We Wish You a Merry Christmas!!

 

Hello Everyone, and I hope you are all keeping well and safe. Isn't this the strangest Christmas, in my lifetime anyway, I'm sure most of you will feel the same. Perhaps the war years would have caused some disruption, but I wasn't around then, and I would guess that all the British people would have had plenty of time to get organised, unlike now. However, it is what it is and it's to be hoped that we all come out safely and be able to have the vaccine soon.

Are you all organised? I've finally done with the food shopping, a quick run out earlier as I've got it in my head that I wanted Potato scones for a bacon, egg and tattie scone breakfast on Christmas morning, and I'd forgotten them yesterday. I can rest happily now as I managed to get a packet. Out of all the things that could upset the day, I never thought it would be tattie scones lol.

This will be the first time since 2004 that I will be cooking the Christmas dinner as we are usually with Damian and Moreen, and of course they do the cooking, I only make the soup, but this year with things as they are, we have decided to stay home, and they are quite happy with that, whatever is the safest thing to do they said. But we will meet up tomorrow with Milo and Rowan for a walk and I've got a bottle of bubbly with which we can have a drink for Christmas Cheer.

We are luckier that many people having my son and wife so close by and still being able to see them....still no hugs though, which is sad.

It's been a heartbreaking year for many people, so it's even more important that those of us who have been more fortunate to reflect on that, Christmas can be a very sad time for some people at the best of times and this is certainly not the best of times.

Thank you for the lovely comments on my last card, and also for the many beautiful handmade cards sent to us by my lovely Blogging friends.

So, Alistair and I wish you a Very Merry Christmas, however you celebrate it, have the best day you can, and as for the New Year....well let's hope it will be a brighter, healthier, one for everyone. Take care of yourselves and keep safe.

Golden Trees!

 Hello Everyone, I hope today sees you well and I hope you have the same lovely day as we have here, crisp but sunny.

It's just a quick post as I'm sneaking a card in for Hazel's Christmas Challenge,

The recipe calls for 1 image, 2 papers and ribbon.

I've used papers from a First Edition pad and the trees image is from Inkylicious and I've heat embossed it with Gold EP. The die shapes are by Honey Bee stitched polygons and a JND little sentiment embossed too, a few gems and that's it.

I would like to enter my card into; http://www.didosdesigns.com/2020/12/follow-recipe.html

Thank you for all the lovely comments on my previous post, see you soon, take care,

Deer Tunnel Card!

 Hello Everyone, how are you all doing, getting geared up for Christmas, however you'll spend it. All we have to do is buy some food, and I'll do that nearer the Big Day, it will be an early rise for M&S opening. I know exactly what I want and where it is, so hopefully a quick in and out.

we went for a wee walk the other day down to the University Campus where our lovely swan family live, now those of you who have followed me for a while will know that we have followed the swans for a few years and have been delighted by the yearly batch of new cygnets. This is the first time that the cygnets have remained with their parents for so long, they are full grown now, with very little grey feathers left. This is quite strange as the parents usually kick them out long before now. Anyway, wondering why this might be, I voiced to Hubby, that maybe this time around , just perhaps the parents really wanted to keep their young with them, for some reason best know to swans,  I couldn't for the life of me remember what the female swan was called, I know the male was Cob, so asking Hubby what the female was called he responded very quickly with Eileen. I live with a very humorous man, and I thought this was the funniest thing. I had to end up googling it to find that she is called Pen.

Anyhoo, we now refer to the lady swan as Eileen, Alistair hasn't yet given the Cob a name, and I think Eileen quite suits her, and besides it's given us a good laugh.

My card today is the lovely Magnes  die from Creation Crafts

Well the photography on this one is pants, too light, anyway, it is mostly  pale grey card with a back panel of a deeper grey, with WOW gold embossing powder on the filigree front panel. The moon in the background is Silver WOW EP. I've added lots of sparkle to the trees, which are also Carnation Crafts. This photo shows the layers of the dimension.

And of course Teallach in the background keeping watch out the window.

Well, that's me for today, I hope I've not bored you with my story, Keep well and keep safe and most of all keep smiling,

The Holly and the Ivy!

