Valentines Weekend!

It has been a very gentle weekend, which was just what the doctor ordered. Yesterday morning Alex and Tim played while I crafted and then Alex and I went and did the weekly shop, and then in the afternoon Alex and I went to Endcliffe Park where he had great fun playing on the bouncy slide, bouncy castle and in the playground, despite the damp weather. This morning was lovely as we had pain au chocolat for breakfast, exchanged presents (I got some crafting goodies and a special card made by Tim) and then Tim and Alex went out and bought me a lovely bunch of flowers (red roses and white lilies), while I did some crafting. While Tim had his afternoon nap Alex and I went to our local park where he had fun on the climbing frame and slide. This evening we are going to have some nice food and watch a video which will be a real treat.
Somehow I seem to have had a lot of time for crafting this weekend which has been wonderful. I decided to spend the time catching up on my scrapbooking and this first scrapbook page actually followed a sketch on the SSDS site where they were having their first ever blog hop (well worth it if you get the chance to join in). The papers are Basic Gray and the stamp was designed by Dulcie and free with the valentines issue of CMPC last year. This also fits with several challenge site themes this week CCT ‘in the name of love’, DCM ‘have a heart’ and MTTC ‘hearts and kisses’. The next scrapbook page follows a sketch from the Stuck?! site and also fits with the DCM ‘have a heart’ theme. The papers are all from My minds eye, the title is ‘Christmas hug’ and the journaling reads ‘A reluctant family portrait, Christmas Day 2009’ (Alex didn’t want to sit still for the family portrait – he wanted to get down and play!). The next scrapbook page uses the Becky Fleck sketch which is this weeks Scrap and Stamp challenge. I didn’t have any shaped paper so sketched it out and cut it out myself. The papers are all from MME, the stickers are papermania and the stamps were free from magazines at Christmas (Christmas tree and holly). The title of the page is ‘Presents in bed’ and the journaling reads ‘It was great fun opening stockings and presents in bed on Boxing Day morning 2009’.
Finally I made a scrapbook page following this weeks Unscripted sketch, the papers and embellishments are all from MME and the title is ‘All is Merry & Bright’ and the journaling reads ‘We all had a wonderful Christmas Day 2009, eating wonderful food, playing with the musical crackers, exchanging lovely presents, playing pass-the-parcel, running out in the freezing cold garden and generally having the usual chaotic fun that comes from a large family gathering!’. That is all from me, I am off to get Alex to bed and to enjoy a romantic evening with Tim. Have a lovely week everyone.
Love,
Caro
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Helicopters!

Thank you for all your kind get well messages. I am feeling a little better and have been back at work for the past couple of days, but still haven’t shaken the cough. Alex is on great form though and is currently going through a helicopter stage. He has about 4 toy helicopters and has been running round the house with different ones making very loud helicopter noises. He does make me laugh! With being at work I haven’t had time for much crafting but I did manage to make these two ATCs for a swap that is being run on CM&PC forum. The theme of the swap was anything from history so I chose two completely different people – Dick Turpin and Henry Ford! I used distressing inks as the background and stamps from Xela and Stamps Away as well as images I found on the net. More by co-incidence than design these fit with the theme of monochrome from Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge. Have a great weekend everyone.
Love,
Caro
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Finally given in

