Christmas Cupcakes and My garden today

Hi,
There is only one word for the weather cold, very very cold, after another heavy frost last night, at the end of this piece I have put a picture of my garden at 10am GMT today Sunday 28Th November 2010. I don't think I can remember snow being this early, they say in Scotland its three weeks early, but down here it must be at least a month for a cold snap, which we seem to always get before Christmas. The sooner this goes the better. Not looking forward to going back to work tomorrow, dosed up with pain killers and doing a round around a sheltered scheme, but that's part of my job
and I am not moaning about it, just its going to be rather cold.
Today I bring you my knitted Christmas Cupcakes, I put them on my craft table yesterday at Cheese and Grain in Frome for the first time and sold all six to one customer. Now I am knitting as fast as I can because I have another craft table on Saturday, one if we don't get 6 foot of snow and two if I am well enough. I used dark green DK wool for the base and white for the top and then a poinsettia pattern from Heidi's knitting room
I did change the pattern slightly by casting on 7 sts and doing an increase row to 15 sts, then working a few rows of pattern before doing the rest of the petals separately.
I place a coloured bead in the middle, and stiffing the petals.

This is my garden today, not a lot a snow but enough for this winter. as you can see my garden is on a slope, the cream wall in the back ground is where my garden ends. Its a long garden.

I hope you have enjoyed reading my blog today and look forward to seeing you are soon in blog land.

Keep warm, and until the next time you visit my blog take care.

Hugs

Margaret

Commissioned Christmas Cards

Hi,
Another cold day, winter is really here now, heavy frost this morning and another one forcasted tomorrow, some parts of the country have had snow but at the moment here in Somerset we are clear.
Today I am bring you two commissioned Christmas cards, which I was asked to make.
I have used the bookatix boards and dark red card and gold miri board, both have 3d images one is an image of candles and the other is of a lantern finished off with gold peel offs, red and gold ribbon. Both were mounted on cream card
I am still in pain and still waiting for something to be done, I have had enough of doctors and the hospital, so I am planning on going back to work on Monday, I cant stay home indefinitely until they decide. I have lost faith now in doctors and the hospital, I am feeling very down and depressed. So all I can do is continue to dose myself up with painkillers and carry on which I have done for months now.
I hope you have enjoyed reading my blog and look forward to seeing you again in blog land.
In the meantime take care.
Hugs
Margaret

Ginnys Christmas A to Z Challenge W for White spray of bubbles

Hi,

Miserable day, its dry but oh its so dull and cold here in Somerset.

Today is W in the challenge and I am showing my W for white spray of bubbles which I have done in sparky white heat embossed bubble stamp on black card, mounted on silver card placed on cream card, and finished off with silver peel offs and silver stars.

Thank you for visiting my blog and hope you are keeping well and warm.

Look forward to seeing you in blog again soon until then take care

Hugs Margaret

Ginny's Christmas A to Z Challenge S for Snowman

Hi,

Another dull day and colder today, at least its dry.

Today I am bring you Ginny's Christmas A to Z challenge S for snowman which was on Friday, but I left it until today as I put Vernon's birthday card on this blog.

This is a lovely image of a snowman, I used pro markers to colour him in and then mounted on red card then on silver card, the ribbon is a sheer red and green dots on and finished off the card with silver peel offs.

Hope you had a lovely weekend and are keeping well.

Thank you for visiting my blog and look forward to seeing you again in blog land.

Take care

Hugs Margaret

Vernon's Birthday Card and Tatted Eagle

Hi,

Tomorrow is Vernon's (Husband) Birthday, I have made a card based on something I gave him when he was 60.

