tilda (and tigers!!)

well another day another challenge, today i am showing my creation for ATC tilda and co, which this week the theme is "summer in bloom" ~ found this very difficult~ but here it is any way!!

used tilda with marguerites, tilda`s gate, quickutz flowers, paper from my stash and some glitter..

showing two challenges today, this one is not by me but by leiws (aged 4 and 4 months), a new childrens challange http://hannahzoecraftymonkeys.blogspot.com/ , the theme this week is "wild animals", lewis has used hot off the press paper, tiger stamp from my stash, papermania star stickers. i cut out all the paper and card ~lewis did the rest!!

here is the inside , lewis made this card for a friend , we are sending it today ~so have blanked out the name ~he wants it to be a surprise!!!

i thought i would show you these lovely little gifts from jenny on
http://stampingmoments.blogspot.com/ , i ordered some stamps from her and found these in the bag when i opened my goodies!! thankyou so much jenny , they are lovely , and some great ideas for small gifts!!

lastly and by no means least , i received this lovely bright card from jo http://fairymadjojo.blogspot.com/ , and some cute images , which i cannot wait to use !! thankyou so much jo , a lovely surprise!! great to see you back and crafting!!

well i have a very busy day today , once out the door at 8am , i will not stop ~out all day , shopping (food) and into town for the boys clothes including school uniform ~yes for both of them!! where has the time gone??? i will try and grab the compter later and come and say hi, on your blogs!!

have a great day , sun is shining here ~ enjoy, byeeeeeeeeeeeeee xx

just because......

well another day another challange ,well two actually ~used the sketch by "papertake weekly", ~have tweaked it alittle!!! then used "sweet and sassy" sugar nellie stamp for "a spoon full of sugar challenge" which this week the theme is "checks galore". used hot off the press papers, dove craft stamps, flowers and brad from my stash and quickutz butterfly, finished with a little glitter!!
another card made for a friend, makes it easier to make cards with people in mind!!
hope you have a fantastic weekend , really need to sort out the garden this weekend ~with the rain and sun it`s gone mad!! (still not planted out lewis`s sunflowers!! ~terrible mother i am) ~ enjoy your day ,what ever you are doing. byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee xx

tildas spots!

well another day another challenge, today i am showing my card for "magnolia challenge", which the theme this week is "we gone dotty". have used the sketch from "mojo monday, week 43"
have used tilda holding marguerites, hot off the press paper, papermania ribbon, quickutz corners, oval nestabilities, see-d`s words and some glitter. (can be seen when you click the pic )

hope you all have a very happy day, byeeeeeeeeeeeeee xx

friendship (we all need friends)

well another day ,and another challenge , well two today!! using the "stamp something sketch" and the "pennyblack challenge" i made this card for a friend. it`s on it`s way so cannot say who!!
used "girls rock" pennyblack stamp, k&co papers, hero arts stamp, gems and ribbon from my stash and a little glitter!!! i do so love this stamp and does come out again and again for different reasons!!





i thought i would show you this girly card sent to me by gilly http://gillyflowersexpression.blogspot.com/ (another do~crafts member) she used this stamp as it is called "vanessa" ~looks a bit like me about 15/20 odd years ago!!! ( did go through a time with a perm ~didn`t everyone?? although never that tall , even in my white stilettos!!) and she sent me some more fantastic images ~thankyou gilly ~lovely surprise. thankyou for your support over the last few months ~as you have said ~ it does get better and your family are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel ~congratulations on your sons exam results!!

well busy day for me , meeting myself coming back , in and out of the car today , with school , nursery and this afternoon we are going to a teddy`s bear picnic with lewis , at his "new" school in september, for food and games. cannot see time for crafting today!!
hope you all enjoy your day, thankyou all for your kind words about my scrapbook pages yesterday ~i know it was a personal thing!! byeeeeeeeeeeeeeee xx

aaron!

well another day, another challenge, today i am showing my scrapbook (12 x 12 double layout)pages for scrummystash cafe , the theme this week is "hidden messages!"
have used papers and embellishments from colorbook "perfect pages", worked out well as i had two sets!! epoxy numbers by e-z stick-on(royal brush) buttons and stringy stuff from my stash.
used photos taken over the last few years! ~ please click on the pages to get more detail) ~ i wasn`t sure on the title ~ "our aaron" or "aarons smile???" when you have looked and read it ,maybe you have your own ideas!!


