Damp Bank Holiday

Well with this rubbish bank holiday weather there's nothing else to do but craft (and blog). This morning whilst blog hopping I found a new digi kit 'Metro to Retro' from the fabulous Kirsty Wiseman. I know the kits are designed for scrappers but I just had to download it and resize to a card friendly 6x6 in photoshop.

The design put me in mind of a couple of my Cuttlebug dies (asterisk and circle stamp frame), so they were the starting point for the card. Sounds easy eh? Well I'm the world's slowest and most indecisive crafter, but after a while I came up with this:

As mentioned previously the die cuts cirlcles and flowers (asterisks) are cuttlebug and all the papers are from Kirsty's Metro to Retro kit with added chalk ink on the edges. The flower centre brads were coloured using black nail polish as I don't have any black brads in my stash. The bulldog clip is from the same set I used on my Daring Card Makers 9 to 5 dare. It's amazing how they sat on my craft table unused for ages and now I can't leave them alone. The greeting is dymo tape and the stitching was done by hand. I love the effect of sticthing on cards but I don't do it often as it takes me ages.

Thank you Kirsty for such a fab kit - a great way to while away a bank holiday!

Here's a few more cards I did yesterday as the weather was pants:

Thanks for looking. Hope you've all had a good bank holiday.

Ruthiex

Scratching from 9 to 5!

No, i've not got nits, it's a combination of the last two dares from the Daring Card Makers blog.

First is last week's dare by Tracie Bondgirl:

For this weeks dare, I dare you to "start from scratch" I want to you design a card with NO purchased/pre-assembled embellishments - that means no blooms unless you cut them yourself, no buttons, brads etc etc. I guess how easy this is depends on your usual style**insert evil laugh here**

I was a bit stumped with this one a first, but then after much paper shuffling I came up with this:

The flower is hand cut and the 'button' centre is a mountboard circle coloured with ink and glazed with glossy accents. The thread holes were punched with an eyelet punch.

The 'eyelets' were made by punching greyboard with a normal hole punch and then punched again with an eyelet punch to make the small centre holes. As with the button they were coloured with an inkpad and glossy accents added.

Papers are BG Phoebe, with added inking and scribbling.

Now on to this week's dare. I've had the day off work today so for once I've not been working 9 to 5, which is the title of Jo's dare for this week:

This week it's my turn (Jo) and I'm going to dare you to use bits and bobs from the office for your cards.It's been a while since I had a 'real' job - other than being a Mum and of course playing with bits of paper...Reminiscing... I would like you to make a card using some thing that you would normally find in an office environment. Such as... staples, paperclips, paper fasteners, file folders, library cards, hole punches, lined paper etc you get the drift.

Well, my job is office based, so I had no excuse not to have a go at this. I decided to make a card for my friend's birthday. It isn't until July so hopefully I won't lose it between now and then!

I've had this box of 'office supplies' on my craft desk for ages and decided they fit perfectly with the dare. I bought them from Asda ages ago, with the intention of using them on cards but had never used them until today.

With all those bulldogs clips begging to be used I decided the central embellishment on the card should be a mini clipboard (- inspiration/idea came from a topper Jo had produced for this month's Papercraft Inspirations mag). I found a bit of grey board (left over from the back of an a4 notepad) in a drawer and transformed it with a corner punch, some inks and some BG Blush into this:

It doesn't really show up well on the photo, but the inked board does look quite like wood so I was v.pleased with the effect.

Here's the finished card:

As well as the bulldog clip, other office supplies used are a paperclip and the ribbon is attached using staples (they don't show up well on the photo). The checklist was designed in photoshop. Paper is more BG Blush.

Finally, another card from me which is based on the midweek extra template, once again from Daring Card Makers:

Cheers

Ruthie xx

She said food ....... that obvioulsy means CHOCOLATE!

Well, I've done another dare from the Daring Card Makers blog. Here's the dare:

This week it's me (Kathy) setting the dare and I'd like you to make a card with a theme of FOOD!
So let's mull this one over.......You could make an invitation to a barbecue, dinner party, picnic, kids party etcIt could feature a recipe, ingredients, utensils, cookery quotations, poems or rhymes....It could have food depicted on it eg cupcake, CHOCOLATE, bowl of fruit , CHOCOLATE, sausages, CHOCOLATE,.....birthday cake....Hey, it could even have real food stuck on it.....OK, maybe not....as long as it's clearly got a foodie theme it's allowed.

Well, I took the hint and went for the CHOCOLATE option :) This is the card I made for chocolate loving friend:

The chocolate bar is made from fun foam, inked with a chalk ink pad. The lines were created by heating the foam with a heat gun and then pressing a kitchen knife into it. (I found the idea ages ago on a Christmas card project on Mad About Cards but never had the chance to try it out before.) The papers are Basic Grey, with added inking and scribbling - I'd like to say doodling but it's not that technical! The photo corners are Paper Mania.

