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Stamperettes Series 10-Starts on 28 February

Stamperettes is my own "club 10".  There are 10 ladies who commit to spending £15 a month for 10 months on Stampin' Up! products from either the Annual Catalogue or any mini catalogues that are current at the time.  During this 10 months, each lady will be a virtual hostess, having hostess gifts without the preperation of a party, no baking, no mess to clean up afterwards.  Each person will get a FREE Annual Catalogue and FREE mini catalogues, publications during the 10 months.  If this is something you fancy joining (this is the 10th one I am doing so we know it works), give me a call on 01332 721877 or send me an email tracey.rossos2@hotmail.com and I can tell you all about it.

THIS IS NOW FULL

Stars on a Tuesday

Well the morning at work yesterday made me feel very tired, not too sure why as no sooner had I made a cuppa when I arrived, and then it was time to wash my cup out and come home, 4 hours done and dusted.  Its a lot better to be busier at work as the time flies by so fast.  Fingers crossed its the same again today.

I was on another mission of GONE yesterday.  Oh yes.  I am working my way through a big box of cards that need to be finished, insert here, sentiment, cello bag, etc. etc. This card just needed an insert and some glitter.

I managed to get another 8 made, some for birthdays in March.  I had totally forgot that Mother's Day is fast approaching so I shall have to get my thinking cap on and make a couple of those.

I am expecting a few visitors tonight so looking forward to that.  I shall be baking biscuits when I get home from work, who can resist a homemade one?

Thanks for having a read and I hope you manage to stay dry and warm today.

Happy Birthday Anne

Sunday and I am looking forward to yet another lovely day.  I didnt manage to get all my crafting stuff moved from downstairs yesterday as I had quite a few visitors in the afternoon so that will be todays job, gentle walking up and down the stairs until it is all gone, then to put it all away in the craft room later this evening.  I cant believe how a tidy craft room makes me want to craft so much.  Also,

Today is Anne's birthday.  This time I did remember to take a photograph of Anne's card, I hope you have a wonderful day.  Anne is another crafting friend and on the Derby Dabblers Birthday list.  Some of the Derby Dabblers craft club members have signed up to send each other cards on our birthday, which is lovely.

GONE (my February word), worked well yesterday.  My box of Freebies is just about empty and I will fill it again over the next few weeks.    A lot of goodies that I will no longer use have gone to good homes and I didnt have any rubbish at all. I only have a few items left for selling now too so my little cupboard under the stairs can have a good old sort out at the end of April.  I say the end of April as Paul wants to decorate it (put lining paper up, then wall paper and give it a good coat of white paint to spruce it all up).

I hope that you all manage to stay warm and have a lovely day.  Thanks for having a read.

One in a Million

Saturday and the weather forecast is for snow, again.  Oh its only flurries of winter showers, is the way it was described, which sounds lovely but never the less, snow.  So today I shall stay home.

Blood pressure was low this morning, how fantastic is that. I have had a lovely day so far and I shall be putting up my feet tonight.

I thought I would remind you about the fantastic offer that Stampin' Up! have if you sign up and join the team.  For £99 you get £162.50 worth of SU products plus some "office" kit too.  It really is a bargain not to be missed and, if you only buy this once you are getting £63.50 worth of goodies FREE. Give me a call on 01332 721877 and I will explain in more detail.  It would be great to have you as part of the team.

I have a few evenings and a couple of afternoons free in March and am taking bookings for Stampin' Up! parties.  You just invite your friends, tell me how many people you expect and I shall come armed with everything you need for an evening of crafting.  At the end of the evening, over tea or coffee, you and your friends can place orders for any of the Stampin' Up! items that you would like.  During Sale a Bration, (which finishes on 22 March), hostesses and their guests get even more products for free.  Go on, give me a call,  who doesnt enjoy a few hours of crafting?

Here is a card that I made with lots of friends.  It is using the clockworks stamp set from Stampin' Up!, Fan Fair papers (which are fantastic) along with Riding Hood Red.

