Happy Bird-Day!

I'm really into circle or scallopped circle cards at the moment....I made this one a few weeks ago for Melissa's birthday which happens to be today! :)

Sitting here very sorry for myself as I've picked up his man-flu and I feel pretty grotty today, whole body just aches and I don't know what to do with myself as I'm not the sort of person who can sit around doing nothing but physically at the moment I just can't imagine moving other sitting here huddled under the duvet!

Anyway the scalloped card is made usung the Sizzix Bigz XL Die - Scallop Circle Album die. I got the die at a cheap price and was very excited when I realised that the scallop is larger than a regular nestie scalloped circle, it also comes with the smaller circle which I used on the background paper.

The owl is a Penny Black stamp (which is a favouite of mine) she is coloured in with copic markers and I used a white pen to highlight.

I thought the inside looked a little plain so I cut out a swirl and attached it to the piece of card which is holding the scallopes together and I just couldn't resist using the embossed butterflies over the swirl, thought they looked effective!

Right I'm back off to do nothing but huddle under the duvet with my cat and try to shake off this flu that I've got... thanks for looking!

Bo Bunny Edgy Mini 50th Album

This little project has taken me on and off nearly 2 months to make it was for my very special crafty aunt’s 50th birthday, I wanted to do something special for her big birthday and knew she would appreciate something crafty seeing as it’s all her fault for getting me into this habbit in the first place LOL!

I’ve been quite stressed out trying to get it complete as it had been a busy few months for me outside of my crafty bubble and I’ve not had loads of time to play. Plus it came to a point a week before her birthday I had 4 pages to do and I had lost my mojo and was stuck on some of the photos and what I was going to do with them.

I was up until nearly 12pm the night before I had to send it doing the last 2 pages and all the finishing touches to get it complete… In all honesty I’m still not happy with it but I had to tell myself that it was complete and not to do any more because I would probably spoil it!

I struggled to get photos from some years of her life a lot of the younger years photos I had were so small I was unable to use them and finding an up-to-date photo of her without sunglasses on is an almost impossibility!

I was very nervous about giving it to her and seeing what her reaction would be, I was due to be there for her big day but Paul's nan took a turn for the worst and we had to make a spur of the moment decision to either use the last weeks holiday on going to see my aunt for her birthday or going to see his poorly nan... I was of course upset to miss my aunts 50th but we made the right decision in the end and I even managed to pop over to see her 2 weeks before her day so it kinda made up for missing out on her birthday.

Her birthday was on 20th September so she's had it for a few weeks now and she apparently broke down in tears when she opened it and it's been passed around the whole family to see it and they have all come back to me with lovely comments, she even sent me a card to say thank you and said It is something that sheI will always treasure and that she would leave it to me in her Will.. LOL so I think it's safe to say that through all the stressing and worrying it's gone down rather well!

So it feels like a weight has been lifted and all I need to do now is tidy up from the mess I left behind in my craft room, I must have a pile 5 feet high of stuff I pulled out to use that needs to go back in it’s place

Sean’s Wimbledon Birthday Card

Another few months have flown by since I have been able to update my blog, there just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day to get everything done lately, work has been extremely busy and home life in general has been eventful with stress!

 

Since my last post we've had 2 Nan's in hospital, my uncle is still poorly with DVT, a last minute trip to Weymouth to see his family and a trip to see my family in Jersey to celebrate my aunt and uncles birthdays in September and then our poor cat has been unwell and been to the vets… roll on 2011 I say!

 

In the little spare time I have had for the past month or so I've been working on a Bo Bunny mini book for my aunt's 50^th birthday… was up until close to midnight Wednesday night trying to complete it and feel like a weight has lifted off my shoulders now… just need to wait until Monday to see what her response is to it!

 

Anyway here's the card I made for my uncle's birthday, he's a huge tennis fan, he used to play for his country before he became ill. I always flap around when it comes to mens cards as I have no male related stamps to use!

 

 

Supplies

Papers/Cardstock: Pear Pizzaz & Early Espresso cardstock – Stampin Up, Striped Paper - My Minds Eye 12x12 paper, Dusty Durango Cardstock

 

Dies: Square Nestie – Spellbinders, Trophy – Cuttlebug, #1 – Cuttlebug Oliva Alphabet

Uncles Are Special...

