Crafty Educator

Birthday and Thank you Cards

2012-01-20T09:00:00.001Z

I thought you might like to see a couple of cards I've made recently.

This is a birthday card I've made for my sister-in-law's husband - I do find men so difficult to make cards for but I'm pleased with this one. I've used Joanna Sheen's Jane Shasky CD which is absolutely beautiful. There are so many lovely pages that I shall certainly be making many more cards with this CD.

A close-up of the decoupage. I used Diamond Stickles on the background and decoupage to imitate the snowflakes.

This is the insert, again taken from the CD - I've amended it rather as I couldn't get one to fit the card base. I used the backing paper and cut out the little detail from the insert to put on it.

This is a thank you card I made for my sister-in-law. Again it is using the Jane Shasky CD - I loved the colour combination of the bird. The stamp is one I bought in Australia and can't remember what it was called, sorry.

Sorry !!!!

2012-01-18T18:34:00.000Z

I don't know whether anyone else is having trouble but I can't comment on my own blog!! How stupid is that? I get your comments on my email but when I go in to thank you the page just goes blank. So thank you everyone for your kind comments to my recent blogs. I am replying by email to you all.
Is anyone else having this problem? Can anyone tell me what I can do about it please? It is ridiculous.
Anyway thank you all again. I'll still carry on blogging. xxx

Never ending card

2012-01-18T09:00:00.003Z

I have been asked to make a couple of never ending cards for friends to buy. It is such a long time since I made them that I had to find my instructions. Even then I still got it wrong first time!! Honestly the amount of card I waste, faffing about! Hopefully I will get better at it.

Anyway the first one my friend wanted was Beatrix Potter and using quite a few cats. I used the Crafters Companion various Beatrix Potter CDs and printed off several pages and backing sheets.

So here is what I produced.

I don't know whether you know how a 'never-ending' card works. This is the front page. You open up the middle card from the centre out, like a book, and get:

This is the second page which you open up from the middle upwards and downwards, giving you the next page, which looks like this:

You then open up the card from the middle outwards, like a book, and get the next page. Thus:

With a place to put your greeting. You open it again from the middle upwards and downwards and you're back to the beginning. Having four different stages, it looks as though the card is 'never-ending'.

Hope you like it. My friend seemed to be pleased with it. x

So cute

2012-01-17T17:39:00.000Z

My daughter just sent me this photo of my new grandson, Archie fast asleep in the bath.

Shame he doesn't stay asleep for long, but maybe that's the way to send him off!!
Just thought I'd show you. Definitely one for the scrapbook I think.
x

Double tri-fold card

2012-01-01T17:02:00.000Z

I saw this sample of a double tri-fold card some while ago on the Crafters' Companion's project web-site and fell in love with it.

So I decided to make one to welcome my new grandson into the world.

I used my Crafters Companion Humphrey stamps and CD in this card. I have used some decoupage and hand-painted the rest of the images.

This one worked well so I thought I'd make one each for my grand-daughter and grandson in Australia as I wouldn't get to see them.

Here is the one I sent to Emma, my grand-daughter and actually was the first one I did.

I used Jayne Nesterenko's Winter Adorables CD solely on this one, some decoupaged and some straight printing and then quite a lot of glitter!

For Adam I couldn't use anything fancy so I used Jayne Nesterenko's many Cute Companion stamps and hand-painted them.

I used the stamps from various of Jayne's stamp sets and they all seemed to mix together well.

They took for ever to decorate but I think they were worth the effort in the long run.

I haven't heard back yet what the children's reaction was to them, but I enjoyed doing them. xx

Christmas cards

2012-01-01T13:12:00.000Z

Just thought I'd show you some Christmas cards / presents I made for the girls at work and my crafty friends.

I used the idea from Crafter's Companion Sara's Ultimate Pro DVD, which showed you how to make the card and adapted it to make a drawer too. I then decorated the card and made the little boxes for the cards to go into. I must admit it was a labour of love because the candles I used were the Yankee 'smellie' candles and they were slightly taller and wider than ordinary tea lights. The adjustments I had to make for both the boxes and the cards nearly drove me mad. I just couldn't get the hang of it. I'm still not one hundred per cent satisfied, but I shall try again!

I also made boxes to put the cards in, using Crafters Companion new Boxer Board.

I also made some smaller ones too, together with the boxes which were a bit quicker to make!

From the feedback I've received, everyone was very pleased with them. I must admit I was pleased with them and will probably make a few more for different occasions.

See you later x

Christmas

2012-01-01T12:52:00.000Z

Hello

Happy Christmas to everyone. Again I have been so lazy about blogging - I just don't know where the time goes.

We had a lovely family Christmas - for a change I didn't have to do anything! My son, Nick invited me over to stay for the weekend at his girlfriend Emma's, and his house for Christmas this time, and also to meet Emma's family.

We had a great time. They live in a lovely part of Crawley (honestly there are some!) right near woods and a golf course, so we went walking there on Christmas Eve with their dog, Bramble. A chocolate brown labrador who is as daft as they come, with the wiggliest bottom you have ever seen!

In the evening we were invited to Emma's parents for dinner for me to meet them before Christmas Day. Mmmmn - I have a feeling there's something brewing but am not allowed to say anything until later!!
My daughter, Kate, husband Danny, Chloe, Emily and Archie also came for Christmas lunch.

Here we all are. Can you see the pile of food on Nick's plate at the front? We all had the same!! And believe it or not, we all ate it too!! It was absolutely beautiful. Nick did everything himself - from decorating the table, to cooking the turkey, to making his own mayonnaise, horseradish sauce and making and decorating the Christmas cake! He was so excited - he was like a little boy again!

That's it for now. Back later x

Well look who it is ....

2011-11-29T14:46:00.001Z

Hello
I am so sorry I haven't been blogging recently. Can you imagine my horror to find I haven't blogged since May !! Where on earth has the time gone and I have done lots of things. I don't know where to start! Actually I do - I am going to start as at now and maybe work backwards later, as the feeling grabs me!

My big news is that I am a grandmother, again!! My daughter, Kate and her husband Danny have had a little boy called Archie. Kate already has two girls, Chloe and Emily, and Archie is Danny's first child, so we are all tickled pink with a boy. That makes me grandma to five!! Two boys and three girls. How lucky am I?

Bit blurry but never mind. These pictures were taken yesterday, his first day home.

With big sister Chloe - not sure he quite knows what he's looking at !!!

And here's little big sister, Emily who doesn't look quite sure yet!!

And here's mummy, looking a little weary!

It all happened quite quickly, eventually. Archie was 11 days late and Kate was due to go in to hospital to be induced late Sunday evening. Her pains started lunchtime Sunday and she and Danny got to the hospital by 2.30pm whilst the girls and I ate the Sunday lunch!! By 4.50 pm Archie was born!! Pretty quick hey? I had taken the girls back to my house in Langney, only to turn straight back to go and see everyone in hospital at Conquest!! We were all very excited but weary.

Right, that's my first blog done. I'll be back later! x

Wild life around Langney

2011-05-29T16:41:00.001+01:00

There is a footpath which goes around the pond at Langney. Every year a pair of swans come and nest and have their babies on the pond. They used to build their nest right in the middle of the pond but over the last two years they have built their nest right next to the footpath. The footpath is quite busy as it is the direct link to the shops, to the school and for dog walkers. I walked up to the shops a couple of weeks ago and this is what I saw:

The wire fence is all that separates the swans from the footpath and they don't seem to bother at all!

Last week I walked round the pond and the cygnets were out and about with mum.

Dad was obviously feeling a bit left out as he kept chasing the ducks and their babies - he really had got out of bed on the wrong side - well actually he couldn't have cos of the fence, but lets not quibble!!

Mum and babies just sailed serenely away with not a care in the world.

They've all gone now - perhaps its was something I said!

Then blow me down. Friday evening I glanced out of my kitchen window and look what was walking around my hammock!

We haven't had hedgehogs for years so I was very pleased to see this one. He didn't seem at all bothered that I was there and it was still daylight. He let me get quite close to him as you can see.

He popped back again last night but I haven't seen him yet today.

Aren't we so lucky to have nature right on our doorstep? x

2nd Mother's Day

2011-05-29T11:33:00.000+01:00

One of the few advantages of having part of your family living abroad is that you get Mother's Day twice! In Australia Mother's Day is 8 May so my son always celebrates it then as he lives in Australia.

This is what greeted me when I answered the door on Saturday 7 May - what a lovely surprise!

Aren't they beautiful? So I took some more photos of them as they die so quickly. I shall bore you with some more pictures, but hopefully I shall scrap some of them too.

Last one but they really were so gorgeous.

Thank you and I hope I didn't bore you too much. x

Thank you cards for Scrapology

2011-05-29T10:50:00.001+01:00

Mornin' all

Here are my entries for the Scrapology card challenge which was for a Thank you card. I made the first one at the beginning of the month then forgot and made a second one yesterday! Hey ho.

This one was made from a topper I found in my scrap box together with some cute buttons and bows. The card was a variation on an easel card which I think I found on a Cute Companions CD. Apologies if I'm wrong - anyway it wasn't my original idea!!

My second card uses the free Nitwit papers from Simply Homemade magazine and a favourite image of mine from the Double Sprinkles Kraft CD which I have coloured using Promarkers. The pink flower I made using single petals from my flower box and a button. The Thank you button is using a stamp from Woodware. I finished it off with Craftwork Cards Card Candy, a little bow and brad button.

Just realised the first card doesn't meet the criteria for the Scrapology card challenge - I knew there was a reason why I had to do another one!!! The one below is the one for the Challenge. Sorry - what a numpty!!

Thank you for looking. x

Catch up time

2011-05-28T17:03:00.001+01:00

Hello I can't believe I haven't blogged for the whole of May! And I've been busy. Well I shall bore you all now with a blog every hour or so!! No perhaps not every hour but there is such a lot of catch up to do.

