Flowers and Ribbons

Sometimes I just love to make an unashamably feminine card - all floral papers, fancy ribbons, pretty flowers and dinky embellishments! This card has been  in my mind for some time so really pleased how it finally came together.  The papers are K&Co, the punched edge is Martha Stewart, the flowers are Prima, and the lovely satin ribbons are from my local fabric shop who do bundles of ribbons for 50p! Even better when you get a bargain...  I've left it 'sentiment free' as I can imagine it being used for a number of different occasions for one of my lovely friends or family. I often do this as I can always add a specific sentiment at a later date.

The things we do when we have to

This is not just any frozen peas compress, this is a Marks and Spencer hand-selected petits pois compress! The things you will do when your head is pounding with a monster migraine...

P.S. I don't normally have M&S petits pois - they were probably on special offer!

A very proud Auntie

My little nephew painted this owl last night whilst me and his mum were nattering and I think it just brilliant!  When I look at my own efforts in painting and colouring in with ProMarkers, when I haven't even drawn the outline because they are stamped, I am put to shame.  I especially love that the owl has eyelashes - how cute is that?!

Maybe I can pick up some hints and tips as I'm about to embark on an online journalling class dreamed up by the very talented Kirsty Wiseman that is called Me in My Moleskine.  With my love of nature, maybe a picture of a little owl can sneak its way in somehow.   My kit arrived yesterday all wrapped in pink tissue.  Take a look below:

 
What you can't see are lots of little strips of card with 'fill in the blank' sentences that I'll need to fill in all about ME!  Bit scary but hopefully it will be good to look back on when I am old and crazy (OK the crazy bit already applies!).  The class looks brilliant - there is an online live streamed session this week, a private forum to discuss what we are doing, a flikr group to show our creations, a class workbook etc. Can't wait! I'm sure I'll be posting some of  pages in the journal on the blog so keep a watch out.

Right off to bedskis.  Glad it has cooled down a bit.

Using up stash

Do you ever come across some papers that you bought ages ago and then think why haven't you used them yet?  Well this little card is made from some delicious papers and embellishments I got in the prettiest pink box ages ago (QVC I think). At the time I couldn't bear to cut them up but they've finally got the chop!  Hope you like it.  Hoping for some crafty time this weekend (well it is throwing it down) so maybe they'll be a few more creations next week...

ProMarker Storage

As promised to Rochelle, here's the first view of my new ProMarker storage.  I've tried some different things but I really wanted to have something that would make the pens easy to access (I'm too impatient with pen wallets or tying up with elastic bands), separate my pens into different colour groups for ease of blending, be in a nice strong storage box, and be convenient for carrying to the craft group.  Well this is what I came up with.  I have bought a 3L Really Useful Box from HobbyCraft for £2.79 - see here. The pens just fit - sometimes you need to wiggle them a bit when putting on the lid but it works.

At the moment I have separated the pens with cardboard dividers but I hope to make something better with stronger plastic when I have time. The categories are browns/neutrals, purples, pinks & reds, yellows & oranges, greens, blues and greys, and a spare section for swaps/doubles. I have then got some little white stickers (they were for a wall planner) and coloured in the dots before sticking them on the lids.  This way I can find the colours easily and I also know how the colours actually work in real life (sometimes they are a little different than the colour on the tube).  And there is still plenty of space for any new ProMarkers that might want to join my collection in the future :-)

I'm sure this is sooooo boring to many people, but to my tidy/organised friends like Rochelle and Karen, I'm sure they will love it!  It will also perpetuate my reputation in the craft group as being a little bit OCD with my storage and labelling solutions, but there you go.  Happy for others to copy! Go forth and organise...

Let them eat cake

Well here is the finished cake table (or the cake tableau as we were calling it!).  There were a selection of cakes that needed bringing together with one theme.  As the overall party theme was 1960s the paper flowers and copious amounts of dolly mixtures did just the trick. The tablecloth didn't look quite so creased on the day... I must point out that the turquoise flower in the bottom left was made my friend Ilze (just in case her sister is reading this! Hello Ilze's sister!).  Here are some close ups:

And how serindiptously they tied in with the table decorations (I had no idea pink and green was the theme!).

And most importantly, the birthday girl, Joan, who was over the moon with both the cake and how the whole party went. 

We all had a fantastic time with the games, scrummy tea and cakes, dancing to the sounds of the 60s, space-hopper races, lots and lots of laughter and rounded it all off with a trip to the chippy on the way on  home! A perfect day.

Paper Flowers

Pretty or what? I've been making some paper flowers from a Craftwork Cards kit to decorate a cake table at a birthday party.  The idea of how the table will all come together is still in my head but couldn't resist sharing the sherbety-colours of the flowers and just how gorgeous they are (and easy to make)! I'll try to remember to take a picture of the cake table before the cake is hacked into and post it next week.