Late yet again!!!!!

 Am I the only one who wishes that all the celebrations were past so as I can get back to normal again?  I don't know what day of the week it is I am  so confused!!!!  I just realised I never put this Let's Scrap sketch layout on my blog last week, as the new sketch is out today!!!  This must be the quickest I have scrapped a photo, as Corinne sent over the photos one day, and the layout was completed the next!!!!  I love this layout which shows Hadley wearing his Santa Suit to put up the Christmas Tree.

 I used My Mind's Eye - Merry Days of Christmas Papers and stickers

Martha Stewart snowflakes, and  Rudolph was from an old Christmas Card.

 The challenge over at Mo Manning's is to show your favourite card of the year using Mo's images.  I had to pick this one, as I love it so much!  It was made for my friend's son and his wife, as they had a baby girl.  The image is brilliant and I will use it again to make a boy card.

Must go now and look at the new Let's Scrap sketch and see what I can come up with!!

 I haven't been in blogland for a wee while now, as I have been sooooooooooo busy.  I am having a wee rest from card making, as I had so many cards to make for Christmas!!!  This first layout is based on  sketch 249 from Sketch Inspiration.  It shows Hadley and Dylan wearing their Bob the Builder equipment.  Hadley went one further and wore his Daddy's big boots! 

 I used papers from 3 bugs called tool time, Lettering is Thickers from American Crafts.  Stickers are from Karen Foster, Plastic Tools were buttons, and the Bob the Builder Label was from a t-shirt which I bought! for the boys.

I used the left hand side only of Let's Scrap 12-14-11 and this shows Hadley wearing his Santa Suit while decorating the Christmas Tree.  Marie had sent this outfit over for Harrison 2 years ago and it now fits the twins.  While Hadley was delighted to wear it, Dylan didn't quite feel the same way as you can see in the last 2 photos!! It made me laugh so much!!!

 I used Papers from My Mind's Eye bling icicles from Martha Stewart and Rudolph was an old Christmas card.

Must go now and do some knitting for this new Grand baby of mine!!!! Can't wait for him to appear!

I've been card making again!    I have decided to enter the card above into a challenge at Tickled Pink Stamp Challenges. I just found this site recently and I love the images.  The theme is "Anything goes"  which makes it nice and easy.   The Christmas Tree actually came off a Christmas Card I received last year (recycling!!!) and the papers are by Bo Bunny.  The sentiment which I thought matched perfectly is from K & Co and is on sale in our shop.  I made the following card for their challenge last week, which was use your own writing on a card, but I didn't get it on here in time!!!   Just thought I would let you see it anyway!!!  I always seem to be late with these challenges, and really must get organised!!

http://tickledpinkstampschallenges.blogspot.com

Finally, the following card is being entered into The Saturated Canary Challenge #5 "Anything Goes"  I think these images are wonderful and I love their big eyes!!  I used Nitwits Papers which were free in a craft magazine I subscribe to.  The blue berries and leaves are by Prima and the gems and ribbons were from my stash.  I used Cosmic Shimmer Twinkles on the gift bag to give it a bit of bling!!

http://saturatedcanarychallenge.blogspot.com

I will be selling these cards at a Craft Show in Brechin this Saturday, so hopefully it will be busier than the last fayre we went to!  Just hope the weather is not too bad, as snow has been forecast boo :o( !!!!

Thank you for stopping by once again and please come back again soon!!

My wonderful, special little Grandson Harrison has just celebrated his 5th birthday.  He was born 12 weeks early weighing just 2lbs 5 ozs.  He had many set backs including meningitis, a bleed to the brain, and also to his lungs.  His Mummy and Daddy thought they would lose him on more than one occasion, but against all the odds, he pulled through.  He has mild Cerebral Palsy, has limited sight and also has Autism, but he has  a smile that would light up the darkest of rooms!!  His Mummy wrote this poem for him, and I think it says everything that we, as his family feel.

