Welcome


Hello, my name is Dionne and I have been crafting for a very long time. As a very young child my mother tried to teach me to knit, it was a disaster. However, it must have sparked an interest in making things and, partly to prove that I was not totally useless and partly because I really wanted to make things, I taught myself to crochet. Over the years I have developed a love of cross stitch and all types of paper craft ..... I eventually even taught myself to knit.


I am married to a very understanding man, thank goodness, because I spend all my time either crafting, thinking about crafting or talking about crafting. I am hopeless at housework and dinner is often late!


Thank you for visiting my blog.


Dionne

Wednesday 31 July 2013

Sabrina

Hi

Wednesday already, where does the time  go?

Today my card is a birthday card for my niece, I now have 4 nieces and they are all wonderful girls.  My card features one of Saturated Canary's wonderful girls, this one is called Sabrina.

I have been posting cards featuring butterflies for the last few weeks to help my friend, Mrs Beez, raise awareness of the charity Amy and Friends, and the work they do to support children suffering from Cockayne Syndrome.


I coloured the image with Promarkers and mounted it on silver mirri and dark blue card.  I then made bunting from some off cuts,  I strung the pennants on twine and attached it to the card with brads.  The backing paper is from a Papermania stack, it features bunting, birdhouses and butterflies.

Please visit Mrs Beez's blog to find out more about the work of Amy and Friends and how Mrs Beez is trying to raise awareness of this condition.


Dionne

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

Addicited to Stamps and More - Challenge #56 - Anything Goes!!!
Tammy Scrappin Corner Challenge # 73 Theme Use a Digi


Tuesday 30 July 2013

Flowers in Bloom


Hi

The heatwave may have ended here but it is still pretty warm, too warm for me!  I know, I'm just making excuses not to do my housework, but that mean more time for crafting.

My friend Lisette (aka Mrs Beez) and I have recently been posting projects featuring butterflies.  It all started when Lisette decided to raise awareness of the charity Amy and Friends, and the work they do to help children suffering from Cockayne Syndrome.  Why butterflies?  Well, Amy and Friends adopted the butterfly to represent those whose lives have been cut short by this terrible illness.

I have a pretty birthday card to share with you today.


This lovely digital stamp is from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps.  After colouring it with Promarkers, I mounted it on purple pearl card.  The flourish die cut is from Cheery Lynn and the butterfly dies are Memory Box.  Finally, I added a small sentiment from Craftwork Cards.

Please visit Mrs Beez's blog to find out more about the work of Amy and Friends and how Mrs Beez is trying to raise awareness of this condition.


Dionne

Monday 29 July 2013

Indigo Swallowtail Butterfly

Good morning and welcome to my blog.  Thank you for taking time to visit me here and for all of the kind comments you leave, they mean so much to me.

I hope you had a good weekend.

Regulars will know that my dear friend and DT team mate Lisette, aka Mrs Beez, has decided that all of her projects this month will feature a butterfly.  By doing this, Lisette is hoping to raise awareness of work of the charity Amy and Friends and all that they do to support children suffering from Cockayne Syndrome.  I should mention that Amy and Friends adopted the butterfly to represent those whose lives have been cut short by this terrible illness.

Lisette suggested that she also features some of my butterfly cards on her blog during this month, I was so thrilled about this idea and rushed off to make a stack of cards, many of which feature this fabulous swallowtail butterfly from Stampin' Up.


I took my inspiration for this card from Shirley Bee's Stamping Stuff.

I stamped the butterfly twice and coloured both identically with my Promarkers.  I then cut them out and glued them back to back.  Once it was dry I carefully curved and raised the wings.

I made the card from a sheet of pearlised card and half a sheet of acetate.  I cut the card and punched the edges with a Martha Stewart punch.  I attached the butterfly by the body to the front of the card.

I also put this stamp onto a candle.


