Steve's Birthday card

Two posts in two days?! I know, but don't get used to it. I'll be back to weekly posts soon enough.
I just wanted to share Steve's birthday card with you. I used all inkylicious stamps except the moon which is from Lavinia. The papers are from craftwork cards. I have a thing about tartan and when I saw their tartan goody bag after Christmas I had to have it!
So, Steve is another year older, but feeling very upbeat as he is now counting down to retirement! Hopefully once he is retired we will get the chance to go and enjoy scenes like this at October half term or during the Easter holidays. Right, I'd better go and finish my dad's card and Meg's boyfriend's which are both next week.
Thanks for looking!

Rudolf day for January

 January seems to have flown by! It is time for this months Rudolf days, so here are my cards. The first is a lovely little scene stamp from Crafty individuals with minimal colouring and a scrap of card sprinkled with brushos and stencilled with glitter glue.

My second card has stamps from Hobby art, a bit of liquid pearls and glitter glue and an ink-dusted background. The hobby Art stamps come from the holly and Ivy set and the Nature Trail set.
Do pop over to Scrappy Mo's and take a look. I can totally recommend joining in each month and getting organised for next year.
Thanks for looking! 

Another walk around Rufford

Steve and I had another walk around Rufford a couple of weeks ago in the hope of spotting that kingfisher again. It was a bright Frosty morning so we donned our thick coats and set off. Here are a few snaps...

 The Kingfisher wasn't there, but a Heron was

 So were these black headed gulls

 This is the view from the bridge and at the foot of that big tree was where I saw the kingfisher last time

 Here is a view down the lake to the Mill where there is a cafe and a shop selling outdoor clothing

 The Greylag Geese were enjoying the sunshine...

 This little fellow was gorging himself on the bird food!

 I had taken some bird food with me and found a convenient fence post near the Ice House. The birds are used to people feeding them here it seems...

 especially the blackbirds and robins

 The shaft of sun picked them out beautifully...

Then we walked back to the car. It looks like mid afternoon, but it was only about midday when we left.
Hope you enjoyed the stroll. Lets hope for some more bright frosty mornings soon.
Thanks for looking!

Wood Anemones - a reminder of spring!

Here is my latest DT offering for Dora's Digis which are here on her blog. I coloured it with Be Creative Alcohol markers. The background paper is from Be Creative and the ribbon and lace were in my stash. Dora drew this from my photos of wood anemones that we often see at Bluebell time...

They come in a variety of shades of pink and white....

Hope you are all coping with the variety of weather being thrown in this week. We had only a few flakes of snow and now it is grey and wet.
Thanks for looking!

A bird and a cat

I've just finished a couple of birthday cards so I thought I would share them with you. The first was for my Brother, a keen birder and he was very complementary about my colouring describing it as a very accurate representation! I used Hobby Art stamps for the oval and an Inkylicious background for the base card. I am entering the card into the Challenge at Penny Black and More where the theme is anything goes. Here are some photos of goldfinches taken on our bird feeders so you can see for yourself.

My second card features a creature that I prefer not to see in my garden, because more than likely it is after the birds! A few weeks ago I drew back the curtains to see one hanging by the front legs from my birdhouse. It got a good soaking from my squeezy bottle that I keep by the patio door!

A very simple card, but I think it works. The stamp is from Inkylicious and the papers and embellishments are from Craftwork Cards. I am entering this into the Challenge at Allsorts where the theme is Cats or Dogs.
Thanks for looking and I hope you have a good week! 

Coffee and Cream at Stamping Sensations

Good Morning and a Happy New Year! I trust you are feeling ready for the new year when you read this! 😉 Not only is it the first day of 2017, but it is the first Sunday of the Month and time for a new Challenge over at Stamping Sensations! This month's theme is...........

********Coffee and Cream********

As the title suggests we want to see lots of browns and creams this month..........

I've chosen a rose from Honey Doo Crafts, stamped in versafine sepia and coloured with Zig Clean color pens. This was mounted onto some Indigo Blu mega flake called Chocolate box and a brown layer. The base card was stamped with a Crafty Individuals stamp (CI-430) again in the versafine ink. A little brushed corduroy Distress Ink was dusted around the edges.

 

The prize this month is a selection of Mixed media goodies , and the top three will also be receiving a little prize from us!

Please can I remind you we are a stamping challenge so must see a stamped image, sentiment or quote as the focal element of your artwork. Conventional rubber/acrylic stamps and digital images are acceptable, but pre-coloured digital images and toppers are not. And please note: if we do not comment on your entry it will be because it does not follow the theme, qualify under our rules, or because we are asked to sign in or provide additional data to comment. We do not want to be rude but we do want to be fair to those who do follow the rules.

We do hope you will be able to join in this month. Do pop over to the challenge blog where my talented teamies have produced some amazing artwork in these fabulous colours.