Friendship card.

Hi Folks.  What a glorious weekend it has been, make the most of it whilst you can.
Thank-You all for the lovely comments on my scarf/shawl.  I have always been an avid knitter, but recently its making a comeback again.
To-day i enjoyed some time in my craftroom and made this card. I'm sure you will have seen the image before ,but I love it and this time I printed it on canvas and glittered most of the swirly bits and jewellery on the ladies.  I felt it did not need much in the way of decoration, so I added a few Fanciful flourish swirls and a flower. Finished it off with a favourite quote and a few gems.    I hope you All have a Good Week.  

Swallowtail Lace shawl

Good day to you All.  Its beautiful sunshine here today and very warm too.  Washing out and nearly dry, lunch prepared and I even walked to the post office earlier.  I have had a busy week with Hospital appointments and physios coming in, and had no time to get in to my craft room at all.  However, I'm hoping to get some crafty time to-morrow and enjoy some peace and quiet.
I did manage to finish my first 2 ply Lace shawl, and today I have washed and blocked it.  I can see a few mistakes with this one, but hopefully I know now what I did and can correct the next one.  I actually have started another one, and have now treated myself to a couple of pairs of the Knitting Pro needles that are so light and easy to knit with too. Nearly 400 stitches on this shawl finished, but well worth the effort when done. The colour is Aqua and I hope you like it.  These will be for Christmas gifts, but this one I will keep.    Hugs Rita xxxxx

Playing with Acetate.

Hi there my good folks.  Quite an uneventful day here, so it gave me some time to play for a while during the afternoon.   I printed the image on to acetate a few months ago.  It was from the Dancing with Shadows cd-rom by Joanna Sheen .   I then used some Primary elements called Tahiti Dreams mixed with a media gel . I layered it on to a piece of black linen card and then on to a pink coloured mirri card. The flowers are Wild Orchid that I've had for ages along with some small leafy swirls from Cheery Lynn.  Going to relax with my knitting this evening for an hour or two anyway.   Take Care my Friends.   Hugs Rita xxxx

Just to say Hello

Sorry for being AWOL for the last few days, in fact its nearly a week since my last post.  Life has just got in the way a bit, and my time to create has been restricted.  I went over to Annie's on Saturday and really we had such a great day.   Really I went over to show her a few tips on sewing, and after she picked it up, there was no stopping her.  A total change from when she was a young girl wanting to learn to sew.  In these days I made her tack and tailor tack, but that was much too slow for our wee Annie and she was having none of that, so I ended up making the skirt that she wanted to make, and from what I remember she needed it for going out that night.  So we laughed as we reminisced about the things that happened during those teen years.  After  a lovely lunch it was back to the sewing machine and we started to sew some shabby chic. Before I left she produced some calico bags for me to decorate in a shabby Chic style, well I'm afraid to say I just could not get to grips with it at all. I still have lace and bits to add to it, but here it is so far...... work in progress so to speak.  I'll need to catch up with all your blogs, but please be patient with me at the moment.  Hugs Rita xxxx

Musical Birthday card

Good Morning my Friends in Blogland.   Managed to finish this card and matching bag yesterday.   I tried to schedule it for this morning  but needless to say it did not work.
I was asked to make this for a Music Teacher, and of course it had to be an easel card.  It was for a 30th Birthday and this is what I produced.
 I made an 8 X 8 card and matted it with dark blue card to that I added silver card before adding my embossed Marianne folder that cuts as well as embosses.  I used Dusty Concord to distress the edges before adding my stamped images, that I bought at the SECC in Glasgow years ago and I cannot remember the name.  Matted and layered them with purple card, a few gems and of course for me the obligatory ribbon bow.. I made the bag and added the spellbinders Happy Birthday die cut to finish it off.   Been baking today and now I'm off to do some Ironing.  Hope you are all keeping fine and lots of Hugs to those who are struggling.    Hugs Rita xxxx

