Birds of a feather

Hello, crafting friends!

 

Where has the week flown off to? Very little crafting has taken place and my fingers have been feeling quite naked without their usual coating of ink! That was remedied today as I scrolled through Challenges for Days and was instantly inspired.

 

To start this card, I watercoloured a pale green square directly onto a thick cardbase (I've found that as long as I don't use too much water the card doesn't buckle.) I topped this with a circle of vellum, diecut with a Waffleflower nesting die, then added some stamped and fussy cut flowers from The Greetery's Fleur Expressions. The birds are from Robin and Wren, also from The Greetery, and also stamped and fussy cut. 

 

I had fussy cut the birds without a white outline but decided they needed one so, instead of starting again, I glue-dotted the birds to a snippet of white card and fussy cut around them. I quite like the dimensional look it gives them. I positioned them so they look as if they're having a nice chat so decided a Hello sentiment from an Altenew set would be appropriate :)

CHALLENGES

Narelle's beautiful sketch at Freshly Made Sketches was my starting point for this card, along with The Card Concept's gorgeous inspiration photo and colour palette - I have made a Clean and Layered card. I'm also playing along at Allsorts where the optional theme this week is Fur or Feathers, as well as The Snippets Playground where Miss requires us to make a project using snippets. I forgot to take a photo of my snippets but the vellum was a small offcut and I stamped and fussy cut the birds and flowers from white snippets as well as the sentiment.

 

AND IN OTHER NEWS

I love watching the busy little garden birds, fluttering about gathering nesting materials and preparing for their families but, meanwhile, the pigeons are like drunken nightclubbers behaving disgracefully and disturbing the peace!

 

Here's a portly chap cooing sweet nothings into the ear of a flighty miss. Hmmm! Be off with you or I'll release the Beige Beasts!

Sending hugs,

A friendly garden

Hello, crafting friends!

 

Are you ready for a little clean and simple inspiration? Well it's time for another Addicted to CAS challenge and Toni has come up with this word prompt: 

 

 

I've made a spring note card to send to a friend.

 

The stamps I used are the Greetery's Springtime stamp set which are designed to work with some hourglass shaped dies. I found they also worked really well with some stitched circle dies from Waffleflower! I stamped the ground repeatedly, then added the flowers in springtime oranges and yellows, cut the scene out with the die and sponged blue ink round the sky area.

 

I stamped a tiny butterfly from an old Stampin' Up set to add a bit of movement to the scene and a little kitten (an ancient wood mount stamp) to watch it flutter about. To finish, I stamped a Uniko sentiment in grey beneath the circle.

Okay, so now it's your turn to think about gardens - but no need to leave the craft room ;) Hop over to the Addicted to CAS challenge blog and check out the fabulous inspiration from the rest of the team. You'll find the Linky Tool at the bottom of the post and can use it to share your own creation with us. Don't forget to keep your card nice and clean and simple with plenty of white space will you... we can't wait to see what you make!

CHALLENGES

I'm linking this card up with Try it on Tuesday where the theme is Hello Spring; also Stamping Sensations where the theme for April is Anything Stamped with the Option of CAS; At We Love Stamping the theme is Anything Stamped with optional (real) animals or birds; Ellie's theme at Allsorts over the Easter holiday is In the Spring Garden so I'm joining in there too.

 

AND IN OTHER NEWS

I've been looking after the lovely Lady Dora this week, an aristocratic black cat, who always looks as if she's wearing a crinoline and a white lace bodice when seated.

 

There's another black cat in the area - an attractive but vulgar chap who lounges around in a rumpled suit of fur and has all the appearance of having been out on the tiles all night. He has designs on Lady Dora's virtue and sometimes tries to gain entrance into Her Ladyship's residence for a free meal so I have to protect her from his wily ways. Sometimes I suspect her of making secret assignations with him... It's all drama around here I can tell you!

Sending hugs,

Pastel recovery

Hello, crafting friends!

 

Welcome to another Thursday full of Tic Tac Toe Challenge fun! I fell head over heels with the board Felicita created this week:

 

 

Spring - yay! I couldn't wait to crack open those pastel inks so I opted for the middle column Bold Sentiment/Free/Pastel Colours and made a get well card.

