Friday, January 29, 2010

Tony Blair has spoilt my day

Yup, its true. See I am travelling up to Hartlepool with H today. He has an interview at Teesside Uni tomorrow so I am taking advantage of it and nipping back to the old town to spend the night at my first Hartlepool friend's house. The most wonderful Elspeth. We met when on an antenatal course. Because I moved during my pregnancy I had to start again and all the other mums to be were about 6-8 weeks behind me. I was in a new place, alone and we got talking on a tour of the maternity suite and she invited me round for tea and that was that! Elspeth already had a child and so was a real source of wisdom and support for me. We have 10 years to catch up on (can't beleive it is that long!) apart from Christmas cards and a little bit of Facebook chat.

So what has Blair got to do with it? Well it is a long way from London to Hartlepool and I had my radio listening all planned out - Radio 2 Jeremy Vine; Radio 5 Film review with Kermode and Mayo; Radio 2 Drive time with Mayo. But Radio 5 is spending the whole day at the Iraq Enquiry. How dare they concentrate on a most unusual and ground breaking day when we ask a former leader to account for his actions in taking the country to war? Especially when it means I won't find out the top 10 box office films this week?

In all seriousness I do commend the fact that we are calling people to account over a war that I do not feel was justified. I think it may well help people to see that our decisions have consequences. I was against the war - the rest of the family went on the anti war demo (can't remember why I didn't but it was probably something shallow again) and wish we could have found another way. But now we are there I think we need to stay and sort out the mess as much as we can. We owe it to the Iraqi people.

I'll just have to listen to the afternoon play instead.... But before we drive I have a few chores to do - getting Hywel to try on the new smart casual clothes for his interview; ironing said; packing said; doing a little reading for my MA essay (Google book reader is my friend) and finishing this blog post.

So on I go
Daring Cardmakers this week had a great challenge from Keryn
Schooldays
Its back to school in NZ To celebrate this I want you all to create cards using the theme of school. If you've got children at school what they're up to might inspire your card, if not maybe memories of your own school days might be your inspiration.
I knew I wanted to use some of my "Report Card" papers from October Afternoon as they are kind of school based. But when I looked at them again I realised that they are very US school based and some of the cute bits were also too big for a card. And THEN I remembered that one of the great things about OA is that lots of elements of their collections are interchangeable
so 2 of these papers (the back 2) are from the Road Map collection. This card is quite simple but layered and I wonder if it needs more embellishment. In real life you can see the glitter on the star a lot better which I think adds something. (Can I ever make a card without glue pen and glamour dust? I think not)
Papers: OA Road Map and Report Card
Letter Stickers: OA
Punch: Martha Stewart
Nestabilities Label 2
Pen: Sharpie

I finally picked up the latest Docrafts mag this week as I have a feature in it using one of the new Collections of papers and embellishments. Here are some of the things I made in close up

although I did rather like the arty photography display in the mag!
And I had forgotten that I had also made this and was surprised when I saw it in a template section
All the papers are WRMemoryKeepers Tiffany and the brads and Letters are Doodlebug.

Right better get ready to hit the road Jack!

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Love is like a butterfly

Eeh I didn't realise it was a Dolly Parton song (if you do click then I warn you that the visuals are somewhat disturbing. Ah the fashions of the '70's). I just know it as the title of the 1970's sitcom with Wendy Craig.
(I met Wendy Craig once. You know how you imagine that if you met someone famous you would be all cool and everything? I was blushing and monosyllabic. I still burn from shame)

And I still love butterflies now - especially on cards. I've noticed that when I go back through my photo files most of my cards have flowers on them. But that is moving to butterflies. Perhaps because I feel butterflies are less girly than flowers and I have a lot of men to send cards to (in my churches before you start looking at me funny) and they are a symbol of new life and hope (maybe they should be the Christian easter symbol rather than bunnies and chicks. Hmmmm)

