Monday 30 April 2007

Happy Birthday Jess!

It's my neice's first birthday today so I made her this card.

Ingredients:
C5 White plain Card Blank
Papers - Basic Grey "Blush" "Be Mine" & pink check paper.

Pink Card Stock
Pink Staples
Cricut Lettering
Balloon Die Cuts

Pink Flower Brad & Bow
Flower from Dream Designs
Tags printed with "The King & Queen" font.


Method:


Lots of cutting and sticking. Handsewing, Machine sewing, inking, stapling, die cutting and a sprinkle of love!


Rach
x

Friday 27 April 2007

Happy Birthday Mum!

It's my Mum's birthday today so I made her this card.

Ingredients:

C6 Cream Linen Card Blank
Papers - Cratepaper "Twig" double sided 12x12
Linen Dark Brown Card
Cricut die cut flowers
Buttons (as before)
Cricut Lettering



Method:
I cut the flowery paper "Twig" to the size I required and inked it round the edge with a brown ink pad and then glued the two bands of green (also Twig) on and trimmed them to size. This was then glued to the brown card which was in turn trimmed to size using a trimmer. At this stage I pratted with the sewing machine until I managed to thread it with brown cotton which was eventually used to stitch round the edge of the card. I cut three flowers out of different shades of brown card on my Cricut and placed a smaller flower in the centre of each which was then topped off with complimentary buttons before being stuck into place on the card. The lettering was cut on the cricut machine normally and then as a shadow and the two were layered together.

Rach

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Sunday 22 April 2007

THIS IS...............

......the face of the teenager from HELL!! My nice, sweet, innocent son is rapidly turning into a moody, dirty, unreasonable being from some other dimension. We are definitely into the teenage faze with a vengeance and then some. Matt is a law unto himself at the moment. Bath and Shower are swear words and are usually answered with a sullen " I had one last week"! Which might explain why he found a live cricket living in his armpit yesterday - he screamed like a baby girl!!! In complete contrast his unwashed hair has to be combed forward to perfection even though he has refused a hair cut for nearly 3 months now. He gets everything out but refuses to put it away, he is always right and if I ask he won't - whatever it is! I am getting used to the words "No", "Why", "Whatever", "Don't want to", and "Uug" and the blank look followed by silence when he is asked a question. I swear he is turning into a monosyllabic caveman. We do still have moments of normal Mattie behaviour when he never shuts up but they are becoming fewer and fewer. The only teenage thing he doesn't do is to stay in bed forever, which is lucky really as he has to get up at silly o'clock every day to do his paper round.Never mind one just started and one to go!! Boy am I glad I only had 2 kids and don't ever have to deal with a pre-menstrual teenager mind you Matt does do a good impression sometimes....

Rach
x

Thursday 19 April 2007

EXCITING NEWS...

... I have now got my own shop on the Internet. The grand opening will be on May 2nd 2007 - this way the shop and I will share birthdays! It is going to take a bit of setting up but it will have a shopping basket facility, more choice of products and fairer postage charges than I currently charge on eBay. My shop will be able to charge postage according to the weight of the items you have bought rather than a flat rate like eBay the top postage charge will be £5. I will be accepting Paypal, cheques, postal orders and shortly Google checkout. I have chosen not to accept credit cards as I personally prefer to use Paypal when shopping as I feel that is a safer method of payment - as after all you are only giving your card details to them and not unknown shops. I hope you will all join me when my shop opens, I will of course be still selling on eBay but it will be a limited stock. If you would like to take a sneak peek at the shop before it opens then visit http://www.uniqu-ards.co.uk/


Rach
x

Tuesday 17 April 2007

Tigger!

Well the blood transfusion certainly worked as predicted. Pete woke up this morning positively bouncing!! I had ice blocks down my back at 7.30am, Kyle had already lost his temper with him by this stage! When I asked him how he felt I got "Sexy Better" as a reply, God only knows what that means!! I must admit though I do prefer this annoying Pete much more than Zombie Pete and we could put that extra blood to good use if he plays his cards right........ ;-)


A quicky for my friends birthday today.

