Not What it Seems.

Nearly running out of time for Rudolph Day.

So busy busy here at the moment. 

I did manage to get to the 3 shop on Thursday

so I now have 12GB of sim loaded onto my  Ipad.

What fun and games that turned out to be,  as though

they have brought the price down considerably  there are

 new rules applied to the useage which meant I had to register

the sim, get a new password set up and verify my email

address. Course in order to do that they send you a text 

message which  (wait for it ) you can't receive on your Ipad!!

Catch 22.  

Finally found a  live chat icon at the bottom of my ipad screen

after going round and round in circles and in desperation

clicked on it. A Few seconds later and I'm chatting to a very

nice help desk  lady who got me sorted out. 

Phew.!I needed a drink after that I can tell  you.

So onto my card  which needed to be a quick one

but was anything but. 

Here it is closed up. It is actually a concertina card

kept shut with a matching belly band.

Start to remove the band and the first page of the card 

is revealed.

Image is Daice Fishing by Dee  Dee's digis

and comes either black/white or pre coloured.

I have gone with thee pre coloured images to save on time!!

Open the card up futher and you can see  he has caught

an Ice snowman.

Last page shows he has caught a Whale.

You get all these images + one other in the download

along with 3 digi papers. and also sentiments.

I chose the paper design 'Plaid' as it matched his hat

and thought the little scenes did make a kind of story up

if used in sequence.

I have a friend who loves all things tartan so this will be her card this yr.

quickly running over to 

Scraps of Life by ScrappyMo #  July Rudolph Day.

A Snowflakes Promise #27 Anything goes.

Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas challenge #292 Anything goes.

Christmas Card Challenge #34 Anything goes.

Punches with Butterflies.

Internet has been playing up again today

but hopefully I can get this posted.

It is time for a new challenge over at

#59 Butterflies + P is for Punches  and/or Pink

So I would like to see  something that has been  Punched out

on your  project (no die cuts allowed)

along with your Butterfly/ies of course.

Here is my inspiration cards for you.

I have had to keep them fairly simple in

 order to get them made PDQ  and uploaded

in between the internet going  up and down.

If in doubt use acetate so that is what my 

First card does.

I have chosen to use  a Fiskars border punch

along the upright edge of the card base.

Front sheet is the acetate adhered into the spine

of the card and adorned with pink sticker

butterflies, silver edging and silver sentiment.

Pink chiffon ribbon along the spine.

The image is by Hunkdory from their

Little book of  Butterflies.

(These are the nearest I have found to the 

old LOTV pads which have been withdrawn.)

The images are the same size believe it or not

and you get 144 pages in each book.

My second card uses a punch by Tonic

which gives you a continous cut out strip.

This one is a butterfly design which 

I have adhered to the top and bottom of 

my card base.

This has been made using watercolour card

as I thought it complimented perfectly

the next Hunkydory image I have used.

This image is from their Second Little book of Flowers.

I have adhered to a slightly larger piece of pink card stock,

raised it up on 3d blocks and added to the centre of the card.

Sentiment and embellishment are silver stickers from my stash.

Next week  will show you cards using a butterfly punch

and a flower punch to make little roses along

with some more Hunkdory images.

(Can you tell I'm smitten by them. Lol).

Traditional Colours.

This past week has been a bit of a whirl wind.

Mon/Tue /Wed were spent down in Southampton

where Miss Di and I met and  welcomed Darnell (USA)

on the first leg of her epic UK tour.

I don't think we stopped nattering the whole time 

we were together until the lift doors pinged shut each night

and we departed for our rooms. 

A great and memorable time as we met up with 

another 7 blogging  friends and spent Tuesday together.

I returned home to find the Internet down once again

and have been playing yo yos with it for the rest of the week.

It is running  at the moment so quickly typing this and getting 

it into a post before I loose the connection.

Time once more for the girls in the Christmas Card Club

to show our makes. The theme this time is 

'Use Traditional Colours 'and was set by Christine.

A delve into my used christmas card stash 

turned up this lovely card front which really

didn't need much doing to it other than

a quick trim to neaten and an acetate front added.

I have used green holly stickers and a gold sentiment

stickers to decorate the acetate. A ribbon sticker was 

also added down the spin of the card.

Then I turned to my Christmas stash of 

dies, stamps, stickers, papers and embossing folders

to see what I could use .

I found my pile of Penny Black Stickeroos and

'Joy to The World ' #10-197 turned out to be perfect.

Backing paper is actually a scrap of wrapping paper

which I had salvaged at some point in time.

Adhered to a green card base and gold sticker

corners and holly outline stickers used.

I stuck the stickeroo to a  piece of scrap red card

and trimmed to just make an edging around it and 

adhered to the card front.

