Nine Lives... Is it any wonder...

Now they always say that a cat has nine lives don't they... and I must admit that when I look at this cheeky chap sleeping the day away like this I'm by no means surprised at the saying... it's all the sleep recovery they have that keeps them safe and healthy. Now unless for some reason during the day he urgently requires to eat or go to the loo... this is what my Smithy will look like until somewhere in the region of 5pm tonight... he's a little on the sneeky side you see... he's up and on the go in the morning whilst Rob is getting ready for work, then within 10 minutes of his departure this fly little monkey is all curled up and sleeping. Then, when he thinks that Rob is due home from work, he wakes himself up, comes downstairs, and then when Rob walks through the door he acts as though he has received no love or attention from me during the day... is it any wonder!!! lol.

Now today whilst my little ball of fur is sleeping sound here's what I'll be doing... up a ladder painting a ceiling and then onto the walls & woodwork... all in the en-suite of course.

Like most other households a lot of work has to be done by one person with restricted time for joint ventures and that is certainly the case in this household... thus... after we got the new light I needed to have it installed last weekend whilst Rob was off work even though I hadn't managed to sort the ceiling... last time it was painted my mum had it done whilst we were on holiday and the clown that done it didn't use bathroom paint so it was all beginning to peel away... what a mess. For the last few days I've been up a ladder with nail brush in hand buffing it all down again so I have a nice solid surface to paint.... yes I know most folk would have done it in a day but I've got a bad neck & shoulder injury from a car accident a few years back which puts restrictions on me... never to be defeated though I've worked my way through it and am now ready for paint... yippee... As you can see from the picture, the last painter obviously just painted around my light too... see the dark circle...

Well best sign off now and get kitted up in the old painting gear ready for action. The quicker I get this task completed the quicker I can get on to doing some cards...

Toodles for now my lovelies and hope you all have a fab day.

Lorraine xxx

Late Delivery....

Well a very good morning to you all and I can only hope that your weather is a little bit nicer than mine is this morning... When you look out at the sky it appears to be a relatively nice day.. little bit of blue sky... but then... you look at everything else and it's just all icy white and frozen solid.... oh the joys we've had this year already eh between the snow, ice and sub minus temperatures.... when oh when is it going to leave it... very soon I hope else I may need to purchase some additional thermals... lol..

Anyhow... today's card is one that I was very very late with.... and I'm so ashamed of that... I've been so busy that I haven't had much time to blog hop and oh yes... I missed the announcement that Amanda had given birth to a bouncing baby boy... well.... better late than never as the old saying goes so I had to come up with a little something for her and here it is...

White base card, layered with some Dovecraft Textured Card that is like a cross between yellow & lime green in colour... my favourite colour from the whole pad... which I had distressed to reveal the core & added faux stitching. Next up I cut 4 squares from blue & lilac textured card... all were distressed & faux stitching again on 2 of the squares... all were then attached to the front of the card... letters were cut using my Fiskars shapecutter template, distressed, faux stitching on 2 of the letters... opposite ones to the stitched squares... and these were mounted using silicone... Embellishments used to finish the job... nappy pin of course... a fluffy padded love heart to send them all my love... a fluffy star as I'm sure he is a little star... a button & thread... not quite sure why we all associate buttons with babies... afterall... most of their clothes have poppers on them... (lol)... and why the flower.... I'll be brutally honest here... the colours matched so perfect with the papers there was no way I could leave it off... tee hee... Needless to say there had to be the final addition of some glittery gems to give that added sparkle.

Well, the time is flying by this morning so guess I better get my skates on my bum into gear... so much to do & as usual, so little time to do it all in... but hey... need to live life to the fullest don't we... afterall... we only get one shot at life.

Have a fab day

Lorraine xxx

BLOG CANDY UP FOR GRABS...

Thought I'd better give you the news that there is some delicious candy up for grabs at the moment.

Very easy to enter... all you have to do is visit Justine's blog & follow the rules...

Easy peezy, lemon squeezy...

Good luck to all who enter.

Hugs

Lorraine xxx

Journey to the NEC....

OMG.... I just had to share my fabby dabby news with you all... as I can't hold my water any longer... I'm just far too excited.

I have a fab few days coming up shortly that will be an experience for me... one that I've never encountered before and am so looking forward to.

Now I'm no stranger to demonstrating to the public and I love it... best job in the world actually to someone like me... tee hee... but this month there is a slight twist on the demonstration job... yippee... I'm going to the NEC next weekend to demonstrate at the trade show.... I so cannot believe that I will be there when new products are being launched and I can have a good old natter with all the retailers.

Now is it really a surprise that I'm so excited... lol.

See you all tomorrow again.... naughty wee me is off to play with some new products & prepare some samples in advance of the show... sorry I can't share, but all will be revealed in just a few weeks time.

Toodles for now.

Lorraine xxx

Simply Card....

Surprisingly enough I actually managed to get some time to myself last night to do nothing more than sit down and have a wee play with some good old card... there are so many gorgeous embellishments around these days that we tend to forget the good old days when we had little more than some coloured card to create our projects with... my creating actually started at around age 3 whilst going on long car journeys... all that my mum gave me to entertain myself with was a box of coloured tissues... and boy do I treasure those memories deeply.

Anyhow... pack of Dovecraft Textured Coloured Card in hand and basic kit to the ready... off I embarked upon my crafting journey... hmmm... what to make... flowers.. dress... hmmm.... no.... how about a wacky house with some flowers in the garden... ohhh yesss....

