60th birthday, 2nd card

As promised yesterday, here is the second card I made for my lovely friend Sue

This one was made for the girls at work to sign

There are three panels as you unfold this card, so plenty of space for all the girls to sign

We had a wonderful day out, afternoon tea at the local garden centre and delicious it was too.

Many thanks to Sue's husband Paul and the ever lovely Jenny for helping to make the special day happen, it was all a surprise to Sue so it did take some planning !

xxx

Journalling cards

I often accumulate little bits and bobs intended for one purpose and eventually end up using them for something entirely different

In this case, I had a little stack of journalling cards, bought for adding words to my scrapbook pages and now being used for matting and layering on my cards

Note to self, must start scrapbooking again !

Yes still wading my way through the last 6 months worth of cards, I can't even remember who I sent some of them to !

xxx

Happy birthday

Playing catch up

Another birthday card, this one was for someone special

Lots of distressing and tearing, shabby chic and ultra feminine, my favourite kind of card to make

There will be no order, or rhyme or reason to the order in which I share my makes from the last 3 months, I just aim to upload and blog my way through my camera roll. 

Love and kisses

Tracey

xxx

Ann number 2

Good evening, as promised I am here to share the second Ann's birthday card

I used the same instructions as yesterdays card for the base, but instead of keeping the three layers in stepped increments, I cut diagonally all across the top

Papers are from the Poundshop of all places, dies are from China and flowers are Prima and Wild Orchid crafts

Sentiment and punch used to make the sentiment plate are both Stampin' Up

The butterflies were fussy cut from the patterned paper

I really like this variation of fold and can see me using it time and time again, I might have a go at making it in a larger size

Love and butterflies

Tracey

xxx

Ann number 1

I had two friends with birthdays in the same month, both called Ann, so I cheated and created variations on the same design

This first one was inspired by a gorgeous card I found on Pinterest 

I followed the Pinterest link and Lyssa gave brilliant instructions to the fold, you can find the instructions HERE if you fancy giving it a go

It was a little awkward to photograph, it unfolds concertina style and folds back up  - flat,  to fit into a standard envelope

I really like the graduated sizes of the three layers, thankyou for the inspiration Lyssa

I will be back tomorrow with a variation on the design that I altered to create a card for Ann number 2

Love and fancy folds

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 18th AJ

And today my 'baby' turns 18

18 !!!!!!!!!!

How on earth did that happen, where did those years disappear

How is my baby now 18 and 6ft 6in tall ?????

If you are a parent to a baby or toddler, cherish every single precious second, for in the blink of an eye, that tiny bundle of joy is all grown and you wonder how the hell it happened so fast

Happy birthday darling, love you and proud of the lovely young man you have grown to be

Love and cherished moments

Tracey

xxx

Happy birthday Dawn

A little break from all the christmas crafting this evening

Tonight I have a birthday card to share

This one was created for my lovely friend Dawn

I used a Prima luggage tag as the background, most of the flowers are Prima too with the small roses coming from Wild Orchid Crafts

Stamped sentiment is one of my favourites from Stampin' Up

Hope you have a lovely day Dawn and are spoiled rotten by your family, much love from us all

Love and birthday kisses

Tracey

xxx

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

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

Pretty in peach

Back to girlie and floral ( much more my comfort zone)

This card was made for my lovely friend Trish, it was her birthday at the beginning of the month but I have just found these images on my camera

I am so longing for all these wet and windy storms to pass and had Spring in my mind when I made this card, hence the colour palette

Hope this lumpy bumpy card made it through the post in one piece, I really just can't get my head round doing postal friendly flat cards

I have a couple of very special cards to make this evening for an event we are going to at the weekend, so I will be back to share those very shortly

Love and spring wishes

Tracey

xxx

Pretty in pink

Hello

It has been a little while since my last post

We have joined a gym, Neil and I

Neil for physio reasons, he's trying to strengthen his knee after his op and to regain some of the lost muscle on his left side and therefore hopefully regaining a little of his strength and co-ordination

And me, well, I need to shift these pounds before I get to the big 50 or I fear they may never go

I am eating fully vegan now, for health as well as ethical reasons, many thanks to Amy and Ben for all their help and advice and their inspiration in the first place, love you two xxx

I lost just over a stone by going vegan and then a plateau hit and so Neil joined me at the gym as part of my christmas gift, thankyou sweetheart xxx

I have to say I have had gym memberships on and off for years, but this time it just feels right. I love my gym - Snap fitness in St Austell, the staff are lovely and helpful, the gym is brand new and immaculate with absolutely tons of equipment, it is bright and cheerful and I actually look forward to going - that's a first !

