Monday, June 23, 2014

Turning Snowflakes into Flowers and a Bit of Blarney

In this post I used the pretty Simon Says Stamp Kate Snowflake die to make a border and today pulled out another very pretty snowflake die from Simon Says Stamp called the Eliza Snowflake, to see what non Christmassy thing I could make with it.

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Die (Simon Says Stamp) - Eliza Snowflake, Stamp (Hero Arts) - Be Happy


I thought I'd try to make some flowers this time and cut out the bits and pieces I needed from Studio Calico (Snippets) patterned papers.


After die cutting, I trimmed away the pieces I didn't need and layered two pieces to form a flower.


To finish the flowers I added a little pearl to the centres. The sentiment was embossed on another die cut (Dahlia Nestabilities) and I stuck little pieces, from the snowflake die cut, to the back so that rings peek out between each petal.

I'm submitting this card into Simon Says Stamp Work It Wednesday Challenge and Simon Says Stamp You Gotta Have Friends Challenge

The past few weeks have been busy, busy here so I'm only getting around to posting some more photos of the little trip Linda and I did around the place. Next stop is Blarney Castle.

A beautiful walk, by a little stream, leads to the castle. It was lovely to hear the babbling sounds of the stream and all the birdsong as we made our way to the castle. We were blessed with the weather that morning, it was absolutely glorious.



Both of us skipped kissing the Blarney Stone. I have to say with my head for heights, dangling backwards out over a castle wall doesn't really appeal to me! But in this photo you can see a lady (beside the man in the red jacket) who is just about lean out and go for it - better her than me:)


I enjoyed the views instead and will just have to do without the gift of eloquence!


After visiting the castle we had a lovely stroll around the grounds. There was a fascinating poison garden beside the castle, but I must have been so intrigued with it I forgot to take any photos! I loved the fern garden which has some of the biggest ferns I've ever seen.


Winding through the walks we could tell the wild garlic was in full bloom - the faint smell of garlic wafting in the breeze was lovely.


Blarney House wasn't open when we visited but I enjoyed seeing it again and....


...spotting the wonderful features like this water spout.


We couldn't have picked a better time of the year for our visit with the bluebells and rhododendron in full bloom.



Hope you enjoyed the little bit of Blarney:)



8 comments:

Barb said...

Oh, my goodness, these photos are amazing, Heather! Really love all the gorgeous green and stunning colors of the flowers!

And your card is fabulous! Brilliant idea to use a portion of the snowflake die to create those adorable flowers! ♥

Dawn T said...

great use of your snowflake die to make the flowers. And just love all your beautiful photos

Nora Noll said...

I am in love with how you used that snowflake die. Great job thinking outside of the box.

I LOVE your photos of Ireland. It is such a beautiful country. TFS

sarascloset said...

Gorgeous scenery! Love the flowers and the simple card created with them.

Joan said...

Very clever of you to use part of snowflake for the flowers-lovely card. And, photos are amazingly beautiful, too.

Kathy said...

Heather, I found your post through Simon Says Stamp. First I loved your creative 'snowflake flower.' What a great way to stretch your supplies! Second, thank you for the beautiful pictures. I am heading to Ireland in October and look forward to seeing Blarney Castle (where I too will keep my feet on the ground!)

Linda W. (ScrappinBari) said...

Wow Heather, just love what you did with that snowflake die! How fun to make flowers!! And what gorgeous photos of Blarney - we had such an amazing day there!! So glad we didn't kiss the stone; I probably still be lying there unable to get back up - LOL!

Linda W. (ScrappinBari) said...

PS - Visited my cousin Debi this weekend and saw her Blarney photos (and many more as she took over 900!). She said the line was hours long when they went so they didn't kiss the stone either. So glad we went when we did, Heather!!

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