Birthday Greetings … of the Hare(y) kind!

I bought these beautiful craft papers a short time ago, and knew that I’d definitely be using the Hare papers to make a particular Birthday card – and, I did, and … this is it.

Actually made in August, I saved the photos and couldn’t find where the darn I’d saved them … but a bit of a search (of around an hour long!  tsk tsk) and I found them again today, so sharing a couple of photos here with you.

The papers are made by Craft Consortium (I’ll add a link to their website at the bottom of this post for those who might be interested), and are truly beautiful papers.  The images are so crisp and bright (although my photography skills are useless – forgive me), and the papers are a joy to work with.  As you can see in the photo, I used four images from the same ‘Hare’ selection, which I matted and layered onto card-stock I already had.

I used a little muslin square behind the main image, which I laid on top of some deep purple grosgrain ribbon.  Some assorted stamens, in 3 colours of purples, are peeping out from behind the medium image.   There are two tags, made from two smaller Hare images, which I tied with (hairy) string.  And I finally added some paper flowers, which I finished with some buttons for the centres.

Turning my attention to the inside of the card, I stamped an image of a Post Card, and gave it a vintage look with inks, then layered it onto some of the deep purple card which I’d also used on the front for matting and layering – so that the ‘theme’ was carried through into the inside of the card.

I stamped a couple of images, which I then water-coloured.  After the above photograph was taken I went back with the water-colours and painted a little more, and just brought the whole thing more ‘to life’.  But … I then forgot to take another photo, so this sadly is the only one I have of the inside.

This was a really enjoyable make, mainly I think, because I’m kind of in love with the beautiful papers.  I have another of their collections, and can’t wait to make some cards with those too.

For those who would like a peep at what they make and who they are, I recommend their website.  It’s easy to navigate and has a great selection of images, if you’re low on inspiration.  You can visit their site here:  https://www.craftconsortium.com/

Thank you so much for coming to share this card with me.  It feels like FOREVER since I shared a card.  I’ve been enjoying myself with the clay for far too long!  (and I’m still hearing it calling to me! lol).

I know that posts are a little infrequent at the moment, but this bloomin’ bout (or flare up) of ‘poorly’ is knocking the stuffing out of me, and I am so thankful to you for all your lovely messages of support, and am so genuinely grateful for your kindness and friendship.

I’ve been thinking about …. (brace yourself) …. Christmas…  and I’ve started to make my version of something I found on Pinterest, which I think you might like.  I still have to finish the project though, so although I’m not quite ready to share it yet, I’m giving you a warning that Christmas is on its way!  EEEeeek!  lol.

Again, thank you for coming.  I love seeing you.  Have a blessed day, my fabulous friends.

 

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Fairy Footprints Card ~ Fairy Cottage Pot ~ Birthday Giveaway Winners!

Thank you so much to all who entered this Birthday Giveaway in my  last post.  I love Giveaways any day of the week or time of the year, but this one was extra special for me because it was my Birthday, and so a chance to have some extra fun with some of my blogging friends.

On offer in this latest Giveaway were two items.  A Fairy Footprints Card, and a Fairy Cottage Pot.  The photographs I shared with you in the post didn’t do either of the items any justice what-so-ever.

The card is something that even I couldn’t stop looking at.  It’s filled with so much magical wonderment and sparkle.  Oh, and I totally forgot to say in my last post:

• Those fairy footprints weren’t made using a stamp; nor an impress of feet shaped tool;  nor a leather press tool or anything like that.  No footprint  ‘tool’  or  ‘implement’  nor mould of any sort made those footprints.  Cross my heart.  Pinky finger truth.  I truthfully state that NO FOOTPRINT TOOL OF ANY DESCRIPTION MADE THOSE FOOTPRINTS.

The tiny Fairy Cottage Pot looks way prettier in real life too – but because I tried to get close up shots of the Pot, it made it appear bigger and somehow lacking.  Where-as in real life, it’s very much a cute, tiny little thing of charm and sweetness, which makes you smile when holding it between your fingers.

ANYHOO …  you’re here to find out who won, and I’m here to tell you.

All entrants were allotted a number to their name, in the order of entry:

1. BCParkison
2. Susieshy
3. Soozyb2013 (Soozy, sadly, doesn’t have a blog so I can’t link to it)
4. Samanthamurdoch
5. Dinosaursdonkeysandms
6. Invisibly Me
7. Paula @ Spin a Yarn
8. Rabbitpatchdiary.com
9. Chicken Grandma
10. Nancee56

Because there are two items up for grabs, I explained in my last post:

• On the day of the Random Number Generator being asked to pick the winners, the FIRST number generated, will be the winner who will get the chance to choose which Fairy related give-a-way they would like to receive.
• The SECOND number generated will receive the other Fairy give-a-way.

