What is a Mother

Well here I am again this evening to ask you all a question..

What is a Mother?....

Is she the woman... who after giving birth to you, has an uncontrollable desire to love & protect you for all of your life... to nurture & care for you... to give you a shoulder to cry on... to always be there for you through thick & thin...

Oh yes I hear you cry... that's exactly what a Mother is...

Well now do you want a laugh...

Late this afternoon we done the weekly shop... came home, had dinner then just as we were getting settled, me ready to pull up the crafty goodies etc... my phone rang.

On the other end was my friend who lives in the same street as my mum... where's your mum she asks.... not sure I say... hhhmmmmm welllll, the police are battering at her front door comes the reply... ok I say let me try her mobile as I bet the house alarm has gone off & before you know it the fire brigade will be there too... you see they have a great alarm system that is silent & when it goes off all emergency services are dispatched... last time it went off right enough she had hung some clothes up in the bathroom & turned the shower on to steam them... shame she forgot to turn the shower off... but the fire men were friendly at least.

Well there is Rob & I pulling on shoes going through the whole process making sure everything is locked etc & off we sets in the car... fortunately we live close so it only takes 5 mins to get there... awaiting me upon arrival are 2 young policemen.... I gets out of the car asking if it's the alarm that's gone off... only to be told no it was a 999 call.... shit I thinks as I throw my key into the lock bursting the front door open & shouting on them both... at the same time the policeman is explaining the call has come from a mobile phone registered to their address... on top of this mum is coming from the kitchen asking what all the commotion is about...

After everyone trying to calm me down before I commit blue murder... it turns out that someone has registered a mobile phone to my mothers address & when a 999 call was made from it they dispatched 2 officers immediately.

What's worse is that they were battering on the front door with their truncheons & there was still no answer... apparently mum was in the back garden doing some weeding & Eric had the television blaring in the kitchen but had also fallen asleep...

999 my bloody ass....

Now you tell me... do I have the typical loving & nurturing mother that everyone else does...

I'm having a good old laugh about this now & hope it gave you a giggle too ....

Hugs

Lorraine

xxx

Another trio

A little bit of vellum, ribbon & card candy to complete this one.

Gorgeous image so left with just some doodling.


Such a delicate image that it should really be in a frame.

Happy crafting

Lorraine xxx

Simplicity

Both of these images were on the larger side so simply placed them in the middle of the card, then added some doodling & card candy...

Certainly am battering my way through these cards because they are being kept so simple.

Hugs

Lorraine xxx

Trio of colour

Another basic card... a piece of ribbon across the card, the top half was then dotted with a red Sakura glaze pen & the decoupage image was mounted on top.

Here I used 3 lengths of ribbon with some card candy on the end, again some card candy in the corners & attached the decoupage image.

Back again soon with some more.

Hugs

Lorraine xxx

Notelets

Good afternoon all my lovelies out there in blogland... I've got a little sunshine today so hope that you have too...

Yes I know I'm very late today in getting anything uploaded but that's because hubby is at home & he has been on the computer for hours... no he doesn't understand that the computer is mine.... all mine.....

At least he has awoken this morning with a slightly better view on life & is not letting business things get to him quite the same as he has over the last few days... if you knew the full extent of what has been happening then you would understand why there has been so much stress of late..

Thank you also to my buddy Kath who was so concerned last night that she emailed me. Isn't it wonderful how we can all be there for one another during the good times & the bad. That's what us crafty bloggers are all about.

Well here are a few quick notelets that I've put together for the troops... I know that very often they simply want a card to write in & send home so I thought that these decoupage images were perfect just to be placed in the corner with some doodle around the edges using my Sakura glaze pens. Quick plain & simple...

That's the first of many cards to come so I will be back in about an hour or so with another lot...

Enjoy the sunshine & happy crafting.

Lorraine xxx

Not the day I had planned

Well folks it's moving on in the evening again & so far I haven't managed to get any cards uploaded today... so what the **** has happened...

After my previous posting you all know why I was behind today but then just as I finished getting ready my mums friend arrived with a lovely bunch of purple tulips for my easter & then she stayed for a few hours & done all my ironing... think it may be me who should have been giving her the flowers...

