September Stripes

As usual, I'm running behind in blogging my card challenges, but 

September was our strippety stripy challenge month. Now, anyone who knows me well, knows that stripy hats, socks, gloves, scarves, bags, wellies & umbrellas are ME. In the colder weather, my extremities are stripy. Every. Single. Day. If I go out & it's raining, my stripy brolly accompanies me.  It's a simple fact of life:

I love bright stripes.

When it comes to cards, however, I don't seem able to inject as much vividness/brightness/in-yer-faceness as I do with my hands, feet, neck & head. Maybe I'm all strippety striped out :o)

Anyhoooo - cards. The first three are from Liz's parcel, the last three from Terri's.

I love this cheery little stamp & seeing the bright stripy paper included in the parcel, just had to put them together. Easy to do - coloured the image with promarkers, stamped the greeting, mounted the image on the card, & stripy background paper, stuck it onto a card & that was it.

Another quick & easy card - first I stuck the dark stripy paper to a card, stamped the greeting on white cardstock, coloured it with promarkers,die cut it with a rectangle die, mounted it on gold mirror card  & then - technical term coming up:  *bunged it on at a bit of a wonk* :o) I then added the 2 sets of 3 card candi to give it a bit of a lift. Job done :o)

This is the last of Liz's & the one I'm least keen on - it's too twee for my liking. I LOVE the stamped image, though.

Again, it was just a matter of using card & paper included in the parcel & then stamping a greeting & adding card candi.

Now onto Terri's.

This was such a simple card - I just coloured the image using the pink & yellow of the background paper for the balloons, coloured the bear a bear colour - as you do :o) -  which I also used to edge the image, stamped the greeting & that was it. I DO like a plain & simple card :o)

Because of the busy-ness of the flowers in the wheelbarrow, I wanted something simple for the background. Green & gold always go well together, IMO, so I just cut the gold card to size & stuck it onto a plain white card. I put the cream ribbon down one side, added the mounted image, which I'd coloured with promarkers & die cut & mounted onto a die cut green & cream stripy bit of paper. A small stamped greeting & no. 2 was done :o)

I LOVE this stamp, but I HATE this card !! :o)  No need to explain what I did, looking at it is explanation enough :o) I really don't like it, I don't know why it turned out like this - it certainly didn't look like this in my head !! :o)

Ah well, maybe I'll redeem myself in October's challenge - we're all going dotty for spotty !!

Apparently . . .  :o)

Foggy, Foggy Daaaaay . . .

Sung to the tune of  *Starry, starry night* if you like :o)

We have been held captive indoors for the past couple of months because of Shaun's operation & other health problems, but yesterday, I put my foot down with a firm hand and TOLD him in NO UNCERTAIN terms, that come hell or high water, rain, hail, fog or snow, we WERE going to walk into town, do a bit of shopping & then wend our weary way home again !!

I say *we* walk, of course I mean ME walk & he mobility scoot :o)

Maybe I should have kept quiet, because, as it turned out, it was a very foggy Autumnal morning. 

The garden looked quite eerie. I think Morty's preparing himself for Halloween :o)

The spiders had been busy in the early hours - the trees & bushes were just dripping in silver cobwebs.

There were so many webs in these bushes, but what amazed me were the snails climbing across the leaves. I'm always surprised at how leaves & branches can take the weight of creatures, be they birds, snails, slugs etc. :o)

As we left home, the fog seemed thicker in places. Didn't stop idiot drivers whizzing along with no lights on, though.

Normally, you can see quite a long way down the road here, but not yesterday :o)

By the time we'd reached the middle of town, there seemed to be hardly any fog around. However, along the front, it was a different story.

The harbour had its middle bridge up, so something was coming or going or had been & gone :o) Every now & then we could hear a bell on a mast or somewhere, ding-donging as a boat moved in the water. Through the fog, it sounded quite spooky :o)

Walking home along the prom, the sun was trying to get out & it was pretty hot on my back. Hardly anyone on the beach, but it wouldn't have surprised me if that changed during the afternoon.

I liked this view of the sea with the grass & wild flowers. Over to the left, is a small boat with a couple of people in. Not sure if they were fishing or just have a  bit of a sail :o)

Even though it was foggy, I thought the sea looked very inviting. As you can see, the sun was shining weakly on the water, but it still managed a twinkle or two :o)

Unfortunately, closer to home, the fog was thicker than ever !! There were two or three fishermen down on the path, but goodness knows how they could see their rods moving, let alone see what they'd caught. 

