On this day...

...in 1987.


We had snow - lots of it.


Nothing unusual considering the photos that have appeared in the media recently.


However, the heavy snow in the area where I live was a problem back in 1987 as my Sister was pregnant and went into labour.


It was touch & go whether the ambulance would reach her or if it did, it wasn't certain that they would make it to the local hospital. Luckily, she arrived safely at the hospital accompanied by my Aunt and there she gave birth to my niece.


Where I live is near to a main road linking with the oil refinery down by the Thames (now it is the Gateway Port) so at least part of the main road had to be kept clear for access. This helped with our getting off the estate but the hospital was accessed via country lanes so the family had fun & games visiting. But that was 30 years ago and now a distant memory.


So today my niece celebrates her 30th birthday.


HAPPY BIRTHDAY Pestie...here's hoping you have a fabulous one.


Best wishes from those of us 'down south'.................................................

Tuesday was...

...my birthday.

A day that I share the following events with...

The death of JFK
The birth of Jamie-Lee Curtis
The death of C.S.Lewis
The resignation of Margaret Thatcher

...and I'm sure there are many more.

My staff presented me with the most wonderful present...

 ...a coffee maker and a basket of goodies to go with it. They also came up with a wonderful poem (which I will share another time). Such a wonderful gift. The only problem has been getting it home as I commute - two days later and everything is now sitting in my kitchen.
Tuesday evening I came home to find flowers and chocolates waiting for me...

 ...my arranging doesn't do them justice...

...but they are lovely and contain my 'birthday flowers' - 'mums and sea thistles.

I was also given a huge bottle of Baileys which I shall enjoy over the holiday period.

I will be meeting my friend Hilary on Friday and we will be going for lunch and a bit of retail therapy as it is "Members Weekend" at Pinnacle Crafts.

Not a bad week........................................................

Friday was...

...my Sister's birthday.

As she is a lover of candles & wax melts, I bought her an electric wax warmer.

This is the warmer that I bought and it looks very pretty...

...surrounded by her crystal collection. The light from the warmer catches all the crystals and makes them sparkle.

We have had a running joke about this gift.

I bought it a month ago (it was the last one that Naked Flame had in this colourway) and as I wasn't going to see my Sister on her actual birthday, I gave her the sealed box.

Our telephone conversations since have all included references to "The Box" and even on the morning of her birthday when I phoned to wish her a lovely day she said 'thank you' for her lovely box LOL

I took her to Naked Flame yesterday so that she could spend some of her birthday money on candles - just a few candles (**rollseyes**) - and when I took her home I was able to get the photo above.

I think it will always be referred to as "The Box" but at least we will both know what we are talking about..............................................................

Happy Birthday...

...to Queen Elizabeth II.

 

 

Today is her actual birthday and she is 90 years young.

 

There certainly seems to be a lot of celebrating planned from now until her 'official' birthday in June.

We just got the flags out at work...

...and we have a mixture of George crosses and Union flags as this Saturday is also St George's Day.

I have to say, it has brightened up the office quite a bit seeing the flags and bunting (I think our wing of the building has been the only area to decorate but who cares - it cheers the place up). The red/white/blue is the first bit of decoration that we have had up since Christmas.

I'm wondering what other events are coming up that I could decorate for as it does make the workplace look more cheerful.

In the meantime...Happy Birthday your Majesty...................................................................

Colour and...

...texture.

The workshop this week at Pinnacle Crafts was to help with creating texture from the use of colour and to encourage folk to pick colours that would normally be outside of their comfort zone.

The first project Andy (Pearson) set for us was to colour a selection of circles with Distress ink pads using the help of the Creative Expressions "Smoothies"...

 ...I have some of the larger ones but hadn't 'played' with the small ones - they are a fabulous size for applying colour where you want to be in control.
I coloured my circles using some of the 2015 colours of Distress ink...

 ...Wilted Violet, Twisted Citron, Fossilized Amber and then threw in a circle coloured with Peacock Feathers.
This is the resulting card...

...the circles were mounted on 3D foam and some folk glazed their circles with Glossy Accents - I didn't as I rather like the more matt finish.

The sentiment was a Hero Arts wooden mounted stamp but unfortunately this is now discontinued.

