Spring has sprung !!!!!!

All the lovely spring flowers are coming through, hard to imagine after the horrible weather we have endured over the past few months, it is lovely to see though.................. I have set myself a challenge to make all my birthday cards for the year before the end of April, lets see how I GO !!!!!!!
Kerry had her crop on Saturday and we had great fun as usual, the make and take was delightful and I managed to make ONE more card, shocking I know, my head was all over the place, it took me till when it was time to come home to get sorted out ! It did make my creative juices flow, by the time I arrived home I was buzzing....... I had to make a card for a friend who loves bling, and sparkle so I rummaged throw my card stock and came up with some glitter card, I can't remember where I got it from and thought I would never use, I also felt I wanted to do some sort of box type card with accetate so I came up with this idea although I can't quite get all the different textures to stick, I have tried pinflair, glue gun and double sided  tape and I am still having a problem getting the heavy card to stick to the accetate, if any one has any suggestions please let me know. I also managed to do a couple of Easter cards which I don't normally send, I like this little stamp from Marianne designs and I am hooked onthis side step lay out.

Butterflies, text and flowers are sizzix

Right I am off to start my challenge, I have four birthdays in April, so I will be busy.

Annette

What a week !!!!!!

Poor Rock!!!
Rock of the North is an ex-racehorse who had to be retired from racing some time again because of injury, he raced all over England, Scotland and Ireland where he retired. His Irish jockey Roney Wilson took care of Rock after his retirement but because of his many commitments sent him to me 2 years ago. When he arrived he had very rarely if ever been turned out in a field, now he spends most of his time out socialising with the other horses he also had very poor feet and I got to the point where the farrier could not keep the shoes on his because there was nothing to nail into, so after much deliberation I decided to take the shoes of permanently. He spent the first month very sore and it took a lot of TLC to build his confidence enough for him to go back out to the field, needless to say you would never know he ever had shoes on at all. Some people in the horsey world say thoroughbreds like Rock are an absolute pain in the BUT!!! they give you nothing but trouble, cost too much to keep and are generally nothing but trouble!!!!!!!!! well I personally think that they deserve to be treated the same way we treat  (or should treat) all animals,  that is with respect, they can't speak to tell us when they are in pain and unlike dogs, horses do not make a sound when they are in pain, you just have to go by your instinct or the obvious signs of distress.
Monday morning came and as usual I popped out to feed the horses, Rock was standing at the gate looking very sorry for himself, Hmm! he then proceeded to rub his head against my arm and would not leave me alone to feed the other horses, Hmm! the left side of his face was constantly in view then to my horror when he turned round he had the most horrendous swelling to his right eye............... He was trying to tell me something was wrong all this time, Poor Rock !!!! I quickly took him out the field and into his stable. Using a saline solution (sterilised water and salt) I bathed his eye, OMG! I was frantic, eyes worry me whether they are human or otherwise, I knew that I had to call the vet.
Kate arrived half an hour later and was shocked at how bad the swelling was, she injected dye into his eye to check there was no damage to the cornea and thankfully there was not, gave him an anti-inflammatery and steroid injection and told me to bathe it 4 times a day and hopefully the sweeling would go down. Tuesday morning it was worse !!!!! I called Kate out again, this time he had to be sedated, another double injection and more dye, Poor Rock!! now when a horse the size of 2 cows is sedated it is not easy to move him around, when Kate left he managed to trap me inside his stable as he was stuck across the entrance to his door, I had to stay there untill my husband David came from work with 3 burly men to move him, Poor Me ! I was frozen..... anyway Rock is now looking a lot better and has got his cheeky Irish spark back, looking for mints in my pocket and shouting for the girls out in the paddock, he will have to remain in his stable untill the swelling has completely gone down, knowing Rock that will not be too long now. Here's the pictures I took to send to the senior partner in the vet school of Rocks eye and how it looks now.

Monday morning

Friday night

What an improvement, thank goodness. Amazing what a little TLC can achieve, I only wish more people got the satisfaction I do when I look after the animals. Here's another of Rock when he is happiest, playing with his best buddy Solo, he also has a story of his own wich I will share with you some other time.

Have a great weekend and spare a thought for those animals that are less fortunate than Solo and Rock.

