Hi Ladies
Sorry for the long blog absence, I have been on my hols to Turkey, it was so hot but nice to get away from it all for while. I would love to say that I am back refreshed but what has happened to the weather since we got back – yuk?
I have a huge amount of cards to make today as I have lots of birthday and special occasions coming up so I hope to be posting lots of lovely cards on here very soon but in the meantime I wanted to share this gift card I made for a lovely customer of mine. Her very clever hubby emailed me to ask for a gift voucher for his wife and this is part of the email which made me laugh out loud –
…….who
sadly has metamorphosed into a Stamping Up addict in recent times. I am sure we
will come through this as a family once the proper supports are made
available to her. In the meantime, I would be very grateful if you could
prepare a Stamping Up gift voucher for the value of £30 for her birthday….'
He ended the email like this –
'PS
The situation could be worse. At least when she is messing around with her
Stamping Up stuff, I can get peace to watch the Sky Sports channels:-)'
What a clever man, as he purchased a present his wife was delighted with, he did not have to leave his home or even speak to anyone on the phone (email and paypal are so amazing!) which got him brownie points and time to watch Sky Sports whilst she is happy crafting away – Genius!
And this is what she received,
The gift card was made using the Baroque background stamp ( a current favourite of mine) £14.95 and also the canvas background stamp for the detail on the right hand side.
And guess what, 6 more days and counting till the Last Chance List is released on 1st September, what do you reckon will be leaving our gorgeous catalogue………?????
Ah, I wish I had a clever Hubby to do this for me… can I borrow one who is just prepared to spend the £30 on me for Stampin’ Up! ??? hee hee. Great idea, and how lovely of him. It’s a win/win situation!
Luv the gift card holder too Michelle… glad you had a great holiday.
Bye for now.
Luv Lynney
xxx
What a brilliant husband! THat’s such an elegant gift card Michelle – I bet the recipient nearly swooned when she received it!
Lucky you 🙂
Love the gift card holder Michelle, didyou follow a tutorial for that? My hubby would not think of such a fab idea, love the email quote, funny but true of most of us, therapists could make a killing……… Crafters anonymous……lol
This gift card holder is so wonderful. I have not this background stamp, now sure i NEED it!!
Hugs
Jenni
X-ray machines at checkpoints in southern Mexico are capturing the ghostly outlines of a clandestine business worth billions a year, people packed tighter than cattle and transported like consumer goods in tractor trailers to the United States.
The machines in place for less than two years at two state police checkpoints have led to the two largest hauls of migrants, who pay anywhere from $7,000 to $30,000 for passage, depending where they start.
The United Nations estimates that smuggling migrants across Mexico’s border with the U.S. alone is a $6.6 billion business annually, compared to an estimated the $10 billion to $29 billion in illegal drug running. The migrant smuggling estimate doesn’t include another $1 billion paid by thousands of non-Mexicans to cross from Guatemala and travel north, according to a 2010 U.N. report on transnational crime.
The 513 people apprehended Tuesday in two trailers in the state of Chiapas, bordering Guatemala, represented at least $3.5 million in cargo. Another trailer filled with 219 people was discovered in January.
“As far as I know, this is the first time we’ve seen such big numbers, but it does confirm what we already knew,” said Antonio Mazzitelli of the regional U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime. “There are more and more people coming from all other regions of the world using the Central American and Mexican corridor to reach the North American market.”
While the majority of migrants found Tuesday were Guatemalan, there were also Indians, Nepalese and Chinese.
Smuggling in decades past was the business of small independent operators who helped migrants cross once they reached the U.S. border. But evading U.S. authorities has become much more difficult with increased border enforcement in recent years. At the same time, Mexico’s migrant routes have become much more dangerous, controlled by drug gangs that see new moneymaking opportunities in kidnapping and extorting those who cross their territory.
The harder the trip, the higher the price. Guatemalan officials, who estimate 300 to 500 undocumented nationals cross the border each day into Mexico, say those migrants are paying double what they did two years ago, as much as $10,000 for the hope of gaining work in the United States.
“According to the testimony given our staff, the cost of migration rises every day,” Fernando Batista Jimenez, an investigator for Mexico’s National Commission on Human Rights, said in an email. “Not only because of the walls, policies and legislation against migrants, but because of the ever-expanding presence of organized crime, given the lack of coordination among three levels of government to fight it.”
source: news.yaho.com