Special Day

Hello lovelies and hope you are all OK today.

I'm sharing a card I made using the brand new Tonic Studios Special Occasions Die sets. These are still on 30 day exclusive over at Create and Craft and they will be available direct from Tonic and other retailers after this.

But it is a bit of inspiration until then.

There are 3 different sets here and I used the Anniversary set. 

You could use this for other occasions though, not just anniversaries, although it's pretty darn tooting good for those.

And this is the sentiment I used - again it's on 30 days at Create and Craft.

I really like the deep red with the gold here. 

It'd be nice for a Ruby Anniversary.

You could use this sentiment for other occasions such as a wedding.

 So that's my card for today and hope you like it.

Now, I have a huge favour to ask you.

I have a giveaway planned for my blog subscribers - I said I'd do this when I got the blog up and running again. But I'm not  sure if the way I used to do this will still work. 

Could somebody, anybody just leave me a comment, even if it says 'test'. If you come here and see one there, then don't worry because I only need one to know that I can do the giveaway like this.  If it doesn't work I'll have to find another way.

Right, that's me for today. 

Take care and stay safe and well. 

Huge hugs xxx

Shoes To DIE For : )

Hiya sweet peeps and hope everybody is OK -  wasn't it a hot one yesterday. Phew!!!!!

It’s a bit less humid this morning which is all good : )

The card I’m sharing today is another one from yesterday’s Tonic Studios POTD and this one features the GORGEOUS Rococo Lace Stiletto die. I would LOVE a pair of shoes like this but sadly I wouldn’t be able to walk in them : (

I’m a Cat Boots and Uggs sort of girlie!!!

I cut the die out of black card and I embossed it – the detail is lost in these photos as the card is dark,  but the embossing is amazing.
Then I stuck them down onto red card and undercut them. I added some  Nuvo Ruby Red Glitter to the little flowers on the front and added a little gem.
Then I stuck a length of black ribbon to the back and glued it down onto the striped background, which is 1” strips of black and white card glued onto a scrap of white card then matted onto red card.

Check out those heels – wow!!!

And I just printed out the sentiment – you can add anything you like.

I finished it off with a red bow and black button and some contrasting Ebony Black and Pearl White Nuvo Crystal Drops.

Have a fabulous day and crafty hugs to everybody,

Dawny xxx

Who Lives In A House Like This lol :)

Morning lovely peeps and hope you are all OK today.

Thankfully the thunder and lightning didn't return last night - well the thunder did a bit but nothing electrical, phew!!!
I really didn’t want a repeat of Monday night.

It’s only a shortie today but I thought Id share a little something that I took to sunny Peterborough last time we were on Create & Craft and …..

… here it is.

A lovely little birdy house.
If I was a bird, I’d think this was actually a rather fab des res and I’d  be more than happy to live in it  : )

I really like this and it was so much fun to make.

I used a Sissix Bigz XL Birdhouse die and the papers are from the very gorgeous LOTV Pressed In Time paper pads.
I think the soft earthy tones were perfect for this project.

 

 

I used various dies and punches to make the blooms and leaves and also I stuck on some sphagnum moss as well.
It isn't easy to stick it on but if you use blobs of silicone glue and then push the moss into it, it seems to stick OK.

The cute sentiment is from the LOTV Set 18 - Greetings Postmarks set which I really like. and I stuck it on with a memo pin which I got from Mary at The Ribbon Girl.

And that’s it – it really was a shortie today wasn't it and not at all like me I know lol.

Have the fabbiest of days and I’ll see you soon.
Huggiest of hugs to all xxx

Bloomin' Peachy :)

Hi there peeps and hope you are all OK today.

Today is the day that you can at last get your mitts on the brand new release over at Lili of The Valley :)
It'll soon be midday, yayyyyy :)))

Have you picked your faves yet?

The DT have been sharing their fabulous makes over the last few weeks so hopefully you will have gotten oodles of inspiration and your crafty hands will be itching to go lol!!

I'm sharing another telly make today and this time I've used papers from the beautiful Pressed In Time paper pad.
I cased the layout of this card from one I'd seen around and about and wrote down the creator so that I could credit her but I cannot find it any anywhere. So apols if it was you xx - I'll keep my links somewhere a bit safer next time, dope that I am.

 

 

So this is what I did.

I think perhaps next time I'll use a kraft card base but I still quite like it with a white base as it picks up the Cheery Lynn doily and the sentiment strip. I've also done a fair bit of edge inking in here as well - I seem to be doing this all the time now.
I wonder if I'm going from fairly CAS over to the shabby side lol!!!

 

 

The flower is made from Sir Tim's Tattered Florals Dies.
I have to say that the papers are perfect for this sort of project as they stand up to a bit of abuse without  being too bulky.

