Hello Baby Giraffe

Hello everyone,

As promised a new card to post, well new to my blog, but made a while ago.

As I have been feeling a bit down, my card making has been affected as well, my mojo had well and truly 'left the building'.  So, any cards that I made were pared down as I really didn't have the patience to create anything elaborate.

This one was for my Dad's Birthday.

I adore this image, those eyelashes!  As you can see I loved doing the colouring, it was like therapy, but when it came down to making the card I failed in the embellishment department.  Having said that I quite like the way it turned out in the end.

Card recipe:

Image: A Day For Daisies 'Hello Baby Giraffe' coloured with my Copics
Sentiment: Computer generated using the font 'Fabulous 50's' & 'Britannic
Tag Die: Sizzix Framelits ~ Tags: Sentiments
Leaf Die: Simon Says Stamp 'Clustered Leaves'
Brad: Doodlebug Sugar Coated Glitter Brad 'Limeade'

So, note to self, always write down what you have used to make a card, it has taken me forever to remember what was used on this card and looking at some of my lovely fellow card makers blogs, I need to be a bit more 'artistic' with my photos.

That's it for this week, hope you are all well and if there is anyone still following my little blog, any comments you make are always gratefully received.

Duke

Hello my (hopefully) loyal blog friends.

I have been conspicuous by my absence once again, I mean seriously, 5 months since my last post!!

I have no excuses, except life getting in the way.

I have been making cards, and have photos of everything, but just finding the time to blog has been beyond me.

This is a card made for a male friend, I absolutely adore this image from Mo Manning and once I had purchased it couldn't wait to use it, I think it is perfect for male cards.

I kept the card simple, as I think the image is quite a statement on its own, plus adding lots of embellishments on male cards never seems to work for me.

There has been another 'small' distraction in the household for the last couple of months .....

Please meet Misty

Misty is a Westie and is now 4 months old, she is such a naughty puppy, but adorable.  I have wanted a Westie like forever and finally I have one (didn't think hubby would let me get her, but he did).

Card recipe:

Image: 'Duke' Mo's Digital Pencil coloured with my Copics

Sentiment: Craftwork Cards (sadly it doesn't look as though these are still available)

Brad from my stash

Wow that was a simple card, hardly any ingredients!!

Thank you for visiting, and I really appreciate any comments that you leave.

Shih Tzu's & Lhasa Apso's

Hello my friends,

What fabulous weather we are having in these here parts at the moment.  I am trying to keep up with the garden, but fighting a losing battle!

We had friends here last weekend and they were wonderful, spent the whole time helping hubby and I with so many chores.  We got the sit on lawnmower working and moved a load of garden ornaments from where they had been dumped seven months ago in one of our paddocks (they are incredibly heavy).  We removed a cupboard in what I call the utility room, to allow me to have my tumble drier in that room, there has been some severe muppetry going on in this house, as we removed the cupboard it got stuck and at first we thought it was the skirting board that was stopping it from coming out, but no, whoever installed the cupboard had actually cut a hole in the floor tile to accommodate the leg!!  These plastic legs are adjustable, they screw up or down to allow for uneven floor surfaces enabling the fitter to get a level cupboard.  WHO in their right mind would cut a hole in the floor tile?  So, a relatively small job has now turned into something more labour intensive.  Fortunately we discovered the offcuts of these tiles in one of our fields, so now hubby has got to try and patch them in.

On to my card.  This was made for my Stepsister who has a couple of Shih Tzu's, the more keen dog lovers may note that this isn't a Shih Tzu it is actually a Lhasa Apso, but to be fair it looks just like her male dog Chester and of course I coloured it to match his fur colouring, adding the little bone shaped 'tag' myself to match the one he has on his collar.

Card recipe:

Image: Lhasa Apso ~ Mo's Digital Pencil coloured with Copics

Sentiment: Tiddly Inks ~ Birthday Wishes

Flowers from stash

Tiny beads (in flower centres) actually are 'nail art' beads and were purchased off a seller on ebay

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Critters & Creatures Linky Party 5
Our Crafty Corner ~ Challenge 10 'Anything Goes'
Crafting With Dragonflies ~ Challenge #58 'Animals'

Thank you for visiting and I really appreciate any comments that you leave.