So, with no further ado I’m thrilled to announce that. . . 

The FIRST number chosen, and so is in the position of choosing which Fairy item she would like to choose,  is:

. . .  Number 3 – and this number belongs to  SOOZYB2013

Soozyb …  because you don’t have a blog, I’ll try to contact you via the email address which is logged into the system every time you comment.

• In an effort to be fair and not keep winner #2 waiting for their prize gift:-   If I don’t hear from Soozyb by Friday 10th August, (next Friday) then I shall pass on the choice of item to winner No.2 so that they can choose which gift they’d like, and Soozyb will be in receipt of which ever Fairy item is left,  –  once I get her address to send the item to.

The SECOND winning number chosen by The Random Number Generator is:-

. . .  Number 1 – and this number belongs to:  BCParkison!

Who I think we all know as Bev.

Bev . . . As soon as I hear from Soozyb,  I’ll drop you a note and let you know what your Winning Gift is (unless you’d rather have a surprise)  – OR – if I don’t hear from Soozy by next Friday, I’ll drop you a note asking you to choose your Winning Gift from this Giveaway.

Many, many thanks to everyone for joining in.  Giveaways add a little fun to everyday life, and makes days ‘glisten’ just that little bit more  ~  especially when we perhaps need a bit of a glisten.

Thank you also for joining me on this beautiful (if rather too warm) Sunday.  I hope your day passes brightly and that, at the end of it,  you feel contentment wash over you.

A few gremlins may have grizzled into your moments – but that happens to us all, so never feel you’re alone in that.  The trick with these gremlins is to never give them the power over your moods, and don’t allow them to hang around either.  Kick them out.  Open the door and demand they leave.  My dear friends, you have no room in your life for gremlins.  Don’t give them room.

Stay as awesome are you are, and  –  aim for contentment.  Once you have that, everything else will magically fall into place.

Heaps of love and squidges, from me in my corner, to you in yours.  ~

 

“Happy Birthday to me, happy Birthday to me…” (well that’s a Give-a-way isn’t it!)

Did I give-a-way that it’s my Birthday today?  [gasp!]   I did?  Well shame on me.  Fancy advertising that you’re a year old than your original 7.5 years older.  Well..  I’m now 7.5 years old and well ….  it’s very strange, but I feel the exact same age as I did yesterday.  Bonus!

Talking of bonus’ . . . I come bearing a celebration of my special day, and, as we all know, a Birthday is a day associated with love and a small gift … or two.  So I’m here doing a Give-a-way to celebrate, open to all my followers.  However, not just one give-a-way,  but TWO!  My Birthday is on the 2nd so I thought that it being a 2, we should have a double Give-a-way.

BLOG POST EDITED: 5th August 2018

The ‘GIVEAWAY’ is now closed to new names being entered into the ‘hat’.  Anyone adding their name from this moment forward is, I’m afraid, too late to be included in the ‘draw’.

  The Winner of the Home Under the Dome will be announced later today; Sunday 5th August 2018.

What’s on offer…

Fairy Footprints on a little card,  and a Fairy Cottage Pot.  Each one of these Fairy goodies is included in this Birthday Giveaway!

 

On offer is what you see in the photograph above.

• One person can win the Fairy Footprints card, –
• and  –  another person can win the Cottage Pot.

 

As you might be able to see in the 2nd of the two photos (just above here) – the Cottage Pot is, in total only just over 2″(two) inches tall.

It’s a micro-sized (real) terracotta pot, in which a tiny Fairy built her home.  Now left behind,  after she found her mate and began a family – and I was lucky enough to be in the right place, at the right time, with my ‘finding eyes’ working so well that I found it!

The tiny little terracotta pot itself measures just three-quarters of an inch!

The Fairy Footprints card . . . well there’s quite a magical story behind that.

I rolled out two sorts of different clay and left it on my desk for just a matter of moments while I went and washed my hands. 

When I came back . . . there were Fairy Footprints all over both of the clays!  From very small to big (‘big’ for a Fairy), but all of them were just breathtaking.  I didn’t want to destroy the clay (obviously) but couldn’t leave it all in a ‘slab’ – as that would have been too difficult to store carefully.  So … I carefully cut the footprints out and set them aside for them to dry.  (Hoping that nothing happened to them, nor that the footprints would disappear!)

