A lightbulb moment

Morning Peeps, it's Saturday and time for a new challenge at Allsorts, our host this week is Helene who would like to see 'Candles and Lights' and there's an A/G option as well, our prize this week comes from Stix2.

Afraid I've not been active in blogland for a few days, our little Poppy has been in hospital and there's been a few touch and go moments culminating in a tracheotomy on Wednesday when she stopped breathing. She was transferred to Dick Whites Referrals, a specialist veterinary hospital, still needs more tests but hoping it's a manageable problem and nothing more sinister, she's a real little fighter in true Terrier fashion.

I have used one of the recent new Chocolate Baroque Hochanda TV releases for my card above, this one was called Lupin Blueprint. A brayered background onto linen card stock, the large lightbulb from the set stamped several times to the right, the the lupin and bulb stamped, coloured and cut out and placed into a die cut black circle. Some stencilling with texture paste, washi tape and sentiment from the same set heat embossed with details whit EP.

As most know I don't enter challenges, mainly because my sight is failing and I struggle with all the links so tend to save my screen time for my challenges, but I do make the odd exception and really wanted to support Gail in her new Let's Squash It challenge. The idea is to use embossing folders, something most of us have but don't use often enough, so here is my card using a Tattered Lace Christmas Holly folder and a Penny Black focal image and sentiment.

Whatever you are doing, I hope you have a good weekend.

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Vibrant Roses and Echoes of Italy

Morning Peeps, it's Saturday and time for a new challenge at Allsorts, our host this week is Lynn who would like to see 'Lace real of faux' with an A/G option. Our prize this week come from Chocolate Baroque and as it happens I also have a post over at the Chocolate Baroque Blog today, below is one of my samples from there, also a card for the current Butterfly Challenge.

My card is a Hochanda sample for tomorrows TV shows at 10am and 2pm, there will be different stamps available in each show, some old favourites and new goodies. The one I have used here is Floral Perfumery, stamped onto a Gelli Plate background, the Roses stamped a second time onto an offcut, masked with torn post-it notes and inked with Crackling Campfire and Twisted Citron, cut out and paper pieced. 

A few worker stamps stamped randomly to carry the colour of the Roses and a CB sentiment stamped onto black card and heat embossed with detail white EP. I cut the sentiment into two strips and layered over some cotton lace.

The Butterfly Challenge has arrived at the letter F and the elements are: Fabric, Flag Fold, French Pink, Forest Green, Flaxen and of course a Butterfly. After scoring the inner section with the folds I added Oxides as close as I could find to the three colours. Using rather a lot of Lavinia stamps I built up a scene, I guess I might have gone a bit OTT but I had a fun hour or two. The 'flags' come in the form of a Butterfly and Fairy which I stamped onto some fine Aida fabric and cut out, I'm not sure these shapes fit the 'flag' brief and you will have to take my work for it they are fabric. There's a closer photo below to try and show how the Butterfly and Fairy are over the edge but I'm not sure it's any more apparent.

These lovely Italian stamps are on one of tomorrows Chocolate Baroque Hochanda shows, I've had these sets for years going way back to Elusive Images/Gaphicus days, but still firm favourites. Most years we go to Italy, sadly not this year so this card using several of the images from the two sets is my take on CDSA Santa Maria, the road where my friend Lucian lives. We have been friends since I was three, although she was raised in the UK she still married an Italian boy and when their children were in their teens they returned to the family town of Compabasso, but Pino her eldest son married an English girl and still lives in the UK.

She lives in a beautiful three story villa with gardens running down in terraces where she grows vegetables which she bottles in true Italian style and her cellar has shelves decked with them......as well as Grappa which hubby Toni distills down there........my hubby could tell you a story or two about nights testing the variants he makes.

Have a good weekend all, not that in the UK we can do much even if we wanted to. Hubby and I have still not ventured further than the chemist and won't even be doing that for the next couple of weeks as youngest son is having knee surgery the week after next and we have been told we need to self isolate as a family prior to his op. He's having it at the Cambridge Nuffield Spire (on the NHS) so we are hopeful it will all go ahead as planned as Cambridgeshire as a whole is fairly low on the COVID scale.

 

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A Chocolate Baroque Christmas

It's the first Sunday of the month so time for our new challenges at We Love Chocolate Baroque and Stamping Sensations. Our themes for November are 'Christmas' and  'Christmas Flowers, Garlands and Wreaths'...........I can see the perfect chance to double up here and why not as this months lucky winners at both challenges will win stamps from Chocolate Baroque.

