The blessing of laughter

Some new(ish) friends came round last night for a meal. They are our local Salvation Army officers. They are the same age as us and have children of similar ages to our youngest (but girl/ boy rather than boy/girl). Both the adults and the kids get on really well. I'm looking forward to the family connection growing. Best of all is the sounds of 5 children - well tweenagers really, having fun. They were all out playing (careful) games on our trampoline just giggling away something wonderful. It really was a blessing to hear it. Emrys was going great guns on the trampo and his parents noted with wry amusement that his broken toe seemed ever so much better. It was obviously the power of fun as this morning he could hardly walk at all with the pain of overdoing it yesterday. Still went to school though.

And as it was a school night the family went early enough for me to cram in a bit of card making. Yes I actually have done a Little Extra card this week. It is good when you have a card to make and can squeeze it into a dare!

For our Little Extra challenge this week, we'd like you to "Go Faux it" Yes, all we want you to do this week is to use something fake on your cards. For instance you could make fake ribbon, fake brads or fake chipboard - we think you talented folk can come up with lots more "let's pretend" ideas so we can't wait to see your ideas.

The other cards are fabby aren't they! And a big shout for Jo, Lynne and Kathy who are now featured on the Basic Grey Gallery!

Here are the details of mine.
Helen is an Arsenal fan - hence the colours.
Patterned Paper - Plain red is Basic Grey Gypsy; Check is Memory Makers Sam; stripes are American Crafts Bookshelf and one my We R Memory Keepers.
In the faux corner we have hand drawn stitching (DH thought it was real at first. Doh); ricrac; (would you believe I don't have any pinking shears in my stockpile of shaped scissors?) buttons (love drawing these by hand) and brads (covered in glossy accents to make them look a tad more real). I think the letters look a little faux chipboardy but they are just hand cut, outlined and stuck on with sticky pads.

I have a meeting rich day today but managed to sneak home for an hour. That is it though - need to have big lunch in case I don't have time for tea!