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Saturday 18 September 2010

Do you believe in fairies?

Hiya!! It's great to be back...I feel like I've been missing for ages instead of just a couple of days. I can't begin to tell you how hectic things have been. When Lisa (coordinator extraordinaire) asked me how I was on Thursday this was my reply (I've cut and pasted this!) ~

"I am so tired can't begin to explain! My day started with taking Ruby to the vets for 8:15 then back to the house for Rocky and my Dad. Took Rocky to Doggy Daycare then on to B & Q with my dad to pick up things for odd jobs around my house. They didn't have one of the things so sent us to another place. They didn't have it but suggested somewhere else. On the way to 'somewhere else' we stopped at a shop I normally stock up on my light bulbs only to find they had moved. The new tenants suggested another place around the corner so went there. Got all my bulbs then went 'somewhere else' but they didn't have what I needed. From 'somewhere else' we went to Sainsburys then to M & S. From there we went home and dad did his DIY while I tried to change the bulbs. I think a transformer has gone in the kitchen so will need an electrician. We had a bit of lunch then headed to the hospital to see Jean. I dropped dad off and headed to pick something up then headed over to Craft World to see Gaynor but she wasn't in. I headed back to the hospital and saw Jean for 5 minutes. We headed back home so I could drop dad off then go pick up Ruby. Traffic was a bit slow as there were a lot of roads closed because of the Pope's visit. Got dad home...quick trip to the loo then back out the door to get Ruby. Quick consultation with the vet...Ruby has quite bad arthritis in her back leg..especially her knee so will up her intake of Metacam. Back home and got the chicken out of the oven (I had the foresight to put it in the oven and preset it to come on)...decided it was too late to peel potatoes so went and got some chips from the chippy. Came home cut chicken up had dinner, took clothes from the line and sat and had a Magnum (ice cream not the cat!) while watching a bit of the Pope on tv. And now here I am.... "
I'm glad to say Friday wasn't quite as busy but still tiring nonetheless (is that all one word?? if not it should be). I finally managed to get into my workroom last night. I didn't have a clue what I was going to do and stood staring at everything for ages wondering where to begin. I spied some little calendars I had picked up at CW when I was demoing a couple of weeks ago. I had great plans at the time but never got around to doing anything with them....until last night that is! This is what I came up with...



So what do ya thunk? I wanted to make a calendar that was quick to put together but had a bit of wow factor. It was certainly quick (once I worked out what I was doing lol) but does it have the wow factor? Me thinks so and when I showed it to my dad and Pierce they both loved it too :-D When Pierce looks at my cards I can always tell which way he's going to go...if the pp is to in your face he won't like it as much as when the pp is plain. He thinks too much pattern overtakes the image which on some occasions can be true so when he was mulling this one over I thought his comment was going to be 'nice but too busy'. But in fact he was thinking about ordering some to send out to his clients at Christmas! I've made his Christmas cards for the company before and he's always been on at me to make a calendar but never got around to it but maybe this year is the year! I'll let you know how that one goes lol.


I had some chipboard and trimmed it down to 5 1/2" x 12 and scored it at 6. I gave it a nice crease with my bone folder and made a little stand to keep it standing firm. I cut a piece of normal cs (280 gsm) at 5 1/2" x 4" and scored it at 1", 2" & 3" and folded and creased it in the mountain and valley shape and adhered it to the base of the chipboard. I cut, mounted and sewed a piece of pp from my new Cosmo Cricket Pixie-Licious mini deck pad onto a piece of coordinating Bazzill cs.


I stamped Daydreaming Ruby {love her} in Momento and coloured her with my Copics and Promarkers. I cut her out (how'd I do Mary J???), glittered and crystalled her up. I cut a shape of cs with my Nesties and adhered the calendar on and after tying some ribbon around the sewn pp stuck it down over top of the ribbon. Daydreaming Ruby was stuck on with foam pads and amethyst Swarovski crystals were added to the corners of the Nestified shape. After all this was done I adhered the whole shebang onto the chipboard stand.


