Thursday, February 28, 2013

Pink Pooch

Hello ...
I'm not feeling my best today ...  Tired and bleary eyed. Gipsy had me up since 4am ... She wanted to go out and despite the fact that we had a beautiful sunny day yesterday ... the temperature dropped last night and there was a frost ... Obviously she wasn't happy about that so she growled and she hissed and spat ... I've cared for dozens of cats over the years ... even feral ones ... but Gipsy is a one off ! I've never known a cat to be so angry about the weather ... Thankfully the sun is shining again and she is has gone out

I've been playing with my scraps again ... This is not my usual colour .. or style 


But everything was from my bits box ... when I cut all the fishtail banners for my group to make Valentine cards ... I was left with those little "V" shaped banners ... shame not to use them ... and the smaller scraps of paper I glued together which is the top half of my card


The little dog I stamped ages ago but never used it ... She reminds me of Mona Pendleton's little Gretchen ...


The Shabby Tea Room are having a pink party ...


... So I'm going to link this up there just for fun ... Well, she does look like she's going to a party with her pretty coat doncha think?

Have a lovely day ...

~ Ros ~


Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Birthday Balloon

Hi everyone ...
It's a brand new challenge at Papercraft Star today and I'm here to share my DT project with you
The theme is "Happy Birthday" and here's the inspiration photo


As soon as I saw this I had a notion to make a hot air balloon ... I get these ideas and don't stop to think things through ... I just forge ahead ... needless to say I had to have a little rethink ... the original balloon pieces I cut were too big - I just couldn't get them to stay up ... and I wanted this free standing


I actually made this set for my husband's birthday  a few weeks ago - I started by cutting strips of kraft coloured CS and weaving them to look like a basket - and formed a circle ... The base was an empty ribbon reel like this ... 


... Which I covered with a circle of card ... 
This not only gave me a base for my basket but an anchor for the kebab stick which I pushed through and hot glued ...


Then I punched a hole in the base of each side of the balloon, threaded twine through the holes and tied them to the basket ...
It was quite fiddly but I was happy to see my idea come together and it's still standing perfectly!


I made a very simple card to go with it using the scraps


My husband was quite impressed!

Please hop over to the blog to see what the rest of the rest of the DT have come up with ... hopefully you'll be inspired to join us

Have a beautiful day ...

~ Ros ~





Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Home Again

Hello there ...
I'm back home tucked up in my craft room once more ... It was lovely spending time in Lincoln ... although it was so cold on the east coast!
The day we went into Lincoln city it was really freezing ... It's such a lovely city ... a mix of old and new ... Tudor style buildings and cobbled streets with a river running through - swans gliding along - gave way to the more modern sections and the vast university buildings. 
We visited the market and I was amazed at the beautiful home grown fruit and vegetables ... so much bigger and cheaper than here ... Time (and my Aunt's bad hip) didn't permit us to wander too far and being as it was so cold ... we only shopped for the necessities and then were taken home to have tea and cake in the warmth of her little home.

I really enjoyed the rest I got ... and now it's back to reality ... laundry, cleaning, cooking and with some crafting thrown in ... Starting with today's challenge at City Crafter where we have sweet Kirsty hosting for us ...
Kirsty has chosen a beautiful inspiration photo for her challenge 
"Wings of An Angel"
Make a project that includes wings (angels, pixies, butterflies etc.)

Photo (source)

Our Guest Designer this week is someone I bet a lot of you are familiar with ... it's Inger
If you haven't taken a look at Inger's blog ... I highly recommend that you click the link and pay a visit ... her shabby chic style is a joy to behold!

This week I made a bookmark instead of a card ... using up more scraps and some lovely bling from Charlene


I did a little embossing on the paper too ... 


Yep, there's that butterfly again!


Because I mostly do square cards using A4 sheets ... I always have strips of card stock left over ... If you fold these they make excellent Bookmarks which are really strong ...

Our team have come up with some pretty lovely examples for this challenge ... why not take a look?And for a chance to Guest Design with us at City Crafter all you have to do is follow the rules and link up with us this week ...

