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

Hearts at We Love Stamping

 Love is all around at We Love Stamping this month where Faith has chosen 

💕Hearts💕

or Anything Goes

I used a very old Woodware stamp FRS170 Love that I coloured with Promarkers to match the pretty heart paper that was from First Edition "Sweet Nothings" paper pad. It really was a joy to colour and give some love to an old stamp and die too.

Looks like February is going to be just as wet as January was. I must confess that this winter I have seriously questioned my life choices when mucking out on cold, wet and dark mornings but then I get a lovely kiss from my boy and remember why!! I mean the pony not the Husband!!

Fingers crossed for an early spring. Our daffs are coming out and the snowdrops have been out for a little while now so it's on it's way!!

This was before Storm Chandra when we had a bit of blue sky!!

That's all for now. See you soon xx

Sentiment at Allsorts

 Hello everyone. Helen is hosting at

Allsorts Challenge this time and her optional theme is 

Sentiment as Focus

Here's mine

Now, this theme stumped me a bit as I don't really have many large stamps so guess what...I had to go shopping and found Woodware Big Christmas Words!! Perfect!! Like many of you I suspect, I have random card blanks and envelopes so I used them together with scraps of Christmas paper and made, not only, this one but six others. I think I hit the brief and hope that you will have a go and support Helen's theme. If not, Anything Goes is always welcome.

See you soon xx

Autumn Colours at Allsorts

 Don't these weekends roll around, I can hardly believe that we are changing the clocks tonight in the UK. That means it really is autumn, which leads me nicely to Brenda's optional theme at Allsorts Challenge which is

Autumn Colours 

I am in my element here as I LOVE the colours that the berrrrr (September, October, November) months bring with them.

Once again, I had a good old rummage through my crafty stash and found many card candi boxes (remember them from Craftwork cards?!), that triggered the memory of a Woodware stamp and this card was born!!

As luck would have it I had the perfect complimentary piece of paper in a very old Doodlebug Designs pad so used that (and the reverse side of the trimmed off bit) for the background. a jolly nice card to have "just in case". 

Prizes this time from  Stamp Addicts, 

I hope to get some leaf kicking walks in this weekend and probably some acorn collecting too. As it's been a "mast" year we have had more fruit, nuts and berries than ever before which has meant an absolute glut of acorns from our three oaks. They can be addictive to horses and in large quantities can cause death so we've had to fence them off and remove the acorns. It's a great workout!!

See you soon xx

Paper Piecing at Allsorts

 Lynne has chosen a lovely optional theme at 

it's paper piecing.

Here is what I did.

I used a large Woodware cling stamp called Sketchy Daisies as the elements were really easy to cut out. I stamped on lots of different papers from a My Favorite Things pad I tried different colour combos and the one above was my favourite!! The image was framed using a piece of blue Centura Pearl card which, I think, set it off nicely. The banner isn't wonky...I curled it so that there is a little bit of dimension, although I suspect it will go flat once in the envelope!!

We are having a Birthday bash very soon...here is your invitation!!

I hope that you have a lovely weekend.

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

Favourite way to Emboss

 Thank goodness it's Thursday  for two reasons, there's a new challenge at As You Like It Challenge and the weekend is looming, it's been a busy week at work!!

Our new challenge is to show us your favourite way to EMBOSS.

The process of heat embossing never fails to excite me, it's like magic!!

I used an ombre type paper pad (from The Range) and stamped the pretty flower from an old Woodware set  then heat embossed with white detail powder. The floral stem also came from the same set. Happy Birthday is from a Clearly Besotted sentiment set. I fussed and faffed with white and black mats and finally decided that the black looked much better!!

We very much look forward to seeing your favourite way to emboss, and your reason why.

See you soon xx

AYLI Monochrome or Colour?

Hello everyone, thank you for dropping in today.

I am here with my DT piece for

The choice for you this time is

Colour or Monochrome

Well, I am really trying hard to challenge myself this year and make more male cards. 

Our youngest Son, Connor, turns 30 on 11th ( I know I hardly look old enough!!!). He is a HUGE cricket fan and has played since he was a nipper so I knew I wanted to make a card with a cricketer. I have several cute images that I have bought over the years but wanted a more grown up stamp. I managed to find a Woodware stamp that cried out for heat embossing so I made a mono card.

The cricketer was heat embossed in black and the complimentary stamps heat embossed in white to make a background.  I have added a touch of colour though!!

 

He made the Dorset Echo last year!! 

We are looking forward to seeing what you share with us.