 Hello Everyone, I do hope that you are all keeping well and coping with the strange times. At least the vaccine is underway, so that is hopeful. I  personally don't like to think that we will soon be back to normal, as I think our Normal was how we got into this trouble in the first place, I don't mean Covid, but how it's been all handled and being a totally capitalist society, and hugely unequal where money is more important than life, there are so many people suffering in one way or another.  These are my thoughts, I'm sure they are not for everyone.

Anyway, my card today is one I've made for my Son and DIL,

 All the dies used are from JND, and the Ivy and sentiment are cut in sliver mirror card. I found some lovely white ribbon with a silver thread through it that just goes beautifully with the design and the poinsettia is made from vellum with a dazzler at it's center and a few gems.  I'm pleased to say that they liked it.

Thank you for the lovely comments on my last card, I appreciate everyone of them and that you find time to come and visit.

Well that's all for now, take care of yourselves and stay safe,

Die Cuts for the CCC!

 Hello Everyone, I hope you are all having a good weekend so far and that your weather is better than ours, it's been raining stair rods for the last couple of days and so dark too, my lights have been on all day, horrible.

Anyhoo, it's time for our last Christmas Card Challenge for the CCC, and this time Shaz has asked for us to use Die Cuts, or of course there is the option of Anything Goes.

Here is what I've come up with;

Once again it's a pants photo, but I've used this lovely Snowflake die and matted on to Glitter paper and added a dazzler to it's center. I embossed the sentiment and added a wee gem.

This is one of the inner parts of the same die with another dazzler at the centre. Simple cards.

Another Magnes and Mya card, I just adore these dies, I've embellished it with the Christmas Rose die and Festive Berries. Mattered on to LOTV snowflake paper and red card, absolutely loads of sparkle and a few gems.

Thank you so much Shaz for choosing this theme I really did enjoy it. 

Well this is the last challenge for this year, and it was good to get ahead of the game by having all my cards made well in advance of the Big Day. I've even got enough to give to Moreen my DIL.

It's a great way to ensure that you have your cards made well ahead, so if you would like to join our merry little band, so let me know and we will get you started. I'ts fun and no pressure and saves stress in the lead up to Christmas.

I'm scheduling this post for tomorrow for when the challenge goes live, so I''l love you and leave you, with a Big thank you to everyone who left such lovely comments on my last card, always appreciated.

Take care everyone and enjoy your weekend,

It's an Owl Thing!

 Hello Everyone, I hope you are keeping well and safe and looking forward to having the vaccination, well of course no one looks forward to having to have a jag, but you know what I mean. It certainly makes things seem a bit brighter for next year, so I hope your spirits are lifted somewhat. I just hope the roll out goes smoothly.

Thank you for the lovely and much appreciated comments on my last card, and here is not a Christmas card just for a change.

 Sorry about the photo, it's not showing the sparkle of Imagination Craft's Sparkle Medium. The owl stencil is by Imagination Crafts too. Altenew Hello die and a few gems, matted on to brown glitter card.

Well, just a short post for now as I want to get out for a walk, it's 1 degree, so pretty cold, but the sun is shining. Alistair is up a hill today, it will be even colder where he is.

Rightie Oh, that's me for now, remember to keep yourselves safe, would be daft to let things slip now, and I'll see you soon,

It's a Stag Thing!

 Hello Everyone, I hope you are all having a lovely weekend doing something that makes you happy.  We went for a walk to see our lovely swans this morning whilst the weather was good, sunny, but oh so cold, we were in the minuses last night.

The swans have still four cygnets with them, very unusual to have them still after all this time, and they are almost out of their grey feathers. They must be too comfortable with their Mum and Dad.

I bought the latest edition of Creative Stamping Magazine and one of the stamps I thought would be perfect for one of our males friends, here it is;

The marvellous stag stamp has the cottage image with in it, I stamped it in blue ink and mounted on to card inked up with different shades of Oxides, sprinkled some water and dried it off to add some texture. I added a little bit of glitter, I don't think Sean will mind that. Then matted on to Centura Pearl card in blue.  Sentiment has been heat embossed with white  powder from WOW, and finished with 3 little gems.

All  the stamps in the magazine are fabulous and worth a buy, there are some lovely sentiments too, and as a bonus there are 2 stencils, a tree and a stag.

Thank you all for all your lovely comments on my last card, I very much appreciate them all.

