Here again

Hi Folks, sorry for the long delay again as usual cirumstances got the better of me. I've just got back from Stampin' Up Training day and had a great time so all fired up again, with lots of inspiration, there are a lot of very talented people out there.
I made some new SU friends as it was not at my usual place because that is next week and we are away for 2 weeks starting Tuesday. We are off to Alaska, not a sunbathing holiday methinks, but I bought a new swimsuit just in case!!! There should be some good pics when we get back.

I've got 2 Cards for you today, both birthday cards, one for Jackie and one for May one of our card class ladies who was 80 on Thursday. We had a "fuddle" on Wednesday evening for her instead of making cards. Just in case you are not from these parts and like me when I first heard the term have no idea what a "Fuddle" is, it's when you have a party and everyone brings something to eat. May had no idea and was really suprised, it was good just to sit and chat for a couple of hours as when we make cards the chat is a bit thin on the ground.

The first one is Jackie's, it was her birthday on Thursday too.

I used the front of a ready cut shaped card and stamped and scored it, before brushing with Soft Suede ink. Soft Suede and Whisper White CS, Soft Suede ink. The image is from the Ornate Flowers set, and Soft Suede Taffeta ribbon for the trim.

This is the one I made for May. I used Whisper White and Early Espresso CS, Cut a square of Whisper White, scored it again the Simply Scored Tool is great for this. This time I used the ridged side up, cut the edges with the scalloped edgelits die before brushing with Crumb Cake ink. The image and sentiment are from the Apothecary Art Stamps, stamped in Old Olive and coloured with marker pens, the sentiment in Early Espresso. The Apothercary Art Stamps fit the Framelits Dies beautifully, I cut the white border from around the image then cut the same size in Early Espresso so that I had a narrower border. The sentiment I stamped on a strip of Whisper white, cut a V out of one end and curled the other end around a cocktail stick before sticking onto the image with sticky pads. The Butterflies from the Beautiful Wings cut and emboss die, I used the 2 smallest sizes. The shape under her name is punched with the first of the Triple Doiley punch shapes. You can see some of the bakers twine the butterflies are holding. In the top left hand corner I pulled a thread in a piece of Soft Suede Taffeta ribbon to gather it up and stuck it with sticky dots, pleated a short length of Crochet lace, and put the 2 tiny butterflies on top. Finally I put a medium pearl where each of the lines cross and a tiny pearl on each butterfly. 

Hope you like them, wont be back for a while again, not going to try the scheduling as it didn't work last time and I need to look into it again to see where I went wrong!!!!!!

Can't wait for the holiday, will tell you all about it when I get back.

Sad Friday

Well Jackie is no longer coming every day and we were both a bit tearful at times but she loved her card and gift bag, I bought her a necklace with a small diamante "Cairn" to say thank you from the Cairns for looking after them. She was very touched and that's when the tears started. We went out for lunch and had a good talk about things that she had had to do whilst being here, so we laughed a lot. She's back next Friday but it feels like the end of an era.

The electrics are still playing up but the electrician has been today and isolated it to the garage so I had lights in Cillas, hooray!!!!. I made a start on my swaps for training next Sat. I am going to the one in Leamington Spa as we will be away for the Leeds day. I'll put one up when they're finished.

This card is one I made a couple of weeks ago, inspired by Barbara Gray. I used her technique of stamping on the reverse of acetate, then covering it with double sided sticky (seem to be using a lot of that recently after it being in the drawer for ages) and rubbing gilt flakes all over. The stamp I think is Personal Impressions, but not sure as all my old stamps are in cd cases as I said yesterday. When I started storing them like that I didn't know I was going to start a blog so there was no need to keep the packaging. The base card is Naturals Ivory, the image is mounted on Very Vanilla then Basic Black. The sentiment is from Curly Cute stamped and embossed with clear glitter embossing powder on to Basic Black mounted onto Very Vanilla then again onto Basic Black.

I've got a new computer screen and its fabulous, it is about 24" wide and I don't think I need new glasses anymore as I can see what I am doing without leaning right forward. I didn't know Norman had ordered it and when I came into the computer room after tea he was setting it up a great suprise. He has a big screen for his computer but mine is Bigger!!!!!!

A quick photo before I go

This is Dominic enjoying Cookies and a drink after school on his birthday, Wednesday, at a new cafe called the Street in Tralee.

That's all for today folks, thanks for looking in.

Back Soon.

