LAST CHANCE ---- HURRY!!!

This will stay at the top so you can see what sells out. Please scroll down for new posts.

Before they all go. Stampin' Up! have released the last chance list which is basically what it says, last chance to buy retiring products while stocks last. Here to view the complete list. There have already been a few sell outs which I will try and keep updated the best I can:

All wrapped up, item number 104036

Happy Hearts, 100319

Be Happy, 107009

Mixed Bouquet, 105755

Flaky Friends, 101850

As much as I hate to see some sets go there are some gorgeous scrummy sets and also some fabulous new things coming up. Just watch this space for news on those. Also the NEW catalogue will be out 1st October, if you would like to reserve your copy please email me for price. Don't worry if you are in my stampers groups, your have been reserved for you.

Justice for Pleural Plaque Suffers - long post

Sorry this post is not really craft related but it is something that is so close to my heart. I believe these men involved should be treated fairly and the government should stand up and help these men. As some of you know I lost my brother 'Alan Clark' to this horrible disease. He was one that has campaigned for all those men out there and their families to get compensation. Please read on

'GMB has been at the heart of the campaign to get justice for the victims of the work related disease Pleural Plaques. I’m writing today because I need your help in getting justice for sufferers of this terrible disease. A petition has just been launched which calls for victims of Pleural Plaques to be fairly compensated for their injuries – you can sign it at: http://unionstogether.org.uk/justicePleural Plaques are scarring of the lungs caused by heavy and prolonged exposure to asbestos. Employers have long known about the dangers of asbestos. But instead of providing the protection required to safeguard their staff, many simply decided to turn their backs on their workers, and hope they could get away with it.Until a few years ago, workers with Pleural Plaques were able to claim compensation. Crucially it meant that a company had admitted liability to exposing a worker to asbestos. But in October 2007, the law lords outrageously scrapped this precedent – meaning that thousands of people with Pleural Plaques would not be entitled to a single penny, whilst insurers profited to the tune of £1.4BN. A truly disgusting decision and a real abdication of duty. Now thousands of working men and women suffer from entirely avoidable disease, and those who are diagnosed today aren’t even entitled to compensation. The petition calls on the Government to do the right thing for victims of Pleural Plaques and restore the compensation. The Law Lords decision that the lung scarring caused by asbestos isn’t worthy of compensation is clearly wrong. The whole process was dubious – one lawyer on the payroll of the employers’ insurance companies had the audacity to claim that Pleural Plaques were a “good thing.” As if a lawyer knows the reality of suffering from lung disease caused by asbestos. The reality is that Pleural plaques are a sign of deep scarring to the lungs. Real physical injury, caused by long-term exposure to asbestos. And it causes significant mental anguish as well. Pleural Plaques victims have a dramatically higher chance of developing Mesothelioma – a lung cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. Many victims describe this as a ticking time bomb that infects their lives with fear – imagine living with the knowledge that your lungs had been irreversibly damaged by asbestos and you might be diagnosed with terminal cancer at any time. And tragically, I know of at least one sufferer who couldn’t live with the fear and took their own life. You can make a difference. We want the Government take action to reverse the Law Lords’ judgement and restore justice to those who deserve it – whose only ‘crime’ was to work with or near asbestos. The Scottish Parliament and the devolved administration in Northern Ireland have already done this – with your help we’ll get Whitehall to stop dragging their feet and get this sorted in England and Wales too. We are calling for justice for these working people who need our help. Please sign the petition http://unionstogether.org.uk/justice – and then ask your family and friends to sign it as well. Together we’ll send a powerful message to the Government – justice now.

Thank you for reading!

Sorry nothing today...

... my little girl is home sick, so I am playing nurse. I was hoping to get something done today to show, I did start colouring some images yesterday but you know when you get that 'DAY!' when nothing is going right, well yesterday was one of those days. So today I am going to do some relaxing, well as much as I can inbetween sick duty.

