Live For Today . . . . . . . . .

Good morning everyone. Is it wet where you are? I think our moment of Summer was last week.

Another dear blog chum has had some sad news so to all of you that are having to cope with sadness, I send virtual hugs.

It's a bit of a quicky today as I have my Cardioversion follow up appointment with the Cardiologist today. Its been 3 months now since I had it, so I'm guessing he may take me off my antiarrhythmic tablet. Double edged sword as without it, the A/Fib may return (quite a high chance) but its a nasty drug and he doesn't like someone of my tender years being on it for longer than 6-12 months. I've done 6 months so we shall see what he says.

Also got a mammogram on Saturday. Never had one before but they have dropped the age you start having them so I've had an appointment. Heard varying degrees of horror stories about them (being wedged between house bricks and bruising to name two lol!!!) so I'm really looking forward to it!!!

Now, this is another one of the samples I made for John's shows at the end of last year (there are a few more to come).

Ingredients

White, sky blue and cobalt card

SW Indian Ocean Background die (centre one from set)

SW Mauritius die (centre one)

John Lockwood Fern Frames Elements stamp set (leaves and sentiment)

Memento Dew Drop inks

Thin white ribbon

Pearlage

A simple looking card that I think you could get away with for a fella.

According to Chef Lockwood, after he finished laughing at my pate pebbledashing, I should try adding some cream next time to stop it turning solid. Not sure when or if there will be a next time. Maybe I should leave it to folk who know what they are doing lol!!!

Anyhoo, I'm offski. Keep everything crossed for me being manhandled over the next few days. . . . . . . now, if Daniel Craig were doing the examinations. . . . . . . . . 

TTFN

Ang x

Peacocks and Pate. . . . . . . .

Good morning everyone. Hope you are well but I know that some of you have sad family situations so I send big hugs.

Thank you for your comments on my tutorial. If I do anything unusual, I will photograph the stages in case anyone is interested in the "how". I have made an unusual shaped box for another day and have snapped it as I went along.

Now, today's card is not my normal style but I was asked for a peacock card and who am I to refuse. Nesta's sister has taken early retirement and as she likes peacocks, Nesta requested a peacock card. 

Had I got anything remotely peacocky in my stash? Absolutely not!*** Do I like peacocky things enough to spend £5 - £6 on a stamp? Absolutely not lol!

As fortune would have it, shortly after I was asked, the lovely Jenny Lawrence (Cardsarus Blog) featured a peacock card on her blog using a Hunkydory kit. I tried to track down the kit but to no avail but the wonderful Jenny came to my rescue as she had a spare kit. So thanks from me and thanks from Nesta.

Ingredients

White, purple and teal card

Hunkydory Peacock kit

SB Bitty Blossoms (I now have 3 sets of these lol!!!)

SB Carnation Creations

SB Elegant labels 4

SW Cape Daisies

Tonic flower punch

Hobbycraft stamps (on box lid)

Bling

In honour of Jenny, I even dolled up the inside of the card which I shamefully don't normally do.

I also made a box . . . . . . . . . . 

I know its not going to be everyone's cup of tea but a gals gotta do what a gals gotta do. It was presented to its recipient last night and apparently it was well received.

Thank you again to Barbara for the pate recipe. I liked the taste but had a few issues, hence the reference to Mucky Ducky on my last post.

Firstly, when I mentioned it to a friend of mine, they said "Don't you have to prepare the livers?" when I questioned what "prepare" meant exactly, I was told that you have to cut out all the sinewy bits............ ewwwwww!!!

So I looked on line to check this and one website even mentioned "removing the gall bladder". I thought, heavens to Betsy, I want to cook not perform surgery!!!

I decided to forge ahead but handling liver was not a pleasant experience (nor was cutting out the sinewy bits). Into the pan it went with the other ingredients and when cooked, into the food processor went the contents of the pan.

Who forgot to put the lid on the feeder tube? That would be me and I managed to coat my kitchen units and a bit of me in pate sludge lol!!!

It tasted OK though, so I put it into a container in the fridge to firm up. I have no idea whether it was something I did or an overactive fridge but when I came to serve it with some salad for tea, it was as solid as a house brick so I couldn't even spread it.

