Boofle - an engagement card

Hi blogging friends

My nephew recently became engaged and this is the card I made for him and his fiancee.  I must admit that this card really had me out of my comfort zone so it took alot longer than usual but I was lucky enough to have some "me time" at home - all by myself - which doesn't happen all that often with the constant care of my loved one.  I don't know why it really took so long to make my card as in the end it looks like a very simple design - but I always approach a different style with some trepidation - yep, I am a chicken and a bit of a one-trick pony and really just plonk the image in the middle or use similar layouts - but every so often, I get the urge to try something new.

I really love the Docrafts range of Boofle images.  There is just something so adorable about him.  He seems to have taken the world by storm as I see the knitted toys, cards, wrapping paper, mugs etc. everywhere and I was so pleased when Docrafts brought out their range of Boofle images for cardmaking which somehow seemed to fall into my shopping basket at The Glitter Pot (UK)....happy sigh.....

 

Boofle was handcut from the Docrafts Designer Decoupage Sheet which has around 24 different designs - great value for money.  I popped all the layers up with dimensionals.

 

Both the cream and pink designer papers are from one of my favourite ranges - Basic Grey Kissing Booth.  I ran the cream paper through my Big Shot using the embossing folder from Cuttlebug's Love Language combo set twice because the paper was too wide for the embossing folder (fortunately this was one of the folders that I could match up the design) - and the pink paper using the Jamara embossing folder (which is a large 5" x 7" folder) then sanded it lightly to add a few highlights.   I love the texture that the Jamara folder added to the card.  I added a strip of cream satin ribbon underneath then attached this to my Kraft cardstock base.  All the corners were punched with a Stampin' Up corner punch.

 

I stamped the sentiment onto the same cream designer paper using Brilliance Pearlescent Chocolate ink - my new favourite brand of ink because the colours stamp brilliantly and give great coverage.  I added some Lippy Red rhinestones around the scalloped circle edge which was also diecut from the pink designer paper.  The sentiment panel is up on dimensionals.

 

Lastly, I tied some pink twine through a wooden button, added Fray Stop to the ends to stop the twine from unravelling, then glued the button on.

 

I think this card could double as a Valentine's Day card or for a Wedding Anniversary.

 

I am entering my card in the following challenges:

 

Incy Wincy Designs - add texture

My Time to Craft Challenge #208 - Decoupage

Simon Says Stamp - Have a Heart 

Splitcoaststampers - TLC416 - Dry embossing and sanding on patterned paper

 

Thanks for stopping by!  Hope you have a fab Valentine's Day this week!

 

Jocelyn

 

 

Card Recipe:

 

Stamps:  Sentiment by Stamp-It Australia - siset014 foam-mounted sentiment set

 

Ink:  Brilliance Pearlescent Chocolate

 

Designer paper:  Basic Grey - Kissing Booth

 

Accessories:  Boofle by Docrafts - Decoupage Sheet with 24 designs, dimensionals, May Arts pink button twine, Fray Stop, wooden button from stash, Spellbinder Circle + Scalloped Circle Nestabilities, Big Shot, Cuttlebug Love Language embossing folder, Cuttlebug Jamara 5" x 7" embossing folder, Kaisercraft Rhinestones RS405 Lippy Red, cream satin ribbon 1 inch/25mm wide, Kraft cardstock

 

Punches:  Stampin' Up corner

 

Penny Black Love Nip - Valentine's Day card

Hi blogging friends

Today I am sharing a Valentine's Day card.  It is AGES since I used the Magic Coloured Pencil/Gamsol Magic technique to colour an image, ie: Odourless Mineral Spirits with Prismacolor/Derwent Coloursoft pencils and paper stumps, having mainly used Watercolour Pencils in recent times.  I felt so rusty as it is a completely different technique to watercolouring and I struggled at first but got there in the end.  Glad I started with a simple image such as the one I used on my card!

I love this little cat - he makes me smile when I look at him - but I probably say that about all my Penny Black Margaret Sherry stamps!  I never get tired of them and they don't seem to go out of style.  I am still using Penny Black stamps that are 10 years old!  I recently had a clear out of my stamps - some look so dated and I am not sure whether I should try and sell them on EBay or just donate them to charity.  There's nothing wrong with them - I just wonder if it would be worth all the effort with the photographing, writing a blurb, paying to list them, then IF they sell, having to post them:  I feel tired thinking about it - and I am tired with the ongoing care of my loved one.  Anyone have any advice?  Is it better to sell them as one lot?  I haven't sold anything on EBay before - only bought things.   Anyway, onto my card...........

