Friends!

We have had a lovely weekend playing outside in the park yesterday and then going to friends in Coventry today. Alex had a fantastic time playing with Robin and Chloe both at their house and in their local park where they decided that they were in Gaol!

Crafting wise I made the first of my Father's Day cards. This was initially made to fit with the Less is More challenge which was to pick a single square in which to place your image and not have anything else anywhere else on the card except the sentiment.  However when I printed out the sentiment it was in the wrong place for me to fold the white card in half so I cut out a white square instead and mounted it onto the brown card, so it probably doesn't fit the challenge any more! I then stamped my image (Crafty Individuals) onto cream card with distress ink giving it an old fashioned parchment effect and coloured it in with promarkers and mounted it on three layers of card in different shades of brown. I am therefore entering this into Aud Sentiments 'for a man', Colour Create 'white, cream and brown', All sorts 'things with wings' and cards for men 'no designer papers' challenges.

Having failed with my first attempt at the Less is More challenge, I tried again with some more Crafty Individuals stamps, this time using the bottom lefthand corner as the area in which to stamp. I coloured the image in using my promarkers. This card also fits with SCSC 'clean and simple' and Stamp somethings 'sentiment' challenges.

Finally I used the cut off piece of card from the Friendship card to make my first ever scrappling using distress inks and Lavinia stamps. This therefore fits with TioT 'scraplings', Spoonful of Sugar 'things with wings', Paper Play 'blossoms and blooms' and Sew many cards 'circle' challenges.  That is all from me for now. Enjoy your bank holiday Monday tomorrow.
Love,
Caro
x

A layout!

As predicted I haven't had a lot of time for crafting this week, although I have managed to make this scrapbook layout of Alex and his friends having fun splashing in the water in the sun. I followed this weeks Sketchy Thursdays sketch and this layout fits with the 'anything goes' challenges from Creative Card Crew, and Paper Cutz, 'Anything but a card' from Freshly brewed, 'Here comes summer' from Penny's challenge, 'Here comes the sun' from The Pixie Cottage and 'tag' from Delightful Challenges. That is all from me for now, have a lovely weekend everyone.
Love,
Caro
x

Exciting day!

I have a new phone...a brand new GalaxySII.  I can't believe it, I am so excited, but now have to work out how to use it! Tim has the original Galaxy S so he has promised to teach me how to use an Android phone...there may be less crafting for a while as I learn and play.  Enough about the shiney new phone...here is my desk for this weeks WOYWW. As I type I am in the middle of making a new baby card for a work colleague. I have a steaming hot mug of tea, the card, the topper I have made, a Crafty Individuals stamp on an acrylic block, my box full of versa colour ink pads and embossing powders, a few random pieces of card and the photos of Alex that have been on my desk since last week.

Here is the finished card which used a new technique for me...threading ribbon through the edge of a die-cut shape. I was given the shape and was really pleased when the ribbon threading worked so well.  This means I am entering this card to the Crafty Cardmakers spotlight challenge of using a new technique and the MTTC challenge of using a die cut. As the card features pastel blue and a very cute cuddly teddy bear I am also entering it into the PTW 'pale pretty pastels' and the 'bears' challenges from Stamptacular and Pile it on.

I have also made another Birthday card that fits with the Less is More 'butterfly', the Spoonfull of sugar 'things with wings' and the delicious doodles 'let the sun shine' challenges. The background was made by masking a circle and using an inverse mask for the main shape of the images and then brayering over them both so this card also fits with the Delightful challenges 'masking' challenge. That is all from me for now. Have a great rest of the week.
Love,
Caro
x

Whitsun Fair!

After Alex's fainting episode on Thursday I am pleased to report that he has been fine ever since and doesn't show any sign of being ill other than a snotty nose and a cough, so having had a relaxing day at home yesterday we decided to go to the Whitsun fair this afternoon where we met up with friends. It was an afternoon of firsts for Alex as he got to go on the helterskelter by himself for the first time

as well as on the steam train

and the carousel. All in all he and Katie had a wonderful time enjoying every minute of their time together.

