Happy New Year!

 

Hi There! I often spend some time between Christmas and new year tidying my desk, and putting all the christmas stamps back in their folders so I can find them again (I have in the past lost things at this time of year). Once the desk space was clear I decided to do a little bit if journaling to welcome in 2025. I don't do new years resolutions, but I do like to choose myself a word or two to focus on with a positive mindset. How about you? What do you do?

I began by blending distress oxides across the pages. I used Picked Raspberry, Mustard Seed, Mermaid Lagoon and Wilted Violet. 

Next, I placed the mandala inkables onto the page and blended Black Soot Distress Oxide through them. I was thinking of using the same inkable twice, but changed my mind and used a different one as you will see in the next photo. 

Using an inkables skyline I added more Black Soot Distress oxide along the bottom of the page. 

I then added a few light sprays of Distress spritz in Fossilized Amber, Worn Lipstick and weathered wood. 

On a scrap of white card, I stamped the big numbers 2025 in Charming Pink Versafine Clair and cut them out. 

Finally I added these to the page along with sone wordy stickers using matte medium.

Here is the finished (?) page again. I may well add some white pen before I put it away😂

I used:

Mandala Inkables  - I used 4 and 7 

Skyline Inkable

A square 5 inch journal 

Distress Oxide inks in Picked Raspberry, Mustard Seed, Mermaid Lagoon, Wilted Violet and Black Soot. 

Bee Crafty Art Stamps Numbers

Distress Spritz 

Wordy Stickers #2

Matte Medium

Thanks for looking and I hope 2025 bring you joy and opportunities!  I also hope you can treat yourself to something from the Bee Crafty Twixmas sale which ends on 5th January! 

Time for a change

 

It's a very long time since I shared anything that wasn't a craft tutorial or samples but I thought I would take a moment to let you know a bit of news.

The end of 2023 was very hectic with highs and lows. There was the GKR karate nationals in November, Black Belt grading in December. I gained a silver medal for kata and a bronze for kumite at Nationals and then was awarded my second Dan (Nidan) at grading. Never in a thousand years would I have thought I could achieve so much in Karate, and I am eternally grateful to everyone who has helped me along the way. 

It is truly humbling to see how much love and support comes from my Karate family, both instructors and students alike.  I feel very much valued and appreciated. 

When Steve's Dad passed away only a few weeks off his 103rd birthday it wasn't really a surprise, but when Mark (63) passed only days later it was both shocking and thought provoking. If there was one thing to take from it, it was that life is too short, and to be stuck doing things that you no longer love was wasting it. After some soul searching, I decided that after 4 years it was time to step down from the Crafty Individuals DT. In the early days I loved their stamps so much, but as time has gone on I was struggling to find the inspiration to work with the more recent designs. I don't intend joining any other DTs but am very very happy doing what I am doing with Bee Crafty. Bev and Sam have been so very kind and supportive and crafting with their products is my happy place. 

Some more positives that came out of 2023 were re-connecting with my cousins. As the 'baby' of the family I have 5 female cousins who are all older than me and some I hadn't seen since I was about 5! 

I also spent a few weekends in May and June looking for wild orchids at various sites around Notts with a very knowledgeable horticultural friend, and hope to do more in 2024. My other project is going to be turning most of the vegetable patch at the bottom of the garden into a woodland garden. The trees have grown a lot since we moved in 24 years ago! 

I am looking forward to spending time with family and friends who need some support, like Dad, who will be 95 next month, and a close friend who is recently bereaved. 

Now life is as normal as it is going to be post-pandemic, I want to enjoy my retirement a bit more. During lockdown we got into the habit of doing an hours bird watch in the garden once a month. This fell by the wayside in the past 6 months, but we will make time for it once more. I am also looking forward to spending more time and head space keeping fit and healthy, going out walking and of course continuing with my karate. 

Anyway, that is enough from me for now. Hope your 2024 is full of things you love. 

Goodbye 2020

 As it is New Years Eve, I thought I would quickly reflect on the year that we are leaving behind. I know it has been a really difficult one for many, and in lots of ways we have been quite lucky. Some of our closest friends have had it very tough and we have tried to help wherever we can. Although we haven't been able to see Meg and Grant much, we can still have regular skype sessions, which I am very thankful for. I don't want to dwell on the negatives, but celebrate some of the positives to carry forwards. 

Crafting has certainly kept me busy and I am loving every minute of being on the Crafty Individuals and Bee Crafty Design teams. Each month brings new inspiration and goodies which I thoroughly enjoy working with. As well as stamping, I've loved learning to crochet and although I am not very skilled, I am happy with the progress I have made. Something new that I am trying in 2021 is bullet journalling. There will be a post here on Monday with my progress so far. With all the uncertainty of the coming year, it was a much better option than a diary, and it is something I can adapt to suit myself.