I stamped the image with Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto white cardstock and coloured it as per above, then lightly chalked around the cat with blue chalk for the sky and brown + grey chalk for the ground.  I added some Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue to the hearts and the envelope.  The image looks a little washed out in the photo.  My camera never likes to photograph anything with pink - it just can't seem to cope with that colour and always washes out my image.  Cameras can be so frustrating sometimes!

All the layers on the card are designer papers from my Basic Grey 12" x 12" Kissing Booth collection.  I would usually use matching cardstock but as my set of Kissing Booth papers has quite a number of plain colours in it, I thought I would use them instead - and of course, they match the floral papers perfectly making the whole process a bit quicker.

The fancy diecut circle is a Nellie Snellen die - so pretty.  JUST A LITTLE TIP:  This main panel is up on dimensionals because when I had it flat on the floral background, it all but disappeared into the background designer paper, so by popping it up a bit, it stood out from the background and looked 100 times better.  I was actually quite surprised at the difference it made, so if a similar thing happens to you, try popping your image up.

The sentiment is from my Wendy Irving Expressions set - one of the most useful sentiment sets I have ever purchased and had for a few years now.   I punched a tiny heart from the pink designer paper using my Arrows border punch (the leftover punchies look like tiny hearts) and glued it next to the sentiment.

The ribbon on the side panel was attached in 2 separate elements and I added Fray Stop to the ribbon ends to stop them from fraying.

Lastly, I added 3 heart gems to the bottom right-hand corner.  These gems came on a small sheet of bling from Target (Australia) which is meant for decorating your mobile phone or i-Pod, but I use the gems for cardmaking instead as the sheets have quite an assortment of different shaped rhinestones and pearls.  I have seen them at Woolworths/Safeway as well and they cost about $2 - $3. 

Challenges:

I am entering my card in the following challenges -

Penny Black and more at Allsorts - Love is in the Air
Bunny Zoe's Crafts monthly challenge - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by! 

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Penny Black Love Nip 3776F wood-mount, Sentiment from Wendy Irving Expressions clear set J6412.01

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black

Designer Paper:  Basic Grey Kissing Booth 12" x 12"

Accessories:  Big Shot, Spellbinder Circle Nestabilities, Nellie Snellen MFD020 die (fancy circle - largest die in set), ribbon, Fray Stop, pink heart gems from Target, dimensionals, Kaisercraft chalks, Odourless Mineral Spirits, Prismacolor + Derwent Coloursoft pencils, paper stumps, Kindyglitz Crystalina, cardstock - KW Doggett Knight white

Punches:  EK Success Arrows border (for the tiny heart)

Wellington Bear - a Get Well card

Hi blogging friends

I made this Get Well card to give to my brother-in-law who has been unwell and thought one of the Docrafts Wellington Bear images would suit him to a T.  I really love this range by Docrafts and I bought quite a little stash to have on hand for those oh-so-hard masculine cards.  I have really been enjoying getting back into paper tole (or decoupage as you call it in the UK) after not having done it for quite a while but was so inspired by my blogging friend Merry's (from MerryMade Cards and Crafts) paper tole cards, that I bought a few diecut sheets last year and fell in love all over again.  You can see my other paper-tole Wellington Bear cards HERE and HERE.  I might add that Merry not only makes cards, but sews and does other craft - I am in awe of her crafting abilities! 

Wellington Bear image by Docrafts - copyright Hallmark

All I had to do was pop the pieces out of the diecut sheet, trim off any daggy edges and put them together with dimensionals.  The sentiment was also from the sheet.  I am sure you could use the card for a number of different occasions such as Father's Day or a birthday just by changing the sentiment and the diecut sheet comes with a range of sentiments which is great and makes it very versatile.  Note that the main image panel corners already had rounded edges but I corner-punched the blue designer paper backing.

The designer papers are from my Wellington Bear 6" x 6" pad.  I corner-punched the sentiment panel too, added some brads and popped the panel up on dimensionals.  All the layers were trimmed using my Perfect Layers Tools.

