It's cold out there ....

... it is 5.10am and my body clock has woken me up early!!  Well to be honest, both Kathryn and I are wide awake; poor Jonathan is awake too ;)  We've just watched the weather forecast for the day and everyone seems to be delighted that the forecast is for a dry, sunny and relatively warm day.  But it's cold right now - 32F (0C) - but it's going to be a super day. 

Our journey was reasonably uneventful, apart from the fact that our KLM flight was almost an hour late leaving Manchester so we only had 30 minutes to get our onward flight to Detroit.  Obviously we made it, but it was a fast walk around the airport!  The plane was packed - I think lots of people were heading home for Thanksgiving.

And I think it's only now that we're here, I realise just how important Thanksgiving is to the Americans - I think it's bigger than Christmas.  We have woken up in time to go downtown to Detroit to see the Parade, but I think we're going to grab the opportunity to explore the area.  Oh yes, there's also a huge football match on today - Lions V Packers - all a bit foreign to me, but I'll learn.

Anyway, that's all for now.  I don't think this will be the last time I'm up so early, but I hope not quite so early.  To all my American friends - have a

Very Happy Thanksgivining

I'm so thankful to be here and celebrating with my family.  Have a great holiday.  Bye for now.

Happy Thanksgiving ....

... to all my American Blog friends - I do hope you have a great day.  This is a scheduled post and Kathryn, Jonathan and I will be celebrating Thanksgiving too - I'm not quite sure where we'll be - but I'm sure we'll have a good time. 

I didn't make a card - lack of time before we headed off, but I found this super image on the Internet - great colours a cornucopia of plenty - I found it at the The Holiday Spot - they have lots of information and screen savers to share!

Have a super holiday and I'll see you soon!

USA, here we come .....

....  today's the day!!  Kathryn and I are heading off to America.  Jonathan is doing some work in Detroit at the moment and we're going to be spending 12 days with him.  We've arranged it so that we arrive in time for Thanksgiving.  However, I don't actually know what we'll be doing tomorrow!  I suspect we'll be driving around having a look at the area and checking out places that we might like to live.  We're both really excited - both to be seeing Jonathan and to be visit the States.

Have a great day!  See you soon.

We have heat ....

....  yippee!!!!  The engineer arrived this morning - bang on time - had a look at my boiler and told me the fan was the problem.  He's made a temporary fix and we now have heat - the house is currently 18°C - about 3°C warmer than yesterday.  I feel so much better :)  He's coming back tomorrow to replace the fan and that should hold the boiler for another few months!!

And I have a card to share with you - made for this week's Less is More - LIM42 - where the theme is to use silhouettes in your card design.  Chrissie and Mandi have provided a definition for silhouette as follows:

n:  A silhouette is the image of a person, an object or scene consisting of the outline and a basically featureless interior with the silhouetted object usually being black

I've made another card for my Christmas collection - I still have quite a few to make, so I'm using challenge themes to help me with designs.  The image I've used is from Joanna Sheen's wonderful CD - Dancing with Shadows - where all the images are silhouettes - so I may have another card to share before the end of the week!!

The hardest thing about this card was find the right shade of card to make the mat.  I cut out the largest Fleur de Lis Square and then cut out a section in the middle to make it the right size for the image.  Finally, I added this really simple sentiment - it's what Christmas is really all about!

Image:  From Joanna Sheen - Dancing With Shadows CD (which doesn't look to be available anymore)
Spellbinders:  Fleur de Lis Squares (S4-318) #4
Accessories:  Card and stamp from stash

It started out so bright this morning, but is now really grey and dull, and there's fog creeping in.  I don't want the fog to hang around.  It's been playing havoc with flights from Heathrow.  We're flying on Wednesday, so I'm hoping that a strong wind blows up and clears all the fog away :)  I'm off to sort out clothes and bits for our trip.  See you later!!

CR84FN43 - Birthday wishes ....

.... before we move onto our new challenge - I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed visiting everyone who joined in with our CR84FN42 challenge - those colours were so pretty and the cards and projects made were wonderful.  Thank you all!

Anyway, it's time for our new CR84FN challenge - the colours are quite different this time - brown, tan and green!  The inspiration photos are courtesy of Beccarillo Photography - I really like the picture of the wheel! 

