Thankyou again

Another batch of thankyou cards, I am hoping to finish the intended 25 at the weekend, so I can hand them all out next week.

Same stamps as previously used by Stempleglede, all sentiments are all Stampin' Up

Patterned papers are by Me and My Big Ideas

I used Memento ink for stamping and Copics for colouring in. The rose ribbon above is by Tim Holtz.

The floral background is card I stamped with smaller stamps from the set, so that I could have a perfectly matching patterned paper. 

I have another 15 to make, so watch this space, they will all be similar but all slightly different.

Anniversary wishes

Mum and dad's wedding anniversary was the day after dad's birthday and I made them this card to celebrate.

They have been married 40 plus years, I find it an inspiration and am so proud of both of them, they are the best parents a girl could wish for

Love you both 

xxx

Happy Birthday Dad

It was Dad's birthday on the 6th, he was still in Lanzarote with mum but was home the following day.

Here is the card I made him.

I used a mixture of papers from Tilda and Bo Bunny, the embossed hearts in the centre are a Stampin' Up embosslit and both the word stamps are by Stampin' Up too.

All is settling down into a more usual routine now, it feels good to be back to 'normal', 

Christmas has been re-boxed and resides once again in the attic - I do hope we never have any workmen up there, as the six foot snowman is wrapped in bin bags to keep him clean and now looks more like a murder victim than a festive decoration.

I have no real news years resolutions, I always make them

....... and promptly break them !

So, instead I have set myself a few goals

To make at least one christmas card a week

To complete the Insanity training programme and continue to eat healthy and train in the gym regularly

To read more books

To finish more projects

To be more organised

Yeah right !!!! the last one is never gonna happen, just ask Neil, Dad or Anita or anyone else who knows me.

Have you any goals or resolutions for the new year ?

Same but different

I wanted to make some thankyou cards to show a little gratitude to all my generous customers who brought in treats for myself and my family at Christmas.

I had a quick count up and realised I needed 25 cards, so to make life a little simpler and hopefully help the card-making go a little quicker, I sketched out five basic designs and will complete each design in five different colour combinations, just changing the embellishments and finishing touches to make each card individual.

Here are the first five I made

All cards have been made using the Friendship Rose set of stamps from Stempelglede, which were a much appreciated gift from my lovely friend Anita ( who knows my taste so well !) Thankyou - I LOVE them xxx

The argyle type paper is from a pad by Me and My Big Ideas, the floral paper was made by me using the smaller stamps from the set, I added extra colour using copics and a background stamp by Denami Design.

The lovely aqua coloured lace was a gift from my dear friend Margaret.

All with the same stamps, papers and colours, but different

Same but different !

Will be back soon with another batch in a different colour.

Dream Machine

November's ATC theme was chosen by Jan, who chose Machines with Metallic as the guide to colour.

I went with a telephone as a 'talking machine' as my inspiration, making the old-fashioned dial from cardstock, I added a big silver brad to the centre, the stamp was Washi tape which just happened to be sat in my stash, already adorned with the image of  a telephone.

The background paper is one from the Kraft pack by Tim Holtz, the dots and swirls were platinum Liquid Pearls.

And the silver tape at the bottom is builders tape run through my Cuttlebug and rubbed with Alcohol ink.

Black or White

I saw this Whiff of Joy digi  image on t'internet and knew it would be perfect for Neil's birthday card.

Neil has always been a fan and was lucky enough to see Michael Jackson several times in concert. 

I kept the rest of the card fairly simple ( I find it incredibly hard not to throw on flowers, pearls and ribbon)

The image was coloured in with Polychromos pencils and the sentiment is a Forever Friends one by Do Craft.

And the final batch of Christmas cards I made this year - there were other designs but I made them so last minute that they didn't all make it onto my camera !

This one was for my aunt and uncle.

These next three were all for neighbours and are each a variation on a theme.

Finally one for Helen and her family, who I mentioned in an earlier post.

I do have some other christmas projects to share ( not cards though) so will be back with them.

I am not generally a 'stressy' person, but leaving most of my cards til Christmas week was a little of a stretch - even for me. I did a run of four nights to finish them all, staying up til 3-4 in the morning and getting up at normal time and must admit I don't want to be doing that next year. 

So .......

Despite my best intentions of making one Christmas card a week last year ( I managed 2 in january !)

I DO intend to make at least one a week this year in order to have at least 50 made by Christmas.