And they look very pretty as well :)

 

 

 

Lots of 'natural' stuff here.
The hessian ribbon and button twine are from The Ribbon Girl as is the sparkler which I coloured with a Copic to match the papers.

 

 

 

I added some liquid pearls (again!!) and a few dabs of Diamond Stickles in the centre bit of the flower.
IRL it looks better than it does here - they look like bits of snow lol!!!

 

 

 

So that's me done and I will be back tomorrow with a very special post for Papertake Weekly.
Enjoy the rest of your day and huggiest of hugs to all xxx

Nearly There Plus A 'Shelfie' lol xx

 

Morning possums and a very happy Sunday to everybody - I hope you are all enjoying your weekend :)

Are you all excited about the new Lili of The Valley release tomorrow?

Check it all out .......

... and as you can see, there are 6 gorgeous paper pads, 5 new art pads and also another set of the popular sentiments tags for all your family members so in just over 24 hours you will be able to get your mitts on them.

I have to say that this has been one of my fave ever launches.
The papers are so lovely - every single pad - and the new Art Pads are stunning.
And of course we all love those little tag sentiments :)

I thought I'd also share  another card that I made for Create & Craft and this one features  the beautiful Timeless Victorian papers and an image from the  English Charm Art Pad.  This was one of those times when I knew as soon as I saw the image what I wanted to do with it - don't you just love it when that happens - and I had planned to demo this on the old telly but it took so long that it wouldn't have worked there.

But I was really pleased with how it turned out.

I thought the image was perfect for a shelf card  as the pots of lavender are already sitting on a shelf and the dimension created in the image is stunning. The background wooden panels on the image match one of the papers in the pad perfectly ....

 

... as you can see here.  
You can almost smell that lavender :)

 

 

I made the shelf from card and  covered it with the paper.
Then I stuck it onto the front of the card and added the trimmed down image which I stuck on with lots of silicone glue so that it almost hung over the edge.

I carefully cut out the little tag from the image so that it actually did hang over the edge, just as it would if it was really on a shelf. I made the scalloped borders using a Spellbinders die and cut 2, one from the papers and one from white card and glued them together

I made another one for the top of the image and then went to town with loads of punched leaves and little flowers .....

 

... as you can see lol!!

I added some liquid pearls as well.
This card was lots of fun to do  - it isn't too difficult and you just need to use loads of silicone glue to hold it all in place :)

 

 

You can see how I made the shelf a bit better on this pic.
A beautiful lilac bow and sparkler which I got from The Ribbon Girl.
The shop is closed for a short while but it will re-open once Mary feel able to deal with it following the sad death of her beloved husband Roy.

Right that's me done.
I'm off to finish a commission then I better start the dinner. My lot are in residence so it's an almost full house. We are minus Nikkie though because she is travelling down to Brighton today for a week with work.

Enjoy the rest of your day and don't forget if you haven't taken part in the Lili of The Valley blog hop from Friday, there's still time to do so and you can find the deets right here.

Huggiest of hugs to all xxx

A Vase A Day .... :)

 

Good afternoon sweet peeps and hope that you are all OK today and that you are safe and warm and dry xxx.

Firstly I have to say a huge thank you to everybody that voted for me in the Craft Awards xxx
I didn't win but I was in the top three fave designers with Joanna Sheen (the winner), and our Leonie Pujol. This was a huge shock because I was really thankful just to be nominated in the first place  so when they said my name, well you can imagine that I was gobsmacked, not to mention pretty humbled to be in such illustrious company. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you sooooo so much xxx I was really hoping that LOTV would pick up a much deserved award but again we came in the top three against some very stiff competition. But onwards and upwards and there's always next year :)

And of course a huge congrats to all the winners.

Righty-oh I thought that over the next few days, I would share some of the samples that I did for last week's Create & Craft show which was a huge success and well done to you if you managed to get the beautiful new papers and/or Art Pads. If you weren't lucky due to the sell out, then you can get them from the Lili of The Valley website in a week's time so not too long to wait.

 

If you ordered them from C&C and they've arrived, don't  forget to share your makes with us on our Facebook page because we love to see what you do with these fabulous products :)

So I thought I'd kick off with the vase that I made using the Heartfelt papers.
This would be nice for Mothers Day but really you could change the sentiment and use it for  any occasion.
It started out in life as a tub for hot chocolate  ...

 

... this is the one (well not the actual one but a similar one lol)!!

An added bonus is that you will love getting through the contents before you start to make your project cos this is NICE stuff.

