Birthday Roses. . . . . . . . . . .

Good morning folks. Hope all is hanging well?

Nothing different to report on the ankle front. Just waiting for my orthotic heel cups as recommended by the podiatrist and I also have some painful exercises to perform so hopefully things will start to improve.

Now, I think I may have mentioned that I had a few 70th birthday cards to make recently (those soldiers were busy when they returned from the war lol!!!),

This is the one I made for our friend Janet. Her and her hubby now live in Spain but they came over to the UK to have a celebration with family and friends.

Ingredients

Cream card

Pink card (the roses are made from 2 slightly different shades)

SB Bitty Blossoms (what else lol?)

Sue Wilson Jacobean Floral embossing folder

CE Stitched Bunting Numbers stamps

Hobbycraft little flourish stamp

CE double sided pink ribbon

Thin white ribbon dyed with Victorian Velvet DI

CE jelly tot bling

Dovecraft teeny bling

And some beautiful diamante cupcake chain purchased from Samuel Taylors stall at the NEC (£1 for 60cm and its gorgeous and I wished I had bought loads more!!!)

I was really pleased with how this turned out. I love doing channel set flowers.

Thank you for your comments on the lilac. We are lucky that ours has 2/3 flushes of flowers during the year.

I'll try and get some more photos taken shortly.

Well, I hope you all have a brilliant weekend. I shall, of course, be watching the GP highlights (sadly not a live race on Channel 4 this week) and today is my birthday.

Not got anything planned due to the incapacity but looking forward to a nice vindaloo with all the trimmings from the very good local takeaway for tea. My pressie from Mr D comes in July when we go to Silverstone.

That's me for now.

TTFN

Ang x

Ps..........Don't forget Mr Lockwood is back on Hochanda Monday evening and during the day Tuesday with his new stamp sets. He may have some different samples, nudge nudge, wink wink!!! And Happy Birthday to Wendy for yesterday.

The Card You Don't Like to Send. . . . . . . . . . .

Good morning everyone. Here's hoping this week has started well for you all.

Mr D is chewing well now and has less twinges. I'm about the same but seeing a podiatrist this week to see if some orthotics may help. Can't get this done on the NHS as I'm not classed as high risk (perhaps I should have mentioned my getting intimate with the hedge!!!) so its a private consultation......kerching!

I'm signed off until the middle of June so guessing I'm not very popular at work now but retail is not the best occupation when you have trouble walking lol!!!

Anyhoo, sadly, I had to make one of "those" cards recently. The lady of the couple that the golden wedding cards were for lost her Dad. He was 96, bless him.

Ingredients

Cream card

Navy card

Sue Wilson Ursa Gemini

John Lockwood Flower Frame Elements sentiment

Hougie board for embossing around

Dovecraft blue bling

Paris Dusk Memento Dew Drop ink

As you know, I like to keep these cards simple but I thought I must try something different other than keep using the lily die lol!!!

The navy layer is all one piece. I was very lucky that the die cut portion for the shadow, lined up lol!!!

I don't have access to the variety of wildlife that the lovely Pamellia does but most of you will know about Mr and Mrs B, our resident blackbirds. I have been trying to snap Mr B on one of his cheeky sneaks into the house, when he sits by the fridge (where his grapes are kept) but the camera is never to hand when you need it!

I did get this snap of him sitting on the rail around our decking, after his lunch.......look at the mess on our chair lol!!!

My dwarf lilac is particularly beautiful this year so I've popped on a photo of one of the stems.

The scent from this and the wisteria now in full bloom (you can just see the racemes forming on the above shot) is wonderful and you can even smell them with the upstairs windows open.

Don't you just love Spring?

Until next time, take care and be good!

TTFN

Ang x

More Gold. . . . . . . . . .

Good morning guys and gals. Hope all is well in your part of the World.

Thank you for your kind comments and your asking after Mr D. His mouth is a lot better but the odd painkiller is needed now and again.

Our trip to Silverstone is not until the beginning of July so I am certainly hoping to be more mobile by then (wasn't the Spanish GP full of excitement for those petrolheads amongst us lol!!!)

I managed to see John on Monday before he headed off with his gilding polish and PVA pearl embellished Speedos. He has done so well with his diet........skinny boy!!! Poor lamb has got it full throttle when he gets back so I really hope that he can really relax for the week. 

Now, this is the other Golden Anniversary card I made for our celebrating friends to be given by Nesta. As she was hand delivering hers, I could be a bit more extravagant with the design. Sorry Nancy if this one is too deep to send Down Under lol!!!

Ingredients

White card

Gold mirror card

Vintage gold card

Presscut rectangle and Square dies

SB Bitty Blossoms (what else? Lol!!!)

