Baby Boom

Before I make a start on my day thought I'd share this little box with you all.

It is made using the picture box sheets by Stephanie Weightman and I thought it was just so cute.. and I'm not what you would call the biggest baby fan.

The sheets come pre-printed and all you have to do is cut out the designs & then build the whole thing up. I made this one the other night whilst watching tv.

Exterior of box complete with lid

What the inside looks like

Here you can see the little shoe better along with the built up layers

One of the sides with an extra bib layer for depth.

Back with you all later.

Hugs

Lorraine

xxx

Fisherman's Delight

Well the day didn't turn out as expected as I ended up with an unexpected visitor which was delightful & also my wee mammy came to visit... haven't seen her for a week as she's had a viral infection & no way I was catching it. Thus I only just managed to give the K&Co coaster to her today & would you believe it she burst out crying.. must be the viral part still playing up in her.. lol... but honestly she was sobbing her wee heart out... you would think I never surprised her with anything!

By the time I had the house back to myself it was almost tea time so the prep began and the evening seems to have flown by.. guess I'll save my stuff for tomorrow with the exception of this. It's simply an image from the "Mens" My Craft Studio CD printed onto a piece of A4 but I thought that if you put it in a frame it would make a cute gift for a fisherman.

Well that's it for me for tonight folks, see you tomorrow again.

Hugs
Lorraine xxx

GIVEAWAY WINNER

Okay folks that's it now, my latest giveaway has officially closed & have used Random Integer to select the winner... it did used to be fun doing it all my hand but you were always worried that you pulled the name of someone you knew well, so this is now a much fairer way of doing things. Do have to thank my beloved friend Kath though for telling me how to do it.

Drumroll please....

Here is the result

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:35
Timestamp: 2009-05-05 11:08:04 UTC

Now that works out to be

Indra

Well done honey & if you pop onto my profile page & drop me an email with your address I will get your goodies in the post to you.

Sorry to everyone else who missed out and better luck next time... sure you won't have to wait too long before your next chance to win.

Happy crafting

Lorraine

xxx

Production Time

Well I've had a bit of a lazy weekend with Rob having being off work on Sunday & Monday so we just done our best to chill out.

I have been playing around with a few things on an on off basis so I'm off to finish them just now and will come back to post them as well as closing my giveaway & announcing the winner.

Thankfully the house is basically under control so nothing more than a quick 30 minute run around required... which means that I have time to play today. Yippee....

Back with you all shortly

Hugs

Lorraine xxx

24 hours left to enter

Just a quick reminder folks that there are 24 hours left to enter my giveaway so if you are needing some Fiskars goodies click HERE to enter.

Hugs

Lorraine xxx

Woohoo it's Bank Holiday

Oh how nice it is to have a bank holiday Monday where my hubby is taking the day off of work... yes you may have guessed... that means he is going to take me out for lunch today... not quite sure yet where we will go but it don't matter to me as I'll simply enjoy the food & company.

Hope you've all got a nice relaxing day planned too.

Back to see you all later (when my wee belly is full).

Happy crafting

Lorraine

xxx

Hubby bought me a pressie....

Now you may know that in my earlier posting I declared I have a "NO SPEND" policy at the moment and I have even managed to sit on my hands all the way through craft day on QVC... difficult though it was and did not make a single purchase.

Well half an hour ago my darling hubby asked me what all I had bought today & believe it or not he had a look of sheer shock on his face when I told him NOTHING.....

Can't be having you watching craft on tv all day long & not getting anything he said... so he decided to buy me something as a little pressie for sticking to my "No Spend" policy... you see I'm a bit of a shop-a-holic when I start.

Thus I am now awaiting receipt of a lovely package from QVC containing the Crafters Delight 4 albums, paper, cards, die-cuts, stickers & ribbons...

Must admit I'm very excited now and eagerly awaiting the day that Mr Postie walks up my driveway with a big box in hand..

Thank you Robbie... you're a wonderful husband...

Hope you've all had a fab day too & now I'm off to cuddle up on the sofa again with hubby.