Mr D took one look and said he wasn't eating something that was likely to chip a tooth so that was that.

Sorry that I haven't done your lovely recipe justice Barbara. I think I'll stick to the iron tablets, along with their weird side effects (anyone whose had them will know exactly what I mean) and the odd bit of black pudding.

On that note, I shall scoot. Azerbaijan GP live today so I shall have custody of the remote control for a few hours. Do we reckon Lewis is going to stuff up again Jackie?

Take care all.

TTFN

Ang x

MAWTT Challenge 48 . . . . . . . . . . .

Good morning one and all. Hope all is well with you and yours.

Thank you once again for your kind concern. I should point out that the Thyroid condition is a long standing issue, going on about 15 years or so. 

After hearing about the kidney thing, I did think of changing my name to "Lucky" (instead of YoYo) . . . . . . . .  Lucky Ducky, has a certain ring to it don't you think?

Mind you, after making the pate, it was more Mucky Ducky but I'll save that tale for next time as this post may be longer than War and Peace as it is. . . . . . . get yourself a tea and biscuit.

Now, it's time for another Challenge over at MAWTT and its my turn to pick the theme again so, in time honoured tradition, I've gone with another song theme of . . . . . . . . . .

English Country Garden

 I'd like to see folk feature flowers from the first verse of the song, which is shown on the MAWTT blog so please pop over and have a look at what the fab DT have done and pick your flower/s and join in !!! It could have been worse, I was thinking of Billy Joels "We Didn't Start the Fire". I'm sure you would have loved coming up with a card featuring the "Bridge on the River Kwai" hahaha!!!

As I set the challenge, I thought it only fair for me to pick one of the more obscure flowers to feature, so I went with Hearts Ease (very appropriate for me lol!!!) which is a tri-coloured viola.

Ingredients

White, lilac and green card

SB Sparkle die

SB Ribbon Banners die

SW Spring Foliage die

Embossalicious embossing folder

Papermania flower punch

Stampin Up sentiment

Spectrum Noirs

Wendy's (Spanish Crafter) butterflies

Pearlage and bling

I decided to dome the top layer for an extra bit of interest so I double foam padded down the centre and glued the edges down.

Now, I photographed how I made this card with doing the unusual die cut edges and the photos follow. Apologies to any Grannies I am teaching to suck eggs lol!!! Apologies also for some of the photo's quality but the camera was not playing ball.

Cut your layer to size then cut the outer die of the Sparkle set on the edge. By lining it up on the edge of the plate to cut just the one half, you get the cut as per the top of the photo.

You end up with the above piece and I just nipped out those little bits to neaten it up.

Do the next layer the same way but slightly smaller (Do not adjust your set, its my blurry photo).

Don't stick it down yet !!!

Before sticking the layers together, cut the filigree die out of each side of the white layer. Now, heads up, this die is so intricate it is a wee bit stubborn releasing the card so pull carefully (said the bishop to the actress lol!)

To do the top layers, cut the lilac card to size, then line it up. Use the outer edge of the bottom layer to line up the Sparkle outer die (it sort of butts up against it) and tape in place to cut.

Do the same then with the top white layer, only slightly smaller again and then emboss the top white layer before sticking together.

Hope that all makes sense and once again, apologies if you didn't want chapter and verse lol!!

I played with several placements of the flowers and to be honest, I'm still not 100% sure about what I went with but it's done.

It would be lovely if you can join in the challenge so click here and give it a go.

Until next time, be good and enjoy the sunshine.

TTFN

Ang x

Just A Note. . . . . . . . .

Good morning Campers, Hi Di Hi !!! Hope this finds you unmelted in this tropical spell.

Thank you for your kind comments about my floral creation. High praise indeed from SuzzieQ as a professional, thank you.

Welcome to Andrea and Myra H. Thank you for your comments ladies and hope you can visit again soon. Also welcome and thank you to Sharon for clicking the "follow" button.

Now, today its a trio of simple but pretty (I think) cards which are very postage friendly.

I sent some knitting and home made gift clippings out of a magazine to Kate and Janice and popped them in these cards . . . . . .  us crafters can't send anything without a card now can we lol???

Ingredients

6 x 6 scalloped card blanks (I think John gave me them???)

