Back to normal ...

Hello everyone ... This is just a quick post ... I wanted to thank you for your sweet comments and best wishes for my Wedding Anniversary yesterday ... I had a busy day and a friend came to visit bringing me a beautiful cake stand from Laura Ashley ... for my new kitchen ... isn't it lovely?

Goes so well with my book don't you think?

I haven't made any of these yet ... 'cos I know I will have to eat them ... but don't they look good!

My Husband and I went out for a lovely dinner last night to a little restaurant we like and I wore my gift from him ...

A pretty silver and pearl necklace and bracelet set ... which is very me ...

.. and see the paper tissue rose? ... this was one of two that the waiter at the restaurant made for me and one was wrapped around the wine bottle ... they are a little crushed and hard to photograph ... but I was so thrilled with them ... don't we all love handmade flowers?

Now having taken down my Christmas tree and decorations ... I NEED to do some grocery shopping ...

truly the fridge is empty!! maybe grab sometime for crafting later ...

Till soon keep safe ...

~ Ros ~

City Crafters Challenge Week 38

Hi there ... 
Today marks the start of another challenge at City Crafter Challenge and I have to say that last week's entries were so magnificent that it just gets harder and harder to try and pick out winners ... You people are just so talented ... I'm in awe of some of your creations ...
Today our lovely Cheryl is hosting our first challenge of 2011 and this week we are asked to make a card or project using only WHITE plus one accent colour of our choice ... As today is also my wedding anniversary ... I made a card for my husband and went with black as my other colour choice keeping it pretty CAS ...

I stamped a background using black ink onto white card stock and machine stitched  this onto my main card ... then took another piece of white CS and embossed it and used a spellbinders border die to trim the edge ... next I used a Sizzix die to cut out the heart shape and layered this over my stamped piece using foam squares to give some dimension ... added some lace and a computer generated sentiment and a pretty black glittered heart ....

I always worry that my cards might be a bit 'girlie' ... I think he will like the fact that I made this regardless ...
I do hope you can come and play along with us this week ... please go and check out all the DT work too ... our sponsor is Laura Vigliaro  of Laura's Vintage Garden (Etsy) so there is one super duper prize on offer... click on THIS link to see her Etsy goodies ... AND ... Laura is offering a 10% discount to ALL of our CCCB visitors!!! ... hop over to our blog to obtain the discount voucher ... Hope to see you there ...


Till soon


~ Ros ~

Recycled crafting

I managed to fit in two challenges today ... over at the Play Date Cafe they have a beautiful inspirational photo courtesy of Martha Stewart ... 

Now I had bits of ribbons and bows on my craft table from Christmas gifts (I never throw anything away)  and one of the bows was my incentive to make my card ... just the right colours for this challenge

I rummaged through my papers and found these were going to be a perfect match too ... along with a felt butterfly, buttons and pearls  ... it just all came together ...

I used two tiny pieces of lace to add extra wings to my butterfly and whilst I probably would never have put this together without the PDC challenge ... I'm pleased at how it turned out ...

Jingle Belles 

... is a brand new challenge blog put together by two incredibly talented ladies Lauren Bergold ... and ... SmilynStef ... basically it is to make a Christmas card each week, thereby having a good supply ready come next Christmas ... of course there is a challenge involved and you will have to pop along to the blog to see what this involves each week ... This week we are asked to make a card using something 'new' and something 'old' ... here is my card ...

I know it looks simple ... is simple ... but it took me ages !!?? ...

I used a scrap piece of gorgeous MME paper from over a year ago (kept every last bit of this) and my centrepiece is from a decoration that was on one of my Christmas gifts ... looove it!

My "new" ... is the sweet little glittered doily and  the paper lace ribbon ... both gifts from Stella ... I even used some of the bakers twine she wrapped my gift in ... 

So there is my first card for next Christmas ... if you want to get ahead too for next year why not join in? ... there are also going to be prizes ... now that's another great incentive!

I gotta go ... Ross is coming to visit!