My friend's husband celebrates his birthday today and I decided to use our colours for his card.  Now at craft class last week, Kathy was telling us all that Peter likes cars, so I had a hunt through my stash and found exactly what I wanted!

I started with the backing sheet which features a vintage VW Beetle.  It came from a Kanban kit that I got from QVC and was actually gold, but I altered it with some alcohol inks to give a greenish tint to the card.  I layered the tinted card onto some dark green linen finish card.  The stamped VW Beetle is from my friend Buffy - when she last came to stay we borrowed each other's stash - so I'm sad to say I don't know who made this stamp - but it is absolutely perfect for the card.  I used the out-of-the-box technique to cut out the car and I tinted the card with my distress inks.  I coloured the car with Promarkers.  I layered the car onto mats in pearly tan and dark brown card.  I like the sentiment (again from Buffy) and used the super Fancy Tags to cut this out.  I do hope Peter likes his card - I certainly had lots of fun making it!

Stamps:  Borrowed from Buffy - don't know the company who makes them
Spellbinders:  Pinking Circles Sm (S4-172) # 6, Standard Circles Sm (S4-116) #6, Standard Circles Lg (S4-114) #6, Fancy Tags Two (S5-030)
Inks:  Memento - Tuxedo Black;  Distress - Antique Linen
Promarkers: Lush Green, Emerald, Tan, Cinnamon, Cool-Grey 1
Accessories:  Kanban - VW Beetle (J H Haynes images); Adirondack Alcohol Ink - Citrus, Sail Boat Blue; Glossy Accents and card - all from stash

You can find lots more inspiration from our Guest Designer - Mackie and from the rest of the Design Team:

Sue

Andrea

Stephanie

Suzanne

Heather

Mona
Lisa

I've got lots to do today.  I need to sort out what we're taking to Detroit - it's only three days before we fly off for a short holiday.  We are both looking forward to seeing Jonathan and getting the chance to look around the area.  We will be just in time for Thanksgiving!!  So that's all for now - see you tomorrow!

Christmas is coming ....

.... another two cards made for this year's collection.  Before taking Mum to the airport this morning, I checked to see my two favourite challenges - Less is More and Waltzingmouse, and then I went on my way thinking about my cards.  We had a good run to the airport and Mum got off okay.  I'll speak to her this evening - it was great to have her company for the last couple of weeks.

And when I got back - I knew just what I was going to do.  Things changed a bit, but not much.  My first card is for this week's Less is More - LIM42; Chrissie and Mandi have a theme week and they would like us to use silhouettes in our card design.  I immediately thought of the wonderful cameo images from Waltzingmouse, and the cute Santa cameos too, but in the end I used a really pretty topper from Kanban featuring some carol singers.  I added some glitter to the image - which sadly you can't really see in the photo.  Finally, a simple sentiment in silver.

Stamps:  Waltzingmouse - Santa's coming to Town
Image: Kanban - Carol Singers
Accessories:  Blue card, glitter and embossing powder from stash

My next card is for the Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge - WMSC74.  The sketch is really simple but that means you can really play with it!!

I've gone for a reasonably literal interpretation of the sketch.  I started off with a champagne pearl card base and I added some colour to the edge of the card - it has a really lovely shimmer in real life!  I used my lovely new Postage stamp nestie to cut the square of luxurious Kanban card.  I stamped and embossed two of the lovely Santa baubles onto plain white card.  I cut out one image with the coordinating ornament die and added colour to the bauble.  I coloured the second image with the same ink, but slightly lighter shading and then cut out the central sentiment part.  I made a lovely gold bow and attached that to the card and then added the sentiment part of the bauble.  A lovely rich looking card!

Stamps:  Waltzingmouse - Santa's coming to Town
Spellbinders:  Postage Stamps (S4-348) #5, 2011 Heirloom Ornaments (S4-334) #4
Inks:  Distress - Festive Berries
Accessories:  Kanban card, Gold embossing powder, ribbon and card from stash

I'm really pleased to have made cards for both these challenges today, that means I can get on with some housework tomorrow.  I'll need to do something reasonably active as it's quite cool in the house.  I'll be glad when the plumber comes on Monday!!! 

That's all for today.  I'm going to have a quick browse around Blogland and then get set up to watch Strictly Come Dancing this evening.  See you all tomorrow for the new CR84FN challenge!

