Snow!

Yes, we did get some of the promised snow and Alex was so excited to wake up to an inch of snow on Saturday morning.  As a result the first thing he wanted to do was to play in the snow with Daddy...he had  a lovely time making foot prints, scraping the car, throwing snowballs and dragging the sledge around for about 20 minutes until his hands got too cold and he had to come inside.

Today the snow had turned to ice so we decided that for our afternoon trip out we would go to a friends house.  We all had a great time with the kids dressing up...Alex as a knight and Katie as spiderman...they were so funny together running round and trying to play games on the Wii. We had a great time and Alex is already asking when we can go back!

I did actually manage to do a little crafting this weekend, alongside trying to get things organised for Christmas. I made this quick and simple Christmas tag using a nestability labels die, a Crafty Individuals stamp, some silver ink, my sakura stardust pen (not sure that shows in the picture) and some peel offs.  This fits with the snow theme from Simon Says stamp, and the tag theme from OCC.

I also made this card using K&Co papers, Penny Black and tanga stamps along with my distress inks and promarker pens.  The card follows the sketch from Friday Sketchers, the crazy4challenges challenge of using paper that has script on it, the sew many challenges red and green theme, Meljen's buttons and bows (I just love those tiny little buttons) and the anything goes theme from Spoonful of sugar.  That is all from me for now.  Stay safe in all the snow and ice and have a good week everyone.
Love,
Caro
x

First hint of snow!

Alex was so excited yesterday morning when he looked out of his bedroom window and saw a light dusting of snow...he wanted to go out and throw snowballs straight away - not that there was enough snow for that! 

Yesterday I made the first of my Christmas tags for the presents to go under the tree. This little tag uses a free stamp from the recent Craft Stamper coloured in with my promarker pens and mounted on a nestability die cut red background.  I added gold glitter glue to the hat and a blue ribbon to the corner to finish it off.  As it is a tag it fits with the creative craft and MTTC 'tags' challenges and as I used a netability it fits with the PTW punch or die cut challenge.  That is all from me for now.  Have a great weekend.
Love,
Caro
x

Coughing Wednesday!

Well, although Alex has got rid of the chest infection he and the rest of us are still coughing so there is not much sleep going on round here.  That said I have still managed to do a little crafting over the past couple of days.  For once this Wednesday has caught me not making Christmas cards but scrapbooking - my scrapbook is way behind!  So here is my desk entered for WOYWW  - you can see my almost finished page using BoBunny papers, the balloon stickers, my stapler, some ribbon (cut out of a shirt), my pencil, ruler, black pen, craft knige and a general mix of other bits that haven't been put away from previous projects!

Here is the completed scrapbook layout...it follows this weeks Creative Scrapper sketch and fits with the Stamp simply food related theme as it is all about the birthday cake.  It also fits with the crazy challenge to use staples (the first time i have ever tried this!) and the Lasting memories 'recycle' challenge (the ribbon is recycled from a shirt and the cake embellishment is rescued from a card I was sent about 3 years ago!).

I have also made some Christmas cards...I think I have actually finished making all the ones I need with maybe the odd exception.  This one fits with the Ooh La La 'rudolph the red nose reindeer', Scrap it with a song 'Winter wonderland', OCC '3D' holiday project (the reindeer is on foam pads) and Pile it on 'winter means' challenges.

Finally I made a few Christmas cards like this which are quick and simple. Have a great rest of the week everyone.
Love,
Caro
x

Aargh!

Normal service will be resumed on this blog soon I hope!!  We have had  a busy weekend, with Alex and I visiting friends yesterday where Alex had a wonderful time running round, singing into a microphone, wearing flashing glasses (as pictured)

playing with a light sabre and generally having fun with katie.

Today I decided that I would take him to Meadowhall to see the Christmas decorations and while we were there we went to Santa's ice grotto...that was the big mistake!  We were told that there was a queue of only 2 people so it would be really quick...not a bit of it...there was a room full of the queue, just hidden round the corner from the desk where you pay and it took more than 30 minutes to stand in this queue moving slowly forwards past a few animated figures until he finally saw Santa. 

He was not impressed with being in the queue although he liked stroking the figures and did have a good chat with Santa in the end (I was not allowed to take a photo)...I think he would have had more fun on the helter skelter which had a shorter queue...remind me NEVER to do it again!