Home

We had a great weekend. Harrogate was good we managed to miss the very heavy showers, we were either having coffee, lunch, chatting in a greenhouse to the salesman or just sitting inside each time there was one, so very lucky. We ordered a new greenhouse, amazingly from a firm in a village about 4 miles away from where we live. We also ordered a bench which turns into picnic table and 2 benches. The chap that makes them said he couldn't claim inventing them as they are known as Monk's Benches and have been used for centuries in monks cells as they have very little space.

Friday we were up a 5 and on the road at 6. Arrived in Ireland for lunch then met Dominic from school, he had no idea we were going so the look on his face was a picture when he saw us in the car. He wasn't quite sure what to say, which is amazing as he never stops talking usually, but he soon got back into his stride. The party wasn't until Sunday so Saturday was preperation day (after football practice, and that's Gaelic football!! It was good fun to watch all little ones, boys and girls, having a great time.) Jonathan, my son, had bought a marquee and had almost put it up so we had that to finish and some final preparations of food. No one else had had a party at home, they usually go to the play centre, so it was a novelty for them all. Luckily it didn't rain on Sunday, the sun shone but it was very windy and Jonathan was a bit worried about the marquee, but all went well.They have about an acre so the children had a great time running round, playing golf and football. They played pass the parcel but that and when they were eating were the only times they sat down.  None of them wanted to go home when their parents arrived and the parents had to chase around to catch them. One little girl came and sat beside me at the end and said "This is the best party ever" so I can imagine a few more wanting parties at home. We arrived home Monday absolutely shattered. I was in bed by 9.30.

I heard last night that the scheduled posts all came up on the last day, I don't know what I did wrong there, will have to have another go sometime to try and get it right.

We had a problem with the electrics tonight, all the sockets wouldn't work. Norman managed to get the ones in the house working but Cilla's was and still is without lights and sockets, so my time was cut short!! I needed to make a card and a gift bag as Jackie who looks after the dogs when we are away is not going to be doing that from tomorrow. So here they are.

I've used Pear Pizazz CS, a retired DSP, Lucky Limeade pleated ribbon (I love this) The thank you stamps are from the Thank You Kindly set with basic black ink. The 3 "Cairns" are a Little Clair Set, and the one on the Gift Bag, and the sentiment underhim are ones I've had for years the packaging has worn out and they are stored in cd cases so I don't know who made them. It's just the head and I stamped the sentiment underneath then cut it out as if he is leaning over.

I hope she likes them, it is going to be a very emotional day tomorrow as she has been with us for 15 yrs. She is still coming 2 days to help with the cleaning so the thank you's are from the dogs.

That's about all the news for now, hope you didn't get too bored reading it.

Thanks for looking in

Back soon.

Saturday all ready

Today is the day of the Party so I'm sure I will be shatterd tonight. Word is that Dominic has invited 20 friends, I think that's why the plan is to have it outside in a small Marquee. Please pray the rain keeps off, can you imagine 20 5 & 6 yr olds. inside on a wet day!!!!!!!!! Good job we've got Sunday to recover before we fly home.

If you remember the cards we did with Jo last Wednesday, we made one using the Triple Treat Flower stamp where punched the centre from a white image. Well........the old marquetry trick came into my mind so I kept the remaining part of the image, stamped another onto Wisteria Wonder in Wisteria Wonder ink, punched out the centre flower and fitted it into the aperture left by the one we'd used, and fixed it using double sided sticky, stamped it again close to the edge, just so that I could punch out the centre circle with the half inch punch. Liked it so much that I had to make a card with it.The cardstocks are Whisper White and Wisteria Wonder and DSP is Wisteria Wonder as is the ink I used. I also used one of the Edgelits dies and Adorning Accents, which are in the Summer Mini available on May 1, to trim the edge of a piece of Whisper WhiteCS and Wisteria Wonder DSP. The Sentiment is from the Happiest Birthday set.

Well if this scheduling has worked you should have had a card each day until today. This is the last of the cards I had ready so I will hopefully be back on Tuesday, I will put the cards up then that we are making tomorrow (Wednesday as I am typing this).

Going Well

It all seems to be going very smoothly (hope I'm not speaking too soon).

We will be up and out by 6 a.m. today, flying at 11 a.m.  from Luton to Kerry. Luckily they only live about 15 minutes away from Kerry Airport so we will be there for lunch. I hope the weather is fine as the Birthday Party is going to be outside.

