Séb's Card For His Grandma

Good morning. Sorry I have been AWOL for a few days. My nephew and his children are staying with us so we have been having a good time together but no time for blogging. This morning 8 year old Sébastien asked if he could make a card for his grandma (my sister) whose birthday is on Sunday.

Séb's Card

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The card is 14.5 x 14.5 cms. He used the Grand Calibur with SB Dainty Dots folder for the red card and he stuck it on with wet glue. He used a topper with an extra heart added. The sentiment is Craftworks Card but it was white so he coloured it with Promarkers and then he put some pearls in the corners. He even typed out a "Handmade by Séb" label for the back and die cut it with SB Scalloped Circles.

We have had fabulous weather but it's raining today so we are going to the museum soon. Hope you all have a good day.

Normal service will be resumed soon so I will be back to visiting your blogs again.

Love and hugs from Christine xx

auntie christine helped me make this card (only a bit) :D

love from séb :)

Merci

Hi. It is so dark and overcast out there you would scarcely believe that it is almost June! I have just popped in with  a simple thank you card today.

My Card

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I've used up old stuff for my card. The purple pearlescent card was a piece from my bit box, as was the lilac strip. I used Fiskars Corner and Edger punch and the Bracket edge punch on them. The flowers I found in the back of a drawer, the 3D Merci embellishment I have had for years and the ribbon was old stash.

Sorry for such a quick post - but it was either a quick one or not at all!

Hope everybody is well - especially all of you who have been suffering various nasty viral bugs!

Love and hugs from Christine xx

Criss Cross Card

Good morning. Well I had a very restful, relaxing day yesterday. Apart from running the hoover over the dining room carpet (because John "forgot" to take his boots off!) and cooking a meal I did nothing that even vaguely resembled housework.

The weather is pretty murky again today. Damp, misty and cool. It seems like our summer is going to be as bad as last year : non-existent!!! John is trying to get a window of decent weather so that he can get up to Scotland for some climbing. It's pointless to go all the way up there if he then cannot get up into the mountains because of the pouring rain. He doesn't actually mind rain, but when the visibility is affected it is just dangerous - I want to have him around a bit longer yet so I'm glad he is sensible about these things.  I can remember when he was younger and not quite so sensible - it's a wonder I wasn't grey with worry. Old age does bring sense.

My Card

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 insert

pocket and insert

I have been thinking about making a criss cross card for a long time so that's one of the things I did yesterday. I just took two 6"x6" cards, stuck them together at the back and trimmed the fronts diagonally.

The backing papers are First Edition "Love Letters". I stamped Sylvia Zett's "Spring Bringer from Wee Stamps, coloured with Promarkers and then just added a little pink glitter to her wings and flowers. I diecut with SB Standard Circles and Lacey Circles. The leaf sprigs are Cheery Lynne Wreath Strip. The ribbon, lace and pearls are from my stash.

I realise the sentiment circle has slipped in the last picture but that's because I attached it with temporary sticky because I'm not really sure what I want the sentiment to be, but I wanted to have something to show in the picture. The pink paper on the back of the pocket is actually patterned but doesn't show up.

That's it from me. Have a good day.

Love and hugs from Christine xx

If Nothing Changed

Hello everybody. Thank you for all your good luck wishes yesterday - they worked. We had a great day! The weather was absolutely perfect for cycling. Sunny and warm but with a light breeze which just kept the heat down enough. Mind you, I have got some very patchy sunburn! Arms and back of neck, cheeks below my sun glasses and little D-shaped sun burnt areas on the backs of my hands through the gaps in my cycle mitts. Not a good look! I was tired but really enjoyed the day. And what a difference a day makes Today is cold. damp and windy!

My Card

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I didn't do any crafting yesterday (surprise, surprise) so this is a card from a few days ago that I need to try and repair somehow, or if not then I will just remove the parts I can and make something else.  The background looked very bland so I started stamping tiny flowers - and messed up big time! I smudged a couple of the flowers at the bottom.

I used an LOTV topper that I have had for a couple of years.  I mounted the image onto SB labels 16. I do like this little chap's glasses. The backing papers are First Edition, Dream Catcher, and I'm using up bits from the bit box. The papers are double sided too so work well. The butterflies are a combination of Marianne and SB Jewel Flowers and Flourishes. The flower is Fabulous Phlox from Memory Box and the computer generated sentiment is matted onto SB circles and lacey circles. I then just added a few pearls from my stash.