I managed to play a largish order for some stamps yesterday from PapertreyInk. Boy I love there stamps but for it to be visable in ordering, you really need to put in a big order. The postage can be a bit extreme for just a few sets. So I have those coming sometime, hopefully soon. Plus some other stamps I am going to try, Pink Cat Studio and also some Manga stamps from Funky Kits. Oooo I just can't wait for them all. Hopefully I will have something to share tomorrow, all being well with my little darling.

FOR SALE!!!!

It is with deepest regret that I am selling all my cartridges for my cricut. Now if you have one of these cute little machines and don't have many cartridges, then look no further. I am selling these purely because my cricut has died on me and I don't want to buy another because I don't use it very much. So here is the list of what is available:-

Accent Essentials

Paper Doll Dress Up

Walk in my Garden

Mini Monograms

Celebrations

Christmas Cheer

Tear Drop

George and basic shapes

Alphalicious

Tags, Bags, Boxes and more

Fabulous Finds

I would like £30 for each cartridge, this includes P+P (within the UK only) first class signed for. If your international you will need to email for postage as it would be more expensive.

Please email melanie.reid2@ntlworld.com if you are interested in any of them.

Little Peeps!

I have had this set for a while and haven't used it until now. My darling daughter has had her eyes on it though. For those who have children and are into crafting will know what I mean. I love my bright colours, so I though to use Rainbow Sherbet DSP.

Don't these stick people look cute, reminds me of LS Lowry, painting those match stick men.

Temping Turquoise, Apricot Appeal and whisper white cardstock. Rainbow Sherbet DSP, ribbon.

Enjoy!

Time......

....for some relaxation me thinks. The kids are at school, hubby is at work and its my ARRRRRHHHH!!!!! time. Just thought I would share another creation I have made.

Its using Sense of Time stamp set. Very basic layout and I have used one of my hodgepodge items. I know shock horror, I have used an embellishment. But these are so nice, I just couldn't resist. The card is real red, very vanilla and Kraft (which will be in the new catalogue, ssshhh). I love Kraft cardstock and its becoming one of the most popular colours for this season. I think I may be using this a bit more ;-)

Challenge!!!!

Well each week I get together with my ladies for a bit of craft and chat. Usually more chat than craft. Well last week, while chatting, I was making some samples and one said, she would like to see me just make a card at random using things SHE picked. So anything for a laugh, I agreed.

She picked a set and two colours. Live your Dream, Perfect Plum, Pale Plum and very vanilla. I wasn't allowed to use anything else. So this is what I came up with

Sorry about the photo, I am terrible at taking them. Should really go for some lessons. There was no backing paper, so I made my own using one of the stamps and my stamp-a-ma-jig.

Anyway, this has got me thinking. If you would like to see something made from your choice of stamp set (providing I have it of course, I have quite a few but shush don't want hubby to know) and colours from Stampin' Up! just leave me a comment and I will see what I can come up with. I think this could be a whole lot of fun, and If I pick your challenge, the card I make will be posted to you. I will contact you for addy, so no need to leave any details on the blog comments.

OK I am off to spend some time with the kids as they are home for the weekend.

Chrimbo......

......Is just around the corner. I know its a daunting thought but it will soon be here, 15 weeks to be exact. So I have made a start on my Christmas cards, didn't know where to start at first. So i checked out some sketch's and found the MojoMonday's Blog and took the first one I came to. I have never done these before, so its something I would like to keep doing. Mine is only a very simple take compared to the most advanced.

Stamp set used, Loads of Love and the accessories. Chocolate chip card, Holiday Treasures DSP. I used the paper piecing technique for the truck with some card to match the papers. Enjoy!

Ruby, Ruby, Ruby, Ruby!

Oh don't you just love that song, lol. Well actually it should be red, red, red, red! A friend of mine and her hubby are celebrating their Ruby Wedding Anniversary, Yes 40 whole years of marriage. Boy I will never get to that. Its such an achievement. Here is a card I have made them, just hope Royal Mail do there job and deliver it before they get back from their jollies.

