September ...

Yep, it definitely is September today ... 

Soooo sorry to all of you bloggers I threw into a flurry yesterday 

It was cold and very September...ish yesterday but today the sun is shining and despite the fact that I was feeling really unwell ... it turned out a good day for me ... My blog book came and I am absolutely delighted with it ... Sweet Linda Robinson passed on the link and after a few chats with my UK friend Deb I ordered my own book and seeing it really made my day ... I can't believe how big it is!

I put a 12" ruler next to it ... look 

... and inside ...

A dedication to you all

Some of the pictures

There are 329 pages (just one full year of my blog) ... and I have to say that when my husband saw it ... he was blown away ... I confess that he hasn't always been supportive of my hobby and seeing what I have done in one year really took his breath away ... yep, this book was worth every dollar!

What else have I been doing ... well lots really ... I even taught myself to crochet hearts last night ... they're not perfect (but very addictive)  ... I'll show them at a later date ... I have some more notebooks and matching cards to share which I made for the church sale using graphics from The Graphic Fairy and a little bit of work in Print shop 

a closer look

Just love those birds 

And here are the matching cards 

So that's it for today ... 

I hope you have a wonderful day ... I need to change the tax disc on my car now whilst I remember 

sheesh! ... six months just flies by!

Till soon keep safe and thanks for stopping by

~ Ros ~

Baby frame ...

Hello and good morning ... 

The 1st of September already!

I'm not too well today ... nothing serious just one of those colds that that makes you feel like you just want to curl up and snooze ... I enjoyed my day in Wales yesterday ... It rained all the way there but miraculously stopped once we arrived at our destination ... 

The countryside was lush with greenery and there are some spectacular sights to be seen on the mountains ... this is walking country and so many dogs were out accompanying their owners .... from the tiniest of pups to the biggest of Pyrenean mountain dogs ... I was in seventh heaven ... it took me ages to walk a small row of shops because I had to stop and stroke each one ... I stopped in at my brother's house on the way home as Ross had arrived for a 12 day stay and I came home exhausted!

I only picked up a couple of things ... these pretty doilies 

Just look how much they cost

For someone like me who is not good at crocheting ... I was delighted!

And how could I not get this ...

Guess you know who this is going to ... 

I have a little project to share ... I saw a beautiful frame in one of our famous stores here in the UK and sort of 'borrowed' the idea ... thought I could make it for much less than they were charging and hey you know me ... I love to try different things ...

The glass makes it a little difficult to photograph but you get the idea ...

The aqua post card was made by me using both photo shop and print shop because I wanted it to match my BG paper and the other one was from the Graphics Fairy  ... I also added the stamps from the Graphic Fairy ... the digital bear stamp is from Meljen Designs which I half 'painted' and then reprinted onto CS ... fussy cut and mounted on the original one printed on the post cards ...

I added some embellishments and the little pegs so that photos can be clipped on ...

I have to say that I am pleased with how this turned out and will be making more of these ... I did buy the frames from the store I saw these in so I don't feel too bad about pinching their idea ...

Now I have some catching up to do visiting you all ... 

Have a lovely day and thanks for stopping by 

Till soon

~ Ros ~

EDIT >>> Why did I think it was September already ??? ... Told you I wasn't feeling well ... Just ignore me ... 

All Dressed up for CCCB

Happy Tuesday to you ...

Time for another challenge at City Crafter and this week we have our creator Kirsty to thank for the lovely inspiration photo and the challenge ...

... which as the title suggests is to make a card or project with an image of a Dress or Dress Form ... isn't that fun? ... Such a popular theme in the crafting world right now so I hope that you will all join in ...

I so enjoyed this challenge and can't wait to see what you all come up with ... here's my card

The hardest part was making the little necklace ... so fiddly!

I stamped a dress form image from my Craft secrets stamp set and paper pieced the bodice and cut a skirt freehand ... gorgeous papers from Prima printery ...

Yep ... really Love this challenge!

Please hop over to the blog and check out the lovely work from the rest of the team and our lovely Guest Designer Inger Harding ... a lady who makes the most beautiful creations... you won't be disappointed ...

I'm keeping this post short as I am off to North Wales for the day!! My hubby is taking my friend and I for a day out at Betws -y - Coed ... fingers crossed it doesn't rain! 

Have a beautiful day and thanks so much for stopping by 

~ Ros ~

Jingle Belles Card 35

Hello there

I hope you are all ok ... and that all of you affected by the hurricane are doing alright ... I've been following the reports and as I have a dear friend in NJ I was happy to hear that she and her family are fine ... I hope you are too ... my thoughts are with you 

It's turning to autumn quickly here ... the weekend was a mix of chilly winds and rain with the occasional glimpse of the sun ... we have some on going work here at home and that gave me a chance to keep out of the way in my craft room so I have a few things to share this week but right now I have my 35th card for the Jingle Belles challenge... the talented Leslie aka The Crooked Stamper has set this weeks' challenge The Midas Touch ... We are to use Gold and or Silver as our main focus with a teeny bit of either cream or white ... I won't say this was an easy one for me ... far from it ... my first card ended up in the bin ... and I am still not sure I'm happy with this one ... And trying to photograph anything 'shiny' is so hard!

