Fancy Dress!

Hi,  long time - no talk!  theres not been that much happening in my sedentary lifestyle but recently we went to a fancy dress party and after much debating about who/what to go as, we decided in the shop on the day!

Here is a picture of us on the night!  I was a medieval Lady and  Mike was Captain Hook and people kept saying he looked like King Charles II, so he dispersed with the hook and acted all regally! lol                

We had a good time and enjoyed seeing other peoples costumes, there was a Mr. Blobby, cowboys, queen and king, clowns, Dorothy (over the rainbow), spiderman, batman and most amazingly, was my daughter Emma and Hubby's costume which she had made herself! He was Phantom of the Opera and she was Christine and here is a pic of them both.

Here is Mr. Blobby and an Indian Squaw....

Some more 'outfits'

My grandsons were dressed as the Mario Brothers, but haven't got a suitable photo of them both together, but Emma had made their costumes again, which clearly outshone the shop-bought ones that were also there on the night!

It was a good get together though and we all enjoyed dressing up!

LATEST CARDS FOR JUNE/JULY

Here's my latest batch of cards which were made for the last couple of months:-

This was a simple black/silver card with a football theme to it.

I feel I'm still quite an amateur when it comes to stamping and colouring in!  I punched a lace edgeing onto pretty rosebud
paper.  Stamped an image of a fairy on pink card and also added a little dragonfly.

This was a fishing theme for a man's card and I just added various fish themed boards onto a green backing paper.

I made this 60th anniversary card for a lovely couple who go to the country and western club we go to.  Their names are
Basil and Maureen and it's lovely to still see them get up and have a slow dance together!

They were so pleased with this card which had a lace backing paper then I punched out a silver and a red velvet heart from my Big Shot machine.  I added a stick on lacy silver heart on the red one.  I stamped the greetings in red ink.

This card has a brown patterned backing paper to which I added a cream and gold square of embossed paper.  I then added a gold heart with a gold stick on lacey heart on it.  I also cut out two butterflies and stuck them together for a double effect with an added gold stone.

I love the dog on this card!  I added some backing paper in green half way up then put on the cardboard cutouts and placed them on.  At the bottom I stamped some little brown paw prints.

This is the first time I've done a card like this - It's stamped on two different pieces of card then put together.  this one is of a garage....

and when you open the doors, theres a little man with his car!

It took quite a while to colour all the little bits and pieces in the garage, but I was pleased with the end result!

This was a lovely bluebell backing paper to which I added a butterfly cardboard cutout with a ribbon tied to it.  Also there was a little oval 'Love' emblem that I placed on it.  Then a 'Congratulations' greeting for an anniversary theme.

I received some free 'seaside' themed cardboard cutouts that I think are gorgeous!  This is one of them I placed on a striped backing paper added the cutout of three little sailor boys looking out to sea!  I added a blue ribbon to the cutout and some blue coloured stones in the upper corner.  I think this was nice for a man's card!

This last one I made when an old friend of my late Mum wrote to tell me her husband had recently died.

Joy lives in Canada now but my Mum used to care for her mother until her death and they stayed in touch for many years and I met her a couple of times when she visited England.

Since Mum's death she writes to me and asks how my Dad is and my family, which is sweet of her.  She had been married for 55 years so it must have come as a great shock to lose her husband Jeff. 

I used red poppies on a backing paper to which I added a picture of two swallows on a cutout to which I added a black velvet ribbon and a 'Sincere Condolences' in a black fancy border.

So, that is all my creative wares for the last two months - please leave me a comment on them if you wish!

MEMORIES ..............

Around the first week of July is always a poignant time for me -  for the 7th used to be mine and John's Wedding Anniversary and the 8th was the day he suddenly died.

These two days were days I came to dread in the years when John first died - one day we were celebrating being happily married for 26 years and laughing about some of his antics he was telling us about from years ago, at a wonderful family meal.  The very next day I was staring at him cold and lifeless in the hospital mortuary and I don't think that shocking image of him will never, ever leave me!

But I do try to remember all the best bits of having been the wife of John, he was a real cockney character and was always making us laugh with his tales and could mimic a fine Irish or Scottish accent to add flavour to the story he was telling! He was a good provider and worked very hard. He was a wonderful, loving father to his 3 girls and he adored and treasured each one of them.

Although 12 years have passed by since the sad day we lost him, I always take a quiet moment to reflect and remember him.  I especially feel sad for my daughters and how they must feel about losing their dad much too early in their lives.  He's missed out on so much of their lives, their courtships and weddings where he wasn't able to walk them down the aisle, his two little grandsons who I know, he would have adored. Just seeing what wonderful women his young girls have turned into would have made him so proud, cos I know I am!

I don't know how those 12 years have gone by so quickly and I count myself one of the lucky ones to have found love again and remarry another wonderful man - I would have hated to have been on my own now at this stage of my life. I'm privilidged to have Mike by my side now and love sharing my life with a very caring, loving man who completely understands how I feel around this time and supports me when I feel sad and shed a few tears for John.

