One of my bestest friends at work Laura was leaving to have a baby and I knew I would be the one to make her leabving card.

I bought the template for this baby book from Craft Central a couple of months ago. As soon as I saw it I knew it was perfect for her.

As we didn't know the expected sex of the baby I decided I would alternate the blue and pink colours throughout. I am especially pleased with this is it made the individual letters stand out so much better.

There is a slideshow below of the individual pages. I have used papers and embellishments from my stash and they have come from various manufacturers. I basically just gathered together all my baby stuff and just went for it. ! There are papers from Doodlebug, DCWV, magazine freebies and baby kits from Poundland.

Embellishments are as follows

- Epoxy stickers from Paperchase, Poundland, LMC,
- Chipboard from QVC DCWV TSV, wonderful themed drawers set which just happened to have loads of baby stuff, YAY!!
- 3d stickers from Poundland
- Printed embellishments courtesy of printable scrapbooking freebies from the tinterweb.

Printed ribbons were a recent purchase and many, many offcuts were tied to the book rings on the spine.

I spent a long time getting everything together for this project and I am REALLY pleased with how it turned out. Laura means a hell of a lot to me and I wanted to do something very special for her. She absolutely loved it.

Wedding Explosion Box

One of my work colleagues Helen got married yesterday and I made an exploding box for everyone to sign.

I knew what I wanted to make but wasn't sure what the diemensions would be and also whether it would work so I did a trial 'cake' first. The proportions of the cake were wrong so I am glad that I did it.

Each teir of the cake is a cylindrical box which were stuck together with strong glue. The wedding colours were burgundy, cream and gold so I used floral embellishments in those colours and some lovely loopy ribbon that I had. All embellishments are from my stash.

The bride and groom were working on a tight budget for the wedding and loved my cake design so much that they decided to display their actual wedding cake that way too. I was extremely flattered.

All the images for the box are in the slideshow below.

Got some new tickets

Been quite busy lately as have bought tickets to see the Ting Tings in concert on 4th October and have just booked for the F1 Grand Prix at Silverstone next year.

They onky went on sale yesterday and by purchasing them almost a YEAR in advance we have got them for a great price.

Going to go with our best mates for the whole 3 days and we will be going camping too.

really, Really, REALLY excited !!!!!

21st Birthday

I was commissioned by one of my colleagues to make a card for a 21st Birthday.

The young lady in question is very girly and loves all my cards so I used one of my favourite Sizzix dies to make the dress, handbag shoes and gift box. The paper is from an Amethyst Papermania pad. I accented the swirls with a Sakura glitter pen. The embellishments are also Papermania. The swirl at the side is a long Sizzlits die and is cut from self adhesive metallic paper with a texture. It was the first time I have used this die and I am pleased with the results.

The 21 is chipboard from a QVC TSV and the Happy Birthday banner is a 3d embellishment which was a magazine freebie.

I am very pleased with how this turned out and love the swirls :)

Steve's Birthday & Di Hickman Challenge June #1

Paul's Sister Jill has been going out with Steve for a couple of years and he has been a fabulous influence on our nephew CJ. I made this birthday card using a Di Hickman template and we gave it to him at a party on Sunday 29th.

It wasn't his birthday until Monday but I was absolutely gutted when it became apparrent that it was his 40th Birthday and I hadn't encorporated it onto the card. Paul said he knew and was surprised it wasn't on my card - I wish he had told me ! Bloody men !

Anyway the glitter cardstock used on the card is DCWV, the glittered S is from a recent DCWV QVC TSV (Phew) The ribbons are Anita's and one from Little Silver Hat. The black panel is accented with liquid pearls and the card banner is from my stash.

Love this design for a man, got a bit of bling on it but sophisticated at the same time.

Luvvy Duvvy Birthday card

Whilst in the middle of a very busy week commission wise one for my work colleagues asked me to make a card for his wife's birthday and I had one day's notice !! My goodness did I give him stick about that. He said he din't think I would be that busy !!

I used a rubber stamped image by Penny Black which was coloured in with Marvy le Plume pens and a clear Sakura glitter pen. The brad is from a Dovecraft assorted embellishment pack.

The paper at the bottom is from Paperchase and the red hearts are flocked so feel lovely. Paperchase do some lovely wrapping papers and I find they can transfer very well to being used for cards. The sentiment at the bottom is recycled from an old birthday card. I have a few friends who give me their old cards to use anything I can from them. It's a great way to get some nice little bits and also recycling is good fot the environment isn't it ?

