More Christmas cards.

Another dull morning. I've been on a few blogs this week which have been taunting me with pics of bargains found at Hobbycraft. I know i'm always disappointed when i go there but i'm still yearning to go. I'm hoping it might rain soon as that is sure to stop me. I need to go out anyway as i'm running out of lettuce(!!!!) but whether i'll bother with the bus ride, i don't know.

 Anyway while i'm dithering here's a couple of christmas cards.

 Penny Black stamp of course and paper is from the Papermania simply elegant stack.Cards bases are 5"x5" from Tesco home extra.
 I think i'll go out armed with my brolly and see how far i get..........................

Simple white and gold.

Here is a quick and simple card made with punches and peel offs,part of my mission to craft my way through a mountain of old stash.  The card is 5"x5" made from hessian look card from the papermill shop.

Why is it so hard to photograph cards with gold or silver on them? This was the best of a bad bunch.

Regular readers may remember me telling you about the pigeons canoodling in my window box outside.Well there's an egg there now so we have a "grandchild" on the way. We actually have a real grandchild on the way from Speedy's son and his girlfriend in the next couple of weeks so the race is on to see who can hatch first!

I'd best go and get ready for work now or i'll be late.      Di.xx

Scrap happy again.

Here's a couple more cards using scraps of paper and old "embellies". hopefully i should be able to get £1.50 each for them (eventually) at work.  

 I went through my box of scraps on thursday and punched out loads of these squares and put them into "colour families".

I punched loads and loads but the scrap box still looks the same! The card bases are 5"x5".
Off to mums today with my sis,we take her to tesco and aldi then we go back to hers for a buttie and a coffee.Nothing exciting really but she manages to get excited about it.
        Thanks for visiting, Di.x

Gratuity box.

I knew it wouldn't be long before I made another box. We went to Speedy's sisters for a little get together a couple of Saturdays ago and I've just got round to making her a little thank you gift.

   The box is 4" square and 2" high. The paper is papermania creative tones. The cow and sentiment stamps are Ellzybels, really simple to colour. You can't see it very well in the photo but I went round the image with pink chalk.

Now this girl is a woman after my own heart, I was going to put a bag of Thornton's chocs in here from Tesco but the shelf was empty. That was a life saver because she's dieting Monday to Friday just like me. I remembered some bath goodies I bought, also from Tesco a while back and thought they would be a better idea. They were in gift sets in the sale but I split the set and just used 2 of the items with some pink tissue paper. Hats off to Pam because she's lost two stone on this "weekend off" diet. It takes longer to get the weight off but you don't feel so deprived and believe me the weekend can't come quick enough!
I'm off into town later to get my sister a pressie for her 60th birthday on Saturday. Speedy will be with me so no doubt we'll be walking home via several pubs....................it's a hard life...............

Another cutie card.

Same Kanban stamp set as yesterday, i must say i'm not 100% impressed with the way they stamp on coated card.as you have to press fairly hard which makes the edges slightly fuzzy but not enough to regret buying them.

The paper is from stash again and the little shoes stamp is by Stampendous. In a rush again as i'm working this morning until half one then Speedy's meeting me for a little afternoon drinkie. (What diet?).

Cutie card.

Quickie post today as i'm on my way to work. I had a little play with my new kanban stamp set yesterday.

I must say this is the shortest neck i've ever seen on a giraffe! He's not going to reach much with that is he? The border punch is the cheap one i got from Hobbycraft, i think it was just under £3 and works a treat on light card and paper.Paper is a scrap from stash and the leaf  stamp is part of the set.

     See you soon.   Di.

Friday weigh in  9st 10lbs thats just one pound back on which is great considering what i ate at the weekend.

It's hip to be square.......

Especially if you're a scalloped square. I've been playing with my woodware punch i bought from Brecon at the weekend. I've got so much older stash and bits of paper,i need to make loads of this type of cards and get them sold.

The papers are mainly docrafts and the little topper is from C&C.I bought a box of them a couple of years ago and although some of them are a bit naff there's also some quite nice ones so i'll be on a mission to get them used up over the next few weeks.The card base is 5"x5".

