Busy! (WOYWW)

Why is it when you are due to go on holiday the workload suddenly increases?  I have been running round like a headless chicken this week to try and get things finished off at work before I go on my holiday on Saturday.  It has been mad.  Here is my desk as part of WOYWW.  This photo was taken yesterday evening after I had spent a day working at home, which is why it is comparatively tidy.  The photo was taken when I was in the planning phase of making a card for my Aunt who turns 75 next week.  I was looking at papers and stamps to try and decide what to make.  Despite temperatures of 27-28oC yesterday I was still drinking tea...hence the half drunk mug on the desk.

Here is the card, taken late last night.  I used two Hot off the Press papers (left overs from a scrapbooking project), some lace, a prima flower and a three gem flower centre.  The stamped image is from Crafty Individuals.  I am entering this into SSSS 'for a lady', and Ooh La La '1 image, 2 design papers & 3 embellishments' (I used three types of embellishments so hope this is OK). That is all from me for now.  Have a great week everyone.
Love,
Caro
x

Summer Holidays are here!

Alex has officially broken up for the summer and the first weekend off school there is sun!  This is good news and we have spent the whole weekend outside enjoying it.  Yesterday we went out to Millhouses park to enjoy ice-cream

and play in the water...he was soaked at the end of it.

Whereas today we went to Tramlines, a music festival which is being held in Sheffield this weekend.  Alex was generally more interested in the rides than the music, although he did dance to The Bluejays.

We then sat and relaxed, eating a Hawaian ice while listening to Pocket Satellite.

As well as enjoying the sun I did spend sometime crafting and made this card for a colleague who is leaving at the end of the month.  I am entering this card into SSSS 'no rules', and CCC 'black cardstock', PTW 'all things girlie'.

I have also joined in with this weeks Less is More, which is to use anything sewing related.  Now I am an unmitigated disaster anywhere near needle and thread (I usually end up bleeding and getting the threads tangled) so decided that I had better hand draw my stitches. I am also entering this into Paperplay, Speedy Fox, Delightful challenges and cards for men 'Christmas in July' challenges.  Have a nice week everyone and enjoy the sun while it lasts!
Love,
Caro
x

Thank you! (WOYWW)

As Alex's first year at school draws to a close, instead of the traditional sports day he had a 'fun run'.   He originally wanted me to cheer him on from the sidelines, then changed his mind and asked me to run with him, which was highly entertaining.  Here he is after his run with his certificate and bouncy ball that he was given for taking part... he was nowhere near the front of the group, but neither was he at the back so he was pleased with that, especially as he was running with children from the year above him as well as his own year.

As he goes up into Y1 next term it is time for us to say a 'thank you' to all his teachers so here is my desk as part of WOYWW in the midst of making the thank you cards.  Most importantly, my desk is hosting a lovely large, hot mug of tea, which is keeping me going! Other than that it is a completely chaotic mix of completed cards, partly coloured in images, bits of patterned card, cutting mat, ruler, DST, curls of DST backing (!), craft knife and hiding at the back, my phone and various stamps that need to be put away!

 I used the Nana's kids papers and a digital stamp (sorry I can't remember where it is from) coloured with promarkers for all of these cards.  This first one followed this weeks CCT sketch.

This next one followed this weeks CPS sketch

and the final one followed the Crazy4challenges sketch.  Now all I have to do is get Alex to write them! That is all from me for now.  Have a great week everyone.
Love,
Caro
x

A glimpse of sun!

Well we have finally had a bit of sun here this weekend. Yesterday morning was brilliant sunshine, although the afternoon was thick black clouds and rain so we went to the swimming pool for some fun and games. 

Today was again lovely and sunny for most of the day so this afternoon we headed out to Endcliff park where we played catch and football, and ate ice-cream. 

Crafting wise it was time for another Quirky challenge which was set by Lyn and was 'Christmas in July'. Now for someone who never makes Christmas cards before October time, this was a real challenge.  I had a cute image to work with from our sponsors 'Stitchy Bear digital stamps' of rudolf and Santa, so I printed it out and then embossed it into the snowy scene embossing folder from Cuttlebug.  I then coloured the scene and stamp with promarkers, and the sky with blue chalk and mounted it all on red to make it pop.  If I am perfectly honest, I am not sure how much I like it, but Tim seems to approve! I am also entering this into The Crazy challenge 'Christmas in July', and Stampavie 'Christmas in Summer'.