SW Orange Blossom Leaves

CE Swirling Hearts embossing folder

Habico Stamps

CE Detail Gold embossing powder

Versamark

Gold Krylon Pen

Mei Flower teeny gold bling

I didn't want to do the roses in mirror card but did think they looked a little flat in the vintage gold so I ran my gold Krylon pen along the edges to give em a bit more ooomph. 

The happy couple were appreciative of both cards so alls good.

Well, that's me for now folks.

Happy Thursday all and thanks for stopping by.

TTFN

Ang x

Flat Golden Wedding. . . . . . . . . .The Card Not The Celebration!

Good morning folks. How is everyone? Well I hope?

I should clarify for those concerned girlies who told me off about "hobbling" last time, I still have to re-fuel and de-fuel (ie get to the kitchen for a drink and to the loo for other things) lol!!! I promise I haven't been discovating or doing Zumba lol!!! (In fairness, I didn't have the energy for those things before the ankle went to pot)

Anyhoo, a big ol' hello to Daisy Chain. Very kind of you to click the follow button so thank you and welcome.

Now, Nancy D mentioned that there was a golden anniversary card required to go Down Under so I thought I would show the cards I made recently for some friends who were celebrating 50 years of marriage. This is the one from me & Mr D and as it was being posted, I kept it relatively flat, though it was 8x8. I also made one for Nesta, which I will show next time, but hers is a bit more ornate as she was seeing the happy couple and could hand deliver hers.

Ingredients

Cream card

Gold mirror card

Anna Griffin Flourish Emblem die

Sue Wilson Rococo Striplet

SB Fancy Tags 3

Presscut Squares

SB Grand Ovals

Anitas number peel offs (Sorry Mr Lockwood)

Mei Flower teeny gold bling

On the layer under the "50" the Rococo has been cut into cream card 3 times but offset rather than lined up straight. On the photo above the ingredients, I took the snap before putting the 50 topper on so you can hopefully see what I mean.

You can also, hopefully see that the oval has been cut from the centre of the Anna Griffin die cut. I did this separate to the mirror card as I don't like to try and cut too thick a layer through my GC. You just have to keep everything crossed that you've lined it up properly lol!!!

Hope this gives Nancy and some more of you lovely visitors a bit of inspiration.

Well, time for the Spanish GP today (Hope Jackie D is managing to watch). The tickets for Silverstone in July arrived on Friday..................I'm soooooooo excited. I think Mr D is hoping that my ankle is better by then as he's not looking forward to piggy backing me about a mile from the car park lol!!! Thank goodness we're in a grandstand so at least we get a seat rather than trying to see over folks heads standing on the grass.

Hope you all have a wonderful Sunday and thanks for stopping by.

TTFN

Ang x

MAWTT May Challenge. . . . . . . . . .

Good morning boys and girls. Hope everyone's boo is very tickety.

I'm still hobbling but Mr D is looking less like a squirrel storing his nuts (Maureen, don't go there!!!) so onwards and upwards.

Nancy T, hope all went well with your doctors visit and Kate, I hope you have not been ambushed by any more fruit.

Elaine, I think we have teeth purely to be able to eat crackling lol!!!

Nancy D, I had 2 Golden Wedding cards I made recently so will feature them on the next posts.

Now, today is time for May's Team A challenge at MAWTT and our Wendywoo has chosen the theme, which is. . . . . . . . . drumroll . . . . . . . . . . Man or Boy.

Your card can feature an image of a man or boy or can be for a man or boy.

As I don't tend to use images, I decided to feature the birthday card that I made for my Brother in Law.

Ingredients

White card

Shades of blue card

CE Linen embossing folder

That Special Touch Delicate border mask

Woodware stamp (Happy Birthday)

Papermania stamp (Brother in Law)

Memento Dew Drop Bahama Blue ink

Hougie for scoring

My Brother in Law is a blokey bloke so no ribbon or bling but I used the embossed panel down the centre as a nod to ribbon.

The flags are all hand cut so please excuse any wonky bits.

The card also had to be flat as it was going in the post.

I hope you can join in the challenge or at least pop over to MAWTT to see what the other girlies on the DT have designed.

Until next time, be good.

TTFN

Ang x

Silver Anniversary. . . . . . . . . .

Good morning guys and gals. Hope this find you full of the joys of Spring. Beautiful weather again the last few days but I think we may be in for a spot of rain mid week.

Welcome to Sylvie. Thank you for pressing the button. Sylvie is a team mate over at MAWTT so you can see what we have been up to on Thursday when our next DT post is on the blog.

Poor Mr D is still in a bit of pain and his cheek is still swollen, bless him. Soft foods are still on the menu but hopefully he'll be chewing like a good un again soon. 