Bees

Hello blog buddies,

I have decided to surface yet again!

I am still struggling to get my craft room sorted, the house move has had a huge impact on everything!  14 years worth of stuff transported from our old house by ourselves (we couldn't get a removal company for the date we wanted to move) to the new house.  It has forced me to go through every box and question whether I want the items in them or not.  An awful lot of the 'stuff' was in our huge loft in the last house and very much out of sight, so a massive clearout has ensued!  We should really have done all this before we moved.

I have been ebaying and have made several trips to the local recycling centre in an effort to reduce the piles of 'stuff' down.

Anyway, amidst all this chaos I have made a card for someone who keeps bees and as this stamp had never been inked up before, I thought it was a perfect opportunity to do so.

CARD RECIPE

Image: Stamps Happen ~ #60058 Bees
Copic Markers
Cardstock: PTI 'Stampers Select white cardstock'
Sentiment: Simon Says Stamp 'Happy Birthday' die
Embossing folder (used on edge of card): Darice 'Honeycomb Background'
Gems (used on the end of the Bee's antenae) from my stash
Clear Wink of Stella (used on the wings)

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Crafty Sentiment Designs ~ Somethings With Wings
Critters & Creatures ~ Anything Goes

So, that's all for today, back to the sorting out for me.

Thank you for visiting my little blog and I'll see you soon.

Over The Threshold

Well hello there everyone!

I have been a VERY bad blogger and indeed blog friend for several months now *slapped wrist*

I have a whole host of reasons why I haven't been around, but I won't bore you all with them on here ~ except maybe one, the house has been decorated ~ finally!  When we moved to this house 14 years ago, the guest room was a psycedelic green (it was a young boy's bedroom previously)!!  Up until a few weeks ago it was still that same green!  It is now a very relaxing 'Egyptian Cotton' which is a Dulux paint colour, in fact almost the whole house is now painted in this colour.  I cannot believe we have subjected our house guests to that 'nightmare inducing' green colour for all that time!!  On the odd occasion I have had to vacate our main bedroom (hubby snoring etc, etc) I have preferred to go and sleep on the sofa in the lounge than it that room ~ now that should have told me something.

Also, my BIG news is we have another fur baby ~ yes I know five dogs is a bit excessive, but if you could see him you would melt as well!  In fact here he is:-

His name is Oswald and he is from Romania!  He is a little street dog that was captured by the awful 'dog catchers' and thrown into one of the even more awful 'Kill Shelters' out there.  There is a truly wonderful man called Mihai Grigorie who has a rescue called M.G. Rescue out in Romania that saved Oswald (and countless others) from that hell hole.  We adopted him and he was transported 1,500 miles to be here with us and we have just had his story published in the current (August) edition of Dogs Today magazine *proud face*.

Right, after that little catch up I do have a card to share today and there is a link to the decorating story above.

This was my first commission to do some Wedding Invitations, we had the decorators come round to see what needed doing and give us a quote.  They are a Husband and Wife team, but at the time were not married, when they found out I make cards their faces lit up and said 'we need to get some Wedding Invitations made', so I asked when the Wedding was and they said 23rd May Bank Holiday weekend at that time it was 12th May, so I asked how many they were going to need and they said about ten ~ whew, I had visions of trying to knock out a couple of hundred in a week and a half!!

Anyway they sent me an image they had found on the tinter web that they liked and I came up with this digi image that I already had which was very similar, but a lot more 'classy'.  Red was chosen because her bouquet had red flowers in it and I coloured their hair to match the couple themselves.  Inside was printed with the details of the day.

Oh and they are potentially the best decorators (well much more than decorators) on the planet ~ highly recommended.