I coloured the clay so that the footprints showed up clearly…  and decided that I just couldn’t keep them for myself, and had to share.  So I attached one to a little card – (just 11.6cm square, – or roughly 4.5″ inches) and here I am doing a Give-a-way in order to share and celebrate my Birthday.

Now then …. here’s the important bit so pin back your lug holes (ears). . . 

The Give-a-way is open only to followers of the Cobweborium Emporium.

• In order to enter your name for one of these Give-a-ways you MUST  make a comment on this post, and BEGIN YOUR COMMENT WITH THE WORD:  GIVEAWAY.  This is really important because seeing that word right at the beginning of a comment is my way of instantly finding all the people who want to be included.  If it’s not at the start of your comment, then on the day when I’m counting up how many people want to be in with a chance of winning, I just might miss anyone who has put the word in the middle or the end etc.  So please begin your comment with that one word: Giveaway. (thank you!)
• On the day of the Random Number Generator being asked to pick the winners, the FIRST number generated, will be the winner who will get the chance to choose which Fairy related give-a-way they would like to receive.
• The SECOND number generated will receive the other Fairy give-a-way.

And that’s all there is to it. 🙂

BLOG POST EDITED: 5th August 2018

The ‘GIVEAWAY’ is now closed to new names being entered into the ‘hat’.  Anyone adding their name from this moment forward is, I’m afraid, too late to be included in the ‘draw’.

  The Winner of the Home Under the Dome will be announced later today; Sunday 5th August 2018.

But I repeat … this Give-a-way is open only to followers of The Cobweborium Emporium.  This is simply because it makes it fair.

Followers aren’t simply ‘followers’.  These people (and you all know who you are) are wonderful friends who make blogging such a total joy to me.

All that’s left to say is …  don’t forget: GIVEAWAY as your first word  –

But you don’t have to want to be included for a Giveaway,  to comment.

If your comment doesn’t include the magic word, then I will know you don’t feel the need to have another ‘thing’ to care for!  Just come and have a chat in that case.  (You know I love to chat with you! lol.)

Wishing you a bright, blessed Thursday.  May your day be filled with peace and contentment.  Thank you so much for coming and sharing a coffee moment with me. 

Much love ~ 

 

BLOG POST EDITED: 5th August 2018

The ‘GIVEAWAY’ is now closed to new names being entered into the ‘hat’.  Anyone adding their name from this moment forward is, I’m afraid, too late to be included in the ‘draw’.

  The Winner of the Home Under the Dome will be announced later today; Sunday 5th August 2018.

Begin each day with Twitchy Whiskers!

I can think of no finer way than to wake up like one of my cats.  Alf Capone (Used Furniture Dealer)  in particular.  He has this way of stretching, in a leisurely sort of way, then he pulls his whiskers forward as his mouth makes a sort of pouty, kissing shape, and finally ….  he yawns the yawn of a LION.  Totally.  The only thing which is missing is that LION growl.  But … the important thing is ... his whiskers twitch.

Maisie Doats (other cat residing in Cobweb Towers,  – a minuscule cat – 1:12th scale)  (well, no, not really 1:12th scale, but she is very small).   Aaanyway  [stop waffling Cobs!]… back to Maisie Doats … her whiskers twitch too – but it’s normally when she getting royally indignant about something (or some cat)  she’s spotted in HER garden.  If I had the courage of that little cat, I swear to dog that I’d be able to run the world.

Alf …. aw, now he’s a lover not a fighter.   But Maisie ….  ah, she’s a F.I.G.H.T.E.R  of the first degree.  A right bruiser.  Trouble is that she normally comes off the worst in a fight.

I know when she has an injury because she hides under the sofa.  You see … she knows that if I see she’s injured, out comes the cotton wool and the antiseptic in a bowl of tepid water, and in mummy wades to bathe the wounds.  SHE HATES IT!  She won’t speak to me for hours after I’ve done it – just to make sure that I know what I’ve done wrong.  It’s her version of putting me on the naughty step.

Aaanyhoo ….  I’m here to share the Catified version of the Waggy Tails cards (<–clickable link – opens in a new tab) which I shared on Monday, so I shall hush up and share!

Now did that face make you smile?  If you didn’t smile, maybe now’s the moment to check your pulse.

Originally I was only going to make a nose, cheeks, mouth with whiskers combination … but a little tickle happened somewhere inside me and I added a very tiny pair of beady eyes, just for laughs.  Not to do anything which would turn the twitchy whiskers into a ‘real’ cat face – I never wanted this to look like a proper cat face, for I wanted it to be a smile in a card.  The whole ‘thing’ about these cards is that they’re meant to be fun and funny.  But the beady eyes just gave a sort of added comical twist to it, and … well …  I just hadta.

