Fly

I think I saved the best for last...and gave it an appropriate name.

We fly home from our month in England today. By the time you are reading this we will be sitting in our recliners, trying to keep our eyes open as we cope with the jetlag from the flight back home.

This is the last and my personal favourite of all the cards I made in July, up at the lake. I really managed to use up quite a few of the teensy Prima flowers... only 7 zillion left to go...lol

I made a little mistake on this card...I over generously dabbed the cream paint on the Spellbinders fancy label. It was so whitish that the butterfly did not stand out. I had one die cut left so I repeated the process and tried to be a bit more stingy with the paint. Rather than throw out the extra whitewashed die cut, I layered it under the correct version, giving the look of a bit of a shadow. I pop dotted the correct one forward and I am really happy with how it looks now. I have included a couple of closeup so you can see the layers up close.

Recipe
Card base - From my stash; Michaels Recollections brand square textured card set
DP - Prima Lyric
Card Stock - Kraft snippets from my stash
Dies - Spellbinders Fancy Tags 2, Impression Obsession flag dies
Chipboard - from my stash; Michaels dollar bins
Bling - from my stash
Flowers - from my stash; Prima and and dollar store teensy kraft flowers
Sentiment letters - from my stash; Bo Bunny card stock sticker letters
Paint - Acrylic Cream paint

I am entering this card in the following challenges
Pixies Crafty Workshop - must use snippets (my die cuts were made with snippets)

Hot Chocolate for August Rudolph Day

This is a scheduled post as I am still on holidays.
I am still in Filey and having a wonderful time. On Thursday I took the train into Scarborough and was met by Sue P of Planet Suzie and her lovely husband Graham as well as Sue J of Olliesmam and her lovely husband Paul.

It waqs so much fun! Both these ladies are just a fun IRL as they appear to be on their blogs. We chatted and had a hoot! After a cold drink to cool off from the beautiful sunny weather, we headed down to the harbour area to have some fish and chips. As we walked, I kept saying that I wished I could remember the name of the place my cousin took me to on my last visit.That was 6 years ago and I just could not recall the name. Suddenly I saw it. Oh...how did I ever forget!    It is called Winking Willy's!!!

We three girls exploded with laughter! The meal was lovely. We all chatted and laughed and had a grand visit. We walked up to the ice cream place afterwards and had a cone...delicious! Just a perfect day at the seaside.

It is the 25th of the month, so it is time to join in over at the Stamping for Pleasure blog and take part in Rudolph Days.  Sarn runs this challenge on the 25th of each month...just make a Christmas card between the 25th and the last day of the month and drop by her blog and link it up!
This card is also for my Christmas Card Club where Sue C's theme is Anything goes.
Taking part in these two challenges ensures a good number of my Christmas are made up ahead and reduces the stress of trying to create cards in the busy Christmas season.

This one is another NBUS and snippets Christmas card.   I kept the design simple as this will be a kid's card!  It is a good feeling to get this "schtuff" (as Darnell would say), used up!

This is just really a quick and easy card. Added 2 sheets of DP to a corrugated card base. Added 2 chipboard elements from the dollar store that I have had ferreted away for so long that it is embarassing...and it was almost done.
Just needed a little something extra...I noticed that there was a touch of pale purple on the chipboard...so pulled out a snippet of pale purple card stock and die cut the corner pieces... a little bling on the die cuts and voila...a cute kiddie card to tuck an envelope of gourmet Hot Chocolate in...perfect for my crafty neighbour's little girl! These corrugated card have a double fold for the spine...they actually will hold a chocolate bar or a packet of fancy Hot Chocolate for a child...or a pretty snowflake ornament for an adult...perfect for a hostess gift inside!
Best of all I used up some of the dreaded purple scraps...as you all know by now, it is just not one of my fave colours!

