Flooded roads, hailstones and a quick 51st Anniversary card

Yesterday I had an appointment at the doctor's. I drove there, found a parking lot straightaway, parked, got out of the car and was standing in a puddle up to my ankles, together with two rather indignant pigeons who had evidently thought it was their bird-bath. Reached the doc with no further mishaps. Didn't even have to wait long. Had my tests and got prescriptions for my medis - strange how they seem to grow with each new birthday! As I left, it was pouring. My umbrella was high and dry - in the car. So had to run for it as well as I could. The huge puddle had not disappeared in the meantime, and it was impossible to access the car without treading into it, so once again, got wet feet. On the motorway it started to throw down hailstones, which pinged so hard on the roof of the car that I thought they would pass through it, really scary. Then I went to the chemist's to get my medis. Difficult to find a parking space, because those giant puddles were everywhere, and the park looked like a river. Anyway, never give up, found a dry place, threw some money in the ticket machine and ran to the chemist's. Got everything I needed, and managed to get back home without further problems. where I treated myself to dry trousers, a cappuccino and 2 current buns - delicious!
Then I realised I needed to make a card for some friends, who are celebrating their 51st wedding anniversary today - congrats I & T!! I also baked a chocolate cake to take with me when I go there, so was a busy evening.
The easel card has been made from wine-red embossed card stock, and the front panel has been cut from the *Taj Mahal* stack (DCWV). Added TH die cut hearts and wings, and 2 roses, and of course a golden 51. Inside I put one of my favourite verses, which translated into English says *We are angels with just one wing, and can only fly when we embrace each other. Angel with just one wing -come, fly with me, embrace me.*
Thanks for looking, and have a nice day!!

Mona Lisa with Hearts and Roses - GCSP6, Take 2

Yesterday I made a card following Shar's inspiration of using labels. My friend B gave me a pile of A4 label sheets, so I will be able to have more fun trying this out in the next weeks, as it is a fun technique with lots of possibilities. I printed the whole sheet with a freebie background from June at *Dezinaworld*, and stamped my image over one part of it , so I can still work with the rest of the sheet. I used my Mona Lisa stamp from LaBlanche, and stamped with archival ink which was then clear embossed. Then I mounted the labels onto a scrap of white card, which I matted with wine red before mounting it onto a card, which I stamped with script in *aged mahogany*. Added some hearts and roses and gave her a touch of lipstick and eye shadow, and it was finished.
And another nice surprise from *Gingersnaps* today, as I was chosen as a Ginger Gem again for my *Polar animals* tag. Many thanks to the team for their never ending source of inspiration and ideas!
It was fun trying something new - as always - and I will definately try this again.
Thanks for looking and have a good day!

Ginspiration Challenge CCSP6

For this challenge I have made a black and white card, inspired by Stephanie's elegant cardigan. I needed a *good luck* card for a friend, and as cows are a big fave with me, I used them here. They have been die cut from Kaisercraft paper, and I have mixed and matched the heads to make them more interesting. They have been mounted on to a piece of white paper left over from die cutting a lace edge, and the background has been stamped with text in archival black. The cows have been fixed with foam pads to give them more depth. I added some black and white prima flowers, a border of the same scrap paper, I just altered the writing at 2 places to *Moo* instead of me. Then I mounted it all onto a black card, and that was it - udderly simple, and I hope the recipient will feel mooooooooooved by it. The eyes and flower centres have been dotted with a spot of liquid pearls in red, and then I added a matching tag with a sentiment. Was fun to make, I think I will try the other Ginspiration challenges, too!
Thanks for looking and have a nice day!

Masking Challenge for *Simon Says*

This is my entry for the *Simon Says* masking challenge. The background has been masked with *garden ironworks* from *My Tattered Angels*, and sprayed over with *Juneberry wine* from the same company. I then cut the tag to match the contours of the pattern. Then I decided to keep it monochromatic, so cut the tree and birds in a matching colour using coredinations paper, which has been lightly sanded. The fence is also a TH die. The tree has been dotted with a few spots of liquid pearls in silver. As a finishing touch I added two stars in white with some lilac liquid pearls dotted in the middle.

It was, as always, fun to make. Thanks for looking & have a nice day!

GC83 Polar animals Challenge

For the polar animals challenge I used a photo of Knut, a bear that was abandoned by its mother and brought up in the Berlin Zoo by zookeepers. He was a real cutie, and drew a lot of fans who queued for hours to see him. I have cut the top part of the photo away, inked the edges, and mounted it onto a tag which has been distressed with TH *faded jeans* and white embossing powder. I cut the pic of Knut a tad wider than the tag and just stuck down the edges, so that Knut seems to stand in front of the tag.
I stamped a circle with resist ink to make the moon. To finish it I inked the edges, and added a few stars and a snowman charm.
It was, as always, fun to make. Thanks for looking!

Fairy arch for *Gothic Arches* Challenge

This time I have made something a bit different for the fairy challenge, and managed to use up some things which have been slumbering in my cupboard for a loooooooong time. But I thought for a fairy challenge, they would be just right. The background has been distressed with TH inks in gradient colours, and has then been covered with acetate printed with trees and then outlined with glitter. The fairy was from a decoupage sheet that I won from a blog candy, so I inked the edges, layered her, and added some ice blue stickles. The top arch has been cut from a scrap of paper, embossed with a TH folder to give it depth, inked with faded jeans and then rubbed with a bit of stickles, too. Added two punched birds, two prima flowers with mini buttons and a few tiny glitter flowers. It's nice to try something different once in a while, and it will be sent to a nice little girl who will be 9 next month and who just loves fairies, especially when they are pink, pale blue and glittery!
Thanks for looking and have a nice day!

Ginger gems, a LIIU challenge & a lazy day.....

Today I had great problems leaving my bed, as I had a bad back on the one side - oooops, how can you have your back on one side???? And I don't mean my backside either....
OK, I'll start again. This morning my back was hurting. This made it difficult to roll out of my bed, but after my first coffee everything started to feel better....
And then -
And then - I saw I had been chosen again as a *Ginger gem* for my *white glitter*challenge entry - woohoo! Thanks to the team for the inspiration and encouragement, we have a great bunch of ladies there!


Yesterday evening I made a card for the LIIU Challenge #8, anything goes, and as the theme over on Gingersnaps was beverages, used that theme again. The background has been distressed with TH *Victorian velvet* & *Leather* glimmer mist from *Tattered Angels*, before randomly stamping it with a justrite stamp *Is there really life before Coffee?* and using Adirondack *espresso*. The tea cups have been stamped with a freebie from the *Craft Stamper* magazine, cut out, coloured and hand doodled, and then decoupaged. The vintage lady pic is from LaBlanche, the metal corners also. I placed a piece of brown card underneath it, which forms a little hiding place on the back into which I can pop an invitation to coffee.
It was, as always, fun to make - especially with this theme - and the rest of the day I have spent daydreaming, thinking about what I might do next and generally avoiding housework.
Thanks for dropping in, and have a good day!