Butterfly Corners

I decided to make a card with no sentiment today in my favourite colours of purple and white, just using die-cuts.

The butterfly corners are Nellie's D.Dies.  The three circles are from the Spellbinders 'Delightful Circles' set, each one attached with foam pads to give dimension. The little butterfly was cut and embossed with a SU Embosslits 'Beautiful Wings'. 

I would like to enter my card for the following challenges:

Butterfly Challenge #27 ~ Butterflies + C is for Corners

Allsorts Challenge - Week 304 ~ Feature a creature

Let It Snow.....

 Another Christmas card, just in time for the March Rudolph Days Challenge.  Just playing there for fun this month, as I already have the fabulous die for the winner. You never know.....I might have all my cards for Christmas 2015 made by September!

The stamp is an unused Anita's stamp I've had for absolutely ages.  I'm not sure why I've never used it before, because it is really cute.  It's quite a large stamp, so I used a 7" x 5" card blank.  I coloured the image with Promarkers and added tiny spots of Glossy Accents to the stamped snowflakes to give them a bit of texture.  The patterned paper is from a Lili of the Valley paper pad 'Frosty Christmas'.  Three punched snowflakes used up a little white card snippet to finish off my card.

I would like to enter my card for the following challenges:

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 170 ~ Used white snippet 

Suzy Bee's Bloomin' Challenge ~ Anything Goes With A Twist - Add A Sentiment
Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper March 2015 challenge
CHNC Challenge 222 ~ Stick it any which way you like

NBUS Challenge #4! ~ Used NBUS snowman stamp

A Black Cat For Good Luck

I told myself that I have enough embossing folders, but when I saw this one, I knew it would be perfect for a 'Good Luck' card I need this week.  Can you ever have too many embossing folders?

 I started with a 7" x 5" card blank. The embossing folder is 'Pawprint Lattice' by Sue Wilson.  I think it must be fairly new as I've not seen it before. There is no name on paw print border punch, so I don't know who makes it.  I bought it years ago in a fabulous little craft shop when I was on holiday in Holland.  I used another NBUS item - a Woodware paw punch on the sentiment strip.  This is a punch I've had for a long time!   I used a Sizzix die for the black cat.

This shows the card open.  I cut 1" off the right hand side of the front of the card and attached the punched border to the back inside edge.  You can see the lovely embossing clearer on this photo.

I would like to enter my card for the following challenges:

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 170 ~ Used black snippets

Allsorts Challenge - Week 304 ~ Feature a creature

Suzy Bee's Bloomin' Challenge ~ Anything Goes With A Twist - Add A Sentiment
Country View Crafts Challenge ~ Anything Goes

NBUS Challenge #4! ~ Used NBUS embossing folder and paw punch

Rabbit down the hole.....

Welcome to my latest follower, Kitty.  Thank you for following my blog.  You can see Kitty's gorgeous creations HERE.  Kitty has some lovely blog candy to give away to celebrate 250 followers, so pop over to her blog before the end of March to have a peek.

My great-niece will be four years old next weekend.  As she loves rabbits, I thought I'd make her a fun rabbit themed birthday card.  It also seemed appropriate to include rabbits as  her birthday is on Easter weekend. I remembered seeing several cards on Pinterest a while ago, with a rabbit going down a hole, like this one:  http://alacards.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/some-easter-cutness.html, so I designed my card to incorporate the rabbit disappearing through the card.  I wanted the rabbit to look like he is disappearing down a hole in a grassy bank.

This is what the card looks like from the inside.

I used a variety of punches and dies. 

I would like to enter my card for the following challenges:

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 170 ~ Use snippets
Allsorts Challenge - Week 304 ~ Feature a creature
Suzy Bee's Bloomin' Challenge ~ Anything Goes With A Twist - Add A Sentiment
Country View Crafts Challenge ~ Anything Goes
Seize the Birthday ~ Anything Goes

Back in my craft room....

WARNING!  A long post today, so feel free to jump straight to my card at the bottom!

What a busy week!  It's nine days since I last had time to post on my blog.  First a trip to the Gower in Wales for a few days with a group of friends, for lots of walking and to see incredible views along the coast like this....

Now... I don't usually take photos in the Ladies toilets (restrooms), but when I saw these quotes stencilled on the wall above the sinks in the pub where we stopped at for lunch, I couldn't resist getting out my camera!

