Last card of 2017, its for you!

I had a lovely time playing with some of my crafty Christmas presents today. My Kev with the help of a wishlist! gave me the crafty gifts I really wanted for Christmas, It's lovely to get a gift you want.

The Tim Holtz Stamping Platform for and some Zig Clean Colour Real Brush Watercolour Pens which look like markers but act like watercolours. ...

I have had some fun colouring a little party doggy stamped image from Crafters Companion (had him some time) which seemed the perfect image for a New Year card. I am mindful of all the people who I really would have liked to send a card to. But I was so behind this year as illness came at such horrid time and sent me off course for my Christmas card making and other Christmas preparations

So I thought that I would remedy that today! I have lots of friends I have virtually met on the Internet, but who knows where you all live? also friends and family who have missed out on real cards too. Therefore, I made this one card to virtually send to everyone to wish you a happy and blessed new year 2018.

I had hoped to be with friends at church when new year 2018 breaks forth but Kev is in bed ill with a bad cough and temperature he really is rough with this lurgy that's going around, I am fighting off a cold myself so we are spending new years eve at home this year. We didn't even manage to get to church this morning ;o(

This last card of 2017 didn't photograph quite as nicely as I had hoped as I used a lot of glitter card and the lighting wasn't good but I hope that you feel blessed by it xx
And so to a new year, I don't make resolutions anymore but I do make plans. someone asked me "How do you make God laugh"??? the answer of course is "Tell Him your plans LOL but laughing aside I am sure you will be seeing some of my God inspired plans unfold as i share them here time goes by!

Have a happy & safe new years eve wherever you are spending it, and may 2018 be a very specvial and blessed year for you
God Bless You
here is my prayer for you and myself for 2018...

3 John 2   New King James Version (NKJV)

² Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.

The Gift That Gave Back

Christmas was such a blessing for me this year. Yes I received some crafty gifts that I had really wanted, and some other gifts including 2 lovely soft chenille jumpers from Kev. Then there's the surprise gifts from my son and his family which I opened when we visited on boxing day... A wooden block with a picture of Ethan & Thea which is simply beautiful and sent tears rolling down my cheeks. A very different handbag which means a lot to me because my son went out and chose it. There were lots of nice gifts from family and friends but here's the thing....
THE gift I treasure the most was a result of my own giving! Kev and I gave our grandson Ethan, a clarinet! Ethan had been asking for one for months. He was very happy to find it in his Christmas present sack too! Once he put it together and learned the correct way to purse his lips to get sound from it, he started to use his fingers to play with the notes. THEN I was gobsmacked and overjoyed at the same time, Yes! more tears! Ethan practised all day till his lips hurt, he had a few flat notes here n there but he played "God save the queen" almost immediately. He can't read music yet and had no tuition on any similar instrument but there he was within an hour of opening his gift he was playing his first tune!! amazing. After our boxing day meal I suggested he should try to learn Auld Lang Syne for new years eve, He said "ok" then picked up his clarinet and gave it a go. My heart gasped, I was so shocked, he played it from memory right there and then almost pitch perfect. more tears rolled down my face as I stood there listening to him play the clarinet. I have a truly amazing gifted grandson I am so proud of him.  Teenagers can be awkward, annoying and at times they either say stuff wrongly or don't speak at all, I know it's all part of growing up. and he had been through some tough stuff this year But there was a lovely gentleness with him this year which made my heart sing. he was so relaxed so wonderfully loving and funny too. I soaked up his love and enjoyed his laughter as we played games, told cracker jokes and simply enjoyed our Christmas time visit together. oh how I love my grandson I thank God for the gift of my grandson he never ceases to amaze me and makes my heart sing. The gift we gave to him really did give us so much more back!

(I will tell you about his little sister Thea in a separate post)

The Journey

Right in the busyness of preparing for Christmas (3 days to go!)  I am starting a new blog!
I really don't want to focus so much on the new year ahead that I miss the joys of Christmas as I am looking forward to my Christmas so so much this year. BUT I sense something  within my spirit, a stirring, an excitement...2018 is coming very soon!   I get the feeling that there's something cooking! I have a sense that 2018 is gonna be a year of incredible challenges, changes, and mighty blessings for me personally so here I am trying to embrace the beginning of a journey which will start on January 1st 2018.
Now when we prepare for a journey it helps to know where we are going right? it's no good packing for a holiday in Egypt when in fact you are going to Iceland!
Hmmm so where is this journey taking me to? I don't know much at all about this journey except for colour! yes I have been dressing in all shades of black, grey and a bit of brown for most of 2017.        I believe that part of my upcoming adventure is to delve into colour, rediscover colour in my card making and papercrafts, in my dressing style, that's the start of it but there's much more I am sure of that! will I even change my hair colour? only time will tell!
This seems to have come at a strange time to be honest.... Since April 2017 I have been struggling with my eyesight, it's far less detailed than it was generally. I need much bigger print to be able to read and if the light is less than bright I have difficulty with day to day stuff. It's all because I have problems with hemorrhaging in my eye and I need an op to stop this before it takes my sight. I have lots of what seems like debris in my eyes and it really interferes with my vision at times. I am determined however not to focus on the problem. I can't let it take over my life (although the fear of blindness grips me at times). I have to use what I have right now (my sight) and hope that blindness doesn't come to me. after all apart from the inconvenience and loss of the little independence I have, what would I do? just sit there listening to the tv?
so apart from the obvious dieting after such Christmas festive indulgence and the need for an eye op that's all I know for now of the journey ahead but one thing I do know is that I will not be walking alone on this journey, my God will lead me and prepare me for all that is to come in 2018

Wishing you a truly blessed Christmas and 2018
with love, Teresa xx

welcome to my blog

This blog is where I will be sharing the joy of my own creativity & my many interests in the craft world. I enjoy making cards, it gives me such a sense of satisfaction and its so much cheaper than therapy lol I like scrapbooking and other papercraftiness too along with crochet!
I like to try out new techniques therefore my own papercrafting style is constantly changing depending on the creative flow and my ability to do it lol. if it makes me smile then its worth doing and worth sharing!
I like to enter card making challenges just for the fun of it. I make nice cards for the special folk in my life or to just encourage someone I don't really know. It's amazing how receiving a handmade card can lift someones spirit as they tread through the stuff that life brings up
Creativity is such a stress buster to me! its just a hobby but it keeps me happy.

I will also be sharing from other areas of my life that mean something to me!
I am a wife, mother, grandmother, Christian, friendly and funny lady in my 50's and I wear my heart on my sleeve. I make no apology for  that
My blogging will include my family, my faith, my thoughts, perhaps some inspirational quotes and even a joke or two (I do have a witty side to me lol)
so I am basically sharing my life, the bits that make me yearn for more life and smile,
oh God is good!
I hope you find interest, inspiration and encouragement here as that would really bless me immensely


Teresa xx