Annette

Back Again !!!!

It's been a couple of weeks since I last posted because I have been so busy with the horses and by the time I finish at night my jammies and slippers call, then my camomile tea starts to smell ever so inviting and before I know it I am in the land of nod!!!!
Mothers Day came and went and all three of us were pampered and spoiled. My kids made lunch for us, garlic prawns with home made melba toast, chicken balmoral (chicken stuffed with haggis, wrapped in bacon, covered in whiskey sauce) impressive I know and it was absolutely delicious, and to finish off apple pie and custard and cream and ice cream!!!!!!! They are obviously following in their Mums footsteps........ loving cooking up a storm in the kitchen.

A few months ago a lovely friend of mine Maxine popped in to visit with her 12 year old daughter Celine who was fascinated with my craft room, she opened drawers, rolled ribbon, stamped her favourite horsey images and just had a ball. When they were leaving I gave her a box of goodies I thought I would never use consisting of paper, card, toppers, ribbon and lots of other crafting delights. Today Maxine popped in to say hello and bring me a card from Celine which I have posted below, I absolutely love it and think she is a very talented 12 year old. Maxine told me she just loves art at school and loves to make her friends birthday and christmas cards, so keep up the great work Celine, I will treasure my card Thank You X

Celine March 2010

Now do you get those days when all you seem to say is YES, you can't quite find it in your heart to say NO !!! Well today was one of those for me. I was asked for a card for a 50th birthday which couldn't have the age anywhere on it ! it couldn't be girly! it must not be, pink, purple, yellow, green, or orange, it had to have a horse on it (thank goodness, think I might manage that!) and please don't say Happy Birthday, WHAAAAAAT, who is this person I am asking myself, anyway I set to my challenge and guess what it took me half an hour !! I hope this lady has a wonderfull day and enjoys her card as much as she loves her horses (LOL)

Happy 50th Birthday !!!!!

That was number one !!!!! Mum.......child no.1, can you lend me £20 please and I will pay you back at the weekend (ye and the rest!) number two and counting !!!!!!! Annette can you possibly do me a Birthday card for my Granny, her birthday is tomorrow !!!!!!!!!! number three !!!!!!!! Phone call from Riding Club...........could you possibly display some of your cards at our Wednesday night meeting (that's this Wednesday!!!!) number four !!!!!! I am now seriously considering a visit to Judy Plums wigs because my hair is being pulled out by the roots !!!!Mum................child no. 2, can you lend me £20 please and I will pay you back at the weekend (ye and the rest!) number five !!!!!!!! I think, maybe I lost count, anyway you get the picture, NO is such a small word, why is it so very difficult to say,  it IS ONLY half way throw the day !Any way one thing I will definately say yes to is Kerrys crop on Saturday which I didn't think I was going to manage, so roll on the weekend, that is if my kids don't skin me for any more dosh !!!!! (LOL)

Annette

Time passes so quickly

Isn't it scarey how quickly time passes, I met up with my family today and was so surprised at how my nieces and nephew have grown. My oldest niece is 30, the youngest 14 and my nephew is 19 and how they have changed since the last time I saw them, all are lovely kids and I feel extremely blessed to know they are my family. I always laugh when my Mum calls us her babies, 61,60,54 and 51 years old (young)!! some babies !!!!!!! I just know I will do the exact same when I am her age.........
I am hoping to go to the SECC tomorrow to have a browse! or maybe a shop! oh what the hell definately a shop, how can I go and buy nothing. My friend Kerry was there today and I am sure she will have collected some goodies, can't let her outdo me.

I managed to do some colouring over the last few days in between helping Kerry unpack, count, code and pack her orders of Nikki & Friends and Ruby Fairies stamp collection which she show cased !!! at Stitches last week, well done Kerry and I wish you continued success, so her are a couple of cards I managed to do.

                             I love these stamps from Linda Luckin

These flowers,paper and buttons are from papermania capsule collection and the fibres are from my stash of wools and fibres from my crochet days, I used Kraft card which I think lends itself well to the horsey theme.

In answer to Elaines question about the card I posted last time with the label, I think it is called a stepper card. Anyway I am absolutely shattered tonight and I want to get up bright and early to get into craft mode before heading to SECC. All the best Annette