I gave him a surprised birthday party, he had been made redundant and then got a job which he hated and left about 6 weeks before his birthday. He felt he would never get another job, but after six months he got a job and hopefully he will be there for another year. I brought the singing dog with a frame that as he sings it moves and sings "When I'm 64 will you still love me"
For the card I used the flipping teenager images, he told me he had a beetle coat but his mother would not let him have a beetle hair cut. I put a sheet of black card with greetings written all over it at the back, I was going to use a 60's print but the paper was not large enough. I put a little phase at the bottom in several different colours "Now you are 64 will you still love me". Then finished off with gold peel offs.

This is a picture of the dog I gave him.

I found this pattern last week of a tatted eagle from

Vernon is into country music and Eagles, so I hope he will like it. I have framed it with a picture of the Grand Canyon behind it.




Next year he will be retiring, something for me to look forward to, only I will still have another 5 years of work before I retire.

I hope you have enjoyed my blog and look forward to seeing you again in blog land. In the meantime I hope you are keeping well and take care

Hugs

Margaret

Ginny's Christams A to Z Challenge R ... R for Rain and Robin

Hi,
Today the sun is shinning at least its stopped raining.
This is a quick post today as I am very tried, I had no sleep again last night and the pain would not ease, I took more pain killers at 2am and they never even remotely worked.
Today is the letter R and this card is rain and Robin, the Robin is sitting on the umbrella the image is mounted on blue card, with blue ribbon and finished off with silver peel offs. The image was given to me from a Do craft member but unfortunately I cannot remember who gave it to me, I really like this image as it can be done in a variety of colours, and they all would look different. I made this card several weeks ago and kept it for this challenge.
Thank you for visiting my blog and look forward to seeing you again in blog land, in the meantime I hope you are well.
Take care
Hugs Margaret

Commissioned Cards

Hi,

What a day, it has not stopped raining and its so dark , blowing a gale and horrible, very pleased to be in doors and not out and about today. I've had more pain today, things have not changed, I am still taking the pain killers which Vernon how calls smarties, hes convinced smarties would do me more good. Hope something will soon get done, feeling very low and the weather is not helping today.

Enough of me today I am showing you a card that I was commissioned to make, she wanted a card for her son who is into fishing, I used a Joanne Sheen image from one of her Cd's mounted it onto blue card. The fishing line, fish and net are all peel offs, and then finished off the corners with a new design peel off I brought last time I was at Millets Garden Centre Nr Abingdon when we visited Vernon's Dad.

A little note for Janette, have not made much this week, the cards yesterday were made several weeks ago along with this card today, only I got behind with posting, I am trying to make Vernon's birthday card at the moment, its his Birthday on Saturday.

I hope the weather is better where ever you are, and you are keeping well, thank you for visiting my blog today and hope to see you again soon in blog land.

Take Care

Hugs

Margaret

Ginny's Do crafts Christmas A to Z Challenge P and O

Hi,
Another lovely day with the sun shinning but its cold, well I think it is, have not been out for days, but it felt cold when I put the rubbish out today.
Today its 'P' on Ginny's Christmas Challenge. and this card is P for Pheasant, its a piece of fabric which I frayed and place on the card and glittered the snow. A very simple card and easy to do.

Yesterday was 'O' and I have put this card in as O for Ornament, this card I heat embossed with white and red embossing powder on black card and then mounted it on red shinny card and finished off with silver peel offs. This was a play around piece which I felt worked out quite well.

This card was 'L' for letter box, this image was done with flower soft and mounted on gold card. I was late with this one so I have not put it in the challenge.

This card was 'F' for Christmas friends, the image is from Kanban and place on green shinny card and finished off with white ribbon and peel offs. I was also late with this one too and I have not put this one in either,

I am still awaiting for the hospital and GP's to sort out what they are going to do, I feel I am going around and around and nothing is happening. I feel very down today and fed up even with the sun shinning. Thank you for all the lovely messages I have had, its lovely to have so many friends in blog land.

I hope you have liked my selection of cards today and look forward to seeing you again in blog land, in the meantime I hope you are keeping well and take care.

