In the words of Barry Manilow...

As Mr Manilow once said, or rather once sang, 'looks like we made it!'

We re-opened the library on Monday and people from the local community have flooded in!

Here are a few pics of the interior, taken just before we opened the doors on day one.

This is the adult library... love those comfy sofas and all that oak flooring. Here's the Children's Library with Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz keeping an eye on things!Yes, those are Superman's legs in the teenage area... and don't you just love those funky chairs!

This is the under fives room or 'The Rainbow Room' as it is known. It's a great place for families to chill out together and enjoy stories and fun.

The staff have worked incredibly hard to create such a beautiful library and are rightly proud of their achievements.

See you again soon with a card... happy crafting everyone and I hope you all have a great weekend!

Be bold in the dreams you dream for yourself.

Well it's the big day tomorrow as we re-open the library!

I have to admit that I am getting a wee bit nervous, but I really can't wait to see the library full of customers. Wish me luck guys!

This week at Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge the lovely Wendy has chosen a gorgeous colour combo of blue and cream for Challenge #97.

I started off thinking of making a Christmas card, but then changed my mind and went in search of a Gorjuss girl to colour.

This little beauty is called 'Untamed'. I just love her wild hair.

I've not really coloured black hair before so was very grateful for the tips that Wendy had given me a few weeks ago. I need LOTS of practice, but it's ok for a first attempt.

I distressed some cream Bazzils card with Antique Linen Distress Ink and then stamped HA Old French writing, Raindrop Background Design Block and a very old Papermania stamp to give depth and texture.

I also broke out my lovely new Crescendoh Ordinary Sparkling Sentiments clear stamp set.

I spotted this over at The Stamp Attic and knew I had to buy it because the sentiments were so sweet and I love the font that Christine Mason Miller has used.

This is a small 4x4 card so I left it pretty plain, apart from two sweet punched flowers and tiny pearl centres.

Finally, I want to thank my sweet mate Vicky for the cute 'Cherry on the Top award' that she left for me over on her blog.What a nice surprise, thank you so much Vicky and thanks for your friendship too... I am so lucky to know you!

Enjoy the rest of the weekend, and happy crafting everyone!

Sugar and spice and all things nice!

Hi everyone, hey... look at me actually finding time to join in Challenge 96 over at the Secret Crafter!

And what a lovely, girly fun challenge it is too. This week the challenge theme has been chosen by my special blogging buddy Vicky and it is 'What are little girls made of'!

This card is for my dear friend Lorraine, or the 'Fabulous Lozzie B' as she is affectionately known!

We share a love of all things pink and girly so I thought this cute little image from Nutcrafters would be just perfect.

The original image has the little girl wearing shorts. Lorraine wears cropped trousers or pedal pushers during the summer so I did a little bit of altering to dress her in true Lozzie B style!

Enjoy the rest of the weekend and happy crafting everyone!

Remember me?

I have done so little blogging recently that I almost feel like I need to reintroduce myself!

Big, BIG apologies that I haven't dropped by as much as usual, but I started my new job on Monday and have been really tired. I have been so tired that I haven't even crossed the threshold of my craft room, apart from looking for the cat or carrying in some laundry!

I thought I'd share a card that I made a few weeks ago for my dear friend Mo.

Once again I used that fab Rockability couple from the Secret Crafter. I really love this stamp and am going to have to hide it to stop myself using it all the time!
There's marvellous Mo in action heading up the table. This is my surprise tea party that Geoff, Karen and Mo threw for my last day in my old job. This lovely party seems such a long time ago and I can hardly believe that I was there only a week ago as I have been so busy at the new library. The refurbishment looks great. The staff have worked incredibly hard to get all the books on the shelves and to get ready for the opening which will take place in two weeks time.

So please forgive me if I don't post much over the next few weeks, I'll try and drop by at your blogs whenever I can.

Take care everyone, and happy crafting!

A little late to the party.... Paula's Blog hop!

Hi everyone, I am just back from two wonderful weeks on the beautiful Greek Island of Santorini. Myself and hubby had a fabulous time and returning to 'normal' is proving to be very, very hard!

I haven't managed to get near my craftroom as yet (too much washing to do) so this gives me a chance to share some cards that I made to celebrate the arrival of sweet Lilly Bug a.k.a the newest recruit to the Laird household. Congratulations Paula!

I was all ready to join in the 'Welcome Lilly blog hop' last week but I missed my cue because I was on holiday!

Here is the lovely Lilly at 5 weeks old. I copied this beautiful picture from the lovely Helen's blog.

Helen played postie for all of us girls around the world and kindly delivered our cards to Paula and her family. She therefore had the honour of starting the hop which was organised by Deborah.

Sweet little Lilly was born on the 4th June 2010 weighing 7 pounds 13 1/2 ounces,
Lilly is Paula and Doug's second daughter and apparently Em is taking her role as big sister very seriously!

I sent this card to welcome Lilly.

This is the card that I made for Em,and this is the card for the proud parents!Congratulations, and lot's of love, to Paula and her family.

This is what happens when...

This is what happens when you hang around with Vicky... you feel inspired to try something a bit different and a little bit challenging!

I saw this beautiful card a few weeks ago on Vicky's blog and felt inspired to try and use the little girl from The Secret Crafters cute Rockability stamp on her own. This is the result...
This card took ages but was lots of fun and as you can see she swings across the card on a little silver split pin!
I had to do lots of masking to edit out her dance partner, and then stamp another arm for her!

The birdcage is from Hero Arts and I paper pieced the more solid parts of the cage to give it a little dimension, and then covered them in Diamond Glaze.

I thought it could be cute to put a little hidden message under the cage for the recipient!

Thanks for all your kind messages about my new job. Telling my work friends was every bit as hard as I thought and there were lots of tears. Everyone was really kind and I think they were genuinely pleased for me.

Happy crafting everyone!