Doing the happy dance...we are through!!!

Phew..... thank goodness.... we are through.  What am I talking about..... the Greeting Farm - Royal Battle Week One.  I was responsible for the card, even though my team mates were fantastic with amazing ideas, comments etc... I was absolutely terrified that I would let them down (Kathy and Fika are just amazing team mates).  Thankfully.... we are through!!! woohoo and get to compete in this week's challenge which is ... create an easel card.  Fika is next up - go Fika.  Thank you so much if you voted for us - we REALLY appreciate it. 

It turns out that as soon as the cards are posted on Sat/Sunday voting on week two will commence which will be open until Tuesday - so I am sure I will be pestering you again to vote!!!

No card to share so I will share some photos instead.  I took these last weekend whilst entertaining out of town guests.  The first one is the world famous Blarney Castle built in the 1400's where you "kiss the Blarney Stone" to get the gift of the gabb/gift of eloquence!  You have to climb to the very top of the castle to reach it which involves going up very winding and narrow spiral stairs.

Then - a visiting ship in the port of Cobh (formerly Queenstown).  Former famous vessels that visited this port include the Titanic.

Stop off at the Jameson Distillery (love the old doors and blockwork)

and then... feeding time at the wildlife park

Have two cards to finish before dinner - so will try and come back and post them later.  I haven't forgotten I mentioned blog candy - my DS's are on two week's vacation - so once we get back to "normal" I will post some candy.  Thanks so much for stopping by.

Look what arrived this morning! and ANYONE can VOTE!!!

 

I got this beautiful card this morning from Fika in Indonesia.... isn't it just adorable.    The shine and glitter from it is just amazing.  Shimmery stunningness - thank you so much Fika.  I am sitting here admiring it as I type up this post.   The closing date for voting on The Greeting Farm Royal Battle is this evening.... fingers and toes crossed!!!  I have just learnt that ANYONE AND EVERYONE can vote... you don't have to be on a team, so if you like our card here - we would love if you voted for us.  Thank you soooo much and p.s. I have the BEST team mates EVER.... thank you Kathy and Fika - you both ROCK. 

Thanks so much for dropping by - have a few deadlines to trip over.... will be back tomorrow.  I got some PTI goodies from the US..... cannot wait to play with them.  Watch this space!!

Royal Battle at The Greeting Farm

Don't know if you have been following the new challenge over on The Greeting Farm blog.  They are calling it the Royal Battle.  I am on a team with........ big fanfare please..... the wonderful and talented Fika and Kathy... yes, only in my dreams did I ever think that I would be on a team with these gifted ladies... so the team name is ... you guessed it... The Dream Team.  Voting has started - so if you are on a team and like our card... (have just discovered that ANYONE AND EVERYONE CAN VOTE!!!) we would love if you voted for us.  I believe there are 60 or so teams with over half "bowing out" of the battle this week!.... our card is here and to vote you need to leave a comment.

The Challenge was to create a Retro-esque type card with this photo as the colour inspiration.

I got the job of making the card this week with lots of wonderful input from my fantastic team mates.  Thank you so much Kathy and Fika for making it a fun week. 

I have my fingers and toes crossed that we get to the next round of Royal Battle!!!  I had a great birthday weekend and our out of town guests have just left.  We did fun sight seeing and tourist things and I will post a few photos over the coming days.  Thanks again for the wonderful best wishes.

The wonderful and creative Donna is having a giveaway on her blog - she made stunning little canvas flowers and one lucky commenter will receive one pack of sticky backed canvas by Claudine Hellmuth and the Hero Arts dot background cling stamp - you have until the 2nd April to leave a comment.  So why don't you drop by right now here. 

Happy Monday to you all - hope you have a wonderful day.

Friends Card

I grabbed this image - Audrey - when she was a freebie on The Greeting Farm blog a week or so ago.  I just ADORE her... such a tomboy.  She is now available in the store here.  I coloured her with copics and then matched the layers to her outfit.

The card is a DCWV card blank which I had in my stash with some friends definition/sayings embossed on it. 