I bought the BG papers yesterday - Phoebe 6x6 pad. I am only a recent convert to BG, but now I'm wondering why I waited so long to try them.

Thanks for looking, I'm off now to try and source some real chocolate!

A Bit of 90s Nostalgia

Well I'm back in blog land, it seems like ages since my last entry. I thought I had better pop by and leave an update, particularly as I have been tagged, but more of that later. So back to my post title of '90s nostaligia'. This is in honour of a gig I went to last Thursday, the fabulous Ocean Colour Scene.

The gig was a mixture of new stuff (album out this week) and quite of bit of their back catalogue which brought back a lot of memories from the 90s. Just the opening bars of the Riverboat Song transported me back to Friday nights getting ready to go out whilst watching TFI Friday. A brilliant way to spend a Thursday - the band were on top form.

Saturday was another day of musical entertainment - this time a spot of musical theatre in Manchester at 'The Producers'. It was a mother's day treat for my mum from me and my sister. Yes Mother's Day was a while ago but this was the earliest we could get decent tickets for the Saturday matinee. We had a lovely day. A nice lunch in a pub on Deansgate - fish and mushy pea butty and chips, yum (yes it was on the menu as a fish and mushy pea sandwich, it wasn't my own creation). Then we wandered through the very sunny City centre to the lovely Palace Theatre.

The show was absolutely brilliant. I'd never seen The Producers and only knew the vague of outline of the story, but what a treat it turned out to be. I laughed from start to finish and found myself humming 'Springtime for Hitler' for the rest of the day.

I have also managed to squeeze in a bit of crafting and done a couple of cards (which is a classed as a high level of productivity for me), but I haven't had a chance to take any pics yet so they will have to wait for my next post.

My crafting has been limited as I have been out enjoying the lovely weather, including tonight when I managed to get out on my bike for the first time this year. I had a lovey ride down the canal, I just wish I had taken my camera as the early evening sunshine was lovely.

Anyway, back to the start of this post and being tagged. I have been tagged by a few people, but Andrea (Frog) got in there first:

You have to list seven fact/habits about yourself then tag another 7 people, so here's my 7 facts:

1) I hate coconut, the thought of eating a Bounty makes me gag, yet strangely I love Malibu -don't know what that says about me ;-)
2) I passed my driving test at the first attempt
3)My first love was Andrew Ridgeley from Wham! I think it can be classed as unrequieted
4)My dream job is a florist but the early mornings would not be good for me
5) I love roller coasters - my favourite is The Grand National at Blackpool Pleasure Beach
6) My first pet was a budgie called Dougal (named after the Magic Roundabout dog)
7) I hate whistling, it drives me mad

So there you are my 7 facts. Most people have now been tagged, but if you read this and haven't, you have now so feel free to add 7 facts to your blog.

Cheers

Ruthie x

I know it looks like a sewer.......................

.............but it's actually a well in a pub!

This was one of the photos from our girly night out in Lancaster last Friday - four of us hit the town and had a fab evening of food, beer and flavoured vodka (pear drops getting a thumbs up from all 4 of us. The well is in one of the rooms in the pub we started the evening in. It has a toughened glass sheet over it so you can do a 'walk of faith' type thing (hence the inclusion of feet on the photo). It really made me feel queasy, and that was at the start of the evening!

As the weather was fab on Saturday we were invited to our second barbeque of the year. Is that a record in April? We were still sat outside at 11pm, albeit with the help of heat from one of those chimnea fire things. Unfortunately I couldn't get too close to it as it was chucking out a few sparks and I wasn't wearing suitable footwear - namely my fab new Crocs. After a bad day at the office on Friday I decided I needed a bit of shoe therapy. I bought a pair of 'faux' crocs last summer but decided I really needed a pair of the genuine article. Yes, I'm at least a year behind the trend but who cares - I'm comfy (and look ridiculous if you ask my OH!). The flower and bee Jibbitz were a little extra spend on e-bay :-)

The weather was still fab on Sunday so I decided to make the most of it and get out in the garden. I was going to try and do a bit of crafting in the sunshine, but no matter how still I think it is the minute i take any card or paper outside it starts flying around like it's in a force 10 gale. So I took the opportunity to sort out my garden furniture - the annual sanding and teak oil session was Sunday's afternoon entertainment.

After enjoying the sunshine over the weekend I managed to squeeze in a bit of crafting during the week.

The first one is a get well card for a relative who's in hospital after a fall which resulted in a broken hip!

The papers are by polar bear, die cut stars are zip e slim, screw head brads are from Carolyn's and the lettering is quickutz ginger.

