Santa Cards

Hello,

As promised I just wanted to show a couple of cards from the festive season and first up is a card I make for all of the 'little people' I know, I put it through their doors an evening just before xmas!

I like to keep it fairly simple after all Santa has lot's of these letters to send so he doesn't have too much time!!  The gorgeous image is by Di's Digitals, there's a link to her site on my sidebar.

Oh I love this image, he looks just as I remember him as a kid!!  Seemingly for one of my great nephews, this card arrived the night after his Letter to Santa was magically taken from their tree!!  Im told he was AMAZED and speechless!!

Here are the cards I made for my daughters, I hope you like them.  The images were a birthday present from the very lovely Claire that was a lovely surprise I still remember well today!

 James the bear is just gorgeous isnt he!

As I always do, I make the same but different!  All Mums will know exactly what I mean!

Sorry for the long post, catch you later.

Keryn x

Heartfelt Wishes

Hello,

I'd like to start by saying a great big Thank You to my beautiful blogging friends who very kindly sent me one of their precious Christmas cards, they really really are most beautiful and they each brought a big smile to my face and they are on display up here in my craft room (where I think they just might have to stay for a good few weeks yet!).

I had a super day spent with my girls, their guys and their dogs.  It was one of the loveliest Christmases that I can think of and I hope that everyone of you has also enjoyed a wonderful time over the festive period.

I'd like to join in and wish everyone a Very Happy & Healthy New Year for I feel that if you have health then being happier is a lot easier and the rest will all fit into place!

Keryn x

ps.  I have joined the ranks of the 'lappys' now so am having a wonderful time browsing through everyone's blog whilst Steve (who put his back out again on xmas eve and is still unable to walk) watches tv!  A perfect pairing really!

I will be loading a few cards and photos over the next few days. x

We three kings DT

Hello,

I just wanted to pop on and share my DT cards.  I imagine everyone is very busy with Christmas preparations and I don't know who did it but someone clearly stole a few days last week!  Im sure Im not the only one feeling like this and I cant believe that by the end of just next week it will all be over for another year!

I love this image, We Three Kings, and it looks even better when the photo isn't blurry!  The fab sentiment is from a die set by Quickutz and will be coming in very useful over the coming days!  I like the understated look of this card, I feel it will become one of my favourite images!

For this card Ive used Teri's Partridge in a Pear Tree.  I've used papers by Pink Petticoat, MS Water Lily punch with Ivy leaves by X-Cut.  I used Paula Pascale's sentiment stamp set with some beautiful card candy from Clare, thanks Clare!  I am getting quite addicted to them now!

I've not been feeling too good today but hopefully it's nothing as I've got masses to do.  My xmas decorations have been on my dining table for 10dys now and still, there's no sign of them going up just yet!

I hope you are all well and getting ready for the next load of snow!

Thank you for calling in, it's your comments that really make it all so worthwhile, thank you very much.

Keryn x

Catch the Bug

Morning!

With this card I have combined one of my favourite colour combo's with a favourite Digi Company and this is the result.  (Apologies for the photo quality, no snow here equals dull light!)

Oh and I love the sentiment too!  Well what red breathing female wouldn't!

Ive joined in with this weeks challenge over at Catch The Bug which was a very American challenge to me.  I knew about the US's Thanks Giving celebrations but nothing about 'Black Friday' so I did a little research.  Seems that Thanks Giving is the 4th thursday of November and the next day is the day that supposedly opens the flood gates in their shops for the start of Christmas shopping; the stores usually have huge sales that start at 'middle of the night' o'clock in an attempt to encourage more people to part with their hard earned! 

Seems very 'Debenhams' meets 'Next' if you ask me!!

Well, the challenge this week is' Shopping' and 'black'!  My only shopping Bugaboo image is this one of Ruby but I used a different sentiment.

The papers are all Pink Petticoat, MS and Fiskars punches and some red card candy, again, courtesy of Clare ;)

If youve got any shopping images and would like the chance to win upto 7 Bugaboo images then pop on over.

