Sunshine Card & a Cracking Easter

Happy Easter everyone!
I know I’m a day late- but better late than never. I had planned a nice Easter card- but it never quite happened- so on this gloomy and dull day I thought I’d inject a bit of sunshine.
This card is in the Card Creations Mag from Paper Crafts. I’m super honoured to have anything in this magazine- they are the magazine I used to look in many moons ago when I first started crafting never believing I’d be in there one day!
I LOVE sewing on cards- and it’s much easier than a lot of people think. Stab a few holes and do a straight stitch.
I’m looking forward to seeing the Sewing Bee on TV too-although making clothes isnt really what I tend to do with fabric.

It has been a cracking Easter in more ways than one. You might know by now that I’d always comment that Easter is not all about the bunny and I’m so glad that we remember how amazing it is that because Christ rose again we can know new life ourselves.
Easter, however seems forever linked with chocolate too- we’d never have gotten away without eggs in our family.
We don’t go overboard but with family and friends and 5 kids- the sideboard is groaning with over 20 eggs. Looks a little like we’re chocoholics ( which would be fairly close to the truth).
It was fantastic to not have any of the kids overindulge. No green faces. No sore tummies.
I did feel pretty full- but that was down to lunch.
The lamb.
The parcel of lamb to be precise.
I’m known for trying outlandish things but this one I even doubted myself over.
So…me and Google are reasonably good friends. I will limit my view of his abilities; I try not to self diagnose medically but Google is my go-to for recipes.
I decided to double check my timings for lamb and came across this little recipe which utilises the ‘Leg in a blanket’ technique traditionally used in France.
In a nutshell;
Hide slivers of garlic in the lamb.
Rub down with extra virgin olive oil.
Blast at top heat for an hour.
Wrap whole leg plus cooking dish in 3 layers of foil and tightly wrap in 2 large clean bath towels.
Leave somewhere warmish for 6-8 hours.

So I marmelised said hunk of meat. So much so- there was a thick blanket of smoke.
Everywhere.
It was 7am in the morning ( 6am if you go pre-clock change).
I opened the back door and froze.
All in the name of culinary exploration.
As I tightly wrapped the joint in the towels and it looked quite like a swaddled baby, I wondered whether I’d taken leave of my senses.
I wasn’t only inflicting this on my kids but my in-laws were playing guinea pigs too.
Slightly more troubling was I’d come back in 6 hours, unwrap it and quite possibly find a seriously ‘blue’ chop that no one would eat and I’d have to ram it back in the oven and ruin it as all the fibres would tighten and it’d go tough.
I’m happy to say IT WORKED!!
It was quoted as being the best lamb that hubby had tasted. It was moist and soft and…thankyou bath towels!!
The cracking continued with a literal occurrence & ended with the sacrifice of an entirely reasonable dessert.
This dessert

I know, the eggs were leaking a little. Weeping before they were consumed quite possibly.
I was tidying away, being mithered by a child old enough to know better.
The accident happened.
A glass jar fell out of the cupboard, managed to smash the entire cake plate the dessert was resting upon and finish by unceremoniously smashing itself on the tiled floor below.
Great.
Love -loved that plate.
After the clean up- we couldn’t risk that any shards had gotten into the Easter Nest cake. I plopped it into the bin, feeling that I’d quite possibly been saved from snacking on it later.
My hips were thanking me.
But- I had a final weapon.
This..

Maybe something needs smashing on that too
It’s only Easter once a year!

See you when I’ve hidden the rest of the choc,
How did you celebrate Easter?
xx

Triangle Tri-fold Card & Complications!

Monday already?!! The weekend was a busy one. I was at Sycamore Park Craft shop and it was a brilliant day. This card was one of the ones I demo’ed. the thing is, I love grabbing stuff we used to do and reintroducing it again. I’m not a big one for easel cards or stepper cards but this fold is simple and effective and just a little different. Everyone did them about 3-4 years ago and I thought it was high time they came back!
You open it so it looks a bit like this

You can get 3 cards out a piece of 12×12 cardstock and you end up with a 4′ square card. Tiny but perfectly formed!
It was great meeting so many new people. Honestly,it was heaving and not a particularly large shop. We had a good time and everyone’s favourite things were acetate stamped butterflies. It was the first day of a re-opening under new management and really well stocked- so if you’re in Ellesmere Port, Great Sutton it’s worth checking out.