Wedding Card (updated ) with Matching Bag & Wallet

Sorry I'm a bit late with this, as I promised it yesterday.   Hope you are getting better weather than us in Scotland.  All the season's in the one day, except for snow. 
You will noticed I have put the double rings on the bit of the card I thought looked bare, and I'm glad I did as think it looks much better.  Most of my Wedding cards have bags and gift or money wallets to match, and this what was asked for with this order.   Still got a couple of orders left to do, so I'm hoping to get some time to play in the next few days.
 I'm also knitting a 2 ply Swallowtail Shawl in the evenings as the nights are drawing in fast, and I like my hands to be doing something.  The Physio team are still coming in to Andrew ,but he continues with the excercises himself, so hopefully his legs will improve.   Thank-you All for the lovely comments you continue to send, and I think its lovely that we support one another.   Hugs Rita xxxxx

Wedding Card

Hello my Friends. Today has been sunshine all the way for us, here on the West Coast of Scotland. But alas, the forecast is to be different tomorrow.
I got two 8 x 8 cards that need to be finished by Tuesday and believe me they were ordered at the last minute.  However, I hope I rose to the challenge, as one of them was this Wedding card.   So, out came the dies and card and lo and behold I finished it at 4.00pm.  I still have the Bag and Money Wallet to finish ,so that will be my work to-morrow.  I notice the flowers look as if they are ivory ,but really they are white. Now that I see it on my Blog, maybe the bottom of the card needs rings or something to fill in the gap.  The dies are all Marianne except the leaf scrolls and they are Cheery Lynn.  Any comments would be gratefully received as always, I love to read them all.    Hope you All have a lovely evening.    Hugs Rita xxx

Male Vintage Card & Wallet

Hi Folks.  What a lovely day we've had to-day.  Really warm ,although a little bit windy at times, but its so nice to see and feel the sun.
To-day I am sharing a card I was asked to make for a 65th Birthday, it was requested that the theme was to be Classic or Vintage cars. Hopefully what I've done will suffice   The image I have had since I started making cards and its came in so handy lots of time. I've decoupaged the card and added some vintage Automobile Association car badges . The matching wallet is in the same colours as the card.  It was needed for this Friday, so a bit of a rush with this one I'm afraid.  Need to tidy up my craft space now ,before I start again.
Thank you All so much for the lovely comments you leave on my posts and I do appreciate each and every one of them.   I'm visiting my friend to-morrow as she is going through a tough time and is not very good at the moment.     Hugs Rita xxxxx

Bag for the Paris card

Hello again folks. Just to let you see the finished bag for yesterday's card.
Weather here has been very sunny then very dull,  but good weather to get the washing dried.  I have spent the afternoon preparing another 8x8 card for a man who loves vintage cars.  I'm not in my comfort zone with male cards at all and tend to get flustered a bit.  However, I've now made a start and hopefully be able to produce something for showing to-morrow.   Hope your all well and for those who are suffering in one way or another I'm sending pot loads of hugs.   Rita xxxxx

I Love Paris....

Hello my dear blogging friends.  Here we are, another week-end looming.  I hope you have all found some crafty time amongst your other daily routines.   I was asked to make another 8 X 8 card in a bag. The theme for this one was Paris and it was a 30th Birthday. So what nicer way to spend your birthday than by having a holiday in the romantic city itself.
This card is an Easel one, and I used the G45 French Country paper as my background, before stamping and layering it.  I used the Tim Holtz alphabet squares to Bring in the name ' PARIS '  and the stamps again were TH, matted on gold card.  The large Eiffel tower is a Sizzix die and I added some gilding flakes to bring out the colours. With the addition of some embellishments my card was complete.  Just got the bag to do now.  Got a few more orders yesterday, so it looks as if I will be busy for a while.
Was at A & E with Andrew yesterday and he had a few X-Rays taken. So he has lots of torn muscles and swelling etc, but nothing broken. So he is getting a some visits from a physio and hopefully he will get his confidence back again.  So those of you with stairs. Please be Careful.     Hugs Rita xxxxxx

