Penguin and present

I got back in the craft room and had a play with some of the new digi papers and a cute penguin digi. The papers, glitter papers and image are all one layer making a nice flat card for posting. I coloured the penguin with Copics and added some Stckles for snow and on his hat. The sentiment is from LOTV and I added some diecut trees and punched snowflakes from glitter card.

My stock of Christmas cards is coming along well but still more to make. Hope yours are coming along well too.

More from the holiday

A few more from our holiday. A glorious sunny day in Falmouth 

 A visit to the Cornish seal sanctuary where they do marvellous work rescuing abandoned and injured seals. Most are returned to the wild and if that is not possible eg one of the seals is blind, then they are given a home there.

One of many lovely long beach walks.  Now we are home, refreshed and ready to face the Winter.

 

 

Returning home from holiday

 

Well having cancelled so much this year we wondered if we would be cancelling our October holiday which we had rescheduled from June. Thankfully we did get away and had a lovely relaxing time in Cornwall, which has very low cases of Covid. If it had been high we wouldn’t have gone.The picture is the lounge of the cottage where we have stayed the last couple of years. It is always spotless and so comfortable. 

We didn’t visit some of our favourite places like St Ives as it has very narrow streets and tiny shops so social distancing would be challenging. We had some lovely days out though and we were impressed with people following the guidelines.

We ate out at lunchtimes and always felt very safe. We got back to the cottage late afternoons and we were happy to stay in, relax, have easy prepare meals, do a jigsaw, read and watch Netflix or Amazon on the large screen smart TV.

This was Trebah Gardens.

We had an overnight stop at Premier inns both ways as it is a long journey from ours. Today we are on our way home. More pics tomorrow.

China Vase

My card today uses a LOTV coloured art pad image called China vase which you can now buy as a digi stamp.  I diecut it using that pretty circle die again. The papers are some old Craftwork Cards ones. I added flowers, ribbon and pearls and a paper butterfly from a pack I bought ages ago in Poundland. I haven't been in there much lately but when I have they haven't had any good craft items.

 

Rusting away

Yes it's another scrapbook page. When we saw this old rusty truck in Key West Graham got out his hankie and pretended to be cleaning it which made for a fun picture. Key West is beautiful and we had a lovely few days there one year before heading back to Orlando. We used to get the trolley outside our hotel into town, stopping off at various points and hopping on another one. There was a Cuban coffee stall near this truck and Graham had the strongest coffee I have ever seen. He loved it but you couldn't drink many of those.

I wanted to go for a grungy look to go with the car so sanded bits of the Core'dinations card. I found a few suitable stamps and stickers. he grungy postcard is an old LOTV stamp which was just right for a bit of journalling.

Wizard Birthday

Isn't he a cute wizard, the perfect image for any Harry Potter fans. The papers, image and sentiment are from the new Halloween range from LOTV.  There are some lovely sentiment and as each word is separate it is easy to put together your own sentiment. I coloured him with Copics, added the star half circle die and used star punches.

Purple butterflies

I love butterflies and use the a lot on my cards. I made this butterfly outline die the main focus of my card. The paper is Crafter's Companion. I found some small doilies in my stash so cut one into quarters for two corners. I used lots of dusty concord DI. The sentiment is LOTV. I added a flower spray sing flowers from Wild Orchid and a Britannia die cut in half.

Changing weather

Yes I finally did some more scrapbooking. There can be a real  contrast in the weather in Winter in Florida as you can see. I am so glad we had some great holidays there as we won't be going any more. These photos were both taken a few years ago. The bottom one was from a particularly cold spell we had for a couple of days. Graham was videoing in Busch Gardens as we rode round on the train and his hands were so cold her had to stop filming. They had covered all the tender plants and even put some of them into the toilets to keep them warm.

I bought the diecut at the bottom in a lovely little scrapbook shop in Lakeland and it went perfectly with my layout.  The stitched sun and clouds were made using MFT dies. The sweater is from Hobbycraft bought a few years ago and the mittens were from a Christmas set bought in Florida.

Witches aren't just for Halloween

 It's launch day at LOTV for a set of witches, wizards, Halloween extras, sentiments and more lovely papers. I used Toadstool witch along with some toadstools from the extras. The papers, backing card and sentiment are all from the new paper range. I don't make Halloween cards but this little witch is cute enough for a Birthday card.

