News, Reviews and winter blues...

Hello crafty peeps and welcome to my crafty nook! I hope you are all having a good week, it's very dull and gloomy here on the Yorkshire Coast and as so often happens it's having a detrimental effect on my mood. I'm feeling very 'meh' at the moment and as a result I'm not done a great deal of crafting (in fact I've not finished a single card/project). I have pretty much got everything back in my crudy though it was a bit of a tight squeeze as the new radiators are further out then the original ones and I've not been able to put things back as they originally were. I'm actually quite pleased about that though because I prefer the way I have it now as it's a little more streamlined. Lol - if anyone apart from me went in there I doubt they'd notice the 'streamlined' areas because it's still very cluttered and unless I have a major personal paradigm shift, it's always going to be that way. The fact of the matter is I like clutter, I find it very comforting to have a lot of stuff around me whether it be books, cushions or craft stuff. It's true I'm not the best housewife (is there anything more tedious or repetitive than cleaning??) and perhaps if I had less stuff it would be easier to keep clean (I really hate dusting which is strange because pre marriage I loved it!) but the thought of going down the KonMari route (do I love my iron - no but that doesn't mean I don't need it ffs!!) or even worse the 'Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning' (have you heard about that?? Decluttering your stuff, leaving the bare minimum so your loved ones don't have to deal with your 'mess' once your dead. Okay so I'm supposed to not be surrounded by things that make me happy just so someone else doesn't have to deal?? *rolls eyes* honestly has no one heard of house clearance firms??) I'm not saying don't declutter is that's what you want to do but I'm getting a bit fed up of having minimalism shoved down my throat, if you have lots of spare cash (and does anyone these days??) then maybe getting rid of things you've not used in a year or that 'fills you with joy when you see/touch/think about it' is workable but sometimes it's better to have something and not need it then to need something and not have it - plus my personal motto is probably 'Be Prepared'  (Thank you Brown Owl. And Lord Baden Powell of course!). For example I might not use my electric drill from one year to the next but that doesn't mean I should get rid of it - if I need a drill the last thing I'd want to do is go to the expense of buying another one or try to borrow one (what if there were a Zombie Apocalypse or alien invasion and I needed to seal off the windows and doors with planks of wood - good luck doing that without a drill! - hmm unlikely it's true but it's better to be prepared just in case *winks* - I may read too many trashy novels and/or watch too much trashy TV!). Oddments of paint - that's another thing I wouldn't want to get rid off and it's a good job I haven't! I'm not sure if it was deliberate but the plumber fitting the radiators managed to get every single one only nearly but not quite in the exact spot as the original and because they are all further out then the first ones, it's left an unpainted area around most of radiators that is very noticeable especially in the bathroom and lounge. Now at some point we'll have to strip the wallpaper off in the bathroom and redecorate because it's just bare wall around the radiator now but because I saved the paint from the lounge when it was decorated (assuming it hasn't dried out, it has been quite a while!) I'll be able to repaint around the radiator once I've got my motivation back (just can't be bothered right now tbh!) - if I hadn't kept the paint or if I decided to follow the KonMari method I would have to redecorate the entire room a huge undertaking, instead of painting a small area - so in your face KonMari!! (No offense meant to either Marie Kondo or her many followers, if that's the path that sparks you with joy then good for you but it's probably always going to leave me cold - minimalism seems a bit soulless and not very welcoming to me but that could be because I've felt as though my very presence clutters up the 'perfection' and I personally like my home to feel welcoming and that it's okay to relax on the sofas, not be afraid to ruffle up the cushions if you rest against them!) Well that's been cathartic - thank you for reading so far *winks*.

