New Blog - Krafty Kylie

I have set up another blog which is just related to crafting only - KRAFTY KYLIE. Please check it out and feel free to leave your comments - it is nice to hear what you think.

K.

Potty Training Is Complete

Oh Bless. Oliver is potty trained - yippeeeeee ! He has had a couple of accidents but apart from that he has done really well. I thought the one place he would have accidents was at nursery. No, not one accident.

It has turned cold here. Rob had to turn the heating up and we have to scrape the ice off the cars in the morning. The past two mornings have been okay, with no ice - I wonder if we will get snow this year.

K.

Binder Journal

Go to Krafty Kylie for the tutorial.

K.

Thomas and Friends

Here is my little Oliver playing with is Thomas the Tank Engine set. He put the track together himself, then when pulling the trains along the track he talks to them and tells a story just like his Thomas DVD's. Rob and I sit there some nights looking at each other amazed by what Oliver has said. He maybe only turning 3 on the 1st December but he is like a little old man.

K.

New Project

Here is my next project. I got the idea from Step by Step Projects - Decorative Journals by Donna Downey. I bought it from amazon UK.

Donna uses a 3 ring binder in her book but I thought a 4 ring binder was better for me. I decided to use my Paper Salon paper with Bazzil blue cardstock. The letters are chipboard which I have coloured with SU! Chocolate Chip and the other 'home' in blue was done on the PC. I will use this on the spine of the folder.

I will post the finished project later today (hopefully) with a tutorial. It is pretty simple but I did not do it EXACTLY the same as Donna did - I didn't have all the products she used handy.

K.

Sneaky Peak

Before you say anything.....no, I haven't got a new light. This is the same light but the photos were taken about 10 minutes apart !!

Thought I would tease you a little with my Christmas cards. LOL. Well, what I used to make them !!


The finished card is inside the envelope and if you look closely, you can see the red glitter !!

You will have to wait until Christmas to see the finished project but most of you that read my blog will get one in the post so you will be able to see it in person. Hope you like it !!

K.

I'm on a roll

Yes, I have a production line going for my Christmas cards. I currently have 60 to make but as usual, there will probably be some I have forgotten to add to my list (I blame my baby brain due to having Oliver !! LOL).

Hope you have got your cards well under way too.

K.

Stampin' UP! has come to the UK

Yes, SU! has officially opened in the UK and Europe. I am planning on becoming a demonstrator in Australia when we move and found out about a month ago that SU! was coming to the UK. I had a brainwave (LOL) that I could demonstrate here in the UK and get my confidence up, then when in Australia, I could hit the ground running.

I contacted SU! to see what the process was. I knew that I would have to re-sign in Australia but I wanted to know if I had to purchase both starter kits. SU! UK came back to me saying that I DID have to purchase the starter kit in Australia even though I would have the UK kit - both kits are identical apart from the stamps (but you can always change the sets). My problem with this is that I would have double the tools when I don't really need 2 sets. It was suggested that I wait and sign up in Australia. Oh well, I will still purchase SU! products here (at least they will be delivered to my door).

K.

Treat Box

I made this 'Treat Box' today while Oliver was having a nap.

You can find the tutorial on Beate's blog or on SCS and it was pretty easy to make. I should have filled it up with CHOCOLATES but I know that I would have wanted to eat them ALL!! LOL


I also used Papertey Ink's Beautiful Blooms stamp set which you can see on the outside of the box.

I am really pleased with my effort and pretty much made it up as I went along.

K.

Supplies: Stamps: Papertrey Ink (Beautiful Blooms). Ink: SU! (Chocolate Chip, Summer Sun, Old Olive). Paper: Bazzill cardstock, Basic Grey (Urban Couture). Accessories: Yellow Satin Ribbin, Yellow Eyelets.

Updated Box

I decided to jazz up the box in the previous post as it was just toooooo boring for me.

I used my corner rounder punch on the handle and also the top of the box. I also added the organza ribbon.

