Morning All

Hi everybody, lovely and sunny here today, washing on the line, housework all done so what am I going to do with the rest of the day......

CRAFT, need to catch up on some DT work also I really must put inserts into my cards and seal them up ready for craft fairs.  Was thinking of making more soap but not able to as my delivery from the Soap Kitchen has not arrived boo hoo.

So making candles will be the craft of the day.

I am thinking about giving away some candy but it will not be card making stuff it will be soap and candles and possible bath bombs too which is what I made yesterday afternoon, I really need to get some new molds for these. I will try and sort something out regarding my candy giveaway if anyone is interested let me know.  Sorry it won't be card making stuff.

At the moment the only molds I have is a silicone heart shaped mold and whilst these are ok would like to make better and bigger one's, also before I can sell these I have to have the recipe safety assessed which costs around £140.00, but I can give them away which is fine for the moment as thinking of giving these free when people spend a certain amount either on my website or at craft fairs.

Will be by shortly to do some blog hopping but need to get my breakfast and dry my hair before it dries and I look like the wild woman of Borneo.

Alison 

Happy Mother's Day

Morning All

Hope you are all having a fantastic weekend, I had the most wonderful day yesterday, Sarah and I went to have some Holistic Healing Therapy and it was really relaxing, she also took me out for lunch.  Whilst we were out my eldest daughter Pauline and Granddaughter Jessica came to visit but as we were not home they left a lovely pot of flowers and a card on the doorstep.

We got home about 4pm ish and we had only been home about an hour and my new television turned up ordered a 32 inch for the bedroom as I could not see the 23 inch one so that has gone into the kitchen.  I then made another 20 boxes for my soap so all in all I boxed around 60 bars of soap over the past two days.

I decided I would like to make a card for my eldest sister who is feeling a bit down, she keeps getting chest infections and today when I spoke with her she could barely talk honestly don't think there is a healthy one between the 5 of us girls.

I have lots of little cut outs from my boxes and decided to colour them in and make a card with them and this is what I made

I also made some soap yesterday the perfume is Warm Amber and Frankincense and it smells absolutely divine picture of it below, it was supposed to be black and orange but that didn't quite turn out as you can see it is now grey and yellow lol x

Well am off now, hope yo all remembered to put your clocks forward and that you all have a lovely day today even if you're not a mum.

Will be back later to do a bit of blog hopping.

Love Alison xx 

Challenge #7 at Open-Minded Crafting Fun

Morning All

Firstly let me say Welcome to my new followers, thank you for joining me I hope I can give you some inspiration.

We have a new challenge over at Open-Minded Crafting Fun and the theme this fortnight is Animal Antics, we have four wonderful sponsors so why not pop over to the site and join in with the fun

Just some lines

The Fantasy Art of Nikki Burnette

Scribbles Designs


My card is made with an image from  Sassy Studio Designs  and is called Cowardly Lion Sassy

I am not crafting today with Rachel as Sarah our youngest daughter is taking me out for lunch and then on for a massage for Mother's Day treat a day early I know but am really looking forward to it.  I have had a busy week this week so it will be nice to relax.  Yesterday I made some Warm Amber and Frankincense Soap it needs to go into the freezer for a couple of hours to enable me to get it out of the molds.  I also finished off wedding invitations for a commission, made 36 boxes for my soap to go into, managed to catch up on some blogging as well as DT work so all in all a productive day yesterday.

Well I must be off need to get ready for the off, will catch up with everyone later today when I get back so until then, why not pop over and see what the rest of the Design Team have been up to I can safely say their creations are much better than mine.

Loads of love

Alison 

Morning All

Excited bunny this morning, my new fragrance oils have arrived for my soap can't wait to try them out

These are the fragrances I have bought

Warm Amber & Frankincense
Banana
Freesia and Pear
Rice Flower
Lime Mandarin and Basil

I also bought colours to add to the soap, black, white, yellow, blue, green, violet and red.  I am thinking of making the Warm Amber and Frankincense first and adding black to one half of the mixture and making an orange with the yellow and green and adding that to the second half and then swirling them together in the soap ooooh sounds yummy but before I do any of that must get my boxes cut out for the soap I have already made as they are taking up too much room on my craft desk.