I'm so glad to be back with you ... Thanks for stopping by and I'll be back tomorrow

Take care

~ Ros ~


Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Papercraft Star Challenge

Hello ...
My Aunt and I are going into Lincoln City today ... there's a little bus that comes to pick us up and we are also brought back home a couple of hours later... I'm quite looking forward to it!
Because we leave early(ish) I've scheduled my DT post for Papercraft Star where the challenge this week is simply "Hello"

I made my card a few weeks ago and I really couldn't think of anything to do at the time ... I loved the pink colour in the photo Jan picked for us 


Which is really what got me started and eventually it all came together


The lovely scalloped card was sent to my by Jan and I cut some banners from my scraps and stamped across them with my postal stamp from Kaisercraft ...


The sentiments stamps are from WaltzingMouse and I punched some butterflies out of scraps and then added liquid pearls


I'm itching to get into my craft room right now ... even though I am having a lovely stay with my Aunt ... I am so relaxed 

I hope you are all well and having a good week too ... maybe you'll find time to join us this week at Papercraft Star ... the rest of the DT have some lovely creations up on the blog to inspire you ... hop over and take a look.

Thanks so much for stopping by today and for all your lovely comments ... I really appreciate you taking the time ...

Keep safe

~ Ros ~


EDIT:
I totally forgot to mention our exciting news at Papercraft Star! We have a new Designer on the        team ... The talented Allisa Chilton of Rocky Mountain Papercrafts .. Welcome Allisa! Please pop over and say "Hi" and be inspired by her beautiful work.


Tuesday, February 19, 2013

All That Glitters

Good morning friends
Today at City Crafter our lovely Charlene is hosting for us and the challenge she has set is to 
Use glitter on your project
Hence the title All That Glitters


Normally I love to play with glitters ... but my card today is quite subtle ... but glittered nevertheless


I'm using a couple more of those beautiful Die cuts from sweet Linda ... Can you see the glittered scroll? There is glitter on the rose too


The papers are from my scraps and I added a touch of silver embossing there too


Our Guest Designer this week is the talented Jenny Martin who won our challenge in week 137 and once again we are offering a GD spot to our winner this week.

I can't wait to see your glittery creations! I'm off to visit the Blog and see what my lovely team mates have created for us this week ... care to join me?

Have a beautiful day

~ Ros ~





Monday, February 18, 2013

Lazy Monday

Hello there...
Did you have a good weekend?
I am having some time with my Aunt in Lincoln and enjoying it ...
It's wonderful to see her looking so well and even though she is in a lot of pain with her legs ... she is still bustling about everywhere ...

It's been lovely catching up with this kitty again too ...


She's such a sweetie and as I am missing my cats ... it helps having another one to make a fuss of ...
I didn't bring any crafting things with me this time ... but I did bring a note book 


To jot any ideas that come to mind ...


... so far it remains empty Lol!
But I am content to visit your blogs and to take in your lovely creations ... and well, relax ...

I will be back tomorrow with my DT project for City Crafters ... Till then
Have a beautiful day

~ Ros ~





Thursday, February 14, 2013

Happy Valentine's Day

Hello ...

Just popping in to wish you all a wonderful Valentine's Day ... 


