Spiderman

Masculine cards are always a challenge ( do I hear a collective sigh of agreement ? )

If in doubt, I try and find a hobby/interest/theme pertinent to the person I am making the card for - not everyone appreciates an abundance of flowers and frills

This card was for my daughter's boyfriend Ben, who is into all manner of interesting topics, this year I decided to opt for Spiderman and used an old Cuttlebug embossing folder for the textured background

The sentiment is a Stampin' Up one

Simple but effective I think

xxx

Thankful

 Happy New Year

My first card of the year is a thankyou card

I created a variation on the standard stepper card with a double step in the centre

I used a mix of old dies and new dies. I just love my new cha cha cha dandelion dies

The leaves are Marianne, as is the fancy tag in the centre, the green centres to the flowers are an old Martha Stewart snowflake punch and the butterflies are a cut and emboss folder from Stampin' Up

The extra step in the centre of the card adds a little more dimension and an extra surface to decorate

I hope you have all had a lovely new years day

We have spent a peaceful and very restful day at home, a long lie in followed by a roast lunch and not much else to be honest - bliss !

Love and happy new year 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

Little letters of love

Hello again

This is the last of my New Years Cards

I made this one for my very special friend Beryl

I really enjoyed making these cards and will definitely be doing some more next year. But, by far the best bit, was sitting down and writing the letters I put in them

Not because the notes contained anything profound, they weren't Shakespearean in nature, nor were they full of clever anecdotes or poetic achievements

The fact was, that as I wrote each letter, I indulged myself by thinking about the special people I had written to 

As I jotted down the families activities over the christmas period, I recalled fond memories of times spent talking to the recipients in person, sharing memories, stories, laughing and sharing

I feel very blessed with my family and my friends

The most important things in life are not things !

 Love and little letters of love

Tracey

xxx

Happy Birthday Neil

Happy birthday to my gorgeous hubby

I have been saving these papers for someone special, my lovely friend Jan and I split a pad between us and I have been keeping them aside ( why do we buy papers that we love and then hoard them rather than use them - the mind of a crafter is a scary place !)

The papers are My Minds Eye, I used dies by Nellie Snellen, Spellbinders and Cheery Lynn, the stamps are both Stampin' Up

We have a special date night planned, we will be enjoying an evening late night shopping, followed by a meal at Prezzos and the cinema to finish

Hope you have a lovely day Neil, love you

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

The men in my life

It was Neil's birthday in December

This is the card I made for him

I have free reign to throw a load of flowers on his cards and he doesn't mind me making his a little more feminine, I think he would probably draw the line at pink and sparkles though !

And Dad's birthday was on the 6th January, I used one of my favourite Stamp sets on this, I so enjoy making cards with the 'Lovely as a tree' set from Stampin' Up, the images are so classic

I am so lucky to have the best dad in the world and the best hubby too, must be because I am so bloody perfect ha ha

Love and fabulous menfolk

Tracey

xxx