First of all a card I made for my friend's mum whose birthday was the same day as the Royal Wedding. I used my Polka Doodles Stamp Doodles and built up the picture and then coloured in with water colours and put Glossy Accents on the house and glittered the dandelion heads. The frame was made using Marianne die and the paper was from my stash.

Sandie had very kindly invited me to hers for the Royal Wedding with her mother, sister, daughter and grand-daughter as she didn't want me to be on my own! How nice was that? She had decorated the house both inside and out.

Look at the make believe road set Sandie got from the Early Learning Centre - Holly put every single toy she could find along the road to cheer the happy couple in their carriage. Don't ask why the diver was in the middle - we never did find out!

Right, that's my first bit of news and pictures. Believe me there's lots more. Thank you for looking. x

Some more cards ...

2011-04-22T16:49:00.001+01:00

Hello

The other day I was flicking though the second copy of 'Simply Homemade'. One of the 'giveaways' was a Dots and Spots Hearts print (www.dotsandspots.co.uk). The picture is very plain, just of punched out hearts and a button. I thought it would make an unusual card, so here's my take on it.

I recently bought the Polka Doodles Double Sprinkles Kraft CD. I really love it. Here's my first card I made with it. Believe me it won't be the last!

Thank you for looking. x

What I've been doing .....

2011-04-20T19:56:00.000+01:00

Hello again

Although I haven't blogged for a while, I have been making cards, but some I can't really show you yet. Jill at Cardinal Colours has asked me to demonstrate some cards at her shop next Wednesday showing embossing, glitter, decoupage and stamping, so I've been preparing the cards. I don't think I should show you yet, do you? But I promise I will after I've done the demonstration (provided I survive!!).

However I have done some things I can show you. My friends Linda (see her blog at Linda's Cards and Pages) and Lynn (A Moment in Time) who run Scrapology asked me to be a guest DT for month of April so I proudly prepared a page which has still to be shown. A week later I received an email from Linda asking me if I wanted to try a challenge from Quixotic Paperie using charms, so I did. I was very pleased with my layout and finished it quite quickly. I emailed it off to Linda asking if it was OK. Linda came back straight away saying it was fine but could I stand it up and take a picture so it didn't look like a layout!!!! I emailed back saying wasn't it meant to be a layout and ......... no, it should have been a card! Ooops! Still I've now got an additional layout I hadn't been planning to do. And this is the layout I shouldn't have done!! Its a picture of my grand daughter at the Bluebell Walk in Arlington.

Anyway when I went to our crop that weekend Lynn very kindly gave me some more charms (I'd used them all up on my layout!!) and so I made these two cards for Linda's challenge!!

Both the cards used decoupage from the Crafter's Companion Flower Fairy CDs with their backing paper. The butterfly charms on the above card actually were from a pair of earrings and necklace I had bought a while ago and couldn't wear them.

These are the two charms Lynn kindly gave me.

Thank you for looking. x

Arlington

2011-04-20T19:19:00.002+01:00

This weekend my daughter, grand-daughters and I decided to go to see the bluebells at Arlington. The farm had only opened the day before and the bluebells were out but not in full bloom yet. We'll probably go again over the Easter weekend as the sunshine should bring them out fully.

However we had a chance to look at the animals - there were some lambs and ewes, one ewe particularly with curled horns just wanted her face stroked and tickled. She was so gorgeous, but I forgot to take a picture!! Anyway I did take a picture of the lambs.

However, as you can see, I am a lousy photographer and they either turned away from the camera or went back to sleep!! Hey ho. There were also some little chicks under the light which were cute, but the pictures didn't come out very well.

We went on a longer walk this time, the Yellow Walk and this took us up into the open fields and onto the livery stables and the cow shed. I remembered to take a picture of some calves though. This time the calf was looking at me!

The weather was beautiful and it was lovely walking through the woods - the bluebells smell so fresh. Anyway, if we do go again I promise I'll take some more pictures.

Now I know spring is here!!

2011-04-16T08:54:00.000+01:00

Look what I've just seen. I was woken up this morning by some very loud sqwarking and high pitched squeaking - it sounded horrific. Up I jumped to see who was being slaughtered and saw this:

There was mother duck and about 15 ducklings on a walk about! I have a school to the left of my house and a largish pond over on the right. It seems mummy duck took her babies for a walk. When I first looked out the babies seemed to be committing 'hari kari' by throwing themselves off the top of a 7 foot hedge surrounding the school. How they got up there I really don't know. Hence the terrible noise!

Once mother duck had checked everyone was there, off she set shepherding them across my garden towards the pond, in single file!

Originally when all the noise first started two more ducks flew in but only seemed to be watching, not helping mother duck at all. However once she had set off with her brood, I noticed there was one baby left. How on earth she knew that one wasn't hers, I don't know! Anyway these two ducks then took charge of their baby. The mother duck pecking and encouraging the baby to hurry up and father keeping an eye out for danger!

Come on, stop dawdling! Scuse my patched grass!!

Now how on earth do we get through this lot?

How cute was that? I'll bet not many people get nature brought right to their doorsteps!!

See ya!! x

Look what I've done !!

2011-03-27T16:59:00.015+01:00

Last weekend I went to a brilliant place in Debden for a crafting weekend. We had so much fun, good food, lots of laughter and time to do several scrapbooking pages. I've been carrying on working may way through all the many half finished projects I started at my friend's Anita (Inky Blossom's blog) scrapping workshops held at my other friend Jill's (Cardinal Colours) shop. So here are a few more:

This is a recent page that Anita showed us. The flowers are pieces of gauze, cut in circles and then singed round a night light, very carefully! We then stuck seed beeds in the centre. Anita gave us a doilly and we used Cosmic Shimmer Mist (obtained from Jilly's Cardinal Colours shop) and sprayed through the doilly. That made the negative and then we used the actual doily as an overlay. We also used some of Anita's flourish stamps and she cut the title. Isn't it effective?

Now this layout is an older one of Anita's and unfortunately I didn't keep a record of the name of the papers. This time Anita got us to weave papers which are under the photograph. We cut out the embellishment and there you go!!!

This is a more recent page and uses ribbon threading around the circle and we cut out the flowers and placed them around. Again, very effective, isn't it? Anita's a clever lady.

For some reason my pictures aren't showing - but if you click on the little box the picture pops up. Anyone know what I've done wrong please? xx

Addendum (!) Been back in and pictures showed up fine. I think Blogger was having a 'moody' day yesterday. Thanks for the advice ladies. xx

Happy Birthday Jill and Anita!

2011-03-21T16:01:00.001Z

Happy birthday Jill. It was Jill's birthday on St Patrick's day but as I didn't see her I gave her her card at Debden this weekend.

Here is the card I made for Jill.

I used the Jayne Netley Mayhew CD for the picture and the matting, Papermania Lemon Sorbet backing paper, flowers and ribbons and Craftwork Cards sentiment.

Here's Jill opening her presents and talking on the phone, like Lady Muck!!!

Because it was also Anita's birthday on Monday we decided to celebrate Jill's birthday on the Friday we were at Debden and Anita's a bit early on the Saturday. Any excuse for celebrations!

Happy Birthday Anita. I hope you're having a lovely day today with your family. This is the card I made for Anita's birthday.

I also used Jayne Netley Mayhew CD and backing paper with some of my own cardstock and the card candy and sentiment were from Craftwork Cards.

We had a lovely weekend at Debden, with lots of food, laughter and plenty of creativity. Brilliant time.

Appley Dapply card

2011-02-17T18:18:00.000Z

Me again!

One of my girls at work is celebrating the 1st birthday of her daughter, Emily. I have just bought the Crafters Companion Appley Dapply CD Rom and stamps and needed an excuse to use them, so I decided to make Emily a card. This was actually one of the projects on the CD but I was very pleased with how it came out. I shall certainly make it again.

It is a gatefold A5 card with a decoupage plate in front which then becomes an easel card to make it stand up. Clever, isn't it?

This is the decoupage plate which has five or six layers. Fairly easy to cut out, except for the tails!!

I printed out the alphabet from the CD Rom which is different from the project, but I thought it made the card more personal.

And finally the insert also matches. I hope she likes it. x

I got a Valentine card .....

2011-02-17T17:41:00.001Z

Hello
Look what I received in the post on Monday - a Valentine card!

And I know who it is from - it is from my cat! Millie.

Isn't that sweet? My daughter sent it to me, bless her, although she denies all knowledge of doing so, I know it has to be her - it could hardly be from the cat, could it?

Everyone who knows me knows that the cat and I have a love / hate relationship. Cats are not my favourite animal; I am more a dog person, but my children decided I needed someone to look after! (Which I don't). Millie is a rescue cat, and did have both eyes when I got her, but she had a disagreement with either a fox or another cat and lost her eye. She doesn't seem that bothered about it, but it is funny watching her trying to find her balance on a very thin fence!! She's not a lap cat, which is probably just as well but she will sometimes permit my lap to be her cushion, just for a short time though!

Anyway - I was tickled pink and thought you might like to see too. xx

Scrapology entry

2011-02-14T10:12:00.000Z

Hello
Here is my entry for the Scrapology challenge. The picture is taken when I went to Melbourne over Christmas. I loved the colours of the Christmas tree and the decorations. Purple and gold, very regal! The papers I used are Basic Grey, Doodlebug, Pixie Press, Paper Heart and some free papers from The Scrapbook Magazine (so you can see how old they are!), Ashlyn Cricut for the title and Nesties for the journalling.
I was especially pleased with how well the paper matched Flinders Railway Station across the river, spooky or what?

Medallion stamping

2011-02-07T19:03:00.000Z

Me again - he he! Can't keep away!

Jill from Cardinal Cards has opened a new shop quite near me. Its lovely and sells lots of scrummy things!! She has kindly asked me to make some cards using Creative Expressions medallion U-Mount stamps. There are four medallion and four text stamps. So here are a few samples:

Both of the following cards have been heat embossed in gold on white and black card stock and then cut out.

I matted a white card with gold and black and used my Big Shot machine to emboss the black card, Card Candy and the text is also from the stamp set. I used different Pee Wee glitters.

