Crafting Update

I have not been quite so prolific with my crafting as I used to be, but the upside is now I craft when I want to and not when I have to

I have quite a mixed bag of cards here, dating back to Easter, so please excuse the random selection

A bi-fold, envelope style birthday card

The Easter cards I made, to send to family and friends

All the same but different, same design, different colours

Amy's Easter card was totally different as I wanted to put a bunny on hers

Another birthday card

My lovely dad's fathers day card

And my mum's birthday card, another bi-fold design with fancy edges

Lots of space inside this design for a verse

There have been a couple more too but I did not remember to photograph those ( naughty blogger )

Until next time

xxx

Still here

Hellooooooooo

We are still here, although you would be forgiven for thinking we had fallen off the planet

FIVE months on from my last post, much has happened and not much has happened if you know what I mean

In a nutshell

*      We have been up country to visit family

*       Friends and family have been here to visit us (Mum and Dad, Tony and Carol, Kev and Jackie)

*      We celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary

*      Amy and Robbie finished uni

*      All three 'children' are now working

*      Amy has had a tonsillectomy

*      Robbie is learning to drive and has his first car

Some of these events will be blogged in more detail later. I have just finished editing all the photos from the last five months, 700 photos, two hours and three coffees later I have decided there is far too much to wade through in one blog post

And in other news

We had an unexpected little windfall, so bought ourselves this fab little campervan, we have been away in it a couple of times already and are planning our first trip away with the dogs soon

The dogs have had a wonderful time in the woods, on walks and especially on the beach

We have had some gorgeous days out, exploring our stunning county, sometimes just the two of us, sometimes with friends or family and often with the dogs

I gave up trying to cover the grey and have been gradually adding more and more highlights, I am really happy with the results and my hairdresser is fantastic, Paige has the patience of a saint with my stubborn hair

We have also had some amazing days/nights out, we have enjoyed some fantastic gigs this year, local and further afield, found a couple of new festivals, added a few new bands to our playlists and generally broadened our horizons musically ( much more to come on that in future posts )

And yes, I have still been doing a little crafting, much much less than I used to. I toyed with the idea of giving it up and freeing some space by getting rid of all my craft clutter  stuff, but the feeling didn't last long. 

It may take me a little longer to actually get started, but once I have all my pretties out on the table, I remember just how therapeutic it is to have a craft and play session

This is my most recent creation, a card for my lovely friend Sue

I know this is a bit of a 'mixed bag', but you know what it is like to have so much to catch up on that it is difficult to know where to start

A very sensible person once said "just start", once you get going, the fear of the blank page disappears and the rest is much easier, how true this is. Now I have a million ideas running through my head and rather a lot of photos on my hard drive, no excuses then !

Back soon

I promise

xxx

Happy Mothers Day

Happy Mothers Day

To all you lovely mums out there, whether you are mums of children or mums of fur babies

Thinking of all those people who have lost their mums and can no longer give them a hug, and all those mums who have lost children, bless you all

It wasn't until I became a mum myself that I realised just how hard mums work, to keep families together, to keep everyone happy

My mum is one in a million and I couldn't have had a better teacher, friend, guardian angel

Happy mothers day mum, I love you more than words could say and I couldn't be prouder to say that you are my mum

Here is the card I made for my mum

I used a brand new die and my favourite stash of papers for a subtle and very feminine card

I also made Neil's mum a card, she's definitely not a pink person so I opted for fresh spring colours and flowers, who doesn't like flowers on Mothers day

And me...... I got three gorgeous cards and some lovely gifts and I spoke to them all, I miss the older two like mad and really wanted to give them both a hug but I will have to wait patiently until the end of May and the end of uni

What did I opt to do for my special day ? We took the doggies to the beach of course !

It has been a beautiful, bright and sunny day, so we spent the afternoon, beach combing, walking and playing in the sand

Look at Bruce's face, sun on his back, sand in his paws, ball in his mouth, the absolute picture of happiness

I am so blessed, my mum, my children and my fur babies all very much at the fore of my mind all of the time but especially today

Happy Mothers Day

Love

Tracey

xxx

Golden Anniversary (Part 2)

Hello

 I am back with the second of the two Golden Anniversary cards I made for my friend Margaret

I went for a slightly vintage, shabby chic style for the second card, I wanted it to look soft and romantic

Neil and I are exactly halfway to our golden anniversary, we celebrate 25 years of marriage in May and Neil has already got lots up his sleeve

We have a weekend in London and a couple of special gigs lined up, I can't wait !

Love and marital bliss

Tracey

xxx

Golden Anniversary

Good evening, this is the card I made for my dear friend Margaret and her lovely hubby Brian

We were invited to spend the evening with them and their family at a party celebrating their fifty years of marriage

The party was held at a local pub/restaurant - The Britannia, and we had an absolutely brilliant night, there were eight of us on our table, we are all great friends so we had a really good laugh, lovely food and of course one or two Proseccos 

I made two cards, this one was for us eight friends to give collectively, we wanted to give the happy couple some money to treat themselves so I made a little pocket on the inside of the card to hold an envelope with the gift. I will share the card I made for Neil and I to give tomorrow

I used mainly Spellbinders dies, the 'congratulations' is a Tattered Lace die and the little flowers are a Martha Stewart punch, all the leaves are die by Marianne

Thankyou so much for inviting Neil and I to share your special night Margaret

Love and long marriages

Tracey

xxx

Christmas before Easter

As promised here is the first of my Christmas cards

I decided in January that I would make them through the year to save time in November and December when we are all super busy anyway

The papers are from a Trimcraft stack I bought in The Range at the end of last year, they are very traditional colours and style and beautiful quality

The card is a folded design with a band running through the middle so it gives a nice 3 dimensional effect when stood up

And here it is folded flat, ready for the envelope

I used a Nellie Snellen die for the oval, a Marianne die for the tree, Cuttlebug embossing folder on the tree, Stampin' Up stamp and punch for the flowers and the sentiment is also Stampin' Up

I will be interspersing the christmas cards with my regular cards and projects throughout the year and I also hope to get back into my scrapbooking soon, I have so many great photos to use

I will be back tomorrow with the first of the two cards I recently made for a special occasion 

Love and baubles

Tracey

xxx

Spring greens

Hellooooooooooo

I am back with a quick post today

This card I made for my wonderful friend Jan

I broke out some really old embossing folders for this card

I have had a major clear out and these flower stems were among the first cuttlebug folders I ever bought, they never made the cull because I like them just as much now as I did when I bought them 8+ years ago, sometimes the simple things in life are the ones we keep going back to

The weather has started to turn now and the garden is full of beautifully bright spring blooms, sat looking out the window, inspiration hit and I had to go with fresh vibrant spring colours, nothing more cheery in my opinion

Must dash, two hungry men due home any time soon

Back tomorrow with the first of the christmas cards I have been making this year

Love and springtime kisses

Tracey

xxx