Happy Snowy Easter!

I hope that you are all having a very Happy Easter.  We still have snow here as you can see, but for Easter Sunday we travelled South to my in-laws where the snow has now gone. 

This meant that we were able to have an Easter Egg hunt in the garden as well as a run to the park with the dog, lots of lovely food, family chat and fun.

There is a new challenge at Quirky Crafts this weekend which is a sketch by the talented Lyn and a Bingo card where you have to use as many of the items as possible.  We have two lovely sponsors so do go and check it out.  My journal page uses Blissful Angel from Robyn's Fetish and a quote from the Bible.  The background papers were Tim Holtz, and I used a crafty individuals corner stamp which I heat embossed with gold powder.  I sewed round the edge using gold twine, and added gems, copper foil and a charm. I am entering this into Flourishes Timeless Tuesday 'use some thread', Simon Says Stamp 'Anything goes', Cute card Thursday 'brass in pocket' (I used a brass charm - hope it counts!), Stampin' for the weekend 'anything but a card', All sorts 'vintage' and Speedy Fox's 'The letter A' (Angel) challenge.  That is all from me. Have a very Happy Easter everyone.
Love,
Caro
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Good Friday smiles!

Well it is Good Friday today and what better way to spend part of it than in church at a children's service.  It was a short service with the message of Easter and Good Friday clearly explained and it finished with arts and crafts activities of making an Easter basket and making a cross.  Alex made this cross which I thought I would share as part of Annie's smiles.  This is such a simple idea, but so effective.

For another smile I thought I would show you a photo of Alex enjoying our street snowball fight last Saturday...he won the prize for the biggest snowball!

Finally I wanted to share this clean and simple card I made for my Mother-in-law's birthday.  The poppy stamp is from Lavinia stamps. I have used fired brick distress ink and olympia green versafine inks and added a little gem to the base of each poppy.  The background paper is from K&Co and the sentiment was printed on the computer.  I am therefore entering this into Lavinia Stamps challenge blog 'anything goes'.  That is all from me.  Have a wonderful Easter everyone.
With love & God Bless,
Caro
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A snowy WOYWW!

Well here we are again...we still have 8 or more inches of snow in our back garden. This is how Alex and I went to church for the Palm Sunday service, and how I have been taking him to school this week. Although we had a great street snowball fight on Saturday with 3 other families, we will all be pleased when spring finally arrives.

As is normal on a Tuesday morning, my desk was taken over by Alex who decided to make a decorated hovercraft!  I was not allowed to help and by the time he had finished, it really did look as though the circle was floating.  I was most impressed!

For WOYWW this is my desk as it was late Tuesday afternoon...in the midst of a gelli plate printing session (it is very dull and tidy now as I am at work). My trusty mug is tucked out of the way, my laptop has been buried in paint covered paper, and there is a pack of baby wipes all ready for the clean up operation.

This is the page from my Faith Smashbook that I made with the gelli plate printed pattern shown in the photo above.  I stamped all over it using distress inks, Hero Arts, Lavinia, IndigoBlu and Crafty Individuals stamps and I masked the rays radiating out from the cross and coloured them with orange distress ink.  The cross itself was made using Microsoft Word and contains an Easter quote from the Bible (John 11:25-26). I am entering this page into Kaboodle Doodles 'Easter', SSSS 'inspirational quote', CTT 'Easter parade' (as well as the cross there are two little rabbits), Fussy & Fancy 'spring days' (colours, rabbits) and Speedy the Fox 'Easter and/or Bunnies'.

I have also made another page in my general Smashbook as Alex got 'Highly Commended' in his street dance exam and it needed recording for posterity...we were all amazed and very proud of him...pretty good going for a little boy that has concentration and co-ordination difficulties. That is all from me for now.  Have a great week everyone.
Love,
Caro
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Snowy smiles again!

Hang on a minute...haven't we been here before?  Snow on a Friday? Somewhat familiar I feel.  It is Friday and time for Annie's smiles. As I type there is a blizzard coming down, and for the first time this year Alex's school closed early (at lunchtime).  He and I braved the heavy snow for a brief sledging time, but it was too cold to be out in it for long.  We both looked like walking snowmen at the end of it.

To warm up after sledging Alex decided it would be fun to decorate some biscuits. I just love the look of concentration on his face as he puts icing on the rich teas!

This is the final decorated result...

it tasted very yummy

as can be seen by this massive smile! Mind you, I had to get the hoover out to get rid of all the hundreds and thousands that were all over the kitchen floor.  I hope you enjoyed my smiles this week.  Have a nice weekend and stay safe if you have snow.
Love,
Caro
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Poor Pooh! (WOYWW)

This is my desk as it was on Tuesday morning...a small boy playing with his transformers on my desk and sad that Pooh Bear's head had nearly come off.  We are not sure how it happened, but poor Pooh is certainly in need of emergency surgery.