I used every stamp in the set, its lovely.  The words are from One in a Million and the insert says "that makes you one in a million".  Perfect.  The ribbon may be an older SU one but hay, I have to use it up somewhere. 

I hope you had a good day and thanks for taking the time to have a read today.

It is officially the weekend

Its the weekend YEAH.  I really do feel tons better today, I guess the doc was right in saying that a week to get used to my tablets with no other pressures would be good for me.  But I do miss the gym, hay ho, I shall go back there on Monday.

Had a blood test yesterday and back to the doc next week to get results.  Blood pressure a lot lower, no headache and I havent had a nose bleed in ohh 4 days now so things must have turned a corner and I am well on the way back to being Tracey again.

Kitchen kickboards are back on and the kitchen is getting warmer, staying dry, another good job done Paul.

Christiana, my eldest daughter, is coming over to stay for a couple of weeks.  If you know of anywhere interesting that we can go, please tell me.  Are you having a crafting event somewhere?  We would love to come and join you.  Coffee, cake out? just tell us where and when.  She hasnt done much crafting for a while but I am sure that she will OD on it when she is here.  She will also be around for Easter too, I cant wait. So Christiana comes here, Katerina, who is in Preston has decided to go to Barcelona for a week with 6 friends and Sophia, who is in Cyprus, is off to Greece.  They are all spreading their wings.

Milk Bottle Tops, oh yes, I am collecting these.  Well I am collecting on behalf of a friend.  For every pile of milk bottle tops collected, that weigh the same as a wheelchair, then a wheelchair will be delivered, free of charge to charity.  So, if you have milk bottle tops that you could save for me, that would be fantastic.  They just need a little rinse out and pile them up.

Yesterday I said I was going to do a bit of scrapbooking and I did do a bit.  In fact I managed to do a two page layout.

I am not brilliant at getting it all photographed properly but I am sure you get the idea.  I was really surprised at how much I loved spending the time putting things together.  Okay they are not works of art, I am still a bit frightened by it all but I had fun.....something I think we forget to do at times.  I managed to get 3 more cards on the stand ready to go too as well as  5 bags of rubbish (why do I hoard) and a box full of freebies.  First come first served.

I also have lots and lots of retired stamps for sale, oh yes, I have to make room in my craftroom so I would like to learn some new things you see so my craft room needs a bit of space.

I am sorry that this is a bit late today, issues with internet.  Can I also say to Anita, I really appreciate your comments and I am sorry that they are not published but I have taken the decision not to publish them.  This is my blog to share things that I do with my friends and my family as and when I can, I do hope you will understand.

Well thanks for having a visit and I hope some of it was interesting for you.  Enjoy your evening and weekend and I shall be back when I can.

Happy Birthday Alyson

Happy Birthday Alyson.  Alyson is a friend and another crafting companion who is celebrating her birthday and me, I forgot to take a photo of the card that I sent.  Never mind, as long as she got it on time.  Our post doesnt seem to be too speedy at the moment.

I am feeling a bit brighter today, maybe the lie in yesterday helped. I got up at 4.30a.m. the first time but soon went back to bed, until gone 10.00.   Again I was pottering all day not really doing a lot.  I only had one coffee throughout the day and my headache didnt get any worse.  Fingers crossed that things are now improving.

Flower Soft anyone?  I have a large box full of lots of little bits of flower soft craft.  There is the actual flower soft 11 tubs of it, cards, little notelets etc. etc.  I have tried this a few times, loved doing it but, I am wanting to move on to other crafting things now so I am selling all my flower soft items.  If anyone would like these, please get in touch tracey.rossos2@hotmail.com


During Sale a Bration you can get your hands on this wonderful set of cards, its a whole card kit that I have had fun with, and can recommend to anyone.  You can get this free with an order of £45.


I have made all of these and I shall be giving them as my next thank you cards




Along with these that I have finished.

As promised, here are a couple of photographs of my Valentines Day present (all eaten now).

Lucky me.  They were the best truffles I have ever had and, if anyone ever goes to Bettys I shall gladly give you an order for another box.

