Crackers, cards and cats

 Good evening

I hope everyone is enjoying their run up to Christmas and not getting too stressed

I am loving the family being home, Amy and Ben arrived yesterday, so the house is full, and happy

I made these cute little crackers for my neighbours doggies, they have some little festive dog biscuits in them

And I made some of these gift card holders for the kids, I copied a design that my good friend Linda shared, she made me one and the bottom held chocolates, in my version I added a lip balm to each one and all the kids gift vouchers fit onto the slot at the top

Thankyou for the inspiration Linda

Finally I have a cute photo to share

The pets are all spoiled for humans to snuggle with at the moment

Sox couldn't wait to get on Rob's knee so perched herself atop his shoulder

They are so going to miss them when they have all gone back to uni

Love and christmas kisses

Tracey

xxx

A Vintage Christmas

These are the final four christmas cards I made this year

All four the same but different if you know what I mean

Same basic design, slightly different papers and images

The stunning papers are Maja design from Sweden, I bought these at a craft show that I visited with my lovely crafting buddy Jan. I just had to have them and knew they would make beautiful cards

I used Marianne dies for the baubles and large flower, the small flowers are a Stampin' Up punch

The little gold leaves are an old Woodware punch and I inked all the edges with Tim Holtz distress inks in Walnut Stain

That is the last of my christmas cards this year

Love and vintage wishes

Tracey

xxx

White christmas

Aside from the little forest of christmas tree cards that I made, the other style of christmas card was these, which I also made in abundance

Again I went with a production line of die-cutting, inking and tearing, making the job much more organised and easy than had I created all the cards totally unique

The music paper was some that I had from my shop, I believe it was originally from Payperbox and the rest of the elements are die cuts, the sentiment stamp is one from Stampin' Up

Although this method of mass production was easier I did miss the challenge of coming up with completely original designs for each card so I think for next year I am going to start earlier ( maybe even one card a week all through the year as I keep promising myself) - well thats the theory but I have been aiming to do this for the last four years !!! 

Love and white winter wishes

Tracey

xxx

It's starting to look like Christmas

The trimmings are up, the shopping is done and one of the kids is back from uni. Robbie arrived home yesterday and Amy and Ben will be here in a couple of days. Robbie has been thrown in at the deep end and is doing a 13 hour shift today back at the Rashleigh, with many more shifts on the rota for whilst he is home

Most of the christmas cards are finished now

Thanks to lots of inspiration from my lovely and very talented friends Linda and Jan

This following card is inspired by Linda and uses all Stampin' Up products

And these lovely little 'tree' cards are inspired by Jan, I made thirteen in total and had quite a production line going, I have a little paper forest in my house at the moment.

This following card is the card I made with Jan

I think I have finally found my mojo at long last, I was beginning to think I had left it back in Grimsby with all my crafting buddies. But I have had loads of fun creating these christmas cards, let's hope it lasts into the new year. I would dearly love to get back into scrapbooking - I have hundreds of photos to play with !

Will be back soon with the remainder of my christmas cards and maybe a couple of other little projects to share too

Love and little christmas trees

Tracey

xxx

Happy birthday Colin

If you read yesterdays post, you will know the last card I made was for my lovely neighbour Mary, this card was made for her hubby Colin. They both have their birthdays in the same week as Neil so I have been a very busy girl this week

I loved Colin from the moment he popped his head over the garden fence to introduce himself just after we moved in

He has me in stitches every single time I see him and he is such a lovely bloke

You will always find Colin tinkering, usually with the cars on his drive, but he can turn his hand to almost anything and always has wise advice to share and has helped Neil and I on many occasions 

I used dies by Nellie Snellen and Marianne, the birthday stamp is by Hero Arts. I have no idea where the paper is from or who it is by, it is one of those random sheets that I have been saving for years, knowing it would be perfect for someone, that someone is Colin, with his love of cars and mending them

Love and good neighbours

Tracey

xxx

Happy birthday Mary

Todays card is for my very special neighbour Mary who has been such a special friend to me, since we moved next door 18 months ago

Mary and I share very similar interests, have the same sense of humour and got along from the first time we met. 

