Handmade Monday 174

Welcome to Handmade Monday!

This week the latest Craftseller magazine arrived.  Inside are a couple of my cards, using Craftseller's free papers

and my music paper cones with heart shaped confetti - this is a quick make for their 30-minute make section

The vintage sheet music is a free download from The Graphics Fairy.

Quentin News

Guide Dog puppy Quentin is growing at an alarming rate - I realised how big he was when we went to puppy classes this week.  At five months, he is already bigger than a six-month-old pup (another labrador) who was there too.  And his paws were twice the size of the other puppy's.

Big paws and cute puppy dog eyes!

I mentioned a few weeks ago how he sat down at the start of any walk that started at our front door (as opposed to going out in the car).  I remedied that by adding in some exciting detours - the woods and a field where he can free run.  Now he doesn't sit down at the beginning of walks...but he does sit down now if we don't take the turning to the field or cross the road at the right place for the woods!!

Quentin's paw in my hand!

I'm now varying the routes as much as possible, so he realises there are different routes to the same place - but also that he realises I'm in charge and not him!  There are many more learning curves for him than I had imagined!  I'm told that pups who show initiative make better guide dogs than those who are more placid, so perhaps it's not such a bad sign, although I can't help imagining a blind person hoping to go to the corner shop for a pint of milk and Quentin taking him or her to the park for a run!

He is still jumping up when he's very excited but that is lessening and now he doesn't jump up every time there's a visitor or when he gets petted when he's out - which is a great improvement and a bit of a relief!

It's time for handing over to you for Handmade Monday now.  Enjoy meandering through the links!

An InLinkz Link-up

Digital Stamp: Girls Celebrating

I think it's about time I did a post spotlighting a digital stamp - and today it's the girls celebrating digital stamp.

I wanted to show you some of the cards (and more!) that the design team came up with using this one stamp - I love their makes and hope you do too!

Elina's card - celebrate!

Emma's card - have fun!

Lynne's card - party!

I love that Teresa made not only a hen party card but also...

...a hen party rosette!!

It's such a fun image, and I love that all the design team's creations are such fun too!

You can buy the girls celebrating stamp over at the Handmade Harbour shop.  As with all our digis, it's an instant download so you can get crafting immediately.  As in right now.  

But only if you want to!  

Midweek Papercraft Party (39)

Welcome to another papercraft challenge.  From next week, we'll be hosting these challenges on a dedicated challenge blog - but I'll link from here so nobody gets lost!  I'll let you know more soon!

Before we get talking about this week, here are last week's winners:

Sarah and Eemeli

(I loved the heartwarming story that Sarah told about her card - the card itself is worthy of winning, but the story just clinched it! And Eemeli's card really made me smile!)

Sarah and Eemeli, you both win 3 digistamps of your choice from Handmade Harbour - please email your choices to me wendy@handmadeharbour.co.uk and I'll send them to you as soon as I can.

This week's theme is sweet or sparkly!  You can interpret that any way you like... sweet could be cakes, sugary treats - or something cute and gorgeous.  And sparkles can come in any format!

Teresa used the pair of foxes stamp to make a super sweet card - I love this!

Josie used the Tea and Cake digi to cleverly create a cupcake keyring - definitely very sweet!

And look at what Elina made - she flipped the teddies hugging image to make this adorably sweet card!

I love Emma's card too -gorgeous use of colour! - this image is so new, it's not on the website yet, but I'm hoping to rectify that later today!  You'll find it on the new digital stamps page.

Last but not least, Frezja made a super sweet party card with the girls celebrating digistamp- with the words sweet time! 

Later in the week, there will be some information about our new challenge blog - do pop back to find out more!  In the meantime, if you'd like to join in this week and be in with  chance of winning three Handmade Harbour digital stamps of your choice, you know what to do...

An InLinkz Link-up

A Public Thank You

I think it's about time I said a public thank you to all the fabulous ladies who make up the design team here at Handmade Harbour and who use my digital stamps to make some very inspiring creations.

 Image: Elina using thank you girl with flowers

Every week, they come up between them with an amazing and awe-inspiring batch of goodness and loveliness.  They each have a commitment to make something once a fortnight, but I know that occasionally life gets in the way.  We have house moves, babies, illness and all sorts going on - and occasionally that means they can't get much done in the way of crafts...

Image: Teresa using thankyou in pots

But when that happens, something amazing happens. Because some of those design team members having a week off  often step into the breach with a whole lot of lovely makes!

Image: Emma using thank you girl with flowers

I'm so grateful to each and every one of you on the design team.  Not just for the amazing way you interpret my images and transform them into something inspiring to others, which in itself is a much, much bigger thing than you can ever imagine...but also for the way you step up to the mark, sometimes at very short notice, with your bundles of gorgeousness!!

Image: Elina using girl with thank you note

You can check out the design team on the dedicated design team page.  Each one of the designers has a blog of her own, and each blog is well worth reading - you'll find links to all of them.

And, designers, thank you so much for all your hard work, skill and loveliness!  You really are appreciated!