See you all tomorrow.

Love & Hugs

Lorraine

xxx

Sunday go slow...

Would you believe that I am only now getting into moving mode... and it's almost 1pm...

Must admit though that is mostly due to the fact that it's craft day on QVC & I've been sat in my pj's chilling out, watching all the delicious deals on offer... so wish I had won the lottery then I could have everything I want... instead of that, I can only window shop at the moment as I have a strict no spend policy at the moment & I am so sticking to it... can't believe just how much is in my craft room at the moment & I am so determined that I am going to use it all up.

Now that I've managed to peel myself away to have my shower, get dressed & boot up the computer I may well be watching QVC now in my craft room else there is no chance of me getting anything made today.

Hope you're all having a fabby day.

Love & Hugs

Lorraine

xxx

Penny Black Challenge

Golly gosh I so cannot remember how long it has been since I last managed to join in with the Penny Black challenge but it sure seems like a lifetime ago. Not to worry though as I've now managed this week.

This weeks challenge is to use 3 shapes on your card... not including the card itself... oh boy what was I going to do.. it's been so long that the mind went into overdrive. Finally I just decided to get stuck in & have a good old play with stuff rather than having any firm plan in place.

I decided to go with an 8 x 8 card this week so cut 2 squares and scored down on of the pieces to obtain an opening position for the card. Next I glue the 2 edges together & once dry used my crop-a-dile to insert 2 eyelets to thread my ribbon through. Then took a piece of 8 x 8 paper & trimmed along the floral design & attached to my card. Next up too my Fiskars shape template & cut out my image & a further 2 circles which were then matted & layered and some doodling was added using a Sakura white glaze pen & a Pigma Micron pen. Then I created a banner to say "hello" and a "U" where I used a Souffle pen to add dots and a little "Hugs" sentiment on top. To finish it all off I used a Fiskars pop up puch to create some little flowers, attached these using a Sakura quickie glue pen & added black gems for the centres. Once the card was complete I then threaded my ribbon through & tied in a bow.

So my 3 chosen shapes on my card are the circles.. triangles... and finally my rectangle for my "hugs" sentiment.

Papers : Dovecraft Kate Knight "Amethyst"

Image & "Hugs" sentiment : Penny Black "Hugs" collection

Chipboard "U" : Papermania "Retro Floral" collection

Image coloured using Sakura watercolour pencils

Ribbon & gems from stash

That's it for now folks and the weather has gotten even better here today so may be able to BBQ. Better get my bum down to Asda & pick up some food... hmm hot dogs & sweetcorn for me as always.

Hope you've all had a fab start to your bank holiday weekend.

Hugs

Lorraine

xxx

Fun Time...

Yippee folks the weekend has arrived again & today it has brought a little sunshine with it too... not much I hasten to add but enough... I'm not greedy you know!

Unfortunately poor hubby has had to go into work today but that does mean that I have some time on my hands to do some crafting... you see yesterday turned into a mammoth housework day... all dusting & hoovering done, floors mopped, toilets all washed down, washing done and to top it all off... for the first time since I fell ill last August... I done an ironing... Well mums friend who does it for me wasn't well & Rob had no shirts left so I dragged the ironing board along the floor so I didn't lift it & off I went.. helped along of course by the lovely Rosemary Merry on QVC.

Well that's enough for now else I'll never get around to making any cards... toodles for now my lovely peeps & will be back later.

Happy crafting

Lorraine

xxx

National Scrapbook Day

Happy scrapbook day to all you scrappers out there in blogland.... and to all you cardmakers too... as what does that mean for all of us? Yes you got it... the lovely Rosemary Merry will be airing on QVC today between 3 & 5pm... what more could we ask for... and it's also a fab build up to craft day on Sunday. I'm also looking forward to seeing what the TSV is as apparently it's HUGE...

Well the only piece of scrapbooking I've ever done was to help my friend out with one for her mum's 60th birthday... but you never know what today may hold... Rosemary may well inspire me enough to be bold & give it a go... there are so many talented scrappers out there & I really do think it's such a lovely way to store precious memories.

