Pansies..version 1

Todays card is another one in the quest that I've set myself...to use the same image but different type of card. This card features an image from Joanna Sheens 'One Summers Day'cdrom. The strip border is using a piece of the matching backing paper. The butterflies are from the All Occasion die range. The pansies I made using flower petal shapes which I coloured with my copics.

It is so hot here that none of the animals know what to do with themselves. In sick bay, everyone is asleep in the heat. Milky is doing really well and should be out of sick bay at the weekend. Tank may well be in for a while yet..bless her.My black and white cat Sprout I haven't seen for a couple of days but that is normal for him. He will come home at the first sign of rain..lol. I have spent the last 24 hours sat in front of the fan..with being a woman of a certain age I'm hot on the inside as well as the outside. I have to say it's not a good look for me. Neither is the fact that I have come out in a heat rash and I have a skin condition which has also flaired up. In fact what doesn't hurt..itches and what doesn't itch is bright red. Not a good look...lol

I have had a lovely time though watching the commonwealth games. I watched the womens triathlon this morning and am now watching the mens. I always think to myself just how hard the triathlon must be..swimming, cycling and running. I can feel tired just watching them. I think that it must be so hard if you came in fourth...all that effort and no medal. Well Alistair Brownlee won with his brother Jonathan coming in second. What a pair they are. I watched the opening ceremony last night...it was so good to see the amount of para athletes that will be competing. When I'm watching the wheelchair races I always tell Reg that he should be grateful that I'm not that fast..lol. I do manage to give him a run but it's just too hot for even that at the moment.

Well the coffee is calling..and I do have some. One of my friends bought me some this morning...I don't think he can stand the whinging that I do when there is none in the house.I keep reminding myself to drink lots of water as well..all the animal bowls are checked every couple of hours..trying to help keep them all as cool as I can. Looking forward to watching more of the games this evening..so until tomorrow..take care and happy crafting

Sailing Away

Todays card  is one that I made for my design team over at jb-crafting supplies. It was drawn by Adele Bradwell..who also designed the backing paper. What a talented lady she is. All the copyrights of this design belong to her and I was just lucky enough to work with it. If you would like to know more about this design or to see what other fabulous artwork she does..please contact Julie over at jb- crafting. I love the vintage but sexy feel of this card and know a number of men that would really love to receive it. How I wish that my legs were that long and lovely.And I have a certain friend that could wear those shoes...not me...I have enough trouble in a pair of pumps...lol. The diecuts that I used were from the All Occasion die range.

This card has made me think about shoes and I have to say that I adore them but just don't have them. I can admit to owning only two pairs...yes really...a pair of crocs and a pair of pumps. And the pumps were only bought this year to give me a bit of grip on my good leg when I'm in the wheelchair. I needed a little grip because the camber on the lane is so bad, that if I didn't have the little extra grip..I may end up in the river..lol. I've said to my friends that if they ever see Reg stood alone by the river just follow the lead and they'll find me. So I live my shoe obsession through my friend..she has some shoes that you just want to stroke and she can wear heels so high that I would be suffering from vertigo...lol

Well the coffee is calling and I have a stack of work to do..and I still need to photograph a stack of cards. But the athletics are on so I'll be quite happy just to plod away this afternoon. So until tomorrow...take care and happy crafting.

Sailing on a blue sea

Today I'm sharing one of the cards that I made for the design team over at JB-Crafting supplies. It is made using the fabulous cdrom Halcyan Days produced by the wonderful team at Crafters Companion.I have fallen in love with the images on this cd..I love the nostalgic feel of all the images. I have framed the image using some natural twine and have just decorated using some seaside inspired die cuts from my stash. The picture is so lovely it's hard to remember that it was created using scraps of fabric and machine embroidery.It is the work of Abigail Mill.Besides her obvious talent for sewing..it is her talent for creating nostalgic imagery..which help us to remember days and events that we may have forgotten. For me it brought back memories of days at the beach as a child and endless sunny days. (Were they really so sunny and so long or is it the way our memory works)

It is another lovely day today and I managed to take Reg for a wheel. Only two cats..Jeff and Milky came with us...but they all seemed to have a good time. Every piece of shade we encountered they threw themselves onto the grass for a roll about. Even when I'm having a down day..the animals always manage to give me something to smile about.

