"I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.”*

October has arrived with it's new colours and smells, colours of green, gold and orange of the leaves, and the smells of home fires burning and wet rotting foliage.

Hubby and I went on a trip last Monday, not too far just a few hours away and it really brought home that the land is preparing for winter. The trees were every colour, from deep deep green of the evergreen hedges to the pale yellow of dieing foliage on the trees. I was mesmerised by all this because as we live by the sea we don't have large clusters of trees to view the different colours. So it was lovely to see.

Mind you it also reminded us that winter is bearing down on us and is time to light fires and turn on the heating. It is time of shortening days and longer nights. It is not time to bring out the winter clothes or put away the summer ones, as the weather over summer was so wet and cold at times that we were wearing both sets over the last few months.

With summer over and school back, Tiny and I have now gone back to walking the beach in the mornings again. Tiny loves it, he jumps out of the car and does not stop running until we are back in the car again, then he sleeps all day. lol

My sister contacted me a few weeks ago to ask me if I would make a wedding card for her to give to her DIL brother who was getting married soon. I had no problem with it, I asked when did she want it - "no rush", was her answer, "it's not for a few weeks yet". She rang me back a few days later, to enquire about the card, "the wedding is in Spain and they are flying out next Tuesday, so will need the card by Monday". No problem I will have it in the post by Friday to you, (we don't have post on Sat here). "Grand" she says. A few minutes later she rang back, - now I should say that this is late Wednesday afternoon, and I had work later in the evening. "I won't be here on Monday or Tuesday so I need the card by Friday" So the card that I had to make went from "no rush" to a few hours! That means I only had Thursday morning to make the card as the post here goes about 2.15pm for next day delivery. No pressure!

This is what I came up with:

Quick and simple. I had the cream and gold paper for ages, in fact I had forgotten about it. I just attached it to the front of the card.  The little diamante heart is something else I had for a long time. The ribbon was in my ribbon box so I had everything for a quick card. It took me some time to get the name and date printed out on the card where I wanted it and in the colour and font size. It was all done and dusted in a few hours. But then I decided to do the inside of the card.

I know the groom and I knew they would have a great fun wedding so this is what I did in the inside.

 

 

In fact this is what I wanted to do for the front of the card, but due to time constraints I wanted to have something that would have been "good to go" in time but I had some time to spare so I continued with the inside and if I did run out of time, then the inside could have just stayed plain.
The image is a Kenny K digi image. I printed it off and coloured with proMarkers. The sentiment is also computer generated. The backing layer was cut out using an X-cut die cut.

Recipe:
Front -
Designer Paper: Mulbery Tissue Paper (I think) I have it so long I have forgotten exactly what it is.
Ribbon: Stash
Embellishment: Diamante Heart Buckle from Cara Craft Supplies
Greeting: Computer generated.

Inside -
Backing paper: Core'dinations  
Die cut: X-cut nesting die set.
Image: Kenny K "Wedding Dance" 
Colouring Medium: ProMarkers

Hope you like,

*Post title is a quote from L.M. Montgomery.

Summer Time - What?!

What does summer time mean to you?

Long hot sunny days, children playing in the garden, going for walks in the long grass (don't let the farmers see you or there will be trouble) eating breakfast, lunch and dinner outside on the patio - well if it does, lucky you.

For us it is trying to dry wet outdoor clothes inside for 13 months in a row. Watching the tide coming and going from the inside of rain drenched windows. Eating breakfast, lunch and dinner by the fire (okay that's a fib, but some times we wish the fire was on!)

Where did the summers that we had as children go to? Yes, even in Ireland we had sunshine and long dry days spent outside and eating meals sitting, on a tartan rug, on the grass in the garden. Along with Sunday trips to the seaside and trying to eat a 99 Ice Cream before it melted all down you hands or fell on the ground.

I understand that summer and winter weather has changed all over the world but I just wish it just dried up here for more than one day in a row!!  Well to be honest we did have a good week last week but this week is rain followed by more rain on top of rain. But as an Irish person I am entitled to have a rant about the weather, our national pastime!

*************
I made this card for a fellow PCP member who celebrated her birthday last week, I had to ensure she received the card before I posted here.