It is time for another Quirky Crafts challenge and this time it was the talented Spyder (Lyn) who set us not one, but two sketches.  You can choose to use either sketch for the challenge, and we also have a fab sponsor this week so pop over and take a look.  I decided to do a scrapbook layout following the first sketch. This was a real challenge for me as I had to put all my photos into a collage in a circle...it took ages! This layout is of all the flowers we have had in our garden this spring and fits with the 'Green and Pink' themes from Stamp with Fun and The Crazy challenge, the 'flowers, ribbon and 1 patterned paper' challenge from Crafty Creations and the 'flowers and lace' challenge from Sew many cards.

I also made a card for this weeks Less is More, following the theme of butterflies. My card was very simple, but effective (I think!) as it used three stamps, a free butterfly stamp from Crafty Stampers magazine, a fluorishes stamp from Inkadinkado and the Happy Birthday stamp from Crafty Individuals. I stamped them all in black then added sparkle by using my sakura stardust pen and glitter glue (not sure how well the sparkle shows up in this picture though...

so here is a close up of the butterfly! This therefore fits with the 'Sparkle and shine' theme from Simon Says Stamp, and the 'Sparkle' theme from Paper play. That is all from me for now. Have a great week everyone,
love,
Caro
x

Oh dear!

Poor Alex isn't having the best of weeks. His cough is still bad, he isn't sleeping well and yesterday for the first time in his life he fainted, bumping and slightly grazing his head on the floor where he landed.  Having spoken to the GP we have been advised that it isn't likely to be anything serious, but to keep an eye on him and bring him straight back if it happens again. I am praying that the one off incidence is the end of it, especially as he has been his usual happy self today.

I am still on a mission to catch up with my scrapbooking having got months behind and having ordered a pile of lovely photos to add to layouts, so here is my latest layout which followed the righthand half of this weeks Pencil Lines double page sketch. I used 2 different Basic Grey papers behind the photos and cut out the trains from another one. In order to get the train stamp to go in opposite directions I ran my brayer over the wet stamp and then onto the card to give the reverse image...this was a new technique for me and I am quite pleased with how it worked! I am entering this layout into the Spoon Full of Sugar's  and Penny's 'anything goes' challenges and into MTTC 'toy box' challenge as the train embellishments I used look like toy steam trains to me! I am also entering this into the Scrap Fit challenge of 'stand by your man'...in my case, my little man!  One of my childhood memories from the late 70s is sunny weekend days on the South Somerset steam railway, so I am entering this scrapbook layout to the Delicious doodles 'let the sun shine', Stampavie's 'summer'  and Try it on Tuesday's '70s' challenges. That is all from me for now.  Have a great weekend everyone.
Love,
Caro
x

Busy Wednesday!

Well it has certainly been a busy week so far. What with one of the labs moving at work, and two students needing to be taught new techniques I seem to have been running round in ever decreasing circles and not getting a lot of my own paperwork done. Never mind, I will get there in the end, and at least Alex has been well enough to go to nursery, although he is still coughing quite a lot. In the meantime I thought I would show you my desk as part of WOYWW. Sadly today my desk is missing the all important mug of tea...not quite sure why I haven’t got round to making one, but I am parched and will go and get one any minute now! My desk is in the process of making a scrapbook page. As I only have a relatively small area of flat surface on which to actually craft once I decided on the papers I was using for the layout I put the rest away so what you can see is the layout with the cut out pieces of paper, some lovely photos of Alex in the background, curls of dst backing, my craft knife, cutting mat, a few stamps which need to be put away and a stiff old paintbrush I use for stippling effects.

Here is the finished layout (now I really do need tea!) which followed this weeks sketch from Creative scrappers. The layout also fits with the Scrap and Stamp challenge to use up old supplies and at least one stamp (I used tiny leaf stamps and all the papers on this layout are old scraps from previous layouts). I also followed the Kaboodle Doodles ‘tic tac toe’ challenge choosing to use brads, ribbon (the autumn leaf ribbon) and punches (tiny leaf punch). Finally I am also entering this for the Tuesday Throwdown ‘child’ challenge as it is about my son.

I also had to make a card for a friend who has just lost their Dad after a long illness so decided to make another Less is More card following the one layer embossing challenge. This time I printed out a sentiment on the computer then embossed around it adding a simple black flower for the final effect. I am also entering this card into the Crafty Cardmakers ‘embossing’, CCC ‘in the garden’, PTW ‘bloom and grow’ and Delightful challenges ‘flowers’ challenges.
Are you all ready for the PIF that is happening as part of WOYWW...only 2 weeks to go!  I managed to make my creation over the weekend and am really excited about it, although I am being mean and not showing even a sneaky peak before time! That is all from me for now. Have a great rest of the week everyone.
Love,
Caro
x

Poorly boy!

