Thursday, January 31, 2013

Happy Mail!

Hello ...
Just popping in to share a beautiful package that just arrived all the way from Texas!

My lovely talented friend Sylvia sent me a birthday gift ... Prettily wrapped like this 


You can just see her beautiful card peeking through that pretty organza bag ... And this is what was inside the bag ...


Two beautiful cards ... a stunning gift bag with a tiny teeny teapot charm ... tags with ribbon and buttons and some lovely stamped cards and envelopes
My, I am a lucky girl ... 
Thank you so much Sylvia ... I am thrilled!

I don't have anything crafty to share today ... I have been working like mad to get my DT projects done  as I am hoping to go back to Lincoln in a couple of weeks. My aunt is still not too well and I want to spend time with her ... cooking and taking care of her.
Right now I have a lot of cutting out to do for my Thursday group so I'll bid you a farewell and hope you have a beautiful day

Till soon

~ Ros ~








Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Shabby Desk Diary

Hi there!
Well our weather has sure warmed up ... almost 11C (51F) - wet and dull but warmer ... So that's a good thing ...
Today I have a shabby desk diary to show you which is my DT project for this weeks' challenge over at Papercraft Star 
The challenge is to use a frame 


.. And my diary


I wanted a diary that was quite large ... so I could write all the anniversaries and birthdays in ... I had so much fun making this .. The best part is decorating the cover


Can you see the pretty frame? That and the postcards are from my embellishment box ... not sure where I got them ... The papers were all from my scrap box ... even the flower is made from pieces of fabric I had over


That gorgeous flower brad came from my friend Kirsty 
You can see just how thick this diary is ...


That's because I printed a page for each week and backed them onto thin card ... I made the pages on my computer and filled in the 'dates' afterwards ... took a while I can tell you!


My fellow DT members have lots more inspiration for you ... hop over to the Blog and take a look ... 
We do have a couple of new rules for our challenge - nothing major - so please bear these in mind when you play along ... I'm looking forward to seeing how you use your frames!

Thanks so much for visiting me
Have a beautiful day and keep safe

~ Ros ~






Tuesday, January 29, 2013

You mean the world to me ....

Hello my sweet friends ...
Are you ready for a new challenge at City Crafter Challenge Blog?
This week we have the lovely Kirsty hosting for us with a fun challenge ... 
Use a map or map paper on your project


... And Kirsty is also sponsoring our prize this week ! The winner gets to pick one item from her Etsy Shop ... KraftyKirsty


My card this week is for all you lovely people who have inspired me and allowed me into your lives ... 
You Mean The world To Me


I scanned a small part of a page from a book of old maps into my computer and my card just grew from there ...


My lovely friend and fellow DT member Linda sent me a whole pack of K & Co embellishments and I LOVE them! You ca see a few glittery ones here


The hearts were cut from scraps in my bits box  ... and my sentiment is computer generated

Our Guest Designer this week is the talented Peixoto Sylvie ... Our winner from week 140 ... Please take a moment to visit her blog ... you'll be inspired!
Don't forget to visit the CCCB blog too and check out the lovely creations from the rest of our DT.

I'm told that our weather will be getting warmer in the next few days ... not sure how long it will last if indeed it happens ... But I think the birds will welcome warm feet!


Have a beautiful day ... I'll be back tomorrow

~ Ros ~













Friday, January 25, 2013

Winter ...

Hello there ...
It's a cold snowy day here and Spring seems a long way off ... 

Earlier this week I heard from a dear friend to say her father had passed away ... my friend and I met on my first day of preschool ...  a long long time ago ... her little sister joined us some years later and we have kept in touch all these years ... 
Their Dad was a lovely man and very much loved by his girls ... But I know he will be with their Mum now and that will give them some comfort ...

I used the La Blanche stamp again to make a card for each of the girls - unfortunately the weather conditions make photographing such hard work ... Not enough light anywhere in my home


I stamped one in Fabrico Ultra Marine ink and one in PTI Ocean Tides ink and added some glitter


... I also stamped some left over card in the same colours and cut out butterflies with a PTI die


I guess the upside of this weather is that I get to spend more time in my craft room using up those bits and pieces ... Sometimes I think it would just be nice to hibernate till Spring comes along ...

I hope you have a lovely weekend ... I have no plans as yet but if the roads are not to bad I guess DH and I will take a trip out ... maybe a little retail therapy to chase away the winter blues 

Take care

Till soon

~ Ros ~





Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Buttons and Bits

Hello everyone ... 

