Playing with Arteza watercolour pencils

At least the rain has stopped and Dudley is enjoying his walks without having to dodge the rain. Snowdrops are appearing as well, always a sign that Spring isn't too far away. 

Sarn's post for the picks and winner of Challenge # 445 can be found HERE in the Playground.

Santa, after a strong hint or three, brought me a set of Arteza watercolour pencils for Christmas. I spent time the other week making up a colour chart with both dry and wet colours for each pencil - and I finally sat and played properly with them the other day. Still need loads more practice but for a first attempt I was quietly pleased with my Sunday Snippets card:

 

My snippets, ready to begin!

I used:

- 5.5" x 4.25" 'Strathmore Mixed Media' card blank, tent fold. I used a snippet of the Strathmore card for the watercolouring and it's an off-white so I used more of the same card to be sure of a match

- stamped the flower image and the word Hello from the same set onto a snippet of 'Strathmore Mixed Media' card using black Archival ink and a NBUS stamp set by Altenew called 'Bold Floral'

- next used my colour chart to find the best Arteza tcolours I could to go with a couple of patterned paper snippets (from a Honey Bee paper pad called 'Team Tie Dye')

- coloured the image using the Arteza pencils and a fine waterbrush 

- die cut the image with sentiment using a label die from an un-named NBUS set I've had waiting for a first outing for ages

- trimmed the biggest patterned paper snippet to just smaller than the card front then trimmed down the bolder toning strip before gluing it across the paler piece of paper at a jaunty angle and trimming the excess from each side

-glued the patterned panel onto the card front

- threaded a snippet of spotted organza ribbon through the top o the tag and fixed it to the card front using sticky pads (plus the neat trick of adding some glue stick to the pads before actually setting the label in place - just to allow some wiggle room)

- stepped away and resisted the urge to add anything else!

The Altenew flower stamp is absolutely gorgeous - really sweet with so many potential ways of colouring it.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Darnell's NBUS Challenge #46 - the stamp set was having a first outing along with the label die - and also the Arteza watercolour pencils of course

Dudley Pupdate - with the improvement in our weather, Dudley is back to his usual walks routine. To be honest, he's never been a dog who leaps up and down with joy at the sight of his harness and lead. Sometimes, he actually zips under my desk out of the way if I'm not fast enough to stop him. But, once he's out he's fine - he wiggles his perky little rear end all the way (Havanese trait) and we're sure he's all the brighter for it! It's still not quite Purple Peril weather but, when the three of us go out together for a walk/ride together, Dudley is raring to go and doesn't pull to come back home either. It means he doesn't actually favour either one of us - he's happiest when we're all three together - UNLESS one of us is in the kitchen preparing a meal of course!

Dudley has his annual trip to our vet for vaccinations and check up on Friday - fingers crossed all will be fine! Our vet practice is one of the best Animal Hospitals in the county - but, for some reason they just can't keep their vets. All of the vets who know Dudley have left over the past year - and it's nuffin' to do with him either! ☺ We're slightly poised to find another practice if we really find things aren't right. Fingers crossed we won't need to change though.

 

 

A QUESTION

I should have added this to my blog post of yesterday - after I wrote about using hairspray to seal a piece of gilding flakes work. 

I've used my Zig pens recently and - although I love the vibrant colours - I just don't like the very flat and matt result. It's too much like the old powder paints we used at school when I was a kid. 

Hairspray very likely isn't enough and so to get round it I've used a Wink of Stella Clear Sparkle pen (it's for a Christmas card so that's fine, but it wouldn't always be the case) BUT, how wonderful would it be if you could get a gentle paint on Wink of Stella style gloss only pen. Not thick Glossy Accents, or a spray - just a brush applicator without the added sparkle to give a less matt look to work. Is there a gap in the bulging market?

Or do you know of a product - easy application, not a spray and preferably a gentle brush like Wink of Stella but with no sparkles?

That's my current quest and so far it isn't getting very far either! SOB!

Playing with gilding flakes

In a few of Chrissie's YouTube videos, she uses gilding flakes - and that set me thinking back to when I too used to play with flakes and double sided adhesive sheet - and so, this Christmas card came about:

 

A closer peep at the shiny leaves!

I used:

- 5.5" x 4.25" Pale Ivory Linen Silkweave card blank (using a sheet of A4 card)  

- then covered a panel of light brown card with a snippet of double sided self-adhesive sheet before applying a coating of Cosmic Shimmer 'Mulled Wine' gilding flakes, gently patting them on at first (you don't need much!) then spreading and buffing them using a piece of 'scoochy foam'

- next, die cut the leaves using an unbranded 'Fragmented Leaves' die bought for me by a special friend - and it's probably my favourite die in the whole world right now!

- the leaves felt slightly sticky after I'd finished, so after having a little think I sprayed them with hairspray and it worked perfectly as a sealant

- more die cutting - a snippet of brown card and a Memory Box 'Woodland Branch' die - which I glued onto the card front using a glue pen

- then die cut the 'JOY' frame onto the card front. It was cut from a snippet of Craft Perfect Pearlescent 'Red Velvet' card using a Die-namics MFT 'JOY photo card frame' die

- stuck the frame onto the card front using very narrow foam strip around the edge (again I used Chrissie's trick of running a glue stick over the sticky surface of the tape before popping it in place onto the background and pressing it down - it's a real game changer!)

- die cut a sweet little bow from the same Red Velvet card, using a Gummiapan 'Rosetta' die

- and finally, popped two leaves and the bow onto the card, to 'hang' from the branch

I made four cards in total - two of the one above and two where I used a pearlised gold 'Joy' frame with the same red bow, leaves and branch, and I like both of them equally.

I'm nothing if not a keen follower of others, possibly too easily influenced for my own good, and Chrissie's videos led me to the Swedish company 'Gummiapan'. Oh my word - their little dies are so detailed and adorable! I hopped over for something else altogether - and the little bows somehow fell into my basket! Their prices are actually very reasonable - so long as you factor in postage and try not to get stung at your end for Customs Duty etc. It was a treat I tell myself and not something I would do every day! 

So - I would like to enter my card into some challenges:

First of all, Charlotte of 'Lady Joyful' runs a super challenge called 'Christmas Craft Creations' - HERE. AND, this month the theme is 'snippets'! Yay! So, I'm entering my snippets card and hope you perhaps will also follow suit. The challenge is open for another couple of weeks and it would be really great if you could steal a march on your 2023 Christmas cards and join in. 

