Summer Holidays are Here!!

Hello again card fans 😀   Finally getting round to a fresh blog post.  Doesn’t feel like 3 months since the last post, but it is 😦 Where has the time gone? Unfortunately I have been unwell again, I have developed a condition in my hands called  “Dupuytren Contractures”  which leaves me unable to do certain tasks these days, so my cards have been on hold for a short while.  Ellie’s toesies always make me smile though, fluffy little jellybean toesies.

Love my Tabby Cat ❤

We have been working on bits and pieces of various projects when health has allowed it over the past few months.  We have good days where the will and motivation to craft is strong and the hands are willing to cooperate, move as we want them and create beautiful things 😀 We also have bad days though, where the mind and motivation is there but the hands will not bend or grip materials , on these days we brainstorm and try to come up with new ideas and concepts.  These can be scribbled on scrap pieces of card or in notebooks where people don’t need to see the appalling handwriting or random scribbles of imagination.  These days give us the chance to think about where we are going and what we want to achieve, so we are grateful for the bad days along with the good.

Ellie has found herself a new wee hidey place in the house, hunted high and low but couldn’t find where she was hiding.  We stumbled across her sleeping one day, in the linen cupboard!! She has been jumping into the bottom shelf and making a wee nest in among the towels.  It is adorable but now all the towels come with free cat hair, it’s a good thing wee love her.  She also hides here when the Hoover Monster is out and about!!

The weather has been nice enough (now and again) to walk along the beach.  Great for inspiration as the sound of the waves clears the mind and allows for ideas to flow unhindered, which is a rarity these days.  It’s lovely to be able to just sit on the shingles and think.

Our biggest and most exciting project so far is the wedding invites I have been asked to make for a close friend.  So far we have been measuring and cutting parts to get things ready for the assembly process.  It is exciting to see it all come together as this will be our largest order to date 😀 also slightly nerve-wracking though as there are 200 to be put together, but we are hopeful that they make a bride-to-be smile 😀

There are a few birthdays coming up and a few just past so will get some more birthday card photos up soon as well as a few new baby cards.  I absolutely  adore the new baby cards!! All things cute and adorable.  As well as all of the above there are packs of Thank You cards waiting to be assembled which will hopefully be ready to go on display soon, fingers crossed.

Finally Elliebobz did a trial photography day last week to see how the cards advertise along with props (mainly flowers so far) but overall we were pleased with the results, a few  adjustments to be done.  A work in progress shall we say .

On that note I shall let everyone get back to what they were doing, Ellie is fast asleep in her igloo and it’s raining again!! As always I hope you have enjoyed a little insight into what we have been up to, feel free to share with family and friends and keep an eye on our facebook page @elliebobz.handmadecards for our latest projects and pics.

 

Advertisement

Cards, Critters & Chocolate

Spring is in the air and we love it here at Elliebobz headquarters! The sporadic patches of sunshine streaming through various windows means days spent lazing and listening to the sound of the wee …

Source: Cards, Critters & Chocolate

Cards, Critters & Chocolate

Spring is in the air and we love it here at Elliebobz headquarters! The sporadic patches of sunshine streaming through various windows means days spent lazing and listening to the sound of the wee birds in the eaves.

 

So many exciting things come along with the arrival of spring!  Early morning  sunshine, accompanied by the early birds in the hedges and trees.  The whispers of the Easter bunny start to circulate along with the rows and rows of chocolate eggs, wrapped in every colour of foil you could imagine, chocolate bunnies and lambies, every type of mini egg imaginable.   Best of all is the anticipated arrival in the farming world of little woolly lambs, so white and full of energy, decorating the fields and hills like tiny cotton balls ❤

The daffodils beginning to bloom is an event close to my heart as it marks the anniversary of my dearly departed father. It was one of his favorite blooms as it brought so much colour and light to the garden.  Our garden was a mass of these beautiful yellow/white/orangey flowers and I loved gathering big bunches to take to granny’s 😀  As a farmer’s daughter, this time of year was always filled with talk of the upcoming “lambing season”.  How many sets of twins would there be? Would there be a rare set of triplets? And would there be any pet lambs to bottle feed?   My earliest memories of lambing season are of toddling round the fields with my dad on cold mornings, bundled up in big jackets, welly boots and of course dad’s woolly hat 😀  Checking on expectant mothers and watching little balls of wool jump and skip in the early morning light.

