May 18

Sugar Bowl ~60~ Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Sugar Mamma!!!

I luv you to bits and hope my card and parcel will find you early today on your special day!

Today it’s not only the start of the new Sugar Bowl challenge,
but also the special day of our one and only super mum Gayle…
I sure hope you have the most amazing day ever hunnie!

My card for this challenge following Maria Therese’s gorgeous sketch has been made for Gayle
but as I didn’t want her to see it before today,
I didn’t send it in for the challenge this forthnight.
She will receive it today..
Here is hoping that she won’t see this before her postie comes!

The theme this time is ‘Birthdays’
so very easy for everyone to join in..

For my card,
I have used the new Digi ‘Sybil’
[as she reminds me of Eva for some reason]…
isn’t she just gorgeous??????

As per usual… Visit the SugarBowl challenge blog
for all the details and all the inspiration you might need, to join in the fun
and win 6 Sugar Nellie stamps of your choice!

I do hope you can join in the fun!

Have a gorgeous Thursday all,

Hugs, Marlena xxxx

17
comments

Posted in Sugar Bowl DT

May 05

Sugar Bowl ~59~ Erika’s sketch

Get ready for another Sugar Bowl challenge
with a fabulous sketch by Erika to get your creative juices flowing!

Erika has chosen the optional theme of Vintage or Distressing..
One of my favorite techniques..
so thank you sweetie!!

For my card I have used another Simply Adorable digi stamp
called Nathan

He is coloured with Copics,
used Bella Blue papers, SU! sentiment, Nestie dies & label and the
Fleur de Lis in the corners of my image is my bargain punch buy
from ‘The Range’ the other day, reduced by 70%!!

.oOo.

The prize for this challenge is a ‘steam punk’ gift bag
including stamps, charms and embossing folders

As always,
pop on over to the SB blog for all the details
and more inspiration from my fellow sweeties :)

I do hope you can join us this fortnight,

Big hugs,

Marlena x

8
comments

Posted in Sugar Bowl DT

May 03

Simply Sassy Spotlight

Whoohoo..

Very honoured to be in the Spotlight over at the Simply Sassy blog!

As I’ve loved these little cuties from day one,
I jumped at the chance when asked :)

Sassy Artist Krista Smith just keeps coming with these amazing designs
that when asked to pick a favorite..
I just could not!! I love them all!

.oOo.

Cherise will be having a sleep over party for her birthday at the end of the month
and thought it would be nice to make some invitations.
The sweet ‘Bedtime Snuggles‘ is just perfect for this with her cute bunny slippers ;-)

I’ve made a criss cross card,
still one of my favorite card shapes
ever since I seen Beate’s fab splitcoast stampers tutorial a looong time ago
[you can find it here]

Printed off the invite itself onto plain card.
Cut to size and stamped the border with stamps from Card-io.

.oOo.

Yes.. I know I made a boo-boo with the printing,
but only noticed after taking the pics..
Luckily this can easily be re-done and changed..lol

The papers I used are MME All Girl,
MS border punch, SU! Ribbon and Sassy
has been coloured with Copics, cut out and 3D’d onto the ribbon.

.oOo.

Another great BIG thank you to the Simply Sassy Inspiration blog for having me :D

Have a gorgeous week all,

Hugs, Marlena x

8
comments

Posted in Sugar Nellie

Apr 30

Here come the boys..

 

Helloo,

Some exciting new Lili of the Valley stamps are coming our way..

I know there are alot of LotV Fans who have been asking for more boy images,
I’m pleased to tell you the new collection of 16 stamps [Boys and Boy Bears]
will be released on 11th May
and I just know you are going to love them all!!

For my card I have used ‘Karate Kid’
and it’s such a fun image to use for birthdays, congrats or good luck cards.

