What's on your workdesk Wednesday???!!!

So??? Well it is very exciting as you can see...

It is the lovely POPKINS!!! She came over for a crafting session and we got our cuttlebugs out and shared our dies and embossing folders. She is very attached to hers as you can see!

I did some snowflakes with her Martha Stewart punch and embossed some Christmas images, as you can see in the bottom piccy. Sadly we didn't actually manage to make a card between us but we will get together again and decide in advance what we are going to make (I hope!!) Yay I have a crafting buddy!! Thanks so much for a great day Popkins xxx

Rainmac's blog candy

Rainmac is giving away her first blog candy and she is being very generous with a fab amount of stash! Check her blog out here as she is also very talented!

Lili of the Valley blog hop

I have just come across this fab blog hop! Lili of the valley have just brought out a brand new range of stamps. I was lucky enough to have a good lust over them at the NEC last week and they really are beautiful. I bought one for a friend but not one for me partly as I couldn't decide which one to get and also because sadly they were only taking cash on the stand and I was running low on funds!!
Anyway there is the chance to win your choice of 6 of these amazing stamps so please start your hop over at the LOTV blog and good luck everyone!!!

Operation Christmas Child

The church my son's cubs are affiliated with is running this worthy scheme. We have never taken part before but decided it would be a great thing to do. DS decided not to get involved so DD and I put together the boxes. The leaflets and the website (found here) clearly list items that are not allowed along with ideas of appropriate gifts to donate.

DD and I packed each box with a pencil case, complete with stationary, mini wash bags with soap, flannel, toothpaste and toothbrush, a cuddly toy, sweets and a few other little knick knacks all appropriate for a girl age 5-9. They are still being collected in your local area so do join in if you feel able to.

NEC part 2 'here come the girls'...

Wow lotsa piccies!! So starting from the top we have....

1. from left to right, Mrs Tidge, Gemm, Hels and Skiergirl


2. Rainmac and Rusty


3. Jailhouse Babe


4. Bun Bun


5. Hels before


6. Hels after (this was her 'hen night' and Rusty got the veil, balloons, L plate and all our 'wild girls' sashes to help her celebrate!!)


7. Choccie Orange and Sylphraven


8. the gang 1


9. the gang 2

It was so fab getting together with everyone and I was just sorry we were unable to sit down and just chat for hours or even craft together!! If anyone fancies a trip 'down South' ever I'll find room round my table for some coffee and creating!

I have already started a sealed tin to save up for March 26th 2010 when hopefully we will all get together again, possibly with some new faces too, watch this space. Thank you Money Saving Expert as I feel truly blessed to count these wonderful ladies among my friends.

Hobbycrafts show at the NEC part 1

On Friday 6th November I was fortunate enough to go to this show in Birmingham. I went in March and met up with 5 other crafty chums that I only knew from an online forum. This time 12 of us braved public transport and motorways as we travelled on our mega 'blind date'.

My first encounter was with 'Popkins' who lives about half an hour away from me and had bravely offered to share her car with me for the 2+ hour journey!!

It was a real pleasure to get to know you Popkins and I really hope we get to meet up again and hopefully spend some time crafting together if you are courageous enough to spend any more time with me of course!! Also Popkins and I were in a competition to see who could spend the most money! Although the exact amounts are not confirmed I was scared by how much I managed to spend! Next time I am gonna bring a trendy trolley like hers as my shoulders (and the rest of me!) were strill acheing on Saturday.
There was so much to see in the exhibitions, it was like all my crafting dreams came true at once! Though I did find it a bit manic at times and a bit overwhelming!
The cards are just one stall that was selling Penny Black stamps and I couldn't resist taking a photo as they were stunning!

Finally a few cards for Ikki

Well I have finally got round to making a few cards for the MSE challenge (tho I must admit it wasn't this weekend!!) to send to Ikki and as she specifically asked me not to make Christmas cards I created a few birthday cards in a similar layout. It took me a while to cut all the squares out but once that stage was completed it was quite quick to make the cards up and I will be doing a few more! So here they are....

Joie de Vivre A-M-A-Z-I-N-G blog candy!

Just found this blog after being directed there from a blog I follow. This blog candy is one of the best I have ever seen and I would really love to win it!! Hop on over and have a look I am gonna have to spend some time rowsing thru the blog as this is one talented lady!

New store launch offering Blog Candy

Angela is launching a new store called 'Toucan Scraps' and you can read more on her blog here. She is offering one lucky person the chance to win one product of their choice from her store and there seems to be lots of choice! Thanks Carmen for sharing this info I am now a follower and off to browse the site!!

Halloween craftiness

Wow Halloween has come and gone and what a blast it was! We decorated the house inside and out and even managed a few crafty creations for the occassion. I hope these are okay to be entered into the altered container halloween challenge set by Rusty over on the Crafty Place.

These are luminaries made from jam jars with a face stuck on in black paper and covered in masking tape to look like 'mummys'. I came across this idea 3 years ago and made one then these 2 were made by Molly and I. They look much better with a lit candle inside and I left them outside the house last night to guide the trick or treaters to the door!

We hosted a Halloween party and the first game we play as people are arriving is to guess how many sweets are in a container. So this year I used 2 packs of tic tacs as the colours fit with a Halloween theme (orange and green). I came across 4 shot glasses for 12p in Sainsburys and decided to decorate one for this game and for the challenge. I have used die cuts of a ghost, witches hat (both from Oona thank u xxx) and a spider cut with the cuttlebug. It was then quickly wrapped up in orange cello, a halloween tag added and it was complete! Would you believe that one boy guessed the correct number exactly...74 go Charlie!!!