A day at Linda's

Good evening

I spent a fab few hours with the lovely Linda today

Linda had a special launch party for the new Stampin' Up catalogue

Some really lovely people, some fabulous inspiration and exceptional hospitality as always

Here are the three projects we made, two cards and a tag

First up, using the new blending pens - such gorgeous colours and so easy to use and shade with

As always, I got sidetracked (this time thanks to captain chaos pinching my string !) I ended up getting the orientation of this first card around the wrong way, but we all agreed it looked just fine ( and actually a little reminiscent of candles at christmas with flowers at the base - tick tock, tick tock gears in motion as I plan my next christmas card !)

Really enjoyed this arty farty type of card and so different to my normal style both in colours and design, it's good to be forced out of the box occasionally  

Finally we made a cute little tag, I think mine will end up being added to a card, otherwise I will put it somewhere safe ( never to be seen again !)

Linda also presented us all with a little handmade bag filled with chocolates

And some free cardstock samples of the yummy new colours and a tag with the new inks displayed

Thankyou so much for an absolutely brilliant day Linda, loved every minute ( and can't believe we all actually finished EVERYTHING - even me !!!!!!)

Thanks also to Linda's hubby Paul for my breakfast and refreshments, and to Linda's daughter Leanne for the delish and very beautiful cupcakes

Love and sunday stamping

Tracey 

xxx

Take three things challenge July

Good evening

Here is my card for this months "take three things" challenge over HERE on the Running With Scissors shop website

The required elements this month were :

Colour - grey

Theme - transport

Embellishment - circles

I used dies by Spellbinders and Nellie snellen

Quadbike and sentiment stamps are by Stampin' Up

Splatter background is by Inkadinkadoo

Embossing folder is Cuttlebug

Pop on over to the website to check out what the rest of the design team and other players in the challenge have been up to

Hope you all have a lovely weekend

Love and quadbikes

Tracey

xxx

Kusudama Bouquet

Good evening

As some of my readers will be aware, one of our loveliest members of class Jan, recently lost her beloved husband George

We wanted to give Jan something special and the class held a little impromptu collection and then the thinking began, we knew Jan would be receiving lots of flowers over the following weeks but we all wanted to give her something pretty and a little more long lasting

Inspiration came by way of Cathy who suggested a handmade bouquet of some sorts and a seed was planted ( pardon the pun )

Our tuesday afternoon group had been making these origami style flowers and I knew they would be Jan's 'cup of tea'

Each flower is made up of five origami petals, I made five each of five different sizes and colours

The money collected was used to pay for the vase and a matching photo frame and there was some left over which has been put towards another little surprise which Jan will receive in the post

I absolutely loved making each and every one of those petals, Jan is always so very kind and generous to everyone in the shop and has been incredibly thoughtful and supportive of me.  I  hope each time she looks at her flowers she knows how very special she is to all of her 'crafty' friends 

With much love Jan

xxx

Black and white card and sleepwalking

Good evening

I made this card last week for my lovely friend Dawn

Dawn loves black and white so the colour choice was easy for this card

I even broke out some of my precious glimmer paper from Stampin' Up

It has been an interesting weekend

Friday the 4th saw my lovely friend Ann and I doing the sleep walk in aid of St Andrews hospice

We walked 11 miles, just over 20 km in 3 hours 14 minutes and LOVED every minute

We were pretty rubbish at the zumba style warm up

We tripped over tree stumps and paving slabs

But we laughed and talked and laughed and talked and somehow ended up walking the full length without any major mishaps and the time just flew by

Massive thanks to Ann's hubby Dave for giving me a lift there

Also to my son Robbie and his mate Joe for picking us both up at the ungodly hour of 4am and bringing us both home

But biggest thanks to my lovely friend Ann who persuaded me to take part in the first place and made the whole event such an absolute pleasure ( and a proper giggle too) xxx

Thankyou also to everyone who has sponsored us both, if any of you would still like to contribute a little to the pot we would both be incredibly grateful, our sponsor forms will be in the shop for the next two weeks

Thankyou

Love and sleepwalking

Tracey 

xxx

Happy birthday Ben

Hello all

This card is a tad on the unusual side, I wanted to create a unique style for Amy's boyfriend Ben.

