ATC CATCHUP

At last I have found the chance to blog the ATC swaps I have received over the last few weeks. Sorry to the girls for taking so long, but the wait has been worth it when you see the lovely cards.

The first 5 are from Hazel (Dido's Designs). I love the subtle colours of '2 little girls' and 'sparkle flutterby'. A bit of distress inking there me thinks. The sparkle continued onto 'batty' the Halloween card which made me laugh. 'Sweet Christmas' has a couple of sweetie brads on it which look like my hubbie's favourite sweets. Better keep this one away from him! 'Fairy Aurora' has a beautiful washed background. The little angel has sparkly wings and I just adore the wish rub on in the top corner. Lovely cards which will go on my Flickr then into my collection. Thanks Hazel.

These 4 beauties are from Sharon. I so laughed when I saw the 'Halloween' card. This would have been a good entry into Heather's Halloween swap. 'Gingerbread Friends' looks almost good enough to eat and every so often you can see tiny, tiny stars on the background. I like the inked edges on this one. 'Christmas Post' is a little stamped image that Sharon has coloured then highlighted with glaze. The shiney background sets this card off. It's really quite lovely. The final one in this batch is 'Time Flies'. The background is a stamped image with parts, ie. the clock and eyes, brought to life with glossy accents. I think I see some stickles on the bow and other clocks which help bring the whole thing to life. Thanks to you Sharon.

Now these beauties are from Sonia who I spent a lovely 'crafty' day with a week last Thursday. 'The Sixties' is a bit of nostalgia. Ban the bomb, flower power etc. Can't believe all that was nearly 50 years ago. 'Star Gazing' is a sparkly scene. Lovely little puss cats looking out at the heavens - or maybe a few mice! Just look at the tree on 'Winter'. Such a lovely image which Sonia has highlighted with stickles. I love the holographic matt to this one. 'Stargazing 2' is especially clever because Sonia has stamped the image then cut out the face from another image and 3D it onto the base one. This makes the card. Altogether a set of neat, thoughtfull cards which I love. Thank you Sonia.

And now, here are my Angel swaps from Heather, plus an ATC that she made and sent me for Christmas.
As you can see, I received Heather's angel ATC which I am over the moon with. It's absolutely gorgeous. My ornament is the fantastic wooden bag that Sheila made. How lucky am I then.
I shall put all these photos on my Flickr. Please pop on there for a nosey.

AN EARLY VISIT TO SANTA

Thought it time to let Santa know what I would like for Xmas. He seemed a bit pre-occupied however, so I let him continue reading his OK magazine. Note the black cat on his bed. It was real unlike the white one!

I've had another 'play' with my blog layout today and managed to lose the green around Toby. I've also added more photos to my Flickr if you are interested.

I watched all but 45mins of craft day on QVC on Tuesday. My eyes are so square now but hey! I had a ball. It was the best full day they have produced so far. Those Martha Stewart products were amazing and took me back to my childhood. I bought the loop punches. Can't wait for those to arrive. Several other items will be winging their way to my house also. Such a bad girl!!!!

CRAFTING ON THE GO

What a job I had trying to pack craft goodies for the last trip we had. I knew the show was not going to be my thing so expected to have 4 days making cards. What I didn't expect was to be in a gorgeous setting with equally as gorgeous weather. Croft Farm Water Park, Tewksbury, is certainly one to visit whether you camp or not. Look them up on the web for more details.

Anyway, we both had a thoroughly enjoyable time and I did manage a couple of cards, see both here and my Flickr.

GOTTCHA

Caught in the act. The hedgehog is responsible for eating the birds pears and suet.

He came wobbling along 2 nights ago, a bit earlier than usual, and immediately began to tuck in. After about 5 minutes he disappeared behind the box hedging and then made his way elsewhere. No wonder the baby blackbird looks 'peeved' each morning!!!

I've been making a few cards for our Susanna - a little commission. Here are a couple. Some of the others are on my Flickr.

ANOTHER BABY!