Right... I suppose I better get this show on the road now.. housework first then shopping.. quicker I get it done.. I can then get some more of my craft room sorted as I'm almost finished it now and then I can get onto some serious crafting... got serious withdrawl symptoms that even my K&Co coasters didn't fix.

See you all soon

Hugs

Lorraine

xxx

K&Co Glass Coasters

Okay folks, here are my K&Co glass coasters as promised to you earlier... and boy I know they're not the best photos but no way I could use a flash on these babies so had to use natural daylight & take a picture directly above them to avoid reflections...

All the pictures I have used were taken on my wedding day and you will see they are all wearing my mother's hat as they were actually ripping the p*** out of her.

My opinion on this set is at the bottom of this posting.

Here is my wee mammy acting the proud mother of the bride

This is my nephew William... mums only grandson

This is my neice Hannah-Louise... mums only grand-daughter

This is my step-daughter Brianna... mums adopted grand-daughter

Now the pictures above are not very clear so here is the one I have used of my mum posing on the day

Here is William, my nephew.. think it was actually him who started ripping it out of my mum over her hat and the girls decided to join in the fun...

William was the true gentleman on the day even although he was only 15 at the time.. due to the fact that both my Dad and Brother are dead... I asked William if he would do me the honour of walking me down the aisle & giving me away which he agreed to. He carried out his duty with 1st class style & made us all very proud of him.

This little beauty is my darling neice Hannah whom I never get enough time with.. love having our girly days out shopping when we are together.

On my big day Hannah was 17 and very kindly agreed to act as my Matron of Honour & witness. Like her brother we were all very proud of her & must admit she stole the limelight as she is so camera perfect that everyone was taking snaps of her... always the poser is my darling neice.

Last but by no means least is my wonderfully talented step daughter Brianna.

As you are probably aware by now, Brianna is setting her sights on being an international opera singer & never refuses the opportunity to perform so on our big day she agreed to not only sing during the service but also stood in as best man for her Dad and also witness.

We have a strange way of doing things I know but as Rob's family are all in America & my Dad & Brother are no longer with us we decided that the most precious thing to us would be if we had the blessing of all the children in our family on our day.

Well now that I've shared this with you.. what did I think of the coaster kit...

I would have to say that although this project was quick & easy to complete there are a few flaws that I would like to see ironed out... the first being that the size of the pictures has to be so small.. as you can see the photos within the coasters are not very big at all. Secondly.. when you are attaching your coaster to the sticky felt undermat, you have to judge where the centre is as there are no markings.. this is fine when you are an every day crafter & used to centering but if you chose to do this as a one off then it would not be so easy. Fianlly I would like to see a much better quality of glass being used for the coasters themselves.. you will see in the pictures above that the images are not very clear.. this is not my photography but is infact caused by the glass which also had quite a few bubbles in it.

A nice project to complete and my mother will be over the moon with them but would I invest in more... questionable... think they would have to at least make the glass to higher standards.

Well I at least hope you enjoyed browsing through the pictures & that my review of the project is somewhat helpful to you.

See you all again soon

Love & hugs

Lorraine

xxx

How time flies

Golly gosh I so cannot believe how this week is passing me by... think it might be because of all the clearing out I have been doing as opposed to crafting...

Obviously I am feeling a little deprived now so have to solve that problem today & for that purpose I have decided to work on my K&Co coaster set that I purchased a while back but have never gotten around to doing.

Apart from that.. all went as well as could be yesterday at the hospital... I have to keep up my physio exercises & try to build some muscle around the shoulder then with any luck it will at least stay the way it is rather than deteriorate any more & they will not have to operate.

But oh yuck... I have the dentist today for more fillings... hard to believe I was a dental nurse for 10 years eh... but like everything else it's always the profession you worked in that you dread the most... I know only too well what everything is & the problems that can occur. Sadly after my operation my system was so run down & combined with my medication that my teeth paid the price. Apparently my gums are still not back to normal so fingers crossed they pick up soon.