Anyway over the weekend I made up some cards and discovered that I really do like putting butterflies on my cards. This is partly because I took a card making kit with me to the Westies Contact Centre on Saturday and included my Martha Stewart butterfly punch... At Contact centre the volunteers observe and check that everyone is happy and keeping to the rules. So basically 2 hours of sitting. I can't take a book because I escape into it and see nothing so I took some punches, inks and a trimmer. Oh and an old pad of PG paper - Infuse. And I randomly chopped and punched and inked and now have bits to turn into cards at home. Like this...
I added platinum stickles and a Personal Impressions Stamp

I added a Fruit Pixie mini postcard - such a bargain! And some Craft Creations bud roses
Craftwork Cards Candy amd some thin ribbon from stash
Labels 1 stamp from Waltzing Mouse

And as I am never around in daylight to do "What's on your worktop Wednesday" here is "What's on your worktop Monday morning"And that is not the whole desk! But it is the end of the cardmaking that produced the above haul! Since then it has been tidied, cleaned, messed up, tidied, messed up, tidied a bit and now is mid layout. I am on Study leave this week. Sort of. (there are far too many meetings in for it to be a proper one) and so will do a bit of reading and then a bit of scrapping when my brain starts getting fuddled. Which as I am 45 this year comes far too easily!

Sundays service went well - I think I managed to fuse the thoughts together in worship and also got some ideas as to how the congregation will make the most of the Year of Prayer that the URC is doing this year.
And if you didn't think I had a mind like a butterfly I think this post shows you how I flit from thing to thing quite easily!

Friday, January 22, 2010

Back to the chain gang

Yes, I've got that Friday feeling!
And I guess you know by now that while for most people that means - woo hoo its the weekend! for me it means - deadlines are approaching and services need to be done. And I have other tasks and things to go to in between now and Sunday too.

The readings this week are familiar ones - Jesus setting out his manifesto in the Synagogue - "God's Spirit is upon me, he sent me to bring the good news to the poor" and Paul telling Christians that being the church together is like being a body where every part is needed. Which works very well until some clever clogs shouts out "so what about the appendix then"
(actually my favourite sermon heckle happened when a friend took in some coal tongs like those used to lay coal on Isaiah's lips in his vision and asked the congregation during the children's talk what they were for and a farmer shouted out "bloodless castration". But I digress...)

But I think these readings are good ones in helping us find a response to what is happening in Haiti and all the other unjust goings on in the world and what it means to be Christians trying to work together (we don't always find that very easy I'm sure you are not surprised to learn).

And in the middle of all that I need to find time to watch Ideal World and get all excited about spotting my samples on Anice's table as she talks about the fab Dreams Come True CD
Here are two of the cards wot I made that took OVER A WEEK (first class and everything!) to arrive
There are so many bright and beautiful papers on the CD. For this card I cut some Cuttlebug butterflies. The centre one is actually made with different paper to the other two but its not easy to see that. Also used my Fiskars Apron Punch; scallop circle punch and a Sharpie for outlining everything. The pleated paper ribbon does dip in the middle but I guess it helps for the hand crafted look!

This one is multi layered using Nesties 8. I cut the largest size twice, embossed one of them using Swiss Dots and made it into a card and them went wild with layers and the digi stamps. I used a scallop border punch to make the owl's feathers. A little bit of doodling was done to finish it off.

I do hope the post has behaved with this card, made for my brothers birthday and as my Daring card this week as his birthday is today and I posted it - um, yesterday. Kathy came up with a clever dare
What's the Point?

I'd like to see cards featuring points or pointers of some kind - the hands of a clock, arrows, pointing fingers, view-points, pointy stars, pointy ears (hehe), pencil points.... maybe pins and needles could also be incorporated into your designs

I came up with the idea of what I would do quite quickly but actually being happy with the result was a lot slower!
The papers are old American Crafts. I do love the plain coloured back which makes co-ordinating a dream! I used more of my Piggy Tales letters - this time with Mint Utee and used my Sharpie to outline. The Martha Stewart border punched red actually has a subtle dot on it, made using Papertrey ink stamps and versamark ink. The arrow and heart are Cosmo Cricket earth love chipboard pieces. I added the Prima bling because in one case the middle was too cream and the rest of the card has white and in the other I may have smudged the Sharpie a bit. Oh I added the glitter to the heart as well. Finally I stuck on some LYB alpha stickers and Thicker numbers. In case you are worrying about favourtism, I only have one brother...
We are starting to communicate a little after many years not really (long story I'm not sharing here!) and haven't seen each other for an embarrassing amount of time but fingers crossed we will see each other at half term next month! So -
Happy Birthday Bro!

