Advent 2023 has Arrived

I feel I owe everyone an apology, I have not posted anything for weeks and weeks.  I am really sorry but, you know what it is like, life has got in the way .... again.  But you all knew I would be here for Advent.  Sharing my Christmas cards and, of course, those Elves!

Just one Christmas card today .......

The image for this card came from my 2022 calendar, December of course.  I mounted it on some old gold card and some Stamping Up Real Red card.  Then everything went onto an 8 x 8 inch card blank.  I think the sentiment was from Craftwork Cards.

The moment we have been waiting all year for - the return of those naughty Elves from the Shelf. 

Danny and Daisy are back with a few of their friends and I can see they have bought a chocolate Advent Calendar for each of the girls.

I cannot wait to see what they get up to this year.  Any guesses?

Happy Advent.

Dionne

A Very Pink Dragon Card

We have a Bank Holiday weekend coming up, fingers crossed the good weather lasts - there is a rumour that rain is on its way but, on the other hand, we never got all that dreadful rain last week!

I'm still loving my new dragon dies.  They are so simple and look so good once they are die cut and placed a simple background.

This fabulous Chinese dragon is just one of the dragons in a four pack I bought from Amazon, which incidentally is also where the sentiment die also came from.  The backing paper is from my stash - all so deliciously girly!

Have a great weekend.

Dionne

Pink Lorry, Blue Lorry, Too Much Pink?

This is one of those cards which looks better in the flesh .... well, at least I hope so.

I have been playing with my new metal dies and bling metallic card, lots of layers and bright colours.

I made the card for my brother-in-law, who drives a lorry for living.  However, I did not send it to him this year, I think there is a perhaps a little something missing so I thought I would find out what you think.  Should I take it apart and mount the pink layer on to some black card?  Or was the pink a bad ideal all round?  What do you think?

Dionne 

Nature Always Wears the Colours of the Spirit

 I have another of my fantasy flower cards to share with you today.  One of these day I am going to clear a way to all of my craft boxes and be able to tell you where I got them from and who made them.

I made a very simple DL fold card and used one of the backing papers from the kit.  Then I turned it on its side and popped two of the pre-coloured images from the kit.  The sentiments are not quite my cup of tea but it does work!

I hope you have a good week.

Dionne 

Look Out, Look Out There's a Cat About!

I just love these cheeky cat dies and find them very amusing.

I think they work well on a DL size card.  I die cut the metallic blue square and layered them beneath the dark grey cat heads, which are also die cut.

They are so amusing and what a great way to start the weekend!

Dionne

More mystery flowers today.  This time I have stacked them into a pyramid using 3D spacer foam.  The kit is a bit of a mystery too.  I purchased it many, many years ago from either C&C or QVC and it is therefore most likely to be from either Hunkydory Crafts or Kanban Crafts - sadly it was so long ago, I cannot recall!

All of the elements in this card came from the kit, which would explain why everything goes together so well.

Enjoy the rest of your week, I hear that this lovely weather is not going to last and rain is on it's way ..... at least, that is what my knee joints are telling me!

Dionne 

 

Little Maids in a Row

Life takes unexpected turns from time to time and we have very little control when it does.  One or two of you know that we have been living with some builders and they have turned the house upside down.  The job, and the subsequent mess, is taking much longer than expected.  The contents of both the kitchen and bathroom are boxed up and stored all over the house and we seem to spend our lives walking around saying to one another have you see this or that.

One of the first things I packed away was all of my knitting and spare yarn.  There was no way I wanted plaster dust getting into those particular bags.  This means that they are all at the very back of the spare room and I have no way of getting to them without moving everything else.  Whilst I know they are safe there, I am unable to get to the finished items to photograph them and this is why all of my posts this week will be of cards and these are cards I made a few weeks ago because all of my card making stash is also carefully packed away.

This also explains why I cannot go and check the box these elements came in to see who made the kits or whether I bought them from QVC or C&C.  I can say with certainty that I have had them a really long time, tucked away out of sight and virtually forgotten about.

