Sweet 16 Commission

Good evening

Tonight I am back to share a recent commission I have completed for one of my lovely ladies to give to her grand daughter

My brief was something girlie, with the age and the quote " live the life you dream"

I had so much fun with this card, 16 is such a wonderful age, on the cusp of womanhood with so many opportunities and experiences around the corner

I used my favourite Tilda papers, some new flowers I have in the shop and some die cut letters which I have glittered with stamp 'n' bond with ultra fine glitter

The sentiment was computer generated as the card needed to be personalised

I used a mix of Nellie Snellen and Spellbinders dies for the circles

Just a quick but very big thankyou before I bid you all goodnight

Massive thanks to Dawn for the lovely gift she bought me today, Dawn you truly are so kind to me and so thoughtful, I will be back later in the week with something I have made with my fabulous pressie, thankyou so much ( it almost made up for dad leaving me a virtual orphan for two weeks !!!!!)

Love and special people

Tracey

xxx

Happy birthday Keitha

Good evening 

Tonight I have a card to share that I made for my lovely friend Keitha, she recently celebrated a milestone birthday ( notice I never put ages on my card unless they are for children - after all it's just number !)

But I did want to make a special one for a very special lady

I created a three layered descending tent card ( my name for it, I have no idea what it is actually called)

I used Tilda papers

Dies by Die'sire and Spellbinders

Punches by Stampin' Up, EK Success and Martha Stewart

Sentiment stamp was by Stampin' Up

I hope you had a wonderful birthday and enjoyed your afternoon tea at the Ritz Keitha

On a side note, it has been brought mo my attention that I have missed a very special person's birthday, you know who you are and I know you read my blog, it is something I am going to rectify as I feel so bad that I could have missed one of my most loyal class members and friends birthday, something very special will be winging it's way to you in the next week

Love and cucumber sarnies

Tracey 

xxx

UFO Friday - Stampin' Up cards

Good evening

As well as making myself accountable for my christmas cards, I have also decided to make myself accountable for all the UFO's lurking around the house ( UFO = Un Finished Object)

I know I have a UFO problem when I find I am hiding them in the kids bedrooms, the attic and at the shop as well as in various corners of my craft space, the utility room and the shed - yes I even have them in the shed !!!

So....... here is the first of them - - - - - - - finished

ta daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Two cards from a Stampin' Up class held by Linda er hermmmm  - last year !!!!! 

All finished now ! I had created the bases and stamped up all the various elements, then tidied them all away in a little bag 'to do later'

Who else has a mound of 'to finish' projects ?

Surely I am not alone !

I know of at least one person

Pat !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Come on everyone stop hiding those UFO's and join me in finishing them ! 

Love and UFO's

Tracey

xxx

Good evening

I am back tonight with another birthday card

It has been a busy couple of weeks for birthdays !

This one was for my lovely friend Ann

I created an 8in x 8in easel card with a butterfly theme ( could not possibly choose a different theme !)

I hope you are enjoying your birthday celebrations Ann, miss you and our girlie giggles already

Love and flutterbies

Tracey

xxx

Happy birthday - Margaret

Good evening

Tonight I am sharing a card I made for my special friend Margaret 

I wanted something a little unusual and I know she loves natural colours and a little blue here and there

I used my brand new stamping up tag punch to create the tie up opening part of the card

The right side opens up to reveal the first layer

And then the left side opens to reveal the inside of the card

Thankyou Margaret for always being there for me ( and everyone else too !)

Love and friendship

Tracey

xxx

Turkey and Tinsel tuesday

Good evening 

I am back with another little yuletide number to add to my steadily growing selection

This one is a little gatefold creation using the stamps, embellishments and papers from last years Molly Bloom kit ( Yes I am still eking out those scraps!)

It folds up to fit snugly inside a 4in square envelope

Who else is joining me on a quest to finish up some Chrimbo cards early ?

I still think I will be making them on christmas eve, I just don't think it would be normal for me to be completely organised !

A quick thankyou before I bid you all goodnight

Many thanks to Glenys for the beautiful flowers and even lovelier card, they were very thoughtful, thankyou

Love and stockings

Tracey xxx

Easter 2014

Happy Easter

Hope you have all had a restful and well fed weekend

I made these cupcakes for treats

Recipe as in the tab above - gluten free of course and then added buttercream icing with GF sprinkles and mini eggs

This year I made these cute little birdhouses to contain the kids eggs (who am I kidding ? everyone got one  - not just the kiddies !)

