Wow!

As the title says, Wow! I can't believe that it has been a year since I looked at my blog. I don't know what has been happening 😕. 

What has happened in the last year? I passed my driving test 6 days before Christmas; that was huge for me. I'd originally started learning in 1997 & had my last test in 1999, vowing never to try again. Something inside of me last May decided to try again & I'm so chuffed that I did. 

My nephew is now 16 months old! Where does the time go?

Anyhoo, I'm having a declutter of crafty goodies in the hope of re-invigorating my craftiness. I have been crocheting the last year so not completely lazy. 

I'm currently sorting through goodies & have created a group on Facebook to sell them. If anyone is interested & would like to be added, the link is https://www.facebook.com/groups/1608608209368615/

I {heart} Crochet pt 2

I hope everyone is well and having a good evening.   You might notice that I'm trying out a new blog template whilst I'm trying to decide how I would eventually like it to look.   I think it's quite nice, the only annoying thing is it won't show the share buttons at the bottom of each post, even though the option is selected. I'd love to know what you think in the interim.

After my previous post on crochet, I realised that I'd missed off an item that I'd made for my very good friend, Michelle, for Christmas. 

This was my first attempt at a cowl/infinity scarf and it seems to look ok!   I used a King Cole Glitz Chunky yarn that has glittery thread woven through out.  The colour in the photo isn't a true representation of the colour. It appears to be a bluey purple when actually it's more of a red toned purple, almost plum in colour.

I've also managed to find a photo of the little shoes I made for Joshua.

I ended up making about 5 shoes to get 2 that were roughly the same size!  I think I still need to work on my tension for shoes!  The still look kind of sweet don't they??

I will be back with some more cards to show that I made last year, as well as trying to make new cards  for this year.  I was really happy when my last card made the top 3 in the Winter Wonderland Challenge!  The blinky is now proudly displaying in my sidebar.

I hope you have a peaceful evening. Thank you for stopping by and for any comments you leave as they are greatly appreciated.

xx

I {heart} Crochet

Good evening everyone.  I hope you are all keeping well despite all this horrendous weather we are having, both sides of the Atlantic.  I sincerely hope that no-one has been severely affected with flooding.

Thank you to everyone who left comments on my previous post and card.  It's always so lovely to know that there are crafters out there keeping an eye out for you after such a prolonged absence.

I thought today I would showcase a couple of items that I've crocheted in since I taught myself last year.

The first was my very first project, the baby blanket for my nephew, Joshua.  This was a simple blanket using treble crochet (double crochet for US) and then a scalloped edging.  I used two threads of yarn, a mint and a white, to make it warm and it also meant it grew quickly.  In fact, I finished this within a week.

This is a close up of the scallop-edging.  Not made for someone who had only been crocheting 7 days.

I can say for a fact that this blanket is getting lots of use.

The next blanket was my first attempt at a large granny square blanket and it was my father-in-laws Christmas present.  I'd not attempted a granny square before this.  The colours are Christmassy, but Jon chose them as, in his earlier, he was the owner of a fruit and veg shop, so the red's and greens were representing that time.  I put the the cream in to break the colours up.

The photo below is a bit of a close up on the simple border.

I have made a pair of shoes for Joshua but I can't find the photos for them.  I'm not sure if they were taken on my iPhone or are hidden on my camera somewhere!

Anyway, that's enough waffle from me today.  I hope you like my crochet creations.  My aims for this year are to attempt more techniques, particularly amigurumi.

Have a lovely evening and I will return again soon.

Sarah xx

A New Year, a New Me

Happy New Year to everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, received lots of wonderful gifts and most importantly, got to spend it with the people that you love.

2013 had highs as well as a number of lows for me, but I'm hoping that 2014 is going to be a year full of lots of new and exciting experiences for me.    The highlight of 2013 was welcoming the arrival of my gorgeous nephew, Joshua.  I can't believe that he's 4 and a half months old already.  I love him so much and try and see him as often as travel allows.  In those interim spells, Skype comes to the rescue.

I only made a couple of cards this Christmas, my mojo is slowly starting to return.  I would like to share one with you today.

