Moment of Fame.

I have been on one of Julie Hickey's workshops  using some of her new stamps and dies. As the Hochanda show has now gone out I can show the cards we made. One of my cards Julie liked so much that she asked if she could borrow it to show on the T.V. channel hence my 'Moment of Fame.'
The show went out yesterday 28th November at 4pm. If you watch it in catch up time my card is shown approx 19mins from the end of the programme.  The pink (aren't all sun flowers pink!) Sunflower on the black card.
I can't show that card as Julie still has it but I can show the other three cards that we made.

Fist card
Perfect for a Male card. It is just clever cutting with the design papers to make one half of the front of a shirt depicting the collar, pocket and button fastening.  The sentiment is from Julie's new stamps
'Dictionary Definitions' JH1027. We had fun with the buttons as the punch we should have been using to make the button shapes got stuck and couldn't be used. The shop we were at came to the rescue though with the little white shirt buttons and even found some threads for us to use too.

The only extra bit we had to do was to fussy cut round the sentiment.

Entering this card into the following challenges:
Creative Craft Cottage #124 Add buttons and/or bows.
Love To Scrap #127 Anything goes.
Ally's Angels #28 Anything goes.
Love To Craft #40 anything goes.



Second card

Again if you choose the right selection of papers this shaped card could also be for a Male.  I have chosen pink here (no surprise) for my card. The shape is a simple Z fold  and you make it from a  6" square card base. Cut down to 4" and then the cut off piece down again to 1.5" The others discarded their .5" strip into the scrap bin but I saved mine and added to the front of the card once made up. I found it made a nice ledge for the letters to sit on and also ensured that they were straight on the card.

 The die cut letters are from It's all about the words  Upper Case Alphabet Set JHD-CUT-1011. The little presents from the Icons Stamps and Die set JHE-CUT-1001 and I stamped another of the sentiments on the card above and cut it down to just say Birth which I placed in between the upper case letters so that when the card is extended fully open. it would read HAPPY Birth DAY.

 I finished the card off at home using pink gems from my stash.
Entering this card into the following challenges:
Lil Patch Of Crafty Friends #118 Anything goes.
Country View Challenges # Hand stamped.
Crafter's Castle # Anything goes.
Creations In Pink #16 Anything goes.

Last card

Uses stamps and a die cut from previous Julie Hickey sets.

This is where we had to get messy ( but I donned  my trusty pinny and plastic gloves ) using reinkers to make a smooshed back ground. Again no surprises that I chose pink and added a turquoise to compliment it. A few dabs of each colour onto a plastic sheet,  lightly spritz with water and then use a piece of  acetate to lay down into the inks and then pick up and smoosh down onto your card stock to cover all over. Leave to dry naturally or dry with a heat gun. We left ours to dry whilst we  got on with making  the other cards. The oblong  die cut is from JHD-CUT-FR001 and the flower dies and leaves from Floral Fancies JH-1001.

The sentiment is from Dictionary Definitions JH10217 which i fussy cut around. There is a matching die cut set to go with the flowers but I fussy cut those out as well.  I finished this card off at home and used small 3D pads to attach the words and flowers/leaves to the smooshed die cut which we had attached to a white card base. I edged with  silver stickers and the silver gems, both from my stash.
I would like to point out that I am not affiliated to Julie Hickey in any way. I simply like attending her workshops and using her stamps and dies on my cards. The fact that most of them  just happen fall into my  basket is entirely down to me!!!!
 I also like Jane Gill (Woodware)and John Lockwood (John Next Door) workshops and a lot of their stamps and dies have a habit of  falling into my basket too!!
I utterly refute that I am a Stampaholic and have no need of attending any self help groups to get over my addiction.
What addiction?

Entering this card into the following challenges:
Crafty Card Makers #246 No Patterned paper.
Crafty Creations #403 Anything goes.
Water Cooler Challenges #249 All occasions.
Southern Girls # Anything goes.

Oh Happy Days.

Well he is back again. He turned up a couple of days ago and has made himself at home. I know I am going to regret this but he is lending a hand over on the Butterfly Blog for the current challenge. 

The new challenge has begun and as usual the Fairies, Gnomes, Pixies, Imps and Elves are back.  The challenge will end on 31st December. Your cards can be either christmas themed or non christmas. The choice is yours. There are two prizes to  be won by Random Org.

Here are my inspiration cards to get you going.

