Poor Alex is exhausted at the moment, in part due to a stinking cold again. He was fast asleep when we went to get him this morning and really did not want to get up for breakfast. I think he is ready for a gentle weekend of playing at home and a nice long afternoon nap (crafting opportunity for me!). Although that said, apart from a tendency to flip out at the drop of a hat, he has been remarkably good natured for the most part in the evenings considering how tired he is. I will be so glad when we can get the car back on our drive as it will make life much easier all round; we wont have to get up so early and Tim and Alex wont get as tired with all the walking.
Crafting wise I have only managed to make this little notelet for a work colleague who is finding things tough at the moment. It follows this weeks CPS sketch, is suitably girly for the CCC theme, uses my new Crafty Individuals stamp and distressed inks in the background fitting with the crafty cardmakers challenge, and is very yellow fitting with the Quirky crafts forum challenge! I must dash now, so have a great weekend everyone.Love,
Caro
x
In contrast yesterday was a bit foggy and misty again, but at least there was no more snow and it took 20 minutes to get into work. Things were even thawing a bit creating these massive icicles on most houses. Our longest icicle is now 2 feet and growing! 
I have only had time in the evenings to complete one scrapbook page so far, but it does actually fit with several themes this week. It follows the Pencil Lines sketch for this week, is excessively pink and girly so fits with the CCC challenge, uses my new scrapbook papers so fits with the crafty cardmakers challenge (OK so it isn’t a card!) and just about fits with the recipe challenge on Spoonfull of Sugar (3 designer papers (Basic gray x2 (one matting the main photo) and Sandylion), 3 buttons, 3 flowers (there is a sneaky extra flower) and one ribbon (I cut it in half and used it in two places)) although I have then added massively to the recipe with a number of over the top embellishments! The title is ‘Race for Life’ and the ribbon, medal and title are memorabilia from the day. The journaling reads ’12 women from the Medical School joined 6,000 others for Sheffield’s Race for Life on 12th June 2009. Between the 12 of us we raised over £1000 for CRUK. I did the race as a pushchair push with Alex as the only boy participating. He was very good, encouraging me to run from time to time and we finished the course (5km) in a respectable 45 minutes – not bad considering the heat and those pink lab coats!’
I did try and make a snowman yesterday, but failed dismally as everytime it looked like I was getting somewhere with it Alex jumped on it and knocked it down...he thought it was a great game. Friends have suggested that the only way I will make one is if I sneak out after he is in bed!! 
It was lovely and sunny yesterday afternoon so we had this gorgeous sunset, however, today it has been cloudy all day and bitterly cold so we haven't been out as much. 
Only to dig out the car to get to the shops for an emergency food top up (Alex likes digging, although not in the ideal place!), and then out for a brief time sledging this afternoon. 
Crafting wise I have made another baby card for friends who are due to have a baby boy any day now (due date today!). This card therefore fits with all the baby card challenges (CCC, CCT and PTW), with the My time to craft brown and blue colour scheme and follows the latest sketch from sketch and stash. Again I used the new puppy stamp from the latest Cardmaking and Papercraft magazine. Everything else was old scraps that have sat in my stash for ages. 
The second card I made fits with the favourite technique theme for the Crafty cardmakers challenge this week as my favourite theme is definitely stamping. I used my new Tim Holtz distress inks and Crafty Individuals Stamps for this. The central dragonfly was masked and then painted over in mica powders, in an attempt to recreate the lovely irridescence you see on dragonflies in nature, but I don't think that worked as well as I hoped. 
Finally I made a scrapbook layout using Basic Gray and Hot Off the press papers, following the Unscripted sketch layout for this week and the theme of family from Scrap and Stamp. The photo features my brother, my cousins and myself when we were between 3 and 5 years old, so definitely fits with the family theme! The page is titled 'Dragonfly' and the dragonfly stamps are from Crafty Individuals. The journalling reads 'Aunt Lavinia and Uncle Bob were part owners of a loud old motorboat called 'Dragonfly' which they used to take us (my brother, my cousins and myself) around Itchenor Harbour and out for a trip to East Head, which had wonderful sandy beaches. Here we are looking rather cold, tired and miserable sheltering in the cabin on our way back from an exciting day at the beach: August 1980'. As usual I would love to know what you think. Have a great week everyone and stay safe in all the ice and snow.
The sun is shining, the sky is blue and there is beautiful snow everywhere, although it is coming off the trees now…just a shame it is such a nightmare to drive in and that I am stuck at work! 
We have had to park our car at the bottom of the road and walk to it each day, which poor Tim is finding a struggle. Alex, on the otherhand, thinks it is great fun to be able to play in the snow first thing in the morning and in the evening which triples the length of time it takes to walk the distance! Therefore we have to get up earlier in the morning, however, that means we have seen a few lovely sunrises, including this one which was particularly bright. 
This is our garden as it looked yesterday....I just love the way the wigwam has turned into an igloo! 
I have so many photographs of hills and trees in the snow now, but can’t resist trying to get one more good one! 
I have also been crafting in the evenings and completed a scrapbook layout using this weeks Pencil Lines sketch and some photos I have been meaning to scrap for ages. The papers I used are Bazzill, Dovecraft, Cosmo Cricket and All my memories. The page is entitled ‘Bottles’ and the journaling reads 'One of Alex's favourite games was moving the squash bottles round the kitchen!'
