Valerie's Creations

Challenging news

2011-08-24T07:53:00.003+01:00

I know it's been a long time and I'm sorry for that not sure if any of my family or friends read this blog any more but just thought I'd update you all with our news. To any penpals I'm so sorry for not writing, not sure where the time has gone we had some worrying health issues with Mum earlier in the year but she has now perked up and still living by herself with carers coming in 3 days a week.

David and I now some very challenging times to come, as David starts treatment for cancer and will require chemo and then radiotherapy/chemo any day now. It is going to be a very difficult time but with our family and friends we will get through it and the cancer is treatable - Nasopharyngeal Cancer (cancer at the back of the nose) - we are praying all goes well. The hospital where David will be treated is about a 50 minute drive away but it's a wonderful hospital with latest technology.

We did manage a few days away to Yorkshire last week but David went with a cold and I came back with a cold, so we didn't stay as long as we'd hoped. I have put some photos on my Facebook page if anyone is interested in seeing them (you do have to be my Facebook friend to see them though).

Will try and keep you updated, love Valerie x

Charisma Cardz Challenges 33

2011-08-24T07:48:00.003+01:00

Can't believe I'm posting on here, it's been so long. This challenge caught my eye though - negative challenge, and here's my entry:
Thanks x

Chloe dog - my brother's beautiful greyhound

2010-11-01T20:11:00.007Z

Blimey, you don't hear from me in ages then you get 3 posts in an evening!

I couldn't resist showing you my brother's dog Chloe again. My brother has had her a year now and she's really come out of herself since my brother collected her from the Great Yarmouth Greyhound Homefinders Kennels last October. Chloe has a lovely character and isn't shy in coming forward, she loves woofing to my David for treats and so enjoys playing with her toys:

Chloe showing off for the camera, and may be saying: "can I have another treat please?"

Playing with her favourite toy, her ted.

Holding up the door! Chloe so loves laying on her back, ready for a tummy rub whenever someone goes by!

She's such a girly dog, loves all things pink and colourful and is so dainty.

We love her to bits, especially as we can't have any pets of our own where we live :o( at least we can heap all our pet love on Chloe :o) and she laps it up. My brother says Chloe sulks if she doesn't see us when she expects to!

Items for school fayre

2010-11-01T20:06:00.005Z

As promised in my post yesterday, here are photos of some items I made for the school summer fayre last term:
Stationery and cards printed off the computer.

Teapot cards with a verse and a teabag inside.

Fridge magnets which I thought would go down well with the little ones.

Bookmarks, always useful.

Post-it-note holders with a post-it-note pad and small pen inside each one, I think these were the best seller.

I enjoyed making these though didn't have much time to do them in.

Christmas kit swap

2010-11-01T19:50:00.006Z

I took part in a Christmas kit swap recently where we had to send the organiser 3 kits made up of Christmas material so the receiver could make up a card from using the kit only. Having received 3 different kits in the post today I made:

I love the colours and especially the reindeer backing paper, wonder where that came from. I received 3 small buttons so thought they'd be ideal for the reindeers nose.

The cardstock had already been cut for an easel card and the gold backing paper came embossed with snowflakes. The gold paper really shimmers.

I edged the images and cardstock with red colorbox chalk ink to help make the card stand out a little.

I'm really pleased with my efforts, making Christmas cards is a bit of an effort at the moment, yet it's 1st November !!! bet get a wiggle on :o)

Where does the time fly?

2010-10-30T17:11:00.007+01:00

Good afternoon. Okay, who took all my spare time? I'm sorry for not posting for such a long while, some of you will have seen me on Facebook - I enjoy farming and attending to my pet :) as I can do these whilst relaxing of an evening.

I don't seem to have made many cards this year, though will try and attach a few later. The main news is that David took early retirement in April, mainly for health reasons, it was getting difficult driving to and from London with the problems in his knees. The other major news is that I moved jobs in June. I decided to apply for a new job and the first job I applied for, was interviewed and offered it :) It is still in a school office, the hours are just slightly longer but better hours in a way as I do the same hours every day - 8.45 to 3.15 pm which is great, and I still get school holidays off. This is the school I now work in: Warren School It's a beautiful school for special children and I just love it there, it was the best move I made. I'm so looking forward to the built up to Christmas as apparently we really go all out to make it a special occasion. I will start learning British Sign Language in the New Year which I will enjoy, I've managed to pick up a few words already.

Mum has been a concern for a while but it's all in hand now and Mum is looking better than ever :) she celebrated her 81st birthday yesterday and we spent some time with her, went out for a light lunch, then 7 of us went out to dinner with Mum in the evening. A lovely day.

There really hasn't been much time for cardmaking, but I have managed to keep on top of current birthdays, anniversaries etc. Now I'm in a panic as I'm way behind with my Christmas cards. Here are a few cards I've made:

Thanks for looking will try and put up a few images of some goodies I made back in June for the school fete in July.

Take care x

For sale - various craft items

2010-02-27T12:09:00.002Z

Good morning

Not sure where the time is going, I really must try and make some cards today.

I've had a little sort out though (and it's continuing) and I have a few things for sale. Namely lots of dies (Quickutz, Cuttlebug, Sissix - including alphabets) and some Cuttlebug embossing folders (A2 and the sets of 4 small) and all my Magnolia unmounted rubber stamps, debating on selling some of my Nestabilites - since I have a Slice I don't tend to use them as much - ummmm not so sure though :) If you are interested please email me or leave a note. I can send you Word documents with piccies and prices etc. Will only sell to those in the UK. Thanks very much.

Valerie

At long last a card!!! MojoMonday # 123

2010-01-31T11:09:00.003Z

Wow, you'll be shocked to discover I'm actually posting on here :) I have been around but haven't made too many cards. Since David bought me a "mini" laptop for Christmas I've become addicted to Farmville and Petville on Facebook and David has too LOL it's easier when I can relax in the living room with my "mini" beside me rather than be here in the bedroom on the PC.

Anyway I was inspired by the MojoMonday sketch for this week, and here is the result:

The card is Bazzill, and the background paper is by Papermania their new Honey & Hugs pack - gorgeous it is too. The image of course is a Penny Black "Sentiments 3831H", ribbon, flowers a sentiment and some gems finished off the card.

Hope you like it, I was pleased with how it turned out, a nice Spring card.

Take care xxx

I'm on Facebook at long last!!!

2009-12-29T19:26:00.003Z

Well you'd never believe but I'm catching up with technology LOL David surprised me with a lovely pink mini laptop which means I can be online in the living room rather than be alone in the bedroom on my PC.

I therefore decided that I'd join Facebook so for those of you who know me, if you are on Facebook and would like to add me as your friend that would be great. I'll try to keep up. Already I'm finding it addictive what with my pet at Petsville and having a farm it's all go :)

I actually made a few thank you cards this afternoon, though couldn't settle for too long as I broke my folding chair and although bought another one it isn't that good so will have to wait until my new wooden chair arrives before I settle to a long stint of cardmaking.

Hope you all had a great Christmas. We did, with having my Mum and brother (and Chloe) over on Christmas Day and then again on Boxing Day. On Boxing Day we went to the theatre to see the panto Cinderella which was great fun.

Take care, will try and post some photos soon.

A new member to the family

2009-11-04T09:17:00.005Z

Sorry I haven't posted in well over a month, it's been a difficult few months, not least because I was working full-time in September at school, wasn't too well within myself and needed to organise carers for Mum, plus David hasn't been well with a trapped nerve in his back going down to his leg. Never seen him in such agony, but an osteopath is helping and David is feeling much better, also myself. Mum was 80 last week so we held a party for 50 (which I organised) which went very well.

Meet a new member to the family - my brother's new dog - Chloe.

She is 2 and a half years old and a retired greyhound from the Great Yarmouth Homefinders place attached to Great Yarmouth Greyhound Stadium. Chloe hurt her leg so had to retire, but she won 7 races, and her leg is now fine.

Chloe didn't know anything about a home life even her name as her racing name was Swift Second but she's coming along great and her character is coming out. Chloe loves playing. She and my brother came over last night for dinner. We'd bought her a squeaky pink spotted bone and she loved it had little spurts of playing with it. She is sooooo adorable. We can't have pets where we live but my brother doesn't mind us heaping love on Chloe, she is so loving and affectionate and her tail never stops wagging.

Hope to make some Christmas cards soon, I am way behind even more than last year :( and write some penpal letters, sorry to those who are still waiting letters from me.

Take care and thanks for reading xxx

Snowflakes LOL

2009-09-12T17:33:00.005+01:00

It's not snowing yet :) instead I made a snowflake card using a sketch my dear friend Kerrie put up on our cardmaking forum last week. Here's the card:

The first card in a while I really enjoyed making. The background patterned glittered paper is by DCWV and it's gorgeous. The metallic snowflakes I bought in a beaded/snowflake garland set only £1 from a pound store. I punched out some pink glittered snowflakes and layered up with a glittered white brad to keep them together. I'm quite pleased with how this came out, it's even better in real life.

Off to have something to eat and then we're going up the Cliffs as usual, it seems to tame my overactive mind at the moment and calm me.

Take care xxx

Crafty Cardmakers # 3

2009-09-12T16:34:00.004+01:00

I do so love sketch challenges and a good friend is on the design team of the Crafty Cardmakers blog. Here's a "thinking of you" card plus a Christmas one.

This one was made using a Penny Black sticker, some cardstock and paper from DCWV. The large glittered flower I recycled from a birthday gift bag :) and think it works very well on this card.

The image on here by Daisy & Dandelion with some patterned paper from the same make and also from DCWV. I cut out the shape for the image using my new Slice and the Noteworthy design card.

I'm so behind with my Christmas cards but am determined to make them all this year, I've finally made the rest of the birthday cards for this month. Thanks for looking :)

Sorry ...

2009-09-12T16:30:00.003+01:00

... again, I just can't seem to get motivated for anything at the moment. I'm working almost full time at present as we are one down in the office and everything is still manic there, I guess that's the norm until everyone settles down, there's so much "first of term" stuff we have to do!

I'm really sorry to my lovely friends (penpals) who haven't heard from me for a while. Please don't fret, I'm okay, just don't seem to have the chance to sit down properly and write a lovely long letter. I'll get there though, please have a bit of patience, I haven't forgotten you.

