Simple or Fussy at AYLI

 Hello and welcome. I have a man card to share with you today.

It's James the Bear and he is my DT make for the new theme at

where the theme is

Simple or Fussy

You will know by now that I have enough paper pads to last me several lifetimes so I like to include them on my cards wherever possible. That said I don't usually use frills, gems, ribbon or the like and keep my designs fairly simple to showcase the papers. Simple cards are also slimmer and therefore less costly to post. 

He never fails to make me smile and is always a joy to colour. He is grey rubber and one of the early Lili of the Valley stamps. He was coloured with Promarkers to match the backing papers, the check from a My Favourite Things pad and the spot from a Bo Bunny pad. I "glassed" up his lager with glossy accents. The postmark sentiment was also a LOTV  stamp set, clear this time, but, again, fairly old.

Man cards aren't my favourite to make but I made an exception with this special card, made for our eldest Son who had his Birthday on Easter Monday. I surely can't be old enough to have a 36 year old!!

Anyway, we have had some super weather here for two whole days, the jumper and wellies came off and we even took a trip to the coast yesterday where it was actually too blooming hot!! A good excuse for an ice cream though!!

Wherever you are in the world I hope the weather is being kind.

See you soon xx

AYLI Embellishment

Hello everyone thank you for paying a visit.

I am here with my inspiration for the new challenge at

the theme is "Favourite Embellishment"

I love enamel dots. They come in pretty much every colour under the sun and are flatter than pearls so don't leave a dent in the envelope.

 I am still using my stash and found this lovely Woodware birdy and sentiment (Its so old I couldn't find it but there is a similar set here). I knew the kind of colours I wanted to use so found some enamel dots and cardstock scraps first, trimmed them to fit the A5 card and then embossed them using one of my many embossing folders. Then I found the right colour Promarkers and coloured the sweet little bird.

It's a wonder I am here at all. My blogging has been seriously curtailed as my poor old laptop died. I have welcomed a new one into my life but found that I couldn't comment using my blogspot profile, had changed my password and didn't save it...oh my life, what a nightmare!! I am not clever enough to do it on my phone nor was I able to on my tablet. Thankfully (family) IT support helped out so I am playing catch up now and getting to know my new tech.

Thank you for allowing me to let off steam!! I hope that you are all well and that you are tempted to join us with you favourite embellishment.

See you soon xx

Favourite person to craft for at AYLI

 It's a lovely theme for you at

As You Like It Challenge 

Your favourite person to craft for

I have many favourites that I like to create handmade gifts/cards for. Over the last couple of years I have dabbled in journal making so really enjoy the process of sitting quietly and fussy cutting while listening to a book or watching a good crime box set on TV. This kit is from Angela Kerr Designs and is perfect for this time of year. There are lots of tags, labels and general ephemera within the kit and she does fabulous tutorials too.

I have added cotton lace to the edges of some pages too.

Thank you for stopping by and I hope that you will be inspired to join us at AYLI.

See you soon xx

Cute or Elegant At As You Like It Challenge

Hello friends I am back in my comfort zone today with my DT piece for

 where Elaine is hosting and the theme is

Cute or Elegant.

It will come as no surprise to my followers that I have gone with cute. I just love the cute genre, people, animals, and houses. You name it, if it's cute I will love colouring it!! Not to mention I can always find a patterned paper that fits!!

Here's what I made this time

a cute card for our Grandson, Jackson, who was 3 years old at the beginning of the month.

This time I hooked out a memory stick to find a cute digital image, this one fit the bill and I coloured him with Promarkers. The papers are also digital. I can't find the provenance of either I'm afraid. 

I hope that you will go and share some love with the team and take inspiration and join us.

See you soon xx

Favourite Die at AYLI

 Happy Thursday everyone, the weekend is in sight and I am here with my DT piece for

where we are itching to see your favourite dies

I used this as another opportunity to have a hunt through my stash and rekindle love for an old die. In doing so I unearthed Live, Love, Laugh by Frantic Stamper. I do like a BIG die on a card as it adds such a nice feature. Look  here for another card made 10 years ago!!

