City Crafter 'Back to Black"

Hello

This week it's my turn to host the challenge at City Crafter ... It's not always easy to come up with a challenge and sometimes I really have to get my thinking cap on ... But having seen so many creations with silhouettes on ... I thought that would make a great challenge for this week ... So I am challenging you to make a card or project with a silhouette on ... this can be a die cut ... a stamp ... whatever you choose BUT it must be Black ... Quite simple really ...

My card was made for my friends daughter who recently celebrated her 24th birthday... the image was cut on my Silhouette Cameo ... as was the frame ... and the papers are from Basic Grey

... a handmade flower and an pretty earring (sans the back), together with some rhinestones finish this card off ...

We have a fabulous Guest Designer this week ... the lovely June Houck ... one of the sweetest people in Blog Land ... and our sponsor this week is Crop Stop  ... head over to the City Crafter blog for full details of this weeks prize and to see all the lovely projects done by our Design Team and our Guest Designer ...

I hope you can join in with us this week 

Till soon .. keep safe

~ Ros ~

Flashback Friday

Now this is a challenge I've never entered before ... Flashback Friday ... what a fun idea ... all you have to do is share your first CAS card ... ok so we have all grown in our creative journey ... and sometimes looking back at our 'firsts' .. well that can make us groan ... excuse the pun! But nevertheless ... I am prepared to share my first CAS card from August 2010

All digital with a stamp, some buttons and some stickles

and that's still one of my favourite digital stamps ... Pink Petticoat wisps

Also ... some of you have kindly commented on my new blog header ... well I should firstly thank Vintagemadeforyou ... a great blog site that offers free backgrounds and headers ... I chose the initial header and then played around in Print Shop with some fabulous images from The Graphics Fairy to make my new header ... I am not that fluent with blogger but somehow I managed to create this new header so I am delighted that you like it ...

I'm off to meet the girls for coffee this morning ... still no Pilates for me yet ... 

Have a wonderful day ... see you tomorrow

~ Ros ~

Pixie Dust Paperie News

I have some wonderful news to share with you ... 

I am thrilled  to say that I am one of the new DT members for Pixie Dust Paperie challenges! Yay!! 

Each month I will be sharing a project along side the other new DT members (yet to be announced) to hopefully inspire you ... 

Pixie Dust Paperie offer fabulous kits and embellishments for scrappers and card makers alike ... you can now even purchase mini kits ... and the prices are extremely competitive ... don't be put off by postage charges either ... the rates to the to the UK are so much lower than most companies. So go take a look ...

This month's challenge is called Love Notes ... Create a project for Valentines Day, OR a project with a heart(s) ... There is a $15 gift voucher for the winner ... so hop over to the blog for full details

The Prima (Jack & Jill) from Snow Shoe was just perfect for this card ... I just came up with that sentiment and printed it straight onto the paper ...

The heart I cut in 3 sizes and just stitched them together and the box was made on my Silhouette ...

Valentine's Day will soon be upon us so get creative and join us at Pixie Dust Paperie ...

Thanks for stopping by ... Have a wonderful day

~ Ros ~

Christmas Gift ...

I don't have anything crafty to share today ... well... I spent a couple of days working on a new wintery heart wreath ... which I was going to enter at Papercrafts Star this week... But so far it has been impossible to photograph ... well not impossible ... but I am unable to get a decent shot no matter what I do ... so I have given up on that one ... 

Instead I would like to share with you one of my favourite Christmas presents from a dear friend ... 

Two books ... "Meditations for Women who do too much" (she knows me so well!) and "Jesus Calling .. a 365 Day Devotional"

Now I would not class myself as an overly religious person (if that be possible) ... but I do have my faith and I do study Practical Philosophy ... and yes I have fallen out with my God many times in my life and questioned my faith ... But I need faith in my life ... of that I have no doubt ... and these two books suit me down to the ground ... and I can very much recommend them.

Both books have a short page for each day ... easy to read and digest ... I look forward to taking time out to read both of them each day ... my peaceful time ... I recognise myself in the daily meditation book with every page ... For example ... 

Common Sense ... 

"Quote"

"Did you ever stop to think ... we women who do too much, wouldn't be able to do too much if we weren't competent, strong, intelligent, courageous and determined? We might however, be a bit lacking in common sense"

You see common sense tells us when to quit ... but do we? I know it is something I have had to teach myself... 

And  ... Jesus Calling ... It's easy to understand and it warms my heart ... it tells me that I shouldn't feel guilty when I quit ...  That I can take off the many coats I often wear ... guilt, anger, pain, frustration ... all of which weigh me down at times ... I can take them off because God is my burden bearer (Jan 3rd)

This is just a small quote from the book (Jan 6th) ...

"Instead of letting difficulties draw you into worrying, try to view them as setting the scene for my glorious intervention. Keep your eyes and your mind open to all that I am doing in your life."

Pretty profound huh? ... but it is often all too easy to see the not so good things in our lives and not appreciate the good things we have ...

For me these books compliment each other perfectly ... 
A gift I shall treasure 


Enjoy your day


~ Ros ~

Wild weather

Hello

We've been having wild weather here these past few days ... Very high winds and rain ... my garden looks a mess this morning ... the bird table down and the trellis arch in pieces ... In the southern part of the UK I think it is much worse and some have lost their lives to the storms so I am grateful we are ok here.

A few days ago we learned that a dear friend and colleague had sadly died ... In my opinion there are very few typical English gentlemen left ... Mike was certainly one of these ... it is a sad loss ... and I needed to make a card ...

This digital stamp from Pink Petticoat is my go to stamp for these occasions ... and as I had cut a few cards on the silhouette ... this came together quite quickly and simply

It does say ... sincere condolences ... my bow kind of hides the sentiment on these photos ...

And you may be interested to know that Pink Petticoat is having a sale at the moment ... worth taking a look ...

On a lighter note ... My husband and I had a lovely anniversary dinner last night ... (braving the storms) ... Thank you so much for your kind wishes ... and Thank You to my friend Cindy Adkins who made me a blog button ... actually she did 3 for me and it was hard to choose one! 

Pssst! ... it's her birthday today ... so if you get a chance go leave her some love ...

I hope you have a lovely day and keep safe!

Till soon

~ Ros ~

City Crafter "Save the Date ..."

Hello ...

Happy 2012! 

 I hope you are all doing well ... survived the hustle and bustle and the celebrations ... 

We are back in full swing here at City Crafter with a brand new challenge from our lovely Cheryl who this week is asking us to create a card or project incorporating either a month, day or year or a combination of all 3 ...

We have a digital Stamp sponsor this week Bugaboostamps which I know many of you are familiar with .... They have a huge range of stamps from the more classic (which I chose) to the more fun variety ... and they are ever growing ... 

Please take a moment to visit CCCB and read all about our sponsor and the prize this week and check out all the projects ... We each got to chose a stamp to play with ...

It's my wedding anniversary tomorrow ... We were the first couple to marry in the millennium on the lovely island of Cyprus so I made this card for my hubby ... 

keeping to just 2 main colours .. I used the Butterfly digital stamp ... re-coloured it and printed it in various sizes which I then cut and layered ... My card shape was cut on my Silhouette and backed with BG paper which I've had forever!

I used liquid pearls around the heart ... and that beautiful flower brad (which just happens to fit my colours perfectly) came from Pixie Dust Paperie ...

Now it's over to you ... I hope you will join us this week ... I can't wait to see what you create ...

Wishing you a wonderful day

~ Ros ~