HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LIL G!!

My very beautiful and talented baby girl is seven years old today!! I can't believe it! Not sure if it seems longer or not, but seven seems so grown up! She's already fashion-conscious and thinks boys are 'bleurgh', apart from Troy Bolton of course (HSM, for those of you who don't know). He's 'yummy', apparently.

So proud of her xxx

A SPECIAL BIRTHDAY CARD

for a very special friend who is now going to realise that I didn't get this in the post in time and that I'm rubbish, but I hope she forgives me and likes it anyway!! xxx

ANOTHER GO AT THE LETTER BOX

Love this woodstaining malarky! Oddly relaxing and I love the fact that you can really see the grain in the wood. TFL xx

ANOTHER MASTERPIECE BY LIL G

Look at this! I'm in so much trouble.... The photo frame was bare and cost about £1.50, so I thought my dear daughter could try and decorate it for my Mum for Mothers' Day. I didn't expect this! She painted it with yellow shiny acrylic and raided my stash for flowers (which are, of course, from WildOrchidCrafts) and pearls. Now, they had to be secured with the glue gun, but I thought it would be better (for oh so many reasons! - fingers, dog, floor, etc) if I operated it for her. So she told me where to stick stuff and I duly glued!

I did curl up the bottom of the lily stem for effect, but the rest of it is all her own work. She's 7 next week (St Patrick's Day, no less!) going on about 19, and she seems to have all the talent she needs... I for one am very worried! TFL xx

BEEN PLAYING...

... in the local supermarket and saw this little plain box. And I remembered my set of woodstains, so I bought it. Some flowers and pearls later, this appeared!

I used a clear stamp around the edges too, with some dark green ink. It came out quite well, I hope! TFL x

COOKING WITH GAS - ISH!!!

Aha! I've got my baby laptop back!! She's sort of intact, but missing a few fonts. However, I hope to get them back next week. I am so glad to have it back, but it feels weird - just not the same. Nothing is where it was and there are still some bits missing - but it's better than that soul-less thing of hubby's!!

So we're sort of back in action... Wanted to show you what I've been up to while I was unsupervised! It started out as bare wood and a box of woodstain! I quite like it although it came out a lot darker than I wanted. TFL xx

A RENAISSANCE IS COMING!

Hi all... still on DH's dreary little machine - boo! I had my own little ray of sunshine back today, but only long enough to recover the most important stuff, as per instructions - right, like anything on my laptop ISN'T of life-or-death importance!! Men!!! To be fair, this particular man is actually very helpful, so I can't say bad stuff about him. I'm speaking about my technical friend who is really being very sympathetic and comforting about this utter disaster!!
So the good news is that pretty much everything can be restored, replaced or rescued (am I the only one who pronounced the latter as "reeskewed"!??) but the bad news is that my little lappy's soul has to be removed and reborn.
I feel like I imagine an expectant father must feel. I'm so concerned for Lappy's welfare! I know when it comes back it will be much the better for being revamped, with a new operating system, more memory and disease-free, but I'll miss its little quirks. Still, it's a whole lot cheaper than having to get another one. And another one would have big boots to fill. .. Watch this space! xx

STILL NOT GOT MY LITTLE LAPPY BACK....

.. and I feel so insecure without it! Apparently it's not terminal and it's responding well to treatment. Fingers still crossed! xxx

BRING BACK PENCIL AND PAPER!! EEEK!!