This one uses the same stamp but I've turned it the other way round and used gold, black and white matts. I've used gold Pee wee glitter, the gingham bow I've made with my bow maker and the text is from the same stamp set.

This is one of the other medallion stamps. I've used no glitter at all and heat embossed with white embossing powder on red and black card stock. I've used card candy and again the text is part of the medallion stamp set.

The two cards use the same stamp. The top one has been coloured in using Pro Marker colours and is stamped directly onto the card, with no layers. I've matted it onto pink and lilac card and mounted it ona white card. I made the flower using a couple of little flowers in my stash and a tiny little button. The other card has been stamped onto acetate and glittered using all the Young at Heart Pee Wee glitters. I then mounted the acetate onto lilac card, cut it out and then mounted it onto pink, rose pink, lilac and then rose pink matts onto a white card. Another text from the set and some more card candy.

The last stamp I've just finished and I'm afraid the picture is not very good. I heat embossed using white embossing powder onto pale blue, pale pink and cream. They were glittered with Crystal Pee Wee. I've used card candy and pale blue, pale pink and cream matts onto white card.

Jill has put them in the shop window together with the stamps and glitters so people can see what to do with the stamps. I hope it works! xx

I've done some knitting!!

2011-02-07T17:39:00.000Z

Hello

I haven't done any knitting since my children were babies, and my eldest is now 35 so you can see how long it is!! I've had an 'niggle' in my mind for quite a long time to start some knitting again, but I get very easily bored so thought I'd do some smallish things. I've already knitted a couple of hats (i've blogged about them previously) which came out well but I don't think they'll ever be used, hey ho!! So I thought I'd try to make a knitting bag. I've never made one before, but I googled and found a reasonable pattern. So I undid the hat I had made from a large ball of wool and gambled on there being enough wool for the whole bag.

I was lucky - there was exactly enough wool, though nothing to spare. So the next thing was to buy some lining. I've done no sewing again since the children were tiny so another novelty. I found exactly the right colour and guessed the amount I'd need!

So, using my new toy (my Christmas present to myself !) my new Brother sewing machine I attempted to attach the lining. I did have fun - I practised on bits of material - it took me a long time to even work out how to do straight sewing (actually I'm still not sure I've cracked it but I'll keep on trying). There are over 60 different stitches the machine can do! Still I'm determined to give it a go.

The knitting pattern suggested using very large needles to leave the final stitches on but I couldn't find any. Instead I found some large wooden handled spoons so I've used those instead. I have to say its quite an unusual decoration but I like it.

Yesterday I went to Jill's monthly crop (Cardinal Colours). One of the ladies there, Julie, brought her knitting with her. She brought with her two projects she was working on. One was Jane Greenoff's dolls - a little sailor doll and the other was Grommet from Wallace & Grommet. They were beautiful and I learned from Julie that she puts each project in a seperate working bag, so I think I shall be making a couple more bags!!

At the moment I'm making a little pixie which I found on one of the knitting sites - I can't remember which one but when I've finished it, I'll pop it on here with the name etc. I'm on the look out for any small little projects to keep me occupied, if anyone can think of any, please let me know.

Bye xx

Quick note cards

2011-02-07T16:37:00.003Z

Hello
Anita sent me a lovely Christmas card using Rubberstamptapestry stamps and this gave me inspiration to use my stamps for to make some quick little notelet cards. I think they're very effective, simple to use, you can use your other tiny stamps as well and they don't take long.

The inside figures from the first two cards were from 'Make a Wish' by Penny Black, Craftwork Card Card Candy and bows made using Crafters Companion Ultimate Pro bow maker.

This image is from Adam Pescott stamps given free with Cardmaking & Papercraft magazine. text stamp from the free Bentley Bear set, card candy and Ultimate Pro Bow Maker.

This one is from Bentley Bear stamp set, again free with Cardmaking & Papercraft magazine, Craftwork Cards Card Candy and a bow made using the Ultimate Pro Bow Maker.

These two images are from Jayne Nesterenko Cute Companion stamp sets, one text stamp (don't know from where) and one from the free Bentley Bear stamps, a bow made using the Crafters Companion Ultimate Pro Bow Maker and Card Candy.

This image is from Wild Rose Studio clear stamps, Craftwork Cards Card Candy, text from the free Bentley Bear stamps and a gauze bow from my stash.

I used the Big & Juicy stamp pads and the Basket of Flowers, Boxes and Bows, Floral Vine Border from Rubberstamptapestry stamps and un-named Craft Xtensions stamps.

xx

How cute!

2011-01-24T14:22:00.000Z

Well believe it or not, here's another layout! This one is one of Anita's layouts - to my shame I've got it dated March 2009! How bad is that? The papers are BoBunny Teen Chic which Anita chose and the letters are from Stickoppotamus. I'm very pleased with the layout - Anita is very clever.

The photo is of my youngest grand-daughter in Australia. Its a picture taken by her pre school in Tulip Street which is just round the corner from where my son and daughter-in-law live in Cheltenham, Melbourne. xxx

My kind friends

2011-01-24T13:20:00.001Z

Hello

19 January was my birthday and I was very lucky. At the monthly crop I go to at the beginning of January I was given lots of lovely cards and presents. I am a bit supersitious so didn't feel I could blog them til after the day! So first of all here are the beautiful cards I was sent by my crafty friends.

Sarah and Lynn

Jill and Linda

Chris and Anita

Wendy and Sue

I was also lucky enough to be given some pressies too - thank you so much Linda, Lynn and Anita. You are very generous.

I had a lovely birthday - I saw my two great friends Sue and Sandie and we also came to the Grand Opening Day of Jilly's new shop - Cardinal Colours and saw lots of my crafty friends too.

I went out for a scrummy meal in the evening too.
When I got back from the meal there was a gorgeous flower bouquet from my family in Australia.

Friday I had another birthday because my son and daughter with grandchildren came over for a take-away meal. We had such fun and again I was very lucky. My son bought me a beautful bouquet of flowers and card, which he assures me he chose all by himself!!. My son and daughter also bought me an exercise machine which, I must admit I do need to use, so I was velry pleased with it. I have religiously been using it each day, trying to build up how long I use it for. Not doing too badly. Mind you I have already fallen over it! Did that this morning carrying the dirty clothes to the washing machine! So now I've got a bruised knee, elbow and all my pride!!

My grand-daughters gave me some chocolate and biscuits (the non-naughty sort, of course!) and some lovely fridge magnets for 'Grandma'.

So how lucky am I? x

Well I never!!!!

2011-01-16T11:45:00.000Z

Well blow me down! Another double layout and its only the second week of January! At this rate I may get my old layouts done! Let's see how I get on later on in the year :o( This layout was using Anita's monthly page which later went on to be a Scrapology scrap lift. Because I had a few photos I made the layout into a double lay out although the original layout was only a single page. I am afraid I don't know the name of the paper (and Anita couldn't remember either). I've used a Martha Stewart butterfly punch and made some glittery flowers from my stash and stickles and finally added some jewels.

These pictures were taken when my middle grand-daughter, Emily was about a year old. She is actually sitting in a large cardboard box and surrounded by cushions and different toys. Her face looking at the 'bee' was such a picture, hence the title - What is that?

Then as with all babies, straight into the mouth.

Thank you for looking. xxx

Double Trouble

2011-01-10T13:28:00.000Z

Hello

My New Year's 'Intention' was to do more scrapping using the many layouts I've collected going to Anita (Inky Blossoms)'s monthly classes. Well, I've done a double layout but unfortunately its not using one of Anita's layouts! What am I like? Instead I've used the Scrapology January's competition template. So I'm entering it into the competition but I reckon it also can count towards my 'intention' to do more scrapping, don't you?

I used the DCWV Nana's Nursery Baby Girl and Baby Boy papers and some of my own Bassil card stock. I used the Cricut and the George and Basic Shapes cartridge for the title and also for the circle. And that's your lot!! x

New Year Resolution (well Intention anyway!)

2011-01-05T11:44:00.000Z

Hello.

Tonight I'm off to Anita (Inky Blossoms)'s scrapping class at Jill's (Cardinal Colours website) for our first class of the new year. Looking forward to it. I never have any photos ready but promise myself I will add the picture when I sort the photos out! I never get round to doing that and don't always finish the page either. The other day I was sorting out my work room (as you do!) and to my horror I have found a hugumous (well very large) pile of class pages still to be finished. I reckon I could fill a complete scrapbook with them all. So that is what I'm hoping to do - populate and complete each and every one of my pages that I have done with Anita. I'm not giving myself a time limit - actually perhaps I should. I'll say by the end of the year! I'll try and blog how I'm getting on.

There, I've publicly challenged myself so I'll have to do it.

Bye x

Happy New Year !!

2011-01-01T12:14:00.001Z

Hello
May I wish you a very Happy New Year for 2011? I hope it brings you all you want.

I had a very quiet Christmas but it was nice to see the children and grandchildren. After all Christmas really is for children. I was able to watch lots of programmes I had wanted to see and listened to lots of plays whilst making some cards. It was blissful.

Here are some of the cards I made this week

I got inspiration for this card from the Christmas card Anita (Inky Blossoms) gave me. I've used those little stamps from Craft xtensions in different colours and the dandelion mice are 'make a wish' stamps from Penny Black which I coloured in with water colour pencils. Bit of glitter and card candy and we're done!!

This is also using the Penny Black 'make a wish' stamps. Again I coloured them in using water colour pencils and the Martha Stewart lace punch. I 'doodled' around the picture using dots and dashes. I silver embossed the Victoria's Secret 'Happy Birthday' stamp which I bought in Australia.

These two pictures are not very good. I took them at night and the light makes them look very 'brown'! Both of these cards use The Jayne Netley Mayhew Collection CD. The top one I printed off two toppers, matted them and added the greetings and a little orange flower which I sprayed using Crafters Companion Spray and Sparkle and added a little gem. Simples !!

