All is calm

Yesterday my parents left. Today my mother in law and Auntie Jones and their 5 dogs between them should have arrived but they are delayed until tomorrow. Which actually means we are ready for them. But have had some quiet just the family time too. (tonight we laughed together at the Not the Nine O Clock News retrospective. I used to watch it on a black and white tv on my own rather in colour with my parents so I could laugh at the rude bits. I'm glad we are able to laugh at the rude bits together. Though I refused to explain to Carys what was so funny about the last song they sang...)

And Christmas went pretty well. I think the moment at 12:30 in the morning as we returned from church when my mum suddenly remembered she was responsible for the turkey and we went to fetch the meat tray from the bottom of the oven where all good vegetarians keep them all year round and could not find it (but it stays there. SO who has pinched it?!!!) so Phil had to go to church and borrow a meat tray from there at very late o'clock - will remain in the memory.
The slinkies were very popular stocking fillers. Not to slink down the stairs but to work as executive toys. Everyone liked their pressies. I was thrilled with my corner rounder (what the one you picked out yourself? Yes but I didn't wrap it) I didn't melt down (well except for a massive head ache Boxing Day which sent me to bed after making lunch and before eating it). All good.

And the services were wonderful (though I say so myself!) Pyjama service there were 15-20 kids and their families - most of whom don't come to church so it is building up to be an unexpected outreach worship. Midnight was full of expectant awe and wonder (except when two of the advent candles wouldn't light. Pah! At least the Christ candle did as it failing to light kind of blows part of the point of the service that the Light of the World has come) And Christmas Day was full of love and joy and laughter and celebration - even though the heating had failed to come on. I allowed myself to keep my coat on. That lasted halfway through the service. I think the fingerless gloves stayed the whole way through. Can't do that any other worship!!! It is lovely having these three services so close together, each with a different dimension of celebrating God with us. And then of course it was Sunday again all too soon! (How can I say that? I meant hurray - more worship time together! With heating!)

Today I had to pack up the craft room and turn it into a guest bedroom/quiet sitting room. Something will have to be done as there are more and more boxes and less space. Will I manage to use more and buy less in 2010? But before that I made some cards. I have one for the next Get Funky! Challenge (my first to set) which you can see on Saturday. But here are a few cards that I made to give the in laws as part of their Christmas presents. It is the time of year when I am short of cards so had to make more!
This uses Basic Grey Lemonade and my new corner chomper. That will feature A LOT. Sentiment is by Imagine That
Ditto for the papers. Auntie Sarah bloomer. Pom pom ribbon from somewhere (sorry!) and hand written sentiment
There is a bargain basement sale at Artbase at the mo so I popped in yesterday and scored 2 sheets of double sided Penny Lane patterned paper and some die cuts too all for £1. I've made 4 cards so far and there are still loads of bits left
2 something like this
and 2 something like that
the latter being developed from a sketch on Emma's Paperie
I was feeling like all my cards are samey so I went and had a look at this site and the sketches and what they produce are wonderful. You'll love it!
(Unless you are one of my non crafting friends then you will probably just shrug your shoulders and say "I couldn't care-a-less Lythan" which is also fine by me. Don't look at it then)

I also made two "simples" cards like this
using BG Boxer and a new sentiment stamp.

the final one for today is a secret
1: because it is for a friend whose birthday is in January
2: because it should have been part of the Christmas present and I couldn't give it up!
I treated myself to a Crafty Templates December card kit (now sold out) and it is just beautiful. Silver card blank; matt silver sequins, so much lushness. The hand made papers make wonderful rolled flowers. I punched the leaves out of the blue card in the kit and embossed them with silver, deliberately leaving some of the blue show through. That Hambly paper shimmers - it is beautiful though I do say so myself. (And there is a new kit up on the site - red and kraft so I will link you to that instead as they are fab value)

Now I really must go to bed. Tomorrow will be full of woofs and paws and happy new years!

Its nearly time...

I entered the Elzybells blog giveaway (didn't win for 25 days. Sob!) and we were asked what our fave thing about Christmas was. When the draws started I realised I had written a LOT more than most people. But it is so true

My favourite thing about Christmas is the worship i get to be part of - the pyjama service for kids on Christmas Eve (pj's and a soft toy to snuggle are mandatory); the midnight service - so full of wonder and expectation and then Christmas morning when we are all so happy (and tired!)

