I'm So Sad

I'm sorry if I make anyone who is kind enough to read my blog sad too, but today we lost a beloved member of our family. His name was Benni and we rescued him from the RSPCA a little over 12 years ago. He was a lovely little dog, full of character (barking the other dogs out of the way at the kennels so that we couldn't fail to notice him). He had a beautifully soft silky coat which was a joy to stroke and a wonderful white tail which was always waving like a flag.

Here he is kindly sharing his bed with his friend Tink (our daughter's little border terrier) when she came to visit.

Today's decision to give him peace was the hardest I have ever had to make, because he wasn't yet in any pain (as far as we know) but he was blind, deaf and was profoundly weak in his back legs. Needless to say, he could nolonger go for walks or play and had recently begun to lose his dignity (details of which I won't share). But the worst part was seeing him not being able to find his way round his own home and garden and the vet agreed that it was far kinder not to let him get any more frightened or confused.

I will never forget his wonderful capacity to love people and I don't think I will ever stop looking behind me to make sure I don't tread on him. We are so glad you decided to wander from your previous owners and find us instead BENNI.

Another Wonderful Day at Fountains Abbey

After visiting Fountains Abbey a couple of months ago for the first time, I vowed to go back as the trees were changing colour, so yesterday (Thursday 16th) I did and took my lovely daughter and granddaughter with me. We had a wonderful day. If anything the place was more beautiful in it's Autumn cloak and the weather was absolutely perfect. Everything was so clear and sharp. This place brings a lump to my throat with it's beauty and these are a few of the many photos I took that I want to share. I was particularly struck by the 'double whammy' of the colours reflected in the water.

and finally, a couple of photos of another subject who brings a lump to my throat with her beauty - the eldest of my two gorgeous granddaughters, who shared the day with me and her mummy.

My 3rd VIP Birthday Card

This card was made with love for my new Daughter-in-Law. I used an A5 portrait white base card, covered the whole of the front with some acetate which I had coloured with Ranger alcohol inks. I attached the acetate with DST under where I knew my image was going to hide it. I then took a piece of card which I had previously washed with Mermaid Seashells Starburst Stains. I designed my tree using Elusive Images Design a Tree Stamps and a mixture of Adirondak dye inks and Cats Eye chalk inks. Then I stamped my little patch of meadow using the smaller stamps from EI Wild Meadow themeplate and the same inks as the tree. The mica in the Starburst Stains gives the whole thing a lovely shimmer. Finally, I stamped my unicorn and faery (again from EI) with Cats Eye Frost White pigment ink and embossed with a mixture of White EP and Clear Crystal EP. I filled in the unicorn image with Sakura White Soufle pen and touched the mane, tail and hooves of the unicorn and the wings of the faery with Sakura gold Stardust pen. I mounted the trimmed image onto some Glimmer Misted card, stamped a little sentiment and mounted this onto the same GM card and positioned both onto my main card using DST. I was aiming for an 'are they there or are they not' look and was quite pleased with the end result.

For the inside of the card I had just enough of the Starburst Stains card left to cover one half of the inside so I stamped one of the larger Wild Meadows stamps down the left hand side stamping twice without re-inking and then printed my chosen wording onto white card which I trimmed to the size I wanted and edged it with one of the colours I used on the stamp and attached it to the inside of the card. All in all, I was really pleased with this card as I came pretty close to what I wanted to achieve and my Daughter-in-Law loved it which was the main thing.

I apologise for being predictable, but once again I've used my favourite products from my favourite craft shop www.graphicus.co.uk helped a little by products from The Stampman. Hope you like!

Fantastic Blog Candy Giveaway

Please do yourself a favour, anyone who reads this, and pop over to Elusive Images Design Team blog and look at the fabulous giveaway they have running at the moment. IT'S COMPLETELY FANTASTIC! Not only is there so much of it, they are brilliant products too. All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is leave a comment on the blog candy post before Friday the 17th October. Simple!

Birthday Card for Another VIP - My Daughter

These are photos of a card I made last week for my lovely Daughter, Jenna's birthday this weekend.

First of all I blended Weathered Wood and Milled Lavender DIs onto a linen effect base card then stamped a background using a stamp from Elusive Images Wild Meadow Themeplate and Broken China DI. I then embossed a piece of dark navy linen card using a Cuttlebug folder, sanded it and then sprayed with Glimmer Mists in Pearl, Jazz Blue and Rum Raisin. I already had a piece of background card which I had made a while ago using Mermaid Seashells Starburst Stains (available from The Stampman) so I used this to layer the embossed piece onto. I also stamped some flowers from EI Big Flowers plate using Sepia Versafine onto the same piece of Starburst Stains card, cut them out and added touches of Sakura Stardust Pens and shaped and curled them a little.

I blended the same DIs as before onto a large tag and sprayed with the same GMs and then stamped my new Paper Artsy Tag stamp (bought at Harrogate Papercraft show a couple of weeks ago but can't remember who from) using the Sepia Versafine. I did the first one by stamping the image before spraying with GMs but the mica did not stay on the Versafine but puddled on the unstamped areas which ended up making the pretty little girl look evil so I did it again and sprayed before I stamped - success! Finally I stamped flourishes (from a clear set whose make I cannot remember - possibly Hero Arts) off the edges of the tag stamp using Broken China DI and edged the tag with Sakura Gold Pentouch.

For my third main element I took a Grungeboard letter J, blended the inks I used before and then triple embossed and finally stamped into it with the previously used Wild Meadow stamp inked up with Brilliance tricolour pad - Aurora. I also edged this with the gold Pentouch.

I assembled all the elements onto the basecard and then arranged the cutout flowers, added clusters of tiny beads, ribbon and fibres and some lovely shell buttons (QVC) in different shapes and sizes.

Inside I used the same DIs and Wild Meadow stamp to create an insert which I then put through the printer to print my chosen wording.

I was quite pleased with how this card turned out and Jenna loved it and ......for once I have used a few items from different places along with my favourites. Hope anyone kind enough to look likes it too.