I coloured her with Copics. I used a Memory Box tree, Crafts Too toadstool and grass and Joy butterfly dies.  I coloured the sky with chalk and then used my Copic blender pen on it for a change. 

Well it looks like the weather should improve this week. We have certainly had our fair share of rain the last few days. At the weekend we only ventured out for back massages on Saturday and breakfast at the garden centre with friends yesterday. Have a good week everyone.

Get building

I made this card for a builder friend. I thought the Hunkydory topper was perfect and was really pleased to find the brick paper in my stash.  I think it was a mag freebie. I added some wooden chevrons and Tim Holtz game spinners along with a sentiment from LOTV.

 

Building a snowman

I know it has been a few days since I last blogged but I haven't been doing as much crafting as usual. I really enjoyed  creating this vintage looking card though. With all my craft fairs cancelled and the vintage tearooms/gift shop closed I haven't had the need to make as many cards. I do want to get more Christmas cards made though and a friend asked me to make hr two Birthday cards. I will also get round to some scrapbooking I have promised myself.

Image - LOTV Bears and snowman

Medium - Copics

Papers - LOTV vintage Christmas

Dies - Joy Christmas tree, Sue Wilson cut and lift poinsettias and foliage

Sentiment - LOTV

Other - sparkle pen, fun flock, ricrac, pearls, baker's twine, vintage photo DI

Teal butterfly

I made a purple card using the lovely Doohickey butterfly die a while ago and decided to make another but this time in teal. The paper is an old LOTV one. I have several of these silver corners in my stash and found the silver flowers too, added some cheesecloth, lace, rose and enamel dots.

I have another couple of cards made which I can't share with you yet.  I am also thinking it is time I did some more scrapbooking so you may see some soon.

There is certainly a change in the temperatures so need to pack away the sandals and some of the Summer clothes and rearrange the wardrobes. I look forward to wearing jumpers and boots again.

 

Joy

I hope today finds you all fit and well. The glorious weather continues here with lovely temperatures the last few days.  Not too hot like the beginning of last week. I love September and October. 

Another Christmas card to add to my pile which is coming along nicely. I used three of the cute little people from the new LOTV digis. There is an alphabet too so I added the letters to the placards.  The lovely papers are some of their new digi ones. These ones will be lovely to use all year round.  I coloured with Copics and used MFT Winter Trees and The Works snowflake banner dies.

Sunday Stroll

I was asked to make a card for someone's Dad who likes football, beer and walking his dog. Thank goodness for the third option. I used Sunday Stroll, a rubber stamp from LOTV which is available now as a digi. I coloured it with Copics and used an old wooden stamp for the tiny dots. The papers are Docrafts Mr Mister.  I used a Doohickey fence, MFT stitched clouds, Xcut oval and Memory Box tree dies.

We decided to buy a new compact camera and I am really pleased with it. I have been a bit disappointed with some of my card pics lately but this one seems much better. Out for lunch today at a local garden centre and then to Currys to find a camera case.

 

A gift for a polar bear

Hello, it's been a few days since I had something to share with you. I have another of the cute new images from LOTV. This is a PNG cutout image and I placed it on top of one of the splash backgrounds which were launched a little while ago. I added some white gel dots and I think the splash works really well as a sky background.

Image - LOTV Christmas friends

Medium - Copics

Paper - LOTV digi

Sentiment - LOTV

Punch - Martha Stewart snowflake

Dies - Go Kerate frilly 10, snowflake doily

Today should be cooler thank goodness, didn't like the heat of the last two days especially for line dancing yesterday. After the success of last week it was decided that the class had to be split in two to give us even more space so the instructor had to run two classes. We didn't mind at all as we were just so pleased we could still go as we do enjoy it and it is good exercise.

Pretty gifts, pretty flowers

I have used one of the lovely coloured simply prints pretty gifts, pretty flowers for my commissioned card today. I used the pretty circle die which I bought from someone on Facebook.The papers are Maja and I have used Sue Wilson sweetheart and Hunkdory fabulous flowers dies along with a Martha Stewart rose leaf punch, Hobbycraft butterfly punch and a leaf die.

