Created by Gilby

My nine year old great nephew, Gilby, goes to school a couple of miles away from where we keep our touring caravan and it's always lovely to see him.  Earlier this week he came up to the caravan for a few hours after school.  As it was so hot, he wanted to spend some time inside making something.  I suggested he might like to make a card for his Dad who is celebrating his birthday today and this is what he came up with, using my limited supplies in the caravan and confidently using my Big Shot and guillotine. 

Gilby's Dad supports a football team who wear red and white, so this was the theme for his card.   He definitely didn't want any blue on the card!!  Gilby looked through my dies and found a football one, which he used with black card and mounted the football on a Memory Box 'Stitched Square' die cut.  I happened to have a Crafts Too 'Football' embossing folder with me and he used this for the background.  The sentiment was computer generated.  We found some suitable black alphabet peeloffs and he added the word 'DAD'.  Gilby asked to see my blog as he knows I like to join in challenges, so I told him that I'd add a photo of his super card to my blog and let him read any comments left on the post.  So if you're reading this, it would be lovely if you could spare a minute to leave a comment to let Gilby know what you think of his card.  😊  I hope it's okay to share his card over in the Playground as Gilby made it entirely with snippets, except for the card blank.

Pastel Colours

What a change in the weather!  Last week we were turning on the heating and this week we are looking for shade to cool down.  It's just the sort of weather to have a short break in beautiful North Devon.  I packed some card, a few dies, patterned papers and crochet cotton to take to our caravan so I could make a card to join in a few challenges..... in the shade! 

I used a Marianne Designs cross-stitch die with thick white card and cut it into a square with a Spellbinders Nestability die.   I used crochet cotton for the cross stitching, using a pattern I adapted to fit the  and matted the completed cross stitch pattern onto a pink Spellbinders 'Lacey Square' die cut.  The dotty paper is from a Dovecraft paper pad.

I am joining in the following challenges:

Allsorts Challenge Week 525 ~ Soft Pastels

Crafty Gals Challenge #194 ~ Polka Dots and/or Stripes

Mod Squad Challenge ~ Use A Flower
Little Red Wagon Challenge # 503 - Much Ado About Nothing!
Pixie's Snippets Playground Challenge #355 ~ Pink card, white square and patterned paper were all snippets
Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper June 2019 Challenge
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge ~ Anything Goes
Scribbles Designs Challenge #78 ~ Make it Square

Christmas in June

A Christmas card today, which I'll probably batch make as it was a fairly quick and easy design to make. 

The embossing was done with an Apple Blossom 'Merry Christmas' e/f.  The sentiment is from a Stampin' Up 'Half Full' set of stamps and I used Stampin' Up oval and scalloped oval punches for the sentiment.

Here is the inside of the card - more stamps from the same Stampin' Up set.  The image was coloured with Promarkers.

I am joining in the following challenges:

Rudolph June Challenge ~ Anything Christmas

HLS June Christmas Challenge ~ Anything Goes + Opt Non-Traditional

Sparkles Monthly Challenge Challenge #117 ~ No Patterned Paper

Fab 'n' Funky Challenge #445 ~ Christmas

Time Out Challenge #138 ~ Funny

Last Sunday I spent a lovely afternoon at a cardmaking workshop with a few friends, which included a delicious cream tea.  Here are the cards I made.

Butterfly Challenge

Welcome to my two new followers, thank you for joining me.  I can only see the name of one, Pat Kuzenco.  If you both leave me a comment with a link to your blog, I can return the favour.

The Butterfly Challenge has reached the letter 'G'.  I've managed to incorporate all seven elements in my card.....Gold/Granny Smith/Gun Metal/Gems/Gingham + a Butterfly + Gatefold card.

I covered the front of the gatefold card base with gold, pearlised paper.  The gingham paper was snippets left over from a previous Stampin' Up project.  I used a piece of a double sided adhesive sheet to stick a piece of the gold, pearlised paper to a stiff piece of white card, before die cutting with a Spellbinders scalloped circle.  The white circle and the butterfly are also Spellbinder die cuts.  The butterfly was cut in the gold paper and also in dark grey, pearlised paper (which I hope is okay for the gun metal colour).  I put the grey butterfly behind the gold one, so that the the grey peeped through the holes.  Two clear gems on the ends of the butterfly's antennae finished off my card.

This photo shows the inside of my card.

