'Pawsome'

 Hello everyone!

Is it raining where you are? Its like the middle of winter here in wet (West) Yorkshire!!

I can't believe we are in May...soggy blossoms (not bottoms).....not fit to turn a dog out as they say.

Speaking of dogs, today's card features a dog silhouette from...yes you guessed it Crafters Companion.It is the card I have made for my eldest sons birthday today. He has a black labrador.

The die cuts out the silhouette and the heart die is separate and slotted in the gap. I backed it with holographic silver card from the scrap box and I love how the light shows it in different colours

The sentiment was with the die set but the paw prints I found in my stash and stamped them on little circles of card. A white Posca pen was the finishing touch.

No feed back as yet so I am hoping he liked it..

For those of you who have read my last blog post you might be interested to know that Chloes card arrived just before her birthday...3 weeks it has taken this year instead of 3 months last year so an improvement on the postal front.

Tomorrow is my 2nd Covid jab, another thing to cross off the list thank goodness. 

Thank you for stopping by, I hope you are all keeping safe and well. How did we get to May? How far have we come since last May?...and I wonder where we will all be next May? Interesting thought.

Take care and I will catch you again soon.

Crafty hugs

Carole xx

Chloe is 3!

 Hello friends...hope you are all well and have been enjoying the sunshine and longer days here in the UK.

Today it is my Granddaughter's 3rd Birthday. Sadly of course she lives in Australia and so I am unable to share in her excitement and I have not heard whether the card I am about to show you has reached her yet.

I am not sure what they call this type of card......

All the stamps are Crafters Companion balloon stamps with matching dies and the papers are from an old paper pad in my stash.

I was quite pleased with the result as it is the first time I have done this style and the first time an idea in my head has actually made it to the card without changing it!

Well I mentioned sunshine and as I look out the window now it is drizzling with rain....the gardens need more than a drizzle though I have to say.

Thank you for stopping by and sticking with me as I know my blogging is a bit sporadic at present. I have been and visited you all but blogger seems very hit and miss with its feeds and also sometimes I read a post and then two days later it appears back at the top of the list again as a new post!! Does anyone else have that issue? Very confusing (it doesn't take much)...lol

Have a good week everyone and if you are in the UK and heading for the long bank holiday weekend...enjoy...lets hope the weather gets just a bit warmer for sitting outdoors.

Crafty hugs

Carole xx

65 Birthday Wishes

 Hello everyone..time to play catch up here!

I hope you are all well, and if you are in the UK, adjusting cautiously to Lockdown easing. I know I am not finding it easy.

I have done a bit of crafting these past weeks when the mood has allowed me. I had a special card to make for a good friend who celebrated an 'in between big' birthday.......here it is...

I used Uniko .........'Simply Organic Additions' and corresponding dies and 'Simply Said Blocks' for the sentiment. 

The numbers I think may be a tonic set...cut in glitter paper. 

A few dots of glitter to finish off .

Finally got my hair cut yesterday (after over 4 months) as hairdressers here re-opened their doors , so thankfully at last the old long haired grey woman that was stalking me has disapeared..lol 

I'll try not to be so long away next time, so till then, many thanks for popping by and take care of yourselves.

Crafty hugs

Carole xx

Happy Easter

 Hello blogging friends! I hope this finds you all safe and well.

The lovely sunshine that the UK has been experiencing these past few days has really brought 'spring' on in the garden. It has never the less disappeared today to be replaced by a mist like rain and blanket of cloud, and a bit cooler. I do believe snow is forecast for the weekend too!

 My favourite colours at this time of year are yellow and purple and with that in mind I found two digi images (Uniko I think|) that I had coloured with copic pens a while back and so I made them into Easter cards.

The cards are from my stash which I ran through an old embossing folder for a bit of added interest. Good to be using up some discoveries from the past...speaking of which, I found my wobbler springs the other day! Remember? ....those I needed for the Christmas tree a bit back? 

My mojo is still very lacking (it obviously can't get back from its holiday) but these did spur me on a bit and I have done a bit more creating which I will share later. 

I wish you all a good Easter break and 'Thank You' for popping by and sticking with me. 

Don't eat too much chocolate!

Crafty hugs

Carole xx

Mothers Day

 Hello friends. 

I hope this finds you all safe and well and those mums celebrating Mothers Day in the UK are being pampered.

Here is the card that I made for my mum.......

I used pearlescent card and it thus was pretty difficult to photograph.

