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A very warm welcome to my teeny, tiny part of the huge world of blogging. This is where I share my passion for making hand made greeting cards. So - why "Always with a Heart"? Well this is for two reasons. Firstly, it is because every card I produce carries a heart on it somewhere. This can be big and bold or small and almost hidden - the fun sometimes is just trying to find it! Secondly it is because I put my heart into everything I produce. I hope that any visitors enjoy seeing what I post. If you drop by then please leave me a comment so that I know you called. It would be nice to know that you have found my heart in what I do.

Sunday 17 March 2024

CATCH THAT TIME THIEF

Hi Everyone

Flying in very quickly .. .. .. unfortunately the time thief struck this weekend and stole so much time it is unbelievable!  

But I am here at last with my Christmas card for this week.  2024 Christmas card number 16! 

This used:

Image:  LOTV Digital Image "A Little Gift"
Sentiment:  Computer Generated
Backing Papers:  From Snippet Mountain
ProMarkers
My Trusty Sewing Machine


and that is as good as it gets!

Short and sweet tonight and hoping that the time thief gets caught smartish and the forthcoming week is a nice slow one where I can get lots achieved. 

Friday 15 March 2024

RASH PROMISE TICKED

Hi Everyone

Happy weekend eve!

Just flying by with my new sketch for this week.

I am back to a rectangular one .. .. although to be fair even my rectangular ones can be adapted to work as square ones.  Just make them fatter!  LOL!!


This used:

A wide variety of card and design paper snippets
Sentiment:  Computer generated
MFT Dienamics Die:  Blueprint 14 for the flower
Ribbon and Thread
Nail Heads
X-Cut Corner Rounding Punch
My Trusty Sewing Machine

and my new sketch .. .. Rectangular Sketch Twenty Two


I am taking my creation over to The Snippets Playground where we are encouraged to use up our offcuts rather than cut into fresh new sheets of card/paper etc.

Sorting my crafty goodies ahead of our move has seen all of my snippets come together into one place.. .. and boy there are tons and tons of the little blighters!  My blog could be easily be renamed as "Always with a Heart, A Stitch and a Snippet or two!"  LOL!!

Some of the mountain comprises of offcuts of design papers, but I also have lots of offcuts of plain card and paper from all the weddings I have done over the years .. .. .. so I need to think of ways to use all of those too!  I shall enjoy that!

Sadly I didn't take a "before" picture of my snippets (sorry ladies) I was far too busy just delving into the box and changing my mind about what to use .. .. but my whole card (other than the card base and the length of ribbon) came from my mountain of snippets. 

Have a good weekend when it arrives everyone.  Won't be long now!

Wednesday 13 March 2024

ALL THINGS GROW BETTER WITH LOVE

Hi Everyone

I hope all is as good as it can be with you.

I have been spending time with Mum these last couple of days but snatched crafty sessions, alongside crafty packing, saw me finish and photograph the following before heading out to her:

Yep, I am still on the postage die obsession .. .. LOL!!


This used:

Postage Layout Die and Accessory Dies from Amazon
Images and Backing Paper from Snippet Mountain
Sentiment:  LOTV Digital "Stamp Block Sentiment"
Spellbinders:   Petite Circle and Petite Scalloped Circle Dies
Ribbon
My Trusty Sewing Machine

All of the little image rectangles were cut from one snippet of design paper that featured lots of small foliage images  .. .. .. just perfect for this little make .. .. .. but I have no idea where it came from.  Sorry.

I also created myself a stencil using a scrap of thin plastic using the main postage die with the corresponding rectangle dies .. .. .. so that will be a play session another day .. .. .. road testing that!


Enjoy the rest of your evening everyone.

If all goes to plan I am hoping for a good blog catch up later to see what you have all been up to.

Sunday 10 March 2024

HAP-PEA CHRISTMAS

Hi Everyone

I hope you have all had a good weekend .. .. .. and a good Mothering Sunday if you are here in the UK.

Here today (very late) sharing my "festive make" for this week, which makes my tally for my 2024 Christmas card collection reach the dizzy heights of number 16 !!   Woo hoo!  

Visiting my lovely Mum, and having wonderful Facetime calls and an Indian meal out this evening to celebrate being a Mum (and the daughter of someone super special), has taken its toll on my time, but it has been really lovely and made for a day I wouldn't have wanted to miss for the world.

