Sparkle and Shine at IAAS

Good morning.  Here I am with my third card in three days.  This time, as you can see, it is time to sparkle for IAAS. This time the challenge will run for four weeks to give the DT a chance to spend time with family and friends over the Christmas season.

If you are looking for my card for the Christmas Card Club challenge please scroll down to previous post.

My Card

Recipe

centre step card die -  Press Cut 

silver non-shed glitter card - Crafters Companion

silver mirri card - Crafters Companion

candle die - Winter Wonderland collection Crafters Companion

holly corner dies - Joanna Sheen

sentiment die - Britannia

I think the card pretty much speaks for itself - it is just a very sparkly CAS card.

Well that's it from today.  We are having visitors today so I need to wrap up their gift and sort out a Christmas card! Nothing like being last minute!!

Take care and enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Something Cute For Christmas Card Club.

Good morning.  Today is our little club's final post of 2018, but we'll back again on January 6th starting our cards for 2019.  This is a terrific way of getting your Christmas cards made throughout the year and therefore not panicking as December approaches.  If you are interested in joining us next year just let me know and I'll give you the information required.

My card is not due until tomorrow but I have a card due for one of my design teams and I don't like posting two on the same day.

Sylvia is our host this time and she wants to see something cute.  I have chosen an LOTV topper.

My Card

Recipe

6" square white base card

red non shed glitter card - Hobbycraft

image - LOTV

music die  - Memory Box

sentiment die  - Sue Wilson

It was our WI Christmas Party on Wednesday evening.  We had a fabulous evening! We always put on a little show with members taking part - funny skits, poems, songs etc.Oh my goodness, we were crying with laughter when two of our members gave a Demonstration of Seasonal Makeup Advice.  One of them was working just her arms from behind a screen.  Apparently it proved even more difficult than you might suppose because they were both rather large bosomed ladies!! Absolutely hilarious!  

We also combined it with a 90th birthday celebration for one of our ladies who was actually 90 that very day. My goodness I only hope I am like her if I ever reach that age.  Her skin is absolutely beautiful (certainly didn't need Christine and Eileen's advice!), she is very spry  and still has a wonderful singing voice.  She was a professional singer and still has a wonderful singing voice and performed two songs for us. Amazing. We are a very disparate group I can assure you.  Oldest member 90, youngest member 30, we have a professional artist and also a titled lady who is in her forties.  I am so glad I joined the WI.  We just have so much fun - definitely not what you might imagine when you think of the WI ... lol!

Anyway, I have waffled enough. I hope you all have a good weekend.

Take care. 

At Winter Wonderland Anything Christmas Goes

Good morning to you all.  Today it is time to post my DT offering for Winter Wonderland. We are a Christmas blog so providing your project is Christmas  related we welcome you to join in the fun.  This time is Anything Goes so you have no excuse.

My Card

Recipe

6" green base card - Craft UK Ltd

red cardstock - Rymans 

embossing folder - Crafts Too Merry Christmas

image - Santa Selfie Dr Digi's

trees die - Memory Box

snowflake die  - The Works

Lacy Circles die - Spellbinders

Since it is the end of the year both the Snowflakes team and the Icicles team are taking so please pop over to the blog   Our Sponsor is Dr Digi's House of Stamps . 

From next year  we will be posting monthly, instead of every two weeks, on the first Friday of the month and both teams will be taking part every challenge.

Take care and enjoy your day.

All Wrapped Up for CCC

Good morning.  This is my card that should have been posted yesterday so with apologies to the ladies in the Christmas Card Club here it is at last. I post so infrequently that I don't like doing it twice on the same day. The theme, chosen by Carol, is "All Wrapped Up".  I took that to be all the gifts wrapped up but I think all the others have gone for wrapped up against the cold. I think either is right - hopefully!!

