CREAM AND BURGUNDY

Hi all!
Not my favourite colour combo, if I'm honest, but it's the chosen theme of my friends' wedding this weekend.

I also made their wedding invitations as a wedding gift for them; they're just a bit further down the page...

Hope you're all well?

Thanks for looking xxx

MY FIRST CARD IN OVER A YEAR!

Apart from the wedding stationery, which was designed with the happy couple, this is the first thing I've made in over a year that I've done from scratch and with a modicum of mojo...

It's for my Mum's birthday - it's simple, only using a couple of Cuttlebug dies and folders and a few pearls, but I like it. TFL x

"SIMPLE AND ELEGANT"

Me again... My friends are getting married in May and I offered to make their wedding stationery for them. They had a colour scheme of burgundy and cream, but not really an idea of what style or theme they wanted. In the end, I got him to say that they would leave it up to me, but it had to be "simple and elegant, just like Karen and me"... Well, Karen's elegant, so...

It's the first creative project I've done for over a year, so I'm quite pleased with them. TFL x

BACK FROM THE EDGE.... SORT OF

Just hopped around and then saw my old blog. I can't believe how much time has passed since my last post - over a year! It's been an odd year with lots of events - some good, some not so good, but I'm back in the land of the living now. Feeling better every day and even trying to drum up some good old mojo to make a birthday card for my Mum (still working on that one, though...). I ended 2011 in a new job, great company and great people, but I ended 2012 redundant! So that's not great. But I've had a month at home now and Lil G and I are much better friends, DH is less stressed and I'm feeling much better. I started 2012 with glandular fever. Terrific. And all the stories I was told about it have turned out to be fairly accurate - it totally wipes you out and takes forever to go. Almost year later, it's still there. So very tired... Oh, and Lil G has had her ears pierced. Hugely contentious issue... Daddy was dead against it; after all, she's still only 9. I get that, but I agreed to it because I thought I was clever. It took us 2 WEEKS to get the world's tiniest splinter out of her had, so there was no way she would sit and let someone stick a ruddy great needle through her ears! Turns out I'm not clever at all. We were just about to quit when the lady piercer (?) asked her how disappointed she would be if she got home, having come all the way to the shop, and hadn't got her ears done. So she gritted her teeth and had it done. Oops. Oh well, not the end of the world. Note to self, though - never underestimate your offspring. Anyway, to cut a long and boring story short, I'm back in the land of the living. Just about. Off to find some inspiration for Mum's birthday card.... See you soon. x

30TH GOTH CARD

Hi all! Isn't this weather terrible? Really miserable! Hope you're all keeping warm.
I was asked to make a birthday card for a Goth. Now this is right out of my comfort zone, but I knew it had to be black and purple!

What do you think? TFL x

SOMETHING DIFFERENT...

Hi all! I know - it's been over a month again. Sorry. I'm just trying to get back on my feet properly! Anyway, hope you're all well?
My very good friend has a birthday coming up this week, so I made this for her. It's a deep-edge canvas collage. Get me! She is also a very talented crafter, especially for this sort of thing. And it will be her first birthday without her dear husband, who sadly passed away earlier this year. So I wanted it to be a bit different.

As you can see, it's a right mix of textures, pearls, flowers, ribbon, buttons, etc.

Most of it is from my stash, so I've no clue where I got them. But the flowers are definitely from WildOrchidCrafts...

... and the sentiment is from Melissa Frances.

What do you think?

Right then, I'm off to wrap it up and post it! TFL x

OMG!! TWO CARDS IN ONE MONTH!

My friend's birthday is coming up at the end of the month, so I thought I'd try and make her something. Used the Cuttlebug again, with the usual sprinkling of flowers and pearls. TFL x

A BIT MORE DECORATION...

Morning, all. Firstly, thank you all so much for your lovely comments on my card. I wasn't sure about it, but you've made me feel much more confident about taking up crafting again after my break....

Secondly, we ordered some other decals at the same time as those in the Garden Suite (!):

This is on her wall above her bed. She didn't notice it until we asked her to tidy her room up a bit!

She loves it!
TFL x

FIRST CARD FOR MONTHS...

Well, here it is. I have at last made something. It's a card for my friend to give to her sister, who has inoperable cancer. The brief was 'not too fussy or sad, but lots of flowers and stuff'. Oh, okay then!

I put my dusty old cuttlebug to use and added some flowers (WildOrchid Crafts) and a few pearls.

I like it and I hope it fits the bill. TFL xx

THE GARDEN SUITE

I haven't been completely out of it... I have been decorating, too. The downstairs 'facilities' were a bit dark and miserable, so I changed it.

I bought the decals in contrasting colours (ebay) and cut them up a bit.

It is now known as the 'Garden Suite'... get me!!
TFL x

I'M NOT DEAD....