A view from the side so that you can see how ‘proud’ the face is from the card itself.

The whiskers …  they can be touched and ‘twanged’.  They definitely have the twitchy factor.  🙂

Did you know ….

• A cat’s nose is as unique to a particular cat as a fingerprint is to a human  – no two cats have the same nose.
• The naked skin around a cat’s nostrils is known as “nose leather”.
• The colour of a cat’s nose leather depends on the colour of their coats – it can be pink, black, blue, chocolate, brown, lavender and brick-red.
• Chinchilla cats have nose leather that’s outlined with a lovely grey colour.
• Some cats even boast freckles on their noses!

Since making the Waggy Tails and Twitchy Whiskers Cards, my brain has gone on a ‘jolly’ with this idea and I now have ideas falling out of my ear-holes for other cards which I’d like to make.  But … not quite yet.  I don’t want to bore you to tears with these sorts of cards.

So I’ll jump craft lanes and come back next time with something a little different.  However …  expect me to make a visit to these cards at some point in the near future, as my brain is having a party with the ideas, and I can hear very clearly the laughter and the popping of corks which is happening inside my head!  😀

Thank you so much for coming and having a coffee with me,  and for taking a peep at the Cats Whiskers card.

But  …. take note of the sentiment and please remember to always:

BEGIN EACH DAY WITH TWITCHY WHISKERS!

Have a truly beautiful Wednesday!  😀

Sending love and squidges, from me in my corner, to you in yours.

 

 

 

Start Each Day with a Waggy Tail!

Happy Monday all!

I promised someone last week that the thing I was in the middle of making at that time, would cause a smile.  And I hope that these two handmade cards do that very thing.

Can you imagine receiving a card, out of the blue,  for your Birthday;  to cheer you up;  or just to say ‘hello’,  opening it and finding this funny little dog inside…

That little chap looks like he’s kicking up the grass after he’s had a tinkle, doesn’t he?  LOL!

Camera at a slightly different angle so that you can see this really is a card.

I took the next photo to give you a side view, so that you could get a true idea of how much the back-end of this little chap stands proud of the card…

And then . . .   well . . .  I just had to make a taller, shaggy coated white dog – which I based upon a ‘Dulux Dog’ – or – an ‘Old English Sheepdog’,  as they’re actually called. . . 

. . . and from a slightly different angle . . . 

The photographs sadly don’t really show the detail of the coats – the ‘shaggyness’ which I’ve sculpted in.  The bodies look far more ‘hairy’ looking in real life – to the natural eye.

Another photo to show the depth of the clay dog.

And finally . . . a paws for thought . . .  

. . .  I forgot to take a shot of their feet, so dashed back to the craft room to take an extra photo. The photograph above shows the pinky feet of the white dog, and you can just about see that the brown woofer has pinky brown feet.  But what the photo doesn’t pick up is that each paw has individual pads – just as a real dog does.  In this case, each pad has one large central pad, and three little smaller pads around the front of the paw.

I think if I were sent one of these cards, for whatever reason, after displaying it as a card should be displayed,  I’d frame it afterwards and hang it on the wall.  It’s way too much fun to go into a drawer!

Now I’m very aware that not everyone is a dog person, so I gave some thought to what Cat people might enjoy . . .  and [whispering]. . .   “shhhh  . . .  something is in the pipeline for those people who love cats!  Coming  very,  very  soon!

Thank you so much for coming for a visit, and for sharing a coffee moment with me.  I hope you found a smile or two looking at the Waggy Tails! 

It’s really lovely to see you, and even more lovely to ‘hear’ your comments and chat, so  please,  do let me know you’ve visited. 

Have a truly blessed rest of your day, my lovely blogging friends!

 

Happy Anniversary – Rock Style!

Today, Mr.Cobs and I have been married 37 years.  Really doesn’t seem that long … but the sprinkling of grey in Mr.Cobs hair, and the ‘God spilt grey all over’ my hair, kind of tells the truth of the matter.

I wondered how many actual days 37 years worked out to be … so I went in search, and found something which gave me not only the answer to that question but answers to a few more too … so I set to work and made a personalised ‘thing’ using photoshop:  …

Please note that I missed out how many times we’ve given each other one of  *those* looks when we’ve disagreed with each other.  lol.

I handmade just a simple card, – I didn’t feel it needed anything complicated.  He’s not really a complicated type of chap.  I wanted to get Little Cobs involved so got him helping me to find tiny little rocks which were flatter than the norm.  We collected a little pot of them, so that I could make a choice of two which kind of matched each other.