The next two are birthday cards for a friend who's birthday it was on Thursday. The first one was 'commissioned' by my sister with the brief "I want a skier with a pink drink in her hand". The birthday girl has just returned from her first ski-ing holiday and is known for her love of pink wine! Here's the finished card:

The doll is Sizzix die cuts with the addition of hand cut skis and a quickutz wine bottle. I was limited in the colours I could do as the doll die cuts were left overs from an e-bay purchase ages ago (I don't have the doll dies). The ribbon is from Paperchase and a peel-off from stash.

This is my card for the birthday girl:

Paper is Basic Grey Urban Couture. It's green and brown although it doesn't show up too well on the photo (I'm no David Bailey as have no doubt gathered). Blooms are from Dunlenm Mill. The flower centre is a flattened bottle cap (from Wilko home brew dept - not an expensive crafty one) and it's filled with a die cut piece of the background paper. The smallest Sizzix circle on the red die is a perfect fit for the centre of a flattened cap. Circle clip and ribbon is from Carolyn's. The sentiment is printed onto the background paper as I don't own any rub-ons.

Well that's all from me!

Ruthie x

DCM Midweek Extra

This was the midweek extra dare from the girls over at Daring Card Makers:

It's time for our Little Extra - a midweek bonus task to keep you busy. This week we have a very simple recipe for you to followAll you need to do is make a card featuring 5 circles, 3 squares and 1 flower - that's it. Simple, eh? We're looking forward to seeing what fabulous ideas you come up with for this one

So here's my interpretation of the ingredients:

5 Circles: silver brads x 5
3 Squares: of mountboard cut using a Cuttlebug die and inked with black ink (used to mount the photos)
1 Flower: 1 photo of a pink flower taken by me, reproduced 3 times with the saturation levels altered in photoshop (3 for the price of 1 :-) )

Extra bit: Sentiment printed using dymo tape

And here's the finished card. it looks a bit squiffy on the photo but it is straight in real life - I think!!!! (Never mind it was just for fun)

Thanks for looking.

Ruthie

Climb Every Mountain

Well I've had a fab Easter weekend. We spent Saturday night and Sunday with some friends who are part of the Bowland Pennine Mountain Rescue Team. Some members of the team had hired the team's Smelt Mill base in the Trough of Bowland and we were invited to join them for a barbeque on Saturday night and a lazy Sunday in the sunshine.


So this was home for the weekend:



Smelt Mill from the River ; View down the River ; Daffs in the garden


On Saturday night we barbequed in the garden, well the boys did, what is it with men and fire, albeit in this case gas powered fire? The food was good, as was the wine and beer. As a result Sunday morning wasn't quite as pleasant!

So much for a lazy Sunday. At lunchtime we headed off for a walk in the sunshine to Langden Castle which is about 3 miles away from the base. About a mile into the walk the mountain rescue team received a call on their radio to attend an incident on one of the local fells. As a result our walking party was reduced by about half, but we [the non team members] carried on, regardless, enjoying the lovely spring sunshine. The team members rejoined our group after they had returned from their call-out; they received a message en-route to say they were no longer required. Finally the full group made it to Langden Castle. Trading standards should really be contacted about the 'castle' part of the name. It's actually a stone cow shed in the middle of nowhere! I really should have taken a picture as it has to be seen to be believed - maybe next time :-)

After the walk, we went back to Smelt Mill for a rest and a nice cup of tea. Then it was on to the next part of the day's activities - climbing and abseiling. Smelt Mill has an indoor climbing wall and so I couldn't resist having a go.

After a couple of climbs up the wall my friend Julian suggested I try abseiling. I have climbed the wall before but never tried abseiling it. I didn't have a problem climbing up the wall, but somehow hanging on a rope 30 ft above the floor was a different matter. After a bit of persuasion I managed to make my way out of the door at the top of the wall, and more importantly got down in one piece! After the first nervous attempt I managed a few more descents. It has to be said coming down is a lot easier than going up, particulary as I had been feeling rather delicate earlier in the day. This is the second time I've been on the climbing wall and it really is good fun. I'm not sure how I would be on real rocks though.


We had a really good weekend, so I have made this card to send as a thank you to the friends who invited us, and the rest of the team who made us so welcome:

The colours haven't come out that well on the picture but the details are as follows:

- Paper: Basic Grey Sublime (the green), Basic Grey Mortifica (brown/gold)

- Card: Paper Mill Shop (a very good replica of the Bazzill texture)

- Die cuts: Quickutz

- Brads: Making Memories

- Lettering: Quickutz 'Ginger' font. The letters were cut from chipboard (well the card from a Xyron refil and double layered) and then inked and covered with Anita's 3D gloss. I got the idea for this style of lettering from a challenge on Carolyn's forum (view it here). The challenge was set by CarolM. For more of her fab work check out her Blog

- Finishing: stitching and inking on the edges.

Making the card was a pleasant way to spend a bank holiday Monday afternoon, particulary as I did it while watching 'My Best Friends Wedding': total chick flick, but Rupert Everett YUM YUM!

If anyone has read this I hope you enjoyed it!

Ruthie x