I was visited by the district nurse today. Yet more of my blood was taken for testing...I'm sure that they're just testing to see if I am really human...lol. And I had to have the first of a round of B12 injections. Last we it was discovered that I have a really low level of B12...now we just have to find out why. That should be fun..supposedly when the B12 level comes up I shall feel like a new woman...I can't wait. No doubt I will be reporting back. Perhaps it will take a while to feel a difference but keep your fingers crossed for me.

Well the coffee is calling and I'm looking forward to some crafting for my other design teams. One thing I meant to mention was to thank you all for reading..I've just noticed that my page views has gone over the 5000. When I began this journey on the blog..I was surprised when I had 1 view so to reach this number..thankyou for coming on my journey with me. So until tomorrow..take care and happy crafting.

Thankyou Card

Todays card is a reworking of a thankyou card using this lovely image from One Summers Day by Joanna Sheen. So many times I have needed to send a thankyou card and this would be my favourite type. I love using purples and blues. The ivy flourish is from Joanna Sheens Signature Die range. I love the entire range...and I have admit to owning most of it!!...simply because they do what they say..they cut so easily and cleanly. So many dies that I have bought in the past are so hard to use..having to use lots of shims and the cut not being as clean as you would like. I now tend to stay with the ranges that I have found to be fantastic..the Signature range...Brittania range..All Occasion range..Tonic and finally the Tattered Lace range. It took me a long time to get into die cutting..I think it was the thought of adding another type to my crafting goodies...another thing to spend money on...but I'm so happy that I did. I only buy dies that I know will work with the type of crafting I do. Thank goodness for that...you could spend fortunes on all the different dies out there...I'm grateful that I have limited funds so I have to make every penny count and every die has to be able to earn it's space.

The weather is still lovely..even though it is a bit cooler..I love it like this...sunny but with a breeze. I wheeled Reg and had 5 cats with me today. The horse seems to have gone from the field...we all missed our extra friend today. I took Reg out earlier today so that I would be back in time to watch the athletics on the tv. It is my secret passion...I adore watching all the athletics...it is something I have done for years now. So a lovely afternoon ahead...crafting and athletics..a strange combination I know but it works for me.

Well the coffee calls..so I hope you have a wonderful day...take care and happy crafting

The Birdhouse

Todays card is made using an image from the fabulous new cdrom from Joanna Sheen. The cd is called One Summers Day and features the artwork of the very talented lady Barbara Mock. There are some beautiful floral images, as well as interior and exterior views. I particularly love the images that feature the china...I do have a thing for bone china tea services...as my dresser can tell you. I will be featuring some of the other wonderful images over the next few days.For some reason when I sit down to craft with these images..a feeling of calm comes over me..which is just as well at the moment.The only decoration that I have added is the three die cut butterflies.

Today has been a little bit stressful for me. Nothing in the grand scale of things but just enough to agitate me...lol.First stress was the council bin men. Just because there were two bins outside of my house they decided to only empty one. And guess who's bin was left. Yes it was mine. So I had to spend half an hour in a queue on the telephone to get to actually speak to anyone and they are now going to send another van out to empty my bin. It beggars belief really that because some jobs worth on the bin team thought that I may have filled a second bin..the cost of another trip is going to come out of the council budget. If only they had taken the time to count the bins in the street, they could have realised that in fact there are 9 bins on the street and that there were 9 bins out.It's not hard is it. Enough of whine number one..lol

Whine number two is the amazing amount of midges that I got bitten by whilst wheeling the dog.I'm sure that anyone who also lives in areas affected by the little blighters knows just how bad they can be. I was bitten from head to toe. I have to say that Reg the dog and all the cats luckily aren't affected and all trot along quite happily. When I was little I wasn't aware that these little beasts even existed and it's only since coming to live in Snowdonia 25 years ago  that I met the Welsh midge.

