Meet Janey

This Saturday, at the grand old age of 37, I bought my first ever car.  My Gran died in April this year and she left me some money, I haven't had it yet but I do know roughly how much it will be.  This weekend when I was informed what I would be getting, we went car shopping.

I am sure some of you UKers will gasp in horror, but I went for an automatic, they have always fascinated me and although I can use gears/clutch and I think I have good clutch control and am reasonably confident about it, why (as my good friend Mandy says) use a twin tub when you can have a washing machine?

Another good thing as far as I am concerned is that there is so little choice in Autos, so I didn't get bamboozled, in the size of car I wanted there were 2, and so I test drove and chose Janey  (Named after my gran!)

I pick her up in just over an hour and I am so excited I could just about explode, after 37 years I will be able to go where I want when I want, also thanks to my grans money I have got a really nice, reliable (I hope!) little car that should last me many years, I don't have to drive an old banger!

Its always inspiring...

.... for me to get new papers.  Ive not had any new papers for a very long time, however today I happened to be in The Range and I saw the Papermania ' Happy Days' range and loved it.  Its my birthday tomorrow and in anticipation of a bit of birthday money I treated myself to the stack.  I don't normally 'do' stacks as I hate too much of the same pattern, but they are all so usable and its good value so I broke my rule.

Have new paper will scrap, and so this afternoon I sat down to create.  Its been so hot here in the UK this week that I haven't really been up to much, it drains me does the hot weather and crafting in my furnace of a kitchen has no appeal at all, I like to lie on my sofa like a great beached whale with the fan on full blast!

I did struggle with scrapbooking today, felt like I had forgotten how to do it, but after 3 hours (yup Im a slow mo) I finally finished!  and ta da....

So yes, tomorrow is my 37th Birthday, we don't have the kids as they will be at their dads, at lunch we had a cream cake and they gave me their pressies to me, crafty bits and pieces off Jess and a lovely brick wall embossing folder from Joe!

Tomorrow I am off for a spot of lunch with Jason and our good friends Alan and Nicky and then on for some drinks around Keynsham.

Sweeping away the tumbleweed

I might have been conspicious by my absence of late, but I have on occassion, got my craft on.  In the last 2 days in particular I have made a few cards, which is well over due as a spate of birthdays in the last 3-4 weeks has really depleted my stock.












This time around i've concentrated on print and cuts and using my printer and cameo for almost all aspects.  The 'have a happy day' card was entirely printed out and cut on the cameo (aside for a bit of embossing on the white square)  the arrow background was a cut file that I turned into a printed background, the yellow is actually a subtle pattern for more depth.  The car, trailer and tree were also cut files I turned into print and cuts.  The sentiment was simply printed out.

This card was a card cut file that I turned into a pnc by filling the shape with a pattern leaving a small white offset and then cut out.  A few fluttering butterflies and a greetings tag completes it.





Vases printed onto card, then a square cut around it to form a base, the branch is printed, cut out and foam dotted for dimesion.  Simple and elegant!


Finally ( god I hate this new blogger layout, I can't do anything, can't type where I want etc) this simple sunburst card, another cutfile pnc and a bit of added glitter on the rays.

I may never post again, if this new blogger has its way.  Although I do have some more to share!

So the results are in....

I got a call from CBBC on friday afternoon, to say that Jessica had not made the final 5 for the show, they said they loved her and they would like her to be the Standby.  To say Jessica was gutted would be an understatement, she really didn't need bad news and she cried and cried and then didn't really speak or engage for about 24 hrs.  She is slowly feeling better about it, she is just desperately dissapointed.

So as standby we still have to go through the rest of the procedures, which means traveling to London again on Saturday (yes Jubilee weekend, in the capital, it is going to be hellish!)  Jess has to have a Pysch test and so do I.  Hopefully by Saturday Jessica will be able to put her 'game' face on.

Tomorrow it is mine and Jasons 2nd wedding anniversary and the 7th anniversary of our 1st date, we are not doing anything to celebrate as Tuesdays are manic, with Joe's air cadets and so even having a nice meal is a bit difficult!

