New sketch over at Papertake Weekly .......

This card is for my great-nephew Jack and my DT card for this weeks Papertake Weekly sketch. I used another of the LOTV die cuts matted onto red card.  The ribbon is Berisford 25mm small check black and white gingham and I added three small red polka dot buttons tied with natural button twine.  I made the sentiment on the computer and matted that onto red card also.  The background papers were from a pad which Andrea bought for me.

Please pop over to Papertake Weekly to have a look at the fabulous work by the Design Team and you have one week to get your entry in - you could win a fab prize!!
(take note little sister, not a single flower, rosebud or leaf and not a drop of stickles!! it could practicallly be described as 'clean and simple' lol)

See you all soon, Mary G x

Tilda with hearts ...........

Tilda looks so pretty holding her string of hearts, I've coloured her in pink copics and am especially pleased with her socks, I remembered to leave some white up the front lol!  I was inspired by this weeks Just Magnolia challenge, and I have used red card for matting and my background papers include pink and white.

I have used our new flat blossoms and added sparkly gems to the centre

I finished the card with stardust stickles (as usual) and used pink silky crush ribbon and pink and red heart pins, all available from ribbongirl

See you soon, and don't miss the Christmas Challenge and the Reindeer Giveaway over at the Ribbon Girl Blog

Mary G x

Feasting on berries ....... under green trees ...... and a new Christmas challenge

There is a new 'Jingle all the way to Christmas' challenge over at the Ribbon Girl blog and inspired by this weeks Penny Black Saturday Challenge 'Green + Trees' I made this cute Christmas card using this gorgeous Penny Black stamp (which I bought from Tab who has loads of stamps for sale) which I coloured with copics,  I die cut some trees with my new Marianne Christmas Tree die, then smudged some white ink on them.  I put on plenty of Stardust Stickles. 

Apologies for the awful photo (taken at night) but you can see the gorgeous Penny Black hedgehog - the holly leaves and berries were part of the image, but I cut them off and placed them on the corner of the card. I used red silky crush to tie a bow and more stickles to enhance the cute hedgehog feasting on holly berries - speaking of which, it seems every holly bush or tree around here is covered in gorgeous red berries - the birds will do well!!    I will enter this into the Penny Black Saturday Challenge before it's too late ....    Red silky crush is from here

please scroll down to see the advent calender made by my little sister Jackie

I made this tree ornament from felt cut out with a nestie.  Before the two sides were stitched together I glued on silver flat cord, tiny ric rac then stitched on flower and heart shaped sparkly buttons - I finished it off with one of our chunky felt holly leaves with bead berries

Silver flat cord, felt, ric rac and buttons are all from www.ribbongirl.co.uk

This tree ornament was made with white card using a fleur de lys nestie, silver corners and loads of gems.  I finished it with green hat pins with red open weave ribbon at the top and bottom, and used flat silver cord to make a hanging loop.  The edges were covered in lots of stardust stickles.
Green hat pins and red open weave ribbon are from www.ribbongirl.co.uk

My sister Jackie doesn't have a blog, but she made this fabulous advent calender for one of her grand-daughters Faye (she'll have to make another one for her new baby grand daughter Nicole!).  Made of fabric and felt, it is her own design and it took her ages to make as every part of it has been hand drawn and hand stitched, including Santa and all of the little present bags, each has an embroidered number, a ribbon with a bell or charm and every one is attached with press studs to withstand handling over the years.  I love it and I'm sure it will last Faye for years and years!  Thanks for sharing this with us Jackie!

See you soon Mary G x

PTW have gone Christmas Crackers .......

This is my DT project for the new Papertake Weekly Challenge 'Christmas Crackers'  .... you don't have to make a cracker – but you can if you want as some of the DT did.  No, they just want to see your Christmas faves – so Yule rules this week. If it’s festive, then it’s fine :)

I used an A3 piece of card and scored and folded until it resembled a cracker when opened.  The edges were made with a nestie and I decorated with 9mm red and white saddlestitch ribbon.

The inside was made with a LOTV sentiment and a couple of Magnolia snowflakes to which I added plenty of stardust stickles and a couple of large gems.     Do pop over to PTW to check out the fab creations by the Design Team and if you enter the challenge you could win three  stamps from Digital Delights!

and talking of delights, tomorrow evening I am going to see John Barrowman at Newcastle City Hall - can't wait!!  I hope he doesn't mind me pinching this photo from his website!!

See you soon, Mary G x

Hello Dolly ...... and a new colour challenge ....

I fancied making a rag doll for a Christmas gift and this little dolly (approx 20 inches tall) is the result - I particularly like her arms which are attached using large pearl buttons using a very long doll making needle, so they move, and best of all they stay just where you put them.  I am still not sure about her features which as you can probably see, have been unpicked and re-stitched more than once - poor dolly!

Her hair took ages to make - almost a full ball of black cotton dk yarn, which was wrapped, cut, stitched then firmly stuck and stitched to the head - her bunches are tied with 7mm pink satin ribbon which is stitched to the side of her head.  I decided she looked better with a fringe so cut the front of her hair after she was all finished! I added pale pink small polka dot buttons to her shoes which are made from felt.  Ribbon, Lace, Buttons and Felt are all available from the Ribbon Girl online store

Her dress is embellished wiith 15mm pink satin ribbon and 18mm white cotton lace, and her pants are trimmed with broderie anglaise which although you can't see very much of them are made from pink spotty fabric. The pattern and all the fabric, including the body fabric, is from The Fat Quarters which is a 15 minute drive away and well worth a visit - the staff are so friendly and helpful

This is my DT project for Colour Challenge No 13 PINK & WHITE over at the Ribbon Girl blog - it will run for two weeks so you have plenty of time - there is some fabulous inspiration from our amazing Design Team - do pop over and have a look and I look forward to seeing all your gorgeous pink and white projects - you could win a great prize of one of our pretty pink mini ribbon kits

and a £10 voucher generously donated by Laila and Lisa to spend in the LOTV store - and they've got a gorgeous range of new stamps, just out!