Can't seem to get motivated for cardmaking either though I'm way behind with everything, plus I've agreed to run another cardmaking afternoon for the residents here end of October and that's on my mind. Ummm, me thinks I've just taken on way too much and need some "me time". Roll on half term, saying that it's going to be a hectic week end of October as Mum will be 80 and it's David's birthday too. I've been organising Mum's 80th birthday party too, still Mum is terribly excited and it's lovely to see.

Right I'll scan in a card I made this afternoon using a sketch (to help my lack of mojo) and will put it up soon.

Thanks for listening xxx

Mojo Monday # 102

2009-09-06T10:13:00.003+01:00

I've missed a few of these sketches on the MojoMonday blog but here's the latest which I enjoysed using today to make a birthday card for a colleague:

I used the beautifully embossed and glittered Imaginisce paper Fairest of them All: Royal Procession (both sides) and my Slice to cut the corner and oblong shapes. The birdie image is from Imaginisce also, a rub on. Flowers, a sentiment and some Doodlebug glitter brads complete the card.

Hope Sue likes it, I just love the colours :)

Sorry it's been a while

2009-09-06T10:02:00.009+01:00

Hello there, sorry it's been a while since I last posted, I didn't realise it had been nearly a month but can understand why. School summer holidays should give me loads of time to work on cards but in reality it didn't. Firstly we went on holiday to Somerset early in August, unfortunately David wasn't too well due to a trapped nerve in his back so we returned early and the rest of the school holidays at home. Not that we minded as it was easier for David to relax at home and also we still felt like being on holiday as the sea is only a few miles from us (about 5-10 minutes at the most) so we were able to get out and about every day. It also meant we were able to visit Mum who has recently been diagnosed with diabetes.

I was asked to run a crafting group on the court here (we live on an estate for the older person) on 24th August. It involved a lot of organisation and preparation as I put together 2 card kits and a bookmark kits and made enough for 20 to take part. I was extremely nervous - I hate talking out in a group - but it went very well apart from the initial "speech". Everyone enjoyed themselves and we had a laugh. In fact they enjoyed it so much I've agreed to run a Christmas cards and tag session during the half term week (last week in October). It should be a little easier this time but will still need a lot of preparation.

I had hoped to start on my Christmas cards but only made 1! I did manage to buy up loads of Christmas stash in anticipation :) I also bought a Slice (electric cordless die cutting machine). It arrived last week and I love it. It sits nicely on my PC/craft desk. I did make a Christmas card yesterday:

It's with a free pyramid card topper from CraftsUPrint. I layered it up and then added glitter glue to the angel wings and main star. I added mirri card in red and gold and then stuck it on to red card. A bit of gold glitter ribbon and the sentiment (from CraftsUPrint) and it's done. Sorry the picture is a little dark the light wasn't too good yesterday afternoon. The other Christmas card I made was using a fabric square which I bought at Wroxham Barns (Norfolk) during the holidays and had to try it out: I am going to try posting more often but if you don't see me for a while please don't worry. A colleague left at school and I'm working extra hours and it seems to be extra manic at the moment.

Thanks for looking, hope you are all well :)

Crafty Cardmakers first challenge

2009-08-10T16:00:00.004+01:00

I'm always in need of a helping hand where cardmaking is concerned so have been inspired by the Crafty Cardmakers new blog to make this flowery card:I don't think you can see properly but on the white embossed paisley card inside each paisley design is a little bitty flower.

Everything on it is by Craftworkcards, some new stash I bought last week whilst down in Sussex.

Papertake Weekly - my favourite things

2009-07-11T17:17:00.004+01:00

I just loved this challenge from Papertake Weekly - to use my favourite things. Easy peasy when I have so many favourite things:

I chose my new K&Co papers which I've been using a lot just lately and love, these are from the Berry Sweet pad. I edged the paper with my Colorbok chalk (lime pastel). I use these all the time as I love edging, and have all the queues and lime pastel is a particular favourite. The other favourite is the Fiskars corner scissors Nostalgia which I used on the corners of the stamped image. Not sure who the owl clear stamp is by (coloured in with my Promarker pens); the cardstock is Stampin Up another fav of mine and this is from the "bright" set; the "happy birthday" is a rub on by Pebbles. Another bright and colourful card which I just love.

That's it for today I must clear up now and see about doing dinner before we go up the coast for our usual evening of looking out to sea and may be a walk along the cliff tops.

Take care, thanks for looking :)

Stamp Something - pink, green & yellow

2009-07-11T16:44:00.005+01:00

Oh I just love colour challenges and this one for Stamp Something in pink, green and yellow was just up my street. Here's my card:

I used Berry Sweet K&Co papers and the stamped image is a clear Imaginisce snag'em stamp called "chick". Prima flowers and a Doodlebug velvet brad finish off the card.

Don't you just love those gorgeous bright colours.

Friday Sketchers # 60

2009-07-11T16:08:00.004+01:00

I'm on a role today :) here's a card I made using the lovely Friday Sketchers sketch:

The image is a clear Forever Friends, the patterned glitter card is by DCWV with two velvet brads to finish.

It's great being able to relax for a while :)

2Sketches4You - Kazan's sketch # 30

2009-07-11T15:24:00.003+01:00

I took a fancy to this sketch from 2sketches2you and made this card:

Again it's using the Madeline K&Co paper and also an embellishment from the Madeline range. I hope my RAK for the month will love this card as much as I do.

Take care :)

Mojo Monday # 94

2009-07-11T15:18:00.005+01:00

Another week and here's a card made using the Mojo Monday sketch which I love:

I used mostly K&Co stash, my new Brenda Walton Madeline paper and a pretty glitter flower from the Wild Raspberry range. I love the colours of the card.

Sorry I haven't been around, I'm taking antibiotics and painkillers for a sore/tender tooth which was causing me immense pain earlier in the week and it's been a really hectic and stressful week at school. Phew, only one more week to go :) I've been buying some new Christmas stash as I hope to get in the mood to start making some Christmas cards during the summer holidays. I have a thing for snowmen at the moment so have been buying snowmen stamps.

Thanks for looking :)

Mojo Monday # 93

2009-07-05T11:20:00.002+01:00

My mojo has gone on holiday I think. I desperately need to make some cards and also some invites for my Mum's 80th birthday, but I just don't have the inclination or energy. Having looked at the Mojo Monday blog I liked the design so decided to have a go for a colleague's birthday card for the 14th. Here it is:

The image is from the Stampin Up set Crazy For Cupcakes and the image I am going to use for the invites. The pretty glittered and embossed patterned paper is by DCWV. We love cakes and cookies in the office at school so guess this card should go down quite well :)

Thanks for looking :)

Willow Sketchie design

2009-06-27T13:40:00.003+01:00

Ooops I forgot to use a Willow Sketchie download but here's the second 90th birthday card I made using their sketch:

Again I used the Papermania Blueberry Hill paper and flowers.

Thanks for looking :)

Ooops sorry - long time no see!!!

2009-06-27T13:04:00.004+01:00

Sorry I've been lapse in blogging this month. I'm not sure where this month has disappeared to, except that I've worked the last couple of Saturdays and been out over the weekends too, time seems to have run away with me. Still I'm thinking of the extra money for craft buys in August when we're on holiday :) I've also had a cough/cold this past week :( which has kept my energy levels low, on a plus my sister/BIL visited us just over a week ago and my sister and I went for a girly night out to see "Menopause the Musical" which was an absolute hoot.

I haven't done any crafting the last couple of weeks either :( felt fed up this morning but on seeing the Mojo Monday blog I decided to have a go at their sketch as I need to make two 90 birthday cards for residents on the court. Here's the first one:

I used Papermania Blueberry Hill patterned paper and teamed it with some dotted paper I was given free with a magazine. The card is by Stampin Up. Flowers, ribbon, the button and Doodlebug brad and numbers I already had in my stash.

Thanks for looking :) Now off to find some other blog sketches to inspire me.

Friday Sketchers # 55

2009-06-07T11:00:00.004+01:00

I saw the Friday Sketchers blog sketch yesterday but didn't have a chance to make a card until today:

I'm pleased with the way it came out although it is a slight variation of the sketch (at the bottom) - you can't get the real effect of the card from the scanned image - sorry. The cardstock is Stampin Up and the pretty patterned paper is a new one by Brenda Walton K&Co "Madeline". It was hard having to cut into it I must say :) I used lace, pearls, flowers and Doodlebug glittered letters to finish off the card. I hope my "aunt" likes it at the end of the month. She's my best friend's Mum so not a blood relative but is very much an aunt to me.

Mojo Monday # 89

2009-06-02T09:28:00.004+01:00

I love Mojo Monday sketches and used the sketch today to make the other anniversary card for David:

I used Craft Creations patterned paper, along with a little Doodlebug worded paper. The silver card is stardream so it shimmers and the image is the other in a set of Forever Friends Elements. I enjoyed making this card :) thanks

Sketch & Stash Challenge # 11

2009-06-02T09:23:00.004+01:00

Good morning, it's beautiful and sunny here, hope that continues though it was a little too hot in school yesterday. Sorry I haven't been around, been looking after Mum and also making her some cards for a fayre the court is having on 13th June.

I needed to make David's anniversary cards for the 14th and wasn't sure what to do. The sketch and stash challenge blog sketch gave me an idea:

I'd just bought the Forever Friends elements especially for an anniversary card so used that, along with some new Papermania paper. I used some old heart ribbon and Doodlebug dotted paper, along with Stampin Up card. I'm pleased with how it turned out. Sure David will love it.

Our Creative Corner

2009-05-13T10:18:00.005+01:00

This is my other card for today using the "Our Creative Corner" sketch for this week:

I turned the sketch round as I already had the image I wanted to use: Penny Black "For You". The patterned, glittered and flocked paper is all by Doodlebug. Colorbok queue inks and gems finish off the card. The sentiment is by Hero Arts.

Thanks for looking :) now I must get ready for school.