Hope you like it.

Box

For those of you that don't know or have never heard of Papertrey Ink's Nichole Heady - where have you been!! Check out her blog HERE. I highly recommend you do. She is a very talented lady!!
Anyway, this project is from Nichole's blog. I made this box very plain with no added embelishments. The card on the right is my practice sheet (another Nichole Heady creation).



Supplies: Stamps: Papertrey Ink (Beautiful Blooms). Ink: SU! (Creamy Caramel, Really Rust), Adirondak (Cranberry). Paper: Bazzill cardstock. Accessories: Gold Brad.

Another Card

Here is another sample. I got the sketch from Amy Westerman (check out her blog). I changed the sketch slightly and only added the sentiment and not the image, mainly because I am on my out the door to my keep fit class and my christmas stamps haven't come out of their box yet. I will grab some when I get home tonight and hopefully post another sample.


Supplies: Stamps: Crafter's Companion. Ink: Versafine (Black). Paper: Bazzill cardstock, Basic Grey (Fruitcake). Accessories: Red Organza Ribbon, Rectangle Nestabilities, White Gel Pen.

Christmas Cards

I started on some Christmas cards last night using my nestabilities (first time I have used them). I wanted to create a couple of designs to see which one I like the best and then start on making them up to send out this year.

Rob likes the top one best and so do I.

I forgot to add my red gem stones before I took this photo to the corners of the sentiment piece. I may not use black ink for the snow flakes on the top of the card but use versamark and red glittler - a girl can never go without her glittler and I haven't used mine in a while. I will have to have a play today.

Ignore the eyelet at the top left corner, I was trying something and didn't like it but I cannot take out the eyelet now it has been set. The white border around the 'merry chrismas' sentiment is a white gel pen. I wanted to use my Papertrey Ink Borders & Corners stamp but they weren't big enough - I could have played a bit more but as it was after 11pm, I was too tired.

Let me know what you think of my designs. I am open to any suggestions.

K.

Supplies: Stamps: Crafter's Companion, Stampendous - Perfectly Clear Stamps (Retro Border). Ink: Versafine (Black). Paper: Bazzill cardstock, Basic Grey (Fruitcake). Accessories: Red Organza Ribbon, Red Gem Stones, White Gel Pen, Square Nestabilities.

Potty Training

After a nearly non-existent summer here in the UK, I have decided to start potty training Oliver. I was hoping to do it months ago with the summer season but it wasn't warm enough to have him running around with no trousers on, then I was going to do it while in Australia last month but we were never home for more than 2 days in a row !!
Now that winter is drawing near (it is 8 degrees today), the heating has been on since we arrived home, it is warm enough inside the house for Oliver to be wearing no trousers.
I did actually start his training last weekend but he was ill with a bad cold during the week and wasn't in the mood to wear his under pants.
He has a potty in the lounge room and upstairs he has a seat for the big toilet. Yesterday was a really good day - he had no accidents at all!!! I was told that the biggest problem I would have is trying to get Oliver to do a poo in the potty. He so wanted to do one last night he asked for his nappy but I managed to bribe him with a new train if he went on the potty. After about 5 minutes, he said "I'm doing it, mummy". We praised him and gave him big hugs and kisses. I was really so proud of him and he was pleased with himself too!!

Little Girl Birthday Card

I had to change the photo as the black background just wasn't working. It also made the card look very dark.

One of Oliver's friends is having a birthday in a few weeks time so I decided to use my Pretty Princess stamp set from SU! How cute is this little princess!!

I got the sketch of this card from the Australian SU! catalogue but changed a couple of things.

Supplies: Stamps: SU! Pretty Princess. Ink: Black Stazon, So Saffron, Pink Passion, Lavender lace, Old Olive, Blush Blossom, Barley Banana, Elegant Eggplant. Paper: Elegant Eggplant, Lavender Lace, White. Accessories: Papermania Ribbon Collection (Pink), White Gel Pen.

