Yuck, housework!

The most boring thing in the world is - housework!  The only saving grace was the lousy weather,  housework is even worse if the sun is shining.   So flat is now all shiny and clean,  and I am sore and stiff.

So with all the housework out of the way I got on with making mum's birthday card,  I used the free kit I got from the craft shop,  picked up an A4 card pack,  and made use of some mirri board, gems and flowers.   I scalloped the edges of the mirri and patterned card,  then used the trimmings on the opposite side,  recoloured two white flowers and fixed them with some jewelled brads.  Not bad methinks!  Still got some of the decoupage left over, so I'll get two cards out of the kit. 

Also need to make plans for a chunky book page swap,  think it best to have a trial run.  Got some thick card, but it is textured so not sure if it will be suitable.  There is a craft fair coming up, so I am hoping to pick up some bargains there,  need to stock up on photo glue, and pin flair.    It's Mother's Day on Sunday,  so must get mum a present,  she is in reading mode at the moment. Have to take her to see GP tomorrow, they keep messing up her prescription for the antibiotics so I made an appointment with the GP, that we hopefully we can get it all sorted out and have the antibiotics included on her repeat script.   This all could have been done and dusted on Monday if the receptionist had let mum see the GP then,  instead she got told the GP would write a script, well he did but for the wrong thing and wrong amount. 

Well after our grey and rainy day we  have a lovely evening,  think there must be a nice sunset over the river. 

Ugh the clocks went forward!

The only time I've ever liked the clocks going forward was when I used to do night shifts.  I was due at a drumming workshop today so thought it best to set the bedroom clock an hour forward before I went to sleep.   

It wasn't a nice day to wake up to either, cold, grey.. yuck.  But I had a great time at the workshop,  definitely improving, picking up rhythms now much easier.  But came back with another drum!  Not a djembe, but a Japanese tongue drum!   Elaine was encouraging us all to try it,  think half ended up buyin one.  A very gentle sound,  it is like a wooden box.  Oops have pic... hang on, will upload it.   And you get a lolly with it!   We had a mini session on it,  that persuaded a few more to buy one,  there was one duff one in the box,  one of the tongues had split.  I got two, one for a friend whose birthday is coming up soon. 

First pic is of a bookatrix card I made, my second one,  I wasn't really getting on with the bookatrix board till I realised I wasn't using the right sized embossing tool.  You need a 6 mm,  so got one last week and so gave it another go,  I also used the tumble dryer sheets to make the card slick,  and yippee, it worked!  Feel much happier with this bookatrix card than the first one I made.   The unicorn came from a kanban kit, think it is called fantasy, it has two unicorn designs and two castles.  Perfect for my friends.  Just used 3 layers,  now feel more confident in having a go at making a christening card for my new nephew. 

Well the day started all grey, but it ended with blue sky and sunshine,  by mid afternoon it had warmed up nicely.  Long may it continue!

Hope you all had a good weekend, thanks for stopping by.

Another sunny day

Wow, a sunny and warm week,  so nice to be outside with the warmth of the sun.  Managed to at last wash my car,  and found some unwanted scratches on the roof, can only think that happened at the garden centre, some wally obviously dragged something scratchy over my car.  Luckily I had some of that scratch repair stuff, so managed to eliminate them all.  They were too random to be deliberate, but even so I just wish people would take more care around other cars.
Had a nice day,  woke up early,  5 a.m.,  nice... NOT.   So had a very early breakfast,   felt hungry and knew I'd never go back to sleep if I didn't eat something.  So had porridge,  and yep, went back to sleep.   But I didn't want to oversleep as I had to be at my meditation class just after ten.   Did wonder if the hair needed washing, but just about got away with some wax and a fluff up.    Mum wasn't so good,  she was having a bit of a downer,  but I've come to realise that I am not responsible,  she has friends, she has and does get invited to do stuff, she just chooses not to.  Luckily my sister skyped late afternoon, so that cheered her up. 
On my way back from my meditation class I called in at the new craft shop, it does have all I want, and the staff are so friendly.  Just intended to get two things, a set of grey pro marker pens and a blender...  came away with two card kits and the other stuff, had to stop myself from buying more.   They just have so much lovely stuff. 
Best explain pic, it is a birthday card made for me by Frances, a member of a craft group I belong to,  she knew I loved dolphins and so came up with this amazing stepper card. 
All for now folks.

