My Purrfect World of Cats, Cards & Crafts

Clare

May not be on blogland for a few days as off to hospital for the day tomorrow, yuck. Have got to go in for the day and have a drug called Rituximab via IV which takes 6-8 hours. I have also got to have it on 2nd March. It is a drug which is used to treat certain types of cancer & has shown to help the awful side effects of Rheumatoid Arthritis by blocking the immune system which attacks the joints in RA sufferers. I had 2 lots last year but it did not make any difference but they want to give it a blast again as can be successful on the second round.

I will try anything at the moment as i am in so much pain. I saw my Biologics nurse yesterday and he is loathe at the moment to try me on the newer drugs until i have seen my Rheumatologist in June. I have been coming out with a lot of bruising on my joints which he is concerned about so wants me to see Dr.Sam before anything else. I also want to find out if anything can be done about my elbow as obviously i rely on it so much and is restricting a lot that i can do being my right arm. This upsets me more than any other joint as effects my crafting some days. I cannot even type or write for long without being in agony & having to rest it, what a killer!!!

Anyway will be firing up my MP3 player & stock up on mags for tomorrow as usually have the IV in my right hand so can't do much else. Darn it can't even take my craft stuff up there to while away the hours!!!!

Will be back on blogland soon once i am feeling more human as the drug can make you feel a bit yucky for a few days.

Hugs Clare xxx

Clare

Yesterday i went to my very first Card Feast, infact it is the first craft demo/class that i have ever been to. It was held at the local ESK venue & was held by my lovely friend Gaynor and another lady who i can now call a friend, Anne.

It was held from 10.30am till 4pm and i absolutely loved every minute of it. It was also great as i got to see my other mate Jane who joined Gaynor & i at The Brighton craft show.

We had a lovely lunch & dessert which was included & was further plied with biscuits, cakes & drinks.

Gaynor took the morning session & this was what we all created;

Design by Gaynor White

The afternoon session was taken by Anne and we made another two beautiful cards;

Design by Anne Hide

Jane & i were incredibly fortunate to be seated next to two very cool ladies (3 including Anne in the morning!) and we were officially named "the rowdy & gobby" end of the table!!! so glad as the two ladies, Brenda & Linda have exchanged numbers with me & Jane & hoping to have a get together real soon.

Hopefully Gaynor & Anne will be having several Card Feasts throughout the year, i will certainly be the first to put my name down!!!

Hugs Clare xxx

Clare

Week #2 was Deanne's challenge & it was certainly one to get your teeth into!!! we were asked to make a concertina card box for this one, with full info & instructions here.

This is what i came up with;

I used white hammer card, Making Memories "Be Inspired" papers, bling & embellies.

Im really happy with how it turned out.

Thanks for popping by!!!

Hugs Clare xxx

Clare

Although i have not had a chance to take part in any other of my weekly challenges i have managed to keep up with the "Seasoned Scrapper" challenges over at LSBS.

So for challenge #1 we were asked by the wonderful Nic to decorate a journal for the Seasonal Scrapper weekly challenges. We are to use the journal to record the weekly challenges & we will be able to use the book for future inspiration. The requirements were to decorate an excercise book, diary etc in colours/wording across the seasons & use tabs to seperate each season.

This is what i came up with;

If you would like to take part in the weekly Seasoned Scrapper challenges just click on this link for all of the info you will need. You can start at any time but to be in with a chance for the weekly prize you must upload your work by 12am the following Sunday (which is about 2pm Sunday afternoon in the UK). Alternatively if you get all challenges in by the end of the month by deadline you will also be in with a chance for the monthly prize.

Thankyou for popping by!!!

Hugs Clare xxx

Clare

Well here i am after being MIA for a couple of weeks. I have not update since before i went to the Brighton Centre craft show. My excuse? well i have been recovering from that wonderful event, filling out loads of forms & tidying up paperwork which i have been neglecting, and a few crafty bits which i will be updating. I have decided that i will probably do about 3 posts as i will probably get things jumbled up if try to do just the one!!!!

So the craft show!!! wow what a wonderful day that was. I loved every minute of it. I went with my friend Gaynor & we ended up meeting a lovely lady called Jane who was on her lonesome at the show so we invited her to join us for the day. Jane has been to some of Gaynor's classes so she already knew her.

