Wedding Card for Alex and Steve...

Hello Friends

Just a quickie to share a card I made for friends of mine that got married recently.  We were invited to the wedding, but unfortunately due to the MIL being poorly.  We missed a fabulous day judging by the photographs we saw.  So here is their card...

This is the nearest I could get to a white on white card.  I just could not do it...needed some colour even if it was just gold.

I finally remembered to use my StickIt and die cut a new Spellbinders die as well as my SU flutterbies die.  I added some VOS gold aurora spots that I bought from QVC back in the day.  The stamp is one I always use and I used gold from Delicata.  This really is a beautiful ink and is worth tracking down if you are looking for a gold.  It took me a while to find it.  

I mounted this onto some gold holographic card before mounting it onto the card.

I did manage to use some of my Snippets up like a good little smartie so am off to the Snippets Playground to play with the mischievous bunch while Miss is out on teacher training!!! 

My lovely friend Mrs A has reminded me that I can join in with the Butterfly Challenge with this card as it has stamping and butterflies on it!!!

Thanks for calling by.

Hettie

First Rudolph Day of 2016

Hello there My Friends

Gosh where did January go then? I don't know about you but I have been pretty busy this month with one thing or another and to be quite honest, I am hoping that February and the rest of 2016 will be a bit kinder to me.

So here we are at the end of January and I have two cards to share with you for the Rudolph Day over at my friend Mo's blog.

Here is the first one...

I stamped some Snippets of red card with the bauble stamps and die cut them with my Spellbinders dies.  More Snippets for the Memory Box ribbon and Penny Black sentiment, a little ribbon onto the background MME paper and a card was born.

And just for good measure, I made another card....

Again I used some Snippets including the glitter paper border down the side and the vellum.  The lady was cut a long time ago when I was with my friend, and I will try and use the rest of them.  It needed a little dolling up when I finished, so added some glossy accents and sprinkled MS glitter over.  The vellum was left over from another card which I stamped the Stampenduous border stamp and embossed gold powder.  No idea where the background music paper came from, I found it in my Snippets drawer when I was clearing it out. 

Running off to my friend Mo's Rudolph Day and the Snippets Playground with my cards.  See you on the swings with Parsnip.  I need a cwtch with my fluffy friend!!

Happy Birthday Rachel...

Hello there Peeps!!

 

Sorry I have not been around  much, but life just seems to get in the way of things lately.  To be honest I had not been in my craft room much lately, or so I thought.  I was thinking it was about time I emptied my camera and there were more crafty photos on there  than I realised so I thought I would share one of the cards made most recently for my Buddie Rachel.

The green is quite different to what these photos show, and the text is a good match, unlike the photos.  I never quite get how some colours, green, blue and red, don't always photograph that well.  Or is it just that the weather was not good when I too, the photos?  Oh hum!!

 

These Spellbinders border dies were bought nearly a year ago and except for the initial playing when I received them, they have not seen fresh air.  Naughty me!!  I will say though that they are pesky little dies and thank goodness I had waxed paper or else they may have just ended up in the bin!!  Thanks Miss Di for that little gem!!

 

I also used a Tonic die for the flourish and Memory Box dies for the butterflies and Liquid Pearls for the dots.  The paper is Bo Bunny which was a fresh-never-been-used-before sheet.  Well Rachel is a good friend.  The butterfly and white pieces were all Snippets so I am going to sneak down to the Snippets Playground and see what is afoot.  I understand Mrs A is planning to put some of my chickens in the Nativity Play, so I want to see who else is going to be on stage!!

 

See you all for some hot chocolate!!

 

Hettie

 

 

Sympathy Card for a Friend

Hello

I had occasion to send a sympathy card to a friend who lost her brother recently.  I have a lot of envelopes which were given to me that takes cards 4.25" x 8.5" so I needed to make my own cards.

I used my NBUS Spellbinders die that my Special Friend picked up for me at a Stamp Show in US.  Isn't it just gorgeous.  The die cut at the bottom comes out of the centre.  There are two other cuts too, and I will no doubt share those with you another time. 

 

The sentiment is a stamp I picked up quite by chance on a stall in our local market, it was second hand, but just what I needed.  I used DI to stamp it.  I just love the punched details on this die set.

