Cross stitch meets Card-io

I have my last few Christmas cards to share with you before Christmas.  This free pattern from Durene Jones came up on Facebook a couple of weeks ago and as I have a friend who loves hedgies I just had to stitch it for her card.  I stitched it on perforated paper so I could cut him out and add him to the background.

Having used distress inks for years I am also now loving the distress oxides and used the chipped sapphire again. I also added a little black ink to the sky.  The trees were stamped in silver which came out really well I thought,  I am finding the torn paper so much easier to stamp over than using a plastic mask.  I added the foliage and some red liquid pearls.

We are not mixing very much but we are having a Christmas lunch with some friends today.  We arranged it weeks ago and there are only 6 of us in a nice airy restaurant.  

This new variant is very worrying even when you are triple jabbed as we are.  We have started taking lateral flow tests twice weekly to safeguard ourselves and others,  Stay safe everyone x

 

Filling the stockings

I used one of the latest digis from LIli of the Valley for today's card, Hedgehog presents.  The sentiment is also LOTV.  Coloured with Copics and diecut using  a stitched square die from The Works.  The papers are First Edition Winter rose.  I added some ribbon, leaves and foliage from my stash.

Looking at the photo the ribbon, which is red, looks a completely different colour on the left hand side.  The light is so poor on dreary days, even brightening the pics with Photoshop doesn't give as good a picture as the actual card.

We had another night away last night, this time in Lowestoft at a Premier Inn.  We went with friends to see Talon, the Eagles tribute band.  We have seen them a few times and they are always excellent.

 

3rd sneak peek

I have another sneak peek of the new images launching tomorrow at LOTV.  This one is hedgehog and holly and I used the coloured simply print.  I love his striped hat.  The sentiment is from on of the 2 new sets.  The ribbon is an old one from Crafty Ribbons, poinsettias from Hobbycraft.  I used a clear sparkle pen on them for a bit of glitz.  The holly die is an old one and I added tiny red pearls.

 

That's one way to water

I made this card for a friend who has had a heart attack. It was such a shock as she isn't overweight, doesn't smoke or drink a lot and is very active, always out gardening and tending to her goats, chicken and hedgies. It just shows you never know who will be affected by something.

As she is mad about hedgies I had to use a Penny Black hedgie stamp. I coloured it with Copics using a MFT mini cloud stencil and stitched cloud die. I also used a sentiment die.

Where did that last 6 months go? Graham is out for the day tomorrow getting the rescue boats ready for the powerboat racing. They were all so disappointed they couldn't start on 21 June so fingers crossed they can go ahead later this month. I am planning a me day so lots of that will be spent crafting. I really must get on with lots more Christmas cards. I keep saying it but it hasn't happened yet so watch this space. 

Second Christmas card this month

6th May and my second Christmas card this month. I coloured the cute Penny Black stamp with Copics and diecut with a MFT wonky oval die. I also used Doohickey slender firs, The Works snowflake border and a snowflake die. The sentiment is from LOTV which I coloured with sparkle pens.  I used a clear sparkle pen on the snow too and I think you may actually be able to see it on screen for a change.

We have appointments again today, but not as nice as yesterdays. We managed to get check ups at the dentist and we are not looking forward to them. We have both lost bits of filling and I have ben getting some twinges occasionally from a back tooth. I had an Xray on it last year as it has a crown and the Xray showed some decay in the tooth underneath. It wasn't enough to warrant extraction but I know it will have to come out at some stage.

 

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.

 

Keeping warm

We had a lovely trip into the city yesterday as I had to collect my new glasses which I am really pleased with. It was quite busy but most people were keeping their distance and I felt more confident going in a few shops. I even went into The Works and bought some books and a new Christmas bunting die which I can't want tot use. We took advantage of the Dine out to Help Out half price scheme and had a cuppa when we arrived then lunch at Pizza Express where we also had a code for free dough balls. So altogether we spent £20 and saved £30. What a bargain.

The weather is going to hot up again tomorrow so we won't be needing hats and scarves unlike this snowman. I look forward to September when it will hopefully be a bit cooler. Yesterday was 19 which was perfect for me.

Anyway I made another Christmas card with another Penny Black stamp coloured with Copics. The papers are First Edition Jolly Holidays.  I used a Go Kreate frilly 9 die and diecut some trees which I then smooshed with Dovecraft 3d earl effect green and white. I also used a Tonic snowflake punch and some glitter card.

Hedgie silhouette

I have a few of the Little Claire silhouette stamps and haven't used one for ages. I love this one and teamed it with some Lilybee Autumn spice papers as I thought the colours suited the image though it would look equally good and completely different with Summery papers.  I used a Crafts Too toadstool die and an old Memory Box swirly tree die. The hessian butterfly is a bare basics from Docrafts.

