~ Christmas Cards All Year Round: March challenge ~

It has taken me a while to do my Xmas cards this month but I've got them done, all 8 of them thereby fulfilling my quota! Quite chuffed at keeping up!

For the challenge for March on this blog was to use green and snowman! Here are my 5 cards. Some of them have been done for challenges on other card blogs.

Had fun doing them but I shan't leave it too late in future! TTFN!

~ Caardvarks: Lacy Days ~

The challenge is to create a new stamped card using lace. Not a problem here as I luv lace and buy them each time I see any scrummy one, never mind that I've got a box full of them! Here's my card: 

A rather Xmassy one using patterned paper from MME Bloom & Grow. Stamped images are from Unity.

Here's the inside of the card, again, stamped images from Unity. 

I usually do a bit of Xmas cards each month so that I will have enough cards to go around come Dec. I'm hoping this year I won't have to resort to commercial ones. TTFN!

~ Butterfly Crafts: March Written Challenge ~

This month has gone so quickly that I just didn't have time to play with my stash. Been quite busy and this week has had some respite from all the stuff I was involved. Anyway, has some time this afternoon and created this LO, hopefully in time for Butterfly Craft's March challenges. 

I went for the written challenges as it's much easier. I'm a little challenged when it comes to sketches.... find that it kinda hinder me rather than help me and always end up producing somewhat different! Here's the written challenge... to use at least one of the following: 

Polka dots
Orange
Gingham Ribbon
Butterfly
Scalloped edge
Turquoise
Cherries
Pins
Felt
Bling

I created my LO using Scarlet Lime March10 kit. Have to say, the papers in there were yummy. Here's my LO: 

I used Webster's Page as the base. Photo is of my boys playing a concert at the Adrian Boult Hall. They represented East Birmingham String Orchestra (there are usually more people and the cello kids didn't participate). I scanned the programme and stuck it at the back of the photo. For the challenge, I used butterfly, orange, turquoise, scalloped edges and bling.

Created a flowery embellishment using Kaiser embellishment pack (that was in the kit). Added some glitz around the flowers.

Musical notes from {ippity} Music Of My Heart stamp set. Butterfly is from Jenni Bowlin. 

It felt good to scrap again... haven't had the chance to do so for a couple of weeks. Thank goodness the Easter break is around the corner.... looking forward to playing with some stash! TTFN!

~ Bloggity Frog Hop ~

Welcome to Banana Frog 1st blog hop! The Froglets have come together today to create projects based on the theme of 'flowers'. I recently completed a paper woven basket and decided to decorate it with flowers instead of bunnies! That way the basket can be used for any occasion. For now, it will nicely store the Easter Eggs that I'm gonna use for our annual Easter Egg hunt. 

The leaves, stems and flowers were laboriously cut out from MME's Bloom & Grow collection. It was then supplemented with more flowers from Superlicous & Super Dreamy set. 

Added a couple of butterflies from Swirls & Butterflies set.

Another look at the basket. Added a touch of sticklers to the centre of the flowers.

More stamped flowers and butterfly. The butterflies were covered with glossy accent.

I got the instructions for the woven basket from Splitcoaststampers resource site. The shape of the basket will depend on how loose or tight you weave the paper. It was tedious but fun and the result was worthwhile!

Your next hop is Nat. Don't forget, leaving comments might just win you a prize! Thanks for dropping by and have a great day! TTFN!

~ 365 Cards: Day 29 ~

365 Cards is having a sponsored week and our sponsor is Sew Many Cards, a digital stamp company. We were given a few images to play with and I had a fun time with them. 

Today's challenge is "In Pieces" i.e. Using the image twice - once on the outside, once on the inside in a different way. Here's my card: 

Patterned paper from MME's Bloom & Grow collection. Not sure where the blue die cut sheet is from. The digi image was coloured using Promarkers.

Here's the inside. Probably not what is instructed but hey, no harm deviating a little! :)

Thanks for dropping by and have a great week ahead. TTFN!

~ Sunday ~

Woke up to a brilliant, sunny day! Nothing like the sun to cheer you up. Also had to change the clocks/watches in the house as it went forward by an hour. Can't say I like it much but at least the day will be longer now. 

Hubs dropped me off at the NEC where HobbyCraft was on. I had a good time strolling through the stalls and getting stuff off my wanted list. Best bargain was a pack of 50 cards & envelopes for £2.99! The only advantage going on Sunday was that stalls were slashing prices to entice buyers. I also managed to get 3 sticklers & 2 distressed sticklers for a fiver (well, it was 5 for £5)! Bargain! You had to check prices out as they vary from stalls to stalls on the same item! There were considerably far less stalls than the November event, hence I managed to complete my rounds by the early afternoon! Went home and had a play with them!