Till soon

~ Ros ~

Happy New Year... thoughts

Hello ... How are you all? did you have a good New Years' Eve? We went out with some friends to a dinner dance at my husbands' golf club ... it was fun and we had fireworks and let loose some chinese lanterns ... thankfully the weather was kind to us ... no snow or rain. Yesterday I made a lovely dinner for us and then just took things easy for the rest of the day ... exhausted from all the festivities. Here in England we don't take down our tree or decorations until after 12th night ... I am so glad when that comes and I can finally put my home back in order. 
Anyway, New Years Eve is also when friends of our celebrate their anniversary ... I almost forgot so had to make a quick card for them ....

I opened my new pack of Tim Holtz papers ... oh how I love these ...

and it matched my CS perfectly ... not sure where I got this CS from though 

A sparkly heart from MF topped with a rose and some bling ... 

My sentiment was computer generated ... sometimes the quick cards are the best ... no over thinking!

A Thought ...

One last thing before I go to do some housework ... when I visit blogs for all of you who kindly enter our competition at CCCB to leave my comments, I try to always read everything you write ... I came across Patty's blog yesterday ... her opening lines captured me (so true) and led me to THIS wonderful blog ... Having read about the tragedy ... watched the video and seen the photos ... my heart ached and tears streamed my face ... As we sit here comfortable in our homes and often complaining about this or that ... spare a thought and share a prayer for this remarkable lady ... I know she will be in my thoughts for a long long time ...

Keep safe

~ Ros ~

Ring out the old ...

Here we are on the edge of 2010 ... For me personally it has been a very eventful year ... one I'm sure I could write a book about ... a journey that has taken me to every conceivable place in my soul ... And here I sit content ... a lot braver, a life fuller, and with lessons learned ... 

Today is always a day of reflection ... and yet also a day of hopeful anticipation ... On this day 8 years ago I found my Mum in a sleep she would never wake from ... I miss her - but I am no longer sad ... I celebrate her ... And I celebrate your friendships ... and want to share a couple of cards that just arrived 

This is from sweet Linda Robinson ... my fellow DT at CCCB ... Isn't that just a beautiful handmade card? "Thank You" Linda ... I love it!

And this beautiful card and precious handmade tag came from Steph ... All the way from Hawaii ... 

"Thank You" so much Steph ...

I can also tell you that the plaque in my previous post was very well received today (sigh of relief) ... both Mother and Daughter were delighted and I can see I will be requested to do a lot more of these! 

I hope you all have a wonderful New Year ... May peace and happiness be your companions throughout the coming year ... Thank you all so very much for your kindness

~ Ros ~

Beeswax disaster

A few months ago I picked up some books in one of our stores ... Melissa Frances and Anna Corba books .. I love to look at them all the time and I was determined to make some of the plaques Anna Corba style ... It had been my intention to make one for each of my family and friends as added Christmas gifts ...  I duly bought the melting pot and beeswax  recommended ... along with the plywood and black acrylic paint ...

However, time got away from me and I didn't get the opportunity ... So, last night I decided to do one as an extra gift for a friend's daughter who celebrates her birthday tomorrow ... I melted the wax (took ages) made the plaque and then made a complete mess of it! Yes, I watched all the videos and thought I had it all in hand, but obviously not ... I definitely need more practice! So here is the second plaque ... sans the beeswax! 

I painted a 5 x 7 piece of plywood in black acrylic ... then used some gorgeous Pink Paislee paper which I stamped in places using the beautiful stamp set from Eline's Huis and printed my photograph onto thin card stock after converting it to black and white ...

... after adhering the photo and smoothing everything with my brayer ... I should have then covered it with the melted beeswax ... but I left this and just punched holes to add some craft wire and  a little embellishing ...

My melting pot has been shoved to the side until I am ready to talk to it again ... patience is a virtue!

Till soon

~ Ros ~

P.S. Thanks so much for all your birthday wishes to Mikey ... so sweet of you and much appreciated