 I've been to tesco this morning to stock up on the lettuce! I'm so lucky with Speedy as he loves salad, he even likes cottage cheese, bless him. I've been extra good since i got home and according to the scales it's looking quite good. Its what i weigh on fridays that counts though so we'll see.

Tenby and stash.

Well i ate for Queen, country and football team while i was away. Help yourself breakfasts three course evening meals and anything i could cram into my mouth in between so the friday weigh in should be a laugh.

The journey down to Cardigan was plagued with traffic jams so we didn't get our usual two hour stop off somewhere nice and had to make do with an hour in Newtown which is nice but quite small. Our day out on sunday was at Tenby.

I stayed there about 20 years ago and have always wanted to go back so i was made up.It was a lovely sunny warm day too.It's such a quaint place,even the "grot shops" sell quaint grot,lots of camper van and beetle souvenirs, Patrick would have loved it.There was a small pound shop where i managed to find two cards of ribbon with a diamante buckle for a pound each.

                                           St Annes Island, Tenby.

I didn't find any more stash there but we went to Brecon for a few hours on the way home on monday and i found a shop called Emerald arts and crafts.I bought a Kanban stamp set and a small scalloped square punch. There were quite a few more stamps but they were mainly celtic designs, it being Wales and all that.

We left Brecon and after 2 hours we had a tea stop at an old station which had been converted into one of those woollen mill type shops. The pleated skirt brigade loved it but i was a bit unimpressed until i saw................'ello 'ello 'ello, what's this then............PAYPER BOX!!!!! £8.99 reduced to £5.50 per boxfull. Well it would have been rude not to wouldn't it.I know There's a papermill shop quite near to me but this is patterned card,great for boxes.

.That's all they had though, no more craft stuff which i thought was a bit strange but never mind.
 Well that's all for me for now, as you can imagine there's ironing to be done before i can go anywhere near my den.                 Di.xx

I'm back.

Quickie post. Dumped our bags last night and went for a bar snack. Good times had, at the Cliff Hotel Cardigan Bay.It certainly lived up to it's name,here's 2 pics till tomorrow.

The hotel was on a clifftop(you don't say) next to a golf course. These are a couple of pics of the view. I just did a faffy zoom job but i've got to rush and get to work now. More tomorrow including stash!!

On my way home.

I'll be on my way home today but there's always a mystery stop off for a couple of hours so there's still a bit more excitement.I'm so easily pleased LOL!! The biggie is did i find any craft shops???? I hope so.

Here's another quickie card, one i needed for work to replace one i'd sold, although i never make the same design again,just another "thinking of you" card.

The stamp is Cherry Blossom by Personal Impressions and the paper is Papermania creative tones.
Thanks for visiting. Di.xx

Where am i?

Well, i'll know by now but you'll have to wait! We always get a trip out on the sunday but in true mystery fashion the driver won't tell us where. He does devilish little detours so we can't guess either.

Here's a quickie card to keep you going.This is another digi stamp but it was from before i started my blog and i didn't make a note of where it came from,if anyone knows please let me know so i can give credit where it's due.   Di.xx
 Edit.    Thanks to Jen from My Inky Hands. I can now tell you the image is from Digistamp Boutique

Retirement.

No not mine, not for a long time yet. My bad luck story started when i was 15 and in my last year of school. The term had hardly started when the leaving age went up to 16 with immediate effect. What a bummer!! Out of all the kids in my year the only one's who didn't rebel were the top swots. The rest of us learned nothing,this is probably why i've got my high flying job in the paper shop! The same thing is likely to happen with my retirement, i'll be shuffling down to the post office to be told sorry luv you've got to wait till next year now. This card is for nobody in particular,i'll see if i can sell it at work.

The stamp is from the Clare Curd Stamping for him set. The papers are from an old kit (mostly naff) from C&C a few years ago. There is a sheet of paper and a matching vellum which i've torn and fixed on top with brads. I started colouring with my promarkers but realised i'd stamped this a while back on non coated card with stazon ink so i had to go back to my watercolour pencils as i'd already matted it up.

