Thursday, 8 June 2017

My Week

This Week I have struggled mentally to cope day to day so I am having to break my day up into sections and morning till lunch, nap, dinner, evening with the wee one and bedtime its the only way I can get through the day.

My eldest son is at the moment in a young offenders institution for breaking his curfew he was place on September last year, he faces his trial on Monday so it is all coming to a head and I am really feeling it.
I have came to rely on him so much and I miss him incredibly day to day without him is unreal and bedtimes are the worst when you lie awake thinking about him alone in a cell just hard.
But Ian and Jayden and Jordan's friend Scott went to visit him last night and all said he looks well and I spoke to him for 10mins on the phone on Monday night and he has said he is doing well, the other boys on the wing are cool and have been helping him with cigarettes until his day to go to the shop (he has been now mind you) So I am pleased hes coping well enough its hard all round.

So to keep me with my thoughts busy I have been crafting little and often, a lot of stamping sentiments and cutting them down to size. so when I am making cards I have the sentiments stamped ready to go.

I really need to try catalogue my stamps better especially my sentiments and am thinking of maybe a notebook and number system (I am storing them all in SU clear cases now) so thinking stamp the sentiments in the notebook and number next to it with what stamp set it is in.
I hope that this would work, we will try it and see x 

Also placed another order for some more SU goodies and received and order from Jo's Price Designs
Will post the stuff I have got from Jo first


I love this pad and so country cottage feeling just perfect for backgrounds and for home decor projects



These pads by Grace Taylor are a perfect thickness for envelopes they are beautiful and so pretty x 
I already have a few of her pads but this one I love the blue tones in it xx



This is a newer pad from First edition I have a lot of their pads as I love the thickness x I feel in love with first edition when I purchased a few pads in Ireland a number of years ago and since then I have been addicted lol x and I love this one as it is girly but not too pinky girly if that makes sense x 


Another of my MUST haves x I actually bought 2 of these in 8x8 as I love that size for my cards and smaller projects also its not as "precious" as a 12x12 lol x 

Another staple in my craftroom silver mirror card I love this for word dies and small elements.

I have bought a paper from SU over SAB with hot air balloons and havent really used it much as I dont have anything to go with it and I am not going to have a need for a lot of this style to warrant buying the full suite from SU so this was a perfect compromise plus I love the heart in the center as I can then use that on other projects x 


I though "wrongly" I needed this ink pad as I like memento dewdrops for sentiments sometimes I have tuxedo black, london fog and I thought I had a light brown and purchased this but I already had it bummer x so this will be in a happy mail for someone soon no doubt x 



These are 3,6 & 10mm gemstones I love these for flower centers and for adding to cards also love that I can hand colour them with my alcohol markers so they match my projects I bought 2 packs of each as I never want to be without my bling haha x 

Now for my SU Goodies I have ordered this week 



A Little Wild Bundle thought these would be uber cute as gift tags for new borns x 


A must have for all crafters really and the font is wicked.


So many samples on the net using this set that I NEEDED it lol x 


I wasnt overly taken with this one but the dies are lovely and I think for the stamps they are versatile enough to be of good use.


This one I literally had in and out of my basket more than you would know as I kept thinking "hmm not really me" but I eventually decided to go with it and I am SO pleased I did have watched a few cards made using it and I love it and this it will be WELL used lol 


This one is just simply beautiful it was a design made by the lovely Patty Bennett
to celebrate her million dollar sales milestone and the story behind it is beautiful (I have linked Patty's blog post about the set above)
I also love that it is not a set targetted to one ribbon you could amend this to any support ribbon which I love x 

Awesomely Artistic - just stunning SOOOO many projects to get inspired by through pinterest and google when you type in this set name

Birthday Blossom - Pretty font and I like the versatility of the set.

Another must have the hardwood background stamp

who doesnt love mermaids?? I love the idea of the silhouette going to have fun with this set x  

My wee buddy Amanda has used this set a lot over the past year and I have always liked it but never fully committed to its potential until I looked properly x defo a MUST have xx 

Another must have its a word that in my house is said often, I have taught both my boys to always repair rifts before sleep even if it is a case of I think we agree to disagree and just let it be, Ian my oh of 20yrs is the worst ever he NEVER says sorry well thats a lie but he doesnt use it nearly as often as he should he finds it a very hard word to say. But I think it is a must have 5 letters and can build a million bridges x 

just perfect background extras x


I have wedding invites to make for a family member
(Ian's cousins daughter) but we are all pretty close and I am honoured to make them although it has been a bit of a :O shock trying to get my head around what to make but hoping these dies will help as I have an idea in my head just need to get it out and on to card lol


I had a 50% off item and these just had to be it x £44.50 a lot of money but for what you are getting they are great and I am thinking monogram projects and cards so I am sure they will be well used x 