I really do want to start some scrapbooking so I may be pottering in the craft room for a couple of hours today, to try and tidy things up.  If anyone would like to do a tad of scrapbooking with me, just let me know.

If you have been thinking about joining the Stamperettes, there is just one week left.  You can get the Annual Catalogue, the Spring/Summer mini and Sale a bration in your hands as soon as you join up, free of charge.  Come along to the Stamperettes Stamping event in March, also free.  For an order of £15 per month (plus 50p p+p) you can get all your Stampin Up products over the next 10 months and be a hostess, even more things for free.  Give me a call on 01332 721877 to find out more.

Thanks for having a read today and I hope you have a great day.

Wednesdays post

I have been up with the larks this morning.  I expect I shall be needing a power nap this afternoon, sounds good already.

A friend of mine has been suffering with  a frozen shoulder for quite a few weeks now which I understand is very painful.  Not only that but it restricts you on doing so much, crafting, driving, getting out and about etc.  This is the card that I made her and, fingers crossed, she has already received it.

Well there are just a couple of places left for the next group of Stamperettes?  drop me a line at tracey.rossos2@hotmail.com and I will tell you more about it.  There are a few details on the Stamperettes tab at the top of my blog too.  It will start on 28th February.

Not a lot done yesterday, pottering I think is the correct term and its going to be more of the same again today.  I am still keeping up with my January word of  ONCE  and my February word of GONE. I can honestly say that if I am looking for a certain piece of paper or a letter or something I can put my hands on it straight away so I am well chuffed with myself.  The house is certainly looking a little less cluttered, the charity shop has had lots of bits from me and as I am continually sorting things out I currently have a box full of odd stamps, books and other bits that others may want.  I am also trying to get at least 5 cards each day finished.  These are the ones that are just sat there waiting for either a button, or a pearl, an insert or a cello bag.

We have had quite a serious problem with a leak in the kitchen.  The water variety, not the edible one.  It has damaged units in the kitchen, the grout in the tiles and we are currently without kickboards , drying out the process is called.  Just another little hic cup on this week of mis haps....waiting for the next thing.

Fortunately, its still Sale a Bration and will be for another few weeks.  As I am not 100% well I am not crafting so at least there will be chance to catch up and use those freebies once I feel a bit better. 

Not firing on all cylindars at the moment

Okay, headache or no headache, No. 1 daughter wants to know why I havent blogged.

I have had a couple of really bad migraines.  Rather frightening as the usual going to sleep, staying in a dark room, lots of pills etc. didnt shift it so I ended up going to the doctor. I know its not a brilliant reason to go to see the doc but I was getting lots of other side effects, vomitting, nose bleeds, dizziness (what do you mean I am usually dizzy).  On top of having the mini stroke just months ago I thought the doc could advise me.  Well he did, blood pressure sky high which can cause migraine.  Up the medication goes, drat and even more tablets to take.  For those that know me, everytime the doc has increased my dosage of blood pressure tablets, I have a few side effects so, the doc said I have to take more tablets and I will give you a week off work to get used to them.  Thanks.  So no crafting for a few days either, boo hoo.

So now I really am not firing on all cylinders.  Getting my coffee cup out of the fridge has proved it.  Do you know how long I was looking for it? ages and ages.  I fancied a coffee, made it, had a couple of sips and it vanished. 

Sitting at the computer hasnt been possible as I havent been able to wear my glasses, due to having a headache and not wanting to strain my eyes so, I havent done a lot.  Hay ho, things can only get better though.  I know that there are a lot of people worse off than I am so I shall just soldier on.

I do have a few photos to share with you.  The first is pancake day last week and it was our very first Pancake Day together.  I made the pancakes and Paul ate them.

Then we had Valentines Day.  I was so ill and Paul cooked a lovely meal, garlic mushrooms, steaks and souffle but I just couldnt do it justice.  Here is the card that I made for him,
 

Paul doesnt like squares on squares he calls them.  One layer card man

And this is what I found for him.  There were lots and lots of packets of love hearts in a big tube.  Paul likes a tuffee (that is what he calls them) each morning on his way to work, so these will be ideal.
 
