Poinsettia Sunburst

Why oh why do I have these brilliant ideas  that do not take into account the fundamental flaw of if it can go wrong it does!!
I actually started this card with plenty of  time to enter into the current Rudolph Challenge which is about to now finish if I do not get my skates on. As weather has been so nice I have been making the card outside on a small fold down table that I can easily move around the garden to follow the shade.
Had in my mind to make a sunburst design card so selected the needed papers and spent an afternoon rustling up 4 different pattern designs and then put to one side to continue finishing off with an embellishment and sentiment. 
Decided that the one for the challenge would have a poinsettia on it and found my John Next Door stamp and matching die set and having stamped and die cut inside as didn't want to lug my big shot downstairs and out into the garden I then took the flower parts outside to adhere to the card base.
Cue the sudden east wind that gusted the said shapes into the air and deposited onto the gravel around the table. A mad scrabble ensued to pick up before another gust took hold. I did have 6 petals but could only now find five and then spent  ages hunting for the last petal which should have shown up  quite clearly. Couldn't find it anywhere and as I had put everything  away up stairs I finally gave up looking and finished the card with only 5 petal layers..

 Another  round up of flowers in bloom in the garden.

 Pink Peony that opened up this morning by the front door.

 Just a selection of a few of the pots  in the side garden.

 There is a poinsettia lurking in there somewhere!!

And lastly the red hot pokers in the back garden looking erm  Rather  Hot. The Doc counted 23 heads and I spotted one extra  tiny one just beginning to poke its way up.  A record number this year.


Stay Safe and well  and away from crowds. I am quite happy pottering around in the garden and in no hurry to stick my head up over the parapet even if rules are being relaxed as from Monday.

Out of Africa.

We have been in Africa all week over at Clarity with Barbara Gray. You can catch up with her over on You Tube with Episodes #42 - #46. I loved drawing the figures but the Elephant and her baby I found hard to scale down  enough to fit the picture and spent ages penciling in and rubbing out and in the end I just went for it.  So here is my finished doodle for this week.

Some more photos from around the garden again. This one is the other poppy I have which is a bright orange. I was gutted as about half an hr  after I had taken this photo the petals all fell off.!! There are another  two buds to come out though.

Clematis on the front wall.

 White Peony in the front garden.

Keep safe and well. Remember there is no safety in numbers.

Meow Xmas

Time for the girls in the christmas card club to show their next cards. Rachel's turn to choose the theme which is Humour. Thought I would have to pass on this one but on looking through my box of  xmas stash I found this old card front. I used my Crafts-Too rectangle stitched dies to first trim the card down and then to make a layer  for it from green card stock that matched the green on the image perfectly. Mounted onto white card stock for the base card and then instead of trimming with silver edging (as I was going to ) I decided to use the green cardstock to cut a few narrow strips off and used those instead just for something a bit different. Three pearls and card finished. A simple offering from me this week as right out of ideas.

I do have photos to show though of the beautiful Poppy that is out in bloom right now in my garden.

 A further two of the buds have opened out  since I took these.

YoYo cards.

It is time again for the Butterfly Challenge to show a new letter of the alphabet. We only have one letter left to go.
#142 Spin The Butterfly Wheel With Y for YoYo Spinner Card.

  Your 6 elements are:

YoYo Spinner Card/ Yarn/Your Choice/ Yale blue/Yarrow/Yam
+your Butterfly.

N.B. Yes these colours really do exist!!

Yam  = Light orange

         Yarrow  = Light Yellow 

If using please state the element of Your Choice.

Here is my  first inspiration card for you using the following from the wheel.

YoYo spinner /Yale Blue /Yarn/ Butterflies.

Please go to the Tutorials Page on the Butterfly Blog to see how to make a YoYo Spinner element. I have broken it down into easy steps for you to follow.

I have used a free digi paper from Activity Village called Blue and Lilac Butterflies for the design paper background. The spinner element has been made with Yale Blue  cardstock.  The sentiment is by John Next Door from his stamp set ' Swirl Sentiments'.  Butterfly on end of yarn is a SU die punch and the Bakers Twine and pearls from my stash. The Little butterflies were on my desk as outcuts.

My next inspiration YoYo Spinner card uses the following from the wheel.

YoYo spinner /Yarn /Yarrow/ Yam/ Your Choice/ Butterflies.

My 'Your Choice' was to use an embossing folder. 

Background was created using an embossing folder from Crafts-Too  CTFD3103 on pale yellow  (Yarrow) cardstock. The base card is made from Pale orange (Yam) cardstock. Spinner element made using  the yellow and orange cardstock and a butterfly stamp that came as a freebie in a magazine. I created the sentiment in word and printed off. I wanted the sentient and the spinner to do all the talking on this card. 

