Lots of mail...

... well I have had an enormous amount of mail in the last week.....

This is the altered chipboard shape I received from Norma - look at all the lovely bling and ribbon!  Thanks Norma.

This fridge magnet was the altered chipboard shape I  made for the swap.  I triple embossed the shape and stamped the pile of teacups and added a heart for interest.  The little hangings are stamped on shrink plastic there is a toaster, a coffee pot and a tea cup, they are attached with jump rings. 

My mum received this chipboard shape.

This is the chipboard shape my mum made.

My mum received this scrapling a few days later

... and this is the scrapling I received from Gabby - I'm not sure how she made it look like metal, but I think is is card - thanks Gabby.

This is my mum's scrapling.

This is my scrapling - Bonjour Paris. 

 AND THEN .... WHEN I GOT HOME ON FRIDAY THERE WAS A CARD SAYING A LETTER NEEDED SIGNING FOR AND GUESS WHAT IT WAS........

This letter was included and I'd received a free giveaway from Craft Stamper...

Art Journey Angel Stamps - aren't they lovely

 Blast from the past

My mum embroidered this when my son was born - almost 25 years ago.

And here is is - a little bib.  Don't think it will fit him now!

Yesterday I finally got the big desk out of the studio it even fitted into the back of my car!

Soup and Sewing Sunday

Here's the soup - celery soup - very yummy, with pumpkin oil drizzled on top!  Thanks Jackie!

This is the inside of the money wallet I made to wear on my belt when traveling.

This is the outside, pinned, ready to hem.

Bead class on Monday - how about this for a super bracelet!

The clasp is a little button clasp - quite clever.

And a close up of the beading - made from 3mm cubes and #11 seed beads.

Ah ha ..... you may have been wondering what has happened to the crochet blanket?  Well you may not?  Anyway - it is over half finished - laid out here on my Mum's living room carpet.  I am on to the second ball of each of the 11 colours now.

Busy Weekend

I made this calendar to put on my desk at work - people are always stealing post it notes - mine are a very distinctive shape and certainly not the sort we can get from the stationery department!! The photo I took in London a Banksy/Robbo collaboration on the side of the Regents Canal.

This is my annual fridge magnet calendar - another photo taken in London my son took me to Camley Natural Park which is just round the corner from St Pancras Station and if you look very closely you can just make out a crane and three turtles!

And yet another photo of a crane - Banksy style.... with a little enhancement from Robbo again - photographed on the bank of the Regents Canal in Camden in 2010.

I've always wanted to make a 'jacob's ladder' mini book.... this is the start of my mini Christmas book - the mount board is painted with gold paint and I have decorated each page with Christmas scrapbooking papers.

This shows just how many layers make up the Jacob's Ladder.

...and here it is in action.  It took a couple of attempts to get alternating striped and green pages and at one point I didn't glue the ribbons on correctly - but it's fine now and works beautifully.

Another shot of the Jacob's ladder in motion!

Tomorrow is Prize-Giving day!  I started a star chart to encourage the team members to give me their monthly figures in a timely manner!!  I awarded a gold, silver and bronze star to the first three to hand them in and told them there would be a prize at the end of six months.  So this is the prize - we needed cupcakes, but as we are all on a diet I made a 'cupcake' jewellery bag.

How cute is this fabric!

Monday beading class produced this lovely choker - I bought beads to match the t-shirt I bought the other day!

What a busy and productive weekend I have had........

Several weeks later.....

...and I have at last finished the triangle bracelet.....

This is made from delica beads, and took ages and ages to weave.

Dot gave me this little filigree clasp for the bracelet

Helpful hint: when decorating tiny embellishments, stick them onto post-its so you don't lose them!

My mum made this scrapling for the February Craft Stamper magazine challenge

This is the scrapling I made for the February Craft Stamper magazine challenge.  The colour scheme was sage green, yellow and pink I think.

Wildlife and Christmas Pressy

Here are a couple of photos of wildlife in my garden......

Black cat called Tia who lives at the end of the road - she must have been STARVING to come and eat the bird food!

Wren just outside the kitchen window....

......he's pecking at the insects in the moss that has fallen off the roof.

Christmas present that took a few weeks to arrive with Tom and Jerri - I made this little album to celebrate Jerri's first visit to Thornton in July.  I took this photo of the viaduct from my bedroom window - it looked spectacular with the sun shining through the arches.

First pair of pages

Second pair of pages

I added shrinky dink plastic gears from Tim Holtz to the page about the Industrial Museum.  You can see the tag which is in between the pages.

A heart shaped sticker from Accessorize on this page.

Some of the tags have writing on them and some I have left blank for Tom and Jerri to add their own part of the story.

I made the paper flowers and added glitter to the centre and petals.

A little dolls house paper plate and the cutlery is a paper punch.

The bus is from the same sticker set from Accessorize.

A purchased fabric flower.

The fabric flower was made from organza ribbon gathered with a button sewn on the front and a string of beads on the back.  I also added a shrinky dink gear and a die cut scroll, which I painted with blue glitter.  It was all glued on with diamond glaze.

1.1.11

Haven't blogged since last year!  Here is a little taste of something I haven't shown you yet - I made it for my son and daughter-in-law in America and it took AGES and AGES and AGES to arrive.  This was a little trial for the front page.  More photos to follow....... when I can find them.......