Then as I was leaving to run her home, hubby was arriving home from work (I forgot he was finishing early today) so told him I wouldn't be long & then we would go out for a few hours.

Well I no sooner arrived home, when my mum & Eric arrived to pay a little visit, bringing with them a beautiful bunch of roses for my easter... wow 2 bunches in 1 day... must admit it made me feel a little special & managed to put a smile on my face.

Well when they left it was just after 4pm so not really a lot you can do by then so we decided to drive around some car dealerships just to see what kind of bargains they have on offer & boy were we shocked at some of the amazing deals that are around.. After that we popped into the pet shop to pick up animal supplies then came on home.

As usual my buddy Gayle text to make sure we were alright after yesterdays fiasco & now I've made a start on my cards for the troops... don't know how many I'll manage tonight though as my eyes are already feeling very heavy & I'm just about ready for bed.

Alas, I'm afraid that unless a miracle happens in the next hour you will have to wait until tomorrow before I post any new creations.

Hope you all have a fabulous Easter weekend full of fun & laughter.

Happy crafting

Lorraine xxx

Oh what a night

Morning folks it's Friday again & yet another week of 2008 is almost past us... doesn't time fly... or perhaps I just feel that way because I'm getting older... there are never enough hours in the day for me now...

Well yesterday sucked big style for my hubby... not going into any details as it's far too complex & a nightmare but hugs thanks have to go to Gayle for all her words of support & encouragement... So after he went to bed at 9.30pm exhausted from the days unfoldings... I had to try & relax so out came the rest of my decoupage for the troops... yes I got them all finished so onto the actual card making now.

Finally it was time to retire to bed for a well needed nights sleep... but alas no, it was not to be... as I was doing my nightly ritual of turning off the tv, closing blinds etc I could hear music & laughter... oh no not tonight I thought.... but oh yes it was tonight...

A couple who live in the cul-de-sac behind me have obviously gone on holiday & left their 19 year old son at home so he decided to have a party... most of which was happening in the back garden... thanks for that one mate... but, this is the kind of estate where most of the folks twitch at their curtains & gossip the next day... not me I thought when it turned almost 3am and the party was still in full swing I called upon the police. What a lovely girl I spoke to on the phone who was very understanding & I did apologise as I know it's not any terrible crime but hey people have to sleep.... she too said that it was unacceptable & would put a call out. Well after sitting around unable to sleep for the noise, the party finally came to an end around 4.30am this morning.. but had the police arrived... NO...

What is worse is the fact that I live in a Neighbourhood Watch area where we are supposed to receive additional support from the police yet there was nothing... I noticed a few houses with lights on & curtains twitching but obviously no one else had called the police else they would surely have responded...

Needless to say I've not long rolled out of bed complete with huge puffy red eyes so you will have to give me an hour or two to shower & get organised then I will be back with a creation or two.

Hope you all had a better sleep than me & if there is a party tonight again, I think I'll just chap on the door with my baseball bat in hand....

Thank you ever so much for reading my complaint today & I'll be in a cheerier mood later on.

Happy crafting

Lorraine xxx

K&Co Tag Memo Pad

Here's a my tag memo pad that I made from a kit by K&Co... I must say that for what it contains I was not overly impressed as the kit was almost £7... included was a chipboard tag, self adhesive tag paper, some ribbon, a memo pad, pencil, wooden peg, self adhesive flower, thread, 2 buttons & a self adhesive sentiment & a magnet...

However, I do now have a template for future projects...

If they only made these kits cheaper I think they would sell hundreds of them as they are extremely quick & easy to make but there's no way you could sell them as you would have to charge £10 to make a profit... I know I wouldn't pay that for a piece of chipboard with some embellishments on it.

Anyway, the enclose good clear instructions & all you do is attach the paper to the tag, tie the ribbons through the holes, attach the buttons, thread & self adhesive sentiment, place the self adhesive paper ribbon across the peg which you then glue to the tag & attach the self adhesive flower to the peg... this was the one flaw I found with the kit as I actually had to stick the flower to card, cut around & then attach as the full of the flower back is sticky.