A number of sites have New beginnings or babies as the theme for their challenges this week (CCC, CCT, PTW, SCSC ) so I have made a Baby Girl card for a friend who is expecting her first any day now. I followed the Sketch Saturday sketch for this week and this card also uses heart shaped eyelets so fits with the Spoonful of Sugar challenge. 6 challenges in total - not bad for one card! I am looking forward to playing in the snow with Alex tomorrow. Stay safe everyone and have a great weekend.
Alex pulled the sledge around the estate 
and generally had a great time deliberately falling over in the snow etc. 
Today, thanks to the bus route being gritted, we did make it into work so I managed to get one grant signed off and the other posted which was a relief. While I was walking back to the hospital where I work from the research office I went via the main part of the University. I just love the crenulations on this building (Firth Court) and the colour of it in the snow. 
I also detoured ever so slightly through Western Park where I took these photos. 
This one is of the museum in the snow. 
These are the park gates. 
Not long after these photos were taken it started to snow again, but fortunately not too much. We will have to wait and see if we get anymore overnight. 
Crafting wise I haven’t done a great deal as I have started with my keep fit regime which limits my time for crafting. I have made this card following this weeks CPS sketch though. The stamps are all Crafty Individual Stamps and the inks are all distressing inks. Have a great rest of the week everyone and stay safe.
Alex thinks 'going for a little walk' in the snow is wonderful so we have been outside a lot over the past couple of days, traipsing the streets pulling his sledge behind him. 
He enjoys throwing snowballs at me, 
scraping every available surface to make 'snow pattens', 
and today we discovered this little slope which is perfect for taboganning down (no photos as we both went in the sledge together...I loved it!). 
I have also enjoyed playing with my camera and trying to take some arty shots of the sunset (unfortunately the clouds slightly obscured this one), 
and of the birds sat in the trees against the orange sunset background. 
Of course, I couldn't resist having another go at the berries in the snow...it is just such a beautiful effect. 
As it has been too cold to play out all day we have been playing with cars, trains etc inside, as well as doing some necessary chores around the place, including cutting Alex's hair..although I miss the curls I have to admit that this style does suit him and looks very smart.
I have also been crafting, making this card for a friend who is mad about elephants, by following the Cute Card Thursday sketch for this week. 
This scrapbook layout, as the title suggests is of New Years Day 1982 and uses Basic Gray papers and stickers, Purple Onion and Crafty Individual Stamps and Flora Doodle flowers. This fits with the theme of New beginnings for Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge and Daring Cardmakers, and of the theme of hand cutting (the strip of stripy paper is handcut with Fiskars paper edger scissors) from Scrap and Stamp. The journalling reads 'A traditional New Years Day when I was growing up was spent with my brother's Godfather, David and consisted of a walk followed by a barbeque - nice food if rather chilly!'. 
Finally this scrapbook layout also fits the Scrap and Stamp challenge (I hand cut the wave paper following the lines), and I used my distressing inks and Stamps Away and inkadinkado stamps for the backgrounds. The page is entitled 'Sailing fun' and the journalling reads 'We were lucky enough to spend a lot of our summer holidays at Aunt Lavinia and Uncle Bob's house in Itchenor where we had great fun learning to sail in the Mirror - a boat called Alice, swimming in the sea and playing in the sand at East Head with our cousins, Harry and Archie. August 1983'. Sorry about the camera glare, and in answer to a question - yes it is me in the boat with my cousin Harry. As usual I would love to know what you think. It is back to work for me tomorrow, so have a good week everyone.
He is much better today and was more lively and interested in things and we even managed to go for a little walk to feed the ducks. Although he hates the fact that the paths are rather icy and slippery, I did manage to persuade him to walk in the non-icy patches so he got some much needed fresh air and exercise. 
Although it has been freezing cold the sun has meant that we have had some beautiful sunsets over the snowy hills. 
My excitement for today was seeing a kingfisher at the duck pond...a most unexpected pleasure. Sorry about the dodgy photo...it was taken on full zoom in poor light. 
I have also been crafting with my distressed inks..this card was made using entirely distressed inks, glimmer mist (on the bog butterfly), and stamps from Crafty Individuals, Stamps Away & Paper Artsy. I feel that the sentiment of this card fits with the current Daring Cardmakers challenge of 'New Beginnings'. 
The next card follows the PTW sketch for this week and uses distressed inks and crafty individual and Hero Arts stamps. 
Finally I made a double scrapbook layout of our trip to the Yorkshire Wildlife Park entitled 'Lemur Safari'. This fits with the theme of 'Anything Goes' from My Time to Craft, and uses Bazzil, Basic Gray and Doodlebug cardstock, and Doodlebug stickers and chipboard. The journalling reads 'We had a wonderful family day out a tthe Yorkshire Wildlife Park. Alex loved the baby Guanaco and being able to walk into the Wallaby and lemur enclosures, watching them bouncing round within feet of us. The tractor in the play area was the icing on the cake as far as he was concerned'. 
Does anyone have anyNew Years Resolutions? I managed to keep 2.5 out of four of mine last year and will be making the same ones again - keep my crafting area tidy (only half succeeded with that last year), lose weight, make at least one scrapbook layout a week and get my photo albums up to date (failed so far!). Have a very Happy New Year everyone.