I have used a red card blank for this next card.

Design paper is a freebie from Making Cards

'Christmas Edition 2015'

It matched perfectly the second stickeroo

on the sheet. (I still have another 2 left to use)

I used red holographic corners and a gold sentiment 

sticker to embellish.

After adhering the stickeroo to the centre of the card

I found an already pre cut die cut left over from a previous

project which fitted over it giving a nice neat finish.

Entering into the following challenges:

12 months of Christmas #19 Christmas Blooms.

Crafty Hazelnut's Extra # Anything goes christmas.

Dream Valley #136 Christmas in July.

Melon Headz Friends # Christmas in July.

Deep Ocean Challenge #133 Christmas in July.

Crafty Gals Corner #81 Christmas in July.

C.R.A.F.T. challenges #373 Christmas.

Fussy & Fancy #168 Christmas in July.

Denim Butterrflies

Back again for more inspiration for

#58 Butterflies + D  is for Dimension and /or Denim

This time I have a  shaker card for you.

The butterfly paper is by Hunkydory

from their Little book of Jewelled Butterflies.

(This is the nearest I have found to the LOTV Art Pads

which are now sadly ended.)

You get 144 pages with 24 images. to choose from.

I have used denim blue cardstock

with a blank card base to make the easel shape with.

To make the shaker element I have used two sheets of acetate

with white sequins sandwiched between behind the diecut

border. I used Sizzix  scalloped rectangle 657905.

White lace butterflies from my stash.

Th sentiment is a Britannia word die.

It doesn't really show here but I die cut the word

from the blue card and then used the card with 3d pads

 to make the raised portion for the easel to stand behind.

Close up of the shaker element.

Entering into the following challenges:

Card Mania #82 Lace and or pearls.

Scrapper's Delights #57 Anything goes.

Crop Stop #18 Anything goes.

Crafting With Friends # Anything goes.

Cut It Up Challenge #100 Anything goes.

Allsorts Challenge #372 Frame it.

Lil Patch Of Crafty Friends #38 Anything goes.

Pixies Crafty Workshop #238  Use your snippets  (White card for frame)

Sea Glass

Our internet continues to be a problem and is up and down

like the horses on a merry go round.

Maybe that's where I''m going wrong. 

I should be charging  for rides!!!!

When I recently took part in the Tea Cup Swap

I came across another blogger who in her comments

asked if anyone had any pieces of sea glass that they

would be willing to send her.

Now Sea Glass I have a plenty so after several

emails back and forth  this is what I sent to 

Cindy in America

I had a good look through my stash of Sea Glass

and selected some to send off.

I have already previously sent some off to 

America and Australia but still had plenty left.

The card was one I had previously made and seemed

appropriate to send with the sea glass. 

Then I needed a box to send it off in and made this 

embroidered  box using a piece of sea shell material

from my stash.

The sea glass fits all nice and snug.

Happy to say that Cindy loved her gift.

She was only expecting a few pieces so was over 

the moon to receive a box full.

If anyone would like some then leave a comment below.

Needless to say 

I  Replenished my stock when we went to  Italy 

earlier this year  and spent another 3 afternoons

beach combing in the same cove and came back with even more!!!!

Denim With Love.

We were away in Suffolk last week visiting friends. One set we stay with in their Farmhouse B&B Breakfast home and the other friends live in a 400yr old 2 up 2down cottage.

The weather was extremely good and we managed to get to all the places  we wanted to visit. We had 2 pieces of upsetting news though that did put a damper on our stay. I also got bitten by mosquitoes big time. We had gone out on our first evening to watch the Sunset over the fields and even though I had leggings on the call went straight out

'Come on, supper has just arrived' !!!!

The little blighters got me fair and square straight  into the muscle behind my knee joint.

By the time we got back to the farmhouse my leg was aflame. Needless to say straight onto the antibiotics which I carry at all times. Leg is only just getting back  to rights now so I'm still playing catch up on everything. 

Onto the main reason for my post. It is time again for a new challenge on

#58 Butterflies + D is for Dimension and/or Denim.

So I would like to see lots of 3d and layers 

on your  project

along with your Butterfly/ies of course.

Here is my inspiration for you.

The design papers are digital from

Crafters Companion 'Club Inspire'

DLM April 2016.

Plain card stock is called  Denim Blue Linen

and does have a lovely texture to it from Limetree Craft.

The swirls are in Lilac card stock and are a  Die cut 

by Tonic Studios calledFloral Finesse. 

This is their first outing even though

I purchased a couple of years ago. Where does the time go!

I have layered up and distressed and torn round the edges.

Butterfly is die cut from the Denim cardstock

and is  Memory box Pippi/Isabella.

