"And Now I Think Of My Life As Vintage Wine..."

 

Hello again Gentle Reader, how have you been? All ready for Christmas yet? We have finally finished all the pressie shopping this week and bar having to go to work for another few weeks I am really looking forward to it this year.
Now I know the title of this entry is from the Sinatra song "It Was A Very Good Year" (in case you hadn't noticed yet, all my post titles are song lyrics!) and for Jo and I it has,by and large, been a fairly decent year for a change. The news this week though has been a proper downer, first we lose Paul Walker, a man most people will only know from the Fast and the Furious franchise but he was more than that for me, I thought he was quite under-rated and I really loved his performances in the excellent Clint Eastwood Directed "Flags Of Our Fathers", horror-flick wannabe (but still a darn good thriller) "Roadkill" and the incredibly stirring true story "Eight Below" which is more endured than watched, as good as it was there is no way either one of us could sit through it again, it is just toooo sad for words. To die in such a horrific manor and by someone else's hand (accidentally or not) is just tragic, but to have died aged only 40 years old just breaks my heart. If you have never seen a "Fast" movie, give the first one a go, if you like that you will love the rest and I will definitely be going to see number 7 in the Summer.
But that wasn't the saddest news of the week was it? People all over the world will be genuinely mourning the passing of Nelson Mandela. How could one man's personal war against his own countries injustice to it's native people be felt so deeply? by so many and not just in his own country but the whole world over?
I was at work on the day in 1990 when Nelson was released from Victor Verster prison after serving 27 years and while there weren't a lot of black faces in the Royal Air Force, there was a black Sergeant working in Operations that day and if anyone needed to know what Nelson's struggle meant they only had to see this grown man going from tears to whoops of delight literally in the same breath to know how deeply he felt this man's plight.
So join me in a quick prayer, wishing them both all our love and peace and also sending our thought to their families in this, their darkest hour.

On to my card (and possibly the last one of 2013, I'm not sure yet!!) and it's Magnolia time again. I have used one of their latest Christmas release stamps and isn't he a little sweetie? I have used a mixture of Basic Grey and Wild Rose papers, dies from Spellbinders, Dee's and I think Marianne and the usual suspects - flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts, ribbon, pearls and glitter from my stash. As usual I hope you like it and I will be back again soon, either to let you know I am finished for the year or to post one last card for you.
Take Care,
hugs 'n stuff,
Andy
xxxx
Entered Into: Basic Grey Challenge #108 - Christmas
Colour Me Creative Classroom Challenge #83 - Holiday
Crafty Calendar Challenge - Cold and Frosty
Digi Designs Challenge - Christmas in Non-Traditional Colours
Hiding In My CraftRoom Challenge #127 - Holiday Colours
Little Claire's Challenge #39 - Christmas Theme
My Time To Craft Challenge #226 - Cute and Cuddly Christmas Animals
Tilda's Town Challenge #82 - Winter Wonderland