Although pretty quick & easy, this was a very effective card to start off with.

I'll let you see the other projects from the workshop later in the week...........................................

Happy Birthday Mum...

...78 years young.

Mum has a thing about owls - she has quite a collection in glass, china, stone, resin and then there are the pictures and other bits.

When I saw this cute canvas shopper...

 ...I just had to grab one for Mum...

 ...aren't the family of owls just adorable.
In addition to the owls, Mum is rather partial to 'hedgies' so this seemed the perfect gift to pop inside the shopper...

...it is a t-light holder. Mum is still rather wobbly on her feet since coming home from hospital so rather than risk her having flames I bought some battery t-lights so she can enjoy the effect without any worry.
As for her card...

...this was one that I made at one of Andy Pearson's workshops. The little 'steampunk' owl has a variety of self-adhesive, flat-back rivet & screw-heads dotted amongst the cogs. The flowers originally had black beads in the centres but it didn't quite look how I wanted - so I swapped to the facetted flat-back metal gems (same as I used the other week) and I was much happier with the finish.
I picked the black beads at the time to match in with the eyes of the owl but there was just something not right - you know when you look at something and there is a niggle in your mind but you can't work out what...well the Marianne Design "Diamond Gems" were the perfect solution.

So Mum's birthday is well "owled" - Happy Birthday Mum..................................................

First full week...

...back at work.

What a nightmare!!!

On the craft front, there hasn't been much time to 'play' as the new rail timetable is still causing problems so sitting down and actually getting my craft stash out hasn't been high on my list of priorities. However, I did need to make a card for a friend.

This little miss was already coloured so I grabbed some PPs...

...some kraft CS and a selection of flowers and this was the finished result.

There was a bonus to making this card - everything came out of my scrap box so my 2016 aim to use up more of my old stash is off to a good start..............................................

Happy Birthday...

...to Me.

I thought I'd share some photos of some of my pressies.

My folk at work bought me a lovely Yankee Candle advent...

 ...20 tea-lights and 4 votives. Roll on December 1st so that I can see what the first fragrance is.
I received a lovely hand-made card from my friend Hilary...

 ...and a lovely friendship notebook & pen.
Some of the money I received in advance allowed me to buy this cheery chap...

 ...he is full of mini gingerbread men. How yummy...and Mum gave me a new Poinsettia...

...which looks lovely and provides a fabulous splash of colour.

The weather seems to be behaving itself today but it is not wall to wall sunshine. It is chilly but dry.

Mum isn't feeling too good as she has picked up one of these winter bugs that are going around, so we wont be going out for lunch. Still - I had a lovely lunch with my friend Hilary yesterday and we chatted and planned our course of action for next weekend's Members Weekend at Pinnacles.

The shopping list is growing....................................................................

Gosh it's a long time...

...since this little Miss saw some ink.

Do you have phases?

I certainly do and it is a very long time since most of my Magnolia stamps were inked up and used.

As I needed a birthday card for a friends birthday, I decided to go with this...

...the stamp is actually called "Tilda with wedding gifts" but I thought it was perfect for a birthday.
I went with a brown & peach colour scheme...

...luckily, the card was hand delivered so the pretty peach roses didn't cause any problems for postage.

It was also lucky that this was one of a number of items that I had photographed and save to the PC before I "Windows 10'd" - still can't get the PC to pick-up any data from the CD or memory card drives..............................................................................

Happy Birthday Sis...

...hope you have a good one.

A short while ago, I shared this coloured Saturated Canary image with you...

...and I said at the time it would be perfect for my Sister's birthday card.
Well here is the card all done...

...the base is a pearl CS card blank and then the image was mounted on some turquoise Bazzill. A bit of washi tape down the spine and a few gems - sorted.

At the moment the sun is shining so fingers crossed she will be able to take Lexi for a couple nice strolls rather than trudging through the rain.

Happy Birthday little sister...............................................................................

There are days...

...when nothing turns out how you pictured it.

I needed to get my Mum's birthday card sorted ready to be able to take it with me today so that she would have it to open on the day (Friday 20 February). I made two cards but neither looked 'right' so Saturday I headed over to Barleylands for some inspiration.

