Thanks

Oh gosh... two weeks? Is this how long it's taken me to get back onto the laptop to do an actual blog post?? Sorry...

As you may guess, I've done lots of running about for the past few weeks, and with demo's, Create and Craft and other bits and pieces to do, time has been quite valuable.

This Tuesday, as in yesterday, I had my bi-monthly Craft Class, and it was lovely to welcome some new ladies too... So Hello Susan, Kath, Olive, Charlotte and Cheree... it is lovely to have you all with us..

here's one of the projects that was on offer for last night. (sorry I can't bring it into the centre... blogger must be having a bit of a hissy fit!)

We also made an exploding box, but that can be another post for another day. So, this card was created by simply layering some punched borders cut onto the Colossal cardstock from Papermania and then adding a little punched flower decoration and some wording. Simple.

I do promise that I will try to get back to post again very soon - I just need to get the photos off the camera.. lol.

Until next time!

Happy Crafting!!!

Fathers Day ...

Well, my To Do list has gone to pot again today.. and I should be making a start on some projects for next weeks shows, but all the fab cards that are over on the Crafty Bloggers Network on Facebook are keeping me from crafting.. so I've decided to come away from there, post on here and give you a little inspiration for Fathers Day...

The only fathers day card I send, is one to my husband, and this was just perfect for him this year as my lovely, wonderful hubby has been doing lots of work in the garden this year. Well, he and my fabbie next door neighbour Ian, who I can't thank enough for my new garden!!!

Anyway... here's the card I want to show. We created this one at my card class last week as we were learning how to colour with the Papermania watercolour pencils.. I think they all did really well and all the cards created were so lovely..

I used the sentiments stamps from Docrafts for the sentiment - nice and chunky, just what I like.. and they come in a pack of two, male and female.. so everyone is catered for.

Here's the close up..

Isn't he cute??

So, what are you doing for Father's Day? I think we're just going to have a lovely quiet day in.. maybe go out, maybe not.. I'll decide at a later time..

Whatever you're upto, please enjoy it.. but don't forget to get some crafting in too!

Q... for Quilling? Quilting? Qwoss Stitch?

You know, I really don't know where the time is going recently - it seems to be absolutely flying!! I have had a quiet week all considered, so decided to have a play along with the Docrafts Alphabet challenge... and we are currently upto letter Q.. okay, so I have A to P to complete, but I don't think that will be this week!

Anyway.. here's my card for you.

As you can see, I have cut up the backing paper into 2cm squares, inked around the edges then remounted onto a piece of white card. This was for the Quilting section of the challenge. The quilled flowers were for the Quilling (obviously!)... here it is in more detail..

After the background was stuck onto the card, I did a little doodling to create faux stitching. The centres of the flowers are adhesive pearls. The flowers were created by using the XCUT quilling die. I love the dimension that these flowers give.

To finish, I added some lace that was given to me by a lovely lady at one of my demos in Derby. The bows were from ribbon given by the same lady.

I hope you like the card - I enjoyed doing it even if it was a tad fiddly.. !

Just one other little thing... a birdy... in fact one of my starlings from the garden.

I was sat outside the other day with my camera trying to get a photo of a robin, and this little cheeky chappie came and sat on the fence.. it sat watching me for a while whilst the babies were all feeding, so I took the opportunity of getting a quick snap.

I just think the colours of the starling are beautiful - a little like oil on water. It's such a shame that the starlings are in decline (and thankfully not solely due to the stupid sparrowhawk that keeps visiting the garden!) particularly in the south and west of Britain. They are greedy, messy eaters who relish the meal worms and peanut paste that I put out for them.. such odd little characters, but I love to see them.

Anyway.. until next time - I do have some other cards to share too, so I know it'll probably be tomorrow. xx

A great quote...

‎"Low Self-Worth leads to low funds which in turn leads to panic rather than profit. Start valuing yourself and your unique contribution!"

I just really needed to share this...

You know I love my pupsters. Well, I just needed to share this beautiful photo that my daughter took whilst out walking the furbabies... Isn't it just wonderful?

Oh dear me....

My Blogging malarky isn't going too well is it!!!

I started off with all good intentions too - it just never quite reaches expectation! lol. So.. here we are again - a few weeks later than planned, and a little update of what's been going on. Shall we make this blog post number 1 of quite a few more? I think I just may.