And, of course it's our lovely Mo's Rudolph Days Challenge HERE. This is one challenge I never miss.

Plus, another 'must play along with' challenge - Darnell's NBUS Challenge - HERE. The leaf die set and the little Gummiapan bow dies are both NBUS goodies! 

Zen!

A while ago I bought some goodies from AALL & Create - and this is the first outing for one of the sets - it really tickles my sense of humour - as well as the irony of it. It's get in the sentiment by the way - not Bet as Len read it - and he's not even a man for the gee-gees or such!

The snippets, in the end I didn't use the smaller piece of bright pink

I used:

- 5" x 7" white card blank, tent style

- at that point I die cut the bright pink backing piece using a NBUS die from the now discontinued Lil'Inker 'Fringe scalloped squares' set of dies. So unusual and bought when Seven Hills Crafts were selling their Lil Inker dies on reduction due to the closure of Lil'Inkers

- die cut the image panel using a square stitched die from The Works, just the right size to sit nicely inside the 'fringed scallop' edges of the bright pink square 

- stamped the image and wording using Memento 'Tuxedo Black' ink and stamps from the AALL & Create super fun stamp set called 'Om Dee'

- coloured the image using Polychromos pencils - matching the colours to the spots in the snippet of patterned paper I'd chosen to use (it came from the Back to Basics' 'Bright Spark' set of papers)

- added the image panel to the bright pink die cut square using narrow foam tape with some pieces here and there around the inner part as well as right around the edges  NB - little tip about adding foam tape below!

- then trimmed a strip of the spotty patterned paper for either side of the card and glued it in place

- glued the image panel in place, at the same time flicking up the scallops around the pink panel, just using my finger nail

 - finished!

The little tip I used when adhering the foam tape covered image panel to the bright pink backing panel was picked up from Chrissie's YouTube channel. Add the foam tape to your piece or panel as usual but, once you peel off the backing ready to add it to whatever you're sticking it to - just run a glue stick along the pieces of foam tape to allow a little bit of 'wiggle room' when you pop it in place. Works a treat!

Here's a link to Chrissie's channel - 'Christine Stokes' - in case you want to take a peek - I'm sure loads of us remember from the days when she and Mandi ran 'Less is More'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HT3Spk7IRl4.  

I stamped a little sentiment, from the same stamp set, on the insert for the card - it amused me almost as much as the main sentiment - 'Hurry up inner Peace, I don't have all day'. 

It reminds me of when a friend and I used to shoot out from the office once a week at lunchtimes and catch the Metro into Newcastle to join in a Yoga class run close to the University. Looking back, as we were working flexible hours we could take a longer lunch break, but it was still stressful. We were practically still changing out of our leotards at the end as we ran down a long flight of steps from the class to a bakery shop! They sold THE most wonderful grated cheese, onion and salad cream/mayo stottie sarnies I've EVER tasted. Then, hopping about trying to keep warm whilst eating said stottie sarnies and waiting for a bus back to the office. Metro there and bus back seemed to work best for some mad reason. Aha, I think no eating of food was allowed on the Metro! So we could eat our lunch on the bus back to work. After that - I was finished for the rest of the afternoon! Rinse, repeat - we did the same all over again the following week.

This is my snippets card to kick off challenge #446 is over in the Snippets Playground. Go HERE  to join in the fun!

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Darnell's NBUS Challenge #46 - the never been used items are the stamps set and also the Lil'Inker fringed frames - I LOVE these!

Allsorts Challenge Week 712 'Spots and/or stripes'. It was pure fluke that I chose a snippet of spotted paper for today's card!

Dudley Pupdate - on his recent walks he's been pulling to come back home at every little shortcut he knows, right now it's too cold and icy for me to go along 'for a ride'. 

Dudley is on a trial (by us) of some herbal calming pills. Our hope is/was that he would become less worried when the doorbell rings, a delivery arrives - or even worse, someone arrives to work in the house or garden. Interestingly, the longer jobs soon become part of his routine or acceptance. Even an engineer to service the boiler is accepted once he has been introduced. But the arrival of a grocerydelivery, Amazon order or post unexpectedly really sends him into a worried little heap - and those are the ones we can't totally/precisely time and predict of course.

So - each morning, in his little breakfast dish, for the past week or so - he's has one of those 'beef flavoured' herbal calming pills. They are BIG as well! He needed to be coaxed and fed them at first - and then, bingo, on Thursday morning he was snuffling around and scrunching the last of his little white bowl contents - and yay - he now takes the pills all on his own! Ironic really - they don't make a ha'porth of difference so far as we can tell but at least his 'pill phobia' seems to have gone. Gotta laugh!

The other night, as usual, Dudley snuggled between Len and I when we were in bed - and he (Dudley!) loves to lie sideways! Both of us must have been uncomfortable - I had his face and nose pushed under my arm and Len had the rear end and his amazingly strong hind legs that push when he wants to turn on his back to really 'spread it out and make himself comfortable'. Neither of us said much about the situation - it is what it is really.  I was quietly reading my Kindle and Len was trying to get to sleep. Suddenly - Dudley the 'bed snatcher' decided HE wasn't comfortable after all and launched himself off the bed to curl up on one side of it. 

In an instant - such a teenage kerfuffle of grabbing and sorting of bed clothes went on as we both almost simultaneously gasped ...................'quick, get the duvet and as much of your own side of the bed as you can whilst he's on the floor ...............  to be able to sleep properly!' Need I say more? We slept.

Friday Feast - Slow Cooker Panackelty

... or, as my Mum always said, 'Panhaggerty'. Recipes differ around the North East of England, more than I realised until recently.

I did publish my Mum's 'posher' version of this recipe, goodness knows how many years ago on my blog and this is the LINK ...... if you have leftover roast beef and some rashers of bacon, in place of corned beef. 

However. and this makes sense in these times, I think I've come across the original 'Paneklty' version - which uses corned beef rather then left over roast beef and some bacon rashers. Could easily make a meal for four with extra veggies.