 

 Here is a close up of the die cut with all the detail.  The flower and butterfly die cuts were made with my Memory Box dies, the flower was from another Special Friend who gave it to me when we met up earlier this year.  You know I love it Kath!!  Again, coloured with DIs.

 

Right then, off to play in the Playground as there were lots of white snippets used on this card.  I am grateful to Miss of the Playground, who advised use of wax paper for fiddly die cuts, and boy is this a fiddly die cut!  Worth the trouble though I think!  I am also entering this into the Cuttlebug Challenge which this week is "Anything Goes".

 

Thanks for visiting.  See you on the swings!!

 

Hettie

My Favourite Five Christmas Cards

Hello There!

I know I am a day or so late, but Seasons Greetings to you all.  I hope your Christmas has been  jolly and fun. 

I was just wandering around in Blogland and came across a certain Mistress of the Keys of the Snippets Playground's post where she shared five of her favourite cards with Debby of A Scrapjourney.  So I thought I would join in with this one as I have shared one or two Christmas cards with you over the year. (I have some more which are still on the camera but I will get to those in the next week or so).

So here they are in no particular order...

This owl is adorable and was stamped for me by Miss Di when we were at the WOYWW Crop all those months ago.

This was made using my Spellbinders Bauble die and matching stamps which I bought when I won a voucher from a certain Darnell Lady on her inaugural NBUS Challenge.

Made as part of the Funkie Junkie 12 Tags of Christmas Challenge which were going so well until I fell victim to the nasty Sinus Infection and then horrid cold straight after!

This one was made using my lovely new Penny Black stamp I bought on my Jolly Holiday over the pond.  

And I could not resist popping this one in, again made using my bauble dies and Tim Holtz stamp which was a NBUS despite having it for several ahem! years!!

I do have another card which would also count as a favourite but I haven't shared it yet as I only finished it on Christmas Eve to give to my Honeybun but I will share that probably tomorrow.

Thanks Debby for hosting this one.  I have enjoyed looking back at my cards again.  No doubt I will pick some of these ideas and recreate for Christmas 2015!!

If I don't see you before may I wish all of you a Happy and Healthy 2015! (I have given up with the "prosperous" bit as we are all crafters who like to buy new toys!!)  Thank you for being a visitor whether it be regular or irregular, or as a Follower.  It has been lovely to read all your comments.  I greatly appreciate them.

Hugs

Hettie

Playing with NBUS Stencils...

Hello there!

I trust you all had a good weekend?  I had my first Quilting Group meeting as the new Chairperson!!  I think it went alright.  Believe it or not I do not like speaking to groups so it is quite nerve racking for me!

Yesterday I spent the day away from the puter and playing with some Christmas baskets that I made, I will share those later on (I forgot to take a photo this morning and as it will be dark when I get home I will have to take them tomorrow - doh!).

So here are some cards that I made earlier...

I do love this purple on these cards.  I do wish I could remember where I got them from.  They are 4x4" and there weren't envelopes so I tend to make my own.  As you can see I have the knitwear stencil from Tim Holtz, another acquisition from my rent trip over the pond.  

The top card was actually quite tricky because the card is pearlised and the paste is Sweet Poppy pearlised paste, they slid a little,  I recently bought some Ranger paste to try that as the SP does slip under on the plastic stencils.  Does anyone else have trouble with this?

As for the rest, the tiny tags are cut using TH die and Snippets  the ribbons were from my stash and the snowflakes were cut using Spellbinders die and Snippets from my Christmas basket.  The Stickers are also TH, as is the Believe stamp.  The word Believe is my favourite word.  It gives us all hope!

Right, as I have rambled on enough now I shall potter down to the Snippets Playground and see if anyone is bunking off school to play hopscotch!  I really would like to win the die that Miss is proffering around this week!  

Hettie

I am Dreaming of a Pink Cancer Free Christmas!

Hello there

A few days ago I happened across a Challenge that was looking for pink Christmas cards by Jingle Bells.  For each card that is entered into this challenge a $4 donation will be made to the Susan G Komen cancer organisation.  Also the Sisterhood of Crafters are also looking for Pink Christmas cards for Breast Cancer.  Having a few friends that have unfortunately been through this awful disease, it is a very worthwhile cause close to my heart.

So here is my entry...

That is not a grey line down the right hand side...the sun was shining at the same time as it was pouring with rain whilst I took the photo which left a shadow down the side.

