Weekend at home!

As we were in Coventry last weekend, and we are away next weekend, we thought it would be nice to have a gentle weekend at home!  Yesterday, as well as the usual round of cleaning, tidying, washing, shopping etc, Alex and I went to the park where he practiced riding his bike. The good thing about this was that I was running along side him so it helped to keep me fit as well!  Today we went to church in the morning, where Alex was learning about God's gifts, which lead to a few challenging questions including 'If God heals people why hasn't He healed Daddy?' Rather a hard question to answer really, especially in a way that a 4 year old can understand. This afternoon Alex and I went swimming where we played games of 'Mummy Monster' with me chasing him across the pool...all good fun!

Crafting wise it is time for another Quirky Crafts challenge.  This week we have two sponsors, so double prizes up for grabs!  The challenge this time is to 'Create a scene' i.e. use two or more different stamps/elements to build up a scene on your card/artwork.  I was given some digital stamps from Limited Runs to work with for this (Tree 1, mushroom house, Mouse and big cupcake, Cuddles, Butterfly 3, dragonfly 1 and Little bird) and created a picture for Alex. I didn't use any fancy art packages, but cut the images out by hand...a real labour of love for me as I hate cutting things out!  To finish the picture I added glitter glue on the cake, the butterfly and dragonfly wings and a seed bead on top of the cake!  I am also entering this picture into Ooh La La 'same image twice' (2 birds), crafty cardmakers 'beads', Gingersnap 'glorious greens' (the greens in the tree, grass, dragonfly and flowers predominate in this composition), and SSDS 'Anything goes'.

I also had time to make this card following the sketch for this weeks Less Is More challenge. I printed the words first and then built up the card using free Kate Knight paper, some ribbon and an embossed cuttlebug butterfly to which I added glitter glue and pearls. Therefore, I am also entering this into SCSC 'ribbons', Stampin for the weekend 'embossing', Do You Stack Up 'ribbons', CCT 'you are a gem' (I hope pearls count!). 
That is all for now from me.  I hope you all have a great week.
Love,
Caro
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Brain boggled!

I spent today trying to sort out far too many data sheets and merge them into one master document, whilst checking the accuracy of the information, so needless to say I am completely brain boggled!  I have had a lovely gentle evening so far watching Scooby Doo and Tom & Jerry with Alex and then settled down to a bit of crafting. This card was made for a friend of mine who loves butterflies so it should hopefully do the trick!  I made it using a cuttlebug edging embossing folder,a free butterfly stamp from Crafty Stampers magazine, and inkadinkado spotty swirls stamp.  I stamped in faded jeans distressed inks and added blue gems to the butterfly and swirls.  I am entering this card into Stampavie 'blue and white', Flutterby Wednesday 'embossing', Simon says stamp 'Anything goes', CCT 'Gems', Fussy & Fancy 'dots' and Stamping for the weekend 'embossing'.  That is all from me for now.  Have a great weekend everyone.
Love,
Caro
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Pink and girly!

Well for a change my desk has pink and girly things on it!  I am sharing the contents of my desk as part of Julia's WOYWW, which gives us a chance to be nosey into each others crafting space.  On my desk you can see my trusty mug of tea (lovely and warm), some pink and green patterned paper from the Nana Kids range (Dovecraft, I think!), a cupcake image cut out with a nestability and coloured in with promarkers and the glitz it glues you can see at the back of the desk.  You can also see a fine pen, tweezers, scissors, craft knife, ruler and craft mat.

Here is the finished card which is for a little girl who turns 5 next week. I followed the CCCB sketch for this, and am entering it into Crafty Cardmakers 'beads' (the little pink beads are on the icing of the cupcake), The crazy challenge 'Tic, Tac, Toe' (pink, image, die cut), PTW 'happy highlights' (there are glittery highlights in both papers used and on the cupcake icing), colour create 'pink & green', Paperplay 'ribbon', Crazy4challenges 'child's birthday card', and Speedy Fox and friends 'Happy Birthday' challenges.  That is all from me for now.  Have a great rest of the week everyone.
Love,
Caro
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Day trip to Coventry!

We have had a lovely weekend! Yesterday was the usual round of shopping, washing, cleaning etc and then a trip out to the largest indoor play area I have ever been to, which was great fun!  Today we went to Coventry to see one of my best friends and her family. The kids had a great time dressing up, playing Gormiti monsters and then had a great trip to the park, whilst Jules and I put the world to rights! It was a great day.

