Apologies from Ironlung

Hello faithful bloggers

This is DD with an apology and happy new year greetings from Sheila.
At this moment in time the aforementioned lady (and I use the term lady
very lightly) is spending a few nights on the NHS ticket. Following her
visit to the doctor the other day she was referred to Burton hospital for
tests. She says not to worry about her folks, she feels okay and the
only thing she is suffering from is boredom and flatulence from the other
guests of the ward she is on (some kind of ward for transient geriatrics!)
Oh and she has been re-christened Sally.

I'll leave it there folks as I am going to visit her again this evening and have
got to figure out a way to smuggle in her cricut machine. I may have to stuff
it up my jumper and pretend I am up the duff!

She sends all her love and I send you all mine for your continued adoration and
support for my dear mum.

Hope you all have a good and prosperous 2010

DD

Still Suffering!!!

Well I thought I would have been over whatever has been wrong with me by now but I'm not so hubby has made me an appointment to see the doctor this morning. I hate going to the doctors but I hate whatever is wrong with me more so I am going to go and get it over and done with.

Yesterday I thought I felt well enough to have hubby take me into town as I wanted some red gingham from Dunhelm but I only managed about 10 minutes in the shop and I had to go back to the car. Didn't get my gingham but I did buy a crotchet hook and some cotton and a gorgeous wood handled bag to keep my crotchet and stuff in.........reduced to £4.49 from £8.99.

Anyway I had best go and have a shower.

Sorry about the lack of crafty posts.

Sheila-x-

Always The Same!!!

I might have known that this Christmas wouldn't be any different to any other holiday. I have been quite poorly since Wednesday and although I am feeling a little better now I think I need to get to the docs on Monday if they can fit me in.
I have done nothing but sleep and am back off to lie down when I have had this little change of scenery.
Hubby has been fantastic and done all of the cooking.........he is such a star.

Santa was very good to me and I got the three cookery books I wanted.....2 Nigella and a Hairy Bikers. I'm not usually a cookbook kind of cook but some of the recipes I saw on the HB series sounded gorgeous and there are a few Nigella recipes I want to try. Well pleased with those.
Four sets of Nestabilities to add to my collection, some Tim Holtz goodies, Santuary stuff, A gorgeous Yankee Candle lamp which is something I have always wanted, a brand new copy of Light A Penny Candle by Maeve Binchy to replace my battered old copy that finally fell apart and had to go in the bin, a Crafty Individuals stamp, 3 sets of Inkadinkado stamps and a Docrafts storage unit with pull down drawers. Ooooh and I also got a new tomato pincushion from Smudgie which I have wanted for ages to replace my old one.
All I need now is some energy to play with it all.

Hope you have all had a lovely peaceful Christmas.
Thanks for dropping by.
Sheila-x-

Town Trauma!!!

I hit town in Ashby today to finish off my Christmas shopping...........and really wished I hadn't....lol!!! I was only out for just over an hour and came back feeling like I had been trampled on. Can't think of anything else we might need now and if I do.....tough.....we can go without.
While I was out I did pay a visit to the fabric shop to pick up a few things to have a play with over Christmas.

Like this............. ......... and the bottom green fabric here..........

..........and this..........

..........and all this..........

..........the triangle folded pieces were new today. The others I bought last week.

There is another picture but couldn't upload it.

I haven't the faintest idea what I am going to do with it all but oooooh it's lovely to stroke.......lol!!!

I also got a couple of sewing magazines and one about crotchet just for something different to read.

Decided to cook the ham tonight so that I can get some cleaning done tomorrow night in the hope that I might get to relax a bit on Christmas Eve instead of rushing around like a mad thing. I've done enough rushing about today to do me for the next five Christmases........lol!!!

Right I am off for a bath while the ham boils. It will be done by 1am after which I have to put the coating on and then bake it in the oven for another hour. Hope I manage to get up for work tomorrow.

Thanks for dropping by.

Sheila-x-

Brain?.........Wot Brain?!!!

I don't know where my brain is today. It certainly ain't tucked neatly between me ears.....that's for sure........lol!!!
Halfway home from work today I realised that I had left my Christmas shopping behind.....the very Christmas shopping I crammed into a frantic 20 minutes before I opened the shop. My language was very unladylike to say the least as it was stuff I wanted to get wrapped and finished tonight but neither hubby nor myself felt like turning around and going back. This means I don't have the two new magazines I treated myself to either as they are in one of the bags................grrrrrrrr I was going to curl up with them tonight too.

