Christmas Scene - CCC Challenge

Good morning friends.  Well, not a male card in sight today I'm pleased to say.  Instead this is a card for the Christmas Card Club challenge.  Lorraine's choice was for us to make a Christmas scene.  Unfortunately Lorraine is unwell and so is not actually taking part herself so let's hope she feels better soon.

My Card

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From the side to see the 3D box effect and stand

I decided to make a 3D box card since it is so long since I have made one. I never quite know what to call these, I guess they are a bit like a shadow box only made from card. I started with a piece of card 8" x 8" and a slightly smaller piece for the back.  After the cutting and folding it becomes 6.5" x 6.5".

My stamp is  many many years old and is from an American company called Petaluma.  I stamped it in black ink and heat embossed with Blue Pearl which gives it a lovely blue colour.  To enhance the blue I matted it onto blue card and then attached it to the back of the box with foam pads.  I used glossy accents and Diamond Dust on the rooftops and trees.  I coloured the diecut fence with Promarkers.  I used Memory Box Snowflake Corner and Frosty Border and the Christmas trees are Dees Distictly A Cut Above - what a mouthful that is!!  Again I used lots of glue and glitter on them.  I didn't have any blue pearls so I coloured some with Promarkers and dotted them onto the snowflakes.  I finished off with a few peel off snowflake because the area at the top seemed a bit bare.  I have attached a stand to the back of the box but I might actually remove that and attach it to a card.  I have done both in the past.

I'm not a sports lover but for the next three weeks I shall be very happy following the Tour de France! Yesterday was the start in Corsica which was an interesting start to say the least. Can't wait for the rest.

Well that's it from me for today.  Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Love and hugs from Christine. xx

Another Mountain

Hi!  Here is my third offering for Darren.

My Card

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I cheated a little and used the mountain stamp again from Our Daily Bread Designs  but it just seems so perfect for the occasion.  This time I stamped it in Memento Tuxedo Black and die cut it with SB Resplendent Rectangles.  It just fit the die almost exactly.   I then die cut the Bazill Bling black card stock with the next die up in the set.   I computer generated the quote from Sr Edmund Hillary about his Everest climb and printed it onto parchment. I then hand cut a pennant shape frame and attached it with tiny foam pads . The frame actually looks wider at one side than the other but that really isn't the case.  The fact is my photo is wonky, which makes everything look slightly off.  The striped card is some I  bought from the craft fair at the Motorcycle Museum from a company called "Pennies Worth" and I bought a few different colours because I must admit to liking stripy card/paper.  A few black gems finished it off.  Again, I can add another quote inside when he decides which card he wants.

Yesterday really was an extremely wet day until about 5pm when the rain cleared and it brightened very slightly.  Still, the gardens (and my well!) needed it.  Wonder what today will bring?

Well that's all from me. Hope you all have a great weekend.

Love and hugs from Christine xx

Keep On Climbing

Hello my friends. Yesterday was a beautiful day and so John and I decided to have a day out. We really just wandered around the Cotswold villages, stopping when we felt like it and having a walk round, had lunch and then ended up in Cheltenham - where I just had to pop into Hobbycrafts and the Range. Well, it would have been rude not to!! However, I didn't really see anything I couldn't do without so I just bought a few necessities. I thought I would have a trip out to a "real" craft shop next week where I'm sure I will be able to lighten my wallet. Lol!

My Card

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This is the second card for my nephew to choose from. I did a similar one last year but have changed the sentiments and the dies, although the layout is pretty much the same. The sentiments and the mountain stamp are from Our Daily Bread Designs "Keep Climbing" set. I love this set and use it a lot. The main sentiment is very apt because it is from the book "Kilimanjaro And Beyond" by Barry Finlay. I used SB Resplendent Rectangles and Radiant Rectangles to frame the main sentiment quote. I'm not too happy about the punched leaves in the bottom corner so I think I'll be taking them off and just popping a pearl in the corner. What do you think? The flower and leaf stamps at the top and bottom are Stampendous "Wildflower Sprigs." If  this is the one he chooses I have found a few more quotes about climbing, so I thought he could then choose one to put inside the card.

Now I just have to rack my brains to come up with one more card. Considering making male cards is not my favourite thing I don't think I've done too badly so far.

Well that's all from me today. I hope you all have a good day.