I really enjoy adding stamped images to candles and it is so easy to do.   Simply stamp your image onto tissue paper, I coloured mine with Promarkers, then, after roughly cutting out the image, place it onto your candle.  Cut a strip of baking parchment to wrap around the candle.  Use your heat gun to gently melt the skin of the candle and watch the tissue disappear into the molten wax.  Take care not to over heat the wax, you do not want it to run.  The wax will quickly set again once you remove the heat.  I finished the candle by adding some ribbon from my stash.

They say that the camera never lies, but my ribbon matches the colour of the butterfly in reality, but you would not think so from the photograph.

Please visit Mrs Beez's blog to find out more about the work of Amy and Friends and, whilst you are there, don't forget to check out her fabulous blog candy giveaway.


Dionne

Sunday 28 July 2013

Walkie and Talkie Strike Again!

Hi

Close followers of my blog will know that this month my dear friend and DT buddy Lisette, aka Mrs Beez, has decided that all of her projects will feature a butterfly to show her support and raise awareness of the charity Amy and Friends and the work they do to for children suffering from Cockayne Syndrome.

Mrs Beez has invited me to join her quest by making a few things of my own with butterflies on them.  I have never been asked to do anything this important before and I was honoured to be asked, and yes, I did get a bit carried away.

Today I have another birthday card to share with you.


These adorable little stamps are from Saturated Canary and are called Walkie and Talkie. Since the first time I saw them I had the idea of trying to make a card where their strings met up when the card  was closed.

It was not as straight forward as I initially imagined.  After a couple of false starts, I cut around the images in order to line them up with the edge of the card.  I then mounted them on white card and purple pearlescent card.




I coloured the stamped images with Promarkers, the backing paper is by Dove Craft and the fabulous lace trim is from Wild Orchid Crafts.  The butterfly dies are from Memory Box.

Please visit Mrs Beez's blog to find out more about the work of Amy and Friends and, whilst you are there, don't forget to check out her fabulous blog candy giveaway.


Dionne

Saturday 27 July 2013

Swallowtail Butterflies

Hi, it's the weekend.

Regular visitors to this place will know that my friend and DT team mate Lisette, aka Mrs Beez, has decided that for a month all of her projects will feature a butterfly.  This is to show support for the charity Amy and Friends and the work they do to support children suffering from Cockayne Syndrome.  Amy and Friends adopted the butterfly to represent those whose lives have been cut short by this terrible illness.  I was so thrilled when Lisette asked me to be a guest on her blog during this time and I instantly started crafting cards with butterflies on them.

I am back today to share four very similar cards with you, they all feature the gorgeous Stampin' Up Swallowtail Butterfly stamp.








I used Cherry Cobbler to stamp the swallowstail and mounted it on the colour toned card and a similar coloured patterned paper from my stash.  The sentiments are from Craftwork Cards.

Please visit Mrs Beez's blog to find out more about the work of Amy and Friends and how Mrs Beez is trying to raise awareness.


Dionne

Friday 26 July 2013

Gardener Gayle with Butterflies

Hi

My friend, Lisette, and I have recently been posting projects featuring butterflies.  It all started when Lisette decided to raise awareness of the charity Amy and Friends, and the work they do to support children suffering from Cockayne Syndrome.  Amy and Friends adopted the butterfly to represent those whose lives have been cut short by this terrible illness.

Lisette, aka Mrs Beez, has been creating some breath-taking projects, all of them with the central butterfly theme and I have been privileged to guest on her blog for just over a week now, it has been such a wonderful experience.

My card today features Saturated Canary's Gardener Gayle.


I usually cut my own step cards but this one came from Craftwork Cards, I know it is a bit of a cop out but it was so much easier this way.  I covered the blank card with a sheet of Lucy Cromwell's designer papers.  I then coloured the image with Promarkers and mounted it on a Chesapeake Circle die cut by Memory Box and backed with some pearlised card.

