image.



This one is from Donna. Isn't it a cutie? Again so much detail and effort has gone into this gorgeous card. the flowers even have tiny little blue brads in the centre.



And finally this one from Chrissie. I love how the image has been cut out by hand and the fabulous train punch on embossed card. Even more special for having my little chaps name on the front.



I'll treasure these handmade cards from my friends as much if not more than any of the gifts we received. Something so special to receive.

So to my fab friends - a massive thank you for thinking of me.

Love
Victoria
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Polka Dots and some awards too

Sharon has set the challenge this week at Creative Card Crew to use polka dots. I love my dotty Doodlebug papers and found this cute new image to use too:


Image - Digi Boutique, Doodlebug paper, Copics

The image is Millie Mouse with flowers and she's available at the Digi Stamp Boutique. I shaded her with Copics, mounted on Nestabilities and layered up some white card with polka dot papers in Bubblegum. I haven't got time to do anything complicated!

And I've been lucky enough to receive a couple of awards too from Joey and Alicia. Thanks so much to both of you. Make sure you find some time to check out both their blogs, you'll be glad you did, some fab creations to be oggled at!



So I'm going to pass the Beautiful Blogger Award on to:
Chrissie, Sue, Kim, Sharon and Donna

And the One Lovely Blog Award to:
Pascale, Wendy, Michele, Saskia and Betty

Victoria
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What a swine

There's not much that could interrupt the first two weeks of having my new baby to make me get creative, but a dear friend catching swine flu whilst 22 weeks pregnant did it for me.

Lisa has a fab sense of humour so I know she'll love this. It goes with two challenges, 'Take Your Pick Colour Combo' at Papertake and 'Good Sense of Humour' at One Stop Craft Challenge:


Pink Petticoat image, Doodlebug paper, Fiskars punch, Copics, Nestabilities

The image is from Pink Petticoat and the sentiment I thought was just spot on! I love it and know Lisa will too, although it will probably make her cough a bit laughing at it. Shaded with Copics and mounted on Nestabilities.

Sorry such a short post but I haven't much time before Blake needs his next milk fix.

I have got time though to say a massive thank you for all the lovely messages following my post about Blake, thanks so much, I will get round to replying to you all soon I promise.

Love
Victoria
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Some exciting news

Well it's about time I shared my news. My little baby boy was born on Wednesday morning at 10.10am weighing a whopping 9lb 9ozs. Here he is....... Blake Flynn Rogers:



And here he is meeting his big brother Zac for the first time in hospital:



I managed to escape hospital on Friday morning (!) and have the joy of having all my staples removed tomorrow morning, but the less I think about that the better.

It was an absolute joy to hear our little boy cry when he was born, the theatre team were wonderful and I had the same consultant as for my other two boys. I had an emotional few nights thinking about Flynn but some fabulous midwives who held my hand and sat with me so I wasn't alone late at night.

Right, can't stop on here, as you can imagine - I'm a bit busy!

Will catch up when I can and post some of the lovely cards I've received too.

Love
Victoria
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p.s. - Sue - I told you I can't make girls

Happy Birthday Little Guy

A special card fro my special little guy.


Nestabilities, Digi Boutique, Penny Black

My first child Flynn should be three years old today. I know I've mentioned him here before but for those of you who don't know, my little guy didn't make it. He died in my arms and my husbands when he was just two days old after suffering too many complications at birth. He was our perfect little guy. I won't go into details here, that's not what my blog is about but today can't go by without me doing something here to celebrate his short but complete and special life. He was the bravest little boy and just perfect.

On Tuesday it will be his third anniversary and on Wednesday I go into hospital to have his second little brother or sister. What a week. I'm so lucky to have Zac, Flynn's little brother who is making these days so much more bearable and helps me to smile.

I'm popping this card onto Dare U to Digi as their challenge is to emboss.

Hopefully my next post will be to share some lovely news with you all.

Victoria
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Ann's Blog Candy

Wow Ann is giving away some serious blog candy fo her bloggerversary today. Pop over and have a look at her blog Creative Antics, she has some amazing creations on there.







Victoria
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Party Animal

It's taken me a few days to post this one! The challenge at
this week is 'Party Animal'. I was going to use a Penny Black image I love but one of the DT had already used it so I opted for Fluffles instead:


Stampendous stamp, Copics, Nestabilities, Rub ons

Really simple card, just stamped and mounted on layers with a message.

I waddled down to toddler group this morning - glad I did as Zac had a great time playing in all the water and I got splashed too which was nice and cooling. One of my friends walked home with me to make sure I didn't pass out on the way in the heat, bless her.

My friend Sue came round after she finished work yesterday and gave me a lovely card and a carton of chocolate mini rolls - yum. Thanks Sue. You can see said very lovely card here.

Right I'm off for a big rest now whilst Zac naps. My Mum arrives later and I can't wait. Hope you all manage to stay cool somehow.

Victoria
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