It had to happen!

Well, I guess it had to happen......we have been back in the country for 1 week and Oliver gets a cold. Luckily I bought some cough medicine whilst in Australia so I have started giving that to Oliver hoping that he gets better quickly.

Guy Fawkes Night

This is the history of Guy Fawkes Night in the UK.

In 1605, thirteen young men planned to blow upthe Houses of Parliament. Among them was Guy Fawkes, Britain's most notorious traitor.

After Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603, English Catholics who had been persecuted under her rule had hoped that her successor, James I, would be more tolerant of their religion. James I had, after all, had a Catholic mother. Unfortunately, James did not turn out to be more tolerant than Elizabeth and a number of young men, 13 to be exact, decided that violent action was the answer.
A small group took shape, under the leadership of Robert Catesby. Catesby felt that violent action was warranted. Indeed, the thing to do was to blow up the Houses of Parliament. In doing so, they would kill the King, maybe even the Prince of Wales, and the Members of Parliament who were making life difficult for the Catholics. Today these conspirators would be known as extremists, or terrorists.
To carry out their plan, the conspirators got hold of 36 barrels of gunpowder - and stored them in a cellar, just under the House of Lords.
But as the group worked on the plot, it became clear that innocent people would be hurt or killed in the attack, including some people who even fought for more rights for Catholics. Some of the plotters started having second thoughts. One of the group members even sent an anonymous letter warning his friend, Lord Monteagle, to stay away from the Parliament on November 5th. Was the letter real?
The warning letter reached the King, and the King's forces made plans to stop the conspirators.
Guy Fawkes, who was in the cellar of the parliament with the 36 barrels of gunpowder when the authorities stormed it in the early hours of November 5th, was caught, tortured and executed.
It's unclear if the conspirators would ever have been able to pull off their plan to blow up the Parliament even if they had not been betrayed. Some have suggested that the gunpowder itself was so old as to be useless. Since Guy Fawkes and the other conspirators got caught before trying to ignite the powder, we'll never know for certain.
Even for the period which was notoriously unstable, the Gunpowder Plot struck a very profound chord for the people of England. In fact, even today, the reigning monarch only enters the Parliament once a year, on what is called "the State Opening of Parliament". Prior to the Opening, and according to custom, the Yeomen of the Guard search the cellars of the Palace of Westminster. Nowadays, the Queen and Parliament still observe this tradition.
On the very night that the Gunpowder Plot was foiled, on November 5th, 1605, bonfires were set alight to celebrate the safety of the King. Since then, November 5th has become known as Bonfire Night. The event is commemorated every year with fireworks and burning effigies of Guy Fawkes on a bonfire.
Some of the English have been known to wonder, in a tongue in cheek kind of way, whether they are celebrating Fawkes' execution or honoring his attempt to do away with the government.

Bonfire Night is tomorrow and this will be my first one, so I will post some photos afterwards.

Nursery Day

As Oliver hasn't been to nursery for 5 weeks due to us being in Paris and then Australia, we thought he might take a couple of weeks to settle back into things, but no! It took him two minutes to move away from my side when we got there, but once he found the bike, he was off. I did manage to get a kiss goodbye and then a wave from afar. LOL.

When I picked him up, all the girls said he has been no trouble all day. During the day the kids iced a cookie and put smarties on top so after eating all his dinner, he ate his cookie too.

K.

Pumpkin Oliver

How cute is this !!!!!

I went out today and found this outfit (the only one for Oliver's size) and when I asked him if he wanted to be a pumpkin, he said 'yes'. It didn't last too long and he soon wanted to take it off. Oh well.

Early Mornings

Since we arrived back from Australia, Oliver has been up between 4:30am and 5:30am and it is killing me. I was in bed at 9pm last night and lucky I was because this morning was the 4:30am wake up call !!!! He has not had a sleep today but I am hoping he doesn't want to go to be at 6pm like last night.