Gorillamama Greats

Carrier Bag Holders

2012-01-20T17:45:00.029-06:00

I had big plans for making all my Christmas presents this year. This idea promptly went out the window as time went by and I realized I was not going to make my postal deadline.

So I made my carrier bag holder design a little more straight forward to try and speed up the process but it just wasn't enough. So only a choice few received one and the rest will get theirs at either birthdays, anniversary's or this coming Christmas.

Here are some pictures of the ones I got finished in time to mail.

Thanks for looking

Hugs
Nic

Doll Poncho

2012-01-15T19:23:00.003-06:00

Another cute and speedy little project. I had some leftover fabric from my daughters Indian costume and it was the perfect size for a doll sized poncho.

Just a pair of scissors made this project possible. A hole and a fringe and we were done. She can now dress herself and her doll in the same thing. Made for one Super happy daughter.

Thanks for looking

Hugs
Nic

30 Minute Skirt

2012-01-10T19:05:00.001-06:00

Happy New Year to you all.

I'm afraid have been MIA once again. Christmas time gets a little crazy round here and my computer is rarely used.

So I guess I need to get you guys up to date on all the stuff that I got done on the lead up to Christmas and the New Year.

Let's start by talking a little about the last post I made, for the Indian Costume. My friends daughter was also taking part in this and she had bought some fleece to make a skirt with. However she is very new the the whole sewing thing and was talking of pins and fabric glue. It was turning my stomach just thinking about it so I made her come over to my house and got busy.

30 minutes later this little beauty was born. Its a simple straight skirt with elastic waist. The fringe I had bought for my daughter but I had not needed it. I was happy to put it too good use. Both my friend and her daughter were over the moon with it and I had enough fabric left over to make her sister one too.

Thanks for looking

Hugs
Nic

Native American Indian Costume

2011-12-19T20:43:00.000-06:00

My daughters class have been doing a project on the Native American Indians of Texas and the final part of this was the kids dressing up as Indian's in a type of wax museum and coming to life (with the press of a pretend button) to tell their part of the story.

My Daughter was a Lipan Apache Shaman. I did some Internet searching which surprisingly didn't turn up much. luckily it coincided with me purchasing a remnant with a fringed edge that was perfect for this. I am addicted to remnants. It it the first place I head for when I go to a craft store. Having said that though the first thing I thought of was a poncho. I found the most gorgeous fleece at Hobby Lobby and made this first. I followed the pattern in a book I had found called 'sew what! fleece'. it's a great book with lots of easy to follow fleece ideas.

The dress was a fairly simple design that came right off the top of my head. I simply sewed up the 2 sides about 3/4 of the way. leaving room for her arms and cut a hole for her head. Fringed each side all the way up and it was looking pretty good.

It was then I came across another remnant in a different store and added a second layer to the top half of the dress. I also used this fabric to make her a belt and headdress. To finish the ensemble we got her a pair of moccasin slippers and platted her hair. Even though I say it myself she looked pretty darn awesome.

Thanks for looking

Hugs
Nic

Fleece Baby Blanket

2011-12-05T20:58:00.000-06:00

Friends of ours are expecting their 2nd baby. I believe her due date is Christmas Day. What a wonderful gift. I am so excited for them.

A few weeks ago they had a baby shower and I took on the task of making my second baby blanket. this time with baby being due in the winter I chose to use fleece for it. I made the mistake of putting batting in the middle. I have a feeling it would have been warm enough with just the fleece but now it is super duper cuddly.

One side is 4 inch squares and the other 4 inch strips. I broke my needle due to the thickness but am really happy with how it turned out. I hope baby likes it too.

Thanks for looking

Hugs
Nic

Hermione and The Doctor

2011-11-21T16:21:00.000-06:00

Look at absent minded me again. I came in and wished you guys a Happy Halloween and then promptly forgot to show you all my hard work for the occasion.

My sons costume was fairly straight forward. He wanted to be Dr Who is a famous British based time lord who has an increasing fan base here in America. we were able to watch some episodes of the latest regeneration Matt Smith while we were in the UK over the summer. Ever since he has been fascinated by everything Dr who related. This prompted a trip to the thrift store where we found his jacket and eBay found us the bow tie and suspenders. All I really had to do was sew elbow patches onto the jacket and make an inside pocket for storing his sonic screwdriver.

My daughter wanted to be Hermione from Harry Potter. She got the wand while on a trip to Universal Studios last Christmas. I put together the uniform pretty easily by going to Target. I gave in and purchased a proper Griffindor tie from Party City. The key part to the whole thing coming together was Hermione's robe. I found the perfect pattern and black fabric at Hancock Fabrics. Oh, my goodness did I have fun with this project. Although in my efforts to play it safe on the size front I ended up making it a tad too big, OK a lot too big but I managed to make it fit and she has the opportunity to grow into it for some time to come.

Thanks for looking

Hugs
Nic

Work In Progress - Tidy Craft Room

2011-11-12T09:46:00.000-06:00

That was all the backed up stuff I had waiting to show you. Turned out to be more than I thought it was. Lucky for me though as my craft room took a little longer than anticipated. Here's hoping it doesn't get that out of hand again.

Thanks for looking

Hugs
Nic

Anniversary Card

2011-11-05T21:57:00.000-05:00

My husband and I celebrated our 14 year anniversary this year. I had given in to temptation and bought him a card from the store but I was feeling bad for not having made it myself so when I saw this cute sticker set in the craft store I bought it and sat down and made my wonderful hubby a second card.

Here's a picture of the beautiful flowers he got me and one of our cats who was curious to see what I was doing when I took the photo.

Thanks for looking

Hugs
Nic

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T14:17:00.000-05:00

Just popping in to wish everyone a Happy Halloween. These are our carved pumpkins this year. Hubby did the Dr.Who one for our son who is Dr.Who crazy and I did the smiley face one for our daughter. Have fun and don't eat too much candy. xxx

Owl Card Front

2011-10-27T19:42:00.000-05:00

Do you remember the owl themed birthday card I made back in April for my friends daughter? Well, the card ended up in her sisters room as she liked it so much and it was the same colors as her bedroom.

When I found this out I made another one for the birthday girl, just the card front this time and I used the colors in her room so she could display it with her other owl stuff. I also put her initial on it so this one is all hers and no-one else. LOL.

Thanks for looking

Hugs
Nic

School Scrapbook Pages

2011-10-23T19:29:00.000-05:00

3rd + 6th Grade

I almost completely forgot to do these. Thankfully I had all the photos I needed already printed off. My daughters page was easy. I made her 3rd grade pages when I made her brothers so all I had to do was add pictures. My sons 6th grade page I had to do from scratch, not forgetting to make a second set for my daughters book. Now he is in middle school i have cut it down to a single page layout instead of a double. They are growing up so fast.

Thanks for looking

Hugs
Nic

Wolf Cushion

2011-10-17T18:24:00.000-05:00

My daughters best friend had her birthday while we were in the UK. I had made her gift before we went but were unable to give it to her till we got back. She loves wolves and I had picked up a gorgeous fleece remnant in Hobby Lobby that was covered with wolves. I chose to do a long pillow so she can hug it easily and it will look cool on her bed.

I bought some ribbon in pink and black which when I cut the fringe I used it in every other knot. Did I mention I am loving knotting stuff. Every project is so easy and quick to do I am having loads of fun with projects like these.

Thanks for looking

Hugs
Nic

New Home Cards

2011-10-10T19:00:00.000-05:00

With the two new home gifts I had made I felt drawn to my stamps. I have not made a card in quite some time. I think somewhere along the way I have lost my mojo or something, not quite sure what but I was inspired to make new home cards to go with the gifts I had made. I wasn't sure if I would have enough time to get them finished but they came together fairly quickly in the end.

I used an image from Rachel Ann miller. The little mushroom house was perfectly suited to the occasion. Then I used a craft card stock base with a red or blue card cuttlebugged to finish it off.