Sketch Saturday # 50

2009-05-13T09:44:00.003+01:00

I've enjoyed making this duck card this morning based on the Sketch Saturday blog sketch:

The card is Stampin Up and the patterned glittered card is by DCWV. I used a corner punch on the Penny Black "Duckling" image and the Stampin Up edge punch. Velvet ribbon, prima flowers and Doodlebug sugar brads finish the card. Hope you like it as much as I do :)

Mojo Monday #86

2009-05-11T16:38:00.007+01:00

I've been struggling with making cards just lately and it was just too nice weather to stay in over the weekend. Thankfully the Mojo Monday blog sketch this week gave me the inspiration I needed to finally make a Silver Wedding Anniversary card:
The card is all stardream so it glistens. The gems and ribbon is by Papermania. Not sure where the pearl hearts or the pretty worded paper came from. The peach heart I cut from the Cuttlebug Textile Hearts cut and emboss set.

Thanks for looking, hope it'll be well received, I must send it abroad tomorrow! Thanks too for your get well wishes for Mum, she's now out of hospital but is taking strong steroids to get rid of the fluid on her lung and to calm down her COPD, but is much better than she was.

Mum's in hospital

2009-05-08T08:32:00.003+01:00

Just to let my friends and family know that Mum is in hospital. The GP wanted her to go in yesterday as Mum's oxygen levels weren't right and the last couple of weeks Mum's had antibiotics for an infection of some sort which hasn't cleared. Anyway it looks like Mum has fluid on one of her lungs, a probable infection of her chest (which should show up better after the fluid is taken off her lung) and a flair up of her COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease). COPD is said to be a "smoker's disease" but Mum has never smoked in her life! Mum's a bit muddled and pretty confused so hoping a few days in hospital will see her better.

Mojo Monday # 85

2009-05-05T11:31:00.005+01:00

I haven't had any inspiration these last few days, even though it was a Bank Holiday Monday here yesterday. Having a look at the Mojo Monday sketch for this week I decided to have a go, here's my card:

I used some new paper "Papermania Signature - Regency", along with some card from the DCWV spring card stack and a DCWV rub on quote. The image is a Penny Black one. Hope you like it, considering my mojo has left me I'm quite pleased with it.

Better get going now, I have school/work shortly.

Take care :)

Where are those cards then? LOL

2009-04-29T19:25:00.005+01:00

Ummmm well I haven't made any cards yet. I got home from school around 5 ish and decided it was too lovely to be inside so I changed and drove to some cliffs (5-10 minute drive) for a walk, here's a couple of photos:

It's the first time I've driven there and had a walk by myself. For those that know me that's very good.

In contrast, after school on Monday lunchtime David and I drove to a lovely little town further down the coast when it was dull and blowy:

What a difference huh? Hope to do a few more of those walks, with David's bad knees he can't walk far so will sit on a bench whilst I walk :)

21st birthday card

2009-04-29T10:07:00.004+01:00

Ooops sorry I haven't been around this past week, school was busy and we had an even busier weekend as Mum was poorly so spent quite a bit of time with her. I went to the theatre with my brother Saturday evening to hear The Songs of Sister Act with the London Gospel Choir and Rowetta (from X Factor); Sunday afternoon we all went to a 90th birthday party and that evening a friend and I went to see Jane McDonald at the local theatre. Jane was absolutely brilliant and I would love to see her again, soon.

Here's that 21st birthday card I promised you:

The image is by Magnolia, the paper are odds and ends in my stash, the 21 was made using Doodlebug mini-alphas and Stampin-up punches. Black adhesive pearls finished off the card. The style is an old one on the MojoMonday blog.

Would you like to see the website my brother created in memory of Telford? Here's the link: Retired Greyhounds. David enjoyed creating the website even though it was upsetting for him. Telford was a very special dog.

My David's in London today/tomorrow so this evening when I get home from school I'm hoping to do some crafting. I've already printed off some blog challenges ready.

Take care :)

Mojo Monday # 83

2009-04-21T11:32:00.004+01:00

One last card for today before I have to get ready to go to school. Loved the Mojo Monday sketch, here's my take on it:

I used Old Olive and Rose Red Stampin Up papers and card, part of a Penny Black image called "Ladybug Love" and some prima flowers and crystal brad.

Thanks for looking :)

2Sketches4You - 24 Laura's sketch

2009-04-21T10:52:00.004+01:00

I love working part-time but felt a bit off this morning so didn't feel like doing any horrible housework (don't we all :) ). Came in here to look at some blogs and decided to have a go at making a card or two. These are the cards I came up with for the 2Sketches4You sketch and bonus sketch this week:

Both are made using DCWV cardstock and Daisy & Dandelion patterned paper. The bear image is also by Daisy & Dandelion. The glittered flower on the 2nd card is by K&Co.

Thanks for looking, feel a little better now - off to school this afternoon for my 3 hours work today.

Sketch Saturday # 47 - last one for today

2009-04-19T17:15:00.003+01:00

Yay I managed to get the Sketch Saturday challenge done today, a lovely sketch. This is what I made:

Apart from the Stampin Up card, the patterned paper and image is by Daisy & Dandelion.

It's a shame I have to go back to work tomorrow, I've enjoyed my blog challenges this past week, not sure I'll have time to keep up next week, but I'll try.

Take care and thanks for looking :)

Penny Black challenge # 45

2009-04-19T16:36:00.003+01:00

I didn't have a chance to work on Penny Black's challenge yesterday, but as I love sketches and Penny Black I couldn't resist this afternoon:

The Penny Black image (coloured in by H2Os) is called "Poppy Fields", I used Stampin Up card and "bashful blue" and "rose red" co-ordinating patterned paper. A rub on sentiment, prima flowers and a couple of Doodlebug glitter brads finish off the card. I love the colours :)

Colour Create - Black, Pink and White

2009-04-19T15:55:00.008+01:00

After such a lovely carvery meal and dessert I thought I wouldn't have any energy for making cards but after looking at the Colour Create blog and the challenge for this week I decided to have a go :)
The image is a clear sticker from the Daisy and Dandelion range, card stock from Stampin Up and the patterned paper is from Doodlebug.

Talking of Doodlebug has anyone seen my Doodlebug rub-on transfer tool? I had it yesterday but it's disappeared today. I've hunted everywhere, even in the bin, but no luck - ummmm wonder where it's lurking :) If you see it please let me know :)

Scrapbook layout collage of Telford

2009-04-19T08:11:00.004+01:00

My brother David received the ashes back from the vet's on Friday and decided to hold a little get together yesterday in memory of Telford. I'd been wanting to give David a little something in memory so decided to do a 12 x 12 inch scrapbook layout. Here it is:

Sorry I can't remember who the paper is from but thought it was apt. The black rub ons were from Papermania and Kaiser Craft. The title is raised chipboard letters I bought some time ago from QVC. It's my first LO since I've moved to Suffolk and I was pleased with how it turned out, in fact I like it so much I'm going to have to do myself one and hang it in my craft corner :)

The afternoon went really well, we didn't have a service or anything but we spoke about our memories of Telford. One story brother David told us was that a while after he got Telford he went out to work as usual but had left a huge big tin of Roses chocolates on the table in the kitchen. Now the tin was about 5kg or more and is quite heavy even for us, it hadn't been opened and was celotaped around the top. David got home from work and didn't see anything amiss but when he went into his bedroom he found the tin of chocolates on Telford's bed. How Telford got it there we don't know. He must have nudged the tin off the table with his paw or nose and then rolled it from the kitchen into the bedroom and onto his bed - there wasn't a scratch or dent on the tin :) What a story - I love that one so much. There is also the episode of the two family sized Christmas puddings that got eaten but that's another story.

We will miss Telford so much but he'll always be in our memories.

Saturday Challenge # 28

2009-04-18T11:36:00.003+01:00

When I first read the Saturday Challenge blog for this week I thought "blimey that's a hard one", well for me it is. I'm not really into creating scenes. Here's my attempt:

I had already coloured in a Magnolia Tilda and chair so used those as the main feature. I dug out some grass paper and edged it with my Martha Stewart punch. The rub on flowers and butterfly are from Imaginisce. The ladybird on Tilda's hand I purged from a button - and drew blood in the process from my pointed tweezers when I was unsticking the ladybird from the flower button. Ribbon, background paper and an oval sentiment finish off the card. I enjoyed creating the card.

Thanks for looking :)

Friday Sketchers # 48

2009-04-17T17:02:00.004+01:00

I so love sketch challenges and with the help of the Friday Sketchers blog here's my card:

The card, patterned paper, ribbon and image is all from the Forever Friends "Just for you" kit. I used flowers, Doodlebug brads and a Craftworkcards sentiment from my stash to finish off the card.

Thanks for looking :)

Stamp Something - colours

2009-04-17T15:58:00.004+01:00

I just love spring colours so when I saw the colour challenge on Stamp Something I knew I'd enjoy this challenge. The colours are (yellow, blue and green):

I received the new Penny Black "party animals" stickers in the post today (only ordered them yesterday!) - yippee - and the chick sitting on the present was perfect for this colour challenge. The paper/card is by Stampin Up and Doodlebug. The flowers are by Prima and Papermania and the velvet brads are by Doodlebug. I used some assorted adhesive gems to finish off the card. Hope you like it as much as I do.

Wow - what a lovely surprise ...

2009-04-17T15:11:00.004+01:00

... I've had today. I've just been looking at today's challenge blogs and on Stamp Something notice that I am the random picked winner of this past week's shape challenge. How lovely is that? I love Sugar Nellie stamps and have some of them already but not the one I will be receiving so I have something to look forward to. Ummmm, I must go and do this week's challenge :)

I did create a beautiful 12 x 12 inch scrapbook layout this morning as a surprise for my brother. I will put an image up tomorrow as sometimes he checks my blog. It's the first one I've done since we moved to Suffolk back in October and I'm pleased with the result.

Thanks Stamp Something you've made my day :)

Stamp Something - shape challenge

2009-04-15T16:30:00.004+01:00

This is my last challenge for today - I think :) The Stamp Something challenge is to have at least two shapes on your card:

Ummmm after using brown and orange in my last card, I happened to pick up some Stampin Up paper called "Sweet Always"in brown, pink and orange :) I've used a number of shapes for this challenge: triangle, round, square, oblong (sort of), petal shaped. The image is a Penny Black called "Frolic".

Thanks for looking at my blog :)

Secret Crafter # 27

2009-04-15T15:52:00.006+01:00

Wow, orange and brown is stunning together and is the challenge, along with a sketch, on the Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge blog. Here's my card:
I used nearly all Stampin Up products: card, Pumpkin Pie and Chocolate Chip patterned paper and Pumpkin Pie ribbon. I found the die cut decoupage image in my pile which seemed to go well with the colours, along with some prima flowers, brads and orange gems (though they don't look orange in the scan). The card looks even better in real life. I'm also going to add this card on the cardmaking forum weekly comp which is "flowers".

