Tulips with Love.

Well it is officially Spring time here now in the UK and the clocks go forward this weekend. Just wish  the weather could keep up!!

Found this card in my unpublished folder from this time last year.

The design paper is a freebie magazine pull out by Emma Schonenberg and the stamp is by Craft UK 'Flower Collection CUK510'. I have used two different Memory Box die cuts. Wrapped Stitches in a Slim Rectangle and Rectangles. I made the base card up in black and used more black card stock to frame the slim rectangles. The sentiment was from the same stamp set. I coloured with  my markers and then gave the image a light dusting of pearlescent chalk which gives a nice subtle sheen to the tulips. Grounded the stalks with  a little smudge of black ink. 

Having been trotting  back and forth to the local post office for the past few months on abortive trips they are finally taking international parcels again. Yey!  My craft room was beginning to look like a sub sorting office with parcels waiting to be sent out.(They have  done several  laps of the village so are well travelled already.!!)  Course the rules have all changed and now they have to input into their system every single item that is inside the parcel even though I have listed it all out on a Customs declaration form stuck to each parcel. I sent off three parcels today and that took the assistant 30 mins to do so I will be sending the remainder out over the next couple of days.

Entering into the following challenges:

Sweet Stampin # Spring.

Make My Monday #196 Spring colours.

Crafty Catz #629 Anything goes/go for green.

Allys Angels #68 Anything goes.

Beautiful Blossoms #3 Floral.

Colourful Options # Green.

Crafting Happiness #140 St Patricks day or lots of Green. 

Love To Craft #73 Anything goes 

The Creative Crafters #62 Anything goes.

❤

Gardening Time.

Thoughts are turning to spring now with the Official First Day of Spring being next Monday, so with that in mind I have made the following card. 

The digi image is JJ Gardening by Bugaboo that I printed out three times,  coloured using my Promarkers then fussy cut out two of them and decoupaged  up parts of the  image. I mounted onto a piece of strong cardstock, distressed around the edges and then added colour with a dauber.  I don't own any pink wellies but I'm working on it!  The background paper is from Craft Consortium 'Ink Drops - Earth.  Sentiment from my stash. 

Entering into the following challenges:

Polka Doodles Craft Challenge# Wk10 Anything goes.

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends#201 Anything goes.

Crafts Galore Encore #109 Anything goes.

Ellibelles Corner #Anyhing goes.

Jans Digi Challenge # Anything goes. 

Love to Scrap #160 Anything goes.

Mix It Up #64  Anything goes +optional distressing. 

Patties Creations #204 Anything goes.   

Sheepski Designs #72 Embellish it 

We Love 2 Create #2 Anything goes mixed media.   

❤

Those were the Days

I need a card for later on in the year and this one is perfect for the intended recipient. I do like the Art Deco and 1930''s era. The styles were just so elegant. I decided to  make a long easel card  to accentuate  the largest die cut. 

 

I have had this CD from Ooh La La Creations 2008 'Passion for Fashion' in my stash for a very long time and only used one or two  of the digital images that are on it. Back of the cd package says there are over 500 sheets to print so plenty to choose from! 

The Art Deco die cut is by Spellbinders S5-254 and I've used two of the three  in the set. I didn't think the design needed anything extra done to it so just added the silver sentiment and the silver dots.

Picture blow showing sides ways view of easel element. 

Entering into the following challenges:

Fab N Funky #568 Retro/Vintage.

Time Out Challenges #233 Elegant.

Craft Rocket Challenges #101 for the Girls.

Creative Fingers #250  Anything goes.

Die Cut Divas # Anything goes.

A Place to Start # Anything goes.

Through The Purple Haze #202 Anything goes.

Allys Angels #68 Anything goes.

❤

Going For Green.

There are a few challenges at the moment that are asking for Green in their theme and I had it in mind to try and make a card just  from green patterned papers. This  is what I came up with using the Sunburst Design as my idea and I rather like the result.

The papers were all from my stash and collected as freebies in magazines (mostly Making Cards)

The snowdrop was also from design paper ( a magazine freebie from long ago) and came with two strips of sentiments There were three flowers ( each set within a frame)  and a further matching outline  flower which I fussy cut and adhered slightly off centre to give the illusion of more petals and leaves.

Below is a picture of the inside of the card using one of the other flowers in the set. 

 There are lots of  tutorials on You Tube on how to make various Sunburst designs. It is one of my favourites for using up my  numerous scraps of papers. I can't throw any away however small!!. 

