Happy Birthday Joana!

Happy Birthday Glitter Graphics


Many happy returns to my lovely SBS sister and blogging buddy Joana whose birthday is today. I hope you've had a wonderful day Joana and have been spoiled rotten!

Haven't managed to get any crafting done at all this week due to another chaotic week! I'm trying to get everything tidied up and finished off now for the end of term as I am going off on a residential trip on the last week of school. Lots to be done before then and not enough time to do it as per usual! Aaargh!

We've just returned from a night out at the circus which is in town at the moment. I haven't beem to the circus since I was a little girl and was so looking forward to it. Unfortunately, I was a bit disappointed by the quality of the performance but Lewis enjoyed it so that was the main thing! It has rained most of the day here so hoping for some better weather tomorrow, not that I'll be able to have the time to get a tan!

Hope you're having a great weekend whatever you are doing!

Blogging Buddies

Once again, it's been a very long time since I posted! The weeks continue to fly by and as usual my life seems to go flashing past me as I always have something to be doing work wise! Roll on the holidays. Three weeks and counting!

Yesterday I had a lovely day when I met up with my bloggy buddies Debbi and Manda and went to the International Art Stamp and Paper Craft Fair at the Corn Exchange in Edinburgh. It was so great to meet them. I didn't spend too many pennies so hopefully will be able to make a few purchases online in the next couple of days getting the things that I really wanted but couldn't get!

Thanks to everyone who offered me some advice about using my Cuttlebug in my last post. This was greatly appreciated as I am TERRIFIED to use it! Debbi was great at reassuring me yesterday that it will be fine and I even bought some new nesties to use in it. I now just need to find the time to try it tentatively. I'll let you know how I get on!



The card above is one that I made some time ago for one of Lewis' nursery nurses who went off on Maternity Leave and has since had a wee boy. Her face isn't the best so don't click for a close up! She seemed happy enough with it so that's the main thing!

I have had quite a few awards given to me lately by some lovely ladies which I haven't gotten around to posting because I haven't been blogging or crafting. Apologies ladies for the delay in posting these - better late than never! That seems to be my motto at the moment in my very hectic life!

FREINDSHIP AWARD

I was given this award recently by Riane and Vikki, two special bloggy buddies:

The Friends award: These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to five bloggers who must choose five more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.

I award this to: Riane, Mar, Manda, Debbi and Riet


HONEST SCRAP AWARD

I was given this by two very special bloggy pals , Mar and Debbi

There are rules with this award....They are -

1 - Thank the person that gave it to you.

2 - List 10 honest things about yourself.

3 - Put the honest scrap logo on your blog.

4 - Select 7 other bloggers that you think deserve this award

Ten honest things ......... let me think ...........

1. I am very hardworking.

2. I am a Piscean.

3. I am a control freak!

4. I dislike people who are rude and have no manners!

5. I am partial to a glass of red wine or a southern comfort and lemonade.

6. I love spending time with Lewis and Steven.

7. I love lying on a beach in the sun reading a good book.

8. I am very loyal to my friends.

9. I work long hours.

10. I am very committed and dedicated to my job.

I would like to pass this award to: June, Clare, Riane, Sarah-Jane, Melissa, Joanna and Vikki

Well, I am off to get organised for the grand finale of The Apprentice. Have you been watching? Who do you think is going to win? It'll be interesting ........I think that Yasmena may just pip Kate as she takes more risks but to be honest I'd be happy for either of them to win. Go girls!

I hope to be back much sooner than my last post!

Birthday Boy

Morning all,

Well I didn't get around to posting or crafting last night as I had planned! I was exhausted after all the running around with Lewis' party. We had a fantastic day and he was so excited. The kids all had a ball and were so well behaved which helps. Lewis is a Aliens Vs Monsters fan at the moment so I used this theme to create his birthday card this year. It's the only card that I have managed to make recently much to my dismay. I have lots of new Gorjuss Girl stamps that haven't seen any ink yet, I'm just desperate to use them! Anyway here is the card I made for Lewis and one of the birthday boy himself at his party yesterday:
Today I am going to be very busy trying to get through the bulk of my reports and then tonight I plan to relax by getting some crafting done although that will depend on how much I get done! I'm looking for a bit of advice with the Cuttlebug. Santa brought me one at Christmas. I used it once and then it broke! The shop that Steven bought it from refused to do anything about it because she said that I had used nesties in it and that you are not supposed to use them with the cuttlebug! You can imagine my horror when I found this out as that was a large factor in me wanting a cuttlebug in the first place. She suggested that I contact Provocraft to see what they could do. They were great and replaced it for me by sending a brand new one very swiftly. I have had a new one for weeks now but I am terrified to use it. I don't want to go breaking this one too. Anyone got any advice who used nesties in the cuttlebug as well as the embossing folders? I would greatly appreciate it! I think I could be doing with a wee masterclass!

