BLOG AWARDS....

I have been a very poor blogger this week...just haven't had the inclination...but here I am on Sunday filling in a bit of time before picking Libby up from extra dance practice (Modern exam coming up) and giving them a quick lunch before dropping Ellie of for her extra dance practice...

Last week I received THREE blog awards so I thought it was about time I passed them on...

The first two were from Sonja and Erika...

So I have to tell you 8 interesting facts about myself which may be tricky as I am not sure they are that interesting...

1. I took up crafting properly just over 9 years when I found out how much wedding invitations cost and decided to do my own

2. I used to be able to sit on my hair it was so long

3. I have been with Allan for 21 years at the end of March

4. Morgan and Ellie (my first two children) have the same birthday one year apart and there is only 9 minutes between their birth times

5. I love 'proper' coffee/cappuccino/latte, etc but the smell of instant coffee makes me want to throw up

6. I did the Moon Walk 4 years ago in 6 hours and 50 minutes

7. I went to see Bryan Adams in concert when I was 7 1/2 months pregnant and was right at the front

8. I wish i had more self confidence and belief in myself...

So that's that bit done...now i have to pass it on to 7 people who inspire me...

1. Christy Thomlinson 2. Ponderings 3. Red Lead 4. Unity Stamp Co 5. Paper Turtle 6. LilyBean's Paperie 7. ReVamp

I know most of these are commercial blogs but the do inspire me and that's what the award is all about...

The next one I received was from Susan...

and I am passing this one onto.....

Sonja...we have very similar taste in craft although there is a lot that I like but she doesn't and vice versa

Kath...I love her very inspired cards

Anne...her sewing skills are fabulous

Judy...her cards never cease to amaze me and for some reason we have this uncanny knack of coming up with the same ideas at the same time

Darcy...I like the fact she has her own style and isn't afraid to use it..Pencils through her ear springs to mind...lol

Kate...I wish I could lay down colour as good as she can...

So that's it for now...I do have some crafty stuff to show but not done photos yet as the light has been so poor these last few days (what am I talking about it's been the last few months!!!)...it has been constantly pouring with rain and dull and overcast...

Thank you to all the ladies who left me these awards....xxx

VINTAGE STYLE SEWING NOTEPAD

A little altered shoppers notepad...I love taking these really cheap little boring notepads and making them into something a little bit special... The papers are by....I can't remember...but are the same ones I used to make my paper wreath which must have been pre-blogging days as I this is the only reference I can find to it!!! Think they might be Kay and Co (double sided)... The dressmakers form and sentiments are Hero Arts...

the seam bind is from Prairie Bird Boutique...I have just ordered the Marie Antoinette and the Victorian Beauty bundles as it's so lush...

I ventured into stitching it all together and am quite pleased with how it turned out...I can see the sewing machine being used a lot more in the future...anyway I have just added this to my Etsy shop...

Thanks for looking...
Kirsti xx

SIMPLY CREATE CHALLENGE...

If you hop on over to Simply Create you will notice that they have a fab challenge going on at the moment with 100 pounds of stash up for grabs...and if you hurry you still have time to enter...closing date is 14th February...

This is my entry...
I used an SVG template from Dan99 for the Cricut and cut out this gorgeous wee house...it is actually a Christmas house in his description but I have made it a lovely Spring house for my project....

I used some cardstock from a pad by We R Memory Keepers that I picked up in TK MAXX last weekend for about 7 pounds...there are some gorgeous colours in it and it has a white core so is ideal for distressing...

I overstamped the house shape with the Tim Holtz brick stamp and then punched out some mini flowers and drew on the stems...

The roof is actually a piece of the blue cardstock but I coloured it with brown ink and then ran through the Big Shot with the woodgrain texture plate(borrowed from Sonja) and the eaves are made using the Scallop punch from Stampin' Up...

The butterfly is one I had left over from a couple of cards I made last week...It is a digi one from Hero Arts that I have had my eye on in the 'real life' set but wasn't so keen on the rest of the pack so bought this one instead...

Thanks for looking....

Kirsti xx

BIRTHDAY INVITATIONS...

The other week my friend Gaynor asked me if I would do some invitations for Layton's 5th birthday using the photographs from the Christmas cards she had left over...

She wanted them done on the same card as I had used for Niamh's birthday invites last year but I didn't have any left so I dug into my precious Stampin' Up 12"x12" Kraft card that I have been stroking for about 8 months now...I was really annoyed with myself tho as I wasted about 4 or 5 sheets between a cutting error and my printer not playing nicely...was really not a happy bunny as I hate waste!!!

Anyway this is what I came up with and Gaynor was so pleased with them...I started by printing the wording out(very stressful!) and then I cropped the photo from the old Christmas cards and used an EK Success punch to edge the bottom of them. I rounded all the corners and used the Tim Holtz splatter type stamp round then edges in Chocolate Chip by Stampin' Up and then stuck the photo on...I was really pleased how they turned out(I have deleted the date and contact details for obvious reasons!)...

I am getting quite a few orders through word of mouth at the moment so I am pondering whether having the Etsy shop is a good idea just now...I keep adding bits and pieces but not really selling anything...I have also been considering changing to Folksy since it is a British forum and I do think people are put of with Etsy being in $s even tho you can view in your own currency...What do you think? Does it put you of buying?

That's all for today...
Kirsti xxx

SIMPLY CREATE CHALLENGE...

Just a quick reminder to get yourself over to Simply Create to check out the challenge...100 pound voucher up for grabs...so why not have a go...


Sorry not been around for a while - had a really busy weekend and ALL my kids have had the sickness bug since Sunday so I have been cleaning up and tending sick kids all week...hopefully the last one will be back to school tomorrow so normal service can resume!!!