The butterflies are from Memory Box dies and the flourish die cuts are a Cheery Lynn design and the butterfly punch is from Martha Stewart.  Oh, I almost forgot, the daisies are from Wild Orchid Crafts.


To accompany the card, I decided to put Gardener Gayle on a candle.


This is great fun to do.  Stamp your image onto tissue paper, I coloured mine with Promarkers, then, after roughly cutting out the image, place it onto your candle.  Cut a strip of baking parchment to wrap around the candle.  Use your heat gun to gently melt the skin of the candle and watch the tissue disappear into the molten wax.  Take care not to over heat the wax, you do not want it to run.  The wax will quickly set again once you switch off the heat.  The fabric roses on a roll are from Stamin' Up.

Please visit Mrs Beez's blog to find out more about the work of Amy and Friends and how Mrs Beez is trying to raise awareness of this condition.


Dionne

Thursday 25 July 2013

Beautiful Sunflower


Hi

Regular visitors to this space will know that my friend and DT teamie Lisette, aka Mrs Beez, has decided that for a month all of her projects will feature a butterfly.  This is to show support for the charity Amy and Friends and the work they do to support children suffering from Cockayne Syndrome.  Amy and Friends adopted the butterfly to represent those whose lives have been cut short by this terrible illness.

I really admire what Lisette is doing and it meant so much to me when she asked me to be a guest on her blog and I instantly started crafting cards with butterflies on them .... and got totally carried away.


This gorgeous sunflower and butterfly design is a Sweet 'n Sassy image called Butterfly and Flower.  I coloured it with Promarkers, the paper is by Dove Craft and the yellow daisies are from Wild Orchid Crafts.  The sumptuous ribbon is from the Really Reasonable Ribbon people.

Please visit Mrs Beez's blog to find out more about the work of Amy and Friends and how Mrs Beez is trying to raise awareness.


Dionne

Wednesday 24 July 2013

Tiny Butterflies

Hi

For the past week I have been posting cards featuring butterflies and I have been telling you how my friend Mrs Beez and I have been raising awareness of the charity Amy and Friends, and the work they do to support children suffering from Cockayne Syndrome.

I have two more cards to share with you today.


I made the butterflies with a Martha Stewart punch and the sentiment is a Stampin' Up stamp.


I think my tree could have been a little bigger (or my butterflies a little smaller) but you have to work with what you have and I have this lovely Clarity Stamp, split tree.

I have recently become a bit of a fan of Pinterest and today's cards were inspired by some of the cards I have seen there, especially this one

Please visit Mrs Beez's blog to find out more about the work of Amy and Friends and how Mrs Beez is trying to raise awareness.


Dionne

Tuesday 23 July 2013

In the Pink

Hi and welcome to my blog.

As you know, my dear friend and DT buddy Lisette, aka Mrs Beez, has been raising awareness of the charity Amy and Friends and the work they do to support children suffering from Cockayne Syndrome by posting on her blog at least one project a day featuring the charities symbol, a butterfly.  I was thrilled when Mrs Beez asked me to make some cards to help her in her quest.

Today I have two similar butterfly cards to share with you.


Both cards started out the same, I stamped and embossed the beautiful Stampin' Up swallowtail butterfly stamp onto pink pearlescent card.  I then picked out some of the detail with a white gel pen, then I mounted the first of the butterflies on some Midnight Muse coloured card and added a Craftwork Cards sentiment.


I gave the second card a bit of a twist.  I cut the image into three before mounting it on to gold mirri and Cherry Cobbler coloured card.

Please visit Mrs Beez's blog to find out more about the work of Amy and Friends and how Mrs Beez is trying to raise awareness.


Dionne

Monday 22 July 2013

Animals Crackers


A new challenge starts at Crafty Boots Challenges today.  The theme of this challenge is 'Animals', it was was chosen by the lovely Bev.

