Mothering Sunday!

Well I have been spoilt rotten this weekend, starting with this very special hand written message from Alex (aged nearly 5). 

Then he and Tim went on a 'secret mission' and came back with this very lovely cut orchid complete with another hand written tag by Alex saying 'love from Alex'.

This morning Alex climbed into bed with me and gave me this card which apparently features a multi-coloured cheetah and his tracks, as well as a set of Indigo Blu stamps as my Mothering Sunday present.

As it was my in laws 45th Wedding Anniversary today we headed down to Kennilworth for a family celebration with a pub meal.  We all had a lovely time despite me not having any voice. 

Not knowing exactly how well three young boys would cope with it, we had all bought some toys to keep them entertained...favourites were the Bungees and the Bakugan which kept them happily playing.

Taking silly photos of everyone also kept us all entertained, especially with this photo of the 'Happy couple'! 

I couldn't let the weekend go without checking out the Less is More site.  This weeks challenge left me stumped for ages, despite the fact that I use masking on most of my cards!  In the end I masked out the area of the card I wanted to use and then tore paper for masking of the hills which I shaded using my distress inks.  In fact all inks on this card were distress inks, and I used a mixture of Lavinia and Crafty Individuals stamps to make this scene. I am entering this card into Simon Says Stamp 'Bit o green', Fresh Brewed 'plants/outdoor sceenery', Speedy Fox and friends 'Clean and Simple', and The Pixie Cottage 'pastels'.  That's all from me for now.  Have a great week everyone.
Love,
Caro
x

Yukky Friday

Alex has given me his cold. I was up last night coughing and wheezing with a streaming nose and have a temperature today so have given up on work.  Sadly I don't have the energy to do anything else either which is rather distressing so have been vegging on the sofa with a book and lemsip.

I made this scrapbook layout yesterday evening when I wasn't feeling quite as rough. It features the two men in my life and is entitled '2 Cheeky Chaps'.  The journalling reads 'I am so lucky to have you both in my life.  The papers were all scraps from Cosmo Cricket and I inked round the edges of the Bazzil Basic card stock with fried brick distress ink.  I am entering this into Lasting Memories 'lucky', Cards for men 'Cheeky chappies' (I hope it counts as it isn't a card!), CCCB 'Things in my heart', Gingersnaps 'border punches' (I used a Mary Stewart one), DYSU 'Favourite colour' (red), Delightful challenges 'Someone special' (these are two special people to me) and Paperplay 'Bingo' (stamping, stitching & inks).

This layout followed the sketch by Creative Scrapbookers and followed the theme by Scrap it with a song (the word fantabulous comes from the song Moondance by Van Morrison). I used stipple ink effects and stamps from Lavinia stamp to enhance the background of this layout.  That is all from me for now.  I hope you all have a great weekend.
Love,
Caro
x

Wednesday and WOYWW!

OK so it is Wednesday and you all know what that means...time for WOYWW.  First a BIG thank you to Julia (host of WOYWW) for the lovely badge and the fantastic bag - you are right, I did recognise it - LOL!  On my desk this week you can see my craft mat covered in lace, DST, a craft knife and various things that I am putting together for my latest card (see below).  Towards the back of the desk are a pair of scissors, pencil, bag of punched out leaves (thanks Lyn!) a card blank and hiding behind the PVA glue is my faithful tea mug, sadly almost empty now and a toilet roll (I am getting yet another cold!). The note book is where I keep a record of all the different challenges that I am entering.

This is the final card, a 45th wedding anniversary card for my in laws; this is apparently a Sapphire wedding anniversary hence the colour scheme of blues.  It was made following the Crafty Cardmakers sketch and fits with CCC 'going dotty' (dots on the leaves, ladies shirt, and lace), SSSS 'Anything goes', Creative card crew 'Vintage', Flourishes Timeless Tuesday 'Lace and Scallops', Stampin' for the weekend 'photo inspiration' (colours and shabby chic) and Speedy Fox and friends 'Bingo' (Lace, Bling and circles).  That is all from me for now.  Have a great rest of the week.
Love,
Caro
x

Sunny Spring Weekend!

Since yesterday lunchtime the weather has been gorgeous with brilliant sunshine and minimal wind.  As a result we have spent much of the weekend outside with a trip to Wymingbrook Woods yesterday afternoon,

where Alex spent a happy couple of hours clambering on rocks, scrambling up and down steep banks,

using a torch to peer into mini caves and holes playing a version of hide and seek with a toy cheetah - I would hide it in a hole and he had to find it.  Easy entertainment that kept him happy for hours. We came back filthy, tired and happy!

This morning we had a crafting morning with Alex making a mini scrapbook and helping me to put all his recent drawings into another scrapbook, whereas afternoon we went to Endcliff park where Alex spent the best part of two hours playing with paper aeroplanes in the sun.  It was a lovely weekend.

This weekend it is my turn to set the challenge on Quirky Crafts which is a 'Recipe for a special Lady'.  The card can be a Mother's Day card, but it must include circles, flowers and gems/pearls.  Considering I set the challenge I actually found it really hard!  I used an image and a sentiment from our sponsor, The Cutting Cafe to make this along with some free papers from the scrapbook magazine from ages ago, the corner stamp from Crafty individuals and some gems & gem flowers from my stash.  I am also entering this into MTTC 'circles' and Simon Says Stamp 'Mother's Day'.

