Merry Christmas Ornament

I was so excited when my dear friend Linda sent me (among many other yummy goodies!) a new Hero Arts Stamp & Cut Set which is exclusive to Archiver's - thanks again, Linda:) The Christmas Ornaments set has three gorgeous ornaments and a die for cutting them out - yay I'll have some Christmas cards made in no time!


Stamps (Hero Arts) - Christmas Ornaments, Aspen Happy Holidays & Very Merry Christmas

To start with I clear embossed and cut out the branch to hold the ornament. I've been using red felt on some other project I've been making so decided to die cut the felt as a backer to the embossed ornament. The ornament and sentiment were embossed and I added lots of bling to finish. Hero Arts' November Challenge includes using bling and dry embossing so I'm submitting this card into the challenge.

I had a great time yesterday with a couple of my friends at the Knitting and Stitching Show and was hoping to show lots of photos here. But a lot of the exhibitions and stands had a no photography policy, so I hardly took my camera out at all. I did get a photo of this gorgeous little box which I fell in love with. Unfortunately the box was out of stock, but hopefully I'll be able to pick one up again - I just need to track down the pamphlet I picked up for that particular shop! It would be a great project for using up paper scraps and stamped images from my stash.

Hope you all had 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!

Happy World Card Making Day!

Happy World Card Making Day! Isn't it just wonderful for card makers all around the world to have a special day to celebrate making cards and have a really good excuse (not that we ever need one!) to get up to our eyes in ink?

Today I'm trying to make a batch of Christmas cards. Usually I make a different card for everyone but have never quite managed to make all of my own Christmas cards and always end up (shock, horror!) buying some. So this year I'm going to try make a few cards of each design I come up with. There's no guarantee I still won't end up buying cards at the last minute but hopefully this will help.

So now onto the first card. I have to say I'm totally in love with the adorable reindeer in Hero Arts Christmas Reindeer set - every time I see their cute little faces I have to smile! This card started off as an attempt at a CAS card but I never seem to be able to restrain myself from adding bits and pieces!


Stamps (Hero Arts) - Christmas Reindeer & Very Merry Christmas

The second card has the other reindeer from the Christmas Reindeer set. This guy looks like a fun character so I had to put him in the middle of a snowball fight.


Stamps (Hero Arts) - Christmas Reindeer, Very Merry Christmas and Magical Background

I wouldn't have been able to make this last card without my very good friend Linda, who send me a big batch of something I've been trying to get here for years - glossy paper that somehow actually lets alcohol inks and the blending solution do their magic - thanks again so much, Linda:) Making this card even brought the smell of Christmas into the house. I've haven't used StazOn in a long time but as soon as I opened up the pad, it reminded me of the almond paste my mum makes for Christmas cakes - yummy!


Stamp (Hero Arts)- Christmas Blessings

Thanks so much for visiting and I hope you are having a fantastic World Card Making Day:)

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.

Autumn Birthday

I wanted to make a card and wrap a gift for a friend using autumn colours and some natural elements.


Stamps (Hero Arts) – Antique Engravings, Maple Leaf & It’s a Day for a Cupcake.

To make the wrapping paper and background for the card, I stamped the butterflies on a piece of parcel paper and kraft card, using walnut stain distress ink. I used a variety of distress inks (spiced marmalade, mustard seed, rusty hinge and barn door) on the leaves.



The maple leaf image was inked up and lightly spritzed with water before stamping. Then I cut out the leaves and applied some more ink as needed. Walnut stain was used again to stamp the sentiment on the card. To finish I just added raffia, wooden buttons and some twigs from the garden.



I’m submitting the card into the Focal Point Challenge in the Moxie Fab World, and the projects into the Paper Crafts September Gallery Challenge and the current Hero Arts Challenge (Fall Feast).

Autumn Leaves

I can certainly feel a change in the weather here, with a bit of a nip in the air in the mornings and evenings and suddenly the evenings seem to be closing in a lot earlier. Even so, I love autumn and for my card below included some of the colours we’ll get to enjoy on the trees over the next little while.


Stamps (Hero Arts) – Maple Leaf & Birthday Messages

I remember as a kid having so much fun jumping into big piles of leaves in autumn and to this day I still love the rustling sound of leaves as I go on walks at this time of the year. So I thought I’d make my own little pile/path of fallen leaves on this card. To start with I inked pieces of scrap card with various distress inks (spiced marmalade, rusty hinge, mustard seed, tea dye, forest moss, barn door and walnut stain – not only do I love distress inks, I love their names too!). Then I applied the same inks to the leaf stamp and lightly spritzed with water before stamping. After cutting out the leaves I adhered them to a panel which I then trimmed. The sentiment is embossed and I just added some gems to finish.

I’m submitting this card into the Repetition Challenge in the Moxie Fab World, as I used the same leaf stamp for each of the leaves, and the current Hero Arts Challenge – Fall Feast.

Happy fingers, happy feet and a chance to win a trip to Ireland

My fingers are orange and green but, as always, I've had great fun playing with distress inks!

I made this card for the Focal Point Challenge in the Moxie Fab World, Paper Crafts September 2012 Gallery Challenge (natural elements) and the current Hero Arts Challenge (fall feast).



Stamps (Hero Arts) - Earth Flowers, Blossom Art, Designer Woodgrain & Everyday Sayings

On the card base I stamped the woodgrain using antique linen distress. Then I die cut a piece of fabric and stamped the Earth Flowers with tea dye distress ink. The flower and leaves were white embossed and I applied distress inks (spiced marmalade and forest moss). To add some more natural elements I added some raffia and a wooden button.

So you've heard about the happy fingers and now on to the happy feet with some photos from a recent hike in Glendalough. We started the walk from the far side of the lake you can see way down in the valley. You can probably tell from the photo our walking boots have enjoyed quite a few rambles!

On some parts of the trail these railway sleepers have been put down, mainly to protect the mountains but they also provide a good grip on what can sometimes be slippery slopes.

Wish I could capture in photos just how beautiful it is in the mountains,

especially on gorgeous sunny days.

The heather is in full bloom.

But it looks like we were a bit late to try the sweet, juicy fraughans (bilberries) that can be found there.

Coming down through the forest we can across foxgloves. A bee was hovering around them but in each photo I took he had disappeared into the flowers or ended up blurry.

Here we are back down at the lake again and up to the left is where we had been.

I just thought I'd mention a place where I came across a chance to win a trip to Ireland next year from the US. A year long event called The Gathering celebrating Ireland and all things Irish is being held next year. It sounds like it's going to be a brilliant fun filled year. Anyway on The Gathering's Facebook page there is a chance to win the holiday here. Good luck!:)