Me on Monday

Oh how these Mondays roll round so fast, I believe we had one only last week - though this Monday feels strange, it feels like a Sunday, perhaps because of the bank holiday.  Mind you it is typical bank holiday weather - good job I had planned to stay at home

It was a birthday weekend at Parkhurst Towers, though sadly Mr P had to work all weekend but I still had a nice time.  I was very spoilt, cards had been arriving all week in the post and I had some lovely handmade ones which as always are shown off on the mantelpiece.

I was spoilt with lots of lovely presents including a lovely new handbag, another Beatrix Potter figurine for my collection, some Tim Holtz Crazy Bird stamps and dies (I have been wanting these for ages) and money to spend on stash and beads.

Note:  the big bar of Aero that I was given did not last long enough to make it into a photograph LOL!!

All my well wishers on Facebook kept telling me to have cake and something fizzy - so I did -

 I made a Lemon Overload Cake to take to my parents, which was washed down nicely with a few glasses of Prosecco.

So back to that damp Bank Holiday Monday - well I have plenty to keep me out of mischief, I made these post it note pads over the weekend for my next fundraiser, they need embellishing with flowers or butterflies.

And Mum has knitted this topsy turvy doll, so I get the job of embroidering the flowers on her dress and putting her together ready for the fundraiser. 

So plenty to keep me occupied today - normal service of laundry and housework will resume tomorrow!!

If you get a chance go and give Sian over at From High in the Sky a wave - she started the whole Me on Monday thing.  Have a good week everyone xx

Hippo Burpday to Meeeeeeeeee

Well after the fun of having my birthday on a cruise ship last year, this year's will be very tame in comparison.  I did this layout last October at my monthly scrap class run by the lovely Anita but somehow missed blogging it.  Well today is a very appropriate day to blog it!!

We used Crate Paper from the Maggie Holmes 'Flea Market' range.

 We made a little shaker box using one of the cut apart sheets and filled it with sequins -

And the pink 50 thickers on my fingers in the photograph were safely carried home and used on the layout -

I also used Thickers for the main title -

And a little video from that night in the restaurant - LOL I had had so much champers that I couldn't blow out my candles in one go!!

Thank you Anita for such a fab class, it was my favourite class from last year - just sorry that it has taken me so long to get it blogged!

Beat the Christmas Rush

Apologies for being a day late, my Mum had cataract surgery yesterday and it completely passed me by that it was the 25th - the months are getting faster at passing by, the closer we are getting to December.

Thank you to those who joined in last month, especially the ladies from the Wilton crop who made Beat the Christmas Rush one of their crop challenges.  Here are my favourite cards from July's BTCR -

Sarah's lovely card, I love crumbcake and cherry cobbler together -

And these lovely cards from young Rosie made at the Wilton crop - good to see the young ones joining in -

And so to my cards for this month, I haven't had much time for cardmaking this month but managed to make these quick and easy little cards.  The stamp is from Penny Black T for transparent set 'Holly Jolly' and the sentiment is from HOTP.

I coloured the image with Promarkers and the holly is die cut with I think a Joanna Sheen holly leaf die (I have put a lot of my small Christmas dies onto magnetic sheets so no longer have the original packaging).  I used Frosted Lace stickles on the stocking fur to give it some texture and the stitched mats are Memory Box dies.

If you get time do try and join in with our fun challenge to Beat the Christmas Rush - including this one there are only four BTCR left until December!!  Just add your blog link to the linky below and mention on your blog where to find BTCR.  You have until the 24th September to join in and I look forward to seeing all of your lovely inspiration - I will feature some of my favourites here next month.

Me on Monday

It's still Monday so I still have time to give a wave to Sian over at From High in the Sky.

The weekend was a lovely fun packed one - Friday found us doing the slow, tedious drive from home to Portsmouth - 45 minutes usually to get from home to our planned lunch stop actually took over 2 hours and almost 5 hours to do the whole journey.  But it was worth it to spend a weekend with these guys - some of our lovely friends that we have met through Marillion gigs.

After a lovely BBQ on Friday evening, we then headed off to the Isle of Wight for the day on the hovercraft. 

We used the trains between Ryde and Shanklin to get around and also went on the steam train that runs between Smallbrook and Wootton.  It was a really lovely day, the weather was glorious and we finished the day with a Chinese meal once back on the mainland.

Before we knew it, it was Sunday and time to go home, but first there was time for a last meal together - a wonderful Sunday lunch put together by the lovely Caroline.  Going home was a much easier affair taking just over 2 hours.

So Monday found me with unpacking to do, my three weekly Avon order to sort out and the washing to catch up with - just one problem,the weather has been doing this for most of the day

So the room of doom resembles Widow Twankey's laundry at the moment!!!

And now I must dash, Mum has her first cataract surgery tomorrow morning and I am spending the day with her at the hospital - so a super early start is on the cards and I need some zzzzzzzzz's
Hope you all have a really great week ahead!!

ATDML August Cybercrop - Class #1 - We've Only Just Begun

Class #1 was based on The Lion King and there were three layouts included as part of the class.  I chose the middle one to do as I loved the layering with the cut out circles.

 I used papers from Pink Paislee 'Bella Rouge' collection and some vellum.

