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 :)

Lots of bits and bobs and a new family member too!

Hi Everyone!

Thought it was about time I updated my blog :)

The last few weeks we have been kept really busy with the kids being off school and having some of my family popping over for a visit from Dublin, which was lovely!

Not much time for crafting, but can now show you a card I managed to put together in time for my friends Carole's birthday.
Those of you who follow Carole's blog may recognise the little ticket. I know Carole is very fond of using these in her cards, so thought I would see what I could do with it, and here's what I've come up with, an Elephant card! :)

We also took a visit to Butterfly World in St.Albums during the Easter break, which was amazing!!!!
It's an ongoing project, but wonderful to visit such a lovely place, and see such beautiful butterflies fluttering around you in so many different shapes, sizes and bright colours. We even managed to pop some on our fingers, but would you believe it, forgot to take our camera :( defo worth another visit though, and the camera is ofcourse a must :)

We also took a trip to lovely Dorset last week-end which was just wonderful!
So many places to visit, including Durdle Door which is stunning!!
A heck of a walk to get there though, as you can see from the pics, but so worth it! and yes, it really does look like a dragons head dipping into the sea :)

While we were there, we popped into my friends Carole's. Apart from giving her the shock of her life (as she didn't know we were coming, lol!) she and her family gave us a lovely warm welcome, and we all sat in her beautiful garden and had tea and homemade cake (as made by Carole) It was just scrummy as was her beautiful home :)

Lastly, and perhaps the biggest thing of all (at least for us :) was that we now have a new member to the family :) Our little puppy, Barney!
He is just soooooo scrummy!!! but can honestly say it's like having a baby in the house again, lol!
He is a great little boy, only eight weeks and seems very calm, and already loves to play fetch, which is fab!
Anyway, I will keep you posted on the doggy progress, and would welcome any advise on good doggy insurance, but for now, here are a few photos, hope you like them....

Hugs
Suzie xxxxx :)

A few random things, and a bit of crafting too :)

Dear Friends

As some of you already know, I've not been around much for the last few weeks, as we very sadly and suddenly lost my lovely, kind and gentle father in-law just a few weeks ago, who we all miss terribly. Life has been very up and down for the last few months, but I'm looking forward to the next few months of sunshine (hopefully :) with the summer coming and know that time can be a great healer.

On a happier note, I have finally managed some crafting, hurray!
Plus, my lovely parents are over visiting us from Dublin, double hurray!!!!

I thought you might like to see a few random photos of things we've been up to lately.

I took my Mum and sister Louise (also over for a short visit) to Hobycraft the other day, and whilst there, decided to get some bits and bobs to make a fabric notice board, not sure I saved any money by making a DIY version, lol! But thought I'd give it a try anyway, so have included a few pics of what I managed to put together, I'm pretty chuffed with the outcome, and may even try my hand at a few more :)

Yesterday we took a walk in a beautiful local wood (where we love to visit) and took some lovely pics of my boys and some taken with my Mum and Dad, I love this pic with my Mum and Dad and the boys and think I may even make a scrapbook layout, it's so nice to have such a lovely backdrop too.

When we got home, I decided to display my lovely little bird boxes I bought recently (which I adore!), so picked some branches from our back garden and hung up our Easter decorations, I even popped some chicks inside the boxes, lol!

I've also managed to make a few cards, and have even started working on a banner I am making for my wonderful friend I have known since I was nine. She has recently had two beautiful twin girls (her first!) so have decided to make her something scrummy and girly, so am working on a butterfly banner for their room. Pics to follow....

Anyways, that's what I've been up to recently, it's great to be crafting again (finally!) oh, I've also been working on my little craft room, I'm thinking of calling it my paper panty :) only touble is, it doubles as an office :( but Paper Pantry sounds sooooo much prettier than office (as least in my opinion, lol!)

Hope to give you some more updates from the Paper Pantry soon and other projects I've been working on :)

Happy Crafting everyone!

Hugs Suzie xxxxx :)

More new house pics, as promised :)

Dear Friends

Thought you might like to see how we're getting on, now that we've finally moved back into our house, and building work complete, hurray!

Here are some pics of our new/old house, each room within our old 1930's house is either new, or has had a complete facelift. The house has had a complete refurbishment, and boy what a journey it has been! The outside has now had a lick of paint, new flashing, guttering, canopy, drive and side gate, and boy what a difference, soooo much better that before.
I have since added a lovely pancy hanging basket, which looks really lovely too, so nice to see flowers after such a long Winter :)

Anyway, still lots to do, and many rooms are not yet finished, but we're getting there and it's finally starting to look like a home again, phew!

Still to show pics of my lovely new crafty space, so keep popping by for the grand reveil, soon to come, lol!

Hugs and lots of craftyness!
Suzie xxxxx :)