Happy Birthday Mum

Today it's my mums birthday.

She really loves Butterflies, so it was a great opportunity for me to use my Swallowtail butterfly stamp from Stampin Up. I painted with watercolours, then clear embossed the darker colours to make them really stand out.

It was a big decision whether or not to add her age, it's always something she's been really sensitive about, but I decided what the heck, it says it's her 70th on the party invites, so I went with it, as everyone now knows how old she is LOL.

I'm very lucky to still have my mum when so many of my friends have lost theirs. We've had our differences over the years of course, but she's always been there for me, no matter how awkward things have been between us at times. She's bailed me out of more difficult situations than I can remember, stood by me no matter what and given me sound words of advice, although not always heeded at my cost.

Happy 70th Birthday mum xxx

Authors Note:

Opps just realised I've used the word "She" quite a lot, I can hear mum now, saying

"Who's She? The cats mother!"

I'm linking this post with Handmade Harbours Paper Craft challenge and My Sunday Photo

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Using Up Those Odd and Ends

We all have them, those little odds and ends we make then put too one side, as they didn't quite work in the project you'd originally made them for. Mine all live in a big Kilner Jar on my window sill, every day they sit there looking at me willing to be used.

 

This week I tipped out the jar and started sifting through the bits to see what cards I could come up with. I tasked myself not to make any NEW cards until I'd used as least some of these items up.

 

This Thank You card was a simple one, I'd made the sentiment a couple of weeks ago, but decided it was too large for the card it was intended for. The flowers were a something I was trying out I saw on Pinterest, where you colour the stamps with watercolour crayons then dampen with a water spray and stamp. I dismissed it as too scruffy so into the jar it went so I could use the other side of the card for something else. The sentiment and stamp landed side by side and looked great together, so I dug out some pretty backing paper and bakers twine the card was done.

 

The Happy Anniversary card was slightly different, I've been trying to learn to draw without much success, but found I really enjoyed painting my stamped images with watercolours, this little mouse was my second attempt but I just couldn't decide what to do with him. I then found the Happy Anniversary stamp with the orange backing paper. So using my punches I punched out the mouse, some matching backing paper, added some bakers twine and gems onto a card front that was already made up with a backing paper and was very pleased with the result.

 

 

The next two cards were some Spaniels I'd made up some time ago, you may recognise them as being similar to the ones at the top of my blog. I always make them up several at a time, it's so much easier if I need one to make up a card quickly, not having to wait for the glue to dry, plus every one of them is ever so slightly different even if you think they look the same, look closely and you'll see what I mean.

 



 I added some sentiments that were in the jar, cut a circle in half to make their forepaws look like they were holding it and stuck them onto two card fronts that were already made up.

 



I love making the spaniels and was really getting into using up the odds and ends, so decided to give a box card a go. They look very complicated, but are actually fairly simple to make, I watched several videos on YouTube before I got down to actually making it.

 

Again it's made up with bits out of the jar, a watercolour Bee and Hedgehog, stamped grass and flowers and an embossed sentiment. I just added the gems and stuck it all together.

I'm linking this card to the Papercraft Challenge ~ Summer Fun, because I think its very cute and summery.



I was quiet pleased with my first attempt at a box card considering its been made with odds and ends. The next time I make one I'll stick with a theme or a colour.

 

 

This weeks post is a little later than usual but there's still time for me to link it to this weeks Creative Monday also Smile it's the Weekend and Welcome to the Weekend.

 

Hope you all have a great week crafting.

xxx

 

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Silent Sunday

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Beautiful Sweet Peas

 Beautiful Sweet Peas picked from my allotment first thing this morning, the scent is just amazing, I always prefer to put them in a clean jam jar as they never look right in a vase.

Sweet Peas are one of my favourite flowers, so many beautiful varieties, my favourites being the purples, pinks and whites as they have the strongest scent. This year we've planted six different varieties down on the allotment, and can't wait to see them all in flower.

 We've also planted several Giant Sunflowers, so far so good and they're approx 6 foot tall with good strong stems, I can't wait until they flower, should be good to practice my Macro photography on.

As I've mentioned before we're a little behind everyone else, even though we started really early this year, we had a massive slug problem due to the floods and wet start to this year. For the first time ever we've had to resort to using slug pellets, not ideal, but it's so disheartening to lovingly grow your seeds into strong seedlings, prepare the ground and then plant them out, then to arrive the next day and find everything had been eaten, week's of hard work amounting to nothing.

