CHALLENGE #15 - MUM'S THE WORD

It was wonderful to see all the fab St Patrick Day inspired projects, a big thank you to all who joined in our challenge.

Congratulations to Donna, you were chosen by Random Org as the winner of our little gift.  Please email Mandy your address and we'll pop the goodies in the post to you.

Challenge #15 is Mum's the Word.  It's Mother's day in the UK on Sunday 3rd April, so we thought this would be a great opportunity to start thinking about cards and presents!  We'd love to see your creations with the theme of Mums or a special lady in your lives.

Eileen

Here is my latest card using the teapot template which I got from Adela.
I used papers from a selection called My Mind's Eye which I got from Warehouse Stationery.  

I have made a little cone hanging basket and filled it with Cadbury's chocolates The paper used is from Rosies.  The flower and leaves are made using the Marianne Creatable Dies.  

For mother's day I made this little apron card.  Again I used the Rosie's papers and an image of tatty ted baking muffins.  The little paper roses always look good to finish it off.  You can click here to get the template for the apron.

Mandy

A gift of Marks & Spencer's Lavender Shower Gel and Soap was inspiration for my matching card.

I used Papertrey Ink's Large Heart Die to cut chipboard, inked it up with ColorBox Wisteria Chalk Ink, added some Silver Pearl Embossing Powder and Dazzling Diamonds Glitter.  Then dressed it up with some scrummy Seam Binding, Decorative Pins, Button Twine and a Tea Dyed Tag complete with sentiment from Papetrey's Love Lives Here stamp set.  I also added Tea Dyed white lace.

The Ribbon Girl: White Lace, Decorative Pins, Button Twine, Seam Binding, Buttons.  Papertrey Ink: Heart Prints Die Collection, Love Lives Here Stamp Set, Kraft Cardstock. Graphics Fairy: Vintage Postcard Download.  Stampin Up: Dazzling Diamonds Glitter

 

We have a few ideas up our sleeves for future challenges, but we'd also love to hear what challenges you would like to see here.  So, please feel free to leave a comment for us and we'll take it on board.

It was lovely to have Vicky join us as a Guest Designer and it's something we'd  like to do more often.  If you would like to join us as a Guest Designer could you pop that in the comments box too.

Our Mum's the Word challenge will run until midnight, Tuesday 29th March New Zealand time.  Please leave a link to your design using Mr Linky or email either of us with a photo attached.

We look forward to seeing your wonderful creations, and below is a picture of our little gift for one lucky person who takes part in this challenge.  A gorgeous K&Co Bailey 6" x 6" Paper Pad.

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Don't forget our St Patrick's Day Challenge runs until midnight Tuesday 15th March NZ time.

Here's a perfect little box for this challenge, I do love green !

If you fancy making one of these very cute Nugget boxes you can find information about it here on Adela's Blog.  It's such great fun to make and I love the fact it opens at the ends which means you don't need to disturb the embellishments to get to the goodies inside!

Stampin Up: Old Olive Cardstock. The Ribbon Girl: 16mm Moss Green Taffeta Ribbon, Heart Pin, Teardrop Pin, Natural Jute Button Twine, Button. K&Co: Bailey Papers. Papertrey Ink: Love Lives Here Stamp Set. Other: Tea Dyed Tag

Please scroll down for our St Patrick's Day Challenge information.

CHALLENGE #14 - ST PATRICK'S DAY

A big thank you to all those who took part in our Anything But a Card challenge.  It was lovely to see so many different ideas.

Congratulations to Marlou, you have been chosen to receive our little gift of lace and filagree pins.  Enjoy!  Please email Mandy your address and we will pop them in the post to you.

With St Patrick's Day just around the corner, we thought it would be fun to use it as inspiration for Challenge #14.  Again, we like to keep our challenges as open to interpretation as possible, so be as creative with this theme as you would like to be.

Mandy

Green is my favourite colour and I love all shades of it.  I used a gorgeous Flower Cube box template created by the very talented Adela.

My felt flowers were made using Papertrey Ink's large Scallop Border Die, after gathering together with thread, I embellished them with tiny seed beads in different shades of green.

Just perfect for giving small gifts such as jewellery!

Creations by AR: Flower Cube Template. Papertrey Ink: Kraft Cardstock, Large Scallop Border Die, Everyday Blessings Papers, Friendship Jar Stamp Set. The Ribbon Girl: Natural Lace, Jute Button Twine.

Eileen

I have used bright colours for my St Patrick's Day Card.   Tilda is coloured in using water coloured pencils by Mondeluz.  I have used the spellbinders hearts to make the clover and Marianne Creatable Dies for the swirls.

I coloured in the little boy on his bike with the water coloured pencils, then used the colourful paper from the Rosie's range.  The card was embossed with the sizzix dots embossing folder.

 

Our giveaway for Challenge #14 is pictured below and includes flowers, doilies, tea dyed tags and a selection of buttons including 3 wooden teapots. 