I am joining in the following challenges:

Butterfly Challenge #123 ~ Spin The Butterfly Wheel with G for Gatefold (all 7 elements)

Sisterhood of Crafters Challenge ~ Birds, Bees and/or Butterflies

Country View Crafts June Challenge ~ It's A Bugs Life

New Mini

A Thank You card to share today.  I made this card for the salesperson who made the purchase of my blue Mini stress-free!  I bought this die some time ago when my daughter drove a Mini and it seemed the perfect die to use on her birthday card at the time.

I used a Tattered Lace Mini car die with pearlised blue card and layered the die cut on Memory Box 'Stitched Rectangles'.  I chose to use a black mat as one of the layers as the Mini I bought has a black roof.  The top of the blue panel was die cut with a scalloped Memory Box 'Stitched Country Border' die.

I am joining in the following challenges:

Allsorts Challenge - Week 524 ~ Travel

Daisy Chain Challenge #31 ~ Monochrome

Simon Says Monday Challenge ~ Transport it!

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge ~ Travel/Vacation

Pile It On Challenge #155 ~ Transportation and/or Vacation

Glasgow Rose Garden

Last Saturday and Sunday I had a lovely time at a Stampin' Up craft retreat, which was close enough to come home overnight.  Photos of all the things I made are at the bottom of this post.

The theme of the LIM challenge this fortnight is 'Duck Egg Blue, Plum and White', a colour combination I don't think I've used before, but I was really pleased how my card turned out.

To make sure I used the correct colours, I used Duck Egg Blue and Plum Promarkers to colour the image.  The image is a Francoise Read 'Glasgow Rose Garden' wood mounted stamp.  I've had it for ages, but it is still one of my favourite flower stamps and I never tire of using it.   I die cut the image with a Creative Dies Plus 'Wonky Square' die and used Duck Egg Blue and Plum card for matting and layering, leaving just a thin border.  All the card, except for the card base was snippets, so I'll be sharing my card over in the Playground.

I am joining in the following challenges with this card:

1.Less is More Challenge #397 ~ Duck Egg Blue, Plum and White

2.Alphabet Challenge ~ F is for Flowers

3.Pixie's Snippets Playground ~ Challenge #354

4.Penny Black and More! June Challenge ~ Blooms, Butterfles and/or Bugs

5.Cuttlebug Mania Challenge ~ Tic-Tac-Toe (Sentiment, Image, Die Cut)

While I had the rubber stamp out, I decided to make another card, using the bright colours of the rainbow.  So that's two cards to add to my box of ready-made cards.

I am joining in the following challenges with this card:

1.Stamping Sensations June Challenge ~ Show Your True Colours

2.Scribbles Designs Challenge #78 ~ Make it Square

3.Simply Create Too Challenge #150 ~ Anything Goes/Opt Twist - Use lots of flowers

4.Fab 'n' Funky Challenge #444 ~ June Blooms

These are the makes I made at the retreat.

Bees

Welcome to my new follower, June of Poppyfield Card Crafts.

The theme of the Twofer Challenge this month is 'Bees'.  As usual the challenge is to make two cards using the same stamp, stencil, or die with two different designs, for two different occasions, following the prompt word.  I wasn't sure if I had any bee stamps or dies, but then I remembered a little Lavinia Stamps bee stamp I bought a while ago.

I am joining in the Twofer Challenge #17 with this pair of cards.

On the first card I used a Darice 'Honeycomb' embossing folder.  I covered the join with a curved, scalloped die cut using a magazine freebie die.  I stamped three bees along the curved die cut, coloured them with Promarkers and added a flight trail with a fineliner pen.   The sentiment is computer generated and die cut with a Memory Box 'Stitched Hexagon' die and I hand cut the mat leaving a thin border.

I am joining in the following challenges with this card:

Country View June Challenge ~ It's a Bugs Life

The Sisterhood of Crafters  ~ Three "B"s (Bees)

The Crafter's Cafe Challenge #220 ~ Feminine (Girl or Lady) and/or Embossed

Daring Cardmakers ~ Come, fly with me...

Cuttlebug Mania Challenge ~ Tic-Tac-Toe (Sentiment, More than 2 Layers, Embossing)

On my second card I stamped an image from the Stampin' Up 'Humming Along' set of stamps.  I used the same Lavina bee stamp and the images were coloured with Promarkers.   The sentiment stamp is from the same Stampin' Up set.  The dies are Memory Box 'Stitched Hexagons' and the patterned paper is from Anna Marie Designs. 

