Soft or bold at AYLI

Well, where did April go then? Another lovely new month and to go with that  a lovely new challenge at

where the theme is Soft or Bold colours (with your reason to be eligible for a prize)

I love bold colours. Something that is perhaps a little bit different and eyecatching. For my inspiration I have made some Christmas cards using Hobbycraft  paper pads as my starting point. The blue one is very much bolder in colour than the photo would have you believe.

 I was gifted a lovely bundle of Christmas themed goodies for Christmas and was itching to use the little deer die (Simple Creative) so die cut circles of white centura pearl card then cut him out of the middles then layered up as frames with coordinating coloured card. I'm not sure where the Noel die came from but the Christmas Wishes is a favourite from Creative Expressions. I had to give him a red nose so used some pearl card candi from long ago!!

I hope I have inspired you to play along and look forward to seeing your makes.

I am making headway with visiting you and if I haven't got to your place yet, I promise that I will do!!

Take Care xx

Fun Fold at AYLI

 I have a really unusual card to share with you today. Yet another colleague has retired so it was the perfect opportunity to make a very special card which fits perfectly with the new challenge at

It's FUN FOLD and this is my make

and here it is again at a jaunty angle to show the dimension.

I'll be honest, I'm not really in to fun folds because the cost of postage is so high BUT this was hand delivered so I pushed the boat out and strayed from 6x6 tent fold for a change!!

This is a pyramid arrow card that I found here at Created the Ottaway. It is SO effective but very easy to make with a minimal amount of measuring and folding. I layered the back so that I could write a message. The pretty daffodil paper is a digital from The Lovely Studio (no longer available, sadly). The die cut flowers and leaves are a Creative Expressions set, the "happy" die cut is from a Your Next Stamp set and the "retirement" from a Whimsy sentiment set. I am going to be making more of these for Easter!!

Please do join us with your fun folds.

See you soon xx

Happy Birthday Allsorts Challenge!!!

 Happy Weekend everyone and there's lots to be happy about at

Allsorts Challenge this week as it's 14 years old and there are fab prizes up for grabs if you enter!!

Prizes from AALL and Create: A4 stamp set Blooming Field and coordination die, 2 A5 stamp sets, 2 DL stamp sets plus stencils and A6 stamp sets.

When I started my crafting journey it was one of the challenges that I supported regularly and look at me now, so incredibly proud to be part of the super talented Design Team. Thank you Brenda!!

Here is my make

I know that many of you visit Sam Calcott of Mixed Up Craft for inspiration. My card is similar to one that she shared earlier in the week. I used some Creative Expression floral dies that I cut from Centura Pearl card. I then inked them to match the pretty backing paper (The Range this week...ooops!!) and added a sparkly gem in the middle. I love that the pearly lustre shines through the inks although they did take a while to dry out. 

It looks like it might just be another dry day here. I hope that wherever you are in the world, that you have a good day and that some crafting is included.

See you for a bit of christmas on Monday xx

Bright & Cheery

 Hello friends. As surprising as it is, I am here with a card that I made just for fun. That doesn't happen very much these days as my card making seems to be specifically for Design Team posts. I stepped back from the cute coloured images that I am so fond of and made this for a friend.

I wanted bright and cheery colours so chose this lovely collection from Marianne Designs and die cut the flowers and leaves using a Creative Expressions floral set and some snippets of blue cardstock for the teeny tiny ones. I inked the edges and shaped them for some dimension and stuck them along the wavy edge with Pinflair glue gel. The mahoosive layered "Birthday" die set is a Whimsy Stamps one that was a gift from a lovely blogging buddy and I paired it with a random Happy stamp. I am imagining this layout as a Christmas card with snowflakes instead of flowers...good idea Sarah!!

I hope that my card has lightened your hearts in a world currently full of  horror.

See you soon xx

Some Challenges

Allsorts Challenge #668 - Feminine

Crafty Calendar - Spots, Stripes or Easter (if there aren't enough spots please delete me!!)

Pixies Snippets Playground -  #424

Yellow, red or blue?

I love being on the team at

not only do the challenges ask you peeps to think out of the box but they certainly stir up my grey matter too!! This time we would love to see your projects featuring your favourite primary colour.

 That was a dead easy one for me...it's red. I love Christmas and most, if not all, of my Christmas cards have red on them, like these.

These were super quick to make using just patterned papers (The Works, I think) and red cardstock. 

I simply die cut alternate layers in paper and card and used die cut sentiments on top.

My christmas card stack is looking quite healthy but I think I might make more of this design to have "just in case".

That's all for today. I wish you all a good weekend, when you get there, and hope you will find some time to make something for our challenge.

See you next time xx

 

Doing what you like, liking what you do....

Hello. I hope you have had a good weekend. The weather has been glorious here in Dorset, a couple of frosty starts but that's okay because the sunshine usually follows. I  sowed some tomato seeds and did a bit of faffing in the greenhouse yesterday and today I had an early ride while the surrounding villages were still asleep. I also managed to grab some crafty time and made this.

 I have spotted several feminine and Shabby chic challenges about so decided to steer clear of my cute stamps for a change and do something different. The stamped sentiment is from a very, very old grey rubber set from Creative Expressions. this was cut using a couple of Spellbinder oval dies that I duffed up a bit and distressed with a pink distress ink pad, that also coloured the ribbon to match. It has been quite some time since I opened my flower box so spent quite a while finding matching blooms to add to the card. Oh, the papers are Anna Marie Designs.

Thank you for your continued support and kind comments. See you next week xx

Some Challenges

Creations in Pink #31 - Anything Goes

Crafty Calendar March - Feminine

My time tocraft #452 - Make it feminine

Sweet Stampin' - Shabby Chic/distressed