Christmas Friends.....

Good morning everyone.
I hope you are all well.
Today I have a very quick Christmas card to share....

Please forgive the dreadful photograph....it's the awful light and I couldn't get a decent photo....no matter what I did. 
The image is a Christmas Warren Rabbit Die Cut Topper from Craftwork Cards that I have had for years....I don't even think they are available anymore....anyway I found them in a drawer and I'm on a mission to try and use up as much of my stash as possible....
The green starry card was also in the same drawer. I added lots of Stickles for added sparkle (although not clearly visible in this pic) some pearls and a computer generated sentiment and my simple card is complete.

Thank you for taking the time to stop by.

I really do appreciate your visits and lovely, encouraging comments.

Have a lovely day. 

Winter Walkies...

Hello everyone.
I hope you are well.
This is a very quick post as it's very late....and I've had a busy day....shopping!!!
I have a Christmas card to share...
Luckily I haven't had to make many Christmas cards this year as I seem to have amassed quite a stash of them over the last year or so while I was on two Christmas challenge design teams....

This was a nice easy make using one of my favourite images from one of the Lili Of The Valley Art Pads. I added paper and Mirri card from my stash and a lovely shiny snowflake decoration that I picked up in the January sales....I knew they would come in handy one day!!! I completed my card by adding pearls from The Hobby House, a computer generated sentiment and lots of sparkly Stickles to add some frosty bling.

Thank you for taking the time to stop by.

I really do appreciate your visits and lovely, encouraging comments.

Beaded Santa...

Good morning everyone.
I hope you are all well.
Yesterday was my birthday and I had a wonderful day....I was incredibly spoilt by my lovely family and friends. I went to Harrogate for the day with my parents, daughter and two friends...and we attended The Knitting And Stitching Show.
 I have been going to this show every year since way before Brogan was born some 19 years ago.....and I love it. I have to say this year I enjoyed it more than ever. I spent too much as always and bought lots of new bits and pieces and now have lots more projects to add to my never ending list of things to do......
I was also lucky enough to met up with the lovely and very talented Catherine and her Mother in Law....it was so nice to meet Catherine in person after following and admiring her work on her blog for so long....we had a lovely chat and I had a perfect day....
At the start of the year I made a promise to myself to complete as many of my UFO's as I could. I have to say I have not kept up with my promise but I am working on it....and here is a completed beaded/cross stitched Santa Christmas tree decoration to go with the other three I have finished an age ago....
Beaded Santa ~ No. 4

And Here Are The Others...

I have two more to complete but I know there are others in this series so I may be adding a few more to the 'To Finish' list......

Thank you for taking the time to stop by.

I really do appreciate your visits and lovely, encouraging comments.

Have a lovely day. 

Catkins...

Good morning everyone.
I hope you are all well.
It's cold, wet and miserable here today....a typical November day I suppose but perfect for staying in and doing a spot of crafting....did I actually say that....Yes I did!!! Well we'll see what happens!!!
Today I have a card to share that I made for my niece Charlie who's birthday it was yesterday.

I chose this sweet image called Catkins from one of the Lili Of The Valley Coloured Art Pads....I used various die cuts to create my card and added these gorgeous flowers that I picked up in Horncastle when we visited a month or so ago.....I love the colours of these flowers and they were still sat on my craft desk and so became the inspiration for my card. I finished off by adding pearls from The Hobby House and lots of Stickles to the little fairies wings and some Liquid Pearls dotted around the image.

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges:~
Crafting For All Seasons ~ # 90 ~ Birthdays Robyn's Fetish  ~ # 238 ~ Things With Wings

Thank you for taking the time to stop by.

I really do appreciate your visits and lovely, encouraging comments.

Have a lovely day. 

Seals At Donna Nook....

Good evening everyone.
I hope you are all well.
This morning we decided to go to Donna Nook to see the grey seals who come up onto the sand dunes every November and December to have their pups and as always I am left in awe at this wonderful sight.....
I count myself incredibly privileged to live in such a lovely area and very lucky to be able to witness this wonderful spectacle first hand every year....
 Donna Nook Nature Reserve....

So far this year there have been 813 seal pups born....
And here is one of them.....and a very proud mum.

Yes...Yes...I know I'm very cute....

Do you mind I'm trying to bathe here....

Posing for all these cameras is just so exhausting!

Just roll over like me....they love this!

I have to say that I have been lucky enough to visit most years but this year it has to have been the busiest I've seen....I can't remember ever seeing so many people up on the dunes. It has also been the warmest day I have ever experienced at this time of year....although there were still lots of runny noses....but not mine for a change!!!

