its all happening next week

I have some very important none crafting news, i went to see my midwife Tuesday 24th march and just happened to mention my itching and thank god i did, she sent me for bloods next morning the Wednesday and i got a call from my GP that very night saying they were abnormal and he had made me an appt at the hospital Thursday 26th for more tests etc,

well it turns out i have got obstetric cholastasis (a liver condition related to pregnancy that should disappear once baby born) its not particularly bad for me but can apparently make you at slightly higher risk of stillbirth/health problems for baby and bleeding during labour for me.

after a long chat with my consultant they recommended i have a c section on Tuesday the 31st march, well that's only 4 days away so now its a mad rush to get things together as i wasn't due till 16th April so thought i had more time lol. so even though I'm nervous/disappointed etc I'm just glad this was picked up and my baby will be delivered safely, and to think i wasn't even going to bother mentioning my itching.

anyway just wanted to get that all of my chest as its easier for me to talk about these things on my blog than to family some times, so needless to say i might not be around from Tues for a little while although i will come on to check whats happening in blog land but may have nothing to show you all for while,

SANDRA xxx

copics candy

Charmed Cards & Crafts have teamed up with Graphics Direct Ltd to bring you this fantastic prize.

The twist is that we want you to link to a project on your blog (in your comment) that either uses a download or a stamped image that you coloured in.
Link to a card you made with a download or a stamped image (does NOT have to be one of ours)

If you are using one of the Charmed Cards & Crafts downloads then you get two chances (please enter two comments, in the second just write "my second chance). All entries will be checked.
Please mention the candy on your blog.
This will run until 10th April. This post will stay on top until then. The final draw will be entirely random.

WOW i found this on one of my blog hopping sessions and i think its fab,

secret crafter saturday challenge meets daring cardmaker

This is the second mothers day card i was asked to make today, again i had a look on my challenge blogs and chose 2 different ones,

Secret Crafter #24 was called favourite colour. and

Daring Cardmakers was called cos im a woman

to make this card i stamped one of the claire curd papermania images and coloured in with brush markers, the BP's were from pocket full of posies mat stack, as i was stretched for time i used some peel offs for the sentiment and i used some stickles to finish off.

one stop craft challenge #21

I had a late mothers day order come along, and by late i mean today lol, it was for 2 cards, so as i was short on time and i also wanted to enjoy my own mothers day i went challenge blog hopping for inspiration,

I decided to do this card from one stop craft challenge blog #21 which was called tag it, you just needed to have a tag on your work somewhere, i think this one fits ok?

the papers are from stamping up, the circle was punched using my fiskars circle punch and the die cut flowers i got free from papercraft inspirations ages ago. the tag and sentiment was hand done, the card was then inked around the edges with blue ink to finish.

sketch an stash no #6

I made this card from the sketch and stash challenge blog, it was made it for my mums mothers day card,

The card was made with the papermania amethyst infusions backing papers, and the lovely pickles an onion from daisy and dandelion range, the mulberry flowers are also from papermania,and the lilac card has been stamped with my see ds backing stamp. the greeting was hand written. all the doodling was with my sakura pens.

sketch an stash like you to use something new on your project, for this i used my new watercolour pencils to colour in with and stamp.

more yummy candy for you

jennifer has some amazing easter candy to offer one lucky winner on her blog. she is celebrating blogging for almost a year, ends on 12th april.

blog candy

malin is offering the above candy over on her blog, its open till the 31st march, why not go over take a peek.

another challenge card

Im not at all sure i like this card but hey ho, i made this for mothers day and chose 3 different challenge blogs again to do it,

Friday sketchers #43, though a sketch would start me off,

Stamp something -something green, definately green on it lol,

ABC- F is for flower, yes there are several.

To make this ccard i used Stamping up BP's again (i love them) the stamped flowers are from the stamping up range too i used sakura souffle pens to colour them and cut them out to give them a bit of a 3d effect, then to finish i just used some gems,paper flowers and green stickles.

3 in 1 card

I recieved my new stamps from pink gem designs and was desperate to have a play with them, so i decided to do a challenge with one of them, in the end i found i had been able to incorporate 3 challenges in this card.

Spoonfull of sugar #43 was called little gem, (yep used a few)

My time to craft #53 was called nature, (i think this covers that too)

Cupcake craft challenge #31 was called brown +1 either pink,blue or green as you can see i went with blue for a change, i even surprised myself as i usually go pink all the way,

To make this card i used Spring Milly from pink gem, Stamping up BP's, a PB sentiment and some blue ribbon and gems from my stash, as per i went down the road of watercolour pencils and bit of sakura souffle to colour in, the gorgeous blue card is from local cheap store and its called pearly embossed and i love it,they only do pink or blue though.

dont the years fly by

Today is my 4th wedding anniversary OMG i cant believe another year has passed us by,although we have been together for almost 10 years, so as i was feeling the emotions of the day i though id show you all a couple of photos, none of them are particularly brill but i like them, my hubby doesnt like photos of himself so dont tell him he's on here lol.

