In The Garden

Well, in the garden is where I've been for most of the weekend, or at the garden centre, or the beach .. .. when the sun shines Cornwall is a glorious place to live!  And, we even got a craft fair after all on Saturday.  The one planned was cancelled at almost the last minute, but thanks to Stamps and Memories, Dragonfly Designs and the The Craft Studio, a lovely show was put together at the Lanhydrock Hotel & Golf Club - and we even got Lili of the Valley too!  I must admit that I didn't spend a lot .. .. well hubby was with me walking the dogs and it was a hot day, and I'd just ordered some stash on line as I thought the show wasn't going to happen .. .. fingers crossed for another one soon .. .. perhaps in September?

The card I'm sharing with you today is one I made a while back when the weather was not so good, and I had no internet .. .. so what else was there to do but craft!  I got to play with one of the new Marianne Design border dies, Anja's Flowers CR1273, a set of two with the daisy edge and the plainer edge with the cut out sections - you can see it on the card in a bit.  First, my image is a Sarah Kay stamp I've coloured with my Copic pens, and for the glittery edge I used Stardust Stickles and Pansy loose glitter, so very sparkly!  I've moved the craft cupboard from the conservatory to the porch, it's closer to the dining table where I sit and craft and in the process of emptying things out and rearranging I found the box with all my loose glitters .. .. so expect to see more sparkle!

And here's the card in all it's sparkly glory!  The papers are from the MD Hello Baby paper pack PB7041 and I've added the embossed faux stitching around the edges then inked with a grey/blue chalk ink so it stands out.  The plain card is a coredinations piece in a purple/grey and the ribbon is a little piece of wired purple organza from my stash, being wired it keeps the shape of the bow quite nicely.  Pale blue pearls finish things off.

The Crafty Creations challenge is to use at least two items from the recipe list they've given: I have flowers, die cuts, ribbon and purple so way to go! Crafty Little Fairies challenge is 'in the garden' so my card fits that theme too, and Sketchy Colors would like to see grey and lilac shades - perfect!

I still have lots of catching up to do .. .. still no fast broadband connection here so it can be a bit iffy at times getting about, but I hope to visit everyone who has left me a comment recently and catch up with my blogging friends soon.

Coffee Time

As promised, here's my DT card for the Cute Card Thursday challenge to make your own embellishments. Our sponsor for this challenge is Whimsy Stamps, please stop by the CCT blog to read all about it and see the rest of the DTs creations.

 I've used another cute Daisy stamp, this one is called coffee time and is one of my favourites.  I've coloured with my Copic pens then cut out the image with a MD die to fix to my card, here:

The colours are looking a bit strange on my pc - but it has just done a major upgrade after being inactive for almost a week so I wonder if that's something to do with it, or the fact that I'm now viewing on my tv instead of my little old monitor .. .. ah well, the wonders of technology!  The base is actually cut with a Go Create Frilly #10 die from Sage Shadow card by SU!  I've used off cuts of the same for my swirls and the coffee pot set.  All my embellishments are handmade, cut from dies then titivated with ink, glitter and pearls.

These are the Marianne things I used for this card:
Daisy Coffee Time stamp - DDS3328
patterned paper from Hello Sweet Baby - PB7041
die to cut image - CR1248
swirls snipped from LR0111
flowers also from LR0111, and the flower stamens with the ends inked then Stickled with Sugar Candy
glittery fronds given the same treatment - LR0106
coffee/tea set - LR0315 with the embossed dots gone over with a pink Sakara Souffle pen

The Papertake Weekly challenge theme is for pretty pastels, so I can enter my card with them as I'm all pastel pink and pastel green.

It looks like another sunny day today so I'll potter about a bit more in the garden.  I managed to get 3 wigwams banged in for the sweetpeas yesterday, those poor things were getting fed up of being in their pots and desperately needed to climb sunwards - a variety called Charlies Angels that is scented, and blue .. .. this is not a colour coordinated bed as the roses that still survive there are mostly pink, there's a blue creepy thing, white cosmos and a little purple scabious.  As long as I keep out any yellow or orange I can probably get away with it!  Trouble is, the red poppies from last year have self seeded everywhere and I don't have the heart to clear them out, ah well, at least there will be flowers as long as the sun keeps shining!

For that Special Day

I'm back!  with a new router and a glitch on the telephone line fixed, hopefully I'll be able to catch up with you all over the next few days.

First up is my DT card for the Marianne Design Divas challenge and this month the theme is to create something for that Special Day, with at least 3 MD products.  I was able to use lots on my card, starting with the adorable Snoejes stamped image I've coloured with my Copic pens.  I took the photo in the conservatory in bright sunlight, so there are some shadows showing, but hey! don't knock the sunshine!    This time we are sponsored by Cuddly Buddly as well as Marianne Design, so lovely prizes to be won. Here then is my card:

I've used a scallop card base and pretty pale plum card by SU! for my matting and some die cutting. I've edged my stamped image with pearl string, available from Cuddly Buddly, along with a few extra pearls from my stash here and there, and I made a bow from the white tulle plus adding little snips in amongst the flowers.  Here's the list of Marianne Design products I used:

Snoesjes Just Married stamp: HM9462
clear stamp Wedding Day: CS0886

Rose Garden Pretty Paper pack: PK9102

white tulle: JU0924

pearl romantic hearts: CA3109

dies:
Anja's Border at top of card: LR0300
Anja's Vintage Swirls: LR0271
Tiny's Love Birds: LR0298
passe-partout oval (small die for text): CR1241
flowers created with dies from square set: CR1203

As I'm so behind with everything I've not had a chance to see if my card will fit any other challenges so will link up later on if I find any.  And if you are looking for my CCT creation - it's coming!  I have to add it to the CCT blog first then will blog it here tomorrow.  It's good to be back and have things working tickity boo!