CARD RECIPE

Image: Geeky Love Couple ~ 'Over The Threshold'
Copic Markers
Cardstock: PTI Stampers Select White Cardstock
Sentiment: Computer Generated using font 'Harrington'
Ribbon & Pearls from my stash

Thank you to anyone who is still out there and stops by.

Love

All Aboard The Party Bus!

Hi everyone,

Well it was hubby's Birthday on the 4th September and I had this Penny Black stamp lined up for his card.  He has recently bought a VW Transporter van (a modern one, not a vintage one like this) and I just had to use it.

CARD RECIPE

Image: Penny Black 'Party Bus' ~ 4324K
Copic Markers
Backing Papers: I think this was free with a magazine?
Punch: Martha Stewart 'Embossed Zigzag'
Sentiment: Lakeland Greeting Banners
Stampin' Up 'Candy Dots' ~ Regals
Rafia from stash

Funnily enough, one of my favourite Blog Ladies 'Jules' posted this card on her blog a few days after I had made this ~ Spooky!!

Okay, that's me for today ~ short and sweet.

Thank you for visiting my little blog and for any most welcome comments you may make.

Love

Happy Caravanning!

Hi everyone (if there are still any of you around)!

I have well and truly been MIA for the last month or so, it is always a busy time of year here for me as family and friends descend for annual visits, we are almost in the Cotswolds, so we are very popular with quite a few people ~ lol.  I have had my Mother here who was 80 during her visit, we had a day out in Stratford upon Avon and I was 'taken' round Shakespear's birthplace, I am afraid to say that it just isn't my 'thing' and was shocked at how much it cost, £30 odd for the two of us and my Mother got a concession for her age!!  Personally, I would have rather given the money to an animal charity, but hey ho it was her Birthday.

Right, on to todays 'share', this is a card for a friend who regularly goes caravanning with his wife and Bearded Collies, I thought the little caravan image was perfect.

CARD RECIPE

Image: Hunkydory Clearly Stamps ~ 'A Grand Day Out' coloured with Copics
Banner stamp is from a clear set of stamps (they look like Kanban stamps to me, but there are no labels on the packaging)
Sentiment: From the same Hunkydory set as above

There was another reason why I had not blogged for a while, earlier in the year we found a young wood pigeon in the garden and he was clearly not old enough to look after himself, you never see baby wood pigeons and that is because they are practically fully grown when they leave the nest.  This one had obviously fallen from his nest and we think high winds were to blame, so I googled to try and find someone I could talk to and find out what to do.  I came across a Wildlife Rescue called 'Little Foxes' who claimed to have knowledge of wood pigeon babies, so I phoned and spoke to a really lovely lady called Penny Little, who happens to be the founder of the rescue and she gave me loads of advice and with this advice and hubby's practical skills in building him a little run we managed to save him.  We couldn't return him to the nest, so opted for the run during the day and he was brought in for the night, he was christened Nelson (by Hubby) and was hilarious if you tried to pick him up as he would 'wing slap' you as much to say "get off ~ leave me alone" little did he know we were trying to save his life!

And here he is .....

Nelson

He stayed with us for a couple of weeks, until his little wings were strong enough to fly off into some nearby trees and we still see him in the garden.

I sent a Thank You card to Penny for all her advice with a picture of Nelson enclosed and the card I made had an image of a Fox on the front.  Well, a short time afterwards I received an email off Penny saying how lovely she thought my card was and asking if I would be prepared to make a limited number of cards, around 20, that she could then sell to make money for the charity!  I immediately said yes and in return she will put a little advert in her quarterly newsletter that is sent out to all her members for my cards!  So, fellow bloggers you can imagine what a mammoth task hand colouring 20 Fox images and assembling all the cards was.  They were finally posted out yesterday.

Here is a picture of them all ready to be posted out ....

If you want to know what the image is it is Sugar Nellie's 'Red'.

Well after all that I will now go and tidy up my craft room as it looks as though a bombs hit it ~ lol

Thank you for stopping by and visiting my little blog today ~ I really do appreciate it

Love

Happy Father's Day!