A quick look through my stash soon made me realise that I do not have an awful lot of animal related images.  However, by very lucky happenchance, I recently purchased some new Sylvia Zet Whimsy Wee stamps, including this one of Wee Bunny.


I purchased the step card came from Craftwork Cards, it was so much easier than hand cutting my own.  I covered the blank card with a sheet of Lucy Cromwell's designer papers and coloured the image with Promarkers.

The fabulous roses and the hat pins are from Wild Orchid Crafts and the tiny bunny charm is from my stash.

The rest of the Crafty Boots Challenges Design Team have been very busy making some inspirational pieces, please pop by and take a look.


Dionne



Sunday 21 July 2013

A Butterfly in the Hand

.... is worth 7 in the bushes?

We had quite a change in the weather yesterday, very overcast and lower temperatures, I wonder what today will bring?  One good thing to come out of the drop in temperature is that it is more comfortable crafting (and I did not need the fan on, which kept blowing everything onto the floor).

By now regular visitors to this blog will know that, for this month, my dear friend Lisette, aka Mrs Beez, has decided that all of her projects will feature a butterfly to show support for the charity Amy and Friends and the work they do to support children suffering from Cockayne Syndrome.  Amy and Friends uses the butterfly to represent those whose lives have been cut short by this terrible illness.  Mrs Beez hopes to raise awareness of the work of Amy and Friends by placing butterflies on all of her projects for the next month.

I have a thing about using butterflies when I craft so I was thrilled when Mrs Beez asked me to make some cards to help her in this quest.


I used Promarkers to colour this old fashioned image.  The background papers is from Dove Craft and the sentiment from Craftwork Cards.  The swirly die is from Cheery Lynn and the butterfly ones are from Memory Box.  The little butterflies were made with a Martha Stewart punch.

Don't forget to pop over to Mrs Beez blog and find out more about Amy and Friends.


Dionne

Saturday 20 July 2013

Butterfly with Calla Lilies


Hi

It's the weekend, the forecast is for a continued heatwave, if a little cooler today, and I am sure you are longing to get outside, so I'll keep this post short.

Followers of my blog will know that for the next few weeks my dear friend and DT buddy Lisette, aka Mrs Beez, has decided that all of her projects will feature a butterfly to show support for the charity Amy and Friends and the work they do to support children suffering from Cockayne Syndrome.  Mrs Beez hopes to raise awareness of the work of Amy and Friends by placing butterflies on all of her projects for the next month.

When Mrs Beez asked me to help her by guesting on her blog I was thrilled and, in my normal fashion, got totally carried away.  Therefore, I have another butterfly card to show you today.


These pretty Calla Lilies are from Stitchy Bear.

The papers are from my favourite Papermania stack, the butterfly is a Memory Box dies and the lace is from Wild Orchid Crafts.

Please pop over to Mrs Beez blog and find out more about Amy and Friends.

Enjoy the sunshine.


Dionne

Friday 19 July 2013

Final Approach

Hi

As you know, for the next month my dear friend and DT buddy Lisette, aka Mrs Beez, has decided that all of her projects will feature a butterfly to show support for the charity Amy and Friends and the work they do to support children suffering from Cockayne Syndrome.  Amy and Friends uses the butterfly to represent those whose lives have been cut short by this terrible illness.  Mrs Beez hopes to raise awareness of the work of Amy and Friends by placing butterflies on all of her projects for the next month.   I feel very honoured because Mrs Beez has invited me to join her, and make a few things of my own, and put butterflies on them.

My post today features the fabulous Stampin' Up Swallowtail Butterfly.  I have fallen deeply in love with this stamp and I just know it is going to be featuring on a lot of my projects.


I enjoyed making this card so much, I made it twice, and to be honest with you, I had to restrain myself from making it over and over.  I am sure many of you will have seen Cindy Hall's fabulous wall decoration which has inspired my cards. 


These cards are just full of dimension and I can see why Cindy made hers into a wall decoration.


