Great start to the day!

You know you are going to have a great day when you open your mail and find this inside!.

Some of you will instantly recognise the style and know that I have been lucky enough to receive one of Kathy's masterpieces - woohoo ... I am still doing the happy dance.  She is just amazing... the details in real life are even better than the photo if that's possible.  Thank you soooo much Kathy.

What can I post after this stunner?  I didn't post over the weekend but I did get out and about and took some photos.  So I will share some of nature's own beauty...

I got to spend Saturday afternoon in this amazing garden, spending time with family and friends - appreciating the beauty around us and celebrating the christening of Mealla Jane.  It was a truly magical afternoon.  Hope you have a wonderful week.

Be sure to stop back here tomorrow...... some amazing news I can't wait to share, a chance to win! and a blog hop!  See you!

Mami Doodles - The Owl Family

New release from Elisa over on Mami Doodles today and here is my DT card.  I used the single image from The Owl Family kit - they are just adorable.  I used my Quickutz cookie cutter circles to cut a circle from the front of a kraft card blank and cut the image and coloured too.  I freehanded the branch and leaves onto the front copying Elisa's image.  I also gave the inside an orange overlay for an added pop of colour.  I added some googly eyes and I think this card is just perfect for a birthday or indeed any occasion - I left it free of a sentiment for the moment.

Be sure to check out what the other members of the DT created here or I have listed their individual blogs below.  Don't forget - be sure to check out Elisa's challenge for this week too.

Jackie

Lily

Vera

Rachel

Sarah

I am entering this card into Lucy's Digital Challenge - you still have time too... not finishing until June 4th.  Thanks so much for stopping by.  Hope you have a great day. 

Paperplay - "Up in the Air"

This week I got to set the challenge on Paperplay and it is "Up in the Air"... this can be anything.... planes, hot air balloons, fairies, bugs that fly! the list goes on and on.  I just thought that it was a real "summery" challenge and thankfully the warm weather has finally arrived here in Ireland over the past number of days.

This week's Challenge is very kindly sponsored by Elisa from Mami Doodles.  As some of you will know I am on the DT for Mami Doodles and get to play with Elisa's new images each week - which I just love.  On this card I used the love birds from her recent kit here called Love Tree.  These birds are an extra image when you buy the "Love Tree" digi - and they only cost €0.99 - seriously!  Check it out.

Supplies:  Image - Love Tree by Mami Doodles, pp by Bo Bunny, Stazon ink, Sentiment stamp by Papermania, 

handmade fimo button made by me!, crochet thread, deep red cardstock.

I left the love birds uncoloured and just chose to colour the banner instead.  Thanks so much for peeking and we would love if you would like to play along with us on Paperplay this week.

Featured on "Inspired by..... " this week

I was contacted a few weeks ago by the super talented Jill Foster to know if I would mind featuring on her blog .... "mind!!??" ... my reply was that I would be honoured and totally chuffed.  So Jill is doing an "inspired by Deirdre" week.... be sure to check out what she has created.... simply amazing.

 These are my cards that she has featured so far this week - can't wait to see what she posts tomorrow.

 Be sure to pop over here to see Jill's amazing creations - Thanks Jill.  I really don't know where she finds the time .... thanks for stopping by.

Another Quick and Easy Card!

Well it's quick and easy if you like cutting!  Made this card as a First Holy Communion Card but it could easily be for a little girl's Birthday if you wanted to colour her dress.  The image is by the very talented Elisa over on Mami Doodles and she has a new release tomorrow so be sure to check out her site.

I printed the image twice, cut the hair and dress as one layer and put it on top of the first image.  Cut the image with my Big Shot, layered on top of pink cardstock by Bazzill.  Threaded white ribbon through the top layer and tied in a bow.  Matched the girl's hair colour to the recipient and mounted the sentiment on circles with pop dots which is evident in the top photo.

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Hope you have a great day.

Quick & Easy Birthday

Just wanted to share a very quick and easy Birthday card using some stickers I found in my stash.  I used cardstock from Basic Grey (at least I think it is!), matted some brown cardstock on top and used My Guy Ian stamp set from The Greeting Farm which I coloured with copics.  The "Celebrate" is from a sticker in my stash (and it doesn't include a maker's name... sorry!).