We had a lovely morning gardening yesterday. It is lovely to see so many plants either in flower or springing to life and the garden all tidy again. One of the things I am enjoying with the current situation is how peaceful it is, with just the gentle sound of birdsong much of the time.

Time for a hedgie

I haven't used a Penny Black hedgie stamp for a while and decided to try colouring him with Copics on kraft for a change. I used a MFT wonky stitch rectangle, Memory Box stitched holly and Sue Wilson cut and lift poinsettia dies. The ribbon is from Crafty Ribbons and the papers are First Edition perfect Christmas.  The sentiment is LOTV.

Looking forward to my monthly facial and back massage today then line dancing tomorrow.  We learnt another new dance last week which was more complicated so have been practicing at home. 

First LOTV sneak peek

Lili of the Valley are launching the first of their new Christmas digis on 25th July. I have the first 9 to use and they are all so cute I didn't know which to use first.  Expect to see lots of sneak peeks from the DT and if you are on Facebook please come and join our group We love Lili of the Valley. It is run by the DT and we are almost at our first 1000 members.

Image - LOTV dancing partners

Medium - Copics, Sakura clear star for the snowflakes

Papers - LOTV snow princess

Dies - Lawn Fawn wavy border, MFT stitched ric rac

Sentiment - LOTV

Other - wooden bow coloured with a Nuvo glitter marker, snowflake crocheted border, doily

Graham is making remarkable progress after his op. He is taking it easy but able to do a few things like wiping up. He can reach the top cupboards but can't bend down so if he drops anything he can't pick it up. At least he can get his own socks on now. Each day sees an improvement. The dressing needs changing today, not looking forward to that as I am rather squeamish.

When an Easter Egg turns into flowers!

This is one of the new hedgie images from the Lee Holland digi shop. It is a hedgehog with an Easter Egg which I have coloured with Copics. I had planned to use the image as it was and then make another covering the egg with flowers to show how it can be used all year round. I was decorating the egg with sparkle pens and one of them decided to spurt and puddle which look awful. Rather than waste the image it became the one with flowers.

I used Lillybee Victoria Park papers, crimped some kraft card, MFT wonky stitched oval die, Memory Box Springtime floral egg die, Fiskars tag punch and a Pink gem sentiment.

More hugs

I said when I used this stamp hat I had coloured two images and he has been sitting on my desk waiting to be used. I coloured this image with Copics adding some snow with a white gel pen. I used my MFT wonky stitched oval die again. I diecut some trees from white glitter card using Marianne and Doohickey slender fir dies. I haven't used either of these much this year. The sentiment is from LOTV.

Challenges

Simon Says anything goes

Penny Black and more at Allsorts traditional Christmas colours

Stamping Sensations Winter sparkle

As You Like It rubber or digi (I love both but if I could only have one type of stamp, as I did when I first started stamping I would choose rubber. I love the process of stamping rather than printing and feel I own the stamps rather than having them filed on a computer.)

The Ribbon Girl anything goes 

Crafty Calendar It's Christmas time

Ho Ho Ho Hedgies

I just had to make a card using this super cute new topper from Pink Gem. It comes with decoupage and can be used to fill an A5 card but I like to use them as toppers. I used some old papers,punched holly leaves and gems and ribbon from my stash. I though the two left hand corners looked bare and was going to diecut some corners when I remembered these silver corners I have had for a few years. I coloured some white card using a silver Wink of Stella pen and punched some tiny stars to finish.

I would like to enter the Baby It's Cold Outside challenge at Simon Says.  A fairly free week for a change which has been good for getting on with finishing Christmas cards etc. I'm not finished yet though,bags and tags and a few special cards still to make.

A new stamp

I was lucky enough to receive this stamp as a Birthday pressie. It isn't easy to find new PB stamps anymore. I coloured it with Copics adding a little chalk for the sky and some white gel dots for snow. I framed it with a new die I bought from Swedish House crafts. The papers are from LOTV and I added some trees cut from white glitter card.

I coloured two of these so you may see this stamp again soon.

Challenges

Penny Black and more at Allsorts make someone smile (the pressie made me smile and I am sure whoever gets this card will smile) 

Stamping Sensations get ready for Christmas

Autumn Hedgie

We had an amazing day selling at the hospital yesterday, what a good job I have plenty of stock as we are there again on Monday. It was by best day ever, by a long way. I made this for a friend whose Birthday was a couple of days ago. She is a huge Penny Black fan like me. I coloured him with Copics and used my fave Go Kreate frilly 10 dies to create a shaped card.  The papers are Lilybee Autumn spice. I added some ribbon from Crafty Ribbons and used Lawn Fawn stitched leaf dies.

Challenges

Simon Says animal antics 

Penny Black and more at Allsorts Autumn splendour 

Stamping Sensations shades of Autumn 

Creative Inspirations Autumn colours 

Crafteezee leaves

We are off to the coast this afternoon for a meal and a show, a tribute act to Roy Orbison. It has good reviews so hope it is good.