Love and hugs from Christine xx

Follow Your Dreams

Hi. My nephew's GP will be retiring next month and once of his first tasks will be to climb Kilimanjaro. Darren has asked me to make a card suitable for the occasion. I thought I would make two or three so he could make his own choice. This is the first of my offerings.

My Card

 

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I have made this quite plain but I think the black and greys are very suitable for a man and the quotation is very apt.  I made a 5" x 7" card from pale grey cardstock then matted it with black and dark grey.  The papers are Dovecraft "Charcoal Prints" which I have had for years  and I must admit they seem to be my "go to" papers when I make cards for men. There are also some black and white florals in the pack too.  I computer generated the sentiment and printed it onto pale grey card, although it looks white on the picture. I then diecut it with SB Labels 18 and used the largest die on black card to mat it.  I raised the fishtail pennant and the Labels 18 with foam pads. I don't have the fishtail dies so I had to cut it myself. The 3D butterfly is a Fly Stickers from Hobbycraft, but again it doesn't show too well.. To finish off I added a few black pearls from my stash.

Hope you all have a happy and productive day, whatever you decide to do.

Love and hugs from Christine xx

Matching Card Set

Good evening friends and fellow bloggers!   My poor garden has been sadly neglected what with the bad weather, and then when the weather was reasonable I was out cycling.  So I decided to spend the last couple of days trying to sort it out and make it look neat and tidy again.  The gravel drives and walkways still need quite a bit of weed clearance, but I'm getting there slowly but surely.  My vegetable garden is very much behind this year.  Anyway, enough of that!

My Cards

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I decided to make a set of cards to go into the easel drawer card I made in my last project. In order to mimic the easel card  I used SB Grand Labels 1 to make the card bases and the next layer, and then used  SB Lace Doily.   I used the same ODBD stamp sentiment as the easel card but the rest I computer generated and die cut with SB Classic Squares.  Apart from dotting some pearls on with Cosmic shimmer I decided not to add any further embellishments.  My pearls aren't brilliant, but at least I am getting better.  I used the coloured card stock in the opposite way to make them look slightly different.  So it now makes a nice little gift set.

I have only been out on my bike once this past week for a fairly short ride so I'll have to try and make up for it this coming week.  Tomorrow I am meeting a group of friends I used to work with.  Every three months we get together for lunch and a good old chin wag, so I'm sure we'll have a great time again. Hopefully I will get some more crafting done later in the day.

Have a good day everybody. Love and hugs from Christine xx

Easel Card With Drawer

Good morning everybody. I decided to have a couple of days playing hookey. On Monday I was very tired - thought I would sleep like a top on Sunday night but I guess I was overtired and also had lots on my mind thinking back over the day. Apart from my knees being a bit creaky I was otherwise fine. Other parts of my anatomy were okay too - thank goodness for padded shorts! Lol! Thanks Sue P for the offer of a rubber ring but luckily I didn't need it!  I must confess to not being the world's best sleeper so the tiredness builds up. Anyway, I had a really good night's sleep last night and feel great today!

My Project

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 I decided to make an easel card with a drawer since I haven't done one for a while. The actual drawer part measures 14 x 14 cms. I then used Grand Labels 1 to make an overlapping top and base to finish it off nicely. The easel card also measures 14 cms and I again used Grand Labels 1. I used SB Lace Doily Motifs for the centres of the top and base of the easel card, decorating with pearls from my stash. A rose from Wild Orchid Crafts acts as the stopper for the easel, together with some leaves from SB Foliage. The drawer handle is a punched white flower with a a dotty ribbon covered brad. The stamped sentiment is from Our Daily Bread Designs. I do love to use quotes in my work.

I thought this would make a nice gift with some note cards in the drawer. I'll show this in another post since I haven't actually done them yet.

I thought I would also give you a quick peek at my medal! The cheeky little badge was given to me by mum after the very first London to Brighton Bike Ride I did 26 years ago. I put it on every time I reach Brighton !!

I pinned the ribbon so you could see the wording

Well that's it from me today. The sun is shining so I think I'll go out and do some gardening.

Have a good day everybody.

