Stampin' Up! Team Gift Jute Bags

Noo - it's the last day of the half term holidays which means I don't just have to get up in the mornings and do my own thing, I have to get up, get me and the boys ready for 7.50am to get to breakfast club. 

I was going to spend most of today catching up on some Project Life but instead I find myself sorting more of my fabric scraps - more of that another day however as I can't share mid sort as I'm kind of motivating myself to continue to take 'sorted and organised' photos!

Instead today I'm going to share with you some gifts I made for my old Stampin' Up! down-line Louise to give to her team-mates at a recent Stampin' Up! event - old as in used to be down-line not like 70 years old and old as in I no longer do Stampin' Up! she explained trying not to complicate matters. I'm no longer a Stampin' Up! demonstrator ...Louise most definitely is.

I am in love with the pink and white sides of these gorgeous jute bags. Louise ordered them off me and gave me the fonts she wanted me to use and left the design to me. She's either brave or nuts, I'll let you decide. 

I knew other than her team name The Stampin' Senoritas the rest was up to me and I wanted to include a UPS van - every Stampin' Up! demonstrators preferred van to an ice cream van as all their parcels are delivered via UPS.

It says on the UPS van: Delivering your Stampin' Up! goodies in brown boxes so you can keep your stash a secret'.

I also added rubber stamp block and other various bits n bobs. The photo below is of a piece I didn't use on one of the finished bags because I totally blobbed it (made a mistake) by double imaging a logo over the wording.

I wonder if the girls used them to keep their swaps etc from the day in? If you'd like to know more about Stampin' Up! and crafty stash check out Louise's blog Stampin' Delight

I'm off now to cook us a Sunday dinner (just call me Nigella) and then I shall return to the task of sorting out my fabric.

hugs

Victoria

xxx

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Shabby Chic Fabric Hearts Baby Shower Idea

Cor how is it Saturday already? This week off with my boys has flown by, I love it when they are home with me but I'd be a fibber if I didn't also like it when they go back to school and I can restore calm and normality back to the house during the day.

Thank goodness it's a bright and sunny day today, The Spark is working half day so the Mini Beasts are tidying their playroom and generally loafing about before getting dressed to go bounce on the trampoline and enjoy some fresh air. I have no clue what they'll get up to this afternoon as I'm off out with a friend for a spot of window shopping. to be honest we'll most likely be perusing the charity shops looking for bargains!

Right then, today I'm back to sharing a crafty creation or five. I absolutely love making my fabric hearts and when I was having a clear out of a cupboard a few weeks ago I found some stash I didn't know I had - love it when that happens. So I put these teddy bears to good use:

Aren't they cute? I was thinking they would make perfect new baby or baby shower gifts, especially when the parents are keeping the gender of the baby a surprise!

Have a fabulous weekend, I'm off to do a few more chores to earn my afternoon off, woo-hoo!

Hugs

Victoria

xxx

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My New Strawberry Planter

Hello

 

Gosh it's a miserable day out there today, the boys have requested a pyjama day and of course I said yes. We had a hectic day yesterday, trawling garden centres, outdoor crazy golf, gardening at Grandmas and all sorts so I guess I owe them a lazy day. Plus it gives me a bit of time to get things done in the house as I'm not half in half out trying to keep and eye on them.

Well yesterday I indulged in a spot of gardening - yes after we had done the full day out. You see, when we finally got home, both boys were a little over tired which generally equates to a few tantrums and generally grisly behaviour. So I left The Spark in charge and opted to duck outside and finally transfer my strawberry plants to their new home.

Here's how they were before I started:

Don't get me wrong, my plants were perfectly happy in here and they do hold some sentimental value too in that my Dad in law constructed this container and it used to live in his garden. My Dad in law was a hoarder, he refused to throw anything away he thought would be useful and often made stuff out of nothing. We will keep the container and use it for something else just as useful.

However, it is my mission to turn our garden into something we all love and for me that means bright colours and low maintenance. I saw some stacking pots at a local garden centre a while back which were fab but all pastel colours and I wanted loud and bright. I found them whilst trawling the web and LOVE them.

I opted for bright pink, blue and lime. The boys helped me bag up some soil from Grandmas garden today - she's re-done her garden and has loads we can help ourselves to which is a bonus. Stones in the base for drainage (thanks again Grandma) and then her soil and some posh bagged stuff from the garden centre - you can rate my gardening skills from the lingo eh?

My gardening 'tools' were in the garage which has a broken door and The Spark says I'm not allowed to open as I can't shut it by myself so I grabbed Blake's trowel and fork from the playroom and set about my task. Here is the finished stack, I adore it.

Still a few plants left to re-house and then the container to move, but I'll need The Spark for that as it's sooo heavy and I can only shudder as what festers beneath...spider, slugs....eeeew! 

So there you have it - the first post of, I hope many sharing my garden transformation!

If you like the pots and want to get some yourself, they are made by a company called Elho and here's one website where you can spend your lolly and get some too!!!

