Wounded soldier!

Poor Alex came back from school today with two enormous padded dressings on his elbow and knee after falling over in the playground. Apart from that he has had a great last day of term due to being taught Rugby for the afternoon.  By all accounts he did quite well and thoroughly enjoyed it.  Now he is looking forward to his birthday party which is this weekend.

Crafting wise I made this card for my mother-in-law as her Birthday is coming up shortly.  It is a nice Spring card with the inspiration taken from the example given in Crafty Stamper.  The stamps used were from IndigoBlu, Crafty Individuals and Lavinia stamps.  The inks used were distress inks and versafine. I am entering this card into CCC 'Spring', Try it on Tuesday 'Spring', Freshly Brewed 'Spring',  Simon says stamp 'Anything goes', Stampin for the weekend 'anything goes', and the colours were taken in part from this weeks Cupcake inspirations challenge. That is all from me for now. Have a great weekend everyone.
Love,
Caro
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Just a little bit sad (WOYWW)

I am just a little bit sad having discovered that Alex is going to have to have glasses.  I was expecting him to need them eventually (both Tim and I are as blind as bats), but not this soon.  The odd thing about all this is that he is not short-sighted, rather he has one long sighted eye and one normal eye.  The glasses will hopefully help them balance out which will make life easier for him in the long run.  He was very good at the opticians, coping well with the drops, and was only sad that he wasn't able to take his glasses home that day!

Anyway, enough of my mummy woes...here is my desk as part of WOYWW where I am in the process of making a scrapbook layout.  All the elements are cut out and ready to stick down.  At the back of my desk, in front of the wooden tray you can see a pile of clear stamps.  They have been left out since a crafting session with alex where he made a card for 'the girl he is going to marry' (his words) Ella! He makes something for her every week, and it has to feature pink and fairies on it somewhere as he knows that she likes them.  Aaah, young love! Needless to say my stamps now need cleaning.  You can also see my trusty mug of tea, DST, craft knife and various pens/pencils etc.

Here is the completed layout, a relatively simple one making the most of the BoBunny background paper, and taking inspiration from the colours in that and the boys tops.  The layout follows sketch #206 from Nuts About Sketches, and fits with Lasting Memories 'layers' challenge (there are 5 layers in most of this, with 6 in some places).  I am also entering this into Kaboodle Doodles 'circles and squares' challenge.  That is all from me for now.  Have a great rest of the week everyone.
Love,
Caro
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Spring has sprung!

Spring is most definitely here; despite thick fog yesterday morning the afternoon cleared up to brilliant sunshine so we headed to the park with Katie and Sheila where the kids spent a happy time racing across the playing field and swinging.

Today we spent a happy morning in the garden, playing with water and sand,

and then spent ages watching this ladybird crawl around the grass.

In the afternoon we went to Millhouses park where Alex was dressed as a pirate

and spent a happy time on the boating lake, before buying a fishing net and catching frogs and toads. Sadly the light was too bright for the camera to cope with!

Crafting wise, it is time for another Quirky Crafts challenge which is a sketch set by Lyn (pop over to the blog to see the sketch).  We have a cool sponsor this time, Bugaboo, who kindly gave us some images to work with.  I chose Edward Elephant Present so that I could make Alex's birthday card.  I used Nana's kids papers, some big brads, and three tiny buttons to make this.  The image was coloured using promarker pens, and decoupaged on Edward, his little bird friend and the red ballon to make the image pop a bit.  I am therefore also entering this card into Kaboodle Doodles 'How cute is that?', Penny's challenge '3 buttons, 2 designer papers, 1 ribbon', Simon says stamp 'Bingo' (Brads, ticket/tag, Ribbon/twine' and DCM 'box of tricks' (this image features a box so I hope it counts!).

I cannot let a weekend go by without joining in with Less is More.  This time the challenge was to combine three of their past challenges.  I chose week 2: Flower or tree, Week 6: off the edge, Week 7: masculine, and week 50: birds. The stamps are all from Crafty Individuals and were my valentines day present from Tim - he knows me very well! I am also entering this into Crazy4challenges 'owls or birds' (sorry, my owl stamp has mysteriously disappeared!) and  Pile it on 'for a man' (this is for my Dad who is a keen bird watcher). That is all from me for now.  Have a great week everyone.
Love,
Caro
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Sporty child!

Alex was so excited this morning as he had to go to school wearing 'sports clothes' ready to run a mile for Sports Relief.  Aged nearly 5 he managed to run most of the mile (twice round the school playing field) and walked the rest of the way, making £115 for sports relief.  I am very proud of him!

