Things are on the up!

So, I have been quiet for a little bit again - well, not unusual for me ; ) but am finally starting to feel so much better about life and things in general!

On Monday I managed to get up early enough to go with Little man on a Pre-School trip to Beale Park! I was sooo proud of myself! We had a lovely time looking at the animals, then a train ride and a picnic finished the trip perfectly!
I seem to be managing, finally to get to sleep a lot earlier now : ) From falling asleep at any time from 4am - 7am to now around 2ish is fab! Which also allows me to get up earlier and be a 'proper mum' instead of having to rely on mum and hubby all the time. Fingers crossed this keeps on going, as I've had enough of insomnia now ; )

I finally managed to go to the weekly 'ladies what lunch' (with kiddies and babies too!) today - the first time in about 3 months!
It was sooo nice to catch up with my friends and see how much their kiddies have all grown! Also nice for Little man and Little Miss to play and have lots of cuddles!

I have decided that I am a 'Sun' person - I function better when the sun is shining! ; )
Everything seems possible now!
Maybe I'm the kind of person who needs the sun 365 days a year? - maybe I should try Australia / USA / Spain / (somewhere else hot!) 6 months of the year, then UK the other 6 months - I think I could cope with that ; )
I have been thinking for a little while that I have that seasonal dysfunction thingy S.A.D (plus the evil depression) as the winter months seem so much harder for me to cope with!
I'm seeing my doc on Friday, so might have a chat about it with her.

What else have I been up to?
Well, I managed to buy from one of the lovely crafty pages I follow on Facebook, some 'findings' towards my jewellery making project! I just need to save a bit more money for the wire / elastic and basic tools, then I can start creating : )
I am sooooo excited about this now! I am determined that my dream to own my own v v v small craft business is going to happen!! I can make lovely cards (though I need to have a massive sort through the resources and actually start making again!) I can make bags (still need a little more practise to give them an even more professional finish) and add jewellery, I think should make a good little lot of things to sell!

So there we go!
I'm one happy little person at the moment! : )

Been busy crafting :)

Well, it's been a little while since I managed to get round to blogging - me and little man are poorly - he has tonsillitis and I have swollen glands (as no tonsils!) so we've been sleeping and resting lots this week!

Yesterday I managed to have a minor melt-down as saw how bad our finances are, again! So managed to get my behind to the stoffice and got making cards today :)
I now just have to work out how and where to sell them to make us some much needed money ;)

Valentines Day cards (sorry that piccies aren't great - might have to invest in a newer camera soon!)

country companions decoupage

inside country companions card

my first attempt at using glitter! Not sure about it though!

metal brad on black background heart

metal brad, again on black background

stamps coloured in bright pink

same stamps and colouring, different arrangement

Let me know what you think ;)

Had a brilliant day!

Aiden's childminder loved the card I made to celebrate the arrival of their new baby:

Then I managed to make my first card ready to sell for Valentine's Day:

I did my first shift back at work AND I managed to keep to my new goal of cutting down on chocolate, and managed to go completely without today :)

Small steps, to my continued recovery after loosing Pip. At least they are steps in the right direction :)
Can't wait to get back to crafting, hopefully tomorrow!

my new card design

So I decided to try out my new drawings on a card and am feeling rather pleased:

Had great fun with finger paints today!

So, to start off the New Year in the right way, I have decided that I am going to try and do more fun things with little man. Today we started with trying his new finger paints out - and managed to persuade grannie and grandad to join in the fun! :)

Here are our 'masterpieces'!!

little man getting started

another little man creation

look at it sideways and little man has made a kind of pineapple!!

little man masterpiece

my 'mess'!!

my 'nature' inspired scene (kind of, heehee)

Grannie's pretty picture

Grandad's tornado

Grandad's tree

Been busy crafting :)

I have finally managed to get around to more crafting and have made a bag 'red flowers'.
I also managed to break the needle on the sewing machine when I tried to attach the handle!!

Front view

back view

Brilliant holiday

Have just got back from a brilliant holiday in Devon!
We went with all the family - my parents, hubby's parents, hubby's brother and his family and our friend C. We stayed at the Ashbury again (we've been going for years now!) so that all the men could spend the week playing golf and the ladies and kiddies could go to the sister hotel The Manor to do crafty things - I was in heaven!!
Little man and his cousin enjoyed the Fun House area (big soft play) as well as painting pottery and designing T-Shits, oh and crazy golf!

Here are some of the highlights : )


LM and dadda

 

learner driver coming through!!

little man and his first go at golf - looks more like a hockey player to me ;)

super hero S

having fun on the slide

we made a puzzle and were feeling proud ;)

i love my juicy

say 'cheese!'

Do you write thank yous?

All the thank you cards - so far!!

I have been busy making my 'thank you' cards for the pressies that little man got for his birthday.

This got me thinking, do people still write thank yous anymore? When we were youngish my mum had us write little notes to say thank you for pressies we got at Christmas and birthdays. I always thought it was really nice, as some of the people lived far away and we wouldn't see them in ages (Also not the people we would usually 'phone' for a chat).

So when I had Aiden (it did take me a while to get organised!) I made little thank you cards for all of the pressies he's had so far - though I might have forgotten to do his Christening - woops!!

I love it when we get little hand made cards or notes from his older cousins! I can't wait to be able to do them with Aiden when he is older - I mean, what a perfect excuse to do some crafting (plus it will keep him out of mischief for a bit too!! heehee)

It just made me a little sad to think that this might be seen as too much hassle and old fashioned when you can txt, e-mail or facebook a group 'thank you'. There's just something so personal to receive a lovely hand made card (or even a little note - love them just the same!!) that someone has taken care to do - maybe I'm just  a sad 'traditionalist' ??
Anyway, so that I can remember the ones I really like (for future crafting!) here are a few of my favourite ones:

Now off to make 3 more!!

My cards

I just thought that I would post the different cards that I make and the prices that I am charging - just to see what people think : )


bargains = 50p



This are my cheapest cards made out of stickers and peel-offs. I made them thinking that little kids might like them!







stamps = £1.00



My stamp cards are the most 'simple' design I have - I find it very hard no to add more, as they seem so plain - but am trying to broaden my styles to appeal to different tastes : )



squares = £1.50







I was worried about how to price these square cards- but the design uses metal (my most expensive topper) so I thought it would be ok.

small decoupage = £2.00 

Decoupage cards are my favourite kinds to make - I love Jolly / Paper Nation and have also started to branch out to other designs as well. Although my favourite, they also take the longest time to make! So less made a day, made me think that asking a little ore wouldn't seem unreasonable. Also I make the envelopes, so that adds a bit to the cost : )

large decoupage = £2.50

Usually more fiddly to cut out!

3D 'box' cards = £3.00

The 'box' cards as I call them aren't the hardest to make, but the packs are the most expensive to buy!





I hope you enjoyed some of my cards - please feel free to add comments - especially about the pricing - don't want to over charge people if they don't seem worth it! heehee