Hares in the countryside

Nothing much to say about this one as it is another Card-io wreath card.  The stamps inside the wreath were from one of the stamp sets I bought recently.  I used distress oxides again for the background and the MFT small cloud stencil for the sky.

There are some lovely new Card-io stamps now out so I am waiting for my order and looking forward to experimenting with them.

 

Happy snail

 

Had a lovely time at the craft fair yesterday. Great atmosphere and a good footfall. As always at craft fairs some people didn’t sell at all or very little but I did well. I was so please people like my cross stitch and I sold the Pooh bear one I made recently. I posted a pic of my stall on Facebook and one of my crafting friends asked to buy my fairy cross stitch and is happy to pay postage.

This is my latest cross stitch made from a pattern by Durene Jones. I bought a couple more patterns from The Little Stitchery, part of Lili of the Valley so will be starting one of those next.

Another Card-io card

Another of the wreath cards I made on Wednesday.  I coloured the background with distress oxides and used the MFT small cloud stencil for the sky.  

We will be up early this morning for my first craft fair of the year so fingers crossed it goes well.

 

Commissioned Mother's Day card

The lady who orders from me every month asked me to make a Mother's Day card for her mother-in-law.  I wanted to try out this design but it looked better in my head than it turned out.  I printed the sentiment from the laptop and then used Card-io stamps to create the design.  I quite like it but not as much as I hoped but she was pleased with it so that's what matters.

 

Friends and Wellies

I had a really good day in the craft room yesterday and another play with my Card-io stamps/  I bought the set of wellies in my last order and thought they went really well with the friend's footsteps sentiment.

We are going to Prima Rosa for lunch with friends today so I am taking some of these cards to sell in there.  The rest will be for my upcoming craft fairs.

 

Baby hammock

Whilst Graham is out today working on the rescue boats ready for the powerboat season I am having a day in the craft room.  This is the first card I have made this morning ready for my first craft fair of the year on Saturday.

The digi is LOTV baby hammock coloured with Copics.  I used a new Daisy Mae torn edges die which I am really pleased with.  There are a great range of sizes in this set. I have just ordered the rectangles as I like the torn edges so much.

The papers are First Edition It's a Girl.  I used tattered rose distress ink and added some die cut clouds using an old Memory Box die and some flowers from Wild Orchid.

Right back to cardmaking.

 

In the frame

I really liked the way I framed some wreath cards recently, see Mar 2nd post.  I decided to do another but instead of a sentiment in the middle I created a scene.  I used torn paper and distress oxides for the background.  All the stamps are Card-io.

 

Don't breathe!

I am worried this cute dragon may breathe fire and melt his lovely ice cream. This is one of the latest digis from Lili of the Valley.  I coloured him with Copics and matched him with MFT papers.  I kept the layout simple to make a flat card just cutting some little banners and adding a LOTV sentiment edged with distress ink.

Thank you all for Graham's Birthday wishes.  It was a lovely sunny but cold day and we had a nice evening with friends.  We are out again today as we are both having back massages so a nice wander round Beccles and lunch before stopping for food shopping on the way home.  And that will be another weekend coming up.  The weeks fly by don't they.

 

In the countryside

Another play with Card-io stamps and a very different scene this time.  I am enjoying trying different things with them.  I coloured the card with mowed lawn and rustic wilderness distress oxides then sprayed it with water.  I then created the scene using various Card-io stamps adding a little more of the rustic wilderness for shading.

With the cost of postage rising again next month I am trying to create more flat cards.

 

Happy Birthday Graham

Today is my hubby Graham's Birthday and I have to think hard about what card to make him as I like to try to do something different every year and I don't buy many stamps nowadays. I did however recently buy some more Card-io stamps with some Christmas money. These stamps are from the Beside the Sea stamp set.  It's the first time I have used them and am happy with the result.  The couple are from one of the Christmas sets.

I made a square stencil from acetate and coloured the sky using distress oxide salty ocean and a MFT mini cloud stencil.  The sea was coloured with the same distress oxide mixed with chipped sapphire. I then covered it with a white shimmer chalk and added a few swirls with a white gel pen.  I used fossilized amber distress oxide for the beach adding a little orange from a small ink pad.  I coloured the bits of beach hut with sparkle pens.  Unfortunately the teal one came out rather dark.

