ONLY JOKING

Long time no blog! I have been so busy over the last couple of weeks that I've only had time for Farmville hee! hee! - that is so addictive! Anyway, they've almost finished my house, just the back to paint now, however, another company have started on the two houses either side of me so the noise and dust will continue for a little while yet! The really good news is I've just got to work for a couple of hours tomorrow morning and then I have two whole days off! I can't tell you how tired I am and just want to go to bed for the weekend! I've actually got a card to show you today - I did make a couple of others but the photographs were pants and the cards have now been posted. The one I'm showing is for one of Lewis's little girlies. She's reached the grand old age of 12 so I wanted something a little more grown up and I thought ipodbella fitted the bill. I just wish I looked like that from behind! Coloured her with PM's and some Glamour Dust on her...

Another late card and another apology - what is happening to me? I hardly ever missed people's birthdays before but it seems to have become a bit of a habit lately. I've made another paperbag card so I could enclose some images. Used a little cutie from CC Designs, coloured with PMs with some doodling and mounted on Bazzill c.s. Papers are Blonde Moments with some distressing and faux stitching. Used an SU punch and some flowers and a brad from my stash. Finally, added a sentiment from Craftwork Cards. Here's a peek at the inside - Bazzill c.s. and Blonde Moments papers and a quote which Vanessa sent me a while back. Layered this using Nesties and used the labels Nesties on the opposite page to make a space for a message. Not much work on today so it gave me the perfect opportunity to blitz the house as we've got the scaffolding going up tomorrow in preparation for the re-rendering - a very dirty and noisy job! Thankfully I'll be out of the house so won't ha...

Yes, it's another "oops" from me - I forgot another birthday and to make things worse, it was my pal, Vanessa's birthday so this one needed something a little more than a card. Yes, I know it looks like a card but it's actually a paper bag! I decorated it with Bazzill c.s. and paper from My Minds Eye which I distressed around the edges and also used one paper which was a free digiload. Used an Elzybells stamp which was coloured with PMs and cut it out using Nestabilities. Sentiment is from Craftwork Cards which was mounted onto c.s. cut with SU punch. Finally, added some Papermania sticky gems. Decorated the inside of the bag with matching c.s. and papers and used my Nesties to layer a quote I stamped and left the other side blank for me to add my own personal message. I also decorated the back of the bag with similar c.s. and paper. Finally, I added a few little pressies inside the bag. It really is a good way to send stamped images, etc and will definitely us...

I mentioned in my last post that I was baking a cake for the boys - they're doing star charts at the moment to get them into the routine of carrying out chores and being nice to each other!! so once they reached twenty stars, I said I would get them a treat and here it is..... Now doesn't that make your teeth go on edge lol! Not my sort of cake but I know the boys will love it! the main chocolate sponge is my creation, however, the decoration is down to Tony who helped out. We've got Aero Bubbles, Minstrels, Jelly Hearts, Teeth and Toothbrushes, one lonely marshmallow and hundreds and thousands!! Only trouble is, the kids will go OTT when they've eaten a piece of it but they do deserve it as they've worked really hard to get their stars!

I was asked to make a couple of cards for friends of mine so decided, to save time, would do two similar cards but in different colours. Here's the first one, the only requirement here was that it had to be in lilac. The image is from Rubber Romance which I've coloured with PM's and added some glaze to the bath tub to make it look more like enamel and used my Sakura glitter pen on the bubbles. Sentiment is from MFT. Papers are a combination of DCWV and Blonde Moments and embellishments are from my stash. Finally edged one of the papers with my MS punch. On this one, the layout is very similar, in fact apart from using different papers (My Minds Eye and Making Memories) and some plain c.s. and using Glamour Dust on the bubbles, it's exactly the same! Just wish the colour of the tub had come out a bit darker :( Off to bake a cake now for the boys.....hope you're all enjoying your weekend.....gorgeous weather down here!

It's the first day of term......yippee!! and wanted to share a photo of my two handsome boys in their new uniforms. Lewis is starting Senior School today - such a big step for him - and Sam, my baby, starts at Junior School. Funny enough, it was Sam who was really nervous, Lewis was just worried about the homework!! Anyway, Daddy was here when they woke up this morning and it was great to have some support in re-assuring them (and to lace up the football boots lol!) It's my day off today so now Tony has gone back to work, I'm not sure what to do with myself! Did all my housework yesterday so I'm twiddling my thumbs a bit. Did stamp out a couple of images earlier but to be honest, I can't wait for my two babies to come home and tell me all about it - how sad am I! I'm sure all those of you who have kids know exactly what I mean! Hope to be back soon with a couple of cards but not today!!