Yayyyy :)

   

 

I basically just covered the tin with the red crackle effect paper.
It really does look the biz IRL and please excuse the  pics cos I am rubbish without the light tent thing I use and this was too tall to fit in it :(

When you cover the tin, you will need to add a strip around the back but the paper and pattern are so good that unlike Ernie Wise's wig, you cannot see the join lol. And you should be able to cover the tin using just  one sheet.

 

I made the blooms out of some Tim Holtz rosette dies and one that I made myself using a 2" strip of paper which I just accordion folded. It's truly a rubbish pic but I hope you can see what I did.

The lacy bits were just made by hot gluing some strips of cotton lace onto a punched or die cut circle, pinching and squashing it down  as you go. It's really easy to do and they look nice I think.

The glittery centres are just some rhinestones sparklers which I got from The Ribbon Girl. I can't link at the mo cos the website is down for some maintenance but you should be able to find them and also the lace.

 

 

Here's a different view.
The other papers are from the same pad and the sentiment is from  SET 8 Happy Circular Sentiments

 

 

A beautiful faux silk ribbon bow and some pearly lace, and again these are from The Ribbon Girl.

Right that's me done and I will be back tomorrow.
Take care and stay safe with this rotten weather even though it's actually not rained here for 2 whole days now!!!

Enjoy the rest of your day and huggiest of hugs to all xxx

Sneaky Peeky Create and Crafty :)

 

Hi there peeps and hope you are all OK today.

I'm in full production mode at the mo getting all my samples ready for next week's  Lili of The Valley Create & Craft show.
Ohh my life, there's some beautimous new papers and stuff, not to mention world launches - all very very verrrry exciting. If you are about at 9am and 3pm on Monday 10th, it would be fab if you could join us.

But before then, it's time to head on over to Papertake Weekly and catch up with  the gang.
This week, we have our very popular

Anything Goes

theme and the option is to make a shaped card.
But you don't have to if you don't want to - it's just an option for those who still like to have a challenge.
There's also a GDT call out so if you want to join us for three months, please do nip over and check it all out.

Not only that, but there's a LOTV voucher up for grabs as well so it's worth a look :)

So what did I do then?

I made a little apron card.
I love these cards and you can really go to town on them if you wanted to, but they also look nice quite unadorned.

I went somewhere in the middle!!

The papers I used are from the brand new Lili of The Valley Shabby Shack paper pad  - are those colours just totally lush or what!!!

 

    

Isn't this little Miniature Rolling Pin sweet.
They are available from Mary at The Ribbon Girl, as is the lovely 16mm Aqua Open Weave Ribbon

 

 

I'm really into me punched flowers at the mo.

And I'm not averse to a spot of Liquid Pearl-age as well by the look of it lol!!

 

The sentiment is from LOTV SET 26 - Simply Sophisticated and the lace border was made with a Cheery Lynn border die.

 

So there we are all done and it's a bit of a shortie today (phew, I hear you say!!). 

But before  go, don't forget to have a look over at the LOTV Ideas to Inspire blog.
Not only is it updated every day with oodles of inspiration for you, but there's also now a daily candy giveaway as well ......

... and here's a little banner for you to put on your blog ....

... you have to be in it to win it :)))

Right I better be off -  have a fab day and I'll see you soon as soon.

Huggiest of hugs to all xxx

'Love-ly Little Hanger (& An OMG Moment!!)

 

Morning sweet peeps and hope you are all OK today - blimey it's windy out there but no sign of the dreaded white stuff as yet.
Just as well cos I am driving to Leeds today and then over to the Trafford Centre with Nik to do a bit of Chrimbly shopping :(

I HATE shopping.

I HATE Chrimbly shopping even more  - bah humbug!!

And going there with our Nik fills me with dread cos there are so many shoe shops and she is a nightmare when she goes shoe shopping.

Ah but you said Christmas shopping I can hear you say.

Well yes, but it won't stop her checking them out.  I did ask her if she would be getting any shoes,  she said not particularly but she would go and have a look - just in case.

Well my heart sank.

She said that I should consider it payback for all the times that I  have dragged her around craft shows and the likes.
Fair point I guess so I won't moan (well not to her face lol!!)

And now back to me card!!

A lovely lady called Gina emailed the shop to ask about the hanger I made for Create and Craft so I thought I would put it in here, and ...

  

... here it is (Gina I hope this is the one chick).

I love making these and they are so easy peasy.

You make up the three panels and then hang the with ribbon or card strips from a piece of dowel ( I got mine from B&Q ).

Please excuse the wonky pic btw - the only place I could take the pics was in the lounge - I had to hang it on a nail in there which is quite high and I had to stand on a chair to take the pic and the pic wasn't the only thing wobbling let me tell you!!!  I only just noticed that the bottom section wasn't straight!!

Anyway, you can see what's going on with it hopefully.