Paw Pals

It's Thursday so time for a new challenge on the Cute Card Thursday blog - and this time we want to see your 'Paw Pals', it could be kitty kats, cute puppies or even teddy bears .. .. whatever you think fits the theme.  Our sponsor for this challenge is Whiff of Joy, stop by the CCT blog to read all about it and to see the rest of the DTs creations.

This cute LOTV stamp was a favourite as soon as he came out and has seen ink several times already.  I've coloured with my Copic pens plus added the sparkly Stardust Stickles - does anyone else notice that there's something in Stickles that makes Copic pens bleed? I might have to rethink my Santa cards this year (save throwing in the bin) and go back to loose glitter and a glue pen.

Here's the card:

I've used papers from the MD Wintertime pad, adding the embossed faux stitching around the edge and inking with brown chalk ink so the stitches show up.  The white snowflakes and doily MD dies I've embossed and inked with a blue chalk ink that's got contaminated with grey .. .. interesting shade though!  I die cut the text and found the red hearts in my waste jar to finish off - nothing too fanciful on this one and all stuck down reasonably flat so should be ok to post at the flat rate.

The Marianne Design things I used for this card include:
Wintertime Paper pack PK9100
Merry Christmas from LR0225
snowflakes CR1225
large white doily LR0112

No challenges I could see to link up with this time.  Today I'm slow getting motivated, overslept and woke with a thick head ... but I need to get on so will go hit the shower!

Crafty Daisy

I've been busy in the garden for a few days as it's been better than the forecast, and after a visit to the garden centre I've made up a basket and a couple of planters to fix to the new fence now that it's had a final coat of paint .. .. a bit of a saga from blue to white and now to stone but at least I can say that the first few attempts using up the old odds and ends were undercoat ... and now it looks nice and crisp.  Today it's a bit breezy and with rain on the way I'm hoping things will survive, so no more gardening today, instead I might just get back to crafting again.

To my card - this is Daisy crafting, one of the new stamps from Marianne Design and I coloured her with my Copics.  I did enjoy making this one with the stitching and layers.

The base is cut with a Go Create Frilly #10 die from red card, then I cut a slightly smaller layer from the pretty French Roses paper pack.  I cut out my stamped and coloured Daisy image with one of the fancy stitch dies and then backstitched around with red floss, and had fun stitching the leaves and flowers too.  The embellishment die cuts are all by Marianne Design with little pearls and tiny red hearts added from my stash.

Here's the list of Marianne Design things I used:
that gorgeous paper from the French Roses pack PK9106
white tulle JU0924
Daisy crafting stamp DDS3340
Text from COL1324 and label from COL1325
B.F.F. stamp on balloon from COL1307
balloon die PP1401
tiny butterflies from LR0261
scissors LR0195
red swirl snips from LR0112
Daisy cut out with CR1248
flowers and leaves from CR1248 & CR1249
die cut ribbon CR1269

The Die Cuttin' Divas are wanting girly creations and on the Dream Valley challenge blog it's anything goes.

Time for a mid morning coffee break - and a play with a new set of dies on that theme .. .. see what I can come up with!

Here Comes Summer!

Happy Beltane!  It's the 1st of May and big celebrations down in Padstow today, although the actual astronomical quarter day isn't until Monday .. .. so a good excuse for a long weekend of celebrations and the traditional raising of a glass of Mead!

So, before I get too carried away, I'd best share my card with you.  The theme this week at Cute Card Thursday is 'here comes summer', our sponsor is Nikki at Bunny Zoe's Crafts - stop by the blog to read about the prize and see the rest of the DT's creations for Summer.

I'd already started this card for the Marianne Design colour challenge to create in yellow and green, and then saw that the Don and Daisy challenge #15 is for 'outdoors' - so I'm entering this card.  I had fun stamping and masking Daisy on her bicycle to add the little fence from the Don & Daisy Summer stamp set, a bit fiddly but worth the effort of cutting out the inside of the bike wheel, although I only did the front wheel .. .. so it's a break in the road, perhaps leading off someplace else .. .. ah the imagination just from a stamped picture!

And here is my card, a small C6 size as I have green envies to use up.  I have a gap in my stash - no pretty papers in green and yellow!  All I could find was a scrap of green gingham, so my card is relatively CAS with just a few die cuts for embellishment.  My image is coloured with Copics and the faux embossed stitches added around the edge, and I found an old 'summer' stamp in my stash to add too. The pearls are coloured with Copics to match the colour theme.

Here's the list of Marianne Design products I used on this card:

Daisy bicycle - DDS3322
Don & Daisy Summer set - DDS3333
the teeny tiny butterflies are from another Daisy stamp - DDS3320
yellow border trim - LR0270
yellow flowers - COL1323
green & yellow stamens from mini poinsettia set LR0142
swirls from set LR0112

Have a nice day, and here's to Summer!

Christmas Shopping - Already!

I have a little Christmas card to share with you today - this is a small Don and Daisy stamp from Marianne Design called Xmas shopping, still available in some stores the code is DDS3312.

On my screen the pictures are looking quite grey - not sure why as I've stamped onto bright white card before colouring with my Copic pens, and I took the picture in the conservatory in bright sunlight too!  I've added touches of sparkle with Lace Stickles and a sparkly Stardust pen then finished off making snowflake blobs with my white pearl pen.  Here's the card:

The base is old SU! cardstock in a soft lavender blue shade called Almost Amethyst - it was my favourite shade for a while so I have plenty to use up!  It does match the patterned paper I've stuck down on it from the MD pretty paper bloc Christmas Wishes PK9087, and I've added the faux embossed stitches around the edges of the layers with LR0161.  As it's a little scrap card I've kept things simple and just added the snowflakes decorated with more of the white pearl pen.  The big snowflake doilly is cut from LR0185 and the smaller snowflake is created from the smallest die in set LR0124 cut from the Almost Amethyst card then a white flake from CR1227 popped on top.