I ended up spending about £150 of Christmas money & card sales money & i enjoyed every moment of this guilt free spending spree!!!

What did i buy??? well had to take a picture to add to my blog to share!!!!!

My new stash included 21 Promarkers (which i am totally in love with!!!), Martha Stewart Lace border punch, Labels one Spellbinders Nestabilities, Cuttlebug Leaf dies, 4 stamps, paper & card packs, 3 12x12 storage boxes, rub-on's, die cut packs, ribbons, 12x12 papers, a new scalple......can't think of anything else!!! other bits of odds & sods.

All in all it was a fantastic day & worth every bit of pain that i have been suffering since. I reckon the show was much better than last year & a load of bargains. I have decided that for next year i am going to save as much as i can as you can get so much more for your money.

By the way Lisa (Sophisticats) so sorry we missed each other honey. Maybe next year we will get to meet up?

Happy Valentines Day to everyone out there.

Hugs Clare xxx

Clare

Hi everyone, just wanted to pop in & let everyone know that im EXCITED!!!! all being well i am going to the Creative Stitches & Hobbycraft Show at the Brighton Centre on Friday. It is running from Friday 5th - Sunday 7th, 9.30am to 5pm (Sat until 5.30pm). I have been waiting all year for this and it has not come soon enough!!!

I went last year on the Saturday but really wanted to go on the Friday this time. I am willing myself to be well enough as i have had a bit of an off two days with my Rheumatoid Arthritis so have been resting up. Last year when i went i spent 3 days in bed afterwards hardly able to walk, it was so worth every pain in my body though!!!!

This is the many pitfalls of the disease as you never know how you are going to feel day to day. One day you can feel reasonably human & later that day or the following day you can feel like you have been run over by a steamroller!!! At the moment my right elbow is in agony (even though i had steroid injection into the joint a couple of weeks ago) and my knees are bad. I have a massive ugly bruise like thingy on my right knee which came up over the weekend. My knee swelled up big time Friday & by Sat i had a fright when i had my bath & saw it!!! i have not banged it nor hurt it but it seems at times when i get a lot of joint swelling i seem to react with terrible bruising.

Anyways enough about my manky joints!!! is there anyone else out there going to the Brighton Centre Show??? or any other shows??? there are heaps out there at the moment across the UK, are there any good one's i OZ at the moment?

My darling husband has taken the day off on Friday to take me. I am meeting up with friends there who are going to be doing demo's etc. When i told Martin that i come back with them his reply was "i am coming back to pick you up!" even though it is about an hours drive, bless him. I think he know the pain that i am going to be in by the end!!! he told me that if i feel crap or unwell i must ring him & he will be back straight away to collect me. He did say about staying & walking around with me, NO WAY!!! you know what men are like even when you take them shopping, nightmare! no this is my little piece of heaven & nobody is going to stop me from getting in there buying up big, not even my Rheumatoid!!!!

I will be back over the weekend to fill you all in & let you know what i have managed to buy & how the day panned out.

I would like to take the time to thank everyone for their very kind & beautiful messages on my blog. I absolutely love getting your messages. I find it so encouraging & it makes my day. I never thought when i started up my blog in November the fun & joy it would bring & how many new friends i have made. It is great when you are feeling a bit low, it definititely lifts you up!!!

Hugs Clare xxx

Clare

This weeks challenge #20 for Sophisticats theme is LOVE chosen by DT member Jan Jay. This is my attempt.

I used the Bloom & Grow range by My Minds Eye which is one of my favourites!!! i just love these papers & love getting my little ol' scissors into the nooks & crannies of these designs. I used some of the Kaiser rub-on sentiments which are so beautiful.

Thankyou for taking the time to look.

Hugs Clare xxx

http://sophisticatchallenges.blogspot.com/

Clare

Managed to make my card work for two challenges this week.

Crafty Catz Challenge No #17. Dianne came up with a sketch challenge which can be used anyway as long as you stick to the layout.

http://craftycatzweeklychallenge.blogspot.com/

Penny Black Saturday challenge for week 86 had to be a project for SOMEONE SPECIAL in your life. Can be a card, altered art, a notebook, a bag, but the rule is that you must use atleast one Penny Black stamp, image or sentiment. The prize for this week is a 15% lifetime voucher to use on the Penny Black online store. That certainly would be heaven to me!!!

http://pennybfriendssaturdaychallenge.blogspot.com/

Have a great day everyone.