Thanks for looking

Hugs
Nic

American Themed Tea Cozy Set

2011-10-06T15:33:00.000-05:00

I mentioned in my last post about our trip to the UK. We went over to celebrate my gorgeous niece's wedding. My daughter was a bridesmaid (it was such an honor for her to be chosen). It was a truly awesome day. It was the first time my daughter had been a bridesmaid so she was a little nervous. However once they had done her hair in the salon she had a grin on her face all day it was wonderful.

Long story short my niece and her now husband have moved into their first home and I wanted to make them something special. My sister had told me that an American theme would be perfect as they holiday almost every year in Florida and it is the whole families favorite place. I had also asked what she thought my niece would like. As it happens my family are a huge bunch of teapots, we all drink an awful lot of tea so the choice of a tea cozy was easy.

I used every spare minute i had before and during packing for the trip. I had picked up an American themed bundle at Jo-Ann's. I had so much fun making the tea cozy I decided to keep on going and use up all the fabric by making coasters, a hot pad and a carrier bag holder. My niece and her hubby loved them and I even got a cup of tea out of it;-)

Thanks for looking

Hugs
Nic

Coasters And Placemats

2011-10-03T18:15:00.000-05:00

My long time best friend Alyson (we've known each other since we were 5) recently moved into her first home. It has been a long time coming due to the bad economy and skyrocketing house prices in the UK. To celebrate the special occasion I wanted to hand make her something for her new home.

She absolutely loves the color blue, has for as long as I can remember. So with that in mind I set about looking for blue fabric. I found this gorgeous remnant in a beautiful deep blue at Hancock Fabrics and scoured the fabric aisles till I matched it with a lighter fabric for contrast.

I made my usual pin wheel coasters and then incorporated the pinwheel into the design for the place mats. We went back to the UK during the summer to attend a family wedding so I was able to give them to her in person and see her awesome new home.

Thanks for looking

Hugs
Nic

Quick Cards

2011-09-29T17:07:00.001-05:00

We had a parcel come a while ago now from the UK full of goodies from the in-laws. There was a little something for everyone. I got an awesome packet of paper flowers. I completely forgot to post it here at the time but came across the pictures the other day.

I have been sitting on some plain/blank cards that I bought from Walgreens. They needed a little something but until now I couldn't figure out what. When I saw the flowers I knew they were the perfect colors for the job.

My daughter and I had loads of fun sorting them into sizes and then mixing and matching them to make pretty combinations. I now have a stash of pretty cards for any occasion that comes along that I may have otherwise been unprepared for.

Thanks for looking

Hugs
Nic

No Sew Fleece Throws

2011-09-27T20:09:00.000-05:00

Hello there, as you can see I have had a little revamp of the blog. Nothing too drastic but I think it looks much better. I am in the midst of sorting out my craft room, it has gotten very out of control to the point I was avoiding going in there to create at all.. I have a few things backed up thankfully to tell you about and show you so I will try not to be too MIA while I tackle this humongous task.

My latest craze seems to be no-sew blankets. I made the kids one each for Easter. I know, I know I completely forgot to post a picture for you guys to see. It was one covered in cats for my daughter and one covered in planets for my son. they were very well received. I also made one for my hubby's birthday back in June. I spotted the most awesome Mickey Mouse fleece at Jo-Ann's. I bought 2 yards and I matched up with a plain blue for the reverse side. I just love them and they are lovely and cosy. I was feeling a little left out but luckily I found the most beautiful peacock print panel to make one for myself too. Now we all have one :-)

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Reversible Tote

2011-09-22T19:12:00.000-05:00

In one of my regular visits the Jo-Ann's I bought a couple of sewing kits. The colors and patterns caught my eye, they were really pretty and I had a gift in mind for them. My wonderful sewing friend Lucy's Birthday was on the horizon so I finally got around to putting one of them together. It's a reversible tote. There were no different fabrics involved exactly as it was all printed on one sheet. Made for a quick and simple cut out and put together project. It really is pretty, oops said that already didn't I. I am very happy with the finished bag and so was Miss Lucy.

Thanks for looking

Hugs
Nic

Allergy Pack (for school)

2011-07-22T16:27:00.005-05:00

I think I have mentioned my daughters friend with the peanut allergies before. Her mom (my friend) thinks she is old enough to carry her own medications. She still needs an adult to give them to her should she need them but if she has them with her then they are immediately available.

My friend and I tossed ideas back and fore and while out shopping together a few weeks ago she found this fanny pack on clearance at Jo-Ann's. I set about livening up the front with some denim and an iron on applique. I also added some fabric that my friend picked out (the rest I am going to use for a gift for Christmas).

Once the outside was finished I set about the inside. I know I probably should have done this the other way around but I guess I got carried away. Anyways I put a number of strips of elastic inside for holding her epi-pens, inhaler and anti histamine in place so they would not bounce around.

Both she and her mom loved it. Thumbs up on that one, yay!

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

It's In The Bag! (Carrier Bag Holder)

2011-07-09T11:59:00.004-05:00

Oh boy have I been busy. Having the kids home 24/7 is driving me slowly cuckoo. Seem like my craft room is just something I pass by each day on my way out the door. However I have been grabbing snippets of time here and there. I have been working on this project for a while. The initial plan was to make 4/5 of them but after the first one I have decided I might need to use a few less pieces for the others.

I made this carrier bag holder for a friend of mine as part of a pay it forward post on Facebook. She is possibly my biggest fan of all things I do craft wise and therefore was the first to receive my PIF project. The cool thing is that all the fabric matches her kitchen perfectly. I found the tutorial for this project on this wonderful blog........ http://saidosdaconcha.blogspot.com/2009/10/scrap-buster-tutorial-scrappy-carrier.html ........ It is a wonderful read, I think this may well have to go into my favorites.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

It Takes Two Baby

2011-06-22T18:28:00.003-05:00

Friends of ours recently had twins. A little boy and a little girl. So, so tiny, I knew as soon as I saw a picture of them that I needed to make them something. Straight away I started cutting and piecing and planning. I found this gorgeous teddy bear fabric with both pink and blue bows on it at a local store.

This time around I decided to make bags. We bought cute outfits for each of them. They won't fit them for a while yet but hopefully they will get lots of use out of the bags for various things. diapers, changes of clothes, etc.

These were so much fun to make and have safely made it to California to our friends. I know, I know more friends in California. I'm beginning to think we should move there too so I can be closer to all the little babies. I love babies and seem to be drawn to the baby fabrics. Probably cause they are so smooth to the touch.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Whooo's Birthday?

2011-06-16T18:34:00.004-05:00

I made this card a couple of month's ago for a friends daughter. Completely forgot all about posting it here on the blog. I have been distracted with sewing and the kids being on holiday. Finally I have found a little me time to update you somewhat.

I have to show you a picture of the birthday girl's wonderful owl cake her auntie made for her. I actually found the idea in a magazine and passed it on to my friend. She is very lucky to such an awesome cake making friend to bring it to life. It's also a peanut friendly version for the birthday girls sister who has severe allergies.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Baby Quilt

2011-05-28T18:34:00.007-05:00

I have some pictures to show you of my very first quilt. My friend Lucy showed me the basics when I made a table runner and place mats while staying with her and her family for a visit last summer. Shortly afterwards she announced that she was expecting baby #3. To me this was the perfect opportunity to show her how grateful I am for her friendship, guidance and for showing me what wonderful things I can achieve when I put my mind to it.

They made the decision not to find out the sex of the baby so I was left pondering what colors to use. I had in my stash of fabrics some embroidered Winnie the Pooh fabric in both blue and pink I had bought them about 9 years ago when I was expecting my daughter we too chose not to find out so when I got the fabric all those years ago I got both just in case.

I also bought the softest fluffy fabric in green and yellow and on yet another craft shop visit another Winnie the Pooh fabric caught my eye. At this point I was a little spoiled for choice. Being indecisive I used them all on the front of the quilt and when the baby was born I was able to use one solid panel of pink for the back (yes, you guessed it pink for a girl).

