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