Sunday night round up

Good evening

It has been a super busy couple of weeks and I have had lots of cards and projects to sink my teeth into

I have a very eclectic mix of photos to share this evening

First up is the card I made for Robbie ( one of my lovely customers not my son)

Robbie recently celebrated a milestone birthday and she loves all shades of purple

This is the card in a box I made for my gorgeous niece Katie who has just celebrated her 16th birthday

And then a very basic looking design but one AJ loves so much it is still up next to his computer in his bedroom, he is Minecraft mad at the moment, Minecraft is a pc game that is made up of blocks, hence the design and the green critter you can see is a creeper

I have more cards to share but will save them for another day.

In other - non crafting news

I have been experimenting with our gluten free cooking

So far, the best recipe I have tried is the one for yorkshire puddings, I replaced regular flour with a mix of cornflour and gluten free plain flour

Light fluffy and a little crispy, these were even better than regular yorkie puds and got a thumbs up from everyone

I tried bread too but so far have had mixed results with texture being a little bit of a problem, it is notoriously awkward so I will be tweaking the recipe until I get a lighter and more open texture.

AJ has started to show signs of feeling a little better, he has a little bit of colour to his cheeks, his skin doesn't look quite so sallow, he has only had two days where medication was required for his headaches, whereas they were almost a daily occurrence and his appetite is slowly becoming more normal, his nausea after eating is also lessening so we are delighted that his diet is working as it should.

We all received good news this week too, the rest of the family are clear and not suffering from Coeliacs disease - our blood tests were all negative.

Finally I have one last photo to share

Iris-  one of my tuesday morning ladies - bought me an amaryllis for Christmas and for once I have actually managed to keep a houseplant alive

Isn't it gorgeous, nestled next to it, is a miniature rose bought for my birthday by one of my wednesday morning ladies - Joan, they look so pretty together on my kitchen table

So, thankyou very much to both Iris and Joan for my lovely gifts, they really bring a lot of cheer to my kitchen ( and they perfectly match my pink Ikea seat pads !)

Love and luscious blooms

Tracey

xxx

Tinsel and Turkey tuesday

Good evening

Here are the least three weeks worth of Christmas cards that I have been making

I have been keeping up with the making of them but have not always uploaded them to my blog on time - another goal to aim for !

Love and festive fun

Tracey

xxx

Saturday catch up

Good evening

This is going to be a very personal and totally non crafting post

There are going to be no pictures and lots of words

If you have arrived here for crafting inspiration, this is not the post for you so please feel free to move on down your blog list

This week has been one of the most trying weeks of our little family's life

We have had three family members (AJ, Amy and Neil)

In three different hospitals ( Sheffield, Leeds and Scunthorpe)

On three days of the same week (more if you count AJ's separate visits)

Neil has had to have a pain relieving procedure on his back as his scoliosis has become unbearable, this was performed on friday, totally nail biting experience as I was unable to go with him and they had informed him that the injections would be going incredibly close to his lungs, being warned that a punctured lung is often a result is not terribly comforting.

Thankfully no mishaps and although his pain is worse at the moment we are hoping that once everything has settled down he should be a little more comfortable. Although we are very disappointed in his treatment at Scunthorpe, lost notes, misinformation, complete lack of care and consideration, no explanation of the procedure etc etc, to say Neil had this done privately under our health scheme, we both feel that he would have fared far better under the NHS in a different hospital

On wednesday Amy rang from uni at Leeds to tell me she had fallen down a step and broken her foot, she was on her way to 'a and e' and is now struggling on crutches with a knee high pot on her foot.

Mum and dad are bringing her home tomorrow for some much needed TLC, it's the worse feeling in the world being on the other end of a telephone line when all you want to do is wrap your arms round your babies and tell them it is going to be ok. She did tell me her treatment at Leeds hospital was first class and her boyfriend Ben has been an absolute rock yet again. I am going to owe that lad big time at this rate.