I couldn't let the weekend go by without joining in with Less is More.  The challenge this time is 'A one layer card with script'.  I have to confess that this is actually my 3rd attempt at a card for this challenge...the other two ended up in the bin after a severe case of dodgy design and then dodgy stamping.  This card acutally uses Crafty Individual (script), Penny Black (flower) and Inkadinkado (sentiment) stamps and follows the sketch from this weeks Unscripted Sketches.  It also fits with LIIU 'flowers' and All sorts 'flowers' challenges. That is all from me for now.  Have a nice week everyone.
Love,
Caro
x

Secret diary!

Alex (aged nearly 5!) has decided that he is going to keep a secret diary!  In reality his 'secret diary' is a little hard backed note book in which he spends hours sitting and drawing and practicing writing his letters. This isn't something we have suggested, but something he has chosen to do over the past few days and he is really enjoying it. I just love the look of concentration on his face as he does it!  He wont let me take photos of the pages as they are secret, but I have been priviledged enough to see them.  I particularly liked his drawing of crows and the double page that was completely filled with letters written neatly between the lines.

My crafting project over the past few days has been a bit of a different one for me.  I am an avid reader and have always been fascinated by the creative process of writing books so decided to alter this mini wooden tray to detail the stages involved.  So you go from 'Unlocking' (top left) the 'Imagination' (top right) to 'Sweet Creation' (bottom left) and finally to 'Publication' (bottom right).  The overall feel of this piece is Steampunk and vintage, with the main colour being Viridian Green. The key, cog, pen nib and bottle are all from the Tim Holtz Idea-ology range.  This little creation fits with Ooh La La 'on the move' (balloon and dragon), SSSS 'Bottle it' (little bottle filled with ink), the Crazy challenge 'steampunk', PTW 'Anything goes', Gingersnap 'Granny's photo album/vintage' (there are lots of vintage elements to this), The Pixie Cottage 'things with wings' (dragon), DYSU 'go green' (colour green), and Paperplay 'recycle' (paper from an old book).  That is all from me for now.  Have a great weekend everyone.
Love,
Caro
x

Well done Alex! (WOYWW)

I had Alex's parents evening yesterday and I was told that he is doing really well in school.  He has gone from being the child that was most told off for not sitting still to being one of the ones that they rarely have to tell off.  He is working really well independently and they think he is really intelligent with an amazing grasp and use of language considering he is not yet 5. It seems that in the past few weeks the purpose of school has really clicked for him and he is fully engaging with every aspect of it.  I am so pleased with him!  This morning before school he stamped a card (copying one I made - see later) and wrote 'Spring' on it to take to his teachers...look at that cheeky face!

This is the close up of Alex's card...not bad stamping for a 4 year old and he used the cut and dry foam for the first time with my distress inks. His writing is getting neater too!

Here is my desk as part of WOYWW.  As you can see it is covered in distress inks, cut and dry foam, scraps of paper and card, and numerous stamps (mostly Lavinia and Crafty Individuals) having just finished stamping a card. To the left of my desk, hidden underneath the pieces of scrap paper and card is the latest edition of Crafty Stamper which provided the hare stamp and inspiration for the card. The centre of my desk has the craft mat on it for use with the distress ink and you can see one lonely Tapestry stamp - a butterfly which was used to cover up an unfortunate ink splat on the card.  I always seem to make those sorts of mistakes when stamping and am getting better at covering them up - LOL.  Those of you who know me well will be wondering where my mug of tea is hiding...it is downstairs where Tim is kindly making me a fresh brew!

Here is the finished card made for a friend who is having a tough time at work at the moment.  I want her to know that her friends are always there for her. I am entering this card into Kaboodle Doodles 'Spring flowers', Pollycraft 'Spring has sprung', Flourishes Timeless Tuesday 'use at least 3 colours from their inspiration photo' (black, green, rust red and orangey yellow), Tuesday Throwdown 'new life', and SCSC 'go for green' (green is the main colour on this...not sure how green it looks in this photo though!). That is all from me for now.  Have a great rest of the week everyone.
Love,
Caro
x

Changeable weather!

Within the course of the past 2 days we have had high winds, brilliant sunshine, drizzle, heavy rain and even snow.  As I type this we have gone back to drizzle again.  It didn't stop us having fun though...yesterday Alex and I went round to friends where he had a great time playing board games and silly spy games with Katie, and today he spent the afternoon in an indoor play area.

Crafting wise I have, naturally, made my entry for Less Is More.  This week the theme is 'neutral colours' (creams, browns, greys etc) and I used entirely Crafty Individual stamps for my entry. The ribbon and flower were recycled (ribbon was cut out of a pair of trousers and the flower was one of several I rescued from a friend's bin -  LOL!) so I am entering this into Speedy Fox and friend's 'recycle' challenge, as well as Delicious Doodles 'inspired by a song' (Pretty Woman), Fussy & Fancy 'More than words', and Crafty Creations 'Vintage Fashion'.

My Gran (now aged 87) is quite seriously ill at the moment and is on about three different courses of antibiotics so I made this special Spring card for her.  It used the free stamp from IndigoBlu from the cover of this month's Crafty Stamper and cased one of the designer's cards featured in the magazine (Kay Halliwell-Sutton).  The other stamps I used were a mixture of Lavinia stamps, Crafty Individuals and Hero Arts, with distress inks and Onyx black Versafine.  I am entering this card into Flourishes Timeless Tuesday 'country living', Gingersnap 'things that leap' (hares), CCT 'signs of spring', Delightful challenges 'Spring colours', DYSU 'Things with wings' and All sorts 'spread your wings' challenges. The colours don't look quite right in this photo...the hills and trees at the top are actually more green!  Any prayers for my Gran would be much appreciated.  That is all from me for now. Have a great week everyone.
Love,
Caro
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