And still nothing......

No sign of Georgie. Nothing......

We've just had a walk around the neighbourhood and Keith (my hub) got me thinking. There was an old man who lived round 2 corners from us (in fact it was his shed that Charlie got locked in years ago) and Keith thinks this man may now have died as last week he saw some people clearing the house out. Now obviously we've had Georgie at home after he saw the people but what if they came back this week and she happened to sneak in the house when they weren't looking? I know I'm clutching at straws here but as there has literally been no sign of her at all it does make me wonder. We've had absolutely no feedback from the posters :o(
When we got to the house. Keith actually whistled through the letterbox but heard nothing. The blinds are all shut at the windows so you can't actually see in.

Where is she???????

SIgh......

I'm feeling pants! Pants pants pants!!!!

Still no sign of Georgie! I have been around the neighbourhood sticking posters to lamposts and also got the local newsagent to stick one in their window. Am psyching myself up to ring the RSPCA to find out if she's been injured and taken in there....

Poor Georgie. I really hope she is ok. Her brother couldn't give 2 hoots that she is missing. In fact he has eaten her tea for the last 2 nights running :o( They are chalk and cheese even though they are brother and sister and we got them at the same time. We got them from the cats protextion league when they were about 4 months old. They were rescued from a house which was filled to the brim with dogs and cats who were walking around knee deep in faeces and urine. Georgie (being mainly white) had yellowy brown paws for weeks after we brought her home bless her. They both settled in with us nicely, but when Abbi was born 7 yrs ago they both semi moved out during the day. Charlie came round but Georgie remained very nervous and has progressed to an almost outdoor cat who comes for food and warmth of a night as opposed to Charlie who would stay permanently indoors on a warm lap if possible! I'm feeling so guilty right now as she so obviously was never the right temperement to be around children and so should we have maybe tried to rehome her with an older family? She's a different cat on a night when the kids are in bed. She's such a softie an loves having her fluffy white tummy rubbed. I just want her to come home safe and sound I guess :o(

DCM - we're dreaming of a white Christmas...and...

This week the fabby Jane sets the dare!

"All too quickly, and its Friday once again....and this week...we are dreaming of a WHITE (and splash of pink Christmas!) I would love you to design a card which includes white mostly (ie: snow, snowmen etc ) and also a little splash of pink somewhere on the card. :)"

Here is my effort which you wouldn't believe how long it took to make because my mojo is still nowhere to be seen - and now one of my pussy cats is missing :o( Need to get some posters put up of her today and go looking for her again. Really hope she's ok - this is not like her.


Cuttlebug embossing set - just my type
Cuttlebug die - 3x3 combo treetops
Papers - Funky Hand - Funky Little Christmas
Joy letters - American Crafts thickers (from QVC and they took 8 yes 8 days to arrive from being dispatched!!! How can it take so long?????)
Felt flower from my box of stash and metal snowflake that I had forgotten I even had!

Birthday cards

There have been some Funky Hand birthdays the last few days, in fact it is Allison's today!!

Happy birthday Allison!!!

Soooo I can now post up some pics of the cards I made for Enfys and Anice. I can't put Allison's up yet as I'm not sure she has it yet and to be honest it was made the other night and we all know my mojo has gone missing so the card is not one of my finest :o( Still no sign of Mr mojo - I think he's moved in with one of his other women! The man tart!



This is the card I made for Enfys which turned out to be quite appropriate as she has had some pigs on the loose in her neighbourhood in the US!
Stamp - Sugar Nellie (watercoloured)
Paper - Basic Grey
Ribbon from stash
Sentiment - handwritten (and can't you tell! lol)






















This is Anice's card. I went bright and colourful with this one. It was special birthday as Anice turned 40!
Stamp - Sugar Nellie (watercoloured)
Glitter card - Doodlebug
Patterned paper (can't remember - will check later)
Sentiment stamp - Penny Black
Flowers - Doodlebug, Prima and Poppicrafts
Button, ribbon & brads - stash
Glitterglue
Doodling
Doodlebug rub ons

Funky Daze

Hmmm still no sign of mojo. He really has gone on a bender this time!

Now then, today is Anice from Funky Hand's birthday! Happy Birthday Anice!!!!

To celebrate she has released her new CD "Funky Daze" and it's a belter! Not only is it chock full of fab papers, she also had the amazing brainwave to do word books. These are word books with a difference though as you are not tied to set words - you can make any you like as the whole alphabet is in there! It can be in either boy or girl colours too. I made one a while ago of my nephew Ben which you can see further down this post :o)

Below is a selection of cards (plus a scrapbook page of one of my cats) that I've made over the last few months. All papers are from the Funky Daze CD (including the scrapbook page) and the various embellies are from my stash :o)

Oh no!!

