Woohoo Holiday Time

We are off to sunny Brighton tomorrow (or thereabouts anyway) and my fave job of the year of towing our caravan there....(<----- sarcasm). Every year about this time we go off to Brighton to our Church conference, Christian Outreach Centre, and they have Pastors from their churches all over Europe and Asia meeting together for a really awesome time of worship and teachings etc.... Our Pastors are standing down from Church on Sunday (unfortunately we wont be there) and our new Pastors will be taking over, and whilst at Conference this year they will be Ordained, along with our brilliant Sunday School Teacher who will also become a Pastor, not sure if we are getting assistant Pastors or not so have covered that angle by making an extra card. So here is the card I made for the Pastors who are standing down as they are not sure now what they are going to do as they are at retirement age....

And the following cards are the same except I made 3 different colours, not sure yet what to put inside...

Ooooh so exciting....

Next project was to make the teachers at school some presents and cards, there is 1 teacher and 2 teaching assistants in two of my sons class and 2 teachers and 2 teaching assistants in my other sons class, so that was a total of 10 cards I had to make, the apple ones I made 4 of, one was slightly different to the rest as I didn't want both teachers in the same class to get exactly the same card and I made 3 each of the other 2 cards. Here they are...

I am now into decorating the inside of cards aswell as the outside so these took me quite a lot of time.

And here are the altered altoid tins I made for the teachers, I had to make 4 of these, I put antiseptic wipes and plasters into them and made them into little first aid kits that are nice to carry around in your handbag.

Have packed a small box of craft stash to take with me including all my new Stampin Up punches... ssssh dont tell anyone, hoping to get lots of images coloured whilst I am away, taking my prismacolour pencils and copic markers for this.

And if you were thinking of burgling my house whilst I am away, if you manage to sneak past my great dane and 2 other dogs, then I am sure my son who is staying here will get you.

Have a good week....xx

Phew.... Its Over

So I did my first Stampin Up Demo last night, didn't go too badly, but was a good learning curve for next time.... made some bits to show and we also had a make and take, so here goes...

I showed two different techniques for stamping, one I watercoloured, the other was coloured by dabbing chalk onto a versamarked image...

For my table I made this bucket which I filled with a cellophane packet of cookies tied with ribbon and gave the cookies to the girls at the party

Then next I did a make and take, I used Karin's from http://www.inlovewithstamping.com/ photo wallet tutorial for this, here is the outside of mine and the inside.....

I am loving these little photo wallets and am thinking of making some for my family when I have the time.....

Last but not least I made a little froggy paperclip, I got the idea from StampingCaz's blog...

Well last weekend DH took himself off to his garage for 2 days and was bang bang bang out there, I was banned from the vicinity, but Sunday night he came in with this.....

my very own storage for all my Stampin Up inkpads, by the end of the month I should have it full..... woohoo. Now it is very easy to pick out the colour I want to use and easy to tidy up again afterwards... he finished it off by writing on the top.... "Made With Love.."

Had an opticians appointment the other day and my eyes have deteriorated badly in the last 9 months... my "bad" eye which I had an operation on when I was 15 months old is very very shortsighted, by my other eye is very very longsighted. My "bad" eye has not got any worse, but my "good" eye has got even more long sighted which is making close up work difficult, so have had to order some new glasses.... DH had his eye appointment the day after and he also needs new glasses, but due to the fact the boys are always managing to bend his, he has ordered the ones that scrunch up in your hand and dont break.... how cool, can see the boys having hours of fun with those!! The children all have an eye appointment in August and it is going to take 3 hours to do them all.... eeeeek!!

It is DH's birthday tomorrow, cant say yet what I have got him, nor post a photo of his card, it has been really difficult making the card everytime he goes to the school to pick them up as he is always around when I am crafting.

Unfortunately although he had 2 interviews this week and the one he wanted, they spent a whole day trying to decide whether to have DH or this other guy, they eventually went for this other guy... boo!!! But he has another preliminary interview next Thursday and if he is successful he will get a second interview after that, unfortunately we are away the week after, so hopefully if he gets through they will wait until we get back.

