Where did the time go?

It feels like ages since I last blogged, and in fact it Is ages! But I'm finally back working on my shop with Ian and feel like I'm back in the land of the living now that my little girl has now started nursery.

Since I last blogged we have had a new addition to our family-Isis Rose who is now 2 years old. Her and Leo are adorable together! It has been a bit of a rough ride though and getting back to work has taken longer than usual. Isis was born with congenital heart disease, a particular defect called pulmonary stenosis and it wasn't discovered until she came down with a cold at 2 weeks old and during the check up my GP heard her very loud heart murmur and we got sent for tests. Ultimately she had to have heart surgery at 10 weeks to reduce the narrowing in her heart and it did work to the extent that if she hadn't of had it within a month or so she would have died and it has opened the valve up somewhat but unfortunately it isn't a total 'fix'. This pic of her was a few weeks after her operation.

She still has her heart problem which she will always have and we have regular check ups to see how the heart is functioning etc. and she could well have more heart surgery in the future. Her heart problem has also meant she has been poorly a lot and takes longer to recover than other children, and we just have to be really careful to watch how she is when she's poorly because things could worsen very quickly. There are lots of other elements to it but safe to say things have been difficult.

Isis September 2013

We are lucky though, there are so many other children with problems worse than her. The hospitals have all been great. All you can do is try and live in the moment as much as possible and get on with things.

Leo and Isis Summer 2013

It feels great now to be able to work on my shop etc and do something for me. I've started making some new bits and bobs. I really want to extend our Wizard of Oz section. So far I've managed to make this set of Wizard of Oz bookmarks.

I'm looking forward to getting back to blogging-we might go in slightly a different direction but I hope you'll come along with me:)

Also I'm on Instagram now so if you want to follow me there I'd love it and I will follow you back too! http://instagram.com/craftypagan

Alice in Wonderland Stationery Set

Don't forget to enter my Huge Blog Candy!

As part of the month long celebrations forQuixotic Paperie's 2nd Birthday all the Design Team ladies are making a special project-along with all sorts of other fun days! And this is mine!

For my project I just had to play some more with my Graphic 45 Halloween in Wonderlandpapers-and decided to team them up with the awesome Artistic Outpost Wonderland Collage Stamps. What better combination!

I've made some notecards-a Set of 8 with envelopes using the papers and stampsbut decided they needed to have a proper 'home' so I made a box for them! There's going to be quite a few piccies so hope you've got a cuppa!

Notecard Box:

Bottom Lid with quotes:

2 of the 4 notecard designs:

last 2 of the 4 notecard designs:

All the notecards:

You can also purchase the stamps directly here at Artistic Outpost for those not in the UK or Europe.

I'm entering this into the following challenges:

Deep Ocean Blogspot-Anything Goes

Papertake Weekly-Anything Goes

Bearly Mine-Anything Goes

EAC-Distress

That's it from me-I'll be back Thursday! This Set will be available to purchase in My Etsy Shop very soon.

Thanks for stopping by and for any comments you may leave-I truly appreciate them! Rowena xxx

A Gothic Wedding Card

Don't forget to Enter My Blog Candy!

Evening all! Hope a good weekend has been had by all! I had a lovely day yesterday at the seaside with Leo and my mum (pic below of me and Leo in the sand).

Anyways recently I discovered Cristy Croll and her fabulous images after seeing Elaine stocking some of her awesome Stamping Bella stamps. This though is a digi available here. Really love all things gothic (my house has an unusual amount of bats in it-not real ones obviously!) so these images are right up my street. I decided to make an easel card-I think I've probably only made 5 in my life but I love them so and they always look so special! I coloured the image in with my trusty copics!

I took inspiration from the challenge at Tiddly Inks in that I used lots of layers on my card so I am entering this there. I'm also entering this at Simon Says (sparkly and shiny), Truly Scrumptious (anything goes), A Spoonful of Sugar (anything goes), Paper Play (sparkle galore).

All the papers are DCWV La Creme-probably my fave ever set of theirs-it is so luxurious with all the flocking. I also used some awesome Make it Crafty swirls which I am now officially addicted to-soo versatile to use! I inked these and then added Viva Decor glitter on top.

Close up of the glittered skull.

This card will be added to my Etsy Shop shortly.

