Birthday excitement!

Alex has realised that it is his birthday soon and is soo over excited about it. Every morning he wakes up saying 'Its my birthday today' and tells us exactly what he wants to happen on his birthday.  His ideal birthday is apparently getting lots of presents and cards and cars as well as a cake and a trip out somewhere! Fortunately most of these things are what we have planned, although I have had to pop out and buy him a matchbox car because for once there wasn't one included in his presents!

Crafting wise I made this bookmark for a friend who is going abroad for 6 months.  She wont be able to take much in her luggage so I thought that as she enjoys reading she might like this. It was made using pink and green distress inks in the background, Stamps Away flower stamps, a flower eyelet, a 1920s flapper image and a doodled edging.  This means it fits with the vintage theme for Creative card crew and Lots to do, The Spoon Full of Sugar shaped card theme, doodling for Stamp something, Pink, green and flowers for SCSC and the open theme for PTW.

This is the back of the bookmark which has been stamped with Purple Onion and tapestry stamps.

Alex has also had a go at crafting this week making this card for Grandad's birthday this weekend.  He drew the 'rainbow' first and then added the stickers. He took care over the lines he drew, making it specially for Grandad. Not bad for someone who isn't 3 yet!  This therefore fits with the Simon Says Stamp something theme of 'children's art'. Have a great rest of the week everyone.
Love,
Caro
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Spring foward!

Don’t you find it tiring when the clocks go forward? I always end up shattered for a few days afterwards. Never mind, at least it is another sign that spring is on the way – we even have a few daffs out in our garden!

It has been a lovely weekend weather wise, and so our trip down to Kennilworth to see Tim’s family was highlighted by time spent out in the garden. The boys loved chasing each other and Grandpa Pete round the garden with leaves and sticks before obliging me by all drinking their drinks in a row! Alex looks a lot smaller than he is, in this photo as he is crouching down for some reason – in reality there is very little height difference between him and Tom.

Alex about to hit me with a leaf!

Tom in circuit training running round the little patio

Sam running away from the camera!

                           

When inside the three of them helped Granny to cook the rice pudding

And then decided to play the guitar (very noisy) which led to some great photos! All in all Alex had a great early birthday trip and fun with his cousins.

Today Alex and I played in the garden and then went back to Lydgate lane park where he spent most of the time on the scooter, going really very fast around the tarmac.

Crafting wise I was inspired by my sister-in-laws scrapbook albums to try and use more photos on one page, so made this page of Alex’s first trip to Chester Zoo following this weeks unscripted sketch. It also fits with the Scrap and Stamp challenge of using tearing, striped paper, a large title and at least one stamp. The stamps were from Hero Arts and Purple Onion and the papers are Making Memories, Doodlebug Designs and Bazzil Basics. I would love to know what you all think. Have a great week everyone.

Love,

Caro

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Camera fun

We have had great fun over the past couple of days with Alex suddenly deciding after months of not being interested, that he wanted to play with ‘Alex’s camera’ (my old digital camera). The fun aspect of this is that he is now beginning to work out that what he sees on the screen is what is in front of the camera and he has actually taken some not bad photos (considering he isn’t yet 3!). This is a recent self-portrait with the camera held at arms length.

These are some of his teddies in his cot

And this is a not great photo of me (I was actually getting him dressed at the time so the angle is a bit weird!). It is such fun watching him trying to puzzle the whole thing out and having fun with it. I guess it isn’t surprising that he should show an interest bearing in mind that I don’t go anywhere without mine.

Crafting wise I have made another trading card which follows the themes of both Spring and Easter. I make no apologies for the inclusion of the Cross in this one as this is what Easter is all about for me. This little trading card therefore fits with lots of challenges for this week: Crafty cardmakers (Spring); DCM (eggs); Magical crafts (Spring/Easter); OCC (think Easter); SCSC (Spring); Simon Says challenge (Easter); Stamp with fun (Easter). Not bad for one little card!

