Yarn Bombing and Emoji Card

June Fest is on again in our neighbouring town Newbridge. We happened to be in Newbridge one glorious sunny evening and came across the yarn bombing in Liffey Linear Park. It was so enjoyable strolling through the park and taking in all the fun and funky knitted and crocheted pieces that decorated trees, lampposts, railing, benches etc.

Because it was so sunny and bright and I had to take photos on my phone, unfortunately, my photos don't do justice to the installation, but here goes anyway!

The first hint of what was to come was the way the swan statue at the entrance to the park was bedecked in colourful knits.

Well done to whoever yarn bombed this life sized angel!

Crochet flowers were trailing from the flower basked on this lamppost

and the trees along the pathway were full of colour.

There was even a little bit of Christmas to be found with this gingerbread man on his bike

and a snowman was tucked away in a tree decorated with candy canes.

I loved this fun couple

and the aquatic pieces on this lamppost.

If you want to take a breather, near this teacup lamppost with cupcakes and donuts

there is a fabulous bench under a shady tree.

After a little break how about shooting some hoops

or taking a stroll to the end of the park

where some colourful mushrooms had sprouted at the base of this tree?

Flowers, bees and sea life were out in force on the banks of the River Liffey.

I couldn't think of a better placement for this poo emoji

and there were lots more emojis to be found on this lamppost.

After coming home I thought I really must make a card using an emoji die set I picked up on a fun shopping trip last year with my friend Linda.

Die - Emojis die set (Spellbinders)
Stamp - Woodland Creatures (Hero Arts)

I just wanted to make a quick and simple card using one of the emoji dies and because of the way all the trees were decorated in the park I wanted to use some kind of woodgrain on the card. In the end I recycled a piece of card I had saved from packaging.

Hope you enjoyed taking a peek at some of the yarn bombing in Newbridge. It's well worth a visit if you happen to live nearby or even not so nearby :)

There's No One Like My Favourite Artist

Unfortunately, I can't draw but I did ask my favourite artist, my son Mark, to draw some quirky images for my cards and I'm delighted with what he came up with!

Dog image - by Mark
Stamps - Critters at the Dog Park (Lawn Fawn) & Woodland Creatures (Hero Arts)

One of the first images he drew for me was this dog that I just love. After colouring the little guy with ProMarkers I added some glossy accents to his eyes and nose. For the oval panel I die cut some grass and added it to the blue background. The bones and paw prints in the background and the sentiment were embossed. To finish I just added a couple of enamel dots to the sentiment panel.

I'm submitting this card into Simon Says Stamp Emboss It Challenge.

90 Minute Mayhem aka 90 Minute Scramble

It has been too long since I've been able to take part in one of the 90 minute scrambles over at the Hero Arts Flickr group. But today the timing was right and I was able to join in on Janet's fun scramble.

The idea is to design, make, photograph and upload a card to the group in 90 minutes. 90 minutes sounds like a long time but it's amazing how quickly the time flies by. Today for the first time, I actually got to make two cards before time ran out. So please excuse the not so great photos as I was a bit rushed when I was taking them!


Stamps (Hero Arts) - Lattice Background and Right at Home

For the first card, I embossed the lattice background and applied distress inks (shabby shutters, faded denim, tumbled glass). The flower is one I had made a while ago and I added a gorgeous heart button from a pack of wood buttons which my friend Linda had sent me. The sentiment was stamped with walnut stain distress ink.


Stamps (Hero Arts) - Clouds Background, Woodland Creatures and Picnic

To make the background on the second card, I stamped the clouds on blue card using faded jeans distress ink. Then I added a strip of patterned paper and layered some ribbon (thanks again, Linda!) over it. I paper pieced the kite and coloured the raccoon with colouring pencils.

Hope you are all having a great weekend:)

Rainbow of Kites

For Lily Pad Cards’ First Birthday Blog Hop post please click here.

In the last couple of weeks we've had a real mixed bag of weather with a week of 20C sunshine, followed by a few days with flurries of snow. I'm glad to say today we're back to sunny blue skies again. So I thought I'd make a card with the same blue skies and some colourful kites.


Stamps (Hero Arts) - Right at Home, Be Happy & Woodland Creatures

For the sky I applied distress inks (broken china & tumbled glass) to the back of textured card to get a kind of mottled look (unfortunately it doesn't seem to show in the photo!). Something I seem to accumulate at rapid speed is paper scraps and since I'm not great for throwing things out, even tiny pieces of paper, Cath's Paper Scraps Challenge in the Moxie Fab World is the ideal excuse for using up some of these.



The kites were stamped on the background and I pieced the little bows from scraps and added some gems. I stamped the kites again on scraps of white and coloured card and pieced the kites. The sun and clouds were stamped on scraps too.

I'm also submitting this card into A Blog Named Hero's first challenge which is using favourite Hero Arts products (the Right at Home set is one of my favourites from this year) and also the current Hero Arts Challenge, Sunshine and Showers.