Think that's about it! Thank you for stopping by and for any comments you leave me-I love hearing from you! Ro xx

Jane Austen

Evening all! Hope you've had a lovely week and for those in the UK we're looking forward to a long bank holiday weekend! And a Royal Wedding! I can't wait myself! Absolutely dying to see the dress!

Anyways, wanted to pop on to show a card I made last night. Now I love of Austen so I was thrilled when Elaine got these awesome new Artistic Outpost stamps in-especially the Jane's Countryside Set! By the way as a special deal this weekend Elaine is offering free p and p on all orders over £25 and since the new lush My Mind's eye papers in 6 x 6 have just arrived it seems a good time to stock up!

So for the paper I used some more Basic Grey and stitched em up! The image is stamped in coffee and I gave it a good ole inking! I'm going to enter this over at Simon Says Stamp where the challenge is anything goes!

If you want to buy these stamps I've used on this card in the US then you can head over to Artistic Outpost.

This card is available for purchase in My Etsy Shop Here! Have a wonderful weekend!

Little Giveaway!

Fancy winning one of my Altered Moleskine Cahier Notebooks in a design of your choice? Head on over to my Facebook page and enter a comment under the giveaway to win and 'like' me:) http://www.facebook.com/CraftypaganDesigns

To see all the designs pop here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/craftypagan?section_id=6898715

See you soon!

Shabby Chic Loveliness!

Good evening! Hope everything is enjoying this gorgeous weather we're having recently-I certainly am!! Wanted to pop on by to show you these lovelies I made! I just adore bookmarks-one of fave little gifts to get and give and nothing is better than handmade right?

These were all made using the gorgeous Artistic OutPost stamps available at Quixotic Paperie. For those outside the UK and Europe you can also grab them direct from Artistic Outpost here.

All the yummy papers are Basic Grey and I've inked them all to look very vintage.

So what's everyone upto over the weekend?! I can't wait for the Royal Wedding-are you having a party or anything whilst watching?

These Bookmarks are available to purchase in My Shop Here;)

Anyways be back soon! Don't forget to check out all the yummy new arrivals at Quixotic Paperie!

A Change of A Dress

Evening everyone! Bit behind as per usual as I've got quite a few bits to show you but I'm going to show you most recent little make using a fab new set by Paper Make-up Stamps called Retail Therapy.

I think this little note card set is such a fun way to let your friends know you've moved house:) So pretty as well! I used the yummy Prima Annalee papers to paper piece the images-can't get enough of em!
These will be going up for sale in My Etsy Shop shortly.

Elaine at Quixotic Paperie has got so much new stash in the shop-check everything out here, including the new Kenny K's, I'm going to have to treat myself to the new Kraftin Kimmie collection-loving the Retro!

Catch you all soon! Thanks for stopping by!! xxx

Remember Me?!

Hello!! Wow it's been a long time!! But I'm back from having a blog and DT break which I needed to keep up with Christmas orders in my Etsy shop. I'm so glad to be back with Quixotic Paperie-thanks Elaine for having me back!!

And I'm back with a funky Birthday card to show you that I made last night! A while ago Elaine sent me this fab Kraftin Kimmie stamps-Vivienne and I've been dying to get her coloured up! I decided to go for a classy black and white theme with a splash of colour coming from the peacock feathers. The papers are an old DCWV Creme de la creme stack-an oldy but a goody!

The flowers are made with some punches and I added a Prima flower centre-can't beat them for sparkle! Oo the sentiment is also 1 of 2 sentiments that actually come with the stamp-bargain!

Here's a little inside shot! Grabbed a MS punch to fancy up the inside corners!

Don't forget if you haven't checked it out already there's a big sale on at Quixotic Paperie-who can resist a January sale!

Ooo it's good to be back!! If anyone is interested in purchasing this card it will be up in my Etsy shop shortly in this section here.

Thanks for stopping by! Me and hubby are off out shortly for a meal and to catch a film at the cinema as it's my Birthday today-28! See you soon! Rowena xxx

Autumn Notebooks

Evening/Morning guys!! Wanted to pop by and show a relatively new make:)

When I got some yummy new Basic Grey papers from Elaine-the Pyrus pack to be exact, I had to make some more altered notebooks for My Etsy Shop, and well, one for me too cos they're too cute! Look how yummy these papers are!!!!