I don’t seem to be making much at the moment, never seems enough time in the week to set aside to craft, life is a bit hectic recently again. Then when I do get the chance to play I just don’t know what to do, I end up pushing paper around on the desk or even worst tidying up my craft room!


Anyway here’s another layout I did a few weeks ago when I had found my mojo and literally smoke was coming out of my fingers with all the layouts I was making! I wanted to play with my crackle glaze that I’ve had for a while but not really done anything with it. Not sure if you can make it out but I used it on the chipboard letters.

My poor uncle is going through such a hard time of it at the moment, he was rushed into hospital with a mass of blood clots in his lungs a few months back, he was told he shouldn’t have lived to tell the tale and it was only because he is so fit that he pulled through. I found out this week that he has another mass of clots in his leg this time, it’s a huge worry… I just wish he would get well soon and get his life back to normal as they have been through so much this past year and a half.

Supplies

Papers/Cardstock: Crumb Cake 12x12 cardstock – Crumb Cake, New My Minds Eye 12x12 paper, Dusty Durango Cardstock
Dies: Dragonfly Alphabet - Quickutz
Other: Alphabet Chipboard – Heidi Grace, Dusty Durango Ink – Stampin Up, Crackle Glaze, Bobble ribbon – CTM, Scalloped border Punch – Stampin Up, White Pen

Class of 1981 Layout

Here’s another quick layout I did the other week, I keep looking at it and wanting to add more but I don’t want to take away from the lovely stitched paper!


I’ve had this Prima 12x12 paper since April Ally Pally last year I think, bought it because I fell in love with it when I saw their range of stitched Mulberry paper, I keep pulling it out giving it a little stroke and then not knowing how to use it so putting it back in the ‘not to be cut’ box of 12x12 papers LOL!

I also love the Prima’s fabric flowers, with all the pearls and the sequins that sparkle… far too nice to pop on a card and give away LOL!

This is me in 1981 I’m the one on at the front on the left with the white cardigan and pink dress (Of course it had to be a pink dress!!)

Supplies
Papers/Cardstock: Prima Art Stitched 12x12
Chipboard: Alphabet – Heidi Grace, Swirl – From Artbase
Other: Fabric Flower - Prima, Glamour Dust

Father's Day Card

Male cards.... Ekkkkk I get very stressed when it comes down to making a card for Paul's dad... Paul always wants me to make something different and personal for his dad and it gets harder and harder every year... what doesn't help is that his birthday and fathers day comes within a week of each other so it's even more pressure!!

Anyway this is his father's day card and Ghost Breakers is his favourite film of all time so I printed out the movie poster and went from there!

This is the first time I have tried to make a triple fold card, but rather than having it landscape I turned it around so that it is like a triple fold/easel card!!

He was over the moon with the card and showed it off to everyone so I think after all the stress it was worth it... now I need to start planning for next year!

Supplies


Papers/Cardstock: Basic Grey, Stampin Up Chocolate Chip
Dies/Embossing Folders: Sizzix Boss-O Alphabet 
Stamps: An old clear greeting set from Woodware
Other: Bo Bunny Brads

Crumb Cake Birthday Bird Card

I Love Stampin' Up Kraft cardstock… well technically it's been re-named as Crumb Cake … I'm going to stop calling it Kraft Crumb Cake does sounds yummy LOL!

Very excited that SU have announced that they are bringing out Crumb Cake ink, I just love how everything matches with SU and I've hoped for ages that they would bring out the ink and as from 1st July they have in the US YAY!!!

Anyway here's a card I made for the lovely Linda, The bird die I have wanted for months after seeing Becky's… every time we get together the requirement was she had to bring the bird die LOL!

The die had sold out everywhere in the UK but one of my friends tipped me off a few months back that someone in the US was selling 3 on Ebay and I never moved so quickly to get to a PC even though I was poorly at the time!

Supplies
Papers/Cardstock: Bo Bunny, Stampin Up Pink Pirouette, Crumb Cake & Baja Breeze
Dies/Embossing Folders: Quickutz Bird, Cuttlebug Birthday Embossing Folder,
Ribbon: Pretty In Pink Grosgrain - Stampin Up
Other: Scallop Border Punch – Martha Stewart, Flower punch & bling

Summer Days Layout

I’ve been quite busy scrapbooking over the past few months when I have been able to get the time.

This is a LO I did when I went to Shirley’s Crop back in May for National Scrapbooking Day, been meaning to take photos of all the LO’s but just not got round to it!

