Taking Home the Tree!

Hello Everyone, hoping you are fit and well and enjoying your day, but just in case you'er not so good, sending out kind thoughts that you will feel better soon.

Thank you all for the visits and the lovely comments on my previous card, so much appreciated.

Teallach was at the vet today to have his booster injection, oh and he was not happy. Poor little puss was quite stressed about it all and of course he hates going into his carrier and tries to run and hide, but we eventually got him in.
At his check up last year the vet thought she heard a bit of a heart murmur, and today a different vet heard the same thing. However, it's around a level 3, which is worth watching, but no real trouble at the moment.  I've not seen him breathless and he still plays and runs around like a mad thing, so I guess it's not holding him back any.

He fine now, we both had a quiet day, I was as stressed as him I think, and Alistair was out this afternoon so all was peace and calm.

Here is my card;

I've been trying to use the lovely stamps from Creative Stamping magazine, I think they are really super and stamp very well. I really loved this little car carrying the Christmas tree home. The tree has been stamped twice and decoupaged. I've coloured with watercolours and added splashes of colour and some Frantage Snow and a few sequins. It's my take on a sample card in the magazine and not my design.  I like the CAS style.

Well that's me for tonight, I'm rather tired as I've had very poor sleep over the last few nights, but If I go to bed early, I wake up about 2 o'clock and then can't get back to sleep, I just think thank goodness not to be having to go to work.  So, I hope you like my card and hope to see you soon,

Christmas Geese!

Hello To Everyone, I hope you all enjoyed your weekend and are looking forward to the week ahead. 

Awfully cold here, what's it like where you are?? This cold snap seems to be all over the country. Keep yourselves cosy.

Thank you for the lovely comment on my last cards, you are so kind with your words, and it always gives me encouragement. 

My card today is for Scrappymo's Rudolph Challenge,

Love this stamp from Hobby Art, there are actually three stamps with these fabulous geese, I've coloured with Zig Clean Colour pens and Oxide inks on the sky, and of course lots of sparkle. I've layered on to glitter card and paper from Dovecraft and the base card is also Dovecraft in a similar soft green colour, finishing off with little green buttons and some silver wire thread.

Now I know some of you lovely people are FB friends, so I just want to let you know that I've deleted my FB account, it was on the cards for a while, but now I've finally gotten around to actually doing it. I was spending too much time on it, and I was fed up with some of the rubbish that came through. If there was one thing....and there was many, it was these awful emotional posts where if you cared for me or my cause you'd post it on your page. My thoughts are that if I've included you as a friend, that's exactly what you are and there should be no need to keep responding. I guess it's like the old fashioned chain letters that used to fall on the doormat.  Anyway, I joined FB for a reason that didn't pan out and as I don't need it for Crafting, have no family I need to keep touch with, I decided to call it quits, and do you know...I feel liberated!!!

As I'm typing this I'm watching Imitation of Life with Lana Turner and I've got my tissues at the ready, it's a film I love  and seen many times, I've even warned Alistair that he'll have to miss the 1 o'clock news as the film won't be finished.  These sorts of films are just not made any more.

That's me for now, have  a great day and see you soon,

Winter Wonderland for CCC!

Hello Everyone, I hope your Sunday and indeed your weekend is going well.

It's time of the CCC ladies to show off their cards.... where has the last two weeks gone??
Anyhow this Challenge chosen by our lovely Christine is most appropriate for me, as we have a bit of a Winter Wonderland here in Inverness. Yesterday we had snow. I was up around o'clock to let Teallach in and noticed that the sky looked really laden, and I thought ...snow, and by the time I had the kettle boiled for a coffee it had started, it looked just lovely, however, by later in the morning it had gone, except the mountains and the higher ground. 
Anyway, on to my cards;

Well no prizes for guessing that I've used Card-io stamps again....love them, and the second one with the horses is a new one I bought the other week. Just added loads of glitter and some frantage snow.

I hope you like them Christine, it is a lovely challenge to do and had great fun with the stamps.

I've made a bunch of cards, Card-io included for Moreen to use this year and took them across yesterday and I am happy to say she loved them. Milo and Rowan were a bit miffed that they weren't for them, I had forgotten to take their treats with me, naughty Gran.

That's me for now, a pan of Scotch Broth to make, it's the right weather for it, so I'll see you soon, and don't forget to have a visit to the other girls on the CCC team and see what they have made.... thanks too for all your lovely comments on my previous card, take care,

Winter Breeze!

Hello Everyone from a very cold Inverness.....4 degrees this morning Brrrrr!! Alistair informs me that Ben Wyvis is plastered in snow, lovely to look at but not yet good to walk up.The woolie socks are now on.

Thank you so much for your lovely comments on my last card, I do appreciate all your kind words.

Heading in to another weekend, boy do they come around so quickly!, no plans as yet, it might be another quiet one.

Back with more Snowmen this time from Card-io and aren't they just so much fun. Pity however about the lantern where I hadn't let the ink dry enough before I added the the yellow ink for the light, next time I will do the yellow first. 
I also bought the chunky white embossing powder to make the snow, not showing up in this photo but it is there as is lots of glitter.

