AND THE WINNER IS......

I love this part!  I have to laugh, as I turned my computer on this morning and saw that we had not only hit our target goal of 200 followers, but even surpassed it, I thought you aren't going to let me leave on holiday without giving away the blog candy!!  Good for you!  I didn't want to wait til I returned either.  The trick now is to get a response from the winner before I leave work for the day so I can verify their address and send it off in the post.
  Without further delay, the winner is...........................
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(Like my drumroll!)

KINGLAKE

If you can contact me by email so that I can verify your shipping address, I will post off your winning blog candy prize today!

Thank you for all of you that have become followers and supported the blog.  Don't worry, though, it is starting all over again and you are all still entered to win the next blog candy once we hit the target of 300 followers!
Happy stamping, Sue x

I want to say a great big thanks to everyone that sent in their lovely emails and comments to the show this morning.  It is incredibly nice to see that kind of support.  So thank you all.  The multi buy did sell out on C & C, but you may purchase any of the stamp sets on the Particraft website (http://www.particraft.co.uk/) if you were unable to get them this morning, as well as any of the products from today's show and just to remind you, the P & P is now free on the Particraft website.

I thought that I would post a few more of my favourite cards from the show today, including the lovely Noah's Ark card that was made by the artist who drew the stamps, Samantha Poole.  I would to claim this one as mine, but alas, no.  It is hard to believe that Samantha has not been stamping for very long, only a few months in fact.  You would never tell by looking at this gorgeous card she made.  Well done Sam! If you would like to leave some comments for her, I will be sure to pass them on.

I thought I would also let everyone know that I am off to visit my folks in the States for Thanksgiving (a quaint little American holiday where we get the day off work and you get to eat way too much! I love it!) My good friend, Karen Lines, will be manning the Particraft phone while I am away.

We are also very close to our goal of 200 followers in our blog candy contest. I want to thank everyone too for spreading the word about the blog. I won't be able to post  the prize off  until I return from the States, but I am fairly certain we will hit the target goal while I'm away so I will be bringing my laptop so that I can, at least, draw a winner's name and announce it on the blog. I have also decided that it's kind of fun to give stuff away! So, that being said, I am planning to continue running blog candy contests in the same fashion. That is, every time we have 100 new followers, we will draw a new winner. The upside to those of you that joined early on is that you will also be included in every new drawing!

All for now, Sue x

Another Create And Craft Show!

I know this is going to be a bit early for some of you (myself included!) but I am scheduled to do a show on Create and Craft on Sunday morning the 15th at 9am.  Some of you might be thinking that I must have the times mixed up because those are always prerecorded shows at that hour.  But no, they are going to be doing live shows on the weekends early in the morning starting this coming weekend.  So I will be there bright and early Sunday morning (think about me as you are having a nice long lie-in). 
As you probably can guess, I will be demonstrating and showing our two new jungle stamp sets and the monkey stamps plate.  I just think these new designs by Samantha Poole are positively adorable.  While they aren't what I would classify as the type of stamps to show techniques, I do have a few fun techniques up my sleeve to show using them.  These stamps are quite easy to use and all the elements on the three plates work quite well together too.  Here are a couple of more sample cards that you can have a sneek peak at before the show on Sunday.  I will also be demonstrating distress inks, Cosmic Shimmer stackable watercolour paints and crystal lacquer.

I hope you like these sets as much as I do.  Please leave me your comments or questions.

All for now, Sue x

More Jungle Fun!

I've been having more fun with the new jungle animal stamp sets as you can see!  I hadn't made a tri-shutter card in ages so I thought it was about time to whip one up!  These adorable animals just work perfectly for this type of card.  My picture taking skills are somewhat lacking so you can't read the sentiment clearly but it says ''Don't sweat the petty things

and never pet the sweaty things!''

 I thought that was so funny I just had to have fun card to go with it!  This is a view from the top of the card so you can see how it criscrosses.

On another topic, I am taking a day tomorrow and heading to the Hobbycrafts show at the NEC to have a look around.  If you happen to see me there, please stop and say hello.  I would love to be able to meet my blog followers.  Everyone is always leaving such lovely comments, it would be wonderful to put faces (and bodies) to the names I see.  I will be there bright and early (probably at the very front of the queue!) I have been so looking forward to this show, I can hardly wait!