First card is using fairies. The large stamp is by Creative Expressions  called 'Dandelion Steps'. I have stamped onto watercolour card and painted with my Caran D'ache water colours.  I have added a few extra stamps to create the scene.
The fairies are by Lavinia Stamps.  Rabbits are Clarity Stamp ' Wee Folk' and I have added some extra grasses by Hobby Art on the top of the steps and along the bottom for the bunny to munch on. I managed to get the little sewing machine working and have used it here on this card to edge the painting. The sentiment is two freebie  stamps from a magazine.   I finished off with silver glitter glue around the fairies  and on their wings. 

Entering into the following challenges:
Creatalicious Challenges # 175 Anything goes+optional stitching real or faux.
Crafty Card Makers #246 No patterned paper.
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends # #118 Anything goes.
Polkadoodles Craft Challenges #47 Anything goes.
Colour Crazy #46 Anything goes.
Cutie Pie Challenge #141 Add an animal.
Country View Challenges# Hand stamped.
Love To Craft #40 Anything goes.
Ally's Angels #28 Anything goes.
2 Crafty Critter Crazies # Anything goes with a critter.


Second  card is using a digi Gnome from KLM called  Christmas Tree Gnome. Coloured using my promarkers and a silver gel pen. Sentiment was generated in Word.  The papers are from  Crafts Beautiful Magazine. Layered up onto blue card stock and then kraft card cut to size to make the base card.  finished the tree off with silver glitter glue and to highlight the sentiment.  

Entering into the following challenges:
Scraps of Life by Scrappy Mo# November Rudolph challenge.
Jan's Digi Challenges #2 Anything goes.
Passion for Promarkers #521 3 or more layers.
Crafty Catz #484 Anything goes spots and/or stripes.
Love To Scrap #127 Anything goes.
Ellibelle's Corner # Christmas holidays.
Sheepski Designs #32 Christmas is coming.


I hope you will find the time to come and have a play. The butterflies will be back in the new Year so until then have fun. I will be posting more cards during the month to inspire you. Remember a Gnome is not just for Christmas.!!

Forest Scenes.

Time again for the girls in the Christmas Card Club to show our next makes. Kate has chosen Forest Scene with lots of snow and glitter.
I am running all behind as I had intended to do stitching round each of the cards but at the moment I can't even get the sewing machine to work let alone stitch. The instructions are very ambiguous even though in plain English. So after a frustrating morning I gave up and finished the cards as you see them here. Of course most of the light had gone by then so spent more frustrating hours trying to get decent photos. Managed it with the first two but the third for some reason just would not show up the sparkle glitter on the card.

First Card

Using a Nellie Snellen stamp called 'Winter Landscape with Deer.' I have stamped onto watercolour card and painted using my Caran D'Ache Gouache Studio watercolour paints.  The sentiment is by Julie Hickey from her Essential Christmas Sentiments set. Once it was dry I painted on the silver glitter glue using a fine paint brush. Basecard is made from forest green cardstock cut to size.   At first glance it might look like I have ribbon running through the middle of the card but it is simply where I have used two oddments of silver glitter card which were not quite big enough so I put the gap in the middle and it works well. Gem from my stash.

Entering into the following challenges:
Cards 4 Galz # 110 Get ready for christmas
Pixie's Crafty Workshop #366 Use your snippets. (Silver glitter card)
Penny Black and More # Christmas
Sheepski Designs # 32 Christmas is coming

Second Card.

Another  Nellie Snellen stamp  a slightly larger one and called simply  'Winter 1'. Painted and then glittered  the same as above . Mounted onto silver glitter card and dark blue cardstock cut to size for the base card. The sentiment is by Julie Hickey from her Poinsettia Border set.  Gems from my stash.

Entering into the following challenges:
Tuesday Taggers # Cold,cold,cold.
Through The Craft Room Door # Anything goes.
The Paper Shelter #407 A Christmas card.
Scrapping 4 Fun #154 Winter.


Third Card
It was actually the first scene I stamped and painted but I just couldn't get a decent photo of the  sparkle on the snow so after a glass of wine I took a second piccy of the card lying down (the card not me!) so that is why I am showing it last.
Again a Nellie Snellen scene called 'Winter Waterfall' painted and glittered the same. The sentiment is by Studio Light from their Winter Memories set.
Gems from my stash. This photo shows the glitter up but not the painting making it look just black/white with the blue water.

 In real life the trees are green and the mountains brown as below.

Entering into the following challenges:

Try Stampin Or Not On Tuesday #435 Non Traditional colours. (Silver and white)

Christmas at Sweet Stampin Challenge Blog # Trees.

Merry Little Christmas #16 Anything goes.