Onto the crafts, the past few months have seen, Birthdays, Engagements and of course Mothering Sunday.  Next weekend will be Easter, oh where has the beginning of this year went to? Ellie will have been with us for a year in May  ❤  honestly can’t imagine life without her now. `So far this year I have made Birthday cards for boyfriends, friends and brothers.  A few note cards to keep me busy and some Mother’s day cards.

 

The current project is Easter, so lots of pastels, ribbons and Easter critters.  I seem to have a growing collection of ribbon, it is simply impossible to walk past them without browsing and browsing always leads to buying.  So the collection is ever expanding! I was lucky enough to inherit some shape cutters which all appear to be Easter themed, so those have been put to use this week to make mini embelishments to go on some of the cards.

The Birthday cards mentioned in my previous blog from January 😀

There is also a special little boy who’s first birthday is coming up, I am looking forward to playing about with some felt to create a colourful card.  But what to put on the card? Lion? Monkey? Dinosaur?  Watch this space to find out 😉

Have a happy Easter everyone!! Please like and share my facebook page 🙂 Keep an eye out for new projects on the Facebook page,  www.facebook.com/elliebobz.handmadecards,  until next time cheerio ❤

 

Birds, Birthdays and Ellie Bops

Hello again everyone 😀 As we prepare to say goodbye to January (yes already) Ellie has perfected the art of stairway tag.  She hides just inside the spare room door until your head is level with the landing, then pops out and bops you on the head with her wee paw. My wee monster is getting smart. Mummy needs to beware now ❤  But how can you not forgive that beautiful face? She has such lovely long whiskers too, perfect for tickling Daddy when he’s trying to take a nap.

She has started head bopping us too, when she wants attention.  When I get home from work she meets me in the kitchen and jumps so her head bops my hand when I stroke her ❤ Love our wee Ellie bubs and her bopping ❤

As I mentioned in my previous post, it has taken a bit of time to kick start this year.  So much going on that the cards and the craft room have been sorely neglected 😦 So from here on I have promised myself that I will try to get at least 2-3 cards or at least design ideas done per week.

I have a few Birthdays in January to craft for, 3 to date, cards are all made and either sent or waiting to be sent so will wait and upload all of them together once they have been seen by their intended recipients.

In the meantime I have also been playing about with Thank You and Note Cards again.  Mainly trying to use up scraps of paper that seem to pile up fast.  Also a good excuse to try out some different design ideas.

Found some wooden bird embellishments that I had forgotten I even had, I think they add a touch of elegance.  No matter how hard I try I can’t get away from the layering effect, it has always been a favourite for some reason.  I just love the different looks you can create with it!!

As you can see the owls are putting in an appearance again, they seem to be on everything these days and well lets admit it, they are kind of cute 😀

Next project – Valentines <3, excited to see what ideas flow for this one!  I will be posting pics etc on my Facebook page Elliebobz – Handmade Cards, if anyone wants to follow how I am getting on.  So in the meantime, hope everyone is well and staying warm in this cold January weather.  See you all next month with some more crafty pics and Ellie updates 😀

Bringing in the New Year!

Here we are back again!  It’s been a packed few months and for some reason it felt like November and December merged somewhere along the way and flew by in super quick time.  Christmas and birthdays all mixed in with the trials of winter.  Spent time in one too many doctor’s waiting rooms and rounded everything off with a trip to A&E.  All in all I spent a lot of productive time at the craft table, pulling together ideas and putting them into practice.

Ellie continues to melt our hearts ❤ She can be found upside down on the beds or tucked up in her igloo (on colder days).  Cuddle time is around 6am these days and before bed too.