I've got the traditional making of the cashew nut and parsnip layer first - which is preceded by the traditional hunt for the recipe (its on a photocopied page). Delish but oh so fiddly. And a last minute present to buy as I have been let down by the BBC. And the snow. But then the shops will shut and it will be too late to do anything but anticipate and enjoy. By some Christmas miracle my voice is now fine. the ominous throat disappeared completely which was wonderful. And I am actually all ready service wise (not always a good thing mind as I get over confident then!). SO I had time to do the Salt challenge for today which I really didn't think would be feasible. Ruth came up with a lovely idea for this - Jesus Joy

I decided to use one of the spare pictures I had printed up and the left over items from the churhc Advent journal class which we did over 5 weeks. The last week's theme was Preparation which was about really looking forward to greeting Jesus and thinking about what his birth means for us today. The title had to be Joy to the World as it is my favourite carol. its the first one we sing every year on Christmas Day (ah the perks of being the Minister!)
I wanted to keep the layout minimal NOT as Phil sid, because I couldn't think of what to fill the page up with. The stripy paper and die cuts are from Kand Co Hannah. Really lovely double sided papers in that pad. the heart shape is a sizzix die cut from Cosmo Cricket early bird papers. The flourish is a Maya Road chipboard one covered in Dabber gold paint which I used round the edge of everything else. FOr some reason I knew I wanted a kraft circle journalling spot which is also an echo of a halo. The button is Bazzill and is tied with the gold string from a Tesco angel ornament that I used on some Christmas cards. The gold ribbon is a tiny scrap from Ikea. Oh and the letters are Adornit.

Here's a close up of the journalling

And now some pictures of my finished Advent journal. I did manage to muck up the holes for the wire. AGAIN. I panic and then don't think proerly. But so far it all stays together. I have made the photos small so this post isn't huge but you should be able to enlarge them by clicking on them. There is a lot of writing and not all will be in focus so it is not your eyes!


Happy Christmas!

I'm saying nothing

One of the worst things that can happen to a Minister is to lose their voice. The congregation may not think so but...
Mine's not gone. Yet. But I have an ominously sore throat. Its the bit at the bottom which is a bit of a weak spot. And tonight is the choir concert where I have to sing solos and the other sopranos tend to take their cue from me. Which would be ok - I could wreck my voice tonight if I didn't have three services to do on Sunday. And just one or two midweek! I guess even then we can work it through but it is so frustrating to feel ok apart from no voice and seeing other people doing what you should be doing. So if you are the kind, pray for me.

All right I will stop being Mrs Moaning Hypochondriac now!
Carys' was in the Wizard of Oz at school on Wednesday playing the leader of the flying monkeys (dressed as Goths). The play was fabulous. The acting excellent especially the scarecrow who kept throwing himself over on the stage in a remarkable way. And the wicked witch (played by a boy) who melted by going down on the platform lift at the side of the stage.
Here is Carys being menacing on the stage...
and her publicity shot afterwards (actually just Phil playing about with photoshop)
She was v. good too.

In other news - we went for our annual shopping trip together (seriously, once or twice a year do we shop as a family. Clothes buying is an alien concept to the boys!). We went to get our Christmas Decorations - only with a full week to Christmas the shops have hardly any left (Tesco had got rid of theirs last Tuesday) and then Secret Santa in Poundland. We each have to buy a "lovely" present for one family member for a pound. And I made everyone buy a new 'Christmas costume' as I wasn't sure what size the boys were any more. it was more fun than we had expected which is a relief!

Which is why my Friday blog post is late. If it isn't updated any other day of the week the blog always is on Friday due to the Daring Cardmakers. This is the last Dare before the New Year and we say goodbye to my Funky Hand pal Dolly who is one of the most brilliant card makers I know. Sue chose a dare -

New Beginnings

As we are coming to the end of the year and fast approaching the start of not only a new year but a new decade, I’d like to see some cards celebrating something new.

It could be the New Year, a New Home, a New Addition to the family or even a New Day

which fitted well as I had a new home card to make. So, it seems did other DCM's! Still they are all very different.
Mine is made by cutting a card base from Kraft cardstock with the largest Nestie 8 and embossed the bottom halfwith Swiss Dots. I paper pieced a little house with Cosmo Cricket Nutmeg papers. Afterwards I wished I hd put a little grass in behind. I added some ribbon and teeny alpha stickers - not MM but I can't remember who. And that is it.
Phew - just as well I don't speak my blog posts as it ended up quite long!