Today I shall be having an easy day I think so maybe crafting will be on the menu!!

Hope you all have a good day.

Love and hugs from Christine xx

CCC -Feature A Creature

Good morning!  I have scheduled my post because by the time most of you read this I should be out cycling or at least on my way to Cheltenham if you are an early bird.  Yes, today is the day of the Cotswold Bike Ride.  Fortunately it is a circular route starting and finishing at Cheltenham Racecourse and covering 40 miles in the meantime - and a hilly route to boot!  I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that the weather stays dry. According to the forecast rain isn't due till later in the afternoon - if you can believe that!!!

My Card

Well I have another card for the Christmas Card Club today, and this time it was Hazel's choice to "Feature A Creature". I had planned to use a polar bear image that I have, but I have had such a busy week that in the end I went with this "Me To You" die cut decoupage for a quick option. I used Glamour Dust on his cap and  for the tinsel around his chair. The backing papers are "Winter Wonderland" and matted onto jade "Gemstones Pearlescent"   card stock.  The snowflakes are SB Create A Flake 4 and I added a few gems from my stash. I am trying to keep the majority of my Christmas cards fairly flat so that I don't have extra postage to pay. For that reason I kept the layers to a minimum and used 1mm foam pads just to give a little lift.

Well hopefully I will have a hop around your blogs later - unless I am totally shattered! LOL!

Love and hugs from Christine xx

Birthday Easel

Good afternoon everybody! Hope this finds everybody well. We've been pretty busy over the last couple of days so I apologize if I haven't visited your blogs lately. I have been popping in when I could - but my visits have been rather sketchy!

My Card

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For my card today I have used a combination of Spellbinders Detailed Scallops and Radiant Rectangles with white card stock and pearl pink card stock. The leaves are a Marianne die. The two sentiments are from JustRite Stamps Grand Sentiments. The ribbon and pearls are from my stash and the pretty ribbon and organza flowers I found at the back of a drawer; they must have been there for ten years or more!

Well that's it from today. Enjoy the rest of your day.

Love and hugs from Christine xx

I would like to enter this into:
http://www.ladyanneschallenges.com/14/post/2013/05/2nd-lady-annes-challenge.html
http://pennyschallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/welcome-to-pennys-challenge-127.html
http://crafts4eternity.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/r123-tic-tac-toe.html (Tic Tac Toe-pink, 3 of anything, bling.)
http://www.craftybloggersnetwork.blogspot.co.uk/ o's and x's challenge (diecut, flowers,ribbon, )
http://bearlymine-challenges.blogspot.se/2013/05/challenge-86-lucky-dip.html (diecut, pearls, ribbons)

Time Together

Hello dear blog friends. First I would like to say thank you to everybody who left a comment on my post yesterday about my lovely parents. You are all very kind - although I knew that already!! Since I started blogging I cannot believe how many good friends and blog buddies I have made. It truly is a fantastic world and I am so glad that I managed to find my way here. Bloggers are all so helpful and so keen to share and pass on their own knowledge!!

Yesterday we checked the weather forecast, which wasn't good, but was said to be dry until around 1pm. We decided that we really ought to get out and have a good bike ride because the last week had just been impossible. We left around 8 am and planned a route that would be about 36 miles. The first 20 miles we rode into a head wind, which was very hard work - and tiring. In the end we cut it short by 2 miles because as we approached Stratford upon Avon we could see that there were huge black clouds, and it was also two miles on an extremely busy road, so we looped back. We much prefer country roads, because some car drivers just show no respect for cyclists and it can be quite hair raising.  I managed to get up all the hills this time but I must confess that by the time we got to the two finals ones, only about 1½ miles from home, I was very tired and really struggled. But I made it! Hurray! We had been home about half an hour when the heavens opened, so that was great timing. And for once the forecast was just about right.