Ingredients:
105mm x 105mm cream hammered card
Flowers - Wyvale Garden Centre
Button - Craft Obsessions
Fibre - Free from Craft Obsessions
Papers - Cratepaper "Twig" double sided 12x12
Lettering - Old rub on sheet in back of drawer
Techniques: Inking



Monday 16 April 2007

RUMMY YUMMY BBQ BANANAS!

Another BBQ for tea again tonight and our favourite Rum Bananas. They are so easy to make and absolutely gorgeous - not good for the diet though.
Ingredients:
Banana
Chocolate Bar
Rum or Brandy
Cream / Ice-cream
Method:
Cut the banana skin length ways on the inside of the curve. Cut your chocolate into small pieces and stuff into the banana skin (I find a lot works well). Close the skin as best you can and wrap the banana in tin foil. Place on the BBQ for about 20 minutes or until the banana is softening. Unwrap, place on a bowl drizzle with a little of the booze of your choice and serve with cream or ice-cream. DELICIOUS!!


Pete's been pretty bad today and has slept for most of it so I have sorted out the garden. I even managed to plant my raspberries which will go really well with the strawberries and blueberries already growing. The bed is looking empty at the moment but I am planting some sweet heart cabbages in it tomorrow and then lots of other stuff (when Mum brings it up).Matt and Kyle have been out for most of today playing with their friends from across the road so all in all I had some peace and quiet.

Saturday 14 April 2007

NOT ENOUGH HOURS....

.... in a day! I walked lots of steps today mainly due to the amount of housework I have done. The house was a mess after having the boys off school for 2 weeks so when they went for a game of golf with Grandma and Grandad I blitzed the place. It was that bad it took me all day but it does look good for it. Pete's not good at the moment as his blood count is back down to 65 which is less than half of what it should be. He's been pretty sick with it for the last few weeks and it also the reason for the sickness at the restaurant the other week. He should be great by Monday night as he is in hospital on Monday for 3 units of blood. He starts feeling better about an hour after the red stuff starts being pumped in. So next week I have a hyperactive husband to look forward to which will make a nice change from the zombie I have lived with for the last month of so!! We won't be doing much this weekend as Pete isn't fit for much so I plan to spend some time in the garden and Pete will do what he can. He is under strict instructions to strip off in the garden to try and get a bit of colour before we go on holiday.I best go now as I think Pete is getting a bit pissed with me as we are watching a DVD.

Wednesday 11 April 2007

Happy Birthday Jim!

Ingredients:

Basic Grey Aged&Confused Vagabond - Corrugated & Gingham Check
Basic Grey Fusion - Chartreuse
Blue Card Stock
C6 Linen Card Blank
Silver Peel Offs - Happy Birthday
Silver Peel Offs - Lowercase Letters
Green Button from
Craft Obsessions
Ribbon - Market


Methods:

Inking, Sewing Machine and Hand Cutting.

This is the card I made for my Step Dad's birthday today. The paper that I used on this are very apt (sorry Jim)!


Rach

x

Tuesday 10 April 2007

WE SLEPT!!

We actually got a full nights sleep on Saturday so tiring the baby out actually worked - I think it was the evening dog walk that finally did it!! It was great fun but it was even better when we got to hand him back on Sunday afternoon I am so glad we never had any more.Today we took the kids and dogs for a walk locally to a beautiful spot where you rarely see another soul. Pete and I walked in the woods while the boys stream walked in their wellies. By the time we got back to the car I think there was more water in their wellies than in the stream! Tomorrow sees the start of my diet proper - I have even been and bought a new pedometer today as I lost my old one on a dog walk. I am aiming to walk 12,000 steps a day which will include my half hour run and the dog walk so hopefully I shouldn't find it a problem. I have to loose 25lbs to be back at my ideal weight and I have 15 weeks to do it in before the dreaded bikini so it should be pretty easy if I can get going. I'll let you know how I am getting on.
Just thought I would share the snowy view from my Aunts study window in Ontario, Canada - a bit of a contrast to the weather here on Sunday morning! The hope over there is that it will warm up to 3C today!! Kyle would still rather be over there than here and is now moaning about going over to stay when it is snowing - thanks Carolyn!!! I'm not so sure as I hate being cold.

