A Lovely and Productive Day

Well it's been lovely and sunny here all day and I've had the day of work which makes it even better.

So far today I have cycled to the gym; done some washing; started a beading project (more of that later) and made the most of the sunshine by having my lunch in the garden! A nice way to spend a day off I think.

As you may have gathered from earlier posts my sister is getting married this year. Like all 'proper' girls I have been consumed by thoughts of which shoes to wear, pretty much since the engagement was announced! (The dress is taken care of as I am one of the bridesmaids).

Both my sister and I agree that these are the perfect bridesmaid shoes:

but as they cost more than my first car, perhaps a little excessive!

So yesterday we decided to hit the Trafford Centre (or the gates of hell as I prefer to call it) in search of some 'nearly perfect' bridesmaid shoes. We knew we were safe from temptation as Selfridges don't stock Manolo Blahnik!

We trawled every shoe shop and shoe concession in the place, including a long and lingering look at the Jimmy Choo bridal range in Selfridges, but finally settled on these in Debenhams:

which were a much more reasonable £18, with the idea that I would do a bit of 'shoe customisation' for a bit of Manolo inspired bling!

So here is today's beading project aka 'pimp my shoes':

My dress has a clear and purple crystal brooch on the front which provided the inspiration for the design.

This is only the first attempt and needs a bit of fine tuning but I am pleased with progress so far.

Cheers,

Ruthie x

A Couple of Cards & A Bit Of Girly Indulgence!

Well, my get ahead of myself campaign is continuing and I've done another couple of cards ahead of time. First is this one which is my Mum's Mother's Day card for this year. I'm so far ahead I don't even know what date Mother's Day is this year!


Of course there is felt on there, and some of it is thanks to my Mum. She found a load of pieces in a cupboard at home and gave them to me to use on my cards. Free felt, love it!

The pearl topped pin is from a new addition to my crafty stash. I've been meaning to get some for ages and found some on one of the haberdashery stalls on my local market. (Much cheaper than buying the 'Scrapbooking' ones). I also picked up some nice ribbons at the same time but I've not used those yet.

Ingredients:
Paper - Basic Grey 'Gypsy'
Felt flowers cut using Cuttlebug, Quickutz and Sizzix dies
Dovecraft brads
Coffee cup sleeve
American Crafts ribbon
Pearl topped pin
Inking and pen stitching

Yesterday was Daring Card Makers Challenge Day, and it was Lythan's turn to set the Dare:

I just love, love, love patterned paper so this week I dare you to join me in
Patterned Paper Passion
I want to see 3 different patterned papers on your card.And to be extra daring, why not see if you can use 3 different lines of paper!

Well I wimped out on using three different lines of paper and stuck with three from the Basic Grey 'Infuse' range:

It's another Mum card, but this time it's for my MIL's birthday next month; you see I am really getting ahead. My sister is getting married in August, at this rate I'll be making the wedding card next week!

Ingredients:
Paper - Basic Grey 'Infuse'
Felt flowers cut using Cuttlebug dies (leaves also cut with a Cuttlebug die)
Papermania brads
Papermania felt ribbon
Tag - Cuttlebug die
Scalloped and plain oval nestabilities dies
Lettering - Quickutz Katie Skinni Mini dies
Pearl topped pin
Inking and pen stitching

Now for the bit of girl indulgence - new SHOES!!!! Contrary to what Mr Crafty Blogger will say, I am not really a shoe mad girly girl, but when I saw these babies I just had to have them:

I have got them to go with a cocktail dress I am wearing for a black tie ball in a couple of weeks. The planned ensemble may end up looking hideous, and I may end up looking like I've gone in fancy dress at Dorien from Birds of A Feather (as Mr Crafty Blogger suggested when I told him about the shoes), but I 'll take a chance.

Just to prove I'm really not a girly shoe girl, this is a pic of how my feet are usually attired (when I'm not at work). Forget Manolo Blahnik and Jimmy Choo, Dr Marten knows a thing or two about shoes!

Finally, I have moved my new DAB radio/I-Pod dock to it's permanent home in my craft room so here's a pic.

Have a good weekend,

Cheers

Ruthie x