Guess who's back? Back again!

Hello Blogland!

I have missed you all...I can't believe its been 6 months, where has the time gone?

Lana is growing into a cheeky little monkey...at the moment we are tackling teeth, weaning and crawling. Its all going on in the Bartlett household.

Anyway...I've been saving up some crafty projects to share with you.  Now, there aren't many but a few non the less.  I'm currently working on my new website and shop which is all very exciting but it all takes time...hopefully in the next couple of weeks i'll have something to show you.

So lets go all the way back to May, Adam and I celebrated 6 years together...boy how times have changed.  I dug out some lovely Papertrey Ink products and created this CAS card for him.

Ever since having Lana I seem to be a huge fan of simple designs, maybe thats because I don't get the time!

For this card I used a plain kraft background and then die cut two hearts using Papertrey Inks Limitless layers hearts.  I found this amazing glittery card stock in Hobbycraft in one of their bargain bins - I've used it a lot.  Yes your hands get covered in glitter but it is so worth it! To finish it off I used bountiful banners stamp set and die. I LOVE THIS SET! It is so versatile I can't wait to use it some more.  I used foam pads on the banner just to add a bit of dimension.

Ahhh it feels so good to be sharing again! I've really missed blogging and all the lovely comments! Hoping to join in a few challenges too in the next few months! YAY!

xx

A New Arrival...

Evening all..

Hope you are all well!

So I'm stealing some time away to tell you all our good news! I'm a mummy!!! At long last she arrived! After a very quick labour we welcomed our daughter Lana Eve Bartlett into the world on Tuesday 19th March 2013 at 10.26pm weighing 8lb 1oz! We're all doing well, apart from a slight lack of sleep.  She's beautiful and we're completely besotted! I thought I'd share a couple of soppy pics with you.

Thats it for now...I've been catching time between her naps to do some crafting, its amazing how kind people are so I'm working on some nice and CAS thank you cards, I will try and share them next week with you!

Have a great weekend.

Kate

A Big Flowery Thank you...

Hey Everybody...

Just a quick post from me today...I thought I share with you today some thank you cards that I actually made a month or so ago but haven't had chance to blog about yet...

They were extremely simple to make and great for making in bulk, which I tend to do for thank you cards, theres always something to be thankful for!

I made them using a selection of pink and orange tone paper from Pink Petticoat, Liz really is my go to for patterned paper, there is always something that is exactly what I need.  I die cut flowers from Papertrey Inks' notched flowers and beautiful blooms and layered them up.  The leaves were also die cut from a selection of patterned and plain cardstock using the "sending you" die.  The flowers I finished off with colour co ordinating buttons and button twine.  I decided to stitch round the base using hot pink - just for a change and stamped a sentiment using a typewriter font alphabet.  And voila...perfect and versatile thank yous!

I'm currently working on some baby projects.   Hopefully i'll be back with you all soon!

Take Care

Kate

Happy Mother's Day...

Hello everyone!

Just wanted to stop by today to share with you my creations I made for Mothers Day! This year Mothers Day is obviously slightly different for me! Although my little bundle hasn't arrived yet...she some how still managed to send me a card- what a clever little pickle she is!

So anyway enough of my dribble back to my cards. I had a bit of a spending spree at Pink Petticoat yesterday- for the first time in a while I had no real idea of what I wanted to create. Normally I have some sort of mental image- but I didn't so I ended up purchasing a few new bits and bobs and then have a play around! My first card I made using a Kraft card base and added to it lilac quatrefoil paper which I stitched. I also received my Papertrey Ink order this week which included the lovely stamp set from Maile Belles- Mini Blooms, I couldn't wait to use it. I finished it with the new "Simply Happyness" sentiments from Liz at Pink Petticoat, some adhesive gems and trusty button twine.

For my second card I used my favourite chevron paper in Pink. I made some really sweet felt flowers using Papertrey Inks fab felt- it's great quality and comes it so many colours it's easy to become addicted. I found the die from Tracy at Dies to die for - she does a great range of dies that are tricky to get hold of. I decorated them with some pretty gems and some hand cut leaves. Finally for the sentiment I copied and pasted into word to make it slightly bigger and printed on to Kraft card.

