Rudolph Days - January 22

Well hello there,

It's the 25th of the month already, so time for the very first 'Rudolph Days' challenge of 2022.  Here's the card that I've made for the challenge:

I have to say that this is one of my favourite stamps and it's called 'Restful' by Penny Black.  I simply stamped it using VersaFine, then heat embossed it to set the ink.  Next, I used some Dr. Ph Martin's Bleed Proof White paint to colour it.  I added extra water to the far field to give a the scene some perspective, then used the paint a little thicker as I got to the bottom of the card.  To finish off, I waited until it was dry, then touched up the snow on the fence posts and on the tops of the stones.  I also added some snow to the branches of the tree.   As I said, I love this stamp as lends itself to being coloured in many different ways and I think it's a beautiful image.  

That's all from me for today, so take care of yourselves and stay safe xx

A Sunrise, a Tag & and an Art Journal Page

 Hello there,

I bet you all thought I'd got lost!  I'm still here but life has been in the way as it sometimes does and my crafty mojo hasn't been what it should be.  Fortunately, I have managed to finish my next lot of Crafty Individuals samples for their next shows on the 4th of February which I'll post once the shows have aired.  

I do hope that you all had a good Christmas and New Year.  We spent both with our children and grandchildren, which is exactly as I wanted, so I've got no complaints.  We've also been able to to get out for a few walks as the weather has been good.  It's been really cold but dry with no wind, so just right.  We tend to walk very early on a morning, so we've seen some really beautiful sun rises.  I don't know what it is about seeing the sun rise but it always fills me with hope, which is just what we all need I think.  Here's one of our early morning photos:

The Covid situation seems to have no end to it and I'm whole heartedly sick of it.  It didn't help when pictures of the No. 10 Garden party were shown in the news.  It was held on the very same day of my Sister-In-Law's funeral.  Only 10 people were allowed at the service due to government restrictions, so I stood back and watched my poor brother and his heatbroken daughters, unable to hug them.... I thought I was doing the right thing at the time but now in retrospect, I'm not sure and it sickens me every time I think of that day.  I still feel that I never got to say goodbye to a very special person who had been in my life since the day I was born. I know that I'm not on my own here and many have gone through much worse than I have and my heart goes out to them all.  My SIL died on her own within 24 hours of being admitted and the only time my brother got to see her was after she had passed away.  My blood is boiling just thinking about it, so I'll move on.  Sorry and thank you for listening to my rant.

Onto the matter in hand and I'd like to share a couple of makes with you.  Isa, a lovely lady from our CI DT is running a FB challenge.  It will be run throughout the year and there are a few different challenges running each month.  One is a tag one and there's also a journal page challenge.  You are given a few prompts for the month, then it's up to you.  I find this to be challenging and it's been a good way of kick starting the old mojo.  I've also used lots of 'Snippets' on both, so I would like to add my tag into the latest challenge at the 'Snippets Playground'. The Snippets on the tage are the lady, the sentiment and the die cuts.  Have you seen their fabulous new blog page?  If not, then go take a look.  Di's doing a great job and Sarn is up to her usual mischief!

Here are my tag and journal page:

I think this page sums up how I'm feeling this year!

Take care of yourselves and stay safe.  If, I don't see you before, then I'll be back with you on the 25th for Scrappy Mo's Rudolph Day challenge xx

Happy New Year 2022

Hello there my crafty friends,

It's the 31st of December and that's another year almost done and dusted.  We'd all hoped for a better year than 2020 and although we've had more freedom than we had, it's still been challenging in many ways.  We are lucky enough to not live too far away from our two grown up children and their families, so once the lockdowns were over, we enjoyed as much time as we could with our three grandchildren and continue do so, other than the times where there are outbreaks of Covid in their schools.  

Craftwise, I'm still on the DT at Crafty Individuals and still very much enjoying it.  Jean and Malcolm are lovely and the DT are a great bunch and are very supportive of each other, which is wonderful and just as it should be.  

