I am still here...

... Just very busy and very tired! I have started doing some work from home, plus I still have my Saturday job and my lovely little toddler (as pictured above). I didn't get time to craft for a while, but now I have got a camera full of images (again!) and hope to bring some things here soon.

Watch this space...

I'm fiddling around with the appearance...

Please bear with me! This isn't quite there yet- it is a little too busy, but I like the 3 column look. I have a new header to upload tomorrow, plus I want to change the colours too! I will get it just right in the end... I hope!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Edited to add- nearly there! I am off to have some breakfast, then will do a bit more.

Another blog to visit for inspiration

My best friend Vicky has at last entered the world of blogging. She is a brilliant cardmaker and scrapbooker, and had a card published in the Reader's Gallery of 'Quick and Crafty' last month. She has only just blogged once, but please go and visit and admire what she made! Her work is lovely.

Here's one I made earlier!

I hope to find the time to do a complete blog re-vamp this week, but bear with me as I don't want to do a rush job! I am starting a new job tomorrow- it's a Saturday job (training tomorrow) with the company I worked for before having Dan. I was there for 12 years previously, but I am actually looking forward to having minimal responsibility this time- it will be a treat to say 'I'll have to ask a manager', hee hee! Wish me luck!

Happy Christmas to everyone!

Still up to the eyeballs in Christmas prep; I will be up to see Santa drive past in his sleigh! Just wanted to say Happy Christmas to everyone :D

This is why I have been too busy to blog

He was two last Monday, and we have spent a week celebrating! Paul had a couple of days off so that we could have a family day, and we went to the park in the freezing cold (wrapped up so much that we could barely move!) and then went shopping. He got to go up and down the escalator, then go around Sainsbury's- both his favourite things! Then on Sunday we had a party for him, which involved dressing like cowboys, and playing in a teepee (which was in the dining room). I am just getting back to normal now, and have got some photos to show, but I wanted to share this photo first. Happy birthday, my lovely Dan!

I have been working hard...

... and here is the evidence! My new CJ at UK Stampers- it's there, hidden by the Distress Ink, Glimmer Mist and Paint Dabbers. And yes, I'm talking about the stuff on my hands. Good job my friends understand me!

I'm Not Slacking Off...

... I'm in the middle of a couple of projects that require lots of drying time between stages!

DT Call at Toodles and Binks

I realise I'm not known for my love of cute stamps, but sometimes needs must, especially at this time of year when I have all of my little boy's friends to make birthday, then Christmas cards for. Kay, over at Stamp Galaxy, and also from UK Stampers Forum, has got herself a rubber cooker and a great designer (and I think has the first plates already!), and is now putting out a design team call over at the Toodles and Binks blog. Here it is:

We’re looking for another Design Team Member

28 09 2008

have you got what it takes?

We appreciate that it’s going to be difficult for you to answer this without seeing our designs, but they aren’t ready for release for about 2 weeks (there might be a sneak peek in a few days though) ……….. also if you look in the side bar you will see a link under “Design Team” to Rose-a-petits-pois, which is a whopping big clue to the kind of images that will be available.

If you’re interested, to help us to decide if you might have what we are looking for, all you need to do is submit 3 pieces of work to us (via you blog is fine) using any of the the following stamps~:

Sugar Nellie

Magnolia

Whiff of Joy

Spiral Whispers

Stampin’ Up

Penny Black

If possible, we’d like to see:

• a card
• a tag
• and another small project of your choice

Please comment on this post with a link to your blog so we can check them out. If you are a Member of UK STampers please also include your username in the comment. If you don’t have a blog then please send an email with jpeg attachments (there is a link here to the Customer Service email address).

At the moment we will be able to offer one DT post, but we will also be giving away 2 pieces of blog candy chosen at random ….. so what have you got to lose, you’ve got to be in it to win it!

Deadline: 10th October 2008

If you're interested, go and have a look, and even if you're not, have a look anyway as the designer(s?) are really good! I'm just hoping the first release happens before I have my big making splurge...