One piece of blue cardstock for the sky, trimmed to fit base card... one piece of green cardstock, ripped of course to create the horizon, again trimmed to fit base card... both were distressed to reveal some of the white core and some doodling around the edge... just for some added effect... next up took some fawn coloured card and cut at a slightly wonky angle for the main structure of the house and dark brown card cut into a triangle for the roof... main structure had some doodling added and was then attached to the base card... on the roof, I distressed it slightly and then used a Pigma pen to draw on the tile effect... this was then mounted using silicone. Believe it or not... the door and windows were made from the scraps I had left after cutting out the main structures... very simple... a whole pile of rectangles simply glued together and attached to the card... oh with a little bit of doodling of course... for the door handle I simply used a small hole punch to give me a circle which I attached using a Sakura quickie glue pen. Alas... my wee house looked a bit on the bland side of life... so I thought that some textured bricks would do the job... again, using wee pieces of scrap I cut some strips, distressed and attached to the house... Obviuosly I needed some wee flowers didn't I... so large hole punch in hand I created the flower heads... drew some flower stems with my Pigma pen & attached the heads with silicone so they are slightly raised from the card... Finally, a few birds were needed for the sky... so gave myself 3 wee ticks... voila all done...

Oh well... more work awaits me in this house of chaos so no other option than to bid you all toodles for now and hope that I can return with a little something else later..

Happy crafting

Lorraine xxx

Yummy Cupcakes....

Cakes ShapeCutter Template

Oh yes if you're anything like me you will love the odd occassional cupcake too... or what about a yummy blueberry muffin all hot and fluffy... is your mouth watering yet???.... I know mine is... lol.

Anyhow, here is one of the new additions to the ShapeCutter Template range and what better month for me to get my hands on one as this is my birthday month... may have to make myself a yummy birthday card complete with tasty cupcake topper...

I must confess to the fact that these templates are one of my most favourite Fiskars products due to their versatility. They may very well be designed to make cutting out easy using the ShapeCutter itself, but, I love how these can be used by children who can simply draw around the shapes and then cut the images out using some child friendly scissors (under adult supervision of course)... to use foam or felt... same again... simply layer the template on top of your chosen material, draw around the outline and cut out... life couldn't be much easier and with the low purchase cost of the templates, you can afford to own the full range if you so desire.

Don't forget that you could also trace around onto shrink plastic to create your own little embellishments... think of the money you could save there...

Well it's time to bid a fond farewell again as still got heaps to be getting on with such as ironing shirts for the forthcoming week, study, possible crafting etc, etc.

See you all again soon.

Lorraine xxx

Squeeze Me Baby....

Large Scalloped Circle Squeeze Punch

Now this is a puch that I am certainly looking forward to getting my hands on for numerous reasons... it will make a great background layer for images and just think of how quickly you can make the most sumptious flowers... I can just see myself now with a pile of papers in front of me punching away all my new flower heads for loads of different projects.

Some basic facts about the squeeze punch:

Easy to use by squeezing the handles

Due to it's upside down design you can choose what section of patterned paper you wish to punch.

Easy to store design (they stack on top of one another)

Maximum cutting weight allowance 210gsm so you can use your lightweight cardstock & pretty papers.

Catch you all later again.

Lorraine xxx

SECC.....4th - 7th March 2010

Effervescence Border Punch

A very late good morning to everyone... had a bit of a lie in this morning I'm afraid... naughty us.

Well I thought that I would let you know that Fiskars will be attending the SECC from Thursday 4th to Sunday 7th March 2010.... alas however... it will be in a different capacity from previous years. How so you may well ask... well... you will possibly remember that last October both Kath and myself were let down only a few weeks out from the show (we were both gutted) although we were told that we would both be working again in March... sadly that is not the case. It has been decided that Fiskars will be having a smaller booth this time around. What does this mean for us... well, on the Thursday the lovely Severine will be on the booth with me to welcome everyone along on the opening day, but then she is returning home again and for the following 3 days I will be operating the booth on my own.

During the 4 days I will be demonstrating the new range of products for 2010 combined with some of the original products from previous years.

If you happen to be attending the show I would love if you popped along to say hi... it's going to be very strange for me working the booth on my own, and can only hope the economy picks up through the year and that both Kath and I can work together again in the Autumn.

In the meantime I thought I'd share a picture of one of the new border punches called Effervescence... I am still awaiting the arrival of my puch so as soon as it arrives I will try & share some projects with you.

Toodles for now and happy crafting

Lorraine xxx

p.s. Now we all know why Kath is called the Mamma of us all... here she is worrying about my wee belly again... she knows I need to eat else I may very well fade away... but not to worry... taking breaks won't be any kind of an issue as it's a lockable counter I'm getting so simply have to put the products away behind closed doors, lock & off I go...

Ready to Post....

Hi all and hope you've had a good start to the weekend... we've been to the garage this morning with Rob's car, nothing major, just a part that had to be changed so I went along for the ride to keep him company. Once that was done we detoured by the pet store so we're all stocked up on supplies again, then it was back here for some lunch.

As I'm sat on my wee bum typing this out... poor hubby is up a ladder changing the light in the en-suite... tee hee... bet it's not long though before he's calling my name to assist...

Anyhow, here is a taster of a card I've made... only problem is it's heading out in the post today and I can't have the recipient possibly viewing it on here before it arrives... hence the reason why you can only see a taster and not the whole thing.... this I will be able to post in full on Tues....

The weather may be a bit on the dank and dreary side... but thank heavens we have nice bright coloured card & papers eh...

See you all soon.

Lorraine

xxx

Still to be scrubbed....

Well here we go again folks... I have done my best to get a relatively good pic, but the space is small & I had to stand outside the door to try & get this much.... lol....

As you can see I went for a white shower screen instead of chrome.... it was one of those judgements you always question until you see the end result & I think I made the right one. Even although the shower itself & taps are chrome I decided to keep the frame white in keeping with the w.c & sink... felt that it would look a bit strange if I then threw a big old chrome frame into the middle of it all.... I'm still in awe though at just how much the w.c. is reflecting in the shower glass... hmmm... wonder how long I can maintain that look.... I'm not the best glass cleaner... tee hee... always end up with streaks somewhere...

We decided to stick with the floor temporarily to save money (it's a little tight at the moment) but now that everything else is in place it stands out like a sore thumb... YUCK.... the good thing being that I have tiles left over so I'm going to call the tilers & see how much they would take to fit my floor... other alternative is to throw some lino down.