Finally I made a card for my Great Aunt who is in her 90s and is moving house this week after over 40 years in the same house.  Emotionally she is finding it hard letting the house and all its memories go, so I didn't just want to make a traditional moving house card.  She is artistic and likes abstract flowers so I thought that these stylistic flowers from Hero Arts would do the trick. The sentiment was chosen as I am thinking of her a lot at the moment, and praying that she will be happy there.  I am entering this into Less is More's one layer challenge of '3' as there are 3 flowers, 3 embossed lines and 3 lines to the sentiment. I am also entering this into Crafty Creations 'free for all', PTW 'Anything goes' and Penny's challenge 'anything goes'. That is all from me for now.  Have a great week everyone.
Love,
Caro
x

Trip down memory lane! (WOYWW)

Firstly, apologies for missing WOYWW for the first time ever last week.  I was in Oxford at a work conference and just couldn't manage it from my little phone.  I thought that I would make up for it by showing you a few photos of my trip away, which was indeed, for me, a trip down memory lane as I did my undergraduate degree there. This is me standing in the front Quad of my old college (Somerville).

This is Keble college where the conference was held. 

and this is the view of the main dining hall (taken from High table) at the conference dinner.

Finally I couldn't let you go without a view of the Radcliffe Camera

and the Bodliean library.

Now, having completed that brief trip down memory lane it is time for my entry to WOYWW. Here is my desk as it looked yesterday morning...one small boy trying out distress inks on a cuttlebug embossed piece of card!

Here is how it looked yesterday evening while I was making a sympathy card.  You can see my cutting mat (somewhat battered and mishapen after so many years of use), my craft knife and ruler, various layers of card, my versacolour inkpads in a plastic box, a corner punch, as well as my phone and trusty mug of tea hiding at the back of the desk.

My Godmother sadly died unexpectedly of a pulmonary aneurism, and this card is for her family. I am entering this into SSSS 'layers' (there are 4 layers to this card even though it is clean and simple), and Stamp with fun 'favourite stamps' (these are Crafty Individuals and Purple Onion stamps and I love both ranges). That is all from me for now.  Have a great week everyone.
Love,
Caro
x

I'm back!

Well having been off line for a week due to a work conference in Oxford, I am back home and straight into a busy weekend.  It was Alex's school fete yesterday and he had a great time being wrapped up in the Mountain Rescue team's equipment,

then having his face painted, and winning 5 teddies on the tombola and a whoopie cushion in the bran tub.  Needless to say the whoopie cushion was a firm favourite, causing much cackling laughter.

Today we went to the birthday party of Alex's girlfriend (Ella)...they decided they were going to marry each other when they were at nursery together and today they both said this once again...so sweet.

I haven't had much time for crafting this weekend, but Alex made two birthday cards as you can see.

He took the most time over Ella's card and chose this image and coloured it in really carefully.

This card he made for Eve which was done with just stamping.

I did manage to make a birthday card for my adopted Grandma following the Less is More 'Gold' colour scheme. The butterfly is a Hero Arts stamp embossed with glitter gold, and I used a cuttlebug embossing folder and some gold gems. I am also entering this into PTW 'Anything goes', and Paperplay 'Happy Birthday'.  That is all from me for now. Have a great week.
Love,
Caro
x

Glasses trauma!

Alex came home from school on Friday with broken glasses, so like the dutiful parents we are, we took him to the opticians on Saturday morning to get them fixed.  Needless to say by Sunday afternoon they were broken again thanks to a bouncy castle accident where he was bounced upon by several other boys.  Moral of this story: always take your glasses off when going on a bouncy castle and there is nothing wrong with duct tape for holding glasses together!

We have had a lovely weekend despite the weather, just pottering around together as a family, going to an indoor play area, going to church and playing games of superheroes (directed by Alex who kept rescuing me from all sorts of peril). 

One of the main parts of the game was him 'flying' on my feet as shown in this picture.

This weekend it is time for another Quirky Crafts challenge, this time chosen by me!  The challenge is to make us laugh. We are sponsored by the wonderful Bugaboo stamps and they have many different designs which made me laugh when looking through them.  I chose the Stella Work -never hurt stamp for my entryand made it into a sort of wall plaque.  I used corrigated cardboard for the background and covered it with fired brick distress ink. I coloured the images in with promarkers, then cut and embossed it with a nestability and distressed the edge with fired brick distress ink.  I layerd the image and sentiment onto basic gray paper, and cut leaves out of some scraps of K&CO paper using a Sizzix die.  The flowers were all prima, layered up and finished with a making memories flower brad.  The ribbon and lace were from my stash. This followed the sketch from Fresh Brewed and I am also entering this into SSSS 'depth of distress', CCCB 'create a gift' (this is for a work colleague), Stampavie 'lots of flowers', All sorts 'in bloom'

I have also made this card following this weeks Less is More challenge to make a card based on their blog banner. That is all from me for now.  I will be missing from cyberspace for most of this week as I am off to a work conference in Oxford this week. Have a great week everyone.
Love.
Caro
x