There were two Birthday cards to be created in December.  The first being for my Gran, who turned 88 this year 😀 I managed to pay her a wee visit when i was home in early December.  Unfortunately she had a fall a few days before I arrived, she was her usual cheery self albeit a bit bruised and it was nice to sit and enjoy a cuppa and a chat with her.  Grannie’s was always a favourite place of mine as a child, nothing beat a bowl of her homemade soup accompanied by a ham and sandwich spread piece 😀   So it was only fitting that she received a specially crafted card.

Next up was Mum’s birthday (26th Dec) again a very special lady in my life, has been there through thick and thin.  i would certainly be lost without her.  She loves owls so there was no question about the incorporation of a wee owl somewhere, took a while to decide where it looked best.

Both cards weer received with happy faces and both hoping for more in the future 😀

Christmas time is a busy time of year for everyone, nobody escapes the festive season.  I used to love putting the tree up, getting all the presents wrapped and generally just enjoying the countdown to the big day! This year however went in far too fast and it felt like time was cut short somehow.  i have to admit, the cards were an escape from all the rushing about.  I was asked to make roughly 30-40 cards for someone and it was a welcome escape indeed.  On top of that i made all my own cards to send to friends and family, I always think a card means more if it has that “handcrafted with love” appeal.

Here is a few that I came up with.

Handmade flowers and holly, couldn’t resist the x-mas puds from Hobbycraft, everyone loves a x-mas pud right?

Handmade gingerbread men, made using cardboard templates and careful careful trimming!

I find it hard to stick to one design, I like to experiment and mix them up 😀 Every card brings something unique.

I am told that my cards have been sent all around the world this Christmas, so maybe there is one in a home near you.  It’s a heartwarming thought that somewhere on the other side of the world someone has smiled because of my cards.  My furthest one went to Hong Kong this year, to a very special friend.  Some of the others have gone to Australia and the USA 😀 

Well I feel i have bleathered enough for another day so I shall bid you all farewell and a happy and healthy 2016, let us hope this year is the one!!!

Hope you enjoy reading and as always any questions or queries please feel free to contact me linzyloou@gmail.com 😀

Absent but Active

Hi there everyone! Just a wee note to say I will be updating very soon, with all the festive makes and a few family cards that were specially made for some very special ladies 😀 The main lady being my wee Granny, who turned 88 at the start of December.

So although I have not been posting I have been a busy busy little bee.  Watch this space for an update, I aim to have it done by weeks end when I will officially be on holiday! Yaay!

Until then here is Ellie showing her fluffy tummy for the world, proving that it really is a cats life ❤

Winter is Closing In!

Hello again lovely people 😀 I’m sat with a hot cuppa and the heating turned up as it is dark and blustery outside!! The nights are certainly coming in fast.  Can you believe the clocks go back on Sunday? Already!! Oh well here’s to an extra hour snuggled under the duvet with Ellie cat ❤

With the weather changing, getting colder and unfortunately wetter I tend to have a few more sick days than usual.  Ellie is the perfect companion, apart from when she wants to lie on me when i’m feeling slightly green, she’s not as easy to shift as you might think! But generally speaking she is a wee star and gives me lots of cuddles to help cheer me up.

What I woke up to on my last day off! And yes that is her bed in the background!!

I got back into the way of crafting last week, spent some time in my craft room, sorting out all my makeshift shelves (after I had fought my way through the huge pile of clean washing that had accumulated in there) and actually started thinking about setting up the Elliebobz Facebook page, it’s a work in progress but I hope to have it up by November.  I made a start on some Christmas cards too 😀 I thought it best to get cracking early as it will be on us before we know it as usual.  This month’s crafting magazines have free paper with most of them so I made the most of this and started cutting and measuring for the backing on some cards.  I did some cards with full backing cover and some with split or partial covering to see how it would look.  Most of them turned out lovely, apart from one 😦 I know why though.  I used gold bauble embellishments for them, which worked well for the cards with the red backing, however, one of the fully backed cards was done in white and I now realise I should have mounted the embellishments onto a plain background before sticking them as they are almost completely lost.  Another lesson learned.