Oh no - oh no Jo - no mojo Jo!

Yep indeedy do! My mojo has indeed upped and left and it feels like it may be poimernant (said just like Rocky's trainer, Mick - how I loved the Rocky films back in the day!)

That's all I've got to say really. No mojo - no cards! Why the picture of beaker? 'Cos I can do a mean beaker face that's why (as can my hubby - perhaps that is what brought us together?).

I tell you what though......I am REELING from the shock allegations in the news re the delicious Gordon Ramsay!!! As someone commented on one of the news websites (I forget which one) "it feels like finding out that Santa isn't real". Shucks I had him down as such a family man. I really hope it ain't true wot them pesky papers are saying :o(

It's been a rubbish weekend - have had a nasty pasty cold with a streaming nose. I now look like rudolph! The highlight of the entire weekend was making an air raid shelter model with Abbi complete with ickle tiny beds and an ickle table and chairs with the teeniest tiny plate with teeny tiny card bread on it. They are doing world war 2 at school. Seems a little young to be learning about it if you ask me - she's only 7. They are obviously learning a very watered down version which makes me think - what's the point?? Why not wait til the kids are old enough to understand and digest the information? But hey ho - that's just me. Anyhow Abs is thrilled with her little air raid shelter and can't wait to take it in for "show and tell" but she wants to add some painty bits first!

That's all the news and gossip from chez Joz. I'd appreciate it if anyone comes across my mojo could they try and capture it? If not just drop me a line and tell me where you saw it....it can be a bit saucy my mojo - last time it escaped it went to a seedy strip joint! Tsk!

DCM challenge - cafe chic!

This week it is Vanessa's turn to set the challenge and she says

"Yes, I'm a bit of a cappuccino/latte macchiato girl, so I want to see lots of cards inspired by coffee!! Coffee colours, cup shaped cards, card inspired by a coffee jar label, using coffee beans on your card, coffee shop logos on your cards etc etc....."

Here is my card - I've gone for coffee colours and my card uses one of 4 stamps I was sent by the fabbylicious Sugar Nellie for using their stamps in my magazine article!!! How lucky am I? I almost wept with joy! I absolutely adore this lion! He is so cute and makes a perfect man card which I am always short of. This one is going to be for my father in law whose birthday is next friday. Ooh and I thought I should add in that my wire swirl is a direct rip off from Anice of Funky Hand fame (she has a way with wire!).


































Stamp - Sugar Nellie - Rory (coloured with watercolour paints)
Papers - Funky Hand - Now That's Funky CD
Flower - Poppicrafts
Button, ribbon & wire - from stash
Rub ons - Doodlebug

Penny Black Saturday - Monochromatic

With going back to work this week I don't seem to have had much time for crafting and yesterday was a really busy day too. I have managed the PBSC this week though :o)

Monochromatic

This one should be easy, can chose Black & White, or you can go with different shades of one colour

I had to have a go at this one because monochromatic is such a favourite of mine. I adore the simplicity of plain old black and white together (often with a tiny hint of another colour thrown in). I knew immediately what I wanted to make and which stamp I wanted to use. I played with my watercolour paints again and loved working with black through to pale grey. The pink I have used has been mixed in with grey to give a lovely shade of pinky/grey :o) I had great fun!

Image - Penny Black
Papers - Doodlebug
Flower - Prima
Sentiment - Studio g
Border punch - Martha Stewart (double scallop)

Toot

It's a very exciting day in Jozza land today as I have 2 pages in Crafts Beautiful magazine. One of my cards even made the front cover. It's been a dream of mine to have an article in a magazine and I feel so lucky to have had it come true. So.....hurrah! lol

DCM challenge - Birds birds birds

It is Rein's turn to set the dare this week :o)

Bird, Birds and More Birds

I love birds so I'd like you all to make a card featuring birds this week

......a bird in the snow, a birds nest, a carrier pigeon, a white stork or birds in the sky, or...,or... even big bird!

Now I mentioned yesterday that my card went somewhat pear shaped :o( At first I used a Paperartsy bird in the tree but it just didn't go with the child like feel of the card so I ended up covering the paperartsy bird with more green tree and then I shrunk down a little Imaginisce birdy and used that instead. The end result is a card I would like to rip into tiny little pieces. Hey ho though we all make duffers every now and then I'm sure!























