Same ingredients, 3 results!!!!

Well at long last I have made a start on my christmas cards. For the first batch, I resorted to my trusty 'bug', embossing green cardstock with the snowflake embossing folder and using a variety of christmas card stock and the Sizzix Shadow Box Letters cut out the word 'Noel' which was mounted on the green embossed card with foam pads.

Thanks for popping by.

Halloween

Last Thursday saw the Awali Football Club holding its annual Halloween Fancy Dress party. One of the traditions is that the children come round trick or treating. As Billy and I were not going to be in when the kids came round and did not want the kids to miss out on their annual 'sugar rush' I made up goodie bags and delivered them to the organisers so that they could hand them out on the night

I used the small pillow box template from WS designs and embossed the front of the pillow with a spider's web and then added a spider and a couple of bats.

Thanks for popping by.

A Golden Anniversary

November also is the time for my Mum and Dad's wedding anniversary. This year is a landmark one - 50 years, and to be with them on the day, Billy and I have paid for them to fly out to Bahrain for a holiday. It is just a pity the kids couldn't manage to come out as well.

The first card I tackled for the anniversary was the one from Billy and me to Mum and Dad. I wanted something simply and elegant and I think I have got it just right. Embossed the top layer of the topper with 'Stylized Flower' folder and popped a couple of gold gems into the centre of the flowers. For a wee delicate touch, which does not show clearly on the photo is the heat embossed hearts on the gate folds of the card, which were stamped with clear ink and heat embossed with clear embossing powder. The sentiment was a rub on.

The second I have had to do for the occasion is the one from my Dad to my Mum. For this one I relied heavily on my trusty cuttlebug. Using the embossing folder 'Hearts Block', the concentric heart die and the heart die from the textile hearts cut and emboss set.

Thanks for popping by.

November Birthdays

Again it has been a while since I posted mainly because I seem to have lost my mojo and also not knowing where the time has gone. Anyway I have managed to get all the birthday cards done for my November birthdays, 4 in the space of 8 days.

The first birthdays, my son Will's and my daughter's Sarah's best buddy, Kelly-Ann's are on the same day.

For Will's one used a La Pashe decoupage sheet from Remember When Series Two and for Kelly-Ann was as Kanban Decoupage sheet called Lippy Divas.

Then next one is for a long time family friend, Shona. This one I used a 'Snapshots' 3d Die Cut Iris Decoupage called Chihuahua. Just thought he was so cute.

The last November is my daughter Sarah. I used sheets from 'Say it with a Smirk' love and friendship set.

Thanks for popping by.

Where has the time gone!

Can't believe it is six weeks since I update the Palace Noticeboard. To follow up on the last update 'Quarantined', I was allowed back to work after my enforced extra 7 days holidays. A wee update on that front, kids are only starting to come back to school following a ruling by the Ministry of Education here in Bahrain. There is a staggered returned of school pupils, with the kids starting back in Sunflower House on the 1st of November. Although we haven't had any kids we have been in every day since the beginning of September getting things organised.

In the same post I said that I couldn't post a photo of the project I had been working but I can now post a photo as it has been handed over to my cardmaking buddy here in Bahrain. She was chuffed to bits with it. The box, an exploding one, had the inside box filled with buttons and ribbons. The envelope was packed with stamped images.

I have made a few cards, one birthday and a few sympathy ones. The birthday one was for my daughter Sarah's boyfriend, Mikey. For some reason I didn't take any photos of the sympathy ones apart from one.

It has been quite a sad time for us recently as all we seem to hear about is death or friends fighting cancer. The biggest shock was the sudden death of Billy's boss. The funeral service was held here in Awali and at which I was asked by the family to do the reading. I was honoured to be asked but found it slightly daunting, but managed to get through it.

Last Thursday saw the Awali Callies holding their AGM and followed by the President's Gathering. For my sins, I was re-elected as Secretary. Billy was voted on as Treasurer again. The committee first task is organising the St Andrews Night Ball in November. My preparations are under way, with the posters done and work started on the menus and placecards.

Hopefully it won't be as long before my next post.

Thanks for popping by.

Quarantined!!!!!!

Good evening one and all and apologies for neglecting the Palace Noticeboard over the last couple of weeks. I swopped the heat and humidity at the Palace for the wind and rain of my holiday home in Scotland. Although I got a break from the heat, it wasn't very restful as I spent a lot of the time catching up with all my gal pals back home who I didn't manage to see when I was home in July.

