Long time no post

I’m sorry to have been absent but there has been a lot going on but unfortunately not much crafting. We have had our loft conversion started and it has been busy and noisy, I’ve started my new open university course and have been busy with church things as well. But I do have a couple of cards to share with you.

The first was made and given a couple of weeks age to give to a member of our youth group that was leaving for university.

sorry for the bad picture but it was taken in a hurry, I really must work on taking better photo’s.

the next card was for my lovely daughters 18th birthday, I don’t know where the time has gone and it doesn’t seem possible that two of our children are now over 18.

Again the picture could be better as it doesn’t really show the different effects on the petals that I got by stamping onto to glossy card several times before inking. Rebecca had really liked the card I made for Lisa so I wanted to do something similar. I enjoyed making this card and while I have ideas for cards that I want to make I am struggling to get motivated to making them. I don’t know if it is the change in the weather, the chaos at home or all the other things calling for my time, I do hope that it improves soon though. Anna

birthday Cards

It was my lovely friend Lisa’s birthday on Thursday and I used several stampin up set to make her card.

I used build a blossom, occasional quotes, simply said and the birthday wishes from so happy for you. I also used some of the lovely basic rhinestones which really sparkle and haven’t shown to their best on the photo. She really liked it which I thought she would as the colour scheme is her.

   I also was asked to make a birthday card for one of the men at church. I find male cards really hard especially when they don’t have a particular hobby or interest. So I turned to the Lovely as a Tree set again by stampin up. This has some great images for men’s cards and is one I turn to again and again. I tried a new technique of stamping the reflection below as if seen in water, the photo was not taken in great light so you cannot see the full colours but there is blue water around the upside down trees. I am really pleased with how this card came out and hope it will be liked when it is received next week. 

Anna

New home card

I was sad to be asked to make a new home card for one of the gentlemen at church. He was one of the first to greet us when we first moved to the village and was a vibrant part of our community. Over the last few years he has become very frail and the decision has been made to move him into a care home. This is the right decision for him and while sad that we will not see him as often this is the best thing. So his card wishes him all the best in his new home.

I used the Stampin up neighbourhood wheel  and the big deal alphabet.

Now I must get off the computer and go and do some work Anna

Bad Blogger

The summer ( what little there was of it) has flown by all of the crafting plans I had have not come to plan. It started out well with plans to spend some lovely crafting time with Emily my seven year old. We decorated a treasure chest for one of her friends birthday

we filled it with some lovely pens pencils and stationary. I then forgot to photograph the card which matched the colours and design.

We then had plans for our loft conversion bought forward by three months so had to get moving on emptying the years of  junk that has been stored up there. This proved quite difficult with all the girls home from school, college and university. Things that held special memories were declared favourite toys, games (insert almost anything here) and so proved difficult to remove from the premises. We did finally manage to get it cleared and it is now empty waiting for the team to arrive with the scaffolding which should be within the next fortnight. This also coincided with a worse then normal spell with my back and several very busy weeks at work for David, so as you can imagine crafting took a back seat.

I also spent four days in Scotland  with Rebecca at the end of August looking at Aberdeen and Dundee universities, she has her heart set on attending university in Scotland but it seems an awfully long way from home.

We now have Emily back at school though she was sent home yesterday with a tummy bug, the call came just as I was about to get my stamps out. Rebecca back at college and Amy returning to university in two weeks time so hopefully I  can get some serious crafting in before my next OU course starts on October the first. happy crafting Anna

Leaving book to go with the card.

It was a bit of a rush but I managed to finish a leaving book for Harriet. The rush mainly came from trying to gather photo’s from the young people without Harriet finding out. In true teenage fashion the main bulk of the photo’ s were emailed to me at midday on Saturday. As I had to be at church at 9 the next morning to teach Sunday school and the book had to be ready for lunch after church it didn’t leave much time. I am pleased with how it turned out and Harriet was really pleased with it. I left plenty of spaces for people at the goodbye lunch to write their messages in as well as for extra photo’s to be added if needed.

I haven’t shown any of the interior pages as they contain photo’s of other peoples children. Anna

Leaving Card.

 

I’m sad today because at church we have said goodbye to Harriet. Harriet has been with us for three years while she completed her youth workers degree. Having two teenagers who have who have greatly benefited from all she has brought to our church as well as working alongside Harriet with the school youth club has led to a real friendship developing. I was very pleased to be asked to make the card for members of the church to sign for her.

