Christmas Card Club - Card 20/2019 - Anything Goes - and Computer Update

Hello and Happy Sunday Everyone

I hope you are having a lovely weekend. Many thanks for taking the time to check out today's post - your visit is much appreciated.

The challenge for today's Christmas Card Club, set by Lorraine, is 'icicles'  but I don't have anything appropriate in my stash, instead I'm going with the usual fallback of 'anything goes'. I've made four cards from the set of foiled Christmas toppers that is a gift with this month's Creative Stamping magazine. 

It took only two sheets of toppers to make these four cards. The only extras needed to make the cards were the white card bases in different shapes and sizes, some scraps of cardstock in shades of blue and light green, and adhesives. 

There's also a Christmas themed stamp set with the magazine. The set of card toppers are only available with the magazine on sale at Tesco.

Some of you may be interested in a follow-up to the computer problems experienced through the week. Short story is that it's gone and I am now getting used to a brand, spanking new HP Slimline 290 tower. 

It's tiny - about a third of the size of the previous one - saving on space yet more powerful. I'm still adding software to get everything back up and running. It takes time but, so far, I love it, and I'm so happy to be able to post again. 

That's it for CCC today but I hope you will pop over to see what my teammates have created for today's theme - many of them with icicles. You'll find a list of their names and links on my right sidebar - as always they are so much more creative than me.

Rudolph Day - September

Hello Everyone

This has to be a super quick post today as the computer is still acting up. It looks like it needs a bit of TLC so will taking it to an IT expert tomorrow in the hope that it's fixable. In the meantime I have this month's Rudolph Day card challenge at ScrappyMo's Scraps of Life to share with you.

Once again, apart from the base, all supplies are from my stash.

Supplies used:
- white 5"x 7" card blank
- cardstock; orange/red satin finish card; snippets of white card for greeting, flowers and leaves
- embossing folder: Sizzix Hero Arts 'Christmas Words
- die: Scandinavian Christmas 'Merry Christmas' wreath from Crafters Companion's Signature Collection
- inks: ColorBox 'Frosty White' & 'Green'; Memento 'Rhubarb Stalk'
- stamps; Christmas Stamps set from PaperCrafter Issue 13
- yellow enamel dots 

Oh dear, the fan is making too much noise so I better not stay on much longer.

Take care and have a great day.

WOYWW 538

Hello Everyone,

It's the last Wednesday of September and so the last What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday for the month too. In just a few days - 28th September - it's my blogaversary. Nine years! Not long after starting this blog I discovered Julia's Stamping Ground and it wasn't long before I plucked up courage and was joining in with her WOYWW. According to my stats it's been 494 Wednesdays. And that has got to be 494 of the best things I could have done because, thanks to WOYWW, I have made so many wonderful friends - everyone of them not afraid to reveal what's on their desks too. So here's, for the 495th time, what's on my desk today.

And after that build up, nothing special. I'm still working on the final pages for my son's 50th year. There's a pile of photos dating back to the 1960s/1970s - a mix of black & white and colour, all measuring approximately 3½" square. It's a difficult size and even if I made lots of double page layouts it could take a long time, not to mention a lot of pages, before they were all scrapped. The answer is, I think, to use Project Life inserts. They take 10 photos on each side - much better. It also means I'm finally going to make a dent in that huge stock of PL cards, in the purple box, that have been, up to now, an unwise investment.

I did make these two pages with a few of the small photos before realising what a long job it would be to scrap them all.

Another consideration was just how bulky the album would be if all the photos were recorded in this way.

It's not exactly a first world problem, trivial really, but a niggle nevertheless. So glad I remembered those PL inserts.

Other things I've been up to this week.

The EM asked it I could make a quick notecard for him.

A few strips of washi tape and a couple of stamps and the job was done.

Oh goodness! Disaster! I took a break and my computer died! So I'm trying to finish this on my phone but find I'm not able to insert photos. Again, not a first world problem but definitely not trivial either as I've lost access to all my files. Help!

Hoping to be back to normal next week.

Edited Note: Manage to get computer working again, but for how long I don't know!

Hello Autumn - UKPC September Swap Card

Morning Everyone,

I hope you are enjoying today and maybe finding time to craft. The card I'm sharing this time was made for this month's swap for the Facebook group, UKPC, The theme was green and white - a favourite combination.

The 'inchie' tiles were made from an autumn inspired masterboard I created using a combination of leaf stamps and various green inks, as can be seen in this photo.

How the masterboard was made:

First, I found, in the bits and bobs box of course, this Gelli plate print piece, made using Vicki Boutin's 'Juicy Pear' green and Maggie Holmes 'Sunny Days' aqua acrylic paints ...