I've also experimented with this recipe. twice using the slow cooker and it works wonderfully well. Right now, in times where we're all watching our pennies - this is THE most scrummy casserole. Probably best served up with some dark green cabbage or kale - and possibly a dollop of horseradish sauce:

Ingredients:

1 340g can of corned beef - I use low salt  - sliced (I do find that slicing the whole block in two from top to bottom once it's out of the can,  then cutting smaller slices is easier - even easier it it's chilled straight from the fridge

2 large onions, halved and thinly sliced

4 large potatoes (baked potato size) - peeled and thinly sliced

200 ml hot gravy made using the water, two beef Oxo cubes and a tablespoonful of Worcestershire sauce or similar (eg Henderson's) 

Method:

Heat the slow cooker to high - mine is 3.5 litres - good for a family of two and even up to four - but you must check as appetites do vary
 
Then do all the slicing as detailed above 

Add half the sliced onion into the slow cooker and then top with half of the corned beef slices and then a layer of half the thin potato slices

Do the same again with the next layer - and you obviously will end up with a layer of potato slices. Nice if they're overlapped a little too

Add the hot Oxo with the Worcestershire sauce mixed in - just pour it over your beautifully layered supper

Pop the slow cooker lid down and walk away leaving it on high for around three and a half hours. Usually that's long enough and a skewer 'poke' will tell you if the potatoes and onions are cooked. Thereafter - I turn it to 'slow' or even 'keep warm' depending on your slow cooker model and then decide what nice green veggies to have with it. Enjoy ......... and also use a slotted spoon to aid in serving!

 
Happy cooking!

 

 

Paper piecing once again!

OK, who opened the rain floodgates? Non-stop rain here for what seems like weeks and no end in sight. I know that the UK isn't the only country suffering - all I can advise is to move your snippets upstairs ...... out of harm's way - and keep life jackets close beside you. It would be funny, if it wasn't so serious for a lot of people!

My post for the picks and winner of Challenge # 444 can be found HERE in the Playground.

Meanwhile, I made a snippets card to give us some hope of Spring and Summer to come:

And these were my snippets:

This was a second try at stamping onto patterned paper - I lost the first stamped images on different papers by placing my trust purely in the Misti bar magnet. Then, when I went to stamp again due to a first weak stamping - wham! The wretched paper moved and I ended with a blurred stamped flower image. Lesson there is only trust a corner and the magnet(s) - not just one side and the magnet bar. So, I raced ahead and promptly forgot to take a piccie of my newly chosen snippets - until they'd been stamped on. BTW, when stamping a sentiment which will be trimmed I always stamp at least one spare in case of any 'cutting wobbles'. ☺

I used:

- 5.25" x 4" white card blank, tent fold

- stamped the flower image onto a snippet of white card using Memento 'Tuxedo Black' ink and a NBUS stamp set by Woodware, called 'Bold Blooms - Vivian'

- to add the leaves to the flower image I used a piece of acetate over the stamped flower to position the two leaf stamps and stamped onto the acetate first - got it right first time - then removed the acetate, leaving the flower panel in place, re-inked the stamps and stamped onto the stem of the flower

- stamped the sentiment from the same set onto a snippet of white card

- next I botched stamped the flower head and the leaves onto snippets of patterned paper (found in the back of a Honey Bee paper pad called 'Team Tie Dye' - one of my favourite paper pads)

- fussy cut the flower bloom and the leaves using small Fiskars embroidery scissors, which are kept purely for paper

- ran the side of the brush end of a black Tombow marker around all the edges patterned fussy cut edges then glued them onto the main image using a Zig glue pen

- trimmed the image to size and mounted it onto a snippet  piece of black card to give a narrow border

- glued the image panel onto the front of the card

- covered the sentiment with a piece of clear adhesive film before trimming away the edges to leave a shiny sentiment strip - much easier than faffing around doing clear embossing when it's only one small item and it really shines beautifully in real life

 - added the sentiment strip to the card front using very narrow foam strips to raise it for some dimension

- final touch, three Memory Box clear self-adhesive 'Fairy Drops'

At one point I almost gave up on this card, especially when the Misti also played up - my fault entirely - glad I soldiered on though.

I have another card to make shortly, and in fact bought the clear adhesive film for that (if my idea works) but it's absolutely super for adding a glossy look to sentiments - yay, hopefully a double win situation!

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Darnell's NBUS Challenge #46 - the stamp set was having a first outing, also the clear self adhesive film

Allsorts Challenge #711 - the theme is 'A/G with the option of Winter Blues' - I chose anything goes  

We Love Stamping - the theme is 'Favourite Colours' and I adore pink and cream together

Dudley Pupdate - nothing much to report, with the wet and gloomy weather he's not keen on venturing too far. He did meet a friend's new Corgi puppy during the week - but I can't see Arnie being replaced as his 'Bestie' anytime soon! If ever.

Just before bedtime, he always has one of his favourite 'calcium bone wrapped in dried 'chicken' treats'. This evening, Saturday, Len was in bed watching a film and I was across the landing just catching up on some internet browsing and beginning to close down for the night. All of a sudden, I glanced down at Dudley and saw a very cross little face glaring right back at me. He's so sweet and loving that it's a really rare occurrence for him to be upset with us - then we realised - he hadn't had his evening treat! Treat given and all is well again! Little monkey!

 

Wednesday Waffle

I found this post - 11 years old now - but only a couple of you actually saw and commented on it - so it's perhaps worth a repeat as one of the funniest incidents in my boarding school life.

Talking after 'lights out' at boarding school was punishable by various means, warnings, groundings, having to wear school uniform at weekends so that everyone knew you were in 'deep doggy doo-doo' and very often having to get up and totally strip your bed and fold everything neatly before trooping out of the room to stand at intervals down the corridor. Often this would be until you were almost asleep on your feet, and only then could you return to the 'dorm', remake your bed and inevitably fall straight asleep through tiredness. But, it never stopped us from messing around I'm afraid 😉

It certainly wasn't St. Trinian's, but there could be similarities!

In my first year there I shared a room/dorm. with four others - and naturally there were the inevitable ring leaders. 

This particular night one of the ringleaders had the bright idea of playing hide and seek in the dark. So, we dutifully counted to the agreed number and then it was time to search for the 'hider'. The rooms weren't massive so it was always easy to find whoever was hiding. But, before the search could begin, our chattering was heard by a member of staff and the room door was flung open - at which point we heard a muffled squeak of pain from behind the door. But, the teacher in question just roared at us to 'go to sleep immediately' and slammed the door shut again. The door slamming was immediately followed by a whoosh, a thump and stifled groans. When we eventually turned on the light there was a crumpled figure on her knees on the floor, in her PJ's, part way across the room.