I just made this little card, suddenly realised I needed to pull my finger out and get on with it!

Cards, CBBC and Crappyness

Ugh! I am just about done with this week.  We are trying to get Jessica transferred to the other secondary in our town, she is not happy at Broadlands and even though she doesn't come home crying anymore she hates it, is moody and her whole personality has changed since starting there.  Add this to the news that her one remaining friend (the others have already moved) is now transferring and you have a desperately unhappy little girl.

This week she was bullied in English and got so upset that she ran out of the class, she is now not attending English lessons with the rest of the group.  Its a lot to deal with, I have to pysch myself up every day at 3ish to get the strength to cope with it all, the tears, the moods, seeing my little girl so upset and bewildered.  She had yesterday off school as I felt she needed a break, believe me the teachers are not arguing with me over that one!

Her head of year is new and hes really lovely but the sooner we can get her moved the better, I do not know how she will react if there is no space for her.  I'll battle it and appeal but that will take time and I feel Jessica needs to move ASAP.

No news on CBBC as yet, hopefully they will call soon, hopefully it will be good news she could do with a boost.  My big dread is that its a no from CBBC and a no for a move.  How she will cope with that I do not know, I can't tell you how bad it is at the moment.  By the way the audition went well, they took her off and miked her up, she had to answer lots of questions and dance like an animal in front of the camera, she says that they laughed at her a lot and they did seem to like her.  Fingers crossed!

I suppose at least the weather has been lovely this week, and I have a nice new hair cut so thats the positive to take from the week!

We're going to London....

.....to buy Heat magazine.

Sorry had that little ditty in my head since 8pm on Tuesday night when we got a call from CBBC to ask Jessica to attend a casting call for the show she applied to be on called " Show me what you're made of"  The casting is actually on Saturday but Jessica has her birthday party (recording a song in a recording studio) then and so I was like errrrrr oh dear!  Jessica was all for cancelling the party but CBBC said they could see her Friday afternoon if that was better and so we went for that!

We are all in a bit of a tizzy about it, she has to have an informal chat with the producers on camera and she has to dance like an animal.

Today one of the producers rang me for the parent interview, grilled for 15 minutes on all things Jessica, eeek it was hard to play it exactly right, they want to take privledged kids on this thing and whilst I want her to go, I will not outright lie and make her out to be a diva spoiled little thing!  I think I got it right.  Jessica has her own little attitude (oh my god and some!) and so I played that up and talked of her love of gadgets and the next 'big' thing, but made her sound fair and compassionate too, which is about right.

And so tomorrow we hit the road for London Town, its very exciting and i'm looking forward to the trip, fingers crossed for her.

Oh and theres a little card I made, thinking of it for my brothers birthday which is coming up!

Sweet as a Strawberry

Hi guys, nice to pop in and see you here!

I have a little card to share with you today, by way of easing me back into crafting as I have had zero desire lately!

Last Wednesday I finally woke up to the news that it was my driving test  - hooray and oh my god all at the same time.

My examiner was very friendly, not chatty, but smiley and with a jolly voice.  I was nervous waiting for my test and was so worried about queueing in traffic and getting clutch leg due to nerves.  I definatley wanted to turn right out of the test centre as I like those routes, of course I was asked to turn left, but during the whole test this eeeire calm descended on me! I had a very stop/start, small residential street kinda route, I didn't get higher than 3rd gear all test.  I luckily didn't get anyone doing anything stupid that I had to deal with, which is a surprise, cos I swear people see the Learner signs and are determined to get passed you/cut in front.  I had a parrallel park, and to my amazement I did it perfectly, probably my best ever.  And then someone zoomed past me at top speed and I hadn't seen them, so I hadn't stopped during reversing, couldn't believe I had failed after such a great manouver!

However I got back to the test centre and was told I had passed!  I just said "oh, really?" Jason says its the most subdued reaction he has ever seen (I like to process things and so often don't react to these sort of things)

I've since been put on Jasons insurance and done a couple of solo drives, took the kids to their dads etc, I am defiantly not doing my best driving right now, I need to settle into it and feel a bit nervy/edgey but I am sure that will pass.  I parked up in Tescos on Sat, I was dreading parking, but it was ok, slightly over the edge but it was quiet there so I just left it at that!!!