Heating on the blink ....

.... why is it that when things break down they go at the most inconvenient time?   My boiler seems to have died - just when I'd like the heating to come on - it's getting quite chilly here tonight!!!  I've called my plumber and the alternate, but neither can come until Monday.  I suppose the up side is that it's not as cold as it could be!!  Darn!!!  Sorry to rant - just needed to let off some steam :)  See you!

Getting into the Christmas Spirit ....

..... now that we're more than half way through November, I am most certainly getting into the Christmas Spirit.  And the card I'm sharing with you today is a Christmas card that I've made for three challenges:

1. St Luke's Charity Card Challenge - where we'd like you to make a Christmas card any theme you like!
2. Colour Q - cQc111 - super colours
3. Clean & Simple - FTL166 - a lovely sketch

While I really like the Colour Q challenge colours, they really are quite autumnal and, as I wanted to make a Christmas card, I decided to have only a splash of the Pumpkin Pie and Crumb Cake.  I concentrated on the Pear Pizzazz and Rich Razzleberry.  I started off by making the bottom and backing panels for the card.  I used the lovely Nordic Winter set from Waltzingmouse and stamped the images in Rich Razzleberry.  I kept the tag quite simple as I wanted the stamped image to really stand out.  I stamped the image in Rich Razzleberry onto white card, cut it out using my nesties and coloured the edge of the panel.  I layered this onto some Crumb Cake and Pumpkin Pie card.  Finally I punched a hole and added some matching ribbon.

I must apologise for the quality of the photo - it's dark and I'm having to do the best I can with my desk light!!  I think I'd like a light box for Christmas :)

Stamps:  Waltzingmouse - Seasonal Remedies, Nordic Winter
Inks:  Stampin' Up! - Rich Razzleberry
Spellbinders:  Mega Rectangles Lg (S4-142) #2
Accessories:  Stampin' Up! card in Pear Pizzazz, Crumb Cake and Pumpkin Pie; Ribbon and card base from stash

There's still plenty of time to join in with our challenge over at St Luke's Charity Card Challenge - this month we'd like you to make a Christmas card - any theme you like!  And there's a prize too - we have a couple of lovely stamps donated by Lili of the Valley Stamps - they're just fab!  Do join us!!

That's all for now - Mum and I are going into town this morning - last chance before Mum goes home!!  See you later.

A playful Christmas waltz ....

.... I was checking my favourite challenges earlier and saw the new colours for The Play Date Cafe Challenge - PDCC108 - warm, rich colours - maroon, copper and turmeric!  Just yummy!  And I had to play immediately and, as I'm still making cards for this year's Christmas Collection, it is only natural that this is part of the Waltzmingmouse Blog Waltz too.  Oh yes, the layout is based on the super sketch from Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge - WMSC73.














I thought the PDCC colours were perfect for a luxurious Christmas card and I've finally played with my wonderful Seasonal Remedies stamps.  I stamped the Joy square all over the base of my card - to get a subdued colour I stamped off each image before stamping onto the card.  I cut out two mats in cherry cobbler and copper linen effect mirri card and used some lovely copper ribbon from my stash.  I stamped the Joy image three times - and then cut out some layers to decoupage.  Finally I added a little ornament tag onto which I stamped one of the super Nordic Winter images. 

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Seasonal Remedies, Nordic Winter
Inks:  Stampin' Up! - More Mustard, Cajun Craze, Cherry Cobbler
Spellbinders:  Fleur de Lis Squares (S4-318) #3, Standard Squares Sm (S4-128) #5, Mega Scalloped Rectangles Lg (S4-143) #4, Mega Rectangles Lg (S4-142) #4
Accessories:  Card and ribbon from stash

I really enjoyed the Waltz this morning - so many fabulous cards and projects!  Now, that's all for today as I'm off to the shops.  See you all tomorrow!

Waltzing with the rodent ....

.... gosh I'm late getting this post up!  It's time for the monthly Blog Waltz with the Friends of Waltzingmouse Stamps.

The theme this month is, of course, Winter/Christmas - and a perfect opportunity to play with the wonderful stamps that Claire designs.  For my card I've gone back to the beautiful Christmas Cottage - it's the first time I've inked this one up and I love it.