As Maggie Muggins invited me share this card at her Silhouette Free Shape Party #3, I've linked it there. I really wish I had a Silhouette and am hoping that maybe some day a shop in Ireland will stock them!

Well I'm off to enjoy the rest of this beautiful day, I hope it's sunny wherever you are:)

Flower Pot Treat Containers

I wanted to make some treat holders and ended up making these little flower pot treat containers.


Stamps (Hero Arts) - Blossom Art, Envelope Pattern, Be Happy and Woodland Creatures

To make the flower pots I cut strips of card (thanks again Trinh!) 6 x 2 3/4 and scored them at 1/2, 2 1/2, 3 1/2 and 5 1/2.



I marked dots 1/2 inch in from the sides and added lines (see photo below)



Then I cut out the excess pieces...



...and was left with a flower pot shape.



Then I added the grass to the outside of the pots and stuck down the rims of the pots.



I put little treats - conversation hearts (thanks again Trinh!) wrapped in organza in the containers and adhered the top edges of the pots together. I might add little packets of seeds if I make these again.



The stems were made by wrapping baker's twine (thanks again Linda!) around cocktail sticks and adding leaves from some May Arts ribbon. The flowers were white embossed and distress inks (barn door, spiced marmalade and mustard seed) applied. I just added some stickles for sparkle and little ladybirds to each pot.

I’m submitting these into to the Household Items Challenge in the Moxie Fab World (used cocktail sticks for the stems), the Paper Scraps Challenge in the Moxie Fab World (used lots of scraps to make these) and the current Hero Arts Challenge.

You Make my World Happy

This is a card I made for my hubby. It’s not for any particular occasion, it’s just to tell him how I feel – sorry, should have given a soppy alert on this post!



Stamps (Hero Arts) - Right at Home & Woodland Creatures

I decided to combine two challenges the Map to Your Heart Challenge in the Moxie Fab World and Hero Arts’ Love & Hugs and Kisses Challenge. CAS cards are a bit of a struggle for me but I’m still trying and I hope this card is sort of CASish!

I stamped the cute picture from the Right at Home set a few times, cut out the centre and coloured the frame with a marker. Then I took an old map and cut out significant places for my hubby and me – where we went on our first date, where we were married and where our boys were born. The map piece on the centre picture is a bit worn at one edge, but I like that because it’s one of the places we love and often visit. So I just hung the pictures with some thread and beads and added a heart gem beside the sentiment.

Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend:)

Critters in Love ATCs

I had so much fun making my last set of ATCs and couldn’t resist making more for the current Hero Arts challenge. This time it’s critters in love. I’ve uploaded the photos from a laptop (pc in for repairs:( ) and it’s a really cloudy day here, so sorry if the photo is terrible!


Stamps (Hero Arts) – Adorable Baby Girl, Heart Owls, Designer Woodgrain, Be Happy, Envelope Pattern, Woodland Creatures & Clouds Background.

Ladybirds card
For the sky I applied tumbled glass distress ink to white card and spritzed lightly with water. Shabby shutters distress ink was applied to white card and one of the hills was stamped with the Envelope Pattern. The tree was coloured with watercolours pencils and the hearts coloured with a ProMarker and covered with Glossy Accents.

Owls card
I applied distress inks (pumice stone & walnut stain) to white card and stamped the woodgrain using walnut stain distress ink. The owls were coloured with watercolour pencils. I stamped the leaves on patterned paper and the hearts were coloured with a ProMarker and Glossy Accents applied. For the background I applied shabby shutters distress in to white card and stamped with the Envelope Pattern.

Raccoons card
The grass was stamped on patterned paper and the clouds stamped on white card. I coloured the raccoons with watercolours pencils. The hearts were coloured with a ProMarker and I applied Glossy Accents to them.

Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend!

End of the Honeymoon

It’s finally time for the sun to set on the raccoons' honeymoon. I've had great fun this month making this series of cards and hope I haven’t bored you all to tears with them! But I just wanted to make one last card because of a couple of requests to have them visit Asia.

End of the Honeymoon, originally uploaded by heather maria.

Stamps used (Hero Arts):- Woodland Creatures, Flourish Background & Heart Owls

Using a punched circle as a mask for the setting sun, I inked the white background with spiced marmalade distress ink. Then I splattered water on it to try and give the impression of fireworks in the sky. The raccoons are coloured with colouring pencils and clothed with scraps of paper. I clear embossed the black card base with the Flourish Background.

I'm submitting the card into the Card Style Fun and Cute Challenge at Moxie Fab World as well as Hero Arts' July challenge (Food and Travel).

