2 Cards and an Easter Bunny

It seems ages since I've shown any cards I've made.  They get chucked into the post so fast and lately I've been doing more altered stuff but here are 2 recent makes.

This is a birthday card made for Lisa. "Live, laugh, love" is part of her blog header so I thought this little embroidered heart would be appropriate.  Yes, that is my MS cherry blossom punch-my latest love!

 This card looks very simple but a lot of work went into making the embellishments.  The flower is crocheted, while the butterfly is one of my Snippets.   The edging is a length of crocheted chain with a glass bead crocheted in every 3rd stitch.  Well, at least it is unique and very much my style of card-like it or leave it.

Here is my entry for Dianne's April Chocolate Challenge over on Cardznscrapz.  It had to have the 3 colours of chocolate (white/milk/dark) and/or 4 flowers or buttons, AND there had to be an Easter egg hidden somewhere on the creation!
The eggshell is an oval box base from Lidl.  It was meant as a Christmas decoration and had cherubs on it.  I covered it with chocolate coloured paper and ribbon inside and out.  The bunny is a stamp from Dimension4th.  The butterflies inside the egg are on little springs to give a 3D effect and you can just about see the gold wrapping of the actual egg under the bunny's right ear.  Went overboard on the Distress stickles! This is the first Easter decoration that I've ever made and I hope to get a few years out of it.  The egg will be released for consumption later today....
Have also entered Bunny into Crafty Sentiments Easter creations
Craft your Days Away - Easter
Happy Easter and have a great time over the long weekend!
Geraldine x

4 altered frames from Altered Frame Swap

Just wanted to show you the lovely altered frames I received as my part of the Altered Frame swap over on Cardznscrapz . Swappers were the mega and multitalented Maggie and Aideen.  http://www.piecesbyaideen.com/  Check out their blogs for great ideas if you have even the tiniest interest in altering or mini-books or just lovely makes.  I'm including my own altered frames as well - 4 completely different styles on view.
First:  The frame I got from Maggie - (emilysnan in blogland) she made all the flowers...so I have included some close-ups of them.

This flower is made from the tissue left over after cutting out a dressmaking pattern!

As you can see, Maggie has the greatest collection of lovely vintage buttons!



Aideens altered frame



                    Close up of lace insert, pearls and flowers
Aren't these wonderful makes?  Don't they make you want to grab that old frame that has been in the shed/garage for ages and DO something with it?  Now for my efforts.  First come piccys of the bare, naked frames - all €2 from the €2 shop down the road..

Sent to Maggie

Sent to Aideen

Massive big Thanks to the Maggie and Aideen for swapping with me.  It is great to see other people's work at close range-gives you ideas!
Thanks for looking.  Think that was the most photos I've ever uploaded in one post.  Off to lie down....
Ger x

By the Cute and Girly - Final make for April's Challenge

You have 10 days left to enter the By the Cute and Girly April challenge.  This months theme is "Cute and Girly" and there are great prizes on offer. 
Why not grab some crafting time to yourself over the Bank Holiday weekend and show us your crafty make(s).  Details here

The pink concoction above is my final make for the Challenge: a light and lacy spring scarf knitted in Rico Loopy yarn. It is truly girly; a scarf no man will borrow! Very, very easy to make.  Its knit on big needles and the pattern is on the ball band.  If you are thinking of starting/getting back into knitting again this is a great project to start off with.  The yarn comes in lots of subtle blends as well as bright pink!  details of colours here

Geraldine x

The Birthday Boy.

Yesterday was our little pom's birthday.  Herbie is now 15 and enjoyed his day with lots of cuddles.  Although he is deaf, has cataracts and problems with his spine he enjoys eating, sleeping and putting manners on the local cats.

He is my constant companion whether I'm crafting or just mooching around on the laptop.  Speaking about crafts, while I have made lots of projects this week I can't show them yet because they are on their way as swaps or being held back for later challenges etc.  My Etsy shop has been shut down until after Easter because I have a lot to deal with health-wise at the moment and just haven't the energy to cope with orders etc  Still, there is Easter to look forward to...
Cheers and Hairy Hugs from Herbie!
Geraldine x

3D Challenge at Paper Craft Planet - Cuckoo Clock

When I saw Lyn Bernatovich's tutorial for a Birdhouse Diorama here on PaperCraftPlanet I just had to give it a go....so the birdhouse became a Cuckoo clock (always fancied one of these!)

