I am loving....

....Mikas 'My Interpretation' and the lyrics are so very, very good.

Also! I have finished that darn assignment! Woohoo!! A day of crafting ahead tomorrow for me :O) BIG smilies!! I plan on finishing a few things I have started recently but that have fallen by the wayside as I have been so busy with life!
That's after I have done everything else that needs doing! Including getting my eldest ready for her school trip to Granada on Monday!

Award!

I have just been given the Kreativ Blogger award from Sue. Thanks Sue! I feel honoured, you've brightened my day!
I am definitely passing it on to my talented SBS sister Sue - Supermum she knows why and also my sisters Kylie, Ev and Ginger.
Enjoy it ladies!

Also last night....

... the we went on a nature trail with the Brownies and Rainbows to Alameda Botanical Gardens here in Gib. A fab time was had by all - we even had bark rubbings! It was lovely as 2 of my unit helpers Julie and Karen sorted out the trails as part of their warrants so I just had to turn up!! I love weeks like that!
The picture is from the link above as I haven't sorted through the photos yet for a suitable one that only contains my chidren, but I just wanted to show a little of the beauty of the place - we stood under this Olive Tree to draw pictures!

Last night...

....we had 2 newbies, Yeh! Welcome to Liz and Eliza! So I had 2 to show around what we do - even did a Cuttlebug demo for Liz - I only learned last week myself.
Had a bash at Father's Day cards I haven't mine finished yet but will post when I do.
I demonstrated an origami shirt (that I found here at Madaboutcards the site contains a few free downloads too) and the cards seemed to feature a lot of washing lines and shirts of varying bright colours!!
Martine in particular (Hi Martine!!) got them right very fast and was most proud of herself - I can see a lot of cards with little origami shirts of different kinds for different occasions in her future!!

Back to the assignment :(

Blog Candy

Dawny at Pink Piggy has a lovely blog candy giveaway on her blog so check it out!!
Her work is lovely and the candy is to celebrate 4000 hits on her blog.

Sharon at Shari-Anne Happy Crafter also has beautiful work and enjoys sketch challenges too! Check her out and enter her blog candy giveaway for 5000 visits!

We are lucky people to have such generosity amongst us!! Thank you ladies :O)

Blog Hopping again!!

Been blog hopping again for inspiration starting at the Cardmaking List (what a resource!) and found a few real beauties on the higher numbers:

Lindas Works of Heart -Well made beautiful cards.

Scrapping with Love - Bright and beautiful cards.

Praerie Ponderer - Lovely colours, inspiring cards with great how to descriptions.

Nostalgic Collage - These are gorgeous and different.

As I've said before, head over the the second or third pages, there are some great blogs and craft sites to be found that kind of get 'lost' as they are not on the front page.
Some are not so good and there is at least one or two that I have found that misrepresent themselves offering free goodies and templates etc when they don't. But most of them are honest about what they are - and have stunning cards and layouts.

Right I am off to make a leaving card for a special friend and sort out for Brownies and Rainbows and after that its tonights Craft Club meeting - have at least one newbie and a returning friend tonight so looking forward to it!!
And no, assignment is still not done!! I will have to do it tomorrow now :o/

Just want to pop a lovely big Thank You in for those of my SBS sisters I have had to contact 'off blog' recently for understanding its not my fault and hopefully it will blow over soon :o)
You are good friends, thank you x

Memorial Day

"He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has." ~ Epictetus ~

”Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.” ~ Thomas Jefferson ~

”The greatest homage we can pay to truth is to use it.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~

”Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody's going to know whether you did it or not.” ~ Oprah Winfrey ~

I wanted to write something today emphasising honesty, truthfulness and love for others, in relation as to what is going on in my life at the moment and - especially - as it is was memorial day in the USA yesterday. I am not great with words, hence the above borrowed quotations from here and here but on Queen Kats blog Penny has placed this right after my honourary Princess of the Day and Thanks to our family for all we do - and believe me, in the RAF and indeed any service, the family doesn't aways come first as we have ourselves experienced many times in the past 14 years, anyway, here it is:

Memorial Day
All of us at Queen Kat Designs want to remember the fallen soldiers around the world today. The sacrifices that these men and women have made for this country and for their own countries deserve more than just a day, but with this day, we do honor the soldiers who have gone before and those who continue to fight. May God Bless each and everyone of you and your families as you give your all, sometimes, even the ultimate gift, to protect others.Thank you.

There you go, I cannot say much more. There are so many more important things in life than ego and petty squabbles.
Pause today, think about what is going on around you - does it really matter, really at the end of the day? No? Discard it. Move on with your life.
Take in what is happening in the big wide world and the scheme of things, somethings really don't matter. But things like memorial day do. Love, family and living a good life do.
Take a moment. Open your heart. Be truthful. Be honest. Discard trivialities and live a good life today and every day.
May whatever your beliefs are, bless you and people who are laying their lives on the line for us every day.