Back home on Monday and on Tuesday evening a group of seven non-crafty friends came round to my house for a cardmaking workshop I organised, plus my crafty friend Ruth to give me a hand, to raise more money for the PSP Association.  I supplied all the materials and homemade refreshments, and they all got to make several cards for a small donation.  What a fun evening it turned out to be, with lots of chatting and laughter.  I made the sample designs and basic card kits, but they experimented with different colours and embellishments.  The excitement some of them got using a paper punch for the first time made me chuckle! 

....and the lovely thing is.... in a couple of weeks time, I get to do it all over again with another group of friends.  
What's the best way to raise money for charity - run the London Marathon like DH or organise craft evenings like this?  Now let me think..... I'll never run a marathon! LOL!!

Yesterday I thought I had a free day to do some crafting, but a last minute call to cover an absent teacher in a local school changed my plans.  Normally it would have been a fairly relaxed day teaching five and six year olds, but arriving at school at 7.20am because Ofsted inspectors were in all day, I was shattered by the time I got home. So, today is a 'me' day and here is the first card I made this morning, for a friend's birthday tomorrow.

I die-cut the panel on the left using a NBUS  Memory Box 'Lucienne' die. The punched flower and flower pot are attached with foam pad to raise them up.

I would like to enter my card for the following challenges:

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 169 ~ Used all snippets except for the base card

NBUS Challenge #4! ~ Used new Lucienne die

Bowls

An 80th Birthday card is needed this week for DH's auntie.  She has played lawn bowls for years, so this digi stamp image from Just Inklined is just perfect for her.  I chose it as part of a prize over on the Butterfly Challenge blog.

The patterned paper is from a Papermania paper stack.  The image was coloured in with Promarkers.  The green ribbon across the bottom looked a bit plain, so I added black pearls to match the black bowl.  Two layers of die cut grass and a punched pink flower finished off my card.

I would like to enter my card for the following challenges:

 Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 168 ~ Used green and pink snippets

Suzy Bee's Blooming Challenge #71 ~ Anything Goes with a twist ... spots and/or stripes

Country View Crafts Challenge ~ Anything Goes

Bizzy Becs March Challenge ~ Anything Goes

Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper March 2015 challenge

Craft Fair

I'm home now after a successful day at the craft fair. It wasn't as busy as last year,  but I still raised a good amount to add to my fundraising pot for the PSP Association.  I'm glad I made extra cards for Mother's day tomorrow - I was surprised how many people had left it until the last minute to buy a card!

Sleeping....

One last card today, before I blitz my craft room.  

Usually I make baby cards in pink or blue, but I decided to have a change and I chose soft yellow and green this time.  The image and sentiment are Lili of the Valley stamps, although the sentiment and image are from different sets.  The embossing folder I used is by Crafts Too - 'Babies Feet'.

I would like to enter my card for the following challenges:
Less is More Colour Challenge ~ Use yellow and green
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge ~ B is for....... (baby)
Bizzy Becs March Challenge ~ Anything Goes

Another day......and another butterfly!

Welcome to my latest follower, Shaz.  Please visit her blog Calligraphy Cards - Shaz in Oz for lots of inspiration.

Unlike my DH, I'm never likely to run a marathon!  Instead, I'd rather be crafting and selling my cards to raise money for charity...... much more fun!  So I've had a production line going this week, mass producing some extra cards to add to my stock.  I've made over thirty more cards this week, including some like the ones HERE but in different colours.

  

Today's cards have butterflies on again.

As I've got a table at a craft fair on Saturday, the day before Mother's Day in the UK, I've made a few especially for Mums.  This time I've used an X-cut embossing folder that I picked up in a sale a while ago. I've used gold metallic thread wound round a die cut circle shape.  The SU punched butterfly is double layered to make the wings stand out

Here are some of the cards I made using different colours. Hopefully I will have lots of customers on Saturday and all the money I take will be added to the London Marathon sponsorship money Alan raises for the PSP Association (Progressive Supranuclear Palsy Association).  All the coloured card used was snippets, so I'll be off to share my cards in the Playground.

I would like to enter my card for the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamps Wednesday Challenge ~ Things That Fly

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 167 ~ Use snippets 

Country View Challenges ~ Anything Goes

Bizzy Becs March Challenge ~ Anything Goes

Butterflies

A butterfly card to share today.