Hugs Clare xxx

Clare

I have entered this card into the Colour Throwdown challenge #77 which is the first time i have taken part on this fab website.

The idea is that colours are chosen by the DT to depict the colour scheme of the colour challenge. The colours of your creation should primarily consist of only the Throwdown colours chosen each week. You do not have to have the exact colours but as near as possible, adding neutrals is ok but the challenge colours must be the most prominent feature on your card.

This week the colours are as follows;

Hopefully they are prominent on my card!!!

Cards need to be uploaded by 11.59pm every Sunday. Go check it out by

clicking on their logo below.

Hugs Clare xxx

http://colorthrowdown.blogspot.com/

Clare

Well i am having a busy crafty few days & have had friends over Thursday evening, Friday afternoon & all day today. I have a few projects on the go which need completing but here is a card & a calendar that i was able to picture before the light got too bad.

I have made this one for one of my lovely friends who has a February Birthday. The beautiful paper & accessories are by Kaiser & is one of my all time favourites.

This is a little desktop calendar that i have done for my cousin Erica. Thought she may like it with a photo of her little one's. The beautiful paper is by SEI, very subtle & such a beautiful colour.

Thankyou for letting me share & taking the time to look. Be back soon to update my finished projects.

Have a lovely weekend everyone.

Hugs Clare xxx

Clare

Tuesday Taggers jigsaw challenge really appealed to me this week. It is the first time i have entered a challenge on this great website & i loved it. The requirement for this project was to include a jigsaw piece/pieces on your creation. I have been working on LO's for my friends daughter who is at college studying art & photography & she wanted to include some scrap pages for her album. This is what i came up with.

Thankyou for looking, hugs Clare xxx

Clare

This weeks Sophisticat Challenge #19 pulled at my heart strings this week as it is 3 years since Lisa at Sophisticats lost her dear Mum Iris on 26th of January. As a tribute to her Mum, Lisa would like the challenge theme of Mother, Miss You or some kind of tribute.

Anyone who knows me will know that it was my Mum's first anniversary on 17th December so i have decided to put up my tribute picture that i designed a few months ago which sits proudly on my craft room wall. I am sure that Lisa & the ladies at sophisticats will not mind it being something that i did a while ago & that this pic is dedicated on my blog.

I miss my Mum everyday, every hour, minute & second but it is pictures like these that keep her memory alive. Thankyou so much for this beautiful challenge Lisa, i am also pleased that you have taken the decision on not offering prizes this week, it is indeed inappropriate & my prize is knowing that i can share this beautiful picture & i can also see what everyone else has created.

Just a beautiful photo of my Mum a few weeks before she passed that i would like to share with you all. Thank heavens for our precious memories.

Thankyou for taking the time to look.

Hugs, Clare xxx

Clare

Fantastic news!!! Starting on Sunday 31st January the Little Scrapbook Shop (LSBS) will be kicking off 2010 with new weekly challenges. The Seasonable Scrapper will be replacing the 2009 52 Pick Up sessions. It will be a seasonal weekly challenge with breaks in between which will be handy. Seasonable Scrapper will be held 40 out of 52 weeks & split into summer, autumn, winter & spring with two sets of the DT sharing 2 seasons each (the DT girls will be Nic, Tracy & Deanne in team 1 & Belle, Kerryn & Tara in team 2).

The challenges will be put up every Sunday evening Oz time (Sunday morning in UK) & you will have until the following Sunday to upload your creations to be in with a chance of winning a $10 gift voucher. If weekly challenges are a little daunting regarding the deadlines you will still have 10 weeks for each season to to upload all of your work to be eligable for the major prize draw of a $50 gift voucher!!!

This year the Seasonable Scrapper has been set up as a challenge not a competition so to make it fair winners will be drawn from a hat so everyone will be in with an equal chance for the prizes.

The best thing is the creations will be a mixture of scrap pages, cards or OTP's!!!

