New Home Update

Hi guys and girls
Just thought I would let you all know that I have moved into my new place, all settled in and straight (at last!). Still a few bags and boxes to unpack (mainly craft stuff as I have nowhere to store it at the moment) but will get to that eventually no doubt.

First week in the new place is over and we're all set for Christmas. That was one of the first things I purchased, a Christmas tree! We bought a lovely shiny black one and put black roses on it and twinklies etc, it looks fab!

Lianne and Lewis have settled in although Lewis is missing his daddy terribly so I try to make sure that they get to see each other as often as possible so that neither of them feel like they are missing out. I have been missing Steve, but I am sure that it is a natural feeling, after spending so long together, and that things will get better with time.

I just wanted to add a thank you for all of your lovely emails and cards wishing us all well and to thank you all for your kindness and support, it certainly is true what they say, you find out who your real friends are in times like this.

Love to you all and I hope to post another message soon, but if not, Merry Christmas everyone and a very happy, healthy New Year.

Home Hunting

Hi guys, just wanted to share some news with you all.
I think I may have found somewhere to live, don't ask me where as I don't want to put the mockers on it, but if all goes well I could be moving in as soon as the end of THIS month (and THEN I can start crafting again YIPPPPPEEEEE!!!)

Watch this space and keep your fingers crossed for me xxx

WOW, I've Won an Award

OH MY GOD. I've just been checking out some of my favourite blogs and I noticed that my good friend Vonnie, www.checkvonnies.blogspot.com, has nominated me to receive this award. I am SOOOOOOO chuffed. Thanks hon.

I now have the hard task of nominating 5 people to receive this award from me. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to nominate people who have also been nominated by Vonnie, which is a shame as they're all so great. Saying that there are so many blogs I love to visit so choosing just 5 of them was really hard for me, but choose I must and I have selected the following 5 people as their blogs have inspired me and giving me lots of ideas when I have struggled to keep going in the past. Thanks girls.

1. http://www.holliescorner.blogspot.com/ Hollie is 10 years old and I think her cards are absolutely amazing (and so does my 11-year-old daughter). She offers great, fresh and new ideas on colour and design. Keep up the good work Hollie, love your cards very much.


2. http://www.papercraftsbyrach.blogspot.com/ Again, another blog I love to look at as the colour co-ordination and card themes are bright and inspiring. A lovely blog to look through on a dark, cloudy, dismal day, definitely one to make you smile.


3. http://www.debbieeastmancardsimake.blogspot.com/ A great blog to visit for innovative ideas for gifts etc beside cards.


4. http://www.kraftinkimmieskorner.blogspot.com/ Love this blog, she has fabulous cards and just offers great ideas for colour co-ordination and layouts. Another great blog to look through on less inspired days.


5. http://www.allenjeni.blogspot.com/ For her colour schemes and inspiration. A fabulous blog, full of fabulous cards and ideas.

Keep up the good work girls. Love all of your work and many many more besides.

Lots of Love x

Hi Guys...

Just a quick note to say HI GIRLIES, no cards to show you at the moment as I have no computer at home, but I just wanted you all to know that I am still thinking of you all and miss you all very much, not to mention the fact that I miss crafting so much.

Sarn has recently set me a challenge to make a monochrome decoupaged card, so I will be making this and posting it very soon to see what you all think.

Take care of you... miss you all loads.
Lots of love x

I'm also sad because...

I'm unplugging my computer at the weekend.

In order to sell my house, I need my kitchen to look like a kitchen and not a franchise of HobbyCraft, therefore the computer and all my crafting stuff will have to go into storage for the foreseeable future. I will still try, where possible to leave new card pictures and messages for you all at the weekend, when I am able to pop round and see my parents. I'm sure my lovely daddy won't mind me taking over his office for the few hours I get to see him.