Alas I must part from you now as I want to try & finish the coasters before I go get half my mouth numbed... possibly a good excuse to craft more upon my return.

Back with you all later.

Happy crafting

Lorraine

xxx

Cubby Hole

Yesterday contained a mixture of chores so I really didn't manage to get much done in the old craft room... also had a late start to the day as it was another night of sleeping for around 10 hours which I'm not complaining about... body must be needing it.

Anyway, when I did get on the go I had the mid week Asda run to do & Rob asked me to get some cat litter for the bunnies.. well I couldn't believe the weight in the bag.. before my op I was always lifting these bags no problem at all but yesterday... golly gosh... I felt such a weakling. Well when Rob got home last night we discovered why... I had bought clay litter instead of wood... silly old cow that I am... but in my defence there is nothing on the bag to say what kind it is & I had just presumed it was wood... may have to write to Asda asking them to label their products better.

After that I popped to the cemetary to put some lovely bright flowers down for my Dad & Brother as I feel as though they have been so neglected over the last 6 months.. I'm sure they understand that kneeling to tend to gravestones was not exactly something I could do.. apart from the workmen who were there it was lovely.. slightly breezy but the sun was shining & I love the peace & tranquility that can be found in cemetary's.

Next up came the cleaning of a dirty Rabbits bum... oh yes my beautiful albino had decided to get her bum caked in dirt so into the bathtub she had to go. She is a wee rescue bunny we got about 2 years ago.. found in a park by a vet walking her own dogs.. and she was distraught to find that someone had dumped this poor bunny who had also been attacked by a dog. Thankfully this was a very kind hearted vet who took the bunny into her surgery & she had to operate to fix her rear legs.. she can still put them at very strange angles & she can't really run & jump as they go everywhere... then low & behold the wee thing gave birth to babies which the vet managed to home through her clients & little mummy came to live with us... Well bathtime is fun... I have the big old marigolds on along with my apron otherwise I end up covered from head to toe in crap & soaking wet into the bargain... she was rather good though & behaved herself.

I will try & get a picture of her for you to see in the next few days.

Finally I managed to get some clearing out done in the craft room.. not much I may add as it was more organising rather than anything else... and if you could see the next part I have to deal with you wouldn't believe the difference... too ashamed to show it though so you will just have to wait & see the finished pictures.

This is a fab unit I got from the childrens section of Ikea... very sturdy indeed & perfect for storage... on top I have my cd's glitters, side kick etc and in the drawers starting from top left are

drawer 1 : christmas products drawer 1 : unmounted stamps

drawer 2 : embellishments drawer 2 : mounted stamps

drawer 3 : acetate, vellum etc drawer 3 : pre-scored cards & envelopes

drawer 4 : A4 coloured cardstock drawer 4 : more pre-scored cards & envelopes

drawer 5 : full of scrap card drawer 5 : gorgeous 300 weight white card from Anne

some papers & stickers K&Co christmas ornament book

Well I think I'm now about half way there in the organising of my craft room so fingers crossed it will be finished by the weekend & next week I can get stuck in to some real crafting again as I'm feeling rather deprived at the moment, but needs must I'm afraid.

Time to go get myself sorted now... a little housework to do then into the shower & scrubbed well as I have a hospital appointment at 2am to see the bone specialist again about my shoulder. My appointment couldn't be at a worse time either as there is afternoon visiting on a Wednesday & no where near enough parking spaces so I'll have to head out around 1pm in the hopes of getting parked & in on time for my appointment... then we have to see how long it actually takes... last time I saw him I was there for almost 3 hours!

Will try & pop back later again & catch up with some more blog hopping.

Hope you're all having a fantastic week.

Love & hugs

Lorraine

xxx

Award Time

Shame on me...

Can you believe I was given this gorgeous award on April 15th and that's me only just getting around to uploading it...

Well now that I have I would like to forward it on to everyone who visits my blog as a way of saying thank you for all the support you have given me in the past, present & hopefully the future too.

