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.

Card No 3

Thought I'd better get this done early as it is Wednesday and the afternoon and evening are taken up with card classes, I'm sure I'll just want to put my feet up when we've finished. Today is Jo's turn so I'm looking forward to "playing".

Here's the third card for Saturday

I've used Pool Party,Early Espresso Textured and Plain. and Whisper White CS, the Lucky Limeade Check and Pool Party Diagonal Stripe designer papers from the kit, punched with the scalloped square punch then stamped in Early Espresso ink with the Clearly for you Stamp set. I inked around the tiny scallop circle. The design on the check paper doesn't show up very well but it looks great in real life.
I finished it with a bow made with the Lucky Limeade ruffled ribbon.

Better go and get the tables set up ready for this afternoon and evening.
 Back tomorrow with number 4.

All Day Card No. 2

The exhibition was very interesting, it was at the Western Park Museum in Sheffield, not good for parking. We managed to find a space about 10 mins. walk away. The Chinese Exhibition was just one room, but there were some fascinating objects and information. I didn't realise that they were spinning silk over 2000 years ago, and doing many other things that we didn't discover until much much later.
The museum itself was geared to children, there were lots of interactive displays, and the rooms had various themes. It was very busy due to half term and all the children were having a whale of a time.
We couldn't find a seat in the cafe so ended up going to Meadowhall for lunch, we ate at an Italian restaraunt Zizzi's. We both had pizza, I had the rustic type, it was rectangular shaped and over 18" long by about 9 " wide, I didn't think I'd get through it all, but I did!!!! I have to say in my defence that the base was really thin and crispy, about the best pizza I've had. Norman had the half and half pizza and calzone, his was round and about 14" diameter, he ate all his as well.

We arrived home bout 4ish, and after letting the dogs out and feeding them we both fell asleep.

That's enough about our excursion, here's the second of the cards I made for Saturday

This was the first one I made and I was inspired by the design on the designer paper, which I tore and inked the edges with Early Espresso. The background is Textured Early Espresso CS. I used the 1 3/4 scallop and circle punches in Designer Paper and Pink Pirouette CS, with the sentiment from Petit Pairs  stamped onto Pink Pirouette with Early Espresso Ink and punched with the 1" circle punch. Very easy and straight forward but this one I liked.

Off to watch Prisoner's Wives now back tomorrow with the next one.

Thanks for visiting.

Workshop Cards 1

Well I am back after just one day!!!!!!! Just shows what you can do when you put your mind down to it
Here is the first of the cards for Saturday. It is actually the last one I made and it started out pink and green, but I just didn't like it at all. I struggled really hard with a few of the cards, but this one I was definitely not happy about. I was typing the instructions for them yesterday and came to it and thought I can't put that one in. So I took it to pieces, went into Cillas and came up with this.

I do like this one.

We are using the Tea Time Simply Scrappin Kit, the colours in the kit are Lucky Limeade, Pink Pirouette, Pool Party and Early Espresso. We've added Whisper White cardstock and some matching ribbons to the kit, plus used various stamps and punches.

Here I've used the Lucky Limeade check designer paper and cardstock, and the Doiley sticker from the kit. Whisper White cardstock, Scalloped Circle Die, Narrow Scallop Rectangle Die, Lace Ribbon Border punch, Eyelet Border punch, an Early Espresso Marker on a tiny bit of the Blossoms from the Easter Blossoms stamp set. Early Espresso ink on the sentiment from the Happiest Birthday Wishes stamp set. Lucky Limeade in sponged with a dauber around the sentiment. I was looking through all my stamp sets to find something to add to the sentiment, as it looked really stark on it's own, and was thrilled when I found the blossoms, they really match the design on the sticker.

I had scanned them all in before I started typing yesterday so thought you might be interesed to see what it looked like before.

So here goes!!!!!!!!!!!

I still don't like it. As you can see I removed everythng apart from the designer paper, covered up the little tears under the panel with Lucky Limeade cs then put the other elements on top. I think it's just the colours together that I can't get on with.

I'm off to an exhibition on China, with hubby, tomorrow in Sheffield. I have always been fascinated by China, my grandfather was in the Merchant Navy in the early 1900s and travelled to China frequently. He used to tell me lots of tales about it and always said that the Chinese have forgotten more than we'll ever know. That has always stuck with me and the more I learn about China the more I realise that he was right.

So it will probably be later tomorrow and I'll tell you a little about it along with the next card.

Thanks for visiting

Sunday Again

Sorry for the lack of posts, I seem to be very slow to get things ready etc. Anyway the snow is still hanging about but no where near as lovely as last week. We had a slight flurry on Friday, but it is on it's way out now and looking mucky and messy.
It was my turn to make the cards for the Wednesday classes this week and I was very happy with them. I don't know about you but when I make a card I leave it standing up on my desk so that I can look at it each time I go in to craft. This is good if it is one I am really pleased with, but some never get used as the more I see them the less I like them, the saying "familiarity breeds contempt" is sometimes very true with some of my cards.

Here is the first of the three. I really love this Every Day Enchantment designer paper, which is one of the freebies in the Sale a Bration which you can get for every £45 you spend, I used it on two of the cards for Wednesday as you will see. The Calypso Coral frame is made using the 2 Frames embossing folders, cut out  with a Nestie Oval, the paper inside the oval is Very Vanilla stamped with one of the Fresh Vintage Stamps, another of the Freebies, it matches the background on the designer paper. I sponged over it lightly with Soft Suede ink before punching it with the Large Oval punch, which fits the inside of the frame exactly. The rose is stamped with Baby Blossoms, sadly retired but I love using it, and cut with the smallest Oval Nestie. The corners are rounded using the Corner Rounder of course and a strip of Crochet Trim, and the sentiment from the Curly Cute set are the finishing touches.

