Day 7...

Good evening,  dear Blogger friends! I thought I'd write a quick post whilst the broadband is back on! So, today saw the start of rewire - what a messy job!?! We had been warned from the start that this would be the worst part of the job,  but the dust gets everywhere! They'll be back again tomorrow to hopefully finish off, then it'll be plastering and that should then be the worst bit over! We went to Homebase over the weekend to buy ceiling, kitchen and hall paint...I know, ever the optimist! It isn't starting to look any better yet, but I'll post pics when there's obvious progress!
Hope the storm in the South hasn't caused too much damage and that you're all safe and sound - we managed to miss the worst of it, just getting the rain and blustery winds. Take care and thanks for dropping by!
Hugs, Lisa x

Day 5...not much to report!

**  Don't forget there's still time to enter our challenge over at Passion for Promarkers, scroll down to see my DT card  **
After the initial speed of works, stripping out the bathroom and kitchen and knocking walls down, we once again came to a standstill on rewire day due to the fact that the contractors couldn't get any electricians! So we are now minus a little more yet not much further on! The sparkies are hopefully coming on Monday and the plan is that they'll get everything done in a day?! We'll see!
We had a bit of a hiccup with the kitchen plan but I have to say, it was swiftly sorted by the contract manager - despite the delay, the contractors have all been great and do a decent job - I just hope it continues!  I still hope that if the new schedule stays on track, I can be painting ceilings by the weekend!?! Cross fingers!
I can see past the dust and debris and see how lovely it will be when it's done, which is what is keeping me positive! As I walk around, I see my beautiful Laura Ashley wallpaper at the top of my stairs, matching fabric on the shoe bench, ottoman and kitchen pelmets, the soft grey walls, oak finish cupboards, dark worktops and purple splashes of colour in the kitchen...not the reality that is uneven, bare plaster walls, sticky plastic on the floors and dust on every surface!  This has been threatened for the last 3 years, so I've had plenty of time to plan! I still don't know how we're supposed to live in it, but it's just a good job MIL lives up the road, so the boys are sleeping there and she's feeding us all too! I will be glad once the worst is over and things start to get better!
Just thought I would update you on the progress,  or lack of it at the moment anyway!  Thanks for dropping by, take care and if you're in the UK,  I hope that the forecast storm heading our way doesn't cause too much trouble!
Big crafty hugs, Lisa x

Day 1...

*Scroll down a post for my Passion for Promarkers DT card*

Okay, so it's day 1 of our refurbishment works and we are now minus a pantry in the kitchen and have a bathroom and toilet that's been knocked together!  The dust was pretty horrendous and at one point hung like a fog at the bottom of the stairs, but the space is amazing! Thankfully,  I managed to keep the worst of it from the other rooms and am now packing EVERYTHING in anticipation of the rewire! I thought I would share a couple of pics, though they're not the best as they were taken with my tab...

...So this was my little kitchen before, with the picture taken from the door to the hallway...

...and this is the old pantry, taken from by the back door. And now...

...from here, it doesn't look too different, but when you see the view from the back door...

...no more pantry! Thankfully,  they discovered that there was already a concrete lintel supporting the ceiling,  so no need for props and steel!  The new door to the kitchen will go in between the front room and living room doors and I'm hoping to fit as many units as possible in! I have dust up my nose, in my hair and on every flat surface, but apart from that,  things are going great guns and to finish off,  our gas meter was fitted today too, ready for the central heating next week! Let's just hope that the momentum continues and they stick to the schedule - with any luck, I'll be painting bedroom ceilings by next weekend?!
Don't forget this week's challenge over at Passion for Promarkers - Julie wants you to 'Give us a P'...think patterned papers,  punches,  paper piecing and of course,  Promarkers!
Thanks for dropping by to see me and have a great week!  Hugs, Lisa x

Passion for Promarkers - Give us a P...

Good morning, dear Blogger friends! I hope you are all well and ready for a new challenge over at Passion for Promarkers?!  This week, it is our lovely Julie in the hot seat and for her theme this week, she's gone with 'Give us a P...', so anything on your card or project that begins with a P!  This week we are sponsored by the fabulous Dies to Die For, who are offering one lucky winner a £10.00 voucher for their store...awesome!

  Don’t forget you must use your Letraset products (i.e. promarkers, flex markers, aqua markers, tria markers, metallic markers or neon markers) and of course follow the theme.

I decided to go with 'P is for' Promarkers, patterned papers, paper piecing and pearls, but you could always be a bit more adventurous and go for pumpkins, pirates, poppies, parcels, or even parrots!

...The papers I used are all First Edition Boho Chic - I love the different colour tones in this pad as it always makes me think differently with colour (and stay away from pink!)  I went for a quite simple layout and minimal embellishments, to create a CAS look...

...I used the fabulous Saturated Canary Nevaeh image, coloured with my Promarkers and paper pieced with First Edition Boho Chic dotty paper, here's the colours for all you Letraset-ers!