The rabbit printed off as a black and cream sketch. I water coloured some of the flowers and grasses, added a bit of glitter on the grass heads and then just matted and layered it, using the same greetings stamp.

I'm pleased with this one - I bought this Giordano Christmas Lambs stamp in Joanna Sheen's sale - £2.75!!! For the first time I also coloured it in using some of my Pro Markers! Still a bit scary but I'm pleased with the result and shall carry on practising. I used two sheets of Basic Grey Wassail papers to matt and layer, using deckle edged scissors, some card candy and cream organza ribbon. Although it is called Christmas Lambs, I reckon this stamp could be used for birthdays or even, which I'm going to do, as a New Year card.

Well that's it for the moment - going to sort out my roast chicken - it smells beautiful!!

Bye xx

Happy Christmas

2010-12-25T15:05:00.002Z

I hope you all have a lovely Christmas and a very Happy New Year. xxx

Some Christmas cards

2010-12-18T17:22:00.000Z

Hi all

I made a lot of Christmas card over the last month or so and was really pleased I'd got everything done early. Then my friend Sue came along and bought a lot of them, so I had to make them all over again!!

These are the original ones that Sue bought:

This one above I made from some free papers I'd got with the Christmas edition of Creative Cardmaking magazine.

This card is made from the Cute Companions Adorables CD by Jayne Nesterenko and the one below comes from Crafters Companion Winters Tale.

This picture doesn't really show the card at its best. There's lots of sparkle and decoupage put onto a stepper card I adapted myself and the picture is of a beautiful snowy cottage scene by a bridge from the Joanna Sheen Thomas Kincaide CD.

And this is also from the Adorables CD.

So I had to get making again. I'll show you some more later.

Bye x

Thank you

2010-12-13T18:09:00.000Z

Hello

On the way to visiting my grand-daughter in hospital, I popped into Cardinal Colour Jilly's crop which I was meant to be going to that Saturday. We were supposed to be having a celebration for Sue's birthday as well as our Christmas crop. I was so lucky and was given the most gorgeous Christmas cards and hand made Christmas presents from my lovely friends at the crop.

Linda Anita

Sue Jill

Lynn Karen

Chris

Aren't they beautiful? What clever friends I've got. But that is only the beginning - just look at these gorgeous presents I was given as well:

The cream box which the red and green bauble is on is from Linda - it contains the most beautiful candles - smelling of cinnamon and Christmas spices. How beautiful it will look on my Christmas table.

The interesting looking Father Christmas is from Jill. He is sitting on top of a lovely wooden box full of fruit jellies and wine gums - yummy yummy.

This one is from Anita a lovely big mug full of goodies, love the gingerbread man with the label 'the Perfect Man'!!

The beautiful green and red Christmas tree bauble has been made by Chris. All that bead work must have taken her a long time.

The cute pink doll behind Chris' bauble has been made by Sue. It is also a tree decoration - it is so delicate and looks nice on the Christmas tree.

This little box is from Lynn - she has made these tree decorations from half walnuts and polymer clay. How clever are these?

They all look sp beautiful on my Christmas tree, thank you very much.

Thank you to all my good friends for all the beautiful presents you have given and made for me. They are absolutely gorgeous and I am very lucky. Thank you, thank you, thank you. xx

My poor grand-daughter

2010-12-13T17:12:00.001Z

Thursday we had a bad shock.

My daughter, Kate, received a phone call from Chloe's (my eldest grand-daughter) school to say she had been knocked down by a bus! Initially they said Chloe was OK, just battered and bruised as she was moving and trying to get up.

However, the next phone call I received was that she had been air-lifted to Brighton Hospital for scans. There then followed a long gap until I heard from Kate to say they had found a small bleed in Chloe's head and the film had been sent to King's Hospital.

The next thing I knew was that Chloe was in great pain in her tummy and she had been taken down for an emergency laparoscopy through her tummy button. She had lacerated her kidney and spleen, and her spleen was leaking, hence the pain. Anyway that was repaired and things looked on the up again. Then we heard her pupils had started dilating oddly and down she goes for an emergency CT scan. Anyway that showed an improvement from the previous scan and everyone was happy.

I went to visit Chloe on Saturday with Emily, Chloe's younger sister. Poor Chloe looked very battered and bruised. Her tummy was still hurting but that was because of the operation and nothing sinister. She didn't want to eat nor drink and was very sleepy.

Sunday Kate texted me to say they were coming home that evening! I cooked a shepherd's pie and took it with me. The hospital told Kate Chloe had to have bed rest for the next six days, she can't walk about until her spleen has settled down. No school for two weeks, which has worked out well as Chloe's school breaks up next week.

The Headmistress told Kate she didn't want to see Chloe back at school until next year. The School have been very kind - they sent a big basket of fruit, a teddy and some chocolate for her and all the school groups Chloe belongs too have sent her 'get well' cards and because Kate lives very near school, some of Chloe's friends may come a see her from school. As the accident happened as Chloe was coming to school lots of her friends saw what happened and some were very upset and traumatised.

Here's the weary soldier lounging on the sofa watching the television or reading all the messages her friends had put on Facebook. Everyone has been so kind.

Considering what could have happened Chloe was exceptionally lucky but at the time we didn't know that. We are all very grateful and hopefully Chloe will pay more attention crossing the road. x

The beginning ...!

2010-12-06T16:02:00.063Z

I know I'm getting my blogs round the wrong way but hey, ho!! This shows the beginning of the snow - on the Sunday when it was all novel. I had my grand-daughters with me as they'd stayed overnight. I'd popped outside and noticed we had some snow flurries. The girls were very excited, well Emily really, Chloe's a bit too old to show she's excited (she's 11!). Here's Emily outside, skipping and jumping around.

Their dad collected them soon after and off they went. That afternoon this was what I saw through the window

It was really snowing!! How exciting!

It didn't come to anything though and Monday was showing very little extra snow. I got into work on Tuesday and there was a bit of snow there as the hospital car park shows - but we got there OK.

However Wednesday was another kettle of fish (or snow!), This was what I woke up to that morning! I had a doctors' appointment so had to get the car drive-able!

I know I shouldn't have, but I did take a photo from the car on the way back from the doctors.

And this was by the roundabout on the way to work.

We left work early as the snow continued. I was due to go to Jill's at Cardinal Colours as Anita was doing the Christmas scrapbooking class which was using a canvas for a change. We all got there no problem, but as I arrived at 7pm it was snowing in the air. By about 8.30 we could see it was snowing again and then Jill's husband, Richard popped in to say the snow was settling. So we all decided to finish early. I have to say that journey was rather hairy - heavy snow, at night and no gritting! Anyway I made it.

This was the sight in the middle of the night:

Whilst I was looking out of the window at the snow a tractor came up the road - it was the school caretaker - there is a infant and junior school to left of this picture. He stopped when he saw me and asked if I wanted any milk. I said I was fine but he said as the school was closed he had all the little 1/3 cartons of milk to get rid of otherwise they'd be thrown away. He was driving round seeing if anyone wanted any. So I took some and stuck them in the freezer - they would always come in useful.

The next morning I got up to sort out the car - this was my car. Of course because the school was closed my road, which is a dead end, had no traffic on it, so I had to boldly go where no one else had been! Quite an interesting experience, I must say! It was stopping at the end of the road that was a bit hairy - luckily there was nothing on the road. Getting into work took rather a long time, but at least there was very little traffic.

Then after a day came the rain and the thaw and it had all gone! Still I've got some memories!!

Old fashioned snow!

2010-12-06T15:37:00.001Z

At last the snow has gone. Can you believe how much we got this year? Unbelievable. I just wanted to pop some photos on here, just for me, really. I am sure you all have your own pictures These I took about 3 am on Thursday morning -I couldn't believe it and I thought it looked just like an old fashioned picture.

I think I will have to scrap these some day! x

Now I'm doing knitting!

2010-11-21T14:09:00.000Z

Back again - typlical just like buses, wait for ages then two come along together!!

I've been getting 'itchy feet' recently and been doing a few other things too. I went to Battle the other day and went into the most lovely little old fashioned haberdashery shop, you know the type, can't move cos there's so much in there, ribbons, buttons, wool, material, hooks and eyes, patterns, etc etc. Absolute heaven. My eye was caught to a knitting pattern on the wall - of a square hat with pom poms on it! I kept going back to it and in the end I asked to see it. There were four hats on the pattern, all different, and I fell. So I bought the wool, needles and the pattern and off I went home.

The first one I knitted was the square one - it only took the evening - and it would have been quicker but I made a mistake with the pom poms.

So encouraged with my first attempt I made another one. This time a simple one but with a flower on it

Unfortunately I couldn't make any more as I'd made a mistake with the amount of wool I needed for the third hat, I misread the pattern, so I've got to go back again to the shop. What a hardship!

I can't remember the last time I did some knitting, probably when my children were babies, and they are 31, 33 and 35 now! and I really enjoyed myself. So I may be making something else, but I need to look out for some interesting patterns and ideas. Any suggestions?

Bye x

A Scrapbooking Page at last!

2010-11-21T13:42:00.001Z

Well well, fancy that! I've done a scrapbook page at last! I used the Scrapology November template for inspiration - I needed inspiration too. I really enjoyed myself though.

I have used the DCWV Baby Girl and Baby Boy papers mainly but a couple of baby pages which I bought in Australia and which don't seem to have brands on. The pink flower was one I bought from a junk shop and broke up to make a big flower. The other flowers I had in my flower box. The font was Ashlyn's Alphabet from the Cricut. The backgrouind shape I traced from another paper and I used my new punch from EK Success deco scallop. I finished off using Diamond Stickles on the papers and also on the pink flower. Oh and a few brads too.

I hope you like it. x

Happy Birthday Linda!

2010-11-06T19:29:00.001Z

As I have said previously I went to Jill from Cardinal Colours's crop today. What a lovely time we had, as usual. I get so much abuse, it's not even funny but I suppose I'd feel I'd done something wrong if I didn't get it now.