I found a beige heart button in my stash which seemed to be the perfect-not-over-the-top-for-a-man embellishment to the card.  I tied some string through the button holes then glued the button on with Crafter's Pick Incredibly Tacky glue.  Here is a wee close-up:

Wellington Bear image by Docrafts - copyright Hallmark

Lastly, I tied some Cappuccino twine around the card a couple of times then tied a bow.   The hardest thing about the card was taking a photograph because the multiple layers create big shadows which can look a bit weird and can detract from the picture.  Trying to angle the card in the sun to minimise the shadows usually ends up over-exposing the image and makes the colours look all washed out and no amount of fiddling with my photo editing software seemed to make much improvement.  Finished size is just under 5-1/2" square or if you are metric, 13.8 centimetres/138 millimetres.

Challenges:

I am entering my card in the following challenge -

The Squirrel and the Fox Challenge #35 - Anything Goes.  This is my 2nd card for this challenge as I entered my card from my last blog post in the challenge as well.  You can enter a maximum of 2 times for this challenge.

*******************************

Before I go, I thought I would share a few photos my cat Ruby.  Ruby has an orange mouse shaped tent which came FREE with a pack of IAMS cat pellets that I bought a while ago - and for once, she actually USES it to sleep in.  Of course, the other bedding that I paid MONEY for, she doesn't use.....typical cat!  There was some lovely morning sun shining through the window and she got a bit hot inside the tent, so stretched out on the floor in front of the tent.  Cats sure know how to relax and soak up the warmth, don't they?!  The 2nd photo, Ruby is back in her tent snoozing; I am sure she is dreaming something nice because she looks like she is smiling to me.

Aahhhh - it is so good to be a cat!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  None

Designer paper:  Docrafts Wellington Bear 6" x 6" pad

Ink:  None

Accessories:  Docrafts Wellington Bear diecut sheet, Raw umber brads from stash, The Twinery Cappuccino twine, Heart button by Jesse James 'Dress it up' Country Hearts, button twine, dimensionals, Perfect Layers Tools, cardstock - raw umber, Crafter's Pick Incredibly tacky glue

Punches:  Stampin' Up! corner

Lili of the Valley Topper birthday card

Hi blogging friends

Edited to add:  This  card was featured by Lydia on the Splitcoaststampers Facebook page - WOW!  That sure made my day!  Thanks Lydia!!

My husband's family have alot of birthdays at the beginning of the year so I thought I would use one of my Lili of the Valley (UK) pre-coloured toppers which I bought in December when they had free postage (along with some stamps of course because I find them quite irresistible!) as an early Christmas present to myself. 

Am I cheating by using a pre-coloured image?  Even though using a topper saves you colouring an image, you do still need to plan out the rest of the card so from where I stand, I feel very comfortable using a topper.  And I put a lot of love in my cards and try and tailor it to suit the recipient.  I think you could use this topper for so many different occasions - Mother's Day, Friendship, Thank you, Thinking of you etc. - just stamp (or handwrite) a different sentiment on teddy's envelope.

As I wanted the topper to be round, I diecut it using my Cuttlebug and one of my Spellbinder Circle Nestabilities dies.  I couldn't really find the right colour cardstock to match the image so after a bit of a search through my designer papers, I found some old Cosmo Cricket Honey Pie 'Ella' papers and on the flip side of the flowers, was a nice, soft pink that toned beautifully with my card.  I decided to add a white diecut Scalloped Circle to the image as well and popped this panel up on dimensionals. 

I recommend that you use lots of dimensionals (or doublesided tape) if you are attaching something to a dry embossed panel as there is less surface area for the panel to stick to and in my experience, is more likely to fall off - which I learnt the hard way after handing one of my relatives a Christmas card one year which he popped on the window ledge, and whilst we were sharing our Christmas meal with family, two of the panels dropped off to my horror!  As I had already posted the same card to about 8 other people, I still wonder how many other panels dropped off!  Did they open the envelope and find a jumble of panels and thought it was some sort of weird Christmas jigsaw puzzle card?!  Oh dear........

I added 2 pink hearts around the image which were punched from a Martha Stewart Lace Heart edge punch and the designer paper; I used the leftover punched hearts.  Just the right size for what I needed.