Well the coffee is calling...Ihope that you are all having a great day. So until tomorrow..take care and happy crafting.

Anniversary Card

Todays card was an order for a 31st. wedding anniversary. I didn't know what the symbol was for this anniversary...so as always I went on a hunt and discovered that it was timepieces.So, with that in mind I decided to make the clock the main feature. I put the time to 3 o'clock...the time of their wedding. The flower and buds are made using the wonderful Floral Delights Anemone Die from Tonic. I cut the leaves, using the anemone pad and then painted the flowers using my Twinkling H2Os, because the lady who the card was for loved pink flowers. The shape of the card itself is made using the Bookatrix board from the Glitter Girls. I use this board so much as it makes such a great base for whatever you want to create.

Today in the mountains it is a beautiful day. I take my dog Reginald out attached to my wheelchair and he loves it. People that live round here are used to laughing at my entourage. There I am in my chair with Reg, followed by a stream of at least 6 cats. From the first trip the cats have decided that they don't want to miss out and whatever the weather, they trot along. Well today they had a shock...we have a special place where we turn around and if the weathers good we have a little break there. All the cats and Reg had lay down on the grass and the next thing was a horse decided to put his head over the fence. All the cats shot up to investigate..it was just so funny. I'm sure that my youngest cat Jeff was thinking wow that's a big cat!! Every day we manage to stop the cars..with most people finding our little group so funny. At the least it gives them something to smile about.

Well the coffee calls and there are cards waiting to be created...so until tomorrow take care and happy crafting

Dream Holiday Card

Todays card is for a cardswop that I'm involved in. The theme was dream holiday. I had a hard time thinking what my dream holiday would be...after all I live in a place where most people would choose to go for their holiday. Then I found this image from the Tom Mielko workbook from Joanna Sheen. It seems to me to be a very restful place and I loved the colours of the light. I created a by the sea border using my seaside themed diecuts, picking up the colours in the image. There is quite a collection of the workbooks in the series by different artists..Josephine Wall, Ellen Jareckie and Thomas Kinkade to name a few. Each workbook has a cdrom of images and backing papers, alonside the book itself which contains card images. They are a great source of inspiration for those days when you don't know what to do...we all have those days..when we want to make a card but don't know where to start. That's when these workbooks come into their own...even if you don't want to make the card suggested, they can often give you an idea that gets you going.
Today in the mountains, the rain keeps coming in swathes, keeping the cats running in and out like yoyos. One of my cats..Milky loves nothing better that running around in the long grass of the fields and more often than not comes back in looking as if she has been dumped in a bucket of water. She arrives back in through the biggest cat flap in the world and enjoys nothing more than sharing her water with everyone. She will walk around the parlour making sure to shake herself on everyone. When she is perfectly dry..out she runs for another forage through the tall grass..and when she's thoroughly wet again..in she comes..lol. And I try my hardest to make a card during the dry patches.
Well the coffee calls..and I'm so glad to say the urge to make cards is back. A lot of new dies have arrived which hopefully I will share with you all very soon. So until tomorrow..take care and happy crafting