Anyway, bet you are wondered what is going on with the heading of todays' post. Well Tuesday saw me heading back to work to prepare the next school year. However, once there I was told to go home until Sunday as I had only got back into Bahrain and I had to be 'quarantined' for a week in case I had Swine Flu.

Spent some of my extra holiday time tidying up and re-arranging some cupboard. Also working a wee project, which I can't put up on the Noticeboard until I hand it over to a friend who sometimes pops in to read any Palace announcements.

Thanks for popping by.

First Ever Challenge Win

Having a great few days in Dubai and still trying to get caught with emails and blogs, couldn't believe my eyes when I read on Funky Fairy's blog that I was the winner of the Black and White Challenge. Needless to say I am just chuffed to bits and can't wait to play with my prize.

Thanks for popping by and I'm off to collect my reward.

Tourists in Dubai

Seeing it has been a wee while since I was last in Dubai - 10 years ago - thought it was about time I did a return trip and what a lot of changes there's been. So on Sunday, Sarah and I headed off to Dubai deciding to be more like tourists than shoppers. Having said that we did do some shopping.

For the touristy side of our trip we booked trips on the Big Bus Tours. For anyone going I would say it is well worth booking their trips. The first trip was on Monday, doing the Red Bus City Tour. Although we saw a lot of sites, don't think this time of year is the best time to do it as lot was of the sites were outside and it was really hot and humid, by the end we felt like two damp grease spots. However it was an interesting tour.

Raffles Dubai

Dubai Creek

So headed back to the hotel for a quick refreshing shower before heading out again to join the Big Bus' night tour. I would say that one of the best sights on this tour was the Burg Al Arab Hotel all light up.

Burg Al Arab by night

Tuesday morning saw us on the Blue Bus Beach Tour. There were several good photo ops on this one, again the Burg Al Arab, Souk Madinet Jumeriah and Atlantis Hotel and its aquarium. At today's tour had a lot more indoor stops so didn't end up as damp grease stops.

Burg Al Arab by day

Atlantis Lost Chambers

Watching the Jellyfish

Thanks for popping by.

Funky Fairy - Black & White

I think I must be going through a black, white and cream phase just now, lol.

Over at Funky Fairy this week, the theme is black and white. For the card base itself, I thought I would try a new technique - A Side Step Card - having seen a few cards in Val Craftroom's. The next stage was to have a look through what Funky Fairy papers and digital images I had to see if any fitted the bill. As soon as I saw the star backing paper everything seemed to fall into place. I resized Funky Fairy 8 then printed her off, then trimmed off the excess card at the right hand side then mounted it onto the left hand side of the card base. For some embellishing added some brad from my stash.

Oops nearly forgot, here are the instructions on how to made the Side Step Card, thanks to Jackie over at Addicted to Stamping.

Thanks for popping by.

Sketch & Stash

I really love the new papers that I bought this week when I met up with Pinklilac for lunch. Have used them for a second time this week for Sketch & Stash's challenge. This week's layout is one which I feel is going to very versitile and suitable for all sorts of occasions.

Onto the card. As I said it is the second time I have used these papers from BoBunny's Unforgettable range. The flower image is from Inkadinkado's Doodle Flowers stamp set and I used my Whisper pens to add a bit of colour to the proceedings. The floral embellishments were punched from the Unforgettable Love paper and mounted on foam pads. The ribbon was from my stash and the sentiment was a 'homemade' one using a set of letter stamps that have been hiding at the back of my stamp drawer for ages.

Thanks for popping by.

Candy from Creations by Penny

For those of you who love digital stamps, Penny over at Creations by Penny has some fabulous digital stamps as a candy. This what is on offer.

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Simon Says Candy

Hands up who would love the chance of winning $100 to spend on some fabulous crafting goods.

Well, you need to pop over to Simon Says and become a follower of both that blog and the challenge blog and write about Simon Says on your blog. There is an added bonus, if you link your blog posting to your comment over at Simon Says, you get an extra entry.

Thanks for popping by.

Cute Daisy May

The word over at Cute Daisy May this week, is the one word that most of us cardmakers tend to dread. Yes, the word is Christmas. I have to admit that I have been giving it some thought recently, particularly what theme I wanted to do. I did have a colour in mind but think that this year I might just do a cross section of card styles and colours.

For the challenge I thought I would try out one design and see how it came out and hopefully it might give me some direction as to what to do with my own cards. For the image, I used the reindeer from Anita's Stamps and coloured it in with watercolour pencils. The mats used cardstock from BoBunny. For the tag wording I used Word and the brad is from my stash.