My Card

 

Recipe

6" square red base card - made from Ryman's card stock

green pearlescent card stock - from stash

digi topper - old stash (unknown)

sentiment computer generated

Noble pierced squares - Creative Expressions

I enlarged the image to what I thought would just about fill the card front and typed the sentiment. After die cutting with the Noble Squares it was fine for size. I just added a ribbon bow and a few pearls and that was it.

Hope you all had a good weekend.  Take care.

Funny Christmas at IAAS

Good morning and I hope this finds you all well and warm.  It's flipping cold here.  I must be getting soft in my old age because I certainly never used to feel the cold like I do now.

Today's card is my DT card for IAAS where the remit was to provide a funny Christmas card.

My Card 

 I went down the totally digital route. The beach scene, Santa sunbathing and the speech bubble were all  from my Greeting Card Factory programme.   I merged them together, gave it a white border and added some text which unfortunately is not showing up too well. I printed it off and then added it to a red card base. You also cannot see the glitter on his hat and shorts but it looks fine in real life.

Why not pop across to the blog and check out the funny offerings from my team mates?

I shall be back tomorrow with my Christmas Card Club  card.

Until then take care.

Moving Along With The Times - But I Didn't!!

Unfortunately I didn't  move quickly enough and I am two days late with my post! I have no excuse - I just forgot to post it.  I made my card a few weeks ago so I was well prepared!  My apologies to Mrs Duck, our host for this challenge and to Wendy, our long suffering leader at MAWTT!! My head is hung with shame!

My Card

Recipe

6" square white base card

Topper - from a carft magazine (many years ago!)

Violet card - stash

Yellow pearlescent card - Crafters Companion

Embossing folder Vintage Decor - Crafters Companion

Sentiment die - Sue Wilson

Star flower dies - John Next Door

Butterflies - punch 

This card was for my great niece who is missing her two cats now she has left home for uni. Hopefully this will make her smile seeing the kitten trying to catch the butterfly.

Hope you are all well and keeping warm.  We have certainly had some extremely cold weather in my part of Oxfordsire.  The wood burners are earning their keep!

Take care.

Christmas Card Club

Good morning and I hope you are all well. I think it has been quite an emotional and moving weekend commemorating the end of World War 1.  If only it actually had been the war to end all wars!

Today is my post for Rita's Christmas Card Club theme which was "Christmas Decorations or Gifts". A few weeks ago I made this table centre made up of kusudama flowers and realised I hadn't shown it so it was ideal for Rita's theme.  Sorry I'm a day late Rita! I've never been a real fan of origami but I do like how this turned out, and John is very impressed ... lol!

It would have been up earlier but I had to wait for some light in order to post it and then Blogger was playing up a bit and wouldn't let me post it.  I tried to tell Mr Blogger that I was already late for the second week running and to get a move on - he didn't listen!! Anyway, it gave me chance to say why it wasn't up first thing.

My Project

I used 30 sheets of 12 x12 papers from Sara's Signature Collection  "A Winter's Tale" pad and finished it off with pearl and diamante charms in the centre of each flower.  It took five flowers to make the table centre and as you can imagine it is pretty big!  I really like it though so I think I will do another smaller one, maybe 6" square, and double it to make a hanging ball. Still plenty of time before Christmas - although I have fallen well back with my Christmas cards.  

However, it was really quite annoying to find that the pages are not exactly a true square which means the fold wasn't precise and showed a little white from the reverse side along the edge.  It might not have been noticeable if the papers were double sided.  You might forgive that on a cheap pad, which this certainly wasn't, but what can you do?

Anyway, take care.

Remembrance

Good morning from a very wet Oxfordshire.  Today I should be posting my card for the Christmas Card Club but I have been so busy with our Festival of Remembrance that I haven't had time yet but I promise that I will do it soon Rita.

Since it is Remembrance Sunday I decided to post this instead and hope you find it of interest. Our Craft and Laugh Group at WI took it upon ourselves to decorate the church for this momentous occasion.  Since there are only about 13 of us we did a great job and made approximately 3,000 poppies.

