A belated new years resolution.....

I have been in a tunnel....a long and dark one! Sigh....however, there is some light at the end of it now.
The move 10 months ago has really hit hard - my family and friends so far away, a cold, dismal winter and my hubby working away MOST of the time. There has been no will to create beyond the forced few cards.

3 weeks ago my hubby and I decided that I should return to gym...well the pool at least. I have also downloaded a fitness app to my ipad and now on a focused mission to get back to the old me....(and that is literally as 42 is but 3 weeks away...).

I have met some really great gals - Sarah, Kate, Jenny and Alison. Sarah and Kate are twins and enjoy crafting like I do; Jen (from the US) is the most inspirational and courageous gal I have met in ages and Alison is a fellow Saffer (South African) with the MOST ADORABLE baby girl.

It is truly amazing how God works - both Sarah and Jen have sons at the same school as O, and thanks to a mutual friend of Jen, I met Alison. We all have bits and pieces in common and thanks to this, I am beginning to feel whole again.

OK - so enough of my rambling.
My belated new years resolution - .........I am going to attempt to post something handmade once a week at least. I hope that this is the push I need to get me into the groove, and off the couch.

Sarah and Kate are trying to teach me how to crochet. Friends back in SA did show me a bit, but the mist has clouded those instructions. I was going to proudly post a pic of my first attempt, but the look of horror on my hubby's face deterred me. However, I will get it right somehow and hope that one of my future posts will include a crochet item.

I also want to make 12 tags of 2014 - if you are a Tim Holtz fan, you know what I mean. I will have to make Jan and Feb quickly and will post those as soon as I am done.

V celebrated her 2nd birthday in Jan and sweetly asked me (in her DIVA way) for a Hello Kitty party. I will post some pics of her cake which was such fun to make. O and V have decided that I have to have a princess party for my birthday, so I guess a princess cake will be made for them to enjoy.

Anyway....hope I have not bored you too much with all these thoughts and promises and hope to have something creative in the next few days to share.

Take care

DIY - Re-purpose spice racks

This is a post that I started in summer last year........anyway better late than never!!

Hi there! Welcome to my blog. On Thursday O went back to school and Hubby was at home to look after V. I got a bee in my bonnet and decided to "up-cycle" two wooden spice racks that I have had for years.

BEFORE.......

 

Luckily the weather was lovely, so the base coat and paint took no time to dry.

Sanded vs original.....

Base coat on

A couple of coats later....

Backing board Hubby cut for me from MDF

O on hand after school to help paint.....check out that concentration!

Left one "distressed|"

Backing boards are a beautiful shade of vibrant pink, but you can't see the stunning colour in the light....

Varnised and finally drying

Distressed, varnished and drying. Indoors as it was now pouring with rain.....got to love the UK weather

 

Ta da!

Have to hang them with picture wire as I am not allowed to drill into the walls...

Punch storage looking so much prettier....and the punches no longer fall out the back.

Just LOVE the pop of colour

And Finally..........These bird cages were on sale at a local shop and were crying out to store my twine!

Now, just need to find a spot to put them...hee...hee

Card making - Dragonfly die cut

This is a card I made a while back for Hubby's aunt. Shirley has just been introduced to the delights of paper crafting, and has been a talented sewer for many years.

She loves dragon flies and paisley, so I had to incorporate them into the card. I embossed the paisley pattered paper as well as the scalloped edging with the cuttlebug paisley folder. I enjoy making the easel card - quick and easy, but looks fantastic!

 

No card is complete without bling.......