See you soon, Mary G x

When is a card not a card ...............

When is a card not a card ....... when it's a gift card holder

This is my DT project for this weeks Papertake Weekly challenge. Please pop over and be inspired by the fabulous DT projects - and the prize this week is a £10 voucher to spend in the Ribbon Girl online store  I used a diecut LOTV image enhanced with plenty of Stardust Stickles, the die ccut images are so handy when you're in a bit of a hurry!!

I adhered the image to the card via a flap and underneath made a little pocket to hold a gift of money

I was pleased with the end result becaue the card can still be on show as any normal card would be.

I used red and white pencil stripe ribbon, 18mm white cotton zig zag lace, a small red and white polka dot button and some natural button twine - all from http://www.ribbongirl.co.uk/ (and my sister will be very impressed that I made a card without using any flowers on it!! lol)

See you soon, Mary G x

One layer - leaves .................

This card is for the current Less is More challenge - one layer, leaves

I scored the lines on my  card, then stamped directly onto it with a Papertrey Ink image and sentiment using  Hawain Shores ink.  To be honest, the only other leaf stamp I had was a holly leaf! 

The only embellishment is a 7mm Berisford satin ribbon

(don't miss the Christmas Embellishmnt Give Away over at the Ribbon Girl blog!

Lest we forget .....

"They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them."

 

Welcome Baby Nicole ...............

My niece Joanne had another baby girl,  Nicole Amy, who arrived on 1st November.  After a few worrying days in the high dependancy unit, I'm pleased to say that the baby is now well and at home with her Mum, Dad and sister Faye.  I thoroughly enjoyed making this pink and sparkly card and decorated it with Zva crystals, pink and white mulberry flowers and pale  pink silky crush ribbon.

I used a LOTV diecut square for the image and chose pink patterned papers and card

I used loads of Stardust Stickles and a gorgeous Zva crystal flourish which I cut into pieces and incorporated into the flower arrangement.  The green leaves and fronds were cut with Martha Stewart punches and the mulberry flowers were a 30mm pink/white two tone rose, 13mm pink/white roses, pink/white pretty blossoms, 10mm white rose buds

The inside was decorated to compliment the front

I made a box which I also decorated to match the card, and added a bow of the same ribbon,a mulberry rose and another piece of the Zva flourish

I was really pleased with how this particular card turned out
Ribbon, Zva Crystal Flourish, Mulberry Flowers are all from http://www.ribbongirl.co.uk/
I'm going to enter this into the LOTV bright and sparkly challenge. See you soon, Mary G xx

Blue and Pink Christmas Card .................

My pink and blue Christmas card is unusual but I think it looks pretty.  The image stamp and sentiment are both from Lili of the Valley and I am entering this card into the 'bright and sparkly' challenge over at LOTV challenge.

The image which I coloured with copics was stitched around the edge then I added loads of Stardust Stickles, a piece of blue twill stripe ribbon, and some gorgeous aqua and silver sparkle ribbon.

I finished with an arrangement of pink/white 30mm rose, 10mm rose buds, pink/white pretty blossoms, rose leaves, white paper frond cut with a Magnolia doohickey die and some green leaves cut with my Martha Stewart punch. Last embellishment was some stick on gems in the corners.  This is my DT card for Papertake Weekly - the challenge this week  is First Christmas (card of the PTW year!!) so please pop over and feast your eyes on the gorgeous creations by the PTW ladies - and do enter this weeks challenge and you will have another card finished ready to add to your Christmas card box!

Image and sentiment - LOTV

Mulberry Flowers, Twill Stripe Ribbon, Sparkle Ribbon - all from http://www.ribbongirl.co.uk/

See you soon, Mary G x

Red and orange, clean and simple .......

I made this card for the Less is More challenge 'red and orange' and it is clean, lots of white space, and simple, just an embossed Christmas tree (using an embossing folder which we've had for a few years and never used) mounted onto an orange and then a red background with a tiny piece of red twill stripe ribbon and stamped the sentiment straight onto the card  - then I went just a little bit overboard with the sparklies .....

I do like it, and was oh so tempted to add a gorgeous bow but I restrained myself lol!

See you soon, Mary G x

Anything goes with the option of sparkle ........

The challenge over at Papertake Weekly is anything goes with the option of sparkle, and as I love sparkle, glitter and bling I went to town on this card and co-ordinating box! 

ps  Can you see that large clear stick on gem trying to make a bid for freedom down at the bottom right hand corner?  I stuck it back on, and wished I had noticed it before editing the photos!

I coloured the image with Copics pens then glittered with Stardust stickles, added some white traditional fan pattern Cluny lace and some 12mm silver lame ribbon (which I coloured with a Copics pen to tone with the backing papers - which means you can have glittery ribbon in any colour you fancy!)

My usual flowers consists of 30mm and 13mm white mulberry roses with white pretty blossoms.  I tied a double bow with Wavecrest Seam Binding and added a snowflake charm and a silvery blue star pin.

Continuing on with the 'sparkle' theme, I added parts of a Zva sparkly flourish to my hand-made box (my box making skills are improving every day!!)

Seam Binding, Cluny Lace, Snowflake Charm, Mulberry Flowers, Star Pin and Zva Flourishes are all from http://www.ribbongirl.co.uk/

I was pleased with the end result and will put this in my Christmas card pile for someone special.

See you soon, Mary G x