Have a great day whatever you are doing! Hope it's not raining where you are! :o)

Lainy xxx

Time flies!

I can't believe it has been 3 and a half weeks since I last posted. Where does the time go? I have been really swamped recently with work, it's all go at the moment. I have a student on placement with me at the moment for 5 weeks and I'm in the middle of writing reports which take a very, very, very long time. It was also Lewis' 3rd birthday on Tuesday and what a great day he had. He was so excited and got lots of lovely presents, he was a very lucky boy! We're having a party for him this afternoon so he is very excited about that and it can't come quick enough. I thought that I'd pop on here quickly before I get knee deep in the rest of the things which have to be done before then. I hope to be back later tonight and have some time to myself tonight to get some crafting done as long as I am not too exhausted. I have a day off work tomorrow but that will need to be used to write more reports! Boo hoo!

Pink and sparkly

I can't believe that it is Thursday already. The week has gone flying by which is a good thing since I'm back at work. Last night my class and the class next door put on their WW2 performance for parents, grandparents and family friends and what a night it was! I'm still on a high as are the kids as they were outstanding. I felt so proud last night and priviledged to be working with such a talented bunch of young people. The show was based around a grandmother recalling her memories of living through WW2 to her grandchildren through drama, singing and dancing. We also had a small orchestra playing too as we have several kids who play piano, violin, viola, cello and double bass. They were all absolutely out of this world and the audience were blown away. A memory I'll treasure forever and never forget! Pleased that it is Friday tomorrow though as I am feeling really tired and still have a real chesty cough and annoying head cold which came on last week and is still lingering. I have been hoping to get some crafting done but haven't been successful so far and well don't think it'll be happening tonight as I have a lot of work to get done! So why am I on here? Putting off the inevitable ....

This card was another which was made for my sister's birthday. I just love this stamp, it's so adorable. Think I'll be using this more often.

Stamp: Whiff of Joy: Confirmand Melinda
Paper: Can't remember where it's from, in my stash
Medium: prisma pencils, sansador, glitz it glitter glue
Tools: Martha Stewart Lace punch
Embellishments: card candy and sentiment from Craftwork Cards, prima flowers

Was having trouble coming up with a title for this post, that's why it's rather random. Off to get some work done now. Have a great night whatever you are doing!

Blog Candy Winner!

Evening everyone,

Apologies for not getting round to posting this yesterday. This was due to the weather being so fantastic yesterday and being the last day of my holidays I just had to enjoy it as it is not often that we see the sun or have the temperatures that we did yesterday in Scotland! It has also taken me so long to put everyone's names in a bowl, how time consuming is that! Next time, I'll definitely be using a random number generator - have learned my lesson the hard way.

Well, after 212 entries later and we have a winner ..................................

Thank you so much to everyone who took part, I never imagined that I would have that huge number of entries when posting it two weeks ago. Unfortunately, I haven't managed to visit everone's blogs so far but hopefully over the next few weeks I'll be able to do this. Thank you also to those of you who liked my blog well enough to become a follower, that was much appreciated. I'll look forward to meeting lots of new bloggers as a result and keeping up with your creations. I have also posted the 10,000 mark during the last couple of weeks which is fantastic. I'll need to have more candy shortly to celebrate!

I'm kind of dragging this out a bit aren't I? Get on with it I hear you shout (if you haven't already scrolled to the winner's name that is!)

And the winner is ............................................

Samantha from Samantha's Handmade Cards

Congratulations! Please email me before Friday so that I can get the candy sent off to you. My email address is on my profile page.

Hope you are having a great night whatever you are doing. I had lots of plans for tonight but seeing as it has taken me son long to write out names and do the draw I think my plans are well and truly out of the window. Maybe tomorrow night I'll manage to get some crafting done, here's hoping!

Whiff of Joy

Just popping on here quickly to post one of the cards I made for my sister's birthday which is on Monday. I am intending on getting some crafting done next so don't want to spend lots of time blogging as I normally do! I am going to enter this card into the Papertake Weekly Challenge as their challenge this week was to use pastel colours.

The image is Whiff of Joy: Musing Melinda and is the stamp which you can win in my blog candy which closes in just over 4 hours! So if you haven't already entered, do so before then! Don't worry you won't win a used stamp as I bought an extra one in anticipation of my blog candy :o) I really like the way this card turned out and hope my sister likes it too! Will be back later this evening to close my candy and possibly post again!

