Freycob's Blog

Christmas 2011

2011-12-30T19:57:00.000Z

Christmas 2011 has been and gone and I hope that you all had a lovely, happy, family time; full of love, laughter and precious memories.

I was lucky enough to spend the day with my husband, children, parents and one of my sisters. Unfortunately my other sister was at home in France and my brother lives in South Wales, but they were in our thoughts and hearts that day, as every day.

My fave pressie from my hubbie and my two fantastic kids... a little kitchen indulgence no less ;-)

Sprouts (and lots of them) were being prepared - I lurves sprouts - mine and dad's fave veggies. But oh WOW I look sleepy eyed and fat in the face in this one. Hellooooo diet in January!

My Christmas angel; oh how she's growing up too fast. Unfortunately the teen isn't one to pose for the camera, so I can't ~~embarrass~~ show you just how he's growing up and becoming a handsome young man before our eyes.

However, as you can see, not everyone was impressed with their new winter coat! Or was it that fact that the Santa hat had been placed on her head?

Letraset Aquamarkers

2011-11-30T22:22:00.001Z

As many of you know, I'm lucky enough to be a freelance demonstrator for Letraset. (Lucky mare or what?! LOL).

I recently made a few cards using their Aquamarker pens and want to share the results with you here. The stamp is from the designer John Byars for DoCrafts. Papers are all from my scrap paper stacks and all embellishments are from my stash.

I used different colourways for each of the little boys in my images and for the bubbles I applied some Glossy Accents to give the bubbles a bit of shine and depth.

You can click on the images to get a more detailed look at the colouring/watercolouring techniques I've used.

I've applied the base colour to these dungarees from the pen using a damp paint brush pen and then used the same colour pen directly onto the image to add a more defined, darker/shadow area, which I then blended in to prevent too much of a harsh line.

Again I've used the same technique used on this card as the one above.

I applied my colour to the dungarees on this card with a damp paint brush. By using this method, you get a much more subtle effect. More akin to traditionally watercolouring an image. I then applied another layer of the same colour to darken the shadow areas.

For this next card, I applied the colour to the card and then, using the blender pen 'washed' the colour into the image. This gives a much more intense colour.

Using the black Aquamarker which I have diluted right down, I created a shadowed area at his feet.

I hope to get a YouTube video made in the next couple of weeks to show you how to use the Letraset Aquamarkers using the techniques above. I'll keep you posted!

Hodgson's Barn plus 4 girls

2011-11-23T21:58:00.000Z

I had a wonderful long weekend away at the beginning of the month in a beautiful part of Yorkshire with 3 lovely ladies; Kirsty Wiseman, Roz Carter & Janet Bower.

Apart from chilling out BIG stylie, watching DVDs, chatting, laughing, crafting we had our very own Come Dine With Me experience.

First up was Roz with Breakfast at Tiffany's:

Bucks Fizz to start

Muffins with smoked salmon and dill. The other girls had a wonderful poached egg and hollandaise sauce with theirs, but as I can't eat egg, this was my 2nd course & delish it was too!

Followed by waffles, served with maple syrup and creme fraiche. With a wonderful cup of tea, served in china cups and saucers.

Kirsty wasn't hung over; she was being all Audrey Hepburn and wearing her shades indoors

This is a picture you'll never see again; me with out make up or eve lipstick (one for the diary!!!)

We wore pearls around our necks.

Oh, how very rude Mrs Wiseman!!! LOL

Janet; at least you posed for me nicely and it's a lovely pic of you too. x

I prepared a picnic for my dining experience;

Pink plates, cups and napkins. Pink lemonade. Little triangular cut sandwiches. Nuts, nibbles, biscuits and crisps.

Followed by pink and white marshmallows, pink Smarties, pink butterfly candles and home made raspberry & chocolate cupcakes with a cream cheese frosting and fondant butterflies.

It's a wonderful setting for the converted barn that we hired; in the Yorkshire Moors with a gorgeous view and, as you can see, an eery full moon shining through the skeleton tree into the living room! Schpooky!

Kirsty had us go all mexican for her experience. But first she drew us each a hat and we had to decorate them in a Mexicano theme.

Roz chose to stitch hers with dangly bits, while looking all moody and butch in her 'tash!

Janet went a little bit camp and premature with her Sombrero (look carefully for a surprise!)

Kirsty wasn't exactly butch with her colour theme either, but she did show us her amazing pair of guns! HAHA!

Me?!! OMG !!! I drew a rather large cactus but my Mexicano has a bit of a problem methinks and was rudely making suggestions to the camera :-o

Sol with lime - only for the hard amongst us!

Or those who like to lick limes...?!

ATG Guns at the ready - gonna shoot my tape all over you if you come any nearer!!!

Cheers Amigo - we scared them off with our sharp rootin' tootin' shootin'!

But when Camp Amigo makes another appearance with the pink ATG gun; the others go all butch and macho and show off their muscles!

Kirsty served us wonderful chicken fajitas, guacamole, refried beans - and a whole Mexicano kit and kaboodle of lush foodiness.

Unfortunately I can't find the pics of Janet's Dining Experience - dunno where they've gone to?!?!?!?! Kirsty and I decorated ourselves a Fez, though I had to write on mine what it was just incase anyone was wondering what that large red squareish thing with a plume of black was on my head.

But she cooked the most amazing Lamb tagine with giant Moroccan cous cous. Served with olives (yeuch!) flatbreads, hummus, mixed nuts, orange & lemon sliced served up with some tasty minted green tea.

Our winner by a unanimous 3 to 1 vote was...... JANETTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!! Though she is yet to share the lamb tagine recipe with us all as we ALL wanted to cook it ourselves ;-)

All in all this is what I thought of my weekend away with the girls...

Loved my relaxing few days in Yorkshire. It's a long drive but so very worth the miles.

Missed the family and was very glad to be home safely again on Monday afternoon to pick my poppet up from school. Now... back to my diet (I NEVER eat as much in a week as I did in those 3 days away!)

Freycob's Food - Sausage Casserole

2011-11-03T23:45:00.000Z

I've just blogged a recipe for Sausage Casserole over on my food blog.

If you decide to have a go at making this yourself, please remember to let me know what you think of it.

Rosie
x

Hobbycraft show at the NEC

2011-11-02T23:37:00.001Z

I've been priming my pens and getting my samples ready for my Letraset demonstration at the NEC on Saturday 5th November.

You can find me demonstrating their new Flexmarkers on the Craft At Home stand. Please pop by and say hello if you're going. I'll be wearing my name badge so you'll know it's me!

Hopefully see you there.
X

What an amazing day!

2011-10-30T22:17:00.000Z

I had a truly amazing day yesterday (29th). Two reasons; it was my mum's 74th birthday and we had a family meal out, but before that I attended a course on cupcake decorating with Holly Bell (one of the finalists from the Great British Bake Off).

The theme of the day was creatures & flowers. We were welcomed by the very smily (and very genuinely warm & friendly) Holly at Bridge 67 Cookery School in Smeaton Westerby, Leics. We enjoyed a bite of breakfast over coffee, tea and juice, where we introduced ourselves and were presented with our itinerary and the most comprehensive & detailed set of instructions you could hope for.

Our day in the kitchen then began with a demonstration of Holly's recipe to make the cupcakes. Then it was our turn to make ours. 12 cupcakes made & cooling later and it was on to making the fondant decorations.

Following a demonstration and with the aid of the wonderfully detailed set of instructions, we first cut some butterflies, flowers & leaves, formed them & left the to dry. (Forgot to photograph these, sorry!)

Next came the cutest little snails. I was surprised that mine did actually look like snails and not just strange slugs, but they really did! *happy dance*

We moved on to ladybirds & rose buds, followed by tortoises and plant pots. By now we were all flying with confidence under Holly's expert guidance.

A break for lunch brought us beautifully crafted & presented sandwiches, crisps and home made biscuits to die for! There was even a glass of wine for those who wanted it!

Back into the kitchen afterwards we made buttercream that was as smooth and light you could float away as if on a cloud.

Now the assembly began! The buttercream was tinted as green as grass in the sunniest of meadows and our we 'planted' our roses and sat our ladybirds down in the sun beside them.

We rolled fondant & impressed a wood grain effect ready to place our snails; complete with a leaf or two to munch on.

Green fondant became grass on which our tortoise sat beside a pretty little plant pot of blooms.

A white full moon background became home to our owls; resting on a branch being all wise and seeing.

While others made ducks, I made robins and sat them on the sea of a swirly blue bird bath.

Holly taught us to pipe 'roses', 'swirls' and 'high hat' with buttercream on which we 'landed' our butterflies before we painted, glitzed and embellished them to shine & sparkle.

We were given lovely gold cake boxes into which we brought our creations home to share with our loved ones.

Mine came with us to the restaurant (complete with my cake stand) as a centrepiece for mum's birthday. Mum loved them & they also received admiring glances and complimentary remarks from the waiters & waitresses too.

We sadly had to leave Holly and the cookery school at 5:15pm, but not before we were each given a bag of her wonderful homemade biscuits to enjoy later with a cup of tea.

Armed with the wonderful memory of a fantastic day with a fabulous teacher in the company if some truly talented and lovely ladies, not to mention incredibly detailed notes for our future creations, we hugged and sadly said our farewells. Not goodbye but see you again in the future!

Holly, I wish you the best of everything I would hope for myself. You have a wonderful personality, a kind nature & a skill in presentation & teaching that many would envy! May your future take you to the moon & back. Your butterfly wings have grown; let them unfurl and you will fly!

Love, hugs and thanks xxx

UTEE

2011-10-27T10:00:00.000+01:00

Another article I wrote ages ago was on using UTEE or, to give it it's full name, Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel.

This is such a versatile product to use, and it's not fussy what you use it on.... chipboard, metal brads and other objects.

To use it you'll need to have a heat embossing gun and an inkpad like a Versamark or other pad that stays sticky for a while. I use a cheap non-stick baking tray to put my item into to heat up my powders so that the end product doesn't stick to it. You use it pretty much the same way as you would embossing powder but it's a bit thicker and can provide the most wonderfully thick, glossy finish.

I've added a few photos to show you how it can be used.

I die cut a flower from some chipboard and painted it with gold acrylic paint. I then inked it and coated it in UTEE before melting the first layer. You can (if you're quick) pour some more UTEE on top of that layer, but as I've been burnt in the past by picking it up (and it is VERY hot!) I let it cool for a few seconds before re-inking and coating it again. The first layer tends to give an 'orange peel' kind of texture, becoming smoother the more layers you add. I find that 3 layers are adequate for a smooth, glossy finish.

On this one, I added some beads between the second and the final layer for a bit of colour and added texture.

This is simply a brad which has been triple embossed with UTEE to give a raised 'wet' look to it. Mind your fingers when heating metal - use long nosed tweezers.

It would be lovely for you to show us what you have made with UTEE.

Letraset Flexmarkers at the NEC

2011-10-26T17:11:00.001+01:00

I can now officially confirm that I will be demonstrating Flexmarkers at the NEC Crafts for Christmas Show for Letraset on Saturday 5th November 2011 ;-)

I will update you on which stands / exhibitors I'll be with when I have more information.

If you're going to the NEC, then please pop by and say hello. Hope to see you there!

Theft update

2011-10-26T10:00:00.000+01:00

I've just remembered to share the details of the court case following the theft of Will's bike and our other items.

I have the thief's full name, but no doubt would get in trouble if I published it here, so in the interests of protecting the thieving little scrote bag's high moral standing in society (yeah right!), I shall simply refer to him as the 'person'. I mean I wouldn't want to breach his Human Rights by letting you all know that this certain 'person' is a thief now, would I?

The 'person' pleaded guilty to 11 counts of theft and asked for 10 other offences to be taken into consideration (obviously he's a novice!) He was charged with 2 counts of pedal cycle theft and 1 count of theft from a motor vehicle.

He was sentenced on 29th September as follows:

* Community Order for 18 months.
Meaning:
* He has to attend a programme of Thinking Skills (interpreted by us as don't be stupid and leave DNA evidence behind when you go out thieving hard working people's property, because it may just link the crime back to you!)
* Subject to a curfew of 3 months (hopefully between the hours of 7:00am and 6:55am the following day!)
* Supervised by the Probation Service for a rehabilitation period of 18 months. (Whatever!)