 

I used a Uniko stamp set called Just Because which features a fabulous silhouette plant. Using a stamping platform to get good ink coverage of the solid image, I stamped the image all over a card base. I used pastel inks and varied the position and angle and colour each time I stamped.

 

Over the top of the card base I created a dimensional sentiment layer using stitched circle and stitched rectangle dies. I stamped the top layer with Uniko's Pinstripe background stamp and added a bold sentiment from The Colorado Company. I finished with different sizes of lovely shiny enamel dots - my favourite embellishments!

 

Okay, so now it's your turn! Which colomn or row will you choose from the board? Or will you opt for one of the diagonals? Do hop over to the Tic Tac Toe challenge blog and check out the inspiration from the design team. You'll find the Linky Tool at the bottom of the post and can use it to share your own creation with us. We can't wait to see how you were inspired!

CHALLENGES

I'm linking this card up at Allsorts where I've taken the Anything Goes option; also Little Red Wagon where Chrissy wants to see us use our die cuts - my sentiment uses a rectangle and a circle die.

AND IN OTHER NEWS

It was so much fun to use spring colours on today's project and I'm enjoying seeing the bulbs coming into flower in the garden. It's still pretty chilly though and while I tend to tuck a throw over my knees if I'm sitting for a while, the pups have a much better way to stay warm!

 

Nothing like a rousing game of tug for raising the temperatures! Poor old Lion Friend has seen better days but they seem to prefer the old toys for tug (thank goodness!)

Sending hugs,

Bags of snippets

Hello, crafting friends!

 

Yesterday evening my sister took me out to dinner and I wanted to bring along a little thank you. I found quite a big off-cut of SU designer paper, which must have been around for quite some time, so I used it to make a little treat bag to fit a mascara I knew she had been wanting to try. There was just enough of the paper to get a thank you card out of it too.

Here's the bag and the card together. It was so quick to make them using just die cuts and no stamping.

THE BAG

I used my Simply Scored to create a simple bag shape. (For those that are interested, the paper was trimmed to 6.5" square, then vertical scores made at 1.5, 3, 4.5 and 6". The paper was turned 45 degrees clockwise and scored at 1.5".) I assembled the bag using strong red tape, popped the mascara inside and secured the top with a tiny enamel bulldog clip tied up with coordinating twine. I made a label from a scrap of vellum, cut with a stitched rectangle die by Heffy Doodle, and decorated with some leaves that were in my snippets box.

 

THE CARD

It was a tight squeeze, but I was able to trim the left-over bit of paper with another of the stitched rectangle dies. The same die was used to cut out a piece of green card from my snippets folder. I fussy cut the bottom of the designer paper along the scallop design, layered it over the green card and attached it to a card front. This was topped with a scrap of vellum cut with a stitched circle die by Waffleflower, and a sentiment die cut from a black snippet. Simple!

CHALLENGES

I'm linking these projects up at The Snippets Playground where Miss Di and Head Prefect Sarn are preparing for Jubilee celebrations; The Sisterhood of Crafters want to see Bag projects so I'm joining in there too. I'm sharing the card at Happy Little Stampers Die Challenge where Anything Goes, and at Addicted to Stamps and More where the theme is Die Cuts and/or Stencils.

AND IN OTHER NEWS

My sister and I dined at a posh restaurant where there was a 9 course 'tasting menu', and a waiter whose accent became more and more French as the evening wore on. There was even an 'amuse bouche' which made us go a bit giddy! 'Well, that certainly amused MY bouche!' we declared at regular intervals and giggled like silly school girls.

My sister had told the staff beforehand that it was my birthday and, at the end of the meal, this plate was brought out! Those little sweetmeats are handmade white chocolate fudge and passion fruit jellies - and oh my goodness they were delicious!

It was a lovely evening but I can tell you that staggering about in high heels used muscles that I had obviously forgotten I had!!

Sending hugs,

Easter Bunny

Hello, crafting friends!

