In loving memory of Margaret..

Dear All,

Whilst it still doesn't quite seem real, this is to announce that our mother Margaret passed away in December 2014.

Whilst some of you may be aware that she was hospitalised earlier in the year, the end
was not a result of a battle; she passed away without worry, without hurt, and in the comfort of independence within her own home. She will truly rest in peace.

I have found this 'draft' post that she obviously hadn't sent but we would like to share..

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Re: Sorry to leave you

It is with sadness that I am now going to write my last ever post but I am now ready to share my story.

I have been recently diagnosed with a life threatening illness and my life has changed completely. I was in hospital for a while bu am now back at home , being as independent as I can be for as long as I can be - stubborn old bird to the end!!

My journey with Stampin'Up! was good - when Michelle persuaded me to take it up I thought I would be able to last for the first quarter, that was a little over 4 years ago now. I only ever had a few customers but they were real friends and supported me to success. Funnily enough I thought I would feel quite resentful at no longer being able to use my lovely goodies to create but the only feelings I have towards my 'stash' are that I want them to be used by people who appreciate them as much as i did.

I am very accepting of my situation, and determined to enjoy my fabulous family in whatever time I have left they have all been truly amazing. My sister, Linda, is one of the most amazing people I know and has always been there for me and for this I am so, so thankful- this wasn't how it was meant to be was it sis??

I have 'met' some remarkably kind and caring people through crafting and my blog and I will now leave you all with my thought/saying

Please don't be sad when I'm gone, be thankful I was here x x

Love from Margaret x x

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Thank you to everyone for visiting Making Papercrafts over the past few years, thank you to those that followed this blog, to everyone who commented on the posts, to those that have taken inspiration, and those that inspired.

Danielle & Matthew


This is Margaret celebrating a 60th Birthday with her beloved grandchildren

Absent without leave

Hi all,

This is just a very quick update on my complete lack of posts at the moment.

Unfortunately I am in hospital at the moment and unable to do any crafting whatsoever.

I will be back at some point to explain the situation in a much better way but, in the meantime, thank you for all the support and encouragement you have shown me. It has all been very kind and very much appreciated

Love

Margaret x

A Day at the Seaside with LIM

When I saw the LIM challenge yesterday was 'anything to do with the seaside' I resigned myself to the fact that I wouldn't be entering a card this week. I don't have any suitable stamps relating to the sea, nor anything which could even be loosely connected. And my brain had taken a day off as well I think!!
However today I had an idea so, this afternoon, I disappeared into my craft room and this is what I came out with.
My wooden post was an off cut lurking on my desk, which had been made using the Woodgrain stamp, and was perfect for what I needed. The lifebuoy was made with two circle punches, cut from Cherry Cobbler and coloured with my Blendabilities to give it some depth. I wound round some Whisper White Baker's Twine and attached it to the post using dimensionals (another scrap of the Woodgrain card was cut to make a hook). The seagull was made with the Bird Builder punch sponged with Smoky Slate. The background was sponged with Smoky Slate, Soft Sky and So Saffron.

I have been so bad at blogging over the Summer holidays but there just seems to have been so much to do, catching up on all the things I don't seem to get done when I'm at work. Back to work this week so maybe I will get back into a routine again soon!!

Margaret x

Simples Sunday

For my Simples Sunday card today I have used the LIM challenge which, this week, is a sketch (top right).
I have used the new In Colour, Mossy Meadow, along with Very Vanilla, the leaf stamp from Kinda Eclectic and a sentiment from Tag Talk - punched with the co-ordinating punch. The stamped panel was matted onto Mossy Meadow and then onto Very Vanilla and the sentiment popped up on dimensionals - that's all there is to say really.

Have a great Bank Holiday and I'll see you soon

Margaret x

LIM Sketch

 I am a little late today with my LIM entry for this week's Sketch Challenge (see picture top right) - but nowhere near as late as last week when I didn't even manage to make one!!!

I started by stamping an image from Pictogram Punches, in Pear Pizzazz, onto a panel of Whisper White. Then, using my stamp-a-ma-jig, I stamped the flowers in Rich Razzleberry (stamping off first to give a paler image) onto the ends of the stalks with another stamp from Pictogram Punches. Three flowers were stamped onto a scrap piece of Whisper White, punched using one of the Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack and positioned onto the middle image with a Basic Pearl added for the centres. After rounding the corners this was matted onto Rich Razzleberry cardstock and then onto a white card blank.  I inked part of a sentiment from a promotional set, Good Greetings, with a Razzleberry marker, punched out with the smallest Scallop Circle Punch and matted onto one of the next size Scallop Circles and fixed in place with dimensionals.

