Chick, Chick, Chick, Chick Chicken.....

So this post must begin with yet another apology, I'm really sorry for taking so long between posts but at the moment my head just isn't in the game. Every time I sit at the table with a newly completed coloured image it is a matter of minutes before my back starts to give me major grief. As Confucius once said 'With great pain comes great distraction' and that is just how I feel when it starts, my mind begins to wander and designing becomes near impossible. On the rare occasion it hasn't hurt I have managed to upload some (hopefully) half decent designs to inspire you with!

I must also welcome to my newest Follower: Deborah, she has a very interesting blog over at Scrappy Beads, check her out sometime, I think you will like her style a lot.

Back to the back and tomorrow I am due to see my Specialist up at Lincoln Pain Clinic where he will spend thirty minutes sticking extremely long needles into my spine, the outcome being a few months without as much pain. If you imagine living with the pain being a nine/ten for most days, after the injection it should be a four/five for a few months (it normally lasts between four and five months if I'm lucky!). I am meant to have the jab every six months or so but this time it has taken a year and a half so I am fully aware of the troubles the NHS are facing, especially from an end-user point of view.

This week's card is a little late for Easter but I hadn't used the stamp since buying it and couldn't resist giving her a go. I hope you like the finished product.

I will be back soon - honest!!

Big hugs 'n stuff,

Andy

xx

"I Think She's Got It...."

 

 

I don't know why but this beautiful young lady reminds me so much of Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady and that was what I had in mind all the way through the colouring stage of this particular card. I know this is probably a cardinal sin as far as blogs go but I had completely forgotten where I got her from, I knew I had had her for an absolute age and kept meaning to colour her, I thought she was a Make It Crafty image though and after a quick search I found her! She is called Chantelle at the Races (available here) and I thought it would be nice to colour her like one of those ladies who lunch, you know the one's, they go to Ascot every year with all their mates and give it large whenever they see a TV camera. Of course, the only difference between those ladies and mine is that mine hasn't had 16 layers of spray-tan, I hate the Satsuma look, someone should tell them it's less Tangello and a little more Mellow!!

I have used a sheet of really old Basic Grey paper for the background, I like how it looks quite similar to the adornments on her hat. I have added a few die cuts, a mix of Spellbinders and Marianne with a lovely big cloth flower using a Tim Holtz Sizzix Bigz die.

Hope you like it, she took me an age to put together, I really am still missing my mojo. I have been having a bit of a break from cards lately as I started the old cross-stitch again. I have completed several large projects in the past including a really beautiful bride and groom for my Brother's wedding, it took me six months and the finished product looked amazing when it was framed. You may be thinking 'bit big headed' but honestly, I have never been more proud of anything I have ever made (except my son!!).

I started sewing in 1994 when Jo came to visit me and my ex-wife for a holiday and while we were in town on a little shopping trip we both decided we would try something new. Jo got a tiny daffodil and I got a little hedgehog by Country Companions which the lady in the shop said was not really an easy way to introduce yourself to it but I figured 'In for a Penny!' I really loved the finished product (but even to this day I can't bare to look at the tangled mess at the back - Beirut looked neater and that would be after a heavy bombing!!), since then I have been hooked. I will obviously show you the finished product but don't hold your breath, I like to do a little at a time rather than race through it.

So peeps, that's it from me again, I will of course be back again very soon. I was going to rant about Facebook and what I think about those people who feel the need to express every moronic, irrelevant thing that crosses their mind during the day, but I will save that one for another time!

Hope you have a good weekend and the weather picks up a little for you,

take care,

Hugs 'n Stuff,

Andy

xxx

Entered Into:

A Creative Romance Challenge - Dies or Punches

Chocolate, Coffee and Cards Challenge #48 - Anything Goes

Daring Cardmaker's Challenge - Signature Style

Digitally Sweet Challenges DSC #53 - Anything Goes

Inspire Me Friday's Challenge #120 - Anything Goes!

Quick Quotes Challenge #31 - Anything Goes

Sister Act Card Challenge #24 - Anything Goes

Savvy Handmade Cards Challenge - Photo Inspiration

4 Krafty Girlz Challenge #1 - Anything Goes!

Cute Card Thursday Challenge #286 - Hip To Be Square

Addicted to Stamps and More! Challenge #62 - Make Your Mark

Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenge #144 - Anything Goes

"Frosty The Snowman Was A Jolly Happy Soul..."

 

Good Morning gentle reader, how are you on this lovely overcast British day? After a glorious day yesterday it could only ever go one way really, couldn't it?

I am feeling okay at the moment. I returned to work yesterday after a five month absence due to depression. I only had two small panic attacks yesterday so it wasn't too bad, plus I was working with the most wonderful lady (stand up Tina, time to take your bow now), I knew that if things got too much for me she would be there to help. I have had to return to work before I am truly ready to due to having to wait for an appointment with someone in the psychiatric wing of the NHS. I was told it would take up to six weeks but like I said, it's been five months and still no sign of help so I have just had to suck it up and see how things pan out, I have told work though that if I can't cope and have to leave again then the next time it will be forever, I would rather quit than keep messing people about.

Anyhoo, that's enough about me.

I have had the chance to make a lot of new cards and here is my latest fave, I figured Christmas doesn't have to be the same old colours we always use and I decided to use the rainbow motif as my theme. I didn't realise however that until it came time to colour my snowmen that I was one colour short but as neither Jo nor I could find an indigo in my ProMarkers/Copics/FlexMarkers.anywhere else, six was going to have to be it, a slightly shorter rainbow!!

I love these little fellas, they really are the jolliest snowmen I have ever seen. Thanks once again to the very wonderful Kenny K.

I took the image of the snowman and just duplicated it in Photoshop. After colouring and cutting them out, I used this years Nestability (annual Christmas release) die and cut out three different size baubles, I then inked the baubles while they were still in the die and then stamped them up. I finished the card off with some new SB snow flakes and I ran the background card through my e-bosser with a lovely 8x8 embossing folder which I think is an embossalicious one but don't quote me on that!

Anyhoo, I am away now, off to share my breakfast with my ever-loving,

take care and

Hugs 'n Stuff,

Andy

xxx