Keryn x

Sweet Sketch Wednesday

Back again!

We finally saw a little snow this morning, it didn't lay as the ground was damp and the snowfall was only very short lasting.

Ive made this little card following this weeks sketch over at Sweet Sketch Wednesday.

Ive used the freebie Penguin from Bugaboo along with snowflake papers in Silver from Pink Petticoat, MS helped out with the punching and the sweet sentiment is from Clare, thank you!  A sparkly silver embroidery skein was used for the bow as I only wanted a very small one and a little Frosted Lace Stickles completed the look.

Thanks for calling in,

Keryn x

Beware of 'Teamviewer' phone calls

Hello,

Just a quickie to warn everyone that there seems to be a big scam involving Teamviewer software.

On and off my PC gets stuck and it ends up suggesting I send the error report to Microsoft to report the incident which I often do so when the phone just went and an Indian chap was saying he was from Microsft regarding the errors on my pc I didnt initially get too concerned.

I am not pc confident - Im just a user who can do what I need to do on one.

He went on to talk me through going to the 'run' programme and enter something which then brought up a long list of 'things'.  He said that these were all areas of my PC that were not working correctly and he could fix it.

I was now getting a little suspicious as who rings to offer free help with such things?  It had never happened before so I cautiously proceeded as he asked my to open another window and input Google, done, next input 'Viewfinder'.

  At this point 'Viewfinder Scam' came up and I quickly had the chance to open the link and see that my chappy was trying to get access to my pc.

I asked him again who he was working for and this time he said I Expert - totally different to the 'Microsoft' he first told me.

I thanked him for his call and hung up, well sort of!

Having now read lots about the scam I can see I was very lucky indeed.  Seemingly Teamviewer, like its very name suggests, is a legitimate programme that will allow entrance to a PC from a group of people, so ideal in the office environment with many people needing to access the same PC.  In the hands of the scammers this is then is situ to begin to strip all of your personal information from your PC, you will know the rest.

Please be careful incase you get a call too.

Keryn x

C4E Challenge

Hello peeps!

Ive followed Crafts 4 Eternity since it's inception over on PCP way back last year and have looked at each week's challenge and Michele sure knows how to put a challenge together that 'challenges' me as somehow I dont think Ive managed to join in for about a year now!  

Their current challenge was easy enough for me to play with this week and after seeing the great inspiration by Claire and Pinky I knew I wanted to join in too!

This is my DT card over at Delicious Doodles and I have used the gorgeous little Scottie dog with gift.  The silver paper is another that just doesnt like being photographed as it looks lovely IRL!  This is a very retro card I suppose, I remember pale grey with baby pink being all the rage in the 80's and hubby No1 wore a pale grey suit with a pale pink tie for our DD1's christening way back in 1983!  I'll try to see if I can find a photo, we could all do with a laugh in this weather!!  (I do realise that Chris will ensure I keep to my word now!)

Thank you for calling in and keep warm in your crafty spaces!

Keryn x

Stella with Gifts!

Morning!  I hope everyone is safe and warm, we've had not a drop of the white stuff and I know I should be grateful but it is very beautiful to see it!  Don't everyone shout at me at once!!  Ive only ever seen snow a handful of times!

Oh well, back to business, I'd just like to wish Crafty Chris a very Happy Birthday today - just 1 more to go to a big one girl, you enjoy it I know I am!!  She's lost her mojo at the moment so maybe you could call in and cheer her up a bit!

Bugaboo just can't get it wrong in my opinion and I so love this image!  Its nice now and then to open the post to find a card that really tickles your sense of humour - doesnt it make a change from opening mail that is all just bills!


Thanks for your visit and if I find any challenges that I can squeeze this into then I will!
Keryn x

Celebrations!