I have used some NBUS in the form of Tonic dies and embossing folder.  I used a Snippet of white card to emboss and brushed over some Versamark and sparkly embossing powder.  Unfortunately you cannot see the sparkle but believe me it is very sparkly.  The pink cardstock is Bazzill and the black is Papermania.  The baubles are cut from Spellbinders and stamped with matching Creative Expressions stamps.  I added a further swirl of Memory Box holly which was stickled with some bright pink Stickles, which I used again on the right hand side.  A little bit of clear sparkly thread and hey presto, another card in the tin ready for posting!

If you wish to join in the Jingle Bells Challenge you have until Wednesday 22nd.  The Sisterhood of Crafters challenge ends very soon.  Just getting in by the skin of my teeth!  The cause is all worthwhile no matter which country the donation is made.  

I am taking this over to the Snippets Playground too as there are Snippets involved.  Better throw my hat in first as I didn't join in the frolics and fun last week...oops - not intentionally of course!

Thanks for calling by.

Hettie

Au Revoir Steph...

Hello there

Lovely weather isn't it...NOT!  I took Dobby out for a walk last night.  It didn't rain on us, it just poured with water!  Both of us looked like drowned rats when we got in!!

Never mind, perhaps my colourful lickle book will cheer you up?

Whilst on leave from work, one of my colleagues left the company to join another firm a lot closer to home and nearer to her small children's schools.  So, as has now become a tradition here, I made her a lickle book for everyone to sign...

Our company colours are orange and purple so I chose the orange as one of the main colours and mixed it with black. Perfect colours for this time of the year me thinks. The covers were made using MME paper.  The large flower to the bottom right is the last one of a pack a friend of mine brought back from France for me.  The others are a mix of Papermania, Prima, Kaisercraft and die cuts.  

The two leafey fronds are cut using a TH die.

I fancied making some windmills to compliment the design on the paper, no idea why, and just fiddled with a square of paper until I was happy.  I attached them with the glue gun (which I managed to burn my fingies with - should have had adult supervision me thinks) and poked them into a TH birdcage diecut.

Now on to some inside pages...Now Steph is French, so I used some of my 7 Gypsies stamps which I won some time ago to add a little je ne sais quo (don't expect moi to spell French correctly now will you?).   What is embarrasing is that when using these I realised that some have never been used - eek!

My favourite stamp on the inside cover...

Some of the saying stamps were borrowed,from my matey.  I have also used some TH stamps, TPC Studios and others.

Some of the little strips are Snippets from my London album I made earlier this year.  Waste not want not!

 

The whole book was sprayed with some TH Heirloom gold glimmer spray.  Very shimmery which you cannot see from the photos.

I understand from the Girls in work that Steph loved her book and was a little emotional to read it in public.  That is nice to know.

I am joining in with Shopping our Stash as they are looking for Fall colours.  After seeing all the lovely oranges of trees last week then I think this is very autumny.

Right, as there are many Snippets in here I am taking this over to the Playground.  Hopefully the smell of damp souwesters will have died down now and there is some hot chocolate on the hob!

Thanks for calling by.

Hettie

Rudolph Day August 2014 ...NBUS...Special Thank you...

Hello There!

Happy Rudolph Day and Happy Wet Bank Holiday for all you UK Peeps!  Great day for crafting don't you think?

First in today's post I would like to thank a Special Person who has been the provider of part of today's post.  You may or may not recall that I was lucky enough to be a Winner in Darnell's NBUS prize giveaway a little while ago.  Well I ponder and procraftinated as to what goodies I would buy with my vulture from Countryview Crafts for a little while.  I knew I wanted to buy something that I would be able to remember where and how they were bought so inks and paper were out as they once they were used they would be gone.  After some pondering I decided on these...

 I had seen and fancied them for some time but I hadn't bought them as I thought they were a bit spensive.  However I decided that as I didn't expect to see this money I would buy something that I rather liked.  And here is the first card I made using them.  This is Hubby's favourite...

For the background I used plain cream card and stamped a TH script die.  I cut a Snippet of green card to make the TH doily and the MB music and coloured over with Forest Moss DI.  The music was given to me by a friend.  The Sentiment is an old K&Co chipboard.  Then for the ornaments.  Inked with Versamark and embossed with gold embossing powder.  Cut out using the new SB die and then dangled with gold cord.

