My Finished 'Dottie Angel' Blanket.............

Yippeee,it's Friday and tomorrow Paige and I are off to the seaside for the week,Mick can't take any time off work but hopefully he will join us Thursday evening with Jodie for the last couple of nights. I will be taking a blog break as there's no WiFi and I'll be lucky if I get any phone reception so will catch up with everyone when I get back.
Last weekend I told you that my crocheted blanket was nearly finished,it is now complete. I'd been trying to teach myself to crochet and to follow a pattern when I saw this blanket on Tif's blog The Ramblings of a Dottie Angel. I can honestly say that Tif's tutorial on this blanket got me on the road to crocheting,it was so easy to follow with clear,concise instructions.I got the crocheted doily pattern from Crochet Spot where you can find lots of great patterns.

I've got a couple of WIP's on the go,here's a quick look.

I'm making a large aran afghan using granny squares,nice and easy and grows very quick,I'm using this lovely colourful yarn.

Also I've got a colourful cushion cover on the go.

Have a great weekend and I'll be back with you when I'm back from my holiday.

xxxxDebxxxx

My 44th Birthday.................

I turned 44 on Monday and feel so blessed for everything that has come my way in those 40 odd years. I had a very safe,happy childhood,met and married my husband who treats me like a princess and I know sometimes it looks like I don't appreciate him but I do.I've had my gorgeous girls and have made lots of wonderful friends along the way, including my lovely  blog friends.
 I went shopping during the day with my girls,mom,sister and baby niece,I treated them all to a full english breakfast,mmmm,then the shopping began.I bought myself a wide legged jumpsuit,full on 70's style, for the night out.On the evening we met some friends and went for a meal,we all had a great time and Di bought a birthday cake for me and Paige (her birthday is on Thursday) everybody sang Happy Birthday,I loved it and there were lots of silly photo's taken on the mobile phones.

*warning photo heavy post*

Here's my  present off my hubby and girls, which was a real surprise, I kept saying I'd love a teepee ever since I went to my friends birthday party last month and they'd got one in the garden. This one is a Cath Kidston TeePee and I love it. I think Mick might be trying to get rid of me,every night he says I should sleep in it and try it out !!! Paige and I are off to the seaside next week so I will be taking it with us.

Here's some more of my prezzies from my lovely friends and family.

 Libby and Rach bought me a gorgeous scrapbooking kit and a Cath Kidston mug in a tin for the crop.

Cath Kidston bag from Di,Dunc and family.

  Books from My Girls

An extra large Cath Kidston mug,CK diary and some CK tissues from Kerry.

Paper weight and necklace which matched my jumpsuit perfectly from Michelle,Colin & family

 CK pin cushion from my little friend Bella

a beautiful Monsoon basket also from My Girls

 Then this morning the postman knocked the door with a parcel from the lovely Kirsty,all the way from Vegas.

I was so touched that she thought of me especially knowing I love anything from Tim Holtz,she sent me an extra large Configurations Print Tray,I can't wait to make a start on it.She also sent me the gorgeous card,thank you so much,Kirsty, I love it !!!!
I had so many beautiful handmade cards from my friends and would like to thank everyone for all the cards and presents. I had a wonderful birthday !!!!

xxxxDebxxxx

Stampin'Up Gift Basket and more......................

Last night I did a Stampin'Up workshop at my friend Libby's house,it went really well and everybody seemed to have a good time.There was a lot of laughter and quite a lot of wine flowing, Libby's husband even made a card which all the ladies loved,he took to stamping like a duck to water. I made some new samples using some of the Sizzix dies from the mini catalogue.

I made this for Libby as a thank you for hosting the workshop,she'd been asking me to make her a crocheted apple cosy so I made a little basket to put it in. The pretty basket is made using the Sizzix Scallop Envelope die,I cut four in white and then another four in patterned paper for the scalloped edge flap.I adhered the sides and bottom together,the handle is made using the Scallop Trim Border punch and grosgrain ribbon. I cut three daisies out using the Sizzix Daisies #2,layered them and added a button to the centre.They would make great Easter baskets or teacher gifts. I saw something similar on someones blog but can't find where I saw it but if anybody knows please let me know so I can give credit.

I made one of these fun treat bags and sent one to Theresa for her birthday, the top of the bag was made using the Sizzix Top Note die,folded in half and decorated using SU Party This Way stamp set. They are very quick to make and ideal for childrens party bags.