My card is for taking over to the Christmas Kickstart Challenge where the theme is "Get Your Grinch On" .. .. .. .. aka .. .. .. ..  let green take centre stage!

This used:

Image and sentiment:  Crafter's Companion "Hap-Pea Christmas"
X-Cut Corner Rounder Punch
ProMarkers
Snippets of backing paper from Snippet Mountain

My Trusty Sewing Machine

and that is me!!  

Have a good week everyone!  I wonder what this one is going to hold!

Saturday 9 March 2024

WITH LOVE

Hi Everyone

I hope you have all had a productive week.

All super busy here as the House of Hearts home move progresses.  We have had so much to read and work through from the solicitors that we have both been grateful we actually attended our reading lessons and didn't play hooky from school and skip them!!  LOL!!!

Moving has definitely changed big time since we moved here nearly 33 years ago.  In those days everything took around 6 weeks.  It is nearly 6 months since we did the first viewing of our new pad. 

So we are getting close to needing to start packing "everything we can manage without on a day to day basis" in readiness for beginning the "deep clean" prior to the great escape.  My remaining crafty goodies will be being lovingly packed over the course of this week (boo hoo) .. .. .. leaving me with just my emergency crafting kit.  

This week amongst all the legal and Mum stuff, I have been trying to get lots of cards made and orders completed to cover the next few months as I fear it is going to be quite a while before everything is available to me again and my "new normal" life begins.  Oh dear, I can feel withdrawal symptoms already!  I wonder how big a box Mr Heart will consider "realistic" for an emergency crafting kit?  LOL!!!

Anyway, onto my sketch for this week.  I decided to go for a square one and  used it to create this:


This used:

Image:  Purple and Gold Butterflies Watercolour Clipart Bundle WondersArtist (via Etsy) This one image is part of a huge bundle of over 400 images.  They print beautifully and have an amazing price point.  I am definitely looking forward to playing with more of them!
Sentiment Die:  Hunkydory Moonstone "MSTONE004" Frames With Love
Backing Papers:  Pink Petticoat/The Lovely Studio (sadly no longer trading)
Nail Heads
My Trusty sewing machine

and of course Square Sketch No. Fifty Six (you can find the other Fifty Five on the Tab at the top of my blog if you fancy having a play with any of them).


and that is me for today .. .. and to keep my new year resolutions going, tomorrow I will share my Christmas make for this week.  Just need to go and make it now, along with a few others for the up and coming weeks!!!  LOL!!!

Enjoy the rest of Saturday.

Sunday 3 March 2024

JOY, LOVE, PEACE

Hi Everyone

Here today to live up to my rash new year promises of creating a new sketch and a Christmas card each week.  We are into March and I haven't failed with these rash promises  .. .. .. .. yet!!  2024 festive makes now total 15!  Woo hoo!!

I "have" failed (yet again) in my resolution to put an insert into each card as I complete it though, so that one is off the list and marked as a failure for this year.  Perhaps 2025 will be the year I make that one happen LOL!!  

So here we go:

This used:

Image: Woodware Clear Stamp Set:  "FRM025" Word Tree
Backing Papers:  First Edition "All that Glistens"  (quite an old pad which I am determined to use up along with lots of others)
Unbranded Fat Oval Die from Ebay
ProMarkers
Sparkly Ribbon
Glamour Dust
My Trusty Sewing Machine

and of course .. .. Sketch Number Twenty One from my Rectangular Sketch File, which you will find on the tab at the top of my blog .. .. .. if you fancy using any of them then please feel free to do so.

Have a good Sunday everyone.  We have started off very cold and misty here today .. .. .. but I am sure it will improve as the day goes on.

Many thanks for all your lovely comments on my postage die posts .. .. you are all very kind.  I have had lots more ideas on how to use them and am looking forward to a lovely play session at some stage .. .. but for now I need to get ahead of the game with a stack of card orders I need to complete before all my crafty stash gets boxed up.

House Move Up-date

Apparently land searches are taking a long time to come through at the moment and our buyer's solicitor doesn't expect to receive them until the end of March .. .. so I think we can definitely say I will be seeing the spring flowers in our garden before we abandon ship.

Take care, and try to find a bit of crafty fun time somewhere in your day!