I had a bunch of scraps left over at the end so made a bag for the quilt so Lucy can carry it around when she is out and about. Because of my personal attachment to the fabric used there is a whole lot of love in this quilt and I hope that we can go visit them all very soon.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Baby's Got A Brand New Chair....

2011-05-20T18:54:00.003-05:00

Dunna, dunna, dunna, dun. LOL. Did you miss me? I want to apologise for being AWOL for a bit. I just don't know where the time has gone. Been one very busy little bee though that's for sure.

I need to catch you up on what I have been busy with. First up is my second "Dora" project for my daughters room. You may remember the body cushion I recovered a little while ago. Well next came her Dora chair. she loves sitting in it to read but has outgrown Dora and wanted something different.

I could not resist this lovely fleece fabric. It is covered in cats which is just perfect for her as she just loves cats. I had to take the old cover apart so I could use it as my template. The result.....a brand new chair that she loves to pieces. As soon as she saw it finished she hugged it and promptly sat in it. Awesome!!!!!

This is her when she first got the chair on her third birthday. Thanks for looking.

Hugs

Nic

A Few Small Projects

2011-04-20T09:39:00.004-05:00

My Daughter recently read a book in school called 'Shiloh'. She was so taken with the book that she bought her very own copy at the school book fair. The story is about a young boy and a dog that he names Shiloh. She also has a toy puppy that is the same breed as the dog in the story (we got it at Ikea) and so it got renamed, yes you guessed it 'Shiloh'. I made the newly named puppy a collar with his new name on. He now has pride of place in my daughters bed.

Just to take you back to the Disney Holiday we took back in December. My daughter bought each of her closest friends a friendship bracelet. However she wanted them to be more personal and have each girls initial on them. So I finally found letters and a couple of charms that I put on each one. Her friends were very excited when she handed them out.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Memories - Engagement

2011-03-26T18:03:00.004-05:00

I have one of those old style photo albums the ones you peel back stick your picture in the page and then stick it back down over the top. I guess when you think about it this kind of photo album would be considered basic scrapbooking cause you could use pictures of different sizes to show an event or special occasion.

Anyways mine has slowly over time been changing color on me and I am worried that it will do the same to the photos themselves. So I decided to make a start on transferring the pictures into a new scrapbook. First up is my husband and I at our Engagement party.

I can't get over how young we look and how skinny I was, and as for the huge glasses.....no comment. LOL. Sixteen years later and I am still very much in love with him and this page has gone into my favorites.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Bathroom Re-Vamp

2011-03-21T19:46:00.001-05:00

Just popped in to show you all a little something. I have broken with routine a little and done some more sewing while in the process of spring cleaning. My kids Bathroom has an underwater theme but needed a little something so I made a bubbly tie-back and bought these cool bubble looking decals on clearance at Michael's for the wall. The fish I got ages ago from Bed Bath and Beyond. I think it looks pretty neat. How about you?

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Little Pull String Gift Bag

2011-03-16T15:11:00.003-05:00

We have friends that have just had a baby boy. I wanted to send them a little something and I found the cutest outfit with a frog on it and remembered I had some cute froggy fabric here at home so I looked it out along with a pattern for a mini duffle bag and I made the bag to go with the outfit. It looked pretty cute at the end, I think I will be making more of these. It was fun and easy to make.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

New Job Card

2011-03-11T12:35:00.005-06:00

I made a card for my niece to celebrate her new job. She is training to be a vet's assistant. My daughter wants to be the same thing when she grows up isn't that sweet. I used a digi stamp from Mo's Digital Pencil it is called coexist. The pile of animals seemed to fit perfectly.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Birthday Pages

2011-03-06T18:55:00.003-06:00

Continuing on with my daughter and her best friend's friendship books. I did a page from my daughter Megan's Birthday last year. She had her party at Build A Bear. Inviting just a handful of friends. They had a great time and this page was a lot of fun to make. I even managed to find Build A Bear stickers at Michael's.

Megan also invited her best friend's sister to the party as they enjoy playing together also. I didn't want her to feel left out so I made this picture card for her. Using my top note die for the surround and 2 pictures. One, I cut down smaller and stuck on with pop dots to make it stand out from the page.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Happy St. David's Day

2011-03-01T07:35:00.002-06:00

Sorry, nothing to show you today just wanted to pop in and wish everyone a Happy Saint David's Day. It is a special day for welsh people just as St. Patrick's Day is special to Irish people.

Hope you have a wonderful day.

Hugs

Nic

Cushion Re-Cover

2011-02-25T14:13:00.002-06:00

My daughter has informed me recently that she is too old for Dora the Explorer any more and that left me with the question of what to do with certain items that she has. Her toys were sorted into keepsakes and giveaways. We also sold some of them and let her have the money as she was so good to have let them go.

However that still left me with a few things around her room that she still uses regularly but doesn't want Dora all over them. So with my mind currently working overtime on sewing things I decided to make new covers for them starting with her floor/body pillow.

I found a really pretty fabric at Joann's with pretty flowers all over it and got busy with sewing it a new cover. I didn't want to take the old cover off as there was no zip and I couldn't guarantee that there was another cover inside or if it went straight to filling. Also I thought that the bright pink might show through the new fabric so I bought a cheap neutral body pillow cover from Walmart and made a neutral cover first.

My daughter absolutely loves her new pillow and it looks great in her room.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T12:01:00.003-06:00

Today is the day we celebrate how much we love the people in our lives. Here is the Valentine Card I made this year.

Real Red and Vanilla cardstock. I used my Martha Stewart punch, a doily, valentine embellishments from Target's Dollar Spot and some crystal stickers.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Birthday Page - Best Friend Book

2011-02-03T12:32:00.006-06:00

Today's post is a scrapbook page. A 6 x 6 double page for my daughter and her friend. They both have a Best Friend book and I make them identical pages to go in them. This page is to celebrate Tati's Birthday. This is from last august so you can see just how far I have fallen behind on this project. She had a dinosaur theme. She loves them - I think she may be a paleontologist when she grows up. The picture of them hugging is my daughters favorite, she says it reminds her that she and her friend are going to be friends for a very long time (Best Friends Forever).

You may notice from here on out there is an attempt at a routine to my posts. One of my New Year's Resolutions was to try and do more scrapbooking and sewing so I am alternating. First up is card making obviously as it is my first love. Then I will make the effort to sew something. Finally, I will be scrapbooking. I have a dozen scrapbooks and I have noticed that only the kids school ones have anything in them so I will be working to rectify this as soon as I have caught up with the girls friendship books.

Thanks for Looking

Hugs

Nic

Little Pink Dress..........Literally!

2011-01-25T19:45:00.004-06:00

My Daughter has been pestering me to make a whole bunch of things for her lately. I got busy last weekend on her most important one as she called it. That was a dress for one of her Barbies. I looked around and barbie dress patterns are pretty expensive for such a little doll. Not wanting to disappoint or have to wait for the sales I decided to have a go all by myself. How hard can it be, right?

Turns out not that hard at all. I used some remnants from her Halloween dress and a pretty ribbon I had picked up at Hobby Lobby. When she saw it she was over the moon and the doll now goes everywhere with her. What more thanks did I need? Well, the huge hug that accompanied it was worth it too. It made me all warm and fuzzy inside to see how pleased she was with it.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

And The First Card Goes Too.......

2011-01-18T18:54:00.003-06:00

Drum roll please...............................My Mum. Yeah!!!!!.

Seems fitting that the first card I make in 2011 is for my mum.

She has a love of carousel horses so when Chrissy Armstrong started drawing them for Whimsy stamps it was only a matter of time till I got myself some. Actually I got this particular image ages ago and printed it off almost as long ago and it has been sitting on my desk waiting for my mojo to kick in.

Finally I got some sit down time in my craft room and I am happy to announce the brain did kick into gear there for a while and this is the finished card. It is on it's way as I type and I am really excited to hear her thoughts.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

A Few Extra Presents

2011-01-09T17:52:00.003-06:00

Hello there, just popping on to show you a couple of things I managed to make towards the end of last year. I thought you might like to know and see that I did not completely give up crafting at the end of last year. I made some little goodies for teachers and friends.