I used a white square blank card base.  I dry embossed some white card using a cuttlebug embossing folder. The yellow gingham paper is from a DoCrafts Me to You, Spring Chic paper pack. I stamped the papermania sentiment straight on to the backing paper after afixing to the card. The pink layer is from a paper pack that I have for ages - Papermania Sweet Nothings. Then the image is a freebie I got with a crafty magazine some time ago, it is a "Lili of the Valley" image, in fact there was a little pack of images ready to be coloured and used on cards, it is one of the best freebies I received in a crafty mag, each image is as gorgeous as the last. I coloured the image using colouring pencils, I need to get some decent skin coloured pencils. I sparkled up the flowers a little with Sukara gen pens

Recipe:
Designer paper: Docrafts - Me to You Spring Chic, and Papermania - Sweet Nothings
Embossing: Provo craft embossing folder
Die Cut: Xcut nesting set
Image: Lili of the Valley
Colour medium: Pencils, Sukara Gel Pens
Sentiment: Papermania
Miscellaneous: Ribbon - stash
                         Ink - Papermania


Hope you like,

Was going to make more.....

but time ran out, or was it that I spent too much time reading others blogs, possibly the latter! So what was it I was going to make more of - Good Luck in you Exams cards.

The month of June is the major exam time in Ireland, with both Leaving Certificate and Junior Certificate examinations happening. The Leaving Cert is taken at about age 18-19 yrs when students finish formal education and is a very important exam, particularly if the student wants to go on to further education.  Junior Cert is taken at roughly 14-15 yrs this would be half way through Secondary school.

I have a niece who is in the middle of her Junior Cert at the moment and this is a card I made for her.

I decided to use an unusual good luck symbol for her card, so I picked "Manekineko" lucky Cat, it is a Japanese lucky symbol (I have since found out it is to attract financial wealth - but that can't be bad, can it?) As usual I downloaded it from Google. I cut it out and mounted the image onto white card which  I had cut out using a circular nestibility die, I embossed this with "Swiss Dots" a ProvoCraft embossing folder. This I then mounted the image onto red card to match its cushion and ears.  I cut this out using Xcut die.  I also used the same Xcut die set to make the card base. I just cut out a blank square card ensuring that I left the folded edge inside the die so I would not cut through it.

I had intended making some more of these for others not using the same image but with regular good luck images, like the clover or black cat, but as I explained earlier, I just did not have the time, I was so busy!!!!

Recipe:

Blank card: Stash

Red and white card: Stash

Image: Google

Die cuttings sets: Spellbinders Nestibilities Circles and Xcut shaped die.

Hope you like,

Sonny's* 13th birthday...

Yesterday, Sonny celebrated his 13th birthday. Now some people say that when children enter the teenage years they get moody and disagreeable, well I can categorically say that that is not true, he has been like that for the past year! lol
He is a wonderful child teen if a little "independent" at times.

It took me a day and a half to do this card, I had no idea what kind of a card to make at first so I had to search the Internet to see what it would throw out. This is nothing like I found either, it just materialised as I went on.
I wanted to make a different type of card and I like easel cards, this was my starting point. The image is from Kenny K "Cool Kid" it took me two colourings to get it right. The verse and 13 are computer generated. The lightening bolt is a google download which is glittered to an inch of its life using Glamour Dust, - but you cannot see it here. These elements are mounted on Core'dinations card stock, this is a lovely colour, using Nestibilities die cut shapes and the image mount is cut using an xcut die.  The backing paper is a free download from KWB Downloads, (if someone knows more about KWB let me know, as I don't have any other info on them).

Recipe:
Designer paper: KWB Downloads
Image: Kenny K - Cool Kid
Backing paper (mounts): Core'dinations Card Stock - Super Assortments, Earth Elements color.
Colour medium: ProMarkers
Embellishments: Stash.


For the first time in the last 6 years, I made the birthday cake.

It is/was a chocolate biscuit cake with strawberries, Sonny loves strawberries and I love chocolate so that's us sorted, Hubby just had to eat it! It's scrumptious but a little rich. It is an easy cake to make but been the first time I made one, it took me ages. And the amount of washing up afterwards - won't even go there. lol

*Not real name.

Hope you like,