Loving this Stenciling

Good Friday Morning Everyone.  I hope you are all well and looking forward to the weekend.  It is a Very Special Friday in our household as our eldest Granddaughter, Ashleigh, turns 25 today.  She lives far away in Surfers Paradise but VERY happy to say she is staying here with us at the moment.  She is an AMAZING young woman and my world is SO much brighter for having her in it - especially when I can physically hug her.  The top card here is the card I made for her birthday.  Funny story -  I actually was making the lantern card for her and had only got the Let Your Light SHINE Through label to add when she arrived home unexpectedly last night.  She admired the card but said I like the dandelion one better.!!! WHAT.  At that stage the dandelion card was only white stencil paste on black card!!!  So what does a G'ma do???  Of course I got out my inks and sponges and coloured the dandelions, made a new tag, decided on pink and green for the card and sat until 11.30pm finishing it off so that it would be all ready for this morning!!!  All that aside I am loving working with my stencils and grunge stencil paste.  There is something very soothing and satisfying about dragging the paste through the stencils and seeing the result at the end of the sweep across. Then the big reveal, when you lift off the stencil, is exciting. Have to be patient then and wait for the paste to dry PROPERLY before starting to transform it with colour.  Try it.  I heartily recommend it.  Enjoy your weekend and thanks for looking on this Special Day in our household.

Crazy, Crazy Times

Hi Everyone.  It seems/is SUCH a long time since I Blogged.We have been back just 4 weeks from our fantastic 8 week holiday and I think my brain is still on holiday somewhere. Hard, as always, to settle down to 'normal life'again.  This year has been harder because of lots of domestic things happening. Minor operation for my husband, major surgery for our eldest granddaughter, swimming carnivals for our two youngest grand children and an all important 11th birthday for a grand child. Plus I taught my first class since our return last Saturday.  I had LOTS of pre-cutting to do for this class (Butterfly Corner post from back in April/May) and as this class was over subscribed I get to do it all again next month as we repeat it for another class of Lovely Ladies.  Results of medical procedures are all good I'm pleased to say.  In between all of these dramas I had to be VERY disciplined to make the cards I am about to post. In order of appearance they are 11th birthday card.  60th Wedding Anniversary card.  Friend's birthday card. Three snowflake cards for a class in September and a Christmas card for a class in October.  Sorry they are all together in one post but I just don't have the energy to do them all separately.  I hope you enjoy looking.  I enjoyed making them even if a little stressed at times.  Hope it's not so long to the next post. Thanks for visiting today.

My Class at Wirksworth

Well who would have thought it?  Here we are on holiday in the UK (sweltering in temperatures in the high 20's) and I have participated in a craft class today.  I was shopping in a lovely craft shop in a little town called Wirksworth and saw this lovely triptych.  I loved it and so was delighted when the man said it was a class.  Immediately my wonderful husband told me to book in for it even though it meant he had to drive me there and then amuse himself (in this sleepy, wee town) for 6 hours whilst I had fun doing this amazing project.  Isn't he just The Best?  And so I have a wonderful day making my triptych.  I got paint EVERYWHERE and goodness knows how long it will take me to get all the paint off my nails but who cares?  I am one happy bunny.  This time next week we will be winging our way home to NZ.  I think I might have to pack a corner of my suitcase with some of this lovely sunshine.

My Class Whilst on Holiday

 Well who would have thought it?  Here I am on holiday in the UK (sweltering in temperatures in the high 20's) and I have participated in a craft class today.  A dream come true!!!  I have had such a lovely day.  I was craft shopping in a lovely craft shop in Wirksworth and saw this lovely triptych and was soooooooooooooo excited when the man told me it was a class.  My wonderful husband immediately told me to book in for it even though it meant he had to drive me there and then amuse himself for 6 hours (in a little Derbyshire town) whilst I had fun all day.  Now isn't he The Best?  The pictures show you the results of my efforts.  I ended up VERY messy with paint EVERYWHERE.  Goodness knows how many days it will take for me to get it off my nails but who cares?  I am one happy bunny!!!  This time next week we will be winging our way back home to NZ.  Might have to pack a corner of my suitcase with sunshine.  Thanks for looking today.

Beautiful Blue Tit

I fell in love with this stamp when I saw it.  Reminds me of my childhood when we used to hang out bacon rinds for these beautiful little birds to hang on to.  They are such amazing acrobats and show their beautiful colour off to full advantage as they hang, often upside down,  and eat the rinds.  This is a Barbara Gray creation right from the Clarity Stamp to the composition.  Can't thank all these talented ladies enough for being so generous in sharing their talents with we lesser mortals.  Thank-you.

Butterfly Corner

A big thank-you to Christina Griffiths for a fantastic You Tube tutorial on how to make this card.  I love it.  I have made several now and they are a pleasure to create.  This one (and another one the same) are for my niece's 50th and my great nieces 21st.  I just need to make boxes to house them now.  The pictures show front and back views.

Robots in a Box

And this is my version of Card in a Box for Trent our Grandson.  Again it is a just because card for when we go away on holiday.  I was SO lucky to get the lovely 'puffy'Robot' stickers as well as the bug stickers on his sister's card.  Yeah for the 1 2 3 Dollar Shop.