The pencil holders were for our friends the Baer's girls. The pattern was pretty simple to pull together. The flower embellishments were from a pack my mum sent me from Wales. The DP was left over from scrapbooking school pages.

The goody bags contain 2 of my favorite chocolates. The top is made from the versatile top note die which I then ran back through my cuttlebug with an embossing plate. The sentiment is from the SU set Punches Three which I heat embossed and then scallop punched out and mounted with dimensionals.

My Craft room has gone under a little rearranging this weekend thanks to the purchase of a new table. My fingers are once again itching to create something, I haven't felt that for a while. Many thanks to those who stuck by me. I should have something new to show you very soon.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Happy New Year

2011-01-03T18:53:00.003-06:00

Hey there Everyone.

I am still here! Just in case you were wondering. LOL. I haven't posted very much over the holidays as we went away for Christmas to Walt Disney World. We had an awesome time and I thought I would post a few photo's here for you to see. I caught a cold just before coming home so am a little under the weather but I will be back to crafting very soon. Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and didn't eat too much. Happy New Year!!!

Hugs

Nic

Christmas Presents Done

2010-12-07T10:16:00.001-06:00

I got my coasters finished with a little time to spare. I made 11 sets in total. They are all now in the hands of their intended recipient. I am so glad I got them done in time. I have been longing for my craft room lately so hopefully some crafting will come my way soon. I have a huge to do list as of right now though so it may be the new year. I will keep you posted. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

Hugs

Nic

FINISHED!!!!!!!

2010-11-01T19:20:00.003-05:00

I got Megan's dress finished and just in time for Halloween. She looked so pretty. I definitely won't leave it so late to get started next time....

Getting There Slowly

2010-10-25T21:26:00.002-05:00

Hi Everyone,

Sorry for the long absence things have been a little busy around here although not so much on the crafting side. However I have been trying to get back into the swing of things now that my craft room is a little more organised.

First up is those frustrating quilted coasters. I have managed to sew all the rectangles together into squares. but as time has been ticking by I have had to turn my energy towards my daughters Halloween costume. I have to say it is coming together really nicely. I'm getting quite excited.

I went to a quilt show which was really cool. I came away inevitably with yet more fabric. I am hoping to make aprons with them for my friends who are starting a new baking company.

Well that's it for now. No card making I'm afraid but once the dress is finished I hope to take a short break from sewing and make some Christmas cards.

Thanks for looking. See you soon.

Hugs

Nic

Work In Progress

2010-09-14T19:31:00.004-05:00

Hello Friends

I have a lot of projects on the go at the moment which is why I'm not really posting much. I haven't really had time to sit down and make cards mainly cause my craftroom is upside down and every time I sit down with an idea it goes right out of my head when I look at the mess. So my aim at the moment is to sort and tidy and most importantly declutter. Once that is done I hope to get my mojo back.

My current projects that I have lined up waiting for me are sewing projects. You remember a while back I made a set of quilted coasters? Well I got the awesome idea to make a set for everyone on my Christmas list. This is proving time consuming. While in California I managed to get my triangles all sewn together into squares. Since being back home I have managed to sew the squares into pairs so they are now rectangles.

Upon my travels around various craft stores I happened upon a sewing store that was closing down. Not only did I manage to get myself a secondhand sewing machine for $25. I also bought some of the most gorgeous fabric. I hope to make a couple of dresses or skirts for myself with it.

Then we come to my demanding daughter (not). LOL. She is my baby and she wants her Halloween costume to be made by Mommy. How could I possibly say no? So as you can see I am pretty busy here and hopefully will have some photos to show you of the finished things.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Sympathy Card

2010-09-10T16:49:00.003-05:00

I almost forgot to show this one to you. I made it months ago but with a hectic summer I completely forgot about it.

Cardstock is blue bayou from Stampin Up. The image is from Marcella from K and Company. The sentiment has been heat embossed. With organza ribbon for embellishment.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Birthday Invitations

2010-09-05T10:23:00.004-05:00

My Daughters birthday party was at build-a-bear this year and she chose her closest friends to share the occasion with her. I printed off the standard Invites from their website but thought it needed something more. So I looked out this cute teddy bear picnic stamp that I had gotten from a friend and made these cards for the printed invites to go inside.

I didn't get to make her a Birthday card this year as she had her heart set on one she had seen in a store. Even though when I make cards for other people she almost always asks me to make her one just like it too.

She had a fabulous time and was so excited to spend her special day with her best friends. She loves the bear she made. She took it to bed last night and it comes everywhere with her.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

One Of a Kind

2010-09-02T19:22:00.004-05:00

I wanted to make a special card for my dear friend's daughter. She has Aspergers Syndrome and struggles with self confidence. I think she is beautiful and strong so I made her this card to show her how important she is to us.

First I stamped the girl first then masked her off and stamped the dragon so it looked like it was her friend (she loves dragons). I used fun flock on the girls clothes and glitter pen on the dragon. I made the green border with Martha Stewart punches. Finishing it off with dew drops and a paperclip and a ribbon.

Inside I continued the Once Upon a Time..... with a little story I made up about her and printed off of my computer onto cardstock in the same font.

I also made her a book mark for school. To help her concentrate it is all black on one side, then when she feels a little low it has words of encouragement on the other side. She had a great Birthday, she is one very special little girl.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Shadow Box

2010-08-20T23:05:00.003-05:00

I have been working on this project foe a while now. Before I went to California I just hit a mental block and couldn't think what I could do to finish it. When I came back it was like a light bulb went off and everything just came together and looked really good.

I used the SU set Baroque Motifs for the background and my SU punches. I used the emboss resist technique, a little ribbon and I got the flower from Archivers.

Thanks for looking

Hugs
Nic

Spotlight on Lucy

2010-08-18T09:54:00.006-05:00

I hope you have enjoyed seeing what I made during our trip to California. I thought before I get back to showing you what I have been doing around here lately I would show you some of what my friend Lucy made while we were staying with her. She is a very talented seamstress.

She made 3 sets of skirts and purses. This is just one, they were all different fabrics which she let the girls pick out themselves. She also made a skirt for me that I absolutely love.

These are beach coats she kindly made for my kids. They are perfect for getting changed under and are made from a lovely warm waffle fabric which keeps the kids warm after they have been playing in the water.

These are DS cases that have a pocket on each side for keeping games, headphones, etc. These are what inspired me to make my husbands DS case. She made a bunch of bags varying sizes including one for my daughter for school. She is very excited for the first day of school to be able to show off her bag. I also got a bag made by the wonderful Lucy. She made it reversible so I could use it either way. It has lots of pockets which I love. I have been using it ever since I got back.

You can find the link to Lucy's blog in my inspiration central over there on the side of the page it's called Sew Much Fabric. You may not see these projects on there as she hasn't posted them yet. Consider this a sneak peek.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Craft Catch Up - Part Four

2010-08-14T21:37:00.003-05:00

This is the last of my California projects I have to show you. There's actually no sewing on this project. No stamping either. This time I had a try at beading. I picked up some really pretty beads at a store in Tahoe. Beading is another of Lucy's hobbies and I find myself unable to resist the pretty charms and clasps. I kept it pretty simple cause after all I didn't have a clue what I was doing. Lucy helped me plan out the pattern. I made a bracelet for myself and one for my daughter first then I had just enough beads left to make a necklace also. My thanks to my wonderful friend Lucy for showing me so many new cool things.

Craft Catch Up - Part Three

2010-08-06T23:18:00.005-05:00

My friend Lucy made my kids each a DS case to carry their DS in, with a little pocket on each side to hold games and stuff. She made them so quickly and they were so cute, the kids love them. I loved them too, so much so I asked her to walk me though making one for my husband. He works for Disney Interactive so obviously I just had to use the Mickey colors for my project. I was over the moon at how it turned out.

Craft Catch Up - Part Two

2010-08-04T19:05:00.005-05:00

While in California my friend Lucy took me to the most Awesome quilt store I think it's called Material Pleasure. I picked out some really nice fabric with a plan to make placemats and a table runner amongst other things. Lucy said she would teach me quilting while I was visiting. I was very excited about this prospect as I have been wanting to learn for a while now.