This week has been a little complicated. Whatever I tried to do it wasn’t terribly straightforward. It got a bit messy on the Wednesday when one of my daughter’s rabbits suddenly died about 6:45am and quite traumatically.
There were lots of tears. You can imagine several kids were really upset. I was too. This was all before breakfast! Added to that when we took the other bunny to the vet just to get checked out and they informed us that she had a ‘mass’ in her stomach and were pretty grave about the bunnies chances ( at the time I didn’t share that little extra piece of info with my daughter).
After lots of tlc, a few meds and lots of prayer, bunny had made an almost miraculous recovery by the afternoon.
Wow,
That was close. She’s distraught enough about the one bunny, I couldn’t imagine both dying.
They all said goodbye.
It was sweet and sad.
We found a little place to bury her ( thanks to some kind friends at church).
I went yesterday with my daughter.
Thing is, I was tired and not thinking straight.
Most normal people would have equated dirt and digging with normal shoes or wellies.
Me?
I went in my suede almost 3 inch high boots.
Were it not for the solemnity of the situation Id have laughed.
I’m standing on a raised bed, digging a substantially large hole in my heels.
Well, if you can dance in them, I guess you can dig in them.
Glamour is not removed from gardening necessarily!!!
I don’t recommend it, I did think I was about to fall off the raised bed a couple of times and its rather hard digging through a few roots without substantial soles.
We did it though.
A little time of quiet.
She marked it with a heart made from stones.
Fortunately her own heart is not made from the same material.
We now have a rather solitude rabbit who is getting royal treatment.
Life and death is hard for kids. Hard for all of us. I learned again that these are no small things in their experience.
Glad they’ve found a way through- each in their own way.

I’m off, have a birthday card to make and some rather muddy boots to clean! xx

Wax Crayon Resist & Dog Tired!

Wow. Friday again!
This card was one I did for the demonstration at Happy Stampers. So incredibly simple. Not even one teeny embellishment. Letting the stamp sing for a change.
This involves the easiest brayering you’ll ever do and you can’t go wrong with it.
The stamp is a fab set from Hero Arts. You can add sentiments in the ‘page’ that’s sticking out the typewriter.

Well I’m'fraid it’s a short one again. This week I’ve been burning the candle at both ends. See, I forgot.
Forgot that half term was coming.
I’d nicely organised my work schedule not taking into account the fact there’d be 5 littlish people there too.
So umm.. Some deadlines just sneaked up on me. I was tempted not to bother going to bed at all.
Thought better of it.
Do I look radiant and have just brushed off the lack of sleep?
Are you kidding?
I couldn’t do it when I was 24 and looking after a newborn. I definitely couldn’t breeze through when I had 5 kiddos aged 7 and under (3 who were 19 months and under! Ha!).
So I certainly can’t do it now.
I must have looked so deathly that I was utterly memorable when visiting my lovely local post office.
I’d chatted briefly with the assistant explaining that I’d only just finished the projects at 3am ( gulp!).
She happened to see me again 2 days later ( which happened to be this morning).
‘You got more commissions?’
“Oh yes” I laughed.
“I managed to finish these at 2am’
“Well you’re getting faster then”.
Gulp.
She actually remembered our conversation.
Think I must start making an effort not to look so badly memorable.
Think more makeup may be required.
Makeover? Any colour me beautiful ladies in the house?

Well, have more work to prepare. I’m at Abakhan, Liverpool tomorrow doing a Big Shot demonstration from 9:30-11:30 and then some 3D projects from 12-3. Do and come and say hi. I just might need keeping awake!

See you when I’ve had a good night’s sleep!! xx

Owl do you do & Tesco!

I think I may have lost myself completely. Pastel and animal cards and cute ( I may have to sit down to recover)!
I have some completely gorgeous products to craft with right now. This set is not one I’d have picked straightaway and I have bright and more funky plans for this little bird! Anyhow- I’ve just finished some projects for Creativity magazine which is published by Docrafts and they asked me to do pastel cards with a theme I’ll share later. Pastel? Moi?
Well I survived and it was a good challenge. It therefore has rubbed off a little. I had a baby card in mind when I did this but haven’t any baby sentiments. So it’s an ‘owl do you do?!’

