Christmas 2008

Well Christmas was actually really nice this year.

I didn't even start Shopping til 22nd December, and put our tree and lights up that day too. Before that I was too busy concentrating on the REAL message of Christmas. Busy with church stuff making sure the message of Christmas got out to all who attended. Preparing music for the Christmas Eve service in which we sang in Arabic (Coptic to be exact). I ws so nervous about that one I was glad we did it first so I could enjoy the rest of the service without worrying, but actually it went really well. The carol Service at school was lovely too. It was great to see that the REAL message of Christmas didnt get lost in all the commercial festivities, and that our children heard the truth of what it's all about. It was good that all the panic of the shopping side was confined to just 2 days so I could really prepare myself for the coming celebrations.

Christmas day was lovely,Lewis Came to church with us and that was a great start to the day. We thought it was just going to be Myself, Col and Greg for Christmas dinner as Lewis went off to his Girlfriends house, but our daughter Bekki joined us too so it was lovely!

Everyone was really pleased with their gifts (including me as I got 2 cricut jukeboxes, which means I will be able to have ALL my cricut cartridges plugged in at same time. WOOHOO.) We haven't heard a peep out of Greg since he got his PSP. And Lewis is off taking photos somewhere with his really expensive digital Camera.

Hmmm Next step is BIRTHDAYS!

It's Bekki's Birthday on New year's Eve and for once she will be able to spend some time with us on the day. Her and her husband have gone away for new year for the last two years but not this year. Now we have to think of something to do on that day so its not wasted. then on 8th January is Lewis's birthday, and the 20th is Col's So the expense of this time of year is not over for us yet.

ok here are a few cards I made this month. There are a few I cant post yet cos my computer has been reformatted and the photo programme hasnt been reinstalled yet. They will be posted next time.

Where did November go??

hmmm I seem to have lost a whole month!

It flew by because it was so busy lol not much crafting done.

It started with my nieces 18th Birthday party. It was great to catch up with family who I dont see very often. I even had a laugh trying to get her Dad (My brother Dan) to dance the macarena which was hilarious lol he had no chance of keeping up, he was way too drunk.

I had a weekend in Telford with my beloved, which was lovely even though the Saturday was spent walking round a model makers convention. the following weekend I spent in Glasgow with good friends which was a manic time. I arrived in Glasgow on Friday night at 10pm to find the city centre alive with revellers. I was met by Graham and we had a whacky time online in Christianchat til the early hours. Saturday we met up with many more friends from the chat room. Including many that I had not met before, and discovered that Emma, who calls me "Mum" is only 6 years younger than me! However that fact doesnt stop her calling me Mummy. hmmmm. It was lovely to finally meet John (AKA McTavish) It's really strange how you can meet someone for the first time and feel like you've known them all your life!

Church was great! I like the Scots tradition of having church on Saturday night and sunday mornings. Graham and Sylvias's church always make me feel so welcome. And we all had a great laugh when Graham was told he was going to be preaching on Sunday morning (12 hours notice is plenty lol). As usual god really spoke to me and has started a process of more change in me as a result.

The train journey home was great, really relaxing, until I got to Liveropool that is, when I found that the trains to Wirral were off and I had to get a bus!!

So that was November!! Busy busy Busy! there have been a few Birthdays in the meantime so here are a few cards I did manage to makeDo you see a theme?? lol Im really loving these panels from the storybook cricut cartridge and Im really glad I have the expression machine now cos Multicut makes these intricut cuts soo much easier.

Well now it's December and Im expecting this month to be even busier so not sure whe I will get a chance to post again. so in case I dont get back before the celebrations I want to wish you all a Peaceful and Joy filled Christmas.

October, shaky start but getting better

well October got off to a bad start this year I was soo ill!!

I cant remember ever being that ill. It was a chest infection but gave the worst fluey symptoms I have ever had. High temperatures, fever, sweating, no sleep lack of appetite, shakes and a cough that gave me brain ache. Hubby tried to cheer me up with Chocolate which just made me vomit. Oh I was so miserable that week. The First course of antibiotics got rid of the fever and sweating but still coughing and not sleeping, so went straight onto second course of antibiotics which did kill it off after another week. I have never been so happy to be back at work lol.

The following week things got better. I went away with yr 7 at school. (200 11 yr olds at an outward bounds camp). We had a fabulous time and did abseiling which I was sooo thrilled to do (Wow what an adrenaline rush), climbing, archery, (in which I nearly killed a sheep when my arrow went over the barrier) and caving which baffles me how anyone can take pleasure in crawling round narrow, dark , damp tunnels underground!!, but hey the kids enjoyed it so thats great.

Also on this trip I discovered a new skill which I didn't know I had. I was in charge of a dormitory of boys which consisted of 5 rooms each with 4 boys in them. one of the nights a lad in my dorm was having trouble breathing and it turned out he was asthmatic but his Dr had told him he didnt need his inhaler any more so he didnt have it with him. Well after a quick prayer for help I settled the four lads into bed and did a relaxation reflection wit them, asking them to imagine they were in a nice green valley with a river running through. Enjoying a nice day with those they love. I concentrated their minds on various aspects of the scene to relax him and help him breath clearly. I finished by praying for the Lord to keep his airways clear so he could breath through the night. It worked like a dream and they all drifted off into a deep sleep. Next morning when I checked on them they all asked "Miss, did you hypnotise us last night? It was dead good I slept really well." After I stopped laughing I explained that was an answer to my prayer.
It was a lovely few days away and the boys in my dorm were so well behaved it was a pleasure to be with them.

