The Early Bird - is definitely not me!

 

Hello

 

So I'm back to being late posting my challenge card for the Daring Cardmakers, Sorry Miri, its just a bit of a struggle keeping things going at the moment, for no good reason.  Hopefully my energy levels will get better now the days are longer.

Miri has a lovely theme for this week's challenge to the Daring Cardmakers!

What I like a lot about spring is the fact that it’s no longer dark when I get up and that I can enjoy the first morning sunshine on my way to work. (At least until Sunday when the clocks go forward to Daylight Saving Time 😉).

So the topic for this week is:

The early bird catches the worm.

On your card, use whatever comes to mind when you hear this saying, such as birds of any kind, sun rays/sunshine/sunset or even a worm!

You can see lots of inspiration from the Design Team by clicking this link

I've used a smooth white square card base trimmed down to a fat rectangle plus extra of the same for the upper panel which is matted onto pale blue card

O stencilled the white panel with sunrise shades of ink, which I then sprayed with water to blur them a bit.

The dies for the bird and birdhouse and the grass are from a couple of old Spellbinders sets.  My little bird is on the lookout for worms for his breakfast!

The sentiment is from a Tim Holtz  added a few green and pink pearls nearby

To finish I found three tiny mulberry paper flowers in matching colours - its been a very long time since I used any of those!

Thank you so much for coming by. 

 

 Happy Crafting, Stay Safe, 

 

 

supporting Ukraine

Celebrating Springtime

 

Hello

I hope Friday finds you well and enjoying some Spring sunshine 

The news is still horrendous with the atrocities in Ukraine continuing, and Covid deaths going over SIX MILLION

 

What. A. World.

Sometimes I just despair or things ever getting better, of people living together in a respectful way

I feel like pulling up the drawbridge and declaring a state of independence.

If only I had a moat, a drawbridge and some battlements

Anyway before I get even more maudlin, I need to remind myself of the birds singing in the morning, the days growing longer and signs of Spring in the garden...

...and Shabneez's perfectly timed challenge to the Daring Cardmakers!

Hello Spring!

It's almost the first official day of Spring here in the UK and what better way than to celebrate with a challenge!  

I’d love to see anything related to the season be it lambs, rabbits, daffodils, tulips etc.

You can see lots of inspiration from the Design Team by clicking this link

I thought I'd make this challenge work hard and make it for MiL's Mother's Day card.  

I've used a smooth white card base plus extra of the same for the upper panel which is embossed using the good old Swiss Dots folder from Cuttlebug

This panel was adhered over a length of narrow pink satin ribbon

I inked more white card with shades of green and pink Nuvo Embellishing Mousses to cut the tulips.  The die is by Joanna Sheen, but I cut it a few times, cut away sections and layered them into a taller, narrower arrangement.

I think its good to get creative and make your dies work harder for you!

I made the sentiment on the pc and added a few green and pink pearls nearby

To finish I tied a messy double bow and glued in place

 

I love the soft sheen of the mousse but it does make photographing a bit trickier, and no matter how often I tried I couldn't really get the embossing to show very well.  But it is there!

Thank you so much for coming by. 

 

 Happy Crafting, Stay Safe, 

 

 

 

Standing with Ukraine

Cover background is from a digital download called Spring Flowers by

 Ukrainian Etsy seller DigitalArtDreams

 

 

for Ukraine

 

All around the web people are trying to show they care about the people of Ukraine and show in whatever way they can that we stand against the devastation Mr Putin is hell-bent on doling out.

This week the Daring Cardmakers are joining crafters all around the world who are trying to show solidarity with our friends in Ukraine

 

 

What is happening in Ukraine is shocking and utterly wrong.
We want to show support for the Ukrainian people by filling our blog with the blue and yellow colours of the country's flag and masses of sunflowers; the national flower of Ukraine

The power of the internet means our crafting and working community often encompasses people from all over the world and most of us will know at least one fellow crafter who is living through such terror and heartache.  

Suddenly it's our friends and colleagues  - not strangers who are suffering,

Se this week we're asking you to join us and show support for the people of Ukraine by filling the crafting world with
 

Sunflowers, Blue, Yellow and HOPE

 

Please share this week's cover wherever you can

 

For my card I inked pieces of white car with shades of yellow and blue,  I cut these into rectangles and then randomly cut those into strips before arranging onto the base card.  In my head it's symbolic of whats happening over there.

To me sunflowers really are a symbol of hope and brighter days - they are big and showy and full of pride - and not afraid to stand tall.  I wish I had their confidence.

I made mine by first inking some 80gsm card with several shades of yellow ink, then die cutting with a die set from Spellbinders for the larger ones, and from Joanna Sheen for the small one.

 
The sentiment is created on the PC and I added some tiny copper gems to highlight the flower centres and a few clear and yellow dew drops to symbolise tears

 

Thank you so much for coming by. 

Just to reiterate the 'friends and colleagues, not strangers' - one of OH's co-workers is Ukranian, she lives in Prague but her family are in Ukraine. Every day must be more like a nightmare of worry and fear.

  I would be thrilled if you would join in in some way so that we can show support albeit in this very small way

 

 Happy Crafting, Stay Safe, 

 

March Elemental Challenge

 

Hello

Another Friday rolls around - I hope you’ve had a good week, despite the world seeming to lurch from disaster to catastrophe. The events in Ukraine are utterly shocking, how dare that greedy, posturing Russian Megalomaniac decide that another country is a sweetshop  and it’s ok for him to steal from it.  I can’t help thinking that we’ve been here before

It’s weird to just try to get on with everyday stuff when such atrocities are happening. What can ordinary people do apart from voicing our condemnation of Putin’s actions and offering our support to the Ukrainian people in whatever way we are able. 

So we will make monetary donations (my OH’s company are generously matching any donations it’s employees make to some of the charities helping ‘on the ground’), I buy a fair number of digital crafting downloads via Etsy, so I’ll be seeking out those created by Ukrainians to show my support. And we should all be making a noise on our blogs, on Instagram and everywhere else we can think of. 

It needs to stop

 

March Elemental Challenge

The first trip I ever took with  the man who would become my hubby was to Paris, so it holds some special memories for us.  A few years ago (before the world went mad) we decided it was time to go back.  This time we found a cute little apartment to call 'home', hopped on the Eurostar and set off early in March for week in Paris 

So I thought as its March again a trip down Memory Lane would make a fun mood board for this month.  I've pulled together a random mix of photos from our Paris visit which I hope will inspire you.  

Just choose a minimum of 3 elements from the pictures to use when you make your card.   Obviously your card doesn't have to have anything to do with Paris though, I've added some suggestions below the picture

Suggestions: Layout, Landmarks, Tower, Triangles, Clocks. Rose, Pastries, Beads, Paintings, Bicycle, Bright Colours, Lips, Water, paving patterns, Materials (wood, metal, canvas, glass etc) ...

I'm really looking forward to seeing what you come up with, and to get you started, don’t forget to check out the ideas from our wonderful designers 

I took my inspiration for the background from the bright colours on the painting in the Montmartre photo, added some still bare tree die cuts and an Eiffel Tower one from the main photo and a bicycle from the photo of a shop window display in one of the Passages Couverts - which we loved exploring 

 

I used small ink cubes to create the background

Tree die by Memory Box

Eiffel Tower and bicycle dies by Spellbinders

 

Thank you so much for coming by

 

 Happy Crafting, Stay Safe,