Also, belated birthday wishes to my lovely mum. She was SIXTY on Monday and we all went out for a lovely meal on Friday evening. Family and friends gathered, and danced, and were merry (mum especially). It really was a lovely evening, thanks mum! Hope you had a lovely time at the meal and also on your actual birthday, despite watching the children for me when I returned to work. Thanks for everything.

Today... I am sad

and a little excited too.

Lianne starts secondary school tomorrow. It seems like only yesterday she was crawling through the back garden on her hands and knees, stuffing her face with everything she could find and filling her nappy. Now I find that I am standing here ironing a secondary school uniform and she's getting ready for her first big day and a new big challenge. Yet another milestone, I wasn't quite prepared for...

Good luck Lianne, I'm proud of you, every day, I love you so much.

Hap-Bee Birthday

These are some of the glitter embossed die-cut images I was telling you about (from the garden insects collection) that I purchased the other day up the town, aren't they cute!

I made a really, quick simple card by sticking them on the cardstock with sticky foam pads and then added the 'Birthday' greeting.

Thorpe Park Day out

Well, we had a fabulous day at Thorpe Park, it was just me and the children in the end who went as my friend didn't feel up to it on the day and not wanting to disappoint the children we went anyway, just the three of us.

We had a great time and Lianne went on almost every roller coaster ride there. Despite the huge queueing times, me and Lewis waited with her in the queue until it was almost time for her to go on and then we raced back to the ride to watch her go around all the loops and twists and bends and curves. She had great fun. There was lots for Lewis to do there as well (although I was a little worried that he might get bored waiting for Lianne all day) but he went on a few rides with me, not quite the rollercoasters Lianne was used to but he had a good time.

Later on in the day, when the queue waiting time had dissolved quite dramatically, I even managed to get on STEALTH. Boy I wish I hadn't but was glad I did in the end, it basically goes in a straight line from 0-80mph in about 2 seconds and the g-force holds you firmly in your seat as it then goes up vertically, twists slightly to go over a loop and then twists again to come back down in a vertical drop! The whole ride is over in about 10 seconds but was worth the experience just to say I'd been on it!

Thanks to everyone who kindly gave us vouchers (Julie, I'm pleased to say that your vouchers arrived literally moments before we walked out the door - thank you). They will all be put to good use as they can still be used over the next school holiday... Alton Towers here we come!

Penguin Moment

My second Christmas card of the day... that's enough for me. Sorry girls, Rudolph Day can have two contributions and LIKE IT!!!

Materials:

Background paper was part of a prize from Card Making & Papercraft

Christmas Tree and Penguins, Whipper Snapper Designs

Jingle and mittens from Jolee's Embellishments

Button, flower and ribbons, from local Craft Shop

Doggie Treats

Me and the children went into town for a while today and we found some lovely die cut images that were just begging me to buy them. They had four themes, cats, dogs, summer and garden critters, so of course I had to buy all FOUR! Anyway, when we returned from the town, I discovered that the buckle on my favourite belt had broken and that there was no way to fix it (no I haven't put on weight, it's just a very well worn belt). So anyway, being the crafter that I am and not being able to bear the idea of throwing it away, I cut the buckle off so just the leather and the studs remained!!!

I then wondered what on earth I was going to do with it. So I came up with the idea of making a dog card with the die cut images I had just bought and that part of the belt could be used to resemble a 'dog collar'... good idea or what? You tell me... do you like?

Materials:
'Dog Treat' from Autumn Leaves
Embossed Die Cut Embellishments from Poundland
Belt, Artists own

Kenya Part 1

This is the front cover of my Kenya Safari Adventure Scrapbook.

It occured to me today that I have never shared this book with you on my blog. Basically, I WON the trip of a lifetime on a local radio station a few years ago and it really was the holiday of a lifetime. Seven days safari, luxury hotels (and believe me, they were gorgeous hotels), wonderful food, all inclusive), it really was a wonderful experience. I hope to go back one day, when the children are a little older so that they can experience seeing wild animals in their natural habitat rather than locked up in cages in a zoo, although that can be fun too, if not a little sad!

