Still here

So sorry for the lack of blog posts of late. It's all been happening around here!

Tonight we have a French friend coming to stay. She's an absolute sweetie and we can't wait to have her stay. Sadly her flight has been delayed I-don't-know how many times and she's still not here! Still, we don't have proper plans for tomorrow so we might spend it lounging about (whilst caring for my little darling, of course!)

I've been hit by the green bug. No, not some kind of nasty virus, but the gardening kind. Currently we're growing: tomatoes, lettuce, pak choi, sweetcorn, broadbeans, climbing beans, spinach, courgettes, squash (flying saucer shape), beetroot, radishes, calendula... and so on. There is probably more but since it's late I can't remember the details. Anyway, last week I treated myself to some lovely garden furniture and we've been enjoying many meals outside. What a treat. Although it's muggy outside, it's still fabulous to be experiencing a 'proper' summer. Seems like years since the last one!

There have also been lots of lovely people contacting me about Stampin Up! There are still places available on the classes I am running, see here for details. Also, I've taken a few bookings for private parties but I'm not fully booked as yet so book yours fast to take advantage of the amazing hostess special offer which continues until the end of July.
If you still haven't taken advantage of my Colour Renovation Deal there are still a few hours left of June!
Lastly, I am still taking bookings for tables at the second-hand craft stash sale which will be held of Saturday 24th July 2010 in Ash.
Contact me for details about any of these events/special offers.
Enjoy the sunshine!

4 eyes!

Today Uncle P came to visit! We had a lovely time catching up and being spoilt rotten. Immy really took to her Uncle's glasses and was seen sporting them on more than one occasion!
Quick dash to the supermarket, town and garden centre so not much time for crafting today. Still, managed to plant up a number of pots so the garden is looking more lively every day.

Fathers' Day

Last night I received a message from my brother saying "can you please make a card from me and give it to Mum so I can sign it when I arrive in the evening on Fathers Day". Cheeky wotsit! However, as I am a kind big sis I made the above card for him to give my Dad. I really like the zingy colour combination and I couldn't wait to use my new star punch.
Below is the card that I created for my Dad from me (and Immy). It's based on one of fabulous cards I received when I took part in the 'One For The Men' swap in April/May this year. I "had" to buy the stamp saying Fathers' Day as I didn't have one already but I can see that this stamp will get plenty of use in the future as it's so versatile and masculine. The heart stamps in the background are from the set called Hello Again.

Below is the card my clever 8 month old daughter made her Daddy. Ok, so I did help a bit! Still it was her who inspired the layout. The Bella Bleu papers always seem pretty feminine to me, as they are swirly and girly, but we managed to 'butch them up' with some Chocolate Chip cardstock.

Cute cardy

Apologies for the lack of posts. For the last few weeks (at least a month now) my creative juices have dried up completely. Above is a card made by one of the people at my class last Thursday. I love the use of the star punch combined with this patterned paper.

Exciting news! The little one has begun crawling properly. She's been attempting to crawl for the last 6 weeks or so, but in the last week she's really got her skates on! Nowhere is now safe. Even worse, she's taken to cruising around the coffee table but fingers crossed we don't have to worry about walking for a little bit longer.
My Nanny made Immy the gorgeous purple cardigan in this picture. Isn't it adoreable?

Don't forget that the table top sale is coming up on Saturday 24th July. It's the perfect place to pick up some bargain crafting goodies. If you are having a clear out and would like a table there are still some available (£5). Also, little Sis is going to be making delicious cakes for you to eat there too! For more details see my previous post.

Teaching Teachers

Today was my first day back at my day job: teaching. But luckily for me I was able to have a nice start to my return by teaching some teachers how to make cards as part of Staff Development Day. We had novices and experts in the sessions and everyone created some unique designs. A lot of the fun was seeing what the people around each other were doing with the supplies. There was a lot of adapting of designs to make them their own.

There was a lot of concentration required!

And a lot of fun and laughter was enjoyed by all (I hope!)
This card was my favourite use of the supplies in this class. Even more unusual was that it was made by a man! Yes, we had a lovely guy from the History department making cards. I have to say he had the most imaginative way of using the supplies. This was probably kick-started by the fact that he had to "butch-up" the rather feminine Sunny Day scrapbook kit! The butterflies are layered up, so for example the Old Olive butterfly on the left was sat on top of a Tempting Turquiose butterfly. The holes were punched with a Crop-a-dile and Dimensionals were used to raise the top butterflies higher.

From the garden

This is the gift I made to take to my cousin's house this afternoon. She was having a housewarming/husband's birthday party. I used a vase from our wedding (we still have a carrier bag of them!), tied some Regal Rose ribbon around it and attached a punched tag that I stamped in Old Olive ink. The stamp is from an old hostess set that I love. The roses are from our garden. I just wish you could smell them through this blog! They have such a gorgeous scent, and we're lucky enough to have tonnes of these in our little garden.
The party was so hectic I didn't get to hand her the gift in person but I hope she discovers it later and it brings a smile to her face.

Extra! Extra!

Would you like some free stuff? Host a workshop during June or July 2010 with sales of £250 and get £20 extra to spend on anything in the catalogue. Add on the usual £25 you get as a hostess for a workshop of £250 and that gives you a massive £45 to spend!!

You can also take advantage of this offer if you want to to make an individual customer order of £250+.

Hope you are having a good weekend. We're having our neighbours over for a BBQ tonight, which should be lovely with this sunny weather.

Don't forget, this is a really great promotion to get your workshop booked as soon as possible to avoid disappointment!

blueangelcrafts@gmail.com

Craft Sale!

Inspired by Mrs Wonka, I realised that I too know a lot of people with faaaaaaaaaaaaar too much craft stuff. Like many people I don't have the time to spend hours and hours putting it all on eBay so I have decided to hold a second hand craft sale in Ash (although knowing many crafters most things will be new and unused!).


WHERE: St Peters Church Hall, Ash, Surrey

WHEN: Saturday 24th July

TIME: 10am-12pm


We would love to see you all there. I still have a few tables left if people would like to come and try and sell their bits and bobs, the table for the day would be £5 , please email me if you are interested and would like any further information.

I hope to see you all there, if you can't make it, please spread the word to your crafty friends!

I will remind you again nearer the time!

No such thing as a mistake!

My sister made this card for my Open House back in April. She's not a card maker usually, but fancied playing around with the supplies that littered my dining table.
I really liked the design, especially the vintage look. I guess the stamps helped (all those vintage ones!), but also the way that the sentiment has little black lines where the ink has rubbed off other parts of the rubber matting. I'm told that this was a mistake so she decided to continue the sentiment to make it look like she meant it to be that way, and I am super impressed! What a clever sister I have!!

Card: Close to Cocoa, Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Bashful Blue
Ink: Basic Black
Stamps: Vintage Vogue, Very Vintage jumbo roller, Tiny Tags
Other: Jewellery punch, White satin ribbon, Linen thread, Random paper scraps

Man card

This is the card I sent as part of a cards for men swap. To be honest, compared to the ones I recevied, mine is quite plain! If you struggle to make cards for men, then you may want to attend my next class on Saturday 19th June at 1pm: Cards for Men/Boys. We'll be making some cards for all different age groups, including one that is made using the treat cups in the Spring Mini catalogue. Places are going fast!

Card: Kraft, Pumpkin Pie, Very Vanilla
Stamps: Oval All
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Others: Pumpkin Pie 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, Dimensionals, Sweet Pea paper stack, Large oval punch, Scalloped oval punch