I am making a stash of these boy cards as I know there are quite a few boys birthdays fast approaching!.

Thanks so much for peeking - hope you have a great day.

A quick hello!

We had a busy weekend... there is now an 8 year old in our house!  Where does the time go?  So on Saturday we had a party that involved pizza making.... at a local restaurant.  There was some kneading (photo above).  They the boys got to toss/stretch the dough... it was soooo funny.  Thankfully not too many holes appeared in the dough! LOL!!

and then this... it was soo much fun.  All the boys had a great time.  They each added their toppings to the sauce and they got cooked and eaten in double quick time!.  Then they had some sundaes... toffee, chocolate and strawberry.  Yum yum.  Great day was enjoyed by all.  The sun shone and the boys played in the garden afterwards.  Thanks so much for peeking - hope you had a great weekend too.  Unfortunately don't have a card to share today - but will be back in the morning with one.... I promise!

"Fluffy" and some Word Art

I just can't get enough of this amazing image by Paula over on Tales from Pollycraft.  She very kindly does wonderful freebies on Fridays.  This guy is "Fluffy", one of her Critters out of her "Critters and Cogs" Range of digital stamps.  As soon as I saw him I had to dash over and buy him 'coz he is just sooooo much fun.

I paired him with a freebie Word Art sentiment from Create with TLC.  You can find it here.  Paulette just creates the most amazing fun Word Art pieces.  Don't know about you but I have the perfect person to send this too....  LOL!!!  I kept it very simple as I think Fluffy and the sentiment do all the work!.

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Wedding Cards

Following on from my post yesterday you will know that it's "Wedding" over on Paperplay this week.  All you have to do is create a project/card with a Wedding theme.  I just want to share some more Wedding Cards I made in recent weeks.  Same Stamp - different cards.

Used the Forever Friends Wedding Stamp with the sentiment "Congratulations" masked from the bottom.  I then coloured with copics, matted and layered with my scalloped circles, added some stickles for some shine.  Adore the sheer Papermania ribbon - so that had to be included.  The name of the bride and groom I printed on my computer and then stamped the border using PTI fillable frames #1 and cut with the matching die cut.

This card has less colour.  I printed the greeting and again used my PTI set to do the border/cutting.  I cut black cardstock with my Martha Stewart punch and then machine stitched the ribbon to it at the back, tied it on the front.  I added the stamped image with pop dots raised off the card.

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

Paperplay - "Wedding"

This week's challenge on Paperplay is "Wedding" and it is very kindly sponsored by Waltzing Mouse Stamps.  The prize is a stamp pack of the Winner's choice.

As the wedding season is well and truly upon us I have made quite a few wedding cards in recent weeks.  This is one that I made at the weekend on the request of my SIL.  She asked me to make a Wedding "shaker" card.  So I used a slightly larger card blank, white pearlescent paper (as the overlay) and some scalloped pp's inspired by Lucy here.  While these are fun they are a little fiddly to make and somewhat time consuming, but I do like the result.  Let's hope the bride and groom do too!

Supplies: Large Card Blanks by Anita's, Pearlescent cardstock, Forever Friends stamp,

Spellbinders Scalloped Circles Lge, textured cardstock black and white by Papermania,

Embossing folder - dots & circles, pop dots and misc sequins

The top layer is raised on foam dots with a square of foam tape around the edges of the scallop to act as an enclosure for the sequins which I used in the shaker.

Entering it into the Kaboodle Doodles Challenge - monochromatic card.

Thanks so much for peeking and I hope you get a chance to play along with Paperplay this week.

What's on your Desk Wednesday (WOYDW)

Okay... so I am kinda horrified that I am posting this photo!! LOL!... but here it goes... my desk on a Wednesday.  Thankfully the sun was shining when I took this shot a little while ago but now it's behind BIG clouds.  You will see working from left to right I have a container with stamps, ribbons, more ribbons, embellishments in a clear container (most still in their packaging), copics, cleaners, jamjars with fimo buttons and a light! 

Towards the front of the desk there are some PTI stamp sets I plan on using, lens cover for my camera ! LOL!, ink, pens, adhesive and my trusty A4 Bristol Board that I use when colouring with copics.... oh, nearly forgot... my brother sewing machine. 

