Jingle Belles week 1 and Happy New Year

The year long Christmas card challenge has started again at Jingle Belles Rock ... if you stuck with it last year - like me you will have have made 48 cards by the end of December ... 

It seems really weird that I still have cards hanging up from this Christmas and here we are thinking about next Christmas! 

And a lesson learned ... each of my cards cost around 75pence to mail ...  that's a lot of money! So this year I am hoping to keep things simple ... Well I'm hoping! 

So ... This weeks prompt is "No time like the Present ..." ... use wrapping paper on your project ...or... make a holiday card with an image of present(s) on it ... There is plenty of inspiration on the blog if you dare to join in ... 

I chose to use wrapping paper ... silver wrapping paper ... which of course is virtually impossible to photograph ... Duh! 

I made 2 cards ... one using a shape cut from my Silhouette ...

The background is black paper which I misted with Mister Huey's calico white mist ... 

This shot may be better

The second card is done the same way but I made one of those little folded trees 

The sentiments I hand wrote with a white gel pen ... I promise you they look much nicer IRL ...

I'm off to prepare for a dinner dance we are attending tonight with some friends ...

May I take this opportunity to wish all my dear blog friends a

Happy New Year

May 2012 bring you and your loved ones Peace, Happiness, Good Health and Love

Thank you for your friendship ... for all your wonderful comments which continue to inspire me and cheer me 

Keep safe

~ Ros ~

January Birthday

Well Christmas may have come and gone for another year ... but the birthday card list is just beginning... This is one I made for a friend who has a birthday very soon

I used my Silhouette to cut this card ... the fancy cut really doesn't need much adding to it 

I used a scrap of Basic grey paper on the front of the card and a sheet of paper from the Paper Cellar to the inside of the card... 

... a handmade flower together with a Prima flower and lots of  liquid pearls ... Love that stuff but sometimes it takes a while to master ...

It's a wet and dreary day here ... so photographing things is not easy ...

I also received more Happy Mail today .... from my friend Sylvia Nelson ... one of her lovely handmade cards 

and two beautiful tags ...

Aren't they lovely?

Thanks so much Sylvia ... I love them

Wishing you all a wonderful day ... thanks for stopping by

~ Ros ~

Happy Mail and Strange happenings

A while ago I contributed a few short stories to a book written by sweet Cindy Adkins ... Angel stories... and I have many untold ones ... Things that I can't explain ... if you are reading this Cindy ... here's a new one for you...

A couple of days ago my back went into spasm again ... more than likely due to my limping ... I've been trying to get my appointment with the foot specialist for ages ... so all in all I don't sleep too well and I'm often up in the night trying to relieve my foot pain or my stiff back ...

The night before last I was in a fair bit of pain and lack of sleep was not helping ... after being awake for several hours I finally fell asleep asking God to please help me out here. The next thing I knew I felt immense pain shoot through my foot ...  someone ... something ... was manipulating my foot ... I swear to you I had no control over the movements and it was agony ... I was wriggling about trying to pull away yet I couldn't ... But ... after that ... my foot pain eased and I am no longer limping ... and I can't explain it at all ...

Today I finally get the call I am waiting for ... the hospital with an appointment for me ... the earliest appointment they have? 12th January ... which just happens to be my birthday ... so ok ... I've had worse ... I actually had major surgery on my 40th ... so I accept the appointment only to find out that my foot consultant is called Doctor Toe ... "You're having a laugh ... " I say to the lady on the phone ... but no, she is serious ... Sometimes Angels have a sense of humour!


And to cheer me further ... I got not one but two Happy Mail packages today ... 
I was fortunate enough to win a lovely stamp pack from the ever so talented Suzanne Czosek
This set ...

and it arrived today ... but look what came with it ...

One of her fabulous cards ... and ... all this 

Look at this ribbon lace

Sue, Thank you ever so much ... You are one lovely lady ... I am thrilled to bits!


The other package came quite unexpectedly from my dear friend Ira ... I fell in love with her latest card and little did I know it was winging it's way over to me ...

