Lots Happening!

There's nothing I like better (well, actually, there are a few things I like better but I won't go into those on a blog that children might read!) than to sit down with a pile of plain notepads and turn them into something cute:

Feeling Fruity?

Christmas Cupcakes!

Also on my workdesk today are some happy frogs:

Useful for whipping up a "Hoppy Birthday" card or two!!

And in the design stages, an "angel cat", which I thought might work on a pet sympathy card perhaps:

I'm showing all these photos today because I might be AWOL for a few days; a busy weekend coming up, including an Elvis tribute night (!), a 10k run (not me, I hasten to add, I'm just supporting Himself!) and a craft sale, so it'll be all go!

I'm off now to make up to my cat for the fact that I thought I'd set his automatic food dish to open while I've been out all day - in fact, there wasn't a battery in it so the poor wee soul has starved for hours! Honestly, he's already had one brush with death recently!! I'm a bad, bad owner!!

Byee!

Another Week!

I hope you all had a fabby weekend. I know I did! I met up with my old schoolfriends on Saturday night for tapas and chatting. We were supposed to go and see a film too, but the chatting took over and was way more fun! Somehow we always manage to dredge up the memories of the hideous hair"styles" we all had, and my "Leo Sayer" phase causes the most hilarity! Well, we've all had bad perms, haven't we???!?

Yesterday Himself treated me to lunch at the veggie bistro Henderson's in Edinburgh for my birthday, and although he felt he wasn't given enough falafels with his pitta bread, I was more than happy with my spicy bean pate and quiche! Then the poor soul had to drag round every shop on Princes Street with me whilst I searched for the shoulder bag of my dreams (my pressie from him). Unfortunately I didn't find it at that time so the search continues!

I can show you the cards I made for my aunt's birthday now as it's been and gone:

I'm not a great one for decoupage, but this range is pretty!

And here are my fave Tweet Twoo stamps again!

I hope she liked them.

Now as it's Monday it must be time for.....

Meet Me On A Monday!

This week I'm:

MAKING: A card for someone who's passed their British Sign Language exam - now there's a challenge!

EATING: Too much spicy food - blurrgh!

READING: An intriguing thriller called The Cypress House.

WATCHING: Both weekend episodes of the X Factor in one go!

DRINKING: Peppermint Tea - good for bloaty tummy after too much spicy food! (see EATING!)

VISITING: My Dad, so that we can both inpsire each other in creative projects!

If you want to join in with MMOAM visit this blog!

Catch up with you later!!

Today's Makes

I've really got into the swing of making calendars!

I don't think I've ever used so much ribbon in my life but it's made me realise how much I like grosgrain - I'll have to stock up!!

I've also, randomly, made some cheerful-looking fruit:

This is definitely more than my 5-a-day!!

EDIT - I wonder if the eagle-eyed amongst you might notice that I've made a boo-boo and stuck a 2011 calendar on the ladybird one! I've only just spotted that - Oopsy!!!

Happy Birthday To Me!

It's my burfday today and it's been very lovely so far. My parents treated me to lunch and I've received some fab gifts and some nice cards and messages from friends and family. I don't worry about getting older, I'm just grateful to have been around for another year, and I think about what I hope to achieve in the next one!

Himself knows me too well, because last time we were in a gift shop I gushed about this little character:

Cute cat and coffee - perfect combo!!

Luncheon was a carvery; my non-meat-eating Dad and I opted for the broccoli and brie parcel and piled our plates high with the veggies - always a winner! And the desserts were to die for:

We were stuffed after the main course, but "somehow" we managed to force this sort of thing down!

I'm going to give myself the night off from crafting and go for a long bath and even longer drink of toffee apple cider instead!!

Meet Me On Monday

Whilst perusing some lovely crafty blogs, I came across this great idea - Meet Me On A Monday - which involves sharing some thoughts and happenings from the weekend and the week ahead with other people. They're already 7 weeks in, so I hope they won't mind little old me joining them now!

So this week I'm...

Making: 2012 Calendars - it's not too early, is it??

Listening To: Snow Patrol. I love Called Out In The Dark, even though he appears to be singing about "a choir of beautiful cheese"!

Wearing: Two hoodies, one on top of the other. Cold? Moi?

Drinking: Anything that can be made as a result of boiling water in a kettle. (I'm not cold - honestly!)

Remembering: That the man is coming to check my boiler this week. Woo Hoo! Not that I'm cold just now, or anything....

Join in the fun over on Jumbleberries blog!

Cold = Creative!

I've got the Bank Holiday off work today - wooo! - so I've been happily crafting away for most of it. It's a tad chilly though, so I've felt the need to consume hot liquids continually (coffee, soup, drinking chocolate) and I have my HWB in place under the tootsies.

