Sour taste...

Something happened today that I'm still reeling about. I have been ordering my Basic Grey from a certain website (will not mention names but if they ever read it they will know who they are!) for about 6 weeks. I think I mentioned in a previous post that I {heart} BG and I've been using it a lot for the m&t's and workshops. I placed an order this morning...about £17 including postage and was looking forward to it arriving either tomorrow or Monday. I went off and continued cutting, trimming, etc for the workshop tomorrow. Later I came to check my emails to find this from the website:

"Dear Kerry, All the new Basic Grey ranges are getting low in stock so we have had to cancel your order to give our other customers a chance to get the new papers; many enjoy coordinating with the other products in the ranges. I shall let you know when we have enough stock for paper only orders. Many thanks."

As you can imagine my jaw dropped...I couldn't believe what I was reading so this is what I sent back:

"Dear Karen, I'm really sorry you felt you had to cancel my order. I can appreciate how other customers like to co-ordinate the ranges but I am a customer as well and I have spent a lot of money with you over the last month or so. I am quite upset as I enjoyed shopping with you and was always pleased with the service and was quick to pass on your web address to my friends. I guess this will be an opportunity to give my custom to another online store. Kerry"

I was quite happy with my reply...didn't say a lot of things I would have liked as I was well brought up LOL and then look at the reply I got:

"Dear Kerry,

I am sorry you are upset but I have to look out for my many other regular customers also.
Many online retailers have stopped stocking the single papers because selling them is often not viable, we pay a huge amount to get them imported from America. We stock them solely to enable our customers to coordinate the other products in the Basic Grey ranges with the papers, they were never intended to go to a few customers purchasing papers only. As it is we have had to stop large quantities of paper-only orders by limiting quantities avalable to five sheets per order.

I appreciate you have placed a number of paper orders already, hopefully this means you have a little stock pile to tie you over until you can find another supplier.

I am sure you can find other UK retailers stocking single sheets, although you may have to search a little. Best of luck and thank you for your previous custom."

They must be extremely busy and making a lot of money that they don't need mine! They obviously are trying to sell the embellishments that go with the ranges but they must realize that they would sell more of the paper and not everyone wants them. I don't want the embellishments...I wouldn't use most of them so I don't think I should be penalized because I want just the paper. I am so shocked ... I cannot believe anyone would treat a customer this way. This makes me determined that one day I will fulfill my dream of having a shop and I will never ever treat any of my customers this way.

Am I being silly? Does anyone think I'm getting hot under the collar for nothing? I'm interested to hear what everyone else thinks.

Thanks for letting me sound off. I've got more important things to think about now anyway...the workshop tomorrow!!! I am so looking forward to it. I have 3 great projects for the girls to do and I hope they love them as much as I do. I'll post pictures either tomorrow night or Sunday.

Have a great weekend, catch ya later x

A year and a day ...

I don't know where the last 2 days have gone...what happened to Wednesday??? The only thing I remember about yesterday was that it was a year to the day when Nicole left for Australia....I can't believe it! She's due home by December 22 at the very latest or her dad will hop on a plane and drag her back lol.

This is a picture of us before she left. She was taking pictures of her and her dad together and me her and I together the week before she left. I didn't think anything of it until the day before she left she presented us each with a montage of the pictures she had taken. Mine is hanging in my workroom and Pierce has his beside his bed and in his office. To say we shed a few tears at the airport was an understatement...I think it was the first time she'd seen her dad cry which makes you cry even more!!! Sometimes this year has flown by and other times it's dragged. We've been pretty good with phone calls, talking at least once or twice a week and she's sent photo's of the different places she and her boyfriend Ben have been. All that was fine until she sent us the link for the sky dive that she took...thank god she didn't tell us till after she jumped!!!! Watching the video was quite emotional because it was the first time we'd seen her outwith a photograph. Seeing her walking, talking and laughing was brilliant .. even the swearing lol!...of course I started bawling like a baby...brings tears to my eyes now just thinking about it. Time is flying these days so it won't be long before she's home.

I've still a lot to do before Saturday...remember...it's project day!!!! One is all ready to go and another 1/2 way with a bit more punching and cutting. Luckily the 3rd isn't as involved as the first 2. Sorry girls...no clues here!!

If I can manage I'll post a card tonight.

Catch ya later x

Gremlins are lurking...