Hello,

Firstly Id like to announce the winner of Percy the Penguin from last week's blog hop.  I had 41 comments (excluding teamies) and a number picked by hubby was Lorraine - Coldwaters2.  Well done Lorraine, please contact me so I can send you Percy!  kerynmcnicol@sky.com

We had an amazing week looking at all of the entries for our first challenge and we'd love for you to be able to join in the fun this week as well.  

Teri is giving away a free festive sentiment over at the Challenge blog so do pop on over, it really is beautiful!

Onto today's challenge, it's another nice and easy one: Celebrations!

I've used the lovely Bunny with Gift and used up some scraps from my last card so he's sitting rather cutely in blue!

There are more great prizes this week also so please do call in, I really enjoyed visiting everyone's blogs last week and am looking forward to doing the same again this week!

I'd like to enter this card into Sweet Sketch Wednesday

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Keryn x

Something borrowed and something blue!

Hello from a bright and sunny Hampshire!

The temperature is gradually dropping just as was threatened!  Cant quite believe we will get any snow though!

Onto today's card, Im getting a little predictable I think as my DD1 asked for a wedding card and I automatically went straight to the beautiful little couple by Lili of the Valley!

I opted for a nice cool blue for this card as I havent seen a blue wedding for a long time.  Ive mislaid my little 'Mr & Mrs' stamp too as it fills the gap behind them perfectly!  I think it's disappeared under all of the xmas stash that Ive got lurking trying to tempt me to get on and make my cards!  It's not working at the moment although I have stamped enough images to supply a small African village too!

I would like to enter this into this weeks challenge over at PaperTake Weekly Cut it Out

Thank You for popping by!

Keryn x

Teal elegance

Hello,  Ive just popped on to share a different colour of my favourite shoe image by Chris Dark (link is on my sidebar).  Ive made this now in turquoise, quartz grey and now teal and I have to say I love it in whatever colour!

A girl's just got to have a bit of bling on her birthday so I made the bloom using Tim Holtz's Tattered Flowers and Leaves filling in the centre with jet black seed beads; glossy accents on the swirls, a flash of animal print, 2 strips of grosgrain ribbon and 2 big faceted gems finished this card off perfectly.

This is a card I sent this week to a very lovely blogging friend Claire who celebrated her birthday.  Hop over and see her beautiful blog and you'll also see her gorgeous Pandora bracelet that she got from her fiance!

The blog hop is still open over at Delicious Doodles Challenge for the chance to win 10 of Teri's beautiful art images plus one of the images used by the DT on their cards.  You have until close of play on Thursday this week.

Id just like to Thank everyone who has participated in it so far as I was particularly nervous about taking part but it was quite addictive once I sat down to join in!

Thank You very much for calling in and I hope you have a very lovely Sunday.

Keryn x

Delicious Doodles Blog Hop!

Hello!

Here we go with the very first ever Delicious Doodles Challenge and what an easy one we have to start the ball rolling!!

All you peeps need to do is take a trip round our blogs, leave some love, pop back to the Challenge Blog and enter your project via the 
Blue Froggy thingy. 

AND we have PRIZES GALORE!!

Each of us will be giving away, the image that we have used to make our creations! So, if you want to win these digi-images, all you need do is leave a comment on each DT members blog.  On Thursday 25th each DT member will announce their winner.

AND if that isn't enough to get you all excited, Teri is going to give away TEN DIGI IMAGES over on the Challenge Blog, the winner will get to choose from the Delicious Doodles Shop!!

BUT to qualify for this awesome prize there is a small catch!

We'd like you to comment on ALL of the DT Blogs AND join in with the Challenge using the Blue Froggy.

There is no particular theme 'Anything Goes!"

Meet Percy the Penguin!  I love this character and he is super easy to colour so it's a good choice for some of those Christmas cards that we are all busy with!

He is the prize given to one of you who leaves a comment for me!
Percy is like a puppy and he isn't just for Christmas, you see, he'd be good for any winter birthday or on a card for any p-p-p-penguin lovers!

Hopefully you have reached me via the Challenge Blog and after leaving a comment for me you now need to head on over to Anita's to continue the hop!

