Saturday already - it seems like the weeks are flying by. I am tying to be good on my Slimming World eating plan. I have lost 2lbs this week so I can't complain.

The weather is warm and bright today - not full sunshine but its nice.

I should have known that Friday was going to be a tricky day as I hadn't even left the house for work when my son informed me that the door had come off the kitchen unit - it wasn't just unscrewed it was actually pulled out of the wood - I can't even call the manufacturers as the company went bust last year! The kitchen was only put in about a year ago. It was a tough day at work too, very stressful and I was the only admin for the afternoon which was a total pain as both the consultants I work for were in the office and had full clinics. This meant I was busy enough without the added pressure of the other secretary having to go work in another building! I was so pleased that the manager let me leave a little early. At least I got the shopping done and was home at a reasonable hour. When I got home I rang my mum as I always do and got bad news - someone very close to me has been ill for a long time and it seems that the end is very close now. In a way I am glad that the pain and suffering will be over soon but to know that they won't be in my life anymore makes me very sad. I will have to take leave from work to go home to England for the funeral because that is a person I need to pay my respects to - at least we have said our goodbyes and I will always know my last words were I love you.

My phone never turned up. I tried the lost property office and I knew in my heart that my phone wouldn't be there - I was right. My replacement phone arrived to the office on Wednesday - I was working late but hubby phoned me to say that the sim card had arrived to the house so I knew I would be back in business on Thursday. My biggest worry was that I couldn't replace certain contacts on my phone as I had bumped into them by accident 8 years after I left my old hometown - but I had a brainwave - I downloaded my phonebill and noticed I had sent a mass text - I knew I would have most of my friends on the list so I text everyone to say I had lost my phone and contacts so could you text me to say who you are etc. Julia was the contact I was most concerned about and she was one of the first to contact me - so although there are still a few people missing I have most of my friends back onto my contact list again - yay! My new phone is from the insurance and it is a Samsung Tocco - I don't really like touch phones but I am getting used to it - it will do until my upgrade is due in a few months - I will get the new Nokia E72 then............. can't wait!

I had a lovely lie in this morning then messed around on the pc until we had brunch. I went outside to the shed to get wood glue to see if I could fix the cupboard door. I found the glue, came back inside and a huge tin of white emulsion paint fell onto the ground outside! Great - took ages to get that sorted out but eventually used the pressure washer to get it off - so it is mostly gone now. At least the door is fixed.

I actually daren't touch anything else this weekend incase it breaks!

I got some new music today - I am listening to it now and I think it is brilliant. Lifehouse - Smoke and Mirrors I have been wanting it for ages and finally I got it today. There are a few bands I am totally addicted to at the moment and are all that I play - Adelitas Way, Lifehouse, One Less Reason, Shinedown, Saving Abel and Staind to mention just a few. I got the micro SD card for my phone today and loaded all my favourite stuff onto it - my ipod is full so adding the new stuff to my phone so I have a choice what to listen to on a morning going to work! I have to say I am impressed with the sound from my phone!

I am hoping to make a couple of cards this weekend. I feel I haven't done anything for ages - it will probably be tomorrow coz right now I am off to go and clean the bathroom............ oh joy

When I started this blog I meant it to be only about making cards but in only a few days it has become something different. I choose this pic tonight as it seems to echo how I feel.

I seem to have lost my mobile phone on the bus coming home from the craft show and I am really annoyed about it. I know I used it on the bus and I know I was putting it in the pocked in my bag before I got off the bus - I haven't seen it since then. I know it is stupid to be so upset over losing your mobile phone but its not the phone - its the contacts I have on it - 99% I can get back really easily but there is one person who I just got back in my life and I have lost her again. I only bumped into her again at New Year and only purely by chance and we swapped numbers. I just pray that she will text me or something because I will be getting the same number back in a day or so - just not my beloved phone. I know its silly to be attached to your phone but that Nokia E71 was the best phone I have ever had. I am due for an upgrade in August and was planning on getting the Nokia E72. I was going to talk to my service provider who I have been a loyal customer with for the past 8 years and see if they would be nice enough to let me upgrade early - I don't think they will but I have nothing to lose. The other thing is on my phone there was a little dangler - a tatty teddy that my ex sister in law sent me for my 40th birthday - I am a sentimental fool!