Lucy also had plans of her own to make things for the kids but that's for another entry. As you can see below I had the help of another friend while ironing my bias. Also a few step by step pictures from as I went along.

Here are the pictures of my finished quilted project. Thanks to a wonderful teacher!!!!!

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Craft Catch Up - Part One

2010-08-02T18:56:00.003-05:00

I got to try a lot of cool things while in California. My wonderful friend Lucy is the most awesome thing when is comes to anything to do with a sewing machine. She kindly let me loose in her sewing room. One of the first things I noticed though was that she has no coasters anywhere to put drinks on so I decided the first thing I would make would be a set of coasters for her (in her favorite color of course). So now whenever she sits down in her sewing room with a cup of tea or glass of water she is instantly reminded of me :-D

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Get Whale Soon

2010-07-15T18:57:00.003-05:00

The kids and I are currently enjoying a short holiday with friends in California while hubby works hard back at home. Before we left though I forgot to share this card with you all.

I made it for my cousin who is pretty ill at the moment. He suffers from M S and is in the hospital with a kidney infection. We are all sending prayers his way in the hopes he will be well enough to go home soon. xxxxx

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Kickin' It for Michelle

2010-07-11T00:17:00.002-05:00

I read some sad news the other day, fellow blogger Michelle from http://donkeysmiles.blogspot.com/ had a really nasty accident about two weeks ago, which has left her with the loss of her right eye and a long road of recovery ahead. She is on the design team for A Spoon Full of Sugar http://aspoonfullofsugarchallenge.blogspot.com/ and in an effort to cheer her up and raise awareness for what happened they are holding a card drive in her honor. They are asking that everyone please create a card in dedication to Michelle and mail it off to her and flood her mailbox with well wishes from around the world. More details and her address is on the spoon full of sugar website.

They have posted a donkey image on there too that you can download for you to use for the card. I am off on a 2 week trip to see friends in California in 2 days but just had to make a card for this before I left. I hope she likes it.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Knot-A-Quilt

2010-07-08T01:16:00.003-05:00

My Daughter and I have been working on a knot-a-quilt that she got for Christmas. I have been encouraging her to do as much as possible as it is good practice for her to learn to tie knots. This week we finally finished it and she is very happy. we had one block missing so I made her a replacement from one of her old pyjamas that she had grown out of.

Cards for my Neice

2010-07-04T19:06:00.002-05:00

I made a couple of cards recently for my Niece. She lives in the UK and has recently started a new job at a sanctuary for cats and rabbits. She loves animals and I think she will be awesome. She also has just bought a new car so I thought it would be nice to send her a couple of cards to celebrate. I knew i had the perfect images in my High Hopes collection. Above is her new job card and below is the card I made for her new car.

Stampin News

2010-07-01T19:42:00.003-05:00

I know most of you probably know this already but the new Stampin' Up catalogue is out today. I for one am very excited. They have revamped the colors bringing back some of my favorite In-Colors this time to stay. I am going to sit down with mine and start working on my wish list.

With a lot of sets retiring my Demo Jane had a stamp-a-stack class using a few of her favorites. I got to meet and make some new friends while having lots of fun doing what I love most. Here is a pic of the cards I made.

Seen as I am on the subject of Stampin' Up I thought I would show you a picture of my tree. It's from the SU Definitely Decorative line. I bought it months ago and have been putting off putting it up as it seemed such a huge task and time has not been in my favor. Well I finally grabbed some time to put this beautiful tree up on my craft room wall. My walls are textured which is not the best surface for things like this but it seems to be happy for now.

Epic Mickey Card

2010-06-29T17:13:00.003-05:00

It was my Husbands Birthday at the weekend and I made this card for him. He works for Disney Interactive in video games and is currently working on 'Epic Mickey'. This explains the sentiment I put on the card. I didn't have one that said that obviously so I had to get a little creative. As you can see I used traditional Mickey colors. The kids made their own cards again too. This time using a Mo Manning image from Digital Pencil Too.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Brother's Birthday

2010-06-26T20:16:00.003-05:00

It was my Brother-in Law's birthday earlier this week and I made him a special card to celebrate him turning 40. He has special needs so lives with my husbands parents. We have been saving like crazy and are treating him to a Walt Disney World holiday at Christmas so I made an I O U to let him know and for him to have something to look forward too.

Cardstock is Real Red, Yo yo Yellow, Black and Basic Gray. I made the pocket by cutting my cardstock into an 'L' shape and then trimming it till it was the size I wanted. I used a ticket edge punch for the IOU and thickers for the 40. He loved it and is looking forward to meeting Mickey Mouse in person.

The kids seem to be enjoying making cards with me at the moment so I thought I would share with you their creations for their favorite Uncle. They used the free Digi from Whiff of Joy.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

More Kids Cards

2010-06-23T12:48:00.000-05:00

While the kids were making Fathers Day cards for their Dad they also made them for their Grandfathers too. Above They used a Karen's Doodles image for Hubby's Dad. We have 2 cats ourselves who seem to love our sofa more that their scratch post. Also he loves and has cats. Below they used a Whiff of Joy image for my Dad. My father used to be a mailman so you can see where the theme for these came in. I just love how my son made his own mailbox from a piece of my scrap DP.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Happy Father's Day

2010-06-20T11:34:00.004-05:00

I'm just sneaking on here while hubby is watching football (soccer) to show you the card I made for fathers day and also the cards the kids made for him. My image is from squigglefly and the mouse is WOJ and the cat is Karens Doodles.

I also thought you might like to see what the kids made for their dad this year. I took them to a place called Marmalade Skies and let them decorate their own piece of art for him. They turned out pretty good and made totally with love.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

School Pages

2010-06-07T14:28:00.003-05:00

Well here we are at the end of another school year with a long 10 week summer vacation stretching out in front of us. What better time to finish up the kids school year scrap pages. This year sees my youngest on her way to 3rd grade and my eldest graduate from Elementary school and head off to Middle school this fall. Doesn't seem that long ago I was fretting over him starting Kindergarten. Time sure does fly...

Simple Kraft Christmas

2010-05-30T09:39:00.004-05:00

I thought it was about time I tried to complete one of my friend Tracy's Christmas Card Challenges. This month the challenge was a color one and I just could not resist the awesome colors she picked out. It also gave me the chance to break out one of my new Whiff of Joy stamps.

The colors were:

*Red(your choice of any shade)

*Kraft(or as close to if you do not own Kraft)

*Cream/Vanilla

*Chocolate

Here are all 5 cards together.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Friendship Pages

2010-05-28T09:40:00.003-05:00

A little while ago Megan got to go to Kiddie Acres with her best friend Tatiana. They had loads of fun and Sandra, Tati's mom took some real nice pictures of the girls on the rides and stuff so I decided to make them into pages for their friendship books. Here they are:

I made two of each page so they could both have the same pictures in their books.

Gifts for Baby

2010-05-21T15:08:00.004-05:00

Sorry I have been a little AWOL. It was my birthday this week and I have been a little naughty and haven't been crafting very much lately. My want to, up and went. However I made this about a week ago and didn't get around to showing you. So I thought I would pop on and let you have a look see.

A friend that my hubby works with had a little baby boy recently so I went through my classes I did with Heather a while ago and found this adorable card which I decided to case and I also made a little box and duplicated the same punch image to make them match. All I really changed on the card was the colors and the DP as I didn't have the same ones. I think it turned out really cute.

Colors are Soft Sky, Close to Cocoa, and River Rock. Thanks for looking.

Hugs

Nic

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T13:09:00.004-05:00

Wishing us all a wonderful day. I got some lovely hand made goodies from my kids this morning. Along with some lovely flowers. I love flowers, and tickets to the Wizard of OZ when it comes next month. I am so spoilt.Here's my Mother's Day card for this year for all you Mom's out there.

