A weekend outside!

The weather has been so great this weekend that we have spent most of the time outside.  We have played in our garden with water pistols, painting with water on the patio and with the sand and water table.

Yesterday we went to friends for the afternoon where the kids set up camp in the enormous garden with the tent and tarpaulin, and played in the paddling pool and on the trampoline,

And today I managed to get Tim out of the house for a little while as well, so we went as a family to Magna's adventure playground, where Alex had a wonderful time in the sand (we buried his legs),

and playing in the water park area.  Picnics and ice-cream have generally added to the holiday feeling of the weekend.  It makes having to work through the summer so much nicer when you have really nice weekends!

I have even managed to do some crafting. It is time for another Quirky Crafts challenge...this time a really easy one set by Lyn.  The challenge is NUMBERs, so I couldn't resist the opportunity to scrapbook Alex's birthday party. We have a sponsor this week (Digital Delights) so I used one of their circle sentiments and Birthday Ridley Raccoon coloured in with promarkers as embellishments on the page. This layout also follows this weeks Sketchy Thursday sketch.

As per normal, I checked out the Less is More site first thing on Saturday.  I have to confess that my heart sank when I saw the theme 'fruit' as I didn't think that I had anything with fruit on it. After a bit of searching however, I did manage to find this digital stamp stored on my hard drive, so used that coupled with text written in word to make a one layer card, which I coloured in using promarkers.  As strawberries are a summer fruit I am also entering this into Stampavie 'summer', Delightful Challenges 'summer', Paperplay 'in the garden' and Fussy and Fancy's 'summer' challenges.

As I had a little time left (10 minutes) I decided to make a quick and simple Christmas card using my cuttlebug scrolls embossing folder and the Noel tapestry stamp set. I am entering this card into Pollycraft, Flourishes Timeless Tuesday, Fussy and Fancy, and Crafty Creations 'Christmas in July' challenges.  That is all from me for now. Have a great week everyone,
Love,
Caro
x

Tired Friday!

I think that we are all tired as a family today and ready for the weekend, as for some reason none of us has been sleeping well. That hasn't stopped Alex having a lot of fun at nursery though...he has come back filthy every day from having spent most of the day playing in the garden with his friends!

Crafting wise I don't seem to have achieved much over the past couple of days. I did manage to make this birthday card for my brother though. I used a leather effect embossing folder over the mottled leather brown card to create the background layer which I used as a frame around the main image.  I used brass brown metal sheet with my Tim Holtz cogs die and an iron brad to create the cog in the corner, and the main image was from Darkroom Door. This card therefore fits with Gingersnaps 'leather, brass and iron', Fresh Brewed and Simon says stamp 'shaped card', The Pixie cottage 'embossed', Meljen's 'frame it' and sew many cards 'anything goes' challenges. That is all from me for now. Have a great weekend everyone.
Love,
Caro
x

Late Wednesday!

Well my post is going up late today as I simply ran out of time!  Life is very busy at the moment as I have a lot on at work and so there is less time for blogging and crafting sadly.  For WOYWW here is my desk which today is in the process of making a scrapbook layout. You can see some ribbons and lace I am working with and the layout part way through.  My large wonderful mug of tea is there, nice and hot and comforting. 

And here is the finished layout! It follows this weeks Nuts about sketches sketch, and fits with the CCC 'shabby sparkle' (I distressed the edges, stippled ink on the background and through sequin waster, used lace and added sparkly gold ribbon, and gems), Kaboodle Doodles 'stitching' (there is fake stitching on the two layers of the central panel), Pollycrafts 'Christmas in July', The crazy challenge 'ribbons', Paper play 'ribbon, lace and buttons', Lasting Memories 'Titles' (mine uses stamping and three different types of letters), and Simon Says stamp and show 'Anything goes'. That is all from me for today. Have a great rest of the week everyone.
Love,
Caro
x

Sunny Kennilworth!

Well after the dull weather earlier this week it was a relief to have a lovely sunny weekend in which we could play outside. Today we have been down to my parents-in-law's house in Kennilworth where all of Tim's immediate family congregated for a family meal and playtime. We had a great time playing out in the garden with various sized balls,

and watching the kids run round.

Alex insisted on throwing the ball whilst Sam and Tom were playing football.

It was all the greatest of fun and was made even funnier by the fact that I was given a leather jacket, which Tim decided made me look like a 'biker chick' and he insisted that I pose in an 80s magazine style pose over the bonnet of the car...too funny for words!

