Sympathy Florals. . . . . . . . . .

Good morning dear blog chums. Hope you are all well.

A warm welcome to June. Thank you for your lovely encouraging comment and for pressing "follow". Much appreciated.

I have had an enjoyable few days meeting up with friends for coffees and lunches........along with chasing kitties. I have bought some harnesses for them so that first foray into the garden will be under my control.

I thought I would have a trial run with Molly yesterday, as she is more placid and less likely to put me in A&E with my hands savaged (must check when my tetanus is due for renewal) but it didn't go quite to plan. 

I managed to get the harness on her but then she shot off with the lead trailing behind her with Lily in hot pursuit. Lily then pounced on the lead stopping Molly in her tracks and nearly garroting her!!!

I did manage to get her outside, where she had a little sniff and then ran back indoors. 

Today will be Lily's turn so the gauntlets will be on.

I need to get them both outside asap,now they have had their Ninja training, so they they can be WIFFED (Wisteria Intelligence Furry Friend Elite Defence).

We are having new fence panels at the bottom of the garden as a Wisty defence measure but the Feline A Team will be on patrol.

Anyhoo, back to the card.

Now, I hadn't shown anything floral for a while so here we have a flowery ensemble.

I made this as a sympathy card for a dear blog chum whose brother passed away last year so I am hoping that she won't mind me showing it now. I sadly had a few sympathy cards to do last year.

Ingredients

Cream and rich plum card

HC Delicate Asters dies

SB Camellia Border die (cut into both layers to create a shadow)

SB Ivy D Lites dies

Other foliage dies 

Tonic flower punches

Pearlage

Spectrum Noirs

I usually keep sympathy cards fairly simple but thought that the florals would be appreciated.

Apologies Maureen for not putting the full name of the embossing folder on my last post. It is the Craftwell A4 Checkered Argyle folder which I was lucky enough to get for £1 in a craft show bargain bin (I can often be seen with my head buried in a bargain bin, legs in the air......).

Karen, you scratch away chuck but if its in an inappropriate manner, don't do it in public.

I also never thought about my last card looking Native American in design but I suppose it does. I like to be different lol!!!

Another kitty pic to sign off.........

Don't be fooled WART members.........they are primed and ready to attack lol!!!

TTFN

Ang x

Gerbera Trio. . . . . . . . .

Good morning everyone. Hope you are all well and snow free now............I should say to the members of WART, we have 8ft of snow here and the ground is frozen solid so removal of the Wisty would be impossible. Forecasts are that its here for at least the next 6 months by which time Molly and Lily will have gone through their feline ninja training and will be poised to protect their territory, so any further attempts to employ a birdlike drone will be met with disaster.

I have been better this last couple of days but thank you for your kind concern. Its always just when I think all is pootling along nicely but what can you do.

Welcome to Stephanie, alias Pawprintsx4. Thank you for your lovely comment and for pressing the "follow" button.

I noticed that I am not too far from 200 followers now so I shall come up with a Paddle Prize for when I hit the 200. I will put a photo of something up soon.

Now, I'm still sharing the samples I made for John and as I only had the Gerbera Panel and Gerbera Circles dies, I had to be quite inventive at times. As I didn't have the Gerbera Flower die, I cut the Gerbera Panel die 3 times and cut the flowers from that and layered them up to create these blooms. 

Ingredients

Cream and lilac card

JND Gerbera Panel die

JND Gerbera Circles dies

JND sentiment

HC Delicate Asters dies (Leaves)

Tonic punch (Small flowers)

Various green and lilac inks

Hougie for score lines

Jelly tot gems

Pearlage

A simple card but understated enough to even use as a sympathy card methinks.

Well, the dentist seemed to go ok. A couple of filling repairs and no numbing up required so, so far, so good.

Today, I'm taking The Girls back to the RSPCA for round 2 of their shots so hopefully, there will be no shananigans with getting them into their carrier ***...........perhaps I should put pieces of my curtains, rug and wallpaper in with them as these are items that they have a close personal relationship with lol!!!

Here are some latest gratuitous itty bitty kitty pics..............

Molly Mogs

Lily Kins

Oh, don't they look as if butter wouldn't melt lol!!!

Off to their new vets later in the week for a meet and sniff (the kitts, not me..........well, depends what the vet looks like lol!!!) and they will probably hope that they don't need their temperature taking..........there is an advantage to being human sometimes!!!

Yorkie Wendy, sorry you have not been well. Hope that you are better but please see above regarding any planned Wisty assault.

Hope you have recovered from your fall too Jeanie. I still can't have alcohol so can't use that as an excuse anymore for my clumsiness lol!!!