A Bit of Fun

I always think these kind of quizzes are a bit silly, but I like the result of this little test, and I hope it's true!

You are The Star

Hope, expectation, Bright promises.

The Star is one of the great cards of faith, dreams realised

The Star is a card that looks to the future. It does not predict any immediate or powerful change, but it does predict hope and healing. This card suggests clarity of vision, spiritual insight. And, most importantly, that unexpected help will be coming, with water to quench your thirst, with a guiding light to the future. They might say you're a dreamer, but you're not the only one.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

My Lovely New Label Cloud

I have seen these on a few people's blogs recently, and I had to have one! I always use labels, mostly because I get a ridiculous amount of personal satisfaction from categorizing things, and also so anyone can just look at one topic, rather than hunting through the whole blog. Well, phydeaux3 wrote this fab code, and here are the full instructions for installing it in your Blogger template (sorry to all those who use other templates, but I don't know whether this will work for you!) It took me a little while to do, but the instructions are excellent. I love it!

Serendipity

I wasn't planning to blog again today, particularly without a photograph of some creation of mine, but I was skimming the BBC's news website and came across this article. It rambles a bit towards the end, I'm afraid, but I love the point it makes at the beginning, about the meaning of art. Please enjoy.

PS In the case of Tracy Emin, I saw a roomfull of her art at the Tate Modern a while ago. In my opinion, that is art, not pretty but full of emotion and meaning. I hope others get that, too!

It's late and I'm buzzing, because...

...I just got back from the Stansted Proms- a local outdoor concert at a stately home. The reason we decided to go to this was that it was an 80's revival tour, and the bands on the line-up were ones I would have loved to see 'back in the day'. Best by far, in my view, was Midge Ure from Ultravox, although the other bands were great, too. But he sung and played guitar with such energy, and when he played Vienna, and I felt the music thumping against my chest (since I was near the front by this point), I thought 'must listen to that again very soon'. So here it is...

I have been given an award...

...but I haven't got time to sort out doing all of the links etc until the weekend! I do appreciate it, though...

Thank you.

I have had so many lovely comments about my Nan, so thank you all for your kind thoughts. The funeral was on Tuesday, and it turned out to be a real family get together. I met many members of our extended family that I didn't know, and the best thing of all is that I got to spend the afternoon with my brother, who lives on the other side of the country. Now we are all getting back on with our lives; still sad, but with a reminder of the warmth that you get from having a great family. I am giving myself this weekend as 'chilling out' time, then I will try to resume normal service- if I can work out what that is!

Just a few more days...

Blogging is fun, I always like to share my creations, whether they are really good or not! I have been unable to spend as much time as I like here, and I am only crafting when I have to because I am in the middle of a College course which means I can change my career. It is 10 3-hour lessons in total, but has involved lots of quite serious assignments, taking up a lot of my time and energy. But the good news is that my last assignment is to be handed in on Monday, then after that I have one more class to attend. Then I will need to go out and find a job! I am training to teach in Further Education, and this course means that I will have the initial qualification to get into the classroom. After I start teaching, I then have to take further courses to achieve full teacher status, but one step at a time. I feel very privileged to get the chance to change my course so thoroughly, even if it is hard work, and the best thing is that I still get time to be with my little boy.
I will show some photos soon, as they are sitting in my camera waiting to be downloaded. I have: an altered tin, three mother's day cards, and the start of an ongoing project which is an altered book. I did a class today with the very talented Isa Norris, and under her instruction I did the first page in my book. I am pretty pleased with what I acheived, and I can't wait for the next class.
All photos will be shown next week, and Isa's blog, if you want to check out her work, is in my blog list on the right. When I have time again I will put all of the links in my posts properly, so you don't have to hunt around to find them. But for now, it's back to the grindstone. How I hate essay writing!