Non Traditional Colours - Christmas Fun Challenge

Todays card is another for the fantastic Christmas Fun Challenge Blog on which I'm lucky enough to be on the design team. The theme for the challenge is Non Traditional Colours. It is always fun to try something different and I really enjoyed designing this card. I decided to choose to make this card using shades of pink...colours that I wouldn't normally pick but I thought that they went well with the little house mouse image. The little mice are holding a pink candle which I used as my inspiration. I formed a wreath around the image using ivy leaves and poinsettia. The ivy leaves were cut in white and coloured with alcohol inks. The poinsettia were made using pink mirror board. I die cut the greeting using the same mirror board. I finally added a silver bow just to add that essential bit of christmas glitter.
The Christmas Fun Challenge is a great blog and I hope that you will pop along and join in the fun. There are some very talented ladies on the design team who provide a wealth of inspiration. The really great thing is that you are beginning to make christmas cards for your stash without even thinking about it. And you are making cards using themes that you wouldn't necessarily think about but end up with some really different cards.I'm just so excited about the whole idea.
As you've probably noticed..I haven't blogged for a while. I like to blog every day but have been so ill..I have ended up going into virtual hibernation. It has been confirmed that I have a virus that will only give in to lots of rest. The truth of the matter is that I couldn't have done anything if you had paid me. I have never hurt so much from a blessed virus. I'm really hoping that I'm now coming out of it. What a start to the new year!..if there was any weight put on during the christmas season..it has definately gone now...I have never felt so less like eating in my life. So please keep your fingers crossed for me and hopefully I'll be getting back to normal soon. Thankyou all for your get well messages. I knew that I was really ill because I didn't feel as if I could make a card...lol..but the urge is definately returning...I'm beginning to plan designs..so the light may well be at the end of the tunnel.
Well the coffee is calling...so until tomorrow (I hope)...take care and happy crafting.

Steam Cogs

Todays card is an order for a 32nd. Wedding Anniversary. What I learnt making this card is that the 32nd. anniversary theme is conveyances. Cars.lorries, bikes, carts, trains, planes...anything like that. The gentleman whose anniversary it is likes steam trains..so it seemed ideal to use one for this card. The topper is from a Kanban sheet, as is the cog backing card. I added some cogs to the front of the card..they were die cut using a die from Robert Addams All Occasion range.
It is so cold here in the mountains..I have a blanket on my knees and my cardigan on. I laughed to myself this morning as I put my cardigan on. Oh what a follower of fashion I am..lol I never have been..I've always followed my own little road. Perhaps it was why I was a punk many years ago. I loved to wear outrageous clothes that no one else did. Now I'm not outrageous anymore..in my head maybe I still am but on the surface I'm pretty boring..I would much rather be warm. But back to the cardigan...as I put it on I remembered that I've always been a bit of a cardigan girl. I always liked longer ones and had them in many colours. My favourite when I was little was bright red and I also had a pair of red shoes. I thought I was the bees knees. I can also remember that my Gran was always threatening to sew up the pockets of my cardigan..everything ended up in my pockets and still does. If I don't have a pocket..I have been known to go round with a vacant look on my face because I don't know where to put anything. Son is the same...don't get me wrong..he would leave home if I tried to get him in a cardigan..he was 3 the last time I managed it...lol. But his pockets are always full...as a young boy, I drilled him into his head to hold on to his rubbish until he found a bin...it seems that he has never quite managed to find a bin.
Well the coffee is calling...I hope that you have a great weekend....so until tomorrow..take care and happy crafting

An Early Christmas Present

First things first...I'm so very excited to tell you that I've accepted a position on the Gruffies and friends design team. I really can't believe that I've been so lucky. In celebration of this happy news I decided to share this little card with the adorable house mouse image. This image is from the triple house mouse cdrom by Joanna Sheen. I have mounted the image onto some holographic card and have just added some die cut snowflakes. Of course I just had to add a little glitter..lol. So the new year promises to be a very exciting year..I can't wait to share it with you.
What a day it has been today..we have already been sat in the dark. Yes, as happens quite often here in the mountains..the power went off. It is only at times like this, when you realise just how very dark the cottage is. Candles are on call but usually I only use them if the power goes off at night  because I really don't like the smell of singeing cat hair. No matter how many times over the years the cats have been in contact with candles...they still want to investigate. One of my old cats used to be intrigued by a certain lamp..and every day he would go over to it and stand and stare at it for a couple of minutes...and then he would lick it..lol.Every day he found the lamp to be hot and must of burnt his tongue but the very next day he would be back doing exactly the same thing. The cats today are mostly inside as the wind is blowing...so they have retired to the couch.
Well the coffee is calling...so until tomorrow..take care and happy crafting.

