pine to pinterest pretty!

 You know when you sit in your lounge and you stare at your pine chest of drawers and then something happens in your mind, so you take all the knobs off the front and paint it blue.... no? .... I'm sure some of you  do lol. Well - this happened to me recently. Whilst sitting, I stared at the bland gingery brown drawers and sighed a "meh" - it just so happened that I was daydreaming on pinterest at the same time, and came across a pretty picture of a painted chest - so I decided that my drawers too, would be beautiful.

I used a  combination of Craig & Rose1829 paint (I love this paint so very very much)

I did however forget to take a 'before' photo. So this is it, half way through, and, still in the lounge lol.

(I promise I removed it from the carpeted area to paint properly)

 Here is the finished result.

 I swapped the boring wooden handles for some ceramic fancies with polkadots and frills.

 And the top, I stained with walnut, over and over till it reached this gorgeous deep colour. I topped it with a matte clear varnish for durability. I am SO PROUD of it!  (and yes.. that is a union jack fingernail) 

Felt giveaway! Love Paper Fish

Kirsty from Love Paper Fish contacted me recently with an amazing chance for you guys to win some beautiful goodies to craft with - buttons, ribbons and felt along with a cute handmade button badge.

I just love the selection on her website and she has a very cute blog too!

If you want a chance to win the above packet of loveliness, just leave a message on this post and I will announce the winner on Friday.

* tap tap - is this thing on? *

*insert animation of tumble weed blowing freely across the deserted wasteland that has become my blog log in page*

Looking over my last few blog entries - I seem to have fallen into a pattern of blogging, and then not, for a long time, and then I come back and I am all "I promise normal blogging resumes" etc etc.... but I think it has become quite clear that recently I have been stuck in a perpetual hiatus.

I actually dislike this - for many reasons, one of them being I enjoy the cathartic motion of blogging, I feel like like when I blog, I talk - and at the moment, for various reasons, I feel I spend a lot of my days in silence. I need to get back on track with my crafting life it seems, I have planned and prepared my scrapping for project life for the past few weeks - and I have also been doing various other crafty things behind the proverbial blog door, which I will show you this week (and i'm not just saying that lol!) I have devised a new system - where I divide my days on paper and hope it translates to real life. Segmenting my time rather than scary to-do lists is the way forward for me I think!

Till then, because no good blog post is published sans photo - I have some randoms to prove I am still alive....

ouch, head banging and ambulances

I had a phone call on Wednesday - to let me know my son had fallen at pre-school and cut his head open, and could I get there straight away as he will need to go to Hospital. 

Que panic and tears, as we were in fact half an hour away! We got there the second we could - and picked him up and took him to A&E where they umm'd and Ahh'd over if it would need stitching or if they could glue it, luckily for Fin, they tried glue and it held. I was relieved = I didn't know how Fin would have dealt with stitches. We were given a after care sheet, with signs to look for and sadly, over the next 12 hours he showed signs of "deeper damage" with vomiting and dizziness. We had to get him back, and on Thursday morning I found myself in the back of an Ambulance on our way to hospital again.

This time he was admitted for neurological tests - which, went well - and after his sickness and dizziness had settled down, he ate a meal and was allowed to leave. Nothing prepares you for the worry you feel for your child when they hurt themselves - it is worry unlike anything I have ever experienced. 

I know every parent would say the same, but he was SO BRAVE and I was so proud of how he coped. He only cried a couple of times, and the rest of the time he actually enjoyed the adventure!

It is starting to heal now - and its day 5, which means he is allowed a bath!

but I will never forget how small he looked. 

So often I have said that he is growing up too fast, but here, in the harsh hospital light, he looked like a baby again, (he did to me anyway!!)

When we were allowed home, he was so happy - and we spent some quiet time, he watched his favourite film (of the moment)

And - thankfully, it wasn't long till he looked like this.... and that meant we could catch up with sleep, and I could eventually stop looking like this..... bleary smudged eyes

And of course... to help him along in his 'feeling better' I made him his favourite spiced apple cakes.

Normal craft blogging will resume from now on. I promise.

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Free digital journal cards, project life

Hello you! Yes you! - Thank you for visiting my bloggeroo today - if you are here for a freebie or two, the set is at the end of this blog post - but please do stick around and see what else I have to offer today!

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First up is "To the woods" - a kit of printable journal cards perfect for scrapping daily life albums, or, as I like to do, print, and pop in my giant hoard of hybrid cards ready to grab at a moments notice.

These would be perfect for those moments we are able to grab out and about in nature, the woods or about your love of hedgehogs etc - I hope you like the set. If you do - you can find it 

HERE

 So sweet when printed - and so ready for your memories.
Please note - that foot on  the right isn't included in the download.. it's my husbands... doesn't he have high arches!? Practically a ballerina.

Moving on ;-)
When designing the above kit - I fell for the woodland critters I had drawn, and felt that perhaps you might like them too - so - I have bundled them all together, along with some outline versions of them and leaves etc all ready for you to colour, or use digitally on your nature / woodland / I love badgers themed pages.

You can download the kit HERE (please make sure you click the correct kit)

Look at the badger... he is looking at you... he wants to be in your scrapbook....

---------------------- AND THERE IS A FREEBIE -------------------

Don't leave yet... gather round... for I have a freebie for you!

A set of 6x4 printable cards called "In our happy place"

It is called that, because, when I designed them, I was in a very happy mood, for no reason other than the sun was out - and the colours are very pizazzy!