A Rare Photo of a Smile

Dan is always smiling, but the delay on my digital camera, plus his desire to grab the camera from my hand mean that I rarely manage to capture those smiles on film. Today I got lucky, and managed two smiles before he crawled over to his Mummy.
The reason I was taking photos is that I am going to spend Tuesday evening at my friend's house, scrapping, and I thought that a new photo would inspire me. I have hundreds of photos already, but I *still* wanted a new one- a bit like stash and stamps, really!

Update.

I have finally been a good blogger and updated my links. As well as the new Ismaki button to take you straight to the site, I have corrected the addresses of all of the craft blogs on my list. I'm not going to say which ones, though, if you have the time then click and see for yourself- everyone loves to have visitors!

New Challenge Site.

This week has seen the launch of 'Ismaki', a new challenge blog for us stampers and card makers. It is the baby of Isabelle Norris and two of her friends (both members of the Magnolia design team), and involves using a sketch each week as the basis for your creation. Anything goes except scrapbook pages, as long as you use the sketch. Then there is also an extra option, which you can choose to include if you wish. The challenges are posted on a Monday, and this week's is on the site!
I actually did some stamping this evening, with this in mind, but unfortunately only had 10 minutes to spare, so have nothing to show yet. It depends on my little 13 month old as to whether or not I get to stamp, if all goes well we eat as a family then put him to bed, leaving me with the evening free. Other evenings (like tonight) we sit with him whilst he eats his own meal, then cook and eat after he is in bed. On nights like this we try to cook something quick, so I really only have the cooking time for me. (Yes, my husband is the main chef in our house, and he is sooooo good- tonight we had chicken in tarragon and cream sauce with lemon and basil courgettes. Delicious!) Hopefully tomorrow will be better (I'm cooking, so it's a Provencal-type salad) and I will have some photos to show!
Enjoy your food :-)
PS So many of my favourite blogs have upped-sticks and moved this Christmas so please bear with me until I have sorted out all of my links. Hey, I might even change some of my colours and do a new banner! My treat to me after spending so much (lovely) time with my family this Christmas!

Happy New Year, everyone!

I have no photos to share, nor have I done anything creative through this holiday season, but I had such a great time, and I hope everyone else did too. I was lucky to spend the whole time with my husband and 13 month old son, plus I got to spend time with other members of our extended family. The house is a mess, I'm a mess, but it's all worth it to see Dan 'reading' his new books and playing with his new (and mostly noisy!) toys.
I did get around to re-organising my craft space- again- and re-doing the storage of my unmounted stamps. My next task is to be realistic about my stash, and to get rid of any items I really can't see myself using. Luckily, my Mum makes a lot of cards to sell for her church, so is always grateful for new stuff to use! I will take some pictures soon, and will start to do some challenges again- gotta use what I decide to keep!

Charity Auction of gorgeous canvases in aid of Cancer Research.

Jennieoneinamillion at TalkCrafts forum has posted this message, and I really want to spread the news. These canvases are really gorgeous, and the minimum bids are truly low for these one-off items. There are six days left on the auction, so plenty of time to get bidding! We have almost all had our lives touched by cancer, in my own case 3 work colleages have recently suffered with breast cancer, and my Grandmother is coping with inoperable bowel cancer. So please go look, drool over these works of art, and place a bid. Lets raise some cash!


Hi,
I have a charity Auction for Cancer Research on ebay for the next 10 days.
We commissioned Daphne Roberts ( the boss!), to make some multi media canvases for us for our trade show in Feb 2007.

As they would be gathering dust after the end of this year, we decided to auction them off on Ebay for Cancer Research. Both Mal and I have family and friends who have suffered from Cancer, and thought this an appropriate way to raise money for a cause close to our hearts.

I have set the minimum bids low, and hope that some of you will bid to raise money, and have a great piece of artwork too! They will make a fab Christmas present if you could bear to give them away!

This is the link to my shop on ebay where they are being auctioned.
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/millionsofstamps

happy Bidding and any questions please ask
Jennie x
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