I went with a very clean and simple card and I really like how it turned out.  I've been browsing the occasional blog to gain some inspiration.

As a lover of teddies, I had to treat myself to some of the new James the Bear stamps from LOTV when they released them last summer.  This was the only one that has been used so far.  I coloured him with Copics.

I would like to enter this into the Winter Wonderland Challenge which is Teddy Bears.

I will try to be a better blogger and crafter this year.  I'm not just a paper crafter now as I do enjoy crocheting and I've just treated myself to a sewing machine which, considering I have no idea to sew, should be interesting!

Thank you to anyone who has stopped by to read this, I really appreciate it after such a long absence.  I want to have a think about changing my blog layout to start the year afresh. If anyone can recommend how to go about this, I would be very grateful.

Sarah xx

Birthday Wishes

I hope everyone is having an enjoyable weekend. It's a shame that the nice weather we had during the week had to disappear for the weekend.

Thank you to everyone that commented on my last card, they are very much appreciated and I will reciprocate those kind words.

Today I've a card that I've made for a very good friend I work with.  It's her birthday on 1st May and I know how much she loves to receive one of my cards.

I've followed the sketch over at this months Penny Black Saturday Challenge.  It's a great sketch and one I would definitely think about using again. I've used the sweet Dreamweaver stamp and coloured it with copics.  I think this most only be the 2nd or 3rd time I've used it!  I can't remember the name of the Martha Stewart jumbo edge punch, but again, this is the first time it's been used!  I think the embossing folder is called Falling Daises and it's been embossed on Centura Pearl cardstock.

 

I apologise for the darkness of the photos.  I thought I'd try photographing on the empty shelf of my new unit but I don't think it worked out so well!  I don't think I'm ever going to be destined to photograph straight either!

This little bear was such a dream to colour.

I'm currently working on my granny strip blanket for the lounge.  I've only recently learnt to crochet, so this is a big project for me. It's started with a 240 chain and it covers the whole width of the largest sofa in our lounge, which was it's purpose!  I'm only 9 rows in at present, so there's a long way to go!  I will try and factor in some blogging time too.  It's so nice to be doing different crafts away from papercrafting.  It helps keep everything fresh and I'm a lot happier in myself too.

Thanks again for stopping by and for any comments you may leave, they are greatly appreciated.

xx :0)

Happy Anniversary

Happy Wednesday everyone! I don't know about you, but by Wednesday afternoon, things don't seem so bad, it's Hump Day after all!  For those of you that haven't heard this expression before, it's nothing rude!  Monday and Tuesday are the climb up to the top of the hill, by Wednesday afternoon you've reached the top and Thursday and Friday are downhill towards the weekend.

I do have a card to share with you today.  I made this at the weekend, but didn't want to post until today as it was for one of my best friends on her 3rd wedding anniversary.  My posts feed to my Facebook page so I didn't want her to see it before she opened it!

I've used some different colours for me today and I really liked the outcome.  I might have to use them a bit more often! 

 

The image is Popcorn Bear and I'll admit,it's been coloured up for a while, I've just been waiting for an opportunity to use it.  The papers are from a Papermania wedding set and the embossed panel is using the D'Vine Swirls folder.  Popcorn has been coloured in with copics.

This is one of those cards that I just loved when I'd finished it.

I'm entering the card into the following challenges:

Sketch Saturday - Sketch
Crafty Bloggers Network - Anything Goes

Thank you for stopping by and for any comments you may leave as they are greatly appreciated.  I will try and get by and do some blogging in the next evening or so, but I might be distracted with my next crocheting project!

Sarah xx

1 Today

I know, it's been over a week since my last blog post and I've not visited much either.  In my defence, things have been really busy and I've been working on the baby blanket for my sister.  This has been completed now and I will post photos shortly.

This is a card I made for my friends little boy's first birthday last month.  I know the LOTV stamp is usually for a new baby, but I thought it also worked well for a first birthday card as well.  He's been coloured up with my copics and cut out with a nestie set I've not used in a long time.  I can't remember what the papers were I'm afraid.  I finished off with a panel of large dots using a Sizzix embossing folder.