We have guests visiting from out of town/state/country!!! (from the other side of the big pond!) at the moment - so unfortunately I haven't been around to visit your blogs.  If you leave a comment I promise to visit your blogs early next week.  I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday.  Off to do some "tourist" fun stuff.  I love playing tourist in my own city - you get to visit places and do things in your own "patch" that you sometimes forget to experience.  The clocks moved forward an hour last night..... so we lost an hour ... pooofff... gone, just like that!

Thanks so much for peeking and stopping by. 

Congratulations Card

Firstly, thank you all for your lovely best wishes for my birthday.  I had a great day and looking forward to a fun weekend.

Made this as an Engagement or Anniversary Card.  Used a precious moment image and the sentiment is from the new Papermania range.  Also stamped a heart above the couple in the boat and added stickles for some added sparkle (but this isn't clearly evident in the photo).  Added a very fine ribbon (Papermania) and fimo button with sparkle which I made.

Thanks so much for peeking and I hope you have a wonderful weekend. 

Birthday Celebrations

Just sharing a Birthday Card I made for my Birthday "twin" - who celebrates her Birthday today too.  Although she is a few years younger than me.... boohoo!!!!  She is on a plane over the Atlantic as I type and I will get to see her tomorrow as she is visiting Ireland for the first time with her parents and brother.

The image is from Sassy Cheryl - just love it.  It is a freebie called "Sassy Grace" available over on her Paper Craft Planet Group.  I coloured with copics and the card blank is from Dovecraft.

Off to enjoy the sunshine and enjoy the rest of the day.  Will do some blog candy in the next week or so... so make sure to drop by again.  Thanks so much for stopping by.

Paperplay Challenge - Easter Theme

Where did the week go?  It's Thursday again ... so it's Paperplay Challenges time.  This wee's challenge is to create a card/project with an Easter theme.

I used a wonderful digital image called Easter Bunny by Elisa aka Mami Doodles (our sponsor from last week) which is available here.  I coloured the bunny with copics, used my Label 8 Nesties, CB embossing folder and DCWV textured card blank.... and some ribbon from Papermania.  Will probably use stickles on the next one I do..... on the bunny's nose, ears and paws.... soooo cute.

Thanks so much for peeking and hope you will get a chance to play along with this week's Challenge.

Wedding Card - Just Married!

My DS's teacher is getting married on Saturday so I wanted to make a card for her and her new hubby.  Used my Forever Friends Stamp but I masked the "congratulations" sentiment from underneath the image and added a JUST MARRIED sentiment from the new Papermania Wedding range instead.  It is an A5 card - so it is larger than normal.  Partially coloured some of the image with copics and then added stickles to the bride's headpiece and the petals on the ground for a touch of sparkle.  I also mounted the image on a scallop circle and then onto some Bazzill dotted swiss white cardstock.  Used sheer white ribbon by Papermania as the final flourish!

Supplies: Bazzill dotted swiss white cardstock, A5 card blank, Papermania ribbon,

Spellbinders Scalloped Circles Lge, Big Shot, Quickutz nesting circles, copics, stickles and pop dots.

Thanks so much for peeking - Happy Wednesday!

Another Birthday Card

Another Birthday card today.  Made this using a digital image - My guy Autumn from The Greeting Farm.  I coloured him and decided he needed a shiny puffa jacket!!! so I added glossy accents.

I had picked up these Dovecraft card blanks a few weeks ago - with zany patterns - so I added himi to this card blank for added impact... not my usual style!

Miscellaneous button from my stash and some Gisela Graham ribbon.  Used my spellbinders Labels 8 - 'coz you know I just LOVE them... and played around with my copics and hair colours!.

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Happy Tuesday.

A quick Birthday Card & Digi freebies

 

I am always looking for fun quick Birthday cards for my DS's friends.  Made this card using papers from a digital kit "Vibe" by Erica Hernandez - it's a freebie over on 2peas.  The monster "spike" is a March freebie from Some Odd Girl and a computer generated sentiment.  Printed on cardstock, matted on yellow cardstock and added to a large card blank.

Sorry I have been missing for a couple of days.  Have guests coming into town next weekend and trying to get the house ship shape before their arrival.