And AJ finally got his consultation at Sheffield on Monday, we took him and all went smoothly, we were told it would be a couple of weeks for the biopsy appointment to come through but as it happened we got a phone call just 2 days later saying they had a cancellation and could we come on thursday for the biopsy

Cutting a very long story short, AJ had his biopsy and has been diagnosed as Coeliac, we still have to wait for the biopsy results for it to bee 100% confirmed but his consultant said there was very little doubt

AJ's gut has been quite severely damaged and he is lacking in all his vitamins and iron as a result

But the good news is, as along as he follows a very strict diet, his gut will repair itself and medication can bring all his iron and vitamin levels back up to a normal range

Coeliac disease is NOT gluten intolerance, Coeliac disease is an autoimmune disease, it is incurable and lifelong, it can lead to many other diseases and health problems should AJ make regular mistakes with his diet, he does have to completely cut out all gluten and any gluten related ingredients and trust me it is EVERYWHERE even where you would not think

His diet started immediately but it will be at least a month before he starts to feel much benefit

I cannot praise all the staff at Sheffield children's hospital enough, they were absolutely amazing, so kind and helpful, truly organised and nothing was too much trouble, they were absolutely brilliant

So, basically although I have been keeping busy with the shop and all the other regular family,work and household commitments my mind has been on my three poorly family members (I think I might need to wrap Robbie up in cotton wool and lock him in his room - can't be doing with another one being ill or injured !)

Thank you so much to everyone who has been sending emails and text messages, those friends and customers who took time out to offer a little support and all those lovely kind words really did make a difference

But most of all thank you so much to my mum and dad who actually managed to get me through this week without losing my mind completely, they have taxied Neil to and from hospital, Amy from Leeds, me from work, they have helped so much with implementing AJ's diet, dad has been invaluable as always with the running of the shop and mum has done what mums do best - listened and hugged

Love you both so very much, you are my best friends and the reason my sanity is still in tact

Love and TLC

Tracey 

xxx

UFO friday

Well my promise of updating you the following day went out of the window, I have had 'one of those' weeks but will update fully tomorrow as tonight I have a little project to share with you

I started this plaque with the tuesday afternoon girls a couple of weeks ago

I got the tag shape cut out of chipboard, undercoated and painted the tags and the letters and then had a brief hiatus

That's what I do ! Then a brief hiatus turns into a long break and before I know it, I have another UFO (un finished object) to add to my ever increasing collection

I am determined to start finishing all those little started projects, I need to capture that initial enthusiasm and channel it into actually completing something

So from this week onwards I am aiming to have a UFO friday whereby I complete and post on my blog one of my many started but not finished articles ( no forfeits though this time thank God!!!)

For this project I must thank Margaret for the chipboard, little wooden letters and the little pots of tester paint she shared with us all, thankyou Margaret xxx

the little bird cage which I painted was a gift from Carole and the trees were die cut using a die also borrowed from Carole, so, thankyou Carole xxx

Love and home blessings

Tracey 

xxx

Birthday boy

Good evening

Sorry for the lack of blogging there is good reason for that, will catch up tomorrow with news but today I have a special card to share

Child number two - Robbie turned 18 on wednesday and this is the card I made for him

It is an 8inch square design and the image was computer generated

The papers are by Payper Box and Teresa Collins

Stamps are Stampin' Up and Inkadinkadoo

This card also enables me to multi-task as it also fits our RWS monthly "take three things" challenge

You can find the details of the challenge on our website HERE if you are interested in joining us

Turkey and Tinsel tuesday

Good evening

This weeks christmas card

I used Bo Bunny patterned papers, I borrowed a Tim Holtz die from my lovely friend Anita for the die-cuts, some new lace from the shop and everything was inked with Tim Holtz distress ink in Walnut Stain

I rubbed the reindeer with a little soft gold wax to bring out the texture in the Bazzill cardstock, I added a little bow with some bells for a finishing touch

Love and jingle bells

Tracey 

xxx

Scrapbook sunday

Good evening

Here is my update of the mini book I am creating for the "A day in the life of ..." challenge over on the RWS site HERE

I created a mixed media cover for my book, my book measures 6in square

I used lots of gesso and glimmer mists on this project to bring a new lease of life to embellishments I have been harbouring in my stash for a looooooong time

You can't really see the glimmer in these photos but the colours are pretty accurate

I made twelve tags to tuck inside the inner pockets, these will each depict the date for each event I choose to go into my little book

And twelve journalling cards, these are the fronts, they will be further embellished once I come to journal each event

And the back of each journalling card resembles a postcard with plenty of space for the all important journalling ( these were computer generated)

So each page inside the book resembles this now, they are all different colours and patterns but they all have a tag for the date, a journalling card and a photo mat

Today I have been working on little mats with the month which will go on each right hand page below the photo mat, I used stamps lent to me by Margaret - thankyou xxx, I lost light before photographing them this evening so will share them next time I blog this book

How are all my fellow challengees getting along with their books ?

