WOYWW - 30 November 2011

It’s Wednesday again, I just don’t know where the week has gone too.  It is going so quick – I can’t believe that it is December tomorrow.

As far as my workdesk goes I have been busy making Milk Cartons to contain Christmas Presents for the adults in the family.

I have now finished the 6 cartons for the Ladies and will be working on the cartons for the Men today.

This evening I will also be getting the Christmas Decorations out of the attic, the main decorations will go up at the weekend, however as tomorrow is 1 December, I need to get my Advent Calendar out and filled up ready for tomorrow.

I also will be starting work on a How To... for the Milk Cartons, including instructions for how to create a carton the size you want as well as using A5 & A4 card stock.

Blogaversary - I won the goodies

Earlier this month over on 'Crafty Sams' Blog I added a comment to her 1st Blogaversary ... and I won the goodies:

Shown in the picture is the Dairy Milk Bar - however by the time I took this picture the content was long gone :)

I'm now looking forward to using the stamps and the pens in particular, however I'm sure that all bits will be used.

Elephant Waterfall Card

I have finally got around to taking a photo of the waterfall card I created using the 4 Elephant images (Stamps from Little Claire Designs) and coloured using my ProMarkers.

I really love this card and think that it might be very hard to actually give it away to anyone.

I am submitting this card to the “I Love ProMarkers” challenge this week which is ‘Anything Goes’.

WOYWW - but on a Thursday

Yesterday I took a picture of my workdesk, however was not able to get it uploaded to the computer & added to the blog.

Yesterday evening I started to make Tall Milk Cartons (made from 12x12 cardstock rather than A4 cardstock).  Each carton will hold a selection of travel sized toiletries as Christmas Presents.

Here is my first completed carton; it was decorated with Christmas paper from one of the Do-Craft paper stacks.

How To... Create a Waterfall Card

I thought it was time for another How To, I don't know about you but I think Waterfall cards look great, in turn they also look so difficult to make.

After watching several different tutorials on YouTube (the best I found was on 'Dawn's Stamping Thoughts') I made a few tweaks and came up with this list of instructions for myself, I then did it all again adding pictures to each instruction. 

This will probably be a long post but that is due to the number of pictures and not because it is difficult to make a Waterfall Card.

The first thing to do is to cut the pieces of card you will need to create the Waterfall.

You will need:

White Card - 4.5cm x 4.5cm (4 pieces)

Dark Green Card - 5cm x 5cm (4 pieces)

Dark Green Card - 2cm x 10cm

Light Green Card - 5cm x 23cm

You then need to create the image to be shown on each of the Waterfall steps, for this I used a set of Christmas stamps and added a image to each of the White Card squares.

I then matted the White Card squares onto the Dark Green Card squares. This creates each of the images to be used as my Waterfall steps.

Take the long piece of Light Green Card and score at 5cm, 7cm, 9cm & 11 cm.

These measurements are based on having 4 steps to my Waterfall Card.

The width of 5cm can be changed to any width to suit the images you want to use for the Waterfall steps.

The height of the Waterfall step image you use should match the first point you score on this strip (My images are 5cm high, so my first score is at 5cm).  If your image is taller you will need to amend your score lines (leaving 2cm for each step), in addition you may need to shorten or lenghten the overall size of this piece of card.

Once scored fold both ways at each score line.

Fold the strip along the last score line, you will find that the un-scored section is slightly longer than the section that has been scored.

Put a piece of Double Sided Tape under the first score line.

The easiest way to build the Waterfall steps is to start at the bottom, so fix the Bottom step first.

Line the image up with the bottom of the score line.

 

Repeat the last steps for each of the Waterfall steps.

Turn the Waterfall over and add a strip of Double Sided Tape 1/2 way between the bottom section (at about 2-3cm).

Centre and stick the narrow strip of Dark Green Card to this tape.

This will create the 'edge' for your Waterfall to flow over.

 

Introduce the Waterfall to your Card blank, and decided where you want the Waterfall to be positioned.

To operate the Waterfall you need to pull on the back tab (the light green card you can see at the bottom of the waterfall) so this needs to either have a tail for people to pull or it needs to be at the bottom of the card.

