Elzybells sheep.

Quickie post before i get off to work. I made this little card on thursday after i'd finished sorting all my ribbons. The card base is 5" x5", one of tesco's home extra 50 for £5 packs.

I used one of my favourite Elzybells sheep stamps. I've ordered a few more sentiment stamps from her closing down sale. The kraft paper is a bit of wrapping paper and i decided to bring out my fancy scissors.
 Time to get my skates on, thanks for looking. Di.xx

More bargains from WHS.

Just when i thought i'd had all the bargains from WHS i went in yesterday to find more stuff had appeared. I'll have to keep visiting because i think they must be getting stuff from other branches.
     GET THIS !!

Yes that's right 12 x 12  DCWV card stack for £2! I've had a couple of these before and i've only got bits of naff colours left so i was well chuffed. It had no wrapper on and was slightly scuffed at the edges but who cares for that price.

I also got a scrapbook stack for £2. It has a few pages of press out tags and things which aren't my cup of tea but the letters are ok and the papers (40 sheets) are really good quality.The plain kraft gift tags were only 20p a pack. There were boxes of stuff piled up to be unpacked so i'll be back asap.There were two assistants chatting in the corner and i felt like saying for gods sake get these boxes open now.
I did this as a scheduled post last night as it was going to be a longish one and it's workday so i'd best get my skates on.   Di.x

Friday weigh in, just about 9st 6lb,(9.7. yesterday) so  i've managed to remove one of the offending 2 pounds i gained , total loss so far, 10lb. Speedy went to Nantwich show on wednesday and came home with two big bagfuls of cheese so that's next weeks hurdle!

Do not disturb.

Morning all, notice i didn't say good. It's as dull as ever here in Chester. Oops, i've just looked up and my spider plant is drooping over the sides of the pot begging for a drink,lol. A little task for me in a minute.

It's our mates birthday next week so i thought i'd make him a funny card as his "lady" is messing him about good style poor thing.

I'm glad i got those flippin' men stamps. I don't really like some of them as they have horrible faces but most of them will get used. The card base is from Payperbox and has been cut to 6"x6".

I put some liquid pearls on the beer to give it a decent head, a beer's no good if the head's not right you know. I'd hate to work in a pub, some men are obsessive about the head on their pint.

I'm off into town soon (after i've watered the plants) to see if there's any more bargains to be had at WHS. Then i'm going to have to sort my ribbons out, they are all in little individual resealable bags but they need to be sorted into perhaps lights darks and patterned and put into a smallish clear 3 drawer chest i've got from Wilkinsons. At the moment i have to tip them all out to find the right colour.
 Thanks for visiting. Di.xx

How sweet is this baby?

Say hello to baby Michael. He has melted the heart of the least interested person where babies are concerned,I usually just look and grunt ( a bit like a teenage boy) with disinterest. I looked into that cot at the hospital on sunday and was gobsmacked. He was only 6 days old. No wrinkled up little creature, not one bit.Just look at this.

How could i not be smitten. Although at the time i didn't know this. You see at the time i was sitting to the right of Speedy refusing to have a hold of Michael as he has a broken collar bone ( Nina was begging the nurses to get him out as nothing was happening, 1 hour later doctor came and said head is wrong way and baby is wedged behind mums pelvis and decided to yank him out) . Mum had 22 stitches and now has a hernia.The wedding in september will most likely be moved to a later date. But Nina and Michael are doing fine. Daddy Neil is starting his new better paid job on sunday. He has always worked hard in the hotel/catering trade and we are very proud of him. It wasn't until i started editing the quickie photos i took that i realised how cute this little chap is.  Talking of proud, look at Speedy, bless him.

Michael when he was born was 22" long, a third of the height of an average adult. I will hold my "little lad" when his shoulder is healed, i'd hate do undo any of natures work because of my awkwardness.
       Neil and Nina, thank you so much,  If Michael is ever naughty just send him to Nanny McSpeed, (just joking).       Di.xxxx.

