Sunday 31 July 2016

Unstampabelles August Challenge

Good Morning! Can you believe it's August and time for another challenge at Unstampabelles. We had lots of yummy entries for our last challenge 'Go Native' . The DT are busy choosing their fave ......wait and see if it's you!!

This time Susan wants you to create anything but a card. So plenty of scope for your creativity. The twist is to do a tutorial for your make or link it to a tute.

This is what I have been playing with this month.

 
I have been playing with some flower petals that I bought from a Facebook crafter who was selling off her stuff. I found this tutorial on .youtube
They were quite easy to make and the lovely part was creating the gem in the centre. I used a circle of card and added pearls in a circle and then a gem to the centre. When I had finished them I felt they were too large to add to cards so I hunted through my craft stash and found some unloved barrettes which I'd had for eons. I covered them with ribbon using hot glue and attached the flowers to the centre. Eh Voila! I now have some pretty hair ornaments or they can be used on a beach sarong by slipping them through the knott.
 
 
 
There is a great prize for this challenge too donated by the lovely Susan.
 
 
It's a fab Bellina Butterfly Stem Die. Now who wouldn't want to win that!
 
I hope you enjoy this challenge.....I know I did. I will be popping in to see all your lovely creations soon. In the meantime I am scheduling this post as my Grand Daughters arrive in Cyprus this weekend (for the first time) . I am sooooo excited!! I won't have a lot of time to craft but I'll be making plenty of time for cuddles!!
Have fun!!

Sunday 24 July 2016

'Go Native' with the Belles!!

Well I can't believe we're on to the final week of the Unstampabelles challenge. Where do the days go?!!!

Susan wants you to 'Go Native' and show us what it means to be a native of your country or your adopted country. The twist is that it must be a square card.

There is a wee prize for the winner kindly donated by Susan.

 
                            It's a lovely embossing folder and a packet of sequins.....very pretty.

                      This is my inspiration for you. Can you guess why I've used this image?

 
Well in the UK where I originate from 'Everything Stops For Tea'!! No matter who you visit their first words ....after saying 'Hello' of course.....are more often than not 'I'll put the kettle on and make us some tea!!' Tea is a great healer for any situation and can be enjoyed with friends. Especially if it's accompanied with cake or scones or yummy biscuits!!
 
I created a square card using white card stock from my stash and covered it with some freebie paper from a magazine. The paper pack is LOTV Nitwits Collection. and it has some pretty cups, teapots and cakes scattered across it (sorry it doesn't show up very well) I then browsed the images on the CD Greeting Card Factory and found the teapots. I edged the topper with sparkly pink peel offs. The sentiment was in my stash. I trimmed it to size and layered on the DP.
 
'Life is like a
teapot,
to be filled to the brim
and enjoyed with friends'
 
I hope I've inspired you to take part in the challenge. Just remember.....NO STAMPS PLEASE....we are UN stampabelles. The link to the Unstampabelles blog is in the sidebar.
 
Have fun and I look forward to visiting you soon.

'Fab and Feimine' at CD Sunday.

Good Morning everyone. I hope you've all been enjoying the good weather in the UK and if you're in the rainy season elsewhere in the world I hope you're keeping warm and dry.

This fortnight at CD Sunday it's my turn to choose the theme. I have gone for 'Fab and Feminine'.....so I'm expecting to see lots of super girlie creations.

Before I show you my creation I have a wee bit of sad news. One of our Design Team has decided to have a break and is resigning from the team. It's Sue. Sue has been on the team as long as I can remember and she creates some fab design. She will be sadly missed but I'm sure we'll be seeing her work again as she will hopefully join in the challenges from the other side of the fence....so to speak. She's not ill just going through a busy period at home and plans to pack away her crafty goodies. We'll miss you Sue but please don't be a stranger and when you're ready to come back there'll be a warm welcome for you.

Last time Meg asked you to show your 'Summer Vacation' scenes. There were some lovely creation and one or two were very nostalgic. She'll be deciding on her winner shortly but in the meantime the winners post is up for 'Once Upon a Time'. So if you entered this one pop over to CD Sunday to see if you're a winner.

Now for my inspiration for  'Fab and Feminine'.



I began with white card stock which I ran through the bug using a trellis embossing folder. I used a template from an iris folder pattern for the dress. Instead of using papers to created the iris folding I decided to use some lace ribbon for the main body of the dress and followed the numbering on the pattern. (in the same way as you would with paper strips) The bodice was created by using Indigo Blu gold flakes. The 'hips' were a piece of gold card stock. So a bit of a different take on iris folding.

