Di Hickman - February Sketch #4

This is my final week as Guest Sketch Team Member for Di Hickman. I've really enjoyed producing these cards for Di, so a huge THANK YOU goes out to her for giving me the chance to be part of her card sketch team this month. Thanks Di!!! xxx



The word background paper is from SEI Hippie Chick and the green was a Christmas paper from Rhonna Farrer but I though the green went pretty well with some of the lettering. I die cut two flowers using a Sizzix die and doodled round the edges. The 'fun' chipboard word came from Bubbly Funk. The ribbon was from Ribbon Mad.

Birthday Book

I was asked to make a book for a friend's mum's 80th birthday and a folder of old photographs duly arrived along with a few notes on personal details and colour preferences etc.

Very reluctant to use the original photos dating back to 1948, I scanned them all in and had a quick play using PSE6. I didn't want to make them perfect so that they retained their aged character. I added text over the top of some of the photos before I printed them out.












The album cover papers were from DCWV with all internal patterned papers coming from Paper Mania. Embellishments were from Prima, Dunelm, We Are Memory Keepers, Ribbon Mad, Autumn Leaves (Rhonna Farrer) and Stamps Away.

I've been to the dentist......

This isn't craft related but I'll share it with you anyway.

I recently broke a filling away from one of my teeth while eating some very lovely Praline Almonds from Holland and Barrett. So after a few days of denial and a couple of toothache, I had an emergency appointment last Friday morning.

The news from my dentist....? I need a crown but not only do I need the tooth crowned as it has now become uber sensitive I need root canal treatment to get rid of the nerve before it's crowned or I will continue to suffer from toothache. GREAT!

My appointment was at 11.30 this morning and I'd be in the chair for about 30 minutes. To say I was bricking it was rather an understatement! In anticipation of the pain (and the gory stories some people had told me about root canal treatment) I took 3 ibuprofen at 10am so that they'd be completely in my system and aid the pain relief.

I had 3 injections in my gum (now suitably bruised!) and the impression was taken of my top teeth (a doddle) while the injections took proper effect. (Still bricking it at this stage!)

The temporary dressing was taken off the offending tooth. Yep, that bit was ok too.

Then..... the worst bit - removal of the nerve from the tooth..... I NEVER FELT A BLOODY THING!!!!!!! All that hype was a load of old baloney!!!!

The re build up of the tooth never went quite as planned though and had to be done 3 times until my fab dentist was satisfied with his work (such a perfectionist!) X-rays were taken to check that the pin thingy was in right to the bottom of my tooth and the temporary crown was cemented into place.

I go back on 11th March to get the proper crown fitted - this is a piece of cake - they pop the old one off, dry fit the actual crown for size then cement it into place! No aneasthetic injections needed - in and out in 10 mins.

For anyone having to go through root canal treatment, please don't worry, it is not as bad as some peeps make out.

Try the ibuprofen approach before you get to the dentist. It worked for me. Tell you dentist that you are nervous and (in my case) ask him to explain exactly what he was doing at every stage, there were no surprises.

Good luck!

x

Cupcakes!

I bought these this weekend...



There are some yummy recipes in this book that I can't wait to have a go at. To make the book even better it was only £2.99 in The Works! Fab eh?

On the subject of cupcakes, I also bought these...



I always craft on a smooth glass 'worktop saver' board - fairly small one that's clear/etched and boring UNTIL I saw this in Morrisons this afternoon. It is 11 1/2" deep by 15 1/2" wide, so is just about big enough to take a scrapbook page. These boards are great to use as a work surface as it saves the table you're working on from getting damaged by the knife or stained by glue or inks as you just need to give it a quick baby wipe and it's as good as new again.

It was meant to be £2.99 but as it was on offer at 2 for £5.00 I treated myself to the matching mug/coaster/little tray set too. The tray is great for pouring my brads, buttons and blooms out of their jars into so that I can find what I'm looking for much easier.

Daring Card Makers - Oh sooo juicy

This weeks little extra (just to keep you on your toes!) :) This week we have an idea from Mel called "Oh sooo juicy" - she'd like you to make a card using lemon or orange toned colours.



