Language of Flowers 11 & Last One . . . . .

Good morning everyone. Hope the weather is better with you than it has been here. At the risk of sounding like my Mum, I refuse to say "the garden needed the rain" lol!!!

Met Davey yesterday for a skinny, decaff cappuccino and catch up. He showed me some more photos of his Japanese trip, of the wisteria and cherry blossom. I did warn him about June's husband, should he decide to get one for his garden.

He's off to Georgia in about 3 weeks (so I guess you could say he's got Georgia on his mind, boom boom!!!) and then a cruise to the Fjords a couple of weeks after that . . . . . . . . . I told you he was like Judith Chalmers with a hairy chest!!!

Not seeing much of Nesta at the moment as a very dear friend of hers is very ill in hospital. You always wish there was something you can do or say to make things better but sadly there never is.

Now, here we have the last in the series of samples I made for John. This is another scraper board creation but is actually a card this time (the framed one was just the scraper board mounted with layers of card). I should have added last time and the same goes for this, I gave it a coat of Cosmic Shimmer Clear Matt Finish Glaze for 2 reasons;

1. to protect the surface from further unintentional scratches and 2. to protect the surface from finger prints as it is prone to them marking the board. I have now added this information to the framed sample blog post.

Ingredients

Cream and black card.

Cream card edged with a copper Sharpie to get the copper layer.

Copper scraper board

John Lockwood Lily rubber stamp

John Lockwood sentiment stamps

SB Matting Basics A

Picket Fence Distress InkCosmic Shimmer Clear Matt Finish Glaze. 

For those who weren't quite sure what I used or how, the above is the product I used. You can buy pre-printed ones where you can just scrape the pre-printed picture of a lion or tiger or whatever but I bought blank boards so that I could stamp what I liked on them.

They come in a variety of sizes (I got 5x7) and colours. The top layer is black and you scrape that to reveal the copper or silver, or whatever colour you have chosen, underneath.

Hope that clarifies it.

I really enjoyed using this medium and with 4 boards left, I will be having another go soon. When I do, I shall take some photos of each stage as some of you asked for a tutorial.

After a quiet time in the street, Flash has some competition. 

I was about the close the curtains in the front bedroom the other night on my way to bed, when I noticed Patch, the cat who lives over the road, pawing at her front door. She is a sweetie so I was thinking "Aww, poor thing wants to get in" as the front door opens partially, she puts a paw over the threshold and then legs it back down the path.

I thought this was a bit odd, then the door opened fully and there stood the woman who lives theres new boyfriend, naked as the day he was born. I can only assume that Patch was shocked by the view and that's why she scarpered.

He then tried to entice her with a tidbit (Maureen, don't !!!) but she was having none of it. At that point, a chap walked by with his dog and I don't think he could quite believe what he was seeing but the bloke continued to stand there on display for another few seconds before closing the door.

All I can say is, that must have been a very painful tattoo. (And I was yet again reminded of the jar of pickled walnuts).

I don't know why this road has attracted such a plethora (big word of the day) of exhibitionists. Its a wonder property prices haven't plummeted ............... mind you, maybe that's why they have gone up lol!!!

June, I too have Billy bookcases in my craft room in red. I also have some white Gersbys. Welcome to the MAWTT design team too.

Maureen, I have just discovered the delights of alcohol free lager. Mr D, who is a connosieur of such things turned his tongue up but its quite refreshing with a dash of lemonade. May try the alcohol free wine next.

Jackie, not the result I wanted in the GP but yes, it was indeed a race this time. Looking forward to seeing Jenson Baby in Monaco next (well, Monaco on the telly at least unless we win the lottery this week).

On that note, I shall leave you to your day. Have a good one.

TTFN

Ang x

Language of Flowers 10. . . . . . .

Good morning everyone. Hope you are well?

After a bit of gadding, I've not had a briliant couple of days but you have to take the rough with the smooth. Mr dentist managed to repair the tooth thankfully with minimal fuss. I'm in Denplan and it does come in handy sometimes, especially with more costly treatment.

I will do a pictorial of how I did the inverted triple stamping as a couple of you good folk have asked about it so that will be in a couple of posts time. This is the other card here that I featured on the blog sometime ago using this technique.

Now, I was going to show this creation last out of the samples I made for John as the other one was also a scratchboard creation but a lily card. However, the photo that I took showing what I did with the stamping of it, was of the peony so I thought to made sense to show this first (Hope you were all following that lol!!!)