I am joining in the following challenges with this card:

Fab 'n' Funky Challenge #444 ~ June Blooms
Scribbles Designs Challenge Challenge #77 ~ Flowers
Penny Black and More! June Challenge ~ Blooms, Butterflies and/or Bugs
Alphabet Challenge ~ F is for Flowers

Masculine Get Well Card

I made a masculine card this week for a friend who is having a knee operation tomorrow.  Rather than make a 'Get Well Soon' card to send after the op, I decided to make a 'Good Luck' card and wish him a speedy recovery when I write my message inside.  

I made a Joy Fold card, keeping the design fairly CAS.  The image is Dr Digi's 'Night Nurse Nina' digi stamp.  I coloured the image with Promarkers and used Memory Box 'Stitched Rectangles' to die cut the image and navy blue mat.  The patterned card is from Limetree Craft.  A white brad keeps the card closed.... so that's one less brad in my 'brad mountain'! 😉

This photos shows the card open and I added a plaster inside, using a die from the Sue Wilson 'Feel Better Soon' set of dies, for added interest.

I am joining in the following challenges:

Addicted to Stamps Challenge #175 ~ For a Boy/Man

Ike's World Challenge #121 ~ F for More Than One Fold/Anything Goes

Try in on Tuesday Challenge ~ It's a Mans World

Die Cuttin' Diva's Challenge #424 ~ Masculine (or Father's Day
Crafty Friends Challenge #111 ~ Men / Boys
Tales from the Craft Room Challenge #5 ~ Let's Hear It For The Boys!
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge ~ Masculine
I Love Promarkers Challenge #386 ~ Anything Goes with the option of  More That One Layer 

Thank You

Warning - this post is photo heavy! 😉

We returned from a lovely week in Derbyshire this weekend.  My hubby and I were away in a big house with five other couples.  This is the 30th year the twelve of us have taken an annual holiday together in different places around the country.......how time flies!  I made this Thank You card for the couple who organise our holiday every year.  The view from our bedroom window gave me the inspiration for the design. (Photo lower down in the post.)

I seem to be a bit addicted to including cross stitching on my cards lately.  I used a Marianne cross stitch die in thick white card and cut it into a square using a Memory Box 'Stitched Square' die.  I found an image on Pinterest and adapted it for cross stitching, using crochet cotton for the stitching.  The sentiment is a stamp from the Crafters Companion 'Sew Lovely' set and stamped in Versafine 'Majestic Blue'.  I used punches for the flowers. 

I am joining in the following challenges:

Simon Says Monday Challenge ~ Vacation (inspired by view on holiday)

HLS June Anything Goes with Dies Challenge

This was the view from our bedroom window which gave me the inspiration for the card.

We enjoyed some English culture watching the Morris dancers.....

.....walked miles admiring the fabulous views.....

..... and found lots of wildlife.

We explored a Derbyshire town in an amazing converted milk float.....

....and discovered an incredible church, dating back to 1625, which was a converted barn.

The inside of the church was beautiful......

.....and part of the ceiling was decorated in the style of William Morris.

On the journey home we stopped at the National Memorial Arboretum.

On Sunday we had our annual street party, where we set up gazebos in the sunshine.

Then the rain came!  There was plenty of room to fit 30+ people under cover, so we had a great time eating and chatting with our neighbours.

So, now I'm off to catch up on some blog visiting......

Masculine Card

The June Crafty Calendar Challenge begins today with the theme 'Masculine'.  

For my DT card I used a Digi Stamp Boutique stamp, 'Golf Alf', which I coloured with Promarkers.  The backing paper is from an old Papermania paper pad.  It's one of those sheets which doesn't lend itself to cutting up, but is better kept whole.  I used Memory Box 'Stitched Squares' to die cut the image and deep red mat.  The large golf ball is from the Tonic 'Golf Ball, Tee and Turf' set of dies which embosses as well as cuts.

Our generous sponsor this month is Lawn Fawn who are giving a $25 voucher to the randomly chosen winner.   Please pop over to the Crafty Calendar Challenge to see all the wonderful cards the DT have made this month.  The challenge ends on June 28th and  I'm looking forward to seeing all your masculine creations there.

I am joining in the following challenges:

I Love Promarkers Challenge #385 ~ Anything Goes with the option of One for the Boys

Papercraft Challenge # 38 ~ For men and boys
Dream Valley Challenge # 203 ~ Only Boys Allowed