Please leave a link to your project using Mr Linky or send us an email with a picture attached. This challenge will close midnight Tuesday 15th March New Zealand time.  We look forward to seeing all your fabulous creations!

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CHRISTCHURCH EARTHQUAKE, NEW ZEALAND

On Tuesday 22nd February at 12.51 pm Christchurch, New Zealand was hit with a 6.3 Earthquake that has flattened the city and caused a tremendous loss of life. The death toll has risen over 100 with over 200 still missing.  The power is back on to most of the city but alot of people have lost their homes, posessions and loved ones.  Our heart goes out to those people affected.

The whole world has offered support with many countries already in Christchurch helping with the search, rescue and recovery.

Victim Support are a group affiliated with the New Zealand  police force and are trained in dealing everyday with helping and supporting people in need. 

We're sure they would appreciate some cards that they could write in and  take to victims of this devastating quake. 

If you would like to make and send a card we think the following may be useful.

Sympathy, Get Well Soon and Thinking of You or just plain without any greeting would be much appreciated we are sure.

Please send your homemade card (blank inside with envelope if possible) to:

Victim Support

PO Box 2109

Christchurch

New Zealand

CHALLENGE #13 - ANYTHING BUT A CARD

Hi everyone.  Firstly, a huge thank you to all who took part in our Heart Felt challenge.  We thoroughly enjoyed looking at your projects.  The winner of our BasicGrey Paper Pad as chosen by random org number generator is No.1, Diane.  Congratulations Diane.  Please email Mandy your address and we'll get that in the post to you.

Ok...so challenge #13 is as the title suggests, absolutely anything so long as it's not a card!  Let your imaginations run wild!

....and now for some exciting news!  We have the lovely Vicky joining us as our Guest Designer for this challenge.  Vicky's creations are stunning and so inspirational.  I'll let her tell you more about her project below...

Vicky

   

I’ve ‘upcycled’ a plastic container into a birthday gift box.  I’m going to fill it with a card making kit, just some simple card making supplies for a newbie card maker. 

To take a peek inside, and see more of Vicky's fabulous creations visit her blog here.

                           Eileen                               

In my daughters class the children are all asked to donate a box of tissues for the year.  This week I have decided to cover a tissue box.  I used this cute paper and decorated it with ribbon and the flowers are made using the Marianne Creatable flower die.

Mandy

I had gift boxes on my mind this week too!  I found this lovely Kraft box at Paperchase and knew it was perfect for altering.  As you can see I am still enjoying my Pink Petticoat Papers and Papertrey Ink Butterfly dies!

Pink Petticoat: Vintage Rose Papers.  Papertrey Ink: Love Lives Here Stamp Set, Love Lives Here Butterfly Die, Large Butterfly Die.  The Ribbon Girl: Seam Binding, Button, Natural Twine, White Lace

I have a couple more non-card items to share with you.  The first is a bookmark which I have packaged using a pretzel bag.... perfect size for these little projects!

A matching gift tag...

which together with a glassine bag make cute packaging!

Papertrey Ink: Love Lives Here Dies, Heart Print Collection Dies, Tag Sale #1 Die.  The Ribbon Girl: Natural Jute Ivory Button Twine, Natural Lace.  Graphics Fairy: Postcard Image. Craftie Charlie:  K & Co Bailey Papers. 

Our giveaway for this challenge is a metre of lovely natural lace and 5 Pink/Silver Filigree Fancy Pins. 

Please leave a link to your project using Mr Linky or send us an email with a picture attached. This challenge will close midnight Tuesday 1st March New Zealand time.  We look forward to seeing all your wonderful creations!

A big thank you to Vicky for joining us as our Guest Designer, don't forget to check out more of her fabulous creations here.

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IT'S A GIRL...

Our Heart Felt challenge runs until midnight Tuesday 15th February NZ time, we have had some gorgeous entries so far and it's been great fun visiting your blogs.

Once again I have included a little felt heart on my latest card.  I love how easily the felt cuts with dies in the cuttlebug. 

I bought my felt in a little bundle from Paper and String, 45 4"x 4" squares, a great way to try all the different colours and just perfect for little projects! 

 WEDDING DAY....

Another wedding card.  This time I have used the Spellbinders plain and scalloped hearts.
I embossed the top heart  with the cuttlebug candy cane folder and for the bottom heart I used the craft concepts garden swirl folder.
The background is embossed using the Sizzix dots folder.  I also used the Spellbinders ribbon tag and printed the bride and grooms names and wedding date on it.
I have embellished with little ribbon bow ties and black and pearl rhinestones.

Please scroll down or click here for information on our latest challenge and a big thank you to those who have already taken part.

CHALLENGE #12 - HEART FELT

A big thank you to all who joined in with our Stitching challenge.  We thoroughly enjoyed looking at your fabulous creations. 

I am pleased to announce that No.3, Sharette is our challenge #11 winner, congratulations Sharette!!  Please email Mandy your address and we will pop the scrummy seam binding and tags in the post to you.

