Cross Stitch, knitting, crochet, dressmaking, card making, scrapbook and wedding stationery.
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
Friday 30 August 2013
CD Storage
Thanks for stopping by today. It is great to have visitors and I really do appreciate all of the fabulous comments you leave.
Over the years I have acquired quite a lot of crafting CDs and their storage has become something of a problem, so I decided to make a box to hold them all and at the same time free up two shelves on my bookcase.
I made the box out of mount board and some fabric from my scraps bag. I put all of the CDs into plastic wallets to prevent them from getting scratched and I left a little space around them so I can get them out easily.
Have a great weekend.
Dionne
Wednesday 28 August 2013
Vote for Mrs Beez and Raise Money for Amy and Friends
There is a distinct feeling of autumn in the air this morning but there was also a hint of the fabulous day that followed.
I had a wonderful surprize last Friday. My very kind, and generous, friend Lisette (who is known to most of you as Mrs Beez) sent me a beautiful bouquet of sunflowers.
I am afraid that my pathetic attempt at photographing them does not do them justice, you are just going to have to take my word that they really are fabulous. (By the way, I have since found a much more suitable vase for them, which displays them far better.)
There was another reason for all of this activity. You can help to raise money for this charity by voting for the first project Mrs Beez made for Gecko Galz and their Create for a Cause showcase. All you have to do is email them at geckogalz@yahoo.com and tell them your favorite design. Gecko Galz will then send money to the chosen charity of the winner. You will get a little gift just for voting.
Monday 19 August 2013
Christmas in August
A new challenge starts at Crafty Boots Challenges today and I am so excited about it because the theme of this challenge is 'Christmas in August', it was was chosen by the lovely, and very talented, Sandra.
After years and years of making my Christmas cards in August it all went horribly wrong last year and I found myself battling against the clock to get them made in time. I am determined this is not going to happen this year!
Last year I bought this stunning snowflake Bigz die from Stampin' Up but I did not use for my cards at the time. It makes short work of cutting through glitter card, and everyone knows how much I love a bit of glitter on my Christmas cards. I am also enjoying using my embossing folders.
Wednesday 14 August 2013
Tattered Lace Stilettos
Over at Crafty Boots Challenges the current challenge is 'Die Cuts', it can be anything you like, as long as it contains at least one die cut.
The first card I made for this Challenge featured the Tattered Lace stiletto die and my second the pretty Memory Box heart shaped die.
As you can see, today's card is a marriage of the two.
Finally, I added a few tiny pearls to the butterflies.
Good Luck.
Dionne
Friday 9 August 2013
Two Hearts - Believing in Just One Mind?
The current challenge at Crafty Boots Challenges is 'Die Cuts', it can be anything you like, as long as it contains at least one die cut.
I have another card featuring die cut to share with you today.
I embossed white card using my Grand Calibur and then cut two heart shapes with a Memory Box die. I cut two more heart shapes out of red glimmer card and placed them behind the La Rue Hearts die cuts. I used some red ribbon from my stash and a little more red glimmer card.
Do not forget to pop over to Crafty Boots Challenges and enter your own project into the challenge.
Good Luck.
Dionne
Wednesday 7 August 2013
Lift Off
Good morning
Today is the final day of Mrs Beez's personal challenge to to show support, and 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 and therefore Mrs Beez has been placing a butterfly on all of for projects for the past month.
I really admire what Lisette - aka Mrs Beez, has been doing to raise awareness of this charity and it meant so much to me when she asked me to be a guest on her blog. I want to thank her for giving me this fabulous opportunity.
As these are my last butterfly cards for a while I thought it appropriate that they, once again, should feature the outstanding Stampin' Up Swallowtail Butterfly stamp.
I watched a You Tube clip by Brandy's Cards, which showed me how to make this style of card. As you can see, it has dimension and looks as if it is elegantly peeling away from the page.
Regular visitors will know that I take out my own form of insurance policy when I stamp images and always make two impressions (at least) and, if nothing goes wrong, I end up with two very similar cards. I managed not to mess things up this time, so I made one card in SU Midnight Muse and the other in Cherry Cobbler.
Dionne
Tuesday 6 August 2013
Butterfly and Thistle
I have another butterfly card to share with you today. As you know, 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, by placing their butterfly emblem on our projects.
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 5 August 2013
Killer Stilettos!
A new challenge starts at Crafty Boots Challenges today. The theme of this challenge is 'Die Cuts', it was was chosen by the very talented Helen. Your design can be anything you like, as long as it contains at least one die cut.
I little while ago I bought several large embossing folders to use with my Grand Calibur. However, I have not really used them that much and this challenge seemed like an opportunity not to be missed, so I got my favourite dotty one out for this card.
Having embossed some white card I then got out my dies. These fabulous stiletto sandals are from Tattered Lace and the flourish is from Marianne Design Creatables. As you can see, the sandal straps are made up of tiny butterflies so I added a few more butterflies to the design with the aid of a Martha Stewart punch. I then added a few flat backed gems, a bow and a Craftwork Cards sentiment.
Sunday 4 August 2013
Three Little Maids
I hope that your weekend is going well. It is cooler here but very pleasant nonetheless.
There is something about a Gilbert and Sullivan tune, I am not sure how well their work travels, I doubt they are as well know as Rogers and Hammerstein or Cole Ported, but they are rooted deep in the British psyche and today I thought that I would get you humming one of those tunes that just gets stuck in your head - even if you cannot remember the words!
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 support 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 simple card to share with you today.
Dionne
Saturday 3 August 2013
Butterfly and Lupin
It's the weekend, hooray!
By now regular visitors to this blog will know that my dear friend 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 uses the butterfly to represent those whose lives have been cut short by this terrible illness. I have a thing about using butterflies in my crafting, so I was thrilled when Mrs Beez asked me to make some cards to help her raise awareness.
Today's card features this lupin and butterfly image from Eureka Stamps called Butterfly and Bluebonnet.
I coloured the image with Promarkers and mounted it on pearl card, unfortunately the pearl card made my stepper card hard to photograph. Let's try another angle.
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
Friday 2 August 2013
Feeling Blue
Thank you for dropping by again, I really appreciate the support you have been showing over the past few weeks whilst I have been posting cards featuring butterflies. I should like to say a very special thank you to Michaela for all the support and encouragement she has been giving to me.
As you know, 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, by placing their butterfly emblem on our projects.
For some time I have been admiring this style of card on other people's blogs and with the help of Stamping With Jill, I finally worked out how to make one .... or two!
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
Thursday 1 August 2013
More Sunflowers
Today I should like to say a special hello and welcome to Sandy D.
Wow, it is the 1st of August, before we know it, it will be Christmas again. I really must make a start on my Christmas cards, I don't want to leave it to the last minute, like last year.
For the past weeks 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.
Today I have another card featuring butterflies and sunflowers or cone flowers.
This fabulous image is from Eureka Stamps, it is called Butterfly and Sunflowers.
After colouring it with Promarkers I mounted it on silver mirri and dark blue card. The backing paper is by DoveCraft. The sentiment is an old one from Kanban and I think the ribbon is from Stampin' 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.
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