The lovely stamp is a very old Mollie Blooms, and actually one of my first purchases I think. She was coloured, as usual with Promarkers and I sat her on a wall (background)  made using a couple of papers from a paper pad by Anna Marie Designs. The spotty die cut sentiment was cut from a scrap of paper and, sort of, matches her dress.

I hope those of you in the UK have managed to stay safe during storm Chandra. Our village, once again, became an island and there was widespread deep flooding so many of the roads in the county were closed.

Here is a snap of our own lakes

and  Bumble having a paddle

See you in the not too distant future xx

Favourite Occasion at AYLI.

Hello friends and visitors.

It's time to kick off the first challenge of the year at

and the theme is Favourite Occasion.

In my house there are lots and lots of Birthdays during the next five or so months so I have gone with Birthday as my favourite occasion. They are always useful makes to have in your stash too.

Here is the card that I made for Mollie Rose, our Granddaughter, who turns 9 Today. It's hard to believe where the years have gone. She's a sassy little miss for sure, full of spirit and fun and is a wonderful big sister to Jackson!!

I used a very old BeBunni rubber stamp from Crafters Companion. The papers are from a doodlebug Designs Christmas pad and I cut the 9 freehand from a holographic scrap of card. I coloured the image with my Promarkers and matched the sweeties on top of the cake with the spots on the paper and then added glossy accents. The sentiment was heat embossed and is from a Clearly Besotted sentiment clear stamp set.

Thank you for your company and I hope that 2026 is being kind to you so far.

See you soon xx 

 

Anything Christmassy at AYLI

Hello friends. It's new challenge day at

and it's Anything  Christmassy Goes

This last couple of years I have really enjoyed cross stitching again and have made quite a few projects. This is my latest FFO (fully finished object in cross stitch speak!!). The pattern is from Soda Stitch and called Merry Christmas. I used a mottled grey aida and threads from my stash, some called for and some alternatives that worked well.

Thank you for taking time out of your day to pay a visit. I have been dogged with ill health this past week so my good intentions to visit have been rather hindered. Migraine and vertigo were the culprits, A&E last weekend for an injection and a return visit to the GP yesterday. Hopefully the meds will sort me out now.

See you soon xx

 

Gold, Silver or Glitter at AYLI

 Hello Friends, hope you are all well.

It's new challenge day over at

where the theme is

Gold, Silver or Glitter.

We are galloping towards christmas so I used all three on my cards. The silver glitter is so glittery that the photograph is dreadful!!

I used a tonic frame set for the frames and a Creative Expressions (I think) die for the wordy tree. The background was a scrap that happened to be on my desk.

Two more for the card pile!! I hope that your prep is going well and that you will find a moment or two to join us.

See you soon xx

Embellishments at AYLI

 Hello, hello. I hope everyone is keeping well.

I have a couple of tags to share today that are my DT inspiration for the new Challenge at 

As You Like It

where the theme is Favourite Embellishment and why.

I tend to grab gems or pearls to add a little finishing touch to my projects. They add sparkle or shimmer, depending on which you use, without the bulk.

I found a super cute dinky stamp set, (Country Companions) that has never seen ink, that I coloured with Promarkers. Cut tag shapes and mounted on gingham card (apologies for the shocking photography). The sentiments smudged a bit but I am sure Mollie and Jackson will be more interested in the package content rather than the tags!!

It's lovely to have your company again. Life is finally settling down, workwise, with Flu & Covid clinics now completed. Just the matter of the wedding invites to complete.

See you soon xx

AYLI - Favourite Critter

 I have the pleasure of hosting this time at

and I have chosen Favourite Critter as the theme.

I absolutely LOVE James the Bear and as I am in Christmas mode at the moment it would have been rude not to use him!! This one is grey rubber but he is available as a digi here.