Here is the other card using Every Day Enchantment. For this one I cut a base card 5" high x the length of A4, placed a dot 2" up on each side, from one short edge. Using the Top Note Die, placed this edge to one of the longer sides, and placed the top plate only to the dots, that way the die only cuts where the top plate is. (don't think I've explained that very well Sorry!!!)  It also leaves a slight score mark and this is where you fold, then fold the other edge in to make a tri fold. I stamped the right hand corner with the Fresh Vintage Stamp in Soft Suede, the sentiment is from Petit Pairs, sponged with Soft Suede and punched with the Decorative Label punch, the little swirls are the swirls on the edges of the Fresh Vintage stamp. The label is mounted on designer paper then Soft Suede. I used Soft Suede taffeta ribbon tied in a bow to close. 

The last one uses Spice Cake designer paper, from the Mini catalogue. The base card is Pool Party cut and folder to make a 4" x 8" card, Soft Suede panel onto the front, then a designer paper panel. The tag is in Pool Party cut with one of the 2 Tags die cuts. I stamped a sentiment for the Happiest Birthday Wishes on the inside and used the Pumpkin Pie striped ribbon through the hole. The flowers are cut from another of the designer paper sheets, one full and the other just the middle and mounted with sticky pads. The stripes are the reverse side of this paper. The sentiment is from the So Happy for You stamp set, stamped onto Pool Party in Soft Suede, cut to size and mounted on the stripe, then Soft Suede, and finally onto Pool Party.

Hope you like them. I have been busy making the cards for the All Day Workshop next Saturday, and typing up the instructions to go with them. I will try and put one up each day this week, maybe not Wednesday, but we'll see.

Back Soon

Snow

I love waking up to a snow covered scene, before anyone has walked or driven on it. That's how it looked this morning when I took Beau, the youngest dog, for his walk. It was a beautiful morning, the sun was shining and there was a low lying mist over the valley, the tops of the trees looked like small islands in a pale grey sea. I found it  hard going though walking through it. I just walked up to the field and then around the boundary, there were lots of tracks where the foxes had been out for their morning walks, and one set which looked a bit unusual until I realised that it was where a rabbit had been hopping, I presume because the snow was quite deep and it was easier to hop rather than run. Norman took the other three a little later and here is a picture of them following someone with a sledge, it makes it easier to walk in someone elses tracks!!!!! Quite clever of them I thought.

I don't expect it looks so pristine now, as I've see quite a few people going passed with sledges. The view is of the Amber Valley,the fields in the distance are on the other side of the vallley there is quite a dip before you get to them. This is the top field, when you pass the hedge the next field slopes at quite a steep angle and is great for sledging. The railway line is at the bottom then a narrow field and then the River. This is the dogs daily walk and up until a few months ago they would go for a swim every day no matter what the weather. I think now though they are feeling their ages. The one nearest the camera is Jim, Sonny's brother, and they will be 14 in July. It's Sonny next to the man with the Sledge and Crezi in the middle, she is 9. Sonny has taken to following other people recently as he recently met a couple of  folk who have given him tit bits and he now thinks everyone is going to, so he latches on to them in hope, and  Norman quite often has to double back to get him to come with him.

Here is the second of Jo's cards from Wednesday, not managed to get the third one finished yet, maybe later, I think I must have spent too much time chatting on Wednesday evening.

The base card is white which we brushed with Pool Party, then used Not Quite Navy and Pool Party cardstock and designer paper. The sentiment is from Curly Cute, a set that didn't inspire me when I first saw it but then I saw someone using it and love it now, I use it quite a lot. I really like the way she has used the ruffled ribbon behind the sentiment.

The road outside is clear now though the footpaths are still covered and the snow is looking grey where the cars have splashed. I hope it doesn't freeze too hard tonight, it will be treacherous if it does.

Back Soon.

Why Me?????

Why is it that if anything is going to wrong with a computer in our house, it goes wrong with mine? The virus protection needed updating at the beginning of the week and Norman put the latest version on. When I came to use the computer on Thursday, to upload one of the cards we had done with Jo on Wednesday evening, it said I was not covered!!!!! So I disconnected from the Internet, terrified of getting a virus, and left it until he could have a look at it. The message said that the licence was invalid, but it was a multi use licence and was only on his computer, mine and the laptop. It was working fine on the other 2.!!!!!!!!!! Anyway this morning we had another look and updated data bases etc.etc. and now we are working again. So here it is, I haven't got round to finishing the other 2 yet but will put them up when I do.

This was my favourite and would make a good man's card as well as a boy's. I really like the gap in the middle, and looking at it now I can see that my card candy on the right is far from straight. But I still think it's lovely.

It was really cold this morning when I was out with one of the dogs, and it's snowing now. The way the sky looks it will go on for sometime I think. We are lucky here as our's is one of the roads that gets gritted early on, so it's not sticking on the road, but the footpaths and the gardens are covered.

I'm off into Cilla's now to get on with the cards for the All Day Workshop, I have made 2 up to now,  but Jo is way ahead, she's got 4 ready. We try to make about 5/6 each so that the ladies have quite a few to go at and the one's they don't finish on the day they have pictures and instructions for so that they can finish them at home.