Will was awarded compensation to the HUGE value of £50 (Yep, you read it right! A measly £50). He stole over £1500 worth of stuff from us. What about the other bikes etc. that he stole and sold on? How much did this 'person' actually sell Will's bike for, not bloody £50 that's for sure! The compensation didn't even cover our insurance excess, let alone the hike in insurance premium that Esure are rubbing their hands together and creating for us for next year. We will only receive this life changing fortune if and when he decides to pay it across to the Court who will then forward it on to us.

The Police did so much hard work. Surveillance, DNA evidence, victim support and this guy only gets the above? It's the Police I feel sorry for; we couldn't fault them.

So, to Northern Area Peterborough Police - a MASSIVE THANK YOU!

To the Judge - WHAT A PATHETIC SENTENCE TO HAVE PASSED - THE GUY PLEADED GUILTY TO 21 CRIMES AND THE POLICE FOUND STOLEN PROPERTY IN HIS HOUSE!!! HOW MUCH EVIDENCE DO YOU NEED TO THROW THE BOOK AT SOMEONE?!

To his Lawyer - BET YOU GOT PAID A NICE FEE FROM HIS LEGAL AID THAT WE CONTRIBUTED TO!

Watercolour pencils

2011-10-25T12:28:00.001+01:00

Quite a while back, I wrote and uploaded some instructions on how to use watercolour pencils. Here they are on my own blog...

I find them so versatile and in the right hands (not mine of course!) the results can be fantastic!!!

You don't have to spend a fortune on buying them, one set of mine came from WH Smith. You need a few brushes of different thicknesses - I have three; fine, medium and broad. I tend to use waterbrushes (the type that has a water chamber for the handle) but often use them simply with a pot of water. I say a pot but I keep two by my side; one for wetting the brush and the other for cleaning, that way you don't get any interference of colours.

Remember that water and paper/card don't normally mix too well, so remember to be sparing with the amount of water that you apply. You can always add a little more to blend your colours but you can't take it away very easily and still achieve a nice finish.

You can watercolour stamped images, backgrounds or even peel offs if you wanted to. I'm going to show you a few photos of how I've coloured in some stamped images. I've used Stazon ink as it's quick drying and not water based so won't run into your pattern.

Using your lightest colour first, colour in your image, gradually changing pencils and colours until your image is complete and the darker colours provide your shadows. You don't have to make sure that you colour every little bit of your paper as that's what the water will do for you.

Once you're happy with your colouring, wet your brush with CLEAN water and wipe against the edge of the water pot to remove most of the water from it. Starting with the lightest colour, gradually move the brush around the pencilled area until it's covered. I then move to the shaded area I'm working in as it normally contains colours that I need to blend together and the brush doesn't have to be cleaned. Colour the darkest area first, gradually moving the brush into the lighter area to blend the two colours. Remember not to make an obvious line but to keep the movement 'fluid' between the areas.

If you're then transferring to a different area and colour, remember to clean your brush. Repeat the above process until your image is complete, then allow to dry thoroughly.

You can use Twinkling H2O paints much the same way. As these are a cake of paint, I find you need to add quite a lot of water to start off with and let them stand for a few seconds to soften the surface. The more water used on H20's the more translucent the image, the less water the darker and more intense the colour.

Freya bakes

2011-10-24T23:20:00.001+01:00

My daughter is really starting to take after me in so many ways I think. I see myself in her young years, spending time at her mother's side; learning the skills of a cook for her future years. She recently made some wonderfully tasting red pesto & Parmesan twists.

Life's too short to made puff pastry so I bought it. I directed & supervised her cutting the pack in half, then flouring, rolling, turning & rolling her pastry to make two fairly evenly sized squares.

She spread one square with the red pesto and then sprinkled that with plenty of freshly grated Parmesan. She topped it off with the other pastry square before cutting it into strips; giving each a little twist to create a lovely shape before I put them in the oven for her.

I was told when the cooking time was up to take them out of the oven (a little overbooked, but not quite burnt) before she carefully transferred them to a cooling rack.

Seal of approval given from her, her dad, brother & myself; they tasted fantastic and she did so well to make them with the absolute minimal intervention or help from me. (I can see future battles for kitchen domain coming in years to come!)

Will Guthrie Photography

2011-10-10T22:10:00.000+01:00

My hubby of 23+ years has always been into photography since the day we met and has learned so much through the years. It's been his passion and his time-waster for as long as I can remember.

He's recently (with my persuasion) created himself a Flickr account and I want to share with you some of his pictures from there.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/62766460@N03/

From the self portrait....

http://www.flickr.com/photos/62766460@N03/6218695374/in/photostream

To our amazingly beautiful daughter...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/62766460@N03/6218524192/in/photostream

The arty farty....

http://www.flickr.com/photos/62766460@N03/5737190144/in/photostream

The architecture...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/62766460@N03/5716176318/in/photostream

Urban art...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/62766460@N03/5716415429/in/photostream

Nature...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/62766460@N03/5776254428/in/photostream

Please pay the links a visit and see his amazing creations. It'd be great if you too could leave him a word or two of encouragement in his hobby.

Thanks.

Rosie
x

Sunshine walk

2011-10-01T20:34:00.000+01:00

We're enjoying unseasonally HOT weather at the mo and it's gorgeous! Hope it's lovely with you too.

So, tonight after dinner, we decided to go for a little walk; only round the lakes where we live, not far but we took our cameras and I snapped these...

You'll note the teenager was absent... electronic gadgets at home were obviously much more appealing!

We've been the victim of theft ;-(

2011-08-25T23:30:00.000+01:00

It's a long story why we had to stay so local to home for our caravan holiday this year, so I'm not going to bore you with it, but we went to Ferry Meadows Caravan Club Site in Peterborough at the beginning of August (lovely site, been loads of times; great walks and cycle rides round Nene Park!). We took with us my daughter's friend who had never had a caravan holiday and as we were one child down (Jacob, not Will) it was lovely for her to have company her own age.

Anyhoooooo, since Will's operation in May, he's only ridden his bike 4 times; the 4th being on Monday 8th August when he rode round Nene Park with the girls while I walked the dog. The bikes were locked up securely (2 different locks) and we had a good night's sleep. Tuesday morning the sun shone and the birds sang. We got up and Will went to walk the dog; the girls opened the blind at the back of the caravan and asked why Will had walked the dog on his bike.... Can you guess what's coming next?

Yep! Against the fence at the back of the caravan were two girl's bikes, now placed neatly one behind the other. Then a BIG GAP, then the blue plastic tarpaulin that had covered the 3 bikes and then our bike rack for the car. The gap was where Will's bike was the night before; some thieving B***ARD (well, two it turned out to be according to the CCTV footage), had visited the campsite, removed the cycle carrier and tarpaulin, cut through the locks, moved the girl's bikes and ridden out on his bike.

He USED to own this....

It's a German import; a Focus Black Forest Pro 2009 and only imported by one company in the UK; so pretty damned rare really. It WAS worth £1350 but now.... who knows? How much did they sell it for after stealing it? Bugger all probably. It has swish white mudguards, pump, bottle carriers, bottles, lights and a computer on it too.

Not only did the bike go but they also took the following:

My Coolbox containing half a box of Groslch lager. About half a dozen cans of Diet Coke, a bottle of wine, a 2ltr bottle of lemonade, some little cartons of orange juice and my strawberries that were meant to be part of my breakfast! They also took the other half a box of Grolsch so Will couldn't even console himself with a beer! Oh and his bike toolbox containing about £350 worth of bike tools that he'd accumulated over the last 15-20 years. Like a mini bike repair shop, it was.

Anyhoooooo (again) forensics came out but got no fingerprints :-(

Buuut.... several days later we went for a walk out of the park, and lo and behold there, discarded in the bushes about 12 paces from the Campsite entrance, was an empty Grolsch box. So we called the Police and then with them we went for a little trek through the bushes and found....

An empty Groslch lager box; one of our elasticated bungee straps (used to secure the bike to the carrier on the car); discarded socks (to hide fingerprints obviously and stolen, no doubt, from someone's washing line), 2 empty later bottles, an empty can of my Diet Coke and an empty carton of orange juice. We also found other bungees and straps that secured other people's bikes.

I had a phone call today from the Police and, through the DNA from the Diet Coke can, have traced and arrested ONE of the thieves, who quickly grassed his accomplice up. He has admitted that they carried out all 11 (yes eleven) separate thefts from the campsite, including on one night 6 bikes! Sat Navs, cars, keys, Nintendo DSs, money etc. Oh and can the Police please take into consideration 10 other thefts that he's done!

During our stay the thefts had gone quiet and it was thought this was because they had seen the increased Police presence on foot and by PCSOs on bikes. No, it was because the accomplice aka scrote-bag no.2 had been caught breaking into a car and had stolen a sat nav elsewhere and was currently in prison!

And, if like me you're presuming that the thieves were teenagers who are 'bored' because the Government doesn't provide them with anything to do, then think again! This was a grown man with a daughter. In his house the Police found a little girl's bike that he had stolen as a present to her! What a scumbag parent he is. Great example to give her eh? I genuinely feel sorry for the girl; to be given a bike as a present by her father then the 'nasty' Police come and take it away from her. I don't know how old she is but she's better off without a parent like that, in my eyes.

He was so intelligent that he had stored stolen items that will link him to the other thefts INSIDE my coolbox that they found, which he had kept INSIDE his house which the Police found during their search. Not the sharpest pencil in the box then, I'd say!

So far he hasn't given the name or details of who the 13 bikes were passed onto that he stole from Ferry Meadows, but has been charged with 3 counts of theft based on statements given and positive identification of items from ours and 2 other of the thefts.

My plea is now to the Crown Prosecution Office - do not let this SCUMBAG get off scott-free with these thefts, or his scrote-bag of a mate! We and everyone else they have stolen from, have worked hard to buy our possessions. Nothing was handed to us on a plate by the Government on benefits or handouts. Yes, some of you will think it's a lot of money for a push bike. But bear in mind my hubby has cycled thousands (yes, thousands!) of miles on his bikes over the years. He doesn't smoke and doesn't drink much. Cycling is his hobby and his passion. He's therefore pretty pissed off (sorry mum and dad if you're reading this bit) to have had it stolen by some thieving low life pieces of scum that think it's ok to take what they want, when they want, from whoever they want. And to the shitbag of a dealer who bought the bikes etc. knowing they were stolen; your time will hopefully come really soon too. I just pray that this pair squeal like pigs on a stick and give your name and address. Until then... may your bollocks square off and fester in the corners while being bitten by the fleas of a thousand camels!

To the officers of Cambridgeshire Police... a HUGE thank you! For your time, efforts, investigative work and patience which have paid off to a certain degree. Now get the cattle prods out, plug them in and get these buggers squealing some names! (In an ideal world if only you could!)

Oh, and how long does an insurance claim take to fill out when you're trying to work out what was in the toolbox? Bloody ages is the answer!

Rant over!

Rosie
x

Letraset Demo Day - Pink Tulip Creations

2011-08-20T20:03:00.000+01:00

Thank you to everyone who joined me today at Pink Tulip Creations in Studley, Warwickshire. Along with Shiela, Pauline and staff, you all made me so very welcome and were an absolute pleasure to work with.

I really can't believe how quickly the 6 hours of demonstrations went; you were all so attentive and asked me some fantastic questions which it was a pleasure to answer for you (hopefully I gave you all the RIGHT answer too heehee!)

I hope that I've given you all a little bit of something to take away with you and that those who were a little worried to actually get those

out will now have renewed confidence and vigour! Please leave me a message and a link to a blog if you have one to show me all your wonderful creations!

Thanks again everyone

Rosie
xx

Letraset Promarker Hair Colouring and Highlights Video

2011-07-25T22:13:00.000+01:00

Thanks to everyone who's visited my YouTube channel so far, whether it be via the link in Facebook, from the Letraset Blog or from my own blog post. Your time is really appreciated and I hope I've inspired at least one person to give the distressed denim effect a go.

I've uploaded another video to show you how I do my 'light hair' & hair colouring techniques - I'll show you how I achieve a Ginger and a Red haired effect to my stamps.

You can find this new video on my YouTube channel by clicking the video below.

They're only quick videos, so no major attention span needed (less watching waffle = more time to craft!) I've tried to help by putting my colours on the screen as I use them so you can pause, play and follow at your own pace.

Thanks for joining me.

Rosie
x

Letraset Promarker distressed jeans video

2011-07-23T20:41:00.001+01:00

I recently had my friend, the lovely Kirsty Wiseman to stay for the weekend and we had a bit of a colouring session late one night as I was getting samples ready for my Letraset Promarker demonstration on 20th August, and she asked me to make a video on the colour combination I use and my method of producing distressed jeans (because she was rather impressed, if I may say so myself!)

