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Friday 19 November 2010

The north wind doth blow ... Updated

... and we shall have snow.

Oh, I hope not! But this is how the old rhyme goes:

The North wind doth blow and we shall have snow,
And what will poor robin do then, poor thing?
He'll sit in a barn and keep himself warm
and hide his head under his wing, poor thing.


I was inspired to make this card by Kathy's challenge today on Daring Cardmakers 'we three ...' Kathy's choice was inspired by the carol 'We three kings', but she said that we could use three of anything, hence the three robins.

The robins were cut and embossed on the edges using shapeabilities nested birds, which were then distressed with TH DI brushed corduroy and fired brick. Torn pieces of hammered white card were used for the snow(unfortunately the torn edges don't show up very well here because it's white on white) and glittered silver snowflakes were added here and there. I used my dymo letratag for the quote.

Updated: I wasn't too sure about the torn edges showing up (even irl) because of the white on white and it looks as if the robins are sitting on top of one another, but what I meant to convey was for each robin further back to be perched within a snow drift. So I've now added some stickles crystal ice to the snow drifts.



For the 25th club this month on BF forum, Di said: 'For November's challenge I would like to see the focal point on your cards to be made from things/shapes that are actually something completely different.' Well, I know I'm cheating somewhat, but I've found this challenge very ... er ... challenging! I usually make ten cards for each month's challenge, but this is my first this time and only a few more days to go. Well a bird is a bird, so really I haven't used a shape for something completely different, but I figured that the bird shapeabilities aren't usually used on a Christmas card, so perhaps it's OK for Di's challenge - sorry, enough waffle.

There are a lot of Christmas themed challenges around atm so the card is also for:

Anything goes 25: let it snow
PaperPlay 46: let it snow, let it snow, let it snow
ECP 26: snow
Die cut dreams Christmas 43: snowflakes
Speedy the cat (Mark's finest papers) 29: snowflake
Crafty calendar 14: winter snowflakes
Paper cutz 68: Christmas using lots of bling
Stamp man 10: anything by Tim Christmas theme - TH distress inks
Spoon full of sugar 130: distressing
Frosted designs: distressing
Little paper shop 94: all about the die cuts
Your next stamp 29: YNS it! - I used nesties and stickles
Alota 47: Christmas - let's celebrate
Crazy4challenges 63: Christmas
2 sisters 13: Christmas
ABC: H is for holidays
Scrappy frogs: merry Christmas
Crafty pad 97: Christmas sparkle
Flourish timeless 93: just do it - get those Christmas cards done
Creative inspirations 47: anything Christmassy
Pollycraft 70: a glittery Christmas
Crafts and me 17: glitter
Simon says: sparkle
Meljen 34: sparkle & shine
If the shoe fits Fashionista Friday 55: tickle me with tinsel - glitter
Treehouse 76: go glitter
Critter 40: texture - the torn card, the embossed edges of the birds and the glittered snowflakes add texture
Sarah Hurley 18: embossing - the edges of the birds
Stampin' sisters in Christ 65: clean and simple
Pals paper arts 69: clean & simple
Stamp, scrap & doodle: no flowers
ABC Christmas: X for Xmas

Keys to music

For this card I've used part of a very large stamp 'keys to music' by Stamps Happen - I've coloured with promarkers and copics, simply mounted on a piece of brown card and then on a white base card.

This is the complete stamp:


The card is for:

Aly's challenge 29: music
Incy wincy's challenge 68: rock on
Order of the opus gluei 80: men
Stamp, scrap & doodle: no flowers
Stampin' sisters in Christ 65: clean and simple
Pals paper arts 69: clean & simple

What a lovely morning

I know this is a crafting blog and this has nothing to do with crafting, but this morning has been very special.

John's first guide dog, Oscar, who retired in 2003, came over to see us - well, of course, he didn't come here by himself, but was brought over by our dear friend, Bob, who is Oscar's retirement 'dad'.

Oscar will be 13 tomorrow! He has slowed up a lot now and is a bit deaf. He has to take his time lying down and getting up.

It was so lovely to see him again, thanks to Bob coming over with him. He remembered us and where he was.

Here he is with Bob:

And with his former master, John:


And lastly, with me:
Happy Birthday for tomorrow, Oscar!