... and decided it would make a good base for stenciling and stamping on, using just about every green ink in my stash, to create a masterboard. First, I stenciled here and there with a Heidi Swapp trellis stencil, then a combination of leaves - from Folio Variostempel's Leaves set - in various greens was stamped over the entire surface of the print. To finish, texture was added with a Vicki Boutin stencil and Ranger's Opaque Matte Paste.

Other supplies used:
- dark green cardstock for card base and 'inchie' layering
- white embossed card for topper base - another piece found in my bits and bobs box embossed with an old but favourite trellis folder from Crafts-Too
- a 1½" square Woodware punch used to make the 'inchie' tiles
- dies: butterfly from 'Butterfly Dance' by Tattered Lace, dragonfly a mini die from Cut & Make from The Range.
- stamps: greeting from Hunkydory's 'Autumn Harvest'
- inks: various greens from Ink It Up!, Letterpress, Ranger's Distress Ink, Versafine, Papermania, ColorBox, We R Memory Keepers
- embellishment: yellow Stickles 

As everything used on this card has been in my stash for quite some time, I'm submitting it to Shopping Our Stash's Challenge #405 - Dream the Embossible Dream

And also to C.R.A.F.T. Challenge 528 - Autumn/Weather

Many thanks for visiting here today and any comments are much appreciated - especially as I know that, like me, you're likely to be very busy.

In A Vase On Monday - The Pinks and Whites of Autumn

Hello Everyone,

Woke up this morning to find the garden as wet as yesterday and it looked, yet again, as though there was no chance of collecting flowers for today's vase. Happily, the rain has dried up, the sun has made a late appearance, and everything in the garden has cheered up immensely. So here, in the nick of time, is my offering for Cathy's In A Vase On Monday.

Pink and white roses - Iceberg (white), Elina (creamy white) Susie (peachy pink), Carefree Days (pink), - and cosmos - Cupcakes (white) and Dazzler (carmine pink).

R. Susie & C. Dazzler

R/ Elina & C. Cupcake

C. Dazzler & Cupcake

R. Carefree Days

Looking at them gathered together in my old jug, so fresh and bright, I could almost forget that summer is over and we are well into autumn.

And just in case I'm in any doubt that winter's on it's way I have my little pots of cyclamen to remind me.

Lovely, aren't they. They were going cheap at our local DIY store and I couldn't resist them.

Linking this post to Cathy's In A Vase On Monday, and joining with the many others who share their floral arrangements each week. If you have filled a vase today, I'm sure you would be very welcome to join in too.

Snippet Sunday - Cards for Men

Hello everyone,

Recently, two men in my life celebrated birthdays. They're both in their eighties so the usual themes of football, fast cars, beer and hill-climbing no longer apply. Here's what I came up with.

Card #1

Card #2

The backgrounds were found in the bits and bobs box - leftovers from a couple of previous makes. The bright blue one was quite obviously made from spray inks but, if I remember correctly, the more subtle colours of the second were made by using the technique of squishing garden flowers onto card using a die-cutting machine. Not that I can remember the flowers used - I tried out the technique a good few years ago.

Supplies used:
- white A6 card bases
- the found background pieces
- scraps of hessian and turquoise glitter paper from the  American Crafts' mixed media pad from the 'Dear Lizzy New Day' collection for card #1
- Kraft cardstock for card #2
- scraps of white card for the toppers and greeting circles - both cards
- stamps; wading birds from 'Wetlands' by Stampin' Up! - card #1; ears of corn from 'Autumn Harvest' by Hunkydory - card #2; greeting from 'Special Occasion Stamps' - a gift from a 2013 issue of Cardmaking & Papercraft magazine - both cards
- inks - Ranger's Archival 'Jet Black' - both cards
- pens - Memento Dual Markers in 'Cantaloupe', 'Dandelion', 'Rich Cocoa' & 'Potter's Clay' for card #2

- tools - die-cutting machine and a set of Docrafts' Spiro Circles dies for matting toppers on both cards

As you can see, the design is super simple, using very little in the way of supplies - and most of them from the snippet box too.

I'm submitting a card to Pixie's Snippets Playground - Challenge #361. It makes a change for Di for it not to be a Christmas card, which is what I seem to be making most of the time these days.

I trust you have had a lovely weekend. We certainly have had a sunny one here. Well, it was until today - it's been dreich and  damp from overnight rain, but the garden needed it so I'm not complaining.

Take care and enjoy what's left of today.

WOYWW 537

Morning Everyone

It's What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday again and I'm late. What's new? Only because I've been busy doing nothing more exciting than my domestic goddess tasks. But enough of the excuses, I'm here now and this is what's on my desk this morning.