I have to confess though, that the first thing I did on Saturday morning, before cleaning, washing, shopping and cooking, was to check out the Less is More challenge for the week. I am a little bit obsessed!  I have to say that I loved Chrissie's tutorial on how to make a good bow on a card...I have tried before and never succeeded so I was determined this time I would give it a go.  Believe me I know this bow isn't perfect but it is 100% improved from previous efforts, so thanks Chrissie for showing me how to make a half decent bow!  I used my new tapestry stamps for this card and completed the effect with the red button for the 'O'.  I am therefore entering this card into the Delightful Challenges  'Christmas in July', stamp something 'embellished' (ribbon, bow and button), Paper Cutz 'anything goes' and All sorts 'free and easy' challenges.

I also couldn't resist having a play with my distress inks and this cute puppy digital stamp so made another card which also fits with the Less is More challenge thanks to the tiny and cute buttons.  This card is also being entered into creative card crews 'animal antics', Fresh brewed 'animal', stampin for the weekend 'paws for thought' and Simon says stamp 'use newspaper' challenges.  That is all from me. Have a great week everyone.
Love,
Caro
x

Ready for the weekend!

My cold is gradually improving but both Alex and I are exhausted so we are ready for a weekend at home.  Alex had an exciting day today as it was a 'dress up' day at nursery.  He wanted to go in the Batman outfit I had made him a few months ago so that was easy to accomodate.  He was so excited that he was charging round the house holding his cape out and generally having fun...he was still wearing the cape and mask this afternoon when I collected him.

Crafting wise I have been playing with inks and stamps again to create this ATC. I used a clear emboss resist technique and distress inks on the background and then ironed the ATC to remove the clear embossing so I could stamp over the top. I made the gold cog by triple embossing in gold embossing powder and then stamping the cog image into it while it was still hot.  I am entering this into craftycardmakers spotlight 'ATC', Simon Says Stamp and Show 'embossing', Kaboodle Doodles 'embossing', and TioT 'Steampunk' challenges.

I have also made a scrapbook layout following this weeks Sketchy Thursday sketch.  As I tore the edges of the paper strips and the background also looks distressed I am entering this into Lasting Memories 'distressing' challenge.  This also fits with CCC 'stars', Papertake weekly 'cute' and Paper Cutz 'Anything goes' challenges.  The journalling read 'Alex has only recently discovered the joys of dressing up and likes pretending to be a doctor, a sailor, a knight and his current favourite, Batman.  He has even invented his own character 'Mr Pull Up Head'!'.  That is all from me for now.  Have a great weekend everyone.
Love,
Caro
x

Yukky!

Well this photo should give you some idea of what is happening with me at the moment. I now have a completely streaming cold and am not getting any sleep as a result of the irritating cough and the non-stop dripping tap in my nose. YUK! Hence my lovely hubby going out to get some supplies!

Here is my workdesk for this week’s WOYWW. I have a few images on there that I have been colouring in and cutting out for a scrapbook layout that I am working on, and you can see the stamp and ink I used. You can also see some of my promarker pens, which live in the bottom drawer of the wooden cabinet. My lovely warm mug of tea which is helping me stop coughing and the essential toilet roll (I ran out of tissues!). You can also see my camera, this is because it has actually finally given up the ghost, refusing to focus on anything and so my lovely husband has bought me a new one which I am currently playing with.

The images are so much sharper and clearer on my new camera and the macro is fantastic…check out this flower photo

And this gorgeous stalk of lavender taken in the wind, my old camera would never have coped and would have focused on the background not the flower!

Here is the finished scrapbook layout which was made following last weeks sketch on Nuts about Sketches (169). I took inspiration for the layout from the photos, from this weeks cupcake inspirations (for the whole fairytale theme) and from a ‘pin’ of a fairytale castle on ‘pinterest’, so I am also entering this layout into the DCM ‘pinterest’ challenge. As I used something metallic on this (the brad) I am entering this into Tuesday Throwdown’s challenge, and as I took the words ‘Those special times’ from Michael Jackson’s ‘Remember the time’ this page also fits with this weeks Scrap it with a song challenge. The journaling on the page reads ‘This was one of those special times when everyone playing with the same things in different ways led to gentle, peaceful fun. Grandma put the knights on the wall, Daniel played with the drawbridge and put the horses in the stables, whilst Alex made his dragon attack the castle and played with the dungeon’. Apologies for the yellowish cast to this photo, it was taken in artificial light with the light source to the right.
That is all from me for now. Have a great rest of the week everyone.
Love,
Caro
x

Wet and windy July weekend!