The top section is made using Anniversary Surprise and I coloured it with good old Copics. Now I did this a while ago so I am not 100% sure if the colours but I THINK these are what I used -

Skin - E000, E00, E11, E13, R00, R02
Hair - E31, E35,
The rest - E09, E30, E31, E33, E35, E39, E40, E41, E42,  E50, E97, R05, R17, R27, R59

The papers I used for the hanger are from 2 of the 8x8 paper pads - Country Gent and County Lady and I used them to paper piece their little hats.

There's glitter as well (surely not!!).

The middle section is made from the papers and some hearts die cut from Kraft card. I also added a bow made from 25mm black and white gingham ribbon which I got from The Ribbon Girl, and a little heart button and some twine

 

And the last section is just a sentiment stamped onto Kraft and matted onto a scalloped circle. The sentiment I used is actually a smaller version of the Set 42 - Congratulations statements set.  This was made  for Create & Craft and I think there may be some left on their website.

If you make any, do let me know - I am such a nosy mare and I would love to come and have a look :)

OK so I said in the post title that there was an OMG moment.
Well that my sweet friends is an understatement if ever there was one.

Because I have only been nominated in the ....

 

... woop woop!!

I was idly flicking through one of me mags and saw the page and went to see if Lili of The Valley were nominated there and yes, they are,  woop, woop and woop again!!

But then I saw a name that was familiar... and it was mine.

Now I kid you not, at this point I was sat there totally agog and practically speechless (although not quite cos that  rarely happens!!). I have been nominated in the 'most inspirational craft blog' category, along with our Ideas to Inspire blog.

I showed Nik and she was thrilled of course, but then she noticed that I was nominated in the 'favourite card designer' category as well.

WOOP WOOP WOOP WOOP

At this point I really was speechless.

OMG - I had no clue at all.

So from the bottom of my heart a mahoosive thank you to the very sweet and lovely peeps who nominated me and thought that I was actually worthy. I am utterly thrilled and still a bit shocked to be honest!! I don't think that I will win but you know what, that really doesn't matter because the fact that I was even mentioned has made me so chuffed.

And on that lovely note I am off to pack up the car for the trip and psych myself up for the hours of shoe shops I will be visiting today!!

I will have a bet with you now that she doesn't buy any!!!

Enjoy your day and stay warm and safe and huggiest of shocked hugs to all xxx

 

The Most DELISH Colours :)

 

Hi there me darlins and hope all is well with you today xx

The weather seems to have picked up a bit here inasmuch as it isn't raining and it isn't windy. In fact, to be fair, it's actually one of them lovely Autumnal days which make me just want to put on my snuggly coat and warm boots and go for a nice walk.

I won't of course cos I am still in the crafty zone!!
But the thought was there ....... for all of 10 seconds!!!

So I'm back today to share another sample with you and today I thought I'd share one the cards I did for last week's show and also a bag we did on one the last but one workshop. I used the beautimous  Beach Bliss papers and the colours in these papers are just so pretty. I love putting them with Kraft card (I am so into Kraft at the mo) and it seems to highlight the blues in the papers to perfection.

So .....

 

... here's the card.

It's such an easy one to do but it looks lovely I think and this would work for anybody really, although I would possibly lose the bling if it was going to a bloke (unless it was for my nephew  in which case I'd add more cos it would be right up his strasse lol!!).

I added some glitter to the diamond shapes and went to town with the old sewing machine (which has never seen a scrap of material in it's life!!!).

A couple of die cut stars, a die cut button, a sparkler and a double bow made with Royal Peacock Seam Binding from The Ribbon Girl (which goes beautifully with these papers IMHO) and that's pretty much it.

 

 

 

Don'tcha just LOVE cards that are easy to put together but look the biz when you're done!!

I decided to do something different for the all day workshops that we are holding at LOTV HQ and one of the projects we did at the last but one workshop was to was to decorate a bag - these are the bags that you get if you buy any stamps etc from the shop or at shows.

Louis Vitton et al, eat your heart out!!!

The papers all but cover the front so they are perfect for this and again because of the colour of the bags, they coordinate really well.

I added a border which I glittered again for the sake of all things bling - I LOVE blingy (probably where my nephew gets it from!!).

I also love the fact that there is so much detail at the bottom of the paper and it looks really pretty.

Magnolia swirl and peony petal dies, plus punched holly leaves and more bling :)))

 

A cheeky little sentiment from the SET 33 - Christmas Grungy Messages - uber cute.

Ok so that's me done for today and I hope you like my Beach Bliss post. Also, just to let you know that we are back on the telly next Tuesday at 11am - hope you can join us for an hour of crafty fun.

Take care and see you back here soon as soon and enjoy your day xxx