Another layering set x perfect for me as I love my square cards especially at xmas time when I make SO SO many these will minimize measuring and cutting by hand x just run them all through the big shot ;) 


the lines to me look like waves and thought perfect for my mermaid :) also like the circles for tucking behind other layers etc x so think it will be handy

Other stuff I ordered was
DSP, Cardstock (a set for each family and the new incolour) 
Also some tear tape and glue dots, dimensional's.
Twine, Ribbon and Clips, and White Craft Pad, embossing powder and more stamp cases for my collection of clear and photopolymer I already own so I can fix them in to some sort of order.
and lastly water colour pencils I have my derwent watercolour and my derwent Inktense but having these in the SU colours will be useful.

I know that my shopping recently may seem extreme but..... my budget over the winter months and early spring is very very minimal and only essentials really so this is my time of year to stock up and put things away (like the adhesives and the cardstock)

anyway hope you have a good Thursday and all my UK friends get out and vote LABOUR for England and SNP for Scotland to keep TORIES out of number 10 x 
fingers crossed tomorrow morning will bring us a better future for the uk xx 











Sunday, 4 June 2017

SU New Annual Catalogue EXCITING

I absolutely love the new annual catalogue, I have placed a very scary order.
but I am really excited and I absolutely love my SU goodies, I really do enjoy playing with them and the quality is outstanding. So I thought I would share some of my purchases with you.


Beautiful Bouquet Bundle (love my florals)


Colourful Seasons Bundle (Cherry Blossom sold me)


Daisy Delight Bundle


Label Me Pretty Bundle

These are the bundles I chose, I love my florals and do mix and match them a lot to make beautiful flowers and embellishments I love that the sets do mix and match so beautifully.
The cherry blossom from Colourful Seasons was my absolute favorite it was the thing that swayed me to buy that bundle as I do love it so much x 

Background Bits Stamps (Hostess Set)
I love the flowers and the script so pretty

Birthday Bloom Stamps
that big flower is the perfect flower for colouring and using as a center piece on your card.

Floral Phrases
The big stamp matching the DSP it was a must have and being the font addict that I am the script sentiments were perfect.

Garden in Bloom 
Love the two step stamping and the gorgeous floral images well it was an easy choice.

Inspired Events
Many of you will know I was raised RC and my sons are both raised in the faith too so are almost all my family so this set will be well used and the font used is BEAUTIFUL

Sharing Sweet Thoughts (Ronald McDonald House Charity Set)
I have the Jar of love framelits so this was too cute to not purchase and it helps an amazing charity too.

Sheet Music Background Stamp
I love this stamp it is prefect

Special Celebrations
Sentiments are wonderful for a wide variety of cards.

This Little Piggy
When I was in my late teens I collected pigs ornaments and stuffed toys and I just loved them and I only got rid when the kids came along because I didnt want porcelain or glass hanging around with babies toddling around, broke my heart to pass them on but needs must sometimes x 
But when I first saw this stamp set I was 100% sold 

Touches of Texture
I have had my eye on this for ages and I finally decided it was now I needed it perfect for all the florals and to create lovely backgrounds for them

Tranquil Tulips
So pretty just simplistic and I love that.

Vertical Greetings
Another I have been toying with for about 7-8months and decided to just go with it and I love the gorgeous images and the greetings being vertical add another plus point as I have no vertical greeting stamps.


Bold Butterfly Dies
I adore the butterflies and I use them in LOTs of my projects,


Butterfly Thinlit Dies
once again another butterfly die that go with a lot for the stamp sets I already have.


Large Number Die
I do make a lot of Children Commission cards and having number dies of this size will make life a lot easier for me.


Layering Circle Dies
a must have for card makers


Layering Oval Dies
again another must have for card makers.

On top of these goodies I bought some DSP's and Embellishments, Tools and ink pads in the new in colours and the markers. 

Cannot wait till it arrives super super excited.

Here is some cards I have made this week
This one was part of Stampin' for all community group
its a facebook group for Stampin' Up! fans and the admin host a sketch challenge every Monday it is fun.

Using Eastern Palace Bundle with the new Fresh Fig In colour for 2017

Nice and bright summer feel card, not my normal colour tones but I wanted to try it.

My neighbours little girl turns 1 this week so I used nitwit collections for making this super cute shaker card.

my favorite mint macaron and succulents dies and stamps 




I made this super cute Tuxedo Card for fathers day it is just CUTE x Using Basic Black and Whisper White Card Stock x 

This weeks been one I had to focus and stay busy due to stuff going on in the house with my eldest son x so needing to keep busy and my card making has helped keep my occupied.


Also has been a tough week all in all x but I am plodding on regardless and enjoying each day as it comes.

Lots of Love and Crafty Hugs Karen xx