mess and cup cakes

It's been a funny old week! I've been away at my mum and dad's, helping sort some cupboards out. They live near Windsor and Eaton. Kevin and I made the most of the time away and explored Eton high street. We found some gorgeous shops, and I discovered this yummy cup cake paper. It is my inspiration for an upcoming class at the crop- so look out for more details! I also came upon an antique/junk shop where I was excited to find a box of old postcards for 20p each! LOVED looking through, and I bought about a dozen. Bliss! The other thing going on is that I am up to my neck in stash in my scraproom- so I'm reorganising (again??Yes again!) I realise I have so much stuff I don't even see, let alone use. I am sorting it so that embellies are going to be close by on pull out shelves and in clear boxes on my desk. I am getting rid of a serious amount of stuff too- eBay here I come! I hope that the streamlining of my stash will mean I won't be so overwhelmed when I go in that room! I also need to have better access to my laptop and scanner,so I can scan each photo as I use it. I could actually be getting organised.......!!!!

Mum

On this mothers day I want to pay tribute to my wonderful mum. I know how blessed I am to have a mum still with me, as many of my friends do not. My mum and I have always been close. She has a heart of gold. If I asked her for £10000 tomorrow, she would get it, even if she had to sell her house to give it to me. She often says she would cut off her right arm for my sister and I. We always laugh and say that probably wouldn't help, but we know what she means. She typifies to me what a mothers love should be; selfless, unconditional, and never ending. She worries so much about her family, too much really. But we know that all she wants out of life is to see her kids and grandkids happy. We are mum. Thanks so much for loving us the way you do!
I have had a fabulous day today. My daughter Becky gave a brilliant talk at church about strengthening families. She spoke with the wisdom of a much older woman. She said that I was her best friend. That means so much to me! I feel the same about her.Then both the boys came over with my lovely daughters-in-law and grandchildren. We went to the park and I had a nice dinner cooked for me. I have a family who love me and love each other and look out for eachother. I really can't ask for any more from life. I am a blessed woman. There! It may be very cheesy, but it needed to be said! We all have mothers, even if they are no longer physically with us. I hope your day has been filled with good things and pleasant memories of your mothers.

Saturday

These crops come round so fast- thankfully! I'm not sure what to do for the demo- not because I don't have any ideas (that's never my problem!) but because I can't choose! I have been having a bit of a creative binge lately- there is no satisfying me:)I'm flitting like a butterfly from one new technique to another. I may just bring a bit of everything. I borrowed Donna Downey's 'Fabric Scrapbooking' from Trish last week. I love it! I must admit I wasn't looking forward to giving it back on saturday, then lo and behold, the postman delivered me a copy this morning!! My lovely hubby must have picked up that I love it. Maybe he noticed that I have taken it everywhere with me for the last week. Bless him. He's a keeper. Hope you can join me for the crop.

100th Post!

I can't believe I've made 100. I should celebrate or something. Anyhow, I promised to tell you what I have been creating. This is a picture I created around the photo which is of my Grandmothers brother, George Johnson. He was a wonderful man who I remember well. so I wanted to make something to remember him by.I tried to have lots of depth in this picture, so I embellished the frame. The key is made from beeswax believe it or not! I melted the wax in a melt pot and poured it into a mould. I coloured it with brown and grey paint and highlighted with silver metalic cream. I printed the photo onto t-shirt transfer paper and ironed it on to canvas and frayed the edges a little.
The book was fun to make. I made the cover with dotty grungeboard. It's great to work with, very strong and flexible, so I was able to make a strap out of the same stuff to use as a strap closure. I fixed a magnetic popper so it shuts really well. Love the 'click' as it shuts! I painted the grungeboard white after cutting out the shape, rounded the corners, glued the strap on the back, and then gave it a coat of pink acrylic on the top. I then sanded the dots to reveal some of the white undercoat, and used a distress ink to highlight the dots. I covered the popper with a button using a glued dot and used a rub on 'eat cake' to decorate it. I am a bit obsessed with cake at the moment- I'm trying to lose some weight:) I folded some pink and green papers and stitched them through the spine of the book. I'm not sure what to put in it yet, maybe some thin pictures of me for inspiration, along with some quotes. We'll see! I will bring the picture and the book to the next crop.

Zoe!

Just a big CONGRATULATIONS to Zoe who has had a beautiful baby called Betty. She looks so amazingly cute. Hope to see you soon Zoe. Also, I'm needing (?) to buy some more Ranger stash, so I'm selling my Cricut cartridge, 'going places'. I want £30 for it. If you are interested email me at donnadowd59@hotmail.com
I'm planning a day of scrapping tomorrow, so hopefully I will have something to add to my blog tomorrow:) I am in 'the zone', I know that because I don't have an inch of space on my work table!!