Another Cutie!!!

I'm afraid it's another cute card tonight. I have had to make quite a few lately and now I am on baby cards as I didn't realise how low my stock was until I went to put the stand in at the community shop. Mind you my everyday cards were pretty low on most things so I shall have to get cracking and boost the stock a bit.
The image and paper for this card is once again The Clipart Fairy

Miss Doodle has been a tad tetchy today. She is definitely after some teeth. She is gnashing on everything and drooling so much that we are thinking of getting life jackets in case she floods us out....lol!!!

It's just started snowing again here and I have switched the garden light on so that I can watch it and have got myself wrapped around a hot water bottle. Honestly I am like a big kid. If it keeps on at this rate we shall have quite a bit by morning. Luckily I don't have to go anywhere. DD and I are putting the Christmas tree up tomorrow ready for Ruby coming on Wednesday. Can't wait to see her face when she sees it.

DD ended up at the doctors last week her sore throat was tonsilitis and she has had to have antibiotics. She's much better now. I hated seeing her so bad. It's very rare that she is ill.

Ah well.....I suppose I had better get to bed. I feel more like going upstairs and cardmaking but I don't want to disturb anyone.

Bye for now and thanks for your visit.
Sheila-x-

Hi There!!!

Sorry I have been AWOL but I have had one or two things I have had to get done.
One of the things was to thoroughly clean my workroom which I have nearly finished. WOW who ever knew I had so much space.....lol!!! You watch....I'll sit down to make cards this afternoon and find my mojo went out with the rubbish.

We've had some snow......oh yes we have. Usually it snows everywhere but here and I am left gnashing my teeth and sulking because we don't get any. Anyway we woke up Saturday morning to a winter wonderland.......although I had had a sneak preview at 4:20am when I woke for a while. Today is pretty treacherous as it's frozen over so I hope you are all being careful out there.

Thanks for dropping by.
Sheila-x-

Picture Free Post!!!

Oh lordy......how shattered am I today?
DDIL had to work late tonight and Miss Ruby has just left the building. She has been very hard to entertain today and with her cold a little out of her routine with feeding. She's over the worst now though so hopefully we will get back on track next week.
As you can imagine there has been no time for crafting so unfortunately this is a picture free post. I will however be in manic mode with the cards over the next few days as I have been lucky enough to have been asked to supply the village shop again which re-opens as a community shop on Saturday. I am now frantically looking for a reasonably priced card spinner that will hold assorted sized cards up to A5. The previous shop owner provided the stands but they seem to have been disposed of when the shop closed.
Tonight is Apprentice night so I am taking what's left of the day off.
Thanks for your visit.
Sheila-x-

Ruby The Reindeer!!!

 My card today is another from the special order ones I have been doing. The paper and image are from The Clipart Fairy and were just perfect for a little boy's first Christmas.
No fancy techniques here...just cutting and layering.

Miss Doodle needed some fresh air yesterday so we took her for a ride to Byrkley Park Garden Centre where she just had to try out the seasonal accessories. The grumpy look on her face was because she had just woken up.

After she had gone home last night I went upstairs and between 5:30pm and midnight I made sixty cards.......yes you read that right....sixty!!! They were the thank you cards for DS and DDIL and I was determined to get them finished before bed time. Very simple I used the design from the cupcake boxes of just a band with a printed heart.

Today I have two invalids in the house. Ruby is still recovering from her cold and DD is snuggled up on the sofa with her cold just starting to come out. She is looking very sorry for herself so I am just off to feed her tomato soup and TLC.

Thanks for dropping by.
Sheila-x-

Mans Christmas Card!!!

Morning all........and what a lovely morning it is. It feels slightly warmer and there is a bit of sun. How long that will last I don't know.
Today I get to spend the whole day upstairs.....well once I have have tidied and vacuumed the lounge and put a load of washing in...lol!!! I plan to finish the card order and then make the thank you cards for DS and DDIL. They shouldn't take long as it's just a very simple design. After that I shall need to tidy up before doing anything else as I have left a bit of a mess up there.