Various Card-io stamps

Various Memento Dewdrop and Distress inks

SB Curved Borders 2 dies (used to create a curved mask)

John Lockwood sentiment on the card below.

The above card was sent to a dear blog friend's daughter in law as she very sadly lost her brother and Mum in very quick succession earlier in the year. There are score lines next to the stamping if you look closely.

Yorkie Wendy, I thought you were my friend and there you are offering your services to Bonnie and Clyde (I'll let them argue over which one is which lol!!!)

I always associate the smell of lavender with old ladies knicker drawers (which probably explains why Maureen has 5 bushes of it in her garden . . . . . .  hee hee!!!).

Barbara, thank you so much for the pate recipe. The livers are in the fridge and ready to go later today. Must admit, they don't look very inviting in the packet. I also, on Maureen's advice, won't be using any slugs. . . . . .or any other slimey invertebrates for that matter.

Bridget, I'll try the pasta sauce next week.

I have actually been put on iron tablets now as my level was too low to boost with diet alone and also Vitamin D too. Thank goodness my underactive Thyroid means I don't have to pay for prescriptions or I would be poor and prostitute.

I've also now got to go for a kidney scan as the GP (he was new) looked back at my previous blood tests and said my kidney function was reduced. This had not been picked up in my 15 hospital admissions in the last 12 months so Mr D is furious.

I'm telling you, if I was a horse, I'd be halfway to the Fray Bentos factory lol!!! But, my mantra is "there is always someone else worse off" so you just have to go with it eh?

That's me for now folks. I'll be back on Thursday with another MAWTT challenge and its my turn to pick the theme so expect my usual bit of fun.

TTFN

Ang x

Floral Tribute. . . . . . .

Good morning dear paddlers. Hope you're all ok but if not, I send positive thoughts to you.

Been up and down again. I'm thinking about changing my name to YoYo lol!!! I was going to say something about being up and down more than a certain type of ladies drawers but its early and some of you may not have had breakfast yet.

I did manage to meet up with Mr Lockwood on Wednesday for breakfast, despite having only had 2 hours sleep. The lure of a juicy sausage coated in brown sauce was too much to resist.

I have told him that you all want him back ont telly.

Had a lovely face to face catch up (its never the same on the phone and I always have problems with Skype) and had a lovely standard lavender for my belated birthday pressie. We are re-vamping our front garden so it will be put in a lovely pot and will take pride of place. I'm hoping June and Maureen are not lavender fans or I'm guessing that will be snaffled when they turn up in balaclavas to get the wisterias. I'm sure they are working in tandem as June let slip on my last post that she lives near Newcastle . . . . . . . that's near Maureen's turf. 

Now, I hope you don't mind that its not a card today but I thought you may like to see the flower arrangement/wreath I made for our dear friend who passed away at the beginning of May. The funeral was yesterday and was a lovely celebration of this dear man's life.

I decided to make our own as I have been disappointed with the last couple of florist arrangements we've ordered for funerals. They seemed to be more filler greenery than flowers.

I have done the odd arrangement before but this was my first funeral tribute. 

The ivy was from our garden, the flowers were from Morrisons and the posy pad and wires were from The Range.

It was a 9 inch pad, complete with base but once the flowers were added, it was about 11 inches in diameter.

I was really pleased with the way it turned out and felt quite chuffed when I took it to the funeral directors and the lady asked me what florist I worked for as she thought they were lovely. She seemed quite taken aback when I said I wasn't a florist. Just makes you heave a sigh of relief when someone else thinks they look ok.

Thank you for your various chicken liver recipes. I may give the creamy pasta sauce thing a try (thank you Bridget) and I love pate and garlic Barbara so I would love the recipe. If you're able to type it on here, that would be great but if its quite involved, don't worry. Yorkie Wendy, I'm not allowed alcohol, sadly although I have made a stew with Mackersons before so I wonder if that counts as having alcohol?

June, if I let Mr D loose with the cooking, I would end up back at A&E with food poisoning lol!!! He can boil an egg to perfection but anything else. . . . . noooooooo!!!

Helen, our wisterias also have a mini flush of flowers in Autumn (don't tell you know who).

That's me for now. Have a great weekend (supposed to be a scorcher) and be good.

TTFN

Ang x

When in Doubt . . . . . . .