Paper - Basic Grey (can't remember if it's sugared or sultry)
Buttons - from stash
Thinking of you stamp - Studio g I think
Green tree cardstock - Love Elsie
Ickle birdy - Imaginisce on shrink plastic

New cards

I spent some time crafting this afternoon. I have quite a few bits and bobs I need to get on with. First of all I wanted to make my DCM card for tomorrow. That all went a bit pear shaped and I'm not particularly happy with the end result - you can see for yourselves tomorrow. After that one was made I had a sudden yearning to play with watercolours! So I did!!!

I stamped two images that I thought I would enjoy painting. The first one is a Sugar Nellie and the other is my favourite Tilda. I painted them both and enjoyed it immensely and I felt so inspired I went on to make 2 cards with them that I actually like! Who knew? lol

Soooo having spent a fair bit of time indulging in a love affair with prismacolor pencils, I am now in love with watercolour paints. Probably because all the blending of the prismas kills my hand whereas watercolouring is a breeze :o)





















Snowfamily stamp - Sugar Nellie
Sentiment stamp - Penny Black
Paper - Imaginisce - Snowy Jo
Ribbon from stash
Glitter glue on Daddy snowman - stickles in waterfall















This card is teeny tiny as it's made using the offcut from the tall thin one!
Image - Magnolia
Paper - Doodlebug (out of the new 6x6 paper packs)
Embossed button strip - Cuttlebug (I went over it with a red inkpad)
Sentiment stamp - Studio g (99p set)

How cool!

Look at this fab set of stamps that I won on wish granted Wednesday over on Becks Fagg's blog. How cool are they?? They'll come in really handy for scrapbooking as well as my cards!























My hubby asked me to make a card for one of his staff the other day. She has been working there for 10 years. He said she'd been dropping hints about a gold clock for weeks so he thought he had best at least give her a card lol! I used my trusty Cosmo Cricket goodies again. I am really loving this kit it is just scrumptious!























Everything on the card is Cosmo Cricket except for the brads which are out of my stash box and I used the Martha Stewart double scallop punch :o)

I've survived!

I survived my first 2 days back at work. It's been ok although my hand is a little sore. It is nice to know that I'm not back until Monday though! I'm hoping to fit a little crafting in tomorrow along with lots of cuddles with Maddie (who is currently sat on the sofa amongst all her dolls which she has lined up to watch Charlie and Lola! Bless).

It's sooooo cold at the moment. My nose is a block of ice and I can't feel my feet. Abigail and I have become addicted to Mario Cart on our Nintendo DS. I used to be able to trounce her but she is getting scarily good! I wish we had a Nintendo Wii though...we would have lots of fun. I keep dropping massive hints at home but not only can we not afford it - my other half doesn't like them!!! He must be mad! He says the graphics are rubbish but I think we would have lots of family fun with one. Sigh....never mind. I might write a letter to Santa.......you never know! I have been very good. lol

Fab blog candy from Fran!

Fran is offering up some awesome blog candy here and I don't want anyone else to enter because I want it! hehehe. Part if the candy is a basic grey wassail paper pad which I am so desperate for. Fingers crossed everybody lol

Arty Girlz challenge 59 - hand drawn element

"This week we'd like to see something hand drawn on your creation..... sounds scary doesn't it... but we don't expect to see anything too elaborate...maybe you could do some doodling or draw hearts or flowers..."













































Papers - Basic Grey - Sugared
Sentiment stamp - Penny Black
Floral corner - doodle by Jozza - drawn with a pigment ink pen so I could colour the image using prismacolor pencils.
Gems - Dovecraft

Penny Black Saturday challenge - sentiment only

This week it's a tricky challenge! A creation with no images - just a sentement stamp. Hmmm I like a challenge though so I've had a go.

New blog header

I've been playing around this afternoon and have made a new blog header using the Funky Hand Salt and Pepper download. It's a real bargain at £3.49 and chock full of yummy papers plus there is an aplphabet sheet and different sized scalloped circles too!. Divine. I really love black and white together and I've added just a teeny bit of pink in the form of a rub on flower (K&Co).

Toot toot!

Yippee I have a layout published in the readers gallery of Scrapbook Magazine :o)

Very excited - if you happen to see the mag in the shops it's on page 75.

xxx

Sketches by Tamara - sketch 69

A new sketch and I love this one. I already had my Imaginisce papers out so used them for this card.
































