Tag, You're it!

I’ve been tagged by my friend Katy and my challenge (should I choose to accept it) is to list seven random and to the majority of the population, unknown facts about myself. Initially I thought “Ooh, goody, I’ve never been tagged before – how exciting!” but then I thought “Oh no – my life is so un-interesting, I don’t think I can come up with seven facts. “ After much deliberation, I came up with seven and then some! It’s amazing when you get thinking isn’t it! So here goes…sorry if I get to waffling!

1. I have had sooo many jobs, I think I would have trouble listing them all – but here goes. Hair washer in a hairdressers , assistant in a fruit and veg shop, at superdrug, at WH smiths, at Wilkinsons, waitress at a bistro, in a deli, in a phone-come-coffee shop, as a supervisor at Burger King ( I could make a whopper in 11 seconds!), as a supervisor and Beauty consultant at Boots the Chemists an assistant manager in a Pub, a registered ICU nurse, and finally as a creative Designer for Do Crafts! I think that’s the lot. It’s not that I keep getting sacked, some were Saturday jobs, and some I did whilst at Uni. Others I did whilst doing my nurse training.
2. I’m seriously allergic to…wait for it….bananas! I had an anaphylactic reaction when I was 5 years old and haven’t purposefully had one since ( a banana that is, not an anaphylactic reaction). I can’t even stand the smell of them, but I do like to carefully peel them though, such a novelty!
3. I’m married to David who I have been going out with since I was sixteen. He was my first and last boyfriend. We were going out for 10 years before we got married.
4. When I worked at W.H. Smiths I accidentally trapped my fingers in the cash register drawer when I was shutting it, and was trapped for about 25 minutes whilst the staff frantically tried to get it open, as the emergency lever wasn’t working! In the end, a fire engine, ambulance and paramedic car arrived ‘cos the personnel manager panicked and told them I was trapped but didn’t say where. How embarrassing!
5. I’ve been on Steve Wright’s Big Quiz on Radio 2 and was champeen on two days and left with some great prizes, including tickets to Proms in the Park in London, a trip to meet the Red Arrows and VIP tickets to the Southport Air show. I was also in the last 100 people that applied for Paul Daniel’s Wipeout game show (can you remember that far back) but didn’t get chosen to be in the last 48.
6. I am absolutely besotted with Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida ever since I was a little girl. I have only been twice (for my honeymoon and last year), and I even looked into getting a job there before we had Joseph. I cried when I first saw Cinderella’s Castle and met Mickey Mouse! I would live there if I could. It really is Where Magic Lives.
7. I love Most Haunted and anything paranormal to almost an obsessional level. I tried to get tickets for the most recent Most Haunted Live, but wasn’t lucky. I love hearing true ghost stories, and also have had some experiences myself. I love watching paranormal videos on You Tube when I’m crafting.

As part of my obligation I now tag seven more people, and these will be Sheila, Jane, Jo Kill, Leonie, Kirsty, Hannah and Becks.
Love, Clare x

Simply Gorgeous!

I spotted this card whilst blog hopping tonight, and just wanted to share it with you. It's as the the title states, simply gorgeous! It's by designer Jo Kill, using the free Forever Friends stickers that were on the last Do Crafts Creativity! Magazine.Check out her blog here.

Love, Clare x

Have a 'Fairy' Merry Christmas!

What a busy weekend it has been! I finished this card on Friday night, but the days have been so dull , the light hasn't been right to take a good photograph, and also too busy too! What with catching up on cleaning, swimming lessons for Joe and food shopping, I've not stopped.

Anyhoo, this card was made for the Colour and sketch challenges over on SCS. Why not kill two brds with one stone? I've used this fantastic stamp from Pink Poison, she's called Princess Anya, but I've turned her into a fairy for this card. I used Letraset promarkers to colour her skin, hair and crown, and gave her highlights with my sakura white pen. I used sitckles on her crown and wand. I used paper from Pink Petticoat's christmas paper collection to colour her dress. It's she just a darling? I sooo enjoyed colouring her. Why don't you check out the Pink Poison blog, there are some fantastic cards on there, from extremely talented designers.

I changed the colour of the metal snowflakes by inking up with pigment ink and then embossing with holographic embossing powder.

I hope you like this card as much as I enjoyed making it. Thanks for looking,

Installment one of my holiday exploits- The Ship.

I hope you don't mind but i've been asked whether I'd share some photographs of my recent holiday with you, and I'll try and keep it was interesting as possible. I know how boring looking at someone else's holiday snaps can be ( and here's the thritieth picture of Jack stroking an eel - that kind of thing)!
Firstly I thought I would show you the cruise ship we were on. Or should I say Superliner, that's what our itinery told us anyway - the New Superliner designed for Britain, or something like that. Apparently Ventura is the largest superliner ever built for the British market. It will take 3600 passengers and 1200 crew members and weighs 115,000 tonnes. Now I don't know what you think, but to me that's a lot of nuts and bolts.

The next picture shows David and Joe stood by the Hul of the ship. This was taken on our last port of call, but the first that we could get so close to get a snap. Don't they look small next to the ship! He he!

The next couple of pictures show one of the venues on the ship - the Tamarind Club. This was designed to be reminicient of the indian sub-continent with it's rich furnishings and exotic warm colour scheme. In the day, you could relax with a book and a coffee, and in the evening the venue transformed into a comedy club. I just loved it in here, it always felt so welcoming.

I'll be back soon with more about the ship and the holiday. Theres a whole lota ship to tell you about, so it should keep you going for a while!

Love, Clare x

Free!!! Blog Candy!!!