I have rediscovered my love of interior design and decorating with a leaning towards Shabby Chic so I treated myself to a couple of home mags to drool over.
I've also been browsing some Shabby Chic homemakers blogs..........man............I want to live in every one of the houses I have seen. There are some seriously canny shoppers and talented alterers around.

Paid my first visit to the sewing school/fabric shop in Ashby the other day and have started a small collection of fat quarters again. I love fat quarters.........I'd love the whole bolt even more....lol!!!

As you can see.....I have no cards tonight.....sorry. I am just too weary at the moment to rush upstairs after work to make something just for the sake of it. But I may be making at the shop tomorrow because as you can imagine it is fairly quiet this week.
I'm off for a soak in a nice hot bath now.
Thanks so much for stopping by.
Sheila-x-

Paper Patchwork!!!

Eeeeeeh........did ya think I'd left the country?
Sorry I have just been busy and we have had all sorts going on at home this last week.
Been trying to finish up the present shopping but still have a couple of things I need to buy and get wrapped.
The shop closes on Wednesday and I will be there until then so I will cook the ham for our Christmas Eve tea on Wednesday evening rather than leaving it until Thursday. That will be the best way to make sure it's cold............I can't bear warm ham....yuck!!!

Not much in the mood for cardmaking at the moment but I did make the card and bag up above for a class on Saturday.
The card is half inch strips of co-ordinating papers arranged around a central square to look like patchwork.
The bag is one of those that has a box in the bottom.
Papers are Basic Grey.
Butterfly stamp is Inkadinkado.

Still waiting for the snow we were promised. I think everyone has got it but us...lol!!!
I looked out the window this morning and thought I saw about three tiny flakes....slight exaggeration there were a few more than that but if you'd have blinked you would have missed them.
We did get some up at Ashby last week but I think I would rather be snowed in at home and not have to go to work.......not the other way round.....lol!!!

Anyway I am off to chuck my sorry carcass on the sofa where I am going to read for a while and then I am having an early night.

Thanks for dropping by.
Sheila-x-

The New Me!!!

Oh gawd........I think I am better. I have gone all day without having to have a nap...........yay!!!
I didn't do the kitchen today.......DD was worried it would set me back if I did too much so she is going to help me with that on Sunday.
She did allow me to potter about in my room and although I didn't make any cards I did get quite a bit of cutting up done.
After that she made me sit on the sofa, made the tea and we watched an obscene number of episodes of Private Practice......a spin off of Grey's Anatomy. It is brilliant.
We laughed, we cried, we drooled over the gorgeous fellas and I feel so much better for that.

So work now with only one day off before Christmas Eve.
Tomorrow I have to design some cards for a class that Deb has booked in for Saturday so I might have something to post at last.

Tonight I will start reading my Christmas book.....Winter Solstice and guess what.......we have snow predicted on our bit of the map so I am squishing my nose to the window every five minutes to see if it has started.........getting in touch with my inner child.......lol!!!

Anyway I am off for a bath now. I have gone cold as DD and I were so engrossed in Private Practice that we let the fire go out and my feet are a very peculiar shade of blue.

Bye for now
Sheila-x-

Getting Back To Normal!!!

Feeling even more better today although still very tired.
I really don't know what has been wrong with me. It wasn't a cold or upset stomach just very headachey, so tired I could barely move and absolutely no appetite......very strange.
On Friday I had thought that maybe I had drunk too much coffee at work on Thursday and had a sort of hangover. I usually drink decaff at home when I drink coffee.
Well whatever it was it's on it's way.

I haven't done any cardmaking today. Instead I have been straightening up the workroom. Got rid of some storage I no longer needed and condensed some stuff down.
All of my ink pads are now on the book shelf. Until I can afford one of those gorgeous purpose built ink pad storage units it will make my life so much easier.
Just need to sort out my boxes of offcuts now. They drive me mad. No matter how organised I start off they always end up a mess.
Once that is done I shall get the Christmas pressies wrapped and out of the way so I can crack on with some crafting.

Tomorrow if I have any energy I am going to start on cleaning the kitchen up so that I don't have it all to do on Christmas Eve. It's a job I don't like very much but it has to be done.

Right.....I am off back upstairs for an hour before bed time.
Thanks for your visit.
Sheila-x-

Alcohol Inks......With Peeloffs!!!

At the beginning of the week I was having a bit of a mooch through my backgrounds box and came across the two pieces used here which I thought went very well together.
The first is the green background which is silver holographic (nasty......lol) card covered with scrunched tissue paper and coloured with inks.
The second is more nasty card coloured with alcohol inks.
I know that the usual thing would be to do some clever stamping with these but I thought I would do the opposite and use up a sheet of 3D peeloffs which I had aquired from somewhere. I think it worked quite well.

