Wednesday 12 December 2012

12/12/12

As its 12/12/12 and I'll never see such a date again in my lifetime, I thought it necessary to make a totally pointless post! Apart from on my trip to the postoffice to post all my chrsitmas cards (pics will be added over the next few days), I overheard a lady telling the Postoffice staff that today is also her daughters 12th Birthday! How amazing is that?



Last Week I went along on a School trip (I volunteer at the school) to a local Farm where the children got to meet Santa. Even I got a sit on his knee! Although it was remarked how alike this guy was to Jim Royale from the Royale Family! And yes, his beard was real too!

Thursday 15 November 2012

Craft Robo Silhouette cut files

I'm BACK!!!

My Thumb is alot better now, although there are still some things I cant do, like hold a pen properly, but I have a brace to wear to use pens and keep using stress balls to strengthen it. I'll get there eventually.

So while I've been gone, Ive got out my Craft Robo Lite again. I get it out, try making something then give up. Ive had it 2 years now and used it about 5 times. I can tell by the number of cut marks on the cutting mat!
I've been having a good play with Silhouette studio and think ive finally figured it out! YAY. So I'm on a whirl at the moment thrashing out lots of cut files while I practise and figure everything out.
So far Ive made a Hot Air Balloon, Word frames, Welded words, A truck shaped card, a princess shaped card, clouds and I know a few others that I cant remember right now.

All these files that I've been making while learning, I will add on here for free. They will be studio files and for personal use only and not for sharing elsewhere. But more about that at the time.

Watch this space for some free silhouette studio cut files!

Thursday 11 October 2012

Strapped up for another 2 weeks

Yesterday I had my appointment with my Physio and I have to stay splinted up for another 2 weeks.
Im going insane not being able to craft! BUT I did go to a local Craft show at the weekend with my mum and stocked up on some amazing dies, which I have been playing with (you dont need a thumb to use a Big Shot thankfully!) I'll get some pics of what I created and post them up.

I was honest and told the Physio I had tried sewing by hand, but couldnt as I couldnt hold the needle and didnt have the strength to push it through the fabric. I think the Physio nearly had a heart attack at that! Im not ready to do that sort of movement with my thumb yet. But I have been excercising it really well and fingers crossed it wont be long before I have full function back. YAY! But my Tendons still have alot of work to do.

I also sent off for a copy of my X-rays. Only because my Boys were gutted I didnt get a photo of it initially when I went to hospital. My X-ray arrived on a  lovely CD and the boys spent hours fascinating over my bones and how they could see the piece of bone hanging off the corner! Boys....

So heres my X-ray:

Monday 24 September 2012

Had a bit of an accident!


Im afraid I wont be around for a few more weeks, I have some posts still to write up from a few weeks ago, but last week I broke my thumb. I was walking around with it for a week totally unaware. I even handmade a Victorian costume totally unaware!!
On the Tuesday I noticed my thumb was feeling a little sore and itchy and looked a bit swollen. Thought maybe I'd been bitten by some bug and left it alone. I made a Victorian costume, went about day to day life and even went on a School trip with my local school!
On Friday my thumb was still quite swollen and feeling more sore. I poked it about a little to get a better understanding and decided I'd go to A&E. My thumb let out an allmighty crack sound and hurt like nothing before. Ouch. But then the swelling went down a little, but I could no longer bend it. So on the Sunday I decided I'd better get it checked and went to A&E.
I came out looking like this:


I had X-rays taken and it appears I had torn the tendons in my Thumb (at the joint just below the base of the nail) and in tearing those tendons, they had taken a nice chunk of bone off too :-(. So A&E patched it up and sent me on my way, to come back today to Trauma Clinic to have the specialists check it out.
Off I went to clinic, and came out like this:


I now have a moulded splint which allows my thumb to move in a certain way so the tendons dont shrink and tighten and cause more problems in the future, but it also keeps my thumb straight so the bone can heal.

The only thing im really really kicking myself about is not getting a copy of my x-ray. The first thing my boys ask me? "did you get a picture of your x-ray?". Totally gutted now.
I have to see the physio in 2-3 weeks so im praying they have a copy of it I can photograph. Otherwise I'll have to try to contact the hospital.

And of course...its my right thumb...and I'm right handed....so no work for me for about 4 weeks, and no/very little card making and crafting. Im already bored and its only 24hours with my thumb totally out of action!

The final question? How did I do it? Well I did it by picking my 4 year old Son up to put him in the naughty corner! It took a while to work back and figure out that I remember my thumb feeling a little irritated after I'd put him there..

