April Showers?

April snow showers more like! There we were all snug and warm and thinking Spring was well and truly here and then we awake to a white wonderland! I'm not complaining mind as it brought a huge smile to both of my girls' faces and I was dragged out of my warm and cosy bed at 7 o'clock this morning to behold this miracle. It is the first time I have seen snow on the blossoms on my Cherry Blossom tree. Wont last of course but it's fab whilst it's here. The flakes are large and soft and settling nicely at the moment.

DOTTIE

Have you heard about the latest addition to Charmed? She is called Dottie and is available for download on our shopping site, Created by the ultra talented Louise Brigden she is soon to be joined by George, a proper little rascal who will melt your heart. Here's a creation by Lou featuring the lovely Dottie.

Isn't she adorable??


NEW GOODIES

Well the Basic Grey came in and so did half of my Queen & Co CHA order. The other half is coming Tuesday; why they couldn't send as one consignment I will never know, twice the handling fees etc - what a pain! Prima Marketing are taking their time and it hasn't even been shipped yet! I do hate waiting, I really do! Here's a taster of what's coming:

Did that whet your appetite????

Another Card

I really love using pictures on cards. This one shows the adult recipient as a small boy. Masculine cards are quite difficult, this is a good one for a birthday card. It uses strong colours, yet with a soft edge. Don't think that all your masculine cards have to display sport, fishing or DIY!

More CJ Entries

Once again I have been busy making entries for the UKS Retailers CJ2. The first one is "I want to be...."

Of course I haven't got the courage to be any of these things, and thus I never will be (hence the quote on the second page). The wording around the quote is "I want to grab life by the balls ... but I'm too much of a coward" - well, I do have my moments! Wording down the side of the second page reads "I know my limitations" - although sometimes quite frankly, I probably don't!

The second one is "Dare to Dream"

I worry on a daily basis about the welfare of my children when they are beyond my constant watchful eye. A safe world would be my biggest dream.

New Award

The lovely Debz has awarded me this sweet award.

I have to pass it on to my favourite blogs, time to get my thinking cap on!

Dream Street Papers

Gosh, they are lovely! Seven new ranges, all double-sided. There is something for every taste there, from classic and sophisticated "Rue", "Art Nouveau" and "Remember the moments" to fun and frivolous "Birdie Bits", "Hugs 'n Kisses", "Quilted Garden" and "{miss}Fit". You can see the ranges here.

I had these in a couple of weeks ago and made a card using a paper from the "Birdie Bits" range for one of my forum members, Kelly, birthday. I popped it onto our design Team pages, you can see all the projects here.

Flowers in the Attic

How you ever read this amazing series of novels by Virginia Andrews? A light read perhaps but the first one touched the core of my heart when I read it as a young girl. I therefore chose this as my favourite book in an entry I did yesterday for the UKS retailers CJ .

Better get gone, lots to do. Bye for now :o)

Walk of Shame!

Oh I hang my head in utter shame! What AM I like? I have totally neglected my blog and haven't posted for months! But hey, life tends to get in the way of the things we would like to do and we end up doing just the things we have to do.

I have been awarded an "E for Excellent" by the lovely Lou. This was tongue in cheek obviously and designed as a much needed kick up the backside!

Thank you Lou, it worked! I'm back!

Cardmaker of the Month

We have our first Card Maker of the Month from our newly introduced sketch challenges - Janet Dunn. I loved Janet's seasonal interpretation of the sketch. Janet won a £10 gift voucher.

To be honest it was really tough choosing a winner as they were all great! Great work girls xx

3 C's Design Team

Can't believe it almost Christmas again. Is it just me or does the months seem to just fly by? It simply doesn't seem a whole year since we had Christmas last! Well apparently it is happening again so I guess I have to go with the flow. I have not sent out a single Christmas card as yet; you know that horrible sinking feeling you get when you know you have to do something that should have been done yesterday but still you can't seem to find the time to do it? I walk around with that feeling most of the time at the moment. Have I got all the presents? Did I buy enough for X, Y and Z? Time's running out and the goose is getting plucked (poor thing).

Anyway, enough of that, let's move onto my exciting news. The Charmed Cards & Crafts Design team is finally formed. I think we have the best team and I just couldn't be happier with my members: Louise Brigden, Caroline Scattergood, Karen Leahy and Tracie Hudson. Four super talented ladies with creativity oozing out of every pore! I feel very lucky to have the girls onboard. Lou has kicked off with some fantastic cards using the K&Co Wild Saffron and Margo Collections. You can see a little snippet below, click on the image to be taken to the DT gallery.

Card Sketch Challenge #1

I have decided to have monthly sketch challenges for Charmed Cards & Crafts. One entry will have their card featured on our site as our card maker of the month plus receive a £10 voucher for the shop (UK only). Here is the first sketch, you can see an example in my post below:

I want to see the following please:

• Ribbon


• Chipboard

All entries will feature in our gallery on Charmed Craft Talk. You can email the entries to the email address on our site's contact page.