I started with a 5" × 7" white card blank onto which I stamped the Christmas cottage and the sentiment.  I stamped the cottage three times onto some white card, coloured the layers with Promarkers and then cut out various details and layered up the image.  Using my glue pen I applied a mixture of white flock and glitter to the roof, gables and window ledges - it doesn't show up too well in the photo, but in real life it looks amazing!  I found some lovely dark navy card in my stash and cut it to fit the card base, leaving a small border all around the card.  I cut the shape with the largest Labels 20 die - just love this shape - and added some stars to the top part of the card which were embossed with silver detail powder.  I attached the frame to the front of the card using dimensional tape and then added some pine trees and a little snowman to the front of the card.  I think this card will be for my aunt and uncle.

Stamps:  Waltzingmouse - Christmas Cottage, Twas the Night Before Christmas
Inks:  Memento - Tuxedo Black
Promarkers: Lush Green, Emerald, China Blue, Powder Blue, Gold, Soft Lime, Walnut, Tan, Terracotta, Pastel Blue, Ice-Grey 1, 2 & 3 and Blender pen
Spellbinders: Labels 20 (S5-026) #5
Accessories:  Flock, glitter, silver embossing powder and card from stash

Here's a close up of the cottage!  So pretty with the snowy roof!  I layered the front of the house and the little potted trees to give some depth to the image. 

So pleased that I've managed to get the details of the card written - that'll teach me to leave the card until the last minute.  I only finished it last night/early this morning - 2.00am!!!  Thanks for stopping by.  Now I'm off to for a quick waltz around - see you soon!

Just to say .....

.... this is a little card (A7 or 4" × 3") - sort of cute, and I've made it for the current challenge at For Your Inspiration - FYI17 - once again they have provided the most wonderful inspiration photo!

I like the structure and the architectural lines in the image, but I've actually just taken the colours as the inspiration for my card.  I do like the bright, cheerful yellows!   I started off with the cute image of the little bee girl - she's a darling.  I coloured the image with Promarkers and cut it out.  I created the hill she's sitting on with my distress inks and added some grasses to create depth.  Finally I added the sentiment - just to say - anything you want! 

Image:  Free with one of the craft magazines
Stamps:  Stampin' Up! - Pocket Silhouettes
Inks:  Distress - Iced Spruce, Black Soot
Promarkers: Canary, Soft Lime, Sunflower, Black, Iced-grey 1, Grey Green
Accessories:  Card from stash

I'm really pleased with this card - it's really bright and cheerful, the perfect antidote to a grey, dull and cold day here in North Wales!!  That's all for now.  I'm off back to my craft room.  So many cards to make and not many days left to do them in!!!  See you soon ;)

Leaves ......

...  Hi everyone!  It's really autumnal here - grey, dull and the wind is blowing all the leaves off the trees - they're beginning to look really bare!  And that sort of ties in with the theme at this week's Less is More - LIM41 challenge.  Chrissie and Mandi would like us to make a one layer card featuring:

LEAVES

I do have a few sets of leaves, but I decided to have a play.  I found some clipart of two leaves and printed it onto plain paper.  I cut the leaves leaving a stencil which I attached to my card.  I inked through the stencil with a few distress inks and then stamped some images - they're faint, but they are there!  Next I put one of the cut out leaves on the edge of the card - as though it is falling off - and stippled some colour around the edge of the leaf - leaving a ghostly leaf image.  I added some colour to the other cut out leaf and attached it in front of the two stenciled images.  While I know this is a one layer card - there is no actual depth to the leaf, it lies flat on the card.  I had to add the leaf, as the card looked unbalanced without it!  Finally I added a sentiment.

Stamps:  Papermania Urban Stamps - Type Print, Bird Print
Inks:  Distress - Wild Honey, Rusty Hinge, Gathered Twig
Accessories:  Clipart from Internet and card from stash

I've just had a quick look at the LIM blog - and I'm really quite late with my card - but it's been a busy old weekend.   That's all for now.  I'm off to put some more washing into the machine and then back into my craft room.  I really do have to get my design cards made as it's only a week until Kathryn and I fly to the US!!!!  Can you tell I'm excited?  See you later!

Reading .....

