Layer It Up for IAAS

And here I am again with another card.  This time it is my DT card for International Art And Soul and the theme is "Layer it Up".

Please scroll down if you are looking for for my Christmas Card Club entry.

My Card

Recipe

7" x 5" base card - Rymans

patterned cardstock - Anna Marie Designs

Argyle embossing folder

stitched round dies - Presscut

sentiment - computer generated

candi

ribbon - stash

My nephew started a new job earlier this week.  He had been with his previous company for 25 years so this was quite a major step, but one which he was ready to embrace. I wish him all the luck in the world.  My sister knew about the new job so I'm sure she will have been looking down on him, smiling and sending loving thoughts. 

Why not pop across to the blog and check out what my teamies have come up with and perhaps join in the challenge.  We are a Just For Fun challenge but have some super banners for the winners.

Well that's all from me today.

Take care.

The True Meaning Of Christmas

Good morning, it's time once again for another card for the Christmas Card Club. Sometimes I think that in all the hustle and bustle at Christmas,and all the razzamataz of of presents, decorations, food etc the true meaning of Christmas gets forgotten.  Maybe we just need to take a step back and reflect what Christmas is all about, and what exactly we are celebrating. Since it was my turn to choose the theme I asked the girls  to make a card showing what Christmas really is about.

My Cards

Recipe

6" square base card

coredinations jade card - stash

backing papers - LOTV (discontinued)

image - Ruth Morehead

sentiment - Hobby house

standard circle die - Spellbinders

gems - stash

Recipe

6 " square base card

blue card - Rymans

white card - Rymans

linen embossing folder- Crafter's Companion

digi image - in my digi folder

blue candi 

Two more cards done so I'm not doing too badly.  I can't believe that we are well through August now; it's incredible.

My fellow CCC pals will be posting their cards on Sunday but I have another card due then so as usual I am posting a day early.

I'm hoping the weather stays okay because it is the village show today and the WI are doing the teas.  We were asked to do them last year because the lady who usually did them was heavily pregnant. We were victims of our own success and made such a profit for the show that we were asked to take it on again this year.  We did get a very good contribution to our funds so we were happy with that.

Enjoy your weekend.

Take care.

Things Beginning With "B"

Good morning.  Well right now the sun is shining brightly but since I am writing this post in advance, and scheduling it, I have no idea what it will be doing when it is published. It's time for another challenge at MAWTT today.  Diane Louise is our host this time and she has asked us to use things beginning with the letter "B" on our projects.

On my card you will see the colour blue, birds, blossoms, two lots of bunting, one on the image and also die cut bunting, a butterfly and a birthday banner - and if you look very closely you will see a tiny bee in the background as well as a bow on the birthday parcel.  I guess I could stretch it and call the pearls "beads" ... lol!

My Card

Recipe

7" x 5" white base card

topper - LOTV Art Pad (disc.)

bunting die - Joanna Sheen Signature dies

Noble Pierced Rectangle dies -Creative Expressions
punched butterfly
pearls - from stash

On my card you will see the colour blue, birds, blossoms, two lots of bunting, one on the image and also die cut bunting, a butterfly and a birthday banner - and if you look very closely you will see a tiny bee in the background as well as a bow on the birthday parcel.  Maybe  I could stretch it and call the pearls "beads" ... lol!  I die cut the bunting in white card and then just coloured it with Promarkers to mimic the bunting in the image.

Please pop over to the blog and see what the rest of Team A have come up with.  Hopefully you will be inspired to join in the challenge.

Take care and have a good day whatever you plan to do.

Entered into:

Pause Dream Enjoy - birthday

Fab 'n' Funky - Anything Goes

They're Changing Guards At Buckingham Palace

Good morning - no card today but I thought I would tell you about a trip we had last week with our WI. This is a post I did for our WI  Blog so I have just copied and pasted it.  You may find it interesting.

