A Finnish Star with Fairies and Flowers ......

For many months I have kept a link to Debbi's blog where she showed her readers how to make this Finnish star - well, inspired by this weeks LOTV challenge (pink, white and silver - my favourites!) I set to and created this 3-dimensional beauty! Bad light prevented perfect photos, but not bad considering we've had the lights on all morning it's so gloomy.

I used double sided pink patterned paper 'Rose Coloured Glasses' and added a LOTV diecut with 2 little fairies (I thought it was rather apt as the current LOTV challenge blog will close and a new LOTV challenge blog begins in the new year and will be called Lili's Little Fairies  (and can I just take this opportunity of wishing Jacqui and Bev the very best of luck with the new challenge).

Once I had made the star itself (the instructions were spot on Debbi, thank you) I added the LOTV image on a scalloped mat of pink card, then embellished with pink and white roses, pretty blossoms and leaves, cut white leaves with my Martha Stewart punch then added a ribbon bow made with our new striped organza white and silver ribbon.  I used stardust stickles on the white leaves and the fairies, then added some raindrop shaped sparkly gems on the points of the star.  I will be making more of these, they are so pretty.

Flowers, roses, rose-leaves and ribbon are all from here. Gems and stickles from stash.

(Please don't forget the Ribbon Girl Blog is having a sumptuous red ribbon giveaway on Sunday!)

see you soon, Mary G x

Sparkly Pink Fairy Christmas Card ....

I followed Bev's sketch at this weeks LOTV challenge to make this very pink and sparkly Christmas card!

The image was coloured using Copics and liberally glittered with Stardust Stickles - the white circle and pink background were cut with a nestabilities die.

I used white 18mm zig zag cotton lace and pink ruffle edge sheer ribbon to tie around the card and I hung a snowflake charm behind the bow with a piece of candy pink divine twine.  The flowers used were 30mm pink/white Mulberry rose, pink/whiter pretty blossoms and pink/white semi open rosebuds.  The foliage was cut from green card with Martha Stewart punches.  I added the sentiment matted onto pink card with plenty of Stardust Stickles and lastly added a couple of silver filigree corners.

I made a box from white card and added co-ordinating papers to the top and sides plus more of the pink ruffle edge sheer ribbon.

I was really pleased with how this card turned out - I even decorated the inside of the card and stamped the image again but didnt colour it in this time and I was especially pleased that my box-making skills are improving!  Less 'oops and oh no's and trips to the recycling bin, and more 'oohs and aahs'

I will now enter this into the LOTV challenge, and also Totally Papercrafts, see you soon

Flowers, lace and ribbon are all from http://www.ribbongirl.co.uk/

Sentiment from Pink Petticoat

Silver corners from WOC

 Mary G x

It's 25th so it's time for a new 'Jingle all the way to Christmas' challenge ....

As it's 25th of the month there is another 'Jingle all the way to Christmas' challenge over at the Ribbon Girl blog and this is my card:

I used a LOTV image which has been coloured with copics and smothered in Stardjust Stickles!

I added 30mm white zig zag cotton lace and 12mm silver lame ribbon - the flowers are a 30mm purple two tone rose, 20mm large white rosebuds and white pretty blossoms.  Lace, ribbon and mulberry flowers are all from the Ribbon Girl. A doohickey swirl and a nice sentiment from LOTV complete the card. I will enter this card into the Totally Gorguss challenge 'Pastel Christmas'

A close up of the LOTV image

So please pop over to the Ribbon Girl blog and take a look at the fabulous projects made by the mega talented Ribbon Girls DT - we hope they inspire you to get cracking with your Christmas crafting and you could win a really nice prize, see above, if you enter the challenge which runs for two weeks until 8th November.

Wedding acceptance ... and a beheaded sunflower .....

I wanted to make an acceptance card for a wedding invitation and thought I might make it to suit this weeks LOTV challenge - bingo - choose any line so I chose ribbon, flower and jewels.  Actually, when I looked at the new challenge at LOTV which is set every Thursday before I started my card, I was gobsmacked to see I had made the top three! wow, I am thrilled to bits and immediately got my badge to put in the side bar.

I used this really cute die cut square from LOTV, and cupcake paper and added a bit of Stardust stickles to the bunnies and the cherries and cake stands etc.  I added a swirl cut with the doohickey die, fuschia ruffle edge sheer ribbon on top of silver glitter mesh plus a pink/white two tone 30mm mulberry rose, a pink crown pin and a pink heart pin (ribbon, rose and pins all from Ribbon Girl) and you can see I love pink almost as much as I love anything that glitters!

I decorated the inside to complement the front and added our acceptance note

I typed the sentiment myself to make the card more personal and you can see the sweet cupcake paper here (sorry can't remember which pack it is from) but I thought it was relevant as I'm sure there will be yummy food at the reception 

and here is the poor beheaded sunflower - my hubby managed to empty the pots on the back patio yesterday afternoon when the wind had gone down, and I passed him the scissors with the request to cut the flowers so I could pop them in water  ................... I should have asked him to leave a stalk ...... poor flower!