The ribbon is from Anita's and ribbon brad is Papermania. The card banner is from my stash.

3 Year Old's Birthday

This card was made for the son of a friend at work.

He is mad about Teletubbies at the moment so I found a picture on the internet and decoupage layered it. The name banner was made using stickers mounted on card and then 3d foam.

The backing card is from a DCWV glitter stack, I thought the bright colours were perfect for this image. The sentiment is from LMC

His family loved the card and I must admit I am quite chuffed with how it turned out

A Smile in an Envelope

One of the biggest reasons I like to make cards is that I am making a smile in an envelope, and you can't get much more smiley than this !

A forum buddy is going through a rough time at the moment and I made this as a RAK card for her.

The cardblank is LMC (got fed up of typing Let's Make Cards!) the paper is a magazine freebie that's not a bad thickness for a change LOL! Why do the magazines insist on us having free papers printed on magazine paper ? They are rubbish and usually double sided and see through. Sorry..... rant over!

The main panel is made from a sticky template that I bought from Hobbycraft a gazillion years ago which I chalked through. The flowers are Primas and sticky gems from Papermania.

Di Hickman Sketch June # 2

This is the card I made for the 2nd June sketch from Di Hickman.

The card blank is a coloured one from Let's Make Cards, the patterned paper is Dovecraft's Laura Ashley Contemporary pack mounted onto black panels.

The stamped image in the centre is from a forum swap and I believe it is from Elzybels. It is coloured in using Twinkling H20's and mouted onto 3d foam.

This card is currently on it's way to a forum friend in Australia.

Graduation Card

My work collegue Andy asked me to make a card for his Girlfriend to celebrate her completeing her degree.

I found this quote that Bethany did on Elegant Word Art. Please do go over to her blog as she has some wonderful word art she creates and even does requests. I love crafters as they are the most giving of people and are genuinely nice.


The mortar board is a 3D decoupage that I printed off onto photo paper (I have no idea where I got that from) The tassel was recycled from a Christmas card and is held on with a small Papermania brad. The background paper is from a K & Co embossed paper pad I have had for a mighty long time and never used. The scroll was made from some parchment effect card I had which I have torn and inked the edges to age.

As Andy's writing is awful I thought I would do something a bit special for the insert too so I made it look like a diploma and used some HOTP unmounted rubber stamps for the scroll edges. I bought these from QVC in a TSV last year and it is the first time I have used them. I was very impressed with how clear an impression I got from it.

Helena absolutely loved her card which makes me happy :)

I've been driving for a Year !!

I was talking to an ex-work colleague on the phone yesterday and he was asking how thngs were going etc. I said I'd passed a huge exam and that I had been driving for about a year when it suddenly dawned on me that I passed my test a year ago yesterday !!!

My goodness but how quickly the time has gone ! Some friends and work colleagues were as gobsmacked as me at how it doesn't seem that long ago.

Well that good news is that in a year of driving I haven't had any speeding fines or any bumps. I've done some silly things but no damage (well maybe to my pride) so I am really happy about that. I can't be as bad a driver as my overly critical non-driving husband thinks I am anyway ! (he is getting better now though LOL)

Well I need to pop to an art shop tomorrow in Walsall so think I NEED to buy something crafty to celebrate :)

Driving Test Congratulations

The daughter of my friend next door has just passed her driving test so I made a card to congratulate her.

The backing paper is from DCWV. The car is cut using a plastic template from Papercrafts Inspirations magazine. It is cut from one of my many card scraps. The wheels are Do crafts button brads from a recent QVC TSV.

The sentiment is from Let's Make Cards which I mounted onto black card and cut corners with a south west punch. I always forget I have this and really like the results it gives. The L plate is just a simple scrap of card cut through with deckle edge scissors.

The thing I am most proud of is the key which I made from just playing about with shapes. The metal edge was cut with deckle scissors until it looked like a key. This was then stuck to a scrap of card with the edges cut off. The letter D was attached with a jump ring and is a Quickutz Olivia letter.

I am really pleased with how it came out and will probably make it again in the future.

Jill's Birthday

This card was made for my Sister in Laws birthday and heralds a years worth of blogging as I started when I did her card last year.



I made it on the same principles as the chipboard book templates by Colour My World.