Crafting wise I have been busy making Christmas cards and think I have nearly finished them!!  I have kept the designs nice and simple this year and made several of each design. This one uses a stamp from Crafty Individuals that I was given free with my last order...how fab is that!  As there are three trees on this design it fits with the DCM 'we three' challenge and Creative Inspirations 'winter woodland' challenge.

This card  fits with the sparkly and glitter challenges fromMeljen's, Pollycraft  and Simon Says stamp thanks to the glitter glue and sakura stardust pens used on the snow. I am also entering it for the Winter woodland challenge by Creative Inspirations, and the let it snow theme from Paperplay. 

Finally, I have completed my DT entry for Quirky Crafts challenges (a fortnightly challenge).  The challenge this week is black and white with an accent colour (I used red) and to use punches on your card.  We also have a DT call out at the moment so pop by and check it out.  Have a good week everyone.
Love,
Caro
x

Apologies again!

I normally update my blog regularly (Sunday, Wednesday and Friday) but circumstances got the better of me (stinking cold and work) so I didn't manage to update on Sunday.  Despite the fact that Tim and I are full of cold, and Alex is on antibiotics for a chest infection we did manage to go to my in laws at the weekend to celebrate Tim's 40th Birthday.  Alex had a wonderful time with his cousins playing a game invented by Grandpa Pete.  The game involved all three boys sitting in a room pretending that they were in jail while Grandpa Pete built a wall of cushions in the door way.

They would then break out of jail with much shrieking and laughter.  This game kept them amused for hours!

Alex also discovered that he likes playing with, and especially bursting, balloons...every one else jumps a mile... he just laughs his head off!

As it is Wednesday today, although I am very late due to being in London doing a PhD viva, I thought I would share my work desk as part of the WOYWW phenomenon.  You can see my wallet hiding under an ink pad and stamp, some Just Rite stamps that I am using, some of my Christmas stamps from making some of my Christmas cards, the inevitable mug of tea and lots of DST peelings, as well as the card in progress.

This card is a commission from a work colleague for her Mum's 65th birthday.  The photo is of her Mum aged about 5 which is really cute.  The instructions I had were to use this photo and the colour red.  I followed this weeks Friday Sketchers sketch, and used red as a theme throughout so it fits with this weeks DCM 'poppy & remembrance theme'. It is going to have a personalised greeting at the top of the card. As I used gems in the corner of the card and the ribbon and brad are shiney, this also fits with the sparkle and shine theme from SCSC.

I have also continued making Christmas cards with these traditional ones.  These fit with the Christmas (but no red and green) theme from crazy4challenges and stamp simply.  I hope you have a good rest of the week.
Love,
Caro
x

Chest Infection

Well I was right to be concerned about Alex, the poor little boy has a chest infection and is on antibiotics. He copes with it all remarkably well; after one particularly bad coughing spell which had him retching and gasping for breath I asked him if he was OK and he looked at me grinned and said ‘Yes Mummy, it was just a cough’ as if I was mad to be concerned! I am glad that it is the weekend though and hope we can have a nice relaxing time as a family.

Crafting wise I have been busy with Christmas cards. These ones were made simply with black stamps on an embossed white background…quick and easy!

These used my blue distress inks, two different stamps, a masking technique for the moon, some white gel pen for snow on the trees and a sakura stardust pen for the snow on the ground. As the scene is snowy it fits with the Spoonfull of sugar Challenge, the Christmas and furry creatures (reindeer are furry!) challenge from Pile-it-on, ‘animals’ from cards for men, ‘starlight’ from creative craft, and ‘twas the night before Christmas’ from the All sorts challenge blog.

These final two cards used a corner stamp I have had in my collection for ages, along with the free bauble stamp from Crafty Stamper magazine and a Happy Christmas stamp. I coloured the baubles in with promarkers and added highlights with the sakura stardust pen. I am entering these for the CCT ‘anything goes’ challenge.

I also made a scrapbook page following this weeks Nuts about sketches double page sketch. It was a great way of showing off all the photos we had from our train trip in August. The Basic Gray Oliver collection papers and embellishments went perfectly with the subject matter to create these pages. The title of the page is Steam train fun and the journaling reads ‘We all enjoyed the 15 minute steam train ride from Watchet to Blue Anchor – Alex and Daniel were especially excited to be riding on a big steam train and it was fun to hear them telling each other all about it’.

Finally I made another layout following this weeks Creative Scrapper’s sketch. The title of this one is ‘Let’s go and swim’ and the journaling reads ‘From the moment we first went to the swimming pool Alex has loved it – sliding down the slides and even going underwater with confidence (I am being a submarine Mummy), which is why he wasn’t too impressed with me slowing things down to take these photos (Put the camera away Mummy, I want to swim)!’
Well I hope you all have a good weekend, we are going to be celebrating Tim’s birthday with a family party so I can’t wait!
Love,
Caro
x

Poorly boy!