I believe these images were intended to be used as a pyramid stack, but we are all very conscious of how much cards cost to mail these days, and I try to think of designs where the card remain reasonably flat so they do not attract additional postage. 

All of the elements used to make this card came from the kit.

Dionne

The Little Blue Dragon

Once upon a time there was a little blue dragon who wanted nothing more that to make someone smile when they opened their birthday card!

Umm, the older I get, the worse I seem to be at popping cards in the post with sufficient time to arrive on the day.  I therefore found myself, once again, in need of a quick birthday card.  So, I got out my go to for quickie cards, metal dies.  This little guy is part of a set of four dragon dies, which I found on Amazon. I cut the dragon from some blue metallic card.  I then mounted the whole thing on some more of the blue card.  I cut the sentiment, which also came from Amazon, from a scrap of card I had left over.

Just off to the post box.

Dionne

Unknown Flower

I am back today to share with you a card I made using a kit I bought many years  ago from one of the shopping channels.  Each time I look at these cards I hope that it will pop into my head who made them, but I have nothing, sorry.

I am not a very good gardener and I have no idea if these are real flowers, or if the artist made them-up.  They sort of remind me of asters, what do you think?

I made a double tent fold card, all of the elements came from the kit.  I wanted to keep the card as flat as possible for posting, so I split the pyramid elements and placed the largest piece on the back fold and the other two in the front.

I hope you have a good weekend.

Dionne

The Last of the Dolls Clothes

I suspect that you will be delighted to hear that this is my final post of dolls clothes, but don't get too excited because I can now start showing you all of the premature baby clothes I have made.

I discovered this pattern whilst searching for premature baby patterns, it is from Dolliebabies Knits for Newborns.  This pattern is knitting pattern 013 vest and cardigan set - obviously, I did not make the vest this time.

I made this set with 3 ply yarn, making it smaller than the pattern, and therefore more suitable for a doll.

Dionne

Up, Up and Away

Last day of the month - that's July gone!

Today I have another anniversary card from one of my favourite Hunkydory Adorable Scorable packs, which is called 'Animal Crackers'. Everything came from the pack, I only had to dip into my craft stash for the sentiment.

Rather than mount the rings and image into a pyramid effect, I kept them flat so the card should not attract extra postage. 

Have a good week.

Dionne

Bottoms Up!

I have shared with you a lot of the cardigans and jumpers I had made for my youngest nieces dolls and so I thought it was time to take a look at some of the things I had made for the other half of the doll ie a skirt and a pair of trousers.

I made the skirt in a 3 ply red yarn, I turned the hem with matching yarn but it was so difficult treading the elastic through the waist band. 

The trouser pattern had a matching headband, so I had to make one, didn't I?

I hope you have a good weekend.

Dionne

Curiosity and the Cat

I had another go with the curios cats metal dies - they are so much fun.

The dies came from Amazon but they had no manufacturers name on the packaging.

This was a very simple design, I decided the little faces would suit a DL card,  I cut the cats out of black glittered card, I just love the whiskers and the eyes (sadly you cannot see the bottom cats eyes, but they are there).  I mounted the cat images on silver mirror card and some old gold card.

I think they would cheer up anyone's day. 

Dionne

Knickerbocker Glories

A couple of weeks ago I shared with you the knickers I had knitted for my niece's baby dolls, these knickerbockers are for slightly smaller dolls

They are made in 3 ply, my goodness, you would not believe how far this 3 ply yarn goes.  I was beginning to believe it would never run out.

Have a great week.

Dionne

Plant a Seed of Friendship

Many years ago - and I really do mean many years ago, something in the region of ten or fifteen years ago!  I purchased a lot of card making kits from both QVC and C&C.  At the time I was relatively new to card making and the shopping channels made these kits sound so exciting and I bought so, so many of them.  However, my skill level soon improved and I stopped using the kits to make cards and these boxes got pushed the back of my craft room and more or less forgotten about.

