Birthdays Galore!

 

Just a quick post today as I am in the middle of packing for my trip.  I have had a lot of birthdays and events in September.  Some cards I used from my stocks, but some I have made especially. These cards are new and I really enjoyed making them.  One was for Alison from my Card Swap group and the other was for a friend of mine from college.

 

I have used the lovely Crisp Cantaloupe and Pool Party, alongside Smoky Slate (another fave!)  The flower is from Flower Shop, punched with the coordinating punch, and the strips of paper are from the DSP Paper Stacks. The inspiration for these cards came from Pinterest - www.snippetsbyandrea.blogger.com.

 

I hope you like them.  Thanks for coming to visit.  All comments are truly appreciated.  Take care.

Michelle x

 

Hi everyone.  Thank heavens it's Friday!  This week has seemed very long and incredibly busy.  At school we've been getting organised for our week away at PGL in Wales next week.  I'm really looking forward to it but there has been so much to do, and I still haven't organised home life for while I'm away, let alone begun to pack.  Well, that will have to wait until Sunday because I'm off to Scrapbags tomorrow!

 

Here's a card I made for a colleague at work who is celebrating a very special birthday today.  I used some Craftwork Cards products that I found whilst I was tidying up over the summer, as well as glitter and ribbon.  The sentiment is SU.

 

 

The next card was a commission from a friend at work.  I've made a lot of these concertina cards over the years, but never for a wedding.  It's very plain and simple, but I took the lead from their wedding invitation.  I didn't have any letters that were the required size, so with Mark's help, I braved it and dusted off my Silhouette die cutting machine (I've been too scared to use it!!).  I'm so thrilled with the results and will be using it a lot more, particularly in my scrapbooking.

 

I used SU card stock - Not Quite Navy and Very Vanilla. and my fantastic Simply Scored to make the folds.

 

And finally, just cos I'm so proud, Edward got an award tonight at his cricket presentation evening - Most Improved Player for Under 14s.  Well deserved (yes, I know I'm biased!).

Well that's me for tonight - I really must go and organise paper and photos for tomorrow.  If I don't see you before, I'll see when I get back from Wales - goodnight :)

Take care and thanks for popping in.

Michelle x

Warning - Non-Crafty Post (it goes on a bit!)

Hi all.  I know I haven't posted for a few weeks now, but the last couple of weeks of the summer holidays have flown by.  We had a week in Kent, the same place we stayed in last year.  The house we stay in is perfect for us, and for Chloe, and just round the corner from a lovely little beach, with a sea pool.  Chloe finally overcame her fear of water and had fun in the sea pool every night - it proves she'll do anything for her Frisbee, and a treat!  We had days out in Whitstable, Ramsgate, Broadstairs, took Emily to the Shell Grotto in Margate, as well as visiting the Hornby Visitors' Centre, and the Turner Contemporary.  Edward loved playing on the beach (he's 14 - I wonder how much longer this will keep him happy), he even persuaded Mark and my dad to go swimming with him.  We had gorgeous weather, apart from one day, so we ended up going to the cinema to see Monsters University.  And then we played Adventure Golf in the rain!

 

The Saturday we came home, was the wettest day of the summer - so much so, we couldn't unpack the car until much later in the evening when the rain had eased off.  We spent most of Sunday unpacking, washing, ironing and repacking, as we had an early start on the Bank Holiday Monday.

 

We left really early on the Monday to go to Bristol for two days.  We went to find Gromits - yes, you read that correctly.  Over the summer there has been an art exhibition all over Bristol called Gromit Unleashed with 80 5ft Gromits dotted around the city.  The Gromits have been decorated by local artists, as well as celebrities such as Harry Hill, Joanna Lumley, Zayn from One Direction, Philip Treacy, Quentin Blake, Jools Holland - there was even a Cath Kidston one!

