Jozza's blog

DCM - Scraplings

2009-11-13T10:00:00.003Z

We have a great dare this week which has been set by Paula. Scraplings are a great way to use up your scraps of card and paper and make the most lovely little cards. I so enjoyed making these :o)
Card on the left uses paper by Funky Hand (Tis the Season), topper by Craftwork Cards and adhesive gems.
Middle card uses paper by Funky Hand (Blue Christmas), Doodlebug rub ons and dotted vellum by Craftwork Cards.
The card on the right uses papers by Craftwork Cards, Martha Stewart punch and Papermania letters.
All cards have a little bit of glitter glue on.

Get Funky - Autumn woodland

2009-11-01T11:38:00.004Z

My mega long break from crafting means that I haven't participated in any of the challenges on the new Funky Hand challenge blog Get Funky but now I'm getting back into the swing of things I have managed to join in this month :o)

The challenge has been set by the lovely Enfys and the theme is Autumn wonderland. You have a whole month to get an entry in and be in with the chance of winning a £20 Funky Hand gift voucher!! What are you waiting for?? All you have to do is make sure you use at least one Funky Hand product on your entry. Here is my DT card...

I used papers from "The Funky One" CD. The letters are Basic Grey and the cute owl is DCWV. x

DCM - getting punchy with it

2009-10-30T10:37:00.003Z

The dare this week is set by the lovely Keryn.

"I love punches and use them on almost every card I make. This week I want you to join with me and make a card, any type, any theme but it needs to use your latest craft punch purchase. If you haven't bought any punches for a while or don't own any at all your latest craft purchase will be quite acceptable"

For some reason, I don't own many punches. It's not that I don't like them because I do. They are just something I rarely buy. The last punch I bought was a Martha Stewart border punch (double scallops) and I think it my have been last year! Here is my card...
The papers, letters and house are all crate paper.

DCM - favourite things

2009-10-23T13:11:00.003+01:00

I'm back with a card for Daring cardmakers. The fabulous Kathy has asked us to use at least 5 of our favourite things on our cards. Now, being a bit of a scatterbrain, I did actually interpret the dare all wrong and thought you were meant to put 5 of a favourite thing on your card (durr!) but it still worked out because I have used 5 of my fave things/techniques anyway.
My favourite things are.....

buttons (of course!)
the colour green
scalloped square card blanks from Craftwork Cards
stamping
and of course doodling!

Anyhow, expect another card on here soon. I bought a few bits at the Harrogate show last month and they are still in their bag. Have just got over flu and my hubby has broken his ankle so it's been a bit hectic the last few weeks but I so enjoyed making this card last night and I can't wait to get stuck into my new papers :o)

DCM - the anniversary waltz

2009-08-21T10:00:00.001+01:00

The dare this week is set by the lovely Keryn...

"As I'm completely involved in the planning and preparation for my 2nd Anniversary, Hostess Appreciation party as a Stampin' Up!® demonstrator the dare that came to mind was Anniversaries. Wedding Anniversaries are what automatically comes to mind but you could make cards to celebrate any special occassion in your life or someone else's life"

This is a very appropriate dare for me as it is my wedding anniversary next month so I've made my card for my hubby early! That's got to be a good thing lol! I've used my DCWV green stack again 'cos I just love it. I wish I could find the chipboard shapes to go with it.

DCM - Lacy days of summer

2009-08-14T10:00:00.004+01:00

I can hardly believe it but I have made a card this week! I decided it was time to get back into the swing of things with the DCM DT so I've joined in with the new dare which is set by the lovely Kathy :o)

LACE

I'd just like you to interpret Lace in your card-making this week in whatever way you like, you could use the actual word, stamp or cut a lacy design or maybe use one of these dictionary definitions to inspire you: 1. a net-like ornamental fabric made of threads by hand or machine. 2. a cord or string for holding or drawing together, as when passed through holes in opposite edges. 3. ornamental cord or braid, esp. of gold or silver, used to decorate uniforms, hats, etc. 4. a small amount of alcoholic liquor or other substance added to food or drink.

I've totally wimped out and just used lace on my card. I was tempted back into crafting by these lush papers from DCWV. They are from the green stack which is 70% recycled paper :o)
Card blank - Craftwork Cards
Lace from stash
Happy birthday tile - magazine freebie
Everything else DCWV the green stack

I'm alive!

2009-08-09T14:03:00.012+01:00

It's true! I've had a mega long break from crafting. Mojo buzzed off but I am starting to feel a little bit of an urge to craft so I hope to be back with something to share in the very near future.

Whilst I've been absent from blog land, my baby turned 4! I don't know where the years have gone - it doesn't seem 2 minutes ago that she was a tiny baby. She had a party with lots of her friends from nursery and of course I made her a cake!
The birthday girl!
The cake!
The card! (yes I had to break my crafting drought to make a card for my girl!).

I also went to see Take That in Manchester on the 26th June. Oh my good Lord! They were fantabulous!!!!
Yum!Yum!Yum!Yum!

We've also been on holiday! We're just back from a week in Scotland. We stayed just outside a village called Fintry which is fairly near Loch Lomond. We had an absolutely fabulous time. Scotland is soooo beautiful! I'll do a separate post with my pretty holiday pics xx

I Do!

2009-06-18T20:54:00.005+01:00

I'm sad to report that monsieur mojo is still missing in action. However, I have dropped by to let you know that there is an absolutely stunning new download release over at Funky Hand! The I Do collection is designed specifically with the wedding season in mind and I have to say Anice has really come up trumps with her designs. The downloads is a papers and word book collection and the colours are very neutral to enable you to dress them up with the colour of your choice. I really LOVE this download and my most very favourite and best paper is the one with all the swirls. It is to die for. I do have a word book and card sample for you to peruse and then I demand that you trot on over to Funky Hand and buy this most faberoonie download. You won't regret it! x

Ooh and I just want to add that it is my parents 43rd wedding anniversary today! Blimey 43 long years eh? You get much less for murder. Happy Anniversary mum and dad. Love ya both (even tho you hardly ever stop by my blog!) xxxxxxx

Taking a break......

2009-06-10T17:37:00.001+01:00

I need to recharge my mojo. x

Polka Doodle - challenge 2

2009-05-29T11:26:00.004+01:00

Wow what a great response we had to the first challenge! Check out the blog to find out the top 3 entries from last week. There is another totally fab sketch this week. I had a set idea in my head of what I wanted to do for this card. Unfortunately it didn't turn out quite like I had expected. It is a card for my dad from the girls for Father's Day. They call him Pappap which is what Abbi used to call him when she first started talking. I turned the sketch on its side this time.

Everything is from the Sugar Birdies CD except the card stock, ribbon, stitching and the rub ons (doodlebug).

DCM - Take 5

2009-05-29T10:40:00.004+01:00

Just for a change I seem to be chasing my tail this week. It's been a pretty stressful week work wise and yesterday we had a day out which involved visiting this little fella.....
Tropical World in Leeds has a fab Meercat section. I went along hoping to see Aleksandr in his cravat and smoking jacket, but he must have been filming another TV ad as he was nowhere to be seen.

We had a really lovely day yesterday but it was jam packed and we were back late, so I only made my DCM card this morning. The dare is to make a card which features 5 of the same thing on it. I used 5 punched hearts on my card but I'm not happy with it at all. The flower I have made with the hearts is far too small. Never mind.
I used my favo MME papers and the stamps were sent in a package of blog candy that I won from the fabulous Enfys.

Fields of gold

2009-05-24T22:48:00.017+01:00

It's me! I'm here with a picture heavy post I'm afraid, and it ain't craft - and a lot of the pics are samey but I love them all the same. I'm a glass half empty kinda person by nature. I can't help it. It is probably genetic or learnt as my dear mum is just the same (bless her cottons!). Today we woke to the most glorious weather. Blue skies, tweeting birds, we're talking GORGEOUS. Poor Mr Jozza was working today (retail sucks!) and I just thought bugger it, I'm taking the girls out and about for the day. I decided to walk the most beautiful path into town down by the river Ouse. When Abigail was a baby I used to walk down by the river such an awful lot. It was great - I lost loads of weight. I walked all over the place pushing her in her pram and then her buggy as she got bigger. Once she started walking she used to toddle some of it. In fact before she was even 2 years old she walked all the way from our house into town without going in the buggy once! Amazing. Anyhow, what I'm trying to say is that for some reason, I seem to have forgotten just what a beautiful city I live in. I am so lucky that I am a 10 minute walk away from the river trail into town. When Abs was about 2, I walked the walk with my parents. It was a glorious day like today and we joined the path higher than normal so we had to walk away from the city to join the trail to then walk into town again. It was worth it because the fields of buttercups were breathtaking. I took pics of little Abs in amongst them and they were lovely. Unfortunately the computer died not long after and I lost the photos. I was gutted :o(

Anyhow, I decided to take the camera today and see if the buttercups were there - and they were! Bliss! We took way over an hour to walk into town. We stopped loads so I could snap pics while the kids picked buttercups. I'm so happy with the photos and I must not lose these! I just wish I knew how to use my camera properly. In fact, I wish I could afford a professional photoshoot of my kids. I would kill for that!

Tonight I feel like my glass is half full. Heck it may even be full! I'm so lucky to live in this city. I'm so lucky to have a job I love. I'm so lucky to have 2 healthy daughters. Maddie is starting to read just now. Not by me pushing her I must add, she is always asking "what does that say mummy?" and "can we do some words tonight?" and I am so proud of her! She is so animated when she tells a tale and her eyes seem to get bigger and bigger as she's telling it and ooh I could just breathe her right in. And Abigail - she is so beautiful and she really has no idea. But she is! I can say that because I'm her mum. She's clever and funny and gorgeous. Tonight I feel very very lucky (even though I got so sunburnt today that the City of York Council could turn off all the street lighting in York tonight and the city would be lit perfectly well by the glow coming from my chest!). So. Enough gushing already Joz. I'm not normally a gusher, honest. Tomorrow I may be a glass half empty person again but I hope not. Today was good!

Hmm. These next 2 didn't go quite to plan. I was inspired by Tara Whitney to take pics lying in said field of flowers and Abs was meant to look all serene and pretty. Yeah right! The sun was so bright that she either had her hand up to shield her eyes, or she had her eyes closed. So. Picture it. Eyes closed, lying down on the ground with flowers in hand. Yep, she looked like a corpse! The second lying pic was her face when I told her she looked like she was dead!

Polka Doodle challenge 1

2009-05-22T12:00:00.005+01:00

Today is the day! Polka Doodle challenges have begun. The first challenge is a sketch and I LOVE working with sketches! Because this is the very first challenge, Nikky is offering up some MEGA candy which is worth over £80! How generous is that?? To be in with a chance of winning, just enter the challenge.
Right, on to my card now! The new CD will be available to buy very soon and is full of yummy papers, sentiments and images. Ooh I know you will love it! For my card I turned the sketch round. Everything on the card is from the CD apart from the ribbon, buttons and alphabet stickers. I used the sugar cherry cupcakes collection and sugar swirlies for the main backing paper. Couldn't you just eat that cupcake? I added some glossy accents to make it shine!

Daring Cardmakers - wet wet wet

2009-05-22T10:00:00.004+01:00

It's dare time again! This week the dare was set by the lovely Kathy...

"This week I'd like you to do a bit of "singing in the rain" and make cards on the theme
"Wet, Wet, Wet"
I'd like to see cards featuring water of any kind, and if you can actually USE water in the making of them - then you can claim an extra bonus point lol"

Now I'm sure you'll be shocked to hear that I ran out of time again this week and that it turned out to be a bit of a rush job. Mine is a very quick card (15 mins to be exact) but sometimes the quickies are the best eh? *wink*

I used a pre coloured Dottie image (very cute!) and my favo Dream Street papers. Glossy accents on the bubbles to make them look wet and a few buttons to tart it up a little.

There's a new challenge blog on the block!

2009-05-21T23:12:00.003+01:00

Oh yes there is!

