Silhouetted Stags. . . . . . . . .

Good morning mon petit fleurs. Hope that you are all superdoopah.

Thank you for your kind comments on my blog update. Sorry you had found the old one tricky to read...........mind you, with some of the drivel I write, you didn't miss much lol!!!

Ok, for those of you feeling sorry for Mr D, I have caved in and the heating is on. Its been colder than a penguin's chuff the last couple of days so it had to be done. I have even bought some thermal leggings to wear around the house......no Max Wall revival in public for me!!!

Now, back to the matter in hand. I thought I would park the Christmas samples for a little while and as this card is almost a year old, I thought it high time it had its moment of glory.

I made this for Alistair Culliesocks, my dear friend Kate's wonderful hubby (otherwise known as Milk Tray Man) for his birthday last November. For those of you not familiar with Kate's tales of Alistair, he is like the love child of Ranulph Fiennes and Bear Grylls so I decided to go with a roamin in the gloamin look.

Ingredients

White card

Blue textured card

JND Festive Silhouettes stamps

Various Distress inks

Black Archival ink

I had made a similar one for one of John's show samples at the time the stamps came out last year (see here) but I think that I prefer this version as I'm pleased at how the reflection came out (I stamped it onto funky foam then transposed it from that).

Stephanie, your memories of Halloween sound lovely, especially hot cocoa and donuts lol!!!

I did wonder what war Maureen was a child in (Roses?) but this was Molly's reaction when I told her you would be out unfettered at Halloween..............

Have a great week folks.

TTFN

Ang x

MAWTT Challenge 83 . . . . . .

Good morning guys and gals. Hope you are all well.

Yes, you have arrived in the right place, I'm just having a tinker with a different blog layout...........please let me know what you think. I was going for a less fussy look. The background photo is a close up of a clematis in my garden.........maybe I will change it for a wisteria pic?

Now, its new challenge time again at MAWTT and the lovely Amy has selected the theme of 

                      👻👻👻  Halloween  🎃🎃🎃

Please pop yourselves over to the blog and have a look at the spooky offerings from my other teammates and why not join in for a bit of fun.

I don't "do" Halloween, not for any religious reason, its just not something that has appealed, even when I was a kid, so I didn't really have anything in the stash for it.

I did toy with the idea of a photo of Flash au natural but I decided that may be too scary, even for Halloween. I do have a black cat for hire though...........

Ingredients

White, black and orange card

Black gloss card

Memory Box Alphabet dies

Trimcraft download cat paper

Black die cut cat (see below)

Black gems

I had a look on line and found some Halloween papers as a free download from Trimcraft so I picked the cat one (unsurprisingly lol!!!) to go with the fabulous glossy black cat die cut that I did have in my stash.

My lovely blog chum Barbara (the talented lady who made my miniature orchids and wisteria) sent me a smashing card when we adopted The Girls and I loved the die cut cats on it, so Barbara kindly sent me lots of the die cuts in different papers.

I think that the black glossy one looks just splendid for this theme.

Anyhoo, best scoot as I have a list of jobs as long as a roll of wallpaper so thank you for stopping by and all the lovely comments.

Be good.

TTFN

Ang x

Golden Greetings. . . . . . . . . .

Good morning folks, how's it hanging?

Well, Autumn is truly on its way. The leaves are beginning to fall and the washing is taking that much longer to dry, even in the Sun. Mr D is still looking longingly at the central heating on switch but I have to keep reminding him that its not quite November yet.

The new craft space is finally beginning to take shape. I bought a very useful narrow 3 tiered, wheeled trolley from Lidl this weekend. Its supposed to be for a bathroom but it fits just nicely under my desk.

I've still got boxes to sort through but at least I have desk space now, which is just as well as I have 6 cards to make in the next week or so.

Now, today's card is still running through John's show samples from a couple of months ago. I did warn you that there were quite a few lol!!

Ingredients

Cream and black card

Vintage gold and gold mirror card

JND Snowflake Panel die

JND Festive Greetings die

SB Classic Ovals

I do love an aperture card.

Well, the dentist thinks that the jippy tooth is just still settling down so to persevere with it. It is marginally better and I can chew a little on it now. Had my crown measuring and prep done so I'm back again next week for the actual crown.

The ankle stroking I referred to is a technique my dentist's assistant introduced me to.