It took me about 4 hours to type up the previous post...I'm surprised I have any hair left!!!! I want everyone to know that it's not supposed to look the way it does....I didn't save it that way...and it certainly didn't look like that in the preview...it was all lovely and lined up to the left and look what happened!!! I lost count of how many times I adjusted and re-adjusted everything and it looks like I've just thrown it on the page! I'm not a happy camper : (

Terrific Tuesday...

What a great day Fee and I had!! She arrived at 11...she lives an hour away and the weather...don't get me started on the weather...was pretty gross so I'm glad she arrived safe and well and with her project intact!! Fee used to work for Baxter's and she brought me 3 jars of spreadables...Spiced Fruit Chutney, Country Berry conserve and Strawberry jam...yum! And funnily enough the strawberry theme didn't stop there as this my project we made - and it has strawberries on it!

You'd think Fee knew what I was up to wouldn't you lol. I saw this somewhere ages ago and made it as a m&t at the last crop but when I went to dig out the instructions I couldn't find them so I can't tell you where to go but when I get a chance I'll write them up for you. From what I remember of the other one she had an image on the front but I didn't want that. I was just staring at it trying to think what I could add to it and then the penny dropped!! I remembered I had bought some charms at the SECC Craft Show in March and one of them was a Strawberry...see, I knew I bought them for a reason lol. I think it finishes it off nicely. I made the flap deeper on the one Fee and I made today which I think suits it better. The pink cs is my own, the green cs is Bazzil and the pp is Doodlebug...how pretty huh? The ribbon is Papertreyink and the charm from Mei Flower.

Here's a close up of the strawberry...my sister got me the ballchain from Michael's....boy I wish we had that store here.

And this is what it looks like inside! The flap is held down with a magnet from Basic Grey....these little guys are great AND strong!....and when opened you'll find a set of note cards! There are only 4 cards with envelopes in this set but it will easily hold 8, four on each side. The image on the card is Cupcakes by Pink Petticoat which I printed off on the computer and sprayed with Ghiant ink-jet fixative spray before colouring with my SU! markers. Cut out with Nesties, mounted on pink cs then sticky fixed on to a border of cs and pp finished off with ribbon and glitter!

Then it was Fee's turn...and can I tell you she didn't disappoint!! She put me to shame because she came up with the idea and designed it herself : ) She was grinning from ear to ear when she brought it out and no wonder...it's a fantastic Tea for Two gift set. This is what it looks like from the outside then...

open...

and look what's inside....Tea for 2!!!! Now how clever is that???? This was so much fun to make and I know it's definitely something that I will be making a lot of for gifts. It looks difficult but is quite easy and I think Fee did a great job. She even supplied the shortbread and tea lol! Now I'm not going to tell you the recipe or the how to....I'm going to leave that to Fee since it was her project.



This is Fee getting stuck (literally) into my project using my 'snot gun'. She loved it so much she went straight online and ordered one for herself lol.

There was a lotta chatter, a lotta laughter and a lotta crafting...what more can a gal ask for? Thanks Fee for a great day.

Catch ya later x

It's raining it's pouring..no it's not the sun is shining...no it's not it's raining...

Very confusing headline I know but the weather here in Glasgow IS confusing. One minute it's cold windy and raining and the next the sun is shining and is roasting!! No wonder everyone here is either getting sick, sick or getting over being sick!!!

This is going to be a quick post (yeah I hear you say lol) as I've still got a bit to do for my bf Fee coming tomorrow. I spoke to her today and she has everything all cut and packaged up for our day of fun so I've got to get my skates on.

This is a card I made for my sister Shelly. About 4 years ago she went to Aveda Hairdressing School and after a lot of blood, sweat and tears she graduated and went to work for an Aveda hairdresser. She worked there for a couple of years but took the plunge to work for herself and since January of this year has been a self employed hairdresser. I am so proud of her and what she has achieved over the last 7 months. It was a big risk but it has paid off and she is doing amazingly well. I didn't want this occasion to go unrecognized so made this card for her using Underthehoodybella from Stamping Bella. I love Stamping Bella stamps...I do have one or 50 lol!!! The cs is Bazzill and the pp is Basic Grey (my favourite pp at the moment), Martha Stewart border punch, ribbon Papertreyink, sentiment: alphabet stamps, not sure brand. I stamped Gravity Hair with the alphabet stamps...and yes the i is supposed to be upside down.. ie gravity!!! Very clever huh.

That's it for now...must get started on Fee's project. I'll post pictures tomorrow to show you what we got up to!

Catch ya later x

First things first

Does anyone know how to get rid of the big space between my postings? I've tried everything and nothing seems to work.