It was Linda's birthday yesterday, 5 November, so we had a little birthday party to celebrate. Lynne made a beautiful white chocolate, marbled, pink smartie cake and Anita and Lynne brought sparklers to pop onto the cake. They did have trouble lighting them but they did look special when lit.

Here's a picture of Linda's cake.

Happy Birthday Linda!!

xxx

How brilliant is this ???

2010-11-06T19:20:00.000Z

As promised here is the wonderful blog candy I won from Scrapology. I collected it today when I went to Jill's crop from Cardinal Colours.

The pictures really don't do it justice - there was so much. What a lucky girl am I? The first blog candy I have ever won. Thank you again vlery much Linda and Lynne from Scrapology.

xxx

Halloween

2010-11-06T18:31:00.000Z

Halloween is my grand-daughter, Emily's, 6th birthday. Emily doesn't like to have her birthday as a Halloween party so this year she celebrated Halloween and will have her birthday party next Sunday with a Fairground theme.

So the whole family, well Kate, Danny, Chloe and Emily, dressed up and went 'Trick and Treating'.

Don't ask why Kate and Danny went as a Smurf and Batman, probably only cosutme they had!

Chloe decided she wanted to go as a 'dead' school girl - very ghoulish my grand-daughter!

Now Emily didn't want to dress up but wanted to be black and white! So black and white she was.

While they were out 'Trick or Treating' those left cut up the pumpkins and left them outside with candles lit. They really looked spooky.

I'm going now. This flippin' blog has taken me ages to do as I haven't been able to upload more than one photo. I've just learned from Lynne at Jilly's crop today that Blogger has hiccups and that I've got to go right out of the Blog and come back in to upload another photo!! I ask you, how ridiculous is that? So although I started this blog on 1 Nov, because of work, frustration and not knowing what to do, I've only just finished it now, a week later! So sorry but I was determined to upload it anyway.

Bye xxx

I've won!!!!

2010-10-23T15:21:00.000+01:00

I've just been blog hopping - haven't had much energy to do it recently. Popped onto the Scrapology blog (can't work out how to link to the site, but its on my blogs I'm following, and guess what? I've won the Christmas blog candy!!! I've never entered anything on blogs before and I've won! Can't believe it. When I receive it (that'll depend on when Jill from Cardinal Colours allows me to have it!!!) I'll take a picture so you can all be jealous! Thank you Scrapology again, you've really cheered me up!!! xxx :o)))

Jill's Seaside Retreat

2010-09-20T11:41:00.000+01:00

Well, I've just come back from one of the most fantastic weekend scrapping events ever!!! Jill from Cardinal Colours arranged the event at a hotel in Eastbourne, the Chatsworth. This was the view from my bedroom window early in the morning:

and here we go at night! Some view and right by the sea. In fact I went to sleep with the sound of the sea lapping on the beach through my window.

We were so busy doing the many classes and 'make and takes' Jill had arranged during the weekend I had no time to take more photographs.

It was a brilliant weekend, the weather was beautiful and everything went so well. I'm glad I'm not working today though, I'm absolutely shattered!!

Thank you again Jill. xx

The Glitter Pot

2010-08-23T10:35:00.001+01:00

Hello back again.

Last Thursday I took the day off work as it was my friend Sandie's birthday. She and my other friend, Sue try and do something special on our birthdays. This year we decided to go and have 'brunch' at the Limes in Lindfield - it is a beautful place where everything is home made! After a very lazy meal and catch up, we went onto the Glitter Pot, as you do! We hadn't been to the new place - we got terribly lost but that is part of the adventure, isn't it? Wow is was worth it though - what an improvement - much more space - in fact you just don't know where to start. Anyway I bought lots and lots of things - spent far to much, but hey who cares? It was Sandie's birthday after all!!!

Anyway here are a couple of samples I made with some of the stamps I bought:

This is my new Hero Arts stamp. Isn't it beautiful? I can't really take credit for the card as it's partly copied from one on display there, but I couldn't resist giving it a try. I'm going to give this to my daughter on her birthday in September. But I've got lots of ideas, just using different colours.

This is from a Penny Black set called Make a Wish. Again I've used a sample for inspiration but isn't it cute? There are so many different stamps in this set which I can't wait to use, so that's my next task.

I have to admit I have started making a few Christmas cards (I know I've used the 'C' word but there are some beautiful ideas out there already) so here's a couple of examples:

This is from Kanban's Patchwork Pals and the kit has both front and back pictures:

I do love Kanban. Their designs and colours are brilliant and the quality is next to none. I have to admit I just hate using it - the paper is just so lovely to stroke!!! How sad is that?

This was a card using a template from Crafter's Companion DVD - it looked quite fiddly but in fact it was quite straightforward. It took a bit longer to decorate but again I used the Kanban Patchwork Pals kit.

It does look as though we've had our summer - what a shame - mind you it was so very hot - we're never satisfied, are we?

Hope you're all enjoying your holidays or time with the children.

I'll be back later. xxx

Groovy plaster cast

2010-08-10T20:01:00.002+01:00

This is the colour Chloe, my grand-daughter chose for her plaster cast. What a stunning colour. When I met up with her on Wednesday she was wearing a bright pink hair slide in her hair - it really looked good! Chloe is pleased as she has been told she should be able to have the cast off next week. She can't wait to have it removed - she's fed up now and doesn't get the attention she initially did!

This is both of the girls muckig about with their fancy glasses

Little monkies!!

See you ! x

The infamous wedding!!

2010-08-10T19:43:00.000+01:00

I've just received some photos from my daughter of her wedding - I must admit they do look happy.

I thought this was a lovely picture of Kate and the girls.

Here's the happy couple. I did say to Danny I couldn't believe he went to his wedding wearing t-shirt, jeans and trainers, but he said the trainers were new and the jeans were fairly new! Apparently it was casual dress !!

I believe the two men were firefighter colleagues of Kate's and Danny's, sworn to secrecy, but I've no idea who the woman is, unless she was the Registrar (no, surely not?) !

The new family group.

How lucky am I - another award

2010-07-29T16:21:00.000+01:00

Hey look at this award! It's from my lovely talented friend Anita. Please pop over and check out her blog (Inky Blossoms) and all her beautiful work. Many thanks Anita.

So here are some rules I need to follow:-

* Thank the person who gave it to you. Thank you again Anita :o) x

* Tell seven things about yourself. That's not easy. Let's see:

I am very interested in family history and at the moment am alternating between family history and card making.
I have an absolute phobia of snakes and worms!! I can't do any gardening or weeding without gloves. When I was a lot younger (my eldest son was 2 - he's now 35!), I came across a worm in the garden and wasn't wearing gloves. I dropped everything on the garden, rushed in doors, shut and locked the back door so it wouldn't come and get me!! It was a very large worm!
I used to do ballet dancing, tap and modern from when I was 7 until 15 or so and still have a love for the ballet. Not that I can do much nowadays!!
I loved doing cross stitch and made lots of cards and one very beautiful (even though I say it myself) fairy picture. My mother had it framed for me as a birthday present and it still hangs on the wall. It did take me rather a long time, I have to admit. My loft is still full of threads, aida and cross stitch patterns. I can't get rid of them because one day, I might start again.
I am a great hoarder and procrastinator!! I can't throw things away because one day they may come in useful or I may want to do them again!! I would hate to have to move house and downsize.
I have four wonderful grandchildren - grandchildren are so much more fun than children - you have time to do things with them which you didn't have with your children, and you can give them back!!
My daughter turned up in my office last week and informed me she had just got married! It was her second marriage, but she had told no one in the family. It was a great shock but she is so happy, if that is what she wants, she's old enough.

* Pass this award to five other bloggers who you think are fantastic - now this is difficult, not because I can't think of anyone but because Anita has picked the people I would have chosen and I really don't know many other people. Well I shall chose my crafting friends Krafty Karen (KKFantasticPlace) and Scrappy Sarah (Sarah-scrap-book)and then repeat Anita (Inky Blossoms), Jilly (A Calendar of Colours), Lynn (A Moment in Time) and Linda (Linda's cards and pages). - Ooops that's six but hey ho, what's one between friends!! xx

Kids never fail to surprise you !!

2010-07-27T19:44:00.001+01:00

Last week, I was at work minding my own business. Suddenly just before lunch time my daughter Kate popped in, as she often does. She looked really lovely in a short white dress, and sparkles in her hair. I commented on how lovely she looked and she smiled, turned round and in came Danny, her partner. They had moved into a rented house only last month. They just grinned and then said they'd just got married!! At the Registrar Office in Hastings. You can imagine I was absolutely flabbergasted. I just couldn't really believe it was true as I had had no inkling. Apparently absolutely no-one knew; not their siblings, parents, friends, no-one. Kate popped into school and got the two girls out just for an hour. She had bought them new dresses which they changed into in the car. On the way to the Registrar Office they ran out of petrol! A lady took Kate to the petrol station. A police car stopped to see what was going on. When Kate explained, the policeman helped the girls do the buttons up on their dresses and then she got a police escort to Hastings! They got two of their fire brigade mates to be witnesses, having sworn them to secrecy. Kate bought three sunflowers, one for her and the others for the girls, and that was that!

They did have some pictures taken but I've not got any just yet. I have been promised some.

So - who'd have children ???

Anyway in the meantime I thought I'd show you the third book I made for my granddaughter in Australia. She's loves fairies so I couldn't do any better than using the Crafters' Companion Flower Fairies stamps and CDs.

I think this is one of my favourite fairies from the collection. The baby is so cute! Some of the fairies I masked and then spray glittered their wings - they looked quite effective.

and the last one in the book:

Sorry there were rather more than I thought! My son said Emma was pleased with it. I hope she was. Anyway I enjoyed making it.

I'll be back on another day! x

Me again!

2010-07-24T13:00:00.000+01:00

Hello, back again!

Whilst I've been off line I've not stopped buying stamps and things - well you can't can you? :o))

So being a member of Crafters' Companion I was offered Souffle the Duck CD and stamps using some of my loyalty stamps. Too good an offer to miss. So this is a card I've made with that.

