Hand Crafted Memories

Since I last posted I've been working and sleeping pretty much all of the time. A couple of weeks ago I had horrible flu that put me in my bed for three days, the furthest I ventured was the kitchen for a drink. Since then I cannot seem to shale off this horrible cough and cold. I've been trying to convince myself I'm fine but as soon as I get in from work all my energy has gone and all I want to do is get in bed. Today I am determined not to give in to it and I will do some crafting, or at the very least finish something off. Last Sunday was my monthly class at the Craft Box , as always a lovely day with ladies that made me laugh. We made this page one lady said that the little roses on the bottom left of the picture looked like eyes and now every time I look at them I see eyes. Now to make a cup of tea and plant myself in my craft room.

While I have been blog hopping and pinning on Pinterest , I have discovered Texture PAte. Now its probably been out there for years but I've seen some very effective scrapbook pages that have used it. I inherited a pot from somebody who was throwing it away and I invested in a couple of masks and made a couple more. My first attempt was on the page I showed for the blog hop, it can be seen under the vines.  Last night I made a card and I kind of like it. This is not my normal style and I think I'm still getting to grips with the whole mixed media style, but I kind of like it. The jury is still out and I think I need to play a lot more to find my comfort zone with the paste but its definitely worth persevering.

On Monday morning I took part in the UKScrappers blog hop , who would have predicted the response to the flowers I had made for the layout. In particular the rose vine. I was flabbergasted, but promised I would let everybody know how I had done it. If anybody does make one of these vines please could you credit me and if posted in a blog I would appreciate a link back to me. I was absolutely inspired by the gorgeous Prima vines , I have purchased many but due to the cost they remain in my stash, I am too frightened to use them because they are not cheap. They fall into the category of  'waiting for a special projrect'. This made me challenge myself to see if i could make something similar.  Firstly you will need to gather your supplies Florist wires florist paper tape paper flowers - they need to have a 'tail' on them, I used these card stock to make leaves either a leaf punch or die to cut leaves, I used these distress ink   Cut as many leaves as you

Welcome to the UKS Spring BlogHop! I hope you are all enjoying some lovely spring weather. You may have come to me from JimJams blog and her stunning mini book. If you lose your way, or have dropped in on me directly and want to follow the hop, you can see the full list with all the links here . ETA Remember to comment on each blog and then go back to UKS and comment there to be in with a chance of winning a £25 voucher, I am offering a vine for commetners on this blog. It is important that you include your UKScrappers name in your comment.   I have created a page with some handmade flowers, I was inspired by the beautiful Prima branches, as usual I looked at them and thought I bet I could make those. This was my first attempt and I'm pretty pleased with myself. Also on the layout you should spot a lovely voile flower, some tiny pearl flowers and a couple of blossoms made from scallop circle punches. Although the bought flowersand vines are beautiful if you need to use

This weeks challenge set by Winter Wonderland is not to use red or green on your project. Easy I thought, but I can't tell you how often I reached for my green pens, especially when it came to the tree. I could at least reach for one of my lovely Lili of the Valley stamps and relax with some Promarker colouring. If you are around tomorrow come back and join in the UK Scrappers blog hop.

The challenge this week on Winter Wonderland is 'lots of Spots', now this one was really a challenge. I finally managed to include them on the background and the ribbon that I used. I've had this image for a while but only just got round to using it. Its very cute but the areas for colouring are very small, thank goodness for the fine nibs on my Promarkers .

I recently had 12 days holiday from work, this is unheard of for me. Usually I take only one week at a time, but I had leave that needed to be used up and decided to take it all at one. This of course left me with plenty of time to craft. I had recently seen some great ideas posted on You Tube   and Kathy Orta has a website where she sells the tutorials . I treated myself to a couple and set about making them. The instructions were well written and the projects were detailed enough to keep me busy for quite a few days. Yesterday I finished the first one, a recipe box for my friend. She has been talking about making a folder for recipes but has never got around to making it. This one includes a folder for recipes pulled out of magazines and an index type arrangement for recipe cards. There is also a drawer to hold a pen and spare index cards. I chose the papers as they reminded me of old fashioned tiles and Delft tiles . She has already seen the box and loves it, I just couldn't le

Is anybody looking for a retreat? Well there is a new one on the scene its Paper Haven Retreats. They are offering a full weekend of papercrafting that will cover cardmaking, scrapbooking and off the page projects. All made with fabulous Stampin Up products. Go and have a look at the details it may be just what you are looking for.

At last we have had a few days of sun, its a little warmer but I still have snow in my front garden, my first daffodil is open in my garden, could this be spring? It seems a bit odd then for me to be posting a Christmas card, but I like playing along with the Winter Wonderland Challenge every week. This week it was to include a star on the project. I've embossed the background with stars and there are stars in the garland holding the stockings. The photo is not the best, but I'll try and retake it when there is some better light.