Little Album

I had a call last week from a lady at the WI (Womens Institute) ... asking if I would do a talk for them and perhaps have them create a little something ... Wow! Seems one of my friends mentioned my book houses ... So the talk I will be giving in April will be about books ... creating them ... and the many ways to use unwanted books ... after which I shall get each of them to make one of these

As I sold a lot of these last year .. I need to get cracking and make some more to show together with a few other things ... so yesterday I made a little album which will be going to my sweet SIL ... using a little book I picked up for a £1 ...

One of the things I thought I'd show them, is how you can transform this sweet little book ...

into a keepsake when the children have no more use of it

I warn you now that there are quite a few photos

Of course this album is all about Sophia ... and I used Prima's Jack and Jill papers throughout .. mine was a 6x6 pad I had but the large papers are available at Pixie Dust Paperie too

There are some MF embellishments here too and bits and bobs from my stash

Some of these embellies I have had for ages ... so nice to be able to use them up

She's growing up fast ...

... and is quite a dare devil!

... even with her tongue out she's cute! And I added a little envelope for my SIL to put her own notes in 

How I love to look at fat little books... Yep, this will definitely look more interesting on a coffee table ...

Before I go I just want to show you some "happy birthday mail" I got yesterday from lovely Linda Robinson

Such a beautiful card and just look at that fabric wrapping!

What gorgeous gifts! I LOVE them!

Thanks so much Linda ... You are a treasure!

Well that's all for today ... Thanks for stopping by ... Have a beautiful day

~ Ros ~

City Crafter Week 92

"Pretty Inside and Out"

That's the challenge this week at City Crafter ... hosted by our lovely Kirsty ... The challenge is to make a card - as pretty on the inside as the outside ... 

Our Guest Designer this week is Lizzie Droege ... not just a talented crafter ... but her love of all things pink, pretty and pastel ... make her blog one of the prettiest around ... Well worth a visit!

Ok, so on to my card 

Sweet Prima papers, a die cut frame with some distress ink on the edges ... some pretty lace, rhinestones , flower and yes black leaves ... 

And that gorgeous vellum butterfly was from a set my friend  Ira sent me ... 

And this is the inside ...

Not overly decorated ... I like the cleanness of this ... again prima papers and those pretty corner pieces were also a gift from the lovely Ira

So, are you going to join the challenge this week? ... I'd love to see your creations ... I do hope you'll hop over to the blog and take a peek at the lovely creations from Lizzie and the rest of the DT

Have a wonderful day ... 

Till soon

~ Ros ~

Jingle Belles week 2

Hi there ...

I've had a busy weekend ... how about you? 

My DH doesn't do things by halves here ... when he gets it into his head to decorate ... he can't stick to one room ... we have to do at least 3 things at once ... so I have had to come up with colours, papers and paint ... and I can't tell you how many stores I've visited looking for a suite to sit on ... and it's sooo cold here.

So in between all this ... doctors appointments and trying to keep up with my DT projects ... I finally got to make my card for this weeks' challenge at Jingle Belles Rock ... My sweet friend Kirsty is guesting this week and has given us a sketch challenge ... and she is also giving away one of the lovely Pixie Dust Paperie kits! Head over to Jingle Belles blog for all the details ...

I confess I am struggling to get into Christmas cards again ... I kind of just want to leave Christmas behind and head towards Spring ... 

Anyway here's my card ...

I cut an aperture using a Spell Binders die and backed it with some scrap paper from the last of my MF Christmas paper ... The branch and birdie were cut on my Silhouette and I glittered the branch and leaves

I think I need to invest in a new camera ... my photos always seem blurry ...

On another note ... my sweet Aunt rang to see if I was still happy to go on our cruise after seeing the Costa Concordia tragedy ... I've seen this ship quite a few times when I have been in Palma ... my heart goes out to everyone affected by this ... But I am still determined to go to Norway ... What will be will be... 

I need to dash ... I hope you all have a lovely day ... I'll be back tomorrow 

Thanks for stopping by today

~ Ros ~

Friday the 13th

Yesterday was a kind of sweet and sour day ... It was my birthday ... but also one of those days when wonder if you've landed in another dimension ... when nothing is as you planned and very quickly everything starts going downhill ... It was the one morning I didn't read my 365 day devotional ... I should have ... because when I read it I would have know it was going to be one of 'those' days 

Quote from January 12

Let me prepare you for the day that stretches out before you. I know exactly what this day will contain whereas you only have a vague idea ....... 