Check it out HERE tomorrow for the very first challenge and some fab candy that needs to be won!

Check this blog candy!

2009-05-20T20:25:00.001+01:00

Wowee I've never seen anything like this candy giveaway! If I were to win this I would surely burst with excitement!!!

Look here.

DCM - The Sound of Music

2009-05-15T10:00:00.000+01:00

This week the fabulous Jane set the dare which is to see instruments or song lyrics on your cards.

We're a little bit upside down again chez Joz as we've been decorating the kitchen. I downed tools long enough to whizz out a card and to be honest it nearly went in the bin and I was all set to give the challenge a miss this week. I stuck with it though but I have to say it's not one of my finest. I have absolutely no idea what possessed me to get the distress inks out at 8.30pm. Tim Holtz I ain't! lol Anyhow it is what it is I guess. I found the papers in my stash and distressed the poor loves a little. I dug out one of my 3 Hero Arts stamps and also some fab freebie Prima flowers and finished the card with the little cute alpha's from the Patti Picklicious CD. Endless Love isn't really classed as song lyrics either is it? It's a song title! Ah well guess it's not my day! lol

Well hello Dolly!

2009-05-15T09:20:00.002+01:00

Well we have a brand new DT member over at Funky Hand. It's all very exciting and I know she's going to fit in as though she's always been there :o)

The new teamie is Dolly! Please pop over to Dolly's blog as her cards are absolutely stunning :o)

Talking of Funky Hand, Anice has another live show on Create and Craft on Tuesday 19th at 12 noon. As well as demonstrating the fabulous Funky Word Books CD she also be demonstrating the Bind it all tool as they will be on sale during the show too! Hope you get chance to tune in.

I'll be back very soon with the latest DCM challenge card. Catch ya laters. Mwah!

Penny Black Saturday challenge - black, white + 1 other

2009-05-10T16:42:00.004+01:00

It's time I got back on the challenge horse. I haven't done one for ages and seem to have got out of a regular crafting routine. Sooooo I'm back! I've had a go at this weeks Penny Black challenge which is to use black & white plus another colour. I love black and white on a card as it always looks so elegant. I also love the addition of another colour and usually add red or pink. I fancied a change this time and wanted to avoid red & pink. The colour I used was governed by what scraps I had in my box and it turned out to be blue! I've kept the card very simple and understated. I love the doggy image and wanted that to be the main focus. I always find it hard to keep my cards uncluttered but this one almost made itself. I'm rather partial to this card now it's finished - probably because that dog is so damn adorable (and I kinda like him in black).

I think I'm going to send this to my lovely Dad just to tell him that we love him :o)
Stamp - Penny Black (watercoloured)
Patterned paper - Patti picklicious
flower from stash
Black card embossed with divine swirls and outlined with white gel pen
Alphabet stickers - papermania

Maddie McMadgiepoo sings!

2009-05-10T10:05:00.001+01:00

I filmed her singing her fave toon the other day and it is cute enough for me to want to share. Bless!

This doesn't happen often!

2009-05-08T13:54:00.004+01:00

Little Madgeroonie was sat playing with her train set late morning so I decided that as I had run the duster round already I would indulge in a little craft. Out came some crafty bits and I was all set to bang a couple of cards out when all of a sudden I was hit by an overwhelming urge to scrap. It felt so bizarre and it doesn't happen often 'cos I am not a scrapper. I find it hard to scrap so I only do it when I get the urge. I decided to get my coveted Crape Paper out which I have had quite a while and have only used a teeny weeny bit on a card so far. It is so lush and I thought it would work perfectly with the pics from our recent jaunt in Dalby Forest.

I finished one layout just in time to take Mads to nursery and then I came home and made another. On a Friday I quite like to come back from the nursery drop off and watch Loose Women as those girlies make me laugh. I was sat playing around with the layout of the photos and half listening to the tv. they had Julian Clary on today and for some reason had been talking about men having names for their "old men" so to speak. I think it stemmed from something Hugh Jackman had said in an interview. Anyhow, Julian announced that he called his "old man" Christopher Biggins because it is rather large and dribbles a lot. OMG thank goodness I was not drinking coffee at the time 'cos my layout would have been covered in it. hahahaha so funny (but rude!). Anyhow, on to the layouts...

Now I should really get the hoover out and start doing the Shake & Vac dance - remember that? lol

Daring Cardmakers - Mum's the word

2009-05-08T10:00:00.002+01:00

This week the dare is set by the fabby Tanya Leigh who is back after a break from the DCM blog. As it is Mother's day in New Zealand this Sunday, Tanya Leigh wants us to make a card that has the word "Mum" on it. Here is mine...
The patterned paper is Patti Picklicious as is the butterfly and tiny letters. The fab pink organza ribbon was on some packaging (a gift box from Lush I think) and I have been waiting to use it for ages. I think it looks yummy threaded through the holes that I punched with my Martha Stewart punch :o) Everything else is from my stash. x

I also wanted to add that the Funky Hand DT call is still ongoing so pop over to the blog and apply. Also my friend Nikky of Fat Freddie's Craft Shed and The Craft Room in York is also looking for a DT to make cards using her new products so pop over to her blog to apply. x

Exciting DT call!

2009-05-04T20:39:00.002+01:00

Anice at Funky Hand is looking for a new member of the design team. Please have a look at her blog to find out how to apply. I love being in Anice's gang. We all get on like a house on fire and have an absolute hoot. As a gang member you get to play with all the fantastic new releases first and I know Anice has an exciting year planned for Funky Hand. Go on - have a go! You know you want to! x

Sweet girl

2009-05-03T22:15:00.004+01:00

My baby went to her first birthday party today. Now she has started nursery, the invites to parties have started. It was her little friend Neve's 4th birthday party today and she got the invitation over a month ago so all we have had since is "how many sleeps 'til Neve's party Mummy?" bless her! As she has an older sister she has lots of hand me down clothes but I wanted to get her a special party dress which she chose herself. I think it might be meant to be a very short dress to be worn with leggings underneath as the age 3 size looked like it would fit a 12 month old. For this reason I got her an age 6 which is still above the knee even though she isn't 4 til July!

Anyhow, I took some pics of my little lady before the party. I can't believe how fast she is growing up :o( whatever happened to my baby? She looks so sweet in the dress. I love the way the skirt sticks out - very 1950s!

This girl has such a sunny nature. I am a very lucky mum. The things she comes out with are priceless too. She has a little friend at nursery called Faith who always runs up to her and hugs her when she gets to nursery. We were talking about Faith one day over the school holidays and I said to Maddie "I bet Faith will be pleased to see you when you go back to school" to which Maddie replied "oh yes she will mum. She's actually obsessed with me" Hahahahahaaaa I almost cried laughing. Bless.

I got her silver party shoes in the Woolworths closing down sale before Christmas. They were a ridiculous price - £1.75 or something!
Nasty bruise on her leg happened at nursery on Thursday. She fell off a balancing beam :o(

Daring Cardmakers - Old Macdonald

2009-05-01T10:00:00.001+01:00

This week it is the very fab Vanessa's turn to set the dare and she wants us to put farm animals on our cards.

I used a Penny Black image which the gorgeous Kath stamped for me. This card has evolved into a birthday card for Maddie's little friend Neve whose birthday party she is going to on Sunday. I seem to be using orange an awful lot of late. Must use more colours!

Blog candy alert!

2009-04-30T21:22:00.003+01:00

My friend Nikky (aka Freddie Foo Foo) is giving away a set of stackies as candy over on her blog at the mo. Stackies are gorgeous flowers that you cut out and use however you want on your projects. They are yum yum yum. Nix actually gave me a set of these a while back and they are so fab! I have made another card with them today although it kind of went to pot. It was looking so good but then when I added the 3rd flower I ruined it. I guess you win some you lose some eh?

I recommend you pop over for a browse around Nikky's blog. She is very talented at craft and designs all sorts of fab papers and images too which she sells in her shop. Go on...you know you want to! Here is the card that went awry!

Funky Word Books

2009-04-30T11:14:00.013+01:00

Anice showcased the new Funky Hand CD "Funky Word Books" on Ideal World on Monday. The show was a great success and I'm so happy to say that the CD sold out live on air (I had a feeling it would because it is awesome!). The CD is not available to buy from Funky Hand until 11th May so there is a while to wait for those of you who missed out. Anyhow, I thought I would flash the samples I made for Anice for the show :o)

The word book uses the Bad Ted collection (my fave!) and is basically a book containing my fave things as I ran out of ideas! I put the whole book through my Cuttlebug and really like the embossed effect :o)

What a fab day!

2009-04-26T20:20:00.013+01:00

We have had the most fantastic family day today. Last night Abigail went to her best friend's for a sleepover (her first time!). I fretted all night of course but she was fine. Loved every minute of it. There were 4 7/8 year olds there and they went to sleep at 1.30am when the responsible adults removed the bulb from the bedside lamp. This is why we will not be hosting a sleepover at our house! NO WAY! lol Apparently the main topic of conversation in the small hours was who had trumped the most and who had done the smelliest! Classy eh?

Anyhow, she was clearly wrecked when we picked her up which is a recipe for disaster were we to stay at home today so we decided as the weather was nice that we would go to Dalby forest which is between York and Scarborough (nearer to Scarborough to be honest). Dalby forest holds so many wonderful memories for me and it is a beautiful place to be. We took a picnic lunch which we ate near the play area, then the kids played for a while and had a paddle in the stream (hilarious! the water was freezing and I filmed them psyching themselves up to get in - may blog that footage one day!). We then decided to do the Bridestones walk which I just LOVE. I have done it so many times I have lost count (although the last time was almost 2 years ago now). It is not a long walk (just over a mile and a half I think) but it has a couple of very steep hills to tackle. Once you get to the top of the first hill and walk across to the first of the Bridestones the view is breathtaking. Isn't it amazing how alive you feel when you do these sorts of walks? We all literally felt on top of the world.

Before we came home we called at a stunning village called Thornton le Dale. I have many wonderful memories from there too. We all had a yummy ice cream (2 scoops each - I had turkish delight and toffee flavours!) and wandered up to look at the thatched cottage by the river which is absolutely beautiful. A year pass for Dalby forest is £42 and I am seriously thinking we need to invest in one and get our butts there more often. I thought I would share some pics from our fab day, sadly my camera batteries died before we made it to Thornton Le Dale :o(
Maddie sitting on a fab log with a snake carved in it. Not sure what the aeroplane arms are all about (bless my eccentric girl!)
Pretty pretty pretty!

Took ages for Abigail to pluck up the courage to go in for a paddle!
Mads in front of one of the Bridestones

This was meant to be a shot of both girls. Maddie wanted to put her arm round Abigail which Abigail thought was a fate worse than death (that is what lack of sleep does for her!)
Love this one. I was at the foot of one of the stones as they were coming down with the sun behind them.

Little bugger pinched my shades! Have to say they suit her but they are MINE!!!

Thought I would finish with a card! I made this several weeks ago for my mate Carol who celebrated a special birthday recently (except for some reason the fact that it was a special birthday passed me by! Durr!!). I have no idea why I haven't blogged this before! I think my marbles are lost again!

DCM - Big is beautiful

2009-04-24T10:00:00.001+01:00

Friday again - new dare time! This week the super fabby Lythan wants us to...

SUPERSIZE ME!
I have loads of enormous paper flowers that I have bought and never used. So I want to see some really big embellishments on your cards.

I loved this dare so much! I have a fair few mahoosive flowers that I haven't got round to using yet. Out came my favourite papers again (Bloom & Grow) and my favourite Penny Black stamp had another outing. Here is what i came up with.
I'm going to try and craft more this coming week. One card a week is ridiculous! lol

Fun in the sun and sneak peeks

2009-04-23T20:21:00.015+01:00

I know I've been terrible lately. One post a week if I'm lucky! I need to make more effort on the cardmaking front or I am going to forget how to do it. I seem to have had a busy week again and before I know it the week has flown by. I really wish there was a way to slow time down. The older I get, the faster time flies. No fair!