Okay - so I haven't blogged for quite a while - mid May probably my last one - and I've been very busy. I've been to Create and Craft for a Pick of the Week or two, and I've also had a few extra shows featuring the most amazing Docrafts products .... Michael Powell no less!!!! I love his designs.

I have also been to Bath to film more Creativity episodes, and to Bournemouth for the Open Event at Docrafts.

I think I'll share a few photos from the Docrafts event, as it was a highlight for me. I met so many lovely retailers, crafters, fellow demonstrators, and Creativity Club members it made a perfect week.

We held workshops, demonstrations, chatted, learnt quite a bit, and generally had a jolly good time... as this photo shows!

This was taken on the Thursday evening, and this bunch of ladies are just the best!!

From the left we have Georgina, Janice, Cheremane, Naomi, me and Sheila..

I had arrived in Bournemouth on the Saturday to start the retailer event on the Sunday through to the Wednesday, and it was great fun... I really enjoyed talking to everyone, doing the workshops (a couple of weeks of panic attacks were soooo unnecessary!!) as well as meeting the folks at Docrafts everyday.. it was like a dream come true! Some of the Docrafts team I really hadn't spoken to before, so it was nice to get to know them a little better. And this is one very special lady I had the pleasure of doing it all with - our Sheila.

On the Wednesday afternoon was the start of our Demonstrator Conference, and we had some really great things planned - although I think falling over and landing flat on my face *quite* a few times really wasn't included in the plan! We did some Social Networking talks, tutorials on taking better photographs, a mini awards (yey!! I got an award too!!) ceremony, and lots more! It was nice to catch up with the folks I hadn't seen for a couple of years and to meet some really special people I had not met before. Naomi was one of these people... oh gosh she is such an adorable young lady and we had such fun and laughed so much..

On the Thursday, we had a full days schedule ahead of us.. it was all good fun. Thursday night we arrived back at the hotel and met up with some of the Creativity Club members who had arrived for our very first ever Club Day. The photo above was taken on the beach after our meal, when we got to know each other a little better and had a little fun. Poor Naomi nearly lost her Hermy Ducky in the sea (yes, the hotel give you little yellow duckies...) and we were quite lucky it got bought back inland.. but our Sheila lost her beautiful bracelet in the sea, and it didn't come back into land...

Friday was our Club Day and we had members of Creativity Club come to enjoy our day with us. Emma put so much effort into the day, and it was a great success! Here are a few piccies.

We had a really lovely time... and then it was time to go home.. and time to say goodbye to everyone, including this very special, lovely lady... our beloved Emma...

The memories of this week are all ready to go into my new Scrapbook that I have - Katy Godbeer you are a very naughty lady for tempting me!!!

I hope you had enjoyed my update! I hope you can visit again soon to see what else I'm upto.. and as I always promise.. there will be a card or two being uploaded too.. I just need a little time.. lol.

Sitting here....

All alone! Everyone's gone. Noone in the Green Room whatsoever.. Janice - our techie computer lady from Ideal world, and Sheena and Hels are now in the Studio... and I'm sat here in the Green Room.. watching Create and Craft of course.

But I just wanted to share a photo of our new Green Room floor with you.

Doesn't it look nice?? Just an odd post.. but there was noone else here to take a photo of.. lol..

Day 18.... shall I try to do some blogging?

As I'm sat here at the minute in the Green Room in between shows, I thought I'd do a tad of blogging...

I know most of the time that things get ahead of me, and I just get further behind, but in a few weeks after the May Madness is over, I shall have time to catch up on everything Blog wise - all the challenges that our lovely Emma has been posting.. and of course it's Day 18 today.. and I think I may just have managed to get a few posts up. I still have my cards, my challenges, my answers to the challenges to post.. but hey.. it'll all be worth waiting for! (she says..!)

So.. today's Blog prompt...

Day 18..

How do you feel about spring cleaning? Blog about it! Mention your favourite household cleaner and talk about the advert that always makes you buy...or perhaps you just don't do any because crafting takes over your life! Invite a fellow Creativity Club member/blogger to join you in blogging daily. This could be a fun friendship.

Spring Cleaning? Any cleaning? Housework?? What's that.. this is how I'm feeling at the minute with regards to my housework... lol.. I just haven't had time to do much at all - just the bare bones and basics, and thanks to my lovely hubby, the housework has been kept on top of.