The two cards I had tried were in Mum's favourite colour; blue. However, when that didn't work I started looking for other things that I know she likes.

Mum has a thing about owls...I think it harks back to when she was a "Brown Owl" (leader of a Brownie pack)...and she has a collection of ornaments in glass, china, metal, stoneware and a number of pieces of jewellery.

I wandered around for some time but kept coming back to a "Sweet Dixie" die set called "Owl & Branch 2"...it ended up coming home with me.

The die is very detailed and took a couple of passes through my Big Shot to ensure that it was cut and then I passed it through to emboss it - I love it.

I was in two minds as to the colour scheme for the card but settled on this...

...the card base is 6x6 black Bazzill and the die-cut frame is a coated black CS from Papermania. The owl was die-cut from kraft CS. I added some strands of burlap tied down the spine of the card.
As you can see...

...the embossed detail on this owl is fabulous and I love how the kraft colour stands out from the black background.

I didn't put any sentiment on the front of the card as this will allow Mum to frame it and add it to her owl collection. I also don't have to worry about sharing this on here as Mum doesn't blog or use any form of social media.

Hope she likes it.....................................................................

Bugaboo will be celebrating...

...their 5th birthday.

Note your diaries for a crafting event to look forward to once all the Christmas & New Year frenzy is out of the way...

...it all kicks off on the 17 January 2015 so why not drop in at the Catch the Bug site and play along.

If you help to spread the word about this birthday event you could even be in with a chance to win a prize - but you need to hop over to the site to find out more.

So folks, a week of crafting fun to look forward to - what a great way to start the New Year......................................................................

The perfect way...

...to spend a birthday.

The weather was pretty awful but it didn't matter because the company was great and we all enjoyed getting mucky.

Andy ran a similar workshop earlier in the year but this time we were thinking more about Christmas and making a decorative piece for the home or to give as a gift.

Starting with a 12x12 pre-gesso'd canvas we were let loose to rummage through boxes of embellies and dies...

 ...roughly planning out the layout before making a start on the actual piece.

As this was a Christmas piece I wanted to use one of Ignacio's Christmas digi images (Nicecrane Designs) as a focal point on the piece - who better than Santa arriving with the gifts.

Having carefully transferred all the bits & bobs onto a sheet...

...I made a start adding some texture to the canvas using texture paste and stencils...

 ...some brickwork and snowflakes seemed ideal...

 ...and then I started adding some burlap - the texture and the frayed edges create a lot of interest...

 ...and is easy to wrap over to the sides to continue the 'look'.

All the bits & bobs were gradually attached to the canvas and given a good coating of gesso...

 ...a trusty post-it note protected the printed image.

Things never go back onto the canvas in the same layout as you start with - bits get moved and you come across other things that you want to add but it doesn't matter - the idea is to create something that you find pleasing.

Once everything was on and coated with gesso, the whole thing was given a blast with a heat gun to ensure it was completely dry before adding some colour...

 ...I covered everything with acrylic paint and then spritzed with a Tim Holts Distress spray in a brass shade...

 ...the spray is great for getting into all the nooks & crannies that brushes find difficult...

...I then used some gold acrylic paint to dry-brush certain areas to give more depth.

When the light improves a bit, I'll take some pictures of it on the wall.

My friend Hilary went for a red & gold theme...

 ...I love the wooden words that she used.
Tina kept her canvas fairly pale with a slight hint of cream...

 ...and highlighted some areas with a light plum shade.
Andy also played during the workshop...

...and his was a lovely blue & silver scheme with lots of texture.
Tina's daughter decided she didn't want a Christmas piece. So she made her canvas for her bedroom...

...and included the name of her favourite band. The 'firework' effect around the edge was hand painted with a variety of acrylic paints.

Considering we all started with a white canvas, all five pieces ended up very different.

There was a sixth canvas that was sprayed and had five Sizzix lampposts attached to it - that was my birthday present from the class...a starting point for me to have a play with. When I make up my mind what I'm going to add to it, I'll show you all some pictures.

I really enjoyed my day - so thank you to Andy & Pinnacle Crafts and Hilary & my fellow crafters for making my day so special. I had a fabulous time.........................................................

Today is...

...22 November!

