Mermaid card

Nearly mid-August and time to share my 2nd DT project for the By the Cute and Girly "The Sea" challenge.  My cheeky mermaid with her tail covered in glistening sequins is swimming along to encourage you to enter your nautical project before the end of this month.  Check out the prizes on offer/the rules/guidelines and the other DT makes here

Backing papers are Beach Babe (Fancy Pants), the waves are made with an EK success punch and the sentiment is a  Hobby Arts stamp.  I made the plated ropes and the life buoy.  The mermaid is one of my own Snippets with sequins and lots of silver stickles.        I get the urge every now and again to grab a knife and descale her tail of some of those sequins!  This card proves that you can make a card without using flowers!

Ger x

Weekend Cards

Here are 2 cards I made this weekend:

 This card was made using Prima Moulin Rouge papers, Cousins Midnight Garden Lace, the sentiment is one of Creative Expressions "Dreamy Sentiments" and 2 of my own Dragonfly snippets. 

It should be ok for the Shabby Tea Rooms challenge No 73 Mix and Match - Use 3 patterned papers (I have used 4)

Thought I might do a bit of recycling with this card...the butterfly background was cut from the packaging of a Craft Concepts embossing folder and the flower is made from a scrap of fabric stamped with Hero Arts Dot Flower stamp.  The butterfly is a Sizzix die and the embroidery thread is DMC from my stash.

Entering this card in the following challenges:

The Stampman "Stitching" (the flower is edged with running stitch and I have added some French Knots for definition)

DYSU  No 31 - Black with a pop of colour

Delightful Challenges "Stitching"

Happy crafting folks and dont forget my Blog Candy...1 week left!

Ger x

August challenge at BTC&G - The Sea

1st August has arrived!  Its a Bank Holiday here in Ireland and also time for a new challenge at By the Cute and Girly challenge blog. This month's challenge, chosen by the ever-creative Kate, is The Sea.  So we would like to see (sorry!) your creations inspired by sea, shore, sand and beach.  Great prizes on offer from our sponsors:

Prize 1- $20 Gift Certificate from Simon Say's Stamp

Prize 2- £10 Gift Certificate from Joanna Sheen

Prize 3- 2 cling cushion rubber stamps OR 3 digital stamps from       2 Cute Rubber Stamps

A little reminder of the rules:

You may enter the challenge as many times as you like, but each entry must be with a different craft. eg 1 card, 1 layout, 1 altered item, 1 item of jewelry etc.


You may combine with other challenges.


Your entry must be a new never blogged before creation - no backlinking please!

You must leave a direct link to your creation, not just to your blog.

My 1st creation for this month is a Sea-themed mini-album. I used one of the Crafty Queens kits which featured Graphic 45 "On the Boardwalk" papers. The kit came with a Maya Road canvas covered mini-album but I decided to replace the canvas and made a cover out of striped fabric with the help of my sewing machine. I was trying to get a sort of Deck Chair look...

 Close-up of crochet flower, beaded crochet edging, beady pins and  applique leaves - all made by myself.   Trinket pin and lace came in kit.  I added the buttons and made the charm from a broken-up bracelet.

 Close-up of album's spine...

 Back of front cover....

 Inside of front cover showing slip-on fabric cover with details from "On the Boardwalk" papers.  I added some turquoise netting and 2 tiny shells to cover/decorate the inside of the spine.

 Inside of  back cover..

This was great fun to make and I'm going to continue making fabric covers for albums and journals in the future.

Suitable for the following challenges:

Onestopcraftschallenge No.141 Vintage

Alteritmonthly - Sirens and the Deep blue Sea

So dont forget to visit the challenge blog, see the DT's creations and enter your makes for this challenge.

Ger x

"In the Garden"

This week onPaperplay Challenges the challenge is

"In the Garden" so here is my entry:

It is a layout featuring an old photo of my Dad and one of my parents prizewinning standard fuchsias.  I gather the photo was taken by a police photographer when he was off duty!!  (Don't ask but Dad was a Garda/policeman...).  What I remember was the effort of getting these plants into the car and off to the various flower shows.  Remember this was the 70's and long before the days of the people-carrier...  If the fuchsias didnt like what was going on then they dropped all their flower buds!..Anyway it brings back a lot of memories..

The backing paper is Basic Grey Kioshi, the twine is from my shed, I made the flower and the watering can embellies.

Geraldine

By the Cute and Girly - "Things with Wings"

Here is my final DT make for the BTC&G July "Things with Wings"  challenge.

It is an altered cork pin board (A4) size that I covered with DCWV Mariposa paper and decorated with glittery butterflies and dragonflies cut from the same paper pack.  I tried to jazz up the pins by covering them in Stickles glitter glue but that didnt really work and I hadnt the patience to fish out some paint....

I think this qualifies for this weeks Paperplay Challenges "Things with Wings"  and Flutterby Wednesday's "Open" challenge.

The BTC&G challenge runs until the end of the month so you have about 12 days to enter your winged creations (angels/fairies/birds.....) with a chance of winning some lovely crafty goodies. 

My Blog Candy is ongoing until 14 August!

Ger x

Blog Candy....and introducing 2 new Little Snippets DT members!

Hi Everybody,

Time for some summer blog candy!  Take a look at the hot, tropical colours and the delicious items up for grabs...

Candy consists of a bumper pack of Little Snippets embellies in summer colours, lots of ribbon, a Graphic 45 On the Boardwalk paper pack and a tin of candy.  You can alter/decorate the empty tin as you wish!  To enter just leave a comment naming your favourite item from my Etsy shop. It would be nice if you could post about this candy on your blog.....The winner will be drawn on August 14th.
The reason for the Candy? To introduce two new members of the Little Snippets design team - the outstandingly talented ladies Lora and Aideen.   Here is one of Lora's cards and a bookmark using a Little Snippets butterfly

To see more of her cards please visit her Blog here and enjoy some inspiration.
I am so lucky to have Aideen agree to come on board.  She is well known for her Altered Items and general crafting skills.  Just look at what she has done with a Tim Holtz configurations box:

  

Isnt it amazing?  Aideen has used one of my Little Mermaids and various shell appliques from my shop. To see more details of this Box click here.  Be sure to check out her Blog here especially her Steampunk mini-album which is incredible!

It will be great fun seeing what Dianne, Lora and Aideen produce with my snippets.  I really appreciate the time and effort they have put into their creations and they have inspired me to carry on producing and crafting.

Dont forget to pick your favourite Snippet and enter the Blog Candy!

Geraldine x

Cards n Craft combo

Usually when I'm making a card I try to use embellishments I've made myself to give a more personal feel to the card. Sometimes this might result in a slightly overdone weird card but at least its different!

This card combines several different crafts: embroidery, crochet, stamping (with chalking) and a bit of jewellery-making.
The background is made with a Hero Arts block stamp using Versamark ink and chalking.  The Lace mat is a crochet doiley I made; the lace corners are my own Snippets available here while the beautiful cameo comes from Irish Findings Etsy shop The little bead dangle is made from my recycled jewellery stash.

This card fits several challenges...
Craftyindividuals use Cream+Brown+Pink
Moving along with the Times "Favourite Things"  one of my favourite things is Lace!
Oldiebutagoldie No 23 Lace and Ribbon (ribbon flowers and the stamp is one I have had since 2008)
The Crafty Pad - "Lots of Texture"

So go on why not try making an embellie and adding it to your crafty projects?
Geraldine x