Crafting with my little apprentices.

hello everyone! I hope you are all well and enjoying your crafting.

I had my 11 year old niece, Emily and cousin Jade to stay with me for 2 nights for a little treat in the summer holidays. They love spending time together and Jade hadn't stayed here before so it was fun time at Auntie Kezza's! 


As I have lots of crafting to do for the craft fair, I thought i'd set the girls up on my bed with lots of crafty bits and let them make some cards. They are both creative girls who enjoy art, so I knew they'd make some nice ones.

They made great use of my paper scraps box and bits of ribbon and glitter pens. They both loved my promarkers and tried to use every colour I think! lol

I thought you'd like to see some creations from them as they worked so hard and it all came from them. 


This is my pride and joy, my niece Emily, who I adore spending time with and am very close to. (I'm her second mummy really). This card she made for her mum for starting her new job with our Auntie's business:

I wish I'd taken a close up of this card. I just love the colours she chose and how neatly she had coloured the background paper. It's glittered in places too and she blended some colours as well. My sis completely adored it as you can imagine! 


Here are her other two cards:

She made this one for her beloved little doggie. She said she knows Shiloh won't understand but she loves her and wanted to make a doggie card! So cute. 

I can't remember who this one was for but she adored my Magnolia butterfly stamp and glittery card. I love how kids don't care what colours go together and just use them all!

This is Jade with her favourite card: 

She made this beautiful card for her little 4 year old sister. It also has lots of glitter pen over it and I love how she has used the fluffy ribbon around the frame.

here are her other cards:

These were for her two brothers. One who is now 14 and is away at cadet camp. The get well card is for her baby brother, who is poorly with a chest virus and bad throat :-( 

She also made these too:

This is for her dad's (my uncle) new job

and this last one is for her dad's fiance.


I was so proud of them and they were in their element creating and cutting and sticking. My bedroom now looks a right mess and I'll be picking up scraps of card and tape paper for ages! lol

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Right, now I really need some help. I want a "business" name for my stall and so I can make more of a go at selling my stuff.
Now I am stuck, as I am mentally and physically exhausted from having the girls and my brain doesn't seem to want to work.

I would rather not just got for the easy "Kerryn's crafts" option. I'd like something that I can use as a theme throughout everything I make, as well as business cards etc....

So I thought about things I love and it's come down to snails, ladybugs and butterflies. Pretty typical I know, but they are something I can use as a theme.
I also normally stamp "handmade by Kerryn" on the back of my cards, alongside either a little ladybug stamp from Elzybells, or a little snail or flower, just to add a cute touch.

I'm quite drawn to snails and cute doodles of them and as my life is now mostly at a "snail's pace" due to my illnesses, I thought it would bring something personal to it. Saying that does it insinuate that I'm slow at crafting? I do have to make sure I tell buyers that I do sometimes need a few weeks to get things made, but I haven't had a problem with this so far. 

So, can you lovely lot help me and throw some suggestions at me? 

Are any of these ok?:

Snail crafts? (doesn't work does it?) 

Ladybug crafts?

Ladybird crafts?

Kerryn's Krafty makes?

Kerryn's crafty makes?

Kerryn's crafty corner?
Crafts by Kezza?

I would appreciate it so much to have any help with this. Thank you in advance xxx  I wish you all a good day. I hope you are having some sun where you are. It's dull and grey, with rain due here. Lovely summer weather as always! lol 

I've finally made some cards!!!

Hello everyone! I hope you are all well. Thank you for popping along to see my blog. It is lovely making new friends and us all sharing our love of craft.

My fingers are now healed enough to make cards! The one that was damaged more is still sore at times and feeling a bit tight where the new skin has grown, but being able to use it again is lovely!!

As i've said before, I am hoping to do a craft fair on bank holiday monday, so I have lots of crafting to get done!
I wasn't feeling at all well yesterday morning, but by the end of the afternoon I started to feel a little better, so managed to make some cards with some images I already had coloured in.