Its been great for the waistline this driving test/passing malarkey, hardly felt like eating all week!

I don't think its sunk in yet, still can't believe i'm allowed to get in a car and drive it on my own, feels so surreal to me right now.

Using the Cameo to make masks

A fun thing to do with the Cameo is to make your own masks.  I really wanted a brick background on this layout, so I cut a brick wall file with the cameo and then placed it over my cardstock.

I then dabbed white paint with some scrunched up bubble wrap (its all I had on hand to apply it with!!) onto the stencil/mask.  I'd already used this mask to spray some glimmer mist and so my white paint had a grungy look to it, which was exactly what I wanted!

So there you have it! Another use for the Silhoutte and the possibilities are endless.

Well the dogs chilled at least!

Just a quick post, life is HECTIC right now, I've hardly time to have a cuppa.

Jessica wanted to apply for a CBBC show called "show me what you're made of" where children are taken to Asia to see how things they take for granted are made and to work in the factories and experience their home life.

So she filled in the application form and sent it off late last week. And there I honestly thought it would end. On Monday CBBC rang and asked to speak to Jessica and promptly did a telephone interview. We were told it would be 2-3 weeks until we found out if she gets through to the next round. The next day they called again and asked her to do a video audition.

Part of the video audition is to tour her room. PANIC!! her room is a toxic waste ground. So I ( and Jess) have spent the last 2 days, tidying, chucking stuff out, putting stuff in the loft, scrubbing, organising and painting her room. I have washed the curtains, cleaned the rug. Lots and lots of hard work. Not to mention going into town to buy her new clothes and some new dressings for her room. I am BEAT!!

The dog just sleeps through it all, lucky bugger!

Waxing Lyrical

Ok guys, I went and did it..... what?

I became a Scentsy Consultant!  Heres my website Scented Wax Heaven contact me before placing an order for reduced postage.

You might rememeber about a month ago I made this post all about how I had bought the products and loved them.  I'm spending enough money on them, they are that great that I thought I might as well get the starter kit and have a go!

If you love scented candles or plug in air fresheners, then this is for you!  Gorgeous high quality wax that doens't evaporate (the smell just dissipates over time) no flame, no soot, no mess and over 80 fragrances to chose from, ranging from bakery smells, fruity smells, perfumy smells, clean, crisp, floral, warming  there really is something to suit anyone!!

I've also set up a facebook group, leave your email addy, if you'd like to join, im hoping to do special offers and promotions on it when I am up and running!

Im selling this simply because I love the product, id been searching for an alternative to candles (never enough scent for me) and ive hit the jackpot with this!!

I wish I were stronger

Its very frustrating to have a brand new washing machine in your kitchen and to need to do washing but have it sit there blocking the room not plumbed in.  I could do all the technical bits of the installation, but I can't move the blummin thing, so here it sits until Jason comes home to deal with it - lucky for me thats only half an hour more.  I get ridiculously excited about even the most mundane of new household items, it will be so nice to a.  not have a machine that smells like someone has farted pure sulphur mid cycle and b.  not leak all over the floor.
On to scrapping and 2 more layouts to show you from my photo corner feature in The Scrapbook Magazine this month

This one of Jessica taken on a lovely summer evening a couple of years ago, all dressed up for a school social












And this one of Jessica doing some tidy up work in the garden.  I like the simple lines of this layout and it reminds me of a comic strip or photo story.  The corners by the way are flocked.

We interupt this neglected blog to bring you.....

....an actual post!

I've had a self imposed little break from posting, for one thing I simply haven't made a thing apart from 3 layouts for an assignment.  I've had a lazy uninspired Easter break.  2 Weeks ago my gran died, she was 97 and senile as well as practically blind and practically deaf, live wasn't fun or fulfilling for her anymore and she was in a great deal of emotional pain and stuck in a hospital bed in a care home.  I'm glad she finally let go and died peacefully in her sleep in the afternoon.

