Use a Bow at IAAS

 Good morning to you all. Well here is our final card at IAAS for 2020. The remit is to use  a bow. I hope the bow on the image will suffice.

 Please scroll down to previous post if you are looking for 

my Christmas Club Card

My Card

Recipe

6" square base card

red and white card stock - Hobbycraft

tartan backing paper - Dovecraft "Twelve Days of Christmas"

Image - Lili of the Valley "Festive Foliage" art pad

Spellbinders circle and scallop circle dies

Holly corner die - Cheery Lynn

Sentiment - computer generated.

 I used glossy accents on the bow and the berries and that was it.  A very simple card but quite effective  I think... and yet again another flat card.

Why not pop over to the blog and see what my team mates have made for this challenge?

Well that's it from me. Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Let There be Light

Good morning to you all and I hope this finds you fit and well.

Our Fearless leader, Margaret (who keeps us all on the straight and narrow and works so hard on our behalf) has chosen the theme for our Christmas Card Club challenge and she wants to see Christmas lights.  Now this can be any lights such as Christmas tree lights, lamp posts, candles, lanterns, lights shining through a window etc.  She has given us a really wide scope.

Card #1

Recipe

6" cream square base card - made from Crafts UK Ltd A3 card

aqua card stock to mat - Hobbycrafts

papers - Helz Cuppleditch Christmas Village paper pack
matching decoupage topper - Helz Cuppleditch

This paper pack includes papers, and strips of papers which match the toppers etc and that is what I have used to form the layer on my card.  There is also a separate pack of decoupage toppers. I have always put my decorative layer in the middle of the card but I saw Sam at Mixed Up Crafts do it this way and it actually leaves much more room for your toppers or verses etc. The backing paper is really glittery and looks great. If you haven't found Mixed Up Crafts yet you really should take a peek; she is terrific and does some wonderful videos.  I have made a few of her bags and boxes which I have yet to show but I'll get around to it soon.

Card # 2

 

Recipe

 4" x 6" base card

blue card stock- from stash

image - LOTV

lamp post die - Britannia dies

Pierced Noble rectangles - Sue Wilson

Sentiment die - Sue Wilson 

Falling Snow e/f - Sue Wilson

I think this more or less speaks for itself. This image is just so sweet.

Well that's it from me today. Hope you all enjoy the weekend.

Take care and happy crafting.

Christmas Card Club

Hello and I hope you are all keeping warm.  We had quite a bit of snow Friday afternoon and overnight so it made for quite a hairy trip for the newspaper.  We are very hilly here and there are two different routes to the next village which is about three miles away. The most direct route is the worst because it it up and down and twisty and twiny - and doesn't get gritted! The other route is a little further but they have a bus from that village and the bus route goes up that very steep hill so it is gritted.  No contest!  But I was glad to get back home!

This post is a full week late.  It is for the Christmas Card Club but last week was such a busy one I missed it!  To make up for it I have made three cards - and very helpful for my stash.  They are all fairly simple and flat because these will be posted.  The theme, chosen by Rachel, is Festive Foliage. I'm sorry to be so late but it was a great challenge Rachel.

My Cards

The first two are made using images from the LOTV Art Pads. The final one is made with an image from my Greeting Card Factory.  This one is very flat indeed - in fact one layer!  I have been experimenting adding different borders to make it look as if there are lots of layers.  I also added the greeting to the layer before printing it out.

Anyway, that's all from me.  Take care.

"Love Is In the Air" At A Brand New Challenge Blog

Good morning.  I hope you are all well. My followers  may remember that I was on the DT of OSAAT (One Stitch At A Time) for a few years and sadly it closed  its doors in November.  Boo hoo! However, we decided that we really didn't want to lose the friendship that had built up amongst the teamies so we got together and formed International Art &Soul, which is a Just For Fun challenge blog - no sponsors just a theme and a chance to claim a winner's banner for your blog. Jane, our coordinater, put in an ordinate amount of work to get the blog up and running, so many thanks to her! We really hope you will hop on over, check it out and maybe join in the fun.

Our first Challenge is Love Is In The Air and this can cover so much that I'm sure you'll be able to make a project to suit - anniversary, wedding, engagement, Valentine, the list is endless.

My Card

Recipe
6" square white base card
lavender pearlescent card - Crafter's Companion
backing papers - LOTV ancient stash
topper - LOTV
lace scrap  - from stash
border punch - X Cut
chipboard hearts - ancient stash

I have been clearing out my craft room so that John could put additional shelves in and hopefully make me a little tidier ... lol!  It's amazing how much stuff you find that you had totally forgotten about.  I also passed masses of stuff over to a friend who runs Rainbows - and there will be more I'm sure.  I'm going to be ruthless!!!