Now... again we tried to save some cash by keeping our old w.c. & sink... they are afterall porcelain & in perfectly good condition. The taps on the otherhand... well... they were what told you that they were a decade old & used... Easy peezy.... a good old scrub of the sink whilst it was off the wall & replaced the old taps with new ones from the DIY store.... now you would think I have a new sink too... only thing is... it didn't cost a fortune.

Now, we just have to wait until tomorrow so I can get it all scrubbed up & we can finally have a shower again. YIPPEE....

Oh yes... I did have to do some shopping yesterday too.... you know.... new bath towels, toilet brush etc so they all matched... lol.

Catch you all later.

Lorraine

xxx

Baby Maya Update....

Afternoon again folks.... this time I have some wonderful news to share with you all..

Gayle text me a couple of hours again to let me know that they were all getting ready to depart from the hospital....

Oh yes... wee baby Maya is returning home safe & well.... thank goodness for that.

Hugs

Lorraine xxx

Exam results

Yippee... I forget to tell you all earlier....

Yesterday was such a wonderful day as my en-suite was tiled.... received great news on Maya's condition & to top it all off I got the results back on my essay....

Apparently... according to my tutor... I produced an excellent essay last time around... so cannot believe that I managed to do as well with it as I did.... only the big ECA to go now which I'm due to start working on next week. Fingers crossed I can do as well with that one & achieve the points I need to move on to my next course.

Toodles for now

Lorraine xxx

What a Difference...

OMG.... what a difference a day makes eh!!!!

Here is a picture taken this morning of the same area that I showed you yesterday... no more scabby patched up plasterboard walls covered in old tile cement... oh no..... this morning this is how things look... much better don't you think?

Guys are due back today to finish it all off so I really can't wait to see the end result... I'm so excited...

Well, best get myself organised before they arrive so I'll bid you all farewell for the moment being. See ya soon.

Love & hugs

Lorraine xxx

Picture of Baby Maya...

Okay folks... if you want to see the first released picture of baby Maya then follow these instructions:

Click link to go to Gayle's blog

Once there check under her twitter notes on the left hand side of the screen for the one that says twitpic.com

Click on this link & you will see a beautiful picture of Maya....

You can do this even if you are not a member of Twitter....

Enjoy!!!

Lorraine

xxx

Hospital update on Maya

New text received from Gayle approx 10 minutes ago to give me a wee update on Maya's condition...

Good news is that today they have moved Maya out of her incubator and taken her off of all the monitors... she is now just on a wee drip and they have also been moved into a wee room of their own on a ward.

Now how's that for excellent news of the day....

Hugs
Lorraine xxx

p.s. May I also say a huge thanks to everyone who has sent well wishes for Gayle & her family, I know they have been much appreciated as this has been a stressful time for them all.

ANYONE FOR A SHOWER....

Well as you can probably guess from this picture my answer to that question today is definately yes please ... me ...

Thought I would post a quick message this morning to share with you all the delightful looks of my en-suite at the moment... definately a mess eh!!!

At least the tilers are due to arrive any minute now & the sooner the better as far as I'm concerned... hopefully it will start to take shape once they've finished then only tomorrow to go when everything should come together....

I've got a card to finish today & some study to do so I'll try pop back tonight with another posting.

Have a great day.

Lorraine xxx

CRAP IS ALL GONE

Woohooo..... the en-suite has been gutted, part of a wall had to be replaced & now my new shower tray is in place... thank goodness for that... no more worries over water leaking through the crack & this time we have got a stone base so I have much more peace of mind for the future.

Tilers are due to arrive at 8am tomorrow morning to crack on with that and I'm so excited to see how it looks by the end play tomorrow... right now it looks like a bomb site but we should be able to see a difference in 24 hours time.

Well I'm off again as I want to try & get a little something made tonight or at least started depending upon what I do... lol.

See you all tomorrow again.

Hugs

Lorraine xxx

BABY MAYA UPDATE....

Well... I received a text from Gayle this morning with an update on baby Maya so had to share it with you all... unfortunately I was hoping that my next communication with her would include some photos etc but not the case I'm afraid.

Gayle has been at the hospital for almost 30 hours now with Maya... she took what appeared to be some kind of fit the other night & her colour was changing so she was rushed to hospital via ambulance... She is currently in Neonatal I.C.U awaiting test results but at the moment they are unsure what is wrong with her...

Please send your thoughts out to all the family today in the hopes that Maya can return home soon... as soon as I receive any more update I'll pass it on but obviously at this moment in time Gayle has much more pressing things on her mind.

Take care all

Lorraine

xxx

DEMOLITION STARTS TOMORROW....

Good morning all you lovelies out there in blogland.... sure hope I'm saying that tomorrow... lol.

The grand job of demolishing & re-building my en-suite commences tomorrow & although I'm excited, I'm also apprehensive.... you know, the way you are when you just hope that everything goes without a hitch & that you love the finished product.

Well, I thought I'd give you a glimpse of one of my new tiles... I know it looks quite bland & boring here but if you enlarge the picture you will see how there are different colours showing through... just can't get away from the crafting effects.... the tiles have a distressed look...

This is my decorative tile & the others have the same distressed effect but there is no mosaic effect, just a plain tile.... there will be two rows of plain & then a row of mosaic... in a vertical manner. Even though they are pretty dark tiles, they have a massive amount of reflective quality in them so hope that it will all be lovely once it's done.

Right, enough rabbling from me for now as today is prep day... everything must be cleared ready for the job to commence... hell.... I guess that means yet more scrubbing for me!!! Yuck...

See you all again soon.

Lorraine

xxx

Little Bird...

Now with the arrival of Gayle's new little bundle of joy... all attention is going to be on them and there's no way I could leave Little Bird out of the equation... she is afterall new to this 'big sister' scenario... lol

How appropriate I thought was this paper from the Dovecraft Funky Vintage range with not 1 but 2 funky little birds...

