Blue Glass Butterflies

Sometimes it's just good fun staying in the garden, especially at the Grandees.... I think it's fun but the Grandees call it work .... or helping out.  


When I first get there I have to go explore all round and see 
what has changed, they're always up to sumthink.

Check the fish - down to me to feed them I suppose ....

Check the chickens - down to me again to count the eggs and bring them into the house safely.....


Pick all the old windmills and put them in a pile .... Grandma says it is time for new ones.  
We only bought this bright one the other week, that only makes two, so we'll keep them in this pot for the time being  .....
.... don't know how that old one crept in .....

Check the cuttings - they're coming along fine, need a bit of weeding there though ..... must remember to tell Mommy, I'm sure she'll want some of these Forsythia.

Look at the state of all those glass butterflies!!

I shall just put them into a pot and give them a wash and then build a road .......



Boring!!

Going to explore at the top of the garden and see how fast I can run up and down and for how long .......

..... found some sticks so I will just go round hitting 'things' to see what noise they make.....

Heigh Ho!  Time for tea.....

Another busy day done .........

Love from
Dexter

March Swaps

Full month again!
Noobie Swap     x2

I used one of my Kraft cards for this swap.  I found a selection of DoCrafts papers so thought I would used them up by cutting and pasting in the real sense of the words!








I entered the swap twice this month in order to make up the numbers.


I stamped the top edge of the card with a lace stamp, added some musical background paper which I had aged with a used teabag.  

I fussy cut the image of the piano and placed it centrally onto the card.  
After I had added the sentiment, I edged it with swirly loops using a fine nibbed black pen.  
I then added a ribbon bow to the top left corner, the ribbon having a loopy edge to it.

This little beauty has the bouquet not only decoupaged but popping off the front of the card.

Thank you Olive.

Colour - Yellow
I really had no idea what to do for this card and then, while perusing the web, I saw these papers and my mojo hit in.
I sized both the images on the old PC, printed and cut them out then edged the images with a yellow Sharpie pen.  I used a tape pen to adhere them to the square card and found a perfect ribbon in my box so tied a small bow fixing it to the card with a glue dot.

This is an absolutely adorable card.

Thank you Jean.

Technique - Heat Embossing

This Technique is not one of my strengths but after several tries on other pieces of card, I am pleased with this result. 
I used a Creative Expressions stamp and some embossing powders bought back in the 90's ..... still working though!  lol
I added three tiny pink diamantes in two corners.

Beautiful diecuts and super embossing.

Thank you Karen.

Sketch

I printed some papers from Bear Creek Quilting folder on my PC.  I know these are materials for quilts but they are so pretty patterns.
I then decided which order I wanted them to go and set to cutting and stamping.  Once I had put them all together - OOPs, just noticed, no small circles... will have to add them - I glued two small diamantes to the spots on the topper.

I received this lovely shiney card by return.

Thank you Caro.

Style - Spring flowers
Card

Love this image!  
I printed it out and cut it to size.  I cut the backing card with my new cutter so the edge was patterned... it also gives me a bit of practise!  Once all the papers were adhered to the card, I added a pale orange diamante to each corner.

Beautifully stamped and coloured.

Thank you Bicka.

ATC

You may notice that these are the same stamps I used in one of my other swaps.  I think that this time I have been slightly more successful in the masking!!!  I tried to add a bit more detail to the pots this time and more paint to the backgrounds.

I received this pretty card by return.

Thank you Caro.

March Theme Swap

The theme being Oriental.



I used up two of my Chinese New Year (Year of the Dog) cards.
I have included a photo of the back of the dog image card.  

I love these cards but they are all gone now .... here's to next year!!

For my third card, I collaged some of the papers left over from a stamp sheet bought last year (Year of the Cockerel).  
The sheet has a border of Cockerel images and each stamp has a label attached showing a symbol form the Chinese celebrations.
I used a fancy corner punch for the corners, reminded me of a Chinese Temple, and then went round the edges with a red Sharpie pen ..... the only way I could think to edge inside the 'temple'.




I have received the following cards:


Beautiful die cuts on an embossed background.
Thank you Alexis.

Embossed stamping on a soft shiny surface.

Thank you GwynethRose.

Red fibres over cute singing figures.

Thank you Thelma.

WOYWW #462

What'sOnYourWorkdeskWednesday - if you want to find out more then checkout the WOYWW tab at the top of the page - and our thanks go to Julia for hosting this weekly meet up.
My desk is invisible this week!
I am sorting out all the papers given away free with a Making Cards Magazine, also checked the CD freebie!
The theme is Male Cards and the papers are brill.  Little Soldier was extremely impressed with the cat and dog images!!!