Entering into the following challenges:

Creatalicious Challenges #254 Anything goes with optional green/four leaf clover.

Try It On Tuesday # Go green.

Crafty Gals Corner #241 Make it green.

Double D challenge # Every things coming up green.

The Sisterhood of Crafters # Use the colour green.

Crafty Catz #628  Anything goes /spring (I have used a snowdrop).

Beautiful Blossoms #2 Floral.

Daisy Chain Challenges #72 Flowers.

Triple B Birds,Butterflies, Blooms.#1 Anything goes .

Creative Inspirations # Anything goes/Spring Blooms.

Colourful Options # Green

Crafting Happiness #140 St Patricks day or lots of green.

 ❤

Tent Time.

When I made the Tent Fold Lighthouse card a few posts ago I suddenly realised that I hadn't actually made this shape (or a tutorial for it) over on the Butterfly Challenge so this is what #179 is going to be about.

#179 Spin The Butterfly Wheel with T for Tent Fold Card. 

You can now find the instructions over on the butterfly blog under the card shapes  header.  It really is a simple card to make as there are literally only 3 score lines to make or 4 if you are making your own card base.  Without further ado here are my cards for your inspiration. 

Card 1

I have used a freebie paper from Crafts Beautiful magazine which I have hand stitched around before attaching to the front of the card base.  The butterfly is Theo and Whidbey from Memory Box and the sentiment by Xcut.  Twine from Tonic Studios.

Card 2

I have made this card longer and thinner and used acetate behind a die cut window from the front of the card. The frame is FaDoodle 'Scalloped rectangles' WSD 467.  Floral paper is by The Paper Boutique 'For Her' and the plain  green stripped from The works 'Pretty Pastels'.

I am so glad that I bought the Stampin Up Embosslits 'Beautiful Wings 'dies before they were retired. You can see 3 of the set here on the front. Thee flowers are from my stash along with the twine and thee white plastic sticker sentiment. 

It is so difficult to take a photo of acetate without being caught on camera!

Card 3

The last card was even harder to capture on camera. At a glance the butterfly looks like it has just been adhered to the front of the card but it has in actual fact been die cut from the panel and twine then glued around the outside edge. IRL it stands out. Back panel of card has stripped paper from The Works 'Pretty Pastels' adhered to it before assembling the card base. Patterned paper is by Simply Homemade 'Simply British' and the gold sentiment sticker from my stash. 

Do hope you will find time to come along and play. The challenge is running for 3 weeks so will end on Tuesday 28th March 8pm (GMT).

 ❤

Notebook with Pen

Something a little different from me again today. A handmade notebook and pen. The cover is made of recycled  cardboard from a  cereal box which I covered in fabric.

I covered the cardboard with wide d.s. tape (so this determined how big I could make the notebook) and then adhered the material to the front and back covers. Folded inside and stitched around the edge with invisible thread to  completely enclose.  I used a Memory box die to make a template for the butterfly (from material) on the front of the book and then blanket stitched and stitched to front.

The inside panel  has been hand stitched  around the edges and then distressed. The image is from Lunagirl .com 'Butterfly Cards'. I don't think they are still trading. I have had in my stash for a very long time.  The back cover has the same image inside too. 

I hand stitched some pockets from freebie design papers.I think they are all from Making cards magazine collected over the years and inserted amongst the pages. 

I finally punched holes in the covers and the pages and held them altogether with Bakers twine.

I made a matching pen using a biro infill and more design paper.

Entering into the following challenges:

C.R.A.F.T. Challenge #669 Not a card.

Craft Rocket Challenges #101 For the Girls.

A Perfect time To Craft #3 Anything goes.

Crafts Galore Encore #109 Anything goes.

Love To Craft #73 Anything goes.

We Love 2 Create #2 Anything goes mixed media.

 ❤

Toucan Talk.

I was sorting through some bird digis that I had already printed off and found this one which just cried out to be coloured in.  I used a combination of marker pens plus pearlescent chalks for the background.

Digi is by Patties Creations 'Toucan Love' and the die cut frame is from Spellbinders 'Romantic Rectangle'. I'm trying to purpose some of the  many sheets of  Tonic  Studios cardstock that I have  so have used two different blue sheets that I have layered up with black cardstock in between and then onto a black base.  Sentiment is a lack shinny sticker which just seemed right for him to be  speaking. 

It never seems to rain but pour here. Am having  email problems now. We needed an upgrade which was done by our son for us but it only worked for The Doc and blocked my account out completely.  Ticket raised and email server promised to unblock within 48hrs but all they did was then block The Doc's account too. Fortunately I have a back up account with another company so can still keep in touch whilst main account is sorted. 