Looking forward to this week as it's the last day of school term and a 2 weeks break. Yay! Haven't schedule any outing yet but we always do stuff at the spur of the moment. I'm just thankful not to have to get up early in the morning! TTFN!

~ Saturday ~

Where do I start? An early start for me to help out at the car boot event in my son's school. I was in charge of refreshments. Have to thank God for giving us a sunny albeit windy weather. Can't say I bought anything from the car boot, nothing caught my fancy. It was a good turnout and we made a smashing profit for half a day's work!!! 

The afternoon was spent at another concert (yet again but thankfully the last one). The boys usually attend a violin workshop twice a month and this was the accumulation of those workshops.... as a concert! This is then usually followed by a party.

Here are the boys performing their piece based on the group they are in. They are separated into groups based on the music book they are working on. 

The boys couldn't wait to tuck into the party food. Well, after all the hard work they have done, why not! TTFN!

~ Concert No. 4 ~

Concert No. 4 was held in a church in Ladywood. It has a fantastic acoustic sound system.

An overview of the concert. 

As a treat, after the concert, we brought the boys to Nandos for a meal. They still had boundless energy... well, last one tomorrow! TTFN!

~ Concert No. 3 ~

It was a hectic day today. The boys had to leave school early to go to Adrian Boult Hall in Birmingham town centre for a violin rehearsal and later a concert at 7.30pm. The highlight of this was the bus ride to the town centre. The boys were delighted to take the double-decker bus and be able to sit on the upper deck at the front! They enjoyed it so much that they wanted to take the bus back home!!! Just goes to show how rare we use public transport!

Fortunately, no camera/video equipment was banned so I managed to capture precious moments from the concert. Here's a few....

The moment when it was their time to play.

Apart from playing their instrument, they had to sing in the choir too.

The finale

The concert was organised by the Birmingham Music Service. They provide free music lessons as well as Ensemble/Orchestra at various places. We represented the Birmingham East Strings Orchestra. Ours was one of the five concerts held over 2 weeks. The boys certainly enjoyed themselves. They will have to keep up their energy for another concert tomorrow! TTFN!

~ On Display: Banana Frog ~

Did a few projects featuring Banana Frog stamps.

Made use of Scarlet Lime Feb10 kit (it was hard cutting into the Studio Calico paper so I did the obvious thing, a 6x12" LO so I could make use of the other side!) The stamps used here was It's All About Hearts (luv that set), Postage and Teen alpha set. Photos were taken at the Frankfurt Market in B'ham last Nov. The boys luved playing on this slide and it has become an annual playground pilgrimage each time we go there. 

 

This is a 4x6" LO for my Ikea picture frame. Stamp set used here is Retro Space (another fav). Photo of my youngest's 7th birthday. His birthday cake was in the shape of a DS.

A tag created using Swirls and Butterflies set as well as Backgrounds set. Background swirls was created by placing the tag over a misted swirl stencil (so as not to waste the mist!). The 'discover' word came from Retro Space set.

Misted the background of the tag using Cosmic Shimmer (they are proving a good alternative to Glimmer Mist which is rather expensive). The cupcakes came from Cupcake Greetings while the border stamp came from Matryoshka Dolls.

Banana Frog is having it's first Bloggity Frog Hop on 30th March and there's a prize to win too. So do check out the site on that day! TTFN!

~ 365 Cards: Day 23 ~

Today's challenge is 'Stencil It', which is to make use of a stencil in a card. Gosh, I've not touched a stencil for ages and dusted off an alphabet one to create my sentiment.  Here's my card:

Patterned paper from MME's Bloom and Grow collection (you will probably see me using a lot of them as I've got a whole 6x6 pack). Angel & musical background images are from Unity. Bingo card is a printout from a digi file. Musical notes from G Studio. The 'Xmas' word is done using an alpha stencil and outlined using sticklers.

 Here's the inside of the card, which is from Unity's Bright & Merry Winter Wishes set. 

You must be wondering why I'm doing an Xmas card. Well, the month is almost coming to an end so it's time to start my Xmas card quota. I've done 4 so far and got another 4 to go! So far so good. TTFN!

~ H{ippity} Hop! ~

I'm h{ippity} hopping on my {ippity} blog today! TTFN!

~ Concert No. 2 ~

The boys attended their second concert, this time they both played a solo piece each. The concert was all about each individual playing their solo piece, which I think it's good for their self confidence. There were 26 kids altogether, ranging from beginner to advanced students. It was lovely to hear a wide mix of repertoire being played. Here are my boys, playing their fav piece, Hunter's Chorus by C.M. von Weber.

The boys are in for a series of concerts next week, 3 to be precise, starting from Thursday. They will be at Adrian Boult Hall in B'ham town centre on Thursday, a church in Ladywood on Friday and finally a lecture hall in Bourneville for a concert cum party on Saturday afternoon. All obligatory attendance due to the free lessons they get, courtesy of the B'ham Council (that I have to thank them for as it's quite expensive having music lessons). All I can say, more photo opportunity for me! I think a mini album is called for.... TTFN!

