More Tags and Spam

Good morning everyone ...

It's frosty and cold here in the UK ... the temperatures have dropped to below freezing these past few nights ...

I am still working like crazy to get things done before I head off to Lincoln ... Seems the more cards and tags I make ... the more I need!

I finished my last week at the Thursday Club last night and all my overseas packages have been mailed ... The Royal Mail made a fortune from me I can tell you!

Today I am going to have lunch with my GF's and exchange Christmas gifts ... just in case I don't get the chance again this year ... I am praying that the Pennines will be passable in the next few weeks ...

Here are some more of my tags for this year 

I think these would look good on the gifts for the men 

I am also cutting and stitching stuff to take and make whilst I am away ... I will be on my own for a few days whilst my Aunt is in the hospital so I need something to keep me occupied.

Before I go ... I have been getting hundreds of Spam comments lately ... all from the same place ... I have changed my setting to try and stop this so would you please let me know if you have any problems  either viewing my blog or leaving comments ... I really don't want to have to use word verification unless I have to.

Thanks so much ...

Have a lovely day ... keep safe

~ Ros ~

Holiday Greenery

Hi there ...

We have a lovely inspiration photo for you at Papercraft Star this week ...

Isn't this gorgeous?

The challenge this week is "Holiday Greenery" 

I used some pretty digital papers and a sentiment stamp from Pink Petticoat along with a PaperMania holly stamp from the Home For Christmas Urban stamp set to make a more CAS card

I love these digital sentiments and the paper went perfectly with that pretty trim ... a gift from Kirsty

The holly was stamped onto some Core'dinations card stock which I hand cut then glittered before adding some bright red liquid pearls

You know I liked this so much that I actually did a few of them ...

I'm looking forward to seeing what the rest of the team have come up with ... why not hop over to the blog and take a look too? You may just be inspired to share your holiday greenery projects with us too ...

Have a beautiful day

~ Ros ~

Christmas Easel

Good morning to you ...

The rain is still falling in the UK ... It was estimated that a month's rain fell yesterday alone ... causing more misery for so many people and freezing temperatures are now being forecast ...

Nature can be incredibly beautiful ... but also a force to be reckoned with...

I hope you are ready for a new challenge at City Crafter where we have the lovely Linda hosting for us ... Linda is asking that we make a Christmas easel card ... Simple right?

This week we have LeAnne as our Guest Designer ... a very worthy winner from week 127 ... Please pop over and leave her some love ..

I chose to use the soft grey paper from Astrid ... I did warn you that you would be seeing this paper and colour combination again ... Not traditional I know but colours I really love together

The lilac coloured paper is from my supplies ... just from a pad of rainbow papers bought at a £1 store to which I added glitter before I adhered it to the card

The lovely ribbon is from The ribbon Girl .. pearls and crystal from my supplies

The sentiment is a WaltzingMouse stamp ... embossed with silver embossing powder and the star was cut on my big shot using a sizzix die

I do hope you can join us this week ... I'm really looking forward to seeing what you come up with ... 

Have yourselves a wonderful day wherever you are

Thanks for stopping by 

~ Ros ~

Floods, Firemen and Tags

Hi there ...

I hope you are having a good weekend ... 

I know lots of people in the South West of the UK are really having a bad time with the floods and high winds ... 

My thoughts are with them all ... The idea of being flooded out is awful and with only weeks to Christmas and a bad winter being forecast ... Well, I can only thank God that my family and friends are safe ... The emergency services particularly the Firemen have their work cut out!

Talking of Firemen ... Here's something that gave my husband a laugh 

I have always had a penchant for men in uniform ... maybe that stems from the fact that a few of my family are Royal Navy people ... Anyway, I answered a knock at my door a couple of days ago to find a stunningly handsome young fireman standing there ... Talk about being dumbstruck! Now I don't know about where you live ... but here we are fortunate to have the Fire Brigade come to check that we have fire alarms installed, that they work ... and in the event that you are silly enough not to have at least one ... they will install one for you free of charge. 

We have 2 alarms ... one upstairs and one downstairs ... my handsome young man came and checked both of them but just as he was about to take some details ... my name ... phone number  ... The fire engine sounded an alarm to say they had an emergency and had to go ... 

I was therefore surprised (but smiling) when the same guy came back the next evening to take details ... 

I said to my husband .. "Isn't life unfair ... why didn't that guy knock on my door 40 years ago to check out my equipment?" ... My hubby laughed and said "Well at least he came to see you twice..." "Yes ... I said ... "That's called rubbing my nose in it!" 

Ok ... onto a little creativity ... I've finally made a start on a few Christmas tags ...

I did all the wording on my computer and cut the tags on the Big shot

The paper is by Papermania 

I'm getting panicky now ... only a week till I leave for Lincoln and all the mail going abroad has to be bought, packed and sent before I go .... not to mention the Christmas shopping ... Like I said ... our forecast is to expect the worst winter in 100 years!! Sheesh! I could be in Lincoln till 2013!