I have also made a recipe card for a swap I have joined in with on the Quirky Crafts forum. It is a recipe for yummy flapjacks and is on two sides…the front has the ingredients

And the back has the instructions. I decorated it using my distressed inks and images taken from the web. This fits with CCC this week as the theme is food and drink. I would love to know what you think of these. Have a great weekend everyone.
Love,
Caro
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Sort out!

I had Monday off work and spent much of the day having a major sort out of our back room.  This is the extension from the kitchen and is where most of Alex's toys are dumped. As a result it is chaos so I went and bought some clear plastic storage boxes and sorted out all the toys.  Things are looking so much better in there.  It is a storage room still, but at least we can see everything and find everything. 

Alex was most impressed, especially when we found toys that he hadn't seen for ages!

I also had time to craft which was wonderful so I completed three scrapbook layouts.  This first one, entitled 'Falconry' fits with a number of different challenges as it used this weeks Unscripted sketch, the theme of masking from Scrap and Stamp, used up stash which was over a year old (the background card, sizzix die and stamps) for Practical Scrappers, followed the theme of dots/spots for both creative card crew and crafty creations and fitted with the 'tweetie pie' theme from DCM.  Not bad for one page.  The patterned papers,  embellishments and alphabet stickers were all from Crate paper and the journalling reads 'We spent a lovely morning at the Butterfly House, North Anston where, during the bird of prey display, I was allowed to fly 'Red', the Harrier Hawk. It was the most amazing experience and the fulfilment of a lifelong ambition. I loved every minute of it. 9th Aug 2009'.

The second page, entitled 'Mother and Daughter' is of my mother and gran and followed this weeks Friday sketchers sketch, the sophisticat theme of mint green, lilac and flowers (the colours haven't come out great in this photo), and the creative card theme of two's company (the two of them in the photo). The papers used on this are a muxture of Hot off the press and free papers from Scrapbook Magazine. The journalling reads 'Gran & Mother enjoying a gentle stroll down the lane at Barr. Aug '09'

The final page, entitled 'Monkey Puzzle' uses a complete mixture of papers from Doodlebug, Bo Bunny, Fancy pants & Basic grey, with Papermania and Basic grey alphabet stickers.  The page follows this weeks Pencil Lines sketch and the journalling reads 'Alex was so impressed by all the monkeys climbing round at Chester Zoo that he wanted Daddy to help him climb like a monkey too! Oct 2009'. I would love to know what you think of all these pages.  Have a great rest of the week.
Love,
Caro
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Spring!

Today it really feels like spring.  There has been sun and the day has felt much warmer and the flowers are out. 

We even have some primroses in our garden!

Yesterday was much wetter, however, but that didn't matter because apart from driving down to Coventry in the pouring rain we had a wonderful day with one of my best friends, Abby, and her family.  Owain, who is nearly a year older than Alex, was very sweet, entertaining Alex by showing him all his cars and the two of them had a wonderful time in Owain's bedroom leaving Abby and myself free for a good natter. 

Later on we set the train set up and the two boys again shared very nicely playing together.  It was a wonderful day and both Alex and I can't wait to go again! 

Today Alex and I went to explore a new park to us, in Crookes, which we both loved.  There was plenty of room for playing with balls and on his scooter, and then lots of lovely equipment, slides, seesaws, roundabouts, climbing frames etc.  We had a great time!

I have only had time for a little crafting this weekend, so I made these two trading cards for a Spring/Easter swap.  As a result they fit with a number of challenges this week; Lots to do (Spring time); OOC (Think Easter); SCSC (spring); A spoon full of sugar (Easter); and as I used my distressed inks it also fits with the Stamp something challenge (please find the links to all these sites on my sidebar).

Finally, here is my design team entry for this weeks Quirky Crafts challenge (flowers). This was made with Crafty individual corner stamps, Penny Black sentiment stamp and pressed flowers from my garden and Joanna Sheen. I would love to know what you think.  I hope you all have a wonderful week...I am lucky enough to have tomorrow off work so hope to do some more crafting then.  Take care,
Love,
Caro
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A face lift!