I absolutely adore this and I am going to put it in a frame

along with it came 2 beautifully wrapped gifts ... for my upcoming birthday ... I just had to open them ...

Look at this ...

A gorgeous stamp set and the most stunning dimensional butterfly stickers

Thank You Ira ... I am beyond delighted at your thoughtfulness ...

 Thank you to the Angels both earthly and ethereal who have shown me humour when I'm down, and kindness when I most need it ...

Have a lovely Day

~ Ros ~

Christmas Album

Hi ... How are you? ... 
Things are getting back to normal here ... the shops are full with people looking for a bargain in the sales ... alas I have been unable to join them ... 
I just have a little time to post before my brother and SIL arrive with Ross ... It's been ages since I saw him and I am so looking forward to his visit ... 
You may remember that my sweet friend Kirsty sent me some lovely Pixie Dust Paperie goodies for Christmas ... amongst them were some pretty Christmas papers and stickers ... and I used them to make a little album together with the brown paper lunch bags she sent me some months ago ... I took the idea from a lovely album made by the talented Melissa Samuels ... using 4 lunch bags which gives lots of pockets for putting things into ... lots of photos here

This is the front ... how I love the keys in this kit

all these papers and stickers are from the kit

That gorgeous yoyo was from my friend Jeanneke

How pretty is this rose trim from Pixie Dust? And Kirsty even put in a bag of pretty butterflies

Lots of my frames are cut with my Silhouette as is the reindeer .. and see that beautiful silver crocheted snowflake? Yep, from the talented Jeanneke again

Of course all the papers are double sided so picking what to use is the only problem with these kits ... but  they all co-ordinate perfectly

You can just make out the pockets ... ready to stuff with pictures

And quite by chance ... I see that Kirsty has also made a Christmas album using the new kit "Christmas in Paris" ... so why don't you hop over and take a look at her beautiful work too ...

Thanks so much for stopping by today ... 

Till soon

~ Ros ~

City Crafter ... Making the Cut

Hello and a very Good Morning to you all ...

Did you have a good Christmas? Are you ready to sneak out into your craft room and join in a new challenge?

Well this week at City Crafter we have sweet Linda Robinson hosting for us and she has come up with a fabulous challenge ...

"Making the Cut"

Linda wants to see some kind of paper cutting on your project this week ... it can be paper piecing, fussy cutting etc., This is the inspirational photo for you 

Beautiful huh?

So ... I went with paper piecing for this challenge and used another owl stamp ... well it's my son's birthday in a couple of days ... he'll be 29 on the 29th .. so an owl card for him

This is a Hero Arts digital stamp ... and my little owl is all paper pieced ... his wing printed twice and adhered with foam to give a little dimension

... and of course he needed a sparkly crown ... I know I added a bow but I don't think my son will mind

This week we have Sylvia Nelson guesting for us again ... and Pixie Dust Paperie are kindly sponsoring us ...Please take a moment to check out the blog Here and see all the creations from Sylvia and the DT ... 

I hope you can play along with us 

Have a lovely day ...

Till soon

~ Ros ~

Merry Christmas

Hello ... I'm just popping in to wish you all a Wonderful Christmas ...

May the Peace and Love of this season bless you all ....

~ Ros ~

Not so wise owl ...

Hello there ...

At this time of year I seem to have quite a few birthdays to remember  ... and my memory is not always as good as it used to be! Suffice to say I forgot one ... the husband of one of my friends ... actually I did remember ... but only at 9pm that night ... Oh well...better late than never huh?

So a hastily made card ... 

... A Hero Arts digital owl ... With a computer generated sentiment

paper-pieced using Basic grey papers and a little painting on the branch using distress stains

... and the inside

I think I'm forgiven ...

Have a lovely day

Till soon

~ Ros ~

City Crafter ... Winter White

Good morning ...

Our lovely Kirsty is setting the challenge for us this week at City Crafter ... and keeping in with the winter theme, she has challenged us to make a card or project having the main colour as white

this is her lovely inspirational photo

... and the perfect time to make my little stocking for the mantle ...