We've had glorious weather this week. The other day I took the girls to the lake near where we live. We had a lovely peaceful hour there. The kids took bread to feed the ducks but sadly the ducks were not interested so the girls ended up eating the bread. Typical ha! Anyway as I have been so quiet lately I thought I would share a few pics from that day.

Abigail striking a crazy pose and Maddie scoffing bread!

Bless Maddie in this pic. I swear I only bought her that dress a couple of months ago and it is age 4-5 (she is not 4 til July)

Abigail - 7 going on 17! Managing to look chic in Maddie's peppa pig sunglasses.

Hmm! Less said about this one the better. Lets just say it has inspired me to start taking the iron tablets again!

Now the sneak peeks. The latest CD from Funky Hand is released on Monday 27th April at 6pm on Ideal World. This CD is an absolute cracker - Anice has done it again and pulled together the most fabulous colour collections and designs to enable you to make word books for any occasion. It's not just for making word books either - the only limit is your imagination :o)

I'll be back tomorrow with my card for the Daring Cardmakers. xxx

DCM - games and toys for boys

2009-04-17T10:08:00.002+01:00

It's the fabby Rein setting the dare this week.

Games and Toys for Boys
put a race track, dart board, vehicle... on your card

Like so many crafters I find male cards a complete nightmare. I have had a rubbish week. I had a tooth out last week which turned into a bit of a nightmare (took an hour to extract the bugger!) and I have been in excruciating pain until yesterday when it finally started easing. I had been putting making this card off because I felt so rough. Finally last night I sat down to make it. I really hope that a flying saucer counts for this dare! I drew it onto orange card and added a fab alien sticker from a set that my mate Ruth sent me (a bargain from the pound shop I believe!). I added a planet and some stars and doodles. The sentiment uses Doodlebug rub ons. It ended up being a very quick and easy card.

DCM - Hide and Seek

2009-04-10T10:00:00.004+01:00

Friday again and time for another dare. It's my turn to set the dare this week and I chose the theme hide and seek - include a hidden message or element on your cards. Anyhow, after setting the dare I then thought hells bells what am I actually going to make? After a little think about it and with a rough idea in my head I trawled t'internet for tutorials on making slider cards. There are some fab tutorials out there it has to be said!

I actually made 2 cards for this dare. The first one I made using this fab tutorial here.
I used Bazzil dotted swiss card, Crate Paper, ribon & lace from stash and my favourite stamp by Penny Black. I also used Papermania alphabet stickers which don't show up great in the photo.

The second card was made using this tutorial here. I think this is my favourite! I loved making these cards so expect to see more...

I used an array of coloured card from my stash, My Mind's Eye papers (bloom and grow), Papermania stickers and a very cute stamped doggy image that came from one of my Funky Hand team mates in an image swap. I'm afraid I've lost the list of who made what stamp.

Right I'm off to get ready to go out for the day now. Abigail is at my mum's house for a couple of nights, and I'm taking Maddie into town to meet up with my sister in law and family for lunch, then it's on to kids club at Borders book shop for easter craft activities. Really looking forward to the all new Red Dwarf on Dave tonight. Yippee! I can drool over the yummy angular headed Kryton. Haha I do love a square jaw and they don't come much squarer that that :o)
Just have to put a pic of the delectable David Coulthard in now. What a guy! What a jaw! Phwooaar! David, sadly you will never be mine - you prefer model types who weigh 5 stone, not Tubbs Tattsyrup lookalikes. However I can forever console myself with the fact that I have cupped your left buttock in my hand *sigh*

Happy Birthday Ruth!

2009-04-07T20:43:00.003+01:00

Well okay happy birthday yesterday Ruth (Tip Top)! lol

As usual I was a little disorganised and the card went late. Oops. But she's got it now so I can blog it!
I used my new Tilda stamp that I got from the Harrogate show. I also made a cupcake using my new nesting dies. I also got out my Dream Street papers again. These are fast becoming a fave of mine. I loves 'em.

PBSC Easter and a toot for Funky Hand!

2009-04-05T19:01:00.003+01:00

Over at Penny Black Saturday, the new challenge is Easter. I bought a new Penny Black stamp at the Harrogate show last Sunday and I've been itching to use it so I've used it for the challenge :o) I also used my fabby new papers by My Mind's Eye (bloom & grow). I love them so much I really didn't want to cut into them! I love the green, orange and blue colours. So very yummy! Also I am pleased to announce that I found the "c" plate for my Cuttlebug so I was able to use my new nesting dies by Go-Kreate. Yippee! I love them.
It doesn't show that well but the message on the card says easter hugs. I wanted to use black rub ons but I've run out of the letter "e" again!! Grr. So I ended up using white and they don't show so well in the photo. Ah well.

Now for the toot. Funky Hand have won North Tyneside's Retail Business of the Year award!!! This is such fantastic news and so well deserved. I love Funky Hand and Anice is extremely talented at designing delectable papers and goodies. I'm sure Anice and Ian haven't come down to earth again yet. I just want to say congratulations really. Whoohooooo! x

DCM - Feeling Fruity

2009-04-03T12:34:00.003+01:00

The dare this week is set by Keryn...

"My dare this week is to put a piece of fruit on your card. Make your card for any occassion and use any fruit you like the look of. Scroll down and see what the design team have come up with. Cherries seem to be a particular favourite with the team at the moment"

Well cherries are very "in" at the minute - have you noticed? I've been into town this morning to get the new issue of Crafts Beautiful (I have some cards in the little booklet! whoop!) and I also popped in Next. So many of the little girls clothes have cherries on them and they are so gorgeous! I feel a spend coming on! lol

For my card I have used Kirsty Wiseman's Patti Picklicious CD again. I used the Summerbrooke Orchard collection. Possibly one of my faves on the CD!
It's all from the CD except for the cherries which I made from dotted swiss cardstock and core-dinations card. Ooh and I added the 2 u to the sentiment.

I wish I was sitting down to get the stash out next but sadly I have to don the rubber gloves and get the bleach out because I never did get round to cleaning the bathroom yesterday! Bad Joz! Naughty Joz! lol

The return of the mojo!

2009-04-02T16:56:00.005+01:00

It's a great feeling when the old mojo comes back isn't it? Having been without mine for many weeks I was feeling a bit low and lacking confidence. Now the house is getting back to normal and I can access my craft gubbins more easily I sense an improvement. The fact that the sun was shining this morning also helped a great deal.

So first things first I wanted to play a little more with the Patti Picklicious CD. I printed a selection of yummy papers out yonks ago but they've been put to one side whilst the decorating has been in full flow. There is a stunning butterfly image on the CD which I printed onto vellum and made this card. Possibly one of my fave makes yet. I just added a touch of glitter to the wings.
It's all Patti Picklicious apart from the card blank which is dotted swiss, the lace, some green card and the doodling.

My next make was the next DCM challenge so that will go up tomorrow. Lastly I had a little play with some bits and pieces I bought from Craftwork Cards. By then the old mojo was getting a bit tired mind you! I have been doing other bits and bobs at the same time as cards, plus it was celebration afternoon at Maddie's nursery so I went along to see what she's been up to there.
Everything on this is from Craftwork Cards. I love the quality of the products and the little owls are fab! When I was at the show on Sunday, I had a set of the new stamps in my hand but for some reason put them back again. I could kick myself. The other thing I'm annoyed about is that I bought some dies by Go Kreate that are similar to Nestabilities and I can't find the bloody "c" plate for my Cuttlebug. I really wanted to play with those today :o( Grrr.

Had a fabbo time at Harrogate on Sunday

2009-04-01T21:51:00.009+01:00

Blimey I really am not doing a good job of this blogging business. If anybody (and I doubt it really!) still reads this blog - hold on to your knickers because crafting is going to resume with a vengeance tomorrow. Honest!

I went to the Great Northern Papercrafts Extravaganza on Sunday. I love this show because it is not too big. I always make sure I go. this time it was extra special because I got to meet up with some fabby friends! I went with my mate Nikky who owns my local craft shop. This gal is a major talent so check out her blog! She also has a wicked sense of humour and we have a riot when we're together. I met up with my good mate Ruth and also got to meet the fabulous Kath for the first time. What a treat it was. We chatted like we'd known each other for years and Kath has the most delightful Scottish accent you could ever hope to hear. I've met up with Ruth a few times before and we're already planning the next jaunt (probably Eureka with the kids!). Ruth is fabbo and we have the same sense of humour :o)

Kath kindly brought treats which made me feel like a right miserable old bint as I had nothing to give. Sorry gals :o(
Now this photo doesn't do what Kath brought justice. A beautiful stamped folder chock full of stamped images, some papers and bits and bobs from Craftwork Cards and a gorgeous gift box filled with mini eggs (YUM!!!). Also she brought an Easter finger puppet kit for each of the girls and also a tube of mini eggs. To be quite honest I was rather blown away by her generosity. Thanks so much Kath. I can't tell you how thrilled the girls were with their pressies too! Expect pics of finger puppets in the near future.

We popped along to see Kirsty Wiseman while we were there. Boy that gal cracks me up! What a hoot although I was annoyed she had her camera with her. I HATE having my pic taken and here is why....

Yep I always end up looking like a DIV! I was not telling Nikky to something off on this pic. I was just saying "gerroff" because she was doin rabbit ears behinf my head. Cowbag! hehehe
This one wouldn't be so bad were it not for my unfeasably large head. Hmm less said about that the better I fink. Ooh and I look like Caspar the friendly ghost too! I'm always pale but this is ridiculous. I have recently found out that I'm anaemic again so I'm back on the iron tablets (yuk).

Right nearly finished now. Today at work a lovely lovely patient and his wife brought me some flowers. I was truly overwhelmed by the gesture. What a love he was. In fact I wanted to adopt him as my Grandad as I don't have one any more. I think old people often get a bit of bad press but I have the pleasure of meeting some truly delightful older folk through my job. Bless.

These are the flowers and behind them is the fancy new wallpaper in my lounge. The vase is standing on my fancy new (bargain) fireplace.
Here's a more detailed picLast pic - Jozza's gammy eye! This is what happens when I get a cat hair in my eye. Swelly swelly pain yuk. I think it happened at the childminders house when I was picking up the kids after work. My eye started itching there and by the time we got home I was near to gouging it out and it was almost swollen shut. After several rinsings with optrex I didn't feel quite so bad but it is still very red and swollen. We have a cat but I am very careful to wash my hands after stroking him and he isn't allowed in the bedroom so I rarely have problems but I sure wish I wasn't allergic :o(
Right that's it. No more waffle tonight. I'll be back tomorrow hopefully with some lovelies to show (mojo willing!). Ooh and I must find time to clean the bathroom tomorrow too (joy). x

DCM - Bunnies and chicks

2009-03-27T10:32:00.003Z

It's Jo's turn to set the dare this week...

"I would like this week to see cards with a chick, a bunny or both!"

I'm late again this week as we're still in the midst of decorating. As we only get 1 day a week off together it is slow going. We have finished wallpapering though and it looks good. Just need to touch up some painting here and there and varnish the new fire surround and then it's a matter of tidying up and a major declutter! I'm running late with all my jobs today already. Need to clean the hamster out next as after I've dropped Maddie off at nursery I'm getting my hair cut. Hopefully next week I will get back into the crafty swing of things....

Anyhow - enough waffle - here is my DCM card freshly knocked out this morning.

It's all Sassafrass apart from the fab little letters which are from Kirsty Wiseman's new Patti Picklicious CD which I believe should be available from today! Yippee!!!

Shoes shoes shoes!

2009-03-21T18:34:00.014Z

Oh I'm struggling with this blogging malarkey of late. Living in an upside down house and trying to fit decorating in around work is not that much fun. Time doesn't seem to be on my side. Soooo I thought I'd have a mammoth post of a few of this week's happenings.

