Corfu 2008

Abi in Corfu town, bag heaven Leather bags 15 euro all designer copies

Praying Mantis

Abi's Nightly cocktail

Corfu from the fortress

Beautiful Sidari bay

Well after a less than perfect start to the holiday it was heavenly.
We arrived in Corfu at 11 at night, only to find the pre booked and pre paid taxi was nowhere to be seen, we eventually found someone to help us. We drove to the appartment's only to find that they were closed for the winter and our travel company had been advised some 17 days earlier & didn't let anyone know. The taxi driver was excellent and drove to appartments of a similar name. We weren't booked in there either, but the driver did manage to negotiate a bed for the night so we ended up at the Yiannis village where Telis was an amazing host by this time it was 1.15am and we had been travelling for 14 hours. With his help we managed to find that we should have been moved to Luisa appartments in Canal d'amour but they were also closed so we could only have a room ( No other facilities ). With a lot of phone calls to and from the Uk and and many to the Greek agents we managed to stay at the amazing Yiannis Village.
It didn't end there as on the flight home there was such bad unexpected turbulence that two of the stewardesses burnt them selves whilst serving hot drinks, which really frightened Abi who had already had a bad flight out to Corfu. Then when we arrived back at Gatwick the paperwork we had been given stated the wrong terminal so my SIL was in the wrong building when our flight landed.

I will be writing a letter of complaint to the travel company, but they didn't care when we phoned them from Greece so I doubt they will do anything.

But I can recommend Yiannis Village and Sidari, I can completely understand where Shirley Valentine was coming from.

Hubby's birthday card

Whilst we were in Corfu Paul had his birthday so I had to make his card before we went, I was short on time as I had a million and one things to try & do before you go on holiday so I cased a card from the old Stampin up catalogue, I was pleased with how it turned out.The set is a retired set called Happy Hearts and is still available whilst stocks last

Last couple of cards before I start packing

The stamp set on the above cards is a cute Inkadinkadoo mini set of clear stamps, the cardstock is Stampin up & the strip of background paper is by Doodlebug.

Just catching up on the last couple of October birthday cards, in-between cleaning the house and putting the washing on before I start packing tomorrow for 10 days in the sun. Everyone else has packed today and all the bags are sat in the lounge and Paul keeps weighing them and re weighing them just to check the kids haven't snuck anything else into there bags.
I am already in holiday mood and have two & a half weeks of work, so when I get back I hope to start scrapbooking some of the holiday pictures using the new seaglass papers & accesories from K & Co.

I have used the Stampin up set called Computer quips for this card the set is now sadly retired, the cardstock is all Stampin up.

I can relate to this

I can relate to this with an old dog in the cold weather & a kitten who only piddles in the cat tray.

Stampin up ~

Two cards made from a retired Stampin up set called In the Wild. The bamboo background stamp is a 2003 background stamp.
All of the cardstock is Stampin Up from the Rich regals colour family, if you haven't used the card stock from Stampin up then I urge you to give the mixed packs a try they certainly take you out of your comfort zone.
Try this site for help with mixing your colour combo's

Stampin up seasons of joy

I have had this set for about a year now and I still love it, it is in the new UK catalogue.
Seasons of Joy

This bag was made at Michelle's a couple of weeks ago using the season of joy set.


this set is versatile and many of the stamps have a wide range of uses, especially the flourishes.

1st meeting of Michells's stampers 10

Last night was the first meeting of Michelle's stampers 10, Michelle was an excellent hostess as always and she had some great projects for us using the Crazy for cupcakes set.

Card making Competition

Jarrolds in Norwich craft department are running a seasonal card making competition.
There are two categories Over 14's & under 14's
A prize of a Crafting goody box for each categoery.
The closing date is 15th November 2008
Application forms are available in store.

Cards are Non returnable & will be sold to raise funds for
EACH East Anglia Children's Hospice.


If you are in the East Anglia region please support this cause.

We are also able to collect additional donations of cards for sale if you have any spare then please feel free to drop them into your local Jarrolds branch.

A word from the wise

I say a word from the wise! well that's very tongue in cheek, but I am however a lot wiser after the event.
Last weekend I got a card out of my stash to post for a birthday and was horrified to find that the double sided tape that I had stuck the insert in with had morphed into a very dark blotchy line along where I had stuck the insert, it was then that panic began to set in. I had just boxed up over 100 Christmas cards to take to the shop that I sell my cards through, I panicked as some of these cards were made during January & February so have sat around for a few months.
I had to then check each and every card and found the same thing had happened to about 80% of the Christmas cards. I have spent all week cutting the fronts off, re-mounting them and printing new inserts and finally today re-bagging the cards.

So the moral of the story is DON'T USE POUNDLAND DOUBLE SIDED TAPE IT'S NOT ACID & LIGNIN FREE.

Hence the reason why I haven't managed to enter any challenges this week, though I hope to return to the challenges next week in between packing to go away in two weeks.

Spiral Whisper ~ Little Gem

I just love these cute little dogs from Spiral Whisper stamps they are designed by Janet aka Pink Gem. I have noticed many cards lately using the big flowers from Poppicraft so I popped over onto there site to have a look and a few jumped into my basket and a couple of days later hey presto here they are on a card...... Don't you just love magic?

World Card making day October 4th

I hope everyone had a great day yesterday especially as it was World Card Making day.
I took Abi and we went and spent the afternoon with Michelle at the Stampin up catalogue launch at her house. We did a couple of beautiful make & takes, Michelle always makes some lovely 3d items & yesterday was no exception.

This bag was so simple but very effective and uses one of my favourite sets Season of joy. I can think of loads of excuses to make these bags, especially with Christmas just around the corner.
The second card we made was using one of the new release sets called True friend, definately on my wish list.

Support our soldiers

SOS - Support our Soldiers

Our local Stampin Up Consultant Michelle is doing an appeal this month for the SOS (Support our Soldiers) to get as many hand made cards as she can to send to them. They sell the cards in their Naffis overseas so that the soldiers have a choice of cards to send home, so if you have any spare cards or just want to make one or two then please do, they need a mixture of cards - Get Well, Hello, Love You, Happy Birthday, Happy Christmas etc etc. You can either send the cards directly to Michelle (please go to her blog above) or if you are in the Norwich area pop them along to the next crop which is Saturday 18th October, 12pm to 5pm at Thorpe Marriott Village Hall.

DIY embossing buddy

Here is how you can make your own embossing buddy to prevent static build up on your papers. Use a baby sock or doubled up piece of tights or popsock. Add three tablespoons of cornstarch or talcum powder. Secure with a rubber band. Also you could use a tumble dryer conditioning sheet instead of the embossing buddy.