Sunday, February 27, 2011

Jingles Belles Rock

Hello my friends ... 
thought you'd like to know that my friend loved her Anniversary card and gift ... I saw her on Thursday then went on to my group ... they were thrilled with the box I made for our lovely friend that died and we filled it with pretty tags each with a message on ... Friday was not a very nice day for me ... but in the evening I went along to a Stampin' Up demo and craft evening given by my lovely blog friend Keren - it was so good to see her and the evening was a treat ... 
Then yesterday I saw that I was awarded a TOP MOUSE over at WaltzingMouse challenge blog ... another treat ... Thank You so much ladies of WaltzingMouse  ... you've no idea how much I needed a boost ... 
So, what do you do when you're down? ... you create ... (if you can) ... and I wanted to keep up with the Jingle Belles Rock challenge which this week is to include Text in your card ... You all know I love text so it was a pleasure to lose myself in creating ... It was too late to photograph yesterday  so I left it till today ... This is my card for week 9 of the challenge ...


This is all digital ... a mix of papers from Digital House Designs ... who have had a whole month of $1 offers which finish at the end of the February so if you are interested you need to hop over and check them out ...  The little deer (covered in text) is a digital from Webster's Pages ... another of my favourites and the pretty lace came all the way from Texas from sweet Chriss Blagrave ... I adore this lace


Not sure if you can see the glitter I added ... and the little pine cones are stamped on using crimson ink  everything else if from my stash ... And now  ... I am feeling better ...

Till soon ... keep safe

~ Ros ~



Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Anniversary Wishes

Good Morning to you ... It is still wet and cold here and very little sign of any change on the horizon ... the good news is that the workmen doing my little en suite should be finished tonight and the I can get do do some decorating ... but more importantly I get to have a little lie in rather than having to be up ready to greet them with tea and coffee every morning ha! ha!
The other upside of course it that I have been confined to my home and therefore have been able to craft a bit more and with so many birthdays coming up I am glad of my stack of cards ... today I have an anniversary card and gift to share ... one of my friends celebrates over 40yrs of marriage tomorrow ... I hope she isn't peeking ...



... the blue and cream papers are from a scrapbook kit ... wedding papers really ... but I love them and they are just as suitable for a Wedding anniversary ... I just printed the sentiment on my computer straight onto a scrap of paper from the kit ... and stamped some little birdies from THIS Eline's Huis clear stamp set


Everything else is from my stash ... glittered heart from MF ... the rose (Prima) is from a kit I bought HERE and I found the postage quite reasonable given that I live in the UK ... those pretty little crochet flowers I got on Ebay some time ago ... I'm sure I've shown them before ... 
The gift I have for my friend is a rather tall candle holder and I couldn't get a candle to match my colours so I decorated one instead ... 


and the candle holder



Looks pretty in there doesn't it? I think she will like it ... we have the same taste in lots of things which makes buying a gift quite easy ... just pick something I would like ha! ha! ... oh and this is the friend who bought me THIS beautiful cake stand ... so you get the picture ...

Have yourselves a wonderful day 

Till soon

~ Ros ~



Tuesday, February 22, 2011

City Crafters Challenge ... Nothing to it

Hello there ... I'm back for this weeks' challenge at City Crafters where lovely Linda Robinson is hosting for us and her theme for this week is ... 'Nothing To It' ... which means just that ... no ribbon, buttons, lace or flowers ... really a one dimensional sort of card ... Something 'flat' that can easily go in the mail. I always think digital is the way to go with these challenges ... but I opted for non digital and used a 3d punch instead just to add a bit of interest ...



Some fancy borders cut from pretty MF paper using my SB dies and some not so good stitching ... seems my machine does not like this black thread ...


You can see that the butterflies do lie flat which makes it so much better for posting ... postage here in the UK is expensive ...


I  added a small amount of 'Stickles' just to the centre of the butterflies (ooops! sorry Linda) and used a rubber stamp for the sentiment ... Why not hop on over to the blog to see what the other girls have created ... we have the talented Keri Lee Sereika as our guest designer this week ... and her card is so very elegant ...  her blog is well worth a visit too ...
So I hope you will come and join us this week ... We love to see your beautiful creations 

Till soon

~ Ros ~




The Play Date Cafe ...

