MARCH ing on

Well I've had a real battle with Blogger so I went away for a few hours and now come back to it.  Hope it works this time 'cos it's late and I might just get grumpy if it doesn't work first time

MARCH

APRIL/MAY

Almost forgotten how to . . . . . .

. . . . .create a blog post it is soooooooooooooo long since I did one.  In fact this is the first in 2015 how slack is that??? My good friend Ali will be saying Yeah too right it's slack.  That's after she's picked herself up from the floor where she fell in shock when she saw this post !!!  This is about my third attempt as I keep loosing my post partway through downloading/uploading pictures.  I think I will do them month by month.  Hope it works and I hope you enjoy looking.
JANUARY

 

FEBRUARY

 

Right I'm going to post these before I loose them again and then do MARCH etc in a separate post.

 

Lucky Last

My last Christmas card made for 2014.  It's the most important one as it's for my husband.  He is ALWAYS the last one to be done !  Like a plumber ALWAYS has a dripping tap in his own home because he's always busy fixing other peoples taps.  Back to the card -  I have to say I am very pleased with it.  It's a one of and I don't think it is a very practical one to do 'en masse' There is too much cutting, embossing etc for that.  Still I kinda like that his card is a Limited Edition.  He is so supportive of what I do and puts up with my craft mess all over the house.  He really is Special.  So that's me done for a little while at least.  I have a few other non-craft (oh no is there such a thing!!!) projects I want to tackle in the next couple of weeks and then it will be back to my desk which is one of the projects I have to tackle!!  I cannot see it at the moment under all the 'stuff' just dumped on there to be put away later.  Well 'later' is looming. Have a wonderful time with your Families and loved ones.  Don't stress (ha that's good coming from me lol) and be safe.  Merry Christmas and a Happy 2015  Thanks for looking at my blog.  I hope to be better at posting in 2015. xx

Beautiful Alura

Good morning Everyone and what an absolutely beautiful morning it is here in Upper Hutt.  Not only is the sun shining but it is our eldest daughter's birthday and that is certainly a day for us to celebrate.  I spent a very pleasant afternoon yesterday making the above card for her.  The image is called Alura, one of my digital stamps from Lavinia Stamps.  On the right hand side of the first image you can see how she started off when I printed them from my digital file.  On the left you can see her after I spent several hours colouring her. The second image is obviously the finished card after I had brushed some blue( TH Broken China distress ink) over the background and mounted my image onto toning/matching card.  I used my lovely Spectrum Noir coloured pencils.  Yum.  I bought them when I was in the UK mid year but haven't had much chance to use them .  This was the perfect opportunity and I am SO glad I invested in them.  I found a VERY good deal and bought all five sets (24 pencils per set)  They are so gorgeous one could spend hours just looking at them.  They are oil based pencils and completely blendable.  I must say I am VERY pleased with how Alura looks.  If you get the chance to buy some of these pencils and you can afford to then Just Do It as the slogan says.  You won't be disappointed. Enjoy your day. 

Filling in a Very Large Gap

Hello.  Please don't die of shock but here is a post.  It is exactly 3 months since my last one (sounds a bit like the Confessional!!) My life seems to have been very dis-organised and chaotic in that time I have to say.  I have struggled to feel in control ever since we came back from the UK at the beginning of August if I am honest.  Can't tell you why it's just how it's been.  I have still been creating but never got around to posting (sometimes even forgetting to photograph before dispatching in the mail).  I certainly spend a lot of my time researching and trialing class projects.  Sometimes things which I think will be suitable don't turn out to be in practice. Anyway yesterday I cleared the end of the dining room table where I have been camped for months,mainly because my craft desk is piled high with stuff which needs sorting and putting away.  Really my craft desk is too small now for the type of things I do.  Once upon a time it was fine but as my style has evolved I need more room for the things I do.  As I write I am trying to formulate a plan to make space in one of the 'spare' rooms to set up a bigger work space.  I always said I wouldn't do this because I would be in one room and my Long Suffering Husband in another but, since I now work mostly in the dining room rather than on my wee desk in the lounge, we are in different rooms anyway. So will my idea come to fruition? I don't know but if it does I will be sure to share my plans with you.  So as we close in on Christmas and the end of the year I thought I would post some photos of some of the things I have made in the last 3 months.  May I wish you and your families every good wish for Christmas and the coming New Year an who knows maybe next year I will be more organised and better prepared in the crafting sector of my life.  Merry Christmas. x

Loving this Stenciling

Good Friday Morning Everyone.  I hope you are all well and looking forward to the weekend.  It is a Very Special Friday in our household as our eldest Granddaughter, Ashleigh, turns 25 today.  She lives far away in Surfers Paradise but VERY happy to say she is staying here with us at the moment.  She is an AMAZING young woman and my world is SO much brighter for having her in it - especially when I can physically hug her.  The top card here is the card I made for her birthday.  Funny story -  I actually was making the lantern card for her and had only got the Let Your Light SHINE Through label to add when she arrived home unexpectedly last night.  She admired the card but said I like the dandelion one better.!!! WHAT.  At that stage the dandelion card was only white stencil paste on black card!!!  So what does a G'ma do???  Of course I got out my inks and sponges and coloured the dandelions, made a new tag, decided on pink and green for the card and sat until 11.30pm finishing it off so that it would be all ready for this morning!!!  All that aside I am loving working with my stencils and grunge stencil paste.  There is something very soothing and satisfying about dragging the paste through the stencils and seeing the result at the end of the sweep across. Then the big reveal, when you lift off the stencil, is exciting. Have to be patient then and wait for the paste to dry PROPERLY before starting to transform it with colour.  Try it.  I heartily recommend it.  Enjoy your weekend and thanks for looking on this Special Day in our household.

Crazy, Crazy Times

Hi Everyone.  It seems/is SUCH a long time since I Blogged.We have been back just 4 weeks from our fantastic 8 week holiday and I think my brain is still on holiday somewhere. Hard, as always, to settle down to 'normal life'again.  This year has been harder because of lots of domestic things happening. Minor operation for my husband, major surgery for our eldest granddaughter, swimming carnivals for our two youngest grand children and an all important 11th birthday for a grand child. Plus I taught my first class since our return last Saturday.  I had LOTS of pre-cutting to do for this class (Butterfly Corner post from back in April/May) and as this class was over subscribed I get to do it all again next month as we repeat it for another class of Lovely Ladies.  Results of medical procedures are all good I'm pleased to say.  In between all of these dramas I had to be VERY disciplined to make the cards I am about to post. In order of appearance they are 11th birthday card.  60th Wedding Anniversary card.  Friend's birthday card. Three snowflake cards for a class in September and a Christmas card for a class in October.  Sorry they are all together in one post but I just don't have the energy to do them all separately.  I hope you enjoy looking.  I enjoyed making them even if a little stressed at times.  Hope it's not so long to the next post. Thanks for visiting today.