Get well soon

Another couple of get well soon cards made this summer

One was for my Auntie Maggie and the other for my neighbour Mary, who were both diagnosed with the exact same illness at the exact same time

Similar in style and colours, both were made with the same range of papers and toppers

Almost there with the catching up, just a couple more cards to share and then I must crack on with Christmas !

xxx

Easter Catch Up

Another little catch up with cards I made a few weeks ago

These are from Easter

Here they are all together

All made to the same design with slightly different patterned papers and embellishments

Keeping with the spring colours and a couple of Easter dies ( Rabbits and eggs)

And here they all are in close up so you can see the details

It seems we have finally started enjoying some lovely warm weather at last

This week has been stunning in Cornwall, very warm and sunny with most days being devoid of any cloud (and the obligatory rain !)

I have almost finished the scrapbook album I have recently been working on for my cousin to give as a wedding gift. I will share all the pages as soon as I know it is in the hands of it's recipients 

Back tomorrow with some more craftiness

Until then

Love and sunshine

Tracey

xxx

February birthdays

Aside from myself and the boys, there are a few other people I know who celebrate their birthdays in February

First up I am sharing the card I made for my niece Katie

And this second card was made for my dear friend Trish

I have been on a cardmaking frenzy for a few weeks now and with a selection of new dies (from my recent expedition to China !) I have really enjoyed rediscovering my mojo

I have also been commissioned by my cousin to create a scrapbook album as a wedding present for his best friend and his soon-to-be wife as a wedding gift

I must admit to really enjoying the process of working with photos again and feel determined to also rekindle my love for scrapbook pages. So far I have only created one layout since we moved home and that was over a year ago, so I will have plenty of photos to tackle - watch this space !

Love and good intentions

Tracey

xxx

Happy new year ( in April )

Please excuse the randomness of my next few posts

We have enjoyed a busy couple of months and I have lots of crafty makes to share - far too numerous to upload to one post, so I am intending to share them over the next few days until I am all caught up again

There is no rhyme or reason to their posting so please don't get confused by the lack of chronological order

It has been a stunningly sunny and beautiful day here in Cornwall

I took advantage of the agreeable weather and spent all morning mowing and tidying the garden, it looks much happier for a prune and spruce up

I  am now cream-crackered and fit for not much else, hence an hour or two faffing with photos and updating the old blog 

Here are some "happy new year " cards I made back in January. I don't usually make this type of card, but, with so many friends living at the other end of the country, I think it is a lovely way to keep in touch

I used the same stack of papers and ribbon for each card, in an attempt to cut down on procrastination ( and mess !)

And here they are, all close up and personal, so you can see the details and the foiling in the papers

Personally we have had a good start to the new year but unfortunately a few of my close friends and family have not been so lucky, many of them seem to be dogged by misfortune and /or ill-health, there will be several get well cards to share in the next few days

Neil and I have been to our first festival of the year, Winters End in Poole - Dorset

I also managed to sneak some time, a whole afternoon to spend with my lovely friend Pat who has recently moved to Bournemouth, it was like we had not been apart and we were chatting and giggling away, both enjoying the same naughty humour

- as always !

Robbie came with us and we camped in the campervan, in the middle of a forest - in february - yes we are a little bit bonkers

The festival was fantastic, some amazing talent, bands we were familiar with and some new ones too

The three days were an absolute blast and the weather, although cold, behaved itself and kept dry and sunny. Thankfully all the gigs were indoors, so no need for wellies and woolies.

See you tomorrow with another little update and some more crafty bits to share

Love and sunny kisses

Tracey

xxx

A little vintage christmas

And we are now on the home run, just a couple more batches of cards to share

I have very much depleted my christmas craft stash this year and have already bought a lovely paper pad in the sales from The Range, with which to make a start on next years cards

On a side note I can't believe how many reductions are already in place. There are lots of bargains to be had in the shops, as, no doubt, the retailers are already preparing for their Easter displays

Again, lots of layering, lots of die cuts, not very mail friendly but, hey ho, that's just the way I roll

I have definitely rekindled my passion for paper and have a few projects planned for the new year.  Who knows, I might even partake in a challenge or two just to keep my momentum and my mojo

I hope whatever you are doing this Christmas Eve, you are doing it with your loved ones, I hope you are warm and well and looking forward to tomorrow

I am sending each and every one of my readers, much love and lots of kind wishes for Christmas and the new year

If you have loved ones that are no longer with us, and you are struggling with the season,  I wish you peace, and the ability to cherish the memories you have

Take good care of yourselves and your loves

I will be back over the next couple of days but I am going to schedule the posts this evening as I am going to limit my online time over the next few days

Merry Christmas

Love and warm wishes

Tracey

xxx

And Christmas resumes

Good evening

I have another batch of Christmas cards to share with you tonight

I bought a lovely 8" paper pad from the Range last year and these Vintage style papers have been a joy to work with

The Christmas tree stamp is by Stampin' Up and the little wooden reindeer was bought in The Works last year

I seem to have amassed a great deal of DL sized envelopes so tried to use a few up this year

The house die below is an old Spellbinders die, the poinsettias are Marianne, sentiment is Stampin' Up and the trees were made using deckle edged scissors as I didn't have dies small enough for these trees

This next lamppost is a Tim Holtz die, sentiment is once again Stampin' Up

I thought I was almost through sharing all my christmas cards, but checking my camera tonight I still have a fair few to blog. I hope I am not boring everyone with them

I am not sure I will be able to keep this blogging pace up once all the christmas crafts have been shared, but I must admit to having found my crafting mojo lately, so, who knows, maybe next year will be more creative

So, what do you do when you lose your mojo, hit a wall, lack inspiration

Here's 5 ideas to kickstart your creative flow

1. Use the internet for inspiration, join sites that post photos of the crafts you enjoy

I love 

Pinterest

Scrapbook.com

UK Scrappers

2. Connect with other bloggers, create a reading list on your preferred device of creative bloggers whose style makes you want to reach for your supplies

3. Reorganise your crafting space and supplies. Oftentimes, just reacquainting yourself with your bits and bobs is enough to spur you into action, have your favourite colours and styles to hand and make your crafting space comfortable and easy to use

4. Join a class or club. Sharing ideas with your fellow members and taking a course can help you to think outside your creative box, trying new techniques and sharing them with others is inspiration itself. My favourite part of running my classes when I had the shop was "show and tell", I loved it when class members brought in their makes from home and know they inspired me as well as all the other class members

5. If all else fails GO SHOPPING ! Treat yourself to a new piece of equipment, a magazine or a book of ideas. Something as simple and as inexpensive as a beautiful sheet of patterned paper, some pretty ribbon or a new die is often enough to create a little spark of creativity 

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

White christmas

Aside from the little forest of christmas tree cards that I made, the other style of christmas card was these, which I also made in abundance

Again I went with a production line of die-cutting, inking and tearing, making the job much more organised and easy than had I created all the cards totally unique

The music paper was some that I had from my shop, I believe it was originally from Payperbox and the rest of the elements are die cuts, the sentiment stamp is one from Stampin' Up

Although this method of mass production was easier I did miss the challenge of coming up with completely original designs for each card so I think for next year I am going to start earlier ( maybe even one card a week all through the year as I keep promising myself) - well thats the theory but I have been aiming to do this for the last four years !!! 

Love and white winter wishes

Tracey

xxx