So here they are - merry Christmas

Actually that is something that one of my cards rarely says - Merry Christmas. I am Happy with Happy but Merry for some reason, doesn't sound right to me. It is in the list of phrases that make me grit my teeth

• Merry Christmas
• and all the trimmings
• and without further ado
• what's the drill? (that's a family one)

I digress, for a change..
Anyway I have now made about 65 cards like this. Enough for me! And most of them are posted - a whole 4 days before the end of second class posting! Not the ones for abroad mind, they go last in our house! I try and come up with a fairly simple design every year but it turned out to have quite a few steps

1. print sentiment
2. round corners
3. choose 3 co-ordinating papers
4. cut star and trim to cut off one point.
5. trim second patterned paper and round corners
6. punch border on strip of third paper
7. ink edges of paper
8. add outlines with sparkly black pen
   
9. add sharpie pen outline to star and do glue pen and glitter routine.
   
10. put foam pads on the back of the star
11. stick everything down

I could never, ever, ever do wedding stationary. The thought of doing all that but to look identical each time would send me bonkers! (ok more bonkers)

Must get on with wrting nativity reflections - for a carol service this afternoon. I'm doing Mary remembers and we are only up to Joseph agreeing to marry her so far...

Its unbeleivably spotty

I think I have linked to this song before but you can never have enough Spotty Muldoon in your life.
And today I have a great excuse...
it's polka dot week at Daring Cardmakers.
Vanessa came up with this fabulous dare

Onto to this week's dare, set by me (Vanessa) and I thought we'd have a little break from all things Christmassy. So, for one week only over this festive period, we're having a no-Christmas and no-Winter zone! Its polka-dot week! Lets bring some warmth to our cards with polka dots, but I don't mean spots or dots in a variety of sizes, it has to be specifically polka-dots (i.e. a pattern of dots of equal size, equally spaced). However, you can have whatever colour(s) you choose as long as your card doesn't look cold and wintry!!

I luuuuuuurve spots. Spots and stripes together is even better. (a love I share with Emma at Imagine That). As it happens I had a brand new set of Papertrey Stamps crying out to be used - Polka Dot basics. The card didn't quite turn out as planned but I think I managed to save it!
I used kraft cardstock and rounded the corners then added polka dots to the bottom. The good thing about these stamps is that they are in a double row and come with an extra one dot to fill in the gaps. I embossed with white embossing powder. Then decided to use some distress ink on the bottom area. To be honest I wish I hadn't! Still it looks a bit better now with faux stitching and the dots outlined in black pen. I added some strips of Cosmo Cricket early bird papers. The butterfly is a Cuttlebug die. The dots on there were intially cream so I used a white pen over them then added white gliter with a glue pen. Still didn't look right until I added the Nestie frames. Do you like the bow? I think I have finally cracked it. A properly tied bow. At 44 I have finally got the knack (I've been a two loop girl. Blush. I think because being left handed I have to put it round the wrong way.) Now if I could only bring the bows to the front and the ties to the back...

I decided when I made the layout for Salt that I needed to use up the papers by making the card. Obviously Daring Cardmakers was also on my mind as I ended up with quite a few dots on this one too...
The bird is the other way round as the paper is double sided! She is swiss dot embossed and inked. Lots of foam pads were used to create layers.

And I have realised I may need more Christmas cards so experimented with a frosted acetate one
I can't get it to stay close enough together to really see the back. I think frosted cards probably only want to have detail on the front not the back. The snowflake is a window sticker from a set of 12 from Poundland with some Glamour Dust on the top. I wrote peace with a white sharpie and then did the old glue and glitter routine!

I have Sunday's service to prepare. And need to make sure things are in place for the 2 carol services for the 20th. And really need to do a lot for the service on 3rd January. It is that sort of time of year when I need to juggle lots of things in my head and hope I manage them all. We had the penultimate Advent journal last night at church and actually having that time to reflect and "journal my advent" (only once a week, maybe I'll do it properly next year as a more faith filled Shimelle type thing. Or maybe not!) ha really helped me to prepare my heart for Christmas. I'll share the finished project next week.