 And now for no. 2...

For the background I used some VOS DCWV paper.  I used the MB edge die and embossed with WOW Sparkling Snow embossing powder.  I cut out the ornaments with bright pink metallic card and then again with vellum.  I embossed two with TH embossing folder and the third I stamped with versamark and Hero Arts stamp before embossing with WOW Brilliant White powder.  The bows are VOS from Papermania and the dots are also VOS from QVC.  The ornaments are hung using some snippets of star trim - don't even ask where I got that from.  I added some VOS stars to the top right corner.

No. 3 (I love this one)...

The background is a piece of DCWV paper which I doodled around the edge.  I stamped all four of the stamps with Versamark and inked with WOW powder.  I cut the shapes and strip and then took some VOS white ink and smudged the edges, and doodled around the sentiment.  I attached the sentiment with brads and the ornaments with foam pads after using some silver cord to hang them.

 No. 4...

 The background is another piece of the above paper.  I inked the purple Snippet and then embossed with silver powder.  The ornaments are held up with silver cord and MB bows.  A little Snippet of red cardstock was cut into heart strip using EK Success punch and then embossed with clear powder.  Another strip of brown card was punched, again with EK Success punch to create the row of reindeers along the bottom.

 No. 5 (another favourite one of mine)...

 

I stamped the larger stamp with white SU embossing powder (it smells of vanilla) and cut it.  I layerd up some striped paper onto the card and embossed a piece of white with SU embossing folder.  I took a Snippet of ribbon to hang the ornament with some foilage cut from TH die and snippets.  The bow is left over from those used in Christmas Album a few years back.  The sentiment across the bottom is a Snippet of red card which I stamped with Penny Black stamp, stitching the edge and adhering.

And finally No. 6 - my outright favourite...

The paper used on the front was in a pack on the Help Yourself table at the last WOYWW Crop.  I adhered it to the front of a gatefold card and I used two Snippets to cover behind the gatefold.  (If you look close you will realise one is horizontal and the other vertical.  I didn't have enough to cut them both the same!) I then carefully cut the front of the card to make the peephole.  The rosette was in my Tin of Shame.

Open it up and here is what is inside...

The Santa stamp is a NBUS!!!  I used some other TH stamps inside.  All inking is done with Gathered Twigs DI.  There is another piece of the paperpack used on the front but I haven't taken a photo - doh!

Right then.  That is enough waffle from me.  I am off over to my Mate Sandra's blog to share this in the Rudolph Day Challenge as well as the Snippets Playground as there are snippets a-plenty used in these.  I am also going to share with Crafty Hazelnut who is looking for Mery and Bright and Extra as always Anything Goes over there.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask.  I have another project to share using these dies but later this week probably. 

Thanks for looking.

Hettie

Only 6 months to go...Rudolph Day June

Hello There

Yep!  You read it right.  Only 6 months, 26 weeks, or 182 days or 5 pay days until the day when we will hopefully have been visited by the man in the Red Suit!!

So in preparation for this I join in every month with my Mate's Rudolph Day Challenge.  

Last night I had a rummage through my Christmas basket and came across my last piece of paper which measured about 7.5" square and wanted to practice a bit of thiftiness and get as many cards as I could without cutting the paper into small pieces.  So I cut it on the lines in the pattern on the paper horizontally, and trimmed to fit on a 7x5 card and chomped the corners with MS snowflake punch.  Now what next?  I found a strip of pale turquoise cardstock left over from a layout which matched as well as some white strips of TH "lace".  An idea was born.  On my desk, left over from a recent project was some dark turquoise card.  I cut three pieces of the pale turquoise to fit below the PP, I cut some more "lace" from Snippets of white, pale turquoise and dark turquoise card. I remembered I had some fine silver thread so threaded some through the top layer of lace.

Next I put it all together, having first cut some small squares of turquoise and placed behind the top corners.  I cut some snowflakes using Spellbinders dies and punched some tiny snowflakes which I adhered and then added Stickles in there.

Now to prove I made more than one..

I have two of something else I can share with you today too.  Two newbies to the Snippets Playground who were bought for me by Mr Hettie for my birthday...

Meet Hinge and Bracket.  Some of my older readers will know who they are.  Younger ones please feel free to Google them!