Little Cobs kept asking me:  “What are you going to make with them Grammy?” ... and of course I couldn’t tell him, because he’s just useless at keeping secrets, so I told him that I wasn’t entirely certain, but that I would show him when he came for the day on Saturday.

I hand wrote the words, as it just made it all more personal and special.  And yes… he really is my rock.  Even with the bad cough he’s sporting at the moment, he’s still right there.

a partial side view – so that you can see that the rock pebbles really aren’t that thick.

The lighting makes it look like I’ve used cream card on top of a black layer, on top of another cream layer, and then attached to a white cut and folded card – but in fact,  all the card – apart from the black card, is snow-white white.  I think that the difference is that the layers of white card are linen card – so it reflects the light in a slightly different way and softens the hardness of the white.  But … to the naked eye, the card really is white.

37 years…  and it doesn’t feel a day too long.  If I had my time over, I’d pick him again, every time.

Thank you so much for coming and sharing a coffee with me and taking a peep at the card.  I love seeing you.  But … you know that anyway 😀

Sending squidges, from me here in my corner, to you there in yours.

 

The story of A Daffodil; a Poem; Happy un-Birthday Wishes; and a Handmade Card . . .

Back in January of this year, we had a smattering of snow here where I live in the South of England.  Now snow in January isn’t anything unusual – for we are in the winter months and winter can bring forth all sorts of weather – snow being one of them.

But what made the snow stand out for me was that I had one lone little Daffodil blooming in my garden.

It came to my notice in December last year. It grew taller and taller, over Christmas and into the New Year.  All alone, it stood up against winter rains, winter colds, winter winds and … even the cold smattering of snow could not rob this darling little thing which seemed to take on a personality by the time the snow came.  I’d began to actually talk to it, telling it that it was too soon for it to be poking its head out of its warm little bed.  I begged it not to unwrap its beautiful petals just yet, for it was far too cold. And then, determined to do its own thing, it unfurled and bloomed.   I talked to it daily, telling it how beautiful it was and how thankful I was for it to be there to greet me each day.  Even through the smattering of January snow it continued to be determined to stay with me.

Then the really bad winds came.  Those winds blew and blew, and the little brave daffodil fought on.  The wind was relentless and blew stronger and stronger – seemingly determined to take out the proud daffodil like some vile hit man who’d been hired to put an end to the joy of the Daffodil.  And it did.

The strong, violent wind blew the Daffodil over, and in doing so, broke the stem.  I felt dreadfully sad and had a moment of truly disliking winter winds with a passion.

It was during January that I shared the little Daffodil with a fellow blogger who I love to pieces.  Rabbit, of RabbitPatchDiary.com.  Rabbit posted a blog post on the 14th of January 2018, called  ‘To Love the Winter, Too’ – which was a total joy to read.  I commented on the post and within that comment I told her about the little Daffodil in my garden, saying:-

. . .  “. . .  it’s still Winter here in the United Kingdom, and yet …. there is a daffodil blooming in my front garden.  It grew and grew over Christmas, and a couple of days ago it burst into a great big smile.

I’ve explained gently to it that it’s a little early, and that the Sun hasn’t yet warmed up enough to shine the heat upon it and make it feel the rays of wonderment that I know it would normally enjoy. I just hope that it understood and is willing to hang around a little, until the sun does come out with some beautiful sun rays, just for this happy little daffodil.” . . . 

And this ↑ comment inspired Rabbit to compose the most beautiful poem which she blogged about, titling the post  ‘The Brave Little Daffodil’.  When I read the poem it made me choke back tears – for I knew that the Brave Little Daffodil in the poem was in fact my very own little Daffodil.

In a comment I told Rabbit that I would post a photograph of my Daffodil on my blog.  I’d taken a photograph of the Daffodil on the 16th of January and although the surroundings of the beautiful flower were dreary, dull, wet, and not terribly inspiring,  the appearance of the Daffodil was enough to bring joy to my heart.   I tried to make a post with the photo, but for some reason I just couldn’t make the words of my post show the wonderful feelings that this spark of wonderment had given me.  I failed totally.  So put it to one side, telling myself that perhaps I should just email the photo to Rabbit.

However, I now know why I wasn’t inspired to make that blog post at the time…  for something was happening which I needed to wait for.  Time had to pass in order for a whole triangle of love and inspiration to come into force,  and now it has.

A little while ago I realised that I’d missed a much-loved bloggers Birthday.  The blogger: Beverly of  ‘MoreInkPlease.com’ (aka LateBloomingDesigns), and hadn’t made her or sent her a card to celebrate her Birthday.  So I did what any decent friend would do …  I made her a Happy Unbirthday Card and posted it to her.  Late for her Birthday, but on time for her Un-Birthday!

