Papertake Challenge/Cute Card Thursday 3

I decided that I would be brave and try the Papertake Challenge for the first time as I feel that I need to be pushing myself more in my card making. Katharina provided the brilliant sketch for this weeks challenge.

I got to use some more omy new stash on this card with the Papermania backing paper and the Woodware ribbon brad, along with the magnolia stamp. The image has been watercoloured and I have used some Stickles glitter glue on the wings.

This card also qualifies for this weeks Cute Card Thursday Challenge.

As we had 'All Creatures Great and Small' as our challenge last week, we think it's only fair to have 'People' as the theme for this week. Any people image is fine, it could be Magnolias, Bellas, Nellies, Lolas or any others.

I hope you are all having a good weekend!

xx :0)

You Make My Day Award!

I would like to say a HUGE thank you to Stacey and Wendy who have both given me the You Make My Day Award! If you'll excuse the pun, this has definitely made my day!! It means a lot that people think so highly of my cards, especially when I know there are so many more expert crafters out there.

The rules of the game dictate that it is now up to me to nominate 3 Blogs which I believe to be truly inspiring and inspirational. I visit so many blogs and they are all inspiring so this is incredibly difficult. OK, here goes:

Hans - A Lil' Bit of Me

Laura - Simply Pink Designs

Gina - The Card Kabin

I don't envy you ladies now having to decide wh you choose!!

xx :0)

I won!!!!!!!

I can't believe it.........I won the blog candy for last weeks Cute Card Thursday challenge!! How lucky am I?!?

Good Luck Card for the Boss!!

I am such a creep making a card for the boss!! He's been with us 6 months covering the position for us. He lives in Newcastle, but spends 3 days a week down in Reading. Anyway, he's got a new job and is leaving us tomorrow, so I thought I would make him a little card. I've used the colours blue and white as he is a Chelsea fan. The image is another cute Penny Black stamp and the message was done on the pc whilst the background has been embossed using a cuttlebug embossing folder.

Once again I apologise for poor quality of the photo. I hope it's because I'm taking it in dark conditions and not the slight accident I had with it a week or so ago.

Thank You Cards

As promised, I've made a couple of new cards this evening using some of my stash from the NEC.

I used two of my new Penny Black stamps, Lazy Days and Dreamweaver. I used my new Coloursoft pencils on the Dreamweaver image and blended the sansador with an old water brush. I think it looks okay.

Both images have been cut and layered using nestabilities which I love! Along with the cuttlebug embossing folders, these are the next best things invested!! The sentiments have also been embossed using cuttebug embossing folders and they have been finished off with some little jewels and a Prima flower respectively.

Sorry about the quality of the photos, it was quite dark when taking them.

I like them and I hope you do too!!!

Sansador??

I'm being crafty and posting this whilst at work!!!

My lovely hubby brought me some Derwent Coloursoft pencils and Sansador over the weekend (isn't he lovely!). I know from previous blogs that people generally use a paper stump when blending the colour into the image. I don't have any of these and I was just wondering whether it was okay to use brush, like when watercolouring?

Any help would be much appreciated!

Hopefully I will be back later with some new cards to show!

I've been tagged!!!

I've been tagged by the lovely Tara!! The rules of the game are as follows:

• Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog
• Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog, we all want to know them
• Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs
• Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog

1. I am a season ticket holder at the Madejski Stadium to support my team Reading FC
2. I used to have a metal rod attached to my spine following surgery for scoliosis. It was removed after 12 years after the base came loose and started moving!
3. I am a massive Disney fan, especially loving Winnie the Pooh! I used to collect Pooh and friend beanies and have over 300 at in my parents loft!!
4. My nickname is Fluff as my dad's initials are D J Freeman and was also called Fluff after the radio DJ Alan "Fluff" Freeman
5. I absolutely love reading and have a HUGE pile of books waiting for me to read (when I'm not blogging!)
6. I met my gorgeous husband at work 11 years ago but didn't fancy him straight away!! (I was only 18 and he was 34)
7. In 1989 I was lucky enough to be one of 200 children selected to go on the Dreamflight trip to Florida for a week. This was the first big trip they had undertaken and it is now a 10 day annual event for children who deserve a little bit of magic.

I know this has pretty much done the rounds so I will not name 7 people. However, if you are visiting and have not been tagged, but would like to take part, please consider yourself tagged!

Cute Card Thursday Challenge 2

All Creatures Great and Small

This week we would like to see creatures on your cards, they can be animals, birds, fish even dinosaurs or dragons. Absolutely any creature imaginable!

This is my entry for this weeks challenge. I love this cute bear from Whipper Snappers! I have a confession to make........! I put the white cs in the swiss dots embossing folder the wrong way, so the dots are debossed as I'd already embossed the sentiment!! I don't think it looks too bad!!

Card Folders

I thought I would show you the card folders that I have made for my lucky PIF candy winners. I got the idea from Jo who found the tutorial on Katharina's blog.

I thought this would be the perfect excuse to use my new magnolia's for the first time. I kept the design fairly simple, once again using my swiss dots embossing folder, mounted onto pearlscent paper. The magnolia's were mounted onto nestabilities using the same pearlscent paper.

