AYLI - Mono or Colour

 Well March came around quickly didn't it!? Lets hope that it brings some much needed warmth to the UK and some colour into the garden.

Anyway, I am here with some tags wto share in the hope that they will encourage you to join us at 

where Lynne has chosen the theme

Colour or Mono (with your reason too)

I have gone with colour. I have Promarkers in all the colours of the rainbow, and some, and really enjoy colouring my projects with them. In this case I have made a batch of eight gift tags using a gift from a lovely crafty buddy. It's A Studio Light set called Falalalala and is so cute. All the stamped elements are from this set and they were a pleasure to colour.

So that's a start on christmas 2025. what's the betting that I will put them away and forget where they are, come December!!

That's all for now. enjoy your weekend when you get there xx

CAS at Allsorts

 It's Saturday and time for a new challenge at

where our optional theme, chosen by Helen, is

Clean and Simple

I don't mind admitting that I would normally run for the hills BUT my lovely blogging buddy Lisa gave me some lovely stamps for Christmas that just cried out to be used on a CAS card...so here it is!!

The stamp set I used is from MFT named Geometric Greenery and I coloured the leaves ombre style with Promarkers. Sorry to the die hard CAS fans but I had to add a sequin or three!!

I hope that you have a lovely weekend and that you will find some time to join in

Three prizes from Oakwood Direct, A5 stamp set, coordinating stamp and die and stencils

As this goes live I am planning to be walking on the beach at Weymouth. It's been a dire week, weatherwise, so promised a fine and crisp day we are going to make the most of it. I hope the sun is shining on you, wherever you are.

Until next time, take care xx

Masculine or Feminine at AYLI

 Hello and welcome. I am a little bit older than when I saw you last as I've had a Birthday this week, I am also a little bit heavier as I have eaten lots, that said, I am also on annual leave so have ridden the pony and walked the dogs more so that probably cancelled out the cake...what do you think!!?

Anyway, I am here with a card to hopefully inspire you to join in at

where the theme this time is

MALE or FEMALE

Well, I have mountains of pretty papers, oodles of ribbons, many,many cute and girly rubber stamps so it won't come as a huge surprise when I share a feminine make. Aside from the fact that as much as I try I just can't ever make a "man" card that I am truly happy with.

I have been doing a little bit of junk journalling and while getting ideas from You Tube found a fabulous lady called Amanda Charlesworth ( Creating with Scrimping Mommy) who is totally inspirational and a lovely person with it. She has a super Facebook Group and gives weekly freebies if you are a member. She is sharing Mixed Media inspiration this year so I have used one of her free kits to make a really pretty feminine card. There are a couple of tickets from elsewhere and some scrumpled cheesecloth too. Everything is inked with Vintage Photo and I finished with a splatter of white paint which turned pink once it hit the printed papes, it still looks nice though and I won't make that mistake again having now bought some matt medium!!

I hope that you will join us with your Male or Female makes and I will see you soon xx

Shades of Blue at Allsorts

Happy Saturday everyone. I hope the weekend has good things in store for you...including crafting!!

Liz has chosen our optional SHADES OF BLUE theme this time at

I panicked a bit and actually thought I might have to buy some blue papers!! But thankfully my extensive paper mountain came to the rescue and I discovered a 15cm x 30cm paper pad that I bought in The Range years ago.

They had a distressed look so I tore the mat and used a doily and layers to add to the shabby style.

The Stamping Bella stamp and sentiment is one that I have used lots, it is so easy to colour (with Promarkers) and is the perfect size to be framed by a more busy card style.

One of my colleagues/friends will be celebrating her 70th next week so I wanted the card to be special so added a hidden tag that slides out from the mat. I heat embossed the 70 with glittery embossing powder and added a cherry cake charm too. 

I am so cross with myself that I didn't stick the spotty mat on straight, it looks like the card is wonky!! I might just have to do a rescue if the foam pads aren't stuck fast!! Ooops!!

It's worth sharing an entry or two because there are...

 Two prizes of Lavinia Stamps and stencil (photos not to scale). Please note, we (Lavinia) cannot provide exchanges/replacements/refunds for any products received through this third-party giveaway.

See you there!!

Stamps or Digis

 Hello everyone. Two weeks have flown and I am here again with some inspiration for you.

Brenda is hosting and our new theme, to tempt you, this time is

Stamps or Digis.

