Strange weather!

Firstly an apology for not updating on Friday...I was full of cold and not feeling up to anything much spent the afternoon entertaining a very bored Alex who hadn't been allowed to go to nursery due to a slight, very mild stomach upset. By Friday afternoon he was fine and bored so in need of some rough and tumble fun! Yesterday when we woke up in the morning it was snowing! I couldn't believe it. Despite the weather we went to Coventry to see my best friend from Uni...I don't get to see her anywhere near often enough so it was wonderful. Alex was in small boy heaven playing with all their cars and being entertained by Christopher. After lunch we got the train track out and Alex and Owain enjoyed pushing the trains round the track. Today although the weather was miserable this morning and we had a bout of sleet and then hail, by the afternoon it had cleared up so we had a cold trip to the park which we both enjoyed. Alex especially liked going through the puddle on his scooter. We came home slightly early though when he fell over in a very deep puddle, completely soaking his trousers...he wasn't too upset by it fortunately. I have done very little crafting over the past few days...I made these Christmas tags for a swap on the Quirky Crafts forum. These actually fit with the papertake weekly challenge of 'Christmas Crackers'. I also made a scrapbook layout following this weeks unscripted sketch, Basic Grey, Cosmo Cricket & Bazzill cardstock, Inkadinkadoo stamps, Angel kiss flowers and leaves. The photos were taken this summer. The title is 'Waterfall' and the journalling reads 'For Alex the most exciting walks are those involvin waterfalls. Every fall of water no matter how small or large is greated with shouts of joy and exctement and we have to stop and watch for a while before walking on saying 'Bye Bye waterfall'. Have a great week everyone.
Love,
Caro
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Getting yet another cold!

This cold is courtesy of Tim for a change...I have no idea where he picked it up from considering he is at home most of the time but he has a stinker bless him and Alex and I are now developing it. Despite that and the lack of sleep all round Alex has been good fun and we have played a lot with trains recently, to the sound of a running commentary along the lines of 'trains go on the track', 'trains have wheels', 'wheels go on the track', 'blue steam train goes on track'. His language is really developing and it is great fun to hear.

Carfting wise I have made a card for my mother-in-law to say thank you for Alex's new teddy. I followed the Friday sketchers sketch, free papers from a scrapbook magazine, and a photo of Alex with his new teddy.

I have also made a scrapbook layout for my childhood album following this weeks Pencil Lines sketch by Anna. The page uses Hot off the Press papers, Bazzill cardstock, flora doodle flowers, Heidi Grace, papermania and all my memories Alphabet stickers. The title is 'Summer sun' and the jounalling reads 'Andy (aged 9 months) and me (aged 3 1/2) enjoying the sun and flowers in the gardens at Knightshayes'.

The second scrapbook page followed this weeks sketch from Scrap and Stamp and features Alex playing in our local park with two friends. I used Bazill and Basic Grey cardstock, Heidi Grace and Making memories chipboard, K&CO, Basic Grey, Cosmo Cricket and making memories stickers, and Just Rite and Inkadinkado stamps. The title is 'Fun' and the journalling reads 'Alex had so much fun playing in Spider Park with Robin and Chloe. The seesaw was a firm favourite with all three of them although the boys favourite game was to make lots of noise in the tunnel - Chloe wasn't quite so sure about it!' This layout also fits with the Daring Cardmakers challenge to use at least three things that start with the same letter as the first letter of your name, in my case C. This was harder than you might think...I could think of loads beginning with B for example, but C was harder. In the end I used cardstock, chipboard, a cosmo cricket sticker and used my cuttlebug to cut the swirl embellishment!

Finally I made some Christmas ATCs for a swap I have joined using K&CO papers, Crafty Individual images and Hero Arts swirl stamp. I would love to know what you think. Have a great rest of the week,

Love,

Caro

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Production line!

The weather has been miserable this weekend, wet and windy for most of both days so we have been inside for the weekend. So that Tim could get his much needed afternoon nap Alex and I went to the indoor Play space yesterday...Alex loved it so much that he didn't want to leave. We had a great time in the ball pit and clambering round inside the towers, across the wobbly bridge and down the big slide (Alex went down by himself for the first time). Today we went to a friend's house where Alex turned their sitting room upside down playing with all their toys!