Spring has sprung

At last some lovely weather to boast about.  Today was glorious,  quite warm and very sunny.   I went for a drive to hobbycraft, felt it was time to spend my vouchers.  I did have two things on a 'must have' list, glue for the slice machine, and a 6mm embossing tool for my bookatrix board, after that it was finding treats for me.  Was half tempted by a dolls house, well a dolls folly,  I've always wanted to build a dolls house, had one as a child and loved it.  This folly was just the right price, but then a flowersoft starter kit caught my eye, it is something I've wanted to have a go at for a while now.  So that came home with me, plus some boring stuff like peel offs,  card stock. 

So with my kit I decided to have a go,  followed all the instructions, very unlike me!  The kit had two pots of flowersoft, plus wires,  glue and some toppers,  and all the toppers need to be cut out.    But got to work, followed the instructions to make the above card,  I was quite chuffed with it,  it still needs a few finishing touches.    I'd also watched some of CnC this morning, I do like the glitter girls, what they make is not always to my liking, but they are so bubbly.  But then the presenter was trying to encourage people to spend money, saying that if they spent £100 they'd save £20 - who has that much to spend on craft stuff?    I do find the CnC website a bit of a faff, QVC is much easier to order from.  Both have their pluses and minuses,  CnC offers multiple postage,  QVC doesn't, which is a pain.   On CnC they do let the crafters craft,  but I'm not keen on all the CD stuff,  on QVC the crafters are rushed so can't really show any techniques - I wish they'd learn that we'd buy more if we could see proper crafting.

All for now...

Frazzled

I've been busy dejunking and decluttering for last few weeks to try to make room for a spare bed.  Finally got there.   A friend is coming to stay so I wanted to see if I could get two beds in my bedroom, and with some tweaking I've managed it.   Also discovered more junk in cloakroom,  some old wing mirrors for the corsa, both are damaged,  so no idea why I had still got them. 
It was also my birthday this week,  had an impromptu party after the drumming class, it was someone else's birthday the next day, so we had a double celebration.    Lots of new faces at the drumming class,  not quite sure how we all fitted in to the room.  Probably just as well we are using an old barn, and it doesn't have any houses nearby!   But we had a fab time,   I confused 3 of the newbies, they had lost the rhythm so were trying to pick it up from me, only I lead with my left hand which threw them.  Did some drumming practice today,  trying to get my bass, tone and slap figured out, the bass is the easy bit, you hit the drum in the centre,  but the tone and slap are similar and you strike the drum round the edge.   I'll keep at it. 
Yesterday I blitzed the flat, gave it a spring clean,   almost gave myself concussion as head met shelf!   Exhausted by the end of the day.   But it did look nice. 
Last weekend I visited a new craft shop which has opened up in a garden centre.   Went to take a look and was very impressed,  but also fear for a friend whose craft shop will suffer as a result.  The new craft shop is Do Crafts, so has all the latest stuff, plus they had lots of Tim Holtz stuff,  I hadn't intended to buy much but did, and then got a free gift.  The staff were all very nice,  easy to chat to and helpful.   My friend's craft shop just can't compete,  I do try to support her when I can, but she doesn't have much for the paper crafter or in scrapbooking,  she is a very talented maker of crafts,  cuddly toys, bags etc. 
Posted pic of a box that I decorated for a friend,  used a new stamp I got from the new shop, a star sign stamp, then realised I'd got the wrong star sign, so just used the fairy.   I stamped onto some super white card, which they always plug on CnC,  must say I was impressed,  it took the stamp and really worked well with the pro markers.  I also did some of the inking round the sides:

Using the stuff from the Tim Holtz TSV, now really starting to get the hang of it, tho I had mislaid the blender tool, got no idea where I've put it, so made do with a sponge,  but liked the effect.  I used plain old photo card, which works for me, even tho Tim says it doesn't work on photo paper.  This isn't even the expensive stuff.   The idea was that my friend could put her singing bowl in it, but not sure it will be big enough...   bother.
Got the boxes from the shop, thought there would be the usual 3,  but there were 4, so a nice surprise.  They said they were getting more and more stock in, so will have to keep popping in. 

Thanks for stopping by.