Followers

Saturday 30 April 2016

Oldie for Fffriday

Hello everyone and thank you for calling in. Welcome to BARB who hit the follow button. I apologise if I haven't personally welcomed other new followers personally. My brain is in a whirl and I'm still on cloud nine! I cannot describe the love, joy and pride I have for this new family member. Oscar is an absolute dreamboat. JACKIE asked what I was going to be called. It's going to be Nanny

It's that time of week again to post an oldie of yours (yes I know it's Saturday!). It can be anything you've crafted and may have posted before. I always visit Erika's blog on Saturdays too because I love reading the crafting "funnies" she posts on a Saturday too. As I became a grandparent earlier this week I thought I'd post a New Baby card I have made. I have made a few of these in various styles - I have made one for Oscar! Same die set but totally different to this one! ironically, the grandparents and great grandma will be travelling to Oz today to have cuddles with Jaxon. Yes, I know the spelling is different, it did get amended before it got posted



Ingredients
5x7 card blank
pearlised card stock - turquoise
Tattered Lace Charisma die and Click, Print Go  cdrom- Bunny
Sue Wilson NY collection - Herald Square
Sue Wilson - Finishing Touches - Daises
Sue Wilson - Pierced Flags
EF - Crafts Too - Baby Feet


Thursday 28 April 2016

Meet my grandson!

Finally I've had a chance to post that my beautiful grandson has arrived safe and sound. He is gorgeous. My heart is bursting with pride. I cannot describe this feeling of utter joy and wonderment. After being 13 days late, my daughter had a very short labour. A perfect birth but she had a couple of problems afterwards due to the speed of his arrival. They were discharged from hospital yesterday evening. He was being lazy at feeding but is getting better!
So, I am proud to announce the safe arrival of Oscar, born 6.03am, Monday 25th April, weighing 7lb 6ozs. The same day of the week as my son and the same weight as my son - how spooky is that

Craft Rocket Challenges Day Number 14 Pink and Pearlie must include both of these

Hello One and All
I hope that you are all well and thank you for visiting Well! This challenge was a toughie for me because I'm not a pink kinda person. Once I started though I really enjoyed the challenge. Why not pop along to Craft Rocket Challenges and see what the other Designers have done and have a go yourself. My layout was also inspired by this great blog Cotswold Crafter where on Mondays, Sandra posts a sketch and challenge (I've been a bit naughty and didn't send my card in as I was so pleased with it I decided to keep hold of it!). The focal image is actually a Christmas image but doesn't look it against this background does it? I created the pearls with Tonic Nuvo drops BUT I made them on wax paper, I didn't trust myself to place them directly onto the card, especially the tiny ones.  I used CS glue to adhere them once dry, I used a John Lockwood tip of rubbing over the back of the card whilst still in the die with something made of metal to accentuate the piercing on the bow.  






Ingredients
7x5 card blank
Lidll pink card stock
My Craft Studio cdrom- Christmas Deco Follies
Serif cdrom - Victoria Nelson for the background
Sue Wilson EF - checkboard (I'd lent the Art deco one to a friend)
Sue Wilson - Bitty Bows
Tonic - Nuvo drops - Antique Rose

Saturday 23 April 2016

Oldie for FFffriday - even though it's Saturday!

Morning all. I hope you are well. Welcome to my new follower CARA. Thank you for popping in. My oldie inspired by Erika at Snappycrafts.  It is of a cake I made for a work colleague's birthday. I think most offices where a group of women work the topic of conversation on most days is food/dieting/cookery programmes and family, probably in that order too! It must have been one of the first cakes I ever made because it doesn't look as "refined" as my later efforts. I must have made it over 30 years ago! Yes, I added up all of the calories in the chocolate/icing/cake ingredients I used and it was probably only a loaf tin in size. I mean it wasn't a huge cake! Enjoy your week end. Next time I post I hope to have some very exciting news

Thursday 21 April 2016

Birthday card


Hello Everyone. I hope that you are well and enjoying some sunshine, even it is still mighty cold out there. Thank you for popping in I hope you like what you see and if able to leave a comment, I value your feedback. Sorry I'm a little late post this but I've been out for lunch with my daughter! There is no minilotty yet ANG. I hope, bless her, that she won't have to wait much longer. 
ERIKA, you asked how I made the bed ends on my cake. I drew a grid and laid Bakewell paper over the top and piped royal icing with tragacanth added. Tragacanth is an ingredient available from chemists which hardens the royal icing, making it a little "stronger". I have to say I probably made about 4 of each to account for breakages. The air probably turned a little blue as I probably broke a couple adhering them to the cake!
I was asked to make a card for a friend to give away. I didn't have any brief (I try and use their hobbies, colours etc if known), so I felt a little stumped at first. I knew her approximate age and went with an idea that I knew my daughter/daughter in law would like. 




