Well... failed again... but I'm still here!

I really need to get a boot up the backside me thinks to get me blogging on a more regular basis... lol.

I can't help it... things just get in the way!! Well, say things.... by things I mean two little furbabies that are living with us - Humphrey and Lola the kittens.. and doing extra projects for my demo's.

This last week or so saw me creating loads of jewellery pieces for a demo I had in Oldham. To be honest, jewellery was not really my 'thing' if you know what I mean.. but having sat for a few days making some pieces, I can honestly hold up my hands and say that I loved every moment of it and I'm a bit hooked.

I made this bracelet -

and I love it. In fact, I've made a few more of them, including two for orders. They're so easy once you have done the first one and got the hang of the beading, the last ones were a doddle!

I've also been spending a bit of time in the garden and have some plants ready and waiting to go into the hanging baskets, including this little beauty..

This is my nemesia. I remember years ago, a lovely old gent who lived behind our house gave me a pink and white version and it flowered every single year. It's such a pretty little plant.

And to finish this quick post for tonight, I thought I'd show you how the two little furbabies are growing..

Here's Humphrey..

And here's Lola...

Hope you like the piccies...

That's all for now, but I promise that I'll be back sooner than before!

Ten things...

Yes, I know I promised to get back on track with the blogging, but things just seem to get in the way, and to be honest, it's been nice not worrying if I have anything to upload. I have treated myself to a well deserved break, and I feel better for it. So, trying to keep up with the Blog post a day challenge, and as you can see from the title, I'm not doing very well!!

So. What's new? Well, nothing really to be honest.. although the weekend saw us collecting the new addition to our little fold. I say addition. It should really read additionS... lol. as we have two little furkitties come to live with us.

We have a ginger and white boy called Humphrey and his mackerel tabby sister Lola. The other sister we collected has gone onto her forever home and been called Fleur. They are just 8 weeks old and are little  bundles of loveliness. After two days here they have settled in well with their big brother Senna, who has turned into a little mother hen.  They even come to you when they haven't seen you for a little while, and are eating absolutely perfectly. We've had a couple of little accidents but nothing too major.

Here they are..

This is little Humph. Such a tiny sweetheart he is. He loves his cuddles, and talks to you quite often. He is quite a contented little puss, and I'm sure he's going to grow up to be a beautiful large boy.

This is Lola. She is slightly more mischievous, and not quite as big as Humph, but she eats like a trooper and always has her head in the food bowl! She has her little routine at mealtimes.. wake up, toilet, eat, toilet, sleep! She is soooo contented.

And here is the Mother Hen..

Well, I say Mother Hen, but really it should be Father Cockerel I suppose. Doesn't sound quite the same though does it.. lol. But here is my old boy, Senna.

He's just had his birthday, so is of a grand old age.. and I think the two little tearaways have tired him out... He is suffering a little hayfever at the moment where he keeps going up the garden. Vets time again me thinks as his eyes are getting a little runny... but love this photo of him fast asleep.

Apart from loving the little furbabies, and spoiling my woofers, I have indeed done a little bit of crafting.. and here's a couple of what I've created for my demo's. These are all from the Ahoy There selection of stamps. I just love these, and I like the way that just going around the edges with chocolate ink, you can make it look quite vintage. I hope you like them.

So... onto my Blog Post a Day, and it was (lol) 10 things that make me happy.. and here's my list.

1. My family - by family, I mean my husband, children and sister in law Tilly. Without them, there is no me. They put up with me  support me with my work and things I do and rarely complain. I don't have any other family to care about, so to me they are everything and I treasure them dearly. (even if I do whine about things, but hey... that's allowed isn't it?!
2. My furbabies. Such a wonderful little furry family I have, we have the three woofers, Scooby Holly and Truly, and my kitties, Senna, Humphrey and Lola. They live perfectly together and I just love my cuddle time with them. 
3. Work - I love my job. I work with Docrafts, one of the leading craft suppliers in the UK and working alongside some of the most awesome designers there is fantastic. I also get to go out and meet some great crafters and share ideas and techniques. What's not to like about that?
4. Peppermint Tea. Oh yes. A perfect start to the day me thinks.. it's great as a pick me up through the day too. I also like my Chai tea... any tea really. It used to be coffee, but don't drink that so often these days. 
5. Reading. By reading, I mean it depends on what I'm reading. At the moment its the organising and time management books by Julia Morgenstern, and they make perfect sense to me. They've helped me alot this past few weeks. I also love looking through cookery books, which brings me to number 6.. 
6. Baking - yes, baking, not cooking! I can't cook... although I try, but it's not always successful. Baking is not always successful either, but at least it's tasty! lol. I have a great collection of books which are now on my new bookcase so I can peruse at leisure. Favourites at the minute are the Hairy Bikers Curry book, (yes I can now successfully make a curry from scratch!) and my cake decorating books. I don't make posh cakes, but one day....!
7. My Sat Nav. Without it I doubt I would be able to do my job. It still takes me the wrong way, lol, but at least I can get there more or less in one piece. 
8. Mablethorpe. I know, it's a silly number 8. But I love Mablethorpe. It brings back many happy memories of days gone by with the children on our family holidays. We have a lovely beach down there that I love to visit too which is nice and quiet. 
9. Britains Got Talent - hell, this has to make an appearance. There is so much talent out there in the UK it's so lovely to see people giving it a go.. and good luck to them! It's also quite funny at times, and makes me think that one day I will be there singing my heart out and not getting any buzzers! lol.
10. Last one, so what will this be? it has to be my craft room. It makes me happy. I - and other members of the family - like to sit in there and chill out. It looks out on the garden, so I can watch the birds come and go and look at the changing seasons. Perfect. 