I have been in a Christmas card production line mode this weekend as I suddenly realised that time was disappearing and I hadn't even made half the cards I need so I made 30 in total using several simple designs with the cuttlebug embossing folders as shown above and below. This one used K&Co papers and Crafty Individuals images. This design used cuttlebug embossing and Crafty Individuals images. These ones used an image of a robin taken from the net so fits with the CCC challenge of digital images and my cuttlebug embossing folder of birds and swirls. Although this one doesn't really fit with this weeks Unscripted sketch exactly it was inspired by it so may be it counts?! Have a good week everyone.

Love,

Caro

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More good news

I have ended the week on a bit of a high having had one of my work articles accepted for publication in the British Journal of Cancer. It is great news and I am so pleased about it. What a lovely way to end the week. At home we are all rather tired having been suffering from sleeplessness as a family, and poor Alex is absolutely shattered bless him. He was given a new knitted teddy by Granny which seems to have been successfully adopted as this photo shows. He decided tonight that he loves the moon. There was a beautiful crescent moon shining in the sky on the way home from nursery and Alex was actually quite upset when we came in from the car and he had to say 'Good night' and 'Bye Bye' to the moon!

I have been challenged on the Crafty Cardmakers sight to make a card with something clear and I chose to use acetate for the first time. It is something I have been meaning to try for ages but hadn't got round to it. I have to say that I loved it so much I made three cards! The first two are similar with the whole of the front panel being acetate with an inkadinkado swirl and Hero Arts snowflakes stamped in white StazOn on the bottom and a strip of patterned paper near the top. The writing will be hidden behind the paper. Sorry about the photo...I couldn't find the best way of photographing it.

This second one uses K&Co papers in traditional colours and this is probably my favourite of the three cards.

Finally I made a card with a panel cut out and filled with acetate and loosely followed this weeks PTW sketch and the challenge from Kaboodle doodles to use bling (the silver peel offs, sticker and sparkly flower), bows and buttons (the blue sparkly star is a button - I snapped the back off with pliers!). As usual I would love to know what you think. Have a good weekend everyone.

Love,

Caro

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P.S. I have just heard that I made the top three on the crafty cardmakers sight for the stamp something challenge with my 90th birthday card. I am really really thrilled! Thank you.

Where is this week going?

I can’t believe it is Wednesday already. Work is completely manic with endless meetings often ending up back to back meaning that I am not actually managing to write the papers and grants that I need to. I hope that things will calm down a bit soon. Alex is hilarious at the moment chattering away non-stop about anything and everything. He is fascinated by the way it goes dark so early and is still dark when we get up in the morning and constantly comments on it. He also wants me to talk to people on the phone every evening so that he can say ‘Hello, how are you?’ he then responds ‘fine’ to the same question asked back before saying ‘bye’ and handing the phone back to me! He will sometimes tell people what he is doing or try and show them his car/teddy etc, but the rather abrupt ‘bye’ is hilarious! I have good news to report! Nearly 6 months after her accident Gran has moved into her new flat and she is loving it. It means that she is able to look after herself again and has been out and about making new friends with the neighbours. She has even been asked to play the piano for the Christmas concert in the retirement village so everything seems to be going well. It is nice to hear her so up-beat about everything. As a result a new home card was called for…well I didn’t have anything appropriate for a new home, except this little key which came free with something ages ago. This card follows this weeks unscripted sketch (#31), uses K&Co papers for the background, Angel Kiss flowers, Making memories brads, pearl stickers and JustRite stamps. I’m afraid that the photo is a bit bleached out as I had to use the flash.
I have also made a scrapbook page for this weeks challenge on Scrap and Stamp which was to scrap your spouse…now Tim isn’t keen on having his photo on here so the only way I could persuade him to let me was to do a page of both him and Alex! The title of this page is ‘Happy as a pair of Sandboys’, and is of our trip to Cleethorpes beach in September this year. Alex absolutely loved playing with Tim and it wasn’t too tiring for Tim as he could sit down the whole time and still have fun. The journaling reads ‘Alex and Tim had so much fun playing together on the beach at Cleethorpes; building and knocking down sandcastles, sticking sand to the wall and burying each other’s feet. Great fun all round!’ I stamped the yellow Bazzil cardstock with Stamps Away mini shells in Adirondack butterscotch and added Hero Arts corner stamps in Adirondack denim. This page follows the Unscripted sketch for this week, and also fits with the CCC digital image challenge as the buckets and spades are clip art images. I also have a confession…the sandcastle while actually being a stamp is digital as I don’t actually own it and a friend scanned it in for me to print out at a convenient size. Sorry about the flash glare.
I am at work during daylight hours and photos without the flash aren’t great either…here is an attempt in the hopes that you can see the full effect of the page. Finally I made a quick and simple card using the free bauble stamp from PaperCraft Inspirations highlighted with cheap glitter glue. Not sure you can tell from this photo, but the baubles are mounted on sticky foam pads to add a bit of dimension. I hope you all have a good rest of the week.
Love,
Caro
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An adventure...not!