2Sketches4You - 24

2009-04-15T15:09:00.004+01:00

Don't you just love it when your Mojo is working well. I saw this week's sketch on 2Sketches4You and thought "ummm I'm sure I have a round stamped image somewhere in my box of images". I rummaged around and this is what I made:

The image is one of a set I paid for and downloaded some time ago from Pink Petticoat and coloured/glittered in. The pretty background card is by DCWV the "Sweet" range and gorgeous it is too with embossing and glitter - yummy. The pink card is by Stampin Up.

ABC Challenge - Jagged Edge

2009-04-15T14:40:00.003+01:00

Woohoo I seem to be on a role today. The ABC Challenge this week is J - to make a card with jagged edge. Here's mine:

The jagged edges are on the bottom of the cream and light blue card. I've used nearly all Stampin Up products bar the cream card and prima flowers. The image and wording comes from the "Close as a Memory" stamping set. This card will be winging it's way to New Zealand later today, I am so sad for my penpal Sue who lost her Mother earlier this week. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family Sue {{{HUGS}}}

Truly Scrumptious - Challenge 5

2009-04-15T14:00:00.008+01:00

Oooh I thought when I saw the sketch and design cards on the Truly Scrumptious blog, absolutely gorgeous I must have a go. Unfortunately I didn't read the challenge instructions correctly and made an anniversary card, ooops the card had to be for a child as well as using the sketch, so I made two cards :) both of them are needed though.

Here's the correct card for a child:
I used a Forever Friends clear sticker on a nestability die cut. The papers are by Daisy & Dandelion, prima flowers, a glitter brad and gems finish off the card.

This is the other card which I also love even though it wasn't quite right for the challenge:
I used an image I'd already had coloured in by Penny Black "Long Kiss". All the papers are by Papermania "Scrumptious" and just right for anniversary cards.

I love brown/cream and pink at the moment :) I still have loads of cards to make to send off later this week better see if I can find some more challenges. They're great fun :)

My Time to Craft Challenge 57

2009-04-15T12:22:00.006+01:00

Phew another male card made. I hate making male cards as I never know what to do but the challenge sketch from My Time to Craft came up trumps:
The paper is by Personal Impressions and very useful as it's based around masculine activities like fishing, gardening and DIY. The two images are from the Forever Friends clear stickers, quite apt as the person I'll be sending this to later this week used to be a cabinet maker and is very handy around the house. When we lived next door to him he was great at coming round to help us out :) thanks Don.

I have also made 3 other cards this morning for a competiton on the cardmaking forum based on the colour "purple" (with my own designs) but I'll have to show you those another time, once the competition and voting is over.

Thanks for looking :)

Challenge 47: To Die For

2009-04-15T10:21:00.004+01:00

I wasn't too sure how to make this week's A Spoon Full of Sugar challenge work but after punching out some nestability die cuts with my Cuttlebug this morning, I then found a set of Karen-Marie-Klip paper gardening die cuts so clipped some of those out to go on the card, to make a gardening card for David's colleague:

The paper is oddments from my stash as are the gems. Hope you like it.

Sketch & Stash Challenge # 8

2009-04-14T16:26:00.004+01:00

I find it so hard making mens cards and to boot this is for a 90th birthday! The Sketch and Stash Challenge sketch came up trumps:

I was stumped for an image but decided upon a personal photo of my sister's Father-in-Law with my nephews and brother-in-law from their holiday last Summer. I used Stampin Up card and paper and Doodlebug mini just my type alphabet for the 90 and name, some Doodlebug velvet brads finished off the card. I'm quite pleased with how it turned out.

I've also made a 21st birthday card this afternoon but am unable to put it up until next week in case my nephew gets wind of it :)

Thanks for looking.

Mojo Monday week 82

2009-04-13T17:41:00.007+01:00

Woohoo I have so many cards to make this month I need to get my act together. I liked the Mojo Monday sketch today so decided to try and make a Diamond wedding anniversary card for a friend's parents. Hard but here it is, the colours are actually white and cream (the scanned image doesn't do the card justice):

I used Cuttlebug embossing folders in my Bug to create the white background including cutting out the two hearts in cream. I coloured Doodlebug white alphabet a cream colour to make the "60th". Lace, flowers, champagne gems (from Kaiser) and a sentiment finished off the card. The sentiment isn't in exactly the same place as the sketch but I didn't think I'd have room there and thought it'd be better underneath the lace, hope that's okay for the challenge.

Thanks for the challenge :)

Sketch Saturday on a Monday!

2009-04-13T16:36:00.003+01:00

I've been wondering how to make my brother's card for a while but finally I managed to make him one using the Sketch Saturday sketch this afternoon - phew. Here it is:

The image is a Forever Friends clear sticker. The "brother" has been made using Papermania "alpha minis" foam letters and the paper is a combination of Daisy Bucket and others from my "bits and pieces" stash. I hope he'll like it. I never know what to do for him.

Thanks for looking :)

Papertake Weekly Sketch # 12

2009-04-07T12:03:00.005+01:00

I'm loving this week's sketch from Papertake Weekly. I made one card but wasn't sure it was quite how I wanted it to be so made another. The first one is:

The background paper is by Papermania: Amethyst Infusion. The image is a clear sticker Forever Friends as is the sentiment. I wasn't sure about the buns I'd stuck down the right hand side.

The other card is this one which I'm delighted with. I absolutely love the colours:

The cardstock is Stampin Up. The background paper, sugarcoated card and brads are all by Doodlebug and the image is another Forever Friends one.

It's a shame I have to send the cards out straight away as I'm behind with my cardmaking and these are for birthdays this weekend! Better get on and make the inserts.

Ummm for seeing it's supposed to be raining this afternoon at the moment it isn't bad at all. We're off to Mum's this afternoon as she's feeling a little low and has no "Tuesday club" today, and will take her out for afternoon tea.

Thanks for looking :)

2Sketches4You - 23

2009-04-07T09:20:00.005+01:00

Yoohoo, I've managed to make a card this morning using this week's 2Sketches4You sketch and it's not even 9.30 am! I picked out the image and went from there:
The image is a Penny Black called "Friendly Surprise", the patterned paper is Papercraft 4 You Mary Hughes collection 8 which is so pretty, some prima flowers, lace, ribbon and gems complete the card.

Thanks for looking :)

Mojo Monday 81

2009-04-06T15:25:00.005+01:00

It's not often I get a chance to use a Mojo Monday sketch on a Monday - I missed last week even though the sketch looked great (will come back to that one) - but with being on Easter holidays I have a bit of spare time today and need to make some cards. Here's my card based on this week's sketch:

I used Stampin Up card, Dovecraft pet papers, a Daisy and Dandelion clear sticker image and some bits and pieces from my stash. I'm pleased with how the card came out :) Thanks Mojo Monday - great sketch as usual.

In Memory of dear Telford

2009-04-05T07:25:00.004+01:00

We are sad at the moment and my brother David is devastated, on the advice of the vet, his beloved greyhound Telford was put to sleep Friday late afternoon. Unfortunately Telford had a kidney problem (after being poisoned in 2008) which became worse and the medication he took for it affected his back legs and spine. On Friday Telford couldn't even get up from his bed :( at least he isn't suffering and is now with Dad keeping Dad company, Dad always gave Telford lots of attention.The latest photo we have of Telford taken Christmas 2008 when he and the family were at ours.

He will always be loved and never forgotten.

Race for Life - Cancer Research UK

2009-04-01T09:08:00.003+01:00

My sister Margaret is taking part in the Race for Life for Cancer Research in May - a great cause. Please find it in your heart to sponsor her: Margaret. I have also added Margaret's widget to the side of my Blog.

I haven't made any cards since the weekend but hope to do some after we break up on Friday. Wonder if the children will have played any "April Fools" jokes this morning. I don't start till 11.30 today so will probably miss all the fun.

Take care :)

Easter bags

2009-03-29T09:31:00.005+01:00

My lovely friend Helen on the cardmaking forum sent me her A4 bag template to enable me to make some goody bags for my colleagues. We break up for Easter this coming Friday and are going out for a meal and I thought giving a goody bag filled with mini chocolate Easter eggs and a Lindt chocolate bunny would be a great idea especially as we have been keeping off chocolate, cake and biscuits for Lent. Here they are, I made them yesterday afternoon then popped out to the supermarket for the goodies:

I'm really pleased with how they came out. I even made one for myself :)

A few specials

2009-03-28T13:22:00.009Z

Good afternoon, I've just had to make what I thought would be two difficult cards - retirement and a "baby girl" birth card. It's rare I need to make these sort of cards and didn't really have an idea of what to do. The retirement card is for a colleague of David's who retires on the 3rd April. He's into computers and started out as a gardener rising to manager organising for repair and maintenance. This is the card:

I used a Paper Nations image which I thought quite appropriate and some "garden" paper I had handy, along with some flowerpot buttons and Doodlebug letters. The card is stardream so it shimmers. David was really pleased with how it turned out and said it was "Bob" to a T. Phew :)

This is the "baby" card:I used a Penny Black image "Baby Hammock" which I cut with a scallop square punch. The patterned paper is by DCWV "Nana's Nursery" the wording on it is embossed and so pretty. Gingham ribbon, buttons, pearls and glitter gems finished off the card. It's sooooo cute and brighter pink in real life.

I am proud of the following card which I made in a hurry on Thursday for Jodie at work whose birthday it was on Friday: The image is a new clear sticker by Daisy & Dandelion, it co-ordinates well with the matching paper and sentiment. I was given the pretty lace by my good friend Carol Ann :) Prima flowers and some Doodlebug brads finish off the card nicely.

Time to go have some lunch then I need to make some "get well" cards.

Thanks for looking :)

A Saturday bonanza

2009-03-25T09:02:00.003Z

Good morning

Sorry I wasn't able to get on here at the weekend, mainly because I was busy trying to get the rest of the Easter cards made Saturday then Sunday it was Mother's Day here and we spent the day with Mum.

I made a few cards Saturday using 5 designs. The first one is by Sketch Saturday

I used Craft Creations and Imaginisce paper, Penny Black Fur Ball Fun stamp, gems and prima flowers.

