Well it has been a busy couple of days since I last posted. Work yesterday was completely insanely busy..I didn't stop most of the day trying to get different jobs finished off, supervise my students and technician etc. Then today I have had a day off work cleaning, cooking, shopping, playing with Alex and crafting. Alex and I went to the playground this afternoon in a howling gale so we didn't stay long as he started to freeze. This photo is of him having fun in his bath to warm him up.
I have done quite a bit of crafting over the past few days...we had some extremely sad news yesterday as Tim's cousin's little boy died at 5 months of age. He simply went limp while breast feeding so they rushed him to hospital, but sadly they couldn't revive him. I made this card for them, I hope that it is appropriate as I have never made a sympathy card before. I used another cuttlebug embossed design (courtesy of Gill) and coloured it with chalks.
The next few cards all use Cuttlebug embossed images...this first one was embossed onto vellum (thanks Kath!) and has been coloured with Sakura stardust and then layered over K&Co vintage Christmas paper.
For this one I brayered over the back of the embossed image in blue to make the snowflakes stand out and then added the little die-cut snowman (courtesy of Christine).
For the final one I used free paper, a cuttlebug embossed design on blue card (courtesy of Christine) and a Crafty Individuals image (courtesy of Kath). I am so grateful to everyone who has kindly embossed bits of card for me and sent me supplies...thank you all! Have a great weekend everyone.
Love,
Caro
x
We also went out for a gorgeous Chinese Meal at lunchtime, taking Alex with us. He was so well behaved playing nicely with his crayons and drawing book, drinking from his new non-spill straw cup, and then making collages with his food (see photo above)! We had spring rolls, spare ribs, crispy aromatic duck, sweet and sour chicken and a crispy pork dish (can’t remember the name), all of which was extremely yummy. 
In the afternoon I got time to craft while everyone else had a nap, and then Alex and I had a go at making collages with some shiny embellishments...it was chaos! He emptied the whole box onto the desk and floor. They went everywhere including down his nappy! He had the greatest of fun and especially enjoyed stirring them all around, taking the lids on and off his pens, and spraying the glimmer mist everywhere (with Mummy very definitely not letting go of the bottle!). The day was finished off with a lovely movie and birthday cake...definitely a wonderful birthday. 
Alex created these as his first ever ATCs! 
I also had Tuesday off work and used the opportunity to play a bit crafting wise and to spend more time with Alex, playing games of chase around the house and dashing out to the park between showers. Today I have been officially back at work, although in reality I have been working from home while Alex was at nursery, so that I could read through a PhD thesis that I am going to be viva-ing next week. It has been an interesting read, although I haven’t finished it yet. Alex came back from nursery looking rather pink and red in patches having covered himself in the red paint they were using for potato stamping...it was straight in the bath when he came back home! 
Having made so many cards recently I decided that it was time to get back to making some ATCs for swapping. These four used images from my Joanna Sheen CD, stamps from Purple Onion and CraftyIndividuals and gems. 
These three also use images and backgrounds from Joanna Sheen CD and the main image is decoupaged. 
This months technique swap on CM&PC forum is origami so I spent ages trying to make elephants, but they were so fiddly that although I managed to make one, I decided to make the colour change birds instead. The backgrounds were stamped using my new paperartsy stamp. Have a great week everyone.
I have also managed to do quite a lot of crafting this weekend including making 6 more of the 'inchie' Christmas cards as well as three Christmas cards using the Cuttlebug embossed images. This first one was embossed onto metal (kindly done for me by Kath (lazykay)) and I coloured it with alcohol inks (bottle, gold, terracotta and currant). It creates a fantastic look which I love.
The second one also uses the same alcohol inks, but onto acetate which had been put through the embossing machine...the definition isn't as clear here, but it does still create a nice effect.
For the next three cards I coloured the embossed images with chalks and then added different pictures. For this one, being Christmassy, I chose a traditional image of a Robin.
This final card uses brown chalk for the birds, red chalk for the berries and green for the leaves and an image from the Country Diary of an Edwardian lady set. When I looked at this afterwards I realised I could have used a picture of a robin and made this a Christmas card. I would love to know what you think about all of these. More soon,
Alex came back from nursery this week with a wonderful collage that he had made...it has encouraged me to try doing some collage with him, but I will definitely need to clear my desk before we start! Work has been busy, but good and I have completed writing the studentship application and am over halfway through formatting the reference list for the massive review article which is a relief. I now have a few days off work in order to relax and to celebrate my birthday which I am very much looking forward to. 
I have continued to work on my Family tree scrapbook with another page of Great Grandad (Alec). Again, the papers and images are mainly from Hot Off the Press Vintage or Heritage pads. The journaling reads ‘Alexander Holes (1896-1980) left ships in 1925 and worked as engineer in the Poor Law Institution at St Mary’s until he was transferred to Moorgreen Poor law Institution in 1926. Once a week he showed the patients a film, and he played the piano for the Christmas concerts. In 1941 he transferred to the Totton Chest Hospital until his retirement in 1960. While he was there he had the care and maintenance of the ‘iron lungs’ during the polio epidemic of 1947/48. During the frequent power cuts he would run to the iron lung ward to pump the bellows by hand to keep the patients alive. He also had responsibility for refrigerated equipment that Mr Chin used in his pioneering open heart surgery, mending holes in the hearts of children. He was very musical, a staunch Methodist and a great handyman, fixing anything about the house; repairing shoes, a vacuum cleaner and a clock with wooden bearings.’ 