Hugs

Margaret

Christmas Thread

Hi,
What a gorgeous day after a heavy frost the sun is shinning its cold and the sky a lovely shade of blue.

Today I thought I would show you a lovely new thread I brought recently, I wanted some new threads and thought I would try the Lizbeth thread. This thread is sold in America so I ordered a batch of different colours from America, but the postage was more than the price of the order, they also questioned my address and I asked if the order could be sent by a cheaper means, they said NO, but gave me a web address in this country. Seeing I had googled this thread a couple of times and not found a UK supplier, I was a little bit confused. Anyway I tried the address I was given and found a great site called Roseground. Ordering my original order to them their postage was only £3.20, a big difference from $32. This thread is called Christmas Delight in No 20.
This is Katie Johnson's 3d-Dimensional Angel which I put on my blog last month. This is the angel which I adapted to stand up rather than the orginal pattern which had the shirt glued onto the body.

My favorite Butterfly from Tatting Patterns by Mary Konior

Sunbonnet Sue Motif I mixed the Christmas thread with white, again I put this motif on my blog in August. They are so different in this thread, it does not matter how many you do in this thread they will all be different.

I brought about 7 balls all different to try so watch out over the next few months for some new designs and colours. I have not tried knitting with the thread yet, it tats beautifully so it should knit well.

Hope you have liked my new thread and enjoyed reading my blog today, and hope to see you again in blog land. In the meantime take care

Hugs

Margaret

Ginny's Christmas A-Z challenge L for Lamp post

Hi,

This is only a little post today, I had a very bad day on Friday, I could not sit,strand or lay the pain was so bad, Vernon my husband came home from work, and took me to the GP's. A total waste of time, he said he could do nothing until they get the results from the scan. He got into the computer system at the Royal United Hospital in Bath but the results were not on the screen. Instead he gave me another set of pain killers, but they contain Aspirin and I am totally allergic to aspirin and have been for over 55 years but this surgery seem to forget it. I had to ring the surgery after reading the enclosed leaflet and he said that I might be OK with the tablets and he would keep his fingers crossed they would not upset my stomach. I cant take the risk with aspirin and I know they would make my stomach bleed.

They have signed me off work for a week and tomorrow Monday they are going to check the computer at the hospital to see if the results are in. I am so fed up and feeling very down. We were going to Oxford to see Vernon's Dad this weekend, but I am not well enough, so we will have to another weekend.

Now today this is the card I put into Ginny's Christmas challenge L for Lamp post, I used flower soft on the image and mounted it on red shinny card, and used a grey card, finished off with silver peel offs.

Thank you for visiting my blog and I hope you are having a nice weekend. Until the next time you pass this way take care.

Hugs

Margaret

I won an award

Hi,

I cant believe it I have won an award from Jeanette

She must have known how down I am at the moment and it has cheered my up. Yesterday was a hard day, spending a lot of time at the hospital with this scan. They injected radio active dye in my arm, and I was on the scan bed for 45 Min's and unable to move, they asked if I would like some music, I asked for Elton John but they did not have any, so I asked if they had some country I had Willie Nelson. I was dozing off to some lovely country music when he came back and woke me. I had a 20 min break with a kitkat and a cup of coffee, and then back on the scan bed for another 20 Min's. They had paused the music and he started it off again when they started scanning. He was only a youngest and a trainee but he was good and very patient with this old lady, well I felt old compared to him. Now I have to wait for the results. I will be radio active for seven days, if I had to get on an aeroplane I need to carry that letter from the hospital as I could set off the security scanning equipment. I am not planning on flying in the next seven days.

Back to the award I have to say three things that would change my life:

Well here goes,
1. Getting rid of the pain, getting some treatment and getting life back.
2. Vernon retires next year, retiring together so we can enjoy life together without me going to work, and leaving him home (he might do the housework for me!!!!)
3. Winning the lottery, so I can spend lots of money on craft.