Friday 1 March 2024

SNIPPETS PLAYGROUND CHALLENGE NO. 474

Hi Everyone

Friday is here again in the blink of an eye .. .. and I need to scoot over to the Snippets Playground smartish before those gates get locked in a few hours time!  No stopping off at the sweet shop on the way!!!

I love this challenge because it encourages us to get using up all of the offcuts we all hoard away .. .. just in case they come in useful one day!

For the challenge this time I used the first postage stamp die I purchased and mentioned in my previous post.

This used:

Snippets of paper and card from the Nitwits Herbal Garden 
Postage Collage Die from Ebay
Coneflower Die from Ebay
Penny Black Clear Stamp Set "30-105" Gratitude
Distress Oxide Ink Pad: Wilted Violet
My Trusty Sewing Machine.

These are the snippets I grabbed from my Herbal Garden wallet (but I didn't use them all) .. .. and I had already made the flower head from white offcuts and it was sitting in my "emergency craft box. I just added the distress ink to tone it in with the papers.

I will introduce you to my growing emergency craft box one day when I consider it worth looking at!


In my previous post I mentioned that I like both of the postage stamp dies I have purchased, but for different reasons.  

Today I used the first die I purchased and it is one which if you look at where the dot lines meet they are perfectly in line which means you can cut the die up perfectly to end up with beautiful individual little postage stamp rectangles, as you can see in the picture below


Plenty I want to do with the full die and the little cut versions .. .. .. just wishing all of my crafty goodies were still around to play with and not packed away!  Mr Heart wouldn't be impressed if I started unpacking again so I am going to have to be a bit (or even a lot) patient and make do with what I still have available LOL!!!

If you look on my previous post you will see the holes in that die don't line up so beautifully so that when you cut those out the corners don't look as neat .. .. but you did get lots of dies including the ones that cut the rectangles (they don't match the die I used today though .. .. I needed to measure and cut my design papers to fill the rectangles.  But that's OK, I have the measurements all ready to go for next time.  

Right skipping off to the playground .. .. .. now.

See you over the weekend

Tuesday 27 February 2024

I FEEL A NEW OBSESSION COMING ON

Hi Everyone

I hope your week is going to plan.

I am a little worried that I have sent myself along the track of another obsession!!

Not only can I not stop making this type of card (I make one most days in various colours and for various occasions) but I now feel I might also end up on the same slippery slope with this style of card too because it holds so many possibilities   .. .. 


This used:

Globeland Postage Die (via Amazon)
Sentiment Globeland (via Amazon)
Images:  Digital Download from DigiStamp Boutique (sadly no longer trading Boo Hoo!!)
Backing Paper from Snippet Mountain
My Trusty Sewing Machine

This is the second postage stamp style die I have purchased .. .. the main draw being that it included lots of additional dies, the most useful being the rectangles to fit within each section.  

I have lots of ideas and plans for this style of card .. .. .. just not enough time to put them all into action at the moment.  

The first postage stamp die I purchased was simply a background frame and is also brilliant but for a different reason .. .. .. I will share that one with you another day.

Saturday 24 February 2024

JUST TO SAY .. .. ..

Hi Everyone

I hope you are all  looking forward to your weekend .. .. .. ours started with one very big covering of frost, but some beautiful sunshine has since appeared and has now melted it all away.  Definitely makes a change from all the rain we have been deluged with recently!

Today I am sharing sketch number 20 which has been added to my rectangular sketch library (you will find others on the tab at the top of my blog if you fancy playing with any of them|).

I used the sketch to make the type of card that I am always grateful to see in my stock box when I need a card in a hurry .. .. a "just to say" card!  Always handy to have on hand because they can be used for a multitude of occasions.


This used:

Image:  Stampendous Cling Stamp "CRR112" Ranunculus Field
Sentiment:  LOTV Digital "Stamp Block Sentiment"  (love this sentiment set and use it loads and loads)
Card and Paper from Snippet Mountain
ProMarkers
Spellbinders:  Circle and Scalloped Circle Dies
Unbranded Stitched Tag Die
Nail Heads
Ribbon
My Trusty Sewing Machine

and Sketch Number Twenty


Not made for any other reason than the fact that I need lots and lots of cards before my little crafty pod is finally emptied of all things crafty and the big move happens.  

Enjoy your weekend and I hope you manage to find a little bit of crafty playtime to lose yourself in!

