Another Teddy

This is another of the new digis from Lili of the Valley which I used on a card for a friend. I coloured it with Copics using chalk and a MFT cloud stencil for the sky which doesn't actually show too much in the photo.  The papers are MFT and the flower dies are Tim Holtz small tattered flowers which I also coloured with Copics.

We had our first visit to the coast since lockdown and it really lifted our spirits to see and hear the sea. It was very quiet, unlike the weekend I am told. We had a lovely walk along the prom and enjoyed a takeaway lunch. I had a freshly made crab salad sandwich and it was delicious and such a change from preparing a meal ourselves.  The weather was nice, not too hot and then we went to see some friends in their garden, social distancing of course. They had asked me to make a baby card so I took that round and will share that with you tomorrow.  It almost felt like a normal day yesterday.

James and butterflies

I made this one for a friend whose Birthday was yesterday. It is of course James and butterflies from Lili of the Valley. I coloured him with Copics and used paper from The Works.  The sentiments are digis from LOTV. I coloured the toadstool diecuts with Copics too and added white dots using a gel pen. The dies are MFT lattice fence, Your Next Stamp border and Crafts Too toadstools. I also added some wooden butterflies.  I also used a MFT small cloud stencil for the sky.

Golden Wedding #3

This is the last of the Golden Wedding cards I made, this one for my friend to give her husband. I used a large coloured simply print from LOTV called mouse and champagne as the card is 8x8.  I diecut the image with a Go kreate frilly #10 die and inked the edges with wild honey DI.  I used paper from LOTV and added some burlap. I found some gold glitter washi tape in my stahs and used the Dovecraft adhesive gold glitetr card again with a large heart die. I added a few of the waste hearts around the image.  I kept it quite simple as it was for a male, personally I don't like adding flowers to male cards.

Golden Wedding #2

This is the card I made for my friend to give his wife. It is from LOTV called Bunnies, clouds and champagne. I coloured it with Copics. The papers are from an old Santoro pack. I cut the image using the out of the die technique and a Lawn Fawn stitched circle die. The striped paper was cute using dies from the Works. The lace is from my stash, flowers from Wild Orchid and I used an old La La Land banner die adding the waste dies around the image.

Vintage style butterfly

I had this idea in my head for a couple of days and love how it turned out. The Doohickey butterfly die makes a beautiful diecut but is rather large so I made it the focal point of the card. I cut it from lilac card and used Dusty Concorde DI on some of it. The paper is from an old Gorjuss Girl pack and the lace is from Crafty Ribbons. I added some cheesecloth, flowers, metal corners and enamel dots.

This afternoon we off to form our bubble with my Mum. It will be so nice to go into her house and not worry about social distancing and we can give her a hug at last. Mum usually only goes into town for a few things once a week and we have hardly been anywhere and when we do we all very careful about handwashing and sanitising so feel perfectly safe to do this. It will be nice to have a bit of near normality.  There comes a point where we have to start doing more but we will be taking that very slowly and won't be rushing into the city to go round the shops any time soon.  

Card-io card

I decide to have a play with some different products this weekend and yesterday got out some of my Card-io stamps. I haven't used these for a while so really enjoyed making this. I found my old circle which I diecut from card with postits on the back. They had dried out so I added some new ones and I was ready to play. I used a couple of different foliage sets with a sentiment stamp I found in my stash. I added some red liquid pear;s for berries. 

I have cards to share with you every day until Friday and who knows what else I make this week.  I have 2 cards ordered and 2 I need to make to send.

Golden Wedding card #1

This is the card I made for our friends' Golden Wedding yesterday using a coloured simply print from LOTV. They asked me to make cards for them both to send each other so I had to come up with three different designs. 

I am not into lots of gold and bling but I did find a gold doily in my stash and used the Dovecraft adhesive glitetr card which I normally only use at Christmas. I found some gold ricrac but that wouldn't stick and I didn't want to wrap it round the paper as they would have made it bulky. I remembered I have a MFT stitched ricrac die so used my adhesive glitter card with it. I also used the card with a sentiment die and my MS fern punch. I have never found glitter card which punches well but this works perfectly. The flowers are from The Hobby House.

Pots of Love

 

I have been posting using the old blogger format but I couldn't insert an image when I tried it yesterday so here I am using the new format. It seems ok once you get your head round how to do things on it. This is another of the new LOTV digis called pots of love. I coloured it with digis and used various paprs and a Lawn Fawn pierced rectangle, MFT stitched scallop border  and Hunkydory flower dies.

