Skating Penguins Christmas Card

This card measures 6ins x 6ins and I got the self adhesive penguins from Michaels in Las Vegas last year.

I think this card is too much!  I started off making a scene with the penguins in a frame (the frame was part of a pack of a Winter Woodland laser cut frames from Hobbycraft and is patterned on one side, but I chose to flip it over and colour the blank side with a Pro Marker Pen).

But after that …… I lost my way, adding six layers of matting!!!! I know it looks OK, but does it really need so many layers?

I think what I would rather do with the framed scene, is to back it on a matching piece of card,  drill a hole in the corner, add some blue and white bakers twine and make a gift tag with it ….. which could then be put on the tree as a decoration.

Watch this space for when I make Penguin Skating Scene, Mark 2!!

Christmas Tree Tag

Just a very, very simple Christmas tree tag today, measuring approx. 1.5ins x 3ins ……..

….. using scraps of card and paper, a glittered wooden Christmas tree embellishment tree that I have had for years, some tiny silver sequin stars and a little bit of doodling with a white gel pen and black fine liner, completed with a green eyelet set with my Cropodile and red and white bakers twine.  This tag probably took me no more than ten minutes in all to put it all together.

Nordic Heart Christmas Card

This card measures 6ins x 6ins and is made using a hand cut plain grey blank.
Oh my life so much mat and layering, I must be mad!
The heart is made from felt (although it said wooden on the packs) and is left over from the packs of decorations I got from Poundland last Christmas

I removed the original ribbon, bead and hanging thread and replaced them with a plain red ribbon to hid the hole.

If I was being completely over the top I should have put a flat backed gem in the middle of each hole in the scalloped square ……  perhaps I will do this on the next card, as I have a few more felt shapes to use up so I can try different variations on the same theme.

I just love using grey, I got into it in January and am hoping to use it a lot more this Christmas, (ideas providing). I also know that I don’t use my Bigshot or basic collection of dies enough either, so I’ve included one layer using my Spellbinders scalloped edge square to hopefully get my die mojo moving!!  I’ll be honest, there are soooooo many beautiful dies around now I am totally overwhelmed and so rely on Marc’s collection and inspiration when I go tp London to see him.

Time In London With Marc ………

My apologies if comments were not published during the week, I’ve been in London with Marc and his computer is not geared up to give me access to Blogger ……. so if your comments are not published within a few hours you’ll know that I am probably on a jolly!!   It would be nice to have comments posted automatically, but if I did every comment box would be overrun by some very unsavoury links!!!!

On this visit, though we talked crafting almost none stop, bouncing ideas, Marc and I didn’t do an awful lot of crafting …. though Marc did spend quite a bit of time fitting jump rings to one of my future Christmas ideas …… while I was lounging in bed one morning ………

However ……. saying that, Marc has made a very considered purchase, I knew he would, as he hasn’t stopped talking about it since it was launched  …… tah dah ….. Marc has finally got himself a Brother ScanNCut, so that’s what we played with one morning. It was the first time Marc had got it out, but it didn’t take him long to get the basics.

……and I had a little challenge for him! I have finally managed to get my hands on the Sizzix gingerbread man die I have wanted for years (from eBay), and I was planning on cutting out and sewing a few gingerbread men for Christmas, but didn’t really want a face on each side …… and as the ScanNCut cuts felt, I challenged Marc to make a template for me that would cut out plain backs for said gingerbread men ……

……. and he did it in an incredibly short time …….

….. further experimenting by cutting them out using faux suede strips that used to be his window blinds!!!

So two happy people …… I can now have my gingerbread men with plain backs if I want to go all 3D and Marc being extremely pleased with his new toy, so expect to see a couple of projects after my other visits in the future.

Marc and I were out and about quite a bit, especially in the charity shops of Notting Hill and Battersea, which believe me, you just can’t compare to those of Wolverhampton, an Armani jacket for £5, I don’t think so!!!

We popped into FARA-Kids/FARA Baby in Notting Hill (Ledbury Road, Notting Hill, London, W11 2AA), where I found a couple of bargain pairs of Kricket denim dungarees for Iris, that normally I would never have been able to afford, for just £3.50 a pair ….. plus a couple of Fiesta hand puppets, now set aside for Christmas, which, when I found out their real price nearly passed out. Needless to say whenever I visit Marc from now on I firmly intend to take myself off for half an hour or so to go mooching. 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fara-Kids-Notting-Hill/18682049804989839-41

In another charity shop in Battersea I managed to find a whole pile of Tulip texture paints for 80p a tube …. I have an idea how I will use them, but I need to have a play first!

I also found a very rustic cutlery tray which Marc pointed out would make a lovely set of shelves, when turned around, either to hang inside or outside my garden shed ….. and filled with small terracotta pots and garden curios, like the little gnome we found for 30p, which I forgot to bring back with me ……..

Talking of gardens we also visited Battersea Flower Station, which is my most favourite garden centre in all the world. 

http://www.batterseaflowerstation.co.uk/

……. there was so much inspiration for my garden for next spring …… I just wish I had taken a few more pictures that didn’t include certain monkeys …..

…… but the ideas are still in my head!

We also went to see the poppies at the Tower of London, the light was fading as we arrived …….

…… but I think that it gave it a completely different atmosphere to that of the day.

  It was hard to take it all in …….

…….. all those blood red poppies, each representing a life lost and never fulfilled ….. and all those hearts broken

…….. it was stunning.