Maureen, I have no sympathy with you swapping bugs with Wendy as I know it is that poor misguided woman who is being led astray by you.

As Myra says, it would be cheaper and less infectious to buy your own Wisties lol!!!

Anyhoo, this won't get the lady a baby as my dear Mum used to say (I think it was some strange Malaysian saying lol!!!) so better scoot.

Be good all.

TTFN

Ang x

*** Update on the pet carrier

      

     We had invested in a covered litter tray (less scatterage and pongage......hope I haven't put you off breakfast/lunch/dinner).

I put the pet carrier in the kitchen last night for them to get used to it ready for their trip today and Lily went straight into it..........great, or so I thought.

She obviously thought it was a new toilet facility and promptly peed in it!!!

I'm hoping that the same thing doesn't happen on the way to the RSPCA as its about 5 miles away...........wish me luck!!!

Flowers and Rosy Cheeks. . . . . . . .

Good morning good blogging folk. Hope you are all well?

I have to say, I have had a wonderful few days. I think the iron tablets have kicked in and I've been full of beans (where did that expression come from???) and breathing has been just about normal. The cardio consultant appears to have been correct when he said my feeling rough after the cardioversion was down to the anaemia rather than heart.

I would say I'm feeling almost normal but I know that will attract comments from various quarters lol!!!

I did see John on Thursday and he commented how I had got the colour back in my cheeks (on my face, lol!!!).

Funny story about colour in my cheeks. The tablets I take make your skin photosensitive so I'm supposed to wear factor 50 block on my exposed areas (ooooh, errrr!!!) when I go out. The first time I tried this, having never used above a factor 8 before, I put some on my face and the bloomin stuff just wouldn't rub in. Its thick and white so I ended up looking like the love child of Marcel Marceau and a geisha girl !!!

Needless to say, I had to wash it off and I've taken my chances with daylight since.

Now, today's card has been in lurking in my files for a while. Nesta asked me to make a floral card for her Auntie's 70th birthday so as I like a bit of floralage and foliage, I was happy to oblige.

Ingredients

White and pink card

SB Classic Diamond dies

SB Carnation Creations dies

HC Delicate Aster dies

Various foliage dies 

Tonic flower punch

CE Stitched Bunting Numbers Stamps

John Lockwood Sentiment stamp

Card-io butterfly stamp

Various distress inks

Bling and pearlage

I love making floral cards and apparently, Auntie was very pleased with this.

Had my mammogram results through yesterday (posted from Bristol, had to laugh in a Sid James manner at the irony lol!!!) and The Girls are ok and clear so thankfully, that's one bit (or 2 bits actually) of me that's working properly lol!!

No pictures of birdie buffet today as getting a downloading error again from camera to laptop.

I'm also trying to get a snap of Scruffy Robin. He's a sweet little thing but looks like he's stuck his beak in a socket as all his feathers stand on end.

June, if Mr F looks carefully, that is the trunk and branches of the "you know what" on the last birdie photo. How are yours. Maureen and Yorkie Wendy's smash and grab plans going? I'm guessing Maureen needs to be a bit steadier on her pins first.

Oooh, and I would never try and out do Flash. I think if I got The Girls out in public, it would devalue the property prices in the area lol!!! Mind you, with all the ECGs I've had, I think half the hospital have seen them!!!

Well, off to a craft show at the National Motorcycle Museum today and hopefully meeting up with Christine H and John (he's doing some demoing). Don't need anything but its rude not to look lol!!!

Will be back in time for GP highlights at 5.30. Hoping its as exciting as the last one and hoping I can avoid any news bulletins so I don't find out the result beforehand.

Hope you all have a lovely Sunday and that the week ahead is kind to you.

TTFN

Ang x

Ps. . . . . . .box for the above card on the next post. x

Congratulations in Blue.............

Good morning guys and gals (well, mainly gals but I live in hope lol!!!).

Eeeee, hasn't it turned chilly. My hands have been colder than a penguins chuff and if my feet go the same way, I shall be digging Kate's wonderful warm socks out of the drawer again. 

Thank you so much for all of your supportive comments about my work woes......I was really touched (steady Maureen !!!)

Well, I stamped my feet and threw a minor hissy fit which was relayed to the regional manager and I was reprieved. I'm still covering 3 shops this week but not as many days.

I'm hoping Nancy was right and as a consequence the regional manager thought better of antagonising the one member of staff who has agreed to cover other shops (as they have lost staff moving on to pastures better!) and who hasn't had any sick leave since my poxation last May, despite my "itis" which is still present.

Any more problems, I'm signing up Kate as my shop steward lol!!!

Hazel, Janice and Natty, I have negotiated with Mr Lockwood but sadly, he can't afford me (this Duck ain't cheap.........its a vicious rumour!!!)