So the new ruling comes into place on Monday regarding the number of people meeting up. No surprise considering the number of mainly young people who have been gathering together and becoming infected. Thankfully having researched it online it doesn't look as though this affects our line dancing as we will continue to follow the Covid rules there by being 2 metres apart, wearing masks on entry and exit, sanitising and having our temperatures taken.  Off to see a friend this afternoon in her new summerhouse. We haven't seen her since lockdown.

Noel, Noel

It's launch day at Lili of the Valley. I have used to of the little peeps to make my card. There are singers and musicians so you can create your own little band. I coloured it with Copics and added some white gel pen dots to the background and fun flock to their hats. I used Memory Box stitched snowflake and a Joy lamppost die. I added some sparkle to the lamppost using a white sparkle pen and a clear sparkle pen on the snow on the image.  The paper is one of the new digital ones also launching today.

We look forward to seeing your makes with these gorgeous new stamps and papers.  Don't forget to share in our Facebook group We Love Lili of the Valley.

Our line dancing classes started again yesterday after a 6 month break.  It was so good to get back to it and surprising how much we could remember. We have done some practicing at home but not much lately and not every dance. It felt very safe as we all had to masks until we started dancing, sanitised on entrance and exit and had our temperatures taken before we could go in.  We all had a designated spot on the floor and were nicely spaced out.

The night before Christmas

The new launch from LOTV is 9th September. I have used one of the cut out PNG digis which meant I could insert it onto one of the new digi papers. This one is cosy Christmas bear. I used another of the new digi papers for the backing paper. I coloured it with Copics adding some sparkle to the snow with a clear sparkle pen.  I added some doodling and one of the new sentiments, a punched star and some diecut trees using white glitter card. As soon as I saw this digi with them looking upwards I knew I wanted to use my Santa and reindeer die.

We met friends for lunch on Friday at a garden centre as we wanted to get some plants to redo some of our pots which were looking past their best. We had a lovely morning in the garden yesterday replanting and doing some tidying in the garden.

Snowman and robin

Friday already and 4th September. I have done well so far this month with 4 projects in 4 days. 

I enjoyed making the last one of these so much and as there are four different designs in the set I made another Christmas decoration. I stitched it onto perforated paper which is stiffer than material and can be cut without fraying. I stitched the ribbon onto the back and then backed with white felt stuck down with Collal 3d glue.

I have an order for a bookmark to do next as a friend liked the one I made for my Mum.

Look no embellishments!

I am really enjoying experimenting with these new digi papers and stamps launching soon at Lili of the Valley. I created one layer again using two of the new papers and one of their handwritten sentiments along with the new image Winter Fun. It is wuite strange as it feels as though you are colouring on paper but of course I printed it all onto stamping card. Coloured with Copics as usual.  I resisted adding any embellishments as it just doesn't need any.

 

Christmas launch #2

Lili of the Valley have a second Christmas launch coming soon. It includes both JPEG and PNG images and some digi papers. I had great fun creating this card which looks multi layered but the papers and image are all one layer.

I used Word and inserted the bottom paper making it the size I required then clicking text wrapping, through. This allows you to move it wherever you like. I did the same for the next two paper layers and the PNG image. You have to use the PNG image so the colour of the paper doesn’t show through the image. I rotated the two smaller papers using custom rotate. I printed it onto stamping card so I could colour the reindeer with Copics.

The sentiment label is a new one coming as part of the launch. I added some sparkle using a clear sparkle pen, pearls, punched holly leaves and a poinsettia from Hobbycraft.

More beer!

Yes the lady I was talking about on Sunday ordered another card with either football or beer so I used this coloured digi from Pink Gem again. The papers are First Edition man made. The sentiments come as part of the digi set. I simply added some card candi to the corners to finish it off.

Short and sweet post today. I am looking forward to playing with some new Christmas images from LOTV for their second launch.

 

Hellebores

I actually used one of the old LOTV colouredart pads for this card but the image is available as a coloured simply print digi called Hellebores. The paper is First Edition Gardenia. It is the first time I have used the pretty circle die which I bought from someone on FB. It didn't have any packaging but I think it may be  Marianne die. The leaves were cute with a Joy die, flowers from Wild Orchid, butterfly from Poundland coloured with Victorian velvet DI and cheesecloth from Ebay.

I ordered my reading glasses last week so off to pick those up today plus get a few things in the city and take advantage of the last half price eat out to help out lunch. Enjoy your Bank Holiday.

 

On the road

I was asked to make a car themed card which makes a nice change from football or beer. The lady who has been ordering several cards from seems to have a lot of friends who like football and beer. I found some great transport themed papers I bought a few years ago at a show along with the sepia toned toppers. The postcard is from another set of toppers also bought years ago at a show. I have missed going to one of the big craft shows this year. I added some wooden arrows coloured with vintage photo DI and some metal cogs. The sentiment is from Pink Gem.

I am liking this cooler weather. It makes me feel more like getting on with things and have been spending more time in the craft room. I have a complete contrast with tomorrow's card.

 

Hedgie and holly

I love the Penny Black hedgies and this image always makes me smile. I diecut him with a MFT wonky stitched oval die and coloured him with Copics. The papers are First Edition Perfect Christmas. The pretty flowers are from Hobbycraft and I used a Woodware holly punch.  Although I have a lot of dies I do still love a lot of my punches. they are so handy and quick to use too.

I still have plenty of old Christmas papers to use and don't intend buying any this year, I will probably get some sent to me as part of the Trimcraft DT so it will be nice to have some new ones to use for a change.

 

Another new snowman

As promised another Christmas card.  I have gone for traditional colours for my snowman, which is another of the new images from LOTV. I coloured him with Copics and added some pearl dots around him. The papers are Your next stamp Winter plaid. I used Sue Wilson dies for the foliage and poinsettias.  The sentiment is also a new one from LOTV.

 

penguin takes centre stage and charity shop goodies

I have a few more Christmas cards to share with you again. I am really pleased I am getting more of these made now. I have used one of the new images from LOTV coloured with Copics. The paper is Wild Rose Frosted Lace. I used various tree dies, Tonic snowflake punch and a Crafter's Companion icicle die.

We went out for breakfast yesterday at one of our favourite independent cafes which was lovely and half price. Then we went to the station charity shop which has now reopened. They only sell music, dvds, books and jigsaws and we never come away empty handed. Yesterday we spent £16.50 but look what we got for our money.

Set of 4 jigsaws

An unusual shaped jigsaw

3 books to add to my ever growing pile to read

Lots of lovely vinyl records.

 

Card for Mum

This is the 7" card I made for my Mum for her Birthday as her name is Margaret. Te sentiment verse is from Lili of the Valley as is the Tea Party image. I coloured it with Copics, papers are Craftwork Cards. I used a leaf punch I bought recently from someone on FB and my fave Martha Stewart fern punch. The flowers were made with  Hunkydory fabulous flower dies and I added some enamel dots.  The butterflies were cut with a Joy die.

We are off into the city again today as I have decided to get a pair of reading glasses with my new prescription. I wear varifocals and do find it hard sometimes to colour very small pieces of images. I can see them better with my glasses off so I thought I would get a cheap par of reading glasses mainly for colouring to see if they help having a larger close up area of my glasses. We will be taking advantage of the half price eat out to help out as well.

Bookmark

We had a lovely day with my Mum yesterday. I asked her what she would like for her Birthday and she asked for a new knitting bag, the type which have a folding frame and pockets inside. I bought her one with bees on it and decided to use that as my theme for her presents. One of them was the bookmark I made her. I used part of one of the bees and flowers patterns that I recently used to make a set of 4 hoop pictures, see a previous post.  I backed it with white felt and blanket stitched around the edges. 

 

So elegant

Another commissioned card for a female in her early 20's. I love being given free rein to make a card and chose to use an old Docrafts art deco pack. I have a few suitable cards in sock and sent the person some photos but she chose this one which is the one I was going to give her. I added some small white feathers and flowers from Wild Orchid.

Today is my Mum's Birthday so I will be sharing her card tomorrow as she looks at my blog every morning. We will be going to see her this morning and taking her out to lunch. That will be another week of August gone. Looking forward to the children going back to school and lots of holidaymakers going home so we can go the coast again. Much too busy for us at the moment.