In an attempt to beat us at hide and seek the 'hider' had been ultra-clever. She'd taken her bed side chair (bit like an old fashioned dining room chair) and hung it from the pegs on the inside of the door, on which we hung our dressing gowns. Then she'd quietly hopped up onto the chair and was sitting suspended up there waiting for the search to begin when the door was flung open. At that point her knees had crashed against the wall but she stifled her squeaks of pain - damaging furniture was another, much more serious, punishment altogether! And of course, when the door was slammed shut - the momentum had shot the 'hider' out of the chair and across the room - where she landed on her knees once again! Some of the most spectacular bruises I've ever seen as well :))

Sometimes I wonder how we survived. I bet the 'hider' has already had at least one knee replacement!

Christmas cards

 

Just to say - I have today sorted out and rationalised my Christmas card list and deleted 21 people in total. Yup, shocked me too. A good few are Blogger friends. So, if I sent you a card and you didn't send one to us - you're off my list from now on. It saves all of us money and effort in the end. Not being cruel - just sensible that's all. No offence intended.

Birthday Celebrations!

The Snippets Playground is celebrating 11 years since I took on the running of it from dear Jules. Where did the time go?

We have a new challenge (with a theme) in the Playground plus a great prize to celebrate. Hop over HERE to visit our Sarn who is running the challenge, and also to find out more.

I made a snippets Birthday card:

Started out with a bunch of snippets, left over from recent cards I've made

I used:

- 5.5" x 4.25" white card blank, tent style

- a snippet/panel of 5.25" x 4" black card, glued onto the card front

- snippet of white card, trimmed to 5" x 3.75"

- then cut lots of 'Happy Birthday' die cuts using a sentiment die from the NBUS Altenew 'Essential Sentiment Strips Die Set' and three different colours of card snippets

- used a glue pen to create a sort of 'brick wall' background with the die cuts. I worked from the top down and then from the bottom up in order to leave a gap just below the centre of the card

- filled the gap with a snippet of black card trimmed down to fit snugly

- then used a 'celebrate' die from the Paper Smooches 'Birthday Wishes' set of dies and a snippet of the red card to cut the scroll script word. That was quite tricky as the sentiment falls into four pieces when it's actually die cut....grrrrr.

- to get around the placement I used a piece of white card which was longer and wider then the space I needed it to fit into and taped the surrounding part (waste) from the die cut in place as a 'template' then carefully added the letters back into the slots using a glue pen, before removing the red 'waste and gluing a second set of the letters on top for more dimension

- trimmed the white panel to size and glued it in place

-  then added the whole panel to the card front using Collall All Purpose glue

- something was missing, so I added a few gold star Josy Rose Hot Fix nail heads

Phew - once again, I potentially bit off more than I could chew as all the die cutting, even using my baby Altenew machine, then the gluing and snipping the sides took ages! The card is destined for Len's G. Nephew Edward later this month - for once I'm a bit ahead of myself!

I'd like to enter this card into Darnell's NBUS Challenge #46 - the set of Altenew dies are NBUS. 

I'm conscious that my last three cards have used very similarly coloured snippets - time for a total change for my next offering!

Dudley is fed up with all the rain we've been having - same as most of us I expect. I suppose at least, so far, it isn't snow! It's a dull and gloomy afternoon as I'm typing this and Dudley is cosied up in one of his favourite spots - under my corner desk with his nose pressed up against my slipper. I'm tempted to get under there with him for a nice snuggle!

Love from Dudley and me,

Happy New Year!

Many of us will be glad to see the back of 2022 - the year in which we lost our beloved Queen Elizabeth, I lost two close friends and also my guardian (from when my parents returned to the UK and left me at school in Germany) - and several of you suffered much, much closer family bereavements. A year of losses for many of us - but I do try to always remember that 'heartache is the price we pay for love'.

Onto brighter things though - we're into a brand new year, and one in which I so hope that Sarn, myself, Dudley and you, will continue to thrive in the Snippets Playground Challenge. There are so many ways to use up snippets - it's almost endless - sigh, as are the ever-expanding storage holders we keep our snippets in!

Our current Christmas/New Year Challenge is a change from the intensive and massive load of running a Grand Draw. This year, we've gone for one 'Winner Takes All' prize of a 'Your Chosen Favourite Craft Store Gift Voucher' to the value of £50 - or the equivalent value voucher wherever you live. Check out the Snippets Playground if you haven't done so already.

The current challenge has a theme - not something we often do but this is Holiday Season after all! It's - 'Anything BUT Christmas'. As well as using snippets of course and this is what I made. I CASE'd it from my own card, made several years ago - which was in turn had been CASE'd from a SU Demonstrator. And here it is:

The 'snippets' before being attacked. My crafting OCD means I don't like to store snippets of any size with undulating edges if possible!

I used:

- 5.75" x 4" black card blank

- a layer of slightly smaller white card stock, quarter of an inch on each of the four sides

- a layer of smaller again black card stock for the board - I ran it through the Cuttlebug, using Cuttlebug's 'Swiss Dots' folder and then trimmed it to 5.125" (five and an eighth in old money!) x 3.25" - then glued it onto the piece of white card stock

- snippets of red, blue, yellow and green card - punched using SU's 1" square punch and SU's Itty Bitty round punch

- double layered the 'dots' and glued them onto the pieces and used a white Prismacolor pencil to add curves to give the impression of even more dimension 

- added the Lego pieces using thin sticky pads then

- 'happy birthday' sentiment was stamped using a stamp from the 'Happy Messages' set by Stampendous, and a Memento 'Tuxedo Black' ink pad onto a piece/snippet of the same white card as before - sized at 3.125" x 1.625" (the detailed measurements are for my own reference really)

- added the sentiment using thin sticky pads onto the card front - and called it a wrap!

Made for a little neighbour, aged six (Jack).

Dudley Pupdate: Oh what a little scamp he is right now! We think that being rather spoiled over Christmas is reaping its own rewards! The other night, he claimed my space on the bed, and despite spending so much of his time cosied up to me during the day, he let me know with a Grinch-like growl that I wasn't very welcome to disturb his slumber! Len gave him a semi-stern ticking off so he moved - I then woke up in the early hours of the morning to find him (Dudley) snuggled back, right up against me, head back sharing the pillow and snoring gently! And looking so angelic of course!