Christmas Tags

For today I'm sharing some more of my tags, as I had so many people asking about them and liking them. For just a little effort you can create a little something special. I always have little pieces of pretty papers and die cuts which I can use. Sometimes you have an offcut of a paper that you have printed out and you feel that it is too big a piece to throw away. Well now I don't. I have a box of offcuts that I keep for making things such as tags. Smaller pieces go into another box for my patchwork cards. Offcuts of mirror board and card go into another box for use with the die cutter. I have to say that a lot of my life is in plastic boxes...lol. As with most of my crafting friends, I look at ways to save money and to get the most out of what we have.

 The above tag is using a range of the die cut snowflakes, layered onto each other. The one below is using a very pretty piece of a backing paper to which I've added a diecut reindeer. If you would like to know where I got any of the dies from..then please feel free to get in touch and I'll be more than happy to let you know.

This morning was hectic..the large christmas order arrived...and of course the cats wanted to help. One of my ladies..Obie..has to be right there in the mix with any shopping order. I'm sure that she likes to make sure that the right amount of cat food has arrived. I feel that I can at least breathe today. The final christmas orders have left the house, the turkey and gammon are now in the freezer and my box of york fruits (essential to christmas pleasure) is in the cupboard. Yesterday morning I thought that I just had too much to do and was beginning to panic..but I had a coffee..worked out a plan..stuck to it and hey ho..it all got done. I sat down with Son last night and we worked out the diary for the next week and now I am perfectly calm. I admit to getting to a point before christmas when I think..well if it's not here now..we shall just get on without it. I hope that all your own preparations are going well and that you are managing to hang onto your sanity..yesterday I was a headless chicken...we all have days like that..and usually manage to have at least one each on the run up to christmas. All I can recommend is having a coffee (or tea), sit down and remember to breathe...lol.
I have just received some amazing news..am having a happy scream at the moment..lol...I shall share it tomorrow when I've calmed down. I'm definately off for a coffee now...so until tomorrow..take care and happy crafting.

Christmas Tags

For a change today, I would share some ideas for tags  I have virtually come to the end of christmas cards and thought I would make some gift tags. I really enjoyed making them. I have used lots of different die cuts from my stash and odds of paper which I had kept.

When you look at the prices that they are charging in the shops..it makes so much sense to make your own. I hope that you like them.
As christmas approaches with great speed, I feel as if my head is full of lists and things that need to be done. Tomorrow is the day of the big shop arriving. All my vegetables are due on the Monday before christmas but tomorrow is the big day. It's when the baking stuff and all the pantry goods arrive. I have a feeling that by tomorrow night, I will be surrounded by packets of pasta, tins of beans and bags of flour. One of the things that I tend to do is stock up the cupboards at the same time as getting the christmas goods in. Here in the mountains, the weather in January and February can be at it's worst and I have been snowed in before..so I like to have extra goods in the cupboard and the ability to make bread if I need to. I tend to have a stock of longlife milk in the cupboards..well a woman can't be without her coffee..lol
So todays plans are a great long list of things that have to be done...one of these is to finally get all my cards ready for posting. I've spent so long doing cards, I was amazed to find out that I had to make some more just for myself. I have a lot of crafting friends that have got to this point and have ended up buying their own just because they'd run out of enthusiasm and time. I always tend to make my cards in two or threes of one design and then put them in a box..then I have a couple for orders and one for me.
Well the coffee calls ..I think I need one to give my hands time to catch up with my head..lol. So until tomorrow..take care and happy crafting.