On a brighter note I got a card order the other day and I spent some time today and got it finished. I am proud of my handywork and once I have sent it to the person who ordered it I will be putting in on here. The customer is my cousin and its her father in laws 90th birthday. Her father in law is my uncle - my dads brother - so it is an honour to be making his card as he is a lovely man. It does make me sad too because it makes me think about my dad and we lost him 2 years ago. I miss him everyday.

Well it is almost 1am and I do like to sleep so I am off to my bed..................

Friday finally arrived. I had a very busy morning in work but finished at 12.30pm for a half day. I decided to have my lunch at work because I am back on my slimming world plan and I need to eat properly to lose the weight I gained (I originally lost 42lbs but have put 14lbs back on recently). After lunch I headed to the Stitch and Creative Crafts Show, King's Hall, Belfast. This is just 2 miles further up the road from my office. I should have walked to help with the weight loss but to be honest I knew I would be doing plenty of walking once I got there!

Stitch and Creative Craft Show

The entry fee was £7.50 - not bad. As it was about 1.15pm when I got there it was fairly busy. I did my usual thing which is walk around each aisle first and see what is on offer then walk around slowly comparing prices, deals etc.

I did notice this year that there were loads of jewellery making stands and I was really attracted to some marcasite beads - I think I must have a thing about black shiny things! I admit I was very tempted to splash my cash on a jewellery making starter kit (I had taken my money out of the bank and was only allowed to spend the cash I had in my purse!!).

I also noticed that this year pro-markers are the BIG thing. I already have the starter pack I got a couple of years ago as a gift - they were very expensive and I have only used them a few times as the colours I have are quite limited. Saying that there are a range of new colours out and I think they will be brilliant for colouring in rubber stamping - I ended up getting 4 of new packs for £20 - bargain considering I paid £8.99 for 1 pack a few weeks ago - now I wish I had waited! Typical me!!! The packs in the show were £6.50 each but if you bought 4 packs it was £20 - you do the maths!!

I also spend my money replacing the punch I broke the other day and getting the final corner punch in that particular set. Double sided sticky tape was another bargain - 14 rolls for £5 so I grabbed that bargain too as I use double sided tape for everything. I got envelopes as I always seem to be running low on them and finally I got 2 precut decoupage sheets that I can use on DS's birthday card as he is seriously into the RAF and Royal Navy - these decoupage show an aircraft and pilot and the other is an aircraft carrier - I am sure he will love either of them!

I left the show and headed for the bus into Belfast and met a couple of people who were looking for Bradbury Graphics, they were asking the driver where it was and as I was on my way there I offered to show them where it was. You would think I had enough after being at the craft show but I had seen my favourite watercolour paints (cosmic shimmers) and there wasn't the collection I was looking for at the show but I had seen them a few weeks ago in Belfast. The two ladies and I had a lovely chat as we walked to the shop after the bus dropped us off (I had also done my good deed for the day helping a disabled lady off the bus as the driver couldn't or wouldn't lower the step any further down). I got the paints I wanted which is the Christmas collection - I know it's not Christmas but the red and green are the colours I needed!

So finally I got the bus home and unpacked my bag, fed the family and had a soak in the bath. Unfortunately this wasn't the end of the day..................... we were off to a wedding evening reception! So after my soak it was time to time to get my glad rags on (and my new shoes) and head out. We hadn't planned on staying long but ended up staying 4 hours. The bride looked beautiful and we had a good night. The day finally ended for us at 1am when we went to bed - I had been up 18 hours!

