Black & White Pinecones

Hello, Crafters.

Although I like today's card, it would look so, so much better if I'd used Elegant Eggplant Cardstock (CS) or Night of Navy CS - either colour would have given the card some warmth which is so lacking with this black!

I used the Pretty Pines Thinlits Dies again and my original idea was to do white on white, which is one of my favourite "colour" schemes. As I was die cutting the various branches, pinecones and accessories, I remembered I had a piece of Whisper White CS in my DVD box labelled Layer 2 that I had embossed using the Pine Bough Embossing Folder. I retrieved it from the box and tried laying the die cuts in many various different arrangements, when I suddenly thought how about putting them on black. As you can see, the idea worked! 

 I started with a card base of Basic Black CS, then a layer of Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper and a top layer of Basic Black CS. I dry embossed the top layer with the Softly Falling Embossing Folder in portrait mode and adhered the three layers together using Tombow.

Using a scrap of Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper, I die cut the word PEACE from the Christmas Greetings Thinlits Dies. I adhered it in place on the card front, using Tombow, as this would be my guide how to arrange the pine branches and the pinecones. I used the larger size pinecones and also die cut two large plain cut pinecones in Whisper White CS to lay them behind the more fancy Glimmer Paper pinecones. Without this layer, they just disappeared into the branches! To finish the arrangement I added a bow - I tried both sizes and found the smaller one looked best!

What an adventure yesterday turned out to be for me? I had arranged to meet up with one of my demos for coffee yesterday. Denise lives almost a two and an half hour drive away from me and I'd said if she ever has any spare time when she's visiting her family and friends down here, it'd be nice to meet up and have a coffee.

I arrived in Epsom in plenty of time but didn't realise it would take as long as it did to get through the town to the shopping precinct. I met Denise as arranged and spent a delightful hour and a half talking and generally getting to know each other. Conversation flowed non-stop with the occasional break just to take air! We had a really lovely time together. We said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. I went to the bank and had a meander around the shops. I was very aware of a burning smell and thought it was someone burning incense sticks.

Just one thing about us Brits, we don't panic! We tend to ignore fire alarms unless we see fire engines, firemen and actual fires - tick any two of the above! 

As I carried on walking through the shopping precinct, I noticed Boots the Chemist was closed and so was Marks & Spencer. I chatted with people waiting outside Boots and found out there was a fire outside in the High Street, and because both Boots and M&S had entrances in the shopping precinct as well as outside, the Fire Brigade made the stores close! As I'd just about finished mooching around, I decided to make my way back to the car park! I found the lifts had been stopped so had a nice bit of exercise walking up to the third floor. Then there was an extraordinarilly long queue at the Pay Machine - apparently, the two machines on the second floor weren't working! Then it took twenty five minutes to get out of the car park.

This is when my problems really started! As we left the car park, we found the roads had been closed and we only had one way we could ALL go! Without any helpful DIVERSION signs, TomTom (satnav) or an atlas, I was an a wing and a prayer. I decided to drive straight - I thought I was bound to find a road sign that would direct me somewhere I know my way home from! Errr, no!! I drove through Leatherhead - I know it but not my way home from there! - and then Ashstead, such a pretty English village! Eventually I saw a road sign to Epsom Race Course! YAY! If I found the race course, I'd find my way back home! 

The journey from Epsom to home should have taken me twenty minutes, but actually took one hour and thirty five minutes! When I reached home, the kettle was on quicker than you could say London Fire Bridgade! And my cup of tea tasted like nectar! 

I'm pleased to say the fire wasn't too serious, and as far as I've been able to establish, nobody was hurt. And yes, my own TomTom is top of my Christmas Wishlist! LOL!! 

If you're still reading, many thanks, ☺ and until tomorrow, happy crafting.

JanB.