Now that's out of the way how the heck are you? It's a rainy day here in Glasgow...nothing unusual I suppose but we have had some nice weather recently which IS unusual lol. I haven't been out with the dogs yet it's that bad but hopefully later it'll at least stop raining long enough to get to the Braes. Rocky keeps reminding me he hasn't been out...if he doesn't stop stretching in front of me I'll put him out in the rain!!!

BTW I do have two dogs...poor Ruby hasn't got a mention or a picture posted so I'm going to fix that right now!! Here she is....my little girl : ) Isn't she beautiful??!! She's very special and most of you know the story but I'll save posting it for another day.

I've got an exciting week ahead. My bf Fee is coming over on Tuesday for a playday. We started this last month and have decided that we're going to get together on the last Tuesday of each month, alternating houses. We have to create a project each for the other to make which is great fun. I've made a gorgeous one...I think so anyway lol...and I read on Fee's blog this morning that she's got hers done and dusted too! Like Fee I'll post a picture after Tuesday as I want to keep it as a surprise for her.

Then on Saturday I've got my crop!! I really look forward to these every month because it's really hard to talk to non crafters for more than 5 minutes about the latest glitter or Bazzill or designer paper without their eyes glazing over! It's only a small group of girls but they are all lovely and we have such a laugh. Before I started the crop properly I had a few girls over to my house. We were in the kitchen and Pierce was in the tv room and when they all left 9 hours after they arrived (!!!!!) he couldn't believe we could talk about paper and such for so long lol. The first crop started in March or April and we do a make and take and then we'd get on with our business. My m&t's take at least an hour to make and the girls really enjoyed them so we decided that maybe we'd try doing just projects one month. I made 3 projects for us to do, a perpetual calendar, a little box with 6 gift cards and a little gift bag. It was a lot of work but a huge success and now we've decided to do a normal crop with m&t one month and a workshop crop the next. And guess what...this Saturday is the workshop crop!!! I have got 3 pretty cool projects for us to do and will post pictures of them after the workshop. I drop the odd hint to tease the girls but they never know exactly what they're going to be making. I've got a fully house this time which is always fun. Unfortunately my bf Lynn can't make it as her sister is arriving this week from the States for a couple of weeks. I've been teasing her as I've been finishing each project and hopefully she can make the next one : )

Right...enough babble...here's a card I made back in January. I love making baby cards...especially for little girls because I can use lots of glitter and crystals. I've used cs from my stash, pp Lasting Impressions, Stamp is SU! from the Bundle of Joy set, Nesties, brads are Doodlebug, crystals are from my own stash.

I really like the layout and it's made me want to case it again so I think that's what I'll do to kickstart my mojo!


The sun is now shining and I think there's enough blue sky that the rain will stay away for a while so I'm off to take the dogs for their long awaited walk. Thank goodness Steven's coming back from holiday tomorrow so he can help me out!!

Catch ya later x

What happened to Friday???

I don't know what happened to yesterday but it started and finished before I knew it! Dentist went well then took the dogs for their walk. Very funny thing happened with Rocky...why is it always him? He LOVES tennis balls as you can see from the previous post but I didn't have any with me but as long as you throw something he'll chase it. So I was throwing stones into the long grass and off he'd go...run, jump, jump, jump, pounce. This went on for a bit then I threw another one and off he goes run, jump, jump, SPLASH!!! There are pockets of mini ponds throughout Cathkin Braes and you can't see them because of the long grasses. Little did I know I threw the rock in the direction of one and he ended up in it LOL. After the splash there was silence then nothing...I thought he drowned so I started shouting for him and the next thing he pops up with the water dripping from him with a very confused look on his face!!! LOLOL ...just thinking about it cracks me up.

OK..on to what this blog is supposed to be about!! I finished the wedding cards I mentioned the other day and was really pleased with the end result. The person I made them for called me yesterday to say how delighted they were with them so I guess job done ; ) The first one is from the parents to their daughter and son-in-law...(sorry about the picture quality. I spent ages trying inside and outside to get something decent and this was it. Maybe one day I'll invest in one of those photo tents other bloggers talk about.) The image is from a set called Happily Ever After from SU! It's a great one because you don't need a lot of colouring...just a bit of glitter and a few crystals and you're done! I printed the sentiment on the computer then stamped the image then cut and embossed with my Nesties...love those!...The pp is Manhattan by Autumn Leaves. I bought it from my bf Fee at The Papercraft Company. Bride & Groom is Courtesy of Bigz Dies, box from Craft Creations and crystals and ribbon are my own stash.