That's me for now, enjoy the remainder of your Sunday, and I'll see you soon, and remember to keep safe,

Christmas Treats!

 Hello Everyone, I hope you are all doing well and coping with whatever lockdown you are in, and that  your week is going fine.

We have had a beautiful day here, very cold  though, but I managed a lovely local walk, Alistair was away in the Cairngorms for a walk, came back whacked but loved it.

I think at last I've got all my Christmas  finished, I had a mammoth session today, and I was only making one! 

Thank you for the lovely comments on my last cards, I do appreciate your continued visits and encouragement.

More Carnation Crafts dies, this set is called Christmas Treats, they have been cut out using the vignettes and matted them on to rose gold mirror card,  added a bit of sparkle here and there. The Christmas Rose is also from Carnation Crafts.

I Can't remember the die that I've cut the circle mat from, but it's a damn difficult one to release, so I tend to think it's a Spellbinders.

Paper from a pretty old Papermania paper pad, and  rose gold mirror card. Sentiment is from Sizzix.

Just a short post tonight, so take care of yourselves and stay safe,

I would like to enter my card into https://scrapsoflifebyscrappymo.blogspot.com/2020/11/november-rudolph-days-challenge.html

Deer for the CCC!

 Hello Everyone, how are you all doing?? The weekend again, another quick week gone by in a flash. I hope whatever you're plans you are enjoying it.

Our weather is a bit wild, rain one minute, sunshine the next, so it's a day indoors, Alistair has the rugby so that's  him sorted.

Anyhoo, it's time for the Christmas Card Club Challenge's penultimate card share, and this time it's our Gwen who is the hostess and she would like to see Deer, or, if that's not possible then Anything Goes will do.

Here are my cards;

I'm not really sure what brand this die is, it could be a Sissix one and I've cut it out with chestnut coloured glitter card. I used a snowflake EF and inked it up in Northern Light sort of shades. . The papers is from SU, all on Kraft card and sequins to finish.

Another deer die this time I think it's one I bought at The Works, cut out in white and kraft card as a shadow. An EF in the background and some little gold gems.

I've been treating myself to some Carnation Craft dies, and this wonderful deer comes from the Magnes and Maya die set, but I've only used Magnes for this card. The trees, flowers and holly are all from Carnation Crafts too, except they aren't die cut, but fussy cut. This company make Vignettes of the dies which you can download, saves all the colouring, and these were quite easy to cut out. I've placed them all on a silver oval with paper from a CC download of snowflakes and the background paper is from SU. I've dotted a few clear gems her and there, and the sentiment dies are from Diesire. As you can see it's my Christmas card to Alistair.

Well Gwen, I loved this challenge so thank you so much. I'm not sure why I've used dies for this challenge as next challenge is to use dies, but hey ho, I had fun.

Alistair has the rugby on, it's Ireland and England,  and I thought what a shame that the players were all lined up for the National Anthems, and usually when there are fans in the stadium and the Irish fans would be belting out their Anthem, have to say I would be too as it's one that I love, the French National Anthem is another, the players could hardly be heard, no atmosphere. I guess I've never thought about the part that fans play at these  sport games. One forgets the toll that Covid  has on every aspect of society.

I will be scheduling this post for tomorrow for when the CCC goes live.

That's me for now, thank you for your continued kind comments  on my cards, it's much appreciated.

Take card of yourselves, keep safe and see you soon,

 

Happy Birthday!

Hello Everyone and welcome to my blog, I hope all is well with you and that the lockdown is being kind to you, wherever you are.

Thank you so much for the lovely comments on my last post, as always I do appreciate your visits, I know it takes a bit of time to get around the blogs.

A big welcome to my latest Follower Nancy, I don't think you have a blog, but if you have please let me know so that I can visit you.

I've been busy making the special Christmas cards for Family and Friends, and I think I've got it licked now, then of course it's the writing of them, that's the part I don't like. Alistair always says he'll help address the envelopes, but he can never find the addresses even although they are all in alphabetical order in the book, so it's just as quick that I do it. Talk about learned helplessness!

Anyhoo, I've not got a Christmas card tonight, but a Birthday card;

  I cased this card from my friend Mrs. Duck, and as I needed a quick card this design was perfect. I used an EF and swiped some Momento Ink in different colours over it. Matted on to blue card and job done. As the card was going to our friend Derek, who liked it. I think it's a great design for a male.