Anyway this cute little elephant and the chipboard hearts were found so I made use of them for this card. Isn't he adorable?

Well that's all from me today.  Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Baubles For Christmas Card Club

Good morning.  I am a couple of days late with my Christmas Card Club entry this week, and usually I am a day early.  My excuse, well it's a reason not an excuse, is that my nephew and his children were here for five days and I did no crafting while they were here.  But we did have a super time.

This time Margaret has asked us to use baubles on our cards - very Christmas-y.

My Cards

Recipe

5 x 7" base card

green card stock from stash

Frosty Swirls embossing folder - Creative Expressions

Noble Double Pierced Rectangles - Creative Expressions

Baubles image - LOTV

Sentiment stamp - not sure which company

Recipe

5 x 7" base card

red and silver card from stash

Snowflake Lattice embossing folder - Creative Expressions

Precious Ornaments dies - Memory Box

Baubles brass stencil - Sweet Poppy

sentiment - computer generated

red gems - Hobbycraft

Both cards very easy to put together. I hadn't planned on two cards but after making the first one I found the silver glittered stencils in my snippets box already mounted on silver mirri so I decided to have a go at another card.  Not a roaring success but not too bad.

Hope all is well with you. Take care.

Traditional Colours for the Christmas Card Club

Good morning. Well these two weeks have gone by again and this time it is my turn to choose the theme for our little group.  I decided on Traditional Colours because if given the choice I generally go for non-trad, yet whenever I use reds and greens I always think how festive they look.  This is not due until Sunday but as you know I post a day early because I have another DT card to post on Sunday.  I don't blog frequently enough to post two on the same day!

My Card

Recipe

6" square base card

red and white card stock - Hobbycraft

tartan backing paper - Dovecraft "Twelve Days of Christmas"

Image - Lili of the Valley "Festive Foliage" art pad

Holly corner die - Cheery Lyn

Sentiment - computer generated.

Please check back tomorrow and see what my CCC pals have come up with.  You will find their blog addresses in my right side bar.

Hope you are all enjoying the weather.  Yesterday was a wee bit cooler thankfully, although still hot, but it made me a bit happier.  Although I still left going out to cut the grass until qute late in the evening.

Well that's it from me for today.  Take care.

Entered into:
12 Months of Christmas # 19
Cute Card Thursday # 435
Fussy and Fancy # 168
CHNC #21

Carol Singers

Good morning.  It's time for another challenge at Winter Wonderland and the theme, chosen by Kath, is "Carol Singers".  We also have an alternative theme which is "Make a Scene", so you can use either theme or maybe, if you are adventurous, you could combine the two.

Please remember that we accept only Christmas Cards.

My Card

Recipe

6" square base card - Hobbycraft card stock

red card - Rymans

Image - Lili of the Valley

Seasonal Music e/f - Embossalicious

Virtuoso Music Die - Memory Box
Sentiment - computer generated

Our sponsors for this challenge are "Bunny Zoe's" who are offering £10 prize for the winner and they are also in the process of closing down so why not hop over and see what is happening over there and take advantage of the discount offer.

 Our second sponsor is A Random Fan who are also offering a £10 prize.

Please pop across to the blog and see the inspiration from the rest of the Snowflake team and maybe you will decide to  join in with us.

Take care and have a good day.

Entered into:
CCYR July - Anything Goes
12 Months of Christmas 19
ABC - No Rules
Christmas Card Challenges 32

Christmas Card Club - Snowmen

My goodness these two weeks seem to come round so quickly!  Well it's the weekend so naturally it is raining but just that horrible drizzle - "sea fret" as we called it in the north east.  I would much rather have a good old downpour.  Hope you are all fit and well.

My goodness these two weeks seem to come round so quickly! This card is not due until tomorrow but I have another card topost then so su usual I am posing a day early.  Lorraine has chosen our theme this week and it is snowmen.

My Card

My Card

6 inch square kraft base card - Anna Marie Designs

backing paper - "Handmade Holiday" by Simple Stories

Image - Lili of the Valley topper

sentiment stamp - unsureof make I'm afraid

gems from stash

I really like this backing paper which actually I felt didn't need anything adding to it apart from the gems.  A very simple, flat card.  My purse will appreciate all these flat cards when it comes time tobuy the stamps!!

Well that's all for today.