Using either brads or eyelets secure the Waterfall to the Card using the wings either side of the Waterfall 'edge'.

 

 

Unfold the back of the Waterfall from behind the 'Edge'.

Using a circle punch create a cut out to allow the bottom of the waterfall to be pulled.

Feed the back of the Waterfall back behind the 'Edge'.

I completed my card by adding the words 'Pull Me' to the bottom tab & adding a Christmas Greeting.

 

Once you have grasped how simple a Waterfall card is to create you can start making them for all occasions.

This one uses Prima Flowers & Gems in place of the stamped images and I punched a whole and added some wool to the bottom tab to allow you to pull the Waterfall steps over the edge.



The Return of Sidney

This post is for DH...

It is official, Sidney has returned, Bigger and Badder than before... & he has a new friend.

DH has been told that he no longer has just 1 stone, he has 2!!!!

Sidney is now 11mm & this second stone is about 5mm - So I have decided that as DH named Sidney, it should be up to me to name Sidney's new friend.

I therefore spent some time thinking of various names... and finally decided on.............

Sophie

I hope DH approves of the name I have given the smaller stone :) 

What a Day!!

The good news is that on the whole today has been better than yesterday.

After a quick visit to the local NHS Walk-In Centre, I was booked in and seen in less time than it would have taken me to try and arrange to see my local GP... + 10 points for the NHS :)

Even better news, I don't have a throat infection, but do possibly have a virus, and antibiotics would do no good (more good news - so far so good).

I headed home to wait for a phone call from DH to say that he has been set free from hospital. At 10am he phoned to say that after he had an x-ray the Drs would give him the Ok to leave and completed all of the relevant paperwork (even more good news).

By 1pm DH had been to x-ray & had his picture taken and was waiting for the Drs to return to the ward to review his notes.

At 5pm DH gave me another call, the Drs had not returned to the ward to review his notes & do the paperwork.  Drugs that he should have been prescribed were not, and the pharmacy staff had finished for the day!!!  When I arrived on the ward at 6.20pm to visit & find out what was happening the Drs had gone home - this meant that DH could not go home!!

As I am sure you can imagine DH was not impressed (and neither was I!) -10 points for the NHS :(

The only thing we can do now is wait until the ward round tomorrow morning to find out if they will get the paperwork done tomorrow so he can come home.

It is now 11pm & I have spent the last 1.5 hours at my craft desk taking pictures for another 'How To...'.  Last night after getting back from the hospital I finally figured out how to create a Waterfall Card.  After watching a video tutorial on YouTube I have made a few tweaks and am going to create my own 'How To... Create a Waterfall Card' using plenty of pictures.

Now I have taken the pictures, all I have to do is put them on the computer and add the instructions, which will be a job for tomorrow morning.

The next bit of good news is that I am feeling better in myself and feeling more like me, even though my voice sounds very husky - DH calls it my 0898 voice :)

Once again my positive message at the end of today...

Tomorrow Will be a better day!

Welcome to 'Stupid O'Clock'

Yes it's me again, and I'm up and about at a stupid time of day - 4am.

My throat is so sore that I keep waking up when trying to swallow.  I have just been down stairs and made myself a cup of 'Peach & Mango' tea with a large tea spoon of honey - in the hope that this will help me to swallow easier (and get some more sleep).

In the mean time I thought that I would make use of the time waiting for my tea to cool by adding a quick post and doing a bit of Blog Hopping.

See you tomorrow - or should that be later today????

I'm Feeling Down

Just a quick update on DH, he does have a bigger kidney stone than before, this time it is 11mm (I just picked up a ruler and 11mm is huge!!!!).

DH was taken to surgery this afternoon and has had another stent fitted (not such so good news) and has been told that in 4-6 weeks he will be back in hospital to have laser treatment to shatter the stone. I one respect this is good news, but the timescale of 4-6 weeks takes us up to Christmas week - again not so good news.

Hopefully DH will be allowed to come home tomorrow, but we will just have to wait for the ward round to take place tomorrow. 