Take care.

Friday 23 February 2024

CHRISTMAS KICKSTART CHALLENGE #83

Hi Everyone

Well, another week has whizzed by super fast .. .. and sees my crafty stash starting to dwindle and get packed away slowly but surely (boo hoo)!  

I am already starting to feel serious withdrawal symptoms approaching and know that eventually I will be left with hardly anything to play with.. .. .. .. and who knows how long it will be before it all gets unpacked again because there will be lots for us to do once we move. 

Perhaps I am going to need to put an "emergency crafty fix kit" together to pull out when the withdrawal symptoms get too much to handle LOL!!!

Hopefully soon we will have our actual moving date .. .. .. or am I going to see the Spring flowers in my garden appear for the last time?  I won't be sorry if I do though because it is a lovely sight.  Especially the bluebells.  I love those.  I was hoping the new "house of hearts" couple would have the pleasure of seeing all the bulbs break into flower, but the first daffodil is getting ready for opening .. .. .. so perhaps that treat is meant to be mine.

But anyway, yesterday I had a little crafty play, which culminated in me having Christmas card number 14 to add to my collection and take over to the Christmas Kickstart Challenge where the theme this time is "Out on a Limb" .. .. .. which is basically things you find on a tree at Christmas time.

So I have gone with what is probably my favourite part of Christmas .. .. Christmas lights .. .. .. 

This used:

Die Set:  Lawn Fawn "String of Lights"
Sentiment:  Julie Hickey "DS-DE-1020 Christmas Border A6 Stamp Set
Lots of Glitter Card Snippets
My Trusty Sewing Machine


Still time to play along if you fancy going "out on a limb"!

Will catch you tomorrow with my new sketch for this week but in the meantime have a great day!

Saturday 17 February 2024

LOTS OF LOVE

Hi Everyone

I hope your Saturday has gone well .. .. .. it has been a very wet one here!

A quick share that uses my new sketch for this week:

This used:

Altenew ALT 4038 "Rolled Roses" Die Set
Sentiment Stamp:  "Lots of Love" Ebay Unbranded  
Papers:  Snippets from Nitwit Collections "Snow Princess"  (this is what I love about Nitwit Collections .. .. even if themed for Christmas there are papers within their kits that can be used all year round).
Heart Punch
My Trusty Sewing Machine

and my new rectangular sketch for this week


I wasn't too happy with how the letter "s" looked on the sentiment die so must admit I trimmed it a little .. .. but I do love it and will be using it loads!!

So that is me for today.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend. 

I can't believe we are over halfway through February already!!  Where is time disappearing to?  Someone with influence needs to have a serious word with that "time thief"!!


Friday 16 February 2024

TEENY TINY FRIDAY

Hi Everyone

Happy Friday!

Today I decided I would satisfy my never ending "compulsion to do something crafty" by making a  couple of  teeny tiny cards .. .. which for anyone new to my blog measure a whole 9cm square.

These are what my little crafty session produced 

Firstly a birthday card .. .. .. 


This used:

Image:  Altenew Leaf Canopy Stamp and Die Set
Sentiment:  LOTV Embossed Labels
Frame:  MFT-926 Stitch Round Square Frame
Distress Oxide Inks:  Evergreen Bough, Iced Spruce and Broken China
Ribbon
Papers and card from snippet mountain
My Trusty Sewing Machine

and then a Christmas card to help with that new year resolution I rashly made to produce a Festive card every week.  My 2024 Christmas card total is now 13!  .. .. woo hoo!!


and this used:

Stampin Up! Die Set:  Hearts Come Home
Sentiment:  LOTV Christmas Sentiment Tags
Frame:  MFT-926 Stitch Round Square Frame
Card and Papers from Snippet Mountain
Die Cut Snowflake
Ribbon
My Trusty Sewing Machine

My crafty supplies are "very slowly" starting to get packed away (but to be totally honest every other room in the house is much further forward .. .. including the kitchen!!)  Note my order of importance .. .. .. yes .. .. .. I can go without kitchen supplies much more easily than I can cope without crafting goodies LOL!!!).  

Mr Heart is becoming aware of just how many snippets I have actually accumulated over the years .. .. .. most of which I blame on years of wedding work which have resulted in mountains of offcuts that I could never bring myself to part with .. .. just in case!  LOL!!!.  After all a placename card doesn't need much card at all does it!