The Winter Wonderland challenge is to leave out the sentiment on your winter/Christmas creation so that's one to enter, then at the Christmas Card blog it's anything goes, Oldie but a Goodie have a hat challenge, and at Fab 'n' Funky it's a Christmas week.

Sorry I've not been about much, down to only 2 bars on the internet strength so it's taken me a while to get my post done today.  Plus, I'm having one of my blah blah attacks, a bit late in the year as it's usually associated with the dark days of winter - I shall up the dose on my happy pills and try to remember to put the Bach Flower essences in my bottle of water (they usually help quite quickly). I'm fine in myself, just get anti-social for a while - at least I can craft though, and have been enjoying playing with some new stash .. .. will share with you soon - take care and bless you for stopping by.

Birthday Tea

It's safe to share this card with you now .. .. I made it for my granddaughter Lauren's birthday on Saturday.  The stamp is one of my new Don and Daisy's coloured with Copics, DDS3328, but has been out a while so you might already have it.  I'm slowly building up my collection now I'm on the Marianne Design Divas team!  It's on another of my off-cut bases but then grows out off the edge . .. you'll see it in a bit.  First though, here's the close up of the stamped image - a real cutie, don't you think?

So, here's the card:

The base is a SU! shade of green and the background paper is one of the designs in the Marianne Design Pretty Paper bloc PK9106 called French Roses, so many pretty designs it's hard to cut them up! I've cut the flowers from handmade papers, the red is from my stash but the white (more ivory) is also a pack from Marianne Design and I'm going to have fun practising flower making with my dies.

And, that big Birthday die is a new one with little stamps that coordinate, I cut it out twice, once in green then in ivory to go on top and I've stamped the Wishes from the set on the paper beneath. The rest is various die cut leaf sprays and a strip of lace you can just about make out behind the text, then little red pearls to finish things off.

Here's the list of dies I used:
lace strip LR0161
green leaves LR0245
red fronds LR0106
flowers COL1323
Birthday COL1349

The Creative Card Crew have been after Girly cards and I think I can just about make it to join in with their challenge (yes as it's a two week theme with another week to run), and at Crafty Catz it's anything goes so easy peasy!

CCT Blue and Green

Good Morning! the sun is shining here in Cornwall, although it's still a bit breezy so not feeling so warm.  I'll leave tackling more of the garden until this afternoon .. .. unless the postman delivers a crafty parcel that's on it's way!

So this week at Cute Card Thursday it's a colour theme challenge, to create with blue and green.  Our sponsor is Bugaboo Stamps - please stop by the blog to read all about the prize and check out the rest of the DTs inspiration, then come and join us!

I found this little chap in my box of stamped up images, you know how it is, a new stamp arrives and you eagerly trim it, ink it and stamp it up just to make sure everything is ok.  This is a LOTV stamp so was perfect first time, but then I put it in my box and forgot about it!  Browsing Pinterest and blogs I saw similar designs and remembered I had the perfect papers in the Maja Designs Life in the Country pad I won a little while back so coloured my cute little lad with my Copics to match.

This is the card, kept fairly simple and free from flowery embellishments.  I just die cut stars and buttons then used my latest Marianne Design die to cut the Birthday out twice, the white behind the green helps it to pop.  The 'BOY' stamped in the bottom corner comes with the die, there's a selection of words in clear stamps that go with it - COL1349 is the number.  The buttons are cut from dies in the LR0188 set, the stars are an older Papermania set of dies I've had for years and keep forgetting I have!

I found a couple of challenges I can enter with my card, the Sweet Stampin' challenge is for lots of layers, I have quite a few on my card but stuck down flat so as to make the card easier to post.  Created with Love have the theme 'in the garden' so just right for my little lad and his tree house!

Cheers!

I treated myself to some new stamps now that I'm on the Marianne Design Divas team - well that's a good excuse isn't it? And I have ordered a couple more today to fit with later challenges .. .. oh well, what else is there to do on a rainy day! You could show off your MD products and join in our current challenge - it's anything goes!

This is one of the new Don and Daisy stamps, called Cheers! It's code DDS3341 and features on the cover of the special Don and Daisy the collection magazine.  I've coloured my couple with Copic pens to match the pretty French Roses pretty paper pack, PK9106 - it has to be my current favourite. And I couldn't resist adding a touch of sparkle to the fizz and the trims of her dress, and a sprinkling here and there on the image too, well those pink champagne bubbles get everywhere!

Here's my card.  I've added my embossed faux stitches around the edges and because I've used a coredinations cardstock I set too with the emery board to give a slightly vintage touch.  The diecuts are all by Marianne Design and the stamped text and the ivory daisy lace are MD too, I simply added the red pearls to the centres of the lace flowers.  Here's the list of dies:

Tiny's heart doily I've cut in half so it peeks out either side of my image CR1251
biggest heart is from set LR0159
small heart is from set COL1307
swirl tucked in behind hearts LR0271
bow cut twice, white and red, then cut away to 'stand alone' CR1269

The Creative Inspirations blog new challenge is for cute characters so I'm going to enter my cute couple with them.