In the mean time to top it all off I have had a sore throat since the weekend and I have noticed this evening that the back of my throat has white patches, last time I had this it meant a trip to the Dr for antibiotics... so guess what I will be doing at 08:30 tomorrow morning!  Trying to get a Dr appointment for tomorrow, failing that I might just nip down to the local 'NHS Walk-In Centre' & just wait to be seen.

So all in all I'm feeling a bit down, added to that the silence of being in the house on my own.  My anxiety is at a level that I can cope with (about 2 out of 10) so not a big deal, but I just feel like sitting in a corner and crying my eyes out.

On a final positive note... Tomorrow WILL be a better day.

WOYWW - 16 November 2011

It is now a more civilised time on Wednesday and I have had some sleep & visited DH in Hospital.  I am now back home to quickly upload my photos take of my desk & grab some more sleep.

I decided for What's On My Workdesk Wednesday that I would take a photo of my desk from a slightly different angle, why, cause I felt like it :)

So this week it is a bit of a mess, well the right hand side of my desk it.  Each time we have a take-away from the local Chinese I keep the plastic boxes to use for storage.  I now have quite a collection and some even contain 'stuff' and they are labeled.  All I need to do now is to sort out the shelf in the background to put them all on.

I have been wanting to have a go at a Waterfall Card for a while, and even brought this Papermania template, I have just sat and cut out all of the pieces in a white paper to see how it work, however it does not seem to be very smooth - I have seen various videos on the YouTube and think that I need to go back and have a look again.

If anyone has a tutorial/video on their Blogs can you please let me know by email or in the comments :) Many thanks.

These delightful Elephants (from Little Claire Designs) are what I want to use as the feature on my Waterfall Card.  Just looking at them makes me smile :)

This is a quick post & I will show you the finished Waterfall Card, when it gets done.

TTFN

Am I Too Early...

I know that it is technically Wednesday, but I think I might be a bit too early for the What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday!

The reason I am posting this at 04.08AM - yes in the morning (other wise known as 'Silly O'Clock') is that I am wide awake after getting back from A&E.

I arrived at A&E at about 1.30am with DH, he has got all of the symptoms of another Kidney Stone (or maybe it is Sidney returning???).

He has now been taken on to the Surgical Emergency Assessment Unit and I have got home and plan to go to bed, as I have not really had much sleep.

Well that was the plan, however, I now find myself wide awake! Typical! I have made myself a cuppa and thought that I would just add this quick post before checking emails (and maybe doing a quick Blog Hop) I will then try and get some sleep.

As the famous saying goes 'I Will Be Back' - later to take a picture of my Workdesk.

TTFN

In the Top 3

As I was playing catch up looking at Blog Posts over the weekend I was amazed to find that I was mentioned on the Little Claire Monthly Challenge Post...

I was in the Top Three... how amazing is that!!!!!!!!

Last month I uploaded 3 photos of cards I had made for their Christmas Challenge.  One of them was 'Flower Power' featuring a Little Claire digi stamp.

I am now off to ge the 'Blinkie from the Little Claire site and add it to my Blog.

What a great start to the week :)

11am on the 11.11.11

On Remembrance Day it is traditionally a time for remembering all those who have served in the Armed Forces and made the ultimate sacrifice.

In my direct family history there is only 1 person I have found so far who served his country and did not come home:

Harry Walter Hills who died in 1917 in France.

We have a team meeting today at work, however our Manager has decided that we will be having a ‘Comfort Break’ between 10:50 & 11:10 so that anyone can take part in the silence.

As for me, well I will take my self off to a quiet corner of the building and just think about Harry Walter and all the other thousands (if not millions) who have given their life for this country.

We will remember them.

10 Things... November 2011

For this months 10 Things... I decided to use a visit to Bletchley Park as an inspiration - it seems that our visit on the 15th October was so long ago, but it was such an amazing place I had to mention more about it.  So may I present....

10 Things About Bletchley Park:

1.   Bletchley Park is an estate on the edge of Milton Keynes, the Estate was included in the Domesday Book in 1086 and has had a number of owners over the years

2.   The Mansion that you see today was build by Sir Herbert Leon and includes over 30 different architectural styles

The Mansion has been added onto over the years, each time Herbert Leon went away traveling the world , he would come back and ask for changes to be made to the original design.  So the builders could make the changes he would have to go traveling again... and so the cycle continued.