I coloured the doiley with a cool grey 1 Promarker as it looked too harsh left white against the papers.  I pricked around the outside of the outer circle with a pricking tool and then made faux stitches with a grey journalling pen.

The chipboard butterflies are Pink Paislee Artisan Chipboard and I coloured them with Stampin' Up marker Pink Pirouette.  A scattering of sequins finished the layout off.  The title was cut using Sizzlet die 'Naturally Serif - this was the song that was sung by the choir whilst we signed the register.

Thank you Ann for a lovely class

ATDML August Cybercrop - Challenge #2 - Toby

The second challenge of the cybercrop was called Dumbo - there was a sketch to follow and you needed to include a bow.

I used this lovely photo of my sister's dog Toby

The papers are a pretty old range from Bo Bunny 'Kitchen Spice', the butterflies are all Stampin' Up Sizzlet dies and the title is foam AC Thickers.

Thanks ATDML for another great challenge

Me on Monday

It was the weekend of the A Trip Down Memory Lane cybercrop, so I was kept very busy taking part in challenges and classes.

Over the weekend the dining room table looked like this

 And this

 And this

 So guess what I'm doing today - mainly clearing up the dining room and putting everything away properly upstairs in the room of doom

It was worth it though as I managed 6 complete layouts and another one almost completed

There should also be time to rustle up a lemon overload cake to put in the freezer ready for my birthday

Have a happy Monday everyone and if you have the time pop over to wave at Sian From High in the Sky

ATDML August Cybercrop - Challenge #1 - Happy Together

A Trip Down Memory Lane started their cybercrop on the blog yesterday, so I am going to be spending the weekend doing as many classes and challenges that take my fancy.  I've got off to a good start and done three layouts so far!!

The theme for the cybercrop is Disney (but you don't need Disney photos to take part).  Challenge #1 was Snow White - either use lots of white on your page or leave white space - I went for a mixture of both.

 I used Bazill embossed cardstock as my base and added an acetate doily under the photo - I think it might be by Fancy Pants.  I then added some lovely white glittery fabric flowers by Prima and the title was Dear Lizzy glitter white foam Thickers.  I then added some freehand swirls with White Opal Liquid Pearls.

Right nose back to the grindstone, there are lots more lovely classes and challenges to do - I will be back later with more layouts!!

Corner Garden

Ooops I had forgotten to schedule any blog posts!!

Anyway here is my most recent make - a couple of cards for the latest challenge on the Fiskarettes UK Facebook page.  The challenge was to make something floral.

I used a new stamp that I got with my last order from Stampin' Up - Corner Garden and coloured it with Promarkers.

 The sentiment is from Penny Black T for Transparent set 'Heartfelt Thanks'

And as usual I couldn't resist a bit of fussy cutting with my Fiskars softgrip scissors, so I stamped out some extra flowers and layered them over the top.  I gave the flower centres a bit of sparkle with some Stardust Stickles.

Happy Birthday Mum

As promised yesterday, here is the card that I made for Mum's birthday today.

The lovely butterfly stamp is Swallowtail from Stampin' Up.  The butterfly die cuts layered over the top and the sentiment are also by Stampin' Up.  The backing paper is from Craft Creations and the pearls are Kaisercraft.

We had a lovely evening out last night at the bandstand in Eastbourne, watching the Central Band of the Royal British Legion.  It ended with the 1812 overture and a firework display.  Today we are taking Mum out for lunch at a lovely local pub on the beach.

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday #322

Well I am still currently working mainly on a laptray but with any luck by the end of today Mr P's PC will be back and I can then have the dining room table back.

So currently on my laptray is this little lot, which hopefully by the end of the day will have been magically turned into a birthday card for my Mum.  If you swing by the blog tomorrow you should be able to see the finished article.

The stamped butterflies are Stampin' Up Swallowtail and all the diecut butterflies are Stampin' Up too. All in my favourite colour combo of Daffodil Delight and Smoky Slate.

If you would like to share your workdesk then take a look at Julia's blog Stamping Ground to find out how.

Me on Monday

Gosh another week has gone by so fast and it is time to wave to Sian again.

It was a fairly crafty weekend but one on which I mainly forgot to get my camera out - whoops.  Saturday was spent quietly at home playing with dies and cardmaking.  I found a crafty tip for using plastic carrier bags to help with cutting intricate dies and guess what it really works!!  But do you think I can now find the link to share it with you - nope it seems to have vanished off the interweb - if I do stumble across it later then I will add it.  It meant I could cut these gorgeous butterflies quickly and easily - I will definitely be chopping up all my carrier bags in future when I'm die cutting.

As it was the first Sunday in the month it was our monthly crop day at Cardinal Colours but I only remembered to get the camera out as we had finished packing up at the end of the day.

Monday found me faced with my monthly Avon delivery to unpack and sort out for customers and more excursions into the room of doom - it is slowly getting sorted, but it seems I am actually making more mess in the process.  I am sure it will all come together soon - I have been quite ruthless and done a lot of flinging - it looked like I had saved virtually every padded envelope that had ever come through our door LOL!!

Hope you are all having a good Monday, wishing you a great week ahead and if you get time go and give Sian a wave.

Edited to add - Hooray I found the link - Using a carrier bag when cutting out intricate dies