Red, White and Blue

Morning all.  Are you ready for a new challenge at Cardz4guyz?  We've gone a bit patriotic on you - well, at least if you live in England like I do - or America or any other country with Red, White and Blue on their flag.  We need to see your creations with those three colours please.  

I wasn't too sure where to go with this but I'm missing the seaside and thought these beautiful beach huts from The Lovely Studio would look beautiful in red, white and blue.  I had an idea about using a fabulous backing paper in dark blue with red anchors and white dots.  You know how it is when you've had loads of paper hanging around and then you find the perfect project for it...and find that you have one tiny piece left and it's the wrong orientation.  Grrr!  Quick rethink and here it is.

I like how it turned out and I had an extra beach hut coloured so I've stuck it on another card with the original paper.  It needs finishing off and, as yet, the inspiration hasn't hit me so it's in my pile of cards that need 'something'.

Anyway, over to you.  Let's see your creations in red, white and blue.  

Thanks for reading.

Love Dawn x

PS, thanks for all the lovely comments about my dad.  And, just in case you thought he'd start acting his age on his birthday, here he is.

Well, what else would you do with the box once you've eaten the contents, lol xx

I may be addicted to stencils

Morning all.  We have a wonderful new challenge for you at Make My Monday today.  I am so pleased that we have 'Use a Stencil' as it gave me an opportunity to use a brand new stencil that I bought recently.  To be fair, I didn't really need any new stencils.  I have quite a few.  Several are still unused.  I did need to pop into the Range the other day and I had to just go and see if they had any new stencils.  They carry a range of really cheap stencils and you get five in a set.  I love them.  I love them so much that I bought three new sets! Shh, don't tell the hubby. One of the sets had 5 fabulous different designs with hearts on.  This one just had to be done.

I'd seen a video recently where someone had used distress oxide on craft card stock and I loved how well it looked.  I stencilled my design and added a stamp from an old magazine then popped on a few stars.  I know everyone thinks their dad is the best but I know my dad is!  This was given to him on yesterday for father's day.  It was also his 80th birthday - a landmark we weren't sure he'd get to as he had the Covid 19 virus in March this year.  I am so grateful and thank the Lord that he came through it.  He is the centre of our family and an amazing man.  He's also daft as a bat.

And this is my absolute favourite picture of my dad and my son.  Love em both to bits.

I've sort of wandered off topic a little bit.  Please forgive me and join in with your stencilled projects.  

Thanks for reading.  Love Dawn x

Flora fun

Morning all.  Last new challenge for this week.  Today we have 'F for Flora or Fauna' over at The Alphabet Challenge.  I could have gone either way with this or even used both on the same card but, with all the challenges this week, I was a bit rushed so I decided to keep it simple.  I recently changed my computer (don't you just love windows 10 - not) and when I first hooked up my Cricut I cut some simple outlines just to test it out.  One of them was a fantastic bold sunflower image.  I did a little orange ink blending on a panel and added the outline over the top.  I filled in the middle with a few orange gems and that was it.

I added the lot to a yellow card base and popped a few black gems in the corners for a bit of balance.  I'm really pleased with how it came together.  Not bad for a few stash bits.

Please pop over and see what the fabulous team have created.  We'd love you to join in the fun.

Thanks for reading.

Love Dawn x

Steampunk Pussy Cat

Good Morning All.  Told you the challenges are plentiful this week.  Today is a new challenge for Cardz4galz. Steampunk is not really my usual cup of tea but I did say it was a challenge.  As it turned out I really loved this and I'm so pleased with the result.

First of all I had to find a stamp.  I don't have any steampunk images so I was looking for a digi that I could love.  If I was going to do this I needed something I could see myself using more than once.  Found one!  Have a look at this awesome cat from Sheepski Designs.  Even if I didn't need a Steampunk image I would have considered buying him.  He's fabulous.  Anyway, despite being unconvinced that my colouring was up to the job, I took the plunge.  What do you think?

Once I'd coloured him I just needed some rich dark red paper for the background.  I distressed the edges and did the same for a panel with some steampunk images on and added a few gears and dots that I cut with my cricut.  

Ok, over to you.  Please join in the fun.

Thanks for reading.

Love Dawn x

Shake It Off

Morning all. Challenges are coming thick and fast this week.  Today we have a new challenge at Cardz4guyz.  We would like to see your 'Shaker Cards'.

I would love to say that my card was an original idea. It's not.  I quite blatantly nicked the idea from a blog hop I was viewing recently.  Kathya Kalinine had a fantastic idea for a card and you can see her Youtube Tutorial here.  In really loved the idea of having a word in the shaker window that stayed as a word. Kathya created a Celebrate card by gluing the letters to a piece of acetate and adding it so it was free to move along with the shaker elements.  I've been so impressed with this idea I've made two of these lately.

The word Granddad moves about in the window with some card candy and a few pearly things.  I did have trouble lining this one up so I have a wider border around it.

Please pop over and join in the fun.  We'd love to see your Shaker ideas.

Thanks for reading.

Love Dawn x

Some Bunny Loves.. Some Other Bunny!

Morning all.  Hope you are all safe and well and ready for the new Sparkles Monthly Challenge.  Caz has set the theme of 'Weddings' for you.  I should have gone to a wedding last month but, due to the virus, it's now been postponed until next year.  I made all the invitations for the bride and groom.  I'm not sure if they are going to need 'update' cards with the new date.  It's not really the sort of thing that normally happens.

