"Free" stamp arrived with goodies today!

I had a parcel left in my Parcel Safe, which is better than the bin where it might get thrown out! It was from www.stamps.co.uk
I "won" it after they emailed saying if you spotted a mistake on their website you could win a free double daisy Anita stamp, there was a catch - you had to place an order! Well I spotted a spelling mistake right away, funny that, and emailed and they responded saying they would add the stamp to my basket.

I did place an order, two Do Craft magazine binders for £5.98, three sets of the Papermania foam stamps down to £1 each (I have seen them since for 50p but on a website where there was a minimum order of £15), a pack of brooch pins to make brooches or badges, and some Debbie Moore stamps (seasons - spring and summer) that come in a large CD case with a CD that I haven't looked at yet for £9. So I spent £22 with postage to get my "free" stamp, which wasn't in my basket so I had to include a note to make sure I got it!

I am not sure I will put the Do Craft mags in the binders, I was going to get rid of some mags as I have 4 years worth of several different mags piling up on the floor but I thought they were such cheap binders that I could put any magazines in them so I will have to choose!

I have put some things on Ebay, I have an Ultimate Crafters Companion, and I found some Zipecut dies I have never taken out of the packet so thought I might as well sell them, or try to, and a quilling board. See Cazzy-sale for details.

My seller ID is cazzooblue if you are interested! I don't often get round to selling my stuff although I have a lot I should sell, but it was a 10p listing day so I managed to get a few things on! I buy much more than I sell!

Washing Machine blues

Sunday my Dyson washing machine told me the coin trap needed emptying, and it wouldn't spin the towels. I couldn't find the tool to deal with the coin trap, I looked high and low but nothing! I should have phoned Dyson, they work Sundays but I forgot that, so we had dripping towels draped over radiators.
When I did ring them they said they could order me a tool, which would cost £4 but I could do the same thing with the end of a teaspoon!

So we had a go, it was hard but we managed it in the end and it was never easy with the correct tool! They don't make the washing machines any longer sadly, but I hope it will keep going for many years!

In the coin trap there was at least £1 in silver change, some small stones and some fibres, it was a wonder it was working at all!

Now it is all cleaned out and back to normal, but if I had phoned Sunday and found out I could use the teaspoon I would have been able to spin the towels as usual!

18th Birthday card

I finally made this card for my nephew from a template on UK Scrappers. This is a great site for Craft Robo owners and a great source of help and templates if like me you haven't had time to develop your own, or master the new software!

I packed up the red tote I was previously trying to sell, with lots of card making stuff for my 8 year old niece for her birthday and she was so thrilled with it! She sat there hugging it, but could only just carry it!

Walk

I went out for my usual little lunchtime walk which is very pleasant and gets my mind off work for 10 minutes. I saw two squirrels running from tree to tree finally leaping from the trees my side of the fence to the ancient copse the other side. I also saw a coal tit.

Yesterday I saw three buzzards circling and swooping on the wind, before dispersing to much higher in different directions - the other birds were keeping a low profile!

It was cold but sunny and bright and really cheerful. It is already cold and icy tonight, and the sky looked snowy to me earlier!

Yesterday I had a pack of goodies I ordered arrive, rubber stamps, papers, and brads mainly! I don't need them but they were a bargain and some are for Christmas presents.

This card is made using a delightful Lili fairy and pretty backing paper which came in a Lili kit, with dome stickers, and paper flowers, and a Papermania butterfly. Anita Glitter glue has been added for sparkle. Greeting from a pack from Lakeland.

Snowperson card

One more for the latest challenge, but the glue and paint are still wet! I am not sure if the snowperson needs a hat but I decided against it in the end! I will load a photo with dry glue etc when I can. Photo now replaced with dry one!

I cut the circles out with the Robo, and the rectangles are the backing paper one on the front and a narrow one inside, the square is the dome sticker greeting also on the inside rectangle.

Glitter glue, and Tulip 3d paint decorate the snowperson, and the arms are pipecleaners.

Well I see it as one more Christmas card - and I really must get making as it is number 3 and there is a long way to go!

I have cut out a few more circles so I can make some similar cards now, with snowballs too!

PCJ Challenge card

The challenge this week was to make a card with two rectangles, one square and three circles. You would think that would be easy really!

The two rectangles and one square are cut from a herbal tea bag box, and the background is some recycled hand made paper. The circles are Indian mirror beads (Shisas?) and I found some turquoise peel offs to finish the card.

Graduation exploding box

This is the exploding box card I made for my son who graduated recently with his Masters degree from Oxford.

I cut the box out with my Robo and a template provided by ETUI22 on UK Scrappers forum.

Knitting, Stitching and Craft Exhibition Cardiff

I managed to get myself to the exhibition by train on Sunday. I haven't gone to Cardiff by train before, and the journey out was awful. The train before was cancelled so the one I was on was packed with people standing in the aisles, which I would have had to go but there were a couple of drop down seats. They were taken up by a couple of people's luggage but one of them moved a bag so the seat would drop and I sat on that. It was uncomfortable as I couldn't put my legs anywhere but in the aisle due to her bags and I kept getting bashed, I also got a very sore back which is still painful now. She got off a few stops before Cardiff and offered me her vacant seat which was so much more comfortable but the damage was done by then.