I start by placing some pale blue Dovecraft textured cardstock onto my base card and then I actually cut around the 2 edges of the paper so that the flowers protruded over the blue background... and attached to the card. Finishing touches were a lovely heavy organza type flower, complete with sequin and bead and also there was a massive requirement for some gems... pink, blue and white.... oh and the eyes' of the birds are some sparkly adhesive dots by Papermania.

Just have to hope that Little Bird likes it now...

Happy crafting

Lorraine

xxx

p.s.. can you tell I'm not fully functioning... meant to schedule this for later but oh no... I had to go and make a big a** of it didn't I.... (sorry) please forgive me... x

Baby has been named....

Morning folks...

Have just received a little text message from a very tired new mummy... Gayle... she is thankfully back in the comfort of her own home now, although she has to go back to hospital today just for some checks to be done... still better than lying in a hospital bed though...

Mum & baby are doing fine & dandy so now I just have to give them a little time to settle back in at home before I rush over to see the gorgeous new addition to the family... I'm so excited... lol..

Anyhow... mum won the battle over the baby's name and here it is....

MAYA

Is that not just the cutest name... now I know that some of you out there have been waiting in line with me for her grand arrival so we could get on with making our new arrival cards... so there's no reason for you to hold off any longer... lol... if anyone needs a note of Gayle's address, drop me an email & I'll be more than happy to give it to you.

Pop over to her blog also & leave your own message of congratulations, but I'm not sure quite when she'll get a chance to catch up with them all... you know Gayle though... Mrs Efficient always so I don't imagine it will take her long to find a routine.

Will pop back later with a little creation but this announcement was more important.

Hugs

Lorraine

xxx

BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT......

Well good morning again everyone.... back with exremely good news this time.

Oh yes... the long awaited birth has occurred this morning.... yippee....

Gayle has just texted to say that she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl this morning at 9.52am... weighing in at 7lb 8oz..... at present.... name is still under debate...

Three cheers for Gayle... hip, hip, horray....

If I hear any more news before Gayle is back to blogging then I will happily pass it on to you all.

Hugs

Lorraine

xxx

What a week ahead...

Would you believe it's Saturday morning... card uploaded... yippee... ready to go dashing around looking for tiles and got a text from my tutor.... oh yes... another phone tutorial has just been booked for 8pm next Friday.... what a lovely week I have to look forward to eh... heaps of study whilst my en-suite is being demolished & rebuilt... please say your prayers that I manage to keep some sanity in my life... lol....

Well must dash now as only have today & tomorrow to find the perfect tile...

Hugs to all

Lorraine

xxx

Turning Two...

Morning folks & hope you're all up bright & early full of the joys of spring... lol... if it's anything like here then you'll be blooming freezing...

Anyway, here's a card I made for my friends' little girl Tia who will be turning 2 next Saturday.

This was such a quick card to make I couldn't believe it myself.... Took a lovely sheet of paper from Pepper & Friends which I attached to a white card blank. Next up used a Fiskars shape template to cut the number 2 from some Dovecraft textured cardstock which I attached using silicone glue inside of the lovely floral circle & then to add that finishing touch I added a lovely little irridescent white flower to the top corner.... (Tia always has little flowers attached to her hats).

Oh I did forget to say that the background paper was slightly larger than my base card so I simply trimmed off the floral border at the bottom & then re-attached to the card... couldn't possibly leave off such a pretty border & it's all glittery too...

Have a happy Saturday crafting

Lorraine

xxx

Quick card for mum...

The other day when my mum flew through the door needing a very quick card indeed... well I just grabbed what was closest to hand at the time which turned out to be a K&Co pad & some lovely flowers I bought from Joanna Sheen last year...

Some quick adhesion onto a gorgeous scalloped card from Craftwork Cards then some flowers across the front... the pink flowers are single layer but the green has a large plain & a small glittered flower for added dimension... then some glittered centres to finish off...

I did only have 5 minutes to make this one & to be honest I'm not that keen on it... but... at least my mum loved it & that's all that matters.

See ya all soon

Lorraine

xxx

PRE-BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT.....

Morning everyone.... sorry I still don't have my cards uploaded but have been running around trying to get everything organised for my en-suite as it's now all booked and house will be in turmoil next week as they are going to fit it over Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday so the mad dash is on to get the tiles delivered etc on time.

Alas.... on to much more important topics such as Gayle's pregnancy... WAIT FOR IT......

Finally I received at text at 10.07am today from Gayle to say her water has now broken naturally.... that was a close call as they were only letting her go until tomorrow morning before the hospital took action.... Let's all keep our fingers crossed that it's a quick labour & as soon as I hear any more I will let you know... Ali if you're reading this.... take deep breathes'.... lol...

Anyway, I'll post my cards a little later on as I didn't want to show them along with the big announcement on Gayle...

Hugs & kisses

Lorraine

xxx

1 down & 1 to go...

I would say good morning everyone but heck it's almost lunch time already.... where does the day go... if by any chance anyone does have the correct answer to that question, please let me know... lol

Dashing around as per the norm in this household... housework & washing done... animals tended to.... dealing with the bathroom.... waiting on Tesco to arrive with my weekly shop and now have to do a speedy check on some other products...

However... I have also had to throw together a very quick card this morning for my mum to give to a friend... don't have it downloaded yet but I will later on (this is my one down) & hopefully I'll also get another one done which is for my friends' little girl who will be 2 next week (that's my one to go)... so you never know... I may well manage to download 2 cards in 1 day which would be a miracle for me right now... lol

Well enough chat for now if I've to achieve all my goals for I'll say toodles for now & I'll be back later...

Happy crafting

Lorraine xxx

I'm on a roll today....

Good day to all you lovelies out there in blogland.... and yippee today's a good day... well so far that is so keeping fingers crossed.

Have got all the housework done, washing etc complete so doing well... had no option really as guy is coming to take a look at the shower today & give us a quote for replacement... heaven forbid any dust is visible... lol....

