18th birthday card ...

An eighteenth birthday card for a girl using papers from  Galeria Papieru 'Purple Rain' 12x12 pad.  

I added self adhesive diamante numbers 1 and 8 to the centre of a diecut circle, added 16mm purple satin ribbon, 'Jessica' 45mm white guipure lace (adhered with 6mm double sided sticky tape), and my flower arrangements include lilac ballerina blossoms, 30mm ivory wild roses, 20mm vintage lilac open rose and a white and lilac hip rosebud.  The leaves were diecut from green card using a Magnolia die.

Inspired by the very talented Linda Levoir, I coloured some Scrapienic chipboard butterflies in lilac, green and black with Copics pens, then added Stardust Stickles for a bit of sparkle.

Thank you for visiting my blog!

see you soon, Mary x

Vintage tag .....

As a mid-way reminder for The Ribbon Girl use any image' challenge, I've made this vintage style tag using Maja Design 'Home for the Holidays' 6x6 paper pad.  The image was die-cut from a tag which was part of the paper pad.

I added a Scrapienec Park Avenue Round Frame, 'Donna' ivory cotton lace tied into a bow, green/red shiny berries, 10mm ivory open roses inked and glittered and a terracotta/rust medium rosebud. 

I was inspired by the beautiful flowers and leaves made by the very talented Klaudia I just had to have a go myself.  I made the flowers using some flat mulberry pastel flowers, inked, which I dampened, then scrunched, dried and inked.  I inserted various flower stamens in the centres.  The leaves were cut with a Magnolia die and again, I sprayed them with water and scrunched them before inking the edges and adding Stardust Stickles.  

I punched a hole in the top of the tag and threaded through some Oloroso hand wrinkled seam binding

I am going to enter this tag into the 'We Love Vintage Blog Challenge' -  I really enjoyed making this and was worried the challenge would close before I got my tag finished, but I see there is another week to go, yay!!

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thanks for visiting my blog and don't forget The Ribbon Girl 'use any image' challenge is still open for another week too :-)

Bespoke box for mini album ....

For this matching, made to measure box for a mini album I made recently, I used 'Pink Fabric' papers from Pion Design Paris Flea Market and Linneus Botanical collections, Scrapiniec Mr & Mrs chipboard, 6mm ivory flatback pearl trim, pink organza loop trim, large pink and large ivory rosebuds, pink trellis rose, pink/white beaded berries, 20mm pale pink roses, rose leaves and pink faux silk ribbon.  The feet on the box are 11mm ivory pearls.  

The inside of the box was covered with the same papers.  The floral arrangement on the top of the box is the same as the one on the mini album front cover

A close up of the chipboard 'Mr & Mrs' and my 'image' which was cut from the Pion Linneus Botanical collection

A view of the side of the box showing the organza looped trim.

I hope you will join us in the Ribbon Girl use any image challenge - you can make any kind of craft project, as long as you include an image of some kind.  There are some lovely prizes to win and if you popover to the blog you can be inspired by the design team's gorgeous makes.

thanks for looking, see you soon,

Mary x

Christmas gift envelope ...

I know it is just a little early for Christmas crafting, but I couldn't resist using the new berries and cones just in at The Ribbon Girl.    I made this Christmas gift envelope using Maja 'Home for the Holidays' 6x6 pad embellished with 16mm Fleur ivory guipure lace, 6mm ivory pearl flatback trim.  The envelope ties with 7mm honey gold satin ribbon

A close up of the flowers - I used some of the new mini pine cones, shiny red berries, red/green frosted berries, burgundy 20mm open roses, cream hip rosebuds, white spray, rose leaves and a brown two tone 30mm wild rose.

Everything is available from stock at The Ribbon Girl

Thanks for looking,

Mary x

Pink envelope card ...

Inspired by a number of envelope cards I've seen, more recently by Klaudia who is our guest DT this month, I thought I would have a go myself.  I really enjoyed making this, and while the sides are open, you could pop in a small gift or a bag of sweeties, or even a few tea bags!.

I used gorgeous pink  Pion 'Rose du Jardin' papers from the Paris Design Flea Market collection and a single piece from the Scrapiniec Lace Doily Corner set

I added some 10mm white square flatback pearl trim to the top of the front flap using 6mm double sided sticky tape.  My flower arrangements include 20mm pink open roses, white lily, pink sweetheart blossoms, pink/white two tone hip rosebuds and rose leaves.  I adhered a 20mm pearl and diamante flower embellishment so it looks like a clasp on a bag. 

This is inside the envelope card showing where the 7mm pale pink satin ribbons have been adhered - the bottom ribbon was glued under the paper on the back of the card before I stuck it down.

Paper, flowers, leaves, ribbons, pearl trims, double sided adhesive all from The Ribbon Girl

thanks for looking,  and I really appreciate any comments (especially tips on techniques you find really helpful)    I hope you will join in with The Ribbon Girl June Card Challenge over on the blog 

see you soon

Mary x

Just for you ....