Back home now and glad to be back in my own bed at night things are getting even better. Hubby has cashed in a bit of his pension so we are picking up our new car on Wednesday. Timing for that was perfect since his previous one has just packed in for good. And to top that he heard he is getting quite a bit more than he was expecting so he has bought me a new Cricut expression machine. OOOH Im so excited about that and cant wait to get it. Im sure that will mean even more cards to show off in here.

Ive not made very many this month with all thats been going on, but here are a couple to be going on with.

I did this one to use the scalloped circles which were given to me ages ago by a friend on the cricut message board. the "Youre in my prayers fitted so well into a circle to use them.


This one was for a card swap on the cricut message board and was made with my new Cricut cartridge (Storybook)



This one came about because of that lovely leaf and stem stamp. I added a gold circle on which I mounted the purple cuttlebug butterfly and a peel off tag mounted on copper cardstock, with hapy birthday in the middle. I added some lovely purple flowers to the top of the tag.


This one has been in my scraps box for ages I cut the border ages ago when I first got my border cutting set but then didnt know what to do with it cos I dont really like peach as a base colour. I saved it by adding the black background to contrast. and the copper butterflies too.

I got an award from Julie!!!

hi friends,

my good friend JulieH left me an award today I feel so honoured as Julie is an amazing creative person and I cant see how she could possibly take inspiration from me visit her blog here
http://huxtershouse.blogspot.com/

The Rules
1.The winner can put the logo on their blog.
2. Link the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate at least 5 other blogs.
4. Before listing the nominees give a brief reason why you chose them.
5. Put links of those blogs to yours.
6. Leave a message on the blogs you've nominated.


I am nominating these Blogs because I have been inspired and encouraged by their work on many occasions.

1. Lana http://sweetpeaspapercreations.blogspot.com/
2. Jill http://jillscardcreations.blogspot.com/
3. Jade http://jadiesart.blogspot.com/
4. FeFe http://fe-fesworld.blogspot.com/
5. DeeDee http://deedeecampbell.blogspot.com/

ok so I couldnt fit enough in one post lol

Here are a few more I created this month.

This was for a teenage girl, handmade batik paper backing. Get well soon, flourishes and flowers all cut with the cricut machine and inked in pink.
This was made for a good friend of mine from church who truly is an inspiration and encouragement to me.
I was really pleased with this one it matched the wedding colour scheme. all cuts done with the cricut and their names and congratulations printed on the computer, I used the swiss dots cuttlebug embossing folder too.
This was ordered by a friend after seeing a similar one in my facebook album. Nicky loves motorbikes.
This was made with a premade aperture card blank months ago but laid aside as I couldnt think how to finish it. I finally decided on the copper butterfly and yellow skittles last week.

ok so I couldnt fit enough in one post lol

here are a few more created this month

September crafting

Back at work now but still creating in my evening relaxation time, here are just a few cards I have made this month.

Thiswas made with the cuttlebug birdsong folder the bird on grass image is embossed then the bird cut out from glossy black and stuck on top, I added a few tiny pearl accents for grass seed. Get well soon was cut with my Cricut machine.
I bought these decoupage butterfly tiles to give them a try. I think they are quite effective but I prefer the effect on the daisy to that on the buttefly
This was made especially for my friend to give to her husband, She designed it with me I love the Red and Gold colour scheme It hink it turned out pretty neat.
another birdsong embossing folder card but this time I went over the embossed area with a new colour marker which lays down multi coloured glittery chalk. Pretty neat.
This is my favourite so far this month. Butterflies and flourish cut with Cricut machine and I found a stamp flourish which matches it pretty well too. The colours dont show up well on this but the butterflies and flourishes are made from coppery metallic card and backed in a deep green. Happy Birthday is stamped and then embossed in metallic green too.

Back to work tomorrow so here are my last summer craft creations

well it may have been a wet summer but it still flew by too quickly



my Good friends JM and Meg got married in Maine USA on 16th August, but for all their English friends they are having a celebration on 6th September which I will be attending. This is the acceptance card I made for it.
The backing of this is made from wallpaper borders which I picked up as a free sample in B & Q. Double layered and matted with black. the Happy Birthday label was made on my label maker and the flutter of red butterflies were done with my new Martha stewart punch. ( My favourite purchase this summer)
The tag on this card was on a pair of Jeans and I recued it when my son went to throw it in the bin. another free sample wallpaper border which reminded me of waves so it had to be a bon voyage card. This I hand wrote in silver. I added some funky fibres tothe tag and put an acetate butterfly on top coloured with permanent markers.
This was my bargain I am so pleased with these. Hand cut butterflies from China. They are cut from very fine tissue paper and then hand painted. I thought they needed to be seen from fornt and back so I sandwiched it in acetate and placed it in an aperture which I cut with my cricut machine. the flowers were also cut with the cricut and everything else is peel off stickers. I put a yellow paper insert in this and placed a square of glittery Gold paper on the insert to rest behind the aperture to back the butterfly.
This one was cut with the cricut too. Col says its a Triffid lol but dont worry its well stuck down so it aint gonna walk off the card

Suummer Crafting

I'm enjoying lazy summer days making cards to pass the time and really enjoying it too.