I feel as though I have always known Mary and honestly couldn't wish for a more lovely neighbour or friend

The papers are from Provocraft, the greeting and little heart topper from Making Cards magazine, the dies are Spellbinders and Marianne dies

Love and friendship

Tracey

xxx

Happy Birthday Neil

Happy birthday to my gorgeous hubby

I have been saving these papers for someone special, my lovely friend Jan and I split a pad between us and I have been keeping them aside ( why do we buy papers that we love and then hoard them rather than use them - the mind of a crafter is a scary place !)

The papers are My Minds Eye, I used dies by Nellie Snellen, Spellbinders and Cheery Lynn, the stamps are both Stampin' Up

We have a special date night planned, we will be enjoying an evening late night shopping, followed by a meal at Prezzos and the cinema to finish

Hope you have a lovely day Neil, love you

Tracey

xxx

Amy's card

One person I know I can make a card full of girlie goodness for is my beautiful daughter Amy

She loves flowers and bunnies and the colour pink

I used papers and an image from a magazine

The flowers are mainly from Prima and Wild Orchid Crafts

The tag die is an oldie but goodie from Marianne and the stamp is from Stampin' Up

I absolutely loved making this card and Amy loved it too ( I knew she wouldn't be able to resist the bunny !)

I think that is me all caught up from the last few weeks of cardmaking.  I now, really must, crack on with Christmas!

Love and bunny kisses

Tracey

xxx

Janice's card

As promised, I have another card for another friend today to share. This one is for Janice who works with me and taught me how to use our till at work ( no mean feat I can tell you !)

Janice is very quiet, but has a wicked sense of humour, we hit it off straight away and I love working with her, we share many a quiet giggle or cheeky comment

I used papers by Craftwork cards and a couple that I can't remember where they are from, I swear my memory is getting worse

The stamp is another Stampin' Up one and the flowers are mainly Prima, my scalloped card bases were bought from our local The Range ( just down the road from me and very handy for the basics)

Nearly there with all the catching up, one more extra special one for tomorrow and then I think I ought to get cracking on the Christmas crafting ( nothing like leaving it until the last minute - I never change !)

Love and kisses

Tracey

xxx

Jude's card

Another card from a few weeks back ( noticing a trend ?)

This card was made for one of my lovely work colleagues Jude

Jude is a veritable font of local knowledge and has always been so sharing of that knowledge, she has helped me find some gorgeous local beaches and walks and has always made me so welcome at work

Jude loves black and white and lots of bright colours too, we share a love of art and so we always have something to talk about

I honestly can't remember the name of the papers I used here, they were from a pack gifted to me a while ago from one of my lovely friends at the shop. The flowers are all Prima and the stamp is from Stampin' Up

And yes you guessed it, I will be back tomorrow with another card for another friend that I completed a little while ago ( I am determined to get caught up !)

Love and late postings

Tracey

xxx

Sue's card

Another card from a few weeks back, this one was made for my lovely friend Sue

Sue is my boss at work, but she is also a good friend. She has gone above and beyond when it comes to Neil and I settling here in Cornwall, always happy to share tips and tricks, ideas of places to walk the dog, do some shopping or for a lovely day out. We have a very similar sense of humour and share the same values when it comes to friends, family and our furry friends, all in all I couldn't wish for a nicer boss or a more lovely friend

Thankyou for everything Sue xxx

I know Sue loves lime green and she is a very feminine lady, so I loved making this girlie card with lots of flowers and beautiful colours

I used K and Co papers, Prima flowers and Nestability dies

Back tomorrow with another girlie card for another friend

Love and friendship

Tracey

xxx

Deacon Blue

Warning : this is a long, non-crafting post

Saturday 19th November 2016

On the friday Neil asked me if I would like to do a little Christmas shopping in Plymouth

I love Plymouth so it was a given that I would say yes

We set off early to make the most of the day

We wandered around all the shops and made a few small purchases, the Holland and Barrett in Plymouth is fantastic and we were finally able to find Amy and Ben's vegan advent calendars. We spent most of our time inside Drake Circus but also ventured out into the radiating shopping streets.

