Saturday 28 September 2013

night owl or early bird?




Are you a night owl or an early bird? I am so an early bird as is my hubby although he is a bit of a night owl sometimes especially if he falls asleep whilst watching TV in an evening . Andrew my son is a night owl mainly from habit of playing on line star trek over the last couple of years which was fine most of the time when he was at college only 2 days a week( and that was classed full time) but as he starts his job next week we have been trying to get him into the habit of early mornings.The problem he finds is that many of his online friends who he chats with over the headsets and I often think  they are having a party.
Anyway whilst pootling around blog-land I found Gingers house via another blog and found all these wonderful sayings and when I saw this one I just knew it would be perfect as a reminder/ annoyance for my son when he is online in the late evening and early night.
I decided I would make a picture which developed into something I could sit on top of the TV my son doubles as his computer monitor so came up with a card board frame the sat around the top of the screen and balanced  there so it would always be visible and a prompt not to stay up too late so the morning is hard to get up.
He has already agreed that on work nights and Sunday evening his cut off will be 10 pm so at least he has the chance of getting a good nights sleep so is able to get up when required to be out of the house by 7 for his lift to work from hubby but this should act as a reminder to help along the way hopefully anyway. It seems to be working so far thought I didn't tell him what I had done so when I went upstairs and asked if he had seen it I got a 'mum why?' and found he had taken it off the TV, not too happy to start with but the heat from the TV loosened the tape I used to secure the picture to the support and my son actually asked if I could put it back together so I think he secretly likes his little nudge to finish trekking across the universe at a reasonable hour.





I would like to enter this not sure what to call it into the following challenges;-
crafty cardmakers-winged things
bizzy becs-stitching real or faux(the owl has stitching on him)
love to create-colour inspired
JLJ cupcake inspirations -woodland creatures
dream valley-autumn(hope my colours are enough)
passion for promarkers-one for the boys
delightful challenges-happy fall( well my son is starting his dream job so very happy fall)
sweet stampin'-things with wings

Friday 27 September 2013

Boo! with a wobble

Happy friday all, I actually had to stop and think what day it is then, thats what happens when my hubby and son are both at home. Hubby has been on holiday this week so all my days have been weekend days hence my having to think. Never mind about my dizzy brain time for an early halloween card. The central image on my card is the freebie provided by birdie brown and once I'd coloured with my promarkers I decided as the pumpkins were drawn to look like they were wobbling or shaking I thought it might be fun to try and make that happen with at least one of them.
To do this I cut out the left hand pumpkin and using fine florist wire that I use when making flower paste flowers I made a small wide loop spring by winding round one of my promarker pens. I then stuck one end of the spring on the back of the pumpkin and positioned the pumpkin where it should be before sticking it to the card.

The image hopefully shows the gap this created and also how the pumpkin looks still in place on the card.



I didn't have any halloween papers so created a background with some really old mini halloween stamps that were bought when my son was little and had time for fun things like crafting, now its not interesting unless it has a computer chip and a screen somewhere he even reads books using technology more that the paper variety, that's the next generation for you lol.
I kept it simple just printing with black on the white background as I thought this would make the image which is coloured stand out more.

I decided to continue the design with the sentiment inside by adding cob webs and a spider to the halloween greeting, still simple but overall I was pleased with the effect and thought it was quite effective.

I made the card with one of my young nephews in mind so as boys tend to like the creepy things at halloween I thought the spider was a good finishing touch.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:-
birdie brown-use free digi
digi darla-anything goes optional twist use the freebie digi
digi sketch-use sketch and or theme of for the boys
panpastel-anything goes
party time tuesdays-anything goes
kaboodle doodle-use orange
crafty creations-split up your sentiment
charismacardz-decorate inside your card
auds sentiments-sentiment for a child

Wednesday 25 September 2013

14 years of marriage


My baby brother and sister in law will have been married 14 years this October so I thought I would use the traditional colours or gift as inspiration, only to find that traditionally its not that significant but modern wise the traditional colours are ivory and gold so that's what I went with.                                                                                                                                                                                                            I decided to use this cute image from sugar nellie and used pastal browns, peaches and lemon/creams promarkers to colour with a little sakura gel for the strings on the boxes.
I used ivory card stock for the base and for the image layer which I fussy cut and also for the sentiment which is from LOTV. The gold is gold vellum I found at a computer fair I went to with my hubby years ago and it has been rolled up in the corner of my craft room since then. The image base layer I cut with spellbinders and the vellum I drew around the die to get the wavy edge. The front of the card I finished with some ivory ribbon tied in a bow.


sorry about the shocking pink line down the piccy side not sure where its come from or whether it will show when this post is published.
The base of the card has the same layers with an extra smaller die cue layer with a sentiment from CC designs again dressed with ivory hand tied bow and flowers and an ivory rose.


I made the two ovals into an easel card and the flowers are the stop all I can do now is hope my sis in law likes the card but I guess as they live a couple of hundred miles away so they will receive the card by post and they aren't the kind that say thanks for cards etc but at least I know I made an effort.