Armed with hubby's mobile phone and some peace and quiet this afternoon, we finally got round to producing a little video for you. Please bear in mind this is the first video I've ever done and uploaded to YouTube, so be nice, won't you?

Hope you like the video and can take away a little something for yourself to help you in your colouring. Now I've broken my duck (so to speak) in the world of videos and YouTube, I may just do another soon.

Thanks for watching.

Rosie
x

New tripod

2011-07-23T20:02:00.000+01:00

I'm doing a bit of a happy dance here right now as I've been after a new tripod for my camera since the cast off that my hubby gave me when he bought a new one for himself a few years broke during my recent photography course at Burghley House.

Imagine how pleased I was when my hubby told me that he'd won one on Ebay for me and it was the model legs and head that he had originally chosen for me.

Namely a set of Manfrotto 190XPROB legs

And a 496RC2 Manfrotto head

Not to mention that he's just bagged it at £100.00 off the RRP and it's in mint condition too. He THINKS he's going to keep it until Christmas before I can have it..... oh how little he knows (death wish comes to mind!) LOL.

I'm off to hunt for a bag to keep it in now.... hello Ebay!

Thanks Will. Love you loads.
xxx

Promarker samples

2011-07-22T18:00:00.002+01:00

I recently shared with you my news that I'll be demonstrating for Letraset next month and I've made up some sample/demo boards to show just how wonderful Promarkers are along with colour combinations that I use.

These are my favourite hair colour combinations. All use 3 tones; dark, medium and light and utilise the Blender Pen and a little white opaque pen to finish them off. You can click on each image to enlarge and see just what I mean.

Which is your favourite girl? If you have a go using my colour combinations, please come back and leave me a comment on your opinions.

Thanks

Rosie
x

Thank you Mr Elston

2011-07-21T22:08:00.000+01:00

Freya's had a fantastic teacher for year 5, and to say thank you to him for the wonderful inspiration, care and dedication to his class, we bought him a rather nice bottle of red wine. Me being me, couldn't just give it away with the bog standard label on now, could I? So I tarted, tweaked and fancied it up and this is the result. What do you think?

All papers are from my colour scrap packs and the letters are cut on the Sizzix Big Shot using Tim Holtz dies.

I'm still alive!

2011-07-15T23:14:00.000+01:00

I know I've been such a terrible Blogger recently, haven't I? Well, life, family and work just gets in the way sometimes, doesn't it?

I've also been busy preparing some samples for a demonstration I'll be doing for Letraset next month. (I know!!! I'm buzzing with the thrill and excitement of being chosen to demonstrate for such a fantastic company!!!!!!)

I've been busy colouring with both Promarkers

and Aquamarkers

Sticking things with Letratac

and embellishing others with Safmat

Using both Letraset Bleedproof Paper

and also some lovely watercolour cardstock.

If you are anywhere near Pink Tulip Creations in Studley, Warwickshire on Saturday 20th August between 10am and 5pm, then please pop along, say hello and offer your support.

See you there!

Rosie

x

Freycob's Food Blog - Chocolate Tiffin

2011-06-19T07:00:00.000+01:00

Love sweet treats? Love chocolate? Want an easy recipe to follow to make a lovely sweet, chocolate treat? Then why not visit Freycob's Food Blog to see just how easy it is to make my Chocolate Tiffin.

See you over there!

Rosie
x

Freycob's Food Blog - Chicken Curry

2011-06-12T22:01:00.000+01:00

I've been really bad at blogging recently, but tonight I updated Freycob's Food Blog with a wonderful homemade Chicken Curry.

If you want to know how I made it, please pop over to my blog and see how it's made.

Thanks,

Rosie
x

Please help save Daisy.

2011-05-19T19:41:00.000+01:00

I have a lovely friend called Janey who struggles immensely with her own health not to mention being mother to a great (but mentally tiring) son, Tom, who suffers from Aspergers. Tom has a gorgeous little Jack Russell called Daisy who injured herself really badly earlier this week and now needs an operation to repair her cruciate ligament (you'll have heard of that injury no doubt from the football world, which can, and has ended the careers of footballers).

To add to everything Janey has to put up with and cope with in life, she doesn't have the spare funds each month to pay for Pet Insurance (which it turns out probably wouldn't have covered this operation for her anyway) and as Daisy's operation tomorrow (20th May) is going to cost approx. £1600 (yes, I know... that's a bloody huge amount of money!) a lovely lady called Kirsty Wiseman has organised a little raffle to raise funds for Daisy's operation. The tickets are £2.00 each and you don't just get a little, paltry, worthless prize. Oh no sireeeeee! If you're into crafting you will be A-MAZED at what this girl has managed to muster up from her contacts and friends in the craft world (totally generous bunch of peeps!) Just take a look at her blog HERE to see what has currently been donated (the list continues to grow as I type). The funds will be independently audited and any excess above the price of Daisy's operation will be split between two charities; one in support of Aspergers and the other a Dog's trust.

Please folks, go and have a look at Kirsty's blog to see how you can help give Daisy a future and return Tom's best friend to him, fit and healthy again. Those that know how much emotional help a pet can give to a child with Aspergers will, I'm sure, appreciate what is trying to be done.

There are details on Kirsty's blog on how to donate. Closing date is 24th May. Please don't forget.

Freycob's Food Blog

2011-05-14T19:49:00.000+01:00

Thanks to those who voted in my poll from last week to choose the recipe for me to create and share this week.

The option chosen by the majority was my tear & share sweet mincemeat tart, so that's what I'll be creating this week. If you want to know how to make this...

Then you will have to pop over to Freycob's Food Blog tomorrow to see how it's made. All I can say is that it didn't last very long in my house last time I made it! YUMMMMMM!! ;-)

There's another poll over there where you can choose between the following:

Cheese & onion muffins
Chocolate tiffin
Chicken curry

Please go and cast your vote.

Thanks.

Rosie
x

What shall I offer....

2011-05-13T22:05:00.000+01:00

When I get to 30,000 page hits, I think I'll have to celebrate and offer up a freebie. What shall it be?

You'll have to wait and see! Less than 400 to go.

PaperPlay Challenges Wk19

2011-05-12T20:56:00.000+01:00

Summer is on it's way folks so we're asking you to to help us 'Celebrate Summer' over on PaperPlay Challenges by showing us some of your creativity in our chosen theme.

We're kindly sponsored again this week by Meljen's Designs. I chose to use Brooke at the Beach as my image. I've made her a lovely pleated 'sun' that's providing her shine and making her smile. She's coloured with my ever so amazingly versatile favourite Letraset Promarkers aka Big Girl Colouring Pens! The sunny, swirly background paper is another favourite manufacturer of mine; BasicGrey. Brooke's sand is simple corrugated card.

Nip over to the challenge blog to see the gorgeous creations of the other Design Team members.

Creative ingredients:
Patterened paper; BasicGrey - Colouring pens; Letraset Promarkers - Stamp; Inkadinkadoo - Inkpad; Versamagic - Ribbon - Computer generated greeting - Gems; Papermania

Freycob's Food Blog

2011-05-09T21:39:00.000+01:00

I've posted my first entry to Freycob's Food Blog and plan to upload a new recipe and pictures every week or so (depending on personal time restraints).

There is a poll currently running over there to see what you want to see next. You have the option of the following:

* Cheese & onion muffins
* Carrot cake
* Tear and Share sweet mincemeat tart

If you fancy seeing one of the above recipes posted up, then please pop over to my Food Blog and cast your vote. I will then make the most popular choice at the weekend to share with you all.

I'm thinking that a nice home made chicken curry could be an option the following week.....

Thanks!

Freycob's Food Blog

2011-05-08T15:00:00.000+01:00

Those that know me well know how much I love to cook and bake. Savoury, sweet, it really doesn't matter as long as the ingredients are good, fresh and that my food is appreciated afterwards.

So, on that note and with a little bit of a spur on from James Perry AKA The Tattooed Cook from BBC's Masterchef, I've started Freycob's Food Blog to share with you my photos, recipes and take on kitchen creativity.

I really hope you enjoy what I'm about to share with you and that you leave me feedback if you try my creations or follow my tips.

For now.... my first recipe will be Rosie's Banana & Choccie Chunkie Muffins... enjoy!

Rosie's Banana & Choccie Chunkie Muffins

2011-05-08T14:45:00.000+01:00

Had to get up early this morning as Jacob had an Athletics meet for the Air Cadets. Not one to get up and then go back to bed, I decided that today was a baking day! 3 lots of muffins baked: Cheese & Red Onion, Philadelphia Blue (made up recipe but tasting good) and these, my banana and choccie chunkie muffins.

Those out there who LOVE Masterchef as much as me will know James Perry AKA The Tattooed Cook. Well, James tells me that he struggles to make light and fluffy muffins, so at his request, I'm sharing my recipe with both him and you all out there. You can see that the inside is really light, well risen and perfectly cooked. (Click on the photos for a better look if you like).

So, James and everyone else, here's how to make these muffins:

10oz (280g) PLAIN flour.

1tsp (5ml) baking powder.

1tsp (5ml) bicarbonate of soda.

½tsp (2.5ml) salt.

4-5oz (110-140g) granulated sugar.

4-6oz (110-170g) white/milk chocolate chips/chunks.

3 large, well ripened bananas (about 1lb/450g) mashed.

1 egg, beaten.

3floz (90ml) corn oil (you can substitute melted butter for this, but remember the calories!).

2floz (60ml) milk (to reduce a few calories, you can use water instead, I suppose).

Oven: 200°C degrees (though I set my fan oven to 170°C)

1. Prepare your 12 cup deep muffin tin by lining it with paper cases.

2. In a large bowl mix the following: flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt, sugar and chocolate. Mix these together thoroughly with a fork to get some air into the dry mixture.

3. In another bowl mix together: Mashed bananas, beaten egg, corn oil and milk.

4. Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the full contents of the wet mixture. Mix together quickly for no longer than 20-30 seconds until combined. Make sure that you scrape the sides and the bottom of the bowl properly to incorporate all of the dry mixture but DO NOT BEAT the mixture or worry about small lumps.

5. Fill each muffin cup to about 3/4 full. This will then make 12 muffins.

6. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the tops are slightly browned and spring back when touched.

7. Transfer the cakes to a cooling rack until cold.

Tips & hints:

a) Buy bananas when they're reduced in the supermarket because they're over-ripe and they've gone a little bit brown on the skins. These will give you the best, sweet flavour as the carbohydrate in the fruit will have turned from starch to sugar (which is why ripe bananas are easier to digest too).

b) You can freeze bananas for future use in baking. The skins will go very dark brown/black but the fruit inside will stay creamy coloured. If you do freeze bananas, make sure you defrost them thoroughly in a container as they WILL ooze juice.

c) Do NOT overmix the wet and dry ingredients together as this will start the chemical reaction with the gluten in the flour and cause your muffins to become dense & heavy.

d) Bake the muffins immediately after mixing as, again, a chemical reaction will start between the baking powder/bicarbonate of soda and the wet mixture.

If you do follow my recipe to make yourself some gorgeously light, fluffy and incredibly tasty muffins, please come back and leave me a comment and tell me how they turned out. A photo of your creations would be great too!

Happy baking folks.

Rosie

Pencil Lines Sketch 235

2011-05-02T20:35:00.000+01:00

Getting back into the swing of mojo-ness and scrapbooking as opposed to making cards all the while, I've taken part this week in the Pencil Lines Sketch.

My subjects are my gorgeous daughter and her adorable friend who have been close friends for many years; growing up together since they were toddlers. Though they don't go to the same school, they live in the same street and sleep over / play together frequently. Hopefully they will have a life-long friendship; they're very similar in nature, both polite, quiet, cheeky, hardworking girls with a wonderful sense of friendship and family. I love that they have each other so close at hand.

Creative ingredients:
Cardstock; Coredinations Whitewash - Alphas; BasicGrey; Spotty cardstock; My Minds Eye - Heart; Sizzix die - Buttons - Ribbon - Bakers Twine; The Twinery - Black & White journalling pens.

Kirby Hall

2011-05-01T23:41:00.000+01:00

I've posted a couple of times in the past on visits to one of my local English Heritage site, Kirby Hall in North Northamptonshire. Today I took Freya and her friend Beth over for a run around, and a little photo shoot.

We were amazed to see such a spectacular show from the Peacocks as he was trying to attract a mate. Incredibly beautiful bird; so majestic. The colours were picked up so brightly by the perfect weather, with cloudless blue skies. All in all, a lovely couple of hours out with two perfectly behaved girls!