Sunday 8 April 2007

Beside the Seaside, beside the sea!

Another gorgeous day today and we decided to take Martyn (the great nephew) to the beach for the day. So we took a picnic, the first of the year, and headed off to the Wirral. Great fun was had by all at the beach, country park, woods and fields - yes we were very busy! All in a good cause - knackering the baby out so he will sleep tonight - he still has a dog walk to do yet!! He is busy shouting at his Uncle Pete in the kitchen at the moment and is brilliant at getting Pete and the boys to run round after him - I must get some tips from him before he goes home to his Mum!! Guess who gets the smelly nappies though - I have never seen 3 people disappear so fast. Pete has even tried to blame his own smells on "Fartin Martyn". We took the photograph with our latest toy - a tiny 7mg camera which is much easier to carry round than the Canon Digital SLR we have as it fits in your pocket. It's also a no brainer so I can actually use it without the manual!!!

Friday 6 April 2007

Spring has SPRUNG!

What a beautiful day it was yesterday! Matt had his friend Ben over to sleep last night and yesterday they all (including the kids next door) had a huge water fight with balloons, buckets and hoses. I even managed to get wet at one point thanks to Kyle and a small balloon, don't worry I did get my own back with a huge, full bucket! My garden now looks like a battle ground so today they will be picking up bits of balloon for hours. It is set to be another good day with temperatures as high as 20c so we will be working in the garden. I will post again later if I can get a photo of Pete working - that's my challenge for the day! He has the job of cleaning the BBQ ready for tea tonight. He did originally suggest we should buy a new one but at £500 I think it would be more economical to clean the perfectly good one we have. I wonder if my favourite Canadians will be gardening today and BBQing tonight with temperatures of -7C and snow on the ground.

Thursday 5 April 2007

HOUSE, LINE, BINGO!

Yeah - It's Thursday again which means "House" is on tonight. This is one of the 3 or 4 programmes we watch on TV each week and we love it. I think the reasons we like it may differ though - I watch it for the eye candy (Chase and House) and I think Pete may be looking for new and interesting ailments that he might add to his extensive medical CV at some point!! Last weeks was about a little boy who thought he had been abducted by aliens so I am keeping a close eye on Pete at the moment.I'm trying to lose weight again ready for the dreaded bikini in the summer. Hence the writing of this post - it delays my 30 minute run on the treadmill. Not doing particularly well with the food aspect of the diet at the moment - it's those bloody chocolate raisins that do it! Pete's little or no help as since his Indian restaurant toilet adventure he has put his steroids up and now he is eating and eating and eating and eating..........

CPS #8

Ingredients:
C6 Ivory White Hammered Card
American Crafts Ribbon
Dovecraft Brads
Flowers bought off Ebay
Patterened Paper ?

Techniques:
Inking, Pencil crayon sketching.
This is my first ever attempt at a card challenge - CPS#8. I needed to make a card for my Mum to send to her friend so I thought I would give it a go.
Rach
x

Tuesday 3 April 2007

Happy Kyle!

It was Kyle's 11 birthday last Wednesday and as a birthday treat he got to go on a tour around Anfield - Liverpool FC's football ground last Saturday. I don't think Matthew was too impressed though as he supports Newcastle United. The photograph shows Kyle next to his beloved Gerrard's shirt - not sure why he doesn't look happy maybe there was a bad smell in there?!? He also got to chose the meal for Wednesday so we went off for an Indian at a local restaurant where Pete spent most of the evening in the toilet throwing up - due to his illness not the food! The nice people at the restaurant were very concerned about him and we ended up taking enough food for another meal away in containers. Pete has been feeling a lot better since then. We are now looking forward to babysitting our Great Nephew, Martyn, at the weekend.

Monday 2 April 2007

KYLE'S BIRTHDAY CARD

This is the birthday card that I made for Kyle this year.
Ingredients:
c5 White Linen Card

Quickutz Football
Ellison Football Boots
Liverpool Pictures from the Internet
Cricut Lettering
Methods: Inking, Machine Sewing, Layering, Chalking.