Crafting Whilst Coughing

Well, it's still sniffle-city around here, the sky is still blue and I haven't left the house in two-and-a-half days, but I've become very well-acquainted with my duvet, I've read a lot and I've even done some crafting. All helped along by a yummy selection of jelly beans, which I keep close to hand on my craft desk in this cute little pot made by my friend Emma:

I decided to make a set of simple notecards with the little tree embellishments:

And I decorated a jute bag for them to go in as a gift:

Plus, the Under The Sea notecards are ready to go into my shop:

Claude Crab

Wilbur Whale

Pablo Puffer Fish

and Selwyn Seahorse

After all the paper-piecing I just kept them simple with fishy backing papers. Available from CraftyMushroom now!

All this productivity has made me weary! I think it's time for a coffee (with, perhaps, a little sherry added - cough!)

Sniffleage Aplenty

It's a gorgeous day outside Mushroom Cottage today, and one could almost imagine that Spring had Sprung!

Luckily, Himself and I managed a canal walk yesterday, during the almost-as-nice weather, because, alas! Today I am struck down with the lurgy, blah! I'd picked up a croaky cold from somewhere, and it's reached it's "peak" now! Which has meant I've seen more of the underside of my duvet than the cloudless blue sky today, whimper!

Never mind, I have a full day of cardmaking planned for tomorrow and I'm hoping that one of my projects will be to use up these spring blossom embellishments I made the other day:

Notecards or bookmarks? I just can't decide!

Fishy Friends!

This week has seen the start of my new job as an optician's receptionist and so far, so good, although having to take in so much new information has tired out my little brain somewhat! It's not left too much time for crafting, but these new faces appeared on my cutting mat this morning....

I'm looking forward to making them into a set of "Under The Sea" notecards for the shop! They were inspired by some pics I saw of real baby Puffer fish - sooooooo cute!

Have a good evening folks - I'm off to enjoy some home-made toffee-apple pudding! Smlurch!

Hooray!!!

Some more cards made using the Papermania Elements range and my own toppers:

Oh, and some good news on the job front - I've found one!!

Wooop!

Spring Pretties

A wee while ago I purchased this selection of Papermania cards and envelopes, and I've been looking at them ever since, wondering what to do with them:

Since most of them are lovely spring colours I thought it was high time I finally put them to use. They're designed to be combined with PM's range of "Elements" toppers, but since I've none of those in my stash, I decided to make my own:

They were then quick and easy to stick on the cards:

Just the rest of the designs to work on now!

Cute Cushions

I hope you all had a lovely Valentine's Day. Himself and I celebrated ours on Sunday, by going to see The King's Speech (fabulous) and cooking a nice meal together (he cooked more of it than me, it has to be said!). I hadn't got him anything (boo!) but he gave me some lovely tulips:

Looking at these definitely makes me feel that Spring is on the way!

I had a day of "making" yesterday, but I wasn't all that happy with anything I came up with, except, perhaps, these cupcake bookmarks:

Later on, when I was on Twitter, I found this and couldn't resist:

He's made by Strawberrykitten and I think he's sooo cute! He's my treat for the week and I'm really looking forward to his arrival! He'll look great on my couch!

Phew!

Sorry about that last non-post, readers; for some inexplicable reason I lost my internet connection and although I tried to blog from my phone, that wasn't happening either. Bleh. I did, of course, have a small hissy fit. However, today, so far, technology is my friend....

The other day I took it upon myself to gather together some vintage-style papers and embellishments from my stash, and the result was these grannified tags:

I've been yearning to find a use for those doilies for literally years! This isn't my usual style but I was taking a break from drawing cute animals.

Not for long though!

Happy Valentine's Day when it comes, everyone!

Grrr! Want to blog but can't! Bear with, folks!

Little Treats

I have decided that, during this period of unemployment, I will allow myself a weekly treat. Nothing extravagant, just a little boost for me to enjoy. Today I went to do my food shopping but first I indulged in a cappuccino, then I bought samplers of the new Spring fragrances from Yankee Candle.

I like using these little votives but I'm still working my way through the Christmassy ones at the moment, so as soon as I light one of these it will feel like Spring! (a bit) They all smell delicious, although I was dubious of Pink Lady Slipper at first. Who would want to scent their home with the odour of their grannie's old houseshoes?? Ahem.

Craft-wise, the bug for making "New Home" cards seems to have bitten me, but I was less than happy with this one. Sometimes the "collage" effect does somewhat run the risk of looking like a five- year-old has made it (apologies to all artistically-skilled five-year-olds out there!) and this one proves that:

Oh dear. Some things just weren't meant to work. Never mind. I will consign it to my card box, just in case anyone does think it has a certain charm....Sigh.

Busy Times

I hope everyone has had a nice weekend. Mine began on Friday night with an evening of crafting with the Paper Mill girls, and in between pizza-ing and nattering, I made some more owl tags:

It was quite an easy-going task, and didn't require much concentration, which was a blessing, as there was a lot of conversation to keep up with!

Over the weekend, Himself and I took a couple of long walks; one through the Dalmeny estate near Cramond and the other a canal walk to Winchburgh. Saturday afternoon, he watched the rugby and I read the most absorbing book I've come across in ages:

It's one of those harrowing, but heart-warming memoirs that makes you appreciative of leading a relatively privileged life (and also has you crossing your legs and exclaiming "Gruuuggghhh!" every few pages!) - and it reminds you of the strength and courage that the human spirit can possess. Sniffle. I look forward to immersing myself in the sequel!

Today I've been pottering, watching the seemingly endless rain (and snow!) through the window, and making a couple of cards:

I love using the brightest colours for my cards, it really cheers me up on a dreary day!

Happy Bear-Day!

And the bear cards keep on coming:

This one was made to fit with CPS #203. The button is made using a Woodware punch; brilliant, because buttons in the right colours are hard to come by sometimes!

Experimenting...

It's been a busy few days here at Mushroom Cottage. I think it's important that I keep myself occupied and have a routine to stick to; so far, I've managed it, although I'm sure there will be a few lapses!

After a pleasant weekend of visiting Himself's family and of taking a nice bracing walk at Beecraig's country park, I made myself useful yesterday (I hope!), helping Himself's mum on a stall she runs at a local hospital. She and her friend sell jewellery, handbags, scarves and gifts there, and, as it's in part of the hospital that treats cancer patients, they donate a good percentage of their proceeds to a cancer charity. I really enjoyed myself there and it was quite humbling too, seeing some of the patients passing through and wondering what their stories were. I hope I'll be asked to help out again, I don't think I scared off too many customers!

Craft -wise I've been "dabbling" yet again - this time it's Crafty Mushroom Decoupage!

It's only in the test stages at the moment, but I quite liked using it to make a card:

I'm currently in negotiations with an up-and-coming new local craft shop who might stock my decoupage, so I'm quite excited!

Now I just need to come up with some more designs!