Woo hoo a new post at last

Well the weather is getting a lot cooler now so my thoughts are turning to creativity once more. The conditions were right, the sun was streaming through my window and I had my sweet Miaowski for company. My drawing pad and pencils all ready and I had a really nice picture of a fox for inspiration ....

Of course I had to take some pictures of Miaowski who was looking really cute.

But also looking a bit bored.

And maybe I should have heeded the warning signs. Cos she was also looking a bit annoyed because I started sharpening my pencil. She got all interested as the sharpener made a scratchy sound on the pencil. I don't know, maybe it just frazzled her ears. So I started drawing the ears of a fox. I haven't drawn in ages so I was just scratching a few marks on the paper. Maybe it was the sound that annoyed my furry friend. But within a flash she was up from her sleepy position and attacked my hand viciously and gave me a good prod with her sharpened claw. As you can see ....

Evidence of blood beginning to oooze! Ok, not much but still, enough. Oh yes and the sudden attack made me drop my pencil thereby making it blunt again :-/

It's a shame about the quality of these pictures but it's difficult when the sun is shining through. I was in a great mood for drawing. But now, I have a painful hand and a blunt pencil. And then the plant gets knocked over ...
Does Miaowski care? Nope, and here we have the innocent Angel impression....

She doesn't like the picture of the fox either.

I will show the picture of my fox tomorrow when I get a better picture of it. Think I will have to scan it. It's not great though. I haven't drawn for ages and it's quite scribbly.

My lovely cousin Lynn (check out her fantastic blog here http://pinneyandpnut.blogspot.com/)made me a beautiful recipe book and covered it in material and embroidered a cool design on the front. And just look at Miaowski using it as a new cushion. Honestly, that cat has such a cheek! And you know what? She gets away with just about EVERYTHING!

Charlie me darlin

Okay, I've been slacking ... ha ha, I know I said I'd post this picture yesterday. But instead other things cropped up and I totally forgot.

Well, this is Charlie (I'm sure it's Charlie but it might be Jack). I'm going to re-draw this picture because I struggled like crazy with his nose. First I got the length right but the angle completely wrong. When I re-drew it I straightened his nose and then shortened it. Poor dog!

I'll do it again and hopefully get it right. Meanwhile I've been working on another drawing of one of these beautiful greyhounds and I'm hoping to put that up over the next couple of days.

I'm gonna have to draw a picture of a cat soon because Miss Miaowski is having her nose put out of joint by all these doggie pictures!

Have a great day, and thanks for stopping by ....

Tim Holtz Bird on a twig

I have to say that my card is based on Lucy Abrams far more superior version here. I really love the twig. That's one of Miaowski's. One of my neighbours gives little twigs to Miaowski thru the window. She loves taking them in her mouth and running off like a little dog. I find twigs scattered all around the carpet! Very handy for my bird cards :)

My new phone doesn't take very good photos compared to my old phone so I might have to go back to using that instead. I've tried adjusting the light levels in photoshop but don't really know what I'm doing. This is the best I could come up with.

Interestingly the colours seem to go better together here than in real life! I embossed the musical notes (Allegro by Cuttlebug) onto a Nestability circle and rubbed over it with Stampin Up's Whisper White and layered it on a Nestability Big Scalloped Circle. The background was made with TH distress inks, Crushed Cordroy and Mahogany and overstamped with nice swirls from TH's Artful Flight stamp set.

I was only saying to Miaowski the other day, we take life too seriously, so better lighten up. She agreed ...
Ooops, just messing with the clipart on the phone. Little things amuse me, probably too much!

Thanks for stopping by ...

OMG Tim Holtz Sneak Peeks

And also a sneak peek at ol' Funny Face!

Greetings.

This is just a quick post. I wasn't intending to post anything until I checked out Tim Holtz's blog. Summer CHA 2010 is here and all the new exciting new products are out. So many Christmassy new gorgeous things to look forward to.

My favourite of all are these lovely deer dies. I just have to have them!

And check out these spooky halloween dies - my favourite are the crow and spindly scary cat.

Oh no! I'm trying to de-clutter and minimise. But I can feel a shopping frenzy coming on ... yikes!

Have a happy weekend and thanks for stopping by ...

Normal Services to be resumed soon :)

Been so busy going out and about lately so still no new cards to show. So here is Miaowski trying to hide a portrait of herself - wonder why? Excuse the fuzzy picture, the lighting wasn't too bright for this pic.

The weather has been so lovely but we are due for rain soon. So, I must spend some much needed time to re-organise and tidy up my flat. I need to create some space before I can create anything else.

Here is another pic of Miaowski, this time looking alert - think she might have spied a pigeon or a squirrel ...

Here is another picture of Miaowski looking good with a yellow background :)

Hopefully I'll be taking better pictures soon. I'm getting a new phone soon, the new Nokia X6 with Carl Zeiss optics. Doesn't that sound impressive? Who knows what it means as long as it sounds good :). Ahh, they are a German manufacturer of optical systems - well I'm trusting that makes it super good!

Will be back blogging soon. Guess it's bound to be a bit erratic during the summer months.

Thanks for stopping by ..

Miaowski Watercolour

As I have been slack again on the card making front I thought I would show another one of my paintings. And this time it is a watercolour of Miaowski, my little dear heart.

As you can see I'm not great at doing fur or her tortoishell patterning, or her legs :). But I'm happy I got her expression right. Miaowski looks at me like that quite a lot, kinda domineering, haughty 'whatdya think you're doing' look. Ha!

I've just read three wonderful books by Peter Gethers about his EXTRAordinary cat, Norton. Norton was a Scottish Fold cat (his ears are folded over as opposed to pointed upwards). What made him extra special was his intelligence and his interesting life. He travelled everywhere with Mr Gethers, on cards, aeroplanes and ferries. He also went to very posh restuarants around the world where he would be waited on and given delicious dishes. He met famous people like Anthony Hopkins and Roman Polanski and even Lauren Bacall. The New York Times wrote an obituary on him when he died, how special is that!

I loved these books because they were so funny. Mr Gethers was a confirmed cat hater but his girlfriend bought him a kitten that bewitched him with one bright stare and a miaow.

Anyway I was reading and struggling to contain my laughter while reading these books outside and the next day I was struggling very hard not to cry as the last book was so very moving. And even today I'm feeling a bit sad as I'm going to miss reading about such a wonderful cat.

I recommend those books to every cat lover. And even cat hater cos I really don't think you'd stay that way after getting to know Norton through those books.

Ah, well, enough of my book review :)

Hope you have a lovely weekend and I'll be back on Monday. Thanks for stopping by ...

Video of M as a kitten

Miss Miaowski was a kitten around 4 years ago. I discovered a very short video of her on my computer the other day. I was so excited to see her as she used to be. Tiny, with short, fat stubby legs :). As another day has gone and I haven't made a card, I thought I'd upload this very short video, not least cos it's a way of keeping this memory of her - I worry my computer will fail one day and I'm going to lose things like this. When I say short, it is approx 11 seconds long (why didn't I take any other videos of her when she was so young?). Anyway, check out Guzzle Guts :)

I'm glad to say, the weather forecasters got it all wrong and we had another sunny day yesterday and due another one tomorrow - yippee. The only thing is, my card making suffers somewhat, but I'll make up for it at the weekend.

Thanks for stopping by ...

Kawaii Kokeshi

Today's card features (ha ha sounds like a movie) the cute Kawaii Kokeshi (cute doll) from Banana Frog. The blossom tree is also from the same set and I used some Flower Soft on top which gives the impression of mini blossoms. I had to put a butterfly on the doll's head because although she has a flower there, I had put a gem in the centre but it didn't look right and when I took it off it tore the paper. So the butterfly is a nice cover up :). The lavenders are from Lavinia Stamps and the oriental embossing on the card is from the Cuttlebug Orient embossing folder.

Oh dear, the tassle looks like Miaowski has chewed on it! Actually that wouldn't surprise me one bit.

Where is that cat? Oh here she is, looking innocent as usual... She's not impressed that it's May and it's 2C as I type this.

We have a new Prime Minister here in the UK, maybe he could make the weather a bit warmer lol!

Have a nice day and thanks for stopping by...

Dreamy Cat

When brayering inks onto card, the best way to do it is without any lines showing so you get a beautiful air brushed effect. I haven't quite managed to do that with this card but I am a newbie to this and still need to practice. But I have to say I like it anyway as it came out better than I expected.

All the stamps used were by Lavinia Stamps and I used Adirondack Eggplant ink for the landscape and lavenders and TH distress inks Mustard Seed and Barn door for the sun. The sun is a little bumpy in places but that is all down to solar flares lol!

I can't image Miaowski dreamily contemplating dragonflies. I mean, if she ever saw a dragonfly there is no way she'd just sit and look at it. She would leap up and grab it within seconds and then she'd eat it. Last night there was a tiny fly (so tiny I couldn't see it) flying around the light. It drove M to distraction, she just had to have it and was trying to get on top of the highest piece of furniture in the hope she could get into the lampshade and get to it.

I've taken many pictures of Miaowski inside her box, but it never fails to surprise me how she fits so neatly into a small space. It doesn't look comfortable to me but it's her favourite place...

I have no idea why this sentence seems to be turning into a link as I haven't linked it to anything! I just wanted to say Happy Bank Holiday to people in the UK and have a Happy Monday to everyone else!