However, saying that, when I get a chance, I really love to have a good old chuck out of clutter and a good tidy up. In fact, I did have a good throw out session a while ago, but it looks like nothing's moved.. lol. Time for another when I get chance I'm sure.
My favourite cleaner? Well, any cleaner with bleach me thinks. I love the smell of bleach in the kitchen and bathroom as it makes everything smell fresh and clean. The last one I bought was a Flash with Bleach cleaner, and the best thing about it is that it comes out as a foam... great stuff as it means that I don't get it all over my clothes - now that's a novelty for me!!

As far as the adverts are concerned.. it's not something that I tend to go by. I like to try it myself and see how I go on with the items. Simply put. If I don't like it, I don't use it.

Now... all I need to do now to complete this post is to find someone to be my Blogging buddy... any offers?

I'm nearly caught up...

Yes! I can't actually quite believe it myself after being buried under a mountain of work this past few weeks... and I found my desk this evening too! lol.

As you know, things tend to get a bit hectic with one thing or another at times, and this past few weeks have just flown by. I did have a bit of a wobble last week after looking at my to-do list and wondered how I was going to fit everything in, but I had a good old chinwag with my friend Emma, and felt much better and alot calmer.. haha. Me? Calm?

So, with diary in hand, I planned my attack. I pencilled in a list of things I needed to get done, and when they needed to be done by, then prioritised them. Now bear in mind, organisational skills are not one of my strong points, so this tends to be a bit of a minefield to me! However, it's now the 17th May and I'm seeing the buntings on the horizon. Jubilee? Who mentioned that?

I have a few websites though, that are fantastic for organisational hints and tips.. I'll share the link when I find them.. but philofaxy is one I love love love.. I try to read the blog most days, and it satisfies my curiosity to how others use their filofax, and also has fab hints and tips too! I know. I'm boring. I'm a bit of a stationery geek, but that's not a bad thing. Is it?
The grand total of work achieved this week is as follows - the end of Pick of the Week last Friday, in store demonstrations Saturday and Sunday, Creativity mag commissions finished for Monday (... and there were oooooodles! but it was all lovely, so thoroughly enjoyed working with it!), Creativity TV samples started on Tuesday and finished Wednesday, and demonstrations for the launch of the new Pick of the Week which is going live tomorrow!!

I don't really get a day off until the beginning of June. Jubilee bank holiday. Sounds good to me!

As you can see, life is never dull and boring... it's all very exciting.. but one thing I am missing is sitting down to do my Blog Posting for the challenges set by Emma. So, here are another two to add to my collection of things to do when I get a chance.. lol.

Day 16

I often find myself sitting in front of the computer in the office at HQ wondering how many of my Creativity Club members do scrapbooking.

Today's blog prompt touches on the subject of scrapbooking. I would love to know if you DO and why you DO IT and if you DON'T why DON'T YOU? This could be the opportunity for you to have a go at scrapbooking to show it on your blog.

Day 17

Top Tips when Blogging...

1. At the start of each month jot down a blog post theme for each day of the month. Even if you don't stick to it daily, you have something at hand for when you do want to blog. Have a look around at other peoples blogs or at the news as this may create some inspiration for a daily post when you are planning!

2. You don't just need to blog on the day, you could write a series of blog posts and schedule them in to go live on your chosen day - you don't even need to be sat at your computer for your post to go live. Handy if you know that you have a busy day coming up.

Today's Prompt... Create a cheerful card and blog about it. Dedicate it to someone special and write about your dedication.

Just a few photos for you -

I have had great delight today in watching the fledgling starlings come down to the feeders for some food... they are so cute. I am also delighted that I still have one little Great Tit come back down for dinner, even though his (or indeed her!) mate was taken by the 'orrid Sparrowhawk the other day. Poor thing. I know it's nature, but not in my back garden thank you very much..

So.. without further ado, here are a few photos I wanted to share with you.

As you can see, I love the little birdies in the garden.. this top one is a little blurred, but I couldn't resist getting my cheeky sparrow. It always come down and sits on the shrub when I'm putting feed out. Cheeky thing.

And then there's this little chappy. I LOVE the colours of the starlings, even though they are like the vandals of the bird world! They are so haphazard they are comical.. Here the little chap is looking at the meal worms that were in the dish.

I just like the expression on the birds face - "by eck Mrs.. what the flippin eck are you trying to feed up? they is still wigglin'.... !"

Hope you like the pictures. xx