Festive selection

The one that taught me a lesson.

I got a lovely surprise last week too, one of my work colleagues brought me 3 big boxes of crafting goodies 😀 I am still sorting through the boxes, every rummage brings new surprises, so hopefully the craft room will be occupied more often now. So a big thank you to Erin and her mum 😀 ❤

Also received a big box of packaging from amazon, there was something in the box but as usual there was more box than really necessary.  It came with lots of brown paper though, which is wonderful for making Christmassy gingerbread men to top some of my cards!  I have collected various bits and bobs of different coloured tissue paper over the past few months too, no idea what I am going to do with it but I’m sure it will come in handy at some point.  I’d rather save it than bin it, as it always feels like such a waste of perfectly good paper, so watch this space for some wacky multi-colour creations.

Good thing I moved my crafting stuff into the spare room 😀

I also love wrapping paper as a backing to my cards. So many uses!

So on a closing note………………………

I am excited about Halloween, I absolutely loved it as a wee one! In primary school there was always a Halloween party in the village hall, you’d all get dressed up in your wee costumes, usually always made by your mum 😀 Then you’d toddle off for an afternoon filled with bobbing for apples, trying to bite that treacle covered doughnut of the string (all with your hands behind your back).  When it was dark enough, one of the parents would take you round the houses for “Trick or Treat”.  Our wee village didn’t have the advantage of street lights as it’s only a little village so it was always advisable to have a torch handy for when one of the older kids jumped out of a bush to scare you!!

My favoured costumes weren’t very daring, I used to opt for witch or cat.  Wednesday Adams was also a favourite as I was and still am told I look like her (pale skin, dark hair and my all time favourite “resting b***hface”) Yes I have one of those faces Haha.  So on that note, hope everyone has a Happy Halloween!! I hope to have another post up before bonfire night so until then, hope you enjoy my latest ramblings and feel free to comment, share etc.

September’s End

Ah here we are almost at September’s end already, where has the time gone? Ellie is spending most of her days snuggled up in her igloo or cosied into bed with us on our days off 😀

Snoozy Cat

I am still trying out new styles and materials as there is just so much out there, every week I see something else and think to myself ” I could use that in my cards”.  I am hoping to somehow incorporate some of autumn’s leaves into my cards when they begin to fall.  As the days get colder and the nights begin to close in it feels more and more like the onset of my favourite season.  Childhood memories of rainy days and cold nights curled up in front of the open fire, the feel of the fires immense heat accompanied by the sound of the wind howling through the night.  The colours are by far my favourite at this time of year, all the bright oranges and golds as the trees begin to turn and shed their loads.  That lovely few months before the snow comes, which as a country girl almost always meant the chance of a day or two off school because the single track roads where blanketed in fluffy white snow 😀

I popped into the works the other week, just for a nosey, no intention of buying anything.  It didn’t last long, a lot of their crafty stuff is a pound and a lot of it is really good too. Soooo naturally I bought a few bits and bobs 😀

Everyone needs mini frames!

It’s an addiction 😉

Found something to kick start the autumn crafting! We shall see how well my creative streak tackles the leaves, things could get interesting.  I find layering the different coloured blossoms creates a stunning effect, it really stands out on the cards but can be slightly fiddly at times when trying to glue them together.

Autumn in a box 😀

So here are some of the final results, some I am happy with, others I remain sceptical but someone might like them 😀 I am not a fan of the pink one, I think it is awful!!! I had a totally different picture in my head when I started out.

Bit of a mix, including THAT pink one!

Some examples of the layered blossoms

As the daylight hours are getting shorter (making it harder on my eyesight) and my work hours have increased I am not seeing the craft room as often as originally planned but I try to set aside an hour or so each week to craft and create, Hopefully in the new year I will be able to organise myself a little better and get Elliebobz on it’s feet properly!