these pages are totaly self~indulgent, i so needed to make sense of the last few years ,when aaron moved from first school to middle school (here, the children move to three seperate schools, for first, middle and senior)~to make sense of all his 11 years, living with a child who has aspergers syndrome (although only diagnosed over a year ago) . i was inspired by reading many thoughtful words and looking at beautiful pages on this amazing blog ~http://alienadventurereports.blogspot.com/. (thanks T, for your help and support)

so over this weekend ,when time allowed , i was bent over creating my pages , it just kind of evolved, and became very personal, in some ways ,a therapy for me!! found the lovely poem ~"how do i love thee", which i printed onto vellum and added down the right hand page. the hidden message in the tag, was written ,while the football was on ~amazing what you can do when your husbands transfixed to the tv and your 4 year old is playing with dora on the computer!! (aaron was staying with my parents) ~i just wrote how i felt, and it has really helped me , after the pain and the total low spot we had reached, last week ,~ this week , i am strong and ready to "fight" for aaron, to be safe and hopefully come out of this school unscathed (both emotionally and phyisically) in another years time.

i wasn`t going to show the words in the tag , but so many of you are going through "difficult" times at the moment , or have had your difficult times and have come out the other side, ~so give it a go , find a photo or photos that mean alot to you , (even the most painful or your happiest) and do as i have done ~it really does help!!

so for me and aaron, this week is the start of getting help, being positive and ......smiling!!

hope you all have a great day, and do some thing to make you smile, byeeeeeeeee xx

charley`s smile!!

well another day another challenge , showing my creation for "friday sketch challenge no 7", this is a folder i made for aarons friend , for her birthday (little extra) as she is really into making her own cards.
i used "charley" from cuddly buddly, scraps of paper from my stash, big flowers gem (could you miss them??) and some small gems (as forgot to add the ribbon before a stuck the image down (as you know once stuck ,cannot be removed). for the inside i used dove craft stamps.


i would like to say a very big thankyou to all of you who have visited my blog over the last few days , i`m overwelmed with the number!!! i will try and pop by your blogs soon , i seem to have alot going on at the moment, and finding time to visit you all is looking scarce, i do like to take the time to visit, so please bear with me, i will do it!!
have a great day, thanks again , you have all made me smile . byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee xx

tilda`s midsummer nights dream!

well another day another challenge, today i am showing my small creation for ATC tilda, which their theme this week is "a midsummer night`s dream"., although it only seems to be the druids who celebrate our longest day in the summer at stonehenge, many countries still have an annual holiday to celebrate!! hope you all enjoyed yourselves.
for my ATC i used;~ tilda with garland of flowers in her hair, english paper company paper, quickutz butterfly wings and flowers, then finished with glitter. found this on the internet (from midsummer night`s dream , a romantic comedy by william shakespeare) although i have not made titania but a woodland fairy!!!

Oberon states in the play:
I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,
Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows,
Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine,
With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine:
There sleeps Titania sometime of the night,
Lull'd in these flowers with dances and delight;
And there the snake throws her enamell'd skin,
Weed wide enough to wrap a fairy in.

enjoy your day ,what ever you are doing, byeeeeeeeeeeeeeee xxx

sugar nellie is hot!!

well another day another challenge ,well 4 really!! don`t know how this happened but seem this card fits in with 4 challenges this week!!
this week started , with the hope that there was a challenge i could use to fit in with a birthday card for my longest known frieind s, just about to turn teenager , daughter!!( does that make sense??)
so monday was "papertake weekly " who`s theme this week is "feelin hot, hot, hot! ~ use hot colours" ~great i`ll use my sugar nellie image from fran, ideal for a teenage girl!! when i look at sunflowers i think oranges and yellows!! sorted ,then tuesday "a spoonful of sugar", their theme was "celebrations" such as birthdays,weddings etc!! looked at "my time to craft" ~hoping they had their challenge was on site and their theme was " buttons and buckles" ~had already selected some buttons for the card , just had a rummage for my one and only buckle!! ~nice bit of bling!! then on thursday after the card was finished, "cute cards" theme this week is "birthday card" ~how lucky was that!!??? so without meaning to, this card fits all 4 challenges ~gosh thats all a bit long winded!!!
for the card, as i said i used a sugar nellie image, colorbook papers and tag, sun stamp, flowers, buttons, buckle, gem , ribbon from my stash!!... and some glitter!!