3.   During World War II Bletchley Park was the home to the Government Code & Cypher School (GC&CS) when a number of wooden huts were erected

4.   There were approx 9,000 staff working at Bletchley, in 3 shifts of 3,000. All staff working at Bletchley Park lived in the local area (many staying with local families)

5.   The Daily Telegraph organised a competition, and anyone who was able to solve the Crossword in under 12 minutes was asked to submit the completed crossword & the time they took to the newspaper.  Many people were then contacted to ask if they would be prepared to undertake 'a particular type of work as a contribution to the war effort'.

6.   The staff were all working towards reading German messages sent using the Enigma Machines, as well as working to create the first ever Computer (Colossus).

7.   Mathematician Alan Turing created the 'Bombe' a electromechanical machine that was able to find settings for the Enigma machines. 

Alan Turing was an amazing Mathematician however he died in 1954 (aged 41 years) from Cyanide poising. An inquest determind that he had committed suicide. This statue in at Bletchley Park is made from slate.

8.   Bletchley Park has now re-built a working 'Bombe' for visitors to see.

This is the Bombe from the front, this device would search for the rotor settings for the German Enigma machines. It looks simple doesn't it?

This is the view of the back of the device... maybe not so simple after all!

9.   Due to the security surrounding the Code Breaking at Bletchley Park (all staff had to sign the Official Secrets Act - and were told never to discuss their work outside their section) very little was known about Bletchley and the work carried out there.

10.   Ian Flemming (author of the James Bond books) was involved with Bletchley Park and had instigated 'Operation Ruthless' to obtain details of the Enigma codes used by the German Navy.  Although his work in Navel Intelligence provided background for many of the James Bond books he never broke the Official Secrets Act!

I have just realised that I have now listed 10 Things... but I have not touched the tip of the iceberg.  Also at Bletchly Park you will find the following:

• Bletchley Park Post Office (open on Sundays!)
• Winston Churchill Exhibit
• Toy & Memorabilia Collection
• Bletchley Park Garage
• Diplomatic Wireless Service - Original wireless & landline communication equipment
• Colossus Rebuild Project
• Home Front Display
• The National Museum of Computing
• Model Railway
• Pigeons at War Exhibition

We could not believe how much there was to see... we did ended up running out of energy & time, so we will just have to go back for another visit.  The good news is that you entry fee gives you 1 year of access and you can visit as many times in that year as you want!!!!

At the moment Bletchley Park is trying to raise £1.7 million to match money awarded by the National Lottery so if you feel like a day out (or 2 :) ) we can highly recommend it as a place to visit.

WOYWW - 09 November 2011

I can't believe it is Wednesday again, it does not seem like a week since last Wednesday.  But I guess it must be!

So, that means it is time to join the WOYWW crew.

My workdesk looks a bit of a mess, but that is only because it is so small - honest :)

Most of the space is taken up with my little green Bug, I wanted to cut more of the Sizzix Tags in white paper so that I can either colour them with my Distressing Inks, chalk or ProMarkers to match various cards.

While the Bug is out I also want to cut some flowers and other bits, again in White so that I can match the colours depending on the card I am making.

I have done a couple of cards this week, but have not yet got round to taking pictures of them.  I have been able to create my card 'Insert' templates on the computer and am in the process of cutting normal copy paper down to size and testing out the layout and size of the inserts.  I have done the A6 size inserts and are happy with them, now the other sizes need to be finished.

Maybe I will attempt to sort out a few more now...

A Busy Weekend

This was due to be posted yesterday - but it did not appear...
---------

This weekend has been a busy one, but I have not done any crafting. 

On Friday DH & I drove down to Longstanton, Cambridgeshire to attend a Heritage Society Meeting.  In September 2010 DH & a group of others were given the opportunity to help recover a crashed Lancaster from a remote area of Scotland.  After a weekend away they returned happy but knackered!!.