The rose is once again an edger die from Crafters Companion. Not quite as soul destroying to use as the balloon die was, but I have to say having used both of these dies now I wish they had included another outer edge strip die for them because if you want it to float you have to fussy cut after backing.

So on this occasion I backed the pale pink with a white pearlescent card.The rose had to be cut again in green and a slightly deeper pink for the paper piecing.

The little butterflies are an old Martha Stewart punch (remember them?) which comes with stamps to stamp them that are stored in the punch.I wonder how many of you are now looking for that punch?..lol 

The rest speaks for itself.

Thank you for stopping by and visiting me and if you have taken the time to leave a comment thank you for that too. Your comments keep me going and make me think that blogging is worth continuing with. I have made some lovely friends through blogland and I am so grateful for every one of you.

So enjoy the rest of your weekend, have a good week and take care.

Crafty hugs

Carole xx

Balloons

 Hi Everyone.....yes it is me! I am sorry I have been such a bad blogger this year...in fact this is my first post of 2021!  time seems to be whizzing past and no doubt this will be another year that is gone in the blink of an eye.

Two cards, both pretty much the same, just a subtle difference. Both cards made with a Crafters Companion Edgeable Balloon Die which I have to say I was a bit disappointed in...more on that later.

1) I cut the die on the edge of my card and then I cut several of the die again from bits in different colours to obtain the balloons.

2) I backed the front of the card inside with another piece of white card , paper pieced the colured balloons in place and then cut round the balloon edge .

3) A strip of turquoise card is on the inside back page edge which shows when the card is closed (hope you follow that).

4)The background on the front was stamped with a sprinkles stamp (sorry can't remember where from) using several little inkpads and the Happy Birthday (again sorry don't know origin) was cut twice..once in the turqouise (used the same as the inside strip) and one in the red and layered to give a drop shadow.

Still with me?....good, second card.............

I chose Bazzill Bling this time ......remember that?....for the balloons and backed the inside of the front with black and left it uncut so to speak.

The background on this one is a Uniko Party Confetti background again multi coloured with little pads and stamped.

The reason I am unhappy with this die?

 When cut, the balloons are empty until you fill them, yes you can leave them just cut but they are hollow so to speak. Then you need something behind for the balloon piece (in whatever colour you have chosen) to adhere to when you paper piece it in. .........and then to have to start fussy cutting the edge! Also I only see this as a vertical die and not something you would use across the top edge or fold of a card.

If you have any experience with this die, or any ideas I would value your comments.

OK I've rambled enough. Taking the second card to Uniko's 9th Birthday Party.....I need a drink after all that..lol!

Hopefully see you again soon.

Till then , continue to stay safe and keep well.

Love Carole xx

'Wobbler'

 Hello Friends......so Christmas 2020 is under the belt so to speak and I dare say a lot of us have had 'wobblers ' this year...but this is a wobbler card....the tree wobbles!...

a sideways view so you can see it is not flat.....

I've had this idea in my head for a few says...a long time since that happened for me so I thought I would grab the bull by the horns..or the mojo while it presented itself......and give it a go.

The trees are stenciled with a new Uniko stencil, using Pine Needles and Festive Berries distress ink. The wobbler tree was done again on another scrap of card and glued to another piece of card for stability, and cut out.

Try as I might I could not find my wobbler springs, but I am sure I will come across them one day when I don't require them............. Note to self...do not put things in safe places.  Anyway I made a paper one with a couple of strips of 1/4 inch paper folded and glued to the back of my tree and the middle tree on the card....and it wobbles !!

Seasons greetings is a Uniko stamp...Simply Said Blocks Christmas.

As everything I used are scraps except the base card I am whizzing to the playground...well walking gingerly so I don't slip on the ice...hope no-one has made ice slides in the playground!

Thank you for stopping by ...its good to be in touch, your visits and kind words have touched me these past few weeks...and kept me going....so Thank You from the bottom of my heart...mwah. Thank you for being such wonderful cyber friends. 

I'll raise a glass to 2021 but not saying 'happy'...(look where that got us this year)...just 'better'...a better 2021.

Stay safe everyone.....just one more hurdle hopefully and the finishing post (vaccine) down the track.

Crafty love and hugs

Carole xx

Challenges entered:-

Pixie's Snippets Playground # 393.................all snippets, large and small bar the base card.

Uniko Christmas party 2020..........................use Uniko products