We had her funeral on Friday, it was a time of great stress for me as I hardly know that side of my family and I haven't seen my father since I was 11.  I was relieved to find out that he wasn't coming over from New Zealand and I didn't have to worry about meeting him again.  In the end the funeral was as nice as these things can be.

Easter was quiet and uneventful, Joe managed to give himself a cracker of a bruise on his cheek by kneeing himself whilst trampolining, we were calling him chipmunk for a while whilst it was swollen, and its now turned all the colours of the rainbow but is still stubbornly hanging on.

Jess had a sleepover and decided to tackle her (her words now) bushy eyebrows, I came downstairs the next day and at first thought she had slept very rough as her eyebrows looked odd, she finally admitted to plucking them out a few hours later as I wouldn't let it drop.  We had to make a trip into town to buy an eyebrow pencil to make her look human again - silly girl, i'm hoping shes learnt her lesson on that score.

I got my copy of The Scrapbook Magazine in the post today, I was asked to do a 5 layout article on photo corners.  It was surprisingly hard to come up with 5 different ideas, a photo corner is after all a photo corner.  I'm going to share a couple now:












This was taken just before Christmas, Jessica was giving her new step cousin a cuddle and actually enjoying it!  I used ribbon and butterflies for this corner.

And this one of my family playing monopoly on the ipad.

Floral Tributes



A couple of floral cards today that I have enjoyed making, the flowers are print and cuts of the Echo Park Silhouette Files that are in the store - I love that Echo Park do Silhouette files and particularily that a lot of them are print and cut, really handy for cardmaking and scrapbooking alike!



Both the floral embellishments were finished off with a little bit of glitter, stickles in crystal for the above and yellow for the below

These cards are perfect for lots of occasions, not just birthdays.  Think Mothers Day, Thank-yous, get well soon etc!

Bike Boy

Just a simple and quick card to show you today. This card was made for a friend of ours who cycles pretty intensively. The bike and cyclist shape is of course from Silhouette.

We had a lovely weekend with the gorgeous weather. On Saturday Jason and I went to a local restaurant for lunch and it was warm enough to sit in their little courtyard, it was really nice and relaxing despite our waitresses best efforts to spill a pint of lager over us (she managed to save the situation by pouring it over herself instead!!) After lunch we went on for a few drinks in our local hostileries for a while before back home for some telly and bed.

On Sunday we went to my mother in laws for breakfast, then a spot of shopping before we picked up the kids and then we took the kids to see The Hunger Games. I don't normally 'do' cinemas, as I am far too bad tempered to put up with other peoples noise, but it was surprisingly quiet and enjoyable.

Right I am off to do battle with the printer which is running on a go slow today. I'm making a nice card and am almost done if only the blummin printer would co-operate!

Scentsy Heaven

* I am not a consultant, neither do I personally know a consultant, I just love and am excited about this product*

Do you like scented candles? I do but I am often dissapointed by the amount of scent that I get from them and they are so expensive and messy. I heard of Scentsy some while ago whilst reading some American blogs and thought the idea sounded really good and was sorry it wasn't available in the UK. Now it is, since about last April I think.

After another disappointing candle that wasn't burning consistently I decided to take the plunge and order a warmer (a bit of an initial expense) and some wax.

This is my new Scentsy warmer, its quite modern and unfussy (I do find a lot of the scentsy warmers a bit fussy/old fashioned). It works via a 25 watt light bulb that gently warms the wax cubes you put in the dish, the wattage is designed to warm it to the correct degree to get the scent in the air but not to dispense all the scent at once. Each cube lasts 8-10 hrs and there are 8 in a bar (60/80 hrs per bar for £5) Once you've got the warmer, then it works out a fair bit cheaper than premium scented candles in wax. Also the wax does not get over hot, you can stick your finger in it and not burn yourself, there is no soot and the wax does not dissolve, you simply through it away when all the scent has been released.

If you've burned a cube for a couple of hours and fancy another scent, simply pour the wax back into the empty hole in your container, wipe the dish with a paper towel and pop in a new cube.