I  made a plaque for each of the 23 men from the village who did not return from the Great War. If you are wondering why one of them has not got a rifle it is because we discovered that he was in the NCC - Non Combatant Corps.  He was a conscientious objector who was willing to serve his country but not prepared to kill and the NCC was established for these men who otherwise would have spent the war in prison. I also created nine posters of World War 1 poems using Sheena Douglass's Precious Poppies matching stamps and dies. They were coloured with Promarkers.

We hosted a coffee/tea/cake session for six hours yesterday and at times the church was so crowded you could barely move. It was supposed to be four hours but the visitors just kept coming. All proceeds will go the Royal British legion. I think we can safely say it was a success.  People have also been visiting the display all week and it will be open for another week so we are expecting more visitors.

I have many photographs on my Facebook page if you are interested to see what we produced.

I hope you enjoy the rest of the weekend and keep dry and warm.

I will be back in a day or two with my CCC card.

Take care.

Sympathy Calla LIlies

Good morning. Gosh it is so cold!  Makes you want to just stay indoors and keep warm.

This is one of those cards that you don't want to make and now I have three to make.  My brother in law died a couple of days ago.  It is so difficult for my two nephews because they only lost their mum, my beloved sister Jeanie, last year. What a lot for them to go through in such a short time.

This morning I heard that one of my WI friends lost her husband yesterday so that will be my third card to make.

My Card

 

Recipe

6" square base card - Rymans

Papers - Coosty Creations digi papers 

Sentiment die -Mini Sentiments  Creative Expressions

Edge punch - Fiskars

 

showing inside of card.

These papers are old stash but really lovely.  I used a couple of different ones to cover the front and then covered the inside too.  I digitally changed the size of the paper to form a topper and printed it onto card stock. I haven't used my edge punches for so long because we seem to automatically turn to dies these days.  However, I think I might be using them more now I have re-discovered them. A few pearls finished it and it was ready to give to my post man, who is good enough to collect my stamped mail for me.

I will show the others at a later stage.

Take care.

WInter Wonderland

Good morning.  This card is a day late I'm afraid.  What makes it worse is that I was the one who chose the theme! Unfortunately we had a family bereavement so I was unable toget it sorted until late yesterday afternoon.

My Card

 

Recipe

7" square base card - Anna Marie Designs

burgundy peralescent card - Crafters Companion

white card - Rymans 

Stamp - Petulama (Ancient stash!!)

Frosty Snowflake Corner die - Creative Expressions

Let It Snow die - Creative Expressions

Large trees - Memory Box

Smaller trees - Marianne Designs

Smaller snowflake die  - Hobbycraft

lashings of glitter

I stamped the image in black then used Pearl Plum embossing powder.  In real life it looks great because when the light catches it there is a lovely glimmer of the plum but in the picture it just looks black.  This is one of the very first stamps I bought - more years ago than I care to remember, but I love it still.

We were actually having some snow when I was making this card, but it didn't lay thank goodness.  Much too early for the white stuff.

Well that's all from me.

Take care.

Autumn Colours at IAAS

Hi

A very quick post today. This is my DT card for International Art and Soul.

I made this card a couple of weeks ago when I looked at the wrong challenge and so made the wrong card.  What am I like?

My Card

A very CAS card  and I quite like it.  I did notice after taking the photo that the pearl had dropped off the top corner.  It is now safely glued in place. I used the one and only piece of orange card in my stash. I found the topper and border on my Greeting Card Factory Deluxe and computer generated the greeting. The colours seemed to go well with a kraft base for a change.

Why not pop over to the blog and see what the rest of the team have made?

Take care.

Halloween for MAWTT

Good morning and I hope this finds you well. Yesterday seven of us from our Craft and Laugh Group at WI went to a workshop and did some block printing and fabric decoupage.  We had a great morning and my tea towel turned out quite well.  I will show it on another post.