Here's today's card

I made this one for one of my card ladies who has her birthday next week. I used Soft Suede CS,  ribbon and in, Beau Chateau DSP. 4 frames stamp and punch,eyelet border punch. The sentiment is from the Believe set and the flowers are cut with the Fun Flowers die from Beau Chateau and sponged with Soft Suede before fixing with one of the Antique Brads.

The weekend will fly by I know and we'll be home before we know it.

Thursday

Well Wednesday's looked as if it was going to go up O.K. so here goes Thursday. I should be in Harrogate when you read this. I hope the weather doesn't do what they've predicted or we'll be wet through.

The card today is one I made Tuesday evening as a friend of my husband lost his battle with cancer last week. They met at 'Dicky Tickers'. an exercise club for people who have had heart surgery or heart attacks. They meet 3 times a week for an hour's exercise plus arrange outings and social events. We are in Harrogate today with them, and he will be missed by everyone.

It doesn't show up very well but the base card is square and I have embossed 2 lines quarter of an inch apart on the fold side.

I kept it very simple using Whisper White and Mellow Moss (now retired sadly)CS. Concord Crush and Mellow Moss Ink and white organza ribbon. The stamps in the main image are some I've had for years and I keep them in a CD case so don't know where they are from sorry. 

First Schedule!!!!

Well here goes.

This card is the one for our Grandson's 6th birthday. I came across the rhyme ages ago and knew it would be ideal for him.

I used So Saffron, Whisper White and Basic Black CS, Basic Grey DSP,  The 'Glow Worm' is from the Every Little Bit Set, the leaves from Tiny Tags the circle from Circle of Friendship, and the sentiments from For My Family. I typed the verse into the computer and printed it onto So Saffron CS. The scallop circle with the glow worms on is the large scallop circle punch, the others are die cuts. I used the scallop border punch on the So Saffron strip where the verse is mounted.

I hope he likes it. I'm sure he'll love the verse as at that age children love anything which they consider "rude".

This should go up tomorrow hopefully, fingers crossed.

 

Away for the weekend.

Back a little later in the day than I planned but I had to do some shopping and was out all day, then had to prepare for tomorrow evening as it is my turn for the cards. We are off to the Harrogate flower show on Thursday then to Ireland for the weekend on Friday. It is our grandson's Birthday Party, he will be 6, so we are going to join in the fun. Hopefully some pictures when we get back.

There was some sad news when I spoke to my son on Sunday, the fox had got to the fowls and killed 8, the 'boss' cockerel, 2 drakes, 3 more cockerels and 2 hens. It's almost a year since they last lost any to the fox so they have been lucky but that doesn't make it any easier. Dominic, our grandson, was very upset as he was very fond of the 'boss' he had named him Pablo.

I have a few cards made so I am going to try and be a bit adventurous and schedule some posts for while we are away, never done it before so anything could happen. I will find out when I get back.

Here's one for today

If you remember I did a fake Marquetry card for the workshop in woodgrain DSP, I really liked it so thought I would try it in plain CS. I used Perfect Plum for the background and Pretty in Pink for the die cut and sentiment. You can see the lovely ready pleated ribbon which will be available in the Summer Mini Catalogue from 1 May, also the sentiment is cut with one of the Framelits dies also in the mini. It's not obvious on the pic but I outlined the 'flower' with a glitter gel pen, also the swirls on the diecut and went over the sentiment with it as well.

Now I'm going to try my hand at scheduling, so come back tomorrow and see if I've succeeded!!!!!
If there's nothing here then it's all gone terribly wrong.

Back soon.

Just a Quickie

We had a lovely afternoon on Saturday, we visited Kedleston Hall, nr to Derby. Neither of us had been there before and were pleasantly suprised. The Hall itself is impressive and looks over the Derwent, it was owned by the Curzon family before becoming a National Trust Property and a descendant still lives there today in a private wing. They apparantly came over with William the Conqueror so the lineage goes back almost 1000 yrs.

The National Trust have restored most of the Hall to it's original condition when it was built in the 18th Century. They have copied and replaced some beautiful silk tapestry which were used on the walls and furniture in some of the rooms. The thinking is that when building the Hall the Curzon's were trying to compete with the Devonshires who had built Chatsworth. There are two curved corridors one connecting the kitchen and the other the family's appartments. The kitchen one has a normal wooden floor but in the other the oak floorboards are curved to match the shape of the walls. Very impressive.