Right then, as it's the last day of the year, I'd like to share with you my favourite makes of 2021, just one from each month, so here goes:

                                                                             January

                                                                            February

                                                                              March

                                                                                 April

                                                                                 May

                                                                                 June

                                                                                    July

                                                                               August

                                                                            September

                                                                                October

                                                                           November

                                                                           December

Well that's me done for another year!  Still healthy, happy and surrounded by my loved ones.  I also have a great bunch of crafting friends (You know who you are) who are always there whenever I need them, come rain or come shine, so who could ask for more.  I feel well and truly blessed as we move into a new year and I would like to thank each and every one of you for your continued support and kindness.  I really appriciate your visits, thank you xx

Happy New Year 

And

All The Very Best Of Everything To You All In 2022

 x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Merry Christmas - 2021

Hello there my crafty friends,

It's Christmas eve, my favourite day of festive season.  I think I love this day because it's filled with the anticipation of the big day to come.  I will be starting the day by putting on some Christmas music and making the last batch of Mince Pies and some sausage rolls. Not the healthiest of choices but a firm tradition in our house.  We will indulge ourselves with one tonight with a festive tipple, then the rest will go with us when we visit our family tomorrow.  I love the smell of baking filling the house and I have a great sense of satisfaction knowing that all is done and now it's time to relax a little and look forward to tomorrow.  

I'd just like to finish by wishing all of my lovely followers and blogging friends a very happy and peaceful Christmas.  Let's raise a glass to absent friends and celebrate the love of our family and friends that we are blessed to still have around us.

Peaceful Christmas Wishes

xxxxx

A Squirrel In Winter

Hello there my crafty friends,

As always, Blog land is getting quieter as the big day approaches.   I'm here to share my last card before Christmas Eve.  Here it is:

I bought this lovely squirrel stamp set from Visible Image in their Black Friday sale.  It's a perfect stamp for autumn but I couldn't wait to get him inked up, so I used him to make a Christmas card.  I'm really enjoying all things Christmas at the moment, so I'm making the most whilst I'm in the mood to get ahead with my cards for next year.  I've realised recently that I have way more birthday cards than I will ever need, so I'd like to make more Christmas cards throughout the year.  I promise not to post them until the back end of the year, other than my monthly entries to the Rudolf Day challenge on the 25th of each month.  For anyone wondering how I made the snow at the bottom of my card, I used some Dr. Ph. Martin's Bleed Proof White.  It's a fabulous opaque white paint that's perfect for making and painting snowy effects.  It was a considered purchase for me but well worth it! 

As I've used lots of little snippets of card on this card with the squirrel, nuts, logs and leaves, I would like to enter this card into 'Pixie's Snippets Playground' challenge #418 

I think that's all from me for today, so I'll love you and leave you until my next post on Christmas Eve.  

Take care of yourselves, wrap up warm and stay safe xx

Last Of My December Samples

Hello again,

Did you all have a good weekend? I hope so.  The big day is getting ever closer and we all have so much to do at this time of year don't we,so I'll keep this post short. 

I've got my Covid booster jab and flu jab this week, so fingers crossed that it all goes smoothly.  My friends and family have given mixed reviews.  Some have experienced very few side effects and others have been quite rough for a couple of days after, so we shall have to wait and see what's in store for me!

I'd like to share the last of my samples with you from the shows on the 3rd of December.  Here they are:

Again, two different cards from me.  One quite CAS and the second one a collage of papers and stamps.  Both are very different from my usual inky style but sometimes it's good to have a play at something a little different.

That's all from me for today and I wish you all a very happy week xx

More Fishy Fun

Hello there,

Are we all ready for the weekend?  I hope that you've got something nice planned.

I''m here today to share the last couple of my fishy cards and here they are:

Two completely different cards.  One CAS and the other quite busy.  On my second card, I decided to leave the fish in black and white as there was already a lot going on in the background.  The text background is from one of Jean's paper sets and I distressed it slightly around the edges.

That's all from me for today and I wish you all a wonderful weekend, whatever you may be doing xx