Anyway,  today I am showing my DT card for MAWTT.  Amy is our host and wants to see Halloween cards.  I don't usually do Halloween but I thought I would do this one and send it to my great nephew. His big sister has just gone off to Uni and he is feeling a little low so I thought this might cheer him up a little.  His sister is five years older and  has always "mothered" him a wee bit.  I'm sure he will soon get used to it but every little helps- as one of the larger supermarkets says.

My Card

 

Apart from using a 6 inch square base card from Rymans everything else is computer generated. The graveyard image is from my Greeting Card Deluxe programme and then I added the text, bats, cat and spider web. I don't have any orange card so I added the border by computer graphics too.

We have had some lovely sunshine over the last couple of days but it has been rather chilly - but it is almost the end of October so definitely to be expected.

Please go across to the blog and see what my team mates have made for this challenge.

Take care.

Orange and Black for IAAS

Good morning.  This should have been posted yesterday!  When I got home late yesterday afternoon I discovered that although I scheduled the post it had failed to show. So much for my three posts in a row. Ugh!!!

Hi, this my third post in as many days. Wow!

Today it is time for International Art and Soul and the theme is to use  Orange and Black, as chosen by Chriss.  Unfortunately I really do not like orange and have no orange papers or anything.  I hope Chriss does not mind that I "watered down" her challenge and used a much paler version in my CAS card.

My Card

 

Recipe

6"square base card

digi  paper  from  my file (unknown origin)

Hello die - Creative Expressions

daisy - Woodware punch

black flowersoft for centres

black spotted ribbon - from stash

I am really getting  to quite like  CAS cards on occasion. I'm certainly not unhappy with this.

Why not pop over to the blog and see what my DT sisters have come up with for this challenge?

By the time you read this I will be on the way to Leicester to visit the Richard 111 Visitor Centre with our WI group.  This time husbands are coming so I'm sure we will all have a great day.

Hope you all enjoy your day too.

Take care.

 

Monochrome for Christmas Card Club

Good morning.  I'm a day early with this post because I need to post another DT card tomorrow. So this is day 2 of my 3 in a row; just like buses - none for ages then three together.

This time it is Kate's turn to choose the theme and her choice is monchrome colours.  I have chosen to use shades of teal.  When I saw this in the Winter Wonderland pad from Crafters Companion I loved it so I used is as the main part of the card. It didn't seem to need anything else so after adding the sentiment die I left it at that.

 Card # 1 - Kate

Recipe

7" square base card - Anna Marie 

Teal glitter card - Crafters Companion

2 different pearlescent card -LimeTree Craft

Main cardstock - "Winter Wonderland" pad Crafters Companion 

Sentiment die - Creative Expressions

Card # 2 - Rachel

Recipe
6" square base card
red card - Rymans
paper - Scandi Christmas from LOTV
sentiment die - Creative Expressions
Noble pierced squares - Creative Expressions
snowflake dies - X Cut

Two weeks ago I missed a challenge when Rachel asked us to use turkeys, sheep or camels so I have made a card now. Many apologies Rachel.  Loved the sheep wearing the Christmas hat so here it is.

Wow!  What a wild day it was yesterday.  I hope you are all safe and sound. 

We are off to Leicester tomorrow to the Richard 111 Exhibition and the cathedral so I think it will be an interesting visit.

Take care and enjoy your weekend.

Arctic or Antartic Animals in Winter Wonderland

This is going to be a quick post I'm afraid. It is my DT card for Winter Wonderland. Deanne is hosting the challenge and she has chosen Arctic/Antarctic animals.  

My Card

 

Recipe

6" square base card 

image - Cool Couple from Sheepski

papers - Lili of the Valley (old stash)

Frostyville Border die - Memory Box

Promarkers to colour

Why not pop across to the blog and see what my teamies have created and maybe you would like to join in the challenge too.

The weather is pretty wild here today so it is a day to be indoors and play catch up.  I have been very neglectful of my blog and my blog friends of late but we have a massive craft project going on with WI and it really is taking up all my time right now.  In a couple of weeks I should be back to normal.

Take care and I'll be back again tomorrow.