Lace/ ribbon/ pearls and flowers from my stash.

All given a liberal coating of Glamour Dust.

Entering into the following Challenges:

Card Mania #82 Lace and/or pearls.

Crafts Galore # Anything goes.

Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper # Anything goes.

Craft Heaven #13 Anything goes +optional lace and flowers.

Creative Ladybirds #17 Anything goes.

Sisters Of Craft # Anything goes.

Craft Your Passion #320 Anything goes.

Crafty Cardmakers #168 Bling It Up.

The Crazy Challenge #226 Lace

Through The Craf Room Door # Anything goes

Snowman Bonanza.

I'm not just a wee bit late but spectacularly late.

In my defence though I was having rather a nice time

playing with my new water colouring  pencils.

(Yep I splashed out  upmarket and bought some Derwents.)

I'm very pleased with them so far.. It's the old adage

of you get what you pay for. My cheapo ones kept breaking

and the coverage abysmal.

Anyways straight onto my makes.

It was time again for the girls in the Christmas Card Club

to show out latest cards.  Lorraine set the theme of

"Snowmen"

I had a delve into my used christmas card box and came up

with two likely card fronts to use.

 This first one was originally one long thin card which I simply cut 
in half to make the two portraits. 

You can just see a slight bloom on the bottom snowman

as they are both covered in acetate (back to my old favorite)

which has been cunningly adhered to the snowmen with ds.tape 

which is hidden behind the peel off  ivy on the front.

Both popped up on 3d pads for impact.

I have used check paper free with Making Cards

Christmas edition 2015  and the holly panels 

are by Sally Denton another magazine freebie.

Sentiment and edging is more stickers from my stash.

Second one.  I wanted to make an envelope card and this

Snoman card front was ideal for the purpose.

Again  I have used acetate on the front  flaps and secured 

to the paper with ds. tape hidden behind the holly leaves stickers.

The rather snazzy paper is old wrapping paper

that I salvaged from a present. There is no make

showing, just the number GW271.

The original card was this size  4"x4"and I simply neatened

the edges up and attached to white card and backed with 

the green check paper and then punched a hole for the

ribbon loop to go through.

Green check design paper a freebie from

Making Cards November 2015.

You can see in the photo below I caught a bit of reflection

from the acetate.

Ok. So then I turned my attention to my stash 

of digis, stamps, die cuts and so forth to see

what I could come up with snowman wise. 

I found a pile of snowman digis that I had purchased

 back in February and had printed off but not got round to using..

They are by From the Heart Stamps .com

This 'Snowlady with Cardinal' caught my eye and as I had 

just purchased the watercolour pencils whilst on holiday  last week

 decided to have a spuddle.

Once coloured I trimmed down using First Editions

Nesting Stamp die FEDIE012.

Green backing paper is a mag freebie by Sally Moret.

Christmas tree paper is a digi paper by Bearly Mine

'Christmas Fun no 11'

Polka dot paper and sentiment star a mag  freebie by Sally Denton.

These are both covered with acetate which has been raised up with

 3d pads which are hidden behind the silver sticker stars.

 Another cunning ploy.

I was really pleased with the pencils so kept going

whilst I was on a winning streak!!

The next digi  is called 'Snowman Hugs'.

Pink paper is a freebie from Making Cards Christmas Edition 2015

Green paper is by Sally Denton again s freebie in a magazine. 

I adhered the image to the green paper and then covered with  a piece

of acetate cut to size and adhered with silver brads.

Raised up using 3d pads.

Sentiment is  a black sticker from my stash.

I'm only using 150gsm smooth colouring card so 

I'm pleased with the shading  just from the pencils and water to blend.

Whilst the two above were drying prior to being made into the cards

I coloured another one up. Well it was on my desk so why not!

This one is called " Snowman and Holly Chicks"

Again I have used acetate but this time it covers

the whole front of the card and is attached by the spine only

under the green trim which is in fact design paper edging.

After colouring I trimmed to size with Spellbinders

Labels Twenty Six S4-366.

I found the gold snowman stickers in my stash and thought

they looked good as they have top hats too.

Sentiment and stars are also stickers from my stash.

Backing paper is a digi  'Words Red' from the Simply Joy too

collection by Nitwits.

By now I''m so late that colouring one last one up 

really wasn't an option!

This one is called  " Peeking Snowman".

Once coloured I trimmed down using Crafts Too Square dies.

Acetate was also cut using the same size die and adhered to the front

using black/white spot brads from my stash.

Sentiment is a black glitter sticker from my stash.

Snow flake paper a freebie from Making Cards Christmas Edition 2015.

Bow paper is  a digi  from Pink Petticoat  Joyeux Noel "Gift Bows".