We enjoyed a spot of lunch at Yo Sushi ( love their Katsu curry!), and it was here that Neil told me he had a little surprise, he had bought tickets to see Plymouth Argyle play our home town Grimsby.

We headed back to the car to drop of our shopping and pick up our warmer clothing (yes he had even thought ahead and secretly packed our winter coats, gloves and scarves in the back of the car )

It was my first ever trip to Plymouth Argyle, Neil has been with the boys several times and likes to support them when he can

It was bitter sweet match, Plymouth really didn't give it their best and were disappointing in their lack of effort to be honest, but Grimsby won 3-0 and I felt pretty pleased for them, they definitely deserved to win, their fans made a massive amount of noise and I couldn't help but feel proud along with them

And boy was I glad that Neil had brought my warm clothes, it rained steadily heavier and heavier as Plymouth caught the tail end of storm Angus

We caught the bus back to town, as the rain and wind just get heavier and heavier, we ended up diving into the nearest bar to seek refuge and to refuel

What a lucky break we got !

We ended up in Revolution, we have never been in one of these before but I can affirm it won't be our last time there

The staff were attentive, friendly and super helpful, very happy to accommodate my vegan needs.

The food was absolutely gorgeous and they even gave us an umbrella at the end of our meal so we wouldn't get so wet on the next leg of our little day out.

It was at Revolution that Neil let the last secret slip, he had bought tickets to see Deacon Blue and Plymouth Pavilions

The Pavilions were a two minute walk from Revolution, so we headed back out into the weather and braved the now deluge

It was worth it. Deacon Blue were amazing, they took me straight back thirty years, they haven't lost their charm or their sound and the whole place sang along to the classics.

We had awful weather, our football team lost, we got locked in the 24 hour car park by mistake and then some prat hit our car on the way home ( no damage to us or the car thank God), but it was honestly one of the best days out we have had in a very long time. Probably because I shared it with my best friend, the man who thinks of everything, gives unconditionally and can make me laugh in any situation

Thankyou Neil, I love you

Tracey

xxx

Disclaimer, all the above images are copied from google, I am not taking credit for any of them, I would have needed an underwater camera to get any decent photos !

Yoda and Darts

I am not really one for creating themed cards, my preferred cardmaking and scrapbooking style is very girlie, floral, with a touch of shabby chic

But, alas, every now and then girlie doesn't cut it, especially when making cards for very masculine friends and family of the opposite sex

These are a couple of 'themed' cards I made this year

First up Yoda for my lovely son-in-law, Ben

Ben is into all things Star Wars, I have made him 'music' themed cards in the past as he is also massively into his music, but this time round I went for something totally different and very fun to make

All the elements on the card are dies or punches, it was loads of fun trying to get all the shapes to come together

And this second card was for my friends hubby who is massively into his darts, he recently celebrated a milestone birthday

I printed the dart board from a google image and all the other elements were die cuts and punches, the darts themselves were hand cut as I just couldn't find punches to suit the job

Although my 'go to' style is really an explosion of flowers, pearls and all things feminine, I do love to think out of the box and stretch those 'masculine' creative muscles every now and again

Love and macho crafting

Tracey

xxx

I'm Back !