JAMBO is the Swahili word for 'Hello'. We heard this a lot during our stay in Kenya.

Photo 1
This is a couple of photographs of the red elephant and the giraffe we spotted on the first day of our Safari. The leaves are stamped images from Whipper Snapper Designs and the Jeep is from a collection at Jolee's Boutique, coupled with the brown and the African background papers.

Photo 2
This is one of the red elephants we saw. They are called red elephants because the dust on the ground here is so red and when the elephants wash, they roll around in the dust, which makes them appear red also. The metal embellishment says 'Make a Wish...' I added this because never in a million years could I have ever wished to see such a thing, it truly was tear-jerking to see such an amazing creature, so untroubled by our presence, and yet so graceful and beautiful.

Photo 3
These are the zebra we encountered on the side of the road. They just stood looking at us as if to say, 'You're the funniest looking creatures we've ever seen!' Over in the distance, we could see them running around and playing, like wild horses do, it was really lovely to see them like this. Our guide explained to us that the zebra stripes are like a fingerprint, no two zebras have identical stripes, not even twins!

Kenya Part 2

Photo 1

In this picture you can see Steve is standing on a huge pile of volcanic rock in the middle of a volcanic crater. The volcano (thankfully) isn't there anymore, because when it last erupted about a 1000 years ago, it totally flattened itself and now there's nothing left but rock , although our guide did say that it's only just in the last 100 years or so that plantlife have started growing around the rock, which is why you can see a little greenery too. I added the wording... 'Where's room service when I need it?' as there was nowhere nearby for refreshments or anything, oh to be a man on occasions such as these!!! The photo in the bottom left of Photo 1 is of a giant spider. We had just found the perfect spot to sit and sunbathe within the grounds of our hotel, right by the pool (and the bar). When we were comfortable, I laid back on my sunlounger only to see 'Boris' right above me. God knows how, but I managed to stay still long enough to get a picture before we made a hasty retreat. Well, it was only fair, he was there before us - and he can stay there too, if you ask me!

Photo 2

Just passing through. This is one of the monkeys we saw on our safari travels. He didn't seem too bothered by us, in fact, he even got up and gave us this little pose. Bless him! The embellishments in this photograph are again by Jolee's and the postage stamp is an original one from Kenya.

Photo 3
This is Steve and a couple we met while on safari having a look through the telescope within the grounds of our hotel, which overlooked a vast landscape. We managed to find a herd of elephants at a watering hole, a family of giraffes grazing, some lions and some water buffalo.

Photo 4
This is the final page of my safari scrapbook and this has the most amazing coloured lizard featured at the top. Together with a picture of Kenya at sunrise and Kenya at sunset. It truly has some of the most breathtaking sunsets you've ever seen and the red dust roads are in themselves a sight to see. At night, the hotel staff spray the thatched roofs with some form of bug spray and in the morning when you come down for your breakfast, there are literally hundreds of these scorpions lying around on the ground and in the flowerbeds. This one was about the size of the palm of my hand, and we were informed that he was not one of the largest species in the area. Believe me, there was no way I would've photographed this bad boy if he hadn't already been dead!

Hope you enjoyed looking at my memories book of Kenya, one day...I'll be back!

YAY...It's RUDOLPH day!

And you'll be pleased to know that I HAVE made an offering for today. Yes, yes, yes I know I'm supposed to make at least five Christmas cards today, but cut me a bit of slack will you, it is only 12 o'clock and I have already made three cards today so NER!

This is my FIRST christmas card offering today and I'm really pleased with it.

Lots of different elements to this card. Please see materials below:

Materials:
Christmas Tree stamps, Unknown (a stamped image swap from Linda)
Snowman from Whipper Snapper Designs 2008
'Twas the night before Christmas... puchased from Ebay, no details
Christmas blue polkadot ribbon, a freebie from a craft magazine
Christmas background paper, a gift from Sarn
Button purchased from local craft shop
Glitter

Doggy Pile

Hi everyone, I just love love love love love this card...don't you? It's just toooooo cute for words!