I hope you all have a great Bank Holiday weekend and I hope to be back soon

Margaret x

Simples Sunday

Once again I have combined my Simples Sunday card with this week's LIM challenge, Foliage.
I started by stamping two stamps from Gorgeous Grunge in Pistachio Pudding then simply overstamped with the leafy image from the Hostess set, Bloom with Hope, using Mossy Meadow (stamped again without re-inking for the lighter image). The sentiment, also from Bloom with Hope, was added to finish the card.
It is an awful day here, torrential rain which doesn't seem like it's ever going to stop - I think I may need a boat if I consider venturing out :0)

Have a good Sunday and hope to see you soon

Margaret x

LIM - Foliage

I'm back today with a super easy card for the LIM challenge which, this week, is a One Layer Card featuring Foliage. I have a busy day ahead so I was pleased that I could make a quick card for the challenge and also because it gave me a chance to use a new stamp set, Kinda Eclectic.
I simply stamped the leaves to one side of the card in Mossy Meadow (stamping again without re-inking to get the lighter shades) and then added the sentiment - card done!! It really was that easy :0)

Enjoy your weekend and I'll be back soon

Margaret x

Another LIM card

Here is another card I made for the LIM Colour Challenge (see inspiration photo top right). I have to admit this is not a colour combo that I ever would have chosen but after making yesterday's card I found that I really do quite like it!
This one uses a stamp from Gorgeous Grunge in Daffodil Delight, Pear Pizzazz and Pacific Point, a sentiment from Work of Art and some butterflies from the Beautiful Wings Embosslits Die.
A really simple card but one which I'm really pleased with.

Back soon

Margaret x

Simples Sunday, LIM Colour Challenge and Happy Birthday Sarah!

A heavy title but that is exactly what this card is - my Simples Sunday card, my LIM entry in this week's colour challenge and a Happy Birthday to Sarah (one of the design team at LIM).
The ladies provided the colour inspiration photo (top right) and, as we were not expected to use all the colours, I chose three. You will see that my colours are not as bright as the challenge colours but I used the nearest I could - those being Pear Pizzazz, Pacific Point and Daffodil Delight.
The stripes are stamped with a stamp from Gorgeous Grunge and the sentiment is from a new set called 'Label Something' punched out with the Artisan Label Punch. To finish the card I added three of the smallest butterflies from the Beautiful Wings Embosslits die.
I hope you're all having a lovely weekend and managed to dodge the rain and thunderstorms yesterday.

Have a good week and I'll be back soon

Margaret x

Happy Birthday Chrissie!

Well today it is Chrissie's, from LIM, birthday and the theme this week is 'Anything Goes' so I have been playing with SU's new Blendabilities.
I have kept it nice & simple with plenty of, that all important, white space. I started by stamping the image from a Hostess set, Bloom with Hope, in one corner of Whisper White then set to with my Cherry Cobbler Blendabilities and Colour Lifter pen. Then I simply added a sentiment from Sassy Salutations and three Basic Pearls which had also been coloured with the darkest Blendie in the set (I love that you can colour embellishments to co-ordinate with your card!). Matted onto Cherry Cobbler cardstock then a card blank and job done!

Have a lovely birthday Chrissie (and a great holiday!)

Back soon

Margaret x

Singin' in the Rain!

Last week I said I was going to take a short break from blogging but when I saw the LIM challenge this morning an idea popped into my head so I had to have a go. The ladies have given the theme "Singin' in the Rain!" and the only 'rain' stamp I have is the sentiment from a 2014 SAB set. Not to be beaten I thought I would make some brightly coloured punch art umbrellas from two circle punches and the handles are made using the Word Window punch.
I thought I would make the raindrops heart shaped to go with the sentiment so I used one of the new masks (available in the new catty) along with Soft Sky.

Have a great weekend and I hope you manage to dodge the thunderstorms!

Margaret x

Simples Sunday

What a busy week - hence no blogging!! However I am popping on quickly with a Simples Sunday card for you.
This was made using the new In Colours, Hello Honey and Mossy Meadow. The stripes across the card are a stamp from Work of Art stamped with Early Espresso, the flowers from Petite Petals punched with the co-ordinating punch and the leaves from the ever faithful Bird Builder punch. I used a card base of Naturals Ivory matted with Hello Honey and Very Vanilla and the sentiment is a very old retired SU stamp.

It is very nearly the end of the school year and is always a very busy time so I will be taking a break from blogging for a couple of weeks but please come back as I have loads of stuff to show you (just not the time!!)

Thanks for stopping by and I'll be back in a couple of weeks

Margaret x

Good Luck James!

This is another really simple card and my second entry to the LIM Colour Challenge - Earth Tones.

As some of you may already know I work in a Special Needs School and have run an after school club for the past 7 years. One of the attendees is a lad who will be leaving school in a couple of weeks to go on to do a Rural Skills course at college. He has only missed 2 after school sessions in the entire 7 years so we really could not let him go without a bit of a fuss. We will be doing some party food at the last session of the year and this is the card I have made for us all to sign to wish him good luck.
Made with the Owl Builder Punch and an old 'good luck' sentiment cut with one of the Banner Framelits. (The name was computer generated)

Good Luck James -

we will miss you x x

Simples Sunday Sympathy

Today's Simples Sunday card is another sympathy card - no I am not getting morbid, it's just that a friend has asked me to make her a few to go in her 'just in case I need one' box!
This is very, very simple and consists of a panel of Whisper White matted onto Basic Black then onto a white card blank. A little bit of Gorgeous Grunge stamping before adding a strip of Whisper White matted onto Basic Black and the sentiment from Love & Sympathy stamped to one side (this is part of a sentiment which has been cut in two). A few tiny flowers with Basic Pearl centres were all that was needed to complete the card. The flowers were punched with a punch from the Itty Bitty Shapes pack which has now retired but I am pleased to say it has been replaced with a new punch pack which has another cute little flower - I'm just waiting for MR UPS to deliver mine!!

Have a great Sunday and I'll be back soon

Margaret x