I have a sensitive gag reflex (Maureen, don't go there) so having to have the gum shield full of goo in my mush for nearly a minute has me heaving. However, if she holds my ankle, it makes it more tolerable. I have no idea why but it does work. See, you get these little extras when you go private lol!!!

Sadly Wendy, my dentist is about 63, from Nuneaton and no hint of green eyed Egyptianess.

I met Davey a day earlier for our date at Costa. Yes Maria, I have tried the Bonfire Latte but I do love the gingerbread one. They do a couple of sugar free syrups now so you don't feel as naughty.

June, please feel free to try any card you fancy. Its very flattering that you would like to.

Myra, glad that you are better now. If it was Maureen you were meeting up with, no wonder you had a headache lol!!!

Just a couple of gratuitous kitty pics.............can't believe how they have grown. its going to be interesting when the Christmas tree goes up lol!!!

Have a great week and be good.

TTFN

Ang x

Ps......Mrs Flash has been sighted so Flash is not a homicidal maniac (at the moment).

Double Depth Shaker. . . . . . . . .

Good morning peeps. Hope you are all well.

Blimey, hasn't the weather taken a turn. It was lovely last Thursday as my friend PJ and I sat outside for lunch at a garden centre and Tuesday in London was fabulous (and our table was reserved but the spelling was a bit skewed lol!!!) and warm, but what a horrible weekend................Baby weather, wet and windy!!!

Sandy, I must explain that brass oojits is a take on brass monkeys which is a UK saying meaning really cold.

I didn't know where the phrase came from so sought help from Mr Google.

Apparently, in days of old, there was a brass tray called a monkey on warships that used to hold the cannonballs. In the cold weather, the brass used to contract and the balls fell off...........I assume the ones on the tray rather than those of the sailors..........

Anyhoo, back to the blog Ang.

Now, today's creation is a double depth shaker card. There is a layer on top of the card and also a layer that goes into the card. Hopefully the photos will explain.

Hope that you can get the gist on the above photo, to accommodate the inside layer, the spine is 0.5cm wide rather than flat.

Ingredients

White card

Blue and silver mirror card

JND Snowflower Cut and Emboss folder

JND Snowflake Edges dies

Mixed blue Gutermann beads

Gems

Acetate

Just something a little different.

Yes. my girlies are pampered pusses but Mr D is softer with them than I am. They only have to batter their whiskers and he is putty in their paws..........though he would never admit to it. And yes, they have commandeered our bed for daytime snoozing as its South facing and so its nice and warm when the Sun streams through, sadly not very often at the moment.

As the saying goes, the cats own the house, we just pay the mortgage lol!!!

Dentist tomorrow. Was supposed to be measuring up for a crown but I am still getting jip from the filling he did before his sojourn so I would rather he looked at that first.

It means I will miss out on having my ankle massaged but heyho, maybe next time..................that's got you all wondering eh???

Meeting Davey for a Costa Mochachoccalattedoodahcino on Thursday before he jets off again. He's off to Chicagee, the windy city as Calamity Jane would call it. His passport must need its own hand luggage by now.

Well that's me for now. I haven't forgotten the eclipse tutorial Karen but I thought that I would put together a proper one so I will once my craft space is fully operational. Hopefully that will be soon as I have some birthday's and Diwali coming up.

Have a great week.

TTFN

Ang x

Happy Birthday to Lockers. . . . . . . . .

Good morning Pondlings. Hope that you are all well and not in shock at the drop in temperature. 

Its been brass oojits here and there has been mention of heating under muttered breath by Mr D but I just give him my "Not until November, put another jumper on" look.

The Girls have now got an old duvet for a bed in the kitchen. Its about 12 tog all folded up so it stands about 8 inches high and they love it. They also have their fleece bed in the living room and a big old cushion in the craft room so they officially have more beds than we do lol!!!

Now, as some of you may know, it was Mr Lockwood's birthday yesterday and this was the card I sent to him. It was supposed to be hand delivered on Friday but he had a crafting emergency so we couldn't meet up.......hoping for a chance today.

Of course, it had to include stags so there are 4 on this.

Ingredients

White card

Silver mirror card

Dovecraft stag die

Anna Griffin Flourish Emblem die

Memory Box alphabet dies

Dovecraft chipboard stag (coloured with silver Krylon pen)

2 silver stag pins

Go Press silver foil

Silver satin ribbon

This was my very first time using my Go Press foiling machine and I am very impressed,

I used it on the stag in the centre and the Anna Griffin die for the top layer.

Its very easy to use and I love the results.