Hi everyone,

Elusive blogger alert!

I haven't blogged for such a while and it kept coming into my mind that I hadn't blogged for a while, but I wanted to catch up with so many chores in and outside the house.  I tell people it is like having a load of those lotto balls in my head, all rumbling around and every now and then one pops up and reminds me of something that needs to be done ~ lol.  I have been trying to get rid of a few of them to free up some time for my card making and I am still re-organising my craft space which is so time consuming.

Anyhoo, enough excuses and on to todays share ~ my Father's Day card, it was Father's Day in the UK last Sunday and last week I was sat at my desk waiting for divine inspiration, as Mr Mojo had definitely left the building, then all of a sudden it was there on Facebook!  I follow Mo's Digital Pencil on there and they posted a picture of this image which was available to buy in the store and I took one look and couldn't believe what I was seeing, it was almost as if I had asked for Mo to draw me a commission sketch!  There we were my Dad and me all those years ago ~ wonderful.

CARD RECIPE:

Image: Mo's Digital Pencil ~ 'Shoulder Girl S' coloured with Copics
Banner Stamp ~ Sorry un-named set of clear stamps in my collection
Cardstock: PTI ~ Paper Basics White Cardstock
Sentiment: Woodware ~ JWS022 'Happy Fathers Day'

The card was kept simple as I wanted the image to really stand out.  Thank you Mo for such a wonderful image!

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp ~ Monday Challenge ~ Anything Goes
Totally Gorjuss ~ Challenge 240 ~ Dad
Hobbybook Designer Challenge ~ For Dads/Male Creations Challenge!

Well that's all from me for today ~ I will try and come back sooner next time ~ promise!

Love

Happy Easter!

Hello everyone,

Firstly, I would like to wish you all a Happy Easter ~ I hope the Easter Bunny visited and left you all some choccie treats!

It has been a little hectic here with visitors and with the fine weather (here in Warwickshire anyway) we have been catching up on some long overdue outside chores.

I would like to share my Easter card that I sent out to a select few people.

I kept the card fairly simple as I had several to make and not a lot of time.

CARD RECIPE

Image: Penny Black ~ 'Seeing Your Face' ~ 2304F coloured with Copics
Cardstock: Docrafts ~ 'Warm Sunshine' Textured Cardstock
Sentiment: Clearly Besotted Stamps ~ 'Spring Blooms'
Kars Butterfly punch
Pearls from Stash

Well that's it I'm afraid for today ~ thank you for visiting and enjoy the rest of the Easter break.

Love

Hello Friend ...

Hello everyone,

I hope you are all well and settled back into some sort of routine after the Christmas festivities.

I have been MIA for ages (sorry), but after my Dad's 80th in November everything just snowballed out of control, Christmas was fast approaching and I wasn't prepared at all.  In the end only a very select few received Christmas cards and none of those were hand made (the shame)!  Christmas did happen, but most of it was so last minute ~ not at all like me to be wrapping presents on Christmas Eve. 

One of the exciting things that took a lot of my time was being asked to be editor of The Midland Branch of the Bearded Collie Club annual magazine 'Chinwag'.  I have never done anything like this before and was quite pleased with my first effort.

I have finally (yesterday) ticked the last absolute 'must do' off my list, namely putting my car up for sale.  So, I can relax a bit now and catch up with all the other stuff that needs doing.

So, todays share is a Birthday card for an old friend, who I never see, but we still exchange Birthday and Christmas cards (except for last year) lol.

Card Recipe:

Image: Penny Black ~ T for Transparent ~ 'Hello Friend' coloured with Copics
Backing Papers: Kaisercraft ~ 'Bubblegum Hills' Collection
Cardstock: Bazzil Basics
Sentiment: Stampin' Up ~ 'Petite Pairs'
Button and Twine from stash

I am itching to get crafting with my newly acquired stash from Christmas and the sales, so watch this space.

Thank you so much for visiting my little blog today and for any much appreciated comments you may leave.