And here is my reason for doing it every day.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Birthday Bag

2010-05-07T15:20:00.004-05:00

Today is my wonderful Friend Sandra's Birthday. She is very proud to be turning 40. We met because our daughters became friends at school. It turns out our husbands work together also and they didn't realise that their daughters were talking about each other all the time. Sandra invited us over for a playdate one day last fall and we have been friends ever since. I wanted to make something special for her so I made her one of my denim bags. I chose red fabric as she is very fond of the color and has a lot of red accents in her home.

Happy Birthday Sandra!!!!!!!

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Teacher Appreciation

2010-05-05T17:48:00.001-05:00

This week is Teacher Appreciation Week at the kids school. I normally make the teacher a little something for them to take in and give to their teachers. I cheated a little bit this year with the gift as everything is shop bought. The pretty flower pots are from Michael's and I filled them with glass beads then I put pencils, cute post-it notes shaped like apples and a colorful little wind chime in them. The finishing touch was to tie ribbon around them.

The card I decided was something I just had to make and I chose to case my good friend Joani's flower pot card. Do you see a theme going on here. LOL. I found the instructions on how to make the pot on Splitcoast Stampers. The DP is from Stampin Up. The flowers are supposed to be sunflowers because they make me think of summer. They also remind me of the 7 foot ones we grew in our garden back in England.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Make And Take

2010-05-03T12:12:00.003-05:00

In celebration of Scrapbooking Day I headed to Archivers for some retail therapy and of course to play with some of their toys. I got to make not one, not two but three make and takes this time around. I was one happy scrapper.

I got to play with metal and alcohol inks to make a cute thank you card and got some scrapbook inspiration from 2 awesome scrapbook pages. They make it look so easy. Kinda makes me wonder why I keep putting off my scrapbooking. when I got home I found the perfect pictures to put in my pages. What do you think? I think I am gonna mount them on 12 x 12 sheets and make a vow to continue to make more.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Princess Arianna

2010-04-30T12:05:00.003-05:00

My friends little girl turned 5 this week and she is a big princess fan. I decided to make her a crown card using my WOJ princess Charlotte. Lots of flowers and diamonds too. perfect for a little princess. I think the DP is from the Spring Stack. Happy Birthday Arianna.

*

Thanks for looking

Hugs
Nic

Jake's Thankyou Cards

2010-04-27T17:03:00.003-05:00

I have finally gotten around to making these. I think next year I will encourage him to make his own. I used a picture of him actually taken on his birthday at the Rodeo Fairground. He had just won the giant shark in the picture. I used his favorite colors and they went really well with the colors in the picture itself.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Purple Birthday

2010-04-23T16:03:00.003-05:00

I have been using my Top Note scraps again. This time for a birthday card idea. I hope you like it. Stamp sets used were Doodle That and Messages for Mom from Stampin Up.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Easter Leftovers

2010-04-17T17:27:00.004-05:00

I made a couple of cards with the leftovers from my kitkat holders. I didn't want to just put them away in a draw and forget about them. I found a nice DP in the Spring Stack from DCWV. Everything else was used in making the kitkat holders. I know I'm too late to send these to anyone this year as Easter is over but they are here and ready in advance for next year.

I also wanted to show you this awesome Easter card that I got from my dear Friend Joani. This woman is a constant source of inspiration to me and I am gonna have to try and make one of these real soon.

Thanks for looking

Hugs
Nic

Simple Bookmarks

2010-04-13T12:46:00.004-05:00

I started this project with a request from my kids for bookmarks. I decided while I was making them to make a few more for some of our friends kids. I got this cute little bookworm from High Hopes a while ago and have been wanting to ink him up so I made Easter gifts with him for the Baer's and the Wilson's. On the back I heat embossed each child's name. The letters are from Inkadinkadoo.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Easter Kit Kats

2010-04-04T10:53:00.003-05:00

Hello everyone and a very Happy Easter to you all. I'm just popping in quickly to show you something I made for a few close friends and of course my kids for Easter.

My favorite chocolate is Kit Kats so I got the idea to try and make a little holder for them. I sketched out my own idea and then had a go at making it. I used my favorite little monkey Changito and his pals for my image and my Martha Stewart Fence punch for inside. Finished off with a pretty Easter colored flower.

I think it turned out pretty well for my first attempt. Normally I would follow other peoples' sketches but I couldn't find anything that worked for me. I apologise for there being no Easter cards this year. I ran out of time but I will be more organised hopefully next time.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Quilted Coasters

2010-03-24T18:48:00.004-05:00

Firstly I need to apologise for my long absence. Things have most definitely been getting in the way and it isn't over yet. We are currently in the process of having the inside of our house painted. They are doing pretty much everywhere so everything is a little upside down and I have a lot of unwelcome stuff in my craftroom getting in the way of my creativity. Once these guys are finished we are getting a deck put in the garden. At least that is outside so I can get on with putting the inside back together.

In the meantime I thought I would show you something I made last week. I actually made use of my sewing machine (first time this year) to try out making my very own quilted coasters. I got the instructions and template from a sewing calendar I got for Christmas. I enjoyed making them so much I think I might make them for everyone on my Christmas list. The instructions show you how to make a full set of 4 coasters. I used Christmas material, a pretty pattern, a green and a red. I am really happy with how they turned out.

Get Well Mama Baer

2010-03-11T19:02:00.003-06:00

I can't believe I almost forgot to show you this. I made this for my dear friend a couple of weeks ago when she wasn't well. Both her daughters were sick too at the time so the kids and I made cards for everybody. No, I didn't spell Baer wrong that's her name silly.

I printed off a couple of Dustin Pike images and gave them to the kids to color in. It is the 3rd image from the owl collection he did for Delia. Another new find for me lately is Karens Doodles. I have put the link under 'inspiration' over on my side bar as I cannot get links to come up in my posts anymore for come reason. She is an awesome artist and her pictures are so very cute, You just must go check her out. You won't be disapointed, promise.

I am kicking myself at the moment cause I had the brilliant idea of giving up my papercraft purchases for lent. Man did that idea come back and bite me in the ass. There have been so many new releases recently that I am going stir-crazy and my wish list for once lent is over is phenominal. Anyway to cut a long story short. Karen also has a group on papercraft planet and was giving away the image I used on my card as a freebie for being one of her followers. I thought the image was perfect for this card - a get well bear for Mama Baer. She has also just started a challenge blog which is really exciting.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Chocolate Wedding

2010-03-08T15:45:00.003-06:00

Saturday we went to our friends, Evan and Cheryl's wedding. It was a beautiful ceremony in a beautiful location and the bride and groom looked awesome. I found out from Cheryl that her colors were chocolate and ivory and I thought it would be nice to make the card to match.

I made it a short while ago but have been unable to show you until now. I picked an easel card for the occasion as it looks so elegant and I am really happy with the result. I used the bride and groom in the carriage image from WOJ and my new corner and edge punches from SU.

We wish them many years of happiness ahead.

Thanks for looking

Hugs
Nic

Olympic Christmas

2010-02-28T11:57:00.004-06:00

This month for Tracy's challenge she wanted us to use some of the Olympic colors. Well she does live in Canada after all and they are hosting this year. I have been enjoying watching the Olympics so much this year and so have the kids. There hasn't been much else on the TV for them to watch mind as I refuse to change the channel. LOL. This afternoon is very important to us both I think as Canada and USA are facing one another in ice hockey (one of my favorite sports to watch) to see who gets gold. So very exciting.

I am sneaking in last minute for this challenge once again as I have my one made but am rushing to finish my 5 so I can post a picture of them today. I will hopefully have that picture later and this post will be amended to show you. For now however here is my Olympic Christmas card.

*Here are my five cards. I managed to make them during the half times. Wow! what a match. Congratulations to Canada. I almost forgot, cardstock is pacific point, baja breeze and green galore. Stamp set is SU - Big on Christmas.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Tatiana's Valentines

2010-02-22T17:08:00.003-06:00

I just wanted to show you what I made for Valentines Day for Megan's best friend Tatiana. I made her and her little sister matching 3 x 3 cards using an image that my friend Renee sent me ages ago. They have been hiding away in a drawer so I wouldn't use them cause they are so cute (LOL). Anyway the little teddy bear with the heart on his mug made me smile so I decided it was time to give him to a good home.