But what I didn’t know what that Beverly (of More Ink Please) was working on her own creation(s) which had been inspired by the Daffodil and the incredible poem which Rabbit (of Rabbit Patch Diaries) had written.

Beverly received her UnBirthday Card, and then confided in me that she was making something for me and a ‘something’ for someone else, so to expect something through the post soon.  (My excitement at this news is something I won’t share as I get so stupidly excited about Happy Mail that you’d think I was a child on Christmas Eve).

True to her word, a couple of weeks or so later, I received a package from Beverly, and upon opening it I found this incredible handmade card  . . .

. . . and was instantly touched deeply by the hard work which had gone into making those incredible Daffodils on the front of the card.

Cards are always beautiful things to receive, but a handmade card means the world to me.  Gifts are lovely – but for someone to ‘donate’ their time to you by making something for you is absolutely priceless to me, and because I feel like this I was instantly choked with emotion and gratitude that Beverly should go to SO much trouble.  But then …. I opened the card …. out popped a letter which Beverly had hand written to me, and … inside the card itself …  was the original poem which Rabbit had written in honour of my Winter Daffodil.

In the letter, Beverly confided that she’d made two of these cards, similar to each other but not the exact same, and that she’d sent the twin card to ….  Rabbit [of RabbitPatchDiary.com] – the writer of the poem!

This combination of two incredibly beautiful hearts joined together in one place and inspired by one lone little daffodil made the tears spill over my lashes and onto my cheeks.

As usual Mr. Cobs laughed at me and my tender heart and handed me the box of tissues.  I could barely speak to tell him why I was crying, I was so moved.

Let me share the poem which Rabbit wrote about my daffodil, with you :-

Very far away from me,

across the wild and open sea,

A brave little daffodil blooms,- I know,

because a fairy told me so.

He asked the rose to come along-

and the coral bells to sing their song-

But only the brave little daffodil.

had the courage and the will.

And so one cold and dreary day,

when springtime seemed so far away,

The fairy spied his gift of gold-

blooming, in the world so cold-

and so she did , what we all should-

she shared, when she found something good.

written by Rabbit of Rabbitpatchdiaries.com

. . .  and that was the poem that Beverly had collected up from Rabbits blog post, printed out and fixed into the inside of the amazing card which Bev had made for me.

Finally I now I know why I hadn’t been able to post the photograph of the little Winter January Daffodil when I originally took the photograph back on the 16th of January this year.  ‘Time’ was waiting for the right moment for that Daffodil to bring about somethings which would require the Daffodil to be shared, so that it’s full and complete story could be told as ‘one’ and everything arrive together in one place.  Right here.  Right now.

So here, for the first time, is that one, lone little Daffodil, on a dreary Winter January day, stood all by itself in wet chipped bark and with little colour from anything else (except some small, evergreen conifer trees) to keep her company.

‘Time’ made it so that I couldn’t find the correct words in order to share the Daffodil back in January.  And now, now that the sides of this wonderful triangle which was being made have come together, the time is right and I can share it.

I’m so sorry Rabbit that you’ve had these weeks of waiting for a photo to appear.  I knew that it would happen, I just didn’t know when, or how, or why it was being made so difficult.  But now I do.  ‘Time’ was making me wait for everything to come together.  And, finally, now it has. 

Thank you all for coming and letting me share these wonderful people with you.  I’m so blessed to have them in my life.  If you haven’t met Rabbit or Beverly before … have a little look around their blogs.  You might just fall in love with them too!

Hoping your Thursday is behaving itself for you, and that your day goes smoothly, gently and uncomplicated as can be.  May joy be the undercurrent and contentment be the result.

Much love to you ~

Is there a Birthday celebrated with Chocolate? If not … there should be!

It was recently a male relatives Birthday, and pretty much like most ‘made by hand’ card makers, I  don’t like making cards for men.  They all seem so twee or predictable – so …  ‘forgive me Crafter for I have sinned’  …  I will normally buy the men in my life a card for their birthday.  And …  this is the story of how this card came to be.

I knew I’d bought a card for this particular relatives Birthday.

Mr. Cobs knew I’d bought a card for this particular relatives Birthday.

Could I find said card?

Not on your nelly!  (I have no idea where that saying came from – but it’s most definitely a saying here in the UK, and has been since dirt was invented.  It means:  ‘Not on your life’!).

So, with very little time left before a card had to be delivered by hand, I got my thinking cap on and came up with a card which, I have to admit, looks better in real life than in the photo.  But … and this is the important bit …  it practically made itself.