~ Unity's Friends With Flair ~

It's Friday again! I luv Fridays, just because it's the start of the weekend! It's gonna be a busy weekend for me.... craft classes, concert etc. Another two more weeks of work before it's the Easter break! Looking so forward to it. 

Been playing with Jan/Feb10 scrapbooking kit and came up with this LO:

Patterned papers by Jillibean, one of the collections supplied by Unity in their earlier scrapbooking kit.

My next offering is a Xmas card, using Feb's KOTM set. 

I adore this tree image and tried to make it work with an Xmas card. Have to say, it's quite a versatile stamp. Patterned paper from Jillibean. 

Thanks for dropping by and have a great weekend! TTFN!

~ The Start...~

of the boys' violin concerts! Today marks the first in the many concerts that the boys will be attending this month. The concert was held at the Junior School. Both played a solo piece too. 

The older one playing his solo piece, Gossec Gavotte

The wee one playing Hunter's Chorus alongside with the Junior students.

This Sunday, both will be playing solo in a concert. They seem rather nonplussed about it. All I can say, more photo opportunities for moi! :) I'm currently running out of photos to scrap. LOL! TTFN! 

~ He's Back! ~

My li'l boy is back! Went to collect him at 2.30pm from school. He looked shattered and found out that he had difficulty sleeping the last two nites (he was tossing and turning about) and this morning, his teacher had to gently wake him up as he was one of the last to get up. But he lost no time telling me what he had done and which was his favourite activity. He did a good job packing up his bag... brought back everything and managed to put everything in properly. I gave him my compact camera and he did take some photos so I will have to see what he took. Had to give him a good wash as he was absolutely filthy! No doubt he will sleep well tonite ... hopefully! TTFN!

~ 365 Cards: Day 16 ~

Today's challenge is entitled 'Opposites Attract' which is to feature a pair of opposite images e.g girl/boy, sun/moon etc. Well, I had to try out this new set of stamps which I got a few weeks ago: 

The dog/cat images is from Unity's I Ruff You stamp set. Aren't they cute? Patterned papers by MME's Boom & Grow. I left the inside blank for the moment. 

Have a great week ahead... TTFN!

~ Woodlands Adventure ~

So I waved my little boy goodbye as he heads off to camp. In some ways, I'm envious as I know he's gonna have a ball of a time. I've seen the programme and there's loads of exciting and fun stuff to do, not to mention free time as well.... imagine, 3 days of glorious fun and no school! Needless to say, took a fair number of photos before he left:

Here he is, getting his luggage to the coach. 

Getting ready to leave. 

This photo was taken off the school's blog. My wee one is the one on the outer left in the canoe! Looks like he's enjoying himself!

Can't wait to see what's in store tomorrow. Have to say, I do miss him terribly. The house has been so quiet as he's the loud one around! TTFN!

~ Happy Mother's Day ~

I think the UK is the only country that celebrates it in March as I know most other countries celebrate in May! Anyway, hubs brought MIL and moi to my fav Chinese restaurant, China Court in Chinatown. Thank goodness we went early as we didn't have to queue. Place was packed and food was great! After that, we headed over to the Chinese bakery to grab some cakes. 

The afternoon was spent sorting out clothes for Zac as he's off to a 3 day camp, organised by his school. He goes tomorrow and come back on Wednesday. Not doubt I will miss him like hell but it would have been selfish of me not to let him go and enjoy the experience of an outdoor adventure. I certainly enjoyed it when I went as a teenager and I'm glad he has the chance to go (albeit at this early age!) TTFN!

~ Unity's Friends With Flair ~

Friday sure came early this week! I don't know about you but I'm finding the days are passing by very quickly! Weather has been pretty great this week... we had sunshine! Yay! Now hoping it gets warmer as it's still quite cold. 

Well, this week, I've been playing with a few old stamps. Sometimes when you get new ones, the older ones seem to be forgotten so I took pity on them and pull out some older sets to play with. Here's my LO:

Patterned paper by GCD Studios. When first saw this paper, I though it was really pretty as it's very glittery. I found the perfect photo to go with it, a group of scrapping friends I met when I was in Singapore last year (looking forward to meeting up with them again later this year). The 'le chic' journaling block is from Sept09 scrapbooking kit. Then I played with a quote stamp which I thought was appropriate for the photo. 

For my next project, here's a card that I created a while back for 365 Cards.

I used the quote from Feb's KOTM set.

Thanx for dropping by and have a great weekend. It's Mothering Sunday this weekend too (yeah, UK celebrates Mother's Day in March but I have to wait till May to send my mom a card as over there Mother's Day is in May! Confusing eh!) Another busy weekend. TTFN!