The wedding cards are nearly finished, I just need to add hearts to them and then I can get them off my desk, have also completed the mother's day card that was ordered, the buttons came from the Works they have huge bags of buttons on offer and I popped into town on Wednesday with Sarah and bought about 4 packets they really add an extra dimension to the card.

Will be off just now need to have a shower and get dressed so that I can deliver the wedding invitations so will catch up with everybody a bit later when sit down for the afternoon.

Love to all

Alison xx

Afternoon All

Welcome to my new followers, thank you for joining me, hope I give you some inspiration.

Housework day today, all done now though or the bits that I can do, Alan stripped and changed the bed this morning before going to work so bedding washed and now in the tumble dryer tried to put it on the line a couple of times but we keep getting showers so not worth it.

I have finished a card that I started making at Rachel's last weekend and have finally got around to finishing it again it is from the Joanna Sheen CD the Gruffies and Happy Hoppers it has such cute stuff on it I can see me using this a  lot.   I have a commission for a Mother's day card so really must get on and do that, but it's a lazy day for me today as I have been so busy since Monday that I am starting to feel yucky with tiredness.

I will be back again shortly to catch up with all your beautiful blogs 

Love to all

Alison x

Afternoon Everybody - Very Dangerous Drive Home

Dear all

Well Monday finally got into to see the doctor after trying for nearly two weeks, he changed some of medications and added more to the ever growing list that I have to take.  The new painkillers that he gave me have given me have been the bain of my life since Monday, took the first one Monday evening at bedtime and then spent all night with restless legs I could not stop my legs twitching and I was so tired yesterday.

Tuesday I drove to Stentwood, Dunkeswell in the heart of the Black Down Hills for a refresher course in soap making and also new tricks of the trade so as I had no sleep the previous night I was shattered and the course was full on 10 - 4 on the drive home I was so tired I nearly fell asleep at the wheel a couple of times, ended up in a lay by for an hour resting up before continuing home, thank goodness Alan had dinner ready and I fell into bed decided not to take my new tablets and slept like a baby until 9.30 this morning.

Here is the soap that I made, the fragrance oil in this soap is called Fig and Brown Sugar and boy does it smell gorgeous,

 the inside of the soap is coloured very pale pink and the outside of course is cream with swirls and heather on the top this soap is gorgeous and I know its going to be a good seller.

I also made a Extra bubbly Sugar Scrub in lime and used that today in the shower on my feet which are very sore and my face as an exfoliate and boy did it smell good and my feet are lovely and smooth and feel wonderful.

Update on the Bank Situation

It took until this morning for the bank to pay us the money back that should not have been taken out, I have cancelled my bank card and am now waiting for my new one to arrive so this should not happen again, and boy have I learnt a lesson on this.  We are now looking around at different banks and are going to move our account once we have done some research as I am not happy with the level of service from Lloyds.  Thank you all for your fantastic support over this and your wonderful messages.

I am off to do some DT work just now and Sarah needs to do some more work on her application form so I will be back a bit later to do some blog hopping and looking at all your wonderful creations.

Bye for now

Alison xx   

I did something stupid

Morning all

Sun is shinning but its cold and windy but at least the washing is getting a good blow through.  I did something stupid at the beginning of the month and ordered some Raspberry Ketone tablets from a site that was being advertised on Facebook, then I realised it was a scam.  So rang the bank and asked for any future payments requested from this company not to be honored well guess what yes!  £100.00 taken from our account yesterday.  I phoned the bank and they said I would have to let the payment go completely through and then report to the fraud department.  I have made a complaint to the bank stating that I had requested no more payment to be authorised to this company but not sure that I will get anywhere, so I am left feeling completely stupid.

On a good note went to Rachel's yesterday afternoon and had a really good time, she still has not come down from cloud 9 about her DT Spot with Crafters Companion, bless her.