Challenge #12 is Heart Felt.  With Valentine's Day just round the corner we thought it would be fun to include hearts in our projects with an option of adding felt.  Once again, we are keeping our theme as open to interpretation as possible.   

Mandy

Papertrey Ink: Love Lives Here Dies, Bookmark Die. Crafty Charlie:  Basic Grey Nook and Pantry Papers.  The Ribbon Girl: Lace, Natural Jute Button Twine, Seam Binding. 

I am still very much in love with my Papertrey Love Lives Here dies and stamp set....and couldn't resist using the very cute little house again, this time adding it to a bookmark.  You may not be able to tell from the picture, but the teeny tiny heart on the tag is made from felt, as is the one in the middle of the house. 

Eileen

Our giveaway for this challenge is this gorgeous 6 x 6 Curio Paper Pad from BasicGrey!

Please leave a link to your project using Mr Linky or send us an email with a picture attached. This challenge will close midnight Tuesday 15th February New Zealand time.  We look forward to seeing all your fab creations!

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STITCHING CONTINUED....

Lucy has some fabulous stitched cards on her blog and also a great video where she shows  how she stitched them.

Check them out here.

CHALLENGE #11 - A STITCH IN TIME

Just before we introduce our next theme, a big thank you once again to all those who took part in our last challenge.  Your designs were absolutely fab!

The winner of our gift for Challenge #10 is No.8, Mandy, as chosen by Random Org Number Generator.  Congratulations Mandy!  Please email other Mandy your address and we'll pop it in the post to you.

As our theme title for Challenge #11 suggests, it's all about stitching!  We'd love to see some stitching on your projects.  This can be done with a sewing machine, by hand or drawn, anything stitch related basically, we like to keep our themes as open as possible.  We look forward to seeing what you come up with.

Eileen

For this theme I have stitched around the outside with my sewing machine.  Used the Spellbinders flower dies.  I like using black on white as it looks smart.  I used coloured card tags cut to shape for the background which I bought from The Warehouse.

Mandy

I love to add texture to designs with random stitching, just as I've done on my tag below.  You can't really see in the picture, but I've also rubbed some Star Dust Stickles where I've stitched to give it a nice glitter effect!

I dyed white seam binding to match and crinkled it, really love using this binding on projects.

Papertrey Ink: Love Lives Here Stamp Set, Tag Sale #1 Die. Hero Arts:  Friends Definition Cling Background Stamp. The Ribbon Girl: Lace, Natural Jute Button Twine, Seam Binding.  Craftie Charlie: East of India Hearts and Leaves Ribbon

Edited to add new Stitched Designs currently on my blog.

Our little gift for this challenge is gorgeous seam binding and tags cut using Papertrey Ink's Tag Sale #1 die.

Please leave a link to your project using Mr Linky or send us an email with a picture attached. This challenge will close midnight Tuesday 1st February New Zealand time.  We look forward to seeing your designs.

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CHALLENGE #10 - JUST A NOTE

Happy New Year !!

It was wonderful to see all your fabulous 'New Beginnings' projects, thank you to all who took part.  The winner of the Tim Holtz Idea-ology Journaling Tickets is No.2, Hazel,  chosen by Random Org Number Generator.  Congratulations Hazel!  Please email Mandy your address and we'll pop them in the post to you.

Challenge #10 is Just a Note...

Thank You Notes, Notelets, Notebooks and Musical Notes are a few examples...basically anything related to notes!  We look forward to seeing what you come up with.

Mandy

These are such a cute sized card measuring 9cm x 12.5cm (approx 3" x 5").  After die cutting the butterflies I added Star Dust Stickles.  By using different papers and buttons each one of these little cards is an original in it's own right!

Papertrey Ink:  Butterfly Die, On my Couch Stamp Set, Selection of Buttons.  Stampin Up: Buttons.

  The Ribbon Girl: Natural Jute Button Twine

On my card and matching tag I added musical notes using Tim Holtz Symphony Tissue Tape.  I've taken up rather a lot of space on this post so if you pop over to my blog you can read more about this project there!

Papertrey Ink: Signature Greetings Stamp Set, Just the Ticket Stamp Set.  Basic Grey: Nook and Pantry Papers.  Tim Holtz: Idea-ology Journaling Tickets, Symphony Tissue Tape.  The Ribbon Girl: Natural Jute Button Twine, Natural Lace

Eileen



This card and matching note pad and pillow box would make an awesome thank you for that  special person.   I used Rosie's L'll papers.  The cuttlebug die and emboss  butterfly with pearl rhinestones.  I put white lace on each one.
The words are computer generated Ziggy Zoe. 

We have some homemade goodies to give away for this challenge, 6 crocheted flowers, 4 butterfly embellishments and 2 heart toppers together with some little doilies which seem to be very popular amongst card makers at the moment.

Please leave a link to your project using Mr Linky or send us an email with a picture attached. This challenge will close midnight Tuesday 18th January New Zealand time.  We look forward to seeing your designs.

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