Patterned paper is from DCWV. RicRac is from Ribbon Mad. Bloom from Bubbly Funk, smaller flowers from Prima. Brad and inks from stash.

Raising money for Ellie

Us Bubbly Funk girls are having an auction to raise money for the Ellie Wiseman Trust.

This is what I'm auctioning for the Ellie Wiseman trust. You can bid for it over at Bubbly Funk. Just send Caroline an email via the 'Contact Us' page saying what you want to bid.



It is a brand new (purchased for the auction) pallette of 12 H2O lookie likies. I have a set of these that I use for myself. Go on, you know you want to bid on these and Ellie's Trust needs the money more than you do!

There are lots of goodies to bid on for this marvellous little lady. To have a look at what else is on offer, then look {here}

Birthday Blog Candy

This is what I made for my Birthday blog candy. Sam's name was drawn using the random thingy. I made her a little album book to keep her CD's in. Crafty, music or otherwise.



Ribbons are from Ribbon Mad. Blooms from Bubbly Funk and Dunelm. Monogram is BasicGrey which I've heat embossed. Papers are DCWV. Stamped letters are Amuse.

Di Hickman - February Sketch #3

My penultimate week as Guest Sketch Team Member for Di Hickman has this to show you...



The purple card is DCWV White core which I've distressed around the edges. The bloom is from Dunelm. The stamp came free with a magazine a year or so ago, but I'm afraid I can't remember which (sorry!). I've watercoloured the stamp.

Sneaky Peek...

This is a little sneaky peek of what I made for my birthday blog candy. I sent this and some goodies off.

When I know it's been received, I'll reveal all..

Bubbly Funk February Sketch

Caroline at Bubbly Funk sets a monthly sketch for us. I decided to sketch a photo of my two at the beach on the Isle of Wight in July 2006.



All papers were DCWV. The title is cut using the Sizzix Mango Tango alphabet. Buttons, brads and ribbon from stash. Ink used is ColorBox chalk ink.

DCM - Paper Pesto Sponsored Challenge

I made this using the Sketch over at Daring Card Makers.



I'm not a fan of decoupage, peel offs or the freebie papers you get with magazines. BUT as it's nearly spring and time for all things new, I've decided to be good and use up some of the stuff that I've got gathering dust. It's a waste to throw it away, even if it were to be recycled. I haven't clue which magazine the football or the beer papers came from as they're donkeys old! The peel offs (pet hate!) are ancient too. The decoupaged football (another dislike of mine - I don't have the patience to do this!) has clear glaze on the top layer.

P.S. My other pet hate is football!!! Basically this card is about everything I don't like then! LOL. Actually that's not quite true! I like the chipboard plaque, the inking and the glaze!

Di Hickman - February Sketch #2

This is my second card as Guest Designer for Di Hickman. Focusing on the theme of LURVE...



Paper is from K&Co. Red Hat Mini Dot. Hearts diecut using a Sizzix die and mounted onto squares of plain, white card which I've distressed with black ink. The greeting is stamped with unknown wordstamps that I have.

Cards

I'll share a few cards that I've made this week...







All background papers are from the DCWV Stack 5 teamed up with brown card from stash. The decoupage I got free quite a while back, not sure where from but they're from Lillie of the Valley I think. I used Glossy Accents to highlight the glass and the beer pump sign. The embossing and die cut lettering was done using Sizzix dies/folders. I've used gold rub on paste on the embossing.

Photo - Silhouette

I was on my way home from work on Monday night and saw a lovely cloud formation. After I picked Freya up from my mum and dads, we nipped to our Boating Lake because I had a photo in mind of the clouds above/reflected in the water. Unfortunately the water was a bit choppy in the biting wind so I couldn't get a reflection, but I did take this silhouette photo of a tree.

The clouds that I wanted to photographed had started to disappear. I quite like what I captured though.

Accident prone kids......

What is it with having kids and them causing you strife and worry?

I had a phone call just before 2.30 today from Jacob's school recommending that I collect him ASAP as he'd had a bit of an accident at school and split his head open.