Thankfully I am starting to feel a little better now. Not 100% but getting there.
I went into town with hubby this morning to do some freezer shopping and had to have a sleep when I got back as I was exhausted.
While in town we had to split up for a while as we wanted to go into different shops and hubby very kindly bought me a bath bomb. Trouble is it smells so highly of cloves that it takes the skin off the inside of your nose.....pheee....ew!!! I have left it out unwrapped to try and calm it down a bit before I use it. Bless him though eh?

We are celebrating the X Factor result at Manic Towers tonight. So chuffed that Joe won and I love the song that will be his first single so much that I will definitely be buying it.

After Tuesday I only have one day off before Christmas Eve as I am looking after the shop while Deb goes into hospital. There are no classes that I know of so I shall just have a good tidy up ready for when we re-open in the new year.

Anyway I am off for a Badedas bath......yummy......and a good read for half an hour after which I might watch a girly film once hubby has gone off to bed.

Thanks for dropping by.
Sheila-x-

Poorly Manic!!!

I am so sorry there have been no pics posted for a few days.
First of all I was busy with things for the open night and then I was at the shop later on Thursday for the open night. Friday I was rather poorly and spent most of the day on the sofa drifting in and out of sleep. I started to perk up a bit in the late evening but today I haven't felt too fabulous either.
I have a couple of cards which I did earlier in the week which I will try and take photographs of tonight or tomorrow.
Thanks for your patience.
Sheila-x-

Sleepy In Staffordshire!!!

Mmmmm.....doesn't quite have the same ring to it as Sleepy In Seattle does it?
However sleepy is what I am today despite having an easy day.
Deb and I spent the day sorting out stock for the sale and the raffle and then we tidied the workroom ready for doing the demo's.
There are lots of bargains to be had at half price....stamps, paper pads, Christmas stock, embellishments plus loads more and special offers for one day only and a special offer on the Epic which is £70 only until December 24th.
Also...while stocks last.....people spending over £20 will receive a free plastic wallet with fifteen sheets of assorted card and paper inside.........nice stuff too........I know as I filled them....wink, wink.........lol!!!

Anyway I obviously worked harder than I thought and I am ready for bed even though it's not yet midnight which is practically unheard of for me......lol!!!
So I am going to say night night and get gone.
Thanks for dropping by.
Sheila-x-

Tall Gift Bag & Card!!!

A tall gift bag made from a 12x12 sheet of card and a matching card.
The band around the bag is made from a strip of silver card embossed with a Quickutz 12" embossing folder and the tag is embossed with the Quickutz Snowflake folder.

I'm still getting Christmas card orders coming in so can't put away all my festive crafting stuff yet although I would love to so that I can get on with other things.

Feeling proper off it today which is just about right when I manage to get a whole day upstairs. I hope I'm not coming down with a cold because I just don't need it at the minute.

Right.....I shall go and get on with this new order so I can deliver it in the morning.

Bye for now......and thanks for dropping by.
Sheila-x-

Pastel Oriental!!!

Well I actually managed to go out this morning but had quite a disappointing morning. Only managed to pick up one present, the coffee shop was packed and we couldn't get a seat and I was really disappointed with the Christmas displays although there were some gorgeous decorations.
We ended up heading for home and having a coffee at Costa Coffee in Tesco.......not my favourite place.
I did get some nice card from a stand in the cross stitch shop so I suppose it wasn't a total washout.

Escaped to my workroom after dinner and made a few of the card up yonder. The paper is Basic Grey Urban Couture. Sorry I don't know whose the stamp is as it's unmounted and I can't even remember buying it......lol!!!

Off to snag a space on the sofa ready for X Factor.

Thanks for visiting.
Sheila-x-

Celtic Colours!!!

Here's one of the Celtic cards I have been making over the last couple of days. The Basic Grey distressed papers are just perfect for these and I have a huge stash of them so now have a good pile of cards done in all different colourways but this one is my favourite. I think the stamps were Dovecraft but I'm not 100% sure as I have taken them off their blocks and they have just been stamped onto one of the coloured papers in Ancient Page Coal Black. Then they were layered onto gold card.

Couldn't be bothered to go into town again today so DD and I are off to Trentham Gardens in the morning.Loads of shops there so I should be able to get started on Christmas shopping plus it's much nicer than town and they have fabulous coffee shops.........Cappucino.....yum yum!!!

I've got tomorrow's dinner simmering on the stove.....a lovely beef casserole. So that will just need finishing off when we get back tomorrow. Just the thing to come home to if it's a damp and dreary day.