John will always be remembered as a part of my life and in my heart and I 'see' him in the things my daughters and grandsons do or say in lots of little ways!

Someone who played a huge part in your life cannot be easily forgotton or pushed aside, even if life has moved on for us. 

I've learnt that when you lose someone who is a part of who you are - that time will surely heal the wound but it won't ever erase the scar!

RIP John:  31st March 1943  -  8th July 1999

LOOK WHAT I GOT DONE!

As you get older I think you think of the things you've achieved or not achieved in your life and as I am not too far off the grand old age of 60 I started thinking of things I'd like to do - nothing drastic like bungee jumping off a building or anything as daring as that!  But little, personal things. 

The first thing I did a year ago now, was get my ears pierced twice more so that I now have 3 sets of earrings on each ear!  Why? Cos I wanted too - simple as!

The next thing I did was in April this year.  I wanted to do something a bit different for me and Mike's anniversary. He's a very insecure chap really and is always saying that he can't understand how (in his words), a beautiful and confident woman like me, can love someone shy and insignificant as him! Now as much as I try to reassure my darling husband that he means the world to me he still sometimes feels like that.

So........I thought of my idea, told my friend Sue and before I knew it - was in the shop ordering what I wanted!  The very next day I went to fulfill my idea.  It was a tattoo!!

I decided to have it on my erm....butt!  cos it wasn't so much for anyone else to see but for my Mike to look at!  So wanna see it?  sure you do......

So as you can see it's two red roses either side of a heart with a banner across it with Mike's name on it!

I had it done the week before our 6th wedding anniversary and managed to keep it a secret from Mike! how, you might ask?  Well I happened to have been quite ill with pleurisy and when I'm poorly, I always sleep in Pj's or nightie........So, I managed to keep it covered up from him!! hee hee!

To say he was absolutely amazed and gobsmacked is an understatement!!  He was so touched that I had gone through a lot of pain to show him - permanently, how much he means to me and how much I love him!

A couple of weeks later he started talking about getting one of his tattoo's re-worked and having my name put on him!!  Wow!  I had been longing for him to do that for years! But this actually moved him to do it! 

So off we went to the tattoo shop - which by the way, was a brand new shop set up in our town, which is nice and clean and the chap Michael, does a good job! See his work on his Facebook page:-

 (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001707695252&ref=ts).  Mike told Michael what he wanted and then we went back the next day to get it done.  It used to be an old faded rose - here is what Michael done....

So Mike had a red rose and a heart too but also wanted a bluebird and then the banner with the name Sal on it - I love it! 

Now I'm wondering what to do next lol........................

MY CHROCHET ATTEMPTS!

After seeing Emma's beautful chrocheted blanket I decided to have a go myself! See it here................   http://emshappyhandiworks.blogspot.com/

To be honest, when I was about 19 I started chrocheting a purple and white (the 'in' colours in the 70's!) blanket - it was made up of loads of squares that had to be sewn together.  I was going to have it as a bed throw for when I married in 1973.  It never really got past the size of a cot blanket though! 
I don't know why I didn't finish it, it's too long ago to remember now - maybe I run out of wool and by then we'd moved to another county.

Anyway, I had to be shown how to start up again and my friend Sue sat down and showed me and I was off!  I decided on lovely colours of Heather, Bluebell, Purple and White and this was done in one continuous square, so much easier to do, I think.

Halfway through doing it - I saw a pattern that Sue had done for cushion covers and thought they were really lovely.  Sue had actually done one so I copied the pattern and decided to do some for Emma and Bob for their upcoming 10th Anniversary!

I chose a Chocolate Brown and a Turquoise which I thought would go with her recently decorated living room and beavered away at them, even on our week away on holiday and managed to get them done the night before I was due to see Emma to give her their card and other present!!!

This is the tops of the cushions to which I partly sewed up either side of the top and added a button from my button box.  Interestingly, the brown button belonged to a cardigan that belonged to Emma's late Dad!

It was a quite time consuming pattern that had to be counted out alot - so I was quite pleased that I'd actually been able to do them!  Emma was genuinely pleased that I had made these for her, so that made all my efforts worthwhile!








I then went back to my original blanket I was doing - I thought it would be nice to have one for my lap for when I use my wheelchair.  So this is the end result, which I am very proud of!

It seemed much easier to just keep going around in a square than doing individual squares!

APRIL/MAY CARDS

Here are a few more of the cards I've made recently..........

This is a lilac background which had a circle cut out from my Big Shot machine and I put some silver mirror card behind it, then the fishermen and big fish cutouts.
I added some silver Happy Birthday stick ons and it was done - my friend Sue bought it.

This has a striped backing paper then a decoupage man enjoying a drink or two!