I don't think these are too bad for a first attempt. I will definitely be trying these again.

I hope you all have a brilliant Easter and eat loads of chocolate!!!

Arte Y Pico (Art and More Award)

Thank you so much to Laura over at Simply Pink Designs for giving me the Arte Y Pico award! The "Arte Y Pico" (Art & More) is given to bloggers who share their art and creativity making their contribution to the blogger world

OK, now the rules!!

1) You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also contributes to the blogging community, no matter what language.

2) Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.

3) Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.

4) Award-winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of "Arte y Pico" blog , so everyone will know the origin of this award.

5) To show these rules.

I visit so many blogs so to pick 5 is difficult, but I will try!! Sorry if I don't pick you, I think you're all great!! Firstly I'm going to pick Michelle (The Card Grotto) as she makes so many amazing cards and gives great advice!! The others I'm going to choose are Sue (Slumber Cards), Nikki (Nikki's Cards and News), Dawn (Buggin' Around) and Ruby-Claire (Ruby Rox)

Raining Good Easter!

I can't believe the weather we're having at the moment considering it's the second day of spring! The strong wind outside kept waking me up last night, an hour ago we had a massive downpour and now the sun is back out again!!

It seems quite apt then that the two cards I've made today tie in with the weather and the Easter break!

The first card I've used my new Rainin' Daises Penny Black Stamp along with the Swiss Dots embossing folder and finished it off with a Craftwork Cards sentiment and some Prima flowers. I cut the image using my circle nestabilities




The second card is an Easter card for my mum to try and cheer her up a bit as she's been feeling down again the last few days. I've used one of my new Whipper Snapper stamps, the Swiss Dots embossing folder again and finished off with one of the new Prima Esprite flowers I got at the NEC. The stamped sentiment is from a See D's set that I'd forgotten I had!!

Elegant Butterfly

It was My very good friend Lyn's 60th birthday on the 9th March but, what with everything that was going on with my mum at that time, I didn't get to make her card until last weekend.

I wanted to make it something special so decided that I would try out my Elegance and Fantasy Keepsake board for the first time.



I used some corner peel offs on the first layer with to give it that decorative look around the outer wings. For the top layer I made a small bouquet out of baby's breath and purple roses and finished off with some purple butterly embellishments.

To make it extra special, I then made a box to present it in.

Laptop Trouble!

Just a quick note to say if I don't post for a couple of days, don't worry. My AC adapter for my laptop has stopped charging my battery, so I'm running on empty. I have just purchased a replacement from Ebay, so hopefully I should be back up and running very soon!!

NEC Stash!!!

I had an absolutely brilliant day at the Hobbycraft Show at the NEC in Birmingham yesterday. I was like a kid in a sweet shop!!! There was so much to see that I could have done with more time there than I had. We spent nearly an hour just going down the first aisle! For anyone who has never been to the Hobbycraft shows before, I would definitely recommend a visit. There are so many stalls and gorgeous items available to tempt you.

I brought so much stuff that I couldn't fit it all in one photo, so I have had to break it down!

Again I apologise for the quality of the photos. I think I need to spend some time learning about my camera and how to take better photos.

Sorry about the duvet too! This is in our spare room!

I plan on spending tomorrow having a play my new toys and hopefully I will have some new cards to show you.

Edited: Just thought I'd better say that I'd been saving up since Christmas for this spend!!! There's now way I would have spent that much otherwise!!

PIF Candy

I have received 3 lots of gorgeous PIF (Pass It Forward) candy in the past couple of weeks from Gina, Michelle and Jo. Thank you so much ladies, they really cheered me up. I apologise for the photos, photography is not my strong point!

Gina

Michelle

Jo

OK, so now it's my turn! The first 3 comments left from UK bloggers on this post will receive some PIF from me. It is then up to the individual if they decide to continue with the offer on their blog.

Looking forward to the weekend!

It's nearly here!!! I'm off to the NEC tomorrow for the Hobbycraft show and I can't wait!!! I've had my train tickets and everything booked since 8th January, so it's taken forever to get here!

I've had a list written for a while too of the things that I'm looking out for. I'm not usually his organised, but this is my 3rd year of going now so I know what to expect.

I promise that I'll take a photo of all my goodies for you to see. I will also take some photos of the lovely PIF candy that I have received from Michelle and Jo.

I'm looking forward to sitting down and crafting for the first time in a few weeks. I finally feel like my mojo is coming back. This might have something to do with the fact that my mum is improving each day. My dad is going back to work on Monday after taking two weeks off to care for my mum. The Home Support Team feel that she is ready for this, even though she has admitted that she is anxious about it.

I would like to apologise to my SBS sisters for the lack of comments I have left recently. I promise that come next week normal service will be resumed.

A light at the end of the tunnel

Yep, we're definitely beginning to see a light. Mum has had another good night and day. I spoke to her on the phone this morning and she was sounding brighter.