As soon as I saw this stamp, my first thought was "What would this look like in copper" and rather than go down the embossing powder route, I decided to be different (You know me).

I stamped the scraperboard with Picket Fence white Distress Ink to give me the outline to scratch around. Also, the ink rubs off when you buff it up at the end so all you see is the copper.

Ingredients

Black, cream and copper card

Copper Scraperboard - 5x7 sheet

John Lockwood Peony rubber stamp

Picket Fence Distress Ink

Cosmic Shimmer Clear Matt Finish Glaze

8 x 10 Black frame from The Range

Something to scrape with (I started with a pokey tool, then used a DIY nail) 

I gave it a coat of Cosmic Shimmer Clear Matt Finish Glaze for 2 reasons;

1. to protect the surface from further unintentional scratches and 2. to protect the surface from finger prints as it is prone to them marking the board.

It was a beggar to photograph with the glass but it is my favourite of all the samples I made.

It was also John's favourite and its currently on the wall in Chateau Lockwood as he asked if he could keep it. It seemed to be popular on the shows as well.

I will probably do another one for myself as I love it too.

Maureen, I've not been able to touch the Vino Collapso for nearly 12 months since the A/Fib started. I've got bottles of fizz in the cupboard that friends had bought for my birthday last year (I would say it was a "special" birthday but after the year I've had, they'll all be special from now on lol!!!) but that was when I took ill and before I touched a drop.

June, please don't be sensible, its not mandatory lol!!! Tell Mr F, thank you but the wisterias will be well taken care of.

Sue, is Doncaster ready for you and Sue Two lol???

You all know that John and I are good friends and after this weeks' news,  I know that some of you have been in touch as you have been concerned about him but I shall say that he is just fine, positive and keeping busy.

Spanish GP today, so I shall be keeping out of earshot of any sports news until I can watch the highlights tonight. Would love to go to that one sometime as Barcelona is one of my favourite places.

Anyhoo, have a good day and hope the week ahead is kind to you all.

TTFN

Ang x

Language of Flowers 8. . . . . . .

Good morning everyone. Hope all is well with you?

I had meant to post this yesterday but time has run away with me this week.

I've been doing a bit more pottering and managed to get to the craft show at the Motor Cycle Museum on Saturday. Sadly, Nursey Harrop couldn't make it this time so I ventured on my own (you may remember taking Mr D to the one in February was not fun lol!!!).

A lot less stalls than last time, so disappointing when they charge the same amount to get in.

I haven't photographed my purchases as they were very boring items like card, envelopes, teeny bling, a couple of stamps and a Nellie Snellen holly spring die.

One of the stalls was a lady behind a table with about half a dozen balls of wool, a few bags of buttons and a few rolls of lace so I hope they don't charge much for stall space.

Now, back to the card. Another of my samples for John, this time using the individual elements from his Horticultural Definition background stamp. I didn't chop the stamp up, just inked and stamped the elements separately.

Ingredients

Cream and taupe card

John Lockwood Horticultural Definition background stamp

John Lockwood sentiment stamp

CE Linen embossing folder

Presscut circle and rectangle dies

Memento Dew Drop Bamboo Leaves and Rich Cocoa

Bundled Sage and Antique Linen distress inks

Pearlage

I think you could get away with this for a guy who likes gardening. . . . . . Davey, look away, this may be your birthday card for next month lol!!!

Bridget, Maccy D junk food? Surely not with lettuce, onion and gherkin lol?

Elaine, Wendy and Karen I can be my own worst enemy. I will try and do as I'm told but I'm not promising lol!!!

June, if you click here and here, you can show Mr F my wisterias from a couple of years ago. Not quite as grand as Japan but at least not as far for you to go.

Maureen, I can sympathise after being wheeled around A & E by Mr D a couple of times last year. Think I ended up with more injuries than when I went in with bashed elbows and knees on door frames lol!!!

That's me for today folks.

Hope you all have a good week ahead.

TTFN

Ang x

Language of Flowers 3 . . . . . . .

Good morning one and all. Hope all is good with you or if not, I send you best wishes and positive thoughts.

On that note, I'm sad to hear that our lovely Maureen has broken her hip. So sorry you poor lady. I haven't ascertained if alcohol, Lycra or cycling was involved but send warm wishes for a speedy recovery.