Entered into :
Pink Gem - Let's Get Krafty
Sparkles - Snowflakes
ABC  - No Rules
12 Months of Christmas #19

A Christmas Tree For Winter Wonderland

Good morning.  After a rainy start to the day it came out nicely so we went off to visit  a National Trust property, Buscote Park in Faringdon. The house was fine, but the gardens and park were absolutely fantastic and we had a wonderful time wandering the grounds. It is only open between 2pm and 6pm and we could have spent the four hours in the gardens and probably not covered it all.  Another visit is due I think.

Pat is the host for this week's challenge.  We now have two themes each time so you can choose "Let's See a Christmas Tree" or "Make It Cute". Of course you could also combine the two.

My Card

Recipe

6" square card base - Rymans card

green pearlescent card - Pennies Worth

Pierced Noble Rectangles - Creative Expressions

tartan backing paper - Dovecraft 12 Days of Christmas

Christmas Tree topper - LOTVArt Pad

ribbon and pearls from stash

Please pop over to the blog and see the inspiration from the design team. We have two generous sponsors this week.

Di's Digital Stamps ,  offering the winner a $12 voucher to use in store

And  The Craft Barn who have a £10 voucher for the lucky winner.

Well the weekend is almost upon us again and I will be back both days with more cards.  Four in a row!!  A record for me.

Take care.

Wedding Couple

Good morning, and it looks quite bright out there this morning.  Yesterday was pretty good too - certainly made a change from all the rain over the last week.  But at least my wells will be full - always a bonus, as my sister says! (If you are new to my blog our place is isolated and we are not on the mains for water or sewage so rely totally on rainfall!)

I have a few wedding cards to make over the next couple of weeks so here is the first.

My Card

Recipe

5" x 7" base card - Crafters Companion pearlescent card stock

Lilac card - Hobbycraft

Tied Together e/f - Couture Creations

Topper - Lili of the Valley

Sentiment - freebie from Netties Cards

Pearl sprays - Hobbycrafts

ribbon - from stash

I have had the topper for many years and it is so cute. It was when LOTV did a sheet with various sizes.  I always thought the tiny ones were useless and ended up with all those left over, so I was pleased when they changed the format - but far from pleased when they withdrew them altogether!!!

Well that's all from me today.  John has a dental appointment in town so I might tag along for the ride and have a "mooch" around the shops, not something I do often.

Hope this finds you all well.  Take care.

PS I obviously spoke too soon - it has started raining!!

MAWTT - MAN OR BOY

Good morning.  Thanks for dropping by today.  Hope you are all well.  Before I go on to my post for today I just want to say a few words about my wonderful parents.  Today they would have  been celebrating their 90th birthdays - rather unusual to have exactly the same date of birth.  They met the day they  started primary school and the rest, as they say, is history. So together with mum's twin brother I think the three of them will be having a wonderful party up in heaven! I wish they were here to be able to celebrate with them!

Today it is time for another challenge at Moving Along With The Times. The theme is man or boy and was chosen by Wendy who is our leader and also our host this time.

My Card

Recipe

6" square Kraft card base - Hobbycraft

Navy pearlescent card stock - Brothersleep

Image  - LOTV Art Pad "Vintage Boys"

DSP - LOTV Paper Pad "Father Knows Best"

Banner Die - Joanna Sheen Signature die

Hessian - from stash

Card Candi - Craftwork Cards

Sentiment - computer generated

I made a right hash of this! It all came together so easily and it was made in no time.  Then I tried to open it!!! - I had only attached everything upside down!  Grrr!  The only thing I could do was cut off the back and then add a hinge to make a tent fold card.  What a wally!

Please pop across to the blog and see what the rest of the design team have come up with. Perhaps you will be inspired us to join us!

Take care.

Entered into :
Stamps and fun = creativity
Color Throwdown

Little Red Wagon

Spring Birdhouses

Good morning.  I hope that you had the same wonderful weather yesterday that we did in Oxfordshire.  Spring is definitely on the way.  So different from Wednesday when we had over night torrential rain Tuesday night; so much so that the roads were very badly flooded and I wasn't able to drive into town.  I got through some of the flooded areas but eventually I had to give up and go back. At one point there were two fire engines trying to pump the water away.  And then yesterday it was beautiful.  Crazy British weather!!!!

My Card

Recipe

5x7" base card
yellow card - from stash
white card - Rymans
embossing folder - Couture Creations "Petal Pleasures
 Noble Rectangles  die- Sue Wilson
Fancy Tags die - Spellbinders
Birdhouse Topper - Lili of the Valley Art Pad
pearls from stash

I found this LOTV art pad in the drawer (not that it was lost!) and since it was so spring-like yesterday I decided to use this image. The daffodils are out and the birds have been very busy so it seemed very appropriate.

Hope this finds you all well. Take care!