It's time for a new challenge at Papercraft Star and this week our challenge to you is Buttons ...
Who doesn't love buttons ... and if you're like me ... you have a ton of them!


My card this week uses all bits and pieces from my scrap box ... with the exception of the buttons


A piece of DP by Eline's Huis was the base for this and the left over negative die framed it so well ...


... a scrap of burlap ... a star left over from a Christmas project and a single fern ... and the little piece of tape which I cut into a fish tail ... is some I made a while ago ...


I would love to say that the contents of my scrap box is going down a little ... but I've hardly made a dent in it! It does however push my creativity and surprises me when something comes together from a handful of scraps ...

And your creativity is what we want to see at Papercraft Star this week ... All you have to do is use some buttons on your project ... so wont you join us?
If you're looking for more inspiration ... hop over to the blog to check out the lovely creations from the rest of the team ...

Till soon ... take care

~ Ros ~







Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Forever Mine ... City Crafter

Hi there!
Our lovely Charlene is hosting for us this week at City Crafter Challenge Blog and she is asking that we use a heart(s) on our project ... 


It doesn't have to be Valentine related though ... 
Remember my promise to my self to use things up from my bits box? 
Well, my card for this weeks challenge at City Crafter is all made from my scraps ...


Yep, a torn piece of paper that I tried a digital stamp on ... and you may recognise the little black board a left over from one of my Thursday Club projects  ... 


The hearts were all left over from punching those boards


A small piece of tulle, some roses and some gems and there's my 'bits box' card! I'll have another to show you tomorrow if you care to pop back ...

Our Guest Designer this week is the talented Macerena our winner from week 138 ... And once again we have a Design Spot to offer this weeks winner at CCCB so come along and join us ... you know we just love to see your projects ...

Stay warm and have a beautiful day

~ Ros ~







Monday, January 21, 2013

Inspired By Stamping challenge

Good morning ... I hope you are well 
I keep promising myself that I will make time for some challenges ... It rarely happens ... One of the challenges I keep meaning to enter is at Inspired By Stamping ... I laugh when I read the abbreviated version of this ... I have IBS ( the condition) and I always think of this when I see it Lol!

Anyway, this week there is a beautiful inspiration photo ...


... and last night I found time to play along ... nothing too fanc


... using a beautiful stamp by LaBlanche which I have had for a long time but never used. 


I made a triple bow from paper and added a further ribbon one ... just because


I added glitter (Stickles) to the white parts of the rose so I'm hoping you can pick that up ... Unfortunately this was the darkest blue ink I had ... Not sure if it qualifies really ... but hey I got to use that pretty stamp and play along ... Finally!

Im off to pay you all a visit now ... I'll be back here tomorrow

Keep safe

~ Ros ~






Sunday, January 20, 2013

Winter Birthdays

Hello there ...
It's  chilly Sunday morning here ... snow is falling and all is quiet. My cats are both sleeping soundly in the warmth ... separate rooms of course ... Gipsy doesn't like having another house guest.

A few of my friends and family celebrate birthdays and anniversaries in the next few weeks - one of my GF's is going to be 70 this coming week!! I can hardly believe it ... she looks fabulous ... must be all the years of Pilates ... 

My oh so talented blog buddy Rebecca made the most stunning little bag the other day .. It just blew me away ... you can see it Here ... It inspired me to make a gift bag for my friends' present. I needed one that was big enough for the gift and the card so I used a full A4 sheet of card, scored it so I had a centre width of  1½" and made 2 side pieces ...


The photos are not so good due to the weather condition ...


The chain is from an old piece of costume jewellery attached with pearl brads


Bits of ribbon and lace with those pretty glass hearts and a flower adorn the front but I left the back plain



I'll share the card with you at a later date as it's one of my DT projects 

Do you have plans for today? I'm hoping to complete a desk diary I've been working on ... I think my husband may have other plans for me though ... he just hates to be cooped up inside ... Me? I'm a home bird ... quite happy to be indoors with my craft supplies ...

Have a beautiful day whatever you are doing
Keep safe

~ Ros ~



Friday, January 18, 2013

Snowy Days

Brrr It's so cold!
I woke up to snow fall this morning ... The wind was howling and blowing the snow everywhere ... Gispy went out at 7.30am and hasn't been back since ... I just hope she has found herself a warm place .. it's freezing cold outside.
My other little cat Ginger made his way here around lunch time and is snug on his bed ... sensible boy!

