AUSTRIA 2011

Well, we have been here a week already and it has taken me that long to remember my password and get signed on!

My lovely big Sister Dot is looking after the house and Willow for us this time and it was lovely spending a couple of days with her before we went on holiday.  She was a great help with the packing, and the ironing and once that was all done on the Friday night we went out for something to eat.  At about 10pm John noticed the message light was flashing on the telephone, and it was from the Airline telling us that our flights for the next morning had been cancelled!  They gave us a couple of alternatives and said to ring them before 8.30pm when they closed for the night!!  We then had to find an alternative number, which ended up being in Germany and had to wait for 30 minutes before someone answered.  By this time there was only one option left so come Saturday we headed off to Ringway to get out first flight to Frankfurt, we then had to get a flight to Vienna and from there to Klagenfurt.  Now it's funny that going through security at Manchester and also Vienna was no problem at all and we both got through without any beeps.  Not so Frankfurt, where we had the least time to catch our next flight.  I got through okay, but when John went through it beeped so he was then taken into a cubicle where they used the hand wand, it beeped again so he removed his belt, then it was beeping on his jeans, then his hiking boots which he had to take off so they could x-ray them, he was still beeping when they passed the wand over his chest and they then asked him if he had a pace maker, but it turned out to be his glasses in his chest pocket!  He was literally one beep away from a full cavity search.  Anyway by the time we got to Klagenfurt it was about 6pm and we had set off at 8am.

This time we have come to the Carinthia region which is in Southern Austria and there is a definate difference to the Salzgammergut, where we have been several times in the past.  In fact it took us at least two days to settle in, part of the reason being the house we are staying at.  Looked great in the photos but in fact is in a 60's timewarp.  It is set in a clearing in the woods really, so no gorgeous views, just trees.

The temperature has been pretty steady all last week, in the 90's, so by the afternoon I am like a limp lettuce.  The good thing is that everything is new and we have been to some really lovely places and up in two different cable cars, the first one was so high it was really chilly at the top and I did feel a bit silly with a think blouse on when lots of other people had coats on, needless to say we didn't hang about too long, although the views were amazing.

I will post photos when I get a chance to download them.

THE TWILIGHT SAGA

Sorry, no cards, cats or cakes I am afraid.  I have been much too busy reading the Twilight books by Stephenie Meyer.  For the last two weeks they have completely taken over every waking moment of my life and, trust me, I am not exaggerating.  I haven't set foot in my craft room or even watched any TV.   When I got to work I would read my book until 9.a.m. then on my break and my lunch.  Then home and dinner then book then bed.  I have now read all 4 and they are absolutely amazing but, having finished them all I now feel bereft.  So much so that I have started again on book one.  So, I may go awol again.

If you haven't read them and you like vampires and a good love story then at least get the first book and see what you think. 

ANOTHER TILDA CARD

Oh I do love this stamp, this one was coloured using the Aqua Pro-Markers, and I have actually used one of the flowers I made!

TOBY

I have actually had complaints that there aren't enough cats! so, here are a few picture of my gorgeous Birman boy, Toby.

He has the most gorgeous face I think you will agree.

On this photo you can see his beautiful tail which is quite magnificent.

He is such a softy and when you say his name he just has to rub his head up anything and everything on his way to you!  All the cats love this scratching post and it is absolutely ancient.  John made it many years ago when he had to take out a floor joist in our old house when he moved the loft hatch.  It is ready to be recovered as you can tell.

He loves his little cubes and will play in them for hours.  Because the material is only thin he can see through and likes to lie in wait for Willow or Oscar to walk past then he jumps out at them.  He has a mad hour or so every evening charging in and out.  Because they are so light and his tail so big when he does run out he quite often takes the cube with him!

SOMETHING DIFFERENT

I have been messing about with Stampbord now for ages but not actually done anything with it.  The stamp I used for the middle tile and the four little ones was from QVC and was a set of 4 of the large foam stamps that they sell.  I wasn't sure about them when I bought them because they are a cheap alternative to wood mounted stamps but the stamped image is really good.  However, I wasn't keen on the full image stamped on card and just tried it on a Stampbord square to see what it looked like and I much prefered it.  I have done some other pieces as well, so watch this space.

Thanks for looking.

Well, it is either a feast or a famine with me isn't it, nothing for ages and then twice in almost as many days! Okay I have to admit that I haven't just made these, BUT, I did get round to doing the necessary with them in order to upload them on here.

This was a thank you card made using a Stampin up stamp set for the bouquet.  It is actually a set of individual stamps, an outline stamp and a block stamp, I stamped it several times and then again on separate paper and cut the flowers out and stuck them over the top.  I was quite pleased with the result.  The swirly background is a gorgeous background stamp I got from an American company when I went to the stamp show last year at Port Sunlight.  If you can get there the next one is in October and it is really fab.  It is more card making and stamping but although the venue isn't huge there is a great selection of stalls and lots of them are doing demos.  The sandwiches are rather nice as well as is Port Sunlight itself if it is a nice day.  You do have to buy your tickets beforehand though as it is quite small so you can't just turn up on the day.

I made this card for a colleague at work who was moving into her first home with her boyfriend, it was one of those cards, that in my end started off quite small and simple and then seemed to take on a life of it's own, the colours are much nicer in real life - honest.  lol. 

Although this is quite a simple card, I think it is quite stylish, the recipient certainly liked it.  I love the parcel it is one of my favourite Sizzix dies, the Happy Birthday is actually a square stamp and the background is a clear stamp that you just build up the background with.

Obviously a Magnolia Tilda stamp, I like this stamp I think she is really cute.  The flowers were stamped onto acetate then white embossed and coloured in behind.  However, I did have a bit of a catastrophe with the ribbon, I was using double sided tape and it wasn't holding it down properly so didn't I go and use wet adhesive and, yes, you've guessed it, it came through the ribbon - DOH! what was I thinking.  Won't make that mistake again - or will I!

Hopefully you won't be disappointed this visit as there are quite a few new things to see.

This is a card I made for a colleague at work. I bought the Tilda stamp and now I am not sure I like it. I have quite a few and there are about 3 that I don't really like. I came up with the idea of her holding the banner and think it worked quite well and you could have the banner saying anything, as long as it fits. Please excuse the writing though.

Now, I can't be the only person that finds it hard to sit in front of the tv and not actually do something. I have always had a 'thing' for flowers and just can't stop drawing them and colouring them in, it is almost a compulsion! my long suffering other half asked me why I kept making them and I simply said 'because I can't stop' I only stop when my eyes are so tired that they can't focus any more. Having said that I haven't made any for about a week now, but I do sit colouring stamped images in. Now, any suggestions as to what I should do with all these flowers? In fact, this just a small selection of them, I have boxes of them, but I think these are the nicest.

There are quite a few stamps used on this card, there is the swirly stamp used on the stampbord piece, the butterfly stamped on shrink plastic, the backbround stamp used on the left hand side and the Just for You stamp. I want to do a few more stampbord pieces so watch this space.

And this is the card.

This is a stamp from Pink Gem Designs, I recently came across them through UK Scrappers and bought 3 to start my collection off. I have used the new Pro-Markers I also bought recently, they take a bit of getting used to and although it isn't the best colouring in in the world, I am really pleased with how it turned out. The first few I did the colours were very soft, but I much prefer the more vibrant colours. I have another one in different colours it just needs the card to go on.

I made this card a while ago. I bought a die cut decoupage kit from Create & Craft, well, my eyes aren't what they used to be! once I got the kit I couldn't stop making them and was really pleased how they turned out. The papers I used are from the Stampin up range and really lovely.