My New Toy

After deliberating and stewing over buying this I can now confirm that I love it.

You know the problem of going to work in the dark mornings and returning home when it is dark and needing to take a picture of a card in the daylight mostly by balancing the card on the windowsil and praying that the sun (if any) won't cast shadows.

Well that was the problem I faced most days. I bought a soft box well actually 2 one with lights but then the problem was where to keep it and then the studio lights were enourmous so where the heck are you supposed to put them when they aren't in use? I ended up taking one of the soft boxes to work to use on photography there & the other was made redudant along with the lights stashed away in the loft.

So I needed something compact that would solve my lighting problems and I found it, it wasn't cheap so I had to save up my pennies and put some Christmas money towards it.

So What is it?

THIS

This shot of my new toy is took with the lights off and the door closed, I mainly take shots with the door open, as you can see it is small, it's height inside is roughly the height of a bottle of plonk (wine) and its width inside is roughly 8inches.

With a card inside ready to take a photograph

there is 2 sets of CC lights at either side at the front and a blue spot light to take shots of glitter and bling.

With all of the lights on, this was not a close up shot I cut the image down but it shows just how bright the box is.

Where to buy or get more information: http://otamat.com/Photo_Light_Boxes.html

A Beautiful War Time Card

This most beautiful old card is 92 years old and it was given to me by a very dear lady Sue Ward to whom I am extremely grateful, it arrived this morning and I carefully opened it and then just sat in awe.

It will be highly treasured. Thank you Sue.

Sue has Kindly allowed me to tell the story of the card.

"It is a small ( smaller than A6) Christmas card dated 1916 and it has the original envelope... although it is a bit worse for wear...and addressed to my "gran and grandad." The card is cream and I think the aperture sentiment is printed on lavender silk. A bit about how I came to have it. When I was 5 I was fostered by a couple with the surname Trigg...who I considered to be my "Mam and Dad" The rest of their family...bar a very few...didn't consider me as part of the family. They are no longer with us, and after they died the rest of the family, after picking over the belongings left me with a few precious photo's and this card. I did ask about it, and was told that it came from an uncle and no one seemed bothered about it. I've hung on to it because although it doesn't have any real family connection to me, I didn't like to throw it out but I'm afraid that one day that might just happen...as obviously none of my children have any connection to it. "

My Christmas Vintage Postcard Collection

I thought I would show you the Christmas selection of my vintage postcards.

Up until lately they have been kept safe in a box, my Daughter bought me an album so that I could put them in date order, the first that you see below with the heart on is stamped and dated as 1902

Stamped Poppy Card

Ruffled Poppy stamp from the Remember stamp set by PTI I stamped the image in plain old black ink then added tiny black gems to the poppy the gems are really made for nail art but hey they are great for hand made cards (don't you think?)

I used a pre pattered A4 card for the base card cut down and folded.

Layered the image on black and silver card then tied a ribbon around the middle of the card before added the stamped image.

I finished by stamping the words "for being a friend" and using a word slot punch to punch out the shape then added it to the card with foam pads.

"Well I couldn't let the year end without doing one more Poppy card"

Cuttlebug Leaf Card

The cuttlebug leaf folder is very understated I love to use it as an accent at the edge of a card like the one below, I just used it on the corner then used the Take a Bough and the Birds of a Feather stamp sets by PTI to accompany it.

A lille pit of patterned paper by Kanban and and a ribbon and a card is born.