And finally... because i need some expert help. I made this sympathy card using a rather lovely stamp by Hero Arts
(and some kraft cardstock; Jenni Bowlin paper and Nesties Label 1 and Personal Impressions Sentiment. Ribbon from extensive pile. Sadly not much left after this as I have decided that I love it totally!)
But I am struggling with this stamp to get it inked evenly. And on kraft it just looked dull as well as patchy. This is the third or fourth stamping which I then covered with clear embossing ink and smooched red chalk ink over. But you can see it is mot smooth and lovely as it should be
So expert stampers - please help!

Can you tell me the best way to evenly ink a large stamp; what kind of ink to use and what inks look best on kraft? Many thanks!

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Day by day

Day by day
Day by day
Oh Dear Lord
Three things I pray
To see thee more clearly
Love thee more dearly
Follow thee more nearly
Day by day

We used to have to say the prayer once a week at school but I prefer singing it a la Godspell. I can remember words much better if they are set to music! Its what I was thinking of when I set to the challenge for Salt this week.
Extraordinarily Tanis hadn't read what I had posted as my reflection the week before but to me at least they seem to be in a natural progression. It is not the first time this has happened on the Salt blog and I think it shows the power of the Holy Spirit at work. Tanis challenged us to think about spending time with God Daily.

Because I wrote so much last week about the "brand new start each day" I wanted to keep the writing for the layout pretty simple. I had a fun posing session with Carys (although the sun was going down rapidly as we did it) and printed out 7 just about passport sized photos. The backing paper is Pink Paislee Office Lingo.

Down the side I stamped some Stamps Away days of the week. I have had this stamp for about 3 years and have NEVER used it before. I tried the Monday out first on scrap paper - perfect. The I inked it again and stamped it direct on the page. Rubbish. But then I decided I quite liked it like that so I then deliberately stamped it with various amounts of ink so that sometimes the letters are faded. When I spent a lot of time inking the results were really good so it is deffo me and not the stamps that are the issue!

The other papers are all brand new Basic Grey Origins. Scrumptious! Expect to see a lot more of this line particularly as I used some Christmas money to splurge on the chipboard shapes which are awesome. I used one of the frames for the title, backed with BG paper from the 6x6 pad and those MM tiny alpha stickers which I love so
I stuck a few more embellishments onfrom Chatterbox and my stash. The crochet flower was far too white so I added some yellow ink which looks nicer in real life than in the close up! The paper underneath was cut with pinking scissors which I haven't used for ages. Expect to see a lot more of them as I love the look.
And then I simply added a verse from Psalm 96.

I've done a few more pages this week...
the first was based on this weeks Sketchy Thursday sketch but not finished in time to be linked up!
I really am going retro and trying to use up old stuff as well as buy new!
The papers and letter stickers are all Scenic Route Laurel. The crumpled piece was acually yellow but I used a magenta Glimmer Mist on in and crumpled it. You can still just see the dots if you look carefully! The scallop is Bazzill. I cut the butterfly off an old t-shirt of Carys' about 3 years ago and kept it. In fact, I used a flower from the same shirt for Daring card in 2007
(the cahrity begins at home dare!). I just couldn't get the elements to work together until I decided to cut the edge of the butterfly. Result!
Other things used: flower from stash; craftwork cards candy; smooch gold ink; crafty templates pink lace; Bazzil cardstock

And then the first chronological layout for the day trip to France. The layout was based on Pencil Lines sketch 169

Glimmer misted cardstock (yes a new colour!) October Afternoon, Basic Grey and WRMK papers;Scallop scissors and Martha Stewart border punch; Chatterbox acrylic heart, quickutz heart on cream glitter and tiny heart button from stash. Adornit and other letter stickers bought from Scrapshed; Rangers stickles in platinum.