Luv

Happy 80th Birthday

Hi everyone,

I hope you are all well and if in the UK not being battered too much by these awful winds.  We have had some strong gusts here in Warwickshire and a little bit of rain, but we have got off lightly judging by what I have seen on the news.  

Well it has been pretty hectic here (yet again), a couple of weeks ago saw us off to North Wales to celebrate my Dad's 80th Birthday, hence todays card.  On our return Bailey Beardie was booked in at the vets for surgery, we had noticed a small lump near his bum whilst grooming him a couple of weeks before and when I showed it to the vet at his annual vaccination appointment she recommended it was removed.  Our Bailey boy is a lumpy Beardie and had two other lumps that she agreed should be removed at the same time, since he was going to have a general anaesthetic, but the body blow was that she recommended that he was neutered at the same time to prevent further 'bum lumps' occurring.  So, the decision was made, after all he is 10 and a half years old now and we do have two intact female dogs who are now too old to breed from ~ so our dream of having a 'Bailey' puppy have gone.  He had his stitches out on Monday and the histology on all the lumps has come back with them all being benign.

Anyway, here is my card for today.

As my Dad is a photographer (which obviously has not rubbed off on me) I thought this Penny Black image was perfect.

Card Recipe:

Image: Penny Black ~ 'Say Cheesecake' ~ 1644L coloured with Copics
Backing Papers: Stampin' Up
Cardstock: Bazzil Basics
Sentiment: Hobby Art ~ 'General Greetings' ~ CS016D
Punches: Stampin' Up ~ 'Decorative Label' (used for sentiment) & EK Success ~ 'Retro Flower'
Craftwork Cards Candi (used as flower centres)
Dovecraft ~ 'Glitter Alphabets' in Comet Gold
Ribbon from stash

I would like to enter this card into the following challenge:

The Paper Shelter ~ Special Birthday
The Stamping Chef ~ Anything Goes
Crafting For All Seasons ~ Challenge #66 ~ Birthdays

So my friends, that's all for now.  I hope to catch up with you all before Christmas.

Thank you so much for visiting today.

Happy Halloween!

Hello everyone,

Today I have a Halloween card to share, I love all the halloween images and the colours (except the really scary ones), I decorate the house with ceramic pumpkins that have tea lights in them and a couple of fluffy bats with glittery eyes ~ then I go lock the gate so no one came come trick or treating ~ lol!  I just can't cope with large groups of children in ghoulish costumes standing on my doorstep and it drives the dogs crazy (we have a buzzer on our gate that goes off every time it is opened and this sets the dogs off).  Having said that, our drive is very long and dark, so scary enough that most children won't brave it!

I know I said in my last post that I would be sharing another commission card with you all ~ but I just couldn't resist doing a halloween creation.  I will share the commission card next week.

CARD RECIPE:

Image: Penny Black ~ 'Kitty Witch' 1528J coloured with Copics
Backing Papers: Whimsy Stamps ~ 'Halloween Grunge'
Cardstock: From scraps box
Sentiment: Penny Black ~ 'T for Transparent ~ Critter Fright'
Die (used to cut Bats): Memory Box ~ 'Swooping Bats'
Punches (for cobwebs): Martha Stewart ~ 'Spiderweb' (Sorry but I can't find a supplier who has this (I purchased mine from a company in Australia)!!
Tim Holtz Distress Stickles ~ 'Rock Candy' (used on hat, but not showing up on photo!

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Creative Belli ~ Challenge # 181 ~ Halloween
Creative Moments ~ Challenge 29 ~ Anything Goes/Halloween
Divas By Design ~ Use Some Orange
Fab 'n' Funky ~ Challenge # 191 ~ Halloween
Fan-Tastic Tuesday ~ Challenge # 7 ~ Halloween

So that's it for today ~ thank you for stopping by and for leaving any scrumptious comments for me to read.

Love

Coop Party!

Hi everyone, 

Firstly a very warm welcome to my new followers ~ welcome on board!