Recipe
Card base - from my stash; Michaels corrugated square card and envelope
DP - 2 snippets of MME
Card stock - 2 snippets of purple card stock pressed into service as corners
Chipboard - Dollar Store chipboard Sticker sheet (still have a couple more pieces to use up)
Bling - from my stash
Twine - from my stash

I am entering this card intot he following challenge
1. Pixies Crafty Workshop - must use snippets
2. CHNC Extra - must be Christmas and Anything Goes
3. MFP Speedy TV Christmas Card Challenge- Must be Christmas and Anything goes
4 Stamping for Pleasure- Rudolph Days - must be Christmaqs
5. Christmas Card Club - Anything Goes

Robin Red Breast

This is a scheduled post as I am still on holidays. I am in Filey, North Yorkshire enjoying a beach chalet style of life with Dh's cousin and his lovely wife. They keep a beach chalet year round and have decorated it in a British Flag theme. I will post pictures once home as it is truly fabulous!
We have a great routine of beach mornings with the dog and then home for lunch and on to other plans for the day. The days seem to unfold with a relaxed, idyllic style and it is wonderful.

I do have a card to share, another from my cardmaking blitz this summer up at the lake.
The card is a little too plain for my liking but I was really getting to the bottom of the bit and bobs I brought up to the lake. It was getting hard to be as creative when I was running out of supplies!  I was chanting Less Is More, over and over as I made it...but it did not help!

I do love the robin though...and I have come to the realization that I must love K & Co too! I have noticed that more often than not, when I go to write my card recipe, there it is, K & CO, listed over and over...shame they are not sponsoring me!
I just seem to pick up their 3D sheets whenever they go on sale...that way I have some pretty elements ready when my mojo goes walkabout.

This Less is More card has 5 elements...a piece of DP, a kraft card stock die cut, a piece of chipboard from you know where, a K & Co 3D robin and some diamond bling. That is it! I even managed to keep the lid on the cream paint this time!

Here is a close up of the detail of the K & Co 3D bird.

This is another one that will go into the inspirational cards box...I may use it to write a letter or I may stamp a sentiment inside later...it just depends on the individual circumstance when it is called into play!

No recipe today as this card is so easy and I have already basically listed everything in the narrative above.

Since I did manage to employ one measly snippet of kraft card  stock for the die cut, I will take this card over to Di @ Pixies Crafty Workshop - must use snippets, and join in the fun.

I will appologize to the others who have joined in there, this week. While on holidays I am not getting round to my usual visiting and comments. Usually, I try to visit everyone who drops by Di's Pixies Crafty Workshop...Will return to visiting you all again, when we are back home.

A Day To Remember

This is a scheduled post as I am on holidays! I have written these posts up at the lake before we headed home to do a little much needed watering and weeding in the garden.  After a few days of hard work we were rewarded with the start of our holiday in England.

We are around the half way mark now and so far have been to the London area to see my cousin.She and her friend took us to Oxford for the day. We read about the history, enjoyed the architecture and also got a kick out of seeing the spots where one of our favourite TV shows, Lewis, was filmed. Lewis just ended on Canadian TV so it was such great fun that they chose Oxford for our outing that day!.
They also took us to the  Imperial War Museum where DH says he could have stayed for 2 days! He just loved it. Next up was a trip to Dunstable to see the kite fliers and the paragliders, the views there are spectacular. It was hard to say goodbye to them...they are such lovley people and always knock themselves out to ensure we have a memorable stay!

Next stop on the itinerary was Hampshire. I had a day of fun meeting up with  Di of Pixies Crafty Workshop and Sam of Hettiecraft. We went to a wonderful craft store called Flutterby's where I loaded up on Wild Rose Studio stamps and a good many other treasures. We picked up Mr Scrappymo and headed off to see Highclere Castle. It was wonderful. I really enjoyed our day out and will never forget how much they went out of their way to welcome me. Sam drove hours to meet me as she lives in Wales!!!

They were both very gracious about Mr Scrappymo tagging along as he is very reserved and nearly jumped out of his skin to have to meet up with "strangers"...Oh my, little does he know about bloggy friends! He seemed to be permanantly attached to my hip and strode through that castle with what seemed like a determination to be done!  Then announced that he loved the castle!  Thank goodness he managed to walk about the grounds on his own and then we could have a good chat and catch up, and sadly the day soon ended...
Here is a picture Di took of the three of us...We did not bring a laptop and as my camera has about 2000 photos on it I do not want to download them onto my cousins poor laptop in order to show you any of mine! Will do a picutre heavy post when I am home!
Left is Di, I am in the center and Sam (Hettie) is on the right. I am a big lady and struggled a bit with the weather as it was quite muggythat day,  so I think I am looking a little overheated!

