Marianne's Design Diva's

Happy Tuesday - I am right, it is Tuesday, isn't it?  I don't know whether I'm coming or going at the moment, it's been so busy.

I have been asked to make a couple of cards for a friend at work so I thought I'd use the theme for this week's Marianne Design Diva's challenge which is 'Make it Girly' and I came up with this for my first card.  I just love any excuse at all to use my Oval frame - it is far and away my most favourite die in my whole collection!  Here is the card in full:

My friend who asked for this card wanted something floral so I chose to use text in the frame instead of an image, and just added the vintage die cut roses with some flowers and ribbon.  Coupled with ivory pearls and stickles glitter, I reackon it was girly enough.

Hope you like!  Thanks for stopping by and have a great week! :o) xx

A-a-a-a-CHOOO!!!

Phew.... Excuse me, I just can't stop sneezing!!  I don't normally 'suffer' with hayfever - OK, I get itchy nose and eyes occasionally, but for some reason, this year I am really, really bad!  It began on Sunny Saturday when I sat outside to do my work for a couple of hours.  My eyes and nose are just like someone's turned a tap on and I'm sneezing like a hundred times a day!!!!  OK, that may be a slight exaggeration, butI've never had hayfever like it before!  It's weird, it's like I've got a really bad cold with none of the aches and pains that go with it, just a permanently red nose!

Anyway, over at Midweek Magnolias this week we have a game of Bingo for you to play.  Our lovely Cathy has created this fab bingo board and you need to choose a line across, down, or diagonally in any direction, or, if you're feeling very adventurous and creative, why not go for a full house!

So, eyes down and off we go.  I opted for the top line and went for Pink, Ribbon and Die Cuts/Punches.  Here is the card I came up with, complete with my home-made Frantage - gosh, I love this effect!  So much so that just about everything in the house is getting the frantage treatment at the moment, including the metal corners on my card.

The flowers I made myself with a punch that I've had for absolutely years - probably ever since I first began crafting at home.  I've never done anything quite so adventurous with it before though, but I love the effect of the flowers so much that I'm punching away like crazy every spare moment I get and making these by the sackload!  The bg paper is also one of my own again -all in all it'a a totally a DIY creation really! LOL!

The Frantage I made with some white and gold UTEE, a splash of pink embossing powder and a little glitter.  But, a little goes a long way so I think I'm going to be Frantage-ing for quite some time yet.  I'm going to be sharing this card with Totally Tilda's challenge this week - I've not participated for a while, but I like their heat embossed theme this week so managed to tie it in with my MWM dt piece.

Anyway, that's about my lot for today.  I've rambled on for far too long.  Thank you for stopping by here, and I wish you a good week! :o) xx

April Showers

Happy Wednesday once more to all who stop by here.  April is a mental month for me because so many of my close friends and family members have birthdays in April and every year it catches me out and unprepared!!  This year is no exception :o(  I've got a busy time over the next couple of days as I have a few cards to get made.  I've also got an exciting function to prepare for later this year too as hubs and I are celebrating 15 years as Mr & Mrs.  After a lot of chat (from me) and a lot of listening (from him!) we have decided to have a Mad Hatter's Tea Party by way of celebration and I am having the best time making the preparations.  The only thing we can't rely on is obviously the weather, so I'm putting a contingency plan in place too!  Ideally we will have a lawn back by then - just now it is a sad and sorry excuse for a lawn and I am planning on getting out there to repair it over the next few days.  Very little rain coupled with lots of snow and ice have pretty much decimated our lawn and all that is left is dry burnt grass, lots of moss and tons of dandelions and dock leaves trying to break through.

Onto my card this week.  Over at Midweek Magnolias, my fabulous teamies have created a wonderful selection of inspiring samples to get people to join in with our April Showers theme.  Here is my offering:

Once again the bg papers are my own creation, and Tilda is coloured with my Faber Castell pencils. 

I've even been and bought a couple of purple pencils this week - eek!  I am hopeless with purple but I really want to give it a go!  I did use it on the flowers though:

I probably should consider moving away from blues anyway - it's my favourite colour but I tend to use it too much.... 

Well that's my lot for today - I have a couple of calls to make, a couple of cards to make, and a few pressies to wrap!  It feels like Christmas round here!

Have a great week and thanks for stopping by!  :o) xxx

Is it Summer yet??

Brrrr....  Judging by the look of my car, I would say not!  It's so confusing for the wildlife - I've woke up listening to birds singing, but not as excitedly as they normally would.  My daffodils popped their beautiful golden heads out, only to be beaten back down again by snow and I am just desperate to get into my garden and make a start on getting it ready for the summer, but that wind is so cold, even in the sunshine!  Maybe next week?

In the meantime I shall have to content myself with indoor projects.  I have a few ideas of things that I want to get on and do, but first I want to show you the tag that I made for this week's Midweek Magnolia theme which is "How Charming", and we are asking you to use a charm somewhere on your project.  The girls have been busying away like mad to create some amazing inspirational samples which I urge you to go and check out for yourself.  Here is my offering:



The papers I used are WAY off the mark for me - I don't recall ever using mint before, but they work so beautifully.  They were a sample that a friend sent to me many years ago and I've just never got round to using them because they're not my usual taste.  I've always thought they were gorgeous, but a little too 'modern' for me, but I decided that they would be perfect for this tag, and they are so Spring-like and cheery.  Unfortunately, I've covered all the beautiful birds that lie underneath the image - the paper normally looks like this

Beautiful, isn't it?

I'm sharing my project today with themes over at Lovely Hanglar or Sweet Magnolia as they have the theme Butterflies or things that flutter and with Marvellous Magnolia who's theme is Wings(my charm and the invisible birds on my paper!) and with You, Me and Magnolia who have a Spring theme.

And that's my lot for today.  I'm off to meet a friend for coffee soon which I have been looking forward to for the last week!  Hope you're having a good week wherever you are, and thank you for stopping by! :o) xxx