Papers - Imaginisce - Snowy Jo
Stamp - Penny Black
Ribbon from stash

2 Sketches 4 you - Laura's sketch 12

Another fabulous sketch this week. My card is very plain and simple - something I don't often manage!

































Paper - Imaginisce - Snowy Joe
Stamp - Stamps Away
Trees - Cuttlebug

Happy birthday to a fab friend!

It's a special someone's birthday today - the fab Kath! It's a biggie too 60 no less (although she doesn't look a day over 30).

Happy Birthday Kath!

The card I made is my second attempt. The first one turned into a pile of pap! Don't you just hate it when that happens? Anyway I couldn't just send Kath any old card - I wanted to mak a nice one so I hope she likes it!























Paper - Basic Grey - Sultry (I think)
Flowers - Prima
Brads - from stash
Alpha - Quickkutz Moxie

DCM sponsored dare- sparkle & bling

It's a special dare this week as it's a sponsored dare. The whole DT have been given some Dottie & George images to use to make our cards this week :o) They are sooooo fab! Louise who designs Dottie & George and Charmed Cards & Crafts who sell the downloads are also providing 2 prizes this week so there will be two lucky winners! The first prize is 2 download collections OR the Christmas collection from Download Dottie. The other prize is a little something that Karen from Charmed Card & Crafts is going to put together so that will be a surprise. Don't forget to check out the dare here and have a go - you've got to be in it to win it!

We also have a new guest designer this month - the fabulous Ruth (Tip Top). Do check out her fabby blog :o)

Ok on to my card. As it's bonfire and fireworks galore here in the UK this week I wanted sparkle and bling! Yes - bling up your cards!!!
























Papers - Imaginisce - Snowy Jo
Image - Dottie from harmed Cards & Crafts
Sentiment stamp - Imaginisce
Blinged up Christmas tree - free with Cardmaking & Papercraft magazine (I added some gems)
Lashings of glitter glue!

Ooh and the oval cut out was a revelation. I don't have any fancy Nestabilities and thought the image would look good in an oval shape so I warped the shape of my DST roll from circular to oval and then drew round the inside. Voila - a perfect oval.

Back to work next week!

These last 6 weeks off work have flown by! My hand is healing really well. I saw the doctor this week and he was very pleased with it. I still have a lot of thumb pain but he is confident that it will go. Apparently it is still very early days after the op and it does take a long time for everything to heal inside.

Anyhow......I took a photo of my hand because it has healed so well. I can hardly believe it is the same hand from a few weeks ago when I had what looked like mince poking out of the wound!

Cosmo Cricket photo cube

OK Blogger is being VERY silly today! I don't know why it has put so much space between the photos and try as I might I cannot sort it out. I am close to chucking the laptop through the window so I'm giving up!

I've had a lot of fun putting together this photo cube (again from the QVC kit!) bit by bit over the last couple of days. I rarely make something over the course of a few days. I'm just too impatient and usually will keep going until I've finished something. I didn't want to rush this though so I took my time. It may even have more added to it.....

Photo frame

I had another play with the Cosmo Cricket kit and made up the photo frame which I've now stuck on my fridge. I have to say it look fab :o)

I can't really take any credit for this as it was so easy to make and everything was die cut and ready. All items are from the kit except the big flower which is from Poppicrafts.

Sketches by Tamara sketch #68

It's been a little while since I've taken part in this challenge. I decided to have a play with my Cosmo Cricket TSV from QVC this morning. It's the first time I've played with it and it is yummy. There's so much in this kit it's unbelievable.



























Everything used was in the kit apart from the larger flowers and bee which I die cut on the Cuttlebug and the lace/fibres.

Difficult decision

I've made the difficult decision to leave one of the design teams that I'm on :o(

I've been thinking it over for a while now because I've been struggling to keep on top of things so I've decided to bow out of the Funky Fairy design team. I've had a blast there this year and I've loved working with all the fabby products. I'm really going to miss all the girls too but something just had to give.

They are looking for some more fairys to join the team at the moment though so if anybody wants to be on the DT have a look here. I'd just like to thank Shaz for having me and I'm sure the Funky Fairys will go from strength to strength.

Awesome blog candy!

Wowee! My mate En has got the most fabulous candy ever going on her blog to celebrate over 100000 hits :o) There are 3 seperate fabby candy prizes to be won!

If you haven't seen her work before you need to go here now because she's one of the most talented cardmakers around! (But don't say you want to win the one with the Martha Stewart lattice punch on it because I want that one! Mwahahahaha).