An Item Each Day Of The Year: 2011

Sunday, 31 July 2011

Busy Busy Busy

Good morning to you all,

This week has been quite a hectic one with my children all being on school holidays, my car breaking down, getting towed off the motorway, paying a fortune to get it removed, hiring a van to take items out of it and also going to the car the other day to find that some scally has stolen it for scrap. Haha i hear you say noooooooooo its not a lie it all happened this week. Just another week of my life.
That's not all, i was busy completing my first edition of the NCT (local) newsletter and to top everything off because we didn't have a car sorted until the Friday i was biking everywhere with my children. (Shattering)
Oh yes i decided to wake up on Wednesday and take take the children (except my eldest because she was doing her volunteering work) to Liverpool for the day. This was a lovely day out except we missed 2 trains home so didn't get home until gone 10.30pm.
Amongst all this i, believe it or not actually managed to make some craft item which i will upload later on (when i get round to photographing)
So now its Sunday morning (31st July 2011) and I'm up early with the baby but all he wants to do is make me sit in his little tykes playhouse and make cups of tea. That's all good and well except I'm nearly 6 foot so its slightly cramped inside.
I live the life of a mad red head with mad children and things you wouldn't believe that happen to me.
So today's Sunday, a day of rest or so i wish, hope and pray for, but in reality i know that won't happen for me. Probably another bike ride or i may drag the children to a big park to play.
Yesterday i went with all my kids to the beach in anglesey which after 3 attempts we found a lovely beach, although it took us 3 hours driving for a 1 hour journey. Like i said my life is very unpredictably funny but its my life and I LOVE IT.!!!!!!

Me and my baby boy on the beach

Me and my eldest (my baby girl) on the beach

Just about to get on the big wheel at Liverpool with my girls

Love and blessings
Sarah
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Sunday, 24 July 2011

The end of a good time

It is with a sad heart that i now am giving up my challenge. This is for many reasons, but the main instigator is that my mother was taken into hospital 6 weeks ago and because i was back and too at least 2 -3 times a day i have been struggling with time. Running a family, a home and taking care of my mother who is now on the mend has been a very hard and challenging time. I am very sad that i cannot carry on this challenge but it has proven to me that having a large family and commiting to such a challenge, fun though its been can be very hard to carry on with especially when other things, problems get thrown into the equation.
I will carry on blogging and carry on making items but i wont be committing myself to getting stressed with making one item each day. This is probably a good challenge for someone who has no children or maybe one or two and no other commitments.
I will be blogging my items that i have done over the next week so watch this space.
Thank you to all my supporters i really appreciate everyone who has been following me.

Thank you all !!!!!!!

Love
Sarah xxxxxxxx

Saturday, 4 June 2011

Week 21 and 22

Hello dear bloggers and how are you all???? It's been a hectic busy couple of weeks in my household. We've had exams for the oldest 2, lots of different appointments, ferrying my mum about, parties, and school holidays so all in all a couple of busy weeks. This is why, yet again i am combining 2 weeks into one post. I decided to have a bit of a change and create some jewellery but i have concentrated on rings. As time has been limited some of my items only took upto 30 minutes to make and some a bit less. Although some a bit more so again i ask for you all to comment and let me have feedback on my items. PLEASE.
Before i upload my pictures i will just tell you about the course both myself and my daughter are going on this week. This i a card making course although i have not yet been on one of these in depth courses so i am hoping to pick up quite a few ideas and tips.
Watch and See
Anyway as bugs bunny Say's 'Thats all folks'
Love and hugs and see you all soon.
Sarah
xxxxxx

This was a ring i made for my 10 year old daughter. She has worn it ever since i have made it and all her ffriends have commented on how they want one for their birthdays

I was on a roll so i decided to make another one just incase we have any birthdays coming up soon

Good old wirework ring.