The colours are brighter in real life but it was such a strange murky day yesterday with just brief glimpses of sun so my photo doesn't show the true colours.  It's our friends across the road Golden Wedding Anniversary tomorrow so we are taking our chairs and drinks over to their garden this afternoon.

Scruffy Edward without his balloon

I loved sewing Scruffy Edward with his balloon so much and realised if I made him without his balloon he would fit into a 4" hoop. the pattern is available from the Little Stitchery.  I sewed him in purple first and then aqua.

I planned to make some cards yesterday but after finishing one of these off I then spent at least 2 hours trying to sort out my emails. My main account is an old Yahoo one and it needed to be switched to the main BT server but after trying everything on one iPad I had to ring BT. It took a while to get through but got it sorted so two iPads, two iPhones and the laptop all changed successfully. But that was my cardmaking time gone. Oh well, click and collect shopping this morning, change the bed and then hopefully cardmaking.

New release

Lili of the Valley have released 12 new digis, some images were rubber stamps before and some are brand new images.  I have used Teddy single flower which I coloured with Copics and diecut with a Lawn Fawn pierced rectangle die. The papers are some of my fave MFT hearts and stripes and I used a butterfly from Poundland and the Sue Wilson sweetheart flower dies.  

I found some scallop edged cards in my stash which I forgot I had so thought I had better use some of them. I haven't used these for years but must have got them from a craft show, another thing I am missing this year. I normally sock up on ds tape and card blanks at one.

Thanks for all the Anniversary wishes.  Unfortunately it rained all day so we didn't go out. We had a lovely day at home, doing a jigsaw, listening to records, cross stitching and watching Netflix and Amazon. We cooked a nice meal in the evening and had a bottle of wine. You just have to make the best of things at the moment. We badly needed rain but it rained most of the weekend too so we have had enough now. Hopefully it will be dry today and we can get out for some fresh air.

Our Wedding Anniversary

Today is our 49th Wedding Anniversary and this is the card I made for Graham. I used a cute Penny Black stamp which is part of a set a very kind friend sent me. I coloured it with Copics. The papers are some old LOTV country lady 8x8 ones as the card is 7x7.  I used a Marianne wooden tree and dune fence and Memory Box butterfly dies.  The wooden hearts are from Hobbycraft.

This won't be the anniversary we had planned. We should have been in Cornwall for 10 days with an overnight stop either way making a lovely 12 night holiday. Instead we will be a home, depending on the weather we hope to venture out somewhere local and quiet. We would have been going out for a nice meal tonight but instead we will be cooking at home. Whatever we do we will enjoy ourselves.

James and snowman

We had a lovely visit to my Mum's on Monday sitting in the sunshine in the garden. We took our own chairs, mugs, handwash, toilet paper and towel so that we touched the minimum of things inside when we had to go to the loo before we left. Mum sanitised it all before we arrived and again when we left. It was lovely to have a proper chat and share a cuppa together.

I have a few Birthdays and Anniversaries in June so have cards I can't share yet but I did manage to make another Christmas card using an image from one of the coloured art pads that LOTV used to sell.  He is available to buy as a digi stamp and a coloured simply print.

I teamed him with First Edition jolly holiday papers, some Christmas ribbon and a LOTV sentiment. I used MFT Winter trees and layered snowflake dies as well as stitched square dies from The Works. The adhesive glitter is from Dovecraft.

Planning on doing some gardening this morning as it should be cooler today and we went to a garden centre yesterday afternoon for some more plants. We feel quite safe at the garden centres during the week as they are not busy at all and of course most of the time we are outside. Weekends tend to be busier everywhere so that is when we don't venture out except for a walk.  Last weekend's scenes at the beaches were unbelievable ween't they. Much as we would love a walk on the beach we haven't been near the coast at all.

A new purchase

For those who don’t know this is a needle minder for cross stitch. I had never come across them before seeing them on some cross stitch groups on Facebook. They have a powerful magnet behind the image and a second magnet which goes behind the material. When sewing a small cross stitch hoop I keep the needle minder on card. I am finding it so useful. Sometimes it is the little things that please us isn’t it. I found this one on Ebay where there are so many to choose from but as you may know I love Pooh bear so had to choose this one which is from an independent craft seller and only cost £2.85.

SELFIE!

Who decided to change things about Blogger and not tell me? If I click new post then it looks the same but when I do it through the post layout it is completely different. I am getting used to it but like many of us I don't see why they have to change things that are working perfectly well.