.......... I will not show you the road ahead but I will equip you for the journey ....

Perhaps the cat (now legally adopted by us, I might add) howling from 6am to 7:30 should have alerted me ... then again it should have been when I walked down the stairs admiring my newly decorated walls ... only to see huge great marks on the paper ... But, No - I remained optimistic ... these things could (and would) be fixed ... It's my birthday ... All will be well ... And my friends were coming today ...

 Have you ever put washing in your machine only to find someone left a tissue in a pocket and everything is covered in fibres? Well that was the next thing to happen ... except it wasn't a tissue ... is was a throw ... and all the washing was covered in a trillion fibres ... At this point I was beginning to think I'd slept a day ... surely this was Friday 13th?... 

But it was seeing the only room in the house - where I had planned to sit and chat with my friends, put up my cards and display my flowers ... had been painted ... Yep, painted ... by my husband... It was then  that a great big lump rose in my throat ...

But things picked up ... My so apologetic DH fixed up the room for my guests ... and everyone and I do mean everyone ... decorators included ... turned up at the same time!!??

So yes lots of things went wrong'(I'm not even going to get on the subject of my hospital appointment ... nor how a container of sugar ended up on my floor) ...

But then lots of good things happened too ... I had a visit from friends from the old neighbourhood ... and my old work friend too ... I had lovely bouquets of flowers

Fabulous cards ... including this gorgeous handmade card from Cindy all the way from New Orleans

and these beauties from Stella

together with some prettily wrapped packages

ok ... there was another one but I was impatient and opened it before I thought to take a picture ... so here are the contents

Just look at the gorgeous bracelet 

And as well as all this ... CCCB put a post on especially for me and my lovely DT colleagues made me beautiful cards ...

"Thank You"

To all of you ... 

To all of you who left messages on Facebook ... all of you who sent e-cards ... all of you who emailed and to all of you who left comments and birthday wishes ... you are the nicest most thoughtful people on the planet and I really appreciate your friendship

Have a Wonderful Day

~ Ros ~

Cr84FN challenge

It's been positively ages since I entered a challenge at CR84FN ...  due to other commitments I don't always have the time ... but these last few days we have the decorators in, which means someone has to be here and it's always me ... I think my husband was a gipsy in a former life ... he just can't stay indoors. But of course that gives me more time to play ... This is a card for a sweet friend of mine who is now in her 80's and has a birthday very soon ...

The colour combo at CR84FN this week are Blue Orange Yellow and this is the lovely vibrant photo

My card is quite a simple one ...

The little bird is a transparency from a book a bought ages ago ... trouble is everything sticks to it so if you see little marks ... it is bits of glitter from the frame

Those pretty little pearls were a gift from sweet Suzz

and the lovely pin is handmade from my lovely friend June who also sent me these

... a lovely handmade ornament 

... and this adorable tiny decorated cotton reel with beautiful pins

Thank you June ...

Now I have to go make a cup of tea for the workers ... have yourselves a lovely day

~ Ros ~

City Crafter 'Back to Black"

Hello

This week it's my turn to host the challenge at City Crafter ... It's not always easy to come up with a challenge and sometimes I really have to get my thinking cap on ... But having seen so many creations with silhouettes on ... I thought that would make a great challenge for this week ... So I am challenging you to make a card or project with a silhouette on ... this can be a die cut ... a stamp ... whatever you choose BUT it must be Black ... Quite simple really ...

My card was made for my friends daughter who recently celebrated her 24th birthday... the image was cut on my Silhouette Cameo ... as was the frame ... and the papers are from Basic Grey

... a handmade flower and an pretty earring (sans the back), together with some rhinestones finish this card off ...

We have a fabulous Guest Designer this week ... the lovely June Houck ... one of the sweetest people in Blog Land ... and our sponsor this week is Crop Stop  ... head over to the City Crafter blog for full details of this weeks prize and to see all the lovely projects done by our Design Team and our Guest Designer ...

I hope you can join in with us this week 

Till soon .. keep safe

~ Ros ~