Saturday, June 30, 2012

Cruising home

Hello sweet friends
I sailed back into Liverpool at 7am this morning having spent 12 wonderful days at sea covering over 3,200 nautical miles ...
Thank you so much for your lovely comments whilst I was away ... I was unable to have any internet connection ... so came back to over 250 emails to sort through and I have spent the day trying to catch up with you all ... I missed you!

Our first 3days were spent at sea and the second day it rained heavily as we headed for Portugal ... The ship was like a cork bobbing up and down and Ian and I sat on deck with blankets to keep warm!
A floating hotel this is NOT ... It is a ship ... and this is part of it's charm ... and we were looked after very well by the crew ...
Everyone was dreading hitting the Bay of Biscay ... it s notorious for stormy weather ... but to our great delight and amazement ... the sea was calm as could be and the sun came out. Heading nearer to Portugal I was thrilled to see dolphins coming to greet the ship ... I have never seen a dolphin IRL and was overjoyed ... 
We sailed into Lisbon early on day 4 ...



Lisbon is a pretty city


With lovely architecture


beautiful beaches...


and lovely Jacaranda trees


And that building in the background is a prison!

I hope to share more pictures with you over the next few days but for now I'll just wish you all a lovely day / evening and go have dinner with my husband and my son who I missed so much ...

Thanks for stopping by

~ Ros ~





Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Happy Birthday!





Just popping in to wish a very Happy 2nd Birthday to 

Unfortunately being away I am unable to partake in the fun and festivities but I hope you will pay them a visit and have fun...


Many congratulations to Jan and the rest of the team ... sending hugs


~ Ros ~

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Little Kitty

Hi there!

It's my turn to host the challenge at City Crafter this week and this week I am asking you to
Make a gift ... No cards please
I just know you will come up with some wonderful things ... and I am looking forward to seeing them
Our Guest Designer this week is Shahrul  and we are happy to have her back with us once again.
I made a little pillow for a neighbour who celebrated her birthday this week ... and it just so happens that she is a cat lover too



I printed this little kitty picture along with some graphics from The Graphics Fairy and a verse, straight on to fabric ... I don't use any special printer ... just adhere my fabric with some temporary spray adhesive to a piece of cardstock and feed it through my printer. You may have noticed that I coloured the kitty's eyes with Promarkers to just enhance the picture a little ..


Lots of lace, a double bow and a handmade flower too ...


... and that little sparkly button came from my lovely friend Lauren

I am at sea today having just left Gibraltar and heading for  La Coruna Spain 


Thinking of you and sending hugs

~ Ros ~






Wednesday, June 20, 2012

White on white & Birthday Wishes

Hello and good morning to you ...
I am still at sea and I have 2 things to share 
First this week's challenge at 
The challenge we have for you this week is Wedding ... make a white on white wedding card
Here's your inspiration photo


And my card


A bit of layering here ... I used my cameo for the cut out hearts which I layered over a piece of paper that has a hint of script on it ...  I altered the opacity to take it very light and added a generous coating of glitter 


Being as it's a wedding card I couldn't help but add tulle and lace, ribbon and pearls and of course some sparkly bits ... Most of the embellishments are just from my supplies ... the birdcage and rose are from Hobbycraft


It's not that easy to photograph white on white I discovered ... 
Our featured designer this week is our creator ... the lovely Jan  and she will be using goodies from our generous sponsor The House Across The Bay 

So are you going to play along with us? We'd love to see your creations ... If you need inspiration ... pay a visit to the blog Papercraft Star and check out the creations from the rest of our team

Next

 Today is a special lady's Birthday ... my sweet friend Cheryl from City Crafter

Happy Birthday Cheryl!!

This is for you ... I hope you have a beautiful day my friend


I hope you get your package


If you would like to wish Cheryl a Happy Birthday ... there is a link for you Here

Till soon take care


~ Ros ~








Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Time after time

By the time you are reading this ... I will have been at sea for a day ... heading for our first port of call Lisbon in Portugal


But being as it is Tuesday ... it is also a new challenge at City Crafter where Cheryl is hosting for us and has set a fabulous challenge 'Time after time" use a clock on our projects
I love this challenge and made an album ready to put my photos in when I get back ... 