It's a lot cooler today, and I was in the mood for crafting, so I managed to get two cards made.  

This one is a greetings card using Maja Design 'Life in the Country' 6x6 paper pad, 15mm Berisford No 80 satin ribbon, a couple of our new Scrapiniec laser cut chipboards - 'just for you' and a gorgeous little butterfly - the flowers include a peach Ballerina Blossom, large yellow two tone rosebud, pale terracotta daisy, white cosmos daisy, rust rosebud and a stem of white spray.  

I finished the card with some self adhesive 3 - 6 mm pearls and a piece of white 10mm square flatback pearl trim adhered with 6mm double sided sticky tape - everything is available at The Ribbon Girl 

Thanks for looking, Mary x

Beautiful birdcage ...

A birthday card using one of our gorgeous new chipboard shapes - this is the Scrapiniec birdcage with bird, Craft & You 'Vintage Time' 6x6 papers, large pink rosebud, pink/white two tone hip rosebuds, pale pink cosmos daisy, 20mm blue open rose, blue/white beaded stamens, rose leaves and natural hemp twine all from The Ribbon Girl

thanks for visiting my blog today

Mary x

Criss cross card for an 80th birthday ...

A criss-cross card for an 80 year old lady who loves flowers.  I used papers from the Crafts & You 'Vintage Time' 6x6 paper pad (this is a really useful pad, gorgeous designs and a lovely mix of colours too),  yellow large rosebuds, Edwina 20mm ivory lace, 25mm pale lemon satin ribbon, ivory 20mm open and hip rosebuds, ivory cherry blossoms, pink cosmos daisy and lemon pretty blossoms

A close up of the flowers and ribbon bow

Paper, lace, ribbon and flowers are from The Ribbon Girl

This is my card for The Ribbon Girl June Card Challenge over on the blog, I hope you will have time to pop over and be inspired by the gorgeous cards from the design team and of course, we look forward to seeing your cards - great prizes to win!

thanks for visiting, see you soon, Mary x

A fold out zig zag wedding album....

A mini album with fold out flaps on the left side and zig-zag pages on the right side - I really enjoyed making this - so satisfying when it was finished - I hope the happy couple (my son and daughter in law) like it when I give it to them for their first anniversary later in the year  (they don't read my blog or facebook page so it will be a surprise!)   This post is photo-heavy, so you might need a comfy seat and a cuppa, All of the products are from The Ribbon Girl and I've added links to all the products I used

I used 400g white card and papers from the Pion 'Scent of Lavender' collection plus scraps from 'My Precious Daughter' - the butterflies were cut from Pion paper, distressed then a little Stardust Stickles to give a bit of sparkle.  All of the actual photographs were die cut from 4"x 4" photos, many of them taken by my daughter Andrea.  Making these small albums is a great way of using up small pieces of paper and scraps of lace and trim too.  I had to concentrate very hard to make sure I added all of the ribbon tabs  and ties at the side of the album before covering with paper, and I had to make sure all the folds and flaps closed  - lots of bits of plain card went into the waste bin until I got it right lol

I chose the same ribbon and colours that we used for the wedding stationery in 2015. On the front I used a Scrapiniec Lace Doily Round chipboard frame, the Pion paper was trimmed at the right hand side with 'Donna' ivory cotton lace topped with 6mm ivory flat back pearl trim.  The flowers include pink trellis rose, lilac/ivory hip rosebuds, white lilies, pale pink  and pink two tone large rosebuds, tiny pink rosebuds, rose leaves and 12mm pale pink faux silk ribbon.  All edges were distressed with gathered twigs ink

The spine was encrusted with 10mm ivory flower flat back pearl trim

Another view of the album so you can see all of the pages

Inside the front cover there is a flap that opens to the left, revealing a right hand page which has a lift up flap with photos on both sides, then another photo underneath. I used  12mm pale pink faux silk ribbon, Rosa ivory guipure lace, Clementine embroidered tulle lace, 23mm ivory daisy lace to which I adhered a single flower cut from 10mm flower pearl trim 

more daisy lace and pearl flat back trim - the flower to the right is a flat paper flower (in the store soon) embellished with lace and pearl

The flower is cut from ivory flower applique trim with a paper and pearl centre upon some Charlotte white lace

'Blanche' lace adorns this page, trimmed with more embellished flat paper flowers

I used a scrap of leftover paper for the corner pocket on this page. The photo pulls out and is trimmed with 12mm pale pink faux silk ribbon

Thanks for reading to the end of this post - I made this album over the course of a week, doing a bit here and there when I had time - changing my mind from one day to the next too which added to the time taken for completion, but I have to say I've thoroughly enjoyed making it, now it will be wrapped in tissue and put to one side until the anniversary arrives.

All of the products are from The Ribbon Girl and I've added links to all the products I used

thanks for your visit, see you again soon, Mary x

Get well soon ....

A get well soon card using papers from the Maja 'Vintage Summer' 6 x 6 pad, embellished with a Scrapiniec Royal Round Frame (double layered)

I added an aqua and an ivory  30mm wild rose, an ivory/white ballerina blossom, a couple of white rosebuds, rose leaves, blue button twine and flowers from a white spray stem

thanks for looking and see you soon

Mary xx

A mini album ...........

