Crafting and Rolling Over

Today was a landmark in Alex's development...he managed to roll over by himself for the first time. He has been trying to roll over since we got back from Somerset, just over a week ago. Today saw him actually achieve it, rolling from his tummy onto his back. He can't quite manage it the other way round although his efforts lead him to move around on the floor a lot...he managed to move over 2 feet this afternoon! It was great fun watching him, although he did get a bit frustrated from time to time. I think we are going to have to baby proof the study a little sooner than expected. He uses the cross over things on his playmat/baby gym to help pull him along as shown in this photo. It was an entertaining way to spend a wet and miserable day.

While Alex was busy entertaining himself I generated loads of ATCs ready for swapping. All the ATCs on todays post are available to swap should anyone want them. This first lot uses the same technique as previously and uses the stamps from the Stamps Away range (http://www.clevercuts.co.uk/). The animals were stamped using StazOn black ink and then coloured in using Whispers brush pens, while the ferns were stamped with PrettyColor ink pads.

This second set of ATCs also used the Whispers Brush pens and either freebie stamps (the butterfly card) or the Daisy Stamp from the Stamps Away range.

This final set is an oriental one, both stamps from the Stamps Away range, printed onto glossy card using black StazOn ink. I hope you enjoy these and let me know if you want any. More news tomorrow.

Love,

Caro

x

Weekend away!

The very elegant birthday cake

Firstly, my apologies for not posting more regularly...I have been ill since I got back from the weekend with a horrible fluey bug which has left me feeling very washed out and aching. Anyway, enough of that...back to the fun stuff. Alex and I went to London on Saturday for my brother's 30th Birthday party. It was a party in 2 halves, an afternoon session with cucumber sandwiches, cake, tea and champagne at which all the babies were present (7 who were 8 months or less) and then an evening barbeque. It was lovely to spend time with Andy and Nel again and to catch up with some friends I have known for years. The afternoon was so funny with all the babies in various states of being fed, winded, sleeping, crying, playing etc. Nel's mum, Brenda, was in her element as she absolutely dotes on babies. Alex made friends with Sascha, an 8 month old who is his cousin by marriage (or something!) and spent ages exchanging coos and sloppy raspberry noises with.

Andy blowing out the candles, helped by his son and 2 year old nephew, Stuart.

The birthday boy, Andy, and his son, Daniel.

The evening BBQ saw most of the babies peacefully asleep and those without children turning up. It was an entertaining evening with far too much food consumed by me (an enormous beef burger for starters!), alcohol flowing freely (not consumed by me!) and lots of laughter and chat. Andy and Nel have a lovely garden and have recently put down decking so we spent the evening out there.

The guests all sitting outside at the bench or on the decking enjoying the summers evening.

Sunday morning was very special as Alex and Daniel were happy on their playmat together, and Andy, Nel and I got to have a lovely chat before I set off. The nightmare came on the car journey home...in an attempt to avoid the roadworks at the end of the M1, I decided to go up the M40 instead...this turned out to be a disaster as it was the day that there was a shooting on the M40 and the motorway was closed for several hours. This meant that my 4-5 hour car journey was turned into an 8 hour epic. It could have been much worse than it was as fortunately I was stopped in the service station when it happened so it meant that I was able to put a rug on the grass and let Alex have a kick around on that as well as take him for a walk in the push chair and borrow a room to feed him in. All this meant that he was quite happy, although I was rather stressed and upset. I was relieved when we finally got home.

Alex lying in my bed on Sunday morning while I got dressed.

Since then I haven't been very well so haven't been doing much these past couple of days... feeling a little better this afternoon so hopefully will feel more like doing stuff tomorrow. The weather hasn't helped...cold and wet today. More tomorrow.

Love,

Caro

x

Packing again!

Rather unexpectedly we have decided that Alex and I will do another little trip away by ourselves this weekend. Just over one night this time and to London. This will be to celebrate my brother's 30th Birthday party and I am very excited about it. Sadly Tim still isn't well enough to join us. We head off tomorrow and will be back on Sunday so today saw me again trying to work out what I need to pack for Alex and myself. We also went for another short family walk and played with Alex...he is hillarious at the moment, gurgling away and making loads of lovely happy noises including a number of very squelchy ones!

I also managed to do a little bit of crafting today in the form of my first oriental ATC. The writing is Chinese for 'Summer' and the fan is raised from the rest of the card on foam pads. I am quite pleased with the overall effect of this one.

Isn't it lovely when you receive nice things through the post? I got two wonderful ATCs today. The first one is from Sue Sergison entitled 'Life is Beautiful' and uses stamping, watercolour pencils and perfect pearl effects. I love the warm summery feel of this card.