Hello my dear friends.. Well today has been so warm and I have had every window opened, even the patio doors.  Even now the sun is still shining.  On Sunday night I was asked to make a Golden Wedding for my old boss from years ago, and as it had to be posted to Italy where the couple are going to celebrate, I had to get it done fairly quickly.  I thought it was nice of the family to ask me if I would make their card in the first place.
I cut and prepared an 8 X 8 Ivory hammered card to start with and had no idea where it was going. I had some lovely soft gold shimmer paper and I matted it on to the card. The cream square was cut and punched with a MS punch around the page. The ornate gold backing was cut with the Enchanted Labels 28 and I put 2 pieces to-gether. The heart and the swans was a Marianne die, and the flower and bow I made myself along with a little scroll.  I made a really strong box for the card to travel in and added some embellishments to make it look pretty.  Still got one more order to do before I get time to play.
 Nearly back to normal now after last week's events.  I still have the Finnabair course to look forward to on the 5th October and the SECC at the end of October.  Enjoy your Evening whatever your doing.
 Hugs Rita xxxx

More of my Memories

Good Morning folks. Its such a beautiful day here in the West Coast of Scotland and all the more reason for me to show more pictures.
This time it was the Thursday, the day when we met the Duke of Distress himself.  Everyone was up at the crack of dawn, well those of us that managed to get some sleep. The morning class went first from 9.00 till 1.30 and then it was us from 3.till 6.30 and it absolutely flew in. However, as you can see from the workshop pictures we were a happy bunch of crafters.  So here we go then.

Just about to begin the class

 Sharing a joke with Tim

 The lovely Mario

 Our table before we got inky.

 Tim was always around to keep us on track.

 Jane from Personal Impressions

Tim and the beautiful Emma

 The lovely Kaz Hall who was so helpful

 Alison, Annie and I deep in concentration.

Andrew is feeling much better this morning ,but he can't remember what happened, it was so quick. However, he is being seen this morning. At the moment I am crafting, so that is good.   Enjoy your day everyone.  Hugs Rita xxx

Memories that will stay in my Heart

Well here I am at last my lovely friends and blogging buddies.  After spending time with some of my blogging friends at the Tim Holtz workshop, I can recommend it as the greatest tonic a girl can ask for.  From start to finish I had one of the best times in my life.  Annie and I arrived on Wednesday along with some of our blogging friends and really it was like meeting up with friends you have known for years.  The workshop was not till the Thursday, so we had lots of time to meet up with the others. We had afternoon tea in the sunshine, and dinner at night in the best company ever, (who needs men to enjoy ourselves) including Jenny ( buttons) Brenda Brown, Jennie Boxhall , Annie and myself with Kath Stewart and Olive joining us later along with Christine Bedford.  We laughed till the tears ran down our cheeks and came up with some fantastic ideas that you'll all hear about in due course.  At breakfast on Thursday we could hardly eat, due to the excitement of meeting up with our mentor for lots of inky fun.  From start to finish it was frantic and fantastic all rolled into one. Again we met lots of blogging friends and put faces to names. 
 I have lots of pictures  for you to see, some were my own and some were courtesy of Brenda, Kath, Buttons and Christine.  Hope you have all been enjoying your crafting.  Hugs Rita xxxx

Jenny ( Buttons) Christine and myself on the Wednesday night

 Jennie ( Artistic Stamper ) and Buttons enjoying their meal

  Annie and Brenda  enjoying the banter.

. Three Amigos.   Buttons, Christine and Moi

 Kath Stewart and I sharing some laughs

 

 The Host with the Most, our lovely Tim and myself.. He really is the nicest young man.

Just to say I don't have a lot of time at the moment as DH took a nasty fall downstairs and his face and ear got the worst of it.  This happened on the Thursday of our workshop, and although we knew about it, we did not know the extent of the injuries.  So please bear with me and I will be back to-morrow with the Workshop pictures.  Rita xx