There is a new 'use any image' challenge over at The Ribbon Girl which will run for the next two weeks - make any type of project you like as long as you include an image of some kind.  I made a mini zig-zag album approx 6" x 4" from scratch for the first time - I thoroughly enjoyed making it and will be making more very soon - it's a great way to use up odds and ends of ribbon, lace and trim.  I was inspired by the beautiful album made by my fellow Ribbon Girl DT teamie Linda Levoir who based hers on a tutorial by the talented crafter Kay Fatula!  My waste paper basket was brimming by the time I finished as I started making a completely different size to the one Linda had made and got in a proper pickle but didn't give up and I was very pleased with the end result.

   I added an image to one of the tags tucked into the pocket on the inside front cover. 

I used papers from Maja Vintage Spring 6x6 pad, 6mm ivory flatback and 10mm square pearl trim, Phoebe guipure lace, pink tiny ric rac, 25mm no 70 pale pink satin ribbon.  

To embellish and strengthen the spine I added two strips of 6mm ivory flatback pearl trim with some 10mm square trim in the centre using 3mm and 6mm double sided sticky tape.  The little butterfly and the torn and distressed blossom branch paper on the front cover are all from the Vintage Spring pad so tone in beautifully

The flower spray includes pink trellis rose, ivory and pink large rosebuds, baby pink cherry blossom, 20mm pale pink open roses, cream hip rosebud, rose leaves,  pink/white beaded stamens, white/purple/pink wild rose, 7mm pale pink satin.  On the inside of the album Ivory lace corner applique, Marianne Pearl Romantic Hearts

All of the papers, flowers, lace, ribbons, pearl trims, sticky tape and embellishments are from

  The Ribbon Girl online store

I hope you will find time to visit The Ribbon Girl blog to be inspired by the fabulous creations made by the team and we look forward to seeing what you make - and of course, there are great prizes to win!!

thanks for visiting and I'll see you soon

Mary x

Thinking of you ....

The sun is shining today so I felt as if Summer is on the way!!  I used papers from Maja Designs 'Coffee in the Arbour' 6x6 pad with the lemons design for this card 

With scraps of the Maja paper left over, I made the handmade flower to which I added a 15mm ivory dahlia resin flatback.  I diecut 3 lots layers of blossom flower, scrunched, disressed and balled the petals, inked the edges then assembled.  

I used 25mm pale lemon satin ribbon, 30mm ivory wild rose, stem from white spray, ivory Rosa Guipure Lace, natural hemp twine  I distressed all of the edges with gathered twigs ink then sparkled with Stardust Stickles

Maja paper, flowers, ribbon, lace and stickles are all from

The Ribbon Girl

thanks for looking, see you soon

Mary xx

You mean the world to me .......

I used scrumptious papers from the Craft & You 'Vintage Time' 6x6 paper pad, those pink roses on the corners are so pretty  -  this pad contains some really lovely and very useful designs!

I distressed and inked the edges, then added some 'Emma' 55mm ivory guipure lace and 15mm pale pink satin ribbon with bow made from the 25mm pale pink.  I punched out the little butterflies, inked their edges and added some platinum liquid pearls to them.  All the edges were sparkled with a touch of Stardust Stickles

My flower arrangement includes a pink trellis rose, pale pink 30mm wild roses, pink large rosebud, pale pink lily flowers, green rose leaves and a sprig from an ivory pearl and crystal branch  I tucked an ivory fan lace applique behind the flowers

Paper, ribbon, lace, flowers and embellishments all from The Ribbon Girl

thanks for looking, see you soon

Mary x

80th birthday card ....

I made this birthday card for a friend who loves his garden, hence the floral papers. 

I used papers from Maja Design Vintage Summer Basics 6x6 pad,  a blue button and a small piece of dusky blue button twine, all available from The Ribbon Girl.   The flower and leaves were die cut and the sentiment was computer generated

thanks for looking

Treasure every moment ....

My card for the Ribbon Girl May Card Challenge - I used Lemoncraft 'Tiny Miracles' 6x6 paper pad, Charlotte white vintage style lace, pale pink no 70 satin ribbon and pale pink faux silk for the bow.   The butterflies and the scrolls behind the flowers are die cut 

The flowers include a 40mm white daisy, pink large rosebud, pale pink ballerina blossom, pink beaded stamen, rose leaves and a cream hip rosebud.   Hanging from the bow are pink butterfly dangle beads with some pink beads from the pretty bottle of beads range hung on ivory hemp twine

The Ribbon Girl design team have made some gorgeous cards to inspire you and there are great prizes from Maja Design, Lili of the Valley and The Ribbon Girl, so why not pop over and be inspired - we love to see what you make!

I'm entering this card into the In the Pink Challenge - baby/child, mostly pinks

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - anything goes

thanks for visiting, I'll be back shortly with another card

Mary x