 The usual close up of the image is below.  I really like the blues.

Do you ever feel at times like you're not allowed to say what you feel is happening in your life on your own personal blog, or facebook page for fear of upsetting people.  I made a comment in my last post about falling out with a friend, who isn't a crafter, in my last post, but I'm now unsure whether she has seen it.  I want to be able to get things off my chest and now feel I have nowhere to be able to say this.  It's my blog and I should be able to speak my mind.

Sorry for going off topic and for being quiet.  This has been playing on my mind and might also explain my absence.

xx

Learning New Crafts

I hope everyone is having a good weekend.  I don't know about you, but I always  feel down Sunday afternoon as it's a reminder than in a few short hours we are back at work for another week.

My posts are becoming infrequent again and I apologise for that, but I've not gone off crafting again, I'm trying to teach myself to crochet! I would love to be able to make something for nephew (yes, it's a boy!) when he arrives.  I tried to teach myself to knit last year when I had my op, but I didn't stick with it.  However, I'm determind that I will not give up on this.  I wish my gran was still here as she tried to teach me when I was younger, but I was more interested in football then!

The card I'm showing today I made a few weeks ago for my boss's birthday.  I won't say I was entirely happy with it, but it's not terrible.  I used one of my Penny Black transparent sets that have not seen an ink pad!

The colouring of the parcel could've been coloured better, I wasn't sure on the shading, but hey ho, I'm not perfect!

I will try and do some blog hopping later today, Jon isn't very well though so I will see. 

Things with a friend took a real bad turn for the worse this week, to a point of beyond repair.  It hurt a lot, but I've some amazing friends who've made me realise that I'm not a bad person.  I'm looking forward to next Saturday as I'm going to the Cake International show in London with one of my very best friends, also called Sarah.  We'll hopefully get to see Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood, fingers crossed!

Anyway, enough waffling from me. Enjoy your Sunday afternoon and thank you for stopping by, your visit and comments really mean a lot.

Sarah xx

Tidied up Craft Room

I hope everyone has had a lovely Easter break and, for those of you back at work today, I hope it hasn't been too bad.  Jon and I both took today off so have had a little exrtra break.  We were meant to start decorating our lounge, but I've had a nasty cold and haven't felt up to it.  However, I did feel up to finally putting up the furniture I bought for my craft room last year!  It gave me the incentive to get it all tidy!

I hope you don't mind, but I thought I'd share some photos with you.  It's not as glam as a lot of those out there, but it's mine nad I love it.

My very clean desk and one of my new bookcases that also houses my cook books.  The paint pot and dust sheets are for decorating the lounge.  I also have my little tv and dvd player in here now for company (and sometimes distraction!)

 My sofa bed with some of my Pooh Bear collection. Also shows my two drawer units.

 My other new bookcase.  I saw this on Michelle's blog and just had to get it.  I'm glad I did as they don't sell it anymore.  On the top are my flowers, the bottom two shelves contain cardstock and papers, as well as my little box of beading stash.  The drawer has been filled with some card blanks, cello bags and other bits and pieces.  On the top shelf are some craft cd's.  Jon looked at the empty shelf and said "Is that ready for new goodies?"  Hmmmmm.......!

 This is a close up of the first book case with my cook books. On the second shelf are some cd cases with my Elzybell stamps. The other boxes are full of stamps. The bottom shelf has some knitting and crocheting books and the folders where I had started to organise my stamps.

Close up of the drawer units. The one nearest the sofa is chocful of stamps (what a surprise!) The second unit has some stamps in the top drawer, ribbons in two drawers, some gems and sentiment ovals and the bottom two drawers has a mixture of ink pads, punches, and other bits and pieces.

 

I have got some cards to show you too, so I think I will save them for later on in the week.  Apologies for having been quiet the past week.  I've had a bit of an upset from someone I thought was very special and it has rocked me a bit, but I'm starting to feel strong again.

 

I hope to do some blog hopping later on and see what I've been missing.

 

Thank you for stoping by.