The large clock is a printout adhered to a CD ... you may have seen me use this in a previous post  Here where you can find full details
The sweet little clock and the metal frame are from Pixie Dust Paperie ... I just adore these trinkets


Some Prima paper and some of their flowers together with MF ephemera and other flowers from my supplies ... The pages are made with my favourite medium ... envelopes covered with CS and papers and all manner of things from my scraps ... not overly decorated as yet ... I like to wait until my photos are ready ...


... but this gives you an idea


I can't wait to see what you create ... and the winner will get a Guest Design spot here with us at City Crafter

Our Guest Designer this week is the fabulously talented Ira ... Hop over to the  blog to see her wonderful work together with that of the rest of the team ... you won't be disappointed!
See you there ...

Thanks so much for your visit and if I can't leave you any comments ... please forgive me ... I can't get a connection at sea but I will catch up as soon as I can -
Keep safe

~ Ros ~







Thursday, June 14, 2012

CR84FN Challenge

Just 4 more days till I leave for a two week break ... 
Apart from DT work ... I have 9 friends and family celebrating birthdays in the next 2 weeks ... Getting gifts and cards organised and posted takes up a lot of time and I hope I haven't forgotten anyone ... 

For my card today I used the colours from the latest challenge over at CR84FN 


These are such lovely colours together ... I confess a little of a challenge for me ... but I do love the results
My card is for my friend and neighbour Helen ... 


Can you tell she likes birds (well all animals really ... )
I used Basic Grey paper for the background and the music paper is Marianne Design which I distressed with my scissors ... for the life of me I cannot find my distressing tool


The postcard was cut from a sheet of Prima paper and the little bird is from K&Co... My butterfly was cut from leather look fabric on the Sizzix 


... and everything else is from my supplies ...

I don't know how I will cope without creating for two weeks ... and if I don't get internet access I can't even come visit you ... 
Don't think I am ignoring you ... I will catch up when I get back ... promise!

Have a beautiful day and keep safe

~ Ros ~






Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Love you yesterday....

Father's Day is fast approaching and at Papercraft Star the challenge this week is to make a card or project for Dad




I don't have anyone to make a card for ... I lost my Dad a long time ago and yet my memories of him are as strong as ever ... seems like only yesterday ... not 39 years
So I made a little tag book ... just for me really but to celebrate my Dad



I used scraps from my supplies ... so lots of different things here .. alpha stickers from Pixie Dust Paperie ... Tim Holtz tape ... prima flower


That wee baby is me ... taken shortly after I was born ... 
The wood effect papers are from paperMania and I distressed the edges


I cut some hearts ... one from a scrap of cardboard and one from a little metal garden tag ... I first used these Here
And you can tell I am not a snob when it comes to using stickers ... I just love them for albums and books with scraps of lace and trims 


There are even some stickers from Melissa Frances ... love mixing up my supplies


Our Star designer this week is our Senior Designer Anitra
and as always our lovely sponsor is The House Across The Bay

I hope you will take a minute to check out the projects from the rest of the DT here at Papercraft Star ... and join us in celebrating Fathers Day!

Thanks so much for your visit 
Keep safe

~ Ros ~



Tuesday, June 12, 2012

City Crafter Buttons ... and a little vintage

Hello sweet friends ...
Tuesday means another new challenge at City Crafter where our hostess this week is Linda ... and the theme she has chosen for us is Button, Buttons ... asking that we use at least 5 buttons on our projects


I went a little vintage this week ... using an image from Here


Now I bet you're thinking that I only used 3 buttons ... actually I used 6!


If you look closely ... you will see that I doubled up ... using one button on top of the other ... some are sewn together and the sparkly button is just glued to the underneath button


Papers are from Melissa Frances, stamps are PTI and Crafty Secrets ... inked with Ocean Tides to match the backing card for my image ... both from PTI

Our Guest Designer this week is the uber talented Michelle Bala ... a winner here at City Crafter ... And if YOU would like a Guest Designer spot with us ... Well, that's the prize up for grabs this week ... we're a friendly bunch so come join us!