The first picture is at a wedding in dec 08 i was about 20 wks then, and im 36 wks now its of my hubby,son and myself,

The second is the same venue but us on our own having a cuddle,

And the last one is my hubby and son when we were out at elvaston castle in derbyshire, we love going for walks and letting alex blow of some steam in the fresh air.

Im hoping to celebrate our anniversary but it depends if daniel gets home from work in time, we might just go to the cinema or for a meal? theres not too many things i can do right now lol.

another card i made

This is a card i finished tonight to complete the order i had for 3 cards for a 100th birthday, this one i made primarily from acetate, but used a lovely pearly purple paper insert inside, what do you think.

just ordered new stamps

Whilst out an about in blogland i had a look on pink gem designs ive been on there a few times but this time i decided to order a few of there stamps, what started to be a couple turned into 5 or 6,
I just couldnt decide which couple to get so ended up getting all the ones that took my fancy, now i just have to wait to get them. an if i like them i might be tempted to get more. im now on the edge of my seat waiting to play with them.

just a chat

Im finally a free woman lol, friday the 13th was my last shift before i started my maternity leave and im so happy about it, the last month at work has been really hard as i have sciatica and symphasis pubis disorder which is really bad pelvic pain in pregnancy, im actually going to have the full year off this time before i go back so i can spend plenty of time with my son and new baby.

As i work for the nhs my job kept me on my feet all day so it really aggravated my symptoms, my hubby even said to stop work early a few times but i managed to work through it which made me feel quite proud of myself lol.

Now you might think to yourself that means much more time to craft, but you would be wrong lol, my nursery needs decorating and i mean gutting lol and i need to get loads of stuff sorted for having baby, plus i already have a 3 years old boy who takes up most of my time bless him.

Im still going to try to get some challenges done and do have a few card to make for my own use so have to make sure i get the time to do those, and its my anniversary on wed 18th march so need to finish that card first.

So enough from me just felt like sharing some thoughts with you an i will post another card ive made at some point over the weekend.

occ meets charisma

This card is for someone at work, they wanted old fashioned looking as its for a 100th birthday card, they also asked for it to be flower related and have granny on it somewhere, i decided to use 2 challenges for this card.

: Our Creative Corner~ which was to add a doodle, i used my white souffle sakura pen to doodle round the edges, cant see it too well though sorry,
: Charisma Cardz~ pretty cards for mum, i thought since this was for a gran it would count? hope so.

The lovely papers are from the basic grey sugared collection arent they scrummy? i put some stickles on the decoupage flowers to give them a bit of sparkle and went for peel offs so the wording was clear enough for her to see,

stamp something meets crafty creations challenge card

I made this card for a woman i work with who wanted a card for her gran's 100th birthday, she said she wanted the word granny on there and flowers, so i got my thinking hat on and trawled through my challenge blogs and decided to incorporate it with 2 challenges,

: crafty creations challenge #6 which were to use flowers on your design,
: stamp something challenge were asking for you to use your favourite something on your design, as i love my new flowers i thought that would count.

i really struggled finding a template for this card so in the end i just drew it, i am really pleased with how it came out, the papers are from my stash i think i got them from papercraft inspirations mag?? i had to use gold peel offs for this card to go round the edges as we all know peel offs cover a multitude of sins lol, the picture doesnt show the lovely colours on this card as the lighting was terrible,

more amazing candy for grabs

wow is the one word that describes this candy over on susies blog, it runs till 21st march so get over there for the chance to win all the above.

ive been given an award

thanks to denise for this award for my blog, its really nice when people think of me when giving these out, a real boost, now the rules are to give this award to 10 people but im going to rebel a little and give it to anyone who visits my blog as we all deserve it, so please take this award and pop on to your blog,
oh and have an amazing day.

pink gem blog candy

over on pink gem janet is giving away 4 stamps of your choice for celebrating reaching 50.000 hits, the candy will close when 50.000 is reached, janet is on 48.000 at the moment so go take a look and have a go at winning the fab candy.

a card i made for 3 challenges

For this card i used 3 different challenge blogs, i felt i needed a little help deciding what to make for my mums birthday card,

I decided to go from Cute Card Thursday challenge #49 animal magic,

Charisma Cardz challenge #8 animals,

and One Stop Craft Challenges challenge #18 simply stunning, which was to use NO backing papers at all on your card,

I tried for ages to get a decent photo but the lighting was just terrible so the card looks duller than it actually is, i embossed lines onto the card blank for a bit of pattern, and used a mum ribbon i got free from a magazine, the image is from the new daisy and dandelion range i just couldnt resist the gorgeous elephant he is just soo cute i coloured him in with my watercolour pencils, and matted it up with 3d squares. and finally i inked up the sides with lilac ink.