Birthday crafting bonanza!

Well I celebrated my birthday this week in the nicest and gentlest way possible, with some crafting treats and time off work in which to craft. Alex made me a card (with Tim’s help) which is lovely, although he got slightly confused when giving it to me as he wanted to take the stickers off again! I received some lovely cards from my forum friends and a gorgeous hand knitted cardigan from my Mother-in-law. Tim spoilt me rotten with a lovely bunch of flowers, a handmade card (he doesn’t want me to show it on here) and a heap of crafty goodies. How lucky am I to have all this gorgeous new stash to play with? We even went out to the cinema to watch Fame which I thoroughly enjoyed.
With Alex now going to nursery full-time I had lots of time in which to craft and started by making some trading cards for an Autumn swap on the Time-for-crafting forum. These were made by brayering the background with Adirondack butterscotch and then stamping with Kaleidacolor inks and Woodcraft and Tapestry stamps for the backgrounds/edges. The central stamp on the left-hand ATC is Hero Arts, and the word ‘Autumn’ is from Stamps Away. The Time-for-crafting forum is also running an inchie swap and I realised it has been nearly 12 months since I last made any inchies (other than zentangle ones) and so thought it would be fun to join in. The backgrounds to these are two different K&Co vintage papers then coloured over with Whispers brush pens. I had fun making these, although they took hours! I would love to know what you think. I have also started my new scrapbooking project…to do a scrapbook of my life. I borrowed my parents photo albums, scanned in the photos and now have a pretty album and some lovely papers to scrap with to my hearts content. The first of these pages follows this weeks sketch from ‘Stuck?!’ and uses Hot of The press papers, Heidi grace chipboard letters and Flora Doodle flowers. The title is ‘4 generations’ and the journaling simply states who everyone is and the year in which they were born (Nana: Annie Holes (nee Merritt) born 1894; Gran: Joyce Morgan (nee Holes) born 1924; Mother: Christine Skelmersdale (nee Morgan) born 1948; Daughter: Carolyn Bootle-Wilbraham, born 197*). The next page is of my Christening so I guess it fits for the Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge this week which is ‘celebration’. I used this weeks Pencil lines sketch for this layout and Hot off the Press papers and Flora Doodle & Angel Kiss flowers. This also fits with this weeks Scrap and stamp challenge as the quote beneath the title ‘Little girls are heavens flowers’ is stamped using my new Just Rite stamp set. The journaling in the top right states that I was Christened at St Giles Church, Bradford-on-Tone on 1st Dec 197*. This page also fits with this weeks Crafty cardmakers challenge of using ribbons or fibres as I assume that the real lace counts! The next page is of my Grandparents and again uses Hot off the Press papers and Flora Doodle & Angel Kiss flowers. This fits with this weeks Cuttlebug Spot challenge of ‘Pretty in pink’ as most of the layout is pink based and the swirls were cut out on my Cuttlebug. The journaling reads ‘Although I only ever knew one set of my Grandparents, Joyce and Roy Morgan (Gran and Grandad), we were always very close and I was lucky enough to know them throughout my childhood up into becoming an adult. They are very special’. I again used ribbon on this layout so it fits with the Crafty Cardmakers challenge. Finally I made another layout using Hot off the Press papers and photos of me aged 9 months! I challenged myself on this layout to add ribbon in a different way, hence the knots of ribbon down the side. The journaling reads ‘ I have always been a water baby as these photos of me aged 9 months show. By all accounts I loved this time of splashing in the pool at ‘Honeyballs’, Stuart and Anne Marshall’s house on the Blackdown Hills. Giggling, splashing and trying to drink the water. July 197*’. It is back to work for me tomorrow. Have a great rest of the week everyone.
Love,
Caro
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