I bought the baby one for an upcoming project and thought it would make a great birthday card idea for people with short names. I set to making a paper template first to see if it would work and was really pleased that it did.



I then needed to choose the papers and wanted each page to contrast so the letters would stand out.

I had just purchased the DCWV 2 drawer TSV from QVC and it arrived on the day I started making it. Some of the papers were ideal as my SIL is mad about shoes !



Page 1 papers are Dovecraft Glamour pack + DCWV Peeking Posies. The heart chipboard is from the DCWV TSV.

Page 2 paper is DCWV TSV and the sentiment is a vellum one from a DCWV scrap stack.

Page 3 paper is Dovecraft. Happy Birthday cardstock sticker from Docrafts, candles sticker from DCWV TSV


Page 4 paper is DCWV TSV. Vellum sentiment from DCWV scrap stack, cardstock stickers Docrafts.

Ribbons to tie are scraps from stash.

Jill loved it and said she had never seen anything like it before.

Another Baby Box

This is the last baby box for a while and a little bit different. My colleague Sue wanted one for her Sister who lives in France (I'm spreading into Europe now LOL)

Not knowing the sex of the baby she said she liked mint, chocolate and cream together, so thinking mint choccy chip ice cream I set to work.

On the lids of these boxes I have been using little kits from inside a TSV that I got from QVC, but no longer had any neutral coloured ones left. I had purchased the large 'B' Sizzix die previously and had a go at doing it myself. I used tags from my stash and a brass charm and think it has come out really well. I used chocolate brown velvet ribbon for the edge and it has a touch of luxury to it.

Sue wanted to encorporate the other children in the project, welcoming the new baby into the family hence the photos of brother and sister.

Embellishments used were from the following - Prima flower, Sizzix Die, Let's Make Cards, Papermania brads & peel offs, rubber stamps, printables off the tinterweb, & Sizzlits teddy die.

The slideshow below has all the images from this project.

Exploding box for New Baby

My exploding boxes have become very popular at work as a special keepsake. Jemma wanted one for her sister who was having a baby boy.

His parents had chosen his name already so I made it and was just waiting for him to arrive to make the final pages complete. Jemma had posted pictures on Facebook of the new arrival and I put one of the pictures in the box as a surprise. She had not expected that so I was really pleased.

It was nice to know the sex of the baby so I could gather together all my blue bits :)

Embellishments used were from Papermania (ribbons & peeloffs), QVC, Prima flowers, Poundland (felt stickers, 3D embellishments), printable off the tinterweb, Let's Make Cards die cuts, Cuttlebug embossing folders, rubber stamps.

All images are shown in greater detail on the slideshow below.

Baby Ladder

One of my colleagues was leaving to have her second baby and I was asked to make a special 'card' for her. When she had her first I made a special frame for her which was to be hung in the baby's room and I wanted to do something totally different for her.

Somewhere on my travels I had seen something like this where you lifted a lid and this whole stream of stuff came out hanging on a ribbon. I decided I wanted to do something like this so it would give plenty of areas for people to write their messages on. Our Head Office is getting so much larger we need as much space as possible now !

I have created a slideshow below with all the images on it.

In used many embellishments from my stash. There are peel offs, rubber stamping, the smaller Cuttlebug embossing folders, assorted stickers and die cuts from Poundland, freebie printable off the tinterweb, items from Let's Make Cards, Sizzlit dies and ribbon.

It was very long bythe time I finished with ten cards in total, decorated on both sides. Katie's colleagues loved it and I got many comments from people saying how unusual it was and something to treasure.

3D Wedding Card

Oops just recently found these photos lurking on a digital camera. Completely forgot I took them !

One of my work colleagues commissioned me to make a wedding card for her friends who were getting married in Jamaica and having a reception when they got back.

The bridesmaids were wearing dark green so I made a dress using a folding template from a magazine and used photos from the website of the hotel they were marrying in.





I made the inside of the card with a pop out heart and put some green paper in the background with peel of gold hearts on it.

The rubber stamp on the box is an Anita's one as are the peel offs used throughout the card.

The bride was amazed when she opened it as she couldn't work out how we had got the photos. Oh the power of the internet.

Photo Session

On Thursday I went to one of those Makeover and Photo shoot experiences which my hubby bought me as a present last year. I kept leaving it as I was a bit nervous about doing it and also wanted to look as good as possible with losing weight.