Wee Buddy is doing well after his visit to the vet... though he did feel very sorry for himself last night. After having a G.A, teeth buffed down & an extraction I can't really say I blame him. He is now eating & drinking as normal again so hopefully he'll be 100% in the next few days.

Well I'd love nothing more than to sit here & chat, blog hop etc but before I have my own personal time I have several other things I need to deal with online... Need to order food, new tiles for en-suite as the sale ends today & some vinyl for a few boards I need to make up for my hubby...

Toodles for now me lovelies & hope to see you all again soon.

Hugs

Lorraine xxx

Last nights phone call.....

Good morning everyone... I did manage to visit some of you yesterday and I will continue to do my best to keep getting round you all over the coming days... it was so lovely catching up with all the gorgeous creations you've been making. Thank you also for those who left me lovely messages relating to my accident.... much appreciated as it really did shake me up xxx to you all.

Well, we were just in the door yesterday when the phone rang and it was one of my best friends (the one who adopted a little girl)... well she's back up her for a visit and her uncle is really ill with his health rapidly deteriorating. Now his 21 year old daughter is engaged but they had no plans in place for a wedding but due to her fathers' health they are now trying to arrange their wedding for June... poor lass is everywhere as her primary concern is that her Dad is there on her wedding day... understandable.

Today's task is to try and come up with a design for her wedding stationery... which has to be made as cheaply as possible as they have no real money saved for the wedding... thinking cap has to be well and truly on today as I would like her to have something that she really likes and looks good, even if done on the cheap... keep fingers crossed for me...

Right, guess I better get on with the housework now, washing machine on etc so that I have plenty time this afternoon... (Gail also coming for a wee visit with the baby).

Back soon...

Lorraine xxx

Simplicity....

Here's a little card I made... very simplistic in design but at the same time quite pretty I think because it is so uncluttered.

I had bought a goodie bag from Craftworks Cards at the SECC and the majority of it was christmas related.. there were however some little elements that weren't and that's what I've gone with here.

Scalloped base card, yummy, then I slightly inked the edges of a piece of pretty paper (sorry you can't see the inking in the picture) and attached this to my base card. Next I took one of the image tags and coloured using Bruynzeel water colour pencils. Made the flowers on the owl blue, to match with the background paper & added some Papermania shimmer dots for the eyes so they have a 3D effect. The tag was then layered onto the base card using silicone for a slightly raised effect. Finally I attached 2 brown glitter flowers ( used brown ones to they coordinated with the brown of the owls) and in the centre of the flowers I used some more Papermania shimmer dots... Not sure if you can see them if you zoom in on the picture.

Now... thought I would briefly share my continuing good news with you all.... oh yes... you will know that I am the luckiest person on earth over the last few months... (NOT)... and here's what happened yesterday.

I got a lovely new red vase from homebase to sit on my living room window... brighten the place up and that you know without spending a fortune... (£9.99)... then popped to Asda for a few essentials and then was heading up to the gym to collect my hubby for us both to come home. Well... I encountered several problems with another vehicle (he kept cutting me up)... then finally upon approach to a roundabout he done it again... this time slamming his brakes on!!! Fortunately, I was able to swerve into the opposite lane & get around him safely... but had to cut back in front of him in order that I could continue on my route... Around the roundabout I went and as I was coming off of the roundabout he came right up the side of me, sliced me up again and slammed the anchors on.... this time he did not leave me enough space to swerve as I had a barrier on one side and oncoming traffic on the other... right into the back of him I went... Oh yes... before I had actually hit him... he was jumping out of the car along with his wife & son... Don't really think there was any requirement for a 3 against 1 gang up but hey ho... that's what happens with scum I guess. Well, they then start throwing accusations around.. (think he forgot he slammed his brakes, or not), and fortunately some guys came out of the pub across the way and were watching the whole event. These people were so aggressive in nature that the guys actually crossed the road and stood next to me, I guess they had the same thoughts as me in relation to their mannerism. Well I called direct enquiries to be put through to the local police station & asked the man to remain calm & wait on them arriving. I also informed him that there was a camera right on the corner that would have captured the whole incident so I had nothing to hide... to cut a long story short... after a whole load of verbal abuse, fingers in my face etc, the man quickly jumped in his car and left the scene!!! Must admit right enough, I did tell him I thought he was simply trying nothing more than an insurance scam but that the video evidence would show he was at fault... Just to keep myself in the clear I went to the police station and reported the accident, gave them the registration etc. Needless to say my neck & back were a little tender last night, though I'm not quite sure if that was due to the impact or the tension.

Why oh why do we have such ******** driving on our roads...

Well for the rest of the day I will be in Rob's office as after the fire, the stained glass windows need to be replaced as they were blown out by the heat. For health and safety reasons they can only do the work on a Sunday so we need to go sit in the office for a few hours while they do the preparatory work, then they are scheduled to come back next Sunday and install the glass itself. Yes, this sounds like a very boring afternoon, but I'm hoping that if Rob doesn't draw me into helping him with some paperwork, that I may infact get time to do some blog hopping.... that would be awesome as I haven't had time to visit anyone for weeks.

Happy crafting

Lorraine

xxx

Positive & Negative....

What a last few days it's been here in this mad house I call home..... lol

The positive outcome of it all is that I have finally managed to complete and submit my essay... yippee.... based on the positive and negative effects that our social environment can create on us. See where my title comes form now.... oh yes I have gone well and truly mad over the last few days... too much brain power being used up I think...

Sadly I also encountered a negative.... my poor wee guinea pig Gru passed away just after 12.30am on Thursday morning... he was about 7 years old and had been born with a respiratory problem so he had done well to make it to such a good age. Very sad indeed but hopefully he can breathe freely now in piggy heaven.

Well, I've decided that once I have done the necessary chores for the day I am taking the rest of the day off to relax.... and what do I have planned to help chill me out.... hmmm me thinks it will have to be some crafting.... major withdrawl symptoms are being encountered and need remedied asap....