I also made Megan and Tatiana matching 6 x 6 scrapbooks. Each one will have the same pages made for it as their friendship grows. For now I have just made the first page using a picture I took at Christmas. I will add to it as they have more and more fun. Everything used is either Stampin' Up or from Archivers.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Cards for Delia

2010-02-19T17:39:00.003-06:00

Wow 2 posts in 2 days, that's a record for me lately... but I just had to pop on and tell you guys about this though. I found it while blog hopping over at the wonderful Dustin Pike's blog. He has a request on behalf of a little 10 year old girl called Delia. Here is the info (taken from his blog entry):

I have a Special Request...
Jennifer from http://just4funcrafts.blogspot.com asked if I could help and ask for card donations..
This is part of the email:
On Friday, December 11th, 2009 my friends daughter Delia was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. She is 10 yrs old and is currently being treated at the Denver Children's Hospital.

She loves art, photography and really loves owls. I was hoping that there would be some wonderful women or men out there that would love to send her a card of encouragement. I thought it would bring a smile to Delia's face to be inundated with cards as a special Valentines Day gift from people around the world. Please find it in your heart to bring hope and love to this beautiful spirited girl. Any card will do..but if you have an owl that would be a bonus. Please pass this information around so we can thrill a little girl in her time of hardship!
She is on her second round of chemo and its been a struggle for her, although she is doing better today.

This touched my heart as she is the same age as my son and I cannot imagine what she must be going through. Her address if you want to send a card is available on Dustin's blog the link is in my inspiration list over on the right side of the page. Dustin is an awesome artist and has drawn these super owl images for you to download and use on your cards. They are so cute I could not resist using 2 of them.

I am a little late for making it in time for valentines day but I figure her fight is not going to end on valentines day and therefore she will need encouragement today and everyday until this nasty illness has been beaten. I used to be a Chemo-Angel and send cards to people just like her and know that everyday is a day that could do with a little extra happiness in it, snail mail for me is the best way I know how. I hope she likes my card.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Valentine Cards

2010-02-18T19:32:00.003-06:00

I didn't get around to making many Valentine cards this year. My mojo is still very much in disarray. However I did join a swap on Joani's group (cards made by hand) to try and get the juices flowing. This is my Valentine swap card.

I did one of Joani's challenges while making the card which was to use pink, black and white. I made my own background paper by using 2 stamps from the SU set I {heart} hearts. The main image was from another SU set Whoo's your Valentine?

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Their Own T-Shirts

2010-02-16T15:13:00.004-06:00

The kids had fun last weekend making their own T-shirts. I thought you might like to see their creations. Megan had a little help from me with the large heart and the words but after I drew a couple of cats for her she tried it for herself and off she went. Jake's is all about Star Wars and done all by himself. I got the iron out to heat set them (one of the rare occasions it comes out of hiding.LOL). I think they look awesome.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Dropping A Line

2010-02-09T10:48:00.006-06:00

I made this card for a sketch challenge on my friend Joani's group (Cards Made By Hand). The long front strip was perfect for this Whipper Snapper image. The cardstock is from Archivers so I am not sure of the color names. The DP was from my scraps box. The little fish charm I won in a blog candy a year or two ago . I have been reluctant to use them but they are perfect for this card and I have way to much stuff to keep them any longer.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Cowboy Christmas

2010-01-30T12:02:00.005-06:00

Hello friends

It's time to start making Christmas Cards for this year. What! I hear you cry, LOL. I am going to try and keep up with Tracy's challenges (http://tracyshappyplace.blogspot.com/) again this year to avoid the last minute rush. So far I am on track with that but then again it is only January.

This months challenge was to make 5 easel cards. They could be all the same or different. I stuck with making them all the same. It was easier. I finally got around to using my cowboy snowman from High Hopes. You can't live in Texas and not want this cute fella in your collection.

I used blue bayou and close to cocoa cardstock and Heidi Grace designer papers.The stars on the close to cocoa are from Starstruck and Delightful Decorations. I heat embossed them to standout and shine with clear embossing powder. An SU brad on the inside of the card makes the perfect stopper for the top to lean against. I was pretty chuffed with it once it was finished. Not bad for a first attempt at this style. I may just have to try this again.

An optional extra to the challenges this year is to make a 3D item (Christmas themed) also. I like to make handmade gifts for certain friends and found last year I had no time to make them so I hope to try this part of the challenge also. This month I kind of cheated as I had these glass coasters hanging around just gathering dust. Well Tracy sent me some lovely poinsettia images when I won one of her challenges last year and I have been holding on to them every since because they were so nice I didn't want to use them. Well I gave in and trimmed a few of them down and put them in the coasters. They look real pretty now and will make an awesome gift for someone this year.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Sewing for a Friend

2010-01-27T16:16:00.003-06:00

I have just a little something sewing related to show you today. My friend Sandra asked me to make her a little tablecloth. She wanted to match her curtains in her kitchen and had some fabric left over for it. Turns out it was just enough. No fancy stitching involved just straight lines but I wanted to show it to you because when we put it on the table in front of the curtains it looked awesome.

Thanks for Looking

Hugs

Nic

Birthday Cupcake

2010-01-23T18:54:00.004-06:00

Here is a card I made for my Mum for her birthday. She was tickled pink with it and envisioned the girl on the cupcake to be her which tickled me.LOL. I have been planning this card for some time. Since before Christmas in fact but alas my beloved mojo went walkabout and it has been sitting on my desk ever since.

Well I sat down and finished it the other day and got it in the mail in time to reach my mum on her birthday yesterday. Cardstock used is Close to Cocoa and Purely Pomegranate. DP is Stampin Up and the cute image is from the breast cancer digi set from Nutcrafters. As it turns out their challenge blog this week has a color challenge of pink and brown (challenge #7) which fits this card perfectly so I am gonna enter it for that.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Racing Time

2010-01-19T12:50:00.003-06:00

I know it's not a card and my part in it was very small this year but I wanted to show you Jake's car for the Pinewood Derby this year. He and Paul decided they wanted to make it look like an I-phone. So here for your enjoyment is the App-mobile.

Ruby Anniversary

2010-01-16T15:03:00.003-06:00

Here's a card. My first of the year, I made it for my in-laws. They are celebrating their Ruby Wedding Anniversary tomorrow. I made a similar card last year for an Aunt and Uncle and followed the same pattern. They probably have had the card by now but they do not have a computer so will not be looking on here to spoil the surprise.

We sent them a BIG bouquet of flowers for the occasion. I am hoping they took a picture of them though as we won't get to see them otherwise due to being an ocean away.

Cardstock is Purely Pomegranate. I thought this made for a pretty close to Ruby color. The cake is a sticker and the sentiment has been embossed.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Happy New Year

2010-01-06T11:16:00.004-06:00

I have been very dormant over the Christmas season and because of that I am finding it very hard to get back into the swing of things. However cards and such won't make themselves so hopefully I will be back soon with something new to show you.

In the meantime I want to show you one or our Christmas presents. It is from my wonderful friend Lucy (aka The Quilting Queen) You can find her sewing up a storm on her blog. She sent us the most awesome quilt. I love this quilt so much I won't even let my cats on it for fear they will snag it with their claws. Thank you Lucy!!!!!!!

One thing I did find a renewed passion for over Christmas was jigsaws. I came across some in my attempts to tidy my craft room (this endeavour is not going so well). I set about this one between Christmas and New Years and finished it last weekend. It was only 500 pieces but pretty tough as a lot of the pieces looked exactly the same, nightmare. Still it's finished, question is, what do I do with it now?

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Time For One More

2009-12-23T14:36:00.003-06:00

Paul asked me the other day to make a set of 5 cards for a friend he works with. How long did he give me to make them?.......Less than 24 hours. Yes, you heard correctly. Luckily I have a bunch of ideas running around in my head and was able to pull this one together fairly quickly. I also got to use one of my favorite techniques - Embossing.