Question: how many green ink pads have I got in my stash? Answer: the eight in this shot? No, there's more - at the last count it's eleven! You'd never guess that green is my favourite colour. The autumnal background was made for a challenge. Sorry, can't show the finished project yet - it's still a secret. But, talking of autumn, here's another card I made this week.

The topper was made from a bit of promotional mail received from our local garden centre I thought too nice to toss. It's layered on to dark brown card and the base is a square kraft card base. Course garden twine seemed an appropriate embellishment and the little wooden leaf perfect for the season.

And now, the book bit.

This week I've been enjoying the second installment of Shaun Bythwell's tales from what must be Scotland's most famous bookshop, The Bookshop in Wigtown. 'Confessions of a Bookseller' follows on from 'The Diary of a Bookseller' (soon to be a major TV series). I enjoyed both books very much. Apart from Mr Bythwell himself my favourite character is his neurotic Italian temp assistant, 'Granny'.  It's only a week or so the Wigtown Book Festival which we plan to go to, and we will be sure to pop into The Bookshop while we are there. A mile of bookshelves - unmissable!

And ... finally ...

me this morning ...

Illustration by Louise Braithwaite

... because I am a ...

... and now, I think I need one of these ...

Enough! Time for lunch. But before I go, I just want to apologise to everyone I didn't visit last week. Life, as usual, got in the way and I simply ran out of time. Today, I promise, I will do much better. Thank you to you all for your visits and your comments, they are very much appreciated.

Have a wonderful day.

Christmas Card Club - Card 19/2019 - Anything Goes

Hello and Happy Sunday Everyone

I hope you are having a lovely weekend. Many thanks for taking the time to check out today's post - your visit is much appreciated.

Only one card for the Christmas Card Club from me today and as the challenge is 'anything goes' it was made using an old, but a favourite, stamp from Penny Black.

I admit that the topper was stamped up some time ago but somehow got forgotten until searching through my box of bits and bobs, looking for inspiration, I unearthed it again. Adhering all those tiny green gems was a labour of love but, I think, well worth the effort. I could have, maybe should have, used red gems, for a more festive look, but I seem to be on a green and white thing at the moment so green gems it had to be.

Supplies used:
- a plain white A6 card base
- green glitter card, for layering, from a Mixed Media Pad by American Crafts, 'Dear Lizzy New Day' 
- white watercolour card for topper
- stamps: Penny Black's 'Berry Red, Snow White' and the greeting from 'Wonder Collection'; where the leaf stamp is from is long forgotten
- ink pads: Memento 'Tuxedo Black' and Versafine ' Olympia Green' 
- embellishments;  tiny green gems from Anita's. 
- liquid adhesive; Anita's Tacky Glue

That's it for CCC today but I hope you will pop over to see what my teammates have created for today's theme - you'll find a list of their names and links on my right sidebar - as always they are so much more creative than me.

WOYWW 536

Hello Everyone

Another Wednesday, another reason to join in with Julia at the Stamping Ground with her What's On Your Workdesk.

But, as you can see, there's not much on my desk. No crafting anyway. I've had a busy few days so there's just been no time, or inclination, to do much more than leave the supplies used to make the card  posted here, some new goodies, and the invitation to my grandson's wedding - it's waiting for our RSVP - electronically! My, how we have moved on. The days are gone when we sent a little card in response.

At the risk of being accused of enabling here's a couple of pics of the new goodies.

These stamps and dies are gifts from a couple of magazines found at my local supermarket this weekend. Perfect for all the Christmas cards I need to make before time runs out.

Being a bit of a sucker for stationery I couldn't resist this A5 size notebook from Tesco's. The gold foiled decoration on the cover made it irresistible, as was the pack of sticky notes - very colourful.

Yesterday was spent with these lovely people - that's our dear friends, Annie, aka Wipso, and her husband who are touring Scotland this week. We had a great time catching up and showing them some of the sights around Ayrshire.

I would have finished this post hours ago but for the very welcome distraction of a visit from my grandson, the one that's getting married, and great-grandson. It was lovely to see them but it does mean that I'm very much later in posting this than anticipated. So no book bit and no 'and ... finally ...'

... instead, I'll wish you a very happy WOYWW and a great week ahead.

In A Vase On Monday - September Blooms

Hello Everyone,

It's been a while since I've joined in with Cathy's In A Vase On Monday, mostly due to it being the rainy season here - one of the joys of living on the west coast of Scotland. It's raining now. Luckily, I had the rare foresight to gather a bunch of flowers yesterday - for once a dry day.