I really love working on these bigger sized cards and will have to get some more before the fair. I also adore these magnolia stamps, so again used them on this card.
I wasn't at all sure about the colour combination. I would never normally use red with pastel greens and yellows, but I felt the card needed balancing by using some red to match the red on the toadstools, so I tried it and have ended up liking how the colours work. What do you all think??

(I really need to try to take better photos. My photos never seem nice and crisp lately. I may get my camera checked by someone else to see if it's just me.)

I've used a pink petticoat paper and embellished with some doodlebug stickers, a Nellie's die cutting die, and lovely little embellishments that I won from Donna (the little butterfly and flower).

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Talking of my gorgeous blog candy wins, here are some pics of the bits I won:

This lot I won from Donna, who has a lovely blog. There are so many lovely bits and I spent many a day lying in bed ill, going through it all, thinking of what I could make with what. 

Donna also sent this beautifully made card with the goodies. It's still up on my windowsill as it's so pretty! Thank you again Donna. xxx

I also was lucky enough to win this gorgeous lot of candy too from Sam's lovely blog here:

I was so excited to win some nesties and I keep seeing them used, but with a low income I can't seem to afford them. The rectangles will be perfect for cards and I can't wait to use the long one not only on cards, but on scrapbook pages.
The little stamp is perfect as I don't have a best wishes stamp and I adore the charms. Sadly, I already have the two LOLV stamps, as I had bought them just a week before.
I feel I have been so so lucky to win twice, that when I can I will offer some blog candy, which those two stamps will go into (if that's ok Sam?) so they can be won by someone else too. I don't have much spare money after bills and food, so it will take me a while to collect enough bits for a decent candy win, but when I have I will put it on here. It will be a way of me "paying it forward" and well as hopefully getting more followers and meeting new people. 

Anyway, I also got a lovely card from Sam too(shown in the photo above), which is displayed with Donna's and again Thank You Sam for my win!! 

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Right back onto my other two cards (i'm sorry this is such a long post!!) 

I just adore these cute stamps!! They are so perfect for little girls cards. I kept this quite simple as the paper is so pretty, I didn't want to over crowd it, so I just embellished it with some flowers and pearls and a little butterfly sentiment (another Donna blog candy win), and some spotty ribbon. 

Closer up:

This is the last card I have to show today. Again, it's an adorable LOTV stamp. I kept it quite simple again as the paper is quite patterned. I used 2 cute little buttons which matched colours perfectly. 

Closer up:

Right, I need to shut up now!! I've got my gorgeous niece and my little cousin coming over to stay tonight, so I'll soon have 2 very excited 11 year old girls to look after. I'm going to give them a selection of crafty bits and they can make some cards tomorrow, whilst I get on with making more too. 

Oh before I go here is one more pic. I was on here yesterday and I looked round to see where Millie was and I found her like this: 

Pampered pooch much!! lol She still melts my heart after 9 years.

Right I am off this time!! Have a good monday all of you. xxxxxxxx

long time no post!

Hello everyone!


I thought i'd update in case anyone was wondering where I was.

I had a horrible ME relapse which went on and on, then i've had computer problems, then started to improve a little but, just in time for babysitting duties for my niece for the summer holidays.
Then I got my living room decorated, with lots of help from a good friend and family, as it was exhausting me trying to do it on my own. It is starting to look lovely. Here are a few pics for anyone who would like to see:


Here is the mess before, starting to get the room cleared.

The wallpapering slowly getting there...

and it's finished!! I'm so happy with it. feels fresh and clean again. 

My lovely new pine dresser: 

Whilst making finishing touches, I then went and badly sliced two of my fingers open on the side of a piece of glass from a photo frame, so have been struggling with my right hand unusable, which is why I've now not made cards for a few weeks.
It is slowly healing so hopefully i'll soon be back to it.