I already had a Popcorn the Bear CD and just made this card from some bits left over from some of the decoupage.

I also had some freebie papers from Creative Cardmaking magazine, which I love, so I made this card for one of the girl's birthdays at work. She was chuffed with it and I felt a bit guilty as I made it out of freebies, but you couldn't tell.

I even used a bit of the freebie 'ribbon' to embellish the insert page too. Well I could afford to, couldn't I?

Then, of course I HAD to buy the new Jayne Nesterenko Duo's Stamp sets and here are a couple of cards I made with them. They really are lovely and I am very pleased with them.

Using the Wishing Line set of stamps, I stamped the trees in the background direct to card and coloured in with watercolours. The the little mice I stamped, coloured, cut out and stuck onto the card and then I stamped the little mouse again, coloured him in, punched him out with a circle punch and then used glossy accents to give a sheen to it, and then matched the circle with the rest of the card. I have to admit, the circle bit took me longer than I thought, but it'll probably be easier next time! The flowers I just sparkled using Crafters Companion Spray and Sparkle and then glittered as well.

I was very pleased with this one and shall experiment a bit more using other stamps. What do you think?

Finally using the Crafting Companions stamp set I made this one.

This one is so simple but very effective. Again this can be used in several ways and different colours but I think this looks very elegant.

Well I'm off to do some more card-making. Enjoy your weekend. xx

Break a leg!!

2010-07-21T18:20:00.001+01:00

Hi again

My grand-daughter, Chloe, was 11 a couple of weeks ago and I made a book card for her, using the Jayne Nesterenko new Patchwork Polly stamps. It didn't take as long as I thought it might and the effect was rather nice. I think Chloe was pleased.

Front cover

Patchwork Polly

Helene

Jenny

Olivia

Julie

Chloe

The day after she came home from school, playing on her scooter and fell and broke her ankle! Very traumatic especially as that week she was meant to be playing 'Nancy' in the school play and Chloe had been practising and practising for weeks, driving everyone mad. She is also going to senior school in September so this was her last week at her old school and they had lots of things planned, like being picked up in a limo, swimming and bar-b-q at hospital pool, leavers' mass, bowling and just general goodbyes. It was the end of the world!! Not only that she had to go in and have an operation on the day of the school play so all that practising was for nothing. (Mind you her sister Emily (5) said the play was 'rubbish' and 'no -one clapped''!!) Anyway she has been in to school on her crutches, been the centre of attention and doesn't feel quite so bad. She is still not in a full cast because of the stitches - she has to go back next week for further x-rays and re-alignment.

I have bought a Seraphina & Friends CD (as you do) from Doolicraft and thought I would make a 'get well card' for Chloe and I couldn't miss Emily out, so I've made a little one for her too. Thought you might like to see them. I'm quite pleased with them.

This is Emily's little card

and this is Chloe's

It is called a Doolirama Tunnel Card.

xxx

Surprise! surprise!

2010-07-20T18:25:00.000+01:00

I'm back! I'll bet you didn't miss me anyway!! I can't believe I haven't blogged on here since the end of May. Where did the time go?
I've not been doing anything special - oh I've been to Cornwall to see a mate and I've got some pictures so I might pop some of them on. I haven't even been looking at everyone's blogs (as has been commented on by some - you know who you are Jill!).
I've made a few cards and bought a few new bits and bobs (no surprise there!)
Oh and my eldest grand-daughter broke her ankle on her scooter last week. Day after her birthday and 10 days before the end of term and she's going up to the senior school in September!! Disaster, disaster!

Right - I'll see what pictures I've got to show you:

I flew to Newquary, Cornwall with a friend to visit another friend - thought it would be quicker but we were delayed - anyway that's another story. My friend Sue and I went to stay with Pippa who lives in an isolated place with her dog. Absolutely beautiful and restful. We had breakfast outside = such luxury. The weather was brilliant and Pip had a beautiful chocolate labrador who has two black labrador friends so we went for lots of long walks. You can see how much the dogs loved it!

The scenery was absolutely beautiful.

We only went for a long weekend so our days were pretty full. Whilst there there was an open gardens 'thingy'! Seven gardens opened their gates - all nearby but totally different.

This was an old Post Office and its gardens were pretty but nothing special - standing stones and things in trees:

The next garden was absolutely stunning. There was also a school jazz choir there which we listened to whilst munching through a cream tea!

We also went into a tiny garden which had plants in pots - nothing else. Unbelieveable though.

Some of the houses had special displays too such as pottery, quilts and garden furniture. The quilts were absolutely stunning but we couldn't get any pictures. There were some king sized quilts which had been stitched by hand - everything had been done by hand. Absolutely gorgeous. I bought a small wall hanging which I want to put in my work room.

Last picture is the three of us at a lovely restaurant in Mousehole overlooking St Michael's Mount. The end of a beautful break.

I promise I'll be back later with some pictures of cards but my tea is calling. x

What a difference a month makes!

2010-05-26T11:53:00.000+01:00

Yesterday (Tuesday) I decided to go back to the Bluebell Walk to see the bluebells. I checked on the website and although they officially closed the Centre on Sunday, because the bluebells had been so late, they were still beautiful and the owners would leave the walk open until Bank Holiday Monday. So along I trooped yesterday, book and camera in hand. It was a beautiful day and I went quite early in the morning. There was no one else around and it was absolutely stunning. The heat brought out the perfume of the bluebells, the birds were singing, sun shining and all was well with the world!!

So here are some of the bluebells:

I show lots and lots more pictures but they are all of the bluebells - beautiful though, aren't they?

Never Ending card

2010-05-26T11:33:00.000+01:00

Whilst at Debden, I got fed up doing the little booklets so decided to make a never-ending card. I have made a few before, but forgot just how long it takes to decorate. Anyway, using the Crafters Companion Beatrix Potter CDs and stamps I decided to make one. Here are some of the pages:

I was pleased with the result though. Quite effective. x

Busy, busy bee!

2010-05-26T11:22:00.000+01:00

I can't believe its nearly two weeks since we came back from Debden but as usual too many things to do!

It was brilliant, as usual at Debden. Thank you very much Jill for being my 'chauffeur' - it was greatly appreciated. For a change I actually got some projects finished - usually I just play around and have nothing to show for my efforts.

As I have said previously I bought the new Jayne Nesterenko stamps, Patchwork Polly and saw an example of a little booklet using these characters. I thought it was a good idea to make some little booklets for my three grand-daughters, using Patchwork Polly, Peter Rabbit and the Flower Fairies. Will I never learn? It always takes so much longer than you anticipate, doesn't it?

Anyway I had stamped and coloured the characters I wanted to use before going to Debden so was able to get going doing the books. This is the book using Patchwork Polly.

First page:

Patchwork Polly

Jenny

Olivia

Julie

Helene

Chloe

They are lovely stamps, aren't they?

Off to Debden ....... again!!

2010-05-12T14:25:00.000+01:00

Way to go!! I'm off to Debden again this weekend - can't wait! Started to get my projects planned and booked my evening meal! Booked the cat in the cattery, taken time off work, got some clean knickers and all my kit! That's my lot. xxx

Wow - what a surprise

2010-05-10T18:33:00.001+01:00

As some of you will know my eldest son is in Australia and Mother's Day is not the same as ours. It was yesterday. This afternoon the doorbell went and look what I got

Aren't they beautiful? I've got them in my workroom now and the perfume is wonderful.

I'm a bit like the Queen (not) in that I have two Mother's Days instead of two birthdays!

This is what my other son and daughter gave me for my English Mother's Day

Sorry the picture has not come out very well. You can see my reflection but they had a photo all my children and grandchildren whilst we were in Australia enlarged and framed for me. I know I'm biased but I do have a lovely family.

The flowers were a lovely surprise. I've been busy rushing around today - I had my boobs 'squeezed' last week, went for a smear this morning and then had to have a CT scan to check my sinuses are OK for the dentist in preparation for two implants I'm going to have done. I've also had a blood test done and the doctor has given me MORE tablets to take and I'm off to see the nurse on Thursday for another check. Talk about having an M O T!!! Oh well hopefully once they're all done I can carry on again!

Bye x

What a Place !

2010-05-09T17:57:00.002+01:00

Can you believe we're already into May? Where does the time go? Well despite my promise, I haven't managed to do much blogging - no excuse - just busy, busy busy!

Anyway, one of the reasons I haven't had much time, I had to go to a three-day conference at a hotel in the Ashdown Forest! What a wonderful place - I've taken a few photos and thought I'd share them.

Believe it or not, this is the view from my bedroom window. Stunning, or what? That rhodedendron bush was as big as it looks. Here it is close up:

I was there just at the right time!

Now, here is my bathroom:

Who has to step UP to get into the bath? I was sitting on the loo when I took these pictures. This is the rest of the bath

How wonderful? Then, still sitting on the loo ?? this is the view into the room. Although very attractive, could have been a bit of a problem if you had to get up in the night and were disoriented. Luckily, I was OK.

Now the actual conference was held in the old chapel. Absolutely stunning, but the acoustics were not brilliant. Who cares though when you had all this to look at?

This was the ceiling

and this was one of the stained glass windows.

This is the back of part of the hotel. My room was the three turret windows in the middle. How lucky was I?

This is part of the inside of the hotel looking down into the foyer.

As you can imagine I've got lots more pictures but this is just a taste. It was a beautiful venue and the conference was OK - but who cares?

Some more cards

2010-04-24T17:58:00.000+01:00

Hi, me again.

Looking back at my posts I've not kept up regularly - I've only done a few days of our Australian holiday and put in hardly any of my cards. So, unfortunately, I'm going to be boring the pants off you all whilst I catch up!

First of all, some of my cards:

This one is from Part 2 of the Jayne Netley CD and is a picture of a beautiful shell. I printed off the backing paper using a shimmer paper and the brown and white spotted ribbon is from my stash.