This was awarded to me by the fabulous JanJ and I'm sure you would enjoy a visit to her blog.

Huge hugs & here's to lots of happy crafting

Lorraine

xxx

Giveaway

NOW CLOSED

Here is a little something I have to giveaway at the moment...

Included are 2 Fiskars shape templates..

1 builds up into a box & the other is a collection of shapes.

Also included is a 6 in 1 muilti tool taxi which includes an embossing stylus, tweezers, craft blade, rub-on stylus, glue reservoir & an eraser.

Rules of entry:

1. You must have an active blog.

2. Leave a comment in this posting.

This giveaway will remain open until 12 noon (GMT) next Tuesday 5th May.

NOW CLOSED

Giveaway

Seeing as I am in the middle of clearing out my room, I have come across a few items that I have no requirement for as they are duplicates, so if you check back later today I will hopefully have them posted as a candy giveaway.

Hugs

Lorraine

xxx

Cubby hole 2

Here is the next part of the clean up which is now complete... boy did it take me hours as there was so much stuff piled high.

This is my fabby notice board which has now been cleared of all it's junk & at the moment is showcasing my gorgeous Leanne Ellis print until I find a suitable frame for it... the pic of the kitty is very precious to us as this was little Carissa. Rob actually brought her over from America with him & she was an American Curl breed, chocolate brown in colour. She was such a little darling who we sadly lost a few years back due to tumours. She will always be in our hearts though.

Now this is a real trove of goodies here... books & magazine, peel offs, ink pads, sprays, templates & embossing boards, matts & layers, sentiments, papers (all sizes), flowers, brads, buttons etc. As you may be able to tell it is infact an old tv stand but is better utilised for storage in my opinion, as it holds to much.

Hoping that Mr Blogger uploads this for me as by this time I am hoping to be sat on the sofa watching tv with hubby & probably doing some more water colouring.

Be back tomorrow again.

Hugs

Lorraine

xxx

My cubby hole

Righty ho folks, I've decided to share my little cubby hole with you as I progress with my cleaning & tidying up of the area, so here goes for the first preview.

Here is my nice clean & tidy computer desk complete with Kangaroo mascot to help me through my crafting day.

This view show my computer desk in the background with my crafting desk closest.. arranged like this so I can just swivel around in my seat without actually getting up... you know efficiency and all that jazz.... if you look closely at the bottom left hand side of the picture you will see my cheeky little kitty who decided he wanted to be in the picture too.

Now if I just keep posting pics of my clean up as it progresses then I will feel the obligation to push ahead with it as quickly as possible then all will be arranged sooner rather than later.

Happy crafting

Lorraine

xxx

Back to work

Can you believe it's Monday again.... where are all the weeks going... it's so true what they say that the older you get the quicker time goes... any chance of a few extra hours being thrown into the day?

Most of yesterday was spent between blog hopping (if I haven't visited you already I will be there soon) and sorting out some more of my craft room... I so don't know where everything has come from & some of it I can't even remember getting.. so sad that isn't it. I did spend last night sitting on the sofa watching tv so thought that would be the perfect time to do some water colouring.. I had all these images already stamped so sat there with my pencils & water brush just colouring away all night... it was so relaxing. No actual cards made yet so for that I apologise, hopefully I will have time later on today to get something made & uploaded.

This afternoon I'm planning on sorting out more of the craft room so I can operate properly in this place as I have some fun projects to do including a book, coasters & altering a soap powder box into storage.. just need to get a clear working space. Also need to fit in some more blog hopping & not sure if mum's friend is coming up to do the ironing (normally does on Monday).

Oh and I just have to tell you... I'm not normally the best of sleepers, averaging about 6 hours a night but for the last 3 nights I have slept for the best part of 10 hours each night.. guess my body just reached a stage where it decided that more sleep was required.. with any luck that will sort itself out & I would be quite happy with around 8 hours a night.. hmmm wonder if this too is down to getting older... lol

Hope you all have a fabby day

Hugs

Lorraine

xxx