Christmas is coming...and soon (well in December) so is my Birthday. So I thought that I would celebrate this by offering Free Blog Candy on my Do Crafts blog every other day for two weeks!

Click here to be taken straight to my other blog. All the details are there.

Have you seen what's aroun the corner? It's Daisy and Dandelion Illustrated by Erica Martyn, who is one of the fantastic designers from Do Crafts. I know she has been working on these two cheeky chappies for ages now, and it's nearly time to unveil them to the world. I've been lucky enough to see have a sneek preview of these characters, and I know you are going to love them! Check out Erica's Daisy and Dandelion Blog, and watch this space for more information and the launch of a new Design Team!

love, Clare x

On Our way Home!

Well, a lot has changed since I last posted. We set sail from Gibraltar after popping into one of the local craft shops and meeting up with some friends that I had met a few times before at shows and exhibitions. It was lovely to see them, and to see craft products again! David left in dispair, and went to look around with Joseph whilst we talked craft. Then we went back to the ship for the Great British Sail Away, basking in ther glorious sunshine which was fantastic. Everyone was furiously waving their Union Flags and having a jolly good time, whilst singing Land of Hope and Glory.

Then after a fantastic show amd a couple of good comedians, we retired to bed only to be woken up at 2am with the balcony door creaking like it was about to break! The sea was pretty rough and it's still like it now - the Captain has closed the decks and slowed down - and the ship is still making loads of creaking noises. It's quite fun I must say, watching everyone walking around like Norman Wisdom!

I so can't wait to get back just to do some crafting - I have not done any for the last two weeks and its absence is killing me! I have a demonstration for Do Crafts on Sunday at Stephen H. Smith's in Scunthorpe so I should be okay craft wise after that! Do come along if you can - it would be great to see you!

Speak soon,

Lots of Love,
Clare x

Hola, Ciao,and Hi from the Ventura!

I'm just wanted to let you know I'm still on holiday, but couldn't resist checking in on the old internet to leave a post on my beloved blog. I've really missed my laptop...how sad, although normally I do go on here every day I suppose.

Can you really believe that I am sat on a cruise ship somewhere in the Med typing this to you right now? The wonders of technology - what ever will they come up with next!
Well, our holiday has been wonderful so far. We've visited Barcelona, Florence, Pisa, Elba, Rome and tomorrow there is still Alicante and Gibraltar to see, before a three day cruise home on this floating 5 star hotel.

The ship is absolutely gorgeous, the staff so attentive and cannot do enough for you, and the entertainment mindblowing. And the food.... what can I say about the food. Simply the best. Cakes 24/7 that's all I'm saying for now.

I have also taken 250 photographs so far, so I can't wait to share some of those with you when I get back onto dry land for good. That's if I can tear myself away from the ship.

Can't wait to tell you all about my escapades and some funny incidents too. Sending you all lots of love,

Clare x

Inspriation

I Just wanted to tell you about the way that I'm laying out my photographs on my posts, as I think it's important to recognise other peoples ideas. I got the idea from a fantastic blog by Kristina Werner. She has a fantastic blog, and as well as featuring make a card monday, where she produces a video of the process and also a colour challenge. Go and have a look, it;s sure to get your mojo wet!

I have also started a slideshow on the side of my blog, which is one of Bloggers new gadgets, amongst others!

Have a wonderful day!

Clare x

Arrrgh! Happy Birthday Joseph!

Good Morning Everyone!

Well, I know that since my last post it has been a long time since I';ve been on here, but as you well know, time seems to fly so quickly when you're having fun! If you want to find out what I've been up to since then, click here.

As I said before, there has been some exciting International developments with my card designing, so I'd better explain myself. I was contacted by Marie, the owner and designer of Pink Poison rubber stamps which is based in the USA, and asked whether I would like to be part of her Design Team. I decided that I would love to do this, as I design exclusively in the UK for Do Crafts, and I can do this in my own time in the evenings. Woo Hoo! I'm so excited to be working with Marie, she's a lovely lady and my first new friend from over the pond. I can't wait to show you the gorgeous stamps and my designs, which I will do very soon, although I am going on holiday soon, so it may be longer than I would like.

Any hoo, I remembered yeaterday that I haven't had the card back that I made for Joseph's Birthday that was in the last issue of creativity magazine (the ladybird Card). Oh No, but my fault as I forgot to ask for it to bo posted back. So, I got my stamps and papers out and made this card for his 4th Birthday. We will be on a cruise on his birthday, so I thought the Pirate was very fitting!

I made the seal by melting embossing powder with a candle/gas hob lighter (don't know the real name for it), and when it had turned to liquid, I continued with heat tool. When the liquified powder was the right size I stamped a Happy Birthday circle stamp into it. Hey presto, your own faux wax seal! It was fun watching all the powder form little balls and run around my teflon sheet! Obviously you need to be careful, and melt the embossing powder on a teflon sheet so that it peels off when you have stamped into it. The stamp is fron High Hopes stamps, and I have coloured him in with Letraset promarkers.

I absolutely can't wait to go on holiday now. I was thinking just this morning that we haven't had a holiday since Disney World last year, so I'm more than ready for it. I have gathered all our clothes together on the guest bed, and oh dear! I think I have gone way overboard ('xcuse the pun). I just geet everything out that i think I might wear, and before you an say too much, but wardrobe is empty and my case is bursting!

This is the fantastic ship that we will be setting sail on. The Ventura, a new cruise line in the P and O fleet which first sailed in April! I'm sooo excited! It's going to be fantastic. I'm going to try and blog whilst I'm on the ship, so keep checking back.

Thanks for stopping by today, and have a great day!
love, Clare x