Six more cards to add to the Christmas stash.

Sorry I am so late with them Lorraine  but I was on 

a winning streak!!

I'm going to take these over to

Pixies Crafty Workshop #237 Use up your snippets.( Papers were all snippets).

Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper #  Anything goes.

Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas Challenge Extra # Anything goes.

Happy 7th Birthday.

My last inspiration card to show you

for the current Butterfly Challenge

#57 Butterflies + Y is for Years and/or Yellow

is this card using a Decoupage sheet

supplied by Craftsuprint.com/Amanda-Mcgee 2011.

Again it was a  free sheet from a magazine. 

I cut and matted the base design to a blank cream card.

Then fussy cut all the other elements that were supplied on the sheet.

I layered up using 3D pads for definition and used a liberal coating 

of Diamond dust on the image. 

Butterflies are gold stickers from my stash along

with the plastic pink sticky number 7.

I have tried to get a side view of the card

showing the decoupage layers.

Entering into the following challenges:

Yellow Butterflies

It's the 2nd week of my challenge

#57 Butterflies + Y is for Years and/or Yellow

Here are 2 more cards for your inspiration.

1st up is this flower card using an  outline sticker framelet which I have

coloured in with promarkers after applying to a piece of white card.

I used yellow chalk to lightly dust the background

The Butterflies are also gold stickers as is the sentiment letters /numbers.

The design paper is a freebie from Making Cards Mar 2016

My 2nd card also uses a freebie paper from the same magazine.

Matted onto a blank card base with matching ribbon trim.

The piece of hessian canvas was a scrap in my stash along with the 

Kanban Topper which I have raised on 3D pads for height.

Butterfly/word/ number are gold stickers from my stash along with the gem.

Hope you will find time to join in. 

Weigh In.

I made this card late last year

for a swap which required a theme of 

Make a Humourous Card.

I showed the first card I made here

but had completely forgotten about this one till now!!

The digi is by Scribbles Designs ' Weigh in Diva'

I made a joy fold card shape  using various backing cardstock

and kept it closed with a belly band .

I have coloured with promarkers using the Pointillism 

method of  dots. I do like colouring this way. 

Here is the punch line that I couldn't resist adding!!

The design papers are all freebies from Magazines

and have been in my stash for ages.

Everything gets used eventually.

Entering into the following challenges:

Pixie's Crafty Workshop #236  Use your snippets (orange card had already been cut into).

Aud Sentiments #158 Funny sentiment.

Inspiration Destination #92 Anything goes.

4 Crafty Chicks #305 Anything goes.

Little Miss Muffet #141 Anything goes.

Southern Girls # Anything goes.

A Bit More Time To Craft #23 Anything goes.

Crafting With Friends #24 Anything goes.

Crafting By Designs # Anything goes.

Crafts Galore # Anything goes.

More Meeces!

These are the last two mice that I said I would show you.

The white mouse is actually mouse atempt  No 5.

I had given up trying to colour a brown mouse

using  distress markers and water so in desperation

got out my copic markers and coloured a white mouse.

Not overally impressed with my effort but she did 

warrant a card to pop her onto so here it is.

Flower paper is a freebie from Making Cards Mar 2016.

I fussy cut some of the flowers out separately and moulded

into shape on the doily. Spotted paper is another freebie by

Hunkydory and the pink  love paper Making cards Feb 2016.

Pink raffia and gems from my stash.

Now this last one was disaster No 4.

I had used a brown distress marker on her and I think

she went on a very long holiday with no sun block!!

She was burnt to a cinder. I put her to one side and turned 

to colouring  No 5 above.

Now by this time I had retrieved Nos 1 and 2 from 

the bin and pieced them back together again

so I turned my attention back to this little 

burnt to a cinder offering for another go.

Sorry I forgot to take a photo of her before I started but needless to say

she wasn't feeling very photogenic.

I know I thought , I will try lifting off the brown with 

 water and a brush so I set to work. Now here is the interesting

thing as I lifted off the brown distress ink bit by bit I found not 

a paler brown mouse but a  well,  to put it kindly a 

decidedly purple one!

  (See what happens when you don't use sun tan cream!!)

Anyways, after lying down in a dark room for a bit(me that is)

her colour had settled down along with the pilling of the backing card

and you know what I rather like my purple mouse.

Who says a mouse has to be brown/white /grey.

So I sorted through my papers and came up with the following card.

I edged round the image with a silver gel pen . and used my scalloped edge dies.

Backing paper is a freebie from Making Cards Apr 2016.

The heart paper from Making cards  Feb 2016

The Sentiment a freebie again from Feb 2016 Making cards.

Lace and heart gems from my stash.