Guinea Pigs

I've just sent an email out to some of my more forthright friends to ask their opinions on my 'bits for sale'.

If and when (no - it will be when!)) I get any feedback from them, I'm planning to make any necessary changes and then send out a mail shot to all previous recipients of my stuff to try and drum up a bit of interest.

And in the meantime, I still need to make more bits!!!  I've been doing a bit of jewellery the last few days so will upload that soon.  Except for the nasty green one that I made last night!!

And so dear readers, if you have any comments, criticism or advice you would like to share, please feel free to do so.  I doubt I will cry for long...

First ever craft fair

Been a bit quiet of late.  Rest assured I have been making things but I haven't quite got time to upload them yet.

My big news is that I have finally got round to booking a table at a craft fair at the end of March.  It's only a small fair (I hope) in a community hall but it will be my first assault on the public so I'm looking forwards to it and am a teensy bit nervous.  I've been getting a lot of support from my friends on Trimcraft and am now trying to get a good selection of cards together as I've been asked not to take too much jewellery.

I've also enquired about a space at a table top sale in the middle of February so I really do need to pull my finger out!!!

Allow me to explain..

..not quite so tired now but still going to bed early tonight.

Dominic Cooper was trying to kill me.  I kept having nightmares and woke up three or four times throughout the night.

It  was in a park at the top of a hill and there was a bald man with glasses and wearing a raincoat who was stuck in a giant rubbish bin.

If anyone would like to analyse that, feel free.  And it's had a chronic effect on my creative output as I've only made two and a half cards in the last two days.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzz

I am sooooo tired.  I blame that nasty Dominic Cooper.

Friday Night output

Been busy again tonight.  I can't remember the last time I made this many cards in such a short space of time!
(two per night is lot for me!)

Oh look it's my Daisy Sugar Nellie stamp again!

Plain brown card, I think the stripey paper is K&Co and the flowers are from Wild Orchid.

I'm entering this into Friday Sketchers - sketch challenge

My Time To Craft - chocolate

Cute Card Thursday - monochrome

This is just a card wot I made

Daylight Bulb

My daylight bulb arrived this morning (actually it's my second one but the first one got broken in the post).
What a difference it makes.  And as it's a low heat energy bulb, I won't now be scalding my head on the desk lamp every time I create.

Here is one of the cards I made last night.  I was going to enter it into the Polka Doodles challenge but failed to realise that it was already Friday and the challenge had closed!!  Ah well, I'm sure someone will like it and one of these days I really will get the hang of all these deadlines.

Stamp is from Magnolia

Flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts (see sidebar)

So far, I have entered it into 2 Sisters 'Gettin' Girly' challenge.

Chuffed

So here's the new baby card.  I printed off a colouring page from the web and whilst watching the football on the telly on Saturday afternoon, I did my own decoupaging of the image and then coloured it.

I then sat back and waited to see if the baby was a boy or a girl (not due until Saturday).  Lo and behold we have a new girlie in the world as of this morning so I was able to fold some pink cardstock and do a pink label and make this.

It's not the most complicated card I've ever made, but I'm sooooooo pleased with it.

I've entered it into the following blog challenges:  

One Stop Craft - Card for a child

Crafty Emma's - All creatures great and small

Creative Card Crew - More than one fold

Fuzzy Wuzzy Challenges - Anything Goes (animal as main theme)

Ellephantastic - New Beginnings

Stamp, Scrap and Doodle Saturdays - New Beginnings

Looks like Jessica chose a good week to arrive as far as tying in with challenge themes goes!

 x x x

A mixed up day

A strange day today.  Started off well, as my friend gave birth to her second healthy baby girl this morning (that's my next card!), I got loads of work done and managed to tidy up the office as well.  But then we got a very irritating letter in the post which undid all of the jolliness.

Not to worry.  I have just made this card and killed THREE birds with one stone.  It's a 2nd birthday card for my friend's eldest daughter and I'm going to enter it into two challenges....

First entry is into the Sugar Bowl sketch challenge, second is Charisma Cardz second birthday celebration challenge - handy for me that I had a second birthday card to make as it will now double count in the challenge.

The card blank is one I bought from my local craft shop - Pennies Worth, everything else is from my stash.  Obviously I've used one of my favourite Sugar Nellie stamps again...

I really should probably start using some different stamps again soon....!