Have a wonderful day and thanks so much for your lovely comments and for visiting me today

~ Ros ~




Saturday, June 09, 2012

Life's a challenge

Hi there 
Here's my card for this weeks challenge at Jingle Belles ... which is to make a project related to a Christmas song or carol ...


Sorry about the poor photo ... the weather is to blame ... 


I hope you can see that little village .. so ok it's not quite Bethlehem ... but the best I could come up with 


I inked up the embossing folder first with a pale blue ink ... looks better IRL

Getting this done was no mean feat ... I have been up half the night due to a cat who wanted to go out ... but didn't ... if you know what I mean ... See ... the weather has been abysmal ... We have had torrential rain  for days and add to that some strong gusts of wind and ... well cats just don't like it anymore than we do and she makes it known ... constantly! 
There has been only one break in her whining and that was when she decided to curl up on my chair in my craft room meaning I had to stand to make this card or risk the whining again ... she had that look on her face ... you know the one that says "I dare you..." Of course as soon as said card was made ... she vacated!
I was going to tell you about my server suddenly not recognising me as a customer ... and the 'know it all technicians' who presume to tell me that the problem is me...  I am typing incorrectly,  my computer has been hacked into, my browser is at fault ... there is No problem at their end so it has to be me ... 2 days of calls ... my temper frayed ... and finally Sky admitted that someone at their end had inadvertently disabled our account ...
 I was going to tell you ... but I'll only depress myself

Enjoy your weekend ... it's an early night for me with ear plugs I think!

~ Ros ~



Friday, June 08, 2012

Pixie Dust Summer Fun

Hi ...
How are you?
At Pixie Dust Paperie this month the challenge is 
Summer Fun


Though I can't say we are having much of it here in the UK 
But guess what? My hubby and I are off on a cruise in 10 days time ... Yep, cruising around the Med
So my DT project for the Pixie Dust Paperie challenge is a journal to take with me


I had so much fun making this ... I like to take notes of everywhere I go so I used envelopes to make the pages ... with a tag in each to write on


Each tag ... made using digital paper and elements ... has the name of where we will be visiting


and I can write my thoughts on the back of the tag


Each 'page' is decorated ... on one side with digital postcards from Here
and on the other with papers from Making Memories and some embellishments from my stash


And there is a pocket to hold extra note paper should I need it 


Over the next few days you will be able to see the rest of the projects done by the challenge DT at Pixie Dust Paperie ... so hop over to the blog and take a look and come and join us for some Summer Fun!

Thanks for stopping by
Till soon

~ Ros ~



Wednesday, June 06, 2012

Ocean scented card

Hi! 
I'm back to share my card for this weeks challenge at Papercraft Star
"Here Comes Summer"


For this weeks challenge I used a lovely image from our sponsor


I just love these pretty ladies ... 


These two victorian ladies are on the beach and I carried the theme through with my embellishments


And this card smells good ... like the sea air ... I'll let you into a secret ... I'm kind of a magpie when it comes to sale stuff and bits and pieces ... A long while ago I bought a bag of potpourri ... called Ocean breeze which was only about 50p in the sale ... I just knew that the bits and pieces would get used and here they are along with a little shell and a pretty charm


I know that the rope looks 'real' too but actually this is just one piece of background paper with the frame on ... It came from another of my finds from long ago ... a book of scrapbook papers by Paper Boutique ... a little touch of frayed muslin, ribbon and 'button' (fabric earring with the back removed ... I know ... there is no end to what I can use ha! ha!)
So there we are a summer 'scented' card...

I hope you'll hop over to Papercraft Star and check out the projects from the talented ladies I'm fortunate enough to be designing with ... Maybe you will be inspired to join us this week and celebrate the Summer of 2012 ...

Thanks for stopping by

~ Ros ~