You're In My Heart ......

Friday15th June was Andy's (The Duke) Celebration of Life, it was a very sad day, but seeing how many people came to pay their last respects was also very touching, the chapel at the crematorium was packed, with some people having to stand at the back. 

We chose a picture coffin of a pebble beach for Andy because just days before, we had returned from a lovely weekend in Weymouth and had visited Chesil Beach, which has always been one of our most favourite places, so it seemed perfect, and indeed it was beautiful. 

We asked that there were no flowers, but close family made up bunches of flowers picked from our gardens. In mine I placed three of his fishing floats and then tied a brass radiator key and some small cork floats in the string with which I bound them together, and finally, I sprinkled it liberally with some translucent micro glitter .... because the poor chap always seemed have some on him, despite never using it himself!!

We chose a humanist service and Donna (who wore black and gold in honour of Andy's beloved team Wolves) conducted it so beautifully. Last Saturday she sat with us for two hours while we talked and talked about Andy .... and she everything she then said at the service was perfect.  People who had never been to such a service were very taken with the dignified and moving way it was all put together.  Andy loved his music and as he particularly loved Rod Stewart I choose "I Don't Want To Talk About It" as people entered the chapel, followed by "You're In My Heart" at his committal and finally Queen "Love Of My Life" as we left. 

Afterwards we had a small buffet made up of all Andy's favourite foods (all prepared by his sister and her family), salmon sandwiches, crusty bread and cheese, Fondant Fancies, Manor House Cake, mini apple pies, mini Cheddars, jelly babies and marshmallows and we toasted him with Blue WKD, his drink of choice (for which I always teasing him, saying he was very in touch with his gay side!!)

It was a strange, exhausting and very long day, I didn't really feel that I was there in a way, but it was perfect.

STILL WITH ME .........

In the week, to keep myself occupied, I decided to clean out the deep freeze .... all was well until I came to the bottom drawer where Andy kept his marine fish food, however as I delved I thought I had found what looked like some long lost mince ...... however, on closer inspection what I had actually found was a big bag of frozen maggots (which I have since discovered are very on trend in the angling world!) .... aghhhh, did I cuss him .... so rather than being all lovey dovey on my flower tag I decided to give him what for!!!

THANK YOU ...........

Can I take this opportunity to thank EVERYONE who sent e-mails, cards and flowers, I was so unbelievably touched ..... it meant so much to me you will never know.  From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU xxxx Your kindness and thoughts kept me going, and is something I shall never forget.

I forgot to say .......... Torbay Lifeboat Station Brixham

...... We asked for any donations to go to Torbay/Brixham RNLI, Andy loved the sea and most of you will have read the very happy adventures that The Monkeys, Andy, Lucy and I had at Cockle Cottage in Brixham last year.  Each day we would pass the RNLI stall outside the lifeboat station on our way to the beach (or pub at night) and Andy would oft dip into his pocket money there!  He never wanted much but one day he told me that he had seen the perfect bag for work ...... an RNLI shopper!!  So my purse was out and Andy was so chuffed, even though I teased him that he would look like Roy Cropper from Coronation Street going off to work!!  Happy Days!!

Any way .... while we were making arrangements for Andy Tom (our son) phoned the RLNI to find out what the procedure for making donations was as we planned to take Andy's ashes to scatter in his favourite fishing spot when we were ready.  They couldn't have been lovelier ..... and said that if we let them know when we were coming they would arrange for us to meet the Brixham crew and if we wanted they would take Andy's ashes out to sea and scatter them as we watched from the shore ..... how brilliant is that???  Andy would be so chuffed as he always wanted to go in one of their boats! We think we will taking about £600 plus down to them  .... so Andy, you done good!!

DoCrafts Boofle Cardstock Stickers And Matching Papers.

These are the last of my Boofle cards using cardstock stickers and papers from the Boofle range.

By this stage I had used up all the small embellishment stickers that were in the Boofle cardstock sticker packs …..

…. and either made a few of my own or raided my boxes of oddments to put the finishing touches to each card.

I’m a very less is more girl, but with this range occasion I wanted to fill in every single space as it all sort of looked right.

In my my opinion this has got to be the best range Docrafts have done in a long time.

For the first time I have been able to make a set of cards using a character that is both current and very popular in the shops at the moment, which is part of the reason I think they went like hot cakes!

Moving House Card – Mum’s Got A New Bungalow!

This card is A5 in size and is made using white linen effect card and my newspaper card template.

This card was made for the PE lady at schools mum   for when she moved to her new home.

I managed to find a picture of her new bungalow after a bit of detective work on Google Earth Street View.