Brother in Law is still in hospital. He has been in for six weeks now and has caught three different viruses whilst being there. The last one resulting in him needing antiboitices pumped into  for the next six weeks. With Sis having visited him  every day she has now caught covid and so stuck at home until clear. testing clear.  In  the meantime brother in law  has been moved to rehab which is an hours drive away for sis to visit him.  He still has Kidney stones which is why he was admitted in the first place but that problem seems to be on the back burner for sorting out at the moment.  All very worrying for my sister right now. 

Entering the card above into the following challenges:

All Sorts Challenge #717 Anything goes with option of matching pairs (Two Toucans)

Little Red Waggon #693 Die cuts.

Ellibelles Corner # Anything goes.

Patties Creations Design Challenge #203 Anything goes.

Sheepski Designs #71 Wings or paws.

The Creative Crafters #61 Anything goes.

 ❤

Anniversary Years

I have found another card in my files that I haven't shown yet. Best get my skates on as this years card is due for making soon.  The card was for a 10th Wedding Anniversary and according to the  information list I use this is  celebrated using  Aluminium/Tin as the theme.

Card shape is a Centre Pop Out which folds flat for posting.. The pretty bird paper is from The Works 'Fairytale Stories' and the spotty one( that matches perfectly) is by LOTV ' Snow Princes'. I used a piece of aluminium foil in an embossing folder by Spellbinders  called 'Floral' to make the centre display panel.  The border along the top of the card is made using a Martha Stewart punch.  The numbers are from a pop out sheet in my stash along with the silver sentiment stickers.

I made a matching envelope with the left over pieces of paper.  The card for this year needs to be Steel so need to put my thinking cap on as the theme is quite similar. Tin cans do spring to mind though!

The hackers have been back causing me chaos. Just spent the past week changing everything in sight which has been annoying and taken some time to do. Fortunately I was alerted straight away and so prevented any damage happening. It does leave you  looking over your shoulder and checking all is ok. 

Entering this card into the following challenges:

All  Sorts Challenge #716 Anything goes with wings.

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #200 Anything goes.

Shopping Our Stash #490 Anything stating with the letter B. I have used Birds.

2 Crafty Critter Crazies #71  Anything goes with a Critter.  I have used Birds.

Moving Along With The times #151 Use numbers.

The Creative Crafters #61 Anything goes.

Allys Angels #67 Anything goes.

Through The Purple Haze #201 Anything goes.

 ❤

Pop Up

The Butterflies are back over on their blog for  another  challenge.  The theme is:

#178 Spin The Butterfly Wheel with C for Corner Pop Up Card. 

As usual I have made a card for your inspiration.You can find the instructions over on the butterfly blog under the  card shapes  header.  It really is a simple card to make as there are literally only 3 score lines to make /fold and then your done. 

I wasn't intending to make a Valentine card but this set of Stickeroos by Penny Black (Hearts and Flowers H10- 172)were out on my desk and when I looked they just happened to incorporate the colours I had already picked for the Butterfly challenge so not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth I used them!

Iv'e used all the elements from the Wheel. The backing paper is a freebie from Making cards June 2013 called Busy Bees. Butterfly is a die by Tonic studios called 'Felicity Butterfly'. The sentiment die is also  by Tonic Studios. Red heart from my stash. 

Here's the card showing the corner pop up and below shows it free standing.

Do hope you will come along and play. The challenge is running for 3 weeks as usual and will end 7th March 8pm (GMT). 

Entering into the following challenges:

The Sisterhood of Crafters # Hearts

Cards 4 Galz #192 Include one heart or more.

C.R.A.F.T. Challenge #667 Love/Valentine

Craft Rocket Challenges #100 Love /Valentine.

Get Creative #118 Hearts.

Incy Wincy Designs #Valentines/or In the garden.

Penny Black #Anything goes/Hearts and/or flowers.

❤

Lighthouse

The Doc  has a mate with  a birthday coming up soon and he is very interested in Lighthouses. I found this print in amongst my  freebie magazine papers and turned it into this card.  It is from Making Cards May 2016 and called Landscapes. 

The print on its own looked a bit flat so I cut  piece of white vellum paper to fit over the top of the picture. Then used a silver gel pen to draw the outline of the lighthouse, quayside, railing , sea gulls and hills onto  the vellum. It has given it a lovely  misty look.  Added a  blue stitched frame die, layered onto silver shimmer card and then created  a black base card.  The base is a Concertinered Tent Fold and the picture bellow shows  a sideways  view of it. This stops the card from sliding down when stood up. 