Entered into:

Allsorts Challenge Spring is in the Air

CRAFT Spring/Easter

LOTV FB Spring challenge
Craft Your Passion Anything Goes
Cuttlebug Mania Spring

Moving Along With The Times .... Use Both Hat And Scarf

Good morning. I am very excited today because this is my first day on the DT for Moving Along With The Times.   Today's challenge was set by Janice and she asked us to include both a hat and a scarf..  The only images I could find with both of these were Christmas images so I was forced to make a Christmas card ... lol!  I just love making Christmas cards so I was in my element.

My Card

Recipe

Red card stock - Christmas Red from Lime Tree Crafts

Backing Papers - "Woodland Wishes"  Lili Of The Valley

Image - Christmas Art Pads "Tis The Season" LOTV

Poinsettia - Brittania Dies 

Corner Accent - Spellbinders Parisian Accents

Lace, Ribbon, Pearls - from stash

I made a 6 inch square card base from the Lime Tree card and I also used the same card to mat the image and green paper and die cut the corner accent. In the photograph it looks more pillar box red when in fact it is darker and richer. I cut the sentiment from a scrap of paper in my bit box because the colours matched everything so well. After adding the lace, ribbon and pearls all I needed to do was add some glitter to her outfit and job done!

Please pop over to MAWTT  and check out what the rest of the DT have come up with.

Take care.

Christmas Card Club # 14 Christmas Trees

Good morning and thank you for dropping by today.  I am posting my card for the Christmas Card Club a day early because I have a DT card for tomorrow.  I don't post often enough to have two in one day.  I can't believe how long it has been since I lst posted.  So sorry, but so much is going on here.

The theme of Christmas trees was chosen by GranMargaret.  I have only one main tree image on my card but I hope the two Christmas tree brads will count ... lol!

My Card

Ingredients

6" x 6" base card

burgundy card stock - my stash

striped paper - Handmade Holiday from Simple Stories

Christmas tree topper Lili of the Valley

gree glitter  paper - stash

Christmas trees brads - ancient stash!!

A really simple card today and very flat, so ideal for posting!

Hope this finds you all well and enjoying some good weather.  If you are feeling a little unwell then I hope you are soon felling tickety boo - as Mrs Duck is wont to say!!

Take care.

Christmas Card Club # 11 - Gifts

Good morning friends and fellow bloggers.  Thanks for dropping by again today.  I cannot believe that another two weeks have gone and it is time for another card for our little group.This time it was Zoe's turn to choose and she asked us to make a card with gifts.  Now that seems fairly simple you would have thought.  How wrong can you be!  I have been right through my stock of Christmas stamps - fairly considerable- and my Christmas digi images and found nothing.  Fortunately I remembered my LOTV coloured Art Pad and found this image which has some Christmas presents on, and a sentiment stamp with some gifts on too.  Phew!  Saved!

My Card

Recipe

6 inch square white card base

Backing papers - Papermania "Home for Christmas" 

Sentiment stamp - Little Claire's  Christmas Sentiments

Flowers and leaves from my stash box - Brittania roses and rose leaves

Pearls from Stash 

I just needed to add some glitter and it was done.  So that's another one for my steadily growing Christmas card stash.  If you would like to see what the rest of the girls have made you will find their links in my right side bar.

Well it looks as if we might have a reasonable Bank Holiday weekend - I said that very quietly ..... JIC!!! Hope you all have a good time whatever you have planned.

Entered into:

http://christmascardchallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/challenge-25-anything-goes.html

Christmas Card Club # 7 - Feature A Creature

Good morning , although it's perhaps not so good really.  Where has spring gone? It's the first day of British Summertime and it's like winter.  I think the north of England and Scotland are forecast to have it pretty rough unfortunately. The right weather to be showing a Christmas card ... lol!

Well Maureen chose our topic today and as you can see, she asked us to use a "critter", or more than one, on our card this time.  I have a polar bear and a baby penguin in my image.  I am trying to keep the majority of my Christmas cards flat and so everything is glued down and nothing raised on foam tape.

My Card

Recipe

15 cms square base card - Rymans

Dark blue card - very old from my stash

Snowflake Lattice e/f - Creative Expressions

Starburst Die - Joanna Sheen Signature die

Decorative Labels One - Spellbinders 

Image - LOTV topper

Star gems - very old from my stash

A very easy card because if I am to be perfectly honest the days ran away with me and I had to make this very quickly last night. Photo taken with flash because it was late and dark, so not the best but I'm sure you get the idea.

Take card and enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Christmas Card Club # 26 Non Traditional Colours.