As a result I haven't had a lot of time for crafting this weekend, but did manage to join in with the Less is More challenge in the little amount of time I had yesterday.  The challenge was to have some sort of aperture on your card, so I cut out the heart shapes by hand (as I don't have a punch or die cut of the right size) and then coloured inside the card using distress ink (fired brick) and stamped the Crafty individuals music stamp over the top and finally added the red gems. I had to hold the card shut to photograph it, as it didn't photograph well otherwise!  As red is the only colour on this card I am entering it into Creative Card Crew 'seeing red', CCCB 'pretty inside and out' (most of the stamping is on the inside), Delightful challenge 'distressed/vintage' and Crafty Creations 'Valentine'.  That is all from me for now.  Have a great week everyone.
Love
Caro
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Stickman goes Golden!

Alex went to school as Stickman today for his school Book Day.  We even put face paint on him for the first time! Not only has he been good all week, but he also got the Golden Certificate for the first time ever, so I am a very proud Mummy.  The golden certificate is given to the child in each class who has worked hardest in that week, so for my little boy this is a major achievement. 

As I had a rare evening out last night, I have done very little crafting except making this card, which is for my nephew's Birthday next week. I followed the sketch from Simon says stamp, used three different papers from the Nana's kids pack, with the digi image 'Presley the Pirate' from Digital Delights by Louby Lou (coloured in with promarkers) and numerous stickers to finish it off. This card therefore fits with Cards for men 'Boys and their toys', Ginger snap 'use your favourite papers' (these are my favourites for kids cards), CCT 'Music and/or dance', DYSU 'patterned paper', Pixie Dust 'dots', and Sew Many Cards  'Anything goes'.  That's all from me for now.  Have a great weekend.

Love,
Caro
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WOYWW

Well it is Wednesday, so its time for Whats on Your Workdesk Wednesday (WOYWW).  As I am at work every Wednesday my photos are invariably taken on a Tuesday, but I assure you that things haven't changed much since this photo was taken!  My desk has slightly unusual things on it for me...namely my rather chaotic sewing kit!  I hate sewing with a passion...somehow I always seem to get the thread tangled, prick my fingers and get generally fed up with the whole thing...so the project on my desk is a bit of a labour of love. Alex has to go to school on Friday dressed up as a character from his favourite book, and he chose 'Stickman'.  I have to say I was actually quite relieved...a brown pair of trousers, a brownish top with wood grain drawn on it and three green felt leaves sewn on, and a brown hat with woodgrain and leaves, and the costume is complete. I will post a picture of him wearing it on Friday!

Last week I promised you photos of my finished printers tray, so here is the final product - I just need to hang it on the wall now.  If you want to see close ups of the various compartments then please click here.

Crafting wise, apart from making Stickman, I made this card for a friend who is currently having a tough time.  I inked the background first in distress inks (mustard seed, spiced marmalade and fried brick), then stamped the Crafty Individuals stamp over the top and coloured the birds and borders with promarkers.  I finished it off with the Crafty Individuals sentiment. I am entering this into less is more 'birds; one layer', Let's Ink it up 'Anything goes', Stampin for the weekend 'out with the old' (nothing on this card is less than 12 months old) and Stamp scrap and Doodles 'winter birds' (for me birds lining up on a branch against the sunset is a winter scene).

I also made a scrapbook layout following this weeks Pencil lines sketch featuring photos from my 10th Wedding anniversary.  I have had the background paper from My Minds Eye for about 3 years, but never had the courage to use it before. I used a provocraft die to cut out the various hearts on the page, my Martha Stewart lace border punch, a doily, some lace, some paper roses, a letraset rub on (celebration), and Doodlebug Designs Alphabet stickers. This layout also fits with Simon says stamp & show 'Anything but a card', Flourishes Timeless Tuesday 'Anything but a card', MTTC 'your favourite embellishment' (paper flowers), Pixie Dust 'hearts' and Speedy Fox & friend's 'border punch'.  That is all from me for now.  Have a great week everyone.
Love,
Caro
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Fun & Busy weekend!

We have had a busy but fun weekend with a combination of washing, tidying, cleaning, doing the weekly shop and going to an indoor play area with friends yesterday, followed by church and a trip to a friends house today.  So much fun, especially when we all (adults included) had a go on scooters in the near dark!