Here's a better pic of the card.



The next card is from the brother of the bride. Here I used Bella and her Fella from Stamping Bella...I love her stamps!!! The swirls are done with my Cuttlebug and embossing folder, sentiment done on the computer and my Nesties to cut and emboss image and sentiment. Oh and I coloured the image with my So Soft pencils and Sansodor and stumps. Ribbon is SU! and crystals again my own.

Hopefully I'll get better at taking the pictures and they won't be so dark.

I think that's enough for now...don't want to spoil you too much lol. I have lots to do for my crop next Saturday which I'll tell you all about it tomorrow.

Later x

What a difference a day makes!

Well you know how yesterday I woke up and there was great news all around? Different story this morning! It started at 3am, then 5am then 6:30am...and the cuprit??? Rocky!!! Now don't be fooled by the face...yes he looks cute and innocent but he wasn't innocent this morning!! He can open doors...doesn't matter which way, inward or outward swing, he can do it so we have to put a chair up against the kitchen door so we don't get any night visits. At 3 I woke to hear him banging the chair to get out so I hauled myself out of bed, stumbled downstairs turned off the alarm and let him out. Waited 10 minutes then let him back in, turned on the alarm and back up to bed. Felt like I'd just closed my eyes when I heard the banging again...5am!!! Same again though this time I while I was waiting I checked my emails...I like to call it multi-tasking!!! I had to call him this time as I think he was happy to stay out but got him back in etc, etc. I guess you might be wondering what Pierce was doing while this was all going on??? Pretending to sleep!!! When the banging started for the 3rd time I was determined I wasn't getting up so I pretended to sleep lol. I had great plans for this morning...get up early (though not 3am!!!) take the dogs to the Braes, wait for the electrician then get to the dentist for 10:20. So far I've done none of the above! Time has run away from me, the electrician hasn't arrived and I'm going to be late for the dentist. Will post a card when I get back...hopefully I won't fall asleep in the dentist's chair!!!

Hello Peeps!!

LOL... I've always wanted to say that! Well what a morning I've had. First thing was to check my blog to make sure it wasn't a dream (remember Pammie in the shower???!!!) and sure enough it was there! AND I had 1 follower...thanks Trace (get a picture on there sis)...much to the disappointment of my bff Karen as she wanted to be my first lol. Definitely think sitting in a car colouring on the pretext of watching Ben play cricket was your downfall lol. Anywho, I got pretty excited when I saw my viewing counter...21!!!! Wow...but then I realized that I probably accounted for 90% of the viewing LOL. Well, I did HAVE to check didn't I.

So then I checked my emails and boy oh boy...I got one that I've been waiting a couple of weeks for and did I squeal or what!!! Unfortunately I can't share it with you just now but hopefully in the very near future all will be revealed : ) Sorry for the tease.

I got to thinking (and panicking) yesterday what have I set myself up for??? I read back my first post and it was the bit about inspiration...will I inspire? What will I put on my blog? What on earth have I done? So I've been trawling through my cards trying to decide which one if any will inspire anyone and this is the one I came up with. I saw the sketch somewhere but can't remember where (in future I'll make sure to take note). The card is for my nephew's birthday on Sunday. I really dislike making male cards (so quite ironic my first post is a male card lol) and refuse orders for them. I only make them for family and even then I'm stressed out of my head. The cs is Bazzill and the pp is from MME's Wild Asparagus range which I got from my bf Fee at The Papercraft Company. (When I figure it out I'll put a link on the side). The calendar stamps are Stampin' Up and consist of 3 sets..the months, the calendar, and the numbers. The 21 and circular sentiment are from JustRite Stampers. And that's it! What do you think?

I'm off to finish some wedding cards...catcha later. x

Well this is my second post today but a very important one since I didn't make a card for the occasion!! So without further adeu/ado Happy Anniversary Tracey and Darcy!!! Now isn't this better than a card lol. Hope you have a great day : )

K x

OMG...I'm a Blogger!!!

OMG!!! I'm a blogger :)This is something I've shied away from as I thought 'who would want read about my rants and ramblings??' but I'm now looking on it as a bit of fun, a bit of a laugh and a lot of therapy lol! I have a lot of plans for my blog but I'll start slowly slowly then work my way up to hopefully a place of inspiration to come to when the mojo has left the building!



Watch this space!



Kerry x