The embossing folder is a Cuttlebug one.  From memory, it was part of a set of four, but a lovely little shop in Devon used to split the packs and sell them individually.  I added tiny pearls at the end of each of the butterfly trails.  The die-cut butterfly is part of the Spellbinders set of dies - 'Les Papillions'. 

I would like to enter my card for the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamps Monday Challenge ~ B is for........... (butterflies)

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 167 ~ Used purple snippets 
Country View Challenges ~ Anything Goes
Bizzy Becs March Challenge ~ Anything Goes

Dandelions

Another inky day today, playing with one of my masks. 

 For the background I used Adirondack inks - Red Pepper, Sunshine Yellow and Sunset Orange and the background card was matted on orange and then attached to a black card blank. The Dandelion stamps are by Lavinia and I finished off the card with three black gems.  

I would like to enter my card for the following challenges:
Lavinia Stamps Challenge # 3 ~ Add Some Gems 

Lisa B Designs ~ Inked Background Techniques
Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 167 ~ Used orange snippets for matting
Country View Challenges ~ Anything Goes

Attitude!

A second post today showing the same embossing folder as the last card HERE, but inked on the reverse, showing the different effect you get.  I used a brayer again, after the white card was embossed, using a Adirondack Purple Twilight inkpad.  As the embossed pattern is so small, I got the best result by embossing the card first and then inking the card with the brayer.  The embossing folder I used is SU 'Square Lattice'. 

This has to be my favourite rubber stamp of all time.  I bought it years ago and it still makes me smile every time I use it.  I bought it originally to make a birthday card for my daughter when she was just a teenager - it was very appropriate at the time. :-)  The image was coloured in with Stardust pens, giving it a bit of sparkle, and a skin tone Promarker for the face.

I would like to enter my card for the following challenges:

Lisa B Designs ~ Inked Background Techniques
Simon Says Stamps - Wednesday Challenge ~ Special Lady/Girly

Cute Dragon

I was lucky enough to win some digi stamps from Just Inklined over on Butterfly Challenge.  I just couldn't resist this dragon digi stamp!

The background was made by embossing a piece of white card with an SU 'Square Lattice' embossing folder.  I used a brayer to ink the embossed card with an Adirondack green 'Meadow' inkpad.  It is so easy to ink this embossed design and works just as well on the reverse to give a totally different effect.  The image was coloured in with Promarkers and I added two red Card Candi to pick out the colour of the heart.

Edited to add a link to a card made with embossed card inked on the reverse.  You can see it HERE.

I would like to enter my card for the following challenges:

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 166 ~ Used green and white snippets

Country View Challenges ~ Anything Goes

Simon Says Monday Challenge - Green

Sparkles Monthly Challenge #65 ~ One for the Boys

Seize the Birthday Challenge ~ Optional topping - 'Masculine'

Penny Farthing

I was unexpectedly working most of last week, so I'm trying to catch up on the cards I need to make.  I need a masculine 80th birthday card this week and this is what I came up with.

As the Anna Marie Designs backing paper is quite busy, I kept the rest of the design quite simple. The penny farthing is die cut using silver mirror card and the sentiment is computer generated.  

I would like to enter my card for the following challenges:

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 166 ~ Used silver snippet

Sparkles Monthly Challenge #65 ~ One for the Boys

Crafty Catz Challenge #268 ~ Use your dies and punches

Country View Challenges ~ Anything Goes

Seize the Birthday Challenge ~ Optional topping - 'Masculine'

Two More Sympathy Cards

Two more sympathy cards to make today, both for the same person, one from us and one from someone else, so I made them totally different.  A week or so ago, I was making making a 90th birthday card for a lovely lady and now I'm making her a sympathy card, following the sad death of her husband.

 The Butterfly Challenge #25 is Butterflies + H is for Hexagons.  I had been planning a design using this hexagon embossing folder and paper for a birthday card, but the muted colours on the paper seemed perfect for a sympathy card.  I added a butterfly which I double layered, embossing the top butterfly.

For the second card I made this CAS card.  I love this embossing folder as it can be used portrait or landscape.  The die cut sentiment is matted twice and attached with foam pads.  As I've made mini punched flowers,  I'll share my card over on the CASology Challenge blog, where the theme is 'mini'.  I used snippets for the flowers, so I'll also share this card over on Pixie's Snippets Playground.  The Crafty Catz Challenge #268 is 'Use dies/punches'. I've used both on this card, so I'll share my card there too.