Well the plan was to write this every week, and as we can all tell, that has not happened ! I don't know where the weeks go, I was always told when I was younger that times goes faster when you get older, and I never believed them, well now, I am that older person and it's true ! Since I last wrote I have had a fantastic trip back to the UK to see family and friends. Unfortunately there was not enough time to see everyone I wanted too, again it comes back to time going by so quickly. For those I did see, thank you for helping me have a great week and to recuperate and for those I didn't, you will top of my list next time.

Whilst home in England the main purpose was to rest which I did lots of, but I also had the opportunity to see all the family and have our own mini Christmases. Lots of presents were exchanged and we were all spoilt. The best part was though, that all the hand made gifts I made were also opened by the recipients, so I can share them with you all now, as they have seen them.

The biggest things I made were 4 individual calenders for Mum, Rose, Chris and Karin. These took many many hours and sorting of the photos was one of the most difficult things. Here are a couple of sample pages to show you. I would not dare to bore you with all 48 pages and 578 letters I cut just for the months ! I did not want to count how many letters in total, think I would have scared myself !

I find making (or buying) presents for my Dad really hard, don't we all?. My Mum came up with the idea of altering his diary, he actually writes in his every day. This one is well travelled, to ensure that the holidays etc were marked correctly my mum posted an English diary to me , I then altered it and took it back with me. A well travelled diary ! I put pictures of all his children and husbands in the front and ALL his grandchildren in the back. This means he can take a look at his family on a daily basis. I think he really liked it.

A candle was next on the list for Kerry, she is really enjoying her time meditating so I thought she could use this, however she has already said she will never burn it ! The saying ' Just for today' is her favourite and it is written in both English and Japanese.

It was also Chris's birthday just before we arrived, so she got double presents! We all love the 2 pictures used here and I went with the idea of making a clock to show how precious Grandparent time is. This is the 1st clock I have ever made. I am pleased with how it turned out although I have learned things from it on how to make a better job next time.

Well now back home and hopefully back to work finally this week I needed to finish a couple of orders I had for people at work. 1st to be done were these Princess paper dolls. I love them, and I really hope the little girl gets as much pleasure playing with them as I did making them.

Anything you see on my site can be orderedand personalised, if you are interested in anything to buy or would like more details on how I made them just e-mail me at just1stamp@hotmail.com

Well as today is my last official day on medical leave (here's hoping) I better put my time to good use and go clean the house...... on 2nd thoughts I am going to be crafty ALL day hehehe

Thanks for taking the time to look

Sue

Its been a long 2 weeks, but I have finaly turned a corner and I am beginning to feel more like myself. I have been very busy where possible making lots of crafts, but mostly for Christmas. Now this gives me a little problem, because if I post all my bits and pieces on here, no-one is going to get any suprises ! I have a couple of new cards I have made but aagin they are for peoples birthdays and I really don't want them seeing them here before they drop through the mail box.

So for this week, I am going to share some of my favourite cards I have made throughout this year.

This beautiful Aurora card was made for my Neice's 2nd birthday, although only 2 she is already very aware of who her favourite princess is. I cut the princess using my cricut. The castle in the corner is actually made into a shaker. I made it by stamping onto white card, then using double sided foam tape and acetate made a window and filled it with confetti. I hope you can see what I mean by the photos.

Ariel was next on my list for yet another neice, ( be warned, I have 7 neices and 10 nephews) although this one just turned 24! This is what I call a slider card and is much easier to make than it looks and is soo effective. If anyone would like details please either leave a comment or e-mail me and i will forward them to you.

Another example of the slider card is this Tinkerbell one. This was an order for someone at work. I love to get orders and get paid for what I love doing, however parting with them is sometimes very hard.

Ah, my 1st Christmas card for the year. This one was so easy to make, I managed to make 4 in less than 1 hr, oh how I love the Circut!

I am keeping this short this week so that I actually manage to get it posted. I hope to post again before I leave for my trip back to the UK next week.

Have a good weekend

Thanks for stopping by

Sue