Poor Alex has had a bad cough for about 4 weeks now, and instead of getting better it is getting worse.  This means that he is getting very little sleep, is over tired and on Monday had quite a high temperature which meant that he had to come home from nursery...I ended up cuddling him on the sofa while we watched about 3 hours of television...not exactly the way I had planned my day off! He was a little brighter yesterday and his temperature was down, but he was coughing like mad still. We have a doctors appointment for him today so hopefully we can get something to help. 

This Wednesday, for WOYWW you can see my desk in the middle of a Christmas card bonanza. I have 70 to make and have now made 25.  lots more to do!  This is the working area of my desk with a Christmas card underway, distress inks, various pens and stamps scattered around.

This is the lefthand side of my desk complete with a small pile of the completed cards, my cutting mat, metal ruler, stamps, sakura stardust pen (a must have crafting item for adding sparkle to cards) and some glitter glue.

On Tuesday I had plenty of time for crafting so made this scrapbook layout of a trip to our local minature railway.  The layout follows this weeks Sketch Thursdays sketch and uses some lyrics from this weeks Scrap it with a song challenge (Me and you) for the title.  As I hand drew the arrows this page also fits with Pollycrafts 'doodling' challenge, the use of a Martha stewart border punch means it fits with Lasting Memories 'punches' challenge and finally the hexagons featured means that it fits with the Scrap Fit challenge of different shapes.

These are two of my Christmas cards which fit with Crafty Cardmakers dry embossing (I used a cuttlebug embossing folder), and Patties Creations 'Christmas' challenge.

Finally I made this scrapbook layout of a trip to Stowe.  The journalling reads 'Beautiful weather, wonderful food, amazing gardens and monuments to explore and family to share it with - a perfect day'.  That is all from me for now.  Have a great rest of the week everyone.
Love,
Caro
x

Weekend!

Well I was lucky enough to celebrate my birthday over the course of a week and we are hoping to do much the same with Tim.  So far he has had presents in bed, pain au choclate for breakfast, birthday cake and specially cooked meals.  Sadly he has been too ill for us to go on a trip out as a family this weekend, but he is looking forward to a cinema trip tomorrow, a take away and a family party next weekend. Talk about celebrating in style.

Alex has also enjoyed the weekend with a trip to the park where he had a great time on the bouncy slide and castle while I played with someone elses dog (I do love dogs!), a visit to a friends house where we ate muffins and played with all their toys

and a trip to the local museum where he dressed up as a blackberry and a sweetcorn and pushed the wheelbarrow round.  It is nice to see him having fun despite the fact that he still has a really bad cough that he can't get rid of, poor little chap.

Needless to say I haven't had a great deal of time to craft this weekend, but have sneaked a little bit in. This first card is for a little boy who loves Ben 10.  The card is my design team entry for Quirky Crafts and follows the sketch designed by Lyn.  We are having a DT call at the moment so pop on over and see if you want to join in the fun.  As the card is for a little boy it fits with PTW 'penny for the guy' challenge. It also fits with Meljen's 'use 3 different shapes' (circle, rectangle and star) and paper play's 'circles' challenges.

I also made this extremely quick and simple Christmas card to fit the stamp man Christmas theme, the SCSC red and gold theme and the DCM 'topaz' theme (see the topaz coloured gems in the corners). I apologise for the quality of this photo - the flash has bleached the central image. That is all from me for now.  I have two days off work tomorrow to help Tim celebrate his birthday during which I should have plenty of time for crafting...yes, I am looking forward to it!  Have a great week everyone.
Love,
Caro
x

Fireworks

Well it is Bonfire night, but we are not actually going to a bonfire party.  Alex spent the evening making his Dad's birthday card (he loves using my cuttlebug!) and then once he has had his bath and bed-time stories we will sit on his bed watching the fireworks out of the window.  He is quite excited about it, but rather tired which is one reason we are not going to a party. 

Crafting wise I made this little card for a friends little girl who turned 3 yesterday hence the pink and girly colour scheme.  This little card was quick to make and is cute so fits with this weeks MTTC theme.