Better get going ...

Enjoy your sunday ...

~ Ros ~

Happy Thanksgiving ...

To all my sweet friends ... I am so thankful for your friendships... your sharing and your caring ... have a beautiful day!

A lady I worked with many years ago asked me to make a card for her daughters' upcoming wedding ... The brief was 'traditional' ... verse not too sloppy .. That was it. But she did let me know that the wedding colours are ivory and red ...

I hope this will suffice ... 

I apologise for the photos ... we are experiencing high winds, dull skies and rain ... not perfect for photographing indoors ...

This is the box I made to accommodate the card

My card stock was printed first with Pink Petticoat digital paper from the Old Fashioned Girl collection which I slightly altered to get more of an ivory blend

The card itself is in pure white with a hint of Ivory and a single red rose

I cut a frame and embossed it then layered it onto pearlescent ivory paper before using foam pads to adhere it to the card - The frame has a scattering of perfect pearls in silver which contrast with the pearls in the little spray and on the lace

I cut the tag from the same pearlescent paper and stamped and embossed a sentiment from a WM stamp set "Text It"... 

The verse

I had a slight problem with the ribbon fraying ... so a little tip for you if you too encounter this problem ... if you hold the ribbon edge above a flame ... a candle, match or even better a lighter ... it will seal the edge. It's a bit like when you make flowers over a flame ... but be very careful you don't hold it too close or it will curl like the flowers and you want it just to seal and not curl.

Ok ... I have a group to prepare for so I'll leave you to enjoy your Thanksgiving dinner ... but before I do I just want to say Thank You to my lovely blog friend keren ... We spent a few hours together yesterday and her company was just what I needed ...

Till soon

~ Ros ~

City Crafter ... I'll Be Home for Christmas

Hey there! ...

I'm a little late posting this morning ... I always schedule my DT posts the night before ... but just as I was about to write I got a phone call from a very distressed nephew ... who just wanted to talk really ... by time I came off the phone I had completely forgotten about the post!

So as you all know it's  City Crafter Challenge day and this week our hostess is sweet Kirsty who has given us this beautiful inspiration photo

Kirsty is asking that we make a card or project inspired by the photo

Well who could resist such beautiful colours? And there's a prize up for grabs this week ... No, I'm not going to tell you what it is ... you have to pop over to the blog to check it out ... and whilst you are there ... take a look at all the lovely projects from our DT this week ... and our Guest Designer Lynnda

Here's my card

Digital paper from Gennifer Bursett ... which I stamped and embossed with those silver snowflakes

The background paper shape was cut on the cameo ... as were the hearts ... the white one I embossed ... following the embossed wrapping paper in the photo and  I stitched a little silver bead into the centre 

... and added little pearls to capture the baubles in the photo

I adore this colour palette and can't wait to see what you lovely people come up with ... 

Thanks for visiting ...

Have a beautiful day 

~ Ros ~

Jingle Belles Rock ...

Hello there ...

This is the last challenge at Jingle Belles Rock .. If you've been joining in - you should have a nice collection of Christmas cards by now ...

Stephanie and Lauren have worked hard to bring us a new challenge every fortnight since January ... Thank You ladies!

The final challenge is to use something related to food on your card ... I used a candy cane

... Sticking to the postal theme that I love and using digital paper from Pink Petticoat ... an image from a shop bought tag and my frosty border die

I glittered the border die this time ... doubt that you can pick that up though ...

It's only 15.40 here and it's as dark as night ... really over cast 

I hope it's a brighter day where you are ...

I'll be back tomorrow for the City Crafter Challenge ... till then

Keep safe

~ Ros ~

Paris Christmas

My it's chilly here ... 

This morning was sunny and crisp and my husband and I took a trip to Costa Coffee (our favourite thing to do) and then a lovely stroll around Allerton road ... Ok ... so that probably means nothing to you ... but any Beatles fans out there know it is where the famous Penny Lane is ... not that far from where I live.... Now the sun has gone down it's positively freezing!

I had the urge to do some embossing with one of my TH stamps ... I haven't used this in a while so I tried it for a Christmas card ...

The BG paper is again the digital from Pink Petticoat and I stamped onto black paper then embossed with clear embossing powder ...

I guess it's a kind of 'across the miles' card

I have to say that apart from my Pink Petticoat digitals ... which you will be seeing more of in some DT projects ... I haven't bought any Christmas themed papers this year ...

It's all about utilising the things you have ... which leaves me money to buy new dies or stamps occasionally ...

I hope you are having a lovely Sunday

Stay warm

~ Ros ~

Frosty Border

Hello sweet friends ...