How is everyone coping in this heatwave?  I love this weather, but it is a little restrictive with the dogs, no nice long walks ~ they start panting just going 'round the block'.  I have ordered a doggie paddling pool for them, so that is sure to end this current period of nice weather ~ lol.

July has been a busy month here, I have had two extra dogs Ella & Phoebe Beardies here for a week while their Mom & Dad went on holiday and at the same time my Dad and Stepmom came for an extended weekend visit.  The hot water system packed up for a second time, necessitating a visit from our Plumber to fix it and now the extractor fan in the bathroom has decided to go part time and only works 50% of the time you switch it on.  We have had so many things break down or need fixing this year (the worst by far being Sorrell's little incident ~ see THIS post for details) ~ I have a feeling we will be glad to toast a fond farewell to 2013 at the end of this year.

Enough of all that, on to todays share which is a Birthday card for someone who keeps chickens.

I love Penny Black stamps and have more than I care to mention ~ doesn't stop me buying more though!

CARD RECIPE

Image: Penny Black ~ 'Coop Party!' 2609K coloured with Copics
Cardstock: From scraps box
Sentiment: Bazzill Basics ~ 'Happy Birthday' rub-on
Ribbon (which is pink not red): Fantasia Premium Ribbon & matching pack of Bows in Pink Fantasy (very handy)!
Pearls from stash

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Bearly Mine Challenges ~ #96 Anything Goes
Anything Goes Challenge Blog ~ #97 Anything Goes
Craft and Me Challenges ~ Challenge #139 Anything Goes

Thank you so much for stopping by today and for any of your lovely comments.

Love

Happy Father's Day

Hi everyone,

Well ~ a HUGE thank you to all of you that left such lovely and kind comments on my last post about Sorrell ~ she is continuing to do well and is back to her old self, the only one thing I have noticed is when I was grooming her last weekend ~ she has about three or four little scabby patches here and there on her skin ~ very strange, I have decided to leave well alone having investigated one of them and found it to be quite clean?

Ever since that dreadful weekend I have been playing catch up with my chores and that has left little time for playing with my crafty goodies.  But, it was Father's Day here in the UK last Sunday and I thought I would show you the card I made for my Dad.

I kept the card quite simple as the image is quite a large one and sort of took the whole thing over!

CARD RECIPE

Image: Docrafts 'Wellington' 8" x 8" Clear Stamp Set coloured with Copics
Cardstock: Blue ~ Papertrey Ink 'Enchanted Evening' ~ Red ~ From stash
Nestabilities: Grand Ovals
Sentiment: From the same Wellington stamp set
Josy Rose Nail Heads

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Digistamps4joy ~ For the Men in our Lives
Crafting for all Seasons ~ One for the Guys
The Sisterhood of Crafters ~ Man or Boy

Well thats' all for today ~ it has just started raining here, which would be about right as Hubby has Friday and Monday off!

Thank you all for stopping by and for any much appreciated comments you may make.

Love

Sorrell Says Thank You!

Hi everyone,

I hope you are all well and if in the UK enjoying the sunshine!

Today I have a card to share with you which I am so thankful to have made.  Over the Bank Holiday weekend here in the UK our lives were sent into turmoil when quite suddenly one of our beloved Beardies became very ill.  On the Friday morning my husband went downstairs to be confronted with a kitchen floor covered in blood!  I was summoned to the scene and quickly ascertained that it was Sorrell that was in trouble ~ she was huddled up in front of the washing machine in the utility room.  I checked her gums and they were very pale.  After clearing the mess and washing Sorrell I called the Vets for an appointment.

Once I had explained to the Vet what had happened and she had examined her, the decision was that Sorrell needed to be admitted and be put on a drip to re-hydrate ~ at this point I didn't know what was wrong with her ~ the Vet even mentioned poison!

Over the course of the next 48 hours we waited for numerous phone calls ~ Sorrell had been transferred by ambulance to the main Veterinary Centre in Warwick on Friday evening where there is 24 hour care.  She had another 'episode' on the Saturday morning and from what the Vet said it was as bad as the one we had discovered.  It started to dawn on us that she might not make it back home at all.