I have also had time for some crafting this weekend.  It was my turn to set the challenge over at Quirky crafts this week, and I chose 'Silhouette' as the challenge, because at this time of year I always see such stunning silhouettes against the sunrise on my way to work.  We have Stitchy Bear stamps as our sponsor this week and so the next two cards used their digital stamps.  In order to create them both, I inked the backgrounds before putting the card through the printer, which meant a lot of careful measuring, especially in this first one, as the whole card is one layer.  To finish this off, I just added hologram glitter glue to the wings. I am also entering this card into CCCB 'back to black', Flutterby Wednesday 'bright colours' MTTC 'Hugs & Kisses' challenge as I made this card for a friend who is going through a tough time and needs some love.

The second card was made by layering up onto black, brown and then finally blue card. I finished it off with some textured, non shiney ribbon, some real shells and a shrink plastic shell.  This card followed The Pixie Cottage sketch for this week and I am entering it into Crafty cardmakers 'no floral embellishments', Gingersnap Creations GC134 'ribbon' and SCSC 'Anything goes with blue' challenges.

Finally I made a simple card for this weeks Less is More challenge, which is 'birds'.  I actually have a lot of bird stamps I discovered, but thought I would use this one which is new and part of a 7Gypsies set (Conservatory). I have to confess I was a little disappointed with the stamp as the image showed more definition than the stamp gave me. The background was made by colouring with a Whispers pen in a nestability die!  I am also entering this into the DYSU 'Pink' challenge.  That is all from me.  I hope you have a good week.
Love,
Caro
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Finished Printers Tray!

Well I have done it!  I have completed my first ever printers tray, which was a Christmas present from my parents-in-law.  I decorated it using a mixture of old papers (K&Co) and a new 7Gypsies paper pad (Conservatory), the pressed flower is old (I pressed it myself about 4 years ago), as are the number plaques (been sitting in my stash for about 7 years), the two fish images came from a book I rescued from the charity shop bin (it was too badly damaged for them to sell), the shells and stones I found on various beaches over the years, most of the charms were new (Tim Holtz & random beading sites), but the smallest bird was an old one, as were the flowers, and I picked the feather up from the road about a week ago! I used a few stamps on this layout as well, all old ones I have had for years from Hero Arts, Crafty individuals and an unknown wave stamp (about 15 years old). So there you have it, a mixture of recycling, using natural objects I have found over the years, using old scraps and new stash.

Here is a close up of the top left of the tray complete with pressed flower, decoupaged eggs, a real feather, and charms.

This is the top & centre with the main title panel.

This is the top right with charms, flowers and decoupaged butterflies

This is the bottom right with shells, real sand in the bottles, an interesting stone from the beach and a fish charm.

And finally the bottom left with shells, and recycled images from a book.
I am entering this project into CFM 'recycling', CCC 'something new', OLL 'New beginnings' (well eggs are new beginnings aren't they?!), Pollycraft 'Anything but a card', Crafty Creations 'Something New', Freshly Brewed monthly challenge 'Use something new', Penny's challenge 'Birds', Delicious Doodles 'All things new', and Stampin for the weekend 'Out with the old' (well I used a mixture of new and old, but all of it was given to me last year or before so I hope it counts!).  That's all from me for now.  I hope you all have a very happy weekend.
Love,
Caro
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Crisis averted!

I am running late with this as we had a family crisis last night: Alex's favourite teddy was missing i.e the one he needs to go to sleep with.  I turned the house upside down trying to find this bear, which I KNEW had not left the house.  An hour and a half later, when we were all beginning to despair and Alex was in tears, I finally found him.  Where?  In my crafting bin under my desk in the study, hidden under various sheets of paper.  He must have been dropped in by accident when Alex and I were crafting yesterday morning.  What a nightmare! One traumatised small boy needed a lot of cuddles and comforting after that, but at least the crisis did come to a happy end. Anyhow, here is my desk as my contribution to the great desk blog hop that is WOYWW.  As you can see I am still working on my printers tray which dominates my desk. My craft mat is half hidden underneith it, you can see some new charms which I bought to complete the project, my lovely hot mug of tea at the back of the desk, along with the paper pad I have mostly used on this project.

Compared to last week, every compartment now has something in it...I am now in the process of starting to stick things down which is where it gets exciting.  I promise I will show you the complete version next week.

Other crafting projects this week have been scrapbook pages...I am simply MILES behind and really need to catch up.  This first page followed this weeks Creative Scrappers sketch and the Lasting Memories challenge of doing something about me!  When I was a teenager, I did a few modelling gigs and so when my father-in-law gave me his leather jacket, Tim decided I should strike an 80s style pose across the car and pretend I was modelling again, hence this photo and subsequent layout.  All very silly, but good fun! I am entering this into The Crazy challenge 'Lace or pearls' challenge as I used a lace punch for one of the borders on this.