Had a great day today. Went to work and spent the morning catching up on a job I usually stay back after work to do because it was so quiet today. I finished work for a half day at 12.30pm, met my husband for lunch and even managed to get the grocery shopping done before he had to go back to work. During this time I got a new pair of shoes to wear tomorrow night at the wedding party we are going to.

Hubby dropped me off near my dear son's school because I had a meeting there at 3pm. I say dropped me off nearby but it was a 15 minute walk in heels - I don't know what possessed me to put heels on (apart from I am only 5ft 4inches) and now my feet are killing me because after the meeting I had to do the same walk again to be collected! Back to the meeting...... it is that time of year here where Year 10 kids are choosing what subjects they want to take for their GCSE exams. DS also had to decide if he was staying on at school until he is 18 (which he had already decided was a yes). So the subjects were chosen and now we have to wait to find out if he gets his choices. I know this will be a very long wait! So he has signed the agreement with the school and so have I. I still can't believe I am supposed to be an adult and be able to do these things - it is hard enough making decisions for myself!

Even after such a busy day I still got home from work 90 mins earlier than usual so all in all it was a productive day. Especially new shoes........................ yes I am addicted to shoes!

As we are going to the evening 'do' for this wedding tomorrow evening I thought I better get the card made so I spent an hour in my 'craft' room and made the card in the pic. Unfortunately in the process of making the card I managed to break my brand new punch the first time I used it! Not impressed but it was my own fault - I think it calls for a spot of superglue! We will see.

So dear son has his life planned for the next 4 years, I need to fix/replace my new punch, I got new shoes, we got the oh so boring shopping done and still have time to pretend I'm a mermaid and have a soak in the bath (to ease my poor aching feet) and catch up on some TV before snuggling into my lovely bed and sleeping until my alarm goes off again in the morning.................. but I am taking another half day's leave tomorrow so I can visit the Stitch and Craft Show, King's Hall, Belfast. Oh I can't wait!!!!

The weather this weekend was absolutely fantastic! On Saturday I dragged my son out on a 10 mile bike ride down the Comber Greenway. It was great, there were loads of people out and about, the sky was blue, there was a gentle breeze and the birds were singing. What more could you ask for, well apart from not smelling the aroma of cow pats as you pedal through the countryside? Hubby was out with his football team (he is the manager and also a referee) and all was right with the world. My son was pleased to get home though – so he could play his Xbox!!! There is no pleasing some people.

On Sunday hubby and I hit the shops (they don’t open until 1pm here in Northern Ireland) to get the finishing touches we needed for the newly redecorated hall and stairs. We wanted some picture frames for some prints we had bought years ago in York. While we were in IKEA we also saw a lovely picture frame with black and white pictures of Venice in it. We bought that because I was lucky enough to win flights to Venice a couple of years ago and we adored Venice, we vow one day to go back. Even my son loved it! We also went to the new Lakeland store that has opened in Belfast. We were a little disappointed that it isn’t as good as the Head Office store in Windermere. I did find a few bits and pieces I needed while I was in there though! We went home and I left hubby there while I went to my favourite shop to buy my craft items – it’s not even a craft shop! Hillmount Nursery is the BEST place (in my opinion) to buy craft items. They seem to be getting lots of the new stuff in before the craft magazines mention them. I bought a couple of items – flesh coloured pens, a new corner punch and a butterfly punch. My mum loves butterflies so I tend to use them a lot on cards I make for her.

I was a bit disappointed that I didn’t get any crafting done at all this weekend but we were still sorting out after the redecorating – it seems to take forever sometimes. I really should have made a card for my ex mother in law as it is her birthday this week and I always make sure I send a card. She is a lovely lady so I wouldn’t forget. Luckily I keep a stash of my hand-made cards in work and I knew I had a lovely card I could send to her. I got into work very early this morning so I wrote a letter and put that in the card too and all before my first morning coffee! Very industrious. It was a fairly busy day at work and I was glad to see 5pm arrive. I thought I had typed my poor little fingers to the bone today. But at least the worst day of the week is over and I am really looking forward to Friday afternoon as I will be visiting the Craft and Stitch Show in the King’s Hall, Belfast. I can’t wait.