I decided that after nearly three years of blogging with the same background and header it was time for an up-date.  I would love to know what you think, but I for one am enjoying the slightly softer look of this background rather than the black.  I decided not to go for anything too complicated as I hate waiting ages for blogs to load and this is just as quick as the previous version.  The header I made using my brayer and new stamps which I photographed and then added the text using Photoshop.  I would love to know what you think.

Alex has been funny these past couple of days. The poor little thing is exhausted as he is not sleeping well and so in the evenings after nursery he has been wanting to read and do quiet things including requests to sit in his cot with a book!  Most unusual, but quite sweet to see.

Crafting wise I made this card for my Dad's birthday.  I tried out the brayer technique and my new Lavinia stamps again.  I was quite pleased with how it turned out and hope that he will like it.  It also fits with a few challenges this week; Cute Card Thursday (Anniversaries); Daring Cardmakers (tweetie pie); Magical Crafts (things with wings); Ooh La La (anything goes); and SCSC (anything goes). I would love to know what you think.  Have a great weekend everyone.

Love,

Caro

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Don't ask!

Just don’t ask how this week is going..especially not today. I am exhausted and have a thumping headache so am finding it hard to be positive which is very unlike me. That said I did manage to give a good lecture on Stroke and nutrition this morning so that was a relief as I was stressing about that one. I think the headache and general feelings of negativity are due to being in meetings for most of the day and having an extremely frustrating issue with our vacuum cleaner! We bought a new one and it cuts out after only 5-10 minutes use and the shop are refusing to believe it might be a fault with it. It is completely useless to me like this and we can’t afford just to buy a new one having forked out for this one. AARGH! At least Alex is being cute and good fun playing all sorts of inventive games including pirate treasure hunts which is one he and Tim invented and keeps him highly amused. This evening however, it was train sets and driving cars on the track. Crafting wise I have made this scrapbook layout of my childhood following the sketch on this weeks Scrap and Stamp. Yes that is me in the left hand photo! The stamp (little cat- top right) was free with this months Papercraft Inspirations and the stamp sticker with a previous magazine. The papers are all Cosmo Cricket and the title is ‘Family BBQ’. The journaling reads ‘Barbeques were common in the summer when I was growing up. Samba, our cat, thought they were great as I used to feed him my chicken skins – he was always hopeful for more!. June 1984’. This layout also fits with a number of other challenges; Stamp something – cream and green (the main colours on this page); creative card crew – going dotty (background paper); CCC – going green (main colour other than cream); My time to craft – lovely lace (Gran's towards bottom of layout); and SCSC – anything goes. Not bad going for one layout. Have a great rest of the week everyone.
Love,
Caro
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Mother's Day

It has been another lovely weekend. The weather has mostly been good, with sunny afternoons which has been brilliant. Our original plans for the weekend were to go to Tim’s parents, but sadly they have come down with a virus so that was not to be. Instead we did all our chores yesterday and headed out to Tropical World, Leeds today. I love it there and Alex has never yet been so it was a little Mother’s Day treat for me that I knew he would enjoy. The somewhat misty photo is because it was so hot inside the tropical house that the camera was misting up! Alex was fascinated by the waterfalls and the different animals including the terrapins and the meercats. I was especially fond of the baby meercats who were being inquisitive and cute. This afternoon while Tim had his afternoon nap Alex and I went to the nearby park where Alex played on his scooter and with his ball, and someone was flying a brightly coloured kite…Alex was fascinated by it. All in all it was a lovely Mother’s Day and this evening I will be having a treat meal and a nice movie. Perfect! My Mother’s day present was some new stamps from Lavinia stamps so I just had to have a play. I haven’t really got the brayering thing down and fine art yet, but was quite pleased with this sunset brayered background made using Adirondack inks. This was a total experiment and I look forward to playing again with some other ideas I have. Any tips as to how to improve it would be good. I also had time yesterday to make this scrapbook layout which follows this weeks Friday sketchers sketch. The central panel actually follows this weeks Unscripted sketch - two sketches in one layout! The layout also fits with the feminine celebration for Crafty cardmakers as it features my birthday, for Cute Card Thursdays ‘celebration’ theme and Kaboodle Doodles birthday theme. I hope everyone else had a good weekend. Have a great week.
Love,
Caro
x

Phew!