Good morning everybody.  Well this our final card for this year - but we will be starting  all over again in the new year.  This time it  was GranMargaret's turn to choose and as you can see her choice was to use non-traditional colours on our cards.

My Card

My card uses pink and grey which certainly qualifies for non traditional colours.  The papers are extremely old stash from Papermania, I think, but they were in my bits box so I may be wrong.

Recipe

Topper - Lili Of The Valley

Poinsettias - Old stash

Diecuts - Spellbinders

Sentiment - computer generated.

The poinsettias originally had yellow stamens at the centre which I removed and replaced with pink glitter. A nice and easy card which is actually pretty flat so I think it will be okay for posting.

Have a great weekend everybody.

Christmas Card Club # 21 - Carol Singers

Good afternoon to you all. This post is not due until tomorrow but my OSAAT DT card is due then.  I don't like to make two posts on the same day and I'm sure my CCC friends don't mind this.

It was my dear friend Sue P's turn to choose the theme this time, and as you can see her choice was to have Carol Singers.

I am very cross with myself because I have a stamp of Carol Singers - but could I find the blessed thing!! I settled for this very sweet LOTV topper - and as soon as I had finished the card I found my stamp!  Grrrr!! Still that means I need to make another card to feature this stamp now!  The holly and ivy die cuts are from some pale green glitter card from my stash and are a lot more sparkly in real life. I chopped them up to spread them around more evenly. I  used Glamour Dust on the fur and the snow in the image and some soft gold glitter for the lamp. 

Recipe

Image - Lily of the Valley

Papers - Hot Off The Press

Sentiment - Hot off the press

Pearls - Hobby House

Ivy Corner - Signature Dies from Joanna Sheen

Holly corners - Cheery Lynn

Well  we now have our phone and broadband problems resolved and so hopefully I will be back to more frequent blogging soon. Hope everybody is well. We are enjoying a little sunshine at the moment after pouring rain all morning.

Take care!

CCC #16 Sylvie's Theme - Tree/s

Good morning.  I am here with another card for our little Christmas Card Club. It was Sylvie's choice this time and she wanted to see trees somewhere on our cards.  If you would like to see what the other girls made with trees you will find their links on my side bar.

My Card

Click on image  to  enlarge

 My card is 6" x 6".   The backing papers are from Me To You "Winter Wonderland"  which I have had for a few years and now am starting to use up some old stash.  (I'm not being as good as ScrappyMo but I am trying - some  might say very trying ... lol!)   Another LOTV topper from a couple of years ago.   I die cut the tree with Dees Distinctively A Cut Above  (what a mouthful that is!) and used glitter card - yet more very old stash.   The sentiment circle is from Craftwork Cards and  the pearls are from my stash.  It's flat enough for posting I think so I stopped myself from adding too much in the way of embellishments.

Sorry I'm not managing to do much blogging or crafting lately.  One of these days things might get back to some form of normality.  Hope you are all keeping well, and thank you for dropping by today.

More Angels

Good morning.  We had a fabulous day at the Steam Rally yesterday.  After two days of solid rain the sun was shining and it was really warm.  I thought the field might be muddy or soggy but everything was really dry so we had a great day. Rode the Ferris Wheel, ate candy floss which I haven't had for years (I'd forgotten just how sweet it was!!) and even bought a lovely leather bag at one of the stalls. We left early enough to beat the crowds so we didn't have to queue for hours to get out, yet still managed to do everything we wanted to do.

If you tuned in  yesterday these are the cards I was talking about.  If not - a quick explanation. I misplaced the stamp I wanted to use for my card yesterday and had to do something else instead - then I found the stamp so I started again!!  Still, they have boosted my Christmas Card stash.  I am doing quite well and have actually got 52 cards ready now.

My Cards

click image  to  enlarge  picture

My card bases are 15 cms square and I used ready made cards from Ryman.  I usually make my own card bases from 300 gsm card stock but for Christmas cards I think these Ryman cards are pretty good value and sturdy enough to stand up.

I decided to use up old stash for my cards.  I made both cards the same but changed the topper and backing papers.  I used LOTV toppers that I have had for quite a few years. The blue paper is Dovecraft "Winter Wonderland", the green paper is Papermania "Traditional Christmas" and both have been in my stash for years.  I used Memory Box "Frostyville Border" and "Snowflake  Corner" to cut the glitter card, which again I have had for about five years.  So I am pretty pleased with myself for using up so much of the old stash.

Hope this finds you all well and ready to face the week ahead. Take care.

Entered into:
http://suzysmarty1.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/completely-christmas-challenge-18.html
http://christmascardchallenges.blogspot.pt/2014/06/christmas-card-challenges-31-anything.html