Right, will be busy this weekend making gifts and some more cards for the teachers, there are 10 cards need making, one DS has two teachers and two teaching assistants, and the other 2 boys have a teacher and 2 teaching assistants. Also will be making altoid tins into first aid tins for the teachers, and the teaching assistants will get something in cellophane bags tied with ribbons and a tag (haven't decided what to put in them yet...lol), will post photos once they are all finished.

Need to clean our caravan in and out ready for next Friday, check the gas, sort out clothes... can see a busy week ahead, plus I told DD I would take her clothes shopping on Monday!!

Need to fly.... have a good evening all xx

Getting Nervous Now....

Well I have my first Stampin Up demo tomorrow, have been busy for a week now getting things ready, ordering stuff I want to show and guess what, DHL has mislaid a load of demonstrators parcels and mine is included in that, so stuff that normally takes 2 days to get here has still not arrived despite being posted on 10 July... aarrgghh, it has finally been traced to Cologne and wont be here until Friday.... what bad news is that my workshop is Thursday night..... I needed those punches, that paper, those stamp sets... aaarrgghh, so a quick shuffle around, but I needed those punches...... poopy pants...

On the good side, I now have all my Stampin Up 10 month club people, just waiting on a reply from 2 people with their addys and then their catalogues will be whizzing there way to them, then need to sort out hostess months and order deadlines.... its non stop here you know!!

School is just about finishing here, DS left school this year back in June, one DD is on work experience at the moment, having a bit of a tough time working with children with special needs, especially when the second day she was there she found out a little girl had died during the night and everyone was really upset, it is her funeral tomorrow. Other DD has gone off on holiday with her best friend and her dad and girlfriend, they left last night, so she is missing the last few days of school with the blessings of her teachers. The primary school does not finish until next Wednesday though, it is DS's last day at primary school but he is going to miss the party as he has an appointment at the fracture clinic as he needs another x-ray on his broken arm to check it is healing okay before we go away next Friday.....

I have made a few more cards, so here they are....

I love the colours on this card, it is one of my set of 12 that I sell each month.

The next one I made for my son for his 2nd Wedding Anniversary last week...

Used the cricut to cut out the shapes, the cuttlebug embossing folder to emboss the dots and the ribbon is Stampin Up taffeta ribbon. Does look better in real life as you can see the shine then.

Another stampin up card made entirely of Stampin Up bits except the nestabilities dies and the pink gems. Check out my other blog.... http://www.purelystamping.blogspot.com/ for more stampin up examples and offers.

Have a good evening all xx

Wow, Look At This Blog Candy

Just a quick post to let you know about this wonderful blog candy..... 140 images of Hanglar and Stanglar.... pop over here to join in... http://mayas-hobbyblogg.blogspot.com/2008/07/blog-candy.html. Have a great day all xx

A Few More Cards

Nothing to report this time, things seem to have quietened down here, DD is on work experience, DS was not allowed back at school with his broken arm until I had signed a letter saying I would take responsibility for him whilst at school, this was despite the consultant saying there was no reason he shouldn't be at school. He has gone to visit his secondary school today, I didn't mention the arm to anyone there... lol

Put in my first Stampin Up order, so 10% offer has now finished. Am now looking for 10 people who would like to spend £15 a month for 10 months. You need to commit yourself to this as for each of the 10 months one of the people will be hostess and get all the benefits of the hostess which is a free stamp set (which you cannot buy) and at least £15 of free goodies of your choice from the brochure. On top of this you will need to pay £3.50 postage and a nominal 3% if you pay via paypal which I would prefer, but you then get to build up your Stampin Up stash....

DH has an interview for a job next Tuesday at 11am, so prayers for that would be very welcome, he really needs to get a job but they are very thin on the ground at the moment.

Here are a few cards that I have been making.....

These have been "cased" from two US blogs which I found whilst blog hopping, but cannot for the life of me remember whose they were, so if it is you, please let me know so I can give credit to you.

Off to do some more Stampin Up stuff.... have a good day all xx

10% off Stampin Up Until Wednesday....

Okay so first things first, if you check out my other blog http://www.purelystamping.blogspot.com/ you will see that you can have 10% off any Stampin Up items in the current catalogue, scroll down the right hand side of that blog and click on the catalogue picture, here you can browse the current catalogue, then just e-mail me with your order and I will post you back a payment request, please bear in mind a nominal amount will be added for P&P depending on the weight of your parcel.

