Last dare this year

It’s hard to believe that it’s New year’s Eve. This year has just flown by in a flash.

I thought I would end the year as I mean to start the new one……..by taking part in this weeks dare set by the team over at Daring Cardmakers

Team dare year end....4 of the best
Hi All. Today we have decided to revisit your most favorite dares of 2007. The four top dares, decided by the number of comments you made on them are (in no particular order): 'buttons', 'ribbons', ...'and cut' and 'frames'. We would like you to use this week as many of those dares as you like to make your card in any theme and any style.
I’ve managed two cards for this one, the first of which uses my Tapestry Stamps.





I started off by chalking the white card in two shades of Blue and then used a Tapestry Border Stamp and flowers from the ‘Garden Veranda’ set (SFL 34052) to make the background.
I cut the aperture, a frame and a tile using the Creative Memories Cutting System and decorated the frame and tile with the same set of stamps.
I then finished off the card by attaching the frame to the outside of the card around the aperture and the tile to the inside of the card using 3D foam and added the ribbon.


The inspiration for the second card came after seeing a project in a recent copy of PaperCraft inspirations.



Their card used one flower and wire but I decided it would look nice using layered blooms and a painted chipboard flourish. I also added a Chipboard initial, buttons and ribbon.



Now, I was going to tell you about the strange experience I had while walking around the Christmas market in Frankfurt, wasn’t I.

My cousin Jane and I were walking round the market when we came across a stall which was selling ceramic cats and there on the table were several Black, White and Ginger ones just like my BoJangles. Bo himself is a pretty special cat because approximately only 1 in 4000 Tortoiseshells are male and because of his Ginger patch that technically makes him a tortoiseshell.



Now comes the spooky bit……..

People who know me will already know that before I got BO I was ‘mum’ to a very sweet little tabby cat called Emily but sadly she developed Diabetes and had to be put to sleep. I was totally devastated and felt I had let her down by making that decision and it was almost a year before I could bring myself to visit the cat sanctuary and give a home to another cat.
Anyway, there I was, standing in the market holding this Black, White and Ginger ceramic cat when I turn it over to see how much it was and I started to cry. There on the bottom was the cats name…..EMILY.



Jane started to lift all the other cats to see if it was the name of the artist but no, it was the name of the cat and every single one was different.
There were several with the same markings, but this was the first and only one that picked up. It makes me shiver just thinking about it but it was as if Emily was trying to tell me she was still with me, watching me and that some how she approved of Bo.

How could I not buy it after that!
It now sits in pride of place on the shelf right under the cross stitch of Emily that I stitched.