On the beach.

Well, i don't know about "hotter than July", i think old Stevie Wonder should bring out a new album called "wetter than July. Every year it's the same, like a monsoon season. It starts as soon as they mention a hosepipe ban, lol. I decided to cheer myself up by making a sunshine card.

The little girl is by Stamps Happen and the sentiment is Elzybells. I made the flower using a small scallop punch and an X.Cut botanicals punch which also embosses. The backing paper is from a DCWV glitter stack although there's no glitter on this piece.

I put some liquid pearls on the shells for a bit of dimension.
I'm starting work a bit later than usual this morning as i'm going with Speedy for his hospital check up. I have to go with him because as a typical male he doesn't listen and doesn't ask questions, he just wants to get the hell out of there,lol. Also if there's anything he's not supposed to be eating or drinking i want to know!!
 Thanks for visiting. Di.xx

Cheers me dears.

Mega quickie today as sis is on her way round to pick me up to go to mums. A little card i made last week when i wasn't really in the mood,but still wanted to have a go of my new Woodware Cocktails set. Card base is 5"x5"
 Right, gotta go. Di.xx

Babies everywhere.

I'm one of those unnatural women who doesn't really do babies. There's only a handful of us in the world and most women think we're really odd, but that's the way i am,when i go anywhere where there's a baby i dread it being passed around,lol. But........i can feel a bit of a change coming on. We went to see little Michael yesterday and instead of my usual glance into the cot with a "yeah nice", i came over all queer and wanted to touch........not hold exactly......just touch ( i can hear you all now, but this is a giant leap forward for me) and look. He is a beautiful little thing and i must admit i was quite taken with him, actually he's not so little at 22 inches long!!  We've all been banned from uploading photo's until mum & dad have done theirs and quite right too.They've come home today so i'll wait a couple of days.
My ex boss has just had a little boy too so i made them this little card.

The stamp is Elzybells, nice and easy to colour.The paper is from my scrap box, origin unknown and the sentiment is Hero Arts stamped 3 times. The little bird sticker is from Accessorize. If you want to see more ideas with these stickers pop along to Helens blog It's all fiddle fart. She is the queen of stickers and the queen of bargain hunting,lol.
 I'm getting hungry now, i've just realised i've strutted 4 miles this morning, done a load of housework and forgotten do eat anything, i wish i could do that every day. I'll have a bit of crumpet i think as were out for a bar snack later.
    Thanks for visiting. Di.xx

Simple elements.

I made a couple of simple cards from the elements and sentiments from my flippin men/women stamps. (There is a link in my last post to the suppliers). It was actually these "add ons" that convinced me to buy the stamps.

Here's the first,

And the second. The colours are a bit on the drab side but i needed a few "non pretty" cards for my little stand at work. I've been stamping my sentiments in memento ink lately, but i think i'll go back to versafine as they come out much better with the clear stamps.
Patrick,my boss, yesterday, bless that little lad, was oh so concerned about a little old lady who usually comes in to the shop every day but hadn't been in since tuesday. I said maybe she'd gone to he daughters for a couple of days. He said "no something's happened to her and i don't even know her name or where she lives", he worried out loud all morning and was livid when the bloke from next door said something really stupid. He was near to tears, love him. He nipped outside for a fag at lunch time and i spotted the old dear across the road. I stuck my head outside and said to him "there's your gilfriend".Well his eyes lit up and he dived over the road to help her across. You know when you can feel yourself wanting to burst into tears and think to yourself  "no, no, don't you dare", well that was me. You don't get many young lads like that these days, he can be a pain in the butt but he's such a sweetie pie.I only actually love a small handful of people and he's one of them.And yes he did "make me" eat a big lump of rocky road, lol.
Well anyway i'm off to work now but when i finish at 1.30 we are actually going to the hospital to see baby Michael!!  Apparently he is the loudest and greediest on the ward....sounds about right for a Speed,lol.