If you get lost just pop back to the Challenge blog for the full list!

Thanks for calling in and I hope you enjoy the blog hop!

Keryn x

Anniversary Couple

Hello again, back this time with a card I made for 

Delicious Doodles using the 'Lovers' image.  I think this is perfect for an anniversary card or even a wedding card for an older couple.

Regular visitors here will know of my love for all things black and white and especially with a splash of red, so it was very hard for me not to add the red on this card but I really wanted to stick with the black and white look.  I used black Elegance from Pink Petticoat for this card along with dies/punches from Sizzix, Fiskars and nesties.

Keryn x

Cute as a button!

Hello, it's a bit nippy isn't it!

Id like to share a card I made using the super image that I have stored under the title of 'Cowgirl Up' but unfortunately I have tried to find the blog and link but so far have been unsuccessful.  If anyone can help me out I would love to give a name check to the artist.

Ive used scraps from my huge pile along with the sentiment from Quickutz and tiny little buttons.  I hope you like it!

Last week I was looking after Chester and my eldest and here's a little snapshot of what happened when I thought Steve was keeping an eye on the dog!

Isnt it amazing just how many pieces a sunday newspaper can get into!!  As for wool, Chester only liked the big 100gr balls and in all, he helped himself to either 5 or 6 balls - I cant tell you exactly as some of it was irretrievably wound!  Clearly my lounge is NOT big dog proofed!

Well, hopefully Ive brought a smile to your face and thanks for calling in!

Keryn x

New Challenge blog starts next Friday

Hello,

I just wanted to jump on here and ask for your support for the new Delicious Doodles Challenge blog that starts next Friday.

We will be kicking off with a Blog Hop with many digis up for grabs and I will have a really lovely one to give away to one of you, Ive chosen one that I think will be quite useful to you at this time of year!

Meanwhile, if you go over and follow the new blog there is going to be a winner receiving 5 of Teri's digi images on the day the blog reaches 100 followers!  5 digis of the winners choice, perfect with Christmas just around the corner!

Hope you can manage to join us next friday!

Keryn x

Baby box in mocha and pink

Back again to share some craft!

Ive made another exploding box but this time Ive used complimenting colours instead of just the one shade so Im trying something new this time.  This post is photo heavy so apologies in advance.

Here is the top of the lid, Ive used little Fifi Giraffe by SJ over at Little Musings.  There are lots of little giraffes around at the moment but I just fell for this one.

This is a lovely little die by Quickutz and but it doesnt see the light of day often enough.  Ive used Mocha little hearts on white by Pink Petticoat and my nesties Labels 2 .

This super image is by Sassy Cheryl and it's one of my favourite teddy images.

This little beauty is called For You and it's by Mo Manning (there's a link on  my sidebar) and she's been coloured with ProMarkers.

And this is the final shot of the open box.  Im really pleased with the colour combo, what do you think?

Id like to enter this into this weeks challenge over at 

Crafty Sentiments which is Make a Gift.

Thanks for calling in and for all of your lovely comments.

Keryn x

Bits & bobs of red but no card!

Hello,

I hope this finds you all having a great weekend and managing to find some time for your favourite things.  We've had a fairly busy week here at 197; Ive been looking for some lovely red poppy accessories etc and some curtains to just 'finish off' our lounge/dining room for a while now.  Luckily this week everything came together, with thanks to the little payback from NPower following an overcharge!  

I have to say it is lovely to receive a totally unexpected sum of money this side of xmas!  My mind was running through all sorts of xmassy things I could buy with it and then when I came across a few items that would look perfect in the lounge and the penny dropped so I bought them!

Here's our new feature wall at the dining room end (no window here hence 2 big mirrors!), the mirror we bought about 10dys ago but it was lost against the previous plain pale wall so now we think it looks much better.  I got a bargain basement pair of cherry red floor length curtains for the lounge end which needed turning up, 2 new lamps and a few bits and bobs in cherry red.  Before this we had the full dresser in this antique pine and it was quite imposing so now we've removed the top part and have just left the base every time we catch a glimpse we still get quite a shock!