I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:-
A creative romance-dies and punches
Craft dee bowz-anything with a bow
Happy campers-show us your flowers
crafty ribbons-anything goes
fussy n fancy-punches and die
created with love-fall colours
OSAAT-anything goes
LEJ designs-lots of layers
creative inspirations challenge-use your favourite stamp brand


Monday 23 September 2013

Let's Party!

Another male card this time for another nephew whose favourite colour is blue. I just love this cute party tortoise from bugaboo and wanted to make a card that was just a bit different.The letters are cut from my stash of card stock I have had for ages and just never got around to using cos well once its gone I won't have it anymore ...sad I know but thought it was time I bit the bullet and actually used some of my hoarded card. I cut the letters to spell party and tried to make a sort of stepper card. The stickers are ancient too they came from JTF and must be 5 years + old if not more but I like the bit of sparkle they add and thought I'd get away with it even if the card is for a boy.





I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:-

The outlaws paper a la mode-use something old you have never used(my card stash)
Designed to colour-anything goes
Card makin' mamas-for the kiddies
come and get it-happy birthday
glitter and sparkle-for the boys
 C is for -make it sparkle
Ladybug-no squares
Top tip tuesdays- get in shape
my mums craft shop-boys only
613 Avenue-anything goes or colour challenge
The squirrel and the fox-happy birthday
Wags n whiskers-sparkle
Left of centre - no designer papers or LOC
4 crafty chicks-balloons
crafts 4 eternity-for the kids
totally papercrafts-birthday or new baby theme
QKR-balloons
Patties creations -animals
paper makeup stamp digi makeover-anything goes-
OSAAT-anything goes








Friday 20 September 2013

Thank you costs nothing means such a lot



In case you don't know my son has over his school years had the misfortune of meeting some not very nice and ignorant children who thought he made a prime target as he uses a wheelchair for being bullied. Last september he started a HND course at college and found a little of his self confidence return, though he still had very low self esteem.
His ultimate goal was to get enough qualifiacations in IT (all geek to me) to work at HSBC head office in Sheffield where 5 years ago he did 3 weeks work experience and loved it.

Over the summer HSBC advertised some apprenticeships and although he never thought he stood a chance thought it would be good experience to go through the interview process for future reference, a holiday project so to speak and a distraction from the performance we were having with the college and student finance due to bad communication and data input on one or both of their parts. 

Anyway boy I am so glad I am his carer at home and dread the day I have to go through an interview once again if I ever seek employment again. The job was for 18 to 25 year olds so the majority would be school leavers and although my son had done business A levels as well as IT and on his HND had done a units work on employability also all of which was suppose to reflect  the interview process boy they were both greatly lacking in knowledge.

My son had also decided that he would like to see a life coach to help him boost his self esteem and confidence, we knew one as we had actually helped him when he was preparing for a seminar on how different life is for those with disabilities(my son having cerebral palsy) so we booked an initial session with him.

The interview process was a real rollercoaster and first it was submission of CV and complete an online application form. My son got through this bit then it was two rounds of online assessments, the second was a nightmare and caused some stress as we sat there for moral support my hubby and I couldn't believe the test. It said it was everyday maths and there were a couple of examples to start with which were just look at the graph or table and read off a certain bit it asked for. My son thought easy no problem then the test began ... answer 18 questions in 17 minutes , that seemed fine if they were like the examples but no the questions were so much more complicated  with calculations of stuff and then comparisons. I thought I was good at ordinary maths but I was still trying to work out over my sons shoulder what the question was asking when he was moving on to the next question. He was so frustrated and deflated when he only managed 14 in the time and was convinced that was the end . Four days later he got a phone call asking him to book a telephone interview which would related to HSBC values. Emotional roller-coaster or what.

Thank heavens for Paul the life coach he was such a help he gave Andrew the confidence he needed to answer the questions and told him what format to use , but not the answers that was found using the internet and then some preparation work finding examples Andrew my son could use from his life experience. 

Telephone interview over we waited again , don't know who was more nervous as by this stage it was no longer just an experience exercise , I was convincing myself that he might actually stand a small chance of getting to the final stage and find out what a real interview was like, but as it would be his first ever interview I didn't expect more than that and meanwhile I was phoning student finance and college to see where the finance was at.

Andrew had another couple of sessions with Paul the coach and though I know some of what they chatted about related to this interview process I do know that Andrew did seem more confident in himself some of the time. 

Andrew was sucessful and was offered a face to face interview so more preparation and cue cards were written and his 9am interview arrived, when we met him after I thought he must have eaten a bag of sugar instaed of having an interview , he was absolutely buzzing and was as high as a kite. Then it was just a waiting game. We later learnt that there were 120 interviewed over 4 days for 45 positions and had to wait until the end of August to find out the results which would be in time for the return to college at the beginning of september. How elated was Andrew when he got a phone call to say that they would like to offer him one of the jobs, and even more so when they actually only offered positions to 30 of those they had interviewed. It was a happy day for me when I could say to both college and student finance that we no longer wanted the grant and that Andrew handed in his notice to college as he had his dream job with the prospect in a couple of years of revisiting his HND and degree if he wants to, but will be a working man from October 1st.

