Turning Snowflakes into Flowers and a Bit of Blarney

In this post I used the pretty Simon Says Stamp Kate Snowflake die to make a border and today pulled out another very pretty snowflake die from Simon Says Stamp called the Eliza Snowflake, to see what non Christmassy thing I could make with it.



Die (Simon Says Stamp) - Eliza Snowflake, Stamp (Hero Arts) - Be Happy


I thought I'd try to make some flowers this time and cut out the bits and pieces I needed from Studio Calico (Snippets) patterned papers.

After die cutting, I trimmed away the pieces I didn't need and layered two pieces to form a flower.

To finish the flowers I added a little pearl to the centres. The sentiment was embossed on another die cut (Dahlia Nestabilities) and I stuck little pieces, from the snowflake die cut, to the back so that rings peek out between each petal.

I'm submitting this card into Simon Says Stamp Work It Wednesday Challenge and Simon Says Stamp You Gotta Have Friends Challenge

The past few weeks have been busy, busy here so I'm only getting around to posting some more photos of the little trip Linda and I did around the place. Next stop is Blarney Castle.

A beautiful walk, by a little stream, leads to the castle. It was lovely to hear the babbling sounds of the stream and all the birdsong as we made our way to the castle. We were blessed with the weather that morning, it was absolutely glorious.

Both of us skipped kissing the Blarney Stone. I have to say with my head for heights, dangling backwards out over a castle wall doesn't really appeal to me! But in this photo you can see a lady (beside the man in the red jacket) who is just about lean out and go for it - better her than me:)

I enjoyed the views instead and will just have to do without the gift of eloquence!

After visiting the castle we had a lovely stroll around the grounds. There was a fascinating poison garden beside the castle, but I must have been so intrigued with it I forgot to take any photos! I loved the fern garden which has some of the biggest ferns I've ever seen.

Winding through the walks we could tell the wild garlic was in full bloom - the faint smell of garlic wafting in the breeze was lovely.

Blarney House wasn't open when we visited but I enjoyed seeing it again and....

...spotting the wonderful features like this water spout.

We couldn't have picked a better time of the year for our visit with the bluebells and rhododendron in full bloom.

Hope you enjoyed the little bit of Blarney:)

Happy Birthday

I arrived home yesterday evening to some very happy mail from my good friend Linda! Included with Linda's fab card and other beautiful goodies was the gorgeous Remember set from Hero Arts.

So first thing this morning I had to get inky! I love Cath's gorgeous Tuesday Trigger photo over at Moxie Fab World and have been wanting to play along since I saw the photo.

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I love the pretty muted colours, texture of the lace, the sheer fabric, pearls and pretty scalloped edging so tried to incorporate these elements into my card.


Stamps (Hero Arts) - Remember & It's Your Day

To start with I embossed a panel and die cut a frame for the flower panel, using Labels 10 Nestabilities. The flowers were inked with Hero Arts' soft pool shadow ink and Memento's new sprout marker and stamped on cream card. I added an organza ribbon bow and pearl to finish the panel. The sentiment was embossed in gold and I die cut the tips of the sentiment strip with the Labels 10 Nestabilities so it would tie in with the frame.



I'm also submitting this card into the Birthday Card Challenge in the Moxie Fab World and the Die Cut Divas Summer Flowers Challenge. The sun is still shining here and we haven't had rain in over two weeks - I can't remember having a summer like this in such a long time! I hope you're having a lovely summer too:)

Thanks with Kanzashi Flowers

Recently I came across this great video on how to make kanzashi flowers. I'd never heard of these before, but thought I'd give them a go.


Stamps (Hero Arts) - Classic Fabric Design, Antique Engravings, Scattered Leaves and Messages.

The petals of the larger flower start off as 2 inch squares and these are folded over a few times. On the smaller flowers the squares are only one inch, so they proved to be a bit more fiddly, especially with slippy fabric!



To start with I clear embossed the Classic Fabric Design on white card and applied shabby shutters and forest moss distress inks. The flowers are made from shot silk and I added some pearls to the centres from an old necklace. The butterfly was stamped with a brown chalk ink and I just added some pearls and thread to finish.

I'm submitting the card into a few challenges:

Lily Pad Cards - Fabric\Felt Challenge
Hero Arts - August Challenge
Creative Card Crew - Hand Made Flowers Challenge
Paper Creations Ink - Show Us Your Flowers

Bucket and Pillow of Shells

It’s been ages since I posted, but now I’m back from holidays and feeling on track again after a bad cold. I wanted to cover two themes in Hero Arts’ July challenge (summertime and parties), the Fanatical About Botanical Challenge in the Moxie Fab World and the Simon Says Stamp and Show Anything Goes Challenge.


Stamps (Hero Arts) - Antique Engravings, Magical Background & Messages

For my kids the ideal summer would include a trip to the beach every day, so when I think of summer, I think of making sandcastles, gathering shells and traisping through the rough grass in the sand dunes. So with this in mind I made these treat containers, which might be suitable for a summer party, and included bits and pieces that I associate with the beach. Then I filled them with chocolate shells - one of my favourites!



For the sand bucket, I covered a coffee cup with sand patterned paper. The handle was made with florists wire and pearls from a cheap necklace. I applied tumbled glass distress ink to white card and using the same ink stamped it with the Magical Background. I added a strip of this, some May Arts ribbon, raffia and a stamped shell to the bucket.



For the pillow box I applied tumbled glass distress ink to white card, stamped with the magical background using the same ink and die cut a window when the pillow shape was cut out. To finish I just added the shell and raffia.

Now I'm off to have some shells and a cuppa!