Return to the Highlands

When I was colouring some images for the previous challenge at Crafty Boots Challenges, I accidentally coloured this one twice. I was halfway through colouring it before I realised my mistake.

I did not want to waste my hard work, so here it is again in a slightly different setting.  As you no doubt remember, it is from Delicious Doodles and is called 'Scottish Castle and Gardens'. After colouring it with F&C polychromos pencils, I mounted it on some Night if Navy and white card.  I then embossed some more of the Night of Navy card and used it to cover the front of an A5 card.  The ribbon, sentiment and gems are all from my stash.

Tomorrow sees the start of a brand new challenge at Crafty Boots Challenges, so don't forget to check it out.


Dionne

Little Nut Tree

I have got a little behind with my blogging this week, hence me being here on a Saturday.

The card I wanted to share with you today is one of my DT cards for the current 'Ribbon or Lace' Challenge at Crafty Boots Challenges.

This is another of my recent acquisitions from Delicious Doodles, this one is called 'Little Nut Tree'.   I assume this was inspired by the English nursery rhyme of the same name:

I had a little nut tree,

Nothing would it bear

But a silver nutmeg

And a golden pear;

The King of Spain's daughter

Came to visit me,

And all for the sake

Of my little nut tree.

Her dress was made of crimson,

Jet black was her hair,

She asked me for my nutmeg

And my golden pear.

I said, "So fair a princess

Never did I see,

I'll give you all the fruit

From my little nut tree.

After colouring the image with F&C polychromos pencils, I mounted it on some Real Red and white card.  I then embossed some more of the Real Red card and used it to cover the front of an A5 card.  The gorgeous twinkly red ribbon is from the lovely people at Really Reasonable Ribbon.

I hope you have a lovely weekend.

Dionne

Harbour Scene

The current challenge at Crafty Boots Challenges is to use either 'Ribbon or Lace' in your project.

I use a lot of ribbon on my cards so I thought I would do something a little different and raid my lace stash for a change.

This delightful image is from Delicious Doodles, it is called 'Harbour Scene', would be suitable for most men and even quite a few women. After colouring it with F&C polychromos pencils, I mounted it on some red and white card.  I then embossed some more of the red card and used it to cover the front of an A5 card.  The anchor and yacht charms are from my stash, as was the lace.  The sentiment was from Kanban Crafts.

Don't forget to enter your project into the Crafty Boots challenge.


Dionne

Little Trinket Box

I hope you had a good weekend.  Monday morning has come around again, all too fast if you ask me. I think that the best thing about Monday mornings is that it is time for another post at Crafty Boots Challenges.  Today it is the Mid Challenge Reminder for the 'Ribbon and Lace' Challenge.

I have a sweet little trinket box to share with you today, as you can see it has a woven ribbon aperture in the top.

I have been making fabric covered boxes for many, many years now and I usually make them to my own design and the size will depend upon my need.

However, I bought a kit to make this box at a craft fair many years ago and for a long time I would not make it up because the kit is irreplaceable and I was saving it for a special occasion.  I know, this is a rather daft notion, so I eventually decided to make it.

I made quite a few kit boxes in the early days and I have to say that this kit was especially well made and the materials of a very high standards.

I was a little daunted at the thought of weaving the ribbon but the instructions were very clear and it turned out to be a simple task.

I love the blue interior and the fabulous gold highlights in the main floral fabric.  I even manage to iron out all of the peg marks from where I held it together while the glue dried.

Now don't forget about the Crafty Boots Challenge.

Dionne

An Early Start

I have just put the finishing touches to almost 60 Christmas cards.  They are for a friend and, as you know, I am not the best person at getting my Christmas cards made before the event.  I therefore decided that it would be a really bad idea to be rushing to make her cards, as well as my own, in December.

It was important to keep these cards both reasonably light and flat, so that they do not incur additional postal charges.  Even the addition of a flat backed gem will make a card too thick for the standard rate.  On the other hand I wanted them to have a little dimension.

To make 60 cards in just a few days I needed to keep my design simple so I resorted to two of my favourite stamp sets from Stampin' Up - Every Blessing and Come to Bethlehem.

I used Night of Navy ink and cards to make the set of cards using the Come to Bethlehem stamp set,

and Cherry Cobbler ink and card to make the set of cards using the Every Blessing stamp set.

Of course, I put an insert into each card saying ... and a happy New Year.

I am now off to order replacement ink and card from Stampin' Up before I forget that I need it.

Have a great weekend.

Dionne

Dinner Time

I hope you had a good weekend.  It has turned much colder here and many parts of the UK have seen snow over the past few days.  We were lucky, the little snow we have had did not last long, but I would be surprized if we have seen the last of the fluffy white stuff.

There is a new challenge at Crafty Boots Challenges and this seems the perfect weather for heading to the craft room to play around with pencils, paper, glue and ribbon ... or perhaps lace because the theme of this challenge is 'Ribbon or Lace'.

This free colouring page is from Colouring Book, I have coloured it with F&C polychromos pencils and mounted it on to some yellow and pink card. The the fabulous backing paper, is from Studio Calico, and was part of a Christmas gift from the very generous Stephanie-Emma.  The  Craftwork Cards sentiment and cute buttons are all from my stash, as was the all important pink ribbon.

My lovely team mates at Crafty Boots Challenges have been very busy so please make sure you check out their work.


Dionne

Dog Fight

A quick reminder that the current challenge at Crafty Boots Challenges is 'Something Old, Something New'.

