Big birthday balloon

Hello lovely people,

I've been doing a little die cutting for my Dies to Die For DT card this week, using one of the recent MFT sentiment dies, which I teamed up with a balloon edge die from a blueprints set.  This particular blueprint set is currently out of stock, but you could also cut the balloon shape by hand, or use a circle die and add the little piece at the bottom.

I die cut the balloon shape from purple stripy card, then taped the words in place where I wanted them before die cutting them.  I removed the letters but made sure to keep all the little bits from the centres of letters like the B.  I added some twine before attaching the balloon piece to a square of white card so I would have a backing to attach the letters to.  I die cut the words again from silver glitter card and inlaid them in the spaces, popping the purple centres back in where necessary.

Once again, I've made this design in a few different colours...with girl and boy options!

If I've tempted you with any of the lovely supplies I've used then you can go straight to the individual products via the links below or just pop over to Dies to Die For and have a little browse around!

Thanks for popping in and I hope you have a fabulous day!

Lovely things I've used from Dies to Die For;
Birthday boy & girl - My Favorite Things
Blueprints 26 - My Favorite Things
Dots and stripes jewel tone 6x6 paper pad - Sunny Studios
Shaker tags - Avery Elle (for the stars)

Other ingredients;
white bakers twine, silver glitter card - from stash

Birthday hedgies

Hello lovely people,

I do love a lazy crafty weekend!  It's been pretty exciting too as I have been working with the next lot of LOTV images to be released and I will be able to show you really soon :-)

In the meantime, I thought I'd share a LOTV Design Team card that I made using some of the new trio stamps.

This is a triple circle card and the sections are held together with pearl brads, so they can swing over each other to close it up.

I used stitched die cut circles and scalloped circles to give a bit of interest because you can't add a lot of 3D embellishments otherwise the sections won't swing closed.
My design is pushing it a bit to be honest and even closed it's quite bulky - lol!

I decided that die cut flowers with Nuvo Drop centres would be perfect to add a little finishing touch and I added extra Nuvo Drops around the flowers just for good measure!

I hope you have all been having a good weekend :-)

Thanks for visiting and I really appreciate any comments that you leave,

Card recipe;

Image: Hedgehog trio - LOTV

DP: Blissful Teal - Anna Marie Designs

Sentiment: For you circular sentiments - LOTV

Layering dies: Double stitched circles, Mini stitched scallop circle STAX, circle STAX - all MFT Die-namics (available from Dies to Die For)
Flowers: Perfect petioles - Memory Box

Inktense colours;
Hedgehogs: Saddle brown, Oak
Hedgehog tummies: Baked earth
Pink bits: Cherry
Teal bits: mix of Iron Green and Deep Indigo

LOTV Summer inspiration

Hello lovely people,

It will come as no surprise that I had a wonderful day with Sue and Annette yesterday; I feel very lucky to be able to meet up with like-minded and truly lovely crafty friends :-)

Today I have been crafting pretty much all day but that will all come to a standstill in a couple of hours as I head off to yet another beer festival!

In the meantime, I'm here to show off a little LOTV gorgeousness with the card I made for the LOTV 'Something for the weekend' feature.

There's a PDF with step by step instructions on how to make this card and you can find all the tutorials, including mine, here.

This is the first one of the new Seasons Girls that I have coloured and even though it is a beautiful intricate design, it's really easy to colour.

I also made my own faux button for this project and you can find the step by step for this in the PDF too.

It's not like I don't have enough buttons in my stash but this is the perfect way to make your button co-ordinate...and I'm a sucker for co-ordination!

Card recipe;

Image: Summer - LOTV

DP: Vintage romance and Vintage baby - Maja Design (available from Live and Love Crafts)

Flowers: Wild Orchid Crafts
Twine: Ivory button twine - The Ribbon Girl

Dies: Teal label tags - Magnolia Doohickeys, Mini Victoriana - Die-sire

Sentiment: from Happy bears set - LOTV

Copic colours;
Skin: E000/00/21/11/04 & R20
Hair: E51/53/35/59
All greens: BG90/93/96/99
All pinks: RV91/93/95

Thanks so much for popping by and I really appreciate any comments that you leave,

Heart die challenge - part 3

Hello lovely people,

During our 6 week trip to America, I was often asked what I was missing the most from the UK and my reply was 'curry!'

Specifically the curry from our local restaurant as it is soooo good, and last night we had a takeaway with some friends, and it has never tasted better :-)

But I know you are all desperate to know if I completed my heart die challenge, so...
...yes I did!

If you don't know what I'm talking about then see my last 2 posts.

I was delighted to find that an unused paper pad that had been hanging around for a while was absolutely perfect for the modern feel that I wanted for this card.

I kept the background layers neutral because I liked the idea of just having little pops of colour from the die cut flowers.

This time I printed a sentiment onto the central heart and I really love this scripty font but unfortunately for you if you like it, it was a digi from the Pink Petticoat store which is now closed :-(

Card recipe;

Dies: Affections square base set & someone special insert die - Tonic Studios, Fancy blossoms - Memory Box

DP: Southern Weddings - Project Life by Becky Higgins for American Crafts

Sentiment: computer generated
Pearls: from stash

That challenge went surprisingly well so maybe I'll have to do it again with a different product!

