Happy New Year and lots of random festive pics :)

Happy New year to all my lovely blog followers! Gosh, is it really 2012 already?! Yikes!!! We had a really lovely Christmas and hope that you did too. I'm just cathing up with everything now, and trying to get into the swing of another new year. So, that usually means lots of sorting out, paying new bills, yuck! and generally trying to be more organised than the previous year, well, I can but try, lol! Anyway, here are a few random photos of some the things which helped make our home look festive, along with some of the things we made and got up to over the festive season, plus some of the wonderful gifts we were so fortunate to receive, and even a bit of baking too! Oh yes, I made two Christmas cakes, one for me to decorate in peace, and one for the kids to decorate to their hearts content. Pleased to report this system worked wonders, and we both ended up with two yummy nicely decorated cakes, with no arguments, yippeee!!!! I was a very lucky girl this Christmas and Santa AKA my three boys (Hubby and kids) bought me the most wonderful Pandora charm bracelet. This was such a wonderful surprise, as I'm not really a jewelry person, but just loved this, and each of them chose a little charm which came in the cutest little box too! Oh, and must mention the fantastic fun hats sent by one of my sisters for the kids, they are just soooooo cute, can you work out who they are? Answers on a postcard please, lol! Anyway, here's a few pics as promised starting with our cakes, yum!!!

Some bicester villiage bargain buys. I am soooo inlove with this little jug and pencil tins, they are just perfect for all my colouring pencils :)

Fab fun hats that arrived in the post from my sister Louise, thanks Lou, we love them!!! Can you guess who they are?

My beautiful gifts from Santa :) A heart charm from Kevin, and snowman from Zach and and Angel from Robbie.

The kids got some Smash books and were delighted with them, more on those in my next post. But think they are my new crafty addiction, and kids seemed to like them too!

A few things that helped make our home look festive :)

And finally..... here's a Christmas card and envelope I whipped up for Kevin, on Christmas morning! Yikes! Talk about last minute, lol! I had to think quick in my oh so messy and tiny craft room, but still I think it turned out well, I promise to be better organised next Christmas :) oh, and a few latest pics of Barney our 10 month old puppy.

Pheweeee! Think that's all for now folks, thank goodness says you :) But I hope to be back soon, talking about my latest crafty addiction, SMASH BOOKS!!!! Yes, I'm afarid I crumbled and bought one, infact I bought two, greedy me! Yes, and have to say I'm pretty hooked. Anyway, more about that on my next post. Happy Crafting! Suzie xxxx :)

New Look Recipe Albums, and pressie for my Mum :)

Dear Blog pals, I thought you would like to see some of my recent crafting projects. This one has not only proved to be a bit of a challenge but also a real joy to make. Whilst visting my family in Dublin in August this year, my Mum showed me a collection of wonderful old recipe paper cuttings from comics she lovingly collected as a child, along with a rather sad and tatty looking recipe book she was given one year by her Aunt. As you can see by the pics, the illustration on the recipe cuttings are simply adorable, these ofcourse are the real deal and very retro, I just love them! and can see ofcourse how much they would have appealed to my Mum as a child. These (considering their age) were not in bad condition at all) unlike the poor old recipe book, which really was in a very sorry state. My Mum informs me the pages (even when new) were very badly bound together, and kept falling out, hence all the old celloptape marks, oh dear :( oh well, as least glue has inproved over the years. So, I decided to take onboard the challenge of giving them all a new life, and bringing back some of their once loved sparkle. I wanted to keep things pretty simple as I didn't want to take anything away from their original charm, plus, I had to think of a way to rebind the recipe book, giving it a new look, but still allowing you to view the original cover. Plus, there was also a little drawing that my Mum had done as a child, that I wanted to add, but as she had also writen on the back, had to think of a way to include this, so that you could still view both sides. Here are some before photos.....

My Mum also, loved as a child to cut out small and funny pictures and add those to her books, so with all the left over cuttings, I managed to create a little pocket, and popped in some bits and bobs for her to glue in herself and recapture some of her childhood memories. I'm pleased to report this has now been delived to my Mum all wrapped and looking lovely, and am also pleased to report, that she is delighted with it :) so can now share with all of you, so here is what I did....

I also had a wonderful trip to Bicester Village the other day, where I picked up some great bargains. Totally scrummy Cath Kidston bits and bobs, and also some Emma Bridgewater cute little tins to store all my water colour pencils in (thinking of you there, Carole) and all at half price! I will share my goodies with you all soon. So, at this point my dear blogging pals, I would just like to say, if I don't get to blog again before Christmas, I would like to wish you all the most fantastic Christmas and new year and hope that Santa brings you all something wonderful. More soon.... Happy Crafting and Christmas!!! Hugs Suzie xxxx :)

Finally back with a few bits and bobs :)

A BIG hello to all my fellow bloggers :)

It's lovely to be back in blogland once more. Naughty blogger has kept me away far to long.