After Highclere, we left for Whitehaven, the seaport town beside the wee village of Cleator where my Gran was from. We took day trips into the Lake District and toured Windermere, Grasmere, Amberside, Ullswater, Keswick and many more. We took different routes home each day so have traveled over various narrow, mountain passes and have seen so many of the gorgeous views of Cumbria.
We had a great day out with my cousin and his wife at the Lowther Show. DH climbed up a hill and called us over and we just managed  to see the horse and wagons riding round. The funniest thing there that day was a dog race where 3 dogs were suposed to chase a cloth baited with scent around a circular track.

Well the 2 larger dogs were off like a flash, chasing the scent like crazy and then out came a wee little dog who lagged behind for a few steps and then it noticed that the bait was half way round the circle...so it just cut across the track and grabbed the bait and won!  It was so funny!

We stayed with my cousin and his wife, two of the most wonderful people and they went out of their way to ensure our time with them was memorable. We had outings with my other cousin and my Aunt and we toured about Cumbria, we ate fabulously, we laughed and we laughed some more. This other cousin is a ace at directions and map reading, he soon had DH sorted about the best roads to take. My aunt is still spry and very nimble on her feet, she lept into the SUV with no problems at all! I took 3 times as long to get in and out...lol
It was so hard to bid them goodbye!  Family ties across an ocean are wonderful but leaving is so hard.

We arrived in Filey today and plan to be down on the beach in the morning for coffee and a bacon butty!
I will soon meet with Sue J from Ollismam and Sue P from Planet Susie and hopefully Jo from A little Piece of Me and  her lovely daughter Bex from Rebecca's Craft Corner.

So on with my scheduled post...
Perhaps the title almost fooled you ...bet you thought it was going to be another one of my local area posts...nope...finally have a card to share with you!

This is for my finished  birthday card box. I wanted something feminine and girly but still keeping with the shabby chic look I have been making up here at the lake . I only have that one small box of supplies with me this time, so many of my cards are going to look a bit similar...DP, Kraft die cuts, bit of paint, some chipboard, bling and maybe the odd flower...do you see a pattern here... lol
I know it is quite similar to my Silhouettes post but C'est la vie!

I had a little chuckle when I posted this photo...it has an escaped little diamond attached where it does not belong. When I was placing the diamonds on the corner die, I kept dropping them...I found all but one of them. I looked high and low on the table , on my clothes and on the floor...of course I did not find it as it had attached itself to the oval fancy die edge, just above the middle left edge.   lol
 It has since been plucked off and is currently banished to the naughty chair!!!

I was so happy that I managed to pull the errant diamond off without tearing the kraft paper (as I usually do in these situations). I was so happy about it that I redid the photo... lol

Here is a little closeup of the blinged up corner die. Did you notice that I managed to use up a couple more of the tiny flowers...Yay! I think this one will make a pretty birthday card.

Recipe:
Card base - From my stash; Michaels Recollections brand square textured card set
DP - First Edition Spring Feast 6x6  paper pad
Card Stock - Kraft snippets from my stash
Dies - Spellbinders Floral Ovals and Spellbinders Fancy Ribbons Die and
          Spellbinders  Fantastic Florals Two corner
Chipboard - from my stash; Michaels dollar bins
Bling - from my stash
Sentiment- from my stash; 7 Gypsies, Trousseau

I am entering this card in the following challenges

Pixies Crafty Workshop - must use snippets 

Christmas Card Club - Oh Christmas Tree

This is a scheduled post as I am on holidays at the moment. I will not have regular access to internet but will return any visits once I do. Sorry in advance for the delays in followup visits!
Once again it is time for the Christmas Card Club fornight theme.
Asha chose "Your  Favourite Christmas Carol" as the theme this fortnight. " Oh Christmas Tree" was the inspiration for my card. I love singing that song as I decorate the tree. In fact I love to crank some assorted Christmas tunes and sing along quite loudly as I work!!!
This is another image from the stamping class at my local scrapbook store. Stamping it was like putting up a real tree...if the trunk was straight, then the top looked crooked and vice versa. I decided to go with both of them slightly off center...If you stare at the image for vertical balance you will see what I mean!

I decided to make this card totally from my scraps. The DP are both leftovers from previous cards and the strip of glittered, adhesived ribbon is a leftover scrap from a dollar store package.    You probably recall this poinsettia...it has surfaced on several cards previously. I have a few packages of them as I got them on a super clearance at Michaels quite some time ago.