My title said 'Reviews' but really it's news about reviews rather than actual reviews! I was asked to review some craft magazines recently for Practical Publishing which I thoroughly enjoyed even though I actually subscribe to all three publications I was sent so I shall be doing a bit of a giveaway in the near future (certainly before the beginning of the new year) because obviously I don't need two sets of free gifts though I will be total honest and say that I am keeping the set of Kaisercraft papers that came free with one of them because I really like them and they are double sided so having two sets means I can use both sides *big grin*. One of the magazines also had a 'free' copy of Cards & Crafts For Christmas magazine but the majority of the projects featured the free gifts that weren't included with the 'free' copy so I wasn't planning on including it with the giveaway because I'm not sure how much use you'd get out of it sans the freebies but I'll keep it and allow the winner to decide. I'm also not going to include the magazines themselves as I've already put them into recycling and they're emptying that bin today. so that's a bit of a heads up for anyone interested - keep reading this blog for more details. I'm also planning a review on a recent addition to my crudy - a Nellie's Stamping Buddy Pro Magnetic Platform for Rubber and Clear Stamps which my husband very kindly bought me as an early Christmas present. I really wanted a Tim Holtz stamping Platform which is about twice the price of the one I've got instead and also huge beyond use in all honesty especially as I work in a space roughly the size of a sheet of A4 paper - huh I always assumed the Tim Holtz platform was 12" x 12" because it seems really large on YouTube videos but I've just gone on eBay to check and it's only 8" x 8", that's not much bigger then the one I've got! I am so glad Chris got me this one instead of paying £30 (with change) for the one I really thought I wanted - what a rip off!! (The stamping area of the Nellie's one is 7.5" x 9") A proper review will follow once I've had a good chance to use it.

We are now well on our way to Christmas and as always I'm not as far along with my Christmas card/gift making as I should be so I might not be updating as often as I would like. I will try to post more updates once I've got myself more organised and hopefully I'll have a card to share in the next couple of days because I have a few birthdays coming up next week. Michele and I have decided to have a break from challenges for a while but we hope to resume them in the New Year (I sense a resolution!) but don't let that stop anyone from sharing a link to cards and projects you've made in the meantime. You can leave a link in the comment section to your blog or if you don't have one feel free to get in contact with me using the form in the sidebar and we can find a way to add your photos to the blog or just share them with me if you are shy - I love seeing what people are making.

Until next time - keep crafting!

Love and crafty hugs,

Sarah xxx

Wishing you all a very crafty Christmas

Hello crafty peeps and welcome to my crafty nook! I just want to wish all my lovely readers and followers a very Merry Christmas. I hope you've had a brilliant day. I am very blessed to have a wonderful family both blood and by marriage (I'm very fortunate to have a fantastic set of in-laws who made me feel part of their family from day one) and I've had a fantastic time at my sister-in-law's home with lots of yummy food and festive cheer. I've only one festive make to share with you today and that's the braised red cabbage I made to take to Sue's.

It's rather immodest of me but I've got to say I thoroughly enjoyed it and it went very well with the fantastic feast made by mum and dad Wilks. It's only the second time I've made it but I'm planning on making it again before next Christmas, mind you I recall saying the same thing two years ago lol.

I'm very tired so this is a very short post, my mum is coming to our flat tomorrow so I'm making my very first turkey dinner - I'm dreading making the gravy! lol.

I hope everyone has a fantastic Boxing Day and I'll be putting a proper blog post up before New Year's Day. As always if you have any questions or comments then please leave them in the usual places and until next time - keep crafting!

Love and crafty hugs,

Sarah xxx

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

Merry Christmas Eve crafty peeps (not too merry though - who wants to spend Christmas Day nursing a hangover??) - welcome to my crafty nook!

It's just turned 5 am as I'm writing this and I've already been up for 2 and a half hours after my passive aggressive cat Jinx yowled in my ear until I got up to feed him! I'm hoping this is not an indicator of the day to come lol. I'm sat here drinking my new favourite drink - Tesco Finest Chai Tea and it's like Christmas in a mug. The perfect thing to both wake me up and put me in a festive mood. I'll keep this entry brief (ish) as I've a to do list as long as my arm but I wanted to wish a wonderful Christmas/Festive Holiday to all my wonderful readers, old and new.

Sarah's To-Do List

Wash coat - I accidentally egged myself at Icelands (who puts a carton of broken eggs back on the top shelf in a shop anyway???)

Poke ham joint to see if it's defrosted yet.