The new Funky Hand CD is on Ideal World Friday 22nd Jan 2pm and my samples have finally arrived so I will show them as well as my Daring card for the week tomorrow

Friday, January 15, 2010

Brains are wierd

I had just entitled my blog "Interesting title to follow" which suggested a rather dull week until I remembered something that I find interesting that happened this week...

My darling hubby has just started off his own blog Little things please little minds partly to record his New Years Resolution of Poetry learning. (NB his URL has "thebish" in it. He is not, and never will be a bishop, it is just his nickname on Bolton Wanderers forums. He is fond of purple though). I of course have been INCREDIBLY supportive and not made any snarky comments or suggested that really he should learn Bad Sir Brian Botany as that is real poetry.
But actually I am rather proud of his acheivements.

He was rehearsing his "Death be not proud" (well not his exactly, John Donne done wrote it first) when I noted that a line in it reminded me structure and rhythm wise of a line of verse that I knew somewhere in the back of my brain, only all I could remember was "tum te tum, blah, blah blah, blah - I am to learn". And that possibly Shakespeare wrote it. Thanks to the power of Google it took me 5 minutes to discover that it was Shakespeare - and is indeed the opening speech of the Merchant of Venice.

And since seeing it in print I have discovered that I can now recite it off by heart as I learnt it for my O Level English Lit in 1981 (yikes that is a long time ago). I wonder what else is lurking in my brain that I haven't remembered that I know? And it gives me something to quote back at Phil. Though I may give Bad Sir Brian a go too. I am awfully fond of AAMilne's poetry. But Winnie the Pooh gets on my wick (gasp! did I really say that out loud. Hope you'll still speak to me)

I did remember (albeit just in time) that I was in charge of Daring Cardmakers this week. It is ages ago that I came up with the theme and I can't remember why. (Not even Google can help with this one) Maybe I was driving past a golf course...
Hole in One
I'd like you to make a card that has at least one hole in it. Could be a card with an aperture or one that features a border punch with holes in or you can use a hole punch to create a pattern. See how inventive you can be!
I have to admit that this card is version 2
Version 1 was me attempting the pattern with a hole punch. Part of the problem was that I used the cropadile and it is just a bit heavy for little old me. Then I tried to cut out around the pattern then realised it was one hot mess and started again. Most of the elements from this card are from the December Crafty Templates card kit (now sold out). I punched with a Martha Stewart punch the border on the bottom, realised the card was then wonky and so cut a little of the back. I think more needs to go as it is still a tad squiffy! (My blog doesn't have that title for nothing you know).

The sequins don't show up proper like on the photo but they are leather look! There is lots of card candy in there and yes, another successful bow and this time the ribbon goes all the way round so I am even cracking on with the tension. I must remember to use my straighteners on that end though! the chandalier paper is actually a sparkly cream and dark brown and everything tones together better than the photo suggests. I don't know if it works more at an angle...

In other news... thanks to a better work life balance this week I have only one photo from the 2008 holiday to scrap! Yay me. Then there is the rest of the day trip to France 2009 before starting a new holiday album. Its the only "themed" album I do apart from Faithscrapping and really is more about our family than any sights. Because we do more slobbing than sight seeing. However I can tell you know that the Weymouth 09 album will have more sights and nature thanks to Phil's new found photography skills. Oh yes.

Back to the end of 08 though. I have a Bazzill lickety split album which means some of the pages have pockets to put photos and journalling in to. They are hard to photograph though
Here is one using BG Offbeat which talks about how Hywel always ends up having his birthday on holiday. Well he did, but those days are over as we have now had to move our hols due to A level and GCSE results. His 18th is on a Sunday though. ie Mum and Dad will be working...