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"I'm not sure whether Christopher Robin went down with Alice  because we didn't actually go to the Palace. Our aim yesterday was a private visit to Wellington Barracks, just a couple of minutes away from the Palace, which was kindly arranged for us by Major David Sewell a resident of the village. Unfortunately for us the English weather put paid to our plans. According to the newspaper headlines there was going to be a month's rainfall in one day - since it poured down the entire day I can well believe it!  However, we didn't allow that to dampen our spirits.

Wellington Barracks

Band of the Grenadier Guards

Latest Recruit to The Coldstream Guards (aka me)

Plans were changed because it was too wet for the new guard to be led to the palace by a marching band. Instead we were treated to the Band of the Grenadier Guards playing an impromptu mini concert for us - under cover!  When the first strains of Jerusalem started I think we all felt goosebumps and I don't think a single person was left unmoved.  They finished by playing the Regimental Quick March The British Grenadiers.  This was an amazing experience which I doubt will be forgotten.

From there we were taken to the Coldstream Guards stores where LSgt Duckworth showed us some wonderful uniforms, swords etc and some of us even had the dubious honour of trying on some of the tunics, great coats, bearskins etc.  My goodness, those great coats weigh a ton!! I shall have the greatest respect next time I see a soldier marching whilst wearing this particular item of uniform.

Our next port of call was the Guards Museum which was an interesting experience.  With my nursing background I was particularly interested to see the candle holder which Florence Nightingale carried around the wards of Scutari hospital and also the small cup which she used to give dying soldiers whiskey, or other spirits, to ease their passing.

We then were led to the Guards Chapel.  Adjacent to the chapel is the Flanders Field Memorial Garden, dedicated to those who lost their lives in WW1.  The soil in the garden was collected by  children from the  war cemeteries and battlefields in Flanders.  Those of us who visited James Butler's studio a couple of months ago were also excited to see the statue of Earl Alexander of Tunis having seen the small "prototype".

Following our picnic lunch in the conference room of the Scots Guards the rest of the day was free to follow our own itinerary, although sixteen of us went to  Westminster Abbey for a blue guide tour.  Having only seen inside the Abbey on television it was wonderful to see this beautiful building "in the flesh" as it were. Others visited Covent Garden and went to see Buckingham Palace. It was certainly a first for me standing outside in the pouring rain craning my neck to check out the architecture! Unfortunately photography was not allowed in the Abbey apart from in the cloisters so you will need to go online if you want to see more details.  Our Blue Guide was incredible! The depth of her knowledge was astounding and she certainly made things come alive for us.

By the time we left Wellington Barracks for our return journey (still raining!!) we were all pretty well exhausted, having been on our feet for the entire day. However, everybody had a great day but I'm sure we will be having a restful day today.

Our special thanks go to Major Sewell and every other guardsman and officer at Wellington Barracks who made our experience so magical. We must also thank Liz and Dee for their organisational skill and who made this outing so enjoyable for us ."

Well sorry for such a long post but it was a terrific day out and because of our connection to the major we were able to see things to which the general public do not have access.  

The sun is shining so John and I are off out for the day. I will be back on Thursday with a card.

Take care and I hope the sun is shining where you are.

https://tysoewi.com/  Our website link if you are interested in checking it out.

Bags and Boxes for International Art and Soul

Hi, I'm back again.  This time I am showing a box I made for IAAS.  This is another one I had in my stash which I hadn't even photographed.  I really must start making use of these boxes.

Please scroll down to previous post for my Christmas Card Club card.

My Project

Recipe

Cream cardstock - WH Smith

Paper - Webster's Pages

Punched edge - Martha Stewart Punch Around the Page

Flowers - Wild Orchid Crafts

This box is 2 inches deep and 4 inches square so it will hold quite a reasonable sized gift.  Or quite few choccies!!  

Unfortunately the names of the MS punches are on the boxes but not the punches and the boxes have long since been dispatched to the recycler so I don't know the name of them.