I haven’t regaled you with any Tesco stories recently so I thought it proper to redress the balance.
I have been to the ‘chuck it all down the belt as fast as you can’ shop ( aka Aldi) and I quite like it.
However- you can’t forget your roots can you now. We often pop to the little Tesco Express store just where the girl’s school is and last week Will slipped over. Got a perfectly large shiner and was quite upset.
There happened to be a man standing there not in uniform who saw him fall and came straight over.
“Are you ok little fella” he asked
Will nodded through his sobs.
“Would you like a sweet?” Silly question! I don’t think mine would ever say no.
The man instructed “go to the pick and mix sweets and take whatever sweet you’d like”.
Will perked up.
The kids looked at each other a little unsure.
“If anyone stops you or tells you not to do that, just tell them that the manager said you could”.
Ah, the comforting tones of authority.
Emboldened by the power of the one issuing the order, they set off rather gleefully whilst the manager winked and I thanked him ( not for the wink, obviously!).
He spied them 2 minutes later.
To my embarrassment he had gone for the largest sweet possible. It was the size of about 4.
“You took the biggest one then?” He questioned with a grin.
I shuffled off battling with the part humiliation and part wondering that he may be thinking he’d got away with that quite lightly perhaps fearing I may have complained about the accident.
All’s well that ends well.
To further the theme, we were visiting again on Monday. Just my no.3 and me.
We went to self-checkout the goods at the till. She loves putting them past the scanner. Once the basket was empty she asked “where should I put the basket”.
I signalled to below the scanner. She said
“It’s ok, I’ll put it away”.
I said it wasn’t necessary to take it all the back.
She looked at my mischievously and quipped
“Well, every little helps”.
The cashier on the next till couldn’t help smiling.
I like to think that we bring amusement and varying types of excitement wherever we go. Some of the excitement perhaps others could do without, but it’s rarely a boring day at the Bakers!

See you soon. I’ve 3 kids off due to eating problems at the school and I’ve managed to acquire two more! Xx

Love-y card & demos

Hi – a super quick post. This was one of my demo cards on Saturday using haberdashery items. No stamps, just a smidgeon of paper.
I’ve been stamping away like nobody’s business but can’t show you any of it
I will have plenty more to show you shortly though.
Have a demo at the Range (Southport) on Saturday 10:00-4:00pm. Come and say Hi!

I’ve updated my classes.
The first one is Feb 1st ( Friday) 7:30 in Old Swan, Liverpool.
Check out the craft classes tab at the top for more details- but it’s called
Sneaky and superb stamping ! You’ll love it- they’re always fun!

See you soon
X

Thank you Card & Blog Candy!

Happy New Year everyone!
It’s back to normal – or is it? We’ve just enjoyed a fab few days away with some friends and this card is a thankyou to them.
Strips left over, a pre stamped piece I’d not used and the whole card took about 3 minutes- I kid you not!

I am thankful to you all for popping over and reading- lots of you never comment- and that’s fine, I don’t mind. But I thought I’d offer some blog candy- not because I’m trying to draw out you into commenting but only because I have a significant Birthday on Friday (& no, I’m NOT 50!) & rather than feel a little depressed about the whole event, I’ve decided to do The Birthday Project ( please google it!). I’ll let you know all about it once I’ve completed it but this blog candy is one of my random acts of kindness and I’m not even telling you what it will contain! It’s not enormous but it will come with a whole lot of love! Anywhere in the world is fine. Just comment and tell me what thing you’ve done for someone else that has given you the most pleasure.

It’s a short n sweet post- my littlies are self destructing over a charger. Too many late nights and not enough sleep. A heady combo that I’m not enjoying tremendously. It will all settle shortly.
I’m off to plan for my birthday.

You have until the end of Friday to comment & then I’ll randomly pick a winner.

See you when I’ve come out of hiding! xx

Thank you Card & Christmas!

Happy Christmas! I hope you had a lovely time celebrating Jesus’ birth!
We have had a great ( albeit pretty manic!) time. This card is for you- my lovely blog readers who’ve stuck with me this year.
I’ve been overwhelmed more than ever with new (& old faithful!) friends who’ve taken the time and trouble to visit, comment and encourage me. It means a lot— thankyou!!
This year is going to see quite a lot of changes. The biggest is that I’m now a DoCrafts demonstrator.
It’s really interesting to explore other companies. I have been impressed with the direction they’re going in. The latest ranges are really great- and the quality of the products just might surprise you. I got the most enormous box full of Chronology (kinda a steam punk style with a modern edge) Love Notes ( vintage-y, pretty, lace-y) and Spots and Stripes pastels (think you can manage to imagine that one?!!)- to prepare for demonstrations. A great lovely free surprise!
Looks like demonstrating is the route I’m going down but I am putting together a proper schedule of classes and will be holding some events. This year is going to be exciting.