Beautiful green gem ring

Same as above but with lace added

Red rose Ring. This is quite large

Handmade bow ring with sewn beads on

Button bead ring

Love heart button ring

Flower button ring

Wire work necklace with red beads

Another wirework ring with a bell on the end

Butterfly and hearts steampunk bracelet

Key to my heart bracelet

Saturday, 21 May 2011

Week 20

Its funny how you can get so involved with a craft even when you have never had an interest in it before. This week i have developed my obsession and carried on with card making and i have even booked myself on a course. Again this week i have spent more money, bought more magazines and read (well flicked through) lots of books. Its amazing the scope you get with card making and your imagination knows no limits. I've begun a craft i honestly thought i would never attempt (mostly because my partners ex use to make cards and he always comment how boring she was). I was not good at art when i was at school although i loved drawing but with card making i have been able to draw with the stamps and colour the pictures in.
What i have also found quite shocking is how expensive die cutting machines can be. I bought an embossing machine last week for £20 but when i looked into the price of die cutters i was stunned on how much they cost and the accessories (templates) too.
So i have decided to use a Stanly knife and cut my costs. I also fancy trying scrap booking although i will need to look into that first before i begin.
So here are my cards from this week, including today (saturday) so i have 8 items. Hope you enjoy looking and see you next week
lots of love
Sarah
xxxxxxx

I used my flower stamp to cut out the edges.

I embossed this card then for an added affect lightly charked over the card with darker chalking over the butterflys

I added chalk to the embossed writing

Saturday, 14 May 2011

Week 19

This week i have managed to keep my blog up to date (so a round of applause for me teehee) but i have managed to venture into the unknown and try out a new craft. This week i threw myself into card making. This, i thought, would be simple and quite an easy craft to undertake but in Sarah style nothing is ever easy. What better way to begin a new craft than to go and buy a couple of magazines with simple step by step instructions. I didn't just buy a couple of magazines though i also spent a small fortune on cards, stamps, embossing machine, embossing pads, stickers etc.
I never realised just how much a new Craft costs and just how many new items i would need to buy. I suppose if you just want to make a couple of cards you only need a small starter pack but i love to have a variety of items when making things so i just thought why not build up my collection and buy what i am drawn to.
So back to the cards, as it turned out one of my daughters had a couple of friends birthdays this week so she made the present and i used this opportunity to begin my week of card making. I allowed myself 30 minutes each day this week because over the week i have been struggling with my organisation so with 30 minutes each evening (or more if i had the time) i managed to start my craft at 9pm each night.
I have thoroughly enjoyed making cards and this morning took another trip to our local craft shop to purchase some more stamps and water colour pencils.

Anyway enough typing now and on with the pictures.

Enjoy looking and i will see you all next week.

Take Care
Lots of Love
Sarah
xxxxxxxxxxxx

This was the first card i attempted using a stamp and colouring in the bits which needed colour. Stamping is addictive

I wanted to make girly cards so i thought what better way but to make a ballet dress card. I bought all the bits and then glued them onto the card

This technique uses sticking pictures ontop of each one.

I made this card with my new embossing machine. LOVE IT!!!!! I cut the hearts out by hand and glued them onto the card

Again i used my embossing machine and coloured in some of the flowers

This too was using my embossing machine with butterflys glued back over

And last but not least i cut out all the shapes by hand and stamped on the card.

Sunday, 8 May 2011

Weeks 15, 16,17 and 18 all rolled into one

Okay so it has been a while, a month to be exact but things have been hectic although that is no excuse. April is not a good month in my household, its a sad month so because of that and lots of other things i have not had the time or patience to upload my blog. So i have included four week into this post (lots of pictures).
As you will see from the pictures most of my items are jewellery, this is mainly because i have limited time each day to make items (although i did manage it) so i choose the things which i found easier to make. I do still intend on making lots of different crafts and get myself booked onto lots of different courses. This month has seen lots of different things also happening in my household. My baby has grown into a little monkey who needs watching all and i mean ALL the time. He now love climbing on chairs and tables and doing anything he shouldn't. Today he took to biting his sister which she didn't take kindly too as you can imagine. He is still only little and at 16 months old has a very old head on his shoulders.
I've also had lots of homework because of my breastfeeding course and to make things even harder on myself i took over the role of newsletter editor for our local branch of the NCT. In between all this i have been attending fashion shows with my daughter, lots of the usual kiddy appointments, running round like a crazy mum and even found time to ride my pushbike everyday for 30 minutes.
WOW i feel exhausted just writing this let alone doing it all. I never realised just how hectic my life can be but i suppose being a mum to 5 children its part and parcel.
So anyway back to the crafts, i haven't put a big description on each but if anyone reading this wants any more information please just contact me
So for now i will let you get on with looking at the 28 pictures and bid you goodnight.
Lots of love
Sarah xxxxxx