Inside:
Reverse:

If you fancy grabbing one for yourself or for a gift you can get it here.

Ooooo yesterday I was featured on the Storque Blog in ETSY Finds!!!!! I couldn't believe it!!! You can see my I Dare You Cupcake Toppers in the ETSY Finds featured HERE and if you've never stopped by Etsy before I hope you'll find something new and cool in the feature and maybe do a bit of Halloween or Christmas shopping and support the handmade community:)

Thanks for stopping by!! See you soon!

Quixotic Challenges

Hi guys! Hope you're all well! I've been super duper busy with my Etsy shop as usual and blogging seems to have been totally neglected but I'm hoping from next week I'm going to get regular posts up! Thank you to everyone who still reads and stops by!

But today, I've got my Quixotic Challenges card to show you. This week Simonne picked the theme of black, white and one colour, so I chose sepia as my extra colour.

I used a Paper Make-up sentiment stamp-they do just the best range-this one is called 'when the world says give up'. I dug out my DCWV La Creme pack and got to work! I do love that DCWV stack-definetly one of my faves! I also added some stitching around the card.

I also added some flat backed pearls . Here's the front view.

I'm going to enter this into the following challenges:

Paperplay Challenges: real stitching

Moving Along With The Times: stitching

SimonSaysChallenge-Pearls and Lace (black pearls, doily lace punch)

I'll be back soon:)

Halloween has come early this year...

Afternoon guys! Hope you're all well and enjoying your weekend! Just a super duper quick post but I figure a quick one is better than nothing;)

As some of you know I've been super duper busy as My Etsy Shop has now turned into a full time job-thanks to everyone who has given me their support and encouragement:)

So I wanted to pop on to show you some of the Halloween goodies I've been making!

Here's my Treat Bag Toppers:

Bat Droppings Tags:

Vampire Blood Tags:

I'll be back tomorrow to show you my belated Quixotic Challenge card:) Speaking of Quixotic Paperie have you checked out the fabulous New Arrivals? There's New Cosmo Cricket Pads, New Prima Paper Pads (0mg these are absolutely lush!), Echo Park Halloween Kit to name but a few of the goodies!

Thanks for stopping by!

Rowena xxx

Quixotic Challenges DT and More

Morning everyone! Hope your week is going well so far! Am a bit late this week (what's new) but I'm going to show you my Quixotic Challenges DT card! The challenge this week was set by the gorgeous and super duper talented Elaine, and she picked a beach theme. I've had this Kraftin Kimmie beach babe stamp-Florence for ooo a good month now and she really deserved an outing so here she is:

Stuff:

Stamps~KK Florence and sentiment by Unity stamps

Medium~ Copic sketch

Papers~ Cosmo Cricket-DeLovely

Embellies~ Retro punches, Prima E-Line Crystals for flower centre, Raffia Lace, buttons

Other~ Janome sewing machine, white card, kraft from Emma's Folksy Shop

I'm going to enter this card over at Creative Inspirations who are having an open theme this week.

Have you seen all the new yumminess over at Quixotic Paperie lately? Elaine has had sooo much fabulous new stuff in stock-I'm lovin these new Memory Box Papers

Aren't they lush? Fab quality as well! Also all the new CC Designs Halloween stamps have just arrived and since this offer is on this weekend it's a perfect time to buy some new stash: 10% off Paper Makeup Stamps, The Greeting Farm and all Tim Holtzstash! Only between now (6th August 2010) and Monday morning (9th August 2010), so be quick!

Am really sorry I've been such a bad blogger-I just can't seem to keep up with it right now as My Etsy Shop has really took off-all my hard work has paid off and now I'm super busy! In fact Leo will be going to Nursery school-he's have a settling in period next week- so that I can get my work done cos right now I'm staying up till 3am to get orders completed. It's really nice having my own official business though it's lots of work-I'm probably working like 60 hrs a week right now-but it's fun, and all mine:)

Thanks for stopping by and for any comments you might leave-I really appreciate each and everyone:)

Quixotic Challenge-DT Creation

Afternoon everyone! Hope you're all well and have had a lovely weekend so far-it's still quite hot here in the UK so we've been enjoying the sunshine:)

This week over at Quixotic Challenges Kim Costello (PaperBabe) picked the fab thme of 'miniatures' so you could make teeny note cards, alter a small box, maybe decorate a matchbox....lots of possibilities! I decided to make some tags:) I have just been loving the new Whimsy Stamps Release and I used the Whimsy Birthday Letter Seals-aren't they awesome! If you're in the UK/Europe you can get all your Whimsy from Quixotic Paperie or if you're in the USA order directly from Whimsy.