I've booked a place at a local village/craft/homemade fair for bank holiday monday, so I need to get a move on!!

Anyway, I hope you are all as well as possible, and I'll slowly make my way round your blogs, seeing what lovely stuff you've all made. Lots of love x 

hello everyone!!

Hello again everyone.
Thank you for your lovely comments on my last post. Sports day was rained off so it's now on monday. I also have the school play to go and see tomo eve, so that'll be lovely.
I'm sleeping a lot and resting most of the other time. It's so dull and I have so much I want to do, it does get frustrating, but I remind myself there are others worse off.
My family are a great support and my wheelchair is coming in handy to at least get me out for some fresh air.

My niece is getting a new puppy!! He is only 2 weeks old but she already adores him. She has a countdown chart for when she can have him home!

here are a few pics for you to awwww over! This is Coda. (he is named after Koda from brother bear and I spelt it with a K, but Emily is dyslexic and she got upset when she thought she'd spelt it wrong with a C, so we said it can be either way, so she chose it to be with a C). He was just less than 2 weeks old here. Doesn't he look like a baby polar bear!! 

This is his little sister and brother: The bigger brown one is the other boy. I so so wish I was well enough to have him!! The little girl is being kept by the owner of the mummy. 

Here is my gorgeous girl with her baby. She just adores animals, particularly doggies, so she is just so happy that she has a 3rd doggie to come! 

Here are more puppy pics!!:

Aren't they adorable!!! I'm hoping to go and see them again on the weekend.

I did manage to get out to the park for a little while with my sis, niece, our friend (who is with our uncle) and our little cousins. It was so lovely. We just rested and relaxed on a blanket while the kids ran around like mad with my doggie.

Here is my cute little cousin and me:

His big sister:

and my fave pic of the day:

anyway, I'd be go and have a rest infront of the tv, ready for the apprentice.

I will put some crafty pics up again as soon as I'm well enough to make some again. I wish you all a good weekend x xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

quick update

Hello everyone. 


I wanted to let you know that I am still around! I've been having some bad days with the ME and fibromyalgia so haven't been well enough to craft or blog. So i'm sorry i've not been upto commenting on blogs.

I hope you are all as well as possible and I'll try to be back soon. I still have some cards to show from a few weeks back.

Enjoy the weekend everyone and that upcoming sunny weather next week!!! 


Edited to add that i've just found out that I have won more candy!!! I'm just overwhelmed with excitement and want to cry! Thank you so much to Donna for the chance to win lovely stuff.

It's such a nice treat after a bad few weeks and a very disappointing physio appointment yesterday at the hospital. I went for the fibromyalgia, after being referred by the Dr, but it was pretty pointless as there isn't much they can do. They can refer me to the fibro service in Brighton, but thats just a group session learning about pacing and pain relief, which i've done years ago for the ME. I'm barely leaving the house lately, so how i'm supposed to get to Brighton once a week, is beyond me.

I was told I have some hyper mobility too, in my knees and arms, which is worsening the pain I'm having.
So really I just feel like the NHS can barely offer me anything and I've just got to cope for however many more years with 2 chronic conditions with no cure.

I always keep in mind that there are so many people suffering so much worse than me, so I will treasure every good moment I have and today, finding out i've won some candy, has certainly made me smile today.

I'm off to stay with my sis for some TLC for a few days and to see my niece's sports day, so when I come home I will try to blog again, with some cards and will have a look round at what you have all been making and doing.

Lots of love x x x

I've won!!!!

Hello everyone!!
I've been a bit quiet in blogland for a few days as the dreaded ME has been exhausting me and I also had a day of babysitting my adorable niece as well, which wore me out, so I've been resting up. 

I come back on and start to have a looksie round blogland and find i've won some blog candy!! I am over the moon as I don't often win things and it's put a big smile on my face! So thank you Sam from the lovely "whisker's cards" blog. 