Good morning mon petit pois. Hope your fettles are fine?

A little behind (if only, lol!!!) again as I have had a good few days and when I'm feeling funky, I like to gadd about, not manic gadding but gadding nonetheless. 

Thank you, as always for your concern. I have a cardiology consultant appointment at the end of the month.

Have found out this week through a recent blood test that my haemoglobin has dropped further so I am slightly anaemic. This may be causing some of my issues. So if anyone has any good chicken liver recipes, where they don't actually smell or taste like liver, I'd be very grateful.

Been on a microwave hunt too, which yielded a very nice Breville combi from Tesco with £25 off, hurrah!!!

I promise, I will catch up visiting over the next day or so to see what those who blog have been up to.

Now, I was rooting through my folders and realised there were some cards I hadn't shown from last Autumn. They were samples I made for John's shows in October, I think. I'm guessing they got forgotten as I had my first Cardioversion at the beginning of November. They were showcasing John's stamps and dies from the Indian Ocean Collection.

Ingredients

White, sky blue and cobalt card

John Lockwood Fern Frames Elements sentiment

SW Indian Ocean Background die set

CE Jacobean Floral embossing folder

Memento Dew Drop Nautical Blue ink

Navy and white ribbons

Pearlage

I think you could get away with this for a male, even with the pearlage.

Wendy, I don't mind the odd food item from Lidl. They have a nice bakery, good continental meat selection and we get our cheese from there. Also, their flowers are very good value.

Maria, hope it won't be too long before you find a new job but enjoy a bit of a break first.

Elaine, I've told you, I'll drive the removal van, you make the tea.

Jackie, some exciting incidents in the race. Felt sorry for poor Max after his amazing start.

Maureen, you'll have to let me know how to say "bog off" in Geordie. Is it as simple as "wai eye bog off" lol??? Glad you are up and about without the sedan chair and winch.

Nursey Harrop, there are easier ways to get down the stairs. Have you thought of a Stannah?

Darnell, you make me blush lol!!! 

Sue, glad not to see any BBC News bulletins from Doncaster lol!!!

Well, time for me to go and put my feet up as made mushroom soup and some feta and sundried tomato scones today, so I'm flagging a bit.

Hopefully meeting Mr Lockwood for breakfast today and then have a flower arrangement to do for our friends funeral on Friday (the lovely chap who passed away a month ago).

Enjoy the rest of your week.

TTFN

Ang x

P.s. . . . . . . . a couple of gratuitous wisteria shots to see if June and Maureen are awake (and hopefully another nice memory for Jan too).

New Home. . . . . . . . .

Good morning chaps and chapesses. Hope all is well with you.

Apologies again for the gap but I've had a really rough few days. Won't dwell, as I know there's folk a lot worse off than me, and in view of recent events, I still have blessings I can count.

Davey has asked me to thank you for your condolences. He has been really touched by your kind words. 

Thank you also for your lovely comments on the Thank You card for Joy and her wonderful quilt.

Now, this card was made for our normal, fully clothed, non lycra wearing neighbours (parents of Lilia and Luca whose clock presents are here and here) who have moved just down the road. They have spent ages renovating the new house and have turned it into a stunning home. Mum and Dad also got a bottle of fizz.

If you were wondering why the card design is as it is, I was trying to replicate what the front of their new home looks like. . . . . . . .

When Lucia opened it, she did say "Oooh, that looks like our house" so it can't look that bad lol!!!

The driveway is all finished now and the hedge trimmed but every time his van hasn't been in the way of a photo, its been pouring down so the above is a photo I took a few weeks ago.

Also, the New Home is also written in Albanian as Leo is from Albania and Italian as Lucia is half Italian. I did check that Google had given me the right translation as I would hate to have got it wrong and put "up yours" in Albanian by mistake lol!!! 

Ingredients

Cream, pale and dark grey card (Lidl)

Silver mirror card

Presscut squares and rectangle dies

Hougie for scoring

Computer generated sentiment

Pearlage

They are a lovely family so I'm glad they haven't gone far. They have also promised to rent out next door to nice people. I said I wanted an old couple who were deaf so only watched sub titles on TV as I have an aversion to noise and screaming kids lol!!! Its in their own interests as the lady the other side would soon be knocking on their door if they rented out to raucous students (as would I, to be fair)

Elaine, I know you're not deaf (or old, I hasten to add) but I'm sure you would behave yourself, if you're still up for being my craft buddy lol!!!