The white cosmos, 'Cupcakes' has finally come into it's own, flowering freely and looking as though it's really enjoying the spot in the border chosen for it. I'm delighted with how well they are doing because they were grown from seed this year - always an unpredictable venture.

We had a very scruffy hedge growing in the wrong place - suckers were encroaching on the new border so it had to go. That left a considerable bare patch at the back of the border which will have to be planted up in the future but, in the short term, I've just filled with a mix of annuals. These are only now coming into flower giving us some late season colour. The love-in-the-mist, nigella, is doing particularly well. The purple/blue miniature aster, novae-angliae, variety long forgotten, has been growing in the herb garden for several years now - I've long forgotten why I planted it there but it does seem happy so I have no plans to move it.

During a visit to a local garden centre recently I discovered, in the reduced section, millet, Pennisetum glaucum 'Purple Majesty'. The fluffy flower spears really caught my eye. I believe this plant is grown as an annual but I'm going to try to overwinter it in the greenhouse. Failing that, in spring, I'll attempt to grow it from seed.

Linking this post to Cathy's meme, In A Vase On Monday, on Rambling in the Garden and joining with many others who share whatever they have found to put in a vase this week. If you have filled a vase today, I'm sure you would be very welcome to join in too.

Sunday Snippet Card - Joy, Peace, Love

Evening Everyone,

I hope you have had a lovely Sunday and a great weekend. The weather has cheered up over the last few days and yesterday was so lovely we had a trip out - probably one of the last before winter sets in. No sun today but it's been nice enough for me to get into the garden for a bit of pottering early on, then it got a bit chilly so I came indoors, and to my desk to make this card.

I don't like to throw out anything - indeed, snippets leftover from making scrap pages is what got me into cardmaking in the first place - so it's no surprise that the background for this card was made with the texture paste leftover from another project.

Supplies used:
- white A6 card blank
- scrap of black cardstock, Dusty Attic's 'Starry Night' stencil and the leftover opaque texture past which had been lightly tinted with yellow ink, for base of topper
- white vellum trimmed and shaped into the band that's wrapped around the black base
- Penny Black's 'Wonder Collection' stamp set, VersaMark ink pad and gold embossing powder for the sentiment
- green and red card snippets, QuicKutz 'Holly & Berry' die set and 'Xmas Red' Stickles to create the holly embellishment. 

I'm submitting this card to the following challenges:

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Challenge #360 - anything goes as long as there's snippets used

Hazel's CHNC challenge 454 - anything goes as long as it's Christmas themed

Merry little Christmas 14: anything Christmas goes

Sparkles Christmas 104: winter wishes

Crimbo crackers 192: anything goes

Winter wonderland September: use your favourite embellishments - die-cut holly & berries & Stickles

That's my card for today. Thanks for popping in.  Hope you have a lovely evening and a great week to come. 

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - Week 535

Afternoon Everyone,

Another Wednesday, another WOYWW, and, as isn't unusual, my desk is a mess.

As you can see, I'm in full scrapping mode and working on one of the last pages for the album I've made for my son. So there punches and stamps, etc., together with scraps of paper - all the stuff used to make the page. Immediately behind is the book of sketches open at the one I used as a basis for the page - I find it sometimes helps to have something as a starting point. On top of that is the notebook I'm using to jot stuff in this month - it's Shimelle's  Learn Something New September again and I do try to keep up each year, and each year I fail miserably - but I try. Everything else, except the lovely latte, is just the muddle of stuff I can't help gathering round me. Oh, and there's a couple of new goodies too.

Both the stamp set and washi tape are from American Craft's Amy Tangerine collection. I'm not sure how I'm going to use the extra wide washi but I'm sure I'll think of something. The stamps are more for scrapbooking than cardmaking  but very useful all the same.

And now the book bit. I've abandoned Kazua Ishiguro for now. It's not his fault, I'm just not in the mood for him right now. Instead I've been listening to a dramatised version of this novel, originally written in Swedish and translated into English by Rachel Wilson-Broyles.

 A Nearly Normal Family by the Swedish writer, M T Edvardsson, is a psychological thriller and a thoroughly entertaining and satisfying read. The three main characters are read by Richard Armitage (the father), Georgia Maguire (the mother) and Emily Watson (the daughter). There are three sides to the story and the truth will shatter this family to pieces. The father believes his daughter has been framed, the mother believes she is hiding something, the daughter believes they have no idea what she's truly capable of. The story looks at what parents would do if their child was suspected of murder and how far they would you go to protect them. Very thought provoking.

 And I have an And ...

Finally ...

I really liked this one ... I'm sure it sums up perfectly what we all want.

That's it for this WOYWW. Until next week, I wish you all a wonderfully crafty week.