HANGING AROUND

Hi Everyone

Many thanks for the lovely welcome back to blogland!  You are all so very kind. 

It really is great to be back and I am enjoying seeing what everyone has been up to during my absence.  Lots to catch up on that's for sure!

A quick share today that uses a lovely stamp from Woodware .. .. it is one from a collection of botanical style images .. .. and they are really lovely to colour.   

This used

Image:  Woodware Clear Stamp Set FRM032 Hanging Basket
Sentiment:  Penny Black Clear Sentiment Set 30-297 Sprinkles and Smiles
Die Set:  Julie Hickey Layers, Frames & Banners Rectangle Die Set 
Backing Paper:  an offcut lurking in the snippet collection
Ribbon
Josy Rose Nail Head (it is looking like they are no longer available - boo hoo!!)
My new trusty sewing machine

So just a few supplies and another card completed.

I will now introduce you to my trusty new sewing machine .. ..

My old machine certainly didn't owe me any favours .. .. it had been very well used for over 40 years on hundreds of projects ranging from clothes, curtains, cushions, speaker covers and of course latterly lots of card projects.  But it decided to draw the line at sewing funky turbans and the motor burnt out!

Panic!  It felt like the end of the world!

I wasn't allowed out so had to choose a new one based purely on an internet search and reviews .. .. and Mr Heart kindly fetched it from HobbyCraft for me.

It has taken a lot of getting used to, and I am still not as familiar with it as I was my old one, but I will be after another 40 years!  LOL!!

In some ways it is better than my old one, but in others not so good .. .. but I love it anyway .. .. and that is all that matters. 

Looking at your lovely blogs I am reminded that Christmas isn't too far away!  Must bring the Christmas stash to the fore.

I hope you have all had a good day whatever you have been up to .. .. and Happy November!!

FANCY FINDING ANOTHER HEART?

Hi Everyone

Serious stranger alert here!  

So sorry it has been such a long time since I posted anything here .. .. .. or visited any of your wonderful blogs!  

As I am sure you may have guessed from my absence things haven't been too good here in the House of Hearts  -  a real curveball landed with us in July 2022 when I was diagnosed with HER2 Positive Breast Cancer - and it has taken me quite a while to come out of the other side.  

It all started with me finding a lump in my armpit and things went on "fast forward" from that point onwards.

Treatment is still ongoing, and will continue into next year, but I am starting to feel more like my "old self" and I am super excited about dusting down my craft pod and starting to create and blog again.

.. .. .. and that explains what has been happening in my world in just a few short paragraphs.

The above subject is now closed other than to say a huge "thank you" to my wonderful family and my super special friends who have helped me through this challenging time .. .. .. as well as the fabulous NHS for whom nothing has ever been too much trouble.  I couldn't wish for better care and support.  

I don't intend to discuss this subject any further, or go into any more detail, either here on my blog or in emails.  There will be no dwelling/living in the past .. .. I am grabbing the future with both hands and will be simply making the most of life again. 

Lots more news to share, but I won't put everything into one blog post .. .. .. it would be far too huge .. .. .. so I will spread everything out gradually over the coming weeks.   

But I would like to say that I am super happy to report that my Mum is doing well (in fact she has been looking in far better nick than I have .. .. .. and she is now a whole 93!). 

So there we go .. .. .. .. .. .. that is where I have been all this time .. .. .. .. .. .. and my very first port of call is to run as fast as my little legs will carry me to the Snippets Playground Challenge where we are encouraged to use up all of those little bits of card, paper, ribbon, fabric etc that we compulsively save (well I do anyway almost to the point of ridiculousness). 

This is what I have created .. .. ..

These are the snippets I grabbed to play with.. .. 

Supplies used were:

Paper and card snippets
Spellbinder Circle and Scalloped Circle Dies
Julie Hickey Layers, Frames & Banners Rectangle Die Set
X-Cut Embossing Folder - Polka Hearts
Lili of the Valley Digital Block Sentiment Set
Ribbon
My "new" Trusty Sewing Machine (more on that another day)

My card is based on a You Tube video I saw posted by the lovely Natasha Foote but I have altered it to suit what I wanted. 

I hope everyone has been getting along OK in my absence and that the world has been being kind to you all. 

Have a good rest of the day .. .. it feels really great and exciting to be back!

Time now to see if I am still capable of linking up my entry!  LOL!!!

I have needed to change my computer and am on a big learning curve because I am now on Windows 11 and it is taking a bit of mastering .. .. hence me not yet getting to grips with adding a watermark to my photographs!  

TEENY TINY SNIPPETS

Hi Everyone

Happy Wednesday!

I hope everything is going well for you all at the moment.