Lastly I made a  box using the Sizzix Pillow Box die,this would make a great wedding favour box decorated in the wedding colours or a fab little jewelery gift box.
Enjoy the rest of the weekend.
xxxxDebxxxx

Flower Power...................Stampin'Up Style

Hi Folks,everybody looking forward to the weekend. It's my 23rd Wedding Anniversary tomorrow, I've known my husband for 30 years and started dating him 28 years ago when I was just 15 years old. It sounds such a long time ago but the time has just whizzed by. We're not very romantic so won't be doing anything special but it is my birthday on Monday so are going out then with friends.
 This week over at The Shabby Tea Room it is week #70 and this week's challenge is 'Flower Power',here's the inspiration photo and you just need to make a project using flowers and the colours,red,pink and neutral.

Here's my take on the challenge.

All products are Stampin'Up.
 Supplies Used
Die-Bigz Scallop Envelope
Papers-Love Letter,Springtime Vintage
 Ribbon-Seam Binding
Stamps-SU Butterfly Prints,SU Always Elegant
 Other-Paper Daisies,Butterfly Punch,Rhinestone brads.

 Have a great weekend whatever you're up to.I'm just finishing off my crocheted blanket and will hopefully show you all sometime over the weekend,I love it.

 xxxxDebxxxx

Stampin'Up Scrapbook Page..............

Today I have done a LO using Stampin'Up products and a sketch from Sketchabilities.

My LO:

These photo's were taken on Jue's birthday outing last April,four of us went to Shrewsbury for the day and had such fun time. I love this sketch with all the circles and just thought it needed lovely bright colours so I chose to use SU Sweet Stitches.I punched circles out using all different sizes and some On Board Mix & Match chipboard. I stamped the splodges using one of the stamps from French Foliage,I just love that stamp set.
Enjoy the rest of the day and I will hopefully be back tomorrow.

 xxxxDebxxxx

My Crocheted Cushion Cover.................

I hope you are all having a good weekend,I've a great day today which I'll tell you about but first things first,I said on Thursday that I had nearly finished my crocheted cushion cover well it's finished and I'm so pleased with it in fact I love it and can't stop looking at it,lol. I taught myself to crochet a couple of months ago and have made a few small items but this is my first large finished project.

I bought this book called Cute and Easy Crochet by Nicki Trench.

There are some adorable projects in this book and is where I got the pattern  for the Wavy Striped Cushion. I didn't use the yarn they suggested but some that I had already had which is Sirdar Sublime  baby cotton kapok dk and a #5 hook. There are so many things I want to make from this book but want to finish my blanket first and also Kerry and Libby want me make them an apple cosy !!!!
Now about my day,I've been on a 3hour intensive photography course with Libby and Kerry which was run by SF Digital Photography. I've got a bridge camera and never take it off automatic so I just wanted to know the basics and start using manual. I think the three of us can say we have learnt a lot today and won't be using automatic again. We only had three hours but Oz got everything in that we needed to know so now it's just a matter of practise makes perfect. We had an hour outside to put into practise what we had learnt, my photo's are nowhere near perfect but are so much better than what they were.
Here are a few I took:

I'm really pleased with some of the photo's after only one hour tutuition as the only editing I've done is some cropping and I'm sure I can only get better with time.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend and thanks for taking the time to look.

 xxxxDebxxxx

Christmas in July...............

It's week #64 over at City Crafter Challenge Blog and the challenge is called Birds of a Feather so you need to use a bird or birdcage on your project.
I decided to go with a Christmas card as I've got some vintage style postcards called Holiday Birds which I've had for years and really need to use them instead of just keep looking at them.

The fabric holly leaves are Prima and the paper are just leftovers from my scrap box,I added some lace and some distressed seam binding.
Have a great Saturday whatever you're up to.
xxxxDebxxx

HAPPY BIRTHDAY,THERESA............and a blog hop to celebrate.

The lovely Theresa is one of the co-founders of the fabulous challenge blog Scrapbookers Anonymous,it was actually her birthday on the 29th June but she was working away from home so couldn't celebrate,so we decided to have a birthday blog hop for her over at Scrapbookers Anonymous today. Theresa's birthday really hasn't gone to plan this year as she was due to have a Birthday Crop today at her LSS but it had to be cancelled because of renovation work, so Theresa I hope this makes your birthday a bit more special and whatever you do today to celebrate have a wonderful time. This card is sent to you with love and best wishes.

Hope you can pop over to Theresa's blog and leave her some love,also check out the cards that her other friends have created for her.

Scrapbookers Anonymous 

Deb (your here)

Karen 

Marit 

Julie TW 

Frank 

Anne Pennington 

Lynnda 

Keshet 

Lydia 

Eli 

Julie J 

Sue 

Yara 

Lea 

Lena 

 

Thanks for looking and hope you will join in the fun. Have a great weekend !!!!

 xxxxDebxxxx

Red,Pink and White LO.............

I love pink and red together and this week over at CR84FN their colour challenge is red,pink and neutral,perfect.

What a great inspiration board,love that cake !!!! I decided to do a LO for this colour challenge as I haven't been doing any scrapbooking lately. I also used a sketch that I found on Kirsty Wiseman's blog,she does an online crop every Wednesday evening 8-10pm on UStream and the sketch was last night's challenge. If your on Facebook check out Kirsty Wisemans Wednesday Night Online Crop and join the group. I only discovered it this morning and will hopefully join in next week. I LOVE this sketch !!!!!

 Here's my LO:

The papers are The Girls Paperie and Crate Paper,the punched border is using a Martha Stewart punch and the pink alpha's are from The Girl Paperie sticker pad,love these and have a few now,there are so many elements in one book.
We had some gorgeous weather in the U.K. over the weekend so spent a lot of time outdoors and not in my craft room but I did do some crochet while I was sat in the garden. I started a cushion cover and have nearly finished it so will show you all in a couple of days.Here's a little look though of the colours  I've used.

We also visited Bewdley over the weekend,we had some lunch by the river and then went into the town to look at some of the quaint shops. I went into an antique/interiors shop and bought this cute handmade quilt and cushion for the garden bench,I just couldn't resist.

TFL.

xxxxDebxxxx

40th Birthday Card...........

I hope everyone had a good weekend and that my U.S. friends enjoyed the 4th July,I saw some of the photo's on Facebook,it looked fun.It was my friend's birthday a couple of weeks ago but I haven't had chance to show you the card I made for him. I've said before about struggling with male cards but I was really pleased with this one.

It is a very simple card using large chipboard numbers covered with some October Afternoon map paper.

Here's another quick and simple card that I made using Stampin'Up products,this card has some Love Heart sweeties in the clear heart Treat Cup. I think this is card is suitable for a kids card or an adult card.

Supplies used

Stamps-SU Sweethearts,
Punch-Full Heart Extra Large
Other-Heart Treat Cups

 It's Tuesday Tutorial over at Scrapbookers Anonymous,take a look how Sue put together her LO using her least favourite colour.. She gives some great tips so I hope it inspires you to enter this month's challenge and get the chance to win a great prize.Also take a peek at her blog too,she's a great story teller and has some wonderful childhood memories,check it out on a Friday with her Friday Picks,there's some great links.

Thanks for taking the time to look,I appreciate it.
xxxxDebxxxx

A.T.C. & Vintage Package Swap..........

A couple of weeks ago the challenge over at City Crafter Challenge Blog was to make an A.T.C. and as an optional extra you could take part in swapping your A.T.C. and some vintage goodies over at City Crafter Party Blog. My swap partner was Linda B, if you love handmade vintage cards check out Linda's blog  Hands to Work,Heart to Love,for some great inspiration.
Yesterday morning my parcel arrived all the way from the U.S.A.,I opened up the box and I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw all these pretty,little packages wrapped up in tissue paper and tied with beautiful lace and flowers.

Here's the beautiful A.T.C that I received from the swap.

and handmade card with a beautiful message.

Here's what was in those lovely wrapped packages.

I took great pleasure in opening each seperate package,I love every single item that Linda sent me and truly honoured that she sent me items that she has had for 30 years like the yellow calico,ecru cotton lace and the green sequin trim. The spoon was from an antique shop in Virginia,the photo doesn't do it justice,the embossed pattern is so pretty,take a look here at the card Linda created using a spoon from her collection. I just adore the little vintage mitten ornament,it will be displayed in my craft room for a while and then maybe I will use it on a LO but it will have to be a very special page.
I'm a regular reader of Linda's blog and every now and again she show's some of her husband's (also known as "The Penmaker") handmade pens which are absolutely stunning and I couldn't believe it when I saw that I had also been sent one of those amazing pens.

I can't put into words how I felt when I received this wonderful package and would like to thank Linda from the bottom of my heart,you are such a kind,caring,warm-hearted lady and hope that we will keep in touch and also a big thank you to "The Penmaker" for my gorgeous handmade pen.
Today is my friend's birthday so I would like to say "HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARIA",hope you have a good day. Of course I had to make her a birthday card with my new vintage goodies and that pretty 30 year old lace.

Do you think my photo's are looking brighter and better quality than what they use to? While I was around my friend Kerry's house the other day,I got talking to her dad,Tom,who is a keen photographer and I was saying my photo's on my blog always looked dark and not the true colours. He told me to take it off auto,lol and then told me what all the different settings did. Since then I have used it on manual and my photo's do seem to have got a little bit better.

Have a great weekend !!!!!
xxxxDebxxxx