You wait half an hour.....

....for a bus and then three turn up together! Only instead of a bus it's a blog entry and for half an hour read 6 weeks!

This morning I made the last of the four cards I need, which is just perfect for the recipient. Inside, opposite the greeting, is stamped 'Chocolate is not the answer. Chocolate is the question and the answer is yes!!!' I can't credit any of the stamps since they all came unmounted but I can tell you the die is from Nesties Labels #10.

I did add a fifth creature to yesterday's card: it bugged me (pun intended) that there were only four and I suddenly remembered I had some tiny wooden ladybirds tucked away in my embellishments drawer. I used a foam pad to attach it in the top left hand corner of the 5 and it finished it off perfectly. I also decorated the insert sheet of the Egyptian card with appropriate motifs including a suitable cat...more finishing touches that I don't always think about. And the die cuts on the Christening card were still hanging on so I slid the card into a large envelope ready for delivery this afternoon :) If they fall off now, there's nothing I can do.....

Right: that's definitely all until after our return from the Isle of Mull, Scotland. Fingers crossed that we don't have any trouble such as last year's when we wrote off the car and came home by train minus half our luggage. We phoned our friend on Mull yesterday and she assured us the roads are in a better state than usual with much filling of potholes. As for the weather, the present forecast is cool and showery - not much change there, then!

Feast or Famine!

Having made no cards at all for several weeks (I sent a couple I'd made some time ago for the April birthdays) I have 3 to show off tonight, all made in the past few days. The fact that we are going to Scotland on Thursday has concentrated the mind somewhat as the cards are all needed for early next week, together with a fourth one yet to be started. I've had a heavy cold now turned to a chest infection since Friday which hasn't helped, but now I'm on antibiotics I trust I'll improve day by day.

First card is for the Christening of our ex-daughter-in-law's baby, born just before Christmas. We are on very good terms with Karen and her new partner and I see her and Holly quite often, so couldn't let this special occasion pass by unmarked. The cross is cut with a Nestie die, the alphabet is one of Cuttlebug's but I can't remember the name. The holly die at the side is by Cheery Lynn and the holly vine at the bottom by Memory Box. The most worrying part is whether the adhesive I've used is sufficient to stop the slender die cuts from falling off the card, which is pale pink (not mauve) pearlised; name and cross are in matt silver and the holly branches are white.

The second is for our neighbour's daughter and I can't believe Amelie is five already! The number template is by Wendy Stenton, background paper from Making Cards magazine. The bugs are made with special black peel offs called Helidots, the outlines of the shapes are applied to card and cut out - which is incredibly fiddly and I have 3 friends who tried them once and said 'Never again!' but they are rather fun and a bit different (and my daughter uses them a lot and loves them!). I saw the designer demonstrating last year and she made it look so easy...maybe it comes with practice. I know I should have included a fifth creature but I ran out of steam.

Finally, a very quick card for a cat loving friend. I had heard about 'The Great Cat of Re' in a favourite series of novels about a female Victorian Egyptologist* whose family give that name in fun to a very small fluffy kitten, and I was delighted to find a stamp with this quotation. The background paper is from a jealously guarded stash - it originated many years ago as a pack of 3 sheets of tissue from a local stationer, but sadly they never stocked it again. I cut the quote panel with a Nestie die from Labels #9.

*The series about Amelie Peabody Emerson by Elizabeth Peters starts with Crocodile on the Sandbank. All are highly recommended, and I strongly advise reading them in chronological order (which is not the same as publication order). They are amusing, cosy crime, historically accurate and interesting - what more can you ask?!