He got me a box of choccys but I shall show you those next time.

We woke up today to a thick fog but just look what I found in the front garden
 
There are 3 of them, little snowdrops.  I hope that all the others that I planted come through soon.

Well thanks for having a read today and you have just about caught up with the last week.  I hope you manage to stay dry and warm

Less is more Week 106

We have snow and a lot of it.  I still dont like the white stuff and I have just heard that it will all be gone overnight, phew, I hope that they are right.

 I decided to play along with Less is More this week.  I keep looking and looking and love all the cards that I see so today, I made the effort.  The theme is  

 One Layer Card

And to include some reference to

MUSIC

 Here is my little Penny Black stamp of a frog with a guitar

 

Of course, I couldnt stop at one so I made a batch

 

I am spending the rest of the afternoon in the craft room, finishing off Valentine's card for tomorrow and having another little tidy up.

Yesterday was a lovely day, catching up with friends.  I made lots of cakes, blueberry muffins, Cherry Muffins and a coconut cake. I forgot to photo my blueberry muffins.  They looked lovely, I didnt eat one as I dont like them but Paul has taken them into work.  I bet they will all go.  I will photograph the others later. 

Crafty week is starting to fill up.  If you fancy coming along please get in touch soon.

Thanks for having a read and I hope that the snow doesnt cause you any problems.

Tuesday at Tracey's

Its Tuesday at Traceys today YEAH.  I love catching up with everyone over a cuppa.  I still havent managed to take photographs of Pauls new car yet, the weather just hasnt been good enough.

Next week its crafty week and I have a few places left on Tuesday, Thursday Friday and Saturday if you fancy a couple of hours of crafting. There are more details on my events page.   Please get in touch as soon as you can to book as the dates just fill up very quickly.  We are making 2 (actually it could be 3) cards, eating cake and chatting the time away.

Alice was 7 recently (Paul's Niece's eldest daughter) and for her birthday, she wanted to go to London so off to London she and the family went.  This is the card that I made for her, my favourite type of card.

She got it a little late as she was away but loved seeing her name on a card.

Thanks for having a read today, hopefully I shall see some of you later.  Stay wrapped up and warm, as its forecast for a cold Derby. Off to do some proper work now at a proper job sigh......

Fabulous Phrases and Bettys

Another start to another week.


Tomorrow its Tuesday at Tracey's.  I am baking today but my cakes wont be as good as those that they have at Bettys in Harrogate.  Here I am am, wrapped up against all the elements outside Bettys.

 

Oh yes, we went in and had tea and a tea cake.  Whilst the full English Cream Tea looked and sounded wonderful, I didnt fancy any of the sandwiches and I dont like scones too much (cant eat anything that has bicarb of soda in it).  So it was a tea cake, a listen to a chappie on a piano and a lovely hour spent soaking up the atmosphere.  I dont know it but Paul got me a wonderful box of Betty Chocs for Valentines day ssshhh.

I have made blueberry muffins, coconut cake and cherry muffins are just about to go in the oven

Fabulous Phrases is a stamp set that I have looked at and looked at and in the end just had to have.  Here is what I did with it.  I copied one of the cards that are in the Catalogue.  The catalogue not only shows you what is available to purchase but gives you a great selection of projects you can make too. This is another of the cards that we made at our Stamping Saturday
 

Christiana (eldest) has complained that I dont blog each day....unfortunately time doesnt always stretch itself that far but I shall try.

GONE is working out fantastically.  Some more items went to the Charity shop and today I am having a little sort out of magazines.  I shall be putting those that I have read, re read and double checked to one side and if anyone that comes tomorrow would like them, they are ready.  If not, I shall take them to the Charity Shop on Wednesday.  Also got a couple of small boxes and some crafting pencil cases that are looking for homes. 

