Back to School Soon!

Yup, the girls are going back to school this coming Tuesday, and apart from youngest daughter, they are less than enthusiastic. Youngest daughter is excited, because she will be starting "big school" and will be in the same school as her big sisters, have a proper school bag, wear school uniform and all that. She is showing her school shoes off to everybody who might (or might not) want to see them, telling everybody she's got her school hair-cut and so on. I'm looking forward to them all going back and getting into routines again, but I'm probably going to have a few tears in my eyes on Tuesday as well, as my "baby" takes her next big step... Tissues will be at the ready!

A friend requested a few cards made for her friends' children who are starting school, and this is what I did:




They're very similar to cards I did last year, only this time I've used the Sizzix people instead of stamped images, and crayons instead of books. I still think they're quite cute :) I was cursing over the fiddly bits though - I mean, I don't mind cutting out or colouring in fairly intricate detail, but when it comes to tiny pieces of card and glue, my stubby fingers just don't cope and I get rather frustrated ;-) But, the shirts had to have collars, and the tie had to have a hint of tartan, so there we go!

Before I go, here's something I've been pondering: I may not have the world's biggest stash, but I do have a ton of stuff and lots of things never get used. First thing is I'm going to try and have a clear out of things that I'm fairly certain I will never use again. But since I'm not really very good at that, I'll still be left with a lot of stuff. So the idea is to use that stuff and not buy any more. Two exceptions: I'm going to indulge myself in one last Papertrey order and I'm going to keep buying the Stampin' Up! stuff that I need. Other than that: nothing! Which means I'll even have to steer clear of new Christmas papers :( Okay, pondering seems to be over, I'm doing it! Updates on my progress will follow...

Hope you're all having a great weekend, thanks for stopping by!

Super quick post

Just popping in to upload a card that I made for a sketch challenge that our SBS26 group is running - this is for you, Priscilla! :)

It uses Doodlebug patterned paper, Cuttlebug embossing folder, some Prima flowers, and Sugar Nellie image, coloured with watercolour pencils. Hope you like :)

Rushing off now to finish packing, we're off on holiday today for a fortnight, yay! The weather forecast doesn't look promising, I just hope it's wrong and we will get some dry weather at least! Fingers, toes and everything else crossed :) Thanks for stopping by, see you when I get back!

I know, it's been a while since I last posted, we've had quite an eventful time of it here, and not in the good sense. On top of all the things that happen in the last few weeks before the summer holidays, eldest daughter was supposed to go off to school camp last Monday, woke up feeling unwell and was sick an hour before they were due to leave. Middle daughter had also been sick, so we were fairly certain it wasn't nerves. So I had two sick children at home, one for Monday and Tuesday, one for the whole week, I had a workshop to prepare for plus I was feeling rather off myself. I ended up spending most of Thursday, Friday and Saturday in bed and helped my weight loss campaign along by simply not eating... However, we are all back to normal now, it's the summer holidays, and I hope to be posting a couple more times this week before we go away for a fortnight. So without further ado, here's a card I made for a challenge that our SBS26 group is running this month:

Images Copyright 1990-2009 Stampin’ Up! ®
Stamp Sets: Crazy for Cupcakes
Colours: Chocolate Chip, Regal Rose, Pumpkin Pie
Other: Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon, Flower Fusion blooms, scallop edge punch, Sweet Always DSP, Watercolor Wonder crayons

Thanks for stopping by!

Giggly, girly card - just because...

I was tidying up my craft table the other day (although you wouldn't know it now...) and when I got to a pile of scraps, I thought why not use them to make a card?

As it turns out, the scraps are just one of many bits on this card, I had to, of course, add the image, and the ribbon wasn't just lying about, and neither were the flowers or the brads :) But I felt good using up some small bits rather than cutting into something new, and as it happens, I'm rather pleased with the whole card. I just love pinks and greens and white together, must be my all-time favourite colour combo! :)

Well, the gorgeous weather from my last post has long disappeared, today it has been raining non-stop, and it's not particularly warm either. Which is annoying, because we have no central heating at the moment, the pump seems faulty and keeps tripping a fuse, so we had to switch it off completely, and I am frozen! It's supposed to get fixed today, and I'm waiting to hear from the company to say when exactly and how much. Meanwhile, youngest daughter is waiting impatiently, wanting to go to McDonald's for her birthday lunch! Poor thing, the house is cold, she can't go outside to play, and she hasn't had any lunch yet (unless birthday cake counts) - not much of a birthday so far! ;-)

Hope you're all having a brighter and warmer day, thanks for stopping by :)

Sizzling Hot!

I made a challenge card, yay! When I saw the latest challenge over at Daring Cardmakers, I thought of Just Beachy, a set from the mini catalogue that I've had a while now, but never inked up. Perfect opportunity!

The challenge asked for hot colours, like yellow, orange and red, and that's exactly what I used :) Only Orange for the card base, the sun background and the flip flops, Real Red for the car, brads and ribbon and Summer Sun for the fishes at the top. Very simple, but it's really growing on me, and it does make me feel like summer - unlike the weather here in Scotland at times...

Thanks for looking!

Bits and Bobs

It's been a while... Things are busy round here, today has been one of precious few days that didn't involve lots of activities and rushing around, and I'm starting to feel like my batteries are slowly recharging.

Did a workshop on Wednesday, and here are a few bits and bobs I made for it:

Hostess gift

Door Prizes

Make and Take

For this card, I used Tart & Tangy and Occasional Greetings stamp sets, Real Red, Old Olive, Bashful Blue and Whisper White cardstock, Real Red ink, Real Red and Old Olive markers, red gingham ribbon and a silver brad. I love the fresh look and will be making more for teacher cards - only two more weeks of school!

Thanks for looking, hopefully be back sooner! :)

Waylayed by Sunshine!

We have had the most gorgeous few days up here in Scotland, beautiful sunshine and temperatures up to 25 degrees! Which meant we were out and about, so even after I got the school fair (where I had a table selling cards) over and done with, no (paper-) crafting was accomplished... Instead there was said school fair, which was a success, a BBQ with neighbours, sprinklers and paddling pools for the kids, and sitting out in the sun just relaxing. Not entirely idly, I hasten to add, I've started crocheting some granny squares.

You know, I suddenly felt the need to make a crochet blanket. But I can't make up my mind what wools to get. I'd like it to be really nice, using a decent quality yarn that won't bobble immediately. But that costs money. Lots of it. I could BUY a blanket for that money. So while I'm making up my mind what to do, I had a rake through all the yarn I've accumulated, dug out these balls of cotton and started crocheting. Eldest daughter saw it and said she wanted something made from those squares. There isn't enough for a blanket, but I think there will be enough for a cushion cover. So that's the plan just now, and once that's finished, I'll have hopefully made up my mind what to do about my blanket :)

Now back to paper crafting, I'm attending a Stampin' Up! field training day in Glasgow on Saturday, and I've still got swap cards to finish. Last minute, as ever... Thanks for stopping by :)