Bloomin 'eck!

This week it's Lythan's turn to set the dare over on Daring Card Makers:

SUPERSIZE ME!I have loads of enormous paper flowers that I have bought and never used. So I want to see some really big embellishments on your cards. Bonus points for outsize blooms!

I have loads of big blooms so I had to join in with this one. Here's the finished card:

Ingredients:
Flowers from Dunelm Mill

K&Co Amy Butler Paper

Felt ric rac from Paper-and-string

Ticket made using Photoshop and a sizzix die

Lace and pin from my local market

I also made another flowery card:

Ingredients:
Basic Grey paper
Coffee cup liner
Ticket as before
Papermania flowers
Dovecraft brads
Ribbon from stash

And finally, I've finished my felt purse from the pattern Sarah kindly shared over at Paper-and-String's blog:

Cheers,

Ruthie x

Amazing Blog Candy Give Away

I've had to stop by and give a mention to the fantastic blog candy giveaway which Emma (Bagladee) is giving away to celebrate her first blog birthday.

Check out here blog HERE for the chance to win one of these:

If you don't win I can recommend her custom camera straps :-)

Cheers

Ruthie x

The Snowball Topper

Well we made the most of the unusual bank-holiday sunshine yesterday and headed out to Morecambe for some sea air. The weather was lovely so we had a walk along the prom and one of the famous 'Snowball Toppers' courtesy of Kate at Sunset Ices and her lovely Bedford CF ice cream van.

I first read about the snowball topper (a Tunnock's snowball added to ice cream) on the fantastic I Like blog and having recently overcome a fear of dessicated coconut I knew it was time to try one!

Here's mine shortly before I demolished it:

I can confirm that a Tunnock's Snowball does make an excellent addition to an ice cream!

It was nice to see Morecambe busy with people enjoying the sunshine. Hopefully it's a sign of things to come.

While we were there we took the opportunity to visit the Winter Gardens. The theatre closed in 1977 and is now maintained by a charitable trust whose long term goal is to reopen it for public use.

We had a walk round the foyer and the main part of the auditorium. Unfortunately you are not allowed to take photographs inside but trust me it is stunning. (There are some pics on the Winter Garden's website.) Mr Crafty Blogger and I have agreed we need to go back and take the full guided tour which is run to raise money towards the renovations.

Hope you all had a good weekend.

Cheers,

Ruthie x

Hide n Seek Dare

Yesterday I amazed myself and actually made a card!

I was inspired by Jozza's dare over at Daring Card Makers:

This week, the dare is hide and seek. I would like to see a hidden message or element on your cards. For a double dare, include both!

I started off making a Thank You card in my usual style but after much shuffling of card, managed to incorporate the dare.

Here is the finished result:


Ingredients:
K&CO Amy Butler papers
Papermania flowers
Felt flower cut using a Sizzix die
Coffee cup liner
Dovecraft brad
Quickutz metro lettering
Papermania photo anchor
Felt ric-rac from Paper-and-string
Dymo tape
Inking and pen stitching.

Have a good bank holiday weekend!

Ruthie x

The Postman came calling....

...with these fantastic covers for my camera strap:

A couple of weeks ago I contacted Emma (aka Bagladee) to ask if she had considered adding camera straps to her website. She came back to me and said she would do me a couple of slip-on covers as a custom order/trial and asked me what fabrics/colours I liked. I plumped for the miami pink and miami orange which she makes the most wonderful bags from and the rest as they is history.

So today a parcel landed on my doormat containing the camera straps, with the added bonus of a cute Bagladee button badge (which is now on my camera strap) and a yummy packet of Haribo.

Thank you Emma, they are fantastic!!!!

If you like them too, contact Emma and see what she can rustle up for you.

Happy Easter,

Ruthie x

'99' Cupcake Adventures

I've recently become obsessed with the idea of baking cupcakes in ice cream cones and I decided that as I had an afternoon off work I would have a go at making some. So here's the story of my '99' cupcake adventure.


First, take some ice cream cones and fill with fairy cake mixture (recipe courtesy of the goddess of all things domestic, Nigella, with added cocoa for a nice choccy flavour):



Next, make note to self to make mixture a bit runnier next time so it goes in the cones easier, and then bake.

Once cooked, remove from the oven and convince self that they will look nice once the top is covered by buttercream:Mix buttercream and pipe onto the cones in true 'Mr Whippy' style, and finish with a '99' flake. Sit back and admire your handy work for, ooh, at least 30 seconds before tasting:

Finally, savour the flavour whilst wondering how long it will take to come down off the sugar rush!

Cheers,

Ruthie x

More of a Collage Than a Card

Yesterday I received a lovely parcel of ribbons and flowers from Tracy at Creative Treasures and I couldn't wait to have a play so I came up with this new home card:

The original idea was to do a simple card using some of the flowers Tracy sent, but I got carried away and it did end up more of a collage than a card!

Ingredients:
Paper - Basic Grey Blush
Flowers from a selection available at Creative Treasures (plus a few tiny Primas from stash)
Mini buttons from stash
Felt birds cut using a Boss Kuts die
Grass cut using a Quickutz die
Green felt ric-rac from Paper-and-String
Pink Papermania felt ric-rac

Cheers,

Ruthie x