After struggling through work on Monday I finally gave in and admitted I was ill and have had yesterday and today off to try and recover from this horrible fluey cold that has reared its head. I have been sleeping during the day, which is unheard of for me and have had a temperature so I think I did the right thing. Alex on the other hand has been well enough to go to nursery although he is also getting a cold so is more than a little tired in the evenings wanting lots of cuddles (I’m not complaining). Although I haven’t felt up to much crafting wise I have had some more time in which to gently play (I go stir crazy being in bed or watching TV all day) so I finished off a project which I will give Tim as part of his Valentine’s Day present. This is an altered CD case. The front of it is based on this weeks CPS sketch. The case is designed to open like a book to sit on a shelf. The left hand panel fit with CCC theme of red and white only, and with crafty cardmakers digital delights as the frame is a clipart image and I typed out the poem. I can’t take credit for writing the poem..I saw it on a wedding card once. This also fits with the Quirky Crafts Challenges of Valentines and MTTC hearts and kisses challenge. I also made these simple tags using some stamps designed by Dulcie for CM&PC last year. This fits with the previous two challenge sites and with the Stamp Scrap and Doodle challenge of Valentines without red! Tim loves green hence the colouring of these tags. Finally I made a scrapbook page following Pencil Lines sketch #173 and the Kaboodle Doodle theme of spots and stripes. The layout uses Bazzil cardstock, Doodlebug and Sandylion papers. The title is ‘Crazy balloon fun’ and the journaling reads ‘Alex, Sam & Tom had so much fun chasing round Granny and Grandpa Pete’s garden after the flying and whistling balloons – it kept them happily entertained for ages. Sep 2009’. Have a great rest of the week everyone.
Love,
Caro
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Wet weekend!

What a miserable weekend it has been weather wise…low lying cloud, fog and drizzle for most of the time. Despite that we have had a nice time playing a lot of different games at home with Alex – trying to keep the variety and entertainment up. This included decorating some digestive biscuits with green icing and hundreds & thousands! We also went out to the indoor play area yesterday and to the museum today where he had a great time looking in different holes, drawers etc and stroking this stuffed badger. I went out for the evening yesterday after he had gone to bed as it was the leaving do of one of my friends who is starting a new life in Devon. It will be sad to see her go and I will miss her a lot. That said the meal was really good fun and I had a lovely evening and hope she did too.
Crafting wise I have made Tim’s Valentines day card. I can’t take credit for the original design as it is based on a card by Mandy which I saw on the Papertake Weekly site...their challenge for this week is Love Actually! I have altered it to make it my own and am really pleased with how it has turned out. It also fits with the theme from Crafty Cardmakers (love and romance!).
Scrap and Stamp are having a weekend blog hop in which they are offering a lot of prizes…well worth it if you have the time. Part of the blog hop was a challenge to make a layout following a sketch designed by Pamela. Here is my take on it, entitled ‘Flapjack’. This layout uses Bazzil and Basic Gray cardstock, Doodlebug, Heidi Grace and Basic Grey stickers, Inkadinkado stamps, and a stippled distress ink background. The journaling reads ‘Alex loves helping to cook flapjack – mostly because he likes eating the sugar, golden syrup, oats and of course the final mixture. As fast as I spread it in the tin, he tries to put it in his mouth! Dec ‘09’.
Scrap and Stamp had their usual Saturday challenge as well which was to create a layout that was inspired by a picture shown on their blog. The picture had four panels and rounded corners which I used as the inspiration for this page. I also followed this weeks Unscripted sketch for this layout which also fits with the CCC ‘four legged and furry’ theme. The page is entitled ‘Samba & Carn’ and uses Cosmo Cricket papers, Basic Gray alphabet stickers and a Stamps Away paw print stamp. The journaling reads ‘Samba was mostly an outdoors hunting cat, although he was gentle and liked to curl up by the Aga. Carn on the other hand was my childhood companion, always there with a friendly wag and kiss to cheer me up! 1984’. As usual I would love to know what you think. Have a great week everyone.
Love,
Caro
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Still coughing

I am still hacking away with this nasty chesty cough and therefore not sleeping at night so haven’t really felt up to much in the evenings. That said I have had some fun gentle times with Alex, playing with his cars and houses, setting up scenarios and watching him pretend that someone is being given a lift in a police car etc. He was very excited with the inch of snow we had and most disappointed when it went away again within a day or so. Here he is running round in the snow and refusing to get into the car to go to nursery – hence the rather blurred photo! Crafting wise I haven’t felt up to much so have just managed to make these two trading cards for a swap on the Quirky Crafts Forum. The theme of the swap was to use up your scraps. All the papers and images on these ATCs are ones I have had for years as left overs from previous projects so I think that this counts! They also fit with the Fairy Folk theme from My time to Craft, Spots and Dots from Cute Card Thursday and Amethyst from Daring Cardmakers (links to all the sites are on the righthand side of this blog). Have a great weekend everyone.
Love,
Caro
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Snowing again!