He was coloured with Lyra pencils this time and I used blending solution for softness. There is some sparkle on the snow too. The papers that I used are from a very old Me to You paper pad called Happy Jolly Christmas. I rounded them for something a little bit different. The flag was also from the pad,

We'd love to see your favourite critters at the challenge, Christmas or not, everyone is welcome!!

See you soon xx

Ribbon or Twine at AYLI

Hello friends. I have another Christmas card to share with you today. It's my DT piece for

where the theme is

Ribbon or Twine (and why)

As ever, I am aware of the cost of postage so for a bit of detail and texture, without the bulk, I tend to use twine. 

That said I still have a massive array of ribbons that I will possibly use one day!!

The birdhouse is one of my first purchases from Lili of the Valley back in the days before digitals. The backing paper is also from a real life 8x8 paper pad which, I think, is available in digi form. I also used their Christmas sentiments tag stamp set for the little tag greeting.

You can see the image a little better here and the lovely frosty snow that I added once I'd coloured with Promarkers.

Thank you for your visit and I hope you will be inspired to share your makes with us.

See you soon xx

 

Square or Not at AYLI

Hello everyone. Hope this week is being kind to you. I am here with inspiration for our new challenge at

where the theme is Square or Not? (with your reason of course)

In a bid to use excess card stock in my stash (and believe me there is a LOT!!) I have been making my own A6 card blanks. I also appear to accumulated many envelopes of the same size so win, win!!

This card was made using an old paper kit from Craftwork Cards. I subscribed to the monthly kits a very long time ago and this is Pretty Patchwork. All of the elements are from the kit.

Autumn is well and truly underway here in the UK and it's been glorious once more, after a week of much needed rain. Gales are forecase for tomorrow so I hope to get a little bit of crafty time. I am drowning in Wedding Invitations at the moment as Connor (youngest) and his Fiance, Amelia have asked me to make their wedding stationery...eeeek. 

See you soon xx

 

AYLI Layered or flat

 Hello all, I hope that your week is going well. 

As it's Thursday I am here to encourage you to join in at

where the theme is Layered or Flat

As I LOVE patterned papers, and have a few in my stash, I generally go for layered cards in a bid to use at least some of them!! This one features a Digistamp Boutique doggo that I coloured with Promarkers to match the papers, all from various MFT paper pads.

Thank you for stopping by, your time is much appreciated xx

Favourite Season

 Oh my life, I am extremely late to the start of the new challenge at

no excuse except ageing grey matter!! Anyway the theme is

Your Favourite Season (and why)

I am a winter baby (born in February) and love colder snuggly weather. Within that season there is, of course, Christmas. 

I took advantage of a discount at LOTV and bought the photo strip reindeer

I coloured them with Promarkers, matted them on silver mirri and die cut some snowflakes too.

I might have over exposed the pic a bit, it's not really as dazzling as that in real life.

Lovely to see you xx

AYLI - Cats or Dogs

I have chosen the theme at

and it's cats or Dogs

 It's dogs in our house. We've had dogs since before our eldest Son was born so that's a very long time now!! Our current "twins" are nine years old and have Martin just where they want him. Every word on the card I made for his Birthday is absolutely true!! We buy them their own ham when doing the weekly shop and Bowie, in particular, has finely tuned ears and sits by the fridge as soon as we put the kettle on. He knows that we will be opening the door for milk!!

It's a large card this time an 8x8 card base covered with Nitwits digital papers from the Woof Collection. The sentiment was done on the computer and layered between the papers with a photo of the boys, Bowie and Bumble (+ball). That said we've another cat that has made itself at home in the stable yard. He is quite shy but at least doesn't scoot as soon as he sees us coming now.

We finally had some rain and I got soaked riding Wills yesterday morning!! It was very refreshing though!!

See you soon xx

Non-Card Project

 At As You Like It Challenge we have a theme to get you thinking outside the box. We would love to see your  non card project.