But that digresses from the reason for my blog, so here is a quick card I made on Friday evening

I used a cream linen finish CS that I have had for ages, along with Early Espresso, the stamp sets are Charming and Heard from the Heart. I used the reverse side of the cream CS to stamp the writing in Crumb Cake before adding the flower in Early Espresso, I cut the squares to size beforehand. The sentiment is stamped in Early Espresso. I then mounted them onto the Early Espresso CS. The sentiment is flat to the card and the flower squares are raised with sticky pads.

As Promised

I got the third card of Jo's three finished last night so here it is.

I'm afraid the lighting isn't very good, sorry. We die cut the card with a sizzix tag die in Island Indigo CS, used Island Indigo DSP for the Panels. Stamped the flowers from Greenhouse Garden in Pool Party and Island Indigo (I'd forgotten how much I like this set until I saw this card, will certainly be using it again now) onto squares of Whisper White mounted them onto Island Indigo and then onto the card, 2 on sticky pads, 2 Flat. The Sentiment, which you can't quite see, is the Happy Birthday wishes pair from Petit Pairs. The ribbon is a slightly glittery organza and I put a little line of stickles around each flower square.

The surveyor for the Garden Room came today to make the final drawing so it's all systems go. It will be about 6 weeks before they start, as we are away for 2 weeks mid May we said we would ring when we get back and they can start then. Can't wait, hope we have some sunshine this year though I'm sure I wont mind sitting in there even in the rain.

We are out tomorrow and maybe Sunday so it could be Monday before I'm back again. Have a good weekend, I hope the sun shines wherever you are. Back Soon

Wow,.

Definitely worth a wow, I'm back when I said I would be.

 Just about got time to put the cards up we made with Jo last night, before Alison of Cruft's fame (see earlier post) comes to trim the dogs for me. I have asked her to clip them this time as they are getting old and I don't feel it's fair for them to stand there and be hand stripped. It will be much quicker for them and Jim has always hated being trimmed.

Anyway back to cards, I only got 2 finished last night so will put those up now and finish the 3rd tonight and put it up tomorrow. They were three lovely cards and I really enjoyed making them. Here's the first.

We used the m-bossabilities folder on the front of the base card and also on a square of the same  CS which we then cut into a triangle, punched 2 strips of Wisteria Wonder and stuck them to the 2 longer sides of the triangle and stuck it onto the centre of the card. We stamped and punched the flower three times, once on Whisper White and twice on Wisteria Wonder, the second of these we punched only part of the flower so that the centre was close to the edge. Punched the white with the 5 petal punch and the wisteria with the posy punch, and the centre with the 1/2" circle punch. Mounted them up using foam pads and stuck to the card with foam pads. Stamped the sentiment and mounted is then stuck above the flower. The ink was Wisteria Wonder. I really love this colour.

 

O.K. on to number 2, this used Very Vanilla, Calypso Coral CS and DSP, plus a small piece of Lucky Limeade CS for the leaves and flowers. The Very Vanilla background was embossed using a distressed stripes embossing folder then mounted onto the base card. We die cut 4 flowers from the DSP, creased the petals (Jo doesn't do flat) and put them together alternately light and dark sides, secured with a brad. Die cut the leaves and cut the stem freehand. Mounted them onto the card, stamped the sentiment onto Very Vanilla and mounted this onto DSP and onto the card using sticky pads. Very effective I thought.

I had some good news today, we have been wanting a conservatory for some time but being a listed building have had great difficulty obtaining listed building and planning permission for the ones that we like. We found a firm who do Garden Rooms and they said that they thought they would be able to do it for us, so we applied again a couple of months ago and lo and behold he rang today to say that both permissions had been granted and they can start soon. The surveyor is coming out tomorrow to do the final survey and we should have our Garden Room in about 6 weeks!!!!!! Hooray.

I will keep you up to date with the progress, the glass doors slide right back to the wall so the dogs are going to love it, when we have some sunshine. I can't wait to be sat in there with them.

Back tomorrow with the third of Jo's lovely cards.

A little bit of Gold

Today is really miserable, wet, cold and grey. It hasn't stopped raining since about 7.30 this morning, even the dogs don't want to go out it's been that heavy.

So I thought I would show you this card which has a little touch of gold to it, to brighten me up.

 I die cut the branch (a Memory Box Die) from a piece of Crumb Cake CS (Kept the branch, not used it yet) then stuck a piece of double sided sticky paper to the back turned it over and rubbed gilt flakes into the aperture. dI really like the way it turned out and am going to try it again with a different die, watch this space!!

 The blossoms are punched with the Itty Bitty punch and I used a gilt pen for the centre, not easy to see here. Mounted it onto Chocolate Chip CS. then at an angle onto the card.  The sentiment is from the Petit Pairs stamp set, I use this ever such a lot.

