My May Sunshine

You're a hoot card

2013-05-08T21:17:00.004+01:00

The past week has been quite a difficult week for me as my dad passed away suddenly and then my health has been giving me a lot of problems too. My dad and I weren't very close but it obviously was still a shock. So for these reasons, I just haven't been able to concentrate on crafting or blogging.

I did manage to make one card before last week and that was for our niece.

Monday was our niece's 21st birthday and as she loves owls, I thought I would use the Clearly Besotted You're a hoot stamp set.

I started with the patterned paper that is the lacey circle. From there, I chose the card and the ink.

The cute little owl with the polkadot heart is so cute. Love it.

As our niece loves owls, I bought her a cute little owl mug, only trouble was when Hollie saw it, she wanted one too!

Hope you are having a great week.

Washi Tape To Do List

2013-04-29T15:07:00.000+01:00

I love washi tape and I love to make lists, so I had this idea of combining them both to make some washi tape to do lists.

First I created a simple to do list in Microsoft word with lines, circles to allow you tick off the to do and a banner at the top with to do on it.

I put the banner at the top, slightly lower than the top to allow you to put some washi tape above it so then it would look like the banner was part of the washi tape design.

I also put some washi tape at the bottom of the paper to finish the list off.

I punched some holes in them so that I can put them in my blog planner but you could keep them together with a paper clip, binder clips or in a plastic pocket.

If you would like to make your own washi tape to do lists, then simply print off the printable below and get creative with your washi tape.

I have created two versions, one in a4 size and letter size and made them to fit the standard size washi tapes but you could try using thinner or thicker tape too.

Washi Tape to do list - A4 size

Washi Tape to do list - letter size

*Update*

If you like to change the to do, then here are the word documents:

A4.

Letter.

If you print one of these off, let me know how you get on with it.

As there are so many washi tapes out there, you could create some lovely colourful to do lists.

I love to see all the colours and it's a great way to use up a little bit of washi tape.

Do you love washi tape or writing lists? Let me know, I would love to hear.

Mojo Monday Sketch 290

2013-04-27T22:23:00.003+01:00

I love colour and if you look at my Pinterest boards, you will see they are full of colour but I also love the simplicity of white and I am really loving white and mint combo at the moment and so decided to use mint on this card.

I was going to use some butterflies or flowers on the little squares but they were too big so went with the little wooden hearts instead.

I inked the edges on the little squares lighter than on the sentiment because it wasn't until I had put the squares on the card that I realised that they were a bit bare.

Adding the white faux stitching, the heart gem and the crystal pin brought the card together.

I decided to use the Mojo Monday Sketch 290 for my inspiration.

Hope you are having a nice weekend.

Retro Sketches 60

2013-04-26T13:43:00.001+01:00

As the weather here has been getting a lot better I have been trying to start sorting out the garden. Last year I didn't do much in the garden and we have virtually no plants or flowers so I am trying to find ways to add some more colour and texture to the garden. Truly hope I managed to do more with the garden this year.

For today's card, I used the sketch 60 from Retro Sketches. This card came together quite quickly as there isn't too many things on the cards and love the wooden flowers on the card. I am really liking all the wooden embellishments that you can get.

As the patterned paper isn't across the whole card, I decided to ink the edges of the papers so that it didn't look so bare.

Paper - Crate Paper Story Teller | Stamps - Forever Friends Black and Gold | Ribbon - Hobbycraft | Brads - Making Memories | Wooden Flowers - Kars.

This is the sketch.

Hope you have a lovely weekend.

Deconstructed Sketch 98

2013-04-25T10:50:00.000+01:00

Today I have the card that I was making when I showed you my desk in yesterdays post.

I used the sketch 98 from Deconstructed sketches and used the paper pad I mentioned yesterday, that I had picked up in Homesense.

In the paper pad was a design which lent itself to being used as the main background as it already had three different patterns and some faux stitching.

The sentiment fitted nicely in the beige part of the paper and I also chose a patterned paper that match the colour of the stripes and stitching.

I was going to add some glitter to the butterfly but decided instead to just add a couple of gems.

Hope you have a lovely day.