Well, that's me for tonight, take care of yourselves and keep safe

O Christmas Tree!

Hello to You All from a very dark and dismal Inverness, the lights have been on since around 2PM, and it hasn't hasn't enticed either of us over the door.  How is it where you are?

We have however managed to get bits and pieces done around the house, and Alistair has put together a new nest of tables, thankfully they were easy enough to do, and I'm pretty pleased with them, I love getting new things for the house, and we are needing to replace quite a few things, but Teallach stops me from doing that as he is such a scratcher and he's ruined curtains, a footstool, just about every carpet in the house has been scratched at it's corners, I tear my hair out with him, and I've spent a fortune on anti-scratch products. I wouldn't be without him though, you have a pet, you don't have a show house.

Anyhoo, I've got a card today using a stamp from a new company to me...Daisy Mae, and this is awfully cute;

This is quite a large stamp and I've coloured it up with a mixture of Copic Markers and SN, gel pens, and lots of different coloured Stickles for sparkle. I coloured round the edges with DI. Matted onto, midnight blue card and them silver mirror card and added clear gems . The sentiments are all from the same set.

Thank you for all the lovely comments left about my last card, I do appreciate the time you all take to visit and leave them/

Well, that's me for today, I hope you are all well and coping with whatever lockdown you are in. Our First Minister tells us that that there is beginning to be a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel, and I'm sure she is right, after all Scotland is through to the European Cup in 21 years, there's a shift of occupant in the White House, Cummings is gone, and the vaccine is coming along quite fast, there is definitely a  light although just a pinprick, so keep yourselves safe and see you soon,

   

Bella for Baby's First Christmas!

 Hello Everyone, I hope your week is shaping up to be a good  one, even although many of you will be in some kind of lockdown, hoping you are all managing to cope with it all, difficult times indeed.

Thank you all for the lovely comments on my last post, always appreciated and it gives me encouragement too.

I have a little card for the gorgeous little one who live next door to us, Alessandro, I put a photo of him in his bat suit at Halloween;

Iv'e used a Wild Rose Studio stamp called Bella with a wand . I've coloured it up with Copic markers and added silver gel pen and Stickles in Star Dust. I've matted it on to silver mirror card cut with a Carnation Crafts Shabby Rectangles die. The paper is from Wild Rose and matches the stamp. Purple card and various letters and numbers dies. 

Alistair and I had a lovely time with Damian and Moreen on Saturday, and a wonderful meal, the food was excellent and we felt stuffed, but the real treat was in being able to spend time with them. Damian and Alistair spent time telling Moreen all about our Wedding Day as she wasn't there, I'd forgotten that there were some brilliant stories attached to the day.  Apparently, one of our guests decided she anted to test how much her husband loved her, and if she jumped into the River Ness would h come and get her out, so she jumped in. I have to say that our reception venue was on the street along side the river banks, and she was rather the worse of drink, anyhoo, her husband didn't rescue her, someone else did. They divorced not long afterwards. It all sounds awful and hugely dangerous, as this was at night in November and the river can be very fast flowing, however, if you knew this couple you'd see a funny side. I should write a book some day about the day.

So that's me for today, keep yourselves safe, we'll come out the other side I'm sure,

Stencils for the CCC!

 Hello to You All, I hope you are enjoying the weekend and your weather is good, another  day of sunshine here, although icy this morning with 0 degrees.

Another two weeks have passed since the CCC showed their last makes, and it's just whizzed by, so time once again and Rachel has chosen the theme of  Stencils.  Here's what I've come up with;

Imagination Crafts stencil coloured with different shades of Izink ink, star gems and clear gems, the snowflake border is one I bought in the Works. Matted on to different shades glitter card....there is a name for this but it escapes me at the moment.

Another Imagination crafts stencil and different colours of Sparkle Medium . The merry Christmas has Izink texture paste in gold, a few coloured gems to finish and black glitter card.

This is a Tonic Studio stencil with Sparkle Medium in Diamond, on to dark blue card. I made a border with white glitter card and matted it on to silver mirror card. The little snowman is a Carnation Crafts die water coloured, with some Stickles for sparkle. The snowflake die is by Amy Designs. I have to own to being really pleased with how this card turned out.