And the images used in this blog post are all yours - thank you so much!

Midweek Papercraft Party (38)

Welcome to this week's challenge.  Our theme is smile or laugh!

Last week's winners are:

Chrissy and Chris 

Well done!  You both win three digital stamps of your choice from the Handmade Harbour store.  Please email wendy@handmadeharbour.co.uk with your choices and I'll email them to you as soon as I can.

Moving onto this week,  we have are some gorgeous cards - and more - to show you!

Teresa used two digital stamps to make this card - the vintage camera and girl with bunting.  I love what you did here Teresa!

Rachel  made a really pretty card from the sixty is the new digital stamp.  Forgetful friends with episodes of senior moments?  At least you can both laugh about it with this image on a sixtieth birthday card!

Josie came up trumps again with another delightful and beautifully-made raw edge applique design using digital stamps for the image - this time she used a Christmassy digital stamp and discarded the seasonal elements!  I love how easy that is with digital stamps.  The result is this super pretty heart with a little owl, which would make a gorgeous gift.

Elina made a super sweet thank you card for her child's teacher.  I love this card Elina! The colours work beautifully. The image Elina used is girl with thank you note.

Last but not least, I'm editing this post to add Emma's adorable card... such gorgeous use of colour in this one too.  It certainly fits the smile theme - you couldn't help but smile if you received this card!

So, what have you made that might make someone smile or laugh?  We'd love to visit you and have a look, so please leave your blog link to join in.  Each week we choose two winners to each receive three digital stamps as their prize - a great way of starting or building up your digital stash!

An InLinkz Link-up

Midweek Papercraft Party (32)

Hello and welcome to another papercraft party!  Our theme for this week is Home and/or Family!

Before we get down to creativity, let me announce last week's winner, who are:

Andrea and Joanne

Well done! You both win three digital stamps of your choice from the Handmade Harbour store. Please email wendy@handmadeharbour.co.uk with your choice of images.

Home and Family is our inspiration and challenge this week and here's what the design team has rustled up for you...

I love this card by Lynne - the way just one of the houses is coloured in is really effective.  The sentiment comes with the image - it's one of the new digital stamps only just released this week.

Rachel's card uses the same image and a similar idea with the sparing use of colour...

Aleksandra used the Cat in window box stamp - a fabulous, fun image for any cat lover and definitely conjuring up feelings of home and family!  A perfect image for this challenge!  That cat looks contented!

As usual, we'd love to see what you've been making.  By joining in, you get the chance to win 3 digital stamps of your choice from the Handmade Harbour shop.

If you use Handmade Harbour images, it increases your chance of winning.  You can buy digital stamps from the website, or you can get free digis to try them out!

OK, so it's over to you if you're playing along this week...

An InLinkz Link-up

Mother's Day Digital Stamps

It's Mother's Day in a week's time here in the UK - it's also known as Mothering Sunday here.  I think there are quite a few digital stamps in the Handmade Harbour shop which would be great for Mother's Day, although I do think maybe I need to create a category especially for the occasion!

While I'm getting round to that, Mother's Day will have been and gone, so the best option for now would be to direct you to the digital stamps for women page, and just show a few ideas here...

This mommy and baby owl digital stamp makes a perfect mother's day card...don't you just love how with digis everyone can make the design their own.

card with family quote by Lynne

journal art by Frezja

 card by Laura

I also love the cat images for Mother's Day...

cat cards by Deanne

card by kel

Or maybe some cake humour!

card by Zoe

I think Mother's Day is one occasion when you can be sure your handmade card will be appreciated!  I know my mum always loves it when I've made her something rather than bought it.  And I'm the wrong side of fifty now (and she's 87 soon!) so it's not likely to change!

Hope you enjoy the run up to Mother's Day!

Midweek Papercraft Party (29)

It's time for another papercraft challenge!  This week's theme is:

Spring - flowers, rabbits or birds!

Before we get down to this week's makes, let's announce last week's winners:

Carol and Suzette

Well done both!  You get three digital stamps of your choice from Handmade Harbour - please email wendy@handmadeharbour.co.uk with your choices.

The design team has made some fabulous things - and this week I absolutely love how diverse their projects are.  Spring has definitely brought out some real creativity here at Handmade Harbour!

Elina used two of our new Easter themed digital stamps for her gorgeous shadow box...

Wouldn't this be just perfect on a child's bedroom wall?  I love how you can create adorable wall art so easily with digital stamps and an injection of creativity.  It's a lot of fun too - Elina says she had a blast creating this (which I think shows in the finished item - it's such a gorgeous finished piece).  

Superb as it is on its own, I'd love to see this as part of a Spring, Summer, Autumn (Fall), Winter collection!

Teresa made a really pretty, super-cute spring card using the cute little chick just emerging from his egg. The pink lattice she used is from the new Strawberry Picnic craft paper pack - it works really well as a background here.