But as you can see from the pictures things are really coming along now.

These are my flower beds which are a first for us, but we wanted to attract Bee's, Butterflies and other insects, so far we've seen lots of Bee's and a few Butterflies, glad to be doing our bit to help the local wildlife.

Here's our Potatoes, Rhubarb and Cucumbers, we've had several harvests of Rhubarb already this year, the cucumbers have just started to flower even though they're still pretty tiny.

Next on our virtual tour are my Cherry Tomatoes, we have larger ones growing in the greenhouse, more Sweet Peas, Sweeetcorn and  behind that is my Red Onions, one or two of them are huge already.

Himself had just been round with the lawn mower,  the grass was pretty long because of not being able to get there since my knee operation for a couple of weeks, but it's all nice and tidy again now, just the way I like it.

I'm linking this post to Badger Boo's Smile it's the Weekend, Welcome to the Weekend Blog Hop, and How Does Your Garden Grow.

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Project #365grateful and #Project365

I recently started doing the Project #365grateful on facebook and love the idea of posting a picture each day for a year, but decided I wanted to carry on with it on my blog instead as I spend more time blogging than I do on facebook.

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This post is the first three pictures I posted and wrote on facebook for my regular blog followers.

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Day 1 of Project #365grateful Thankful for modern medicine and being able to have a brand new knee joint to replace the knackered one.

Day 2 of Project #365grateful Planted some beautiful flowers in my garden today, to make it feel as loved as much as my allotment is.

  

Day 3 of Project #365grateful I love my Wool Winder, which turns a tangled mess of yarn into a nice neat ball of yarn that you can knit from both the centre and the outside edge. I couldn't live without it.

It's a bit of a commitment I know, I really hope I'm up to the challenge, time will tell on that one though.

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Crutch Cosies and Wonderful Friends

If you've ever had to use crutches for any period of time, you'll know just how uncomfortable they can be. 

Because I have Carpel Tunnel in both hands I find the ergonomic hand grips more comfortable, but the worst thing about crutches, is the constant rubbing on your forearms.

In the past I've had some really ugly rashes, knowing that I'd be on crutches for some time after my Knee Replacement Surgery, I decided to try and knit myself some Cotton Crutch Cosies as I couldn't find anything in the shops or online to help with this rubbing issue.
 

The first pair I made worked but were unsuccessful, they stretched and kept moving and I was constantly having to adjust them. 

Using them as a template for the next pair, I used two strands of yarn to make it more chunky and this time I knitted in the round.

The result was these beauties:-

They work a treat and even though we're having a mini heatwave in the UK there's no sign of any rash and the rubbing has stopped altogether.

I took them into hospital with me, I received many compliments from the nurse's, physio's and other patient's about what a great idea they are.

They still need a little tweaking ref sewing the ends up for me to be totally happy with them, and I'm currently working on my third pair in electric blue as its such a beautiful colour.

I'll let you know how I get on very soon.

 

Last week I promised you a look at the Thank You card I made for my good friend Lesley.

 I really enjoyed making this card. 

 

I got to know Lesley when I stumbled across her blog Mad Dog Woman of Shackleford and we've become very good friends.
Lesley has been an amazing support through Himself' s illness and my own surgery.

We were invited for Supper at Lesley's house recently along with Jill and her husband from Christmas Pie Crafts who is also another good friend I met through blogging, and we had a fantastic evening and the food was amazing.

When I started my blogging adventure, it never occurred to me that I would be meeting and making such amazing friends.
I've also made many other friends through blogging, some I've yet to meet and others I will sadly never meet in person due to distance, but each and every one of you deserves a massive Thank You for the love and support you've shown us, it means a lot.

At the moment I still can't drive, only another four weeks to go, and have at lot of time on my hands to fill.
Most of the ladies at the Wednesday Knitting Group have knitted a beautiful Mitred Baby Blanket, although I've had the pattern for ages, I've not been brave enough to take it on, as my pick up and knit isn't the best.
Last week I dug out the pattern and some King Cole yarn from my stash and I've made a start on it. 

I love the way the variegated colours are coming out and hope it continues like this until the end, also my pick up and knit has improved greatly. 

When it's finished I'll be donating it to the SCBU at the Royal Surrey County Hospital.

A slightly longer post than usual and I'll be linking it to My Sunday Photo, Handmade Monday and Creative Mondays.

Hope you all have a great week crafting and I'll see you next week.

xxx

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