The card I have posted today is for a guy who renovates cars so I have used embossing folders to add detail to the trees. Not the folders you would normally use for Christmas but I thought it was quite a cool twist to use the cogs and the metal plate folders with the stripe.
Paper is from the Snowflake Papers collection by The Clipart Fairy
You should check out the shop......there are some beautiful papers and I may have purchased one or two sets......the prices are amazing.
I do apologise for the quality of the photo. It was very difficult to get a good one because of the mirror card.

Anyway.....hope your Sunday is fab.
Thanks for your visit.
Sheila-x-

Really Cute Christmas!!!

Ah......I love these cute little snowmen from PC Crafter and here I have used them for a commissioned card.
The card blank is 8x8 and the images have been twinkled with Stardust Stickles.
All my cards for the next couple of days are for orders so not much time for inking and stamping I'm afraid.
I would say that I was having a lazy weekend but I think slightly less manic than normal would be nearer the truth. I need to get this order finished to post out on Monday. I have a huge pile of washing to tackle and am trying to get ahead with the cooking for next weeks evening meals.

Mr Manic and I are totally shocked by the explosion at the Pike River Mine in New Zealand. This is where he would have worked if we had gone to live over there. Our thoughts are with all the miners and their families.

Well back to work for me now.
Thanks for dropping by.
Sheila-x-

Thursday....Already!!!

Well that's the end of my working week for this week.
Quite a hectic day as Ruby wasn't awfully well. She has a cold and quite a nasty cough. When she wasn't coughing she was her normal happy self but when she coughed it was like it frightened her and she got quite upset.
Mr Manic and I decided to take her out for a while so we took her to a local garden centre to see the Christmas lights and decorations. She loved it. We had a quick look around the new craft shop too and I was very impressed. Mr Manic treated me to a couple of new stamp sets and a set of Marianne snowflake dies bless him. Not had time to play with them because as soon as Miss Doodle had gone home I fell asleep and when I woke up I felt like someone had thumped me in the head. So the crafting will have to wait until tomorrow now.
I'm just gentling pottering around on the www now before I go to bed and I am soooooo looking forward to a lie in in the morning.
Thanks for your visit.
Sheila-x-

Robin Red Breast!!!

Just a really quick card tonight as it is all I had time for. It's been a totally mad day here at Manic Towers. The chimney sweep arrived at 7:45am to get us all clean and ready for the cold weather. Ruby arrived at 8:20am ready for her breakfast and I seem to have spent the rest of the day cooking and washing up in between bouts of feeding, bathing and cuddling Ruby and writing in her daily journal which we keep for mummy to read when she comes home.
Then at 3:45 I was due at the doctors for my diabetes blood results which turned out not to be so good and I have to take extra medication for that. The good news was that since I was weighed last Tuesday I have lost another 2kgs and my blood pressure was excellent. I was down there quite a while and just got home in time to get Ruby ready for home and pack DS and DDIL's evening meal ready for them heat up. It makes sense while I am cooking for three of us to do extra and hand over a meal which just needs heating up so that DDIL doesn't have to spend her evening cooking and I know that it is much appreciated.

Anyway onto the card. I haven't the faintest idea whose the paper is. It was a stack that Deb and I split between us last year. It may be DCWV but don't quote me on that.
Robin is made up from the Tim Holtz Caged Bird die and a circle punch.

Tomorrow should be a little less frantic as we have no visitors due apart from Miss Doodle and no appointments to keep. The evening meal is ready to be cooked and I'll just need to prepare the veg and cook it so we may get our meal at a reasonable time. That'll save Mr Manic sacking me....lol!!!

Thanks for your visit today.
Sheila-x-

Shattered And Happy!!!

Today has been wonderful.
Ruby arrived at 8:15 this morning and apart from a couple of grizzles at nappy changing time.....which she hates.....and when she got a bit tired.....she has been amazing all day.
I expected a bit of difficulty at meal times but there was none at all.
The only downside of the day was the weather which was foggy and cold so we didn't get to road test the pushchair.
I have spent a lazy evening in front of the tv with Mr Manic as I was quite shattered by the time Miss Doodle went home at 6pm so no crafting done tonight although I did have half an hour rearranging my Spellbinder dies into an easier to use system.
Time for me to snuggle up and get some sleep.
Thanks for dropping by.
Sheila-x-

Santa Blue!!!