Anyway it's anoher Christmas card, yay. This is a fin image from Pink Gem which I coloured with Copics and used the same papers as yesterday. I used Stickles on the snow and bobble hat and found the sentiment in my stash. I used one of only two dies I have bought since lockdown.  It is a lattice fence from MFT and as it had a huge discount and I love using fence dies I had to buy it. The snowflake garland is a die I bought in January half price from The Works.

Snow angel James

I really got back into colouring yesterday and finished off colouring James snow angel which has sat on my desk for a couple of days half done. I coloured him with copics and added some fun flock.  I teamed him with Your Next Stamp Winter plaid papers and a LOTV sentiment. I found the striped wooden tree in my stahs, coloured a wooden snowflake with a sparkle pen, added some enamel dots and used MFT pierced fishtail dies for my banners.

We are planning to visit a different garden centre this afternoon for a change as we need more plants. The garden is looking really good and the roses are doing very well so far, more flowers and bigger blooms than usual

Commissioned 21st card

I haven’t been in the craft room for a couple of days but I do have an image half coloured sitting on my desk. So today I plan to get back in there and get some cards made. I have been cross stitching though so still crafting.

I love Wee Stamp images and have a few of the coloured Hobby House toppers of them. I was asked to make a 7" 21st card and love the colours of this image which go so well with the Craftwork Cards papers. I used Hunkydory Moonstone flower dies with added pearls.

Scruffy Edward

I love the stamp of Scruffy Edward so when I saw that he was available as a cross stitch pattern I had to buy him.  I really loved stitching him, the easiest one I have done so far from the Little Stitchery, the cross stitch shop of LOTV. I used similar colours to the pattern for this one. It just needs framing now.

It seems funny that it is a Bank Holiday again on Monday when one day is much like another at the moment for those of us who don't work. We won't be going far as usual, just a click and collect order at Tesco on Monday. The beach scenes last weekend were horrendous. I can't believe that so many people are ignoring the social distancing advice. I would love a walk on the beach but not with those crowds. Stay safe everyone x

Finally, another Christmas card

Well I think I have made less Christmas cards so far this year than I usually have by now. You would expect it to be more really but hopefully that will soon change. I haven't done any colouring for a couple of weeks but have mainly been using some of my stash of toppers and coloured digis. I have only bought a couple of dies during the lockdown as I really want to use a lot of the stuff I already have.

This topper is from The Hobby House. I think the artist is Daisy Mae. The papers are First Edition perfect Christmas. I wanted to go for a vintage look so used my TH distress tool and vintage photo distress ink.  I used the bronze Trimcraft adhesive glitter with a burgundy shadow for the sentiment. Dies used are Memory Box deer, Marianne tree, Lawn Fawn sentiment and Doohickey tag and swirl. On the diecut tree I used the vintage photo DI then a white glitter pen and love the effect it gave.

Another 90th Birthday card

This is the second of the 90th Birthday cards I was asked to make. I used another Hunkydory topper as I was asked for a large card with a floral theme. The papers are LOTV romance and roses. I added some gupuire lace from Wild Orchid, some narrow ribbon, various flowers, pearl trim and a butterfly from Poundland.

New Born

I am trying to use some of the many LOTV simply prints I already have printed off so I teamed this cutie with the First Edition It's a Boy papers. The sentiment is included in the paper pack. I diecut some clouds using an old Memory Box die and added some enamel hearts from Tiger.

We are hoping to visit one of the local small garden centres this afternoon as we think the bigger ones will be too busy. It will depend upon the queue whether we go in or not. Like all of them they are limiting numbers so we will see what it is like.

Trimcraft bag

I made a simple gift bad using products from Trimcraft. I am loving the new adhesive glitter.  I used the silver from the metallics packFor the tag I used an old Spellbinders die, cutting one from kraft card and one from the glitter sheet. The decoupage, paper and wooden and paper roses are from the First Edition Paper Posies range. I used a MFT scallop die for the border.

And another Hunkydory topper

Yes I am afraid it is yet another card using a Hunkydory topper. This is a 7" card I was asked to make. The paper is from the same pad I used before from The Works. I added some of the beautiful gupuire lace from Wild Orchid. I wanted to add a few embellishments but not oo much and decide on some different sized butterflies. The paper one is from Poundland and I found various wooden ones in my stash which I coloured with Nuvo glitter markers.

Well that's another week gone by. Enjoy your weekend, whatever you are doing. If you are like us that will be staying at home apart from a walk.

Carrie's Potting shed

Another commission was to make a plaque with this title and lots of pink. I found the perfect image amongst my Hunkydory toppers. The paper is from an old LOTV pad romance and roses.  I coloured a wooden birdhouse  and the handle of the spade with Zig wood pen and used a silver sparkle pen on the other part.  The flowers are from Wild Orchid and the butterfly is from a pack I bought in America a while ago.

