I did get back!

It looks as if I'm still on holiday as I haven't updated my blog for such a long time. For some reason I just can't seem to find the time or maybe the enthusiasm to craft lately. I have been very busy but that doesn't usually stop me finding time somewhere to do the things I like to do  so I think I might have lost some of my enthusiasm - must get it back or all my craft stash will gather even more dust.

I have got around to tidying my craft room at last  - which was my excuse for not crafting - so now I have no reason not to get going again.

I have been visiting some of your lovely blogs today which I'm sure will get me thinking ................

Hope you are all having a good weekend.

See you all in two weeks!

I'm off on a  lovely holiday with a friend who has invited me to her timeshare in St. Lucia.  How lucky am I?

No crafting for a bit I'm afraid but I hope to keep an eye on all your blogs while I'm away as there is Wi Fi where I am staying - so not all my  time will be spent on the beach or by the pool......................

Have to go to bed now as it's an early start tomorrow - see you all soon. xxx

Oliver's 13th Birthday Card

Hi everyone

It's been a very long time since I uploaded a card. I have finally tidied my craft room end found my desk again - just in time to make this card fror my older grandson's 13th birthday on 4th May.

I had some problems with it as I wanted to make it  relevant to him and his interests but couldn't get it quite  right.

In the end I managed to get  a lot of things into it that he will recognise and I hope,  enjoy!

He is a real joker with a great sense of humour and is always driving us mad with his card tricks - some of which don't go exactly right  lol  - although he does fool  me with some of them I must admit! He is also always on his computer or listening to music - and if you wonder why the socks are odd - that's also a favourite feature. Apparently it's 'cool'.  His favourite colour is purple - but when I tried to use that somewhere  in the background  it looked too 'girly' which I didn't think would be appreciated - so I settled on a  purple jumper.

It's an A5 card on a white background but  it hasn't scanned very well I'm afraid because it looks a bit grey and has scanned  a bit crooked  - but I hope the image gives you an idea of what it looks like in real life.

The digi image is from Mo's digital images and I decoupaged it so that it sits in relief from the rest of the card. The boy actually looks a lot like Oliver too. The cards were from my stash,  as were the  the musical notes. The colouring was done with my promarkers and the greeting ( which isn't crooked in reality - honest!)  was generated on the computer.

I hope he likes it  - and hope you do too!

Hello Everyone

Today I am playing with my new Archos tablet - my new best friend!

I won't pretend I'm as quick typing on it but it's great fun and I wanted to  see just how easy it's going to be to update my blog on the go.

I am also guilty of making odd phone calls to my friends and family as I have been setting up skype calls - think I've worked it out now. lol.

I will get back to crafting soon as I have to make my grandson's birthday card soon.

Hope you all had a great Easter - I spent most of mine marking exam papers.

I'll be back soon.

Roses

I have been wondering what to put on my grandaughter's next birthday card.  She is seventeen next month.

I saw a tutorial on making paper roses on a blog recently and thought I'd give it a go. I didn't have any of the tools that were suggested - such as various punches and shaping tools -  so I improvised.

I made a paper pattern for large and small petals and a cup shape for the sepals which I then scanned in to my computer and traced in SCAL so that I could cut the petals, sepals  and leaves withmy Cricut.  I shaped the components using an ordinary embossing tool with a large ball, on a sponge stamping mat and used my normal tweezers to help shape the petals.

The tutorial used card to make the roses but I used ordinary white copy paper to make it all and coloured the leaves and sepals (they are there even if you can't see them)  with my Promarkers (Holly Green)  and the Letraset Airbrush. It worked quite well as the airbrush gave the leaves a sort of natural mottled appearance - luck not judgement. lol

I then coloured the petals with a sponge and several different ink pads to get a sort of pink and yellow shading. This is the result. I had to photograph it as of course it wouldn't fit into my scanner so it's not as clear as I would have liked but it gives an idea.

I mounted the rose and leaves on a plain white card which I had embossed and added a sentiment which I printed out on my computer.  I coloured the sentiment, first  using the airbrush and the same green Promarker (keeping it a long way away) and finishing  it by sponging lightly with the same inkpads as I used for the rose.

I like the simplicity of this card and hope Lauren will like it too. I think I'll have to make a box for it to go in though as it won't fit into an envelope.

The tutorial on making the roses is a very good one and there are some lovely cards there using different sorts of flowers  - there is a link to a video on the blog which I also watched. It was quite labour intensive to make the rose  but really enjoyable.

I found a piece of vellum that had been lying around for ages and tried making another rose using that. This is the result.