I have made another card using up another digital stamp which I have had for a while but not had the opportunity to use before now.

This image is from Delicious Doodles, I only discovered Teri Sherman's art last year and initially thought that the death heads and goth girls were not for me as I did not know who I would send them to.  Then I discovered the rest of her artwork, which is amazing, her views of the Scottish Highlands are stunning.

This image is called 'Vintage Spitfire', which I coloured with F&C polychromos pencils and mounted it on some brown pearlised card and some orange card from my stash. The backing paper and boarder are from Studio Calico. The Craftwork Cards sentiment and little plane charm  are from my stash.

Don't forget to enter your project into the Crafty Boots challenge.


Dionne

Scottish Castle

We are halfway through the current Crafty Boots Challenge - where does the time go?  The theme of this challenge is 'Something Old, Something New'.

I have been making good use of this challenge to, not only use some new bits of craft stash, but also things which I bought last year but never had the opportunity to use - like this digital image from Delicious Doodles.

The image is called 'Scottish Castle and Gardens'.  It strongly reminds me of Culzean Castle, which I was lucky enough to visit as a girl.  It is famous for it's Robert Adams architecture and beautiful gardens.  Whist this image is not identical to the castle, there are striking similarities, however, Scotland does have a lot of castles.

I coloured the image with F&C polychromos pencils and mounted it on some glitter card and some green card from my stash.  The backing paper was a freebie from Stampin' up and the boarder is from Studio Calico.  The Craftwork Cards sentiment was also from my stash and I purchased a set of the butterfly buttons just before Christmas.

Don't forget about the Crafty Boots Challenges challenge.


Dionne

Norton Bike

The first week of the New Year is over, Christmas decorations are down and all packed away for another year and we are well into the first challenge of the year at Crafty Boots Challenges.

I have another card to share with you today which uses 'Something Old and Something New'.

This card features Delicious Doodles 'Vintage Norton Motorcycle', it is a digi stamps that I bought last year but never got around to using.  I coloured it with F&C polychromos pencils and mounted it on some card from my stash.  The almost perfectly coordinated backing paper and boarder, are from Studio Calico, and were a present from the very generous Stephanie-Emma.  The sentiment and peel offs are from my stash and the motorcycle charm is something else I have had a while but never used before.

Don't forget about the Crafty Boots Challenges challenge.


Dionne

Pongo and Perdita

As you know, we are celebrating the old and the new at Crafty Boots Challenges.  My card today feature both old and new craft stash and something which are a bit of both - if you know what I mean.

A few weeks ago I found this free colouring page on Colouring Book, at the time I did not use the image.  However, I have now coloured it with F&C polychromos pencils and mounted it on silver card from my stash.  The pink pearlised card, tickets and the Craftwork Cards sentiment are all from my stash.  I found the polka dot ribbon and the fairy charm in a box when I was tidying up my craft stuff just before Christmas, it was full of reels of ribbon, I have had them ages, but never used any of them before. The one brand new thing on this card is the fab backing paper, which is from Studio Calico, and was part of a Christmas gift from the very talented Stephanie-Emma.

Don't forget about the Crafty Boots Challenges challenge.


Dionne

Something Old.Something New

It is time for the first new challenge of the year at Crafty Boots Challenges.  Doesn't time fly?  It only seems weeks since 2015 started and here we are settling into 2016.

The new challenge is 'Something Old, Something New', time to use some of the fabulous Christmas presents I received this year and to dig out a few of my favourite pieces from my stash.

This cute little image is called 'Bubblies Girl' from Mo's Digital Pencil, I have had this image for a while, but I never used it before.  I coloured the image with my F&C poloychromose pencils and mounted it on some lilac pearlised card and pink glitter card from my stash.  The flowers and the Kanban sentiment were also from my stash.  However, the gorgeous backing paper is from Studio Calico and was a gift from the totally fabulous Stephanie-Emma.

My team mates on the Crafty Boots Challenges Design Team have been busy making some stunning inspirational pieces, make sure you take a look when you are entering your projects.

Dionne

The Old Coal Truck

Well, that was the New Year!  We have a very special routine for welcoming the New Year and for the past 17 years we have spent New Years Eve with some very good friends and neighbours, I think it surprizes all of us that we have known each other so long.  However, the evening never fails to be exceptionally enjoyable (emm, that could be a contradiction in terms, but I know what I mean).

When we first moved into this village, many, many years ago, there was a coal yard behind the pub and they had a coal truck just like this one.

This wonderful vintage image is from Delicious Doodles and is simply called 'Vintage Truck'.  Ah, this takes me back!

I coloured the image with my F&C poloychromos pencils and mounted it on a combination of pearlised green card, silver mirri and a mottled kraft card.  The sentiment is from Kanban Crafts.

I hope you have a good weekend, will you be going to the sales?  I think I shall stay home and give my cards a rest after Christmas.

Dionne

Snowmen Decorations

Happy New Year to you and your family.

The current Crafty Boots Challenge is 'Snow and Sparkle' and my project today is a pair of snowmen - to be honest no snow was involved in the making of these cute characters.

Directions on how to make these little guys is currently doing the rounds on Facebook.  They looked so easy to make I just had to have a go for myself.

I ordered all the bits I needed from ebay and they were here in under a week, pretty good going for the week before Christmas.  Between you and me, these really were as easy to make as the video clip looks.

There is still time for you to enter this challenge, good luck.


Dionne