I made 12 in total

Many thanks to Margaret for lending me the die for the banner and for giving me the green grassy stuff for their little nests, also to Anita for helping with the template for the actual boxes

Love and sweet Easter treats

Tracey 

xxx

A box full of love / gluten free meatballs

Good evening

Tonight I have a teeny tiny box to share

The box is the same size as those jewellery boxes intended for earrings 

I received a similar one of these boxes at christmas from my dear friend Margaret, my mum saw it and wanted a similar one to send her friend

It was an absolute pleasure to make as I know Elizabeth is a very good and dear friend to my mum

I used Bo Bunny papers

A flower from Wild Orchid Crafts

The ribbon and charm were both in my stash

The special thing about the box is that it is full of love

And from there we have a totally unconnected leap to meatballs !

I am sharing another gluten free recipe this evening

I am sure we have Italian blood in our family as all things pasta related are consumed with passion

I had to adjust our normal recipe as the addition of breadcrumbs is a no-no, we could have used some of AJ's GF bread but I thought out of the box for this recipe and went down a totally different route

Rustic Parmesan Meatballs

Ingredients:

1lb minced beef ( I use lean minced steak, fry in fry light then drain of any excess fat)

1 large egg lightly beaten

1/2 large mild onion (diced)

4 tbsp parmesan cheese

4 cloves fresh garlic

1 tsp oregano

seasonings

Method :

Combine all ingredients (except mince) in a large mixing bowl, mix really well and then add minced beef ( I find it is much easier to mix together with my hands)

Roll into small balls, I usually end up with 24/25 meatballs

Brown in a little oil, then simmer in sauce of choice for approx 20 minutes or until cooked through

Trust me - the addition of parmesan in these meatballs is divine, so much tastier and more moist than breadcrumbs !

We served ours with Glutafin Gluten free penne

I make my own sauce and call it hidden vegi sauce, as I like to hide lots and lots of vegetables in it,  cunning 'mum speak' for getting the boys to eat their five - a - day, although even that is not good enough now apparently as there is now talk of us supposedly having to consume anywhere from 7 to 10 fruits and veggies a day to meet the minimum healthy requirements

For my sauce I generally start with the basics of a tin of tomatoes, fresh garlic, tomato puree or passata (whichever I have handy), chopped onion, fresh basil from the herb pot in my kitchen and a stock cube, I use the Knorr stock pots as they are totally gluten free, and then I throw in a selection of whatever veggies I have in, for this sauce I added a courgette, a stick of celery, a couple of diced carrots, mushrooms and a red bell pepper

All the veggies are lightly softened in a little fry light, I add in the tomatoes, passata, stock cubes and seasonings, I simmer on a low heat until all the veggies are tender and the sauce has thickened and then throw in a handful of fresh herbs just before serving

A few quick thankyou's before I say goodnight

Thankyou to Andrea for the gorgeous little bunch of sunshine by way of yellow roses

Thankyou to Trish for the stunning bouquets of spring flowers 

Thankyou to Ann E for the beautiful daffodils

Thankyou to Kate for the two new mugs added to my collection

The house looks so happy and cheerful with all the pretty blooms

Also thankyou to Ann N and Margaret who both helped with drinks this week

Hope you all have a restful weekend

Love and meatballs

Tracey

xxx

Santa on Sunday

Just a quick fly by from me this evening

I have nipped in to post my Christmas card for this week, I am quite proud of myself and have only missed three weeks since the new year

I used an old acetate overlay from Habico for the image

The papers are K and Co (green ) and Nitwits (red)

Sentiment stamp is from Stampin' Up

Charm from The Works

Brads are Woodware (they were orginally pink but I coloured them with my copic markers)

It has been another busy weekend after another busy week and I have not had time to upload the challenge on the shop blog, but it is there now, so please pop along HERE if you would like to know the themes for this months 'Take Three Things' challenge

Love and laughing Santas

Tracey

xxx

Mums are like buttons

 Good evening

Did you all have a lovely and loving mothers day ? I hope so 

I did, I had an utterly lazy day, watched the new Monsters Inc film whilst crafting, Neil waited on me hand and foot, I got some lovely treats with my money and gift vouchers, the only thing missing was my lovely daughter but she will be home soon and we will make up for her absence then

A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.  ~Tenneva Jordan

This quote totally sums my mum up, utterly selfless and always thinking of others

Love you mum xxx

This is the card I made for my mum

Papers are by Tim Holtz and Melissa Frances

Die is Nellie Snellen

Sentiment is computer generated

And here is a similar version which I created for Neil's mum

I also made this little treasure trove for my mum, thankyou so much to Jan for teaching this gorgeous box at the class on saturday, for once I actually managed to finish my project.

We used adhesive foil tape for the metallic elements with alcohol ink

I added a Prima butterfly and a Prima metal flower to add a feminine finishing touch

And the treasure inside ?

Maltesers of course - mums favourite!

Love and loot

Tracey

xxx