The next card is for a challenge on Stamp Challenges where we had to "think spring". Perfect for making Easter cards:

I love Doodlebug and Imaginisce paper. Again I used a PB stamp "Love in Spring" along with prima flowers and gems.

The next two cards are a little late for the challenges as they were for the previous Monday, I used a MojoMonday sketch for this one:

Paper Salon and Doodlebug paper, PB stamp "spring parade", the sentiment is by Stampin Up.

The sketch for this card came from 2sketches4you. Again the paper is by Paper Salon and also Karen Neuburger. I used nestabilities on the card to create the square and oblong designs, the image is the rest of PB spring parade.

Lastly a quick card I put together using oddments of paper and card:

Hope these cards put you in the mood for Easter, it's not long now.

Thanks for looking and take care :)

A special card

2009-03-15T09:29:00.003Z

The week has sped past and I haven't had a chance to make any cards this week. I have just made this card using the Friday Sketchers sketch. I'm really pleased with how it turned out and hope the recipient will like it just as much:

I used Stampin Up card (it's actually a bright pastel green colour - the scanned image doesn't do it justice), the patterned paper is a new one by Docrafts the Dasy and Dandelion collection and the glitter flowery card is by Doodlebug. The die cut decoupage image is a Forever Friends from the Easter pack as is the sentiment. Some prima flowers and brads finish off the card.

My sister and her hubby are up for the weekend so we're off for a carvery lunch later and then hopefully a walk along a nearby pier and promenade, it's beautifully sunny today.

Take care and thanks for looking :)

Easter cards

2009-03-07T18:07:00.007Z

I'm well behind with making Easter cards. I made sure I had this afternoon free for crafting, unfortunately my mojo didn't.

Still I managed after a struggle to create a card using the MojoMonday sketch for this week:

I used some DCWV cardstock with the patterned paper being by Craft Creations Ltd and Papermania. The stamped image is a Penny Black one called Fur Ball Fun. The sentiment is a clear stamp by Imaginisce.

I also managed to use the sketch by 2sketches4you to make this card:

For this card I used Sandylion patterned paper, Bazzill paper frills and a chipboard image by K&Co.

The other challenge for the afternoon was on a cardmaking forum and it was to use a Penny Black animal image on the card. Quite easy for me as I love Penny Black stamps and have rather a lot :)

I love the colours in this card:

The rabbits are glittered on the patterned paper by Karen Neuburger (glitter bunnies), isn't it cute? The pink paper is also by Karen and glittered. The image is called "Eggcited Bunny".

The next two cards use a split image called "Spring Parade" a row of 5 chicks which I thought was too long a stamp so I stamped two and then three chicks which came out quite well. The paper in the tulip card is by Paper Salon and Craft Creations Ltd; the "peep" card is by Paper Salon also. I like these two cards the best :) sorry for the marks on the cards - note to self to clean the scanner!

Gotta go and see to dinner. Take care and thanks for looking.

Colour Create - Brown and Blue

2009-03-01T16:44:00.005Z

I thought oh brown and blue just right for a male card, then there was the extra option of adding lace and pearls, to a man's card???? Here's what I created for the Colour Create challenge:

I found the image first (Forever Friends clear sticker) and the patterned paper, most of it is Doodlebug but the brown paper is by Daisy Bucket. I then had to think through the lace and came up with the idea of dying the lace a dark blue colour (using Blue Iris colorbok chalk queue - so messy!!!) as I didn't have any blue lace. I thought the round circles on the lace could be wheels :} I used a rub on sentiment and then put a Kaiser champagne (browny colour) pearl on each end.

Hope you like it.

St Patrick Day cards

2009-03-01T15:57:00.006Z

I glanced at the 2Sketches4 you blog last Monday but then as the week went on I didn't get chance to create some cards with the lovely sketches. I finally got round to making two St Patrick Day cards today based on the sketches:
Both images are from a cardmaking program I have, most of the patterned paper and sentiments are from a free scrapbooking download and the larger shamrock paper is by Reminisce. I used the Creative Memories cutting system to help me cut out the circles and ovals.

Thanks for looking :)

Saturday's challenges

2009-02-28T17:38:00.010Z

I've been having a grand afternoon creating some cards, thanks to all the Saturday challenges.

Penny Black

The Penny Black Saturday challenge was "something to eat" :) I don't really have any PB stamps with cake on them but when I looked through my sticker sheets I came across an image I fell in love with. Here's the card:

I thought it cute that the cat was looking in anticipation at the fish, as if he wanted to eat it. The image is from PB's Whiskers and Tails. I used Stampin Up and Bazzill bling card, Stampin Up tab and scallop edge punches, dark brown chalk from the Colorbok queues and some odds and ends of cat patterned paper.

Sketch Saturday

Ummm when I first saw the sketch from Sketch Saturday I thought blimey what shall I do, but once I'd decided on the image it came together pretty well:

I used paper from the K&Co Designer pads, Stampin Up card, a Penny Black image "Frolic", Kaiser gems and a Craftworkcards sentiment.

Our Creative Corner

The sketch from Our Creative Corner was fantastic and enabled me to make this card which I love, it's perfect for an anniversary card which I'll send to my sister-in-law for next month:

The image is a Forever Friends clear sticker and I cut the ovals using the Creative Memories cutting system. The patterned paper is from the DCWV spring mattstack, the sentiment is from Stampin Up. Some ribbon and flowers finish off the card. I just adore the colours.

Secret Crafter

My last challenge card for today from blogs, this one is by Secret Crafter and asked for anything to do with "transport" on the card. Here's my design:

I don't have much in the way of transport but came across a Forever Friends clear sticker and fell in love with it. The patterned paper is by K&Co, I used Stampin Up and DCWV card, the Fiskars Corner scissors on the image and then put dewdrop gems in the corners. The sentiment is a rub on one by The Scrapbook House.

Thanks for looking I'm enjoying these challenges very much, it really gets the juices flowing :)

Mojo Monday no 75/Easter

2009-02-23T17:29:00.005Z

Yoohoo another Monday and another great sketch from Mojo Monday. I have lots of Easter cards to make so thought this would be a great opportunity to make an Easter card. Here's what I came up with:

All the patterned paper is by Doodlebug, but the main background paper is flocked - it's yummy :) the card is Bazzill bling card and the image is part of a Penny Black stamp called Spring Parade. Gems, some flowers and a Doodlebug sugar brad finish the card off. Oh I also edged the main background paper and image with Colorbok chalk ink in lime pastel and used the scallop edge Stampin Up punch. The sentment is a clear one by Clevercut.

Hope you like it, I so love spring colours.

Friday Sketchers card

2009-02-22T15:59:00.004Z

LOL I'm definitely on a roll today. Here's a card I've just made using the Friday Sketchers blog sketch:

I'm pleased with how it turned out and will use it to give to a colleague of David's. I used some Carol Wilson Fine Arts embossed and glittered garden paper and some Forever Friends clear stickers, along with a Pebbles sentiment. It's a slight variation on the sketch since I had to adjust the sentiment since the carrots on the paper were in the way.

A Sketch Saturday design

2009-02-22T15:33:00.005Z

:) I can't believe how my cards are coming together today - my mojo is definitely here, hope it stays.

Here's my card for Sketch Saturday:

I used a Forever Friends die cut decoupage kit for the bear image and the patterned paper. Prima flowers, Doodlebug sugar brads and another round sentiment from Craftworkcards finishes off this card.

Cute Thursday on a Sunday!

2009-02-22T14:52:00.004Z

Yummy yum we enjoyed a lovely carvery meal lunchtime but now it's back to cardmaking :)

I came across the Cute Card Thursday blog and loved the idea of making a spring card, we have snowdrops in our garden and a few crocuses are out in Mum's garden, it's a joy to see. Here's my card:

I used a piece of Imaginesce patterned paper, bling card and gems and a sentiment by Craftworkcards. The image is a Penny Black one "Fur Ball Fun". Isn't that sheep cute? I used my new promarkers to colour him and the chicks in.

I'm loving these challenges.

On a roll here LOL

2009-02-22T09:59:00.005Z

Blimey my mojo seems to be working overtime this morning. I was looking at some challenge blogs and came across two I thought I would enjoy. The first is by Daring Cardmakers where we have to use a frog on the card. I used a Penny Black clear frog sticker from the "pond-side celebration" sheet and made an anniversary card:

The second card I made was for a challenge on the Penny Black Saturday blog where we have to make a get well card using a Penny Black image. That's easy for me as my favourite stamps are Penny Blacks. I used another clear Penny Black sticker though from "a bunch of love" sheet and made this card:

The paper for both cards are scraps I've squirreled away.

Hope you like them. Enjoy Sunday. We're off to Mum's now and then going out for a carvery lunch. Hoping I'll be in the mood to craft some more when we return home.

An early start!

2009-02-22T08:29:00.004Z

Blimey, I've never made cards this early before, it's only 8.30 in the morning and I've made 2!

I was on the cardmaking forum early this morning and Mandy put up a post to say she'd been asked to design a card (woohoo congratulations Mandy :) ). I loved the sketch so much it spurred me on to make this card:

You can find the sketch at SketchesbyTamara. It was made using scraps of patterned paper, a Forever Friends clear image, some lace and ribbon, oh and the sentiment was a rub on by Pebbles Inc.

Using two other free Forever Friends images (came with a magazine) I created these cards, the first one I made last night.

The shape of the image backgrounds are Nestabilities and were sent to me by a lovely person on the cardmaking forum as a surprise, I still don't know who sent them - so if you're reading this please let me know so I can thank you personally. I have to buy those sets of nestabilities now.

I'm pleased with how they turned out. Now I'm off to have some breakfast :)

A crafty afternoon

2009-02-21T16:06:00.011Z

Good afternoon, hope you are all well? I'm slowly improving again :) My sister told me during the week that my nephew's girlfriend will be 21 next Saturday so I said I'd make a card for her, here it is:
It's a Magnolia stamp which I stamped and coloured using watercolour crayons some time ago. I glittered it up today as Kat loves glitter. I used stardream gold card and the patterned paper is by Imaginisce "all kinds of happy - party poppers". The wording is Doodlebug mini just my type which I glittered using Doodlebug sugar glitters.

