First attempt at making Shamballa Bracelets

I was inspired to have a go at making these by the lovely Kath over at Crafts by Carolyn's forum. I love this style of jewellery but had no idea what these were called until Kath showed us some of her wonderful creations.

SO, last night I dusted off my small, unused and unloved bead box and tried my hand at making one. I will admit, these aren't my very first attempt...that was using an old bit of embroidery silk and some multi-coloured, plastic kiddies beads.....but the knotting was quite straight forward so this morning I sat in the conservatory (watching Chris cut the grass LOL) and beading to my little heart's content.

Since making these I have some how aquired a very long wish list of beads and thread! Oops!LOL

It's my offering of a challenge over at Carolyn's for the month of July so I may "see you again" shortly with my next crafty offerings!

Have a wonderful weekend!

x X x



Blooming Garden!

Last Summer our garden looked like this! Total chaos! I know it's not a big garden but we have been in this house for 14 years now and we have always given priority to the house. The time, effort and money spent on the garden was a luxury, snatching a bit of time to do a few things on a make-shaft basis!

After the outlay of replacing the fencing last year, we had left ourselves we borders that were practically bare and lost several really large shrubs that we'd had for years! BUT, bit by bit we have been pottering around the garden and it is still far from being perfect or finished. We are dallying over the idea of a very small veg patch...but dallying is as far as we have got so far!

We are one step closer to being able to just potter around the garden rather than having to carry out major, hard labour.....we may even get the opportunity to light the chimnea and sip the occasion bottle of wine or a large jug of Pimms....who know what, perhaps with the unpredictable weather it may be a mug of hot chocoalate!

(Waiting impatiently for my hydrangea to flower, this poor specimen has been stuck,unloved in a pot for years and now being planted out it is full of bloom and tones of a lovely dark pink are starting to emerge.....how sad am I! LOL)



Another man's card!

Trying desperately to catch up with life after a hectic week or so, I can't see things improving much until the end of term. Counting the days until I finish work and the children finish yet another school year! Jack has one more week doing his Key Stage 3 subjects then starts his GCSE timetable the first week in July. I can't believe it, he is growing up so fast- only a few more months and then I will be the mother of a teenager! EEEEK!

Anyway, this week we celebrated Chris's birthday and as usual I left everything to the very last minute to make him a card! (Shame on me!) I keep on promising myself I will change and be more organised, but there are always so many hurdles to jump I so often faulter!

I eventually decided on a fairly quick card using one of the freebie stamps I got on the front of a mag. I did a bit of paper piecing to make up a little checked shirt which I then inked a bit to give a bit of shadow and dimension. Coloured with my Prismas again and added a few touches of Glossy Accents for detail.

I chose this paper and colour scheme to match the challenge over at Crafts by Carolyn's where your creation needs to include red, white and blue with a bit of bling. Now I don't really do bling but as a "blingish" addition to the metallic mesh and a bit of gloss I did include a tiny little crystal heart!

Got LOADS of cards to make for forth coming events, some how I just need to find the time to make them!

x X x

A Wedding Card to match my exploding box!

As usual, everything has got to pot here, all getting prepared for the Wedding at the weekend and Amelia came home from school yesterday afternoon with a really bad upset tummy! SO, I lost another day's work today(and pay) and my "schedule" has gone out the window. Jack's stomach came out in sympathy this morning so I have two very grumpy, irratable children at home to "HELP" me catch up on everything!

Luckily I had prepared most of the Wedding card yesterday, it just needed inking, sticking, and attacking with metallic rub-ons etc......so thankfully, it is now done and sitting on the side with it's little matching exploding box as the Liquid pearl flower centres on the inside of the card dries out!

A very simple card- I replicated the basic design on the inside to include a personalised greeting.

I took added inspiration from the latest challenge over at BasicGrey Challenges- Clean and Simple.

I used scraps of Basic Grey to cut layers of the Tattered Flower, then backed more BG paper onto card and cut the little hearts using a Sizzix die. I believe the papers to be scraps of BG Two Scoops- Dreamsicle???? Perhaps someone could confirm if you can still see the paper design underneath all the ink and metallic rub-ons I have used!!

Well, it's time for a light lunch with my fragile tummied children, then I may TRY to make the most of an unplaned, unpaid day off by making another card...or two!!







Exploding Box for Wedding Keepsake!

About one month after I first started this, today I eventally got around to finishing the inside of my exploding box. I have kept most of the inside pretty basic, using Nesties I made up little frames ready for the bride and groom to slip in their keepsake pics and memories.

I really had fun making this, I do hope the Happy Couple like it.

Hopefully I'll blog again soon with another card....as I have several I MUST make! LOL, nothing like leaving things to the last minute is there?

x X x

My first Teddy Bo in Prismacolor!

It's not very often I treat myself to craft magazines but last week, during a very wet and windy half term, I was swayed by several mags with freebies! (Alongside a few other crafty purchases....but sshhh, let's not mention those!)

With Father's Day almost upon us I took the opportunity to play with a few of my new goodies. I use my first ever Teddy Bo image, alongside some of the free sentiments stamps and papers. Whilst making this card up, I had a bit of a dilema; some of my fav brown toned Copics are running low so I dusted off my box of Prismacolor pencils! OH, goodness, I really do need to refresh my memory on the best way to use them again, it's been so long. I don't think I have looked at them since my trying out my first Copic marker!!

Still, not 100% happy with the colour blending but enjoyed making the card.







My card meets the following challenges;

Crafts by Carolyns- Red, White & Blue
Cards for Men - Father's Day
Scrapbook Sisters - Red, White & Blue

Hopefully see you again with some more crafting!

x X x