A very frosty start here but it turned into a lovely sunny (but still cold) day.

Trying very hard here to find some time to get myself back into the swing of blogging again and I made a little inroad with a teeny tiny make (a whole 3.5 inches square for anyone new to my blog). 

My first playtime in quite a while, using an old image that I can remember buying from Ally Pally many, many years ago (April 2010 to be exact), and I still love it as much as I did on the day I bought it. 

This used:

Image:  Whiff of Joy "Henry Hugging Heart"

Sentiment:  LOTV Sentiment Labels - Clear Stamp Set

All Papers and Card from Snippet Mountain

ProMarkers

Twine

We R Memory Keepers Envelope Punch Board .. .. for the tiny envelope.  I used a larger snippet for this, folding so that the pattern is inside the envelope.

So with a mini "hit" on snippet mountain I am taking this teeny tiny card over to the Snippets Playground Challenge. 

The challenge now has it own sparkly new home (still run by the lovely Di)  .. .. .. and it looks wonderful.

Hopefully I'll catch you again soon.

HAPPY 2022

Hi Everyone

HAPPY 2022  

.. .. may it be a healthy and happy one for us all .. .. and most importantly one that is filled with love.

I hope that everyone had a good Christmas, whatever you were doing.  

Any new crafty goodies for anyone?  Santa left a few under my tree so I am looking forward to a play with those .. .. .. "one day"!

I would like to extend a HUGE heartfelt THANK YOU for all the comments people have been so kind to leave on my blog during the last 12 months and also for all the emails I have received recently concerning my Mum.

Things are starting to finally pick up and settle into a different routine. We now have carers on board to help "team Mum" and things appear to be slowly falling into a nice pattern.  Although Mum has carers visiting twice a day, at least one and sometimes two of us kids spend time with her each day as well, so she isn't short on company, meals, drinks or love, that's for sure.

Perhaps my life will settle down a bit soon and I can get back to some blogging, and much missed crafting.

But for now all I can do is simply share some of my favourite cards from 2021 and the reasons why (mainly because I don't have anything new to offer you ... .. .. sorry!).

First Pick

I chose this first one for its sheer simplicity.  A teeny, tiny card which is great for using up those  snippets that we all hoard (I am going to be culling them big time this year I hope!).

Second Pick

This was an image I purchased from Bugaboo Stamps just before the store disappeared.  It has turned out to be a real  favourite and I have used it so many times since I purchased it.  Just change the colours and the sentiment and it works for anyone and just about any occasion.  

Third Pick

Another digital image which I love for its beauty and simplicity (and all the hearts of course).  This too works for lots of occasions and even looks lovely framed.

So that is me for today - with my fingers tightly crossed that I will be back in circulation soon.  But in the meantime have a good 2022.

No rash new year resolutions from the House of Hearts  -  I am going to simply take each day as it comes and make the most of it.  

Hoping I will see you sooner rather than later.  In the meantime stay safe and take care.

AND THE NEXT ONE

Hi Everyone

I hope your week has got off to a good start.

I am here today with another new sketch.  

and I used it to create this:

This used:

Image:  Digistamp Boutique "Watercolour Butterfly" (sadly no longer trading)
Sentiment:  Penny Black "30-105" Gratitude
Backing Papers:  The Lovely Boutique "Perfect Papers" and "Pinstripes" (also sadly no longer trading)
Circles stamped using an old stamp set from The Works
Corner Rounding Punch
My Trusty Sewing Machine

and that is me for today.

Struggling big time for crafting and blogging time at the moment so if I haven't visited you for a while .. .. I apologise .. .. and promise I will be with you eventually.  I need to prioritise things a little differently now and cram crafty time into the mix where I can.  

Happy couples are coming back on the scene ready for next years weddings too.  For some of them it will be "third time lucky" and hopefully Covid won't ruin their plans again.

All routine has gone from my life and I am simply firefighting  -  thank goodness Mr Heart has an understanding soul.  

Mum is looking like she is going to need more care now, on top of what us kids were already providing, and it doesn't help that she isn't a morning person!  I get to her for 9.30am to give her her tablets and more often than not she then asks for "a little more snooze time" before we start the showering and dressing routine.  We are getting a bit more slicker at that though!

I must admit that I thought everyone was like me and the minute their eyes open in the morning they are instantly awake and raring to go!  Turns out I am just weird as I haven't yet found anyone else (other than my brother) who is like that!.  That must be why we are both self employed - it must be a necessary trait LOL!!

Anyway, time to wake sleeping beauty up again after her "snooze".

A NEW SKETCH

Hi Everyone

I hope you are all well and your day and week has gone well.

