A fishy tale ................

For this 'under the sea' birthday card, I used the super cute Hanglar mermaid which I coloured with Copics - I tried to merge the aqua and pink colours to be more 'fish-like' then I highlighted her tail with Stardust Stickles, and when it was dry I added lots of Glossy Accens to make it shine!  I cut her out and placed her on a background of blue striped paper plus some of this gorgeous new aqua crazy mesh - I slipped in an anchor charm behind the mesh and stuck it down with more glossy accents.

I tied fuschia pink ruffle edge sheer around the card and added some fuschia tulle to continue the 'fishing net theme' and an 18mm acrylic sparkly button tied with ivory button twine.  I used my new Magnolia flower die to make the flowers, I used two sizes of die then finished with a pink brad from stash.  I was very impressed with the die, it gave a lovely sharp finish and it was easy to get the 'holes' clear, unlike some other makes I have tried in the past.

A close up of the tail and crazy mesh - the sentiment was computer generated - the crazy mesh, tulle, ribbon, button and button twine are all from Ribbon Girl

This weeks challenge over at Papertake Weekly is Happy Highlights  -  please highlight part of the image or paper using something like glitter, glossy accents or decoupage - why not pop over to the PTW blog where you will be inspired by the fabulous projects from the design team.

See you soon, Mary G x

A make up bag and plans for a pincushion .............

I'm sharing my little make up bag with you this morning - made in the same fabric as the needle case, and trimmed with 7mm satin ribbon and a flower shaped sparkly acrylic button, both from the Ribbon Girl.  The outside is a fat quarter from here and the wadding and pink and white striped lining are both from John Lewis. The patterns for both items are from the Tilda 'So Pretty Homestyle' book

I found the bag straightforward to make, except for the zip which caused me no end of problems - I think next time I try this I will make a rectangular shaped bag which I think will be much easier!

Well it's almost the weekend and I have plans to help plant up some new pots for the front of the house with pansies, primroses and spring bulbs, also for more sewing and card making - I ordered some new LOTV stamps and they popped through the letterbox yesterday and I have been looking around for some wooden rings which I need to make some pin cushions - suddenly realised I could use wooden curtain rings if I unscrewed the little hook!!  So many plans, so little time ............ see you tomorrow (oh and please pop over to the Ribbon Girl blog on Sunday when our new colour challenge begins!

Mary G x