Can you see those wonderful TGF stamp sets??? woohoo, arrived the other day - haven't cut them up yet.... my first TGT rubba...!! thanks Marie (and of course my Dream Team team mates).  Would you like to see more desks?  Check out Julia's blog here.

You might have spotted this card on my desk drying....

Another card using with "white space".  Sentiment from PTI, digital image was a freebie from Tales from Pollycraft.  Coloured with copics, stickles on the hearts and wings I also added doodles with a black pen.  Thanks for peeking.  Hope you have a great day.

Mr Mouse - Mami Doodles

I mentioned last Friday that I had a made a couple of cards using Mami Doodle images that I had yet to share - so here is a quick card share - and very late in the day - sorry!!! Have been chasing my tail all day today.  Wet, windy and cold here today.. more like an Autumn day than a Spring/Summer day...brrrrr!  I matted and layered on a black textured card blank and added the new ribbon by SMIRK with a trinket pin.

Elisa created these amazing characters for Valentine's Day - check out the kit here.  I have previously used one of the images on this card.

Hope you are having a good day and it is warmer where you are!!!  Thanks so much for stopping by.

Quick Birthday Card and some sailing shots!

Sorry I didn't post yesterday but I was on the water for the day.  I was following these guys around trying to get a few shots!.  Some of you will know that two of my passions are photography and sailing - so when I can combine the two, I do!.  I was on the water yesterday but not sailing myself.... just trying to get some good shots of these young sailors testing their mettle against wind and tide.

You can tell that there was plenty of wind! and little sunshine popped out occasionally from behind the clouds whilst the young sailors managed to race 4 races.  And now... onto a card share

Just a quick card share today.  I love trying to leave some white space on these new tall card blanks I bought recently.  I had this pretty dress by Crafttime in my stash and I decided to add smooth gemstones by Hero Arts to the flower centers.  The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink.

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderful start to your week.

Poetic Petals

I adore the flowers in the Poetic Petals digital kit by Hero Arts.  I think they are such bright and cheerful flowers and you can size them any way you want as they are in digi format.  Don't you just love that.

I am entering this card into the Hero Arts Challenge for May - Birthday, Dads & Grads.  This is very obviously under the "Birthday" banner!.

The background stamp is by Papermania and I used dark chocolate ink and distressed the edges with the ink too.  The ribbon is a co-ordinating colour - all by PTI.  I added stickles to the flower centre for a touch of sparkle.

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Mami Doodles - Lucy with Balloons

This is Elisa's new release over on Mami Doodles - "Girl with Balloons" who subsequently got the name "Lucy"... Isn't she just adorable.  In case you didn't manage to enter last week's challenge don't worry... there is a new one this week - and you don't have to use a Mami Doodles image (but we would love if you did).

Here is what I did with the image - I left her hair uncoloured and added glossy accents to the balloons for this week's Mami Doodles Challenge which is "monochromatic".  So I decided on a little orange!

 

Hope you will get a chance to play along with this week's challenge and be sure to check out the Mami Doodles new releases here.  I have made some more cards with other Mami Doodles images that I am going to share over the coming days.

Hope you have a wonderful Friday and great weekend.  Thanks so much for stopping by.

Featured Stamper on Meljen's Designs

You might remember last week that I posted this card (above) and mentioned how wonderful Melissa Jenkins aka Meljen's Designs are and where you could find them.  I also entered it into Meljen's Designs Featured Stamper Contest and the random thingy.... picked me.... woohoo!!!!!  This is the post on Melissa's blog here.

So.... doing the happy dance.  The image above is a freebie image available to members of Meljen's Designs Paper Craft Planet Group.  Be sure to check it out.

Paperplay - "Brown and ..."

This week's challenge is set by Julie and it is "Brown and ... ", use one other colour on your project/card.  This week's challenge is very kindly sponsored by Simon Says Stamp.

I decided to use kraft as my "brown" and added pink as my second colour.  Used my Spellbinders Scalloped Circles (large) and Papertrey Ink - On my couch set for the chair and sentiment.  This card was inspired by the recent Moxie Fab World Challenge - "three cheers for chairs".  The buttons are by Basic Grey and the ink was chestnut by Whispers.

 

 In real life the chair and sentiment are much more visible!!!!  Have to take a better photo and repost.  Thanks so much for peeking and I hope you get a chance to play along with Paperplay this week.