The second ATC is from Angela Clerehugh and is an encaustic landscape. This is not a technique that I have ever tried but it creates the most wonderful effects and I am really thrilled with this card. More when I get back from London,

Love,

Caro

x

A busy few days

The past few days have been quite busy as we have been catching up on shopping (not crafty stuff sadly!), cleaning, washing, unpacking and general organising. Alex also had the trauma of his 16 week injections yesterday...he was an absolute star and only cried a bit (Tim took him in as I hate it so much). We also got him weighed and he has put on a pound since he was last weighed...he now weighs 14lb8oz and although he has slipped below the 50th percentile the health visitor is very pleased with his progress. He has been entertaining us hugely with his giggles which come more frequently now and he has also learnt the new trick of blowing bubbles and very dribbly raspberry noises often accompanied by a sort of humming. We went on a walk by the river this morning (at Forge Dam where Tim and I had delicious icecreams) and he blew wet dribbly raspberries most of the way round. This afternoon he almost managed to roll himself over for the first time...he is practising this trick as I type! He is almost able to roll from his back to his front and I don't think it will be long before this becomes a regular part of his repertoire.

I also received some fun toys in the form of some new stamps from the Stamp Away range from http://www.clevercuts.co.uk/. These are unmounted stamps that you use on acrylic blocks and are excellent value for money. One of the stamps was a country scene with a river/stream and trees. I have attempted to use this stamp twice. The first attempt was using the Whispers brush pens directly onto the stamp and then stamping the image on paper and slightly smudging the image using the blender pen. The second one was using StazOn black ink and the colouring in the image with the brush pens. I have to say that I do like both these effects and will probably use them both for different things.

This ATC was made using two stamps from the Stamp Away range, the lion and the fern. I am really pleased with this effect as I stamped the lion first and then covered it up with another copy of it, then stamped the ferns over the top and peeled away the rough lion to reveal the one underneith which I then coloured in.

Isn't it great when you receive nice things through the post? I have received three ATCs in the past few days. This first one is from Joanne Browne (Bubbles) and is a really sweet present.

This second one was from Kerry Knowles (Angelswings_2) and is entitled 'Meow?' I love cats so this is really appropriate and I like the use of the little bells.

The third and final one was a real surprise as it was not in response to a swap but an act of kindness from Barbara Williams. I had been asking about the paperartsy range of stamps so she made me this ATC to show how effective they can be. I just love it. She also kindly told me how she generated the effect and I know that I just NEED(!) to invest in some more crafting things. Isn't it great to have an excuse!

Love,
Caro

x

Wonderful weekend

Well I am back after what was a wonderful weekend. It started a little sadly because Tim woke up on Friday too ill and giddy to travel down to Somerset with us so it was with much trepidation that Alex and I set off alone. Alex was a total star despite the pretty grim traffic conditions, sitting in his car seat beside me and either watching the world go by or sleeping for most of it. When we arrived at Barr House, my parents home, we had a gentle walk around the garden with Mother, Nel (my sister-in-law) and Daniel (my 8 week old nephew). It was soo nice to get out of the car and into the fresh country air! My nephew Daniel looking very cute on his changing mat!

Saturday saw Andy (my brother), Dad, Mother and myself sorting out our old playroom, dismantling the enormous Hornby railway set, and clearing out so much rubbish it is not true. What was interesting was that I found some of my early scrapbooks (holiday diaries from trips abroad) and old school projects which I decided to keep for posterity.

My school projects from when I was 11!

Gran also arrived on Saturday afternoon and Alex thought she was hillarious...he had the most wonderful set of giggles while she was playing with him. This continued with my Mother.

Giggles with Great Gran and Grandma!

We tried putting Alex and Daniel on the same playmat together which was the greatest of fun. Daniel hit Alex, which didn't bother him, and Alex tried to hold Daniel's hand. What is interesting is that although the two babies are very different, you can tell that they are related - it is going to be interesting to see how closely the family resemblance continues as they grow up.

Friends already!

It was soo nice to spend time with my family and we had a lovely family walk in the early evening, then a meal of Roast Beef and Yorkshire pudding followed by plum crumble (using fresh plums from the hedgerow) and topped off with a game of cards in the evening. It was a lovely family day as these pictures all show.

Setting out on our walkA gentle family walk down the lane!
Alex sat on my lap watching Juno the dog...

...while Daniel slept peacefully in Nel's arms.

