**Michelle's Blog Candy Giveaway**

Pop on over to Michelle's gorgeous blog ~ thecardgrotto.blogspot.com ~ & take a peek at the fab blog candy she has on offer to celebrate her 2nd "Blogoversary" on August 4th :D
Entires are open worldwide & her candy is on offer until August 4th, 2009 at 17.00hrs GMT.
Leave a comment for Michelle & post on your blog about her candy giveaway to be in for your chance to win :D

Smiles, Tracey :D

**A Card For Kaitlyn**

Here's a card I made especially for Kaitlyn to enclose with my "Love Letters" cards :D
I want to acknowledge the fantastic work she does & her commitment to Love Letters & this is what I came up with.
I've layered the white card which has been embossed with my Cuttlebug "Hearts" folder & been wrapped with yellow grosgrain ribbon, onto the bright yellow base card & then layered another yellow/white panel onto that. The image is a sticker from the cute "Suzy's Zoo" range & tiny mulberry flowers & self adhesive rhinestones have been added to accent.
I seem to have a real LOVE of rhinestones right now!

Smiles, Tracey :D

**Love Letters ~ Random Cards Of Kindness**

Hi :D
Well here I am finally with another post on my poor, neglected blog! In spite of not updating this for a while I have been busily making cards to sell at my craft stall & also a few to send to "Love Letters" in the USA as you can see in the above photo :D
Love Letters: Random Cards of Kindness, Inc. was founded by a young woman named Kaitlyn Chana & volunteers from all over the world make cards to be given to children with life-threatening illnesses. I try & send an envelope of cards every 3-4 months & get a real buzz knowing that they are going to be given away to a sick child & hopefully bring a little bit of sunshine into their life in the process :D
I make each card using various embellishments/decorative items from my stash ~ anything from wrapping paper pictures; fabric cutouts; Cuttlebug words; stickers........ just whatever takes my fancy really!
If you ever have any cards that you are looking to donate to a great cause, pop on over to the Love Letters website ~ www.LoveLettersCares.com ~ & read more about how you can become a volunteer :D
Help bring smiles to a child with a random card of kindness! :D :D

Tracey

Sarah's Great Blog Candy..... Check it out!

Pop on over to Sarah's blog (fluffscreations.blogspot.com) for a chance to enter her awesome blog candy giveaway.
I'm a big fan of Sarah's blog & love popping over regularly to marvel over & admire her gorgeous cards :D
Her blog candy closes at 8pm on Sunday 14 June so there's only a couple more days to enter.....

Tracey :)

Happy Birthday Keryn :D

Whew! Can you believe it? Here's post number three for the day! I mean, after all I've been absent for around a month & then here I am happily posting away like there's no tomorrow! Guess it's either a "feast or a famine" as the saying goes! LOL!!

Although I haven't had time to update my blog until today I have been busily creating & the above card was one I made for my stamping buddy Keryn whose birthday was earlier this month.

Anyone who knows Keryn will know she's not really a "girly girl" so I took a bit of a risk using pink on my card but as I wanted to use my new cupcake stamp & had decided the icing was going to be pink right from the beginning, Keryn didn't get much choice! (Sorry matey!).

For the panel on the left, I've used New Zealand made embossed card which has been layered on a brown base & the cupcake stamp is from the "Montarga" range. Just to add to the "girly" look I couldn't resist adding a few light pink self adhesive rhinestones to the corners of the cupcake panel ~ not to mention the large pink rhinestone on the top of the cuppie!

I had a bit to trouble getting this card together for some reason ~ I don't know if it's because I always find it challenging to make a card for a fellow cardmaker/stamper or what ~ but I was thrilled with the end result :D

The smile on Keryn's face when I gave it to her kind of gave me the impression that I'd been forgiven for my outburst of "girly, girly" too ~ I think!

Until next time.....

Tracey :D

April "Aloha RAK" Card for Margie

Here's the card I made to send to Margie with my RAK package.

The layout I've used is one of my favourites :D

I layered bright pink card which I embossed with my Cuttlebug Hearts folder onto plain white cardstock, then added a strip of white card embossed with "Swiss Dots". The image I've used is a sticker from the "Suzy's Zoo" range & then I've added bright pink mulberry paper flowers & silver self adhesive rhinestones to finish.

Tracey

April "Aloha RAK" ~ Thanks bunches Margie :D

Hiya Everyone :D

I've been "Missing In Action" from the blogging world recently so it's nice to be able to update my blog FINALLY!