We have just heard that Karate is continuing on Zoom, so after a fortnight break I will be working on my karate in the living room for 3 or 4 hours a week. Seeing and training with my Karate family has really kept me going, even when it has been reallly tough. We will also continue to explore the local area on foot (we are teir 4), finding more footpaths and keeping up our step count. 

My lovely friends Lynne, Sandma, Viv and Joan have been wonderful and have cheered me up no end. Our messenger chat often involves a good laugh as well as crafting know how and recipes. Thanks so much my friends.

Finally, Thank you to my followers. Your lovely positive comments make my day. I hope I can organise my visits to blog land to be more frequent rather than just trying to catch up once a week!  

Here is a whistle stop tour of some projects I enjoyed from the past year. I'm not saying my favourites, because choosing those would be much harder, lol. Hope you like them!

January had to be a crafty Individuals stag which was one of my Christmas presents

 For February I chose this Bee Crafty doodle Art flower

For March, here is the mixed media vintage collage with embroidery, stamping, painting and collage I made at a workshop at PDA at Langley Mill

April's had to be a Crafty Individuals kingfisher scene

For May I've chosen the Hobby Art Greenhouse I made for my nephew.

For June I chose the Crafty Individuals pincushion.

 For July this mini journal made with Bee Crafty goodies as I joined their DT was one of my favourites

August was very colourful with Jane Royston's Bee Crafty stamp designs. This one really reminds me of marbles, andI love that sentiment!

September featured lots of seahorses...so hard to choose a favourite!

October was when Sandma's gorgeous scene stamps were launched at Crafty Individuals and I became addicted to Kingfishers!

For November, I am choosing this Bee Crafty make featuring the winter journalling girls collection, and the perfect way to spend an evening!

and finally, December, where I just couldn't choose between that lovely boat...

and this Bee Crafty sample in my new favourite colour palette!

I do hope your New Year is an improvement on 2020 and that you have much to be thankful for and to enjoy.

Thanks for looking and All the best for 2021

                Sally x

Happy New Year

We spent yesterday walking through Sherwood Forest blowing a few cobwebs out and getting some much needed fresh air and exercise. The weather was perfect for a stroll, although the wind was a bit chilly, so it was good we were wrapped up. The afternoon sun gave everything a warm glow and I took a few photos of trees  and wildlife. I was particularly please with my Nuthatch.

These next photos of the river Meden are so different  to how it looked five years ago. Subsidence and flooding have created a permanent lake on both sides of the bridge.

 I am sure most of you are aware of my fascination with trees (stamps and real ones), and this area of Sherwood Forest has some beauties. It probably looks much as it did several hundred years ago, with no pylons, telegraph wires or buildings as far as the eye can see. It probably doesn't look that much like a forest to most - more heathland, I suppose.

I love this particular tree. It reminds me of the one on 'Who do they think they are?'
I had a great day, and aim to do more walking (and bird watching) in 2012, with my family. What else, though? I aim to try and lose a few pounds, although I hope to do it by more exercise and more sensible eating, as well as getting a bit more sleep, rather than dieting. On a crafting level I aim to use what I have got more, which may lead to buying a bit less - who knows? I have also decided to share the card making I do for work with another crafter, so hopefully allowing a bit more time for less directed creativity. I want to try and keep my desk tidier and finish more things before I start the next! You wouldn't believe the half made efforts I uncovered during my mass tidy on Christmas eve.
No cards in this post, but I will be back (probably tomorrow) with a few, I'm sure.
Happy New year to you all. May it be healthy, prosperous and full of wonderful things (particularly of a crafting nature) x

New Year's Resolutions

I didn't do very well with my new year's resolutions last year. I wanted to buy less and use more stash...it lasted till February! Since then I have spent quite a bit, but I have managed to use some of the things I hadn't used in quite a while. The candles on this card are Non Sequitur stamps I hadn't used in about two years. My aim this year is to use more of what I've got. I will still spend, but I aim to go through my stamps and stash. If I can't bring myself to use it (like some of the papers I have) then I'm going to get rid of it. I will be trying to keep my stash to the space it occupies now. I will do my best to keep my craft space a bit neater so I don't lose things so often! I'm also going to make an effort to branch out from cards a bit more often. Tags, ATCs and Fat pages maybe. Finally, I'd like to meet up with a few more of the lovely people I've met in Blogland, and see the ones I've met again! Hope you all had a fabulous New Year!

Happy New Year!

I thought I'd look back through my photos and select the best of what I've created this year. I feel I've come a long way creatively, particularly with stamping. I have taken inspiration from Michelle Zindorf, Glenda Waterworth, Jean Hardy, Deby at Just add Love and of course my good friend Lynne. I'm not sure about New Year resolutions - I'd like to get fitter, lose a bit of weight, create more, spend less... I'd also like to wish a Happy New Year to everyone who reads my blog. I'm always thrilled when people leave comments or rate my entries. It is so good to get feedback. Blog-wise I've had help and inspiration from Guzziesue and Biker Ted - many thanks!