Rainbow Hexagons

For the past number of weeks the country has been getting battered by one storm after another coming in mainly from the Atlantic. There have been some sunny and calm days in between the storms but they seem to have been very few and far between! We've been fortunate in that we've only had to deal with the strong winds and lots of rain, but I really feel sorry for the people around the country who have had to contend with flooding, storm damage and the loss of their electric supply. I'm looking forward to better weather ahead and hopefully it will be here very soon!

Because we had some sunny days mixed in with the rain, we've seen a lot of rainbows recently, so a card that I made way back in August seems appropriate to show now.


Stamps (Hero Arts) - Hexagon Background & Everyday Sayings

It's a card that I was lucky to have picked up for Resist Stamping section in Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking's Stamp It! Techniques, Vol. 2. I have to say emboss resist is one of my favourite techniques and I love any excuse to get up to my eyes in distress inks. On this card I used barn door, spiced marmalade, mustard seed, mowed lawn, tumbled glass and dusty concord distress inks. By the time I finished the card I had a rainbow of colours on my fingers too:)

Hope you have a great and inky weekend:)

Hexagon Christmas Tree

I know, I know, here I go again, it's August and I have another post about Christmas! But Volume 8 of Holiday Cards and More, my favourite magazine, was published last week and I'm feeling all Christmassy and eager to make Christmas projects because of all the wonderful inspiration contained in the magazine.

I'm still pinching myself that I have three project in the magazine - a card, a gift tag and this home décor item

Stamps - Happy Hexagons (Papertrey Ink) & Very Merry Christmas (Hero Arts)
Die set - Geometric Shapes (Hero Arts)

A while ago my good friend Trinh surprised me with the gorgeous Happy Hexagons set from Papertrey Ink (thanks again, Trinh!) and this was the first project I made using them. Along with the hexagons I just used a couple of my favourite things (distress inks and stitching) to make this.

Mmm I wonder how many days do I have to wait before I can put up and decorate our Christmas tree!!

Happy Mother's Day Gift Box with Brooch

This year in Ireland we celebrated Mother's Day on 10th March, but to all those who are celebrating the day today - Happy Mother's Day!

I was delighted to have had a project picked up for the May/June issue of Paper Crafts Magazine. I haven't seen the digital version of the magazine yet, but I think it must be in there somewhere.



As you can see from the cover, part of the magazine is dedicated to ideas for Mother's Day. So to wrap up a gift for mom, I made a gift box with a detachable brooch.


Stamp (Hero Arts) - Celebrate Everyday

The box was made in no time using my Silhouette Cameo and this design. Then I added some ribbon to attach a brooch onto and a sentiment from Hero Arts' Celebrate Everyday set, a set which covers so many special occasions during the year.



The brooch was made using some felt and dahlia Nestabilities. My good friend Linda sent me a fabulous set of rhinestones, one of which I used for the centre of the brooch - thanks again Linda:)

Hope you are having a great weekend!

Handmade Home Décor - Happy St Patrick's Day

I promise after today I won't post any more St Patrick's Day projects until next year! But today Handmade Home Décor from Paper Crafts goes on sale and I am thrilled to have a project in it, especially one for St Patrick's Day.



It was a pretty quick and easy project to make thanks to my Silhouette Cameo. I just love these flourished hearts and thought they might make a pretty shamrock.



When I received the magazine I was delighted to see I'm sharing a page with Isha who I got to know through the Hero Arts Group over on Flickr. Isha made the most adorable Easter Bunny Banner - you can see a little peek of it in my photo above.



I'm more used to making cards rather than anything else so it's brilliant to find a magazine full of paper crafted home décor items for each season. I think I'll be neglecting the housework a bit to try my hand at some of the ideas in the magazine!

Wedding Card in Card Creations Vol. 11

Today I have a card that I made back in October but can finally share here, as it was recently published in Card Creations Volume 11.


Stamps (Hero Arts) - Lace Background & Warmest Wedding Wishes

Besides playing with paper I just love playing with fabric so, whenever I can, I enjoy combining both on a project. On this wedding card I tried to achieve a pretty, romantic look, so started by making the satin and organza flower which dictated my colour scheme and then I just went to town on the card with embossing, lace and pearls.



Card Creations Volume 11 is such a big magazine packed full of wonderful cards and ideas. I love the way it’s divided into sections for every imaginable occasion and I know I’ll be dipping into it again and again for inspiration.

We’re enjoying an extra long weekend this weekend with a bank holiday on Monday. This morning I can see blue skies and am hoping the weather forecasters are wrong with their predication of showers for St Patrick’s Day. Hope you have a wonderful weekend wherever you are!

Confetti Love

Yesterday I received the March/April issue of Paper Crafts magazine and I've already spent so much time looking through it and drooling over the fantastic projects in it. I was lucky to have had this card selected for the Pretty Pastels section and was thrilled to see it in print.



I really don't have a lot of pastels in my stash so when the call went out for submissions, I had a bit of a rummage around and came up with some pastel copy paper. So I decided to make a confetti background and team it with a simple sentiment. A lot of punching and a lot of sticking was involved in making the background, but the panel travelled with me and I did little bits during lunch breaks in work, while cooking, watching tv and waiting for the kids to come out of school. The sentiment was the quickest part of the card as it whizzed out of my Silhouette Cameo. Lol I think this is the shortest supply list I've ever had for a card!

Here's my card in the magazine



and here's the front cover of the issue - love how fresh and springlike it looks.


The daffodils are starting to bloom here but the weather is turning to winter again here with snow falling outside now - brrr! Hope you are having a great weekend!