Thanks so much for stopping by. 

Parade Photos

Hey everyone, Happy Friday.  Today's post I am going to share some of the photos that I took at the parade on Wednesday as I am in the midst of clearing/cleaning/tidying my craft room and need to finish it!.

This 40 foot crocodile was complete with Peter Pan and Captain Hook!

As you can see - there was lots of colour despite the overcast skies. Thankfully the rain stayed away!

A very colourful balloon seller...

Lots of bands, marching and playing great tunes

This year's parade theme was "Ships to Shore" celebrating the city's maritime tradition.

Over 60,000 people turned out to watch the parade which was colourful, bright and lots of fun.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderful weekend. 

Paperplay Challenges - Thank you/Good Luck

This week's challenge over on Paperplay is to make a card/project with  "Thank you"/"Good Luck" as your theme.  This week's challenge is sponsored by MamiDoodles and the winner will get 3 of the latest Mami Doodles Digital stamps plus one of your own choice.

I made this card as my DT submission.  The digital image called "Bridget Thanks" is a freebie from Paula over on Tales from Pollycraft for reaching 600 followers.  She has just amazing images and be sure to check out her blog here and store here.  She also has a DT Call running until the 26th March. 

I loved working with this fun image, coloured with copics matted and layered with Bazzill dotted swiss cardstock and a fimo button which I made that matched the burgundy coloured paper.  The card blank is from DCWV and the ribbon is Papermania.

Thanks so much for peeking and I really hope that you will play along this week with Paperplay.  Thanks for stopping by.

March Card Chain Challenge and Happy St Patrick's Day

"Beannacht Lá Fhéile Pádraig" - Happy St Patrick's Day to everyone. 

I was delighted to be able to sign up for Deborah's Card Chain Challenge for March and was even more thrilled to be able to send the wonderful and talented Sally Sherfield a card.  I decided not to go for the array of colours on the colour swatch and stayed away from the sentiments too as I didn't have any stamps that fitted with it.  So in the end I went with the sketch/template that Deborah provided.

I had a stash of butterflies that I had printed and cut out... so decided to have a go at using some.  I coloured them with light shades of blue/blue green copics and had the flower already subtly coloured in a pale pink/beige colour.  Added a kraft card blank, the hello sentiment from Hero Arts and hey presto - card made.

I added the antennae with glossy accents (just like Jennifer McGuire's video instructions here), I also layered one of the butterflies.  Fingers crossed it travelled over the Irish Sea and got to Sally in one piece! (edited - Sally sent me an email on Monday evening to let me know that my package had arrived safe and sound).

Also entering this card into this month's Hero Arts Challenge - Spring and Easter.  Looking at the card now that it is gone... I should have added butterfly trails...aaahhhh well, something always needs tweaking! (will add them to the next one!).

Look what I got in the post yesterday morning - this amazing card from the talented Isha in Switzerland - she got the task of sending me a card for Deborah's March CCC.  It is so lovely to get a beautiful card like this landing on the hall floor instead of bills!.

Thanks so much Isha, I adore it. 

One more thing in this rather lengthy post.... I reheld the draw for the free digital image from Jane (as Sally had already won one on another blog).  Here is the result of the random.org (still can't get the whole widget to copy across!).

True Random Number Generator

Min: 1
Max: 21
Result:
4
Powered by RANDOM.ORG

and the winner is ...Katie said... Deirdre these are FAB! Thanks also for the chance to win!! xxx 
Katie, let me know which image you would like - Congrats.

Thanks so much for stopping by. 

For you!

I just adore Heather Ellis's images - these are from her Pure Innocence Range available here and are just great to work with.  Coloured with copics, added some glossy accents on the flower heads, cut out with my dies and nesties and mounted on some textured cardstock.  Added some Papermania ribbon - just perfect for Mother's Day.

Isn't she so sweet?  Still dirt on my camera which I have tried to clone out of the photo - will have to have another go at cleaning my camera or switch the lens and see if it improves. 

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Baby Boy Welcome and a Winner!