I'm going to enter them at Creative Inspirations-anything goes.

I'll be back probably tomorrow with another Whimsy creation to share! Thanks for stopping by!

Quixotic Challenges DT Card-Pretty Pearls

Afternoon all! Hope everyone's having a great week! This week over at Quixotic Challenges the challenge is set by Kim and she wants us to add pearls to our project. Nice easy one:) Speaking of pearls, have you seen the new Viva Decor pens in stock at Quixotic Paperie? Utterly fab!

Last week I ordered 'Fairy Play' from the new Belles and Whistles Elisabeth Bell Collection so I just had to get her inked up! I used the gorgeous Girl's Paperie papers, some kraft cardstock available from Emma in her Folksy Shop along with 6 x 6 Kraft envelopes-her kraft stuff is fab quality! I've stitched all the edges as usual:) I had a go at making one of those adorable wrapped roses-I love them-and I popped it in the centre of the lollipop flower and painted Shimmerz in pixie dust around the edges.

I actually have joined in some challenges this time! I used the fab sketch over at Mojo Monday-it's been just forever since I played there! I'm also entering this at: Craftalicious (cute), Creative Card Crew (die cuts).

This card will be popping along to My Etsy Shop shortly-I've got 10% off all my cards over there right now as part of Etsy's Christmas in July sale. I've also added more new designs including some gorgeous wooden hanging ornaments which I've altered-this is the heart and home one:

For those of you that haven't really been to Etsy or Folksy before before you start your Christmas Shopping for this year do go over and have a look-there's such amazing pieces of work-I always found the prices excellent, and it's lovely to support someone's small business rather than giving more cash to big corporate companies;)

Hope you find some time to join in with us at Quixotic Challenges this week! Thanks so much for stopping by and any comments you leave:)

Alice in Wonderland Goodies

Afternoon everyone! Hope you've had a fab weekend! It's been absolutely roasting here! This weekend my dad and step mum are visiting so we've been really busy-yesterday we went to the beach and last night we had a lovely meal! I got really sunburnt though yesterday! Today there's been a craft fair in town so we had a good look round and Leo's been playing in and out of the sprinklers this afternoon! All good fun:)

Since I haven't posted much recently I thought I would show you what I have been up to!I've been super busy with My Etsy and Folksy shop and have been having fun making lots of new designs and goodies. Here a few of em!

Here's a Bridal Shower Invitation-there's the invite text inside as well

Fun Eat Me Cupcake Toppers:

Alice in Wonderland Bookmarks:

Alice in Wonderland Journal:

Mad Hatter Favour Bags:

There's lots more stuff I've been doing but these are some of my faves! Thanks for stopping by and any comments you might leave-love hearing from you! Sorry I've been such a rubbish blogger recently! Keep your eyes peeled though for random candies:) Enjoy your evening!

The Pixie Cottage Guest Designer DT card and Quixotic Challenges DT

Bit late again-well quite late! This seems to be a habit at the moment-things seem to be just crazy busy around here at the moment! Anyways-how's your week gone? Good I hope! Hope everyone has enjoyed their lovely long weekend! Yesterday I went with my mum to a craft show near Lincoln which was very fun-bought some new goodies! Today we went to a local tractor rally as Leo loves tractors, was a nice little afternoon out since the sun was shining:)

Wednesday was my last week as Guest Designer for the Pixie Cottage-4 weeks seem to have gone by very fast! Thanks Michelle so much for asking me-I've absolutely loved working with the stamps-they're so fun! This last card uses Little Mermaid by Alisa Ramirez! Look at her eyes! Aren't they fab! You can probably see I added lots of Glossy Accents-makes the image pop me thinks:) All the yummy papers I used are Tim Holtz which you can snag at Quixotic Paperiehere. I'm going to enter this card into the following challenges My Time To Craft (vivid greeting cards) and Polka Doodles (sew and sew) and Cupcake Crafts (summer delights).

