Robins On A Perch

Evening Everyone

I hope you are well and looking forward to Friday where the weekend begins.

It's been a dull and sometimes drippy day today so I made the best of it by clearing the mess on my desk and unpacking all the unused and untouched crafty stash from the tote. Once I'd done that, and after I basked for a few minutes in appreciation of so much clear space to work in, I made four quick cards for Sarn's Rudolph Day challenge for May over at Stamping For Pleasure and Hazel's CHNC #178 - where the challenge is Christmas in Your Country.

These were so easy to make because I've used pre-made card bases and what was left of a My Paper Stash kit, Robin On A Perch, together with some leftover red card from Kanban - now sadly no longer around.

The toppers were trimmed and then the trimmed edges were silver embossed.

The insides were trimmed with leftover strips of cardstock and I put a white panel inside the black cards to give somewhere to write a greeting.

More leftover bits decorate the backs of the cards.

I'm also submitting them to the following:

Hazel's Challenge Extra for May

and

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 126 

So there they are - my belated Rudolph Day cards which also meet the remit for this week's CHNC challenge. I'm so pleased too that I've used up more stash (the leftover kit) and snippets (the red card) ... it feels almost like cards for nothing :)

I'm off to play with watercolours now ... just for a complete change :)

Thanks for visiting and do enjoy the rest of your evening.

Happy Crafting, 

Materials: 2 x white square card bases; 2 x black square card bases; My Paper Stash Robin On A Perch kit; Kanban Snow Red cardstock; Greetings from an old Docrafts Christmas kit; Ranger's Black Soot distress ink; VersaMark pen and Heat It Up silver embossing powder; grey ribbons from stash

WOYWW 260 - Celebrating 5 years of WOYWWing!

Hi Everyone,

Week 260 and time to celebrate! WOYWW is 5 years old!! Congratulations to Julia for hosting what has to be the biggest and best blog hop in cyberland. Thank you Julia for all those years of fun and frolics among the desks of so many lovely bloggers. It grieves me that I wasn't in from the start, I hovered and lurked for some time and then plucked up the courage to join in about 3 years ago ... and I'm so glad I did. I've made a whole heap of fabulous cyber friends and I've even met a few in the flesh. So a BIG THANKS to Julia for dreaming up the idea, keeping it going each week and making Wednesday a day to really look forward to.

Because of family commitments I didn't think I'd be able to either participate today or create an ATC, but I'm here and I have. I've created the one above digitally which means I can print it as out many times as needed so if you would like one please let me know :)

Now on to my desk this week.

It's a mess. I've not put stuff away since I got back from babysitting. I haven't even unpacked the tote ...

I took all this stuff and didn't find the time, or the energy, to do any crafting at all!

This shot of the right side of my desk is especially for Annie, that's Wipso at A Stitch In Time, ... can you see what The Boss has adopted as her snooze station :) I was tidying up, emptied and put everything that was in there away, and this is what happened when my back was turned. I haven't the heart to move her, she's had a traumatic morning. She has an ear infection so we've had a trip to the vet's and she's had two injections ... result: one very unhappy pussy :(

I've gone on long enough so I better skedaddle before I get into bother with Julia ... she likes it brief :) My plan now is to get around as many desks as I can before Pointless ... I'm addicted!

In the meantime, I wish you all a fabulous WOYWW and a wonderful week.

Happy Crafting

After The Storm

Hello Everyone

I'm back from my childminding stint. It was exhausting but a pleasure ... my grandchildren are lovely and the dog is cute. Call me daft but I took a fully kitted crafting tote with me ... needless to say it was never opened and no crafting was done. I was much too busy and then exhausted for that :)

However, just before I went, I did manage to complete this tag for the UKPC May Swap ... the theme was indigo ... to be interpreted any which way we liked.

As you can see, I opted to combine some IndigoBlu stamps, free with Simply Cards & Papercraft magazine, with blue inks.

I started with a base of white card, stamped the main image using VersaMark and Stampendous clear embossing powder. Next, it was sponged all over with denim blue Gentle Blends, by Pinflair and buffed up with a tissue to remove as much as possible from the stamped image.

The next step was to ink through a couple of Clarity stencils, Square Honeycomb and Circle Dots, randomly around the edges of the tag with Memento Danube Blue, and then stamp the meadow flowers along the bottom edge.

The dragonfly was stamped on to blue textured card (docrafts Papermania) which was then rubbed with silver gilding wax (Pebeo) and decorated with blue gems ... it's attached to the tag with glue gel to give dimension.

I've finished the edges of the tag with the gilding wax before adhering it to a base of the blue textured card - also edged with silver - and decorated the 'hair' on the image with blue gems. The fibres are from a very useful stash I have tucked away in the craft room.

