Inspired by Sunsets

 Our lovely friend Lynne has taken some stunning photos of sunsets recently. Several of them feature a very beautiful old Beech tree, which Deby at Inkylicious made into a stamp a few years ago. This prompted talk of ink colours and bending brushes, followed by Lynne challenging us to recreate the scene. We had a choice of photos, but this was the one that I chose, and here is my card:

Nowhere near as beautiful as the real thing, but I'm happy. The base card was stamped with Crafty Individuals stamps in dried marigold and versafine black. The sky behind the tree was done with Distress inks and ink dusters, using mustard seed, fossilized amber, spiced marmalade, ripe persimmon, rusty hinge and fired brick. I stamped the tree in Archival black and extended the ground and fence to fill the width of the card with a black pen.

Please do take a look at everyone's beautiful art work, inspired by Lynne's gorgeous photos.

I am sure Lynne, Sandma, Viv and Joan would love to have you visit them. These lovely friends are so wonderfully supportive and their creations on their blogs and on facebook are a real feast to the eyes. 

Whilst I am here, I've got a quick reminder for you that Jean Hardy is on Hochanda tomorrow with some stunningly beautiful new stamps designed by Sandma. The programmes are at on10am and 2pm, straight after the lovely Lesley Wharton of Chocolate Baroque (9am and 1pm) I will leave you with a sneaky peek at one of the cards I made for the show 😁

Thanks for looking!

An angel called Julie

 

This is my dear friend Julie. She passed away this afternoon at the age of 46 after losing her battle with cancer. She leaves a husband and a 13 year old daughter. We have been friends since we went to antenatal class together and our daughters are best friends too. You couldn't wish for a kinder more selfless friend. She will be missed by so many. Rest in peace my friend.

A Wonderful Day!

I must be on a roll - this is my second post today! Yesterday Lynne and I went to the big Demo Day at Sir Stampalot. We went to meet Brenda and pick up my lovely promarkers (and shop of course!). We got there just after eleven and then spent the next three hours going between the demo room and the shop. Such wonderful inspiration, such talent and great ideas! We had such a brilliant day! Brenda is such a lovely lady and we chatted as she demonstrated some lovely little metal boxes and her beautiful roses. There were seven very talented ladies demonstrating a variety of techniques and they were all so friendly and obliging. If you are able to go to one of the demo Days I would urge you to go. I came home buzzing with ideas and with a lovely warm glow! I also came home with a very empty purse, but we'll not dwell on that!
So here is my first card featuring a rose (using stamps from The Stamp Man). It isn't as perfect as the ones Brenda made, but I am sure I will improve! I've made 6 now, Brenda, and I'm really getting into the swing of it! Thank you my dear friends Lynne and Brenda, for making my day week!

Thank you!

Whilst I have been away 3 of my lovely blog friends have given me these lovely awards. The first is from Lynne and Lisa, my very good blog friends. They inspire me with their art and encourage me with their comments. The second is from the lovely Lyn (Spyder), who leaves me lovely comments and makes some super cards too.
I want to give both to:
Brenda, who makes so many lovely cards in so many different styles
Lyn (Spyder), who regularly puts a smile on my face with her fun cards and lovely comments
Lesley (craftimamma), a fellow graphicus addict who regularly inspires me
Lisa, the multi-talented cake/ tag/ card maker
Lynne, my wonderful friend and partner in crime (the shopping variety)
and of course Megan, who takes a cracking photo and is my lovely daughter

Cake!

We had an invite to a barbecue at Julie's house this evening, so I decided to provide sweet and got creative in a different way. I made a victoria sponge in two tins. I didn't think it would rise quite this much! Meg and I filled it with strawberries and cream and topped it in the same way. It was a very, very big cake. The evening was lovely - thanks, Julie!

Today got better!

Today might not have started off too well, but it has got better. Just after lunch I got a phone call to say Julie was home! She had her operation on the 26th January and she has already come home. To quote another friend, 'What a fighter!' Mohamed Ali has got nothing on her! Meg and I popped up to see her for a little while, and she looks great! The trip back from Manchester was without problem until they got to our street. Julie wasn't going to be defeated though - she walked the last little bit with a hand from her hubby Paul. She is still going to be recouperating for a couple of months yet, with no lifting -not even the kettle, but she is surrounded by those who love her which I am sure will help alot.