I had my hair cut, and my nails done and full make-up and then onto the photo shoot. At all points they are trying to get you to buy what they are using on you. The makeup alone would have cost over £200 . The whole process took about 4 hours.

I had photos taken with and without my glasses and changed into 3 different outfits. The photographer was great and put me at ease, getting me to do allsorts of different poses with different backgrounds. I was bricking it at first but soon got into it and my smiles became more natural.

You look at the photos on a monitor afterwards and we had 55, we whittled these down to 20 I was happy with. I'd asked about putting them onto a disc but you are paying for the copyright of the images and 20 cost £1400, obviously no way I was going to pay that much. I'd prepaid £100 which gives you £200 on the day and got a free 7" x 5" photo with the session anyway. This would have meant I could have 5 photos without paying any more money.

We were more ruthless with cutting it back and brought it down to 9. I'd paid a £25 refundable deposit to make sure I kept to the appointment so she said if I paid another £75 she would do me another 4 photos. I thought this was quite good as she was matching what it would have been if I had prepaid.

The bad news is I have to wait about 5 weeks for the photos and they are sent in the post by recorded delivery thankfully!

They will be worth it though as I looked so pretty. I honestly never thought it would be possible for me to look as nice as I did. Most are with my glasses off and it has made me more determined to move over to contacts with the ultimate goal to have laser treatment done in the future.

All in all it was a great experience and I want my photos NOW !!!

Building Work + Fridge Freezer

We've got builders in at home at the moment and there is dust everywhere. Having to be very careful with electrical items making sure they are covered up and doors closed.

We have a small extension at the back of the house and it was literally breaking away from the main house. When it initially happened we had to pay for a survey and the chap said he thought it was a problem with the foundations due to drains. This report was submitted to the insurance company and they got their own engineers involved. For over a year they have been monitoring the movement and said it is subsidence caused by insubstantial foundations on the affected section.

Well work finally commenced last week and guess what ? The sewage pipes were cracked and that is what was causing the problem. We are hoping this now means we do not have to pay the £1000 policy excess and they will re-assess the claim.

We have just had the fridge freezer repaired after being without it for over 2 months, the novelty has not worn off yet that we have proper refrigeration after such a long time without it.

VERY bad blogger

To be honest, this last month has been a bit of a bummer.

There has been good, but there has also been bad.

I went to see The Ting Tings on concert and they were absolutely brilliant. Small intimate gig 2 days after their single went to number 1 in the charts and they were fantastic. Love their album, really upbeat pop with catchy tunes.

Unfortunately the bad is that I have had another Sciatica attack. Fortunately I could tell the warning signs so was able to get to the doctors and do something about it before I completely seized up. I am very grateful that it is something that I do not suffer with all the time, how people with chronic back pain put up with it every day I really do not know.

At it's worst I was not getting very much relief from the painkillers, very little sleep maybe 1 - 2 hours per night for over a week. That was a killer, I just cannot function very well without at least 6 hours a night as it makes me really cranky (sorry to my darling husband ) The painkillers also made my digestive habits go off kilter and I was having trouble with certain painful side effects. I even blistered the small of my back with a hot water bottle (how dumb was that?)

Mobility was affected and I couldn't get comfortable a lot of the time in whatever position I was in. Constant cramping, numbness & pins and needles in my right leg were an unwelcome companion. I had tickets to see Chubby Brown and I had to send Paul with our friend as there was no way I could have sat still all that time. I was gutted as I'd booked the tickets before Christmas and really wanted to see him.

So anyway, I'm almost back to normal. Have took myself off the painkillers and some days I am in a lot of discomfort, but it is definitely easing up. I can't wait to start going back to the gym :)

The worst of it was when I am not feeling well I just lose my mojo completely. I think it is because I put a little bit of me in everything that I make and I only want to pass on the good things.

So expect lots of updates as I have some nice projects I've made to upload, plus lots to tell you.

New Baby exploding Box for Helen

One of my work colleagues Helen asked me to make and exploding box for imminent the birth of her baby nephew.

She wanted me to make it the same colouring as the previous one, but to make it personal we encorporated the details of the baby's big brother.

It would appear that baby projects are quite popular at the moment as you will soon see.

I used many embellishments to decorate the flaps of the box and Helen was absoloutely delighted with it.

I have made the slideshow below to showcase all the pictures.

Double Challenge Card

Now, I'm not usually too good at this sort of thing but I have made a card that satisfies 2 different challenges !