Made it sound good havent I? But its only good if it really lets off scent. Does it? Are the scents strong and long lasting, was it worth the initial set up money? (£30 for a full size warmer).

Resoundingly YES!

I am so pleased with this buy, the smells are strong, they carry around my house and they are high quality

These are my scents so far:

RED CANDY APPPLE - OATS AND HONEY.

Red Candy Apple really smells of apples, its sweet crisp and fresh

Oats and Honey is simply devine, its a warm baking smell with lots of honey and a nutty smell, this one is nice and strong and one cube lasted a lot of hours. Walk in the door with this burning and it almost knocks you sideways (in a good way of course!)

LEMON COCONUT CHIFFON - BAKED APPLE PIE

Lemon Coconut chiffon is my absolute favourite because it smells just like my fav ever candle, its lemony, with a creamy soft tone, strong but not the strongest of the scents - I will forever be buying this one!

Baked Apple Pie - smells just like an apple pie straight out of the oven, with that perfect little bit of cinnamon.

STICKY CINNAMON BUN - CHERRY LIMEADE

Sticky Cinnamon Bun, only buy if you love cinnamon, its a strong scent and very spicy in tone, great one for christmas I would think.

Cherry Limeade, this one is STRONG, it has a fizzy smell, slighly soapy and is perfect for the spring/summer days we have coming, it makes your house smell clean and fresh and zippy!

I know this sounds like an advert, but im so happy to have found 'the' perfect alternative to candles, that will work out cheaper and has over 80 different scents. If I knew enough like minded people I would so be a consultant but alas my few female friends are unlikely to make a business!

Leapin' Lizards

On Sunday (mothers day in the UK) we went to my sisters for lunch, she had just completed on the house she was buying which was also the house that she has been renting for the last 2-3 years, it was a lovely sort of mothers day/celebratory lunch and very enjoyable.

Her partner Sam has a couple of lizards and the kids enjoyed handling them for a bit. Bruno looked like he might like to eat them although I think he probably would have run away if he got too close, wussy dog that he is!

I took a couple of snaps on my iphone 4s of them both with the lizards specifically to scrap (I am running out of current photos, I really must try harder.



It was nice to sit down and scrap today, i've been in a bit of a creative funk lately and just have wanted to sit and do nothing all day. I knew I had nothing much on today - no revision (yay) no mock driving tests and so I ear marked it for a spot of scrapping with my two new photos and what do you know I made something.

Tomorrow I might have to post about my new obsession - Scentsy - So glad its come to the UK, it is blummin lush!

Driving update

Long time readers may remember that about 3 years ago I had a go at learning to drive, I got quite far along the road (so to speak) but nerves got the better of me, I was a nervous wreck and I just had to stop as I wasn't enjoying it at all.

Last September after a lot of regrets about stopping my lessons, I started again, I'm lucky to have a driving instructor for a husband and so we started slowly slowly, taking ages on the little roads with me wanting to vomit everytime I got into a car or thought about getting into the drivers seat! We did this until my confidence was increased. Once I got proffecient I drove us everywhere, not necessarily taking structured lessons, just lots of everyday driving, to the supermarket, over to my sisters in Bath etc. Then came manouvers and then I couldn't put it off any longer and I had to book my theory test.

I had my theory test yesterday - I passed - I passed well ;) I cannot believe the state I got myself into over my theory, anxiety, didn't sleep etc etc and that was with me KNOWING I was going to pass (I studied and I studied hard and I didn't fail a single mock test) and also lets face it 64% of test takers pass, its not that hard!

With the mess I got myself into over the theory (my first test in 21 years so understandable) I got Jason to book my practical yesterday and he is not going to tell me when it is until the morning of the test, that way I will at least sleep the night before and will only know about it for a couple of hours beforehand.

Wish me luck!

Wedged In

Sigh, I have a poorly husband who (as they all do) has taken to his bed and is dying, when Jason is poorly he acts like you do when you are calling in sick for work, you put on that silly 'sick' voice and act all pathetic. That is my life today. I am at least grateful that he is at the moment staying out of my way!