I would like to award this award to the following :-
1. Suzanne she is a brilliant Friend and always there when I need someone to talk, she is not well at the moment, so I hope they can sort her out as soon as possible.
2. Typstatting one lovely lady who does wonderful tatting and has a brilliant blog
3. Sarpreet she has just got married in India and has given me loads of compliments on my blog and encouragement.
4. Ginny An lovely lady who has a lovely blog, and also gives lots of encouragement.
5. Peter I am giving this to Peter who is disabled, and gives a lot of encouragement to all the do craft members and has a great blog. Peter is always willing to give us help. Thank you Peter for all your help you have given me.

Please collect your awards and then collect your $5 award on digsiswithattitude
Thank you Jeanette you are a real star and a great crafting friend,
Happy crafting
Hugs Margaret

Christmas Message Frames

Hi,

I thought we were going to have a lovely sunny day...... they got that wrong today, its looks like rain any minute. Oh well its Sunday and I am having a well earned rest. Tomorrow is not going to be a good day and the trip to the hospital.

Today I bring you my Christmas message frames. I was asked if I could make a Christmas message frame with "wishing you a Happy Christmas" in it.

These are made from plastic canvas and cut into the shape of a snowman. I put the nose in orange and a black beads for the eyes. I cut a panel out to put the message inside it, I managed to put "Wishing you a Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year". I have made them so they could hang from a Christmas tree.

I do a range of message frames which I have put on my blog last march. Since then I did a good luck design and now there is a couple of new designs which are being made at the moment and when they are finished I will bring you them on a another day.

I hope you have enjoyed view my latest creations and hope to see you again soon in the meantime I hope you are keeping well and look forward to seeing you again in blog land.

Hugs

Margaret

Ginny's Christmas Challenge - D and a few images of Autumn

Hi,
At moment its pouring with rain, windy and not a very nice day, although its still mild. Monday I go and have my scan I am not looking forward to it and over the last week the pain has been very bad, hopefully this will be the last one and they will finally do something.
Today I am bring you is yesterdays Ginny's challenge - D so D for Dress. My card I place the image on starry silver miri card and red mat, I coloured it in with pro makers and the stars on the dress I did with silver pro markers. finished off with narrow red ribbon and silver peel offs. Today's its "E" but I cant think of anything for a Christmas E, so I am missing out E.

On the last two posts I have been talking about the beautiful autumn colours on my way to and from work. This autumn the colours have been really special and I have not seen such lovely colours for years. So yesterday I stopped at various places and took some pictures of the lanes, I drive every day into Frome, Somerset. These pictures are in and around Mells. Every time I stopped cars seem to come from every direction just my luck but I waited a few seconds and hopefully got the best pictures I could.

I hope enjoyed visiting my blog and I look forward to seeing you back in blog land soon. In the meantime take care.

Hugs

Margaret

Ginny's Christmas Challenge A and B

Hi,

Today is another nice day, although we did have some rain during the night. The leaves are beginning to drop from the trees but the colours are so lovely this year, rich yellows and oranges, tinged with rust. Its still mild and very unusual for November, I hope this keeps going for as long as possible, I hate the winter.

We had a visit from the Grandchildren and our Great Grand Daughter on Sunday night for trick and treat, lovely to see them all dressed up.

Today I am bring you the first two challenge cards for Ginny's Christmas challenge she is doing on the do crafts site.

A is for Angel see photo at the beginning of this post, this image was sent to me by a do crafts member last year unfortunately I can't remember who, but is it a lovely image. I placed it on green card, matted the image on silver card, and finished off with silver ribbon.

B is for Bauble, for this card I used purple card, and a silver edged ribbon, and them placed three baubles down the side of the card with silver peel offs finishing the card off. These baubles were from a free gift from a Craft magazine last month.

I hope you have enjoyed reading my piece today and I look forward to seeing you again in blog land soon, In the meantime please take care

Hugs Margaret