Little Whitnell Cottage

Posted on | October 30, 2010 | 9 Comments

Happy weekend!!! I hope your week was great! Ours was!!! We had a lovely lovely time at our little vacation cottage: Little Whitnell Cottage near Nether Stowey in Somerset, England.

Today I have this card to share, a few photos and a little bit on our cottage renting experience…

Back in the days my ex and I used to own a timeshare. The places we went to were nice and they were definitely better than a hotel. We didn’t own the timeshare for long but while owning it I was introduced to home/cottage rentals and I told myself that one day I’d have to try renting one in Europe. Somewhere along the line I got into Bed and Breakfast and didn’t get to thinking about vacation rentals until a few weeks ago when I had to rearrange our holiday plans from Paris to staying here in the UK. After some hard decisions (between the many sites and the different cottages) I decided on Little Whitnell and what a great choice it was!

The cottage itself is 400-yrs-old. I’ve always loved old homes and I originally wanted one here to live but during the 30-days that hubby had to look for housing there was none that was near a good school, had ample parking, with a nice yard, doesn’t cost and arm and a leg to heat, not near a major road (people drive fast even on little roads here), and a good size house. We saw a few (oh so charming) homes but just didn’t fit half of our criterias. So being able to stay in an old one, even if it’s for a week, was a happy happy experience for me. LOVED it!

This was our living/family room from the stairs. The cottage isn’t big but it was so cozy! The fireplace was our only heat source and that thing warmed up the whole house! There’s hubby on the couch asleep — it was only 10 a.m.!!

Our cottage was just charming. The beams, the fireplace, the stone floor, everything was just wonderful. We had everything we needed there too, including fresh eggs from a neighbor, everything for tea/coffee and a bottle of wine!

Then in the morning I saw this:

LOVED the light coming through the little window!!!

Then the girls. At the cottage we had something we don’t have at home: TV!! So there’s M glued to the TV and Jovie reading.

Card details:

A card using the latest and greatest sketch from Waltzingmouse, their wonderful stamps: Musical Backgrounds and Nutcracker Sweet, with digital paper by Christy Lyle: Whimsical Whimsy at Sweet Shoppe. This week’s card is more less like the sketch. I did a lot of layering and also some stamping on the Pebbles Inc envelope. I sewed too but not sure if you can see it because it’s brown on brown. I wanted to sew but was too lazy to change the thread… yes, that’s me, the lazy crafter! I really wish I was a bit more motivated with the sewing machine or just more techniques!

I really like this card. It’s got substance! Due to the layers the card is a bit heavy. I also love the pom-poms which I am slowly running out of. I MISS JoAnn’s Fabric!! The buttons I love too, the sweet ladies at Clear and Simple Stamps sent me these for my birthday. Also, twine and scrunchy seam binding from Memarie at Etsy.

Have a great weekend everybody! Until next time!!

A Sketch and a Hop

Posted on | October 23, 2010 | 47 Comments

Today is a special day because I get to use my blog to do something nice!

I have a thing for old people, especially little sweet old men, they make me go “awwwwww” and reminds me of my own grandpa. but in general, lot of them just brings a smile to my face. A little squeeze on my arm, a little laugh, home made cookies, whatever… old folks gives me the warm and fuzzies. I especially love loving elderly couples. Ya know, those ones who still giggle at each others’ jokes or still walk hand-in-hand or have that look for each other that’s just ever lasting. I love it because it always reminds me that true love is not just in story books and I hope that one day, 50 yrs from now, the two old folks laughing at each other (lovingly of course) would be hubby and I {::SMILES}.

Anyhow, Vera (my fellow Indonesian-American craft blog friend) is having a card drive. She wants to gather as many cards so that she can send them to elderly folks in nursing homes. Do check out her blog for details and if you participate not only will you help bring a smile to an elderly person’s face you will also be eligible to win some yummy goodies!

Card details:

I used the brand new Waltzingmouse sketch for this card. If you need inspiration for the card drive, do stop by and check this lovely sketch out. It’s awesome because it’s so versatile and the other DTs have some fabby cards to show you!!

I did some stamping, Waltzingmouse Musical Backgrounds and Victorian Frippery, AND also used some hybrid goodies, Fall Frolic, by Zoe Pearns. I added some stitching too to match up with the cloud and owls.

Don’t you just love the owls? Underneath the big one I added a little bit of leftover paper which coincidently fit the color scheme. Leftovers are a good things, I keep whatever I can.

Now, if you didn’t come from Sarah’s blog, there’s a blog hop going on to support Vera in her card drive. If you’re already hopping you’d have came her from Sarah Martina Parker’s blog. If that is the case, let me send you off to Tiffany’s blog for more eye candy!!

Have a great Saturday everybody!!!!