Love and hugs from Christine xx

Entered into: http://eurekastamps.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/challenge-44-anything-goes.html

Christmas Card Club - Baubles

Good morning friends and fellow bloggers.  I have scheduled this post because by the time you read this I will be either travelling to London  - by car, or if you are reading it after half past seven then I will already be on my bike and cycling to the seaside.  Lol!  Look out Brighton here I come! The first time I did this ride somebody told me it was downhill all the way to Brighton!! And so it is  - if you don't take into account the hills, the worst being the dreaded Ditchling Beacon which comes after you have already cycled 50 miles, is very steep, and winds up for almost a mile. However, when you reach the top you are welcomed by the most stunning views over the South Downs, and then it really is practically downhill all the way into Brighton. Yippee!

Unbelievably another two weeks have passed and it is time for another Christmas card. This time it is Kerry's turn and she has asked that we use baubles on our cards. This is quite simple Kerry but I hope you think it does your challenge justice. It's probably going to be Monday before I get round to checking the rest of the CCC cards and the rest of my friends' blogs.

My Card

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My card is 6" x 6" and matted with red. I ran  more white card through an Anna Griffin embossing folder from Cuttlebug called "Matelasse" and it also comes with a border  embossing folder.  The baubles are die cut from Memory Box "Classic Ornament" and "Snowflake Ornament", and the corner die is another Memory Box die called, appropriately,  "Snowflake Corner."  I have been trying to keep my cards flat to enable cheaper postage this year, as I'm sure most of us are.  Once I had added the picture I could see that I had used a different card to cut the top bauble and it is a different shade of white. I have now replaced it but haven't had chance to re-take the photo.  I am also not happy with the stamped sentiment so I think on Monday I shall probably replace it (yet again!), but I really do not have time at the moment.

Well I hope you all have a really great day.

Love and hugs from Christine xx

Scrapbook Pages

I don't have a card to post. Life has been a little unkind in the last day or so. More later!!!! Instead I thought I would post a double page scrapbook page that I did for my friend's daughter. Gail liked the scrapbook I did for my niece when she was 21 showing her life to date in pictures, so she asked me to do the same for her daughter. I tell you, I find it much easier doing it for family members! I think the journalling  is more difficult  when you don't know somebody so well. I do know Harriet obviously - but not all the little personal  family things and "in" jokes etc.

My Project

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The script isn't showing up well in the picture  but it is quite funny so I'll type it out .  "Here you are wearing the hats mum made for the village fetes. A photographer from the local newspaper was there one time and was keen to photograph you in your wonderful creation. However, true to form you were having none of it. Nothing daunted he whipped the hat off your head, put it onto another child, and the picture duly appeared in the paper the following week - sans Harriet!"

Now let me tell you my tale of woe!  At half past nine on Thursday evening I went to make a cup of tea.  I turned on the tap and heard a loud "Splat". Suddenly water is pouring out over the kitchen floor at a great rate of knots from underneath the sink unit.  I'm yelling for John who is upstairs in the lounge with the television on.  By the time he got down there was a swimming pool in the kitchen - and still the water poured! He then had to go back upstairs and up into the loft and managed to switch off the flow from the drinking water tank, by which time we had literally lost about 60 gallons.  It's incredible how quickly it flows out! My regular blog buddies are aware that we are not on the mains and so have a well and holding tanks in the loft.  My precious drinking water! Sob! Sob!  Our house is open plan with two entrances into the kitchen and I was desperately trying to keep the water from the hall and also from the back corridor, both of which have hardwood floors. The kitchen floor is ceramic tile fortunately. It took us about an hour and half to get things cleaned up and dried as best we could but the water was underneath the units obviously.  We were both soaking wet and looked as if we had just survived a shipwreck!! John lit the woodburner in the kitchen so that it would help dry everything out and then we went to bed - shattered!!

John was up again just after five because he was obviously concerned about trying to sort out the problem. Needless to say I was up too. He had to take out all the plumbing/ drainage pipes etc (I make a good plumber's mate but I think I need to learn some of the terminology. Lol!!) and the base unit from under the sinks so that he could see what the problem was. Then there was a trip into town to a plumber's merchant and then came the actual repair work. By the time it was all done and the base unit replaced ( not without a few curses I've got to admit!) it was half past two.  Even though everywhere was still a tip I just had to stop for a bite of lunch before tackling the clean up. Our kitchen is more of a family room and we spend a lot of time in there but I couldn't face sitting eating in such a mess so we actually used the dining room - a very rare occurrence when there is just the two of us.  All it needs now is a good very hot wash to try and clean the towels which I used to help in the dry up operation. We had a good laugh afterwards when we realised just how bad we looked!