The Home Support Team came again today with the psychiatrist to chat to mum about how she was feeling and things in general to get an idea of the what they are dealing with. She is still getting agitated but knows to take a tablet when she starts to feel it, rather than let it develop and effect her the way it was doing last week.

My dad is sounding better too after a couple of good nights sleep. I know he wants to get back to work soon, but he has to talk to the team and see what plans can be put in place for this depending on her progress over the next few days.

I don't know about anyone else in the UK, but it has certainly been very windy here today, with the rain lashing down. I was soaked from the bottom of my coat to my toes by the time I got to work this morning!! Why do people bother with umbrellas when it's like this?!? Surely they know it'll end up being blown inside out and probably break!!

I hope it's not too bad tonight as Jon is away in Peterborough for two nights with work, so it's just me and Bozzy. I think I'm going to go to bed soon and curl up with my book!!

I know we shouldn't wish our life away, but I really wish it was Friday tomorrow as I'm off to the Hobbycraft show at the NEC with Jon and my mate Nikola! I've had my tickets and train seats booked since January and saving up since Christmas!! It's one of the few times I really look forward to and allow myself a good old spend. I'm really lucky too in the fact that Jon loves to come with me.

Anyway, enough of my ramblings. I hope to get back to crafting soon and have some new cards to post for you guys.

I'd better go as Bozzy is looking at me as if he's not been fed in a week!!

Thank You

I just wanted to say a BIG thank you to everyone who has posted such lovely messages of support. They are all greatly appreciated and each one has made a difference.

My mum is having some good times and bad times since I last wrote. This morning was a bit of a bad one for my dad, but he managed to calm her down. The Home Support Team told my mum that my dad needed a break and that he was to go to football with me today (We're season ticket holders at Reading FC) and it did him the world of good. We got to see our first home win since December 23rd 2007! My sister stayed with my mum so she wasn't alone

I went back with him after the match and she was lying on the sofa quite calm and sleepy. That's the hard part, trying to keep her awake as he sleep pattern is all over the place, in spite of sleeping tablets. She's been falling asleep early in the evening and waking at 2-3am in the morning.

Here's hoping that tomorrow is a good day.

Update on Mum.

Today has been a very bad day. My mum basically said that she didn't want to fight anymore and wanted to end it all. By the time I got there she was screaming that she didn't want me there as she'd said goodbye to me and didn't want me anymore. I knew it had to be bad when my dad phoned me in tears. She had been very aggressive towards him and he was scared to leave her alone for a minute as she'd tried to grab her tablets and take them all at once.

With my help he spoke to the doctors and managed to get an appointment at the local psychiatric hospital for 6pm this evening. I have to admit that I couldn't go as I was scared they would admit her.

They have arranged for the home support team to come round everyday and support my dad and take over her care and medication. They can also take her to the day centre where they have classes in things such as relaxation that can help with her recovery.

Thank you all for you kind messages and support, they are much appreciated.

Not Really Happening.

I've not had much inspiration to make cards at the moment. My mum has taken another down turn and things are really bad at the present time. We've not seen her this down in a very, very long time. It's hitting me quite hard and I've been feeling really down. I'm very lucky in that I have a very supportive husband and close group of friends who are all rallying around me.

I have some PIF candy that I received from Gina to show and arrange to do from me too. I also have a very dear friends 60th birthday on Sunday and a card I need to make by Friday so I can take it to work for her.

I hope that I can find some happiness and mojo soon.

I Have Been Tagged!

Yay, my first tagging!! Thanks Michelle and Tara! Thank you both!

WHAT WERE YOU DOING TEN YEARS AGO?

Umm, I was working at MAFF (Natural England now), not knowing that I was working with a guy I would be marrying 10 years later. I must have a thing about guys with ginger hair as I fancied a guy who also had ginger hair, but he wasn't interested in me! He now lives with one of my very best friends!

WHAT WERE YOU DOING ONE YEAR AGO?

I was planning my wedding and had just spent 3 days trying on wedding dresses, feeling like a princess.

NAME YOUR FIVE FAVOURITE SNACKS

At the moment I'm loving the smarties shaker eggs (I remember when they were a lot bigger!), fruit and nut alpen bar, fruit shortcake biscuits. I'm not really a big snacker, that is definitely Jon!

NAME FIVE THINGS YOU WOULD DO IF YOU WERE A MILLIONAIRE

I would buy a bigger house so I could have a proper craft room as we currently live in a flat, buy my sister a place to live, pay off my in-laws mortgage (my parents have already done that), make sure both sets of parents were comfortable and finally have BIG craft spend on stamps etc.

NAME FIVE THINGS YOU LIKE DOING

Card making obviously, watching Reading FC with my dad, reading, curling up to watch MOTD with Jon and baking cakes.

NAME FIVE THINGS YOU WOULD NEVER WEAR AGAIN

Shell suits, leggings, cycling shorts, mini skirts and high heels!

NAME YOUR FIVE FAVOURITE TOYS

My cuttlebug, laptop, Wii, my rubber stamps and Sky+ box!

I have to tag 5 people now so I will choose Sue, Nikki, Laura, Gina and Andrea