So, I thought I'd share a few of my peacock photos with you.

PaperPlay Challenges Wk17

2011-04-28T09:00:00.018+01:00

Sponsorship this week on PaperPlay Challenge Blog is from Waltzingmouse Stamps who are generously giving 1 stamp set of winner's choice.

Your challenge is to use an object not intended for Crafting... Like Coins, Cans/Jars, Onion or Garlic Netted Bags, Shells, Cardboard box bits etc.

I was a little bit naughty on this challenge as my altered item IS something normally associated with crafting (in my eyes anyway) as it's an empty chocolate box and we all know that chocolate and crafting go hand in hand..... don't we?

The empty box was filled with gorgeous milk and plain truffles that my children bought me for Mothers' Day. Best bit was that no-one else in the house actually liked them!!!!!!!

I have another of these boxes (though slightly smaller) that I altered and made a couple of years back but was in desperate need of another to store my increasing supply of ink pads in.

Creative ingredients:

Box; Chocolates - Paper; to be confirmed) - Alphas; Tim Holtz Grungeboard - Inkpads: Versamagic, Quick Quotes & ColorBox - Glitter; Stickles - Buttons - Twill

Kirsty Wiseman's Wednesday night online crop

2011-04-27T22:18:00.000+01:00

Kirsty hosts an online crop via Ustream a couple of times a week on a Wednesday evening and tonight I had to do a bit of speed scrapping as I had to get my LO done and dusted within the hour so that I could concentrate on watching the final of Masterchef at 9pm.

AND I MADE IT TOO!!!!!! (I'm a bit sad that my fave Tom didn't win, but all credit to Tim on winning the title which was very well deserved). No doubt the guys and Sara will ALL have very bright futures ahead of them in their careers as talented chefs and maybe there'll be a Michelin star (or two) with Tom's name on in the future!

Anyhoo, I digress. My post is meant to be about a LO that I produced tonight, so here is that LO - a bit bright, so get your sunnies out and shade your eyes!

I bought the Spacehopper for Will as a Christmas pressie but Freya kind of bagged it as her own and within about 20 minutes of taking it outside it got it's first puncture which Will repaired. Within about 10 minutes of it's next venture outside it had split completely! Well that was £15 well spent NOT!!!!!! I did manage to get a couple of indoor photos posed on it before it blew up though.

The cardstock is a VERY bright orange to match the vivid/lurid colour of the space hopper (oh, who also remembers these from their childhood days? Please say it's not just us two!)

While you're reading; can anyone please identify the BasicGrey patterned paper that I used? I can't remember which range it was from.

Creative ingredients:
Cardstock - BasicGrey paper - Alphas; Woodware, BasicGrey & Thickers - Tab; Sizzix die - Bakers Twine; The Twinery - Inkpad; QuickQuotes

Twisted Sketch 56

2011-04-24T21:02:00.000+01:00

My mojo is home and (hopefully) here to stay, so I'm looking for new challenges to take part in and I've therefore created my first card for the Twisted Sketch Blog.

The twist on the sketch? It's got to have yellow and yellow my card has - lots of it! In fact it's as sunny as the sunniest day of the year so far!

I don't know the paper manufacture unfortunately as it was included in a RAK from the lovely Rebekah. I'd used the rest of the paper for a project that I'll upload on Thursday for PaperPlay Challenges, who's design team I'm on. I wrapped my scalloped card with yellow and orange Bakers Twine. The inside of the card is accented using the last of the sheet of patterned paper as well as a little journalling spot for the greeting.

Creative Ingredients:
Paper (To be confirmed) - Baker's Twine; The Twinery - Alphas; BasicGrey - Embossing folder: Cutlebug - Button, Gold card & gems; stash

Punky Scraps Sketch Challenge

2011-04-18T23:31:00.001+01:00

This is my first Punky Scraps Sketch Challenge that I've taken part in. I had 2 photos printed out on my desk waiting to be scrapped and as this called for 2 photos, they were perfect for me to use.

I've used the free papers that came with Scrapbook Magazine this month. A scalloped paper flower that I made ages ago that was sitting in a box on my desk waiting to be used and some glitz and glamour to go with them. The ribbon is simply hand pleated and stapled to the corner of my page.

Creative Materials:
Papers: Scrapbook Magazine (Fancy Pants) - Alphas; Thickers, Adornit, Making Memories - Chipboard hearts; Maya Road - Glitter glue: Stickles - Rub on; Pink Paislee - Inkpads; QuickQuotes - Ribbon - Tags - Brad - Staples

Growing up.... too fast!

2011-04-16T22:48:00.001+01:00

I came across this picture of my daughter that I took in September last year this evening and decided that it was screaming out to be scrapped, so I converted it into black & white, printed it out and created a layout.

What's so scary is that she was only 9 3/4 when it was taken.. not even 10 years old! (I know that I'm biased) but she's going to be stunningly beautiful when she grows up. I really pity any young man that comes 'sniffing' round her in years to come as they've got to get past her dad!

I created the sentiment on the photo by stamping onto Letraset Safmat before applying to the bottom right hand corner of the picture. The Pink Paislee rub ons are metallic silver and have such a fantastic shine to them that really picks up the light beautifully. I've accented the flowers across the bottom with silver brads to continue the shine on the page.

Creative Ingredients:
Black Bazzill cardstock - Silver metallic rub ons; Pink Paislee - Alphas; Woodware & Adornit - Punched leaves; Woodware & X-Cut - Flowers; Prima - Ribbon flower handmade - Button - Brads - Stamp; Unity Stamps - Letraset Safmat

PaperPlay Challenges

2011-04-16T20:22:00.000+01:00

This week's PaperPlay Challenge is sponsored by

who are offering our winner their choice of 5 images. We are also offering the Top 3 winners 2 images each.

and we have to follow this photo to gain our inspiration...

I chose to use Kenny's Rock Chick as the image on my card and, using the colours and glitz in the photo, came up with this card.

She has her red hair, matching red guitar and is wearing a very sparkly black outfit.

Creative Ingredients:
White square card - BasicGrey Boxer paper - red iPhoto frame - Stickles glitter glue - Thickers alphas - organza ribbon - Flatback gems - Letraset Promarkers

PaperPlay Challenges - For a mum/mom

2011-03-31T09:00:00.016+01:00

This week over on PaperPlay Challenges, we're kindly sponsored by Inky Impressions who are offering 1 stamp of the winner's choice and an Inky Goodie Bag

Our theme is to create something for a Mum - this can be new mother, mother's birthday, etc... as Mother's Day is Apr 3rd in UK/Ireland

I made a clipboard for Mum to make her notes on. It's made from an A4 opaque plastic clipboard (which was liberated from my friend, Kirsty Wiseman's craft room a couple of weeks ago). I coloured the background using Alcohol Inks in red, yellow, blue and green, which when mixed together has given a lovely tortoiseshell effect. It's then decorated with BasicGrey Indian Summer paper, a paper lunch bag which I've cut to reveal a pocket for secret notes, some ribbon, lace and lots of flowers for that girlie touch.

You can see the range of flowers that I've used here. Some ready made and the two white ones in the centre of the larger flowers are handmade and VERY 3D!

Creative Materials
A4 Clipboard - BasicGrey Indian Summer paper - Tim Holtz alcohol inks - Paper lunch bag; Poundshop - Flowers: Prima - Leaves; X-Cut punch - Butterfly; Prima - Lettering; Tim Holtz Vintage Market Sizzix die - Ticket; Tim Holtz - White pen: Inkssentials - Brads, ribbon, lace & gems from stash.

Promarker Creations Part Duex!

2011-03-25T07:30:00.001Z

So I shared some of my Promarker creations with you on the last post and want to share some more now. These are all printed from Kirsty Wiseman's Buglets - gorgeous aren't they?

Click on the images for a larger version.

Geek Bug...

(Promarkers - Memento & QuickQuotes inkpads - Ribbon - Tim Holtz tag - Jenni Bowlin paper - Inkssentials white pen)

(Promarkers - Memento & QuickQuotes inkpads - Parcel tag - Ribbon - Gems - Inkssentials white pen)

Space Bug...

(Promarkers - Memento inkpad - Inkssentials white pen - WRMK paper - Ribbon - Glossy Accents)

You can see on this close up image that I've used Glossy Accents to give Space Bug a 'visor' in her space helmet too.

(Promarkers - Memento & QuickQuotes inkpads - Inkssentials white pen - Gloss Accents - gems - WRMK spaceship)

Promarker creations

2011-03-24T23:11:00.000Z

Seeing as I forgot to take my photos away with me to scrap last weekend I enjoyed a VERY chilled session or two just colouring in, using big girl colouring pens of course AKA Letraset Promarkers.

I adore my Promarker pens and believe these have brought to life some lovely stamps that I would not normally have used (thanks Kirsty for letting me use your stamps, perhaps you can confirm who the manufacturers are so that I can afford them due credit!) I love how different the same image can look depending on the colours you choose to colour her in.

These are my creations (you can click on them for a larger picture to see the detail of the colouring/blending if you like)...

(Promarkers - BasicGrey paper & ribbon - Making Memories tag - Hero Arts greeting stamp - Memento inkpad - Sarah Kay (I think) girl image)

(Promarkers - BasicGrey paper - Twill - Making Memories tag - Hero Arts greeting stamp - Memento inkpad - Sarah Kay (I think) girl image - Ticket stamp)

(Promarkers - BasicGrey paper - Martha Stewart butterfly & flower punch - Stampin'Up leaf punch - Memento inkpad - Sarah Kay (I think) girl image -Inkssentials white pen)

(Promarkers - BasicGrey paper & ribbon - Prima flowers - Kirsty Wiseman greeting circle - Memento & QuickQuotes inkpads - unknown stamp manufacturer)

(Promarkers - BasicGrey paper - Kirsty Wiseman greeting circle - Memento & QuickQuotes inkpads - Unknown stamp manufacturer - Inkssentials white pen - Button)

This skater boy has 'distressed/grungy' clothing. I achieved this look by roughly colouring my finished image with the blender pen.
(Promarkers - BasicGrey paper - Memento & QuickQuotes inkpads - Unknown stamp manufacturer - Tim Holtz ticket - Ribbon - Cuttlebug Herringbone embossing folder)

(Promarkers - Memento & QuickQuotes inkpads - Unknown stamp manufacturer - Ribbon - Cuttlebug embossing folder)

Weekend in the Yorkshire Dales

2011-03-22T21:58:00.000Z

I had a wonderful and long planned weekend away dressed in my pj's in the Yorkshire Dales last weekend with Kirsty Wiseman

Janet Bower

and Roz Carter.

We hired a beautiful converted barn with the most amazing light coming through 3 sets of Velux windows in to the upstairs living quarters.

Which gave us the most incredible views from the windows:

We all took turns cooking meals and ate some wonderful dishes including Roz's Tarte Tatin inspired by Saturday morning TV cooking programmes.

After which we had to go for a little walk still in our pj's to here

to burn of some indulged calories.

Where we climbed to the top

and enjoyed the most incredible views across the Yorkshire Moors

Janet wants that big farmhouse over there to live in...

Were there 3 or 4 Charlie's Angels? Well in our re-take there were 4 of us on the top of our rock.

I don't remember the steps being that steep on the way up

We posed for the camera...

Before walking back to the barn, taking piccies on the way

Look I'm a bird!

This is one of the bedrooms - I want that room at home!

Smile for the camera Kirsty, put your tongue away!

Then Kirsty & Janet had a competition to see who could fit the most pieces of popcorn into their mouths. Dirty mares! LOL.

Congratulations!

2011-03-22T12:00:00.006Z

I made this recently to congratulate two lovely people on their engagement.

I am in love with everything BasicGrey and couldn't resist the vintage / shabby chic look of this Capella, distressed around the edges and then inked and torn, matched with ivory lace, ribbon, pins and flowers. The sentiment, which I printed out onto Letraset SAFMAT, is kept simple.

For those who've never used SAFMAT before, you simply run it through your printer (I use an Epson inkjet but have previously used it on a Hewlett Packard). Allow it to dry thoroughly then cut it out and rub it on to your project. It leaves a gentle matt effect, but looks great as it allows the background image to show through. You can click on the photo above for a better view of the applied SAFMAT .