Thank you also for your kind comments on Wendywoo's necklace. As I hadn't asked Wendy's permission to show it, I didn't like to name her as the recipient but she has shown it on her own blog now, so that's ok.

Now, today's card is one I made for my friend Penny who was celebrating the birth of her Grandson. I showed the card I made for her daughter here but then forgot to post the card I made for Penny.

Ingredients

White card

Turquoise card

Tied Together embossing folder

HC Delicate Asters 

SB Curved Borders 2 

Hobbycraft sentiment

Bahama Blue Memento Dew Drop ink

Pearly bling 

Teeny blue bling

It had to be blue for a boy and Penny is a Coventry City supporter (I think she's on tablets for it lol!!!) I'm sure that the ankle biter already has a Sky Blues romper suit in his wardrobe.

No shananighans to report from Flash Gordon lately (I'm grateful for small mercies.......not his very small mercy though, obviously lol!!!) 

Finally, I know my friend Davey will be reading this so have a wonderful holiday dear friend (he's off to Dallas and Guatemala........not your regular combination, I know but he said that the Travelodge in Lowestoft was fully booked for that week)

Have a great week folks........I'm off for a few days from Thursday, hurrah!!!

TTFN

Ang x

Nesta's Birthday. . . . . . . and 300 not out!!!

Good morning dear paddlers and my goodness isn't it paddling weather?

Thank you for your ever lovely comments on my last creation and for your kind words about little Cid. We're none the wiser as to what happened to her. She was found in a neighbours garden but with no visible signs of injury. Still bringing tears to my eyes so will move on to happier words. 

Had a wonderful day at the NEC Thursday with Nesta. She enjoyed looking around the gift stalls and also bought some sequins to embellish some tops she has (I'll make a crafter of her yet lol!)

Met up with the lovely Christine Harrop and also this time the equally lovely Anne Oliver and her sister in law. We all had a fab chat over coffee/tea.............thank you Anne for my coffee. Next year its my treat, no arguments lol!!! Did look out for Ann from Northampton but didn't spot you chuck.

It was strange not seeing the Scottish girls but had a lovely long chat with Kate on Tuesday to try and stave off the withdrawal symptoms lol!

Now, it was during our chat at the NEC, that I remembered that I hadn't yet posted the card I made for Nesta's birthday, which was back in August.

So here it is but apologies for the quality of the first photo........or it may, hopefully just be my screen not doing it justice. Its 8x8 in size. 

Ingredients

Cream card

Lilac card

Sissix Square dies

HC Delicate Asters dies

SB Foliage dies

Tonic and Papermania flower punches

Crafters Companion sentiment stamp

Card-io dragonfly stamp

White gel pen

Selection of distress inks to colour the flowers and foliage

Pearlage and blingage

I used the white gel pen to highlight the centres of some of the lilac flowers to give them some definition.

Nesta did love her card and, bless her, she keeps them too. I did enjoy making this one as I love my florals.

Not much was purchased by me on Thursday. Mr L was busy demoing on my local craft shop's stand (Daisy's Jewels and Crafts stand D30) and one of my purchases was a bar of chocolate for John lol!!! He is demoing on their stand again on Sunday if anyone is going then (Think Jan from Northampton is?)

I will pop on a snap of the purchases next time but its quite minimal for me. Nowhere seemed to be selling Spellbinders, which seemed rather odd to me and to be honest, not much in the way of dies in general.

Lastly, I have reached the dizzy heights of 300 posts now, hurrah!!! I shall be offering a little pressie to a commenter/follower. So anyone who is a follower and leaves a comment on this post between now and 21st November will go into a draw for a thank you gift.

I am enjoying a few days off so hope everyone has a great weekend.

TTFN and be good.

Ang x

Moving Along With the Times Challenge. . . . . . .

Good morning dear blogging chums. Hope everyone is good. My head is better, thank you. As for work, I'm playing that one by ear! 

A big splashy welcome to The Pond to Rocky, Lilian and Valerie. Thanks for following the fun ladies.

Now, today's card is my very first DT card for Moving Along With the Times Challenge    (MAWTT).  I was kindly invited by Hazel (Didos) to join the team before Christmas and here is the first challenge of 2015. Hope you can all pop along and have a peek at what my talented team mates (including our Wendy) have created and even better, if you can join in.

               This challenge, as chosen by Carole, is a photo/colour inspiration . . . . .

And I went for both, the flower in the picture and some of the colours too.

Peachy shades are not usually my cup of char but I did quite like the way the colours look on the finished card.

I decided to try something different (for me) with a gatefold card (a sheet of A4) with an aperture cut from the centre, going up a size on the top layer.