First of all, Tuesday was Mr Jozza's birthday. Here is the card I made for him.
Mr Jozza is called Keith, but it amuses me to call him Keef. He also goes by the name Keithetta, Keithetta Marietta, Kindred Keith the Destructathor etc etc. I like to call people an array of names. I can't help it! Abigail gets called, Abigail, Abbi, Abs, Abbathina (which incidentally a friend of mine thought was her real name! HAHAHA), Ab fabs and also Fenelia Fadge Bucket. Maddie gets called Maddie, Madeleine, Mads, Maddie the madster, Madge, Madgeroonie and Fenelia Fadgerina. Even the poor cat gets it. He's called Charlie but he more often gets called Chaz, Chaz on the raz and Billy William. When I think about it there is probably a good explanation right here as to why my kids are bananas.

Ab fabs made her daddy a lurvely card....
She doodled faux stitching and everything! Whoop whoop Abs!

She's in the good books this week is my big girl. I had a meeting with her teacher the other day for her report. Oh my goodness, her teacher just raved about her! I was sat mainly stunned to be honest. She usually gets a good report but this was something else. She's no child genius or anything but her teacher said she is doing brilliantly and is super enthusiastic. A pleasure to teach in fact. Abbi sees herself as her teacher's deputy I think as she's always helping apparently and loves to help other children in her class if they are struggling with a task. It was really nice to hear so many positive things about her as at home she can be a stroppy little madam at times.

On Friday, she got star of the week at school and was so excited about it :o)
She also had a daffodil and some other things for me...

So to the shoes shoes shoes bit. Check these babies out...
Abbi (Imelda Marcos in the making) has a thing about shoes. She certainly doesn't get it from me (Radley bags ring my bell), I'm happiest in a pair of ugly old crocs. Poor Abs desperately wanted a Nintendo Wii for Christmas. I spent a great deal of time explaining to her that Father Christmas couldn't possibly get everyone a Wii. She was a tad heartbroken but as her Uncle gave her £10 for Christmas she decided to start a Wii fund. It was doing rather well and a few weeks ago she had well over £20 (I know! slow progress). Then we went into next and she clocked a pair of red shiny sandals. Bang goes £12. I can build the fund up again mummy I was told. Hmmmmm, until today we were in Next (damn that shop and their temptress shoes) and she clocked the above shoes. She was a few pounds shy of the £14 price tag but her Grannie gave her the difference as she has had such a good week. Bang goes the Wii fund but she is a very happy 7 year old.
We were actually in Next to get the madster a new top. She put on her fave t-shirt from last year this morning. A very cute Mickey and Minnie mouse top from Next aged 3-4. It was only when we were in town that I realised said t-shirt more resembled a crop top. Finally found one she liked in Next. What age did she end up getting? Age 6! Yes my 3 year old daughter got an age 6 top today. Ridiculous but she needs the length. It certainly doesn't look too big for her.
I think I've nearly finished now. Hope I've not sent you to sleep! This is what Maddie brought home from nursery for me...

Bless my little chickens. What a great likeness of me that picture is. Hehehe

DCM - cos I'm a woman!

2009-03-20T18:49:00.003Z

The dare this week is set by Tracie.

"Seeing as this weekend is Mothers Day in the UK, and I am doing the 600 mile round trip home to see my mummy, I want the focus of your cards to be the girls. It can be any style, any theme, and any recipient - as long as she is female"

I'm late this week, mainly due to a hellish week at work and an upside down house as we're in the middle of decorating. I threw together a card for my mum...

I used Basic Grey sugared papers, a chipboard flower left over from last weeks dare, more flowers which are out of my flower box, ribbon and slide from my mate Ruth (who I always want to write as Rooth for some bizarre reason) and letters by papermania. I've a card I made for Mr Joz (his birthday was last Tues) and also some pics of bits and bobs. Will hopefully get chance later. x

PBSC - a sketch

2009-03-15T10:41:00.003Z

I don't know where time is going just lately. I never seem to have any spare and life just keeps whizzing by. I've not had time to visit any blogs lately and our decorating is a slow process!

I made this card last night just before I made tea and this is the first chance I've had to blog it. It's a fab sketch this week. My card was a bit of a rush job and I'm not sure about it really. Not so keen on the colours I used which are not ones I commonly use. Hey ho.
Paper - DCWV
Card - core-dinations
Swiss dots embossing folder
Flowers/brads from stash
Stamp - Penny Black
Rub ons - Doodlebug

DCM - Ready steady cook!

2009-03-13T10:00:00.005Z

This week the dare is set by Kathy.

So this dare is my take on that theme - I'll tell you the ingredients you have to use, then all you have to do is make the card.

Here are your ingredients:

3 different papers

At least one piece of chipboard

At least 1 button

At least 1 piece of ribbon

optional: 1 extra item/element of your choice

What a fab dare! The twist for the design team was that Kathy assembled an envelope full of ingredients for each of us so that we were more limited. I loved everything that Kathy sent. I have no idea who made the papers but I want some more! They are lush. I had no idea what I was going to make when I sat down with all my bits and this card took forever to make as I seem to have spent a fair amount of time just staring at everything and wondering what the devil I was going to make. In the end I used about 5 different patterns (the papers were double sided), the 2 ribbons, 1 button, the chipboard owl and my extra was some of the new Stackies from Fat Freddies Craft Shed.
These are fab A4 sheets with funky flowers on them that you cut out and layer up as you please. I'm very fortunate in that Nikky who designed these is a mate and she brought a whole load of them round for me to play with. I LOVES them! They come in packs of 6 sheets and retail at £3.99. There are loads of flowers on each sheet. Yum yum.

I'm not sure who the papers are by or the chipboard either I'm afraid
The stackies are from Fat Freddie's Craft Shed
The stamp is a studio g one I think.

Penny Black Saturday recipe 3,2,1

2009-03-09T22:18:00.005Z

Blimey I actually made a challenge card tonight too! It's a recipe challenge to use 3 brads, 2 ribbons and 1 flower.

It's my hubby's birthday next week so I've made him a card from the kids (still need to make one from me!). I love these DCWV papers. I need to craft more with them!

Paper and chipboard shapes - DCWV
Ribbons, flower and brads from stash
Image - Penny Black
Dad sticker - Sue Dreamer
Rub ons - Doodlebug

OMG I actually made a card!!!

2009-03-09T21:59:00.004Z

I've been quiet. Sorry about that. Have had a week off work and me and Monsieur Jozza have been decorating. The house is completely upside down - it has to be seen to be believed! We're nowhere near finished either! Mind you it has been fun. I love painting - I find it really therapeutic and we've learnt how to hang wallpaper! Go us! We're not doing too bad a job with it either...shame we're both back at work now so it's evenings and days off put aside for decorating. We'll get there in the end I'm sure.

Tonight I found some of my craft bits and assembled a card for one of my bessie mates Susie. I've known Soose since we were little. We're both from Scarborough and our parents used to be drinking buddies back in the 70's. We lost touch in our teens but who'd have thought that we would both train to be Radiographers and end up working in the same hossie? Anyhow it was Susie's birthday at the end of Feb and whoops naughty Jozza is late again! I have got her a huge slab of chocolate from Hotel Chocolat to compensate her for my crapness! Everyone should have a Susie in their life. She is hilarious and a great mate!

I made her card with a quote from one of our very fave TV progs The League of Gentlemen. It's a quote from one of the lads who are always in the video shop and judge the quality of a film by how many "killings" are in it. I wanted to put a video clip on my blog but I couldn't find it :o(
Just knew it would make Soose laugh to see it on her card and I thought it suited the image (I may have to buy this stamp as it is sooo fab) :o)

The stamped image is from an image swap and was provided by Lythan. The papers are Dream Street and the other bits and bobs are from my stash.

An award! Plus a couple of cards to share

2009-03-03T17:48:00.006Z

I've been given an award by the lovely and talented Lulu! It's so cute - thanks so much Lou :o)

I'm not 100% sure what the rules are for passing this on so I would like to pass it on to anyone reading this who hasn't yet received it. There are so many blogs full of stunning work that I couldn't possibly choose just a few.

I've got the week off work this week to try and tart the house up a little bit. I'm afraid it's all the tedious prep work at the moment. Words cannot express how much I loathe sanding! Painting starts tomorrow so I'll be covered from head to toe by the end of the day (that's what usually happens anyhow!). I do enjoy painting so I'll be cranking the music volume up and having a sing song as I paint.

I thought I would share a couple of cards that I made on Friday. I was playing with the fabby Patti Picklicious cd again :o) These cherry papers are good enough to eat! The shaped card is made using a template that is on the CD. I printed it onto the cherry paper and it was very easy to cut it out. I mounted it onto black card and cut it again leaving a black border to make the pattern pop that little bit more then I added some little felt cherries :o)
I don't know what I had just eaten when I made this card! lol It's a little bit wacky. I keep small photos that I have printed out in a box with all my blooms ready for mini books and the like. I was flicking through them and thought this pic of Abigail would be quite funny on a card. Everything used is from the Very Cherry collection on the Patti CD apart from the head, arms and legs.

DCM - All things circular

2009-02-27T10:00:00.000Z

This week it is Vanessa's turn to set the dare :o)

This week, the title says it all - I want to see lots of circles, you can decide how you use them, whether it be the shape of your card or how you display circular elements within the design and thats it, nice and simple (I hope :-)).

This was rather tricky for me in that I have no circle punches or dies. I racked my brains for what felt like an eternity and then came up with a mini brainwave for this card. I used a tealight holder to get the body and head circles and drew round the end of my glue pen for the snout. The ears, legs and tail were easy peasy :o)

Paper and little bird - Imaginisce
Stamp - Imaginisce
Card - core-dinations
Brown ink pad and also doodles.

A day of highs and lows

2009-02-24T21:11:00.010Z

I feel quite exhausted today! For the last few days I have had raging toothache in a tooth that I had filled last month. You know the pain I mean? Where you can't decide whether you want to shut your head in a door or lay on the drive and get your hubby to run over it with the car? Throbbing is not the word! I've been taking nurofen and co-codamol and they have not even touched the pain! Bleurgh! Thankfully I had a dental appointment already booked for something else so I begged the dentist to sort this tooth instead. The result was root canal treatment. Turns out the filling I had last month was a deep 'un and irritated the nerve to billy-oh. "Take away the pain" I begged...and bless my lovely dentist - she did! Anyhow whilst sat in the dentist chair squirming (not in pain, but because the noise of the drill makes me squirm, I couldn't feel my tongue and feared I was going to swallow it and also I have this thing where I worry I'm going to bite the dentist's fingers off!) my mobile phone pipes up DEAD loud. My ringtone is not a nice tinkly tune. Nooooo, it is Papa Lazarou from the League of Gentlemen saying "Hello Dave, is that Dave? You're my wife now Dave". I was a bit embarrassed but the dentist & dental nurse thought it was funny. I would have laughed too but I had several hands and dental tools in my mouth. After said root canal ~~torture~~ treatment I checked who had called and it was my mum (who never calls my mobile). Rang her back. No answer. Rang dad's mobile. Turned off. Rang home number no answer. When I got home there was a message on the home phone to say she was on the way to hospital as her GP thought she had a DVT (deep vein thrombosis). Now I don't want to blow my own trumpet (actually I do!) but I actually diagnosed a DVT last night on the phone to my mum when she told me her symptoms. Clearly I am too good for radiography and need to be a doctor. Thankfully they have let her home and she's had heparin injections. She's back tomorrow for a scan and blood results.

So they were the lows BUT there was a high too. Oh yes there was! My kids entered a competition in Borders book shop to win theatre tickets for The Jungle Book show and Abigail WON! Woot woot!. Soooooo (thankfully before dental torture) we had to go to Borders this aft to meet the cast of the show and get presented with the tickets and have photos taken. Eeeeeeh it was fab. For a starters we got there before the cast so the staff at Borders nipped upstairs to Starbucks and got us all a drink (if you want to get round Joz - caramel macchiato does it EVERY time. I would bathe in it given half a chance). Ahhh bliss! The cast arrived in costume and looked ace. The kids were overwhelmed by it all. They were so impressed. The cast and staff at Borders made a real fuss of the kids which was great. Anyhow they posed for many a pic and I took a few albeit crap ones. It's going to be in the local paper in the next couple of days. Sooo on Friday night we're all going to the theatre for free. Really can't wait :o)

Here are a couple of pics (they are a bit kacka because I still don't know how to work my camera properly!)