On Settling

Posted on | September 25, 2010 | 13 Comments

As a military family we think about where we’ll be next. If I can have it my way I’d love it if we stay overseas until hubby’s done with the military. Then after that I hope to secure a job outside the U.S. and travel some more. Although I’d be happy retiring outside the U.S. hubby would rather go back so that he can be closer to his good friends (he’s also not too crazy about European taxes). I love America but I feel like there are still so many places to see out there, old and ancient places especially.

We’ve talked about places we’d like to settle in the U.S. but we still can’t pinpoint one. I said Vermont but he’s more into the western states. Colorado keeps popping up so we might take a big trip there after his time is done with the Air Force. I told him that wherever it is we have to be within an hour of an International airport so that I can catch last minute deals to Ecuador for example. I know, I have my priorities {::SMILES}.

Today I’d like to share a Mischief Maker card. I love how the card turned out. It’s the colors that I love the most, just soft and still fun. There’s a bit of yellow, blue, green, brown, white, and sand. I love the flower too. I can’t remember where I got it from but it’s from here in England. It was cheap, £1, for a dozen. I just tied the wire around the butterfly. I was ok with the wires exposed that way. I thought it gave the butterfly more dimension. I also layered some burlap and tags. The tags are based on the sketch — see the resemblance?

Then the ribbon, button and twine. Lately it’s all about these three items!! For the stamping I used two Waltzingmouse sets: Victorian Frippery and Teeny Trees. The pattern paper are all digital paper. The tags came from a Zoe Pearns kit: Away We Go and main pattern paper from her collab kit with Lauren Grier: Come Away with Me.

Yes, I’ve been hybrid happy this month because of my new laser printer. That this is nice and if you’re ever wanting to get a color printer, wait a few months, save up a bit more and get a laser. Better print and cheaper in the long run because the cartridges (expensive up front) last so much longer.

Have a great weekend and craft away!!!

Fun Sunday

Posted on | August 29, 2010 | 9 Comments

At least I hope it’ll be. The girls and I are planning on going to IKEA and a beach nearby it. Then on the way back we’re going to drive through the town where the summer 2012 Olympics will be. I dunno, just curious I guess. So, hopefully the weather will be decent and we can all have a nice shopping + outdoorsy time.

Here’s my day two of WPlus9′s Sept. release countdown project: A fun card AND I colored!!!! I used water pencil, Prismacolor, for the coloring and SU’s blending pen. I dunno about you pro colorers but I think it looks pretty dang good. If not, amuse me on this one and just tell me I did awesome, ha!

The background of the card was texturized using Tim Holtz’ embossing folder. I have four now since two comes in a package and love how crisp the textures are. Then I added some digital paper, both by Zoe Pearns at Sweet Shoppe Designs. See how vibrant the paper colors are? My cheap laser did it. LOVE that little thing!!! For the tag… well I found it. I have no idea where it came from but oh so perfect for my rose! Then I added some Martha Stewart’s double sided satin ribbon (I always try to go double sided if at all possible, just prettier), twine, button which was threaded with pink baker’s twine, and a little petal. Stamped the rose, colored, and added a sentiment. Oh, don’t forget the little extra petal on the bottom right. See? Oh, see some sewing too? Likey my sewing machine better now!

So that’s it. Wish us girls luck and if we don’t go, Ill tell you why. Do visit the other chick’s blogs if you haven’t done so. Lots of goodies to look at!!

Have a great one!!!

Cute as a Bee

Posted on | August 28, 2010 | 11 Comments

It’s a weekend again, YEA!!!!!! We’re not sure what we’ll be doing but for sure I have a little card created using this week’s new sketch from Waltzingmouse aka the Mischief Makers, sketch #12. It’s a bit busy BUT, wouldn’t a little four-yr-old love this little number?

Here’s a close-up of the card:

I used Tim Holtz embossing folder again. I really LOVE!! Then I tied two seam bindings together into a pretty bow. These seam binding were normal ones that I scrunched up. My camcorder is in the mail somewhere. After I get it I’ll share with you how I scrunch up my seam bindings.

I pretty much just layered a bunch of different pieces. Trimmed out the butterfly and bees, added some ink splattering, and little fun pieces here and there. I colored too with Copic markers… I know, it’s not impressive being able to color little bits of yellow on some bees with $6/ea markers. I should just use Crayola markers with my coloring talent, huh? {::SMILES}.

Do check out to see what the other DTs made, so so awesome this week… better than last (if that’s even possible).

Materials:

Carstock: Clear and Simple
Designer Paper: digital paper from Sweet Shoppe Designs by Zoe Pearns: Note to Self
Stamps: Waltzingmouse L’il Buddies and Very Vintage Labels #10
Accessories: Seam binding from Etsy, button from a Scarlet Lime kit, American Craft chipboard and alpha, K&Co rhinestone, and pom-poms from a craft shop
Tools: Nestabilities tag die #10, Sizzix, large corner rounder, border punch