Sparkly Gift Tags

I really enjoyed joining in on Simon Says All That Glitters is Gold Challenge so when I woke early this morning gathered together some supplies to get a start on Christmas gift tags for bottles.

Dies - Eliza & Kate Snowflakes (Simon Says Stamp), Fancy Cut Christmas (Hero Arts), Circle Nestabilites (Spellbinders) and Stitched Circles (Pink & Main)

I think shaker cards are so fun so made a shaker to go on my first tag. I adhered five glittery gold stars to the plain black background of the shaker element, added a mix of sequins and stars and used a gold frame over the acetate to trap all the shaker pieces inside. A pretty bow, not made by me but recycled from a box of chocolates, finished off the look I wanted.

I love the way my friend Linda used a die to emboss the background on her bicycle card here. So I did the same with the Eliza Snowflake die on this tag, added the Kate Snowflake cut from glittery card and a little gold gem to the centre of the snowflake.

When I was taking photos of the tags on the bottles who should come along with his own bottle of Buck's Fizz looking for a chase - Toby! I don't know if it was coincidental or if he recognised the similarities between what I had and one of his toys, but I had a good laugh when I saw him and managed to get him to pose for a few seconds after I chased him down the corridor.

Happy St Patrick's Day!

Happy St Patrick's Day! It's funny even though I'm Irish, I never made a St Patrick's Day card until I joined the Hero Arts Group over on Flickr.

As I don't have stamps of rainbows, crocks of gold, leprechauns etc., I inevitably end up making a card with a shamrock formed from hearts. This year I used one of my older Hero Arts stamps (Ancient Motif) as the pattern reminds me of carvings and floor tiles in some of the old monasteries and churches here in Ireland.



Stamps (Hero Arts) - Ancient Motif & Celebrate Everyday

The embossing folder I used for the background is an Xcut one by Docrafts called Swirls. Once the panel was embossed, I stamped the sentiment in mowed lawn distress ink.

Next it was on to making the shamrock. I stamped the Ancient Motif image using mowed lawn distress ink, die cut the hearts and also cut out a stem for the shamrock. Then I lightly applied some more of the same ink to my pieces.

After curling up the hearts at the edges, I stuck them to the card with foam pads. A little green heart gem was added to finish. I'm submitting this card into Simon Says Stamp's Lucky Challenge and the Die Cut Divas' Let's Emboss It Challenge.

After a very wet and windy winter, it finally feels like spring has sprung. We've mainly had lovely weather this week with temperatures even reaching the dizzying heights of 15C (59F);) It's great to see buds beginning to form on the trees and, of course, I just love the burst of sunshine that the daffodils have brought to the garden.

I can't wait for the last of the nighttime frosts to be finished with so we can plant some annuals out in the garden.

Toby recently had a hair cut and all his curls have disappeared - he looks like a little puppy again!

Anyway with it being St Patrick's Day and a bank holiday here, we're all off work/school and looking forward to a fun day ahead. Here's a photo of Toby ready to celebrate the day!

Hope you have a fun St Patrick's Day wherever you are:)

Carving possibly of St Patrick in the Cathedral at the Rock of Cashel

Merriest Wishes

Now that Halloween is over, it's full steam ahead with making Christmas cards. I'm trying to come up with some ideas for quick cards to make for Christmas so I can get a number of cards made in any one sitting, or I should say standing, as I always seem to stand when making cards!

I pulled out the Merry Christmas Tree stamp and die set I got last year to make a card that is very quick and easy to put together. This card is for a relative who loves muted colours and lots of bling, so I went a bit wild on the shimmery gems! I'll probably make a couple more cards like this using different colour combinations.



Stamps & die (Hero Arts) - Merry Christmas Tree & Very Merry Christmas

I started by embossing a square of vellum using a snowflake folder and applied some white ink here and there. Then I embossed the Christmas tree, die cut it and added lots of gems and a bow. The sentiment was also embossed and I lightly inked the edges of the sentiment piece and added a little gem.

I'm submitting this card into the current Hero Arts Challenge (A Few of my Favourite Things category) as I used embossing which is one of my favourite stamping techniques. Also I'm submitting it into the Die Cut Divas Let's Celebrate Challenge and Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes Challenge.

Someone here is already in their relaxed weekend mode!

Hope you have a relaxing, fun and inky weekend!

Happy Christmas!!

I just wanted to pop by and wish you all a very Happy Christmas! Hope you all have a fantastic time with your family, friends and of course furry family members!