Friends and Family

Here is a quick card I put together for a friend. The text stamp is from Crafty Individuals and the seed heads are a cuttlebug embossing folder.
I've been working on my Dad's 80th birthday card, and I've completed two square panels. I've started a third, but it is still a work in progress. Dad spends many an hour walking out in the countryside around his home. I wanted his card to reflect many of the things he would see on his walks, so started off with birds and grasses (inspired by Deby at Just Add Love)

This had a Spring/ early summer feel about it, so I decided to give the next panel an autumnal feel. With yellows and browns, mushrooms and trees losing their leaves. All of the stamps on these panels are from Graphicus.

So, my quandary is this. What do I do with them now? Whatever I do I need to be able to post it, so it needs to be flat. Do I do 4 panels, one for each season? Do I make it into a book or a concertina card or something else? Any suggestions welcome! Notice I didn't do a big 80 for him? I think he would disown me if I did, lol!

The Road to Recovery

Just a quick post tonight. Julie made it through 13 1/2 hours of Surgery and came round from the anesthetic yesterday evening. Her husband says she wants to thank everyone for their kind thoughts so I'm passing this on to everyone who read my last post. Thanks to Lynne and D.K. too!
I'm now off to make a Bon Voyage Card for the sister of a workmate who is off to New Zealand...

For Julie

Do you remember that Angel, Julie who cooked my Christmas turkey for me when the oven broke? Well, today she has gone into the Christie hospital in Manchester for MAJOR surgery. She first became ill a year ago and was told she had ovarian cancer. She went through chemotherapy only to be told that she had pseudomyxoma peritonei. You can find out more about it here. Tomorrow she will have a 12-14 hour operation. They will be removing everything she can live without and filling her abdomen with warm Chemotherapy in the hope of finishing off this awful cancer. We met at antenatal classes, and have been close friends ever since. We have watched our daughters grow up together as close friends too. So, whatever you are doing tomorrow, spare a thought or say a prayer for this incredible, kind, generous, brave, amazing, courageous woman, in the hope that she will make a full recovery.

Happy New Year!

I thought I'd look back through my photos and select the best of what I've created this year. I feel I've come a long way creatively, particularly with stamping. I have taken inspiration from Michelle Zindorf, Glenda Waterworth, Jean Hardy, Deby at Just add Love and of course my good friend Lynne. I'm not sure about New Year resolutions - I'd like to get fitter, lose a bit of weight, create more, spend less... I'd also like to wish a Happy New Year to everyone who reads my blog. I'm always thrilled when people leave comments or rate my entries. It is so good to get feedback. Blog-wise I've had help and inspiration from Guzziesue and Biker Ted - many thanks!

There's an Angel by the name of Julie that lives up my road

There I was on Christmas Day cooking a fairly simple dinner ( just the 3 of us to cater for ) when a fuse blew and the cooker and Microwave went off. We went to the fuse box and switched everything back on one at a time and all seemed well... until I realised the oven was no longer steaming up my glasses and I couldn't hear the Duck portions sizzling any more. I have a cooker with a small top oven as well as a main oven, so I quickly got that going and transferred the duck. The problem that was causing me to panic was the fact that I was cooking Christmas dinner for seven on Boxing Day, and was staring at a huge Turkey that would fit into my top oven about as easily as Dawn French would fit into a size 8. I could cook everything else - roast potatoes, roast parsnips, carrots, brussels, broccoli, gravy, bread sauce, and stuffing, but not that one vital ingredient. I even looked at saws in the garage, wondering whether to chop it up and just roast a bit of it, or stew it in a big pan!

Anyway, after lunch I got a text from my friend Julie thanking me for their presents. I rang her back to see if she would be around on Boxing Day, and she immediately said she would cook my Turkey for me! I took it up there at 9am and Steve fetched it, swathed in towels to keep it warm at one o'clock. I think that must be the sign of a true friend - someone who would cook your turkey for you, and to perfection too! So, on Boxing Day our whole house toasted Julie, for saving our Turkey (or should that be Bacon)!
Thanks is such a small word, but means such a lot!