Monday 29 December 2008
HAPPY NEW YEAR
Happy New Year everyone, I hope you all had a good Christmas and Santa bought you lots of lovely presents.
I have just been awarded this wonderful award by Sally Benson (thank you soooo much Sally)
Friday 19 December 2008
Stitched Cards and Bookmarks
Im making a lot of stitched cards and bookmarks at the moment, I just love doing them. The bookmarks I put in with Christmas cards for family and close friends, some of my Christmas cards were stitched but now that they are finished I have started on a set of Art Nouveau Roses. These are the first three cards and a few of the bookmarks. I haven't put sentiments on two of the cards as I'm not sure what occasion they will be for. I get the patterns from Stitching Cards, they have some great designs and you get to download them there and then, no waiting for the Postie to deliver them.
Thursday 18 December 2008
Bring it on!
At last, I'm ready .... bring it on! Christmas that is. The freezer is bulging with mince pies, jam tarts, sausage rolls, cheesecakes, pizzas, bread sauce, cranberry sause ... you name it and it's in there. The cake is iced, the presents wrapped and the tree is up, this year I've gone for gold and silver, I've even made a little fantasy woodland scene to sit in the living room window ... let Christmas begin!
Wednesday 17 December 2008
Cuttlebug Challenge
The last Cuttlebug Challenge for this year proved to be more difficult than I first thought. The challenge is to make an all white card with a black sentiment. For my card I embossed the front panel with the cuttlebug bubbles folder then cut an apature using my Nestabilities, the bauble is cut and embossed using another cuttlebug die and folder, the ribbon is the last of my white Anita's that I had and the greeting is by Funstamps again using a smaller Nestabilities.
Sunday 14 December 2008
Penny Black Saturday Challenge 27
Thursday 11 December 2008
Penny Black Saturday Challenge 26
Where's the time going?! Could someone slow it down a bit please? When I started this blog I intended to update it at least once a week but I've already failed miserably!! The reason I've not been here is .... Christmas ... well Christmas cards actually. I thought I would make an early start this year and began aroung August but last Saturday when I had written all the ones that needed posting I realised I was about 20 short ... AND ... I had forgotten to make one for himself. Well it is now Mission Accomplished, I've finished (I hope). These are the ones I made for my two Grandchildren, the problem is that in my rush to get them in the post I think I have forgotten to write in them!!!
Thursday 27 November 2008
You may remember a couple of weeks ago that a lady from the stitching club that I attend asked me to make a card for her "young Man's" 80th birthday using the Penny Black 'Snowy Park' stamp, but she wanted the stamp made bigger!! Well here are two examples I have made to show her, one is using the stamp (I entered this for the Penny Black Saturday Challenge), the other is using a photo I had taken here in the New Forest but printed it out in sepia, I'm not sure if that one shows up well enough though.
I have been given this lovely award by Sally, the sentiment behind it reads as follows:
This blog invests and believes the PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships!These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.
I will be sending it on but it takes me ages to put the links on here so I will do that later.
Friday 21 November 2008
I'm in the doghouse!
Yes, I'm well and truly in the doghouse with the dog! Let me explain ... we were walking back across the fields above the beach when Bonnie found this old discarded ball, it used to be one of those squeaky things but this had long since lost its squeak and it was punctured so that when she picked it up it was squashed into half a ball, but no matter it was her find of the day. She couldn't wait to get back to the car with her treasure, no time now for sniffing at every blade of grass or chasing rabbits, she was well in front of me but when she looked round to see what was taking me so long I almost fell about laughing as the ball looked like a set of those false lips you can buy.
We arrived home and she was scratching at the front door in a flash, treasure still in her mouth, she was like a bank robber with police in hot pursuit. When she had her treasure safely indoors she started throwing it about and generally having a great time .... until I saw her chewing something, closer inspection revealed her treasure was perished and all the throwing around was making bits fall of it. Well I couldn't risk her choking so the ball had to be confiscated!
Bonnie was most put out, she hunted all around the house, in the large pot that is used as a walking stick stand, she was dancing around on her hind legs trying to see if I had put it on top of the chest of drawers, I was "frisked" and had to show her my hands to prove the ball wasn't there, then out into the garden, I think she sniffed every last inch looking for this blessed ball.
I now feel really guilty .... I'll have to buy her a new toy tomorrow when I go shopping, just to ease my conscience!!
Thursday 20 November 2008
So far so good, now I have to tell you 7 things about myself, useless bits of information that I'm sure no one is in the least bit interested in but ...
1. I love crafting, especially card making and ATCs
2. I like the colour pink
3. I love walking on the beach early in the morning when no one is around.
4. I love Stilton cheese, whether it is in cooking or with biscuits or bread
5. For 2 years I provided recipes for a slot on the local Talking Tapes for the visually impaired
6. Every December my Grandchildren come over for a day of making chocolates for their friends and teachers
7. I love playing Hearts and Spider Solitaire on the computer.
Now for the difficult part, attempting to put a link to the people I am tagging.
Caro.
Wednesday 19 November 2008
Cuttlebug Challenge
Monday 17 November 2008
Penny Black Saturday Challenge 23
Tuesday 11 November 2008
Monday 10 November 2008
Penny Black Saturday Challenge
Sunday 9 November 2008
The preserves shelf is looking pretty good at the moment, there are still a couple of jars of Cognac and orange marmalade from earlier this year, together with this years Rosehip and apple jelly and Crab apple jelly and tomorrow will see the start of the ever increasing pickled onions. So now ..... on with some crafting!
More Cuttlebug cards
Friday 7 November 2008
Cuttlebug Challenge
Thursday 6 November 2008
Wednesday 5 November 2008
I have also been playing with some of the stamps that I bought last Sunday at the Ringwood Craft Fair, I'll photograph those and show them to you next time.
I must now get on with the ATCs that I started to make yesterday. Each week two friends and I get together for an afternoon of crafting ... BLISS!... We try out new techniques and ideas and decided that ATCs were easier to make and swap than cards, we are currently going through the alphabet, it can be any subject in any medium as long as it is the letter of the week, this week it's 'O' so I'm off to get my thinking cap on.
Monday 3 November 2008
Friday 31 October 2008
Friday 31 October 2008
I was going to introduce you to Bonnie and show you a photo of her but the photo kept appearing next to the one above instead of here so I'll introduce you next time. There must be a way of putting the photos where you want them .... I'll persevere with that!
Thursday 30 October 2008
Jan's Journal
Let me introduce myself, my name is Jan, I have been married for 42 years to my long suffering husband Rob, we have two grown up Sons, a lovely Daughter in law, two wonderful grandchildren and our beloved Westie called Bonnie.
My interests are card making, which I have been doing for a few years, making and swapping ATCs, cross stitch embroidery, gardening, cooking, walking Bonnie, spending time with the family .... the list is endless but I won't bore you any longer.
As I find out how to use my blog I hope to show you some of the cards and embroidery I have made.
Well I must now go and prepare dinner so I will say cheerio. If anyone reads this drivel please let me know.