Crafting wise I made this altered CD for Alex.  He has wanted one ever since I made one at Christmas, so I thought a steampunk theme would suit him as he is into gadgets, cogs, cars and any sort of machinery. With the exception of the watch stamp (faintly used all over the distress inked background), the stamps were all from a Darkroom door steampunk set.  I heat embossed in gold round the edge, and on the two cogs in which I added green gems.  I am therefore submitting this to SSSS 'handmade backgrounds' (distress ink and stamps), Craftycardmakers 'time' (watches and the word Time), CCC 'circular cards' (it isn't a card but I hope it counts), Creative card crew 'vintage', Gingersnaps 'last century', CCT 'Anything goes', Pixie Dust 'Your favourite things' (stamping in general, but I am really getting into steampunk at the moment), Fussy and Fancy 'Anything but a square/rectangle', and stampin for the weekend 'Anything goes'.  That is all from me for now.  Enjoy the lovely spring weather we are having and have a nice weekend.
Love,
Caro
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Sunny WOYWW!

Well hasn't the Spring weather been gorgeous here!  My cold is finally on the way out although I still have no voice and so was sadly unable to sing at the induction of our new vicar at church last night. The service was wonderful though! This is my desk as part of WOYWW and as you can see it is completely covered in scrapbook papers and photos which have completely covered my laptop keyboard as well.  At the back of the desk is my trusty mug of tea (half drunk and still nice and warm) and a pile of clear stamps hiding behid the yellow scissors that need cleaning and putting away.

This is the layout that I ended up making (so we are now about an hour on from the previous photo!) of a trip to the Yorkshire Wildlife Park last summer. This layout follows this weeks sketch from Nuts about sketches and fits with the theme of 'animals' from lasting memories. I am also entering this into Pollycrafts 'check it out', The Crazy Challenge 'go green', Tuesday Throwdown 'Spring clean' (the checked K&Co paper has been in my stash for about 4 years as have the leaves), Daring Cardmakers 'lucky green', and Crazy4challenges 'green' challenges.  That is all from me. Have a great week everyone.
Love,
Caro
x

Mothering Sunday!

Well I have been spoilt rotten this weekend, starting with this very special hand written message from Alex (aged nearly 5). 

Then he and Tim went on a 'secret mission' and came back with this very lovely cut orchid complete with another hand written tag by Alex saying 'love from Alex'.

This morning Alex climbed into bed with me and gave me this card which apparently features a multi-coloured cheetah and his tracks, as well as a set of Indigo Blu stamps as my Mothering Sunday present.

As it was my in laws 45th Wedding Anniversary today we headed down to Kennilworth for a family celebration with a pub meal.  We all had a lovely time despite me not having any voice. 

Not knowing exactly how well three young boys would cope with it, we had all bought some toys to keep them entertained...favourites were the Bungees and the Bakugan which kept them happily playing.

Taking silly photos of everyone also kept us all entertained, especially with this photo of the 'Happy couple'! 

I couldn't let the weekend go without checking out the Less is More site.  This weeks challenge left me stumped for ages, despite the fact that I use masking on most of my cards!  In the end I masked out the area of the card I wanted to use and then tore paper for masking of the hills which I shaded using my distress inks.  In fact all inks on this card were distress inks, and I used a mixture of Lavinia and Crafty Individuals stamps to make this scene. I am entering this card into Simon Says Stamp 'Bit o green', Fresh Brewed 'plants/outdoor sceenery', Speedy Fox and friends 'Clean and Simple', and The Pixie Cottage 'pastels'.  That's all from me for now.  Have a great week everyone.
Love,
Caro
x

Yukky Friday

Alex has given me his cold. I was up last night coughing and wheezing with a streaming nose and have a temperature today so have given up on work.  Sadly I don't have the energy to do anything else either which is rather distressing so have been vegging on the sofa with a book and lemsip.

I made this scrapbook layout yesterday evening when I wasn't feeling quite as rough. It features the two men in my life and is entitled '2 Cheeky Chaps'.  The journalling reads 'I am so lucky to have you both in my life.  The papers were all scraps from Cosmo Cricket and I inked round the edges of the Bazzil Basic card stock with fried brick distress ink.  I am entering this into Lasting Memories 'lucky', Cards for men 'Cheeky chappies' (I hope it counts as it isn't a card!), CCCB 'Things in my heart', Gingersnaps 'border punches' (I used a Mary Stewart one), DYSU 'Favourite colour' (red), Delightful challenges 'Someone special' (these are two special people to me) and Paperplay 'Bingo' (stamping, stitching & inks).

This layout followed the sketch by Creative Scrapbookers and followed the theme by Scrap it with a song (the word fantabulous comes from the song Moondance by Van Morrison). I used stipple ink effects and stamps from Lavinia stamp to enhance the background of this layout.  That is all from me for now.  I hope you all have a great weekend.
Love,
Caro
x

Wednesday and WOYWW!