Stamp: Musing Melinda (Whiff of Joy)
Paper: Always and forever digital kit by Zoe Pearne from sweet shoppe designs
Medium: Prisma colours and sansador, glitz it glitter glue
Embellishments: pink ribbon from my stash, sentiment from craftwork cards

My Blogoversary Candy

************THIS BLOG CANDY IS NOW CLOSED*************


As promised I am posting my candy to celebrate my blog being one year old recently on 24th March. I can't believe that a year has passed so quickly! I am so glad that I took the step way back then to start a blog. I was a little cautious - who would want to visit me? A year later I have come into contact with so many wonderful people and have met some great friends as a result. To celebrate this I have decided to offer the following candy:



* Whiff of Joy Guardian Angel Collection stamp - Musing Melinda
* 6 x6 pad of Basic Grey paper - Sultry collection
* Pack of Basic Grey Archaic Glazed Brads
* All sorts of things paper scuffers - 2 sided sanders
* Chocolate & Marshmallow card candy from Craftwork Cards
* A selection of charms

To be in with a chance of winning my candy you need to leave a comment on this post to let me know that you are taking part as well as posting a link to my candy on your blog to let others know. I will enter my followers' names twice to thank them for their continued support. There is absolutely no obligation to become a follower but if you would like to that would be lovely.

The closing date is Saturday 18th April at 8pm. I will draw the name of the winning entry and post the name of the winner on Sunday 19th April. I will post internationally.

Good luck!

It's time for tea!

I made this last night to pop in with my sister's birthday pressie after spotting it on the Double Dutch challenge site. I thought that it was such a great idea that I just had to have a wee go and so simple to make too. I think I'll be making more of these! My sister is an absolute tea jenny, more so than me! No sooner has she drunk a cup of tea and the kettle is boiling again! So hopefully she will appreciate this little minding which I have filled with English Breakfast Tea, my absolute favourite and hers too.

Stamp: Gorjuss Girl
Paper: Pink Petticoat
Medium: Prisma pencils
Tools: eyelet setter, scor-pal
Embellishments: ribbon from my stash

I have made some other bits and pieces some of which I can't show yet as they are to send off to some bloggy friends. This is the last day of my holidays and can't believe that I haven't got round to doing everything I planned, same old story! Anyway, I'm off to get some bits and pieces done and hopefully will be back later today or tonight.

Have a great Friday whatever you are doing.

Papertake Weekly Challenge

I made this second birthday card on Thursday using the sketch this week from Papertake Weekly. It was a great sketch which I'll definitely be using again in the future. The image used is Hamish fixing tractor from Sugar Nellie and is coloured with prisma pencils and blended with sansador, the paper is from a digital kit from Sweet Shoppe Designs called Father Know Best, the sentiment and card candy is from Craftwork Crafts.

Tag You're It Birthday Challenge

Well, here I am again! This certainly is a record for me - two postings within ten minutes. You can tell I am on holiday! Anyway, I thought that I'd make a birthday tag to go with the birthday card I made for Paul. I used the same image as before and coloured him exactly the same. I mounted him onto wrapping paper to match the paper I've used to wrap his present, used my eyelet setter to make a hole and threaded through some green, yellow and red ribbon to match the spots on the wrapping paper. I then used a Cuddly Buddly sentiment stamp to complete it.

I was inspired by the Tag You're It challenge posted last Friday as they are celebrating their blog's first birthday. Happy Birthday! I have wanted to do this challenge for ages as one of my blogging buddies Kath is on the DT team but I have never gotten around to it. I really enjoyed making my tag and think I'll definitely be doing more of this in the future.

Well I am off now to make another birthday card for Paul from Steven and I so I'd better get to it as he is having a wee party later this afternoon.

Hope to be back later!

Pollycraft Challenge

Afternoon everyone,

It's a funny old day here at the moment - the sun is shining one minute and then it is raining the next! Hope that the weather is better where you are. I am loving being on holiday at the moment and have managed to find some time to chill out which is good. I have been crafting this morning and have made a birthday card for Lewis' best friend Paul who is 3 today. I was looking for something a wee bit different to use on my card and decided to have a wee look at the Pollycraft Designs website run by Paula as I bought a couple of images at Christmas time to make cards for the kids and really liked them. I came across a new image called Benji - Birthday fun and decided to buy this to use on my card. I really like the way it has turned out and is such a sweet little bear.


Anyway, I have decided to enter the last Pollycraft Challenge which was set and involves you using a digital download from Pollycraft on your project. I have coloured Benji with my prisma pencils and blended with sansador, mounted onto white and red cardstock. I have used totally tropical card candy from craftwork cards (just love these!) at the four courners of the image. I have used Basic Grey cupcake paper, applied some glossy accents to the top of the cake and have printed off my own sentiment on the computer.

Be back in a little bit with another wee project that I have been also working on this morning!