Will pop back later to upload my new creation.

Happy crafting to one and all.

Lorraine xxx

WRITERS BLOCK..... OH NO

Good morning everyone & my sincerest of apologies for failing to get any more challenges completed over the last few days....

To say that I am encountering writers block at the moment is nothing less than an under statement.... it's actually not that I don't know what I want to say, it's simply that I cannot satisfy myself with my choice of words. My next assignment is due for submission this week, I've worked on it all weekend long & I'm still not close to having my final version completed. I really wanted it to be ready for submission today & now I'm starting to feel under pressure (caused by myself) to get this thing done. For some reason though, I have the feeling that when I sit down to work on it later, that I'm just going to batter the whole thing out within 4 or 5 hours... it's a funny thing when it comes to this but I think I am going to produce better work today now that I am feeling the pressure... sure hope I'm right.

Keep fingers crossed for me please, as the sooner this is done, the sooner I can get some crafting done... lol

Big hugs to all

Lorraine xxx

p.s. don't be fooled by the nice tidy look of the picture... everything is now out of the bag & the place is covered with highlighter pens, A4 notepaper etc etc etc... oh that felt good to use that abbreviation as it's a cardinal sin to use it in an essay.... lol

Just got computer back....

Sorry I've been missing for a few days folks, but unfortunately the other day I updated my software security & when my computer was supposed to restart after the update it simply would not function. Needless to say we had a little trip to our local computer expert to see what he could do for us & thankfully we are back in working order again.

I never knew this before but apparently for absolutely no known reason... sometimes when you do updates & restart your computer, the computer then takes over & simply cannot put all the information together in the order it should... therefore it fails...

Not much good to me though eh!

Well now I'm back up & running I'm off to get my Tesco order in then need to make a start on my next essay as it's due for submission next week then I can have a little crafty play later on.

See you all soon.

Lorraine

xxx

GET FUNKY CHALLENGE .....

I know I promised this one yesterday but it was a jam packed day which started off with my shower base cracking... oh yeah.... I also had a bit of the grouting fall out... well what can I say... the thing is almost 10 years old now so credit crunch or not... we have to deal with a new en-suite issue.

Alas, I had to postpone my posting today so here it is.. this time it's my entry to the Get Funky challenge which has to be spots & stripes.

I was a very naughty girl & almost forgot poor Ava's birthday so it was a last minute dash to make her card. The book says "oh no" and the front says U.R 4.... inside contains some stickers with party hats & cakes on... along with some flowers & gems.

Word book was created using the Funky Daze CD & I printed on both ends of the card. Cut out the letters then added some stitched doodling. There are some small sticker gems inside some of the circles on the letters (Papermania) and the stickers, chipboard embellishments, book ring & ribbons all come from my box of tricks by Brenda Pinnick.

Well I'm off now to do the postbox run, organise what's for tonights tea, place a tesco order & then get my head back in the books as it's essay time again!!!

Hmmmm may need to have a quick peek though at some other challenges first.... lol

See ya all soon & happy crafting

Lorraine

xxx

Challenge time tomorrow again

Sorry I've been missing for a few days folks, but with the weather it's taken so much longer to get around places to get things done. In addition to that, my heads been stuck in my books as I need to start my next essay this week & Rob & I have been out & about all weekend.

However.... I am currently working on another challenge card which will be completed by the end of the night, so I'll be able to upload it tomorrow.

Think I need to get a new routine worked out where I can fit everything into the day... lol

See ya all tomorrow.

Hugs

Lorraine

xxx

The Sugar Bowl Challenge

Woohoo..... Yippee..... Can you believe it.....

I've actually managed to find time to make & upload a card.... gosh I'm in shock I think.... lol.

This little one is for the Sugar Bowl challenge and is based around a fabby sketch. I had been making a word book for someone's birthday & so decided to go along with the same colour scheme so that I could use up my scraps... waste not, want not in these hard financial times is my moto. so the more I can use up my scraps, the better.

Image was coloured using Bruynzeel water colour pencils & to finish off I added two lovely glittery blue stars from Ashby Designs.

Before I go just a quick update on my OU assignment... I found out on Monday night that I have thankfully passed my first assignment with flying colours... here's hoping I do as well with the second one which is due in about 10 days time.... yes.... there is some serious studying going on here at the moment, but I'm loving it.

Happy crafting

Lorraine

xxx

Hats off....

I take my hat off to everyone who has found the time over the last few days to make & upload some really lovely cards.

We were out shopping today when the snow blizzard started yet again so we started to head back to the safety of home, only to get rear ended by another car in the process... thankfully there doesn't appear to be any damage to either car and both Rob & I are okay apart from some neck pain. Bloody typical that is & it's only the 2nd of January. Main thing is no-one was badly injured & cars appear to be okay.

To help make myself feel better I just had to have a little nosey at the challenges around to see if there was anything happening on that front & yippee..... challenges are rolling for 2010.... what a great excuse to do some crafting tonight... after my study session that is... lol.

Let's see if I can get myself back into the challenge mode as it's been so long since I've been able to join in... I may have forgotten what buttons to push.... tee hee...

Hope you're all enjoying the holidays still...

Happy crafting

Lorraine

xxx

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well a huge, massive, enormous..... Happy New Year to all you fellow bloggers out there in blogland. Here's to the start of a new year that we can fill with a whole load of new dreams, aspirations & inspirations... For many, it will hopefully be a much better year than the one we have just left behind... good ridance is what I have to say to 2009 and I'm looking forward to having loads of fun in 2010. Most of all I wish you all a great deal of good health for the next 12 months...

It was a bit of a late night in our household... or should that be early morning... lol.... so we have only just rolled out of bed about a half hour ago & are due at mums for dinner at 2pm! Golly gosh I must get the skates on... I can hear that Rob has just turned the shower off so it's almost my turn & need to get the old slap stick on the face etc so I look like I have pink glowing cheeks on this very cold & white winter's morning we have here.

