Birthday Weekend

Hi there, hope you are all enjoying the weekend. I had a wonderful evening yesterday, spent it with my sister and friends; drinking, eating and lots of laughter - just what was needed. Even stayed up watching Synth Britain (I think that was what is was called, I was a little tipsy), music from the 80s followed by Pet Shop Boys at this year's Glastonbury, rounded off a fantastic night. I did feel a little delicate this morning :-)

Today is my husband's birthday. As I have already shared his cards with you I thought I would share a picture of his birthday cake. It was made by the wonderfully talented Jean (check out Jean's blog - Nana Jeannie's Cake Notes). I don't think he wants to cut it yet!! Who can blame him.



Mum's birthday tomorrow and I can not wait to show you her cake - it is so so beautiful. Again another one of Jean's fabulous creations.

No cards to show tonight - they are still works in progress (there hasn't been enough hours in the weekend to fit everything in!).

Have a great evening and thanks for stopping by.

Becki
xx

Almost the weekend

Hi there, hope everyone is ok. Can't believe it's Thursday already, soon be the weekend. I am pleased to say I am feeling vastly improved from yesterday. Not quite sure what had come over me, as I said, it was just one of those days.

Was late home from work tonight so missed getting to my Thursday class. Sorry ladies - hope you are all well and had a good nights crafting :-)

Mum's birthday is at the weekend and have made a card using the Baroque Motif stamp from SU with stazon black ink, the small flowers and "mum" were stamped with Ruby Red, red and black card from my stash and some red ribbon and some gems to finish it off. This was my first attempt with the stamp-a-ma-jig (sorry for those who have already seen this on my facebook page).


Have also done a card for mum from dad, using a Joanna Sheen CD and a couple of peel offs.


Finally have played about with my SU card stock (shock, horror - hardly got any left!), Baroque Motif stamp and my new Martha Stewart punch (different one from the set). Certainly Celery and Lavendar Lace making an appearance tonight.


No post tomorrow night - I'm off to spend a couple of hours with my sister and a bottle of wine (or two). Have a fab Friday.

Becki
xx

Ever had one of those days??

I think I'm having one of those days! Came home from work with a headache and feeling a little rubbish really. After a rest I thought an hour crafting may lift my make me feel better. The headache has lifted, but all I seem to have made is a mess of my craft table! Not strictly true I suppose, here is a little card I put together, but as yet can not decide on the sentiment.

The card stock is SU Old Olive, a reverse side of the Rose Red designer papers, vintage vogue stamp set, ruby red ink, cuttlebug for the circles and finally my new Martha Stewart ribbon punch. The Martha Stewart punches were a bargain from QVC!!


I am sure I will be back on top form tomorrow. Hope you've had a good day.

Becki
xx

Late post

Sorry for the really late post, but it has been a busy day. Firstly a full day at work (boo) followed by an crafty evening at Jo Austin's workshop in Branton. Tonight was the first time I have been to one of Jo's events, but must say I had a nice evening, met some new ladies and of course my friends from Thursday night came along too (thank you Janet for booking my place).

These are the cards we made. The stamp set is from the Big Bold Birthday collection. Now I am going to have a guess at the card stock (I forgot to ask the colours) Chocolate Chip (obviously) Apricot Appeal?? and Regal Rose?? If anyone can correct me please do!!

Finally this is a wedding card made up using SU bridesmaid papers, ribbon and buckle from my stash and the stamp set is Lilly of the Valley (sooo cute).

I have birthdays and weddings coming out of my ears lately - all keeping me very busy.

Hope you have had a good evening.

Becki

xx

On target....

Evening, well I did say I was going to set myself a challenge to make more "manly" cards and I think I am on target. I didn't have a choice really, seeing as though it is my husband's birthday on Saturday :-)

I have made this card with the following SU card stock:-

Close to Cocoa
Creamy Caramel
Chocolate Chip
Old Olive

The sentiment is from Happy Moments (which I think was in the sale-bration earlier in the year) and topper has been dug out from the bottom of my craft stash. The ribbon is Old Olive striped grosgrain.



For those with school age children, I hope you are well prepared to survive the school holidays. For those without - the roads are much quieter on the way to work in a morning :-)

Enjoy your evening

Becki
xx

Today's colour is....

Lilac. It wasn't pre-planned but my cards today all turned out to have lilac in them somewhere.

These two are made using SU Vintage Vogue stamp set, with the colours being SU certainly celery, lavender lace and pale plum. On the larger flower I used the rock and roll technique to give it a little depth. The card on the left was a little too busy, so I didn't stamp the card base on the other card.