A very special belated "THANKS" to my April Aloha RAK partner Margie from New York, USA(ohbumbleismemargie.blogspot.com) who sent me the fab goodies shown above, together with the card shown in the top photo :D

I was so excited to receive Margie's package of embellies, beads, clear stamps & the cute best friends card (which Margie left blank on the inside so I can use it ~ great idea!) & loved her card containing a special message too :D

Thanks so much for everything Margie :D I hope you enjoyed receiving my RAK package as much as I did receiving yours.

Smiles, Tracey

WOW, WOW,WOW... Debbie's Blog Candy

Take a look at Debbie's blog ~www.passionforcrafts.blogspot.com ~ to see the awesome blog candy she has to give away :D It's FANTASTIC!
Entries for her blog candy close at Midnight GMT on April 30th.
Debbie is celebrating her 1st "Blogoversary" & her blog is full of great cards so pop on over for a visit :D

Smiles, Tracey :D

A Birthday Card for my Hubby :D

Hi Everyone :D
Here's the card I've made for my DH. It took me a wee while to get the design/colour combo sorted but once I got started, everything just seemed to fall into place thankfully!
Making "blokey" cards has always been a challenge for me as I seem to struggle with ideas/inspiration for them so all in all, I'm pretty happy with this creation :D
I've layered the red base card with a black panel & white Cuttlebug embossed "Happy Birthday" strip & the smaller black/white panel has been attached with foam pads to give it a raised finish.
The Vintage car peeloff has been put onto acetate & then I've cut around the car & added foam pads before adhering peeloff dots to the corners, alphabet beads & self adhesive rhinestones.
I hope Murray likes it!

Tracey

Monthly Aloha RAK Swap Goodies :D

WOW! I feel sooo spoilt! These gorgeous goodies arrived yesterday from Erin in Ohio, USA ~ my partner for the March "Monthly Aloha RAK Swap".
Thanks bunches for everything Erin :D I especially love your cute cherry theme card :D
Smiles, Tracey

March Aloha RAK Card for Erin

This month I joined the "Monthly Aloha RAK Swap" for the first time & my RAK partner was Erin in Ohio, USA :D
The card I made for her was based on the Mojo Monday Sketch #77 design & I've used a brown base card & pastel pink panels layered with a white Cuttlebug embossed panel (Swiss Dots) & plain white panel with a stamped & coloured Penny Black image (kickin').
I've coloured the image using a mix of watercolour pencils & Tombow brush markers then added self adhesive light pink rhinestones to finish.
The sentiment has been made using my favourite Stampin' Up scallop punch, 1 3/8" circle punch & silver peelcraft "With Love" stickers.
I really enjoyed taking part in the RAK swap & if you would like to join in too, the details can be found on Tracy's blog ~ tracyshappyplace.blogspot.com :D

Tracey

A Birthday Card for the Mayor.......

Hi everyone :D

It's great to be here posting again as it's been a busy couple of weeks & I've finally found a moment to update my blog!.

Although I've only got one card to share today I've made several more recently to sell at the craft stall I share with another crafting friend & one day (hopefully!) I'll remember to take photos of a few of them before I take them in to sell!!

Todays card was made for a special friend of ours ~ Kerry ~ the Mayor of our beautiful city.

We first met Kerry when she was working as a midwife & we were blessed to have her at the birth of both of our children & we've kept in touch with her ever since :D

The card I've made was "cased" from a card shown on Michelle's gallery (The Card Grotto) ~ thanks for the inspiration Michelle :D ~ & I'm really pleased with the result.

My next "mission" will be to come up with a creation for my hubby's birthday on April 7th so I'm hoping my "creative juices" will be flowing freely in the next few days 'cos I'm not sure where to start at this point!

Thanks so much to everyone who visits my blog & leaves a comment ~ they are all greatly appreciated :D

Tracey

Made To Order.......

Every now & again I'm asked to make a card to order & here's one I made a couple of weeks ago :D

A lady saw one of my cards on our New Zealand online auction site (Trade Me) & brought one for her daughter's birthday & then asked if I could make one for her cousin too. The theme was Spongebob Squarepants so armed with a few stickers, micro fine glitter & card I set to work!

The base card is bright yellow which I've layered with white & the numbers "13" have been hand cut from "Jac" paper (double sided adhesive) & then covered with two layers of micro fine gold glitter. Peelcraft tiny gold stars have been added to each corner & then I've finished with the "Happy Birthday" wording & Spongebob stickers.