As some of you may know, I've had months of on/off problems with blogger, hense the reason for my lack of recent blogging, and my lack of comments on your lovely blogs too.

Anyway, it seems this week, we have become friends again, and blogger has decided to be kind, and not only let me post, but comment again too, hurray!!!!

So without further ado, I shall move swiftly on to all things crafty.
I wanted to share some lovely pics taken on my recent visit home to Dublin, did I say recent? well actually, it was August, gosh! where did that time go?!

The pics include some lovely views of Dublin taken on a family doggy walk, yes, all four of them!!
These pics were taken on Killiney Hill, a beauty hot spot in Dublin, and a big favourite for doggy walkers :)

I've also included some pics of some scrummy owls created by Marcus and Louise (my brother and sister) just love these!!!! And have copied the pattern to make some of my own too! Oh, and must just mention by Mum's lovely granny square throw in the background, she's a utter whizz at these, and they are so lovely and colourful, yep, I suppose when you think about it, we are a bit of a crafty lot, lol!

Finally, I have added some pics of Lou's amazing art work.
My sister Louise is amazingly tallented, and not only has a fashion degree, but also ran a popular craft market in Dublin for some time.
The detail on some of her artwork is simply amazing!! You might even recogise some kitchen utencils along the way, lol!

Also, look out for the fabric and wool details in her shadow box paintings, all handmade and died by Louise, simply amazing! even if not your to your taste.

Anyway, I'll stop rambling, and let you take a peek.

Happy Crafting everyone, It's lovely to be back!

Suzie xxxx :)

Horray!! I'm finally in, and thanks Dr. Phil, your book came in real handy, he! he!

Hello to all my lovely blogging pals :)

So sorry for my recent lack of blogging, but I've had a nightmare with blogger these last few weeks, which has ment that I have not been able to either update my own blog, or indeed, comment on yours :(

Anyway, after weeks of trying (and nearly giving up!) it finally let me in today, horray!!!

Soooo, moving swiftly on(to all things crafty) I thought I would show you what I've been up to, whilst I've been away (so to speak).

It's been a hectic last few weeks, but with lots of nice things too :)
Which included a visit from one of my lovely sisters last week, and a trip to the Cotswolds, plus, I had my colours done last Friday too!
Not sure what that means?
Well nore did I, lol! But basically it meant a girly night out with lots of drinks and nibbles and colours being put up against your face and finding out what colour pallete suits you best.

Would you beleive, I was a tricky one, there's a surprise, he! he!
And rather than the 80% of people who tend to come under a season of colour, eg. Spring/Summer, Autumn/Winter. I come under everything Light? Which basically means all soft light colours, but NO black, of which I were a lot of, yikes!!!

I've also been kept very busy with lots of crafty things, as some of you know, I'm currenly running a goody bag swap over on the Do Crafts Website, and our goodies are due to be sent this week, yikes!! (again)

I had set the swap to include, handmade flowers, tags, cards, and embellishments, then ofcourse came the challenge of trying to find inspiration, gulp!
Then... as if by magic, my lovely crafty friend Carole, told me about this wonderful website called Pinterest, OMG!!! all I can tell you, is that I'm hooked!!!
And yes Carole, that is all your fault, lol!

Anyway, having discovered so many wonderful and inspiring craft ideas from this magical website, I set to work, and hit my stash, big time!!!

One of the things I have most enjoyed is discovering how to make paper roses.
I noted from the pictures I had seen (which inspired me to do this) they had used old books.
Now, I don't know about you, but I just can't quite bring myself to rip up a lovely old book, there's just something so charming about them.

Sooo, decided to take a peek at any "not so old" books that I may alreay have lying around.
After much searching, I came across the perfect book, Dr. Phil's "The ultimate weight solution", lol!
It was gathering dust on my shelf (just like all my other weight books, which promised to make me a size 10, but never did, lol!) so decided to put it to some good use, so happily tore into it and made loads of paper roses :) the pages were even slightly aged too, perfect for that shabby chic look, lol!
So thanks Dr. Phil, your book came in reeeaaal handy!!!

I've also included a few pics of some mini albums I've started to work on. I purchased a wonderful mini album kit from my lovely friend Alyson, and have had great fun playing with that too!
Not finished yet, but thought you might like to take a peek at how they're coming along, I have including a few bits and bobs from my stash too, which mix and match really well, along with a few stick pins I've been busy making ,oh yes, forget to mention, I adore making them too!

So, all in all a very crafty few weeks. I promise to try and catch up with all your wonderful blogs, and hope too that you've all managed some lovely crafty time also.

Hugs
Suzie xxxxx :)