3 months have passed since I last blogged and I honestly can't tell you where they have gone

We had a fantastic summer with all the kids home, they all worked locally and earned a decent wage to take back to uni with them, overdrafts temporarily being cleared and some spends to treat themselves with

We had a glorious summer weather wise, it was warm and sunny for the most part and we got out when we could

The lack of blogging has been mainly because I have had a rejig of the room in which we keep the computer and the computer was put away until I could decide how I wanted everything rearranging

When we moved in, I temporarily arranged all my craft stuff in the conservatory with intentions of it being a craft room. But, to be honest I prefer to be in the main living room with Neil, so, I have had a move round, bought a couple of new storage units and purged a lot of my craft goodies

So, now, after much rearranging, the computer has been put back in place, in the conservatory, on top of a new bureau, well new to me, actually a lovely oak bureau, a bargain from a local charity shop

Aside from this one piece of furniture we have now turned the conservatory into a designated pets room ( how those fur babies are spoiled)

They each have their beds in here with their toys etc and I am planning on giving it a new coat of paint and some fun accessories in the new year once all the christmas festivities are over

So there you have it, three months have passed and the only major excitement has been the furbabies getting a bedroom all to themselves !

Here are a couple of cards I have not yet shared, the first was the Fathers Day card I made for my dad back in June and the other one was a fun one from the pets for Neil

I used a variety of Stampin' Up punches for the dogs and cat, I tried to make them each look like Bruce, Molly and Sox, with varying degrees of success ( looking at it on screen now I am struck by how Sox looks more like a gremlin than a cat - ooops !!!)

I promise to not be another 3 months before blogging again

Love and furry fun

Tracey

xxx

Charlestown with Tony and Carol

Are you all enjoying the Olympics ?

We have all been enjoying the coverage and the cycling has made me think of some special people, my lovely friend Trish back  in Lincolnshire and her husband David who is a cycling enthusiast, doing wonders with local groups promoting the sport and its safety

And this other lovely couple below, Tony and Carol

Tony and Carol are both keen cyclists, Tony used to be Neil's supervisor at work and they are very firm friends even after retirement

We got a message a little while back asking us if they could pop down and see us some time, they were heading to Monkey World in Dorset and were happy to drive the extra few miles to catch up with us

What we didn't know was that they did it all in three days, they travelled to us from Dorset for a meal and catch up, then travelled all the way back up country to Lincolnshire on the same day, both me and Neil felt a little choked up to know they had made such an effort

We had agreed to meet in Charlestown as it is such a pretty little harbour ( and rather well known now due to Poldark)

We enjoyed a really lovely meal at the Rashleigh Arms ( where Robbie works )

We chatted and ate, and laughed and caught up and generally had a wonderful afternoon with our dear friends

Thankyou so much for coming to see us Tony and Carol, hope you are enjoying the cycling, both yours and the Olympics

Love and friendship

Tracey and Neil

xxx

I'm baaaaaaaack !

Hello

When Neil asked me if I had given up blogging I realised that my posts have been less than regular

It has been a case of life getting in the way, in a very nice way of course - all the kids are home yayyyyyyy

I mentioned in my last post that Robbie was the first to arrive and quickly found himself a job to tide himself over the holidays, he is still working hard and doing lots of hours, he has finished the  training he was offered so will be getting a pay rise shortly. He survived last week which was the Charlestown Regatta and was his busiest week to date. We are beginning to notice a big difference in the amount of people visiting -  our sleepy little towns and villages are becoming increasingly busier with lots and lots of holiday makers enjoying all the joys of Cornwall, thankfully the weather has been kind with most days dry, sunny and warm.

Ben and Amy are also here now, and both working

Amy has got a job in the tea-rooms at the Lost Gardens of Heligan and absolutely loves it, she says the people she works with are all super friendly and helpful. She commented last week that she loves the general laid back nature and genuine friendliness the Cornish people have, and she gets lots of yummy treats to eat on her breaks

Ben is working at a seafood restaurant - Wreckers -  in Charlestown just across the road from where Robbie works, he also works similar hours so it has been easier for Neil to drop them off and pick them up at the same time

And last but not least AJ is working as a kitchen porter at The New Inn in Tywardreath, he has applied for an apprenticeship at the Eden Project but wanted to keep busy and earn himself some spends over the summer