A very happy birthday to my special little man,
If anyone can make me smile, you absolutely can,
You bring a ray of sunshine, to all that you do,
you're so sweet, innocent, honest and true,

It just breaks my heart for all you've been through,
Just goes to show the fighter in you,
You've come so far in such a short time,
I feel so proud to say that you're mine,

Five years have passed, in a whirl of emotion,
To think you arrived with so much commotion,
From then until now, you've grown so strong,
In my heart your love belongs,

I feel so honoured to be a mum,
with such an amazingly awesome son,
So Happy birthday Harrison, hope you have a great day,
May love, luck and happiness, all come you're way!

Love you heaps bud!!!

 

 I had to share this with you, to let everyoone know how proud we are of our wee man!!!

 This is the sketch for Let's Scrap 11-30-11 and my last one on the Design Team.  My 3 months are up and they have gone so quickly!  I have had so much fun and I will definitely apply again in the future!

My wee Grandsons love Thomas the Tank Engine.  They were given this dress-up outfit  and they can pretend they are a train!! The wee photos at the bottom show Dylan and Hadley when they were a bit younger and the outfit did not fit properly, but I still wanted to use them as they made me laugh!

I used:
Papers - Crate Paper - Zoom Collection
Train Silhouette - Little Extras
Card - Bazzill
Lettering - Creative Imaginations
Pictures of Thomas -  Card labels from clothes bought for the boys!!

I have been busy making cards for a craft show next week, so thought I would share a few!

 This is using a Kenny K image and I had fun making the background look like a wall with Graffiti!  I think some Graffiti is a work of art, and can actually improve the look of old derelict buildings.  Don't like it when they just spray nonsense on people's homes though.

 This is using one of the new images from Magnolia.  She is so cute hiding her present behind her back.  The fireplace is from Just Inklined and is a digital stamp.

 This is another stamp from Magnolia showing her cuddling her snowman.  The background is also from Magnolia and I glittered the tree and the snowman. Great Fun!!  I am loving my Cosmic Twinkles!

This is an image from Mo Manning and I just love the Victorian Christmassy feel to it.  I think the wee Carol Singers are just so cute!!

That's all for now, must crack on and get some more done!  Will be back tomorrow with my layout for Let's Scrap!

 

Oh my goodness - it is Wednesday again!!  Where has the past week gone?  I have been really busy making cards, calendars and book marks to sell at a Craft Fayre next week, and the time has just flown by!  This is the sketch for Let's Scrap and I have made a layout showing Eric with his boys!  Hadley, Dylan and especially Harrison, love their Grampa!  When we go onto Skype, they say Hello Granny!  then when Eric appears they scream and shout "It's Grampa!!"  It is so cute!  He has so much patience and he played with them for hours and hours.  We are missing them so much, and as we are not going over at Christmas, we will miss them even more!  Never mind, maybe next year!

 I used paper from K & Co called Hopscotch Boy which I have had lying around for simply ages! I am trying to use up some of my stash, as I am running out of room in my Craftroom!

This is a card using an image from Mo Manning called Hanging Christmas Stockings.  I love the wee dog holding up his stocking to be hung up too!

 This is a card using an image from Kenny K and I have coloured her in my favourite colours at the moment.  The paper is from Bo Bunny and I think it is fab!!!! I must make some more using this image and these papers as I love them.  You never know, you might get one through your letterbox!!  I have entered this card for the Scrapfit Challenge Workout #55 - Tis' The Season 
they  are looking for Christmas Cards or Tags.

 Here we are again - it's Wednesday!  It is a card sketch over at Let's Scrap this week, and I made my first ever card using Clarity Stamps.  I have a box full of them and have puddled about with them, trying different brayering techniques, but this is the first complete card.  I made the background paper by brayering at the top with orange ink and then at the bottom with blue.  I then spritzed it with water and laid a sheet of cling film over it which I then scrunched up over the top of the card, and left to dry.  When I took the cling film off later, there was a lovely marbled, mottled effect and I then stamped the music staff over it.  I then stamped the centre piece and used foam pads to raise it up a wee bit.  Finally  I decorated with peel-offs and self-adhesive pearls (which were bought for a bargain in the $2 shop in New Zealand!!!)