Hoping you all have a lovely day, no matter whether you are staying indoors or heading off out to share the day with family or friends... and here's to plenty of new challenges in the wonderful world of blogland.

Hugs & kisses

Lorraine

xxx

Need to get back to work now....

Oh yes, we're still amidst the holiday season but time to get back to work again as I have 2 birthday cards to make now & a new home card....

Mind is buzzing away with ideas & after tea I'll be sat in a nice comfy sofa starting away with at least 1 design... OMG does this mean that I may actually upload a card tomorrow.... oh well I sure hope so....

Hope you're all having a lovely lazy time over the holidays & not like me... eaten too much food & now have a big swollen tummy.... lol...

See ya all soon.

Hugs

Lorraine

xxx

Merry Christmas to you all.....

Well the day has arrived as has Santa with his big old bag of goodies.... this is.... if you've been good over the last year... lol

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas filled with fun & laughter.

Thank you so much to everyone who has shown me support over the last year... it has been rather a difficult one for us so it's been lovely to know that there are always friends out there in blogland who I can turn to. Thank you.

Now go have lots of fun & enjoy the day with friends & family.

Merry Christmas

Lorraine

xxx

Nationwide Appeal.............

Well I've been dashing around like a mad woman (no doubt like most of the women in the country) getting prepared for Christmas & now I am almost there.... got a few little bits & bobs to tend to but nothing major.... and finally got the last of my cards delivered today... I must be more organised next year.... hopefully I will be able to get a pic or two uploaded tomorrow before Brianna & her boyfriend come to visit....

However, I do have one final appeal for this year relating to "Support our Soldiers".

To show our respect for all of our troops, no matter where they are & also for those who given their lives in the name of our country, is it possible for you to give up just 1 minute of your time on Christmas Day to think of them...

Can our proud nation unite at 2pm on Christmas Day & every household light a candle & stop for just 1 minute & think of all our guys & gals.

This is the 7th year running that "Support our Soldiers" have been lighting candles & I for one don't think it's a great deal to ask.

Please join in with many others around the country at 2pm on Christmas Day. Thank you.

Seasons joy to one & all

Lorraine

xxx

My wee mammies birthday

Morning folks... long time no speak.... lol

Well it's my wee mammies birthday today so I'm up nice & bright & early to get a load of stuff done so I can spend some time with her later.

It's been a rather white weekend here... oh yes... we've had snow probably like most of the rest of the country going by what the news is saying.

Amidst all the snow & house cleaning this weekend, I've also managed to make about 60 cards... with a little help from the Nitwit collection that is... I am completely new to digital card making so it's a learning experience for me, but I'm getting there.

Promise I will do my best to get the dust blown off of the old camera later & see if I can get some piccies uploaded.

Hope you all had a fab weekend & by this time next week we'll all be prepping for New Year... gosh how time flies eh!!!

Happy crafting

Lorraine

xxx

Still no pictures... sorry

OMG.... yes it is snowy outside but it's been snowing inside too....

My household is certainly seeing the year out in fashion as if you read my previous posting you will see that we've been having to deal with the results of a fire... update on that one... police caught the *********** who done it.... wonder if they'll get anything more than a wrap on the knuckles!!!!

BUT....... yesterday....... someone rammed something right through the back window on Rob's car so yet another issue to deal with.... thankfully on the phone to Admiral... quick dealings with them... then Autoglass called & asked if we would like to garage the car overnight in their facility... yippee.... out of the elements so we couldn't have asked for more than that... hopefully the glass will arrive today & Rob can get his car on the road again... in the meantime I'm running him back & forth to work in my wee Aygo.... which may I say, held the road very well this morning in all the ice & snow.

Skip is due to be taken away today so I'm gutting the last of the cupboards then I have to sort everything all into it's new place... also got some new side tables & lamps the other day... golly gosh.... I'm generally quite good with flat pack but these flaming tables took me almost 6 hours to build.... thought my hand was going to blister by the end of it all but thankfully it was fine the following day.

Right I'm off to throw the rest of the trash out, hang the washing up, vacuum, shop & then hopefully squeeze in some study & card making.

With any luck my blogging may get a little better next week....

Crafty hugs to one & all.

Lorraine

xxx

Man have we been on fire this weekend.... literally

Sorry I haven't been around over the weekend folks but oh yes it was one of those weekend... firstly I had to finish off my OU assignment which is now done & about to be submitted as soon as I finish this posting. In addition to that Rob took the weekend off & we hired a skip to do the old winter clear out (it's almost full!).

Lastly but by far the worst event of the weekend was that we received a call from Rob's business partner to tell us that their building had been set on fire... Here we go again.... the office is in a tenement building thankfully so the walls are very thick stone ones... There are 4 companies operate from the same close & apparently on Saturday night one of the juniours in the hairdressers was left to lock up... unfortunately he failed to actually lock the door..... oh great let's leave the building wide open eh!!! As there is no lift in the building there were a few chairs set out on the landing so older people could take a rest & yes you guessed it... these were set alight. Fortunately the building faces into the back of the local police station & some police officer spotted the flames going up the inside of the building so they reacted quickly & put the back door of the building in to exterminate the flames... Thankfully no-one was in the building at the time. The hinges have literally been taken off so a whole new door & frame will have to be installed... the chairs.. well the only part of them left is the metal frame so they are now binned... some windows have blown out with the heat & will need replacing & the close is black with the smoke so the insurance company have a fire cleaning company coming out today to assess the damage & price the job up...

Hence why I have not been blogging... I have managed to make a few quick cards but haven't gotten around to taking any pics yet... will try to do it today if I get time.

Hope all is well with everyone & that you're doing loads of lovely crafting.

Hugs

Lorraine

xxx

Pneumonia update....

Yes I know... I never managed to get back with anything else yesterday as the day just flew by & last night Brianna & her boyfriend were over to visit so nothing done then either...