After a break of many years I have picked up  aida and DMC threads again and have been cross stitching. I have finished quite a few projects so far this year and have some festive ones in the pipeline too.

I subscribed to a  cross stitch magazine about twenty years ago and tore out charts that I fancied stitching. This was one of them that I found in a dusty folder. 

It was a lovely project to do as it stitched up quite quickly and I did a couple of motifs at a time. The navy frame was re-used and I.m not quite sure I like it but will pop it on the kitchen dresser for now and live with it for a bit.

Thank you for popping by, it's much appreciated xx

Favourite colour combo at AYLI

 Hello everyone. I hope that you are all doing well and that life is being kind. Time seems to be flying this year yet, other than work, I don't seem to have achieved much else!! Thank goodness for DT deadlines that mean I get a little bit of time to indulge in my crafty hobby.

I am here to inspire you to join us at

where we are showcasing our favourite colour combo and would love you to do the same (with a reason of course).

I'm afraid I am sticking to a tried and tested combo...pink and green...because whatever shade or tone they go beautifully together in the garden and on cards!!

I managed to get myself the lovely Easter Florals clear stamp set from LOTV and coloured the wonderful chicken with pink and green Promarkers. After a sort through my papers I found some matching pinks and greens and put together my card using Jules Square Sketch #47 

(Thanks again Jules x).

Finishing touches were with some ribbon from my stash and pretty pearls too.

Here's Mother Natures' take!!

Thank you for your company today. I am still wayyy behind with my visits so I much appreciate that you still come this way even if I am not regularly returning the favour xx

Sentiment or Not?

 Some more Christmas card from me today. It is becoming a routine to make these as my DT inspiration for

where the theme this time is

Sentiment or Not?

I have chosen to make the sentiment the feature on these cards.

I seem to have a crafty affliction with symptoms of accidental purchases and that is exactly what happened where the JOY die was concerned. I totally blame Crafty Kiwi Mamma for this occurrence and for the Christmas Eve paper pack that fell into my basket at the same time (to be used at a later date)!! The papers that I used here were from a pack from either The Range or The Works.

In my defence I did use a very old LOTV rubber stamp set for the little O's and coloured them with Promarkers and gave a little bit of Stickles Star Dust on the snow. I used some pretty gems as a finishing touch.

See you soon xx

AYLI Embossing

 Hello, hello. I hope you are all doing OK. 

I am here today with my DT inspiration for

The prompt this time is your Favourite Embossing method.

I am an enormous fan of heat embossing and still watch in awe as the powder melts.

For this little collection of Christmas cards I used the plaid paper as my starting point. I think it it was quite possibly from Dovecrafts Little Red Robin paper pack.

I stuck the papers on the card blanks and had a rummage through my christmas stamps. This set is from Crafters Companion Sara Signature Scandinavian Christmas Collection (probably still available somewhere!!)

I die cut some postage stamp edged rectangles (a shameful unbranded purchase on ebay) and stamped away. I used red, white and green embossing powders that are probably twenty years old and they still worked brilliantly. More Christmas cards to go on the pile.

See you soon xx

Soft or bold at AYLI

Well, where did April go then? Another lovely new month and to go with that  a lovely new challenge at

where the theme is Soft or Bold colours (with your reason to be eligible for a prize)

I love bold colours. Something that is perhaps a little bit different and eyecatching. For my inspiration I have made some Christmas cards using Hobbycraft  paper pads as my starting point. The blue one is very much bolder in colour than the photo would have you believe.

 I was gifted a lovely bundle of Christmas themed goodies for Christmas and was itching to use the little deer die (Simple Creative) so die cut circles of white centura pearl card then cut him out of the middles then layered up as frames with coordinating coloured card. I'm not sure where the Noel die came from but the Christmas Wishes is a favourite from Creative Expressions. I had to give him a red nose so used some pearl card candi from long ago!!

I hope I have inspired you to play along and look forward to seeing your makes.

I am making headway with visiting you and if I haven't got to your place yet, I promise that I will do!!

Take Care xx