I found the Cardiff International Arena without too much trouble and after sitting eating my lunch that I took with me ( I forgot anything to eat it with so had to beg a plastic teaspoon, and it did leak a little into my bag, but never mind better than not being able to find anything I could eat) I walked round for a few hours. I didn't buy a lot, I had to remember not to get too much as I would have to lug it back but I took my M&S wheeled trolley which was perfect. I bought some plastic boxes and some devider trays for Really Useful boxes, and a couple of small pads of printed card and paper, some beads and clasps for knitted necklaces which were the most expensive thing I bought at £27 for four clasps and 4 beads, some Doodlebug papers, a DoCraft Goody bag (I have that one already but it has such nice things in, and actually some of them are different to the first one), some Lili fairy packs and a Christmas pack, and finally an A4 plastic box full of card from Payper Box which was only bought after I had been all round to make sure there wasn't anything else that was going to be heavy.

Coming back wasn't quite so bad, I got a seat and it was a much nicer train but I timed it wrong and had to wait a long time at the station. I think there were still people standing on this train but not so many. One girl was sitting on the filthy carpet in the corner sleeping against the wall!

There were some wonderful exhibitions of work, and one was a full size knitted gingerbread house raising money for Great Ormond Street hospital. I have some photos and will post them soon!

Electrical things arriving

The new dishwasher arrived today, my parents house sat - it should have come on Saturday but Dixons rang to say they couldn't deliver it then despite the website telling me it was booked! We could have it today or a week on Sunday! It isn't as classy as the Maytag, it is noisier and not so many programmes but hey if it washes dishes and doesn't keep breaking down it is superior! This one is a Kenwood. It has done it's first wash and what a strange smell - I hope the dishes don't smell like it, or taste like it - it probably says it should be run empty first time but Hubby was reading the instructions!

The other thing that arrived at my parents house while they were here house sitting was my freeview recorder.
When my parents got home there was a note from DHL saying they left it in the black bin, this was in the garden and it had been emptied that morning! My dad said it was lucky they use bags in the bin or it could have been nasty!
I have been lusting after this gadget for ages and saw it for a good price with an extra 10% off from Dixons too, had to buy it on the same day as the dishwasher to get the discount but it was £50 cheaper than I have seen it before. I didn't tell Hubby, I waited until he went to bed then I got it out, my cunning plan was to set it up and he would never notice as it is black and so is my little TV stand in my craft room so I would put it on the shelf and hide the box. My plan has been scuppered - the shelf is too shallow and it doesn't fit. So now I can either move the DVD player to the shelf and put the recorder on top with the TV stood on it (I want the TV on the wall but Hubby has been sulking since I bought a new TV and won't do it for me, and he might notice the new toy now). What shall I do with the huge DHL box I have flattened? He will notice it if I put it out, will he notice it stood in the corner, and will he notice the product box in among my mess? Will number one son notice it when he comes home tomorrow - hopefully he will keep quiet and not announce it to DH - he should be too busy sorting out stuff to move into his flat!
I put it underneath the TV stand, but that space is currently what the Craft Robo uses when cutting so I will have to rearrange things so the Robo is somewhere else with room (fat chance) or put the Robo on the floor every time I use it which could be a bit hazardous for me and it!

O.K. I have it set up and hooked up to the TV which is still working so that is a good sign. Everyone will be away this weekend so I can work it out and play, and the Robo is back in it's usual place which is hiding new gadget but I will still have to move Robo to use it as it needs space behind! Only problem was that the round hole Hubby cut in my bench to feed electrical plugs through to the surge protectors under the bench is not big enough for either the new plug or the TV plug and the new lead only just reached to the socket. I need the hole made bigger, but will have to move a lot of stuff before he can get to it unless I can have a go at making it bigger with a rasp or something! I want to hook it up to the PC too but I don't have a lead for that yet, or I don't think so.

Also today my Glue Dots automatic glue gun arrived! I had one that went wrong, but I wasn't sure how long I had it for. I contacted the Glue Dots people and said I was disappointed that it had gone wrong after only two or three refills had been used and I had spare ones I couldn't use. They told me to send it in and they would look at it, but they had it months and I chased it up a couple of times. Eventually a different person called Emma sorted it out for me and sent me a new one with a pack of glue dots and some of the motifs and flock - nice touch!

There are two parcels at the Post Office which I will probably have to get Saturday, I am not getting up early enough to get across town and back then on to work in the mornings. I think one is something my son bought, or they could be both for him. He is away on holiday or he might have gone to get them!

Now my central locking is playing up on the car, not what I need at the moment! The alarm went off as normal this morning - strange. Still had the beeping in the night but I came to the conclusion it could be something else not the clock - so I have removed one suspect from the bedroom and will see (or hopefully not hear) what happens tonight!

I hope you like the new look for the slide show - I just worked out how to change it today!