Sand

The challenge this week at 'Less is More' is SAND.

We have a Guest Designer, Hannelie, whose blog is called Desert Diva...hence the theme this time.

This is a digi stamp from Just INK lined, coloured with Copics and mounted using a Sizzix die. The two shells are from an old Cuttlebug die, one of the first I bought. I love the crispness of the cutting from these dies.

The sentiment is from a clear set by Hero Arts.

This one is a digi image from the Wax Fruit Company and coloured with various markers, it has a measure of Glamour Dust added which makes the sea look great I think!

The sentiment is from Paper Smooches.

This sand coloured cat makes me smile!

He's really howling! I bought it from Creative Images, and ended up buying a grab bag of  unseen, assorted stamps at the same time. There were a few good ones, amongst them was a stamp with this sentiment although I have made this one on the computer. That made me smile too!

We have had a couple of disasters in the house recently including water through the ceiling and an exploding microwave.

When the new one (microwave) arrived it wouldn't fit into the gap left by the old one and so the chaps had to partially dismantle some of my kitchen and take it away to adapt so that the oven and microwave would both fit.

This they did admirably, bringing it back the next day only to find that the microwave wouldn't work.

To cut an extremely long story shorter... after being taken away and tested, a day later all is back and all is in place and working.

Quelle relief!

We still have to have the dining room ceiling replaced, but that's another story!

Have a great weekend!

Funny Fish

This is just a quickie post getting under the wire with this card using the sketch from Retro Sketches.

The image is from Alley Way stamps, coloured with Copics and glazed with Glossy Accents.

We are singing in a concert tonight helping out in the choir of a Sixth Form College at their end of year concert. There are some very talented musicians amongst their number.

Mozart's Requiem is always a favourite for my husband and me to sing. The curry afterwards will be god too!

Happy Birthday Jen and Phil!

Happy Birthday!

Today is a special day...  my friend and fellow LIM designer Jen and my husband Phil are both celebrating 

their respective birthdays today!

This is my card for Jen

Stamp by Impression Obsession and lots of glitter.I really like this manuscript embossing folder as it is on the slant and a a really good size!

Her name is in relief and is also stamped with the background design.

I think that this would a suitable one for Jen too!
She really is one Cool Chick!
Stamps from Paper Smooches.

This is my card for Phil!

You may remember that we are members at Hampshire County Cricket Club and so this is quite appropriate for him...I hope!

I'm not really sure of the make of the stamp but the sentiment is computer generated.

It's so simple, but this one pleases me!

This evening we will be going to a concert of the premier of a piece of music written by a friend of ours as a commission from the BBC. It is a choral work on the theme of slavery. He's a very talented gent and we are looking forward to it enormously!

Have a great week!

Green and Black

Dynamic Duos have the challenge to use Pear Pizzazz and Basic Black this week.

This was a first time out for my PTI Harvest Berries stamps.

I stamped in black and clear embossed the leaves before sponging colour over the entire panel. I then overstamped with the green to add a shadow effect and then added the dots... presumably the berries from the stamp set.

The border is punched with an SU punch and the tag is from Lilli of the Valley.

We discovered that the hot water cylinder has been leaking and the ceiling in the dining room, which is beneath the tank, is damaged and decidedly damp! I await the plumber as I type!

Two days ago the microwave exploded. There was a loud bang and the fuse tripped. A replacement will  cost approaching £800. Oh Dear! We'll never be rich!

Surprise stamps!

Recently I bought a bag of random stamps from Creative Images. I was ordering a little cat, which I saw Birgit use and which I thought was just fab. I just couldn't resist a grab bag at the same time. It's a real risk but sometimes there are some really great finds,

I have used a couple of them in this week's cards.

The strawberries on this card were from the bag. There was a strange creature sniffing at them... I think it was a large mouse or something, but I wasn't too keen on him so I cut him off! I'm not sure if I have the orientation of the stamp exactly correct but it fitted neatly into the Spellbinder oval this way!

It's my first card for the HEXAGONS challenge at "Less is More", needless to say the hexagons are made up in the chicken wire strip behind the image panel. That is a border stamp from Clearly Besotted.

I made a card a little like this one a few weeks ago. It employs several sources of hexagons.. paper from Pink Petticoat, an embossing folder from Stampin' Up and stamps and dies from Clearly Besotted. The little bee is also from Clearly Besotted. I just love these stamps.

Here's another stamp from the grab bag, a bee with knobbly knees!

Same chicken wire background stamp and a sentiment from Clearly Besotted.

We have been out to eat three times this week, it's really not good for my waistline! I can feel the slimming club calling ever louder!

Not a great day for cricket

Today we are going to a Members' lunch at Hampshire Cricket Club with a groups of friends. It should be fun although the weather is not exactly what I would call 'cricket weather'...ie clear skies and warm sunshine. My fleece will probably be in evidence and probably a scarf or two and by the look of things at the moment umbrellas may also be the order of the day!