By Sunday morning we were in bits and hanging on the telephone for news, finally the Vet called and said Sorrell had eaten a small amount of chicken and would call later with a progress report.  At around 4.30pm the phone rang, the first time it had been out of my hand all day, and Hubby picked up the call ~ Sorrell was coming home!  

We went across to pick her up and the Vet said she had had Hemorrhagic Gastroenteritis and having looked this up on the tinter web (as you do) it can be fatal if not treated swiftly.  Once home, you would not have known anything had been wrong with Sorrell (except for the pink bandage with purple hearts on that was wrapped around her leg where the IV drip had been) she was bright and alert and VERY hungry!

So, this is the card I made to send to the Vets to say a huge Thank You for saving Sorrell's life.

This wonderful image is from the hugely talented Marianne, it is of her Beardie Mylo and is available to purchase as a digi image ~ thank you Marianne.

CARD RECIPE

Image: Bearded Collie Digi coloured with Copics
Cardstock: Scraps from my scrap box
Sentiment: Bazzill Basics ~ Thank You Rub-On
Pearls: Hobbyhouse 5mm ~ Chocolate Heaven

Well that's all for today, except just a wee picture of our newest family member Holly having breakfast in bed (the sofa).

Thank you for stopping by today and for all the lovely comments you all leave ~ I do enjoy reading them all.

One For The Boys!

Hi everyone,

I hope you are all well and happy ~ what a glorious day yesterday was here in Warwickshire.  We had one of our Beardie fun days out, an event that I always thoroughly enjoy every year which involves fun show classes, games, raffle and dogbola (a doggy tombola) and more.

Whilst we were there a lovely lady called Elaine arrived with a Beardie that she was fostering, I knew about this dog and the intention was to see if anyone there would consider giving her a forever home.  Well, guess what ~ Holly as she is called is now a new member of our furry family, so that takes the total to four Beardies now!  She is eleven years old and such a sweetie and has settled in already.  I will try and post some photos of her soon.

So, enough of Beardie stuff, on to todays share which is a card for a man ~ I know a lot of you find them a hard subject, but I actually don't mind them as long as I've got a theme to work with.

I found a sketch to work to, but didn't save the blog page, so can't reference back to it ~ I couldn't enter the challenge anyway because it stipulated that you had to use flowers!

CARD RECIPE

Image: DigiStamp Boutique ~'Snoozing Chap (with beer)' coloured with Copics
Backing Papers: Stampin' Up ~ 'Everyday Enchantment' & red paper from stash
Sentiment: Stampin' Up ~ 'That's The Ticket' stamped with Memento 'Love Letter' ink
Punch: Stampin' Up ~ 'Ticket Duo Builder' (I'm lovin' this punch)
Button & twine from stash
I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

The House That Stamps Built ~ DCC58 ~ Masculine Cards
Through The Craft Room Door ~ Anything Goes
Paper Playtime ~ Challenge #10 ~ Buttons or Brads!
DigiStamp Boutique ~ May Competition

Well, that's all from me for today ~ I have a busy week ahead with visitors at the weekend and that means a BIG house clean and changing bed linen!

Off to check on our new addition who is snoring her little head off!

Thank you for stopping by and for any comments you may leave me ~ I do appreciate them.

Cupcake Bees

Hi everyone,

I Hope you are all well and that those of you residing in the UK had glorious weather over the weekend as we did here in Warwickshire ~ it was gorgeous, particularly yesterday, which considering it was a Bank Holiday Monday was amazing!

I have a Birthday card to share with you today using one of my newer stamps ~ the recipient of this card keeps Bees, so ~ I thought it very appropriate.