I love sketch designs and came across this one which caught my eye on 2Sketches4You, along with that and some free paper and rub on images from a magazine I created the following card. I like the way it turned out but as always am critical of my own work, the rub ons were quite hard to rub off and kept coming away on my fingers so am not overly happy with the wording.
Not sure yet whether Mum will receive this card or not. She loves flowers so would like it but ... we will see.

David and I are off to dinner tonight to a try new fish restaurant called Go Fish. Hope it's as good as we've been told.

Take care and thanks for looking :)

Mojo Monday no 74 and daffodils

2009-02-17T19:03:00.007Z

Good evening, sorry I haven't been around for a few days, I haven't been well :( but I'm back on the tablets now and starting to feel better.

It's half term this week so no work for me :) instead I managed to make a few cards this morning for Natalie on the cardmaking forum, she's going to collect our cards, parcel them up and send them off to help the Create-a-Card for Cancer Care 2009 appeal, it's such a worthwhile cause. In the process of making some this morning Mojo Monday helped and I used the sketch for this week (sketch 74):
I didn't get to use sketch 73 last week but created a card using an adapation of the sketch today:
Here are a few of my other cards for the Cancer appeal.

The patterned paper on the first four cards are by K&Co, the pink one had some paper from the Spring DCWV matt stack. The sentiments are by Craftworkcards.

My Uncle (Mum's twin) isn't too well at the moment :( we are prepared for the worse and it's just a matter of time, we continue to pray for him. As my Uncle lives in the South East of England (a good 4 hours drive from here) and our cousins are with him, we are looking after Mum who is naturally upset. It's good I have this week off work.

Take care and thanks for looking

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-02-14T11:09:00.007Z

Happy Valentine's Day to all my loved ones. I can now show you the Valentine's cards I made. The entered three of them in a "love" competition on the cardmaking forum last month and was so pleased to learn that my friends liked my heart card so much I came 1st! I made a little stand on the heart card so that it would stand up.

I hope Mum and brother David receive their cards in the post today.

Have a good weekend

In Sympathy

2009-02-12T19:07:00.004Z

I'm not feeling too well at the moment :( but I did manage to make a sympathy card this evening. It's for a colleague who lost her Mother-in-law at the weekend. I used the Stampin Up Sympathy set, marker pens and card. The ribbon, flowers and brads are from my mountainous stash :)

Please ignore the marks on the light blue card, it's not on the card itself but on my scanner!

Take care

White cards

2009-02-08T11:24:00.006Z

:) The challenge this week on our cardmaking forum is to make a white only card. Ummm, I thought difficult, but once I dug out my Cuttlebug and embossing folders it was quite easy. Here are four cards I made, all are fairly similar with use of different embossing folders, rub on sentiments, white flowers and Doodlebug glitter brads and Kaiser pearls.

Excuse the bad photos, it isn't that bright near my crafty corner.

I think my cough is finally starting to disappear although I did wake a couple of times coughing - only one more week to work until half term! David and I went to see Billy Ocean at our local theatre last night and I must say we thoroughly enjoyed it, Billy was fabulous and had us all singing and dancing :)

Hope you're enjoying your weekend

Friendship card

2009-02-03T11:01:00.006Z

Good morning, oh it's so nice not having to go into work until midday :) I had a rough night coughing so at least I could have a bit of a lay in.

Unlike last week I managed to get the Mojo Monday sketch card completed earlier this week. This is the card I made this morning for a friend who's going through a hard time at the moment:
I love it, and hope she will too. The verse is from the Stampin Up God's Blessings, the card is also from Stampin Up. The patterned paper and large flower embellishment is from K&Co. Prima flowers and glitter card complete this gorgeous card. Wish I could keep it myself but I need to go and post it now.

For those who can't read the verse it says: A friend is someone who strengthens you with prayers, blesses you with love, and encourages you with hope.

We were lucky in that we didn't have hardly any snow yesterday and what we did have didn't lay for long as it turned to rain yesterday evening. We had some lovely sunshine this morning which will hopefully defrost my car before I have to leave for school.

Have a great day.

Mens cards

2009-02-01T12:00:00.005Z

I find creating mens cards so difficult, I love using pretty colours, flowers, glitter, gems etc. I remembered last year I'd bought a Dufex die cut decoupage sheet so hunted this out and used it to make two cards, one a retirement card and the other a birthday card for the end of the month. Here they are:

The first one I used a piece of Personal Impressions paper, along with a Stampin Up sentiment stamp along with a little grosgrain ribbon. For the second I used the Carol Wilson Fine Arts embossed garden paper, very nice it is too. That's it really, quite effective - sorry the photos do not do the cards justice, the dufex images are a kind of metallic shimmery card which really show up well in real life.

We had a few light showers of snow earlier, it's bitter cold outside and we're due for some heavy snow later today/tomorrow. Wonder if school will be closed tomorrow? I'm coughing well and still bunged up so am not going out today, instead I'll try and relax and make a few cards, hopefully I'll feel a little better tomorrow.

A bit late but MojoMonday challenge card

2009-01-31T14:34:00.004Z

Ooops it's not Monday but here's the Mojo Monday card I made for this week. It's also in line with a challenge on the cardmaking forum of a "coffee" card. Or for those not liking coffee, tea or the colours cream/brown.

I loved making this using the Penny Black Stamp Tea Cozy, Doodlebug dotted paper, K&Co paper and Stampin Up card, along with a bit of cream lace (loving lace) and a sentiment by Craftworkcards.

I'm full of cold at the moment :( but struggling along as I need to make some cards this weekend, I'm way behind. I did have a surprise this afternoon when I logged onto the cardmaking forum to read I'd come first in the "love" competition for January. I'll show you the Valentine's card when David's received it on the 14th but winning really cheered me up.

I've also had a little spend up in The Glitterpot (online) and also at Happystampers. Can't wait for my Penny Black stamps to arrive.

Better get on, more cards to make in between my coughing fits and having that bunged up feeling.

Take care

A box for letters

2009-01-27T21:41:00.007Z

Yay, although I felt tired this evening I had in mind a letter box to hold my penpal letters until I get round to writing replies. I wanted a bright box which will sit on my PC/craft table but not be too large. Ummm, I'm into bright colours at the moment :) I had a steel letter rack but it wasn't very pretty. Here's the box I made this evening.

It's made out of chipboard which I then covered with Imaginesce Bunny Hop flock paper (on the outside) and Doodlebug yellow spotted paper (on the inside). I used some Doodlebug Mini Just My Type Alphabets and some Gems on the front and then punched some holes using the Crop-A-Dile and tied it all together with some green Grograin ribbon. I'm well pleased with the box and it brightens my craft table.

Yesterday afternoon I made 4 Valentines cards! Sorry I can't show you them yet, you'll have to wait until after the 14th :) and after the "Love" competition on the cardmaking forum.

I did make a couple of cards on Saturday. Here's one of them, I had to use eyelets on it as a challenge on the cardmaking forum:

David semi-retires (his request) as of 1st February and will only be working 16 hours a week down in London. We are both so happy :)

Take care and please leave a comment, I'd love to know who is viewing my blog. Thanks

Here they are ... the sketch cards

2009-01-17T17:22:00.003Z

Hopefully all four cards should have been received now, so I can show you the photos of them:

I was pleased with how they came out. The images were downloaded from Pink Petticoat a while back and coloured in and glittered. I used mostly Doodlebug papers on the cards. The bright pink card is glittered also, I so love bright spring colours :)

I haven't made any more cards since but hope to make a few this weekend. I bought a few unmounted rubber stamps from Cuddly Buddly so need to stamp out some images.

Have a good weekend.

Card sketches

2009-01-14T10:34:00.007Z

Good morning from a cold and very frosty/foggy Suffolk.

Just been writing some penpal letters this morning so to my dear friends please look out for a letter from me, I've just walked to the postbox to post them - and it's sooooo cold! I'm so pleased to feel able to write letters again, it makes my life complete.

After a little fathing about last night my mojo returned and I made 4 cards! I can't show you them yet as they are for friends on the cardmaking forum but here are the sketches I created after I made the cards:

For those cardmakers looking, have fun! I'll put the cards up at the end of the week when my friends should have received them.

Right I better get ready for school, I need to be there for 11.30 today and as it's not nice out will leave at 11 am. Better to be early than late!

Take care and keep warm.

Where's my mojo gone?

2009-01-10T17:11:00.006Z

Ummmmm, just couldn't get into cardmaking today, think my mojo has gone somewhere warmer - it's sooooo cold here the temperature outside hasn't got above 0C.

David went down with a dreadful cold/cough virus last Sunday. He was off sick Monday to Wednesday and then worked from home Thursday and Friday. He's on the mend now, although he's still coughing. I've had a bit of a cough so hoping I don't go down with anything. It was back to school on Monday - boy was it cold in school - the children didn't start until Tuesday and I guess the heating had been down low. Still the week passed quickly and it seems we haven't been away now - it's back to normal, not quite as manic as last term though - touch wood :)

On the cardmaking forum there's a challenge to make a "friendship" card, only thing was I forgot the bit of ribbon so my card which I finally got round to making a short while ago, it only has paper glitter ribbon, but it's very pretty as it's Doodlebug, in fact most of the card has Doodlebug stash on it. I coloured in the image with Promarkers - some new pens I've just bought. Here it is:

The image was made using a Clear stamp by Lelo Design called "Roses for you". Isn't it cute? I just love spring colours. The sentiment which you can't see very well on the photo (although you can read it in real life on the card) is by Stampin Up and reads: A friend is someone who stengthens you with prayers, blesses you with love, and encourages you with hope. Isn't that lovely?

Ummmm not much on television tonight so may be I'll make another card or two later.

Take care, please post a comment if you're able, would love to hear from you.

Happy New Year 2009

2009-01-02T19:42:00.003Z

Can you believe it? 2009!!! and a Happy New Year to you all, hope this year will bring happiness and good health.

The New Year card I sent to distant family and friends:
You can't really see on the photo but there's quite a bit of glitter on it, on the clock face and star; and on the patterned paper.

We've just had the perfect two weeks, don't know where the time has gone really but it was enjoyable all the same.