And now for a little crafting update ( I found a few images on my computer of projects that I have not yet uploaded to my blog, so I will try and incorporate them into my next few blog posts)

My mum's birthday card from last month

I created an 8" x 8" card base, I extended the Nestabilities die to fit the card, matted and layered the patterned papers and added a punched border, using a Martha Stewart border punch

The flowers were created using a variety of Marianne dies ( the largest actually being a snowflake)

The butterflies are also a Martha Stewart punch

And next I have a page from my bullet journal last month

Each month I create a 'memories' page, a little reminder of the things that made me smile that month, I love that my bullet journal allows me to document what I want, how I want ( and I get to do lots of doodling)

And finally all our pets are super happy that we have a house full of knees to sit on, extra playmates and many more opportunities for spoiling

Sox alternates from being super sleepy and peaceful, knee hopping as each of us gets on with our daily activities to being ultra playful, taking a swipe at dangling dressing gown belts, laces, ear phone wires and generally anything that catches her attention

One full house = happy kids, happy pets and one very happy mum!

Love and family fun

Tracey

xxx

New addiction - Bullet journalling

Good morning

I am still here

Not fallen off the planet or been abducted by aliens

It's been a busy few weeks

Robbie is home from uni and has been job hunting whilst down here. He handed his CV's in at all the local pubs and ended up getting lots of job offers, four of them full time. He chose the Rashleigh Arms in Charlestown as they also offered lots of training with certificates at the end. He has been working there a fortnight now and loves it. It is an award winning restaurant, pub and B&B so the training is first class, the wages are good and the staff are lovely. They know he is going back to uni after the summer and are happy with the arrangements. If nothing else it will be a good addition to his CV

Mum and dad have just gone home after a fortnight here with us. We have been busy doing nothing more than eating, chatting, catching up and generally spending lots of time together, the best kind of time

I have been working hard on the garden, made some changes this year, dug a new border and started planting it up, I will post photos once it is looking a little less barren, all the plants are babies at the moment so it will take a good while for them to become established

We have been back to the Eden Project for another of their 'sessions', this time to see Lionel Ritchie, he was fantastic, so many hits and such a huge personality, he came across as very genuine and quite funny, a good night all round

Now for a little update on my crafting, cards and scrapbooking have taken a back seat to my new obsession - Bullet journalling

I will go into more depth about Bullet Journalling in another post, but as this one is already getting quite long I will leave you with some of the pages I completed in May

The bullet journals equivalent of a yearly calendar, I started journalling in May so my calendar doesn't run from January

Each month you create a monthly calendar, a place to note down important dates, anniversaries, appointments etc, I also add a little brain dump - somewhere to jot down things on my mind

You can also include pages that track things you have done throughout the year -  travels, books read, movies seen etc

And then you can make weekly and / or daily logs

Lists of things to do/ have done, daily tasks, thoughts etc

I started out doing a short to do list and a daily journal entry and also included some challenges but my bullet journal is evolving and I now have a slightly different, simpler set up, I will share my newer pages soon

I also track my water intake daily as I know I don't drink enough, the handy thing is, you can work out how much you have on average every day ( 2.5 glasses last month) and aim to do better the following month

This last page is one of the daily challenges that runs each month, the challenge runs on instagram and the theme is different each month, I absolutely love doing this kind of challenge

The ultimate goal of bullet journalling is to create a more ordered and organised life, simply and easily, less stress and more productivity

Well to be honest I really don't have any stress and being retired I can more or less do as I like when I like, but the downside of retirement is being slightly aimless. Days just blur from one into the next, but bullet journalling has helped me keep track of things I want to to do, I have a slightly more organised day and I am getting much more done as a result. I Don't think I am ever going to be one of those super organised people but hey ho I am extremely happy dancing to my own tune, and, if nothing else, I have a really pretty diary and an excuse to doodle and colour whenever I damn well like !

