My Family & Other Animals

Sunday 24 February 2013

"You Raise Me Up..."

 
 
Bit of a tenuous link this time I know but I couldn't think of a song that had amything to do with layers in it!
I am writing today from my sick-bed (yet again!!!!) as I have had a horrible week. It must be some sort of 'bug', some unnamed, unidentifiable, insidious BUG that has left me feeling like I have gone 10 rounds with Joe Frazier. I have had to take even more days off work so the Lord alone only knows what they must make of me. I have never been as poorly as I have over the last six months or so and it is really starting to get on top of me again, hopefully though I can start getting some answers soon as I am going to the Hospital tomorrow morning for some X-rays. The Doctor seems to think I have tendinitis in my shoulder and arthritis in my knees and hips and while I know there is nothing they can do really, I like to know exactly what is wrong with me, the not knowing drives me round the twist!
But enough of my boring medical drama, what kind of week have you had? Hopefully better than mine!
I really wanted to comment on The Brits this week as for the first time in recent memory they turned out to be a really good show. Muse opened it with an astonishing array of beautifully adorned and made-up classical musicians and it was hit after hit from then on. Robbie Williams was a stand-out performance with 'Candy', the whole set was black and white checks and then he turned around and took his coat off to reveal a stunning blue suit (looked like Paul Smith to me!!) but the performance of the night (for me) was Justin Timberlake who sang 'Mirrors', a new track from the long-awaited 'The 20/20 Experience'. I was also delighted to see Emilie Sande take home the award for Best British Album, as that particular set of songs has been my constant companion for the last twelve months. I love everything about that woman, from her neatly coiffured hair to her stunningly emotive voice, I watched her Royal Albert Hall show a couple of days ago and there is something really special about her, when she sang 'Suitcase' I was in floods of tears. There is a line in the song where she says 'What changed so quickly? Answer me! If you must kill me, then please, please tell  me why" and while I know the song is about a lover leaving and it's the end of a relationship, something really struck a chord with me and all I could think about was my dear departed Dad. He died unexpectedly and when someone is torn away from you so suddenly you are just left asking Why?
With yet another song added to the list of songs I will not be able to listen to without thinking about him, I say;
to the greatest man I have ever known, here's to you Dad, missed not just today but EVERY day x.

Okay, on to the card. This week over at the Kenny K Krafty Krew Blog the theme is 'Layer It Up!'. I have used Devastatia (available from Kenny K Downloads here) and if Kenny's images float your boat then check out the 3 brand new Steampunk Burlesque pics. There is an amazing little bulldog chap who is wearing a wonderful flying cap (a la 'Biggles') and two brand new chickadees. As per, they are all stunning and I will be using them all in the coming weeks, so keep an eye out.
I used an M'bossability embossing folder from Spellbinders and as the card I used was quite thick I was delighted to see just how well the image came out, really deep and crisp. My colouring was done with my Flex-Markers and Pro's for a change and I used one of my newish Nestie dies behind the image, the flower is from Woodware and instead of layering it up as normal, I turned the petals over to get this lovely budding flower instead. The wings at the bottom of the card are from Make It Crafty and the crown is a Tim Holtz one while the butterfly is a Spellbinders die and the sentiment is from Lily Of The Valley. Everything else was just lying around on my table!
So there you have it, a new card and a start to a week where I will hopefully get some sort of resolution about my various 'new' aches and pains!
Hope you have a good week, I should be back quite soon as I have a few cards made up and ready to publish, so take care,
Hugs 'n Stuff,
Andy
x
Entered Into: Baffles Kreativladen Challenge #17 - Purple And Green
Crafting For All Seasons Challenge #46 - Dies and Punches
Crafts and Me Challenge #122 - Dies or Punches
Divas By Design Challenges - Anything Goes
Flutterby Wednesday's Challenge #229 - 3 or More Layers
Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenge #116 - Favourite Colour (Purple of course!!)
Stamp-n-Doodle Challenges - Use 2 Different Punches/Dies
Bearly Mine Challenges #75 - Anything Goes
City Crafter Challenge #148 - Wings of an Angel
Part Time Tuesday's Challenge #109 - Anything Goes
Sweet Stamps Challenge #106 - Embossing Folder, Die(s) and Stamp
Through The Craft-Room Door Challenge - Anything Goes
Card Mania Challenges #15 - Faeries or Butterflies
Daisy Doodles Creative Challenges #78 - Anything Goes
Kaboodle Doodles Challenge #160 - Use Any Bling
The Pink Elephant Challenge #188 - Anything Goes
Victorine Stamps Challenge #53 - Stamp, Emboss and Embellish

15 comments:

  1. Sorry to read that you haven't been well Andy, hopefully you will get your answers and the medication to improve your problems. Have to admit I missed the Brits... shame on me :).... but glad you enjoyed them.
    Love today's card. Wow your colouring of her hair is amazing. Fab contrast between your embossing and the floral papers and great layout.
    As Shelby would say.... 'You rocked this card'.
    Really do hope things improve for you soon
    Eileen x

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  2. Hello, Andy! I'm dreadfully sorry to hear that you've been feeling so punk lately and I do hope that the doctors can figure out what's going on so you can get a handle on it quickly. Even if it is tendonitis and arthritis, you still need a pain management regime and it's hard to know the proper compounds to take if you don't know what's causing the problem to start with, can you? Love, love your card! I have not yet colored this image but I'm sure I'll get 'round to it eventually. Your coloring is impeccable, my friend! You always do such a fabulous job on whatever image you use and I'm so pleased to have made your acquaintance through the Kenny K team!

    Hugs and I hope your week gets better.
    Annie

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  3. First of all I want to say superb blog! I had a quick
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    I was curious to find out how you center yourself and clear
    your mind prior to writing. I've had a hard time clearing my thoughts in getting my thoughts out. I truly do enjoy writing but it just seems like the first 10 to 15 minutes tend to be wasted simply just trying to figure out how to begin. Any suggestions or hints? Kudos!

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    Replies
    1. can you email me on willandgracefan@msn.com as I can't access your blog from my blog, I keep getting a 403 error whatever that is!!
      Andy
      x

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  4. Very cute card! Thanks for playing along at Card Mania! Good luck! Ani

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  5. Awesome, thanks for sharing your work with us at CCCB!

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  6. This is one sassy little card ... beautifully done! Many thanks for playing at CCCB!!

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  7. Fabulous card - pretty DP's
    Thanks for playing along at Divas this week.
    Good luck.
    Debs xx

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  8. Lovely card! Thanks so much for playing along with us at The Pink Elephant!
    Sheri~TPE DT

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  9. Great card. I love all the details. Thank you for joining us at Divas by Design this week.
    Sarah-Jane xx

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  10. Great card - love the image and all the details you've added. Hope you're starting to feel better now.

    Thanks for joining us at Penny's.

    Helen x

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  11. Fabulous card Andy Love this Kenny K image and you have coloured her beautifully, thanks for joining us over at BMC hope to see you again soon
    hugs
    laney

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  12. She looks amazing. What a great card. I am so happy you played along with us over at CCCB!

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  13. Awesome card!!! Thanks for participating in our PENNY'S PAPER CRAFTY challenge!! Hope to see you again next week!

    ~DEANNE~

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  14. Hi Andy, this is soo cute! Thanks for joining us at our blog hop this time and good luck.
    xoxo Clarissa

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