I have coloured him with Copics:
Blue, BG10, BG11, BG72,
Grey, T0-6,
Brown, E70, 71, 47, 49

Over the next 2 weeks the DT will be displaying lots of sneak peeks..
so don’t forget to check out The Lili of the Valleys Ideas to Inspire blog

Have a fabulous Bank Holiday every one,

Hugs, Marlena x

7
comments

Posted in Lili of the Valley DT

Apr 24

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to you all!

Anyone had enough of all the Chocolate, eggs and sweet stuff yet? Lol
I do hope you all having a relaxing time this bank holiday!

.oOo.

I wanted to show you my card with the ‘Delicious‘ Sassy stamp by Sugar Nellie

She is great to use for all kinds of celebrations, don’t you think?

On Facebook the Sugar Nellie group had a ‘Spots & Dots’ challenge going..
Even though this challenge has now finished and the new weekly challenge is up,
I still wanted to give the group a mention.

I will enter it in the CCT challenge for this week,
as I’ve not used a sentiment or text.

.oOo.

Yep.. Another cupcake pic to show you..
but promise that this will be the last one for a while!

We made Chocolate ones this time with Orange flavour Icing,
decorated with choc sprinkles and mini eggs.
If at all possible these tasted even sweeter than the previous lot :D

.oOo.

Have a fabulous week ahead,

Hugs, Marlena x

4
comments

Posted in Sugar Nellie

Apr 21

Sugar Bowl ~58~ plus more Cupcakes..

Hello and happy Thursday to you all :)

Time for a brand spanking new challenge by the Sugar Bowl
and this time it is a sketch my Moi.
I chose the optional theme of ‘Buttons’..
Up to you if you like to use this option :)

For my card I had to use the beautiful Melissa,
one of the 3 new Adorable Digi’s by Sugar Nellie..
I just fell in love with them as soon as I seen them!

The prize this fortnight is another beauty.. not to be missed

Hero Arts ‘Find Joy’ stamp set & Spellbinders Fancy Tags 2…

.. a big WOW, right?

You gotta have a play with us
to be in with a chance to get your hands on this fabby prize..
so please visit the SB blog for all the details
and as always get all the inspiration you need from my fellow sweeties!

.oOo.

I still haven’t got ‘Cupcakes’ out of my system
and last weekend I played around with a calorie free cupcake pattern
that I got from the Hobby House stand at the last NEC show

With the kids naggin’ me to go here, there and everywhere
while they are on their Easter break I just didn’t have time to put up a post with it..
..and.. don’t know about you..
but it takes me longer to get a post up than actually making anything!! lol

This delicious creation is made up from
paper, ribbon, flowers and twine,
the tag at the top can be pushed in and out of the top to reveal a message.

A total guilt free treat ;-)

Tomorrow,
Cherise and I are on a mission to make our Easter Choc Cups,
and I’ll be sure to post about that :-D

Have a fabulous day everyone,

Hugs, Marlene x

11
comments

Posted in CupCakes, Sugar Bowl DT

Apr 16

Cupcakes.. and more Cupcakes..

After my last card, cupcake mania really hit home with us
and as the kids are now on their Easter break for over 2 weeks
what better way to occupy them for a few hours than making some yummie cupcakes??

Todays cakes are Vanilla with Raspberry icing, double yum..
but a sugar overload to say the least!

We wanted to make 24 cakes to fill up Cherise’s new cupcake stand,
so the amounts given below are enough for all of them

First up was making the icing:

* 200gr Cream Cheese
* 100gr Unsalted Butter
* 600gr Icing Sugar
* tbs of Raspberry Jam and a drop of pink food colouring

Put aside for later.. on to making some cakes!!

Recipe:
* 200gr Butter
* 200gr Caster Sugar
* 4 Medium Eggs
* 200gr Self Raising Flour
* Vanilla seeds from 1 pod

Mixing everything together was a right mess to say the least..
but boy, it taste nice!!!

Put the mix in some gorgeous cases and in the oven they go for 20mins

We even made some Sugar Syrup glacing by
mixing 1 egg-white, bit of water and 70gr of caster sugar, bring to boil.
Let cool and add some vanilla essence.
Then coated all the cakes when they were still warm

Icing… Definately the best bit!!