We are going to Bury St Edmunds for the day.  I hop the Abbey Gardens will be full of Spring flowers.  Then tonight we are going for a carvery with friends.

 

New release chicks

Lili of the Valley have another new release, some of them perfect for Easter or Mother's Day.  There are some really cute little farm animals and I chose to use 2 of the chicks.  I coloured them with Copics and teamed them with one of the recent digi papers called Love Affair also from LOTV.  I added some wooden leaves from Hobbycraft and cherry blossom flowers from Wild Orchid.

 

Glasses/phone cases

 I have my first craft fair coming up in a couple of weeks and as I only have three of these cases left I thought I should make some more. I have lots of material and felt to use so cut out nine and have been sewing them in the evenings. They are all lined with felt and handsewn.

Framed wreaths

I decided to try something a little different with these two cards. Instead of backing them onto coloured card I diecut scalloped circles in the card and framed the wreaths.  All the stamps are Card-io.  I added some liquid pearls to the orange flower centres.

The coloured card is dark purple but looks black on my laptop screen.  It was very dull yesterday when I photographed these which didn't help.  I have been making a few of these but just sharing these two.

 

Feed the birds

I am so enjoying using the Card-io stamps and after seeing so many lovely cards in the Card-io group on Facebook I treated myself to some more.  The cute birds are on one of the stamp sets I bought.  I used my homemade circle stencil with a MFT mini cloud stencil and salty ocean distress oxide to create the background.  I then used various stamps to create the wreath.  I decided to add a few fly away flowers this time for a change.

I'm having a pedicure this afternoon.  I went for one in January for the first time after seeing the lady who does my nails had them on her price list.  I really enjoyed it and at only £10 for the hour's pedicure it was well worth it.

 

Cars

I was asked to make a card for a man who likes cars so I decided to make a couple and add one to my stock.  I bought these toppers years ago at a craft show.  The papers for this one are some old Docraft Mr Mister ones.  I used a wooden sentiment stamp from The Works, MFT pierced fishtail banner die and enamel dots.

For this one I used a piece of an old map distressing the edges using vintage photo distress ink and a distressing tool.  The chipboard pieces have again been in my stash for a long time.

We are out for Sunday lunch with some friends today so no cooking, hooray.

 

All that glitters is snow

I tried something different with this card. I made a circle stencil from acetate to create the scene.  I used torn paper and chipped sapphire distress ink to create the sky and snow.  The stamps are Card-io of course.  I added some berries using liquid pearls, Stickles and a sentiment stamp I found in my stash.

 

Champagne anyone?

Another coloured simply print from Lili of the Valley, this one is Little Ted Champagne.  I used the vintage hearts digi papers from the new Love range at LOTV.  The sentiment ribbon is Dovecraft paper posies, the sentiment is LOTV and I used Hunkydory Moonstone flower dies.

 

Rosy and Cosy

I love the name of this sweet image, Rosy and Cosy. The papers and coloured image are more from the Love Range launched recently by Lili of the Valley.  These papers print so well really showing off the gorgeous colours.  I used my fave Marianne fence die, Crafts Too butterfly and Sue Wilson sweetheart flower dies.

 

Amongst the roses

Another sweet card using the new Love Affair digi papers and a coloured simply print image from LOTV.  This one is Love Swing.  The stamp is a wooden one from The Works.  I used a stitched circle Lawn Fawn die and some Prima Roses.

 

More teddies

Following yesterday's post I have another of the new coloured simply prints from LOTV to share.  This one is Teddy and roses and I used two of the new vintage heart digi papers. The sentiment is LOTV, stitched scalloped curved die is MFT.

I mentioned I play Wordle every day well I have discovered Quordle now.  I have played it for the last two days and love the extra challenge of guessing 4 words in 9 goes where the letters you put for the first word are for every word. Really gets the brain going. 

 

New simply prints and digi papers

These are from the latest Lili of the Valley launch.  I used some gorgeous digi papers from the Love Affair range and Little Teds Together coloured simply print.  The ribbon is from Crafty Ribbons and I used some old Dovecraft bunting.