I don't know about Manicstamper today.........I've been more like an old scrubber.......lol!!! I've been doing some serious mucking out at Manic Towers along with furniture shifting and cooking as well.
After tea I was shattered so went upstairs to make a start on an order for Christmas cards and wouldn't you just know........no mojo for the kind of cards I needed to make so ended up just doing something inky.
I have used a Tim Holtz stamp, a Magenta stamp, a Hero Arts stamp, Distress Inks, chalk inks, Moonglow spray, various diecuts and punches for the snowflakes and a touch of stickles.
Started off by stamping the Santa image and colouring it with Broken China, Stormy Sky and Dusty Concord DI's then sprayed with Scintillating Silver Moonglow spray.
For the background I inked first with the same DI's and sprayed with the Moonglow then over stamped using a holly image by Magenta and white and blue chalk ink.
The snowflakes were inked before layering and given a bit of twinkle with Frosted Lace Stickles.
The winter word is Hero Arts stamped in StazOn Jet Black.

Well Miss Doodle will be here for her first day with grandma tomorrow and I just can't wait. Hopefully I will get chance to road test the pushchair........I've nearly worn out the kitchen carpet....lol!!!
I'm just off now to plan her mini menu for the week. She's a bit of a gourmet so she'll keep me on my toes there.

Thanks for your visit.
Sheila-x-

My Sunday!!!

Most of today has been spent in the kitchen or tidying up as we have had DD's boyfriend over for lunch. While they have gone out bowling I have been baking some goodies for tea in the form of a fruit cake and a sponge cake. I'm just about ready for dropping as I haven't stopped all day. It's been a nice day though.
Tomorrow I have to sort out the back room and make storage space for all of Miss Doodles stuff. We don't have a very big house and it just got an awful lot smaller with the pushchair, the travel cot, a big box of nappies and what seems like a lifetimes supply of baby wipes. Tuesday DDIL will be bringing the highchair, baby walker and a box of toys. We may well find ourselves living out on the back yard......lol!!!
At the moment I am collecting store Christmas catalogues and enjoying looking at what we can buy for Ruby. The choice is quite bewildering and I still haven't a clue as to what we shall get for her.
Looks like the bowlers have returned so I had best go and put the kettle on.
Bye for now and thanks for visiting.
Sheila-x-

Happy Inky Fingers!!!

I fell in love with this project in the latest Craft Stamper magazine and just had to give it a go.
I changed the colours and style slightly using Distress Inks in Pumice Stone, Crushed Olive and Forest Moss with Desert Moon Cactus Gold Moon Glow spray.
The stamped pattern is from a flourish set by Artemio.
The shrink plastic embellishment was inked with Antique Linen and Vintage Photo before being stamped with chalk inks and finished with Antique Linen Distress Stickles.
I added wire handles and a poinsettia from Wild Orchid Crafts.
I also changed the box inside by making a box rather than using another of the diecut shapes as I didn't think it was quite big enough.

Had a fun day out with Miss Doodle and her mummy today. Boy that little girl can shop......lol!!! Toys R Us, Mothercare, Boots, Sainsburys. I've never been in a toy shop or Mothercare for over twenty years........lol!!!
Anyway we got the car seat and a gorgeous pushchair which I can't wait to test drive.
We didn't get home until gone 3pm and I was dying to get up in my room and do inky things. Was going to finish the one I started yesterday and decided that I didn't like the colours so did a green one instead.

Hubby and I have a night on our own as DD has gone to her boyfriends so we are having fish and chips and watching X Factor.....bliss.

Thanks for dropping by.
Sheila-x-

Fiddling Friday!!!

Sorry I haven't got a project to share tonight. I should have had one but I didn't quite get finished so have to go back to it tomorrow afternoon. I will tell you that it's gloriously inky and my fingers are very blue.

I have to go out in the morning to meet DDIL as we are going to buy a car seat for our car and a pushchair ready for next week and I want DDIL to choose them so that she is happy with what we have.
I'm quite excited......lol!!!
She has been out today to buy stocks of essentials for us to have at home so that she doesn't have to bring stuff over everyday.

Mr Manic finished his four month stint back at work today. He had an interview for a job this week and has another next week so fingers crossed that something will come of one of them.