Sorry to burden you with all of that. If you are still here I hope you are having a better time than me! Lol!
Today I am having a very restful day prior to my epic day tomorrow.

Love and hugs from Christine xx

My Candy Win

Hi Crafty Friends

I don't have a card to post today but I thought I would just show you what I won from Clare in our Christmas Card Club and which arrived yesterday.

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I was out cycling when Postman Pat came (being a country postie he does drive a van and does have a cat - but it doesn't travel with him, and his name is not Pat Lol!) so I was very excited when John passed me this parcel to open. Isn't it fantastic? Hopefully I will be able to have a play with my new stash very soon. Thank you so much Clare!! The lovely card  was made by Clare and enclosed with my gift. I do so love receiving handcrafted cards!!

I had a good cycle ride yesterday but it was very overcast and pretty windy. Trying to cycle uphill against a head wind is not ideal I can assure you! The clouds were very dark but fortunately the rain held off and we had a few drops of rain only over the afternoon. Actually I would be very happy to have rain to help top up the well - but only at night!!!!! Lol!

Have a good day everybody.

Love and hugs from Christine xx

Ruby Wedding

Hello everybody, What a shocking day it was yesterday. So cold and windy and a couple of light rain showers. Summer didn't last long.

My Card

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My card today is for my brother and his wife who will celebrate their Ruby Wedding on Sunday, exactly six months after mine. Sorry about the wonky picture!

I used white card stock  cut to make a finished card 5" x 7"  I ran some white card through SB Dainty Dots embossing folder and matted it onto red card and then onto the base card. I tied some white spotted organza ribbon into a double bow and added a pearly centre and then just a few red pearls to finish it off. I computer generated the sentiment before die cutting it with the smallest of the dies in this set.

I really hope the weather is better today because I'm hoping to be able to do good cycle ride today prior to my big ride on Sunday. I had a good ride on Monday and made it easily up a hill which I have struggled with in the past, so I must be getting fitter.

Hope you all have a good day and that you manage to fit in some crafting.

Love and hugs from Christine xx

Very Last Minute Gift

Hi everybody. Yesterday we were invited to lunch by our friends. Being a good guest  I bought a bottle of wine and a box of chocolates for our host and hostess. About half an hour before we were ready to go I got out my gifts. At least I got out the bottle of wine - but the chocolates were nowhere to be found!  The only thing I can think is that they were left on the supermarket conveyor belt. Panic!! Now what can I do?

My Project

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I searched through my stuff and found this mini pizza box which I made as a trial a couple of months ago.  I grabbed a few WOC flowers and some leaves from the little drawer where I keep my odd die cuts, together with a die cut oval from the same drawer. I hurriedly stuck them on and slipped five tea lights into the box and Bingo! One little gift in super quick time. I'm not sure the glue was dry though so I had to be careful to hold it level as we drove there so nothing slipped, and just hoped that Sue didn't realise it was still wet!!

I almost didn't post this because it is very slap dash, but it does show that stuff that we think is not much good can be rescued in double quick time. 

Hope you all had a good weekend and are ready to face the week ahead.

Love and hugs from Christine xx

Blue Is The Colour........

......... and it certainly is blue! Perhaps a little too blue, methinks.  The other thing I have just realised is that this is my third blue card in a row! I must be in a blue phase and not know it! Actually, with this lovely weather we have been having I am feeling far from blue!

My Card

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Side View

I started out with a piece of blue pearlescent card stock 11 x 5½ inches and cut it into a centre step card. I die cut the second largest die from SB Decorative Lables 8 in a darker blue pearlescent blue card. Then came the second size in Floral Ovals. I cut two of SB Scalloped Circles in the same size in both shades of the blue and off set them slightly, having first stamped the pale blue  one with an LOTV sentiment circle  in ultramarine ink.  I used Memory Box Tessatina Border down both sides. The flowers are WOC and the leaf sprigs are Cheery Lynne Wreath Strip. ( Not sure why it is called a strip because the leaves are individual.). I used a white rose and die cut the leaves in white too to off set some of the blueness. I then just finished it with some blue pearls from my stash and the lovely blue satin ribbon is from the candy I won from Patricia a long time ago.