Mum, brother David and his dog Telford came over for Christmas Day and Boxing Day and it was just the best having those two days in our own home with our loved ones. Christmas Day afternoon brother David and I took Telford along the cliff top whilst Mum and my David stayed and had a snooze :) Then Boxing Day afternoon the 4 of us went to the panto! It was to see Peter Pan at our local Theatre and it was great, got us all yelling :)

Oh yes earlier the first week David's company car had a problem so we took that in to our local VW dealer. That meant us using our own car which was fine with me, and as I don't like changing the seat/mirrors now I did all the driving :)

We saw the New Year in with Mum and then New Year's Day spent it there as well along with brother David and Telford. A good few days though brother David beat me at scrabble every time!

Monday afternoon Charlotte a neighbour's 13 year old came round for a crafting session and we had fun with stamps and glitter - ooops we got glitter everywhere but it was great fun.

A card I made fairly recent for a good friend's birthday at the end of December. I've managed to make a few thank you cards but have a way to go.

Wow you'll never believe what happened today? David and I met up with my penpal Rose from Australia. We've been writing for over 26 years but have never met until today. It was just fantastic meeting Rose and her sister Rach. They are over here for 4 weeks driving around visiting distant family and friends. Hoping we might get to meet up again soon if they find it's too cold to go to Scotland.

That's it for now, take care, hope to be back soon to show you some thank you cards.

Take care

Ooops can't believe it's been so long

2008-12-14T20:33:00.003Z

... since I last blogged. Time's flying past and it's my last week at school before the New Year! What a busy 6 weeks I've had at school, it's been totally manic this past week still I've enjoyed it and have been told my colleagues are amazed how I've settled in and got to know the work so quickly :) My colleagues and I are having a Christmas meal out together this coming Thursday evening and it's at one of my favourite restaurants here so I'm quite excited about it. I've been making some pillar boxes this afternoon and plan putting some Thorntons sweets inside as a surprise for them. LOL they don't go out with the teachers, not really their thing apparently, but I'm glad, I prefer smaller groups.

I finally feel on top of the Christmas preparations. I was struggling last weekend but managed to get cards in the post this week and some parcels sent off today. Now I have to think about wrapping presents and turning my thoughts to food/drink over the holiday period.

I actually made 3 non Christmas cards this weekend. Here they are:

The 50th card is for the headteacher, I'm going to see if my colleagues would all like to sign it for him for his birthday on the 24th. I have a few more cards to make for the end of this month so hope to get round to those this coming weekend.

After school tomorrow I'm off to visit my best friend for an afternoon drink, then in the evening brother David is coming over and we're off out for a pizza - a busy day is planned LOL My David is down in London till Tuesday, he said this morning I'm looking forward to coming home already - and he hadn't even left for London then. We love our life here so much and it's just wonderful being so close to Mum and brother David.

Time to go, hope to post real soon. Take care and please do leave a message if you're reading this. I love to know who's visited my blog. Thanks.

OMG I gave in ...

2008-11-16T17:47:00.005Z

... and bought some Christmas cards today. I can't believe I did that, it's goes against my principles to buy cards of any sort but I'm just too way behind to make enough before the end of November. I'm putting it down to the move, changing jobs etc I just didn't have any spare time between July and October.

I have made a few Christmas cards over the past week which I'm pleased with and made a few birthday and general cards for December. Rather pleased with this one which I made for a friend who was 60 last week:I made a large 60 in Word and printed it off on card, cut it out and stuck it on the background paper and then stuck lots of gorgeous little Prima flowers on the numbers. Added some Stickles glitter glue and voila. Made similar 50 cards for my sister and my other sister's cardmaking friend.
Happy birthday today to my sister Margaret and to my good friend Linda. Hope you're both having a great day.

I can't believe that I've only been working in school for 2 weeks. It's gone so quickly, no two days are the same, every day is busy and often we're doing 2 or 3 things at once but it's great - I'm loving my new job. I'm starting to get used to working part-time too and to David being down in London 2/3 days a week. Even getting used to zipping about in the car, I left David watching sports on TV yesterday afternoon whilst I went to Mum's to wait in for her and my brother's Asda delivery and made us all some shepherds pie, then after that drove to my brother's to deliver his shopping as he's poorly with the flu at present. Popped to the shops on the way home too! I feel great having a little bit of independence and am getting better at parking (one thing I always hated doing and was anxious about).

On a downside, I'm getting old (or it feels like it) LOL. Had my eyes tested a couple of weeks ago and am getting veri-focals - knew something was amiss when I had to take my present glasses off to read! Our new glasses should be ready sometime this week.

That's it for now, thanks for looking in and please do leave a comment if you're able, I never know who's reading this otherwise {{{HUGS}}}

Blimey lots to update you on

2008-11-08T21:59:00.005Z

Yoohoo, hello there - blimey I can't believe it's been so long since I last posted - sorry about that. You'll all be wondering where we are, but we're here, just been busy.

Since I last posted, I left my London job on 22nd October (and received some lovely gifts and card, and my boss gave a touching speech - thanks Meg); went to school on the 24th at my own request for a few hours so I'd have an idea of the job I'd be doing; and we've had a week's break.

It was David's birthday on the 28th and Mum's on the 29th - so we had two days of celebrations. Here are their cards I made, somewhat hurriedly as I was so behind.
On the 30th I drove with David to Soham, Cambs for me to visit Capture the Magic. I normally buy crafty stash from them online but thought it'd be nice to visit their warehouse. Blimey it's massive and I spent a good hour looking round and ummmmmm filling a basket :) Spent quite a bit but as I didn't go to the craft show at Alexandra Palace in London end of September, I thought I deserved a bit of a spend up.

Charlotte (aged 13), the grand-daughter of a resident here came round Friday afternoon to craft with me and we had a great time. It was also good for me to be around a youngster what with working in a school. I managed to actually make some Christmas cards - 10 of them - and Charlotte make some and a few other cards so we were both pleased.

Well, it's been a very busy week at work this past week but I've enjoyed it. It doesn't seem possible that I've now worked my first week at school in the office. It is part-time - 25 hours a week - but it hasn't seemed that way, the time has just flown. The office is so busy that even on Friday when I worked 9 - 5 pm it didn't drag at all. The other ladies in the office are lovely and so friendly and helpful - it felt I'd been there ages, even though I have so much to learn. The hardest is getting to know the teachers and their names and the pupils and get to know my way around the school - I've now found a map which is helping :) On Friday we aslo booked our Christmas get together - just the office staff - and it's at one of my favourite restaurants on the cliff top, I'm well pleased. We'll be eating out on the evening of the 19th our last work day before the Christmas break.

David was down in London Monday to Wednesday but I was fine - so pleased about that. My brother came over Monday evening and I cooked him dinner. It's so great having family near by, and I received numerous phone calls asking how I was.

David and I have booked some events at the Marina Theatre here mostly for next year but one is a Christmas Spectacular on the evening of the 6th December which we're really looking forward to. When I was working till 4.30 pm on Wednesday I could hear the school choir, can't wait till they start singing Christmas hymns and carols and I can get tickets to the school concerts - ooooh I'm excited already LOL

I managed to make some cards this afternoon, the birthday and general cards for this month, and this evening some Christmas cards. I've still got many many more Christmas cards to make but feel better knowing I've made a few. I really hope I feel up to making some during the week.

Mum and brother David are coming over for dinner and tea tomorrow so it's going to be a busy day, hope the weather is good then we can take Telford on the seafront for a while in the afternoon.

Time for bed now. Don't forget anything for us needs to be posted to our Suffolk address as we're not in London any more.

Take care, thanks for reading this - please leave me a comment or email me, would love to hear from you.

Some good news

2008-10-20T16:36:00.005+01:00

Hello there, sorry it's been a while since I blogged but I've some fantastic news to share with you all.
I applied for a job in a middle school in Suffolk earlier this month, the deadline for applications was 13th October, I had an interview last Thursday morning and that afternoon I had a phone call to say they were very impressed with me and wanted to offer me the job! To say I was gobsmacked was an understatement. I enjoyed the interview and tests etc but I thought I only had a 50/50 chance because there were 5 interviewed and some of those knew the school and other admin staff, plus I hadn't had an interview for 23 years! I start on 3rd November after half term but have offered to go in to school this Friday to do some work shadowing. This job is part-time 25 hours a week and term time only. It will give me more time to spend with Mum and persue my hobbies, I haven't even started making Christmas cards yet!

The sad thing this week is that I finish my job down in London on Wednesday :( I've worked with some lovely colleagues and have enjoyed my London job but am very happy to be living and soon working in Suffolk. Both David and I have a week off work next week so are looking forward to that and to finally catching up and finishing off sorting our bungalow.

I even managed to make some cards on Saturday. A couple for my present line manager Meg, I will miss her so much, she's been a huge inspiration to me and I wouldn't have got through the last couple of years (when I was poorly) without her support and advice:

Meg's birthday card - Happy Birthday for today Meg, and her thank you card (below) which I will give to Meg on Wednesday

Then I made a thank you card for our dentist's receptionist. Whilst David was in the dentist's chair last Wednesday Chris and I had a lovely chat about the interview and job and I'm sure it helped.I will update you again soon. A mixed week as you can imagine. Still we are enjoying our stay in a hotel whilst down in London and eating out!

Take care, and thanks for reading, hugs to you all. Would love to hear from you if you can leave a message :)

Sending emails to us

2008-10-06T07:57:00.000+01:00

Good morning, it's pretty dull here in London :( seemed odd waking up in a hotel room this morning.

I meant to add on Saturday that we no longer have our Orange (Freeserve) email address so if you plan on emailing us please send your email to either my hotmail or yahoo email address. If you need it just leave a message here. Note I don't have access to Hotmail whilst in London as I cannot get Hotmail emails at work (something to do with the setup).

Have a good week, can't wait to get back home to our gorgeous bungalow.

Lots to tell - poorly PC :(

2008-10-04T21:27:00.004+01:00

Hello there, well it seems a decade since I last updated you all, but there's been so much going on I haven't had chance.

Unfortunately I have a poorly PC :( the lovely thing is my brother is a computer whizz (he part-owns a PC shop) and will be over tomorrow morning to see what's wrong with it, in return I'm cooking him breakfast :) Brother David is the best to have around, and his gorgeous greyhound Telford. Can't wait to see them tomorrow - though we did see them for a while when we visited Mum this afternoon. :( Mum isn't too well at the moment, she's on penicillin and antibiotics, her left leg is really bad: red, swollen and horrible looking. Hope the medication will help, Mum is also in a lot of pain with her back - she has Osteoporosis, I wish there was something I could do to ease her pain. If you know of anything please let us know. When Mum had brother David 37 years ago the doctor said Mum would be in a wheelchair within 5 years and she's still getting about with the aid of walkers, that's Mum's stubborness and determination.