I'm ready for a schlomp on the sofa now as I have had a pretty busy day.
Thanks for dropping by.
Sheila-x-

Let It Snow!!!

Today I thought I would get out my very neglected embossing folders and pigment ink pads and have a bit of a play. This what I ended up with.
For the embossed panels I inked up my folders before rolling them through the Big Shot and then added a sparkly embossing powder and heated.
The word snow has been diecut using a Cuttlekids alphabet and attached to the panel with foam pads before being embellished with Frosted Lace Stickles.
The snowflake border is a Martha Stewart punch and has been embellished with blue gems.

Well it's proper wintery here today. Strong winds and thrashing down rain. So I have made a lovely warming Cottage Pie for tea and DD and I are going to be proper slobs and eat it in front of the telly while we watch some more Law and Order. We are on Season 10 now and pacing ourselves with it as we haven't yet got hold of Season 11.
Now that the weather has turned so cold I shall be snuggling up at night with my favourite winter book......Winter Solstice by Rosamund Pilcher. Well I will once I have finished the book I am reading at the moment. Regular readers will know that I read this book every year to get me in the mood for Christmas. It's familiar and cosy and does the trick every time.
The decorating didn't get done.........why am I not surprised....lol!!! But I did clean the cooker which desperately needed doing. Mr Manic has been on afternoons this week and it is so hard to get started on anything while he is about and by the time he has gone off to work the urge to do anything has gone. So DD and I are doing it on Saturday morning now that she doesn't have to go in to work tomorrow night.
Tea is starting to smell very appetising so I shall go and see if it's ready.
Thanks for dropping by.
Sheila-x-

Back To Christmas!!!

Today I thought I would have a play with an idea that has been rattling around in my head for a while. I wanted to pair this little girl image from Docrafts with a large tree and was toying with using the Cuttlebug embossing folder. Tried that and it didn't work out so good then I remembered the large tree stamp from this years Papermania collection and voila.
The little girl has been stamped onto various layers of plain white and patterned paper and then cut and layered. Her flesh and hair were coloured with pencil crayons.
The tree was stamped onto a precut layer and finished with red Stickles and a gold star.

Well I have to say that I am enjoying this staying at home lark. I spent a lovely morning baking and rearranging some of the kitchen and then a couple of hours upstairs making the card. This evening DD and I have finished Season 9 of Law and Order and I'll be back off upstairs when Mr Manic gets home and has been fed and watered. Tomorrow I plan to tackle some more of the bottom staircase and hopefully get it finished so that I can start painting. Need to get it done before Christmas as we have a houseful on Christmas Day afternoon. We are having DDIL's family over as they will be up visiting. I have all my festive cookery books out and plan to get ahead with my preparations by cooking and freezing some things so that I don't spend the whole afternoon in the kitchen.

Right......I had best go and put the kettle on for the man of the house.
Thanks for dropping by.
Sheila-x-

Oh My Word.......A Card!!!

This is the card I made the other day when I felt like getting inky.

The background is made using some cheap pigment ink cubes and Isopropyl alcohol. I then stamped over it using some of the images from a set of Eco stamps and Black Cherry StazOn. Over the top of those images I stamped using a large background of circles by Just For Fun and white ink.

The main image from the Eco stamp set was stamped in Black Stazon onto another pigment ink background.

The gems were added with Glossy Accents.

Another wedding pic. From the left is DDIL's stepfather, DS, Mr Manic and Dave....the Best Man. Mr Manic scrubbed up real nice and it was great to see him in something other than scruffy jeans and t shirts.

I've had a busy day today doing various things. Started of getting a huge pile of Christmas cards packed as I had a lady coming round to choose some. The I had an idea for a card so worked on that for a while before coming down and sorting out the evening meal. Now I have a pot of soup on the stove bubbling away for tomorrow's tea which has used up some of the excess veg from the wedding salads.
I think I'll go and change into my PJ's then snuggle down and either watch a film or catch up on the second part of The Little House on ITVPlayer.
Thanks for your visit.
Sheila-x-

Introducing...........!!!