As a result of this, DH has developed a great interest in the history of this particular Lancaster and its history (and that of the crew of 7 men who all died in the crash).

DH did a talk to the Cambrdigeshire Family History Society at the end of last year, and he had been invited to the Longstanton Heritage Society to repeat the talk. 

It was a very enjoyable evening and those who attended the talk were very interested and found the talk DH gave very good, especially as he focused on the crew as well as the aircraft.

We then stayed with my Mum & Dad overnight, and spent some of saturday with them, returning home late Saturday evening.

As for Sunday... well it was spent doing the various jobs that need to be done each weekend, such as the washing, ironing and generally getting ready for work today.

I hope to get some time over the next couple of evenings to do some craft, providing that life & work don't get in the way too much.

Less is More - Stars (2)

The Less is More challenge this week is...

*Stars*

I  have created 2 cards this week both of which feature Stars, this is the second:



Ok, I know that the star is only little, but there is one on the top of the tree :)

I used a white Sizzix tag for the main center point of this card, the edges were distressed with my Tim Holtz ink and the image was then stamped & coloured using my ProMarkers. The tag was then finished with a piece of Candi in Christmas colours.

I found some ribbon which was then stuck on the edge and a peel-off sentiment added.

This card was due to be for the 'I love ProMarkers' challenge as well (the topic was Tags), but I did not upload it in time & the challenge has now changed :(

I think out of all the Christmas cards I have created this year, this one is my favorite!!!

Less is More - Stars (1)

The Less is More challenge this week is...

*Stars*

I  have created 2 cards this week both of which feature Stars, this is the first:

 My card features a Sizzix 'Tag folder' with a Sizzix tag.  I stampted and coloured the stars on the front of the folder (and when you remove the tag you see another couple of stars on the inside/back of the folder - but I forgot to take a photo of this, so you will have to take my word :) ).

This is the front of the tag, the stamp came free with one of the magazines this month.

This is the back of the tag, again the stamp was free with a magazine (and includes a star on top of the christmas tree)

WOYWW - 02 November 2011

As far as What's On My Workdesk this Wednesday, the answer is nothing.  The bags are packed ready for a Crop this evening however I'm not sure how much will be created tonight.

The reason for the lack of photo and possibly the lack of Scrapping this evening is that I did not get to bed until 1am this morning, as DH & some friends had been in Nottingham yesterday evening to watch a concert...

Ok yes the picture proves that I was there (and we had great seats!!!) but it is very difficult to see who is on stage...

The pictures are not the best, but hopefully you can see who it is... for those of you how still don't know it was Bruno Mars.

We had a great evening I loved his music (even if it was a bit loud) & he performed many of his songs from the album, including my favorite 'The Lazy Song' (which sums up the way I feel this morning).

As for the morning after I am struggling on and trying to stay awake!!  But it was worth it.

14th Anniversary

This is the second post for today...

Today 14 years ago DH asked me to marry him, and my answer was… YES J

We had spent the day at the Raptor Foundation working with the Birds of Prey, at the end before we headed home I went to give a European Eagle Owl called Gus a cuddle, Gus was our European Eagle Owl’s father.

While I held Gus and we had a 3 way hug (yes you can do this with an owl – provided they don’t mind!) DH asked “Will you M…?”

I was so eager to answer with “Yes” that I did not even let him finish the question, I was so sure that I knew what he was going to say.

It is now a standing joke that DH never did ask me to ‘Marry’ him but was going to ask “Will you Make me a cup of Coffee?”  Despite this we did get married 8 months later J

RIP Sidney (the Kidney Stone)

This is the first of two posts today...

This is an update on Sidney, DH’s kidney stone… after a visit to hospital yesterday for another lithotripsy session a x-ray revealed that Sidney was no longer in DH’s the kidney.

The lithotripsy appointment earlier this month did the trick and over the last 2-3 weeks Sidney has disintegrated into little bits.

We were not expecting this outcome, so in the end DH did not receive any lithotripsy and had the stent removed.

DH has recovered from the procedure very quickly and is now feeling better than he has in months.

I can definitely say that we will be celebrating the death of Sidney at the weekend and are not sorry to see him go.