City Crafter ... Hats off to You!

Hi everyone ...

Today I'm hosting this week's challenge at City Crafter.... 

 The month of April sees not only Easter and Easter bonnets ... but here in Liverpool we have the famous Grand National Race ... On Ladies Day you can see some of the finest outfits and hats ... I'm not a fan of horse racing but I do so love to see the fashion ... So this week the challenge is all about HATS 

The challenge I have set is to make a card or project with either a Hat on Or the word Hat

Please hop over to the blog to see all the DT projects and to get full details ... I am sponsoring a prize this week too ...

Here's my card

Three different papers here ... and the dress form image is from Craft Secrets which I've held onto for ever ... but just seemed perfect for this card

I've used a couple of rubons and a butterfly fussy cut from patterned paper ... together with a few rhinestones ... and the little hat? Well I have a few of these hiding away ... I've had them so long I can't even remember where they came from...

So are you going to join us this week? I'd love to see your creations ... The more fancy ... the better!

Enjoy your day ... It's so cold here .... Brrrr!

Keep safe

~ Ros ~ 

Tote Bag

Happy April!! 

It's a beautiful Spring day today ... cool but sunny....

For some reason I woke this morning and thought it was Monday ... I got up early...(ish) and it was only later that I realised it was Sunday ... Still it gave me chance to visit you all while the house is silent and I'm sipping my coffee.... even the cat has gone out after a playful hour. 

Yesterday my hubby went off to the football match and I got to spend time creating ... another thing to cross of my 'to do' list ... A Tote Bag ...

Lots of pretty fabric butterflies ...  on which I used some iron on interfacing first and then ran through my  Sizzix using my PTI die and a Sizzix die

A handmade flower with a glitzy button  from Lauren ...

Fabric frills and a row of pretty roses ... not sure you can see the sparkle on these ... but it is there

And Voila!

My pretty Tote Bag ... I'm so pleased with this 

And just to give it some durability I lined it first with cotton fabric and then some clear vinyl fabric

... and added some velcro to fasten it with

Sorry the pictures are not that good but you get the idea ... 

I hope you have a wonderful Sunday ... This is my last post for my new blog book ... I can hardly believe that I have been blogging for 2 years tomorrow and I intend to have a book printed for each year I blog.

Thanks so much for visiting me today and for all your wonderful comments that inspire me and encourage me ...

Till soon

~ Ros ~

Notebook ... And Garden

Oooh.... The weather has changed ... it's quite cool now but this last week has seen the gardens flourish so that's a good thing ... so nice to look out and see fresh green leaves on the trees ... the Forsythia and the blossom ... 

and the lilac tree is full of buds...

even my lily of the valley is also coming through .. I'll take some photos of these once the flowers show

I met up with a friend yesterday ... she's 84 and used to attend our Philosophy group ... such a sweet lady ... I made a little notebook for her

A  mix of papers but the beautiful flower you can see in the frame is from a set of tags created and given free from this lovely blog  - Lilac & Lavender well worth a visit

I used a faux leather fabric to cut the butterfly on my Sizzix ... the PTI die cut through this fabric like butter!

Just to add more interest I added a butterfly sticker on top of it 

I'm off to grab a latte ... my hands are freezing! I hope you have a lovely weekend 

Till soon

~ Ros ~

Decisions ....

The sun is still shining here .. though it's set to change next week and we will be back to the rain and cool days. 
This week was the last class at Practical Philosophy for this term ... 

I can't say that I enjoyed this last term ... it was not so 'practical' as 'theoretical'  ... and now I have to decide whether I am going to return in May ... I'm not great at decisions ... Well I'm ok with material things but when it comes to people I hate to think I am letting anyone down ... so I'm hoping the next few weeks will enlighten me as to what to do ... 

I made a card for our tutor Mike ... he gives up his time and travels a fair way every Tuesday evening just to tutor 4 of us ...

Unlike my decision this was very simple ... The image is from MadeByJanet and a great 'turn to' for masculine cards ...

The sentiment is a stamp from WaltzingMouse

Maybe I just have a lot on at the moment ... I had to come up with something on the last minute last week for Thursday club ... Not easy when you have over 30 people of mixed gender and mixed abilities ... but the lady who was supposed to be covering didn't let us know until the night before that she couldn't make it ... and you know I can't let them down ... 

On Monday I will be doing my talk at the Womens Club and have them make some book houses too ... It's a little nerve wracking thinking about talking to over 40 women ... and I've been preparing a few things to take along to give them some ideas about making and using books

Guess I just need to wind down a little and clear my head .... and maybe create a little something .. "just because" 

I hope you have a great day ... Thanks for stopping by 

~ Ros ~

City Crafter Challenge ... Spring Fling

Good Morning sweet friends ...

I'm back today to share my card for this weeks challenge at City Crafter .. chosen for us by Cheryl ...

This is the inspiration photo

and Cheryl is asking that we create a card or project using All of the colours shown

Once again we are lucky enough to have Sheila Burns as our Guest Designer this week ... and the winner of this weeks challenge will also be offered a Guest Design spot ... So get out your papers, paints, inks etc., and come and join us in our Spring Fling!

These lovely papers are from the Grace Taylor pack and though they are 12'x12' ... they can still be used on cards ... The little watch I stamped on just to add more interest ... and the leaf ribbon on the bottom came from my friend Lauren ...

WaltzingMouse stamps for the sentiment ... flowers, 

ribbon, lace, buttons and trim are all from my supplies

I love this little birdie!

Don't forget to visit the City Crafter blog to check out the projects from my lovely team mates ... Hope to see you there!

Have a beautiful day and thanks for stopping by

~ Ros ~

CR84FN colour challenge and March in the UK

If like me you picked up a copy of the latest Simply Cards & Papercraft magazine ... not only would you have seen the wonderful creations by the Uber talented Mona Pendleton ... but you would have discovered a FREE pack of 6x6 papers from Websters Pages!! As I am a big fan of both Ms Mona's style and Websters pages ... I couldn't be happier ... And looking through the papers I found a couple that would co-ordinate perfectly with the latest challenge at CR84FN so I had to make a card ...

This is the colour pallet

... And this is my card ...

Websters papers are so pretty ... I added a couple of fabric flowers, with some paper ones and topped them with a pink Rhinestone .... the "Ooh La La" is a rubon I've had for ages in my supplies

... A Melissa Frances glittered chipboard heart and for my sentiment I combined two stamps from WaltzingMouse

We still have lovely sunshine here ... and this last week has seen so much change in the landscape and gardens ... Daffodils are abundant everywhere we go ... Here in Merseyside they are planted on embankments and central reservations ... along with a variety of crocus ... Driving becomes a pleasure ...

I caught this little butterfly in my garden yesterday enjoying the sunshine ... 

... I noticed that my garden is overrun with Ladybirds ...

Click on the photos to enlarge and see for yourself...There are so many of them! 

 The Forget-me-Nots are just starting to bloom

A peek at my primroses ... these are to be planted and some are already are filling the garden having been planted years ago ... they just come back

Wherever you are I hope the sun shines on you today ...

Till soon

~ Ros ~