I've been busy making quite a few of Card-io cards to give to Moreen as I thought she might like to give some handmade cards this year. I love the Card-io images and I was once again inspired by Wendy when she was on Hochanda last week, she makes the most wonderful cards and oes it so quickly too.

Well, that's me for now, I'll be back at the weekend with the latest CCC card, seems no time since I posted the last one, take care and cheerio for now,

Christmas Cheer from the Snow Family!

Hello Everyone, hoping today finds you tip top and having a good day. 
A windy day up here, but not too bad, some sunshine and a good drying day....except I've given the washing machine a day off.

Thank you for all the lovely comments on my last card, you are all so kind.

Not much by way of news or stories today.....you'll be glad lol, so I'll get down to showing my card;

We all I think love LOTV images, and I particularly love the sweet Snow Family which I've coloured with water colours and added loads of glitter. The sentiment I think is one of the freebies from Creative Stamping magazine, a bit of matting and layering and some gems and one finished card.

I'm enjoying a quiet afternoon as Alistair is away over to Dougie's house for a bit of music, so I'm catching up with bits and pieces, well I will be after a cuppa.

That's me for today, I hope you like my card, who can resist a snowman or two, take care of yourselves and see you soon,

Autumn Thinking of You!

Hello Everyone, how are you all today?, I hope you are well and enjoying your Sunday.
We have a mixture of weather today and the temperature has gone up, you sort of don't know where you are form one day to the other just now.

We had no plans for this weekend, a quiet one, but you need those too. I've been spending time in the craftroom getting a few cards made, November, sees Birthdays and Our Anniversary, so that has kept me busy.

Thank you to everyone who visited and left such lovely comments on my last post, always so much appreciated.

I've a card I made a wee while ago,

I had made this card for the BBB challenge blog ahead of time, but as I am no longer part of the team I thought I would share it today.  The sketch I believe comes from MFT and most of the leave images are from Rooted in Nature from SU. The top panel is made with the leaves stamped and embossed in white powder. The papers are from a paper pad by Sara Davis, cards in Autumnal shades from SU, some raffia twine and some pearls and sequins.  I have to say, I love these colours, well I am an Autumn person.

Well that's me for now, a relaxing day is called for, we were food shopping earlier on and it's an activity I hate and putting it all away I hate all the more. Enjoy your day and see you soon,

  

Hanging Flower!

Hello there Friends and Visitors, I hope you are well and having a good day.
We are having a few good days weather wise, cold but sunny and at least I'm still getting the washing out and if not quite dry, very nearly.....oh the things that make me happy!!

Thank you all for your continued visits and leaving such lovely comments, I do appreciated each and every one of them.

I have the TV on just now whilst writing this post and enjoying an old film, some of you might know it, Tunes of Glory, with Alec Guinness and John Mills, and the reason I'm watching it is for the awful Scottish accent that Alec Guinness has, It has me rolling around laughing, a bit like Meg Gibson's accent in Braveheart, it just didn't work, especially as he tried to sound like a Highlander when in fact William Wallace was more Lowlander. I love Alex Guinness as an actor, and the film today is a good one, it has even proper Scottish actors in it, like Duncan Macrea  and Gordon Jackson, but Alex shouldn't have tried to have Morningside accent....that's a posh area in Edinburgh for those who don't know. Anyhow it's good entertainment, but on to my card,

I've used this beautiful image from Chocolate Baroque...Hanging Flowers and stamped and embossed in Silver on to Vellum and then coloured with Zig pens. I matted on to light grey card and added a punch border and ribbon to match the colours. Sentiment is also  from CB,a dazzler and a few sequins finishes the card.

We are off to Strathdon tomorrow to visit our friends Peter and Jean. Those of you who have been with me for a while might remember that Peter had cancer on the tongue the other year, and thankfully came through it all with masses of radiation treatment every day for a week in fact, and it did the trick, but he had to loose his lymphnodes which has brought all sort of other problems, but he soldiers on and thankfully is back to painting....he is a brilliant artist.   It's been a while since we were last over so I'm looking forward to catching up, plus they have four gorgeous Labradors and an adorable horse called Luna.

So, that's me for now, take care of yourselves and see you soon,

Mono Shades for the Christmas Card Club!

Hello Everyone, I hope you are well and having a lovely weekend whatever you have planned.

It's time for the CCC girls to share the latest challenge which it's my turn to host and I decided on Mono Colours... , and I'm looking forward to seeing what the talented ladies have created. Here are mine.. I made two card as I couldn't make up my mind on the shades to choose;

Now the colours here are blue, it's not showing up too well. I've used SU Night of Navy ink and the trees  in the foreground are also SU Winter Woods, the little fir trees in the background and the deer are from Creative Stamping Magazine. The sentiment is SU. Again not showing up is the  snow that is meant to give the glitter. I have to say the card looks much better in reality.

