Back to school

I promised myself when the kids went back to school I would too, online that is

I can't be making journals and not filling or ruining them

with my dreadful  handwriting!

 There are loads of courses around

offering various levels and techniques

 but after a hot tip from Linda

I enrolled in Teresa McFayden's 'Letter Whimsy 1' course 

 I felt I needed to start with the basics and this course takes you right back to the beginning

I bought myself a few hideously expensive but superbly good Copics

 and together with the pens I've collected along the way I've made a start

can't wait to download the next lesson!

February ATC

I've managed to get my February ATC done just in time for Penny's challenge this month!

Continuing my Asian theme I used some embossed card as my background 

and attached a small piece of paper umbrella and a postage stamp as decoration

I also made a start on my cover, just as well I have the whole year to work on it

I have a feeling I'm going to need it!

Postcard from Cuba

Gloria's decided just to ignore Jayne and her fancyman in the meantime,

 although she's more than a little curious about the promised photo..

anyway, Gloria's had a bit of a difficult week herself

on the spur of the moment she entered the aptly named

'La Gloria Cubana Super Roll' cigar rolling competition

and set off for Havana.

  She thought she was flying to Cuba and it was only after touching down she suddenly realised the event was in Little Havana and she'd landed in Miami!

oh dear... well not one to miss an opportunity she took part anyway

here's her card to Jayne  

 Dear Jayne

My map reading skills were a little off this week, arrived in Miami instead of Cuba

entered a cigar rolling competition, was awarded a highly commended 'New Roller' award

need to find the rest of my tour group

where in the world are they ...

 I cut my card from an old Havana Cuban cigar box lid, sanded and painted it. 

 I glued the competition categories to the front (it really does exist!)

 and printed out Miami using a  label maker.

I also attached a compass and spinner.

On the flip side I added a map

and marked on Gloria's near miss!

To see more fab cards from Cuba, check out Darcy's blog

Pretty gifts

Last week these two little Valentines gifts arrived in the post. 

 This gorgeous paper lace heart from Linda 

 and a lovely Asian fan and paper scrap from Patty

Thank you both so much! I love surprises! 

Postcard from Wales

Jayne's gone off with her new beau to Wales while her best friend Gloria is feeling a bit left out of recent events.  In an attempt to patch things up Jayne sends her this card

 It reads:

My Dear Gloria

Calm down!

I did meet Brian Baugette (Bagsy) at The Abstaining Austrian,

 he was part of the French Ski Team's support crew,

 he's totally dreamy

you'll love him, really you will

even if he's just a wee bit older than me...

Your ever best friend Jayne + BSYxx

p.s. will send a pic of him next time

  if there's one thing guaranteed to get you going

 then it's being told to calm down when you're feeling anything but! 

a wee bit older than her?? 

and gasp, splutter, HE'S signed his name too!!

the cheek of it...

 These two spinning lovelies ( National History Museum Wales) were my inspiration for this weeks card.  The face stamp is from Stampington 2005. 

 I made a folded wing for my firery dragon to make it look less crouching dog like!  

I found this knitting quote from Kate Jacobs

 ..."everyone has to knit when they're here,...but not every person has to use yarn"

 

Check out Darcy's postcard challenge here!

snowtime

I filled most of my journal while we were away

  now I just need a few photos to complete it

 I couldn't for the life of me remember how to make a paper snowflake

I ended up with this square edgy look (and that was after I found the instructions...!)

 I picked up a set of vintage reprints with a twist

I really like these guys!

 a little plastic snowman from a tissue pack

 some pages have a lot going on

this is my second journal and something I'll keep doing

I like that I can fill it with memory makers and not too much of my dreadful handwriting!

Postcard from Belgium

Gloria's feeling a little bit miffed after last week's card from Jayne who appears to have 'hooked up' with a bloke and Gloria seems to be the last to know.

 it's a joke!

 you can say that again, thinks Gloria, 

they've only been on the road a few weeks

 and already the sensible Jayne has lost her heart

if anyone should be in love it should be her!

 the card reads

Jayne, what's all this romantic drivel??

anything you want to share with your BEST FRIEND

who's still travelling alone

B.T.W yes I'm having a lovely world tour on my own

in case you're interested!

(my mother used to write me letters using capital block letters and underlined when she was cross with me!)

 it was only after I'd cut my Smurf out of an old book cover that I saw the title

'Einmal um die ganze Welt' - 'Once around the whole world'

it was meant to be...

Check out this weeks cards on Darcy's blog here

It's cold out there...

we went in search of snow and find it we did

 -20 and counting DOWN, chilly?? well yes

 was it wrong of me not to ski but to send the children instead? actually no, I don't believe it was...

the coffee, the choccie Gipfli, the view, it was all fab!

 all they needed was a bit of layering, yeti like layering, that's all

 mind your head

 plenty of fodder for my snow journal, still to be completed

Postcard from France

The lovely Jayne has managed to dig her self out of her hotel in Austria (although I suspect she had a little help..) and has made her way to France

 Jayne's card reads:

Well, we're finally on our way, took the super fast train into Paris, fab!

Bread, Brie and Bolly up the Eiffel Tower,

 hard to be romantic with hundreds of people milling around  Jxx

p.s your fortune's on the bread! 

p.p.s Diet Guru says 'eat less sausages!' hee hee

 

 bread? thinks Gloria, what is she on about??

 she opens her 'card' to find it's full of  baugettes

 and sure enough, there it is,

 the translation of her fortune cookie from last week

'be careful with your health, don't eat too much fat'

 I mean really!!!  that isn't quite what she expected,

 feeling a bit disgruntled she examines the card again

 hang on a minute... what did Jayne say?? we??  romantic??

 and WHO is that bloke at the top of the Eiffel Tower??

Pop over to Darcy's blog to check out the other cards for this week

February pages

I managed to complete my January pages and am really pleased with the results, 

I tried to write things that will jog my already failing memeory in years to come!

  My February background started off pink but with a bit of layering, 

paint and stamping I've ended up with a mix that I really like.  

 I cut out some teeny tiny figures from a set of stickers to decorate a few of my squares

 The Valentine's couple are ready and waiting...

If you'd like to see some more pages pop over to the Kathryn Wheel and check out Mr Linky