Show & Tell Monday - IT'S CHRISTMAS XXX

07:34 Karen 0 Comments



Hello, hello and a Very Merry Christmas to you xxx

So what is a girl to do when she wakes up at 4:30 on Christmas morning  and knows it will be at least another 4 hours until anyone else stirs?  Why, make a scrapbook page and write a blog post of course :0)

I can only show you a little peep of the page as it is for my January DT for ATDML.  I was sent some Bo Bunny - Winter Wishes.  One of the papers was a beautiful silver foiled vellum.  I wanted to use this on a page featuring a photo I took of Kiera during the recent snow.  I also used my Silhouette Cameo to draw and cut some snowflakes onto plain vellum.

For November's DT kit I had some Christmas ranges to play with.  One I loved (Simple Stories - Very Merry) and on first site one I didn't (Bo Bunny - Christmas Carousel)!

First I made a page using a piece of the Simple Stories paper but used it for a non-Christmas page with a photos of when we took Gracia to Betty's in York for a celebratory afternoon tea to celebrate her graduation.




I then made a page using the Christmas Carousel and in the end really liked this page and the paper range.





My final page also used Very Merry and was a scraplift of this page by Katherine Sutton.






I have also made a little book to record some of our Christmas adventures this year and will do a little Show and Tell on that once it is finished.

The final offering I have for my show and tell today is this page which I made in response to a sketch challenge using this


sketch and my December Mind The Scrap Kit. 


Well I had better go and tidy the dining room table ready for Christmas breakfast.

I wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and a peaceful and prosperous New Year xxx

Ops I forgot - a little bit of exciting news here.

Reasons To Be Cheerful

* It's Christmas Day and I am looking forward to my lovely family (including Kiera, of course) opening the gifts I have for them .

*We will have spent 10 days, over the Christmas Period with Gracia & Josh.

*Although I love my new job, not having to go back in until the 3rd January is a very nice feeling.

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Show & Tell Monday (on Tuesday) 19th December

06:50 Karen 1 Comments


Recently I treated myself to some little bits and bobs from Bramble Fox.  I get a monthly kit from Mind the Scrap and in the November kit we had a couple of perspex titles from them so I had a little peruse of the Bramble Fox site.  When I saw the Falling Leaves set I knew exactly which photo I would use it with – the first one I took on my new iPhone 7+ and the one that instantly made me fall in love with its photography prowess!

I used a piece of Graphic 45 Autumn paper, from the Seasons collection, to ‘fussy cut’ the wreath, and layered this onto the reverse of another piece of paper (Autumn Collective) from the same range.  I then fussy cut the sunflowers from a second piece of Autumn and layered these onto the photo and wreath.


Then only thing left to do was to add the Falling Leaves Perspextive title and to tuck the leaves around the wreath.  As a final touch I added a Fun Flair (also from Bramble Fox which says ‘Our Favourite Place’ as the photo just happened to be taken at Marks Hall - our favourite place for autumn walks. 


I then made a second layout using the Shine Bright Perspextive as the title and 'Chit Chat' Fun Flair to document Gracia's first day working in hospital as a Junior doctor, using the Fun Flair as bullet points. 


I chose Kaisercraft's Lilac Whisper for this layout as it had a turquoise, similar to the turquoise on the Fun Fair. 


I typed the blocks of journaling, the Fun Flair made excellent journaling prompts, and then printed it off to add to my page. 


So there we have it - another couple of life events documented.  I will certainly be perusing the Bramble Fox shop again in the not too distant future!

Reasons to be cheerful:-
* I have spent a lovely weekend, meeting up with Gracia at Mum's.
* My cold seems to be on it's way out - just wish I could say the same about this blessed caugh!
* It's nearly Christmas and it's only three more sleeps until Gracia is home.

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Show & Tell Monday - 4th December

09:39 Karen 2 Comments



Hello, hello lovely blog readers.  Here I am again, I bet you didn't think you would see me so soon!

It has been a busy week in our little world, especially on the crafting front.  Saturday was my Christmas crop and we made 5 projects.

A little mini album - perfect for recording events over the Christmas period (see above).

A Christmas card - made using a Tim Holtz die set.



A pocket page with sequins and other little bits and pieces in - waiting for my Christmas photos to be added.


A double page using the utterly gorgeous Mint Wishes range from Kaisercraft



and the final project was a little tea-light village.




After most people had left we took some silly photos and I had to scrap this one and used some red glitter card, from the November Mind the Scrap kit, to cut the village scene on my Silhouette as it reminded me of the little tea-light villages we made.



Other projects made this week - I do a lot of crafting now I only work three days

A little long sleeved onesie for my bff Denise, who became a Nana for the first time on Tuesday, using a free print and cut file from the Silhouette Design Store. (The onesie is not for Denise, you understand, but for her granddaughter!).