 

Sorry the above images are so small and also a bit blurred. I clipped them from a couple of CCTV shots - taken when Dudley went out onto our front drive to give his 'Bestie' Arnie a big hug on Thursday! When they meet they go into 'hug mode' and dance round and round like a couple on the dance floor! So far we haven't managed to catch them on our phones or a standard camera for better definition  - but at least this proves I wasn't fibbing when I mentioned it a while ago!

As I type this we're hoping that the usual mayhem of New Year's Eve fireworks here won't trouble Dudley. So far, so good, although he did jump late on Boxing Day when a barrage went off nearby. He'd been asleep so that was probably what startled him. Our best bet is to have the TV on with the sound up and the London Celebrations streaming - as a distraction from what's going on in the neighbourhood.

Welcome 2023 - we need you to bring happiness and peace into our lives for sure.

Love from Dudley and myself,

Male 'triangles' Birthday card

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! Ho, ho, ho!

My snippets card below was made for a friend's hubby - it eventually arrived but was late due to a variety of reasons. Our Christmas stamps for the UK finally arrived here on Monday and Len took the pile of stamped cards to the big post box. More than that we just couldn't do - so meanwhile, if we normally exchange Christmas cards, then yours is on the way! I do know that some have arrived in the nick of time. Having said that, one card got as far as Swindon and then was returned for no good reason - probably only half way to its real destination.

My snippets card is an out and out 100% CASE of a card that Franka (Inkami) made for the Snippets Playground last November - so I won't enter it into any challenges. However, I'm using it as a reminder of just one of the many ways you can use up a few different colors of snippets:

The card

The coloured snippets, ready to be die cut (almost forgot to take a photo!)

I used:

- 5.5" x 4.25" white card blank, side opening

- snippet of the same white card, die cut using a Paper Smooches 'Triangles' die and glued onto the card front

- coloured snippets of card, die cut using the same 'triangles' die for the infills - also kept some of the white fall out from the main die cut as infills

- then I had a lovely time gluing triangles into the main die cut - used a glue pen

- die cut a sentiment using a die from the Impression Obsession 'Birthday top edgers' set and glued it in place

- finished!

I even followed Franka's placing of the different colours when inserting the little triangular die cuts. I remember at the time thinking how pleasing her layout was - not too rigid yet not just a jumbled up result either. She's a clever lady!

There's a new challenge #444 over in the Snippets Playground HERE. The theme is 'Anything BUT Christmas' - which should get you thinking a bit! AND, a special prize from Sarn and myself!

Dudley Pupdate: So we went from ice to plenty of rain, and then some! Either way, Dudley has coped really well and is obviously becoming quite used to the feel of 'velvety soft grass' beneath his feet! 

Even though I doubt that he truly knows what Christmas is all about - he's really picking up on the 'buzz' and is into everything possible! A few treasured Christmas soft toys have had to be put out of his reach - he would just want to cuddle and love them as he's not at all destructive - but they're not all 'pooch safe' as they were here before 'his Nibs' arrived! 

Anyhow, we've bought him a soft toy from Santa - as if he hasn't got enough! I suggested to Len that we should go through his overflowing toy box and was told that Dudley loves ALL his toys and would be bound to notice if anything goes missing - even something right at the bottom that he never plays with. I beg to differ, but it made me laugh so much I dropped the idea.

And of course he'll have his own little white dish of Christmas Dinner with us today - we prefer chicken to turkey so he'll have some pieces of chicken crown, perhaps a whole cut up 'pig in a blanket', and some chopped up veggies - with a little tickle of 'no salt' gravy. For those who might not know - pigs in blankets are a fairly traditional accompaniment at Christmas Dinner time - thin sausages wrapped in streaky bacon and then popped in the oven to bake.

Have a lovely day! Hope you find time after Christmas to join in with the new Snippets Challenge.

Lots of love from Dudley and myself,

No time to craft right now!

 

I was a bit late putting the finishing touches to our Christmas decorations - and it also took me much longer than it used to!  So no snippets card from me today, but the results of Challenge #442 are now in the Snippets Playground.

Postal strike update - basically it halted my plans to post most of our/my UK Christmas cards this year. Our Christmas stamps order from Royal Mail still hasn't arrived - almost four weeks since ordering them. I'm typing this on Saturday and STILL no sign of them. So we're scuppered basically. I'm so very sorry as some are destined for a good few of you - and I was for a while, also angry at those who are holding us to ransom at such a time of the year. However, I've stopped fretting as we can't change it and am now in 'what the heck, let's have a mince pie and a glass of sherry' mode!

Dudley Pupdate: Dudley is absolutely thrilled to pieces with the revamped back garden  and races round doing happy 'zoomies' on the large expanse of 'no maintenance' grass we've had laid. He totally loves it so if you're in two minds - Dudley gives it a HUGE 'thumbs up' (or should that be a 'paws up')?! No more washing muddy paws from the garden is certainly making him all the more delighted!

He had such a busy day today, checking on me, very slowly working on the last of the Christmas decorations downstairs, in between racing upstairs to Len who was replacing a pair of TV speakers ..... and then coming back down again - for me to come and let him outside and to watch his garden zoomies! 

Right now, he's literally flat on his back snoozing underneath my desk. He's has a hard day for sure!

Try to enjoy the coming week - my darling Mum always said, if it isn't done in time then don't worry - we'll manage. I know, always easy to say! And Mum never followed her own advice as it happens!

Thinking of you

It's always so hard to know what to do about Christmas cards for recently bereaved friends. On the one hand, 'jolly and bright' doesn't seem right, yet it also doesn't seem right to not at least show that you're thinking of your friend.

This year, I have two such friends - grieving for their loss of a spouse - so I made a couple of cards exactly the same:

I used:

- 5.5" x 4.25" white card blank, tent style

- a snippet of Tonic pearlescent 'Navy Dazzle' card which I die cut using a 'Lil' Inkers Stitched Rectangles' die

- the Penny Black Stickeroo is from the 'Woodland Splendor' sheet popped onto a snippet of Tonic Studio pearlescent 'Majestic Gold' card

- then glued the rectangles on top of one another and then to the card front

- no sentiment, just added a plain insert to write a message

Some of you will already know that one of the friends is our lovely 'Snippets Playmate' Carol Longacre, whose much loved husband Butch died recently - we all send you our love and thoughts Carol.