Hopefully Mr L likes it (haven't heard one way or the other yet lol!!!

Karen, the eclipse cards are made from one sheet of card and what you cut out is raised up by using either foam or several die cuts of the same shape stuck on top of each other, I prefer to use card rather than foam as I find it easier to glue card on card on card.

I did take some pics of the process on a card I made so I will pop them on the blog next time so you can see what I mean.

Off to London tomorrow with Mr D to meet up with his brother and other half. Did ring to book a table but as the guy asked me to spell my name 5 times, thought my surname was my first name, had to give him the email address 3 times and my phone number twice, I'm not convinced that we are booked...........may well end up having a Maccy D lol!!!

Thank you for your comments on my last card and about my eyes. I have a feeling that Flash has burned certain images on my retinas lol!!!

Mrs Flash has still not been seen since Binbaggate................................

TTFN

Ang x

Ps......all the best to those having their flu jabs.

PPS.....I have popped the poster for my first workshop on the sidebar.

Snowflake Eclipse. . . . . . . .

Good morning friends, romans and crafters. Hope all is well with you and yours.

Thank you for your best wishes for my hospital appointment this week. It was back to the eye clinic to see if my ocular hypertension had improved after using eye drops. I went armed with a wet wipe and tissue this time after looking like a jaundiced panda when I came out of the exam last time.

Fortunately, the pressures are down, not where they should be but better than they were.

Still have to use the drops (boo hiss) but I don't need to go back for 9 months.

Had a lovely lunch with Nesta on Wednesday at one of the Farmhouse Inn chain of pubs. Lovely carvery and the biggest cake slices I've ever seen (Yes, Anne, bigger than that one you're thinking of lol!!!) The whole cakes are the size of a small country.

Now, I am still working my way through John's Christmas show samples and I have another eclipse card, giving a lovely depth to the snowflakes.

Ingredients

White and green card

First Edition A Christmas Story paper pad

JND Snowflakes die

JND Festive Greetings

Red and green ribbon

The snowflakes on the paper are lovely and sparkly.

Well, the craft room move is nearly complete and I actually managed to make a card at my new desk yesterday. I have even managed to use my Go Press foiling machine for the first time too. Very impressed with it, I have to say. I feel I will be making good use of it.

Need to decide what window dressing to have. Obviously, there are curtains but I am also thinking of some voile for a bit of privacy.

I have a lot more observation space now and saw Flash behaving very suspiciously the other day. He pulled up one of his cars by the alleyway near his house, went around the back and loaded a few heavy black bags into the boot, whilst looking furtive..................Coincidentally, I haven't seen Mrs Flash for a few days!!!

Well, that's me for now. Hopefully seeing John so I can give him his card and pressies for his birthday on Sunday.

Hope you have a fab weekend..........an early rising one for me with the Japanese GP (as in F1 not my doctor as someone thought lol!!!)

TTFN

Ang x

Snowflake Lattice Eclipse. . . . . . .

Good morning all. Hope that everyone is well. October already......can we put the brakes on this year please!!!

Thank you, as always for your lovely comments about the previous card and about my future workshop. I'm nervous and excited in equal measure.

The craft room move is progressing nicely with most of the furniture sorted. I just need to get a bigger desk for me as Mr D has now got one of the two that I had and the remaining one is too small for me to sprawl over on its own.

I'm not quite sure if I like being in the bigger room as it was handy just being able to swivel on the chair and reach any of the 4 bookcases but now, I have to get up and move.........oh well, it will be exercise lol!!! At least I have a separate area for my machines, Grand Calibur, Go Press etc so I don't have to clear the decks every time I want to do something.

Now, back to the card. Yes, another of John's samples from one of the Christmas die shows but I do have a plethora of them still to show lol!!! Also, another dabble with an eclipse card using something other than letter dies.

Ingredients

White card

First Edition Christmas Wishes paper

JND Snowflake Lattice die

Crafts Too sentiment

Dovecraft bling

I love the illusion of depth that you get with an eclipse card.

Well, another busy week with shopping, another hospital appointment, catch up with Nesta and John and making a desk lol!!!

The housework has also be somewhat neglected of late but I was testing the theory about dusting, that if you leave it for 5 years, it actually doesn't then get any worse. I will let you know how that pans out.

As for the GP this weekend, very disappointed in Mercedes.

On that note, off to bed now (scheduling so its Sunday night). Hope this week treats you all kindly.

TTFN

Ang x