Made with little bits and pieces

I've been messing about again with the odds and ends that accumulate on the table .. .. you know how it is!  I followed a tutorial for making flowers from handmade paper and found it really easy, this is my first effort to so I am pleased how it turned out.  I die cut three layers of the flower from Marianne Design die LR0128, one large and two small layers then followed the instructions to spritz and scrunch.  The butterfly paper is from the MD pretty paper bloc PK9089 and I matted with some teal blue coredinations card taking a nail file to distress the edges.  The text I already had stamped in my bit box, then it was just a case of adding the rest of the die cut embellishments, all Marianne Design of course.  The flower and skeleton leaves I already said was LR0128. the large butterfly is LR0153. the little ones from LR0261, then there is tiny's heart circle tucked in behind - that's CR1251. Finally to finish off I added a length of daisy ribbon from JU0925 and pretty pearls.

This card I made from an off cut base but didn't add any overhangs to square things up, never mind!  The pink bottom paper is another from the butterfly bloc but then I saw a pretty paper in the new Rose Garden pack PK9102 that had a similar design so fussy cut out the flowers from the corner of the sheet to fix on my card with silicone glue.  I've added another strip of the pretty daisy flowers along with a ribbon bow, then die cut the banner and birds.  The banner and text are from COL1324, the bird on a branch is from LR0137 and the little bird from set LR0205. The faux stitching around the edge of my pink paper is done with LR0161 and I've inked and distressed to highlight the embossed areas on the die cuts.

The Dream Valley challenge is to say it with words, so as I have words on both my creations I can enter them into that challenge.

Today it's shopping and gardening, if it doesn't start raining again, although I'll have to leave the strimming with the new gadget until things dry out a bit, and by then the lawn will need cutting again as well! It's that time of year, turn your back and things sprout everywhere .. .. there are lots of dandelions flowering in the lawn but when I see the bumble bees sipping the nectar I haven't the heart to cut them off!

Daisy knitting

Have you eaten all your chocolate Easter Eggs yet? I have been busy in the garden and shopping for a new strimer so not had time to do much else the last few days.  But I did get this little card finished last week - this is one of my older Don and Daisy stamps and I've fussy cut Daisy knitting, after colouring her with Copics, then 3d fixing her to my card.  I made it to have a play and use up bits and pieces of Cuddly Buddly digi papers from my bit basket .. .. it's slowly going down!

Anyhow, here's the card:

It's a tent fold and you can see my signature embossed stitches around the edges of the pretty papers inked with a soft lilac chalk ink.  I got the new Marianne Design butterfly off the edge die, CR1267, but must admit to not really knowing what I'm doing with it so have just cut it out and then cut my patterned paper around the edge - perhaps not how it was intended to be used but the effect seems to work.  To balance I've added a snip of Tiny's heart circle to peek out on the other side of the card. The text and flowers are cut from more Marianne Design dies with little blue pearls to finish things off.

Here's the list then:
Daisy Knitting clear stamp DDS3316
faux stitches created with LR0161
butterfly edge CR1267
Tiny's heart doily CR1251
leaves LR0156
flowers LR0112 with seed head centres from LR0105
text stamped into middle of small die in CR1241 then inked inside to give the look of more layers.

I had a quick look down my blog post listing this morning to see if there was a challenge I could enter, and yes! Both the Squirrel and the Fox and Totally Gorjuss are asking for die cuts so that's perfect!

Splish Splash!

• This week on Cute Card Thursday our theme is splish, splash .. .. little April showers, although we have had very little rain here in North Cornwall during April, things are beginning to dry out and I'm using the water butts to fill the watering cans already! Not to worry though as the weather man says that by Sunday it will be splishing and splashing in a little April shower.  Our sponsor for this challenge is Whimsy Stamps, stop by the blog to read all about it and take a look at the rest of the creations the DT have put together for your inspiration, then come join in!

So, going with the theme of watering the garden, allbeit with the watering can, I've inked up one of my old Sarah Kay stamps and coloured her with my Copic pens to match the new Marianne Design Rose Garden pretty paper pad I just got.

Here's the card: I've added my signature faux embossed stitches around the edge of the pretty paper then inked with a soft aqua chalk ink, using the same ink to highlight the embossed areas on my die cuts.  And, as you would expect from me, the die cut pieces are all Marianne Design, here's the list:

Petra's large fancy oval LR0240- I cut out the middle to make a frame for my image.
daisy flowers LR0106 with stamens cut from seed heads in LR0105
white open flowers from the set LR0112 with stamens from mini poinsettia set LR0142
leaf sprays LR0150
tiny butterflies LR0261

The ABC challenge blog are up to the letter J for just as you like - so anything goes then!  As they are being sponsored by Marianne Design I'm going to enter my card with them.

I'm a Marianne Design Diva!

My first card as a Marianne Design Diva! oh what a buzz when Blankina asked me if I'd like to join - oh yes please!  Now I have just got to keep adding to my collection of MD goodies - no excuses!

Well, this is my card for the Anything Goes challenge, so a nice easy one to get started.  I managed to get a couple of the pretty paper pads from Nikki at Bunny Zoe's when she had an offer on recently, and a couple of the new stamps from Cuddly Buddly (plus a die or two) so I was all set to go.

This stamp caught my eye as I thought it could be used for so many different romantic occasions.  I've coloured the image with my Copic pens and added white pearl highlights with a white Souffle pen.  Here's the card:

It's bigger than I have been making recently but I needed something to show off the different Marianne Design products.  I think you can see what is where so I'll dive in with the list:

patterned papers from Hello Sweet Baby bloc PB7041
embossed faux stitches around edge of paper created with LR0161 and inked with Pumice Stone DI
Richelieu lace JU0865
stamp HM9463
text stamp CS0886
heart die CR1225
flowers created from smallest flower die in CR1203 plus pink stamens from mini poinsettia set LR0142, spiky flowers cut with stamen die from LR0111
leaves with smallest die in LR0156
bay tree in a pot and butterflies LR0261

There are two sponsors for each Marianne's Design Divas challenge, the first this time is Nikki from Bunny Zoe's (prize to be announced) and the second prize from Marianne is two sweet baby dies (wish I could win them!).

