Sunny Hello Card

Good Morning Afternoon

The EM has a new Samsung Digital camera and as he was itching to try it out I allowed him to practice on this card - and the photos are not half bad. I think I'll be borrowing it from now on.

The inspiration for this card came from a one I admired on Kath's Blog, see it here. Yellow is so not my colour - never wear it, never decorate with it, etc. - but this warm sunny card really sang to me :) Needless to say I had none of the materials Kath used so I improvised and the result is quite different altogether. I also decided to try a card shape I had seen demo'd on TV recently. I took a regular square shaped card and chopped of half of the front then attached the topper to hang over the edge - and it worked!

I decorated the inside by edging the DP and carrying it over a little to the inside front (also seen demonstrated on TV). I can almost hear you thinking, I obviously watch way too much TV and should get out more! But in my defence the TVthon took place during my recent bout of arthritis which confined me to the sofa! So back to the card - I used my lovely new PB stamp called Aspire and chose a really golden yellow ink pad and went of the edge for the insert, leaving enough room to write a short note.

Materials Used:

• Cardstock: white card for base & embossed topper; yellow card for matting
• Paper: from the Papermania Sunshine Paper Pack
• Embossing folder: Papermania Mini Polka
• Stamp: Penny Black's Aspire; Hero Arts Hello Greetings
• Ink pads: Adirondack Sunshine Yellow; Whispers Sunshine
• Punch: Martha Stewart's Around the Page; Woodware corner rounder
• Embellishments: Satin trimmed organza ribbon and topaz gems from stash

Kath, if you see this, you'll be thinking that the result looks nothing like your card, and, okay, it's not, but I rather like it. I wish I could have made the flowers that are on Kath's original but didn't have the materials so omitted them altogether.

Have I changed my mind about yellow? Well, no. I still wouldn't wear it but it does make a sunny and cheerful card and I can only hope that the recipient will love yellow!

Let me know what you think of the colour.

Before closing, I just want to say that my heart goes out to the people in Japan at this time. I've watched many of the TV reports and been horrified by the scenes of devastation but also heartened to see the rescue teams still searching for, and even sometimes finding, the survivors. It will take time to repair the damage and the survivors will need all the strength they can muster to get through this - may they find the spirit needed to face the months ahead.  

Happy Crafting

WOYWW 93 - Busy Doing Nothing

Good morning to all my fellow WOYWWers

Mid project my desk looks, if not messy at best, busy. I'd just finished the yellow card you can just see on the right and decided to start another. Finally, I'm making one with the sweet little poppet who is 'busy doing nothing'. Still not decided exactly what paper(s) to use but I've got out a pad of pink papers and there's a piece of pink embossed card which may end up on the finished card - or maybe not if I change my mind : )

Surrounding this is all the detritus I gather round me when I'm too busy to clear up after me: a DVD case, my storage for the stamp set; several ink pads, including the gorgeous Spun Sugar DI from TH; a wee tray containing TH alcohol inks way to the left; and way to the right you can see a cute wee Tilda awaiting inspiration; lace die-cut trims; rock a block; glue, etc. Oh, and yes, the most vital item - my tea mug, sadly empty but not for long!

Last week I had a bottle of acetone out and I've been asked what it was being used for so here's the explanation. Claritystamps are clear but as they are hand cut this 'clarity' makes it difficult to see the outline of the stamp. Hence, they are given a  cover of blue ink, this is referred to as indexing, to enable perfect cutting round the stamp. The stamps arrive still with the indexing on them but it has to be removed or it will come off on your ink pads, and you don't want that, it makes a real mess, especially if using VersaMark. The acetone is the simplest way to remove it. So there you are - acetone is now an essential item in my crafting arsenal :)

New to this blog, new to the WOYWW phenomenon? Reporting to Julia is a weekly event here in crafty blogland so if you haven't done so before but would like to join in click here and go for a worldwide snoop around some very crafty workdesks! It's so addictive but so educational and entertaining - I have learned an amazing amount from the most amazing bunch of crafty people you could wish to meet and made some terrific bloggy friends along the way.

Now I'm off to fill that tea mug and will be back later to hop around your workspaces and see what you are all up to today.

Happy crafting,

What a Difference a Day Makes

Good Morning All,

This is what I woke up to this morning!

Yesterday, though still chilly, was sunny and bright. Overnight it has changed to this. The Boss is not amused:

Here she is sulking on the window seat in the Estate Manager's music room, which she has claimed as her own! I've just realised how grand that sounds! We live in a wee 3-bed town house but we spread ourselves all over it so the EM has a room where he can practice and play his keyboard and I have a room to craft in. The Boss, however thinks all the rooms are for her own personal use and she merely tolerates us, her staff  : )

Here's why she is sulking:

The view from the music room! No birds out and about for Bonnie to keep an eye on, nothing but the dreaded white stuff and she will not venture out in that either.

However, there is reason to celebrate as today is the anniversary of Bonnie's Adoption Day.  It's 3 years since we adopted her. It was thought she was about 9 years old then making her about 12 years old today.

And talking about reasons to celebrate here's another:

My great-granddaughter, Rhian, now just over 10 weeks old.

As you can see, she's thriving and taking notice of who and what is going on around her. She's even smiling.

And with that cheery photo and with nothing crafty to offer, I'll sign off for now.