This was made with the negative pieces from a peel off medallion sticker. Its a half folded front and there is another circle behind the front one for writing on when the card is open.

The oval here was saved from a shop bought card, I used cuttlebug embossing on the blue panels and cut the sentiment and the flourish with my cricut machine.

This is an unusual fold. Its called a Spring card cos when you open it the front Springs up and stands on its corner as shown here.

I got pretty excited when a friend shared this technique for making Very pretty delilcate butterflies. I love them and they are so easy to do and fun too.

I took it a step further and stamped some of the butterflies in black instead of white to go with this Monochrome layout.

colouring challenge

I dont do much in the way of stamping, I've never had much success with it but there was a challenge put out on the cricut message board. Aprile sent out stamped images to anyone who wanted to take part and the challenge was to colour the image using a technique called MCPT which basically involves colouring in with ordinary pencil crayons and blending with either Gamsol(Odourless Mineral spirits) or baby oil gel which is what I used.


I scanned and reprinted my image several times to give me plenty of practice (And the ablity to choose the best one to put on my card lol).
As I am going through a bit of a pink and black phase right now I had some negative circle cuts to use up so here it is with a few scroll cuts from my cricut machine


Then I decided to change my colour scheme and went for pink and green. I think I prefer the first card but I do like the sentiment on this

Check out Enfys Blog Candy

check out this fab blogsite for some wonderful creations and the chance to win some yummy blog candy from Enfys Her cards are the best.

http://going-buggy.blogspot.com/

Even more new cards

I made this one for my good friend Shelly over in USA she is such an amazing inspiration to me in so many ways.

Close up detail


This was made for my good friend Jeannie and comes along with many prayers Jeannie has been through such a tough time lately losing two beloved members of her family within a week of each other.

here is a close up of the decoupage layering
and the inside
Still thinking of you Jeannie and praying that the Lord will indeed give you all the strength you need at this hard time

scrappin' summer

I'm enjoying lazy days at home for now, and lots of time for my card making.

This is a Birthday card I did with one of my fave colour combinations Black and yellow is so dramatic


I love this new embossing folder with the candles

I made this for my friend to give to her friends on their wedding day


more butterflies and embossing.

I set myself a challenge

well today we went to a local car rally where our MPV was parked up in an enclosure with all the others from the owners club. At these events I often sit in the sun and make some cards while hubby and son spend hours looking at and taking pictures of cars.

yesterday I came across an old plastic toolbox full of crafting bits from a loong time ago before the days of cuttlebug and cricut machines. It had bits of papers and card. some old shop bought cards, some interesting pieces of wallpaper and packaging, some sticker packs and a few embellishments. So I challenged myself to make some cards with the contents (I threw in a handful of butterflies cut with my new punch which I just couldnt resist and a few base cards, and adhesives).

I was really pleased with the results.

1/ this was made with a blue pearl base card and the border and large panel are pieces from wallpaper. I put a strip of hologram card behind the panel and the flowers were from a bought card that was in the box. I added a couple of butterflies and some rhinestones.
2/ This was made from a bought card which had a large panel of floral pattern and an embossed scalloped border. I used a small cream base card and folded the front panel back on itself. I cut off the scalloped border keeping a very narrow slice of the pattern on it. and placed that against thefolded back edge. I put the floral pattern inside and cut off the excess. With the excess I made a smaller panel and rounded the cvorners with a punch. I then cut round this slightly bigger on white card twice this was taken from the back of a bought card. I attached one white panel to the back of the floral panel and kept one for inside.

After tucking the panel in just behind the scallop border I placed the other panel directly behind it and added some triple layer butterflies.


3/ this is my favourite one. I used a yellow pearly card base and placed the stripy paper across from corner to corner and added a funky stripe border sticker across the centre and another one across the corners. the flower was froma bought card, but I had to cut out the red layer from the base card. the large pink one is cut from a bookatrix embossing board and I was amazed how well the flower fits inside it.

This last one was not part of the challenge. I made it the other day when my new Marth Stewart butterfly punch arrived. I have been wanting this for so long after seeing what Gorgeous cards my American friends were making with them, It took me a while tofind a vender on Ebay who wasnt asking for more than what it is worth just for postage lol.

The border panel was cut with the punch and I added glitter butterflies in some of the spaces.
Layered panels with corners rounded. the vine was cut n the Cricut from the Home Accents cartridge. the large buttefly is 3 layered First with the cuttlebug butterfly then with one I got in a shape set from QVC Years ago then finally with the MS butterfly stamped with a pattern and inked for colour.
The second pic shows the 3D effect and the 3rd pic is the inside.