The base card is Crumb Cake, then Chocolate Chip edged with the Eyelet Border punch, then a piece of DSP from the Mocha Morning set, again edged with the Eyelet Border punch.

It's the card class tonight but I will be playing as it is Jo's turn to take it, so I will post the cards tomorrow afternoon. I am off to the Docs again in the morning to see if he can sort this cough out. I am not holding out much hope, I expect he willl now say it's a virus and I just have to let it run it's course.

Thanks for looking in, back tomorrow.

Lost a Week!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't know about lost a week, I've lost a month this time!!! I don't seem to be able to fit everything into the hours there are. I think probaly because I still can't shake off the cough I've had since February. Been to the Docs, had antibiotics, chest xray everything shows up clear but I'm still coughing and feeling very tired and breathless at times. So back to the Docs on Thursday.

Anyway the one thing that hasn't been missed is my cardmaking (just putting them up here hasn't been done). We had another all day workshop on Saturday and Jo and I made 7 cards each, so you are going to see them all today. We used the First Editions Boho Chic Pad, with Stampin Up supplies. It's amazing how the colours of the pad match the New In Colours as you will see. So here goes, I'll put Jo's up first I've scanned them in more than one to a page so sorry if they are not up to scratch pics.

They look much more vibrant in real life but you can see how the colours go so well together.

O.K. now for mine.......

This is not a good image of this card, it actually folds into 4 panels, the last 3 have a hole punched and a cicle tag dangling in the space, I've used Pool Party, Calypso Coral CS and inks plus Baja Breeze ink. Fresh Vintage, Easter Blossoms and Petit Pairs stamps.

This one uses a stamp called Meadow Panel, (not SU but can't remember who's) and Just Believe. The base card and panel is the Naturals Ivory CS, the panel is mounted on Pool Party and Calypso Coral, CS.  The image is stamped in Old Olive ink and coloured with Calypso Coral, Pool Party and Daffodil Delight markers.

The base card is white with the a panel in the reverse side of one of the papers, as are the pale blue punched squares, and the centre circle for the sentiment. I used the sizzlets Beautiful  Wings for the butterflies, and the eyelet border punch.

This one is a gate fold and I've used the Apothecary Art Stamps and the Framelits Dies from the new Mini Catalogue. Old Olive and Calypso Coral ink, Calypso Coral and More Mustard Marker pens, a blender pen to pull the green into the leaves and Calypso Coral ruffled ribbon.

I cased this from a blog and I didn't keep the name (I really will have to start writing them down). The wood effect paper was part of the pad, one side light and the reverse dark. I used a memory box die, cut one image on the light side and one on the dark. Placed the dark image in the negative in the light paper (make sure to keep all the bits) put the piece from between the stems in. Covered the back with double sided sticky paper, that's it. The CS is Crumb Cake and Chocolate Chip, Chocolate Chip Ink and Curly Cute stamp.

I couldn't believe how well the Paisley Stamps went with this paper, you can't really tell from the pic, but the paisley patterns on the backing  paper have a clear and slightly glittery embossed look. I used the paisley stamps on the centre panel with Calypso Coral and More Mustard inks then outlined them with a glitter pen. The Sentiment is from Happiest of Birthdays, inked with Calypso Coral, More Mustard and Early Espresso Markers. CS is Early Espresso, Very Vanilla, and Calypso Coral. Base card is the Naturals Ivory again.

Here I've used the Posy Punch stamps, embossed onto Calypso Coral with white embossing powder and punched with the Fancy Flower Punch, the centre is punched with the 1" circle punch. Mounted onto the paper cut with the Large Scalloped Circle punch. The plain paper is one of the reverse sides of the pattern paper stack. The Calypso Coral ruffled ribbon is mounted onto a strip of Very Vanilla punched with the Scallop Border punch, and the patterned corners are made using the same punch.

Well, that's my seven as well, I think the ladies felt a little bit under  pressure with 14 cards, so we discussed it and decided that next time (22 September) we will do 5 cards each, but still include the same amount of materials, and they can make the rest up at home with their own stamps etc. We will do some extra samples to give them inspiration.

Quite a long post today, thanks for looking in, I hope I've made up for the long absence and will be back tomorrow with another creation from Cillas.