Creative Materials:
Cream cardstock - BasicGrey Capella paper - Lace - Ribbon - Pins - Flowers; Prima - Leaves; Stampin' Up punch - Sentiment printed onto Letraset Safmat - Inkpad; QuickQuotes

PaperPlay Challenges - Embossing

2011-03-17T09:00:00.003Z

If it's Thursday then it's challenge time again over at the PaperPlay Challenge Blog This time we'd like to see your creations made using EMBOSSING. You can choose to either dry emboss or heat emboss, it's entirely up to you!

We're kindly sponsored this week by MELJENSDESIGNS who gave us some really cute images to work with. They're offering up 4 images to one lucky winner who joins us this week.

My cats image was printed out and is coloured using Promarkers. I chose to dry emboss a heart cut on my Big Shot using a Sizzix Heart die and the Cuttlebug Heart Blocks embossing folder. The card is backed by a lovely, vintage looking piece of BasicGrey Capella paper which I inked the edges of using a QuickQuotes inkpad. Flowers are from Prima. and it's finished with a couple of journalling spots cut from cardstock, lettered with alphas from Making Memories and tied with some gorgeous pale green/blue lace.

The perfect card for my parent's 53rd wedding anniversary at the end of this month.

Kirsty Wiseman's Buglet girls

2011-03-13T19:19:00.000Z

I'm very fortunate to do some design work for Kirsty Wiseman who has produced some lovely new characters called Buglets. So far there are 4 digi stamps available from her shop HERE with more to follow shortly.

They come as digital uncoloured images which you can import into your digital imaging software program to colour in or, as I've done, print them out onto card using my Epson inkjet printer and colour them in using LETRASET PROMARKERS (or big girl's colouring pens!)

So, without further ado, here are my 4 buglets lovingly created into 12 birthday cards.

Lila Bug:

Mima Bug:

Petit Bug:

Nina Bug:

So now you've seen just how gorgeous these girls are when brought to life and how totally different they look depening on your colour choice, what's stopping you popping over to KIRSTY'S SHOP and treating yourself to some too? Remember, you only need to pay once and the image will be forwarded straight back to you. You then have that image for life and can print out as many copies as you like. How's that for the bargain price of £1.50 each

2011-03-03T09:00:00.029Z

It's Paperplay Challenge time again folks! This week we're kindly sponsored by Simon Says Stamp with a $15 store voucher.

Thanks to everyone who joined us last week, you were all amazing and oh, so talented!

Our theme this week is Shabby/Vintage, so I made this card for friends who moved house recently.

I tore the edge of the pink spotty paper agains the edge of a Fiskars Paper Shapers ruler that I've had for an absolute age. I then lightly inked the edges and rolled 3 corners around the handle of small paint brush for some dimension. The striped flower is simply cut using a Tonic flower punch 3 times and embossed on the back using a large embossing tool to give it shape before layering it up with dimensional dots. I've added 3 words under the curled paper to signify what their new home will be centred around... to cherish and love their family! The butterfly has left a gem trail on her journey flying to the top of the card.

I personally love the style of shabby chic come vintage look and was pleased at how this turned out.

Creative Ingredients:
Cream 5 1/4" cream cardstock - Pink spotty paper; Papertrail - Journalling spot: DelishDesigns - Butterfly punch; XCut - Flowers; Prima and punched at home - Leaves; Woodware punch - Brads - Gems - Alpha stamps; StudioG - Alpha stickers; Making Memories - Inkpads; QuickQuotes & Versafine

Birthday card for an old person!

2011-03-03T07:30:00.013Z

I'm not good at making cards for old people, but a friend of ours is celebrating a birthday today, so I thought I'd make the effort!!!!!

Happy Birthday Kevan ;-) (Wish me luck when we deliver this cheeky little creation later, won't you?)

The images are freebies from Create with TLC that I've combined together to make my greeting.

Creative Ingredients:
Cream A5 Card - Backing paper: BasicGrey 'Max & Whiskers' - Image; Create with TLC - Promarkers - Patty's Pretties from Kirsty Wiseman - String - Glossy Accents

3rd Birthday wishes to Lily

2011-02-27T13:01:00.000Z

My neighbour's grandaughter is 3 today. Can't believe that the years have gone by so quickly. One year they were parents to 2 grown up daughters and within the space of 12 months were grandparents to TWO grandchildren.

Well, today it's Michelle's daughter, Lily's 3rd birthday. I knew the date was coming up soon, but when Michelle answered my question on Facebook that it was TODAY I had to get my carcass out of bed and make a card for a gorgeous little girl.

And this is what I came up with while drinking my coffee whilst enjoying the peace of the rest of the family having a lay in.

The dragon digi image is from Doodle Palace and I've printed him onto photographic paper then coloured him in using Promarkers. Now, I've found that Promarkers dry pretty darned quickly on photo paper, but I still got to show high and low lights on him. The icing that he's got smeared round his greedy chops is glittered, because we all know that EVERY little girl loves sparkle, don't we?

Wishing Lily a wonderful 3rd birthday! xxx

Creative ingredients:
15cmx15cm pearlescent white cardstock - Doodle Palace digi image - Promarkers - Stickles - Thickers letters & number - Ribbon - Papertrail paper

Happy (belatedly blogged) Birthday, Susan

2011-02-26T16:54:00.001Z

Only a few days late posting this card for our lovely friend Susan. It was made and hand delivered on time (I promise!) but I never got round to tweaking the pic and uploading it through the week.

I'd like to enter this into the Ribbon Girl Challenge to make a project using the colours Cream, Pink and Brown.

Creative Ingredients:

Brown checked paper: BasicGrey - Pink & Cream paper/cardstock; scraps - Photograph; I took that! - Alphas; Making Memories - Flowers: Prima - Leaves; Woodware punch - Brads - Ribbon - Gems

Tweaked cards R us!

2011-02-21T07:30:00.018Z

I made a quick card a week or so ago (at VERY SHORT NOTICE... GARY!!!) but couldn't get it across to Guernsey in time for Valentines Day (ordered Friday, needed by Monday) so I've changed and tweaked it a bit to become a for a card for his wife's birthday instead.

Hopefully Jules will love it. If she doesn't then it wasn't me that made it! ;-)

Creative Ingredients:
Cream A5 Cardstock - Paper; BasicGrey - Punch; Stampin' Up Bird/branch & Martha Stewart Butterfly - Flower; Prima - Stamp - Tim Holtz - Brad - Pins - Ribbon - White pen; Inkssentials

Daring Cardmakers

2011-02-20T20:42:00.002Z

Daring Cardmakers challenge this week is around the subject of 'Steampunk"; a term I'd never heard of until Friday when it popped up in my blogwatch. So I had to Google the term to find out how to interpret it 'Rosie Stylee'.

Well it seems that there are lots of free images out there in the Steampunk era so I nabbed two and printed them out on to some cream cardstock which I inked the edges of to add a little vintage look. The greeting I created myself in PS using two different fonts to go with the lady holding her binoculars 'seeing the bright future ahead' that the light bulb invention in the other image would bring. Clever eh? HAHA!

This card is available for sale. Please see my "Cards for Sale" page for details.

Creative Ingredients:
Cream 5"x7" cardstock - BasicGrey Capella papers - Images free from the internet - Ribbon - Glossy Accents - Inkpad; QuickQuotes

Inspired by a photograph

2011-02-20T09:30:00.001Z

This card was made during some 'me time'. Not for anyone or for anything in particular. It all started when I printed a photo out that I'd taken quite a while back to test my new printer. Bits and bobs were added until I as pleased and realised that I needed to stop before I totally cluttered it up!

Creative Ingredients:
Cream cardstock - Photograph - Butterfly: Prima - Stamps: Inkadinkadoo - Flower: Prima - Leaf punch - Woodware - Glossy Accents - Scroll; Delish Designs - Gems - Button - Crackle Accents - Ribbon - Inkpads; Versafine & Quick Quotes

BasicGrey Challenge 38 - Sketch

2011-02-19T15:53:00.004Z

It's been a while since I played along with BasicGrey Challenges, even though they are my FAVE EVER paper manufacturer!|

They've got a sketch this week to inspire the creativity within; and inspire it did!

Papers used are from the Kyoshi range... aren't they beautiful?

This card can be purchased from me HERE

Creative Ingredients:

Papers: BasicGrey Kyoshi - Stamp: Tim Holtz - Flowers: Prima; Bird; Stampin' Up punch; Leaf punch; Woodware; Ink: Versafine & Quick Quotes - Brads - Ribbon

Cards update

2011-02-18T07:30:00.015Z

February's a pretty busy month as far as birthdays goes. Mine was on 2nd.

This lovely lady celebrated a special one on 8th.

This one flew over to Belgium to this lovely lady.

And this one stayed at home to go to South Shields to the lovely Jane who I had the pleasure of meeting when I went to London to cook with Ainsley Harriott.

Bring on the lighter nights is all I can say as night time, 'flash' photography is doing my doofers in!

Materials:
BasicGrey Paper - Tim Holtz on the Edge House Die - Tim Holtz sentiment stamp - Ribbon - Fiskars Scallop scissors - Computer generated sentiments - Thickers numbers - Making Memories alpha stickers - Prima flowers - pins - Martha Stewart butterfly punch - brads - corrugated cardboard - Stickles glitter glue

PaperPlay Challenges - Add Shine

2011-02-17T09:00:00.010Z

Hi folks, and welcome to my first DT project post for PaperPlay Challenges. This week we had some fab images to work with, courtesy of Just Some Lines.

I chose to make a nice, easy, simple card for this one. Nothing fancy schmancy, just a little something in the card line to give to a little one. My 'SHINE' comes from two directions; The shiny gold cardstock that I used and the glossy accents for the little girl's rose, hair bobbles, shiny shoes and the dog's healthy wet nose.

Please take time to go over to PaperPlay Challenges to see the amazing work of the other DT members.

Materials:
Gold cardstock - Image from Just Some Lines - Coloured using Promarkers - Sentiment; computer generated - ribbon; Ribbon Mad

Love bugs Valentines canvas

2011-02-14T23:09:00.000Z

Chatting to a friend at work who said she wanted to do something 'really special and different' for her man this year. Not the normal, buy it from a shop, mass produced tat but something that meant something.

I came up with the idea of doing a canvas and being the arty friend that I am created a box for her to give to him.

But me being me, wasn't satisfied with just an empty box for her; I had to create something to fit inside it (well, to be honest I made the box to fit the canvas!) So I came up with this from the photograph she emailed across to me.

Am really pleased to say both Penny and Roger LOVED my creation. To see her face when she opened the box at work to look at it was a real prize for me. Let's just say it was taken out of her desk drawer many times on Thursday last week to look at ;-) May they always be as happy and in love as they look in this photo. xxxx

Materials:
Canvas - Ribbon - Heart punch - Prima flowers - Brads - WRMK ribbon slider - Tim Holts stamp - Making Memories alpha stickers.

Paper Play Challenge Blog

2011-02-10T20:12:00.000Z

I've got some great news to share....

I've been asked by Sandie to join her fantastic Design Team over on the Paper Play Challenge Blog.

I can now proudly display my new banner too.

Really looking forward to working with the whole team on this great challenge blog. Please join us too when you can. It's always great to share the talent out there; and you lot are a mightily talented bunch.

Chicken liver pate and what NOT to do when making it....

2011-02-01T07:30:00.001Z

As I can't eat pork, and all commercially bought pates contain pork (even chicken liver pate!) I always make my own using chicken livers. Thinking I'd give you a recipe and method of how easy it is (not to mention how much better tasting), I photographed the ingredients and the step by step method.

Thankfully it was only my iPhone that I dropped in the finished item and not my Nikon! As you know, you can't wash phones, so I (disgustingly) licked it clean before wiping it with a damp cloth!

You need:

1 pack chicken livers (defrosted if frozen - my local butcher sells them in big packs)
3 cloves of garlic
1 large onion
8oz butter (not for those dieting)
Herbs of your choice, but I tend to use parsley, sage & oregano
Splash of sherry (optional)

This fella on my worktop makes lots of things, including making pate a breeze.

I use my mincer attachment to mince the chicken livers on a coarse screen prior to cooking (speeds up the time taken to cook it. If you don't have a mincer, then chop up the livers (or use kitchen scissors to cut them up).

I then push my garlic and onion through the mincer for two reasons. 1) it clears all the liver out, and 2) the onion is now the same size as my minced liver. You can obviously chop your garlic and onion finely instead. Add all your herbs to the liver and onion mix in your bowl (as well as your splash of sherry if you're using it).

Melt half a pack of butter (4oz) in a large frying pan, make sure you don't brown or burn your butter or your pate will taste awful.