So until the next thrill filled update, wrap up warm and enjoy some chilly walks, the scenery and the colours are well worth it.  Great excuse for a nice hot cuppa though 😀

Rollercoaster Days at an End

Apologies as it’s been a while since I posted anything as i’ve had a few weeks of ups and downs.  I am pleased to say that it is onwards and upwards from here on out.  I recieved the all clear following my eye surgeries last summer.  I am still partially blind in one eye but my sight is slowly coming back 😀

So onto Elliebobz 🙂 The logo is finally complete and has come back from the printers, it has come out slightly darker than I anticipated but you get the idea from the picture of where Elliebobz came from.  It is in sticker form so far but I hope to get business cards and a sign in the future when things are a little more established.

It’s complete

The stickers are here 😀

I am still pondering whether the stickers will go on the back of the cards themselves or on the plastic sleeves. will need to play about and see what works better.

Also been thinking about putting together a portfolio of some of my designs so that people can see the different themes on offer, so far I have a lot of note cards and a few Birthday and Thank You cards. At sales it would be good to have a folder on the side that people can browse as I want to be able to advertise a “on request service”, so if you have a special occasion such as a birthday or anniversary, you can ask for a hand crafted card that can be customised to suit your preferences.   Unfortunately I missed the last local craft fair as I never saw the posters till the day after, note to self “be more observant”.

I have been making cards in between shifts and running around like a nutter.  It’s sometimes nice to just sit in the craft room surrounded by bits and bobs, nowhere to be and time to chill.  I have been trying to put together sets of cards with similar themes but slight differences in the designs/materials.  I have been experimenting with different sized and shaped cards too.  It is great looking round the likes of The Works and sometimes even the Poundshop as you can pick up cute embellishments for as little as £1.00.  I also found the wonderful Hobbycraft, I could spend hours in that place 😀

So here are some of my most recent creations.

Note cards

I got the idea for these note cards from a fellow crafter, its a very simple design with ribbon and some cute embellishments, ideal for writting a quick note to pop in a gift bag or simply as a thank you card perhaps.

Owls are in 😀

Owls seem to be on everything these days so I decided to roll with it and came up with some cards with a green theme, so I used recycled card and the wee owls for that in look 😀

These are two of the sets I have been working on, loving working with ribbons at the moment.

Monday Making

Ahh Monday 🙂 I get Mondays off as I usually work right through the weekend, so today I was so happy to have a lie in.  Didn’t last long once Ellie was awake!  Once you are awake it is petting and snuggle time, while madame purrs and cosies in.  After the usual Monday morning jobs, washing, toddling to the shop for milk (work better with a cup of tea in my system) and of course making a fuss of Ellie after her weekend of brief glimpses as we hurry around getting ready for work 😦  after all this it was time to retire to the craft room and get creative, well attempt to make my work fogged brain throw forth ideas, after a while of staring at things and rearranging my craft room I made the first cut ! I decided to try out some of my new materials today.  These include some wooden buttons and some lovely wrapping paper I found in my local shop.

I am at that point in starting up where you think to yourself, can I actually do this and does anyone actually care what you’re doing? My boyfriend and several close friends insist that I keep going and that I have nothing to lose but I still wonder if this is going anywhere, and if anyone actually reads any of what I write on here.

Anyway, back to the creations 😀 The bit that takes me longest is deciding which colours and patterns to put together.  I have decided, without a doubt that I do not like the pink card!! The more I look at it the more it offends me, sooooo I have decided to cover the card face entirely, which seems to work.  My favourite colour is purple, especially deep purple’s and I have found that these colours tend to feature strongly in my earlier cards, so the challenge is to step away from these beautiful colours and try something new 🙂

This week I tried a technique called matting, after sharing some of my work with the ladies in a card making group, they suggested this as my next step. I have to say it’s actually quite fun, once you get past the measuring and fiddling to get everything straight. Some turned out better than others but overall I think they are alright.

Been busy 🙂

I spent some time sitting on the beach this past week as well, as I’ve mentioned previously the sound of the waves calm me and help me think more clearly.  It was a lovely cool afternoon, the sun shimmering in the waves and a cheeky seagull who just wandered up and down the sea wall, no doubt hoping someone would drop some food of some sort.  So until next time, hope everyone has a good week.