Hello

Gosh, where does the time go? As usual my life has been a bit hectic. We had a lovely weekend visiting friends in Lincolnshire and going to the Christmas market at the beginning of December. We also visited the Birmingham Christmas market where we finally found a print that we both loved. The artist is called Stan Kaminski. Here is his site.

http://www.stankaminski.com/

The photos are of a project I did at Hayley's. (Stampin up Hayley). I love her monthly workshops. Well worth attending if you are anywhere near Swindon.

http://hayleygg.blogspot.com/

Beautiful Brugge

Our hotel


Steps in the Belfry

View from the Belfry

Me on a Segway

Over the half term, hubby and I had a few nights away in Brugge. It was a wonderful break though very expensive because of the Euro exchange rate. I think the highlight was doing a tour on a Segway.

Bet you thought I had given up on this blog!!

I have no excuse other than I have discovered Pinterest and it is so addictive that I spend almost every spare minute browsing it.

http://pinterest.com/

I do have to load some photos so I can show you what I have been making. I need to do a layout of my dads wellies. The photo shows them stuck in the mud and they are still visible at every low tide.

Smash book

A friend on the Crafts by Carolyn forum posted a video on these and then someone else added a link on how to make them so I thought why not.

Bristol tourist

Yesterday hubby and I had a few hours in Bristol. We decided to have a walk along the river and have a pleasant afternoon as the weather report said occasional showers. Ummm my idea of a shower is not this!!

Falconry

So what did you all do yesterday? I was having an absolutely wonderful time here.

http://www.fallowfieldsfalconry.co.uk/

Wasn't so keen on the ferrets but fell in love with Betty the owl. Having a quick back massage from Boo the Cara Cara was also quite an enjoyable experience. I have also proven I am rubbish at catapult but better than my friend with a bow and arrow. She wiped the floor with me at rifle shooting and neither of us were any good at shooting a bb gun!

Paper sign

This is the sign I made for my friends baby. I cut out the name using the cricut and a couple of flowers but the rest were some I already had, or cut out from the patterned paper. The butterfly was cut using a stampin' up punch.

Dear photograph

I must do this with some of my pics.

http://dearphotograph.com/

Stampin' up workshop

I had a great day on Saturday when I went to a workshop run by a lovely person called Hayley. In the morning we made the Christmas cards and in the afternoon we used the stamp set Notably ornate. The whole day cost £35 which included lunch and the stamp set. Also if you already own the set you can swap it for a different set for the same price. This is her blog.

http://hayleygg.blogspot.com/

Cricut expression 2 project

This is a birthday card I made recently. It was the first time I used the card making feature on the cricut. (Just a note). It took me a bit to sort out the cutting size and all of the elements but after 3 hours I had it cracked!!!

Dales new bed

We have finally got round to buying and putting together a new bed for Dale's room. It is the Hemnes bed from Ikea.

Newbury Show

Me and my friend Anne popped over to the Newbury show on Saturday. Didn't need anything (other than some cut and dry foam) but managed to find a few other bits. I'm looking foward to using the Kanban toppers. (They are seconds but are still scrummy).

Bank holiday fun

Last weekend I went up to Northamptonshire to visit the Crick boat show with my mum and dad. Whilst there we went over to visit Daventry. This photo shows my parents and above their heads is the flat they first lived together in. It hasn't changed a bit in 40 odd years.

New toy

Look what I had to buy last week. I have been getting used to it as I have never had a Cricut before. I must say it is very easy to work. Here are some cards I have made using it.

The cake was cut from American alphabet and the stamp shaped mat is in the decals cartridge.

I cut the stars with the essentials cartridge and the words were in Just a note.

This one was inspired by a card Joanne Kill had made. (Can't remember which magazine it came from). The butterfly was cut from American alphabet. The border, circle and flower were cut with essentials.

The brolly was cut with just a note as was the message. The mat the words are on is from essentials. (I trimmed it down).

Charity card making

male card

I made this a couple of weeks ago.

Easter time

Here are a couple of pictures of us enjoying the sun over the Easter holidays when we went to Teignmouth.

And the bad daughter award goes to...

Sorry dad for not phoning and wishing you happy birthday. No excuses. It just totally slipped my mind that I hadn't phoned. However I did send you a poem text so I can't be all bad!! I bet the Poet Laureate is worried.

2nd part of the CBC challenge

This is the card I made and then sent the exact bits to my partner.

Juicy blog candy

Check out this scrummy stuff.

http://ribbongirls.blogspot.com/2011/05/strawberry-molly-giveaway.html

Double up swap

This is what I got sent a little while ago from the crafts by carolyn forum.

 

And this is what I made.

Being 18

 

This is the card I made for our little boy who is now 18.  How did that happen?  It was only yesterday I was walking him to school for his first day.

This is the cake I decorated for him.

And the support that was needed to hold the boards upright!

New Furniture

 

I have been out spending again and we have bought a new dining table, chairs and this sideboard.  It has only taken 2 years to find it!!

Easter crafts

What do you give your class for Easter if you are trying to promote healthy eating? I have just finished making 22 craft packages for my little darlings. Each one contains different coloured shredded paper, felt, ribbon, stamped images, patterned paper, paper clip, some board, sequins, plastic bits and some felt flowers. Oh and also a little chocolate rabbit!!

Never colour your hair at night as the strand test looked totally different to the whole head. I may not have wanted to be ginger but I'm sure I will get used to it!!!

Things you will need.

You would think by March I would have posted all my Christmas stuff but no. Here are some bag-a-lopes I made.

The Cake Challenge 2010

Each Christmas we try to have a cake challenge. We all get a bit of cake and then have to decorate it. This year we had a neighbour judge them.

Here's a card I made for a work colleague.