Christmas is coming ...

Hello and Good Morning!

It's time for a new challenge at City Crafter this morning but before I get into that can I just say how dreadfully sorry I am to hear of the devastation in US Midwest following the Tornadoes... 

I cannot begin to comprehend the plight of those who have been affected both there and in the Philippines ... The images we are seeing are horrendous

My heart and my prayers go out to you all ... 

This week at City Crafter we have the lovely Charlene hosting for us with her theme
 Decorate It
 Char is asking that we create a project that uses a wreath ... 

This is the first Christmas card I've made this year ... I'm so behind I know ... but with the postage rates and the cost of supplies I have decided to send mostly shop bought cards this year ... (Gasp)!
So here's my card

One of the many gifts I received from my beautiful friend Rebecca was a Christmas stamp set which included this sweet little deer, the snowflake and the sentiment ... 

I cut my sparkly wreaths using the Cameo and fussy cut the little deer ... I used a white gel pen to add a few details to him first and a black pen to give him some hooves and a nose ... then a sparkly eye

Our Guest Designer this week and for the following 3 weeks is the lovely 

Lisette aka Mrs Beez

Please hop over to the blog and take a look at her lovely creation together with those of the rest of the team ... The winner of this challenge will also have a Guest spot with us at CCCB so get creating and link up your entry Here

Thanks so much for your visit ... Have a lovely day and keep safe

~ Ros ~

Eyes

Hello there ...

So nice of you to stop by ... I hope you are enjoying your weekend

It's a new prompt at Our Beautiful World today

... and Kirsty has picked the word Eye(s) for us

They say the Eyes are the mirror of the soul ... I happen to believe that ... 

Eyes...

There are the Eyes of the wise

This little guy was a gift from a friend and he sits in my craft room looking over me and my iMac 

There are painted Eyes

I've seen this ship many times ... often moored in Palma bay

Then there are Eyes that keep watch ... can you see the strange reflection in this little guy's Eye?

Yep, he's watching me watching him ... and another set of Eyes are watching him watching me

... hoping that there may be a few nuts left to spare

There are unseeing Eyes ... that warn off predators ... like on this butterfly wing

But are there any Eyes more beautiful than that of an innocent child?

... Or those of an animal learning to trust ...

Or those of a faithful friend ... Eyes filled with devotion and unconditional love 

... and when they close for the last time ... they take a piece of your heart with them

Link up with us this week at 

Our Beautiful World

Till soon

~ Ros ~

CAS-ology

Hey there ...

I'm not sure where the week went but I'm popping in with a last minute card for the CASology challenge this week where the cue card is "Triangle"

I spent the whole day yesterday trying to do some organising in my little creative space and I came across the long abandoned double sided 

embossing plates that came with my first Big Shot ... I hardly ever used them ... truth be told I wasn't sure about how to really ... 

It occurred to me today that if I can rub ink on the normal embossing folders then maybe I could on these solid plates - so I did and this was the result

I really like the look ... like smeared paint, imperfect in places but nevertheless a nice effect

So a simple CAS card ... with triangles

Enjoy your weekend 

Till soon

~ Ros ~

Altered Container

Hello ... 
I hope you are well and having a good start to the week ...

My cold is easing and I'm feeling much better now ... Thanks ever so much for your kind wishes... It really cheers me up reading your comments.

It's a new challenge at City Crafter today and I am hosting this week ...

I saw this beautiful photo on Tumblr

Source

... those prettily decorated buckets really speak to my heart ...

So the challenge this week is to Make or Decorate a Container

 It can be anything from a paper bag to a bucket!

I had a rather tatty looking container that I usually keep my fresh herbs in ... sorry that the photo is blurred but this is just to show you the "Before"

It was calling out for some attention ...

I know these are not herbs ... Lol! they're just for decoration

I used some images from The Graphics Fairy for this and printed them on Decal Paper

... and of course I had to use some artificial lavender 

This look so much prettier on my windowsill now

Our Guest Designer this week is the lovely and very talented Milagros - our winner from week 178 ... hop over to her blog and be inspired! 

We are offering a GD spot to this weeks' winner too ... so get crafty and come join us ...

Here's the link to the CCCB blog so you can check out all the creations from the team

Thanks so much for your visit ... Enjoy the rest of your week

Till soon

~ Ros ~

Ethereal ...

Happy Sunday to you all 

Here in the UK it's Remembrance Day

Source

Please God one day there will be peace ...

Today of course is the start of a new prompt at 

Our Beautiful World

This week it has been chosen for us by Bonita ... and what a terrific prompt it is 

"Ethereal"

Definition

adjective

1. 1.

   extremely delicate and light in a way that seems not to be of this world.

   "her ethereal beauty"

   
   

   
   

   I took this shot through the windscreen of the car when we were travelling along the motorway - following a heavy storm the sky began to glow

   
   

   

   
   

   ... and I added the flashes of green lights using Picmonkey

   
   

   This was the original

   
   

   

   
   

   Very Ethereal looking to me

   
   

   When we were in Gibraltar last year on our cruise holiday ... we arrived in thick fog and out of the fog I could just make out another ship ... Does this look like a ghost ship to you?

   
   

   

   
   

   Again a little overlay from Picmonkey ...

   
   

   The caves within the Rock of Gibraltar store many hidden secrets ... apart from the tunnels and secret bases from WW11 ... there is a theatre for concerts ... surrounded by amazing Stalactites and Stalacmites

   
   

   

   
   

   (Edited with Picmonkey)

   
   

   

   
   

   These are unedited

   
   

   

   
   

   

   
   

   It is the most enchanting place and to me it has an Ethereal quality

   
   

   I have one last photo to show you ... this was taken through the aeroplane window when we were flying off somewhere ... I honestly cannot remember if it is a shot of the Alps or the Pyrenees

   
   

   

   
   

   Overlay effects from Picmonkey

   
   

   So there you have it ... my Ethereal photos for this week ... I'm really looking forward to seeing yours

   I'm off to the blog to see what my fellow team members have to share ... won't you join me?

   
   

   Till soon

   
   

   ~ Ros ~

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

Winter Birthdays

Hello ...

It's a beautiful sunny Saturday here ... and I'm taking a minute to share a card I've made for a friend's birthday ... 

It's been so dull that taking photos has been a nightmare ... But I think you can see that I used some pretty paper from MME along with the rich pink/red paper from a Dear Lizzy range

I love this colour combination ... and It's a change for me ... must be because I've been feeling so low that I needed something bright and cheerful to play with

The card base was ordinary white card stock and I took one of the digital Pink Petticoat Ombre papers - "soft sage" ... tweaked the colour a little to match the paper and ran it through my printer - I was pleased with the result.

I was also commissioned to make a New Home card - which I did - and sent it off without photographing it first ... do you ever do that? 

I hope you have a lovely weekend ... From choice I would just like to stay in my little craft room but now that DH has been given the all clear to drive - I just know I am going to be hounded to go out with him somewhere ...

I'll be back tomorrow for a new prompt at Our Beautiful World ... 

Till then - keep safe and thanks so much for stopping by

~ Ros ~