Add the ingredients from your bowl and fry until the onion is transparent and the livers are cooked.

I use this cooking time to wash my mincer attachment ready for the next stage.

For the cooked liver mix I then use the fine screen on my mincer as I like a fairly smooth pate. Push the cooked liver mix through the mincer and collect in a clean bowl. If you don't have a mincer, you can use a food processor or a blender (or hand held stick blender) to make it smooth, or alternatively, you can leave it fairly course in texture. It's all down to how you prefer your pate.

Cut up 2oz of butter into small pieces and mix thoroughly with your minced livers until melted.

Transfer your pate to your serving dish. I add a bayleaf for decoration before gently melting the remaining 2oz of butter, straining this through muslin (to produce clarified butter) and then pouring this over the top of your pate. This both seals it from oxidisation and also helps preserve your pate.

Chill in the fridge until cold, then enjoy with crackers / toast, salad and a nice home made chutney.

I'll try and get round to sharing my apple chutney recipe with you which goes beautifully with chicken pate, cheese, hams etc.

Enjoy! If you make your own, please remember to come back and let me know what you think of it, won't you?

Kathy's Waffle Sketch File

2011-01-31T21:57:00.001Z

Jan / Feb 2011 - Triangles & Circles.

Ok, I've just realised when typing up this post to go with Kathy's sketch that I didn't include triangles; instead using circles for my bunting! Sorry to be so dim Kathy!!!!

Materials:
White pearlescent cardstock - Prima Flowers - Brad - Papers: Prima & (turquiose) offcut from scraps - Rub on: BasicGrey - Alphas; Making Memories - LOVE diecut pressie from Rebekah Montague - Inkpad; QuickQuotes

BasicGrey cards

2011-01-31T07:30:00.000Z

I was sent a load of stash recently from a very lovely friend of mine as she knows how much I love BasicGrey (Thanks Steph!)

These cards, chocolate bar and mini clipboard were made from only 2 sheets of 12x12 patterned paper. Love the vintage/shabby chic look and feel of them.

Sneaky peek...

A5 card

Materials used:
BasicGrey paper - 'Bingo' clipboard - Ribbon - Lace - Prima flowers - Martha Stewart Butterfly punch - Corrugated cardboard - Brads - Pins - Tim Holtz stamps -

Retirement Card

2011-01-30T11:10:00.000Z

I was asked to make a Retirement card for a friend's colleague. Now girlie and shabby chic I can do... but for the more discerning male recipient I had to have a little think about what was needed.

The brief was:
* gardening / DIY / Formula 1
* for a man (who turned out to be the hubby of an old school friend of mine - small world!)
* to include a poem
* needed to be A4/A5 in design

So, off to my studio I went and got to work on it. I was lucky enough to have received a parcel of goodness from the lovely Rebekah - The Happy Scrapper which was a lovely surprise and it contained some fab papers, cardstock, embellie bits which were all perfectly co-ordinated.

I found this birdhouse paper in the box and think it's so cute and definitely appropriate for a gardening themed card. The folder on the front is cut from a Sizzix die and contains the poem (hence the little note to OPEN). Rustic string which I frayed the ends of adds a bit of a manly feature. The acetate toolshed, wheelbarrow and bird house were from one of Kirsty Wiseman's CDs "Call of the Wild". I'm pleased with how the card turned out and it seems that my friend I made it for to give to her colleague is too. Hope he likes it when he receives it.

Materials:
Cream cardstock - unknown manufacturer birdhouse paper - string - Prima flower - brad - Sizzix die - Kirsty Wiseman's CD - Papermania alphas - Pebbles Inc. candy dots

Fancy a quick snack?

2011-01-30T10:30:00.001Z

Wanted to share a quick snack recipe with you that's a real hit with us all in this household.

Simply take... (Serves 1)

1 pannini
Sundried tomato & parmesan pesto
Sliced tomato
Sliced mozzarella cheese
Fresh basil leaves, chopped coarsley

Do this...

Slice and spread the panini with the pesto.
Top with sliced tomato.
Add sliced Mozzarella cheese.
Sprinkle with the chopped basil.

Put the top back on and then put onto your pre-heated sandwich press for 4-5 minutes or until the cheese has melted. Enjoy!!!

Warning though, this dish is a little on the chewy side because of the Mozzarella cheese...

You can tell this one was my lunch because of my 'fix' in the background... DIET COKE!

Daring Cardmakers

2011-01-30T00:12:00.000Z

Ooh, it's been a while, hasn't it? ;-( Sometimes life & work just gets right in the way of what you really want / love to do.

Well, I did make this card in plenty of time but only got round to photographing it today so I'll upload it (late) to take part in last week's Daring Cardmakers challenge..... It's all about me!

This week it's Asia here and I would like you to make a card for... yourself! Use your special papers (the ones that you stash away for Queen's birthday and you know you won't use them anyway, because they're too pretty), your favourite stamps and embellishments. Make a card that will stay with you and write inside something that has a meaning to you, that gives you power and energy. Make a card, that you've never got.

Well, I made this card but NOT for me. It's for someone who is a really lovely lady who has a lot on her plate and I guess needs time in her craft room to grab a little R&R in her daily life. Can't say who it's for as I've not posted it out yet. But I do hope she likes it when she gets it.

Materials used:
Black cardstock - Luggage label - lace - Thickers & BasicGrey alpas - ribbon - Stickles glitter glue - Prima flowers - DelishDesigns journalling spot - chipboard rectangle - QuickQuotes inkpad

Retro toy - do you remember having one too?

2011-01-29T23:36:00.000Z

Will has this retro T-Shirt that's orange with a familiar smiley face on it, so when I saw this little fella in John Lewis before Christmas, I couldn't help but buy it for him as a stocking filler from the kids.

You know what it's like.... you're just about to press the shutter and the old bugger bounces out of the frame!

So obviously I had to take another of him sitting still and posing properly for a piccie.

This young lady was desperate to have a go, but as she's so little, it was a bit of a challenge getting on it without it rolling away from her.

Ok, now for a warning.... if you have a muffin top DO NOT pose on a space hopper as it really is NOT a flattering look!

Unfortunately we don't have a picture of Jacob on it for two reasons;
1) He was being his typical teenage hermit self and was ensconced in his bedroom on his XBox.
2) Freya took it out to play in the street and got a puncture!

The puncture was repaired with a leech and seemed to be holding, until.... she bounced on it again the next day and the bloody thing split! Well, that was £15 well spent don't you think? It was advertised for being strong enough for adults yet a tiny slip of a 10 year old burst it!

I'd also bought him a 'stress ball' in the shape of a space hopper in the same bright orange but that had a split when he took it out of the packaging on Christmas day! Obviously not destined for retro fun in this household eh?

Scrapbook page

2011-01-21T22:51:00.000Z

Kirsty Wiseman runs a Facebook online Cyber Crop page which she used to host via Ustream weekly. She's set a sketch and a recipe to follow and we'd crop along to her chitter-chatter while we scrapped for 2 hours between typing little notes, quips and giggles in a live chat.

With Christmas and other things that Kirsty's been busy with, she's not had the chance recently to lead the group, so I hijacked it this week with a sketch and recipe.

I wanted to see the following in my recipe:

White background.
Square photograph.
2 different patterned papers.
Chipboard embellishment.
Sentiment and handwritten journalling.
3 brads or buttons.

I chose one of my wedding photos from way back when I was young (20 years old) and slim (size 8).

My chipboard was in the form of some Cosmo Cricket Blackboard and my numbers from Thickers. The cream ribbon was almost the same colour as my dress which I gathered and ruffled one side while leaving the other end smooth. This was simply stapled to my page. I chose a black flower and black numbers and flower accents to contrast with the white background. I also double matted my photograph onto white and then black. I chose subtle papers from Prima's Shabby Chic Collection (thanks Steph!) and picked accent colours up from that for my crochet flower and paint streaks. I also used a patterned paper tag from DeLish Designs. I don't do white space, hence there's not too much here but I did try and keep it to a minimum while still making it lush!

Scrapbook Magazine

2011-01-11T22:01:00.000Z

Remember this post from November?

Well these two layouts of my daughter have been published on page 12 in issue 52 of Scrapbook Magazine that's on sale now.

I'm really proud to see my work in print and to feature a gorgeous little model that is my beautiful daughter is an added bonus!

The papers were really lovely that were the freebie with issue 50 of the mag and re-delivered my long lost mojo to me when scrapping times were barren.

My copy of the new mag arrived today and it's got some more lovely papers with it, so I may just be creating again! Go me!!!!!!!

Happy New Year 2011

2010-12-31T22:58:00.000Z

We hope that 2011 brings you health, happiness, family and friendship.

From Will, Jacob, Freya & myself to you all.

xxx

My son's been promoted!

2010-12-28T23:11:00.000Z

Some of you may know that my son is in the Air Cadets. He's been a cadet for just over a year now; joining up the day after his 14th birthday in 2009.

We had his Presentation Evening just before Christmas and he's now been promoted to Corporal. We were all so proud of him. Both his grandparents, my sister and brother-in-law as well as our best friends were there with Will, Freya and myself to see him accept his stripes.

Those that know us will also know that we never let the kids have time off school either. Jacob had been incredibly poorly that week (we've never, in his 15 years seen him so unwell; it was very nearly a trip to the doctors because of his very high temperature!) and he had missed his last day of school before Christmas that day, but point blank refused to miss his Presentation Evening. He still looked unwell but was determined to take part.

He managed to get through his Continuity Drill but then as they were formed up afterwards he had to be taken out to sit down in the foyer where it was cooler, as he was about to pass out. He really did look poorly and we ended up outside with him resulting in him missing his first presentation of his Leading Cadet qualification.

Although he started to recover from feeling faint, he still looked unwell and was unable to rejoin his fellow cadets at the front of the hall for the rest of the evening.

He did however, manage to collect his trophy which he was awarded for obtaining the best exam results of the year (he gained a Distinction in his 3 exams to become Leading cadet). The news of this actually came from RAF Wittering through to his Commanding Officer and he was told on his birthday this year - what a present eh?

When given the opportunity to go and collect his stripes leading to his promotion, the beret was back on again and he managed to march with full pride up to the front of the hall to receive it. (Sorry the photo was blurred, he couldn't march up there quick enough to fetch them!)

Jacob, we are all so incredibly proud of your achievements and continued dedication to your Air Cadet Squadron and fellow Cadets.

Congratulations Corporal Guthrie!

xxxx

London with Ainsley Harriott

2010-12-27T23:37:00.000Z

I was incredibly lucky recently to be invited by my very lovely friend Debbie, to join her in London on a cooking masterclass day with Ainsley Harriott. Gotta say I was hyperventilating with excitement at the prospect of

a) Cooking with Ainsley Harriott.
b) Meeting Debbie for the first time, though we've been in touch for a couple of years via t'internet.
c) Luxury hotel overnight in London.

I was NOT disappointed I can tell you! Prepare yourselves for one very heavy blog post. (I can, can't I? I've not blogged in an absolute age!)

Our rather posh hotel!

My mad room mate and good friend, Mel

Phwoah!

I love this photo, so typical of his nature... friendly, happy and honest!

From the back row: Claire, Me, Debbie
Mel, Ainsley, Jane & Suzanne

The very kind, generous and really lovely Debbie.

He had just said something VERY rude to me!!!!!

Smoked duck, orange & pomegranate salad.

Spicy Caribbean Bouillabase.

Cheers Ainsley - thank you for a fantastic time.

Coffee brioche pudding.

Oh Mel!!! Get your tongue back in your own mouth woman!

I may be smiling outwardly but I was hyperventilating and stressing inside letting Ainsley sign one of my Radley bags!

Ermmmmm..........!

Cheers!

Debbie, thank you for being so kind and generous and inviting me to share your wonderful experience. xxxx

Kirsty's Cyber crop

2010-11-07T22:20:00.000Z

Catching up on Blog posts not done.

From Kirsty Wiseman's Wednesday night Cyber Crops:

Week 7 - 13th October 2010

(This was during my blonde phase!)

(Materials: Sassafrass papers - Dunelm Blooms - Bazzill Brad - Thickers alphas - Pink waxed thread)

Week 8 - 20th October 2010

My lovely friend Kate at her wedding shower. Miss my girlie lunchtime chats with this great girl!

(Materials: Papers; offcuts from scrap box - Blooms; Prima - Alphas; BasicGrey - Bird & decorated brad; K&Company - Glitter; Stickles)

Scrapbook Magazine Freeeeee papers

2010-11-07T21:22:00.000Z

I LOVED the free Hot off the Press papers this month from Scrapbook Magazine's issue 50. So much so, that I couldn't decide which set to use... the greens/purples or the red/black. So I chose BOTH!

