Some Woolly Goodness

Even though we're now into May, we're still in need of little woolly warmers on the way to school in the morning. It may not be the full hat-scarf-gloves combo anymore, but I have been appreciating my little cowl:

And youngest daughter has been grateful for her headband, which also keeps her ears warm ;-)

These were both made with Cascade wool I received in my swap last year from the lovely Amy - glad I finally got to make something with it, even if we're supposed to be well into spring...  Scottish weather, cannae beat it!

Forrays into Jewellery Making

A wee while ago, I was bitten by the bracelet bug :)  Could not stop making bracelets, I think all the girls' friends received bracelets as Christmas presents!  When I found that Shamballa-style bracelets were made with a macramee knot I had learned in the 70's, I was delighted and churned out one friendship bracelet after the other, with the waxed cord I'd bought on a whim some time ago. On my birthday, I treated myself to a few nice, big glass beads and made this:

And then I bought a few sparkly, disco-ball beads, and made this:

The beads are lovely and sparkly, and eldest daughter has already borrowed this bracelet to wear to school, which, considering she is a teenager, is praise indeed :) I've had to order more beads, so the girls can all have their own bracelet...


Finally, a bracelet made not by me, but by youngest daughter (age 7), for her best friend's birthday:

She chose the beads, the colours, and made it all by herself (I just helped with the sliding knot closure) - I was very impressed!! :)

So much for today, a different craft coming next time.  Thanks for looking!

Let's see...

... what's been going on around here!  It seems to be pretty darn impossible to get back into a reasonable blogging rhythm, but I've been feeling "the urge" a bit more lately!  We've been having computer problems, so that even made keeping up with my favourite blogs difficult, never mind writing my own posts. But, like I said in my last post, I am still making stuff, so I'm going to have a dig around and see what I can show :)

A birthday card for middle daughter's friend:

Middle daughter had shown me a drawing by her friend, so this seemed to be the right type of card for her.  I used one of my Gorjuss Girl stamps, some Basic Grey papers, my trusty water colour pencils and a few flowers and buttons from my stash.

Next up, a girly birthday card (which is always useful in a house with 3 girls!):

Then, a Big Sister card, commissioned by a friend:

 

I dug out my SugarNellie Maggie stamp - she's a ballerina, but she also looks to me like she's saying: look how big I am! ;-) The papers are Stampin' Up! from quite a few years ago, the name is computer-printed.

And the associated New Baby cards (prepared for all eventualities!):

I saw these adorable baby stamps by Lilly of the Valley in a magazine and simply could not resist.  Hadn't bought any stamps in a while, but these just shouted out to me "buy me!!!"

So there we are, quite a few cards made recently!  Next time, I'll share a few other things I've made recently - till then, thanks for stopping by!

Still here...

Yup, I'm still around!  And I'm still making stuff, only I don't seem to be finishing things, or if I do, I forget to take pictures :( So there's not been an awful lot to blog about, seeing this is mainly a crafty kind of blog.
However, I've been organising the photos on my laptop recently and came across a few cards that I hadn't posted yet.  Better than nothing, right?

From October, here are a couple of cards going back to October, made as a commission for a friend's husband's birthday:

This card was actually inspired by the birthday cake at the party - thankfully the big day was a couple of days later! ;-)  Yes, I guess the birthday had a bit of a curling theme :)

This card is based on a design I kept from a magazine, since I always struggle with men's cards.  Glad I kept it, really enjoyed making this design!

Then, from December, a couple of cards for the same friend, whose daughter turned 18 (aargh! I remember her as a wee 8 year old!!!):

One card from the proud parents, one from the (mostly) adoring sisters, both on the brief of "black and pink".

And finally, not a commission, but for my friend herself :)

Birthday card and matching gift wallet, made with Stampin' Up! specialty papers - the damask pattern is flocked and very strokeable ;-)

Card only - very similar to this card from just over a year ago, when my friend said: "I want one like that for my 40th!"

Well, here you go, a small sampling of what I've been up to.  I've also been knitting and crocheting, but with very few finished items to show for it - startitis, I think, some people call it! ;-)

Other than that, things in my little corner of Scotland are just ticking over quite nicely now.  For some reason, I got phenomenally stressed before Christmas, far more than normal, but I have recovered now and have embarked on a journey of decluttering and organising my house.  It's slow going, but changes have been made :)  As part of this, eldest daughter has now moved into a new bedroom downstairs (formerly the playroom aka dumping ground...), so that middle and youngest daughters both get their own bedrooms.  Work is by no means finished, but so far everyone seems pleased with their own little domains. And maybe, just maybe, there might be less squabbling in future???!!???

After two very harsh, snowy winters, this one has been rather mild at times and far more windy than usual, but we hardly had any snow.  And now, when the sun is out and the skies are blue, there's a definite hint of spring in the air - I cannot wait!!!

Oh well, after this rather random last paragraph, I'm going to sign off - thanks for stopping by and taking a look :)

Christmas cards

Here's a small selection of my Christmas cards this year - there are more, I've just been really bad at taking pictures of them...  Loving my little fishing penguin stamp and my new Stampin' Up! penant punch, which I've only used to make Christmas trees so far ;-)

And now I'd better get to my bed, in case I have sicky children again over night - there seems to be a stomach bug going round which made me feel a little out of sorts yesterday and had two of my girls staying off school today.  Hopefully everybody will be back to normal again tomorrow, don't they know I've still got some Christmas shopping to do, lol!!!

Take care of yourselves, whereever you are, wrap up warm and enjoy the festive season!

Bracelets!

Hello, I'm back for a couple of quick posts!  It's been busy busy round here, I had signed up for a number of craft fairs, and that, in addition to the usual Christmas preparations, left little time for anything else.  I also spent an impromptu weekend in Germany with my parents - my dad had had an unexpected hospital stay in October and I just wanted to make sure that everybody and everything was going alright (which it was!).

So, above are some pictures of bracelets I made with my pretty new beads (click on the mosaic to see a bigger image).  The friendship bracelets have been quite popular with my girls and their friends, while the wrap ones are really only popular with me... Unfortunately, none of them sold at the craft fairs.  Not entirely sure why, can only assume that they weren't right for the current party season, and people were looking for something more sparkly.  However, not to worry, I have now got a selection of ready-made Christmas gifts ;-)  And I had fun making them.

Right, post with a small selection of Christmas cards to follow, thanks for stopping by!

A tentative promise...

... that I will have some projects to show you very soon.  Shortly after my last post, I succumbed to the dreaded lurgy, had to spend a whole day in bed (which happens very very rarely) and took the best part of two weeks to recover properly.  I had no energy and no motivation, which was no good, seeing I had to start preparing for a number of craft fairs I signed up to do.  And then I got sidetracked by beads and bracelets...  Oh my, the world of beads is very seductive, a lot of prettyness to be had ;-)  Long story short, I ordered a ton of beads and accessories and got stuck in :)  Hey, wider product range to offer at the craft fairs ;-)  So hopefully the weather will be kind enough to allow me to take some photos of my stuff in the next couple of days, and then I'll start sharing.  And hopefully you've not all abandoned me and will come back for a wee look - thank you :)