Thursday 6 September 2012

Wire worked Earrings

 I havnt made any decent jewellery for some time. Ive just been making quick "fixes" by taking apart sale jewellery and putting tham back together to make something totally different. I feel its a little bit cheating, but fills the craving.
So, Ive been looking into new ideas and got out my huge box of jewellery "stuff" and made some lovely silver wire and bead earrings!


These are made using Silver Plated 20gauge wire, but I will be investing in some sterling silver wire soon though! They took about 30minutes to make and are addictive, im already itching to make more...

Wednesday 29 August 2012

Male Lighthouse Card

This card was actually quite quick to make, and usually I struggle with masculine cards, but this just seemed to "flow" really easily. Its also a stamped image, which I havnt done for quite some time.





The stamped image is from a Kanban Stamp set, and I coloured it using water based pens and my water brush pen.
I cut a frame in white card using Spellbinders labels dies and another in blue card using Spellbinders ovals dies. Foam tape was added to the back of the blue frame to give some depth.

I was going to add some more embellishments or sentiment, but it didnt seem to work well so I'm leaving this card blank just as it is.

Monday 20 August 2012

Mums Birthday card

This year I was a bit stumped on what to make for my Mums birthday card. She has begun card making too so I wanted something simple, but also fab looking so she could easily copy the design. This is what I came up with, using the Marianne D Anja corner die. I absolutly LOVE this die!


The card measures 5"x5" and the paper was from a free stack from a magazine (I dont know what its called, it was quite an old pack! (3-4yrs old!!) And my Making Memories slice was used to cut "MUM" while gold Liquid Pearls were dotted along the edge.

Wednesday 25 July 2012

Helping a good cause

I have boxes of cards Ive made and Im slowly working through recipients but I have more cards than occasions. I've tried donating some to local Cancer Research shops to sell, but they have literally thousands and requested no more as they werent selling enough. Then I came across a really good cause that caught my eye.
Operation Write Home.
While its US based, they were more than happy for me to make and send cards for them to pass on.

While its a shame nothing like this exists in the UK for our forces, (if there is then please let me know, I'd love to pass them some cards!) I still think its a great way for me to do what I love doing and also know someone out there is grateful for me sending a card.

Wednesday 18 July 2012

Handmade Teacher Thank You Gift

My 3 Boys love giving their teachers handmade gifts at the end of the year. They're also very different from the usual chocolates and bottles of wine they receive.
This year we came up with Fridge Magnets! After failing miserably with our original idea of using glass pebbles, we really struggled to find any clear glass ones that were big enough, I had the idea of using bottle tops.
Between the 3 boys they have 10 teachers!! So we had quite a task on our hands, but this is what we came up with...



The magents were made using  various co-ordinating papers and a 1" punch. VERY easy for my Boys to do themselves, being ages 4, 6 and 8, its important I dont do everything for them. All they did was punch out lots of circles, glue them to the squashed bottle top and add a clear epoxy circle bubble sticker over the top. I had the job of gluing magents onto the backs using my Glue Gun.


The mini Pizza boxes I custom made to measure 3" x 3" x 1/2" and hold 5 magnets.
Using Spellbinders butterfly die, I die cut an aperture into each box lid and glued attached acetate to the back to make a aindow.
Ribbon was glued to the base of the box so it could be tied into a bow on the front Then I die cut lots of mini Rolled Roses using an MFT die along with leaves using a Marianne D leaf die. Everything was carefully glued onto the lid using glossy accents.


Giving the present to the teachers like this just didnt feel quite "finished". So I put each box into a cellophane card bag and die cut some labels using Spellbinders label dies, folded them in half and stapled them to each bag. I wrote the Teachers name in a fancy font and each boy signed it from them.


And heres what 10 packaged Fridge Magnets in Mini pizza boxes look like...



Saturday 14 July 2012

Simple Rolled Flower Card

This card doesnt have a sentiment yet, I knew exactly how I wanted the card to turn out, but also wanted to leave it "sentiment free" so I can stamp one on when the time comes to give it to a recipient.

The base is a A6 pink hammer effect card and some rose printed paper added to the bottom inch. The paper came from a stack I found in my papers box. I think it was a free one from a magazine.
The same paper was used to make the flower which was created using the Spellbinders bitty blossom die and Marianne D leaves dies for the foliage, along with an x-cut punch for the small leaf. A big pink pearl was added to the centre.
I embossed two lines across the card on my Hougie board and added a Memory box Tessatina die cut between the embossed lines.

Thursday 12 July 2012

Teachers Gifts!