The 'mis'quote - 'with grace in her heart, and flowers in her hair' is from a Mumford and Sons number, After the Storm, hence the title of this post. For those interested here's a link with the official lyrics : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWYG7lZBc6U

It's a sad number but beautiful to listen to despite that.

I've made myself late for Pointless so I'm off to see what's left. I'll be back later because I have a ton of catching up to do :)

I hope you are all well and having a good week so far.

Happy Crafting,

A Girl Can Never Have Too Many Shoes

Hello Everyone

This, if I've set it correctly, is another scheduled post. I'm still away on childminding and dogminding duty. I mentioned in an earlier post that I had been making a cushion for another of my granddaughters - there's three of them altogether - and this is it.

It's Jolene's 14th birthday today - quite the young lady now and, though she doesn't wear killer heels yet, I'm sure  it won't be too long before she does, so hopefully this pattern will appeal to her!

The front of the cushion cover is made from two cotton fabrics and piping cord. Getting the cord sewn in place was tricky but after a couple of false starts I managed to complete the process ... with just a few oaths and curses along the way :)

I used plain black cotton to create the back - I opted for the tried and tested, easy-peasy lemon-squeezy, envelope closing. I haven't quite got the confidence to try setting in a zip yet ... maybe the next sewing project. It's not as if I haven't done it before, but that was about thirty years ago ... making me very definitely out of practice!

The colours were chosen because Jolene's has a white and red bedroom. I think the combination of patterns is very 'ooh la la' French chic ... I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she likes it.

I hope you are having a great week.

Until the next scheduled post then.

Purple Star

Hello Everyone

I hope this finds you well and enjoying your day.

I'm not here! I'm at my daughter's looking after her two youngest and the family dog, Max, so this is a scheduled post ... well, you didn't think I'd abandon you altogether :)

I have another card that was intended for Hazel's CHNC challenge, the one asking for something shiny, but as it was completed too late it didn't make the deadline!!!

It's also a recycled make because apart from the base, the materials came entirely from a card received last Christmas.  To make the front, I trimmed the card down to fit the square base, just leaving a smidgen of white border showing. Once it was adhered, some crystal gems were added to two corners to match those that were there already.

To decorate the inside in back I simply punched some stars from the pieces that were trimmed off for the front topper and then they were adhered as shown.

Without doubt this was the simplest and easiest card I've ever made and it certainly didn't test my creativity but I just hate to throw away a good card :)

Hope you are having a great week.

Happy Crafting,

Materials used: Base - white square card; Topper - recycled card; Punch - X-cut star corner
Gems - Anita's clear gems

Butterfly Challenge - Butterfly and Doily

Evening Everyone

I hope this find you well. We've had visitors today, our good friends, B and M, from Dumfries & Galloway popped in on the way to Glasgow.  M is going into the Jubilee Hospital tomorrow to have an angiogram and, depending on the result, possibly have a stent fitted. All being well she will be home, tucked up and sleeping it off, tomorrow evening.

And, a surprise my grandson, William, paid an unexpected visit. The last time B&M saw him was seven years ago when everyone came to ours for Christmas dinner ... my, how time flies!

Of course, this means that I've too busy to do any crafting but, in true Blue Peter tradition, here's one I made earlier, especially intended for Mrs A's Butterfly Challenge - #7.

The requirement for the challenge is to include a butterfly, of course, and a doily so I've used my favourite butterfly die and a really big doily ... bought in a huge pack from a local pound shop - a real bargain. However, it really was an outsize doily and too big to use as it was, so I cut it in two and layered the pieces on top of each other.

The blue/white check patterned paper used to cover the front of the card is a digital paper of unknown origin ... I think it might be from a Crafter's Companion CD, but can't be certain. It was printed out ages ago on the old printer so the result was far from perfect ... I almost binned it at the time but instead tossed it into the scrap drawer. Lucky I did, because with the touch of lilac in the check it is a good match for the topper.

The flowery flourish is another one of the digital images from the recent colouring session ... that certainly was an exercise worth repeating. I trimmed the topper down, stamped the greeting in black and then matted and layered it on to pale blue and dark purple cardstock.

The butterfly was cut from the dark purple and then decorated with clear crystal gems before adding it to the topper.

The back and inside were decorated with strips of the patterned paper.

As I've been typing there's been a thunderstorm raging outside ... complete with very scary lightening! Throughout this The Boss has been curled up on the end of my bed sound asleep ... and they say cats are freaked out by storms!

Right, I'm off to potter for an hour or so at the craft desk.

Hope you are having a great evening ... and that tomorrow is a very good day too.