The Christmas Farm

Todays card is a Sheena Douglass stamp. It reminds me of a lot of farm houses that I knew as a child and even some that I know now. I really loved using this stamp and it is a stamp that I feel I could use all year round, just depending what colours I used. In fact that's my plan in the new year...to use this stamp in a summer setting...so watch this space. I have just added some die cut snowflakes and a greeting.
I have spent the morning watching one of my all time favourite films. It is Scrooge...but the 1951 version starring Alistair Sims. It is a black and white version but I find it the most magical telling of the story. Some people would think that I've wasted the time..when I could be doing something more important...but to me it was important..it was a bit of christmas sentiment all for myself. And it helps me to feel festive...so it's all good. Please remember what I said yesterday...find a little time for yourself..after all..it's your christmas too.
The weather here is not in the least festive...the rain is sideways and the wind is howling. But here I am looking at the world from inside..and counting my blessings...I'm warm and cosy..my animals are within view ( and behaving for a change!) and my pain relief is working for a while. I couldn't ask for anything better.
Well the coffee calls..as it always does..so until tomorrow..take care and happy crafting.

The Festive Cat

Todays card features another image from the Furry friends cdrom from Joanna Sheen. After all the problems with my printer and the cat biscuits, I thought that I should celebrate the cat to match yesterdays doggie one. Also this card features an embellishment made with a selection of my die cuts. As you know by now I love buying dies and seeing what I can do with them. I have recently bought a new selection in readiness for spring crafting and am really looking forward to having a play. I have planned to treat myself to a dedicated play with non christmas cards between christmas and new year.
One other decision I have made is that my last blog for the year will be on Monday 22nd December and I will be back on the 1st January 2014. I would like to thank everyone that has come along on my blogging journey with me. It now feels to me that it has always been part of my life for ever. I have been blessed with meeting some amazing crafters who have shared so much with me. And to all the animal lovers that have shared their stories of their animals..thankyou so much..it's so lovely to chat with other people who love their animals as much as I do. And thankyou for sharing all your animal disasters..it makes me feel so much better knowing that I'm not the only one..lol
Even though today it is still raining here in the mountains, it is by far a better day than yesterday. I'm looking forward to one of my friends coming this afternoon. Son has a carol concert to go to at the weekend..so it really feels as the festivities are warming up. I hope that all your preparations are going well and that you are not wearing yourself out. Over christmas it seems as if the ladies of the land can wear themselves out making sure everything is perfect for everyone else. I hope that you consider yourself in all your christmas planning. It's your christmas as well after all.
Well the coffee calls..so until tomorrow..take care and happy crafting

A Booful Christmas

Todays card is another of my Booful collection. The image is decoupaged and I have added it to the card front, which has been embossed with a snowflake design. The backing paper is from my stash and I have added a blue peeloff. I also added some diecut snowflakes from the All Occasion die range. This is a really quick and simple card but I'm pleased with the way that it's turned out. There is something really cute about Booful..he has such an endearing little face.
I'm having a really nice day crafting inside..outside it's blowing a gale and from where I sit at my window I have a lovely view of recycling bins heading down the lane. Many many little green bins are on the wind...they really are an added attraction to the village. The council have given their normal amount of thought to this situation. As a village we had a recycling area which had large bins and this worked wonderfully... so of course because it worked so well..the council had to change it. Now in a village where most houses are holidays homes usually occupied by non residents, all the houses have about 7 bins. And believe me the non residents don't care that much about recycling on their holidays..so now it seems our winter winds will be littered with flying bins.
The decorations are now out of their winter storage and are in the process of becoming a cats christmas paradise. In a minute I'm going to paint the branches for the owl tree. I will take a photo so I can share it with you. Jeff the kitten has seen his first piece of tinsel and his eyes went really wide and he obviously thought it to be a new excitement...so goodness only knows what the season will bring.
Well the coffee is calling and there are some branches that need to be painted and of course glittered. So until tomorrow..take care and happy crafting.