Stopping downstairs now until teatime so I think I'll have a bit of a browse around the net and visit a few blogs.

Thanks for stopping by.
Sheila-x-

I Fibbed!!!

Sorry......I fibbed. This is definitely the very last Christmas Easel Card I am making this year.
I forgot that I had done this one.
Die cut bracket shape is actually a frame from a Cuttlebug Cut and Emboss die. Circles are Quickutz and the snowflake is a Dovecraft punch.

Today {Friday} I have been doing something different as I have definitely finished with Christmas now thank goodness. I am using up a pile of Basic Grey 6x6 plain papers..... which I have been hoarding forever........and making some Celtic cards.
Was going to go into town this afternoon but just couldn't face it. Will need to go at some point I suppose.

Not enjoying the second book DD got for me but am trolling through it....it may get better.

Thanks for dropping by.
Sheila-x-

Acetate Smash!!!

Sounds quite violent doesn't it? Acetate Smash.......lol!!!
It's quite a gentle technique though involving stamping onto acetate, adding acrylic paint to the reverse of the image and then placing it onto a piece of neutral cardstock.
Gorgeous effect though.
Here I have mounted the piece onto some gold card and then attached it to the stamped card blank with gold elasticated thread.
Stamps are Hero Arts and Stamp To Your Arts Content.

Well I have come home with card cutters elbow. I have been prepping a class for tomorrow and have spent the whole day scoring and cutting all the bits needed.

Still feeling a bit tired so DD is insisiting on my taking a night off tomorrow night and I am not going to argue. She has offered to cook again bless her and apparently I am to do nothing except go straight up and have a shower, change into my pj's and get comfy on the sofa. Ooooh I could get used to that.......lol!!!

The man of the house has just arrived home so I had best go and have a cuppa with him before he goes off to bed. I am going to read for a while as I am just about to start the second of the books that DD bought me.
The first was Last Christmas by Julia Williams and I loved it.

Thanks for your visit today.
Sheila-x-

Paint Effect!!!

Here's a little something I made while I was at work today.
The mountboard tag has been done using the Peeled Paint technique which uses petroleum jelly to create a resist for acrylic paint.
In real life the green paint is much softer.....it looks kind of hideous in this pic.....lol!!!
Script stamp is Hero Arts and the Queen Anne's Lace is Penny Black.
Paints used are Plaid Folk Art.

Had a fab class with some lovely ladies this morning and I have an all day class to do on Thursday and then I think that's classes pretty much done with for this year. I can't do any next week as the first part of the week we will be getting ready for our Christmas Party Day.
For any customers that read this blog we will be open from 10am to 7pm on Thursday 10th December. I will be demonstrating stamping and the Quickutz Epic in the upstairs workroom all day and we will have nibbles and drinks available up there too.
There will be a raffle and it will also be the start of our Winter Sale.
So come along and grab some bargains.

Feel totally whacked now so another early night I think.
Thanks for your visit.
Sheila-x-

Icy Easel!!!

The last of my Christmas Easel cards for this year.
I've used my favourite Basic Grey papers for this one. The bottom panel is blank at the moment as I am going to send this one to DD and it will have her name on it.

Today I started thinking about the fact that I will probably have two weeks off at Christmas and I really want to get back into stamping while I am off. I have made way too many cards with no stamping lately. So my big job for today was to locate every last ink pad in my pit of a room, label them all and display them on a bookcase where they are easier to get to. I have filled the bookcase but still have four drawers of small ink pads. Now I need to get all my embossing powders to hand and I shall be well set for a mega stamping binge.
It's starting to look unnaturally tidy up there but once I have finished with Christmas cards I shall soon mess it up again.......lol!!!

Had a lovely treat tonight........DD cooked tea........and we didn't have to call the fire brigade.....lol!!! She cooked sausages with scrambled egg, baked beans and toast and it really hit the spot on such a cold night. Best be good tomorrow night and have something healthy although I'm drawing the line at salad.......it's too cold.

Looking forward to the weekend when we put up the Christmas tree.
DD has found me a couple of new books with a Christmas theme to get me in the mood and once I have read those I shall be getting out my Rosamund Pilcher book Winter Solstice which I read every year........but not until it gets cold enough to snuggle under my fleecy blanket while I read it. After that I will read The Christmas Mouse by Miss Read. My copy is so well read that it is falling to pieces. Must get a new copy if I can find one.

Right that's me done for the night. Work tomorrow so I must have an earlier night.
Thanks for your visit.
Sheila-x-