Had to make a trip to Asda yesterday even although my Tesco delivery arrived just the day before... what for... well Rob has decided that he is making sweet potato pie for christmas... but not just one pie... oh no... 1 for us, 1 for my mum & Eric and then 2 for friends as a special thing for them on christmas day.... what a nightmare.... cinnamon, nutmeg, evaporated cream etc.... but I also had strict instructions to buy 4 tins of cream so that he can give a can over with each pie... what a man... when something gets in his head, there really is no stopping him...

Anyhow, today has been spent running around & now I'm off to do a little bit of my essay whilst the house is nice & quiet but before doing so I thought I'd give you a wee health update... this morning started with my attending the doctor in relation to my pneumonia... and yippee.... I've been given the all clear.... the pneumonia has left my body and long may it stay away.....

However.... oh yes, if you know me at all, then you will know by now that my life never runs smooth... apparently due to the pneumonia & xrays it has now been highlighted that I may in actual fact have asthma.... see told you there's always something going on with me... with this discovery I will now have to take some breathing tests so I have been put on the waiting list which is apparently about 6 weeks or so & my doctor has now put me on an inhaler 3 times a day... what a start I had to the day eh!!!

Well I sure do hope you are all doing well out there in blogland & if I do well with my essay then I might be able to squeeze in some card making later.... fingers crossed.

Happy crafting

Lorraine

xxx

For a mini crafter

This is for a little mini crafter on her 11th birthday. She is my friend's niece Danni & this year she has actually started making cards... yippee.... another one to join the clan.... she lives down south but comes up here a couple of times a year & when she does we all sit down & get the crafting goodies out to have a play. On her last visit I gave her a whole load of stamped images away with her that she could colour in & use on her cards... low & behold.... the following week I received a handmade thank you card from her... what a darling she is.

I thought this card would be a good way of showing her how to use ribbon in a different way. Teaching from afar you see.. lol.. but it's also a lovely bright card for a little girl who loves pink.

All elements of the card are from a Brenda Pinnick kit I bought from QVC.

Hope to be back again a little later with something else to share.

Happy crafting

Lorraine

xxx

Bauble duet

This was a hard one to catch on the camera due to the sun as you can see in the bottom corner but I have done my best... albeit the image is a little dark but it's better than loads of reflection.

A quick run of glitter along the bottom, silicone to attach the baubles & sentiment, silver peel offs to hang my baubles & some gems for the finishing touch... a big thank you once again to Kanban as if it wasn't for this set, a whole load of people would be getting shop bought cards from me this year and that really just wouldn't do...

Happy crafting

Lorraine

xxx

All striped to go....

Oh yes, another Kanban quickie for you all... still not managed to make a start on those special cards yet... hopefully next week after I've got my first essay completed...

So, here I took my base card (Craftwork Cards), used 4 rows of double sided tape & glittered them up black then simply added the bauble with silicone & a little silver peel off.... voila... done.

Now today I have the grocery shopping being delivered, some christmas pressies also being delivered that I ordered online yesterday, housework & washing as usual, some pet cages to clean, need to do a few hours studying & see if I can squeeze in making a few more cards...

Will pop back later again & upload another little something.

Hope you all have a fab day filled with love & crafting.

Hugs

Lorraine

xxx

Basic Styling

Another quick make card thanks to my new Kanban kit.... Here I took a white card (Craftwork Cards), put a strip of double sided tape across the card & covered with black glitter. Used one of the baubles & sentiment disc which were attached used silicone, and a silver peel off for the string. Three self adhesive gems finish the whole card off...

Yippee, another one bites the dust....

Happy crafting

Lorraine

A splash of colour

The time sure does seem to be flying by now that we are into December & before we know it Christmas will be all done & dusted & we'll be looking forward to the start of another new year.

This weekend Rob & I went & got some Christmas pressies.... it's a very cheap year for us this year as there's not a lot of spare cash but hey ho... Christmas afterall is not about the monetary value is it... and would you believe this is the first pressies we have gotten... best get my skates on I think... lol... He also treated me to lunch which was lovely, good old steak pie on a cold winters day... and I need some new tinsel for my christmas tree so got that too... will try to take a pic later to share with you all.

Yesterday... well like most other women in the country... not only do we have the spring & autumn cleaning to do, but we have this requirement to do the Christmas clean out too.... Oh yes, my day yesterday was filled with scrubbing... floors, tiles, oven (yuck!)... so at least I've got a start made on that now too.

Today, hmmm well that's a different story... I'm due another phone tutorial tonight as this week I have to make a start on my first T.M.A (Tutor Marked Assignment)... oh yes.... I have to have completed a 1000 word essay by the start of next week... my hands are sweating right now just at the thought of it. Thus, once I've placed my Tesco order (forgot to do it yesterday) then I'm off to bury my head in the books for the rest of the day.

Well, best dash now & get myself organised so I'll catch up with you all later on again.

Happy crafting

Lorraine

Poinsetta Pleasure

Close up of the layering

Yes I know this is yet another plain card & is certainly not extravegant in any way whatsoever but it was another quick make which is passable for my neighbours who at the end of the day will most probably only receive boxed cards from everyone else...

Hugs

Lorraine

xxx

All wrapped up...

I just think this is such a sweet little image that I am going to give this card to my friends daughter who is 5 years old... I can just see her sitting on her own bed ready to dive into her pressies on Christmas morning... still got a little glitter to add to this one... especially on the stars in the night time sky.

Hugs

Lorraine

xxx

Morning Beauty

Sorry the picture is a little off focus but I was trying to snap the wee critter before he ran off...

Isn't this just the cutest little fella to see when you open the blinds in the morning & I was lucky enough to have him in my back garden today... he is munching away on some left over bunny food as when we empty the bowls we just put it on the grass for the birds etc but now I have a new little buddy to keep my eye open for.

Obviously I've called him Sammy..... lol

Well I've had a really busy last few days hence why I've been awol & at the moment I'm shattered... today will require a bit of rest & pampering but I do have some cards to share with you all so I'll pop them on later.

Happy crafting

Lorraine

xxx