Yoohoo we are a one home family again :) we completed on the house on Friday. What a hectic day, a few hours at work, back to the house, finished packing - just about got everything in the car (although we only had the essentials left), up to Suffolk, unpacked the car - unpacked some bags then over to Mum's to see how she was. It was a day and a half I can tell you. No money in our account yet but with it being a Friday wasn't surprising. We both had a rough night last night, I was drinking a mug of tea at 3.30 am and David sat in the living room watching TV. Hope we sleep better tonight.

I still have 3 weeks left to work so it's back down to London tomorrow late with a few nights in a Premier Inn, that'll be odd especially as it's only a 20 minute walk from our ex-house. After this week we'll be working two 3 day weeks until 22nd October so will be able to spend more time up here. We still have lots to do in the bungalow with unpacking, never realised we had so much stuff! Still we've ordered a little shed so can store some stuff in there and of course there's the attic.

I've applied for a job! It's as a part-time term time only clerical assistant/receptionist in a middle school only 10 minutes drive from here, in between us and Mum. Sounds ideal for me, I know I'm over qualified for it but don't need the stress of a more intense job and will be around for when Mum needs me. Fingers crossed huh? Went to put it in the school's letterbox this afternoon but couldn't find one so will have to post the application off recorded delivery Monday. It doesn't have to be in till the 13th but I wanted to get it done. It was fun looking at all my certificates and award letters, found a certificate I received in 1979 when I was 13 and won a prize for a poster I'd designed for Keep Beccles Tidy :) I must have been creative even then.

No crafting, what with my tennis elbow (the doctor confirmed that on Tuesday) but I need to make a few cards so might try and make at least one tomorrow before we travel back to London. How can you rest an elbow when there's things to unpack?

Anyway enough rambling, better check my emails before this PC brings up an error message.

Take care, will try and post some more next weekend :)

An update on the house!

2008-09-28T16:21:00.003+01:00

Good afternoon, what a glorious day today, around 20C here in London. We came back down here this afternoon ready for work tomorrow :(

The good news is that we exchanged contracts on the house last Thursday. The buyer had delayed by a couple of weeks but we should complete by the 10th or earlier, may be even on the 3rd! It's good news for us. I've also formally resigned now from my full-time job in London, all being well my last day is 22nd October. I will be sending out change of addresses to my lovely friends and family next week, also need to cancel services to the house, lots to do and not much time to do it in. We have already redirected our mail from the house so if you do happen to post to London don't worry we will receive it in Suffolk at some stage.

The bad news is that I have tennis elbow :( I've had it for a good week now. Unfortunately I did a bit of sorting out in the bungalow yesterday and am paying for it today as my left elbow is as bad as ever and I'm suffering.

Mum is still not feeling that good. Her back is really paining her. We brought her over to our bungalow on Friday and I did a roast lamb dinner (her favourite) and she enjoyed spending a few hours with us. We even managed to get her to laugh by watching Keeping Up Appearances and Last of the Summer Wine on TV. I love watching those.

No crafting at the moment due to my elbow but hope to get back to it soon, haven't even started Christmas cards yet so it could be bought cards this year :(

Take care, will try and update you as and when.

I've been tagged

2008-09-08T16:41:00.002+01:00

Thanks Jenny for the award
The rules are:

1: The winner can put the logo on her blog.
2: Link the person you received your award from.
3: Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4: Put links of those blogs on yours.
5: Leave a message on the blogs of the girls you've nominated.

Ooops this seems to have been doing the rounds as I haven't anyone to send it on to. Will have a think see if I can find some.

Jenny has also tagged me - thanks Jenny - I don't normally do tags but these questions are easy to answer. A bit of light reading for you :)

What was happening 10 years ago? - Almost the same as now - working, living in the same place, doing the same things, although I wasn't making cards and scrapping then, but I was cross stitching.

5 things to do today - Spend a full day at work! My boss returned from leave today so it was no getting away early. Chase estate agent and solicitor. Do the washing (not done); cook dinner for tomorrow (again not done :( ) and book David's appointment at the surgery - remembered that one!

Snacks I like - :) well that's easy really all the things that are naughty - cake, chocolate, cookies, crisps. I'm comfort eating at the moment which is NOT good - too much stress.

What I would do if I was a millionaire - Buy a detached bungalow with a huge craft room in it and a den for David. Give money to family and friends and some to charity too, I'm not greedy and we wouldn't need that amount of money, just enough to live on.

Places I have lived - Suffolk, London and now on the move back to Suffolk :) yay

Not sure who to pass the tag on to so will have a think and come back.

Just to update you - Mum came out of hospital last week and is on the mend though her oxygen levels are still not good and she might need oxygen at home. We spent a few days in Suffolk over the weekend which we enjoyed, even went for a blowy walk along a promenade on the day it was gale force winds - certainly blew the cobwebs away :) managed to make a few cards too.

No new news on the house front yet, there might be something in the wind but don't want to pre-empt anything so won't say too much at the moment.

Take care

Mum's poorly

2008-08-31T17:48:00.003+01:00

Sorry I haven't been around, we took some extra time off as Mum went into hospital on Tuesday as she became poorly and when a doctor was called out it was discovered Mum's oxygen levels were very low. In hospital, where tests were carried out, we were told Mum also had a chest infection. She's now on antibiotics, steroids, a nebuliser and oxygen and is much improved from earlier in the week and hopes to go home tomorrow. We've spent the last few days visting during the afternoon and evenings, unfortunately we had to come back to London today as David has a doctor's appointment tomorrow and it's also back to work :( Whilst in Suffolk David had a problem with a tooth so we spent some time hunting out a good dentist and David is now minus a tooth and has sore gums but is much better than before.

We're hoping next month will be a much better one for us all.

Happy Silver Wedding Anniversary Margaret and Geoff

2008-08-25T14:03:00.008+01:00

Happy 25th wedding anniversary to my dear sister Margaret and her husband Geoff on the 27th August.

We met up with them last Friday for a celebratory meal. I made them a card depicting the colours they had for their wedding (peach):
I also made a trio hanging out of beer mats, prima flowers, adhesive pearls, metallic silver ink and silver liquid pearl. I covered both sides so if it turns in the breeze it still looks okay. The first side shows Margaret and Geoff on their wedding day and the other side are photos taken last year when they were on holiday.
To complete it I made my first ever box and covered the top with a sheet of silver anniversary scrapbook paper. I was well pleased with how it came out. I dug into my Christmas ribbons for some glittery silver ribbon and used Prima flowers and a Doodlebug silver glitter brad to finish. We also gave Margaret and Geoff a silver knife and serving slice with love knots on the ends as Margaret loves to bake rich fruit cakes.

They were over the moon with the presents.

Happy belated birthday to their son Peter whose birthday was yesterday. I can now show you the card: It's a Bank Holiday Monday here and David and I have been busy having a clear out. We dismantled a wardrobe, bookcase and chest of drawers and took those down to the recycling centre. We then got everything down from the attic (thankfully there were only cases) and David also cleared some bits and pieces from the garden so it was another trip to the dump. I think we deserve a relaxing afternoon. I might even colour in some Christmas images, can't believe I soon need to start making Christmas cards.

Take care

Card toppers/cards made

2008-08-25T13:55:00.006+01:00

A couple of months ago I took part in a topper swap on the cardmaking forum which Carol Ann kindly organised. I made these toppers:
I received some gorgeous toppers in return but have only just got round to making them into cards:
I was pleased with how they turned out.

I also made three other cards on Saturday with some die cut flower decoupage. I glittered the flowers but you can't really see it in the photo. I used K&Co background paper on these cards and some gorgeous lace.
Thanks for looking :)

At long last ...

2008-08-19T16:04:00.006+01:00

... I've been meaning to show you these for simply ages. I made them for a scrapbooking competition on the cardmaking forum back in May I think it was. I then framed them in separate LO clear wall hangings and gave them to my sister. Unfortunately I didn't take a photo of the completed wall hangings but here are photos of the LOs. I won a prize for the wedding one:I can't wait to show you my new craft area. I've never had a craft area before. We have odd shaped rooms in our house and so I had to make do with putting things on bookcases, in and on top of wardrobes etc. Although we still only have a one bedroom property (a bungalow) I have a corner of the bedroom and am so pleased with the result. David loves it as much as I do :o) I can't wait to do some proper crafting, so far we go up with a car load of stuff from the house each weekend and that's about all we get chance to do. Still both properties look rather tidy and the house is looking particularly empty now. We just hope that before Christmas we'll be in the bungalow permanently rather than coming down to London for work and sleeping in the house. Positive thoughts and fingers crossed please.

Anyway here is my crafty corner:Not sure how long it'll stay that tidy for, especially when the PC goes up :o)

Thanks for reading this, take care

Thanks so much

2008-08-18T08:23:00.000+01:00

to those of you who sent me birthday cards. I received the most gorgeous cards including many handmade ones from my lovely cardmaking and scrapping friends. We had a good day Friday, popped over to Mum's where she watched me open my cards and packages then in the afternoon my sister and her hubby arrived from Cheshire and later that evening we all went out for a meal. Afterwards it was a stroll along the promenade and a quick trip in the arcade to use up some 2p pieces so not a bad day.

Unfortunately besides the buyer let down earlier last week we now have another problem. We cannot get satellite in our new home due to trees at the back (which we are unable to cut down). It's very disappointing as David loves watching sports and we can only subscribe to NASN (National American Sports Network) via Sky and Virgin Cable. Unfortunately cable is not in our area either, that's the trouble with living in the country.

Troubles seem to come in threes and there's one at David's workplace, so we're hoping things will start to improve for us now, fingers crossed huh?

May be I'll be able to do some crafting when we go East this weekend.

Take care

Gutted :( :(

2008-08-12T15:42:00.002+01:00

Oh I am so disappointed, we've just had an email from our estate agents to say that our buyer has pulled out :( he had his mortgage but decided that it would be too much of a financial commitment. To say we are disappointed is an understatement, now we have to start all over again trying to sell the house all over again :(

We will still continue with our move to Suffolk but will use our house as a working home during the week.