An Easter Basket

Gosh, I haven't made a card in days! It's weird how recent events have thrown me out of kilter; I've been creating, but it's only been items for my Etsy shop, and my D&D project, which is an Easter Basket based on the same concept as the Valentine's one.

I had a pleasant weekend despite the sad events of Friday - I've been having sniffle-inducing "Corrie Moments" and really miss her at these times, but mostly I've been concentrating on making a fuss of Ben, who must be puzzled as to where his sister's got to.

Himself and I had a very over-indulgent Cheese and Wine Evening on Saturday, just the two of us, and it was Cheese Overload, but extremely tasty. Then we went for a chilly walk in the rain on Sunday afternoon. Monday was a nice visit to my friend Angela's, Tuesday there was snow (the less said about that, the better!) and today, well, I'm hoping to actually make a card now!

See you soon!

Corrie

Sorry I've been a bit quiet for a few days, folks. On Friday I had to make the painful decision to say goodbye to my wee Corrie. She'd had problems for a long time and I didn't think it was fair to put her through any more.

So I'm very sad but friends and family have been fantastically supportive and I'm grateful for all the fond memories I have of a lovely little cat.

I hope you're at peace now, Corrie and getting all the salmon you could possibly want. We'll miss you.

I Like Being Veggie!

Oh yum, I've just made myself a cheesy garlicky mushroom burger (no meat obv, just a big portobello mushy) and it was delish. In a bun with salad leaves, tomato and red onion. Good job I've not got company this evening as it was one of those meals impossible to eat without getting it all over the face and now my garlic breath would knock you over at a hundred yards. Delightful, eh?

On a more genteel note, it's my day over at D&D and I decided to do a bit of recycling and decorate an empty jar, resulting in a little Easter vase:

Perfect for displaying my daffs in!

OK, I'd really better go and brush my teeth, I'm starting to not want to be in the same room as myself now!

Sleepy Sunday

It's been a bit of a chill-out day thus far, with the cats actually allowing me to remain in my pit until 9 a.m (which has to be a record!), a bit of crafting this morning and a lovely trip to Craigie's this afternoon, where we took a walk and I tried out my Dad's camera (which unfortunately seems to have a fault - sorry, Dad!)

The ham and cheese sandwich is not, I hasten to add, mine, fellow veggos!

And the weekend began with a busy, but satisying day at work, then a delish veggie lasagne at Himself's place after which we watched this:



It certainly lived up to expectations, especially the cute dog character ("Squirrel!!"). And even though, yes, it is just a cartoon, I did well up a bit at one point! I'm such a wuss!

The plan now is to do as little as possible, as severe yawniness has set in. A bath and some episodes of CSI it is then!

Tweetie Pie

Birds are the name of the game at DCM this week so it was a great chance to use my fave stamps from Craftwork Cards:

The swirl stamp is a Studio G one and the pps are old PM ones that I found during Phase 1 of The Big Clearout!

A Day Off

Woo! No work for me today and I've stayed put at home for fear my hair might be wrenched from my head in the mighty gusts we've been having around these here parts!

But it's been a productive one, with me getting the place all spick and span this morning and undertaking part one of The Big Craft Clearout this afternoon. I wouldn't say I have the biggest stash out of all the crafters in the world but it's amazing how a thorough rummage through one's boxes can uncover items one did not even recall purchasing!

So, mindful of my 100 Things Challenge (thanks to Ruthie for suggesting I start at 500 things and take it in stages - that sounds like a plan!), I now have a pile of "To Be Used Up ASAP" embellishmental items at the side of my craft desk. Not one more thing can be added to my collection until they are gone!! (I'm such a hard taskmaster!!)

Despite possessing a large amount of diecuts, however, I couldn't find anything suitable for making a Congrats on Passing Your Driving Test card for my colleague, so, resourcefully, I drew one:

I do feel that the car does somewhat resemble a UFO, but I was quite pleased with how the whole thing turned out. I'm particularly liking the Versamark Watermark Ink Pad I borrowed found to stamp the background with. Handy piece of kit. But I'm not allowed to have one of my own just yet :o(

This card was made for a wee girl's birthday:

Another Honey and Hugs notelet used here. I hope she had a great birthday!

Well, that's me for now. I'm just going to go and light a chocolate -and -honey- scented candle and sink into a hot bath. Rurrrr!!

Erm...

Howdy, folks, just signing in quickly to update you on how the 100 Craft Items Project is progressing. In a word, it, er, isn't. In fact I've actually added to my stash rather than than take stuff away.

Oops.

I can just hear my colleagues sniggering in a "told you so" kind of way.

But I will not be foiled in my quest! So watch this space.

Have made a couple of cards so far this week. Can't show them yet though cos they're for people.

So in the meantime, here's a nice bunch of daffodils that currently adorn my windowsill. (I have plans for these daffodils!)

Byeee!

