Where did August go?..............

......August always seems to fly by in the Smifferoo household,

Hectic School Summer Holidays and Double celebrations,

(my Birthday and Wedding Anniversary fall in the same month).

-oOo-

.... Check out some of the beautiful hand-made Birthday cards that I received....

..... aren't Crafty friends the Best!!

Thank you all ! x

-oOo-

....and the lovely Jen in Australia sent me a Gorgeous Surprise,

an altered matchbox for my Birthday,

just look at all these yummy goodies she tightly packed inside!

I love everything that she managed to squeeze into the lil box!!

Thanx again Jen x

-oOo-

....and more Birthday treats...

...here is an awesome Asian themed birthday tag birthday booklet,

that I received from the paper dolls group.

Stunning work ladies!

Thanx again Bee, for all the organizing that you do

with all the Birthday and Challenge swaps etc. x

-oOo-

Hubby and I have just celebrated our 21st Wedding Anniversary.

...we have been through lots of good times, bad times, happy and sad times together in all those years!!

..but a quote from Julia (who has also just recently celebrated a wedding anniversary)

that I have just read on her blog semed so apt.
'If there was no rain , we would not know a Rainbow!'

How true.....

Hubby is still my soul-mate after all these years,

So, I managed to make a space on my craft table

in my hectic summer-time household

and made him a special card for our mile stone....

-oOo-
I have also just come back from a lovely relaxing break

(Activity week of climbing, cycling, swimming etc for the boys LOL!!)

staying in a forest lodge in Longleat.

Rained most of the week! (Groan!!)

Good 'Ol British Summer weather!!

...but it was sooooo nice to get away from it all

Our home for the week!

.... Son#1 had a bicycle accident and ended up on crutches after gashing his knee! (argh!!!)

......but we didn't let that and the bad weather dampen our spirits!!
We all had an AWESOME time!

...and I also managed to squeeze in some crafty time,

I booked myself into a Jewellery making class while the boys were getting wet on the 'High ropes'

....Mmmmm, Beads, may just become my next Crafty addiction!! LOL

Here is my first attempt at a beaded necklace and earrings ;) ....-oOo-

Hopefully, Full crafting will resume,

when the boys all go back to School/College and Uni soon!! ;)

Just leaving me and my Craft buddy - Barney!!

Talking of Barney, He has grown sooooo much, (5 months old now!!)

and is still fluffy and cheeky as ever!

(yep, they are my dodgey toes in the pic!!- Sorry! LOL!!)

Thanks for Looking!

Jan x

'Friends are angels.......

....who lift us to our feet,

when our wings have trouble

remembering how to fly'

-oOo-
Challenge #14

over at Let's get Shabby

....is to use the above quote

(in whole or part)

and

WINGS

-oOo-

I Have really missed taking part in the shabby Challenges the past couple of months, due to the new pup and all the dreaded computer issues that I've been having!

...but just knew I had to join in with this challenge, being as I love using wings in my creations!

I decided to alter a chipboard mannequin shape (Maya Road) and some chipboard wings (Kindly rak'd to me by Debi from one of my crafting groups.)

Just loved this Quote, so I decided to add it in full to the wings


Shabby'd up the chipboard shapes, with old music paper, papers, images, laces, ribbon, beads, flowers, doily and buttons...
Mmmm.... I might just add a little ribbon hanger from the wings, and send it too a friend who is going through a sad time at the mo...
-oOo-
Hop over to the Let's get Shabby Blog
for some fabby shabby challenges
-oOo-
Thanks for looking!

Jan x

Bad blogger!! - Dress up - Catch up!!

I've been a bad blogger!!

.....Been soooooo busy here

with this little cutie... Barney is 4 months old now...

...and getting more mischevious by the day!!

But I can't imagine being without him now!!

-oOo-

Son #2 has left senior school, then we had the prom etc...

-oOo-

Now, We are well into the school Hols!!

So my boys are keeping me very busy!!

-oOo-

Then my computer decided to get poorly!! :(

-oOo-

I've not been round much!!

So, sorry if i haven't left any comments on your blogs

.....have had to beg and borrow sons computer!!

But now it's time for some ....

Dress Up

(catch - up)

Wow, can hardly believe it is August already

...and we are now on Dress #8

for Margaret's Dress Up Challenge

over at

Alice and Camilla

I'm playing catch-up

So here are my June, July and August Dresses....

June Dress - Up

June's Dress was inspired, by....you've guessed...

Alice in Wonderland

I originally had no idea what to do for June

My mojo had taken a little holiday!!

then I see an ad for the Alice in Wonderland DVD release

So that's what made the decision for June's Dress!!

Hand-Crafted from paper and lace

..a little distressing

some charms, flower and ribbon!

July Dress-Up

...with Mojo, still under a little strain!!

I dreamt of sailing away into the sunset!!

...So I went for a Nautical look for July

Hand-crafted from papers

Distressed

..added a little ribbon, rope, shells and some charms.

Loved the little quote,

...which I had to rescue from Barney's mouth on a couple of occasions!! Agh!

(giving it a lovely crumpled distress look LOL!!)

August Dress- Up

I had two choices for August dress

August is the month for double celebrations for me...

My Birthday and Wedding Anniversary both fall in this month.

So I went for the Wedding Option

Hand-crafted from music paper

distressed

..added some lace, ribbon and fake pearls!

I also created a little bouquet for my blushing bride!

-oOo-

We have started to build a nice little set now!

Only 4 more dresses to go!

Here's a little peek at my collection so far

-oOo-

Jan-April

May -August



Been a Fun little challenge!
Thanks Margaret!
-oOo-
Thanks for Looking!
Jan x

inchy 'Z' is for.......

....Zealous Zoe

...and we have now reached the end of the alpha inchy challenge over at inchybyinch

-oOo-

and here is what I did with all my alpha inchies....

-oOo-

Got myself a little wooden box

...covered it in papers

Then added all my all my alpha inchies

a little lace and some german scrap



some ribbon

and a key

Did anyone else do anything with their alpha inchies?

Been a Fun weekly challenge - Thanks Fiona!

-oOo-

Fiona has a new challenge for us in September

Can't wait to see what she has up her sleeve!!

-oOo-

Thanks for looking!

Jan x