What was I thinking? The Honeymooners – Part 3

Just catching up with the honeymooners again and today they are visiting a favourite place of mine, scenic Glendalough here in Ireland. For the sky I applied broken china and faded jeans distress inks to white card. Then I made the mountains using various scraps of green fabric. The raccoons are coloured with watercolour pencils. Someone asked me why the raccoons had clothes on in the Paris card and none in the Pisa card, so I thought I’d give them some clothes here again using paper and some fabric!

The Honeymooners – Part 3, originally uploaded by heather maria.

Stamps used:- Hero Arts Woodland Creatures and Heart Owls

I don't know what I was thinking but then I decided to machine stitch a Celtic pattern from a book I have to the card base. As you can see from the mess in the photos above there was a lot of fiddling around, stripping away the pattern and getting all the threads to the back of the card. Because of the nature of the pattern and using card, some stitches are doubled which wouldn’t have been the case on fabric so I'm not totally happy with the stitching. Next time I'll use a fabric base, though it might be a while before you see a stitched Celtic pattern on one of my cards again!

I'm submitting the card into the Card Style Fun and Cute Challenge at Moxie Fab World as well as Hero Arts' July challenge.

Some photos from the honeymooners' trip to Ireland:-

Blarney Castle

Cliffs of Moher

Aughnanure Castle, Co Galway

Neolithic monuments, Knowth



Some photos from Co Wicklow

The Honeymoon Continues....

I had so much fun making the raccoons’ honeymoon card the other day that I just couldn’t resist making another one!

Today the happy couple are enjoying a bowl of pasta in another well known city. I decided to borrow an idea from Walt Disney’s “The Lady and the Tramp” where Lady and Tramp start eating opposite ends of a single strand of spaghetti until they meet in the middle. The “spaghetti” started off as white yarn and I coloured it with antique linen distress ink. The ink must have been a little damp when I threaded the yarn so by accident the raccoons ended up with sauce stains around their mouths! I liked it so just left it.

The Honeymoon Continues...., originally uploaded by heather maria.

Stamps (Hero Arts):- Woodland Creatures, Woodgrain Circle, What’s Cooking, Ancient Motif, Heart Owls.

I used the Ancient Motif stamp for the floor (antique linen distress ink) and the tiles surrounding the scene (clear embossed). Last year Vanessa sent me a gorgeous range of papers as a blog candy prize and I used a piece of one of the papers for the wall in the restaurant. I used the woodgrain circle stamp for the skirting board and window frame. For the sky I applied broken china and faded jeans distress inks to white card and spritzed with water. The racoons and bowl are coloured with watercolour pencils and I added Glossy Accents to the bowl. A scrap of fabric was used for the tablecloth.

The card is for the July challenge at Hero Arts.

I'm so glad it's Friday. Hope you all have a great weekend!

A Honeymoon in Paris

The challenge this month at Hero Arts is Food and Travel. Yesterday on the Hero Arts blog, Lisa had the cutest cupcake card with a French connection. So I just had to have some fun with the templates that were provided.

The Honeymoon, originally uploaded by heather maria.

Stamps used (Hero Arts):- Clouds, Woodland Creatures, Lace Background, Heart Owls.

A while ago I made a card with a romantic raccoon couple (last card on this post). So the story goes that the guy raccoon proposed in the hot air balloon and they are now on their honeymoon - I really need to get out more often! Robin got me hooked on her brilliant saga last year about a mouse couple. So I have to thank her for the inspiration! Part 1 of her saga starts here.

The raccoons are coloured with colouring pencils and I used a scrap of frayed upholstery fabric for the hill. I used Mon’s templates for the moustache and berets and also made the raccoon's little t-shirts from the border surrounding the templates. I gave the girl a little silk skirt and yarn necktie. The Lace Background is clear embossed.

I'm also submitting this card to Jenny's Challenge #13 (Free for All).

Happy Birthday Adam and Woodland Creatures

My son Adam wanted me to put his birthday card up on the blog so when I was doing that I thought I'd add another couple of cards I made using the super cute Woodland Creatures set from Hero Arts.

On Adam's card the balloons and letters are stamped using chalk inks and I coloured the other images with watercolour pencils. I just added a few touches of stickles to the candle flames and chocolate drops.

Happy Birthday Adam!, originally uploaded by heather maria.

Stamps (Hero Arts) Woodland Creatures,Birthday Messages, What's Cooking, Adorable Baby Girl.

This is another birthday card I made using the Woodland Creatures set. The images are coloured with watercolour pencils. For a little bit of sparkle, I added diamond stickles to the white spots on the mushrooms, glossy accents to the balloon and some gems. The little mushrooms on the base of the card are on little easels.



Stamps (Hero Arts) Woodland Creatures, Cloud Background, Adorable Baby Girl, Birthday Messages.

On this one I decided to make a hot air balloon for the romantic raccoon couple. I wove yarn over cardboard and made a basket out of it. To make the balloon I placed a layer of wadding between two pieces of fabric and stitched the outline and seams.



Stamps (Hero Arts) Woodland Creatures, Cloud Background, Adorable Baby Girl.