The little fairy card is made using one of my stamps, coloured with sakura glitter pens and some paper from my stash.


This one could've done with a little more work, but I love the card stock - think it will be making an appearance a few more times yet.


We managed to get to see Toy Story 3 in 3D today, (the ironing got forgot about, thank goodness no school tomorrow) which we all really enjoyed. The BBQ came out yesterday evening, but the sun decided to go in! However, it didn't spoil a nice tea accompanied by a glass or two of rose.

Hope you have had a good weekend too, it has gone far too quickly.

Thanks for stopping by.

Becki
xx

Something a little different

Morning and a glorious one it is. I was up a little early this morning, so cleaning has commenced (but not completed) and now getting ready to do the "big shop". Whilst waiting for Leanne to decide to wake up I have had a wonder around the garden and thought I would share with you some of the flowers that are full bloom.

This Dahlia is called Rebecca - what more can I say :-)

I think I shall be taking some inspirations from the colours in the garden for my cards.

Finally this is mums favourite geranium. It is beautiful - just like mum.


Hope you've enjoyed my flowers
Becki
xx

TGI Friday

Just a short post tonight, hope you are all well and have got a good weekend planned. I have a feeling mine will be made up of housework. It has been neglected this past week. A trip to the cinema to see Toy Story 3 will be in there somewhere as well. However, I am sure I can squeeze in a little time for crafting and blogging :-)

My neice will be 14 soon, so needed to make up a girly girl card. I can't think of anything more than teenagers like than shoes, dresses and handbags (probably mobiles and boyfriends are now top of the list). I have had for an absolute age (and so have you Mrs Powell) a 12x12 card stack and this card and paper were in the summer range. The handbags and shoe toppers are from a craft CD by Pink Petticoat (another item that hasn't been out for a while), both are coloured in with SU ink (pumpkin pie, cameo coral and ruby red).




I hope you have a fab weekend (I'm sure there will be another post sometime over the weekend.

Thanks for stopping by

Becki
xx

One for the boys.....

Now I have to admit that my craft stash is mainly girly focused. It shouldn't be, but it is. So I always struggle when it comes to adult male cards. My challenge over the next month is to try and incorporate more male themes, which is going to be really hard when I have got so many girl birthdays coming up!!

I was inspired by Julie's blog with the football theme, but haven't yet invested in the stamp set, now it is a must purchase!

Every Thursday night is spent with a lovely group of "crafty ladies" in Hexthorpe. We all have different craft abilities and styles, but that is the beauty of the group. Tonight was spent raiding each others craft stash. So I must thank Janet for the loan of her football stamp and Christina for the lovely pearlescent blue paper. The ink is SU Not Quite Navy and I used the School Book Serif Alphabet. Here I must thank Elaine for the use of her scalloped square punch. Now what would I have done without my friends? It would have been a very plain card indeed :-)



I am taking a little risk tonight, as the card is for my husband from the children. He says he doesn't view my blog, so I will know if he has taken a peek as he won't be surprised by the card on his birthday. Unless of course he masters his acting skills between now and then.

I can't believe it's Friday tomorrow - where has the week gone? I hope your week has been good, apart from the weather. Let's hope it is nice enough to get the bbq out again this weekend.

Thanks for stopping by.

Becki
xx

Hair today, gone tomorrow.....

The thought of frizzy hair for the rest of the summer has not been a pleasant one, so I took the plunge today and had it all cut off!! It is a little shorter than anticipated but it will grow on me (literally!!)

Only a short post tonight, as it was late after the hairdresser went and tea was over.

This is a card made from the Itty Bitty Buds set from SU. I think the green & mustard card are SU and the red is from my stash (can't be 100% as it is now mixed with all my other card stock). I love this little stamp set, it is really versatile.




Hope it is a cooler night now that we have had a downpour, albeit a short one.

Becki
xx

Hi there

I'm hoping this barmy weather hurries up and breaks, my hair can't stand it (it goes into a frizz ball, not an attractive look!)

I've created a evening wedding celebration acceptance card, the wording wouldn't all fit on so I shortened it to "invitation acceptance", using belle bleu paper, one of the vintage vogue stamps and a heart buckle from my stash.



This one is a kanban set, the lion is so cute.


Finally this is for a little ballerina who will be 4. It is from the daisy & dandelion collection. It looked a little flat on it's own, so I added some doors and tied with a ribbon.





