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Wednesday, August 29, 2012

At Jodie's Request

Today I have some projects to show you that were all made for Zoe. It's actually her birthday today...hope you're having a great day!! The projects that we've made though were requested by her fiance Chris and her Daughter Jodie. Jodie knew exactly what she wanted on Zoe's card, but more than that, she also knew she wanted a candle, and exactly what it had to say..."Love you Mummy".


Plus of course, there had to be birthday cake!! Ooo and most important of all, was that the card and the 


candle matched!!


So as requested by Jodie, Mum did exactly  told!! Mum not only made Jodie's card and matching candle...

well she also made another card, but I seem to be having nothing but trouble with my laptop at the moment, so I'll try and show you that card tomorrow.

Hope you've enjoyed your birthday Zoe 

Little x

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Welcome To Adulthood

A couple of weeks ago we Louise asked us to make an 18th birthday card for her Son. She told us he was a typical boy that liked, football, cars and bikes and asked us to include her favourite character, tatty teddy. With a little more digging I found the information I needed and came up with this ...



Yep, that's tatty holding up a Man U away kit shirt with "Simon 18" on it!! There's a secret to it though... You see, once I'd found the tatty teddy image I had a big problem...no matter how much I tried tatty just wouldn't print right...but being the stubborn cow I am, I just wouldn't give up!!...So the secret to the image above, is that tatty's made up of several other tatty's to make him look right...yep I'd definitely lost my mind the evening I made this haha!! I think he turned out ok though...don't you??

The only other thing Louise had requested was an insert...she wanted it to say "you're 18 now Simon, welcome to adulthood", but of course that on it's own would have been a little boring, soooo...


there's even tatty laughing on the inside!! 

Hope he had a great 18th birthday Louise

Little x



Monday, August 27, 2012

Nickname and Monkeys!

Confused by the title?? I'll explain...quite a while ago now, we were asked to make a first birthday card. Nothing out of the ordinary right?? Well, Kelly (who ordered the card) had asked us to make it for her Son Ryan, but the difference was she didn't want it to say happy birthday Ryan...nope as they call him "Baloo" Kelly wanted a baloo themed card with happy birthday baloo on it. So, after searching about and playing with some images, I made this ...


Once I'd made that card I sent a picture of it to Kelly, who certainly seemed happy with it. In fact, she then asked us to make another two cards...


Two brother cards, both with a monkey theme!! I used the same backing papers and monkey character on but each with a different colour theme and layout.  

So that explains the nickname and monkeys!!

Little x


Sunday, August 26, 2012

28 Years

Evening all!! I'm back with quite a few projects to share with you today...although they're all for the same purpose. Confused?? I'll explain....

28 years ago on the 11th August, my Mum and Dad got married!! Since then they've been a heck of a lot of up's and downs...but one thing has stayed the same ...they're still married!! As we were going through all of the old photographs whilst moving Nan to her new home, we obviously stumbled across their wedding photos...but no I can't share any of them with you as to be perfectly honest, I'd rather like to stay alive!! What I will share with you today though is all the cards we made for them....starting with the card I made from my Brother...


I'll admit there's not much prettiness to it, but to be honest if this card had been for sale in a store, it would definitely have been the card my Brother had chose!! He's not exactly touch feely my Brother, and he's also got a bit of a warped sense of humor, so when I saw the sentiment used on something else, I couldn't resist making this!! 


This card is the one I made for my parents...Having made quite a few anniversary cards lately as well as knowing Mum can see all the images I have to use, I just didn't know what to do. With a little bit of a play about, I decided I'd try something new...so this is the first card I made using stitched edges on the layers. I wasn't sure quite how it would work out, but once it was finished I was ever so proud of it!!!


These were made by Crusty...when it comes to making cards, Crusty's not quite as confident in her abilities as the rest of us...she usually chooses an image to stitch, then passes it to us to add to card!!! Not these though...after struggling to decide what to do, she came up with the idea to make them a card each...one that said "Mum 2 Happy" and one that said "Dad 8 Anniversary", that way when added together they'd make a "happy anniversary Mum & Dad 28...how good an idea was that!! Once she'd finished stitching the wording, she brought them to me to place on a card ...but Ooo no!! I was having none of it haha!! I gave her the idea of the stitched patched and she did the rest...she stuck it all together, faux stitched the edges and placed the dots for added definition...so these two were all made by Crusty. 


