The Swallows

Hello again,

It has been a little while since I last posted - I was visiting my mum over the weekend and went out on Friday night for a bat walk, then it was national switched off day yesterday, so here I am today with a new creation to share with you all!

I made a square card blank out of plain white card and added this lovely paper - received from one of the lovely ladies in the ATC swap group I exchange with - for the patterned front. I took a handmade piece of lilac paper, which was already square, and cut a piece of white card slightly smaller than this. I stamped two swallows, from hobbycraft, in pink ink and made a mask (I realised after I put the stamp away I should have made two). I then masked the birds as required and stamped a leaf border, from a Clearly Besotted stamp set, using Boofle ink. I also made a mask for these leaves, before stamping the rose from the same stamp set into the centre. I layered the two squares together and then added to the card front. To finish I used a sentiment from a CD-Rom that came free a few years ago with Quick Cards magazine, which was the same colours as the rest of the card.

I would like to enter this card for the following challenges:
Addicted-to-stamps #129 Anything Summer
My Time to Craft #323 Summertime
Inkspirational #111 Masking

Fussy and Fancy #166 Say it with Flowers
 Alphabet Challenge - I for Ink it up
CCEE1625 Birds

I have an introduction for you today as promised. Meet Lanstrum, my little (or actually rather large) Western Hognose:

I have had her for almost 10years now, and she is still as awkward as ever. She does not bit, as in order to bite she actually has to dislocate her jaw, however she is a grumpy cow and hisses and head  butts quite regularly. Yet when she is out and about meeting new people (when we actually have decent weather) she loves the attention and anybody can hold her without any grumbling at all! She will even let people prod her nose - which is quite solid and hog-like, hence the name. She has currently decided that she does not want to eat the mice I have got for her - even though she is obviously hungry!! I think the weather is confusing her a little and making her extra grumpy.

I also have some pictures of my garden:

 Self sown poppy - it is red/pink

 These are some summer bulbs, but I cannot remember what they are - an iris I think

 Herb Bed

 White Snapdragon

Perennial Geranium

And here is the audio book review you have been waiting for:

The Wedding by Danielle Steel

Allegra is the lawyer of some very important people who has a habit of falling hard for men who are unwilling to commit. She is the daughter of two famous producers and represents some even more famous people, which means her job is very demanding a lot of the time. Her life changes, for better or worse, when she goes to New York for a client, and meets the man she will marry. However life throws many things in their path – pregnancies with major implications, distress for Allegra’s mother, and meeting the mother-in-law, to name but a few. I found this a very interesting book with highs and lows. Not very realistic for most people but the exaggeration is just right! It is not as captivating as a crime novel, but still very good.

Thank you for looking,

Hugz Tinz