A page using some Infusions and my Silhouette to draw and cut the flowers and leaves.  It's a bit wonky donkey due to the water used with the infusions warping the card - should have used water colour paper.


This was a scraplift from this page.



So lots to show and tell.

 Reasons to be cheerful:-

A lovely long walk yesterday morning with David and Kiera followed by a cup of tea and a cheese scone.

No work until Wednesday - the prospect of more crafting is on the horizon.

Gracia and Josh are enjoying a well deserved holiday in Prague.

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Mia - Making It All (or perhaps Missing In Action)

18:51 Karen 0 Comments

Hello,hello - no apologies for not blogging for such a long time but life got in the way. Since I last posted so many things have happened. Gracia graduated and is now a doctor working in Newcastle. I have changed my job and only work there days a week and I took the whole of the summer off between jobs.

So what have I been up to?  I will have to show and tell in chunks as I have so much to reveal

I taught three classes at the ATDML retreat

One featuring filled baubles - those went down very well with the delegates


Another class involved backfilling and for this class I cut designs out pf 90 pieces of cardstock for the delegates to use!




A recent class for my crop



and finally a page for a sketch challenge on Crafters@Play.


I think that's more than enough for one blog post - I am now going to lie down in a darkened room to recover.

See you again soon x

Reasons to be Cheerful:

1. I have a new job where I am really happy and only work 3 days a week.
2. Gracia is settling in nicely as a Junior Doctor and her and Josh are in the process of buying their first house.
3.  All is well in my little world.

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July's CSI Special Investigator

17:21 Karen 0 Comments

Hello, hello lovely people - long time no see!

Well, I am thrilled to tell you that I was chosen to be a Special Investigator for the CSI  Challenge blog for July. 

This was the case file I was given to work on


and this was what I made. 


From the 'evidence' I punched a decorative border, added flowers and leaves and stacked the cups by carefully slitting the rim on one and slipping another into it. 

My 'testimony' was hand written journaling on the tag. 

Some close ups.





Why don't you pop on over to the CSI Challenge website to see how the other talented designers have interpreted the case file.

Reason to be cheerful:

Big changes - watch this space!

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May's Crop Class - Influenced by Katherine

10:24 Karen 0 Comments

This year, at my crop, I am trying to push myself and my ladies to try something different each month.  This month the class was heavily influenced by the lovely Katherine Sutton.

It used texture paste (home made using baby powder and boy did it smell good) and the papers were from Pebbles Inc's Simple Life range, which Katherine had used for a retreat class. I did find the texture paste made the paper buckle a bit so used good old red tape to attach it to my cardstock.

I cut a stencil for each person and we added the texture past to the top left and bottom right of one of the papers. I also cut a Polaroid frame for each of the kits - still loving my silhouette!


The second page had a little fussy cutting and some punching of flowers and leaves.  Both titles were made using a set of letter dies which when combined with each other make script writing - found in a bargain basket and I know will be used often.


I was really pleased with the resulting two pages and I think the ladies were too.

Reasons to be cheerful:-


1. We have been for a lovely walk this morning and my fitbit says I have done 8858 steps already!

2. Plotting and planning for a new venture - more details soon.

3. Our lovely girl is almost at the end of her degree - just the final push.

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CSI - April Challenges

09:05 Karen 8 Comments


Hello, poor neglected little blog - how are you?  Not too lonely I hope!  Sorry for my absence, I hope you haven't missed me too much.

I have a couple of pages to share today that I made in response to the April CSI challenges.  The first one was this challenge


Major Case File No. 227

For this one I chose two photos of my beautiful Kiera.  Of late, I have become very aware that she is getting older and it tugs at my heart strings so much.  Out of all the dogs we have owned she has been the only one who prefers my company to anyone else's.


I mixed some yellow Infusions powder with modelling paste to make it pale yellow.  Cut a stencil on my Silhouette (yes I am still obsessed with using this little beauty) and stenciled paw prints onto the background paper.  

As usual, I then layered up lots of bits and bobs to complete my page, adding a photo of Kiera when she was just eight weeks old and one taken yesterday.


The second challenge is this one:-
I used a piece of white Stampin Up resist patterned paper and swiped a Tim Holtz ink pad (Broken China) over the surface to get the dark teal background.


I then cut a stencil with my silhouette (such a good way to use up all those sheets of strange coloured card that I seem to have accumulated) and used white modelling paste to make the Arabesque pattern across the centre of the page.


Finally, I added my photo and some fussy cut jars and die cuts.



Having, only just discovered the CSI challenge blog I am now hooked.  Why don't you pop over and see what the DT and the other participants have done with the two challenges above,  I guarantee you will be amazed!

Reasons to be Cheerful:

1.  We have had Gracia home for four days.
2.  Looking forward to a walk later today to see the bluebells.
3.  The sun is shining, the birds are singing and all is well with the world.

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