If you care to skip over to the Snippets Playground HERE - Sarn has opened up a fresh challenge, her snippets card is so lovely! 

On the subject of cards, I ordered our Christmas postage stamps weeks ago from Royal Mail. I was updated to say they're finally on the way, and today is 12 days since that notification - but no sign as yet. Thankfully all the overseas cards have gone, along with a few UK cards - I did have some UK stamps left from last year. However, it's looking a bit grim with the ongoing strikes and I apologise right now that my UK cards will very possibly not reach people in time for Christmas. 

Dudley Pupdate: Our back garden landscaping work is finally done. As with any big project, there have been been a few hiccups along the way but thankfully all sorted out now. Dudley's so funny - he's fussy about his feet and began to literally wipe them on the door mat during the messy part - as he came indoors! In fact, he's still doing it! At one point it was so muddy that he had to be carried out during the night if Nature called! Glad all that's over. 

PS, He is scheduled for a bath/shower on Monday - wish us luck!

 

Wednesday Waffle - Monica Tebbs - Part 2

Last Wednesday I wrote about Miss Monica Tebbs, who was Senior Mistress when I was at a co-ed boarding school in Wilhelmshaven, Germany.

Fast forward to around 28 or so years ago, when some of the 'previous pupils' set out to form an Association, called 'The Wilhelmshaven Association' or 'TWA' for short. They undertook the mammoth task of trying to trace as many former pupils and staff as possible, not easy by any means! Over 7,500 pupils had attended the school during its 25 year 'life' in Wilhelmshaven. As well as a good few teachers, House Matrons and other staff. We had scattered to the four winds of course - Army kids are nomads and we'd spread all over the UK and the rest of the World.

The Association is still going reasonably strong and we've had reunions every two years in various UK cities - with sometimes hundreds coming along for the weekend (650 for the very first one at Newbury!). Covid didn't help of course, and more and more of us aren't willing or even able to travel the length of the country, depending on the chosen locations - and a fair few have sadly fallen off their perches and are no longer with us.

And, our Monica Tebbs used to attend Reunions for at least a couple of days/nights - right up until her final illness. We used to have the Reunions in pretty smart hotels - where the overnight room rates were more costly than nearby alternate hotels or B & B's. Those of you who joined Darnell, myself and others at the Grand Harbour in Southampton (Sarn and I have met up there with friends too) will have an idea of the sort of hotels and the room rates charged, that TWA Reunions are held in. We used that hotel as we needed a decent sized Main Function Room  and location - for between two and three hundred people for a start. And Monica was careful with her pennies so she never stayed in the Reunion hotel overnight.

On one such weekend, a pal from school days called Rod - RIP my friend (who had been the love of another school friend's life - so we were just pals, right?) and I found out that she was staying in a pretty seedy end of the chosen Reunion city and also that she was walking to and from the Reunion venue, alone and at times in the dark. So, on the more formal Saturday evening we collared Monica (as much as you dared to 'collar' such a formidable lady) - and said that that on no account was she to walk back to her hotel alone - Rod and I would go with her. Her lips were pursed as she stalked away muttering that she was being 'treated like a child'. All we had was her safety in mind of course.

Anyhow, Monica then began a game of cat and mouse with Rod and myself by taking great delight in 'working the room' and speaking to as many different people as possible - always with us loitering nearby. I even followed her to the ladies at one point and hid behind a pillar in the hallway to make sure she didn't make a run for it. As the evening wore on we noticed signs that Monica was preparing to leave - the handbag was firmly over her arm and she was going to try and race us to the exit. To do that, she had to pass our table so both Rod and I positioned ourselves ready to bring her down in a tackle - metaphorically speaking.

However, she turned the tables on us as she approached - by pronouncing very loudly that we were 'not to bother her and that she had a perfectly good pair of legs of her own'. Heads at the other tables turned and stared when Monica's familiar 'schoolmarm voice' rang out loud and clear.

And that's when I to this day think a red fog of insanity descended upon Rod because, quick as a flash and certainly before engaging his brain before his mouth he replied - 'Miss Tebbs - we are just going to accompany you. Not give you a piggyback ride to the hotel!'.

OMG, to this day I swear that you could have heard a pin drop and the sound of horrified gasps of ex-pupils, my eyes were out on stalks in sheer terror and Rod blushed bright red as if we were back at school, as pals, trying to set up the 6th Form Social Club, (OMG, another memory coming!). We stood there like a couple of naughty kids - waiting for the eruption. And waiting....................

............... And you know what we got? Monica with her eyes twinkling, trying to suppress an outbreak of the giggles as she practically squeaked 'Alright then, you two win, this time. But, I want 100 lines from both of you for insubordination!'.

We walked with Monica in the centre, back to her hotel arm in arm, one on either side and it was such a precious time. She bade us a formal goodnight at the front door of her chosen lodgings and sent us off back into the night with the words 'Mind you two, behave'. ☺

They certainly broke the mould when they created dear Monica!

PS. One of our earliest Reunions was back in Wilhelmshaven - and much of the school was still standing, unoccupied but made accessible for us. We had such fun and more than a few adventures - to be retold in a further 'Wednesday Waffle' - or perhaps even more than one. 

I spent most of that long weekend in tears - some of it was pure emotion but a lot was due to the endless laughter and crazy things that seemed to happen, almost 'on cue'. And yes, there was a hockey match - men versus the ladies - and we terrified as well as beat them!

And of course, our Monica was there, still very spritely in those early days.