The sentiment and greeting is added to the back panel of the card base. Sentiment on the front is a silver sticker. 

Entering into the following challenges:

World Art Wednesday #581/582 Anything goes.

Alphabet Challenge # W is for Water.

Creative Fingers #248 Anything goes.

Scrapping 4 fun #220 Anything goes.

Allys Angels #67 Anything goes.

A Perfect Time to Craft #2 - 2023 Anything goes.

Country View Challenges # Be sentimental.

Crafts Galore Encore #108 Anything goes.

Lets Craft and Create Challenge #192 Anything goes + say What? Use a sentiment. 

Through The Purple Haze #201 Anything goes.

 ❤

Love.

This is not the resulting card I was intending but I ruined, well not completely ruined  the design I was making, so I cut my loses and salvaged the flower by fussy cutting it   and made  this instead.  You can't tell from the picture but the flower is actually 5 sheets of toilet paper that I spritzed with water between each layer and then sandwiched in a 3d embossing Folder.  I carefully removed from the folder and left to dry overnight in the airing cupboard.  It dried perfectly but then I tried colouring just one of the flowers in the design with Patina Wax and  got smears around  the edge (even though I was careful) so I fussy cut it out and here it is. 

The embossing folder I used is by  Lisa Horton called 'Blooming Peony' and gives a lovely 3d effect.

The Patina wax is called Copper Pot and when I pulled my cardstock out to see what I could use these 2 sheets by Tonic Studios went perfectly with it. The Love sentiment is by Britannia dies.  I have kept the design simple so as not to detract from the Peony which I raised up with several layers of  small white squares attached beneath it.  Hearts are a small  Woodware punch.

Entering into the following challenges:

The Paper Funday Challenges: #50 Anything goes/twist of lots of layers.

We Love 2 Create #1 Anything mixed media.

Make My Mondays #193 Love is in the air.

Everybody Art #529 Heart/Love.

Shopping Our Stash #489 Love is in the air.

Crafting Happiness #139 Love.

Crafty Friends Challenge #164  Love/Romance

Dragonfly Dreams # Love.

❤

Winter Fun

I've not made anything this week as been laid low with another cystitis attack and  Sis has had a IBS attack too so we have been commiserating with each other on the phone.  

I'm showing another of the Stamperia Rice paper cards that  I made. This is the second one in the set. 

I adhered the rice paper image to wide  d.s tape and then onto white cardstock as the image was semi translucent I didn't want another colour showing through. I then trimmed down so just the border was showing on the edge and attached to navy pearlescent  cardstock and then a larger piece of blue card stock.  I die cut the sentiment from  navy cardstock and then used the negative  part for this card. The sentiment is by Britannia dies and has gone back into my stash for using at a later date.  I then die cut the  Elaborate Edge Corner by Tonic from a scrap of  the same navy  pearlescent card . The corner die comes in two pieces and I have used the outside edge here. The inside edge is on another of the cards still to be shown. Adhered everything onto a piece of navy cardstock and then onto the white card base. 

Entering into the following challenges:

Try It On Tuesdays # Winter blues.

The Sisterhood of Crafters  # Brr! It's cold outside.

C.R.A.F.T. Challenge #666 Winter

2 Crafty Critter Crazies #71 Anything goes with a critter.

Crafts  Galore Encore #108 Anything goes.

Creative Inspirations # Anything goes.

Mix It Up # 63 Anything goes +optional No stamping.

The Creative Crafters #60 Anything goes.

The Paper Funday Challenges #50 Anything goes/twist of lots of layers.

We Love to Create #1 Anything mixed Media.

❤

Time Flies

I have just completed 13 yrs of blogging. My first post went live on 29th January 2010 and now here I am 1,754 posts later. Can't quite believe it! Thankyou to everyone who has kept me going all this time as without you I would have given up long ago. 

I am showing a card today that was needed a couple of weeks back. A cousin of  The Doc lost her husband to cancer and advanced alzheimer's. Always difficult cards to send. I chose to use this  Magnolia digi image by Becy's Place and a Woodware sentiment. 

Coloured using my Copic Pens. Cardstock and backing paper from Tonic. 

Winter Blues

I had bought a sheet of Rice Paper images by Stamperia intending to use for christmas cards last year but never did so decided to have a play with them now. There are four scenes all different . This resulting card is just one of them. The best way to cut  rice paper is not by using scissors but to wet round the image with water and then use a small paint brush to gently ease the fibres  apart.

