Blog hop sneaky peek....

Can you tell I am a tad excited about our blog hop tomorrow morning!!!!! lol
Here is a little sneeky peek of the project I have created for it.....

Come back tomorrow to see the project and to get the list for the hop..... you start with me and hop on through some uber talented ladies! I can't wait to see what they have created....
The hop starts here at 9am (GMT).....
Nikki x

Getting a tad excited...

It is the first ever crafting cafe blog hop tomorrow!!! Woop woop....
I can't wait to see what these very talented ladies have created......
There will be prizes to be had and lots of inspiration too - make sure you pop on by tomorrow as the blog hop starts here!!!!!
This is the badge that people will be able to have if they want to show that they have taken part in the blog hop....

It just had to be purple!!! lol

Here is a card that I made a while ago and have been meaning to show you,

It was all about masking techniques (I'll be showing these in my upcoming Do Crafts demos) and doodles......
The sun is shining here today - let's hope it lasts...
Have a craft filled day!
See you here tomorrow, from 9am for the blog hop!
Nikki x

For Charlotte

It's a special birthday soon for someone and I was asked to make her card for her birthday.
I was told it's for Charlotte, she is going to be 13 and she likes ballet......
Alrighty...... so this is what I made...

I think this Do Crafts decoupage and paper is just perfect for the job.

Right - not my best photo ever.... I was in a hurry as I had to get this delivered and I didn't notice when I took the picture that there was a ladder there (don't ask!!!) lol
So if you notice a little orange thing in the top corner.... that's what that is!

Not long now until the blog hop - it goes live on Sunday.... yes this Sunday! The 1st of July...
I am really looking forward to it...
There will even be some prizes!

I'll be back later on with some more pics to show you (this time without the ladder!)..... Have a craft filled day!
Nikki x

The sneaky peek from yesterday...........

Looks just like this....

I love making cards for children and being able to add their name to the card.
I love the look on  the face of a child as they open their card and realise that it's their name that is on the card - priceless!
I adore this image (I'm pretty sure it's a Kanban one)..... I love the quality of their decoupage..... always gives a really professional look to your card.
Not long now until the Crafting Cafe blog hop (it goes live this Sunday - the 1st July).... make sure you pop by to see what all the crafters get up to...... I'll be offering a blog hop candy to those who do the hop......
Back to work for today though..... more to show you tomorrow......
Later this week I'll be back with some Michael Powell too......
Nikki x

A quick congrats

What a week, I don't think I've stopped at all and yet there is nothing to really prove what I have been up to! lol
One thing I did make was a congratulations card for a young lad.... it was a commissioned card, here is what I made..................

It's hard sometimes making a card for someone else to give, especially when you don't know anything about the person who is getting the card.
I'm quite happy with how the card turned out though. The great thing about bunting is that it can be used for any age!
What have you been up to?
I'll be back tomorrow to show you another card..... but here's a little sneaky peek for the moment!

Happy crafting
Nikki x

Wellington and a little award..

Here is the card that I made up very quickly last night.....

I just love little Wellington.
This card is made up using scraps of paper mounted onto some black paper and then one of the Wellington decoupage toppers.
I added Anita's 3d gloss to the glass to give it that extra bit of shine.

Now onto the award bit...
The uber talented Beckie Dreyer gave me a blogging award yesterday....
Thank you very much Beckie, that was a lovely surprise!

The rules of the Liebster Award are:
1. Thank your Liebster Blog Award presenter on your blog
2. Link back to the blogger who presented the award to you
3. Copy and paste the blog award on your blog
4. Present the Liebster Blog Award to 5 blogs of 200 followers or less who you feel deserve to be noticed (see below)
5. Let them know they have been chosen by leaving a comment at their blog.

So the hard bit for me is to chose just 5 blogs..... so here goes.....
So I've broken a rule already! lol.... I wanted to send them to everyone but I decided to send them to my lovely admin team from the Crafting Cafe.... and what a talented bunch of ladies they are!
Another rule broken..... I don't care how many followers someone has...... If I think they are special then I think they are special! lol

1. Christine Saunders
Chris is a very talented artist who designs her own stamps and loves to play with anything crafty.
2. Sandra Fraser 
Sandra is very new to blogging and is doing a wonderful job. She is a lovely person who is very keen to learn new things. She also is an amazing cake baker and decorator!
3. Sylvia Anderson
 Sylvia is such a lovely positive person. She always leaves such lovely comments. Another very talented lady!
4. Nicola Saul
 Queen of the colouring, that's our NJ..... a friendly, helpful crafter who creates beautiful things.
5. Lindsay Jolly
 Lindsay creates her own digis and has a lot of fun inspiring us all with her projects.
6. Dawn Lancaster
Dawn is another very talented lady. I love the sense of humour that shines from her projects. She always makes me smile.

