A Birthday Gift and my 1st Challenge Entry.

Hello Everyone,

First of all can I just say a thankyou to those who left lovely messages on my last post written when I had a nasty cold virus. Although it knocked me for six last week, I was much improved by the weekend and just have a bit of a lingering cough now. Oh yes, and all the jobs to catch up on that didn't get done while I was feeling yucky.


My project today is one of those jobs but I have to say, the pleasantest one, unlike the stack of ironing, Lol! My lovely DIL asked me to decorate a box for her to fill memories for her mum's 50th birthday so this is what I came up with.


I was going to give you a blow by blow of how I've done it but decided I really didn't want to bore you all to tears so instead, I'm just going to give you the photos and if there is anything you would like to ask about what I've used or how I've done something, please just leave me a comment and I'll answer if I can. I'd just like to mention that the bird and cage was kindly sent to me by a lovely American blogging friend, Suzz, and you really should give her wonderful inspiration filled blog a visit, or three!


The roses I made from metal and the blue butterflies are punched from black card with a Martha Stewart punch and then embossed with Moonglow Peacock EP.

I distressed the edges of the side panels before touching them with gold Pentouch.


All the tiny butterflies from the Marth Stewart pop up border I dabbed with Versamark and a little embossing powder and used them to decorate here and there.

I'm taking the box to my DIL later this afternoon so I do hope she and her mum are going to like it.

AND, I've decided to enter this project as my very first challenge entry. I don't normally get time for them but I think this one fits the requirements of The Sir Stampalot Challenge for May which is Butterflies and Blooms and I certainly have plenty of those in here, Lol. The prize they are offering this month is absolutely awesome so I thought I'd have a go. Mind you that's if I can get the linking back to me bit right, Errrr!

Well, I'm off to take the dog for a walk before I pick my little granddaughter up at 4.30. Oooh, it is nice to see a bit of sunshine again and without it being freezing too. I hope you're all having a good day (even if it involves work).

Hugs
Lesley Xx

My Mum's Birthday Card and a Doggy Trauma

My Mum is 81 years old next Sunday and I have to say I hope if I get to her age I'll be in the same sprightly condition. Somehow, I doubt it because she puts me to shame now sometimes, Lol.

Anyway, this is the card I've made for her and it's safe to post as she doesn't even have access to a computer let alone own one. She does delight in sending me text messages though, in text speak I might add, from her mobile phone.

Originally, this started out as an A4 card and I used my new Mega Circle masks by Heidi Swapp. I had just finished all the blending, flower masking and stamping and then ....................... I dropped a blooming DI inkpad onto it. The air was somewhat blue, I have to admit. The only lucky part was that I didn't drop the inkpad onto the actual masked circle so I decided to cut it out and mount it onto another card rather than waste all that work. As you can probably see from the detail close ups, I blended DIs onto the background first then used a HS daisy mask and blended some more, removed the mask and did a couple of layers of stamping using stamps from the EI DL sized Lily themeplate and the Fantasy Floral A4 themeplate. Then after cutting the circle out I distressed the edge a little and then inked lightly all the way round. I then used a complete contrast DI in Broken China to stamp the humming bird by Inkadinkado which I versamarked all over, clear embossed and cut out. Using the same contrast ink I stamped quite a few flowers in two sizes again from the Fantasy Floral themeplate, cut them out, curled the petals a little, layered arranged them onto my card before fixing with silicone glue. The pretty circle block is from EI again and is one of their newest plates called Damask Blocks along with the sentiment from their very useful new Birthday Words plate. I cut this out using my scalloped circle Nestabilities. I also punched some leaf fronds from Core-dinations card using my Evergreen punch by Floral Punch Craft from The Hobbyhouse.

Almost everything I used for this card can be purchased from Graphicus/Elusive Images, my favourite craft shop as everyone knows.

Before I finish this post I'd just like to share a little bit about the rather traumatic week we've had with our little Snoopy. On Monday evening Snoopy thought he could have a little chomp on a nice fat bumble bee and live to tell the tale. Within seconds his face started to swell and before long he looked more like a Bassett Hound than the Jack Russell/Dachsund cross that he is. The swelling was so bad we got rather worried that it might affect his airways so felt that a call to the vet was in order. Result - a quick OUT OF HOURS visit for a steroid injection to halt the swelling at a cost of £62! Well, at least it seemed to do the trick and although it took a while for the swelling to come down, by Tuesday evening we thought he was fine. Uh Oh! Thought wrong! In the wee small hours of Wednesday (3 am to be precise) we were woken by Snoopy's panicked barking because he wanted to be let out. We thought that he'd settle after that but we were wrong again. 45 minutes later he started again and when I went to him this time he had been sick (too much info I know). I spent the rest of the night on the settee having 10 minute naps then being roused by a very poorly little dog being ill.

I have never known our little bundle of energy be so still and so quiet for over 24 hours. It's taken him most of today to get back to anything like his normal self and, of course, as he has spent the greater part of the last 36 hours sleeping he has just started to wake up - and it's nearly my bedtime and I haven't caught up on the sleep I lost yet. Whether it was the poison from the bee sting (after all, he is only small) or something else entirely that made him so sick I don't know but I hope it doesn't happen again.

The first of the photos is to show what he normally looks like and the others are taken about an hour or so after the sting.

Hopefully after another night's sleep he and I will both be fully recovered in time to enjoy the weekend - I hope!

Night Night! Sleep tight!