First Prize at the Village Show

 My Owl birthday card got first prize in the local village show this weekend - first response from family was - was it the only entry! No, it beat off 6 other cards, one of which had some lovely beadwork on it.

My cross stitch picture of the Lion also got first prize. And my husband won an enormous Teddy by guessing its name, not sure what we are going to do with him. At the moment he is sat in the bay window watching the passersby.

Is Green the New Black?

 I hope so, as I have just made a greetings card saying so!

I've also made a fun birthday card that features a cute parrot wearing a party hat - now who wouldn't one of those!

Scrappy Cats

 

Still trying to use up some of the piles of scrap paper I have accumulated over the years!

These cards have simply layered some funky cat stickers over some spotty oddments.

Wishing You the Best Year for 2023

Happy New year to everyone and I hope 2023 turns out to be a good one for you, I have a big family wedding and 2 holidays to look forward to!

I've started off the New Year playing with these celestial scene stamps from Creative Stamping Magazine

I've also been making some starry background papers using Brusho powers

I hope you are all feeling crafty for the new year with plenty of time to spend creating new cards!

Christmas Nuvo Drops

Seems like I am using Nuvo drops on nearly every Christmas card that I make this year!

I am using several different colours to add a bit of texture and interest to the cards

as well as adding white drops to any snowy scenes!

 

Mystical Unicorns

 

I was tempted to buy this unicorn silhouette die set for half price at the Tonic sale along with some more nuvo drops for my collection.

I've experimented using different backgrounds and it works well with DL cards. The one below I snipped off the horn to turn it into a horse!

It made a nice change from making Christmas cards, another batch of 100 xmas cards went out to a local charity today to help them with their fund raising.

Crafty Cat

 

One of our cats, Roxy decided to join me in my craft room this morning - however I had just finished putting silver glitter glue on these 'Let it Snow' sentiments when she walked all over them. 

Guess who now has glittery paws!

Thank You Birds

 

I'm not quite ready to start making Christmas cards as it's still too warm, so thought I would make a couple of Thank You cards to keep ready for the right occasion.

They also used up some old images and papers from Making Cards Magazine that have been hanging around a while!

ATC Swaps ??

 

I love making and swapping ATC's (Artist Trading Cards), you know, those little cards that measure 3.5 x 2.5 inches. Over the years I have joined in lots of swaps with other card makers who enjoy making something a bit smaller and specific. Its lovely to received what other people have made along the same theme, colour or technique.

However, over the years, many of the swaps have closed down or faded away and now I only do 2 monthly swaps with the ladies who I met through the Trimcraft forum (now also unexpectively closed down). Do any of you crafters know of any other UK based monthly ATC swaps I could join ????

Irridescent Cardstock

 

Following on from my last post, I spotted a pack of very pale blue cardstock printed with irridescent wildflower silhouettes in Hobbycraft, so I had to buy it!

I already had some leftover scraps of holo card, so die cut some butterflies, birds and sentiments to go on the cards

They do look good together!

Wildflower Silhouettes

 

You can't go wrong with a birthday card made with the silhouettes of wild flowers and grasses!

So, I snapped up a copy of Die-cutting Essential magazine when I saw they had a selections of 5 different flower and grass dies this month, far cheaper than buying the Tim Hotz set for £18!

You can even win a set over on Christina Griffiths blog!

Honey - Natures Medicine

 

Honey really helped when I had a bad sore throat with covid recently, so I made a birthday card featuring  a bowl of honey and some bees to recognise its value!

Summer Time

 

A couple more cards made from the lovely summer images from Making Cards Magazine, ideal for this time of year!

Covid Hits

 Sorry I haven't posted for a while, but covid finally caught up with me. At first I thought it was a bad cold as the first test was negative. I had a really bad sore throat, which meant living on honey, strepsils and ice cream for several days. Thankfully back to full health now.

This meant that the latest issue of Making Cards Mag has only just been used. 

The bright, sunny holiday themes made me feel quite cheerful again!

Jubilee Celebrations

 

Hope all my (UK) friends are enjoying the Platinum Jubilee Celebrations, the bunting is up on my house and I have have used loads of blue, white and red ribbons from my stash to add to the decorations!

Beside the Seaside

 With the warmer weather now, it's time to start making some Summer themed birthday cards

I've always been glad that my birthday falls in the summer, it's a good excuse to have a trip out or BBQ, and I never had to go to school on my birthday!

However, you could never guarantee the British weather and some birthdays have been washed out due to torrential rain and thunderstorms!

Handbags & Boots

 

I came across some old foam stickers of handbags and  boots  recently. I think they were a freebie from a magazine ages ago, so it was time to use them!

Plus use up a couple of old handbag shaped sentiments from Craftwork Cards too . 

POW!

 I invested £2 in The Works on these Superhero stickers to help me make some cards suitable for young boys and teenagers, always tricky to find a suitable subject for them!

The bright, vibrant colours meant I was also able to use up some more of my odd scraps of paper

I also add a few drops of bright lime green Nuvo Drops to the next card!

More Feathers

 

For ages now I've been hunting for my favourite feather shaped die. I haven't been able to find it for months and had to rely on stamping out feathers or using a smaller die to decorate my cards (like on the card on the left)

Then I picked up a pad of background papers, and there it was, stuck to the back! I was so pleased and made a couple of garden bird themed cards to celebrate.

Party Invites

 

It's my Dads 80th Birthday soon, so I was volunteered to make the party invitations. I've only got to make 15, but I wanted them to each be similar, but different. So, I used a mix of die cut balloons, champagne glasses, birthday cakes and stars in a variety of colours and mirricard -  it also helped to use up some scraps of card from my stash!

More Scraps

 Another birthday card made up of contrasting scraps of paper - I need more inspiration, as there is still a big pile left - might need to pop over to Pintrest to see what other people have made!