Flippin' scales!

I made this card yesterday in anticipation of this mornings weigh in. I know i've been naughty and i'm back at work so i can't use the treadmill as much as i did in the last couple of weeks. I'm still doing at least 3 miles per day, more if i'm off but i was doing 6 before. All the birthdays and weekends away are finished now so it should get easier,lol. Anyway here's the card.

It's made with one of my bargain flippin' women stamps from imagenation. The paper is from the Papermania summer bloom pad. The reverse stamp shows a cat sitting on the scales at the back, i haven't used it on this card though,and no i don't have a cat to blame for my weight gain.
Off to work soon. I'm with Patrick today so lord knows what he'll force feed me with lol. Good job i weigh before i go to work.

Friday weigh in, 9st 7 lb.  2lb back on (oops) total loss back down to 9lb. Result of sitting on a coach stuffing my face for 3 days!  Back on track now though.
If any of you are trying to diet and failing miserably do a weigh in on your blog. I swear i'd have given up ages ago if i didn't have to report here every friday. Try it.  Di.xx

WHS Bargains and new Woodware stamps.

I've got new stash coming out of my ears at the moment and i don't know where to start playing first!! I've still got loads of birthday money left too, i suppose i could spend it on new clothes but that's for grown ups lol. First of all ,get yourselves down to WHS and delve into any bargain bins they might have.

Bargains or what? I'm so pleased with the scissors, i have a few decorative ones which i use now and again but these are more of an irregular "torn" design.
Next up is a card i made with my new Woodware Mika and Friends clear set.

I must get myself a black promarker. I used a whispers pen for the kimonos but they are no good for blending with promarkers. The girls are cut out and glued onto the cream linen card, i didn't use 3d foam as i want to sell it and i like to keep my sale cards fairly flat as a lot of people aren't aware of the new postage rules.
Poor Speedy still hasn't seen his grandson.Neil rang to ask him to move his slot to a later one as another "visitor" was having our slot. Speedy's a mechanic who works for himself and had a car already booked in for that time so couldn't go. He had actually just nipped home to get changed when he got the call. He's fully booked up today too. I felt really sorry for him but have learned to keep my mouth shut.I suppose there'll be plenty of time when he's home.
      Thanks for visiting.  Di.xx

Camper than Liberace at Butlins.

Summer's here (or was) and what's more summery than a camper van, a few surf boards and a bit of sand.

The papers are yet again from DCWV stack 6. This is such a versatile stack, there's something for everyone. The camper van stamp is from Little Claires. My boss Patrick is not only the proud owner of  a Beetle but he also has a van. Both Vehicles are at Speedy's garage at the moment having all sorts of tweeking operations done to them,totally unnecessary stuff unless you're a 22 year old lad, lol.

Here's a "greener" version. I think i might give him one of these for letting me sell my cards at work. There was £29 in my jar when i got back yesterday. Maybe i should give him both of them, yes, i will. Coloured card bases again, when will i tire of my new "trend" i wonder?
  I'm going with Speedy this afternoon to see baby Michael. We haven't seen him yet as we were both working yesterday. Poor Nina has a hernia!! I'm not surprised after giving birth to a 10lb baby. There's hardly anything of her either, poor girl. I will get the proper info from her when we go as Neil is probably too busy strutting around like a peacock oozing testosterone everywhere, lol.
See you tomorrow with an update.  Di.xx

Little Elzybells Dog.

I made this card before i went away. My new Ellzybells stamps arrived so i just had to try one out.

Another coloured card base, i'm getting into these now.

I fancied this little dog stamp ages ago but forgot about it until i was looking at the closing down sale.Very quick and easy to colour, great for a quick card. The navy backing card is DCWV and the stripy paper is Papermania.The "stitching" is done with a white gel pen (and a ruler of course). The card base is 5"x5".
 Well i'm back in work today after 2 weeks off so i'd better get my skates on. Thanks fo looking. Di.xx

I'm back and Speedy's a grandad.