Hugs

Victoria

xxx

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Shabby Chic Decorated Hearts

Good morning (eek 11am and still in my PJ's). I came upstairs for a shower about 20 minutes ago and got distracted by something on Pinterest - as you do and I'm still sat here at the PC. So a quickish blog post from me and then I'm off to freshen up and I expect bounce on the new trampoline with the dudes as the sun is shining. 

If anyone else is after a bit of a bargain, after lots of research we went along to our local B&M stores and picked up an 8ft one with an enclosure at a bargain price. You can see it HERE

The boys LOVE it.

Would you like to see more of my recent makes and adventures in covering myself in glue? You would? That's good as I'm sharing anyway:

Another addition to the home decor range. these are lovely chunky, heavyweight hearts available in Smoke or Duck Egg with your choice of wording on. Decorated with twine and hung with really chunky twine.

These are £5 each plus postage (UK only). Why not pop over to my Facebook page to view more of my makes?

Righto - I'm off to play, enjoy your day and please visit again soon.

Hugs

Victoria 

xxx

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LOVE letters and a spot of gardening

Happy bank Holiday Monday. Hope you are enjoying the sunshine? Nope me neither, cloudy as anything here. The Spark has taken the mini beasts to soft play for a couple of hours leaving me to my own devices - the crazy fool! He thinks I'm busying myself doing housework and chores - not a chance - I'm in the room of craft.

Want to see one of my latest creations? I've wandered into the world of creating free

standing or wall hanging fabric letters:

Not impressed with the photographer for the photo above, looks like the silly twit nudged the table as she took the photo and sent the letter 'O' for a tipple. That would be me by the way. I think they look more impressive from this angle though as you can see the contrasting fabric around the sides better:

 And of course a close up.

The letters stand approx 8" tall and come with hook on the back too to make hanging on the wall a bit of a doddle. They are made to order, each letter in your fabric style / colour choice etc for £6.50 per letter plus postage. There's fabric on the back too so they look pretty from any perspective.

You can order them by emailing me at:

bluejellystampin@sky.com or hop on over to my Facebook page for a gander.

Back to the chit chat, we decided to do a spot of gardening yesterday. OK that's putting it in really vague terms - our garden is over grown, neglected, old and pretty battered with a broken trampoline and old stuff that really needs clearing. So this year we are going to tackle it and hopefully transform it into something we love. Want to see the state of it now?

Fond gardeners, brace yourselves,it's not pretty:

It's kind of in three parts too as we are a corner plot part 1) the side of the house currently dead space occasionally used to BBQ part 2) the bit we see from the house - dead lawn, broken toys and huge overgrown trees and lots of weeds, part 3) the bit we can't see because some genius built an ugly garage in the middle of the garden before we bought the house - see - yuk!

Fear not, this hay fever suffering, arachnophobic, garden novice, runner awayer of wasps and bees is going to be brave this year and do stuff out there. And boy do I have plans so I shall keep you posted and up to date on progress, or lack of it.

I had some help yesterday from The Spark and of course Blake. We took down the old trampoline and built the new one, mowed the 'lawn'  (moss and weed ridden patch) and weeded the 'patio' (uneven area of dodgy slabs and more weeds). Below you can spot Blake with his gardening gear on going for it, whilst his older brother casually carries on playing Minecraft in the playroom!

 

Here is the helpful one, amidst the weeds and stuff:

And here enjoying his new trampoline!

 

I shall now depart the Room of Craft and quickly do the housewife thing of transforming downstairs to it's former clean and tidy self before The Spark and the Mini Beasts return to once more create chaos and mayhem.

Hugs

Victoria 

xxx

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Pink Owl Jute and Cute Bags

Here we are again lovelies, Monday morning and I have to say the weather ain't all that at the moment. I was pondering having a day chilling out doing pretty much nothing today after a busy weekend, but I sat down and after 10 mins of channel hopping I was already bored, so I'm up in the Room of Craft already making some of the projects I've had ideas in my head about for weeks. 

You know what us crafty types are like? Our minds go; what to cook for dinner, need to pick the kids up, must make an owl bag, is it time to pick the kids up yet..........and still no owl bag gets made.

Well last week they did - ha - take that busy head. Today I am working on some other new ideas too but they're not ready for sharing just yet. As I mentioned, busy weekend, trip to Manchester on Saturday to visit my Dad who is recovering really well from his bypass surgery. The Mini beasts were thrilled to see him and my Step Mum and Blake as always enjoyed pressing himself up against their window watching the trains go by. I think one day he'd like to live somewhere overlooking a train station! Then Sunday I had a stall at another craft fair. 

I had such a fun day, made more fun as my friend Joanne was on the stall next to me.

These are the Owl bags I made last week:

 

They were very popular and I only brought one back home with me. I love the bunting and the white polka dots on pink down the side panels too.