As my entry to WOYWW this is my desk as it was on Tuesday evening...Pooh still isn't fixed as I need some more tough thread and a thimble in order to stitch him up (I hope to buy them on Thursday when I can get into town), so he is sat carefully at the back of my desk with his head balanced. Also in evidence on my desk are my trusty tea mug, sadly almost empty now, some masks and stamps that need cleaning (almost hidden) and my 2013 smash book.

The next page of my smash book is from the last weekend in Feb when i met up with my brother and his family.  The page itself was plan white so I used masks and sequin waste with distress inks to make a colourful background for the photos.  As this page mostly features three little boys having fun in an indoor play area I am entering this into CCC 'masculine' challenge.

The next page I left plan white and then added images taken from the magazine article and doodled a frame and the writing. I am entering this into Through the craftroom door 'anything goes' challenge.

The final page is of Mothering Sunday.  The page was already pale blue and had the words 'The Top 10' on it.  I added a flower mask and distress ink, then splattered gently with water and then the rest of the lettering and the numbers as a way to remember the special parts of Mothering Sunday. I am entering this into SSSS 'water' (as I used some water in generating the background).
That is all from me for now.  Have a great week everyone.
Love,
Caro
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About a boy!

It is time for a new challenge at Quirky crafts and it was Doris' turn to set the challenge which was All about boys and had to use buttons and ric rac! I made another page for my new art journal (journalling could very well get to be addictive!). My page used lots of distress inks in the background with masking and inking through stencils. The main image is not of Alex!  I photoshopped the photo to make it look like a sketch drawing in vintage colours, I then added a stamped meadow scene from IndigoBlu and birds from Lavinia stamps. The frog, lizard and sentiment (used as a sun) are from Cutting Cafe's 'All about boys' set. I finished it off with tiny buttons for flowers and yellow ric rac as the suns rays.  I am also entering this challeng into CCC 'ribbon', Penny's challenge 'ribbon & die cuts' (the sun was die cut using a nestability), Cute Card Thursday 'anything goes', delightful sketches 'here's one for the boys', DCM 'make a cute angle' (there are several acute angles on this page), and Speedy Fox's friends 'green' (although green isn't the only colour I hope that this counts).  That's all from me for now.  Have a great week everyone.
Love,
Caro
x

Red nose smiles!

Well it is Red Nose day so as my entry to Annie's smiles I thought I would share a few fun photos of Alex in his 'Acid Man' costume, all ready for his red nose day at school. This is the sideways view showing the gold cape that caused me so much stress!

He had problems keeping the noses on his little nose, so put them on his fingers instead...in this photo you can see the letters that he insisted were on the front of the T-shirt.

He managed to raise £50 for comic relief by doing the Gangnam style dance in his own unique crazy style at school today.  I also video'd this version at home so I could share it with you!  If the video above doesn't work then you can see it on YouTube here.

I also thought I would share this photo of the two of us taken in the snow on Mothering Sunday.  We had a lovely meal out and this was taken afterwards. 

We then went for a fantastic snow walk scrambling up cliffs and throwing snowballs at each other. Doesn't this look beautiful?

I have also managed to do a little crafting in the form of adding to my smash book and thought I would share this page with you.  It is of a weekend spent with Alex's cousins and is all about the activities that the boys got up to. I made the background using distress inks in three different colours and masks. The words are all stamped.  I am entering this into CTT 'anything goes', Delightful challenges 'one for the boys' and stamping for the weekend 'childs play'.  That is all from me for now.  Have a great weekend everyone.
Love,
Caro
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Vomit & WOYWW!

Ok, so I know that the post title isn't very appealing, but poor Alex threw up on the classroom floor on Monday morning and spent the rest of the day on the sofa in front of the TV.  Needless to say that by Tuesday morning he was absolutely fine, but with a '48 hour' rule in place he wasn't allowed to go back to school.  He therefore spent the day bouncing on me, the sofa, his dad, and generally being his usual mad self. I am so glad that he is back to school on Wednesday morning.

It is time for WOYWW, but is this really my desk?  I have told you often enough that I HATE sewing and am totally USELESS at it, but here is my desk with material and sewing things on it!!  Why is that?  Because I stupidly volunteered/had my arm twisted to make a costume for Alex for Red Nose Day.  The children in his class are going to be dressed up as superheros and have been encouraged to create their own ideas.  Alex came up with the idea of 'Acid Man' - a hero who sprays acid on the baddies. Acid man had to have a gold cape (with red stitching) on a yellow top with red letters (AM) on it.  I have to state clearly now that even armed with tea I am NEVER, EVER going to sew gold material again!  This is definitely a labour of love and will not look brilliant at the end, but I know that Alex wont mind and will be happy with it.

Back to more normal things for me...paper, inks and paint!  I have actually taken the plunge and started an art journal in which to express myself with random things. I have no idea how this is going to work out as I am not very confident at this type of art - I'm better with cards, smash books and scrapbooking.  These first few pages use the Gellipad to generate backgrounds and layers.  I generated one layer with flower masks, then a darker layer in which I added some leaves, music and a die cut of a bird (which I left on the gelli plate to completely mask the paint). I then added some layers of paint and ink round the bird, music stamps in silver and finally added the writing in white. I am entering this into CCCB 'inspired by a song' (When Songbirds sing), and Delicious Doodles 'use a die cut'.