He really likes a band called Alkaline Trio, I googled images to find some of their album and website artwork and used those as inspiration for the card

I created the back ground, with handmade masks, stamps and ink techniques to create a grungy style, which I think makes the clean lines of the emblem 'pop'

Ben was delighted and knew straight away what I had done ( phewwwwww)

Love and skelliwags

Tracey

 xxx

Happy Birthday Pat

Hello all

I made this 8in x 8in card for my dear friend Pat who has just celebrated a birthday

I am in love with my new Crafters Companion die, I have already got my money's worth out of this particular one ( if you are a customer and awaiting one, they should be in very soon)

I used it this time with a spellbinders die in the centre

I hope you had a lovely day with your family Pat, I am sure you will have some great tales to share when I see you, love you lots xxx

Love and birthday kisses

Tracey 

xxx

Take three things

Good evening

Here is my entry for the take three things challenge over on the shop blog HERE

The theme this month was yellow, rectangles and ribbon

I used the free papers and toppers from this month's Creative Cardmaking magazine

Pop along to the shop blog to see what everyone else did with the challenge

Love and little boats

Tracey

xxx

Special places for special things

Good evening

I am sharing with you this evening a little wooden box I recently altered to give to one of my favourite people, someone who has become very, very dear to me

It was a plain, unfinished, pale wood lidded box, which I gessoed and then applied patterned paper to

I did my usual thing of throwing a whole handful of prettiness by way of flowers atop the linked hearts

It's quite shabby chic and has a very important purpose

I know the recipient will know exactly what to put in the box as I enclosed a poem which will make all become clear

Lovely to be making something special for such a special person

Love you P xxx

Fathers day cards - Neil

Good evening

Sorry these cards are a day later than I planned, I don't know why I ever say 'i will be back tomorrow with .....' as I seldom do ever achieve it !

Anyway, these are the two cards I made for Neil for the kids to give him on Father's day, Amy had already bought her dad one so I just had the two boys to accommodate

First up a more grown up style for Robbie

I used the stamps from a Creative Stamping issue, distress inks and handmade masks helped to colour the background

And this second card was for AJ to give to his dad, the inside reads "AWESOME" I wasn't suggesting Neil was big and green and extinct !

I will be back tomorrow with ( who am I kidding !!!!!)

I will see you all soon with something else crafty

Enjoy your weekend

Love and large critters

Tracey

xxx

Repeat class

Good evening just a quickie from me tonight

I am repeating this class tomorrow 10am til 12

I taught this card in the regular die-cutting classes but additional people wanted to do it so I have put an extra class on tomorrow, there are just a couple of places left

Please let me know by email if you require a place

tracey.jackson507@ntlworld.com

 Love and kisses

Tracey

xxx

Men !!!

Good evening

I have just realised, as I sit here editing photos, that I haven't uploaded the cards I made for fathers day

Here is the card I made for my dad

It was an 8in x 8in scalloped card base, the papers are Portobello Road by Papermania

I will be back tomorrow evening with the cards I made for Neil  - from the kids

Love and love hearts

Tracey 

xxx

School days commission

Good evening

Happy fathers day to all the dads out there, especially my very own dad, and of course my hubby Neil, love you both xxx

I will be back tomorrow with photos of the cards I made for them.

Tonight I am sharing a recent commission I was asked to make

The brief this time around  was for a large card (A4 size) and it needed to be of a school theme as the recipient was being recognised for 30 years of loyal service to one of our local schools

I must thank Linda for the idea behind this card, she created a blackboard easel shaped card in a class she taught at the shop last year, so I drew a little inspiration from her design, you can find Linda's original ideas HERE thanks Linda xxx

Love and chalkboard musings

Tracey

xxx

Snowy sparkles on saturday

Good evening

Here is the christmas card I made this week

I must say a massive thankyou to Trish for the gorgeous die-cuts, this card came together so easily and was completely inspired by the sparkly santa and sleigh, thankyou Trish

All the card and paper is pearlescent and the glittered elements are the Stampin' Up glitter paper in silver

I used Marianne dies for the trees and poinsettia

The aperture was cut using a Stampin' Up labels die

Who else is keeping up with their christmas card a week ?

I have missed seven in total since the beginning of January - not too shabby considering the miserable effort I made last year

Love and sparkles

Tracey

xxx

Anniversary wishes

Good evening

Tonight I am here to share the anniversary card I made for Neil

(22 years last tuesday)

I used some fab papers given to me by my lovely friend Margaret  - thankyou Margaret

And the stamp set used is one of the fab range designed by Darcy for Paperartsy, these were given to me for my birthday by another lovely friend Anita,  thankyou Anita

But biggest thanks must go to my gorgeous hubby who has stuck with me this long and not only stuck with me but has made the last 22 years so very special, here's to the next 22

Love you Neil

Love and special people

Tracey

xxx

Die cutting class - May

Good evening

Tonight I am sharing this months Die cutting class card

We all created this 8in x 8in card last thursday

As always both classes behaved impeccably - well almost, he he

Keitha fancied a pink card this week so that was where my inspiration came from

Thankyou as always for my lovely little army of helpers

Love and glittered flutterbies

Tracey 

xxx

Happy Birthday Sandy

Good evening

I am back tonight as promised to share with you this card I made for one of my customers / class members

Happy birthday Sandy

I knew Sandy liked purple and lilac so I started making this card at the beginning of the week and chose the papers and design really quickly, but then I hit a stumbling block and wasn't sure what to use as the focal point

And then my lovely friend Dawn came to the rescue, she bought me the beautiful Spellbinders trellis die as a gift and I knew exactly what the card needed