Well the weather is hardly summery this weekend which is a real shame. Alex and I have got used to spending our days outside in the sun and we have missed it this weekend. Instead we have done all the shopping, cleaning, washing, tidying and cooking together - he enjoyed the cooking most of all - especially when we made flapjacks! To get us out of the house and to stop us both going stirr crazy we went swimming yesterday afternoon, although I don't think it did either of our colds much good, and today I took him to the local indoor play area to work off some steam.

I have also had time to craft which has been fun. It is time for another Quirky Challenge, which was set this week by Cazzy.  She titled this challenge 'Very puzzling' and the aim is that we had to do something to do with puzzles, real jigsaw puzzle pieces, or punched or die cut ones, or even inchie puzzles. I didn't have any puzzle pieces or anything to make some so went to the local charity shop where I bought a 500 piece puzzle for 49p!  I then set about altering a couple of the pieces. I started with painting using acrylic paint and then stamped over the top of the paint.

I used images from our sponsor this week (the stamping boutique), printed out really small and coloured in with promarkers, cut them out and stuck them on and then added writing, gems and sparkle (using a sakura stardust pen).

I must apologise for the quality of the photos...my poor camera is on its last legs and really struggled with how small these pieces are: The 5p piece in this photo is to give you an idea of scale! I am entering these into Paperplay 'things with wings', Pixie dust 'girlie' (well to me fairies are a girlie image), Paper Cutz 'things found in the sky', and Sew many card 'glitter/sparkle' challenges.

As is usual for me I checked out the Less Is More challenge first thing yesterday morning.  Now I don't have any circle stamps or punches so this was a challenge for me... in the end I used three different sized pen lids to stamp with!  I used versacolour inks (rose red, burgandy, green and evergreen) and stamped down a masked off strip on the left hand side of my card, added red and green gems and then a sentiment on the other side to create the final effect. I have to confess that this was my third attempt at a circle card...the others ended up in the bin! I am also entering this card into the CTT 'circles' and stamp something 'Christmas in July' challenges.

Finally I made a scrapbook layout following this weeks Sketchy Thursday sketch. This layout didn't need any journalling as the title 'Tell a story please Great Gran' says it all! This also fits with Scrap and Stamp 'buttons', Scrapfit 'birds' and SIWAS 'every little thing she does is magic' (I used the phrase 'tell a story' from the song).  That is all from me for now. Have a great week everyone.
Love,
Caro
x

School again!

Alex is ultra excited about having spent another half day at school today.  He really does like it and he is very fond of his new teacher and class room assistant and can't wait to start school properly.  As far as he is concerned September can't come soon enough!

Crafting wise I have continued with my Christmas scrapbook by documenting an event that was a tradition from my own childhood...opening stockings in my parents bed, only this year it was my son and his cousin who were opening their stockings in the same bed! I used a subtle vintage colour scheme as it fits with the colours of my Mum and Dad's room and followed this weeks Pencil Lines sketch. This also fits with the Simon says stamp and show 'stitching', DYSU 'sew', Kaboodle Doodles 'scissors' (I used them to cut round the stamped stocking image), Fresh Brewed 'three of a kind' (3 gems), The pixie cottage 'ribbon', Stamp, scrap and doodle 'cream, brown and one other' (blue in my case).

I have also made a birthday card for my uncle who turns 60 next month. I used my recent steampunk images for this so it fits with Gingersnaps 'cogs, gears and watch parts', Penny's challenge 'Happy Birthday' and Stampavie 'birthday' challenges.  That is all from me for now. Have a great weekend everyone.
Love,
Caro
x

Stamping Wednesday!

Well I have finally caught up with all the washing, cleaning, tidying and e-mails since returning from Somerset, but unfortunately I seem to be catching Alex's cold.  The poor little thing still has a nasty cough and if anything it has got worse not better.  He is quite happy despite it, but rather tired as he is unable to sleep well at night.