thought i would show a close up of the flowers and buttons , as i so love this bee button (he`s from craftime~dress it up~button fun)~sometimes wish the pics on the blog were closer , as you miss so much detail on the cards !!! (need a zoom in function!!)
hope you all have a great saturday , it`s raining here!!~the garden so needs it!! was hoping to get lewis`s sunflowers planted into the garden this weekend as they are taking over my kitchen!!
enjoy~ what ever you are doing!! byeeeeeeeeeeeeee xx

tilda and her purple squares

well another day, another challenge, today i`m showing my card for the magnolia challenge, which this week the theme is "serendipity" ~ using small squares no more than 2x2 inches!!(hope that`s right!!) another card that looked better in my imagination than on card!!! looks better before tilda was added!! :~)
used lots of ripped hand made paper (mounted it on pink card), tilda with crow~feet, fence scene, and high hopes sun!! ooooooooh and plenty of glitter!!

i would just like to say a very big thankyou for all your support, -and hugs ~i needed everyone ~but please don`t be so nice ~as you started me blubbering again!!

don`t want to single anyone out , but vickimay, thanks for your phone calls , i have started the ball rolling! chrissy, thanks for the blog link (that lady is an inspiration)~and great scrapbook pages as well!! and jo , you have enough on your plate at the moment ~i`ll be fine ~we get over each hurdle~ with tears and talking!!

a very big THANKYOU to all my blogging friends!! byeeeeeeeeeeee xx

ps emma is giving away some fab blog candy ~she has achieved soooooo much!!

find her her http://elf-creations.blogspot.com/2008/06/blog-candy-give-away.html

friends ~thankyou!

well i`m starting today with a card using my first ever pennyblack stamp, for the "pennyblack saturday challenge". i thought this card was ideal for a card for emma (elf~creations), as i wanted to send her a thankyou ,and some of my new magnolia images, (for sending me this gorgeous card and images below).
for my penny black card i used "everlasting" stamp, papers and ribbon from my stash, quickutz photo corners, then finished with some glitter.


as you can see , emma has sent me me this gorgeous card and images, even a capital "N" with the name nessy!! ~a very big thankyou emma, it is so heart warming to know, at what is being a difficult time , there are still some lovely crafting friends!! a big thankyou and hug!!

last but no means least is this fantastic card from maureen (mycasestudies), my SBS13 card swop partner, the amount of work gone into this card is unbelievable ~thankyou so much maureen, there was also lots and lots of images, including "here`s a scoop" from my favourite things, i did photograph them but cannot find the photo in my pictures (so sorry). thankyou again maureen for your card and images ,i`m so glad you liked mine ,and sorry i didn`t enclose some images!!

this card arrived yesterday morning , and really did brighten my day , for you who know me ,understand things can be difficult with my oldest son aaron (who has aspergers), at the moment he is finding school challengeing ,as he was beaten up by a class "mate" a few weeks ago ,and this boy is still picking on him ,to add to his problems his class teacher has been away for three weeks now , so the class are having a different supply teacher in everyday ~so you can imagine the disruption /excitement , which aaron his finding so diffficult , with others behaviour and noise levels. so yesterday he refused to get out of the car and go to school ,he cried for nearly 2 hours , so upsetting for me , got him into schol , where i did get some help and was able to leave him with the pastral carer. the school did phone me later and said he was having quiet time, with another child who was also finding the classroom challenging!!

lewis is still ill, with a cold/cough virus with a ichy rash all over him!! so i was physically/emotionally exhausted yeasterday , so i`m afraid i didn`t visit any of your blogs yesterday (just cried and enjoyed some chocolate)

hopefully today ,things wil be easier, and i can pop around your blogs .byeeeeeeeeeeee xx

cardswop ~SBS 13

well today i am showing my card for maureen, for the SBS13 card swop , which angie and jo organised with the theme "wings and things". i can now show this card , as maureen has now received it. if you click on the photo you can see i have used a high hopes stamp, fence, magnolia tree, lakeland papers, dove craft stamps, basic grey stamp and then finished with glitter. (also inside, is an quickutz envelope and card ,which i wrote in, which cannot been seen on my photo) ~for a better look , please visit maureens blog ~http://mycasestudies.blogspot.com~she is much better taking photos than me!!

