I remember when ...

Is it just a sign of getting old?? See, I remember when I was young enough to go to night clubs ... my friend and I would plan all day what we would wear ... maybe pop into town to buy something new ...  ... afternoons were spent in my bedroom painting nails ... washing and drying our hair ... laughing and having fun ...  we would apply our make up .... Yep, I was there when false eye lashes were fashionable the first time around ... All this preening was part of the fun ...  once we were "gorgeous" ... off we went ... usually on the bus (couldn't afford taxis then) ... We would buy one drink and dance the night away.
I know times change ... things move on ... but we would NEVER be seen outside of our bedroom with our hair rollers in!!! Now it seems it is the fashionable thing to do ... walk around everywhere with your hair in rollers ... the bigger the better ... and boy are they big! I am slowly becoming less shocked and can at least now walk past one of these women without my jaw dropping ... 
I was brought up in an era when guys were supposed to think you actually woke up with beautiful locks ...  your skin was always blemish free and your eye lashes long and lustrous ... and girls 'never' grew hair anywhere but on their heads. Mystery was everything ... we were 'ladies'.  
Well, this afternoon around 5pm, I was in one of our large chemist stores ... you know the kind that have lots of make up counters and staff from the various companies are waiting to serve you, even apply their brand of make up on you FREE whilst you sit in the chair ... Now, I have never done that ... sat in full view of the world being 'made up' ... I'd be too embarrassed ... not that I'm knocking anyone who does ... but this evening I was totally shocked to see just how many young women were actually queueing to get their full make up done ... wearing a full head of Rollers!!! Obviously this is the thing to do ... you get someone to apply your make up for you for free and hey presto one less thing to do before you go out ... What happened to sitting in your room with your best friend ?? 
Rant over ... 
I have a card to share made for the Jingle Belles Rock challenge  ...  this week is a sketch challenge set by the talented AmyTsuruta ... 

I struggled this week ... it seems when I had time to create ... my creative side chose to abandon me ...

So here's my card ...

I was so thankful for the sketch ... it got me through

and though my background looks like black card ... it is actually dark blue

 you can't really see but each of the snowflakes on my DP have sparkly centres .. done with stickles

Well that's it for now ... I'm off to put my rollers in

Till soon

~ Ros ~

Sparkly Winter Time ...

Hello ... I'm struggling with time today ... so much to do ... I swear this house is like the Forth Bridge ... you start to paint (and decorate)  ... and just as you get to the end .. the beginning needs doing again! 
Anyway I wanted to pop in with a card I did for the challenge over at The Shabby Tea Room this week ... 
"Winter Wonderland" here's the photo inspiration ...

It's such a lovely theme picked by Cathy who is hosting this week ... and the DT cards are lovely ... I think maybe I should have done a snowy scene but this speaks to me of sparkle and icicles ...

 my card has been a nightmare to photograph due to weather conditions ... so I have a lot of pictures to share just so you can see the brightness and sparkle perhaps a little better

I glittered a doily and stitched my paper onto it ... this paper is actually a free Basic Grey January desktop from The Digichick ... which I love and thought so appropriate

My flower is made from glittery Christmas tissue paper ... which I then attached to satin ribbon and some tulle ... can you see the crystal icicle?

My snowflake is cut from white felt and also glittered ... and has a pretty crystal centre ... I also added those pretty pearl sprigs ...

A little clear sentiment backed with white card finishes the card ...

Now I really need to dash ... But before I do ... Thank you Stella for my blog award ... 

I will post it as soon as I get a chance ...

Till soon

~ Ros ~

2nd Post ... CR84FN Challenge

Hello ... this is my second posting today so if you are looking for my City Crafter Challenge post ... please scroll down ...

This post is for my entry to this weeks challenge at CR84FN Color challenge ... such a beautiful colour palette ... soft, warm and serene ...

... and what beautiful photographs ...

I used my distressing tool on this ... first time I have done so 

the flower I made from sequinned fabric and the gorgeous centre and pink ribbon is from the October kit at Pixie Dust Paperie

The hessian 'lace' I got in a sale at a craft shop ... along with a pad of the lilac/lavender papers ... those glittered little dragon flies I've had for a while just waiting to be set free ... 

Till soon

~ Ros ~

City Crafter - Sew Fun!

Hello and Good Morning to you all ... 
Can you believe we are now at week 41 of City Crafter Challenge? Where does the time go? ... Lovely Linda Robinson is our host this week and she has come up with a brilliant challenge ... "Sew Fun" ... to include either stitching or something to do with sewing in our projects ... We also have Amelia Khalik as our Guest Designer this week ... I took a trip to her blog and was  blown away by her creativity ... I'm sure you will be too ... 
Now you all know I love sewing on my cards and have been known to make a few sewing plaques ... and this challenge gives endless possibilities so I hope you will join us ... we LOVE seeing your projects and every week we are stunned by your amazing talents ... makes picking a winner sooo hard ... Believe me ... I LOVE being on the DT but the hardest part is picking the winner ... I'm sure all my colleagues agree ... Anyway on to my card ...

Another image from Crafty Secrets ... I love these ... I stamped the background paper with Crafty Secrets clear stamps too ... another of my favourites ... the pretty brown tape is a sticker from Websters Pages which was included in the October kit from Pixie Dust Paperie ...

The flowers are made from old sewing patterns and you can just see the pretty pearl brads peeking out from the centre ... 

This little girl reminds me of my dear Aunt who does the most amazing embroidery work ... not something I have ever attempted ... I used to make all my clothes many years ago ... and I was a fairly good knitter ... but never did embroidery ....

Thanks for stopping by ... keep safe 

~ Ros ~

Birdsong ...

Hi there ...
Whilst visiting some of my favourite blogs ... I followed a link that Kirsty put on her blog to a scrap challenge at Scrap - It - Lah ... where the challenge is to make a scrapbook page based on your hobby ... and include something on the page to do with this hobby ... Well, I have wanted to scrap this picture for ages ... just because it is special to me ... I love wildlife and love to watch the birds everyday ... First thing even before I get dressed I am out to feed them ... and having had cats ... I have saved many birds and creatures in my time ... This particular bird a Coal Tit ... I came across one morning when we were staying in a log cabin in Derbyshire ... it was lying on the decking and I thought it was dead ... probably hit the glass window ... But not not one to give up I cradle it for a long time and it sparked back to life ... and then seemed very reluctant to go ... just kept clinging to my finger looking at me ... it was a privileged moment ... 

Now I have to confess that after searching through my papers for over 2 hours to find just the right thing ... I came across this from Memory Keepers ... which already had the title and mat for the picture ... But it was just so right that I had to use it ... I added some more border, doily, flower, button and both the little birds ... I glittered some chipboard letters too and matted my photos onto card that the prima flowers come on ... 

you may be wondering what I was looking at on this photo ... well we also had a squirrel come to see what the fuss was ... 

I hope you are having a great day ...

Till soon

~ Ros ~

Pixie Dust Paperie Challenge

Hi there ... invigorated by my previous challenge ... I created a Layout for the Pixie Dust Paperie challenge .... set by Chief Pixie ... Kirsty ... who did this  amazing sketch ...

I have to say that this is a first for me ... I've never done a LO for a challenge ... nor ever followed a sketch for a LO  ... and actually I found it easier than I first thought ... 

This is one of my favourite pictures ... taken in Cornwall when Mikey was about 12 or 13 ...

The three of us were inseparable ...

How I wish I could re-live days like that ...

How we miss our beautiful Kelly ...

But just making this took me right back to that moment ... How time flies

Till soon

~ Ros ~