The other layout that I made followed this weeks Pencil Lines sketch, which I adapted into this gorgeous Fancy Pants patterned paper by drawing the frames around the patterns. Instead of the triangles shown in the sketch I added little tags, and peel off orange stars to go with the patterned paper.  I was quite pleased with how this turned out.  I am also entering this into Pollycraft's 'anything but a card' and Simon says stamp 'spots or stripes' challenges. That is all from me for now.  Have a great rest of the week everyone.
Love,
Caro
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Tired weekend!

I know this week was only a 4 day week for us all, but it seems to have left us exhausted.  Alex is extremely tired as a result of another bad cough, and I haven't been sleeping at all well, so we decided to have a very gentle weekend. Yesterday we went out to friends in the afternoon,which Alex loved, but we spent today playing at home, mostly with the quarry set and lego. 

He is getting better at building lego and with some help on how to interpret the instructions, built his first model by himself; this little speedboat. We went out to the park this afternoon and got completely blown to bits!

As a result of the gentle weekend, I have had time to craft including this very purple card for the Less is More 'mostly purple' challenge....I have to say, my heart sank when I read this challenge as I am NOT a purple girl!  However, I did not want to wimp out so here is my attempt... a card for a friend who has recently lost her Mum.  The card was made using purple co-redinations card, purple distress ink for the panel, imperial purple and olympia green versafine ink on the Penny Black iris stamp, and the sentiment was printed using word. I am also entering this into The Pixie Cottage 'monochrome', Flutterby Wednesday 'open' and Pixie Dust 'monochrome' challenges.

I am determined to catch up a bit with my scrapbooking and so made this layout of my extremely cute nephew following this weeks Sketchy Thursday sketch. This layout mostly used scraps of various papers (sorry i don't know which ones), my new buttons, new prima flowers and new little monster. I am therefore entering this into Crazy4challenges, Delicious Doodles, CCT, Simon says stamp, and Fresh Brewed 'use something new' challenges.

Finally I made another layout using entirely scraps of papers (Dovecraft and Doodlebug I think!) and so am entering this into Aud Sentiments 'use scraps' challenge. That is all from me for now.  I hope that you all have a nice week ahead.
Love,
Caro
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Little Rock Star!

Bank holiday Monday was great fun as Alex treated me to a rock concert!  He has the attitude, the loud raucous singing, the mad bouncing, crazy hair and silly words down pat. I only wish I had managed to record his made up song; it was simply hillarious and had me almost helpless with laughter.  A wonderful end to what has been a fantastic holiday; it was very hard to go back to work yesterday.

This photo of my desk, full of my new goodies, was taken last night for my entry to WOYWW.  I failed last week to join in as I was away in Somerset spending time with my family (see my previous post for Christmas photos), but as I am back now I will join in again!  I was given this printers tray for Christmas and as you can see I am part way through planning the contents I will add to turn it into a wall hanging for our study. Also on my desk are various patterned papers for use in the printers tray, craft knife, cutting mat and metal ruler for cutting the papers exactly to size to fit in the box.

This close up shows exactly how far I have got with the project; some boxes are nearly completed with all their contents whereas others are still empty and awaiting time and inspiration. Nothing has been stuck down yet as I don't dare until I am convinced that the whole thing will work together but you get the idea. It is mostly based on my new 7gygpsies papers and Tim Holtz bits and pieces, combined with sea shells and feathers I have collected over the years.

This detailed picture shows 4 of the little compartments; the main 'title' compartment and three others, showing that the theme is nature.  In the end it will contain images of sea shells, fish, birds, butterflies, dragonflies, flowers, eggs and anything else that inspires me.  It is taking ages, but I am having great fun doing it.

I also made this card for my father-in-law as he loves birds.  I used my new 7gypsies papers combined with old K&Co scraps I have had for years (left over from scrapbook projects), and recycled ribbon from a cracker (2 actually, joined under the image) to make this clean and simple card following this weeks CPS sketch. This cards therefore fits with SSSS 'something old & something new', cards for men 'recycling', Kaboodle Doodles 'Let's celebrate', PTW 'anything goes', and Simon says stamp 'new something' (I used new stash!).  That is all from me. Wishing you all a very Happy New Year.
Love,
Caro
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