Back to the card…I received a pretty special present. A silhouette cameo. Steve said it wasn’t very interesting particularly as its partly a business pressie- but you girlies know different huh?
I’ve been glued to my laptop trying to shove the nuances of a new software package into my resistant brain. I’m there at a basic level. The cut out background is a free cut-graphic that comes ( amongst others) with the Sihouette. The wording & star I’ve created. I have to say I’ve made a few mistakes with it but learned heaps already and have discovered the next big thing – vinyl for papercrafting!! It’s so tactile, doesn’t really blunt the blade ( aka moneysaver), and has a stretchy property to morph over any textural elements on your card. Trust me- vinyl stickers are the way to go.
I’m going to start selling some vinyl shapes and phrases- so watch out too!

Well- better go. My back is giving me grief. Somehow I managed to pull a muscle cooking Christmas dinner. Who’d have thought it was so dangerous! I’ve had some lovely presents and some funny ones too. My friend commented that I’ve now found my gift— wanna see what it is?!
Here’s a picture ..

Toilet paper origami !! Beware all bathrooms. I just might ‘pretty up’ your loo roll!
Better go- have a walk to go on. Need to walk off all those calories that seem to have clung to me over Christmas!!

Oh and just found I’ve been put in the 10 ten trendiest cards at Moxie World. The voting is for another 20 hours- so if you found yourself over here and fancied voting for me- then I’d not be unthankful

See you when I’ve dug myself out of the mountain of chocolates, biscuits and nuts (not that I’m complaining!!) xx

Cutesy Christmas & Recycling!

Hey! The week has sped by and time seems to speeding up more quickly everyday. There’s so much to do for everyone & I’m trying to resist the urge to feel the pressure!

This was a card I’d never normally attempt. It was for the Abakhan demonstration a few weeks back. The stamp set was part of a freebie set from the Creativity magazine. The tree was actually attached to a little girl. I thought I’d get more use out the stamps if the Christmas tree was separate. I simple snipped the tree off and hey presto- 2 stamps for the price of one!! Uou can’t probably see the acetate which the snowflakes are stamped on & I used some of the coordinating papers. My colouring is improving (slightly)- and it’s using simple watercolour crayons.

I’ve been doing plenty of recycling- this morning I dug out one of my favourite coats. Its a bright red one but it’d somehow developed a big stain. I couldn’t remove the stain & Steve said it looked pretty bad. This morning I remembered I’d got a denim blue coloured packet of dye under the sink. At risk to the coat (its mostly wool) I shoved it into the washing machine & hoped for the best. It’s turned out fine- a pinky/purpley colour. Not what I’d ever choose- but its like a brand new coat as it’s disguised the stain too. Yay! I texted Steve & mischeviously told him I’d got a new coat and hoped he didnt mind!

I texted again and told him it was free!

I’ve also had some recycling done of a different nature. It appears someone has re-cycled a parcel intended for me. 3 attempts to pick up a signed for parcel failed.Royal Mail apparently had it ‘in the system’. Eventually I got a telephone number to ring. The long and short of it is that the tracking number isn’t for a parcel delivered to me- the parcel is for a different address in Stockport. The thing is, I’ve a card handwritten out for me and my address. The Postman delivering a parcel wouldn’t have written my name and address if he didn’t have an address to copy from a particular parcel. So, the sorting office told me they’d look into and get back to me.

They haven’t.

I rang Royal Mail elsewhere. They said -guess what- they’d look into it and contact the delivery postman.

Guess what.

They haven’t either.

Somewhere is a parcel floating around belonging to me.

Worst still- I have a gut feeling its the American parcel I’ve been waiting for from Hero Arts with $100 worth of stamps. Royal Mail better not have lost that.

I will not be a happy bunny. I can feel a crusade coming on (yes, another one!!)

Better hop off- I’ve a Birthday cake to take out of the oven– yep, birthday season…again!

See you when I’ve eaten more chocolate cake..(can you ever get bored of choc cake?!!) xx

More Neon and Blowing Noses!

Is there a ‘neon disease’- can you catch it? Maybe I have it! I’m loving these colours. Thought I’d accentuate them by contrasting with black. The snowflakes are a die from Die-Namics and there are 3 different sizes. It would be pretty cool if snowflakes were these colours but actually I prefer them pure and white. I’ve added little dots of Jelly Roll glaze to add to the ‘movement’ in the card plus a couple of gems for sparkle. The ‘Noel’ is nearly an anagram of neon and I’ve stamped it and used green embossing powder.