Take Care xx

Cold as Ice at Allsorts

 With Christmas just a couple of days away I think it's unlikely that we will have temperatures anything like the optional challenge at Allsorts this next fortnight

Cold as Ice chosen by Lorraine

A fabulous bundle of prizes from AALL and Create and Craft Stash

Here's my inspiration for you

I've been ever so good again and used another buried stamp. I've rediscovered quite a few Woodware stamps, this being one of them. I stamped it on to various icy coloured papers and even a sheet of sparkly sticky stuff, that took days to dry!! However, it all worked out in the end and I paper pieced SNOW together. I also used a very old Marianne Designs snowflake die to cut holographic card to make the pretty snowflakes and finished the icy scene with a gorgeous Chloes Creative Cards glitter. Another card to start the pile for next year!!

Whatever you are up to on Christmas Day I wish you peace and happiness xx

AYLI

 Hello Friends. I hope you are well today.

There is a festive theme for you at

Your Favourite Person to make for at Christmas.

My long term friends will know that I favour all things cute so when it comes to Christmas the perfect person to craft for is Mollie who shares my love of cute. I haven't forgotten Jackson, (who will be enjoying his first Christmas) but his card is scheduled to be shared at a later date!!

Here is what I made for Mollie Rose.

It was the first inking of a very large Woodware stamp that I bought a long time ago. I haven't used it before now because I didn't have anything large enough to stamp with and my attempts of laying the card down  on top of the stamp had failed. When I was tidying under my desk I found a clear stacking storage tray that I used as a stamping block!! Yay!! anyway rudolph was coloured with Promarkers and I simply matted him on some gold. The sentiment was done in Word. Job done.

Being a nosey devil, I am looking forward to seeing your favourite person to craft for at Christmas and hope that you will pay a visit to my team mates who are sharing some lovely goodies!!

See you on Saturday xx

AYLI - Pearls or Gems

 No cute card from me today, I know, it's a shocker!!

Our theme at As You Like It is to share pearls or gems.

Turns out I have rather a lot of pearls in my stash, Who knew!? So many, in fact,  that I decided to make them the star of my card. 

I used a Woodware stamp and simply stuck plain and coloured pearls (and a few enamel dots too) in the circular spaces. The leaves were coloured with Promarkers and there is actually a dotted blue background that doesn't show up very well. 

Thank you for for your visit. I hope you have a lovely Easter weekend. Not quite sure what's on the cards for us but I will be keeping an eye out for the Easter Bunny for sure!!

See you soon xx

Sailing by...

 It's raining again, so tinkering about in the stables has met an abrupt end so what else can I do but craft!! It is my Uncle Dave's Birthday at the end of the week so I made this. 

It is two thirds of a very old Woodware stamp that I coloured with Promarkers and mounted on some coordinating card. It looked a little flat so I added a bit of sparkle pen to the waves and used glossy accents to add some sheen.

Honestly, that tile looks orange but it is actually the same red as the mat, how does a camera do that? 

Thank you for dropping in xx

Some Challenges

Allsorts Challenge #631 - Sun, Sea and Sand

Crafty Calendar July challenge - Anything Goes

My time to Craft #460 - All things Beachy

AYLI Tip

 Hello peeps, hope the world has been kind to you this week and that you have had some crafty time to yourselves. My work room is west facing and gets extremely hot in the afternoon and evenings so I have to plan my crafty time carefully at this time of year. Not sure why I felt the need to tell you that but hey ho!! Anyway, an early morning visit to the work room resulted in this......

I am in the driving seat over at AYLI this time where we are all about your crafty tips. Blogland is such a kind and generous place that we are hoping that you will share your little pearls of wisdom with us.

My tip for you is one that I use almost every time I make a card and that is to choose your paper before you colour your image so that you can make perfect colour choices and therefore coordinate the card. I always have the paper next to the image as I am colouring and then construct the card afterwards. Jules shared another rectangular sketch last week, #4, so I had to try it out!! Thank you again Jules.

The papers are from a  Craftwork Cards Julie Loves  pack and the stamp from a Woodware set. Perfectly coordinated colouring with Promarkers and a little bit of Stardust Stickles on the pom pom.

I remembered to make two this time!!

Finishing touches were seam binding and a little star punch with a matching pearl and enamel dot.

I hope that you will have a tip to share with us and look forward to seeing what you make.

See you soon

AYLI - Favourite Colouring Medium

 It is time for another new challenge at

where we are asking you to share your projects using your favourite colouring medium.

Many of you will know that I have a longstanding love of Promarkers. I have various sets from all the other well known brands of alcohol markers but never seem to get on quite so well with them as I do my Promarkers. They blend so beautifully and the colour families go so well together.

I made these cards to send to my cousins with a little gift following the loss of their Mum (my Auntie Jill) who suffered with dementia for many years. She was also my Dad's twin Sister so I like to think that they are now reunited after nearly thirty years of being apart.

I coloured one blue and one pink to go with the ceramic hearts that went with them from here (seriously if you are looking for a beautiful unique gift that won't break the bank, take a look at Sarah's work!!).