There hasn't been much time or space for me to craft whilst spending time at Mum's, but during the quieter spells I amused myself by designing some more rectangular sketches for posting onto the tab at the top of my blog .. .. .. .. along with doing just a bit of colouring.

This means that hopefully as things start to calm down, I will be able to turn my coloured images into cards, using my new sketches.  Well that's the plan anyway.

Here is the first sketch I would like to share:

and here is the first card I have made using it:

This used:

Image:  Penny Black "2754" Xmas Kiss

Sentiment:  Computer Generated
Backing papers:  From Snippet Mountain
Spellbinders Circle and Scallop Circle Dies
Star Punches and Dies
Crystal Glamour Dust
ProMarkers

Nail Heads

My Trusty Sewing Machine

My card is for sharing with Jo over at the Christmas Kickstart Challenge where the theme is Christmas Snippets

and of course

If snippets have come into the equation then Di springs to mind and I need to skip over to Pixie's Snippets Playground too.

Di is actually Jo's Guest Designer this Month (lovely to see you there Di .. .. congratulations!).  Everything on my card, apart from the base card, has come from snippet mountain .. .. .. not that the mountain range looks any smaller.  Sigh!

Take care everyone.  Enjoy bonfire night/weekend!

TEENY, TINY TUESDAY

Hi Everyone

Happy Tuesday!

Here at last after a two week break whilst trying to sort out things regarding Mum.  We now have her back at home and we see little improvements most days .. .. .. which is brilliant considering the mayhem of the first week.

Once Mum banned me from sleeping on her settee we knew she was starting to feel a bit better .. .. and us three kids have drawn up a rota between us so that she is always being well cared for.  We make a great team!

Mum isn't able to do everything she could do before she went into hospital  .. .. .. but we haven't given up hope that as things continue to improve she will regain a bit more independence again.  But if not .. well .. .. .. we will always be there for her.

I am breaking my absence gently with a teeny tiny creation .. .. which for anyone new to my blog measures a whole 3.5 inches square:

This used:

Image:  LOTV "Hats Off" Digital Image  (I copied and pasted a few of the snow dots to extend the blizzard)
Sentiment:  LOTV "Swirly Festive Greetings" Digital
ProMarkers
Crystal Glamour Dust
My Trusty Sewing Machine

So that is me for today, but before I go I want to thank everyone who left me such lovely comments, and sent thoughtful emails regarding my Mum. It was really kind of you all, and the good wishes definitely helped.

TEENY, TINY WEDNESDAY

Hi Everyone

A teeny, tiny card to share today .. .. .. which for anyone new to my blog measures a whole 3.5 inches square.   This should have been on my blog yesterday but it never happened.

This uses another image from the recently acquired Penny Black stamp set I bought via Ebay.

This used:

Image:  Penny Black "30-143" Joy to the World  & "30-259" Wonderful and Jolly
Sentiment:  Clearly Besotted "CBSP0225" Rockin' Robin
Backing Paper:  From Snippet Mountain
ProMarkers

Distress Ink:  Tumbled Glass
Gold Glamour Dust
My Trusty Sewing Machine

Thankfully I had most of this post written and ready for just adding the pictures .. .. .. because things are once again "pear shaped" here in the House of Hearts.  

Mum took a turn for the worse again (after me declaring her to be more like her old self), so I cancelled her flu jab and then Monday she ended up being admitted to hospital.  It felt extra horrible because I wasn't allowed to be with her due to the Covid restrictions and I knew she would be very, very frightened.  As they took her away she kept saying "can Julie come with me, let Julie come with me".  (Always my Sunday name with Mum LOL!!).

But this is how millions of people will have felt over these last two years, patients and relatives alike.   At least with Mum it isn't Covid related .. .. .. .. I am just hoping she doesn't catch it whilst she is in there!!

I am now allowed a half hour visiting slot (if there is one available) which means I am now the designated visitor.  So I am going to take my ipad with me so the others can see her when I go to visit later this afternoon.

Just playing the waiting game now to see what the next move is. 

But one thing we do know, it will involve the same sketch as last time she came home from hospital and my Sister and I will be doing sleepovers on Mum's settee until she is back to full strength

Anyway, we will see what today brings .. .. .. and if I don't get to post or comment on your lovely blogs for a while .. .. you know why.  I will be around again as soon as I can.

Hope everyone's week is going better than mine.  Take care!

CARDIO CHRISTMAS

Hi Everyone

I hope you have all enjoyed your weekend.

Another busy one here .. .. .. so just a quick Christmas make from me today.  I love making this style of card.

