Friday the 13th

Yesterday was a kind of sweet and sour day ... It was my birthday ... but also one of those days when wonder if you've landed in another dimension ... when nothing is as you planned and very quickly everything starts going downhill ... It was the one morning I didn't read my 365 day devotional ... I should have ... because when I read it I would have know it was going to be one of 'those' days 

Quote from January 12

Let me prepare you for the day that stretches out before you. I know exactly what this day will contain whereas you only have a vague idea ....... 

.......... I will not show you the road ahead but I will equip you for the journey ....

Perhaps the cat (now legally adopted by us, I might add) howling from 6am to 7:30 should have alerted me ... then again it should have been when I walked down the stairs admiring my newly decorated walls ... only to see huge great marks on the paper ... But, No - I remained optimistic ... these things could (and would) be fixed ... It's my birthday ... All will be well ... And my friends were coming today ...

 Have you ever put washing in your machine only to find someone left a tissue in a pocket and everything is covered in fibres? Well that was the next thing to happen ... except it wasn't a tissue ... is was a throw ... and all the washing was covered in a trillion fibres ... At this point I was beginning to think I'd slept a day ... surely this was Friday 13th?... 

But it was seeing the only room in the house - where I had planned to sit and chat with my friends, put up my cards and display my flowers ... had been painted ... Yep, painted ... by my husband... It was then  that a great big lump rose in my throat ...

But things picked up ... My so apologetic DH fixed up the room for my guests ... and everyone and I do mean everyone ... decorators included ... turned up at the same time!!??

So yes lots of things went wrong'(I'm not even going to get on the subject of my hospital appointment ... nor how a container of sugar ended up on my floor) ...

But then lots of good things happened too ... I had a visit from friends from the old neighbourhood ... and my old work friend too ... I had lovely bouquets of flowers

Fabulous cards ... including this gorgeous handmade card from Cindy all the way from New Orleans

and these beauties from Stella

together with some prettily wrapped packages

ok ... there was another one but I was impatient and opened it before I thought to take a picture ... so here are the contents

Just look at the gorgeous bracelet 

And as well as all this ... CCCB put a post on especially for me and my lovely DT colleagues made me beautiful cards ...

"Thank You"

To all of you ... 

To all of you who left messages on Facebook ... all of you who sent e-cards ... all of you who emailed and to all of you who left comments and birthday wishes ... you are the nicest most thoughtful people on the planet and I really appreciate your friendship

Have a Wonderful Day

~ Ros ~

Cr84FN challenge

It's been positively ages since I entered a challenge at CR84FN ...  due to other commitments I don't always have the time ... but these last few days we have the decorators in, which means someone has to be here and it's always me ... I think my husband was a gipsy in a former life ... he just can't stay indoors. But of course that gives me more time to play ... This is a card for a sweet friend of mine who is now in her 80's and has a birthday very soon ...

The colour combo at CR84FN this week are Blue Orange Yellow and this is the lovely vibrant photo

My card is quite a simple one ...

The little bird is a transparency from a book a bought ages ago ... trouble is everything sticks to it so if you see little marks ... it is bits of glitter from the frame

Those pretty little pearls were a gift from sweet Suzz

and the lovely pin is handmade from my lovely friend June who also sent me these

... a lovely handmade ornament 

... and this adorable tiny decorated cotton reel with beautiful pins

Thank you June ...

Now I have to go make a cup of tea for the workers ... have yourselves a lovely day

~ Ros ~

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 ~