Happy Birthday Jenny .........

Happy Thursday ......... I think!

It's been a funny old week, not sure what day it's been for most of it ...... Wednesday was Thursday, I thought today was Friday, roll on the weekend!!

I have been in my craft room though, which is a good thing.  

It took me a while to get anything done because, after the big tidy up a few weeks ago I couldn't remember where anything was!  I'll get there, eventually.  

It was also a bit weird having hubby in there too (did I mention we're now sharing an office!!)  

Anyway, I had a very special card to make (even made a box for it too!) because, one of my lovely crafty friends had a very special birthday earlier this week .......

 

Yes, it was Jenny's 80th birthday ....... WOW!  so you can understand why it had to be a special card.

It's 8x8 inches finished size (not a size I make very often) and I couldn't find any 8x8 envelopes (goodness knows where I've put those!!!) hence the box.

I used the pretty Blooming Branch stamp set from Pink Fresh Studio.  Stamped and heat embossed in gold onto white cardstock and then coloured using Distress Inks and a water brush.

I stamped and coloured the image a few times, and then cut them out using the co-ordinating cutting die

I stamped my greeting in the centre of a piece of white cardstock

and then arranged the die cuts around the edges to form a frame, overlapping them in places to add a touch of depth and dimension

Once I was happy with the arrangement,  I attached the die cuts using foam pads and then trimmed off the excess around the edges, keeping any larger pieces that I cut off.  I did a bit of matting and layering before attaching the panel to the front of my cardblank.

A few splatters of gold ink and some pretty gemstones finished off the front nicely.

Inside the card, I stamped and coloured the pretty floral branch again and I also used one of the die cut pieces I'd trimmed from the front of the card

I was so pleased when I actually remembered how to make a box ....... first attempt too!!  

I kept things clean and simple, but matched the card perfectly!

Can I just say, I'm loving the new Polished Embossing Powders from WOW!, they are soooo shiny!  They come in Gold and Silver, Regular and Super Fine and they are gorgeous! If you love your heat embossing, you need to try them.

Well that's it for now.  

Thanks for popping by ...... enjoy the rest of your day.

Cheerio until next time .......

Hello .... is there anybody there?

Hello there ........ Happy weekend to you.

That's if any of you are still visiting my poor old neglected blog.

What can I say ..... it's been a while!  

Such a lot has happened since my last post, way back at the beginning of July.  

I think this has been the longest break I've had from blogging since I started this journey back in 2012.  

It's also been a break from craft too, I haven't spent any time in my craft room except to de-stash the place, which I seemed to be doing on a regular basis.  

Hopefully that's all done now though, and I think I'm actually ready to start using what's left in there ...... that's if I can remember what everything's for!

I won't bore you with all the details of the last 12 weeks, just to say life hasn't been boring!  Lots of family time spent here on the island, with birthday celebrations, wedding anniversaries and all that, and the odd BBQ here and there.  School holidays have been and gone,  we welcomed our new ferry to the island .... the Manxman.

It looks like a cruise ship.  We haven't had the pleasure of sailing on her yet but hopefully it won't be long

I don't know if I've mentioned before about hubby's back pain he's had for a while.  Well,  he finally got to see someone about it, had an MRI scan and was quickly referred to a specialist spinal surgeon in Liverpool a few weeks ago.   We thought he was going to have to have surgery but, thankfully he doesn't need it ....... that was such a relief!  

Funnily enough, his back got considerably better when he was made redundant from his job at the end of August.  Something that wasn't in our immediate plans but hey!, it didn't really come as too much of a shock.   

These things happen I suppose, and I'm sure something new will crop up.  As one door closes another one opens, isn't that what they say.   

Plus, the surgeon did say at the time, the best treatment he could recommend for Stephen's back was ...... to change his job!!  Well that's seemed to work.

It does mean that we can spend more time in the motorhome though .... every cloud!

Speaking of which, we have just got back from our latest trip ..... the Cotswolds, Somerset, North Wales and Chester this time.  We enjoyed some of that glorious Indian summer that was in the UK which was nice.

Lauren and Alex joined us for a few days in Somerset before he went back to school.  It's years since we've been there but it hasn't changed much.

We visited Cheddar Gorge and the caves ......

Climbed Jacobs Ladder ...... all the way to the top (well, they did!)

We went to Wookey Hole ...... just look at all that cheese!

And we also had a day in Bath ....... Alex enjoyed his trip around the Roman Baths 

and, he learned to use chopsticks in a Japanese restaurant.  If you're ever in Bath, and you love Japanese food you need to try out Robun ...... the food was amazing!!

We also met up with Chris, Myra and Arthur on this trip.  

We spent the day at Chester Zoo for Arthur's 2nd birthday.  I can't believe he's two, he's growing up so fast.  

Craft wise, I've not much to report really.  I haven't been doing anything.  

I have been visiting my usual blogs occasionally, so I've been keeping up with most of you, a little bit. I always like to see what everyone is up to, and I love all the fabulous inspiration from you guys.

I do apologise for the lack of comments though.  I am looking to change that so you might see a little bit more of me now.  

I've also been keeping up with the new product releases, although I haven't actually bought that much, maybe that will change too once it starts to get a little more festive!

The only other bit of news I have is that I've stood down from the Sweet Poppy Stencils Design Team.  

It was a really hard decision for me to make, as it always is when leaving a design team, but, I felt it was the right time.

Now, for once in a very long time, there's no pressure or deadlines I need to work to.  I can take my time and explore through all my stash again, and create just for me! 

 

Don't get me wrong, I loved being on all the Design Teams I've been privileged to be part of, and I'm not saying that I don't want to do it all again,  just not right now.

I'm hoping that this break has done me some good and that I can enjoy spending time in my craft room again.  I've got some online workshops to complete, I want to do more in my journals and of course the 'C' word is on it's way so,  I need to start thinking about Christmas cards!  All inspiration will be gratefully received!

Well, I think that's it for now.  

Thanks for popping by.  

Have a lovely weekend and I hope to see you all again very soon.

Cheerio until next time .......