On Sunday I took Alex to meet Robin and Hilary Bush, friends that I have known all my life. Hilary and Alex got on like a house on fire, and their dogs thought he was wonderful, trying to lick his feet! I haven't seen Hilary for nearly two years so it was wonderful to catch up in person rather than over the phone.

Alex having a wonderful cuddle with Hilary while being watched by Beth the dog!

Sunday lunch was a BBQ in my brothers honour as it will be his 30th on Thursday. Two of my three aunts, Lavinia and Daphne, came to lunch as did Nel's Auntie Roe, and some more family friends, Simon and Louise. It was a wonderfully lively lunch with loads of chatting, alongside much laughter and merriment. The two young boys were beautifully well behaved and tolerated being passed around everyone very well. It was also nice that Mother and Nel both were wearing the necklaces that I had made for them and I got a commission for one more for Aunt Lavinia!

Dad drinking his beer at the BBQ

Bother and sister - Andy and myself

Aunt Lavinia keeping Alex beautifully entertained

Giggles with Grandma!
A lovely family group. Nel, Andy and Daniel

The BBQ was followed by Birthday cake on the lawn (complete with candles) with the babies playing on a mat under the tree, for which we were joined by my cousin, Tamsin and two friends. Everyone left shortly after this leaving us to have a nice gentle and lazy evening reading and chatting.

Andy and his Birthday cake!
The two boys playing in the sun!
Afternoon tea in the garden

Monday morning saw me packing up the car again ready to travel back after lunch. It was sad to leave everyone, but wonderful to see Tim again as I had really missed him. What was really sweet was seeing Alex's reaction to Tim...he was so excited to see him again and kept smiling and gurgling at him and would instantly turn his head towards Tim whenever they were both in the same room. It was lovely to see. All in all I had a wonderful weekend.

Love,

Caro

x

Packing and Feet!

Well we are off on our long weekend holiday tomorrow and so today has been spent frantically running round trying to work out what we need to take with us. I don't think that Tim appreciated how much stuff is needed for a baby what with numerous changes of clothes, travel cot, bottles, sterilizer, toys, pram to name but a few. I think that we are fairly organised although I am anticipating the usual last minute chaos as we try to pack the car tomorrow morning. We are going to my parents which will be lovely as they haven't seen Alex since he was 5 days old. As well as that my brother and his family will be there and we haven't yet met our nephew, Daniel, who is 8 weeks old, so I am really excited! Alex has been so funny today...he has discovered his feet and spent much of the day sitting or lying doubled up playing with his own feet as these photos show. Sadly no real time or mojo for crafting today so nothing to show you. I doubt that I will get the opportunity to update while at my parents so this will be my last post for about 4-5 days. More when I get back. Have fun,

Love,

Caro

x

Truly Original Artwork

It has been an at home day today mostly playing with and being entertained by Alex. He can be soo noisey! He chatters and gurgles away non-stop when he is by himself and giggles and smiles whenever either of us interact with him. It really is the greatest of fun to spend time with him. Today I also spent time doing some necessary things around the house, washing, bin emptying, cooking, cleaning etc. Sadly, although the weather was quite nice today we didn't get out for a walk as there was a lot to do. However, as the garden is slowly becoming pleasant to be in we did sit outside in the fresh air for some of it. I just had to show you this photo of Alex - I walked in on him when he was having a nap in his chair and found him asleep with his rabbit on his head!

Don't you just love well wrapped and decorated presents? I find it really special to receive a present that someone has taken time and care over the wrapping of and so spent some time today wrapping presents for my family for this weekend. I am really pleased with how well the ribbons turned out.

The title of this post stems from the fact that Alex and I shared a crafting time today as I painted his fingers and let him make a wonderful, truly original artistic mess on a piece of 12x12 scrapbook paper in order for me to make this page, which was all about crafting with him. It was so much fun and he got so messy that I had to give him and bath in the sink afterwards. I am pleased with the resultant layout though, entitled 'Crafting'. I kept the actual design quite simple to let Alex's artwork and the picture speak for themselves. The journalling reads 'This photo is of Alex aged 8 weeks making Tim his first ever Father's Day card during Alex's first crafting session. The background design to this page was made when he was 16 weeks old, showing his artistic flair!'

I had a lovely treat in the post today in the form of this ATC from Doreen Collins (Momiji) from the CM&PC forum. It is called hidden message and the ribbon undoes to reveal a concertina book with a lovely message inside. Sadly, I am not as good at tying neat bows as her and so having opened the card it isn't looking as great as it did when she originally sent it to me! I love it and look forward to future swaps with her.

Love,

Caro

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