The exam

Just over a week ago we took our silver dance exam.  We had to dance 4 ballroom and 4 Latin: waltz, quickstep, swing fox & tango; cha,cha,cha, rumba, salsa & jive.  A little fanfare please – we PASSED.  Our marks were comparable to last years, although this years exam was more difficult as we now know more steps.  We equalled or bettered last years marks and I was overwhelmed (and very pleased) to see we had three 9- between us.
With the exam out of the way and with lessons not starting again until September we can now look forward to a summer of dancing (see previous post) – I can’t wait.
Thanks again to DH for being a great dancing partner and we are both looking forward to starting our third year, especially as we will be learning the Paso Doble. 

I'd also like to thank everybody for their kind messages of support & congratulations - they were much appreciated.  Also a big thank you to our son and our fellow students, who were absolutely fantastic supporters on the night - you are a nice bunch x x x x

Last dance

This week we had our last dancing lesson for the season.  As it was the last lesson, we were all asked to take along some food.  I decided to make some muffins.



We had a lovely evening and we are already looking forward to when we start again in September, as third years.  That’s not to say that we won’t be dancing before then – we have our exam (soon), various dance cafés during July & August, free dancing evenings in June, technique lessons in June and the opening ball in September.  So really, we don’t stop dancing at all!

I also decided to make a card for our lovely dancing teacher – he has to put up with a lot from us (or should I say me), so I thought it would be nice to say thanks.



Based on the Union Jack (long standing joke as we’re the only Brits in the class!), I made my flag base from unusual colours.  I then embossed it using the Cuttlebug folder – “thanks”.  The letters were cut from purple card using my Sizzix alphabet decorative strip – “Wingo Zingo”.

Well, best get on as I have an engagement, anniversary card and 2 birthday cards to make, plus I want to use my craft robo oh, and I’ve just remembered that I need to make a father’s day card, as well as making new stock for the shop – what fun!

In the meantime  - happy crafting!

Anniversary

Our dear friends are celebrating their anniversary today and as usual I made a card for them.
I wanted to do something a little different.  I started with one of my favourite stamps – a vintage style bride and groom.



I began by adding colour to the stamped image using my lovely Copic markers.  I then punched lots of tiny, tiny flowers and from these I made the groom’s buttonhole and the bride’s bouquet and headdress.  I used the left over flowers for the background (in the style of confetti).
The image was then trimmed, the corners rounded and I punched two holes for the ribbon.  Colour was added to the edges of the image with a Copic marker.  I threaded the ribbon and before tying the bow, stuck the completed image to a pale blue card blank.  I then tied the bow, trimmed the ends and the card was complete.

May birthday

I made this for a friend’s birthday this week.  Rubber stamping, colouring with Copics, pretty papers and flowers with gem centres all combined to make this card.

Royal Wedding

Something new

I love learning new techniques.  Over the last week or so I have been trying to improve my rubber stamping.  More to the point, I have been trying to improve the colouring of my stamped image. I have tried coloured pencils, paints & pens but have had limited success . . . . then I came across Copic markers – all I can say is wow (and why didn’t I try them before??).

I love the way that you can blend the colours (though this took a bit of practice!!)



I am pleased with the results that I have got so far and I am looking forward to practicing a bit more with these markers.

A handbag

As regular readers know, my MIL keeps all the cards that I make for her and my FIL in a handbag.  Occasionally, I try to get a handbag somewhere into the theme of the cards that I make for her. (Mother’s Day 2010)

This year, I made a handbag to use as the gift wrap for her present.

Mother’s Day

Happy Mother’s Day to those celebrating today (our Mother’s day isn’t until May here).

Here is the card that I made for my MIL

I made each rose – time consuming but well worth the effort.

Dinner gift

It is customary here to take flowers or a nice pot plant when going to friends for dinner.

We had been invited to dinner by our newly married friends and we decided to do something a little different to the norm – but it still involved a pot plant.

1 year on

It is a year today since we said goodbye to our MLC Winnie. 

21

This weekend, my cousin’s son celebrated his 21st birthday – where have the years gone??

The design for the card was based around the Chinese symbol for “good luck”.

Valentine’s card

Hope you all had a lovely day yesterday.  DH bought me a lovely Valentine’s card and we had Chinese takeaway for dinner – yum!

In true Krafted Keepsakes style, I made DH’s Valentines card.  DH loved his card and I quote “it has the wow factor”.  Nice to know I can still surprise him after all these years!

 

Happy Valentine’s day

Happy Valentine’s day – have a wonderful time with your “someone special”

Snorlax update

Here is the latest picture of Snorlax, taken on the 1st February. As you can see, he continues to thrive and seems to be growing daily.  We think he is about 2 months old now (best guess).

Birthday & Ruby Anniversary

Yesterday our friends, Paul & Hazel celebrated their Ruby Wedding anniversary and Hazel celebrated her birthday too.





Apologies for the lack of blog posts recently – I am just getting over a nasty bout of flu.

paul said...

we loved them and will be special in our collection of cards, thank you so much

8 February 2011 20:17

So special

Last week I celebrated my birthday.  I had a wonderful time – pampered and spoilt by DH & DS (thank you boys x x ).   I had lots of lovely cards and presents and I received a beautiful handmade card from my dear friends, Paul and Hazel.  As you may already know from previous posts, Paul and Hazel have taken up card making together and their creations are wonderful.

This is the card I was lucky enough to receive last week and I think it is the first card that I have ever had with my name on it. It is a joint effort (I made sure that I checked this out with Paul so that credit could be given correctly). I love the fact it has cats on it, especially one grey and one ginger (just like my terrible twosome!!).  I love the unusual background and have asked Paul where he found it.  All in all, a stunning card – thanks to you both x x