It began with a cut and scored white card.  I chose the cafe latte coloured, striped with cream stripes card for the top part of the card, and the rich chocolate-brown Happy Birthday card, in different font styles for the bottom. (You can buy both these cards in a huge variety of different colours – so check out the options if you visit the website).  Both of these cards are from the Anna Marie Designs range.

I cut these different cards to size, then layered them onto some black card stock, then fixed them to the white card.

Then cut the tag from some white card stock, using a Tattered Lace Peach Sorbet Torn Edge Tags die.  I don’t think Tattered Lace make these anymore, but I’ve had a look round and found some on Amazon  here.

The ‘Birthday Wishes’ was stamped using a stamp from the Wishes and Vines by Silhouette Stamps.  I’ve had these stamps for a while, but you can still buy them in one or two places, both in the US an in the UK – so ask Google to be your friend and I’m sure he’ll help.

I stamped and then layered the tag onto some black card, which I then carefully cut around, attempting to match the wiggly outside of the tag itself.

Then I added a ribbon made from some wide silk ribbon in my stash and …. That’s all there was to it!

I would have posted this a couple of days ago …  but I couldn’t find the place I’d saved it to on my computer!  {sigh} …  It would seem that Birthdays are going to be a nightmare when card giving this year.  First Birthday of the new year and I’m already ‘fudging it up’!

I know I don’t normally do Jokes on any day but Friday … but I heard this one and I need to share it with you ….

Why did the cow cross the road?
–
It wanted to go to the mooovies.

Yup … still finding it funny and still laughing out loud.  lol

Have a really great rest of your day, and thank you so much for coming and having a coffee with me!

Sending you lots of squidges in a huuuuge bucket  ~  

 

 

It was a book – and now it’s a card!

Firstly … sorry to still be posting Christmas cards,  in the middle of January, but this was one which I couldn’t post before Christmas as it would have spoilt the surprise, so sharing it with you now.

Originally this was a children’s book called Dear Zoo.

It was one of those books which is ‘interactive’.  It had opening doors on each page.  So I began by cutting those doors out so that the pages lay closely together.

I set to work and first measured out how much of a section I wanted to cut out of the book in order to leave the right size ‘hole’ inside the card/book at the end.  Once I’d cut through the pages, I then glued and used double-sided tape to ensure that the pages I wanted to stay shut actually stay that way.

Then …  I went to town.  Papers, card, ribbons, flowers, baubles, a sleigh, handmade hearts, berries, printed pictures from a CD Rom, cutting, pearls, snowflakes, die cutting …  you name it, I think I probably either did it or thought about doing it.

Inside, showing page 1, of the book/card.

I die cut the Christmas trees, then painted them roughly with a little paint then once dry I added some dimensional ‘snow’ and added a little twinkling glitter.  While those dried I stamped the blue backing paper with clear embossing ink and added some softly twinkly embossing powder so that it gave the background a bit of twinkle.  The snowflakes are all die cuts too.

Inside of the book/card  –  page 2

I printed this page (above) three times, and cut out various parts of the page so that I could do a little decoupage and give the page some depth.

I added a little white glitter here and there, on these layers, just to catch the light and again, add some depth.

The back of the card/book

The spine of the book (and spreading round to the front and back) …  when you see it in real life, looks like leather.  It’s not.  It’s actually made from regular craft card and glycerine. (and an embossing folder – but you can use any embossing folder you like).  I won’t bore you to death with a ‘how to’, because people have posted how to’s about doing it all over the web.  But instead, I’ll give you a video of the fabulous lady who taught me how to make this faux leather:  (her name is Sheena Douglass and she’s Scottish – so give yourself chance to adjust to her accent and you’ll be fine then). . .

And that’s all there was to it!

Have to admit that the most difficult bit was actually cutting through those individual pages.  Coooo, those were thick and really tough work. But then …  I’m a bit of a weakling so taking the top off a bottle can challenge me most days!  tsk tsk.  drat these muscleless arms!

Well .. it’s Tuesday (or Chewsday as my friend pronounces it), and I think we need a little Tuesday fun, so here are a few jokes to turn the corners of your mouth up . . .

• Why don’t you ever see hippopotamus hiding in trees? Because they’re really good at it.
• How does NASA organise their company parties? They planet.
• My friend recently got crushed by a pile of books, but he’s only got his shelf to blame.
• What did Jay-Z call his girlfriend before they got married? Feyoncé.
• What do you call dangerous precipitation? A rain of terror.
• What do you call a big pile of kittens? A meowntain.
• …. and finally ….
• Atheism is a non-prophet organisation.