When all your glue is dry you insert your memo pad & pencil then attach the self adhesive magnet to the back.

It may have cost almost £7 but took only 5 mins to construct... and I will be making more of them from my own template & using up the left over bits & bobs from my stash.

Happy crafting

Lorraine xxx

Cards for the Troops......

Firstly I would like to apologise for the bad quality of pictures this morning... it is very overcast here today & I have a lot to do this morning so didn't have the usual time to go moving around trying to find a better position...

Last night was a relaxing evening sat in front of the television making a start on a pile of cards to be sent out to our troops... This time I decided that it would be a good way to make a mass of cards quickly & easily if I used some die-cut decoupage...

As ever, when making bulk orders, it's all about getting the production line going, so I sat with my book popping out the images & building them all up... here are some pictures of what I've got done so far, with many more to be added.

All of these images will be temporarily stored in a box until they are ready to go on cards then I will have a massive card making session. Once complete they will be shipped off in their shoe boxes to our loyal troops so that they in turn can send a card to a loved one courtesy of me.

Well must dash now as I'm off out soon to see about setting up some workshops.

Back with you all later today to showcase another new creation.

Happy crafting

Lorraine xxx

Card to help a blogger....

Whilst doing some blog hopping today & I do apologise as I didn't manage to visit everyone...

I stumbled upon a fellow blogger who is currently asking for our help. You see her husband is very worried that he is about to be laid off from work any moment now and he is due to celebrate his birthday on Saturday... Poor guy....

Well he has told her they will not be celebrating due to their current uncertainty on the job front, so she came up with a super idea to cheer him up... she is asking that if anyone has time to spare, could they possibly make him a birthday card...

Now during my bad times I received some fantastic cards from you blogging buddies out there and I will treasure them forever... and at the time they really did cheer me up no end so I thought it only right that I share this with someone else...

I decided to go with a black & white theme as I love these little badgers & hope that although they're not having the best of times at the moment, perhaps on Saturday they can cuddle up & show each other love just like the little badgers are doing.

If you can help please visit Clare

Scalloped matts from Craftwork Cards

Decoupage & sentiment from Cardology

Gems from stash


Tonight I'm working on some cards which are going to be sent out for our wonderful troops. My mums friends son is a Sergeant Major in the army and he says that the guys & gals are so pleased when they receive goody boxes from people they don't even know. So many of them are away from home for months on end & to just be able to send a little card home to a friend or loved one can really help to keep them going... this is where most of my challenge cards go to but this is an extra lot I have decided to do for them. There is so much misery & grief around just now that I wanted to do something to give me a feel good factor...

Righty ho... back to work for me & I'll see you all again in the morning.

Happy crafting
Lorraine xxx

Papertake Weekly

Yes another challenge card this week... do you think I'm doing well in getting myself back in the flow of things?

This time I worked with a sketch from the very talented Dawny over at Papertake Weekly, but decided to make the challenge even more interesting by challenging myself to use some of the goodies I received in the post yesterday, along with the free papers in this months issue of Simply Cards & papercraft...

Normally I don't use any of the papers that come in the magazine but this month there are some super cool papers included so I decided to see what I could do with them.

Here is my end result.. although I did move the sketch around a bit...

Papers, corners, tags & sentiment are all from the free papers in this months edition of SC&P

Ribbon & Brads are from the HOTP giveaway prize I won from SC&P

Decoupage image is from a decoupage book which normally retails at £16.99 but at the moment is available from Cardology for only £9.99

Gems are from my stash.

Suppose I better move now, tidy up last nights mess & then make a start on whatever creations I'm going to come up with today... Be back with you all later on today.

Happy crafting
Lorraine xxx

Simply Cards & Papercraft

As I promised earlier... here is a picture of the compliment slip I received from Practical Publishing advising me of my win in one of their giveaway draws... funny thing is that I don't normally enter for them & I think this is only the 2nd time I have done so... needless to say I've completed this months coupons already.

Finally, here is the fabby gift I received from them... a pack of HOTP embellishments which I so can't wait to play with... now do those colours not just cheer you up a bit when the weather is not at it's best.

Hopefully I'll be sharing some cards using these embellishments over the coming weeks.