 I was asked to make a card by my friend for a 30th (Pearl) Wedding Anniversary.  I decided to go for clean and simple and used die-cute of swirls and flowers, then decorated with pearls.

 

This card is my favourite one which I have made over the last week or so.  It is a Kenny K image and I have used Bo Bunny papers, Nestabilities and a poinsettia die.  I decided to veer away from traditional Christmas colours and chose my favourite colours of the moment, purple, turquoise and green.  I chalked over the Nestability shape and the poinsettia so as it wasn't stark white..  I am entering this card on The Odd Girl "My best project of the week" and here is a link to the blog.

http://theoddgirl.com

 Here are the 3 layouts which were published in Scrapbook Magazine.  The layout above shows Harrison, Hadley and Dylan sitting in our suitcases when we were packing to come home.  I was trying to smuggle them back to Scotland! LOL!!!

 This layout shows Dylan, when his Mum spiked up his hair when she was putting his sun cream on.  The two layouts above were made using Fancy Pants - About a Boy papers and die-cut embellishments.  I put the wings at either side of the middle photo of Dylan, as i thought he looked so Angelic - which is so not like him! LOL!!!

Finally, this photo shows my Grandad, My Mum and my big sisters, Sheena and Moira and was taken 10 years before I was born! I made the paper flowers by drawing a spiral on  the reverse of the paper, and cutting it out using deckle-edge scissors.  I then coiled them into a flower shape and added some leaves cut out of the reverse of the paper.  The papers I used ae My Mind's Eye - Lost & Found.

Thanks for stopping by!

Time to blow my wee trumpet - toot toot toot!!!!  I have just been published in Scrapbook Magazine issue no. 59 where I took part in the Budget Challenge.  I had to make 3 layouts, using only £10 worth of materials.  I had such fun doing this, and is was amazing to see how far your supplies could go working over the 3 layouts.  The picture quality is not very good I'm afraid, as I have just got a new printer, and I cannot get the scanner to work!! I had to take photographs and they look a bit squint!!  It is brilliant to see your work in print in a magazine, and it is one of the things crossed off my Bucket List!! I will upload the actual layouts tomorrow, as the photos are very poor.

 Another thing I would like to score off my Bucket List, is to be a Designer on a Card blog.  So, when I looked at the Some Odd Girl Blog, I had a moment of excitement when I saw the following:

We are looking for 1 lucky and talented crafter to join us for a 2 month guest spot for December and January! You’ll join us for our challenges and releases, be featured on our blog along side the Odd Girls and in general, just have FUN!

The criteria was, simply, to upload a card using an Odd Girl Digi stamp, so, here we go!  I have just finished making this card as Marie and I have a stall on Saturday at a local Coffee Morning.  I would be soooooooooooo excited to be a part of Kristy's design Team, even just for 2 months - it would be bliss!! Wish me luck!!

--
Rhoda xx

Well, here we are again - it's Wednesday and this is the new sketch from Let's Scrap!

I did a girlie layout for  a change!! Woo Hoo!!!  This shows Marie and her cousin Lesley.  Marie was around a year old here, and Lesley is only 5 months younger, but she is such a dainty wee thing, it makes the difference between them look massive!!  Marie was born with dislocated hips and spent her first year in a Von Rosen splint, then plaster from her armpits down to her ankles, then lastly the abduction rings she is wearing in the picture.  I wish I had taken more photos so as I could show her what she went through, but I just didn't think about it at the time.  I used some Bo Bunny papers (Love Bandit) and the flower and butterfly were from Prima.  I did some stitching which I don't normally do, but really enjoyed!  I gave this layout the title Wish, because I was permanently wishing that Marie would be okay once she got rid of all her splints etc. Must go and make more cards, Marie and I have a stall on Saturday at a coffee morning in the village so need to get organised!!  Thanks for stopping by!!