A little story for you ... 
Some years ago I was in a sad place ... it was a cold February day ... the 13th to be exact ... I was wandering aimlessly around a shopping centre ... All around were signs of Valentines day ... each shop had decorated windows with hearts and flowers ... bright red shone in the gloom and the cold of that day ... I teared up each time I saw a happy couple walking by ... laughing, holding hands ... There were many young people on the streets ... with their whole life ahead of them ... and here was I feeling lonely and unloved ...
From the midst of the crowd a young teenage girl walked up to me ... she handed me an envelope and a chocolate heart wrapped in red foil ... She smiled a sweet smile and disappeared back into the crowd.
I stood for a moment wondering what had just happened ... I looked at the envelope in my hands with the little heart shaped chocolate and opened the envelope ...
It was a pretty Valentine card ... simple in it's design ... but the words written inside said everything I needed to hear ... It simply said "I love You" ... and it was signed "Jesus"
Now I am not an overly religious person ... I have my beliefs ... I try to be a good person ... But what were the chances of that happening to me that day?  I often wonder if that young girl knew the difference she made that day ... It turned things around for me ... 
It reminded me that even in the darkest of days someone somewhere loves you ...
~~~
Look for love in the simplest of things in ... even in the the most unlikely places ... and you will find it ... 
Give out your love and it will return tenfold
Hug your kids... fuss your pets ... smile at someone ... even yourself ... you are loved!

Oh ... and I got these today ...


Happy Valentine's!

~ Ros ~

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Poppies for Polly

Good morning!

A new challenge starts today at Papercraft Star ... The challenge is simply "RED"


Well, it is Valentine's Day tomorrow ... not that your project has to be Valentine related ... Mine isn't ... though it does look kind of romantic

It's my sweet SIL Pauline's (Polly) birthday today and she loves poppies ... fortunately my friend Keren gave me some lovely poppy stamps and you saw me use the smaller stamp here ... I was trying it out for this birthday card for Polly


Now you don't usually hear me say this about my own work ... But I really love this card ... 
I love that stamp and I stamped it first onto a lovely free digital ephemera paper which you can find Here and the digital postage stamp I overlaid is from The Graphic Fairy



I coloured the stem and leaves with promarkers then stamped and embossed a few more times onto DP so I could layer the petals a little - then added lots of black liquid pearls


I think Polly will really be pleased with this ...

Our team at Papercraft Star have some more lovely projects to share ... be sure to take a look 

Enjoy your day and thanks so much for visiting me ...

~ Ros ~









Tuesday, February 12, 2013

You Felt it ...

Hey there ... How are you?

Today I am hosting the new challenge over at City Crafter Challenge Blog ... 

I just love these sweet little felt houses and I love the use of felt on projects ... so that's my challenge to you this week ...
Use Felt on your projects

Simple huh? And my card is quite simple too... made for a friend's wedding anniversary next week ... Once again I have used some of my scraps


I love grey with burgundy and I even use silver thread for the stitching .. you can click the photos to see a little clearer


The centre diamante came from a bouquet that I got for my birthday... it was set inside a rose and was just perfect for this felt flower ... The burlap leaves that you can see I hand cut from a small piece of stiffened burlap I found in my stash


Our Guest Designer this week is our winner from week 142 the talented OriBella ... click the link to visit her pretty blog ...
And we have a terrific sponsor this week ... The lovely Madeleine from 
a wonderful online store based here in the UK ... is offering a £10 gift certificate to the winner! Click on the link and take a look around her lovely site ... I can promise you that in the next few months you will be seeing a lot more of her goods here ... (Shhh! ... you didn't hear it from me)

I hope you'll find the time to join us this week ... Don't forget to take a look at the rest of our team projects for more inspiration
Ok, I'm off with my DH to his hospital appointment this morning ... what a way to spend his birthday! 

Thanks so much for your visit

Till soon, keep safe

~ Ros ~










Monday, February 11, 2013

CAS Birthday

Hello ...
Did you have a good weekend?
I have been following the weather reports and seeing the snowfall on the east coast of the USA ... My, what a lot of snow you've had ... I do hope you are all safe and warm ... We are expecting some bad weather conditions too ... Right now it's very cold ... snow is on the way ... I am hoping that I will be able to travel to Lincoln next weekend ... we'll just have to see

Tomorrow is my husbands birthday ... He also has an appointment at the eye hospital so we will no doubt be there for hours ... Still, I am taking him to dinner in the evening so that should make up for it ...
I made 2 cards for him ... one from me and one from my son ... I can only show you one as the other is part of an upcoming DT project ... This is just a clean and simple card