Happy Crafting,

Materials used: Base - white card; Patterned Paper - print out from a CD; Cardstock - white card (Neenah Solar), sky blue (Papermill Direct) and dark purple (Docrafts Papermania textured); Stamps - digital Flower Flourish (Floppe Latte) and greeting from SU's Wetlands set; ProMarkers - greens and bluebell; Large white doily; Butterfly - die that was free from Simply Cards & Papercraft magazine; Inks - Memento Tuxedo Black; Gems - Anita's clear crystal gems

Sunday Snippets

Evening All,

Happy Sunday ... hope you are all enjoying sunnier weather than we are here in Ayrshire. It's not raining so that's something, but I wish the sun would come out again.

You wouldn't believe that this snippet make was completed yesterday and I've only just got round to photographing it, which is why I'm late to Pixie's Snippet Playground - Week 125 today.

As is becoming my habit, I'm adhering to Jules Law, that is the right to be lazy and not list the materials used. I will say though, that apart from the cute wee hedgehog, another product of the recent colouring session, and the pink enamel dots, everything used was from the scrap mountain!

Sigh! It seems I missed the sunshine there too, not to mention the ducks ... they've flown off! Clearly there's been too much hilarity down at the pond!!!

Off to watch the first of the Chelsea Flower Show programmes this week so I'll wish you a very good evening.

Happy Crafting,

Otter Anniversary

Hi Everyone

Hope you are enjoying the weekend. It's not looking too good from the craft room, buy that's okay; what better excuse to stay inside and craft than bad weather :)

Today's share is a card I made a wee while back but forgot to post ... this old lady's memory isn't what it used to be :) It was made for our nature loving friends' wedding anniversary.

It was made almost entirely from materials in a Pollyanna Pickering collection ... additions were the green cardstock used for matting and the green suede style paper string, bought from The Works for a song, and the stamped heart-shaped greeting - die cut using Docrafts X-Cut Homespun Hearts.

The nicest thing about using a kit is that it usually includes enough extra images in a variety of sizes to decorate the inside and outside of cards.

Am I the only one who has these kits stashed away, largely unused. Trouble is, I'm taken with the images, buy one, make one or two cards up and then put it away only for it to be forgotten. I keep thinking I should make a bit of an effort to make the rest up and donate them to charity.

I've been making another cushion (pillow) cover today ... a birthday present for young lady's upcoming birthday, which means I won't be able to show you it until after the event ... hopefully I'll remember this time :)

Have a great evening and happy crafting,

Materials used: Base - square white card; Paper, toppers and greeting on inside of card - Pollyanna Pickering collection; Cardstock - American Crafts lime green card, snippet of white card for heart-shaped sentiment; Die - Docraft's X-Cut Homespun Hearts set; Inks - Versafine Olympia Green, Ranger's Crushed Olive distress ink; ProMarker - Marsh Green; Stamps - Anniversary stamp from a free set from Cardmaking & Papercraft, Happy stamp from Wild Rose Studio Everyday Greetings; Embellishments - The Works green paper string, Crystal Stickles, Green crystal sticker gems

Wetlands Birthday Card

Evening Everyone,

I hope this finds you well and that you have had a lovely day.

I thought that, as I've finished the card that was on my desk yesterday, you might like to see it now.

It's just a plain white base with the inked, stamped and matted panel added ... quite a simple and easy card to make. The inked panel is an off-cut left over from an earlier, much earlier, project ... it's been lying on my desk forever, waiting for inspiration to strike :) The original piece was made by randomly sponging a mix of Shaded Lilac, Squeezed Lemonade and Peacock Feathers ink over the surface. Water was then spritzed and flicked over it and then dabbed off with kitchen paper - this has the effect of 'bleaching' out the colour and leaving an interesting texture. All inks are Rangers Tim Holtz distress inks.

To create the panel the width was trimmed to fit the card and then the edges were inked with the turquoise ink. Next, I stamped the greeting in Memento Tuxedo Black, using a stamp positioner to place it exactly where I wanted it - that is, leaving room for the wading bird stamp and the reeds - the stamps are from the Stampin' Up's Wetlands set. Finally, the panel was matted on to a scrap of Forest Green cardstock (Papermill Direct).

I stamped the wading birds inside bottom left and centre back.

And I even remembered to stamp the envelope ... this usually only occurs to me too late, after it's been sealed and addressed :(

Apart from the base, this card is made entirely from a couple of leftover scraps so I'm off to submit it to Pixie's Snippets Playground.

And that done, I'm off to bed early because I'm completely bushed. It's been another busy day in the garden but I'm happy to report that it is beginning to look much less neglected and a lot tidier as we get it licked into shape.

