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Saturday 17 January 2015

A Sheltering Tree Through the Seasons

Another quick one today as I continue to grapple with black bins bags and the darkest regions of Narnia (also known as the back of the spare room cupboard).

I think I have fallen in love with the new Sheltering Tree stamp set from the Stamping' Up Spring/Summer 2015 catalogue!  It is a gorgeous set and ideal to make a quick & easy card for any season as you can dress up the tree in any way you like ... quick & easy works for me though :)  I have had a play and created a set of notecards for all four seasons, although I think I like the Spring one the best as Cherry Blossom is my absolute favourite!  Oh, if I close my eyes I can almost smell the heavenly scent of those puffy pink clouds of blossom ...... delicious!  Hopefully it will cheer you up too and remind us all that whilst the rain is lashing against the window and the wind is howling like a banshee, Spring really won't be far away!



Spring


Summer


Autumn


Winter


Stay safe in this nasty weather folks and if I spot Mr Tumnus or Aslan I will be sure to report back next week!

Cheers
Bev x

Saturday 10 January 2015

Perpetual Birthdays ...!

Well ... Operation Clear Out continues this week in preparation for our move to Arizona.  Cupboards are being cleared, drawers tidied and an assortment of old hi-fi equipment, games consoles, and exercise paraphanalia have made their way on to that great virtual marketplace that is eBay.  (I don't why I EVER thought an Aero Pilates machine was going to change my life... I seem to recall sitting on it watching the accompanying DVD, with a glass of wine in hand and munching a bowl of crisps ... snort ).   And suffice to say, if I ever have to so much as look at a paper shredder again it will be too soon!  Why is it that no matter how carefully you empty the basket thingy (that incidentally fills up faster than the Magic Porridge Pot) you end up surrounded by shredded paper and dust .... grrrrr!

Anyway, I do have a crafty project to share with you this week ... huzzah!


This was one of my pre-order goodies from the new Stamping' Up! seasonal catalogue released earlier this week (if you have not seen it yet just click on the link on the right hand side  .... scroll down a bit ... there you go!) - The Perpetual Birthday Calendar kit is one of the fab new items this season and as well as the fun you will have creating it, it would also make a lovely gift as it comes in a sturdy kraft gift box which can also be decorated.  The kit comes with pre-cut calendar pages, printed 1 - 31,  ready for you to decorate and lots of embellishments (including sparkly glitter and sequins ... oooh shiny!).  There is also an accompanying stamp set which can then be used year after year to make your own versions.

This is how I chose to decorate mine ...






Here is the co-ordinating stamp set ...


If you want to have a go at making one for yourself, just click on the links above to go shopping!

Right ... back to clearing out cupboards  ... yawn ... or maybe I'll just have another cuppa first ... :)
       
Have a good week everyone!
Bev x

Sunday 4 January 2015

Capture the little moments ...

Happy New Year!

I hope you all survived the holiday season and enjoyed the festivities.  In the Crafty Cow household, cards have been taken down, glitter vacuumed up & decorations packed away for another year.  Whilst I was truly sad to say goodbye to all the colour and sparkle (I LOVE Christmas!), there is something quite satisfying about restoring order and calm to the household at the start of a brand new year.  When I say 'calm', I am talking metaphorically in this instance as currently I feel anything BUT calm!  Let me explain ...

A couple of weeks before Christmas, it was confirmed that Mr CC had been successful in securing a new job.  An exciting new role with his existing Company ... a promotion, no less ... in Arizona ... wait ... WHAT?!  Obviously we had discussed at great length when the possibility first arose and we had decided that it would be too good an opportunity to pass up and (hopefully) a wonderful experience for us as a family, but we never really believed it would actually happen! Now that the distraction of Christmas is over and the reality has well and truly sunk in, I am starting to slightly panic about how much there is to do and organise! I seem to be on an emotional see-saw .. one minute very excited and the next utterly terrified - especially at the thought of having to leave beloved friends & family behind.  Gulp!

Given all of the above, I have had little time to get any new projects together to share with you, so thought I would share a fun 'Photo A Day' challenge from an Autralian blogger called Fat Mum Slim that I recently came across.  You can read all about how it works on her blog post here but basically it is a series of daily prompts (provided a week at a time) to encourage you to capture a photo a day and record those little moments.  For example, the prompts for this coming week are

Mon 5th - Square
Tue 6th - Round
Wed 7th - Currently Reading
Thu 8th - Landscape
Fri 9th - Pattern
Sat 10th - Hello
Sun 11th - I see ...

Have a look at her latest blog post here for examples.  You can play along by sharing your photos on Instagram or Facebook using the hashtag #fmsphotoaday (and search on this tag to see what others have taken if you are nosey like me!) and if you are an iPhone or iPad user you can also download a handy little app called Little Moments which as well as providing you with the daily prompt reminders will also allow you to add fun text and graphics to your photos.  Not sure whether I will be able to commit to playing along every day, but will certainly be using the prompts to inspire me with my Project Life photos, which I will definitely be continuing throughout 2015 as we embark on our American Adventure!

Have a fun photo snapping week! I'm off to clear out the cupboard under the stairs (Harry Potter could be living in there for all I know, it's that long since I last looked!)
Bev x