Here's my youngest grandson showing off his Easter Egg!  We die cut the egg shape and the background paper, then added ribbon (including the hanging loop that he thought would best be shown off via his mouth) and die cut flowers and leaves - Marianne Design of course.  He had fun turning the handle on my old CB and adding glitter glue and liquid pearls to the flowers.  Well done Tristan!  His big brother made an owl from felt but I forgot to take a picture of it when we came back from the beach.  Tristan has taken his die cut felt owl pieces home to finish with Mum - I'm looking forward to seeing the results.

I had a lovely day with them all and enjoyed a bracing walk along the beach at Treyarnon Bay, then a glass of cider at the Youth Hostel overlooking the bay, it's a fab place for sun-downers should you be visiting down this way.  Unfortunately, I risked having some of the delicious Mediterranean bread with the bbq and have been suffering ever since .. .. well at least I know I can't have the gluten without the aches and pains returning, not to mention the huge bloated tummy and cramps.  I can cheat a little bit on the lactose, but no way on the gluten!

Easter Basket

I am rather late sharing my card for this week's Easter challenge at Cute Card Thursday, but as they say - better late than never!  Our sponsor for this challenge is Whiff of Joy stamps, and I already see lots of Easter baskets, bunnies and chicks have been entered!

My simple creation is what I call a left overs card - left over papers from last year's Spring pack, left over card and a scrap of left over lace and ribbon too.  The little eggs are die cut from scraps, the rest of the die cuts are by Marianne Design.  I've inked the embossed areas and edges of the papers with Sahara Sand chalk ink and then finished off with the pearls.

So, for the list of Marianne Dies I used:
basket is CR1206
the embossed faux stitches are made with LR0161
the little butterfly is from LR0261
and the pretty flowers are from COL1323

Moving Along With The Times have a spring/Easter challenge and so do Papertake Weekly, so I can enter my Easter basket with both of them.

Enjoy your weekend - I am looking forward to seeing my grandson's on Sunday, perhaps the Easter bunny will come early for them!

Marianne Design Tag Challenge

The Marianne Design blog challenge #101 running until 9th April is to make two gift tags, or a mix of tag and gift card, I think that's the translation anyway. So this afternoon in between cutting grass and walking dogs I've managed to put these two tags together.  I had a couple of plain white labels to start with then got a bit inky and added the patterned paper and die cuts.  Here they are close up:

This is the pink one and the second one I made, and perhaps not my favourite.  The post man brought me the pretty bird die but I had several failed attempts at trying to ink through the die to pick up the embossed areas - every time I got ink under the die and smudged on the birds so in the end I just cut, embossed and then added a bit of soft ink all over the top.

And this is the green one with touches of blue.  I found the green ribbon in my stash from ages ago, it is double sided and I quite like the look I got when I tied the bow.  I've been playing about at making flowers with my dies (more successful ones to show another time) and fiddled about making the blue flowers by cutting in to the centre of the die cut flower and overlapping a couple of the petals, then cutting between the petals to give a more realistic look, although the coredinations card stock I used is really a bit to thick.

So this is the list of Marianne Design products I've used:
Both the pink and blue papers are from the Beautiful Butterflies pad PK9089 with faux embossed stitches created with LR0161 then inked up with chalk ink to emphasize.
Both have a layer cut from LR0117 also inked.
The birds on the pink tag are LR0298 and then I just finished off with pearls and the satin ribbon.
On the green tag I stamped a text then added the butterflies from LR0158 with pearl bodies.  The blue flowers are made from the smallest die in LR0145 with pearl stamens pushed through.  I've embellished with snips of green swirl cut from LR0116, fronds from LR0107 and blue seed heads from LR0106.

At Crafty Ribbons it's anything with a ribbon so I can enter with them as well.

CCT All Boy

Hello again! it seems an age since I was last sharing a card with you .. .. so much else going on just now with family and the house that crafting has been on the back boiler - but I will have some good news to share with you soon.

It's time for our next challenge at Cute Card Thursday and this time it's all boy - a card for a man or boy. Nikki at Bunny Zoe's Crafts is sponsoring our challenge this week so why not stop by the CCT blog to read all about it and see what the DT have come up with for your inspiration.

I finally got to colouring in this chap from LOTV - I got him a while ago but apart from stamping and cutting out the circle that's as far as I'd got.  I've coloured with my Copic pens to match the papers from the Maja Design Life in the Country pad I won recently - lots of pretty flower pages along with checks and plaids on the reverse sides so perfect for all kinds of occasions.

My base card is another of the off cuts from the square cards I've been making so hanging the circle design off the edge adds interest as well as fitting the square envelope.  I'd got the golf club charms as a prize too a while back so fixed them to the stamped text tag with a little red brad.  I've run the edges of the papers down my Marianne Design die LR0161 to give the faux stitching and highlighted with a brown chalk ink, a sprinkling of punched stars and a trio of brads finished it off.  Now I would have loved to embellish with flowers and swirls but this is a manly card - so stars is all it gets!

The Corrosive Challenge blog want to see metal this time around so with my metal brads and charm I can enter with them.

That's it for the craft chatter, however, I have been pondering a question this week and would like your thoughts.  As many of you know, I live with my elderly mother who is almost housebound, only venturing out in a wheelchair for hospital appointments (although I am hoping she might like to get out a little more come the warmer weather).  Monday morning a nurse walked in, unannounced I might add, to take blood from Mum.  I had no idea she was calling and Mum was just getting out of the shower, and I was still in my dressing gown (I wait until Mum is dressed before I get myself sorted - just in case).  I stopped her from barging in on Mum, naked, which she didn't like .. .. nurse or no nurse, Mum deserves some privacy!  I queried why she had called without phoning first to make sure it was convenient .. .. her reply was that medical staff don't need to make appointments to see house-bound patients and can just turn up and walk in when they like, for whatever reason.  As it happens the front door was unlocked (we live in a relatively safe area and rarely lock the door during the day if we are home as neighbours will come and go, but at least they shout out before coming past the porch area.  I asked the nurse what she would have done if the door had been locked .. .. she said that as Mum was housebound it wouldn't be and asked me if I locked my mother in when I went out - as if that was a crime!