As for me, the diagnosis is Achilles Tendonitis. I have to now go for a podiatry assessment for something to alleviate the problem but still rest it in the meantime. 

Now, my friend from school Elaine and her husband are celebrating their Silver Wedding Anniversary this week. I remember their shiny youthful faces when they first met each other (ah, those carefree teenage years) and here we are now, older but not necessarily wiser lol!!!

So, along with the Silver Wedding rose bush gift, this is the card I made for them.

Apologies for the top photo. Trying to get a great angle with mirror card with the card standing up, was a nightmare.

Ingredients

White card

Silver mirror card

Platinum card (Lime Tree)

CE Tied Together embossing folder

Presscut Square dies

SB Captivating Squares

SB Adorning Squares

John Lockwood Flower Hearts Elements stamps (Happy Anniversary)

Hobbycraft stamps (Silver and little flourishes)

Versamark

Silver embossing powder

Silver ribbon (Mei Flower)

CE big pearl bling

Teeny silver bling (Mei Flower)

Slightly larger bling (Dovecraft)

Pearlage

I loved playing with the bow on this. I always find it easier to use a glue gun with this type of bow and yes, I thought I'd be different with 2 sizes of bling on the intersections of the embossing.

Right, hot chocolate has been placed beside me (I'm scheduling this) so time to tootle off.

Hope this week is kind and gentle to you.

TTFN

Ang x

Oldie For Friday. . . . . . . . . .

Good morning everybody. Hope you are happy and full of the joys of Spring. 

We have been very lucky this past couple of days, with glorious warm sunshine. Its a joy to see all the green shoots and buds and all the birdies flitting about. 

Mr B, our resident blackbird has been a busy boy feeding their first brood of the year. He still invites himself into the house if the kitchen door is open and he has run out of grapes on the bird table.

Now that reminded me of one of my favourite oldies. This was one of the first cards I showed on my blog when I started blogging 3 years ago. It was for my dear friend David's birthday. He is really green fingered and his garden is a floral delight.

So, I had to do my first handmade card for him with a floral theme.

Lots of flower dies used on this one................but you all know I love my flowers.

And the the little fella that reminded me of this card, the cheeky Mr B !!!

And, lastly, a little fuchsia action.

Its David's birthday again soon but as its a special one this year, he'll be Down Under on the day (as in Australia.........I, know how a couple of you girlies minds work lol!!!)

As the young man does read my blog, I won't show this year's card until after the momentous day.

I will be back at the doctors today for my x-ray results after a morning at the hospital with Mr D. Poor thing is having a wisdom tooth out but done by a maxillofacial surgeon as one of his facial nerves is wrapped around the root. . . . . . . . . .we like to get our money's worth out of the NHS at the minute lol!!!

Hope you all have a great day and wonderful weekend.

TTFN

Ang x

Ps......I will rustle up a bit of a tutorial for my last card as requested by a couple of you good folks.

Blue, Hedges and Orchids. . . . . . . . . .

Good morning folks and happy bank holiday!

I am still incapacitated as the ankle is no better and upon returning to my GP was referred straight to the hospital for x-rays. Hopefully, will get the results this week but still at home in the meantime.

I have ditched one of the crutches as I'm convinced I would have done myself another injury if I kept using two. All I need now is an eye patch and a parrot!!!

When I was seeing Nesta off (in the nicest possible way) the other day, I put one crutch down but missed the paving and the end lurched into the flowerbed below, causing me to loose my balance and pitch me into the hedge!!! 

As I did, I raised my arm in the air so Nesta just thought I was waving, waved back and drove off!!!

I ended up looking like Veronica Crabtree from South Park.

Now, you can see I've been playing with blue and white again but this time for a boy who has reached 87. Les is one of our good friends who still plays golf and is fitter than me (even without my current impediment) and his birthday was just over a week ago. I thought I'd do another 3D card and even though it was hand delivered, it does fold flat.

Ingredients

White hammered card (PMD)

Shades of blue card

Sue Wilson Bevelled Glass Striplet

SB Fancy Tags 3

Presscut Rectangle dies

John Lockwood Cherry Blossom Elements sentiment

Quite a small list of ingredients and a simple card but still effective, I hope. Les was quite taken with the 3D aspect, bless him.

I didn't want the sentiment recessed too far, which is why I made the middle layer rather than sticking it to the back piece.

Thank you all for your continued kind comments and best wishes. I have managed to get some crafting done which is just as well as I had/have golden wedding, silver wedding, 1st anniversary, 3 70th birthdays, 50th birthday, 18th birthday and 2 normal birthdays all in the space of a month!!!

Now to finish, a couple of gratuitous orchid snaps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Don't forget, John Lockwood is back on Hochanda tonight and tomorrow.

TTFN

Ang x