Being Retired Part One; - A Saturday in January 2014

This week i have managed to spend some time in my Craft Room which is what my retirement is planned to be all about. I have played with some of my new toys, had problems getting my new Tattered Lace dies to work but worked it out finally and they certainly are gorgeous when they work.

I have so many things to do to tie up my last moments of work and fully settle into retirement but i wanted to put these pictures up, just to get me started.

Scottie
This is a Sizzix die which went through my eBosser beautifully. A lovely clean cut. A Christmas present from my husband who knows how very much my Scottie Charlie means to me.

I stamped and embossed the sentiment and frame, stamped the paw prints as a border and cut the dog bowl out of mirror card. The bone die is all part of the Sizzix Scottie die. The spotted ribbon bow just seemed to suit him.

Birdcage
We found this die in the bargain bin at Hobbycraft. The paper was from my stash and i think it really suits the frame.

I haven't added a sentiment yet. The lacy edge is a border die, not sure who's as I have had it years and years. The lime green and sparkly ribbon was part of a pack from Hobbycraft and the silver frame was a left over from another project.

Happy Birthday Cupcake
I am really pleased with this punch, you get the stamp and the punch in a pack and you stamp the cup cake and then cut it out, all very simple but i think effective.

The Happy Birthday is a Martha Stewart punch which i trimmed the borders off. The oval blue frame is part of a square Tattered Lace die and i like the effect. When i laid all this out before gluing it i had the Sentiment in the centre, but somehow when i glued it it changed. The large scalloped circle is a Spellbinders die.

Happy Birthday

This is just a simple Happy Birthday once more using the Happy Birthday punch and a couple of scalloped circles i had die cut previously and matched together for this card. The stamp was a freebie from a magazine and i added some Pearls to highlight the flowers. You can see the Centura Pearl card stock gives a real shimmer.