Spelling Bee Party set in Die Cutting for Paper Crafters

I was over the moon to have had a couple of projects published recently in Paper Crafts' Die Cutting for Paper Crafters magazine. The call for submissions couldn't have come at a better time, when I was about to start playing with my new Silhouette Cameo (thanks again P xoxo).

The first cut I made with the Cameo can be seen in a card on page 39 of the magazine, which involves some sprinkles and unusually for me is CAS! The second project I made using the machine is this one, a Spelling Bee Party Ensemble.


Stamps (Hero Arts) - Picnic set & Be Happy set

The set took a little while to make but oh did I have fun putting it together using my Cameo and Cuttlebug! The photography and styling in any Paper Crafts magazine are always fab so I thought I'd show a photo of the set in the magazine.

I was delighted to spot my friend Trinh on page 42 of the magazine with what I think is the perfect retirement card! Die Cutting for Paper Crafters is a wonderful magazine packed full of brilliant projects and tips using a variety of die cutting machines. It also has a machine comparison chart and sandwich recipes which are invaluable.

Hope you are all having a great weekend!

Reindeer Tag in Paper Crafts Magazine

The past week has been busy, busy for me and I haven’t had a chance to make anything. So today I’m sharing a gift tag which was published in the November/December issue of Paper Crafts Magazine. I still have to pinch myself when I see something I’ve made in a magazine! I think I may also have a card in the digital version of the magazine but can’t access it at the moment.

Stamp (Hero Arts) - Christmas Reindeer set

In my last post I used the cute reindeer from Hero Arts’ Christmas Reindeer set to make cards and this time I made a gift tag by enlarging the image a bit. I think I’ll also use the reindeer to stamp wrapping paper so I’ll be getting a lot of use out of that set! Here’s a photo of the tag in the magazine.

I keep browsing through the magazine and am getting lots of ideas for my Christmas cards and tags for this year. I also love the “Set the Table” section which is full of amazing ideas for menus, placemats, napkin holders etc for the festive table. Hopefully this year I’ll get to try to make something special for our table for Christmas Day.

I'm afraid I'm going to be a very patchy blogger for the next little while as I'm very busy at work and home and am also starting to gear up for this year's craft fair - hopefully I'll be popping in every now and again though!

Treat Container in Holiday Cards & More

I absolutely love Christmas, so was delighted when I received Holiday Cards & More in the post today. I've spent ages (and ages!) admiring all the wonderful projects in the magazine and am looking forward to going through the magazine again and again. Cards, home décor, gift wrap and tags - they're all in there.

I was so excited to see a project I had made in the magazine. The cute Snowy House stamp by Hero Arts is one I've used over and over again for cards and tags but this time I enlarged the image to 200% to make a little treat container.

Stamp (Hero Arts) - Snowy House

Paper Crafts has provided lots of downloadable patterns and templates here for projects in Holiday Cards & More, including the little box I made for the inside of the treat container.

Bookmarks in Paper Crafts Magazine

Well it has been quite a while since I've posted anything, as somehow I ended up with sore hands and decided to take a little break from making and typing. Thank goodness the break seems to be doing the trick as I've been itching to make things for the past few weeks!

Stamp (Hero Arts) - Heart Owls

Since I haven't posted anything in August I thought I'd clear the cobwebs away from the blog and show photos of bookmarks which were published in the July/August digital issue of Paper Crafts Magazine.

Part of that particular issue of Paper Crafts Magazine included a back to school section, so I made bookmarks to cover various school subjects using the cute little owls stamp which I ink up over and over again.

Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend!

Paper Crafts Magazine Publication and a Walk

Well after a little bump on the posting road, I’m back after a two week break!

I’m in the middle of making a lot of cards for a friend and as I’m definitely not a speedy card maker I don’t have a card I made recently to show, instead I have one I made way back in November, which was published in the May/June issue of Paper Crafts magazine.

One of the sections in the magazine is Found Objects for Mother’s Day. So we had to make a gift using found treasure as well as a matching card. Oh I had so much fun rummaging around looking for some hidden treasures! I made a brooch and card using some beads from a broken necklace, a piece of silk a friend had given me and my favourite bit - some fabric which my mum had hand dyed.


Stamps (Hero Arts) - Silhouette Grass & Celebrate Everyday

I was so thrilled to have had this project and also one for Father’s Day published in this issue. It really meant so much to me as when I was making my projects, I constantly had my dear mum and dad in mind and included what they love\loved and things that make me think of them.

Below are a few photos from a walk we did a couple of weeks ago up the Sugar Loaf Mountain. I love the walk and the views are spectacular (much better than the photos I took!) and it only takes 30 minutes to get to the top.

Setting out

At the top looking towards Wicklow Head

View of the Wicklow Mountains

View towards Killiney and Bray Head

Well I better get back to making those cards! Hope you all have a great weekend:)

Card in Paper Crafts Magazine

Well never in a million years did I think I’d have the above title on one of my blog posts!!

I hadn’t thought about submitting anything for publication, but last year, after a lot of encouragement from my dear friends Trinh and Linda, finally decided to give it a go and submit something to Paper Crafts’ submission call for the March/April 2012 issue.



Little did I think the first card I’d ever submit would be picked! I can’t tell you how over the moon I was when I received a lovely email from Susan Opel. Lol I had to read it a few times just to make sure it really was for me! So here is my card.



Stamp (Hero Arts) – Everyday Sayings

I love this post about A Day in the Life of a Paper Crafts Card and it's fun to think that my little card went on a similar journey. I'd encourage anyone to submit for publication - you never know what might happen:)

After having an op last week, I’ve been taking a little break from making anything (or doing much of anything really!) but hopefully I’ll be back again very soon.