 

Last Inspiration. 

As all the prizes for this challenge will be Gift Certificates from CraftsUPrint I will be show casing some of their downloads from their huge range  that I have already purchased. This one is is called Butterfly Decoupage and designed by Dawn Hill. They really do have hundreds to chose from and some very pretty papers. I just put in butterflies as my criteria on the search page and I got a hit of 5,000 images!
I lost a day just looking through them all  and some might have inadvertently  fallen into my basket!!

I used white cardstock for my base card and layered up with yellow cardstock. The sentiment is part of the download. The pearl is from stash. I actually purchased this image way back in May 2014 and it fits the colours perfectly for the current challenge. 

Hope I have inspired you to play along.  The Spinner is really fun and very easy to make. Challenge is again for three weeks. Only one more letter to go to get to the end of the alphabet. 

Do you want to play again with a fresh set of card shapes (I have loads already sorted out)  or do you want me to find another theme?  Let me know in the comments below. 

Geisha Girl

More doodlings from my daily  sessions with Barbara Gray (Clarity Stamps) on her Face book page.
We spent a week in Japan doodling a Geisha Girl complete with Cherry Blossom. I used my colouring pencils for this one. After the Initial Gulp of how am I ever going to do this I did enjoy.

 This past week we have been in New Mexico doodling  a Dream Catcher and Arrows.  Barbara is such a fun lady and her stories/antidotes she tells as we doodle along just make you laugh. Good therapy in these trying times.

Just a splash of Turquoise added as this is the colour most associated with New Mexico.A lot of their jewellery is this colour. 

By no means master pieces but I am having fun drawing them.

Keep Safe and Well.

More X.

Well overdue ( how and where is time disappearing to) to show you some more inspiration for the current Butterfly Challenge which has another week to run.
This next X Fold shows a different version. Tutorial for it can be found over on the butterfly blog in the usual place  under the card shapes tab at the top of the page.

Using the following from the wheel.
X Fold Card /Xrta colours/Xiketic/Xanthic/ Butterfly.
Digital design paper is by Creative Cottage from their 'Poppy Delight' pack paper No 11. Butterfly die is by Memory Box 'Terrace' butterfly. Black shiny stickers from my stash. 

 Side 2

 Side 3

 Side 4

Entering this card into the following challenges:

Through The Craftroom Door. # Anything goes.

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #131 Anything goes.

A Perfect Time To Craft #5 Anything goes

Ally's Angels #33 Anything goes. 

Classic Design Challenges #5 Anything goes.

Crafter's Castle #29 Anything goes.

Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenges # Anything goes.

Love To Craft #46 Anything goes.

More Mixed Media #Anything goes.+ pink.

Using the following from the wheel.
Xrta colours/Xiketic/Xanthic/ Butterfly.
 My second card for you is using a digi image  from Bugaboo called Butterflyrosecorner1. I have coloured using my watercolouring pencils just by blending them and not using any water to dilute.
The sentiment by Crafts -Too  has been die cut 3 times and layered up to give depth and make more sturdy.

Entering this card into the following challenges:
Jan's Digi challenges #12 Anything goes.
Use Your Stuff #397 Flowers and butterflies.
Colour Crazy #18 Anything goes.
Allsorts Challenge #571/2 Anything goes.
Crafty Friends Challenge #135 Flowers.
International Art and Soul #83 Flowers and butterflies.
Angie's Digital Stamps Challenge #42 Anything goes with no twist.
Ellibell's Corner # Make it feminine.
Love To Scrap #133 Anything goes.
Pattie's Creations #170 Anything goes.

Peddle On

It's The Doc's Birthday today and this is the card I made for him. Nearly gave myself a heart attack trying to remember where I had carefully put the bicycle die cut that my good blogging buddy Di had sent to me several months back after I saw here using it on her blog. Di very kindly die cut me a green one as that is the colour of his bike and it does match perfectly. Thanks Di.
Couldn't get any self raising flour but I did manage to purchase a Betty Crocker Rainbow Chip Party Cake Mix in my Sainsbury shop last week. After carefully sifting out the rainbow chips I made a cake up this morning which is now cooling down in the kitchen as we speak. I even found a pot of Apricot Jam in my larder so I can split the cake and use to sandwich together again. Simples.

Entering into the following challenges:
Cupcake Inspirations #CIC 493 Things with wheels.
Crafter's Castle #29 Anything goes.
Crafty Creations #409 Anything goes.
Creative Craft Cottage #129 Make it Masculine.
Creative Moments #190 Anything goes.
The Crafter's Cafe #241 Anything goes.
Cardz 4 Galz #121 Birthday.
Creative Fingers #185 Anything goes.
A Perfect Time To Craft #5 Anything goes.
Classic Design Challenge #5 Anything goes.