MAWTT Challenge 90. . . . . . . .

Good morning everyone. Hope that you are all well. For those of you knee deep in snow, keep snug and warm.........for my cousins in Australia who are in the middle of a heatwave, can I come and move in with you pleeeeeeeease???

A quickie today as I didn't sleep very well Tuesday night and then taught at my second workshop yesterday so it was a a long night and a long day. Scheduling this and then having an early night.

Now, its time for challenge 90 at MAWTT and the theme this time is................................

Add a sentiment

No excuses now guys and gals as I'm sure that you all have cards with sentiments that would be perfect for the challenge.

Ingredients

White, navy and blue card

Justrite Hope and Love stamp

Leane Creatief Border Elements embossing folder

Spectrum Noir alcohol markers

I love this sentiment and sadly I've had to use it a few times to offer words of encouragement. On this occasion, Mr D's boss's young son had been diagnosed with Leukaemia and so he was doing a sponsored head shave for charity. Mr D asked if I could make a card to send with our cheque so I duly obliged.

Well that's me for now folks. Please pop over to MAWTT to see what the other gals on Team A have come up with.

TTFN

Ang x

A Tissue. . . . . . . . .The Sequel

Good morning everyone. Hope that you are all well and being good.

Busy times here at The Pond again, not least with the joys of a tax return. I decided to do it myself, rather than throw everything at an accountant but I can see the attraction of that option now lol!!!

However, now I know what I'm doing (allegedly) I will carry on doing them myself.

I have my 2nd workshop this week too at Crafty Corner, formally at Breedon but now at Staunton Harold Garden Centre. Flowers and eclipse cards are on the crafty menu......any excuse for me to break out the Bitty Blossoms lol!!!

Now, today, I am sharing the tissue box cover that John had on his recent Hochanda shows. I'm hoping that he is not going to keep it otherwise I will have to make another as I love it so much lol!!! I came up with the idea after making Davey a cover before Christmas with flowers on one side behind acetate, so I thought "what the heck, lets do one with flowers on all 4 sides!!!" But that's just the kind of devil may care life I lead.

Ingredients

White card

JND Square Scene Box dies

JND Oakham Lattice dies

JND Blousy Poppy die and stamp

JND Orchid die

JND Flourish Leaves dies

Couture Creations All A Flutter embossing folder

Stamens

Distress inks

Gems

I made up 4 of the square scene boxes after cutting the apertures using the Oakham die, also embossing with it and backing the apertures with acetate.

I decorated each back panel with four different flowers........the poppy and orchid dies you will have seen already on John's shows (I still have a couple of sets left on my website if you haven't got yours already) but the other 2 flowers are for another time 😃😃😃.

I then glued all four sides together using hot glue so that it dried and held quicker.

Next, I cut the top to size and used most of the Oakham Lattice to emboss it and then cut an oval out of the centre to pull the tissues through.

I then went a bit mad with the strip gems as I wanted to jazz up the overlap on the box sides but then attacked the top as well lol!!!

I really loved making this and how it turned out........can you tell lol??? Yes, there are a few photos on this post and here is the last one...............

It will be making another appearance when John has released the other flowers, so apologies in advance that you will have to see it again lol!!!

Thank you all for your super comments on my orchid heart. You are kind and encouraging folk.

Maureen, I would imagine air dry clay in your day was papyrus so maybe that's why you let it be.

I did manage to catch up with Nesta last week for tacos at Chiquito, and very nice they were too Stephanie, topped with volcano sauce 😋😋😋.

Hoped to catch up with Davey after his Caribbean sojourn and hear tales of the high seas from the salty sea dog but he came home with more than a set of maracas and a bottle of grog (to be honest, a normal Saturday night for him) and the poor lamb is laid up with a virus. He assures me its not Beri Beri or anything equally as tropical.

Well, if you have managed to get this far without nodding off, many thanks.

Have a great week.

TTFN 

Ang x

Orchid Heart. . . . . . .

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

Still been nippy here. Hope that Davey's thermals aren't in the wash basket when he gets home this morning as he will need them after a couple of weeks in the Sun.

