Monochrome

It's ages since I have had the time to blog.  The last month has been particulary stressfull but things are starting to return to normal so it's time to catch up on my blogging.

First things first I have decided to enter a card in the Ladybird Crafts Ink challenge blog - I've often thought about it but have either not had the nerve or the time but this week everything came together as if by magic!!  My daughter Becky asked me to make a birthday card for her friend Chiara.  Whenever they ask me to do this I try to incorporate the friends favourite colour.  When I asked the immortal question this time I was informed black and white!!! Now I have never done a card using only black and white but I also have never been known to back down from a challenge.  So I duly set to work and this is what I came up with...

I used my new embossing folder to emboss the black card and then went over it with perfect medium and white mica powder. Then I inked up my "Untamed" stamp that Debbie gave me for my birthday - I thought it was the perfect image for a 12-year old girl. I coloured the image with prisma colour pencils. A little bit of silver mirri, some white organza ribbon and a little happy Birthday stamp and voila!!

On Tuesday I logged on to check out the Ladybug Crafts Ink challenge blog and discovered this weeks theme was monochrome - fate or what!!! So needless to say I am going to enter this card. 

What makes it even better is that Chiara loved the card and told me so in person when I picked Becky up from the party - I was so chuffed as it's always nice to hear what the recipients think of your cards.

I thought I would also put up the photos of the Halloween costumes mentioned in an earlier post - I should have done it before now but time ran away with me.

Debbie as Peasblossom

Becky as Queen Titania

The costumes were designed to go with the masks that my sister brought from Venice thought the characters are from A Midsummer Nights Dream which we took them to see when we were inStratford on Avon last summer.

Now a little update as to why I have been a absent from the blogging scene for the last month or so:

I have been quite busy with work, Brownies and Sunday School since the New Year.  But about 4 weeks ago my husband was complaining of a sore elbow when he came home from work at 7.30.  It got worse very quickly and about an hour later he was in so much pain and starting to feel sick that he agreed to go to A&E.  Up at the hospital the doctor said his temperature was up and that it seemed to be an infection in his elbow that was causing the pain.  Because it had deteriorated very quickly they decided to admit him to give him some IV antibiotics.  These had no effect and 3 days later they decided to operate to see what the problem was.  It turned out that he had developed an abcess in his elbow.  The infection caused him a few problems after the operation and he ended up in intensive care for couple of days.  2 further operations to clean out the abcess and masses of antibiotics later he finally got allowed home, with yet more antibiotics!!!  It was the longest 2 weeks of my life.  He has 36 staples up the back of his arm but isfeeling much better.  All going well the staples will come out on Monday and life can get back to more or less normal.  Who would have thought a sore elbow would have resulted in 2 weeks in hospital and 4 weeks off work!

Well I'd better sign off for tonight as I have work in the morning and do need to get some sleep!

Take care everyone,

Ali.