Wedding invitations invariably had RSVP cards and a small envelope for returning it, so I have been turning some of the offcuts into card blanks that will fit into the last of the small envelopes that are still in my collection, and I am passing these to a local charity store.  They make up little craft packs which they sell out of as quickly as they make them.  They have also gained quite a lot from "snippet mountain" for adding into the packs .. .. because lets face it .. .. .. we never run out of them do we?  I am sure they breed whilst we are asleep.

Last time we did a drop off to them they showed me the craft packs they had been putting together in their "crafty corner" .. .. they looked lovely .. .. but I resisted the temptation to buy one!  LOL!!!

Anyway, catch you soon with my new sketch for this week.  Be good until then!

Saturday 10 February 2024

SORT OUT THAT CRAFT STUFF MRS HEART

Hi Everyone

I hope your weekend is going well.

My time this week has been spent doing more sorting and packing ahead of our impending move, but in an attempt to stop Mr Heart keep shaking his head in disbelief at everything "crafty" I have been trying to focus more on my craft supplies this week and make those take up less space than they currently do. 

Out of sight, out of mind, where Mr Heart is concerned, but not true for me.

Just because he has done the shed and "most" of the garage I think he feels I should be further forward with my crafty packing .. .. but the difference is I actually "use" my supplies on a daily basis .. .. and his outdoor belongings only ever came out "if they really, really had to" which would be "once in a blue moon" LOL!!!

But I did have a break from the sorting today in order to create my weekly new sketch and Christmas card.  I promise I am not going to be turning into a Christmas card blog .. .. it just feels that way at the moment. Things will improve eventually, I promise.

So here we go with Christmas card number 12


This used:

Image:  Penny Black "3986J" Crystal Wreath
Sentiment:  Penny Black .. .. sorry will add later
Backing Papers:  from snippet mountain, but originally from The Lovely Studio (miss you Liz)xx
X-Cut Corner Rounding Punch
Ribbon
Gold Gems
My Trusty Sewing Machine

and sketch number 18 which has gone into my rectangular sketch file today.


Please feel free to use my sketches if you like the look of any of them.  You can find them on the tabs at the top of my blog.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Monday 5 February 2024

SEIZE THE BIRTHDAY CHALLENGE 276

Hi Everyone

Happy Monday .. .. I hope your week is off to a good start.

Here today with a card for the Seize the Birthday Challenge where you have the option of "anything goes" (as long as it has a birthday theme), or you can add the special "topping" and follow the option for this challenge of "kraft and another colour".

Being a big fan of kraft card I went for that option and created this:

Yep, it is that card design again .. .. .. the one I just can't stop making .. .. LOL!!!

This used:

Digital Sentiment:  LOTV "Stamp Block Sentiment"
Spellbinders Nestabilities: Circle and Scalloped Circle Dies
Card and Papers from Snippet Mountain
Ribbon
My Trusty Sewing Machine

Time is running out on this challenge so I had better run and link up fast .. .. ..



Have a good week, and many thanks for everyone's lovely comments on my previous post. 

Saturday 3 February 2024

NEW SKETCH AND CHRISTMAS 2024 CARD NUMBER 11

Hi Everyone

I hope you have had a really good week.

Mine has been brilliant because we got the news from the hospital yesterday that we have been waiting for .. .. .. for what has felt like an eternity, 

No more treatments, no more tests, no more injections, and no more oncology appointments for six months. Woo hoo!!!  I now just have to hope that my appetite returns and I start to significantly gain some weight .. .. .. otherwise I am back in 3 months.  

.. .. but for now I can return to where I am truly happy .. .. .. the amazing and super lovely subject of crafting and blogging, which is where I am always super happy.


This card used:

Image:  Penny Black "2754H" Xmas Kiss
Sentiment:  Penny Black "30-2592 Wonderful & Jolly
Papers and card from Snippet Mountain
X-Cut corner rounding punch
Circle and Scalloped Circle Dies
ProMarkers
Hot Fix Nail Heads
My Trusty Sewing Machine

and rectangular sketch number seventeen which looks like this:

I hope you are all having a good weekend and manage to find a bit of crafting time .. .. .. and if anyone fancies having a play with one of my sketches then please feel free to do so.  You can find them all on the tab at the top of my blog.