Thanks for stopping by

Becki
xx

I did it :-)

Yippee I passed!

My presentation went well, despite the knee knocking and hand trembling. I was a little worried at one point that my shaky hands would stop me from assembling the basket but it all worked out ok.

When each of the baskets were completed I handed out Cadbury chocolates to fill up the baskets - I think this got me through :-)

Thanks to Lynne, our Tutor, and to Lisa, Dean and Louise for your feedback, all of which was positive.

No stopping me now - or more like no more excuses not to do presentations or craft classes.

Becki

xx

Nerves!!!

Well the nerves are getting the better of me!! Tomorrow is my presentation and exam on my City & Guilds Trainer Course. I have just done a run through of the powerpoint presentation I am giving, which is on my card craft hobby. Delivering to an empty bedroom is weird, and I felt nervous with no audience. Goodness knows how tomorrow is going to go.

Then I demonstrated, again to an empty room, on how to assemble a gift basket. I even asked my imaginary students if they were keeping up with me and did they need any assistance!!

Fingers crossed that the exam goes well too :-o It will all come in handy for when I become a demonstrator!!!

On to nicer things - Leanne came home from dance class tonight with a DVD copy of the dance school's production of Beauty & the Beast. Leanne played "Chip" the little tea cup. I hadn't seen any of the show as I spent the entire time backstage for costume changes. It was wonderful to watch, although the stage lighting at the front was a little dark, so when the dancers were up front their faces were lost on the DVD. However, the spirit wasn't lost and she danced her little heart out. I am so proud of her. I have no idea where she gets her talent from!!

No cards to show tonight, there just hasn't been time today to make any. I shall keep you posted on how tomorrow goes.

Bye for now
Becki

xx

Well I said I wouldn't but I did..........

I succumbed to a last minute decision this afternoon to go to Doncaster Racecourse. Not to watch the horses, but to the Create and Craft Event.

The good thing about turning up at 2:50pm on a Sunday afternoon is that I didn't have to pay an entry fee for me and my daughter, Leanne (she's only 9). My daughter got very nervous when she saw Nigel - said she couldn't believe she was seeing a celeb!! All the familiar faces from the show were there, as was one of my crafty friends, Elaine.

It was a little overwhelming with all the different craft stalls. However, the bargain of the day had to be the stall selling off 10 packs of brads for £1.50 (it was a bit of scrum to get to them, but I did). She also put me together 4 packs of 12x12 Disney papers for 50p!!

I'm off now for a well earned cup of tea - it's hard work this crafting :-)

xx

What happened to relaxing on a Sunday?

Afternoon,

Well I thought Sunday was going to be a relaxing day after a very busy crafty Saturday, but so far it has been another craft filled morning.

I'm preparing to do a presentation on Tuesday for a Trainer course that I am attending. It has to last 15 minutes and can be on any topic, as long as the students learn something at the end of it. I must have pondered for all of a minute to decide on my topic.

Yes, you have guessed it - it will be on card craft :-) Each student will make a small gift basket, using a very basic technique that I have picked up from a craft show.

As one of the students is male, his basket will be made from the DCWV Rockstar paper. I somehow think this will fair better than a lovely flowery basket.

This is the basket, which I made up early in the year for Easter:-

I have also made up a couple of cards for a friend. The stamps on both cards I inherited, so sorry that I can not tell you which range they are from. I have used a variety of different products from my stash to create these.

Finally, I have put together a little card using my fab prize that I won yesterday. It is the Itty Bitty Buds stamp set from Stampin Up, as is the card stock.

I am really lucky today in that my mum and dad are making Sunday lunch and my mum-in-law is doing some ironing for me. Talk about being spoiled :-)

Have a super Sunday

Becki
xx

Crafty Saturday

Hi, my name is Becki and have just entered the world of blogging. I'm passionate about card making and being crafty.

I am experimental with my cards and use lots of different techniques and I'm always keen to learn new ones.

Today, was spent in Pudsey at a card making class which was run by the lovely Julie. The products used were all from the Stampin Up range, of which I am now addicted too :-)

I met some really nice ladies today. In particular thanks to Lynda for sharing a few ideas, for your compliments and encouragement in setting up a Blog :-)

We made a gift bag and a desk tidy using templates, then had free range with ideas for cards.

Here's a few I made

Yummy cup cake too, plus the gift I was lucky enough to win!

Thanks for stopping by, I hope to get more creative with my blogging as I go along.

Becki

xx