Happy Mums Day

In the UK it's Mothers Day today. (Hi Mum!*waving* I made something for you!)

Even though she's just very recently had a super special day, here's another one for her - because of course she deserves it. I hear she has a bright new craft room and I hope she gets to spend some time in there today.

Here's the layout I made in close up:

a pretty page for a pretty lady

finally got access to the sewing machine

Happy Mums Day, Mum!

(p.s. I'm sorry but the soundtrack is the closest track to Metal that the iMovie generic music list has to offer)

A Very Special Day

Today I’d like to tell you a little story.

It was the height of the summer holidays, and a blazing hot, thirst-making kind of day. I was perhaps eight years old, and playing in the street with my friends, at the outskirts of the small town on the edge of farmland where my family spent a few years living the country life.

At some point that day, I came inside for a cold glass of refreshing lemonade, or maybe it was an ice-pop, and found my mum in the living room, listening to Kool & the Gang, knelt over a spread of fabric. There were chalk lines and scissors, pin cushions and thread, and panels ready to make up a dress for a little girl.  

I can’t remember if she asked me to stop in for a while so that she could measure me; but I do remember the fabric: it was white, with large neon orange polka dots, and it was pretty much the same shape as the dress I’m wearing today:

Cheryl's cherry dress #2

And why am I wearing such a dress today?

Today is a very special day, because a very special lady is having a very special birthday.

Last night she was surprised by an unexpected visit from us, and today she is showing us her new craft room and opening cards and presents. She also doesn’t know that this afternoon we’re going to take her out for tea.

I made her a card, naturally:

Happy Birthday, Mum!

But I also made her a little something to hang on the wall of her new craft room:

that's right. Ain't no one else's craft room.

She loves Webster’s Pages, and things in the style of Cath Kidston and East of India, so I hope this little wall decoration will meet her tastes and match her craft room. The image you can see inside is from Crafty Secrets, and I chose it because, more than scrapbooking, cardmaking, flower arranging and baking, the strongest memory I have of my mum is of her at her sewing machine.

Cute, huh? All those little sewing elements are actually buttons. I just set to work on them with my glue gun and suddenly there was a miniature sewing basket fit for a doll’s house.

Having taken direction from All Things Thrifty, I spray painted this box instead of using acrylic paint and a brush:

the finish is much smoother. Now I feel confident to move on to big pieces of furniture!

a better view of the inside

Wishing you a very happy birthday, mum!

My 199th Post

After all the planning and the looking forward to this moment, it's crept up on me in a fortnight of insane amounts of work distractions and will have to pass unceremoniously and without the planned giveaway. Well, watch this space on the giveaway.

At 199th post point, I obviously wanted to reflect a little. So, almost 6 months into the year, I'm going to glance back at my 2011 resolutions and assess the state of things.

1) The Get Healthy resolution - after some ups and downs, I think I can say 'Check'. Or at least, I've finally got it in check.
2) The Stop Worrying So Much About The Passing Of Time resolution - for me, really quite successful until a meltdown of sorts last weekend. Back up and running now though. And definitely happier for it. Which was the intention.
3) The Continue To Sand Down My Rough Edges resolution - slower going, this one, but I'm pretty sure I can say I've made some progress. Little and often, little and often.
4) The Co-Organise Our Wedding resolution - well, yes, this one is working. Not without spats, but definitely working. It has to, really, otherwise we won't have a wedding.
5) The Increase The Amount Of Freelance Work I'm Doing resolution - I meant by actively seeking out work, and in those terms I have failed so far. But on the other hand I've been getting pllllllllllllenty of work for 3 of the 4 elapsed months so far so it's not so bad.
6) The Craft In A More Focused Way resolution - I certainly have planned ahead, revelled in keeping lists, toned down the spending to small but Important purchases. And I've produced layouts in much faster times than ever before. Success here.
7) The Write More Narrative On My Blog resolution - so far, mainly a fail. I would blame the speed of the passing of time, but for the fact that Resolution #2 would jump off the screen and slap me in the face. But I do want to Write More Narrative. And Better Narrative. Because I do miss writing.
8) The Make Cards From Paper and Materials I No Longer Like And Will Never Use In Other Crafting resolution - not a complete success, but more a success than a fail. In fact, not making many cards at all this year helps skew the figures in my favour somewhat. Hmmm...must make more cards.
9) The Sit Down On Every 25th Of The Month And Make At Least 10 Christmassy Things resolution - ummmm, I was unable to foresee, in January when my eyes were bright with the possibilities a whole new year might bring my way, how utterly un-Christmassy I would feel on any day of  the month, let alone the 25th. So, after January - a fail. But not one I'm ashamed of. I've discovered I like Christmas to remain what - and where - it is. After December 5th - and that is all.
10) The Make A Postcard A Week resolution - I have kept this up, although I've been in such a rush lately that I've sent the postcards off before photographing them. So technically I can't prove it. But if you have any doubts, send me a postcard. Etiquette says I must reply.

There - my half-way status. I'm fairly happy with it. Not really into self-flagellation right now as stress leads to unproductiveness and I cannot be unproductive at this time.

2011 so far has brought me a whole bunch of new online friends - thanks you lot for being so cool - and numerous exciting possibilities that I can't wait to get my teeth into. Here's to the future - from post 199.

Oh, and here is the mother's day card I made for mum-in-law-to-be. Gotta get used to having two separate dates for this one.

Simply Mum

In the UK today it's a special day for mums. Not being one to share my feelings easily, especially in public, I'm going to be short on words and big on colour to (hopefully) show how much I appreciate my mum.

I made her card from scraps. It sounds horribly un-special, but in fact...

 

... I think it's quite special. I made the little flags from sandwich picks and cocktail sticks, and the pin is actually from my mum so she gets it back today.

Happy Mother's Day!

Mum's Day

In the UK and Ireland it was Mother's Day this Sunday just gone. While mine was off gallivanting around the West Country, I was wondering how she would like my card for her.



The materials: some new papers I found at a craft fair in Antwerp (Webster's Pages - for me they were quite hard to track down, and I can't find a link online that will go directly to a page that shows you all of them), some ribbon, some flowers and some epoxy stickers from Paperchase. The letters were cut using the Cricut and then chalked to give an aged look.



The reaction? "I NEED that paper!"