Well even if only one of them made you smile, then I’ve done my job.  😀

Thank you so much for coming.  I love seeing you here.  Each blog post is, for me, like opening up my front door and waiting for you to arrive  . . .  and then you all come, one by one, and stop for a coffee with me.  I just love it.  (and I love it even more when you stay for a chat – so please feel free to chat away in comments.  I can promise I’ll reply because, as everyone will tell you, I love to chat!)  😀

Have a truly blessed rest of your day!

 

 

A card for Aunt Beulah . . .

I heard that another of the cards I’d made for a blogging friend who lives in the USA arrived on time for Christmas and so I can now share the card with you.

I know that to some of you, you might think that I’ve made the same card that I sent to someone else, (Rabbit, at The Rabbit Patch),  but I haven’t.  (see below) 

I made a card for Rabbit at The Rabbit Patch – which had a similar look about it – but it was different, and the insides were completely different from each other too.  This was the card I made for Rabbit – which I shared with you a few weeks ago:

… this (above) was the card I made for Rabbit – at The Rabbit Patch – but it’s completely different from the card for Aunt Beulah.  The flowers, the pearls, the leaves, the backgrounds – everything is different.  Even the hanging hearts are different.  😀

But this (below) is the card I made for Aunt Beulah . . .

All the cards I made for blogging friends were made using things which had something from my home about them.  On this, Aunt Beulah’s card, – the little Pine Cones – came from my garden, where the four 100 foot tall pine trees in my garden had dropped their cones.  (I reckon those trees are in a competition with each other to see which one of them can trip me up and leave me flat out on the decking!  tsk tsk).  Of course – I had the professional help of my assistant,  Little Cobs,  in the collecting of the pine cones, and he was paid his pocket-money for helping.  (He’s going to end up with more money in his money-box than I’ve got, at this rate!)

The background, wooden planks ‘look’ paper …. well now that’s actually cut from a spare roll of wallpaper.  I have this wallpaper on the wall behind my big wooden bed in the bedroom.  I kept around half a roll of the wallpaper  *just in case of some accident or other* – and I wanted to ensure that I sent a little bit of ‘me’ in the card,  so I cut a square of the paper to make the card look like it was a timber wall.  It’s great paper, as it has a texture of old wood.  Very soft and gentle, but it does have that look about it.  (I have no other wallpaper in my home – just that on the one wall.  I saw it and fell in love, so ordered it there and then!).

The hearts were all handmade by me out of very light weight clay, and coloured up using Buff-it,  which is made by Pinflair. (Highly recommend this product – I would use it on every card if I could – I love it soooo much!)

The string of red pearls are pearls that I used to use on one of my own Christmas Trees, but every time someone walked too close to the tree, those pearls would jump off the branches in an attempt to make an escape bid for the floor … so I said ‘no more’ and decided that I wouldn’t use them again.  I didn’t know what I was going to do with them, but I took them to my craft room and squirreled them away in there, knowing that at some point, I would use them.  And … I did.  For the first time – I cut a length off the long string and decorated the card for Aunt Beulah with them.  I antiqued them up a little using some silver wax – which I simply rubbed on with my finger, to give the pearls a shimmer.

The flowers, red and white berries and the dried corn …. etc,  all came from my stash of flowers, and I touched them with a little ‘snow’ and dusted them with ice crystals to make them twinkle.

Finally … I stamped the sentiment onto a length of card which I manipulated so that it bent and ‘travelled’ over the page in a pretty way,  – popped it into a memo pick and fixed it to the card.

And that’s all there was to it!

I was SO relieved to hear that the card had made its way to Aunt Beulah, and that she liked it.  If you would like to find out why I love this fabulous lady so much, please just click on her name and her blog will open up in a new window for you.

Aunt Beulah ~ thank you for the wonderful reads that I find on your blog.  Thank you for the thoughts, the smiles, the joy and sometimes even the tears.  Thank you for being the person you are, for the person you are is totally incredible.  Sending you much love for the New Year, and wishing for you – contentment.  May a blanket of contentment come to rest upon your home and wrap itself around your heart and life. ~ love ~ Cobs. xxx

Thank you too, reader, for being who you are.  I thank you for coming and spending time here with me on this blog and hopefully enjoying the read too.

Happy Tuesday.  May your day be bright and may the sun shine enough to melt any snow that’s hanging around, and melt the ice on your car windows.  May you find something to smile about, and may love wrap itself around your heart and keep you warm inside.  Even if it’s only the love I send you here….  because love is love is love.  It’s all good!

Take care out there …  much love and plenty of squidges ~