Ingredients
7x7 card blank
Serif background and "dress"
kraft card
Tattered Lace - pearl flourishes die (one of my latest buys)
Sue Wilson Austrian tag die for sentiment
X-cut haberdashery dress form
Embossilicious EF

I've added my purchases from Ally Pally, the CE black gloss card is amazing - black on both sides so no white core, 2 Perspective die sets from Sue Wilson - love 'em! some glue and die storage, some CE gilding polishes and some Nuvo crystal drops


Saturday 16 April 2016

My oldie for FFrriday

Thank you for popping in. If you have time to leave a comment - I appreciate it. My oldie is another cake and is hosted by Erika at Snappycrafts. I haven't shown it on my blog before, but it must be least thirty years old- not the cake Mrs Duck! but when the cake was made and eaten.
I was asked to make a fruit cake for our local Hospital Fete. I can't remember if it was for a raffle or "guess the weight" compo. The idea was in one of Jane Asher's books - Party Cakes. I still have the book and was first published in 1982.
I hope you like it. It raised a smile and some money for a good cause. PS "he" is supposed to have a thermometer in "his" mouth, not a cigarette. Saying that, at the time patients and staff were allowed to smoke on the wards. It is a scanned photo, so the quality isn't the best. My laptop is playing up, so I may be absent for my next post (Thu) I need to get my techie mate to look at it. It won't scan and sometimes won't recognise new photos on my camera. We're off shopping later and may have time to drop off a load of wool/yarn to our local Wot-Ever Scrapstore  Occasionally I will go and take a look at their stuff. Recently I bought (because I'm not a member) some Do-Craft chalks and a pack of lilac card blanks for about £3. Have a great week end what ever you're up to

Thursday 14 April 2016

Craft Rocket Challenge Number 13 - Favourite Colour Combo

Hello and welcome. This fortnight's challenge for Craft Rocket Challenges is Favourite Colour Combo. My favourite colour is - blue. I struggled with this at first, only because I didn't know whether or not to use an image or just colour. So I opted for a card that is simple and could be used for both a male card and un-girlie females! I started by spritzing some linen look card stock with sapphire ink mist. I coloured some "materials" in Serif and die cut them. I coloured a rectangle with one of the blues from the "material" to cut the "Happy Birthday" and matted them all with CE foundation card stock - cobalt blue. I hope you like it and can obviously be done in any colour combination. Why not take a look and join in



Friday 8 April 2016

Oldie for FFriday

Hello Everyone
If you can leave a comment. I value what you think of my humble offerings. I don't usually post on Fridays and do my oldie on a Saturday. I'm hoping to go to Ally Pally, so thought I'd try and post tonight. As you know Erika posts an oldie see here and I thought I'd post another cake that I made nearly 30 years ago! I apologise for the quality of the photo. It is a scan of a print. Digital cameras didn't exist then. I made it for my daughter's second birthday. It was inspired by a cake I'd seen for Goldilocks and the Three Bears. It had three "beds" of differing sizes - Daddy Bear, Mummy Bear and Baby Bear. The cakes were Victoria sandwiches. The bears and coverlets were fondant icing. I "painted" the coverlets with food colouring. have a great week end

Thursday 7 April 2016

Tomorrow would have been my mum's birthday

Hello and welcome to my little crafty world. How is everyone? I'm busy doing a lot of knitting, Every time I sit down, I'm there with needles in hand. When husband (who is being very patient) walks in from work, I'm knitting! It could be worse, I could be doing housework!
Tomorrow would be my mum's birthday and even though she's not here any more, I still make her a card and write a message. As I laminate it, to protect it from the weather, it has to be flat. This card was inspired by a beautiful card I received from a crafty friend for my birthday. I cut the butterfly die twice, once in the background card and once in white which I covered in glitter and paper pieced back into the card. Simple but very effective




Ingredients
6x6 card blank
Background created in Serif
Chloe die - Butterfly Wreath
Sue Wilson - Pierced Flags
My Craft Studio glitter

Saturday 2 April 2016

Oldie for Fffffriday

Hello Everyone
We have beautiful sunshine at the moment. I hope it lasts and OH is off today. I'm hoping to go shopping. We are toying with buying a new tele. I am such a TV addict that I have worn the current one out. Is it worth getting it repaired or cut our losses and get a new one with a 5 year warranty...?
Anyway, as most of you know I try and post an oldie as inspired by Erika at Snappycrafts. I always post on Saturdays as I don't do a Friday post. I love her posts on Saturday. They really make me smile.
As it's so sunny I thought I'd post a photo of one of the cakes I used to make. When my kids were little (30 odd years ago) I could not afford to buy shop made cakes and they weren't readily available on supermarket shelves like they are now . I am slowly (when laptop behaves!) scanning my photos. It was inspired by Jane Asher. I own her Novelty Cakes book and one on Fancy Dress.
Everything on the cake is edible and the cake was a rich, matured fruit cake, covered in marzipan first. It is a little rough and ready by today's standards, back then I didn't have access to the beautiful cutters etc and had to compromise a lot! I made several of this style for friends as Birthday cakes, Retirement, Anniversary. I used sit in front of the tele and mould/create the flowers. Little fingers would be out of the way. I'd hide them in the garage to dry.
Enjoy your week end.