They all had a lot to say for themselves this morning....they were in full voice....you could even hear them all calling while we were down in the car parks....
We will probably pop back again before Christmas to see them but next time we will take the homemade soup and warm breads as I know that it will be freezing by then and we'll need something to warm us up....

Thank you for taking the time to stop by.

I really do appreciate your visits and lovely, encouraging comments.

Enjoy the rest of your evening. 

Miribilia Autumn Queen

Good afternoon everyone.
I hope you are all well.
Still not a lot of  paper crafting going on here at the moment and not much of anything else either to be truthful.
I'm back with a progress report on the  cross stitch I started an absolute age ago and decided to do a regular catch up here on my blog to see how I was getting on....I thought this would inspire/encourage me to crack on and finish it!!!! Ha Ha!!!
 I haven't really added much since the last time I blogged about it and I haven't touched it for a few weeks due to the Fibromyalgia but here is what I've done so far.....

Miribilia Autumn Queen

13~11~2014

30~09~2014

28~08~2014

So as you can see just a little progress has been made.....

Thank you for taking the time to stop by.

I really do appreciate your visits and lovely, encouraging comments.

Enjoy the rest of your day. 

ATC's 2014 ~ Complete

Good morning everyone.
I hope you are well.
I have finally rounded up my finished 2014 ATC's and managed to get some photographs too.
Hopefully by the weekend they will have been posted and be winging there way to the lovely Jo who's idea it was to do a swap. Anyone can join in so if you are interested pop over to Jo's blog and let her know.

October ~ Halloween

November ~ Anything Goes

December ~ All Things Christmas

I'm afraid they aren't very inspiring but given my lack of Mojo over the past year I'm not surprised. I'm hoping Mr Mojo returns soon....

Thank you for taking the time to stop by.

I really do appreciate your visits and lovely, encouraging comments.

Have a lovely day. 

In The Country...

Good morning everyone.
I hope you are all well.
Today I'd like to share a card that I made for my partner's dad's birthday...

I decided to make an easel card for this one but wanted to keep it simple as it had to be sent by post.....
The image is from those lovely Lili Of The Valley Art Pads and is called In The Country. The papers are also from Lili Of The Valley. I used Kraft to mount my papers and I added a hessian strip and a button tied with a natural twine knot. I completed my card by adding my favourite embellishments...pearls from The Hobby House and a computer generated sentiment.

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges:~
Creative Inspirations ~ # 288 ~ A Choice Of Two! Papertake Weekly ~ Anything Goes Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge ~ Anything Goes 

Thank you for taking the time to stop by.

I really do appreciate your visits and lovely, encouraging comments.

Have a lovely day. 

No Ironing Required....

Good morning everyone.
I hope you are all well.
Today I'd like to share the first of a batch ATC's I made for a little ATC swap that the lovely Jo and Rebecca set ourselves way back in the summer.....anyone is welcome to join in and we will be choosing new themes for next year soon...it will be a diifferent theme for each month. If you are interested in joining us in the swap you can find details over on Jo's blog.
This was for the June swap and the theme was:~
Father's Day

I made this little shirt out of a scrap of paper....in fact at the time I made lots of little shirts and put them in a bag and totally forgot about them until I found them tucked away in a drawer while cleaning out the craft room. I can't remember where I got the instructions for making them but I'm sure there's a tutorial out there somewhere in blogland. Anyway I thought they would be perfect for the Father's Day theme....I made two of these ATC's,  one for Jo and one for Rebecca.....
I  struggle sometimes with these little pieces of art but they are a great way of using up scraps and it's lovely to receive a swap through the post and seeing what other crafter's have created using the same theme.

Thank you for taking the time to stop by.

I really do appreciate your visits and lovely, encouraging comments.

Have a lovely day. 

Give A Girl The Right Shoes...

Good morning everyone.
I hope you are all well.
It's blowing a gale here, the rain is hammering at the window and it is so cold!!!
Still no crafting taking place but I do have a few bits and pieces to share that I made a while ago and just haven't got round to blogging.
This is the very simple card that I made for Brogan when she went off to University.



I was playing with my Copics and I was so thrilled with the blending on my image that I didn't want to detract attention to lots of fussy embellishments....I know...I know...I shouldn't blow my own trumpet but I'm dreadful at colouring and so out of practise that I shocked myself......
The photograph is awful....but the blending looks better on the image....honest!
Looking at it now I wish I'd added some embellishments......Anyway it's too late now as it sits on her shelf in her room at Uni....and Brogan loved it....particularly the sentiment. 
The image is called The Right Shoes from Stamping Bella Uptown Girls...coloured with Copics and the papers are from my stash. I just added some pearls and mounted the papers on Mirri card.  
Not my best card but at least I managed to colour an image for a change.