I have added a link to the LSBS forum below where you can get more information & ask any questions. There is also a thread set up for you to register for you to be in with the chance of winning the prizes.

http://www.littlescrapbookshop.com.au/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=228

I am definitely looking forward to my Sundays from now on!!!

Hugs, Clare xxx

P.S Feel free to add the poster to your blog x

Clare

Yay!!! another week, another challenge over at Crafty Catz. For this week challenge 16's theme is "LOVE". It could be anniversary, wedding, engagement or just a card to say "i love you", but you must have a heart or hearts somewhere on the card. Well what better card to do than a "valentine's Day" card for my hubby??? i know it is a little earlier but thought it would kill 2 birds with one stone so to speak & save me doing it earlier rather than last minute like usual.

I have used Penny Black stamps & my heart punch, Kaiser rub on's & black peel off's with Papermania black & white polka dot paper on white linen cardstock.

I loved creating this card & thankfully hubby was out while i was making it & not nosing around like usual!!!

Just a quick catch up guys, apologies that i have not been on much lately but have had a bad flare up of my RA & have virtually been unable to move my right elbow joint. On Monday i had a steroid injection into the joint which has taken a few days to kick in, even then it has not worked as well as last time. My knees & hips are also really bad & the Doctor told me that he can also inject them but i declined at this appointment as nearly passed out with pain when he did my elbow!!! think i would have landed in a heap on the floor had he injected anywhere else! maybe consider that another time i think.

Having a good weekend. Have had a crafty day with my lovely friend Gaynor & possibly having another friend over tomorrow for a session. Had a lovely chat with my sister Helen in Australia this morning as they are on Cyclone alert & wanted to make sure they were all prepared & safe. Also if their phone & internet connection go down it may be a while before we talk again (usually talk a couple of times a week!). Just hoping & praying that the cyclone will miss them altogether, at the moment it is in their path & due to hit around 9pm tomorrow night, she lives near Port Douglas & Cannes in North Queensland. She will contact me as soon as she can, in the meantime i will keep checking the internet.

I am keeping busy with card orders at the moment so very happy my arm is more functional now!!! trying to make a bit of money from my cards to pay for some more nesties for my Cuttlebug. Also got the craft fair at the Brighton Centre coming up in February (yipee!) on 5th to 7th so will need some spending money, although my Birthday is coming up so may have to ask for money instead of pressies!!!

Thankyou for visiting my blog xxx

Clare

This is my first time with the Sophisticat Challenge Blog. I am excited as
Challenge # 18's theme is "spring". They are asking for bright cheery cards. I always think of flowers & purple & pink colours in spring. I have added some of my Hobby Art stamps which i love, and i used my brayer for my background.

Thankyou for taking the time to look!

Hugs Clare xxx

Sophisticat Weekly Challenges Blog

Clare

Challenge #15 for Crafty Catz is to make a birthday card. It can be male, female, young, old, whatever we wish as long as it is a birthday card. WOW!!! how flexible is this.

For my card i have chosen some of my favourite Hobby Art Scene It stamps. I just love these stamps as they are so versatile & you can create whatever your imagination stretches too.

Thankyou for looking xxx

Clare

Challenge 14, my first entry into the Crafty Catz weekly challenge. The challenge is a bright & sparkly card of any category.
I decided to use some of my Kaiser stamps & PP with mirriboard & bling.

Thankyou for looking xxxxx

Clare

Hi guys!!! Have been busy today creating as it is snowing really heavily in Eastbourne & has been all day. Thought i would have a little play as have not had a chance to play with some new stamps. I got this beautiful Papermania "Retail Therapy" clear stamp a few weeks ago & is just as amazing as i imagined. It has so much detail & came in very handy for my lovely friend Amanda who is celebrating her Birthday today. She just loves a good shopping session & thought it was quite an unusual stamp. I love it because it can be a very versatile stamp believe it or not. I have lots of Scene-It style stamps which i can use with the bottom half of the image, i can take the line of shops out & create a different scene. I will have another play soon & show you some varients of the uses of this gorgeous stamp. Thanks for stopping by xxx

Clare

Had a play with my Cuttlebug & created this card. I have not got lots of bits for the CB yet just 3 folder's & scalloped circle Nesties but i am having so much fun with what i have so far. The CB is so easy to use it is great!!!