A little bit of bunting!

Fancy getting excited over a bit of bunting, but I am! LOL (blush)

After decorating I fancied brightening up our bargain piano. I know I shouldn't complain, it did only cost about £20 but it's not very attractive is it? Now one of the first pins I made over on Pinterest was bunting hanging on a piano. I think it was actually Christmas bunting and I was hoping to make some BEFORE Christmas but it never happened. However it did inspire me into thinking why does it need to be Christmas to brighten up the piano? 

SO I found myself an old pair of curtains that I made many moons ago and thought I'd try some out. Now I am no seamstress but surely it couldn't be THAT hard!! (or so I thought!) I bodged a template by cutting a triangle from a magazine cover pinned it to a strip I had cut off the bottom of the old curtain and cut around the edge with my pinking shears and attacked them with my dusty old sewing machine.

Still got to tidy up the edges but I am happy with my trial run pennants .

Are my points pointy enough?  I cut off the sharp bit of the point so it wasn't so bulky then I used a knitting needle to ease out the points. There are not 100% but good enough for my and my old piano. ( Now I have an old song in my head, think it was by Diana Ross! OMG, showing my age now!)

Oh dear, what have I done to my nice clean and tidy conservatory!

By the way the first photo on this post is the lovely little bundle that popped through my letter box this morning.....I will be attacking those IF the Bunting Trial Run goes to plan.

Right, back to cutting and pinning a few more triangles.

Be back soon.

Adele

xXx

Paper Mache Giraffe creates a blast from the past!

With our recent decorating I have been wondering what exactly to do do with the elephant in the room  giraffe in the corner! I pondered over throwing him out to the bin men or giving him a wacky makeover.

During this pondering I looked back at the photos from nearly five years ago and it struck me how much the children had grown! In particular Amelia who has just shot up - no one has told her that genetically she is supposed to be short!

In the above picture she is 6 and below are some up to date pictures of her at the grand old age of 11!!!

Man's Concertina card with Stampin' Up!

Well at long last my "laptop crafting" is showing some hope! Today I have mainly been acting a taxi cab driver but in between I did manage to put together ONE SIDE of the concertina card I have had on the go for a few days now. Still got the other side to do but I do have a while before I need it! (Hark at me being little Miss Organised...LOL...NOT.)

I haven't made anything like this for some time and it really did remind my how much I love making cards for those who are so dear to me. I am planning on something completely different on the reverse side but I I will have to wait and see how that turns out!

I used Stampin' Up products:

Stamp sets- Clockworks, You are loved, Feeling Sentimental, Papillion Potpourri

Stampin' Write markers from the Subtle range

Soft Suede ink pad

Linen thread

Vine Street embossing folder

Edgelits Finishing Touches.

I am LOVE, LOVE , LOVING  being a part of Stampin' Up! 

Right, this meets challenges over at:

Crafts by Carolyn's - TTC Vintage or Men's

The Crafty Bloggers Network - Anything Goes

The Crazy Challenge -Add a charm

Crafty Catz - Anything goes

2 Sisters Challenge - Anything goes

Bye for now!

xXx

Attempting to craft during school holidays!!!

What's everyone up to today?  

I think I may need to give up my feeble attempt at crafting downstairs with the children around!! I am sat here on the sofa with a cocoon of crafty stash spread around me! It's spreading wider and wider!  I started off with a bit of basic stamping but some how it's evolved into making a concertina card for a man! Crafting on a lap tray in the school holidays in really not helping my mojo!

Had to have an early lunch as I need to take Amelia to the Community Dentist to give her a trial run with gas and air. IF all goes well she will need to have a partially submerged pre-molar extracted in a fortnights time. IF it doesn't go to plan then it's back onto a long waiting list to have it removed under general anesthetic! EEK  

Please keep your fingers crossed for us and hope that Amelia can breathe through her little nose sufficiently enough for the gas & air to be effective!

Take care.

xXx

Poor Green Cuttlebug,,,,,rest in pieces!

I must have had a six sense as when I placed my first "real order" with Stampin' Up a few weeks ago, I qualified for a half price item. Thinking I'd take the bull by the horns and update my trusty Cuttlebug with a sparkly a nd new Big Shot, especially if I do attempt to make a go of it all and do classes, demos etc. Now what crafter can resist a bargain BUT over the last week or so, I had a few regrets, thinking I should have ordered a Bigz alphabet instead.

Today I lazed around a bit, especially after the antics of decorating last week. I have sat down this afternoon and played with a few new stamp sets, had so much fun. Tonight as I sip a nice glass of red wine and nibble on an Easter egg, I thought I'd take it one stage further and cut a few images out with various frames.....and............


CRACK.

Poor dear little bug. Rest in Pieces!

The end is in sight.....for now!

It's taken almost a week but the skirting boards have all been taken off, undercoated and glossed. My "safe cream walls" are now a shade of Duck Egg Blue and all my furniture has been dusted and put back into place.

There is still a fair bit to do! 

Finishing a few joins in the skirting!

Making and hanging a roman blind for the little window.

Lining the curtains with thermal/blackout linings.

Prettying up the piano!

Giving Gerry Hula Hoop the Giraffe a make over!