Now this one I sort of copied from an idea I saw on Create & Craft. All the images are from the same Jayne Netley CD and the flowers I think came from the Glitter Girls. The ribbon again is from my stash. The only problem with this card was I made it larger than the one I saw so it was more difficult finding an envelope. I shan't make it quite so large next time.

With the Crafter's Companion Beatrix Potter CD I decided I would make a never-ending card with Mrs Tigglewinkle. I had made one before having seen it on the TV demonstrated by Lili of the Valley and lots of people commented on. So I gave it a go. It really is very easy to do, its the decorating of the pages that takes the time. I took it to work and my tutor bought it as a birthday card for his wife.

So this is the front.

Here's the next page:

Here's the third page:

and here's the last one:

I thought it came out quite well but I may do a smaller one next time!

The last card for the moment, you'll be pleased to hear!!, is one from Joanna Sheen's Royal Horticultural Society CD. Again I think the idea for the card came from Debbi Moore when she was on C & C, with my adaptation.:

I printed the auricula design onto both vellum and also paper and the topper onto card. I've fixed the page turn up with a gold brad and added a couple of flowers from my own stash and coloured them in with inks. The card opens up with an insert which I made, using the same background paper again and popped a cream panel with an auricula cut out of the vellum on it so you could write on it.

That's all for now. Going to make some tea - what to have? Egg and bacon, sandwich or pizza? Oh for goodness sake - choices, choices. xx

No surprise ....!

2010-04-24T16:30:00.001+01:00

Good afternoon all!

Isn't it a beautiful day again? How lucky we are and the spring flowers are looking absolutely beautiful.

Well some of you may have heard that Jayne Nesterenko has introduced some more stamps - no surprise then that they seem to have fallen into an envelope and arrived at my house!! It would be rude to send them back now, wouldn't it? They are called Patchwork Polly and I think they're gorgeous. I've made a couple of cards using them - see what you think.

This one is 'Olivia' and doesn't she look cute with her little teddy?

This one is also of 'Olivia' but with the background stamps and a different colour.

This last one is of 'Patchwork Polly' herself sitting on the branch talking to her little patchwork bird and the patchwork butterfly flying about.

There are six separate friends and they all have different background panels and friends.

I'm really quite pleased with them.

So back to have a play. xx

Bluebell walk part 2

2010-04-20T12:26:00.000+01:00

Just a bit extra on my walk. At the beginning, once you've paid to go in (its only £4 and you can stay as long as you like) there is a refreshment place with little stalls inside. There's a plant stall, homemade jams and chutney - all for the local charity together with a used book section which has lots of books to browse round and buy.

Next door is a barn which has two little piglets, some sheep, lambs and baby chicks under a heat lamp. I took some pictures but some have not come out so well.

These piglets were very camera shy hence not such a good picture.

Doesn't she look proud? So she should, look at her little baby:

Not quite new born, but still cute.

Here's the little chicks under their heat lamp.

Aaah bless! Roast dinner indeed!

I'm off but I will be back! xx

Bluebell Walk

2010-04-19T20:07:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I decided to go the Bluebell Walk at Arlington. Bluebells are one of my all time favourites and those at Arlington are quite breathtaking. I knew from the website the bluebells weren't out yet because of the cold winter, but its a lovely place anyway and such a lovely day. So here are a few pictures:

You can see what a beautfiul day it was and I got there quite early so there weren't many people. I have never seen so many wood anemones all at once - its almost like a carpet of snow. On closer inspection they are just like little stars, fallen fron the sky.

Getting quite poetic, sorry about that. Any way last one, I promise:

Well actually I lied!! Just one more - will you look at the reflections in the lake - how beautful is that?

and it wouldn't be the bluebell wood if there wasn't some bluebells:

I swear the only bluebell in the whole wood!!

And finally the farmhouse at the beginning, which is charming in its own right:

So much for my trip out. I then came home and made some cards. Which I'll show in another blog.

See you all later! xx

Where does the time go ..?

2010-04-18T18:03:00.001+01:00

I can't believe its over a week since we went to Debden, Essex. It was so relaxing - knowing we could do anything we liked (by that I mean crafting, sleeping, eating, walking, nothing!) all weekend with no one to disturb us. All the others finished lots of layouts and cards; me? - not so many - but I put in a lot of thinking!!

We were lucky to have the good weather again, so we all did the usual photography walk, Debden is such a lovely place. I didn't take any pictures of the house itself, some of the others did though. Me, I took pictures of my favourite stone bench - its so tiny and hidden away - must be very uncomfortable, but I love it.

It's just the right size for children. Cute.

We were told they also had some animals in the lower fields so we all trooped off to see. I got this picture of one of the old sows and also the goat and chickens. Not brilliant, but not too bad.

Now please believe me, this order is totally coincidental!

Don't you think these are lovely pictures of Jill? I think she was trying to take photos of Lynn, Linda, Karen and myself but couldn't get the camera to work.. Hence the look of puzzlement!

Debden is a beautfiul place and I can't believe I'm lucky enough to be going again in a few more weeks. It will be interesting to see how much the flowers and trees have advanced.

We have also booked to go again next year, and I've been allowed to book in too! I can't have been too bad, can I?

Bye for now. xx

Another Blog Award

2010-04-14T13:19:00.001+01:00

How lovely - I've just been given this Blogger award by my friend Sarah. Thank you very much Sarah. I've now got to list 7 crafty things I have done. Mmmn that's not going to be easy. Well here goes:

1. Writing my blog - I'm very proud of this as I set it up all by myself, with no help!!

2. Making my cards - I love playing around and making different styles. Unfortunately having once made one, I lose interest in that shape!

3. I also do scrapbooking too, although I have to admit that has been put a bit on the back boiler as I don't print off the photos. I'm a bit daunted by the thousands I have collected.

4. I am also interested in Family History and have made quite a few pages using my ancesters' photographs. This is actually how I started into scrapbooking and card making.

5. Encouraging my grand-daughters to make cards and pictures - unfortuately using my stash!

6. I have always loved stamps but I'm now I'm getting into decoupage, something I always said was not for me!

7. I am also quite capable of dressmaking, cross stitching and knitting - all of which I have done but have moved on from.

I am going to pass this award onto some more crafty people: Lynn and Linda.

Happy Easter to you all

2010-04-04T10:22:00.001+01:00

I hope you all have a very Happy Easter. I can't believe its April already! Its two months since we were setting off to Australia. It all seems so far away :o(.

Well I have bought some more CDs! I debated and debated on buying them but finally thought, oh what the heck - its only money - I'm sure I'll use them eventually and they will keep! I've bought the Flower Fairies of the Garden CDs and stamps, Jayne Netley Part 2 and the Royal Horticultural Society set too. Oh and I've just given in and bought the Glamour and Glitz CDs too! Listed out like that I have been very bad - but hey, who cares! So I've made quite a few cards. Here's one or two:

Now this one was from the Crafter's Companion Fairies of the Garden, Canterbury Bell. I was quite pleased with the results, especially the flowers which I sort of 'adapted'!!

This one is same set of CDs but using Heliotrope.

and it opens up showing a pretty insert too.

Now here's one I made using the part 2 Jayne Netley Mayhew CD - its an Easter stepper card - typical I got the CD too late to make any Easter cards, but hey they'll keep!!

This whole card came on the CD - I didn't have to but I stuck it onto pink shimmer card, but if I'd thought I could have printed straight onto card.

I coudn't resist this picture from the same CD - isn't he cute?

You can't see very well but I also used one of my Woodware punches and put double sided tape underneath it and then sprinkled glitter into the flowers. Even though I say so myself, it looks quite cute.

This is the card I couldn't show you earlier because I made it for Anita's birthday - I think she liked it. This is from the Glitter & Gitz CD by Debbi Moore and it is absolutely brilliant - I certainly shall be making more.

The flower and feathers came from my craft box so I'm not sure where I got them from.

Well I hope you like them. I'm off to play some more. Enjoy your day. xx

Happy Belated Birthday Anita

2010-03-22T10:42:00.000Z

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Anita aaaaaa, Happy Birthday to you ou ou ou ou!!!

Sorry Anita, couldn't get onto the computer yesterday - had the grandchildren round!!! Say no more! I hope you had a lovely birthday and were thoroughly spoiled. xxxx

Courtesy of Google.co uk

Sunshine Award

2010-03-17T21:09:00.000Z

How cool! My first award and I've been given it twice by two of my lovely friends! Thank you Lynn and Linda, you are very kind. I love visiting your blogs and seeing what you've been up to and the beautiful cards and scrapbooking pages you both do. I also appreciate so much the help and support you give me both at Jill's crop but also on here when I can't sort out my blog!! Many thanks.

I would like to send it back to you both with love from me, and also nominate Jilll and Anita for being my 'buddies' too.

Thank you again. xx

Haven't I been busy ...?

2010-03-17T18:57:00.000Z

When I got back from Oz I didn't go back to work immediately so had time to play! Here are some cards I made.

This is from the Glitter and Glitz CD from Debbi Moore Designs which I have fallen in love with. I got carried away and made one or two more!!

I can't show you the other one I did as I made it for someone's birthday and they've not had it yet!!!

Whilst in Oz I went to the scrapbooking shop I always go to and came away with a cute little stamp - here is my take on the example card in the shop. I was rather pleased with it.

Its just one bird on the stamp - stanp it three times on the white card, then stamp again on two different papers and then decoupage it onto the card. Clever I thought.

I also have to admit to buying the Crafter's Companion Peter Rabbit CDs - well I've been away for a month and not bought much card stuff so why not? !! So I had a little play -

This is called a tunnel book - here's the cover.

This is what is inside

and this is how its put together. Cute, eh?

Then I made a 'dual aspect card - bit more time consuming but quite effective, don't you think?

There's still more but I'll leave them for another day. I'm off now for tea. Hope you all have a nice evening. Byee xxx

Back again ....

2010-03-17T18:21:00.001Z

Hi me again with a further instalment of my trip down under. I've been off poorly this week hence the delay.