Anyway, here is what I came up with for this challenge.  I used a sweet image from 2 Cute Ink (I think it was an old club image as I can't find it in the shop).  I'd already got it printed and, as I'm trying to use my stash, that's what decided me.  I also used a heart frame I'd got left over from another project. What do you think?

I put a little sparkle on the veil and their tails but it doesn't really show up very well.  I'm fairly pleased with the result considering I hadn't a clue where I was going with it.  Sometimes just looking through your scraps and stash can turn out something sweet.

Please pop over and have a go at the challenge.  We will still need wedding cards once all this madness is over.  Even if it won't be until next year.

Thanks for reading.

Love Dawn x

It's just not Cricket

Morning all.  Today's new challenge over at Make my Monday is 'summer activities'.  Well, my usual summer activity is just not happening at the moment.  You may find it strange but during the summer my main activity is Cricket.  I have, for several years, coached junior cricket for Chesterfield Cricket Club.  My normal Wednesday evenings would involve chasing up and down the pitch with the Under 11s trying to teach them what they need to know.  Over the years I have also played ladies cricket, umpired junior fixtures, scored matches for junior and senior sides, provided cricket teas for the senior squads and even manned the bar.  When my son was a junior there was one year when the only day I wasn't at the club during the summer was a tuesday!  I have retired from almost all aspects now but I do still love to coach the Under 11s.  The effort that they put in and the fun we all have is totally worth it.  Hopefully, with safeguards in place, the ECB are looking to allow small groups of juniors to train in the coming months.  I'm just hoping we have enough coaches to be able to help the juniors who want to learn.

I've kind of digressed a little bit.  When I saw the theme of the challenge I couldn't really imagine choosing a different summer activity.  I've kept it fairly simple with an old topper I found in my stash.

A bit of stitching and some added bling - just because I can't help myself - are all I felt this needed.

OK, lets see what you all get up to in the summer months.  Over to you.

Thanks for reading.

Love Dawn x

It's Panda-monium

Pandemonium = Wild disorder, which is my craft desk at the moment.  Who am I kidding, it's always like that!  Anyway, I digress.  Today we have a lovely new challenge for you at The Alphabet Challenge.  E is for 'earth bound animals' and I chose a panda - hence the blog title.  I've been trying to get rid of some of my stash bits and bobs and use up some of the digistamps I had previously printed.  I will admit that, even if I never buy another craft item again, I'm not sure it's possible.  For instance, the day before lock down I was at the V&A in London visiting the Kimono exhibition.  Whilst there I purchased some lovely oriental stickers and I'd used some of the strips of stickers to make a card that looked a little like a quilt.  Once I had trimmed it off I kept the trimmings.  I mean, who else really does that? I stencilled a pattern across the bottom of a DL card and used the trimmings as an edge.  I had a cute panda already printed from 2 Cute Ink so I coloured him up and cut off the food container and chopsticks.  This way I got him peeping over my border.  

After that I just needed to add a sentiment and some bling.  I really love how this turned out.  If you are interested in the quilted card here it is.

I must be daft keeping all these little bits but, in this case, I'm so glad I did.

Please pop over to join in the fun.

Thanks for reading.

Love Dawn x

She shoots, She 'scores'!

Morning all.  We have a nice new challenge over at Cardz4galz this morning.  The lovely Debbie has chosen the theme of 'more that one score/fold'.  It was so nice to do something like this as I am not one to venture far from the simple square or rectangle. To be fair, I've still not wandered far from the simple square.  However, I have added a small step in front of it. This type of card is so easy to do and I do them when I want a little added impact.  You just need two square card blanks in the same size.  To one of the blanks you need to fold the front in half and score.  You then stick the back of the card blank to the front of the other card - making sure you have the step in the right place of course.  You wouldn't be the first to stick the panel on the wrong way round - or even find the original blank is upside down or back to front.  In my time I've made every mistake going.  Anyway, once your card blanks are made up you can then decorate it anyway you like.  I'm using up my scraps and old stash at the moment so you have some Art Deco backing paper and a very ancient topper from, I think, Kanban.

This is a really fun challenge to take you out of the normal shapes and sizes so please join in the fun.  I'm off to make another.  I still have one old topper left.

Thanks for reading.

Love Dawn x

Fore Dad!

Morning all.  Are you ready for a new challenge for the one special man in your life.  Yes, of course I mean you dad!  We have Father's Day coming up in the UK so, over at Cardz4guyz, that's what we want to see - your Father's Day cards.  

I will confess that my card is not for my dad.  Golf was never a sport he was bothered about.  A friend of mine has asked me to make her dad a card and Golf is definitely his thing, and hers, and her sons.  I've kept the layout simple and used a golf ball image from Doodle Pantry (no longer trading) and the sentiment is From the Heart (also closed due to Faith's untimely passing). Just a bit of layering and a tiny little touch of bling - I can't help myself!

I did sparkle the letters on the golf ball with a bit of Spectrum Noir clear sparkle pen, which is why the letters look darker than the border.  

You may keep your eyes peeled for my dad's card - and his birthday card - as they, so inconveniently, fall on the same day this year.  Mum says I can't blame him.  He came way before Father's Day was invented.

Please pop over to join in the fun.

Thanks for reading.

Love Dawn x