However, now that I find myself without a functioning printer, I have been forced to seek out alternative ways to make cards and I have quite literally dug out a few of these long forgotten kits to see what they contain and what I can make from them.  I confess that I am no Dawn Bibby, Stephanie Weightman, Sara Davies or even Leonie Pujol.

This card comes from one of those kits, unfortunately it has been so long that I can not remember which shopping channel it came from or what make it is.

All of the elements came from the kit.  I confess that I find the sentiments rather corny but, as they match everything else so well, they balance the design quite nicely.

Dionne

Baby Doll's Jumper

A very quick post as the builders are due here any minute.

If you are a regular, you will know that I have been using up several spools of 3 ply, which my sister gave to me, to make cloths for my youngest nieces doll collection.  This jumper used up some of the yarn I had let over at the end of this very long project!

I have to confess that I cannot remember which pattern I used or even if I made it up as I went along!

I just have time to wash up the cup etc from my morning coffee before the builders get here.

Dionne

Love Isn't a Big Thing; It's a Million Little Things

Where did the weekend go?  I hope you had an enjoyable time, no matter where you were or what you were doing.  We had a very wet weekend but all I need is a spot of card making to raise my spirits although at one point I did wonder whether my time would have been better spent making an ark.  

This week sees the Wedding Anniversary of my sister and her husband.  They have been married so long that I actually forget how many years it has been - and I think she has also forgotten!

I made this card from a Hunkydory Adorable Scorable pack called 'Animal Crackers'.  A great set because almost everything you need can be found in the pack.  All I needed to add was some glue and the Anniversary sentiment (I have always wondered why kits of this type do not include Wedding Anniversary sentiments).

Who would have thought that ladybirds and elephants would work so well together?

Dionne

Baby Doll's Vest Set

The weekend is almost here and, apart from the constant showers we have had this week, it seems summer is here!

I am starting my weekend with this pretty vest set - although I would not associate a beanie hat with a vest set but there it was in the pattern, so I made one!

I made this set with 3 ply yarn; making the measurements slightly smaller than those laid out in the pattern but I am sure my niece will have a doll it will fit.  Talking of which, the pattern is Dollibabies Knitting pattern 013.

The vest pattern initially looked a little complicated but, as I followed the instructions, it soon became clear and very easy to make.

It seems we live in a world where every baby wears hats and has hats to match every element of their outfit.

As well as matching socks!

Dionne

Three Black Cats

More new dies, I really like these three cheeky cats and I think you will be seeing more of them.  They came from Amazon, a lot of their dies are very affordable but there is no mention of a brand.

I die cut the cats from black glitter card, very sparkly but oh so hard to photograph because of all of the reflections off the glitter.  I used a ruler to score the silver mirror card and layer everything on some old gold card.  The sentiment also came from Amazon.

Hopefully I shall be back in a day od two.

Dionne

Six Draws Up

We are having some work done on the house, the last two days have been exhausting, moving everything out of the bathroom and kitchen .... and we are still not done.  With the workmen due to arrive any minute I am going to keep this post very short.

I have some more knitted dolls cloths to share with you today.  My sister has the habit of picking up dolls and checking that they are wearing underwear, so pants are an essential item when it comes to decking out a dolling in a new outfit.

These are made in the same 3 play I have been using for all of the dolls cloths.

I hope you have a good week.

Dionne

Golden Dragons

Friday again.

I have been playing with my new metal dies again.  These Dragon was part of a four set of dragon dies, which I found on Amazon. I cut the dragon from some metallic gold card, I also cut the sentiment from a scrap of card I had left over.

I hope you have a lovely weekend.

Dionne 

Sweet Lilac

I am back today to share with you more of the baby doll clothes I have been making for my youngest niece.

I made this set using 3 ply yarn and another of the DolliBabies Knits for Newborns, this set is Knitting Pattern 015,  Premature Lacy Cardigan Set.

Not sure whether you can see the pattern any better from this close-up ... but it is a better view of those cute buttons!