Love and journalled bliss

Tracey

xxx

Saturday Catch up

Good evening

Well it's been a mixed bag this week, lots of highs and a low

The low being that my youngest has had his most recent results back from his consultant, it does indeed look like he is a Coeliac, this is slightly different to gluten intolerance, as Coeliac disease is actually an auto immune disease.

We still have to take him to a specialist unit  ( Sheffield) and he will have to undertake further tests before all the i's are dotted and the t's are crossed,  we have been instructed not to change his diet until he has had the next batch of tests.

AJ took it all in his stride, he only seemed a little perturbed at the Sheffield bit ( Sheffield didn't seem that bad last time I visited ), but once he was reassured that he would indeed come home and he wouldn't be going alone he seemed ok, he ended the conversation with "what's for pudding mum?" - nothing new there then !

So that leads me into a little ask

Have any of my lovely blog friends got some fabulous recipes ( tried and tested if possible please) or links to sites that have, I need to get practising and perfecting

I am currently madly collecting sites for both help and advice, also recipes etc, but it is all going to be a learning curve and I know this is not rare so I am sure there are some of my lovely readers with help and information

So, there was an initial wobble (and a few tears)  after receiving the news,

but

a big mummy hug - thanks mum, 

lots of positive stories - thanks Pat B and Carole L

and lots of kind words from friends and family

all made a massive difference, thankyou everyone

So apologies for being a little distracted this week

I knew my mind was on other things when I was going for my bus the other day.

 I had a letter to post and had passed the letter box by a couple of hundred yards when I realised the letter in my hand really did need to go in the little red box today

Rather than turn round and walk back ( admitting to the lady behind me and the guy over the road that I had indeed lost my marbles and had blatantly walked past the letter box with letter firmly in hand), I actually reached inside my bag ( with free hand), stopped and pretended to read a text, pondered the details of the very important ( non-existent) text and then slowly turned around and began walking back towards the post box

I very casually ( still engrossed in non existent text) deposited said forgotten letter in box, before nonchalantly turning back to the direction I was originally intended

Was I fooling anyone with my shenanigans ?

I doubt it very much

I doubt either party were even aware of my existence let alone my discomfort at suddenly realising I had become as forgetful as one of my grandparents, one of my grandparents who regularly walked into a room before scratching their head ( or chin in my grandad's case) before exclaiming "now what was I looking for"

And why is it that once you return to your starting place you remember what it was you were looking for but had you stopped in the room you were heading and tried to remember it would never come to you ?

Love and lost marbles
Tracey
xxx

Happy Unbirthday Kate

Today we celebrated an 'unbirthday' at the shop

One of my lovely friends and one of my very first class members recently celebrated a milestone birthday

As we were on holiday and the shop was closed on the actual day of Kate's birthday,  we decided to have a belated impromptu mini celebration

I created a card in a box in Kate's favourite colours for the occasion

So, happy 'unbirthday' Kate, hope you had a lovely day

Here's to your next milestone birthday Kate and hoping we are still scrapbooking together xxx

Love and milestones

Tracey 

xxx

Tinsel and Turkey tuesday

One of my good intentions last year was to make one christmas card a week

I started off well

I made four in January

I made no more until December !!!

As the kids would say - epic fail !

I have the same good intentions for this year, 

Neil has promised to make me do forfeits if I slip

Unfortunately I already have one forfeit as I missed the first week

Well, even if I make just five cards this year it will be better than last year

So watch this space - if no christmas cards appear on a tuesday you can rest assured Neil will be rubbing his hands ( insert evil laugh here !)