This used:

Images:  Cardio "Festive Scene" and "Mini Tall Trees"
Sentiment:  Penny Black "30-140" Christmas Cheer
Backing Paper:  The Lovely Studio "Twas the Night Script"  (looking like they have stopped trading)
Distress Ink:  Stormy Sky
My Trusty Sewing Machine

and that is me with another lovely flat Christmas card sitting waiting for the festive season.

I hope the coming week is going to be kind to everyone.  Take care.

BRING ON THE PUD

Hi Everyone

I hope your Thursday has been a good one.

I certainly can't say I am a fan of the nights getting darker so early.  I don't like crafting by electric light.

More Christmas from me today:

This used:

Image:  LOTV Digital Image "Christmouse Pudding"
Sentiment:  Computer Generated
Backing Paper:  Make & Create "Merry and Bright"
Corner Rounding Punch

ProMarkers
Ribbon

My Trusty Sewing Machine

and that is another Christmas card added to the box.

Many thanks for all the comments and emails regarding my Mum.  You are all so very kind.

It is certainly good to see her more like her old self again .. .. .. just in time to be treated to a flu jab on Saturday!! 

Catch you again soon

WONDERFUL

Hi Everyone

I hope your week is progressing well.

I am super happy to report that Mum seems back on track again after a worrying week or so  .. .. .. thankfully life is feeling more normal again and I have been able to visit my little craft pod a little more frequently.

This is one little creation I have put together which uses a "new to me" stamp set which I acquired from Ebay.  I bought it because I wanted the image I have used here .. .. but there are some other beauties in the set that will be getting an airing too.

This used:

Image:  Penny Black Clear Stamp Set "30-143" Joy to the World
Sentiment:  Digistamp Boutique (sadly no longer trading)
Backing Papers:  From Snippet Mountain
ProMarkers
Snowflakes: Memory Box Die "99031" Snowflake Heart
Crystal Glamour Dust (not that you can see it in the photographs)
My Trusty Sewing Machine

As everything but the card base has come from snippet mountain, I am running over to Pixie's Snippets Challenge where we are encouraged to use up any leftovers we may have.  Be these card, paper, fabric, ribbon .. .. in fact anything you can create something else from.

I really don't think I will ever see the back of my snippets as hard as I try .. .. .. ..  or even feel I have them under control .. .. .. .. but I am going to keep up the fight anyway.  

Enjoy the rest of your day everyone.

THE CAT'S WHISKERS

Hi Everyone

Life is still very hectic here .. .. .. last week was a blur with most of it centered around my Mum .. .. .. but I have my fingers tightly crossed that things are going to revert to some kind of normality again this week.

Today is a special day, it is our eldest Son's birthday.  The lovely London Kid who I am very proud of!  Not sure what I did to get two such wonderful sons but I am certainly glad and grateful that they are mine.

This is the card I made .. .. ..  which gives a nod to two black rescue cats he and his wife adopted early in 2020.

This used: 

Image:  Opulence by Design "Black Cat with Oil and Chalk"
Sentiment:  Computer Generated
Backing Papers:  Eline's House Digital Papers - Roses are Red 1 and The Lovely Studio (sadly nowhere to link to)
Spellbinder Circle Dies
X-Cut Corner Rounding Punch
Nail Heads
Metallic Cord
My Trusty Sewing Machine

Hopefully things are going to be improving here this week.  There is lots to be working on  .. .. including a little thing called Christmas!!

Talking of which I picked up the Royal Mail delivery dates for Christmas last week .. .. so here are our panic dates for this year:

Saturday 18th December 
-  Latest recommended date for 2nd class post

Tuesday 21st December 

-  Latest recommended date for 1st class post

Thursday 23rd December
-  Latest recommended date for Special Delivery

I am sure we will all be ready well before these dates though .. .. .. 

after all we have known about it all year!  LOL!

Catch you again soon.

WATERCOLOUR CHRISTMAS

Hi Everyone

Apologies for my absence (again) .. .. .. it has been a very hectic week here in the House of Hearts, but sadly not on the crafting front .. .. .. life had different plans for my time as Mum hasn't been too good.

Hopefully things will improve this coming week and I can open my craft pod door a little bit more often.  But if not then it just wasn't meant to be.

I did have a very quick attempt at a digitally created Christmas card though and it ended up looking like this:

This used:

Image Backing:  LOTV:  Watercolour Circles
Christmas Tree:  Fantastic Clipart:  Christmas Tree Clipart
Sentiment:  Computer Generated using font "Impact Label"
Backing Paper:  The Lovely Studio (sadly it still looks like this is another on-line store that has closed)
My Trusty Sewing Machine

Quite pleased with it really.

So short and sweet from me today as I try to catch up with the world and get back on top of things.

Take care everyone.