Naughty blogger

Yep, that's me: naughty blogger. No real excuses, apart from the fact that life is just very, very busy and full to the brim right now. The job is still 'going' - I can't/don't want to say any more than that really.....working in a client-facing job is most definitely not something I want to do with the rest of my life. Oh, and I keep losing my voice, which doesn't help much either!

Little Miss A is turning into a personality-laden little Madam (yes, that's a capital M!) - she informs me at least three times a week that I am 'not her friend', usually when I've told her she can't have / do something. It's amazing watching her growing and changing so fast - I heard her telling a bedtime story to her teddy the other night - wow! If only she would stop coming into our bed at 3am and breaking our sleep.....will there ever be a time when my normal operating mode is not 'on the verge of exhaustion'??

See what I mean? When I took this photo, she said: "shhhh Mummy, I'm working!!!"""

So I'm just about keeping my head above water - cannot remember the last time I cooked a 'proper' meal or watched a tv programme the whole way through without falling asleep.....

On the creative front, I haven't managed a massive amount recently, due to my knitting time having been slashed to almost nothing. However, I have finished the following:

A crochet chevron scarf to go with Little Miss A's new pea green duffle coat

(she's got a matching hat as well, but I haven't managed to take a decent photo of it)

Then it was time for the Ravelympics over on Ravelry (you got to set yourselve a variety of challenges that would be categorised by events such as the Lace Luge, Charity Curling and Hat Halfpipe, all of which had to be started/finished between the opening and closing ceremonies). I was quite pleased at how much I got done over the 3 weeks:

a cheerful, slouchy hat made using some chunky Phildar wool that I've had in my stash for well over a year (Yay!)

I then used the leftovers from the hat to make the following squares for Knit-A-Square:

The second load of squares were a bit of a personal challenge to see how many squares I could make from two skeins of sock wool (held double) - I managed five in all, which I was pleased with :-)

I also managed to finish something light and dainty for Mum's birthday - but I can't show it yet, just in case she decides to come over here for a visit beforehand. Next week, I promise (provided Royal Mail has got its bottom in gear and delivered the parcel on time!)

I have two pairs of socks on the needles at the moment - one is Pyroclastic in Araucania Ranco Solid - a gorgeous firey red. I've finished one sock, and the other would have been finished a long time ago, except I decided to make them almost knee-high - they will be ab-fab when they're done though!

Cards and cake!

I have a found a new challenge blog which is right up my street - it's all about Basic Grey! This week's challenge is all about texture - and here is my attempt, specially for Little Miss A's 2nd birthday which is today (and we had a temper tantrum before we even left the house just to prove it!)



I have used papers from the Periphery and Skate Shoppe ranges (remember the last one?), plus Kaiser pearls and gems, ribbon from John Lewis, and a cute little Tilda holding a special cake. I added texture in various ways - there are the gems and pearls, but I also added white polka dots to Tilda's dress with a Souffle pen, glitter to the cake icing and the blue flower, and her shoes are all shiny, thanks to some Diamond Glaze.

Seeing as I was on such a roll, I have also managed to finish a birthday card for my MIL (I know she doesn't read this blog so I'm safe posting the picture on here). Bazzill cardstock, Sizzix pp, Dovecraft flowers and jewel brad, plus Kaiser gems and Prima flowers - I'm really pleased with this one!

Scrap Like You Mean It!

There's a brilliant new weekly challenge over on UKS, by the fabby Shimelle. I'm playing catch-up on this a bit, as I was so out of action last week.

Anyway, in the first week, we had to scrap our favourite colour. Anyone who reads this blog regularly will know that I just adore all shades of pink (can't help it, and of course, having a little girl doesn't give me much choice really!). I decided to combine it with brown, which is my favourite combination, using a picture of Little Miss A having a wonderful time in the park on the first weekend of 2009 (and what was probably the coldest day of the year so far!)

















I've also managed this week's challenge on UKS, which was to use 'fruity colours', circles and new beginnings - I figured that Little Miss A and my new hats were a worthy start to 2009!

Festive Fun & Frolics

No, I haven't gone AWOL.....! Christmas was fun and relaxed, with Little Miss A being totally spoiled by Father Christmas and family & friends. Top pressies were a dolly pushchair and 'learn to dress' dolly for the little one, a Nintendo DS for me (with the Brain Training cartridge - ha ha ha!) and the Top Gear book for Mr A.
Of course, it was also a little exhausting with a very inquisitive and energetic toddler to look after.....boy, were Mr A and I glad when the nursery opened again on 2nd January! I've also been laid low by the dreaded lurgy - Mum had it on Christmas Day (poor thing), and then Mr A and I came down with it for New Year's Eve. We thought we were better, and were planning to go back to work as planned on Monday - but when the time came, Mr A couldn't even lift his head off the pillow. I did make it into work, but felt so dreadful, I ended up coming home at lunchtime and spent the next two days in bed. I am thankfully starting to feel more human now, and have even managed some scrapping!
So, I have come up with some 'Scrapolutions' for 2009. These are:

- do one Layout per week (I pretty much managed this last year, so should be able to do it comfortably!)

- abandon all efforts on Scrap Your Day (I haven't done anything on this since September, and have completely lost interest.....!)

