Divas by Design, Challenge No 7: Summer is here

Or is it, 'cause I can't see it!

Hello blogworld,

Are you ready for a new a challenge over at Divas by Design?  The theme this time is 'Summer is here' and we are sponsored by Di's Digi Downloads for this challenge.  There are some gorgeous digi stamps over there, why not pop over and take a look?

Di's Digi Downloads

So where is it then - Summer?  I don't know I thought end of July it would be lovely and hot (same as I remember from my childhood) and look at it - overcast, raining and chilly!  What has happened to the seasons?  Or is just the golden haze of childhood covering my memories and in reality it was always a bit dull and chilly?

Anyway enough of my meanderings, lets show what you actually came here for - my card:

The image is from Di's - Flower Beary Fairy coloured with my Prisma pencils and die-cut onto nesties.
The paper is Prima Marketing - Annalee pad.
The borders were created with a Fiskars punch and the flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts.
The card blank and sentiment are from Craftwork Cards.

So I hope this and the other fabulous cards that my fellow DT have created have given you some inspiration and I look forward to seeing your wonderful entries.

Best of luck,
Sarah

Entering this card into:
Sketch Saturday - Week #165 - 23rd July

Cards and more!

Hello all

Well I hope everyone had a good weekend and the weather held out - we were told it would be dull and overcast but it certainly didn't end up being that!  OK Sat wasn't too warm not really what you'd expect from the end of July but Sunday was a lovely day.

Got some non-card blurb today, so we will get the card posted first, and if you don't want to read any further that's fine!

So this is my card for a couple of challenges:

Image used is a Leanne Ellis one - Blossom, coloured with my Promarkers.  Highlighted with a bit of Stickles glitter and chalked background for definition.
The papers are all Papermania - Honey and Hugs.
The lace border is a Martha Stewart deep edge punch and the doily die was a very kind freebie from Tracey at Dies to Die for with one of my purchases so I'm not sure which die it is exactly.

I'm entering it into:
The Sugar Bowl - Challenge 64 - Kiki's Sketch (I know the optional theme was lace - does a Martha Stewart punched fake lace count?)
Totally Gorjuss - Challenge 90 / Punch or die

Now for the non-card blurb.

Saturday afternoon was spent picking a lot of apples off the trees at the bottom of the garden (there are even more waiting to turn ripe, going to be a bumper crop this year).

Then Sunday I made Apple Chutney, another first for me and it seems to have turned out fine.  I have to wait a month for the taste test but am hopeful!

It amazes me how these, plus a lot of spices and White Wine Vinegar:

Can turn into these:

I am a late comer to preserving (of the cooking kind - I've been doing the face kind for ages ;-) ) but am so happy in the kitchen chopping, measuring, boiling and bottling.  I don't know why I haven't done it before.  I shudder to think of the 10 years worth of waste there has been from our apples trees, but I still would've like a couple of eaters in there as well as all these cookers.

This year we are also growing tomatoes for the first time and next year I think I've finally persuaded the other half to let me grow some fruit!  So hopefully this time next year I will be picking strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and any other sort of berry we can get to grow in our garden!  In the meantime I'm off down the local pick you own soon to get some other ingredients for my jams.

So you have to imagine me in the kitchen in my pinny (oh, yes I wear a pinny) chopping and boiling and being super happy - that's my perfect weekend.

Hope you all had as good a one.

See you soon,

Sarah

Less is More - Week 24 - Theme

Hello world

This is my entry for this weeks Less is More challenge - Chrissie / Mandi  you are terrible!  You make me think! I've been popping on and off the site all week since I saw what this challenge is and all the time I'm thinking "Circles, circles, what on earth do I do for circles"! Especially again as I've seen so many brilliant takes on the theme this week.

So this is what I finally came up with:

It's extremely simple and I'm not even sure I like it, but it's my best shot this week so I'll have to live with it.  I drew around a couple of my circular nesties then punched the holes with my Crop-a-dile. mounted it onto pink card, wrapped a bit of ribbon round the panel and mounted that onto my standard square card blank.  To finish I stamped a sentiment (£1 bargain).  Finished!  It's got circles, but I don't think it's got that certain something though.

My other project today was this:

Apple Jelly - it's finished!  It set and it must taste good as when hubby helped me bottle it he said it tastes good and he doesn't like fruit, jam or jelly!

It's a bit cloudy, it set much quicker than my Plum jam from last year and caught me by surprise so I didn't get a chance to put the knob of butter in.  Taste testing will be soon, and I'll report back then.

Have a good weekend all, more apple picking for me tomorrow or Sunday!

Cheerio

Sarah

Presents

Me again,

I thought I'd do this post separate to the card making ones as it's not about card making, well not really!

I said in the last post that all the cards I'd made recently were thank you ones - three of them being for the nursery teachers.  I also thought that as Em has been at nursery for two years I should get them a thank you present.  I don't actually remember me (or my mum) doing anything like this from when I was at school, but I understand it's the thing to do now.