It has set me to thinking - what should I do? Do all housebound people have to leave their front doors open just in case a doctor or nurse should call?  If I pop to the shops I'm gone for at least an hour, or the local shop up the road can be half an hour if I meet someone for a chat.  I've never thought about it before and generally have left the door unlocked.  But, what if some no-do-well had come along, walked in and attacked Mum and taken stuff?  I wouldn't be insured against the loss as I'd left the door open, and Mum could be seriously hurt.  But, if I lock up an elderly old lady am I being cruel and heartless (as implied by the nurse) and breaking some other humanitarian law?  I know some of you are or have been in similar situations and I would like to know your thoughts and experiences on the matter - either here or email me at anniejuk@yahoo.com

Bye for now
xx

CAS Christmas

I hate computers!  I have some free time so have been trying to leave comments but more times than not nothing happens when I click on a 'leave comment' box and a message pops up that the blog doesn't exist - excuse me! what then am I looking at!

Anyway, deep breath, and when I checked my blog post listings I saw Charisma Cardz are looking for CAS designs this week.  This card I made a while back and is just a plain ivory base, the red you see behind it is the envelope. I've cut out the fancy red layer from red card then added a stamped and fussy cut oval layer with 3d tape.  It's one of the stamps on a My Paper World Christmas set and I've coloured with Copics then added touches of sparkle.  The text in the middle is, I think, from LOTV stamped in red - clean and simple!

And over on the Christmas Card challenge blog it's anything goes so I can enter with them too.

I have to clear away my craft stash from the dining table and sideboard as the family are descending for Mother's Day.  I commented to my eldest that although it's lovely to see them all I didn't fancy slaving in the kitchen to feed 8 people a roast dinner - so he said he'd cook it!  That will be something to look forward to, perhaps someone might even bring me breakfast in bed .. .. but I'd better not hold my breath!

CCT Floral Delights

So sorry I'm late! it's been one of those days, but at least I got most of the things done on my list of chores.  This week on the Cute Card Thursday blog we are celebrating with flowers and our sponsor is Bugaboo Digi Stamps - stop by the CCT blog to read all about it and see the rest of the DT's makes.

I have gone back in time with my card, using an old wood mounted rubber stamp by Anna Griffin to stamp with grey Momento ink before colouring with my Copic pens.  I like the soft look and the way it turned out, although I didn't notice the tail of the ribbon covering up some of the design, but I think you can see it ok and get the general look of what I did.  Here's the card:

It's a simple layout, square on square with a little foam tape here and there for dimension.  The white embossed layer is created with a new Crafts-Too embossing folder I got recently, it's a rectangle but easy to cut in half and layer to make the square and then hide the join with ribbon.  The pretty heart button is from my stash. and the patterned paper is more from the Maya Road pad I recently won with edges softened with snowcap Distress marker thingy (it's late and my ME brain isn't working at remembering the names of things).

Divas by Design theme is for button and bows, and Crafty Ribbons it's Ribbon and buttons - hope just the one is ok.

I need to get to bed now or I'll be useless tomorrow - so catch up again soon.

Eline's Baby Bear in a Basket

The current challenge over at Marianne Design Divas blog is for a baby creation, using at least 3 different MD products of course. Marianne has just brought out some beautiful baby dies and stamps, but unfortunately I'm not able to add them to my collection just yet (need to pay the car insurance first).  So, I have made a simple little card with a digi image and papers from Eline's baby sets available at Cuddly Buddly - you will recognise the style as Eline also has created lots of stamps and dies for Marianne Design too.  And, whoopie! my printer is working again .. .. unfortunately the pc was not working over the weekend having gotten itself a nasty bug or two so that didn't help things much!  It's going to need a little more tlc before fully recovering but at least I'm able to blog a little and browse Pinterest so I'm happy again.

And here is my card - I took the picture yesterday in the conservatory as the sun was glorious for a little while, but of course it has given me shadows too although that helps you to see the embossed faux stitches around the edges of my patterned paper.  I coloured the cute teddy bear image with my Copic pens then cut out and matted with a lace doily.  The die cuts are of course all by Marianne Design and the white flowers I've cut out of sparkly felt for a little touchy feely texture. A length of gross grain ribbon and a pearl button, plus the pearls in the centre of the flowers and the butterfly body finish things off.

These are the Marianne Design dies I used:
lace doily CR1201
lace strip and faux embossed stitches LR0161
white sparkly felt flowers LR0145
pink flowers from the cupcake die LR0160
pink swirls LR0116
little butterfly LR0261

At last it has stopped raining, although the wind is still not far short of a gale .. .. I wonder if it would be mad to finish painting the fence?  That tin of blue paint I told you about, well it was old and didn't mix too well so by the time I was half way through it was pale blue, and then at the bottom almost white!  I've gone over the original coat of blue so now all except the top bar is looking sort of blue/grey, which I like a lot better! I have a tin of Jasmine white wood paint I can use to go over the top rung and do the other side - that is so that I can see the fence in the dark when I'm driving towards it and stop in time!