 

Sarah xx

 





Pink & Sparkly

Good evening all.  I must firstly apologise as I've not got round to looking at everyone's blogs the last week or so.  I was just taking things easy and left my laptop alone for a bit.

Anyhoo, I've had a little craft over the weekend.  I was asked by a friend to make a card and bracelet for her son's fianceé and the only criteria was to be pink and sparkly!  As always, when I'm asked to make anything girly, I head to my Miss Anya stamps.  I don't have many "girly" stamps that aren't cuddly and furry!  The papers are from an old Papermania set, Henbury Lane.  It had the added glitter sparkles.  Please excuse my shocking handwritten name!

 

 I don't think I missed the brief in pinkness........do you!?  I'm gutted as I should've posted this before today as I used a sketch from a challenge, but it ended Sunday evening.  I apologise for the glare, I had to photograph when I got to work and I think the overhead lighting was a bit too bright.

 Here's a close up of Miss Anya.  I had a slight bleed on one of the bunches, but I don't think it looks too bad.

The bracelet is another Montee Embellished bracelet, this time using hot pink beads and silver lined seed beeds. This does look very sparkly in real life.

My friend was very pleased with both item, I hope the recipient is too.

Thank you for stopping by and for any comments you may leave, they are greatly appreciated.

Sarah xx

Flowers for Mum

Good Morning, I hope you're all ok.  I've got the day off to make cakes for our coming relief bake sale tomorrow but before that, I'm watching Breaking Dawn 2.....again! Fabulous movie with an incredible ending.

Thank you for all the amazing comments on my last card, you are too kind.

As promised, I've my mum's card to show you today.  I saw this gorgeous Wild Rose Studio stamp and knew that my mum would love it.  I've coloured it with copics, using grey for a change instead of my usual brown for bears.  The papers are from an old Papermania set and they work so well with the grey.  It's a simple, yet elegant card.

 You can't see it in the photos, but the roses on the paper are all edged in glitter.  I had to add a little butterfly gem as my mum loves them.

I used the sketch over at Sketch Saturday.

I will visit you all later on this evening when I'm putting my feet up.  Have a good day.

xx

I Love You Mum

I hope you've all had a lovely Mother's Day.  Jon and I took my mum and dad out for a Mothering Sunday lunch which was very nice.  We also had flowers for both mum's. 

I made cards for both mum's too and I'm showcasing the card I made for my mother-in-law.  I let Jon choose the image and he chose one of my favourite Penny Black cat stamps.  I can for the life of me remember the name of these papers as I've bought it a number of years ago and never used it.  I wanted to use really bright colours.  The banner die-cut is from La La Land.  I don't actually have this die yet, but Tracy from Dies To Die For very kindly included this in my last order.  It is on my wishlist!

It's probably not a traditional looking Mother's Day card, but Jon loved it, as did his mum and that's all that counts.

Thank you for the comments on my last card.  I didn't get a chance to blog hop then but have it planned for this evening.  I will back very soon to show the card I made for my mum.  In the meantime, I'm excitedly awaiting the arrival of Twilight Breaking Dawn Pt 2 so I can finally see how the saga ends.  I love the books and films and was unable to go to the cinema, so this has been a very long wait! 

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:

Sweet Sketch Wednesday - Sketch
In the Pink - Floral/Mothers Day

Thank you for stopping by and for any comments you may leave, they are greatly appreciated.

xx

Happy Birthday Lukas

Good evening, I hope you are all well.  I don't know about you, but I'm very glad that it's nearly the weekend.  I've been very tired this week and, even though I've wanted to craft when I get home from work, I'm just crashing out on the sofa.  I did however manage to finish this card at 5:30am this morning! I realised when I woke up that I needed to take it into work with me.

This card is for a very good friend's little boy's first birthday.  I've been wanting to use this cute Wild Rose Studio stamp for a while now and I thought what better time than for a little ones birthday.  I think the elephant is called Bella.  I've coloured her with Copics.  I'm not overly happy with the balloons, but they could've been a lot worse.  It worked out perfectly that there were enough of them to enable me to personalise the card.  I think the backing paper is also from an old Wild Rose Studio paper pad.