 

I used a craftworks cards 8x8 scalloped square card, the spellbinders cross collection dies, x cut scalloped oval dies and gold card candi. I couldn’t get cream card blanks so I inked the white card with Antique Linen distress inks. I was pleased with how it turned out as it was surprisingly difficult. I knew in my head what I wanted it to look like but couldn’t get it to come together.  the only thing left to do is to wish Harriet all the best in her new job, I know she will be fantastic and they are very lucky to have her ~Anna~

The Tardis and a Birthday box.

I helped take our church youth group to Rave in The Nave. This is a unique yearly event which sees Ely Cathedral taken over for the young people. Now imagine walking into the cathedral to be met by the Christian Bikers and their bikes, next as you journey in is the rodeo bull, bouncy castle, sumo wrestlers and more. There are a group which attend to teach circus skills, very loud Christian bands, a BBQ and tuck shop as well as a chance to be quiet and relax. this years highlights included seeing the new Bishop of Ely bishop Steven, on the rodeo bull and on a huge motorbike, but many of the youngsters had come to see this, yes it it the real Tardis as seen in the latest series. You were not allowed inside but could have your photo taken standing next to it. Most of our group had to have their picture taken, which I can’t show so here it is in all it’s glory. I must admit to being surprised at how tall it is much bigger than I expected. It has now returned to where it came from and all that remains is to see how they can beat that next year.

Now for the crafty pictures, along with being the end of term there seem to have been a rush of birthday parties for my youngest daughter’s friends ( she is 7). We have put together some girly treasure chests filled with stationary.this is just one of them the others were similar and we had great fun painting decorating and filling them up. The ones that have been received already have gone down very well so hopefully they all will have done so. 

Back later with some more crafty bits Anna

Husbands Birthday and our Wedding Anniversary

 

Sorry for not posting for ages but life has been very hectic.

My Hubby’s birthday and our wedding anniversary are exactly a week apart. first Hubby’s birthday cards.

The one on the left was from me and the one on the right from our three girls. now his birthday is the same date every year so why do I always leave it to the last minute to make his cards.

now this was my anniversary card for him and I managed to make this with a little more time to spare. I love this stamp it is from a retired stampin up set called summer by the sea. I used white card, blue and yellow ink sponged on to give a coloured background. The frame is from a new set in the stampin up mini catalogue and is called four frames, I used the matching punch to make a quick and easy greeting. For a change he actually said he really liked the card without being asked, we may make a crafter of him yet.

Having had several family birthday’s and an anniversary in the last few weeks it has been made even busier because of my youngest daughter. Along with her normal activities she has had several bumps and bruises which were topped by her stabbing through her little finger with a pencil. Now I’m still not sure how she managed to shove a pencil sideways through the pad of her finger, the explanation was very long and complicated, starting with well the school swimming pool was shut due to chemical treatments and ending with and so the teacher said “how did you do that!” Several trips to the doctors later she still has some pencil in her finger as she wouldn’t allow them to remove all the bits.  She is only little (7) and they had pulled her about a lot, she informed me this morning though that it is ok as it only hurts when you touch it. Hopefully the next few weeks will be less traumatic Anna

Father’s Day Cards

Hi I thought I would show you the cards I made for Fathers day. The first set were made with a Stampin up set called Lovely as a Tree, I used the main oak tree image as the focal point. The back ground was made using brown parcel paper and the oak leaf stamp with brown ink. I then used some jute twine and the small leaf to add some interest.

I made three of these for my Dad, Stepdad and Father in Law.

I then used the row of trees stamp to make a card for my Husband from the children. I used smoke grey ink stamped first and then over stamped slightly offset with brown ink to give a shadow effect. The backing again was brown parcel paper stamped with the smaller stamps in the set. I enjoyed making these even though they are not my usual style at all and hubby’s was finished when I wasn’t altogether there see below. I am enjoying stamping and hope to do much more in the future.

 

I am currently having to rest after having some treatment on my back last week so will hopefully get some crafting time. I have now recovered from the sedation which completely knocked me out, and left me feeling out of it for just over 24 hours. It is taking me longer to get back to normal than i thought it would as well, but the enforced resting will hopefully get the mojo going as it has been a bit lacking lately. I have finished my OU course until September so if the mojo dosen’t reappear I won’t be too pleased. Thanks for looking Anna

my Lap top died

I haven't been able to post as my brand new lap top fried it's hard drive. Pc world were very good though and replaced it with no fuss. I decided to go for a different model rather than the same one again. So I am now trying to get used to another laptop. I have to get my father's day cards made so I'll be back later with some pictures
Anna

Card Pictures

first post

I've taken the plunge and will hopefully post some crafty pics over the next few days Anna