Fun!

We have had a fun bank holiday weekend so far despite the less than ideal weather.  Yesterday it was tipping it down, but that didn't matter too much as Alex had a party to go to at Jungle Mania, an indoor play area.  He had a wonderful time spending the whole time charging round it with Neve, a friend from nursery.  When it was time for Matthew's birthday tea, they got all the kids from Matty's party to line up at the bottom of the slide and march round the room to the sounds of 'Bob the builder'. Alex thought this was wonderful and he and Neve danced round together holding hands before sitting next to each other.  It was so sweet seeing the two of them together.

Today we decided to take a chance on the weather as although it was very windy it wasn't actually raining, so we went over to Cannon Hall Farm. I love going in the spring as there are lots of new born creatures around, including this donkey which was born yesterday,

this little llama which was born last weekend,

and lots of baby goats, sheep and piglets.

Alex loved feeding the goats and sheep, and putting food down for the pigs and cows

and then had a great time on the adventure playground, finishing off with a slide down the really big tunnel slide with me!  It was a great trip out.

Crafting wise this weekend I have only had time to make a scrapbook layout for my design team entry for Quirky Crafts which goes live this evening.  The challenge is Girly Girl, which as I am not, and never have been a girly girl I found a challenge LOL!  I ended up scrapbooking a photo of me aged about 9 on a rare occassion when I was wearing a dress and had neat(ish) hair!  The page is titled Portrait and uses Hot off the Press papers and Prima flowers.  The journalling reads 'A professional photographer came to our home to take our photos in Summer 198*. I remember my mother curling the ends of my hair so that for once it would look neat - I also removed my glasses'.  Just for the record I had been wearing glasses less than a year at that point and they were the huge ugly plastic NHS specs and I hated them!!  I actually used the PTW sketch for this layout, the stamp something recipe of ribbons, bow and tags, and the page also fits with the ribbons and bow theme from creative craft, the SCSC 'buttons and blooms' and the 'its a girl thing' challenge from The Crazy Challenge.  I hope you all enjoy bank holiday Monday. 
Love,
Caro
x

Food!

We said goodbye to a work colleague today and her leaving do was an 'international food' bring and share lunch.  We are a mixed bag of races in our labs so it was really good fun trying Persian, Saudi Arabian, Indian, Italian, Greek, French, Spanish, Mexican and British foods, both savoury and sweet. 

I didn't have my camera with me, but managed to take these photos of the different foods on my phone. 

I have to say that this week has been really tiring so I am so happy it is the weekend, and what is better - it is a bank holiday weekend! Lets hope that the weather surprises us and turns out to be nice!  We haven't anything special planned, but I hope we will get to do something fun.  The weekend has started nicely with fun games in the garden followed by playing with trains.

Crafting wise I have made this scrapbook page for the Scrap it with a song challenge.  This weeks song is 'Child of Mine' and I chose the line about childhood memories to base my scrapbook page around as this layout is of my 10th Birthday party and I have shared my memories of the day.  This page also fits with this weeks Practical Scrappers theme of felt, fabric or Tule (I used felt stars), Scrap and Stamp 'birthdays' theme (my stamps are stitching round the central panel and a little present), A Spoon full of Sugar 'celebrations' theme and the page follows this weeks Sketchy Thursday's sketch.
I hope you all have a great weekend. Take care,
Love,
Caro
x

Mid-week blues!

I don't know why, but I am exhausted this week and am now missing the sun which disappeared yesterday. It was lovely while it lasted and I want it back please!!  Alex has loved being able to play outside every evening - this photo was taken in the sun on Monday - so we either have sand everywhere from the sand pit or a soaking wet boy from playing with the watering cans.  All good fun.