Over on Just Bex there is a Challenge Week and so far there have been loads of lovely challenges to get our mojo's stimulated. This is the card I have made for the Zest Appeal challenge which asked for a flower, ribbon, scallop and bling in zesty colours.

Another forum I visit has also got some challenges and this is in the Bright & Beautiful category.

The card is a Let's Make Cards one, paper is a freebie from a magazine, ribbon is Anita's, flower is HOTP, bling is freebies. Glitter butterflies and leaf sequin from stash. The tag is a printable scrapbook freebie, I have no idea who the author is as I printed it out last year and didn't use them !!

Love this brighter weather, it makes it so much easier to make brighter projects as your state of mind is sunnier in general.

Went to See Adele in Concert

On Sunday 4th May Paul and I went to see Adele at the Alexandra Theatre in Birmingham and she was absolutely fantastic.

I loved her first single and was soooo impressed with her voice. I was gutted when I realised she was playing a small gig at the Glee Club and it was sold out. Just when it was announced she was up for a Brit award this extra date was announced and I knew I wanted to go straight away. Paul initially didn't seem to be very enthusiastic about going so I booked it just for me and then he said he wanted to go to so I sorted out a ticket for us both.

I've never been to the Alex before and the best tickets in the middle seemed to be in the dress circle. We were right in the middle and the stage seemed really close.

The support act Elviin was really good. Never heard of him but really strong voice and was well impressed.

Adele was just blooming amazing. So good that Paul was impressed ( I knew he would like her !! MEN!) Her voice was amazing and she was exactly in tune. If anyone gets a chance to see her live you must do it, she was very good. The above piccie is courtesy of Paul's phone !

Bad Blogger !!!

Been really busy at work this last week so have been a bad blogger.

Been doing the 6am - 3.30pm shift due to staffing holidays and have been managing all the day to day running and planning of the day transport shift and it has been so tiring. I am doing my full job plus elements of 2 other peoples and it is good experience for me, but my body clock is all messed up as a result. Got up at 4.43am this morning and just could not get back to sleep !

Will have to catch up with a lot of stuff today as a result.

Di Hickman April #5 Guest Designer Card

This is the card I have made for my final Guest Designer slot on Di Hickman's blog.

I have really enjoyed doing these as it has made me try new techniques and push myself a bit.

I made this card to give to my hubby as he started a 3 day computer course today and is stopping over at a friends for the duration. I wanted to give him something that he could take with him to tell him how proud I am of him and how much I love him and miss him.

The base card was a lighter brown than I wanted so I darkened the edges using my trusty walnut Tim Holtz pad. I ran DCWV cardstock through the Heart Blocks Cuttlebug folder, sanded it back to the white core using a cheap emery board and used the distressing pad all over the embossing.

The square panels are from a vintage Papermania shapes caddy. The hearts are cut from the DCWV cardstock and the rub on letters are from my stash. The ribbon is a chocolate velvet from Paperchase and feels lovely :) The sentiment panel was made using Debbi Moore Metal Magic embossing powder. This is the firts time I have used it and I'm not completely happy with it. One layer was perfectly smooth but I did this with 2 layers and it didn't seem to melt as well. I will have to do a bit more practising with it I think. The stamp used is from Docrafts.

Paul loved my card and has took it away with him. He will be back on Friday night, we will have the Bank Holiday weekend together and he has got a couple of days off work next week.

I've Been Tagged !

By Jenny

1. If a movie was being made of your life who would you like to be cast to play yourself? And why?

Oh my god, I would never think of a question like this ! I have and am changing so much as a person I would have no idea who could portray that. Probably someone like Julia Roberts who is an actress I admire and has proven over the years how much she has changed too.

2. You are spending a whole month on a desert island for charity and you have to choose your favourite celebrity to spend the first two weeks with & your least favourite celebrity to spend the second two weeks with, who would they be & why?

My favourite celebrity to spend time on a desert island would be survival expert Ray Mears. He would ensure that I would always have something to eat and would be safe. He would build a nice hut and would know everything about the local wildlife and fauna. I saw him do a talk at the Birmingham Town Hall and he was absolutely fascinating, but also very humble.

The worst one would be Amy Winehouse. I weas one of the unfortunate people who saw her in concert at The NIA in Birmingham in October. She didn't come on stage until 9.45pm and she was absolutely pickled. Staggering all over the place and getting upset all the time because of her husband. I totally dislike the persona she has become and think it would do her good to be away from all the outside influences and de-tox. Then hopefully she would go back to being the extremely talented young lady with the fantastic voice that she USED to be.

