Butterflies and Bunting

I've just come back from a week's holiday to hideous weather up here in NW England and so all I want to do is hole myself up in my craft room and play.

With this in mind, this morning I went on the hunt for a challenge to inspire me and this week's challenge on Daring Card Makers fit the bill perfectly:

This week it's me (Kathy) here to set the new dare and I'd like you to

Come Fly With Me

My theme is All Up in the Air, really ;-) - I'd like to see the main elements of your card being things that fly, flutter, hover or waft about "up there" in the sky.

The hideous weather I've come back from holiday to has made me crave sunny days and afternoon tea parties with bunting flapping in the wind and butterflies hovering over head.  So this is what I came up with:

It's a card for a friend whose birthday is not until late October, by which time I think we will all be craving sunny days and blue skies!


Ingredients: Papers October Afternoon (Fly a Kite range - even that fits the dare!), Quickutz alphabet dies, Cuttlebug cake die, Nellie Snellen frame die, American Crafts ribbon, pen stitching, garden twine from Wilko, punched butterflies.


Just a note on the 'stitching'.  One of the comments on my last post asked if it was real stitching on my cards.  It isn't!  After thinking I had broken my sewing machine the only time I tried to stitch a card I always stick with my pen stitching method: piercing the card/paper with a map pin and then drawing in the 'thread' with a fineliner pen.  (It's much less stressful.)


As I said at the start of this post I've just come back from holiday and I can say there where we were there was no shortage of sunny days and blue skies as Mr Crafty Blogger and I spent a fantastic week on the beautiful Greek island of Santorini.  I don't want to bore you all with the hundreds of pics I took so here's a storyboard of just a few of them:

(storyboard created using a template from Coffee Shop)

We stopped at THIS fantastic hotel in the capital Fira (or Thira).  Not only were the facilities excellent we also had amazing views of the Caldera (volcano) and the sunsets which Santorini is famous for.  (I took the photo on the top right of the storyboard from our balcony!)


Although we stopped in Fira, we managed to get around the island very easily by bus, including a  number of trips to the beautiful (and very photogenic) village of Oia which is where three of the storyboard photos were taken.


I promised not to bore you with the photos, but before I sign-off I just want to share one of my favourite shots from the week:

If you are interested I have put a few more shots on my Flickr.

Thanks for looking,

Ruthie x

A Nice Surprise

I popped over to Lisa Craft Fairy's blog this morning to check out this week's die cut challenge and was very surprised and delighted to learn my card from last week was awarded card of the week.  If you read this Lisa, thank you,  I'm glad you liked the card.

Anyway on to this week's challenge which Lisa has set which is to make a card featuring a scalloped square die cut. I wanted to do a card using the scalloped square as a frame but  I don't have any large Nestabilities square dies or punches.  As a substitute I modified a Nellie Snellen rectangle into a square and came up with this:

Ingredients:  Nellen Snellen die, Cuttlebug cake die and embossing folder, My Minds Eye papers, Nestabilities oval dies, Quickutz number dies, ribbons and pins from stash and finally pen stitching.

Yesterday was my Dad's birthday and so I had to venture into my least favourite card making genre: Men's cards!

Thankfully The Graphics Fairy came up trumps with a suitable image and here's the finished card:

I added 'Dad' to the Graphics Fairy image in Photoshop and printed it onto some canvas printer paper to give it a more vintage feel.

The other ingredients: October afternoon papers, Sizzix tag die stamped with a Papermania stamp, circle clip from stash, inking and pen stitching.

Thanks for looking.

Ruthie x

A New Challenge

Lisa (Crafty Fairy) has launched a new challenge over on her blog.

Welcome to Shape of the Week Sunday!

I decided to set a Die Cutting based challenge on my blog every week, as there does not seem to be many die cutting challenges about so i thought this may inspire people!!

So my challenge to you is to make a card using a die of a scalloped circle - there are tons out there and i think it is a popular die!!

This challenge gave me the kick up the bum I need on Bank Holiday Monday to make my Mum's birthday card:

Ingredients:  Scalloped circle dies (large one is Nestabilities and small  one under the button is a Cuttlebug die), October Afternoon papers, Cuttlebug butterfly die, home-made journalling spot (made in Photoshop), Cuttlebug letters dies, mini bulldog clip from Paperchase, button from stash, pen stitching.

After I finished the card on Monday we headed out to Morecambe for a walk along the prom and to make most of the unusually nice weather.  It was also a good opportunity for me to practice my photography. Here's a shot I took when we walked down the Stone Jetty looking back towards the Midland Hotel:

Of course a trip to Morecambe wouldn't be complete for me without my favourite ice-cream treat, a Snowball Topper.  Although this has featured on my blog before I still had to take a photo of the 2010 version!

While I was queueing for my ice cream I managed to get another shot of the fabulously retro Sunset Ices ice-cream van:

(The composition isn't brilliant on this one, but I was limited as I was in the queue!)

Thanks for looking,

Ruthie x

Cameras, Chester and a Card

***Warning, picture heavy post***

Last Sunday was my birthday and as a present Mr Crafty Blogger paid for me to do a 1:1 photo course with the photographer and crafter extraordinaire the wonderful Kirsty Wiseman.