Crafting wise I needed a new folder for my trading cards...the original one is bursting...so I covered a lever arch file with stripey blue wrapping paper and then added some sparkly swirly mulberry paper decorated with peel-offs and a cuttlebug embossed butterfly, using tiny white buttons for the butterflies body and head.  Therefore this folder fits with the 'swirls and flourishes' challenge from Lots to do, the 'butterflies and buttons' challenge from Pollycraft and the 'outside the box' challenge from Pile it on (I think that this is outside the box for two reasons; it isn't a card or scrapbook page but an altered item, and the butterfly is flying outside the bordered area).

I have also made this sympathy card for a friend who sadly lost her husband to cancer this last week.  The card follows this weeks Friday sketchers sketch and the colourscheme of Grey, black and one other (in my case it was purple) from CCC.  I hope you all have a good rest of the week.
Love,
Caro
x

Sunny weekend

Have we skipped spring and gone straight to summer? It has certainly felt like it this weekend with bright, hot sunny days.  Yesterday Alex and Tim spent a happy hour in the garden while I crafted, then Alex and I went shopping and then in the afternoon we went to Forge Dam park where Alex fed the ducks,

ate ice cream and watched the wier and played in the playground there. The slide is so long that he had to go down it with me, which was fine until my hips stuck at the bottom!! In the evening we played with water in the garden and got soaked!

This morning we went to the Whit Fayre at Western Park in Sheffield where Alex got to meet Darth Vader and the Storm Troopers, ride on the minature railway, eat a picnic while listening to brass band music,

go down the helter skelter with Mummy,

and go on the merry-go-round (shouting Yee-haa while we went round!). 

This afternoon we went to our local park where we had fun on the seesaw together and he scooted round the entire park, even dragging the scooter into the tunnel! When we got back we played out in the sandpit building castles. All in all a lovely weekend.

Crafting wise I made this double page layout following this weeks Sketchy Thursday sketch (but adding a few more photos to it!). It also fits with Meljen's designs challenge of 'spots'.  The title of the page is 'Eureka' and the journalling reads 'We enjoyed our family trip to Eureka, a children's museum where Alex could wander round and push buttons, wind handles and swing levers to his hearts content.  His favourite part was the minature shopping trolley. Sep '09.'

I also made a card following this weeks creative card crew sketch for a friend who has given birth to a little girl, so it also fits in with the 'something new' challenges for both Bee Crafty and The Crazy challenge, as well as the 'cute and girly' challenge for Spoonfull of Sugar.

Finally I made a birthday card for one of Alex's little friends who turns 3 next weekend.  This followed this weeks unscripted sketch, the La La land crafts 'birthday wishes' theme, stamp somethings '2 of something' theme (there are 2 presents), creative inspirations 'card for a child' and Daring Cardmakers 'boyzone' challenges. I hope you are all enjoying the nice weather.  Have a good week,
Love,
Caro
x

Too hot!

It is ridiculous isn't it, but it seems impossible for work to get the air conditioning right...when it is winter they blast us with cold air and now it is sunny we are being blasted with heat!  I have been too hot for most of the day and wanting to be outside enjoying the sun instead of cooped up at work.  Never mind it is the weekend now so Alex and I can play outside all day! That said, this evening he wanted to pose in his sunglasses and Spiderman T-shirt and then play with playdoh...I will get to play outside with him tomorrow instead!

Crafting wise I have made a leaving card for a technician who is going to another university to do a PhD. She isn't into girly girl things and loves cats so I thought I would use my new stamp (free with this months craft stamper) and the black, white and one other colour theme from Magical Crafts.  I followed this weeks CCT sketch which I loved and as the card has flowers on, I think it fits this weeks PTW theme. 

As the inside is going to be signed by lots of people I made an insert which is sewn into the card so people can sign on both sides and to prevent it being too plain I decorated this both sides as well so it fits with the 'inside out' challenge by crafty cardmakers. This is the very centre...kept relatively plain so that lots of people can sign it.

