Happy Birthday James

There is an alien living in my son's bedroom. It has long hair, grunts a bit and wears trainers the size of small boats. Where is my real boy, the one who looks cute in his karate suit and loves being tickled by me? He was here only last week, or maybe it was last month, time seems to have got a bit muddled.

The card might seem a bit bizzarre, but DS loves VW campers and is studying politics - you might just be able to spot the bunch of jokers inside the van. Thanks to Leigh for the stamped image and Karen for her idea of cutting out the windows (it sure was fiddly)

Mini Book

This week I made a mini book for a friends birthday, which I started at a workshop and finished off at home. Its not a BIA creation this time, but if you look at the photo of the middle of the book, you can see there is a rolled up peice of paper which is used as the spine. On the inside front page I have added a pocket for journalling and I've put a tag in between each page for more photos. Papers are by Cosmo cricket and Sassfrass.

Post Pals

I thought I'd show something I have made for one of the Post Pals Children, Kerry, who is having a really rough time. You can read about her here As well as the card, I covered a notebook using the same Three Bugs in a Rug papers, as she loves stationery because she is learning to write again.You can't tell from the photo, but the towers are 3d. I also made a book mark for her and each of her 2 sisters, as I didnt want to leave them out. I hope it helps to brighten her day a little.

DCM - Autumn Purple

Okay, I might be stretching it with the 'Autumn' bit, but it's definately purple.When I saw the challenge at DCM I thought of my grapes stamp (the text is 'wine lovers do the ripe thing') and coloured it with marveys and added diamond glaze. The template is a WS Design one and the top of the bottle is embossed with gold powder. I also added a little charm that says 'aged to perfection'

Challenges this week

This week I have still been making a box of cards for my friend to take to her office, but in between I have managed a couple of challenges. Firstly on Papertake Weekly it's a sketch - I have done a couple of baby cards using papers from DCWV Nana's Nursery















Next on Rosie-Dee's the challenge is 'Coffee & Cream with a cherry on top'. I took this literally and made good use of my cherry stamps. The cupcake is topped with a liquid that turns into bubbly stuff when it is heated up (great technical description) and i've added some brown sprinkles to make it look edible. Well that's the idea!













Finally, here is a picture of the matchbox I sent in the swap over on UKS. The idea was to decorate a matchbox and fill it with embellishments in your partners chosen colour, and send it off. I had great fun doing this and received a lovely matchbox in return.

Flower Pots

This weekend I have been making up a box of cards for my friend to take to her office. But in between, I had a go at these flower pot cards. I was inspired to make them by the DT gallery at Charmed Cards & Crafts. Lots of cutting out in front of the X Factor!

Post Pals

I have made a couple of cards to send to this months featured children on Post Pals. These are for Zachary H and Rhainna J, and you can read about these brave kids on the website. If you have any spare cards, please think about sending them one as it can really brighten their day.

Home Journal

I thought I'd have a go at making a home journal - something for busy mums to keep a record of bills, menus and the everlasting 'to do' list. I used my favourtite K&Co Papers (Berry Sweet), just added a few stamps & embellies and then bound it all together with my BIA. I haven't decided yet whether I'm going to keep, sell, or give it away as a gift.

First Ever Scrapbook Layout

Yesterday I went to my first crop, taught by Amanda Jones, see her blog here. The kit was made up of Basic Grey's Indian Summer, (I gave in and bought the 6X6 paper pad - ideal for a Garden Journal) so I had to look out some autumny type photos to take along with me. Now, if I'm going to continue scrapping, I think I really need to work on my handwriting! I just put that we used to call James 'the bagpipes' when he wore this little tartan suit as it was so big for him and he looked a bit lost in it.

Mini Christmas (sorry about that) Album

Normally I don't 'do' Christmas until after my DS's birthday at the end of October. But I attended a workshop for making a mini Xmas photo album, and I think I might have to make a few of these for pressies. The papers are by SEI, 2 sheets of 12 x 12 double sided were used and also about half of 2 sheets of bazzil bling. I will be filling it with loads of wintery pictures once I've printed them off and organised the sizes.

Down by the Sea

I made this card for this weeks DCM Challenge, but then realised that it also fitted the Bubbly Scrumtious Challege, which is 'vehicles'. I've used some papers by Creative Imaginations and the boat is a 'bubble sticker'. I have decided to send it to one of this months featured Post Pals Children. Post Pals is a charity which enables members of the public to send a card or a letter to seriously ill children. Something so simple can really brighten up the day of a sick child - You can read about it here

Week 2 another Moo

Well I thought I'd have another go at these babies, and this weeks theme at SCD is 'cirlces' I remembered I had a 'buttons' stamp that came free with a magazine ages ago, so I used that on an inked background. I had some sewing type embellishments that were sent to me as a swap, so I made use of them and here's what I came up with










........and here's the card I made with it.