Love and little scribblings

Tracey 

xxx

Sympathy card

One of my dearest friends recently lost someone very special in her life

It's times like these when I don't like the hundreds of miles in between us, I so wanted to give her a hug

Love and long distance hugs

Tracey

xxx

Get well wishes

One of Neil's friends is really quite poorly at the moment and wanted to let him know that we are thinking of him

I made this card, keeping a monotone colour scheme to try and keep it masculine

Get well Roger, much much love from Neil and I

Tracey

xxx

Duran Duran

On Friday we went to see Duran Duran at the Eden Project

The weather was perfect, not a cloud in the sky

What a stunning setting for the gig, definitely the prettiest place I have ever seen a band

I took this photo as everyone was starting to arrive, it was a sell out, so all those empty spaces soon filled up

The event was the finale for the BBC's music day and was filmed for the one show

Duran Duran were supported by Izzy Bizu ( who was very good )

And Laura Mvula (who was very good but not my cup of tea )

Duran Duran were outstanding, we have seen them before at a much smaller venue but they just seem to get better with age

Eden lit up the biomes once the sun went down and an ethereal blue glow radiated out behind the stage

The whole project stays open on gig nights, so you can use the restaurants and cafe, they put on a huge barbecue and of course you can wander the gardens if you like, it really was a very laid back but special atmosphere

Thankyou to my lovely hubby for the special treat, it was a fantastic night 

Love and rock star kisses

Tracey

xxx

Thankyou

I hope the rest of the country is also enjoying the stunning weather we have had this week

It has been beautifully warm and sunny all week here in Cornwall and we have been making the most of it, walking every day. We have been to our local Luxulyan Valley three or four times and to Cardinham twice

Talking of walking, this card was made for the surgeon who 'fixed' Neil's knee

Neil tore his cartilage years ago and it had been getting steadily worse

We were referred to a surgeon at the Royal Duchy Hospital in Truro and he confirmed that an operation would help the problem

It turned out the tear was rather large so it was a good job we did make the decision to go ahead

It took only a few weeks for the referral to come through, the procedure went really well and I cannot fault the service Neil received from the surgeon and the staff at the Duchy. The hospital is lovely, immaculate and modern and the staff were all so kind and attentive, nothing was too much trouble ( I even got tea and biscuits on a tray with a doily as I waited in Neil's room whilst he was having his op) And I might add in case you were wondering, this was all on the NHS

I am guessing the health service gets enough complaints so we thought it would be nice to say thankyou 

Love and kisses

Tracey

xxx

Cardinham Woods

Come walk with me, let Molly and Bruce guide us 

Today we are going to stroll around Cardinham Woods, 15 minutes away from our house 

The girls at work have been telling me how wonderful the woods are but, until I got there myself, it was hard to imagine what was so special about them. Well, all I can say is that they were not wrong, the woods are truly outstanding

There are plenty of trails to follow, all clearly signposted so you can't get lost, for both walking and cycling

Lots of children's activities for all ages, stick man trails, badger clubs and all manner of nature inspired games

A couple of child play areas

And a beautiful old stone cottage that is now an excellent cafe 

Streams meander through shady passes, beautifully clean and bubbling over boulders and branches

There are quite a few wood carvings hidden here and there

We chose to go on bank holiday monday and the weather was uncharacteristically glorious, and, although there was plenty of people visiting, we spent most of the time on our own, the woods are so big it's easy to find a little seclusion, peace and quiet

Bruce and Molly, always a little way ahead, lead the way.They are both so good off their leads now, super friendly with all other dogs and their recall is good now too, they forge ahead but never let us get out of sight

Bruce waiting for us to catch up

What are you doing down there Mum ?

And just in case you are in need of refreshment,  the Woods Cafe. We didn't use the cafe we took pack up and ate it along the way in a quiet spot, a sunny little nook nestled in the trees

If you are ever in the Bodmin area, it would be a crime to miss this stunning scenery, Cardinham Woods will definitely be a regular haunt for our family, I can't wait to show Amy and Ben

Love and leafy loveliness

Tracey

xxx