I also made a vintage ATC which followed the Kaboodle Doodle monochrome challenge (pink is my colour this time), the CCC bloom and charm challenge, the Pollycraft 'summer blooms' as I always think of pink blooms in summer and the Lots to do 'stamped collage' challenge as although I didn't just use stamping, the basis of this is a stamped collage with just an addition of flowers, ribbon and charms.  The stamps I used are Crafty Individuals and Tapestry. Finally I took inspiration from the Pile it on photograph challenge, using the pale pink damasc chairs as my inspiration. I would love to know what you all think of these creations.  Have a great weekend and enjoy the nice weather.
Love,
Caro
x

Cool Dude!

It has been a very strange week so far as I had Monday off to do some jobs around the house and garden, while Alex was at nursery.  He was very funny as the first thing he wanted to do when he woke up in the morning was to wear his sunglasses, so here he is in his pyjamas and sunglasses. Very cool!

Yesterday I went to London for the day to a breast cancer conference.  The advantage of the very early start and late arrival home was that I actually got to see my Dad for lunch. I had a 15 minute walk across St James' park to meet him which was lovely as the weather was very pleasant. I don't get to see Dad very often and I never have him to myself so we had a lovely hours lunch catching up.  This was the view from the terrace where we had our after lunch coffee. A typical London photo!

Crafting wise I have made a double page layout of a day out we had last summer when Thomas the tank engine came to our local Steam railway.  The righthand page of the double layout follows this weeks Unscripted Sketch. The layout also follows the DCM 'bunting' theme, the Scrap & Stamp 'ribbon' theme (the ribbon is at the top of the bunting), the Ooh La La 'bright and cheerful' theme, the Stamp with fun 'stripes' theme, the stamp, scrap and doodle 'masculine' theme and the Practical Scrappers 'patterned paper' theme (I normally use lots of patterned paper but ironically for this layout I only used the one paper from Cosmo cricket). This layout is a change from my normal style so I would love to know what you think of it. Have a great rest of the week.
Love,
Caro
x

Fun weekend!

We have had a lovely weekend, and enjoyed brilliant sunshine yesterday, which was good as Alex went to a pirate themed birthday party for one of his friends from nursery.

He had a wonderful time playing musical bumps, Captain says and walking the plank.  I made him a pirate hat, eye patch and cutlass which went down very well. 

Unlike the last party we went to he joined in very nicely with all the games when encouraged to do so, and we even managed to get him to sit down at the table for lunch although he was asking to get down after 15 minutes!

In the afternoon he and I went to our local park, Spider park, where he spent most of the time scooting round on his scooter, although he and I had to sit and pretend to eat a meal together. 

On the way back from the park he made friends with this little cat and spent a happy time gently stroking it.

Today we made the trip to Kennilworth to celebrate my nephews' birthdays, which are a day apart. It was a lovely family day and all three boys were given sunglasses,

which resulted in a lot of posing and hillarious photos,

although Tom wasn't always too sure about joining in. 

The balloon games were a big hit with both children

and adults alike which resulted in much hillarity,

and Colin the chocolate cake caterpillar was much enjoyed by all.

Crafting wise I have made my design team entry for Quirky Crafts, where the theme this week is a 'chocolate and cream' colour scheme.  This scrapbook page uses photos of me as a child, and the title is January family BBQ and the journalling reads 'A family barbeque with David and Sylvia on the beach at Branscombe. New Years Day, 1984'.  This page also fits with the SCSC 'metal' challenge as some of the embellishments are metal, and with the Ooh la la 'white space' challenge.

I have also joined in with an ATC swap on the Quirky Crafts forum which is monochrome.  You can choose any colour you like, but only use shades of that colour on your ATC. I chose orange for this one, which fits with CCC buttons challenge (I just love the tiny little buttons down the ribbon), the Scrap & stamp ribbon challenge (I know it isn't a scrapbook layout...I will make one tomorrow) and the one for the girls challenge from Crafty Angels. That is all from me for the weekend. I hope you all have a nice week.
Love,
Caro
x

Friday!