 

We knew we would never find all of them, but we did manage to find 42 - it would have been 44, but two had been removed for repair.  Don't worry, I'm not planning on showing you all of them, just a handful - some of my favourites.  We had such a great two days, we walked for miles, the weather was gorgeous and we had some lovely meals (and some very special ice cream - orange and Cointreau - yum!).  We would have liked to have had another day, but we just couldn't fit it in.  The exhibition ended today, so we are just glad we could sneak in a couple of days.  We saw so much of Bristol, which is a truly wonderful city.

 

The is first photo is of Mark and Edward at Temple Meads train station (Edward is happier than he looks!).

 

 

We loved this Gromit - Salty Sea Dog - at the Cascade Steps where the lovely ice cream was.

 

 

One of Edward's favourites - Isambark Kingdog Brunel at Temple Meads station.

 

I loved this next one - it's called Butterfly, and it's by Philip Treacy OBE, and it was at the Bristol Old Vic.

This one is called Where's Wallace (love that play on words!), and we found him in the foyer of the Bristol Marriott Royal Hotel.

 



This one was one that we all wanted to see - Vincent Van Gromit.  It was tucked away on a corner, off a side street - fabulous!

 

This one is called Golden Gromit - pretty self-explanatory - outside the Victoria Rooms, a pretty grand building.

 

We found Grrrrromit at the Windmill Hill City Farm.

Emily's favourite - Gromberry - outside a pub on the river.  We nearly missed this as the pub was tucked away.

And finally, Antique Rose by Cath Kidston.  It just had to be done.  This one was located at Cribbs Causeway - a retail park a few miles outside of Bristol.

I hope you have managed to stay with me!  I'm now planning my next scrapbook project - can you guess what it is?!  I was going to make a mini book of these photos, but to be honest, it really wouldn't do them justice.  So it's going to be a full on 12" x 12" album.

So now I'm back at work, which is a bit of a shock to the system.  Our first day was 6 hours of a first aid refresher - yawn!  I've got two more weeks of work and then I'm away on a residential trip to PGL - no abseiling for me this year!

I have managed to get some card making in this weekend, although nothing is photographed.  But at least I will have something to show you over the next few weeks.  I did feel that my crafting mojo had dried up again, but thank heavens for Pinterest!

So I've rambled on and on.  Thanks to those of you who stayed until the bitter end,  I'm off for a catch up of my favourite blogs.

Until the next time.  Take care.

Michelle x

Card Swap Group - 6

 

Hi all. Just a quick post today.  Our card swap this month was to make a tag or a bookmark.  I elected to make a bookmark as you can see, or rather two bookmarks!

 

The first one I made was the pink flowery one.  I used Morning Madness and Gorgeous Grunge, stamped in Strawberry Slush, Pistachio Pudding and Baked Brown Sugar, with a little bit of Early Espresso.  I mounted the white card on Baked Brown Sugar.

 

Having made this one, I wasn't sure, so I made another one!  This time I sponged a piece of Pool Party card with Not Quite Navy, then stamped various images from Best of Shelli and Gorgeous Grunge in Elegant Eggplant, Not Quite Navy, Pacific Point and Concord Crush.  I added some PP ribbon and mounted the stamped card on Concord Crush cs.  So my recipient Zoe, got two for the price of one!

Hope you all have a fab week.  Thanks for dropping by.  Take care

Michelle x

A Wedding and a Birthday

 

Hi everyone.  I've been wanting to share this card all week but apathy has ruled this week!

 

A good friend and colleague got married last week and this is the card I made for her and her husband.  The theme of the wedding was natural colours and wood, and I followed the colour scheme from the invitation.

 

The base card is made from Kraft card stock.  I cut a panel from Very Vanilla and stamped a heart from Hearts a Flutter in Early Espresso, Soft Suede and Crumb Cake all over it.  I mounted the panel on glimmer paper and adhered it to the card.  I then wrapped some natural twine around the bottom third of the card and added a sentiment, which is from Border Banter stamped in Early Espresso.  I personalised the card with some brown rub-ons.