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them."~ John Fitzgerald Kennedy ~

I am a Princess!!!!!!!!!!

I have been the featured blogger Princess of the Day for Queen Kats Bloggers club!! I am honoured!!! Thank you so much :o)
There are some beautiful and talented ladies being featured on there, so mosey on over and check them out!!

Scrapbooking!!

Ok, on the advice of others on my photographs I am gonna try a scrapbook layout next week - after I finish my latest OU assignment (Gill's finished and sent hers aghhh!! Can I copy yours Gill?lol!) - BUT!?!?! Where do I start?!?!?! I can probably do the actual layout, photos, embellishments etc no probs but what base do I use? Is it a ordinary piece of card stock, do I have to go and buy a scrapbook for the purpose? Is it a folder with lots of Poly pockets in? I have no idea :o/ !
Help!!
Answers on a postcard, lol, or in my comments or mailbox!!
Thanks in advance!

A couple of cards

Here are a couple of cards I have made recently, hope that you like them, the first is a simple purple glittered happy birthday, the second a thank you card (using the image from here) for the Dental Hygenist Dean and Dental Nurse Izzy from PRMC, here in who gave up their Wednesday evening to come and spend some time with our Rainbows and Brownies, educating them on Healthy Teeth. We a fab fun evening and the joined in with our singing too!


Enjoy!

New craft links

Just to say I have popped a couple of links over at the side there..... Stitching Cards and Time for Crafting, both of which I have been exploring like a kiddie in a sweet shop this morning!
I met the lovely Diane from our Friday craft group when I popped up to introduce myself and she was stitching a card, it was so beautiful and quite an art! I don't think I have ever seen any card so pretty before that was stitched! She gave me a personal demonstration of how she did it and pointed me towards a couple of websites. I can't wait to get started - consider me inspired!
Time for Crafting I happened upon in my searches on the cardmaking list , I decided to explore the ones that weren't on the front page for a change and came up with some lovely sites in the 50+ section - I thoroughly recommend going to the other pages as there are some real gems to be found. Enjoy your blog hopping!
Enjoy your crafting.

Thank you!!

Just wanted to pop a thank you on for all the people who have verbally, on here, on Facebook and on email, voiced their support for me now being chair of the craft club - I didn't realise there would be so many who would be pleased it would be kept going! Its been great and I have been walking round with a smile on my face for a few days now!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!
I shall have to make you a thank you card!
I spoke to yet another lady last night who would like to rejoin us, its brilliant!!
The future is bright!
No one can bring me down today!

Fire Station!

Ollie - my youngest and I - and my eldest Lizzy (dentist immediately before for her brace to be fitted, so had to come!), went on the nursery trip to the Defense Fire Service on the runway at Gibraltar and had a lovely time, here are a few pics!

Sketch Challenge

We have our first sister who is having a go at the sketch and what a beautiful card Kylie made! You can see it in all its loveliness here and what fun it looks to make!! Don't forget to check out Kylie's Moxie blog and the rest of her beautiful creations!

Our second sister to have a go is Cathy whose lovely card is here. It is a lovely Edwin card and once again is a different take on the same basic sketch! I love it! Its very cute :)

I have batteries now, so here is mine!

You don't have to be a SBS sister to have a go!
All are welcome :)

Lovely Evening!!

Well we have had a great, relaxed creative evening at Craft Club! We have welcomed a lovely new member Louise. We had the sketch challenge which came up with some lovely differences using the same design, unfortunately my cameras batteries were flat so couldn't take pictures but I will try and at least take one of mine tomorrow and maybe get hold of a couple of the other ladies beautiful cards to photo to show. They enjoyed it and seemed pleased with what they created.

I was welcomed as chair with open arms, we chatted non stop and the ladies seem excited about the future! Between us we have now heard of several people who will be returning! And are so very pleased. I may have even convinced 2 new people to rejoin today without even starting the advertising yet! I cannot wait to see what its like in a few short weeks time.

Jennies birthday was celebrated in card, cake and wine style - what an absolute riot she was after having been out on a cruise ship all day sipping cocktails! I laughed so hard, she was so funny.

I am really looking forward to next week and here was the sketch we used this week - a simple one to start, if you would like to have a go, feel free and post me the link - I will post a link back to your blog, enjoy!! :

Grrrrrrrooooowwwwlllll!!!

I love this card, I made this a couple of weeks ago for my friend Leigh's little boy Luke's 2nd birthday. It has goggly eyes and everything!!! Rarrrrrr!! Apparently he loved it, and was 'rarrrrring' all afternoon!