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend whatever you are up to.  It's off to a beer festival for me :-)

Thanks for visiting and I really appreciate any comments that you leave,

Heart die challenge - part 2

Hello lovely people,

If you saw my post yesterday you will know that I set myself a little challenge to make 3 different cards with my new heart dies.

FYI: I have set myself these type of challenges before...and so far, only ever made it to 1 or 2 cards before giving up!

I kept this one pretty CAS as I think simple layering with coloured card really shows off the design of the dies nicely.

I cut the larger heart into white card and layered lilac card behind it and then layered the smaller heart onto lilac and popped it on top using foam pads.

All it needed to finish was some co-ordinating satin ribbon, a single pearl and, of course, some stitching!

Card recipe;

Dies: Heart vines base affections die set & Someone special affections insert die - Tonic Studios

Ribbon: 7mm orchid satin Berisford ribbon - The Ribbon Girl

Tune in tomorrow to find out if I managed to make that third card!

I'm off now to get on with my household chores because sadly, the ironing, kitchen cleaning and hoovering are not going to do themselves :-(

Thanks for visiting and I really appreciate any comments that you leave,

Floral romance

Hello lovely people,

I can't say I have been entirely as productive as I would like this week and my crafting mojo seems to be a little hit and miss right now.

I actually think I have too many ideas floating round in my head and can't quite decide what to do with myself!

A challenge can sometimes be a good way to get the mojo going and making something for the new challenge at As You Like It did get me focused, with our theme of...

YOUR FAVOURITE...
DIE
...and don't forget to tell us why it's your favourite!

Our sponsor this time is Bunny Zoe's Crafts with a £10 voucher

I have to admit that my favourite die changes quite often depending on my mood but this is my current favourite because I got it really cheap after having my eye on it for ages.

This die is the largest from a set of heart dies and I think it looks gorgeous framing the sentiment.

Some pretty flowers and lace complete the romantic look and I have tucked in a few die cut heart stems too.

Card recipe;

Sentiment: Statements, congratulations (Discontinued) - LOTV 

DP: discontinued paper pad - Always and Forever, available as digi from Nitwit Collections

Flowers: Wild Orchid Crafts
Lace: Chantilly cotton lace (Jane) - Crafty Ribbons

Dies: Heart vines base, affections die set - Tonic Studios, Heart stems - Impression Obsession

While I had these dies out I challenged myself to make a few more cards with them so watch out for those over the next couple of days!

I hope you will pop over to As You Like It and check out the fabulously creative projects from the rest of the team :-)

Thanks for visiting and I really appreciate any comments that you leave,

It's Summer!

Hello lovely people,

Thanks for all your lovely comments on my happy news from my last post; it's so lovely to be able to share it with you and to have your support :-)

My first aim when I got back from holibobs was to do some crafting but the gorgeous sunshine put paid to that plan, in the best possible way!

Instead I have been tidying the jungle where my garden used to be - lol!

I did eventually do a little crafting yesterday evening because it is Creative Inspirations challenge time and our theme is...
SPRING INTO SUMMER
So we want to see any creations with a Spring or Summer feel

Our sponsor for this challenge is My Mum's Craft Shop

I'm continuing to challenge myself to try new styles so I was having a play with this pretty flower stem die and discovered some freebie papers on my desk that provided the perfect backdrop for them; isn't it great when that happens?!

 I love how striking the black borders and die cuts look against the white card and pretty DP :-)

The sentiment stamp is an ordinary straight line stamp but it's really easy to curve it as you stick it down on the acrylic block and I used the edge of the circle die as a guide to make sure it follows the curve of the aperture.

Card recipe;

Dies: Circle stax - MFT Die-namics, Tall Chloe stem - Memory Box, Butterfly dies set - Impression Obsession

DP: freebie with magazine

Sentiment: from Wire roses set - Woodware

The DT have made some wonderful samples to inspire you so pop over to Creative Inspirations to take a look :-)

Thanks for visiting and I really appreciate any comments that you leave,

Butterfly wishes

Hello lovely people,

My holibobs is in full swing and I'll share some pics soon but for now I just wanted to stop by and share a card.

For ages I have been wanting to try out some card designs using just die cutting and large sentiment stamps and I finally did it!

I didn't even use any DP, just white card and aqua pearl card with a little embossing and some pearls to add some more texture and detail.

I got to use lots of my favourite dies especially the pretty butterflies and of course, I had to sneak in a little stitching too!

Card recipe;

Sentiment panel: cut with Cricut (Lacy labels cartridge)
Dies:Trellis square base die set - Tonic Studios, Leavenworth butterfly trio - Memory Box, Leaf and swirl - Magnolia Doohickeys
Embossing folder: Flowers - Crafts Too!

Sentiment: Wonderful day - Inkylicious
Pearls: from stash

Thanks for visiting and I really appreciate any comments that you leave,