Another card from The Greetings Farm and another VERY quick one! Had to make this one last night before Lewis went off on a sleepover and then to a birthday party (he only told me he needed it about twenty minutes before he went!). I already had this image coloured in (PM's and Sakura glitter pen), which was handy so layered it onto Blonde Moments paper, mirricard and some plain card from my stash which I've had for ages. Finally added a sentiment from Craftwork Cards. One of the quickest cards I've ever made! Still not got around to catching up with my blogging but hoping to be able to do this next week when the kids go back to school as I have a ton of uniform to iron and label this weekend plus alot going on in my personal life at the moment (good, not bad for a change!). Have a great weekend everybody....I'm off to work now.

Here's another stamp I've had for a little while and only just inked.....I just love this little lady! Very basic layout yet again but just had to use my Martha Stewart punch which I bought recently......I know the rest of you ladies have had these punches for ages but I really couldn't justify buying one until recently when I thought "********, I deserve it"!!!!! As if you didn't know (!) the image is from The Greetings Farm and coloured with PM's and doodling and then layered onto some scrap paper and punched one edge with my new punch. Other papers are also from my scrap box and added two jumbo eyelets from SU (just love these!) and some ribbon from Hobbycraft. Working my way through my paperwork....just a bit more filing to do and then I can relax and concentrate on my crafting/blogging for a little while! Enjoy your day!

Sam had a party to go to on Friday and me being me meant the card was lastminute.com!! I was still finishing it Friday morning as they were eating their breakfast and wrapping the present!! Anyway here it is......extremely simple but it did the job. The image is another one from The Greetings Farm which I bought a little while ago but have only just inked up. Coloured in the usual way with doodling around the edge. Papers are scraps from my stash, sentiment is Lizzie Anne Designs and used my SU punches on a couple of the paper layers. Big apologies for my serious lack of blogging but trying frantically to try and get my paperwork sorted this weekend and then hope to be able to start visiting your blogs once again. Now it's one more glass of wine for me and then it's off to bed!

I've just got home so this will be another quick post while I'm waiting for tea to cook and ironing at the same time! I know we all have hectic lives but I've done something unthinkable because I'm always rushing around and not at all organised - I missed two birthdays! I hate it when that happens so made the following cards for the two girls in question. The image is from The Greetings farm, coloured with PM's with Sakura glitter pen on her wings, papers are from Blonde Moments with some mirricard, letters are from Doodlebug layered onto Bazzill c.s. and flowers and gems are from my stash. Hope you all have a great weekend!

Hope you've all had a good weekend. The weather improved dramatically today so apart from working first thing yesterday morning, I've had quite a relaxing couple of days, mainly due to the fact that I've had Tony here most of the weekend cleaning the drive and painting the decking so I could sit down and relax. After all our ups and downs, he can still be quite considerate and wanted to take some of the stress off me as he knows how busy I am.....bless lol! Lewis had a birthday bash to go to yesterday so needed a card for his friend Kea who had reached the ripe old age of 11! The stamp is from The Greetings Farm and she's been coloured in the usual way with some Sakura glitter pen added to the flower in her hair which doesn't show too well in the photo. Papers are from Blonde Moments and flowers, mirricard, brad and ribbon are all from my stash. Sentiment is from Craftwork Cards. Another simple one but it's the only way I can craft at the moment because of ...

Oops! I did promise to post my other card and it's only taken me a week to load it on my blog....the days are flying by so quickly and it's Friday again! Here's the card I made last week for my friend...... I've used Melinda Blowing Kisses from Whiff of Joy and coloured her with PM's with some Sakura glitter pen added to her wings and the hearts. The papers are from my scrap box and the flowers are a mixture from my stash. Added some chipboard numbers and finally, rounded the bottom corners with my SU punch. Oh nearly forgot, added some Papermania sticky gems, a charm from Ebay, and a bit of the usual doodling to frame the image. Have managed to make a couple more cards this evening so once I've photographed them in the morning, will load them on my blog....just hope it doesn't take me another week to do it lol! Enjoy your weekend!

Oh, I've done it again! Made a couple more cards which were on my 'to do' list and managed to forget to photograph one doh! Anyhow, here's one of the two I did photograph! Can you spot my mistake? It's pretty obvious to me now although at the time, I was in such a rush I didn't realise where I had gone wrong - I've made Tilda look like she's only got one arm! I thought the other one was part of her top! I made this card for a friend of mine so I zipped it and hoped she wouldn't notice......which she didn't! Can you believe I've had this stamp for absolutely ages and this is the first time I've inked it up! Coloured Tilda with PM's with a little Sakura glitter pen on her wings, papers are from Blonde Moments, ribbon is from East of India and chipboard numbers have been painted with my own mixture of acrylic paint with some Lil Davis sparkle stuff added as the final layer! Must put yet more washing on so will be back soon with the oth...