I have been back at work for the past couple of days and have to say I have been feeling rough in the evenings as I have developed a fluey cold to add to my annoying chesty cough. The joys of the cold weather…we even have more snow! Not a huge amount (about ½ inch), but enough to get my small boy very excited and wanting to go out with the sledge and spade! Alex has been very happy at nursery over the past couple of days and we have had fun playing hide and seek in the evenings…here he is hiding in the bath! I haven’t really felt up to crafting much due to being ill, but did manage to make a card following this weeks Friday Sketchers sketch using my new Crafty Individuals Stamps and Tim Holtz Distressing inks to create a feminine vintage feeling card. The colour reproduction isn’t great in this photo as it is more pinky than this in real life. As usual comments are most welcome. Have a great rest of the week everyone.

Love,

Caro

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Somerset Weekend

We have had a lovely and gentle weekend at my parents house in Somerset. We arrived on Friday in time for lunch, after a good journey. Alex was determined we were going to go outside into the garden and down the road to play pooh sticks in the river and the steam, which he thoroughly enjoyed…he was even happier when two trains went past! Saturday morning wasn’t quite as easy for him however as we went to Clark’s retail village in Street to buy him some much needed new shoes, boots, fleece and coat. I also got some new shoes and boots! He coped remarkably well, especially when we let him run round outside and go on the ‘music car’.
In the afternoon my Godfather Geoff and his wife Barbara brought Gran over to us for afternoon tea. It was so special to see them as it has been far too long. I can’t believe that Geoff and Barbara are both 80 now. We had a lovely catch up and good old natter while eating Mother’s delicious homemade scones with cream and raspberry jam!
That evening there was the most beautiful orange full moon. I really needed a tripod in order to photograph it as you can see, but I had to give it a go and at least you get the idea of the colour.
Alex loved having Grandma read him stories, while Grandad fell asleep listening to them!
On Sunday morning there was the most glorious sunrise and we sat and watched the birds come to the feeder, including great tits, coal tits, blue tits, chaffinches, green finches, a gold finch and a black cap! Two robins were sat on the ground squabbling over who had the right to be underneath the feeder to gather up the crumbs! Mother then took Alex to Vivary park in Taunton while I went to see Gran’s new flat. It really is lovely and she is very comfortable there. The views from every window of the Blackdown Hills are fantastic. We then travelled back on Sunday afternoon. Today I have cleaned the house from top to bottom and caught up with some crafting! This scrapbook page, entitled Natural Beauty follows the sketch from Unscripted sketches, and uses pressed heather, Bazzil and Making Memories cardstock and ribbon that I won last week! The journaling reads ‘A perfect August afternoon walk on the Quantocks with the wild horses, a clear view across the estuary to Wales and the beautiful contrasting colours of the heather and gorse in full bloom’ The second page is entitled ‘Cheeky’ and follows this weeks Pencil Lines sketch and the monochromatic theme from Scrap and Stamp. It also fits with the hearts theme from Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge and crafty cardmakers. What is more, Scrap, Stamp and Doodle were having a 'free' week where you can enter any creating you like. I used Bazzil, Cosmo Cricket and My Mind’s Eye card and paper, with stamps from Stamps Away and free from Papercraft Inspirations (about 2 years ago!) and Cardmaking and Papercraft (1 year ago). The journaling reads ‘Alex has such a cheeky and mischievous little face with incredibly expressive and enormous blue eyes. He is so easy to love! September 2009’. It is back to work for me tomorrow so have a great rest of the week everyone.
Love,
Caro
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