I’ve another project along these lines-

I think I like the pop against the black better? This is a subtler take on the neon. They’re both for the Keen on Neon Challenge at Moxie Fab World. Love those challenges.

I’m spoilt for choice as to what to chat with you about in the personal part. Could it be the cute and funny Nativity Play my littliest was in, or the battle with Yodel and Amazon? Maybe it should be the beyond heinously disgustingly habited man on my road today or even the mysterious case of who wrecked my Lipliner.
Possibly I should talk about William’s definition of poor people or when I became outspoken at a parents information/self help group.
Oh- so much to choose from. Well -the highlights had to be the 4 and 5 year olds doing a nativity play. The clodhopping angels who nearly tripped up onto the stage, the little guy who couldn’t stop waving to his mum. Not to mention the trigger happy camcorder wielding mums who thought nothing of coming down the aisle and completely blocking your view so they can get a perfect shot of their littlie. William got a bit embarrassed at me watching him sing so I had to look away whilst aiming my phone towards him ( sneaky, huh!). I’ve a few parents to email my footage to who missed the play for one reason or another.
The low-light of the week was watching a man walk down the street and evacuate the contents of his nose several times. He put one finger sealing one of his nostrils shut and blew enthusiastically out of the other nostril. I was so shocked and equally appalled that I couldn’t take my eyes off him. He continued this most of the way down the street. I wouldn’t like to have been walking behind him unawares. I was sorely tempted to wind my window down and offer him a tissue.
Brings a whole new meaning to blowing your nose.
Eugghhh!

Nudging into Neon & Overhearing!

There are some trends that you ‘fall’ into. Neon is one of those. As an 80′s girl, I thought I’d left neon well behind. There are some outfits better left abandoned. When I think back to electric blue batwing tops and bright pink shirts, not to mention the neon socks, I shudder a little.
This crafting trend is a little easier. There are brights and there are their cooler cousins. I think neon slips into that category. If you don’t go mad with it, then the recipient won’t have sunblindness.
I’m entering this into Moxie Fab World’s Keen on Neon challenge sadly you can’t see the real ‘neon-ness’ but trust me, it’s bright!
I’ve another one in the pipe line so I’ll post that once it’s finished.

Interestingly enough I’ve been listening in- overhearing in fact.
But not intentionally.
Unintentionally.
Well, they were pretty loud and standing right next to me in the queue.
I’d already nearly bumped into one of the ladies in the car park.
I’d gone in to park ( obviously ) and there were no spaces. Actually, people were parking in front of other cars and completely blocking them in. I really dislike that- so I wouldn’t do that myself.
I did a 34 point turn ( well, it was pretty tight I can tell you) and as I tried to exit the lady concerned was just sat in her car not moving- we looked at each other. It was pretty obvious that unless she moved along no-one was going anywhere. Eventually she took the hint and let me out.
I knew exactly what her plans were- she was heading for the line of ‘blockingeveryoneelsein’ drivers.
I found a space elsewhere and headed into the collection point. There was Mrs naughty parker standing right next to me.
They were having a conversation..
“I thought this wouldn’t take long”
“Me too, I’ve kind of blocked someone in”.
Giggles.
“Me too- ah well, they’ll just have to wait” ( hmm… not the best attitude!)
“Well there was nowhere else to park” ( yep, not if you refused to walk more than 20 paces).
“Oh dear- and I don’t know quite how I’m going to get out”
“Yes, I’m going to have to reverse- I haven’t done that for ages”.
( sorry- what was that? How can you not have reversed recently if you drive a car)
“Oh, I know- last time I did that, I was on my driving test. What was all that reversing around a corner about- I mean, when are you ever going to use that?”
( I was really intrigued now)
” yeah, when I go to park in the supermarket car park, I drive around until I find a space I can go forward into and then straight through so I can exit forwards too”.
( Oh dear- this was getting worse)
“I know, that driving test- I remember having to learn the parallel parking thing- I mean, who ever does that?”
( ermm me- when you need to park- ermm probably most of the driving population!)
“It’s stupid, I only really ever go forwards”.
At this point it was all I could do not to laugh out loud.
I would have loved to see her not reverse out of the car park. Please don’t get me wrong, I’m no Sterling Moss, but girls- you’re letting the side down.
Hoping they never get stuck anywhere. I imagine they both drive around supermarket car parks for a very long time. So if you ever see a female driver dithering around parking bays, chances are it may be one of these directionally challenged duo!

Better go, have some decorations to put up. See you when I’ve doubled my electricity bill with all the extra lights! …