Not CAS - Layer It Up for IAAS

Good morning.  I am a day late with my DT card for International Art and Soul.  I did have my card ready on time however I had looked at the wrong challenge number so I had to make another one PDQ.  It does mean I will be on time in four weeks though - always a bonus as my lovely sister would have said.  She was ever the optimist!  My card does have plenty of layers to suit the theme of the challenge.

My Card

Recipe

6" square base 

lavender and cream double sided pearlescent card

window box die - Tonic Studios 

star flowers - John Next Door

star leaves - John Next Door

Oval Bliss die - Spellbinders

Etched Alphabet dies - Spellbinders

The second picture is taken at an odd angle to enable you to see the flowers and pearls behind. 

I was asked to make a special card and this is what I came up with so I hope they think it is special enough.

I'm having  a busy time at the moment with a huge craft project for WI so I'm not finding a great deal of time for my card making unfortunately.

Take care.

Autumn At MAWTT

Good afternoon friends and fellow bloggers.  I have been very remiss and totally forgot that I should have posted this card at 9 am.  Bad girl! Apologies to my fellow teamies at MAWTT

I don't know about autumn, we have the most glorious day and this morning when friends came for coffee we were sitting outside and getting very warm indeed.

My Card

Recipe

6" square base card

Stamp "Going  To Seed" - Woodware

 Kaleidocolour Rainbow Ink Pad "Autumn Leaves"

Sentiment - Ladybug Crafts (very old)
 Ribbon - from stash

I was going though some old stuff and came across this stamp which hasn't seen ink for a few years, and the rainbow pad is perfect for it.  I just added some Stickles (again not used for goodness know how long) in various colours to parts of the stamp, added a ribbon and job done!

Please pop over to the blog and check out what everybody has created.

Hope you are all enjoying the lovely weather too.

Take care.

Entering into:
Crafty Cardmakers
Crafty Gals Corner

Christmas Card Club

Good morning.  Another two weeks have rolled around and it's time for our little club to show their cards.  This time Mrs A chose the theme and she is looking to see either polar bears or teddy bears.  I'm still not feeling 100% and I haven't done any crafting but I didn't want to miss out.

My Card

 

Recipe

5" x 7" red base card

red and white cardstock for matting and layering - stash

image - Greeting Card Factory Deluxe 

poinsettia and leaf sprays - Creative Expressions

This card is made up entirely from stuff that was already in my stash.  I must have intended to use the card at some point and didn't, so it was all ready and waiting for topper.  That too had been printed off and just waiting to be used, as were the poinsettia set.  It was a very quick move to just add the topper and flower and here it is. And of course I added the obligatory glitter to Santa's jacket.  I  really love this image.  I will probably add a sentiment at some stage.

Hope you are all well but if not get well soon.  And I have just heard that a dear blog friend has just lost her husband very suddenly so healing thoughts and prayers wing their way to her and her family.

The Holly and the Ivy

Good morning.  Good morning and I hope you are all well.  I have to admit to feeling not so good this week because I was  diagnosed with shingles at the beginning of the week.  Fortunately I was able to have anti viral medication and am feeling much better than I was but not totally well.  Still, shouldn't be long hopefully.

Recently I spent a week at my nephew's house in north Yorkshire, near Richmond, dog sitting whilst they went off on holiday.  The weather was lovely and so it was a holiday for me too.  Originally John was coming with me but then he got engrossed in an engineering project so I decided I would go on my own.  In fact it meant I could go off and do my own thing without wondering if John would rather be doing something else.  I was able to visit and spend some time with  my brothers too.

I also visited the Crafter's Companion store in Newton Aycliffe and they had John Lockwood's Christmas collection in stock.  It would have been rude not to buy some of them wouldn't it? I hadn't intended to spend much time in the shop because I had Molly in the car and there wasn't much shade.  However, I hadn't realised they are a pet friendly store and encouraged me to bring Molly inside.  She absolutely loved it!  A huge space for her to wander and sniff (as dogs do!)  and everybody, both customers and staff, made a huge fuss of her.  She's a pretty little Yorkshire terrier who was actually my late sister's dog but Darren "adopted" her after his mum passed away last year. She was in her element and quite reluctant to leave.