This card was made by Lady...she also struggled to decide what image to cross stitch...but finally settled on the hedgehogs. She was happily stitching away...then all of a sudden whilst texting one another one evening, Lady suddenly said "Mum does like hedgehogs doesn't she??" hahaha... as I told Lady before, and Mum said herself, it wouldn't matter if she'd stitched a big ugly spider...it's the fact that Lady took the time to make it herself that matters most...plus Mum thought they were really cute!! Lady was also clever enough add Mum's favourite colour of green to the image, meaning there was no way she could not like it haha!! One of the first things Mum said after she'd opened the card, was "where's the Ribbon from" ...not that any of us are obsessed with ribbon of course!! 


Anyone spot there's two cards there??? Well yep there is...and that's because Mum made two cards for Dad!! She'd made the burgundy and gold card way back in February, but then decided she wasn't quite as keen on it as she had been. So Mum being Mum, decided to make another one which was the red,black and white card...she really loved that card. But when it came to their anniversary she gave him both cards anyway!!! Dad of course loved both cards.


Finally, this card wasn't made by me, Mum, Crusty or even Lady....nope this one was made by Dad!! Since the day we all started making our own cards, Dad was also told he needed to make his ones too...well why not...we have plenty of stuff and it means more than just buying one of the shelf that hundreds of other people also have!! I'll admit he's not the greatest card maker!! In fact most of the other cards he's made have been mostly made by me, with Dad's help!! Not this one though ...nope this time I gave him the software and told him to get on with whilst I sat in the garden sunbathing!! I did have to help him print the bits and bobs out, but after that he put it all together himself to make this...see even Dad's joined the business now haha!! 

Usually I'd wish the recipient of the cards a good day at this point, but as I was with them, I know that Mum and Dad had a lovely meal out and enjoyed their day!!

Little x









Saturday, August 25, 2012

30th Birthday Giggles

Nope, it's not my 30th birthday...I had that a few years ago now, and very memorable it was too!! Today though, I have a card we made for Jackie's Daughter Angela's big day. When Jackie ordered the card, she said she wanted it to say happy 30th Birthday and have diet theme...hmm I thought!! I had plenty of time to come up with some ideas, I searched through our library of images, but nothing seemed to be working. Then as I was busy looking for something for a completely different card I stumbled upon the exact inspiration I needed. In fact I'd got so inspired by what I'd found that I designed the card way back in April, even though it wasn't needed until August 6th!!

From the moment I designed the card I was just itching to make it, but I had too many other projects to finish first...don't worry I did sulk a little bit!! Finally in July, I got to make up the card, which turned out like this ....



For those of you that are less familiar with the technicalities, this is called a twisted easel card. It basically gets made in two parts, which are then placed together to make the whole thing. As I needed to give the card both a diet theme and a 30th birthday message, I thought the easel was the perfect fit. 

My whole inspiration for the card came from this little message that I'd found...


I couldn't stop giggling after I'd read it, but leaving just that message on a card would have been a little bland. 


So I added tatty teddy, and surrounded him in pretty cupcakes with flowers 




Followed by tatty sitting on the base wishing Angie a happy 30th birthday, about to enjoy the cupcake having just dumped the diet!!!

I'm so pleased with how this card worked out, and I know Jackie was pleased too.
Hope you had a lovely day Ang

Little x


Friday, August 24, 2012

Double The Fun!!

Yep, I'm back again with another post...seeing as Lady challenged us to a new month of posts, I thought I best not disappoint her!! With everything happening, and so much going on, I missed out on showing you something a little bit special that we made way back in July. So, today I finally have the pleasure of sharing these ...


Another pamper cake??? ...well yes it is...but this one has a little friend...


Why??? ... well, because we were asked to make a set. A nappycake as a leaving work gift for a mum to be, but also a pamper cake for Mum to enjoy until in her time off before the new baby arrives!!! We loved the idea of being able to do two gifts, and knew exactly what we wanted to add to them. 


In the pamper cake for Mum, not only did she get a bottle of wine to celebrate the new arrival, but also ...


her very own special "sippy cup" for her to drink it from!!!...Ooo and until the baby arrives, she can enjoy the chocolates and sweeties!!

As the parents to be didn't want to know what sex the baby was, we kept it all neutral in green, white and lemon. Having put the nappycake together with all the bottles, there was still something missing but we couldn't quite figure it until ...