Something Different

Todays card really is something different for me. It is a christmas card made up from overlapping cogs. The order was for something different for a cyclist. I made a basic christmas tree shape and covered the whole thing with overlapping cogs of various sizes. I had cut the cogs from holographic silver card and from plain silver mirror board. I have used the cog set from Robert Addams, All Occasion die range. To form the garlands across the tree I used the rope and chain dies from the same die range. One of the smaller cogs...I've used as a snowflake type decoration.
Today is very cold here in the mountains...we have had a lot of hail in the past few days but today at least the sky is a brilliant blue and it's dry...at least for a while. I remember watching the sky when I was little at the slightest mention of snow. I used to believe that Jack Frost visited every night to paint the windows. We didn't have central heating in the farmhouse ...nobody we knew did..and every night in the winter I was amazed that Jack Frost could visit us every night. The most fantastic patterns decorated the glass. Every bedroom had a fireplace but a fire was ever only lit if you were ill. I can remember lying in bed watching the flames dance and my grandmother sitting in a chair reading me a story. It was probably an Enid Blyton story..she was my favourite author and I collected her books. I could read myself, long before I went to school, so having a story read to me was a real treat. My other favourite books were the 'Anne of Green Gables' stories, the 'What Katy Did' stories and the 'Little House' books. As an adult I discovered a book called 'Clover', which continued the Katy stories with the story of her sister Clover. I never knew that this book existed and was so excited to read it. It took me back to my childhood and the joy in a new book. When I first started the book..just for an instant, I was back in bed as a little girl, snuggled under the eiderdown, hearing all the noises of the house coming from downstairs, feeling perfectly safe and happy. What a moment. I think as adults we can sometimes lose our joy in simple things, forget what it felt to feel secure and let the worries of everyday life can take over. We need to take a moment I think just to search for a moment of joy...whatever that may be.
I'm working on the silver wedding card which hopefully I can share with you tomorrow. So as usual the coffee calls..so until tomorrow take care and happy crafting

Just for Archie

Todays card is for a cat friend of mine called Archie. He is a vicars cat and sometimes gets called Lucifer due to his behaviour. The vicar is one of my closest friends and even though we don't get to see each other very often we manage to stay in touch with the phone or the internet. I think back to the days before the internet and mobile phones...I can remember standing in a phone box with my 2ps in my hand..putting them in before the pips went. When I was young the thought of having a mobile phone wasn't even a dream..goodness knows I can remember when calculators first came out and I couldn't even imagine being able to afford one..lol. Now thank goodness for the internet..it means that I can stay in touch with my friends. And it's unbelievable just how busy vicars are..I'm glad that I'm not in charge of his diary!
The image is from Ivory cats by Joanna Sheen which features the fantastic artwork of Leslie Ann Ivory. The embellishments are from a mixture of Brittania,Tattered Lace and Signature die ranges.
Well today my cats are at last happy..it's not raining so they're all out. It very cold though...so much in fact that I have a blanket over my legs. It's funny but last night I was thinking about the things we did when I was young to keep warm and cosy. It was the days before duvets and we had sheets, blankets and a candlewick bedspread. You could tell that winter was coming when the flannelette sheets arrived on the bed. Oh and we had eiderdowns on the bed as well. I remember having to make my bed every day..or at least trying. I usually ended up making a right disaster. In our bedrooms there was no central heating. There was a fireplace where you had a fire if you were ill or it was particually cold. But you got used to going to bed in a cold room and I think I still am. Or it could be that I'm a woman of a certain age and everywhere is too hot..lol
Well back to normal now and the coffee is calling. I hope that you are warm and cosy wherever you are..so until tommorrow...take care and happy crafting.