... just been away for a while. I can't believe how long it has been since my last post. But it wasn't through laziness. I've been a bit poorly. The best way to explain it is to say that the world started to spin a bit too quickly for me and I needed to get off for a while. So I came out of hospital, packed up my job and have been spending some quiet time with my hubby (who is struggling with a 'rotator cuff impingement' or something painful) and my girl.

But I'm back now. I've been asked to make a card so I'm about to brush away all the cobwebs from my craft room and let the daylight back in. Then I need to find the box marked 'mojo' and try and come up with something amazing!!

Watch this space! xx

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

My Dad was the best, as I'm sure was everyone else's!! Happy Father's Day to my Dad. I miss you every day. xxxxxxxxxx
And I'm sending big hugs to everyone who can't be with their Dad today. xxx

YOU OWE ME MONEY!

Morning all! It's a horrible grey day here in rural Lincolnshire - but then it IS a Bank Holiday weekend, so I shouldn't really be surprised!
Anyway, I found out last weekend that a very close friend of mine has just been diagnosed with inoperable ovarian cancer. She starts chemo on Tuesday to hopefully shrink the tumour so they can at least stop the little bugger spreading any more.
Stunned.
Anyway, her sister and I had a chat and we (along with my lovely Lil G) are going to take part in the Race for Life on the Lincolnshire Showground on 10 July. (For those of you around the world who may not know what this is, it's in aid of the Cancer Research charity and is supported by Tesco supermarket. There are events around the country and it's a women-only event.)
For those of you who know me, you will know that I'm not a runner/walker. I'm a swimmer. I don't do running. If I need to be somewhere faster than walking pace, I take the car. So this is big.
Now, you can probably see where this is going...
My Dad used to ring me up and say "You owe me money" and I'd ask what for? He'd say "For the raffle tickets you're about to buy!"
I am not going to adopt the same tactic, but I am going to ask you if you can spare a few pence to sponsor the three of us.
Here's the link you need:
Race for Life
We've set ourselves a target of £250, so anything you can spare would be much appreciated.
Thank you all and have a great Bank Holiday weekend! xxx

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!

Hi all! I know it's been AGES since my last post... so busy and no mojo since the hair slides episode. Which is why I didn't want any more craft stuff for my birthday - I have tons and no time to do it lately. So I asked for a new handbag. And look what I got:

It's from the Dandy collection by Disaster Designs. I got a handbag, purse, mirror, make-up bag, wash bag, weekender bag, mug/coaster and a flask! How spoilt am I??? I love this design, very shabby chic and reminds me of Melissa Frances.
AND
You may or may not know that I'm a big red panda fan (I have one at Bristol Zoo, well for this year, anyway) so my very talented Mummy painted this:

Absolutely amazing. She's very good, isn't she?
Anyway, off to eat birthday chocs for breakfast! xxx

MY FAVOURITE...

My very lovely hubby bought me some yellow roses for my birthday. I bought him a macro lens (nope, me neither) for his camera and he took this of one of my roses. How beautiful is this? xx

He has his own blog for his photos...

WE'RE BACK AND WE'VE BEEN BUSY!

Hello all! I can't believe we're in MAY already, nor how long it's been since my last post! We've been away on holiday (spotted that thing where, if you take 3 days' leave, you get 11 days off in row!) but I did manage to smuggle in some craft stuff to our luggage!
This is what I've been doing:

(beautifully modelled by my very own Lil G, by the way!)
I made the one above cos the bought one she had fell apart. Glue gun and a few flowers from WildOrchidCrafts and hey presto!

I made the red/white one for school (and cos I found some red roses in my stash...)

This one was made to go with her new outfit and cos purple is her favourite colour... and you may notice that I've started to add a bit of bling as well now...

No idea why I made this one but I was on a roll...
And finally...

... this is the reason that I bought the slides, once I realised I could make them pretty. This one is for a wedding later in the year and I love it. What do you think of them all?

Did you all have a good Easter break? We had a good holiday, but it was tinged with sadness as we lost a close friend just before we went away. But it's best for him as he's not in pain any more. And he can keep my Dad company, heaven help us!!

TFL xx

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD

Love and miss you every day. Doobie xxxxx

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY...

... to all of us mums, to our Mums and their Mums! And hugs to all of you who can't be with your Mum today x

SOME MOTHER'S DAY CARDS

Hubby cooked, bless him, so I could catch up on some long overdue crafting! So here are today's offerings.

All the stems are from Beccy's Place and the butterflies are from the Digi Stamp Boutique. Sentiment from Waltzing Mouse.

I coloured them all with Derwent Watercolour pencils, which I love. I use them with my Whispers blender pen and it gives a great finish.

I finished off the butterflies with a dash of GlimmerMist for a bit of sparkle.

Thanks for looking! xx

THE PINK LADIES WOT LUNCH

Morning all!  It was Lil G's birthday last week so we took her and three of her friends out for the day to a local theme park.  They had a brilliant time and we gave them each a pink baseball cap so that we could find them amongst the many, many, many other small hooligans!  Here they are having an ice-cream break.... yup, that's mine.. the one with the ice-cream moustache!! x