Lost week

Well almost a lost week, where did it go? I don't seem to have been at home much this past week with one thing and another. Crufts was good, not my favourite show as it is mainly trade stands and so crowded you can hardly get around to see the dogs. Best of Breed in Cairns went to Alison, a friend of mine who helps me trim my dogs (well she trims and I hold them). She handles Holly for someone else and really gets the best out of her, Holly is absolutely beautiful and a great little showgirl. Here is a of picture of them.

Both looking very pleased with themsleves, as they should.

The rest of the week has just flown by, Jo did the classes on Wed. and here are the lovely cards we made.

This one uses the Hopeful Thoughts stamp set, Whisper White and Pink Pirouhette CS. Rich Razzleberry Ink and Ribbon plus a little CS for the punched flowers, which have gems in the centre. The Border punch is a Martha Stewart one.

The second is my favourite it uses a textured CS for the base card which we cut with nesties but only half way across the centre front then cut the same scalloped circle in the DSP (which has a smittering of glitter on the flowers which you can't see here) placed this on top of the base and cut the centre circle from both, making a frame for the floral stamp which is set on a lace doiley, you can just see it peeping out behind the circle, then this onto more DSP, which matches the border on the LHS, and finally onto the inside back of the base card. We then attached the sentiment and added card candy to match the ribbon.

The last one uses So Saffron CS for the Scallop Flower and panel backings, an ivory textured CS for the base card, sentiment, and border. The fabric flowers were a bright yellow so we toned them down with Pro Markers and added the large brown brad to the centre. I don't know what the stamp is called. but the sentiment is from the Happiest Birthday Wishes set.

Three lovely cards which we all enjoyed making.

Tomorrow I'm off to Helen's Training day followed by a workshop, then on Sunday three of us are going up the Northern Papercrafts Show in Harrogate. I'm really looking forward to both days out.

So there will be no posts for 2 days (not unusual I can hear you saying) I will try to get the cards up that we make at the workshop asap.

Thanks for looking in, back soon, I hope.

OOOOPS !!!!!!!

I knew it would happen, when I say I definitely know something I am bound to get it wrong it I don't check ! It wasn't nightstamper I got the Fresh Vintage card from, just checked it, should have done it before I posted I know. It was Chaz M Wszelaki's blog memystampsandi.blogspot.com and she also does some fantastic cards. My apologies all round.

Still Strange

Couldn't get near the computer yesterday. DH was working on it trying to get my email addresses transferred, no go. He's out today so I can the cards from Wednesday up for you.

The first one is one I CASED a long time ago, before I began my blog so can't remember where I saw it, I must start making a note when I copy something, then I can give proper credit.  It uses sponging in Old Olive for the hilly golf course !! Bashful Blue for the sky. Lovely as a Tree,  which I cut to get the two trees (to some of my ladies horror), but it makes no difference when you put both pieces together again on an acrylic block to stamp the whole image. I used the torn scrap to mask the hills for the ones that peep over. A 1/2" punch and Basic Black for the hole, So Saffron DSP and Petit Pairs Stamp for the Flag and a cocktail stick with one pointed end snipped off for the pole. Whisper White and Basic Black are the main CS and Early Espresso Ink for the trees and Sentiment. A good man's card (providing he likes golf) or a lady golfer even.

This one I really love, I know who I CASED this one from. Her blog is called nightstamper and she does some really beautiful cards, have a look. It uses the Free Sale a Bration Fresh Vintage Stamp Set with Early Espresso and Melon Mambo ink, cardstock and DSP along with some Whisper White CS. Also the Scalloped Border, Itty Bitty Flower, Oval and Scalloped Oval punches.  I think the result is stunning and so did my ladies.

The third and last one we made uses the Easter Blossoms set, I just love the cherry blossom bough, the images are stamped in Always Artichoke onto Sahara Sand DSP then the flowers coloured using a Regal Rose marker. Some Lucky Limeade ruffled ribbon and a bow, then mounted onto Always Artichoke CS card base. Very simple but effective don't you think.

 As I said last time, they must have been easy as everyone finished a lot quicker that usual, so there was time to chat, which was great.

Up very early in the morning as I'm off to Crufts, I've not got any dogs entered, I did think of entering Sonny in Veteran, but he is nearly 14 and I thought it wouldn't be fair for him to be on a bench all day. Crufts is one show where dogs are not allowed to leave before 4p.m. I think it is, could be 5. and we would be leaving home around 6 a.m. (and that's a bit too early for me these days), as it is I'll have to be up at 6.30. So I am just going to watch, a friend of mine is judging the Cairns and there are a few of Sonny's grandchildren entered so I will be cheering them on. I don't think there will be any posts tomorrow, I may sneak a doggy photo in on Monday!!!!!