I'll be back shortly with a little make.

Keryn x

Peacock Feathers

Morning!

Pinch and a punch and all that!!  Hasnt this year flown?!  Im wondering if it's something to do with crafting as the years really do seem to fly by these days!

Here's a card Ive made using the beautiful Peacock Feather from Teri , it's my first outing for this image but I absolutely love it and know it will very quickly become one of my favourites!

I reckon this is such a versatile image, lets just say, Im sure you'll be seeing alot more of it once the crimbo cards are done!

I made the background panel by using Microsoft Publisher and only coloured the eye of the feathers then printed a larger image for the topper which I fully coloured using 3 PM's.  A few layers including a strong green mirri card and a label complete the look.

We are all very excited to announce that the Delicious Doodle Design Team are going to be starting a brand new Challenge Blog!  

How exciting is that!

The start date is 

Friday 19th November

We will start this with a Blog Hop with so many fab prizes that you could win, indeed even your own Peacock Feather so please do come and join in with the fun!  

Please feel free to grab a banner and help us to spread the word and we really look forward to seeing you!

Thanks for calling by,it really is such a beautiful day here and I hope everyone has a GREAT week!

Keryn x

Big Boy!

Hasnt he grown!  This is Murphy when he came to visit on Thursday with his Mum (DD2) & Dad of course!  We had a big long walk in the afternoon and his Duracells finally drained a bit after about 7hrs!  He had a lovely snooze just before it was time to head back home.

Who'd have thought that he could grow so much from this size in just 9mths!  He is adorable and with each visit we can see how he has matured and he gets on more and more with Poppy & Honey!  Perhaps that might be helped by Poppy's new training collar that emits a squirt of citronella with every gruff!!  Murphy has a tendency to deliver the loudest bark for no known reason (which nearly gives me heart failure!) and as such Poppy's collar squirts her!  We try very very hard not to laugh as she gives him the most disgusted look imaginable!  The house smelt very citrussy for the whole of his visit!!

DD1 flies back from Tanzania today having met and talked with the Masai Mara, they spoke via an interpretor to the main Chief who has 9 wives and learned that he had somewhere in the region of 62 kids!  The group also dug and built an irrigation ditch for a primary school and visited a couple of National Parks!  The bit that made me smile most was that all of the children there kept touching her hair - she's fair and it was always in a ponytail!  How sweet as they just aren't used to ponytails nor fair hair!

I cant wait to  know that she's safe and sound again on home soil and very much look forward to hearing all about her trip.

Thanks for popping by and have a FAB weekend whatever you get upto!

Keryn x


ETA: Despite the shocking news of the bombs found on a couple of planes today on the news I am so relieved to say they all landed safely!

Sweet Sixteen

Hello, here is another exploding box!  Ive made this in the purple Centura card for a sixteen year old dancer.  I was quire restricted with the requirements for this one as it seems that 16yr olds feel they are too old for Forever Friends and that sort of cutesy images - well that was me told!  Im way passed 16 but still love them anyway, this is the lid and to adorn it I used the Spellbinders corners with a few tiny gems.

This is the inside of the lid and the paper Ive used throughout is the Lil Big Dots in 'Lovely' by Pink Petticoat; the initial is a Quickutz die that was covered in Glamour Dust and placed on a Marianne die.

This is the top shot showing the 3 layers and finally this is one of the loveliest images that was on an old greeting card.

Isnt she just beautiful!  

Id like to enter this into these challenges this week 

• Papertake Weekly Sparkly & Bright

• Totally Papercrafts Bling it on

An update from Clare, she rang me last night having just been discharged and was looking forward to a lovely hot soak in her bath followed by an early night, Ive yet to ring her as Im sure she will be shattered as we all know, how little sleep we get in hospital!  Im sure Clare will be on her blog over the weekend to update us further.

Hope you have a great weekend, thanks for visiting!

Keryn x