Geometric for Daring Cardmakers

This week the challenge was to use a geometric shape and a primary colour, so I pulled out the MFT quilt die, and the cute little robot stamp. I thought it would make a great birthday card (in May) for Milo, but as he did his usual dive into my craft den on his last visit, he spotted the card ('this is really good Ma'), so that idea has been shot down.......back to the drawing board

Do pop over to Daring Cardmakers to see what the team have come up with this week. My card is a bit late, we have had a mini panic here this week as Mike has been in hospital for 24 hours, but all is well now, and I am playing catch up. Have a great weekend x

Getting to Know you - for Daring Cardmakers....

Dawn's turn to set the challenge this week, she calls it 'getting to know you' and wants to know where we craft, and our favourite techniques.....

So here is my little haven (I must admit these photos were taken soon after we moved in to this house, two years later, it's not quite as tidy!). But I still love it

and my sign (made with my Cricut) still hangs there - it amuses my grandchildren! 

and my card? I cheated a bit I suppose, turning the tag I made at the Paper Artsy workshop at Stitches into a card (well, I have had a very busy week....). But it does encompass a lot of what I love doing - stamping, inking, stencils and fussy cutting! So it fit the bill, and I like the way it looks against the black card 

How about you - where do you craft? Have you got a favourite technique? Join in over at Daring Cardmakers this week

A taste of 5* luxury......

We had a taste of luxury last weekend - at the Goring Hotel in London.......

 Now I am not a fan of publishing photos of hotel rooms, I mean, why on earth would anyone be in the least bit interested about where I lay my head for the night?

But I thought my friends from the USA would enjoy this, it's the hotel that a certain Miss Kate Middleton departed from, with her father, on her wedding day, to emerge from Westminster Abbey as the Duchess of Cambridge on the arm of her prince, to drive through the streets of London in a golden carriage.......truly the stuff of fairytales!

These life sized sheep footstools seemed to be a signature around the hotel, very comfortable they were too......

and this little sheep was on our bed for me to take home. 'Her name is Barbara' the valet announced. Barbara? How random! It wasn't until I really thought about it that I had a lightbulb moment............

Baaarbaaara!

Of course, makes perfect sense now

The wallpaper in the rooms was woven silk, make by the company who make the silk that lines the interiors of the royal carriages.....

 A bathroom to die for.......

One of the joys of a hotel visit in the UK - afternoon tea! This hotel is yards away from Buckingham Palace, and the Queen sometimes visits to take afternoon tea there (not when we were there though!)

I loved the floral decoration in the foyer - instead of showy flamboyant floral arrangements, they had simple pots of flowering daffodils and spring blossoms.......

and an evening at the theatre to see 42nd Street...perfect! Well it would have been even more perfect if I hadn't been sitting behind a Russian guy with a giant head. Honestly, the guy must have been a Nuclear Physicist at the very least if that giant head was filled with brains. He was determined that having paid a lot of money for his seat, he wasn't going to miss a single step of the energetic tap dancing, so the giant head wove backwards and forwards, side to side......while I sat mildly fuming with my inbred British stiff upper lip, far too polite to tap him on his giant shoulder and ask him to sit still....  

The trip was a gift from our children, what a brilliant present! They know we loved it.....

So a slightly different blog post from me today, but I hope you enjoyed it x

Elemental Inspiration - for Daring Cardmakers

This week Miri set the dare with these photos to inspire - the idea is that you choose three elements from the photos as your inspiration.......I found it hard to choose.....

In the end, I came up with this. I chose to reproduce the pattern on the light shades in the photo bottom right, and the fresh green colour, and some foamiran flowers from the middle photo. 

Do go HERE to see what the rest of the team came up with this week. I am always fascinated by the elemental challenges which start each month, it's really interesting to see how different eyes see different shapes, colours and translate into cards

Snowmaggedon has arrived! After dire warnings on TV and radio (reminding me of hurricane season in Florida), nothing much was happening in our neck of the woods, cars continued to race at high speed down the road past our house (supposedly a country lane, but they mistake it for the track at Silverstone...idiots!)....then it started to snow, just fine little flakes, like a snow drizzle. Well that stuff is sticking, cars have stopped practicing for the Grand Prix, and if the Met Office is to be believed, this is just the prequel. So we are battened down, warm and toasty, giving thanks that we no longer have to face a commute to work. Stay warm wherever you are xx