This is a new stamp from PTI but I used different cardstock and it's not as clear as I would have hoped
neither are my photos ... 


I'm not sure that the scoring even shows up ...


I have no idea where the paper is from ... It was just a 6x6 piece I've had for ages and double sided which was great for this ...
I really like the CAS look ... though I sometimes find it more difficult ... I'm always tempted to add more

I hope you enjoy the rest of your day ... I'll be back tomorrow - I'm hosting the new challenge at City Crafter this week ...

Keep safe

~ Ros ~






Friday, February 08, 2013

Cats Dogs & Hearts

Happy Friday!
You'd think that now I am retired from going out to work Friday's wouldn't matter ... but old habits die hard as they say ... I still love Friday - knowing that the weekend is just around the corner ...
I became a single mum when Mikey was just 8 years old ... Friday was the last day of work ... when I would collect my wage packet and look forward to 2 whole days with my son ... School was forgotten once the homework was done and every Saturday Mikey and I would take a train ride to spend the day looking around the shops ... having lunch together which was usually pizza and a coke float for Mikey.
In the evening we would cuddle together on the settee and watch his chosen video with a bowl of crisps ... some sweets and soft drinks ... Doesn't sound very health food wise ... but it was only on a Saturday.
Those days have long gone ... but the memories will always remain ....

Last night my Thursday group got to assemble some Valentine cards ... Funny thing ... because I have quite a few men in the group I did one of the cards quite girlie


Pink digital papers by Jen Allyson  and a pretty heart from Iralamija shop
... and two others that were more neutral


Thanks to the Cameo


Would you believe that the guys first choice was the pink one? Lol!
Though they all loved the cats and dogs and lots of cards were made ... not all looked like mine but they did have the same elements ... just placed upside down or in a more artistic way ...
They also decorated all the envelopes ... something like this


The main things was that they were all happy ... they lost another of their friends which initially made them very sad ... but they are resilient and lots of their cards were made with their lost friend in mind ...
I wanted to mention about the sentiment font on my cards ... a  freebie from The Graphics Fairy ... there are a few to download and they are really lovely ... thanks Karen!

Have a wonderful Friday and I hope your weekend is a good one

Till soon

~ Ros ~





Thursday, February 07, 2013

Just us Girls

Hello ...
How are you this Thursday morning? 
Thanks so much for all your lovely comments ... It's always nice to know that I'm not the only one who has a creative melt down from time to time ... I have some pretty projects to share with you in the next few weeks ... probably my reason for coming to a halt ... I've just been working non stop ...
Today I have a card that I made for the challenge at Just us Girls ... It's a sketch challenge this week


I loved the sketch and hoped it may get my mojo working again 
You know the crazy thing is ... I LOVE fish tail banners ... I'm sure you can tell that as you see me use them a lot Lol! But could I get them to look right on my card? Heck No! I fidldled and faffed about and even left my card over night ... Eventually I gave in went with what looked best for me ... ribbon for the 'tails' instead of paper


Once again I am using up my scraps ... That lovely poppy is a stamp from my friend Keren and I was trying it out for a card I will share next week ... I couldn't waste it so I stamped it a couple more times   on a scrap of paper and paper pieced it ... then cut out a few of the petals and used pop dots to add a little dimension ...


I keep meaning to get some black embossing powder - so far I haven't but my black ink pad works well with clear embossing powder ... and some liquid pearls just finishes it off


Tonight is Thursday Club ... I promised the group that they can make Valentine cards ... I'll share my samples with you tomorrow if I have any energy left!

Have a beautiful day

~ Ros ~



Wednesday, February 06, 2013

Love .. In Black and White

It's all about Love this week at Papercraft Star ...


That's the theme of this week's challenge ... And love isn't always black and white ... or is it?
Well not with my card anyway ... I used up some of my scraps again and instead of using red that one perhaps associates with Love ... Mine is more monochrome ... (plus next weeks challenge is red so didn't want to use it twice) Lol!


Ok ... if you look really close you will see that the script paper is Christmas paper ... ... But I wont tell if you don't ... And I know my DH won't notice when he gets this card ... 


I cut out the lock with a Tim Holtz die that I haven't used in ages - the pewter mirri card gives it quite an authentic look.. and yes, I have used my favourite postal stamp again 


... with my favourite butterfly image ... 


The sentiment was computer generated ... 
This really came together quite quickly once I decided that I was going the monochrome route ... I guess our choice of colours probably says a lot about us ... Hmmm ...
Ok so now it's over to you ... won't you join us this week?
I'm off to the Blog to see the examples from my talented team members ... Care to join me?

Have a peaceful day and Thanks for stopping by

~ Ros ~