My Card

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This is my usual 6x6 card, matted with grey pearl and a grey striped card that I bought a couple of months ago at an Excalibur craft fair at the National Motorcycle Museum. These fairs are held every couple of months and are great if you live reasonably close. ( Free parking, only £2 entry (as a "senior) and not too busy so it is easy to get close to stall and see the demonstrations.) I used a Kanban stamp, "Florals", stamped in Versamark  onto grey pearl card and heat embossed with WOW opaque bright white embossing powder. I then die cut it with SB Labels 10. I cannot remember the last time I used this die. I think we get so focused on the new dies and we forget that the old ones still have their place. The sentiment is from a Dreamees set and again stamped, embossed and die cut as before. I just added some Craftwork Card Candi and some ribbon from my stash. I didn't have any grey, black and white were both too stark, and so I coloured it with Promarkers. Nice and easy.

Well that's it from me in a very wet Oxfordshire.

Love and hugs from Christine xx

Birthday Memories

Good morning everybody. I don't have a card to show today but I thought I would share a little story with you if I may.

This is a picture of my parents celebrating their Golden Wedding on January 3rd 1998.  My mum and her twin brother  were born on May 12th 1926. When they started primary school they met a little boy who, by some strange coincidence, was also born on May 12th 1926. The three became firm friends and thus the twins became "triplets."  This little boy was to become none other than my father. A real life fairy tale!

Mum and dad married and had  53 very happy years together, although dad suffered extreme health problems from the age of 48. My uncle died very suddenly in August 2000 and my dad died on Christmas Day a few months later at the age of 74. Mum found it very difficult and she missed my dad and her brother greatly, until her own death just before Christmas 2007. They had been together in total for 69 years - a fabulous love story, don't you agree?

So this post is to just pay tribute to my wonderful parents, who I love and still miss very much, and also to my uncle. I hope they are having a fabulous birthday party in Heaven!

Love and hugs from Christine xx

Daisy Chain

Hi Everybody! What happened to spring? The last few days here have been awful. There have been some sunny intervals but on the whole very chilly, blustery and overcast. There is no way I have been able to cycle because the it has been just far too windy.

My Card

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Well this takes me back! Do you remember the little daisy chain crowns we used make? Ah, those were the days. We used to have  four distinct seasons then - now we can have all four of those seasons in one 24 hour period!

The image is an LOTV topper and the backing papers are Ditsy Rose Papers  from Digi Stamp Boutique. The flower is Fabulous Phlox from Memory Box  and the corners are Cheery Lynne Decor Lace Corners. A few pearls and dots of stickles and it was done. I have admired the Fabulous Phlox for so long so in the end I just had to have it! Well you cannot fight it forever can you?

Here we are in yet another weekend. Either there are less hours in the day, or fewer days in the week because it cannot possibly be Saturday again already! Anyway, I hope everybody has a great weekend!

Love and hugs from Christine xx

Going To Seed

Good morning. After a very dull start to the day yesterday by half past three it was really quite nice. Who knows what today will bring? It's starting out bright and sunny, but pretty chilly.

My Card

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Today's card is really very simple. I have used a Woodware stamp "Going To Seed"  and I stamped it with Kaleidacolor "Autumn Leaves". I then just picked out parts of the image and highlighted with different coloured Stickles, although that doesn't really show up in the picture. The sentiment is from Ladybug Crafts Ink and I managed to ink it up using one of the colours from the rainbow pad. I matted it onto pearlescent card and added some ribbon from my stash to finish it off.  I have a few of these foliage-type stamps and I find them really useful. They look so different depending on what you use to stamp them.

Well that's it from me for today. Hope you all have a good day.

Love and hugs from Christine  xx

                        

Male 40th Birthday

Hi everybody. Well what a change in the weather today. It rained quite heavily in the night (best time in my book) but it is very overcast. Definitely no cycling today - give the old legs a rest. Not to mention the backside!

My Card

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First of let me apologise for the appalling picture. My card was made in a great rush so that John could post it on his way to his GP appointment. I took the photos but didn't check them until it was too late. It is extremely dark and overcast here today but because of the mirri card I think using flash would probably have been worse. I used black card stock to form a 5x7 base card which I matted with gold mirri and then another layer of black. The topper is Kanban  - one of The Mechanical Marvels. The black and gold cogs are also Kanban. 

Hope you are all well and enjoying some sunshine.

Love and hugs from Christine xx

White With A Touch Of Purple

Good afternoon friends. It was such a beautiful morning that John and I took off on our bikes again for a couple of hours. We cycled just under 20 miles but I failed to make it up the big hill. Boo hoo! I don't feel too bad about it though because the gradient is 14.5% - which is flipping hard let me tell you! Still need to do quite a bit more cycling before the Cotswold ride in a fortnight, but it will come.