Have a good day.

Dionne

Hogs and Kisses

How was your weekend?

I have another quick and easy card to share with you today. The elements for this anniversary card are all from one of my favourite Hunkydory Adorable Scorable packs called 'Animal Crackers'. I only had to dip into my craft stash for the sentiment and ribbon.

 I hope you have an enjoyable week.

Dionne

Tiny Cardigans for a Doll

 Can you believe it, that's June over!

I have more dolls clothes to share with you today.  The pattern for these cardigans is from Dolliebabies, this one is knitting pattern 001 classic baby cardigans.  Made in the 3 ply yarn my sister gave to me, these cardigans are really very small.  As you can see, I made one in each of the colours, some of them have round necks and others are 'v' necked.

This garter stitch cardigan is another Dolliebabies pattern (but I do not recall which one).  Garter stitch can be very unforgiving and any tension changes or caught threads really show up.  I had a few snagged threads, which really jumped out of the finished cardigan, so I came up with the idea to cover them with tiny buttons - plus I added a few more to make the random use of buttons look intensional,

I still have a few dolls clothes to share with you.  So, as they say, I shall return .....

Dionne 

Peony Card

 I have a very quick and simple card to share with you today.

I have had this kit so long that I cannot remember which shopping channel I got it from or who made it - it may have been one from Kanban Crafts.

It is a very simple design.  I made a DL card and turned it on it's side.  I then used some 3D foam pads to raise the decoupaged sections of the floral image.  Finally, I popped on one of the sentiments from the kit.

Dionne  

New Dress for Dolly

I am afraid I have not had the time to photograph all of the premature baby clothes I recently told you about (I am sure you are all aware how other things happen to put pay to your plans).  However, I did photograph some dolls clothes I more recently made for my small niece.

This pattern is one of the many patterns I have recently purchased from the Dolliebabies website, this one is Knitting Pattern 111 - Jumper Dress.  To make my dresses more doll size I knitted these patterns using some 3 ply my sister had given to me and which I had no idea what to make with it.

I made the dress in both the short sleeved pattern ...

 ... and the long sleeved version.

I just had to show you the buttons I used to fasten the lavender coloured dress.

Aren't they cute?  I got them from ebay quite some time ago but this is the first opportunity I have had to use them.

The 3 ply my sister gave to me had originally been for a knitting machine and came on spools, there were 5 colours in all, so I made an awful lot of dolls clothes to use it up!

Dionne

Little Westies

Friends of ours had a West Highland Terrier, he was a really sweet, friendly and affectionate, a real bundle of fun.  This little guy reminds me of him.

The image, tartan backing card and and graphite card are from an old Kanban Crafts kit purchased from QVC way, way back when.  You may recall another card I recently published using this image.

The black card and sentiment are from my stash.

Thank you for visiting today.

Dionne

Panda Bear

From time to time I enjoy making knitted toys, most of them for my little niece and nephew.  At Easter I shared a bunny I made my niece.  At that time I made this panda for my nephew.

He was made from some left over sparkling grey and black yarn.  This yarn was stiffer than the ones I usually use for toys and, as a consequence, he stands and sits really well.

I also bought some fabulous glittery buttons for his eyes but I forgot to photograph them, this is the best I can manage.  You may just be able to make out that there is a raised centre with a black ring around it.  They are shank buttons, which I was able to pull into the padding to create eye sockets.

Both the rabbit and the panda patterns are from the Knitables Collection, over the years I have made a few of their knitted toys:

Easter Bunny

Fairy Elephant

Red Cat
Super Giraffe
Supergirl Giraffe

Thank you Bears

Thank you for stopping by.

Dionne

Toot, Toot, Tootsie!

 Good morning, I hope you had a good weekend.

I have a new baby card to share with you today.  Whilst I had my new baby bits and pieces out recently I thought I may as well make one for a baby boy while I was at it.

Like the other card, the elements for this new baby card came from a very old Kanban Crafts pack, which I purchased from QVC many years ago.