Right, where was I? Oh yes, we were staying in Chris' father-in-law's beach house in Portsea which is about 2 hours' drive from Melbourne, on the Mornington Peninsula. Portsea is fascinating as one side of the beach is on the Bay and the other side is on the Pacific Ocean. So you can actually walk along a spit of land and one side is flat and calm and the other side is windy and choppy. Quite odd.

We walked all the way out there, exploring as we went - I believe it was about 3km - it seemed a lot longer.

We had to walk all the way up this stairway, why I'm not sure! but it was flippin' hard work, I can tell you.

The girls did manage but were so weary at the top that 'good old uncle Nick' was roped in to help out!

On the way back we caught the tractor and trailer which took us back to base, and very welcome it was too.

A very tired Adam having a cuddle with daddy.

Chris and Fi like to keep on the move so the next stop was off to Portsea beach. Absolutely brilliant weather and right by the beach where they had the reception for their wedding 5 years ago.

In fact whilst we were there a bride arrived by sea plane and walked along the very long pier to her groom and friends and was married on the beach! Now that's the way to do it - unfortunately I don't think they had practised beforehand and the bride nearly fell in trying to get out of the plane and jumping onto the pier. She did get wet! Unfortunately I wasn't able to take pictures as we were all paddling in the sea.

Everyone had great fun making sand castles and playing in the water and at the end of the day everyone decided it was time for Chris to be covered in sand. Not sure why but it did seem like fun at the time!

Chris thought it was fun, but I don't think Adam did!!

Right I've bored you enough for now. I'm off but will be back with some examples of what I've doing at home.

Byeee xx

Continuation ....

2010-03-02T18:54:00.001Z

Me again! Been to work today - yuk! Would you believe I had almost 200 emails to get through! Why go on holiday - its not worth it when you get back to work! Don't really mean that!

Right where was I? Oh yes - we went to Cape Schank which is about 2 hours from Melbourne. Chris' mother-in-law Judy lives there in the most stupendous house ever - it is on the first tee of the golf course! We went down for the weekend staying in the family beach house in PortSea. We went to a bar-b-q at Judy's and showed Kate round the house. We were made so welcome as always.

This is the kitchen behind the sofa.

This is where we'll have the barbie and through the window you can see a bit of the view.

And this is the stand-alone fireplacce and behind that is the view out to the sea!

Now here is the master bed-room which is to the left of this picture.

which has these views:

this is the first tee of the golf course and this one

is out to the sea! Can you imagine waking up to those views every morning?

The rest of the house is down stairs and has another three large bedrooms, another lounge and work room.

Judy's husband Bing has a electric golf caddy and the treat for any children visiting them is for Bing to take them chasing rabbits in the golf caddy! Chloe had to hang on the back and the two younger girls went inside with Bing - here's a couple of pictures

Here's Chloe hanging on the back and here are the others inside

waving goodbye and this is them trundling down the road. How cute is that?

The last picture is a sad one. This shows Chris and Adam making a fuss of Judy and Bing's dog Jacko. He was such a lovely friendly dog. Two days after this picture was taken, whilst they were out, Jacko fell down the stairs and broke his hip. The vet advised he put Jacko down. You can imagine Judy and Bing were absolutely devastated.

I've bored you enough today!! There'll be another episode later. Probably not tomorrow as I'm going to Anita's class at Jillybeans - can't wait!

Byeeee xxx

Well I'm back .........

2010-03-01T11:42:00.001Z

Well I'm back! Its taken me rather longer than I thought to get my head together and actually sit down and a) do some card making and b) to write my blog! Don't know why but just couldn't get round to it. Anyway I wasn't idle - oh no - I've tidied up my work room and re-arranged everything and its so much better. Whether I will be able to find anything remains to be seen! Before I left for Oz I bought a job lot of scrapbooking stuff from a lady who had to give it up and wanted to have her room back! I just assumed it would be a couple of boxes but there were five black bin liners plus about 7 lovely boxes all jam packed full of stuff. I was in seventh heaven unpacking it all! So that's what triggered me off re-arranging my work room.

Right, well as some of may know I've been to Australia for three weeks to visit my son and 2 grandchildren. We flew Air Singapore and went on the great big AirBus - it was very large.

At the same time my daughter and 2 other grandchildren, together with my middle son also came out too and we all stayed with Chris! It was fun - noisy, crowded but fun and the children all got on well - 1year old boy, Adam, 3 year old girl, Emma (Oz), 5 year old girl, Emily, and 10 year old girl, Chloe.

The two elder girls were very good on the flight out - they managed to sleep for quite a lot of the journey, lying across my daughter and myself! Obviously they were very excited to be in Australia and we went to the beach and paddled etc before Emma and Adam came back from kinder school.

However once the excitement of everything and meeting up with their cousins had passed, they just collapesed in a big heap whilst watching the tv just before tea.

I'll be back with the next installment - I warn you, you'll be sorry!!! xxx

Hello from Down Under!

2010-02-09T22:17:00.000Z

Well good day! Just popped in to say Hi! I understand the weather is not so good over there. Oh what a shame. I am afraid to tell you it's so hot here - 30 yesterday! Actually its a bit too hot if I was really honest. Having a great time though - everyone thoroughly enjoying themselves. Children really getting on well, which is very lucky.
Really just popped in to say I've been to scrapping shop - was a bit disappointed this time - no free magazines. Quite a lot of Kaiser papers though - but too many to take pictures of. If you look on the Kaiser web site and choose the names of papers etc I should be able to get them for you though. They're $1.70 a sheet which I suppose is about one pound sterling. Anyway let me know if you'd like me to look for anything special.
Off to Sydney tomorrow for a few days - staying at Manley Beach which is just round the corner from Bondai Beach. I don't think the weather will be so sunny, rain forecast but humidity of about 70!!
Not so sure how to send through pictures at the moment as this is my son's computer but I shall give it a go when we're not rushing off anywhere. Going to Melbourne Zoo in about half an hour. I will load up some pictures sometime, if not from Oz definitely when I get home.
Hope everyone is keeping warm and safe. Speak soon Byee xxx

Fancy a crafty trip to the Seaside??

2010-01-25T20:21:00.002Z

Jill from Cardinal Colours is planning a seaside weekend in Eastbourne this year - I'll let Jill give more details in her own words:

"Cardinal Colours is absolutely delighted to invite you to our very first retreat on the south coast. We are having a crafty weekend with something for both scrapbookers and cardmakers alike. In fact anyone fancying a relaxing time away with like minded, crafty individuals will have a great, fun break.

We will have the run of The Chatsworth Hotel, right on the seafront at Eastbourne, from 2.00 pm Friday, 17th September through to 4.00 pm Sunday 19th September.

What an ideal time to recharge your batteries if you’ve exhausted yourself looking after children in the school holidays. All meals and refreshments are included - full English breakfasts, buffet lunch on Saturday and roast lunch on Sunday, two 3 course dinners and teas/coffees mid-morning and mid-afternoon. There will be a vegetarian option available too.
We have a full timetable of classes, with separate ones for scrapbooking and cardmaking, demonstrations and make & takes running from the Friday afternoon right through to Sunday.

The fabulous Karen Burniston will be designing a class especially for us and you can get a feel for her work on her blog http://www.karenburniston.com/

You will have the choice of 3 classes with kits being provided and there will be raffles and games throughout the weekend too, with the Grand Raffle Prize being a Cricut Die Cutting Machine. It’s a free draw so any guest will have the chance to win.

The cost for all this is just £259 per person for a twin shared room and £289 for a single occupancy double room We do have a limited number of small single rooms at £239 per person . We also have 3 twin rooms with an extra bed so 3 people could share at £245 per person You can reserve your place on payment of a £39 non-refundable deposit and payment terms are available. Some places have already been taken so to express an interest and find out more about the classes and teachers, please contact me at jill@cardinalcolours.co.uk.

We are really looking forward to seeing you.

Teachers and classes will be confirmed soon but we are proud to say that Zoe Pierson and will be amongst our talented teachers ."

I can't wait - it sounds absolutely brilliant Jill - count me in!! xx

A big thank you ....

2010-01-21T19:28:00.000Z

I just wanted to say thank you to all my crafty friends who gave me such beautiful special cards for my birthday. As promised I have taken pictures of them all because I wouldn't open them at the crop on Saturday because my birthday wasn't until Tuesday. What a very talented group you all are and each card is so different. Thank you again.

The one on the left was made by Linda - you can't see the height of the decoupage - but its high! and the other one is by Anita. Again you can't see all the detail but there is a tiny little strawberry charm on the bottom right which is beautiful.

The card on the left is done by Wendy and the other one is from Chris but made by Sue. The photos really do not do the cards justice.

The one on the left was made by Sue and the other one was made by Lynn. How beautiful are they all?

Finally the last one was from Jill - I'm not sure whether she made it herself but I'd like to think she did!!

So this is just to say thank you again to everyone, I am very lucky to have such good and talented friends.! xx

Jill's crop

2010-01-17T16:04:00.000Z

Just wanted to say thank you to everyone at Jill's (Cardinal Colours) crop yesterday. When Wendy and I got there everyone had brought cards for both Wendy and I. 15th was Wendy's birthday and mine is on Tuesday. We had bought some little cakes and biscuits to share but Jill had bought a beautiful chocolate cake, with candles, and Anita had made her famous raspberry-offee, and that had candles on too! We really were spoilt. Thank you to Linda too who gave us both a little box of M & S sweeties! Very naughty but very nice!

I haven't opened any of my cards yet - I've a lovely pile of cards waiting for me to open on Tuesday. I promise I'll post them on here so you can all see what clever people my friends are!

Thank you all again.

The crop is on .... yipee!!

2010-01-16T09:21:00.000Z

Hurray, going cropping today at Jill's (Cardinal Colours) - it was cancelled last week because of the snow and I've had withdrawal symtoms as it seems so long since our last one (well it was last year!!). So one whole day of uninterrupted crafting and chatting - what bliss!! See everyone later. xx