Black cats

Why do you ask are you sharing a halloween card now when it's over. Well it's for a challenge and I really wanted to make a halloween card. Usually at this time of year I'm knee deep in christmas cards so to make this card was a real bit of fun for me.
The image and backing paper come from a retired Joanna Sheen cdrom called The Cardmakers Year. If there is a Joanna Sheen cd that you would like but find it has been retired you can usually find one on ebay..if you're patient. I wanted one of Joannas first cds and I waited for a year to find it..so now I have the entire collection. So it was worth the wait! With this card I mounted the backing paper and the image onto some matt black card. I then created the border and added some diecut black cats. The cats are from the All Occaision Die range by Robert Addams. This range of dies is one of my favourites as they cut really well and they seem to do a really useful range, making dies that you can use all year round in lots of different ways.
Well I'm off for a coffee..the house has felt like it should have a revolving door and I just don't know where the time has gone. I'd better get some work done..lol. Wherever you are I hope that you've had a good weekend..so take care and happy crafting

*challenges entered*
Rubys Rainbow - Halloween

Christmas Robins

Todays card is from the Joanna Sheens Vintage Christmas Cards cdrom. It is a fantastic cd with all types of christmas images. This image is from the birds section. I have glittered the image (of course!) and mounted it onto blue card. The backing paper is from another Joanna Sheen cd..the Thomas Kinkade project book. The embellishment was made using a collection of my diecuts. The poinsettia was made using the Brittania die. All the dies used in this arrangement are available from the Joanna Sheen online shop. There is a link on the side of this blog.
I hope that you all had a good night last night. I had some close friends round for the evening and had a lovely time. No wild partying just a brew and some bits to eat, but it was really nice to catch up. The animals thought of course that the food was only put there for them! Talking of food we are to have a real treat over the next few days..my friend has recently travelled to Scotland and returned with a whole host of wonderful Scottish treats. We have two breakfast packs which include the famous square sausage,black pudding and my favourite the fruit pudding. She also bought me some haggis, scottish snowballs, empire biscuits and some scottish plain bread. I love it all. The bread was a real revelation. It reminds me of the bread that I grew up with..bread with substance. Bread that you know you've eaten. Today most of the bread is fiddled with so much it has no substance and is just a doughy slice. This scottish bread actually has a crust and it is heavier that the bread we can get here. Admittedly you can buy better bread these days but you really have to pay a ridiculous price for it. Obviously in Scotland someone decided that they were not willing to have rubbish bread and somebody listened. It just shows that everything changes but not always for the best and we get very little say in it. I've noticed the food prices rising so much lately..the companies blame the weather. the crops and the cost of transport. But I notice that the prices never go down when these things have improve.
We have friends coming over the weekend and I have lots of crafting to do. I have to say that most of my friends know that I craft along as we're talking. So I'd better have my coffee and get on. Wherever you are I hope you have a great day...take care and happy crafting

Barkley cuddles

Todays cards feature the wonderful cdrom Barkley from Crafters Companion. Both the cards are 6x6 in size and feature some of the smaller toppers from this cd. Even though there are some fantastic backing papers on the cd..I wanted to have a play around..so I created my own. The backing paper is actually acetate which I coloured myself. I took a piece of clear acetate and coloured the back of it using some alcohol ink pens..I scribbled all over it using four toning colours. I then took some ranger blending solution on a sponge scourer from my kitchen and dabbed it randomly over the coloured acetate. It took only a tiny bit of blending solution and created a fabulous blended pattern. I forgot to tell you that the acetate was heat resistant. I use this type so that I can dry it off using my heat gun and not have a wet piece of acetate lying around where certain nosy little cats can investigate. I then dried the acetate off and added some spray glitter. This piece I cut down to the card size and mounted it onto white card and then that in turn onto red mirror board. I mounted the acetate onto the white card first so the pattern came through really clearly. Depending what colour you mount the acetate onto..it can give a totally different look..so have a play around. I hope that you have a play..seeing what effects you can get is great fun.
I hope that the weather was kind to you all last night. Here it was very calm..in fact it was far worse during the early evening. Today is still calm and all the cats are in and out making up for last night. They must have thought that it was going to be bad as they all stayed in from the early evening..so it was a case of grab a chair quick and stay put..lol
So I'm off now to do some baking..I have no idea what..I'm off to look in my Mary Berry cook book and get some inspiration. But as always coffee first. So take care and happy crafting.