Thank you all for your wonderful and kind comments on my recent samples. As you know, I love my florals so I have really enjoyed using the flower dies.

Now, on this wooden heart (cue Elvis) I tried something different. My lovely friend PJ's Christmas present to me was an air dry clay set so I thought I'd try it on the orchid die.

I did it by pushing the clay into the die (cutting edge up) and then using a clay roller to flatten it off. You then peel off the excess and gently pop the flower out. 

I had already cut out card versions and shaped them. I then placed the matching clay pieces onto the shaped card to dry. This meant that they dried in that shape.

Ingredients

Wooden heart painted with white acrylic paint

Air Dry Clay

Green card 

JND stamps

Memento Dewdrop inks

Again, I used clear embossing powder to gloss up my hand cut leaves and stem.

I loved trying this new medium and will be using it again very soon so thanks PJ.

I will be using the orchid die at my next workshop at Crafty Corner next week.

Time to head for bed now (I'm scheduling).

Have a happy Tuesday. Hoping to have a catch up with Nesta over a taco lunch.

TTFN

Ang.x

Orchid. . . . . . . .

Good morning everyone. I hope that you are all fine.

Well, we have had snow this week. Thankfully not enough to cause much concern but my, its been cold. I've had to try and keep my extremities warm (steady!!!).

Fortunately, there have been no further sightings of the family Flash this week.

Now it comes to something when you've only shown two samples from John's shows on Monday and Tuesday and he's back on TV again. His shows are at 10am and 2pm if you are able to watch. The lovely orchid die will be making its official appearance. 

I really enjoyed using this as I still love my orchids (now have 18, I think it is).

Ingredients

White card and dark green card

JND Orchid die

Thick and thin florists wires

Florists tape

Mustard Seed and Squeezed Lemonade distress inks

Rosebud Memento Dew Drop ink

Versamark

Clear embossing powder

Pearlage

I hand cut the leaves and embossed them with clear embossing powder to give them a nice shine.

I stuck some dry florist foam in the bottom of the glass pot and pushed the stem in. I found that a glue dot or foam pad sticks better than trying to use glue, whether normal or hot glue.

I then topped it up and filled the gaps with orchid compost (after I took the photos lol!!!).

I sent a photo to Davey before he jetted off for a Caribbean cruise and he actually thought it was a new real orchid I had added to my collection.......how chuffed was I lol!!!

Well, that's me for today. Just a pic of Molly to close with. Her first ever steps in the snow (she only saw it from indoors last year as they weren't allowed out at the time),

I think the expression says it all lol!!!

TTFN

Ang x

A Tissue.....Bless You!!!

Good morning everyone. Hope its not too cold where you are. 

Its gotten particularly parky in our neck of the woods, which is probably why Son Of Flash (he's in his 20s) decided to have a trot about in fleece tracksuit bottoms.

Now, rightly or wrongly, I am of the opinion that any male who avails himself of such attire, should wear the appropriate undergarments, especially if there is anything resembling a jogging motion...........mind you, it did bring back proud memories of Linford Christie's Gold Medal performance at the Barcelona Olympics.

Anyhoo, I hope that you all managed to catch John's shows. I have yet to catch up with the first show as I was on my way back from Hochanda at the time, having had a catch up with John and delivering his samples.

I actually only made 3 cards and none of them had a single flower on lol!!! I just thought of other projects instead that would make the most of the big boldness of the flowers.

Now, this was the last project I worked on and it was a bit of an experiment, but it worked......Poppy's made out of tissue paper.

Ingredients

JND Blousy Poppy die

Lilac and purple tissue paper

Black coloured card for the centres

Florist wires

The great thing is, you can cut several layers at the same time but it is a bit of a faff having to separate every layer..........and you do have to as the glue didn't penetrate the thin tissue to be able to stick several layers at once. It did make for nice fluffy poppies though.

I popped them in a small glass jar with some dried flower foam and filled around it with blue beads. I then did a triple bow ribbon to finish it off.

Something different and would be great to take to someone in hospital as you're not allowed to take real ones in anymore. Nice and lightweight too.

Time to toodle loo now.

Hope you have a happy Thursday.

TTFN

Ang x

JND First New Release of 2019 . . . . . . .