I hope you have a good week.

Dionne

Sweet Lilac Baby's Cardigan and Beanie

I have recently been sharing with you some cardigans sets I made for my nieces sister-in-law, who was expecting her first baby.  Baby Alice has now arrived, she is fit and well and as pretty as a picture.

In all I made little Alice three outfits and this is the last of the new baby cardigans I made for my niece to give to her sister in law (the others were a pretty pink outfit and a lemon one.)  This cardigan pattern is from Snuggly, pattern number 3838. which I made in a pretty lilac baby double knit yarn by James C Brett.

This pattern does not come with a matching beanie hat, but I have made a few of these now and it was not very difficult to place the cardigan pattern onto one of the plain beanie hat patterns.

I hope you are having a lovely day.

Dionne

Puppy Love

It's the end of May already and another month over.  It was a good one by many scores: three Bank Holidays, one coronation, our place in the Eurovision Song Contest has returned to where we are use to being and this is my 14th blog post - which is pretty good going for me.

My card today features a sweet West Highland Terrier.  The image, tartan backing card and paws are from an old Kanban Crafts kit purchased from QVC.

The pearlescent and silver mirror card are from my stash, as is the sentiment. 

I hope you had a good month.

Dionne

And Yet More Sparkle

Do you remember that black sparkly cardigan?  Well, I did it again.  I bought the yarn for the sparkle and not the colour!  I bought them at the same time and I guess my head was not on correctly!!

This pattern is one I have made a couple of times before and probably looks far more sweet in the powder blue in this post.  This is a larger size and therefore has noticeably more buttons than the pale blue one.  I realize that you cannot relly see the sparkle in the yarn from these photos.

I had some of the yarn left over, so I made my young niece a beanie hat an some mittens out of the yarn.

My niece has quite a small head for a girl her age and the hat I made was too large and I had to make a second .... perhaps her mum would like the larger beanie hat.

Until the next time.

Dionne

Friends Hug Your Heart

Good friends do indeed hug your heart.  Really good friends can be hard to find but when you find one hang onto them.

I have a quick and easy card to share with you today. The elements for this card are all from a Hunkydory Adorable Scorable pack called 'Animal Crackers'. 

I said it was quick and easy, rather like this post.

Have a great weekend.

Dionne

Premature Babies

I have been keeping a secret from you because I cannot work out how to break the news to you.  Over the past twenty/twenty one months I have been making A LOT of premature baby clothes, which means a lot of posts.  

I lost my sister in 2021 and one of the last things she asked me to do was to make some premature baby clothes for premature and born sleeping babies.  How could I refuse.  However, during the COVID pandemic the charity she wanted me to send them to has closed.  If any of my many visitors knows of another charity in the UK that I can send them to, I would be most grateful if they could leave me a message with their address.

This is the first of my premature baby clothes post, this pretty pattern is one I found on the Dolliebabies website.  It is Knitting Pattern 015.

I know that most of you are not big knitting fans.  I will try not to make all of my posts about premature baby clothes - or even the doll's clothes I have been making, which I have not told you about yet.  Sorry, I thought I would rip both plasters off quickly!  

Have a good week.

Dionne

Balloon Anniversary

I don't think there is actually a rubber anniversary but after all these years I struggle to come up with a new Blog Title every time!

New metal die alert, I have had those new dies out again and the bubble spray die is possibly my favourite.

I used gold card and silver mirror card for the heart shaped balloons and anniversary sentiment.  I slipped some red glitter board behind the bubble spray die.

Dionne

Lemon Drop

I have another new born cardigan with a matching beanie to share with you.  Well, I say new born but I never make the first size because new born babies grow so fast and everyone else buys new born, so I make the next size up.

This pattern came from my recent discovery - The Dolliebabies website, this is pattern number 013.  I discovered this website when I was searching for premature baby patterns.  Dolliebabies have a lot of pretty patterns and the people are so helpful and generous.

I made this set in lemon double knit from James C Brett.

Have a good day friends.

Dionne