I have used Real Red, So Saffron and whisper White cardstock. The designer paper is also So Saffron. The stamp set is Bloomin' with Beauty. Ribbon Real red grosgrain.

New Baby!

Well my niece finally parted with her baby and gave birth to a lovely baby girl. We all knew want she was having, hence the colours choosen on the nappy cake in a previous post.

So as my pre-order stamp stuff hadn't arrived I needed to make a card double quick. Here is what I made,

Both sets are now on the last chance list, Bundle of joy and Wild about you. The colours are Pretty in pink, Regal Rose, Rose Red and Whisper white.

I need to get it in the post today as she has just got home with new baby. I have some more cards to share but need to upload them. I now have to prep for tonights class and my NEW goodies have just landed along with my copy of the NEW catalogue, yippeee, I can see me working really quick now ;-)

Silhouettes?

Another of my favourite sets has to be Pocket Silhouettes. Its only small but the projects you can make are stunning (well its Stampin' Up! products aren't they ;-) )

I run a small class of crafters in my home and I made these three cards for our class. Now I cannot remember if one of the layouts was cased from another person's card or whether it was a sketch that I followed. As these where done some time ago now. So sorry for not given credit to that person.

This first one may of been a sketch from MojoMonday, but not 100% sure on that.

This second one I just wanted something simple and also to use my new nesties at the time.

This third one could be the one I cased, so if I did and you are reading, sorry but I just can't remember. That's one of the problems of nearly being 40, you loose your marbles. Hubby says its with having kids, lol. Anyway I am at the end of my scheduling blog posts for today, better get on with some creating. Back soon.

Summer

I know we haven't had much of it this year but then when do we?

I hope we get some sun soon, probably when the kids go back to school. Thankfully time is nearly here. Oh! Do I sound desperate for some peace and quiet?

A couple of months ago, I organised a swap on my Yahoo group that I run. There are some fabulous ladies on there, very talented. Anyway the theme was holiday. So I choose a summer one (well a girl can wish can't she, lol).

I have used Summer by the Sea stamp set along with Typeset Upper case, the papers are Junior Varsity. This was then posted off to my lovely swap partner, Pat.

Yes two days in a row, fingers crossed mr blogger works with the scheduling, lol.

At the same time I made the nappy cake I made two bags for my Great Nephew(3) and Great Neice (8). Now this was a hard task for Elvi as she is disabled. I wanted to make her something she could admire but also something she could use too. Her dexterity was my main concern because I had never met her until the day of my brothers funeral. (That is a long story so won't go into that now). Anyway I made her this

Now I just love this Daisy stamp, she is one of my favourites, just wish Stampin' Up! did stamps like this ;-) Tha background is created with Doodle that, again its one of my favourites but sadly its on the last chance list, boohoo. But I know there will be other stunning sets available to buy when the new catalogue is launched next month.

The second bag was a bit of a brain teaser as I wanted to create something boyish for my dear Great Nephew, who is just a so typical boy. So I followed my main design for Elvi's bag but mase the front and back in the shape of a football. Then each hexagon was cut and stuck down separately.

I filled both with bubbles, sweets and some handmade gifts. I know they both really enjoyed receiving them.

Cake Anyone?

Yes I can't believe it either, I have finally got the photo's off the camera and are going to share them. I know its taken me a long time to do this but with everything else that has going on things have just been left to slide. I have now decided its time to pick myself up and dust off those cobwebs and get crafting, after all they say its a great tonic.

About a month ago I made this lovely cake from nappies for my neice who was due on 27th August, she is still hanging on to that bump of hers, just hope its not too much longer for her. Anyway here is the cake and a few shots of the animals, sorry for the lighting, I really need to learn to take better pics.

Sorry but I wrapped it all before I took photo's,duh!

These are the animals I had stamped and cut out, they are from Wild about You.

I will have another posting for tomorrow if mr blogger lets me schedule it for then. Until then have a great day.