Happy crafting

Lorraine xxx

Mr Postie...

Good old Mr Postie has been at my door this morning again.. YIPPEE....

A dark grey plastic bag with unknown handwriting... Hhhhmmmmm

Well when I opened it there was a HOTP pack containing ribbons, buttons, brads & flowers...

Who has sent me this I wonder?

Now there in the bag was a compliment slip from Practical Publishing congratulating me on winning one of their give aways...

I'm one of those people who rarely wins anything so needless to say it put a huge smile on my face & I was so excited that I just had to share the news with you all.. as I'm still in the middle of the housework I haven't managed to take a pic yet but I will do later so I can share my goodies with you.

Hope you're all having a fab day like me.

Hugs

Lorraine xxx

Pink Elephant

Well here I am doing my best to get back into the good old challenge mode & so far, so good... I've managed to do 3 in 3 days... fingers crossed it continues.

For today, I've opted to go with the Pink Elephant challenge which is to use stamps, embossing & punches...

Out came one of my sweet Sugar Nellie stamps... ain't they just sooo cute.

Covered the cardstock in paper, then embossed some core-dinations & sanded, wrapped ribbon around & then mounted this onto some red cardstock & attached to the base card.

Next up stamped my image & coloured using Sakura Metallic pens & added some doodling around the edge with a Pigma Micron Pen. Layered this to some red cardstock again & mounted to the base card using 3d foam.

To finish off I used my Fiskars pop up punch to create some little flowers & added gems to the centres.

Papers : K & Co

Cardstock : Core-dinations

Image : Sugar Nellie (Sweet & Sassy)

Metallic & Pigma Micron Pens : Sakura

Ribbon & Gems from stash


Right now I'm off to dash around the house on a mad cleaning frenzy as my mum is due to return from Vegas today & I don't want her thinking that I haven't been able to do the housework in her absence, but before I sign off completely, I need to find another challenge to work on this afternoon...

Back with you all tonight again peeps.

Hugs
Lorraine xxx

P.s. For anyone reading comments, the nutty one from Medical Muscle is my OH... he has just started his own blog & this is the first time ever he has posted a comment so I had to publish it for him... he never even got any instructions from me on how to do it... isn't he a clever cookie...

Anne.... the scrubbing brush is still in use I'm afraid... lol xxx

Paper Folding Technique

One of the comments left on my Penny Black card the other day was from Christine who asked if I could possibly share the paper folding technique that I used... of course I can... always happy to share info with others... so here goes.

1. Start out with a square piece of card & draw diagonal lines from one corner to the other. This will allow you to find the centre of your card.

2. Now you want to fold corners B, C, D & E into the centre of your card (A).



3. Once you have folded all your corners into the centre, you then want to bring corners F,G,H & I back out to the centre of their sections. This means that you will see the inside of the paper again.

Here is the completed fold... If you have never done this folding technique before then I would suggest that you use a piece of photo copy paper in the first instance so that you can mark the letters on it, this way making the folding much easier initially.

Just one additional piece of information is that when I am required to use a pencil for anything craft related, in order to avoid all those terrible pencil smudges that we all so often get... my preference is the Sumogrip pencil from Sakura... The lead is very fine & the eraser on the end has never left me with smudges....

Well I hope that some of you have found this tutorial helpful and hey you never know... there may be more to come in the future.

Happy crafting

Lorraine xxx

Sketch Saturday

A very good Monday morning to all you lovely bloggers out there & I hope you've all had a fab weekend & are now refreshed & prepared for the week ahead.

I have decided to start off the week with a new challenge... this time it's one set by Tracie over at Sketch Saturday. Quite relieved actually that it's a nice easy one to break me into this challenge site and I must admit that as soon as I saw the sketch, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.

You see when it was my birthday, I received the most wonderful stash of goodies from my blogging buddy Tracy & her amazing daughter Holly. Sadly I have not had the time to play with them until now so here goes...

Covered some cardstock with paper then doodled around the edges, then attached a white border, another on top of that created with my Fiskars Threading Water punch & finally some ribbon then attached 2 flowers with some card candy for the centre.

Next up, some matting & layering... white card, then paper, then more white card with my stamped image.