These photos were taken when Freya was about 9 months old. I really loved her in this outfit; it was such a beautiful colour on her. She was such a happy baby too and had the most infectious, genuine laugh that you couldn't help joining in with her. For a little bit of definition, I chose to scrunch up the printed background paper and highlight it with a little bit of 'Wisteria' Cats Eye Chalk ink. I used the same technique on the lollipop scalloped flower that I made. I wrapped the page with a some green & white bakers twine which is bang on trend at the moment.

For my second page I chose a photo that I'd printed out with a red colour cast, but which matched the papers perfectly and it was such a lovely photo that I chose to use it anyway. I used Bazzill Swiss Dots in black for some texture and for the red swirls within the printed paper, I used some red Stickles to highlight add that little bit of bling & sparkle. Wrapped with some red & white bakers twine and with some white pen to place some 'faux stitching' gave me the finished article.

Happy Birthday mum!

2010-10-29T21:52:00.015+01:00

I have the most wonderfully kind and caring mum. She was a daughter, still is a wife, sister, mother, mother-in-law, aunty, and grandmother. All who know her love her and for me, I'm proud to call her mum.

She celebrates her 73rd birthday today and just want everyone to know that she's special and adored beyond belief. If I can be half the mother that she has been, then my two children with be lucky indeed.

She had 2 hand made cards made by me this year;

From dad...

(Materials: Making Memories scalloped paper - Stampin Up image - Derwent Aquatone - Prima)

From us...

(Materials: Thickers alphas - Stampin Up - Derwent Aquatone - Prima - Woodware punch)
Love you so much mum; today, tomorrow & always.
xxx

Kirsty's Cyber Crop no. 6

2010-10-06T22:00:00.004+01:00

Yep, here again with another creation using Kirsty's Cyber Crop sketch. I really look forward to my Wednesday nights with my stash and some photos, not to mention the Ustream video and the chat with the other participants.

Our sketch this week looks like this...

And my LO looks a bit like this...

This photo is about 12 years old. Will had been night shift the night before (hence the bleary eyed look, bless him!) We went to Jacob's nursery for a family photo shoot and had this one of the two of us taken too. The papers are offcuts and scraps from my scrap packs (I'm sure the yellow/turquoise is from Sassafrass). The blooms are from my stash as I'm being very good and using up bits and bobs. The hearts are punched from craft cardstock which are then fixed over some curled wire. Alphas are BasicGrey.

Kirsty's Cyber Crop

2010-09-29T22:00:00.003+01:00

The lovely Kirsty has created another great sketch for us to play with over on her Cyber Crop which you can catch on her Ustream Channel on Wednesday nights form 8-10pm.

Our two kids have grown up with our wonderful friends being their 'aunty & uncle'. They adore them both and are totally adored back by both Kevan and Susan. They never miss seeing them on birthdays or at Christmas and always get and give the biggest cuddles. We've known them for over 20 years and love them dearly. So, to celebrate our friendship, I chose to scrap these pictures which were taken a couple of years ago now.

The papers are BasicGrey (again!) and I'm loving the lacy paper doily effect with the cotton lace. I hand punched the holes and hand stitched the vertical line in embroidery floss. I wish I had some red & white bakers twine as that's what I'd have preferred to use. ;-( The chipboard swirls were from Bubblyfunk a while back which I've inked and glittered using Stickles.

Kirsty's Cyber Crop

2010-09-22T22:00:00.013+01:00

Another great sketch and 2 hours with the lovely ladies that join in with Kirsty Wisesmans Wednesday night Cyber Crop. Our sketch this week...

The LO that I created using this sketch caused quite a stir when I posted it on the Facebook group, I can tell you! I had texts, emails, private messages and FB messages congratulating me on my news. Just so you know... this photo was taken in 2000 when I was pregnant with my daughter. I'm not now and never will again be pregnant. I truly loved being pregnant both times, but that's your lot, no more babies for this womb.

All papers are from BasicGrey (well you gotta love BG haven't you?) Blooms are from Sarah's cards and Prima; buttons from stash and the alphas are from Thickers.

Kirsty's Cyber Crop

2010-09-15T22:50:00.000+01:00

Kirsty held her 3rd Sketch cyber crop this evening

I can't believe how quickly my LO came together. I started it at 8:10pm when I opened my photo box and then my paper left overs and emailed the first iPhone picture out at 8.53pm.... 43 minutes after starting!!!

I have NEVER made a LO that quickly, I can tell you.

I was then challenged by Kirsty to make a card using the same sketch before she finished her own LO. Sadly she beat me by 5 minutes! But I still managed 2 creations in under an hour and a quarter!

All the papers are from a left over Studio Calico kit that was kicking round. The tag was in a box that I got from America a few years back.

Isn't she beautiful?

2010-09-15T22:42:00.001+01:00

I was taking some pics of Freya on Saturday (she is such a willing model for me, unlike Jacob who would run a mile when a lens is pointed at him, unfortunately!)

I had to share this pic of her. I cannot believe how grown up she looks. Not quite 10 but a beautiful young lady with such knowing eyes.

Now, what will I have to bribe Jacob with to get a pic of him...?!

Kirsty's Cyber Crop

2010-09-08T22:32:00.001+01:00

I really wanted to play along 'in real time' with Kirsty Wiseman's sketch cyber crop tonight, despite being still awake at 5am this morning, when my alarm goes off at 7am.

And tired though I was (and still am) I managed to stay awake long enough to do the cyber crop, watch the Ustream video of Kirsty creating her own LO and to chat with the lovely ladies in the Ustream chat room.

I'm going to try and make every cyber crop LO using BasicGrey papers:
a) because I LOVE BasicGrey, and
b) I have rather a lot of BasicGrey papers

So using photos of me which were:
a) 20 years ago.
b) 2 stone lighter.
c) 2 dress sizes smaller.
d) 2 children less
I came up with this 12"x12" LO. These pics are soooo embarrassing, I can't believe I'm sharing!

This was Kirsty's sketch this week. Hope you played along too. Don't forget to share your LOs too.

Requirements:

You can do this sketch
or
choose 5 products in addition to card and paper to make an entirely different layout of your chosing
or
Combine the two - always interesting!

The 5 products you must use are:
Rub ons
One tag with ink (rubber stamped or coloured in)
Ribbon
3 buttons
This download here (print it out and use it on your layout) - resize of necessary!

Right, I'm so bloody tired and I really need to catch some zzzzzzz's. Night!

Monster sized Spider!

2010-09-04T23:36:00.002+01:00

I know we're not the only ones at the moment experiencing bloody mahoosive spiders, but I had to share this one that we caught running across my son's bedroom the other night. (This is the 3rd such massive spider in recent weeks - where do they come from? How do they get so big without being seen before they've grown to Titanic proportions?

Anyone who knows me is aware of my inherent fear of spiders. I hyperventilate (even when I'm trying to be brave around the kids) at the mere sight, especially of a big one like this. Even Will found it a bit daunting to catch. I could only get the camera out after I knew the jar was firmly sealed.

If it were left to me, this fella would have either been

a) DEAD!
b) Sucked up in the Hoover and the bag emptied into the wheelie bin.
c) DEAD!
d) DEAD!

There is NO WAY I'd have caught it and let it out in the front garden. I told him to go at least to the end of the street to free it, but he was having none of my instructions. Bad hubby!

Check the hairy legs out... it has longer, thicker, blacker hairs than a female German shot-putter! And look at the size of those pincer thingies on it's ass!!!!

This jar is over 3 1/2" in diameter which just gives you an idea of the size of the hairy little bugger!

**Shudders!

Night all, don't let the spiders bite! ;-)
x

Kirsty Wiseman's Cyber Crop sketch

2010-09-04T17:54:00.001+01:00

Kirsty had a bit of a cyber crop going last Wednesday evening, but as has been my life recently I was too busy to play along, not matter how much I would have liked to. So last night, being Friday and my 'me time' evening, I loaded up her blog, took inspiration from her sketch and followed her 'recipe' of things to include and came up with this LO. The photos were taken almost 3 years ago at my sister's wedding, but I still think Freya looked absolutely regal as her first outing as a bridesmaid.

This was the sketch...

And these were the rules...

The products you must use are:
a swoosh of paint
Ink splats
2 tags
staples
2 different stamps in two different inks
minimum of 5 gems or stickle/glitter spots
3 patterned papers

Rules and tips:
Twist the sketch to any orientation you like.
You must use all the products listed - but you can add more of your own if you wish
Def use two photos
Always add a title
Journalling is optional.

Materials:
The papers and alphas: BasicGrey (because you gotta love BG!)
The backing cardstock:Bazzill (because this is a necessity too, spesh in white).
Stamps: American Crafts & Autumn Leaves.
Paint: Au Naturale.
Glitter glue: Stickles.
Ink spots: Adirondak Alcohol Ink.
Inks: Tsukineko Versafine black & Dewdrop Brilliance gold.
Gems: Papermania.
Flowers: Prima (of course!)

Rosie D's Challenge 78

2010-08-22T18:00:00.004+01:00

Evening everyone! Long time no see. Good reasons though, we've been on holiday to the Peak District in Derbyshire. It was wet, windy and a bit on the cool side, but it was a break from work and home with special people; my husband, and two fantastic children. Not to mention the dog as Maisy came with us too (and was rather wet and smelly by the end of the fortnight!)

Back to earth and work with a bump though now.

Here's my card for the last ever challenge over at Rosie D's. It's been a difficult decision to make, but after almost 2 years I've decided to close the challenge blog down as I sadly just don't have the time to visit and comment on everyone's entries any more. I have to give my priority to my husband and children when I get in from work and so something has to give. I've stepped away from all my craft commitments for the time being and only work on one Design Team now for Kirsty Wiseman, who is a dear friend of mine.

So, my final entry for Rosie D's (as set this week by Design Team member Jackie) looks like this....

Jackie's theme is 'One for the Boys!' A monochromatic theme for an anniversary or just to say I love you to that special man in your life.

Please take time to join us this time round for our final challenge and please say a HUGE thank you to the fantastic Design Team members for their inspiration that they've provided us all with.

Back after a break & a change

2010-07-25T23:21:00.000+01:00

I don't really know if anyone out there noticed that I've not been around recently, but I do have a very valid reason for my absense. Some of you may remember that I was diagnosed with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in my hands and that I was waiting for my right hand to be operated on.

Well... the op went ahead on Tuesday 8th June 2010 and has been a success. No more pins and needles in my right hand, but they remain in my left :-( I was advised no repetitive movements for 6 weeks along with no heavy lifting. Unusually for me, I actually stuck to the advice that I was given and didn't even switch my laptop on for the duration. Crafting was very difficult too so that went by the wayside as well. My poor craft room was very neglected, just being used by me to sit on the sofa bed with a cuppa and a good book. The first time I picked up my camera was a couple of days short of the 6 weeks as my son was with the other Air Cadets escorting our town carnival, and I never realised how heavy it was before, and my hand really ached that evening as a result.

Luckily I had crafted like mad and had scheduled Blogger to upload my challenge project for Rosie D's Challenge Blog to enable me to have the break my hand needed to recover.

It still aches but it's getting better by the day, the scar is fading nicely and some of the strength is coming back.

We also had a real scare with mum when she discovered a lump and was sent for a mammogram, ultrasound and possible biopsy. Thankfully nan was smiling down on her daughter and everything is ok. Tears and cuddles all round.

I also found out this morning that a friend of mine lost his battle against lung cancer which finally stole his final breath on 9th June. I've been in contact with his wife today who apologised for not letting me know sooner. Bless her, her priorities were with her two children and very young grandson and herself, and rightly not with me at such a difficult time. Howard was such a kind and gentle man. A great husband, father and grandad, unfortunately the latter was for such a short time. He was a good friend and a wonderful driving instructor and mentor to so many people. The world will be a sadder place without him.

I also changed jobs at the beginning of July... busy, busy, busy! LOL

Right, I really must behave now and stop typing as I've done more today than I have in the past few weeks.

Night all!

x

Challenge 76 - All Creatures Great and Small

2010-07-25T18:00:00.001+01:00

Have you seen the fantastic work by the Design Team over on Rosie-D's this time round? Wow! They are such a talented bunch of ladies!

I'm going to tantalise you with a little sneak of my card for Tracy's fab theme of 'All Creatures Great and Small'

Tracy is offering this great prize too for one lucky participant that will be picked out at the end of this fortnight's challenge.

