I Want to Ride My Bicycle

Today I have a birthday card for a very special person to share with you.

My nephew rides his bike everywhere and I wanted a card that would reflect that, but the trouble I had finding a suitable digital image for this card.  I eventually tracked this vintage bicycle image at McMahon Five.

I have made this style of card with a stamp but it took a bit of thinking to make a card with a digital image.

By the way, the backing paper is by Stampin' Up and the sentiment is from Kanban Crafts.

I hope you have a very special birthday today James dear and I wish you many, many more of them.


Dionne

The Last Days of Summer

Hi, thank you for dropping by today.

There is a new challenge starting at Crafty Boots Challenges today, chosen by the very lovely Freya, for the next two weeks the Challenge is "The Last Days of Summer".  Freya wants you to use your imagination and show us what this means to you.

I thought long and hard about this, trying to decide what it meant to me,  Warm summer evenings. swallows swooping low, catching insects.  Harvest time, with fields of golden corn and red poppies.  It was then that I remembered this Heritage cross stitch chart by John Clayton featuring Thread Bears called 'Scattered Poppies'.

Just look at that face, so grumpy, and he has made such a mess of those poppies.

I love this series of charts, they are so beautiful to make and all the detailing is done with virtually no backstitching.  I have stitched it on 32 count even weave fabric.

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

I am looking forward to seeing what the last days of summer mean to you.  Good luck.

Dionne

CD Storage

Hi

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

Vote for Mrs Beez and Raise Money for Amy and Friends

Hi

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.)

The reason for this very thoughtful gift was not that it was my birthday, or my wedding anniversary, but to say thank you for all of the butterfly cards I made last month.  Regular visitors to my blog will remember that Lisette decided that all of her projects for a month would 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 to represent those whose lives have been cut short by this illness.)  I was over the moon when Lisette invited me to guest on her blog and I set to making as many cards featuring a butterfly or two as I could. It as tremendous fun and it was great to think that we were doing this to raise awareness of such a deserving charity.

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.

Thank you.

Dionne

Christmas in August

Hi

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.

So many crafters like to make their Christmas cards at this time of year and this Challenge might just be push you need to get motivated.

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.

It looks equally as good, if not better, on a contrasting sheet of glitter card.

Right, that's three down and another 147 to go.

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

Tattered Lace Stilettos

Hi

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.

I chose two very different embossing folders to create contrast and I used the same colour pearl card as I had used to cut the stilettos shoes, to make the paper lace ribbon using a Martha Stewart punch. Both the corner punch and the butterfly punch I used on this card are also from Martha Stewart.

Finally, I added a few tiny pearls to the butterflies.

Don't forget to pop over to  Crafty Boots Challenges and enter your own project into the Challenge.
Good Luck.


Dionne

Two Hearts - Believing in Just One Mind?

Hi

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