When I got to crops normally I take stacks of everything with me and then spend ages flicking through papers and photos trying to decide what to use. But a few weeks ago I actually started planning my Lo’s.. just sat down pulled out papers I wanted to use and picked out sketches and photos and put them aside so that when I had the time to scrapbook I was knocking them out… never thought to plan them before but it really worked for me so I’m trying to keep that up!

It’s funny as when I was at the crop some of the American ladies thought this was a photo of my daughter, I had to explain that it was me when I was younger and they couldn’t get over it!!

Supplies
Papers/Cardstock: Bo Bunny, Bazzill Swiss Dots, Stampin Up Chocolate Chip
Stamps: Just A Note - Maya Road,
Other: Alphabet – Bo Bunny Stickers, Prima Swirl Bling, Basic Grey Pearl Flowers

A Different Card Using Tim Holtz Sizzix Bracket Die

I was inspired by a card on Paula Pascual’s blog, I wanted to give it a go as it looked really different and hers was stunning, it was an excuse to try out my new Tim Holtz Bracket die I bought the other month that I hadn’t had the chance to use!

The card took me probably about 4-5 hours from start to finish which I know sounds a lot but half way through I really took a disliking to the papers I had chosen but I was trying to be good and use some of my scrap papers that I’ve used for other projects that need using up… I just find it hard cutting into those nice new papers when I have loads of papers that need using plus not sure his mum would fully appreciate how hard it is to cut into the new Bo Bunny or My Minds Eye papers LOL!... I still don’t like the colours… I think it’s the pink and red that I don’t like as I wouldn’t normally put the two colours together!

The flower on the front of the card was made using a Martha Stewart scalloped punch, I love this effect! So simple to do but a bit fiddly, you could really do with an extra pair of hands when it comes down to gluing ends together!

To make the flower first punch a strip of cardstock using a border punch, then fold the border like you did when you were a kid making a fan, make sure you use your bone folder on the creases to get a crisp fold.

Then glue the two ends together, here's the tricky part where an extra pair of hands comes in very handy!! Next cut a small circle with a 1/2 inch punch and glue it to the back of the flower so that you can attach it easily to a card, leave it to dry.

Once dry add a brad, bit of bling, button or whatever you choose for the middle of the flower. I think this looks really effective and it’s what drew me to her card in the first place! Hope you can understand my instructions!

I also love the new Quickutz alphabet that I had recently bought, it's a limited Heidi Swapp alphabet and I just love her style and was so excited when I spotted that she had an alphabet set out, first time I used it on this card and I just love the style of it, think it's going to be one of my favourite alphas!

Supplies

Papers/Cardstock: My Minds Eye, Pink Pirouette cardstock – Stampin’ Up

Dies: Heidi Swapp handwriting Alphabet - Quickutz, Label One – Nestabilities, Tim Holtz Brackets – Sizzix

Stamps: Everyday – Penny Black

Ribbon: Certainly Celery Grosgrain - Stampin' Up

Other: Scallop Border Punch – Martha Stewart, Glamour Dust

Jakey Bakey's Baby Card!

This card has been a work in progress for a good month or so before little Jake entered this world but I have been waiting to get it completed! Becky had a gorgeous little boy on the 9th May and I would have sent the card earlier but the proud parents took a while to find the right name for him.

Then I was waiting on his middle names, weight, eye colour, length etc… I’ve felt like little Jake’s stalker for the past few weeks keeping a close eye on Facebook and other online sites for any update so that I can finish the card! I’m still not sure if they have been decided on his middle names but I just couldn’t wait any longer to get this sent out!

The 4 little tags have a photo of each scan they had over the 9 months of his journey and there is a verse on each tag which reads…

A new baby boy

is a gift beyond measure

a wonder to hold

and a lifetime to treasure

With ten perfect fingers

and ten tiny toes

two bright eyes

and a cute little nose

This soft little one

is a bundle of love

a beautiful boy

sent from above.

His life is a miracle

filled with pure joy

What a blessing to welcome

your cute little boy!

I hope they like it, I just wanted to make something a little special for one very special super cute little boy!