For this weeks WOYWW I am showing you my desk in the midst of making a card which is using nestability cut shapes and torn scraps for masking and various inks to make a background on which I intend to stamp some silhouettes.  You can see the scraps of paper, ink pads and sponges I am using to make the background, the start of the card (hills are there), a couple of nestabilities hiding under the ink pads, my old broken camera (it really needs to be thrown away), and my lovely warm mug of tea.

This is the completed card on which I stamped Lavinia stamps.  I am entering this card into the Less is More 'one layer card that has anything with legs on it', Crafty cardmakers 'one layer card', Pollycrafts 'the great outdoors', CCCB 'sun' and MTTC 'bird watcher' challenges. That is all from me for today. Have a great rest of the week everyone,
Love,
Caro
x

Sunny Somerset!

Alex and I have spent the weekend at my parents house in Somerset where we were joined by my brother and his family.  We had nothing particularly special planned, just fun in the enormous garden, letting the boys invent their own entertainment.  Alex came up with this weekends 'special' which he and Daniel called 'Clowns'; attempting to walk and run in Grandma and Grandad's wellie boots!

Needless to say it involved a lot of falling over with huge amounts of laughter while Nicholas (aged 18 months) looked on in bewilderment

and decided that chasing Juno and climbing on the stone lion was more fun!

We then had birthday cake on the lawn to celebrate Nel's birthday which was earlier this week.

On Sunday my Gran came over to see us all which was extremely special

and we went to the village playground so that the boys could work off some steam. When Andy and the family went Alex and I had  water fight in the garden and we came home this morning via one of my closest friends, Hilary.

Since getting back Tim and Alex have played together giving me a change to unpack, put the washing on and check out the Less is More site.  I even managed to come up with a quick card for the challenge which is a one layer card with something that has legs. I masked the panel and sun with Nestabilities shapes, and used mustard seed, spiced marmalade and fired brick distress inks for the sunset sky and stamped with Lavinia stamps as silhuoettes. I am also entering this into the Pile it on 'favourite techique' challenge (Stamping and masking), CCC 'favourite challenge' (#149: single layer card), stamping for the weekend 'wings and things', and Meljen's 'no more than two layers' challenges.  That is all from me.
Have a great week,
Love,
Caro
x

School induction!

Alex had his first induction day at school today and we had to go along and meet his teacher and be given some information by the head of his school. It was a good afternoon and he behaved really well settling in OK.  I can't believe that my little boy is old enough to be going to school in September! (Apologies about the quality of the photo...my well used camera has finally given up on me and this was taken in a rush on my mobile!)

Crafting wise I have broken one of my personal rules and made a Christmas card before October!  I was given a new set of tapestry stamps and couldn't resist playing. This card follows this weeks Unscripted sketch and fits with their 'Christmas in July' theme, which is this weeks theme for Tuesday Throwdown and OCC.  I am also entering this into TioT 'flower power', and Spoon Full of Sugar and Simon says stamp who both have 'sewing/stitching' for their themes.
That is all from me for now. If all goes according to plan this weekend I will be down in Somerset so wont be uploading a new blog post until Wednesday.  Have a nice weekend and start of the week.
Love,
Caro
x

Sticky and hot!

Although the sun hasn't been shining as much it is still very sticky and hot here. We could do with the promised rain to cool things down a little and to help my poor flowers survive!  Alex is wilting a little too, although I don't think that is from the heat...he has a nasty cough which is keeping him awake at night.

For my desk this week, as part of WOYWW you can see I am in the middle of a one layer card which I am making in shades of blue with various lavinia stamps.  This has proved a challenge so there are a number of failed attempts on the desk as well as the stamps, ink pads, scraps of paper etc.  You may notice an absence of tea...don't worry, it isn't missing, I have just moved it off the desk so it doesn't get knocked over. It is to the right of me and is lovely and fresh!

I cannot take full credit for the idea behind this card as I saw something very similar on inkybitz which gave me the inspiration for this. I am entering this card into Cupcake craft challenges 'single layer cards', crafty cardmakers spotlight 'masking' (I masked the moon, the bridge and the edge of the stamped panel), Fluorishes timeless Tuesday 'friends' and CCCB 'birds of a feather' challenges.

I have also made a new baby card for friends who have just given birth to their first child, a little girl, hence the colour scheme!  I am entering this into the celebrations challenges for both Kaboodle Doodles and Pollycraft, and to the anything goes for Papertake weekly.  Sorry about the photos...I have run out of time to sort them out! That is all from me for now. Have a great rest of the week.
Love,
Caro
x