I'm very late with my blogpost this week,  but I took unwell on Wednesday and ended up in hospital all day yesterday.  I'm fine now, still in a lot of pain, but nothing to get too concerned about!!!  Unfortunately they didn't let me take any morphine home with me!! Lovely stuff!   LOL!!!

The Let's Scrap sketch is below!

I used all these different photos of Harrison, which didn't really have a specific theme, but just showed all his different facial expressions.  The papers were from Echo Park, About a BOy, The Lace Cardstock is by K.I. Memories, the rafia is by Penny Kennedy and the lettering is by Doodlebug.  I used all the little Mr Men cut-outs from a card pack which I bought many moons ago and never used.  I'm keeping this short today, as I'm poorly, but my next post will be bigger I promise!!

It's Wednesday again!!  I loved the sketch this week for Let's Scrap and I knew straight away what I wanted to do with it..  Only problem was, I couldn't find the photos I wanted to use.  I hunted high and low and turned my craft room upside down with no luck.  I just had to go and re-print them again!  They are bound to appear at some point when I don't want them!

Usually  I am really critical about the layouts and cards I make, but I have to say I  love my tree!!!!!!!  I am really  happy with the way this turned out!  

Must go and get more cards done.  I have been asked to make 21st Birthday cards for  a girl by her Mum, Granny and Auntie so I need to get a move on!!  I will need to make them as different as I can too!!  Enjoy the rest of your day!!

Swimming Update!!!!! - I'VE DONE IT!!!!  Oh dear it was hard today - I was really tired and sore, so it slowed me down a bit and I finished in 1 hour and 20 minutes.  4 miles = 320 lengths and today I felt every single one!!!  I'm really glad I finished it though and the aches and pains are worth it.   I've raised £195 if everyone pays up!!  I will be sending a bigger cheque though, as I still have money from a quiz we held and the cards I've sold, and also from the collection boxes.  I will put the final total on here when it is in.  Thanks to everyone who sponsored me, and a big thank you to Mary for keeping me company and keeping me going in the pool.  Now I am going to relax for the rest of the day and work on a couple of challenges.

It's sketch time again at Let's Scrap and it is a card sketch this week.  I used an image from Mo Manning.  I love this wee image which is called  - I even love the box!!!  It is just typical of a small child to ignore the present and play with the box!! I have had to turn my craft room upside down looking for photographs which I had just a couple of weeks ago.  I need them for a Halloween layout I want to do and I just don't know where I have put them!!  I am so organised and have boxes for everything, but I have checked the places where I keep photos and they are not there.  I have even been looking in stupid places - you know - just in case!!!  I will have one last look today, then I will have to have to reprint them aaaaaahhhhhhh!!

Swimming Update - I had a lovely quiet swim today, at one point I was the only person in the whole pool!  Lovely!!!!  I love just gliding through the water when it is flat and still, unlike when there is a lot of people in the pool and it resembles swimming in the sea  complete with Tsunamis on occasion!!! I  kid you not LOL!!!  I took 1 hour and 10 minutes today, but I have pulled a muscle in my chest, so will have to watch what I am doing tomorrow and will probably have to slow down a bit.  I have such a laugh watching people at the pool, there are so many characters there.  A woman was in the other day, and she had her full make-up on as if she was going for a night out.  Bright red lipstick and long dangley earrings and a big flower scrunchy in her hair. Unbelievable!!  Then there is Jacuzzi man.  I see him getting out of his car and coming into the gym and he comes straight into the Jacuzzi and just sits there hopping between the two Jacuzzis.  Occasionally, he goes into the steam room, but not very often.  He chats away to people, then leaves, and I see him going back to his car.  He never actually does anything which I think is a bit weird, and he is there every single day!!!!!  Bizarre!! Okay must go and hunt for those photos!!!  Wish me luck!!