Soak ham once it's defrosted.

Do all those niggling household tasks you've been putting off for the past three months (dusting, tidying, vacuuming, ironing etc, etc)

Cry when you realise it's not humanly possible to do three months worth of housework (and the ironing!!) in one day.

Start praying that you will metamorphoses into Domestic Goddess, Martha Stewart, an obsessive compulsive cleaner or similar.

Mutter resentfully when prayers are not answered even though it's totally one's own fault that you'd rather craft then clean (rather do anything than clean truth be told - ooh look some paint is drying!)*

Start tackling the housework in 20 minute segments (20 mins clean, 10 mins resting with cup of Chai and a book, repeat until completed)

Have nagging feeling you'e forgotten something - I know I'd like some olives for Boxing Day - send Chris to Tescos on the bus while I stay and clean, perhaps?

Is the card I still need to make Gramps?

CRACKERS!!! OMG I have 6 crackers to make for tomorrow and I don't have any jokes, snaps or hats to put inside.

Google cracker jokes.

Make crackers and take tissue paper, gluestick and scissors with you so people can make their own paper hats - it'll be "fun". Stamp out BANG on the outside of each cracker.

Go to In-laws for delicious Christmas ham late afternoon.

Wait for Santa to bring you lots of crafty goodies.

ENJOY!


Whatever Christmas brings you, I hope you enjoy yourself and have a wonderful time - until next time - happy crafting!

Love and crafty Christmas hugs,

Sarah xxx

* I hope no-one is offended by my jokey Christmas To-Do List. Neither praying or OCD are laughing matters but I hope people will read this with a light heart and with the same intention as it was written.

A few festive things to share

Hello crafty peeps - welcome to my crafty nook. I'm sorry it's been so long since my last blog post but life has a way of getting in the way of crafting and it certainly has this month! Are you all ready for Christmas? I'm not - eek! I've still got one Christmas card to make and about a third of the presents to wrap - AND I've still the tree to put up. Where has this month gone - it doesn't seem like five minutes ago since I was sorting my Christmas stash out. *Note to self - BE MORE ORGANISED NEXT YEAR!*  Anyway enough gripping - I sound like a grumpy old lady lol, here are a few Christmas cards that I'd like to share with you.

Art Deco Diamond Accordion Fold Christmas Card

Originally I was planning on making all my Christmas cards out of diamond accordion fold card blanks (I spent a few hours scoring and folding them a few weeks ago) but after receiving a gorgeous embossed card from Carolyn at the local craft shop I decide to scrap this idea as being too fussy and time consuming and instead made a load of white snowflake embossed cards with a silver greeting (very classy and extremely quick to make which was great as the last post date loomed!) However this left me with 20 pre-scored card blanks to decorate and I had no idea what design to go with. Vexingly I discovered that 8" x 8" papers were slightly too small to completely cover the centre panel (next time I shall trim a sliver of card off the longest side) and none of the A4 Christmas papers appealed to me so in the end I covered the side panels with Papermania Art Deco style foiled papers and used some "Great Gatsby" glitter card which I bought from Every Craft's A Pound ages ago. The black is especially sparkly and the above photo doesn't do it justice, the gold and silver aren't quite as twinkly but are very classy (warning the glitter isn't encapsulated so gets all over the place!). The Christmas Art Deco panel comes from the Debbie Moore Art Deco Christmas collection which was part of the magazine bumper pack last year. The images are visually stunning so I've kept the cards very simple and some of them don't even have sentiments.

Close up of Debbie Moore Art Deco Christmas Topper

The Silver Glitter Card lacks the "Wow" factor of the black so I've added embellishments

Close up of topper

The other cards I've made are of a similar theme so I thought I'd refrain from boring you by posting them all here lol.

I've still got lots of Christmas stuff to do which I hope to share before the big day but in case I get bogged down by Christmas crafting, cooking and cleaning - have a wonderful Christmas and I hope Santa brings you all that you could wish for. Until next time - keep crafting!

Love and festive crafty hugs,

Sarah xxxx