God is with us

that is certainly how I felt on Saturday!
I went with a group from my churches to a United Reformed Church event in Birmingham which was to celebrate being Multicultural. We went in a minibus. Did you know that there is no parking in central Brum for minibuses? Phil (my hero and our intrepid driver) eventually parked it on a street right the other side of the inner ring road. By that time he had thanked me for having the foresight to print off a map of central Birmingham as the minibus obviously didn't have any juice flowing to the cigarette lighter as the Satnav died just on hitting the centre. Hmmmm. More on this in a minute

We were there not just because it is good to celebrate being multicultural but because my small church had won a special award for telling our story in an interesting way. You can see how I used my scrapping skills to finish the project off here (scroll down to 22 April) And our prize was a rather fancy pulpit fall that also has "We are a multicultural church" on the bottom pf it. We don't actually have a pulpit and we'll have to adapt our lecturn (the thing you stand behind to give a lecture or read from the Bible) but we will display it as we are mighty proud of it. Here I am with Esther who had only arrived back in the country from Africa the day before and our Moderator of General Assembly (not a very interesting name for an important short term job in our church) John Marsh who I first met when I was doing youth work for the URC on the Ginger Group 22 years ago

Then all we needed to do was leave Birmingham. Phil reckoned that the van was too far away for us all to walk there. He was right. So the two of us went to get the van while the others waited ready for a phone call to say we were outside. There is a lovely German market through the centre of Brum at the moment. It was heaving. People were allowed alcohol. It was raining. It was dark. It took us 30 mins to get to the van. And remember that inner ring road. We had to find our way round it to pick the others up. Birmingham centre also doesn't have roundabouts. It has circuses which are roundabouts with big buildings on them so you can't see your exits. Let me say that I know God was with us as we would never have found our way to the church to find the others any other way. He was certainly with Phil who ignored my suggestion, on seeing the motorway signs that we could just go without them. I was kidding. Almost.

And God with us is the Salt theme today. Pauline has written a wonderful reflection on it here.
I wanted to emphasize the fact that God coming as one of us meant entering into the whole human thing. It was also a great excuse to scrap this photo of my sister in law holding her grandson for the first time (eek how can my sister in law be a granny. We are not that old!)
The papers are all K and Co from the Urban Rhapsody scrap pad and I used an old Pencil Lines sketch to kick start the process. I liked the bird (would have been better facing the other way round) and the fact it said "blessed" on it so I highlighted it with glossy accents, a grungeboard star and a stick on pearl the two bits of grungeboard were inked with brown and yellow distress inks and then spritzed with pearl glimmer mist. the title is all Doodlebug letters

that's it for now must go and focus on how God will be with us again - Advent scrapbook journal tonight is on the Second Coming. Not something URC folk think about that much really. Maybe we should...

If you want it smaller then don't ask for small

that is the lesson I learned yesterday.
I missed tea at the normal time (not good practice I know) and at 9:50, heading home from something decided I needed carbs. Chips to be precise. But I can't eat much at one go. I'd phoned to check if Phil needed anything (he'd just eaten some chips!) and told him my quandary. "Just ask for half a portion" he suggested. I thought I would feel a ninny doing this so decided just to ask for a small chips and curry sauce. So I did. On the wall it said "chips and curry sauce£1.99" so I was surprised to be charged £2.20. I enquired about this
(you may be thinking it was only 21p but in my defence I am a.
a miser
b. very grumpy when I am hungry.
c. not kidding about the grumpiness. Ask Phil)
Apparently chips and curry sauce is in a tray - hence the 21p reduction in price which I surmise is because there are less chips so if I had asked for chips and curry sauce and not small chips and curry sauce I would have got a smaller portion.
They were very delicious.
I couldn't eat them all.
It was worth the 21p just for the way it has made me smile since I worked it all out.

In other news...
I really, really shouldn't be here as I am going to Birmingham all day tomorrow for a URC multicultural celebration. My church has won a prize for telling its story (about how we are v. small and learning to be multicultural and being a version of Jesus story about the mustard seed which you can find here) so I will have to look reasonably smart as well. Problem is I will have to leave home about 6:45 in the morning which is not my best time of day... And I have two services on Sunday (guess I won't be enjoying the Eastenders omnibus Sunday afternoon then)
so here is a quick recap of some of the crafting highlights of my week
1: Last week's Daring card"

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas"

I want to see Christmas cards that are mainly white with just a hint of colouring on your embellishments or stamped image.

Drew a triangle on white cardstock. Cut it in three and embossed with different folders. Simples. The sentiment is from a big Papermania Bauble Decoration stamp
Lots of glamour dust and a little olive ink round the edge

2: This weeks Daring card. My word the others have done some amazing work this week.

Say it in "Sepia"
I've been sorting through some "Old" family photographs with the intention of Scrapbooking them and I just love the Sepia ones. So I thought it would be nice to see a "Thank You" card made using "sepia" tones. So that's just brown/white or brown/cream depending on your card base colour. .