I do find that the decrease in temperature does make it easier to get focussed on those festive items, such as these gingerbread man tags:

I've even made a start on some 2012 calendars by covering squares of chipboard in patterned paper:

Now, the fun part - choosing embellishments to adorn said calendars!!

Over-Indulgence :(

Ooh, you know when you've been a bit overly decadent in the eating department whilst out window-shopping (a Subway Veggy Patty sandwich and a Starbucks Creme Brulee Macchiato forced their way down my throat today!) and then you feel revolting for the rest of the night?? Well, that's me, I'm afraid! I should know better than to over-indulge! Having said that, I enjoyed it at the time and it means I won't have to cook anything for my dinner as I don't think my stomach will feel empty for quite some time!!

And that should leave more time for crafting this evening, so that I can make more of these little Christmas notepads:

I don't often use rub-ons but these wording ones by Studio G are pretty good for 99p!

Right, so I'd better get on and ....what - surely that's not my stomach a-rumbling?? *grmmmble mmmmmble* Oh well, looks like I'm cooking after all!!!

Happy Birthday Mum!

It's my mother's birthday today and the weather has been gorgeous, I'm glad to say. We had nice morning coffees and cakes here and were actually able to sit at an outside table in the sun, which was lurvely. Then we went a wee walk here and got so hot that an ice lolly was definitely justified!! I've still gone on with my plan to make carrot and butterbean soup this afternoon, even though it doesn't feel autumny enough for that just now!!

Mum was pleased with her card:

I used my fave Tweet Twoo stamps from Craftwork Cards, and liked it so much I went on to do a set of wee notecards too:

Long may that sun go on shining! (even though I should be painting another coat of oil onto my decking - but I can't be bothered!!)

Still Here!

Hi folks, I just wanted to drop by and let you know I'm still around, it's just that all the cards I have in progress at the moment are for people's birthdays (September is suuuuch a busy month!) so I can't show any today. I hope you didn't get blown away in the gales; my hair will never be the same again!

Just being added to my Folksy shop tonight are the handbag tags I made the other day:

I'm itching to show you other stuff, so please bear with me!!

Handbags and Gladrags

Well, I took my tealight holders to an event on Wednesday and they went down very well; I took six and came back with one! So I'll need to get making another batch!

I've got quite a few birthday cards to make this month. The first is for Himself's mum, who, along with her friend, runs a wee business selling handbags and scarves:

I hope she'll be able to tell that the black object on the right is supposed to be one of the display "necks" that they put the scarves on! It was hard to get right!


I've gone a bit mad making little handbag paper piecings after that so I'll need to find something to use them for. Some gift tags, methinks!!

Tealight Gift Pack Tutorial

As promised!

First cut your card to size:

Then, score along length as shown:

Use your trusty scalloped border punch along the edge just before the 3cm score line:

Turn over your card and adhere paper panels and an embellishment as shown (my paper panels measure 6.5cm x 5.5cm)

Take 3 tealights, stack them and wrap with cellophane (I used a small cello bag), twist tightly at the top and tie with ribbon. Stick four glue dots to the base of the tealight stack once wrapped.

Stick the tealight stack down as shown. The glue dots should hold it in place:

Bring the package together as shown. Use a mini stapler to hold the top of the package shut:





Cover the staple with a strip of patterned paper and an embellishment (I used a punched button)

Voila!

I'm planning to make quite a few of these tonight!!

Bears, Bears, Everywhere!

Last night I was up to my ears in bear heads again, thanks to an order from a lovely customer!

I managed to get them all cut out during X-Factor, then I had a plateful of profiteroles to celebrate! Hooray! :)

Hope you're all having a fabby weekend!

Little Packages

I've been "fiddling" again, and I've come up with these:

Little packages that contain...

Scented tealights! (these are rose-scented and, no, I didn't make them!)

Unfortunately I forgot to take step-by-step pics as I was creating, but I am definitely going to make more of these so watch out for the tutorial!

They're ideal for quick and easy gifts!

Scentsational!

In my last post I mentioned scented candles and it got me thinking. We all love a nice smell, don't we? So for my first Folksy Friday in ages, I thought I'd feature some scented items!

There was an astounding array of lovely creations but these in particular caught my eye:

This scented cat hanger from Millicent:

This sheep soap by Bits N Bobs:

These lavendar lally cats by LittleBirdhouse:

These spiced mug mats by Hunny Crafts Primitives:

This lavendar owl by Art & Mabel:

and this Walnut Whip candle by Cherry Blossom Candles:

Mmm, I can just imagine the yummy aromas!