Glass Half Full?

Inspired by the Sea and Two Colour Harmony - Graphicus July Challenge

I am usually a glass half full sort of person but for a number of reasons I am having a glass half empty period! LOL........Yes I can still laugh!!!!

So this sentiment from the Loving Sentiments set at Elusive Images that Glenda kindly gave away and I was mighty lucky to win suited my mood.....I am grateful to have come up with any idea at all for this months challenge at the Graphicus blog and it sort of evolved from the Distress Inks that I plonked on the mat and swirled around a bit!

The Faded Jeans and Shabby Shutters mixed together in one spot and formed the yellowish colour up in the corner that in the end I decided to keep as it looked like the sun was breaking through the clouds after a storm whilst the sea was still trying to calm down..........that's my interpretation of the torn bits of inked paper and I'm sticking to it! LOL

I have found there is also two ways of photographing your work.....one that shows the card in it's (more or less!) true colours.....and one that will show up any glimmer effect! I have as yet not managed to be able to do both at the same time.....any tips? So I am including a close up area of both!!!

The backing paper is one of Glenda's and is available as a freebie from her Artylicious blog here I just altered the colour to match the inked sentiment better.....the wide gro grain ribbon was a gift from a friend (she thought of me before she chucked it out!) and the metal tag is from All My Memories that QVC provided some time ago now.

Thanks for looking........keep stamping.........I am trying to.

xoxo

Edit: Today my boss gave me a rise.....Yeah!!!! It's back to glass half full for me then!!!

Desperate Romantics!

I am looking forward to Tuesday evening 9.00 p.m. on BBC 2........."Desperate Romantics"......it's all about the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood of painters..........Rossetti, Millais and Holman Hunt.
I am imagining the colours, style and evocative feel of the programme already.....have always loved these paintings.
xoxo

Ready Steady Stamp

Get ready........get steady.........lets stamp!....Tomorrow sees the start of a new challenge blog......Ready Steady Stamp don't all groan!!!....This is a bit of refreshment from the norm.........no prizes! Who cares........if you are anything like me Mr Random never liked me anyway and......dare I say this?.........I think Mr Random degrades the quality of the entries at times......that goes for me as well because there are a couple of items on this blog that I am not proud of and I would never have posted if it wasn't for the desparate need to catch a deadline!!!! LOL

Also no cuteness allowed.........again there are plenty of other challenges to satisfy that when you want them.

Cant wait myself......see you there tomorrow.

xoxo

Light up my Life!

It's Sugar Bowl challenge time again for me and I have been tinkering with the Gorjuss one! The sketch this time is by Judy which was really for a square card but I needed to make a different size format so this turned into an A5 card.
The lighting here today is bad...the weather is bad.....I feel bad!!!! Lingering cough plaguing me from my summer cold still.
I decided she needed to be sat on a string of Christmas lights.......still pondering my Xmas cards you see..............this is the first time I have included the little birdie....it's not that I don't like him/her but the other times it sort of didn't fit in!

The die cut swirls were just some plain card that I added glue and glitter to and I put 3D glaze to the bulbs which shows up a bit better in the close up...............added little blobs of glue to her dress and sprinkled on the glitter.....made up the flower........hope you think it is poinsettia like!!! The dotty and green papers are my own digital design again.........the striped bit is K&Co and the music paper is the web freebie from CS this month.....gave it the same treatment as my last card...........I like to think this would be equally suitable for a man to give a woman or for a woman to give a man.
Thanks for looking........happy stamping!
xoxo

Edit: Bl*&$£y H#!**l!!!! I've put the music on upside down.....unforgivable

Singing Ringing Tree

There is a sketch to follow over at Katherina's blog......if you make a card using a Whiff of Joy stamp you might get to join in the blog hop coming up on 25th July as a guest designer......how cool is that!!....and you get one of the new release stamps to showcase too.
Thought I'd give it a go.....can't win it if your not in it!



Because you can see both the inside of the card and the outside at the same time it was difficult to get the whole card in focus standing up............so I laid it down flat to get a better picture and took a separate one of the inside.
The papers are my own digital designs.......I am still messing around with Christmas themes hence the red and green!.........The piece of music paper was the free download from CS this month which I distressed even more...scrunched up...unscrunched...... bit of DI FB and WS added and sprayed with some Glimmer....the buttons were coloured with Alcohol inks....The fruits on the tree had gilding flakes added to follow the "Singing Ringing Tree" title.........loved that fairy tale from way back when.....thought the tree suited it.....you can read about it here.
Thanks for looking.

Fly With Me? - Papertake Weekly

Once again the sketch by Dawny at Papertake Weekly has come up trumps just when I needed it....I'm beginning to wonder if she is psychic!!!.......fab sketch and suited what I had made as the topper/ATC itself had the sentiment already so no need for additions.....although I did decide to add a trio of gems top and bottom.

I stamped the Artistic Stamper birdie (free with CS) and the Paperartsy heart thingy and swirls onto some patterned paper for a change instead of making my own background as I did with this one...sometimes time is of the essence! LOL.......all the papers are K&Co Roam.

The yellow fibre stuff was from a stall at the Exeter craft show a few years back......it is coming again in September but I am thinking of giving it a miss as it just seems to be the same old stuff.....afraid it is one of the hazards of living down here on the way to nowhere else because it is a long way for a lot of companies to travel to......

Wondering whether to save up the pennies and have a look see at the NEC one coming up anyone any recommendations on that? Is it worth the trek up there and the extra cost for me considering I would most likely stay overnight to make the most of a full day there....any comments gratefully received.

Thanks for looking...........and thanks again for another super sketch.........loved it.

xoxo

Give it some Distress!

At Tuesday Taggers this week the theme is to distress using Tim Holtz techniques....can't refuse that one! There is a sponsor this week with a prize from The Craft Barn.

My tag has turned into a bit of a deep thought exercise......with making Christmas cards on my mind I started out with one thought but it turned into this thought..........that for everyone who celebrates Christmas and the Joy that surrounds the season............there will always be people in the world who will not be living in peace & harmony.....I did say it was a bit deep!!!
The wording and numbers are both Paperartsy, the head is from one of my computer fonts....DI's SS,FB,WS,PN,WL........Adirondack acrylics cranberry and butterscotch.

Thanks for looking........and as dear Dave Allen used to say "May your God go with you"
xoxo