Petrina, sorry to you and any other international paddlers. . . . . Paul Daniels was a TV magician, whose wife and assistant is Debbie McGee. As he was vertically challenged, so to speak, he was always known as Small Daniels by my family.

Jenny, Just to warn your son, I planted my white wisteria as a 4ft plant and was told it may take 7 years to flower, which is precisely how long it took. . . . much patience required. Also, do not divulge your sons address as Joy and Maureen will be round with their shovels.

Anne and Jan, would be lovely to catch up with you again at one of John's workshops.

That's me for today folks as still not feeling 100% and we have to go out to vote so until next time, be good and if you can't be good, blame Maureen. . . . . . 

TTFN

Ang x

Lidl £1.99 Card Back in Stock. . . . . . .

Hi folks.

Just a quicky to let you know, that Lidl has the £1.99 card and paper packs back on sale as I know a few of us use it.

Hope you can get it where you are.

TTFN

Ang x

Thank You Joy. . . . . . . .

Hi folks. Hope this finds you all ok and not too wet.

Apologies for being missing for a few days but its been a mixed week. On the good days, I've been pottering in the garden getting my veggies and herbs planted in pots. Couple of not so good days but probably as a result of my pottering.

Then a group of us were supposed to be having a lunch out for mine and my pal Davey's birthdays but sadly Davey's brother passed away suddenly so a very sad time for my dear friend. I know he reads the blog, so I hope he won't mind me mentioning it. Big hugs to you chuck.

The clocks have also been delivered and mum Lucia loved them. Lilia seemed genuinely thrilled with hers and Luca smiled and jabbered in baby speak ............ hopefully in appreciation lol!!!

I will show you their new home card on my next post.

I did mean to mention, some of you thought of doing football team themed clocks. . . . . if you do, I would suggest you don't blog them as football clubs are very precious about copyright of their logos etc and will, apparently, sue. Same goes for Disney and suchlike, so beware.

Now, today's card I made some months ago for a very lovely lady called Joy. Joy is one of John's Breedon ladies whom I had met a few times at CE Towers when I was Debbie McGee to John's Small Daniels.

Towards the end of last Summer, after hearing that I was poorly, Joy very kindly made me this beautiful quilt to keep me snug in my chair.

It has kept me toasty warm during the Winter and has been the envy of Mr D. I made the card pretty much straight away but hadn't got round to blogging it until now. I met up with Joy again at Breedon last month and asked her if she would mind me showing the quilt on the blog and she was happy for me to do so. Thank you once again Joy for your kindness.

Ingredients

Cream card (some coloured with Milled Lavender DI)

Presscut Large Squares (the card was either 7x7 or 8x8)

SB Fancy Lattice

SB Large and Classic Ovals

SB Create an Ivy die set

SB Bitty Blossoms (naturally lol!!!)

Britannia Medium Rose die (for the fuchsia. . . . .see tutorial at top of the page)

Papermania flower punch

Tonic flower punch

John Lockwood sentiment

Card-io butterfly stamps

Various distress inks

Cosmic Shimmer Vintage Golden Green gilding wax

Teeny bling

I really loved making this card as you know I adore making floral creations and I certainly went mega floral with this. Happy to say, Joy loved it too and she told me she had framed it. What a complement.

Thank you for the comments about my birthday cake. Mr D got it from Asda. I'm surprised how many of you have Custard Creams as your favourite biccys too.

Lastly, after spooking some of you with the spider pic last time (I don't like em either but these are just baby garden spiders and as long as they stay in the garden, thats fine lol!!!) and after teasing June and Maureen with the wisteria, I have a happy snap of craft goodies I spent some of my birthday pennies on. It was an on line shop as no craft show in the locale until July.

Yes, I know there are more First Edition pads but at £5.50 for both, it would have been rude not to have given them a loving home.

That's me for now folks. Have a lovely weekend and a great week ahead.

TTFN

Ang x

I'd like to enter this card in crazy 4 challenges c4c388 challenge ..... use 3 of something on your card.