Im not fireing on all cylinders myself thanks to a wisdom tooth thats been giving me hell since Saturday and is making the whole of the left side of my face feel dreadful. Crafting therefore has not been on the top of the list of 'things to do this week' I do however have this layout to share that I made a couple of weeks ago, just a quickie telling the story of the day before our new sofas were delivered. We had cleared the room and were having to make do with cushions for the night, Bruno managed to wedge himself between Jasons head and the wall, with a plug socket pushed into his back, not the more comfortable of places but he happily fell asleep - silly pooch!

Babyface and a BIG hello

Well imagine my surprise today when I logged on to my little blog and found that my visitor stats were through the roof - thanks to all of you who have visited from Silhouette where my hexagonal card was their fan feature today - chuffed to bits!

Back to the business of the blog then..... I can share this now that I was asked to make for The Scrapbook Magazine, who sent me some Kaisercraft goodies with which to make my layout.

I think you will realise that the papers are not my style but I am actually quite pleased with what I created, fussy yes, but I love the layers that I cut on the cameo, and they suited this baby picture of Jessica perfectly and its nice to step 'outside of the box' occasionally!

Right I am off for a cuppa, just had a major panic when Jess did not come home from school, resulting in me walking her route and still not coming across her. Turns out that there was a misunderstanding on going home with friends and the mother thought Jess had told me and Jess thought the mother had cleared it with me and I...... well I was nearly having a fit to be honest, but alls well that ends well! Girls eh?

Mothers Day

Here in the UK its Mothering Sunday next Sunday (18th March) a fact that had slipped by me until I was invited to lunch at my sisters for the occassion.

Seeing as how I got a timely reminder, I thought I should make my card for my mum now before I forgot again and had a mad panic to make one.

This is made using My Little Shoebox (for the tag) and Echo Park This and That Graceful stickers, a nice simple, quick but effective card in pretty colours for my mother!

Snapshots

I have a couple of photobooth type apps on my iphone but i've never printed out any of the photos before.

I decided to have a go today and thought I would scrap this one of Joe. One of those days when I kind of wish I hadn't started, everything was a struggle, but I perservered and managed to save it from the bin!



Bit of misting on this one, haven't used my mists in a while! Also chevrons which I found quite tricky to incorporate if im honest.

Inspired by Paper

Looking through my new papers a couple of days ago, I came across this one from MME with lots of pretty hexagons on. I wanted to make a card featuting the honeycomb pattern seen here, but these hexs were too big for a card.



So I cut out lots of hexs in white card, then using the internal offset feature in Silhouette Studio I cut out lots of hexs in pretty patterened paper (again MME) just smaller than the white ones and then stuck them on the white card.



I added and trimmed the hexs to fit the background paper on my card, leaving 2 small gaps to the side to add texture and give the card some dimension. The card was then finished off with a banner and sentiment for a simple mens card.

Leap in the Air

And so to my last Twisted Sketches Layout and the twist was leap, which went with these photos very well!

I cut the little photo strip frame on the Cameo, making sure the aperture of the strips fit my individual photographs. Nice and simple, bobs yer uncle.

We were up at the crack of dawn this morning as Jess is going to Paris on a school trip - 5.45am she had to be a school for - yawn, right might go for a nap ;)

Fabric Owl

As I mentioned on my last post, I popped to my local fabric shop on Saturday. Its an amazing little shop, not teeny tiny but the sort of shop where you are always in someones way, its always busy in there despite being tucked out of the way.

Among all the wool, accessories, pretty trims and reams and reams of gorgeous fabrics were baskets of fat quarters sorted by colour. I picked up some bluey/green shades to go with some I had already and some interfacing and rushed home to make::

Ta-da!


:

I cut this on my cameo using a pattern that is available to buy in the Silhouette Store and is this file: owl_fabric_pattern_C02782_1 2/04/2011

I was a bit disappointed how the cameo cut the fabric if im honest, it was more of a deep score line than a cut, but at least I had the lines to follow with my scissors. Also it makes me laugh that the blog tutorial here suggests that its so super easy to make that it is the sort of project you could make whilst making the kids tea for example. Now I don't know about you, but by the time I have my iron board, sewing machine and cameo and laptop out as well as all the fabric and paraphanalia there is not an awful lot of room left in my kitchen for food prep, and thats coupled with the fact that its labour intensive and takes about 2 hrs of pretty full on work. Nope I think I will concentrate on this task alone thanks!