I also found the “sold” sign on a clipart site, which I have made up using several simple decoupage layers. The finishing touch was the bunting, made using small scraps of paper.  I was so chuffed with how it all turned out and so was the PE Lady’s Mum!

One Direction Card Made Using Craft Artist Professional

This card is A5 in size and is made using a hand cut white linen effect card.

My niece is One Direction mad, she loves each and every one of them and always refers to them as her “future husbands”

So ……. for this card I have used my Craft Artist Professional programme which the lovely Marc sent me and is always “nagging” me to use, and all the nagging has paid off because it I’m pretty pleased with the results. Although, I will admit that before adding the photo to the Craft Artist programme I did a bit of jiggery pokery in Paint and Publisher to alter the cards the boys are holding up.

For the final finishing touches I have taken a couple of rosettes and made simple decoupage layers with them, and then added a few tiny punched hearts and flat backed gems.

Concertina Flower Cards

Each of these cards measures 5ins x 5ins and are made using hand cut white linen effect card blanks.

Not a lot to these cards at all, I just finally used the two packs of American Crafts concertina flowers I bought in the QVC outlet shop in Shrewsbury a while back.

All I’ve added are the stems and punched hearts leaves made using Bazzill paper and  sentiments from a pack I found in The Works (99p).

Less is more I hope!

QVC Outlet Shop :- 45 Darwin Centre, Shrewsbury, Shropshire SY1 1BP

Fairy Cake Pins/Brooches

These little wooden embellishments didn’t really go down well when stuck on cards, I don’t know why …..

…. but as I am frequently called in to the Food Department at work to sample and critique the  GCSE girls work (a hard job, but someone's got to do it!) I turned them into pins/brooches to put on their aprons as a small ‘Thank You’ for many happy nom, nom, nom moments!

Hello Kitty Cards

Each of these cards measure 4ins x 4ins.

These are the last of my Hello Kitty cards, made using a pack of twenty-four card stickers that cost me £1.50 from a cheap and cheerful shop in Exeter.

I didn’t use them all, some were just too small,  but from that one pack I managed to eke out nine cards and four wooden gift tags …. so I certainly got value for my money.

Father’s Day Cards

These cards measure 5ins x 5ins and is made with hand cut blanks using white linen effect card.

I just love these embellishments, they come from a pack sent to me from Dianne in Florida and came from Michaels.  I could have used them more sparsely to make a lot more cards but they looked so lovely together in their groups, that it was a shame to split them up.

I’ve kept both cards pretty less is more, no background papers or mat and layering just scraps of the Kanban A4 wooden fence card with other matching papers, a handwritten or Dymo Label sentiment  and  tiny silver brads here and there.  Done and dusted.

Birthday Cake Card

This card measures 5ins x 5ins and is made using white linen effect card.

Another card using an Anita’s die cut cake topper, but I’ve added a handwritten sentiment that I saw and just loved, knowing that it would be idea for a card like this!

Cadbury Miniature Birthday Card

These cards measure 10.5cm x 14.5cms and are made using white linen effect card.

I made a special card using Cadbury Chocolate Miniatures a few weeks ago and thought I would try to make a “cut price” version!

I much prefer the top card, it looks much fresher and cleaner. I tried to accentuate the chocolate theme with the second card by using brown paper, I think I’ve over egged the pudding and it just doesn’t work!

Decorated/Altered Bangle

Hmmmmm not sure about this, I wanted the bangle to look all light, pretty and delicate, but instead it’s turned out very dark and heavy looking ….

It started out as a bangle from Primark bought in a sale for. I’ve covered it with strips from a page from a really old dictionary, then added a few ragged strips of a black Decoptach paper, plus some gold adhesive strips and a little Stampin’Up Dazzling Diamonds, followed by several coats of very glossy clear glitter. It’s too ugly for me ….. oh well it’s back to the drawing board.

Wooden Jigsaw Tags

I found these tags made using old jigsaw pieces from an unwanted children's puzzle a lot more fiddly than my usual domino tags

….. so I am not sure if I shall be making many more.  They also look a bit bare, something is missing!  If I should try again …. I think I would use a busy print, perhaps a small Cath Kidston design and just add a thread and leave it at that.

Two Covered Note Books

During a search for something completely different, I found a bag containing ten Asda memo pads, bought goodness knows when and so hidden I had forgotten I even had them, and hang my head in shame ……

Having uncovered them, I felt that I had better justify my buying them by doing something with them….

They measure 5ins x 3ins and I have covered the fronts with papers from a DCWV Spring adhesive cardstock stack (4.5 x 6.5ins) and then simply and quickly embellished them with bits and pieces that I already had on my desk.

back view.

Father’s Day Gift Tags

The newsagent across the road takes off all the free gifts from all the unsold children's comics and then sells them for 30p each or 4 for £1 and I have found some really brilliant bits and piece for crafting with, because of their size they are perfect.

