Magical creatures

There has been much happen since my last blog post

I have not quite got the hang of blogging everyday occurrences and tend to only think to blog if I have crafting to share. I must rid myself of this habit as my crafting is much less prolific now

We have been to a couple more gigs, we saw The Cadillac Three in Cardiff and then more recently The Temperance Movement in Plymouth

We have enjoyed lots of beach days with the dogs

And we made a much needed flying visit back up country to visit family and friends before christmas

This last few weeks have seen copious amounts of crafting as I needed forty christmas cards, six birthday cards, an anniversary card and a commissioned card had been ordered 

Going back to November, this is the card I made for Amy for her birthday. She is currently enjoying all things unicorn so I set to work trying to find a way to make one from my trusty punches

It was a case of trial and error. My first couple of attempts looked farcical rather than magical, but, I persevered and I think the final version turned out rather cute. Amy loved it

The next couple of cards were for my lovely neighbours Mary and Colin who both celebrated birthdays at the beginning of December

I must apologise for the poor photos, the pictures were taken in bad light and don't show the true colours as they should

They are a very special couple and have taken me and the family under their wings since we moved here

So, the lights, tree and trimmings are all up, the gift shopping is finished, the cards have been made and mostly delivered, the house has been spring cleaned and we have almost completed the wrapping, I don't think I have ever been so organised and I must admit to feeling rather relaxed and ready for the festivities to begin

All the girls from work got together for the christmas meal last week, we met at The Britannia for a delicious and very festive 3 course meal, a little tipple and many laughs, so the christmassy feelings are in full flow

I will love you and leave you as Neil and I have one more small pile of presents to wrap and I will be back tomorrow with some more craftiness to share

Love and unicorn sparkles

Tracey

xxx

Scrapbook Saturday

It has been a very long time since I have completed a scrapbooking page, just for me, just for fun

When I had the shop I had to do one every week for the classes and after a while it become more of a task to cross of my 'to do' list rather than the hobby I used to love and the hobby that led me into all things papercrafting

It felt extremely relaxing creating this page, I didn't have a deadline or a range of papers to try and sell. I didn't have to think what I had taught in the last class and try to incorporate a new technique. I just chose a photo, spent a very enjoyable few minutes rummaging amongst my stash and then 'played' with all my supplies

Of course my first 'subject' had to be Molly, she hasn't featured yet in any of my papercrafting projects so it was only fitting she was the first scrapbook page

I used a sheet of cream cardstock for the base which I stencilled with brown ink

I then drew and cut out a sunburst style design from a sandy coloured sheet of patterned paper, cut out each alternate ray of sunshine, distressed all the edges and then used a stencil and gesso to add texture to the central part of the design before inking all the edges in dark brown and Scattered Straw distress ink over the stencilling

I then delved among my scrap boxes for some smaller pieces of patterned paper to use for the borders and matting. I am desperately trying to use up some of my older pieces before I buy any new ones

Here is a close up of the stencilling and inking I used on the two different sheets

I definitely have the scrapbooking bug back. I have a million ideas running around in my head again and often wake in the middle of the night as a new design pops into my mind

Love and scrapping

Tracey

xxx