 And the usual close up so you can see how cute this little ellie really is!

 

I decided last week that it would be good to treat myself to some new goodies as I've been good recently.  Most were waiting for me when I returned from visiting my sister. I thought I would show you what I purchased. Apologies for the photo as it was dark by the time I got my camera out!

 

 

I'm looking forward to having a play with these very soon.

 

I will be doing some blog hopping either this evening or tomorrow, I can't wait to see what you've all been up to.

 

Thank you for stopping by and for the comments you leave, they are greatly appreciated.



xx

Another Bracelet

Happy Sunday everybody.  I've been absent the last few days as I've been busy and visiting my sister in Durham.  It's so lovely to see her, especially as she is 14wks pregnant with her first baby.  I miss her at the best of times, but it's even harder now.  She's been suffering a lot like Kate Middleton with severe morning sickness & has been in hospital twice, however she is over the worst now.  I've had a lovely weekend with her.

Before I went, I made another bracelet.  This time for a very good friend of mine who has been having a very difficult time and I wanted to do something to make her smile. 

This bracelet was another from YouTube and is a Montee Embellished Bracelet.  Again I think I've made the pictures a bit too small, but if you click on them, I'm sure they'll show a bit more.

I love the style of this bracelet, it's so sparkly.  My friend loved it so much that she's put an order in for another for her son's girlfriend.

I'm would like to enter this into this months Beading Friends Forever Challenge. The theme this month is for your favourite colour combo.  Whilst red and white is my favourite in cards, blue and white (ok this is clear) is my absolute fav as they are the colours of my football team.  They also happened be the right colours for my friends team.

Thank you for stopping by.  I'm hoping to do some blog hopping after my Sunday lunch.

xx :0)

Hugs & Kisses

I hope you're all keeping snug and warm wherever you are! It's been so cold here with snow showers on and off.  Luckily it's not settling and turns to sleet each time.

Whilst re-finding my enjoyment in crafting, I have also been introduced to beading which I am enjoying. The lovely Marcea is to blame and she has set up a brilliant challenge blog for those who enjoy beading and jewellery making called Beading Friends Forever.

Each month there will be two challenges; one a theme and the other a tutorial to follow. This month the theme is Anything Goes and the Tutorial is a gorgeous Hugs & Kisses bracelet. As my title suggests, I've had a go at the tutorial.  I'm pleased with how this came out, apart from the fact I've realised I messed up at the very beginning.  My the time I realised, I was too far in and I did not wish to unstitch it all! 

I didn't realise how small these photos were until I posted them!  I've used acrylic beads and seed beads from Bead Direct, who are sponsoring the challenge. The toggle clasp is from Hobbycraft.

Here's a close up of the bracelet.  I will definitely be attempting this again using some different colours.

Thank you for all your comments on my card yesterday.  I will be visiting you all again shortly.

Enjoy your weekend whatever you are doing.

xx :0)

Birthday Wishes

Good Evening all.  I don't know about you, but I'm glad it's the weekend!  There's something great about that Friday evening feeling don't you think.

Thank you for all the wonderful comments on my previous cards, they mean a lot.

I know I've been quiet this week, but I've been happy as my last couple of cards have either won some challenges or come in the top 3/5.  That's a great confidence booster when you've been on a break.

I've another card to show you today.  This card was made last week for a very good friend of mine who happens to celebrate her birthday on Valentine's Day.    She's a dog lover, so my favourite Penny Black dog stamp had to be used. 

 I apologise that it looks a little washed out but it was taken late in the day.  I've stuck with my favourite red/white combo as I thought it suited the image.  It may look a bit romantic, but I think it works well as a birthday card.

How can anyone not love him?? You can see why he's one of my favourite stamps can't you!

I'm hoping to do some blog-hopping this evening and catch up on what you've all been up to.  I will be back soon as I have some more things to show you.