Toby Claus

I just have a couple of Christmas cards to share today. Anita is brilliant for organising fun card swaps and I was delighted to take part in the one she put together for Christmas over at the Hero Arts Flickr group. The card below is the one I sent to Greta about 4,500 miles from here. I was in such a hurry to get Greta's card to her that I forgot to take a photo of it, so Greta kindly took one for me - thanks again, Greta!


Stamps (Hero Arts) - Stunning Snowflakes, Decorative Ornament & Very Merry Christmas

In the exchange I received this wonderful card from Ivy! Thanks again Ivy, I love it:)


As well as receiving a gorgeous card in the swap, it has been great getting to know Greta and Ivy a bit more. Now I'm off to watch one of my favourite Christmas films, Home Alone with the lads and I think there might be some hot chocolate, popcorn and chocolate involved - yummy!

Happy Christmas everyone!

Happy St Patrick's Day!

Happy St Patrick's Day everyone! I just thought I'd share some photos from our little ramble in County Wicklow yesterday. As you'll see from the photos it was a beautiful sunny day but a bit hazy at the same time.

Blessington Lakes


Mark and Adam heading away from Turlough Hill


One we want to climb in the summer! All the dark brown vegetation on the mountain is heather so this area is full of purple during the summer.


Time for a break and a little peek in the Hero Arts catalogue!


Toby decides to have a little break too!


View of the valley on the way to Glendalough


The lower lake at Turlough Hill. During non-peak hours the ESB (Electricity Supply Board) uses excess electricity to pump water from this lake to the lake at the top of the hill and releases it downwards through huge turbines inside the mountain to create electricity in times of maximum demand.


Time for another break along the way!


Blessington Lakes again...


...wish I could sandwich these two photos together and that the photos looked as good as real life - the view is just gorgeous!


Hope you've enjoyed your little trip to Wicklow!

Happy St Patrick's Day!

A Valentine from Joy and blog awards

This is the wonderful card which I received from the lovely and talented Joy though a Valentine swap organised by Anita in the Hero Arts Flickr group. I love Joy's gorgeous design and the beautiful colours she has used.


Her colouring is gorgeous and I love the sprinkling of pearls. Joy, thanks again for this beauty and for all the lovely goodies you sent along with it. Unfortunately the Valentine which I sent to Amy seems to have gone astray so I’ll be sending another card to her. I won’t post my first card here just yet in case it eventually turns up.


A little while ago I was delighted to be given blog awards by two very kind and talented ladies - Dawn and Rosemary.

This is the award from Dawn



To accept this award I need to do a few things:

1. Thank the person who gave it. Thank you so much Dawn for the award and lovely compliment!

2. Copy the award and put it on your blog.

3. List three things which you love about yourself (this is the hard bit!). I hope these will do!

a) I love that I’m lucky to have wonderful family and friends.
b) I love that I feel life has been kind to me and that I’m a very happy person.
c) I love that I’m always ready for a good laugh.

4. Post a picture that you love.

My favourite photos are of my kids and hubby but I’m not sure that they would want to be on my blog. So here’s a photo of the hairy guy in my life – Toby. This is from last summer when we dropped down to Kilkenny (love that city) for the day. Toby loves coming on day trips with us and I took this photo just after we finished a picnic in the grounds of Kilkenny Castle.



5.Pass this award to 5 people--in no particular order

Trinh - She is so creative, kind and is a great and fun friend.
Linda - Another great friend who is talented in many ways and is full of the joys of life.
Sue - A genuinely lovely friend who has the most amazing talent.
Sue - Another very talented lady whose cards I admire very much.
Lin - She’s so talented, kind and thoughtful. Love her style.

Now on to Rosemary's, award. Firstly Rosemary, thank you so much for this award and for your lovely words that went with it.



I have to pass the award on to 5 bloggers and tell you 5 things about me.

Libby – I always love visiting Libby's blog to see her wonderful cards, yummy recipes and her fun postings. She is so funny and I often end up giggling right the way through her posts.
Patricia – I love visiting Patricia’s blog for her fab and fun creations. I’m always amazed by her colouring skills – I need to take a trip to Spain for some lessons.
Maureen – A really lovely and talented lady who is so kind and encouraging.
Deirdre – She is such a talented and sweet lady and has been a great help tipping me off about where to shop for crafty supplies here in Ireland.
Virginia – A really lovely lady with a great sense of humour who has a wonderful blog covering her gorgeous creations, lovely family and yummy food.