Shades of brown for this one, Crumbcake SU ink and an other tree from Winter Woods set long with a die from the same set and decoupaged on top of the stamped tree. The branches around the edges are from Creative Stamping  Magazine as is the lovely sentiment. Stardust on the tree and around the base of the tree and sequins in  coffee and cream. LOTV paper and shades of brown card from SU, finishing off with baker's twine.

I was looking to see how many card we still have to make for our little challenge and there's only four more....EEEEkkkk!! it will soon be Christmas, where has the year gone??

Do check out the lovely creations from my lovely team mates.

Thank you all for your lovely comment son my last card, always appreciated, I'll say cheerio for now, and see you soon, oh and I'll leave you with a photo of my lovely boy Teallach I managed to shoot the other day

Love him to bits!!

Autumn Treasures!

Hello Everyone, hoping you are all well and enjoying this fine Indian Summer day. It's glorious here, warm too. Alistair was away up in the mountains this morning as the weather indicated it was going to be good.  4 O'clock he got up, I don't know where his energy comes from, still he was back by lunch time having climbed what he wanted. What did I do....housework of course. There is something about the sunshine that makes me want to clean. 

Thank you all for the lovely comments on my last card, I do appreciate each of them.

Card for today;

A little easel card, something I don't make often too much measuring for me, and even with a ruler I never get things right. Anyway, I've used lovey papers from Sara Davis Autumn pad, the papers are gorgeous, and the card is from SU. The leaves are a selection of SB and Crafter's Companion dies.
The stamps are all from Creative Stamping a couple of issues ago, issue 60 a truly lovely stamp set and inks up well. I added a few sequins and the odd bit of WoS for some sparkle.

Well what a fabulous choral rehearsal we had on Monday night, Pat MacMahon, who apart from being an international singing teacher is one of our Honorary Patrons, putting us through our singing paces so to speak.  We all felt as if  we had a singing work out, paying attention to our diction, shaping and loads of other things, even the way we stand in order to convey certain emotions on particular words. Our main musical work for our Winter concert is The Armed Man, amazing work, it's a piece I love doing, and it was felt that our session with this inspirational teacher worked magic, the trick will be in remembering it all come the concert, although I did make note on my score, hopefully everyone else did too. It's marvellous that she takes the time to spend doing this with us when she has now retired and we appreciate it so much, a well loved and respected lady she is.

That's me for now, I'm hoping to get a couple of hours in my craft room later, so take care everyone and see you soon,

Waterfront!

Hello Everyone, back from our travels and had a lovely few days near Peebles which is on the way to the Scottish Borders. The weather wasn't bad at all and managed a few walks. The colours of the trees were glorious, I just love all that gold and bronze shading.
My hot stone massage what wonderful, to be highly recommended and I felt so relaxed afterwards, a must for the Christmas list I think.

Anyway, I hope you are all well, but if not, sending out kind thoughts that you will feel better soon.

Obviously while away I wasn't doing any commenting, in fact, I couldn't work out how to get the wifi going, sometimes I'm techie challenged, however it did give me a lovely break from all things internet.

Thank you all so much for your lovely comments left on my last card, which was my DT contribution for the Back to Basics and Beyond Challenge Blog. It's also my last creation for it as I've stepped down. I have come to realise that I just like what I do, and felt frustrated by having to do techniques that are not my style...  I will follow what the lovely girls on the team do as it's an excellent idea to have a challenge blog that shows different techniques to new and experienced crafters, just not for me.

My card today ;

The stamp is a set from SU called Waterfront, comprises of mountains, water and a variety of  trees. I stamped the scene with various inks. It took me about four attempts to get to this, but a simple enough card really. I think it's a good masculine card. There are also palm trees in the set so you could have a tropical scene.

While we were away we visited  Traquair House, which is near Peebles and what an interesting place it is, the history dates to before the 11th century and most of the Scottish Kings have stayed there, including Mary Queen of Scots, who visited with her husband Lord Darnley and baby son who was eventually to become James 6th of Scotland and 1st of England. Now I'm sure many of you who follow me will know of this history, but there may be some from far off lands who don't. Then of course there was also the Bonnie Prince that many Highlanders lost their lives whilst  trying to restore the Stuarts to the Scottish throne.  I love this period of history, and have read quite a bit as I've gotten older, because in my day at school we were not taught about Scottish history....I wonder why!

Here is a photo of the King's Room, and the bed Mary slept in, we were thinking that people must have been much shorter as it's quire a small bed.

And here is the cradle made for the young Prince, it's beautifully carved.

We spend a good while at this house,  well worth a visit.

So, back to the old routine, and although it's lovely to have a break away it's always good to get home.

That's me for now, I hope you are enjoying your weekend, till next time keep well and cheerio,

Watercolour for Back to Basics and Beyond!

Hello Everyone, I hope you are well and enjoying your day.
It's time again for another challenge at BBB and this time is to create a card using water colour as a medium. Now there are plenty of tutorials over on You Tube to help you, so I do hope you will join in the challenge which you can find here

Here is my card;

I've use an image and sentiment for Little Claire and coloured with Gansi Tambi watercolours from Kuretake. 

Thank you all for your visits and comments on my previous card, I'll see you soon,