Thank you for taking the time to stop by.

I really do appreciate your visits and lovely, encouraging comments.

Have a lovely day. 

Wedding Bells.........

Good morning everyone.
I hope you are all well.
Today I have a wall plaque to share that I made for The Hobby House a while back..........
Still no crafting taking place here due to the fact that the Fibromyalgia has a tight hold at the moment....but hopefully things will improve soon.

I started off by cutting a large square of grey board, covered it with these pretty papers and added lots of embellishments including pearl strings, pearls, flowers. charms, ribbons, hardware and a lovely pre coloured topper all from The Hobby House.
The little stamped sentiment is from Lili Of The Valley.
I was quite pleased with the end result even if Mr Mojo seems to have taken a very long holiday.
I'm so sorry the photo is a little poor too but I'm sure you get the idea.

Thank you for taking the time to stop by.

I really do appreciate your visits and lovely, encouraging comments.

Have a lovely day. 

A Sweeney Todd Halloween.....

Good morning everyone.
I hope you are all well. 
I just wanted to share this years Halloween pumpkin with you. Brogan has been home from University this week.....and she has always carved a pumpkin and this year it was the turn of Mr Sweeney Todd......

Now doesn't he look fabulous....I'm afraid he had started to lose a bit of his definition by the time I remembered to take a photograph.....the pumpkin was starting to dry out with the candles burning inside.....
Still not much crafting going on here at the moment....I'm struggling through a rough patch with the Fibromyalgia and trying to take each day as it comes.
I have been making a few cards but a bit few and far between right now.
Thank you for taking the time to stop by.

I really do appreciate your visits and lovely, encouraging comments.

Have a lovely day. 

Giving In.....

Good morning everyone.
I hope you are all well.
Well I have succumbed to popular demand at home and given in and put the heating on. I was determined to last out until the beginning of November but I have failed in spectacular fashion but I have to admit I am really struggling with the Fibromyalgia at the moment, the muscles are crying out for a bit of warmth......
Today I have a card to share....another simple affair....

The image is from a Lili Of The Valley Art Pad....I just love these, they are so pretty and perfect for a quick make. The papers and sentiment are also from LOTV.  I used Kraft to mount my papers and the image. The lace, pearls and roses are from The Hobby House and I finished my simple creation with some Liquid Pearls.
My plan today is to get the house work done asap and settle down to do some crafting....Now that will be a novelty. Brogan is home from University this week. A 'Reading Week' she tells me although while I did a 12 hour shift at work yesterday she did all the washing, the bathrooms and she cleaned the kitchen from top to bottom for me....Bless Her!!!

Thank you for taking the time to stop by.

I really do appreciate your visits and lovely, encouraging comments.

Have a lovely day. 

The Little Mermaid

Good morning everyone.
I hope you are all well.
I'm still very busy with other projects at home but I have managed to make an extremely quick card for a friend who wanted a card....When?....Now Please!....and it has to have a mermaid on it too....
Luckily I had a Wee Stamps Topper from The Hobby House called Little Friends....perfect! 

I decided to make an easel card by way of a change. The papers are from Lili Of The Valley. I distressed the edge of the circular topper and added some Stickles. The pearls, pearl ribbon slider, ribbon and gems are all from The Hobby House and the flowers are from Prima (I've had these forever)....I used a corner die and my favourite Martha Stewart border punch to finish my card and added a computer generated sentiment. Not very inspiring but job done and apparently it was just the job.
I really don't seem to have any time for much card making at the moment but I really must get on with some Christmas cards....I am so behind this year.....

Thank you for taking the time to stop by.

I really do appreciate your visits and lovely, encouraging comments.

Have a lovely day. 

Busy Doing Nothing....It Seems!!!

Good morning everyone.
I hope you are all well.
I must apologise for my incredible lack of blogging of late (again) and for neglecting my blog so badly. The reason is 'life'....so much to do and so many things going on for me right now.
The Fibromyalgia is sadly slowing me down at the moment but I am determined to win...working full time in a very demanding job is a struggle but keeps me going. I have had an endless amount of appointments with physios, podiatrists and orthotics, with the aim....'To keep me going'!!! We are also selling my house which is keeping me busy and 'Doing Up' another house to live in.... the constant viewings and endless clearing of cupboards, drawers keeps me out of the craftroom...
So you see I'm not really creating much right now.....although Brogan is home from Uni this weekend and we decided to do a Table Top sale at our local church hall and she came to help me.....this is not my usual thing but we had a really good time and I sold lots of things and we were thrilled that we did so well....We may do it again, although we don't have that much left to sell now....
I do have a card to share, although a rather quick make.