Josie made a pencil case using the vintage caravan digital stamp.  Isn't this just adorable in fabric?  Josie says: "Spring weather really brings out the wanderlust and what better way to explore than in a pretty vintage caravan!  The theme included the tag 'birds' and if you look closely you can see the little chap perched on the TV aerial!"

Frezja made some arorably bunny bookmarks!  How cute are these?  She took the head from this bunny digital stamp for her bookmarks - I love how there is a Mr and a Mrs Rabbit!  This project also demonstrates how you can alter a digital stamp.

I love what  Emma did with paper piecing and the flowers on the hill digi  - it's a super effective and fun technique (it's just like fabric applique in paper form).

If you are feeling the Spring theme (and I'm sorry if it's not spring in your part of the world but here the birds are singing and the sun is shining - although it's still a little chilly - so perhaps we can share it with you via the internet!) then please do join in our challenge this week.  Remember that anything with flowers, rabbits or birds is part of the challenge - as is anything that makes you think of Spring!

We're looking forward to seeing what you make!

An InLinkz Link-up

Midweek Papercraft Party (28)

Welcome to this week's papercraft challenge - the theme is Lots of Love.

Before we peek at what the design team has been making, I want to announce last week's winners:

Hazel and Katie

Yay! Both of you win 3 digistamps of your choice from the Handmade Harbour store.  Please email wendy@handmadeharbour.co.uk with your choices.  You also get to grab the winner's badge for your blog - you'll find it in the left hand sidebar (you may have to scroll down a little).

Back to this week's cards and the Lots of Love challenge theme...

Look at the super cute card Aleksandra made... just adorable!  The cute bunny digital stamp she used is one of the new releases (perfect for Easter and spring-themed cards).

Lynne made this gorgeous card with a heartwarming quote about family love... this owl and baby digital stamp is already proving popular - it's a great one for Mother's Day!

Rachel's pretty pastel pink card uses the new Do What You Love digital stamp - I love that lovely hand-knitted embellishment!

If you'd like to join in this week, it's simple - just leave a link to your blog post by clicking below.  We'd love to see what you've been making and you could become next week's winner!

An InLinkz Link-up

Handmade Monday 154

Hello!  It's Handmade Monday time again - come and join us!

This week has been particularly hectic.  My elderly parents moved house and hadn't packed a single box (unsurprising, as both have problems with their memory).  You can only imagine the chaos when the removal men turned up two hours earlier than planned!  They were fabulous though, and despite the mayhem, nothing was too much trouble for them. I would highly recommend Kitson's Transport if you live locally to their base in Atherton.

other family members took them to lunch 

and for coffee while we moved and sorted

(in the complex where they now live)

Mum and Dad's new apartment is now cosy and settled, but there is still much confusion in their minds.  Dad in particular is confused about absolutely everything and has wandered off twice already.  Each time he has been found within the building, so that's good (and he is now well known to the care team who are on site 24/7).  My sister and I still have a lot of work to do settling both of them and familiarising them with everything so we've established a twice-a-day visiting rota between us for now.

They have started using their medication organiser pockets.  Up to now, it's working well - but they are having more support than usual at the moment.

In other news, issue 34 of Craftseller popped through my letterbox.  I love that they published a letter from reader Terrianne George who made a cushion inspired by my seaside vanity case in issue 25.  I love seeing how other people have been inspired by my designs!

The seaside vanity case which inspired Terrianne's cushion was one of my favourite projects, and has pride of place in my sewing room now (below):

I also made the cards in the current issue, a project which shows off their free papers.  These cards had a Mother's Day theme.

I think that's enough from me for now.  What have you been making?

Midweek Papercraft Party (23)

It's time for another papercraft challenge - and this week's theme is LOVE.  This is an easy one as we approach Valentine's Day, but I think love is the background motivation for so many cards anyway.

The winners for last week are:

Susie and Gail

and both winners get to display the winner's badge on their blog (you can grab it from the left hand sidebar of this blog) as well as choose three digistamps from the Handmade Harbour shop.  Susie and Gail, please email wendy@handmadeharbour.co.uk with your choices and I'll send them over to you.

This week the design team has been playing with the theme of love... Lynne made two gorgeous cards with the I heart you digistamp - these balloons floating in the sky are a lot of fun and proving popular!  To see how Lynne made these cards, pop over to see her card making process.

Lynne's Card - Using Pastels - Blog post to follow

Lynne's Card - using Silks to paint the images and liquid pearls like paint... LOVE this one

Connie at Times To Cherish made this super sweet heart wedding Mini album with the Wedding Couple digi

I love it - there's lots of space to add pictures or keepsakes

Laura's Card is a beautiful example of the Clean and Simple look.  This adorable Momma Owl and Baby Owl shows the strongest love of all - between mother and child!  Who wouldn't be thrilled to receive this card?

kel used the lovely cute hedgehogs digital stamp to make her gorgeous with love card.  A perfect example of using the LOVE theme for something other than Valentine's cards!

It's your turn now - if you've been making cards or other papercraft projects with the LOVE theme, we'd love to take a peek!  Add your link below and we'll pop over and have a look.