Many thanks to you everyone who takes the time to visit ... all comments left are much appreciated, especially as I am well aware that you all have busy lives and time is so precious.

Happy crafting,

WOYWW Wk 258

Afternoon WOYWWers, Followers, Fellow Crafters and All,

Yes, it's afternoon already and this is me just turning up for Julia's What's On Your Desk Wednesday! I didn't forget, it's just that there has been far too many interruptions this morning and this is the first opportunity I've had to sit down and join in the fun.

I can't say I've had much time to spend at my desk recently but on checking the Filofax this morning I was reminded that it's my younger brother's birthday in a few days so, of course, I went into panic mode and rushed to create a card for him. And to make it I've used much of the stuff spread around the mat - scissors, inks, stamps and stamp blocks, splodge mat, and even the grubby looking bit of inky sponge. That pile on the left is scraps and leftovers from earlier projects - there because I'm determined to use as many as possible rather than stash them away somewhere just to be forgotten. At the back you can see what I consider to be a crafting session essential - a lovely cup of tea :)

Late as I am, I am determined to visit as many of you as possible before the midnight hour strikes because I won't be around next week ... I'm babysitting two grandchildren and Max, the wee Jack Russell, while my daughter and her hubby are off to Southern Ireland on a jolly organised by the National Deaf Association. Of course the EM will be staying here to look after The Boss and keep the home fires burning :)

Have a great week wherever you are and whatever you are doing.

Happy WOYWW and happy crafting too,

Sunday Snippet - A Garden Themed Tag

Hi Folks

Hope you are all having a fun Sunday and that the sun is shining for you.

It's sunshine and showers for us here and it's fairly putting the EM out ... twice he has been out mowing the lawn and, because it's an electric mower, twice he has been rained off!

Anyway, continuing with the garden theme I've made this tag for my snippet make for Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 124.

Because I wanted to use the watering can image - from that colouring session I had a couple of weeks ago - and the red Gelli print - leftover from a printing done months ago - I opted to use grey card for the base and the die-cut fern leaves. The feather embellishment was a fortuitous find while raking in the sticker/topper drawer and the VOS item? - it's the greeting button - so old, I've totally forgotten where it came from but I suspect it was a magazine freebie. It's matted on to a circle punched from a snippet of red card.

In fact, this tag is made entirely from bits and bobs I had lying around on my desk or in the stash mountain ... scraps, leftovers and snippets, NBUS (see sidebar for interpretation) and even a VOS ... Very Old Stash: a useful new term discovered over at ScrappyMo's which, I freely admit, just about describes most of my stuff. Like Mo, I'm still  trying very hard to use up my stash, saving all my pocket money to invest in plants for the garden instead.

And talking of the garden, the location for this photo shoot - oh get me! - was just outside our back door. so nice to be able to do that now that the temperature is climbing again ... or as my grandfather would have said, now that the glass is up!

As it is Sunday, I'm claiming Jules law - which is to be lazy and not list the materials used ... just as well because I'd have a hard time remembering source details :)

I'm off now to check out what's going on down at the snippets playground - maybe I'll see you there too.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and happy crafting,

Birds Flying High - and Friday Smile

Hello Everyone

Birds flying high

You know how I feel

Sun in the sky

You know how I feel

Well, there I was just thinking what to call this cushion when Birds Flying High came to mind and with that the lyrics to the song - and now I have this earworm playing repeatedly in my head :) 

The idea for the cushion top came to me after cutting out the two pieces for Bertie Birdie which came free, along with Cedric the Cat, from a recent issue of HomeMaker Magazine.  (Cedric can be seen in this post here). The instructions were to sew the two pieces together, stuff it and add a loop of ribbon to hang it up with, but then I had a think and then I thought the two pieces would look great appliqued on to something. 

And then one thing led to another ... a circle of yellow cotton for the 'sun', blue/white patterned for the 'clouds' and the 'meadow' from a scrap of green print.

The base is a plain white cotton from my local shop and the border is from an aqua/white polka dot half metre  brought back from holiday last year - the same fabric was used for envelope style back.

Materials: cotton fabric - white for front base; turquoise spot for edging and back; scraps of yellow, blue and green fabrics for applique; the Bertie Birdie pieces; white, black, yellow and green cotton thread; batting/wadding; sewing machine

Having that tune playing over and over again in my head prompted me to do a wee search on YouTube and I discovered a couple of great versions of Birds Flying High ... Michael Buble and Nina Simone for example. However, I really enjoyed the one below, the film that accompanies it made me smile so I thought to share it with you and Annie over at A Stitch In Time. 

Enjoy!