That's enough posing for you, time to find some food!

Right, off to call by at the Snippets Playground to check on my new Girlies and take my cards as they are made entirely from Snippets with only a few small bits left over.  Don't worry, I will use them too.  

Why not make a few Christmas cards and join in to the Rudolph Day challenge?  You have until the end of the month and there is a prize to be drawn.

Thanks for calling by.

Hettie

Scrapbook Tuesday ...Tea on Tuesday...T stands for BirThday Boy!

Hello There Tuesday!!

Yep!  Tuesday again and a warm sunny day here in Wales - now don't feint!

Today I am linking my post up with Elizabeth and her Buddy Bleubeard at Tea on Tuesday.  So first up my errr "tea" which came in a brown bottle and had lots of fruit and err.....cider in!  It is Swedish and absolutely gorgeous.  It did not seem too alcoholic...hic!

Behind the glass and bottle is a pot which I brought in from the porch the other day.  Can you guess what is in it?  Bettchya you can't...

An Amarylis in June!  It used to come up at Christmas and then for the last two years it hasn't come up at all.  Whilst discussing it with my Dad, who knows all about horticultural stuff, he said that it is probably past it, maybe too cold in the porch and that I should bin it.  Well, typical me, I hadn't "got round" to it and blow me when it starting firing leaves and then I could see a stem coming up!  Glad I didn't listen that time!

Rightio!  On to my Scrapbook offering...

A double layout which took me ALL flippin' day on Saturday as there was a fair bit of procraftinating going on between myself and my Buddy Mandy!  I am mighty pleased with it though I have to say.

The event was Mr Hettie's 50th Birthday Surprise Outing.  This railway is only about 20 miles away from home, yet we had never been up there before.  I was trying to rack my brain as to where to go as I didn't want to spend the day in the car and it was a great idea.  I just gave Mr the sat nav code and off we went.

I used a plethora of dies and goodies on this layout, including MME - paper, Bazzill - Cardstock, Sizzix - plane, enjoy, stars, Spellbinder - sign, circles, Tim Holtz - Rosettes, cogs (NBUS), stickles, DIs, Cricut - lettering, Stampin Up - bunting, Paperartsy - stamping on the tag, There are also some Snippets.

A lickle bit of a close up.

These tickets Hubby brought home from a Flea Market in town.  There weren't many but I love 'em.

Right then.  That is today's waffle finished.  I am also linking this up with the Snippets Playground and Simon Says Stamp as I see their theme is "anything goes"!  Wahoo!

Thanks for calling by.  Thanks also to my latest Followers Kathy and Donna.  Someone else followed me recently but I do not know who you are as I cannot find your name/picture.  Thank you all.

Hettie

PS Pelase excuse the not so brilliant pics, I took them on a bright sunny Sunday with my tablet - not as good as my Canon!

What? Rudolph Day again? So soon?

Hello there Peeps

After having a very busy and sociable weekend I have had to knuckle down this morning and make some Rudolph Day cards to join in with my Mate's Challenge.  So without further delay...

 This card has been made entirely from recycled cards.  The purple background is a card that was sent to me some time ago, so I cut it down to make the background for this card.  The silver card is from a Christmas card I received last year and kept it as I knew it would come in for a background this year.

The same image but this time mounted on a VOS card base and I added a Memory Box wreath cut from some glitter card and using a Snippet of white I cut out the sentiment.  I must check this as it looks slightly wonky but I am sure it didn't when I made it.  Looking closer the card itself has not exactly been photographed straight!  Oops!

And for a bonus here is Mr Wise Owl.  I just love this image.  All of today's images are Penny Black and were all very kindly stamped for me on Saturday.  Thank you.  These are now featuring on my Wish List.  Is it just me or does the Wish List get longer and not shorter?

I am liking this Owl a lot.  

Now these cards feature some Snippets too, so as well as entering them into this month's Rudolph Day challenge I am also taking them along to the Snippets Playground.  

Some of you may know that Miss and I went on a jolly on Saturday.  I can report that we were both good girls and played nicely, no tugging of pigtails of any sort.  Miss even got a photo of me...

I cannot believe how tidy I am for a change!  Can you see my camera there?  I only took one photo of the day!  I am kicking myself now!

Anyhoo, see ya over the Playground!

Hettie