As is so often the case the colouring does not really show at it's best but I promise you that the backgrounds are coloured to match the pretty Marianne papers. The stamp is a Woodware one that I won in a challenge at Allsorts. Obviously coloured with Promarkers but I also stamped onto the patterned paper and cut the frame to stick on top. The Sent with Love sentiment was also a Woodware set that I found "yellowing with age" in a drawer...ooops!!

Lovely to see you today, hope you will have a minute or two to go and take a peep at what my teamies have done too!! xx

Christmas in the snow....

...now there's a thought after the rubbish year we have had so far. At the rate things are going Christmas may be a very quiet affair so it would be nice to have a bit of snow to look at, what do you think?!!

If you are not a fan of my idea how about joining in at the new challenge at

                                      where snow and/or snowmen are order of the day.

Here is my card

very CAS for me and using just one stamp set from Woodware that has been sitting in my NBUS box for a couple of years I think!! I used my Promarkers to colour him in one of my favourite Christmas colour combos, aqua and red. Lots of sparkle for the snow and glossy accents to make the carrot nose nice and shiny.

Hope you are all doing ok whether in lockdown or not. Keep well and see you soon xx

AYLI DT Inspiration #90

Hello everyone. Well, October is upon us as is a new challenge at

this time we would love to see your projects featuring your favourite flowers...

that is bought or die cut.

 Like many of you I have drawers full of bought flowers in various colours, shapes, sizes and types, however I tend to favour die cut flowers on my cards and projects. I think it is because you can use such a range of mediums to cut, in the case of this card foil and shimmery peal board.

I am not a massive fan of overly shimmery and shiny stuff but I was really pleased with how this one turned out, so much so that I made another one in a slightly different colour!!

Thank you for your visit and your continued support xx

Some challenges

Winter Wonderland- Tic Tac Toe
(Bottom left to top right, ribbon sparkle or shine and white)

More pink?!

I know...!! I'm not sure what has come over me but I can't seem to get enough of the colour at the moment, it must be all the beautiful hanging baskets and planters that are currently decorating Dorset!! Anyway, it's new challenge day at

As You Like It Challenge

and our theme this time is your favourite two embellishments and why?

Those of you that visit often will know that I tend not to use many embellishments but when I have a mind to it will be ribbon (to try and reduce the size of my ribbon mountain!!) and pearls for a little bit of sheen and interest .

I didn't want to overpower the fabulous stamp so went for a relatively CAS design using papers from Pebbles Garden Party...again!! Ribbon, pearls and that's it!!

Some challenges

In the Pink #75 - Anything Goes

Crafting for all seasons #107 - Bright and Beautiful

Top Tip challenge - Ribbon and pearls

Thank you for visiting my piece of blog land, I appreciate it xx

Hello Birdie

Hello chaps, thank you for paying a visit today. I am currently in the saddle so hope blogger plays nicely!! Anyway I am here to share my DT piece for

  As You Like It and the new theme is

Lines or No Lines.

It's lines for me and this stamp shows perfectly just why.
 When my mojo does a runner I generally thumb through some magazines and found the inspiration from a magazine article by Fleur Pearson using Woodware stamps. I was reminded that I had some unused bird stamps similar to those that she used and ended up with this....

I used promarkers to colour the bird and the messy bit was provided by walnut stain squished on my craft mat and then painted with my waterbrush. The papers are Bazzill Lovely Lace and the flower was also made by die cutting a page from the same set with script on it which suited the grungy look. 

The strength of the outline really made the colours sing on this card and I'm so pleased with it!!

Some challenges I would like to enter

Creative Inspirations #306 - Feathered friends/animals
Addicted to Stamps #137 - Make your mark
Crafting by Designs - Flowers with a twist
Papertake Weekly - A cut above (die cut flower)
Darnell's NBUS #4 

I can't believe it's Thursday already, still Hubby is off this weekend so I am looking forward to that. Have a good day xx

Christmas Card #1

Hello again!! My New Year's resolution last year was to make a Christmas card every month, which to be fair, I managed for a few months. This year will be a cinch as I am thrilled and delighted beyond words to be a new DT member of  

Christmas Cards All Year Round

and I'm back to share my debut offering!!

The fabulous jumper was stamped onto knitted effect paper and I then paper pieced the (Promarker coloured) reindeer and fashioned a bauble using circle dies. The ribbon was colour matched with a Promarker and the sentiment stamped onto a scrap of knitted paper too.

So then, before you put away your Christmas stamps, papers and dies (and stuff that you have bought in the sales and are dying to try out!!) our challenge theme is easy peasy Anything Goes and lasts a month so you have plenty of time!!

A Challenge or two...

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge #209 - Anything Goes
Sweet Stampin' - Anything Goes

See you soon xx