Poor Alex has yet another really bad cough.  He is coughing so much that it is making him retch and making him really tired. It is such a shame as he had a birthday party to go to today and when he tried to join in the games he just started coughing so he was rather sad. 

He perked up a bit towards the end (after having some food) and joined in with a few of the games,

including sleeping lions, but at the end of the party he was asking to go home to bed.  As a result when he woke from his nap we spent the afternoon sat in a heap watching cartoons on TV.  I hope he is better tomorrow.

I did manage to make some cards this weekend.  This first one is for the birthday boy who, like most boys his age, is really into Ben10. This card therefore fits with the Boyz to men challenge from Pollycraft, Punches and Die cuts from both Papertake weekly and Tuesday throwdown, and Anything goes from Sew Many cards.

This second card is my entry to Less is More's one layer card with embossing challenge.  I used a cuttlebug folder for the edge and then heat embossed the birds and flowers in clear embossing powder to give a little texture and shine (the flash has caught the embossing obscuring the birds slighty - it looks better in real life!).  I wasn't sure whether clear embossing would work over promarker coloured images, but by using my versamark pen to colour the areas I wished to emboss it worked OK.  I am also entering this for the Aud Sentiments 'no sentiment' challenge and stamp scrap and doodles 'old supplies' challenge as the versamark pen I used is at least 3 years old, the embossing powder 2 years old and the cuttlebug embossing folder about 18 months old!  That is all from me for now. Back to work tomorrow, unless I am nursing a poorly boy.  Have a good week everyone.
Love,
Caro
x

Friday already!

Where did this week go?  Time just seems to be flying past at the moment and it is already time for the weekend.  Alex is tired and ready for the weekend, and I am looking forward to a little more crafting time (I hope!).  I did manage to make this Baby card though for a friend who gave birth to a little girl this week. This card fits with the baby challenge from Simon says Stamp, the make it shiny (use metal) challenge from Pixie Dust, the use at least 3 inchies challenge from crafty cardmakers spotlight challenge and the anything goes challenges from Stamp something, Simon says stamp and show, Penny's challenge and crafty creations. That is all from me. I am off to get my tea so have a nice weekend.
Love,
Caro
x

busy cardmaking

Well, work is back to normal this week...I am there every day and will even get in the lab myself for a change.  In the evenings I have been busy making birthday cards and as my entry for WOYWW here is my desk part way through making a Super mario card for my nephew.  On my desk you can see my lovely mug, sadly almost empty, my double sided sticky tape and pritt stick, craft mat, craft knife, various papers, a peel off box and peel offs and the almost finished card.

And here is the finished card. It followed the sketch by Fussy and Fancy and fits with the Tuesday Throwdown 'die cut' and Flourishes Timeless Tuesday 'Anything goes' challenges.

I have also made a Donkey Kong card for another nephew, this time following the sketch from Stamp with Fun, and fitting with the Kaboodle Doodles 'Lots of layers', Pollycraft 'Boyz to men' and the Crazy challenge 'Anything goes' themes.  That is all from me for now.  Have a great rest of the week everyone.
Love,
Caro
x

Monsters!

It has been a weekend of playing with monsters. Alex has really got into the Ben10 and Gormiti monsters recently so we spent most of the time playing with them, both on his island set

and with his castle,

and then pretending to play castles,

monsters and knights in a park near us..all great fun!

It has also been a weekend of crafting for me with two cards and a scrapbook layout completed.  This first card is a new one for me and is this week's challenge at Quirky Crafts.  The card is known as a sliding or pull up card...I had to follow instructions on You Tube to work out how to do it, but once I made one I realised that it is really relatively simple! We are sponsored this week by Stitchy Bear Digital stamps who kindly gave the design team some stamps to work with. I decided to go for an oldy worldy fantasy feel with this card so printed the stamps onto parchment paper, then used distress inks for the edge and coloured in pencils and gold pen for a faded vintage feel. I finished the edge off with gold embossed swirls.

Inside I used the same effect with a different oldy worldy stamp. I am also entering this card for Pixie Cottage's 'one for the boys', The Crazy challenge 'cards for men',  Stamp something 'digital' and Delicious Doodles 'Fantasy' challenges.