My Card

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Back in my comfort zone today with some layers. This is a 6x6 card cut from Centura pearl. I used SB Garden Lattice and Marianne Creatables die LR0242. The corners of the main die remind me of strawberries - perhaps I should have backed it with red instead of purple! A few pearls from my stash to finish it off and it was done. The purple card is also pearl although it doesn't show in the picture.

Well I'd better get out into the garden and do some more tidying up. It won't do itself unfortunately!

Enjoy the rest of the day!

Love and hugs from Christine xx

CAS One Layer Card - CCC Challenge

Good morning. Today's card is for the Christmas Card Club challenge. It was Zoe's choice this time and she chose Clean and Simple One Layer card.

My Card

I don't think I could have made it any more CAS. I stamped my image - with fear and trepidation!!!- directly onto a 6x6 scalloped card. I used Pearlescent Lavender ink and then heat embossed with crystal embossing powder. Unfortunately the picture isn't showing that. I then used a glue pen on the leaves and sprinkled with ultra fine crystal glitter. The ribbon from my stash was bought at the local haberdashery store and the purple shimmer dots are Papermania. The stamp is Three Trees by Denami  Stamps, which I have had for many years.

Although it is very different to my usual style of Christmas card I'm not unhappy with it - although I don't think I will be doing too many of them.

There is a list of my teamies on my right sidebar so you can check out what the others have done with the challenge. It will be interesting.

Enjoy the rest of your long weekend. Since I retired I forget about Bank Holidays - all weekends are long to me! Lol! For you ladies who are still working I'm sure you will be looking forward to it. The weather is great today so definitely a day for cycling. 

Love and hugs from Christine xx 

Sew Special

Good morning. Well yesterday I felt very pleased with myself. John and I cycled 18 miles, and it was quite a challenging ride, since we live in a pretty hilly area. It wasn't as warm as yesterday but I certainly worked up a sweat going up those hills! It was the first time I had been on my bike this year because the weather has not exactly been suitable, but since we are doing the Cotswold Bike Ride on May 19th I thought I should get cracking. The ride is only 40 miles, but again I would describe it as challenging - come on we are talking about the Cotswolds here!! It is a charity ride for the British Heart Foundation which I have done for the last six years. I consider it a practice ride for the London to Brighton Bike Ride in June, another BHF ride , and this time will be my 26th! My dad had his first heart attack aged 48 and so this is my way of "paying back".

My Card

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My backing papers and stamps were "free" with Cardmaking and Papercraft earlier this year.  The ribbon is some that I won in a blog hop with http://craftyribbonsinspiration.blogspot.co.uk/. There were also some very pretty pink buttons but unfortunately they were all a bit too big for this project so these white flower-shaped buttons are from my stash.

Well that's all for today.

Love and hugs from Christine xx

I would like to enter this into http://craftyribbonschallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/challenge-44.html

http://www.ladyanneschallenges.com/14/post/2013/03/our-first-challengle.html

Borrowed Dies -

Good morning dear blog friends. I wouldn't have this card to show at all if it wasn't for a very special lady - Marie-Louise of   Welcome to my World. who very kindly loaned me her set of SB Enchanted Labels 28. Thank you so much Marie-Louise!!

My Card

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I made a hinged card using the enchanted labels set and Centura Pearl card stock. The sentiment, from Our Daily Bread Designs "Little Things",  was stamped onto the same card and die cut with SB Classic Squares Large and mounted onto SB Lacy Squares in pale lemon to tone with the spotted backing paper - from a very old Papermania set. The spots look white in the picture but they are in fact creamy yellow.The pearls and ribbon are from my stash.

You can find a video tutorial for the hinged card on  http://www.amazingpapergrace.com/filigree-hinged-card-tutorial-and-a-giveaway/ and also on http://flowersribbonsandpearls.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/new-video-tutorials.html.

Yesterday was the most fabulous day and we visited a National Trust property. It was lovely to wander through the gardens - without a coat on !!!!! Let's hope it lasts for a while yet.

Well, that's it from me. Hope you all have a great day!

Love and hugs from Christine xx