Well Rachel, I just loved this challenge, so thank you so much, it gave me the opportunity to use stash that has never been used.

Thanks to everyone who left a comment on my previous card, you are always so kind.

That's me for now, I'm scheduling this post for tomorrow for when the CCC goes live. Remember to check out what my team mates make, their cards are alway fabulous.

Keep well and safe, see you soon,

Happy Birthday!

 Hello Everyone, I hope you've had a good day and that if you are lockdown, hopefully you are coping okay.

It's been another gorgeous day here, a bit of  a lower temperature than yesterday, but still warm and plenty of sunshine.

Thank you for your comments on my last card and for you good wishes for both our Anniversary and Alistair's birthday, it's been a lovely couple of days, and we've had such beautiful cards.

Here is the birthday card I made for Alistair;

A whimsy stamp and stamped in green ink, matted on to a purple and rose gold card, the base card is a kraft one.  He's not been canoeing for a while, he and his friends used to go a canoe trip a couple of times a year. I think they all  feeling a bit too old for it now, shame as everyone loved it and had a great time. Anyhoo, Alistair liked his card.

Just a short post tonight, so I will love you and leave you till next time, keep yourselves safe,

25 Years Married.....What!!

Hello Crafting Friends and Visitors, I hope you are well and coping with everything that's going on just now, and I'm sorry for those of you who are finding it difficult...for whatever reason.

It's a special day for us, it's our Sliver Wedding Anniversary, yeh!!, never thought  we'd make it, but we have  which is lovely, and I hope we have many more anniversaries to celebrate. Here is the card I made for him;

 

Pleased to say he liked it. It's a Mo Manning image and coloured with Prismacolour pencils. The background is a sort of almost a material kind of thing and sewn with silver thread, gifted by a lovely friend and this is it's first use, various brand of dies and some pearls.

Alistair wanted to get married on his 50th Birthday  but his was on a Sunday, we had  to go for the 4th.  So it's a double celebration as it's his birthday tomorrow....card yet to be posted. However, because of the restrictions it's a quiet celebration, but looking forward to a special lunch with Damian and Moreen on Saturday, of course that's always supposing that we don't move into a lockdown.  It will be lovely to be with Damian and Moreen and to spend some time with them.

Thank you for your visits and lovely comments on my last post, I do appreciate them.

That's me for now, take care of yourselves and have a lovely day,

Colouring a planner and a few photos!

 Hello Everyone, how are things going for you in these very confusing times? I do hope you are well and keeping your chin up.

These weekends are coming around awfully fast, and now it's the 1st of November, before we know it, it'll be Christmas. I went into town yesterday and managed a wee bit of Christmas shopping as I really think Scotland will follow England and have a lockdown, what's stopping Nicola is money to pay businesses in order to pay staff and not let them starve, or loose their homes, but predictably, Johnston won't communicate with her. If anything should indicate the need for independence it should be this whole fiasco, oh, and then there's Brexit......A best selling author couldn't make it up.

Anyway, I have a little bit of colouring for you today;

 

I decided to buy my 2021 diary early and thought this Johanna Basford would be a lovely one to colour in, there are some beautiful  pages in it, I like to think I's have it all coloured by the New Year, but I guess I won't. I've used cheap and cheerful Crayola pencils on the top page, very difficult to blend, but the set has beautiful colours in it. This page is using Derwent Procolour pencils, fabulous to use and blended beautifully, I added  some Stickles for a wee bit of sparkle.

We has a lovely walk this morning, in which we got the best of the weather.  We walked through the Islands , which is along the banks of the River Ness, which runs through the town and into the Moray Firth, it's really beautiful, the river was the highest I've ever seen it, and flowing so fast. The tree colours are spectacular, and lots of leaves to kick through, here's a few photos;

5 minuets after this photo is was belting rain, as I said we ad the best of the weather.  It was a lovely uplifting walk, then back home for a bacon roll, a cup of coffee, and a Randolph Scott cowboy movie, ye canna whack it.

This post is  certainly photo heavy, but I have one more to show you. You will remember back in March our neighbours had a little boy, it was all very exciting as our street hasn't had a baby in it for years, well, a knock at the door yesterday found baby Alessandro and his mum Angie  to show him in is Halloween costume.  I got Angie's permission to  take this photo and show it;

They has to come into the house as it came on heavy rain, but isn't he so cute in his bat suit, I was desperate to hold him, but restrained myself, he's such a lovely baby and growing so fast, 9 months now. So he was our only Guiser as we call them in Scotland, and he got something for his piggy bank.