Then another double layout. Go me
All October Afternoon Nightlight. I'm sad that I didn't get the light right on the letters. They are Piggy Tales chipboard covered in UTEE - the last layer being black which gives a luscious almost plastic look to them. Sigh. I am back in with UTEE - except I tend to emboss on the floor near the plug and then get backache. I suffer for my art you know. The journalling is about how alien it is to enjoy rides like these. The eagle eyed among you will note that only 3 Nevards are on this ride and that Emrys is as sensible as I am.

And now to one of my all time faves - which has the title in the photo. I didn't think it needed any other reallyThis actually has a mix of Scenic Route; October Afternoon and CHatterbox (I think) papers with a mix of embellishments from the same company and an old Crafty Templates card kit. I added lots of black smudges so that the black smudge already there would not be lonely. But I liked the bashed up edges contrasting with the prettiness of the rest.
Here is a close up of the wordsIronically it has been suggested at breakfast today that the time of "you smell" is over. I'm not holding my breath but it has been such a big part of family life that I am kind of sad if that is true :)

Sermon today - this week the reading is the Wedding at Cana when Jesus turns water into wine and Paul writing about how we all have different spiritual gifts. We are also making people elders and turning bread and wine into a real sharing of CHrist's sacrifice for us. SO a lot to fit in and I haven't yet worked out the key to it. Which probably means I'll be playing a lot of Bejewelled Blitz (it does help you know)

And you probably don't need another reminder but just in case Haiti appeal

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Dreams Come True

I had a dream of a day yesterday
Firstly I got the go ahead to tell you about this
You can preorder the new Funky Hand CD which has a whole new revolutionary interface that is just wonderful. The way you can do Wordbooks - wow! it has really inspired the design team so tune in to Create and Craft at 12 noon this Saturday (16th) for an indepth look at some of the things you can do and the gorgeous colour ways and patterns Anice has come up with.
I know it sounds really gushy but I mean it - it is fab!

Then, I got to have a crafty play for most of the day. Could have done more if Procrastination were not my middle name. (It is isn't really. I keep meaning to change it by deed poll but somehow keep putting it off). Actually this first layout I finished Sunday night as it was super quick. Wasn't dry til yesterday though...
Its a double pager inspired by Louise Nelson - I have a way to go before managing her seemingly random stripped back scrapping that is always a work of art style but it was fun giving it a try!

We took loads of photos the day we went to a modern art gallery in Den Haag. The stuff outside was so much better than the stuff inside (see below!) I was going to add a few more photos but in the end went for just two because more distracted - especially from the beautiful mask statue which I have to say was excellently photographed by Phil (no really, I HAVE to say it...)
I used glimmer mists and stencils - both the blue and green I have on this page and just the green on the other. I think I need to buy more mists as I am ending up with loads of similarly coloured pages!
Then all that was needed was a tiny strip of KandCo papers, some MM mini alpha stickers, glass leaf beads and tiny buttons and some punched and utee'd shapes.
I have fallen in love with doing this again. First I embossed with ordinary silver embossing powder and then I sprinkled a peppermint green UTEE on the tope to get this patina look (think that is the right word)
The butterfly had the green and some turquoise UTEE sprinkled on as well. Finally I used Bazzill gem templates to make the swirls using Stickles.

The next layout wouldn't photograph properly. The colour is a butterscotch/bronze NOT orange
I used an old Sketchy Thursday sketch. I just love these and have a few printed up to get my juices going! The papers are MME Andra Victoria a Christmas present from the wonderful Glynis!). The scallop is chipboard from the old QVC box. I have so much chipboard in there and never get it our so have taken a few pieces that I HAVE to use in the next few weeks. I painted it with Butterscotch Paint Dabber. I used that and black paint to go round most of the papers and photos. the big sitcker is an American Crafts one which I glittered on the back and then added colour with a gold Smooch ink. Round the top of the circle (typically decided to do this after everyting else was stuck down) I used a KandCo stamp with Versamark and added gold swooshing powder (can't think what it is called). You only really see it when you angle the page or put the flash on
So it is a subtle effect. You can also see that I used Doodlebug glitter letter stickers. IN the corner are some quilled flowers with card candy on the top.