Things are settling down here now that Gipsy is home ... Of course she is in charge once again and everything is revolving around her ... She seems very nervous and doesn't venture far ... just steps out into the garden occasionally and likes to stay close to Mike. 

We are all so grateful for your wishes and prayers ... Lets hope she has learned her lesson ...

I also want to say a big Thank You to the lovely ladies at Just Us Girls for picking my card as 

"Chic of The week"

This was the first time I ever tried ribbon weaving so I am grateful to them for introducing me to a technique that I will definitely do again ...

I treated myself to a new die by Memory Box ... The frosty border die and I love it! It cuts so cleanly even though it is quite intricate. I have just ordered a couple more of these ... I discovered that even the craft store in Salford Quays has now closed down so other than Hobby Craft ... which isn't local either ... we have nowhere to shop ... Thank goodness for the internet.

Here are some quick cards I made using the new border die ...

The script paper 'Twas the night before Christmas' and the sentiments are by Pink Petticoat

The glittery paper and the overcast weather don't make for good photos I'm afraid

... A closer look at the border

I've had these little 3D bauble stickers for years!

I think this one is my favourite

I hope you are having a lovely start to your weekend ... 

Thank you for stopping by and leaving me such lovely comments ... I am so grateful

Till soon ... keep safe

~ Ros ~

HOME!!!

Ok ... so it's 11pm here but I am just bursting to tell you ... Gipsy is HOME!!!

I was sitting upstairs with my iPod on and I heard a meow ... I know her cry so very well ... I shot downstairs shouting Mike at the same time and as soon as I opened the front door ... WOOSH! in she ran crying and crying ... 

Suffice to say I have one very happy son ... who no doubt will be up all night fussing his beloved cat. 

She looks in good shape but is very hungry ... and me ... I am SO relieved I can't tell you.

Good night and God Bless

~ Ros ~

Little birds

Hi there ...

Well it's been over a week and no sign of our little cat ...

What can I say ....

I just keep working away and hoping that I'll see her little face at the window ... You all know how much I love animals ... but man they can break your heart!

I've been inspired this week by projects from a couple of my blog friends ... Heather with This beautiful creation ... and Rebecca  with This gorgeous creation ...

Their beauties led me to create this Christmas card

It's very sparkly ... but the photo doesn't show that too well ... the little house is cut on the cameo ... as are the glittered embossed wreath and glittered white sprigs ... 

The little bird is from a TH die 

I used paper from Astrid for the background (love this soft grey) ... the house paper is a digital by Agnes Biro and the sentiment is computer generated.

If you click on the images you may be able to see the sparkle ...

I'm not vey traditional with my colours ... but I love the grey and lilac together ... as I'm sure you've noticed ... and yes, there is more to come of these colours in the next few weeks ...

Ok ... That's it for now ... I hope you are having a good day ... Thanks so much for stopping by

Till soon

~ Ros ~

Papercraft Star Challenge

I can't believe it's Wednesday already ... the weeks are flying past!

With Thanksgiving approaching the challenge at Papercraft Star is to 

Make a Thank You card or project ... 

What a beautiful inspiration photo this is ... 

We don't have Thanksgiving in the UK ... When I was a schoolgirl (many moons ago) we celebrated Harvest Festival ... a kind of 'Thank You'  for the fruits of the earth ... I really don't know if they still do that 

 I made a card for a sweet blog friend Jacqueline who kindly sent me a lovely set of stamps 

I had the urge to play with lavender again and Astrid's lovely paper

... which I sprinkled with a little glitter

The flourishes were cut on my Cameo  ... the stamp is WaltzingMouse and everything else is from my supplies

The lovely ladies at Papercraft Star have some wonderful cards to inspire you ... Please hop over and take a look ... 

We will be taking a break until 28th November ... when our next challenge starts ... just so you know...

Looking forward to seeing your creations ... 

Till soon

~ Ros ~

Cloud Tree

Good morning to you ...

And Happy Birthday to my brother Rick!

Today is City Crafter Challenge day ... and this week we have Charlene hosting for us with a super challenge ... 

Char is asking that we Use the colours from the inspirations photo

(Photo Credit)

... And ... Include a Tree

I actually didn't have any stamps or dies for a tree ... well, I did have a teeny tiny stamp ... but my brain would not come up with an idea to accommodate the stamp ... Then I started to play about with bits on my desk and an idea formed ...

A cloud tree!

I had a few sheets of paper that reflected those lovely autumnal colours so I just cut some cloud shapes with a PTI die and some leaves with a punch

The cloud shapes are layered up with little foam squares for dimension ... I cut 

a trunk cut from a scrap of brown CS and the leaves are randomly stuck down ... You can see a paper border there too and a computer generated sentiment

I gotta say this was probably the quickest card I ever made!

Please take a moment to visit the Blog to see the rest of the projects ... We really hope you will join us this week too ...

Have a beautiful day

~ Ros ~