This blue card I stamped using Stampin' Up's Midnight Muse ink and mounted it onto silver mirri and matching Midnight Muse coloured card.


This red card is stamped using Stampin' Up's Cherry Cobbler ink and again mounted it onto silver mirri and matching Cherry Cobbler coloured card.


To make the butterfly, I stamped the image twice and coloured each identically using Promarkers.  I them cut them out and pasted them back to back.  Once dry I carefully folded both sets of wings up and set them in that position using Pinflair glue gel.

Whist the wings were drying I went out into my garden and cut some dead twigs from a bush.  After washing the twigs and leaving them to completely dry, I wired some Wild Orchid Crafts cherry blossom flowers to the twigs and set them into position on the card with more Pinflair Glue Gel.

Finally, I glued the butterflies into position, so they looked as though they are about to land on the cherry tree branch.

These were remarkably simple to make but so effective.

Please make the time to visit Mrs Beez's blog to find out more about the work of Amy and Friends.


Dionne


Thursday 18 July 2013

Say it with Flowers


Mornin' all.

Here in the UK we are currently experiencing something of a heatwave.  I hope you are able to enjoy this amazing weather - I know from experience that it can be far from wonderful to have to work in these temperatures.

Close followers of my blog will know that for the next month my dear friend and DT buddy Lisette, aka Mrs Beez, has decided that all of her projects will feature a butterfly to show support for the charity Amy and Friends and the work they do to support children suffering from Cockayne Syndrome.

Amy and Friends uses the butterfly to represent those whose lives have been cut short by this terrible illness.  Mrs Beez hopes to raise awareness of the work of Amy and Friends by placing butterflies on all of her projects for the next month.   I feel very honoured because Mrs Beez has invited me to join her, and make a few things of my own, and put butterflies on them.

Today I have decided to make a birthday card.  This sweet little image is from Mo Manning and is called Thanks!


I coloured the image with Promarkers and mounted it on some pastel coloured pearl card. The glittered background paper is from the Forever Friends paper Stack, New Arrivals.  I added a Craftwork Cards sentiment, 4 brads, a button and a rosette.  The sparkly ribbon is from the Really Reasonable Ribbon people.

Please visit Mrs Beez's blog to find out more about the work of Amy and Friends and, whilst you are there, don't forget to check out her fabulous blog candy giveaway.


Dionne

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

Really Reasonable Ribbon #76 is Sizzlin' Summer Colors & Ribbon

Wednesday 17 July 2013

Butterfly Tags

Good morning everyone in blogland and a special welcome to anyone visiting my blog for the first time.  Please let me know what you think, I would love to hear from you.

I am just so excited today and I just can't hide it, to quote the song, because I have been invited to join in a very special event.


The other day I told you about my dear friend Lisette, aka Mrs Beez, and her personal quest to raise awareness of  Cockayne Syndrome.

For the next month Lisette has decided that all of her projects will feature a butterfly to show support for the charity Amy and Friends.  This little known charity supports children suffering from Cockayne Syndrome, and their families.  The charity uses the butterfly to represent those whose lives have been cut short by this terrible illness.

Mrs Beez hopes to raise awareness of the disease and the work of Amy and Friends through her blog and she has invited me to join in the fun and make some cards featuring butterflies.  Well, how could I resist, you may have noticed that I really love crafting with butterflies, and have so many butterfly dies, you would not believe it.

Today, hopefully, will be the first of many posts over the next few weeks featuring butterflies.

I just love this new Tattered Lace die featuring a very high stiletto, oh how I wish I could still wear shoes that high!


Did you spot that the straps are made up of tiny butterflies?  I added a few more butterflies using the waste from the die, a Martha Stewart punch and a few flat backed gems.



I cut the tags with Sissex Bigz die and then ran them through my Big Shot with a couple of embossing folders.  Finally, I added some ribbon and lace.