Any how here is a card for the first challenge at Clearly Besotted with the wonderful option of Anything Goes!

These are truly wonderful stamps and work well with just about all ink types. I wish Stephanie continued success and always need to buy more with each new release. By the look of her website many others think the same thing as she has difficulty in keeping up with demand. Good for her and good for us too!

A Day for Daisies Recycle

A Day for Daisies has a challenge to use one of their images plus some food packaging on a card creation.

Here I used one of their fab mushroom images together with part of a Tesco's Mushroom bag.

Here you can see a complete bag before I got at it!

There is a recipe on the side which I thought I might try for mushrooms stuffed with herbs and cheese!

The image was coloured with Promarkers and the sentiment was computer generated.

This afternoon we're going to a service to celebrate 50 years since a friend of ours became a priest. This is the card I made for him!

I'm sorry the pic is not too good... one of these days I'll find the formula for a decent picture!

Need for Speed

One layer time again at "Less is More". It's not so scary for lots of people it seems these days.

 The theme this time is Need for Speed!

When this aircraft first came on the scene it must have seemed incredibly exciting and extremely fast. These days it's merely nostalgic!

The images are from Stampin' Up and the sentiment from Clearly Besotted.

This one is all from Clearly Besotted. The stamps are such high quality and seem equally at home with all different types of ink. I love them.

This one is coloured with Promarkers.

We have a choir concert this evening...almost a repeat of the programme we did in Italy with a couple of additional works. The folks who didn't make it on the tour will probably have a bittersweet feeling about this concert.

Wheels

The weather for the past couple of days has been glorious and I have enjoyed sitting in the garden with a good book! It was bliss!

I did make a couple of cards however and this one is for CASology's wheels challenge

The image is from Stampin' Up and the sentiment from Clearly Besotted... I thought it quite appropriate for this mode of transport! 

It must have been very tricky to mount, uncomfortable to ride and difficult to stay on!

I'm off to see my grandchildren tomorrow... it seems ages since I saw them, although it's probably only a couple of weeks. I'm really looking forward to it.

Glad to have Internet back!

Virgin Media must have had a huge problem in our area recently as TV and Internet services were out of action for over a day. It's surprising how much we come to rely on technology these days, I imagine that people in business using Virgin services were most frustrated.

Anyway we're back online now thank goodness.

Here is a card I just made for a friend who is attending a wedding on Saturday. Let's hope the weather remains as it has been for the past couple of days! 

It has a Stempelglede image embossed with silver and gold embossing powders and with Cuttlebug Olivia initials superimposed over it. The sentiment is from a Tattered Lace die.

The dry embossing is from Stampin' Up and the die cut shape from Spellbinders.

It's for Casual Friday's Congratulation challenge.

One of my choir members who sadly was one of those who didn't make it on the Italian Tour because of the Heathrow flight cancellations, requested this card for her husband's birthday. She specifically requested a boat with a red hull. He also sings in a sea shanty group at his sailing club as well as in the choir... hence the musical reference.

CAS on Sunday's challenge this time is for a 'Make it Masculine' card.

The yacht is from Hobby Arts and the music manuscript card came from a batch I bought at the NEC. The sentiment was computer generated.

Yesterday was spent taking it easy in the garden finishing off a novel written by a friend of mine from my time in the Bristol Youth Choir... that takes me back quite a while too! I really enjoyed it, she has a great writing style.

Circles galore

The challenge this week at Addicted to CAS is Circles

This Small Circle burst die makes heaps of them, I think it's really attractive... both dies are from Memory box.

That's about it really!

What colour is your front door?

Last week was quite eventful!
I was on tour in Italy with my choir...Portsmouth Choral Union...or at least part of it. A large proportion of the singers never made it, as their flight from Heathrow was cancelled due to the closing of the runway, following the emergency landing of a plane which was on fire.
Some intrepid members managed to get there via other means, but our numbers were much depleted. We did however have a quorum of singers and the concerts were in fact very successful in both San Gimignano and Florence. The weather left a lot to be desired however and was cold and wet for most of the time!

Here I am, yesterday morning in the Boboli Gardens, Florence...wearing a fleece, a jacket, long trousers and scarf!!!!! My poncho and umbrella were also much used throughout the week. Apparently it was much warmer in England.

At "Less is More" this week, for our challenge we have chosen the Colour of Your Front Door.

This leaves me in somewhat of a quandary as each side of my front door is a different colour... the outside is brown and the inside is white... so to treat each side fairly I have done one for each colour and one with both.

Needless to say, this is to represent the inside of my door. These are Clearly Besotted butterflies. They stamp beautifully and the matching dies are simply fab!

Paper Smooches here, what a dear little owl and this is the colour of my front door... the touch of green is for a plant which sits in a pot just beside the door!

Here you can see both the outside and the inside of my front door.

This last one has both colours... plus the gold of the door furniture.

The stamping is from Stampin' Up and the die cutting is Small Circle Burst from Memory Box.

This should be a fun challenge I think... I'd love to see everyone's front door!