hope you all have a wonderful day, and the postman brings you plenty of surprises!! byeeeeeeeeee xx

lets do lunch!

well another day , another challenge , today i am showing a card i have made for my mum to give to her friend (for her birthday, they are going out for lunch , as mums friend is a carer for her husband , so doesn`t have much time to socialize)
have used the layout, from friday sketch, rubber romance stamp, cuttlebug embossing folder "happy birthday", quickutz flower, and photo corners, papermania stickers and ribbon from my stash.
this card didn`t turn out how i imagined it would , my mum was pleased with it!!
have a great day, enjoy the sunny weather! byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee xx

tilda`s scraps

well another day ,another challenge , today i am showing my creation for tilda and friends ATC. the theme this week is "bits and pieces". my background is made up of small pieces of hand made paper (no more than 1x2 inches), sitting shabby chic tilda, quickutz flowers , purple ribbon from my stash (tildas seat), dovecraft butterfly and some glitter!!
have a great day, sun is shining here, (so washing out!!) byeeeeeeeeeeeee xx

HAPPY FATHERS DAY!

well another day another challenge ~well not really ~ as yesterdays card covered 4 challenges, here are my two fathersday cards for my dad and father-in-law!! using the ismaki sketch (and using only 3 colours ~didn`t do that with my card yesterday, must read the challenge properly)
the card above is for my FIL, using edwins dad and papers from "makingcard`s for men", letters and buttons from my stash. this card was also for the cute card challenge!!


the card above, also using the ismaki sketch, is for my dad (always wears a tie) used the cutest cat from pennyblack, making card`s mens papers, graffiti sizzix alphabet and ribbon from my stash!!

last but no means least is the cards lewis made for his dad (my husband), one made at nursery school, and one we made together using a kit from tesco`s (we added a sun~as lewis said we needed one!!) aaron is staying over with my parents, so i`m hoping he has made a card for his dad over there!! we`ll wait and see when we visit later!!

hope all dads out there have a great day, just about to make paul his first cup of coffee in his "new "dad`s cup ~it is his day today! (he has been on the computer all morning ,well until now)

enjoy your day, hope you still have crafting time!! byeeeeeeeeeeeee xx

pretty in pink!!

well another day and another challenge , well 4 actually!!!
for the first time i have completed the ismaki sketch, this card also fits in with , spoon full of sugar , who`s theme this week is "1~2~3" 3 brads , 2 patterned papers, and one flower!! my time to craft whose theme this week is "birds", and last but no means least cute card thursday whose theme this week is "buttons, brads and ribbons"!!
used sugar nellie image holding a sweet little bird, mellissa frances papers, american elements ribbon, chip board letters are brenda pinnick, flowers and brads from my stash!! ~oh and a little glitter! ~sorry about the shadows on the card , photo was taken late afternoon, can see my arm and camera strap!!! (no david bailey am i!!)
phew ,that took alot to sort out!! the card is made for a girl in aarons class , who`s party it is next weeek!! she had made aaron a lovely birthday card , so am going to buy her some craft stuff as her pressy!!!
well more football tonight , gives me chance to sit and craft, thankyou euro2008!!
hope you all have a great day, time to craft , i would like to say a big thankyou to all of you who have visited my blog lately , i`ve had some lovely comments , and made some great friends ~ A BIG THANKYOU!! byeeeeeeeeeeee xx

tilda`s swirls!!

well another day another challenge, today i am showing my card for the magnolia challenge , which this week the theme is "swirls". used tilda with lilac`s , magnolia small swirl (thats what she is sitting on), cutllebug flower embossing folder (chalked the flowers and swirls) and ribbon from my stash, finished with glitter. really enjoyed creating this "simple" card (for me), must get the folders out more often!!
gosh it`s friday , and i really must do some house work , i get the washing and ironing done, but the house needs a really good tidy and polish!!! (been doing too much crafting!! , well who see`s the dust??)
hope you all have a great day, and find time to craft today (let the dust stay there one more day!!) byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee xx