Please visit Mrs Beez blog to find out more about Amy and Friends and whilst you are there, check out her blog candy giveaway.


Dionne

Friday 12 July 2013

Belle of the Ball

Hi

It's Friday and the weekend is about to start, yes!

I have a birthday card to share with you today, I mentioned yesterday that we were recently invited to an Alice in Wonderland themed party.  We had a fantastic time and we spent a lot of time spotting all of the Alice themed decorations all around the house and garden.  Lots of tasty food and there were also three fabulous themed cakes - Mad Hatter's Tea Party, White Rabbit and Queen of Hearts and loads of lovely cup cakes.


My Alice is by Mo Manning, I coloured her with Promarkers and mounted the image on blue card. The cup cake paper is one of Lucy Cromwell designs from Papermania.  I added some flat backed pearls, a sentiment and a tiny White Rabbit charm.

Have a great weekend.


Dionne

Thursday 11 July 2013

Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy!



Good morning

Over at Crafty Boots Challenge the current challenge is Music, it could include your favorite song, favorite group, favorite musical event or musical instrument either on a tag or scrapbook page.

My Bugle Boy is the White Rabbit herald from Lewis Carroll's book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.  We were recently lucky enough to be invited to an Alice in Wonderland themed birthday party and my herald is announcing our acceptance to the party invitation.


I coloured selected parts of this IndigoBlu stamp with my pink Wink of Stella pen and mounted it on silver mirri and pink glitter card. 

There is still plenty of time for you to enter your favourite music themed project in the Challenge.


Dionne

Wednesday 10 July 2013

Amy and Friends



Hi all

How is your week going? It has been very hot and dry here for the past few days, something we are simply not use to.

Today I wanted to say a very happy blogiversary to my dear friend and fellow Crafty Boots Design Team Member, Lisette, better know to most of you as Mrs Beez. For the past twelve months Lisette has posted at least one project on her blog each and every day and this week sees the first anniversary of her very first post and to mark this occasion she is giving away some blog candy.

As far as I can tell, the very first post on her blog was a canvass featuring butterflies, which is very appropriate because for the next month Lisette has decided that all of her projects will feature a butterfly to show support for the charity Amy and Friends.

Amy and Friends supports children suffering from Cockayne Syndrome, and their families, and the butterfly is the symbol they use for those whose lives have been cut short by this illness. 

Mrs Beez hopes to raise awareness of the disease and the work of Amy and Friends through her blog.  So please visit her blog and find out more about Amy and Friends and leave Mrs Beez a little sugar to encourage her in this venture.

HTML tutorial


Dionne

Monday 8 July 2013

Ta Da - It's a Music Challenge!

 Welcome.  I hope you had a fabulous weekend.  I did, we went to a terrific party on Saturday and I spent yesterday crafting.

Today sees the start of a new Crafty Boots Challenge.  Sara has set us a Music challenge, it could include your favorite song, favorite group, favorite musical event or musical instrument either on a tag or scrapbook page.

I should like to take this opportunity to welcome two new members to the Crafty Boots Challenges Design Team and to bid a sad farewell to Bev.  The two new members are:

Helen A and Lisette (aka Mrs Beez)

Emm, back to this Challenge.  This is quite a dilemma for me - tag  or scrapbook page.  I decided to make a tag featuring a musical instrument.


I cut my tag with a Sissex Bigz Die out of craft card.  I then cut a slightly smaller tag out of a free sheet music image from The Graphics Fairy.  After sticking the two tags together I distressed them with Vintage Photo and Mustard Seed distress inks.

The sweet little clarinet player is Allie from Saturated Canary.  I coloured her with Promarkers.  I decorated the tag with some baker's twine, flat backed pearls, white buttons, some Stampin' Up ribbon, a Tim Holtz Idea-ology ticket and a Petaloo flower.

As always, the rest of the Design Team have been working very hard to make some lovely inspirational pieces, please take the time to look at them.

Good luck.


Dionne