I manged to make three cards yesterday just for the sheer pleasure of it, one is for my sister who is ill in hospital at the moment, I managed to speak with her yesterday and she sounds really poorly, she is hoping to go home next week with oxygen and carer's in place but says she is not budging from the bed until she feels she is well enough to go home and good for her I say.

Am only show casing one of my cards for now as I have to put sentiments on the other two still and will get onto that this afternoon, after Sarah has finished with the computer as her job has now gone to advert and she is completing the application form today, thank goodness they have only advertised it internally and have a short date for completion.

Will be back later to do some blog hopping so
Bye for Now

Love Alison

Busy day today

Morning all

Hope you are all keeping well, hugs to those that need one.  I have a busy day today, our local hairdresser is coming to give Sarah and I plus one of Sarah's friends a good trim need it.  Then I am being taken out to lunch and after this am going over to Rachel's to do some crafting yeah!!!

I have made the first of my 20 evening wedding invitations but want to get the bride's go ahead before making anymore even though she came around today and we discussed the design want to play safe and make sure she likes it.

I also want to make a couple of cards for my DT spots and also one for my sister who is seriously ill in hospital with a bad flare up of her emphysema, her twin sister and my older sister Caroline rang me this morning to say that when she visited Jeanette she thought that she would not live the day out and immediately called an ambulance.  As Jeanette lives in North Wales and I live in Devon it is a bit of a trek so would prefer to visit her when she gets home and give her some TLC as we have family who live locally, but Jeanette and I are close and ring each other every week.

Well here is my Evening Wedding Invitation Card, hope you like it

Will be back later to do some blog hopping

Love to all

Alison xx

Just a quicky

Hi all

Just to let you know I have changed my blog name wanted to keep it in line with my website so I am now called Crafts-by-Alison.blogspot.com   sorry for messing everybody around and hope you continue to follow me as I would hate to lose you.


Also wanted to say a HUGE BIG THANK YOU to  Zoe for the lovely package of goodies and a fabulous card that I got in the post today, see pictures below, the card is stunning and I am in love with it and it's taking pride of place on my mantle in the living room for all my visitors to see.

Am going to enjoy playing with these especially as I bought the new Spectrum Noir Pens and they also arrived today so lots of playing to be done, once I have finished these 20 evening wedding invites.  I have finally finished Jessie's labels for her sweet table and then I did her name in massive letters in black and pink and glittered around the edges, so went to bed with everything glittered last night, so much so that Alan has told me off as he has glitter in his beard even though he had a wash before going to work this morning lol.  Told him to tell everybody he is in touch with his feminine side especially as the glitter was pink too.
Just taken a photo of the J does not do it justice but at least you can see what I mean about the glitter

Am off again now to have some lunch then I need to go to Ivybridge as my banner I have had made for my craft fairs is ready for collection and I have to pick up a prescription too.

Love to all

Alison xx

A lovely sunny day

Morning to everybody

Yes I know I am up early today, but the sun is shining and don't want to waste the day away, washing in the machine nearly ready to go on the line, I have someone coming around at about 9.30 to discuss wedding invitations and what she wants.  I then need to start making some more candles and soap only one more batch of soap to make but may do this tomorrow and have a lazy day today putting inserts into cards that I have made.

I have a wee make to show you today, another little desk buddy or at least that is what I am calling them as I can't sell them as children's toys as they are not safety assessed, I will get around to it but too much going on at the moment.

I also make an Easter card yesterday, don't like what I have not really made an effort with this one but at least I have made a card which is not for DT work lol.

Well am off now to get into the shower and dressed before Helen arrives, will be back shortly to do some blog hopping and I also need to catch up with my DT commenting today.

Bye for Now

Alison x

Yeahhhhhhh.... I got it

Hi all

Hope you are all well, good news at last managed to get a Doctors appointment for Monday morning at 09.00 hrs, bit early for me but as I have been trying to get an appointment for nearly two weeks can accept this.