A productive evening

Well I clearly have the challenge bug today.  I've done two cards tonight and will be entering them into three challenges...

This first card will be entered into the Colour Create challenge, the colour scheme being 'pink, white and red'.  I've also followed the sketch for the Friday Sketchers' challenge.

My second card has been made with the Daisy stamp from Sugar Nellie.  I love, love, love these stamps and although it's not being sold by Funky Kits any more, I finally managed to get my own copy and can't wait to make more cards with it.  This one will be entered into the Paper Take Weekly challenge which is 'Anything Goes'.

Think I'll have to do some paperwork for hubby tomorrow so I hope this little wave of enthusiasm doesn't leave me before Monday.

At last!

I am finally happy with the blog as it is at the moment.  Sorted the photos, moved my 'gadgets' around, added some links and even entered some challenges.  I'm now trying to get together a list of other challenges to remind me to enter each week which in turn will hopefully get my card library bulging at the seams again ready for the craft fairs that I still haven't found out about....

I'm hoping to get a bit of carding done tonight as soon as the kids are in bed so it looks like I'm finally getting somewhere!

Enjoy your Saturday evenings!

Ooooh and Oooooh

Ooooh look at me!  Two posts in two days.  And Ooooh: THIS (as long as I can work out how to do it!) is going to be my first ever blog challenge entry

It's for the sketch challenge at Lili of the Valley whose stamps I love.  I'm looking forward to their new release on 11th January.  My plea would be that we need more male themed stamps please although theirs really are the best around at the moment

Unfortunately, I can't really give you a list of stuff used (other than the LOTV stamp and my Martha Stewart edger punch on the pink paper) as everything else was from my stash and is totally unidentifiable!

If I can get this entered then I'm going to let loose and run free and find blog challenges all over the place.  Waheeeee.

A bit of housekeeping

Hey ho.  Still trying to get into the habit of popping on here.  If I remembered to update this as regularly as I went shopping on eBay then this would already be hundreds of pages long!!

A while ago, Sandra (her blog link is disguised as David Boreanaz on the right) very kindly awarded me this:

(Probably as a kick up the bum to get the blog sorted out!!!)

The rules of the award are as follows:

1. Thank the person who sent it to you
2. Say 8 things about yourself
3. Tag 4 other bloggy friends
4. Let THEM know

1. Thank you lovely Sandra.  I really appreciate the support you've been giving me!

So I now have to decide how much I dare to share....

1. I've been crafting for about 7 years and just love the way it lets me switch off from everything else
2. I've just started making jewellery and am really enjoying it (but still prefer my cards at the mo!)
3. I just don't get Scrapbooking!
4. I am very partial to a beer.  Or wine. Or Southern Comfort.
5. I am cleverer than I look
6. I am an eternal optimist and don't understand why anyone would want to be anything else
7. My best holiday was in the Maldives and it is my ambition to go and see the Northern Lights (somewhere cold!)
8. My kids are my world.

And onto my bloggy friends....

1. Sharon - Ratz4ever - has given me a lot of useful bits of help setting this up and is also one of my main suppliers of craft items!
2. Sharon - Sharon79 - supportive of swaps and challenges I've set up in the past and has some lovely cards on her blog
3. Christa - probably as loopy as me and definitely proud of it
4. Jenni - CardMadFairy - a marathon crafter and has just shown my how to do something I've wanted to do for ages!!

Now I'm sure all these ladies will already have got this award but they definitely deserve it again.

x x x x x x x 

1-1-11

Many of my friends have been posting "start as you mean to go on" so I've paid proper attention and am sitting here with a nice cold pint of lager LOL.

I'm nearly ready to email my previous "customers" (all of whom were completely unofficial and friends) with details of my blog and all that I can now offer them in the hope that they will spread the word among their friends too.

Unfortunately I can't get the blasted email link to work so they will be able to look at stuff all they like but email me? Nah.

I am giving up for the time being as I need to cook tea.  I'm going to put last night's fireworks on iplayer for the children (weren't they BRILLIANT?!) and wish you all a very happy 2011.

As an edit to this post, I'm entering this card into the challenge at The Creative Cottage which is 'something new'.  It's a card I've sent to a few of my buddies instead of a Christmas card (just to let them know I'm still thinking of them!)  The sentiment was generated in word and the stamp is from Sugar Nellie - Fizz by Leanne Ellis.  Just added some glossy accents to the bottle and a bit of bling for the bubbles.