Mine is again on the "simples" side. But I do have to make four of these by Sunday. This is it so far...Papertrey kraft cardstock cut to an American card size. Swirl embossing folder. Hero Arts clings stamp (which I can ink much better putting the card on the stamp and rubbing. Wierd.) Prisma colour penicls and ribbon & button from stash

3: I have a Layout featured on Docrafts using the new Doodlebug Christmas papers. oooh it is bright - but fun I think!
A WRMK Corner Chomper is an expensive bit of kit but as ever, I am yet again falling for the false premise that if I use the same tools as Kristina Werner I will make cards like Kristina Werner:) Also I am that lazy that the thought of only having to round two corners at a time not four sounds brilliant.

I'll see you sometime on the other side of the weekend!

Oooh again so soon?

How often do I post two days in a row? Not often. And this is just a quick one as I have ooooooooodles of work to do. Can't make any more cards until my white cardstock order arrives. But all I need to do is a print through of the message and everything else is ready to stick on. I have impressed myself. Sadly behind on every other aspect of Christmas.

But I have made a decoration. This probably ranks as the simplest decoration I could have possibly made for the latest Get Funky dare and I have another one planned. But it might have to just stay in my head for a wee while longer! Kath came up with a fab challenge

Deck the Halls! What I would like you to do this month is to create a Christmas decoration to decorate your wall...mantlepiece Christmas table or to hang on your tree.....a Christmas Gift or perhaps a box or gift wrapping

I was wondering what to do and then had yer actual brainwave. Why not print some Funky Hand paper onto acetate and start from there? SO that is what I did.
I chose a design from Funky Seasons that had a lot of white on the background so most of it came out clear. I used my Sizzix star (which has been worth its weight in gold this year) to die cut the shape. Then I inked the edges in blue, added glamour dust to the star and studded them with stick on gems. I may have added the button because I made a mess of the hole but it looks quite nice! Simples!

(Apparently the photo has nice bokey - no idea of how to spell that - I am just pleased that the out of focus means you can't see how truly messy our garden is...)

Anyway - now the challenge is yours! As usual you have a whole month to complete the challenge and all you have to do to enter is use at least one Funky Hand product and leave a link here to your creation so we can come and visit you and you could be the winner of a £20 Funky Hand voucher to spend on Funky Hand products....a great start to the new crafting year.
So what are you waiting for?!!!!

OK its Advent, you can officially start talking about

Christmas now!

And I have even started making my Christmas cards. That was helped by me making a card for a Daring Cardmakers Dare last year and saying "hmmm, that'll mass produce" and with a few tweaks it is indeed the card for '09. You can't see it yet as I haven't photographed it and today is too grey and miserable to bother. I am almost half way there though - I'm only doing 60 this year as I overdid last year and am still reusing the cards! But I can show you a few other Christmascards and bits and bobs from this last week.

This Autumn has been particularly busy work wise. That is all good but does mean I seem to be playing catch up or am just plain absent for my crafting responsibilities. Not good. So I am trying to catch them up in a fair way. So, I ahve finally made some cards with the new Funky Hand Festive Fun digital stamps.

They come on an A4 sheet but if you insert it into a Word document you can crop and resize to your hearts content. These are pretty simple but turned out really cute if I may say so!
I coloured in the image using Copic glitter pens in colours to match the papers which are from the Blue Christmas Word book. I added even more bling to the papers. Sadly the camera hasn't picked up all the sparkle. The label shape is a Nesties Label 8 cut in half so you can see more of it!

For the second one, if I had been clever I would have printed the tree directly onto the patterned paper which is from the other Christmas word book collection- 'Tis the season.
but I wasn't. So I pasted the image to the back of the paper and cut it out and then redrew the image on the front. You may think it was a lot of work. And in fact, it was... I was pleased that I managed to stamp directly onto the paper without a problem (using some free stamps from a mag) hurray! but then realised it was a little too high up. boo. Oh well. A few Prima "ornaments" and I'm done.

I didn't think I'd manage the Salt dare this week. But then a meeting finished early and it came together really fast!
It was a great challenge set by Mona

"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through Him."