I am sure both Anita and Margaret will hold me accountable !

Get Well

I made this card for a special friend who also happens to be one of my wednesday ladies.

Helen has had a rotten year healthwise and eventually she had to stop coming to classes whilst she waited for an operation.

The class missed her and her super fun and bubbly nature and we can't wait to have her back in January.

This is the card I made on behalf of the ladies who also all contributed to  flowers and some bath treats to cheer her up whilst she convalesced.

I coloured Henry in with my Neocolours and used patterned papers by Nitwit.

And back to catching up with the Christmas cards.

This one I made for my mum and dad.

And as it was slightly too fat to fit in the envelope, I made a box to present it in.

These next two cards were made in Lindas last Stampin' Up class of the year - thanks Linda xxx

I am not a glitter person normally but fell in love with the colour of this glitter paper from Stampin' up - so lush !

And the sentiment on this card was lovely, I might have to treat myself to this stamp set !

Tomorrow I will be back with Neil's birthday card and the last couple of christmas cards I have remembered to photograph.

A Dog's Life

I didn't get to make as many handmade gifts this year as I had hoped.

Totally awful planning on my part - you would think that by now I would know that Christmas does indeed fall on the same date each year.

And yet each and every year without fail, the festive season sneaks up on me - by stealth - and catches me unawares and unprepared !

One I did manage to finish was a mini-book for my lovely friend Bonnie who has been an absolute rock all the time I have had the shop, she is my thursday lady, who teaches Parchment and die cutting, but she is so much more than that - to know her is to love her ! And she is one of the most generous people I have ever met, with her time as much as anything else.

Last year she got a new puppy who is adorable and Bonnie is smitten, so I made this little book to house a few of her favourite snapshots of him.

I used papers by Nitwit and some elements from a kit I had ordered from America - by The Paper Studio

I kept lots of the mats blank so Bonnie can add all her treasured photos or add in anecdotes to treasure.

This Nitwit pawprint paper was my favourite.

As promised yesterday her are a few more of the Christmas cards I made this year.

These two slight variations with the sleigh are for two of my neighbours.

One for Linda and her family.

And a slight variation for Bonnie and George

And this one had to be special - for Anita, you can't tell from the photo but the santa is suspended in the aperture of the tent card

A little bit closer to catching up my recent crafting projects

Don't forget the Running With Scissors January SALE is tomorrow - Saturday 5th January 10am - 4pm - lots and lots of bargains to be had !

I have a get well card and some more Christmas cards to share with you all tomorrow too, see you then.

Catching Up

Happy New Year

To all my friends and family and my blog readers too.

I do hope you all have a happy and healthy 2013.

I am going to be playing catch up for the next few posts as I took a little unplanned blog break over the last few weeks, so please forgive my  next few posts if they contain christmassy type crafts

 There will also be some non festive projects too, but I am going to try and clear the backlog of images I have on my Mac.

Before I forget - for all my crafting buddies locally, we are having our annual January SALE- SATURDAY 5th January at the shop, so if you are in the vicinity of Grimsby, I promise there will be LOADS of bargains, as always we will have our tables full of bargains with up to 90% of some items and everything else will have at least 20% off the original price.

A few of the cards I made this year

For my sister

For my niece Katie ( using the Stampin' Up Owl punch for Rudolph)

A couple of the cards I made for Neils work colleagues

For Neil's mum

And for my dear friend Beryl

And that's it for today, I am currently making lots of thankyou cards for all the generous people who bought myself and the family gifts this festive season.

See you tomorrow with a gift mini-book I made for a special friend and some more christmas cards.

Christmas is coming

First up -  apologies for being absent, more about that at the end of the post, first up some Christmas cards I have been making, all for close friends.

I have been busy with all the usual Christmas preparations, shopping, wrapping, card-making, decorating etc etc.

On top of my usual 2 hours a day at the gym, Neil and I have decided to try out the Insanity home workout programme, it is seriously eating into my free hours - hence lack of blogging and general internet use.

We have just finished week three and I am so proud of both of us for sticking with it so far. With all the usual Christmas preparations, me working and Neil working shifts, all the stuff that goes with having three kids and life in general, it has not been easy !

But I am feeling much, much stronger, I have broke through a plateau at the gym and increased my weights on every single exercise, I have also increased my cardio intensity and seem to be able to do all the usual daily tasks with much more ease, I have no idea whether I will see it through to the end, it is a 60 day programme, but I am determined to try !