Everytime I use this image it just makes me smile, because they all look so uncomfortable yet sooooooo comfortable at the same time...does that sound weird? I think you KNOW what I'm trying to say?? Anyway, enough rambling Fae...shut up!

This is another one of Katharina's great sketches was used for this card to which I added the background paper, stamped image, which I decoupaged and mounted onto brown card, then I simply added the ribbon and the flowers.

Materials:
'Doggy Pile' by Whipper Snapper Designs
'Dog Treat' Background paper from Autumn Leaves
Cardstock Sticker wording by the Paper Studio
Large Flower and Metal Embellishment by Paper Mania
Small Flower by Prima Marketing
Ribbon and Gemstones from local Craft Shop

Just the 'Twit-Two' of Us

This card was made using an image kindly given to me by a friend. I'm sorry I don't know who makes them or what they're called, but aren't they cute...? I used one of Katharina's sketches for the layout using red linen cardstock, red mirri card and red heart background paper. Finally I added a strip of red polkadot ribbon and a red polkadot bow to finish.

Materials:

Stamped image (a selection from Linda)

'Just the TWO of Us' cardstock wording by the Paper Studio

Curly Hearts from the Francoise Collection by Paper Adventures

Cardstock and Mirri Card from local Craft Shop

Red polkadot ribbon also from local Craft Shop

Oriental Spice

This is a card I made for my friends' son, Loren. He really loves Japanese style cards and although I was trying not to make this card too 'girlie' I still decided to go for just plain black and white with a hint of pink. You can't really do cherry blossom in any other colour...can you?

Anyway, I like it and hope he will when his birthday comes around. A friend sent me the stamped image (sorry I don't kn0w who makes it) which I then cut out and mounted onto a white linen base card and then took the stamped image of the cherry blossom and carefully cut around all of the image leaving just a thin white border around the edges. This I then decoupaged with foam pads to give a 3D effect.

I coloured the flowers very carefully with watercolour, building up the colour gradually so that it would have a washed effect but making it quite dark in the centre, again to give the effect of depth. I then added the black and pink flower which I fastened with a pink brad.

Here is a close up of the image so that you can see the beautiful effect of the flowers, which, once coloured, I highlighted with a white gel pen

Hugs and Thanks

Just wanted to say thank you to all the people who commented on my previous 'WANTED' message and to those who emailed me for my address and also to those who know me and posted vouchers through my letterbox. The vouchers will be put to good use and we'll definitely get to visit another one of the places besides Thorpe Park through your kind generosity. They will all be put to good use and will not be wasted. Another week of the summer holidays left and we plan to make the most of every day remaining.

Thanks again everyone xxx

WANTED...

I am planning to take the children out to Thorpe Park for the day on Tuesday next week. Does anyone out there shop at Sainsbury's?

The reason why I am asking is because Sainsbury's offer a 2 for 1 voucher at the checkout for various attractions (including Thorpe Park) and I only have one of these. Which means that me and one child can get in free. I am planning to take another friend with me and was wondering if anyone had a spare of these vouchers. This way we will only have to pay for two adults and the children can go in for free. It would be very much appreciated.

If you do have a spare one of these vouchers, and you are able to post it to me today or tomorrow, I would be happy to reimburse you any postage costs. Please contact me on moonstone1405@hotmail.com

Thanking you in advance.

Miss Mimi 2

This is another of the Miss Mimi decoupage sheets, I really like this lady, she's jus so jolly - sure to brighten anyone's day. I also love this colour combination, I tried to coordinate with her dress so I used a turquoise basecard which I stamped with my favourite PSX leaf stamp in green and then stamped little stars (Banana Frog) in blue in the gaps. I added the ribbon the flower and the gemstome and the Birthday circle greeting.