Well it had to happen sooner or later, didn't it? I mean, we've been together almost five years now and it's been interesting. But if I'm honest, I haven't really been as caring as I could have been, so I'm not blaming anyone.
Yep, I have to announce that my lovely little laptop is in intensive care. Just refused to get up one morning. Turned blue, in fact, so I knew it was serious.
No warning. No tell-tale paddy fits. No nothing. Just suddenly yesterday decided it couldn't go on like this anymore.
And I'm gutted.
I'm typing this from hubby's laptop but it's not the same. No cheery photo to greet me, no Favourites list to make things nice and simple and organised, no EMAILS!!!
And there's the problem.
No email addresses. All gone. HELP!
Being in the IT industry, I at least had the nouse to back up my crafting stuff, mostly. All my precious downloads (I hope) are stored on the little grey brick to my left, which sits there looking at me all smugly, as if it knows that it holds the key to my life!
But I didn't back up my emails. None of them. Not even the jokey ones.
And I have had a sleepless night pondering the miracle of how this little device that was supposed to work FOR us now has us all at its mercy. Once the panic attacks have subsided, I shall probably be able to get a lot of my 'contacts' through other means. But for now, I sit here on this banal grey keyboard, chewing my lip.
I can't really say that I blame my little laptop. I mean, the amount of glitter and tiny sparkly bits and minute shreds of paper that are stuck between the keys and in any other available orifice only go to show that I didn't care enough...
There is some good news, however. One of my best buds works as a hardware specialist and he very kindly came and took it away yesterday lunchtime into intensive care. The prognosis is not so bad - the hard drive is still alive and he thinks it may be down to some infected software - but who hasn't got a cold this time of year?
So I wait with bated breath to see if we will be reunited soon, or, "worst case scenario", it has to be (replaced -sshh!).
Fingers crossed.
xxx

THANK YOU FOR BEING MY FRIEND

Not really too sure about this one... I got the idea from the amazing Johanna over at Bibbi's Dillerier, but hers looks a whole lot better than mine! TFL xx

A NEW TAKE ON AN OLD CARD

Made this one before, as well, but with different papers. Still love the effect, though. TFL xx

BACK IN MY COMFORT ZONE

Made this again, but as a 5x5 and for Mothers' Day this time...

BABIES IN GINGHAM

Sticking with idea of the hole and stamping inside the card, I made these. But I managed to get some pearls on these, so I'm happy again. Gingham papers are from FunkyFairys (we should start a petition to get them back online!) and gladioli are from the amazing WildOrchidCrafts. TFL x

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!

Well, for me, at least. I have an order for some cards for a group of ladies who like pretty things, so I started on a crafting marathon.... and straight away cocked it up! I printed the ruddy sentiment on the inside of the card by mistake - rookie error, eh? Not one to admit when I'm wrong, I got out the light box and the nesties and made this. I actually really like it!! TFL xxx

A BIRTHDAY CARD

Bet you can't guess who I made this one for!! xx

IT MUST RUN IN THE FAMILY...

... the love of colour and flowers, I mean. Look at this. My very talented baby girl made this for our neighbour's birthday. She chose the colours and flowers, asked me to print the paper for her and she did the rest. I helped with the stamp to make sure it was straight, but how bright and lovely is this? She has an eye for colour, I think, and I love the layout she chose. TFL xxxx

GOT A HEADACHE...

You wouldn't believe how much grief this card has been to make! Printer ran out of ink, took 5 attempts to colour the image, stabbed myself with the pins, bust me cuttlebug plate, put in a new one and it moved!, couldn't get the flowers to sit properly... blah blah.. Nightmare! Anyway, it's a baby shower card for an order - I just hope they like it! TFL xx

FIRST CARDS OF 2010!!

First one of two cards for the same couple to mark their 60th year of wedded bliss!

Really chuffed with how this one came out. Bit more my style than the one below, but I love what Glamour Dust can do to anything!! Hugs xx

ANOTHER DIAMOND ANNIVERSARY CARD

Got the idea for the acetate from my very talented friend, Vicky. It's hard to work with cos I can't see it! And it's even harder to photograph! I'm quite pleased with it, though. Hugs xx

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Well, it's been a long time again since my last post.. One of my New Year's resolutions is to make more time for crafting (if that's possible, given our life at the moment!). I may have some exciting news about my cards to share in the not-too-distant future, so watch this space!

Other than that, I wish you all a very happy and prosperous 2010. I sincerely hope it's better than 2009, cos that was a rubbish year for us and for many of our friends. What did Santa bring you?

Hugs xxxx