Supplies

Papers/Cardstock: Imaginesice, Soft Suede & Bashful Blue – Stampin’ Up

Dies: Birds - Quickutz, Swirl - Sizzix, Abigail Alphabet- Quickutz, Studio Alphabet- Quickutz, Dragonfly Alphabet - Quickutz, Heidi Swapp handwriting Alphabet - Quickutz, Label One – Nestabilities, Tim Holtz File Tab – Sizzix

Stamps: Sentiment - Elzybells, Changito Thank You - Stampendous, Border Stamps – Heidi Grace, Circle Of Friendship - Stampin’ Up, Short & Sweet - Stampin’ Up & Snap It Alphabet Stamps - Karen Foster

Ribbon: Soft Suede Polka Dot & Bashful Blue Grosgrain - Stampin Up

Other: Stickers - Doodlebug, Scalloped Border Punch – Stampin Up, Crochet Flower, Bling Buckle

Cupcake Card

 

Here's another card I made recently for Becky's birthday. I got this stamp for my birthday and I was so excited about it as I love cupcakes anyway and this is a monster cupcake stamp!! I couldn't wait to try it out.

 

I just love the new Hero Art's Cling stamps, love the fact that I can see the image at the back of the rubber and that they don't take up much storage!

 

Stamps: Hero Arts Cling Large Cupcake, SU Sweet Little Sentiments Inks: SU Baja Breeze & Chocolate Chip Paper: Daisy Bucket Other: SU Scallop Border Punch, Swarovski Crystal Bling, Stickles Waterfall Glitter Glue

Bradley's Birthday

Well it's been a few weeks since I last posted, just been a bit hectic with work and home life. I've now got an impacted infected wisdom tooth, which was real fun because I woke up one morning being unable to open my mouth enough to eat my breakfast, I've been feeling dizzy for a few weeks along with earache but just got on with it... now I know why!

 

Infection has gone for now but waiting for a date with BUPA as a day patient to have the horrible tooth removed.. it's just been one thing after another recently... I feel like I could write a soap opera!!!

Anyway here's Paul's Nephew's birthday card, not up to my usual standard but I really find male cards hard ... I acknowledge that I need to widen my male related stash but it just doesn't jump out at me like pink and glittery stuff does LOL!

 

I was having my dizzy spells that day and couldn't look down for very long before having to look up! I really don't like it now I've made it and sent it but he seemed happy enough with it.

 

I've got some stapbook LO's that I want to post here once I get the time to take piccies of them, went to an all day crop 2 weeks ago and found my scrapbooking mojo again YAY!

 

Papers: Old HOTP Stamps, Bazzill Swiss Dots: Heidi Swapp Dies: Quickutz Star Cookie Cutter, Sizzix Go Slim Alphabet, Quickutz Abigail Alphabet Ribbon & Ink: Stampin' Up Chocolate Chip

It's been a while!

OMG can't believe it's been such a long time since I last blogged.... 2009 was a crappy year and this year has been a rather stressful one and I haven't had a huge amount of 'me' time to walk into my craft room let alone actually sit and my desk and play!

I'm sure no one comes here any more to my little blog as I've been away so long and my cards and pages aren't very good but they say writing it down all helps you move on so deep breath....

To cut a very long story short, mum fell ill last July and got progressively worse and was diagnosed with cancer of the womb in October but we had to wait until January for her operation (good old NHS) it was horrible to watch your mum get so sick and not be able to really do anything to ease the pain.

Anyway she had her operation in January and is gradually getting there but it's a long process getting her back on her feet, she's been told it could take up to a year to fuly recover and she's itching to get back to work but the docotrs still say she needs more time to rest

Thankfully she got the all clear in Feburary and no further treatment is needed so we hope that the nasty C word never comes back knocking on her door. But she's now started to file for divorce which is another story in itself and feel this is going to be another stressful time for us all.

We lost Paul's grandfather to cancer in February and my uncle has been in and out of hospital over the past 6 months after having both legs, toes and ankles broken and re-set. He's actually just been rushed into hospital again today with suspected DVT in the lung which is worrying...
Just feel worn out with all the stress and worry for the past year... I'd just like to get back to plodding along with a quiet life!!

Anyway I had a little craftime today and pulled out all my scrapbooking stuff that has been mounting up in my little room, my lack of mojo hasn't stopped me buying the odd few bits but just haven't been able to do anything with it, just have had no inspiration

Enough of my waffle LOL here's my LO with the lovely Bo Bunny stash that I bought last year that I simply love because I love snowflakes and also the colours on this paper go so well with the SU colours !!!

So hopefully I'll be back to scrapping and blogging now as I need to use up all my lovely stash!!