Woyww 203

2013-04-24T16:43:00.000+01:00

On my desk today are the supplies that I have been using to make a card. I picked up an American Craft paper pad at HomeSense yesterday for £2.99 so I thought I would make a card using it and one of my Martha Stewart butterfly punches.

The finished card should be on my blog tomorrow.

Hope you are having a lovely week.

Happy Anniversary - Mojo Monday 288

2013-04-12T17:38:00.000+01:00

6 years ago today, my husband and I got married on the beautiful island of Malta.

It was a fabulous holiday, wedding and honeymoon all in one and we had quite a few of our family there to enjoy it with us.

So the card today is the card I made for my husband.

I used the Mojo Monday Sketch 288 for my inspiration and used the Clearly Besotted heart stamps for the images.

I added some glossy accents on the hearts to add some dimension and added some faux stitching to the banner shapes using a white gel pen.

Paper - Basic Grey Fly a kite | Card - Bazzil and American Crafts | Stamps - Clearly Besotted and Hero arts | Button - Hobbycraft | Sakura white gel pen.

Hope you have a good weekend.

Mojo Monday Sketch 287 - Purple heart birthday card

2013-04-06T16:35:00.001+01:00

We are half way through the school holidays and Hollie and I have been busy playing and crafting. Hopefully next week will be better weather so we can get in the garden, we can hope!

For this weeks Mojo Monday Sketch 287, I decided to use one of my new stamps from Clearly Besotted. The stamp set is called Love Hearts and I love the patterns on the hearts.

While testing out the stamps, I had used a purple ink and decided to use the purple and co-ordinate it with the Basic Grey Kioshi papers as it has some lovely purples and greens in it.

I did have the urge to add some stitching around the outside but decided there was enough going on on the card and seeing the card finished, I would have liked to ink the edges of the papers a little so they stand out more against the white.

Paper - Basic Grey Kioshi | Stamps - Amy R It's your birthday and Clearly Besotted Love Hearts | Label - Spellbinders Nestabilities label one | Butterflies - Martha Stewart punch | Gems - Hobbycraft.

Hope you have a lovely weekend.

WOYWW - 200

2013-04-03T17:35:00.002+01:00

My daughter has taken over my desk this week as she is on school holidays. We bought some more craft supplies last week so she would have things to keep her occupied the next two weeks.

She loves to use my punches and loves stickers and has a big box full of different crafty things too keep her entertained.

Hopefully I will get a chance to use the desk soon!

Hope you are having a great week.

Linking up to Julia at Stamping Ground.

Back of the cupboard finds

2013-03-30T18:58:00.000Z

At the end of last year, my grandma moved out of her house that she had been in for the last 20 years and while sorting out some cupboards, I came across a few things that I thought would be good to use.

My grandma was moving from a large bungalow to a small 1 bed apartment and also has Alzheimer's, so she didn't want, need or use most of the things that were in her house.

I decided that I would try and re purpose these items as really love to re purpose items even for things they weren't necessarily intended for.

Firstly I decided to use the glass jars to hold my craft supplies like Stickles glitter and flowers.

I thought the cake stand would be good to hold the growing amount of washi tape I have.

I wanted to get one of those floristry frogs, to display cards on, for a while and when I found one in the back of a cupboard, I just thought I would clean it up and put it to good use.

I used the little tray in the kitchen, the plate stand to hold my phone and the other items have yet to find a home.

It's great to be able to re purpose things instead of them being thrown away, which probably would have happened in this case, and was great to be able to find some things hidden in the back of some cupboards.

Have you come across any unexpected items when helping someone move or maybe in your own home? You never know what you are going to find when you empty a house that's been lived for years.

Hope you having a lovely Easter.

WOYWW 199

2013-03-27T12:07:00.000Z

On my desk today are things I am hoping will inspire me to make some more cards for kids. I realised I have no cards suitable for kids so I need to make some so I can have some on hand.

I have some Clearly Besotted stamps and the stampin up catalogue for inspiration, as now and again, I like to flick through the catalogue and find an idea which will spark off the inspiration for the rest of the card.

Also, seeing all the colours on my desk inspires me too.

I also have been thinking of things I can do/make with Hollie as today is her last day at school before the 2 week Easter holidays. Shame the weather doesn't look like it will be very good but I have been hunting out the Easter crafts in the pound shops and also looking on pinterest for things to occupy her.

Hope you are having a good week.

Linking up with Julia at Stamping Ground.

Hollie's version of the London Eye.

2013-03-25T13:14:00.000Z

Hollie is in the first year of school and has been getting regular homework. It usually is to draw something but this week it was to make something found in London as London has been the topic they have been studying.

Hollie decided to make the London Eye, so we had to get our thinking caps on for ways to make it.

We had lots of cardboard so that wasn't a problem, but the actual pods that people go in was tricky.

While going around the shops we spotted all the Easter items and came up with the plastic Easter eggs to be the pods. We also picked up some pipe cleaners for the spokes of the wheel.

Hollie had great fun painting the wheel and she decided the wheel needed to be red and the spokes needed to be purple.

We had to tape the eggs together as they kept popping open.

We had great fun making this and her teachers loved it.

See you soon.

Spring Cleaning Printable @ the Taylor House

2013-03-18T22:39:00.000Z

As someone who has loved making printable to keep organised, I have the opportunity to be a contributor on the lovely blog The Taylor House.

Today I'm sharing a spring cleaning printable that will help keep you organised when it comes to approaching your spring cleaning.

Pop on over to The Taylor House to check out the post and grab the spring cleaning printable.

Easter Banner

2013-03-15T11:45:00.001Z

Easter is only 2 weeks away and so I wanted to make some bright and cheery home decor.

Today I wanted to show you the Easter banner that I have made.

I have put it on my shelves above my desk but it could be put on a mantel.

I chose the yellow and green to add some lovely bright colours.

I just printed them out on card, cut them out and used some twine and washi tape so hang them up, really simple.

If you would like to download and print this banner then click here . It is three separate printables to get all the letters so make sure you download all three in the folder.

Hope you have a lovely weekend.

Happy Mother's Day

2013-03-10T17:23:00.000Z

Happy Mother's Day to the mums that are celebrating it today.

This is the card I made for my mum.

I recently got the Clearly Besotted Butterfly Wishes Additions stamps and really wanted to use them on this card and used the matching dies that I already had. Love the patterns on the butterflies.

I only have one small mother's day stamp so found a larger happy stamp so it didn't look too out of place.

Paper - Dovecraft Tea Party | Stamps - Clearly Besotted butterflies, My Pink Stamper Fabulous phrases and Paula Pascual All Year Round | Papermania heart doily | White hearts embellishments - Hobbycraft | Stars - Ebay.

These are the cupcakes I made for my mum.

I am rubbish at making butter cream icing and so it was too runny but they still tasted fine.

Hope you are having a lovely day.

Mother's day printable tags and toppers

2013-03-07T15:58:00.000Z

This Sunday is Mother's day in the U.K.

I know that elsewhere in the world, Mother's day is later in the year, but celebrate Mother's day this weekend, I decided to create a quick printable that you can print and then cut or punch out.

Mother's day printable

Mother's day printables - mom

These can be used with a 2 inch circle punch or a 2 inch scallop circle punch or simply cut a square or circle out.

They can be used as a tag for a present or on flowers or as a cupcake topper.

If you are celebrating mother's day this Sunday, I hope that you have a lovely day and for those that will be celebrating later in the year, they may well be some more printables for then.

Hope you are having a lovely week.

My Blog Planner

2013-03-01T17:30:00.001Z

After showing you all the blog planner printables that I have created, I am back to show you how I keep them all together in my blog planner.

The binder that I use is from Martha Stewart and is the large binder. It is quite a large binder but it's great if you want to use plastic wallets etc.

On the front and side, I added a Martha Stewart small book plate, so I could add a label with blog planner on it.

Inside, I added a title page with blog planner written on it before all the printables.

I put a large plastic pocket at the front so that I could put my pen pouch and labels in to keep them organised. I added some washi tape to the sides of the plastic pocket to jazz it up a bit and to hide the black seam where the holes are.

This is what is in the large plastic pocket. I have some extra tabs in case I want to access to something easier, a notebook, a sticky note pad and a pouch with my pens and pencil.

To separate the printables, I added a piece of card and a Avery notetab which I then used my label maker to write out the name of the printable and added it to the tab. I bought the notetabs from Ebay and managed to get them in a bulk load very cheap but they are like these from Staples.

I have been using the calendar to record the blog posts that I have posted and it is great to see when and how often I have posted.

Using the link party planner is great to keep a check on where I have added a post.

I am loving the social media planner as it's great to record where you have posted about a blog post.

These are the supplies I used to create the binder. The label maker I have for years, The washi tape and the note tabs were from Ebay and the book plates and pens were from Staples.

As I added the blog planner cover to my binder, I decided to add it to the list of printables that you can download.

Blog Planner Cover

I am really loving my blog planner and it's layout. The binder is quite big but great to keep all the printables and the plastic pocket together and has plenty of room to add more papers to it.

Are you the type of person that uses a planner or would rather use a digital version? Do you have any other ways to keep track of you blog? I would love to hear you comments.

Blog Planer Printables - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.

Blog Planner Printables Part 4

2013-02-27T16:17:00.000Z

Today is the last 3 of the 12 blog planner printables that I have created and they are for blog finance.

The first printable is for blog expense. This will help you keep track of any blog expenses like domain, hosting, photo hosting etc.

Blog Finance Expense

The second will help you keep track of any income from sponsors, affiliates etc.

Blog Finance Income

and the last printable, will help you record any sponsor/ advertising you have on your blog.

Blog Sponsors/Advertising

So those are the last three and now I thought I would just recap the previous printables.

Blog Improvements Ideas

I hope that you found the blog planner series helpful and on Friday, I will be showing you how I organise my blog planner using these printables.

Previous Printables.

Blog Planner Printables - Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

P.S. It's my birthday tomorrow. I'll be leaving my twenties and entering my thirties. Looking forward to seeing where my thirties take me.

See you soon.

Blog Planner Printables Part 3

2013-02-25T12:50:00.001Z

I love writing lists and so when it comes to the blog I knew I needed to create some printables to allow me to write ideas and to dos down especially as when they are complete, I can tick them off.

When ideas come to me, it really irritates me if I can't remember something I really wanted to think about for my blog and I end up with about 20 post it notes around the place, so I created a basic ideas list to help me keep all these ideas together.

Blog Ideas

This printable, like the Blog Ideas, keeps all my to dos for my blog together and can keep track of the ones I have completed.

Blog To Do List

This printable is great if you think of any ideas to help improve your blog. It could be to do with blog design, ways to create new followers etc.

Blog Improvements Ideas

There is one more part to the series which will be on blog finance and will be posted on Wednesday.

I hope these printables will be useful to keep you more organised.

See you soon.

Mojo Monday Sketch 281 - Thank you card

2013-02-23T12:41:00.001Z

It's nearly two weeks since my daughters birthday but this week I realised that I hadn't made any thank you cards to thank people for the presents they gave her.

So I decided to use the current Mojo Monday sketch 281 to help me create the cards. The sketch was great as it is quite simple as I had to make quite a few cards.

I wanted to add some stitching around the edge of the kraft card but my mum has my sewing machine so I just hand stitched the cards.

I am loving the little wooden heart, I bought a pack of them and a pack of little stars from Ebay and loving them as they are so cute and tiny. I added some glitter to the butterfly to add some sparkle and popped the heart on top.

Hope you have a lovely weekend.

See you soon.

Blog Planner Printables part 2

2013-02-21T13:05:00.001Z

In the first part of the blog planner printables, I showed you the social media planner, link party planner and the blog stats tracker and today I have more printables to plan and record your blog posts.

The first planner is a monthly planner which enables you to record your blog posts, scheduling them etc.

Monthly Planner

The second helps you plan your blog posts and ideas, to dos for the week.

Weekly Blog Planner

The last printable today is help you plan your blog posts, allowing you to record key info for each blog post and the status of the post.

Blog Post Planner

I have definitely been trying to put these into use as I truly want to be more organised with my blog posts and my time.

There are more printables coming on Monday and they will help you to keep track of ideas and improvements for your blog.

See you soon.

What's on your workdesk wednesday 194

2013-02-20T19:12:00.001Z

It's been a while since I last did a what's on your work desk Wednesday and nearly forgot to do it this morning but here it is.

I have a few cards I need to make for birthdays in the next few weeks and want to make some more masculine cards as I have none in my stash so that it what I need to complete.

I am loving the wooden stars and hearts I purchased from Ebay recently and the Clearly Besotted stamps and dies, they are so cute.

Hoe you are having a good week.

See you soon.

Linking up with Julia @ Stamping Ground.

Blog Planner Printables Part 1

2013-02-19T12:36:00.000Z

When I showed you my Filofax Flex Planner a couple of weeks ago, I said that I was sorting out my blog planner aswell and today I have the first of the printables that I made for my blog planner.

I decided to make these printables quite simple and plain so that they don't require to much ink from your printer as I love all the printables out there but they can eat ink if you print a lot.

First off, I made a printable to record what social media I have used for each blog post. This is really handy in keeping track of all the social media outlets as there are so many options.

Some social media, once you set it up will automatically update using the feed but others you need to keep a track of and you can see from the picture of my printable, that I can't remember whether I posted on linky followers so this should help me remember and to check.

Social Media Planner

The next printable is a Link Party Planner. This is good if you want to record where you have linked your blog post up to, as there are so many link parties and you can get lost if you don't keep a record of where you have already linked up to.

Link Party Planner

The last printable today is one to keep a track of your blogs monthly statistics. This is nice to see how your blog is growing or if you need to improve it.

Blog Stats Tracker

If you would like the printables yourself, all you have to do is click the picture or the link below them and download them.

These three printables are the first for my blog planner and on Thursday I will have some more to share with you, so I hope you will come back then to grab some more.

See you soon.

Felt Food Part 2

2013-02-12T13:11:00.001Z

In the first felt food post, I showed you the the pasta, spaghetti, eggs and bacon that I had made for my daughters kitchen, well today I am back with the second part and I have some felt tea bags, donuts and biscuits to show you.

For the tea bags, I just created a rectangle and cut off the corners to make a tag shape, sewed them and filled them with stuffing and then created the string with bakers twine and a little square of felt at the top. Most of the tea bags have stuffing in but a few haven't and they still look good.

To store the tea bags, I grabbed a small tin that was in a set of three from Ikea which are the same as these. The tin was the perfect size and will keep them all together.

Next, I made some felt donuts. To make these I used a cd to draw around and created a pattern for the top and sewed on some beads to the pink and white ones. They were then simply sewn and stuffed.

Last, I have made some little biscuits which look like party rings. These are similar to the donuts but just created wavy strips to put on top instead of sprinkles.

They were fairly easy to make and were well received.

Hollie has really enjoyed using the tea bags in her little cups and using the cakes on her little play cake stand.

Have you made anything or considering making anything from felt? Leave me a comment and let me know.

Happy Birthday Hollie and Mark

2013-02-11T18:09:00.000Z

Today is my husband and my daughters birthday. Hollie is 5 today. I can't believe how quick it has gone. I looked at her baby photos last night at how she has changed and when she was born, she had thick dark hair, now its blonde but still has the same cheeky smile.

This is the card I made for her. I decided to stamp lots of 5's on the background and used the Clearly Besotted Fairy Jasmine stamp. I used this stamp recently on a card and realised this time, I had coloured it in a lot darker.

Stamps - Clearly Besotted Fairy Jasmine, Amy R Its's Your Birthday, Banana Frog Teen lower and Teen tiny and Habico lowercase alphabet | Ribbon - Hobbycraft | Labels - Spellbinders Nestabilities Label four | Heart - Mei Flower.

This is the card I made for my husband.

I used the Mojo Monday sketch 276 as my inspiration. I used a lot of stars for the card both from patterned paper and stamps.

These are two of the presents that Hollie got for her birthday. She loves to dress as a princess, so these were perfect for her. She has been wearing the red dress most of the day.

Hope you are having a good start to the week.

See you soon.