I was asked by our eldest daughter to make some labels up for a sweet table that she is doing for our granddaughter's 18th Birthday next month, Jess is into black and pink so this is what I have come up with

I had a new candle mould turn up the other day so made another candle with white musk perfume and am really pleased with the way it has turned out

I also made a card for the Consultant I used to work with in the days when I had a brain cell before the Fibromyalgia took hold and left me brain dead lol.  I actually started making this card over at Rachel's last Saturday but only got it finished yesterday the background paper is from Rachel's stash and has pink swirls in with the grey stunning and shiny too. 

And to top it all off I made this last week he needs a bit of extra stuffing but for the 1st attempt at making anything to do with sewing for many years was quite pleased with the results

I am off to tidy my craft area, putting things away so that I can start on more crafty bits and bobs, I also have inserts to put into about 20 cards and then will do some catching up on blogger.  

Bye for now

Alison 

New Challenge over at Crafting For All Seasons

Hi Everybody

Hope you are all keeping well, my back is still sore but I am waiting for an appointment at the Dr's have to ring up every day after 08.15 to see if he has any appointments think by the time I get sorted I will be dead and buried lol.

Enough moaning

Today we have a new challenge over at Crafting For All Seasons and our challenge this week is no designer papers.  for my card I used some oil pencils that I bought years ago an never used and combined them to make my backing papers.  The image is from the wonderful

                                                                         Kenny K  
                         

and the prize this week is 3 digi images 

How wonderful is that 

So without more ado here is my card hope you like it, kept it fairly simple as did not want to detract from my gorgeous handmade backing papers lol. 

Will be back later to do a bit of blog hopping

Love Alison 

New Challenge over at Oldie But A Goodie

Morning all

Firstly thank you for all your well wishes whilst my back has been so bad that I have been laid up.  I am finally on the mend thank goodness and although I have to take it easy can at least now start to do some crafting YIPEEEEEEE.

Well today is a new day over at Oldie But A Goodie and our challenge this fortnight was chosen by little old me and the theme is Bunting, don't forget your stash or whatever has to be at least six months old.  so without further ado here is my card

I even tried my hand at frantage got most of it over me of course but when we went out for the evening I looked lovely with all my sparkle in my hair, over my dress and on my face lol.

I had a lovely day over at Rachel's on Saturday afternoon started a couple of cards but not finished yet,  and then yesterday I supervised whilst Alan did the weeding in the garden will have to take some photo's whilst it's looking pretty.

I have quite a bit to do over the next few days, candles to price up and soap to box, inserts into cards, cards to make not only for my DT work but have been asked to do some evening wedding invitations around 10 -20 of them.  I also need to make three more batches of soap up as I was checking the one's out I had already made and a couple of them are not good enough to sell so I may do a draw and instead of craft stuff send out soap what do you think.

Why not pop along to OBAG and check out the rest of the team's work which is wonderful.  You never know you might just win a prize.

Love Alison 

New Challenge over at Open-Minded Crafting Fun

Hi all

Sorry not been around very much over the last two weeks I have been really bad with my back unable to stand, walk or sit so been on my back managed to finally get up on Tuesday but could not do anything again the same really for the rest of the week.  I am now off the Morphine capsules and Oramorph medication and just on plain old Tramadol and Diazepam which are like taking sweeties really they don't touch the pain anymore as I have been on them for so long now, hospital asked for my meds to be tweaked but GP said no what I was taking was fine.

Good news I won a prize from Zo , Keagan shouted my number out so wow I'm a winner.

Today we have a new challenge over at Open Minded Crafting Fun, at the theme is Use Some Buttons I have used a

called sunbonnet, used my Martha Stewart button punch and Marilyn dies, image was coloured in using my gorgeous Prismacolor pencils

Our other sponsors for this fortnight are as follows:

Gerdas Doodles

Oak Pond Creations

QKR Stampede

I am hoping to go to my Crafty Friend Rachel's today to have a play, she had some fantastic news this week, she has been chosen as one of the Crafters Companion Design Team Members she is so excited and who can blame her wow what a compliment, mind she does some fantastic makes, I often go over and spend time just watching her craft she is fantastic.  

Why not pop over to Open-Minded Crafting Fun and join in with the challenge some fantastic prizes to be given away.