Well yesterday we set out to go to my parents-in-law for the day only to have a 1.75 hour journey turn into a 4.25 hour epic due to an accident closing the M1 both southbound and northbound. The tail back was for miles and nearly all the surrounding roads were gridlocked. Eventually Tim found us a little back route around the mess and we did make it, although we were very close to giving up and going home. Alex was actually remarkably good, as although he didn't like sitting still in traffic the thought of not seeing his cousins was more upsetting to him. I am glad that we made it in the end as we all had a nice time when we were there, especially Alex who loved playing on the quadbike.

his cousins kept making towers for him to knockdown and generally all three played great games together...including rough and tumble gameswhile the adults lazed around! Needless to say we came an alternative, non motorway route home.

Today we had a day of cleaning, tidying, washing, shopping etc and this afternoon Alex and I went to the park. It was rather cold but he had a great time running round playing on his scooter, climbing up the ladder and climbing frame, sliding down the different slides and generally burning off energy. I enjoyed watching him until it started to rain! Needless to say I haven't had much time for crafting so have only made two Christmas cards using the free papers from Cardmaking and papercraft magazine. Both of these fit with the 'four seasons' challenge from SCSC as they are winter, and they both fit with the CCT glitter challenge. The second one also fits with the Spoonfull of sugar challenge to create a scene as I used a sakura glaze pen to generate the snow dots, cut out the trees and painted snow on them, tore some paper and covered it with glitter glue for the snow and then added the raindeer with sleigh and parcels for my scene. Have to dash now so have a great week everyone.

Love,

Caro

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Nasty shock

Poor Alex…We told him repeatedly not to lean against or stand on the stair gate at the top of the stairs and while I was in the bathroom yesterday he did that (having been told not to about 5 times) and the gate broke... next thing both he and the gate were at the bottom of the stairs. Fortunately he seemed to actually slide on the gate itself, albeit head first, so although he gave his head a nasty bump there were no other injuries and no neck injuries which was my main fear. After a good big Mummy cuddle and a check that nothing else hurt he was fine, running around and chatting like normal, although it obviously had given him a huge shock poor little thing. I have to say I have never been so scared in my life. Needless to say we spent the rest of the evening fitting an alternative stair gate. Crafting wise I have only done a little…this card is for a colleague who’s last day at work was today before starting her maternity leave…she doesn’t know whether she is having a boy or a girl hence the blue and pink on this card. I also made this little snowflake card which has sakura stardust on the background flakes, shiny blue card in the background, silver card for the snowflake and blue glitter glue for the centre, therefore this card fits with the Cute card Thursday theme of glitter me silly and with the CCC theme of snow. That’s all from me now. Have a good weekend everyone.
Love,
Caro
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Where has my brain gone?