Please pop on over to their blogs to leave these very talented ladies some love!
Nikki x

Owl card

This was one of the cards I made at my recent demo in Hobbycraft, Livingston.
I promised I would do a tutorial/project sheet for it, so here you are.....

This is what the card looks like at the end (I have left his tummy blank at the moment, but you could put any message that you like on it)...

Here are the step by steps for it...

 I used a standard square kraft card, Portobello Road die cuts and a couple of circle punches.

 Add double sided tape to the smaller edge of your card and close over the card.

 It should look like this.

 Score 1.5cm from the scored edge (opposite to the end you added the tape to).

 Fold up the the bottom of the card so it looks like this.

 Add the die cut of your choice - this will be the owls head.

 Roughly draw the owls body (see above for guidance) and then cut out.

 Shape his head by cutting the v shape out of the top. This is what your owl should look like now.

Add the eyes.

You can add feet or a message on his tummy to finish him off.

If you make any of these little chaps, make sure you link in a comment on this post so that I can come over and have a look.

Nikki x

Best of British.....

Here as promised are the other set of card samples that I made.
I love the shaped cards on the dvds...

I love the way that Digital Designer works. All the cds and dvds that you have from Do Crafts work together. It's just brilliant......
And if you can think of any shape, design or feature that you think should be included within Digital Designer, email them and give them your ideas and they will pop it onto an update at some point.
Whatever you are up to today, enjoy!
Hopefully the rain stops at some point.
Nikki x

Wow - time flies

What a week! In fact... what a year! How on earth did we manage to get to half way through June already!
At this rate it won't be long at all to Christmas...... (192 day to go.....) lol
I started a new job last week - 3 evenings a week, and I am loving it! Great team to be working with.......
I'm still crafting away...
Here are some of the samples for Do Crafts this week (they were on the Create and Craft Dawn Bibby show on Tuesday).

I loved using these dvds. I used the Forever Friends Best of British and the Portobello Road dvds.
I loved the fact that with the dvds you can play about on the computer changing the sizes etc before you print anything off.
Although, I do still love a new pack of papers..... I don't think that will ever change! lol
I'll be back tomorrow with some more to show you..... these dvds are just perfect for the men in your life, so perfect for any last minute Fathers Day or birthday cards that you might have to do!
Nikki x

"Sometimes............

you've got to tell people how special they are, just to make sure they know."
I love this stamp set from Do Crafts and I just love that sentiment.
I can see me being able to use this one time and time again!
This is just one of the cards I made with it using the Lucy Cromwell papers and Wellington stamps (I'll be showing this one at my demos this weekend).

I adore the stamp of the girl carrying Wellington. It reminds me of when I was a little girl.
I always carried a teddy about with me, in fact my nickname as a child was Nikki Bear....
I still have that teddy..........
If you are anywhere near my demos this weekend, it would be great to see you.
I will be at Millers in Glasgow tomorrow and then Hobbycraft in Livingston on Sunday.

Whatever you are doing, I hope you have an amazing weekend.
I'll try and remember to take photos of my makes over the weekend to share with you next week.
Happy crafting
Nikki x

A little birdie told me.....

Well what a week..... lots of thinking and decisions to make.... I'll tell all when I have had some time to think and have finalised a few things...
For today, its back to work and getting creative...
Here is the card I wanted to share with you today....

It's made from a collection of digis that Do Crafts made for their Creativity Club.
I had a lot of fun playing with the digis, so easy to put together a great card with them. I really liked the cloud background papers - fantastic if you are a scrapbooker too!
Well, lots to do today... new job tomorrow and then demos on Saturday and Sunday this week....
(I get to go to the new Hobbycraft in Livingston on Sunday - woop woop).....

I'll be back soon with some more projects to show you
Happy crafting
Nikki x