Thanks for having a read and I hope you have a wonderful evening

Elements of Style Sunday

Sunday and the day of rest, honest.  What a great weekend we have had so far.  Friday afternoon we drove to Harrogate.  We got up to the M1 island to find out it was closed so it took us an hour to get on on the motorway via another route. Never mind, we still had a good journey up, the weather was lovely and crisp and the views were amazing.  Checked into the hotel and this was waiting for us.  Just look at how each of the tails of the string had been curled, well it would have been rude not to open the box


This is what was inside.


Never have been to Harrogate before, it reminded me of Bath (another place we are re-visiting later this year).  I loved the buildings, the lights on all the trees and the atmosphere, what I didnt love was the freezing cold.  My ears tingled they were so cold.  We had a stroll around the town center, had a drink in a pub that used to be a 'spa' and just soaked it all in.  But not enough time so, we plan on returning, when its a bit warmer.

Saturday we drove to a car showroom and Paul traded in his car for another one, he is like a big kid with a new toy.  Its a lovely car though, pictures will follow tomorrow.  Then we went to Samuel Taylors craft shop which sold mostly wool!!!  Paul very kindly took me to Art from the Heart just a few miles outside Harrogate, somewhere I had been looking forward to going.  All I can say is that they have lots of bits and pieces, a bit TOO different for me but I found a couple of items that I purchased.  I think it would have been a better visit if the staff had been helpful !!!!

Back to last weekend and another of the cards that was made.  This is from the Elements of Style Stamp set.

The main image has had the leaves coloured in using a blender pen and the ink pad.  At our Stamping Saturday the image was run through the big shot which gave it a lovely textured finished, hopefully I can show you one of those later in the week.

Coming back down the motorway yesterday all the signs said

"SEVERE WEATHER WARNINGS FOR TOMORROW"

Goodness knows what we are going to get today.  I hope that you all stay safe.  Katerina (youngest) is off to London by coach at 6.45 this morning, that is if I ring her and she gets up.  Thank you for having a read and I hope you have a great day of rest.

Fine Feathers

Well that is the day at work done.  I even went to the hairdressers, hows that for a change, who knows what I will be up to next.

Well, what about my roses.  I purchased some white roses on Friday, Sunday they were dead.
 
So yesterday I took them back to the shop and got some red ones instead.
 

I got up this morning to this, dead again?? any ideas?

Here is another one of the cards that we made on Saturday, using the Fine Feathers stamp set.

This is a lovely mans card, for either a birthday, anniversary or get well.  If you fancy making something like this, please get in touch and we can arrange a crafty get together.

I didnt do anything with my GONE today.  I have sorted out two more charity bags and they will go tomorrow.

Thank you for having a read and I hope you have a lovely evening.

Internet is back

YEAH, I have been lost without my internet and you never realised I was missing.
 First of all Paul returned home so he was hogging the computer but he realised that we really do have some problems with it as it has been so slow and then just stopping totally.  Bless him as he has worked so hard to get it all up and running properly and, fingers crossed *whispering* it works okay for now.

So what I have I been up to.  Saturday I did the Stamping Saturday afternoon with Lesley and here are some more photographs. 

 I finally learnt how to download my photos from my i phone camera and then upload them onto blog.  Arent I doing well.

Sunday saw me hobbling around, I do mean hobbling.  Saturday was such a long day and I was standing for quite a while that I really did suffer on Sunday oh and on Monday, a little less Tuesday and today the old legs/knees/feet are a lot better. Even sitting on my craft chair causes pain but enough of that, there are a lot of people out there a lot worse off.

The snow came and went yesterday and we are forecast to have some more today, I just hope that we dont wake up to a white Derby tomorrow.

Now its time to get ready for Crafty Week.  Have you booked on yet?  It starts on Tuesday 19th and finishes on Saturday 23rd.  Quite a lot of places available at the moment but now that I have mentioned it on the blog, places will start to fill up.  Please give me a call on 01332 721877 or drop me a line at tracey.rossos2@hotmail.com to reserve your place. A deposit is required.