I just adore this image from Paula over on Tales from Pollycraft - it's called "Willie" and was a freebie a week or so ago.  Paula does freebies on Fridays - so be sure to check out her wonderful blog and store.  She has an adorable image up at the moment for reaching 600 followers - which isn't surprising given her amazing images.

I coloured him with copics, added stickles to the stars, cut using Quickutz cookie cutter circles and Quickutz scalloped squares with my Big Shot.  Added a sparkly white fimo button which I made and some satin ribbon (which looks green in this photo but is pale blue IRL!).  Perfect welcome for a new Baby Boy.

And on to the winner of the daffodils/Boris the bunny digital image - I used the random number generator over on random.org - tried my best to copy and paste the widget... just NOT working for me.

The result is no.1 - CinnamonSally - Sally congrats.  Let me know which image you would like to receive.

CinnamonSally said... Hi Deirdre, congratulations on being Janes guest designer, love your cards with her new images, the daffodils are lovely and Boris is so cute, will have to give him a try.
March 13, 2010 9:38 AM

Thank you all for your wonderful comments - and thanks so much for stopping by.  I am entering this card into Pollycraft Monday Challenge - sparkly things.  It's not very clearly evident in the photo but all the stars around "willie's" head are glittery - because I added stickles!

Hope you have a great day and wonderful week ahead.

Just peeking through! - Happy Mother's Day

After sharing Jane's wonderful new digital images yesterday - including her stunning daffodils I thought I would post what my inspiration was when working on my cards. 

These little stunners popped up in the garden last week and I photographed them last Monday.  They are just dancing around the base of my bay tree standards in big planters.  They are miniature daffodils which appear each year just when the garden is waking up from it's Winter slumber.

Hopefully Spring has well and truly arrived.  Hope you have a lovely day and for those of you celebrating Mother's Day on this side of the Atlantic - enjoy.  Thanks so much for stopping by.

Jane's new images, a freebie and a chance to win a digi!

My friend and ultra talented artist Jane asked me to be a Guest Friend and work with her new digital images that are released today on Squigglefly.  I was so thrilled that she asked me as I just adore her images and they are sooo easy to work with.  I coloured, cut and layered her beautiful daffodils digi on the first card.  This image is on sale for $1.25.... unbelievable.. don't you just love digis!

 Then for this one I simply printed it out, cut in my Big Shot with Labels 8 nesties again, coloured and added some crochet thread.  I then printed the image a second time - just cut out the flowers, coloured them and added them on top of the original image to give added dimension.  One of the daffodils protrudes over the top of the card, which I love.

Then Jane produced adorable Boris the Bunny.....

I coloured him last night ... so he is a little darker than intended!!! so I then made a fun bright Spring Card using him and the freebie carrots - available on Jane's blog.  I also had one of Jane's fimo buttons left to add to this card.

 

Jane has very kindly organised a giveaway of her images today.  Leave a comment here and I'll randomly choose a winner of one of Jane's newly released images (daffodils or Boris) tomorrow evening at 9pm GMT.  As I mentioned she also has a carrots freebie over on her blog. 

Please visit Jane's Doodlers to see what they did with these wonderful images

Kelly

Lysa

Alice

Sanne

Jane M

Lucy

Mariana

It will be well worth the visit - these ladies are just phenomenal!  Thanks so much for stopping by and remember that Jane's new images are now available here.

Entering my daffodil cards into Crafty Calendar Challenge as this month's theme/challenge is flowers.

Happy Friday !

This image was a freebie over on The Greeting Farm blog on Wednesday and I was lucky enough to pick up it while it was available.  Her name is Audrey and she is a complete tomboy so made her into a Birthday Card for a girl! in fun shades of blue.  I added Papermania buttons and computer generated sentiment.

Thanks so much for peeking and I hope you have a great day.  Feel free to leave a comment to let me know that you stopped by. 

Paperplay Challenge - "Seeing Double"

Firstly, a HUGE thank you to everyone that participated in last week's challenge - all 136 of you...woohoo!!! I am so thrilled that you enjoyed the challenge and of course wanted to win the super Hero Arts goodies.