As another Christmas present for myself, I bought one of the new Die-sire Embossalicious 6" x 6" square embossing folders by Crafters Companion from Joanna Sheen's website.  I was so thrilled when Crafters Companion released some square folders to suit us cardmakers who love to make square cards and I do hope they release some more, in particular, some Christmas designs.  You know, I never cease to be excited when I emboss a white card with an embossing folder and see it come out all pretty and textured - and it can really 'lift' a card and give it that 'wow' factor.  I used the Floral EF6 folder which I ran through my Big Shot.

The bottom pink border was punched using an EK Success Abstract Flower punch with the same pink designer paper along one edge of the paper which had a bit of a lacey design printed on it - and I think it turned out a bit prettier than just using the plain pink colour.  I did add a Scor-Pal line just above the punching so I had a straight line to butt the border up against the white cardstock.

I went to town with Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue around the pink circle, the hearts on the image panel, the tiny hearts printed under the butterflies, the heart on the envelope and the teddy's cheeks. Here is a wee close-up:

The envelope that the teddy is holding was blank, so I rummaged through my stash and found a tiny little stamp from my Popcorn the Bear 'Someone Special' stamp set and stamped it with Versamagic Pink Petunia chalk ink.

Lastly, I tied on some button twine after winding it twice around the card and added some Fray Stop to the twine ends so they wouldn't unravel.

Challenges:

I am entering my card in the following challenges -

The ABC Challenge - E for Embossing - where you can use any sort of embossing such as embossing powders or folders

Incy Wincy Designs Challenge - Something New - show off your crafting goodies you got for Christmas - mine is the topper and the embossing folder.  This challenge blog is an Australian one which I was very pleased to discover as I don't know of many Aussie challenges.

Splitcoaststampers - Ways to Use it WT408 - New Year - make a card with your new toys - mine is as per above.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  'For you' sentiment from Crafter's Companion 'Popcorn the Bear' Someone Special set

Designer paper:  Cosmo Cricket Honey Pie 'Ella'

Ink:  Versamagic Pink Petunia chalk

Accessories:  Image by Lili of the Valley from Cuddly Teddies diecut sheet, Cuttlebug, Spellbinder Circle + Petite Scalloped Circle Nestabilities, dimensionals, button twine - pink by May Arts, Crafters Companion Die-sire Embossalicious EF6 Floral square 6" x 6" embossing folder, Big Shot, Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue, Scor-Pal, white cardstock

Punches:  Martha Stewart Lace Heart edge punch, EK Success Abstract Flower border

Glittery Snowflake Christmas card

Hi blogging friends

Here is my last Christmas card from 2012.  I am sure many of you will be very tired of seeing Christmas cards and moving onto something else.  I know that I am uber-keen to pack away the Christmas decorations which I will be doing tomorrow and I shall be quite happy to remove the Christmas pine tree as it is madly decorating my carpet with pine needles.  Mind you, our cat Ruby has helped that process as she sits there and chews the pine needles - ick - they must taste horrible - but she loves to chew just about anything and I wonder sometimes if she is part dog!

Again, like my previous post, I CASED one of my cards from last year because I knew the layout worked.  It is an easy layout if you want to make quite a few cards and you just change the main image to make each card look a little different:  

The gorgeous glittery snowflake was diecut from aqua glitter cardstock using my Big Shot and Spellbinder Snowflake die.  So much easier than diecutting plain cardstock and adding glitter afterwards - makes it super-quick with no drying time unlike glitter glue, and far less messy too!

The white centre on the snowflake is one of the dies from the Snowflake die set and was diecut from plain white cardstock.  Hmmmm, in hindsight, I think I should have added glitter to it or diecut it from white glitter cardstock - oh well!  I added a red rhinestone to the centre which mimics the dots in the designer paper then popped the snowflake up on dimensionals.

The sentiment was stamped onto the Little Yellow Bicycle blue lace designer paper with Sapphire Silk pigment ink and heat-set with satin pearl embossing powder.

Challenges:

I am entering my card in the following challenges -

Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge - CHNC #105 - Anything Goes - show any Christmas card that we haven't seen before or make a start on your cards for next Christmas.

Splitcoaststampers - Ways to Use It WT407 - New Year's Resolutions from 2012 - what was yours?   One of my Resolutions from 2012 was to use more of my designer paper stash and to use what Christmas stamps I have rather than buying a whole lot more.  I am pleased to say that (even though I didn't make alot of cards in 2012), I did really well on both counts - and everything on today's card is old stash.