Well am off now as have to get ready  and sort myself out to go to Rachel's.  I promise to be back soon doing some blog hopping.  But for now

Love to all

Alison 

Double dutch

Hi everybody

Just wanted to apologise for any mistakes and nonsense I may of written due to the amount of morphine I am taking to help with the pain in my back

Love Alison

Morning All

Good Morning everybody, hope you are all well.  I bent over yesterday to pick something up and my back decided to go into major spasm mode, I am now in so much pain can hardly stand or sit for any length of time.

I was commissioned yesterday to make two birthday cards one for a 90 year old male and a card for a female who is going to be 100 in May, have managed to make the 90th card but the other one will have to wait until I can move around with a bit more ease.

I have decided I hate being like this always in pain and being told by the DWP that I am in the Work related activity group, how the hell they expect me to hold down a job when I don't know if I can stand from one day to the next and that is without the fibromyalgia flaring up.  What a laugh.

Anyway enough of the pity party am off to do a bit of blog hopping.

Love to all 

Alison xxxx

New Challenge over at Crafting for All Seasons

Morning all

Hope you are all well, if this goes as planned it should be scheduled.  We have a new challenge over at Crafting For All Seasons and the theme this fortnight is Spring into Spring and we were given some wonderful images to use by 

Stitchy Bear

                                        Prize 3 images from any of the showcased creators 

Sun-Bonnet and  Card Front Word Art by Floppe Latte

So why not pop along and check out the rest of the Design Team's wonderful creations and also join in the fun, you never know that winning card might be yours.

Love Alison xxx

Morning All

Hi Everybody

Well I don't know about you, but I had a wonderful weekend.  On Saturday I got to go to Rachel's for a crafty afternoon, ended up by buying a new sewing machine a Huskavana Emerald it arrived on Tuesday and on Sunday well it was my birthday so I got to have a lie in bed and then was brought breakfast, Alan and I then went to Endsleigh Garden Centre as I bought all Rachel's old spectrum noir pens off of her so needed more storage for them, but ended up ordering the storage from Crafter's Companion.  I was then whisked off to the Treby Restaurant which is a Michelin Star as Anton the Chef won Master Chef a couple of years ago, very expensive but what a treat.

Monday woke up early as I needed to sort myself out as I had an Occupational Therapist coming around to assess our kitchen to see if we can get a grant to enable me to use the cooker as at the moment I can't use the oven or grill as I can't bend down enough to put things in or take out so just awaiting a report on that but Jamie the Occ Health guy does not hold out much hope but he says he will give it his all to try and sort something out for us, but we will probably just end up going ahead with the kitchen anyway.

Tuesday I took delivery of my new sewing machine and as it didn't come until quite late in the day the only thing I did was oooh'd and haaa'd and stroked it, will be playing today at some point have a few projects on the go so will finish a couple of them and blog them over the next few days

The only thing I have made over the last few days is more candles I tried to make my cupcake candle in two different colours and this is what it looks like

I have been making a concentrated effort to catch up with everyone's blogs as I let things slip my birthday weekend and Monday sort of got away from me so please bear with me whilst I catch up.

Love Alison 

New Challenge over at Oldie But A Goodie

Morning all

We have a new challenge at Oldie But A Goodie and the theme this fortnight is Spring has Sprung and it took me ages to think how I wanted this card but thought mmm bluebells and here is what I came up with

papers are from stash, as is the wee ribbon, the image is from Just inklined and I have loads of images from them as I think they are great.  Why not pop along to OBAG and see what the rest of the team have created and join in the challenge, you never know you just might win.  

Love Alison xxx

New Challenge at Open Minded Crafting Fun

Morning All

Already we are on Challenge Number 5 over at Open-Minded Crafting Fun and this fortnight the theme is Something Green.

Our wonderful sponsors are:

Silly Dilly Beans

Flat Friends

            

Stamping Chef

whoopsiedaisy

As you can see there are some fabulous sponsors 

Here is my card 

Why not pop along and join in and with all the fabulous sponsors above you may just be our lucky winner.

Alison xxx