I am dedicating this card to all my online friends who I did not have enough time to make cards for this year. Especially my new friend Tracy in Canada who sent me the loveliest card (I am sorry I did not get one to you in time I will make it up to you).I have found that this year has gone by incredibly fast and I am still waiting for it to slow down. I have a feeling though that it is me that will have to speed up to keep up.

Not sure if you can see in this picture but the ornament has been heat embossed. The powder is called Red Dragon and is mixed with gold glitter so it sparkles ever so pretty. I used my new SU set Delightful Decorations and my new Real Red polka dot ribbon.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Hugs

Nic

Tree Decorations

2009-12-16T13:27:00.003-06:00

I went to a make and take at Archiver's about a month ago and one of the makes was an ornament for your tree. I was very impressed with how easy they were and felt that I could probably make them at home as I have the most important thing I needed already.

What I didn't have I bought while there. For me a good make and take is when I end up buying and taking the product home. So I guess this one was a winner. I bought the acrylic snowflakes and the ribbon and the mosaic tiles before leaving and invested in a Martha Stewart snowflake punch from Michael's as the one they had used was very awkward.

At home I ran the snowflakes through my cuttlebug. The finished thing looks really nice. Of course the ones I made myself at home are green as that is my favorite color and that way the people getting them as Christmas gifts get a little piece of me for their tree.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

On The First Day Of Christmas...

2009-12-01T18:40:00.004-06:00

...I just have to sing the praises of my lovely friend Lucy who sent us this awesome quilted advent calendar. She even sent the candy to fill it. Isn't it just awesome. Her blog link is over on my sidebar if you want to check out what else she has been up to. I dream of being as good as her one day but alas it is just a dream. It will not stop me sewing however.

Just to prove it here is a little something I made for my other lovely friend Sonya. Today is her birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY SONYA!) and she admired the one I made for Lucy earlier this year so as per her request I made her one with her favorite thing - FROGS!

I am currently wrapping gifts like a silly person trying to get them mailed by the end of the week to the UK. Hopefully I can get back into my craft room after that. Although I think I may need to purge/tidy/clean it first as I have so much stuff in there these days my brain feels a little overwhelmed every time I go in there so I need to sweep a few cobwebs clear first.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T12:44:00.004-06:00

I have backdated this post because I meant to post it on thanksgiving but completely forgot. Here is a little turkey card I made for a thanksgiving swap over on my friend Joani's card making group (see sidebar). I got this stamp from High Hopes just before they went wholesale only. He's so cute trying to make a speedy getaway on his scooter.

The paper is from a Debbie Mumm stack I must have bought ages ago. Cardstock is chocolate chip, real rust and old olive.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Finished Them

2009-11-20T10:44:00.002-06:00

Here is a picture of the other half of the cards I made for my friend Renee. I am busy trying to get Christmas presents organised right now as I have to mail most of them overseas and the mail slows down a lot this time of year so I need to get them posted before the end of the month. Hopefully I will be back to crafting and have cool things to show you real soon. Thanks for hanging in there with me.

Hugs

Nic

Half Way There

2009-11-12T18:38:00.003-06:00

Here's a quick picture to show you what I have been up to and why I have been a little quiet on here lately. This is the first 25 cards that I have made for my friend Renee. I am now busy at work on the other 25 of a different design. I hope to be on top of things soon.

Thanks for hanging around while I am so busy.

Hugs

Nic

Halloween Crafts

2009-11-03T09:21:00.003-06:00

Here are a couple of pictures of the crafts I did for Halloween. Megan took a pot of pencils with lollipops into school. These look very similar to what I did last year with the Pixi Stix. I was a little light on ideas and time so I went with what I knew. It did end up taking a while though as the pencils, being thicker than the pixi stix were not co-operating with my dimensionals. I ended up resorting to stapling each side together. Due to all the time I wasted I just gave Jake a pot of pencils and lollipops to hand out - no frills.

I also made these little goodie bags for a friends Halloween party we went to. Megan's friend has a peanut allergy so we made sure everything inside was good for her to have. I will be a little light on posts for a while as I am feeling under the weather. Will be back when I have time to craft a little when I feel better.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Halloween Witch

2009-10-28T11:18:00.004-05:00

Once again I have missed the challenge for this card. It is from a fairly new company called Nutcrafters http://nutcrafters.co.uk/zen/ and they were giving this digital download Witch on their challenge blog http://nutcrafters-nutshells.blogspot.com/ for free. I snagged her and used her to make my Halloween cards this year.

Of course as always I missed the deadline to enter my card. But at least I got some Halloween cards made. Which was starting to look doubtful. They have some super cute images, you should check them out. I also purchased their Breast Cancer Digital download. The cutest images and 50% goes to Breast Cancer Awareness. I will be back later in the week with a card for that, I hope.

I made the card in three different colors. Tangerine tango, kiwi kiss and lovely lilac. The web is a cuttlebug folder cut with a scallop circle punch. The spider is confetti and the sentiment is Stampin Up. Oh and I almost forgot the best part - my Martha Stuart dripping goo punch. Love it. LOL.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Finding Nemo

2009-10-23T18:34:00.003-05:00

I just love this movie don't you? There is a story attached to this card so let me tell you it. I will make it as short as possible. I was looking at stamps online one day a couple of months back and came across this cool one with seagulls at Whipper Snapper and thought to myself that it would make a cool card if ever they chose Finding Nemo for the Cinema Saturday Challenge so I promptly put the stamp on my wish list where I then promptly forgot about it. Till that is I checked the challenge for this week (Challenge #54) and lo and behold there was Finding Nemo as this weeks movie choice. Straight away I went and ordered the stamp as I really really wanted to do this card. Today it finally arrived and I quickly made this card. There was a color guide for it that I totally missed in my excitement and I'm not completely sure I like it 100%, simple cards are very hard for me these days. I keep looking at it thinking somethings missing. My sentiment is improvised and I know that in the movie the birds apparently say "mine" not "mate" but it suited the card better.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

New Seat Cover

2009-10-21T18:04:00.005-05:00

I finally got some time to focus on my computer chair in my Craft room. It got a hole in the seat courtesy of the cats. I covered it up temporarily with duct tape but I really wanted to give it a new lease of life and make it match my room. I bought the seat material ages ago and have been waiting for the right project to use it on. As for the seat back, the kids and I went out to Hancock Fabrics with a sample of the seat material the other day and managed to match the green to it exactly. I am so happy. I think I may cover my craft chair the same so they are both matching.

Speaking of happy, I just have to show you what my friend Lucy made for Megan for her birthday. I have forgotten to show you this so many times but I could not let it slip my mind completely. I just had to show you what an awesome woman she is.

Sneak peak: I wonder what I could be making with this? ;-)

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Cased Christmas Card

2009-10-16T20:22:00.004-05:00

I got asked by a friend of mine if I would make her Christmas cards for her. I can never say no to a friend so I asked her if she had something in mind. One of my previous Christmas cards from back in April was one that she picked but she wanted 50 so we opted for 25 each of 2 designs. For the other card I told her to see if she could see something she liked on Splitcoast Stampers. They are a wealth of inspiration in my opinion.

She came back to me with this http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/1494974

First thing that came to mind was WOW! What a beautiful card. Second thing that came to mind was oh, my gosh how am I gonna do that. Well after putting it off a couple of days I sat down at my craft desk and slowly but surely I created my card. It is practically a complete case (can't mess with perfection, right?) apart from the couple of things I changed due to not having the same supplies. Everything on the card is Stampin' Up. The stamp set I used for the flower was Fabulous Flowers. I really like how it turned out. Now all I need is to make another 24. LOL. I have everything stamped, punched and cut so far. I will show you a pic of them all when they are finished.

I am trying to get into Halloween mode but to tell you the truth I am waiting for my friend Tracy's next Christmas Challenge. I love Halloween but for some reason I have real trouble thinking up idea's. The kids are hoping for treats for their class. Here's hoping the spooky creative juices start flowing soon.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic