In the Garden

The challenge theme this time at TRY IT ON TUESDAY called 'In the Garden' gives me an opportunity to share another page from my fabric book!

This is the centre of the book.

Some stamping again like the other pages but no floral fabric background, just left it plain white as I wanted the lace embroidered flower piece to take centre stage!
 
I have to thank my friend for this beautiful piece of lace which I had to chop up to make it fit on the pages - was a 'hold your breath cos if you ruin it you're not going to get anymore' kind of ten minutes as I attacked it with a pair of scissors!

I positioned it first and pinned it then decided where I was going to stamp.
After stamping I very carefully stitched the lace pieces into place. 

I remembered I had a teeny bee stamp in an old Hero Arts set - loved💖 him! 
He was fun to stamp then embroider him hovering over the flowers deciding which one took his fancy. 
I resisted any notion of adding a couple more as I thought it was nice that he had all these pretty flowers🌸 all to himself!
 
The bird house might have been from Clarity eons ago and I found the small butterfly on a stamping block at the back of the drawer.... (don't say anything.....) 

No secret garden is complete without a lock and key to the gate is it?!

Thanks for visiting me today! 
PS The front cover of the book is HERE if you haven't seen it. x
PPS - I am currently away celebrating a birthday (you know one of those that have a zero on the end) so will catch up when I get back. x

Feminine

 Our challenge at TRY IT ON TUESDAY for the next 2 weeks is called MAKE IT FEMININE.

I recently was introduced to 'Slow Stitching' which is all about relaxation and mindfulness. 
The idea is not to actually plan anything but to allow your project to simply evolve without any pressure. No using a sewing machine either, just all hand stitching.

I have a very large box of vintage lace, odd bits of fabric and bits of stuff long unused so it seemed a start to maybe use some of it up.

I ended up making an A5 size 6 page fabric book and this is the front cover.

I stamped lots of quotes, some images of flowers and birds onto fabric and as I did each page just picked one which took my fancy at that particular moment.

I found a previously made tag in the box and just used that for the front.

I am not proficient with a needle and thread but can honestly say I really enjoyed making this book.

Stitching with no plan and no worrying if your stitches were even straight was very calming and  I allowed myself to just shut everything out. 
The best thing was being able to pick it up and put it down without trying to plan out a design.

I am delighted with the finished book - no doubt I will be able to share more pages with you over the coming months!
Thanks for looking and I hope to see your 'feminine' projects over on the challenge blog. x 

In the Garden at Try It On Tuesday

Time for another challenge!
This time Try It on Tuesday want to see your creations with the theme of  'In The Garden'.

Ink blending and Lavinia stamps for me this time.
Only used 2 colours for the blending  - Lilac and Green.

All the stamping was done with Versafine Clair inks (Nocturne, Verdant, and Shady Lane) and I did a little highlighting with a white gel pen and a pink glitter pen.

I love the idea that somewhere in all the flowers in the garden there's a little fairy balanced on a dandelion!

Hope you will pop over and see what the rest of the DT have done - and of course, I hope you will join us this fortnight!

Thanks for looking and any comment you leave - I really appreciate them all. x

Stamping Sensations July Challenge

This month at Stamping Sensations we have the wonderful Crafty Individuals as our sponsors.
Our theme is called 'In My Garden' and here is my DT card -
 I really enjoyed making this as it gave me another opportunity to practice my scene constructing!
And it also reminded me of the garden in our last house which was big and pretty! Along with the house I also inherited a huge dovecote - (no doves, just their house!).
Although I didn't have a dovecote stamp, this little bird house evoked memories of my much loved (but very labour intensive) garden.
The bird house stamp is a set of 2 - the second one is much smaller and I have had them for a long time so no idea which company they are from.

Used Stormy Sky, Peeled Paint and Forest Moss for the background with a little touch of Squeezed Lemonade around the sun. Inked the edges of the whole panel with Forest Moss too.

The stamps are a mixture from SU's Wild About Flowers and others from my stash.
The branches are by Inkylicious as are the birds. (I made a bit of a mess of the bird on the house - although I used the Misti, I must have moved the card slightly when stamping for the second time-  but dear husband says it's not too bad as it looks like said birdie is flapping his wings! Don't you love him - forever trying to make me feel better!)

Please have a look at the Challenge Blog and follow our rules before submitting your entry. We are a stamping challenge - and you MUST have a stamp as the FOCAL point of your creation!
If you can find time to visit my teamies and leave them a comment too, that would be really appreciated!
I am linking up at
Dragonfly Dreams - Summer
Sweet Stampin' - Summer Brights
4 Crafty Chicks - Summer is Here
Cardz 4 Galz - Summer Sunny Days

Thanks for visiting. x

Summer!

I am sooo enjoying this glorious weather (although I know some of you have had thunderstorms!). It makes such a change for every day to be dry and sunny - and makes no time for crafting...😏😏
But yesterday after  tending to the patio pots I came inside as I was having withdrawal symptoms.
Here is a share for today -

Had a bit of fun with some Pixie Powders after being inspired by a similar Brusho card on Pinterest.

I love the shimmer the powders give and overall am well pleased with this card which is destined for the stash pile.

Because I am so heavy handed with powders I wet the watercolour card randomly first with a mini mister.

The powder colours are Lava Red, Aqua Lagoon,  Straw Yellow and Pale Olive.

The Dandees are by Lavinia. The flower silhouette and the dragonfly are Inkylicious and I think the sentiment MAY be Hero Arts (lost packaging!).

Am sharing this over at -
Fashionable Stamping - Floral
PB&More - A/Goes
Aud Sentiments - Summer + Sentiment
HeARTful - A/Goes +Stamp


So that's it from me for today. I am going to have a couple of hours outside in the sunshine but I am visiting Blogland tonight! 
Hope the weather is kind to you wherever you are and thanks for visiting me! x

Flowers anyone?

Another scheduled post as I am currently in Ireland  with the Men's Senior International Team - last day's play today so am hoping that the trophy is ours by the time you get round to reading this!
Our July challenge at Stamping Sensations is - 'Anything With Flowers', so there's lots of scope for you - but don't forget - we are a STAMPING challenge so stamping has to be the focal point of your project please!
Our sponsor this month is Crafty Individuals.

I had a bit of an inky fest with this card.
I used watercolour paper and Salty Ocean DI. I really like this blue and it was a change for me to use blue and yellow together.
The stamps are all from Stempelglede Vintage Garden Set. I've had them a long time and like them a lot.
The flourishes and main image were stamped in Vintage Sepia.

I double stamped the flowers and fussy cut the two largest flowers, and used Derwent Inktense pencils.
I wasn't as happy as I could have been with my colouring but am so busy travelling and doing my Presidential duties at the moment - so hope it doesn't look too rushed and you can glean a teeny bit of inspiration from it!
I simply finished the panel off by running the DI round the edge and added a organza bow threaded through a pearl buckle.

Please find a couple of spare minutes to pop over to the Stamping Sensations blog and I know my teamies appreciate if you visit them and leave them a quick comment! (Like me too!)
Bit of a quick change for me - flying home tonight then tomorrow I am driving to Buckinghamshire, then on to Bedfordshire at the end of the week. Am hoping to grab some time to come and visit you all.
Have a great week! x

In the Garden

After the last mad few days I have time to sit for a couple of hours before am off on yet another motorway drive later today.

I was doing some 'tidying' (for that read - shuffling bits of paper!) when I found several pieces of card on which I had stamped this birdcage image a long long time ago - (the stamp wasn't mine - I'd borrowed it and inked it to death I think before I gave it back!)

The biggest piece of card had the stamp on it already positioned so presumably I'd started something and didn't finish it....
I coloured the cage on the other images then cut them out.

Stamped a few branches round the edge of the card and then inked with Stormy Sky, Tumbled Glass and Spun Sugar DI graduating towards the cage, leaving the area round the bird cage clear.

Inked up another scrap of card, stamped the sentiment then cut out with a nestie label die.

Layered the cut out birdcage using 3d foam pads then used some glossy accents - this gave the cage a lovely glossy hard shell.
Using the same colour promarker, I coloured the flowers and stuck on  the branches randomly, finishing them with a tiny sparkly in the centre.
Finally, I glued on a string of very small silver beads for the hanging 'bit'.

A bit of a 'made in a hurry' card but it looks OK I think.
Challenges -
Crafting at the Weekend - Anything Goes
Creative Corner - Flowers
Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
Stampin for the weekend - Anything Goes
Sentimental Sundays - Summer
Nat & Amy - Summertime

Thanks for calling in - off for a quick visit round your blogs - if I don't visit you today I have a whole day to myself tomorrow so will definitely be lurking about!
Have a great day whatever you're doing. x

A bit of ink

Today I had just been messing about with colours on a piece of scrap card mainly to see what they were like together when it struck me that the top part of the card had some colours in that looked like sky and a summer sun!
So I simply chopped it up into three equal sized pieces and took out some small grassy ferny type stamps.

Inked the small stamps with Peeled Paint DI and stamped a couple of times on the pieces.
The pieces overpowered my usual square card and i didn't really want to chop them up any smaller so I had to use a DL card instead!

Scored lines above and below and then from another piece of the inked scrap where I'd used different colours I punched out a small butterfly.
Wee bit of glitter on the butterfly and job sorted.  No sentiment yet as I don't know what I'll use it for!

Challenges -
Simon Says - CAS
A.I - CAS
TTRCD - Anything Goes
Eureka Stamps - CAS
CASology - Cue Word- Garden
Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
Created with Love - In the Garden
Butterfly Challenge 6 - Glamorous Butterfly
CAS-ual Fridays - 3 (3 stamps)

Have a great weekend! x

Another beautiful day here - clear blue skies and lovely sunshine - it's amazing how more upbeat you feel when the weather is nice!
A warm welcome too to my new followers - Leisa and Christine - thanks for following my blog and I look forward to seeing you often!
Here's my share for today

Had a little play about with some watercolour pastels on a Wild Rose Studio 'Annabelle' stamp then stitched it onto pale pink card.

The background papers are from Pink Petticoat, again layered onto pink card and stitched.
I am using the pink lace on a mixed media project at the mo so it was out on the desk - wrapped it round the papers then made a bow using a pearl buckle.
Flowers, pearls and pins are from my stash and the little pink ladybug is a wooden embellie bought years ago!
Decorated inside to match.

Challenges -
Crafting With Dragonflies - Special lady
Creative Card Crew - Spring
Fantastic Tuesday - Pastels
Ruby's Rainbow - Ladies
Nutcrafters - Girly
Fab n Funky - Flower Power
Paper Crafting Journey - Special lady

Thanks for visiting today - hope the sun is shining wherever you are. x

Scrunched up Pansies!

I finally finished this after a lot of leaving it on the desk and looking at it wondering why on earth I chose to use this colour combo.... all down to the 'carry on using up the paper' theme which is my mantra at the moment.

I have no idea how old this paper is (nor in fact where it is from!) - it maybe a HOTP pad but who knows??? LOL
I am really unsure about the finished card .. but thought I would share it anyway.

With the bold pattern and dark colour of the background papers I found them quite difficult to work with.  I used minimal colouring on the image (which is from A Day For Daisies) trying to co-ordinate the colours with the papers., using Tea Green and Pastel Green shades on the fairy dress with some DI's on the flowers and the rest. 

Dark maroon card first with the patterned paper stitched on top. I cut out more of the maroon card using a fancy oval nestie then chopped it up to make the corner, adding a piece of co-ordinating paper and stitched it all together.
A couple more fancy corner dies stuck to the top of the card.

Strip of maroon velvet ribbon onto some more offcuts then the coloured image positioned over it. Few little sparklies added and some glamour dust to the wings.

The flowers were done using some old pansy shapes from my stash - I scrunched them up and stuck them together to try to make fuller flowers (am not sure if they overpower the card or not!) - added a few leaves and a couple of flourishes.

The sentiment hides some very erratic stitching round the top of the image! Papers also used on the inside to finish it all off.
Challenges -
Crafty Calendar - things with Wings
The Craft Garden - Use 3 (Ribbon/Floral paper/Green)
Cupboard Trilogy - Friendship
4 Crafty Chicks - Colour an image
Paper Crafting Journey - Anythning Goes
Crafting By Designs - Anything Goes
Crafty Hazelnut's patterned paper- Anything Goes

Thanks for taking the time to stop by - appreciate it and any comments you leave! have a great Sunday. x

Imagination

The lovely weather tempted me outside this week so only messed about in the craftie space at night time - hence no pics - resulting in - no posts!
This morning though the weather is grey and misty which is typical as now I'm struggling to take pics!!

This make was a bit of an experiment for me but in real life the background colours are lovely and dreamily soft so for once I am happy with the finished article.
The paper was a present last year and it was one of those that I deemed 'too nice to use' - LOL!

All the embossing was done in WOW Fine Bright White direct to the background paper.
I am never very confident when stamping/embossing direct to a background like this one -thankfully I managed this without any mistakes!

The dragonflies were from a clear stamp set bought on my very first NEC visit (in 2009!) and I added a wee bit of Stickles to them.
The border stamp is of course from the beautiful Poppy Meadow set by Indigo Blu.
The sentiment was a recent purchase from Inkylicious - love it! 
Some tiny sparkly gems randomly placed, then matted onto a soft green background card.

Challenges -
 YNS - A fab inspirational photo
Alphabet - C for Country Flowers
Stampin for the Weekend - Anything Goes
Aud Sentiments - Anything Goes
Crafty Little Fairies - Things with Wings
Addicted to Stamps - Anything Goes
City Crafters - Rainbows
Oldie but Goodie - Spring has Sprung
Crafty Bloggers - Nature
Sisterhood of Crafters - Sentimental Journey

Thanks for taking the time to call in today - hope you all have a great weekend. x

Floral Fancy

Quickie post as it's a big night tonight (LOL) - am off to the Hilton Hotel in the middle of the country for a National Dinner and Presentation - and as we're staying overnight I may partake of a couple of glasses of vino...got to help my teamies celebrate their National win haven't I? Be rude not to!! LOL
So - and I kid you not - I have bought a DRESS especially for the occasion and HIGH HEELS!! Me in a DRESS??????? 
Am bothered now 'cos -
1. None of my friends will recognise me in a fancy frock (cos my jeans and trousers are my fave clothes)
2. I'm scared I will fall off my high heels (especially with the vino) as it's been about 10 years since I wore anything that remotely resembles 'dressy up' shoes!!
If I am brave enough (or have enough to drink so I don't care...) I just MAY allow myself to be photographed to share with you......... only MAY mind you so don't be getting your hopes up!!

Enough waffling - here's the card - my fave white linen textured cardstock used throughout and a CAS design. (Pic not brilliant as the light is pretty poor!)

The image is from Kanban, stamped in Versafine and coloured with a mixture of watercolours and promarkers.

I opted for bright retro style colours as I thought they fitted with the stamp design.

The sentiment is from Hero Arts.

Layered the image onto green Bazzil then onto white, wrapped some green and white striped ribbon round and simply knotted at the front.

Challenges -

Bloggers - Friendship

Totally papercrafts - Hope for Spring

Fab n Funky - Flower Power

Ruby's Rainbow - In the Garden

The Perfect Sentiment - Floral Fantasia

Vickies - Anything Goes

Delicious Doodles - Flowers For Srping

Well that's me done - off to put the overnight bag in the car. have a great weekend and will be around tomorrow to check in on what you've all been up to! xx

A Caged Bird

Whilst I was trying to concentrate on creativity I remembered this pic so I applied myself to making an ATC as I have wanted to use this image for a while.

The background is courtesy of Flickr and the little hazy blue bird reminds me of Summer - (which I hope is coming soon 'cos it's raining again!).

The bird cage is printed onto a transparency and I cut round it. I always find fixing transparencies a challenge as if you don't get them tight enough the image is blurred! I opted to secure the top of this with an eyelet and I used some glue intended for jewellery to fix the bottom and thankfully it dried clear. The chain was added and fixed with a brad.

April Evening

This week has passed so quickly! Have been catching up with a few jobs and have been taking advantage of the beautiful weather we've had.

I spent Friday in the garden and yesterday I was where I love to be on a warm sunny day - on a bowling green! We were invited to Opening Day at Southport BC and it was a really lovely afternoon and a great start to the outdoor season.

Today has seen us back out in the garden - am hoping to do a bit of crafting this evening but in the meantime I popped out, camera in hand and took a few pics of part of the garden in the evening sunshine.

The magnolia is one of my favourite plants - I adore the flowers and am real sorry they don't last all year! When I planted this shrub it was a mere 2 feet tall!

Isn't the double daffoldil just 'peachy' ?! (In more ways than one!)

I remember buying the yellow flowered plant a couple of years ago... it's now spread itself into several parts of one of the borders.. it only lasts during spring, but I love the huge glossy leaves and the tiny flowers... I just wish I could remember what it was called! I think it's an orchid of some description.... but whatever it is, it has certainly made itself at home!