So last Friday I headed off to meet Kirsty.  I had a fantastic day and learnt loads about portrait photography and editing which enhances rather than destroys photos.  Although I could already shoot semi-auto and manual Kirsty managed to increase my confidence and prove that with a few tweaks I can get some great shots from my camera.  Here's a couple of shots from the day:

First this is me taken by Kirsty with my camera (pic from Kirsty's blog):

and here's one I took of Kirsty:

If you have a DSLR camera I cannot recommend the course highly enough!  If you are a beginner to DSLR photography it will save you months of reading manuals, tutorials and books.  If you know a bit more about it like I did it will increase your confidence and teach you lots of invaluable tips and tricks.

On Saturday I celebrated my birthday with friends and a trip to Chester Races.  A while ago I blogged about my intention to make a dress and I am pleased to report that I did make one and wore it to the races.  (It nearly didn't make it as I was still hemming it at 12.30am on Friday morning).

Here's a pic of me (on the left) and a friend waiting for the train to Liverpool.  It has to be said we got some funny looks when we boarded.

Once we got to Lime Street station there were a lot more race-goers knocking about so we blended in a bit more.  By the time we got to Chester we looked normal and after a lovely pub lunch we joined the hoardes of people heading to the course:

I had never been to the races before and my previous betting experience was limited to an annual flutter on the Grand National.   However I did manage to pick one winner (out of 8 races) and I did finish 'up' by £2.50.  Mr Crafty Blogger did significantly better, backing 4 of the 8 winners.    Here he is "studying the form" or whatever you do when you don't pick horses by their name or the jockey's silks:

(photo was taken on my mobile.  If you have an Android phone download Vignette, it's great fun)

Fortunately Mr Crafty Blogger's success meant the drinks were on him!

Finally as this is a craft blog I thought I had better share a card.  This is the thank you I made for Kirsty following the photo course:

Ingredients:  Basic Grey Offbeat paper, Quickutz and Cuttlebug alphabet dies, mini bulldog clip from Paperchase, Fiskars threading water punch.

Thanks for looking,

Ruthie x

A Twihard Birthday

Well Twilight mania  has well and truly passed me by.  I've not read any of the books or seen the films (I'm much more of a True Blood girl).   However, I happen to know a young lady who is Twilight mad and has a birthday coming up so it calls for a suitable birthday card.

As I said, I'm not that well up on the adventures of Edward, Jacob or Bella so a bit of interweb research was required.  One of the first things I found was THIS amazing cake, inspired by the Twilight series book covers.

The cake provided suitable inspiration and this is what I came up with:

Ingredients: Hand cut and paper-pieced chess pieces and apple; Nestabilities labels die; Cuttlebug embossing folder and corner die; ticket made from a Sizzix ticket die and text printed in Photoshop; flower and ribbon from stash, heart pin from local market, Poundland self adhesive gem, patterned paper download from Summertime Designs and a bit of inking to finish.

After reading all the stuff on the interweb I am tempted to give the books a go!

Thanks for looking,

Ruthie x

My First Sketch Based Card!

I had booked the day off work today and the plan was to go walking in the Lakes, that was until we checked the weather forecast!  So instead I've had a day of catching up with a few cards which I needed to make.

I often visit sketch sites for inspiration, but really struggle when it comes to actually making a card from them.  Today however I stumbled across this SKETCH on 2Sketches for you and actually managed (for the first time ever) to turn it into a card I was happy with!

Ingredients: Papers Basic Grey Infuse; scalloped edges cut with a Nellie Snellen die; Nestabilties ovals and scalloped ovals dies;  Cuttlebug flourish die;  ribbon, plain card, brads and roses from stash. 

I was on a bit of roll with the sketch and adapted it slightly and came up with this:

Ingredients:  Patterned paper -DCWV (very old stash); plain card from Partners; Kraft card from HERE; Nestabilities circle and scalloped circle die; Fiskars threading water/scalloped lace punch; lace, ribbon, pins from local market; metal pram embellishment from stash; Cuttlebug swiss dots embossing folder.

I think this may be a record, but here is another card I made yesterday.  Three in a weekend must be some kind of personal best!

Ingredients: Paper - My Mind's Eye; Cuttlebug Asterisk dies and Swiss Dots embossing folder; chipboard frame made with a Nellie Snellen die; mini bulldog clip from Wilkinsons; Poundland gems; Quickutz Metro alpha dies; ribbon from Aberkan.

Even though Mr Crafty Blogger and I had to abandon plans for walking in the lakes today, we did manage to get out on Saturday. 

We set off from the reservoir I posted last week and ended up here:

It looks nice and sunny on the photo, but trust me, it was very windy and exposed on top of the moor.  We did go up the tower, but it was so windy it was difficult to hold the camera still to get a decent shot.

Thanks for looking,

Ruthie x

With Love Card

A couple of pics of a card I made today:

Ingredients:

Paper - My Mind's Eye (magazine freebie :-) )

Cuttlebug embossing folder
Quickutz leaf die
Paper roses made using Cuttlebug scalloped circle dies and Papermania brads

Vintage ticket designed in Photoshop and cut with a Sizzix die

Ribbon from stash

Pins from local market

I think Spring may have finally sprung.  Mr Crafty Blogger and I took advantage of the lovely sunny weather we had a lunchtime today and went out for a walk.  