 

It's Saturday and time for another fun challenge at Addicted to CAS! I really enjoyed hosting our last challenge and seeing all your wonderful watery cards, but it's time to pass the baton into the capable hands of Helen who has come up with a word I think will be very popular:

Animals fit into all sorts of card types don't they, but I immediately decided on an Easter bunny!

I brought out one of the sweet rabbits from The Craft Consortium's English Garden, stamped her, coloured her with alcohol markers, fussy cut her, then set her aside while I made a background for her to frolic about in!

 

The frame was made by using Waffleflower double stitched circle die to emboss onto a card panel. I decided to cut it out with the larger die which creates lots of contrasting textuyre. I made a circle stencil with a punch and taped it over the circle frame, then added Funky Fossil's Scenic Borders stencil over the top, and sponged green ink into the grass area. I sponged blue ink over the sky area before removing the circle stencil and stamped an Easter sentiment from Lawn Fawn in green ink. To finish the card, I stamped the rabbit onto the background, then glued my fussy cut rabbit in place over the top, added some coloured enamel dots and attached the circle to a card base.

So, now it's your turn! Do hop over to the Addicted to CAS blog and enjoy the fabulous samples made by the rest of the team. You'll find the Linky Tool at the bottom of the post and you can use it to link up your own creation. Don't forget to  keep your card nice and clean and simple with lots of lovely white space, and have fun!

CHALLENGES

I'm joining in with Claire's fabulous  board at Tic Tac Toe this week (I am on the Team X design team and Claire is on Team O, so it's lovely to join in with her board!) I've chosen the middle row Pastel/Rabbit/Coloring. I'm also linking up with Addicted to Stamps and More where there's a Make Your Mark challenge, and having a second go at AAA Cards where the theme is Anything CAS with optional spring animal. Brenda's theme at Allsorts today is Any Real Animal, so I'm playing along there too.

AND IN OTHER NEWS

It's hard to believe it's April already! Did anyone get pranked on April 1st?

Sending hugs,

Nuts about you

Hello, crafting friends!

 

I've been enjoying making a few valentines this year! This one features a pair of bushy-tailed cuties from a new-to-me stamp set from Clearly Besotted called Foxy Friend.

 

 

The squirrels are supposed to be skunks but they make excellent squirrels! I coloured them with coloured pencils, fussy cut them and attached them to a die cut stitched circle that I'd masked with a stencil and sponged with blue ink.

I wanted to create an interesting border to the card base so I trimmed 1/2" off the front flap using a large stitched rectangle die. Pale blue card stock was glued underneath the flap and then ran a heart design washi tape along the edge. The squirrel circle was placed slightly overlapping the border and I finished with a die cut heart and a sentiment from MFT.

 

CHALLENGES

I was inspired by Lisa's photo choice at this week's Just Us Girls challenge, using the background and swapping the snow couple with the squirrels; I'm also joining in at Just Add Ink where there's a Just Pick Two challenge - Fancy Edge/Circle/Twine - and I've gone for Fancy Edge and Circle; I also made this card for Time Out Challenges where the theme is In Love; and am sharing at Darnell's NBUS challenge, the place to show off our Never Before Used Schtuff!

 

AND IN OTHER NEWS

I had to whisper the word 'squirrels' in case a certain young lady got a bit excited but...

 

 

... having had a long walk this morning with an impromptu swim in the river, nothing other than the rustle of a cheese wrapper would have had the power to rouse her!!

Sending hugs,

Little gifts

Hello, crafting friends!

 

Christmas is over of course, and we are embarking on a shiny new year, but I hope you will indulge me today as I share a little gift set I made to thank a crafty friend for her kindness over the past year:

 

I made a gift bag out of a couple of sheets of A4 card stock and some coordinating ribbon. Sorry, I didn't take measurements as I was working to a time schedule but I will make another one later on in the year perhaps!

 

The tag was made with one of Waffleflower's stitched circle dies, stamped with fir branches and berries from The Greetery's Boughs and Branches and finished with a Merry Christmas die cut from Hobbycraft. 