When you pop over to the blog, not only will you see the full reveal of my card but you will also find the work of Saskia, Lyn, Jackie, Tracy, Mervi and Magda. A very talented bunch of lovely ladies.

Don't forget to check out if you were our winner from the last challenge and remember, that you've got 2 weeks to take part in order to be in with the chance of winning Tracy's prize. See you over there! x

Challenge 75 - Burgundy, Pink & Cream

2010-07-18T18:00:00.013+01:00

Have you seen the girl's fantastic projects on Rosie D's this time round? We have had some amazing entries to the challenge blog too. Thanks to everyone who has already taken part and for those that haven't yet, remember you still have another week to do so.

Remember Tracy's theme for this time round is Burgundy, Pink and Cream colour combo. GORGEOUS!!!!

This card is too late for my own Wedding Anniversary which was on 2nd July - 22 years!!!!!! Blimey where have they gone?! We'll soon be celebrating our 25th - now that IS scary!

Materials:
Cream card.
Flourish stamp: Hero Arts.
Fabric paper: Indigo Mill.
Flowers: Prima.
Leaf punch: Woodware.
Clock & Sentiment stamps: Paper Artsy.
Brads: Stash.
Ribbon: Ribbon Mad.
Inkpads: Pretty Colour & Versafine.

Rosie D's challenge 75 - Burgundy, Pink & Cream

2010-07-11T18:00:00.001+01:00

Howdy folks! Thanks to Mervi for setting us a fantastic set of Challenges for June.

This month we have Tracy to thank for our challenges over at Rosie D's. To kick start us off, she's given us a colour challenge... Burgundy, Pink and Cream no less!

Ooh, is that fabric paper I can see on this project? You'll have to pop and see what it's all about over on the Challenge Blog where you'll find some fantastic projects made by the other girlies too!

Rosie D's challenge 74 - Summer Birthdays

2010-07-04T18:00:00.008+01:00

Did you remember to pop over to Rosie D's Challenge Blog and wish Mervi a very happy Birthday? I do hope so!

Well, here's my reveal of my summer dress card that I made for Mervi's challenge.

If you haven't already taken part, remember that Mervi is giving away a prize to celebrate her birthday to one lucky participant in the challenge blog.

Materials:
White pearlescent card.
Cardstock: Coredinations.
Paper (for dress): Black Market Paper Society.
Dress Stamp: Creative Expressions.
Alphas: BasicGrey.
Butterfly punch: Martha Stewart.
Ribbon: Stash.

Rosie D's challenge 74 - Summer Birthdays

2010-06-27T18:00:00.013+01:00

Mervi has chosen the theme of Summer Birthdays this time around on Rosie D's Challenge Blog as she's celebrating her birthday next week and has promised to send our lucky winner a present in celebration.

You can interpret the theme in whichever way you wish as long as it represents a birthday in the summer!

I've chosen a lovely summer dress for my theme this time around.

Please take time to pop over to the Challenge Blog to see the beautiful works of art that the ever talented DT have come up with and don't forget to wish Mervi a very happy birthday too!

Rosie D's challenge 73 - Something blue and fish or fishing

2010-06-20T18:00:00.013+01:00

Still on the scheduled posts but I should be having my stitches out next week so at least I'll be able to get back to some kind of normality (well, as normal as I ever can be!)

Mervi's challenging us this month over on Rosie D's Challenge blog and she's offering this prize to our lucky winner this time round.

Mervi would like to see something blue and options are fish or fishing from you this time round.

You'll have to pop over to the challenge blog where you can see the great works that the other girls have come up with!

Materials:
Blue A6 card.
Corrugated packaging.
Parcel Tag.
Rub on: Royal & Langnickle (very old stash!)
Stamps: (I think) are from Studio G.

Rosie D's challenge 73 - Something blue and fish or fishing

2010-06-13T18:00:00.016+01:00

Hi everyone. I'm uploading this in advance so hoping that it will schedule and load on time as I had an operation on my right hand on Tuesday so am currently one handed and struggling!

We have the lovely DT member of Mervi setting the challenges for June over on Rosie D's Challenge blog and she's offering this prize to our lucky winner this time round.

Mervi would like to see something blue and options are fish or fishing from you this time round.

Here's my sneaky. You'll have to pop over to the challenge blog to see what it looks like in it's entirity. While you're there you can see the great works that the other girls have come up with!

The op has been done!

2010-06-12T22:21:00.000+01:00

I had the first of my Carpal Tunnel Operations on Tuesday morning and am pleased that everything went according to plan.

This is how I used to sleep with a metal splint on my right hand...

On the way to the surgery I offered Will the chance to change places, but he kindly informed me that it was ok, he didn't mind driving! I think he misunderstood the offer. Even in the surgery where I was patiently waiting...

He still refused to swap places with me...

I came out with the most enormous of bandages on my hand...

Which covered my 6 stitches... (look away now if you're squeamish!)

Until last night, Friday, when it was removed and I now just have a small dressing...

The Consultant, Mr Siddiqui, has made a fantastic job, very neat indeed. Thanks Doc!

It's a bit sore and is very bruised in the palm but that's to be expected I suppose. Me, being me, watched him stitch the wound back up. I couldn't quite watch the initial incision itself or the ligament being cut, but next time on my left hand I will for sure! HEEHEE!

I am now becoming a dab hand at everything left handed, though I can't lift anything and if it's going to fall, I have to remember to let it as it really does hurt like a bitch when you try and catch it! (...Yes, I have!)

The stitches come out on 21st June after which time I can drive again. No repetitive movements or heavy lifting allowed for at least 6 weeks.

Hmmm... wonder how long until I can craft again...?! I can type left handed (slowly and with some appalling spelling mistakes), but I'll get there!

Rosie D's challenge 72 - Fairytales

2010-06-06T21:43:00.001+01:00

This is Saskia's final week of setting the challenges over on Rosie D's Challenge Blog
and she chose the theme of Fairytales last Sunday (I know I'm a week late putting this up but I've had no computer / internet connection for almost two weeks at home thanks to those silly peeps at AOL

Saskia has offered up 2 lovely stamps for the winner!! 'Elmit' and 'Littlebell' from In2Stamps, a Belgian company! They have a lovely range of unique, beautiful stamps!

So finally, here is my card that I made for my sister's birthday. She doesn't check my blog out (I don't think) so should be ok putting it up before she receives it.

Materials:

Harlequin Stamp:Tim Holtz.
Angel stamp: Whipper Snapper Designs.
Inkpads: Versamagic.
Greeting: Computer generated.
Colouring pens: Promarkers.
Glitter Glue: Stickles.
Ribbon: Ribbon Mad.
Gems: Pound shop.

Freya's lion

2010-06-06T21:36:00.001+01:00

It seems an eternity since I had a computer with internet access in my house. It's been 2 weeks in reality but feel SOOOOOO much longer!

Anyhoo. Remember Freya's lion she designed for school?

Well this is what the finished article looks like...

Thanks to she school for teachers and pupils at her school who were involved in turning her design into such an amazing work of art!

The lion cub is now on his way to the Grosvenor Shopping Centre in Northampton to be exhibited along with the rest of the Pride of Northamptonshire before being auctioned off for charity.

Freya was so pleased as our local newspaper visited her school to photograph her with her lion. To give you an indication of the size of the lion, the centre of the lion's back comes up to her waist!

Rosie D's challenge 71 - Easel Card

2010-05-23T18:00:00.010+01:00

You still have another week to take part in Saskia's Easel Card challenge over on Rosie D's.

She is offering a lovely stamp as a prize for one participant. Remember, you have to be in it to win it as they say!

Here's the reveal of my card that I made...

Materials:
Cream cardstock folded to A5 size.
Papers & bear image: Kirsty Wiseman's Colour me Crazy CD.
Gems: Pound shop.
Buttons: Stash.
Ribbon: Ribbon Mad (so sad that they've gone now!)

Rosie D's challenge 71 Easel Card

2010-05-16T18:00:00.000+01:00

Saskia has announced the winner for our last challenge over on Rosie D's. If you entered your card for her 'So Yummy' challenge, please take a peek over there to see if you were her lucky winner!

On to Saskia's new challenge... She wants us to make an Easel Card. You see lots of these around these days and if you do a search you can find some fantastic tutorials on how to make one of your own if you've never had a go.

I haven't made too many of these cards but I love the dimension that they give when they stand up - so different from the shop bought cards that you get.

I've used papers from Kirsty Wiseman's new CD 'Colour Me Crazy'. Isn't that bear so cute?

Di Hickman sketch

2010-05-15T07:30:00.000+01:00

Still playing catch up folks with uploading challenge pics. Pheweeee! Why do I leave it and then have to play mad, stupid catch up?!

Di had a lovely sketch to follow on her blog. I especially liked the photo corners and chose to use my new fave (Kirsty Wiseman's third CD) to make this card.

Such a lovely colour combo! I love it and with the splash of pink icing on the cupcake, it looks good enough to eat!

Materials:
Patterned papers from Kirsty Wiseman's CD Colour me Crazy.
Photo corners: We R Memory Keepers (had these ages).

Colour Me Crazy CD from Kirsty Wiseman

2010-05-15T00:00:00.000+01:00

I'm very honoured to work with Kirsty designing projects from her CDs. This is her third CD and the third I've worked on for her. I truly cannot wait for the 4th one that will be out soon. (Where does this woman get (a) her inspiration (b) the talent and (c) the time to do this?

The CD was aired last Saturday 1st May on Create and Craft and I met her there to collect Ellie so that Kirsty could do the show while Ellie and Freya spent time together at my house. What was going to be a visit became an overnight stay and almost became two nights as Kirsty ended up with the most horrific migraine (she blamed it on my kitchen too, the cheeky moo! HAHA!) I think she's been working too hard and burning her candle at both ends to meet her deadlines, but hopefully now she can relax a little (until next time, that is!)

Anyhoo... These are the samples I made and sent to her for the TV debut of her CD. Remember you can buy it direct from Kirsty's website for £14.99 (and for a limited time that includes P&P, so hurry!) You won't be disappointed by the quality as it is FANTASTIC! No poor quality, pixelated images that you can get on some craft CDs that are for sale out there. They're easy to print from the CD too. No installation of other programmes required. Just pop in the disc and you can view and print via your computer. Alternatively, copy and paste the image into a word processing package or into an image manipulation programme and then edit, add text, resize and then print.

This next one is actually a coaster that I've covered with good old Blue Peter 'sticky backed plastic!'

My fave, fave, fave! A shoppint list clipboard. I nearly couldn't bear to send this one off to her.

Angelica Rockchick - she's awsome!

Phew! There were more than I though! I've also made a few more since but I'll show you them later.

Bye!

Kathy's Waffle Sketch File - Catch up!

2010-05-10T12:30:00.001+01:00

I've had a catch up with Kathy's fab sketches and just as I get up to date, does the little minx not go and add another one for me to do! But not today Zurg! It's on my list of things to do another day.

So...

February 2010 - Say it with Flowers?

March 2010 - Bouncy Bouncy Bouncy! (the elements are in the correct place, but they don't bounce!)

April 2010 - On the borderline.

Materials:
All papers from Kirsty Wisemans second and third CDs.
Buttons from stash.
Alphas: Thickers and stash.
Ribbon: Ribbon Mad.

Daring Card Makers - Emerald Isle?

2010-05-09T23:05:00.000+01:00

It's been a while since my good intentions made public here on my blog that I wanted to take part more regularly again on DCM. But I've managed to make my card this week. If I'm totally honest, I sometimes make the cards and then forget to upload it.

Their theme this week is Emerald Isle? Their first dare of each month comes from the birthstone of the month in question and for May that birthstone is EMERALD

Obviously the 'Emerald' part of my card comes from the predominantly green colour (something that I seldom seem to use in everyday cardmaking / scrapping for some strange reason).

Lots of Prima flowers used with button centres. I added some artistic licence to the regular saying... because I can!

Materials:
Cream 5"x7" card.
All papers and cardstock - scraps from my (very thick and unused) scrap packs.
Flowers: Prima.
Greeting: My own, computer printed.
Ribbon: Ribbon Mad (sadly closed!)

This is what happens you leave a camera unattended in my house...

2010-05-09T20:43:00.001+01:00

I only nipped for a wee and left my camera on the kitchen table for 2 minutes earlier, when my freak of a husband decided to leave me a little surprise!

I'm getting the last laugh though as I'm sharing the images! MWAHAHAHAH!