So what are YOUR resolutions for 2013? 

I want to have a whole lot less 'stuff' in my house and, in fact, I have been doing a massive purge these past few months and got rid of lots of things; it has made me feel so much better.  By this time next year, I would like to be able to say how much more space I have in my house and in my cupboards - and already, I am seeing the results.  It is hard work and everything looks worse to begin with - quite frankly, a great, BIG MESS - but when a truck leaves with a pile of stuff, you feel so liberated.

Currently, I am going through my late father's LP collection.  Dad passed away in 1996 and I inherited his record collection.  I don't play any of them - they are not my taste - but it has taken until now, some 16 years later, to feel that I can happily donate them to charity.  A few LP's I will sell to a 2nd hand dealer and donate the money to one of the charities who has supported us through caring for our loved one.  I am now wanting to remember Dad in terms of what a wonderful Dad he was - not by keeping a whole lot of 'stuff' that belonged to him.  Grieving is a process and in my experience you go through different phases as time goes by.  16 years ago, Dad's 'things' reminded me of him; now I am ready to part with many of those 'things' and move on.  I think perhaps I was afraid I would forget him if I parted with those 'things' - now I realise that nothing can ever take away my memories of him as they will forever be in my heart.

My other resolution is to continue to use up my crafty stash of papers rather than buying a whole lot more, do more sewing and in particular, sew some little felt kits that I recently purchased.  I also hope to make Christmas cards all year round instead of starting them so late in the year. 

I would also love to be able to get through the day WITHOUT spilling some food on myself - it's a running joke in my family - tee hee!  I am soooooo clumsy and ridiculously unco-ordinated!  Always tripping over something or bumping myself or knocking something over.  A few months ago, I broke 3 of our mugs in the course of a week!  Last month, I superglued my finger to the kitchen bench and took off a layer off skin in trying to get it off - ouch!  Yes, I know that you use nail polish remover to dissolve the superglue but hello, I was glued to the bench and was the only one home - and the nail polish remover was in the bathroom cupboard...sigh....so I just yanked my finger off instead....   

Currently, I am sitting on my couch with my left hand covered in bandaids because I managed to prune my hand as well as the bush I was pruning!  I thought I would try out the new secateurs that we were given for Christmas.  Yep:  they work and they are really sharp!  But somehow I don't think making a resolution about my clumsiness will make much difference!  And just think of the colourful anecdotes I wouldn't otherwise be able to entertain my friends and family with!
Thanks for stopping by.  Happy New Year May it be everything you would want it to be!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Sentiment - Hero Arts Snowman Christmas clear set

Ink:   Colorbox Sapphire Silk pigment

Designer paper:   SEI Glitzmas - Frosty the Snowflake, LYB Delighful Collection - Blue Lace D-110

Accessories:  Big Shot, Spellbinder Shapeabilities Create-a-Flake S4-222 dies, Kaisercraft red rhinestone, dimensionals, satin pearl embossing powder, heat-gun, cardstock: white, aqua glitter

Hero Arts Happy Holidays - a Christmas card

Hi blogging friends

Not sure if you caught up with my last post but the weather was against me in the days leading up to Christmas (I photograph my cards outside and it was very hot and very windy) and I couldn't photograph my cards to share.  Anyway, we have had a cool change now and there is not a breath of wind which makes for much easier photography.

Whilst I am typing this, it is now the 26th of December - Boxing Day - and in Australia our stores have this weird tradition of Boxing Day sales.  Boxing Day is a public holiday but people have to work to open stores for a sale!  There are lots of people rushing around nabbing bargains according to the news and people lined up at the doors for hours (some even camped out!) before the shops opened so that they had first dibs on the sale items.  Sometimes people get injured in the mad scramble when the doors open as they are trying to get to the biggest bargain first. 

