Papercrafts first...

Without much ado, here are some cards I made recently:

This first card uses a new Stampin' Up! SAB set, with the flower heads stamped, watercoloured and then cut out and popped up.

The second card uses a few of my Papertrey goodies that I got with some Christmas money.  I love the teacup set and I'm so pleased that there is a matching die, so I don't have to cut out all the twiddly, fiddly bits :)

And last, but not least, another (mainly) Stampin' Up! card, using some old designer paper and Flight of the Butterfly stamp set.

Thanks for looking!

Granny Square Donations

Following on from my last post, I've been busy crocheting colourful granny squares to donate to Sarah London's efforts.  It's been fun using bright, cheery colours! :)  This is my selection so far:

I'm going to make another 4 in the blue and green colourway, and then add a few solid colour ones as well.  Hopefully I'll have a nice little parcel ready to send to Australia by next week :)

Crochet with an Appeal

Been crocheting again :)  I was working on my granny squares for a nice big blanket, but after a trawl through blogland and the Attic24 inspired Flickr Group, I could not resist making a wee jar jacket :)  My husband's lip curled, once again, but I was undeterred, and when I presented the finished item,

which is now going to hold my crochet hooks, the lip uncurled, and he had to admit, once again, that it was actually a fun little thing!  Thanks go to Lucy at Attic24, for the inspiration :)

I'm also taking the opportunity to mention an appeal:  Sarah London is organising a granny square drive to make blankets for some of the people affected by the devastating floods in Australia.  If you're handy with a hook and yarn, pop over - you'll find all the info here.  Let's go crochet a rainbow!

Trying to get back into the groove

The girls are back at school, and I'm trying to schedule some regular crafty time at my desk.  So far I have managed to stick to my weekly slot (last Wednesday and today), plus I'm also managing to fit in some crochet or knitting most nights :)

I'm still making a few small calendars for some family members who usually receive them for Christmas.  However, I suddenly found that I had run out of calendar pads, because I'd made quite a few for a craft fair and let eldest daughter have some for presents for her friends.  And the pads I ordered never arrived in time for Christmas...

Here are the first two, for my brother and my sister-in-law.  They're both easel cards, so they can be put on a desk or a shelf somewhere.

I'll need to photograph the other two calendars that I made for grandparents tomorrow and I'll post them soon.

In the meantime, here's a card I made recently with a new Stampin' Up! set - Just Believe:

Hope you like, thanks for stopping by!

A Layout!

I have had this layout nearly finished for the longest time, really just needed to stick everything down and add a few little accents.

This is the "official" photograph of me finishing the Great Scottish Run 10K race in Glasgow at the beginning of September. If you had said to me in September 2009, when I first started running, that I'd be doing a 10K race a year later and finishing it, with a decent time, I'd have declared you crazy!  My goal at that point was a 5K in the spring, and I was rather doubtful about that.  But somehow, strangely, I started to enjoy running more and more, I managed the 5K race, and when my friend asked if I wanted to do a 10K with her, I agreed.  I can't really say I enjoyed the actual race in Glasgow - parts of it, yes, but other parts were definitely a challenge - but I felt really good after I finished it :)  So good that I'm now aiming to do a half-marathon in 2011!!

Something Bright

I promised a non-Christmassy post, and here it is!  I'm not sure how well the colours are going to come out on screen, but they are certainly very bright and cheerful in real life!!

First up, I have FINALLY finished the crochet cushion cover for my daughter that I started (coughing nervously in embarrassment...) about a year and a half ago.  It did go missing for a while, which is an excuse, but again, slightly embarrassing...  Anyway, here it is:

I'm very pleased with the way it turned out in the end, and it sat there quite comfortably on our sofa, so I'm contemplating making something similar for the living room, only in more muted colours.  Most importantly, eldest daughter likes it and has given it pride of place in her bed :)

Secondly, a card:

A friend celebrated her 40th birthday last week and I was entrusted with making her card.  I looked out my wintery My Mind's Eye papers - and then ended up using only the bright shades :)  However, with all the snow lately, some sunny colours will not have gone wrong.  Unfortunately, I ended up being unable to go to her party, so I'm really just hoping my friend agreed with me ;-)

Well, the big thaw is still on, in theory at least - I was pretty much dancing on ice when I took the dog out for a walk earlier!  The main roads are clear though, just need some gritters out now in the residential areas and on the foot paths.

Hope everybody is having a great weekend and staying warm - thanks for stopping by!

Christmas Cards

Well, I have to admit, I have not been particularly busy making my last batch of Christmas cards, but here are two more that I made with my new Stampin' Up! set Welcome Christmas.

 The first one is fairly CAS, the wreath image embellished with red liquid pearls and the word JOY cut out and adhered on top, slightly raised.

This second card uses the children image from Welcome Christmas, the trees from Lovely as a Tree, and the sentiment from an old hostess set (the name of which escapes me just now).  I've also used some of the new and very lovely satin ribbon, very festive, don't you think?

Crafty, inky time had to take a back seat over the last couple of weeks because of school closures, public transport failures and a very full and noisy house suddenly where usually peace and quiet reign during the day ;-)  Yes, the children have been home and hubby had to work from home, too.  Very distracting!!  Alas, we haven't had any new snow since Monday (when pretty much all of Scotland broke down), and temperatures are rising, so I'm listening to the constant drip drip drip of melting snow and icicles.  Music to my ears!  The younger ones are having their first full day at school today (after heating failure and early closure yesterday...), and eldest daughter will return to school tomorrow for a Friday half day.  Hopefully, hubby's trains will be running again on Monday, and life will finally get back to normal!! :)  I have still so much to do preparing for Christmas, panic is starting to set in!  But I'll get there, might just be slightly more frazzled than usual :)

Thanks for stopping by, non-Christmassy post coming soon.