Quick & Easy Wedding Card

I am sure like me you have stuff in your stash that just doesn't get used.  You buy it with great intentions but it ends up getting warped/lost! in the bottom of a drawer or box.  Well, I had this pack of die cut sentiments by Forever Friends and I decided to try and use them.

I used a large tall card blank by Anita's, cut Bazzill dotted swiss cardstock in a co-ordinating colour, cut silver card with my new curved rectangles by Spellbinders, embossed, white ribbon threaded through a Papertrey Ink vintage button added some Hero Arts smooth gemstones and last but not least the die cut sentiment.  Not your typical wedding colours but great if your brother or male relative was the groom don't you think?.

Entering this into Charisma Cardz Challenge - Weddings and
One Stop Craft Challenge - Wedding Wishes.

Look at what Kathy is giving away on her blog... not one, two, three, four..... but SEVEN of these amazing stamps (ends 27th May).  They are so fun, don't you just love what she has done with them.  So quick.... go here to enter.

Thanks so much for peeking.  Hope you have a great Wednesday.

Hey Sweetie!

During the recent Royal Battle on the Greeting Farm, my wonderful and talented team mate Fika sent me some stamped images which I didn't use during the "battle"! so I am having fun colouring them now... unfortunately I think she is just enabling me to buy more TGF stamps!.  LOL!!!

I used the Lolli Anya stamp on this card.  Coloured with copics and matted and layered on Bazzill dotted swiss cardstock in aqua, cerise pink and a dark red.  Also added some crochet thread and glossy accents to the lollipop.  I think she is just so much fun.

Left it sentiment free for the moment.  Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great Tuesday.

Birthday Card for Dad!

Supplies: Smirk for Him 8x8 Paper pack, Smirk for him decoupage pad, 

Smirk ribbon, card blank, sentiment and die cut from Papertrey Ink 

It was my Dad's Birthday last week while we were away on holidays and I made this for him before we left.  It is from the SMIRK range for Men.  Love how the ribbon co-ordinates with the pp and the chipboard decoupage.  I just had to make a card with a car because he just got a new car and it seems that in his retirement instead of the cars getting smaller they seem to be going the other direction!!!  My brothers and I are now calling him a "boy racer!" - so you can see why this card was so apt!

Thanks so much for peeking.  Hope you are having a great Monday.

A quick "hello"

A quick "hello" and thanks to everyone who stopped by and left comments on my blog last week while I was on vacation in sunny Portugal.  This was the view from our balcony that we woke up to each morning.... stunning eh?

I love roaming the little cobbled streets and finding buildings like this one with amazing blue tiles on the facade.  It was early in the morning so there weren't many people about.

I didn't take as many photos as I normally would.  I just sat back and enjoyed the time without checking the internet once!.  The volcanic ash from the Eyjafjallajokull glacier in southern Iceland continues and if we were travelling home a day earlier we wouldn't have managed to get into our local airport and yesterday we could not have flown out of Portugal - so thankfully our scheduling was just perfect. 

The exhuberence of youth!  The boys decided to try out their speed on this fountain before its jets soaked them.... they managed to stay relatively dry! but had a wonderful time playing in it.

Thanks so much for stopping by.  If you are in the US/Europe - wishing you a wonderful Mother's Day.

New Baby Girl Card

Was asked by a great friend to make a card for her new baby niece - Leifa.  So I used this wonderful digi by Jane which is available here.  I just ADORE it and have used it on many cards.  I haven't previously coloured "Gerry the Giraffe" pink though... don't know if he is too happy! LOL!!

I matted and layered on Bazzill dotted swiss cardstock and textured pink cardstock by Papermania.  Used my new Spellbinders Curved Rectangle nesties to cut and emboss.  Added a little flower in various shades of pink as an embellishment (used one of these on a card recently and a lot of people asked me who made them - they are in a packet by Craftime and were on sale in Woodies) which I removed after taking this photo and added a pale pink button by Basic Grey instead with some crochet thread tied in a bow... sorry, didn't take a second photo before I delivered the card to my friend.  Opps!

Thanks so much for stopping by, hope you enjoyed my digi week.  I love digis and how you can resize, reprint, add computer generated sentiments, paper piece.... and of course colour!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend.