Once again I needed a sympathy card, 5th one this month. As Double D Frames Challenge is looking for frames, I figured I might as well make a card that works for that as well as for the friend it is intended for. At the same time it gave me a chance to use part of a Spellbinders die set that came with my kit for the Weekender Retreat. I used just the window arch and interior piece, plus the steps, along with a Gummiapan floral as a small topper, sentiment is from GKD and the background is DSP from StampinUP. Florals were coloured with pencils and because I messed up I had to add an additional flower near the sentiment as well as a fussy cut bird from the DSP to disguise the mess. I guess experience in card making means that we know what to do when we make a mistake. I used my score board to get the lines behind the scene. In the end I quite like the result.

We have heat in a big way, and I am glad that where we live usually means we also have a breeze as it helps to keep the house cool. Down in the town it will be almost unbearable. Tomorrow my dragon boat team are racing in an area that will be even hotter and I am glad that I will not be participating. I tried one race last year, did not enjoy it and decided that racing is not for me. Practices I enjoy as there is less pressure and fortunately the team understand my limitations. My hands sometimes just won’t hold onto the paddle properly which is disastrous if in a race. And if any of you are wondering whether your scissors are sharp, just do what I did and have them slip when cutting something. My finger is now bandaged so I don’t get more blood on anything. All I was trying to do was to cut my sentiment stamp in half so I could use it differently and I didn’t notice that the points of the scissors were going to hit my finger. BooHoo!

Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate you, your time and any comments you may leave. Have a great weekend.

Well this almost turned into a disaster, but I coped and still had 3 seconds left on the clock when done. Why, you ask – its the ‘dreaded’ speed challenge at As You See It Challenge #349 – Rapid Water and of course when in a hurry, whatever can go wrong usually does. In this case my die didn’t cut properly and I had to repeat the process on another piece of CS. That will teach me to make sure my cutting plates are in good shape LOL. After I stamped the image I quickly coloured using Inktense pencils and a water pen and then fussy cut as best as possible. I also stamped the sentiment and fussy cut around that. Stamp set is an unbranded one and the quality is definitely not there so the sentiments don’t stamp really clear on the word edges. With the more expensive brand sets this is never an issue. Anyway once I had these pieces ready it was mainly an assembly of the parts. After a quick glance at the clock and a deep breath, I cut down the blue layer to fit over the top fold square card base and adhered it. Then I added the water layer and even used two of the fallouts to create a wider splash zone. In adding the yoga frog and the sentiment the glue point jammed so I didn’t get enough glue to stick them properly. Doesn’t show here and is an easy fix now I’m no longer in a hurry. The die used is from Memory Box and I’ve had it for a long time.

After I’ve improved it one of my yoga group will receive this sometime this year. I shall also give my glass mat a good clean in a minute. Actually my entire desk needs a good clean. I need a craft fairy to magically inventory my new supplies and put them away and then to clean my entire space.

Had a fun Friday evening and full day Saturday with the Spellbinder’s Weekend Retreat. The items in the kit are going to be fun to use. I could have crafted along with the designers, but chose not to as it was more relaxing to just view. Had I tried to craft along I think I would have gotten quite frustrated. As it was, I became exhausted and fell asleep in my chair. I only woke up when I almost fell out of the chair. At least it was done in my time zone. Some attendees were watching and crafting at ridiculous times of the day and night. Took me all of yesterday to stop being so tired. The entire event is available to watch at anytime so I can always watch again if I need to.

Thanks for spending time with me today. We have sunshine with a cold wind here but it is supposed to get quite warm this week. Wildfires are burning in other provinces and our hope is that they don’t start here. It is so sad for those affected.