3. What are your three favourite crafting products?

My rotatrim edgemaster with it's patterned blades

Sissix Big Shot as I can use all manufacturers dies and embossing folders with it.

Patterned paper

4. If you could invent something to do anything what do you think it would be?

I wish I could make something to zap all the sadness and badness in the world away.

5. What are the last three books that you read?

Lose Weight by Alan Carr

A Place Called Here - Cecelia Ahern

Daddy's Little Girl - Julia Latchem Smith (totally messed me up, brought back a lot of memories and now realise I can't read books like this again!)

6. QVC or create & Craft?

Definitely QVC ! Create and Craft is rubbish and I have NEVER bought anything off there.

7. Docrafts or Dovecraft or DCWV?

Oh No, that is really hard as I love them all. Probably Docrafts as they are the most affordable and their stuff has got sooooo much better over the years.

8. What is your claim to fame?

I did a music keyboard workshop at school with Orbital before they became famous.

I'm passing this on to:

Will have to have a think about it and will add names later

Di Hickman April #4 Guest Designer Card

The latest sketch on Di Hickman's blog is well balanced and I wanted to make something colourful which would cheer someone up.

I have had this sentiment by R. Penn as a digital download for sometime and have not used it before but think it is great for a RAK card. I used a Sakura glitter pen to colour the flower and draw the wiggly line on the sentiment.

The paper is HOTP, the ribbons, rub ons and brad are Papermania and the flowers are Prima daisies (which I would like in every colour please !)

The design team cards are really bright this week for the most part so hopefully that is a sign of mojo's returning now the days are getting brighter :)

It will be my last week as a guest designer next week. I have really enjoyed my stint and hope I will get a chance to do something similar in the future.

Di Hickman April #3 Guest Designer Card

This is the card I made for Di Hickman's 3rd April sketch.

When I saw the sketch at first I wasn't sure what to do with it. I purchased some new papers (like as if I NEED any more - naughty Mandy) which were the Laura Ashley Contemporary collection from Dovecraft. The soft tones of the blues and greens I felt would go nicely together with some likkle birdies that I had downloaded from a very talented digital artist Imagine by Fran. Please take a look at her blog, she is soooo clever. Her blog is in both French and English so don't be frightened when you first take a look !

The layers of card were inked around the edges using a Brilliance Pearlescent inkpad and I used a clear Sakura glitter pen to go round the edge of the birdie and the wavy edge panel in the centre. The sentiment is a rub on that was a freebie with a magazine.

I sent this card to a forum buddy for a RAK which I hope she will like. It's quite different from my usual style, almost seems too grown up and subtle for one of mine !

This is one of the first cards I have made which is hybrid, combining downloads intended for digital scrapbooking and printing them to use for projects. I subscribe to DigiFree and that is a great source of freebies by some extremely talented people. All they ask is that you give them some love by leaving some comments about their work. Many of them are just so blooming clever it really amazes me that they would do it for free. Just goes to show how generous the crafting community can be.

Visited Buxton

Did my longest drive to date today when Paul and I visited Buxton.

We were supposed to be going with friends camping in Wales, but it got cancelled on Friday morning. I had been looking forward to my first long distance drive and I was disappointed. A work colleague suggested we go to the Peak District and as I have never been before I did a little research on the net and we decided to go to Buxton. It was about 90 minutes driving each way, most of it motorway and fast A roads so it was a good chance to give the car a decent run too.

Some of the roads were so steep that my little car couldn't cope and I had to go up one in 1st gear. At the top of this huge hill we drove into a cloud !!! How cool was that ?

The views across the Peak District were absolutely stunning. It was such a shame that I was driving though as I couldn't take much of it in (for obvious reasons !) Paul took some pictures with the window open on the way back. I was driving at 50 miles an hour and they have come out really well. I will add some to my blog when downloaded and re-sized.

We hadn't really planned much when we got to Buxton except to go and have a meal somewhere. It seemed very quiet and we were looking round for somewhere to park up and saw a sign for Poole Cavern & Nature walk so decided to take a look. It turned out to be a guided tour of an underground cave and it was absolutely brilliant. We went for a walk through the woods and when we got to the top the views were worth the perilous walk through the mud.