I made some small fabric gift bags to match too:

I've got so many more projects to share with you so I'd love it if you could pop back. If you'd like to buy or order any of these bags or fabric makes, please have a look on my FACEBOOK page where you can order or email me at bluejellystampin@sky.com

Hugs

Victoria

xxx

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Project Life Week 14 - well some of it

Welcome to a new week, hope yours is looking good.

 I'm on countdown to half term now, it only feels like yesterday we were sunning it up in Lanzarote and it's only another two weeks until half term. I'd better get my planning head on and figure out some fun stuff to do with the dudes - I'll be more than happy for your input so please feel free to leave suggestions in the comments. Pretty please!

The boys kind of had a Dad day yesterday, playing games, and relaxing. OK so I did get down and help Blake create a fun world with wooden train track but to be honest I spent most of my day in the Room of Craft catching up on Project Life, well that's a fib I've not caught up but I'm on the case at least.

I'm going to share with you one of the pages I created, it made me smile so much because I was using stash I didn't know I had. Let me explain...let's rewind to last Saturday. We have this cupboard on the upstairs landing, I guess it should have been used as a linen cupboard as any sensible family would. However when I was a Stampin' Up! demonstrator I used it to shove store my retired stash and none SU stuff in. The day had to come for it to be cleared out. So last Saturday box by box I sorted through. I might add The Spark passed me a box at a time and I had him on emergency stand by in case any spiders crawled out of said boxes, perhaps the real reason I hadn't tackled the cupboard in so long!

Anyway, I found lots of old part used Simply' Scrappin' kits, some old Doodlebug papers and lovely rub ons amongst other gems and these inspired me to get creating. My lovely friend Kay baked me a whole box of cupcakes with owls on so I thought owls n cupcakes should feature in my page design.

I made my own cards for this page instead of ones from a kit. I printed the header, it's sooo easy to do, all you have to do is set your page layout in MS word or whatever to 6x4". Add your text,  cut your card to 6x4" and pop it through your printer setting print to 6x4 too.

Here's one of the cards mid make.  Good old owl punch, could never part with it. Everything else is from a scrap kit, all pre-cut and self adhesive, simples. The finished page.....Ta Da:

A close up so you can see the font I used on the header, I could have fibbed really and pretended I'd doodled it but the savvy amongst you would probably have spotted it.

I may try and squeeze in a bit more project life today but I have chores to do and sewing orders which must come first.

Hugs

Victoria 

xxx

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Yoo-Hoo is anyone still here?

Blimey talk about blog neglect! How long?

So, I won't bore you to death with tales of woe, illness and holiday and stuff,  so instead:

GOOD MORNING, how are you today? I  missed you too xxx

Thought being as I'm here we could catch up, have a goss, maybe a cuppa and then I'd share some of the fun stuff I've been up to....sound like a plan? Right then, grab your cuppa, pull up a pew and pop your paws up, let's carry on.

So since we last chatted I have indeed been busy with all sorts of stuff, yes a bit off colour but all good now, family holiday - so sorry couldn't invite you along, would have been a bit pricey to squeeze you in with us and the boys, a bit of home DIY and re-arranging, much sewing, planning to change the garden and at last a craft fair this year.

Want to see what my stall looked like? Going to show you anyway:

It wasn't the busiest event but it was nice to get out and chat with other folks making their own stuff too and to see some happy familiar faces too. I had more fun as my Mum in Law came along to help, we looked a right pair in totally unplanned matching outfits. Cue selphie:

Shame neither of us could work out where to look. Still we had such a giggle and then afterwards we went out for a family tea with the dudes and The Spark (who sat in the small space in the back of the car between the booster seats, one coin toss I was more than delighted to win).

We ate at a pub with this view from our table:

The place has an indoor soft play centre so the boys had an hour of chaos and mayhem whilst we had a quiet glass of wine and then they came back!

Afterwards we felt we needed some fresh air and a walk to make up for the total over eating sesh we'd just had. We spotted these gorgeous cows and attempted to get Blake close enough to one for a photo, do you know it was as easy as pinning soup to the wall!

See, he's all blurred!

Maybe that could be blamed on the Pinot Grigio. Oh and that was me that drank that, Blake was good and stuck to fruit juice! 

On the drive home (I was NOT driving may I add) we were a little bit naughty and I think it was me that decided we should play the 'beep the horn and wave madly at strangers game'. You know the one where some poor soul is having an innocent walk and then some random drives by, beeps the horn and waves madly at you? 

Well I just love seeing how many people smile and wave back and I mean really enthusiastically, it's as if they actually know you and are thrilled you made the effort to beep and wave at them.

 After I've recovered from my wheezing, crying laughing fit I do wonder if even for a fleeting second that they thought they knew us. I mean what would be your natural reaction - would you wave back smiling and happy thinking someone you knew was waving a little love your way or would you scorn our efforts?

I can tell you - everyone smiled and waved.

I woke up this morning laughing thinking about it! So if you were one who waved back, thanks so much for making me laugh til I cried.

Hugs

Victoria

xxx

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