Ingredients

Cream base card (Ross)

Rich cream linen card (PMD)

Biscuit card (Lidl)

Peach card (Lidl)

Brown card (Lidl)

SB Labels 28

SB Ivy (D-lite) love it!!!

HC Delicate Asters

Docrafts flower punch

Tonic flower punch

Couture Creations Compassionate embossing folder

Distress inks (Bundled Sage, Antique Linen, Rusty Hinge, Victorian Velvet)

Memento Dew Drop inks (Bamboo Leaves, Rich Cocoa)

Crafters Companion sentiment

Cosmic Shimmer Vintage Golden Green gilding wax (Thank you John!)

Copper Krylon pen

Pearls and bling

Phew. . . . . . . . . that's quite a list!

This is the first outing for the Ivy die and I'm in love with it. Each leaf is a separate die and you get 2 different stems as well. Its a shame you can't really pick up the sheen from the gilding wax (boy, does that stuff whiff!).

Well, I hope that you all like my first MAWTT DT post. I look forward to having fun with the rest of the challenges to come.

I am also entering this into Darnell's NBUS challenge No 3 (as I've used my Ivy for the first time)

And Try it on Tuesday's my favourite things challenge as my favourite things to use are dies and particularly flower dies.

 Just a couple of messages before I waddle off (still have Christmas weight to shift lol!!!).

Mrs B, I will do some pics, of how I do the banner, for next week.

Elaine (nattyboots) enjoy your travels, hopefully somewhere warmer than here.

Sue & Sue, great news about the NEC. Will the ASBO be expired by then lol!!!

To everyone who has tried the Thank Crunchie its Friday recipe, glad you have enjoyed it and apologies to your dentists (mind you, the dentists will be happy as it will be funding their yachts!!!)

And as always, thank you for your kind visits and comments. Back in a few days with a pic of Karen's (karenlotty) terrific card.

TTFN

Ang x

Memories of Summer. . . . . .

Good morning all you lovely folk, how's it hanging today? A spring in your step and happiness in your heart, I hope.

Well..............in the words of the great Brucie, didn't he do well (I can hear you all trying to do the impression lol!!!) John was fabulous ont telly and soon got into his crafting stride. So chuffed for him. 

I had to watch on that app thingy and the picture quality isn't great (like watching through vellum lol!) 

I met up with John yesterday morning as Julia Watts was demoing at my local craft shop so we met up for a chat. 

Have to say, Julia seemed very nice as I managed to have a chat with her before the audience arrived. She had some lovely samples.

One of the ladies got all excited when she found out John was coming along (don't worry, no underwear was thrown lol!!!) and another recognised him when he came in so that's 3 of us in the Warwickshire Branch of the JND Fan Club hahaha!!!

Before I forget, hello and thank you Sandy, Kvencel and Marian. Hope you can pop by again soon.

Also, I'm glad my destructions on John's card made sense. I know they were more Blue Peter than Create and Craft hahaha!

And, with regard to my last card the roses don't take too long. I use a lower GSM card so they are not too stiff, which means I can cut 2 or 3 at a time. They then just take me about a minute each to roll, tweak and glue, I have invested in a little glue gun which speeds up the process too.

Now, back to today's offering. Part 4 of my CEDT application. One of the required subjects was "Memories of Summer" and this was my interpretation.

I know in this country, we have to have a good memory to remember Summer lol!, but my first thought was "flowers" so that was what I went with.

Ingredients

White card

Lilac PMD card

Pink PMD card

SB Scalloped Ovals

SB Fancy Lattice

SB Botanical Swirls and Accents (Fuchsia leaves)

HC Delicate Asters 

Britannia Medium Rose die (for fuchsias)

Tonic and Docrafts flower punches

Card-io English Rose and Mum's Garden Majestix stamp sets

CE sentiment stamp

Black archival ink

Distress Inks

Paper twine and seed beads (for stamens and seed pods on fuchsias)

CE white silky crush ribbon 

Bling

Gosh, what a list lol!!!

I just wanted to make it look like a flower adorned trellis with the stamping forming a floral backdrop. The greens are also more sage in real life.

I know it may be a bit of a Marmite card and it won't be everyone's cup of Typhoo (and no, today's post is not being sponsored by Tesco lol!!!) but I really enjoyed making it.

Well, that's me for today. Enjoy your Sunday and as always, be good!

TTFN

Ang x

Ps. . . . . Norah, you've given me a bit of an idea chuck. Thanks for that. Stay tuned!

Pps. . . . Ita dear. Glad I could help with the GC handle but not sure I'm best to advise on your treatment. Best to be guided by your doctor and your family honey.We dont want you back where you were last year.