 Off to see what the rest of the girls have made and then have another bash "*^% at the sewing machine. Any loud thumps and bangs will be me throwing it out of the window.

Popping Up.

 I tried to get this ready to post last  night but the lighting was abysmal. Not much  better this morning and had to resort to using a flash on some photos.  Then I had to dash  off to the hairdressers and  several other errands (well I did also buy a portable sewing machine to use when sewing on cards which I spotted on special offer at a really  ridiculous price ) and Bob's your uncle it is now the evening so better late than never.
Into the second week of the Butterfly Challenge. The last before the Fairies and Elves take over for the month of December. Only one person has tried the Pop Up so I have devised  another version which is a lot more simpler to do for your inspiration this week.

 Card base is patterned cardstock cut to size.  The inside is patterned paper by Tonic Studios 'Cameo Bouquet' and the spotty paper is from Nitwits Digi 'Lavender Collection'. The stamp is by Creative Expressions 'Caroline's Butterfly Dreams' which I have coloured using my promarkers in the Periwinkle, Pear and Peach.  The sentiment is a seperate stamp by Kaisercraft from their Birthday Wishes stamp set.
Now the bit you have been waiting for the mechanism.  I have put a further Tutorial up on the Butterfly Blog on the card shapes page (under the header banner at the top of the page) and called it Version II.

Here is the inside of the card showing a trio of Pippi and Isabella Memory box butterflies.  The sentiment is again by Kaisercraft from the same stamp set.

The card lying flat so that you can see how the butterflies are attached to the box that rises up as the card is opened.  Please check out the tutorial. I have kept it nice and simple.  All seven elements of the wheels used too. Yay! (Practice what you preach).

Entering my card into the following challenges:
Southern Girls # Anything goes.
Colour Crazy #45 Anything goes.
Crafty Catz #483 Anything goes/ Birthdays.
Addicted to Stamps  # 179 Anything goes.
2 Crafty Critter Crazies # Anything goes.
Ally's Angels #28 Anything goes.
Country View Challenges # Hand stamped.
Crafts Galore #69 Anything goes.
Craft Stamper # Anything goes.
Love To Craft #40 Anything goes.

Going to have a play with the sewing machine now. Watch this space!!!

The Summer House!

Finally rounded up all the photos to show of the SummerHouse. It has been quite a  long job in progress as several jobs had to be done in the right order before it could finally be ordered and installed. Started out last February and the first job was to sort out the old garden shed and decide what was needed to be kept. This shed had lasted us 33yrs so I think I got my £99 worth of money out of it. It really was on it's last legs as it had been repaired and repairs on top of repairs done to it over the years but I had designs for the plot it was standing on. Next job was to order and have installed a small temporary shed which you can see in the photo below. It is really quite compact and it has been nick named 'The Sentry Box.'  You can see the old green shed in the background.

Next job was to have the garden shed demolished and taken away along with the items we no longer required. It is amazing how many garden shears, flower pots, forks, hand trowels,buckets,bird feeders, old broom handles and stakes you can accumulate( and keep just in case needed) over the yrs.  With the space cleared we could get on with the next stage which was to have  replaced the small section of fencing that hadn't been touched over the years other  than to paint from the other side and to attach it to the the concrete post with wire  to keep it from falling over in high winds! You can see the section in the photo below.

  Once the new piece of fencing had been installed and stained we could see and start to mark out the space that would be needed for a concrete base to be laid.

All these jobs had to be dovetailed round different suppliers and lead times and getting completed but finally in September the base was laid and ready. Now I could go and order the bespoke  Summer House which a local shed company was going to make and erect on site.

I had found just the right furniture and matting for it which, because it was now end of season were on sale at a good price in our local garden centre and they delivered it for us too!! Stored safely in the garage until needed. 

Because the summer house was being made to order it took slightly longer than anticipated to arrive  but finally the day was here. Just one man had it erected in 2hrs 40mins and that included having to saw part of the side gate off to get the panels through into the back garden. 

I was really pleased it arrived when it did, just 3 days before what would have been my Dad's Birthday as we were able to get the furniture in situ in time for a toast to my Dad as it was his legacy to me.  

Below is the flower box that I made to hang on the wall (back in February at a 'Julie Hickey' workshop) in memory of my Dad. 

My Dad loved his garden and would spend all his days out there pottering around ( pretty much like I do now in mine). A photo of it in his hey day.  Roses in amongst the Honeysuckle. It was an absolute haven for Butterflies and Bees. 

 It has been a bit of a roller coaster to write this post as you can imagine but it is done now. 

With Love to My Dad. 