Thanks for visiting.

New Computer

Hi everyone,Sorry for no cards but I have only just got access to the computer, my husband decided to  install a new one for me today and it's taken nearly all day to get it up and running. I'm finding it very strange as there is nothing on it yet, none of my work etc., my email address book, so if I don't get in touch you know why. It is a lot faster though, and I'm sure I'll get used to it eventually!!!!.

We had a good 2 sessions yesterday but the cards must have been easy as they finished a lot quicker than usual, I will try to get them posted tomorrow I promise. I'm very tired at the moment, still got the dreaded cough and had a reaction yesterday to the antibiotics the doc gave me on Tuesday, so haven't taken any today, pick some new ones up tomorrow hope they do the trick.

Thank you for you patience I'll be back tomorrow.

Just a Card

Hi,Sorry I didn't get around to posting yesterday, shopping, then a friend came to trim one of the dogs and I had to make a massive pot of Leek and Potato Soup for the WI Spring Party (went down very well). Then off to the Party in the evening, so no time for blogging.

Anyway this is a card which I made some time ago

It's on white textured card base, Old Olive, So Saffron and Whisper White CS and markers, a discontinued SU Old Olive Strip ribbon, various punches. I can't remember what the stamp is and I've put it somewhere that safe that I can't find it. Does that happen to anyone else out there?

Hope you like it, got to rush as I have to get things ready for the card workshops tomorrow. Wont be posting tomorrow but hopefully I will get the cards I'm doing up on Thursday. See you then.

Jo's Cards

Had a good time at my daughter's. Our eldest grandson (16) was in a school production of We Will Rock You.

He's the one on the right, the other boy played the lead, Thomas played Cliff (Richard). I had no idea what it was about beforehand, but it was great. There were some very talented youngsters with fantastic voices.

As promised here are the lovley cards we made with Jo on Wednesday, I really enjoyed making these Jo has always inspired me as she has some great ideas.

Oooops!!!! it should have a bow in the centre, you can see the sticky dot where it was. It still looks good though without it. We used SU DSP, Wisteria Wonder and Whisper White CS, the rest was some of Jo's equipment.

This one uses Pool Party and Lucky Limeade, Jo loves these colours together and they really do work. The DSP is from the Everyday Enchantment Set, Free up till the end of March when you spend £45 with Stampin Up. I love the swirls with the lace flowers.

I think this was almost everyones favourite, it is white on white (looks a bit grey here and there on the pic) the larger lacy die cut was cut out of the card and embossed, then the remaining card was cut to size and stuck to the front of the card then the die cut put back into place. Very effective. Jo doesn't like flat flowers and we use an embossing tool and mat to give them some shape but mine never look as good as hers. These were various flower punches layered, the leaves were punches too. The ribbon is sheer with white polka dots. and the gems are pearls not silver as they look here. A really lovely card.

Hope you like them, back soon with more of mine.

Home Again

Hi everyone,

Got back Tuesday evening. Had a wonderful time it was great to see our Grandson Dominic, son Jonathan and daughter in law Helen. It was last November when we last saw Dominic and Jonathan and around last May time when we saw Helen. It is difficult for them to get away together these days as you will see in the photographs.They live between Trallee and Killarny, beautiful scenery all around. We had two great walks just outside Trallee, one in the sunshine on Saturday and in the rain on Sunday, great fun. Anyway here are some pics of our visit.

The first surprise as we walked in was the addition of 2 new puppies ( there are now 5 dogs you can see the reason why they have difficulty getting away together beginning to add up now, and there's more). These 2 are Sinton and Percie, Dominic named them and no one knows where he got Sinton from. They are Jack Russells.

In the background is the cattery they have, there was just one cat in while we were there, but 3 had gone home just before we arrived.

As well as the dogs they have a cat. 2 goats, 5 cockerels, 6 hens, 5 drakes and 5 ducks. One of the drakes thinks he's a cockerel, he was put with some chicks when he hatched and he walks around with them now and not the ducks. Oh and I forgot the guinea pig, so it's not easy to find someone to look after them all while they get away. 

This is the view from the kitchen, we see this whilst eating our breakfast. This was taken last year as I forgot to take it this time. The weather then was glorious.

I'm having trouble downloading the pics from my phone so I'll say bye for now and be back, on Sunday I think as we're off to my daughters in Brackley tomorrow. I've got some lovely cards to put up then which we made with Jo yesterday. So till then BYE

Virus

Hi everyone, sorry no cards today just a quickie to say that I have been overtaken by a nasty virus, saw the doc yesterday and he said it will just take it's time, no medication needed. I hope it hurries up!!!!!!!.