So all four of my creations feature Chocolate Baroque stamps and rather than bore you with all the names you can check what I used over at the respective challenge blogs where I have added links to them on the shop website.

Apologies for the lack of clarity on this one, had issues with my editing programme!

Looking forward to seeing lots of you join in this month.

 

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A Fairy for a little one and giant strooms

Morning Peeps, it's Saturday and time for a new challenge at Allsorts, our host this week is Ellie who would like to see cards suitable for 'Children and Teenagers', our prize this week is a lovely Woodware stamp from Craft Stash.

The Lavinia Fairy is quite an old one but I always love the shape of her skirt, stamped onto a Pan Pastel background, tree was extended by masking along with Poppies and flowers, all of which are also Lavinia.

I could see some huuuuge strooms around the headlands so took a walk the other day with my camera, a rather wet and soggy one I might add as it's hardly stopped raining the last couple of weeks. It's hard to get an idea of just how big some of them are, but those in the first two photos are much larger than an outstretched hand. We won't be testing the edibility of any of them but isn't Nature wonderful with the beauty it gives.

A second card with children playing using a mixture of stamps from six or seven different companies, Pan Pastels to create the sky and Distress and Versafine Clair inks for the stamping and foreground.

Have a good weekend everyone.

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Blessings and a bit of vibrancy

Morning Peeps, it's Saturday and time for a new challenge at Allsorts, our host this week is Kath with the theme of 'Celebrations', our prize this week is a lovely Tonic Butterfly border die. Further down you will also find my shares from my post over at the Chocolate Baroque blog.

I was reminded that I haven't updated on the NICE appraisal meeting I attended as the Patient Expert Witness where they considered the availability of my monthly migraine injections Emgality (Galcanezumab) through NHS England. The delay was because I had to sign an NDA so was unable to share the news until it was officially announced on the NIC website.  

Grief it was hard keeping the secret, but I's pleased to say the drug gained approval and has the ability to change the lives of thousands of chronic and episodic migraneurs. But that's not the end of it, now I have to persuade my GP as they have discretion to decide if their practices will prescribe, so until then I still have to pay for the drug.

Back to my share for this week, A Penny Black stamp inked with Distress Markers and the colour built up using my stamp platform. The background has random stamping and stencilling and a PB sentiment.

Both are samples from the recent Hochanda TV shows, details of what I did to create the above canvas and card below here.

Hope everyone has a good weekend.

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New stamps, old stamps

Morning everyone, before I share my cards for our mid month inspiration posts at We Love Chocolate Baroque and Stamping Sensations, I would like to thank you all for your kind comments and mailed messages following the loss of our Gorgeous George, you're very kind.

Details of stamps and images used can be found on the respective blogs, but very briefly my top card uses one of the new Chocolate Baroque stamps stamps released on Hochanda last week called Canary Bird Rose whilst the above one uses some really old but still current stamps from Stamp Addicts called Hunting Gent. Like it or not, the image is one that is part of life when you are raised on a farm and every time I use it I think the Gent could be my Dad......with the exception of the Spaniel as he always had Labs.

And this is one of Dora's images, yep another attempt at colouring for me.

Have a good Sunday.

 

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Goodby Gorgeous George

Morning Peeps, I am starting my post with some photos of George, fondly known as Gorgeous George who died very suddenly on Thursday. He is our athlete son Alex's boy, they have been joined at the hip for almost twelve years and he was his training buddy. One of his favourite spots (apart from the kitchen) was laying in my craft room guarding the stamp cupboard, he was one of the best natured and well behaved dogs I've ever know and leaves a huge hole in our lives. He had been fine until the evening before but when a Lab doesn't eat you know there's a problem. Scans discovered a large tumour blocking his colon and that awful decision had to be made.

Now onto Allsorts and this week Wendy would like to see Cupcakes and Birthday Cakes. Our sponsor Clair from Pinksy Doodles created some fun images and pretty papers for the Design Team to use this week and they are available to buy in her store.

Two cards and a bit of a surprise for me as much as all of those who know me I imagine, Clare has invited me to join her DT! She knows I'm a bit of a messy crafter and not a colourist but seems happy for me to follow my inky fingers using her images so we will see how it goes.

And on my second card lots of glitter and shine for the frosting on my cupcake and the fabulously hot pink backing paper to go with the cupcakes.

Have a good weekend everyone.

 

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