Click HERE if you wanna grab yourself a set!

Happy printing you beautiful people you!

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Oh life

Is it just me, or is the year speeding by at a rate that is ever so hard to keep up with? I am slightly concerned that May begins soon, and April seems to have skipped past me without so much of a "Hi, how do you do"

However, one nice thing about the changing season, is the delights in the garden.

We didn't live here this time last year, we moved at the end of June, so it is lovely to see spring in the garden in such glorious colour.

My favourite being the cherry blossom.

So very delicate and pink and perfect. It is one of the only times that I love pink.

I am not a pink girl really -  I don't think I wear anything pink, but in nature it is beautiful.

And don't forget the forget -me -knots, blue bells and snow drops!

Oh how pretty they are, and, ALL over my garden - making me very happy indeed.

 Hello pretty tiny jars of flowers and lace....

 And one more blossom shot.... because the petals are so precious and wafer thin...

 All of which are making for a smiley me.

 What else is new?

Well - I am still doing Project life. 

Currently, it is the only scrapping I seem to be doing, but, at least it is better than not doing any at all, and I do love the concept of it all oh so very much.

The journal cards that feature in the above page are the "On the grid" printable set from my store.

I will blog more, I miss regular blogging, so I really need to do more...

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Printable kits and a digital stamp freebie

Today, I have two mini kit releases and a freebie!

First up we have Sherbert Retro - a printable kit (£1) full of cute imagery (Ps: I know Sherbet is spelt 'bert' at the end - but - I can't pronounce sherbet without saying it like Austin Powers and he pronounces it "Sherrrrrrrrrrberrrrrrrt" ) moving on.........  I have so many favs in this kit! The sneakers, the bicycle and the love song radio.... oh my!

And for a more subdued but no less pretty kit, we have "krafty Journalling" - again, a mix of printable pages, ready to go, of 6x4, 4x4 and 3x4 journal cards. My favourite in this set - is the hot air balloons! or the Birch trees.... I love me a birch tree!

You can download them from the shop for a teeeeeeny tiny £1 each (per kit!!!) HERE

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And because I haven't freebied in a while - (is freebied a word? No? oh well)

Here is one for the colouring in lovers out there...... a peacock with feathers galore! When coloured - this image has some serious impact potential - get busy with those promarkers!

Oh Jars - tiny cute jars....

If the news that I love jars is new to you - then you haven't been reading my blog for long lol!

I am in LOVE with jars!| Always have - long before the jar thing started in the world of trends. I love them for all they are, all they can contain and all they could be! (unless they contain wasps, or.... sultanas.. or... rice pudding...) Anyway........ Taking inspiration from pinterest  (and by inspiration I mean clearly and obviously copying it)

* Jar of wishes - aka dandelion seeds*

I bought some mini jars, added dandelion seeds, a wish tag and then swooned for five minutes.

Make a wish.......

6th of April reflections.

The 6th of April is always a quiet day of reflection for me, a day of remembering a friend who passed, a day of holding those I love close. Over the years, I have noticed the way I feel about this day has changed dramatically. When she first passed, I was distraught - my grief was a selfish one, as grief often is, I missed her, I was lonely and all the while I still had teenage hormones raging through my body. The few years that followed, my life changed - as it would - and I whenever I thought of her, my insides were angry that she was gone, furious with the world that she wasn't there for all the milestones in my starting adult life. Selfish again? I think so. But I also don't think it abnormal.

So much has changed for me personally in the last 12 years.  I have found fabulous and wonderful friendships, I have married a wonderful man, had a child and settled happily into a family life that makes me feel secure and peaceful and happier than I ever thought I would be.
Last night, I was awake a fair amount of the night - unable to sleep thinking about the immense power of a single day / date, and how it can become a "proverbial elephant in the room"  on our life calendars.
This time last year, I blogged at how I had found peace and acceptance of her passing - and this is true still - though I am also aware that I am very sad she won't get to experience the joys of life that I have. She won't get to feel the nervous elation of turning the key in the door of her first home, or planning her wedding, or holding her newborn. I am sad that she didn't get to experience life beyond her teenage years - when everything seems so dramatic and cataclysmic. Ultimately, her passing has become a reason for me to now look at myself, my life and realise exactly what I DO have, and not to focus on what I don't.
So today - I am reflecting on how lucky I am - to have happiness on a level I never expected, to have found true love, and have a set of family and friends who supply constant happiness in my life.
Here's to you Lara - wherever you may be xxx
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Photo Round Up

oh hai. I tried to post this last night - but the app failed, three times, and that is one time too many for my patience lol. Anyway! It is fast becoming a blog tradition for me to do a weekly entry of photos.

So - here is my "Sunday - done on a Monday- round up"

Who doesn't love a wooden donkey?

Or American fluffy pancakes with syrup...

and climbing up ropes *giving me, his mum, a very fast heart for a few moments*

"You are my Everest!"

lunch in our favourite park cafe.

And me and Ben. Ps: This top has magpies on it - and they are my favourite birds ever - I was very happy to find such a top! Whoot. 

Little Jar of wishes!

Mornings lazing in bed... well - if you call a 6am wake up lazing lol!

Finlay went to his first school disco at the weekend - and omgoodness - he looked so grown up and adorable that I actually found it a little bit traumatic lol!

He sported spikey hair, a check shirt, smart trousers and hightops.

And yes - straight after this sequence of photos was taken, I held him close, kissed his nose and told him to slow down growing up so fast! 

He is 4.  - and is fast becoming 14.