Shabby Chic Butterfly

It was a miserable afternoon yesterday and impossible to do anything in the garden, so I thought I'd have a bit of a play.  The cover of the March issue of Cardmaking & Papercraft magazine caught my eye recently, with cards created by Fleur using two sets of the Viva Decor My Paperworld stamps that I have, so I got it to see what she had made - some beautiful cards for inspiration.

I dug out my heat gun and some old white embossing powder (I must try the Frantage stuff some day) and got to inking and heating .. .. this is my first effort with white embossing powder on kraft card:

The finished card, another of the off cut bases and a pretty piece of paper from a Maja Design pack called Life in the Country that I recently won from Live & Love Crafts. I've added snowcap dabber to the image oval and the kraft scallop oval and the edge of the patterned paper, although it is not to clear in the picture.  I've also added Picket Fence Distress Stickles around the edge of the image and to some of the flower, again not showing up!  My embellishments are Marianne Design die cut leaves and swirls, punched flowers from the same paper with the edges inked with Pumice Stone DI, and little pearl stamens also from the same prize win. I've added pearls to the centres of my flowers with a Waco pearl pen, I see some have spread a bit, ah well perhaps it adds to the shabby chic style!

I saw this morning that the Fussy and Fancy Friday challenge is for Shabby Chic this week - perfect!

I have to go on the drug run this afternoon for all Mum's pills so will do a bit of shopping at the same time, although Tesco in Padstow is small and doesn't have everything I need but at least I can stock up on fruit and veg.  One side of the fence is painted blue now, I managed to get out between showers this morning, apart from the bottom piece that still has to be put on.  There wont be enough paint to do both sides, but I'm not totally convinced about the colour anyway .. .. still it might grow on me!

It's a Wild World!

It's Thursday so time for another challenge at Cute Card Thursday - this week we are going wild!  I've been rather poorly so the Easter Bunny is about as wild as I'm feeling just at the moment, and he's one of my older LOTV stamps I've coloured with my Copic pens then cut out with an egg shaped die. I have given his fluffy tail a wee touch of sparkle with Lace Stickles .. .. I do hope he doesn't land in the middle of those daffs!

Our sponsor for this challenge is Whimsy Stamps, do stop by the CCT blog to read all about it and see the rest of the DTs creations for inspiration, then come join in the fun!

And here is my card, another of the off cuts from creating a small square base so room to hang an embellishment off the side and still have it fit the square envelope.  I've used up some of my Easter pad papers from last year and green Coredinations card from my stash that was a good match.  The rest is just odds and ends of ribbon and pearls and butterflies die cut from a scrap of orange card.  The text came as a magazine freebie and although I've layered it and the egg with 3d foam, it's barely 1mm thick so doesn't add too much dimension to the card for posting.

I will have to browse the challenges to see if I can link up to any, my tummy is still not right but I am on the mend, just feeling drained and tire at the slightest effort of doing things.  Everyone else has been ok so I put it down to a bug at the Hospital last Friday when I took Mum for her appointment - we were there for hours, and hours and with lots of doors to push open, goodness knows what I picked up.

I found a challenge to enter: at Crafty Ribbons this week it's anything goes with ribbon, so with my acid yellow organza I can enter with them.

I am itching to paint the fence that Jason has made in the garden and at 2am remembered I had a tin of blue wood paint in the shed!  I'd brought it with me from our old place, although I can't remember the shade of blue and the tin was never opened so there should be more than enough to give the fence a couple of coats, as long as I can find it, and if it  doesn't rain too heavily over the weekend that's what I plan to do.

Spreading Wings

I'm scheduling this one, so fingers crossed you get to see it!

My card today is one I made with the cut off card piece from yesterday's square card, but with overhangs so it will still need the square envelope. I've inked one of my LOTV robin stamps and coloured with my Copic pens for a traditional card in shades of red and green.

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas challenge is called 'spread your wings', whilst the Crafty Little Fairies want to see things with wings this week - so I can enter this card with them.

Here's the card.There's some plaid and stripe paper in the background with the faux stitch edging inked in brown chalk ink.  I've decorated with various Marianne Design die cuts, pearly red gems and a scrap of brown ric-rac ribbon. I hope you like it.

These are the Marianne Design dies I used:
banner COL1324 with text from COL1325
mini poinsettias LR0142
ivy sprays LR0206
twigs and pine cones LR0286

Girls, Girls, Girls!

I'm back!  I've gone back to Chrome and things seem to be working, Jason used Safari and that was useless for pictures, so hopefully now I will be able to blog, browse and maybe even do some commenting!

This week's theme at Cute Card Thursday is an easy peasy one - Girls, girls, girls!  Our prize is from Whiff of Joy and you can see the rest of the DT's creations on the CCT blog - I'll go and load mine once I finish here.

I had this cutie already stamped up, she is called Dawn Sharing a Biscuit from Nellie's Choice stamps and I've coloured here with my Copic pens then added touches of Stardust Stickles for the snow.

And here's the card - another of my small squares created with SU! card then a scrap piece of Nitwits paper with a white mat.  I've given the image a mat as well and added the embossed faux stitches around the edge.  I actually had the image coloured up in my Christmas box already, left over from before last Christmas and I had planned to keep things quite plain and simple, my version of CAS!  But, I just had to have a little embellishment especially as I wanted to use the sparkly red berries I recently won.  I die cut the pine cone from Coredinations and sanded it back then added the pine leaves, topping things off (to hide the glue mess) with the text on a die cut banner.  All Marianne Design dies of course, here't the list:

faux stitches with LR0161
pine cone from LR0286
pine leaves from LR0227
banner from COL1324 with text from COL1325

Not sure if there are any challenges I can link up to as I've been without the pc for the last week and haven't caught up yet - I might find some and add in a bit .. ..