This is quite a small ornament - 6" high (not counting the pendelum)and 4" wide. The stamps I used for the clock face are BoBunny, the papers are Trimcrafts Desert Blooms.  The bird and the butterfly are my own makes.  All the bling and beads are from stash.  Most important of all the Celtic Cuckoo is on a Papermania spring.  Must say that I had great fun making this!
Linking up to Cherished Treasures

Geraldine x

April Challenge at By the Cute and Girly challenge blog and sad Memories

Hi everybody,

The April challenge at By the Cute and Girly is to make a "Cute and Girly" item.  My 2nd make for this month is a tent card using a La Blanche stamp,  Prima Ballerina Blooms, Wild orchid flowers and one of my own handmade charms.  The lacy scrapbook corners are available here.

Then I continued on and made a 2nd, slightly larger version of this card with the addition of one of my vintage butterflies, available here and entered it in the March challenge at Cardznscrapz where it won me a 12 x 12 Graphic45 paper pad!  Boy was I thrilled, especially when the prize arrived just as I was heading out for another painful session with the Dentist.  He almost didnt have to sedate me..........!!!  Here is Version 2...

But...these cards have a hidden function....you can remove the central stamped section and replace it with a photo (5 minutes before Auntie Maisie arrives for tea!) of your choice.  So I have replaced it with a photo that has real memories for me.  It is the last photo taken of my parents together...my mother was a widow a few weeks later and it is the last photo of Dad that I have...the Prima bloom hides the ever-present cigarette in his hand.  It was taken at a flower show.  All the lillies in the background were grown by my mother.  Now I forget how many prizes they won....

I havent got around to scrapbooking the photo yet..its just too much personal sadness but maybe if I made a card with purple tones to display it ...it would be a start!

Now if you have made any items that would fit the "Cute and Girly" challenge theme dont forget to enter them.

Geraldine x

Beach finds and a Happy Mothers Day to all!

Yesterday we went for a walk on the beach at Malahide, Co. Dublin where I spotted a large bit of Driftwood.  You know how much we enjoy beachcombing..... "No", said Himself, "we are not looking for anything today".  I replied, "There is no such state as off duty when it comes to looking for crafty stuff!"  So, of course we found somethings - just look at these lovely pieces of beach glass that I turned into tea-light holders.  They seem to be the bottom parts of jars or glasses and one of them has a lovely fluted design.  The sharp edges have been worn away by the sand and they are safe to handle.

After a good scrub and the addition of some Tea-lights:

Not a bad bit of recycling?  I am entering my sea glass finds in the Sunday Blog Love Linky Party

Happy Mothers Day to all the Mammies out there!

Ger x

April Challenge-Cute & Girly at the Cute and Girly Blog.

Well, its April, month of showers etc etc and you should have seen and heard the lightening and thunder here in Dublin this evening.
Its also time for a new challenge at the Cute and Girly, hosted by Lora who has decided that this month's theme will be Cute and Girly.  Now how easy is that!  Great prizes as usual from Simon Says Stamp, Joanna Sheen, Little Snippets and a My Grafico digi stamp set and 20% an order in store.  Plus a chance to win a Guest DT spot   on the Cute and Girly team.

This month My Grafico gave us some lovely little ballerina digis from Zenware designs and I used them to decorate some little gift boxes which open up like butterfly wings.  I got the template and tutorial for the boxes here and adapted it slightly.

So you have 4 weeks to get your Cute and Girly entry made up and entered.
Rules as follows:
You may enter the challenge as many times as you like, but each entry must be a different craft, eg, 1 card, 1 altered item, 1 knitted item, 1 piece of jewelry, 1 layout etc and you must follow the challenge theme. No backlinking, your entry must be new and never blogged before. Please link directly to your entry, not just to your blog so it is easy for the design team to find. Finally if you don't have a blog, you can upload to an online gallery using the keyword BTCGCUTE or you may email Lora with your entry at lorascards@aol.com (this is only for people who do not have a blog).
For some inspiring makes just pop over to the Blog and see all the Design Team makes for April and get yourself in crafting mode!
Cheers
Ger x

Winner of Blog Candy.....

At long last......






The Winner is ....






Rebekah!

And the runners-up are Aggie Sue and Sabrina!   Now, ladies, I have looked at your blogs and I know all my goodies are going to good crafting homes....so Big Congratulations and Happy Crafting!
I would like to say Thank You All very much to everyone who entered and who mentioned my candy on their blogs.  I also appreciated the lovely comments about my handmade flowers and embellishments.   So watch out for the SUMMER blog candy, folks...


Geraldine x