Here is one of the five cards that we made on Saturday.  We used the "bark or woodgrain" embossing folder as a stamp, to create a delicate background and the countryside stamp set for the main image.

 It worked lovely with Early Esspreso, crumb cake and very vanilla card.  Hope you like it.

"GONE" my November word is working great.  I have rehomed 4 large plastic boxes, some stamps that I wont be using anymore.  Two cushions that I made for a lovely little girl and boy have been put on their beds and a stash of card cut offs have been given to some children to draw on.  I now have quite a few ££s to purchase more scrapbook items, oh yes, that is what I have decided to use the ££s on.

Thanks for having a read and I do hope you are staying warm on this bitterly cold day.

Stamping Saturday

My word for February seemed to be work on day 1.  Lots of SU brochures, leaflets and other goodies were shared last night at our Derby Dabblers get together.  Although you cant purchase the majority of the items in the brochures, the colour schemes and cards that had been made are wonderful, full of inspiration.  I sold £4 worth of bits which is being saved. Here is a link to Derby Dabblers, please go and have a look at what its all about.

Today is our Stamping Saturday Afternoon, 19 ladies (still one place left, 5 cards, 5 inserts, refreshments, project details etc. for £12).  

As I am rushing around packing boxes, remembering things I have forgotten as well as wondering why I have things I dont need (already got everything but the kitchen sink), here are a few more Sale a Bration Cards. 


In a little more details





Have a lovely day today, the forecast is for sunshine but, the snow is back next week.

White Rabbit, White Rabbit, White Rabbit

That is January done and dusted, now to move on to February.

My "IN" word for January was ONCE.  I picked up something once and put it straight away so that I didnt have to hunt around for it, or I put it straight in the bin etc. I am sure you know what I mean. This really helped with my PILES that I had everywhere (all gone now) but I have been thinking about a new word for February.  So no piles in January and if I wanted anything, it was in its home and I could get it, I surprised not only Paul but myself as well with this.  February's word is going to be GONE.  I am going to recycle, sell or give away everything that I dont use, isnt that brave?  At least it will free up some space, perhaps help other people out if the item I dont need they do need, the charity shops will benefit and maybe, just maybe, I could treat myself to something new with any pounds I get.  I will keep you posted.

Today is the day that we have the new Spring/Summer mini catalogue.  I have put a link to this on the right hand side but here is another one, just so that you dont miss it, hope it works, I always worry that they never work

HERE

I shall be placing an order tomorrow.  If there is anything that you need (I do use that word need), just get in touch.  If you would like an item or many items delivering straight to your door, the p+p is £4.95 which is great value for money and it means you get your goodies even quicker.

I dont really know where to start with the mini except to say that all the colours are wonderful, lots of new and fresh ideas and I cant wait to 'party' with it all.

Tonight I am going to Derby Dabblers, our social get together for crafters.  It is lovely spending the evening with everyone and I am so looking forward to catching up. If you would like to come along give me a call on 01332 721877 and I will give you a bit more information.

Tomorrow its Stamping Saturday, we have an event where you can make 5 cards along with 5 inserts, the bags are packed, the instructions are printed out and all I have to do now is bake.  How come I got so organised (because I can find everything??).  There is one place available if you are free?  Starting at 2p.m., in Derby for a few hours. Just give me a ring 01332 721877 and I will tell you all about it.

I was unsure which card to share with you as I have a few but in the end I opted for the thank you for this months orders, being the first of the month.  I have used a Sale a Bration set, which you can still get for free, Blooming Marvelous.


I saw this on Stamping Pretty blog and just had to case it.  Here is a little more detail on the flower, I have put the wonderful Dazzling Details on it, I hope you can see the sparkle.



There is still lots of time to join me in my Stampin Up Adventure as a hobby demonstrator, a full blown demonstrator or any other way you want to work it, (2 or 3 of you together).  If you fancy a coffee and a chat and finding out all about joining Stampin Up, let me know.

Thanks for having a read today and I do hope you have that "FRIDAY" feeling.