I really should be using one of my rubber/clear stamps as I have many BUT I have a very good reason for sharing a digi. Our Grandson was two on Tuesday and try as I might I could not find a rubber stamp featuring a digger anywhere!! The beauty of digis is that they can be resized, flipped, they are cost effective and you can hide them from your Significant Other!!

We bought Jackson a little Joey JCB and I wanted to make him a card to match so trawling Etsy I found this digital set of cute Construction digitals from Little Pearly Studio. They are really charming and really easy to fussy cut too. The papers are also digital from here and I used Word to add the personalised sentiment.

Here he is with his JCB and drill (like Grandads)

and this was a little later when he and big Sis Mollie, found the last of our puddles

In true little boy style he got absolutely drenched!!

I am looking forward to seeing what you choose.

Bye for now xx

Romance and Music at Allsorts

 Gail has given us a wonderful optional theme at

As we are in the month of LOVE she has chosen

Music and Romance, you can, of course, go for Anything Goes too.

I just knew that I had an old My Minds Eye paper pad that contained a page with music on it, so that was my starting point. 

I actually used three sheets of paper from the pad "Follow your Heart". The hearts were die cut with Marianne Craftables CR1225. The notes and treble clef dies were a gift and, I suspect, are Memory Box. As I didn't have a suitable stamp and my printer is being a pain, I tore a piece of tracing paper and hand wrote my sentiment!! 

Prizes are

Stamps and stencils (random selection) from AALL and Create 

Looking for ward to seeing what you share with us.

Take care xx

Pearls or Gems

 We are talking embellishments at

where Wilma is hosting and the theme is

Pearls or Gems.

I appear to have LOTS of pearls in my crafty stash so I went for pearls.

They add such a lovely touch of femininity to cards and projects. In this case they were the perfect finishing touch on a retirement card that I made for a very girly colleague. Eve LOVES pink and I have always made her Birthday and Christmas cards brimming over with pink. I am sad that this time it's a retirement card but kept the feminine theme going by using a Crafters Companion papercraft kit.

the largest topper did actually say Happy Birthday so I covered it with a tag and heat embossed Happy Retirement with silver. Finally the pink pearls were added.

Thank you for visiting me today. I am sorry that I've not been keeping up with return visits but life has been a little hectic since Christmas with one thing and another. Hopefully things will ease up a bit.

See you soon xx

Close to Nature at Allsorts

We have a new challenge starting at Allsorts where Brenda has chosen the theme of

Close to Nature

My default thought for this theme would generally be animals but, still on a mission to use my least used stash, I thumbed through and found a lovely stamp from Woodware, Country Fields, that fitted the theme perfectly.

 

 Promarkers were used to colour the lovely bold stamp and I still had a MFT pad on my desk that suited the colours I'd used perfectly. The sentiment is from a Hobby Art stamp set, Scene-it Sentiments.

There are Three prizes of A5 stamp sets from AALL and Create 

        

I hope you are all settling in to 2025. I have found myself writing 2024 at work but it's getting less frequent as the days go by!! The weather in my part of the UK has settled and the daffodils are starting to push up, no snowdrops in sight yet though.

Have a good weekend xx

Patterned paper at AYLI

 Happy Thursday peeps. I hope that this week is being kind to you.

I am hosting the first challenge of the year at

 It won't be a surprise when I tell you that the theme is

Favourite paper brand

I have lots and lots of papers both real and digital but "My Favorite Things! is the brand that I return to time and time again particularly when I am creating cute or girly cards that require a small print.

Looking forward to seeing what your favourite brand is!!

Matching Pairs at Allsorts

 Happy New Year, friends. I wish you all Good Health and Happiness in 2025.

I am kicking off with a DT piece for

where the optional theme is Matching Pairs.

Two prizes of Lavinia Stamps (photos not to scale). Please note, we (Lavinia) cannot provide exchanges/replacements/refunds for any products received through this third-party giveaway.

Last year (it seems odd saying that!!) I experimented with other crafts and bought a packet of Hobbycraft air dry clay to play with. After my Christmas cards were finished I opened it and had a play and made a thread sorter and a needle minder to use when I am cross stitching.

It didn't take very much clay at all so I still have lots to use. I rolled it out and made an oval shape for the thread holder and used a metal sweet cutter for the floral shaped needle minder. Once the large piece was dry, after a few days, I painted both with a couple of coats of cream acrylic paint. The painted flowers and buds were made using a cotton bud and I painted the leaves. A matching pair that I am going to make good use of!!

 I hope you have a good weekend. One of my colleagues is retiring next week so we are taking her out for Afternoon Tea later, so I am very much looking forward to that.

See you soon xx