That's all from me today! Hope all you Mummies had a lovely day!

I'll be back soon.

Kate

Baby Shower Favours...

So as I mentioned in my first post back... I'm expecting a baby! YAY!

We're into the home stretch now, everything is almost ready, the nursery furniture is in and assembled.  I have started the mountains of washing in preparation ( I better get used to it I suppose) The house is busting at the seems with nappies and all sorts of lotions and potions and I've finally started to get excited about our imminent arrival!

A couple of weeks ago my lovely work friend Abbie helped me organize my baby shower! I wasn't completely sure what to expect as I've never attended one before and this is my first child it was all a bit new.  We decided to go with a full on pink tea party theme - why not hey! The table was full of homemade sandwiches and cake, pink balloons and bunting strung up everywhere! It was such a lovely day - so many people turned up I was completely overwhelmed by it all.

The only thing I had to do was organize the party favours - which of course I didn't mind, any excuse to be crafty is fine with me! I did struggle at first to come up with an idea of what to do...I knew it had to be something I could mass produce, we were expecting around 30 people and therefore it had to be fairly cheap.  So this is what I came up with...

Using a combination of products from my favourite Papertrey Ink and Pink Petticoat I managed to create these cute sweet bags.  I printed some of my favourite patterns from Liz at Pink Petticoat in various shades of pink and created a fold over to seal the glassine bags - after obviously filling them with various PINK sweets! I stapled to secure the card and punched a couple of holes in the top which I then threaded with button twine before adding the tag.  I had to incorporate my beloved kraft card somewhere.  I die cut hearts from left over pink paper added a few gems and a sentiment - thank you seemed appropriate!  I couldn't resist finishing them off with these plastic pink dummies that I found from a online party shop - adding a bit of fun to proceedings!

And that was that - 30 bags later and fairly easy to mass produce.

What do you think? I was rather chuffed with the end result and I have to say my friends were too!

Thanks for reading

Kate
xx

Belated Valentines...

Ok so I'm a couple of days late but as far as I'm concerned its the weekend of love too!

So I'm a bit of a sucker for sending my friends little gifts in the post...handmade of course! I've been a bit off my game recently and missed the opportunity of doing anything for Christmas so I was extra determined to do Valentines day!

I filled jam jars with cherry lips and heart throbs- and decorated the jars with the lovely Waterfall Hearts from Pink Petticoat, die cut some extra sparkly hearts from some bargain paper I found at hobby craft and finished it with my favourite button twine!

Obviously you can't send a gift without a card!! I wanted a simple design that I could reproduce quickly! I die cut some more sparkly hearts- god I love how sparkly it is! And some smaller hearts from some pink scraps and stamped my sentiment on to a white base which I added too red and hot pink card base- voila!

All packaged and sent...it's always nice to send some love to your favourites!!

Products:
Dies: Papertrey Ink - Heart Prints, Tiny Tags
Card: Raspberry Fizz, Classic Kraft and  Pure Poppy Papertrey Ink, Waterfall Hearts in Crimson - Pink Petticoat, Glitter card from Hobby Craft, White 300gsm card stock
True Black ink - Papertrey Ink
Button Twine from The Ribbon Reel
Adhevsive gems - various
Heartthrobs and Cherry Lips from The Candy Shop

Long lost blogger...

Hello…

Long time no blogging!

So where have you been I hear you cry! After a really busy couple of months in the summer making wedding invitations and table plans for 3 weddings, and also finding out I’m pregnant, crafting took a bit of a back burner.

My motivation has diminished greatly and I’ve been taking time getting ready for our baby girl – Due in March!

I’ve still been dabbling and checking out lots of craft blogs and much to Adams despair purchasing bits and pieces that have caught my eye.  I am happy to say I seem to have found some mojo – I can’t guarantee how long this will last with everything that is happening but I shall be around for a bit at least.

Seeing as its Valentines day, and I’m a sucker for romance I couldn’t resist sharing some crafty treats with you today.  As I didn’t want to bleat on at you for pages, I shall be back later with some love themed creations.

Kate

xx