Thanks to all you ladies, it's been great getting to know you and see your fab creations:)

So here are five things about me – be prepared for a snoozefest!

1. We have a dog called Toby as you can see above and a goldfish called Bubbles. My son Mark had his name drawn out in a raffle and could choose either a chocolate cake or a goldfish. He loves chocolate cake so much but Bubbles it was!
2. I used to always put brown sauce* on my dinners and bring a bottle of it on holidays. One time for a bet I ate some on chocolate cake – it actually tasted really good! Now I don’t eat it at all.
3. I met my hubby in work.
4. I’ve no head for heights.
5. Years ago I lived in Florida for a year. I can’t believe I actually missed our changeable Irish weather when I was there!

* I had a couple of questions about brown sauce - it's a kind of steak sauce made from malt vinegar, tomatoes, dates, tamarind extract, sweetener and spices.

Phew, sorry for the extra long post today!

Happy New Year!

I just want to wish you all a very Happy New Year filled with.....

...love,


good health,


happiness


and lots of crafting time!

Happy Christmas!

I can’t believe it’s Christmas Eve already! I would like to wish everyone a very Happy Christmas and I hope you all have a wonderful time with your family and friends. Thank you so much for visiting the blog during the year and for your lovely encouraging words, I really appreciate them.

As you can see we’ll be enjoying a white Christmas this year. Poor Toby first the leather jacket now the woolly hat! I’m off now to do some more baking, wrapping, visiting and to have some fun in the snow.

WELCOME LILLY! - Blog Hop

Welcome to our blog hop for Paula and Lilly!

Little Lilly aka “Bug” was very excited about meeting her mum, dad and big sis. So she decided to arrive a little bit early and was born on Friday 4th June weighing 7 lbs and 13 1/2 oz. I’d like to send big congratulations and best wishes again to mum Paula, dad Doug and big sis Em! There’s nothing like having a new baby in the house, exhausting at times I know, but just wonderful too!



Back in April, Deborah and Hannah hatched and organised a plan for us to send cards to Paula once “Bug” had arrived. Paula’s friend Helen was also involved in the planning and we all sent cards to her to pass on to Paula. Deborah also put a lot of work into organising today's hop. Oh Paula, the things that have been going on behind your back!


Stamps (Hero Arts):- Adorable Baby Girl & Precious Baby Boy

As Paula is a moderator at the Die Cut Divas group on Flickr, I decided to go a little bit Cuttlebug crazy on both cards and of course being me I just had to put a bit of gingham fabric on the first card!


Stamps (Hero Arts):- You’re the Best, Clouds & Birthday Messages (used back of balloon stamp)

Well Paula as you already have your little cutie Em, I probably don’t have any tips to pass on to you that you don’t know already. But here’s something we used to do when our kids were babies. At the weekend my hubby and I would have a morning each. So whoever was “on duty” would get up when our baby woke (usually very early!) and let the other do what they wanted until 11am/12 noon. It could be sleep (often!), breakfast in bed, go for a walk, read a book, meet a friend etc. Having those few hours was just brilliant for recharging the batteries.

Killarney, Co Kerry, Ireland

Just to finish here are some words of wisdom I’ve come across:-

No matter how calmly you try to referee, parenting will eventually produce bizarre behaviour, and I'm not talking about the kids. Bill Cosby

When my kids become wild and unruly, I use a nice, safe playpen. When they're finished, I climb out. Erma Bombeck

Be nice to your children, for they will choose your retirement home. Phyllis Diller

Hopefully you will have arrived here from Hannah’s blog in the US and now it's time to hop from Ireland over to Indonesia and Fika’s blog. If you think you have missed any stops on your travels or if there have been broken links in any of the blogs you can go back to Deborah’s blog where you will find the full list of links.

Again, welcome Lilly and congrats to Paula, Doug and Em! Thanks everyone for visiting and hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Introducing Toby

I just thought I’d show a couple of photos of my great pal Toby. He’s always happy, ready for a walk or play, eager for a snuggle and as you’ll see by the second photo, very patient!

Here he is trying to be a cool dude on the beach and ignoring the camera.

Brittas Bay, Co Wicklow.

A local charity had an appeal for used clothes and I was sorting though boxes of stuff that Mark and Adam had grown out of when I found this small jacket. The zip was broken and I wasn’t going to give it to the appeal so the lads decided to see if it fit Toby. Anyway he just looked so funny in it, I had to take this photo.



Have a great weekend wherever you are!!