Also going to show you my DT card for Quixotic Challenges (below)-the theme this week is embossing so I decided it was high time I got my much neglected embossing folders out! I used a Cuttlebug folder think it's called 'about you' and cut out the word precious and sanded it (I used core card). How adorable is the image! It's by the Greeting Farm and comes as a super cute set it's calledOliver and Amelia the buddies set-Oliver is such a perfect image for a little boy card isn't he?! Very fun and easy to colour too. All the papers I used are from the newly released Max and Whiskers paper pad by Basic Grey-everytime they bring a new release out I just have to get it-it's a sickness I tell ya! I'm going to enter this card at One Stitch at a Time (something new challenge-the papers)

This week is going to be lots of fun for 2 reasons! Tomorrow is Quixotic Paperie's 1st Birthday! I can hardly believe it! There's going to be a super fun blog hop with VERY special guests-it's going to be awesome! And, there'll be lots of prizes! I can't wait!

Also tomorrow it's a new Whimsy Digital release-I won't be on the blog hop cos my team is doing the challenge this month instead but the images are all fantastic-so keep your eye out for that too!

I'm sorry for being such a rubbish blogging friend of late-I have just so busy and still haven't caught up. I've been crazy busy with orders from my Etsy shop and my new Folksy shop which is great-I couldn't be happier about that-it's exactly what I wanted-but along with other things everything's been keeping me on my toes-so I am sorry if I haven't popped round recently! Thanks for stopping by today and making it to the end of this long post! I really appreciate you coming to see me and for any comments you leave! See you tomorrows guys!

Quixotic Challenges DT on a Friday!

Evening all:) Hope everyone's well! Oooo it's been gorgeous here the past few days! Doesn't it make you feel good when the weather's nice? I've ordered some new Summer clothes so hopefully the weather will stay nice long enough for me to wear some of em:) Bit late again this week, been another busy one but hey it reminds you to join in right?

So this week at Quixotic Challenges the challenge is to use Word Art as your main focus rather than an image. Quite a fun one for those of us who always use images and are used to colouring. The sentiment I've used is by Paper Makeup Stamps-they have the most gorgeous word art:) The papers I've used are from the new scrummy Capella Range which you get from Elaine here. Did you get your Roll Call kit? Ooo I did-such good value-haven't had time to ink those cuties up yet though! I'm going to enter this card over at Basic Grey Challenges who want us to punch it (doily lace) and use Basic Grey, Gingersnaps who want us to use a quote, and Practical Scrapperswho want to see patterned paper.

Making that DT card inspired me to make an Alice in Wonderland card set. I went quite simple really but I think it's quite effective! They're available to buy here on etsy and here on folksy if you're in the UK.
I've had quite a few pieces of good news this week too-a few different people have got in touch and said they'd featured my etsy shop on their blog or website. Today EtsyGreetings have featured my shop on their blog-you can have a peek here if you fancy! I think it must be my lucky week!

Right that's it from me, not going to waffle on-still haven't had my dinner yet but hubby's cooking enchiladas and they smell yummy! Thanks for stopping by and for any comments you might leave! xxx

The Pixie Cottage Guest Designer DT card

Morning all! Lovely, bright and sunshiney here today! It's my 3rd week of being a Guest Designer for the Pixie Cottage and this week the challenge is 3D-so use dimension on your projects-nice easy one right? The image I've used today is one of the gorgeous new stamps available by the Pixie Cottage called Alisa in Wonderland. Isn't she fab? A lovely whimsical take on the Alice in Wonderland theme me thinks-I just can't get enough Alice in Wonderland!

For my card I used the fab sketch over at The Pink Elephant and am also going to enter it at Papertake Weekly (flowers), Creative Inspirations (punches), Cute Card Thursday (Someone special).

Aren't those papers yummy-they're the new Basic Grey Capella collection which I had to nab straight away when Elaine got them in stock. The charm, tulle and gems are all also from Quixotic Paperie.

Should anyone be interested this card has been listed in my etsy shop here, and in my folksy shop:)

Well that's it from me today-just a quickie! Don't forget my Sweet Pea candy is still open here, and check out my Whimsy blog hop post for the chance to win the new release!