Red Hat

My mother wanted to find this poem but she didn't know what it was called, so I looked for it and when I found it, I printed it on the insert inside the card. The hat is fussy-cut from a photo, mounted on 3D foam pads on top of the purple frame, which is decorated with organza bows and punched flowers with brad centres. The text is computer-generated, and then swiped with a purple ink pad, direct to paper.

The poem is called 'Warning', and is by Jenny Joseph.

WARNING

When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple,
With a red hat that doesn’t go and doesn’t suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin candles, and say we’ve no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I am tired,
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells..
And run my stick along the public railings,
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain,
And pick the flowers in other people’s gardens,
And learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat,
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go..
Or only bread and pickles for a week,
And hoard pens and pencils and beer nuts and things in boxes.

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry,
And pay our rent and not swear in the street,
And set a good example for the children..
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.

Jenny Joseph 

Blue Roses birthday card

This was a commission for a colleague's mum's 50th. I used my favourite rose image that was a freebie from Victorian Vignettes, as was, and printed it in blue. (The original was as you see on the left.) I also typed out the 'Warning' poem by Jenny Joseph, which is the script you see on the card... "When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple with a red hat that doesn't go...", etc.

The rest is all pretty self-explanatory.. inspired by the lovely blue rose paper. There is a Martha Stewart border punch in there, hiding behind the crocheted lace, there's an ash branch punch (glittered), some ink blending on the focal image, and some faux stitchery, and some Quickutz letters and numbers.

I think she liked it.

Lavender's blue, dilly dilly..

Anyone remember that nursery rhyme?

'Lavender's blue, dilly dilly, lavender's green.

When I am king, dilly dilly, you shall be queen'..

Isn't that sweet? That's only half of the first verse, of course.. Apparently, there are thirty! You'll be relieved to hear that I only remember the first two lines! lol ;o)

Annnnyway, this is today's creative effort.. a commission for a lady at work who's mum is on the cusp of 50.. a glorious age, in my opinion!

The brief was 'purply blue'. Think I've achieved that.

I revisited that beautiful rose spray image from Victorian Vignettes (refer to previous post to see it in its original state.. blogger is having a strop, so can't upload it again at the moment). I changed its hue to purple/blue using Photoshop Elements. Doesn't it look lovely? Found some DP which complements it perfectly, but it has become detached from a pad, so I can't recall who it's by.. HOTP, I think.

Other bits and pieces include Bazzill cardstock, Chalk Eyes inks, bit of faux stitching, Ash branch punch with glamour dust, an old clear button from my mum's button tin (it's not as yellow as it looks in the side view), and a Martha Stewart border punch.

Oh! And I typed up that wonderful poem by Jenny Joseph ~ "Warning" (you know.. 'When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple..') and used that as the text piece (also printed in full on the insert in the inside cover). (The font used for the text piece is from a CD-Rom that came inside a Lisa Bearnson book on scrapbooking.)

EDIT: By the way, I forgot to mention before that this layout was inspired by a card I saw on someone's blog recently. With apologies to the crafter in question, I would love to credit her with the inspiration, but haven't the foggiest which blog it was! If anybody recognises it, please would you let me know, so I can provide a link and let her know?

Other News

Yesterday, I called in to the Sir Stampalot shop where I knew Brenda would be demonstrating, so I could grab thirty seconds of her time and say hello. What a lovely lady she is! And - well - her cards are amazing!! I had some idea they would be from following her blog, but in real life.. my gob had never been so smacked! Just luscious!

Really nice to meet another blogger in the flesh. It was a real pleasure, and if you ever get the chance to come to Peterborough for any of her classes at Sir Stampalot, I urge you to make the trip.. She is a very talented lady, and her blog does not show how truly lovely her designs are. Seriously.