Now, I'm continuing with John's samples. Thank you for your kind comments on them. This one got a fair bit of air time and seemed popular with the presenters. Totally out of character for me as I don't normally do grungy but I just saw this in my minds eye when I first saw this fab stamp.

Ingredients

Cream, brown and taupe card

John Lockwood Horticultural Definition stamp

MDF shapes from Ebay

Rich Cocoa Dew Drop Memento ink

Vintage Photo Distress ink

Twine

Hougie for scoring

I roughed up the edges of the stamped panel with some scissors but not too much as I like neat grunge lol!!!

I added some finger prints to give it that dirty fingers from gardening look.

Its been lovely to see some new names commenting and I thank you for your visits.

Elaine, Mr D actually got 3 of the Fondant Fancies . . . . . . the chocolate ones as I don't like chocolate flavoured stuff. Its always Russian Roulette with a packet as to how many of each you get but there was a special Easter box of all lemon (my favourites) but I would have eaten them all. Still sending you prayers and good vibes.

Littlelamb, hope your back is feeling better now.

Wendy, the framed one was actually scraper foil/board rather than gilding flakes.

Jackie, bit more excitement at the GP this week. I felt for Valtteri too but at least Lewis didn't win lol!!! Looking to seeing Jenson Baby again.

Patricia, thanks for letting me know about Maureen. Such as shame she will miss your meet up.

Karen, you try whatever gives you inspiration chuck. Your personalised cards always look individual.

Well, that's me for now. Enjoy John's glitter shows. I'm hoping to get out for lunch with Davey and Nesta. Davey's off to Japan next week. He's like Judith Chalmers with a hairy chest (although I do hear she waxes, lol!!!)

TTFN

Ang x

PS. . . . . . Final reminder for The Paddle Prize here. Mr D will be performing the draw at 7pm tonight so don't forget to click follow and leave a comment on my anniversary blog post before 7pm.

The winner will be announced on my next post.

Language of Flowers 2. . . . . . .

Happy Easter everyone. Hope you have a day filled with family, love, happiness and, of course, chocolate!!!

All those of you who managed to give something up for Lent, enjoy filling your boots with it today. I gave up housework but I shall resist it again for today (or maybe another several days lol!!! . . . . . . . . there is a Grand Prix to watch!!!).

Welcome to Joyce who has kindly pressed the follow button. Hope you can come for regular paddles here at The Pond.

I did manage to get out on Good Friday to meet up with some friends I hadn't seen for a year, so that was a lift to the spirits (not the alcoholic ones, I hasten to add . . . . . still not allowed). I had meant to be back here sooner but have been up and down the last few days. Still the ectopics with discomfort, but there are plenty worse off than me so I won't dwell.

On that note, I'm hoping our dear Elaine (nattyboots) won't mind me mentioning that she and her family have had an extremely difficult 12 months, which doesn't seem to be getting any easier.

I won't go into everything as I know that Elaine has mentioned certain things on Sue Wilson's blog but I'd just like to ask everyone a favour. If you pray, then please spare a prayer for the natty family and if you don't, then please send some positive thoughts in their direction. . . . . Thank you.

Now, time for another of the samples I made for John's shows last week. Thank you for the lovely comments and emails I've had about the samples. The scraper foil/board one seems to be a favourite so that will follow soon. I picked this one for today as it was the most "Eastery" (if that's a word) colours. Apologies that the pics are slightly dark but I was up against it trying to get everything photographed before passing on to John a few weeks ago.

Ingredients

White and yellow card

John Lockwood Honeysuckle stamp

John Lockwood sentiment stamp

SB Classic Ovals dies

Cosmic Shimmer clear embossing powder

Memento Dew Drop inks

I stamped portions of the stamp around the edge on this one rather than just stamping it as is.

I also used cotton buds to colour it in as I wanted to use inks rather than alcohol pens and I found that using cotton buds gave it a more subtle look . . . . . . not sure if that's a new technique but it works.

That's me for today as its almost GP time (I'm posting this live rather than scheduling) and I need to prime the arm of my chair with the remote control, a mug of tea and the Fondant Fancies that Nesta bought us me for Easter (my favourite cakes, yet I don't have a sweet tooth).

I'm scheduling another post for a couple of days time so that I haven't left it so long to bore entertain you lol!!!

Enjoy what's left of Easter Sunday and be good.

TTFN

Ang x

Ps . . . . . Don't forget the Paddle Prize that is on offer here. Only a few days left to follow and comment on that post.