Hiya, I’m Carlyann and it’s great to have you here today.
This is my little space on the interwebs that I can call completely mine. It even has my name on it, so it’s mine, yep I’ve claimed it!
I am a 30-something-year-old creative designer, writer, illustrator, sticker addict, planner addict, crafter & Starbucks Nut living in the picturesque English county called Shropshire.
I originally started Creative working back when I was 15, I built my portfolio very quickly through my original blog ”Carlz Cardz”, which went on to become ”Sweetncrafty” which inturn became “Strudelsdoodles”. I have thousands of pieces of Art and creative designs that I have hand-made over the years, working alongside many top companies within the industry. I can’t possibly keep it all in one place, so that’s why I thought it was about time that I had my own website. Hence here I am. You’ll not only find my creativity through crafts here but also in everything else in my crazy hectic life. I’ll also be sharing the odd throwback post to show how far I’ve come over the years.
The Past Times…
Over the years it has been a pleasure to have been a part of quite a ”few” design teams within the Arts and Crafts industry, at one point I even owned and completely ran my own successful challenge blog Charisma Cardz (which I was so sad to give up due to family commitments and life basically.) Who knows’s maybe I could again return to this in the future?
So you’d like to know a little bit more about me?
Okay well… I can talk for England… heck make that Russia OK maybe the world! I’m a down-to-earth fun loving kinda gal who enjoys simple things in life!
I’ve lost a lot in life and I’ve learnt a lot more so in the time I’ve been away from the blogging world and the one philosophy of life I can be sure of is what my mother always says…
Although my name is Carlyann, I wasn’t named after Carly Simon, sorry to dishearten anyone! In fact, my mom wanted to call me Victoria! mmm! just reminds me of the sponge! That’s the cake variety for anyone wondering what this crazy girl is actually talking about. I’m so glad she didn’t, there is a lot of controversy in my family about my name, my mom swears to this day I have a hyphen in between Carly and Ann (Carly-ann) though on my actual birth certificate it’s not there Ann is in fact part of my first name Carlyann… then my small birth certificate bam… it’s there… so… me being me of course go by three names… Carly, Carlyann and Carly-ann! well… I do like to be different! but that’s me! I tend to only get called Carlyann when I’m in trouble or when someone really wants to get my attention and I’m not giving it! I go through stages of wanting to be called it then not the so and so on, I’m weird I know!
Where does my creativity come from?
My creative side comes from… (insert some big story) I don’t actually know, my mom’s not really into creating… she likes baking and gardening and DIY… does that count? My dad didn’t do any of the above… in fact, he didn’t really do a lot no explanation is needed on the biological waste of space needed there, so I don’t actually know where it comes from but I have an addiction to anything and everything that is creative! Thinking about it, I think my initial card-making started when I was bored one day and with anything in life, once you become addicted to it, it grows and grows and bam its full-blown addiction.
I confess I have major issues with pretty paper… half a rainforest later I know if my house (touch wood) ever burnt down it’d be warm!! I love to create one-of-a-kind bespoke items things that are just a little bit different to the norm or what’s readily available in shops, again it’s the need to be different and unique.
People reading this from my YWoC adventure may think I’m a hardcore sticker and planner addict! You are actually very wrong… (sorry to disappoint) as much as I love my planner and sticker obsession and yes you guessed it I have a massive collection, I am primarily a card maker, but over the years that developed into scrapbooking, altered art and eventually illustration which I love! This brings me to my own characters which comprise of Iris, Daisy, Poppy and Rosa. They were all named after flowers matching their corresponding hair colour except Rosa, who was named after Rosa Parks.
What else besides creativity?
I love the outdoors, as much as I may moan about going out walking from time to time, when I’m actually out and about I do enjoy it, it’s nice to see what the world has to offer and sometimes that’s finding places right on your own doorstep that you didn’t even realise were there! I’m also a massive gamer, there aren’t many games I’ve not played, At one point I was massively into Call Of Duty (I mean c’mon what a great stress reliever) haha. I’ve played and been hooked on practically everything from Animal Crossing to Need For Speed.
The tech behind the girl?