On the way back down I slipped on my bum and got loads of mud on my trousers. We heard a woodpecker, but unfortunately couldn't see it. I was delighted as I have never heard one before except on TV. It seemed really loud too.

Not expecting to go tramping through the forest as we did, neither of us took hiking boots. I cannot drive in trainers at all so I had a change of shoes in the car anyway, but Paul didn't. Our trainers were absolutely caked in mud so Paul took his off and we couldn't really go for a meal with as much mud on us as we had so we had a few nibbles in the car and set off back home.

I am sooooo tired now, but really, really enjoyed today. It was so nice to get out for the day with Paul and he said he was proud of my driving today. I have a feeling we will be going out more often !

Angie & Ian's Engagement + Di Hickman April #2 Guest Designer Card

This is the second card I have made as a Guest Designer on Di Hickman's site. If you have not visited her site before I would urge you to take a look. It always amazes me how differently people can interpret the same sketch. Different use of materials and techniques along with some amazingly talented people make some great cards full of inspiration.

One of my work colleagues has just got engaged and I wanted to make her a special card to mark the occasion and thought this sketch would be perfect.

The backing paper is a wrapping paper from Paperchase. They do some fabulous papers, always fashionable and very good value when you consider you get the equivalent of 8 sheets of A4 paper for between £1 and £2. I love to pop into their shops when I go to Birmingham and see what I can pick up.

I used a small Cuttlebug folder for the embossed image and cut out a scallop circle using my Nestabilities dies. I love these and I am considering purchasing some different shapes.

The charm is from Claire's Accessories. I love going into this shop when they have a sale on as you CAN pick up some pretty cool stuff quite cheaply. Although most of their things are sold as ear-rings, phone charms or hair accessories if you think outside the box you can get some fabby little items for next to nothing. I once had over 30 items for £5 and when I took them apart had loads of bits for my cards.

Phil's Retirement + Di Hickman Jan #3

I needed to make a card for an old work colleague who was retiring.

I based it on a sketch Di Hickman did in January but twisted some of the elements to fit.

I used Cuttlebug folders to emboss the circles and the Congratulations text which I also inked with silver to define the words.

The image is a Penny Black Stickeroo. Got a few sheets of assorted designs and not used them before. I love how there are no defined edges to the clear background so it is almost impossible to tell it is a sticker !

The sentiment is a chipboard embellishment from a QVC TSV. I inked around the edges and was so pee'd off as I'd smudged it so I ended up distressing it more to cover up the mistake. I covered it with 3 layers of UTEE and sprinkled glamour dust glitter into the last layer. I then bent it gently to crack the surface.

He absolutely loved it and was pleased that I had made it especially for him. I worked with him for 11 years and he is a lovely guy.

Guest Designer Di Hickman April #1

I am a guest designer for the whole of this month on Di Hickman's site and this is the first card which has been published on her blog today.

I was really excited when I saw that mine was the 1st one under the samples she had done. It's a bit of a wow moment for me as I never think what I do is good enough as there are so many much better card makers than me and I am constantly amazed by their creativity.

I made the card for my friend at work and he loved it, although he wasn't terribly happy that I was announcing to the world how old he was.... that made me laugh!

The card was made using my currently most used Dovecraft Masculine paper pack, Making Memories Cosmopolitan, some brads from Docrafts, some peeloffs coloured black on a scrap of gold cardstock and a sentiment from Let's Make Cards. The papers and card were distressed around the edges using a Tim Holtz ink pad in Antique Walnut.

I'd better get working on next week's sketch now :)

Went Tobogganing !!

To celebrate a friend's birthday, a small group of us went to Tamworth Snowdome yesterday to go tobogganing down the indoor slope. It was a last minute thing so I went home at dinnertime and got some clothes for me an hubbie and we got changed at work.

Had an absolutely brilliant time !!! It cost £8 for 30 minutes and it was the best fun I have had as an adult. I have got 3 bruises, got absolutely soaked, crashed out of the toboggan and tumbled down the slope much to the amusement of my boss !!! but it was the most brilliant adrenalin rush and I wanted to do it again. I was really looking forward to it but it was so much better than I EVER imagined. It was just like being a kid again sliding down the snow covered grass banks at Bramley Park in Leeds

I can't wait until we go next time, hopefully we will go at the weekend and be able to do an hour. I was completely buzzing all day today !. We are trying to get a big group of us from work going as it will be a great laugh.

Got a couple of pictures on the digital camera which I will post very soon.