This is a chipboard stocking from a pack I bought last year...

I painted it first with white acrylic and then covered it in Core'dination pure white CS which I added a generous amount of glitter too 

... added some snowflakes and rhinestones ...

cut some felt ... and I'm not sure if you can see ... I used a little wire brush on the felt ... it makes it really fluffy ... all that was needed now was some ribbon,  a few crystal drops and a sprig of holly

... and we're good to go!

This week we are lucky to have Sylvia Nelson  Guest designing once again and sweet Stella sponsoring for us... Don't say I told you but ... I happen to know that Stella has created something really special for the winner this week too!  

So I hope you will hop on over to the blog and check out the rest of the DT work and if you need a little break from all those Christmas preparations ... then why not take a little time to join us this week... we'll be so happy to see you ...

Till soon

~ Ros ~

Little Angel

When I saw this beautiful angel on the Graphics Fairy ... well it was love at first sight ... I knew it would make the perfect Christmas card for my friend and neighbour Helen ... 

A slightly different pocket card and a glittered from ... both done on my Silhouette

... But I couldn't stop there ... nooo

See I have a friend who celebrates her birthday on Christmas day ... so I used the same image to make a birthday card 

... maybe it's a little too Christmassy?

... what do you think?

Then I went on to make two more of my "Hug Books" ...

This time I covered them in fabric ... but still used that lovely angel

The ring clips on this one are too big really ... I have smaller ones on order

... and I'm still not tired of this little angel ... 

Thanks to The Graphics Fairy ... 

I'm linking this up to their Brag Monday this week

On a different note ... I went for more blood tests today followed by X rays on my poor foot ... here's hoping it will finally be sorted ...

I'll be back tomorrow with my DT project for City Crafter ... hope you'll be able to drop by ...

Have a lovely day and keep safe

~ Ros ~

Birthday wishes

Today one of my nephews celebrates his birthday ... just a CAS card this time

This image actually came from Silhouette studio .. one of the print and cut range .. I just loved the bicycle and sentiment and thought it would be ideal for a masculine card

Happy Birthday Alan ... 

As you know this week at City Crafter  the challenge is to make or alter a book ... well a while ago my sweet aunt asked me to make some little sticky note holder books so she could give them as thank you gifts ... 

These pretty papers are Eline's Huis .. Roses are Red ... and I made the little charms

Being the end of the year ... I added diaries this time too ...

You still have time to enter this weeks' challenge if you feel like a break from the hustle and bustle of preparing for Christmas... Can't believe we are only a week away!! 

Thanks so much for visiting ... enjoy your day and stay safe

~ Ros ~

More gifts ...

Hello ... are you well?

What a busy time of year it is ... and right now it has started to snow here ... 

I have a few gifts to share ... some to give and some I received ...

As an alternative to the little bags on This post ... I made some boxes for my friends from Pilates ... 

glittered them up and filled them with some lovely little biscuits ...

... gave them each a battery operated candle to put in later

... they were thrilled!

This week I have received some lovely goodies from you sweet blog friends ... My hubby is very taken with all the foreign stamps! 

This beauty came all the way from Brazil ... from sweet Jacira ...

Her cards are always so pretty ... full detail and a joy to own ... Thank you my sweet friend

This fabulous set came from none other than the lovely Linda Robinson ... Wow! what beauties ... I adore that cute reindeer ... and I've always wondered what that Tazo tasted like and those Ghiraradelli  squares ... now I can find out!

Thank you my friend!

Then this arrived from my dear friend Deb Hickman ... one day we will meet up ... we are only about 100 miles from each other...

Now I was going to save this till Christmas day ... but I couldn't resist ... 

Look at these ...

Have you ever seen anything like it? ... Button Soaps!! Just about as cute as can be!

Thank you so much Deb ... they are gorgeous! 

Now it's time for a coffee and then I am going to pay you all a visit ...

Have a wonderful day 

~ Ros ~