~ Dressing Up Day ~

My youngest school's had a dressing up day today so my li'l boy went a Power Ranger. The theme was hero and heroine so I didn't particularly fancy buying a costume just for one day (they don't come cheap either!) Luckily, he was ok with wearing a costume he already had (although he wears them for his pjs sometimes).

The wee one!

TTFN!

~ Sketchy Thursdays: 3.4 Challenge ~

Had an hour to spare this morning so headed over to Sketchy Thursday's blog and found this sketch: 

A lovely simple sketch and I whipped out my Scarlet Lime Jan's kit to play. Here's my LO: 

Base patterned paper is from SL exclusive paper. The other patterned paper is from Making Memories 8x8 ledger pad, which I found at Hobbycraft (normally don't buy from there as they are overpriced but I luv ledger papers and doubt if I can find them anywhere online in the UK). Chandelier and journaling box images from {ippity} Regal Greetings (which can be found here) and other background images from Unity's Dec09 scrapbooking kit. Alpha came from SL Nov09 kit. 

These days, I rely on sketches to get thru' scrapping quickly as time is not on my side. This is a particularly busy month for me. I do enjoy adding my own twist to the sketch. TTFN!

~ Woot! Woot! ~

Just found out from the GCD Studios blog that I'm a spotlight gal! Yay!

When I found that GCD Studios was having a DT call, gave it a go as I have loads of their papers, courtesy of Scarlet Lime kits. The owner is definitely a fan of their papers. I began to like it too as it was very easy to use. They have a mix range of papers from subtle colours to very bold ones. But what's important that I found them so easy to use. There are some papers that fail to inspire me no matter how long I look at them but definitely not GCD Studios! TTFN!

~ 365 Cards: Day 9 ~

It's Day 9 at 365 Cards and today's challenge is Song Inspired, inspired by Louis Armstrong's What A Wonderful World. This week also marks a sponsored week by a digital stamp company, Stretch N Bubbles. Here's my card: 

Patterned papers by My Mind's Eye Bloom & Grow collection. Tree and bird image from Stretch N Bubbles, coloured with Promarkers. Sentiment by Unity's Feb store kit. 

Here's the inside of the card. Bird image from Unity's Feb store kit while sentiment is from Elzybels. 

Thanx for dropping by, have a great day! TTFN!

~ On Display ~

It was a brilliant day on Sunday. So hubs brought the boys out cycling while I claimed some time to myself by scrapping. Things are getting a wee bit hectic at home and it's claiming a lot of my free time so  any minute chance to craft is welcomed greatly! I found this sketch on Sarah's Card blog and thought I give it a go. 

I had to rotate the sketch anticlockwise to suit my photo. Here's my LO:

Made use of Scarlet Lime Feb10 kit for this LO. Papers are from American Crafts and I used a new stamp set from {ippity} Love in Return and Moon Beam & Heart Strings. 

Need to break more into the kit... still loads leftover! TTFN!

~ Unity's Friends With Flair ~

It's Friday and the end of the first week of March. This is gonna be a very busy month for me ... loads of concerts coming up for the boys as well as preparing for a car boot sale in my son's school. Gearing myself for the onslaught of 'busy-ness'. Hence, any escape to my craft room is a welcome relief and I did manage to pull myself away and create some stuff last weekend. 

First up is a LO created using a Scarlet Lime kit (July 09). I luv scrapbooking kits as it saves me the hassle of buying stash online as I don't have a LSS near me at all. I don't have the time to trawl through the latest arrival of items and I rely on kits to provide them! Here's my LO:

Patterned papers by GCD Studios Ava collection. I used a mixture of Unity's scrapbooking sets. The butterflies were cut out from the patterned paper and were thoroughly glitzed and blinged! As the base of the patterned paper was quite busy, I kept the overall design simple and decorated the background with stamps instead. (Picture of my boy, taken in Singapore last summer, who was determined to get thru' the monkey bar, no matter how long it took him).

My next offering is a card with I did for 365 Cards.

Patterned paper by Basic Grey Sugar Rush. Stamped images from January's store kit, coloured using Promarkers. 

I'm so glad it's Friday, hoping to be able to grab some chill-out time for myself tonite. Haven't had the chance to craft this week and I'm itching to create something! Thanx for dropping by and have a great weekend. TTFN!

~ 365 Cards: Day 2 ~

It's Tuesday and it's my turn to do a challenge which calls for ...

Circle - Silver - Pearl

Here's what I've done: 

Made use of a scalloped circle, silver ribbon and green pearl (on the butterfly). Butterfly is cut out from the new Ava range from GCD Studios. Added a bit of sticklers to bling it up (which can't be seen from the photo but trust me, it's glittery!) That quote came from Unity's Feb KOTM set. 

I'll probably use this card as a birthday card. I've got lots of birthdays coming up this month! TTFN!