End of an era and another card

This week sees the leaving of one of DH's colleagues. During the time that they have worked together she has also become a family friend. Of course we couldn't let her leaving pass without a special handmade card.

This time I chose to do an exploding box. I have made these before and always enjoy the look on the recipient's face when they open it and find all that is concealed within.

The centre contains a tiny tissue box, with a real size tissue and two hearts with the words "bye, bye". On the sides I have incorporated sentiments and a picture of a night to remember when we were all partying together (the 70's party back in September). I used a pocket to hold a tag with the words "Good friends never say goodbye, they simply say "see you soon" and the third side simply says "we'll miss you!". The lid has the recipient's name and a handmade paper rose.

I was lucky enough to be able to hand deliver this one and to watch her face when she opened it. Fingers crossed she will read this post and make a comment herself.

Good luck and best wishes to Sarah - may she be happy and successful in whatever she does next.

Sarah said...

I am the lucky one receiving this fantastic card,, the exploding box is more an exploding emotions box, opening it reminds me that I have been thought of, cared, had good memories with Mark & Lesley and how much I will miss them.Thanks again Lesley, your creations are one of a kind, creative and always have a persona touch!hugs,Sarah

07 February 2009 13:00

Birthdays, birthdays & more birthdays

From December to the end of January we have a lot of family birthdays. Below are a selection of cards made using various techniques.

Male birthdays seem to be the most difficult to make for. This time around I chose flowers and dark contrasting papers - something a bit different eh? Some are ideas based on a magazine I was given, with my own added spin!

Happy crafting!

My birthday

Today is my 4#@ birthday - how odd, when I try to type the number it comes out wrong!
I have had a lovely day - beautiful cards and beautiful presents - how lucky am I?
Thanks to all for my birthday cards, birthday e-mails and blog comments, it is so kind of you to remember.

I am looking forward to my roast dinner this evening, followed by a visit from our friends.

By the way, those trying to guess my age, it is the meaning of life (the universe and everything) in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

A Christmas present

My cousin and I have a shared interest in all things Oriental. Over the years I have cross stitched the "Grace" oriental lady, as a special birthday present and the kimonos, individually rather than as a wall hanging. The cross stitch that I have done for my cousin is all beautifully framed (by her) and grouped together on one wall - known in the family as "Lesley's wall". I wanted to do something special for my cousin for Christmas and I came up with the idea of doing the symbols for her (see previous post - Another oriental project - this truly is the last!). However, I didn't want to make them into a tissue box cover (or anything else for that matter) but I didn't just want to wrap them in there raw state - this is what I came up with . . . .


Here we have the finished cross stitch panels.



I then took 3 pieces of A4 card, scored them in the middle. I printed the meanings of the symbols onto the card. I cut apertures (to suit the cross stitch panels) in 2 of the pieces of card and covered the cut edges of the apertures with red folded paper.





On the last piece of card I added my name, using the stamp that DH had made for me on a business trip to China! This was heat embossed with red embossing powder. For the front I made a silver embossed Chinese symbol. I added an eyelet to the front and back.


Then came the tricky part of putting it all together.
















The finished item!

















Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday!!!!!!I wish you a very pleasent day with your family!Kiss,Esther

13 January 2009 11:34

A big thank you

As some of you may have been aware, both the Nedbears and Krafted Keepsakes shops have been unavailable for the last 10 days. This was caused by an enforced server move, the timing of which was beyond our control.

I am pleased to say that both shops are now back online and we apologise for any inconvenience caused during our enforced outage.

We look forward to seeing you again soon.

Many thanks for your patience,
Lesley

Click here to visit Nedbears - the place for all your Bad Taste Bears
Click here to visit Krafted Keepsakes - to see our range of designer handkrafted keepsakes.

Back to normal

Yesterday saw us taking down the Christmas decorations - shame its all over for another year.

However, one member of the household was certainly miffed that it was all done and done with - Winnie had taken to sleeping under the table that the tree was on. She was unimpressed that it was being taken away and decided to have a "sleep-in!"

Today saw DH and DS back to work and school - something else for the cat to complain about - she's got used to having them home and having cuddles when she wants. I have had to put up (half-heartedly) with all her attention seeking tricks - sitting on the keyboard, sitting on the desk meowing and sitting in the middle of the dining table. The dining table is a guaranteed attention grabber as she is not allowed to sit on it, ever. What fun!

First post of 2009

Message from me: I am not sitting at my 'puter 1 minute into the New Year - this is a scheduled post and as this is posting I will be seeing in the New Year with a drink in hand!!