Going around in circles...

I went back to work today and spent most of it catching up on what I'd missed after spending two days off sick. There was lots to catch up on and I seemed to spend the whole day going around in circles! - and there is a seamless link if ever I heard one to a card challenge from the Caardvarks blog all about circles. This card is for my friend Clare whose birthday it is the day we break up for the summer holidays from school. I've used paper with small circles on it cut into a circle shape, a yellow bloom in the shape of a circle, a chipboard letter in the shape of a circle, circle buttons to make the flower stem and the 'birthday girl' sentiment along the right hand side is made with circle letter stickers.

(papers from Anne Langpap at 2peas, buttons from the button company, bloom from dunelm, alphabet stickers by Sue Dreamer (I think) and chipboard from Heidii Swapp)

Last night my lovely friend telephoned to ask if I could please make her a card - for in the morning! for her Mam's birthday off Ela. Luckily I had this one which I'd started and it was quick to adapt for her.

Final photograph today is the card I made for todays post over on It's A Creative World Blog, the papers are from Kirsty Wiseman's blog, I love her bright and funky colours.

Making the most of a sick day...

I've spent the day in my pyjamas with a nasty cold, yucky chest and sore ears. I phoned in sick to work and my Mam has rubbed by back and chest with vapour-rub. Not a girl to miss any crafty oportunities I've spent the day in my 'workshop' playing with paper and making cards and making myself feel better.

I've mooched around a few blogs today and found Melissa Phillips blog which in turn led me to Linda Aalbrecht's blog which in turn gave me a lovely 'scraplift' idea for a friendship quilt swap with friends. The friendship quilt will be made of 4x4inch squares each with a quote or saying based on the theme of friendship. They needed to be finished for this weekend so time was running out and I wasn't too sure what I was going to do until I saw Linda's card she's made for Melissa's challenge (are you still with me!). The whole quilt thing was Clare's idea and we've adapted it to use paper, I think I'll turn mine into a little mini book when I get them all back.

I used the quote that Linda had used on her card "The road to a friends house is never too long" and I borrowed her idea for the little houses too. These are now winging their way to our organiser and hopefully by next week I shall have 12 little pieces of art back.

Next up was a challenge on Daring Cardmakers blog to 'add a little love'. I made this sweet little card for my Mam who looks after me when I'm feeling poorly. I sent my Dad to the Post Office so that she'll get a nice suprise in the post tomorrow morning.

(digi papers from the shabby princess, gingham paper from costco paperstack, chipboard heart frame by making memories)

Third job was a sketch challenge that I found on CPS blog, and I made a card for my Uncle's birthday later in the week.

(digi papers from the shabby princess, chipboard star by making memories, chipboard letters by maya road)

Next up was a card sketch challenge from Di Hickman and this time I finally managed to make a birthday card for my friend Sue - WhoooHoooooooooo she's visiting from New Zealand in a few weeks and I can't wait to see her!

(digi papers from the shabby princess, chipboard letters by maya road, chipboard photograph corners by making memories, staples and ric rac)

That's not all either. I've been busy creating for A Creative World too so check back there soon to see what I've been up to.

edited to add: I found another one! - sketch this (cards) and have just made another quickie. I'm still trying to use up some of my old stash, I think I've had that green striped paper for about 5 years!

(striped paper by making memories, spotty paper from costco paper stack, alphabet stamps by sassafrasslass, buttons by foofala and flower punch by ek success)

My Workshop...

Over on It's A Creative World Cath has made a smashing post all about craft spaces with photographs of some amazing craft spaces from around the world that will make your ears turn green and shrek-like with envy!



I do have my own crafty room, well I share it with my dad, but at the moment my brother is living in it(it's the small bedroom). So, I have set up shop in the utility room in our house. Luckily for me we had only just finished converting the garage into a big utility room when my brother moved back home. We are busy painting the cupboard fronts at the moment so that's why they look different colours - they are all at different stages of the painting process.


We've got one long bench right down one wall and on this we've got both mine and Dad's computer and two printers and this is where I work. My crafting stash is spread out around the house but I have the necessities and the basics in three sets of drawers from IKEA that sit under the work bench and I have some of my 'can't work without' jars on the bench top. They hold my ric rac, lace, sewing machine threads and chalk ink. All my pencils and pens and small tools and my scissors are in metal pots that sit on either side of my monitor. It's very cosy in here but I can't wait until I can move back into my proper workshop room and I can have everything on hand, when I'm busy working away in here I never know what I'll be sharing the bench with - laundry, wine rack, ironing pile etc.

It can be difficult to get motivated when you have to fetch 4 different boxes of resources from four different rooms of the house before you can even decide what you want to do. I like to get everything out and mooch around it all before deciding what I'm going to make, create, do, alter etc.

Sunday Afternoon...

We've been out having another mini adventure again today. We started off at Jesmond Dene visiting the pets corner and then we went down to the seaside to St Mary's Island to see the lighthouse.

We had a bit of a scramble across the rocks and we found quite a few dead jelly fish that had been left behind by the tide, a bit further and we found one in a rock pool. I've never seen jelly fish before - it was a lovely white/blue colour. Whilst we stopped to look at the jelly fish we noticed a shoal of teeny tiny fish swimming around the same rockpool. The tide comes and goes out very quickly and the lighthouse gets cut off in no time - great for seeing what gets left behind!



I hope you've been across to It's A Creative World blog, if you leave a comment you could win a prize to spend at Papermaze and any scrapbookers and crafters you might want a nosey at the craft rooms that Cath has found to look at.

