To blog or not to blog

WoW! It's been a little while since I've blogged.... so much has happened .... it's been a busy few months and I'm afraid my poor little blog has been neglected a bit.... I'm not even sure that anyone reads blogs anymore...... but hey, I do have fun writing it and it's an easy place to put my tutorials so that I can find them again...
I think for me though it will be more of an online diary that will include photos of things that Kris and I get up to, although this may well change again..... lol

Happy crafting
Whatever you are up to at the moment

Nikki x

Samuel's naming day has arrived

Today is my nephew Samuel's naming day.
I made two cards for this... the first one will be given to him by my Nanna.....

The second one has been sent down from Kris and I....

I love creating cards for my family and friends....

Hopefully the sun is shining on them all today and that down south gets a break in the stormy weather so they can all enjoy their day.
I'm teaching this morning so will be playing with embossing powders - watch this space to see what the ladies create....
Whatever you are doing today - have fun.
Happy crafting
Nikki x

A sad farewell

I'm sorry that I haven't posted on here for a couple of weeks.... boy what a couple of weeks they have been...
My Mother In Law, Nan, has been battling cancer over the past few years, a battle we thought could be won. Well in the beginning we did.
Sadly a couple of weeks ago she became very ill and although I did my best for her and nursed and cared for her, it was her time to go.
Her funeral was today.
This is Nan.....

This picture was taken at my wedding to David..... her son....... at least they are now together again....
I wanted to share with you all the poem that I wrote for her. It was read at her funeral.

4 Candles

by Nikki Smith

There are 4 candles to be lit when we go home tonight,

4 candles that burn like a guiding light.

The 1st candle, it shines showing a mothers love,

Still present, still guiding, only now from above.

Ruth and I have so many memories of you here on this land,

while David now walks with you holding your hand.

The 2nd candle is for the gran, who in her own amazing way,

adored Kris and Callum, her 2 special grandsons, every single day.

They are both so lucky to have spent time with her here.

As these memories are precious, they keep their gran near.

The 3rd candle is for you Nan, a friend to everyone here.

Memories of special moments that we will always hold dear.

From childhood to 80 you crammed life with joy, laughter and fun.

The kindest of hearts shared with everyone.

The 4th candle we light, although a lot more we could burn.

Is for all the strength and courage you showed at every turn.

A strong matriarch figure on whom we could all depend,

with so much pride and dignity right to the end.

A light on the earth went out that day.

But now with Gordon, David and others, you will guide us all in a special way.

So for now, as tears silently fall, it's goodbye that we say.

But we know in our hearts, we'll be together one day.

I hope you like it. It came form the heart.....
I'll be back again soon with some crafty things to show you - xxx
And a massive thank you to those of you who have sent me emails or messages to let me know you are thinking of me and supporting me.
You are all totally amazing!
Thank you xxx
Nikki x

Bethany's card

My niece had a birthday earlier this month.... and this was the card I made for her....

I love being able to add names onto cards - I wish there were lots more really good rubons available.... Do you know of any?
I using a lot of the papermania cardstock stickers too - they are great for making a card just that little bit more special and unique.

Back again later with some more makes to show you.....
Happy crafting.
Nikki x

My card for my neices....

This is the card that I have made for my neices, Bethany and Amelia......

what you can't see is the glitter snow that is on the bottom of the card and the glaze that shimmers over the card.
I decided to make them a big a4 card just as something different.
Thankfully they are both far too little to be reading my blog, so they won't see it before they open it! lol

Nikki x

For my sisters......

these are the cards that I made for my sister's birthday,

This card was the one that I gave to Sara,

and this was the card that I gave to Amanda,

I know they had an amazing birthday - filled with surprises!! (No comment about my BIL or Amanda's boyfriend cooking in the nude!! lol)..........

Nikki x

What Kris did next........

For those of you who don't know, Kris, is my wonderful 19 (soon to be 20) year old son.
Over the festive period he was away with his Aunty Amanda, Aunty Sara and Uncle Stu. His 1 year old cousin, Bethany, was there too....
He took some amazing piccies and I wanted to share some of them here with you... I plan to make some of them into scrapbooking pages later on...

Snow angels. We've all made them - always should!! Kris and I just love to make snow angels whenever we find some fresh snow........

Kris and his Aunty Sara. Going for a nice walk (Aunty Amanda took the picture).

Uncle Stu at the whisky tasting........ yummy ....... Kris enjoyed his too......

Snow pictures ........

Out and about in Dufftown ........


I think they are fab piccies, really good for being taken mostly on a mobile phone.
I'll be back soon with some more crafting projects.
I'm just waiting for the new Do Crafts kit to arrive, some of the new projects look amazing! If you can it would be great to see you at a Do Crafts demo.......

Keep an eye on my demo section to see when and where my demos will be.

Happy craftin', I hope that 2010 brings you everything that you could wish for.

Nikki x