As I'd got in the swing of doing some male cards - I did this one with black polka dot paper that had an oval cut out, then I added a decoupage cricketer.  It has 'Man of the|Match' at the top and a Best Wishes in the oval.

This was a card I did for Mike to give to his Mum for Mothers Day.  I added a pretty flowery paper as a backing onto a cream base card.  I then added a double butterfly that I'd punched out from the same flowery paper and a plainer pink one.

Then I added a pretty little seaside card picture (I'd got this free from my cardmaking magazine!). I added a white and gold ribbon to the edge of it.
There's two cardboard sentiments - one has 'Special Mum' on the other has 'With lots of love'.

A similar card with another of the freebie card pictures on which I think are really quaint and old fashioned looking!  I used a cream base card to which I added some pink paper which had an oblong cutout and placed mirror card behind it.

Then I added another double butterfly (my fave punch at the moment!) I embellished the butterfly with some glitterglue and a little pink stone.
A ribbon was threaded on the card and then a sentiment card of 'Birthday Hugs' and a 'With love' one embellished with a pink stone.

This is the card I did for Mike for our 6th wedding anniversary.
I placed a dark purple backing card onto a blank base card and then cut out two different kinds of mirror card hearts in two sizes.

I then placed another heart sticker in silver onto the smaller heart. Another double butterfly (of course!) in silver and purple and then I added a white flowery stick on border all around it.

It had stamped on it 'On Our Anniversary' at the top and 'With love husband' at the bottom.

I added an insert with a poem I'd written for him and he loved the whole thing I'm pleased to say!

This is the card I did for Emma and Bob's 10th Wedding Anniversary which was the 5th May.  I tore some gold card and placed it on a cream base card.

I added a double butterfly one in gold and one in a flowery pink/blue paper.

I added a cardboard cutout with a rose and the words 'Love' on it and then added some deep cream lace that I added some pink and yellow stones on.

I then stamped 'Happy Anniversary' at the bottom.




So, theres my latest additions - next time I will show you the present I made for Emma and Bob!
Take Care all and please leave a comment if you wish.

FIRST TIME AT IRIS FOLDING!

I received my new Cardmaking & Papercraft magazine on Saturday and was browsing through it and saw an article on Iris Folding.  The picture was of a handbag for a Mother's Day Card.  A little further on I read about a competition they are holding to make a card for the Royal Couple Prince William and Kate, who are tying the knot on 29th April this year (a few days after our own anniversary!)

Anyway, I got to thinking and decided I'd do the Iris folding one but change the bag idea and here's what I came up with........

As you can see its lots of little strips of paper folded over and then planted over the tenplate.  I made my own heart shape one with my Big Shot and drew the same sort of lines needed for placing the papers. It's also a great way of using up scraps of paper that we may have lying around (as I do!)

I'm so proud of it!

Got The 'Bug'!

Yep - I had a marathon card making couple of days! lol

I just need to find out how to sell some now to recoup all the money I've spent on my 'stash'!

I will just post the pics of the cards as I don't think I can remember every little detail - but I did use my beloved 'Big Shot' quite a lot!

This first one I backed with hand made lavender paper which I placed a navy card on top then some lovely lilac flowers - don't know how I would get it in the envelope though! lol





This is a lovely 3D type flower that you have to bend the petals to create a real-life look and I was very pleased with the end result!

so there we have my latest collection - just think I need to make more for men though!

More Cards I've Made!

Well, have finally found the time to get on here and post again!  I have been busy making christmas cards and thought I'd put some of the ones I made on here.

Also I have made some for my favourite charity to auction off on their 'Spectacular After Christmas Auction' which is open for listing items right now, but bidding is on 15th January - last time I entered my cards, I was proud that one of my cards actually sold for £10! Others went at a more modest £3.50 and £2.50 which all went to help the charity! Have a look on their site here: ( www.rescueremedies.co.uk)

So here are the cards I've made.. 1st one is one I made for my youngest sister Janet who got married on 22nd October 2010 to Chris - can't believe it's taken me so long to put this on here!

Now here are some christmas cards I made - apologies for them being a bit dark!

Well there are a few - I've not bothered to put all the details of each one on here but thought you may like to see the pics of them!

Now here are the ones I've made for Rescue Remedies Auction:-

This is a stacker card set I'd bought and they are quite easy to do as you just layer the picture bit by bit until you end up with the smallest piece.

This is another stacking dog picture card that I placed within a shaped lilac cut out made with my brand new Big Shot machine!
Also the little tag at the bottom was made with it on striped paper.

Unfortunately, this one has come out a bit dark but is actually a pretty blue colour circle (cut by my Big Shot again) with a cute dog stacking picture in the middle.














Finally, I thought I'd update you on my gorgeous dog Chesney - he is remarkably good for his young age and really good tempered!  Here's a quick snap I took of him and Mike, who was selecting the cards I've made to send off before xmas! (Note the newly decorated wall behind them!)  lol
Sal xx