I thought I'd also share a couple of pics from Sunday when we went to visit my big brother (who turned 40 on Saturday) 'cos I managed to snap a couple of the kids that I rather like.

This is Abigail and my nephew Benjamin who believe it or not is only 6 months old. He looks huge in this pic but then he is going to be a big boy for sure as his mum is 6' and his dad (my brother) is 6'6"
And then there is this one of Maddie the madster who most certainly is mad. Bless her and her cheesy grin. lol
I also have pics to share from Saturday when my good friend Ruth came a visiting with her 2 boys. I'm going to have to do that in a seperate post as my fingers are aching after this mammoth blog post.

Patti Picklicious makes

2009-02-23T21:29:00.007Z

I've just had an email from Kirsty to say that the very fab Patti Picklicious CD will be available to buy in just over a weeks time. Not long now and I just know you will love it! I still haven't decided which collection I love the mostest. I have lots of paper printed out and ready to play with but this last week has been too busy for me to fit craft time in. That makes me very sad (although I have had some great times with the girls, friends and family soo that was good). I will be having a craftathon later this week to make up for the dry spell.

The first card I'm sharing uses the Tokyo Kyoto collection and I love it. The Japanes Patti image is beautiful and prints off on a sheet in a range of sizes.
This next card uses the half sheets collection in black. I love the fact that these come is so many colour ranges! Lots of possibilities :o) Also check out the teeny alphabet letters which are fantastic to use. I love these a lot!!
I used the half sheets again for this card in blue. Love this shade and love this little Patti image.
There will be lots more coming soon. I was a bit limited when I made these by the fact that my ruddy printer ran out of ink. I was dead annoyed but I got another so there will be no stopping me now.

I'll be back later to post pics of my weekend. x

DCM - fish or frog

2009-02-20T10:00:00.001Z

This week it's Rein who sets the dare. She would like us to put a fish or a frog on our card :o)

I decided I wanted my froggy to be stuck out on acetate to look like he was bouncing over the flower. Could I find my acetate??? Nope! This is the 3rd time in as many weeks that i have tried to find my acetate and it is nowhere to be found :o(

I ended up carving up some packaging from a cuttlebug die although it's a quite a bit thicker than acetate so there is no bounce. It still works and it also lays flat enough for the card to go in an envelope. The card is for a little girl called Ava who used to go to the same childminder as my two. They are going to her birthday party on Sunday.

Papers - Imaginisce
Frog - Cuttlebug die
Core-dinations card
Divine swirls embossing folder
Flowers from stash
Bazzill butterfly border
Papermania alphabet sticker
Doodlebug rub ons

DCM - feeling green

2009-02-13T10:00:00.001Z

Ooer! It's Friday the 13th - hope nothing bad happens today!!! Incidentally - how superstitious are you? I don't know why I get a wobble when I think of Friday the 13th. It's a load of old codswallop!!! Or is it?? What do you reckon?

Right on to the dare. It's me setting the dare this week and it's a nice easy one...

Feeling green

I want to see green on your cards in any shade you like. For a double dare make a green themed get well card.

See....told you it was an easy one. It had to be done as green is my very very favourite colour :o) Here is my card...

Now I have to say that this card makes me happy. The reason it makes me happy is down to the "green"ness I am certain of it. Green just makes me feel happy so I can't wait to see everyones cards this week :o)

I used papers by Dream Street (Birdie Bits) , core-dinations card, swiss dots embossing folder.

About time!!

2009-02-12T21:22:00.010Z

Snow!!! YES SNOW!!!

Whoohooooooooo we had some today (and I wasn't even aware it had been forecast). We did get some last week on 1 day but it had melted by the time we came home from work/school so we didn't get to do anything fun. We made up for it today though :o) We got to use the sledges that have been sitting in our garage for 3 years! Thought I would share some pics. I tell you what - my eldest daughter is such a lightweight. After about 10 minutes she was complaining she was cold and wanted to go home! When I was a kid I used to be out in it for hours and when I did go home my legs would be bright red and stinging from the cold. All together now "KIDS TODAY DON'T KNOW THEY'RE BORN!" lol

I will warn you, there may be some pics of my hubby on here (don't tell him - he'll go schitz!) and the hat he is wearing makes him look very "speshal" hahahahaha it keeps him warm though!

Doesn't the lake look pretty?

Speshal hat warning!

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

"Mum I'm cold when are we going home???"

Patti Picklicious

2009-02-11T20:17:00.003Z

Well it's quite exciting chez Jozza as I've had an email from Kirsty Wiseman to say that my copy of the new Patti Picklicious printables CD is on its way to me! Yippee!!! I really can't wait to get my sticky mitts on it. I've had some sneak peeks and Kirsty showed me some cards she has made with it and wowsers! It's so fab :o)
There is a Patti Picklicious blog on which if you become a follower you could win a copy of the CD. Soooo I just have to wait for Mr Postman now and then I can start to play :o)

Scrapping fun

2009-02-08T17:00:00.005Z

I've spent a few enjoyable hours scrapping this afternoon. The start of the year has been a bit pants chez Joz so I treated myself to some new papers and embellishments to cheer myself up. I've been playing with Sassafrass Lass and Imaginisce this aft :o)
I love the lower photo of Abigail - she looks insane (which she kind of is! lol)
Papers - Sassafrass Lass
Flower - Poppicrafts
Letters - American crafts foam thickers
Papers - Sassafrass lass (I made the tree out of the papers)
Embellishments - Sassafrass Lass
Alphabet stickers - American Crafts foam thickersPaper - Imaginisce
I love you sticker - Bo Bunny
Heart border - Bazzill
Rub ons - Imaginisce
Alphabets - American crafts thickers and Papermania

I really enjoy scrapping. I have some really fab pics of the girls in particular yet I hardly seem to find the time for scrapping. I don't feel that confident with it yet and tend to stick to cards. I'm going to try harder this year to scrap more and improve!

Penny Black Saturday - Romance

2009-02-07T13:40:00.004Z

It's a romantic theme this week and Anice from Funky Hand is sponsoring the challenge providing 2 winners with the new Huge Funky Love download. It's such a lush download and is fast becoming one of my favourites. I decided to use it for my card for this challenge.
Papers - Funky Hand - Huge Funky Love
Letters - thickers
Image - Penny Black (from Kath in an image swap) coloured with watercolour paints
Card - Core-dinations
Border punch - Martha Stewart
Wire & button - from stash

Tagged!

2009-02-06T23:18:00.003Z

I've been tagged by the lovely Amanda (Scotspanda) and being a shockingly bad blogger of late I've only just got round to doing it. Oops.

You need to pick the 6th photo in the 6th folder in your pictures. Here is mine...
It's little Ratti with his pouches full of food being manhandled by Maddie! Bless him.

I've seen this tag on quite a few blogs so I won't name people to tag. If you haven't had this one yet - consider yourself tagged. xxx

DCM - Oriental splendour

2009-02-06T20:33:00.003Z

The real title of this should be "Jozza doesn't do oriental!" which is why I am almost 11 hours late posting my DT card this week. I literally have nothing oriental in my stash (or so I thought). Lythan reminded me that there was an oriental image in an image swap that the Funky Hand DT have done. Hmm I'd forgotten about that! I think it was Enfys that sent it to me so thank En you saved the day!

Whilst rooting around my stash I found some paper in my DCWV Rock Star stack that would be semi ok to use and then the piece de resistance was the oriental ATC paper I found lurking in the darkest depths of one of my craft drawers. That is left over from when I helped my mum make an oriental card for one of her friends a couple of years ago. Sooooo I did manage to cobble together a card in the end, even if it did involve blood sweat and tears - phew!

Oops I forgot to say that the challenge is set by Sue this week who wants an oriental themed card that doesn't use the colours red or black!

Paper - DCWV - rock star
Image - from Enfys - I think it was personal impressions
ATC paper - don't know it was my mum's
Flowers - prima
Brad from stash

2 sketches 4 you - Kazan's sketch 19

2009-02-06T14:37:00.003Z

It's a great sketch this week over on 2 sketches and I was inspired by my new DCWV The Sweet stack. My card is very plain and simple and was made very quickly but sometimes these seem to turn out the best don't they?
Paper - DCWV - The Sweet Stack
Ribbon - from stash
Brown card - core-dinations
Border punch - Martha Stewart
Stickers - DCWV

Sketches by Tamara - card sketch #81

2009-02-06T14:31:00.003Z

It's been ages since I've joined in with the sketches by Tamara challenge so I have made an effort to play this week.
I used K&Company sweet talk papers and embellishments for this card.

Huge Funky Love!

2009-02-05T11:13:00.013Z

The latest CD release from Funky Hand (Funky Daze) has been a huge success and is now sold out until more stock comes in mid February. However, Anice has just released a new download "Huge Funky Love" which is a love themed download featuring pinks and browns and containing everything you need to make wordbooks of your choice. I adore this kit and I thought I would show what I have made with it so far. It is so versatile. The big letters are great fro scrapping and you don't just have to make word books. You can make great cards with it too. Check out The Funky Hand website and see what the rest of the DT have made.

Ooh look at this candy!

2009-02-01T22:20:00.004Z

My fellow Funky Hand DT mate carol is giving away some mega stunning blog candy. I actually am only posting this cos I have to to win it so please don't go check it out cos it's mine all mine! (I wish) hehehe
Go have a looksie here to enter.

PBSC - circle card

2009-02-01T13:06:00.005Z

I'm trying to get back into the swing of crafting today. I managed a card for the PBSC but I've put all my bits away again as I found it a struggle. I seem to have lost my mojo again this last week. Hey ho!

I used one of the fab stickeroos that I won on a previous Penny Black challenge :o)

I don't have any nestabilities so i drew round a jug to get the circle and then hand drew the flower on pink card and sanded the edges. My kids will like this card as it's pink!

Card - core-dinations
Image - Penny Black stickeroo
Border punch - Martha Stewart
Patterned paper - Smirk

DCM - patterned paper passion

2009-01-30T10:00:00.000Z

It's Lythan's dare this week

I want to see 3 different patterned papers on your card.
And to be extra daring, why not see if you can use 3 different lines of paper!

Please link in the usual ways so that we can come and see what you have made!

Once again I left it right to the last minute and ended up making a very quick 10 minute card - whoops! I do have a good excuse (things are a bit pants chez Joz at the mo) but I do feel guilty for not coming up with the goods. Will try much harder next week!

I used papers from the latest Funky Hand CD "Funky Daze" and basically just distressed them up a bit, made them into a flower and attached to the card with a button and craft wire. Hardly rocket science eh? Shame on Joz! The sentiment is made with Doodlebug rub ons.

My kids playing teacher

2009-01-26T20:14:00.002Z

I was bored earlier and the kids were amusing me with their play and I tried to sneak a video of them. Of course I failed miserably in catching them unawares - they clocked what I was doing straight away! Then I thought I would see if I could actually put it on here so this is a little experiment.

DCM - give it some heart

2009-01-23T10:00:00.004Z

This week the dare is set by Keryn who wants to see hearts on your cards. I decided to use the Pink Petticoat download - old fashioned girl which is simply divine. It's a very plain and simple card this week as it was a bit last minute.
Paper & sentiment - Pink petticoat
Ribbon & lace from stash

Penny black saturday - lets get dotty

2009-01-21T15:34:00.003Z

I've been awol for a few days but I'm back with a card for the PBSC. I was so chuffed to win the prize last week - it was a wonderful surprise :o)

This week the theme is going dotty and I just love dotty papers so this was very enjoyable. I've used an image which I have been hankering after for such a long time so I was thrilled when the postie came this morning with an envelope containing some images (we're doing an image swap in the Funky Hand DT) and this little fella was among them.

Papers - Papermania
Image - Penny Black (watercoloured)
Glitter glue - stickles
Flowers, ribbon & brad from stash
Card - core-dinations
Border Punch - Martha Stewart

DCM- get someone else to make it

2009-01-16T10:00:00.000Z

Oh yes it's a sneaky dare this week. It can be any theme and any colour scheme for your card but the snag is that you have to get someone else to make the card with your supervision (or written instructions).

Well as I am married to a man who wouldn't touch cardmaking with a bargepole and none of my nearby friends are particularly crafty, the card assembly fell onto 7 yr old Abigail's shoulders (much to her glee!). I decided the best way to do it was to make up a fairly simple card myself and put together similar items for Abigail to recreate the card.

Here is mine
and here is Abigail's. She's good isn't she? I think I'd better watch out! lol
Papers - papermania
Notelets - Papermania
Flowers - Prima
Buttons, clips and ribbon from stash

Some more Funky Daze

2009-01-14T21:17:00.006Z

Whilst procrastinating this afternoon I knocked up some more cards using the fab Funky Daze CD from Funky Hand. I will never tire of these fab papers and really enjoyed making these cards.

My fave is the last one just cos I think it shows the papers off at their fabby best, but most of the girls on the DT seem to like my little car. lol

Wowsers!

2009-01-14T13:22:00.002Z

I could hardly believe my eyes this morning when I visited Kirsty Wiseman's blog and saw that I am one of her chosen two for making things with her new product. Crikey I had to blink and pinch myself several times before it hit home. Kirsty said she had around 180 applicants all of whom are incredibly talented and yet she picked (not so) little old me! The other lucky lady is the fabulous Jo Kill (yay Jo!). I'm on cloud 9!

I'm hoping to embark on some craftiness this afternoon although so far today (after pledging to do lots of jobs) I seem to have wasted several hours browsing t'internet. Whoops! I blame the Daily Mail showbiz pages lol

xxx

Penny Black Saturday - Colour Scheme

2009-01-10T17:18:00.007Z

The challenge this week is to use the colours pink and brown :o) one of my very favourite colour combinations.

Cardstock - Core-dinations
Image - Penny Black
Patterned paper and sentiment rub on - Basic grey
Flowers and brad from stash
Swiss dots embossing folder - Cuttlebug
Border punch - Martha Stewart
Doodlebug flock

Nursery was great + scrapping!

2009-01-09T17:37:00.004Z

Well Maddie the madster had a fantabulous time at nursery! She ate all her lunch and she didn't cry when I left her either - RESULT! She's really looking forward to going back on Monday and the teacher said she was great :o)

While I had peace and quiet I printed out a gazillion photographs because I have decided that 2009 is the year that I actually make an effort to scrap on a regular basis as opposed to once every few months on a whim. I managed to do 2 pages from Christmas so I am rather chuffed with myself.

Both layouts were made using papers and elements from the Brenda Pinnick scrapbooking kit I got from QVC that I mentioned last week. I also raided my stash for certain things including the cardstock.

DCM - 'tis the season to recycle

2009-01-09T10:47:00.004Z

This week the theme is recycling and in particular to recycle something from Christmas.

Hmmm this was a tricky one for me because all things Christmas were packed up and put away at the end of last week. I had already sent all the Christmas cards to be recycled and all that I have left are the hand made ones I received (and there is no way I am cutting those up!!!) so I cheated slightly and used one of the cards left over from Abigail's box of cards to send to her friends at school.
Here is the card ^^^ and lets just say I was wholy uninspired by it which is why my recycled card is a pile of old tosh (in my opinion!). I cut out the present and a bit of the blue background to make another present and based the card around that. Hmmm this card may just end up being binned ya know! lol
I think another reason why the card is pants is that I myself feel pants. Have had a hacking cough since Christmas day and from Saturday have had a terrible pain in the back of my chest on the right. It has been affecting my sleep and it is fair to say I have been a right old misery guts. Sooooo I finally went to the GP yesterday afternoon and yes you guessed it - I was made to feel like a time wasting old trog. Apparently my chest is "phlegmy" but I have probably pulled a muscle. "Come back if you have trouble breathing". So that was me told then and £5 of bus fare wasted. I felt so embarrassed but I'm not kidding this pain has been so bad. I mean on Wednesday I can't actually remember some of the events of the day as I was delirious with pain. It is almost as bad as the pain I had when my gallbladder was playing up. Obviously I is a wimp!

Right I best get off. My baby girl is starting nursery school today!!! I'm dreading it I really hope she doesn't get upset when I leave her. I need to get her packed lunch ready as they have their lunch there now (it was all different when Abigail went). I'm hoping to get a bit of crafting done this afternoon while she's there. I have some Christmas pics I want to scrap....

Sad news and fab news...

2009-01-08T09:47:00.002Z

My heart sank yesterday when one of my fellow Funky Hand DT members announced she was too busy with life to be able to continue. It lifted again when she said she was sticking around on the DT blog though. We've all become really great friends have us Funky Hand gang and I would hate to lose touch with any of them. I'm sure you all will have seen Chris' work but if you haven't take a look at her blog. You won't regret it.

Anyhow Anice has found another fabby DT member and this is v v exciting because it's a very talented lady that i already know from the DCM blog.......Lythan! Whoohoooo!!! Not only is Lythan fab and lovely so she'll fit right in with us all, she is an ultra faberoonie papercrafter too! So yippee! Welcome to Funky Hand Lythan :o)

This might be long....

2009-01-06T17:19:00.009Z

Let me start with recommending you visit a blog (if you don't visit this particular one already) and that blog is here. It belongs to Kirsty Wiseman who has always been hilarious (and very talented!) but since she bought a slutty red handbag the other day something seems to have happened to her and her latest blog offerings are nothing short of comedy genious! It has to be said that Tena ladies are a must wear before visiting this blog....

Right oh on to Jozza business. I thought I would share a recent purchase with you.And this is one of my favourite pages in it!
This was surely written with me in mind as I am quite possibly the worlds biggest procrastinator. When I did my Radiography degree I was typing my dissertation up the night before the hand in date and binding the damn thing on the actual morning of hand in. Both my pregnancies were late. I just can't help putting things off. This planner is choc full of ways to procrastinate so I just lurve it. I will share a couple of suggestions with you....

Guess how many screws you have in each room of your house. Then check and see. (genius!)

List 10 valuable things you do while procrastinating (keep this list handy when you feel guilty about procrastinating)

If you were a performer with one name (like Madonna, Sting, Bono), what would it be? (list 10 possibilities)

I can tell I am going to have such fun with this planner :o)

This morning I had a wonderful surprise from my friend Ruth who sent little post Christmas cheer packages to all of us on the Funky Hand DT. It was so exciting opening up the package that was wrapped in brown paper and string. Maddie was heavy breathing down my neck as I opened it in excitement. I think she was secretly hoping it was for her!
Contents included stamped images, beads, ribbon pack and a gorgeous little notebook for jotting down crafty ideas. Ruth you are such a star! xxx I've had a lovely warm feeling all day :o)

Right I think I'm nearly finished now. I just want to share some cards I made this afternoon using the Funky Daze CD from Funky Hand. Anice has a live show at the end of this month and I'm just sorting out my samples to send to her for the show.

All papers Funky Daze by Funky Hand
Rub ons - Doodlebug
Button & ribbons from stash
Flowers - Prima & Poppicrafts
American Crafts Thickers
Core-dinations card stock
Cuttlebug border embossing folder and birthday embossing folder

2 sketches 4 you - Kazan's sketch 17

2009-01-05T22:44:00.007Z

Another great sketch over on 2 sketches this week, this time by Kazan.

I used my new Papermania papers again for this card. It started off like this...
It was only when I had taken the photo that I realised that the scalloped edging looks a little like a wavy stem to the flower so I couldn't resist adding some velvet rikrak ribbon to make leaves. Patterned papers - Papermania - Spring burst
Flowers - prima
Brad & ribbon from stash
Stamp - studio g
Purple cardstock - core-dinations

Purple and green....

2009-01-05T17:05:00.004Z

Yum yum yum yum yum!

It's no secret that green is my very favourite colour. I love it sooooo much! The other day I had a mooch around The Range and bought a pack of the new papermania papers and notelets in the "spring burst" colours. Have had a flash of inspiration with them this afternoon and they are lush! I've knocked a couple of cards out and also made one for the 2 sketches challenge (although I'll be back later with that one as there is something I want to add to it).
The first card is my fave! It just seemed to come together really well and almost made itself. The card blank is also new from papermania and I love the embossed detail on in. I really think papermania are coming up with some fab products at the moment :o)

I used....
Patterned paper and notelets in spring burst - papermania
Flowers - Prima and Poppicrafts
Swirl stamp - Basic Grey (from the Wassail range although I bought them as I thought they weren't tied to Christmas)
Rub ons - Doodlebug
Buttons - stash
Heart stamp - Paperartsy
American crafts thickers
Stickles glitter glue

Valentine card

2009-01-03T20:49:00.013Z

The girls and I cleaned little Ratatouille out this afternoon. It's a job I don't exactly relish but he is a very clean little boy and keep his number 1's in one area and his number 2's in another and his main living area is always pretty immaculate (bless!) so he's not that difficult to clean. He does however have a space age cage and it's the dismantling it and putting it back together again week after week that kind of gets my goat! I don't think I actually have a proper pic of his cage but here is one off a shop website to give you an idea.

So in real life the blue bit is the same size as the big orange/white bit on the right hand pic. The blue bit is joined on the left of the orange bit (where the green/white thing is on the right hand pic and the green/white bit sticks out the front of where the small orange circle is. Little Ratti keeps all his toilet business in certain area of the blue bit and keeps the rest clean. He sleeps in the top blue bit in the middle. It is such a fab living quarters for him and it is great to watch him shimmy up and down the tubes (hehehe). Apparently it is a very similar design to how they live in the wild. They have different living areas joined by tunnels.

When we clean him out he goes in his little hamster exercise ball and when we are done we have a little hold and stroke session and hand feed him sunflower seeds (his absolute favourite thing in the whole world). When he's had enough he goes back in the cage and we watch him fill his pouches up with food to take up to his little food store by his bed.The girls did great impressions of him with full cheeks and I managed to catch a couple of pics!
Abbi hamsterMaddie hamsterRatti with his pouches semi-filled (and being ~~manhandled~~ stroked by Mads)A stunningly gorgeous shot of my boy!

I think we have almost come to terms with the fact that Georgie probably won't come back. I hate the not knowing what has happened. It's a bit like being in a limbo state. Charlie misses his sister not one jot! He is Lord of the Manor just now and very happy with his lot. He has been very spoiled and I got a shock when I picked him up the other day - he feels like he has doubled in weight! He has always been really skinny so we are thinking that Georgie has been pinching his food all these years! He is almost getting a little pot belly so I think we're going to have to watch him!

Anyway I digress......after cleaning out Ratti, I made a card for the Penny Black Saturday challenge (see post below) and then as I was in a crafty frame of mind I made a (gasp!) valentine card! I downloaded the new gorgeous papers from Pink Petticoat called just an old fashioned girl and they are fab. Right up my street. I printed some out late yesterday aftenoon but didn't get chance to play so today was ideal. It's a very simple card but I loiks it!
Everything is from the download except the ribbon, brad and flower which are from my stash :o)

Penny Black Saturday - embossing

2009-01-03T17:59:00.004Z

Well it has been quite a while since I have joined in with Penny Black Saturday but yippee I managed to do a card today! It was a good excuse to make a card for my brother who turns 40 next month. Let me tell you it feels really good to be organised and have a card made well in advance - very unlike me lol
Paper - Papermania new spring range
Image - Penny black stickeroo
Ribbon from stash
Core-dinations cardstock
Cuttlebug birthday embossing folder
Stickles glitter glue
American Crafts thickers
Doodlebug mini rub ons

DCM - Thank you

2009-01-02T10:00:00.002Z

Over at the DCM blog we thought it would be a great idea to do thank you cards. I decided it was time to ink up one of the new Sugar Nellie stamps I purchased at the end of 2008. It was perfect to make a thank you card for my husband who got me a baby laptop for my birthday/Christmas present :o) I absolutely love this stamp and I have lathered it in glitter too!

Stamp - Sugar Nellie
Papers - Doodlebug
Glitter glue
Watercolour paints
Bling brad - Dovecraft

2 Sketches 4 you - Laura's sketch 16

2009-01-01T16:33:00.006Z

It's been too long since I joined in a 2 sketches challenge. I think my mojo is slowly returning thank goodness and I really enjoyed making this card. I've got a terrible cough so we've just been mooching around the house and it was lovely to get some crafting done this afternoon. Maddie has spent a fair bit of time playing with the wooden train set she got from Father Christmas and Abigail has been watching cheesy movies! lol

Talking of movies, Keith and I had a quiet New Years Eve in. We got a chinese takeaway and watched Mermaids which we recorded over Christmas. It must be at least 10 years since I have watched that film and I had forgotten what a cracker it is! It also struck us how our daughters are similar in many ways to the two girls in the film. Abigail is very much a drama queen and Maddie is a little eccentric. Teenage years are sure going to be fun around those two! lol

Anyhow enough of my waffling. Happy new year to you all and here is my card...

All paper and embellishments Basic Grey - Wassail
Brads from stash
Doodlebug rub ons
Plus doodles and a splash of ink pads here and there :o)

Sale time!

2008-12-30T11:16:00.011Z

Head on over to Funky Hand where there is a sale! 10% off absolutely everything - what a bargain :o)

I hope you had a great Christmas - we did chez Joz. We spent it at my in laws house. My sister in law was also there and they bought themselves a Nintendo Wii for Christmas so we all had lots of fun playing that. I am so in love with Mario Kart and we just need a wii in this house! Alas my other half thinks they are rubbish so it won't be happening any time soon :o(

Father Christmas spoiled my girls thoroughly. I think Maddie's favourite present (apart from her doll's pram) was a shopping trolley and till. The girls spend hours playing shop. Abigail got lots of fab stuff too including some new games. Remember Kerplunk?? We spent ages playing that together last night as well as "Ssh don't wake dad" which they both seemed to love. Kerplunk was the favourite though. Maddie didn't quite seem to get the point of it and actually seemed to want to make the marbles drop! Bless her.Christmas eve and all excited leaving treats out for Father Christmas and the reindeer.

Maddie giving Sully a huge hug (Monsters Inc is her very favourite film!)Here they are in their Christmas day pretty dresses!

Boxing day we went to my parents for lunch. They had my Gran staying with them who (bless her) suddenly seems to be looking every one of her 88 years. We had a little outing to the playground near mum's after lunch for the kids to let of steam. My goodness it was cold though!

Well that's my update. It's 11.40 now and we're all still in our PJ's (shock horror!). keith went back to work today and the girls slept in (unheard of!) until 9.45. Bliss! We've had a late breakfast of a bacon sandwich and we're going into town to look for bargains. I also need to head to the Molton Brown shop because whilst at my in laws I took a shower and discovered Molton Brown warming eucalyptus bath and shower gel and now it's all I can think of! I also saw the entire collection of James Herriot books in Borders last week for £14.99 and have been kicking myself for not buying them (I loved them in my youth and would love to read them again) so I'm hoping they have some left today.

I received a package from QVC today which is a Christmas scrapbook kit (not opened it yet). Yippee! I managed to miss craft day last week (didn't have a clue it was on) until 11.45pm. Looked at the 24 hr product review and clocked the kit which sold out as a TSV earlier in the year and I missed out on it. It was free p&p too so I just had to buy it cos I want to scrap the Christmas photos for once. Now I am blaming Kath for this purchase because had I not visited her blog that night I wouldn't have known it was craft day and would never have looked so there Kath it's all your fault! lol

Hippy hoppy happy pappy Christmas!!!

2008-12-24T10:53:00.005Z

Well tis Christmas eve and excitement is in the air chez Joz...
There I was trying to take a picture of the tree with lots of pressies under it but alas that proved impossible with both of my little tykes leaping into shot every time I took a photo! lol

Popped into town yesterday as I wanted to treat myself to some new PJ's and luck would have it that M&S had 30% off their nightwear so I managed to get some nice ones for a fair bit cheaper! I was still suffering with awful tummy pains yesterday and felt very faint so it wasn't a great visit - add in the Christmas crowds and lets just say I was happy to be home again! I actually feel much better today all pains seem to have gone and a bonus is that I have lost 8lb in 2 days. Unfortunately Maddie is now poorly. She hasn't got runny tummy thank goodness but she is absolutely full of cold. Bless her cotton socks her eyes are all watery and were stuck together with green gunk this morning and she has a really hacking cough :o( Abigail has a cold too but thankfully doesn't seem to be suffering as badly as Mads. Just have to keep dosing her up with meds I guess.

I bought Scrapbook magazine and was chuffed to see one of my layouts in the readers gallery :o)
This might be my last post until after the big day (unless I actually manage to fit in some card making today - still haven't made a card for Keith, my mum & dad or Keith's mum and dad!) and i can't believe how badly organised I am this year! Ah well - I'm looking forward to the mulled wine tonight :o)

Happy Christmas to you all and I hope you have a wonderful time with your loved ones and that Father Christmas is very kind to you!

Pear shaped!

2008-12-22T22:06:00.002Z

Yep that's how today went. Woke up with very nasty stomach ache this morning and lets just say me and the toilet are very well acquainted now. So coffee got cancelled as did the ironing and any possible crafting.

Ah well there's always tomorrow! Fingers crossed that the girls don't catch my nasty bug or Christmas will be a washout...

Gingerbread!

2008-12-22T00:37:00.006Z

Well Christmas is fast approaching and my girls are whipping themselves up into a frenzy of excitement! Yesterday we had a little fun assembling a gingerbread house that my mum bought for them. Everything was already made, all I had to do was whip up some icing to use to stick it all together!

They love love loved making this and much time was spent dipping sticky fingers in the icing and pinching smarties :o)

Today my big brother and his wife came a visiting which was lovely especially because it meant I got to have some snuggly cuddles with my 4 month old nephew Benji. Oh my how the girls loved mothering him!

Tomorrow I'm meeting a friend for coffee and gossip (you can never ever have too much coffee or gossip in my opinion!) and in the afternoon I'll be busy with the ironing and may just fit in a teeny weeny bit of craftage I hope. I also want to get lovely fresh crisp bed linen ready to go on the beds on Christmas eve. You can't beat getting in to a lovely clean bed - one of the best feelings in the world if you ask me!

I can hardly believe it but all the presents are wrapped! Last night Keith and I sat on the living room floor and wrapped as though our lives depended on it. It will be the first year in a long time that I'm not wrapping presents on Christmas eve. I shall be supping mulled wine instead and delicately quoffing chocolates I hope whilst snuggled on the sofa with Keith and Charlie puss (still no Georgie).

DCM - traditional silver and gold

2008-12-19T10:00:00.000Z

Well it's the last dare before Christmas! Wowsers hasn't it come round fast? This week it's another team dare and it is traditional silver and gold. I went for the double dare which is to use both colours on a non Christmas card :o)

I made this card yesterday and to say I'm only a few days post op with my hand it was surprisingly easy. I guess that's because it is my left hand this time and as I'm right handed I do most of my crafty gubbins with my right hand.

Stamp - Sugar Nellie - Choose (Leanne Ellis design) coloured with watercolour paints
Paper - Basic Grey
Adhesive ribbon - freebie with Papercraft Inspirations
Sentiment - Studio g
Butterfly & pink pearls - from a Lets Make Cards kit (I have some cards in this issue and these were left over from the kit that they sent me)
Glitter glue - Stickles - frosted lace

No I'm not dead......

2008-12-18T10:00:00.015Z

Been a bit quiet on the blogging front of late. Life gets in the way sometimes doesn't it?

Anyhow between my last post and now I turned 36 (on Sunday)! Yikes - don't the years just whizz by? We had a really lovely family day it was fab. We went to Manchester to the Lowry and mooched around the gallery. We also saw Madagascar 2 which was great but I still prefer the first one :o) On the way home we went to the pizza hut for tea so I was quite spoilt eh? My hubby got me one of these for my birthday/Christmas pressie.

How lucky am I? Sadly the bloody thing won't connect to the wireless internet so I'm waiting in today for the replacement which will hopefully work!

Tuesday saw me having my left hand carpal tunnel release surgery so I have a big boxing glove bandage on my left hand now. It's going to make wrapping the Christmas presents interesting! lol I was meant to have everything wrapped by Monday night but all the presents still haven't arrived, in fact I ordered some last minute ones last night. I hope it all comes before Christmas or I'll be in big bother!

Anyhow, I wanted to show you the beautiful handmade cards I got on my birthday. I'm not ashamed to tell you I shed a tear or 2 opening these....

Thanks ladies - you made my birthday very special indeed :o)

Mr blogger is playing silly beggars and I can't get the names in the right place or get rid of the spaces between cards! Grrr Top to bottom the cards are from Allison, Carol, Kath, Ruth, Chris, Lythan.

Christmas cake

2008-12-13T17:35:00.004Z

I've never made a Christmas cake. I don't know why really because I love baking. Anyhow my mum made a Christmas cake for us at the same time as making her own (thanks mum!) so I've just very quickly decorated it. I was just going to put stars on it but got carried away and ended up with a little icy pond and snowman too.

DCM - 10 minute Christmas

2008-12-12T10:00:00.000Z

The chellenge this week is to make a quick Christmas card. As I am mojoless at the moment this was perfect for me and I was able to whip up this wuickie in no time at all!

Cuttlebug embossing folder and snowflake die
Ribbon and brad from stash
Paper - Imaginisce Snowy Jo
Sentiment - Sugar Nellie

Time for a TOOT TOOT!!!

2008-12-12T09:22:00.003Z

I meant to post this toot yesterday but with the way the day ended up I forgot!

My fabbety fab mate Kath has only gone and won Simply Cards and Papercraft cardmaker of the year!!! She has won over £2000 of crafty stuff and a place on the design team too :o)

TOOT TOOT KATH!!!

I am so thrilled for Kath and it is so well deserved because she truly is fab. I've never seen a card of hers that I haven't adored. She is extraordinarily talented. Sooo make sure you buy the mag so you can have a butchers. I curled up in bed last night with my copy :o) If you haven't already checked out her blog do so now you won't regret it! You'll find it here.

Teeny weeny bit of crafting...

2008-12-11T21:12:00.001Z

Well what a day I've had today! Went to the docs for my asthma check this morning. The sole purpose of this outing was that they won't prescribe new inhalers unless you go for a check and I've been using an out of date almost empty one for too long. I took little Maddie with me and happened to mention I'd had a letter to say she was due her pre school booster injections and I thought it seemed early (Abigail was almost 5 when she had hers). I'm told they've brought it forward for a host of reasons but the main one is that immunity to the hib component wears off early. So says the nurse - shall I do them while you're here?

Eek! Cue lots of tears and crying. Bless Maddie - she wasn't too bad for the first one but knew what was coming for the second. I hate seeing my baby cry :o(

Here is a happier picture of her in party clobber for the playgroup Christmas party, complete with shoes on wrong feet!

After docs we mooched around town for a bit and picked up a couple of Christmas pressies (still have far too much left to buy though!), then it was home to clean the bathroom - joy! After school Abigail had a friend round for tea and I went to the dentist. Have I ever told you how fearful I am of the dentist? No? Well lets just say I am a big baby and get very scared. Now I knew I had an abscess as it has been playing up big time for the 3 years I have been without a dentist (thank goodness I have an NHS one now!), anyhow, she had the x-rays from last time and it turns out I have 2 abscesses! Side by side. No wonder I've had all the pain and swelling then.....

Nice dentist lady asked me what I want to do....Hah! I don't want to tell her what to do I just want her to sort it out for me. Anyhow I said lets take one tooth out and save the other. Soooo she started root canal work on tooth to be saved. In the nick of time it seems as when she opened up the tooth it was full of pus (gag). Temporary filling is now in and back next week for a 45 min appointment for proper filling. I also need a separate one for the extraction. Anyhow I am having all this work done for the grand total of 44 quids! Bearing in mind my private dentist wanted me to pay him almost £2000 to do root canal work and a couple of crowns I am skipping with joy!

Seem to be waffling a little I'm sorry! Hehe

Anyhow I thought I would post some Christmas cards that I made this week for my Funky Hand DT mates. They all feature Jozza the sheep drawn by moi hehe and a computer generated Baa humbug. Papers are all Imaginisce Snowy Jo and there are some Poppicrafts flowers, glitter die cuts that were free with a magazine and Craftwork Cards circle sentiments. I'm hoping the cards will get to their destinations by tomorrow so thought I'd post them on here now just to show something after my very dry spell.

Still no news

2008-12-06T17:09:00.006Z

And still no mojo.

Have put the Christmas tree up this afternoon. The girls absolutely loved the whole process. I always put a Christmas CD on and we all sing away as we decorate the tree together. My mum is such a perfectionist (I am too actually!) that she would never let me or my brothers help decorate the tree when we were little but we all do it together in this house even though I do end up doing a tiny bit of rearranging when the kids aren't looking. The tree now looks fab all festooned in red and gold :o)

Popped to The Range earlier as my parents came over. I can hardly believe I am going to say this but I didn't buy ay craft stash! Shock horror!!! I did buy some antlers and a flashing red nose for the girls though. I like to put a pic of them in with the Christmas cards to immediate family. The light isn't great though so had to use the flash and also the Christmas tree lights aren't on yet (there are so many things plugged in in our house that I have no idea which plug belongs to what so Keith can do that tonight when he gets in :o)

Here are a couple of my faves

It would appear that both girls have inherited the "mad" gene.

I really hope to be back soon with some craft. I have made a start on some Christmas cards for my fellow Funky Hand DT mates but it kind of came to a standstill. They are all going to be the same design and I need to get my finger out. I've just had a look at the new Penny Black Saturday challenge and it's a sketch this week so I want to have a go at that and see if I can lure my mojo back to the fold. Perhaps I should leave some wine out for it?

I'd like to say thanks for the lovely comments left on here and apologise for my lack of blog commenting. I've really let it go these last few weeks what with my missing cat and missing mojo but I'll get back to it!

Thank you

2008-12-03T18:08:00.012Z

Just a quick post to say thank you for leaving kind messages for me. Georgie is still not home - it's like she's vanished into thin air.

I feel very low. My husband is working away for a couple of nights this week so it's just me and the girls at home. It was celebration afternoon at Abbi's school this afternoon where parents get to see all the work that they have been doing. Abbi loved showing me everything and it was great to see it. I can't believe my baby is 7 already and so grown up! When we came home we made a couple of decorations for the Christmas tree which will be going up at the weekend. That is as crafty as it's got. Mojo is still missing in action!

Here are a few photos....the first is the tree ornaments - the idea came from a youtube video here. There is also a pic of a card I made for Allison from the Funky Hand DT. Other photos are from Sunday when we fed the ducks at the local lake and Monday morning when we had snow (albeit briefly).

And still nothing......

2008-11-30T15:56:00.001Z

No sign of Georgie. Nothing......

We've just had a walk around the neighbourhood and Keith (my hub) got me thinking. There was an old man who lived round 2 corners from us (in fact it was his shed that Charlie got locked in years ago) and Keith thinks this man may now have died as last week he saw some people clearing the house out. Now obviously we've had Georgie at home after he saw the people but what if they came back this week and she happened to sneak in the house when they weren't looking? I know I'm clutching at straws here but as there has literally been no sign of her at all it does make me wonder. We've had absolutely no feedback from the posters :o(
When we got to the house. Keith actually whistled through the letterbox but heard nothing. The blinds are all shut at the windows so you can't actually see in.

Where is she???????

SIgh......

2008-11-28T12:46:00.004Z

I'm feeling pants! Pants pants pants!!!!

Still no sign of Georgie! I have been around the neighbourhood sticking posters to lamposts and also got the local newsagent to stick one in their window. Am psyching myself up to ring the RSPCA to find out if she's been injured and taken in there....

Poor Georgie. I really hope she is ok. Her brother couldn't give 2 hoots that she is missing. In fact he has eaten her tea for the last 2 nights running :o( They are chalk and cheese even though they are brother and sister and we got them at the same time. We got them from the cats protextion league when they were about 4 months old. They were rescued from a house which was filled to the brim with dogs and cats who were walking around knee deep in faeces and urine. Georgie (being mainly white) had yellowy brown paws for weeks after we brought her home bless her. They both settled in with us nicely, but when Abbi was born 7 yrs ago they both semi moved out during the day. Charlie came round but Georgie remained very nervous and has progressed to an almost outdoor cat who comes for food and warmth of a night as opposed to Charlie who would stay permanently indoors on a warm lap if possible! I'm feeling so guilty right now as she so obviously was never the right temperement to be around children and so should we have maybe tried to rehome her with an older family? She's a different cat on a night when the kids are in bed. She's such a softie an loves having her fluffy white tummy rubbed. I just want her to come home safe and sound I guess :o(

DCM - we're dreaming of a white Christmas...and...

2008-11-28T10:00:00.003Z

This week the fabby Jane sets the dare!

"All too quickly, and its Friday once again....and this week...we are dreaming of a WHITE (and splash of pink Christmas!) I would love you to design a card which includes white mostly (ie: snow, snowmen etc ) and also a little splash of pink somewhere on the card. :)"

Here is my effort which you wouldn't believe how long it took to make because my mojo is still nowhere to be seen - and now one of my pussy cats is missing :o( Need to get some posters put up of her today and go looking for her again. Really hope she's ok - this is not like her.

Cuttlebug embossing set - just my type
Cuttlebug die - 3x3 combo treetops
Papers - Funky Hand - Funky Little Christmas
Joy letters - American Crafts thickers (from QVC and they took 8 yes 8 days to arrive from being dispatched!!! How can it take so long?????)
Felt flower from my box of stash and metal snowflake that I had forgotten I even had!

Birthday cards

2008-11-27T08:58:00.010Z

There have been some Funky Hand birthdays the last few days, in fact it is Allison's today!!

Happy birthday Allison!!!

Soooo I can now post up some pics of the cards I made for Enfys and Anice. I can't put Allison's up yet as I'm not sure she has it yet and to be honest it was made the other night and we all know my mojo has gone missing so the card is not one of my finest :o( Still no sign of Mr mojo - I think he's moved in with one of his other women! The man tart!

This is the card I made for Enfys which turned out to be quite appropriate as she has had some pigs on the loose in her neighbourhood in the US!
Stamp - Sugar Nellie (watercoloured)
Paper - Basic Grey
Ribbon from stash
Sentiment - handwritten (and can't you tell! lol)

This is Anice's card. I went bright and colourful with this one. It was special birthday as Anice turned 40!
Stamp - Sugar Nellie (watercoloured)
Glitter card - Doodlebug
Patterned paper (can't remember - will check later)
Sentiment stamp - Penny Black
Flowers - Doodlebug, Prima and Poppicrafts
Button, ribbon & brads - stash
Glitterglue
Doodling
Doodlebug rub ons

Funky Daze

2008-11-25T07:55:00.013Z

Hmmm still no sign of mojo. He really has gone on a bender this time!

Now then, today is Anice from Funky Hand's birthday! Happy Birthday Anice!!!!

To celebrate she has released her new CD "Funky Daze" and it's a belter! Not only is it chock full of fab papers, she also had the amazing brainwave to do word books. These are word books with a difference though as you are not tied to set words - you can make any you like as the whole alphabet is in there! It can be in either boy or girl colours too. I made one a while ago of my nephew Ben which you can see further down this post :o)

Below is a selection of cards (plus a scrapbook page of one of my cats) that I've made over the last few months. All papers are from the Funky Daze CD (including the scrapbook page) and the various embellies are from my stash :o)

Oh no!!

2008-11-24T12:43:00.003Z

Oh no - oh no Jo - no mojo Jo!

Yep indeedy do! My mojo has indeed upped and left and it feels like it may be poimernant (said just like Rocky's trainer, Mick - how I loved the Rocky films back in the day!)

That's all I've got to say really. No mojo - no cards! Why the picture of beaker? 'Cos I can do a mean beaker face that's why (as can my hubby - perhaps that is what brought us together?).

I tell you what though......I am REELING from the shock allegations in the news re the delicious Gordon Ramsay!!! As someone commented on one of the news websites (I forget which one) "it feels like finding out that Santa isn't real". Shucks I had him down as such a family man. I really hope it ain't true wot them pesky papers are saying :o(

It's been a rubbish weekend - have had a nasty pasty cold with a streaming nose. I now look like rudolph! The highlight of the entire weekend was making an air raid shelter model with Abbi complete with ickle tiny beds and an ickle table and chairs with the teeniest tiny plate with teeny tiny card bread on it. They are doing world war 2 at school. Seems a little young to be learning about it if you ask me - she's only 7. They are obviously learning a very watered down version which makes me think - what's the point?? Why not wait til the kids are old enough to understand and digest the information? But hey ho - that's just me. Anyhow Abs is thrilled with her little air raid shelter and can't wait to take it in for "show and tell" but she wants to add some painty bits first!

That's all the news and gossip from chez Joz. I'd appreciate it if anyone comes across my mojo could they try and capture it? If not just drop me a line and tell me where you saw it....it can be a bit saucy my mojo - last time it escaped it went to a seedy strip joint! Tsk!

DCM challenge - cafe chic!

2008-11-21T14:00:00.004Z

This week it is Vanessa's turn to set the challenge and she says

"Yes, I'm a bit of a cappuccino/latte macchiato girl, so I want to see lots of cards inspired by coffee!! Coffee colours, cup shaped cards, card inspired by a coffee jar label, using coffee beans on your card, coffee shop logos on your cards etc etc....."

Here is my card - I've gone for coffee colours and my card uses one of 4 stamps I was sent by the fabbylicious Sugar Nellie for using their stamps in my magazine article!!! How lucky am I? I almost wept with joy! I absolutely adore this lion! He is so cute and makes a perfect man card which I am always short of. This one is going to be for my father in law whose birthday is next friday. Ooh and I thought I should add in that my wire swirl is a direct rip off from Anice of Funky Hand fame (she has a way with wire!).

Stamp - Sugar Nellie - Rory (coloured with watercolour paints)
Papers - Funky Hand - Now That's Funky CD
Flower - Poppicrafts
Button, ribbon & wire - from stash
Rub ons - Doodlebug

Penny Black Saturday - Monochromatic

2008-11-16T12:18:00.005Z

With going back to work this week I don't seem to have had much time for crafting and yesterday was a really busy day too. I have managed the PBSC this week though :o)

Monochromatic

This one should be easy, can chose Black & White, or you can go with different shades of one colour

I had to have a go at this one because monochromatic is such a favourite of mine. I adore the simplicity of plain old black and white together (often with a tiny hint of another colour thrown in). I knew immediately what I wanted to make and which stamp I wanted to use. I played with my watercolour paints again and loved working with black through to pale grey. The pink I have used has been mixed in with grey to give a lovely shade of pinky/grey :o) I had great fun!

Image - Penny Black
Papers - Doodlebug
Flower - Prima
Sentiment - Studio g
Border punch - Martha Stewart (double scallop)

Toot

2008-11-14T13:40:00.002Z

It's a very exciting day in Jozza land today as I have 2 pages in Crafts Beautiful magazine. One of my cards even made the front cover. It's been a dream of mine to have an article in a magazine and I feel so lucky to have had it come true. So.....hurrah! lol