Back crafting again!!

Well hello everyone and I apologies for being MIA yet again for what feels like forever. It is still school summer holidays here and so I've just had to given myself over to the boys and spend lots of days out with them. We are so very fortunate living just outside Edinburgh as not only do we have great places to go on our doorstep, we are just a 45 minute bus journey away to the city centre which is awash with lots of things to see and do. Especially just now, it is so vibrant due to the Edinburgh Festival. We popped in to town just the other day, took a trip on a tram out to another shopping area in order to do the dreaded last minute school uniform shopping, then returned to watch some of the festival acts. My oldest boy was quite taken by a band that were playing and told me that they were so good that they should be on the radio!! We even had an impromptu trip around an art gallery which I would never normally consider with my two, but we all needed to use the facilities and thought it was a bit rude not to at least have a bit of a wander around. I was so surprised that a 7 and a 3 year old could actually wander around, in silence, ACTUALLY looking at the pictures and talking about what they liked in whispers!! It is sometimes so lovely to do something unexpected like that and see things through children's eyes.

Another shock to both my husband and I was just how amazingly our boys did, camping in a tent the previous week. We went with my parents and sister who were also camping, up to the beautiful Highlands of Scotland and enjoyed a week together. I was not in any way, shape or form relaxing, but it was a great experience for the boys and we were treated to some gorgeous sunsets at night. In fact, here is one of them.

Anyhow, enough about me, the boys and our holiday….crafting time!! 

I am still not at all back to my usual crafting schedule and so it is still a bit ad hoc, whenever I can squeeze in the time, but I do have a new card to share with you. It is my Dad's Birthday today and so it was time to do what I fear above all…..make a masculine card. Does anybody else have this issue? The prospect of it scares me every time and my lovely husband bought me something that thought would help me with this - a lovely pack of masculine Designer Paper. It is the Heritage collection by Papermania and it contains lots of lovely designs. Here is is below….

As you can see, lots of checks, tartans, patterns etc etc. There should be lots of ideas jumping out at me??? I just utterly drew a blank. Any rough ideas I had just seemed to be dull and just really blah. I ended up looking at the do crafts website who give you inspiration for the pack….but I have to admit that none of them were my style at all. They combined lots of the patterns together and were all quite dark and really busy. Just not my style at all.

I began looking through my stamps to see if there were any that might give some further inspiration and I stumbled across this one I had bought from Hobbycraft but never used yet.

Isn't he sooo cute!!! He is a Scottish Highland Terrier, known here as a 'Scotty Dog.' I decided he would look perfect paper pierced using the tartan paper and checked paper for his collar. 

I stamped him on the reverse of the patterned paper and then cut him out, ready to be attached to the backing card using foam adhesive. I decided Kraft card would give more of a masculine feel. I added a small crystal for his eye and a dark grey pearl for his nose to give him a bit added interest. A stamped sentiment, some jute ribbon and a cut out banner from one of the other patterned papers and then I was finished!!

Voila…..

   

I know, I know - photos!!!! I am desperate to get back to taking my photos out in the summer house but it is horrific heavy rain and thunder here today and so we are all inside sheltering from it!! We have also just finished a card made by the boys which of course they wanted to stamp (think they love it just as much as me!!) although we did come across something 'not to do.' I was getting them to colour in the stamped images with my 'magic pencils' - watercolour pencils which I was aiming to wow them with when I turned the pencil into watercolour paints, but the boys had chosen Kraft card to stamp on….although the pencils coloured in the images okay, they just do not work when water is added. The kraft card just soaks in and makes a mess!!!!

We have spent the afternoon now making a birthday cake and also some cupcakes which we will eat ourselves tonight and also give to some to my two best friend's who also have their birthdays this coming weekend. 

Here are our other creations…….

Yummy!!!!!!

I am hoping to be blogging much more soon, with a lot more card creations to share but also some reviews of products I use etc too. Watch this space….only one and a half more weeks until my big boy goes back to school. I have to say, that after 6 weeks, I am SO ready for it!!!!!

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend and I will be back with more to share soon….including a Wedding Table plan!!!!!

Any comments, so very much appreciated xxxxxx