So Happy Birthday Sandy, hope you had a lovely day, also thankyou so much for donating your Cuttlebug to the shop for classes

And a massive thankyou to Dawn for the lovely gift

Dad is back tomorrow - yipppeeeeeeee

So, thankyou to all those lovely people who stepped in and helped whilst he was away

Thankyou also to June for the tomato plants, Kate for the biscuits and to Beryl for the tulips, what a lovely caring and sharing week it has been

Love and sweet gifts

Tracey

xxx

Card commission - Happy Birthday Iris

Good afternoon

I am sharing a commission I completed this week for a grandad to give to his granddaughter

My brief was to create a special card for a first birthday and it had to be very pink, very girlie and with lots of sparkle

The card is an 8in x 8in scalloped card base, the papers are Disney by Paper Adventures, the image is one from the new Crafters Inspiration magazine by Crafters Companion, the glitter card is by Stampin' Up and the sentiments were computer generated, I added a double layer of ribbon and stickles on the image for a little extra sparkle

This was the most fun card I have had to make for a long time

Hope you all have a lovely restful bank holiday weekend

I have taken advantage of the lovely mild weather, enjoying the local walks, clocking up around 35km this week

Back tomorrow with another birthday card, this time for a lady slightly older than the one above

Love and sparkles

Tracey 

xxx

Gluten free Tiffin ( fridge cake)

Tiffin is definitely one of my kids all-time favourite sweet treats ( mine too as it is soooo quick and easy and always turns out delish)

Not at all a trial to make gluten free as most of the natural ingredients are already gluten free

Ingredients :

250g digestive biscuits ( I used Tesco free from digestives but actually any good and crunchy biscuit of your choice will be fine)

4 oz butter

3tbsp golden syrup

2 rounded tbsp good quality cocoa powder

good handful of sultanas ( you could use currents, raisins or cherries)

4 oz chocolate ( please check carefully as Cadburys Dairy milk chocos are gluten free but Dairy milk bars are NOT !!! Chocolate is an absolute minefield

Method :

Melt butter and syrup gently over a low heat in a heavy based saucepan

Add all ingredients except biscuits and stir well

Crush biscuits, you could pulse them in a blender but I shove them in a strong freezer bag and bash them with my rolling pin( good for the old stress levels), you are aiming for a crumbly mixed texture of fine sandy grains and slightly larger lumps too)

Add biscuits to other ingredients and combine well

Add to a buttered pie dish and refrigerate until cold

Melt chocolate either in a bain-marie or like I did with shorts zaps of the microwave ( keep your eye on it though, don't over heat or it will become grainy)

Smother melted chocolate over chilled tiffin and sprinkle with desired yummy bits, I used gluten free chocolate sugar strands and white chocolate chunks

The possibilities are endless when you consider the variations in this recipe, we have had it with Maltesers in the past ( can't have them in there now as they are not gluten free) but I think I could be chopping up a cadbury's fudge or two to include in my next variation

Love and Sprinkles

Tracey 

xxx

U.F.O Friday - Little drawers

Good evening

I have something a little different to share tonight

I found a little chest of drawers in a local charity shop recently for the bargain price of £1.50

It was a lurid shade of pink, with hints of violent purple and some rather ugly yellow and white daisies for good measure

Obviously the piece was originally intended to brighten a child's bedroom or maybe for someone with a taste bypass or someone optically challenged - you get the drift ! ( why oh why do I always forget to take a 'before' photo)

I have the ability to see past all hideousness and just knew there was cuteness and functionality lurking beneath the ugly exterior

Many many coats of white paint later

Some pretty paper panels, lots of coats of mod podge and some cute replacement knobs

Et voila !!!

I filled each drawer with little boxes of colour co-ordinated crafty goodies and a quote ( as I know my dear friend Margaret loves a quote or two)

Hope you loved your little gift as much as I loved prettifying it for you Margaret

Love and transformations

Tracey

xxx

Tinsel and turkey thursday

Good evening

Tonight I am here sharing with you my christmas card for last week, with a technicality that Neil has taken full advantage of !

You will guess what is coming Margaret !

THe background was created with embossing folders, Distress inks and metallic wax rubs

I have no idea why the camera is picking up the gold in the glitter as it is, it is actually far more subtle in real life

I finished this card after midnight on tuesday, 2.30 am wednesday to be precise, so technically I missed my deadline and therefore owe Neil forfeit number 6, worryingly he never forgets and is storing them up for later redemption hmmmmm wonder if there is a way I can wriggle out of them !

But........ to be honest, I am pretty chuffed with myself that I have got to the first week in May and am only six behind, 6 out of 17  is much better than my 4 out of 52 last year !

And .......... as I missed last weeks deadline with this card I am actually ahead of myself for next week - woohooooo, see,  every cloud has a silver lining!

Love and silver linings

Tracey

xxx

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