I couldn't complete a weekend of crafting without doing a Less is More challenge...however, White on White was a real challenge for me!  In the end I dusted off my cuttlebug dies and embossing folders to make this! The little butterflies were made using a punch I was given for Christmas and never used. Although the temptation was to try and add a lot of detail to this card I tried to stay with the Clean and simple style. I am also entering this for the Flutterby Wednesday open challenge this week.

Finally I made a double page scrapbook layout following Birthday sketch #7 from Nuts about Sketches. This also fits with the All sorts 'use at least 3 different stamps', SCSC 'dust off your stash' (I have had the papers used on this layout for at least 4 years!), and Speedy the cat's friends 'no embellishments' (I only used the papers, pens, stamps and photos). That is all from me for now. Have a great week everyone.
Love,
Caro
x

Weekend already!

I could get used to having only 4 days at work in a week, even if this week has been completely frantic trying to fit everything in. Alex has a nasty cough which is keeping us all awake at night, but despite that we have had a lot of fun over the past few days with him waving a wand to turn us into different creatures...so far I have been a frog, a giant, a troll and a monster...all good fun!

Crafting wise I have only had time to make this card for a friend who loves Elephants. The background is brayered from Adirondack red pepper and sunshine yellow (so fits with Kaboodle Doodles 'B is for...brayering' challenge). The elephant stamp is from a Stamps Away set that I have had for about 4 years, whereas the other stamps are all from lavinia stamps with the tree being a Mother's Day present this year so this fits with TioT 'something old, something new' challenge. This card also fits with the 'show us your style' theme from Paper Play and has a circle on it (the sun) and so fits with the cards for men 'circles', CCC 'something beginning with C' and PTW 'anything goes with something round' challenges. That is all from me for now. Have a great weekend everyone.
Love,
Caro
x

Sunshine!

What is happening to the weather this year...May bank holiday and we had sun again!  Although it was quite windy Alex and I had a great time out in Millhouses Park where he went on a boat by himself for the first time (I was reassured when I realised that the water was less than 8 inches deep). He was extremely excited, and especially pleased to be dressed up as a pirate for the occasion. Sadly I went back to work yesterday and have been reduced to looking at the sun out of the window..hey hoh!

As it is now Wednesday it is time to show you my desk as part of WOYWW.  On my desk you can see my lovely mug of tea (it holds a pint and is wonderful!), a baby card in the making, various patterned papers, glue, DST, craft knife, ruler and craft mat as well as my battered wallet (originally from South America and now 15 years old and looking rather worn) - not quite sure why it is on my desk this morning...I need to put it away!

Here is the completed card made for a work colleague who goes on Maternity leave today. Her first baby is due in two weeks and she doesn't know what sex the baby will be hence the blue and pink colour scheme. I followed this weeks Unscripted Sketch for the layout of the card, so that card also fits with CCT 'use any sketch' challenge, Colour Creates 'pink, blue and brown' (the brown is the light brown of the baby grow), SCSC 'for a baby, and Paper cutz 'anything goes'.

I must apologise to all those LIMettes who kindly commented on my Thank you card (see previous post). I hadn't realised that I had broken the rules and entered too many challenges so I am entering the Less is More challenge again, this time with a congratulations card. I am also entering this for Stampin' for the weekend 'Wedding' theme. That is all from me for today. Have a great rest of the week.
Love,
Caro
x

Long Bank Holiday weekend!

We had a lovely bank holiday weekend at my parents house in Somerset where we were able to relax and enjoy the nice weather and large garden. 

It was a weekend filled with flowers

Camps in the garden.

Riding on Grandad's tractor

and his old metal horse (now 60 years old!).

Swinging on the swing.

Afternoon tea in the garden with Great Gran,

and walks down to the river

where Alex had fun throwing the ball for Juno

who loved to jump in the river after it. A perfect relaxing weekend.

I have managed to do a little crafting since getting back in the form of this Thank you card for my parents which fits with the Less is More challenge for this week, as well as Stamp Something 'with wings', Speedy the cat's friends 'use a hat pin', Pollycraft 'anything goes', stamp with fun 'lace or ribbon', crafty creations 'white space' and CCC 'something begining with C' (in my case Clean and simple). That is all from me for now. Have a great rest of the week everyone.
Love,
Caro
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