Tartan Parade

Just finishing packing for the weekend as Naomi and I are off to Sunderland this weekend.
WHOO HOO!
We always look forward to this annual October trip, where Naomi plays ten pin bowling in the European Open and it's made all the more exciting this year as we hope to meet up again with my crafty pal Irene.
Aaaaaand .... I have it on good authority that she has been slaving over a hot oven and bread maker in anticipation of our arrival - so hopefully she will be feeling better by tomorrow and will be up to our visit 'cos we are drooling at the thought.

Before I log off and load up the car, I thought I'd show the completed set of Christmas Cards, where the brief was to keep it simple and include Tartan Ribbon.
The cards are also personalised but the recipients details are hidden under a 'Happy Christmas' version for privacy purposes.
Hopefully this design fits the customer's bill and I may actually use this idea for some of my own 'batch cards' as they were simple and easy to mass produce.

I really, really, REALLY love this Lace Tree embossing folder - it has got to be up there as one of ... (if not THE) ... best of my all time favourites.

RIGHT! ... Gotta' go and get organised.
See you when we get back from (not so sunny ) Sunderland.
Hope you all enjoy a wonderful weekend, wherever you are and whatever you are doing.

Random Round Up

T'was nice to get time to visit a few of your blogs last week ... I will eventually get around to you all but there are so many it's going to take time. It was lovely to see all of your amazing and beautiful projects.
Last week I did manage to get some cards made myself but won't bore you with them all, that would be too cruel.
Here are just a few ... click on the images for a clearer view.

The first was for my dad, who celebrated his birthday last Tuesday, using the K. & Co. Verbena Scrap Pad for everything - all the elements were pop out so a very easy card to make.

The black and gold gatefold card was also for my dad from our 'kiddlings' ... who call him Pops ... and the foiled champagne topper was part of a Kanban kit.
I did a similar card for the Glenrothes Squad ten pin bowling coach who celebrates his 70th birthday today.
Black card, gold mirri card and a few peel offs and it's a job done!

My brother and his wife celebrated their Wedding Anniversary on 11th but were in Florida at the time - lucky devils - so they'll get their card and gift when I next see them.
This one is recycled from the many cards that people pass on to me, and I simply cut the image and message into a heart shape with scalloped scissors and mounted them with foam pads onto silver mirri card debossed with swiss dots, added a ribbon and popped it all onto a DL card blank.

The Christmas card orders are starting to come in now and I'm really, really, really going to try to be sensible and only take on what I can achieve without having to resort to 24 hour sessions to complete them, as happened last year.
Time will tell if I can follow through on that one.

Well hubby is due at the station in about an hour, so had better go and see if I can make myself semi-presentable - not sure lippy and mascara will be enough though! Good job he loves me.

Hi

It's been a while since my last post - mainly because I have been very busy in the 'real world' as well as completing a wee flurry of card orders - but also because any online time has been spent on facebook, playing silly games. Not the most productive thing to do with my time I know, but it's all I could be bothered with.

While I've been away from blogland I've done some serious thinking about the amount of time I actually spend online. It has definitely become a much bigger part of my life than was ever intended and the balance seriously needs to be redressed.
So I've decided that my posts here will be much less frequent than before and may in fact be very INfrequent ... although I do still plan to continue visiting with you at your creative corners as often as possible. Couldn't cut myself off from my blog-buddies altogether or severe withdrawal symptoms will set in!
Actually, it'll be nice to have proper browse time again and not feel under any pressure, (albeit self-imposed), to show off anything myself unless I really want to.

It's inevitable that some followers will head off to more active spots ... there are literally thousands of wonderfully talented and inspirational bloggers out there to keep your appetites whetted on a daily basis ... but before you go, please know I've really appreciated your loyalty and want to thank you for the many kind comments over the last 18 months.

My daughter is currently on holiday from school and I intend to spend quality time with her - provided she wants to of course. We are looking forward to our annual trip to Sunderland at the end of the month when she will be competing in the Ten Pin European Open and we'll hopefully be meeting up with Irene ... *waves madly to Irene* ... while we're there.
AND ... if we play our cards right, we could be enjoying some of her fabby-licious home-baked scones.
Scrummy for the tummy !

So ... that's the state of play for now - I'm all 'blogged out'
I need ... want ... and am going to take a 'bloggy-break' and only time will tell if it is going to be temporary or permanent. Hope you all understand xxx

More Than A Touch of Green

Fab's Big Christmas Card Challenge #39 this week was to use Green ... and then add more Green ... with the additional option of making 2 different cards from the same supplies.
So being the good girl that I am, I did as instructed.

The patterned paper is from Papermania's "Naughty and Nice" pack and perfectly matches the bright green cardstock I used to emboss the Cuttlebug Christmas Tree.
Strangely the colour in the 1st photo looks a bit dull but it is the same green as the other one ... honest.
In fact it is a really zingy lime green in real life which neither photo shows properly ... but never mind.

The layout is identical on each DL card, but on one I coloured in the embossing with a white gel pen and used white twill ribbon below the greeting and on the other I simply added a scattering of adhesive gems and some fine green cord as an alternative to ribbon, so hopefully that makes them different enough.