 

 

The next card is a birthday card for one of our Card Swap Group - Ann.  Happy birthday Ann (it's today!).  I used a white square card blank, and cut a slightly smaller square of Pool Party.  I cut a circle from the centre and stamped over the cs with a stamp from Best of Shelli in Versamark ink (you can just about see it in the photo).  I then stamped the same image in Midnight Muse on the white card blank to show through the aperture.  I used my paper piercing templates to add some interest around the edge and around the aperture.  The sentiment is from Morning Meadow stamped in Midnight Muse.

 

That's me for now.  Have a super weekend.  Thanks for dropping by, and all comments are gratefully received!

 

Michelle x

Mother-in-Law's Birthday

Hi all.  Hope everyone is well.  Today I am sharing with you the two cards that I made for my MIL's birthday that was last Monday.

 

I can take no design credit for the first one.  I have shamelessly ripped off the idea from Vicky Hayes here but it was so inspired by her card, that it had to be done.  The colours are exactly as Vicky has used - Primrose Petals and Pistachio Pudding, with a little bit of Early Espresso in the centre of the flowers.  The flowers are from the wonderful hostess set, Morning Meadow, and the lettering is from Notable Alphabet.

 

I made the second card for the children to send to their Grandma.  The colours are Baked Brown Sugar and Coastal Cabana. and I used the Flowering Flourishes as the background.  I decided to have a go at the scoring technique I have seen on a few cards recently, but did it on the back of the card instead of the front.  I was a bit cross with myself to begin with, for getting it wrong, but actually I rather like it. I punched out some butterflies and added a few diamantes.  The sentiment is from Morning Meadow (I think!!).

 

This week has passed by in a blur.  I've done a little bit of card making but not as much as I had hoped.  I've been to the cinema with the children to see Despicable Me 2, which was very funny, particularly the Minions.  I've had a day scrapping at a summer Scrapbags, and I went to an evening wedding reception, which was fab.  The weekend has been very quiet, and all I have wanted to do is sleep and read (although I did have to get stuck in to the ironing mountain!).

 

Hope you are all having a lovely weekend.  Thanks for dropping by.

 

Take care

 

Michelle x

 

 

Card Swap Group - 5

I can't believe it's August already!  My blogging hasn't improved since I've been on holiday.  My grand plans of all day card making haven't materialised either. To be honest I really didn't get much done last week at all - probably because I was laid low with a summer cold.  However I am feeling much brighter now, and much more motivated.  I want to get ahead of all the birthdays over the next few months, and I have a lot to make.  I've also made a start on . . .  wait for it . . . Christmas cards!!!  I know!  I don't even like to use the C word before October, but last year I was so panicked and ran out of time, that I don't want a rerun of that this year.  I won't share them yet though, it's far to early for that!

 

I am finally getting around to share the Card Swap Group cards for last month.  The task was to make a card no bigger than 4" x 4".  My card was made by the lovely Jane, and I really like the simplicity of it.  The colour is Calypso Coral, which is a favourite of mine.  I like the embossed frame around the aperture, and the little stamped image is really sweet.  Thanks Jane.

 

Here is the card I made for Sue.  My favourite SU stamp set of the moment is the Six Sided Sampler with the co-ordinating hexagon punch.  I am sure I have mentioned this once or twice recently!  I used two of the new In-Colours - Pistachio Pudding and Coastal Cabana, and the butterflies are from Papillon Potpourri.  I can't remember which set the sentiment is from.  A few diamantes were added for a little bit of bling.

Because I liked the card so much, I made a couple more in a different colour way - Strawberry Slush and Baked Brown Sugar.

This month's swap is a little bit different - we have to make a bookmark or a tag.  I've got a few ideas bubbling around but nothing definite at the moment.  I'm thinking I'll make a tag but that could all change!

I have spent quite a lot of time reading this last week.  My friend has got me totally hooked on The Game of Thrones series of books.  I didn't think they would be my cup of tea - but I couldn't be more wrong - I can't put them down!  I can't recommend them highly enough.

Well, that's me done for now.  Hope you all have a great week.  I'm off for a stroll around blog land.

Take care.

Michelle x