Hope you are all staying safe from Storm Eunice.  As I type this the rain has just stopped and it is windy but nowhere near as bad as predicted yet. Am hoping it doesn't get worse later.

Edited well it got much worse after lunch, more heavy rain and very very windy but thankfully not as bad as some other places.

 

Thank You

This is the card I made to go with yesterday's present.  I know Kate likes Card-io stamps so I made a wreath card and used an old wooden sentiment stamp.

Really nothing else I can say about this card.  No doubt more different wreath cards will be appearing from time to time on here.

 

A thank you present

My blogging friend Kate sent me a lovely surprise package recently.  She was having a clear out of a cupboard and came across some cross stitch packs she had bought but never opened and as she knows I love cross stitch she kindly sent them to me.

This one was a Hobbycraft pack.  It came with a larger frame and the material included in the pack was too small for the frame.  I cut a larger piece but once I had sewn it I thought the frame provided was too big so ended up cutting the material down a bit and using a smaller frame.

I guessed Kate bought it as she intended sewing it for herself so I sewed it and sent it to her.

Just to say

I could make these wreath cards all day long and no two would look the same as I have lots of different Card-io sets and lots of coloured ink pads.  I bought a set of 5 wooden sentiment stamps in The Works and this is one of them.  I thought they were a nice font and a good size and this one fits perfectly into the wreath.

Have you caught the Wordle Craze yet? I always do 3 different solitaire games each morning on my Ipad and after seeing some people on Facebook playing Wordle I decided to give it a go.  I like that it is only one per day and really gets the brain thinking.  Keeping the brain agile is so important especially as we get older. 

Boating Bears

I can't believe it is a week since my last blog post.  However I have been making some things I can't share with you yet. This is another from the latest launch from Lili of the Valley.  This one is Boating Bears which I have coloured with Copics.   I used a Lawn Fawn mini cloud stencil and salty ocen Distress Oxide for the sky.  The paper is Craft O'clock Plum in Chocolate.  

I thought she needs a parasol so used some Core-dainations which I sanded and cut with an old Marianne die.  The lace is from my stash, roses from Wild Orchid and the little tag is from the paper pad.

Looking forward to a trip out this morning for breakfast and a walk by the river.  Have a good weekend.  I will be back tomorrow with another card.

 

Teddy and chocs

Another cute teddy from the new Lili of the Valley launch.  I fussy cut him and coloured him with Copics.  The papers are Dovecraft Make a Wish and I used a Sweet Dixie flower die and LOTV sentiment.

 

 

Row, row, row the boat

Another cutie from the new LOTV launch.  I coloured it with Copics but used chipped sapphire distress oxide for the sea.  The papers are Echo Park dots and stripes.  The sentiment is LOTV and I used a clearly besotted border die.  The ribbon is from Crafty Ribbons.

A day out today in Beccles with back massages for us both followed by a nice lunch and a look round the shops and market.

 

Second sneak peek

There are some adorable teddy bear digis in the new launch coming soon at Lili of the Valley.  This one is Little Ted together.  I coloured it with Copics using chalk for the sky.  I printed the image quite large so kept the design simple.  The paper is MFT and the cross stitch hearts are a Memory Box die.  I added a LOTV sentiment and some doodling.

We are off for routine check ups at the dentist today.  Let's hope we both get away with no fillings.

 

First sneak peek

Lili of the Valley have a gorgeous new launch of digi stamps coming soon.  This one is choccy mice which would be great for a lot of occasions.  I coloured it with Copics.  The paper is MFT and I used a doily and some wooden hearts from Hobbycraft.  Both the sentiments are LOTV.

 

New shower room

In 2019 we had our bathroom converted to a shower room and I wanted to create a double layout to document the change for our house scrapbook.  We wanted a complete change of colour going for a more modern look especially with the tiles.

The new shower room is actually brighter than it looks in the photos.  It isn't easy taking pics in a small room and the grey wallboard makes it look darker than it is.

It was hard to know how to do these layouts so I kept them simple just adding some washi tape, enamel dots and wooden chevrons and arrows.  The arrows will make sense when the two pages are facing each other in the album.