I LOVE living at the seaside, but to be honest, drowning worms is not my idea of fun !! :o)

From here, it's about a 15 minute walk to get home & by then, the sun really had come out. It was sweltering & for a couple of hours, it was just like Summer.

Today, the morning is bright & sunny, but there's that lovely nip in the air that signals Summer is virtually over & Autumn is just waiting to take over.

My favourite time of year :o)

Swapping the Swaps

August was our *Swapping the Swaps* month. All the bits & bobs I'd given to Liz & Terri & they'd given to me & each other over the previous months, the bits that we'd not got round to using or didn't know what to do with, were bunged into envelopes & sent on their way, in the hopes that inspiration & imagination would spring forth when we tore open the parcels :o)

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm . . . . .

I'll let others be the judge of that :o)

First up, Terri's parcel. This month I made 3 cards.

I bought this old car stamp in a sale at Hobbycraft & hadn't used it, but when I saw the browns & creams of the paper & card in the parcel, I thought if I used brown ink, it would give the card a sort of sepia look. I used the same brown ink pad to stamp the greeting.The photo is a bit blurry & it doesn't do it justice AT ALL, but I really like this card. It turned out just how I wanted it to.

I really wasn't sure what I was going to do with this image, but after a while, decided to use a flourish type stamp on the plain green background paper to make it a bit more interesting. I stuck to different shades of green, mounted the fairy image on a slightly different green patterned paper & stamped the sentiment on white card, which I then edged with a green ProMarker.

A Christmas card ??? Already ??!! Yes, I know it's only 1 September, but Christmas isn't far away. In fact, I'd even go so far as to say that it's down the road, round the corner, first left, third right, over the crossroads, right at the traffic lights & there it is, on the left hand side :o)

This little image is such a simple design, it doesn't need much to go with it. I just coloured it with Promarkers, plonked it on some silver mirror board & then stuck it on the check paper, which I'd already stuck on to a plain white card. I punched out 3 snowflakes from the same mirror board, stuck the greeting on to white card & then more of the silver & that was it.

I also made 3 cards from Liz's parcel :o)

I really must take more care photographing cards. They aren't really on a wonk :o)

This image was already coloured in, so all I did was use the green & cream paper Liz had included. I embossed the cream card, die cut the green, stuck the image on the green & stamped a greeting on what was left. I cut the greeting out, edged it with black ink & that was it. Plain & simple.

This little snowman is one of my favourite stamps. I have NOOOOOOO idea why she'd send it back to me !!! :o) Again, plain & simple - I embossed the red card, die cut a circle from the patterned creamy colour paper & edged the image with red ink. I then used a silver glitter strip across the middle & embellished that with 3 silver leaves I had in my stash. I stuck the image on top & added the silver greeting.

When I saw this image in the parcel, it just shouted *Cold, wintery Christmas !!* at me. So, all I did was colour it with grey Promarkers & mount it on a bit of silver mirror board. I used the green card as a background, edged it with silver glitter strips, stamped the greeting & added three white card candi.  

As my Mother in law would say - it's a NEAT card :o) 

So, that's August's challenge all done & now it's on to September - stripes !! My favourite :o)

A Summer of Sport

Our card challenge for July was sport, which was quite appropriate, given that we've had the footy world cup, the Commonwealth Games, Glorious Goodwood & Wimbledon this summer. 

I made 4 cards from Terri's parcel & three from Liz's. I probably could have made more, but things at home have been somewhat busy, what with Shaun's operation & recuperation, so finding time wasn't particularly easy :o)

Anyhoooo - here are the cards from Terri's parcel.

This is probably my favourite of the four. It strikes me as a typical English summer's afternoon - cricket on the village green. Rather like that Bank Holiday weekend 100 years ago, when life carried on as normal while the clouds of war were gathering pace.

Terri had included some nice images in her parcel, so I just cut them to size & embossed background card/paper to plonk them on. (Plonk - a technical term meaning to place !!)

I can never think of really fab layouts, so plain & simple is the way I tend to go. I decided to use card candi of the three main colours in this fisherman image, just to bring it all together.

This is my least favourite. I don't particularly like the colours together, but I do like a game of golf :o) Shaun & I used to play, way back in the mists of time. We still have our clubs & bags etc., even though we'll never play again. I'm hoping Grandsons 1a & 1b might decide to take it up & if they do, we'll have all they need :o)

Now onto Liz's parcel. She included three sporty images all by the same artist/cartoonist, so they're all very much of a muchness, just different sports & different colours :o)

I rather like this little fella :o) All I did here was cut two pieces of card into small squares & place them diagonally opposite to each other. I matt & layered the image, plonked it on top & that was that.