I also made a scrapbook page following this weeks Creative Scrappers sketch and fitting with this weeks song from Scrap it with a song.  The song is 'It's my life' and the journalling reads 'I love the way my life is changing as Alex discovers the realms of make believe - our trips to the park have become more interesting as I take on the role of Giant, Ogre, Knight, Pirate and monster, as well as joining in with numerous pretend picnics and parties.  His developing imagination is very special!'.  That is all from me for now. Have a great weekend everyone.
Love,
Caro
x

Why?!

I thought we had managed to escape the 'why' phase with Alex as up until two days ago he has always asked endless questions about what things do, how they are made, how they work etc which are interesting and challenging to answer, but at least are fun and are expanding his knowledge.  However, in the last two days we have had more cries of 'Why?' then in the last 2 years!  Although most of the time it isn't too bad it does get wearing when you are asked for what feels like the hundredth time 'Why is Grandma at Grandma's house?' and I have develped a pathological hatred for the whining tone in which the single word 'Why?' is asked!! Hey Ho!  Life with a 3 year old is always entertaining and the quote of the week also comes from him.  It was said in a completely serious tone in perfect English and had Tim and I falling about on the floor in laughter.  We don't know who he was talking about but he said 'She is not a human being, she is a vegetarian'!

As it is Wednesday and time for WOYWW here is my desk as it was last thing last night (I am at work now and this is on a timer). You can see the card I am working on, various gems, pearls, ribbon and prima flowers. You can also see my most used crafting items: crafting mat, metal ruler, double sided sticky tape and craft knife. At the back of the desk are the stamps I am using for the Christmas cards and to the left are the Penny Black Stamps I used for this card.

Here is the completed card which follows this weeks CPS sketch and fits with the rellish to embellish challenge from A spoonfull of sugar.

I also made a scrapbook layout following this weeks Pencil Lines sketch.  It is another simple but effective layout using no patterned paper, just inks and pens for the effects. I added embellishments in the form of buttons which fits with this weeks Stamp Scrap and doodle challenge. The frame was drawn with fake stitching and so fits with this weeks crafty cardmakers challenge.  Have a great rest of the week everyone,
Love,
Caro
x

Weekend away

Well our weekend to my parents house in Somerset didn't go quite according to plan as my nephew Nicholas had a violent vomiting bug meaning that he and the rest of his family couldn't come.  Poor Alex and Daniel were very sad not to be able to see each other, but Alex still managed to have a good time at Grandma's, running round the enormous garden, which was looking beautiful with its Autumn colours.

On Saturday morning we collected Gran and all spent the time picking up the badly bruised windfall apples and putting them on the compost heap...Alex loved the fact that he was allowed to drive the tractor with Grandad. 

Needless to say Alex spent much of the time playing with Juno...attempting to hit the ball for her to chase.

Although Alex quickly grew bored of picking up the windfalls, he loved playing on the sandpile that was next door, even taking his boots and socks off so that he could feel the sand between his toes (too cold for me!).

When Grandma went up the tree to pick some nice apples for us to take back home, he had to copy her and go up the tree too...he was so pleased with himself!

He also had to have a go at picking apples which was a challenge as there were very few low growing enough for him to reach.  With a helping hand from Grandma he managed it in the end!

In the afternoon while he had his nap Mother and I went shopping as I badly needed some new clothes for the various vivas and lectures I am giving in the next few months.  I haven't had a girlie shopping trip with my Mother for years so it was great fun and a great success!  Alex was very well behaved and ended up walking a long way across the fields with Grandad taking Juno for her walk.  Alex and Juno are great friends...he spent a lot of the time sharing her basket with her and stroking her gently.

Yesterday morning we went for our usual walk across the fields with Alex proudly walking Juno.  We even managed to see a train, although Alex was more concerned by the fact that there wasn't a decent amount of mud to splash about in!  Despite the disappointments of not seeing my brother and his family we had a lovely time.

Since coming home I have managed to make Tim's birthday card. This was my first attempt at a side-step card which I made using some Whiff of Joy stamps to create a fantasy scene of a knight fighting a dragon outside a castle.  The only problem is that the dragon looks far too cute to be scary!  This card fits with several themes: 'things that fly' for Stamp with fun and SCSC, 'two images' for Meljen's (Charlie and the dragon), 'cards for men' for The Stamp Man, and 'anything goes (but buttons and bows)' for Cards for men and flourishes.

I also made another quick Christmas card using some cuttlebug folders. This card fits with 'swirls and pearls' for the crazy challenge and 'chill time' for Pollycraft.  As usual I would love to know what you think.  Have a great week,
Love,
Caro
x