The cards in my blog today show a birthday card I made for my great-niece – this is the card she told me I had to make for her. It had to be a fairy castle. I was told when she opened it she said to her mum that it was the only card she wanted for her birthday. Hearing things like that makes all the time and effort it takes to make a card well worth it!

The other card is one from my ’stash’ of cards I have made for no other reason except I enjoy it and that I keep at work just incase someone needs a card. The past few times it seems to have been me needing cards! I keep promising myself I will get organised and get them made well in advance but I never do. Sometimes it is a race against time if I get a card order in at the same time as I always make the order the priority! You never know one day I may actually follow through with my great ideas and have my cards made for my family and friends well in advance - oh look there is a flying pig!

Craft Happens

Hi – I am Karen and I have been crafting for about 22 years. First I did cross stitch and about 6 years ago I discovered card making – something that I have to blame on my husband as he did tell me to buy my first kit. I bet he regrets that now!

My first efforts at card making were average. Looking back at some of my old designs I think I have improved over the years – at least I hope I have. The people who have received my cards or bought them from me have all been very happy with them – or so they tell me.

This image is a card I made in 2007. I am very sentimental towards this card as it was the last card I ever made for my dad – he sadly passed away a few months later. I love this card because the picture I used is of me and my dad way back in 1969 – it reminds me that I was a typical Daddy’s Girl (and proud of it) and how much I loved my dad. Enough sad stuff……………….

Moving on 7 years after buying my first card making kit - I now own enough ‘craft stash’ to outfit a small shop and I still find things I just ‘must have’ to make the next card! The spare room has become my hide away where I stamp, colour, trim, paint, punch and generally make a mess in the creation of a new card. The mess only becomes a problem when we have people coming to stay and then I miraculously find a home for everything until the guest leaves and it is all over the place again! I wish I could be a tidy crafter and I do try – it just doesn’t happen – I blame it on being creative!

A little bit about me.

I am happily married. I have a teenage son, affectionately nicknamed ‘Kevin the Teenager’ from a popular 1980’s UK comedy show, but he is a great kid really even though we tease him. About 6 years ago (just before I discovered card making) we got a young dog from a rescue centre - we named him Nemo from the movie ‘Finding Nemo’ because we found him. I actually went to the rescue centre for a cat, I have no idea how a cat turned into a very large Lurcher!
I am from Yorkshire originally but moved to Belfast in 2002 after getting divorced. I have family and friends in Yorkshire and visit 2 or 3 times a year. It was on a visit home that my addiction to card making started…………………….

We had gone home to visit the family and had booked a few day away in Pocklington, near York at a pet friendly bed and breakfast place. McArthur Glen outlets were close to where we were staying and we had a habit of parking there and getting the bus into York for the day. We looked around the shops in the outlets one particular day and went into The Paper Mill Shop. A card making starter kit caught my eye and with hubby’s persuasion was duly purchased, and the addiction was started. So basically it was all his fault!

Card making had to take a back seat over the last few weeks as I was doing a painting of a different kind. It was time to update the decor in the hall! It may have taken a long time (about weeks) as 8 pine doors and door frames had to be primed, undercoated and finished with cream satinwood. New wallpaper hung and today pictures we bought in York probably about 6 years ago finally made it into frames and onto the walls. The last outstanding bit of work is a new carpet that will be fitted this week. This means that I can now get back to my addiction and get making some cards!

So this is me and how I started card making – I would have put a picture on of one of my first attempts but my old computer died and with it the images of the first cards I made – oh dear what a shame! I have since learned to back up my images files regularly!