... I know I know ... 3 posts in one day ... that's a record for me!
But I needed to get this card in to the Play Date Cafe...  who have a 'Combined Grind' challenge  this week ... the usual colour challenge applies but they have linked up with Case Study Challenge blog ... where the challenge is to 'Case' a beautiful card from Eva Doblias. thus you can either use just the colours and link to The Play Date Cafe or using the colours 'Case' the card too and link up to both challenges! Clear? well I had to read it a couple of times ... which is probably just me ... 
So, this is the card and colours to use ...



Beautiful huh? I did my best to 'case' this card' ... But I don't have any large die cutters ... nor do I have any oval cutters so I had to improvise a little using chipboard for my centrepiece which I first covered in SU paper and a border SB die for my kraft card stock ... I used fancy edge scissors for the paper ...


The flower is a mix of punched SU papers and part of a rose made of imitation leather which was a hair slide ... the leaves are just hand cut from green paper MME?


I also did some stamping in black and added some rubons ... the background paper is AUDacious designs from Design House Digital ... and my sentiment is computer generated ... I actually saw this saying on a billboard and thought it was lovely ... 
Hope your day is bright too ...
Till soon

~ Ros ~




Monday, February 21, 2011

CR84FN ... second post

My second card today is for the new colour challenge at CR84FN which is based on this lovely photo courtesy of Leslie at A creative Mint  whose beautiful photographs are so very uplifting ...



I did this card for the family of the friend I lost this week ... the colours just seemed so appropriate


Those pretty flowers are from a sheet of Decoupage that I had from my early crafting days ... somehow I prefer them to be randomly layered rather than on top of each other ... so that's what I did


The background to my flowers is stamped onto white CS with sky grey ink ... and I added some pretty pale pink pearls to the flowers ... did you notice the little heart pin just peeking out too? I've had these for ages and just a simple heart says it all I think ...  The papers and sentiment are from a Perfect Pages scrapbook kit ... and ribbon from my stash ...
So that's it for now ... I hope you are having a wonderful day

Till soon

~ Ros ~




Wish upon a star ...

It's a wet and cold day here once again ... oh how I wish it were Spring ... I am so looking forward to seeing the fresh green buds on the trees ... but at least the daffodils are slowly pushing their way out of the ground,  the only indication so far that the season is changing ...
I have a couple of cards to post today ... the first one is for the new sketch challenge at WaltzingMouse ...


I've never done a star shaped card before so thought I'd give it a try ... using white CS and some MF papers ...



I also used a glittery star I had in my stash ... along with two different ribbons and a few other little embellishments 


The teenie tiny butterfly is from my digi files ... printed and cut and the sentiment also is computer generated ... the hardest part was the stitching! But I may try one of these again ... 

Back soon

~ Ros ~


Saturday, February 19, 2011

Jingle Belles Rock week 8

Hi! I'm back with a happy card for week 8 of the Jingle Belles Rock challenge and this week not only is it a sketch challenge ... but the sketch comes from Diana at Sketchy Thursdays ... which means that you can link up your card to both blog challenges ... one card 2 challenges ... and there is a prize on offer ... hop over and take a look ...
Here's the sketch ...


... and here is my card ...


It's dark here now so I apologies for the poor quality of my photos ... yes, I could have waited till tomorrow ... but the weather forecast is not that great again anyway... but at least my little penguins are having fun ...