Right, I've probably bored you silly, so I'll sign off now, but before I go, thank you so much for the lovely comments on my last post, I do appreciate each and every one of them.

Keep yourselves safe, keep crafting for sanity, and keep smiling,

No Prob-llama!

 Hello Friends and Visitors, how are you all, doing well I hope and coping with this further spike in the virus. It seems it's not going away anytime soon. I'm hoping that the Highlands are going to be in tier 1, we will hear tomorrow whats what. If indeed we go down to tier 1 it will mean that we can visit Moreen and Damian in their home and vice versa, I do miss the doggies, and I don't see Moreen that much, Damian pops over for a doorstep visit which is great, I'm looking forward to the day when I can give him a hug, but I know I'm not alone in that feeling.

We had a lovely walk along Rosemarkie beach this morning and ended with a hot chocolate and shared a tasty fruit scone with butter and jam.....we know how to live!!, we sat outside at the eatery and looked at the sea, mind you it was pretty chilly, temp was 6 degrees, we were hardy though lol.

So on to my card;

 I was kinda stumped as to what to do for my friends Grandson this year, he will be 17 on his birthday, and I'm not all that sure what he is into these days, anyhoo, i remembered these fabulous stamps from an edition of Creative Stamping the other year and decided to use this super llama image.

I've created the background with DI and a cloud stencil and gave it a splatter with water, then as you can see added the leaves and grasses around the edges. The llama I stamped with two shades of brown  and fussy cut him out and attached with foam tape to raise him a bit. Mounted on to rose gold mirror card and job done. It's turned out quite well I think, I hope he likes it.

Thank you all so much for the lovely comments on mt last cards and a warm welcome to Lynne who is my latest Follower, unfortunately, Lynne commented on my last post and I accidently deleted it, I was using my phone and got a bit confused.com, so sorry Lynn, but I did manage to read it before I deleted it. Does anyone else find they are more confused by things these days, for example I never know what day of the week it is without having to lift my diary, is it an aged thing or a covid one???

That's all from me just now, I hope your week is going well, keep safe and see you soon,

Snowman/Snowmen for the CCC!

 Hello Everyone, I hope you are well and enjoying the weekend. It's been a wild day here in Inverness, high winds and rain, just the kind of day to stay indoors.

We have been giving the bathroom a freshen up, well Alistair has, I've been   the cleaner uper, but he says never again, he's getting too old, all the up and down the ladders and bending was getting to him. Because he is fit and still walks up mountains I forget he will be 75 in a couple of weeks, so yes next time we will get a decorator in. Good job it's a small room, but it's looking good now.

So, it's the fortnightly Christmas Card Club Challenge... they come around far too quickly, and this time it's our lovely Margaret who has chosen the theme of Snowman/Snowmen, or of course if you can't manage the theme there is always Anything Goes.  Well I love Snowmen so this was easy for me and made three cards;

 This wee cutie is a LOTV digital stamp and coloured with Prismacolours and lots of Star Dust Stickles. Sentiment is a very old LOTV stamp set, finished off with some little gems.

Another Digital from LOTV and coloured again with Prismacolour pencils, mounted on to black glitter card and then more LOTV paper from ages ago. I used DI in the background and added some gems. The sentiment is from Creative Stamping magazine. Sorry about the brightness of the photo, I think I've over done it.

Once again the phot is pants. I've made this card for my friend Fiona, I make her The Snowman card every year as she love him.....well who doesn't. This is from a very old Crafters Companion/Hunkydory  set, I can't think now how old it is, but it's lasting a good old while. I've made the base card from acetate with snow splatters, and added the snowman image inside it. A piece or purple glitter card along the bottom edge with the sentiment. I photographed it on black card which was a mistake as it makes the card look black but it isn't, three little gems in the bottom corner.

Thank you Margaret for the lovely challenge, I did enjoy it.

Thank you too for all the lovely comments on my last card, I do appreciate your visits and encouraging comments.

So that's me for now, I'll be scheduling my post for tomorrow, Sunday when the CCC goes live. Take care of yourselves and keep safe,