So.. there's my top 10. Now what's yours? Leave a link and I'll come a visiting!

Blog every day in May!

I've missed the first few days already.... as I didn't know about it, but my day one starts today (or maybe tomorrow!)

A little quote.

A quote.

I kinda love that we are not always a 'perfect match'.

That we sort of sand down the rough edges on each other;

I am thankful that God gave me you.

A man who challenges me.

Loves me completely.

And keeps my heart tender.

A guy that makes simple moments pretty special.

And everyday, no matter how hard or easy, 

~better~ 

because you are a part of it.

So it's not gonna be easy.  It's going to be really hard;

we're gonna have to work at this everyday, but I want to do that

because I want you.

I want all of you, 

forever,

everyday.

You and me...

everyday.

What a week....

How are we all??

Sorry it's been a while again. I have very good intentions to get started again regularly with the blog, but it always seems to be one thing or another these days. I don't often get chance to get onto the laptop to check and do things, and most things are done on my lovely new mobile. I will start to put posts up on my mobile if I get chance - promise!

Anyways... this week has seen the start of the new loop of crafting products from Docrafts. Ooooooh's and Aaaaaahhhh's were the sounds heard yesterday whilst I was doing my first demo of the loop - I'm wondering if it's going to be the same today!

So, I thought I would just share a couple of little cards with you that I've made to take with me...

This one uses the packaging of the new Capsule collection - Brights! Aren't the colours amazing!!!! I just totally love them. I finished the card using the mini spotty buttons. These are double sided too, plain on one side, spotty on the other. Just fab!

This card here was a little idea I saw on Pinterest... I thought it was fab and a great idea to use up some of the lovely buttons that are in my very large bag of Capsule brights buttons... Just stick them on a card, layer them up, create a dotty border and doodled leaves and stems and voila! Done!

I promise I will be back tomorrow to share a few more photos with you... I have a couple of days where I am not doing alot of anything. Having a day at home with the hubby tomorrow after another demo today.

So, see you soon. Don't forget to let me know what you think of these new products!

A little furbaby...

A little humphrey cat

Playing with my blog..

I've been a-fiddling tonight... just playing around with a few minor changes on my blog. Firstly, the blog post title and date are now centred... I think I like this better!

The comments section has had a makeover too... a little bit bolder and brighter. Not sure if I like this yet.. but will keep it for now and decide tomorrow.

Last but not least, I have a little plaything on my photos.. hover over them.. see what you think. Pretty cool eh?!

You can't unscramble eggs...

I'm not really sure where I saw this... and I thought to myself, you know, how true is that!

What I mean is, if you do something wrong, or not to the result you wanted, you can't undo what's done, but you can carry on going forward and try again. Hoping to get it better next time.

This is how I look at my crafting. It's not always perfect.. in fact, to me, it's never perfect, but people seem to like what I do. I often wonder why, but I think like so many crafters out there, I'm never happy with what I make. I have this conversation regularly with other crafters. Now, whether it's just a case of a low self esteem, low confidence, or just genuine good old self doubt, it never ceases to amaze me how many people don't like what they produce.. and that they all feel like I do!

What I have found however, is that driving all over doing demo's can be quite therapeutic. Usually on my travels I listen to Radio 2, quite a few of my favourites on there, but after a while I do just want to sit in the peace and quiet. My drive over to Stockport the other week was no exception.

Nipping up and over the Peaks, I came across this beautiful view... well, I couldn't help but stop and take a quick snap of the scenery. I had set off early to ensure I got to my demo on time, so spending about five minutes looking at this was nice.  Doesn't it look beautiful?

I've also been busy making a few extra samples for the craft area at Ackworth Garden Centre. I do my Docrafts demo's there, but to help out, have made a few samples for other bits that aren't selling too well.... and how can these not sell? I lubs wellyfants and these little couple are no exception.