The patterned background paper was from an Ooh La La  CD 'Carnival of Colour' and I mounted this on yellow Lidls' card stock which had been run through the Bug using the dotty embossing folder.

To finish I created a bow using sparkly pink ribbon and added a cream ribbon rose to the knot. The sentiment was from another CD 'Holly Pond Hill' by Joanne Sheen.

So lots of girly creations this time please. Remember it doesn't have to be a card. It could be a pretty box for jewellery or a scrapbook layout of e.g a girl's night out, a wedding, you and your sister or friend . Anything really just use a CD for some part of it and tell us which CD it's from....cos we're nosey and like to know!!

 There is a wee prize for the winner. So who knows it could be you receiving a little crafty package from Cyprus through your letter box instead of bills!! Have fun and I look forward to visiting you soon.


Saturday 23 July 2016

'Anything Goes' with the Dragonflies!

Good Morning from a hot , hot, hot Cyprus. It's time for another challenge at Crafting with Dragonflies. This time its an old favourite' Anything Goes'. So that is any style as long as it is a card.
                                                           
                                                       This is my inspiration for you.
 
 
 

I have been making some notelets. I began with some DL blank cards, landscape orientation. I've had these in my stash for eons.

I had recently bought a magazine with some Hunky Dorey freebies attached. I love Hunky Dorey as the quality is so amazing. I also had a magazine with a freebie feather die which I used and placed them alongside the images.

 A 'Just a note' die had recently been purchased for my Craft Group from Joanne Sheen. We do love Joanne Sheen's online shop as here in Cyprus shipping stuff out proves to be expensive. We have no proper craft shops here so rely solely on online purchasing. Joanne Sheen is a first 'go to' as her postage costs are zero if you spend more than £9 and lets face it that is not difficult for a crafter. The service is very reliable too with a wide range of craft goods. This is the link joannasheen craft-supplies

I added the sentiment across the image of the postcard and tag. Finally adding some gems. A simple notelet card I am sure you'll agree but perfect for the challenge.

I hope you have a crafty week and I look forward to visiting your blogs. Click on the link in the sidebar to Crafting with Dragonflies to see what the rest of the team have created to inspire you.

Monday 18 July 2016

#209 'Add some Texture'

Good Morning everyone another new challenge at Ooh La La begins today. This time the challenge has been chosen by Avril 'Add some Texture'  If you pop over to Ooh La La  (link in sidebar) you will see if you were a winner of our last challenge  #208 'Something beginning with 'F' ''. There were some great entries and who knew that you would find so many interesting 'F' words for your creations. Amazing!!

My inspiration for you this time is a Christmas card using the Ooh La La CD 'Shawn Jenkins Collection'. You can find it here ooh-la-la-creations.


The style of of card I have created is called a 'Joy' card although I have no idea why. It's two cards in one. The smaller card goes inside the larger card and overlaps. The main card began as white card stock using two sheets of A4 joined together to create the front flap. The front was then cut in half. I used the CD 'Shawn Jenkins Collection' and printed off the background paper matting it on top off co-ordinating aqua card stock from a Lidl's paper pack. I put aqua card stock inside and placed a strip of the background paper down the side.

The smaller card was white card stock again with a mat of the designer paper and  then a mat of white which I embossed in the Bug and added the image from the CD to the top.

This was a fun card to make but it is a little large and ends as an 8 inch square card which might be expensive to post in the UK. (I am not sure, as we don't have those restrictions here in Cyprus|)

So another Christmas card to add to the slowly building Christmas stock!! I am sure you'll enjoy this challenge as it's an easy peasy one ......just add some texture to any thing you are creating and Voila!!

Have a great week and use plenty of sun cream if you're holidaying here in Cyprus as that sun is very strong!! Speak to you again soon.

Sunday 10 July 2016

CD Sunday 'Summer Vacation'

 
Good Morning from a very hot sunny Cyprus. It's certainly 'Summer Vacation' time here and at CD Sunday this is the theme that Meg, one of our newbies on the design team, has set as the challenge. This is very appropriate for this time of the year. I know it's Winter 'down under' but I'm sure they will enjoy bringing out a bit of sunshine too.
 
Last time Carol asked for 'Once Upon a Time' creations. We had some lovely designs and some memory joggers of those delightful stories which were family favourites. She's busy sorting out her winner and top three so you'll have to wait til the next challenge to see if you are one of them.. The winners of the 'No Images' are ready tho and Sue's choice is up on the blog now ( link in sidebar) 
 
This time for your inspiration I went to a Joanne Sheen CD 'Holly Hill Pond' CD 2. I love the images on this CD. The artwork is wonderful. I started with A4 card stock folded to A5 and covered it with designer paper from the CD.
 
