Northanger Mice in the Snow

Hi there,

We got a day of sunshine before the clouds and the rain came back. We are having a horrible summer here in the UK, very grey and miserable! Hopefully this means we will get some nice weather through September (and maybe August, but I doubt July with the look of all these clouds). Even the white butterflies are elusive this year - I have not seen any caterpillars on my cabbages yet - just slug damage on everything!

Anyway, here is my crafting creation I want to share with you today. It is a Christmas card, with a little bit of a twist :)

I took an A5 card blank in pastel yellow (actually slightly smaller than A5) and measured 6cm in from each side. I then cut through both layers of card to 6cm down at this point. Scoring along the bottom of the two cut lines to join them up allows this centre piece to be folded inside the card, so there is now a trough between two peaks. I useded two different foiled designer papers that I got free with a magazine at Christmas time, to cover the card front. The bottom paper has also been used on the back of the trough section. I then covered the join with some 'Let it snow' ribbon and added a sentiment to the bottom using peel-offs. I printed out the Mistletoe Christmas Mice from Disdigistamps, and coloured then using Promarkers. I attached this image to the inner panel of the card using 3D foam pads. I stuck two peel-offs to silver glitter card and cut them out, colouring the holly with Promarkers, before adhering to the card with foam pads.

I would like to enter this Christmas Card into the following challenges:

CRAFT #370 Add Ribbon and some sparkle

Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas #287 Use a sentiment

 Digi Chooseday #29 Ribbon/twine

ABC Christmas - M for Mice

Simply Create Too #112 Christmas in July

Christmas @ Sweet Stampin' - Warm Winter Clothing

So many of you have asked about my little Dragonfly. Unfortunately he passed away - it would appear that he had been without food for too long, and although he seemed really healthy and alert it was actually his last attempt to get food, but when he ate you could see the area swell slightly, but his digestive system had practically shut down and it wouldn't move through his body. The bottom part of the body was see through!! but I do have a couple more photos to share with you:

I also thought you might like to see some of the bits I have been growing:

 Cabbage patch - covered to protect from pigeons!

 Flower bed

 Poppy

 Dog Rose

Having a good old ramble!!

And finally a new audiobook review for you guys:

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

Catherine, as the daughter of a country clergyman, is very excited when her neighbours invite her to visit Bath with them. Bath is very exciting as it is full of happenings and social gatherings, however it is disconcerting for Catherine as neither she nor Mrs Allen knows any of the socialites. Therefore it is a relief when the Thorpe’s turn up, old friends of the Allen’s and Catherine makes a close friend. She also meets the Tilney’s, who the Thorpe’s are jealous of, which causes some friction between the friends. However, her life brightens much more when she is invited to visit their family home, Northanger Abbey.

This is quite a good story, but I dislike the way Jane Austen writes and explains why she is writing things a certain way when the citizenship of the time may not like it. It tends to detract from the story somewhat, and makes a large gap between what the characters are doing. Also, I find it difficult to believe that anybody could be quite as naïve as Catherine supposedly is.

Thankyou for looking,

Hugz Tinz