I put slightly too much ....

effort into what turned into my DT entry for PaperPlay this week!!!

Our theme is "Distressing" - hey, I can do that no problem!!  I had plans to make a gorgeously ripped, inked and torn confection .... but I got a bit side-tracked. 

Remember my son's birthday party a few weeks ago?  I had taken photos of all the boys as they climbed, and then I thought that rather than emailing the pics to their parents and simply texting thank yous for the presents (as would be the norm around here!), why not combine the two and make thank you cards that incorporate the pictures?  Genius?  No, a flippin' week's work that pushed everything else aside!!  Here's a few of the finished cards:

Each boy's card has a picture of him on the climbing wall on the inside, with a peep-hole cut to show just a little bit of him through to the front of the card.  Each card has the hole in a different place, depending on where the boy was on the wall in the photo.  You can see it better on this close-up.

I used a new Hero Arts "inside of an envelope" stamp, that I got with a voucher I won a few weeks ago, to make the pattern on the plain white card I used for the front.  And I made the sentiment on the computer, highlighting the T with glossy accents and popping them up over the twine for a little dimension. 

I'm entering them into the following challenges: Crafty Creations and ABC Challenge are both looking for stitching and, a first time entering a clean and simple challenge for me, Less is More ("Masculine").

And that's it - I think they look far too simple for the amount of time they took, but I think the boys (and their Mums) will be happy to receive them, and that's what matters.

I posted them all this morning, so now I can get back to all my lovely papers and do REAL distressing!!

Thanks for looking!

I made a ....

.... big auld mess of my desk!

It's Wednesday, and I haven't participated in WOYWW for ages, but I got up a little bit early today and took some pics, it's now daylight when I'm getting up which certainly helps!!

I had to make a card in a hurry for a funeral, so I cheated and made a copy of one I had done before.  The ensuing rush made a right state of the desk:

Edited to add: I got that new "pokey tool" - the Sew Easy. You can see it on my desk here.  But alas, it's not for me.  It does work well, and is a good product as such, but it's not OCD enough for me - the holes aren't close enough together for my obsessive stitching!!  So I've already sold it to a crafty friend who is not a bit fussy about how far apart the holes are!!!

Don't you hate when you end up working in a teeny little area - that bit of white paper with the orange splodge is where I ended up in - like microsurgery!!

And the windowsill didn't escape.  I have loads of these boxes - my colleagues in school save them for me every time they buy boxes of "handmade" cards!!!  They take the cards and give me the boxes - I keep ribbons and suchlike in them.

Thanks for looking!!  Off now to tidy up and maybe I'll make something tomorrow or Friday - we have TWO days off for St. Patrick's weekend - Yippee!!

I'm not such an ....

.... old bag, after all!!

I'm going to show off a little bit today!  We went to a climbing wall place at a local university for my son's very belated birthday party at the weekend, and after some time watching all the 8 and 9 year olds scrambling up the wall (I guess it was about 30 feet high), the instructor asked me if I wanted to have a go.

EEEEK????????? What to do????  If I didn't try it, I might regret it.  If I did, I might make a show of myself.  What if I got stuck?  What if I fell?  What if the boys laughed at me? Can people with no upper body strength whatsoever actually do this sport? Would the harness look good on me?!!!!!

Well - here's how I got on:

Made it to the top - twice - with no bother at all.  I was worried 'cos some of the boys took quite some time to get up there, and I didn't think I would have the stamina - but I forgot that because I'm taller, I have more reach, so I didn't get stuck at all and got up there very quickly both times.  Abseiled back down again too!

And here's my baby - like a little Spiderman, he was!!

Please don't ask me how my back and arm muscles were feeling that evening and all day Sunday, though!!!

Begorrah, bejaysus ....

.... and beshamrocks - it's Thursday again and another week of PaperPlay - our challenge this week is a very Irish one - Shades of Green - the challenge is to make a St. Patrick's Day card, a good luck card, or simply use shades of green.

I'm not a big fan of St. Patrick's Day, the only good thing about it is that it's a day off!!!  I have too many  memories of having to attend parades in the freezing rain and the howling wind as a child.  My own two poor deprived offspring have never been to a Paddy's Day parade, they'll have to wait 'till they're old enough to go by themselves!!!

So, I didn't make a St. Patrick's Day card - I made a good luck one - here it is:

I've used the sketch from Totally Gorjuss, and I'm also entering this into The Shabby Tea Room ("Luck of the Irish"), A Spoon Full of Sugar (vintage/shabby), Little Red Wagon ("St. Paddy's Day Green"), Simon Says Stamp (anything goes) and Colour Create (green/brown/cream/black).

The colour scheme is not one I'd normally use, but I really like the combination - especially with the added touches of gold on the ribbon and the gold stickled hearts - very leprechauny!  I've used one of my Sugar Nellies that I haven't inked up for a while - love these Leanne Ellis images - here's a close-up:

Recipe:

Papers: Basic Grey "Origins"

Stamp: "Choose" by Leanne Ellis for Sugar Nellie

Colouring Medium: Distress Inks

Other: Gold stickles, ribbon from stash, needle + thread

If you were wondering where I got the title for this post, I've added a link below.  If you've got 4 minutes to spare, have a listen.  It's an Irish comedian called Mario Rosenstock doing his version of Michael Flatley on a spoof radio interview - I've listened to it over and over and it makes me cry with laughter every time.  Enjoy!!

And thanks for looking (and listening!!).

If card-making was my job ....

.... I'd be living in a cardboard box by the side of the road by now!!  Honestly, I'm such a slug - I really need to crank up a gear or two or several and make more things!

But the reason I'm here is I did make something!!!  Another baby girl card, and I only realised after I'd made it that I made a card for a girl called Olivia using Basic Grey "Olivia" papers.  Serendipity!!  Here's my card:

I've used the sketch from this week's Sketch Saturday and I'm also entering it into the following challenges: Mo's Digital Challenge ("Oh Baby"), Wild Orchid Challenges ("Anything Goes"), A Spoon Full of Sugar ("Shabby/Vintage") and Stamp Something (Digi week).

I used another cute image from Mo Manning, it's part of a set called "Diaper Crew".  Here's a close-up:

Recipe:

Papers: Basic Grey "Olivia"

Image: "Diaper Days" by Mo Manning

Colouring Medium: Distress Inks

Other: Wild Orchid flowers, nestabilities, ribbon and doily from stash, needle + thread

Thanks for looking!  I'll hopefully have another card to share before the weekend (but don't hold your breath!)