I had to cancel the card classes today, which I hate doing as I really enjoy seeing everyone. We're off to Ireland tomorrow, another reason to hope the "lurgie" goes away, to see my son, daughter in law and grandson. So expect some photo's next week. We're back on Tuesday so the classes will be back to normal, hopefully. I think the Irish air will get rid of the English virus.

Back next week xx

Workshop

We had a good day yesterday, everyone really enjoyed themselves, though it's tough to get everything done in the time. There were 14 cards, my 7 and Jo's 7 (I'll get her to send me the pics and put them up) plus a little Chocolate Wrapper which you will see when you scroll down. The lunch was good as usual, we have homemade Pie, Chips and Peas which I think I might have mentioned before, but after lunch things slow down a little!!!!!

 Here's a picture of some of the "Girls" in action.I thought I had everyone in the frame but you can only see Lorna's hand and bits of some of the others. There were ten workers, Jo is the one standing on the left and of course I'm behind the camera.

So here are the rest of my cards

This one uses Whisper White ,Lucky Limeade, Pool Party, Pink Pirouette CS, the script is from the Charming Stamp set stamped in Soft Suede, the flowers are Stickers from the Kit and the ribbon is Chocolate Chip Satin. .

For this one I used the chevron DSP, Scallop border, and Penny Farthing sticker, from the Kit. Lucky Limade, Pool Party and Pink Pirouette CS, Nesties Scallop Circle Standard and Small and Lucky Limeade ruffled ribbon.

The two lined elements are stickers from the Kit, stamped with the flower from the Charming Stamp Set. The smaller one was cut down to size from a larger sticker. The sentiment is from Petiti Pairs stamp Set. I used Pool Party and Lucky Limeade to ink the flower stamp (the bird was printed on the sticker) Pool Party CS embossed with the Square Lattiec embossing Folder. The Early Espresso Textured CS which comes in the Kit and Pool Party ruffled ribbon.

And Finally ..............

The Chocolate Surprise

You Pull the knot and up pops the chocolate bar.

I used Early Espresso and Pink Pirouette CS, the Two Tags Die cut, flower for the Charming stamp set, Thank You from Curly Cute both stamped in Early Espresso ink and Early Espresso grosgrain ribbon. I was given one like this at Convention in November last and at the last team meeting I attended, this was with my adoptive team as my upline lives too far away for me to attend hers. I loved the idea and I think the ladies yesterday did too.

Hope you like the cards we will be holding another all day workshop on April 14th if anyone would like to attend leave a message.

Back soon x

Missed A Day

Didn't get to post yesterday as I have this horrible cough which will not loosen, and I felt a bit rough. Feeling a bit better today, and hopefully improving by tomorrow for the All Day Workshop.

We did three lovely cards with Jo on Wednesday, you don't know how glad I was that it was her turn, meant I could sit and play.  So you are getting 4 Cards today hope you like them all.

This is the first we made with Jo, she used Whisper White and Not Quite Nave CS, Not Quite Navy DSP,  My Friend stamp set with Not Quite Navy ink,  Butterfly punch, Oval Nesties, and Not Quite Navy Seam Binding Ribbon.

This one uses Rich Razzleberry ink, ribbon and CS along with Very Vanilla CS, Spellbinders flower die, flower punch, and a border punch. There is also a layer of patterned vellum which you can just see if you look closely.

The third uses Baja Breeze ink, ribbon, CS, and DSP, Just Believe and I'm not sure what the other stamp comes from. A Nesties frame die and a border punch.

Three lovely cards we all enjoyed making them and had a very good day.

Now for another of the cards for tomorrow.

I thought I should include a man's card this time and the Pool Party suggested a nautical theme. The base card is white with the Pool Party diagonal stripe DSP from the kit at the top and Lucky Limeade CS at the bottom. I used the Sail Boat stamp with Basic Grey ink, coloured the sail with Pool Party marker and the boat with Lucky Limeade. Mounted on Lucky Limeade CS then onto  the stripe, The diagonal trim is one of the stickers from the kit. It originally had a pink and green opposite diagonal, so I cut it in half so that it matched the rest of the card.

Hope you like them all, don't think I'll be back tomorrow, probably worn out after the workshop but will try and get the rest of the cards we are doing up on Sunday.

Have a good weekend.