This next page again used my gelli plate with two different masks and the double lift technique. I then hand doodled the letters on top and wrote a few spring associated words around the flowers and leaves  (new groth, renewed hope, green, flowers, bird song, joy).  I am entering this into All sorts 'Springtime', Flourishes Timeless Tuesday 'go green' and Fussy & Fancy 'flowers'.  That is all from me for now.  Have a great rest of the week.
Love,
Caro
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World book day smiles!

It is Friday and therefore time for Annie's smiles.  Why don't you pop along and see what everyone is smiling about this week.  I have a few smiles for you...the first one is of Alex and his cousins in my in-laws garden last weekend...all three boys clambered up onto the tree stump

and then posed for the photo...unfortunately the sun was behind them so the only way to take the picture was to have them to the edge.

This week we celebrated world book day...Alex's class could go dressed up as a book character if they wanted, but we weren't told about it until last minute so he went as Tom, the squire, from the Beast Quest series of books. He also had to take a cuddly toy and book to school with him.

And just to make you laugh, Alex took a photo of me brushing my hair!

Finally I have done a little crafting, taking inspiration from Chrissie's article in this months Craft Stamper for a one layer card involving heat embossing in the background.  I am therefore entering this into MTTC 'embossing', SSSS 'numbers' (3 colours, 3 flowers, 3 words), CTT 'Spring fever', and Fussy & Fancy 'flowers' challenges.  That's all from me for now.  Have a great weekend everyone.
Love,
Caro
x

Wednesday and WOYWW time!

Well this is my desk as it was on Tuesday morning...occupied by Alex who was watching demolition videos on my ipad. Although he had already had an enormous breakfast, he decided he was still hungry so ate some bread while watching!

This is my desk as it was late on Tuesday evening as my entry for WOYWW. To the left you can see some background papers I made with my new gellipad (I don't know what I am going to use them for yet, but they were fun to make!) and towards the back my acrylic paints, rubber combs and stamps left out from these experiments. My trusty mug of tea is nearly empty (well it was nearly supper time!) and to the right is a little bag with Lego in it!  The lego was used as a visual aid in a training course I have been doing....I haven't got round to putting it back in the box yet.

Life has got in the way a bit recently and I haven't had as much time to craft.  I did however complete a page of the large smash book I am doing to document Alex's school days.  This is the second page and mostly features him being given his first book, and then a picture of him reading upside down, which won him a 'bonkers about books' award.  I am entering this page into Kaboodle Doodles 'anything but a card' and PTW 'Anything goes'. That's all from me for now.  Have a great rest of the week everyone.

Love,
Caro
x

Messy crafting!

I have been having fun playing with my new Gelli plate this week as this weekends Quirky Crafts Challenge is 'A quirky mess'.  The idea is that you make your own backgrounds using inks, paints, pens etc, and you do not use any DP.  We have three great sponsors this week so do pop by and check out the challenge site. My first make is a wall hanging for Alex  and uses 'the cat in the hat' from Bugaboo. I made the background with yellow, red and blue splodges of paint onto a gelli plate, then brayered them and made patterns using a comb, bubble wrap and the end of a paint brush, before laying the paper on top. I finished it off with glimmer mist, then the promarker coloured cat image, some star brads, blue gems and mounted onto navy blue card.  I am entering this into Flourishes Timeless Tuesday 'Glitter and shine' (Glittery glimmer mist and the shining gems), Delightful challenges '3s a charm' (3 stars and 3 gems).

My second make is the cover of an art journal for Alex and uses the painting boy from Squgglefly. This is also on a gelli plate background this time with stripes of paint and then masking with hearts, leaves and writing. I finished it off with HeroArts and PaperArtsy stamps, and then the painting boy image coloured with promarkers. I am entering this into Penny's challenge 'use your favourite colour' (red is my favourite). That is all from me for now.  Have a great week everyone.
Love,
Caro
x

 

Smiling!

Well it is Friday and time for Annie's Friday smiles!  I have several smiles this Friday.  First up is one of Alex's drawings of 'Super Diaper Dog' from the book 'Super Diaper Baby'. 

Last weekend we met up with my brother and his family at an indoor play area.  The three boys had a fantastic time together dressing up in the car,

playing shops

and in the actual play area on the enormous slide!  A smash book page featuring these and other photos will be forthcoming!

I have also started a new smash book...this one is a lot bigger (nearly 12x12 per page) and will be used to document Alex's school activities.  I have started with his first day at school (September 2011) and will move forward from there. I am entering this page into Simon Says Stamp 'anything goes' and CCT 'something old' (I have had the rubons from which the title came for about 5 years!). That is all from me for now. Have a great weekend.
Love,
Caro
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