 
 
I place the image centrally and then added some embellishments. I made the rosette from the same designer paper and added a flowery button. I made the bunting and added it to string and as it fell onto the card I left it hanging this way .....hope you think it's OK.  I had some matching card stock and made the sentiment banner, adding an extra small image from the CD.
 
I hope you enjoy this challenge as much as I did. Please pop over to CD Sunday and take a peep at the other designs by the team and give them some love....especially our newbies.
 
Have a good week and try to keep cool if you are here in Cyprus and don't forget the sun cream!!

Saturday 9 July 2016

'Summer Fun'

Good Morning. It's another hot one here in Cyprus and it's my turn to choose the theme at Crafting with Dragonflies. My choice is 'Summer Fun' which seems apt for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere and will bring a bit of sunshine to those needing it 'down under'!!

Here is my inspiration for you. The image reminded me of Summer fun at the beach with buckets and spades and  sand between my toes....well this part is not so much fun as I hate sand between my toes!! But the children don't seem to mind do they.


I started with A4 card stock and folded it to A5. I then browsed my Ooh La La CDs and found this image on the Shawn Jenkins collection. The card was covered in matching designer paper from the same CD. The tiny flip flops were part of the sheet of embellishments so I fussy cut those and instead of using them to decoupage the ones in the main image I decided to place them at the bottom of the layout to look as tho you are walking into the picture!!

The sentiment strip was made from scraps that matched the colours of the main card. The 'HELLO' sentiment is made up from individual die cut letters. I then fussy cut a butterfly and added it to the sentiment with a tiny 3D pad.

I hope I've brought a bit of sunshine to your day with this challenge. Do pop over to Crafting with Dragonflies (link in sidebar) and see what the rest of the team have created.....you won't be disappointed.

Thank you for visiting and have a crafty week!!

Monday 4 July 2016

#208 'Something Beginning with 'F''

Good morning crafters. It's time for another challenge at Ooh La La. This time it's been chosen by the lovely Michelle. She would like you to create a card adding 'Something Beginning with F'.  We had some fab entries last time for Pauline's 'Sun, Sea and Sand' challenge theme. Don't forget to pop over and see if you are a winner.

This is my inspiration for you.


My 'F' is First and Fairies! This is a lovely image from the CD ' Fairies and Blooms'. You can find it  here ooh-la-la-creations.

I started with white card stock and added the spotted background paper from the CD. Then printed off the topper and added this. The topper came with the little stamp in the corner and the sentiment 'Happy 1st Birthday' and Grand daughter across the bottom. So everything I needed......nothing to add ....just what I like!! BUT of course I couldn't stop there and I looked through my stash for appropriate embellishments to add and found some tiny buttons in the colours of the sprinkles......perfect. I added them at the bottom next to the red No 1 peel off. ET VOILA!

I'm sure you'll have Fun looking for things beginning with F. I know I did.
I look forward to seeing your creations when I come to visit. Have a fun week!!

Sunday 3 July 2016

#59 'Go Native' with Unstampabelles

Another month has whizzed by. Where do the days go? It's time for another challenge at Unstampabelles. Last month Susan asked for Pocket Letters or wallets. We had some yummy entries. Look out for the winner announced on the 11th.

This time Susan wants us to go native! So we are looking for anything that relates to your country. The twist is 'It's Hip to be Square' So we are looking for a square card.

This is my inspiration for you.


I've gone with the colours of my native country....the United Kingdom!!! Yeh!! I started with a white square card and added a red mat . Then I looked through some old paper pads and found some striped ones in red, white and blue ....perfect. I created some banners with them and placed them as though they were hanging from the top. I had bought some pegs from Jumbos recently ( this is a shop a bit like Poundland but a wee bit pricier but packed to the gunnels with trash!) I loved that they had wooden stars and buttons already on them. I attached them with hi tac red ds tape. I then mounted a peel off sentiment, 'Have a Great Day'. on white and dark blue card stock. And Voila!!

I hope you enjoy creating your card. I know I did. It doesn't have to be a card though . It can be anything as long as you don't use stamps and that includes digis!! We are UNSTAMPabelles!!

Ooooppps nearly forgot! As usual there is a yummy prize donated by Susan.

 
A lovely embossing folder and packet of sequins. A great prize I'm sure you'll agree.

                   I look forward to catching up with you on your blogs. Have a great week!!