They are actually rub ons ... the guy on the skis I put onto card first then fussy cut around him ... and I used flower soft for the 'snow' ... some glitter for the edging and everything else is from my stash ... So I've done 8 cards now for Christmas ... what about you?
Have a wonderful evening and thanks again for taking the trouble to leave your lovely comments ... I really do appreciate each and every one ...
Till soon

~ Ros ~








One of those weeks

Hello my friends ... I haven't been ignoring you ... honestly ... it's just been a funny old week ... The work I am having done here is taking much longer than anticipated and is really getting me down ... the guy doing it is nice enough but takes more cigarette breaks than anyone I've ever known ... I don't want to complain to his boss in case the work suffers even more ... what's a girl to do?
After my posting to you on Wednesday I heard that a friend from Thursday Club had died suddenly ... It upset me so much ... This wonderful lady (and her husband) had for many years, volunteered their love and time to the running of the club and to the caring of the group ... Kind people who gave from their hearts ... Loss is something one never gets accustom to ...
I threw myself into creating ... not really knowing what to do ... but knowing I needed to put my hands to work and turn my thoughts towards beauty ... to ease my heavy heart ... I made one of my book boxes ... added a few little things to finish it off today with some beautiful gifts from my friend Stella ... Yep, I got Happy mail this morning ... a belated birthday gift of treasures ... so prettily wrapped and so heartwarming ...



Beautiful ribbons, the most adorable handmade pins, clear cut frames and a cute little album ... and of course a handmade card filled with love ... I just had to put some of that ribbon on my box and one of those little pins ...



 ... I was thinking that maybe I will enclose a matching handmade album ...


Somewhere for the group, the friends and helpers to put down their memories ... their unspoken words
to this 'Special' lady


A piece of comfort for the family to hold onto ... something to let them know just what a much loved
 lady Vi was ...


Till soon my friends ... keep safe

~ Ros ~




Wednesday, February 16, 2011

CR84FN15 Colour Challenge

Hey there ... 
It's a beautiful sunny day here and I am confined to my little room as we are having the en suite done so more mess ... hubby will be taking advantage of the sunshine and going to golf ... and me ... I will be catching up on some work ...
I have a card to share that I made for this weeks' challenge at CR84FN ... this is the lovely colour palette 



and here is my card 


That gorgeous teal and yellow paper is from We R Memory Keepers ... and the yellow background paper is from K & Co



I fussy cut the little fairy and butterfly from a book I had and mounted them with foam pads onto this green crackled chipboard which I had in my stash 
That beautiful flower is from Prima and the lace is from Kirsty ....

I recently bought some more crackle paint ... I have all these things in my head that I want to do and somehow I collect the goods and then time gets away from me and I don't seem to get them done ... Is it just me or are some of you like that?
Have a wonderful day whatever you are doing 

Till soon
~ Ros ~








Tuesday, February 15, 2011

City Crafter Colour Challenge

Good Morning ... did you all have a wonderful Valentine's evening? ... I appreciate that there many of you who have partners in the military or for one reason or another cannot be together ... but love is carried in the heart no matter what right?
So on to this weeks challenge at City Crafter ... where Kirsty is hosting for us  ... this week it is a colour challenge and as Kirsty likes to take us around the world .. our city is Tokyo ... though it doesn't mean that you have to make a card / project based on the city ... like me you can just follow the colours to enter ....




 I confess this weeks' photo did leave me a bit stumped ... sometime I just over think things ... but in the end the light bulb went on and this is what I came up with ...



My background paper is from Tim Holtz and the lovely image is a freebie from Cemerony ... 


I actually had this little umbrella embellishment in my stash ... can you see the little turquoise beads?


some little yellow buttons and some turquoise gems follow the colour scheme ... my sentiment is computer generated and the tag is SB ... 
Ok ... so not very Tokyo(ish) and I bet there are lots of you brilliant crafters out there who can combine the city with the colours ... (unlike me) ... so please come and join us ... we have the very talented Yvonne Yam as our guest designer and as ever ... there is a prize for the winner ... and if you need any inspiration hop on over to the blog and check out the rest of the DT's creations ... see 'ya there!

~ Ros ~

Monday, February 14, 2011

No Red ...

Absolutely ...  positively NO red ... says Lisa ... who picked the theme of this week's challenge at Jingle Belles Rock  ... we're up to Christmas card number 7 can you believe it? ... So not using red was fine for me ... I tend to use it mostly as an accent colour anyway ... though a lot of Christmas DP's and images do contain red ... seems to be traditional ... my card still looks 'Christmassy' and can even be a masculine card which I like ... what do you think?