Made it through the week in one piece and managed to get everything done on time! It was a bit of a scramble and I am still feeling somewhat stressed but I got there and have a weekend off before the madness starts again next week. Alex has been a delight these past few days, making me laugh and giving me lots of cuddles and kisses. This evening after his supper he happily played with his cars and roadboard before going up for his bath. I love the games and stories he invents now for what is going on on the roads!

Crafting wise I have made Alex's third birthday card! I can't believe he is nearly three...where has that time gone? This card fits with CCT 'celebration theme, Kaboodle Doodles 'Happy Birthday' theme, My time to crafts 'Kidz Kardz' them and the Papertake weekly sketch. I used Postman Pat in his helicopter as the image as it is one of Alex's current favourites. Have a great weekend everyone.

Love
Caro
x

too much!

I have too much to do at the moment and don't know whether I am coming or going. Three lectures in two days, a grant application, a paper and a set of marking to complete by Friday is rather a lot. I think that I will get there, but at the moment I am not too sure! Alex hasn't been sleeping well either which hasn't helped as we are both tired as a result. That said, apart from being upset by little things, he has been good fun, singing lots of songs, dancing and chatting away. He has started playing various pretend games which are highly amusing...the latest one was a super caterpillar that could fly to the moon!

Crafting wise I have only had time to make one card following this weeks Friday Sketchers sketch. This fits with lots of different challenges including the Pollycraft and Lots to do themes of using distressing techniques (the main stamped image is coloured in with distressed inks), Stamp something and Crafty cardmakers of something girly or feminine, creative craft crew of its a celebration and finally CCC flowers challenge. Have a great rest of the week everyone.

Love,

Caro

x

Sun and great news!

Well, OK so we haven't had sun all the weekend, but it has been gloriously sunny today, albeit very cold! We have had a lovely weekend, yesterday playing with train sets while it rained in the morning...and then exploring a new park in the afternoon. Alex was filthy by the end of it, but it was worth it for the fun and laughter.

Today we explored another park near us which has recently been improved with the addition of a smaller climbing frame which Alex thought was great. We then went to a friends house, playing outside on their swing and climbing frame, as well as a little igloo tent, before retreating inside and playing with the pirate ship and cars. Alex was in small boy heaven and didn't want to come home!

Crafting wise I have the most amazing news! I have been chosen to join the design team at Quirky Crafts. I can't believe it! I never expected to be chosen and am so thrilled. Thank you all, and I can't wait to get started. In fact today's challenge is buttons and although I only got the news about being a member of the DT yesterday evening. Quite by chance I made this scrapbook layout of my cheeky little boy using papers from Doodle Bug, Hot off the Press and Basic Grey, Alphabet letters from Papermania, brads from making memories and buttons from my Mum's button tin! The title of the page is 'Cheeky Grin' and the journalling reads 'Alex responds to a request to smile with a huge cheeky grin. It makes me laugh everytime!'. This page also fits with the theme of 'Aquamarine' from Daring Cardmakers.

My next scrapbook page of the weekend follows the Unscripted Sketch for this week and fits with the theme of 'song lyrics or titles' from Scrap and Stamp, and the theme of bows from PTW. The title is 'Away in a manger' and the journalling reads 'Alex was a reluctant participant in the Nativity service, refusing to wear his shepherds outfit, although he did go to the front and join in the singing'. The corner stamp is from Purple Onion, all stickers are papermania, the cardstock is bazzil and the patterned papers are from Sandylion.

I also had a go at a resist technique card using my distress inks which followed last weeks CPS sketch, the green theme from CCT and the free theme from Stamp, Scrap and Doodle for this week.

Finally I made a couple of vintage trading cards using a mixture of Purple Onion, Hero Arts, tanda and xela stamps. As usual I would love to know what you all think. Have a great week everyone.

Love,

Caro

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