More love and prayers

Hello, crafting friends!

 

Today I found that clearing away my crafty things can be a very inspiring thing to do! Lying around on my table were SU's Banners For You stamp set and the lovely Studio Light sentiment I used to make THIS card, and there were plenty of scraps of white card stock too. The housework needed doing but I asked the Golden Girls and they agreed that hoovering is over-rated, so I made this card instead:

 

I've been moving away from clean and simple cards over the last year or so but I loved making this simple note card. The card base was cut down to a square from a ruined standard A6 base and I stamped the sentiment in the centre.

 

The two different flowers from the set were stamped on scraps of card and fussy cut, then I added a bit of shading with a coloured pencil at the base of the petals. I wanted the flowers to be dimensional so the trickiest thing about this card was adding teensy bits of dimensional tape to the backs of the flowers! I finished off with some enamel dots in navy - although my screen has decided they're black :|

CHALLENGES

I'm off to The Snippets Playground with this card. I have put my armbands on because I bet the paddling pool is out and we can do splashy canonballs from the treehouse while Miss isn't looking! At ATCAS Helen's code word is Nature, so I'm joining in there too.

 

AND IN OTHER NEWS

My little Eva has a poorly paw again. I am so frustrated! Her nailbed infection cleared up beautifully and we went back to romping about in the countryside, but because the toe had been shaved, it left her vulnerable to grass seeds getting stuck between those toes. I'm frustrated because I am hyper aware of the potential for this to happen and have been checking both dogs' paws after walks. How did I miss it?

 

Eva is perfectly cheerful and can be seen here chopping up some sticks before distributing them around the garden, but she's back on lead-only walks so I'm walking the dogs separately again. They enjoy the one-to-one attention but I am struggling for time at the moment and crafting has become a very special treat these days!

Sending hugs,

Sending Love and Prayers

Hello, crafting friends!

 

Welcome to the Tic Tac Toe challenge where Betty is inspiring you today with a fabulously versatile board:

 

 

I went with the centre column, Die Cuts/Free/Any Sentiment, and made a card for a friend who is struggling with health issues.

 

Isn't it fun to bring out a stamp set you haven't used for a long time! Here, I used the retired Banners For You  by Stampin' Up. To begin, I masked off the edges on a thick card base with low tack tape, then used leaves and flowers and berries from the stamp set to create a background pattern. With the tape still in place, I gently sponged a blue-green ink from the edges inwards. After adding dots of white acrylic paint to the berries, and stalks with a fineliner pen, I removed the tape.

 

To create the label, I stamped a sentiment onto an offcut of white card, then trimmed it to size with a nesting label die making sure I kept the sentiment in the top half. I then stamped a leafy stem and flower using the same colours as the background and fussy cut it. The flower was popped up with small pieces of dimensional tape and the label attached to the card front.

 

Okay, now it's your turn! Head over to the Tic Tac Toe Challenge and check out all the amazing inspiration there; choose your row, column or diagonal from the board and make a card using the suggestions; share it with us using the blue Linky button at the bottom of the challenge post. We can't wait to see what you make!

CHALLENGES

I used the red and green colours from Color Hues for this card, so I'm linking up there. The all-over pattern at Beautiful Blossoms also inspired me so I'm joining in there too.

AND IN OTHER NEWS

Life seems to have a bit of a cake theme at the moment! There are lots of events going on and I have been baking cakes for each of them; also a lovely friend, taking pity on my stressiness, whisked me out for an early coffee yesterday and made me* eat a scone with clotted cream and strawberry jam for breakfast! Verdict? Ten out of ten, would recommend as a top breakfast!

 

*I may not have put up much of a fight!

Sending hugs,

One layer of thistles

Hello crafting friends!

 

I'm fascinated by thistles, which always seem like some kind of prehistoric throwback plant to me. I love the architectural shape of their heads and their bright flare of petals. But they're perhaps not the plant to be skipping through with bare feet, which leads me on to today's card!

 

It's a quick and simple one layer card made with Funky Fossil's Thistle stencil which I haven't used for a while. Taping the stencil off the edge of a thick card base, I sponged Stampin' Up's Mint Macaroon and Fresh Freesia inks into the image and then added more thistle heads to build up the design.

 

Sometimes, when life gets tough, it can feel a bit like walking through a garden of thistles barefoot, so I thought this would be a comforting sentiment to go with the image. I finished with some clear enamel dots to make it look as if it had been raining too. Probably should have added some mud... lol!

 

CHALLENGES

I've seen some amazing cards around Blogland using a mint and lilac colour combination courtesy of Color Hues, so I shall link this card up there; at Make My Monday the theme is Love and, as Valentine's Day is past now, I hope my 'Love and Prayers' card fits the bill! I'm also joining in at the Stencil Fun Challenge where Anything Goes with an optional theme of Love/Hearts.

AND IN OTHER NEWS

I'm always amazed at the way dogs just gallop through fields of thistles - and nettles for that matter! I understand that their feet pads are like leather so it's as if they are wearing shoes, but pushing their way through nettles and brambles must hurt their little noses surely! Apparently not! My OH comes from the northeast of England where the folk are well known for their tolerance of inclement weather conditions and if you ask tenderly about his well-being, he replies "Felt nowt!"

 

Sending hugs,

Shiplap and Roses

Hello, crafting friends!

 

I can't tell you how delighted I am to join the team at The Flower Challenge where many of my heroines of craft are creating effortlessly beautiful cards month after month! For this first challenge of the year, the theme is to incorporate a heart somewhere on your floral card.

 

It's coming up to that time of the year when we share the love, so I made a masculine valentine :)

I started with a wood plank background, sponging a variety of neutral inks onto an offcut of white card and cutting with The Greetery's Shiplap die set. I laid the planks out on a piece of copy paper, and glued them in place, before trimming to size with a stitched rectangle die by Heffy Doodle.

The single rose bud is from a Studio Light Bible Journalling set, and the leaves from WPlus9's Modern Roses. I stamped them, coloured them with coloured pencils and fussy cut them. I added them to the shiplap, glueing them together as a single item, then stamped the 'with love' sentiment from The Greetery's Tagged Elegance. To finish, I stamped a row of hearts using a much-used stamp from Uniko's Simply Said Blocks, and embellished with a pair of enamel hearts.

Now it's your turn! At the Flower Challenge we want to see cards featuring flowers so don't forget to make them the main focus of your creation. Do hop over to the challenge site to check out the amazing inspiration on display from my talented team mates, and when you're ready to link up your own card, you'll find the Linky Tool at the bottom of the challenge post. We can't wait to see what you make!

CHALLENGES

I'm frolicking over to Darnell's NBUS Challenge as the Shiplap die and the Bible Journalling set are Never Before Used Schtuff! The team at As You See It want to see our new craft stash too, so I'm linking up there; Triple B have an optional moodboard for February but your card must feature a bird and/or a butterfly and/or a bloom.

AND IN OTHER NEWS

The golden girls and I had quite the eventful walk yesterday afternoon. We'd been careering about in the countryside and were just coming back, tired but happy, when suddenly a herd of 5 Muntjac deer shot out from the shelter of a hedge almost right in front of us. The pups' eyes were practically on stalks! They shot off in hot pursuit of course and my heart was in my mouth; I know Eva wouldn't be able to get near them but Lulu is FAST! However I can (with relief) report that she is not as fast as the deer and soon turned back, panting hard and with tongue lolling. The girls trotted home shoulder to shoulder, presumably having convinced themselves that they were marvellous hunting dogs, and did justice to large bowlfuls of meaty chunks before settling down for a nap.

Sending hugs,