Love and holly leaves

Tracey

xxx

Happiness is like jam ...

Good evening

Tonight I have a little project to share which I have seen around pinterest and various other crafting sites and one which was recently reminded to me by my good friend Carole.

Carole made herself a happiness jar and I thought it would be a lovely idea for me and the girls at the shop to join in and make our very own happiness jars

I made a matching little notebook - the idea of the jars, is to write down all the good things that happen throughout your year on a little slip of paper, on new years eve after a year of collecting these little notes, you remove them from your jar, all the little prompts reminding you of all the things that made you smile

So I made the notebook so I always have a slip of paper to note down my happy thoughts

I added a favourite quote to the lid of my jar - I used a medium sized Kilner jar

And another quote to the front which I thought was particularly apt as the jar is of the jam variety !

And this is the back

And finally my matching little notebook

Who else is joining Carole and I with happy jars ?

Love and happy thoughts

Tracey

xxx

Scrapbook sunday

One of the brand new challenges over on the SHOP site is the 

A day in the life of ...... challenge, you can find all the details in this post HERE

I have been busy prepping my book for the challenge

It is a monthly challenge to run through the whole of 2014, with a page dedicated to one day in each month

Therefore here are my 12 pages all folded, attached together, inked and ready to go

I used a 12in x 12in paper pad by K and Co, I inked all the edges with Tim Holtz distress ink in Walnut Stain

Here is how each page is folded to create a pocket on each side

You basically take a 12 in x 12in piece of paper, fold in half horizontally, define the crease

Fold top edge down to meet bottom fold, define the crease

Fold in half vertically and define the crease, open back out

Fold left bottom mountain fold and tuck inside so all bottom edges are in line - creating a triangular shaped tuck inside the bottom fold

I am going to be making my covers and some inserts for each page this coming week, so check back next sunday for the completed scrapbook, which will be ready to start entering each of my chosen days for each month

Love and folds

Tracey 

xxx

Saturday catch up

Good evening 

I used to use my blog for documenting all the small things as well as the more momentous happenings in my day to day life

Somehow the smaller things ended up getting less and less and then they disappeared ( not from my life I hasten to add - just from my blog)

The blog became just a portal for my crafty happenings

And that's a shame ( especially with a memory as shoddy as mine)

So, as of today I will be doing a regular catch up on a saturday of the little moments that have made up my week

So aside from work, and family and all the usual humdrum housework etc I have completed a jigsaw puzzle

I used to do lots of puzzles when I was younger and had forgotten just how relaxing they are (well until you realise you have been sat in the same position for an hour and you have a stiff neck along with a cramp because you have been sat cross-legged and motionless for longer than when you were five years old at primary school !)

This one was given to me by my lovely friend Nicki - thanks hon and is by Gibsons, it is called I love London and is a design by Mike Jupp. There are so many little comical happenings in this scene that it is hard not to chuckle when you are putting pieces in their place.

I have also read this book this week

It was a freebie on the iTunes 12 days of gifts app over christmas

I am not generally one for romances ( not of the literary type - wink wink), but after a slow start and a couple of moments thinking "what on earth am I doing reading this twaddle", I actually ended up wondering ( and caring I might add) what was going to happen to Lily and then desperate to find out what decision she made in the end. So, Paige Toon and her pleasant little modern day romantic novel became a lovely light reading interlude between my usual thriller or autobiography choices.

And before I bid you goodnight and begin a little crafting project I have in my head, I have a crafting project to share from just before christmas

I use the term "crafting" loosely

Here is the key to our car, which disintegrated just before christmas

And as luck would have it, here is the spare key which disintegrated in exactly the same week - seriously not a fun or happy coincidence

Now I have no idea whether any of you have had the misfortune of breaking your ignition keys but we have never had this happen before

Apparently they can not be repaired at a normal key cutting service as they have special magic chips in

And as we all know ( or we do know) those special magic chips have within their powers the ability to make normal, sensible people momentarily lose their ability to close their mouths, I kid you not!

Let me explain as succinctly as possible

Key breaks

Key owner goes to get key fixed

Key owner is informed it will be £140

£140 !!!!!!!!!

And that is £140 ... PER KEY !!!!