These were the cards that I made for the blog on Thursday. They were really quick and very easy to make. I used the butterfly template from the Martha Stewart site (Ifound the link on Keisha's blog) and I think they look very classy!

Shopping...

I went shopping last night (what did we all do before late night shopping and the Metro Centre was invented?) and finally bought my new camera. A Canon 400D. I am so pleased with it but I've yet to read the manual!! We took it down to the quayside tonight and even though it's been dark, wet and thundery all day here and the pictures were taken when the daylight was fading too quickly I am still pleased with the outcome.

In other news:

I have a horrible cold, the type you get in winter when you can't bend your head as it feels like it will explode and your head and face hurt all the time. Great, just as well it is the weekend as I would never have been able to go to work today, I struggled to get through Friday afternoon and felt like I was really snapping at the kids.

If you leave a comment over on It's A Creative World you could be in with a chance of winning a voucher to spend at PaperMaze from the very generous Ness.

Work is busy busy BUSY! 4 weeks left until the end of term, reports that need to be written, end of term assessments and I'm taking 6 kids up to Northumberland for a residential holiday. All this and then the dreaded OFSTED rears its head. Two special schools inspected at the same time as us in the last round have been done this week so it looks like we might be in for a visit. If that isn't enough to be trying to fit into four weeks I will be interviewed for a management position to be KeyStage 1 and Foundation Stage Co-ordinator and I have to move classrooms.

I have done some creative things this week but they are for future projects so are no go areas at the moment.

More quick cards...

I had a great weekend away at the lakes with the girls from work - I could do with another few days off work to recover though!

Last night I made some really quick cards after visiting Kirsty's and Keisha's blogs. The butterflies are made from basic grey paper and the feelers, border and doodled trail are just handrawn, font is Ma Sexy.

Fathers Day Cards...

Tomorrow I am going away for the weekend to the Lake District. A 'Hen' weekend from work, 35 girls all wearing cowboy hats. If you see us I would move rapidly in the opposite direction. We are not known for being quiet! Anyway, I won't be blogging for a couple of days so I thought I would share the Fathers Day cards that I made for my Dad and posted on the Creative World blog this morning.. There are two - one from me, one from my brother.

I took these photographs (really poor as it is pouring with rain and very dark so I had to take them indoors and the artificial light in here is terrible) to show the corner punch I use to make a scalloped edge. Mine are EK Success punches and I bought mine from Artbase. They have a frame that you use to line up the corners of your paper but it comes off so that you can punch along a straight edge. They are so useful and I've used them on nearly everything I've made since buying them.

edited to add: Jackie - I have the large (purple) and medium (green) punches

A Busy Night...

I really wanted to make owls with my new pattern but I had cards that I needed to make so have been busy all night making them - so I can play owls tomorrow!! (Poor photographs as they were taken indoors as it is pouring with rain here)

Postie's been ...

... and he delivered my pattern from Buttonberry for the Melly & Me owls - Hooty & Tweet. Watch out for an influx of owls in the coming weeks!

Have to dash, I've been asked to make two Fathers Day cards and a wedding anniversary card.

A Garden Trail...

Had a busy weekend here - crafting, crafting and more crafting. Most of which can't be shown yet. I did make two cards for a friends twin sisters who will be fifty. As they are identical twins she wanted identical cards which is easy as you just cut the same pieces out twice!

Yesterday we went on a garden trail in Hexhamshire. We had a lovely day, the weather was warm but cloudy to start with but the sun broke through in the afternoon and was reallt just perfect. As always I took my little camera and found some lovely flowers which we really must have in our own garden. I had to take the photograph of the lupins in front of the turquoise door as I loved the colour of it so much but the owners did give me a few funny looks when I went o inspect it closer (I really wanted to take a photograph of the door but thought I would gets quite a few funny looks!)

Happy Saturday...

I love Saturdays. We're going to the theatre this evening to see Beauty and the Beast, I've heard brilliant reviews so I am really looking forward to it. I was up early as the postman delivered a parcel and I've spent the whole day crafting, computing and listening to music. Don't tell anyone but I still have my pyjamas on!!

I'm really pleased that I have managed to complete this weeks dare from the Daring Cardmakers. The theme was 'space' and I used Shabby Princess papers and a space rocket and spaceman doodle from the Lily Pad. I drew and coloured the planet myself with felt pens and printed the happy birthday sentiment on the computer.

Next weekend I am going to the Lake District for a weekend with the girls from work. There are about 35 of us getting a bus straight from school on the Friday afternoon and returning on the Sunday afternoon. It is one of the girls' Hen Weekend and on the Saturday she wants a theme of cowboys and cowgirls - I'm stretching myself and wearing a sparkly cowboy hat. Again Shabby Princess has worked her magic as just when I was thinking of the whole cowboy theme she released these papers. Perfect for a card for the 'Hen' hoping she has a lovely weekend.

So, job number 3 was to make ten birthday cards for a swap with friends. I've made all 10 the same and I'm really pleased with how they came out. I used Basic Grey paper for the flowers, some little diamonds and machine stitching. I fed my card blanks through the printer before I started and printed the Happy Birthday directly to the card.

There are other items too but I can't share those yet, you'll have to keep checking on the It's A Creative World blog to see them soon. Talking of It's A Creative World, all the comments from this weekend will be put into a draw to win a fabulous kit from Scrapbook Central.