XXX

Pop Up Butterflies

Time again for another challenge over on the Butterfly Blog and the letter is P.

#132 Spin The Butterfly Wheel with the Letter P for Pop Up Card.

I have  been looking at lots of Pop Up card Tutorials on You Tube and have several versions to try.
This card is Version I. which is just a simple pop up mechanism.  As usual you will find a Tutorial for you to follow over on the Butterfly blog at the top of the page under  the banner on the card shape  page.

This card uses all the seven elements 
Pop Up Card/Pear/Peach/Periwinkle/ Pattern paper/Pearls/ Butterfly

For the card base I have used a Background Card by Kanban called English Riviera - Roses - Lilac and decorated the front with a peach doily and a butterfly shape from my stash along with peach pearls. The sentiment is by Julie Hickey from her Circle Sentiments stamp set.
The fun is on the inside with the pop up mechanism shown below.

The pop up really is very easy to do . The peach paper is from The Works and the digi dotty paper is by Nitwits from their Lavender collection. The butterflies are really old circa 1986/87 and were salvaged from when we cleared out the parents home. Mum used to do a lot of scrapbooking when my children were small and always had a box of assorted embellishments for them to use when they went for a visit. These butterflies are embossed and were all attached to each other on sheets via small tabs so each one had to be cut away from the others. (The only info on them that I could find on the sheets was the Initals M L P and the dates plus a post code which doesn't exist anymore.) I found four that were the same and mounted them to look as if they are fluttering out of the card as you open it up. The banner was made from a scrap of card that I already had the colour on from an oxide ink pad. The sentiment is by Woodware.
Hope you will come and have a play with this new challenge. It is the last butterfly challenge before the Elves/Pixies/Gnomes/ Imps and Fairies come out to play for the month of December. The butterflies will be back in the New Yr to continue  with the last 10 letters of the alphabet.

Entering this card into the following challenges:
2 Crafty Critter Crazies # Anything goes.
Love To Craft #40 Anything goes.
Love To Scrap #127 Anything goes.
Brown Sugar #295 Anything goes.
613 Avenue Create #227 Anything  goes + optional Use your scraps.
Lil Patch Of  Crafty Friends #117 Anything goes.
Pixie's Crafty Workshop #365 Use your snippets.
Through The Craft Room Door # Anything goes.

Glitter does it.

Time for the girls in the Christmas Card Club to show our next makes. We had no set theme this fortnight so it is anything goes.  I have two of the six cards that I made at the recent workshop I attended finished  now so can show them. We were using glitter card (the smooth no shed kind I hasten to add) and some of Julie Hickey's new Christmas stamp range. A few might have accidentally fallen into my basket on the way out. Can't think how!!! Julie had already cut the glitter card up into  strips of varying widths and also in lots of colourways for us so we were spoilt for choice.
For my first card I used pink, turquoise and dark silver to make the tag.( I cut my tag shape when I got home using my SU tag punch). Poinsettia was stamped in black twice and then fussy cut to make the different layers. Again I finished at home using silver glitter glue. Pearls were from my stash. The sentiment is one of Julie's new dies. I cut the frame  away from the wording to get the separate words.

Entering into the following challenges:

Dream Valley #213 All that Glitters.

Ellibelle’s Corner # November’s challenge Christmas holidays. 

Addicted To Stamps #366 Anything goes.

CCC Digi Creations #109 Christmas.

Tales From The Craft Room #10 Tags and trimmings.

Unicorn Challenge #49 Christmas Winter.

For my second card  I used light and dark silver and gold bronze to make the strip across the card. We were pretty much allowed to do our own thing for the pattern of laying down our strips so I went for making a herringbone design. The poinsettia was again stamped out twice and fussycut. I finished at home adding the silver glitter glue and the gems from my stash.  Sentiment by Julie Hickey.

Entering into the following challenges:
Aud Sentiments #239 Anything goes + add a sentiment.
Fab 'n'Funky #456 Paper piecing.
Southern Girls # Christmas.
Country View Challenges # Hand stamped.
Daisy Chain Challenges #36 Christmas/winter.


I'm off to see what the rest of the girls have come up with.

Flower does it.

I've been having what I call spuddle time just doodling some flowers using a bronze gel pen and then filling in with my promarkers. I quite liked the result so have now made into a card to share.  The green design paper is from a pad by The Works.  The sentiment is by Julie Hickey and the  oval die cut is also from The Works. I found the scalloped blank card  lurking in a box whilst looking for something else.

 I have laid the card down flat in the next picture to show the lovely gleam from the bronze gel pen when you turn the card under a light.