The winner has just been posted on the Paperplay site - the random number generator chose #54 Dawn Mercedes - congrats Dawn.

This week's challenge is set by Elisa and is very kindly sponsored by Stitchy Bear Stamps.  The winner will get 4 digital stamps/images.  The title of the Challenge is "seeing double" - use two of something on your card/project - two of the same image or repeat the saying/sentiment.

This is my DT card - I used two of the same butterflies from the Hero Arts Digital kit Winged Friends - coloured with copics B00 and BG10.  Used My Minds Eye Spring Papers and a punches by Martha Steward and XCut.  I will add a Mother's Day sentiment to this card as Mother's Day is this coming Sunday - March 14th.

As the challenge this week over on Charisma Cardz Challenge is "beautiful butterflies" - I am going to put it in that challenge.

The challenge over on Crafty Angels this week is also Butterflies ! woohooo!!!!.

Thanks so much for peeking and I really hope you will play along with Paperplay this week.

Deborah's Wednesday Wonder is me!!!!

Two posts in one day.... wow!!  Must be important... hmmmm, well you might find it interesting.

I am still amazed, stunned and shocked that Deborah wanted to feature me as a Wednesday Wonder on her blog but totally honoured - thank you so much Deborah.  It was fun to sit down and think about why you craft, how you craft and believe me ... you definitely don't want to see the state of my craft room!!!  Thankfully I can close the door on it!!!!

So, if you want to know more about me ... check out Deborah's blog here.  I am still laughing after reading the interview with all her added comments - she is sooo funny!  Thanks Deborah.

Signing off Deirdre aka Snow White!!! LOL!!!!

Happy Anniversary

My Mom wanted an Anniversary card for my youngest brother and his wife - so I made this for her.  I had the image coloured before she requested the card and I just thought it was perfect ... It is an image from Precious Moments.  I coloured it with copics and used my Spellbinders Labels Eight to cut and emboss the cardstock.  Hero Arts flowers, Papermania pearls and a heart that I dry embossed to match the heart lollipops.

Thanks so much for stopping by and Happy Anniversary to my little Brother and SIL.

Digi freebie over on TGF and a thank you

It's Tuesday and that means that I have deadlines to meet!!! and no card to upload at the moment.  Just uploaded 120 photos from my camera to my PC - so need to do some processing and will share later.  Yeah, have been churning out cards .... but only a fraction of those 120 photos will see the light of day.... took multiples with different settings as the daylight wasn't too obliging!

Wanted to share these beautiful tiny daffodils that I bought this morning when out picking up some crafting supplies.  The flower shop is just soooo pretty and has such beautiful displays of scent and colour.  These daffodils are planted in a beautiful metal trough and are a gift for my DH's granny.  Hope she will like them - I adore them hint hint hubby..... Mother's Day is this coming Sunday here in Ireland! LOL!!!.

Just a heads up - do you like digi images?  Well The Greeting Farm blog has the most AMAZING image as a freebie today called Audrey.  Be sure to go straight over and grab it as it is only free until this evening.

Hope to make a card with her later - she is a complete tomboy... and so fun.

A Big "Thank You" to everyone who has supported my challenge over on Paperplay this week - we are at 116 and still counting.  I am just in awe of the wonderful creations and stories behind who is going to receive these wonderful cards/projects.  So nice to send out some love to those we care about ... thanks so much for playing along.  The challenge finishes tomorrow night (Wed 10th) at 9pm GMT

Just Because! Card

This was the card I made as my DT card for Paperplay Challenges last Thursday - but decided to redo and make cards using Hero Arts products since it was a challenge they ran last year called "mail it" which inspired me to set my first challenge - "Just Because".  If you don't know about it - check out the details here.  You can still enter - closing date is Wednesday 10th March at 9.00pm GMT. 

This card is using K&Co pp, Bazzill dotted swiss, machine stitching, sentiment from Papermania, brown cardstock cut in my Big Shot with my large scalloped circles.  Buttons from Papermania and puffy vintage flower - inspired by Dawn McVey (tutorial video here).

Thanks so much for peeking and hope you have a great week.