I think Cherise is a right pro at this.. Just look at those!

We added some decorations and dusted with Icing Sugar..

They now look too good to eat! :)

Can’t wait to make the Chocolate version later this week,
ready for Easter

Can’t see myself sticking to a diet anytime soon!!! lol
Maybe I should be thinking about making some calorie free Cup Cakes!

Have a great weekend all,

Hugs, Marlene x

6
comments

Posted in CupCakes

Apr 14

Bunny Cupcakes

Don’t you just wanna join in with this little cupcake feast?

Over at the Lili of the Valley challenge blog the theme is ‘Birthdays’
Nice & Easy so I hope all of you will have a go this week.

I’ve made another Twisted Easel card,
the only trouble I’ve got with them is
making a decent pic of the finished card as it is such an awkward shape!

The cute stamp is called Bunny Cupcakes and is coloured with Copics,
the sentiment is from the new clear additions by LotV and can be found here.

I just had to use my new Ribbon border punch [Martha Stewart]
.. my new aquisition from the NEC.

Thanks a million for looking,

Hugs, Marlena x

 

8
comments

Posted in Lili of the Valley DT, Shaped Cards

Apr 12

Mini Canvas

I’ve had such fun working on this mini canvas the last few days
when I had a spare minute or two..

I got these little canvasses from a pound-shop [2 in a pack with stands]
and wanted to make something to sit on the desks at work.
Working out how to cram a stamp,
sentiment and embellishments onto a 9 x 7cm workspace
was an experience to say the least..
but am pleased with the result :)

I started by distressing the canvas and then
tried stamping directly onto it with staz-on,
but eventho I packed the back, [the hollow bit] with some cardboard,
it still wouldn’t stamp fully…
So back to the original way of stamping on CS and coloured the gorgeous
‘Love Grows’ image by Lili of the Valley with Copics.

Cut out the image and stuck to the canvas with Rangers Glue N Seal,
a left over from the Tim Holtz class last Feb.
I then applied the same medium all over the canvas and let dry.

Stamped the sentiment the same way and added to the canvas,
when the sealant was completely dry
I misted it all with Rangers Perfect Pearls,
that is what gives that fabby golden glow.

[click the pic for full view]

To finish I used some sticky gems and flowers from stash.

As it happens, the current challenge over at the LOTV Challenge blog is
‘Peach & Green’
you still have a couple of days to hop on over and join the fun..
There is a yummie prize from Wild Orchid Crafts up for grabs.

.oOo.

Thanks for your visit today,

Big hugs,  Marlena x

14
comments

Posted in Altered Items, Lili of the Valley DT

Apr 09

SugarBowl ~57~

Yes, I know.. I deserve a big slap for being such a bad blogger lately..

But we have now entered our busiest time at the Garden Centre,
that will always come first!
On top of that i’ve got lots of probs with this blog and not having the time to sit and work it all out,
so I might have to go back to my old one sometime soon!

.oOo.

I’ve let the Sugar Bowl challenge blog down as well for a couple of challenges..
so I had to make my first creation with their latest sketch.

Maria Theresa has provided a gorgeous one, thanks sweetie!

I’ve made my first Easter card for this year [not that I make many!]
and used the gorgeous ‘Bad Hare Day’ Simply Sassy stamp.
The inside is decorated as well with a message on the left
and blank space for message on the right.

Once again the Sugar Nellie prize on offer for joining this fortnight is totally fab!

A set of Floral Doily Nesties [I have used it on my image circle]
and the newest full set of Simply Sassy girls [set 6]

Please visit the Sugar Bowl blog for all the details on how to enter
and just have a peek at the gorgeous creations by the other Sweeties!

.oOo.

The weather was so totally gorgeous the last couple of days
and my 3 babies were so enjoying the rays that I had to take some pics

Have a wonderful evening all,

Hugs, Marlena x

14
comments

Posted in Sugar Bowl DT

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