See you all tomorrow,

Mary G x

Warm wishes ............

Well I got the weather wrong yesterday, as it seemed calm and cloudless when I got up but a while later it was blowing a gale again and showered most of the day - hoping for calm weather soon to get the big pots on the back patio emptied and refilled with the rest of the winter pansies and primroses.

These three little cuties from LOTV are gorgeous aren't they? I kept the colouring very simple, just coloured the spots and stars on their little frocks with Copics in various greens to tone with the background paper, and added loads of stickles to the holly wreaths on their gingerish bonde hair. The 'warm wishes' sentiment is also from Lili of the Valley 

The image was matted onto red card then white and added a big, beautiful red silky crush ribbon and bow and I even managed to tie the bow using Andrea's patented method - she must have shown me hundreds of time and I've no idea how it worked this time, perhaps I've got the knack at last lol!  I added a silver filigree corner and some clear stick on gems from stash, plus plenty of Stardust Stickles.  You can't have too much bling on cards, especially Christmas cards!

The flowers today are a small poinsetta and white steph (WO) and some white pretty blossoms with green leaves (Martha Stewart Punch) and holly leaves in various greens cut with a tiny die from Papertrey Ink.

I made this card for the current 'Warm and Cosy' Lili of the Valley challenge here

Back tomorrow, and if you haven't popped over to the Ribbon Girl Blog yet, the challenge is Lilacs and Greens, and at Papertake Weekly it is Spooky Hues

Bye for now

Mary G x

Gently falling snow ......................

'Let it Snow' is the current LOTV challenge and I used one of their very useful die-cuts showing a bird house with snow gently falling for this Christmas card in traditional clours

I added Stardust Stickles to the snow on the image, a 38mm gold glitter mesh ribbon and some 12mm gold lame ribbon (both from the Ribbon Girl)

The background paper was left over from last Christmas and I used a LOTV stamp for the sentiment which was cut out with a nestie.  The white Christmas rose and tiny leaves are from WO and the red berries, small roses and pretty blossoms are from Ribbon Girl.  The last embellishment I used was a few self adhesive gems - I do like a bit of bling and shimmer!

I will enter this card into the

LOTV 'Let it Snow'

Hannah and Friends 'Glimmer, Flowers, Dies'

The ABC Challenge 'Anything Goes'

and here's a sneaky of my little sewing project - more tomorrow

Mary G x



A Happy Bearthday Card ....

I made this boy birthday card is for the Lili of the Valley challenge sketch here - I coloured the very cute bears with prisma pencils.  The green button, apple green divine twine, celery green twill stripe ribbon and black dewdrops are all from the Ribbon Girl - I had to restrain myself from adding piles and piles of flowers lol and instead went for a strip of paper lace which I made with a Martha Stewart punch - several attempts were needed before I got a perfect piece and the floor was littered with the punched scraps!!

And don't forget ladies, Lili of the Valley are launching another set of Christmas stamps tonight 5th September at midnight .... don't miss it!

Mary G x

A warm and cosy bear

This is my entry to the Lili of the Valley Challenge No. 67.  This little bear (James) is all wrapped up with his cosy scarf and hat! 

The image is from Lili of the Valley and I coloured it with copics and used paper from 3djean.  The red and white saddlestitch ribbon, the dark green polka dot buttons and the cherry red Divine Twine are all from Ribbon Girl.  I glittered around the edges of the different elements and also the bear's fur and clothing with stickles and then added some little white flowers.  I stamped the text with green ink on a white background mounted onto some of the leftover green spotted paper

Santa and a box of holly

I didn't win the lotv thursday challenge but am not downhearted - I've made another couple of cards, this santa card is not suitable for this weeks challenge but I like it.

The stamped santa is from http://www.liliofthevalley.co.uk/ which I coloured with various copics pens.  I cut the circle using a nestability die and matted it onto another circle of paper cut from a serrated edge die, then glittered all of his hair and the fur on his hat and coat (I love anything that glitters - I put my thumb in it before it dried so the kitchen table cloth, the table, the dog, the kitchen etc are glittering). 

I stuck on some dark red satin ribbon and cotton lace using narrow double sided sticky tape, then attached some christmas rose flowers and holly leaves (cut from artificial silk flower sprays) and finished the card off with a couple of gold coloured bells.  I didn't realise that I should have used a lot more glue than a little old sticky foam pad, so everything dropped off when I proudly displayed it on the window ledge  lol :)  I then used a big blob of glue and re-stuck everything - and it's still stuck! All of the paper is from Cosmo Cricket and the ribbon is from http://www.ribbongirl.co.uk/

Lili Of The Valley Challenge 65

Here is my card that I made for the Lili Of The Valley challenge blog - it's the first 'proper' card I've made and it took me an hour to do the colouring in and at least 2 hours to get all the bits made and stuck on - need I say, I threw more bits in the bin than ended up on the card! 

(Decorating the tree stamp, ribbon, lace and pins from the Ribbon Girl, digital papers from Sweet Shoppe Designs)