Recipe
Card and Envelope - from my stash, Michaels Recollections 5 1/2" square white textured
DP - MME Xmas
Cardstock - red from my snippets stash
Mirri card - American Crafts Christmas Foils
Dies - Spellbinder ovals and scalloped oval
Ribbon - glitter self adhesive ribbon from Dollarama
Flower - Poinsettia from my stash, Michaels dollar bins
Stamps - from a stamping class at my scrapbook store

I am entering this card in the following challenges
1. Pixies Crafty Workshop - Must use snippets
2. CHNC Extra - Christmas, always anything goes
4. MFP Speedy TV Christmas Card Challenge - Always Anything Goes, must be Christmas
5. Christmas Card Challenge - Favourite Christmas Carol

Blooms and butterflies do sparkle

Here is another from the series of inspirational cards I made while up at the lake in July. Remember, I had a minimum of supplies, so made up a dozen cards sans stamped images!

I thought this snippet of patterned design paper had enough strength to carry off the butterfly and die. After adding the corner die, I fet it looked a little bare in the top left so I made a flag strip and added a sentiment. I had to search for a word that was appropriate...after making so many cards, that page of pre-printed words was getting low on inspirational words...I added some bling to the flag to help balance the card and then found Sparkle!
Seemed appropriate....

I only brought a bunch of snippets of Kraft cardstock and barely had any left. After painting it and then rubbing off some paint, this flag piece got extra shabby...I hand cut another sliver and tucked it behind to make it match the other elements...much better now. Wish that die came with the option of cutting a shadowed, backing piece as my hand cutting is not always the best.

Here is a close up

This yet another card that will need antennae added once I return home...can not remember to pack everything it seems...I left my fine copic marker back at home...once added I will pop a diamond at the end of each and it will be done

Recipe
Card Base and Envelope - from my stashl Michaels Recollections brand square textured card
DP - unknown scrap from my snippets box
Card Stock - kraft snippets
Bling - frommy stash
Cream paint - from my stash
Die - flag banner is  Impression Obsession; corner die is  Spellbinders Fantastic Florals Two and Oval          die is Spellbinders floral ovals
Chipboard - from my stash; Michaels dollar bins


I am entering this card in the following challenges

Pixies Crafty Workshop -  must use snippets

Starry, Starry Night

I am back with another kids quickie Christmas card. Boy oh boy...this is a NBUS and snippets card for sure! At times I think I have a room full of NBUS (never before used schtuff) and I am slowly but surely working on using it up.
The idea for this kids card came about when I was cleaning up my room and found the felt sleigh. I can not even remember where it came from. I am thinking it must have originally been part of a gift tag from one of my Christmas presents. I usually remove anything that looks like it could be upcycled!

So upcycle it I did. As I was trying to think of how to use it, I kept getting the song Starry, Starry Night, running through my head! So I looked through my papers and just could not manage to find any starry sky papers. Drat!
But I thought this snow flurries paper might work instead and tried adding some bling to perhaps suggest a background of stars. I did manage to find some felt snowflakes left over from last years cards so I added them as well.
I have had these black word stickers for so long that I can not remember when I got them...I think it must be years ago! I thought they tied in the black of the sleigh runners and added to the feeling of it being evening...Yep...it is evening already and Santa is just getting ready to hitch up the reindeer! I think this card will be for a little boy as it has a decidedly masculine feel to it.

Whoops...I see I have an errant black diamond bling that has escaped from the top left corner...I will have to dig out another one and do a little repair...lol Why is it we never recognize these things till
after we have posted the photo!


Recipe
Card Base - from my stash, Michaels Recollections square textured cards and envelopes
DP - Bo Bunny, Snow Day
Card stock - snippet of black card stock left over from a wedding layout
Word Stickers - from my stash ( DCWV sticker sheet)
Felt - snowflakes from my stash, (dollar store) sleigh is an upcycled item
Diecut - from my stash (Santa is  K and Co)
Bling - from my stash

I am entering this card in the following challenges
1. Pixies Crafty Workshop - must use snippets
2. CHNC Extra - Anything goes, Must be Christmas
3. MFP Speedy TV Christmas CArd Challenge - Must be Christmas, Anything Goes