As there is now only 1 week left until my 3 boys finish school for the summer, we've been quite busy making their gifts! They have 10 teachers between them, so its been quite a mammouth task! As soon as the final one is finished, I will take photos and upload them here. You wont be dissapointed, and hopefully neither will the teachers!

Tuesday 12 June 2012

A few goodies I bought

I know I promised I wouldnt buy anymore craft goodies, but I had to! I found I dont actually have any browns or greens card and paper! So I went off to my local Craft Store (Caroles Crafts) and bought a pick n mix box for £5.49. Whilt there, I also stumbled upon a mini cherry blossom punch, its teeny tiny and will be perfect for little flowers on my Windows and branches also a Sheena Douglass embossing folder jumped into my basket...will be seeing more of those things very soon! x

Monday 11 June 2012

Fathers Day Cards. A collection of 6!

I made a batch of these cards to sell for Fathers Day. My own Dad will be geting one on Fathers Day!
Made using my Making Memories Slice Elite (which has laid dormant for almost a year! (I was given it in May 2011, but had it replaced in June 2011 due to it breaking and had never used it until I made these cards!!)

Each card is A6 sized and very simple and quick to make. I made all of them in 2 hours.







Saturday 9 June 2012

Window Birthday Card

This die is stunning. Its so simple but effective. The die is a Cottage Cutz die, "window with canopy" die, which I turned the canopy upside down to make the window box!

Again the idea and inspiration for this card came from Kitty at KittyKraft. I made two of these cards, slightly different and gave them for Birthdays for my Mother in law and Sister in law.


Thursday 7 June 2012

3D Rose card

I love this card, I actually made 2 identical ones at the same time, one given to a close friend and the other to my Mum for Mothers day.







The idea and tutorial for this card came from KittyKraft Blog Rosebud tutorial. I altered it slightly to make use of the punches I already had.

Wednesday 6 June 2012

Im Back!

After a long, much needed break away from crafting and card making, I can finally say that I am back!
I owe ALOT to a lovely lady called Kitty whos blog I across some time ago, which just inspired me so much, I had a go at card making again and loved it! Now my mojo is coming back and I have a massive urge to use up all my craft stash instead of saving it all for that "special card" which never comes...
If you'd like to check out Kitty's blog, it can be found here at: KittyKraft There are lots of amazing tutorials for some truely stunning cards.
Watch this space for more cards coming up!
xx

Tuesday 3 April 2012

My Memories Suite GIVEAWAY!!

If you would like a chance to get your hands on a Full Version of My Memories Suite for free, you've come to the right place!
I have one copy to give away. For a chance to win, all you need to do is as follows:
  • Follow my Blog
  • Link to my blog on your blog/facebook/twitter
  • Visit My Memories.com and tell me here in a comment which is your favourite Template pack
I will then Pick a Winner out of all the comments left on this post.
Competition Closes 12pm GMT  Tuesday 24th April 2012
This is open to everyone all over the world, the prize is for a Downloadable version of the My Memories Suite software

and dont forget you can save $10 on the purchase price by using this code on checkout: STMMMS28513

Thursday 29 March 2012

My Memories Suite Software Review

Recently I was contacted by a company called My Memories asking if I'd like to review their software "My Memory Suite"
After looking at their site I thought why not? Initially as a card maker I was a little sceptical thinking it was purely for digital scrapbookers, but after having a play around this is not the case!

Upon initial start up of the software, you are prompted to choose your album, I simply selected Design my Own and chose album size 5"X7".
From there on, everything is very simple and intuitive. On the right hand side is the control panel where you can find all sorts of wonderful items to add to your page or card. (Theres also a bar across the top of the screen that opens up the same menus). Then its literally just a case of deciding which backgrounds to use, you can choose on the pre set backgrounds or upload on of your own.
You can add music, narration, videos..im not sure I can think of anything that you cannot add!

Here is my 5" x 7" card I made. I aimed for Black and White so that I could print it out, having only a black and white laser printer..it seemed pointless trying to get amazing colours.

I also made a 5"x5" card

So making both of these cards, never having used a Digital Scrapbooking/Card making software ever before, actually took less time than it did for me to write this Blog post!

Now for the Good News! 
If you would like to get your hands on a free copy of this Fantastic software, keep an eye out on here because I will be Launching a Giveaway for your very own FULL COPY of My Memories Suite over the next couple of days.
But if you cant wait a few days, you can purchase the Full version here, with a $10 discount! All you need to do at checkout is enter (cut and paste is recommended) this code: STMMMS28513 and the discount will be applied.

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