At this point I still didn't have a sentiment so left it overnight while I had a good think about it. I still had nothing this morning... even after asking the peanut gallery (dad, Pierce and Suzy Q!) so I went to the most knowledgeable person I know...Mr Google!! After a bit of a search I came across this quote and thought it was perfect!
I hope you like it. I think it will make a great present :-D

Thank you for all your well wishes for my Aunt Jean. Although she's not out of the woods she's so much better than when my dad first arrived. We really thought we were going to be arranging her funeral. She's had to have a tracheotomy which they hope to remove in the next few days. Up until now it's been a case of lip reading and hand movements for communicating. I can now confirm I am probably the world's worst person at Charades lol!
After the success of TLT (Totally Ladybug Tuesday) and my first blog hop we are onto an in-house challenge for the coming weeks. The Challenge this week is....Pink Plus One Colour (hair skin etc extra). We're taking it in turns to choose the challenges and this was mine. I found out one of the DT hates pink and thought I'd try and change her lol. Can you believe that??? How can anyone not like pink...and she's got a gorgeous little girl too! I will not name and shame you Tams (oops!) but have since found out another DT feels the same. Hmmm...I'm wondering if that's a sackable offence lol?
Hope you have a great weekend! Thanks for stopping by :-D
Catch ya later x

13 comments:

Lisa Jane said...

It certainly has the wow factor for me... i love that DP and the lilac is stunning ( note; more of a lilac girl than PINK!!)
If not liking PINK is a sackable offence i better not mention my thought on teddies!
Anyway i wont keep you if you have 80 more to make lol!
Lisa ;)

Rita said...

Wow Kerry, I'm totally exhausted after reading about your day. I thought I was a busy person ,but my word I think you must have a built in engine in you somewhere. Glad to hear your Aunt is still making progress ,even if it is slow. Looking forward to the challenge ,but not thought what I might do yet. Hugs Rita xxxx

L Pyper said...

Super idea for making a calender.It certainly has the wow factor!
Love,
Elspeth.

Hayley @ funkyfarmscrapbookbarn.co.uk said...

Love the calender, I know exactly how you feel - pooped and exhausted!!! I hope all is well in your house today :)
x

Anita said...

Wow, no wonder you're exhausted girl! You need a vacation. Your calendar is beautiful. I love the paper you chose and Ruby is gorgeous. And of course I love the glitter and sparkle you added. I'm so glad your aunt is doing better and I hope Ruby improves too.

cowboydutrem said...

Very nice calendar! Daydream Ruby is beautiful and suitable for any day (don't want to go to work - daydream to escape it! have an exciting event coming soon - daydream about it!)
That codmo cricket paper is beautiful too.

Sue U said...

Adore this, proves how completely versatile your stamps are, not just for cardmaking but for scrapping and more...

You seem to have of had a horrendously busy few days, hoping the next few are a bit calmer, but so pleased that your is making steady progress in her recovery, keeping you all in our thoughts that things continue to be positive

Sue xx

Mary J said...

Hhhmmm...your cutting out....let me see...it's great! I got into it myself cos I had coloured in an image and at the completion the colours (a bl**dy pink!) started to bleed badly! I just couldn't be bothered to ink up another so I cut it out and - voila! - the rest is history! But actually I like the flexibility of cutting them out. I tend to cut slightly outside of the line so it leaves a little white - a little trick I read somewhere - so then you don't have to worry about getting the cut exactly and accidently cutting off too much of the outline.

Blimey, I'd be shattered after a day like yours too Kerry! You should be delegating more - what's that Lisa for anyway?!!

So plsd to hear your auntie is on the mend. So awful to even think about arranging funerals. I bet your dad appreciates doing some DIY for you - I have some odd jobs if he's looking to keep busy! But you'll have to drive him down to the other end of the country so I can meet you in person too!

Looking forward to our next challenge!

Mary J said...

Oh yeah, love the calendar, definitely got the wow factor! Did you notice that I've ben adding more glitter since I *met* you, lol?!!

Suzy Q said...

Yep I'm loving that calander and that sentiment is perfect. I just don't know where you get all your ideas from?? I'm just not that crafty yet....ALTHOUGH....I'm sure that all the top tips from your blog, what with your DT and everything else you've got going on, it's got to rub off on me EVENTUALLY!! lol lol lol xx

Highland Handmade said...

Wow what a beautiful calendar!! it is Flabby!! LOL use your ladybug dicitonary! ... so sorry to hear about Ruby, and also your Aunts, Keep your chin up and stay strong, it must be nice to have your Dad with you but you do sound exhausted!! ... Cough cough ... I love pink (cough cough) lol ... I am working on it mrs!! ... but you have inspired me to make more calendars this year, love the size of this, as I had planned to use beer mats so they would be small!! xxx

Annette said...

Hey Kerry, your exhausted!!!! I have been on this laptop for hours now, having a great time hopping, trying to make the best of my internet connected. Love the calendar, fab as usual, glad to hear aunt is making progress Annette x

pinky said...

Boy you can certainly fill a blog page woman!! I don't know about you but I'm ready for a lie down after all that lol. Glad your aunt has picked up a bit and hope it continues that way. Love your calendar, great idea and your little fairy looks like she is just figuring out how to fill her months!
Pinky