My Card

Recipe

A5 base card -  green cardstock from stash
white cardstock - Anna Marie Designs
gold mirri card - Crafter's Companion
gold glitter card - Crafter's Companion
Poinsettia - JND stamps and die set.
Holly Ivy and frame - JND
Falling snow e/f - Creative Expressions

Very easily put together. Inked through the die and then added a little ink to to the leaves in the sentiment die. Unfortunately the photograph is not very good and none of the embossing shows up well.The small ivy sprays are very useful and don't overpower the card.  I have since changed the pearly centres of the poinsettias for larger ones which look much better.

We were hoping for more rain yesterday so that we could test out the new rainwater harvesting system John installed over the summer ( the project I talked about earlier) and check that all the pipes and valves were working okay and not leaking.  As soon as we know that it's okay the insulation can be added and it can be covered over ready for winter. Forecast was for rain, but we had about ten minutes of very light drizzly rain and that was it.

Well I hope you enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Take care.

Recycling

Good morning.  At International Art and Soul this fortnight our theme is "Recycling" or to "Use a non-craft item" on your project, something which would not normally be used in crafting.  I went for recycling.

My Project

 

My sister used to keep any embellishments from greeting cards she had received and those from family members and friends.  She would also keep the ribbon hanging loops from garments.  She kept them in this sweetie jar and when I would go up to visit I would bring the contents back and she would start again.  When she passed away last year I brought it home with me and kept meaning to do something with it.  This challenge has pushed me to do it.  Apart from the paper everything I used came from the jar - ribbon, lace and felt flowers.

Why not pop across to the blog and see what my teamies have come up with for this challenge?  We are a Just For Fun challenge but you can have one of our fun badges to display on your blog.

Hope you have been enjoying the extended good weather.

Take care.

Christmas Card Club

Good morning all.  Well the lovely weather has returned and I understand it will be around for a couple of weeks so we should make the most of it.

Zoe has chosen the theme this time and she wants to see Trees or Christmas Foliage.  However, I missed GranMargaret's challenge two weeks ago when her theme was Nativity so this time I have made a card for each of the themes, and I apologise for my tardiness.

Card # 1 for GranMargaret

 

Recipe 

6" square white base card

blue card - Jelly Bean Crafts

paper - LOTV Frosty Christmas

topper - Ruth Morehead

Frostyville Border - Memory Box

Noble Pierced Squares - Creative Expressions

silver glitter card - Crafter's Companion

sentiment - computer generated

Card # 2 for Zoe

 Recipe

5" x 7" white base card

green card stock form stash

image - LOTV Art Pad

backing paper - Glad |Tidings from Dovecraft

I kept this very simple because the backing paper is so busy, but it did match the image so well.

Well that's it from me but I do hope you have a good weekend and that you have some sunshine too.

Take care.

Gingham or Buttons for MAWTT

Good morning.  Time for another challenge at MAWTT for Team A.  Kaz wants to see gingham or buttons.  As you can see I have gone with gingham and instead of a card I have made a milk carton which contains a blue candle in a glass votive. Handy to have a little gift already prepared for when needed.

My Project

Recipe

gingham cardstock - old stash

diecuts - Parisian Motif (or maybe the accents) Spellbinders

leaf sprigs - foliage Spellbinders

blue roses - old stash

thistles - old stash

organza ribbon - Hobbycraft

As you can see I added embellishments to all four sides but not as elaborate as the front. It's quite a while since I did one of these and it is so quick and easy that I might prepare a few more to have on hand.

Why not pop across to the blog and check out what the rest of the team have made?

I cannot believe it's already Thursday!  Last time I looked it was only Sunday!!! Time flies when you're having fun ... lol!  😀😁  

Take care and I hope everyone is well.