On November 11, Remembrance Day in Canada, this verse was in my devotions and it really spoke to me. Having grandparents who were in the war and having lost a cousin in Afghanistan it really spoke to me - especially as a Mennonite woman who believes in pacifism. Then I thought about it and realized that NO MATTER where we are in our lives nothing is more important than what we do FOR OUR FATHER; nothing else matters. There is nothing more important in my life than knowing that everything I say and do needs to be for the praise and honor of my Lord. I am thankful to my Father every day for the life he has given me and I want everyone to know that all I do is to HIS glory. That is what my life is for - Thank You Father!

I decided to use this photo - one of my favourites from our summer holiday. Carys and I are going up a not very scary rollercoaster at the Weymouth Sea Life Centre (yes, it was Hywel's birthday). I think I will scrap it again when it comes to doing this summers album (still only part way through summer 08)
I bought some glimmer mists at the Imagine That birthday bash and so had great fun sptritzing away. The flowers were all white and cream. Emma at the shop had made some beautiful ones overlaying them with script stamps. In order to slavishly copy I will need a proper script stamp and had to improvise with script flower stamps. Some of my tries had to be turned over and are now blank!

I die cut two sizes of star and laid them on the white cardstock and sprayed. Then added black men and journalling and two teeny strips of patterned paper. the alaphabet stamps are from Purple Onion. One of the amazing sets I got with a Self Addressed kit. I like the uneveness of them and even the way I smudged the "g". Just as well really as I couldn't have disguised it.

RIght better get back to those cards....

Happy birthday Anice!

Our glorious Funky Hand leader is 41 today!
And because she is the nicest, sweetest most generous person
she is offering a special discount of 41% off everything in the Funky Hand store just for today,
using the code 41TODAY
So go on, enjoy her birthday :)

I also helped Imagine That celebrate its 3rd birthday of bringing crafting heaven to Upminster this week. Emma is also one of the nicest, sweetest and most generous people I know too. And has just scored a world beating score of 440,000 on bejewelled blitz - which is also worth celebrating. SO buy your wonderful Funky Hand CD's at this amazing price and then go here for all the bits to finish off your cards and layouts!

BTW my life has collapsed into World of Meetings again so there will be little craft from this corner of the world until the weekend. Sob!

Now I am a-Muse-d

Earlier in the year I had notice that Muse were playing the O2. Tickets went on sale at 9am. I remembered at 9:30 and I just couldn't get tickets. Now I think I gave up too easily. Yesterday I had a note to say they are playing Wembley next September. Tickets went on sale this morning at 9. "Ah I won't forget this time" I said to myself and wrote a note and put it on my desk. I looked at it at 9:30 and then said some words that a Minister shouldn't know and decided to give it a go and got tickets! Naturally it is going to be a bit more of a trek as the 02 is easy from here and Wembley isn't but I hope it will be worth it. Nope, I know it is. My poor hubby is coming with me and says I am not allowed to sing along. It is on a Saturday so there may be a tired and hoarse Minister at Church the next morning!

I think the meeting on Wednesday went well. It certainly generated a lot of food for thought. I know what I would like to do next but it needs to be collaborative so I must present a range of options as to how to take it further. Very exciting though (not as exciting as going to see Muse but then what is?)

It is Daring day today and Rein came up with one to get us thinking!

and mydare this week is:

"The First Letter"
I'd like you to put things on your card which begin with the first letter of your name. You can use other things too, but see if you can use at least 3 things that share their initial letter with your own name.

You must go and read the struggles that the "K" and "V" girls had. I was a bit stumped until I found a kids picture dictionary with lots of simple "L" words in it.
And so brought to you by the letter "L" is
it has
Layers (just thought of that)
Lemon ink and papers and gem
Lace
Leaves
Lollipop flower
Ladybird
Loveheart
a Label
and...
a Loo roll (which is what the heart shape is made from)

actually that may come off to be replaced by an ordinary cardstock heart before I send it!

the papers and stickers are all October Afternoon; the gem is Prima and the leaf punch is Martha Stewart. The lace is from a bag beside the table. Before that, I have no idea. The bag beside the table contains cards other people have sent me and this lace. I don't know why I haven't put it with the ribbon or in my other accessories box but it did mean I knew where it was. I seem to be able to remember where things are better when I am untidy than when I tidy. Weird.

Here is the page I amde for the class on Monday. The idea was that people broughtphotos of themselves so that is why there is another "about me" page. They mostly didn't so I could have done something else but there you areLovely K and Co papers, my Sizzix letters and embossing title and doodling and punching and it is done. Phil took the photo of me on Monday in the conservatory (why does that sentence always end "with the lead piping" in my head?) where the light and reflection are flattering... Last night I looked in the mirror and realised I can't have looked properly all day as my hair was all over the place. Ah well!

