Inspired By Stamping challenge

Good morning ... I hope you are well 

I keep promising myself that I will make time for some challenges ... It rarely happens ... One of the challenges I keep meaning to enter is at Inspired By Stamping ... I laugh when I read the abbreviated version of this ... I have IBS ( the condition) and I always think of this when I see it Lol!

Anyway, this week there is a beautiful inspiration photo ...

... and last night I found time to play along ... nothing too fancy 

... using a beautiful stamp by LaBlanche which I have had for a long time but never used. 

I made a triple bow from paper and added a further ribbon one ... just because

I added glitter (Stickles) to the white parts of the rose so I'm hoping you can pick that up ... Unfortunately this was the darkest blue ink I had ... Not sure if it qualifies really ... but hey I got to use that pretty stamp and play along ... Finally!

Im off to pay you all a visit now ... I'll be back here tomorrow

Keep safe

~ Ros ~

Winter Birthdays

Hello there ...

It's  chilly Sunday morning here ... snow is falling and all is quiet. My cats are both sleeping soundly in the warmth ... separate rooms of course ... Gipsy doesn't like having another house guest.

A few of my friends and family celebrate birthdays and anniversaries in the next few weeks - one of my GF's is going to be 70 this coming week!! I can hardly believe it ... she looks fabulous ... must be all the years of Pilates ... 

My oh so talented blog buddy Rebecca made the most stunning little bag the other day .. It just blew me away ... you can see it Here ... It inspired me to make a gift bag for my friends' present. I needed one that was big enough for the gift and the card so I used a full A4 sheet of card, scored it so I had a centre width of  1½" and made 2 side pieces ...

The photos are not so good due to the weather condition ...

The chain is from an old piece of costume jewellery attached with pearl brads

Bits of ribbon and lace with those pretty glass hearts and a flower adorn the front but I left the back plain

I'll share the card with you at a later date as it's one of my DT projects 

Do you have plans for today? I'm hoping to complete a desk diary I've been working on ... I think my husband may have other plans for me though ... he just hates to be cooped up inside ... Me? I'm a home bird ... quite happy to be indoors with my craft supplies ...

Have a beautiful day whatever you are doing

Keep safe

~ Ros ~

Snowy Days

Brrr It's so cold!

I woke up to snow fall this morning ... The wind was howling and blowing the snow everywhere ... Gispy went out at 7.30am and hasn't been back since ... I just hope she has found herself a warm place .. it's freezing cold outside.

My other little cat Ginger made his way here around lunch time and is snug on his bed ... sensible boy!

Thankfully my day was my own today ... Hubby did try to persuade me to go out but he was fighting a losing battle there ...  driving around in the snow is not my idea of fun! So I was able to do a little in my craft room ...

With all those lovely birthday gifts I got ... It was only fitting that I made some Thank You cards to send out 

I needed something I could make a lot of - pretty quickly - so used a lovely image from Silhouette America as my focal point which I printed onto photo paper to give it a little sheen

... cut some scalloped squares in both white and cream to back the image and a fish tail banner from glitter ribbon.

The glitter ribbon came from Wilkinsons store ... it's sold as Christmas wrapping ribbon ... on a 10m roll for £1 which is great value and you've seen me use it many times ... It feels like the ribbon you get from a florist if you know what I mean

The sentiment was computer generated and I finished up with a little post mark stamp I got in a second hand section of an art shop some time ago ... 

I also used up some of my surplus papers to make envelopes ... and because of the hundreds of envelopes I had ... I didn't have enough of the size I wanted ... typical!

These are so simple to make ... It's basically a rectangle big enough to hold your card and I round of the corners of the flap 

I stamped on them with a Kaiser craft stamp ... just to add a little something special and I print the addresses onto white paper or labels.

I do hope you are warm wherever you are ... 

Have a wonderful weekend and thanks so much for stopping by

~ Ros ~

30 and counting!

Hello ... so nice to have you here today ...

So far I have received 30 birthday cards and still they are arriving!

I am so lucky to have so many lovely friends ... speaking of which I would like to share a few gifts that have been sent to me ...

 Kirsty my dear friend sent me this beautiful card and gorgeous crafting goodies

Aren't they lovely! And to see how beautifully she wrapped them ... check out her post Here

My sweet friend Ira from the Netherlands made this incredibly detailed book ... and inside was a beautiful necklace and cat ring!

My photos are not very bright due to the weather ... but please hop over to see Ira's photos Here

Some lovely people live in the Netherlands and another one of them is my dear friend Stella ... who sent these gifts and beautiful card

Just look at that pretty bracelet ...

And this morning yet another package arrived ... this is from the lovely talented Linda Robinson

Oh my ... what beautiful things for me to play with and such an adorable card!

I really can't believe just how lucky I am ... Starting a blog was the best thing I ever did .. I can't imagine life without you all ... Every day I am excited to visit you ... to learn from your creativity and to have you in my life ...

Thank you all so very much

~ Ros ~

White on White

The challenge this week at Papercraft Star is white on white

Jan has picked this lovely inspiration photo for you ...

White on white is something I struggle with ... I mean there are so many different shades of white which in itself can be a challenge ... My blogs friend Sasha and Diane always make the most stunning white on white cards ... Nevertheless ... I managed to come up with a card which is for my friends Wedding Anniversary ... white on white with a little touch of cream ... like the photo

Believe it or not ... I bought those roses as white ... against the card they look cream

I cut the borders and the fern from Memory Box dies and used a Tim Holtz embossing folder

for the background

I am really looking forward to seeing what the other ladies on the DT have come up with and I would love to see your creations too so won't you join us this week?

Till soon be safe

~ Ros ~

Winter Blues

Good morning to you all 

I hope you are having a good week so far ...

We've had a little snow - not enough to stick and it's been quite cold and dull ... 

It's this time of year after Christmas and New Year have gone, that I long for Spring to come .. I call it The Winter Blues which is the challenge I have come up with for City Crafter this week where I am hosting.

This week we want to see a winter project that must include the colour Blue

Here is your inspiration photo

Courtesy of Printshop For Mac

I saw a tutorial by Nancy Riley on a sponging project which I wanted to try ... although my version is not as good as hers I really like the result ...

I incorporated a die cut by Memory Box in my little winter scene and lots of glitter for the glistening snow

There is only one ink pad used for this ... just a little blue one I had by versa mark and I found that little tree stamp hidden in my box of wooden stamps ...

Our Guest designer this week at City Crafter is our winner from Week 134 Malgorzata Dudzinska ( Margot) ... A very talented lady ... her blog is well worth a visit. This week's winner will also be offered a Guest spot at CCCB ... so please come and join us ... I'd love to see your interpretation of Winter Blues ...

Have a lovely day and stay warm

~ Ros ~