I am having what can only be described as a clumsy, uncoordinated and absentminded week so far. I have badly cut my leg while shaving, bruised the same leg by bumping into the coffee table, tripped down a step, stubbed my toe, walked into the door (don’t laugh), made a cup of tea by adding water from the tap to my mug with the water and milk (just like making squash) and then made another cup of tea by filling a mug with milk and a teabag forgetting the water to name but a few of the absentminded things I have done. I want my brain back! Alex is very tired again but being very sweet, cuddling me lots, playing games of chase, hide and boo, drawing, dancing and playing with cars. He is a chatterbox and a constant source of delight...don't you just love that cheeky grin!
I have actually made two scrapbook layouts so far this week. This first one follows the Unscripted sketch for this week and is of me aged about 3 with my cousins, hence the rather unoriginal title of the page. The papers were Sarapapers from Hot off the Press with Angel kiss flowers. The journaling reads ‘My Dad’s two oldest sisters had five boys between them; Benjie, Bastie and Richard Lowsley-Williams are my oldest cousins of whom Bastie was my favourite, and Harry & Archie Massey who were the same age as Andy and me and with whom we spent a lot of time while growing up’. The second page fits with this weeks theme from Scrap and stamp, and for the challenge on Quirky crafts which are both ‘One for the boys’. The page follows this weeks sketch from Pencil Lines. I chose this photo because it was an archetypal moment in the life of my two men…sharing a hot dog while watching a brass band. The page uses Cosmo Cricket and Bazzil cardstock, Daisy Doodle stickers, Making memories brads and stamps from Stamps Away (stitching), JustRite (alphabet and ‘cutie pie’), Tapestry (for the leaves on the tree) and Woodware (stars). The title is ‘Sharing Daddy’s hotdog!’ and the journaling reads ‘Alex enjoyed his first taste of hotdog and proceeded to eat nearly half, much to Daddy’s dismay 31st May 2009’. Finally I made a 90th birthday card for my great-aunt. She loves watercolours and flowers so I tried to include an element of both with the stamped image in the centre of the zero being coloured with watercolour pencils, and then the 9 and 0 being stamped with tapestry stamps and highlighted with some flowersoft. Due to the amount of stamping on this card it counts for the stamp something challenge from Crafty cardmakers. Unfortunately the photographs don’t do any of this artwork justice as I couldn’t photograph them in natural light. Hopefully you can get the idea anyway. Have a good rest of the week.

Love,

Caro

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Fun!

Firstly an apology for not updating on Friday…I had the day off so we went out to the cinema for the first time in ages. Yesterday morning we enjoyed the rare glimpse of sun and went out to the Heeley City farm where Alex and I made friends with this lovely cat. In the afternoon it started to rain so we went for our first adventure to the local Playspace…Alex loved it, especially as Mummy was allowed to climb around it with him so we could both go up to the top, through the dark and scary tunnel slide, across the tunnel and wobbly bridge then down the double bumpy slide! Throwing himself in and out of the ball pit was also a great game as far as he was concerned, especially as he was given a red balloon which went everywhere with him.
This morning it was wet and miserable and Alex was very tired so we stayed at home playing various games, watching CBeebies, making playdoh dinosaurs and generating large amounts of mess. Although the weather cleared up this afternoon Alex decided he wanted to go to the museum and we had a lovely time as he was in a really fun mood, chattering about everything…we finished the trip off with a quick run round Western Park, even though it was almost dark by then! I have been busy being creative over the past few days as well with baking and decorating Tim’s birthday cake which he loved. I also made loads of Christmas cards…these four all follow the Stamp something theme from Crafty Cardmakers and the scallops theme from My Time To craft. The stamps were free with Cardmaking and Papercraft magazine. This card followed the sketch from CCC with free papers, a free stamp, a sticker from the Post Office and the cuttlebug embossed image coloured with chalks and sakura stardust pen. As I am a bit late with this posting and the new challenge has already been posted I am lucky that this card (and most of the others on here) fits with the snow theme as well.
This card followed the CPS sketch and used Cuttlebug embossed snowflake background enhanced with sakura stardust, a free stamp, Cuttlebug snowflake and Papermania snowflake brad. This card followed the Sketch Saturday sketch with Cuttlebug embossing and a Martha Stewart edging punch…word of warning; it is easier to punch before embossing not after!
This card followed the Friday Sketchers sketch and I cut out the snowflake silver prongs by hand not having a large enough snowflake shape. Sorry about the really dark photo.Finally I used the sketch from A Spoonful of Sugar combined with basic grey card, free papers, and embossed images and stamps to make this last card. It has been a successful weekend! I hope you all have a great week.
Love,
Caro
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