This image was a bit bigger than the other two, so all I could really do was matt & layer it & stick it on a card front. 

Lastly, another golfer & in pretty much the same colours :o)  I cuttlebugged the cardstock with a diamond type embossing folder that I thought was not only golfing attire shaped (think Argyll jumpers !!) but also matched his rather fetching socks !! :o)

As usual, I added greetings & card candi to them, but really, they were plain, simple & quick. Maybe I'll be a bit less boring in this months challenge, but don't hold your breath !! :o)

100 Years Ago

11pm tonight will mark the 100 year anniversary of Britain's declaration of war against Germany. It was supposed to be over by Christmas, it was supposed to be the war to end all wars. 

How wrong they were.

Looking around the world today, can we honestly say that we've learned anything in the last 100 years ? 

I'm not a political person, I don't pretend to understand what's going on & why one country wants to dominate another, but I'm pretty sure I'm not the only person who believes that if our war dead could come back & look at what is happening today, they would shake their heads in dismay & wonder why on earth they sacrificed themselves for future generations.

Like so many families, mine lost a few young men between 1914-1918.

 Unfortunately, with it not being the war to end all wars, we also lost quite a few more during WW2 & in recent years, a distant cousin was killed in Afghanistan, aged 21.

As much as I believe that the Great War shouldn't be forgotten, that the future generations should be taught about it in school & at home, I also believe we need to ask why we, the human race, are so hell bent on destroying each other.

All change on the patch

Today, I am having a *me day* for the first time in years. Just me, on my own, with no one to look after.

So far, I've made a special anniversary card for a special couple, made a start on July's challenge cards, cut the grass, had a go at crocheting a snowflake - DISASTER - done some housework, sorted out photos,  eaten chocolate, I'm updating this blog, spoken to my Mum & Mother in law & also to 'imself who isn't actually here at the moment.

*So what have you done with him ?* I hear you cry :o)

WELL !!

I haven't actually done anything to him, but he's in hospital. He'll probably be home tomorrow, but minus a fairly large part of himself.

Unfortunately, he's been pretty poorly for quite a number of years & even though those in the know acknowledge that there is something neurologically wrong with him, they don't actually know what it is. This has lead to mobility problems because he's pretty much paralysed from the waist down & long story short, on Thursday afternoon, he had his right leg amputated below the knee.

We've known since Christmas that it might happen & so, with that in mind, decided to see if we could come up with something to make the garden more wheelchair friendly, especially for the first couple of months when he won't be able to go in the husband hut.

Various ideas were thought of, but in the end, we decided to get rid of all the grass closest to the house & have the whole area laid to patio.

We got three quotes & went for the middle one who I am going to advertise here cos we LOVE what they did:

D.B Garden Services

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to anyone. Dan is the main man & Richard is his labourer. Dan was here the first day to help do all the digging out, but it was Richard who did the rest of the work & I was HIS labourer. I had a ball :o)  It was hard work & it was very hot, but I really enjoyed myself :o)

Anyhoo - here are the before, during & after pics. Click 'em to big 'em :o)

The slabs around the grass were all higgledy piggledy & Shaun had an awful job using his wheelchair or walker on them. You can see two large dark green conifers either side of the rockery. They had to come out, so he set himself up in his wheelchair & attacked them over a week or so & managed - with some help from me - to get them down, branch by branch :o) The stump on the left was dug out as part of the patio job but we wanted the larger one on the right kept so that we could put a large stone frog on it.  Why ? Just because we could !! :o)

This very wishy washy photo shows the conifers removed & the large right hand stump waiting to be cut to ground level.

 Digging the grass up & part of the rockery out, to make a slope going up to the middle of the garden so that Shaun can get up there. He can't get to the far end, but by getting to the middle, at least he can see the whole garden.

This pic shows the rough shape of the slope looking down towards the house.

 Two thirds of the rockery gone, all the grass gone & the slope dug out. The old slabs were dug up & eventually relaid, along with new ones used for the slope & main patio area.

The partly laid patio.
It was a GLORIOUS week, but really, it was far too hot for such heavy duty garden work.
Richard turned a lovely brown, but ME ? Being fair skinned, I just burned & all my freckles came out to play as usual !! :o)

We wanted to break up the light grey slabs a bit, so Shaun suggested a simple pattern of half slabs around one of the new light grey ones.

