Flowers and Ruben

 Hello friends... 

I hope this finds you well? 

I've been a little out of sorts this past week, just not feeling 100% though I've kept myself busy sewing, painting and even some gardening. Maybe it's down to Ruben - I will explain below, but first a couple of cards.

These were made for friends 

First up is the green one...

This happens to be my favourite

But then you may prefer the blue one

...which is also quite glittery courtesy of a glitter gel pen. I'm not sure if you can see the sparkly frame but it is there

I tend to do my sketches on paper and then trace them onto the card stock, that way I can keep the original to use as many times as I like.

Now Ruben...

You may recall I recently painted a grey cat which looked like one I lost years ago... Well, we have been looking after a grey tom cat for about 4 years now. He comes regularly a few times a day, often with a couple of scratches that we've tended to, eats his food and off he goes. I've posted many times on various social media sites to see who owned him but to no avail so we continued to care for him.

 

Last week I saw a post on Facebook of a missing cat and it was our grey. I contacted the lady (who lives close by) to tell her he was here and it seems she 'adopted" him during the first lock down and named him Ruben. Well, cutting a long story short, I asked her to get him neutered when he came back and have him checked out - he was looking quite thin. He returned to her 4 days later and she took him to the vet but sadly it turned out he had cancer, his breathing was laboured and he had to be put to sleep.  

Honestly it broke my heart and I miss his little face...

 

Till soon

 

~ Ros ~

 

CAS Mix Up

 Hello... 

I'm excited to be guesting over at the CAS Mix Up Challenge this month

And it's a watercolour challenge! Couldn't be better.

Who doesn't love the rich and beautiful colours of Autumn... It's probably one of the prettiest seasons

Here's my card

I loved doing this - drew the branch and leaves etc. and added every colour of autumn to it using Prima paints

 

I had a circle die that included the sentiment and tiny leaves so I die cut them in gold glitter CS and just cut out a few to add to the card.

Please go and visit the Blog to see the beauties created by the team and I really hope you will be inspired to play along.. Thank you to the team for inviting me this month... I loved it!

Till soon

~ Ros ~

Fox and Donkey

 Hello there...

How's your week been? Not much good news is there... Honesty I'm just happy to stay home and enjoy my hobbies. 

This week I've been trying to draw more animals.. namely a fox and a donkey. For some reason I found it really hard to draw a lifelike fox, let alone paint one but I'll share the result anyway

 

 

What do you think? Am I convincing you that it's a fox? 

And then the my little donkey...

I've a thing about eyes... They are the soul and they tell the story. They can bring a picture to life... or not

I always think donkeys have sad but gentle eyes - My donkey is a happy little one though,  he's well looked after.

Either way, I much prefer to live in the world of animals whether it be sketching, painting or just enjoying my own pets. 

Have a lovely day and enjoy your weekend

Till soon

~ Ros ~

The Owl and the Pussy Cat (no boat in sight)

 Good morning friends...

Did you have a good weekend? The rain held off a little here which was good as we travelled to Derbyshire to visit DH's eldest son, DIL and granddaughter. They moved house this year and live in a quaint little village and their daughter is gorgeous! We really enjoyed our visit...

August has been a complete wash out here with more rain than we deserve and I'm grateful for my hobbies... I couldn't imagine not having something to do. Today I have 2 more painting for you 

The owl...

I saw a photograph of an owl peeking around a wall and that was my inspiration...This of course is only a youngster and a little shy... Took me quite awhile to do this and I'm hoping he looks like an owl to you

We often hear the owls at night in our trees  but I've never yet seen one...

The pussy cat...

I had a grey cat when I was little and I got 2 kittens for my son when he was little, Lucy who was also grey and her sister Lisa who was all black. We had them for 16 years and Lucy was a real character who was very attached to both our GSD's... One evening Lucy went out in the garden and we never saw her again. We searched for weeks, posted flyers etc., but to no avail. It was the not knowing that haunted us. 

This is how I remember her, sitting watching the birds but never able to catch one thank goodness.

Funny, never did I think that one day I would be able to paint her

Thanks so much for your visit and for all your wonderful messages regarding Ross

Have a wonderful week

~ Ros ~

When Dreams Come True....

 Hello again....

I have some amazing news to tell you but first a card using a never before tried technique of stamping through a stencil which is this months challenge over at the  CAS Mix Up

 

And my card...

I honestly hadn't intended to enter this one but I needed another guy card so I used a mountain stencil and a favourite postal stamp which I've had for years... 

As you can see I did a few 'layers' of mountains and then re-positioned the stencil to stamp and emboss the postal stamp. A little bit of dottie tape and another sentiment and it's good to go... Where to?

Well that's the amazing news...

 

I told you in my previous post that Ross had passed his exams despite all odds and yesterday his dream came true... He has always been interested in all things space related and believe me there is nothing that boy can't tell you,  he's even been known to correct his teachers on the facts. Well, a couple of days ago he got an interview at Stafford Uni and following that he took a call from Collins Aerospace who were so blown away by his knowledge (their words) that they have offered him a 4 year engineering degree apprenticeship!!

To say I am ecstatic is an understatement, I have cried buckets. With all his disabilities as well as losing his Dad when he was only 3, Ross has defied the odds and never gave up on his dream and obtained one of only 10 places available in the whole of the UK.

So this is another card for him, I am feeling so blessed right now, and just had to let you know.

I need a tissue...

A Camel load of Wishes

 Hello friends...I hope you are well.

It's been a busy week here and though work has been completed in the garden, it's been too cold (or wet) to sit and enjoy it.

We did go to our friends' celebration but it got so cold we left pretty early. It was good to see old friends and catch up and then we discovered that our friend's daughter tested positive for Covid the next day... Yikes! Fortunately we didn't have any close  contact - we were with the "oldies"and we've both since tested negative but will continue to test (just in case). Thankfully the new rules say we don't have to self isolate as we are double vaccinated, not that we have much contact with others anyway and still continue to mask up if we need to go out. Fingers crossed we will all be okay.

The good news is the reason for today's card.

My great nephew Ross  passed his 'A' Levels with 2 B's and a C. I am over the moon! You may remember that he has Moebius syndrome but his many disabilities have never held him back - his Dad would have been so very proud of him. 

I pondered over what to make and maybe it's a bit unusual but here we go...

 

I saw a camel on a free colouring page and it just appealed to me. I took out the background and traced the outline image so I could get to work with my watercolours

I thought it needed a little something else so added a leaf branch, and computer generated the sentiment

I kinda like him.. Does that make me weird? Lol!

Anyway I hope Ross is amused.

Have a peaceful day and thank you for your visit...

Till soon

~ Ros ~