I've coloured the stamped images with pens and then used the fantastic Boofle papers and Papermania ribbons to finish off. I just love the simplicity of this card.... it was hard to let it go!

Here are a few more samples from this range too... quick details underneath to what I used.

This little guy uses the stamp which I have coloured with pencils, and I thought it would be perfect to team up with Wellington papers... they are so generic for male cards, I felt that they worked perfectly.

A little decoupage card here... simple embossed background on this card and a lovely lime green base to the layers.

Finally... LOVE this little guy... I reckon this little card could rekindle my love of decoupage.. I've kept the background really simple and used the fantastic Capsule spots and stripes collection in pastels (Docrafts).

Hope you like this little selection... more coming soon!

Well.... hello there!!!

I have had a blogging break. Did you notice? I'm sure you probably didn't, but I just felt today that I wanted to do a post as I have sooooo many things on my mobile that I've worked on over the past month or so, but not gotten around to posting!

Life has been a bit of a bind over the last month or so with one thing or another, and I really haven't been bothered about posting. I've had no inclination to do much, other than what I needed to. I'm sure you know how that feels. However, I am back in the land of the living again, and trying my best to regain my mojo and get it back to full working order!

I also really need to suss out how to post off my new mobile, so I can update whilst I am on the go. In all honesty, I'm not really managing to get onto the laptop to do anything other than check my mail and print out things from Digital Designer for an upcoming demo!

So... what have I to show you today? Well, just a little Gorjuss or two me thinks... these were some samples that I left at Ackworth Garden Centre after my demo the other week..

This card combines both the Gorjuss stamp, which has been coloured with watercolour pencils, and the Kraft Notes Forever Friends papers... I love these papers. The colours are beautiful!

Again, the same stamp coloured slightly darker and popped onto an 8 x 8 inch card which has been decorated with the Gorjuss papers from the 12 x 12 inch pack. The colours in the 12 inch pack and the 8 inch pack are two different colours and both are lovely!!!

I was asked to combine the heartwarmer sentiments, so dutifully did as I was told and used them as a feature on the card. They are perfect to go with everything really, but this matched in with the kraft notes papers perfectly.

Now.. this little beauty. She is actually on a puffy box made with my Xcut score board, and she was coloured in with the Artiste brush markers. It gives a totally different look to the usual pencils that I love to use, and if you're wondering how to get the skin tones, then I've done a step by step guide in the last Creativity magasine (March issue).

As well as the Gorjuss, there are many many things that I am totally loving out of this past two months demos, and I will be sure to come back and show them to you!

I will leave you with a little photo of my boy.. Senna...

He is such a sad little fella at the minute after losing his companions.. we lost his brother Biela quite a few years ago, and his sister Kiarra passed away at the end of January. He loves his cuddles and kisses, and even though he is loved very much, he still seems to miss his buddies. Bless him. 

On this photo he's looking quite old. Well, in fact, he actually is. He's nearly 15 now. A good age for our boy. I hope to have a few more years with him yet.. love him lots. 

Peek - a - boo ... and a cutie or two...

Yep. It's me. Sorry it has been a while since I last posted on here, but things have been a little 'odd' this past few weeks... not going into too many details, as it's personal, but let's just say, I am hoping for no reoccurance of what happened, and keeping my fingers crossed that normal service has resumed (well, as much as it can do!)

Anyway... enough about that... I have spent a few days recently just sitting and not creating anything. You know what it's like when you have worries that take your mind elsewhere, and thinking and worrying just takes over the creating. But I have made samples for my demo's - and I have been to some fantastic little shops this past month (Derby Garden Centre, Gadsby's and Ackworth Garden Centre to name a few!) so I do have plenty of samples to take photographs of and upload to show.

But for today, I wanted to share this little beauty..

As I say, I have spent some time getting back into crafting, and colouring is definately the best way to start for me. This image is a Sherri image, just love the cuteness... 

I have also been colouring the Gorjuss images from Docrafts. Have you seen them? I must admit I am loving them... I do have my favourites, and here is one of them... 

Isn't she a cutie? I decided to colour this one in with pencils, and kept it to a one layer card just using clouds to finish the background.

You really need to check out the Gorjuss papers and packaging too... it is all just so lovely! I have to stop myself from using them just for me - although I did treat myself to an extra packet or two... lol. The packaging is recyclable and the papers are beautiful. Especially the darker tones, which I didn't think I would end up liking too much.

This week, I am cracking on with some extra samples for an upcoming Create and Craft show, and my demo in Derby Garden Centre on Saturday.

AND... I totally need to share - I am also going to be teaching a class over at Ackworth Garden Centre after the Easter holidays. Exciting times eh? Let's just hope things stay on the straight and narrow for a little while.. lol.

I promise to share more projects soon... take care y'all... Happy Crafting!