The new Mr and Mrs Manic Junior and Mini Miss Manic.
Aren't they all just gorgeous?
Need to find a family member who has a picture of the wedding cake/cupcake tower as I didn't get one on my useless camera.
Mini Miss Manic came to spend the night last night while her mummy and daddy had a night out and some quiet time to themselves. Oh she was sooooo good and has us in fits of laughter at her new antics and chattering.
So it's been a fabulous weekend here and tomorrow I shall begin to get the house ready for when Ruby starts to come to me three days a week. Wow........that will be a week on Tuesday so I had better get meself sorted out and get on with things.
Thanks for dropping by.
Sheila-x-

The Wedding!!!

Well it came.........and now it's over.
Yesterday was one of the most wonderful days I have ever had in my life.
The ceremony was so emotional and beautiful. My son handsome in his wedding finery.My new daughter in law looked stunning as did my grandaughter.
DD gave a reading which even made her brother cry so you can imagine the mess I was in. Let's just say that Kleenex ain't going out of business any time soon..........lol!!!
We had a wedding lunch at the most fantastic restaurant in Derby and then home to pack up the car for the evening reception.
The pizza and salad bar went down a storm and if anyone fancies doing the same......the service from Pizza Hut was incredible. I would recommend though that you bribe someone to prepare the salads. I don't care if I never see another vegetable or jar of mayo  in my life.
I'll be back with pictures when I have had a chance to sort through the hundreds we took.
Thanks for dropping by.
Sheila-x-

Chop, Chop!!!

Phew.......the cupcakes are nearly there. All baked....plus extra for mishaps. Fifty are frosted, decorated and boxed. I am going to finish the rest while DD sleeps as she has just come in from a night shift and then we are starting on preparations for the salad bar.
The newly weds are having something a bit different for their reception food.......pizza's........delivered by Pizza Hut to the hall, then a salad bar with huge bowls of assorted salads and a dessert table.
Early evening we are all going over to Derby where Mr Manic is going out for a meal with DS and a couple of the male relatives from DDIL's family while DD and I will be joining the female relatives at the house for a Chinese takeaway. We won't be staying late as there will still be a bit of stuff wanting doing at home.
Managed to get in and get my haircut yesterday which was a relief so I should manage to look partway human for the celebrations.....lol!!!
So my next blog I should think will be when it's all over. I can't believe it's tomorrow. It only seems like five minutes since we were sitting waiting for the phone call from DS to say that his proposal had been accepted and here we are on the eve of the wedding. Soooo exciting!!!
Thanks for dropping by and letting me waffle on.
Sheila-x-

Today Will Be.........!!!

Mad, hot, busy and filled with the sweet smell of the cupcakes baking for my little boys wedding.
First I have to nip down to the local surgery to get my repeat prescription, then back home to start the baking. At 2:30pm I have to rush in to town and get my hair cut as the migraine was still there yesterday and I felt quite ill. I think tonight we will be very naughty and let the chip shop cook our tea.....lol!!!
I did get a card made yesterday as I had very strong inky urges which couldn't be ignored no matter how awful I felt. So if I get chance when I emerge from the clouds of flour I shall take a photo.
Thanks for dropping by.
Sheila-x-

ETA......Nearly at 100 now and I can honestly say that we will not be having cupcakes in the Manic household for a very, very long time.......lol!!!

Getting There!!!

Just a simple card I made along with the one I made for the Creative Sketches card the other week. I thought I might as well use up the leftover paper while I had the stamps out.

Wedding preps are steaming along now despite a last minute job thrown at me by DDIL yesterday and an absolute humdinger of a migraine which has left me feeling like I have been run over by a truck.
Today I have cut out more sugarpaste hearts and I did them a little thicker than the last lot. They are soooooo much better. I also finished the traditional cake for the top of the cupcake tower but I won't show you a pic until I do the dry run and can show you the full thing. I am mighty pleased with it for saying I have never done this kind of cake before. It's very simple but nice.
Didn't get my hair done today with having the after effects of yesterday's migraine. My head was too sore to cope with anybody messing about on it so that has to get done tomorrow. I'm only going to Super Cuts so no worries about appointments etc.
Nothing else I can do on the wedding front tonight so I may have a couple of hours snuggled upstairs in the workroom as it's pretty chilly here in Manicshire. Wouldn't be surprised if there is a heavy frost tonight.

Thanks for dropping by today.
Sheila-x-