This second page is of Nana, my great-grandmother, using the same papers. The journaling for this one reads ‘Annie Holes (nee Merritt) (1894-1978) was born in Great Crosby and moved to Bitterne in 1901 following her father’s accident. She attended the Church of England school in Bitterne and upon leaving she worked in the Post Office in Shirley with Miss Blow, in Camford Cliffs and in Bitterne with Miss Goffe, sending telegrams using a Morse key. During the first world war when things were quiet she would sit and crochet. She was a member of the Methodist Church choir in Bitterne where she met her future husband Alexander. This photo was taken in 1920 prior to her marriage in 1921’. I will be doing another page to detail some of Nana’s life after she got married. As usual I would love to know what you think about these two pages.
Work has been busy but manageable with me having finished writing the 13,000 word review article (just need to get the reference list into the correct format) and submitted a paper on wound healing to an American Journal. My new PhD student started today and I had a really good and productive meeting with my boss in which we discovered that we are in complete agreement with what the priorities and goals are for the next few months and it should be a busy but reasonable work load which is a relief. 
Crafting wise I have had a lovely few days. I have discovered the Cuttlebug and was thinking about getting one for Christmas, mainly for the embossing folders so Kath (LazyKay) sent me lots of samples of card that she had embossed to play with. I have to say that I am completely sold...the effects are wonderful. I have already made 6 cards and will no doubt make more. For the first one I swiped an ink pad over the raised parts of the embossing to highlight them in yellow...this was a partial success as some of the yellow also went onto the non-embossed background, but it still looked OK. The image was one from a stamp swap on CM&PC coloured with watercolour pencils and sakura stardust on the wings. 
The second one used exactly the same technique, only wasn’t quite as neat and there were some big blodges which is why the dinosaur ended up placed in that position! Again, the dinosaur is from a stamp swap and coloured in with watercolour pencils. 
This next card was the result of a blunder...I tried to use the same technique, but with a bigger stamp pad and it really did not work...in fact it was a total mess and disaster so I decided to try brayering on the back of the embossed image instead and I have to say that I am really pleased with how well that turned out. The ribbon is from a box of chocolates we were given last Christmas! 
Having had such success with brayering the back of an image I decided to try brayering the front of the Christmas tree and it did leave a much cleaner look than just swiping an ink pad over the top. I then cut the tree out and mounted it on green card and added highlights with a sakura stardust pen (it doesn't show up on this photo). This certainly makes a very easy and different Christmas card. 
I then decided that I would try leaving some of the embossed card uncoloured for a potentially more sophisticated look. I am quite pleased with the effect that that creates, but am not sure about this card as such. The ribbon and plaque were free from magazines and the flower is from Angel Crafts. 
The final card again uses free paper and ribbon from a magazine and an image from Crafty Individuals alongside the cuttlebug embossed card. I think it is fair to say that I definitely want a Cuttlebug for Christmas, but I will have to see if our finances stretch to it. In the meantime, a huge thank you has to go to Kath for kindly giving me these bits of card to play with...I have had loads of fun. I hope you are all having a good week. More soon,
Today he has been very tired though, alternating between tired grizzles and manic laughter. He was so tired after his lunch while playing before his naptime, that he fell asleep on the floor! I moved him to his bed where he slept for 2 hours...unheard of! We have also been doing a little drawing together. I have to confess to having done very little housework, but for once have done some gardening as the weather was too good to be stuck inside. 
I have also managed to do loads of crafting. I have completed three more pages for my vintage scrapbook. This first one is of my great grandmother, known by me as Nana. Her name was Annie Merritt and the journaling plaques read ‘Born 9th July 1894’ and ‘Annie was born in Great Crosby near Liverpool. This photo was taken when she was 6 months old’. I have decorated this with a mixture of Hot Off the Press papers from the Vintage and Heritage Paper Pizzazz sets, a purple Onion stamp and a few scraps of other papers I had available that matched to make a baby girl layout. 
This second one is of my great-grandad, called Alec Holes. The papers are from the same two sets and again I used a Purple Onion stamp. The journaling reads ‘Alexander Henry Charles Holes was born in Bitterne on 13th February 1896, eldest of four children. His mother and sister called him Charles, but everyone else called him Alec. This photo was taken in 1896’. 
This final layout was of Alec Holes later on in life when he was a ships engineer on RMS Andes. The journaling reads ‘Alexander Holes (1896-1980) worked on a farm until he was 15 when he served as a pantry boy on ships playing to the Isle of Wight until he was old enough to start his engineering apprenticeship. His first deep sea assignment was in 1918 on the Araquaya to Halifax, Canada. He sailed into Halifax shortly after the ammunition ship exploded in the inner harbour completely destroying the town. In 1920 he joined the RMPS Company (Royal Mail and Pacific Steam) and sailed mainly to South America. He was on the RMS Almanzora on her maiden voyage and on the RMS Caraquet when she foundered on a reef in Hamilton, Bermuda in 1923. These photos were taken in 1922 on board RMS Andes. He left deep sea vessels in 1924 (on request of his wife) and did a spell on the twin funnel paddle steamer Bournemouth Queen sailing to Cherbourg and the Channel Islands before leaving ships altogether in 1925’. The two brass buttons are images of buttons from his dress uniform. My mother has the actual buttons which I hope to put on the layout. 
I have also made lots of fun and summery ATCs as the weather has been so lovely and summery so I leave you with a taster of them. 
I hope you all have a great week. More soon,