I did manage to make one card a few days ago for an order, so I will share it with you. 

I'm not that happy with this one. I wish I had double mounted the red and blue card behind the image and am not so sure about the green ribbon either, but it's made now. The lady who made the order wanted something about how proud she was of her dad, so I made the sentiment with good old rub on's.
I adore these LOTV images, and did have to buy this one specifically for this card, but i'm sure it'll get used again! lol

I'm going to have to get a move on with a baby album as my next door neighbours are getting married in 9 days time and I want to make them an album for the little baby they lost last year :-( 

Anyway, I hope you are all as well as you can be and thank you for taking time to visit my blog x x 

Magnolia thank you.

Hello everyone! I hope you've all had a nice weekend/father's day. 

I've been very drained and delicate today after a very painful IBS attack last night, so have spent most of the day on the sofa. I kept looking at my coloured images though as was desperate to make a card, so I had a nice hour crafting before a nice hot bath.

I made this for my new friend, who I have met through facebook and both suffer with ME and fibromyalgia. She has sent me a few sweet little gifts and cards, so I wanted to thank her.

I know this image is of twins, but I thought it works well as a friends image too. 

Here is a close up of the gorgeously cute girls. I'm feeling like i'm starting to get to grips with promarkers now and I'm finding the more I practise the more I get used to how the pens and the blending work. I hope you agree!! x

I just love this shimmery, pink ribbon. I do need to learn how to tie a proper bow though! 

I used this cute little flower but added a little heart button to the centre instead of the little bead that was there. I love these swirls too, but I need to get a die cut die myself, so I can make them from whatever colours I want, rather than them being brown and me having to glitter over them. (although I don't think glitter is ever a bad thing! lol) 

I am entering this card into the following challenges:

Stamp something- pretty papers

Magnolia stamp lovers- It's all about the buttons. 

The ribbon girl- use pink and cream 

I hope you all are well and have a nice evening before the week starts again x x 

father's day card.

Hello everyone!!
Another very grotty, wet and windy day. Don't you just love the British summer time! 

I have made a quick card for my dad for sunday, but it's always something that makes me a bit sad as my dad isn't really what you'd call a great dad. He doesn't  really make an effort with my sister and I at all, and despite living only 10-15 mins away, we barely see him. He hardly shows and interest or emotion, and it's at this time of year when I envy those who are lucky enough to have a great dad who loves them.
Despite this I can't not make one, despite him saying not to bother or waste money, but it wouldn't feel right if I didn't.
So I just made a quick card, and a funny sentiment that sums him up well as he is a bit of a handy man. I hope you like it. 

The shading doesn't seem to show up at all on the bear, but it is more shaded than it looks. I do love these Elzybells stamps, and can't wait to see what Elizabeth, the designer does, now she is designing for penny black. 

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:

secret crafter- male card

cupcake craft challenge- oh boy oh boy oh boy

little red wagon- for dad

Scrappy frogs- simply red. 

papertake weekly- dads and lads

craft us crazy- father's day/masculine

wags and whiskers- one for the boys

I've also done some colouring of images today as I've been too tired to do much else. I'm slowly getting used to promarkers but of course, now need loads more to have a wider range of colours!! 

(excuse the bad photo as it's on my phone)

I got the adorable new girlie stamps from LOTV today. I am so impressed again with how fast their delivery is, and the stamps stamp so well. I love them! I daren't even think how much I've spent on new stamps recently. The way I look at it is that i'm too poorly to go out and live like normal, so crafting is my passion and hobby. 

I thought i'd give you all a look at what I found when I got out of the bath today:

again, i'm sorry for poor photo, but I just grabbed my camera when I saw how cosy she looked. I do adore my little fur baby. 

I hope you are all ok and have a nice weekend x x x x

Lily of the Valley, my new love.

Hello everyone! It's been such a grotty day, which involved me being soaked to the skin and hiding under a tree when I took little Millie moo moos for a walk. So the rest of the day I decided crafting was in order.