CARD RECIPE

Image: Wild Rose Studio ~ 'Bees with Cupcake' CS309 coloured with Copics
Backing Papers: Bazzill Basics & Dovecraft ~ 'Back to Basics III'
Dies used: Magnolia Doohickeys ~ 'Leaf & Swirl' & Memory Box ~ 'Fabulous Phlox'
Sentiment: Craftwork Cards ` 'Mini Sentiments ~ Birthday'
Punch: Stampin' Up ~ 'Large Oval'
Glamour Dust
Brad (used in centre of flower), pearls and lace from stash

I won't tell you how many times I coloured this image before I was happy with it.  I can see why so many of you say black is such a hard colour to do ~ I finally settled on not using black at all ~ but the darker greys!

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Alota Rubber Stamps Blog ~ Challenge #106 Bugs..Bugs..Bugs
Natalie and Amy's Challenge #9 ~ Things with Wings!

On the subject of challenges ~ I always struggle to find a challenge that my cards fit, may be I am doing it the wrong way round and I should find the challenges and make my card fit ~ but I am much better at thinking of something in my head and then transferring it into a project than having a set layout or colour scheme to work to which seems to block my creative juices ~ what do you all think and do?

Right that's it for today ~ weather still gorgeous here, so off into the garden for me this afternoon.

Have a good day and thank you for your much appreciated comments.

Westie Thank You

Hi everyone,

I hope you are all well and enjoying what looks suspiciously like Spring weather.

I have a quick share today a Thank You card.

This is a very simple card for someone who owns a Westie.

CARD RECIPE

Image: Funstamps 'Westie' FD67 coloured with Copics
Sentiment: Bazzill Basics ~ 'Thank You' rub-on
Nestabilities: Standard Circles
Ribbon & Mat from stash

Sorry it's such a quick one today, but have loads of chores to get done.  Thank you for all your lovely comments I do enjoy reading them all.

Anniversary Wishes

Hi everyone,

Dare I say it ~ I think Spring has finally sprung!  We had glorious sunshine here in Warwickshire over the weekend and that awful biting cold wind has finally disappeared.

Today I have a card that I made for my Hubby for our Wedding Anniversary which was towards the end of last month.

CARD RECIPE

Image: Penny Black ~ 'Cupful of Love' ~ 3780H
Colouring Medium: Copics
Backing Papers: My Mind's Eye ~ 'Wild Asparagus' & Bazill Basics
Sentiment: Waltzing Mouse Stamps ~ 'Frame-It'
Pearls: Doodlebug 'Mini Pearls' Bon Bon Assortment
Ribbon from stash

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Electic Ellapu ~ 'Wedding, Engagement or Anniversary'
Great Impressions ~ Pastel Colours and/or Polka Dots
Stamping Sensations ~ 'Special Occasions'

That's me done for today ~ looking forward to the next episode of Broadchurch tonight ~ I'm totally hooked!

Have a great evening.

Happy Easter Part Two!

Hi everyone,

As I mentioned in my previous post I have two Easter cards to share with you ~ belatedly!

We were in North Wales over the Easter weekend and had a thoroughly nice time too ~ we are not go-away people, preferring our own company and home ~ besides with three dogs there are not many places we can land ourselves (the dogs don't do kennels) ~ but staying with my Dad and Stepmom was great and the dogs loved walkies on the beach.

So, here is card number two made for my Dad and Stepmom.

As you can see, it is a variation on the previous card, just made in a different colour way.

CARD RECIPE

Image: Penny Black ~ 'Basket of Chicks' ~ 2866J
Colouring Medium: Copics
Backing Papers: My Mind's Eye 'Pretty Please' Spring Papers (free with Cardmaking & Papercraft magazine ages ago) & Bazill Basics
Flowers: Wild Orchid Crafts & Mulberry Crafts UK
Sentiment: Computer generated using font 'Marcello Handwriting'
Punches (used for sentiment): Stampin; Up ~ 'Large Oval' & 'Scallop Oval'Ribbon: From stash

Artistic Inspirations ~ Challenge 35 'Easter/Spring'
Red Carpet Studio ~ Challenge #30 "Easter Parade'

Thank you for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day.