I always look forward to Fridays and especially when I have a stinking cold.  Fortunately my cold is getting a bit better slowly and Alex seems happier too.  We played nicely tonight with all his Bob the Builder toys before his bath, but he is shattered. We have a lovely weekend planned so I hope that we are all well enough to enjoy it. 

Crafting wise I have made this scrapbook page entitled 'Snow Smile' following this weeks Sketchy Thursday sketch. This also fits with the Practical Scrappers punches theme as I used my snow punch (the white snowflakes to the right of the photos), the MTTC 'too cute' theme as I think these photos are really cute, the SSDS anything but a card theme and the colour scheme of blue, brown and cream from Sophisticats.  This also fits with this weeks Scrap with a song as I used the phrase 'show me a smile' in my journalling which reads 'I didn't need to ask Alex to show me a smile when we went out to play in the garden during the first snows of winter - he was smiling non-stop. 20th Dec 2009'. As usual, any comments are welcome.  Have a great weekend everyone.
Love,
Caro
x

Yet another cold!

After being cold free for a little while Alex has brought back another cold from nursery and we are completely full of it.  As a result there has been very little sleep in this household and at night time we have a small boy who is playing up big time because he is so tired he doesn't know what to do about it. That said we have managed to have some fun in the evenings and spent some time 'fixing things' this evening with his drill, hammer and spanner.

Crafting wise I haven't had time for much this week although I have made a hat for Alex to wear to a pirate party he is going to on Saturday. I just loved the teddy scull & cross bones as it amused me!

I also made a simple Mr Men birthday card for my nephew who turns 4 this week. The card is fairly simple and bright and is based on this weeks Unscripted sketch...I replaced the ribbon across the top with the Happy Birthday banner.  As the card is a birthday card it fits with the stamp something 'birthday theme' and it also fits with the PTW 'shiny, sparkly & special' theme. I hope you all have a great rest of the week.
Love,
Caro
x

Lovely weekend!

Despite the less than perfect weather we have had a lovely weekend.  Tim felt well enough for once to take Alex to the park briefly yesterday morning where they had a great time and then I took Alex to explore the Crookesmoor Valley park.

 He had a lovely time scooting all round the lake and was most impressed with the coots nest in the reeds, especially when I pointed out the eggs when the birds changed places. 

The park was looking beautiful with the cherry blossom and new leaves on the trees.

Today Tim and Alex painted (and made a wonderful mess!) and then this afternoon Alex and I went to visit friends where we all had the greatest of fun on the trampoline. 

Alex thought it was the best thing ever and laughed non-stop, bouncing round like a loon. 

He thought it was especially funny seeing me bouncing - you are allowed to laugh at this less than flattering photo! It was the perfect end to a lovely weekend.

Crafting wise I have made this scrapbook page which is based on this weeks Sketchy Thursday's sketch and follows the Pile it on theme of 'boys colours', CCT 'boys to men' theme, Ooh la las 'white space', MTTC 'swirls and stars' and was inspired by the Paparazzi song from Scrap it with a song.  All papers from this page were from Cosmo Crickets Cogsmo range.  The title is Paparazzi, based on Alex's love of playing with cameras and the cogs and circles in the bottom left hand corner of the page are some of Alex's pictures...Not bad for a 2.5 year old!  The journalling reads 'Alex loves being allowed to play with my old digital camera  and among all the photos of walls, fingers, thumbs, carpets and nostrils there are a few decent photographs taken by my little photographer in training'. 

I also made this birthday card for one of Alex's friends from nursery who is having a pirate themed third birthday party next weekend.  This card follows this weeks Sketch Saturday sketch and the challenge of 3 embellishments (3 stickers), 2 papers and one image from SCSC, as well as fitting with the boys themes from CCT and Pile it on. We have had a wonderful weekend and I hope you all have a great week.  Thank you for commenting.
Love,
Caro
x