If you have never tried it, you can type a date into Google and find out lots of interesting things. This is a link to what Wikipedia says about 22 November.

It tells you that in 1990, Maggie Thatcher resigned as leader of the Conservative party...

1963 saw the death of C.S. Lewis, the wonderful author who gave us the Narnia tales. However, his death was rather over shadowed by the killing of the USA president J.F. Kennedy...

1958 saw the birth of the USA actress Jamie Lee Curtis...

You can find out so many things on the Internet but one thing Wikipedia doesn't mention is that the 22 day of November is my birthday **big grin**.

The weather may not be great (rain forecast for later) but I have a lovely day planned with fellow crafters at one of Andy Pearson's workshops.

Have a lovely 22 November, whatever you are doing. I know I'm going to enjoy mine..........................

Before it disappears completely...

...a Summertime card.

The temps are dropping and everywhere is donning its Autumn finery but we are still getting some warm spells and a bit of sunshine - so I thought I'd use one of my Kenny K digi images that reminds me of Summer.

Who can resist an ice-cream when the weather is lovely...

...I haven't used any of my Kenny K images for ages and it seems such a long time since I made a card with a cluster of blooms like this.

This card is for a friend's birthday - it is okay to share on here as she doesn't follow any social networking sites of any kind.

I hope the weather isn't too bad where you are - I understand that some poor folk up in Scotland have actually had some snow........................................................................

A birthday card...

...for an 80th Birthday.

I was asked by a colleague to make an 80th birthday card for her Dad - the remit was very sketchy..."He does a bit of gardening"...

I struggled to come up with something but in the end went with an easel card made to look like a garden shed...

...the shed was made from a sheet of Carta Bella PP from their "Sew Lovely" range - Woodgrain. This PP was the perfect weight and had a lovely texture to it that made the woodgrain seem very real.
Most of the other items on the card come from the Craftwork Cards "Potting Shed" range...

 ...the dotty PP with the thistles in the corners was used on the base. Card Candi added colour & texture in the corners and was added to a cluster of mini rosettes to create a hanging basket...

 ...the greenery was added by hand using a Distress Marker. The wheelbarrow...

was die cut decoupage and was luckily the right size.

All the sentiment panels came from the Potting Shed paper pack and the '80' was actually silver peel-offs coloured with a copper coloured Sharpie pen (why is it you never have the right colour for things like this?).

To be honest, I wasn't sure about the finished card - after all, 80 is a pretty big deal for a birthday. However, my colleague loved it and so did her family and as the party was yesterday there is no problem sharing it now.

Do you have problems coming up with ideas when the remit is vague?.........................................

Happy Birthday Suzie...

...have a wonderful day.

Today is a special birthday for my friend Suzie (Weasel) - it is one that ends in a zero.

I wasn't able to join her on Saturday at the Eastwood crop as I was picking up stuff from my Sister to take up to my Niece on Sunday...I missed the most amazing cake (sob).

Normally, most of the craft units at Barleylands are closed on a Monday but as it was Bank Holiday Monday, I had asked Andy if I could drop off Suzie's gift. She and another friend had booked a class to do on her actual birthday. So despite the grotty wet weather on Monday I headed over to Barleylands - heartened by the email from Andy that Pinnacles were going to celebrate the Bank Holiday with "Triple Discount" in store for their members.

Before heading over to Barleylands, I had to sort out some wrapping for Suzie's gift...

 ...the makings were gather together on my desk...

 ...a mix of Anita's Glitter stickers, a brown paper carrier, some Craftwork Cards PP & die-cuts and some ribbon.
This was the finished bag...

...a close-up of the tag & bow...

...some of the decoration...

 ...top and...

 ...bottom corners.
The card was one that I made a while ago with one of my Nicecrane digi images...

...and I thought it went perfectly with the gift wrapping.

As I was shopping in Pinnacles, two very cold hands came around my checks from behind - Suzie had also decided to take advantage of the additional discount. So the parcel was retrieved from Andy and after shopping we headed off for lunch and a coffee.

So Suzie had her gifts a day early but it was lovely having a chat and catching up...and getting to see photos of her fabulous birthday cake that Debbie had made.

Hope you have a fabulous morning crafting and have a lovely day....................................................