Skin : Satin, Blush, Dusky, Sunkissed Pink

Hair : Rosewood, Auburn, Firebrick, Saddle Brown, Nutmeg

Dress : Nutmeg, Vanilla, Linen, Red, Crimson, Burgundy

Tights : Sea Mist, Tea Green

Shoes : Nutmeg, Vamilla, Linen, Tan

...I added some little ribbon tabs and hand drew a cloud shape to cut out one of my sentiments and SB circle die for the other, then finished with some pearls and a touch of Glamourdust glitter.  Hope you like my little creation and don't forget to hop on over to the Passion for Promarkers blog to see what my wonderful teamies have been up to - as ever, they have some fabulous inspiration!

Hugs, 

Lisa x

P.S. Today is supposed to be 'D' day for the works to start on our house (only 4 months late!) so I will probably be up to my eyeballs in dust and debris!  I have managed to get all my DT cards, orders and workshop cards organised and I'm hoping that the router will be on for as much as possible, so I can still come and visit you all!  I am DREADING the mess and upheaval, but it will all be worth it in the end and hopefully, with any luck, might even be finished for Christmas! (My Christmas will be spent decorating!)  I will be absent between times, but will try to post you some updates if I'm able to get online - I woud also like to thank you all for still coming to see me despite my posts being thin on the ground at the moment, it really does mean a lot and I hope that come the new year, I can get back into crafting and blogging properly!

Aaaagghhhh!!! Mad panic!

Hi there, dear Bloggers!  Another week has flown by and unfortunately, I still have nothing to share with you, though I am being a busy bee!  We had our gas connected last Friday and so things are starting to move forward with our planned housing work.  I am now in panic mode, trying to make sure that I have completed all my card orders, DT and workshop cards up to Christmas and packing up as much of our belongings as possible before next week, as the council are finally supposed to be coming to do the works on our house!! (Only 4 months behind schedule!)  On Tuesday, they'll be coming to do structural work on our kitchen, removing the old pantry, then it's stripping out the kitchen and bathroom, rewiring, gas central heating, refitting and decorating, so we're looking at a whole lot of work!  I hope to goodness that all this talk of freak snow in November and it going to be the worst November in a 100 years is all a bit of hype, else we'll be up a certain creek without a paddle!  It has been a long and somewhat frustrating wait to get to this point and unfortunately, my crafting and blogging has taken a hit with all the uncertainty, so I just pray that things go smoothly and I can get back to some sort of normality by Christmas!  I have been visiting you all  to see your wonderful creations and inspiration and I hope to continue to do so as long as we have internet - my DT cards are all scheduled, so there will be something for you to look at and if I can, I'll be posting updates of the ongoing work!  Thank you all so much for coming to visit me today and I hope you have a fantastic weekend (only one more day to go!)
Hugs,
Lisa x

Passion for Promarkers - Snow is Falling...

Hello again, dear Bloggers!  It's time for another new challenge over at Passion for Promarkers this week and our theme has been set by the lovely Eileen, who has chosen 'Snow is Falling...'  Now I know we all have good intentions at the start of the year that we will make a number of Christmas cards every month and that by now we will have most of them done!  However, the reality all too often is that, it is now the beginning of October and we haven't even managed to make half  a dozen!  So, get out your snowflakes, dust off your snowman stamps and join us in Eileen's challenge of creating something Wintry!  It doesn't have to be for Christmas, but could be a Winter birthday card, or just sending good Winter wishes...whatever the occasion, we want to see the white stuff!  We are sponspored this week by the fabulous Lili of the Valley who are offering one lucky winner, picked at random, a £10 voucher for their store...

Don’t forget you must use your Letraset products (i.e. promarkers, flex markers, aqua markers, tria markers, metallic markers or neon markers) and of course follow the theme.

 ...I decided to go with a white on white theme, using a brilliant sketch from Mojo Monday - #250.  I love this sketch for creating white embossed cards as there are so many layers to create texture.  For the embossing, I used Cuttlebug Random Snow & Swiss Dots and a Snowflake Frame folder which I'm not sure of the manufacturer...

...I used Cloud Blue, Dolphin Blue, Sea Mist and Lilac Pro/Flexmarkers for the coloured layers and added some lilac organza ribbon...

 ...I used a very light colour scheme for the church image, using Meadow Green, Glacier Blue, Pastel Beige, Cool Grey 1, Buttercup and Blender.  I highlighted the fallen snow with Frosted Lace Stickles and sprinkled with Glamourdust whilst still wet so that it gave more sparkle.  

The snowflakes are made from Marianne Designs Snowflake dies and some have been layered for added depth.  The silver scalloped circle is also a Marianne die from one of the doily sets...

 ...I embellished with a double organza bow, pearls, dew drops, pearl effect stars and some Stickles Stardust on the snowflakes, then finished inside with an insert printed with snowflake corners and the sentiment 'Season's Greetings'.
I hope you can join in with our challenge this week and don't forget to hop on over to the Passion for Promarkers blog to see what my fabulous teamies have been up to...
Crafty hugs,
Lisa x

 I'd lke to enter my card into the following challenges :

I Love Promarkers

Songs - Winter Wonderland

Southern Girls Challenge

Sing a Song - Winter Wonderland

Crafty Catz

Anything Goes

Moving Along with the Times

Anything Goes