Summer

 Evening All!! I know, it's unusual for me to be here a) on a Wednesday and b) in the evening. But, as we are currently enjoying Summer, here in the UK, it would be rude not to join in with the current Summer challenge over on the Allsorts Challenge blog. 

I made this...

I just knew that I had the perfect stamp set for this card. It was a Clearly Besotted magazine freebie from waaaay back. The leaves were stamped in two shades of ink and then clear embossed and the flower heads coloured with my Promarkers. I have quite a lot of fuschias in the garden, they seem to be one plant that Bowie doesn't lie on or dig up!

 The one that I used as a backdrop to this card has special significance. When we opened as a livery yard back in 2001 one of our first clients was a formidable lady called Jenny who was as tall as she was wide and was the typical Pony Club Instructor type. Sit up and kick on...B you will know the type I mean!!  Anyway, despite her loud voice and firm opinions she was a darling and when she split plants in her garden always gave us some. This Fuschia being one of them. 

She stayed with us a few years and it was her mare that bore the first foal at Mallows Farm, Delboy Trotter he was called!! She left us when she found a field closer to home but we still kept in touch. As well as her horses and garden, she loved her dogs and had three, Juniper, Gingham and Pumpkin. She was walking her lovely girls one morning when she had a sudden, fatal, heart attack and was found, by a gentleman, with her beloved pooches beside her. I think of her throughout the year when her primoroses appear in the garden, when the snowdrops that she gave us pop up in the lane and when this old fashioned fushcia shows off.

If you are still with me, thank you for your visit and I shall see you when I do xx

Some Challenges

Allsorts Challenge #686 - Summer

Christmoose

After last weeks' heat it's Christmas on my blog today. 

This time I am sharing some inspiration for the new challenge at 

We are always anything goes these days but there is an optional theme of 

Not just Rockin' Robin...so any Christmas animal.

Here's mine...

 That wonderful moose is from a Sugar Pea Designs set that is sooooo old it's yellow!! I bought it years ago and never inked until now. I was amazed to find that it's still available. I coloured him with Promarkers and stamped and heat embossed the sentiment from the same set. I also found a whole collection of Couture Creations snowflake dies that I'd never opened, so used them too, making the most of snippets of smooth card that I'd printed digis on to. Oh and the paper was another from The Range last year. I liked this design so much that I made another that I will share another time.

My Christmas prep is coming along nicely, the card pile is growing and I was gifted the 2021 Christmas kit from Cotton and Twine last year that I am currently cross stitching (it's still available if you're interested...just saying!!). I always make my work colleagues a little gift so I am also cross stitching snowflakes in a 3" hoop. 

Anyway, thank you for stopping by and letting me chat!! Looking forward to seeing your Christmas animals.

See you soon xx

Some Challenges

NBUS Challenge #40 - Stamp set and dies...shame on me!!

Creative Moments #236 - AG +/- Cute

Snippets Playground #433 - Christmas in July

(Snowflakes cut from snippets of alcohol marker cardstock)

Feathers, Fur or Scales?

 Good Morning peeps. Well what a scorcher it has been here in the UK. Thank goodness it's cooled down a bit, I was panicking that my HRT patch might slide down my leg and out of my sandal while I was in Aldi!! 😄 Our poor animals weren't very impressed either. Martin was hosing down the ponies on Monday while I was in an air conditioned office (small mercies!!) and Bowie and Bumble just didn't know what to do with themselves. Anyway, it's passed and, lets be honest, us Brits do love to chat about the weather!!

I have a furry squirrel to share with you today. It's my  AYLI DT inspiration for you.

Our theme is Feathers, fur or scales? I am not a big fan of the former. I think I might have mentioned before that my Grandma used to let her budgies fly free around her living room. They used to scare the life out of me so feathers is definitely out. Scales.....Yuk!! So something warm and furry suits me just fine. I love my Sprollies' silky ears and there is nothing quite like the smell and feel of the velvet muzzle of a horse. I have never been in close proximity to a squirrel but I imagine that tail is soft and furry!! The cute image was from our Sponsor, Lee Holland Illustrations, and I coloured him with my Promarkers. The ombre pad jumped into my basket while I was wandering around in The Range looking for something else!!

That's all for today. 

See you soon xx

Little Cuties

Hello everyone, it's Cutie Pie time again and the theme is 

Cards for a child

I absolutely LOVE Hetty Clare images, especially her wonderful ponies so I am delighted that she is our sponsor this time. It was also a pleasure to colour up the gorgeous Pony Plait .

These pony digis are wonderfully detailed with well defined shaded areas so I tend to avoid alcohol markers because they smudge a bit. I dusted off my Spectrum Noir pencils to colour. the papers are from a Marianne Designs block Hello Sweet Baby and all the dies from Tonic's Cherish the moment set. I ran with the pink and brown-ish colourway and finished off with brown and pink pearls.

Thank you for stopping by today and I hope that I have encouraged you to join in.

See you soon xx

Some Challenges

Allsorts Challenge #684 - Allsorts of animals

Cool or Warm at AYLI

Hello everyone. I hope you are well this fine Thursday and looking forward to the coming weekend. I am hoping to finally get back on board the pony. It's been a long six weeks since my fall but I am happy to report that all appears well in the butt cheek department!! I was eventually referred to Fracture Clinic because of a  non-reducing large haematoma. The Orthopaedic Surgeon that I saw had me whisked to Ultrasound to have the lump drained and since then my recovery has, thankfully, been swift. 

Anyway, less about me and more about my card. It's to hopefully encourage you to join in at 

As You Like It Challenge

where the DT are sharing their favourite colours Warm or Cool and there is even a fabulous colour wheel for you to take inspiration from too!!

On inspection, I found that the tally of my makes favours the cooler spectrum, I suspect the reason for this is that I was a Winter baby so go for the cooler shades.

My lovely Friend and colleague  (Practice Vampire/Phlebotomist) has just retired so I hunted out this lovely House Mouse decoupage sheet and made this for her.

Oh I did enjoy cutting out those sweet little mice. I had forgotten what a huge topper they actually make so the card base itself was 7 x 7. The spotty paper was from a LOTV Snow Princess paper pad and the ombre stripe was the absolute perfect match for the topper, although it was actually greener rather than yellow, as in the picture. It's not often I add flowers but this special card called for it and I found some perfect blooms in my flower box.

So I look forward to seeing what you share with us.

Thanks, as always, for your continued visits. See you soon xx