Buying a few new toning accessories!

Oh goodness, that will do for now!

We are pretty pleased, not perfect but we have made progress.

Just had a nice hot shower and I am going to spend the rest of the day relaxing with a glass of wine and some  new Stampin' Up goodies that I haven't even had a chance to play with.

CHEERS!

Busy making a big mess!!!!

Frreeeezing weather,Amelia not well so I thought I'd make the most of the time off of work and start giving the house a much needed face lift. I decided to start in the dining room where somehow, a quick "Spring clean" and refresh the paintwork became a full scale operation! OOOPPPS, how did that happen.

I decided to paint over my nice, safe, cream walls with a bit of colour and I am at that stage where I am thinking OH MY GOODNESS, lets paint it back to cream again!

What a huge mess and now my new rug and Roman Blind kit has just arrived!!! EEK

Stampin'Up-You are loved, a vintage card

MY latest Stampin' Up order arrived on Thursday but I have hardly had time to play. I actually stamped up this card on Friday but it has just sat in a cardboard box since then. I am more than happy with the techniques I have tried but not totally satisfied with the overall layout of the card. Never mind, I LOVE the stamps and cannot wait to try out another card with them!

I initially made this card to meet the criteria of "Purple" over at Crafts by Carolyn which I struggled with as I am so not a purple person BUT, there in my new pack of Stampin' Up Markers was a Perfect Plum marker just crying out for my to give it a go.

This card also meets challenges at;

Allsorts- Vintage

Creative Corner Challenge- Anything goes

Party Time Tuesday- Anything goes

Rhedd & Rosie- Vintage/Shabby

Be back soon!

xXx

Another Men's Card using Stampin' Up Clockworks!

I had a "day off" today, and apart from a frozen walk to the Post Office and a bit of housework, I didn't really have much else planned. SO, I decided to brave the chaos of my cluttered craft room and attempt to make another card. I was so tempted to take the "easy option" and make another pwetty card for a lady but seeing as I had some uninterrupted, child-free time, I thought I'd try to tackle another men's card!

I have been looking for inspiration on Pinterest recently and have seen several projects made up with small individual shapes, so I thought I'd have a go.

I used Black ink to randomly stamps assorted images onto white card stock, then I cut out little squares to layer onto the 9 stamp shapes. A bit of de-stressing and inking and a touch of embossing with silver and I was done. I decided to use bright red card stock for my lettering.....and whoop, whoop, another card made off my April to do list.

This card meets the challenges over at
 Crafts by Carolyn TTC
Creative Card Crew- Masculine

Men's card with Stampin' Up Clockworks.

It's been another hectic week, with so much new crafty Stampin' Up stash to play with and no time to do it. However I did manage to sit down yesterday and start a card. I am always out of my comfort zone making men's cards but considering my Father In Laws birthday is next on the list, I thought it apt to try my new "Clockworks" stamp set.

I used the various stamps with a mixture of Soft Suede, Marina Mist and Baja Breeze inks to create extra detail onto both the backing paper and the central oval layer.

I used a combination of a Framelit Labels die together with a plain oval shape to make a frame like embellishment, which I added detail to a gold metallic rub on.

 A bit of stitching, lots of de-stressing and inking, a bit of twine and a button...a lot of faffing around.

One thing I did enjoy on this card was using my dotty embossing folder as a stamp. I found this via Pinterest and a bit of blog hopping and I had never tried it before. Fab idea, I had inked up my embossing folders to add detail to embossed card, but never as an actual stamp before. I will be looking at them in a different light now!

This cards meets the criteria over at;

Crafts by Carolyn, TTC Colour Challenge.
Totally Gorjuss- Something Borrowed
Stamp with Fun - Anything Goes
Creative Card Crew- Masculine

Thank you for looking.Hope to be back again soon!

x X x

Doing a little Stampin' Up happy dance....

......I at long last managed to catch up with a few friends yesterday as well as holding a little crafty get together at home. I managed to meet my Stampin' Up monthly target, and had a fun, if not a little chaotic, afternoon showing my small but gorgeous kit.

After that I struggled to choose exactly which items, from my very long spreadsheeted list, to treat myself to  next. I manged to get quite a few freebies, SO, I thought I could justify the BigShot jumping into my Demonstrators Basket! OOPS! LOL How did that happen.?

Cannot wait until Mr UPS arrives.

Stampin Up hits the Dingle Household

I dilly dallied for a long while, then I dilly dallied some more over exactly what products to choose in my start up kit, BUT finally I have joined up as a Stampin Up demonstrator. I am not sure where it will take me yet, possibly only towards discounted products but who knows. 

Today is my day off and I spent the first part of it eagerly awaiting delivery of my first lot of gorgeous goodies....and I was certainly not disappointed. This afternoon I made my very first Stampin Up card.

 Here is a little taster of some of the products I treated myself too. I MUST now seriously start 

tidying and organising my craft room to make more room! LOL

xXx

Is feeling rather impatient today!!!!

I am waiting for something rather exciting to arrive. 

I keep on checking the status over at UPS! 

Please, please arrive early as I actually have a "DAY OFF" today!

Watch this space.

xXx