City Crafter Challenge 171

Hi there ...

It's time for a new challenge at City Crafter this morning and this week we are being sponsored by

"Paper Sweeties"

The amazing creations of Debbie Marcinkiewicz

Paper Sweeties is celebrating their first year and the winner of this week's challenge will receive a $25 gift certificate to spend in the store ... Please click the links to visit the store and see all the lovely goods available

So you are wondering what the challenge is this week? Well it's 

Polka Dots

Debbie kindly supplied the DT with stamps of their choice for this challenge ... I chose the beautiful Wedding Day stamps

I love this image of the bride and groom and couldn't resist adding some tulle and sparkles to her dress

Who says you can't have polka dots on wedding cards hee hee ...

Also this week we have the lovely Sue Lelli Guesting for us ... In fact Sue is kindly going to be with us for the whole month! She is such a sweet and talented lady ... please give her a warm welcome

Don't forget to visit the City Crafter Blog and check out the beautiful creations from the rest of the team ...

Grateful thanks to Debbie and Paper Sweeties 

Till soon

~ Ros ~

Just Us Girls 200th Challenge

Good Morning!

I noticed that Just Us Girls  is up to their 200th Challenge... That's quite a milestone!

This week it's a sketch challenge

As the weather here has been wet and windy I found some time yesterday to play along ... 

This is for a friend of mine who has a birthday in a couple of weeks ...

I've used the Pink Petticoat Ombre collection to print my card ... giving it that lovely graduated colour

The peeled paint paper is by Fancy Pants and the blue / green paper is another digital from (the no longer) Design House Digitals

The lovely jar is from a set of digital images by Iralamija ... I printed it onto paper first then onto acetate ... sliding the flower stems behind the acetate ... It's hard to see on the photos but it does look like a glass jar

I've been using these jar images a lot lately ... you'll see in some up coming projects ... But I think this is one of my favourite colour combinations

Ok ... I've a lot to do today and I think Ross is also coming to see me with my brother and SIL ... so better dash

Thanks so much for your visit 

Have a beautiful day

~ Ros ~

August

Good morning!

I almost forgot what day it was ... This week has been so full of ups and downs ... 

But as it is Sunday ... it's a new prompt at

Our Beautiful World

Where we share our photos from around the world and ask that you share yours 

This week's prompt is simply August 

It's been a little hectic here for me to be taking many photos ... But I did capture this little guy

He's a regular in my garden and as you can see ... always stealing the nuts from the bird feeder

It's too early for the nuts on the trees just yet so I guess he's getting his fill here first.

As you can see ... I did a little trickery with this shot ... 

I opened it in Printshop and overlaid it with a calendar transparency ... Just one I found on the internet

My husband is not so fond of this little guy ... Because he keeps digging up the flower pots and burying the nuts ... the crazy thing is ... the magpies keep watch and once the squirrel has left ... down comes Mr Magpie - digs up the nuts and flies off with them!

The beginning of August always brings new flowers too ... just as some are fading ... another part of the garden starts to bloom ... 

These  pretties spread each year and take over if you let them ... I'm not sure what they are called but the bees just love them ...

What is August like in your part of the world? I would love see ... please link up at Our Beautiful World and have a look on the blog at what my friends around the globe are sharing ...

Thanks for looking in

Enjoy your Sunday and keep safe

~ Ros ~

2 Cards ... The same ... But Different

Hi there ...

I got to meet up with my GF's for lunch today ... It's been awhile and it was so good to catch up 

It's still warm here with a little welcome rain thrown in ... We've had a lovely summer this year

August brings more birthdays and anniversaries when cards need to be made - a couple of which are for men ... So these two cards are in essence the same ... but different

Both use wine labels from my blog friend Jacqueline ... her work is so inspiring and I bought these labels but never got around to using them until now - This first card is for a friend

I've used Pink Petticoat Ombre digital papers for both cards ... This one Soft Sage and I used distress stains on the label

I stamped and gold embossed black cardstock before cutting the 'birthday' die from PTI

and as an embellishment I cut slices from a wine cork ... embossed that too

This next card is for one of my brothers ... I used the Irish linen from the Ombre collection on this card

... again virtually the same process as the first card

I love the effect from the cork ... I think if I had used red embossing powder it would resemble a seal ... maybe I'll try that next time

It just occurred to me that I have included something to do with wine on my brother's last 3 cards ... oops! I hope he doesn't take it the wrong way - 

He retires from the Royal Navy shortly - I think he's done over 40years and I know he's looking forward to a new life

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend ... Thanks so much for your visit

Till soon

~ Ros ~

A Mixed Media Challenge

Hello there ... 

It's the first day of August and we are expecting a Spanish Plume today ... that means very hot weather! A big difference from yesterday when it was cool, wet and stormy - which is generally how it is when we have a funeral to attend...

At the weekend my sweet great nephew Ross paid us a visit with his Grandfather and he loves to play on my computer making videos of himself being silly ... So whilst he played I played ... 

I've wanted to join in Mona's Mixed Media Colour Challenge for a while even though I have limited supplies ... But I did improvise a little ...

This is the colour scheme

I started with this little tin - the smallest from a set of 3, which, you as you can see, had faded badly from sitting on my windowsill

And this is the end result 

After covering the top and sides with papers I got out my paints and used some bubble wrap to make those white dots and used my fingers and a wet tissue to smear some paint over the paper

I don't have any stencils so I cut a heart shape from a piece of plastic and used modelling paste mixed with paint to make those hearts ... and I dragged a cocktail stick through the sides to get some texture ... Ok, they are not perfect but that's what mixed media is about isn't it ... creativity?

I also used Washi tape, rubons, stamps, lace, distress ink, a pen nib, a couple of sparkly stones and a rose ...

Well it looks a little brighter than before ... Now I have 2 more to do

Thanks for stopping by ...

Have a lovely day

~ Ros ~

Photo Inspiration Papercraft Star

Hi there!

It's Wednesday and that means a new Photo Inspiration challenge at

Papercraft Star

Here is this weeks photo

How cute are those tin can birdhouses?

Ok, so you don't have to go with the birdhouses ... but I did ... just couldn't resist

4 little birdhouses that hold battery operated candles ... or do they look more like windmills? Mmmm...

These were so easy to make ... I used one of those cardboard tubes they put wrapping paper around as a template ... the candles fitted snuggly inside ... I couldn't punch the hole through the tube so I cut card 

and wrapped it around the tube to get the correct size - then punched a hole in my card and joined the edges

The tops were made using a circle die - cutting a 1/4 of the circle away and folding to make a cone

I had lots of rubons from way back when ... so I used them to decorate - don't be afraid to cut them layer them and mix and match them ... once they are on there they look fine ... you can see I used a few different ones on this

And to show you how I did the candle ... 

I cut a small piece of the tube I used as the template and popped the candle in ... that meant it fitted snuggly inside the birdhouse ... then I punched a circle ... cut a rectangle to enable me to get to the switch and adhered to the base with a little piece of double sided foam tape ... It pulls of easily if I need to change the candle

As a final touch ... I added a pinwheel to each one ... I didn't make these - I bought a whole packet in the 'party' section of a local store for 99p ... where I also bought the mirror for 99p ... just a few strips of washi tape on the frame and we're done!

Sorry I wasn't able to take a photo of them lit ... 

Ok ... so it's over to you now to see what your interpretation of this photo is ... Please link up to Papercraft Star by next Monday evening ... and take a look at the inspiration from the rest of the design  team too.

We are having the funeral for our cousin today so I'd better say goodbye for now 

Have a lovely day

~ Ros ~