Friday smiles with my daughter!

Hello and good morning to my bloggy friends!

I don't usually participate in Annie's Friday Smiles but I have some lovely smiles to share! Recently my daughter has been here visiting with her boyfriend! We had a lovely time - went up to Liverpool to see my friend Jo and after that they stayed with us her in Kent for a few days! Every morning when I turn on my computer I have a look at the photos we have taken and it puts a smile on my face so I thought this would be great to share on Annie's Friday Smiles!
This is my lovely daughter - she has recently finished her university studies and is a professor of Spanish language and History of Art! I am very proud!

Here she is with her boyfriend who is a really nice man very kind and always prepared to help....

We stayed at Jo's and had a lovely time - the young ones absolutely loved it in Liverpool so we will probably go back again if Jo will have us...:-)

We also met up with my partners daughters and family - we had a really nice time - it was the first time they have met....we had dinner in a restaurant and also took a big family photo outside - everybody was supposed to pull a face on that one...:-)

This is a selfie we took before they left and my daughter's boyfriend managed to get us all in even Alan - my partner who was sitting in the back....

So there - these are my lovely memories and they make me smile every time I look at them! I hope you will enjoy them too!
Have a lovely weekend and don't forget to smile! 
Lots of hugs,
Cardarian

WOYWW, a tidy desk sort of !

My dear bloggy friends!

Sorry I haven't visited many of you last week - we were busy cleaning the house and trying to sort out various things - not that we are very successful ! Our boiler isn't working so I am having cold showers! BRRRR! Can't get a plumber! The garden is in a big mess - everything overgrown - we can't get a gardener! We wanted to buy a new matress - that hasn't happened yet ! So although we are phoning up people going to shops and trying to sort things out nothing seems to happen! Huh so frustrating!
Still on the crafty side of things I have done quite a bit! Not actually making much stuff - just cleaning stamps! 
Here is a box full of mostly rubber cling stamps that are clean and sorted by theme in these plastic pochets.....

This basket is full of clean wood mounted stamps....

They are all clean and ready to use - at the moment they are in plastic bags sorted by whatever they are backgrounds, floral, faces, words.... I would like to put them on display but at the moment I have no space to do that so I am thinking...there will have to be another change in my craft room but I am not sure what to do yet! We shall see!
I have stopped doing the stamp cleaning for a while as other things are pressing! My desk looks a bit more tidy!

 
I haven't made anything for a while so I thought I would start with some ATCs to start me off - I should be doing Christmas cards like mad - I need to make 55 as I counted this morning and I haven't made 1 yet! Really worried but I guess once I start I will just carry on! 
So there that is me - a bit of a boring desk but hopefully next week I will be able to wow you with lots of stuff!
 Are you ladies watching the Great British Bake Off? So sad Selasi left - he was my favourite! Still what do you think who will win? We will find out tonight! 
Have a lovely week I will try to come round to you this week - last week was just too busy! Thank you to all that have kindly commented on my blog!
Lots of hugs to all of you!
CARDARIAN

WOYWW, more mess on my desk and 2 cards

Hello my dear friends!

I am a bit late coming on here - we have been out looking for a matress! Need a new one and ohh what a job! You go round shops laying on beds and thinking is this one softer or harder then the other one! Can't decide! And some shops have about 60 beds to try out! If you could have a sleep on there that would be ok! But you can't you just have to go from one to the other!!Huh! I hope we decide soon I am fed up with beds!!!!
Ok then I had my moan so  now  lets get up to serious WOYWW business! I have been in my craft room many hours this week but not doing any lovely crafty work - well I made 2 cards but most of the time I have been - you guessed - cleaning stamps! I am actually becoming really good at it - some of the stamps are being returned to their former glory!!! What is really bad is I haven't worked out a system of how to store them yet so they are piled on my desk with all the rest of the stuff I have been using this week sooo there is a biiiiig mess on there....have a look!

Carnige! And I had such a lovely clean and tidy new craft room! Look at it now!!!! OHHHHHHH!
Still it will be tidy again soon ! I hope!
Here are my two cards I managed to make - both birthday cards! These are not made with the stamps I am cleaning - they are Carabelle Studio stamps which I absolutely love! So modern! Lovely!

So there that is it from me! Have a lovely week! Have fun, stamp and craft!
Lots of hugs to all of you,
CARDARIAN

WOYWW - A blogging break down, but I am back again!

Hello dear bloggy friends!

I have been away for a very long time! Lots of things were the reason - I think I had a blogging break down!
It was the Brexit vote that hit me hard and then it was other things and somehow I just couldn't get up to blogging! I did try - many Wednesday mornings I sat down to write something for the WOYWW post but I just couldn't do it! We also went back to Slovenia and it was busy times there and now we are finally back and I think I can start again! My daughter and her boyfriend has been here with us for two weeks which has made me really happy! They will be leaving tomorrow but I hope they will come again soon!
Even though I didn't blog I did do my crafts! I have made lots of cards, even did some art journaling and of course ATCs which seem to be my favourite lately!
Anyway it is Wednesday and the first thing to do is to show what you have on your desk! Bare with me for a little explanation... Last week we spent a few days with my lovely friend Jo and her husband Dave in Liverpool! She has given up making cards and stamping and is now more interested in sewing and making quilts! So I inherited a huge amount of stamps that she has been collecting over the years! They are lovely stamps - some brand new but lots of them lovely but very, very dirty! Anybody who knows me knows I am not one for dirty stamps so I now have this big task of cleaning all the dirty ones. I bought various stamp cleaners but as my dear friend Jo recommended Oil of Olbas is the best for the job! And it does work miraculasly! So here is the pile I have already managed to clean....

This is how the oil works....here is a before cleaning picture...

and this is  after cleaning.....

I still have a lot to do -  a big Boots bag full and also a big box of stamps that still need to be done! And there is another box that was left in Liverpool that I will get later as I couldn't get everything in the car! It is a privilege to have been given all these stamps and I am ever so grateful - I think I will never have to buy another stamp in my life! Or will I???? :-) 
Here is a couple of my recent cards...

a wedding card....

A card and a present  for my daughters boyfriend...

and another 2 birthday cards.....

So there that is me done for today! I am now back in blogging mood so you will see more of my blog posts! In fact the next one will be tomorrow about my daughter visiting England!
A big virtual hug to all of you, have a lovely day and keeeeep craftiiiiiing!
Cardarian
P. S. Don't forget to link up to our WOYWW HQ - Stamping Ground where our queen Julia resides!