- use up at least HALF of my current stash before I buy anything new (it's ok - I got a couple of treats just before Christmas, which should keep me going)

- make more of an effort to use up my scraps on cards - and if they are smaller than 5x5cm - chuck them!

I also have some knitting resolutions - check my other blog for that bit of madness.

I will leave you with my last LO for 2008


















and my first one for 2009:



















this was for the UKS Weekly challenge - we had to include a celebration, twelve of something, and buttons. I went for a patchwork-inspired layout, using up the bits and pieces of Christmassy paper I still had lying around........!

Scallops and edges

Well, I so enjoyed doing the Scrummy Stash Cafe challenge earlier this week, I just had to have another go! This is a revamped LO - I never like the original - and features little ol' me, aged between 4 and 6 months (I think!). I had a wonderful time making this, as yesterday was what can only be called a truly icky day (I'll spare you the details, but suffice it to say that this LO was great therapy).


















Patterned papers: Cherry Arte & Sassafrass Lass; Rob & Bob 'Girl' epoxy sticker; hijacked earring (the little pink crystal flower top right); vintage cream lace; spotty grosgrain ribbon; Fancy Pants chipboard swirl (covered in Pink Stickles); Doodlebug heart and flourish stickers (the latter haven't really come out in the photo); Paperchase, Prima and Kaiser gems; the spotty border is Magenta Stickles and Pastel Raspberry Liquid Pearls, and last but not least, a heart die-cut from Sue (Mini Owner) and Sizzix letters from Cheryl (CW18).

Next, thanks to the amazingly creative EllePiggo, I stumbled across this amazing challenge blog today - Daring Cardmakers. This week's challenge is to include scallops on your cards. Well, I have quite a few birthday and anniversary cards to make this weekend, so this was just perfect timing. Here are this evening's efforts, all made using scraps and freebie papers that I've never found inspiration for until now:

Scrummy Stash Challenge

I haven't got very much in the way of paper crafting to show you at the moment - things have been slightly chaotic around here, what with little Miss A deciding to start her Terrible Twos six months early........nuff said! I have been busy with the knitting needles and crochet hook though - front, back and first sleeve of a little wrap-around cardie for the little 'un and halfway through a ripple-effect crochet blanket for a friend's baby due in November. Pictures will follow when the projects are finished - promise!


I was quite taken by this week's Scrummy Stash Cafe challenge - but didn't feel quite up to a whole layout. So, thanks to a new arrival of Hanglar images last week, and wanting to try more of the watercolouring with markers technique, I managed to whip up this little cutie this evening - I just love the colour-wash effect you get with this technique! And don't you just love her timberland-style boots?

Cardstock: Artoz
PP: HOTP
Lace from the lovely Paige, die-cut snowflake covered in Ice Blue stickles; Kaiser / Papermania gems; peel-off snowflakes and sentiment written with White Sakura Souffle pen.

How cool is this?

As someone who in the (fairly) near future will be facing the big 4-0, I think that this is just the most brilliant way of celebrating! Beverley is counting down the 40 days to her birthday by offering all kinds of candy, competitions, RAKs, and general goodyness. Can't wait to see what she comes up with!

Another challenge

Well, after the last challenge, I thought I would set myself another one! I had these lovely Blonde Moments papers which were free in SB Magazine some time ago but which I really couldn't see myself using on a layout. So, I thought I would see how many cards I could make with them! 5 A4 sheets of paper, a handful of foam flowers, some bright cardstock and a pinch of brads and eyelets and - hey presto! Six cards!!!

Slightly challenged......

I'm not normally one for doing card-making challenges (I tend to just go with an idea that pops into my head, if you see what I mean!) but the current one on the Scrummy Stash Cafe blog really grabbed me yesterday. I sat down to make one card, and ended up making THREE!

First of all, I dug out this butterfly iron-on motif that has been sitting in my stash pile for at least four years and stuck it with foam pads onto a piece of olive-coloured pearl cardstock, which was trimmed with my scallop scissors. This was then stuck onto a piece of darker green cardstock that was slightly distressed with gold ink. This was then mounted onto patterned paper (from a Sizzix pad I think!) which was trimmed with deckle scissors and inked ever-so-slightly with green ink. Last but not least, this was mounted onto more pearl cardstock and decorated with gold Stickles.

Next, I cut an oval shape from my new Costco papers, mounted that onto a blue card (which I stamped with silver flourishes from Gel-a-Tins) and framed with a selection of Prima daisies in muted blues and greys - and just a touch of yellow for colour. These were then decorated with Icicle, Silver and Dark Blue Stickles.



And last but not least, I used up the scraps of paper (Costco again!) from my last card making session. These were both rounded, mounted on each other, and then mounted on a piece of Cuttlebugged card (which had also been chalked). The final touches were two of my own crochet flowers (held together with a brad) and - of course - some Stickles!!! It was Copper this time....just in case you wondered :-)


After all that hard work, I made a couple of very simple 'male' cards, including this Father's Day card requested by a colleague - I hope her hubby likes it!!! In fact, if anyone knows who makes the beige letter stickers that I used here, please let me know, as I need to find some more and can't remember where or when I bought them!!!

That's all for this week folks - thanks for looking!!