I hope my love and tenderness for past times isn't in any way a problem for you. I've always written true tales from my heart and will do so when I can. Come back if you wish - you will be so welcome. xx

More money holders

I needed money holders to send to Kai in Germany, for her to use a PayPal transfer from us, and fill them with real Euro notes for the 'girls'. Len had rejected the 'Santa's suit' holders from a previous post - so they will go elsewhere. I then went for something more 'girlie' for Mia and Livi:

Both money holders, Mia's on the left

Mia's money holder - open, with the band off of course

I used - for each holder/wallet - which just looks like a normal card until you open it:

- a sheet of Hunkydory 'Adorable Scorable - Let it Snow' card, which is slightly glossy and ombre in the shading of the main background, Scored at 4.25" and 8.5" from the long edge downwards

- then folded the holder along the score lines into three, creasing well with a Teflon bone folder

- trimmed the smallest side to 2" and the bigger one to 3" so there would be an overlap

- sliced the whole triple folded holder across the width, using a guillotine and cutting it down to 5.5"

- to create the 'flap' for the money pouch I just used a large X-cut corner punch on the top corner of the narrower flap to round it off

- then used very narrow red line tape (one eighth of an inch wide) to securely adhere the bottom edge of the 2" flap to the main body of the money holder - forming a narrowish and long pouch for the Euros (the Hunkydory card was such that I didn't fancy tackling it with scissors to make a shorter 'pouch')

- then made a one inch high slip-off band using leftover card (yay, a snippet!), by scoring it and sticking it to together at the back to form the band, using red line tape

- final touches were a round Craftwork Cards Christmas sentiment from years ago - glued onto a die cut Sweet Dixie 'Layering Snowflake' snowflake (using a snippet) of white pearlised card

- then glued the snowflake plus sentiment onto the slip-off band

- finito!

I did make the slip-off bands a little 'slack' to allow for the expansion when Kai adds the Euros! (I don't like the term 'belly bands' for some weird reason). I'll just write a little message directly onto the flaps.

And we have the Snippets Playground Results from Sarn  over HERE for you to see.

Huge thanks to all those who joined in with the Grand Christmas Switch On in the Playground. I suspect that Dudley was a bit spoiled with tit bits. He slept for almost 24 hours after his marathon stint - pedaling the generator for the lights!

We've had workers here for over two weeks, don't even ask, and I was sitting chatting to Len downstairs this afternoon when who should spot the big bowl that the biscuits go in for the guy's regular tea/coffee times!?

Yup, Dudley of course - on his hind paws with one paw on my lap and the other one hanging limply ........... to beg for a digestive biscuit! The bowl was empty and ready to put away but he made the connection - with THE sweetest face of course. AND, that's after all the savoury nibbles he shoveled down in the Playground Party the other night!

I'm joining in with the Allsorts Challenge #705 HERE. The theme is 'It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas'.

Light up the Snippets Playground!

It's time to have the Grand Switch on of the Christmas lights in the Snippets Playground. Do hop over to take a peek - HERE - at 7:30 pm UK time - this evening!

I made a Christmas card in keeping with the lights theme:

I used:

- 5.5" x 4.25" white card blank, side opening

- snippet of white card which I die cut using a NBUS die called 'Christmas Light Background' by Poppy Stamps

- coloured the strings of lights using Pro markers

- added little white lines to the bulbs 

- went on the hunt for a suitable single word sentiment to fit in between the lights and ended up using one from the Colarado Craft Company's 'Big and Bold' set of stamps called 'Holly and Berries'

- bit of fiddling around with the die cut and Misti to line up the stamp with the string of lights, before removing the die cut then stamping the sentiment onto the card front using Memento 'Tuxedo Black' ink

- added the die cut to the card front, using a glue pen on the frame and the lights - the 'cable' just sat in place nicely - apart from one little curl which ! popped down with a teeny dot of glue

- finishing touch was to coat the glass of the light bulbs with Glossy Accents - so really didn't need the little white lines

Got a shock when I realised that this die came out in 2014! I bought it during 2022 and it was in my Christmas NBUS basket. There's a sample card made for Poppy Stamps over on their blog, which I followed - mostly for speed. One could snip the strings of lights from the frame and use them in several other ways of course.  

And, being stupid, I made two the same when really time wasn't on my side!

Dudley is already really excited about this evening, having helped Sarn and I to do the decorating - he seems to be anticipating a few savoury nibbles as I've baked us all a tray full of sausage rolls plus a tray of cheese straws, to go with the mince pies. Dried fruits aren't good for pooches so no mince pie for him - all the more for us then!

It STILL beats me how Sarn and Dudley managed to manhandle (or should that be 'woman and dog handle') their (ahem) acquired Christmas tree back from the farm to the Playground! I worry that we'll hear that a tractor also went missing! Last seen on CCTV being driven by the tall, slim one wearing black and a balacava - with the little one also in black but with a white fluffy tail, also wearing a balaclava. The farmer swears he heard someone singing 'Oh Christmas Tree' around the time of the CCTV footage! 

Wednesday Waffle - Monica Tebbs

Me on the right and Monica Tebbs in centre

Warning - this is going to be a long post so either pass by - or go for a wee and then make a cuppa ready for a read! I need to set the scene folks!

Ages ago, when I was an almost daily blogger I used to publish a weekly 'Tuesday Tale'. It basically was just me, reminiscing on a very varied life and the stupid things that have happened to me - always through NO fault of my own of course. ☺ Time constraints, life, health and also the Snippets Playground took over and so the tales sort of ended. However ....

............ a recent conversation with SaRn reminded me of a rather long tale that I never wrote about - but it still makes me smile all these years later. So here we have the first 'Wednesday Waffle' - whilst I'm still able to type and think at the same time! You do have to step into my world and wear the 'virtual reality' head wear though! Which means your imagination. And, as I just said, this post sets the background to a few tales.

Most of you know that I went to a boarding school in Germany from aged 13 to almost 18, not our choice, my Dad (British Army) was posted to Germany and it was the closest I could be to them and still get a decent education.

The school was divided into 'houses' with 'house mistresses' and 'housemasters' - yup, it was co-ed (YAY - thank goodness for something!) as well as being the really early forerunner of Comprehensive Schooling, well before the UK. So, we had an overall Headmaster and a Senior Mistress, for the girls. Let's focus on the Senior Mistress. We lived in fear of her and she was, to us at the time, so very strict - her name was Miss Monica Tebbs, whom I will now refer to as Monica much of the time. Slim, as upright as a pencil and also very severe - basically she scared a lot of us half to death!

School days were rather overruled by Monica looming during lesson time break intervals on the girls, looking for traces of forbidden makeup and checking if your skirts were rolled up (this WAS the 60's) and then making you unroll them so you trailed around rather like your Granny for the rest of lesson times. Then you had to go and collect your really wide belt from her at the end of the day - so you could go through the same process the next day - hopefully without being caught! 

Then at the beginning of one school year I was horrified to find out I'd been 'upped' into her 'A' group for English and truthfully almost ran away from school. She was a tough but very dedicated teacher - she called me a silly 'booby' on more than a few occasions (the word was innocent back then). But, she got me through the exams with good results and she, as much as me, seemed to be delighted!

