Xtra, Xtra - Folds that is

 Morning all.  Time for the letter X over at The Alphabet Challenge and we want to see 'Xtra Folds' on your cards this time please.  I was quite looking forward to this one.  A fun fold would be something different for me. I set off in search of inspiration - Pinterest and YouTube got a real hammering and found several projects I liked the look of.  And that's when frustration set in.  It seems I am unable to get my head around basic measurements and instructions. After a couple of hours I had a pile of creased up card and nothing to show for it.  I nearly took a picture of the disaster pile but I didn't want to put anyone off joining in the 'fun'. OK, where else do I look for inspiration.  I know, Debbie from Secrets to Stamping likes a good fun fold.  I'll pop over there.  And that's what I did.  I found the card that I linked to above and used it for inspiration.  

Here's my take on the fold.

The papers I found go so well with the die (I had it from the works ages ago).  In the end I relented and enjoyed the process.  I even cut a few more stags and made 4 extra cards from the scraps.  They can go in my Church card box.

I am obviously in need of further inspiration for these 'fun folds' so let's see what you've got.

Thanks to Debbie for the inspiration and to the rest of you for reading.  

Love Dawn x

 

Mum Loves Crochet

 Morning all.  We have a new challenge today over at Cardz4galz and, with Mother's Day creeping ever closer - at least here in the UK, we want to see your 'Mother's Day' projects please.  I love my mum loads and, when I think of her, she's always got a ball of wool in her hand.  For years we would joke with the grandkids that if they'd grown out of their school jumpers they just needed to stand in front of their Mamma until she'd knitted them another.  Nowadays, her passion is crochet - it grows faster than knitting apparently.  Before lockdown she even taught a class over at the local pub on a Wednesday night.  She's been trying to teach me for years but I never seem to have the same number of stitches at the end of a row as the number I started with.

I've been looking for a crochet stamp for ages and I found a sweet clip art set over on Etsy by an artist called Digikika. I coloured one of the images (I think I should get a couple of birthday cards out of this set before I'm finished) and mounted it on some designer paper.  I also used a knit effect embossing folder on some fun foam to create the main panel. I think it pretty much says exactly what I want it to say.

Please pop over and see what the design team have for us.  We'd love you to join in the fun.

Thanks for reading.

Love Dawn x

Thinking of You

 Apparently, I chose the new subject for today's  Cardz4guyz  challenge.  I don't remember doing so and I must have chosen it months ago. However, over the past month my family have received so many of these cards that I really understand how much they mean to the recipients.  We would like to see your 'Thinking of You' cards please.

I was lucky enough to get some beautiful stencils from Mum and Dad for Christmas.  When I saw this one I though it would be perfect for this type of card.  It's so simple and effective.

I stencilled it in blue ink (I can't even remember which) and added my greeting. I did toy with the idea of a little bling but decided against it.  I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

Please pop over and join in with the challenge.  These cards mean so much to people at a difficult time and I think we all struggle for ideas.  The DT have some lovely examples.

Thanks for reading.

Love Dawn x

From the Farmyard

 Wow, two posts in one day.  It's all or nothing here at the moment.  Today, over at Sparkles Monthly Challenge we would like to see your 'farmyard' creations please. Anything 'on the farm' goes.  This meant that I could raid my stash again and use up some images I've had in the basket forever.  Unfortunately, as Digistamp Boutique no longer exists, these images are not available any more.  It's such a pity as they are so cute.

I'm not sure what happened to my cow as I coloured him in the same combo as my sheep but he came out really grey looking, so I bunged him at the back of my group. I used a piece of 6 x 6 paper in blue with a colourful pattern on it and chose the yellow in the pattern for my main focus.  I picked a piece of origami paper from a pad I'd got and gathered my farmyard animals in the middle.  

I did make a further card background with the scraps I'd got left in the yellow so I'm still on track with my resolution.  

Please pop over and have a look at the DT inspiration for this one.  We'd love you to join in.

Thanks for reading.

Love Dawn x

An Arresting Idea

 Morning all.  Over at Make My Monday it is my turn to choose the theme for this fortnight.  I've gone for 'Emergency Services' so let's see what you've got for our everyday heroes.  I have a lot to do with our local police force in my day job so, for me, this was an obvious choice.  I had to go for the boys (and girls) in blue.  I've been working along side them for so long that some of my friendly neighbourhood coppers are coming up for retirement.  Let's kill two birds with one stone then.

I've used a sweet image from LOTV and paired it with some papers from a Christmas set that also work all year round.  I did have a couple of half sheets left over but, as they were 12x12 papers in the first place I'm not calling them scraps. I suppose it is cheating a little bit but, as they are bigger than my 6x6 pads I'm happy to let this slide.

Anyway, lets see your Emergency Service Heroes. Don't forget that, as well as the Police, Fire Service and Ambulance crews, we also have Doctors, Nurses and the Coastguard, not to mention charities such as the RNLI and the Mountain and Cave rescue services.  There are a lot of heroes out there.  Let's celebrate them all.

Thanks for reading.

Love Dawn x

If you go down to the woods today...

 Morning all.  Are you ready for a new Alphabet Challenge? We are up to W and we want 'Woodland Flora and Fauna' please.  I did try to challenge myself with this one as - although I could think of plenty of fauna - nothing instantly sprang to mind for flora.  I was lucky enough to live very near a local wood when I was growing up and Dad would take me and my sisters on long walks through the trees.  I can remember lots of ferns. Then I remembered lots of bluebells.  That was it.  Off I popped in search of a bluebell image.  I found this little cutie over at Lee Holland Art and it just had to be the one.  

I did end up messing about with it a bit as I didn't like the colour blend I started with.  In the end I cut that bit off and found a better blend.  It did mean I had to cut the rest of the image out but that's not really new to me, is it?  I had the papers already put together on a card base from my recent scrap sort out so I'm still on track with no leftovers.  It'll never last.

Please pop over and join in the fun and games.

Thanks for reading.

Love Dawn x

Pink and Brown

 Morning all.  What a week to chose to return.  Before the weekend I will have posted three cards.  Oh well, it's probably better to be busy.  Today, over at Cardz4galz we want to see creations in 'Pink and Brown' please.  I've used a digital stamp from 2 Cute Ink to create my card for you.  I also managed to use some die cut shapes I hung onto in my recent clear out.

As I've used up shapes from my die cut box, I've managed to keep to my resolution of leaving no scraps.  OK, so it is a bit of a cheat but there you go.

Please pop over and join in the fun.

Thanks for reading.

Love Dawn x

It's simply for the guyz

 Morning all.  Well, this feels odd after two months off but I did promise I would be back this week. Today, over at Cardz4guyz we are looking for your 'Clean and Simple' designs.  We want to see lots of 'white' space and very little in the way of embellishments.

I always find these kind of cards are an ideal way to use up a few scraps. I've recently donated all my offcuts to a local group but I did find a few strips of paper lurking in a basket.  I'm on a mission to de-stash and have cleared out quite a bit of stuff.  I'll probably have as many scraps by next month as I had before.  I teamed my scraps with an image - sadly no longer available - from Digistamp Boutique.

Perfect for a Guy, don't you think.  I made two just to use up the scraps I had. I think I need to make a resolution to use up full sheets and not keep scraps.  Yes, I can hear you laughing from here.

 Please pop over and join in the fun.  I would love to see what you have created.

Thanks for reading. 

Love Dawn x