Divas by Design, Challenge No 4: Die cuts and Punches

Hello again blogworld,

Things are slowly starting to get back to normal now all the festivities are over.  I have a pile of ironing to do, the upstairs needs a hoover and my windows need washing, but am happy to ignore it all to make a card or two - ahh yes normality is restored!

I think I may even have acquired a new follower or two - but you have all disappeared again, so I don't know for sure!  If I have - hello and welcome to my blog.  Hope I don't bend your ears too much with my waffle and I do post about cards sometimes - promise!

Just to prove a point, here is a post about cards.  I know this is getting a bit repetitive, but I can't believe that another two weeks have flown by and it's time again for a new challenge at Divas by Design.  What a wonderful selection of art there was for the theme of anything but a card.  So much variety and invention out there - wow!

This time the challenge is Die cuts and Punches and we are sponsored by Stitchy Bear Digital Stamps.  There is a huge variety of digital stamps over there, something for everyone.

So here is my card, it's the card I made for my daughters' fourth birthday last week.  I had tried a stepper card for a DoCrafts challenge and liked it - once I got past all the measuring and swearing!  So thought I would try it again - don't know that it will be something I do a lot though.

 Close up of the image:

The image is a Stampavie.com Sarah Kay one - Rose's Garden, coloured with my Primas and shaded with chalks.  I used my new Go-Kreate dies to mat and layer the image.  The heart border is a Martha Stewart punch, sentiment and letters from Craftwork Cards, leaves are a die, flower I made using Prisma petals.  The '4' is from a sheet of letters and numbers I had in my stuff.  Papers are from a pack I'm using a lot just now - DoCrafts A5 Tulip linen pack.  Goodness that was long list!  Think I've remembered all of it.

Am really looking forward to seeing what is created this time round.  Thanks for reading to the end of this very long post and I'll go now!

Sarah

Birthday bash

Hello blogland

Well the birthday bash is over for another year - wonder what we will do to top it next year!

I think we must be the luckiest people in the world, after worrying for the last week or so that it was going to carry on raining for Emily's birthday party, we woke to brilliant sunshine which only got brillianter!  Maybe it got a leeetl hot at the peak of the afternoon, but we really couldn't complain it was a smashing day.  I hope our quota of rain was used the year she was born, if you don't remember June 2007 was the beginning of the heavy rain that which then lead to floods in parts of Hull and Louth.

After a lot of hard work behind the scenes from hubby this was the garden bit of our land at 11am:

View from one end of drive:

View from one of the bedroom windows:

We had our full number of party goers by 12.30 and then they partied hard until 4pm - when they all went home very tired but very happy by all reports.

I promised picture of cake and here we go:

Sorry about all the mess in the background, it was a very quick pic in my kitchen before it was taken out to be demolished.  You can see where we had a dry run with the candles!  I also made loads of fairy cakes, but didn't get a proper pic of those.

Here is the party girl with her cakes:

No party dresses for us - I managed to get her to wear a pretty dress for all of 5 mins, then she stripped!  I finally got her into her swim stuff and she wouldn't come out of it!

Here she is with her best friend (I'm sure forever - they are inseparable!):

We have a lovely picture of all the children lined up on the walk-way to her tower, but I'm not sure of the etiquette of putting up pictures of children when I haven't asked their parents if it's OK, so that's one for the family album. 

Hopefully normal card making will resume this week - we only opened the last of the presents this evening and put Grandad onto the train back to Essex this afternoon.

Next big event on the horizon is my birthday at the end of July (not that keen on telling you how old I am, but they do say that life begins then - I'm not so sure!).

I just can't get over how much my life has changed since having Emily, 8 years ago we were going to Drs as things weren't working then there was 3 years of treatment - which culminated in two goes at IVF and then Emily. 

Blooming hard work (sometimes), blooming rewarding (most of the time) and complete life change (always).

Sarah

Emily, if you ever read your mummys' boring blog - 

Happy Birthday sweetheart - hope you had a lovely birthday/holiday and party - I'll always be thankful for you and love you to pieces, Mummy.

My goodness its been awhile!

Hello there blogland,

Bet you thought I'd dropped off the face of the Earth didn't you!  We have had a very busy few days, went away  to Paultons Theme Park in the New Forest, why there I hear you wonder.  It's rather a long trip from where you live in Lincs - isn't it?  Well the answer is that it is Peppa Pig world, and when you have a three year old who was almost four it makes sense - doesn't it?

So we left home on the Sunday spent Mon and Tues in the area then come home on the Weds (her birthday) and we are now straight into arrangements for the birthday bash on Sunday.  I don't do brought cakes, so once I've made the cake I'll take pics and show.

We had a wonderful time and have come home with an extremely happy 4 year old, who is now really looking forward to her birthday party.

Here is photographic evidence that she had a wonderful time!

I know, I know, it's George not Peppa - we do have pics of her with Peppa as well but this, I thought, was a lovely pic!

And for those of you with children, I'm going to name drop - we met Justin (aka Mr Tumble)!  He was doing some filming at the park and we have a pic of her with him!  Something to add into the scrapbook, when I finally get round to doing one again!

I will be back with cards next Weds for the Divas by Design DT card, but in the meantime I hope you all have a good weekend (and glorious weather as we are promised) and see you Wednesday.

Think of me on Sunday - hosting a birthday party for 10 three and four year olds, with one 9 year old as well!  Gawd what have I let myself in for!

Sarah