As always I took loads of photos and thought I would share this one: 

Thanks for looking,

Ruthie x

Vintage Style Card

I saw a fab tutorial for making paper roses on Monica Gayle's blog and just had to have at making some, even though I had no idea what I was going to use them on!  After they had been kicking round on my desk for a few days inspiration finally struck and I came up with this:

Ingredients:  Vintage image from here, Daisy D's papers, brown parcel paper, Nestabilities circle and scalloped circle dies, faux chipboard mat/frame*, Quickutz leaf die, paper roses made with Cuttlebug dies (Monica's tutorial here), twill tape and pin from my local market.

* The chipboard mat/frame was made by cutting a piece of scrap cardboard with a Nellie Snellen die which was then painted with acrylic and distressed using an emery board.

Following on from the Easter chick sweetie bags on my last post, I couldn't resist having a go at the bunny tails bags which Craft Fairy featured on her blog.  Here's my take on them:

The bunnies are made from a Quickutz die matted on Nestabilities circles.

Toffee bon bons always go down well in the office so hopefully my colleagues will like them.

Thanks for looking,

Ruthie x

She crafts, she types.............

...... very occasionally!

A very belated happy new year to you all.  Yes I'm back and I've even done some crafting so I thought I would share it with you.

First is a card for a friend's birthday:

Ingredients: kraft/parcel paper embossed with a cuttlebug folder, MMI paper, Nestabilities dies, Making Memories ribbon, prima flowers, mini clip from Paperchase, wordart freebie download from here.

I have also made a gift bag for her present out of a C4 envelope:

Ingredients: C4 Envelope, K&CO Amy Butler paper, dymo tape, Nestabilities dies, Quickutz alphabet dies, Prima Flowers, string from local market, twill ribbon, scalloped lace punch, heart shaped brad from stash, button from here.

As well as crafting I did enjoy the snow we had at Chritsmas and just after new year, here's a few pics of what it was like up here in Lancashire:

Thanks for looking.

Ruthie x

Happy New Year from the Crafty Blogger

First things first:
Hope you all had a good one. We celebrated with a few friends, quite a few drinks and a lot of bad singing courtesy of the new(ish) Singstar Abba. If you've seen Mama Mia and thought Pierce Brosnan was bad, he's got nothing on me!


Well I've had an excellent start to the New Year, my first ever blog award. The lovely Sarah has awarded me this !


Sarah makes fantastic cards so I was honoured she picked my blog to forward the award to. Check out her blog and cards here.


Now the rules of the award are that you have to name 5 addictions and 5 fave blogs. So here goes:


My 5 addictions:


1) Making cards and papercraft projects
2) Felt (to go with no. 1)

3) Trying to get better with my camera, and posting my efforts on Flickr

4) Morecambe Bay Potted shrimps

5) Rubbish chick flick movies - the cheesier the better!


Now my five favourite blogs (in no particular order), who I've chosen to pass the award on to:


1) Jo Kill's brilliant card making blog - Jo is the queen of cards for me.

2) Paper-and-String - Fab blog for all felt fans out there.

3) Emma Bagladee - Fab bag designer and blogger

4) Artfartymacs crafty news space - You are never short of inspiration on Claire's blog as I think she produces on average 1 card an hour, compared with my 1 every 8 weeks!

5) Jen's Journey - I don't scrap but I love looking at what Jen comes up with on her blog.



I did intend to blog after Christmas but somehow never got round to it so I will have to combine it in this post.


We had a lovely time a Craftyblogger HQ, and were lucky enough to receive some fab presents. The man in the big red suit was particulary kind to me this year and I got this BEAUTY:
I am now a fully fledged Nigella wannabe as I have my own KitchenAid mixer. It also goes very well with the bright pink apron my friend bought me with 'Kitchen Goddess' embroidered on the front.

And here's a rare shot of me proving that I do actually use the mixer, rather than just photographing and stroking it. (I was making Nigella's Norweigan Cinnamon Buns - highly recommended)

I can't finish my post without mentioning my TV highlight of the Christmas period. I know a lot of you out there love Dr Who, and in particular Mr Tennant (well who wouldn't), but the thing which got me most excited was the new Jonathon Creek Christmas Special.

I love that programme so much. I was like a child on Christmas Eve waiting for it to start. Mr Crafty Blogger and I settled down with a nice bottle of red and some Christmas chocolates to watch it. A perfect night and JC and his new assistant didn't dissapoint.

Not quite a good as the Black Canary Christmas special but still excellent entertainment. As a friend of mine once said, 'it's like Scooby Doo with real people' and who can argue with that! Here's a clip courtesy of the Beeb.

I really hope they make some more.

Finally I have managed to sneak in a bit of crafting, a quick mum to be card.

Image is Pink Petticoat, Basic Grey paper, and of course felt flowers!

Must dash, card to make and domestic goddess type things to do!

Cheers

Ruthie x