Tattoo No. 3

I know some people are not big fans of tattoo's but personally I can't see anything wrong with them. It's an individuals way of expressing their personality and individuality.

Occasionally, I have been known to design tattoo's for friends and friends of friends (through word of mouth) and I really enjoy doing this as it also gives me the chance to show off my creative skills and my own individuality too. It's especially appealing to see my one off, original artwork on someone else's body. I have two tattoo's of which were both my designs and over the last couple of weeks, through careful thought and consideration I have decided to get another tattoo, my third. This one will be in the lower part of my back, just on my waistline. I spent a long time last night, designing this to get every little aspect of it just right and this is what I came up with.

The triangle represents Lianne, Lewis and myself. The heart represents our unity, the fact that me and my children will always have a connection which is why the heart goes through the triangle and the wings represent my protection of them.

I always get my tattoo's done by Andy at Pointed Image, and I recommend everyone who asks me to design something for them to go and see him. He's brilliant at taking a piece of artwork and transforming it into something fantastic! He's brilliant at shading as well, which is, as far as I'm concerned quite difficult to do without a pencil, ha ha ha! Anyway, Andy has kindly agreed to do this for me... watch this space. I'll get Lianne to photograph it once it's done.

I'd love to know your thoughts... What do you think?

Crafting Fairy Blog Candy

Check out Debbie's blog (Crafting Fairy) to see her blog candy giveaway. She's just gone over 10,000 hits on her blog and is celebrating by offering some fantastic blog candy. She has a fantastic blog and some great inspirational ideas, definitely worth taking a look.

The blog candy giveaway deadline is soon as she will be announcing the winner on Sunday 24th August. Good luck everyone.

A Spoonful of Sugar

This is a card I made for the 'A Spoonful of Sugar' Challenge 13 Sketch. I know number 13 is generally an unlucky number but I am hoping that I will be lucky enough to win the 'Whiff of Joy' stamp that is on offer as blog candy.

Take a look at the 'A Spoonful of Sugar' blog to get the sketch design and see what you can come up with. I decided to follow a lilac, purple and silver theme. The stamp is from Whipper Snapper Designs as the ASoS team have agreed that you can now use any stamp designs on their challenges, which is all good.

Wish me luck and good luck to anyone entering the challenge who heard about it through my blog.

Miss Mimi

This is Miss Mimi, again by Marij Rahder. This is a get well card I couldn't wait to make as soon as I bought the decoupage images. She has such a cheerful disposition who couldn't help but feel better looking at her?

I used one of Katharina's sketches to design the card layout but instead of using a single message to the left of the card i decided the add the casts, bandages and other relevant things... thanks for the inspiration Katharina.

Thriller Driller

This is who I call Drillin' Dianne. Another great decoupage image from Marij. As you can see, I'm on a roll with my male cards and I'm making them while I'm in the mood, at least that way, next time a male birthday comes up I'll have a selection to choose from and won't have to make a mad dash card for an unexpected male's birthday.

This is a close up, I love these girls... not literally, but they're not skinny, bony girls, these images are how women should be... voluptuous and curvaceous...

Choppin' Charlotte

This is another great decoupage sheet from Marij Rahder. I call this one Choppin' Charlotte, although that is not her real name (they don't have names) I thought it suited her. This is another great male card and although you all know I hate making male cards as they are so limited in what images you can actually use, these images make it so easy.

This is a close up of the decoupage so that you can see it in more detail and so that you can see the layers involved. For this image I only actually used three of the five layers because I was getting tired and a little bored (I have to admit) of all the cutting involved. Well... I did say earlier that decoupage wasn't my most favourite 'craft time' past time.

And another close-up from a different angle. I couldn't resist using this little wooden mouse. I've had him for what seems like ages and just couldn't find the right card to use him on, well on this one, he's watching Charlotte cut down the trees, so I guess he's a field mouse. Do they have forest mouses??? Anyway, I thought he was the perfect finishing touch, so he's staying!!