And now within days of my returning home I will be back in London next weekend …… as part of a living window display at W.E. Interiors, I don’t have too many details at the moment …… BUT, if you are planning on going to the Battersea Fireworks on Saturday 8th November the chances are you will pass by the shop ……. and who knows who you might see!!!!!!!

557-561 Battersea Park Road, London https://www.facebook.com/weinteriors

My Garden

Do you remember when the bottom of my garden looked like this and I despaired …… never in a million years could I have done anything with it, I swear it grew even faster when I dared to make any feeble dent in it!And then I found a wonderful gentleman called Phil, and his wife Linda who have transformed it to this (below) ………

I can’t believe how hard Phil has worked ….

….. clearing the neglected and overgrown vegetable patch

….. and covering it with purple slate, giving me a place to sit and have a mug or two of tea and ponder. I have bought a very simple table and chairs from Ikea but haven’t put them out yet!

 

And the edges too have all been dug over and covered with mesh and then  bark, and are waiting for me to decide what select few plants/shrubs  I want there ….. at the moment I am fancying lavender ….. but I have till spring to muse.

The shed has been moved back a few feet giving me a lot more room …..

….  and I would have like to have painted it this summer and begun to turn it into my den, but the floor needs a bit of reinforcing after the move, so I don’t want to invest anymore in it until that is done, hopefully in the next few weeks, but when it is ….. it will probably transformed in baby blue or lavender hues.

There’s still quite a bit to do, but after a little over two years I am no longer frightened or a stranger to the pleasures of the hoe and spade, having finally got off my bum and started to prune and dig like nobody’s business, excited and fired up for what next spring and beyond will bring if I keep on doing what I am doing now, each night after work…….…… despite gaining one septic and very painful finger …….. lesson learnt …. two pairs of gardening gloves from Poundland duly purchased.

I know it must have been worrying The Duke as he was the gardener, seeing me leave it for so long, but at least it’s getting done now so he can get on with his fishing!!!

There is a flower patch in the middle of our village shopping area that is now my inspiration for next year …… I don’t have a clue what most of the plants are, but if I can get my flower beds to look half this good I will be so chuffed!

I have planted a few new bits and pieces and split some of the spreading plants I already have, which seem to have taken ……. so after an autumn of annihilation and a very quiet winter we will see what the spring will bring ……..

M’Lord …. I Have No Excuse ….. My Resistance Was Low!

Oh my goodness, I very rarely buy dies these days, (I go to Marc’s and use his!!!!!!). Dies have to be something really special to catch my eye and then ever specialer to open my purse!!!…..

So ……. when I saw this Tim Holtz Flight of Birds die in a Wolverhampton Craft Superstore you can imagine my state of abject flux and excitement …… it was akin to meeting Alistair Campbell in real life at the Olympics ……. pure lust!!! Well, it went straight into my basket ….. but then I hesitated, as I often do these days ….. £15 is a lot of money (it acquaints to at least 15 something's that I would have to make with it to get my money back) ….. which is why in the end I just took the picture to remind myself of the name etc. and then put it back on its hanger and walked away, my head glancing over my shoulder!

However, my prudence was justly rewarded …… as soon as I got home I managed to secure it on Ebay for just £8.95 with free P & P, result!!!! ….. I just have to wait for it to arrive now…… I can’t wait …. it’s so beautiful!

A Large Thank You Card

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

I don’t usually make cards these days, but I make this one for someone special at work. She had been given so many clothes and other bits and pieces for the baby she was expecting by her husbands work it had been quite overwhelming and she wanted to say a very special thank you…..

….. which gave me the idea of having a baby hiding behind one of the letters which were a jumble of capitals and lower case in an effort to use up odd letters, which were then faux stitched in black pen.

The flowers were already punched, they came from Lakeland when Lakeland had a crafts section, all I had to do was add the clear, flat backed gems.

Starting Iris’s Project Life Album

I remember seeing Becky Higgins Project Life on Create and Craft, and to be honest, it didn’t really twig with me ….

……. and then when Marc came to stay and we saw the boxes in HobbyCraft he was very enthusiastic about it all and I became more curious. 

Well …….  to cut a long story short, and as you can see from the pictures,  I decided to buy an album, page protectors and a couple of core card kits as a first wedding anniversary present for Tom and Laura as it was their paper anniversary.

But, before I gave it to them I shared out some of the core cards and page protectors with Denise, Iris’s equally proud, significant other Nanny, so she can add to the album too, as and when, like me. 

My box of cards is now permanently on my desk in my craftroom so that I can just reach over and  “do” one whenever the mood takes me, ……

….. especially after special occasions or visits when my camera is permanently clicking anyway or when a memory suddenly springs to mind.

I also wanted Iris to know all about when her Daddy was a little boy and growing up ……..

…… and about her Granddad Andy.…..

…… who would have absolutely adored her and been the most wonderful, wonderful, patient Granddad, who would have given her the moon on a stick if she’d asked for it!So Project Life also seemed to be an ideal way of revisiting old photos and telling the stories behind them …..

…….as well as stories of the present.

I have always found the idea of filling a whole scrapbook page very daunting, the Project Life cards I have measure 3inx x 4ins and 6ins x 4ins which is just enough for a few words or story and a small photo or two.

However, as I have a suitcase of photos in the attic to work my way through and so many happy family occasions in the future I think I have a Project For Life!!!!