Sarah xx :0)

Happy Valentine's Day

Good Morning and Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you are all lucky enough to be spending the day with the one that you love.  Jon and I will be at work, but popping out for a bite to eat at lunch time. Nothing fancy.  I do love Valentine's Day but I don't agree with the commercialism that comes with it all.  I believe that if you love someone, you should tell them all the time, not just one day a year.

The card I'm showing for you today is one I made for an order from a lovely guy at work.  He always asks me for cards as his partner loves them and, in his words "I would rather pay you for a card than give the money to someone like Hallmark". 

I've used another adorable Lili of the Valley stamp for this card, called Close Your Eyes. This is another one that I have had for a year and am using for the first time.  I am really pleased with how I've coloured the pleats on the skirt for this as this is something new for me. I think I'm starting to love my copics.

Those of you that follow me regularly will know that I love my red and white cards and this was no exception!  I think the colours are perfect for romantic cards as well as Christmas.  I remembered to use some of my flowers this time too.

Here's a close up of the image.  I'm disappointed with the slight blemish around the rose.  No matter how much used the colourless blender, I could not get it to fade completely.

The paper is from an old Forever Friends paper pad and was a perfect compliment to the image.

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:

Moving Along With The Times - Love is in the Air
Crafty Creations - Love and/or Hearts
Divas by Design - Love and Romance
Penny's Paper Crafty - Use your Fav Colour Combod (Red & White)
Creative Craft Challenges 2 - Hugs and Kisses
Loves Rubber Stamps - All About Love
Papertake Weekly - Hearts & Flowers

I'm hoping to come and visit you all a bit later on when Jon is watching his beloved Chelsea.

Thank you for all your comments, they are greatly appreciated.

Sarah xx :0)

Help me win some copics!

Evening all,

I hope you're all well. Thank you for all the lovely comments on my last post.  I'm so grateful that you still visit me.

There is a competition running on the Saturated Canary blog to win 30 copics of your choice.  To win, you have to have had the most repins on your SC Contest board.

My board is here http://pinterest.com/sarah197862/sc-contest-me/

For those of you on Pinterest, I would love it if you would visit and help me out.

I'll be back later with another card!

Thank you!

Sarah xx :0)

Meant to Be

Happy Saturday to everyone! I hope it is good where ever you are.  It's a bit wet and cold here and we've had some sleet, but hopefully no snow.

I am starting to make a bit of headway into regaining my craftyness and am making some cards and other bits.  I even have one to show you today!

This is my Valentine's card for Jon.  I love this image, it's so sweet but it was also the name of it that made be buy it. It's called Meant to Be.  Jon and I have been together 10 years this month and he always says that we were meant to be. I've known Jon 16 years now and there was an incident 16 years ago where Jon ended up waiting with me for my dad to arrive, to make sure I got home safely.  He told me once we were together that he felt that evening that that wasn't the end of things for us.  We weren't together at that time, but he was looking after me.  Anyway, enough waffle!

I hate to admit that I have had this stamp nearly a year and it's the first time it's been used!  The papers I also purchased last year and are a First Edition pad called Love Letters.  I actually chose the papers before I coloured the image, which never happens!

The little lads hairs is based on Jon's own reddish brown hair.  It's not perfect, but as you know, I don't normally colour humans, normally bears!  I'm trying to do new things!

I'm going to enter this card into a few challenges:

Sketch n Stash - Neglected stash - Stamp and papers
Lili's Little Fairies - A Touch of Romance
Totally Papercrafts - Valentine or Love
Cute Card Thursday - Love Struck!
Without Words - I Love to Love
Raise the Bar - A Couple of Things

I will try and get round to doing some blog hopping this evening.  My parents are here at the moment so can't be rude!

Have a good evening.  Thank you for stopping by, I do appreciate your comments especially with my lack of cards/comments over the past 12 months.

Sarah xx

Items for Sale

I hope everyone is safe and well following the recent snow!

I've added a link at the top of page to items for sale.  I'm having a bit of clear out of bits I've not used for while (or ever in some cases) in preparation for tidying my craft room up and getting myself back into it.  All proceeds will hopefully be going towards a Cameo!

Please take a look at see if there are any bargains that take your fancy!