We have been working out for a month and I didn't weigh myself at all in the first four weeks. To my dismay I lost only one pound when I jumped on the scales this week, I was gutted, I had worked bloody hard, weights and cardio, five days a week for four weeks

Neil urged me to measure and to not get hung up on what the scale reads, I was sceptical but did as I was told

I had taken my measurements at the beginning of January and when I repeated them I was gobsmacked

All in all I have lost 12 inches in total - 12 bloody inches - wow !!!! that's 30 cm, 300 mm, you get the gist - I am pretty happy with that

The scales have now been consigned to their hiding place under the bed, and, from now on I am just going to go by the mirror and my measurements

So that's the reason I have fallen behind with my blogging and cardmaking

But the upside of all this exercise is, at first it nearly killed me, I was sleeping for England, but now I have more energy, more motivation and my sleeping has returned to a normal pattern once again

I feel motivated to do more, more of everything, exercising, cardmaking, crafting, even cleaning, literally everything !

Woohoo, go me !

So, enough of the update, I am sure I have bored you all to tears

I have a card to share, I made this for my lovely friend Gillian

I used a Martha Stewart border punch and a lattice Nestability die to create the whitework

The leafy scroll is an old Marianne die and the flowers were made using a Stampin' Up stamp and punch set

The sentiment is also Stampin' Up as is the punch I used to cut it out

Gillian is currently nursing a poorly shoulder so I am sending her all my love and hoping she feels much better soon

Love and lost inches

Tracey

xxx

Happy birthday Mary

Todays card is for my very special neighbour Mary who has been such a special friend to me, since we moved next door 18 months ago

Mary and I share very similar interests, have the same sense of humour and got along from the first time we met. 

I feel as though I have always known Mary and honestly couldn't wish for a more lovely neighbour or friend

The papers are from Provocraft, the greeting and little heart topper from Making Cards magazine, the dies are Spellbinders and Marianne dies

Love and friendship

Tracey

xxx

Amy's card

One person I know I can make a card full of girlie goodness for is my beautiful daughter Amy

She loves flowers and bunnies and the colour pink

I used papers and an image from a magazine

The flowers are mainly from Prima and Wild Orchid Crafts

The tag die is an oldie but goodie from Marianne and the stamp is from Stampin' Up

I absolutely loved making this card and Amy loved it too ( I knew she wouldn't be able to resist the bunny !)

I think that is me all caught up from the last few weeks of cardmaking.  I now, really must, crack on with Christmas!

Love and bunny kisses

Tracey

xxx

Janice's card

As promised, I have another card for another friend today to share. This one is for Janice who works with me and taught me how to use our till at work ( no mean feat I can tell you !)

Janice is very quiet, but has a wicked sense of humour, we hit it off straight away and I love working with her, we share many a quiet giggle or cheeky comment

I used papers by Craftwork cards and a couple that I can't remember where they are from, I swear my memory is getting worse

The stamp is another Stampin' Up one and the flowers are mainly Prima, my scalloped card bases were bought from our local The Range ( just down the road from me and very handy for the basics)

Nearly there with all the catching up, one more extra special one for tomorrow and then I think I ought to get cracking on the Christmas crafting ( nothing like leaving it until the last minute - I never change !)

Love and kisses

Tracey

xxx

Jude's card

Another card from a few weeks back ( noticing a trend ?)

This card was made for one of my lovely work colleagues Jude

Jude is a veritable font of local knowledge and has always been so sharing of that knowledge, she has helped me find some gorgeous local beaches and walks and has always made me so welcome at work

Jude loves black and white and lots of bright colours too, we share a love of art and so we always have something to talk about

I honestly can't remember the name of the papers I used here, they were from a pack gifted to me a while ago from one of my lovely friends at the shop. The flowers are all Prima and the stamp is from Stampin' Up

And yes you guessed it, I will be back tomorrow with another card for another friend that I completed a little while ago ( I am determined to get caught up !)

Love and late postings

Tracey

xxx

Sue's card

Another card from a few weeks back, this one was made for my lovely friend Sue

Sue is my boss at work, but she is also a good friend. She has gone above and beyond when it comes to Neil and I settling here in Cornwall, always happy to share tips and tricks, ideas of places to walk the dog, do some shopping or for a lovely day out. We have a very similar sense of humour and share the same values when it comes to friends, family and our furry friends, all in all I couldn't wish for a nicer boss or a more lovely friend

Thankyou for everything Sue xxx

I know Sue loves lime green and she is a very feminine lady, so I loved making this girlie card with lots of flowers and beautiful colours

I used K and Co papers, Prima flowers and Nestability dies

Back tomorrow with another girlie card for another friend

Love and friendship

Tracey

xxx