…. and so whenever I see tool sets in his box  I snaffle them up as fast as I can ….. because the first thing that comes into my head are Dads and Father’s Day!

All I have done is cut tag shapes from a fine corrugated Kraft card (I used my last sheet for this idea and now don’t have a clue where I can find any more).

I have stuck the tools down with E600 glue, a glue recommended to me by Marc because it is really strong and can be used with so many materials.

And finally I’ve used my faithful Dymo labeller for the wording. A few silver stars here and there bring everything together.  Done and dusted!

Father’s Day Tool Kit Card

This card measure 5ins x 5ins and is made with hand cut blanks using white linen effect card.

These embellishments are gorgeous ….. they are part of a packet sent to me from Dianne in Florida and came from Michaels …. a shop I long to purchase profusely in one day …….

I’ve teamed them up with a scrap of A4 Kanban wooden fence card and another matching paper adding a few small silver brads in the corners. The wording is done on my faithful old Dymo label maker which is ideal for men's cards.

Vintage Style Card

This card measures 6ins x 4.25ins and is made from a black and cream patterned hand cut card blank.

I’ve used a whole mixture of materials for this card ….. including a K & Co tag that I’ve had forever with K & Co 3D embellishments from Michaels sent to me by Dianne, plus text paper (which I’ve coloured with a Promarker pen) from Papermania’s A5 Bookprint pad ….

…….and something you won’t see very often on this blog …. peel off sticker corners!! I just needed something to soften off the harsh looking corners and they did the job perfectly!

Sad News

I just didn't know what to do ...... but in the end I have decided that I would tell you that on Thursday Andy - The Duke died ..... I am still fuctioning in shock mode ...and we are all devastated.  He was at work and just keeled over with a massive embolism to his lung. I have been told that it was instant and he would have felt nothing and that gives us all comfort. 
Blog posts will continue as I am scheduled for weeks ahead and its really too much work cancel them ..... so enjoy.
There is no need to leave a comment ..... just embrace this and every day because you just don't know what might be coming to bite you on the bum !! xxxxxxx

Mini Jotter Calendar Fridge Magnet

I’m still playing with the magnets sent to me by Jonathan at First4Magnets.

I wanted to try to make a jotter fridge magnet after finding a pack of ten 10cms x 7.5cm  notebooks in  Poundland. All I have done is cover over the front  with some self adhesive blue and green DCWV papers to make the front a little more substantial  adding a little decorative border to brighten it up. Then I thought why not add a calendar tab as well, never a bad thing to have on the fridge and low and behold it fit perfectly across the front.

I’ve added a neodymium magnet to the back, and boy does it have some pull, this is one fridge magnet that won’t get knocked off!

http://www.first4magnets.com/f301n---10mm-dia-x-5mm-thick-x-32mm-csink-neodymium-magnet---2kg-pull-north-x10-b17y-25-p.asp

This is an idea I want to develop further,  later on in the year when I will be looking for ideas for calendars to give as small “fairing” Christmas presents, especially as I think I may have done my coaster/beer mat calendars to death!

http://www.first4magnets.com/

Diamond Jubilee Crafts - Docrafts Hanging Heart

I have seen these paper heart decorations in the past and loved their shabby chic appearance but have never attempted to make one so when I saw that there were instructions on pages 94-95 in Issue 33 of the May Edition of Docrafts Creativity Magazine (£2.95) I was determined to have a go, especially as there was a free sheet of A4 Docrafts Portobello papers included to make them with (as well as a set of Portobello Road stamps)

I'll have to admit that I found the instructions a bit confusing, but there again I am easily confused .....  so once I got the gist of what to do, I, to quote Frank Sinatra, "Did it my way!"

As per the instructions I cut three pairs of strips of my chosen Portobello patterns in 5cm widths and then cut them down to make pairs 22cm, 18cm, and 14cm long. 

I then scored each strip down the middle and folded them in half  ..... (but, if I were to repeat this project again  I would definitely use double sided paper). The next step was to make a teardrop shape from each strip.

I then layered the teardrops inside one another to make one half of the heart, gluing them at the bottom and holding everything together with a small bulldog clip. I then repeated this for the other side  

When both sides were dry I put a loop of ribbon between the two halves and glued both sides together again using a clip to keep it all from falling apart while they dried. I also punched a small hole through all the layers at the bottom, putting a small brad through to further secure the joining of the two halves. As a finishing touch I added a rather large jewel, which I am not sure I really like.

I will definitely have another go at making more hearts probably nearer Christmas, making them into a garland like the original magazine article.

Original Article by Julie Kirk in Docrafts Creativity Issue 33 May 2012