Well my"roofing expert" - aka John - has finished his job and the scaffolding has been dismantled. I now don't have to worry if it rains. However, he discovered that wasps were nesting in the wall next to the window so he had to sort that out too. There's always something isn't there?  I have only ever been stung once but it wasn't a pleasant experience. John had to be very careful because he reacts very badly to wasp stings and last summer he disturbed a wasps nest in our little wood when he was sawing  branches off some of the trees. He was stung about 11 times and was quite poorly. It could have been much worse though because he was using a chain saw at the time! I had the antihistamine pills at the ready this time - just in case!! (You'll notice I didn't offer to do it myself!)

Well, I hope you all have a great day!

Love and hugs from Christine xx

Skateboarder

Hi friends and fellow bloggers. Today I have a card for a little boy - and I'm not good at boy's cards!

My Card

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Sorry my picture is rather wonky! I have used a topper from The Hobby House featuring a Kenny K image.

The backing papers are  Papermania Capsule Collection "Burleigh Blue". I cut the stripey paper into a pennant shape. A few pearls finished it off and it is nice and flat for posting. 

Another good day weather-wise and this means that I am of out on my bike again very soon. John is still working on the roof so I'll be on my own but in fact I actually quite like cycling alone. It means I don't have to worry about trying to keep up with John on the hills - I don't stand a chance! But I am much better on the level and going down hill! Ha ha ha! Actually the different gearing on our bikes does mean that  I do actually need to change down and slow down to allow him to keep up with me on the level otherwise I fly miles ahead of him. If only I could do it on the hills! I do manage to cycle up them but I am so much slower than him.  

Have a good day. Love and hugs from Christine xx

CAS - Hello

Good morning. And such a lovely one too. I'll say it quietly but I think summer has finally made a very belated appearance. Hurray!!

My Card

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Just a nice simple card today.  I used the Couture Creations embossing folder "Petal Pleasures" and matted it onto blue card and then  a 5x7 inch card. I used some silk flowers that have been in my stash for years and fastened them together with a gem brad, which again has been hanging around for years.  A few tiny blue gems added to the centre of the flowers finished it off. Sometimes less is more.

John is very busy at the moment because we developed  a leak above the window in one of the bedrooms. Fortunately I have a very handy handyman! He just needed  at least three good dry days in a row to erect the scaffolding (with a little help from his also handywife!), find the problem, remove the tiles, repair offending hole in roof felt and then replace tiles. Oh I forgot - some of the wood battens have rotted so they need replacing too. We built the house about 38 years ago so I guess it is starting to wear out - a bit like me! Lol! This is the nice weather he needed. Now I don't need to run upstairs every time it rains to see whether the rain is coming in. Mind you, it also means the bedroom needs repainting because the wall and ceiling around where the water was coming through are stained. Still, I think it was probably due anyway.

Well I hope you are all enjoying your day whatever you are doing.

Love and hugs from Christine xx

CCC Challenge: Country Santa

Good morning everybody. I'm sorry for my absence this past week but  we've been busy enjoying ourselves with my nephew and his children. Hopefully they will be back to visit during the school summer holidays. They always have a great time when they come - and we certainly do! The house always seems so quiet and empty when they've gone. It takes a while to get used to it.

Well it's another Christmas Card Club Challenge today. It doesn't seem like two weeks since the last one! This time it was Margaret's turn and she chose Father Christmas. I have had this stamp a few years but this is only the second time I have used it. Since it is the only one I have that features the old gentleman it is making it's second outing.

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The stamp is from Penny Black and is called Christmas Ride. I think it will take Santa a long time to finish his rounds if he using this transport for all his deliveries!  I added a punched holly sprig and a few mini pearls for berries. The image is mounted onto SB Labels 16. The backing papers are Papermania "Home For Christmas".  The snowflakes are Marianne Creatable Swedish Ice Star which I coated with Glossy Accents and smothered with Glamour Dust. I also used Glossy Accents on his belt and boots to give them an extra shine.  I then just added a few pearls from my stash.

Well I'm off out for a bike ride now while the weather is good. Only two weeks now until the London to Brighton ride and because of the weather and my visitors I haven't done a great deal in the last two weeks.  I did a long hard ride on Friday and felt pretty good afterwards, so I'm not too worried. It's very hilly around here so it is certainly good practice.

Hope you all enjoy the rest of the weekend!  I shall be visiting your blogs later today to see what I have missed over the last week!

Love and hugs from Christine xx

I will enter this card into : http://craftyhazelnutschristmaschallenge2.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/chnc-challenge-extra-for-june.html