100 Things....

Ah yes, it was a pleasant weekend indeed, with a couple of airy walks in the gorge spring weather, and making my Mother a cream tea yesterday afternoon, before being cooked for by Himself (we're going to put in a complaint to the creators of a recipe called The Ultimate Veggie Burger for misleading people - it should really be renamed as The Ultimate Veggie Burger That Will Fall To Bits In The Pan And Resemble A Pile Of Gunk Instead. That's not a criticism of Himself, I hasten to add; he followed the recipe to a "tee" and it was actually very tasty!)

At Cardmaking Night on Friday I shared an idea with my colleagues that had been brewing in my mind for a few days. I'm all for simplifying life and when I heard that my avid-reader uncle had challenged himself to own, at any one time, just 100 books, I wondered if this concept could be applied to craft items as well. Like all crafters, I hoarde stash by the bucketload and while at times it is useful to have an array of crafty items at my disposal (see previous daffodil card as an example), it is more often than not a "can't-see-the-wood-for-the-trees" situation.

So.

I have set myself the challenge of owning only 100 craft items at any one time. This does not include essential tools or card and paper, but it does include stamps, punches, kits, embellishments, ribbons and other variables.

Any time a new item comes into my possession, something else will have to be used/sold/given away/thrown out, etc.

Is it do-able? My colleagues mocked and scorned the very idea, but I ignored their disdain.

I like a challenge!

While I build myself up to a Big Clearout, here is a peek at the project we're going to be making in my upcoming class Flutterby Butterfly:

It's a set of notecards, presented in their own little magazine-file-style holder. I liked the dimensional butterfly stickers when I first saw them and thus the concept was formed.
The natural raffia adds a nice touch I think.

Right, I'm off to count my punches. Oh dear, this may not be easy. I wonder if I could stretch to 101 things....?

A Host of Golden Daffodils

I didn't think I'd manage the DCM dare this week, but in a moment of inspiration I grabbed some daffodil-related stash and quickly made this:

It's funny how you can have stuff for ages and never imagine you'll do anything with it. Which leads me onto my next post...

A Feast For The Eyes (and the stomach!)

I do enjoy my job. Especially when my lovely boss takes it upon herself to "celebrate" the finishing of a stock check I didn't even help with by bringing these delightful items into our lives:

Julie and I just about died when we saw them. They truly were works of art. I just had to ask Tricia to take these photos of them.

Julie had an intimate moment alone with this strawberry one:

'Twas not long before the chocolate one made it's way into my face...

...and the lemony one swiftly followed:

Nom nom nom!!!!

Sigh. We are very bad girls.

Oh, and I promised you woolly flowers:

Don't you think they look good enough to eat too??

Debbie Day!

My Wednesday project made it onto the Daisy and Dandelion blog - yay!

It's an Easter Pillow Box Mini Treat Holder.

Quite a quick and easy project really. Hope my instructions make sense!

Not much been happening around these parts recently, hence my lack of waffle. I thought I'd just concentrate on crafting for a while. If anything exciting happens, I will be sure to let you know!

Oh, but I did buy some woolly flowers today. They are lush. I will take photos tomorrow!

Bit Nervous!

Feeling a bit jittery this evening because there are big changes afoot over at the Daisy & Dandelion blog. As Erica is currently snowed under with New Baby Duties, she has passed the task of Blog Contributors to us, the Design Team - eek!

We will each have our own day every week for posting projects on a monthly theme (this month, it's Easter) and there will be a monthly tutorial on specific techniques.

Wednesday is going to be my posting day and so I've just been preparing the instructions for my project tomorrow. I think I may have messed up a little, though, and I'm worried my post is going to look rubbish as a result. Bah. Oh well, will just have to wait and see.

Just a simple card to show today:

I just love the little tree stamp, I could use it on everything!
But that might get a bit boring after the 68th card so maybe I won't bother!

Rush Rush Rush!

Just stopping quickly by to show my submission for the DCM challenge this week, which is the theme of Aquamarine; a very fresh, cool colour, makes me think of Trebor Spearmints! I've managed to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak, and combined it with a Thank You card I had to make:

I don't know where I got the papers but I love the foam butterflies and the felt-y letters.

And another card I put together the other night:

The oval stamp and punch are from Stampin'Up.
The dotty card is a Godsend for someone like me who doesn't have a Cuttlebug!

Sorry no chat tonight, just passing through!

Oh Baby! (part 2)

It's all about babies around here at the moment, people. No, don't panic, I am not "with child" myself or anything, but on the Daisy and Dandelion blog the Design Team have been busy making projects that celebrate new arrivals of the infant kind.

My own project is a keepsake box, or rather, a keepsake set of drawers:

As you can see the top features an easel card and the wee drawers are actually solid boxes with lids as I found this gave the stack more stability. The new Some Bunny Loves You range from D&D is so lovely, fresh and Springy that I decided that it's not just for Easter!

Oh Baby!

I have a day off work, the sun is shining (yay!!!) and I've been making baby cards galore:

Embellishment stickers: K & Co
PPs: DCWV, Papermania

Ribbon: Stampin' Up

So, quite a collection to add to my card box!

Nice Spring-esque colours too!