Anyway here we go ... my card

Not a lot to say really ... it's gold and silver ... with a touch of white and cream ... it's shiny, glittery ... hard to photograph and stashed in my Christmas card box ...

I love gold ... I love silver ... but as a main focus? Well ... I struggled ... For the sake of my sanity or what's left of it I don't think I want to look at gold and silver for a long time I can tell you! 

I'll be back tomorrow with the new challenge at City Crafter ... see you then

Thanks so much for stopping by ... Have a good day 

~ Ros ~

Post Box

Hello sweet blog friends ...
I hope you are all ok ... I have been keeping an eye on the news reports and see that there have been evacuations in some parts of New York and New Jersey due to the impending Hurricane  Irene 
Please know that you are in my thoughts and my prayers and I hope you will all be safe ...


This morning we had typical Bank Holiday weather ... Heavy rain Tomorrow in Liverpool  marks the start of the Matthew Street festival too ... Thousands of people flock here every year as the city plays host to many local bands and for the next few days the streets will be full and lively with music ...

(courtesy of Spycandy)

(courtesy of Liverpool Echo)

 Thankfully blue skies are now starting to appear ...


I have a little something to share ... when I saw that my sweet talented blog friend Jacira is hosting the challenge at
 So Desafios blogspot 
" make a vintage project for the home" ... It gave me an opportunity not only to support my friend ... but to create something long overdue ... I have been so fortunate in having received many beautiful handcrafted cards and tags from lots of you since I started blogging .. I keep and cherish each and every one ... 

But where to keep them? 
Well I started with this box from the kitty food 

And with the help of some pretty My Minds Eye paper ... a few graphics from The Graphics Fairy and some embellishment ... It was transformed to this

The beautiful flower and tag came from Joanne ... 

... a closer look ...

A few pictures of the reverse side

That pretty grey organza was part of a huge piece given to me by a friend ... she had a bouquet of flowers wrapped in it ... maybe I will make some flowers from the vast amount I have left ...

And now my beautiful keepsakes have somewhere pretty to live and my Post Box it fits the challenge too

Please keep safe my friends and have a good day

Till soon

~ Ros ~

Winter berries Birds and Bargains

Hi there ...

There's an autumnal chill in the air today and I'm feeling like I have a cold coming on ... But I have a few photos to share with you ... I've been walking around my garden and this year there is an abundance of berries ... I know here in the UK it is said that many berries signify a harsh winter ... well we have had a lot of harsh winters but it is good to know that the birds have food a plenty at the moment ... even though the roses are still blooming ...

Dew covered this morning ... 

And here are some of the berries from the trees overhanging my garden ...

Hawthorne ... the branches bending under the weight ... but don't they look Christmassy

I don't know what these black ones are ... I thought they were sloe berries ... but they grow quite tall 

Fat juicy Elderberries ... one stem already stripped 

These are in my garden and not yet ripe ... they will be an abundance of bright orange ... "Firethorne" and aptly named

Again I don't know what these are called but they grow everywhere ... this is the first year I have noticed so many berries

And can you spot the little Hazelnut hiding here? 

And this little cutie comes a calling to my window ... asking for bread ...

Not fazed by the kitty ...

And grateful for his daily bread

And one final thing to share with you today ... I went to the Art shop where I get some bargains ... I guess many people start to craft and then for one reason or another either off load their stash or the things they no longer want ... to my benefit ... as this shop sells them at very reduced prices ... so here are just 2 of my bargains yesterday ...

Sizzix Movers and shapers 

I love my Sizzix Big shot ... And would you believe this cost me £8... ($13)? Yep pretty please with that!

One other thing I was toying with buying was a Xyron machine ... I'd seen it there each time I went and yesterday decided I would take it ... it may be useful when I do things for Thursday Club ... The sweet young man who runs the shop knows me quite well by now and he said he would reduced this if I wanted it because it had been there a while

Perfect ... all boxed and pristine ... the only thing it didn't have was the adhesive cartridge ... the laminating one was inside (I've ordered the adhesive cartridge on the web) ... Well I couldn't leave this behind ... not when he offered to let me have if for £5...($8)!! I know .... can you believe it?

So I would be interested to know if you have one of these and what you think about it ... there is a DVD with it but I am a novice where this is concerned ...

Well that's all for now ... I hope I didn't bore you ...

Have a lovely day

~ Ros ~