Community Craft Club & Challenges - edited to add more detail

Well this evening I went to the craft club meeting with my ideas written down and have left the new Chairperson! Gill the lady who originally set it up is off to pastures new (Cheshire actually, lol) and had to hand over - she begged me to attend a couple of times as I have a lot of experience with running committees etc. A couple of people volunteered to the committee and I was 'volunteered' up to chair by Gill, Annette and Christine! Thanks Ladies, lol. The night has been changed so I can fulfil the role and it doesn't clash with Brownies and Rainbows. The lovely Angeline, will be my main partner in crime, with the fabulous Jennie, Debbie and Christine in the other main positions.
Anyway I will do my best and heres to the future and a thriving club! It really needs to be turned around because amongst other things, one of the previous people who ran it left it in a bit of a state due to refusing to let go of the reins and practically falling out with everyone before she left!
Gill sadly, amongst many other committments has been struggling to hold it together after the mess this other person left. The committee will now begin the delicate task of trying to bring people back into the fold, trying to mend relationships and build bridges of these perfectly lovely and talented people who have a lot to offer the club. We are also on a recruiting drive! We are going back to being a Community Craft Club, where EVERYONE is included, if they choose to be. Back to the spirit in which it was created.

Unfortunately, this person has decided to leave nasty comments and lies in my comment box. If you read one and are unsure whether it is true or is just a vindictive remark, please feel free in messaging me to find out. Liars, trouble makers and attention seekers abhor me - I cannot tolerate it, especially here on my little piece of cyberspace.

Due to this I am now very, very sadly going to have to enable moderation in the comments so she cannot attack me at least on my blog - on advice from my/her friends. I am so very sorry because in my last couple of years of blogging both on this and my old non crafty blog I have never had to do this.

Anyway! I have spoken to many concerned here in Gibraltar, not one is in conflict in their opinion of what is happening, which gives me heart, thank goodness! And have voiced support for me should this go any further. I have not lied, or made unfounded allegations. The people who are involved agree.

I was worrying that I had done something wrong, or made a mistake, but have since found out that I am not the only recipient of this type of 'attention'. But whats done is done now, we will all move on and my part in this STOPS HERE, I will comment no further or be drawn into petty squabble.
All of us are adults and can make our own decisions on the matter.
We reap what we sow as they say.

Now for the FUN PART!!!

I am off to plan my first sketch challenge for this week (we also have Jennies and Christines birthday to celebrate!!), I will post the sketch here so visitors to the blog can have a go if they choose - there will be no prizes but I will feature a couple here on the blog if you like with links to your blogs? What do you think?

The Craft Club Committee are working on a few new and interesting ideas together that should are different and fun - I will share as they evolve.
We plan on doing a weekly (optional) challenge for now unless its a demo night and having a sketch, colour or embellishment etc challenge so everyone can try something new - edging them gently out of their comfort zones - using what is to hand, its fun and keeps the costs down!

Wish us luck and any ideas are welcome! I will make notes and put them to the committee team at the next meeting so we can discuss what is doable! What do YOU do at your craft club if you go to one?

And more scrumptious blog candy....

...this time from a fellow SBS17 sister - a generous amount of candy to celebrate Cathy's birthday in 2 weeks!! Such scrumptious yumminess - we are not worthy!
Thank you Cathy and daughters Ellie and Beth!
Toddle on over there everyone and check out this lady's talent - be inspired.

Kazza's blog candy!

Kazza is celebrating the first anniversary of her 39th birthday with a small mountain of blog candy to give away! Happy birthday Kazza :o)
I found her in my scrapbooking idea searches. Page bookmarked!

Thought I'd share....

.....this picture - its from my phone so a little grainy, but this is from Wednesday and after the evening at the beach that I had with the Brownies and Rainbows - before I allowed her in the house - and STRAIGHT up to the bathroom!!
This is my baby - my 3 year old Olivia.
Now what do you think? Do you think she had a good time with all the big girls?? She is such a cheeky monkey!!

Stampin' Up!

I have stumbled across Amanda who is one of the UK's first Stampin' Up Demonstrators! I am technically a UK address so come under UK postage for emailed orders! I am very excited about this as I expect many of you like me are unable to get hold of Stampin' Up products due to not being in the USA! Unless its used off Ebay of course!
I also find that many of the challenges I enter specify Stampin' Up colours so when I use my own - which are of course as close as possible - it still isn't good enough and all the 'winners' are users of Stampin' Up products - such as the challenge I like to enter on Kristina's blog. Hardly makes it worth it does it? Putting in the effort and joining in?
ANYWAY!! Now YOU can get hold of Stampin' Up stuff too! (No I am not getting commission - just excited!) I am just getting into rubberstamping and this did make my heart skip a little beat there for a minute! Obviously UK visitors can get these from UK demonstrator, but also BFPO is UK postage!! So WOOHOO!!