Hello I'm back on my blog

Well I think that may be the longest I have ever left my blog without posting as my last post was Friday. I don't know where the time goes some days. I have been very busy with a few orders. Luckily I had some of the cards which were suitable in stock so I just had to personalise a few of them. I have been making others though like this one. In fact I have sold more this last week than I do at some craft fairs!

I was asked to make two large floral cards for a lady who used to live locally but now lives in Cyprus. There is no postal service there to the UK at the moment so I typed messages in the cards and posted them to the care home for her. I was so pleased that she loves the cards and says the recipient will love them too.

I have some Hunkydory toppers which are lovely but quite big so making an 8" card enable me to use them. The paper is from a 12x12 pack from The Works. I punched and diecut some leaves and used some flowers I have had in my stash for a long time. The wooden bird is from Hobbycraft.

Back tomorrow with something different.

Ruby Wedding Mice

This is one of the cards I was asked to make this week. I used a LOTV simply print, printing out two so I could decoupage the balloon. The paper is an old Craftwork Cards one and I used a doily behind the diecut image. The flowers are from Wild Orchid.

We're off to get our click and collect shopping at lunchtime, such excitement! I'm sure we are all looking forward to the day we can browse the shops safely, have a meal out and feel safe around other people.  That may be some time away I fear. Until then stay safe x

Fairy Lili Sparkle

I planned to make some Christmas cards this week but getting an image out onto my desk is as far as I have got. A couple of friends asked for urgent cards, then a lady who comes to my cardmaking classes and buys from me at the hospital craft fairs asked for 10 cards and a plaque. So a sort through my cards and I found 7 suitable cards, some just need personalising. It's nice to think some of my cards will be posted out rather than just siting in my stock. I am doubting whether I will be doing any craft fairs this year the way things are looking. 

I have been working on this cross stitch for a little while and am very happy with how she turned out.  The pattern is from The Little Stitchery, a division of LOTV. She is called Lili Sparkle and should be stitched in pink but I fancied using purple. I used similar colours to the pattern for the rest of her as I have so many threads and didn't want to buy more.  I was going to put in her a wooden frame but preferred her in the hoop frame.  I will be back with a card tomorrow.

Racing By

I don't know about you but knowing every day you have so much time to spend at home I keep procrastinating thinking I will do that tomorrow. Mind you we have been doing  lot of jigsaws and reading and I have been doing a lot of cross stitching, I am on to the backstitching on my latest picture so will have that finished soon. 

So I have had a break from making cards and blogging for the last three days which means my head is full of ideas so I got in the craft room yesterday and made a couple of cards. I have used one of the new coloured simply prints from Lili of the Valley. This one is Racing by. The papers are some old Docrafts Mr Mister and I added some twine and metal embellishments. I am enjoying using up some of the stash I have had for years and since the lockdown have only bought a couple of dies in the sale at Dies at Die For.

Enjoy your Sunday x

It's launch day with some buried treasure

As promised yesterday I am back with another card using one of the coloured simply prints. There are 24 new digis and 25 coloured simply prints out today at Lili of the Valley. This one is buried treasure. I have used some old Docrafts papers which were just perfect for this image. The ribbon is from crafty Ribbons and I used Joy dies plus a seagull die which came with a beach chair die.

This launch is perfect for male cards as there is a huge variety of images. 

How are you all coping with the lockdown? I have been pleasantly surprised by how well we are doing. I think already being retired has helped a great deal as we are used to being at home. I feel sorry for people stuck in a flat with children. It must be really hard trying to home school particularly if you are working from home and have no garden or nice outside space. I do look forward to a slight easing and being able to drive over to see my Mum even if it means having a chat on the doorstep rather than just FaceTiming her.

Hey Mr Spaceman

I was going to do some ironing this morning but decided instead to have a play with some of the coloured simply prints launching tomorrow at LOTV. This one is called spaceman. I used some old Docrafts papers, star punches and MFT zigzag dies. The top zigzag is from the waste and I rather liked the effect of the three different sizes.  Back with another tomorrow.

Best golfer

I have another of the new images coming on 29th April from Lili of the Valley. Tis one is best golfer and I have coloured him as usual with Copics. I used chalk for the sky as I like the soft effect which shows more on the actual card. The sentiment is from a new set launching at the same time. The papers are MFT free spirit. A very cas design for me but it just felt right with no added embellishments.