I used MME paper again ... jeez this lasts forever! ... but I do love it ... added some lace from Kirsty
and a bauble from Stella ...  and dressed the bauble in some pretty seam binding and a glittery button


I used a burlap frame that I backed with a scrap of paper from my 'bits' box and mounted the bauble directly onto the frame ... the sentiment is computer generated and of course I added a bit of glitter to my paper for that frosty look ... so there we are ... number 7 all done and dusted! Are you doing the challenge too? 
Happy Valentines Day to you all ... I hope you all have a wonderful day ... I got a dozen red roses this morning ... how about you?

Till soon ... keep safe 

~ Ros ~


Sunday, February 13, 2011

Play Date Challenge

Happy Sunday ... it's really wet and miserable here ... fortunately I have some time to spend in my little craft space ..
Yesterday was my husbands birthday and we were out all day ... so we didn't go out to dinner in the evening ... Instead I cooked us a nice meal and opened some wine ... it was cosy ...
So ...  I have a card that I did for the Play Date Cafe challenge based on this beautiful photo ...


The photo is a collection of exquisite goods from a shop owned by Polly Hood ... you can find her blog "Count your Blessings" and visit her shop by clicking Here ... This weeks' colours are soft and subtle and oh so shabby ... 


... Made me think of this sweet image I got from Iralamija's   Etsy shop ...  I paired it with some pretty digital papers


The heart is cut with my Sizzix ...  I used self adhesive glitter paper ... which I stuck to card before cutting ... everything else is from my stash ... 
I hope you are all having a wonderful lazy Sunday ... and that your weather is a bit better than mine!

Till soon

~ Ros ~




Friday, February 11, 2011

Quick and simple ...

Hello .. How are you all? ...  It's nearly the weekend and today we have lovely sunshine ... maybe Spring is finally on the way here ... I had to make a quick 'male' card today ... I love that I can always fall back on my digital collection ... this one is from Hero Arts (Bird Branch) printed onto digital paper from Jen Allyson ... Vintage Findings Ledger Paper ...



I used some lovely Tim Holtz paper to stitch it too and then mounted it onto Kraft CS ...


As you can see I added some gems and a couple of buttons and my sentiment is computer generated and printed straight onto my CS ... Quick and simple ... (and you can see my sewing machine is playing up again ... but it all adds to the look)

I spent all day yesterday preparing for my group ... Valentine's card making is always popular ... so I took lots of goods for them to play around with ... these are an example of what they made ...


I can't tell you how many hearts I cut and I bought lots of sparkly ones too ... I printed and cut tons of those tickets and papers ... folded and cut lots of blank cards for them ... sorted buttons, ribbons and the extra's that I take for certain people ... one girl likes crackly acetate which she sits playing contentedly with all evening ... one girl likes to draw and just stick things and loves a new ribbon in her hair each week ... and so on ... But no one told me that my class would not be a full one because the group were doing a show of Narnia in the town centre! So after all that I have a heap of stuff left over ... Ce la vie!

Have a wonderful weekend ...
Till soon

~ Ros ~


Wednesday, February 09, 2011

More Love ...

... Two more "Love" cards .... both of which I can enter for The Shabby Tea Room  challenge... see my previous post for the Deets and the photo inspiration ... or just click the link to go straight to the Tea Room ...



I've used digital papers again and the 'heart' paper is totally free HERE ..
I printed it twice and cut and layered some of the little hearts ...


Some I covered with gel stickers ... can you see them?


two different colour seam bindings ... some letters from my stash and a beautiful pink glass button
and I think it says all it needs too ....

My second card is also for the WaltzingMouse Challenge ... this is the sketch  

Which I flipped ... 


This is a smaller card than I usually make ... lace and ribbon free so not too girlie


Now I have to prepare for tomorrow nights' club night ... Valentines cards of course!! There is always so much love in working with these wonderful mentally challenged people ... it's like Valentines every week ... 

Have yourselves a great day

~ Ros ~