This style of card is one which I make quite often as they are popular sellers but I usually only make them for ages 1-7 so it was quite nice to make a "double digit" card for a change :D

Tracey

Friday Sketchers Challenge #43

Here's another sketch challenge card ~ this time it's for the Friday Sketchers Challenge #43.
I really enjoyed this week's sketch & had fun making this card even if it's taken me just about the whole week to get together!! Life has been kind of busy on the home front & I didn't think I was going to get this done in time so I'm pretty happy that I have :D
The base card is one of my all time fave colours (Plover Purple) which I've then layered with white. The panels are made of the same Plover Purple/White combo & I've embossed one using my Cuttlebug Hearts embossing folder & adhered some of the cute stickers from the "Suzy's Zoo" range to the other. Mulberry paper flowers & purple self adhesive rhinestone embellishments have been added to finish.
Thanks so much for visiting my blog :D

Happy crafting!

Tracey

Maria's Gorgeous Blog Candy

Maria (mariascards.blogspot.com) has some fab blog candy on offer to celebrate her 1 year blogoversary so pop over to her blog & join in the fun!
The winner will be drawn on March 16th at 12 o'clock midday :D

Tracey

Daring Cardmakers Challenge ~ "Circles"

As I enjoyed participating in the Friday Sketchers Challenge a couple of weeks ago I decided to try my hand at another challenge ~ this time it's the latest one on the Daring Cardmakers Blog & the theme is circles.

Initially I struggled a bit to come up with an idea but after a bit of a "brainwave" & fiddling with a few embellishments, I'm really thrilled with the finished result :D

I've made my card using a layered red panel embossed with one of my Cuttlebug embossing folders (Hearts), then added a narrow strip of white card embossed with the Swiss Dots folder.

The central white panel has the cute circular Forever Friends picture which I cut out from a piece of gift wrapping paper; the "Thanks" Cuttlebug die cut & is finished with two mulberry paper flowers & four self adhesive rhinestones. My Carl corner rounder punch also came in very handy this week!!

It looks like I'm getting hooked on challenges.......... pity I don't have any extra time to squeeze in a few more :( Such is life with a 13 yr old & 6.5 yr old to chase around after, but I'm aiming to try & do at least one challenge a week so fingers crossed I will manage it!

Thanks so much to everyone who has visited my blog & left a comment :D I look forward to you visiting again & will try & pop over to your blogs soon too.

Until next time..........

Tracey

Just A Little Something Different.......

As well as making a few cards this week I've also made some other crafty items too which I thought I'd share.

These are cell phone/iPod charms which I've made using "tiger tail" wire, seed beads,lariats & a mixture of enamel & Tibetan silver charms.

They're fun to do & hopefully I'll sell a few at the craft stall! :D

Tracey

Friday Sketchers Challenge #40

This is my first attempt ever at a sketch challenge design so I'm feeling quite pleased with myself for completing this card! :D
As the majority of the cards I make at the moment are ones which I sell at a craft stall I share with a friend, I find I usually end up making certain popular designs over & over again & spend very little time developing new layouts so making my card for this challenge has been quite a step outside of my comfort zone.
I discovered the Friday Sketchers blog while blog surfing a few weeks ago & after having a look at last weeks sketch decided it was "now or never" to give one a go so here it is!
The base card is black & I've layered it with two white triangles ~ one of which I've embossed using the Cuttlebug "Script" embossing folder. The image & text panels are a combination of black, pastel pink & white layers embellished with die cuts/peelcraft lettering & then I've added four light pink self adhesive rhinestones to finish :D
Enjoy!

Tracey

Michelle's Blog Candy ~ 100,000 Hits :D

Michelle at The Card Grotto has some gorgeous blog candy to give away in celebration of 100,000 hits on her blog, so pop over & visit her great blog & leave a comment to be in to win!
The draw closes on Tuesday 17th February at 09.00 GMT.

Tracey

My First Post ~ WOO HOO!

I'm a newbie to blogging so please bear with me as I find my way around! I've viewed so many wonderful blogs during the past few months & have decided it's time to join the "blogging world" so here I am :D
I look forward to sharing some of my crafty creations & hope they may inspire others as much as I have been inspired (& continue to be inspired!) by fellow bloggers creations.
This card is one I made for a friend's birthday recently & as she is a "Red Hat Society" member I thought it would suit her perfectly :D
The base card is Plum then layered with lavender & outlined with peeloff border stickers. Betty Boop is a fabric motif which I've adhered to double sided adhesive (Jac) paper & then cut out & added to the card & then used peeloff "Happy Birthday" wording to finish.
Thanks so much for visiting my blog & I look forward to sharing more of my creations soon :D

Tracey