It is Church Fair tomorrow and I will be "helping" kids make cards. They better put the lids straight on the glue sticks - that's all I'm saying.

I'm a bit nervous

I'm off out soon to do the first part of my MA coursework for this year. We have to do a Church Consultancy. The place I asked nearly bit my hand off and wanted to start NOW!!! We discuss how to do the first part next week at college... It is the sort of thing I know how to do really so I shouldn't be getting in a state. But that has never stopped me before. And then I have to run off to the second half of my church meeting.

I was going to put some washing away but decided that the blog was quiet and needed an update instead :)
I ran a class at a local Church on Monday. As ever, things were not quite how I had planned but they all had a whale of a time which was the most important thing. I had prepped a lot earlier and my Dreamkutz was so invaluable in cutting down sheets with ease. Tomorrow night I begin a Journal Your Advent 5 week course at Church. To complicate it I won't be there for week 2 so they will decorate the covers that week I think! I haven't got photos of either project yet as
1: isn't photographed
2: isn't started - that is tomorrow afternoon's job

but can show you some cards made for the church fair on Saturday. Except one has already been given as a birthday card. They mostly feature Kraft. And Cosmo Cricket Early Bird. Mmmmm I love it so.

Oooh I have obviously pressed a wrong button as the photos aren't where I expected! This card also features Papermania foam letters, a Martha Stewart butterfly, a Fiskars border and Woodware circle punch and I scrunched up the paper "ribbon"
This is my fave! Paper roses and a Martha Stewart leaf punch and lots of Kraft space. I did add Happy Birthday at the bottom (and hand delivered it as it was so bulky)
MOre of the same, and a WRMK rubon. Oh, and a peel off (yes I know!)
This is BG papers - Lemonade I think, a Craftwork cards sentiment and Candy dot thingy
This one uses the embossing/inking technique, Christmas papers, that same punch and my best bow EVAH.
And another peeloff.

I have to make a few more cards for Saturday then I have a list of crafty must makes as long as my arm (that's even before the hand was nearly bitten off) and not a lot of time to do it in. As ever. Monday (my crafting day) I am teaching in Imagine That in the morning and going for lunch and sofa shopping at Ikea in the afternoon (we had hoped our sofas would last a few more years but just won't so we will be replacing them with something else that teenagers and dogs can wreck slightly. They have reached embarrassing proportions now though) followed by movie night in the evening.

And I must say thanks to Tesco Film as when I complained about a bonus disc being sent out as one of our choices (Still haven't quite worked out how to delete that as an option without deleting the film choice), they replied promptly and are sending another film too. That's the second time recently there have been issues (first one the film was rent in twain) and they have been impressive in dealing with them.
I would have moaned here so I will praise here.

And sadly, I've still got time to put that washing away...

Be Still

I have had more of a chance to be still this week. Such a relief!
But there is a long way to go...
When I started out in Ministry (17 years ago on the 28th November) I thought that I just had to get through December and then could relax. Now I know better. Minister's diaries are full of stuff from September until June/July and if you think there is any down time you are sadly wrong!
It is not so much the going out and being at things, it is the the thought needed and prioritising that I struggle with. Still, it is an amazing and varied job and God continues to teach me so much through it.

It was my turn to choose the Salt challenge this time. If I am honest I was going to duck out of this one due to all the stuff I have been whinging about recently! But I am so glad that I didn't because it was something I needed to do. Phil looked at my journalling and said "hhmph, so are you going to live it out then?". That is where I am and what I needed to remember this week.

I chose the theme of Psalm 46 as there are so many helpful words of comfort and strength there. And this is what I came up with
The papers are Scenic Route Belleville with a tiny piece of WRMK (the leaf). There was supposed to be a bigger piece of WRMK but I forgot to stick it down and it would have been the bottom layer. Ah well! The black strip is glitter paper and the letters are black glitter stickers by Doodlebug. There is a WRMK journalling spot and rubons too and that is that really.

The photo is me at half term at the top of British Camp in Malvern. Phil photoshopped the bag of doggy doings I was holding out of the photo. (No bins on British Camp) Thanks hun! We came down to extra special ice cream - I had Damson and Sloe Gin. Mmmmmmmm.