Here is another layout I have been working on.  It is based on the Let's Scrap Design team call for November - March.  Wish me Luck!!

These photos were taken in New Zealand near Taupo.  Corinne, Eric and I went on a Jet Boat and it was simply amazing!!!!  It was really scary but really exhilarating and I would do it again in a minute!!!  We were absolutely soaked when we finished, especially Eric as he was at the outside that seemed to get the most of the water.  The driver was called Stevo and he did a wee wave with his hand to let you know he was going to put the boat through 360 degrees - brilliant!!!!  Poor Rob was the official photographer and bag holder - well someone had to do it!!!!!!!

Sponsored Swim update : - I did my mile today in 1 hour and 15 minutes.  I realy began to feel my neck and shoulders sore so it slowed me down a bit - only by 5 minutes so that's not bad!!!  I have a rest day tomorrow and then back to it again on Thursday for mile 3.  I am really feeling good doing this, as for once I am doing the sponsored event myself and not relying on other people to do it for me.  Back soon for another update!!

Swimming update!!!!!  Today was the first day of my sponsored swim and I did my 80 lengths in 1 hour and 10 minutes.  Pool was lovely and quiet, so no pool rage!!!!  I could see a lovely big rainbow out the window when I was swimming and it was beautiful.  Unfortunately, by the time I came out, the rain was pouring down!!  I'm feeling my neck a bit sore, but it is a good sore if you know what I mean!!!  I will be back at the pool again tomorrow for the next mile!  I'll give you the update tomorrow.

 Here are some more cards I have been working on.  I love the traditional feel that they have.

 This one is Eric's favourite.  He loves owls.  I do like it, it's a bit different and could even be used as a winter birthday card.  Must go now and get another layout done!

Where does the time go?  I keep asking myself!!  I should have put this post on here on Wednesday and it is now Sunday!!!  This is the sketch for Let's Scrap and I have chosen photos from our trip to New Zealand earlier this year.

!

We went away for a few days and stayed near Mount Manganui which is on the coast. We set off early one morning, (7 a.m. to be precise) on a trip to swim with Dolphins.  it was a cold, bleak day and to begin with we were pretty miserable and cold.  We sailed for hours and hours without seeing any dolphins and we were beginning to think we would not see any at all.  We did see flying fish and a massive shoal of fish which were right on the surface of the sea and they were flapping about all the time.  We were still sitting on the boat and I said to Corinne, shut your eyes and count to 3 and the dolphins will appear.  She did it and lo and behold, 2 minutes later, the Dolphins appeared! We had such a laugh about that!!   There were about 40 of them in the school and it was brilliant to watch them.  We got to go to the back of the boat and into the water, where we held onto a rail and the dolphins swam beside and underneath us.  I couldn't do it for very long as it hurt my shoulders, but Eric managed longer than me and Rob and Corinne did it twice and they loved it!! It was an amazing experience, but very hard trying to get a photo of the dolphins as they were so fast!!  It was an experience I will never forget and another thing off my bucket list!!

Now for the very late swimming update!!  I swam on Thursday and Friday last week, and did 80 lengths each time.  This is the first time I have done this two days in a row, so I have really been feeling the muscles in my legs and my bum!!!  (Hopefully I will tone them up a bit! LOL!!)  I have raised £170 so far through sponsorship which I am really pleased about.  This is the week I do it for real, so wish me luck!!  I'll let you know how I get on!!  Oh one other thing - Marie and Willie are having a wee boy!!!  Yet another Grandson for us!  Will never get the chance to knit up the pink wool I have!! LOL!!!  All is well and we are really happy about it!  Now the task of picking a name for the wee one - watch this space!!!