Thanks for popping by.

Secret Crafter

As I enjoyed using the doodle flower stamps for yesterday's Sketch Saturday card, I thought I would use them againg for another challenge, this time over at Secret Crafter and coloured the flower in with my Whisper pens. The papers are another set from BoBunny, this time the Alissa range. The star buttons are from my stash pile.

Thanks for popping by.

Sketch Saturday 62

Was out for lunch yesterday with my crafting buddy on the island, Linda aka PinkLilac, to our 'favourite place' - Piece of Cake and which has a wee craft shop attached to it - Celebrations. As usually I left with a few wee purchases, some new 12 x 12 sheets and a few other bits and bobs. The other bits and bobs, I think will be used in some other challenges, but for this week's Sketch Saturday challenge I have used some of the sheets that I bought.

For the image I used a stamp that I bought a few weeks ago, but which I have used yet, Inkadinkado's Doodle Flowers which I think compliment the doodlish style of flowers on the papers. Oh which by the way are BoBunny's Back to Backs range - Unforgettable. I coloured in the doodle flower with Whisper pens and mounted on the mat and card with foam pads, as were to the two square mats. Finished off all the layers by running a black Whisper pen round the edges.

Thanks for popping by.

New Challenge On The Block

There is a new challenge on the block. Pop over to Get Funky to have a look. If you happen to be the lucky winner there is a wee shop over at Funky Hand where you can spend your winnings.

For the card I used the freebie set that is on offer. Threaded one of the freebie ribbons which I topped with a ribbon from my stash through BossKut's Journaling Ribbon Slide and popped it onto the stripey backing paper. For the sentiment I used one of the freebie sentiments that comes along with the ribbons. For a final touch added a couple of flowers, each flower made from two flowers held together with a brad.

Thanks for popping by.

Birthday Smirk

Another card I wanted to get done out of the way, is the one for my eldest daughter (don't think she checks Mum's blog, so hopefully it will be safe enough to post it just now). For some reason I always find it difficult making her cards.

How did the finished card come about? The inspiration for the layout came from two challenges which I am putting the card forward for. The layout came from Sketch Saturday and the recipe ingredients, 3 buttons, 2 designer papers and 1 ribbon came from Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge.

The striped and mini floral paper came from Say it with a Smirk as did the image. The mats are from K&Company's Recycled Remake Berry Pinks paper pad. The flowers were punched from the same mini floral paper and the buttons and ribbon are from my stash.

Thanks for popping by.

Yesterday's card

Got caught up in other things yesterday so didn't manage to post yesterday's card. As usual I am trying to get ahead of myself on the birthday and anniversary front, more so just now as Sarah is arriving on Sunday for a holiday and while she is here we are heading off to Dubai for a few days, with both of us then heading back to Scotland together, before I have to be back here to start back at school on the 1st of September. Just after I get back to Scotland it my father-in-law's birthday.

When I saw this image in a template in Greeting Card Factory, I just knew I had to use it for FIL's card. He will be 92 this year and his amibition is to see his 100th birthday. I have to admit it was quite an easy card to do. Printed off the image and the sentiment and layered them up and popped the layers on a piece of brown cardstock.

No doubt he will have some comment about the words, but I am sure he will see the funny side.

Thanks for popping by.

Summer Fun Challenge

One of the thing that for me is synonymous with summer are BBQ's and suits the theme of Bee Crafty's latest challenge and I had a digital image that would fit the bill. For some reason I thought it was one of Bee Crafty's images but when I went to print it off I discovered that it came from Digistamp Boutique, but I hope that Bee Crafty won't hold it against me!!!!

Although not entering the challenge over at Anyone For Anya I was inspired by their challenge sketch.

Onto the card. The base card, 6 x 6, is made from K&Company's Recycled Remake Ocean Blues cardstock, as are the two rectangular mats. The backmost mat and the photo corners were from Imaginisce's Go For Baroque - Blue Blooded. The image, BBQ Jim, as I said before is from Digistamp Boutique, and was coloured in with my copic pens and the edge of the mat soften with an inkpad from Stampabilities, the color being Royal Blue. Rounded off two corners of the base card and two on one of the rectanglar mats.

The card is for my neighbour's birthday on Sunday. The birthday celebrations are being held early, as his family are here just now but will be leaving to head home to Scotland on Saturday, so Thursday is party time. Thought the image was quite appropriate as there is to be a bbq.

Thanks for popping by.