Wednesday 24 September 2014

More Fairies

Good morning.  Hope everybody is okay, or starting to feel better.  Just a quick post because we are having mega problems with our broadband connection.  We are in a very rural setting and at the very end of of the line for the exchange - only a few feet from the next county Warwickshire - so our broadband is never quick but at the moment we can barely use it. BT - when we eventually managed to speak to somebody after being on hold for 47 minutes!!! - said it will be resolved by Wednesday mid - morning. I'm sure I just saw a flock of pigs flying past!

I tried to post this yesterday but it wouldn't,  because of the broadband problem, so I'm trying again now.

My Card


This is a 7" x 7" card base from AnnaMarie Designs.These fairies are from the same set as Sunday's card. The background is a Lavinia Scenescape which I bought in January and never used.  I printed the png images directly onto the card stock again and flipped the top fairy. I then printed the main image onto cardstock,  fussy cut her and attached her with Pinflair to give a little height to an otherwise flat card. The mushrooms were a freebie Lavinia image from a magazine. Lots of glitter again.The fairies were coloured with Promarkers. I computer generated the sentiment  which I felt was very apt for this shy little fairy. Then just matted it onto three coloured layers. 

I can't tell you how long it has taken to do this post so I'm going to stop right now and try to publish it. 




Sunday 21 September 2014

Magical Day - OSAAT #221

Hello everyone.  It's time for another challenge at  OSAAT.  This time the challenge is Anything Goes ......With Flowers. So as long as you have flowers on your creation we would love to have you join us.

My Card



My card is 7"x 7" from AnnaMaria Designs. The backing papers are actually from the new LOTV Christmas pad ."Snow Princess".   Not a snowflake in sight but certainly flowerson the background paper to fit the challenge. I do like papers that are inter-changeable. The image is Pallaria from Beary Dust Designs. There are two other fairies in this set so watch out for another card soon featuring them.

I printed the png. image onto purple card stock, coloured with Promarkers and die cut with SB Opulent Ovals.  I computer generated the sentiment and then die cut with SB Labels 16. The flowers are Wild Orchid Crafts and I coloured them with Promarkers to match. The leaves are Sue Wilson's Faux Quilled Leaves and finally the pearls are from the Hobby House. Of course I had to add lots of glitter to her wings - after all a fairy needs lots of glitter doesn't she?  The fairy dust she is throwing is part of a freebie from Lavinia Stamps.  I stamped with Versamark and heat embossed with holograph embossing powder.  Doesn't show well in the picture at all I'm afraid.

The challenge will run for two weeks.  The winner will win the September Prize Pack and there will be the Top Three chosen by the Design Team.  Please join us!




Entered into:



Saturday 20 September 2014

Christmas Card Club #20 Winter Wonderland

Hello to you all.  Thanks for paying me a visit today - even though I am being a very poor blogger at the moment!   However, I think things are actually beginning to look up so I should be able to get back to some kind of routine again.  I would have said "normality" but I'm not actually sure what normal is anymore. I know there are a number of others suffering - or their loved ones are - so my thoughts and prayers are with you all!

This card is not actually due for posting until tomorrow but I have an OSAAT DT card due then and I prefer not to make two posts on the same day.

 Card # 1



It was my turn to choose the theme for our 20th challenge and I went with "Winter Wonderland.".  Although I said challenge the only challenge is to yourself, because sometimes there is something which takes you out of your comfort zone - and that has got to be good for us. 

I decided to make a box card because I haven't made one for quite some time.  I never quite know what to call these, whether it is a shadow box or a box card or what.  In the past I have actually attached it to a card base or have put a loop on the back to hang on the wall  but this time I have attached a stand to the back to make it like a picture.  I started out with an  8" square piece of card which when scored and folded makes a 6.5" square box with a 4.75" internal area to decorate.

My stamp is one of the very first I ever bought about 12 years ago and was made by an American company Petaluma.  I stamped it in black and heat embossed it with Pearl Plum embossing powder which gives a really subtle plum glow when the light catches it.  Unfortunately it is not visible in the picture.  That is why I cut  the back of the box from  a plum colored card and used the same colour for the pearls and the snowman's scarf.  However, even the plum card looks black in this picture.  Maybe I'll try again later.   The snowman was a freebie which I found on the internet and shrank it right down to fit the rest of the image.  Unfortunately I think the deer is too big - I should have used the smaller one in the set.

Memory Box - Frostyville Border
Memory Box - Twiggy Tree
Spellbinders Create a Flake Four - Snowflakes
Marianne Craftables - Deer
Marianne- Tiny Trees
Twinklets Diamond Dust - Roofs and trees
Lashings of Glamour Dust everywhere!!!!
Hobby House - Pearls

Card # 2

My second card was a last minute addition. I was looking through my digi folder for a snowman and came across this image which I bought last year and never used. I am almost sure it is called Winter Wonderland but I don't know which company it is from. All this one needed was more lashings of Glamour Dust, some Twinklets and a pop of colour on the cardinal (just for you Mary!) and the deer - and some "blobs" a la Ollie's Mam from Cosmic Shimmer Pearl PVA.  I matted it onto silver mirri which always seems to look black. Another Christmas card for very little effort at all!