Another baby blackbird! I've now lost count of the baby birds we have had in the garden this year, but it's been wonderful.

This cheeky little thing was made to leave home this week. It's parents were down with it a few days ago but have now told it to fend for itself! It thinks the garden is his and loves to sit on the curved bamboo cane. However, yesterday the heavens opened and it rained, I mean serious rain, so guess what it did? Took shelter in my greenhouse!! How's that for intuition then?

I've been making cards over the last couple of days. Please pop on my Flickr and check them out.

HOW TO KEEP COOL IN THIS HEATWAVE

I've found the perfect way to keep cool in these roasting temperatures.

Make Christmas cards!!!!

Ok, it's early for some of us. But how many of you have said that and then been panicking in December? Just the thought of snow, ice and warm clothes helps to keep at bay the fact that we are really boiling!
I coloured 6 stamped images when we were away and made them into cards today.

Here are a couple and the rest are on my Flickr.

A MOST ENJOYABLE CRAFTY FEW DAYS

If you ever get the chance to go to Weston Park near Telford, then you will enjoy the experience if only for the gorgeous park land. This was our second trip to the model aircraft show and it was the best.

I'm not really in to model flying, although we also go to the Woodvale show which is near Formby on Merseyside. That show is also for families, not just flying enthusiasts, although some would argue that Weston is a family show too, but there's nothing there for me. The craft tent covers things like, homemade biscuits and wooden plaques, but no paper craft. Having moaned a bit about that, what the few days did allow me was time to make some cards and ATCs without interruption. I had a ball.

As mentioned before, we had excellent web conncection but it kept throwing us out in the middle of doing anything. I could'nt load photos which I could last year. Anyway, never mind, I've put some on here and some on my Flickr. See what you think of the lovely cards thanks to Sugar Nellie.

My hubby has now gone to Beverley to help my (soon to be another year older and best friend) step daughter and Micky install their gorgeous new kitchen. I have a 'to do' list as long as my frozen shoulder arm to keep me going whilst he is away, so doubt I shall get much crafting done - not half!!!!!

Thanks for reading this.

HOME

I really have had fun since last Wednesday. The model aircraft thingy is not my scene so I enjoyed the time crafting away. I made 14ATCs, 2 cards and coloured 10 stamped images. Not bad.

The web connection was brilliant. Really good signal and no problem getting in, but, once in and happily blogging away, it kicked me out!!

Anyway, here is a photo of a couple of ATCs and I'll pop more on my Flickr later.

Thanks for looking.

SUGAR NELLIE

Whilst being unable to do anything too strenuous because of a frozen shoulder, (had an injection this morning!), I have managed to make a few cards using 2 gorgeous rubber stamps from Funky Kits.

I saw these in the June edition of Cardmaking & Papercraft and it was a case of love at first sight - must have those!! Actually, I fell in love with rather more than 2 and have since taken receipt of a further 3! SShh! don't tell.

Anyway, I've popped some pics on Flickr, but here's a couple to whet your appetite.

A TREAT AWAITS YOU

If you have a minute please take a look at my Flickr. I have loaded some photos of the amazing ATCs I have received this week from my swapping buddies.
I think you will agree that there is some wonderful talent out there. Enjoy.
P.S. Leonie, you will appreciate 'Glastonbury' !!!

A BIT OF A BREAK

I've had a bit of a break from blogging for a few days while I make some cards for Dawn's support of our troops. When I go over to her shop and Lindsay Mason's workshop next month, I shall take them and keep my fingers crossed they are suitable for the cause.

Inbetween though, I have managed a couple of ATCs and this is one of them. It's covered with material on the outside and inked and stamped on the inside. A bit of fun.

I hope to update my Flickr later with pics of the gorgeous ATCs I have received from 2 of my swapping pals.

On a sad note, I just want to send Tim Holtz and his family my thoughts and support at this sad time. He had to let his gorgeous 14yr old dog, Cooper, go this week. I know only too well what he is going through just now.