Roll on Spring!!

The sun is shining, the clouds are clearing, the weather is most definitely improving... That can only mean one thing... Spring is here :)  I feel better already; it's amazing what a little bit of sunshine can do for a girl's mood!  Well, that and a good dose of happiness!

Anyway, to the point... Over at Fantasy Stampers this fortnight, the theme is obviously 'Spring is in the Air.'  Right on cue for the Spring Equinox, completely unplanned I'm sure! *Cough cough* Whatever!! I'm sure Mommy dearest knew exactly what she was doing; OCD definitely runs in this family!!  Like mother, like daughter - I wouldn't expect anything less.  Oh and hey, did you all see the 'Celestial Phenomenon'?  The Spring Equinox fell in line with the Solar Eclipse and the Supermoon back at the end of last week causing wonder and amazement.  I'm not going to lie, I even went for a look!  Took the kids with me at school and stood telling them that it was a Special Moon - they weren't in the least bit interested... but I liked it :)

Obviously as I was with the kids, I couldn't take any photos, not that we could have gotten any decent ones anyway - yes we tried on the Ipad!  So I stole this screenshot from the video in the article in the Mail Online (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3004075/Not-just-solar-eclipse-Today-sees-THREE-astronomical-phenomena-place-supermoon-spring-equinox-align.html) - No Copyright intended.

So... back to the crafting... I took the theme for Spring out of it's box and decided against any bunnies, lambs or chicks.  Instead I found a beautiful quote by Anne Bradstreet which I took as my inspiration and went for something completely different.  

I used a Spring colour scheme and played nicely with Mom's stash of Distress Inks to create the boxed background and then had fun with the stamping to give the effects in each box.

I got through a multitude of stamps including of wooden block stamps; Field of Sky, Scribble Background and a text background. I also used my new Kaisercraft Sketchy clear rubber stamp, and Inkylicious' Waterdrops to get the effects in each box (along with some bubble wrap and foil mesh.)





The final product...

My entry for Challenge # 32 - Spring is in the Air over at the Fantasy Stampers Challenge Blog.

Till next time :)

Louby xx

The tortoises took over...

Well I had an interesting weekend that is slowly creeping through the rest of the week :)  While Jayne was busy moving house, the teeny tiny tortoises needed a sitter... Well, how could I say no?!  So, on Friday night I gained two little additions to my bedroom.

How cute are they?!

<<< Meet Raphael
and Donatello >>>

Needless to say I have thoroughly enjoyed looking after them... they had a bath on Saturday morning while I was pottering about and cleaning up...

Then Donatello tried to make an escape attempt when I set them down on the bathroom floor!!  I never realised they could move so fast - No joke!  He was off at rocket speed!

Then on Monday night they had strawberries in the bath

and went for a little paddle :)  

I have totally overfed them, they would never have starved to death in my care that's for sure.  They have met plenty of new people and been cuddled and 'ahhed' over!  I wouldn't hesitate to look after them again :)

And in other, completely unrelated, news... LOOK!!!

I know I am repeating myself a lot - but anyone who knows me understands how important this photograph is to me!!!  Jerry has leaves!  He is doing so well, he has been hiding out under the car port since I moved back home, so he is getting all the warmth from the sun on the roof, and all the daylight, but he is lovely and sheltered from the rain and the wind.  And clearly, he is thriving!!!

Anyways, a totally random and unnecessary blog post, but hey ho, those words pretty much sum up most of what comes out of my mouth...  lol.  Till next time, Louby x

And for my next Masterpiece...

Well Fantasy Stampers have got a new challenge on the go and I had lots of fun interpreting their new challenge.  I quickly decided that my original idea was a little too far out of the box, but I didn't want to do the obvious and therefore went looking for a nice quote about Mom's...  Well I found it.  

Once I had seen this one, nothing else could come close.  So off I went to create a background to go with it.

My masterpiece...

I had tons of fun creating the background this time, as I am slowly moving into more and more layers... So there is much more depth to this one than the last few, plus I got creative with the bubble wrap too :)

The quote was made using my little Dovecraft Alphabet stamp set, and then the rest were borrowed from Mum's stash.  I used some of her Lily of the Valley background bits - Industrial stamps to add some background details.  Oddments from a clear rubber stamp set for the stars in the top right corner, and a wooden stamp 'Heart squares' for the embellishment in the bottom left corner, (of which I am quite impressed with)



So, there we have it... My entry for Challenge #31 - Mum's the Word - I hope you like it!!

Louby xx

Live in the moment!!

A new month... A new adventure?!  These last few days have shown me that you really do have to grab life by the horns so to speak, and live if day by day for what it is.  Now don't get me wrong, I still have my diary, my calendar, post it notes, to do lists and notes everywhere; but I am trying to live more in the moment and stop worrying about things that are out of my control.
My biggest achievement for this so far, as ridiculous as it sounds, is not freaking out over the fact that I totally killed my phone!  Yes, after years of being damn lucky with phones (to say how many times I drop them on the floor) - the luck finally ran out on Saturday morning when I dropped it face down in Meadowhall car park - needless to say, the screen is shattered!! 
But, like I keep telling myself - Live and let live - there is nothing I can do to change what happened, and nothing I can do to fix it right now.  It still works, it's just a mess!

And to support my new way of thinking - I even got a little crafty and did a journal page inspired by my new found outlook on life.  I've spent quite a lot of time playing nicely with my new hobby, and am loving every minute of it.  I have so many ideas that it's hard to decide which ones to do first, but I am slowly working my way through ideas, and sometimes randomly think of one I want to do - like this one - and hey presto!  



Anyway, onto other things - my 'something new' for February...  I totally went to Blackpool!!

Jayne and I decided to use the last day of Half Term to go on an adventure.  We packed up the car and went to Blackpool - why not?!  I've always wanted to go to Blackpool, but it has always seemed like somewhere totally out of the way, when in actual fact, it's no further away than Brid - just in a different direction!
We did the proper tourist thing!  We went to see the dungeons - which proved us both to be total wusses.  We climbed Blackpool Tower - and I even stood on the glass floor (only long enough for the photo to be taken mind you!)

We played on the beach (just to say we had) - acted like total kids, did some cartwheels and wrote our names in the sand...

 












Then we went to Madame Tussaurd's - which was really amazing.  I honestly didn't know if I would like it, I thought it would creep me out, but we had a blast!

I got to cuddle Jamie Oliver...

And kiss Dec!








We went for a drink in the Rover's :)

Then got our groove on with some Music Legends!!  Jayne pulled the moves with the likes of Freddie Mercury... And yes, yes I am grabbing my crotch Michael Jackson style - it just had to be done...



I even got to meet Sooty and Sweep!!

 Jayne found her chair :p  She will hit me for that, but doesn't she look so comfortable!?

And to finish it off I cosied up to Russel Brand - I never realised he was so tall!!


We had an amazing day, filled with laughter and memories in the making...  Jayne spent far too much money and we walked away with plenty of trinkets and photos!  A good day all round, and one to strike off the bucket list!


So, let's see what March has in store... Till next time, Louby xx