He has now reached the stage of ...have I done the right thing....whats it going to be like  and all that goes with your first job and any change of job along with butterflies and excitment too. He has seen Paul the coach again and enjoys the progress they have made  and I'm sure as he asked me to make him a thank you card that he believes the coaching helped him reach this amazing goal he had set as something more long term and I am thankful too.

The card Andrew asked me to make he wanted to use the coaching company logo on but to keep it suitable for a man also, not too tall an order then. The logo is circles as you can see on the business card, not promotion or selling just to illustrate the logo.
The card is quite clean and simple but I think the dry embossing balances the circles and Andrew decided on a silver peel off thank you as opposed to a black text.
Hope he likes it, and I'm sure Andrew will continue to grow in self esteem and confidence when he settles into his new environment and he knows that as well as us for support he can always ask for more coaching. 


I think I got the blue a little dark though my colour swatches it did look a good match but never mind , it may lighten a little as it dries. The sentiment as I say is a peel off and I do think it is one of my favourites as its just two words that can mean so much and cost nothing to say but can convey such a lot. The embossed lines are just straight lines embossed using  my EAZI score board, simple really and a really quick make too.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges;-
oh lala-magnificent men well it is for a man
I love promarkers-anything goes
creative inspirations-clean and simple
southern girls-monochrome
as you like it -favourite sentiment
Polkadoodles-candy colours( the blue circle reminds me of the big blue gob stoppers we use to buy when I was a child- they are probably no longer sold due to health and safety now lol)
Jelly Park- sentiment is key



Thursday 19 September 2013

Hoo's birthday?


Time just seems to be whizzing by and I don't seem to have had much time to craft but October brings a busy time in our family up till the early new year so I'm going to have to find some crafting time.

It seems like forever since we first bought the house for our son and a lifetime since we were trying to sort out the building work, but it is finally getting there . The walls have been knocked out, the bathroom modified, the ramp fitted and after 6 coats of paint the walls finally look the colour they are suppose to, and the living room,hall ,stairs and landing are all carpeted. Next is the stairlift to be fitted, and the shower fitted into the wet room and then its time to order the kitchen, well really book the fitting date as the hard decisions have been made and then paying for all the bespoke kitchen units.

Enough of my ramblings the card I've made today is for one of my nephews. His birthday isn't until late october but I had to start somewhere. I thought as the weather was autumnal and drab I'd use some autumnal colours and there are a few autumnal colour challenges around too.

The stamp I used is a freebie from a magazine and coloured him with my promarkers then fussy cut him out. The branch and sentiment are also from the set of freebies and again coloured with promarkers. I stuck sticky pads under his wing tips to give a 3D effect.


I thought the sentiment would be perfect for a 12 year old boy and again  fussy cut this after printing in just black ink.


The papers are all from my scrap folders and apart from the base layer which is white card coloured with the same colour as I used for the owl to blend all the card together. The border edge is cut using a martha stewart punch and all on a cream base card. The oval doesn't show very well as it looks green but it has a gold sheen and is really more of a deep brown funny how light changes colours at different angles.


The blue paper is just what I used as a backdrop and nothing to do with the card its just one of my fav papers as its got daisies on.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges;-

Polkadoodles-one for the boys
Disdigi designs-fall colours
613 Avenue-anything goes optional happy fall yall
Lexis-autumn colours
Cutie Pie-one for the boys
Just for fun-autumn colours
Craft your passion-autumn colours
Eureka stamps- autumn colours
Crafty sentiments-fall/autumn colours


Wednesday 4 September 2013

Bag top and artificial light

Don't you just hate how artificial light changes the colour of things when you take a photo of them. I know there will be some clever peeps out there saying just adjust it in Photoshop or gimp but you have to know what you're doing if you want to make it look like it really does and I am so not one of those clever peeps. Anyway we crafters all have good imaginations so when I tell you all that my colours are pale pink flower centres and fushia pink flowers and patterned paper with pale blue background papers I know you will all see the real colours . So why am I going on about it ? I guess the answer is I don't know and I best just shut up.

Today I made a bag top, not that i yet have a bag or contents to go with it but it was a fun little project, the butterfly is my latest die and am so loving using it, the papers are all scraps from my scrap folders so have no idea whose or where they came from so sorry with the exception of the fushia pink I used for the punched daisies as that was an envelope. The centres of the flowers are craftworks candy just love using these.

The layout is from a sketch by sketch saturday (link below) and the sentiment is a peel off.

I would like to enter this project into the following challenges:-

Squirrel and the fox-spring or autumn I think mines definitely spring

anything goes challenge-in the garden with butterflies
totally gorjuss-add texture
JLJ cupcake inspirations-fushia,pale blue and rose
Stempel magie-bag topper
card and scrap-use dies
A gem of a challenge-use 2 backing papers