But you won't find me out shopping:  I couldn't think of anything I would like to do less than shopping the day after Christmas Day, fighting for a car parking spot and dealing with crowds of people hungry for a bargain.  Personally, I just don't understand it but each to their own and I am sure there are plenty of you out there who love the sales; I don't enjoy shopping all that much anyway.  I did go once with a girlfriend many, many years ago who ALWAYS went to the Boxing Day Sales but other than spending time with my friend, I didn't enjoy it at all and came home exhausted and grumpy.   Perhaps because I am a little older now and are downsizing 'stuff' rather than adding to it makes me see these sorts of things differently?  Traditionally, we just spend Boxing Day together with family and have a quiet and relaxing day at home.  And of course, this year after dealing with my family member's life-threatening illness makes that time together as a family even more precious - you don't get that time again - and life is so fragile.

Anyway, I am disgressing as usual.......onto the card:

I made this Christmas card to give my daughter who is as crazy about snowmen as I am!  I am not sure why I love snowmen so much - there is just something so sweet about them that makes me feel happy inside. 

I stamped the image with Versafine Onyx Black ink onto watercolour paper and coloured it with Lyra watercolour pencils.  I added some Fun Flock mixed with fine crystalina glitter to the snowman's hat then dotted around some White Opal Liquid Pearls for snow  I added two layers of hand-cut white glitter cardstock at the bottom of the snowman - which was really to cover up a black mark I had accidentally put there - but I love how it added some depth to the image.  Isn't it great when a boo-boo turns into something better?!  Here is a close-up so you can see the dimension:

I diecut some Snowflakes using my Big Shot and 3 different-sized My Favorite Things snowflakes dies.  I find my Big Shot diecuts the thick glitter cardstock much more easily and cleanly than my Cuttlebug which usually misses bits.  I added some Bo Bunny blue pearls to the snowflake centres.

The silver-edged blue organza ribbon was attached in 2 separate elements and the bow itself was made with my Bow Easy.  I added some fray-stop to the cut edges of the ribbon as organza ribbon frays terribly.  I added the glitter cardstock star that popped out of the centre when diecutting the largest snowflake to the ribbon centre which tied things all together nicely.

After all my work, I then glued the card-front (which I always make separately) to the white cardstock base the WRONG way so it became a left-hand opening card!  Duh!!  You wouldn't believe how many times I do that!!  But, I just cut off the blank cardstock side and re-glued it to a new cardstock base - the RIGHT way.  The only downside is that it makes the card quite heavy but that didn't matter in this case because I wasn't mailing it. 

We have been having a fun thread over at Splitcoaststampers where we are sharing our cardmaking mishaps.  Check it out HERE and add your favourite story (you have to be a member of Splitcoaststampers to be able to post).  It's quite comforting to know (in a weird sort of way) that I am not the ONLY one who has mishaps LOL!

Challenges:

I am entering my card in the following challenges -

The Squirrel and the Fox - Challenge #33 - Christmas
Simon Says Stamp Challenge - Anything Christmassy
Splitcoaststampers - Ways to Use It WT406 - Glitz and Glitter

Thanks for stopping by!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Hero Arts Happy Holidays Snowman K5522 wood-mounted

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black

Designer paper:  Echo Park Winter Park -WK23007 Mittens and WK23005 Snow Storm (used for the base and the scalloped circle instead of cardstock as I had no matching cardstock in the right colour blue!)

Accessories:  Spellbinder Circle + Scalloped Circle Nestabilities, Big Shot, My Favorite Things Die-namics snowflakes dies, Stampendous Cotton White Fun Flock mixed with fine Crystalina glitter, Ranger Liquid Pearls - White Opal, silver-edged blue organza ribbon, Fray-Stop, fabric glue, Bow Easy, pearls - Bo Bunny Jewels - Snowfall collection, dimensionals, 140lb watercolour paper, Lyra watercolour pencils, small round paintbrush, Cardstock - white + blue glitter, burgundy, white (for card base)

Merry Christmas everyone!

Hi blogging friends,

I have a couple of Christmas cards to share but the weather hasn't been kind to me this week - very, VERY windy and awfully hot - 39 deg Celsius or 102 deg Fahrenheit - YUK - and I haven't been able to photograph them yet as I usually photograph outside.  I am sure they would have ended up in my neighbour's pool if I tried! 

Anyway, I am sure you are all very busy with Christmas preparations so I will share them over the coming week or so. 

Thanks for your support over the past year and I look forward to being able to post a little more often as my loved one continues to recover from their medical treatment. 

Hope your Christmas is everything you would wish it to be and may 2013 be a happy and healthy one. 




((hugs))

Jocelyn x