Inside the bag I put a some bulbs in a pretty planter and a small jar of bath salts that I decorated with those same stamps from The Greetery. I really enjoyed using this colour palette (Stampin' Up's Melon Mambo and Shaded Spruce) and loved the way the berries popped when I added a dot of opaque acrylic paint with a Posca pen.

A circle punch turned out to be exactly the right size to decorate the lid!

AND IN OTHER NEWS

The decorations are down in our house! Christmas decorations and lights after new year make me think of someone coming back from a party in the cold light of day and looking very seedy! What do you think? Are you a 'take them down the day after Christmas' person? Or a 'Leave them up all year' type?

Sending hugs,

A happy Christmas ornament

Hello, crafting friends!

Welcome to another Thursday challenge from The Tic Tac Toe Challenge. This week it's my turn to come up with  a board to inspire you and here's what I've come up with:

I'm still happily making Christmas cards and have chosen the top row Plaid/Stencil/Tree to create this festive little number:

I started b creating an ornament, die cutting a circle from a scrap of textured blue card stock and stencilling an ornament top using Funky Fossil's Ornamental stencil. I cut another circle from an off-cut of plaid paper from Stampin' Up and then lopped off half with a curved border die to make an interesting (and unlikely!) snowy hillside.

There are lots of different techniques you can use with stencils; as well as inking directly onto your card base or panel, you can ink through bits of a stencil onto scraps of card and fussy cut - as I've done here using just one of the trees on Funky Fossil's Skinny Trees stencil. Once everything was assembled and glued together, I finished with a sentiment from The Greetery's  Snowflake Soirée and some orange enamel dots.

Okay, now it's your turn! You can choose any row or column or either of the diagonals but first, do hop over to the Tic Tac Toe Challenge site and admire the beautiful samples from my clever teamies! You'll find the Linky Tool there as always and will be able to link up your own creation. Have fun!

CHALLENGES

I'm linking this card up at Happy Little Stampers Stencil Challenge where Anything Goes; I'm also joining in at The Snippets Playground as all items used on this card were snippets - AND The Christmas Kickstart Challenge where Di has put her Elf hat on and is helping Jo celebrate Christmas snippets; I'm also sharing this card at Darnell's NBUS Challenge as the schtencil is Never Before Used Schtuff!

AND IN OTHER NEWS

I'm looking forward to meeting my daughter tomorrow afternoon. We're going for a walk in the grounds of a local manor house and visiting an outdoor Christmas fair - and if that doesn't get me in the mood for preparing for Christmas, nothing will!!

Sending hugs,

The Circles that you find

Hello, crafting friends!

It's time for a new challenge at Addicted to CAS and Sue has chosen a code word that really got me inspired so I hope it'll do the same for you!

Some stitched dies from Waffleflower were my starting point. I cut some overlapping circles in a card panel, inlaying the smaller one. I wanted a third circle, so used a little circle punch to cut out a 2021 I found in a magazine, mounting it onto another circle cut out of red card.

Positioning the card panel onto a card base, I traced round the inside of the large circle with a soft pencil. I used this as a guide for stamping on the card base. I sponged some neutral ink over the area, then stamped a fir branch and berries from Budding Beauties Winter from the Greetery. Finally, I assembled my elements - attached the card panel to the card front, positioned a die cut sentiment and the 2021 below it and finished with a single enamel dot.

So, now it's your turn and I can't wait to see how you interpret the word 'Circles'. There's amazing inspiration at the Addicted to CAS challenge site as always, and you'll find the Linky Tool there so that you can share your own creation with us. Remember to keep your creation nice and clean and simple won't you, and above all have fun!

CHALLENGES

I'm linking this card up at Watercooler Wednesday where Tristan is hosting the All Occasions challenge; and also Happy Little Stampers Christmas challenge where Anything Goes with optional Make a Scene.

AND IN OTHER NEWS

Do you ever get triggered to remember a song? The code word for today's challenge made me think of a sentence 'the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind' which, when I looked it up, turned out to be from a great song that I hadn't heard for a very, very long time! One of the things I like to do is to look songs up on YouTube and then play all the versions I can find. Here, for your listening pleasure is a version by the sublime Dusty Springfield whose voice was just so distinctive. Anyone remember this?

Sending hugs,