Because the slope bears round to the right, Richard had to cut some slabs to shape. He did a BRILLIANT job, they look really good.

All finished :o) Looking down the slope towards the house.
He even managed to put a hole through the patio for my washing line :o)

Looking up the garden from the bottom end.

The rockery is now a lot smaller & much easier to keep control of - I hope !! :o)
To the left of the slope is the bird bath that used to live in the rockery.
On the right is the sundial that also lived in the rockery but was hidden by all the weeds & the heather that had gone wild & straggly over the years.
The little ghost statue is Morty, who I have had for at least 10 years & he used to live at the far end of the garden.

The back end of the rockery. We bought a few plants to brighten it up a bit for this Summer, but come Autumn, I'll get some early Spring bulbs to plant in there to give us a splash of colour after the Winter.
Hows that ? All four seasons in one sentence !! :o)

 The rockery after I'd planted it up. You can see our collection of frogs, including the large one on the conifer stump. We've had them for more years than I care to remember :o) The stone statues of the old man & old lady sitting on benches used to belong to my MiL but she gave them to us when she moved 13 years ago. I named them Fred & Mabel after my paternal Nan & Grandad :o)

And finally - with the garden table & chairs all set out. Like the first pic, it was raining when I took this :o)
The washing line has been taken down to make way for the table etc., but it's no hardship just moving the chairs & turning the table sideways on so that I can pop the line in its hole.

When Shaun comes home, the idea is for him to relax & recuperate in the garden, maybe wheel himself up to the middle if he feels like like & just get better in the sunshine & fresh air. IF it stops raining, that is :o)

He can use his laptop out there to watch a DVD, do some lace making, some tapestry, read or just fall asleep in his wheelchair if he wants to. And when he feels ready, he can go back to the husband hut and get going on a project or two.

 Grandson 1a has already suggested he make himself a wooden leg so that he can be a pirate :o)

No topping that, is there ?! :o)

Animals in June

We have had a LOT going on this past month, what with various hospital appointments & workmen all over the house & garden - more about that in my next blog - & although I managed to get my June challenge cards all done during the first week of June, this is the first chance I've had to blog them. And it's July. Already. 

This month's topic was animals, chosen by Liz. Included in my parcel from Liz was a frog image. Now, I don't know if frogs are technically counted as animals, but as it was there, I used it :o)

I really liked the ivy patterned card & thought the frog image would go nicely with it. All I added was the stamped greeting & card candi, everything else came from the parcel.

I've had this little frog stamp for ages but hadn't used it. Because I'd already used the image of the frog Liz gave me, I decided this would be the ideal opportunity to use him. I just added the glitter strip & stamped greeting, the paper was from the parcel.

This dog image was made by Tagxedo. You choose a shape, add the words & create a topper. I've used it a few times, but this is one Liz made. All I did with this was mount it on red card & then onto the background paper & added the card candi. Plain & simple but with a nice effect, I think :o)

This is the last of Liz's. Again, plain & simple :o) The bear image wasn't central on the card so I had to cut it as best I could. It annoyed me not being centred, so I added the yellow card candi & made part of a paper strip into a ribbon type doobery, just to balance it. I die cut some yellow card, plonked the image on it & then stuck it to the background paper which I'd already stuck to a card. I didn't add a sentiment or greeting, simply because the background paper said it all :o)


Now for Terri's parcel :o)

I liked the background paper so decided to use a stamped image I had in my stamped image box :o)  I wanted it to be fairly plain, so just used the pink & yellow from the background. I die cut some pink card included in the parcel, for the stamped image & greeting to be mounted on & just coloured the image with pro markers.

Just recently, for some unknown reason,  I have started to use 2 circles on cards, one for the image & one for the greeting. When I saw this foxy fella, I just thought he would look good in that way. I quiite like the end result.

I've always loved this little image - another from my box - & decided to keep it plain & simple , using the colours of the papers Terri had included.

It seems I've got a thing for stamped images this month :o) I really liked this cheeky cat & when I saw it in my box, just knew it would go with the papers Terri gave me. I coloured it with pro markers, added a stamped sentiment & coloured plain white card candi a terracotta colour to match the plant pot.

Lastly - this lovely elephant & the two blue background papers were included in the parcel. All I did was die cut all three with the same die & attach them to a pearly blue card. Three blue gems & a silver greeting - also in the parcel - were added to finish it off.

All in all, I think I did quite well with our animal month :o)