Key owner stands gaping, mouth open, jaw almost on floor

Key owner laughs gently and slightly nervously - "you must be kidding" she exclaims

Nope they were not kidding

Key owner did not stay to hear past "well we need a special machine, it has a special chip in it yadda yadda yadda"

So........

Neil decided to resort to our best friend

Mr Google 

Mr Google who is generally honest, reliable, cheap and always there when you need him

Mr Goggle informed us we needed Sugru

So, here is what I did with the keys, the one on the left is Neil's  - awwwwww

And the one on the right is the spare one that his mum keeps

And was my bill anywhere near the £280 I would have had to pay at either the dealership or the specialist key place ?

Nope !!! It cost us a measly £12 and I had so much fun doing it.

And both keys are fully functioning - go me !!!

Love and rubber

Tracey 

xxx

Box in a card

Tonight I have another box in a card to share

This one was a commission for a girl who found me on facebook, so pleased to make this for her, especially after hearing the story behind her wanting a special one

I used premium quality pearlescent cardstock for the base and matting and layering

The papers are Melissa Frances

The blossoms are Prima

I used a Tim Holtz die for the numbers and punches by Stampin Up and Woodware

I am loving these box cards, so many variations possible and they can be altered to suit any occasion.

I have lots of plans for some crafting this weekend, so watch out for jam jars, notebooks, christmas cards and whatever else takes my fancy

Love and milestones

Tracey 

xxx 

Altered canvas

Good evening

Tonight I have something a little different

I haven't created a canvas for a while but the urge took me when I received a blank one from Margaret this week - thankyou Margaret xxx

I started out with a layer of gesso

Followed by doilies, lace, masking tape and tissue paper for texture

I painted, inked, spritzed and sprayed to add colour and depth

I rummaged for metal embellishments, little odds and ends and of course a photo befitting of all this work and effort

I love all the layering and inky, messy, paintiness that makes a project such as this a little of a gamble

Did it pay off ?

Love and  inky fingers

Tracey

xxx

Anniversary wishes

The internet gremlins were playing mischievous tricks on me yesterday

I blogged dad's birthday card, checked it, published it and checked it again and then it disappeared before morning, so,  apologies, dad's card was really for the day before and this post was really meant for yesterday, and if you have receive multiple updates in your readers, I apologise, wasn't me - honest !

So, this is the card I made for mum and dad's wedding anniversary which occurred yesterday

Pam J if you are reading this, this is the card I started and didn't finish, do you like how it turned out with the flowers and hearts ?

Obviously it did actually get finished and mum and dad loved it so all is good

“Marriage is a mosaic you build with your spouse. Millions of tiny moments that create your love story.”

Love and wedded bliss

Tracey 

XXX

Happy birthday dad

As dad said today "age is just a number" 

He doesn't really get why we all celebrate becoming another year older

I like to think I am celebrating having him as my dad

So ... happy birthday dad - love you xxx

Age is how we determine how valuable you are

Jane Elliot

Love and birthday candles

Tracey 

xxx

Christmas catch up

Happy New Year

Just like every other crafter in the country, Christmas came and went in a blur.

 Hours disappeared in the blink of an eye, 

mince pies and a little tot or two of rum fuelled my crafting sessions, 

cards were made, gifts were wrapped

chocolates were scoffed

and all the other usual stuff got done too - eventually !

But I apologise, I was having far too much fun to blog it

So here is a little catch up of some of the cards I created this year

I made many, many more but for varying reasons they didn't get photographed, mainly bad light, and the fact that I was last minute dot com as always

Anyway, onwards and upwards

No resolutions from me this year as I totally suck at keeping them

But

I do have goals ( not of the "22 silly men in nylon shorts chasing a football kind of way")

The kind that might encourage me to actually finish a project or two

More to come on that subject in later posts

Love and good intentions

Tracey

xxx

Shop sale

Just a quick reminder to my customers - today is sale day at the shop

We have lots of bargains on the table

ALL patterned papers are half price for one day only

All remaining stock has 20% off including all dies, embossing folders, tools and embellishments

This will be the ONLY sale I will be holding this year so grab those bargains whilst you can

See you there

 xxx