Still it was relatively easy for a novice like me and I am pretty pleased with the results (the owl has a light blue polka dot back so it contrasts nicely)

Self Portrait

I rarely scrap pictures of myself, mainly because I rarely take a photo I like - or I should say others rarely take a picture of me that I like. I am quite good at the old dangle the iphone above at a wierd angle and hope for the best - thats how I got this shot of me on Jason birthday, just before we left for breakfast at our favourite breakfast place.

Seeing as I for once do not look like a moon faced troll in it, I thought I would scrap it, no real rhyme or reason or story behind it, I just enjoyed adding bits and pieces for the pure creative relaxation of making something!

I used My Little Shoebox and Echo Park new releases on this one.

My fabric obsession continues to grow, over wine with a friend of mine on Friday night she mentioned the fabric shop in our little town, the fabric shop I used to frequent for wool and crochet supplies that for some reason I had forgotten about! Guess where I went on Saturday? More fabric posts will follow - you have been warned.

This Boy

Thanks to Paypal being awkward and me being a bit of a wally, I had some money to spend that could only be spent via Paypal. So I treated myself to some new papers, ive not had new papers in eons!

I got my happy post yesterday and loved my choices. Top of my 'most loved' list are the Miss Caroline papers from MME and especially the wooden board ones that are included in the line.



Having just finished a layout for Twisted Sketches (my last ever one and I am pleased about that, I'm not scrapping so much at the moment and when I do its always for a commission or for TS so it will be nice to scrap the way I want to, on my own theme, with my own choices) I sat down and this layout literally fall out of my hands, the double edged postage frame was cut with my cameo and I think it really pops off the STUNNING boarded paper. The other paper range on the layout is Echo Parks This and That - Charming, the two lines go really well together with their mustards and teals.

Im hoping to have some more scrappy time today, but if my fabric arrives I will be abandoning it in favour of owl making.

Have a happy weekend folks x

Making Fabric Bunting

I've made paper bunting of course, any crafter worth their salt must have attempted that by now surely? But fabric bunting, involving sewing and seams and turning inside out oh no! Thats not for me is it? Yes I own a sewing machine, but its purely for paper crafting and messing about with.



At the weekend we put our blind up, we have wooden horizontal slatted blinds which are nice, do the job and match the new sofa but I wanted a bit of colour introducing so I set about looking for something, curtains are out as the sofa is up against the window and so they would catch. I then decided on a red roller blind but I wanted to keep the wooden ones too as they are great for privacy and I swear we have the nosiest people around here who just stare in as they walk past and I HATE that! I worried that 2 blinds would look stupid, but you know what? It really doesn't. I roll the roller up in the day, so there is just a sliver of red showing and use the wooden ones for privacy and then I roll down the roller in the night and its all cosy and lovely.

The I decided I wanted to fancy it up a bit and so I hit on the idea of bunting as an alternatice to a pelmet if you will and a lot less fussy.



I got on ebay and ordered my fabrics and bias binding, 4 fat quarters not a bundle, I chose these all individually to suit my room. Get me on the fat quarters I so had to google what that was!!! That red and white chick with trees fabric is ace and really suits the scandinavian style dressings of my room



As the fabrics arrived in dribs and drabs I set about making my pennants, I used this tutorial here that is very easy to follow for even the least sewy of people (and believe me I fit in that catogory!)

My first couple of pennants were a little wonky but I soon hit my stride and it was surprisingly easy, in fact the hardest thing of all was cutting out the triangles as my scissors were not as sharp as they could have been, all the technically bits were a doddle!

Once I had my 9 pennants made I had to sew them onto the bias binding, I was dreading this bit and was sure I would mess it up, but it was the easiest bit of the whole process, I breezed through it.