 I didn't do that though as all of the scenes were inside a bordered edging which I wanted to keep intact.  I have a roll of very wide d.s. tape so I roughly cut round each one and applied to a piece of the tape, rolled out just long enough to cover. Peeled the backing from the d.s. tape and placed on white cardstock  Once in place I then trimmed properly using my trimmer to cut evenly round the border . Added to dark blue cardstock to make a small border (to highlight) which I had intended to then place evenly inside the larger white cardstock border but somehow it got moved before I had a chance to adhere it down and I actually like where it got moved to and it did leave a nice space for the sentiment so what you see is what you get!!. The sentiment is by Britannia Dies.

Entering into the following Challenges:

Try it on Tuesday #: Winter Blues.

Double D Challenges # Snow.

The Sisterhood of Crafters # Brr! Its cold outside.

C.R.A.F.T. Challenges #665: Christmas.

Creative Fingers #247 Anything goes.

613 Avenue Create # Anything goes /Winter theme.

Scraps of Life by Scrappy Mo: January Rudolph .

 

❤

Double Slider

The Butterflies are back over on their blog for  a second challenge.  The theme is:

#177 Spin The Butterfly Wheel with D for Double Slider Card. 

As usual I have made a card for your inspiration.You can find the instructions over on the butterfly blog under the  card shapes  header. The shape is not new as I have found various different  instructions for making it on YouTube ( this particular version though goes back 12yrs by Lesley Oman) and makes a stand alone slider card.

I have used six elements on the wheel. I was having a good rummage in my stash as I was looking for the Medallion die (as it wasn't were it should have been) and came across these Butterfly Rub-On Transfers by Royal Langnickle. Pkt date is 2005 but they still worked perfectly. 

The medallion die is by Spellbinders along with the 'Ariana Blooms' that comes with a matching stamp set.  Centre of flower uses Prims. The corner pieces are some of the fallout from the medallion die. (Waste not). Sentiment is gold stickers from my stash. 

Do hope you will come along and play. The challenge is running for 3 weeks as usual and will end 14th February 8pm (GMT).  

Entering into the following challenges:

Crafty Catz #621 Anything goes plus optional add a die cut.

Creative Creases #49 Anything goes with a fun fold. 

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #198 Anything goes.

Allys Angels #66 Anything goes.

Beautiful Blossoms #1  use inspiration from Blue mood board.

Love To Scrap #159 Anything goes.

❤

Get Well.

Brother in Law is in hospital at the moment with a rather large Gall Stone so I have sent him this get well card. 

This image is my go to digi from Bugaboo  'Stella Nurse' which I hope will bring a smile when received.

Unusually for me this time I have coloured the image using my Copic pens and just a hint of silver gel pen.  Mounted using dark blue and then pale blue cardstock onto a white base. The sentiment is a stamp from Woodware. 

Entering into the following challenges:

Alphabet Challenge #U  U is for Under the weather/Get Well.

A Perfect Time to Craft #1  Anything goes.

Polka Doodles Craft Challenge #wk3  Anything goes.

Crafty Calendar # Add a sentiment.

Crafts Galore Encore  #107 Anything goes.

Love to Craft #72  Anything goes.

Paper Craft Challenges #90 Anything goes.

❤

Blue Birthday

Another card from my stash of unseen from last year. This was the card I made for our Son's Birthday. I will soon have to be making one for this yr!. 

This sentiment stamp is one of my favourites from Woodware as it lends itself so well to being paper pieced. 

Here is the stamp. As you can see each letter overlaps, so if I had simply stamped out onto the design papers you would see the outlines of each preceding one which I didn't want. 

To get round that I first stamped the sentiment out onto white cardstock and then cut out each letter. Then used each letter as a template to cut the letters out in contrasting papers. It took a while and trial and error in working out which letters needed to be in front and which ones tucked behind. All of the papers used here except the dark blue are the insides of envelopes received in the post. Lastly I stamped the sentiment onto another piece of white cardstock cut to fit the front of my card and glued the letters into the right places. Mounted onto the dark blue design paper and then onto the card.

Entering into the following challenges:

Creative Fingers #246 Anything goes.

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #198 Anything goes.

AAA Birthday # Game 45 Anything goes Birthday.

Crafting Happiness #138 Celebrations.

Daisy Chain Challenges #70 Birthday.

Ellibelle's Corner # Anything goes.

Paper Craft Challenges #90 Anything goes.

Patties Creations #202 Anything goes.

The Creative Crafters #60 Anything goes.