The image is from a Coloured Art Pad from Lili Of The Valley. The papers are also from a Lili Of The Valley paper pad. All beautifully co-ordinated for a quick and easy make. I have used a piece of contrasting Bazzill card for mounting the papers. The sentiment is computer generated and the pearls as always are from The Hobby House. 
I have to say that I am managing a little time to do some sewing.....as you will see in my previous post and I have read a couple of good books recently too....so all is not lost.

Thank you for taking the time to stop by.

I really do appreciate your visits and lovely, encouraging comments.

Have a lovely day.

A Progress Report....

Good afternoon everyone.
I hope you are all well.
Not much paper crafting going on here at the moment but I have been doing a lot of reading and some sewing.....
Here is a cross stitch I started too long ago and last month decided to blog about it each month to encourage me to try and complete this particular piece of work.
Although I haven't had much time lately I have managed to sit for an hour or so some evenings and add a few stitches....
Miribilia Autumn Queen

30~09~2014

28~08~2014
So as you can see just a little progress has been made.....

Thank you for taking the time to stop by.

I really do appreciate your visits and lovely, encouraging comments.

Have a lovely day. 

Pretty In Purple

Good morning everyone.
I hope you are all well.
It's seems ages since I last posted but it has been a tad busy here lately....
Brogan is now happily settling in at Lincoln University and I'm missing her so much but she is coming home at the weekends at the moment!!!
I have made her this giant flowery note peg to keep her desk tidy....yeah right....

I love making these pegs....I think almost all of my female friends and family possess one of these now....they make perfect gifts....well I think so anyway.
The papers are from my scraps box....Lili Of The Valley I think!....and the flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts and The Hobby House. The pins were a gift from a friend.

I would like to enter my peg into the following challenges:~
Crafting From The Heart ~ # 37 ~ Anything Goes A Creative Romance ~ Anything Goes

Thank you for taking the time to stop by.

I really do appreciate your visits and lovely, encouraging comments.

Have a lovely day. 

Hydrangeas.....

Good morning everyone. 
I hope you are well.
Today is another busy day for us.....we are expecting a few last minute parcels to arrive (new laptop arrived yesterday) and we have to go into town to get the last bits and pieces before Brogan goes off to university at the weekend....
And I have another card to share....
I was asked to make this quick card for a colleague at work. (One of those flower cards you make, pretty and light to go in the post was the request)
Well I think this fitted the bill, or at least I hope it did.

Yes I know...it's another coloured Art Pad image from Lili Of The Valley and my favourite spotty papers from Craft Creations Limited but it was quick and it works....The pearls are from The Hobby House, the sentiment is computer generated and I added some Liquid Pearl dots around the image to finish off. 
Sadly time is just not on my side at the moment but hopefully things will settle down soon and I can get down to a bit more colouring and crafting, although I suspect I will be spending a lot of time driving to and from Lincoln to see Brogan, to pick her up and drop her off....but I can't complain as one I will be seeing my lovely daughter and two spending time in one of my favourite places....Lincoln....which is also not too far from where we live.

Thank you for taking the time to stop by.

I really do appreciate your visits and lovely, encouraging comments.

Have a lovely day. 

The Little Artist

Good afternoon everyone.
I hope you are all well today.   It's been a busy first day to the start of my week 'off' work.....First up was an appointment at Rheumatology with the Podiatrist for foot measurements, toe moulds and foot moulds for inner soles etc....and then onto my Fibromyalgia physiotherapist, Suzi who keeps me moving and keeps me at work.....the goal is to keep me going until I can retire at 55 (If the government don't move the goalposts) that is!!!.....I have 8 more years to go and I'm thinking positive.....
Then Brogan and I painted some doors and radiators....and cleaned the house together.
Today has been a good day....Saturday was a dead loss but I got lots done yesterday....cleaning out drawers and cupboards and sorting out all my paperwork.

I think I'm on a mission a the moment.....usually it's Mission Impossible!!!
And today I have another card to share...

 The topper is from a set called Strawberry Tea from The Hobby House. I used some Kraft as my base card and co~ordinating blue card as a mount. I tried to keep the design fairly simple and just added ribbon, a bow, pearls and a computer generated sentiment. I also used a Martha Stewart border punch....one of my favourites.
Well that's me away....I have so many cards to make.....so many birthdays coming up.

Thank you for taking the time to stop by.

I really do appreciate your visits and lovely, encouraging comments.

Have a lovely day.