Ta da! The finished article that will hang in a staight line along the top of the window, just overhanging the red roller blind. I am really pleased with it and it looks like a professional job almost. I did have to fight the temptation of making more and more and more and I will have to stop a bugeoning fabric obsession I am sure but really its so simple so give it a go if you fancy!

I've just ordered some interfacing and more fabric so I can make Jessica an owl cushion that can be made on the cameo - watch this space!!!

Cameo Cardiness

Sometimes when I am getting the crafty feelings but am feeling particularily lazy, I will sit on my laptop in my (new super douber) lounge and design a card on my cameo. These 2 cards were born that way!



The bottom layer is embossed with my homemade embossing folder 'chicken wire' which was cut with the cameo and you can read about how I made it here.

Then just a plain old layer of Kraft topped with a print and cut of graph paper cut with a notepad edge.

Next a banner and a 4 layer flower cut with co-ordinating patterened paper (these were made with MME - I love their paper!)




Top the flower with a button and some bakers twine. I actually do not thread the button with the twine, I make the bow and then stick it on, its easier for me somehow and I don't struggle so much with the bow this way!



So if you have a craft cutter, why not try designing a project in comfort and then go and cut it out. Crafting with as little time off the sofa as possible!!!

(Photos are naff today as daylight has been poor these last couple of days.)

Family Life 2011

Thats half term done then, don't get me wrong, I love the company of the kids and the lie ins but I just cannot get the house in order whilst they are home, there is just too much of everything!

I've just finished a thorough house tidy and clean and its so nice to go from room to room and everything be as I left it.

We had quite a quiet weekend, out on Friday and then in all weekend apart from a bit of pottering. Yesterday I even had the urge to get off the sofa and scrap - so I did. Now this layout caused me so much grief, custom sized photos with an uncooperative editing program and a reluctant printer, lets just say what should have been a relaxing hour or two actually wound me up so much that I ended up head butting a cushion in frustration, yes I have anger/patience issues but not so much that I cannot find a nice soft furnishing to take it out on.

However I like this layout very much indeed, in fact its one of my all time favourites already! I planned out all the rectangle sizes on my 12x12 mat in the Silhouette Studio software and then cut them out and transfered on to a white background. Most of the papers are MME. Then I added my custom aforementioned pain in the arse photos, and then the kraft titles and hearts. Lots of machine stitching of the paper panels and the hearts. Voila!

Out with the old

My teams turn over at Twisted Sketches this week and the twist is 'old' I decided to scrap these pics of our recent redecoration. The photos aren't brilliant but they are ok in this layout. The power tools were drawn with the cameo and then cut out and coloured.








Pop on over to see the sketch and join in.

Its been a quiet half term for me, ive been poorly again with yet another cold virus so have spent much of the time on the sofa drowning under the weight of tissues and vicks, but I am feeling on the mend today so have managed to get a bit done which is a relief, I fine being poorly so bloody boring!

Valentine

I could not resist this card file when I saw it in the silhouette store, a bit of a cheat really using such a simple design that someone else thought of but it just makes me chuckle!

Our new room is perfect for valentines day with its red accents!

Starting on the finishing touches

Another busy weekend, but this time making some finishing touches to the living room, its so nice to see it all coming together!



We took a trip to ikea to have a nosey around and ended up buying this tv unit, now I know we got a bargain on our flooring but lets just say the cabinet is more expensive than the flooring, ikea is not always as cheap as you may think! On a side note imagine our frustration last night, we spent a fair amount of time building the cabinet and after a busy weekend we were pooped, so at last it is built, all other jobs are done and so we put our tv on the cabinet and the HDMI cable broke and so we could not even watch the blummin thing!



The cushions are my Christmas ones, but until I find a suitable replacement they are here to stay!



Can't get a living room pic without the pooch getting in the frame at some point! He is struggling so much to jump up on these sofas what with the new flooring and everthing!




And finally 2 pieces of simple wall art that I knocked up on the old cameo, took 5 mins max! I love them and they suit the room perfectly (they look a little small in the pics but they actually fill the space perfectly!)