I had purchased the magazine en route to his house for a short playing babysitting stint and couldn't wait to have a look.  He was very interested, think he thought it was for him but he lost interest after a while!  I placed everything back in my bag and as soon as I arrived home ....... I had a good look ...... and that's where I am at the moment.

I have enjoyed reading all the deets and looking at the photos of Ally Pally -  thank you all so much for sharing your meet ups, your demo watching, your stash (!!)  Not at all jealous!
It has been almost as good as being there myself.

Have a good week, stay warm .....

A few thoughts .............

I must admit that I haven't really been listening to all the news lately but one item caught my attention..... funerals for babies are now free..... or that's how I understand it.

I am so pleased about this that I feel like dancing!
I'll tell you why .... although if you're a bit sensitive maybe you shouldn't read any further.......

Just over forty years ago I had a beautiful baby girl, a third daughter, very precious as I had lost my father three months previously and I was so pleased to be delivered of a healthy baby.  She became poorly and had several medical interventions over the next two months and then died.  
It came as a shock to us all, not only us her parents, but my close friend who was staying with us and my sister, along with her two children were shocked.  It was my niece who found little Leanne Denise, DNV went to take her out of her pram to give her her feed and found her .... still tucked up .... still warm......
After the ambulance men had taken Leanne off to hospital, although they admitted that there was nothing more they could do, and the priest had left..... we then had to break the news to our mothers.  Luckily our mothers had relations who could be with them while they absorbed all the information and, were not left alone as we returned home to look after our other two girls.

We had a very steep electric bill for that quarter, Leanne having been born in January we had needed heat practically 24hours a day, plus hot water as we still had terry towelling nappies to wash.  I didn't know how I was going to pay this bill but a good friend at the time came forward to lend the money and be repaid as and when I could.

Then the funeral bill came in .......
Such a shock!
No-one to turn to for this amount of money .......
What to do ......

My Father always said that honesty was the best policy so .......

I went to the Undertakers along with the bill and told him the truth ........ I cannot pay this bill.

We discussed why not, we discussed if I could in the future, we discussed if we could sell anything..... and so it went on until he suggested we draw up an agreement to pay a reasonable amount every month until the debt was paid.
It took me nearly twelve months to pay for Leanne's funeral but I did it.  I never missed a payment, I struggled, but by that November I had paid the debt in total and was able to buy Christmas presents for my other two girls.

I often think of how kind that man was to me ..... he could have taken me to court for non-payment of debt, I could have lost my home, my children but no ....... we talked .....

As far as I understand the article, no-one will again have to go through this horrendous worry at such a sad time.....

I am so pleased for our future generations of Mothers ...... it's bad enough to lose your child and have to make arrangements you never thought you would have to make but, now at least, they wont have the worry of paying for all the costs .........

March Swap

The Theme is Spring Flowers

I knew that I would use the free stamps given away with Making Cards - no longer being published I understand.
I stamped all the pots three times and then fussy cut two images.  
I stamped the pots on each card, masking on the third card.  This is one of the rare times I have tried this and I am not quite sure whether I have succeeded.  Maybe I should have painted stronger colours for the background so that the middle pot was a bit more grounded ... dunno.
I then masked off the pots and stamped the flowers.
I used my paints to watercolour the images and the background, sort of suggesting they are sitting outside on the potting table!!

I know that the cards look a little curly but I took the photos before the backing details had been added.  I am getting even more forgetful than usual, opening the envelopes just to take photos is very annoying!!  lol

I received the following:


Embossed sentiment, silver splatters....has to be InkyFingeredCat.
Thank you CatherineJ.

Embossing again plus Brushos

Thank you Elaine K.

Much more rosy coloured IRL with a soft sheen.
Thank you Gill Sansom.

April Birthday

This is the first April Birthday and is sent with love to a little sister .... maybe I should say younger sister.....

I have used stamps from several Little Claire sets, so I practised the layout first on a piece of watercolour paper before stamping on the cream base card.
I then painted the red hearts and flowers, the grass ...... sprayed a small amount of pale blue and WHAM!
All the reds began to run .......they hadn't had time to dry!!
I picked up the practise piece and continued to the finish..... this time leaving time for the colours to dry!!
Once I had attached it to the base card it looked very plain, maybe as the card is a rich cream in colour.  I 'stitched' some lines round the edges with a fine nibbed black pen and am very pleased with the result.
No-one need ever know that this is my second attempt.............!!!