And finally for now this week's Sketchy Thursday layout - I hadn't realised til now it was for this week so will quickly submit it!
I used a mixture of Fancy Pants papers, a hint of glimmer mists (magenta and blue) with touches of white and black. The white scallop is a Bazzill Just the Edge and the lettering is Doodlebug. The whole think is so sparkly in real life!

I have nearly finished another Double layout. It didn't get finished yesterday as I had to stop for movie night last night. We saw "Let the Right One In" which made us all feel posh as it is in Swedish with English subtitles. It is a wonderful vampire story - just gory and tense enough!

Hope you have lots of dreams come true this week!

Sunday, January 10, 2010

And the answer is...

that the service this morning happened. We had slush and sleet rather than snow and a few hardy souls made it there. I'm so glad we did! We sang no songs (gasp!) and thought about how we are called by name and that God has our names written on our hands - a bit like David Beckham having his kids tattooed on his body! And that we are all much beloved by God.

I went to a party last night wearing inappropriate shoes. It was a quiet party (well more that, it was one that church members were at so I had to behave myself to a certain extent!) but I was so fed up of warm and sensible shoes that I wore my pink leather mary janes instead. Phil wore his "lovely" silver/bronze winkle pickers that he bought for himself for Christmas (size 11!) and we slithered not a jot but giggled quite a bit!

Here is the card I made for the birthday boy. I used a Basic Grey Archaic pad and loads of layering
the card blank is a square kraft one. I added some thickers (inked and glittered) and a Craftwork Cards candy to finish off the sentiment.

Then this afternoon I made a layout using the Sarah's Cards December sketch. Its the first time since I saw it that I have had to scrap just for me in this way - and uses photos from the day trip to France that Phil and I took last summer.

Update: better photo now!
Everything is by October Afternoon apart from the MM Tiny Alphas ; Studio Calico Twine and BG chipboard turned over and glittered - a tip I picked up from Debbie .

I will do more scrapping tomorrow - its the holiday 2008 album - I'm always a year behind!

Friday, January 08, 2010

Blogger is my temperamental mistress...

Not so much here - although the failure to stay in the lines yesterday was annoying...
but on Daring Cardmakers where it has taken me three goes to put my contribution on. Update - four as I just checked and it wasn't there again! This is because we are often posting at the same time and blogger NEVER puts me first. Still it is all sorted now and for the most part blogger seems to work much better than in the past.

We have a lot less snow today but the big question is - what about the weekend and especially the Sunday service? The church I am at is off the main road and lots of people walk. I think I am tempted to say it will be on and have something small and informal (what even more than usual?) but I will be at a meeting at the place this afternoon so will judge better then. It is the baptism of Jesus that is the focus this Sunday - the beginning of his ministry and one of the occasions when God's voice is heard ("You are my own dear Son I am pleased with you"), which is a chance to reflect on what our Ministry is and how we hear the voice of God speaking in our lives.

Sunday's coming - but today is Friday which means Daring Cardmakers of course. We are trying something new and once a month will have a Dare based on the birthstone for the month. January's stone is Garnet which is kind of a deep red/maroon/purple sort of colour in my opinion! My take on it was influenced by the lovely Crafty Templates "Lovely Letters" card kit for January.
My starting point was this sketch from Emma's Paperie and particularly the first card below it made by Jessica Witty. Actually my card looks very little like the sketch! Everything but the ribbon, flower and stamps are from the Lovely Letters kit. The stamps are Penny Black and the other bits from stash. And see that bow - by George I think I have cracked it!

Here's another card based on another Emma's Paperie sketch and the Hilary Kanwisher card below it.
The papers are all American Crafts - I just love these colours together. I used Nesties 8 and lots of hand cut items.

Wherever you are - if it has snowed - keep warm and safe. If it hasn't - make the most of it!