Pleas pop over to the challenge blog and see what the rest of the design team have come up with.

Well yesterday we had some sunshine but a rather mixed day overall.  I think we are about to have some pretty rough weather - but after all it's summer so what can you expect ...lol  ?

Take care and enjoy your day.

Entered into:
http://craftyhazelnutspatternedpaper.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/craftyhazelnuts-patterned-paper-august.html

Carol Singers for the Christmas Card Club

Good morning to you all and hope this finds you well.  Gosh we have had some strange weather over the last week.  Lots of rain and on Wednesday high winds.  I really hate wind!  It is so powerful and can be so destructive. We woke up on Thursday morning to find a huge limb had been torn off the large apple tree in the hedge and was right across the lawn. It was so big it looked like a small tree. Ah well, more wood for the fire I guess, but it left quite a mess in its wake.

It's time for another card for our little club and this time Margaret, aka GranMargaret, asked us to show Carol Singers on our cards. So I managed two cards this time.

Card # 1

Recipe

6" square card base from Hobbycraft cardstock

Image - Singing Snowmen - Pink Gem designs

vellum snowflakes and gems from stash

Pink Gem Designs are so easy to put together  if you are in a hurry - or Mr Mojo has gone walkabout!!

Card # 2

Recipe

7" square card - Anna Marie Designs

teal adorable scorable - Hunkydory

patterned paper - digi paper from ages ago so unknown 

toppers - Singing Mice from Paper Creator
snowflake - Spellbinders Create a Flake

These mice really make me smile.This is a great set from Paper Creator because there are so many papers and images and toppers.

 I had initially intended to use an LOTV topper for one of my cards and I actually die cut it from one of the art pads - and then it just disappeared!!  I have no idea what happened to it.  There are two toppers on the page and they are both simply nowhere to be found.  I have checked my waste bin but not there.  No doubt I will find them in some stupid place!  Luckily Pink Gem came to the rescue!

Hope you have a good weekend.

Take care.

Card # 2 Entered into: http://craftyhazelnutschristmaschallenge2.blogspot.co.uk/

Ribbon, Lace or Twine for Winter Wonderland.

Good morning.  Today it is time for another challenge  at Winter Wonderland and it is the turn of the Snowflakes team.  I have the pleasant task of hosting this challenge and the theme makes it so easy.  So many of us like to use these particular embellishments on our cards so I am expecting to see lots of entries ... lol! Of course you can add all sorts of other embellishments but you must use lace, ribbon or twine to be eligible for the challenge.

We are sponsored by Crafty Ribbons and the prize on offer is a £10 voucher to spend instore

My Card

Recipe

7" square card base - Anna Marie Designs

dark blue card - Rymans

snowflake paper - oddment found in a drawer

image - from Greeting Card Factory Deluxe

ice Crystal Frame - Amy Design

ribbon and pearls from stash

pearl embellishment - Poundworld

Why not pop over to the blog and check out what the Snowflake team have come up with and you might feel inspired to join in the challenge.

My nephew and his family came to stay with us for a few days last week so that was enjoyable for us all.  He has "inherited" my sister's Yorkshire terrier, Molly and it was nice to take some walks with her too.  Poor little thing is still quite unsettled. She was a town dog and has now become a country dog, because my nephew lives near Richmond in North Yorkshire. She is so used to walking mainly on pavement and it is taking some getting used to the fact that it mostly grass for her now. She certainly doesn't like wet grass!!!  She also checks and double checks them all the time;  she patrols though the bedrooms at night and if anybody gets up she follows them until they go back to bed.  She is definitely checking to make sure that nobody else disappears from her life now that her human "parents" have disappeared.  She is still a very loving little dog - but definitely a much sadder one now .  Hopefully things will improve when she gets more used to the new situation.  It is very early days for all of us.

Well, that's all for now.

Take care!