All for now, Sue x

It's The Simple Things...

I have to admit that I look forward to those days when I can just lock myself in my craft room for the day and have a play!  The stairstep card to the right is the result of just that kind of day.  I spent all day Saturday upstairs surrounded by my Distress Inks and Cosmic Shimmers and various other craft supplies and I was in heaven!  Like I said, it's the simple things in life.  I did make one or two other cards (including the one below) on Saturday, but I have to admit, this is the stairstep card that took up most of my day, with all the cutting and colouring!  I'm not sure if you can tell but there are three steps to this card and the monkey in front is swinging by a vine from the palm tree in the back section.  The jungle boy is supposed to have a net in his hand but I cut it out and made it look like he is catching the monkey on his swing to the front.

You'd think I have too much time on my hands from this. NOT!  But I did have too much fun!

Happy crafting, Sue x

Back To Cutesy For Awhile

I've had a blast stamping with my leaves for the past few weeks, but Particraft has just released a few new stamp sets including this jungle themed set and another set with the cutest monkeys.  I just had to have a play with them this week.  I am completely in love with the giraffe, myself, but the hippo is running a close second!  These have been drawn by Samantha Poole, who has done quite a few stamp plates lately including the three Stylish Christmas plates (which, by the way, are featured in a sample on the cover of one of the stamping magazines that comes out this week!) 

There is another plate to be released soon that is also jungle themed to go along with these as part of the same sets so they can mix and match and will work beautifully together.   If you liked the leaves, then these may not be your cup of tea, but you have to admit, they are real darn cute!  Makes you smile, huh?
All for now, Sue x

What A Weekend!

Saturday, I helped Sheena Douglass with her workshop that she held at the Particraft Headquarters in Kettering.  I was the chief baker for the event.  Several of the ladies that attended have asked for the recipe for some of the cookies that I made.  So I told them that I would post it on my blog.  They are called ''Chippy Dippy Bars'' but Sheena has nicknamed them the ''Evil Cookies.''   I have told many people that they are extremely easy to make, but the ingredients are difficult to find as it is a recipe I brought with me from the States.  The only place that I know of that you can find some of the necessary ingredients is the American Foods online or they have a shop in the Milton Keynes shopping centre called ''Let's Eat.''

So here goes:  Melt 1/4 cup butter or margarine and drizzle it in a cookie sheet that has a lip edge to it.  Next crush grahamcrackers into crumbs  (from Let's Eat) and spread over butter until there are no ''wet'' spots left.  About a cup or so is needed.  (I personally want to try this with crushed hob nobs, but I haven't yet!)  Next spread one bag of Nestle butterscotch chips (from Let's Eat) over the crumbs.  Next spread the same amount of milk chocolate chips.  Next chop one cup walnuts and spread over entire sheet of the chips.  Next spread one bag of Baker's brand angel flake coconut (from Let's Eat) over the walnuts. A quick note, American coconut is quite different from English coconut, so do not try to substitute this.   Lastly drizzle one can of sweetened condensed milk over the entire sheet, trying to cover all the coconut as evenly as possible.  Bake at about 150 degrees C for about 25 to 30 minutes.  The edges will brown quicker, so watch, you may have to turn the temp. down a bit.  Cool completely, cut into squares.

Sunday was supposed to be Sheena's show on Create and Craft at 5pm.  She spent the weekend at our house with the workshop on Sat. and then the show.  But, she woke up Sunday morning and wasn't feeling very well.  We decided she might feel a bit better if she had a little nap, but that only gave her a little relief for a short time.  So it was about 1 pm by then and we thought maybe I could go with her to the show and be there in case she became more poorly.  Another 30 minutes, however, and she was very ill  so I had to step in and try to learn her demos for the show.  So for those of you that tuned in expecting Sheena's lovely demos and techniques, I do apologise.  I just feel bad for not only Sheena, but Karen Lines spent so much time making many of the lovely window card samples and due to a very limited counter space issue, most of them weren't even shown!    I did get to meet Joanna Sheen in the green room prior to the show and what a lovely lady she is!  Hopefully, Sheena will be back up and running soon and she can do a proper job showcasing the window and tissue box samples.  Thanks for allowing me to "play'' Sheena for a day.   It was fun!

Happy Crafting, Sue x