This is another of my new LOTV stamps and I coloured her in with promarkers again. I've noticed that the black ink seems to fade under the markers though and am not always getting nice, crisp images after they are coloured. I'm using versafine black ink. Is this the wrong ink to be using with markers? I'd rather use an ink that can be wiped off with an alcohol free wet wipe, and not a proper cleaner, so any recommendations, apart from stazon (unless that is what I need), are gratefully received.


I'm entering this card into the following challenges:

Totally gorjuss- "flowers"

LOTV- "bring on the music". (I used Stevie Wonder's "happy birthday") 

I hope you are all ok and haven't been soaked too many times today! xx

Another Tilda card.

Here is a card for another of my little cousins. This image is so cute and was dying to be glittered up! 

I think the magnolia papers are just adorable and will probably be using them a lot!
I wish the letters stood out more, and I tried to glitter them up to make them stand out more. I should have put them on some card to make them pop out more, but never mind. I'm sure little "squidge" (our nick name for her) will love it. 

Tilda and Butterfly

For my cousin's birthday I thought my new magnolia stamp was perfect for her.

I'm entering this card into the challenge over at Flutter by Wednesday- polka dots. 

I used my cuttlebug dotty die for this and the adorable Tilda is holding a butterfly. 

It can also fit with this weeks challenge over at Cute Card Thursday, which is to use pearls or pins. I have used 3 little pink pearls. 

Lily of the Valley stamps!!

Hello everyone! 

I have had a lovely day crafting. I spent yesterday feeling completely dreadful and barely moved off the settee, but today was a better day so I got some crafting done.

The day started off well with a crafty delivery from the postman. I ordered some of the GORGEOUS Lily of the Valley stamps, after seeing them used on so many lovely cards on blogs. I also had a few sneaky purchases from the Glitterpot, which included a few more Magnolias, a new embossing folder and some much needed Bazzill. 

I was then having a nosey round some blogs and saw that Lily of the Valley had released some more adorable girl stamps, so of course it was essential that I ordered some!! I can't wait to get them. The service is great and very fast so I'm sure I won't have to wait too long. 

I had an order from someone for an anniversary card for her parents so I got on to making this, with the adorable "love Grows" stamp. 

I decided to have another go with my promarkers and am reasonably pleased with how it's come out. I do need more practise and I find it tricky to work out what colours I need and with how much darker they look when they are wet. 

So if any of you have any tips for me after what u've seen please do! 

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:

Stamp Something- Which is to use something punched or die cut (I have used die cut swirls)

A spoonful of Sugar- who's theme is "splish splash". Now I really have stretched this theme I know, but as she is watering the plant, I thought that would be ok, with a theme of water. (if it isn't ok, then I understand if you want to cancel my entry). 

I hope you all as well as possible and have had some sunshine today! 

Gardening Tilda

Hello everyone! 

I'm just so in love with my new magnolia stamps and am loving using them on the 8x8" cards. I adore the new papers as well and am forcing myself to actually use them, as then i'll just HAVE to buy more! 

I hope you like it:

I've coloured the images with water colour pencils. I've still not quite got the hang of markers, and not quite enough of them to blend the colours properly. I do feel like I have a bit more control over the pencils and a water brush.
I've added some light blue chalk as a sky too and I like the effect, so will probably do it more.
I've cut out and mounted Tilda to give some dimension to the card, as well as the sentiment. I made that with a doodlebug stamp for the outline and the sentiment is an Elzybells stamp. 

I'm entering this into the papertake weekly challenge as it's an "anything goes". 

Have a good weekend everyone xxxxx

2 order cards.

I did just put these in the last post, but I wanted to enter that one in some comps, so I have made a new post now! lol 

I'm not feeling so well today, so i'm off to settle down and watercolour some images to try and take my mind off it. HAGD! xx