Cutting a long story short - fast forward to me on Tynemouth Station back in the UK, having just left school and going off to work on my fortnightly stint of a Saturday morning. A dear elderly lady, almost smelling of lavender and wearing a very elegant hat, stopped me and said 'May I please say what beautiful posture you have'. I'd never really thought about it - but I did know that the posture came from Monica and us girls balancing books on our heads during detention! Mrs Lavender and I became friends and often met up for our early Saturday morning train journeys - me to the office and she off to see her son and family. Yet I never found out just who she was, sort of a guardian angel perhaps? One week she just stopped getting the train, which is sad as she did me such a huge favour.

Anyhow, Mrs Lavender pricked my conscience and I wrote to Monica Tebbs to thank her for everything she had done. From then on we were sort of intermittent correspondents - she knew I got engaged, married, changed jobs, moved house several times. I knew she returned from Germany and taught in the UK, lived with her sister, and then retired to Peterborough. And that could have been the end of the tale but ........

--------almost 30 years after I left the school, someone decided to set up a group for the old school and also arrange a HUGE reunion at Newbury Racecourse. Some of my future Waffles are bound to cover more  - but we ended up, several hundred of us 'traced ones', piling into the venue. And after a while, WHO should loom into view - Monica Tebbs! She instantly homed in on me (hiding a ciggie behind my back - for a friend to whisk away as I smoked at the time), she knew who I was and that a ciggie has been taken away 'I smell cigarettes' she said - and  I felt like a teenager once again. She then said that she'd kept my initial thank you letter for all those years - and it was just like the intervening years just disappeared - poof!

And so - the bond was made once again - but this time we were friends more than teacher and pupil - although she still did scare me, and in fact all of us to be truthful!. The second part of this - and really the funniest part will be posted on next week's Wednesday Waffle - I think I've rabbited on enough - and to be honest it still gets to me that she really was so human underneath, just 'wanting the best for her girls'. 

My life is so much richer for knowing her, more so later in life when I could understand why she did what she did. Little final point - somehow I found out from a third party that when she'd had some sort  of tricky situation to sort out, complete with keeping her renowned stony face - she would go into the staff room, almost slide down the inside of the closed the door and practically cry with laughter. God love her, a special lady - my friend Monica. 

Part 2 next week - tune in Sarn!

'Santa suit' Christmas money holders

About a week ago, I set to and made three money/cheque holders. The size is perfect for euros as I carefully measured up -  but Len had me 'switch horses mid-gallop' so they will now be going to different recipients. Back to the drawing board for the girls and their Mum in Germany - he wanted 'pretty'! Anyhow - this is what I initially made and they will head off to Ipswich:

The money holder, closed

The money holder, opened up with pouch for money on the right hand side

The snippets I started out with. The silver looks gold, but it truly isn't, it's an adjustable 'warmer light' setting on my 'over the desk' lamp. And - I didn't use the very big red snippets in the end - opting for full A4 sheets of card - slap my wrists!

I used - for each holder - which just looks like a normal card until you open it:

- a sheet of Tonic UK A4 sized 'Red Velvet' pearlescent card - scored at 4.25 " and 8.5" from the long edge downwards - with 3.25" remaining

- then folded the holder along the scorelines into three, creasing well with a Teflon bone folder. The narrower width of 3.25" was to make the 'holder' part

- sliced the whole triple folded holder across the width, using a guillotine and cutting it down to 6.25" high

- to create the 'flap' for the money pouch I cut across the 3.25" narrow portion at 2" from the bottom, then down from the top crease line to meet the point where the first cut met the crease (easier to see what I mean by looking at the 2nd photo above), I used a guillotine (for one card) and long sharp scissors for the other two. Neither are easy to be honest but my slight preference is for using the scissors

- rounded the corner of the newly created 'flap' using a large X-cut corner punch

- before going any further I trimmed a snippet of white paper and glued it on the inside of the money holder, ready to write a message to the recipient - bit of forward thinking, for once, there!

- then used very narrow red line tape (one eighth of an inch wide) to securely adhere the bottom edge of the flap to the main body of the money holder - forming a little pouch

- topped the 'pouch' section with a sentiment, die cut using Tonic Studios 'Mini Moments - Merry Christmas' and a snippet of silver mirri card - if I lose it tomorrow - that sweet little die owes me absolutely nothing

- decorating the front of the card was truly the fun part, I used white, black and silver snippets for all of it - as well as a die set made by Joy! called 'Vintage Jeans - Buckle and Belt'

- it's really self-explanatory, but for my own records, the white 'fur' was 1" wide, cut from a snippet of plain white card, the plain black belt portion die for the 'no punch holes' side was far too short so I just cut a .75" wide longer strip of black, again from a snippet

- assembling the belt and buckle was slightly fiddly but still pretty easy - and I stuck the bottom edge of the assembled belt in place at about 1.25" from the bottom of the holder - using red line tape - then carefully pulled off the top layer of tape from behind the belt piece using very lethal and pointed tweezers

- the die set even included a little 'retaining excess belt length', or whatever you call it, die in the set so I cut one and stuck it in place

- the buttons come in four different designs but only used two of the designs as I liked the double button holes and also alternated them - again using red line tape to adhere them - finished!

I have to say that the attention to detail in the design of the Joy! die cutting sets is quite hard to beat.

But, let's talk about about the set of dies I used for this folder/card. There's more detail to the dies - which am sure means running the buttons as well as the belt through the die cutting machine, to emboss them but I wasn't too fussed about going to those lengths. In fact, I only bought the set of dies as they were in a 'super reduced sale' a while ago. You can easily achieve very similar results using a plain black strip of card for the belt, small square, oval round quite tightly nested dies for the buckle (look at your punches - they might do the trick!) - then possibly real buttons or small punched circles for the buttons. Pokey tool for the button holes or a white marker - and away you go!

This is my snippets card to kick off challenge #442 over in the Snippets Playground. Go HERE  to join in the fun!

I'd like to enter this money holder into the following challenges:

Rudolph Days November 2022 Challenge

Darnell's NBUS Challenge #44 as I used the Joy! NBUS set of dies

Dudley Pupdate: We've had work being done here for over a week now and sweet Dudley, during the day time, has been at his absolute wit's end with all the different sounds, deliveries, comings and goings etc. Being on duty has meant no time for his daytime naps, so he's out for the count at bed time! Mind you, so are we.