Thursday, January 07, 2010

Tiddley pom

The more it
SNOWs- tiddely-pom,
The more it
GOES-tiddely-pom
The more it
GOES-tiddely-pom
On
Snowing
And nobody
KNOWS-tiddely-pom,
How cold my
TOES-tiddely-pom
How cold my
TOES-tiddely-pom
Are
Growing.

so says Winnie the Pooh and so says me. It has a tune in my head!
I do have to keep reminding myself
that I am not on holiday any more just because some of the schools are closed
!
2 kids can walk to school and theirs is shut. One has a 45 minute bus ride and his is open!!!
And for those of you who live in Canada or snowy parts of the US laugh away
as we have hardly any snow or freezing temps compared to yours


We have had a lovely time since I last posted.
We saw the Woman in Black at the Fortune Theatre
which was super scary
and then we have been snowed in (ish) since then!
The house is a long way from normal
but I've decided that I want to spend this year SLOWLY decluttering - we'll see!


It is Salt day today and my take on the challenge might be a bit surprising.
Stacy asked us to reflect on 1 Corinthians 13.
Now usually I would head straight for the Love is... section
but this time the phrase that jumped out was
"But if I have no love I am nothing".
And from there the song "What about the love" by Amy Grant sprang to mind

(actually not by Amy Grant but she is the one I know singing it)
If you want a close up of the lyrics you will find them
here)
because you can't really read them on my layout!
I do wish that I had done it a little differently.
But I had written out the heart before I sprayed it with Glimmer Mist
and the writing ran.
So I turned over and did it again.
Now I wish I had also stamped a background something
and stuck it down before i wrote on it
so that there was better overlap with the photo.
But do you know what?
I'm not going to!
It took ages to get the photo right with the finger in focus and Phil blurred
(oooh isn't he stern!)

The papers are all October Afternoon Report Card.
The blue cardstock is from a Costco kit


Here are close ups of the Scripture and the key part of the song

(I'm having trouble with fonts and columns today - hope you can read it fine!)

Saturday, January 02, 2010

Well that's a good start then

I managed to miss my cue to launch this month's Get Funky challenge.
Big oops.
This year is going well already then!
The last few days have been a whirlwind of dogs, walks, a very small but lively Watchnight service, food, Dr Who (sob) and naps as I have come over quite weary! And obviously a sleep in this morning... which wasn't really a great idea as I have oodles to do including a craft club this afternoon and a service for tomorrow night to prepare so that we can play our new family board game - Arkham Horror - on Sunday afternoon (it takes 2-4 hours. Still, better than monopoly). Oh. Dear.

Anyway I shall get on then, despite my embarrassment.
Ahem,
ladies and gentlemen I am delighted to introduce to you this month's Get Funky challenge
Spots and Stripes

My card showcases the new Funky Hand CD Dreams Come True which will be launched very soon. It has all sorts of wonderful new features including digi stamps like this cup and tea pot. How cool that they have spots on them (there is another cup with stripes too!). The papers are all from one of the colourways on the new CD.

I decided to try some paper rolls. They look effective and are very easy to do (but it probably means that this card needs hand delivering not posting!). I cut some of my card into strips of various lengths, inked the edges and rolled them up, starting the roll round a pencil and then tightening it. I put a little double sided tape on the end of the strip. They are all attached along another lenght of double sided tape.

The digi images were cut out and layered onto Nesties Label 1 die cuts with foam pads. The spots and the holes in the border puched strip were filled in with different stickles. And that's about it! I love these colours together and the options on the cd are amazing. Monday is the day for making my samples ready for the Create and Craft launch coming very soon and I can't wait.

So back to thinking about the beginning of John's gospel - In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God (for the rest see here)
Which talks about how amazing it is that God helped us to understand himself by coming as the Word (Jesus) who was always part of God. I like to think of it as God saying "well if you want a job doing, do it yourself" - which is why Jesus was born, lived and died for us.
There, that's sorted then!
(Well its a start anyway)

Don't forget that if you join in the Get Funky challenge that you could win a £20 Funky Hand voucher to spend in the shop!