I arrived at school to find a grinning 'thumbs up' son waiting for me. Only when he turned round did I see exactly what he'd done! We ended up going to our local Minor Injuries Unit to have his head checked out. By the time he was seen it had stopped bleeding and had scabbed up naturally so didn't need gluing (thankfully). We were given the normal 'head injury' leaflet but I'm happy to say that (so far) he seems absolutely fine.

To please him, I had to take a photo of his 'war wound' for posterity. Look at the state of his shirt!? His school tie was soaked with blood too. They've both been treated and washed (even though he wanted to keep the stained shirt as a momento!)

Her Space : My Space

Gluttony...



These biccies are (nay, were) yummy!


Greed...



If you don't know what these are, think back to your childhood - remember the flying saucer sweets that are filled with sherbert...? Well this is a whole bucket full of them! LOL

Di Hickman - February #1 Sketch

This is my first Di Hickman guest designer sketch. I enjoyed doing this one as I like sewing onto card. Seems appropriate for February cards to be on the theme of love, doesn't it? What with spending my 40th birthday with those I love and Valentine's Day.



The spotty paper is SEI Hippie Chick. The red from The English Paper Company Christmas collection. The heart was diecut using a Sizzix die. The adhesive gold paper I've had for quite a while in my stash.

Her Space : My Space

I've not taken part in the HS:MS challenges lately but fancied joining in again. Only to find the theme was 'lust' I was very much in two minds whether to blog or not, so I sent the photo to Janice who showed her DH!!!!

There are a few bottoms on show, but nono! I'm not sharing my buns with you lot. You'll have to make do with these!

Sneaky Peek...

This is a little sneaky peek at something I've made that will be blogged at the end of the month....



It was made using a chipboard word that Caroline over at Bubbly Funk designs and has produced exclusively for her.

Daring Card Makers & Di Hickman

This card is a double whammy combo for both the Daring Card Makers Red & White dare and Di Hickman's January #5 sketch.



The spotty paper I've had quite a while, it's K&Co Red Hat Mini Dot. The gingham I printed off from a CD ages ago that's been gathering dust in my paper collection. The swirl and the alphas are both die cut using Sizzix dies.

I'm another decade older!

Yesterday was my birthday - my 40th to be precise!

I had a lovely day - breakfast in bed from my gorgeous daughter, a cup of tea from my wonderful hubby and a huge cuddle from my fabulous son. The dog stayed dowstairs!

I had some gorgeous cards from my friends over at Bubbly Funk and a few handmade pressies from some of them too. Thank you ladies. {{hugs}} to you all for making my day special.

We had a lovely meal out last night at Dunkleys Restaurant near Northampton. I would recommend this place to anyone if you're local enough to visit as the atmosphere is great, the staff are lovely and the food is FANTASTIC! There were 12 of us in total, the four of us, my parents, both my sisters and their husbands and our best friends too. I was thoroughly spoiled and made to feel special. Thanks to all of you. I love you all.

As Will's way to celebrate my birthday and so say thank you to everone there for all the things that they have done/continue to do for us and the children, he paid the entire bill. My husband is one of the most generous and kind people I know and I love him so much!!!! The children and myself are so lucky to have him in our lives.

And the winner is.....

THIS lucky lady!

I used one of those random number integer thingies as I didn't want to have to choose a fave and it came up with lucky no. 7.



I'll put together a pack of goodies and send them off next week.

Thank you so much to those who took part! See you for the birthday blog candy in 2009!

Birthday Blog Candy

It's far too near to my 40th Birthday for my liking! To celebrate, I'm offering some blog candy for anyone who wants to make a card for a milestone birthday.

Make your card, add it to your blog and leave me a comment so that I can go and find it (if you don't have a blog, leave me a comment and then email me with a jpeg of your card and I'll add you to the list).

On my birthday weekend I'll randomly pick a winner to receive some goodies. Don't quite know what the goodies are yet, but it WILL include, flowers, ribbon, buttons, chipboard, papers and anything else I can find to reward your hard work with.