OK so it is Wednesday and you all know what that means...time for WOYWW.  First a BIG thank you to Julia (host of WOYWW) for the lovely badge and the fantastic bag - you are right, I did recognise it - LOL!  On my desk this week you can see my craft mat covered in lace, DST, a craft knife and various things that I am putting together for my latest card (see below).  Towards the back of the desk are a pair of scissors, pencil, bag of punched out leaves (thanks Lyn!) a card blank and hiding behind the PVA glue is my faithful tea mug, sadly almost empty now and a toilet roll (I am getting yet another cold!). The note book is where I keep a record of all the different challenges that I am entering.

This is the final card, a 45th wedding anniversary card for my in laws; this is apparently a Sapphire wedding anniversary hence the colour scheme of blues.  It was made following the Crafty Cardmakers sketch and fits with CCC 'going dotty' (dots on the leaves, ladies shirt, and lace), SSSS 'Anything goes', Creative card crew 'Vintage', Flourishes Timeless Tuesday 'Lace and Scallops', Stampin' for the weekend 'photo inspiration' (colours and shabby chic) and Speedy Fox and friends 'Bingo' (Lace, Bling and circles).  That is all from me for now.  Have a great rest of the week.
Love,
Caro
x

Sunny Spring Weekend!

Since yesterday lunchtime the weather has been gorgeous with brilliant sunshine and minimal wind.  As a result we have spent much of the weekend outside with a trip to Wymingbrook Woods yesterday afternoon,

where Alex spent a happy couple of hours clambering on rocks, scrambling up and down steep banks,

using a torch to peer into mini caves and holes playing a version of hide and seek with a toy cheetah - I would hide it in a hole and he had to find it.  Easy entertainment that kept him happy for hours. We came back filthy, tired and happy!

This morning we had a crafting morning with Alex making a mini scrapbook and helping me to put all his recent drawings into another scrapbook, whereas afternoon we went to Endcliff park where Alex spent the best part of two hours playing with paper aeroplanes in the sun.  It was a lovely weekend.

This weekend it is my turn to set the challenge on Quirky Crafts which is a 'Recipe for a special Lady'.  The card can be a Mother's Day card, but it must include circles, flowers and gems/pearls.  Considering I set the challenge I actually found it really hard!  I used an image and a sentiment from our sponsor, The Cutting Cafe to make this along with some free papers from the scrapbook magazine from ages ago, the corner stamp from Crafty individuals and some gems & gem flowers from my stash.  I am also entering this into MTTC 'circles' and Simon Says Stamp 'Mother's Day'.

I couldn't let the weekend go by without joining in with Less is More.  The challenge this time is 'A one layer card with script'.  I have to confess that this is actually my 3rd attempt at a card for this challenge...the other two ended up in the bin after a severe case of dodgy design and then dodgy stamping.  This card acutally uses Crafty Individual (script), Penny Black (flower) and Inkadinkado (sentiment) stamps and follows the sketch from this weeks Unscripted Sketches.  It also fits with LIIU 'flowers' and All sorts 'flowers' challenges. That is all from me for now.  Have a nice week everyone.
Love,
Caro
x

Secret diary!

Alex (aged nearly 5!) has decided that he is going to keep a secret diary!  In reality his 'secret diary' is a little hard backed note book in which he spends hours sitting and drawing and practicing writing his letters. This isn't something we have suggested, but something he has chosen to do over the past few days and he is really enjoying it. I just love the look of concentration on his face as he does it!  He wont let me take photos of the pages as they are secret, but I have been priviledged enough to see them.  I particularly liked his drawing of crows and the double page that was completely filled with letters written neatly between the lines.

My crafting project over the past few days has been a bit of a different one for me.  I am an avid reader and have always been fascinated by the creative process of writing books so decided to alter this mini wooden tray to detail the stages involved.  So you go from 'Unlocking' (top left) the 'Imagination' (top right) to 'Sweet Creation' (bottom left) and finally to 'Publication' (bottom right).  The overall feel of this piece is Steampunk and vintage, with the main colour being Viridian Green. The key, cog, pen nib and bottle are all from the Tim Holtz Idea-ology range.  This little creation fits with Ooh La La 'on the move' (balloon and dragon), SSSS 'Bottle it' (little bottle filled with ink), the Crazy challenge 'steampunk', PTW 'Anything goes', Gingersnap 'Granny's photo album/vintage' (there are lots of vintage elements to this), The Pixie Cottage 'things with wings' (dragon), DYSU 'go green' (colour green), and Paperplay 'recycle' (paper from an old book).  That is all from me for now.  Have a great weekend everyone.
Love,
Caro
x

Well done Alex! (WOYWW)

I had Alex's parents evening yesterday and I was told that he is doing really well in school.  He has gone from being the child that was most told off for not sitting still to being one of the ones that they rarely have to tell off.  He is working really well independently and they think he is really intelligent with an amazing grasp and use of language considering he is not yet 5. It seems that in the past few weeks the purpose of school has really clicked for him and he is fully engaging with every aspect of it.  I am so pleased with him!  This morning before school he stamped a card (copying one I made - see later) and wrote 'Spring' on it to take to his teachers...look at that cheeky face!