This hasn't made its way on to a card yet but  I think the vellum worked very well - saved a lot of colouring too although I don't think it's quite as realistic.  It's not quite as garish as this in real life though - it's the poor photography.  Now I'm on the search for suitable pieces of paper to make more......................... watch this space.

Hope you like my efforts.

Cards at Last.

Hi everyone - a long time since I've posted anything on here as I have found it very difficult to get into my craft room after it has been used as a storage space while we have been decorating - and has also been full of Christmas stash. I have at last taken the plunge and tidied a path to my desk.

I have decided, before I tackle anything else,  to look in my project basket and finish a few items that have been lingering in there for far too long  - waiting for me to complete them. I have managed to put two cards together.

The first one is an image by Sheena Douglass that I have used before - using the Paint Fusion technique. This particular image didn't get onto a card but I have at last mounted it, although because of the black edging this isn't really apparent in the photograph.

 I haven't added a sentiment as I think it would be suitable for a lot of different occasions.
                                                                         POPPIES

                                                                         
This second card is my attempt at using distress inks.  I must admit this is not my usual style but I thought I'd give it a go - I think that's why it has stayed in my project basket for so long - I'm not really sure it's my style - or that I am very pleased with it -  but I think it's good to try something different from time to time.  I do like the stamp though but I can't remember where it came from I'm afraid.

                                                                       BIRDS and CAGE

I haven't put a sentiment on this card either as  I think this can also be used for several different occasions.
I'd better go and have another look in my project box I guess and see what else I can find.

Done it!

I have finally managed to upload a new page for when I can  get into my craft room and find all the things I have planned to sell. I hope that when I  do there will be some of you who are interested in my wares!

I have had to re-arrange my blog a bit so that I could  set up a new page that everyone could see easily.

Hope everyone has had a good day - see you all soon.

How Frustrating!

Hi everyone

I have been trying to add a stand alone page to my blog so that I can use it to sell a few of my spare crafting items.

 Despite following the instructions on both the new interface and the old one - and watching their  video which goes at the speed of light several times - I can't do it!

I can follow the instructions, open a new page and write whatever I like on it but when it is published is simply appears as a new post on this homepage. I have seen a question in the Help section from someone who has the same problems but all the answers have offered her  is to look at the page of instructions on how to create a new page  - catch 22.

I'm not sure if it's me (and the other lady presumably)  being stupid ( very likely in my case) or if it simply isn't possible!

What's even more frustrating - the Docrafts Forum isn't working so I can't ask for help on there. Grrrrrr.

Perhaps I'd better do some housework. lol

Hope you are all having a better day than me.

First Post This Year!

I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted. This is because I haven't been doing very much in my craft room except wrapping Christmas presents and making a mess since long before Christmas.

 I felt I had to write something today as I have had a lot of visitors since I last posted, despite there being nothing new to see! Thanks for your visits and I am sorry!!! I have just added a flag counter and am really surprised to see I have had visitors from other countries - welcome and thanks for looking.

We have been doing some decorating recently and my craft room has been used as the repository for all the things that had to be moved/stored  while this was going on  - I haven't been able to see the desk for weeks. I am slowly getting back to normal and who knows - I may even get my enthusiasm for crafting back soon.

My enthusiasm for crafting took a bit of a nose dive when we lost our lovely cat Woody (see post below) in October. He was run over outside our house which is in a very quiet close so we didn't think anything like that would ever happen to our lovely cats as we are surrounded by woodland. He was very old and getting a bit senile so we think he must have got disorientated and walked behind a car without the driver realising as it was backed out. Anyway - it was awful as I didn't know it had happened until a neighbour called me and I had to get him to the vet to have him put to sleep which was the worst hour imaginable - and it has taken me ages to get over it.

Still - I have my other five lovely boys and girls to keep me busy so I thought I'd post their photos here to remind me of how lucky I still am.

 This is Willis - known as Willy  - who is the twin brother of Woody who died. He is now seventeen.
I had them colour coded as they were so alike. Woody had a blue collar and Willy a red one.

These two - yes there are two here - are Marmaduke and Orlando who are inseperable.

They are also twins and were born in July 2010. They are rather naughty!!!!

Below is a picture of one of their escapades - they were about 20 feet up this oak tree and had to be encouraged down by my poor husband balancing on a ladder.

This is Mummy Badger (she looked just like a badger when she was born with her black fur and white stripe) and her kitten Sox.  Badger  had four babies and the other three went to family and friends as I couldn't keep them all unfortunately - but  I still see them. They are not always as friendly with each other as this - being girls  they have the odd spat  - but they are very sweet when they do cuddle up. Badger was born in 2009 and her baby was born in 2010 (a teenage mother).

Hope you like the pictures - I promise the next post will be some more crafting!

Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend.