Bluebella Woods

Hello friends

Today as we head off to the hospital I wanted to share some 

pictures of a special place - this is the woods behind my parents' home

and Bella's most favourite place in the world.

It is rare to meet anyone as you wander through these woods and it has been

a place for me to occasionally visit and get my thoughts in order.

Over the last couple of weeks the bluebells have shot up and you can actually 

smell them as you enter the woods.  

I captured some photos on my phone, I'm afraid not the best quality.

 Slightly blurred but wanted to show how Bella insists on jumping onto these fallen trees

as opposed to running under them!

I've chosen to rename it Bluebella Woods! 

And of course it wouldn't be right if I didn't post something crafty so how about this...

a scrapbook page I created a few years ago featuring the same woods.

I've used Grand Big Scalloped Circles as part of the background.

A fluttering of butterflies!

Again, huge thanks for all your good wishes - we will head off today knowing

we have so much love and support and that truly makes a difference.

It has been a revelation of true friendship.

Love and thanks dear friends.

WOW WOW!

Hello friends

I've got two lots of WOW today!

Firstly I'm saying WOW to blog follower Elaine Wainwright who is doing Race for Life

and has chosen to do it in support of Elliott.

As soon as I told Elliott he just looked at me and said "Mum, I'm speechless!"

Elaine you are incredibly kind - we are completely bowled over by this thoughtful

gesture - it has truly made a difficult time easier.

The race takes place on Wednesday 19 June and Elaine has promised to share photos.

My second WOW today is WOW Embossing Powders.

A little while ago I shared Marion's (Sugar and Spice) video creating flowers with moulds.

As you know, my eldest son Mitchell has been in training and I thought I would give him something 

fun to do - (boys do enjoy anything that borders on chemistry and pyromania!)

So here is he creating a pretty flower....

Use a foil tray (this is one is rather shallow, a deeper one is more advisable).
My suggestion is you buy Mr Kipling's Apple Pies as opposed to Cherry Bakewells!
The mould featured here is daisy.

 Here is the trainee measuring out one teaspoon of Melt-It.

 I selected WOW Lilac Embossing Powder to mix in (he was going for somewhat subdued colours!)

 Applying heat to the base - this is when the peg is essential.

 Here it is beginning to melt.  My teacher skills failed a little because I forgot
to tell him to blend the two powders together initially! Oops!

 Once molten, switch the heat to apply to the top, keep heat on the mixture and pour into mould.

 Within minutes it has hardened.

 And easily pops out of the mould.

 Mitchell's finished flower.

 And here is one that I made on the Retreat.

 And a beautiful teal coloured rose made into a ring.

I'm imagining these beautiful flowers combined with Spellbinders™ , particularly Rose Creations.
I'm looking forward to experimenting more and later this year Marion will be hosting classes.

As mentioned, there is a stock of WOW in the shop, powders, Melt-It, stamps and a few moulds left.
Feel free to get in touch if you are interested - Mitchell will be dealing with
orders etc while I'm at the hospital with a hotline to my phone!
I do hope you are enjoying your weekend - craving a bit of sunshine here.
Take care.

It's Friday! Winner and Favourites!

Hello friends

You will be pleased to know Bella is no longer slacking - I set her to work!

Here is the evidence..... picking out the winner of Decorative Dress Forms.

She selected the winner and is not going to part with it!

 You might just be able to make out the writing....

 The chewing begins!

She's putting her foot (paw) down!

Finally the salvaged piece of paper revealing the winner! 

Congratulations to Pat S Witney

Please drop me an email christine.emberson@blueyonder.co.uk and I/Mitchell will send 

them straight out to you.

I've had Mitchell in training all this week - I will make a crafter of him yet!

I'm afraid no Friday Die Day today but I promise they will return later this year.

Instead I've put together a collage featuring 30 previous Friday Die Days 

(there were more but I couldn't fit them all into the picture!)  

There is a HUGE amount of tags!

You should be able to click on the image for larger pictures.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.

Take care friends.

Vintage and Butterfly!

Hello friends

Managing to do a few more blog posts at the moment - that's me keeping busy!

Again - huge thanks for the wonderful comments yesterday,

Elliott reads them all too and is blown away by everyone's kindness. 

As promised today's project is much more 'me' !  

At the Retreat we were asked to make our own name badges and I

obviously went for something with a butterfly - I used Papillions Two and added an odd earring I had for the centre - works well if you are rushing and cannot lay your hands on a sparkly gem or brad!  

I also used those little flowers I adore from Homespun.

I had the metal embellishments in one of my odd boxes - I knew they would come in handy one day.

I will be back soon and importantly to announce the winner of Decorative Dress Forms.

Take care friends.

News and Where am I?

Hello friends

I received news yesterday that Elliott is going into hospital next Monday,

we all obviously feel jittery but relieved that things are moving forward.

He will have to have some tests beforehand but everything should go to the set time plan.

I want to reassure you all that if you place any orders through Amazon or 

direct with me they will still be dealt with promptly.  My eldest son, Mitchell 

(that tall lump of a lad in the photo above) has been in training (!) and is able to send everything out.

Also I will have my iPad and phone with me so no problem answering any crafty questions -

I know I will want to be occupied when I'm waiting at the hospital.

Also, I should have done this yesterday, circled on the Retreat picture where I was in the photo.

I've done that today and you can sort of see me sitting on the steps.

If you ever want a fantastic crafty weekend away look out for a Sugar and Spice Retreat.

Today's crafty offering....

Another very bright card using the papers from Cardmaking and Papercraft Magazine this month.

I selected Classic Scalloped Rectangles SM and Classic Rectangles SM to create a 

frame that I placed at a jaunty angle.  The inner section I offset with a Classic Heart 

and Classic Scalloped Heart die cuts.  Again teaming this bright paper with white cardstock

helped tone it down a little bit!

I'm craving something vintage with butterflies...let's see if I can oblige tomorrow.

Take care friends.

Bright Monday!

Hello friends

I feel blessed by all your messages of congratulations on my last blog post - you are 

all truly lovely people! 

I do hope you had a good weekend - mine was superb and I can tell you why...

I got to go on the Sugar and Spice Retreat in Buckinghamshire. 

It was all a bit up in the air whether I would be able to go due to hospital etc and I felt nervous at leaving Elliott but he was in good hands staying with his grandparents and to be honest

he told me to go!  I think he is getting a little bit fed up of my mollycoddling! 

I got to spend time crafting with amazing women and it was a perfect tonic. 

The venue was Latimer House and it was stunning - the food was top notch too.

I will post some photos of the projects we made soon, the organisation was perfect and so much 

thought had gone into everything.  One of the projects was a huge journal - I want to add some extra bits and bobs before I share a photo....

possibly butterflies!

Talking of projects - this month I have three cards featured in Cardmaking and Papercraft 

magazine using their bonus papers.  Let's just say the papers are BRIGHT! 

I decided to use white cardstock to create a frame - Twisted Metal Tags and Accents -

this managed to tone the paper down a little!

The sentiment stamp is from a set designed by Marion at Sugar and Spice - 

it can be found here.

Have a wonderful day - let's hope the weather is as bright as this card!

Take care friends.