This is the close up of Alex's card...not bad stamping for a 4 year old and he used the cut and dry foam for the first time with my distress inks. His writing is getting neater too!

Here is my desk as part of WOYWW.  As you can see it is covered in distress inks, cut and dry foam, scraps of paper and card, and numerous stamps (mostly Lavinia and Crafty Individuals) having just finished stamping a card. To the left of my desk, hidden underneath the pieces of scrap paper and card is the latest edition of Crafty Stamper which provided the hare stamp and inspiration for the card. The centre of my desk has the craft mat on it for use with the distress ink and you can see one lonely Tapestry stamp - a butterfly which was used to cover up an unfortunate ink splat on the card.  I always seem to make those sorts of mistakes when stamping and am getting better at covering them up - LOL.  Those of you who know me well will be wondering where my mug of tea is hiding...it is downstairs where Tim is kindly making me a fresh brew!

Here is the finished card made for a friend who is having a tough time at work at the moment.  I want her to know that her friends are always there for her. I am entering this card into Kaboodle Doodles 'Spring flowers', Pollycraft 'Spring has sprung', Flourishes Timeless Tuesday 'use at least 3 colours from their inspiration photo' (black, green, rust red and orangey yellow), Tuesday Throwdown 'new life', and SCSC 'go for green' (green is the main colour on this...not sure how green it looks in this photo though!). That is all from me for now.  Have a great rest of the week everyone.
Love,
Caro
x

Changeable weather!

Within the course of the past 2 days we have had high winds, brilliant sunshine, drizzle, heavy rain and even snow.  As I type this we have gone back to drizzle again.  It didn't stop us having fun though...yesterday Alex and I went round to friends where he had a great time playing board games and silly spy games with Katie, and today he spent the afternoon in an indoor play area.

Crafting wise I have, naturally, made my entry for Less Is More.  This week the theme is 'neutral colours' (creams, browns, greys etc) and I used entirely Crafty Individual stamps for my entry. The ribbon and flower were recycled (ribbon was cut out of a pair of trousers and the flower was one of several I rescued from a friend's bin -  LOL!) so I am entering this into Speedy Fox and friend's 'recycle' challenge, as well as Delicious Doodles 'inspired by a song' (Pretty Woman), Fussy & Fancy 'More than words', and Crafty Creations 'Vintage Fashion'.

My Gran (now aged 87) is quite seriously ill at the moment and is on about three different courses of antibiotics so I made this special Spring card for her.  It used the free stamp from IndigoBlu from the cover of this month's Crafty Stamper and cased one of the designer's cards featured in the magazine (Kay Halliwell-Sutton).  The other stamps I used were a mixture of Lavinia stamps, Crafty Individuals and Hero Arts, with distress inks and Onyx black Versafine.  I am entering this card into Flourishes Timeless Tuesday 'country living', Gingersnap 'things that leap' (hares), CCT 'signs of spring', Delightful challenges 'Spring colours', DYSU 'Things with wings' and All sorts 'spread your wings' challenges. The colours don't look quite right in this photo...the hills and trees at the top are actually more green!  Any prayers for my Gran would be much appreciated.  That is all from me for now. Have a great week everyone.
Love,
Caro
x

Cheeky Cheetah!

Alex has been learning about Jungle and African animals at school and so on world book day they had to go dressed as something to do with the Jungle or Africa.  His favourite animal is the cheetah so he requested a cheetah image to be attached to his top.  Nice and easy for me to find an image from the web, print it out and sew it on, or so you would think!  Several pricked fingers later I was not so sure, but as you can see Alex was delighted!

Crafting wise I have madea layout following this weeks Nuts about sketches sketch.  The layout is all about my Uncle's birthday celebrations and so fits with this weeks Lasting Memories 'celebration' challenge. I am also entering this into CCCB '2 or more ribbons and 9 or more words' challenge (The two ribbons are the blue stripes across the layout), Simon says stamp 'Anything goes', Aud sentiments 'Happy birthday', Paperplay 'something old, something new' (buttons and brads are old, ribbons and alphabet stickers are new), and Pixie dust 'buttons' challenges. That's all from me for now.  Have a great weekend everyone.
Love,
Caro
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