The flannels were made into cute little baby bunny's!!


We really did love making this set, and hope the Mum to be loved it too.

Little x





Thursday, August 23, 2012

New Start!

Afternoon all!! As Mel told you yesterday, we've been a little bit busy of the past few weeks helping my Nan move home. It's been a pretty big task, much bigger than we'd anticipated. Nan's lived in her 3 bedroomed home for over 35 years, but now as she's getting older and living alone she's decided the house has become too much for her to manage. Not only are there 2 bedrooms that just aren't getting any use, but she's also struggling to cope with the stairs. She's not physically incapable, but the stairs are pretty steep making all of us a little worried she might fall and hurt herself. So at the start of the year we decided as a family that as Nan gets closer to 70 with all her marbles (apparently) in tact, that now would be the ideal time to make a new start in a new home that is more suitable to her.

Little did we know back then, just how quickly things would move once the time came. From the day the offer came until the day she moved in, it was just 3 weeks!! So for the last 3 weeks we've had the task of packing up not only Nan's belongings, but also 35 years worth of memories. It's amazing when you think how much has happened in her home...It was in fact the first home I ever lived in, as well as the first home my Aunt's eldest Son lived in...it was the home that both of my Nan's Daughters prepared for their wedding's in...it was the last home my Grandma (Nan's Mum) lived in...the place I remember charging my Nanny and Grandma for fictional cups of tea on my little plastic till...and where I bit into an apple that contained a caterpillar which put me off ever eating anything grown in the garden again!!! The inevitable moment of looking back through old photographs came, so we sat, reminisced and giggled about the moments Nan's house has seen...Ooo and NO I shall not be sharing those photos with you as they're all far too embarrassing!!!

What I will share with you though, is the cards both Mum and I made and gave Nan on her first morning in her new flat....


This is the card I made...for years I've always wondered what the most appropriate thing would be to put on my Nan's cards. Whilst packing up all of her things, one constant theme was cats...from little ornaments and pictures, to the ashes from her most treasured of cats Tibby...My Nan's definitely got a thing about Cats!! So when I saw the image of the cat lying on the bed looking all cosy, I knew exactly what I was going to use. Then, to make the card extra special, I not only added the plain coloured layers around the image, but I hand stitched all those little crosses into them too. It's not the first time I've used the paper stitching, but as I'm a little behind in sharing projects, it's the first one you've all seen!!


This is the card Mum made. A while ago, Mum made a new home card for her very special friend Jackie. She was so pleased with how it turned out, that she decided to make something similar for Nan. As you can see, the little mouse is not only going into number 36 (nan's new flat number), but he's also got the keys in his hand...so cute!!

In all honesty, when the discussion about moving Nan came up, I wasn't totally convinced. I'd have loved her to stay in her house, but I knew it just wasn't practical. When the option of a flat in a warden controlled building specifically for the over 55's came up, I still wasn't totally sure. I think hidden deep in my thoughts was the thought that we were moving her to an old people's home. Now she's moved in and settled I am more than certain it was the right thing...I've always pictured an over 55's building to be filled with older folks that get up at ridiculous o'clock in the morning and go to bed early!!!...the reality of the place is almost completely the opposite of what I'd imagined...not only do the residents sit outside on the patio until almost 11pm, but they also get themselves drunk to the point where they have to be put to bed!!! Nan's made some lovely and totally hilarious new friends, she's been far too busy to be sat in front of the tv and I can honestly say I have my old Nanny back....the one I remember from years ago, that was full of life and happy as can be.

It seems that holding onto the past isn't always a good thing.

Little x

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

A long time waiting ..........

Hi all, Lady here!! It's been a while since anything's been posted in this blog. Little, Mum and Crusty have been busy with settling their Nan into her new home, but I think it's time we get back to posting!! So I'm going to challenge all of us to make a post a day for the next month. I'll even start it all off seeing as I've managed to get away with not posting for too long!! So as I promised ages ago, here's my Nannie's 90th birthday card....


I cross stitched the forever friends bear with the pretty flowers and added him to the card along with some ribbon and button flowers. 

My Nannie's birthday was way back on the 14th July. We threw her a special garden party to celebrate her big day with all her family and friends. Nannie opened my card and cried because she thought it was beautiful. She keeps all of the cards I've made her, but said that she'll "treasure" this one as it's particularly special.

Lady xx