I wanted my image to be bright & funky so I opted to use my Sakura Souffle for the colouring & then to re-highlight areas of stamped image outline that I had accidentally covered with my souffle pen, I used my Pigma Micron pen. Finally some more doodling around the edge, then it was mounted using 3d foam.

On either side of the image I placed 3 pieces of card candy as per the sketch.

Papers : K&Co

Image, ribbon & flowers : Tracy & Holly

Card Candy : Craftwork Cards

Souffle & Pigma Micron Pens : Sakura


Well I now have to see if I can find any more challenges to be getting on with today.

Have a Fab Monday and I'll be back again tonight.

Hugs
Lorraine xxx

Penny Black Challenge

Now my intention had been to have this posted earlier in the day... but alas.... my OH has commandeered the computer for most of the day. Thankfully he has now left to go to the gym so I can get some peace & quiet as well as access to my trusty blog.

Recently I have taken a break from challenges but yesterday decided it was time to join in all the fun again so I opted to start with this weeks Penny Black who's theme is Easter.

That made my decision very simple as it had to be my bunny stamp.

I cut a piece of 12" x 12" down to 8" x 8" and then folded as required. Added some card candy to the flaps then made some letter tiles... these were coloured using TH distress inks with some letter rub ons attached, mounted using 3d foam.

My bunny image was stamped using Staz On & then coloured using Koi Water Colours. There are 3 layers to this... bottom image is full, 2nd layer has the bottom of the pot, some background flowers & a few leaves cut out & the top layer has been left with only the bunny, 2 flowers, 2 leaves & the very top rim of the pot in place. This was then put together using silicone and once dry was attached to the centre.

Can't help myself but I love this because of the cute little bunny.

Happy crafting

Lorraine xxx

Sign of the Times

Well I know I said I would be back tonight with another creation but today didn't quite go to plan...

Shortly after posting this morning we got a phone call to say that a set of keys for Rob's office had been stolen... every time you think things can't get any worse.... know what I'm saying...

As a result of this it was all hands to the realm as we had to ensure that nothing had already been stolen, report the theft to police, check with neighbouring businesses, and worst of all we had to call an emergency lock smith to change all the flaming locks on the doors...

By the time all of this was done and the shopping, dinner etc it was finally time for me to make a start on something... so alas I have not finished it yet but it will be ready for upload in the morning...

I will give you a little insight though... yes I'm doing a challenge card & for my first one in weeks I have decided upon Penny Black who's theme this week is Easter....

Well I hope you all had a much better day than I did, although all is fine now that I am sat down to do some crafting.. only thing in this life that keeps me sane I think.

See you all tomorrow again

Hugs

Lorraine xxx

Jade Goody

May we all take a little moment in our day to pass our thoughts to the beloved friends & family of Jade Goody as she is laid to rest.

Especially her two small boys who's lives have been changed forever.

R.I.P

A little distressed...

Well here's to another fabby weekend folks, even though I got up this morning to discover that all my gorgeous sunshine has disappeared & been replaced with yucky wet rain... I'm sure it must be good for the garden though...

To share with you this morning I have a little something I done yesterday, amidst all the other samples that I unfortunately cannot share with you. This time I decided to combine the simplicity of white with some distressing... wasn't sure if it would work or not but I think I like it... what do you think?

Please excuse the glue shining through the ribbon but it hadn't quite dried when I took the picture.

For this one I used some Core-dinations card stock & distressed, done the same with the flowers but in an alternating colour, as well as one of the matting layers.

Stamped the floral image with Staz On then proceeded to colour with Koi water colours.

Some ribbon as stems & card candy as always, finish the whole card off.

Core-dinations (Chocolate Box) - Once Upon A Stamp

Ribbon & Card Candy - Craftwork Cards

Koi Water Colours - Sakura

Image is by Inkadinkado


Well I must get myself off this computer now & get on with the day... the quicker the daily chores are done the more time I will have to play with more crafty goodies... yes it will be another day of making samples, combined with some fun & I may even attempt a challenge card today... you just never know.

Hope you all have a fab Saturday & I'll be back again later.

Hugs
Lorraine xxx