What have I been doing....

.... or should it be, "what haven't I been doing?"... (warning ... long post)

It's been a while since I've actually posted anything, but with good reason... life has been hectic and I haven't really had a chance to do much crafting...

But let me catch you up on a few recent happenings...

Firstly, about 2 weeks ago, I "by the way" applied for a DT position at a new paper piecings company... The Saturday morning I woke up to new news that I had the position, and I was already added as an admin on the Facebook group... I was so excited that I put 2 sugars in my coffee instead of 1 (ugh, that woke me up!!)

Please go and have a look at their website. They have also just added digistamps to their range...

Our first project for the DT was "anything"... so I chose Skye's shoes from the store and started on my project.

As it was also my mom's birthday coming up, I decided to combine my DT project with the layout I was already in the process of making for my mom (and her twin sister)... I was making them each a Scrapbook layout. I'd already ordered a custom digi stamp from A Day For Daisies. I sent Tammy a photo of my mom and her twin as babies, and she made a custom image - it's adorable!

I then printed some photo's from copies we had made from my Gran's box of photo's of all the "Smith" kids.

I presented my mom with her page at her 60th Birthday Party, and she was so happy with it. She was showing it to everyone who walked in.
When my aunt arrived I handed her her page (in an album) and I don't think any of us expected her reaction. She burst into tears, which triggered my mom and my sister! It was so nice to see her reaction. My mom is always appreciative of everything I make her, but my aunt has never received anything like it. The layouts are almost exactly the same... as my aunt said to my mom while opening their gift: "you would think we're twins"...

Their younger sister commissioned my to make them each a very special birthday card. In my usual manner, I thought about it, but left it to do a few days before the event... Not expecting the world to turn upside down...
Last week Tuesday, I got a phone call that my uncle had passed away. It was such terrible news, but at the same time, I almost breathed a sigh of relief... He's been battling cancer for quite a few months and had spread throughout his body and he was in a lot of agony. We'll miss him dearly - our hippie uncle - but knowing he is no longer in pain, does give me sense of comfort. We said our final goodbyes on friday, April 1st - and I'm sure he was looking down from Heaven having a good chuckle about it - always had a sense of humour...

So back to the cards... cutting it fine (again) I finished the cards on the Saturday morning - the party was on Saturday afternoon. But I'm glad I spent the hours on the cards that I did, because everyone - the giver and the receivers were ecstatic (and so was I).

The front views of the cards:
I made this one with my mom in mind, and it's the one she got...


This one screamed my aunt's name and it's the one that went to her... Funny how things turn out (I had no say in it - it was up to their sister who got what)...
Tri fold cards always get such a great reaction from everyone, and I love making them.

Well, now that I've kept you busy for the last while, I let you get on with your own things... I hope you can leave here with some inspiration, and thanks for stopping by...

x Mel x