Wow - is it really a week since I was here.  Where are the days flying to.  School is out and the kids are on holiday.  The weather here has been wonderful, but yesterday the rain started - and did it rain.  Mind you, we really, really needed it.  Don't know about you all, but we have brown grass!   Saves hubby a job every evening going out with a watering can, lol.   Busy making cards this week.  Here's one I've made for my son-in-law who is rather keen on motorbikes (that's an understatement!!).   Anyway I used the workshop framin cards from La Pashe, but wanted to add a motorbike, so I cut out the bike from the bottom layer of La Pashe's motor bike pile up set, then stuck it to the outside of the frame to make it look as if it was going into  the workshop.  Now I've put the card on here I hope son-in-law doesn't take a sneaky peak at myt blog until after his birthday!!

Still plodding on with the Craft Robo.  There is a lot to learn, but it is coming along.  I've not been very adventurous so far - but I'll get there eventually and will then post some of the creations.

So take care all - happy crafting - Byee

Doesn't time fly!  A week since I wrote anything here.  Busy few days.  On Friday my husband and I joined our son, his wife and her parents when we went to see our grandchildren perform in their end of term concert.  What a great show; considering the kids are aged 5 - 10 their performances were terrific.  Our grandson, aged five, opened the show with a song about a chicken.  He was dressed as a little chick and looked so cute, we all teared up!   Our granddaughter is nine and quite a talented performer.  She is learning to play guitar and together with her group they performed; she is also in the school choir.  Recently she learned to hula-hoop, so she choreographed a disco routine using a hoop, taught two friends and they performed it.  3 1/2 minutes without dropping the hoop once and dancing at the same time is quite a feat I can assure you.  I was breathless for her!   There are a lot of talented children - some sang, others danced, one nine-year-old boy did a Michael Jackson routine - another lad performed a rap song.  There was also a French Horn group - they were exceptional - and a group of seven year olds played their recorders.  I don't think there was a dry eye in the house at the end.  All those mums, dads and grandparents - a super evening.  The photos we took didn't come out very well, but I made a scrap-page with a cartoon chick to remember the evening.

I'll be back again soon - happy browsing!

Well, here it is - my first attempt on my new Craft Robo.  He does look rather funny, but cute, I think.  The head was cut from a template, but the rest of the body and limbs I drew the shapes and hoped for the best.  Ah well, not bad for a first attempt!  It should raise a laugh anyway.  They say that practice makes perfect - don't know about that but I am off to practice anyway  lol  

Well, I'm no nearer setting up the Craft Robo than I was yesterday.  Got half-way through watching the instruction video when I had a phone call and paused it.  When I got back, I found I hadn't paused it - I'd turned the b****y thing off!  I hope I can find where I was and not have to sit through the same thing for another hour!   It is very, very interesting - don't get me wrong, but just a flaming nuisance when I was just getting to the important part about plugging it all in grrrr!

At least I've learnt that it has to be on a flat surface - I can't have it at the edge of my desk and let the paper hang over - it must be supported flat. Soooo - that means it has got to be put in a different place.  And that means - I've got to rearrange my whole work space.  Some of my family history files have got to find a new home and the only place for them is where I keep my jars of ribbons and flowers, which means that they, too, have got ........  well you get the idea!  So now its a case of chicken and egg - not which came first, but which gets moved first.  I'll let you know how I get on!

Meanwhile, have I mentioned that I use Digital Scrapbook Artist by Serif?  Well, if I haven't, I have now and I have to tell you that one of my daughters has bought the program and it is such fun having lengthy telephone calls (she lives a couple hundred miles away) where we sort out what we are doing and help each other.  If anyone reading this is a member of Daisy Trail - which is where we DSA users show off our layouts - you will find us on there.  I am Craigs Mum and she is Tallular.  

Another  group I belong to is Craftrak.com which is quite new - only been going about four months.  We make tiny greeting cards, similar to ATCs, and exchange them - on there I am known as KraftKnut.

Much as I am enjoying rambling on, I must away and start moving everything around and then maybe, just maybe, I'll be up and running with the Craft Robo tomorrow - in which case I'll make something and upload a piccie here - so watch this space. :-)

Byeee for now .........

11.20 a.m. and my Craft Robo has arrived!!   :)   Oh boy am I going to be busy for the next few days; learning how to do all the things I plan.   I've also been adding logos for some of my favourite scrapbooking sites.  Some will act as a link, other's not, so if you fancy checking them out hover and click over one to see if there is a link.  If not, you can always Google the title and enter the site that way.  Whatever you do, enjoy your paper-crafting.

Here's a picture of the Craft Robo - for those who wonder what I am so excited about!

Great excitement yesterday.  I've been researching die-cutting machines and talking to various people about the ones they own.  I finally decided on the Craft Robo.  Not the cheapest, but hopefully it will prove cheaper in the long run as I use my own designs instead of buying templates.  I had a demonstration from a friend recently and I was amazed at what the machine can do.  So .......... yesterday I went on line and ordered one.  Can't wait now for it to arrive and to start playing!  I think it is going to be really useful - especially when it comes to making 3D decoupage, which is something I really enjoy and make lots of.  It is possible to cut out individual elements from a picture or the whole picture or figure - so watch this space for a peek at my first attempts!

This is another card I received.  It was made using Flowersoft and is so tactile.  I'd love to keep it, but that wouldn't be fair to others, so I've made a digi-layout to keep.

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I belong to a great group at http://www.craftrak.com/.  We make tiny cards, similar to ATCs and exchange them.  Some I receive are so nice I don't really want to part with them, but that would be unfair to others, so I've taken to making digi-scrapbook pages, printing them out at 4x4 and sticking them in an 8x8 album - four to a page.  This is one I received from Anne of Digi Fiddle Designs recently.