... hi guys.  I had a good time at craft class this morning - I didn't stop long, but managed to up date my stamping reference sheets.  Then headed into town to post a big box of cards to Tara for the St Luke's Charity Sale on 27th November.  I've been meaning to post my cards to Tara for ages and sorting out the house recently reminded me that I need to get them to her.  Have a good sale!

And I had planned on getting into my craft room this afternoon - I've got lots of cards to make for Design Team commitments - especially with us going to the States for a holiday shortly.  However, I didn't make it.  I was side tracked a bit.  I just had to finish Stephen King's latest novel "11.22.63" - the date written in the American style.  To quote the blurb "The day that changed the world.  What if you could change it back?"  You can guess the central idea about the story - to stop the assassination of Kennedy.  It's brilliant!

Many of you will have noticed from my sidebar that I joined the 2011 Stephen King Reading Challenge in January with the intention of reading six of his books.  A quick update as of today:

These are the books I’ve read so far on my Stephen King reading challenge.  I’m writing my reviews in the order I read the books.

1. The Stand - finished 23 March 2011 - review here
2. The Green Mile - finished 28 March 2011 - review here
3. It - finished 29 April 2011 - review here
4. Desperation - finished 8 May 2011
5. Bag of Bones - finished 10 May 2011
6. Cell - finished 19 May 2011
7. On Writing (non-fiction) - finished 27 May 2011
8. Carrie - finished 3 June 2011
9. Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger – finished 15 July 2011
10. The Dead Zone – finished 20 July 2011
11. Insomnia – finished 25 July 2011
12. Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three – finished 10 August 2011
13. Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands – finished 20 August 2011
14. Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass – finished 1 September 2011
15. Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla – finished 11 September 2011
16. Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah – finished 18 September 2011
17. The  Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon – finished 27 September 2011
18. Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower – finished 28 September 2011
19. Full Dark, No Stars – finished 20 October 2011
20. 11.22.63 – finished 14 November 2011

As you can see, I've read quite a few more than originally planned!!!  It's been a joy to revisit some of the old stories and to re-read the Gunslinger stories.  And the new books have been great.  But I'm really behind on reviews - so I'll get them posted as soon as I can.  If you've not read any Stephen King - try the new one - 11.22.63 - it's excellent.

Anyway, that's all for now.  I'm off for a glass of wine and some TV.  See you soon.

Wow! Blog Candy .....

.... just browsing this morning and on my Dashboard found this post from the Craft Barn - they have reached 600 followers and are celebrating by offering some Blog Candy!!

There is so much in the picture - check out the link - you've got until 25th November to enter - simply follow the instructions of their blog.  I'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed :)

Now - I'm off to have some breakfast and get ready for craft class this morning.  See you guys later!

CR84FN42 - birthday .....

.... it's the second week for our gorgeous CR84FN42 colours of black, pale pink and a neutral. 

And this time I've made a birthday card not for anyone specifically, in fact I think this is likely to go into a box of cards that I'm sending to Tara for the the St Luke's Charity card sale at the end of November.

This card owes a lot to Claire and Kate.  I created the background by using several stamps from the oval and cameo sets released in July, and stamping in two shades of pink.  I stamped the cameo and oval frame in black versafine and heat embossed with clear powder. I used a nestie to cut out the image and used distress inks to colour the image.  It was mounted onto a gloss black mat and attached to the card.  For the sentiment I used a lovely oval greeting which had been lightly coloured and mounted onto a fancy tag.  Simple and elegant - at least that's what my Mum says!

Stamps:  Waltzingmouse - Cameo Maker; Cameo to Go, Oval Classic Frames
Inks:  Stampin' Up! - Pink Pirouette, Pretty in Pink; Distress - Spun Sugar; Versafine - Onyx Black
Spellbinders:  Beaded Ovals (S4-294) #3, Plain Ovals Lg (S4-110) #3, Fancy Tags (S4-235)
Accessories:  Clear embossing powder, black gloss mirri and card from stash

For more inspirational cards check out the Design team blogs:

Sue

Andrea

Stephanie

Suzanne

Heather

Mona
Lisa

and Mackie - our Guest Designer

We have had lots of submissions for this colour challenge and I have to apologise as I've not been commenting as much as I would have liked - but I will get around this week.  I look forward to seeing your creations.  See you soon!