Sorry i'm late today. I went with Speedy for his renal check up and they've cranked up his lowish potassium allowance to extra low so i've been searching for recipes on t'internet all afternoon, there's potassium in nearly everything, plus they want him to lose a bit of weight. But enough of that for now. Speedy's grandson Michael was born at the same hospital while we were with the dietitian. He weighed in at a stonking 10lb 2 oz but is in an incubator for a day or so as he's having difficulties with his breathing. He was 2 weeks overdue and had to be induced. We are all really worried but apparently it's not an uncommon thing to happen and hopefully he'll be fine in a couple of days.
    Apart from this we had a really good weekend. We stayed at Letchworth Hall hotel in Letchworth in Hertfordshire.

This is the front of the hotel.

This is the "backyard".

And this is the lounge. Yep there's Speedy checking his phone for any missed calls,lol.We had a day out in ST Albans on saturday, what a lovely place. There was a big outdoor market with loads of fresh fruit and veg stalls. They all had big clear plastic bowls with fruit or veg in and they where all £1 each. We have nothing like that in Chester, ok there's an indoor market of sorts but no outdoor one despite having plenty of space outside. On the way down we drove through Luton. It is mainly inhabited by ethnic people. You can imagine the comments from the older people on the coach but i thought it was i sight to behold. Every other shop (well, nearly) had beautiful sari's or sari materials in their windows in gorgeous colours and in between these shops were loads of greengrocers with huge displays on the pavements. There was a Morrison's in town and i wondered how these small shops survived but it's probably only the English who go there for their ready meals and frozen stuff. And the women put us to shame in their beautiful sari's, not a pair of jeans or trainers in sight.
Well that's all from me for tonight, off to stir the chilli with no kidney beans and hardly any mushrooms and onions lol. He'd best not complain or he'll be wearing it!

Missing, presumed having a good time.

I'm off for another coach trip this morning until sunday night. It's another mystery tour ( why do they all say "where to" when i say that,lol?) to who knows where.If you work in a shop, cafe, pub or hotel, look out, you could look up and see my ugly mug looking at you!

I thought i'd leave you with a bit of clip art i found. I got rid of the original name with picasa and added my own version.. I hope i won't go to jail for it,lol. When we get to our hotel room the first thing that will happen is that Speedy will check out the tv channels and i'll checkout the yellow pages for craft shops. Pair of saddos we are!  Bye for now, see you monday, maybe with even more new stash.   Di.xx

Friday weigh in...9st 5lb, another one down, 11 in total. All that "strutting" is paying off. 6miles a day now.
I think i'll probably gain weight next friday, big eats this weekend and i'm back to work tuesday. That means back to my "feeder" (Patrick,lol) and not as much time for strutting. Only a couple of pounds to go now though so it won't be such a big deal.

Fat cat returns.

I made two cards with the Penny Black cat image, here's the other one, more of a male version.

I'm not too keen on that bit at the bottom. I thought it was a bit bare so i decided to doodle around it but i don't think it looks right (it's wonky for a start), i should have used coloured card or perhaps a mottled one and left off the doodling. No doubt someone will buy it in the shop for £1.50, they always buy the naff ones.

My birthday stash has started to arrive, the first was my Elzybels closing down bargains. Then my flippin men and women stamps from Imagenation ,buy all eight men's sets for £20 and get all eight women's sets free, 16 stamp sets for £20!  They aren't what i'd usually go for but i'm glad i ordered them because there's loads of useful elements and sentiments and i'm sure the men and women will grow on me for that price.
 I'm going away for the weekend tomorrow on another mystery tour so i've got ironing and packing to do. I'll have to pack warm clothes and cool clothes with this unsettled weather especially as we don't know where we're going.
      Bye for now, there is a post for tomorrow but none for sat and sun.   Di.xx