 Well as you read this i'll be on my coach to who knows where. I've scheduled another post for tomorrow,thanks for visiting. Di.xx

Ahh. bless!!

I loved making this card as much as i hated yesterdays. It's definitely more of a "me" card.This image was a freebie from Meljen's designs a few weeks ago. I've just had a look and i can't see it there now so it must have been for a limited time.

Sweeeeet or what? I love cats but i live in a flat so it wouldn't be fair to the poor little thing. If i ever won the lotto it would be estate agent first then cat rescue center before i even thought about furniture. I didn't have any suitable backing papers so i "did" some with promarkers. The sentiment is done on the computer and the little dogs are penny blacks. Card base is 5"x7".

I've made another quite decent card and a few thrown together jobs to do scheduled posts for the weekend with.  I'm off to work now till 6.30, then i'll do my bit of packing and open the wine! D'ya know what? Speedy is such a sweety pie ,he's just said "you can bring your laptop with you if you like". No way hun,otherwise you'll be very lonely. bless,love him to bits.

Friday weigh in, 9st 9lb. how did that happen? 2 cakes and a party last weekend life is strange,if i'd starved myself i'd have probably put weight on. So thats half a stone so far.I'd like to be 9st 2lb which is what i was ten years ago but we'll see............

Tilda's been framed.

Oh how i hated making this card yesterday! I had a head start with Tilda because i've got a sheet of her with her hair and skin all coloured and ready to finish to match the card. That's when the trouble started  deciding what colours to use. Then i decided to sit her in this Joanna Sheen frame. I was going to just leave it blue and white but i stupidly added a bit of lemon and peach to match tildas clothes .Then i decided it needed a nestie. It flippin' didn't, since when does a frame need a frame? Then i decided to add a layer of lemon.Why?!! Then i decided to complicate the rest of the card.

It was going to be such a simple blue and white jobby, i was going to paper piece the boots with the backing paper,which was different to the one i ended up using.

Then there's the flowers. I'm sick of putting flowers on cards but i'm stuck in a flower rut.Oh and i hate using coloured card bases so why did i do that too? You can't see it and it's a good job but i even gilded the ornate bits of the frame with a clear stardust gel pen!! It's just not a "me" card.  D'ya know what, i'm going away at the weekend for a couple of days and i think it's a good job. I might find a more logical mojo waiting for me when i get back.

Me and Speedy are going on one of these coach trips saturday to monday with all the oldies (back seat with the cider of course) and we don't know where the hell we're going because it's a mystery weekend, even the driver won't tell us where we're going until we get there.We've been on loads of them and we've never had a bad one yet (touch wood).The bit that Speedy's most gleeful about is that i can't pre google the craft shops if i don't know where we're going.

Unless i end up in the same state as yesterday i'll see if i can do some cards for scheduled posts while i'm away.

  Thanks for visiting. Di.x

Ellzybels sheep.

Morning all, a bit dull but never mind. I've been up since 4.30 today as i couldn't get back to sleep. I could have done all my housework if  Speedy hadn't been asleep. I must be getting to "that age". My dad used to go mad when we were teenagers, he'd say we were wasting our lives asleep half the morning. I never thought i'd agree with him but i think i'm actually turning into him, ........well,... and my mother actually!

Well i managed to make a card anyway.

I cut another load of wedding invites to size on monday and i was about to chuck the offcuts when i thought  "there must be something i can do with these", so i kept them and here's what i did with them. The dotty paper is from a forever friends pad and the stamp is Ellzybels. I think there will be a few more cards very similar to this one.

I actually sewed the little rosette, yes that's right i sewed it! The little flower was from the market. I sorted a load of food magazines out while i was waiting for speedy to wake up. I tore out any recipes i fancy making before lobbing what was left of them. I keep them behind the settee and the pile was getting higher and higher so i thought it was about time i sorted them. Most of them are nearly all adverts anyway. Luckily we live in above a load of offices and there's a big recycling bin outside.

Right i'm off to do a tiny bit of ironing and a whole lot of playing.  Di.x