As I have already mentioned I live in a picturesque place called Shropshire, England in the United Kingdom. If you’re wondering why I say picturesque you should really Google ”Ironbridge”. It’s literally a five-minute drive from my house. So who’s behind the girl you read about and the blog design, logo design and well genuinely all the IT tech side of things.
Well, I live with my wonderful husband Darren who is a professional web developer and works for a lovely company just near home, one that I may add I re-did their vinyl signage to bring them up to date *wink wink*. I have been with him going into our ninth year and he isn’t just my husband but my best friend and my headache too! But you get the picture, I really do love him, promise!
Although I know a bit of WordPress and learnt a lot from my Blogspot days, as well as some basic HTML, he’s the tech behind my site. I regularly blow things up and this probably won’t change, my idea of seeing what things do by clicking whatever usually ends in “Daz!! HELP!!!”. Many of my logos and site graphics are made by him although I am learning so I’ll take some of the credit here too, his knowledge of Photoshop constantly blows my mind, though I have to be shown how to do something like a thousand times before I can even comprehend learning the keyboard shortcuts. Yep! Hands up 2020 I finally learnt to cut, copy, and paste. Only taken me 20 years like but better late than never right?
The Pests…
Oh! I thought I’d written that wrong, should have said “The Pets”, I have two white and tabby cats who are about 13 years old now, they are a complete nightmare… OK, I am lying, but it is like having two three-year-olds running around the place sometimes. We are adoptive parents of a collie dog but he lives with my mom.
Random info…
Random things for you next up are… My favourite food is practically anything that is truly American, I have a thing for American Candy and Milkshakes, in truth, it’s because I am amazed at all the different flavours you Americans can get whilst here in the UK we really are boring!. – This is a complete lie! This isn’t my favourite food at all that’s my favourite sweets/candy my actual favourite food is cheese and potato pie (made with JUST cheese and potato nothing else! it’s a law don’t break it!).
We don’t have any kids yet it’s doubtful we’ll have our own but who knows we may adopt! we have two kitties and that really in itself is hard work… you’ve not met them! – trust me.
If I were a crayon I’d be a white one! Because white is the opposite of black and often represents light in contrast with darkness, however white is the colour the human eye sees when it senses light which actually contains all the wavelengths of the visible spectrum. So White is every colour mixed together!
I have a huge love and interest in space, astronomy and well anything to do with off planet earth! And not many people can say they’ve met a real-life astronaut! I met (thanks to my wonderful man) Chris Hadfield in Dec 2014!! That was such an amazing experience one I’ll never forget.
My favourite smell has to be Coffee (Starbucks obvs)! OK who am I really kidding, I’d drink Starbucks till the cows came home and then still go (not that I own any cows)! love love love toffee nut and cannot wait till it comes back at Christmas time!
I’m totally scared of spiders and clowns that said since childhood I’m terrified of Freddie Kruger but that’s my cousin Dave’s fault cheers for that!
If I could live anywhere in the world, I wouldn’t mind so long as I’m with my guy! 🙂 yes I’m a softy but sssh! but secretly well not so secretly everyone knows it’d be America.
My natural hair colour is brown, I go through stages of hating it and then wanting nothing but! Currently, it’s pretty far out with dark roots and orange and red! I love it.
I totally hate the cold and being cold! that said I’m fussy and can’t stand it when it’s far too hot! I have never been a sunshine person until my first proper holiday in 2014 to Futerventura, now I miss the sun so very much and hate this rain!!!
Dessert wise up until recently I’d have to say I loved the chocolate fudge brownie I had a few years back at Bella Italia, but not now… there’s a new favourite in town it so it has the be the rocky road slices from The Handmade Cake Co.
I have various teaching grades in Street dance and modern and Zumba which is great fun and I really do miss doing this but due to my back problems I’m not able to do it anymore, at least I can on games consoles but it’s not the same!.
Although I live in Shropshire I’m actually a Lincoln gal! (I have lost the accent, but I pick it up so easily when I go back!) It’s been years like more than half my life since I lived there and the only thing I really miss now is the good ole Curtis’s proper Lincolnshire Sausage (any Lincolnshire sausage you’ve tried anywhere else even from Lincoln Morrisons is FAKE and that’s a fact!).
I think that’s enough rambles about me now… if I’ve not covered something I’m sure I will in my posts!
