Birthday Bouquet

Hello to all the lovely crafters out there in blogland.

Recently our wonderful GP celebrated her birthday, so as I have done

for the past couple of years (since John became so ill), I made 

her a card. She has such a bright and friendly personality, 

so I wanted my card to reflect those traits.

I bought the gorgeous 'Happy Birthday' die just before John became ill,

so I haven't had the opportunity to use it until now. However, I'm sure 

it will get a lot of use from now on...I love it.

A closer look at my flower arrangement. I handmade the large pink 

flower using punches, and the 3 tiny yellow buds from tissue paper.

Challenges I would like to enter:-

Card Mania #90 - 'Pastel Colours'

Crafts and Me - 'Springtime' 

Crafty Calendar - 'Mum's Day/ or Special Female'

Creative Knockouts #185 - 'Bordertime'

Daisy Chain #6 - 'Make It Feminine'
Dies R Us #69 - 'Borders and/or Edges'  WINNER

Do-Al(l) Kreatives #3 - 'Spring'

Fussy and Fancy #183 - 'Springtime'

Squirrel's Not So Random #4 - 'Spring Fever' (2nd entry)

Dies - Memory Box Happy Birthday Extravaganza; Cheery Lynn Flourish Leaf Strip, Mini Butterflies.

Punches - EK Success Retro Flowers large and medium; Martha Stewart PATP Butterflies

Glitter on Butterflies - Stickles Star Dust

Pearl stems are from my junk stash

A friend remarked a few months ago that with all the bad luck we have had in recent years, we must have driven a tractor through a mirror factory, with not one mirror surviving. John had his 5th surgery last week, but is experiencing complications. The day after he came out of hospital he almost stepped on a Red-bellied Black Snake on our front porch, then the next day, while stationary, we were 'rear-ended' at speed by a driver who admitted that he was not concentrating, but reading a large billboard advertisement. Our car has been severely damaged, and may have to be written-off.

Surely our luck has to change soon, so on that optimistic note, I will say "thank you for visiting", and until next time,

Hugs,

Jennifer. x

Warren's Gift

Hello to all the lovely crafters out there in blogland. 

Robbie Burns' oft quoted line comes to mind for me lately 

"......the best-laid schemes o' mice an' men......' 

I'm neither a mouse or a man, but no matter how often I plan to spend some 

quality time crafting, John (or our kitty who has chronic bronchitis) require

medical attention. Also, the medical negligence legal action is taking up huge

amounts of time, and is on my mind constantly. Poor John has not been at

all well, and is just getting over his 5th Golden Staph infection in 18 months.

He has to have more surgery next week (also his 5th in 18 months).

A couple of weeks ago, the daughter of one of the Administration staff here in our

retirement village turned 11. She is a sweety, and 'bounces' up and chatters away

to me when we often meet in the supermarket, or elsewhere in our little town.

Apparently she is very selective about whom she befriends among the residents

of our retirement village, so I feel rather honoured.

Jemima adores all animals (perhaps that explains our bond), so I made her this card,

featuring my bunny friend 'Warren' from Craftwork Cards. I bought a couple of packs

of ready-to-colour 'Warren Sheets' at a craft show in London many years ago.

I die-cut, coloured, and constructed the tiny flowers over a couple of very late nights

after I had settled John for the night. I also coloured the corner die-cuts with the 

same Distress Ink as the flowers.

A closer look at Warren with his gift. He is coloured with Promarkers.

Inside my card co-ordinates with the front. Those strange shadows are from

a 'failed experiment'...I tried to reduce the effect of the very harsh midday sun,

by photographing the card in a plastic crate on its side. The shadows weren't 

obvious until I loaded the photos into my computer that night, and by 

then Jemima had her card, so I couldn't redo the photographs.

Challenges I would like to enter

Animal Friends #48 - 'Animal With Big Ears'

Come and Get It - 'Cards for Kids'

Die Cut Divas - 'For the Love of Animals'

Dragonfly Dreams - 'Girly, with Die Cut/Punch'

Squirrel's Not So Random Challenge #4 - 'Spring Fever'

The Crazy Challenge #243 - 'We Love Animals'

Image - Craftwork Cards Warren

Colouring - Promarkers

Dies - Spellbinder Classic Circle, Classic Square; Cheery Lynn Flowers, Leaves, & Butterfly; Joy Craft Corners

Punch - Making Memories Corner Rounder

Paper - First Edition Blank Canvas

Ink - Tim Holtz Distress Ink (I think I used Spiced Marmalade)

Sentiment - Computer generated

Seed Beads - from my junk stash

I think I will be having an early night tonight, as we were up very early 

to drive the 2 hours to the hospital for all John's pre-op tests and interviews.

We were there for 3 1/2  hours, then had another appointment on the way home.

Thank you for visiting, and until next time (hopefully sooner than later),

Hugs,

Jennifer.