Inspiration ......

....... where do you get yours?

Do you spend more time looking than actually crafting? Have to admit I am sometimes guilty of this. I could fritter away an hour easily oo-ing and ah-ing over all the loveliness that's out there. I will also admit to *cough* stalking a few peoples blogs. They all know who they are lol.

This weekend I had been looking at a couple of challenges out there, not intending to make anything ..... yeah right! So this afternoon I was sitting having a chat and a wee cuppa with my other half and it just arrived in my head ..... didn't even wait to be asked. Cool when that happens. Just had to leave my tea and go!

So the challenges that were lurking in my head, even though I didn't realise were:

Dynamic Duos a nice wee colour challenge that this week has spring influences - this was also our theme in church this morning :)

And also CASology where the cue word this week is

Combining a colour challenge along with a cue word or a sketch is great inspiration. And here is my wee offering

This is very plain, very simple but I think it's effective nonetheless :) Can you tell I had my delivery of Sale-A-Bration goodies this week lol.

Hope you all have a good week folks ......... 'til next time xx

ATCAS #7 - IT'S RAINING MEN!

Came across a wee challenge blog today over at Addicted to CAS The code word this week is 'masculine' - love the wee tagline 'it's raining men' lol

I have just the card for this. Male cards are always difficult but I find that the less time I have to think about it, the better they turn out. Sometimes we just overthink the design and that is why I love CAS :)

Cardstock is very vanilla, choc chip and sahara sand. Choc chip ink and dotty scallop ribbon. i ran the sahara sand layer through the lattice emobossing folder for extra texture.

Perfect, clean, simple, quick and easy.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend folks ......... 'til next time xx

That Friday Feeling

Why is it we always feel much better on a Friday than any other day of the week? Well, I do anyway :) For me it is the thought of being able to spend some time with the family. I love my boys so much it overwhelms me, I have been truly blessed. 

Changes in my working life now mean that this time is going to be reduced given that Saturday working is now compulsory. I am willing to give it a try, let's face it, there aren't many folk out there who can do without a salary, bills still need to be paid. I will give it a few months and rethink once I see what, if any impact it has on our wee family unit.

Change is never easy but lets wait and see what happens.

This week the boys were off school for a couple of days and the sun was shining, even though there was no heat in it at all!! So, we decided to take ourselves out in God's good fresh air and celebrate that we're alive and able to enjoy things so many others can't.

We took ourselves to the big city, that's Belfast :) Our Parliament building are Stormont which are set in the most gorgeous grounds, brilliant for a casual wee dander about.

Here we are:

You can see the building behind us, quite impressive! What you can't see is that where we are sat is about 3/4 of the way up the driveway, and I do mean up, its some hill to climb! Should have taken a photo the other way too to let you see the brilliant view you have over the city.

There is so much good in this world if you take the time and go look for it. life take's over for a lot of folk and I too have been guilty of that. Get yourself out and about, see what is out there, you won't be disappointed.

I want to thank everyone for all the lovely comments on my previous post. It's nice to know there are people out there who care.

And lastly, i just have to fit in a wee card that I admit was made in a bit of a rush, but it turned out just right :)

more mustard and choc chip card with Spice Cake DSP and sentiment from happiest birthday wishes. Male card as you can prob guess lol, hope he likes it!

Have a good weekend .........'til next time xx

Crafty Feeling

Does anyone else find crafting therapeutic?

I have had a very difficult few weeks in my personal life and although in the beginning I wasn't able to concentrate for long I found that crafting let my mind wander from my problems.

Happy to say, we have turned a corner and things are looking much brighter. Fantastic family, great friends and strong faith have gotten us through and we will be much stronger as a family unit for being tested in such a way.

So I thought I would share a few of my creations with you. Sadly I am not the only one going through a difficult patch, have needed a lot of sympathy cards lately as friends have lost loved ones.

This first one I thought I would actually enter into the CASology challenge The cue word was 'red' Being February you immediately think of Valentines day. A sympathy card would most definitely not be your first choice.

Although there is a pop of colour I like the simpleness and elegance of this card. It uses the SU Fresh Vintage and Close As A Memory stamp sets, real red and soft suede ink and suede taffeta ribbon.

plain and simple again with just black and white, all stamps SU Close As A Memory.

And finally,

night of navy card and ink, white craft ink and the same stamp set.

These cards were made with specific people in mind but I did make a few of each extra to have on hand. Hopefully I won't need any of them!

Off now to start the taxi runs for the kids social lives. Perhaps I shall fit in a wee lil bit of crafting later.

Have a good weekend folks ........ 'til next time ........ xx

Season's Tweetings

I am feeling happy today. Look what I found, my wee girl and robin stamp with the cutest sentiment. I had misplaced these, it must be a couple of years ago. it was my favourite and I was devastated and so where some of my customers, they loved it too. I came across it when I rummaging about in one of my boxes with card scraps, how it got there I'll never know. I will be much more careful with it now it has been found.

Isn't she gorgeous :) I've stamped it on a piece of card that I ran through the Northern Flurry embossing folder and just coloured it in with my markers. Simples!

Blogging tonight whilst catching up with my Sky+. Some of these drama series are too good to miss.

...... 'til next time ...... xx

CAS(E) this Sketch Challenge #6

Good morning crafty folk, another wet, dull and totally miserable day here in Co Armagh, Northern Ireland. Shouldn't complain, the predictions for the next month are heavy snow and temperatures plummeting to -20! Yikes, that will not be fun. It is only a prediction and Mr Weatherman may have gotten it wrong as they sometimes (?!) do, ha.

I'm blogging early today, much to do, first stop is the gym. I was at the doctors yesterday and he was impressed with my improvement but has still given me another 4 weeks off work, and I have to keep doing what I'm doing :) happy with that.

Today i thought i'd play along with the sketch challenge over at CAS(E) this sketch . They do a fab job with the sketches there and I love looking at all the submissions. Here is the sketch

And here is my take on it

I've used cherry cobbler, kraft and lucky limeade. The ornament is from the ornament keepsake set and i've embossed it using the cherry scented powder, delicious lol. The leaves are Little leaves sizzlits, More merry messages (again) for the sentiment and some bakers twine and some be of good cheer paper for interest. Can you spot the bling?

I made another similar card but I think I prefer the one above.

Well that's me off to the gym, and if it puts me in a good enough mood I may even venture to the shop. We have a humungous new Asda store opened in town yesterday, am dying to see what they have to offer but I really can't be bothered with crowds so it may have died down a little, well, hopefully.

Have a good day folks ......'til next time xx

Festive Medallion

Good afternoon crafty folks, no challenge from me today. Predictably another Christmas card though.

I think I actually love this card so much I may just send it to myself!

Don't you just love the medallion stamp, it has so many uses. This is stamped in cherry cobbler and i've embossed it using the divine cherry scented powder. I wish we had smell o vision so you get the effect! I've created a wee bow using a vintage brad and some tulle ribbon. The whole thing has been sprayed with champagne shimmer mist and a little extra bling with a rhinestone, can you spot it? :)

My poor stampin' scrub has worked extremely hard this week and it had got to the point where it wasn't really doing what I needed it to do. So, i took out the pads and scrubbed them in warm soapy water, they've come up good as new. Wasn't sure if this was something I should be doing but I'm glad I tried, it worked a treat.

Now I'm off to watch the cycling, world cup in Glasgow, do not disturb sign is up :)

Have a good weekend ...... 'til next time ...... xx