I may have a little purchase after payday - I may even have a catalogue party in the near future?!?! What do you think Craft Club ladies?

Heidi's blog candy

Heidi from Heidi's Papir Verden is giving away blog candy here it is images and stamps from Hanglar & Stanglar that are simply adorable! She also has a great bilingual blog Norwegian/English with some great designs and inspiring ideas - especially the use of embellishments such as flowers and buttons! I like this one in particular - the paper bag!! It is ideal for a gift bag for that special person.
I really wish I was as imaginative as some of you ladies (and the odd gent) I have come across! Please continue to inspire :o)

On the way to Benalmadena

I had a hospital appointment in Benalmadena today - had my own driver and translater, how posh am I??? Anyway I didn't actually get to see too much of it apart from the private International Hospital itself and lots of appartments :(.
All the way up the coast its just building site after building site and what was obviously once beautiful Spanish countryside is now an eyesore. Cheap looking mass produced gaudy and tasteless appartments filled the sides of the Autopista del sol nearly the whole way from Gibraltar, the smaller once village type places - parts of which still struggle to keep a grasp on the charm and olde spanish style it once had, have just been swamped with cheap garish tourist tat. Such an awful shame. Anyone hoping to go to these places I passed on the way up the coast in the hope of experiencing the Spanish Lifestyle are going to be sadly disappointed.

Colour Inspiration Challenge no 9 card

Ok here is my card for Kristina's challenge no 9. Quite pleased with it - it was my first attempt at faux stitching, I resisted big ribbon knots and extra stamping!! I stuck to the wavy ribbon and I like it as it is, the 2 flower brads were a last minute addition and fill out the space a little as it seemed bare.

My perfect storage solution - I want it!

I saw this on Ashley's Design With Ink blog - its my perfect solution (if I had a load of pretty boxes too, lol) - how ideal is this???? Great for craft stuff!! A trip to Ikea in the offing me thinks! If not now, certainly when we go back to the UK next year. Love it!
Also Ashley has had a go at the Colour Inspiration Challenge - its lovely! Check it out!

Expat blog link

As you can see on the right ----> there is now a link to Expat Blogs - its because when I read Travellingmamas blog (who leaves lovely comments and questions for me and has some very lovely work - Hi!!), I realised that I am kind of one too! I have lived for 3 years in Cyprus before a few years back in the UK and now here on Gibraltar. I am kind of a travelling mama myself, lol! In a few years time we hope to emigrate to Australia.
I didn't realise how close we were - Travellingmama is just over the Straits in Morocco! Give me a wave!!
Anyhow - I am going to include more of what I get up to here on the Rock as well as the crafty stuff!! It has an amazing history.

Tired and achy..

Well we took the Rainbows and Brownies to the beach yesterday evening at Catalan Bay for a sandcastle competition, which was absolutely fab, we had a great time and several parents stayed and joined in the fun which is always great!
But...... I walked around on sand for over 3 hours and BOY!! my feet/ankles/knees/lower back are achy this morning! Must have been a right work out! Still it was worth it and they had a great time, no injuries, no arguments, great. Lovely, stress free-ish evening for us adults!

Colour Inspiration Challenge no 9 time!!

Challenge no9 time!! Kristina has come up with 5 colours this time using this picture and the colours above. If you fancy a go the deadline is 7pm US Mountain time so thats the early hours of the morning to many of us, so I have all day to try and find time to complete one.
To me, who doesn't have stampin up products this translates to red, orange, cream, olive green and turquoise!! Good luck if you get a chance to have a go.

Boy have I found a wonderful site!!

Katydid Creations! What more can I say, its wonderful, its a lady called Kathryn from Austin, Texas who does easy to follow tutorials with pictures for those like me who struggle! There are free templates!!! too, so far I have discovered the Spot of Tea Cards, the Seed Packet Cards, the Altered Clipboard Advent Calendar and Halloween Countdown AND!!! the Accordian Gift Card Holder!
Well I cannot wait to go off and explore further - I noticed many more tutorials on the main blog itself, including a scrap page of the month!!! I may be MIA for the rest of the day, lol, I hope that those of you who haven't discovered her yet, do so asap, cos Kathryn's designs are amazing.

Colour challenge and Gina's Comp

As per the last 2 blog entries (see the links there), I thought I'd have a bash. Didn't come out anything like I planned :( But its pretty and covers all bases. It does look better in real life.... The jewels on the right match up with the sticky ribbon just perfectly but you can't tell here.

Colour Inspiration Challenge time again!!

Oh, how pretty, see what picture Kristina has found this time! Lovely eh?

I am going to have a go at something this evening and submit it straight away - if I manage it this week!!