And here is the layout I posted for the previous challengeOooh look, more Scenic Route! This is a mix of Liberty and Salem. SR - I will miss you.
The photo is of the kids at the eco centre in Machynlleth in the summer. (Go on, try and say it! I can't even begin to explain it in writing). I liked the fact that there were signposts pointing in all directions that life might take them in serving God in the future.

And finally...
this layout is in the latest Docrafts mag. I spent half term searching for the mag to show Phil's aunt as I did a layout about her husband - only it hasn't been published (may appear online though). But this one was - it is the story of my Dad's cousins and how the one who died was the one kept at home in a reserved occupation. I love that turquoise and brown Papermania paper. It has built in gradient colour. And look at all the brads I used! Can you tell I didn't pay for them as I would never be so extravagant otherwise. Although maybe I should be as I love the look. The brads, ribbon and letter stickers are all Doodlebug

Here is the journalling - you may still need to click on it to read it


I'm listening to songs that might form part of our Christmas kids service as I blog. Multi tasking at its finest!

Getting There

thanks to those who commented last week. I really appreciated it. Life is easing a little but not much and I can't afford to relax too much or I will drop some of the balls in the air. It has meant that I have had some decisions to make about a few things to give up or change. Most of that won't affect my blog (unless you are interested in Compact for Havering!) but one or two things will.

One small change that is coming already is about commenting on challenge posts. I am really bad at remembering the Get Funky posts which is a shame as the Funky Hand posts and challenges are awesome. I am usually better at Daring Cardmakers - although i missed last weeks altogether. However I have decided that unless Daring Cards is one of three or less challenges a card is being submitted to, I am not going to comment. I'll still have a look see! Maybe no-one minds or cares, I'm not a big cheese or anything but just so you know why my commenting doesn't seem totally equal.
It is a little thing but somehow it lifts a tad of the weight off my shoulders!!!!!

I'm just going to catch up on three things I've made recently today and it shows how I am a Kraftaholic.
First - the Get Funky November challenge - Autumn Woodland.
It is so much fun browsing through the Funky Hand CD's. I keep finding lots of fabulous patterned papers tha ti hadn't yet seen - or forgotten. Ance is so talented as a designer!
The selection I chose was American Fall from Funky Seasons
Yes, its a Kraft card base! This kraft card was as cheap as chips... until I factored in postage from the US. So basically it is as frugal as fries but not so good for us in Blighty. I doodled the edge of the card base, then punched circles from two of the designs and stuck them on the edge of a rectangular mat of leaf paper. More doodling ensued. More layers were added (one has a Fiskars punch border). This whole think was adhered using foam pads.
Then I cut the swirly branch from another of the papers, doodled on it and added some Craftwork Cards card candy. I think the white pen detail makes them look shiny! More foam pads were used to stick the branch on. (Mmm, may have to hand deliver this one) Final touch was a hand written sentiment. Oh how I wish I could write like Kristina Werner!

Next is the last October dare for DCM -Getting Punchy With It
This is an offcut of 12x12 Kraft Bazzill. The paper is really old and I had fallen out of love for it. (so old I even forget the company. Horrors!)
But two things make it zing again - one is the Kraft background and the other is the old Sharpie outlining technique. I do this a lot rather than just inking and it gives a sharp edge. Warning though - at times your hand will slip and you have to improvise how to hide the skid! Loads of foam pads yet again and three punches were used
Fiskars Border punch
Woodware scallop circle
and my newest punch (at that point) Martha Stewart butterfly

and finally the card that was supposed to be Krafty - this week's challenge on DCM...
I used a letter sized sheet of Kraft (from that US company with the not cheap shipping)
All the papers - believe it or not - are Basic Grey Gypsy. It was a happy accident this card. I knew that it would have "70" on as it is for my mother in laws special birthday. So out came the Urban Lily numbers again. I ahd decided to do a lot of inking and started with the scalloped piece and my favourite mixture of green and blue distress inks (I layer them on). I was a bit heavy handed but realised that it subdued the pattern but still let the colours through. SO then I went a bit mad, adding embossing to the mix then inking and trying to leave the middle much clearer. I LOVE the result and will be doing this again - especially with papers I don't like much now!

Here's a close up

as you can see I layered the numbers onto more kraft to give definition.

The stamps are from Imagine That, which is also where I purchased the Making Memories gem templates I used to create the swirls in the corner. I did these with stick on pearls
Incidentally if you click on the Imagine That link you can see where I teach every now and then - behind the square shelving. It is a lovely bright and comfy corner!

Eventually I might get round to sharing our half term fun - but this is enough for now :)