The weekend's gone (again!) and still haven't managed to make many cards - I made one for my SIL's birthday today and forgot to photograph it! However, was asked to make a wedding card which I haven't done in ages and came up with this. The image is from Penny Black and has been coloured with PMs and added a little glitter with my Sakura pen to the Bride's headdress. Doodled around the edges and then matted onto Bazzill c.s. Vellum is from K & Co and lace is from my stash. Sentiment is from SU. Layered three flowers from my stash with a pearl brad from Papermania and dangled a "love" charm from it. Finally, rounded the corners with an SU punch. Must admit it does look alot prettier in real life! We had a lovely weekend once I'd finished work Saturday morning but it was spoiled yesterday - Tony was on his way back to his Mum's yesterday morning and was involved in a car crash! He wasn't badly hurt but has got whiplash which isn't ...

I meet some lovely people in my job and the following card is for someone who has been so kind and helpful - we call him Doctor Steve (and yes, he is a Doctor!). It's a long story but basically, he is a real expert on coffee and makes the yummiest coffee around. Anyway, I mentioned that I was interested in getting a proper coffee machine but didn't know enough about them - not only did he e-mail me with suggested sites and models but he found me one at a VERY cheap price and last week he even had me doing a trial run on his machine when I should have been cleaning (sorry Ginny!!). So this card is for him and I thought the stamps from High Hopes were very fitting! All three stamps are High Hopes and have been coloured with PM's. Doodled around the edges and added a couple of brads which are a matching green but don't look like it in the photo! Papers are Basic Grey Archaic pad which have been stitched with my sewing machine and distressed. Finally, used my Nesties tags ...

Another very busy week for me, however, surprisingly, have managed to make one of the cards on my 'to do' list. Had a bit of a panic halfway through it - I ran out of double-sided tape and was frantically searching all my stash for something to use! Anyway, here's the finished card. This card is for the daughter of one of the ladies I clean for......she's such a sweet little girl and always has a smile for us even though she's teething again! I used one of my Greetings Farm stamps which I've had for a while but just haven't had the time to ink up. She's coloured with Promarkers, Glamour Dust on her wings, doodling around the edges, and layered on card and mirricard. Papers are from Blonde Moments with have been layered with mirricard and used my SU punch to decorate one edge of the paper. Painted a plain chipboard No 1 with acrylic paint and then added some Lil Davis shimmer paint for the sparkle. Finally, added a couple of small flowers fixed toget...

At long last I have a card to show! I made a few of these for the boys' Teachers last week but just haven't had time to put it on my blog. The image and sentiment are from Elzybells and the bunny has been coloured with Promarkers with some doodling around the edges. Cardstock is My Mind's Eye (double sided). Used the Fiskars punch along one side and added some flowers and sticky gems from my stash. Kept to a very simple layout as I had to make three of these the night before the kids broke up for the holidays - last minute again! Luckily Lewis made a fabulous card for his Teacher but unfortunately, because of the rush, I forgot to photograph it! It was a very emotional day last Friday - both boys were leaving their respective schools for good - Lewis will be starting senior school in September and Sam will starting at Juniors. Needless to say the Leavers' Assemblies were tear jerking to say the least and we were all blubbering wrecks by the time we walked out of the sch...

Need to say a big sorry for not being around - I have been trying but have been having problems with my blog for some reason! Things have been disappearing off the sidebar and on most occasions I couldn't actually get to view the blog. All this has been happening since I updated my Internet Explorer so if anyone has any advice on what to do, it would be greatly appreciated. Hope to be able to show some cards some time soon.......that's if I can get back on of course!!

I don't have a card to show today but I do have some exciting news concerning my Son, Lewis and his school, Wyke Regis Junior School in Weymouth. Basically, the charity Childline, ran a competition for someone to come up with a song - Maddie Roberts, one of the children at the school wrote a song and with the help of Lewis's Teacher, David Payne and other people including the Producer of Steps (remember that group!), the song won the competition. We now have five girls (including Maddie) performing the song, plus a group of dancers (including my Lewis) travelling up to London on Friday to the official launch at Banqueting House in front of the Press. Oh, and by the way.......me and Sam are going too!! My aim in telling you all this is we want you to spread the word about this song. Please visit the We Are One website and download the single. It costs 97p and EVERY penny will go to Childline, a very worthwhile children's charity. Plus, we are trying to get as many down...