Well that's it until tomorrow.


Sunday 14 September 2014

Welcome Home

Good morning to all my lovely friends and fellow bloggers and thank you for popping by.  Thank you for all your good wishes for John - he seems to be on the mend finally.  Although at the moment he is okay one day and I think - great!  Then next day he is down again, but he isn't going back to square one all the time now which he was doing at first,  thank goodness.

Well my card today is for my brother in law who is finally home again after spending the last six weeks in hospital and rehabilitation centre.  Wheelchair-bound and stair lift necessary - but home!  A welcome relief for the whole family but I'm particularly pleased for my sister.

My Card


This is a 5" x 7" card. The image is Little Birdie from Deedees Digis and I combined two images and the sentiment together before printing it out. I used the ready coloured images because I wanted to get it in the mail PDQ.  All in all I think it took about 15 minutes to make so I was pleased with that.  I even managed to marry up the font to add his name.  The little sunflowers have been in my stash for a number of years and the leaves are from Cheery Lynn Wreath Strip.  A few amber gems finished it and it was ready to be passed on to my helpful postie to take to the sorting office.  I had to be quick because I wanted it to be there waiting for him when he arrived home. 

 Hope you and your loved ones are okay, but I know some people are suffering.  Big hugs to you all!!

We have had a few glorious days again so lets hope it lasts a little bit longer.  But my goodness doesn't it get dark quickly?

Well that's it from me for today.




Friday 12 September 2014

Oldie For Friday

Good morning to all my friends and fellow bloggers.  I have watched Patricia's entries into the Oldie For Friday and then saw some others (Kate, Jenny) join in so I thought since circumstances are not letting me do a lot of crafting and blogging at the moment I would join in too - just to let you know I am still alive and kicking.  So HERE is the link to Erika's blog.

My Card



This is the very first card I ever posted on my blog back in August 2012 - gosh, makes me realise I have been blogging two years now. Wow!  Jenny started a day or two after and I think Patricia was just before me.

This card uses pale blue pearlescent card stock and SB Parisian motifs, (Jenny's card today used it which gave me the idea to join in) and it was the first time I had tried this technique of half cutting the die and half embossing it.  I was very pleased with my first attempt. The flowers were from Wild Orchid Crafts and the pearls and organza ribbon were from my stash. It was also my first attempt at a double bow - a day of firsts.

Hope you all have a great day!


Sunday 7 September 2014

OSAAT Challenge # 220 - Anything Goes With A Die

Hello!  My cards are like buses - none for ages then two following each other!

Today marks the return of the OSAAT challenge.   I think we on the DT have all enjoyed our summer break and have hopefully come back refreshed and raring to go. The challenge is Anything Goes - but you must use a die cut on your card somewhere.  The format is slightly different now in that there will be only one winner but there will be the Top Three chosen by the DT.

My card is made using Lovehand Doodle from our sponsor Stitchy Bear Stamps

My Card




This is a 6" x 6" white base card and I have used patterned papers from Dovecraft which were then matted onto black card stock. The image was die cut with SB Classic Ovals Large and matted onto black card which had been die cut with SB Classic Scalloped Ovals Large. I found the sentiment on the web and die cut it with SB Classic Circles and Classic Scalloped Circles. The black pearly spray was from Hobbycrafts and I think the ribbon was too.


Winner's Pack


This is what you could win and we would love to see your entries, so what are you waiting for?



Saturday 6 September 2014

CCC # 19 Something Beginning With "S"

Hello to all my dear friends and fellow bloggers. I apologise from my heart for my absence from my own blog and not visiting your blogs either.  John has been rather unwell for a few weeks now and this last week had some surgery which has all taken up my time.  My offering for the Christmas Card Club is extremely simple - but it was either something simple or missing a session, which I didn't want to do.  It was Hazel's turn to choose and as you can see she asked us to make Something Beginning With "S".  In my simplicity I went for snowflakes and sentiment, which I know is pretty boring and I'm sure I should have been able to think up something better!!  But for better or worse it's done.

This car post is not actually due until tomorrow but I also have an OSAAT DT card to post then so I decided to post this one today and I hope my fellow CCC  friends won't mind.  Fortunately, tomorrow's card was done a few weeks ago otherwise I would have been really up the creek without a paddle!

My Cards






Being so simple I was able to make four cards in less time than it would normally take to even work out what I was going to do ... lol!

My cards are 6" x 4" cut from white card stock. The sentiments are Snowy Sentiments from Pink Petticoat. After adding the sentiments I ran them through the GC with SB Dainty Dots folder.  I trimmed them down and then attached them to the base card. The large snowflakes are Marianne Swedish Snowflakes and the smaller ones were made using an XCut punch. Unfortunately, the navy background I took the pictures against make it look as if they are very badly matted onto navy card.  Sorry about that - they are definitely just white cards!!

Because they are so simple they are ideal for batch making, so I will probably make some more of these for my Christmas Card Box to boost the numbers.  There are also more sentiments to ring the changes too.

I hope this finds you all keeping well and I send some love to those who need it! It's probably going to be a few more weeks before I can get back to regular blogging but I can hopefully start to check out some of your blogs soon.