I have to take Mum to Trelisk Hospital tomorrow so will schedule a card for the morning, fingers crossed it works.  Then I have no idea what is happening at the weekend as DH has a broken van, again!  We had planned to visit the Farmers's Market at Bodmin Herbs on Saturday morning then go for a carvery lunch at the Weighbridge garden centre as I have a voucher - plus no doubt there would be a plant or two to catch my eye!  And hopefully now that Jason is back home we can do more to finish off the jobs around the house and garden .. .. the gravel area by the shed is now finished, Jay just wants to put a fence across to give some privacy and divide things up a little.  He's dug out a semi circle of lawn around the drain cover ready to lay a brick edge and then infill with the left over gravel to give an area for the BBQ or seating - just need to get stuff from the builders yard to actually do the work (plus a little more gentle nagging from me!) So weather permitting I will be in the garden, but if I do get a moment to myself I'll try crafting a little and catching up with you all.  Whatever you have planned, I hope the sun shines and you enjoy!

Having problems

I'm having BIG problems with my 'new' pc .. .. I have my son's old machine as it was supposedly going to be faster and has more memory and operating capacity HA! I can't get on to Pinterest at all, (and I could live on that site) and since last night I can't get into Facebook either.  I can't load pictures, see pictures, or click on anything with pictures including my emails.  So, apart from chucking it out the window I'm not sure what I will do - well me, nothing.  I will have to do a lot of moaning and groaning to my son and hope that he can fix it.  So far the excuse is that 'something' is blocking the internet signal between my bedroom and the box in the living room - so it wasn't entirely my old machine at fault then.  But even so, my old machine could load pictures with just 3 bars of signal, this one can't and most times I'm only getting 2 bars - oh for the days of a 5 bar signal .. .. just once, now and then.

I will be back, don't know when or how - so until then friends .. .. ..

A gem of a challenge!

This week we have a gem of a challenge for you at Cute Card Thursday - yes, we want to see a touch of bling!  Well, the postman came with this cute Marianne Design basket die (and a few other bits and pieces) I found at Bunny Zoe's craft shop, it has been on my wish list a while but being an older die is not always available, so I grabbed it quick!  Nikki is sponsoring our gem challenge and did you know she is offering 20% off stamps .. .. I had to have a few of those too!  Anyway, as soon as I opened the die I had to have a play with it, and with the gem theme in mind I got out a little bag of flower gems I got at a show way back, fiddled about with other little die cut pieces and this is what I made.  It's a small C6 card and fairly flat despite the flower gems.  The bigger flowers, the clear ones, have a dip in the centre so I added little pink gems to them and to the bodies of the tiny butterflies too (from another new to me die set - they are so sweet).

Here's the list of Marianne Design things on this card:
Pretty Paper bloc PK9089 Beautiful Butterflies for my pink patterned background paper I've edged with pink Stickles.
ivory lacy background die cut from LR0272
basket die CR1206 and tiny leaves CR1210
larger leaf sprays LR0192
butterflies from LR0261
banner with text stamp COL1324

I couldn't see any other challenges to link up my flower basket too, perhaps you know of one or two?

This morning I've woken up with a stiff neck and headache, due no doubt to carrying a large heavy pot of lilies from one end of the garden to another .. .. I should know by now not to strain my neck muscles.  So, I've dosed myself with Ibruprofen and after another cup of coffee will have to get the car out and go to Tescos or I can't do any laundry, and I need to do change Mum's bedding today.  I'll take it easy, and maybe craft a little when I get back, although with the boxed set of A Song of Ice and Fire to read, a gift from DH, I keep getting distracted.  I'd told him that I'd like to ready and/or see the Game of Thrones, so he got me the set at a bargain price - that's 7 big fat paperbacks to read!  Well I've just finished the first one, Game of Thrones, and enjoyed it, but found I needed to concentrate as there was a lot of 'story' going on.  I'd seen the first few episodes on freeview tv a while back and would like to see the rest so need to find a friend with Sky!  I was pleased that the tv series seemed to be sticking closely to the story in the book - I wonder how it will turn out, a few heroes already dead or done for, and a few villains too, but as each chapter is written from a character's view point, you can find out that not everyone is as they seem!

Christmas Shopping

Where does the time go!  I have been busy in the garden, digging and lugging buckets of gravel from front to back to create a mud free area by the shed and water butt, then trying to dig over the compacted clay that is the rose bed.  Oh my! I think I'm getting muscles!

Anyway, this card was started last week for the Crafty Little Fairies challenge 'shopping'.  I got the cute LOTV lass and her spaniel stamped, then blanked her out to add the background from a My Paper World Christmas set, I rather like the result.  I've coloured the image with my Copics and added lots of sparkle with Stardust glitter.

And here is the card that I've finally managed to finish decorating this morning, the Stickles on the flower is still wet!  The papers, stamped text and die cuts are all by Marianne Design and I simply finished off with more glitter on the poinsettia and the blue pearls.  Here's the list of MD dies I used:
Poinsettia - LR0122
red doily snowflake - LR0185
blue snowflakes - LR0123 & LR0124
red twigs - LR0286

I had better be quick and link up to the Crafty Little Fairies blog as the challenge finishes in a few hours!  I can also enter the ABC challenge that is G for girls, Crafty Catz where it's anything goes, and Stampin' for the Weekend where it's sparkle and shine.

I'm still having computer problems so not using it much - think I will have to get a new one or convince Jason to let me have use of his as he's no longer living here .. .. but I will need to get a new tv/monitor to go with it, and I guess a printer too. I keep putting it off and trying to muddle by but am finding anything to do with Yahoo (my email) is dreadfully slow and half the time doesn't load, and blogger is also a bit of a slow coach especially if I'm trying to add comments to an already picture heavy blog.  So, yet again apologies for not commenting, but I do still stop by to visit my favourites and friends!