Thankfully my day was my own today ... Hubby did try to persuade me to go out but he was fighting a losing battle there ...  driving around in the snow is not my idea of fun! So I was able to do a little in my craft room ...
With all those lovely birthday gifts I got ... It was only fitting that I made some Thank You cards to send out 


I needed something I could make a lot of - pretty quickly - so used a lovely image from Silhouette America as my focal point which I printed onto photo paper to give it a little sheen


... cut some scalloped squares in both white and cream to back the image and a fish tail banner from glitter ribbon.


The glitter ribbon came from Wilkinsons store ... it's sold as Christmas wrapping ribbon ... on a 10m roll for £1 which is great value and you've seen me use it many times ... It feels like the ribbon you get from a florist if you know what I mean


The sentiment was computer generated and I finished up with a little post mark stamp I got in a second hand section of an art shop some time ago ... 
I also used up some of my surplus papers to make envelopes ... and because of the hundreds of envelopes I had ... I didn't have enough of the size I wanted ... typical!


These are so simple to make ... It's basically a rectangle big enough to hold your card and I round of the corners of the flap 


I stamped on them with a Kaiser craft stamp ... just to add a little something special and I print the addresses onto white paper or labels.

I do hope you are warm wherever you are ... 
Have a wonderful weekend and thanks so much for stopping by

~ Ros ~









Thursday, January 17, 2013

30 and counting!

Hello ... so nice to have you here today ...
So far I have received 30 birthday cards and still they are arriving!
I am so lucky to have so many lovely friends ... speaking of which I would like to share a few gifts that have been sent to me ...

 Kirsty my dear friend sent me this beautiful card and gorgeous crafting goodies


Aren't they lovely! And to see how beautifully she wrapped them ... check out her post Here

My sweet friend Ira from the Netherlands made this incredibly detailed book ... and inside was a beautiful necklace and cat ring!




My photos are not very bright due to the weather ... but please hop over to see Ira's photos Here

Some lovely people live in the Netherlands and another one of them is my dear friend Stella ... who sent these gifts and beautiful card


Just look at that pretty bracelet ...

And this morning yet another package arrived ... this is from the lovely talented Linda Robinson


Oh my ... what beautiful things for me to play with and such an adorable card!

I really can't believe just how lucky I am ... Starting a blog was the best thing I ever did .. I can't imagine life without you all ... Every day I am excited to visit you ... to learn from your creativity and to have you in my life ...

Thank you all so very much

~ Ros ~



Wednesday, January 16, 2013

White on White


The challenge this week at Papercraft Star is white on white
Jan has picked this lovely inspiration photo for you ...

White on white is something I struggle with ... I mean there are so many different shades of white which in itself can be a challenge ... My blogs friend Sasha and Diane always make the most stunning white on white cards ... Nevertheless ... I managed to come up with a card which is for my friends Wedding Anniversary ... white on white with a little touch of cream ... like the photo


Believe it or not ... I bought those roses as white ... against the card they look cream


I cut the borders and the fern from Memory Box dies and used a Tim Holtz embossing folder
for the background


I am really looking forward to seeing what the other ladies on the DT have come up with and I would love to see your creations too so won't you join us this week?

Till soon be safe

~ Ros ~



Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Winter Blues

Good morning to you all 
I hope you are having a good week so far ...
We've had a little snow - not enough to stick and it's been quite cold and dull ... 
It's this time of year after Christmas and New Year have gone, that I long for Spring to come .. I call it The Winter Blues which is the challenge I have come up with for City Crafter this week where I am hosting.
This week we want to see a winter project that must include the colour Blue
Here is your inspiration photo

Courtesy of Printshop For Mac

I saw a tutorial by Nancy Riley on a sponging project which I wanted to try ... although my version is not as good as hers I really like the result ...


I incorporated a die cut by Memory Box in my little winter scene and lots of glitter for the glistening snow


There is only one ink pad used for this ... just a little blue one I had by versa mark and I found that little tree stamp hidden in my box of wooden stamps ...

Our Guest designer this week at City Crafter is our winner from Week 134 Malgorzata Dudzinska ( Margot) ... A very talented lady ... her blog is well worth a visit. This week's winner will also be offered a Guest spot at CCCB ... so please come and join us ... I'd love to see your interpretation of Winter Blues ...

Have a lovely day and stay warm

~ Ros ~