So, me being arty / crafty, I thought rather than getting them chocs, smellies, flowers, etc I'd try and be a bit creative.  After googling (ahh, what did we do before google, eh!) I found that a lot of people had brought ceramic pens and then decorated some item of crockery.

So I duly ordered pens and mugs and got Emily sat down last weekend to draw on them.  She thoroughly enjoyed it - I slightly freaked as I was sure she was going to break one, but we got through it!

Here is the end result:

The pictures Emily drew and I don't know if you can make out that she wrote her name as well and I wrote the blurb.  Stick 'em in the oven for 90mins and hey presto - decorated mugs!

I hope the nursery teachers like them!  There was another one in the pack but the handle broke in the post - Grandad's getting that one!

Last day at nursery for her tomorrow, when we will hand over the cards and mugs, then the summer hols and my baby isn't my baby anymore - she's my big gown up girl heading off to school.

I am getting used to the idea, and will stop being a moany minney and instead celebrate that I have a beautiful, cheerful, intelligent daughter and trust that she really enjoys 'big school'!

Cheerio for now, maybe back tomorrow - maybe next week.

Have a good weekend all,

Sarah

I'm done!

Hi folks

This is the last of my little spurt of cards.  I decided in the end that I needed to make a thank you card for each of the nursery teachers, I've made all three now and so should go get on with all the housework that I've ignored this week.  You could write your name in the amount of cat fur that is lurking on the hallway upstairs, it really needs hoovering.  That's my job for the rest of the morning, before heading off to pick Emily up from nursery and then off swimming.

This is my final card and although it is a Lili of the Valley image it's one of my stamps - not a freebie!  Once I'd decided to use these images I thought I might just as well do all of the cards with them.  I'd totally forgotten what a joy they were to colour and how much I like my Promarkers.  Oooh I'm so fickle, moving from one toy (Prismas) onto another (Promarkers).

Anyway cut the waffle Sarah, show the card:

Detail shot of glitter on the headband:

Please excuse the wet glue on the first picture - I am so impatient I can't always wait for things to dry!

Details of card:

Lili of the Valley image coloured with Promarkers and highlighted with Stickles glitter glue, die-cut with my Go-Kreate die.
Lili of the Valley sentiment die-cut with a nestie.
Buttons and ribbon from stash.
Don't know where the stripy paper came from but the dotty one is K&Co, Brenda Walton.

Only one challenge for this card:

Sketch Saturday Week#164 - 16th July - I have rotated the sketch to suit the image.

Sarah

Just a quick one

Hello

Me again,  I don't know I'm so unpredictable aren't I!?  You don't hear from me in a week then I post nearly every day!

This is really a very quick post though as I finally managed to make a card I need plus make it so it fits a couple of challenges:

The card:
Another freebie Lili of the Valley image, coloured with Promarkers and die-cut with a nestie.
Papermania papers from Blueberry Hill paper stack. (Apart from the spotty paper - don't know where that came from, again in a box of papers!)
Ribbon from my ribbon box.
Craftwork cards card blank and sentiment.

This one I'm entering into
Lili of the Valley - Challenge 105 - Pink and Blue
Passion for Promarkers - Week 109-Sketch

So my waffle, the reason this is a very quick post is that you may remember our apple trees are starting to produce apples and I was on the hunt for apple recipes?  Well I'll forgive you if you don't remember but I am!  Well I found a lovely little site that has a few apple recipes and today we are going to try and make Apple Jelly.  Later in the week (or next) it will be Apple Chutney.  I'll let you know how we get on - and I say we as Em has said she will help - gulp!

Best wishes all,

Sarah

Still going!

Hello again!

Well whose a good girl then?!  Not quite a post every day, but getting there.  Still no cards for challenges though, I think maybe I'm going at this the wrong way round.  I should probably make a card with a challenge in mind, rather than making a card and then wondering if it would fit any challenges!

So card for today is another Lili of the Valley one - surprise, surprise!  Still working my way through the freebie images.

Here we go:

 Detail shot of the flowers in her bouquet:

The details:
Freebie LoTV image, coloured with promarkers.  Die cut onto nesties
Marianne Creatables swirl
Main paper is from My Minds Eye - wild asparagus paper pad, the back panel is a K&Co scrap, the front one no idea just from my scraps box.
No idea with the ribbons either - they are just out of my big box
Ditto for flowers!
Sorry not much detail is there!

Now onto my waffle - today was the end of an era for us.  Our last ever PEEP group - Peers Early Education Partnership - it's a particular type of children's group that focuses on early learning and our one was run by the local SureStart centre.  It was absolutely brilliant, I made many friendships there, and today was the last one that we could go to as Emily is now too old with her being 4 and starting school in Sept - we have been going to the various stage groups since she was 6 months old.  There was a lovely little party and they all got certificates - so cute!

The start of the end - so many things we won't be able to go to now that she is starting school.  I know there will be a new stage in her life soon which will replace the things we won't go to - but at the moment I am missing my baby!

I will get a grip and get over it, but tonight I am going to wallow in memories.

Best wishes to all

Sarah