Still struggling to get all my bulbs planted. This wet weather is not helping but I did manage to get out for a few hours yesterday in between the rain and plant some more. I hope squirrel was not watching where they were being  put! I dug up quite a few peanut shells from where he had hidden them  from last winter. I can confirm that the summer house is watertight and lovely and warm when the sun does shine on it. Been having breakfast and lunch out there. Will get pictures sorted out this weekend and posted up.
I am going to post this in the All Sorts Challenge. Kathleen will be so proud of me as there isn't a butterfly in sight!!
Entering into the following challenges:
All Sorts Challenge #544 Make your own flowers.
Through The Craft Room Door # Anything goes.
Water Cooler Challenges #246 Feminine anything goes.
Colour Crazy #43 Anything goes.
A Bit More Time To Craft #103 Anything goes.
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge # Anything goes.
Crafts Galore #69 Anything goes.
Crafter's Castle # Anything goes.

More One Layer

Time for me to show you some more inspiration for the current Butterfly Challenge.
#31 Spin The  Butterfly Wheel with O for One Layer Card. 

 First Card.
Using: One layer card/Oval/Only one xtra embellishment/Old Gold/Olive/Orchid/Butterflies.
I used a sheet of blank white cardstock to make a base card. I then die cut  an oval shape using a scalloped oval stitched die from The Works which I placed in the centre of the card front to create a mask. Using Distress Oxide in 'Peeled Paint' I inked around the mask and covered the entire front of the card.  When I removed the mask I had a nice blank oval. I had bought some mini wooden floral stamps 'Nature '(set of 15) at the Weekend by Paper Poetry and used two of the leaf sprays to ink round the outside edge of the centre piece.  The gold roses were stamped using my Heyda Peg stamps  called 'Roses and Leaves'. The butterflies stamped all over the Olive green are another Heyda Peg stamp called 'Butterflies'. At first glance I must admit, because of the angle I have stamped them that they look a bit like distorted oak leaves!! My 1 embellishment is the Orchid felt butterfly die cut using 'Cascadia' butterfly trio by Memorybox.  The sentiment is another new purchase from Woodware 'Deco Sayings'. I used my trusty pink Big shot for all the die cutting. 

Entering the card above into the following challenges:
Cuttlebug Mania # Thankyou / Thanks.
Lets Craft and Create  #153 Anything goes +optional Thankyou. 
Country View Challenges # Hand stamped. 
Creative Fingers #174 Anything goes.
Brown Sugar #295 Anything goes.

Second Card. 
Using: One layer card/Oval/Only one xtra embellishment/Old Gold/Orchid/Butterflies.
For this card I used the piece of card I had die cut the oval from to make a mask on the front of the card.Then completely coloured the oval shape in using Distress Oxide in Spiced Marmalade.  When I removed the mask I went round the edge of the scallop with an Old Gold gel pen and then added the dots for good measure. I found the woolly fringing in the same box I was looking in for the felt I used in the card above and thought Why Not? So I did.  The butterfly stamp is Stamplorations 'Trendy Butterflies' and the sentiment is another one from Woodware from my stash. 

Entering the card above into the following challenges:

Creative Knockouts #322 Clean and simple.

Scrapping 4 Fun #152 Anything goes.

2 Crafty Critter Crazies # Anything goes with th critter.

Craft Stamper # Anything goes.

Love To Craft #40 Anything goes.

It seemed a pity not to use the already die cut and partly coloured oval that I had used to mask the first card with so I came up with the Third Card.

Using: One layer card/Oval/Only one xtra embellishment/Old Gold/Olive /Butterflies.

You don't have to use blank card. Here I have used a one sided sheet of  glitter design card from The Works. Cut to required size and folded in half to make the card base. Then I simply coloured the oval with some more Distress Oxide to cover and stamped the sentiment (again from Woodware) and the Heyda Butterfly once it was dry. Used my Old Gold gel pen to go over the sentiment and the butterfly and added the dots around the edge to decorate. Adhered this to the front of the card as my I extra embellishment. Job Done!!

 Taken at an angle below to show it is indeed just a piece of patterned card stock folded in half.

Entering the card above into the following challenges:

Through the Craft Room Door # Anything goes.

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #117 Anything goes.

Crafter's Castle # Anything goes.

Crafts Galore #69 Anything goes.

Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge #Anything goes.

Hope I have given you some inspiration. One layer cards really aren't  intimidating at all. 4 people have already submitted a one layer card. The challenge runs for another week and closes Tue 12th.