Pirates a-hoy!

Morning all,

How are we all doing today? I hope you're all good - I've got another busy day of crafting ahead of me but before I do, I just wanted to share with you a challenge card for Tiddly Inks. They have an anything goes theme at the moment which is running for 2 weeks due to thanksgiving. I really wanted to take part as it's been a while since I've joined in and so this is the result:

Anyone think I'm a tad hooked on book cards at the moment? oh yes, me too..... anyway! the images are tiddlyinks pirate treasure map and priate fun. I then printed some backing paper with the lyrics to 'a pirates life for me' and got a tad carried away distressing it. Again, a couple of pips to finish the whole thing off. It's an age away (ie next march) but this will be going to my young cousin and i'm going to fill the pages with gold coins!

I do hope you like it and thanks for stopping by. Have a good day and happy crafting

Blue, Grey and White

Evening all,

Did you all have a good day? well i've been productive(ish) as i'm busy preparing for the 2nd of my two craft stands....anyone get the feeling that the phrase - here we go again - is apt? hmmm.....

Anyway, the card I want to share with you is for Creative Inspirations challenge of winter colours: Blue, grey and white. Whilst the logical answer would have been to produce a christmas card, instead I've opted for something a little different....

A book card with Alice. The image is, of course, by the wonderful Mo Manning and can be found here. All coloured with promarkers, highlighted with sparkles and mounted on an embossed background using my cuttlebug folder and a few pips to finish.
I hope you like it, I have to say it was lovely to make - but then again Mo's images are always so wonderful to colour.

Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting

Thank You - TPE#126

Afternoon all,

Just a very quick card to share today, which fit into the Pink Elephant's theme of Thanks. I have made a couple of these cards up as a little note of thanks for a couple of our friends at church that helped to do the drinks at the funeral reception last week. They worked so hard for us and ended up also doing much of the cleaning as well.

I printed the sentiment and then embossed the base of the card with a sizzix embossing folder (actually it's my mum's but shush!) and then I glued on some rose heads and buds. Clean and simple and one of the many cards that fit into my White on White range that i'm currently hooked on.

I hope you like it. I'll be back later this evening with another card. Until then, have a great day and happy crafting!

Anyone for cake?

Morning all, so as I promised - here are some photos of the finished Ark Cake my mum made for Paul (our vicar)

Hehe! it so much fun - the only thing I can lay claim to is the buntin..... wow that took forever for something so simple but the rest is mums handiwork. I hope Paul likes it, but we won't find out until next week as we're skipping church on Sunday (I know, so naughty) but that's what happens when you join all the services for 1 big service at 10:30.......

Anyway, I'm sure Paul will let mum know if it was appreciated on Tuesday when she sees him next. Until then, I hope you all like it and have a good day.

Take care and happy crafting

The Animals went in 2 by 2....

Hi everyone,

Well, this week is turning into a mild nightmare - did I honestly think it could get any worse after monday's funeral? well no..... but apparently fate has decided otherwise. On Tuesday my mums car key broke in the ignition - its not even 6 months old! 4 hours and £55 later it was fixed, just in time for us to get a phone call from the security company that monitors the church to say the roof sensors had been activated - some thieving little %~@!? were trying to steal the copper off the roof - again!!! so after that was resolved (ish) tuesday was over and then yesterday? oh, yesterday the internet packed in - yet again - right in the middle of me completing a time sensative online application form. Oh! how I hate this week so far. *head*hit*desk*

But with everything else going wrong it has meant the only thing I have been able to do is craft. Which is just as well as Mum's boss (the vicar of the church) turns 50 on Saturday and I promised mum I would make his card for her. Now the vicar's favourite bible story is Noah's Ark, so out came the high hopes images, scan then into the computer to resize to fit and mum's card for Paul is done:

Now that was all fine and dandy, but then I get handed the card our new curate had attempted to make for the whole church to sign... now I wish I had taken a photo but I didn't, so lets just say that our curate Manda really isn't artistic. She had folded a piece of mount board in half, but it had folded at an angle so it didn't stand and then added to it she had cut a 50 from Noah's Ark wrapping paper. Add on a hand written sentiment and we have the final card...... ummmm, no. So anyway, the card got given to someone else in the church to fix, who in turn (as usual) asked if I could rescue it.

Well I took the 50 off the front and started over. I cut the mountboard back to two 12"x12" squares, covered the insides with white paperstock, covered the front with blue - added a spine and then got a little crazy. After adding a black border to the 50 I dug out my trusty cuttlebug and cuttlekids animal dies and got going - so it's a strange mix but hey! I think it turned out really well in the end

So with two ark inspired cards done, all that is left is his birthday cake, which mum is making - but can you guess what it's going to be? lol! keep your eyes peeled and I'll upload photos of the finished masterpiece.

Hope you're all having a more fruitful week than I am and happy crafting!

Lots to tell....

Morning all,

This is going to be a fairly long post but hopefully it should bring everyone back up to speed and me back into the real world.

We shall start with getting the sad news out of the way. As you may have read in my previous post, my grandmother passed away on the 12th after a long battle with ill health and yesterday we had her funeral. It went well and was well attended and I just about managed to get through the tribute without crying or throwing up, but my legs were shaking like jelly the whole time. Although it was a sad affair, as a practicing christian I honestly believe that she is in a better place and most likely having a good old catch up with those we have already lost.

So with that said, on to happier things. On the 11th and 12th of the month, we had our annual church christmas market and the craft stand make a whopping £726 this year. We were all exceptionally pleased with the success and I promised to show you a couple of the things mum and I made this year. One of the big themes that we worked with (as it's everywhere around) is hearts:

 There was also a set with a green stitched Noel

 Mother pf pearl buttons sewn onto a wired frame with ribbon

Natural cotton with mother of pearl buttons and saddle-stich ribbon

The other thing that mum and I did that I really wanted to share with you is these incredibly cute bird doorstops - we simply enlarged mums design for lavender filled birds to create these:

Don't you just love them? well I do anyway!

So all in all the christmas market was a great success and the second highest profiting stand was the jams and chutney stand that my Grandfather makes all the supplies for- nothing like keeping the winning streak in the family!

Then if we jump a week forward, on Saturday (the 19th) I took a stand at a vintage and crafts fair in Birmingham to try and make some money (ironically though it cost me a fortune in supplies to start with). It was a good day but sadly my cards really didn't sell - and they weren't that expensive! but taking heart, I covered my costs and still have supplies for the next stand I'm doing on the 10th December.

So I do believe that we are all up to date again. *phew*

I'm off to have a look at everyones lovely creations from the last week or so, but first I think it's time for a cup of tea! I do hope to be back with some card entries soon.

Take care and happy crafting!

Some sad news

Good Morning all,

This is just a flying visit to update you all with the sad news that my Nan passed away on Saturday after her long battle with ill health.

She saw in her 80th Birthday, but in the end the cycle of infections and the fact that she had been in ill health for the last 30 years finally caught up with her.

The nursing care in her last months with her was beyond incredible and the staff were deeply moved that she had gone - in truth I think they were in more shock than we were.

So you'll all forgive me for not being online a lot at the moment as we're busy arranging the funeral for next Monday.

I promise next time i'm on i'll bring you happier tidings.

Take care of yourselves x