Here are a couple of cards I have made with Stampin Up merchandise....

Check out www.purelystamping.blogspot.com for all the details of these cards.

Went out yesterday afternoon with all the children geocaching, we had three planned, but unfortunately after the first two, DS who is 16 and DS who is 11 were walking along the mud (which is the kind of beach next to the estuary we live near) and they were both kicking a buoy (note the spelling not boy) on a chain at each other, suddenly DS who is 11 went splat in the mud, well this made us laugh, but we quickly realised he wasn't laughing and he was in great pain, I checked him out and thought that he hadn't broken any bones but was probably a dislocated shoulder as he was in a lot of pain in this region and couldn't move his arm. After a very very slow walk back to the car as we wasn't sure how to carry him without hurting his shoulder more we took him to the hospital where it turns out he has done something that the doctor says children never do and that is to break the bone in his humerous, right at the top just under the ball that goes into his shoulder socket, there is a nice chip of bone which has come off too.... they cannot put a cast on as it is so far up his arm, so he has had to have a special sling fitted to stop him moving the top of his arm too much which he has to have on for 4-6 weeks or until it heals, so that also includes countless trips to the fracture clinic starting Tuesday....

Went to DD2s today to a barbeque it was mega, there was so much food thought I would burst and we have the left overs for a barbeque tomorrow too.... he he he

Went for a trek this morning, DD4 has work experience next week and is working in a special needs school which is around 45 minutes on the bus away and needs to get the bus. We have worked out which bus to get but needed to walk from the bus station to the school, so thought if we all went and walked it today she would know where to go next week... took longer than we expected and it took us about 1/2 hour each way, but are expecting that she will walk slightly quicker than we did today, but at least she now knows the way and hopefully we wont get a phone call saying she is lost....

Off to watch Casualty, have a good weekend all xx

Cards, Cards, Cards and Stampin' Up

I now have my Stampin' Up kit and am now looking for hostesses to host a party for me, if you sell over £150 you will receive a free hostess stamp set (which you cannot buy) and free merchandise of your choice too, so if you are local to Maldon in Essex just drop us an e-mail... LindaLloyd@gmx.net. Also go visit my Stampin' Up blog which has three cards on now and details of a 10% off deal that is on at the moment until Wednesday 9th July 2008. If you are local and dont want to host a party but would like to see what Stampin' Up offers, let me know and I can arrange a workshop at my house, with make and takes etc. (www.purelystamping.blogspot.com).


So Daughter has settled down well in Australia and seems to be fitting in to DH's family quite well, she has had a busy week including the cinema twice, once a big IMAX screen one to watch Kung Fu Panda, the theatre, a Sicilian meal, Church club every day, and a visit to the pub with her step-grandad.... lol



On the other hand, DS2 hasn't had such a good week, he was mugged for his mobile phone, and then fell from his skateboard on Sunday and managed to partly slash his wrist on broken glass and ended up going to hospital in an ambulance.... (he is 16..)



DD4 went to see a consultant today about a lump in her mouth, and she was told she needs an operation to open the lump, then stitch the skin open so the fluid inside can drain... yuk (too much information I know), but as she is away most of August I have no idea when this is going to take place, so in the meantime it gets bigger, bursts, then starts all over again.



DS3 is off to visit his new secondary school next Thursday, (will have to check up on that) cant believe he is going to secondary school already, and I realised it is 3 weeks until I go on holiday, cant wait, but means I will have to give my caravan a top to toe clean soon. Luckily I have someone staying here to look after all my animals.



Here are some cards I have been making...

The fruit bowl stamps and this garden with gate stamps are from a brilliant US company called Our Daily Bread, and they make some wonderful religious stamps, and if you buy the unmounted ones dont cost the earth to ship either...

Inside this one it says "I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit... John 15:5

Went to the library today for the first time in years, the children were thrilled at getting new books and also the self-service check out place, they loved being big boys and doing it all themselves, unfortunately when DH went to get his books out he found he owes an £11 fine and as he is unemployed at the moment we just do not have the £11 to pay off, so he had to put his books back as he wouldn't let me get them for him, so I am off to get reading now...

Have a great evening all xx