A painting instead

Well today I have no card to show but thought I'd show a painting I did some time ago. This was for a friend who has a gorgeous kitty called Patrick. So here is Patrick looking adorable. I haven't done any painting in ages since I had the stroke. I must get back into it.

Well yesterday was a bit of a disaster. Last night I was just about to go into the sitting room when ... kapow!!! The rear wheel of my electric wheelchair exploded! And I mean EXPLODED, not just go flat but BOOM! And a load of liquid splurted out of it and shot from my computer room right into the hall way and over the fish tank! Totally scared Miaowski out of her wits so she isn't going any where near me now.

Well that has never happened to me before. It didn't scare me luckily but it has inconvenienced me. I'm now going to be waiting today for someone to come out and hopefully repair it. I have rung quite a few numbers and finally got through to someone. Apparently they are meant to respond within 24 hours for an emergency. Well I am waiting for a technician to ring me back now and so far it has been half an hour.

Luckily I can push my manual wheelchair ok and now I have a lot more of my strength back it isn't as hard as it was. But still, it means I can't nip about doing what I like to do. Just as well the weather has gone back to being cold and rainy otherwise I would be miffed at not being able to go out into the sun.

Ahh well, how about a picture of Miaowski looking uncomfortable? Somebody get that cat a pillow!!! She's not looking too impressed is she?

Well, hopefully I will have my chair fixed by the end of the day (a lot sooner than that I hope!). Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by ...

Hallo Chick

I made this card for my mum. She has a cute West Highland Terrier called Millie. This image is from Pink Gem Designs and the sentiment is Stampin up (unfortunately got over inked - why is it I make a card and then at the end I put the sentiment on it and it either smudges, is over inked or doesn't come out properly??). I coloured it all with chalks. The scalloped squares are Nestabilities dies. This photo looks a bit blurred to me, I gotta take better photos!

Millie isn't as snow white as that dog though, oh no! Infact if I'd coloured in the dog all colours apart from white, that would have been more realistic seeing as she gets herself all dirty on a regular basis :)

Ahh, pets, what do they get up to when your back is turned? Miaowski is totally obsessed with paper clips. Ever since she was a kitten she has been fascinated with them and will play with one for hours, batting them up in the air and chasing after them. They have to be coloured ones and she is partial to yellow. My favourite colour is yellow so maybe she takes after me. Anyway the other evening she was restless and trying to get my attention when I suddenly heard this crash behind me. What???

Aha, caught in the act!

Unsurprisingly she didn't pick them back up and put them in their pot!

I'm not sure where Spring has gone as it is icy cold today. It is sunny though so at least it looks cheerful outside.

Thanks for stopping by...

Lucy's Challenge: Clean and Simple Card

Well I don't know about clean, but it is a simple card. I'm entering this for Lucy's 7th Card Challenge. The cute little rabbit image is from Hero Arts and the paper and sentiment from Stampin Up. Oh and the egg card was made from the new nestabilities egg shapes which are so cute except that this was the only card I made that actually stayed upright!

'Some days, it’s not about passion and courage. It’s not about heroism and drama. It’s not about slaying dragons or conjuring exotic visions... Some days, it's simply about the delicious act of doing simple things, simply.'

Jack Ricchiuto

And yes, I did eat the sugar rabbit after I took the photo. It had a lovely sweet vanilla flavour, yum!

I caught Miaowski looking cute ontop of the bookshelf. She's checking out the street view and has probably seen a fat pigeon walking by...
Thanks for stopping by ...

Cute

I thought I'd have a great day on the craft front yesterday but instead spent too much time cleaning the print nozzles on that darned printer. So I didn't do too much.

But I did manage to come up with something. Using these two cute bird stamps from Squigglestamps, I made this simple card. I wanted to keep it simple as I wanted to highlight this pretty paper and co-ordinating card from Stampin Up. I also used my Nestabilities circle die and Scallop die to create a frame for the bird to perch on. I might use this as a Mother's Day card, not sure yet. My Mum won't see this anyway as she doesn't have a computer so it won't spoil the surprise. This is very cutesy. I know, I do love cute... I also love dark and edgey too but that doesn't come naturally to me. I'm working on it, especially when I get my Tim Holtz book .

Oh, I had an email yesterday from QVC to say that my Tim Holtz book has been despatched and is on it's way .... hurray! Actually I was expecting it to turn up yesterday but it didn't and I nearly took to my bed in disappointment! Huh! Want to see what I will be getting any time soon? Check this out ...
I'm loving today as it is rainy and dark outside ... my favourite kind of weather when I'm staying indoors trying to be creative. I feel all cosy and happy. If it was gorgeous and sunny I'd want to be outside and then I wouldn't get anything done. Mind you I am looking forward to gorgeous sunny weather, it's been a long cold Winter.

Someone who has a natural way with cute and cosy...