Good morning everyone, Hope that you are well.

Just a quickie post from me as I have been trying to schedule this for over an hour but Blogger was playing up. Now its time for bed.........Zebedee says so!!!

Its time for a fab new release of dies and stamps from John Lockwood so I have been locked in the craft room making samples.

John is Hochanda today at 6pm and 8pm for a One Day Special so I hope you'll all be tuning in 

Here's the first of my samples using the super new Oakham die set.

Ingredients

Cream, pink and pewter card

JND Oakham die set

JND sentiment

Silver pearlage

This a beautiful set for embossing so that's the way I went.

A simple card but the embossing gives great detail.

Don't forget to watch tonight.

See you soon.

TTFN

Ang x

Up Up and Away. . . . . . . .

Good morning one and all. Hope that this finds you well.

Been busy here at The Pond again. Samples for John. taking down the Christmas paraphernalia (why doesn't the bloomin tree fit back in its box properly!!!) and the subsequent housework and its tax return time..............Yay!!!

A warm welcome to Tina. Thank you for clicking follow. That brings me to 199 followers so I shall select a nice paddle prize for when we hit the 200.

Now, today is a card going back to John's birdcage shows. This was another "when is a birdcage not a birdcage" card.

Ingredients

Black, blue, pink, red, yellow and green card

JND Birdcage dies

JND Autumn Flowers stamps

JND Festive Silhouettes stamps

Sentiment was on a set of stamps that were a gift from Nursey Harrop

I always like to be different and I just thought the round cage looked like a balloon (just the way my mind works lol!!!)

The basket is made from the other cage, chopped up. I paper pieced the balloon with the different colours.

At the weekend, I had occasion to visit Flash's house. We had a Christmas card put through our door. It was the right address but wrong name (don't know where it had been).

I opened it as I didn't recognise the surname and from what was written inside, I guessed it was them (it was something to do with cats before you think something rude lol!!!).

Soooo, over the road I toddled. As it was about 11am, I assumed everyone would be up but after enduring a doorbell that played "Jingle Bells" Mrs Flash stumbled down the stairs and opened the door in a very dishevelled state. I explained why I was there and she acknowledged that the card was, indeed, for them. 

When she reached out to take it, there was nearly an incident with her barely closing dressing gown but thankfully, she managed to grab it before everything spilled out.

Never a dull moment in our street!!!

The freezer is still full of turkey, even after turkey sandwiches, turkey salad, turkey curry, turkey rissoles and turkey trifle. As for the 3 ovens, I have 2 on the cooker and also a halogen oven. Its really handy for doing small things quickly.

Well, better get back to my "to do" list.

Enjoy the rest of your week.

TTFN

Ang x

MAWTT Challenge 88. . . . . . . . .

Good morning guys and gals and Happy New Year!

Hope that you are all well and recovered from the festivities. We had a quiet Christmas and tackled the EEC turkey mountain.

We popped into Lidl on Christmas Eve, just before closing, to grab a loaf of bread and some salad and ended up being given a 3kg fresh free range bronze turkey crown for free!

They were just emptying the fridges out so I was in the right place at the right time. 

It was very nice but I don't think that I would have stretched to the £40 it would have cost. Of course, we already had turkey sorted so I cooked it all (thank heavens for 3 ovens lol!!!) and ate lots, froze lots and The Girls had lots.

Anyhoo, back to the matter in hand and its time for the first MAWTT challenge of 2019.

Wendy has chosen the theme and its..............................................

Music

So, get those creative juices flowing after the Christmas break and lets see your music cards.

This was a card that was sent to Kate's husband, Alistair for his 2018 birthday.

Ingredients

Black and white card

Crafts Too Musical Notes embossing folder 

JND sentiment stamps

JND Christmas Music stamps

Black Archival ink

Black blingage

A simple piece (the card, not Alistair) and ideal for a fella who likes fiddling (the musical instrument rather than the taxman).

So, dust off your craft gear and lets see you heading over to MAWTT to join in.

I hope that 2019 is a good one for you all, with good health and happiness. 

For those whose 2018 did not end as you expected, I am thinking of you.

See you soon.

TTFN

Ang x